《Cascadia [A Numbers Light LIT-RPG]》


 Prologue: The Razors Edge

    He saw a single rotating bead of rain before him, floating and spinning as it slowly drifted to his visor. All around him were droplets, a frozen cloud of millions of gleaming jewels against the backdrop of endless red and blue clouds. The drop ahead of him had a faint red glow as it connected with his face plate, splattering on his visor. The liquid glass then froze and cracked into a thousand shards. Corvayne sighed into his face-mask as he saw the four thousand mile an hour winds of L''Tideru-1 shift speed, shattering the illusion of calm as he returned to skydiving through a dark nightmare storm of glass.


    It was the only way home.


    His means of piloting was to make small changes in his gravity, and he shifted it a little forward, his focus on keeping himself in a band of twilight between being melted with the glass by daylight ahead, or falling behind into a night of endless frozen razor shards behind him. If he missed his target, a mere mile wide glowing dome hidden in the flying shards, he''d fall thousands and thousands of miles while being burned and crushed by the gas planet below him, if he hadn''t been ripped to shreds by then.


    He felt a cooling bead of glass hit his suit, still a thousand degrees but turning lumpy. He was close to his target, and he was going to land, but it was going to get ugly as the read out on his visor told him the air was falling under the freezing point of silicone. He started to feel bumps on his suit and around his helmet and the heat in spots blossomed, the shards of glass cleaving open his suit and exposing his skin to a mix of gasses hotter than any oven.


    If he was a normal human he''d be dead in moments after the first breach, just a cooking body tumbling into the razor sharp cloud, but he''d long ago left normal behind. He could feel the rends in his suit exposing his skin to frying gasses and he felt the first needle of horrific pain as a piece of glass connected and buried itself in his side, but it wasn''t going to kill him. There was no point to screaming, so he didn''t. There was no point to crying, so his eyes stayed dry and clear. Tensing up and curling into a ball would spoil his aim, and none of it would change how the next few moments would go. So he instead smiled as the second burning needle hit him.


    As he was, pain was just an old friend. A spear moved forward, and he was going four thousand miles an hour.


    He spotted the green of a shield, a little patch of daylight and hope, lighting up a cloud of green glass through his cracking visor, and breathed one last full breath, then closed his eyes as his suit fell completely apart and his falling body was baptized in magmatic glass shards. The pain flared everywhere over and over as each part of him was battered by glass and fire. Even without breathing he caught a whiff of the chemical smell of the atmosphere before glass plugged his nostrils. He hoped his eyelids held up, as he did not need his eyes to know he was on target, but he would need them later to land.


    Blind, in pain, and hurtling to what might be his death, Corvayne resisted the lure of blacking out. His mind and body protested the burning agony of being cooked and sliced apart, screaming for him to breath and pass out and open his eyes. Even naked, with glass encrusting his cooked skin, he ignored the torture he had put himself into to keep his posture straight and use his gravity power to stabilize his weight, turning him an arrow. He wasn''t sure his lungs or skin would hold out, but this was the last way home, the only way he could get back to Cascadia. Better to die trying than live like a beaten dog.


    He opened his eyes the moment he felt the ping of shards gathering on his eyelids lessen. The passing island had left a wake in the tempest. He still got cuts on his eyes from nearly invisible glass fog but it would heal and it was worth the view as he drifted past other green orbs, the shields of huge escort ships clustered around the titanic floating island. They were looking for other ships, listening with deep fingers into the gravity and dimensional waves to catch someone trying to teleport in. They were not looking out for naked idiots sky diving sideways through hell to reach Chateau L''Tideru.


    He was headed right for the barrier, and closed his eyes with a small crunch and held his hand forward, thinking of it as a knife aimed at the grounds past the barrier, then activated a skill, twisting reality to use his hand to slice through space. Reality gave way as his hand slashed out.


    [Cross Skill: Shadow Step]


    Everything went black and silent as he tunneled through shadows past the shield, appearing and falling into a garden pathway with a sicking crunch, hitting so hard he bounced. He was going a little faster than the island, falling, and had ignited the moment he hit oxygen, so his vision was bright with fire and the scene spinning, then the ground hit him again a little less hard bouncing him airborne again for three seconds before he dropped into water that flash boiled all around him in an explosion of steam. His cooked muscles protested as he forced himself to stand up from the bubbling steaming pond he was in and exhale and take a gasping ragged breath of air that felt frozen compared to his seared body. He looked with his less-cut eye at the back of his hand, vision interrupted by blurry gaps where glass was stuck in his eyeball. Too much glass in his hands too, and blood seeping from it.


    All and all, he gave the landing four out of five stars. A tentative voice in his head whispered to him. ¡°Are you alive? Is he... close? Is he... here?¡±


    He ignored The Bride for now, looking around at part of the curated grounds he landed in. It was a garden, intimately lit by lanterns and beautifully cared for, excepting for a smoldering patch of turf he had bounced off of. He saw light above with buildings, blurry, behind him, and the shields ahead of him, clear enough on this side to let him watch the glass storm and designed to let someone wandering the garden hear faintly the sounds of wind and glass rain and perhaps sit on a bench and marvel at how deadly it was four feet away. No guards, so he sat back down in the now steaming pool of water.


    He was alive, in agony, and probably had triggered some alarm when he started a fire and smashed into the grounds but he took the moment to grin, the motion again cracking shards jammed into his face. The pain meant he was alive, and that he was now the first person to ever break into Chateau L''Tideru ''on foot''. Probably would be the last too.


    Corvayne used his second ability to summon shadowy limbs his body, slithering like black snakes from his side, wiggling their fingers before getting to work, pulling out glass. He had the sensation from their fingers, sharp but not painful. His mouth had blood in it so he spit, then started with the worst task for clearing the glass, biting down on his lip to suppress screaming as he forced his eyes open and willed the precise hands to pull shards out. His face was wrecked further by the cool fingers of darkness plucking fragments from it next. He closed both eyes, feeling a shard that had been under his eyelid scrape his eyeball and crack further, and his hands moved across his face, pulling shards free as his own regrowing skin helped push them out. He felt the hands tossing them away grow damp with his blood. The worst areas clear enough, the hands moved more briskly over the rest of his body, starting with pulling shards of glass out of his physical hands. The second worst section was, of course, between his legs. He thought of a carrot peeler and smiled at that too. The one time it would help, and it was nowhere to be found. Then of course came more pain.


    His eyes were already healed by the time the shadowy limbs had worked their way down to his knees. He hurt like crazy and what was left of his lacerated skin was bubbling from blisters. But at the same time, fresh flesh was growing under it. He had one of his shadow limbs stretch twenty feet to break off a fence post. He delivered it to his real hand and thought of it as a staff, then swept it before him, imagining a circle of green plants.


    [Cross Skill: Circle of Life] activated, boosted by all the shrubs around him as well as having a stick that resembled, sort of, a wizard''s stave. The grass responded first, springing up, patches racing over to shrubs and trellised vines. The effect spread over the water and algae began budding between floating shards of glass. It swept over his skin, and the pain faded to a itching tightness. His old skin burst and fell away in bloody tatters that dried up as new flesh grew out of him. He crouched and picked up a few black crystals that had been inside his flesh from before, also grabbing one that had been trying to burrow out of him mid-fall and plucking it from his knee, bones and muscle shifting back into place as it slid like a knife from his skin.


    The voice he heard before was insistent this time. ¡°Corvayne... are we close?¡±


    He spoke aloud to himself as he rubbed the black crystals on the grass, leaving sooty trails where bits of his own burnt fat stuck to them. ¡°Easy. I know. Soon.¡±


    It was enough to quell the voice, even though it probably knew he wasn''t sure. He felt it drip back into his mind. A blessing and a curse, another reason he couldn''t have just given up.


    As he stood he heard the sound of someone running and Corvayne saw from the black suit that man coming was likely some sort of servant, so he smiled and snapped his fingers to draw the man over.


    ¡°The Baron told me-¡± Corvayne started to say then stopped, and spit some glass out, as a few shards must have just went right through his lips into his teeth. Again. ¡°The Baron said to supply a robe after testing powers.¡± A black vine in his soul tugged, but it lost traction after only a scrape, as he had heard the Baron say all those words, just in a different life.


    He stepped up to the confused servant and pushed the black fragments he had pulled from his own skin into the mans hand, and the man beamed and pocketed the high density essence, then ran off to find Corvayne a robe. A group of ladies in summer dresses came down a path, no doubt to investigate the noise as well, and Corvayne nodded to them and then turned back to looking off at the glass storm, chin held high even though he was naked and holding a fence post. In most places, there was zero chance he could get away with it. But the Baron''s private fortress was a junction between people who seek pleasure and people who sought power, so seeing him look confident and maybe even bored at standing out in a charred garden naked, they just tittered, eyed him up and down over their fans, and strolled by.


    The man with the robe returned and Corvayne set his pole down, dressed, then grabbed it and excused himself from the garden and walked confidently past white marble buildings along the brick path and down some steps to a pool where attractive men and women were sunbathing in swimsuits, Corvayne just strolling past and smiling and waving and letting his shadow hands snag a pair of sunglasses off a table to put on, oh drinks? Sure, cheers to the waiter, past the pool house, along a covered walkway to the main manor, sipping the drink and stepping aside as two staff wielding guards ran down the path, one stumbling to stop near Corvayne.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°Did you see som-¡±


    Corvayne nodded and pointed, schooling himself to act annoyed. ¡°He had a skin suit and a spear, nearly knocked me over! I expect the clothes his stunt ruined to-¡±


    The guard was already gone so Corvayne waved and kept walking. He did miss his own spear, truth be told. He walked past the front doors and two steel golems (or regular old robots) that would probably recognize he wasn''t on the guest list, instead heading around the side of the huge building, following the wall around and back to where the main house connected with a wing, looking for the right spot then smiling when he spotted a window open to let fresh air in. He lightened his body and leapt the seven feet or so to hop through the window.


    The interior of the Chateau was opulent, of course. The floors were cool marble mixed with carpets as soft as velvet. The walls were gold and silver, gleaming with details and arches and flourishes and lined with tables propping up priceless vases and classic works of art that no doubt were worth at least millions of credits, one after another lining the walls... Corvayne didn''t need any of it.


    He walked down the hall, past open doors where all kinds of chancellors and dignitaries and other movers and shakers were visiting, but Corvayne wasn''t here to kidnap or kill them. Other doors held women and men to serve whatever needs those VIPs could want, which didn''t tempt Corvayne away from his mission.


    He paused for a moment at the kitchen he passed, the aroma of grilled monster meat first making him hungry, then making him miss the old Monk Mister I, and finally the smell of tomato sauce made him think of Pulcura and he felt his mood blacken and the temptation to steal a meal left him.


    He strode past the rest of the doors to the central entry hall, a three story tall room with arches supporting airy glass work that gave anyone inside a view of the dark storm swirling outside the bubble, as well as the fake sun. The center piece of the room was a glass case with four huge steel humanoid constructs around it, guarding the Baron''s most prized possession. Corvayne stayed on the outside of the room, avoiding the case even though the mask within was a sign of who he was after.


    The Magus, a wizard of unimaginable power.


    He was near one of the curved stairs to the second floor and the Baron''s private chambers, but passed them as well. The Baron himself deserved to be blown apart but it wouldn''t do anything for Corvayne goals, and his sense of where to go was telling him there was nothing important there. Instead he moved towards the huge door under those stairs, leading to the royal guest''s quarters, which was flanked by two ten foot tall chrome golems.


    Corvayne walked right up to them as they shifted into alert and he swung the wood post one handed, his mind overlapping it with a blade as he used a sword technique with it. [Cross Skill: Sundering Blade] destroyed the wood but also caused the golem to crumple and fall apart along with the stick. Bare handed, Corvayne turned to the next golem, making his non-drink hand a blade and once more using [Cross Skill: Sundering Blade], his forearm and pinky blasting through the golem by the door with only a few stinging bruises.


    Corvayne didn''t bother with the four other metal men guarding the mask and punched the door open then kicked it shut after he slipped in. He finished his bitter and bubbly wine in a single gulp and tossed the glass to the side where it shattered on the black marble floor. He paused when he saw a splinter of the glass tumble in front of him. Given what he went through to get here, he laughed once at the brief worry he was going to step barefoot on a single shard of regular glass.


    He walked down the hall, stopping to pick up a side table holding a vase. The vase shattered as it fell but he ignored it and kept walking, tugging the table legs off until he had 4 makeshift clubs, of which he tucked 3 of into the sash of his robe.


    Two more golems stepped out of alcoves ahead of him as he approached the end of the hall, this time armed with longswords. They moved slow, so Corvayne walked towards them, stopping as he got within their reach and leaning back as the first tried to take his head, lightning quick. Corvayne was relaxed as he dove behind the slice, moving to stand next to its off balance leg where he swung the humble table leg at the thick metal limb and used [Cross Skill: Thresh], the little wooden stick becoming a shadowy scythe for a moment and shearing the golem''s leg off. Corvayne then bashed his shoulder into the golem, sending it hopping for a few moments before it clattered into the ground.


    He felt danger and rolled forward, twisting to face his remaining standing golem. It had jabbed, trying to skewer his back. Corvayne responded with another power, grabbing an extra leg from his belt and using [Cross Skill: Juxtapose] as he caught its metal wrist, then let the skill help him pull and shift until he had swapped with the golem, somehow dancing tons of metal around him as he took his fresh club and used [Cross Skill: Backstab], driving the wood deep into the metal with a satisfying meaty sound that only he could hear. The weapon splintered into sawdust, but did its job punching a hole in the enemy wide enough for Corvayne to squeeze through. As the metal figure dropped Corvayne went around and gently pried its sword from its falling hand then let it slam into the floor.


    He looked back and saw a few guards. He raised his sword at them. ¡°Halt or be crushed!¡±


    They did not halt, so he crouched to touch the inert golem, draining its gravity with his powers to reduce its weight to maybe forty pounds, then lifted the metal arm with one hand and swung it like a giant metal frisbee, letting go of his gravity power to have the armor fall twirling onto the oncoming guards and smash them into the floor. He had to brace himself because right as the golem landed on the guards something slammed into him six times, battering his front and back. The Curse of the Lamb manifested for each guard the attack had smashed, paying the damage he did back on Corvayne with a little interest. Unlike the one that lashed him for lying, it was not so easy to fool.


    He staggered to his feet, bruises protesting, a tooth cracked, and pushed through the door to the royal guest wing, wiping blood from his mouth while he looked about the dim inner chamber. He felt the compass''s internal force, the one he had tasked to find him a way home, pointing forward to something in these halls. Leaving a foyer he moved into to the arranged guest rooms, decorated like a horny thirteen year old''s idea of a harem, a hot and humid set of rooms smelling of smoke, rose water, sweat, and other things less savory. He stepped on and broke a cheap three eyed mask, and his lip curled despite himself.


    Signs of his quarry.


    The rooms in the wing had ornate fabrics hanging between sections which Corvayne crept under, moving around pools covered in rose pedals and through rooms lined with exotic velvet couches no doubt used for coupling, slipping around a room where woman lounged in a daze, religious or medicinal he could not say. He trekked down stairs, past another room with reclining couches around a table for eating, another full of painful toys, pushing forward through each barrier which only added to the haze of smoke.


    As he crouched under one drape a burning blade slashed over his head, the glowing red-hot sword narrowly missing him but still flash-frying his neck for the second time that day. Corvayne rolled forward into it, and threw his own sword up to parry a trio of magically enhanced strikes before leaping back, a searing red line swirling languid smoke around it. He felt a start as he saw his enemy.


    She looked like an old friend: a tall alien woman with bright red skin that shimmered with other colors as she breathed, silver hair slick with sweat. Was she really the ally he had fought countless battles next to? Corvayne felt sweat pool on his back as he kept his blade up to guard, circling her as she started to circle him. It could be her, or it could be an enemy his senses were projecting as her. Or was it her and was she seeing him as an enemy?


    The Curse of the Betrayer, the curse that had ruined him, wouldn''t let him know. He couldn''t trust his senses, and if it was her, she might not be able to trust hers either.


    She charged and he moved up to meet her, their blades locked in a high speed exchange they''d done many times before in practice and once before to try to kill one another, A high blow, a low thrust, Corvayne feinted his usual response of trying to go for her hand then angled his blade for her neck, but of course her huge sword moved like a wolf to snap at his arm, forcing him to twist and cut short, then step around her follow up, their bodies moving closer. Corvayne had mountains more skill, a master beyond master countless weapons, but she had long ago eclipsed him in everything else, levels and her gear evening the playing field and then some. If he had a spear, his spear, he might be favored still.


    He took whatever he could, which was that he had a slightly smaller weapon and could get inside her reach, and she saw what he was going to do and ducked and punched his gut. He kneed her right between the legs as he staggered away from her, his own attack hitting him the family jewels. He HATED the curse of the lamb! Thankfully, she seemed less used to pain, staggering as well before her skin turned a furious deep red and she charged, swinging her huge flaming sword in wild arcs, splattering liquid fire onto the walls where they melted gold, knocking over a hooka and splashing lavender scented water everywhere, and blasting apart a bed in the room with an overhand strike, sending feathers and fabric flying and adding the smell of burning cloth to the fragrance of scented smoke and burnt metal. He had a shot at her back from her over-extending on her overhand, but he hesitated even with the blade poised.


    He slapped at her using [Cross Skill:Juxtapose] as she turned, their positions switching faster than possible, faster than a snap he turned and she responded as if she had seen the trick a thousand times, because she had. Corvayne backed up, leaping over the trail of lava behind him as he sized Lady Blood Claw up. The real one.


    If it was really her, was she going to try to harm The Magus, or join him. He tried to disable her, shooting his shadow hands out and she dove away from the broken bed as the hands slammed into the wreckage and snapped back into Corvayne with elastic vigor. She cast Haste with a single hand gesture and he focused his Gravity on her, removing the advantage. She glared at him, and he nodded, then he used [Cross Skill: Flows Like Shadow] to morph into a wave of darkness, blades striking her and his former friend perfectly meeting the strikes, waiting for him to finish moving before she pressed him with strike after strike he had to bat away, his sword growing hotter and hotter as her better weapon tried to slash through it and turn his head into slag. He tried stomping her boot and she kicked out to avoid it, missing but forcing them both to back off, holding for a moment as they both gasped for air.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± He asked, both to The Bride inside him and Lady Blood Claw, who''s visage shifted from red to dark yellow as she wallowed in anger and confusion.


    A faint voice in his head called out, ¡°Another bride! Another bride lives!¡±


    The whisper was of no use telling him if it was Lady Blood Claw or a different woman who, possibly rightfully, was trying to kill him, but Corvayne looked down and saw a shadow hand gently rest on his blade hand.


    He looked up at Lady Blood Claw, her shifting skin moving to blue even as she was poised to kill, just like last time she had tried with everything she had to kill him, and Corvayne saw the hint of the girl he knew was behind the fearsome alien warrior, a look of fear and loneliness like his own, and Corvayne was tired. He missed her, and Grunt, and everyone else, he missed Cascadia, and he missed Wick.


    If it was a fake Lady Blood Claw... Well, he was tired of being ambushed by assassins who looked like his friends. He was tired of killing people who looked and sounded like them, not knowing until they dropped if he had just betrayed the few people who cared about him.


    Corvayne looked across to her and dropped his sword.


    The weapon tumbled on a discarded pillow as Lady Blood Claw blurred to move right up at him, her blade cooling enough to sting his neck as she held it there, her eyes meeting his as he willed her to see him for who he was, for her to somehow have beat the curse, to have someone else to talk to.


    It was a long moment of Corvayne standing there, with his internal compass pointing at Lady Blood Claw, locking his eyes with her opalescent cuttlefish pupils, either as the one he had needed to kill or the solution to his problems, and he saw her start to waver, somehow terrified of his act of surrender.


    His gambit, his guess that dropping his weapon would stay her hand... the stalemate dragged on, silent, both perhaps knowing that the curse would feed each other lies. She had her still hot blade at his neck, but he welcomed it. He wrapped himself up in the feeling of being so tired and wanted to move on, to take the next stop into his life or into his death. He looked at Lady Blood Claw and dared her to follow him, to gamble for a better life, to live with him on the razor edge of death.


    It brought back feelings he had forgotten of a time long ago...

 Chapter 1: Exile

    From his stone perch Corvayne looked out over miles and miles of desert, its gently curved dunes and smooth rock patches stretching to the horizon beyond the gleaming metal walls of the village. If he sat on any side of the tower''s flat roof he''d see the same thing in nearly every direction, broken only by the monolithic spire of rock where The Magus lived as well as the single stone road that exited the village gate to vanish into the sands.


    He had looked over the line of gray against the yellow and brown of the desert countless times, letting his eyes sweep from the wall off to the point it merged into the shimmering horizon of the desert. When he was looking out there, he could imagine that today was the one where he''d stand up and say ''enough''. He could pretend that today was the day where he''d take his spear, pack his things, and set out into the desert to either die or finally find a life worth living, somewhere out there.


    Instead his view fell back to the village that surrounded the old watch tower he had retreated to. The oasis caught the sun and sparkled a lake sized body of water surrounded by vibrant green plant life with little hints of docks and bridges around the edges. The wild circle of green trees, bushes and reeds by the water gave way to smaller rectangular patches of plants surrounded by a maze of tan barriers where rooftop gardens and homes crowded each other. A road laid with colored and white stones formed a faded mosaic separating the first two rings of homes. He followed the road as he might walk it, between more stone homes with rooftop gardens and colorful cloth awnings, flapping gently in the breeze that he felt a moment later.


    He heard the sound of someone opening the gate to the roof and felt himself tense, reawakening the dull pain of bruises both new and old. He had just lost another spot to hide. Turning back, he expected to see One-Last-Note''s huge form come sauntering up the stairs. Today had been the first time after a one sided spar he had simply dropped his practice weapon and walked off. Maybe he''d end up being pushed off the tower. He felt a little startled that he barely cared.


    The visitor popped her head up from the stairs. It was one of his peers, Spears-Like-Water. She glared when she saw him, clearly annoyed he was here. He had no illusions she''d be glad to see him. He had once tried to impress her, but there was no love for him to find in the village. Her beauty had long ago lost its luster for him.


    He turned back to the view. He watched a wisp of a rare cloud drift through the blue sky. Maybe she''d push him off. Or maybe he had got lucky and she didn''t know. It was worth asking her.


    ¡°Did he send you to look for me?¡± He said, turning his head to be heard but not looking at her.


    Spear''s voice carried exasperation as she responded. ¡°Of course he did you worthless coward. I thought I had picked the least likely place to find your ass.¡±


    He found her confusing as ever, as instead of turning around or further listing his faults she walked across the flat stone roof and sat an arms length away from him, staring out at the desert and shaking her head, hands at her sides.


    ¡°I can''t figure out why you''d look for me if you didn''t want to actually find me.¡± Corvayne said evenly.


    ¡°One-Last-Note is as clumsy as he is fast and strong. He wouldn''t be caught dead trying to climb past the missing floors down there. I thought you couldn''t climb them either. As always, you are only impressive when it screws everything up.¡±


    Corvayne wanted to say something back, so much he had to press his tongue against the roof of his mouth. He was already angry at himself for losing control today by leaving a lesson. He took a moment of satisfaction from imagining her face if he told her the only warm feeling she inspired was the same one he got from stepping barefoot into fresh dung. He could do it right now. Lay into her, call her out as a viper who struck with her barbs when he was at his lowest.


    He kept his mouth shut. Spears-Like-Water had been one of the few young Watchers who kept doing patrols with him. For all the times she had called him useless, as well as ''an ugly pile of muscles'' and ''a stone faced idiot'', she had dragged him back to the village after a bad run-in with the monsters. Twice.


    He had been left behind by others after bad fights, one time his legs too damaged to carry him. The pair he was with had told him they couldn''t help him and left. What followed was four days of dragging his torn body miles across burning rocks and sand. No one had said anything when he pulled himself under the gate, aside from him being made to run laps around the wall for missing practice once he could walk.


    All that meant he''d never snap back at Spears. She didn''t leave him for dead and she had started just ignoring him more and more over the years which meant he could ignore her back. That was as good as he could do amongst the Watchers. Not love or respect. No adventure either, just duty. He knew nothing beyond the mindless monsters out in the desert. He looked over at Spears-Like-Water, who had dropped her duty to find him, and summoned his courage.


    ¡°Hey. Why do you hate me? Why does everyone hate me?¡± He could see her twitch in annoyance at being asked. ¡°I''m serious. I don''t know.¡±


    She turned from looking out at the desert to stare at him. Her frown was odd to him. Some instinct in the back of his head was telling him there was something wrong about it. It wasn''t the first time he had such a thought there was something wrong with everyone. He suspected it was another effect of stress slowly breaking him down.


    Her voice was strange when she spoke, a cool drawl that didn''t carry a hint of annoyance. ¡°The Magus would know.¡±


    She turned her head to face the dark towering rock and his eyes followed. It stood separate, away from the oasis and the village. The wall surrounding the village perhaps would have been a simple circle if not for the huge stone sticking up like a thumb. It stretched the wall into an egg shape to wrap around the quarter mile tall rock.


    Corvayne pushed himself to his feet and stepped back from the edge. He couldn''t keep heat out of his voice. ¡°Trying to get me kicked out of here? Would it kill for anyone to give me a straight answer once?¡±


    Spears looked at him, then back out to the desert. Her voice followed him as he turned, mockingly gentle. ¡°If you were gone, I''d not have to deal with you.¡±


    Well same to you, he thought. He walked down the stairs then thought about where he could hide next as he reached a dimly lit chamber missing most of the floor. The library? No, Keeper-of-Silence would ban him for a week if he learned Corvayne dragged One-Last-Note in there. The large sword trainer and the librarian got along like oil and water.


    He found another hand-hold and started climbing down the fifty feet or so to the next intact floor, passing through light where something had punched a hole in the wall of the tower. Where else could he go? His home was at the bottom of the list. His father was the village''s leader and nobody else in the walls could match the level of disappointment his own father summoned whenever they had to interact. His father wouldn''t even think about shielding Corvayne in any way. Aside from a small chamber that was his, his father gave him nothing. No gifts, no advice, not even food. Corvayne lived and died off what was provided to everyone. He actually laughed a little thinking about his father standing in anyone''s way for him.


    He made his way down the tower and out of the brick ruins that dotted the hilltop. He thought about where he could go. There was one Watcher that had never veered to cruel comments. Spaces-Torn-Asunder was a tall thin man who had been teaching him how to make and fix the machines they used around the village. The man''s workshop, along with the library, was a rare place where he could forget everything around him. Maybe he could hide there.


    He started walking along one of the smaller paths between buildings, his feet deciding that was where he was going before the rest of him was sure. The alley weaved between both homes and jagged half-carved rock that had yet to be carved into a dwelling. It was slightly curved, meaning he couldn''t see or be seen if someone was more than a hundred paces ahead or behind him. Following it would lead him to the far side of the village where the majority of workshops were. As he walked he thought about causing trouble for Spaces. If he brought an angry sword master at his heels, would the quiet engineer turn cruel like everyone else?


    Corvayne was a little distracted and his instincts alone made him duck as a meaty hand reached out to grab his shoulder from a side street. Corvayne twisted to see One-Last-Note''s eight foot tall frame slide into the street, unnaturally smooth in his movements.


    ¡°Corvayne! Wandering away during a lesson? Very rude. You know, I''m quite big on manners!¡±


    Corvayne didn''t bother glancing over his shoulder, nor putting his hands on his spear. He couldn''t fight. Not to win. He had to run. He looked forward and sprinted down the street, heart pounding. There was no way he could outrun the man, but he''d make the trainer pay in sweat if he wanted Corvayne''s blood.


    From behind him he heard mocking laughter, then One-Last-Note''s called out, ¡°Really?!¡±


    Corvayne saw a pair of women talking ahead in the alley, holding wicker baskets. He had no room to go around so he dove under one basket, then tucked into a forward roll to avoid the other. He caught a floral scent as he sprung back to his feet and kept running. He spared a glance back and saw the sword master leap into the air and kick off the curved walls to sail above the women.


    ¡°Asshole!¡± a woman cried out from behind him. He was coming up on a road. Someone was pulling a cart holding a refrigerator across the alley exit. Corvayne vaulted and slid across the hot metal top, then pivoted to run down the cross street. From behind him he heard a crash and more swearing.


    He ducked and weaved around the few people in the street. He hoped One-Last-Note had a terrible time trying to keep up as he lept over a planting bed and inside the corner of an awning to cut onto the next road.


    Corvayne saw the street was clear and veered into an alley, spotting a stairway that would get him to a roof. He hammered his legs against the stairs and lept to crouch on a stone banister then launched himself over the alley to land in a shaded elevated patio. A glance back and he met the sword master''s furious gaze at the base of the stairs. He passed on gloating to keep running up another flight of stairs, vaulting over half walls between roofs and zig-zagging around flower gardens. He turned sideways between chicken cages stacked on one roof, had to leap over a man and woman sunbathing on another, and duck under hanging sheets on the next. When he saw the next major cross street coming up he pivoted to the side behind a third story and took stairs two at a time down to ground level in the same alleyway he had originally been following.


    Corvayne checked once to make sure the master wasn''t in view, then flipped the thin cloak that he wore to keep the sun off over his head, and started calmly walking the direction he had been running, backtracking. He kept firm control of himself as he heard pounding feet somewhere behind him. He walked as if he was a normal man strolling home, hand on chin as if he was thinking of calling in a favor for some fruit from a farmer on the way back. Each step he was sure the huge sword master was about to knee him in the back, but instead he walked through floating feathers out of alleyway and kept going unimpeded. He saw a broken awning off to the side as well as a few people helping each-other stand, then made his way around a furious man with a dented refrigerator and broken cart talking with two women carrying laundry baskets sprinkled with grit.


    The alley he was in ventured past taller homes as it transitioned into what was little more than a tunnel with a crack of light coming from above. That light widened into the bright of day as it delivered him to the sparring grounds bored into the surrounding rock. The four round arenas and the open air entrance from the street formed a four leaf clover shape, each wing a cylinder about three hundred feet across and thirty deep with smooth stone walls leading up to open sky. He saw his spear trainer Waves-Within working with younger Watchers in one quadrant. In another he saw two of his peers sparring with wood swords while three others just sat on the dusty ground talking. He turned his head back to the path and saw a woman stepping into his path and block the exit back into the alley.


    Diamonds-In-Passing had her huge two-handed blade slung across her back, the sunlight catching it and her skin with little sparkles that probably had something to do with how she got the name. Corvayne didn''t think she''d chop him in two, but he didn''t want to deal with her at all. The woman was only a little older than him but bossed him around.


    ¡°Corvayne!¡± She called, stopping him in the middle of wheeling on his foot to walk back and out the clover''s base. Too slow.


    ¡°Diamonds.¡± He responded coolly, turning back and acting like he hadn''t stormed out of this very spot a few hours ago.


    ¡°Dropping a lesson and wasting a master''s time is a terrible thing to do. You are training to be a warrior, when will you act like one? What did running away do besides making him madder? Hmm?¡±


    A lesson had a point. He had skipped a beating.


    ¡°I made an error.¡± Corvayne looked downwards, trying to sound apologetic. He was certainly sorry about a lot of things. Diamonds was younger than other trainers and often helped troubled trainees. She often could be seen sitting with them on the bench, listening and offering encouragement. She was everyone''s friend and big sister. Just not his.


    ¡°You need those lessons. As the elder''s son you have expectations and a duty to lead. You can''t do that when all you do is show how weak you are, over and over. Will anyone follow a fool? Or a lazy man who doesn''t finish his training? How would your father deal with the shame?¡±


    Corvayne''s father being brought up snapped something inside him. ¡°Screw the expectations and my father with hot coals. Tell me, is it a lesson when I''m on the ground getting hit? Is that training a leader? Why spar five times as long with me? Am I supposed to be five times better then everyone at everything?¡± He stepped forward. ¡°What about you? You come over and nag me. It''s always me who''s a fool. Me who''s a coward. Tell me why you hate me. You? Someone? Anyone!¡±


    Corvayne saw something in her face that felt wrong, the second time in one day. His head started pounding in pain as for a moment he could swear he saw her look, terrified? Sad? Hurt, even?


    He blinked and the feeling faded as he saw her face was the same impassive one she always looked at him with. He never got a reaction from anything he did, aside from her picking it apart. The pause this time was odd. It didn''t look like she was even thinking. It was like a mask was on her face. Corvayne had read plenty of pulp novels where the hero goes mad. Was this what they were trying to convey? The feeling something was off when nothing was? He looked around. Everyone had stopped training to watch.


    Her voice was odd when she finally spoke. It had lost the stern edge it normally had, instead taking on a hint of teasing he had never heard from her before. ¡°Corvayne, you really are a fool. You''ll die never knowing.¡±


    He took a step back, suddenly worried she was going to use her blade. He took another, meeting her eyes while glancing at her legs to see if she would move, then he turned and ran out the front onto the street and down it, not caring that people were staring at him.


    He was getting tired. Not of running, which he could do for days. No, this village was getting old. He ran for a few blocks then slowed and veered off the street to enter the three story library, letting the door close quietly behind him as he entered cool shade. He tapped the grit off his boots and stepped onto the rugged stone floor, the smell of books and the sight of three floors full of stories and tales giving him a momentary bump of relief. The metal racks that held books were stuffed with a variety of sizes and styles. A few screens had been placed at a stone desk on one side of the library. Part of him wanted to go to the row of paperbacks and lose himself in a sword and sorcery story.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Oh it''s you.¡± drawled a voice from his side. Keeper-of-Silence was an imposing looking man stuffed behind a too-small desk. He carried some fundamental aspect of gloom. Perhaps it was his dark expression, dark hair, and dark eyes on top of black robes. Not that it diminished him. In the dim corner of the library he looked as formidable as any other master of their craft.


    ¡°I want a map.¡± Corvayne said as he turned to meet the mans gaze. It was rare that he matched anyone''s stare, but something in him had given. He was ready to go.


    A rare hint of mirth passed the librarians face as he stood. ¡°Oh, planning a field trip? Well I have to give you credit, there''s a lot of people who insist on failing forever. Why, It''s nice to see you finally follow through on something haha!¡±


    Corvayne responded, ¡°And then, finally, you''ll no longer be the second most unpopular Watcher!¡± while matching the man''s fake mirth.


    The man frowned, snorted, then stepped over to a stone rack, whipping a rolled up piece of parchment out. It was sort of surprising that they didn''t keep more and better maps. The librarian carefully unrolled the tan cylinder on one of the wood reading tables. He looked across the table. Corvayne didn''t bother meeting his gaze, instead studying the map to absorb the information on it.


    It wasn''t very helpful, as it was of an entire continent and was clearly drawn for someone following a tangle of roads, with beasts filling in spaces the map maker had no clue about. He guessed that the dot mark with a lone road surrounded by monster infested dunes was home sweet home. A few places with names like ''Goldmere'' and ''Cayembrick'' were rimmed with green triangles and he thought of walking through forests or cresting a hill to see the ocean the first time.


    ¡°Really boy... it''s about time, isn''t it? You''ve been coming into this place and sulking for years, since you were a little bird. I''m sure you heard that they chase after anyone who wanders off on an adventure, but you know... they won''t look for you. You don''t matter to your dad, and that oaf who was after you will just pick the next weakest Watcher to bully.¡±


    ¡°I think they''d drag me back out of spite.¡± Corvayne muttered. The librarian liked to remind everyone they didn''t really matter. Perhaps the man was projecting? Not that he was wrong in this case.


    He finished looking at the map and looked up and nodded at the man, who swept his hand across the map to roll it up. Corvayne was heading out the door when he heard the man call out behind him.


    ¡°They''d miss your backpack before they missed you!¡±


    Corvayne stood in front of Spaces-Torn-Asunder''s workshop. The man was in, he could see light coming from inside, the grind of metal being shaped and cut. He imagined, what? Walking in, saying ''I''m leaving.'' and what would Spaces do? He''d look and say ''okay''.


    He feared doing it. Stepping out into the unknown. He feared the engineers bland dismissal. What would be left in the walls if the man hated him? This wasn''t the first time he stood here thinking would be the last. His courage started to falter. Maybe he could grovel, get the worst duties for a few months, and just keep going. Keep going. Going where?


    His head throbbed in pain as a memory surfaced. He had told someone hesitating to go forward. The memory was strange, it was like clawing at smoke to try to remember it. Was it a girl? Corvayne shook his head, the pain fading as he stopped looking back and started thinking about his future.


    There was one thing he needed to do. If he was going to be free, he had to know why. Was it him being the worst warrior? That he kept getting injured on patrol? Something the mother he had never known did? Had he done something he didn''t know as a child?


    He was going to ask the wizard in the rock.


    He walked away from the last line of homes, out into shattered boulders that surrounded the huge stone. He had gone here before to hide in the strange glass tubes around it. The liquid distortion of a force field encircling the rock emphasized that no one was to disturb The Magus. It should be impossible for anyone who didn''t have one of the dull crystal keys to get past it to the entrance way.


    Corvayne could see the glass tubes resolve into scaffolding-like lattice. As he came closer they appeared to merge into the rocks around the main tower, weaving in and out of the barrier protecting the rock. The tangle of pipes bending and curving and cutting across the path to the rock kept him moving at odd angles as he started to spiral into a spot behind the tower. When he had to squeeze against the pipes or heft himself over them, they felt cool to the touch. He knew they were not really glass but rather some other nearly indestructible material. Not entirely indestructible he thought as he ducked under a tube into a clear space by the barrier. Small bits of the glass-like substance was strewn on the ground before a broken segment of pipe. It had fallen from above in just such a way that it formed a tunnel into the shield. It had been there for at least a year, possibly longer.


    Corvayne crouched and crawled through, slipping inside the barrier. He followed the rock around to a stairway leading up to a carved entrance. Faces carved into the rock around the door looked sternly out. He didn''t know anyone depicted but the sour expressions made him feel more at home, probably against what the carver intended. Perhaps ancestors? No, they had features that seemed inhuman, horns and scales and fangs. The stone doorway itself was about twenty feet tall. Passing into the entrance the temperature dropped. There was a hallway, then the passage started to wind its way down. It was nearly too dark to see, but a diffusive light let him make out the stairs.


    Down and down he went, losing count of twists and turns. At last he turned a corner and saw warm light, dim as it was, coming from an open space.


    He exited the tunnel into a round cave with a lit fireplace and rugs laid apon the stone. This particular one looked like melted wax and was about fifty feet in diameter. While most of the circular walls had objects against them and looked solid enough, there was an opening in the wall leading down to further caves. He heard a hint of running water from below. Away from that gap there were book shelves flanking the fireplace, made of old wood and stuffed with books. He was a little surprised to recognize some of the paperbacks he had read mixed in with rune marked tomes that towered above stacks of smaller tomes and at least one cookbook.


    The center of the room was a large leather chair, facing away from him. From it he heard soft tapping, a sound he had mistaken as water. Moving forward he saw a figure wearing a grinning white metal mask with three black circles instead of eyes. The figure was wearing hooded robes decorated in shimmering dark greens, black fabric wraps all up and down their legs and arms, and a pair soft slippers and propped on a worn footrest. Corvayne saw the figure was carving a fist sized stone totem with a toothpick-sized piece of metal. It was totally enthralled with what is was doing, ignoring Corvayne as it continued its tiny tapping noises.


    Corvayne leapt back as the figure threw both the needle and totem behind him then clapped.


    ¡°Ah a Guest! At long last, sit sit! Yes! You are in the presence of... The Magus!¡±


    The Magus moved his hands with wiggling fingers back and forth and a chair similar to the worn one he was sitting on appeared as if being pushed through the floor. That gave Corvayne even more pause: there had been jokes in training about fighting mages. He had thought they were jokes. He had never seen magic used before. A weak voice in his mind was trying to say it could be technology he just didn''t understand. A coward''s way of avoiding the term magic.


    In the pause as the figure stared at him with the unmoving mask he found himself not as shaken by the revelation of magic as he should be. Corvayne then realized he was still standing so he placed his spear against the chair then lowered himself into it. As old as it looked it was probably the most comfortable thing he''d ever sat on. The Magus waved his hand as Corvayne was sitting and produced a pipe out of nowhere. A puff of green smoke snuck out as the wizard placed it on the solid mouth of his mask and somehow took a puff. Exhaling the smoke, it curled into green thorny clouds that faded away.


    ¡°Mister... Corvayne.¡± The Magus was looking at him, then shook his head. ¡°Why can I say I''m not surprised that you''re the first person who dared to come in here?¡±


    Corvayne shrugged trying to play off how surprised he was that The Magus knew who he was. ¡°I''m the black sheep of the place.¡±


    ¡°Oh come now. I think you''re appreciated... in your own way!¡± The wizard gestured again and a mirror appeared, showing him the oasis. ¡°See, people are looking for you already!¡± Indeed, he could see Spears-Like-Water and Diamonds-In-Passing both looking agitated. Spears probably was worried she''d get punished for suggesting he go see The Magus. Maybe not, usually the blame fell squarely on him. The Magus took another puff, then let it out in a little chortle. The vision changed to a mirror again.


    ¡°Well Corvayne...¡± Five seconds passed. There was something very off-putting about The Magus''s cadence as he spoke. ¡°Since you came I might as... well put... you to use!¡± The Magus summoned a plate of cookies by simply holding his hand out, as if an invisible waiter was there to hand him a tray. ¡°Did... you want a cookie?¡±


    Corvayne looked at the weird shadowy black hand of the wizard, then up at the tray of cookies. It was filling the damp cave with the wonderful smell of baked goods. He waited a moment to long to shrug and start reaching for the tray.


    ¡°A pity! No COOKIES!¡± The wizard flung the plate and it vanished along with the cookies flung out with it. ¡°Well, as I was saying, the world... NO! The... whole universe is in grave danger!¡± It was weird how he would make such a proclamation then stop to enjoy two puffs of the pipe, as if the universe being in peril was a totally normal thing to say and didn''t need any further thought.


    The Magus breathed in, sighed, then seemed to jolt back to memory. ¡°Where was I?¡±


    ¡°World comma no comma whole universe is in danger.¡± Corvayne prompted.


    The Magus quietly said ¡°Thanks Corvayne.¡± then gestured and another mirror, larger and more ornate, appeared. In it lightning blasted cities of stone. Meteors fell. There was screaming people running.


    ¡°Long ago I brought magic into this world. Hurray! And with it destruction, death, chaos. Woopsie! Hence me being bottled up here with you all as my loyal protectors... BUT!¡± The sudden motion and shouting made Corvayne stand for a moment. The Magus didn''t have anything to add, simply letting his arms fall as he collapsed back to sitting and put a hand on his head.


    When he spoke it was as soft as a feather, forcing Corvayne to reluctantly lean in even with the threat of the figure before him shouting again.


    ¡°Mages... are going to learn my magic. Chaos, Death, Destruction will return. You... are not the fated one... or chosen whatever.¡± He coughed.


    ¡°Uh, Sir The Magus? I''ve never heard of any fated anything.¡± Also he was breaking the pattern! Why not dump whatever was coming on the chosen one or whatever? And Corvayne knew it was coming.


    ¡°Of course not. No one with a name like Corvayne...¡±


    Corvayne resisted the urge to whip his spear off his back, but only just. His name was... terrible. His mouth was going before he could help himself ¡°Everyone else in the village has better names! Radiance-Like-the-Sun. Two-Moons-of-Sapphire. Bearer-of-Burden. Worlds-in-Awe... and yet I got a bad vampire name. It''s not even the same sort of name!¡±


    The Magus sounded particularly sane as he spoke. ¡°I think whoever named you had it out for you from day one my friend.¡±


    Corvayne thought of his father. That was entirely possible. He fell back into his chair, letting his shoulders slump. ¡°So I''m not the fated one or whatever...¡±


    ¡°Well, as I was saying, I don''t expect much but I must MAKE... do. Here''s your impossible quest: Go forth and build an organization to fight these... leeches who would turn the gift of magic to their OWN nefarious ends.¡±


    Corvayne tilted his head. ¡°What?¡±


    The Magus sighed, placing his hand on his mask as if he was getting a headache ¡°I''m taking you and turning you into a weapon against my enemies! The entire universe is being invaded, and magic is a tool for those invaders! Those mages out there are punching holes in the world. I cannot do what needs to be done from here! Stop the mages. Fix the holes.¡±


    ¡°You know I''m just a... guy with a spear. You could ask anyone else.¡± Corvayne''s doubts about his worthiness extended to the wizard. He was waiting for The Magus to ask him to remove a paper ward or go find him a key or bring him a cup of virgins blood. The showing off, the theatrical ''epic quest'' felt like a childish attempt to target his desires. Yeah I read books, what of it Magus?


    ¡°Pfft. Fine. Do whatever you want.¡± More childish behavior from The Magus as he folded his arms and turned his head, like he was pouting.


    It was an excuse to leave the village, and The Magus didn''t expect him to do anything. Maybe he''d be spared getting exiled.


    ¡°I''ll see what I can do, but I suspect that if I ran into a wizard, the first thing I''d do is die miserably. Assuming they are a worthy threat.¡±


    ¡°You weathered me just fine.¡± The Magus sounded bitter for some reason. ¡°Now leave! I have great expectations from you!¡±


    ¡°No, you don''t. But that''s fine.¡±


    ¡°Of course. You are no leader of men. Just kill one bad mage or something. Then bring me back some cookies! I misplaced my plate of them.¡±


    ¡°I have a question first.¡± Corvayne looked at the mask, swearing that when he blinked the three eye-marks shifted.


    ¡°Oh I know this one. Why? Why do they hate you? Well, they envy you. Who else has come to see me?¡±


    ¡°I had never come here before this.¡±


    ¡°Yes. But it''s such an honor... no. You want to know why they REALLY hate you? Go out and do my task, and I''ll tell you!¡±


    ¡°You gave me a rather open ended-¡±


    The figure rose, and was taller than Corvayne expected. He snapped from playful to furious. ¡°I DID NOT CALL YOU HERE TO WHINE! GO!¡±


    The air in the room had grown thicker and Corvayne''s curiosity was losing to self preservation as the figure towered over him.


    ¡°Excuse me then.¡± Corvayne slipped from his seat and walked double-time up the stairs and back out into the sun. He didn''t realize how cold he was until the desert air blasted him. Crawling out from the tube he could see the sun was setting soon. Dinner then. Perhaps he''d leave tonight... Magus''s orders. They might even give him a hover bike.


    As he rounded the last bend out of the debris and glass surrounding The Magus''s home, he saw four of the village''s council and his father standing before the steps. His father had his arms crossed, and there was no mistaking that he was furious from how he tensed. No hero''s send off for Corvayne! Off to the side of the five warriors he saw Spears-Like-Water and Diamonds-In-Passing. It was odd they were both there. Usually when there was a punishment for him they didn''t add spectators. There was a moment where he felt something clouding his head. He squinted at Spears. For a moment he thought he saw her looking concerned. He shook his head. No, she was sneering at him.


    His father spoke. As always he had the weight and warmth of a stone slab. ¡°You have always been a failure. My only child, a waste of talent. But this? This is beyond my wildest dreams.¡±


    His father was him but older and angrier. A crown would make him king of a bunch of rocks. Corvayne met his eyes for a moment then looked away at the other warriors with him. One-Last-Note of course was there, the huge man''s distaste evident. He saw Waves-Within, his spear trainer, standing tall and distant from everything. Moon-Laughing-With-Stars had a hand on the hilt of her katana. Spaces-Torn-Asunder was the last in the lineup, his face impassive. As his father went on, Corvayne saw his engineering teacher look over at his father then shake his head. A shred of regret wormed its way into Corvayne''s heart.


    He snapped back to his father droning on by a rare hint of passion. ¡°... EVERYTHING to train you. Protect you. Nurture some sort of good in you. But it''s a waste. A fool would see that The Magus is not to be bothered. Yet you what, strode into his home demanding a boon? You are not a Watcher. You will never be one of us. Even the most simple rules that...¡±


    The others nodded along. Weirdly, for a moment Corvayne felt there was something off about what his father was saying. He felt that humming he had felt before and he rubbed his head before his attention snapped back to his father dressing him down.


    ¡°... But it matters not. I am cutting you off. You are not my son. You are not a Watcher. Pack your things and leave before the sun rises tomorrow. I exile you.¡±


    ¡°Exile.¡±


    ¡°Exile.¡±


    ¡°You have no place beside us.¡±


    When did he ever? Corvayne had to stifle the urge to just start laughing. He walked down the steps and aimed to pass between Spaces-Torn-Asunder and Spears.


    The older man looked like he wanted to say something, but was struggling. Corvayne held up a hand. ¡°I don''t blame you Spaces.¡± The rare person he''d miss.


    Spaces relaxed and nodded. ¡°I know. I can''t say more.¡±


    Spears looked at him and said nothing. He stopped. ¡°Thanks for saving my skin twice.¡±


    He had nothing more to say beyond that, and kept walking.


    Corvayne took his only his spear, his pack, and some extra water. Before the sun had finished setting he was striding out of the gate.


    The full moon lit the desert more then enough to travel at night. Corvayne saw a sea of glittering pale gray sand and the road as a dusky blue. He was alone, but didn''t feel much different. The growing sadness he felt was regret that he had to be forced out. He should have done this on his own.


    He scanned the horizon as he thought about his past. Both empty. He shrugged and kept walking. Maybe he should have stolen... borrowed a hover-bike. Traders died if their wagons broke down in the middle of the road. On the other hand, he had gone through so called ''hell months'' where he had lived in the desert with the same gear on his back. As long as he didn''t wander into the deep wastes he would find food he could kill, and he had a little tube that collected water from the air. With the supply he was carrying alone he could walk for an entire month without a single worry. It''d be hot, but he had his travel cloak for shade.


    He appreciated the moonlight, the orb above a steady companion as his pace let him drift into a flow state, aware of his surroundings but letting his body just move. With ample light the dangers of the sands would stick out like a sore thumb, and otherwise he just followed the path. Then from one step to another, he lost the road.


    Now, Corvayne was pretty sure he wasn''t tired. In fact, he had more energy now then he had getting out of bed that morning. He accepted that he was... had been a bad Watcher. But anyone who got lost following a well marked road with nothing else around would have been dead meat trying to navigate in open desert. So he felt both titanic embarrassment and a little twinge of panic when one foot pushed the other down into sand, then took another step and he couldn''t see the road at all. He made a mark in the sand for his facing, spun to see if there was anything around, then started walking backwards from the mark. In a step, the little groove he had dug with his foot vanished. He made another mark, and took a step forward, then turned. The mark had vanished.


    ¡°Well that''s not good.¡±


    He looked for the tallest dune, and took a step in it''s direction, and the entire landscape blurred for a moment.


    ¡°That''s also not good.¡±


    The sand was thinner where he was, and he could see some rock formations jutting up between flat packed grit. A sign he was heading into the deep wastes. So he turned around and started jogging backwards. Yet each step it seemed he''d see more signs of twisted rock formations, stone flowing like puddy. He had been taken to see the outskirts, and now he was being shown slides of the place where even the Watchers feared to go.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± In one step, he saw a titanic black shape out of the corner of his eye. The next he was in a dry valley, then another he was in a forest of petrified trees. A step caused the moon to set, his next few taking him through deep darkness. The rocks and dark dunes took on sinister shapes in the near perfect dark, thorny fingers of dark curling around him. Then a step later, it was almost morning. Another step, and the sun popped above the horizon, a gleaming red orb blinding him. Holding a hand to block it, his next step suddenly popped it above his hand, blinding him again. He started running, the deep waste twisting around him. In the back of his head he cursed his father, The Magus, and the desert itself.


    Everything was blurring as he ran or walked. He felt the heat of the day start to sear him, but then he''d take a step into freezing night. He tried to stop himself, but he just kept moving, and there was a merging of day and night and then he felt himself falling asleep even as he ran on and on.

 Chapter 2: A new City

    Corvayne felt himself walking in the dark. He had to blink as there was a flash and then two eyes open. They were pools of black, shimmering with a thousand colors of stars and rimmed with gold. Hair spun from blue oceans and deep green forests swirled around them. In the dark, a girl knelt in a dress made of lights, glittering white with a thousand suns trailing off behind her into red and purple dying gasps of novas, all merging into the dark.


    ¡°Come find me. I''m waiting for you.¡±


    Her voice wakes him.


    Corvayne woke and had a blimp of a thought: [99.9%]. Whatever that meant. The next thing he felt was his foot landing on sandy soil, his eyes opened, and then he started stepping again and hesitated as confusion swept through him. He blinked and actually stumbled; it felt he had been sitting on his legs for three hours and then tried to run. Once he had recovered his posture he took stock of the situation: He was still in a dry hot place with sand near him. His vision adjusted for the harsh light and he saw hills forming a line in front of him. Even more heartening: He had found a road again. Not the same one, as instead of packed dirt it looked to be loose gravel. Disoriented and trying to remember the map, all he could be certain of was that he was far from home: soft rock like limestone came from distant quarries.


    His shock at gravel, marvel of marvels, was quickly eclipsed by wispy strands of grass at the sides of the road. He turned to look back and saw a flat wasteland of thin sand and cracked earth, very different then the endless dunes outside his home. Former home. Even if he wanted to return, the road up into the hill he was on seemed to end in the desert behind him. Oddly enough, he could swear in front of the metal guard rail sticking out of the sandy soil there was a distortion. Maybe something to do with the weird effect that dragged him through the wastes just now.


    ¡°Now what?¡± He asked aloud, almost sure that the Magus had done something that caused him to be spit out somewhere else. He checked his backpack to make sure he had his supplies and frowned. Unless his memory was playing tricks on him, someone had swapped his backpack with a different old one. He had taken his trusty cloak-canvas bag. His current pack was the same size but well worn leather. His gear inside also looked different. The only things that hadn''t been replaced with similar objects were his water purifier and condenser (though the purifier looked like it could use a cleaning, there was some dried dirt on the outside of it), his cloak, and his spear. His canteen had been made of the same chrome as some of the buildings in his village were. The current canteen he was holding looked like it was simple steel. It had water in it which put him a little more at ease: he guessed he had a few days to fill his condenser. The trading trinkets were in a different bag, but thankfully were mostly there too. Some of the less valuable ones such as the nice sapphires he had found after killing a ripper horror were missing however. How did he drop them?


    It wasn''t important: he had water, and he had his camping stuff. He figured he could get up into the hills he saw the road slithering up, take a look out at the top, then see if there was a landmark he could place on the map he had looked at. Looking at the white rocky bluffs dotted with dead grass then sweeping around him, he took a full minute to soak in the details. He was a little lost but had to smile at the sweet, sweet freedom!


    No obvious monsters were lurking nearby so he started walking. It was warm: the air near the ground shimmered in the heat. It wasn''t as hot as home, though he had never spent so long walking up any given dune compared to this single hill. He pulled a flat straw hat he had seen while rummaging around in the pack out and slapped it on his head, then put his cloak away. The hat probably made him look stupid, but it meant he could catch a little breeze as he walked.


    Cresting where the road got over the hill, he could see there was another taller hill after a dry valley. Looking sideways at the crest of the hill, he saw the road actually crossed another road that followed the ridge. He decided to walk into the valley rather then follow the cross road, partially because there were scraggly little trees down there! It gave him a kick to see so much tall grass and so many plants next to the road without any water near it, even if it was all brown and bleached white. It all put him in a good mood. Sure; he was hopelessly lost, but with a road and a place to look out from, he could probably find water somewhere along the road. He didn''t have any of the food he had packed but given that he could hear crickets in the dry brush he was pretty sure there was at least something to eat.


    Cresting the top of the next hill took him another hour of steady walking. When he finally got near the top of the hill, of course there was an even taller one that the road he was following zig-zagged up the side of. Perhaps it counted as a mountain? He had seen pictures of them in books, but wasn''t sure if this was of the right scale. He got a treat: walking downhill was easier and it was getting cooler.


    The valley he was walking through had a dried out creek bed with the gravel road being interrupted with a bridge. As he reached the foot of the mountain the road transformed: someone had shaped stone so the road was now solid rock under his feet. It didn''t look as well done as when someone used a stone melter to make art, for example, but the scale of smoothed stone running up the slope ahead was impressive. He recalled in books they called it blacktop.


    Walking up the switchbacks took him the rest of the day. He was high up enough now that the air was a little thinner then what he was used to and he was thinking of putting his cloak back on for warmth, but cresting the top he felt immensely satisfied at the view of the brilliant pink and purple clouds of sunset. Then he looked down and he couldn''t help laugh and smile. There was green grass EVERYWHERE. He started running, feet pumping as he flew down the much more gentle back slope of the huge hill then waded into the field ahead. It was all alive and soft and cool and he could feel dew on them. The field he was wading through sloped down along with the road between mountain tops, snaking into wispy clouds that thickened into a whole sea of grey. Following the side of the road down, he found himself walking into a quiet and cold gray fog. He took his cloak out and slung it on, putting the hat away.


    For the next few hours he pushed down into the mists. The road glided over bridged ravines full of swirling clouds, snaked along mountain rivers, and dove down more endless switchbacks. Most of the time everything was indistinct outside his fog little bubble. It was hours of walking down when night came. He had read books talking about heroes who had to brave mountains and many of them sparing no expense to describe the fate of some foolish vagabond or perusing enemy subordinate who took a wrong step off a cliff. It was all those accounts that guided his decision to stop rather then wander around in the mountains in the dark fog. He set himself up away from the road wary that bandits would prey on him: they always went for the weak. He strung a tarp against a tree with a flap letting him see most of the rocky field with a few sparse trees he was camping near without being obvious from the road. After what felt like spotty rest in a lean-to tent, Corvayne woke to the sound of heavy vehicles driving down the road into the valley. It was a long line of trucks passing every twenty seconds. They were much bigger then any of the hauler trucks he had seen at the village, probably 20 feet tall and painted bright orange with black lettering that seemed to swirl a little in front of his eyes. Corvayne rubbed his face to push away the sleepiness, folded his tarp up, packed it away, and with how dark it was simply crept up to the last truck in the line as it rolled past and hopped up onto it. After all, who would pass up a free ride?


    The truck stopped about three hours of driving down into clouds, rain, and a staggering array of trees. It was morning now, gray and wet. Corvayne was trying to process a place where it rained for more then 5 minutes every few years. When the trucks stopped, Corvayne could see they were slowing down to pull into a fenced off area to the side of the road. Whatever was in the huge building it was clearly dangerous as it was surrounded by barbed wire on the fence and had a manned gate. It didn''t look like a village so he hopped off to the side as the truck as it turned in and simply kept walking down the side of the road. He only stopped once to marvel at seeing a fern in the wild, and once to skewer a rabbit sitting out in the open. At least it looked like a rabbit: these ones didn''t have the horns a proper rabbit should.


    When another line of orange trucks came along going his way (or perhaps the same ones) he once again hopped on the back of the last one and let them carry him another few hours downhill. When they pulled into what he thought looked like a combustion engine refueling station he hopped off before the truck he was on stopped. He considered stealing one for a half beat but decided he''d enjoy the walk and not risk being branded a criminal. More and more buildings were popping up along the road throughout the day. He didn''t see many people out and about but the few he did looked to be humans and didn''t pay much attention to him, so that was a good thing.


    It was well into night when the road Corvayne was following reached a huge bridge over what looked like a titanic amount of water. Even more stunning then this unimaginable stretch of water, going as far as he could see either way, was an amazing rainbow of colors above the water.


    He saw lines of neon blues yellows and pinks arching into the sky, mixed in with orange lines of street lights and blaring white squares as huge screens plastered on buildings glittered with messages imploring him to buy or try things, mixed in with lined lights up to towering spires on top of buildings, everything blaring out over the water like a thousand fireworks all frozen in a moment. He felt intimidated but hopeful. A big city! He would find his path in life here. He was so exited to take his first step that he almost missed the sign next to the bridge that said ''Welcome to Cascadia''


    Two days later Corvayne understood money in the same way he understood rain: it was a novelty from books a week ago, and now he was sick of it. Walking the vibrant streets of the city he found he needed it for everything aside from water. Of course water was free: it fell from the sky nonstop. The only bit of luck he had was that everyone spoke the same language as he did, even if it sounded a little weird in how they said everything. But after two days in Cascadia he was having doubts about his ability to handle the huge city. He reviewed, mentally, how he had gotten to where he was at the end of these two days: Walking in the rain on a long bridge arched over a bay, wind blowing cold water into his face as he looked at a gray sky and gray sea.


    Crowds were the first trial: him and people did not mix. Corvayne, as the village outcast, would never walk near groups if he could avoid them. There was no one else on foot during on his walk into the city but the streets filled with people quickly after he made his way into the twisting grids of buildings and streets. He had, as he walked, been steeling himself to speak with strangers to try to find water, food, shelter, and work. But there was a sort of impenetrable quality to the city and it''s crowds. The city itself on street level was stores windows and doors all built into stone and steel and glass. He had expected perhaps a market with things arrayed out in the street, and people asking him to trade. Or a lucky encounter where he bumped into someone. It made sense: that sort of thing happened to heroes. He was not a hero. He had walked forward for a good two hours just lamenting that he didn''t know how to greet people.


    The second was just learning how to navigate the city. Everything was radiating light like a thousand suns that bounced off the streets. In a vista that was neat, but he had to adjust to the overwhelming amount of stimulus all around him. Even late at night or early morning, crowds of people were still out walking through blasting displays of light, further reflected in wet streets and sidewalks that doubled the number of lights. Worse: There was no avoiding having people near him or surrounding him as every road had a tempo that bunched him into a crowd a block into the city. Cascadia had a lot of small people and they packed him in to the point where he couldn''t move without knocking a half dozen of them over. This happened everwhere and was part of the clockwork of the city broadcast through a very specific alternating light that dictated when cars went. No pedestrian nor car broke the commands of little signals and he was not willing to risk finding out why. Thankfully, as the night gave way to his first morning, he discovered nobody cared about him... aside from him having a spear.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Thus his third problem: as the first dawn in the city came he started getting weird looks. He had noticed no one else in the city was armed besides the occasional police officer wearing a holstered pistol. Perhaps people hadn''t been looking at night, but during the day he had a fellow start stalking behind him. He turned and faced the man and saw a badge, which he knew meant some sort of inspector or constable. The officer then started a conversation with him.


    ¡°Hey buddy, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Greetings. I am walking and enjoying the rain.¡± Corvayne responded.


    ¡°Yeah I mean, what''s with the spear?¡±


    ¡°It''s a standard Watcher spear.¡±


    ¡°Okay... where are you from?¡± The man had folded his arms. Something about the pose and look rubbed Corvanye the wrong way. Still, this man might let him ask a few questions as well.


    ¡°The Village of the Watchers.¡± Corvayne stated matter-of-factly.


    ¡°Is that a neighborhood?¡± The officer asked, reaching for a pad of paper.


    ¡°It''s... yes I suppose it would be.¡±


    Corvayne finally put his thumb on why he didn''t like talking to the officer: The fellow had a tone and demeanor like sword master One-Last-Note: He was overtly friendly word for word but it was cut with an undercurrent of complete contempt. Corvayne might have put up with it from the sword master himself, but that was because sword master was 8 feet of pure compressed death with the eyes of a roc and honed reflexes to match. Looking over, he could see the officer was in poor shape, distracted and in need of glasses. He''d risk bad reflexes given everything else. Corvayne just placidly answered the next question about his name and waited for the officer to squint down at the paper he was writing on. Once he was glanceing down and writing, Corvayne smoothly stepped back away from the officer, turned around, then took two steps forward to walk behind a crowd at a nearby crosswalk. A tug at his collar flipped his cloak''s colors to match the colors and outlines of the crowd. He held his spear in front of him: only the dark tip would be seen by the officer if he was looking for it.


    The cloak seemed to be able to sense what colors and shapes were around it and blurred his outline down to his boots. It supposedly also smudged any basic surveillance directed at him. In the reflection of a car stopping he could see the officer stumbling about around trying to find where he went and Corvayne calmly walked across the street with the group ahead of him as the light changed a moment later. Lesson learned, he wrapped a spare black shirt around the spear blade and pretended it was a walking stick. Somehow that was enough to totally avoid any further issues with the law. It was very clearly a concealed spear.


    Corvayne then tried his hand at speaking to someone who wasn''t an officer. ¡°Hello!¡± he said to someone waiting at the light with him a few minutes later. The man, wearing a suit, completely ignored him. He tried again and the man looked at him side eyed but resumed staring forward.


    He turned to a woman. ¡°Hello?¡± he tried a third time.


    She turned to him and glared. ¡°Fuck off creep.¡±


    Further conversations established that whatever his wants or needs, money was the only way to get it, and no he couldn''t have any. When he took shelter from the rain and asked a few store keepers about buying or trading for one of his trinkets, a handful of thin white metal rods, he was told they were calling the cops. He was annoyed, as the traders usually would flip for anything out of the village. One helpful man told him to get a job, which made sense, and he thanked the gentleman who for some reason flipped him off. He then quickly discovered that a job wanted codes from him that proved he was himself, an address, his date of birth: He didn''t know how they organized dates! And so at the end of the first day he found himself sitting at a molded plastic table across from a tired man wearing an apron with a cartoon chicken on it. The tired man pointed him in the direction of Old Town. There were places there that would take in someone with no money. Just follow the yellow train line. The man waved away any thanks and Corvayne steeled himself. If he could not find something, someone, anything in Old Town, he might be doomed to forever be a pariah.


    The first night he slept for free by climbing over a gate blocking a ladder that lead up to a nice secluded ledge under a bridge. He slept poorly with the rumble of trucks on the concrete over his head, dreaming of his father dragging him through the crowds back to the desert. A nightmare that made him happy to wake up elsewhere, even if he was still without money and starting to get hungry.


    Once he was down from the bridge he set off for Old town, following the yellow marked train tracks above him. Crossing bridges away from the brighter parts of town lead him through places where the neon lights were replaced with rows of apartments then to neighborhoods where the apartments looked worse to another neighborhood where people stared at him like hungry desert wolves until he pulled his shirt off his spear.


    The yellow line led him to the bridge he was on as he pondered the last two days, across the gray expanse. He could see ahead the largest buildings he''d seen since entering, mismatched towers that loomed in the dark. He tightened his grip on his spear. A spearman moves forward. He pushed his chin up, and set off for Old Town.


    It seemed Old Town was on the exact furthest point from where he had arrived. Looking down the street ahead of him he could see there were lots of factories, warehouses, and tall poorly maintained buildings that looked like they were cobbled together out of spaceship parts. They reached out to each other with pipes and had huge banks of fans lazily spinning in three story tall arrays. Rattling train cars came rolling in from across the water then jetting back off over the bay on steel girders stretching out like a thousand threads of a spiders web above him, cast in dark outlines by harsh lights at stations far above the dim streets.


    Elsewhere in the city the water had given everything a new gleam, or ran across steel and glass like rivers. Here the never-ending rain made everything look slimy. The streets were poorly lit as where there weren''t buildings boxing the roads in, they were shadowed by a tangle of the train lines and highways that all converged and split above the island. He could see and smell that the city was not taking care of trash as it spilled out of dumpsters and bags thrown or kicked out of the way. People were sleeping wherever they could to stay out of the rain. The footing was even worse then the mountains he had walked through: huge potholes full of water and uneven sidewalk and people sometimes laying in the sidewalk in makeshift tarp tents. People were so beaten down they didn''t even repair their clothes properly. Never leave home without thread and a needle! Night was falling and he was feeling annoyed. Everyone was staring, glaring, or ignoring him. The exception were two large men who started following him as he had begun looked for an alleyway to pee in. He felt clever that he had used his nose to figure out that was where one peed in this part of town.


    Corvayne had no idea what they wanted, but he didn''t feel like having another conversation with someone who was going to end it once he admitted he didn''t have something. Money seemed the fastest one: A girl who had asked him if he was looking for a good time probably gave herself whiplash with how fast she turned to ignore him when he told her he didn''t have money. What did she want to do for fun, anyway? Whatever that was about, he had to pee. He jogged down the fairly well lit alley to a dark patch and started urinating on the wall while keeping his eye out for the two who had been trailing him for the better part of two blocks. They arrived at the entrance of the alleyway and he helpfully called out. ¡°I''m peeing and I don''t have money!¡±


    The men looked at each other.


    ¡°You''re full of shit!¡± One of them called out.


    ¡°No, I''m emptying my bladder.¡± Corvayne tried to stay polite.


    They started walking up to him as he finished. He turned to face them and noticed they had knives.


    ¡°You''re going to give us everything you have, or we''re going to cut your cock off and stuff it in your mouth.¡±


    Corvayne was stunned. Just like any given book he was face to face with humanity''s oldest profession: the bandit.


    They were checking over their shoulders as they came closer to him. He held up a hand.


    ¡°I have a question. But I can''t pay you to answer it.¡±


    They stopped for a second and glared at him. ¡°What the fuck are you talking about?¡±


    Corvayne cleared his throat. ¡°If I kill you while you are try to rob me, will I get in trouble here?¡±


    One of them laughed. ¡°Are you fucking for real?¡±


    The other laughed too. ¡°Look at this joker. Rough him up.¡± They put their knives away.


    Corvayne was confused then got it: They''d get into trouble if they killed him. So he''d probably get into trouble killing them. So no spear.


    He could run, or climb up a dumpster to a fire escape. No, leaving these guys here would mean someone else could get waylaid. When the first one came in swinging with a feint he first thought to just move back, but the man overextended so he grabbed the wrist coming in and pivoted to bring his elbow up to the man''s jaw, then threw the man to the ground by spinning and lifting with his shoulder. With a solid thud one of the bandits landed in the grime under his boots.


    Corvayne stepped away from both men, the other swinging but missing him. He stepped around the man''s arm and did a quick jab to the bandit''s jaw, which broke it, and saw the man he had tossed grabbing his knife. He was on the ground so Corvayne was ready for the man to throw it but instead he started standing up. Corvayne walked up, kicked the knife out of the mans hand, then pulled him into a knee to the groin, which also broke it.


    As both men were rolling on the ground sobbing, Corvayne knew his next step was waiting for the person trying to train these two rookie bandits to show themselves. Then of course the real fight would begin. Should he finish them off instead, before they could call for back up?


    Corvayne had many shocks to his system and perspective during the last few days, but his biggest one was coming when a scratchy woman''s voice cried out from behind him ¡°That was awesome!¡±


    He turned to regard the woman: Young, short, thin or scrawny (take your pick), with thick glasses and dark circles under her eyes. He had never seen a woman like her before. A sort of manic grin was plastered to her face. Corvayne turned the other direction to see what she thought was so impressive... and didn''t see anything but empty alleyway.


    Corvayne turned back and saw a looming form behind the girl. ¡°There''s another bandit behind you, careful.¡± but the third and largest man simply stopped next to her and held his hands up. Ok, maybe not a bandit?


    ¡°You dismantled the two with your bare hands! It was great!¡± The woman cheered, stepping forward.


    Corvayne felt something tickle his brain as he turned back to look at the men laying on the grimy ground of the alley. He did something great? Wait. What?


    ¡°You... think that was impressive? Wait, you think... I''m impressive?¡± He blinked, mind totally blank.


    She nodded. ¡°Yeah! Are you some kinda martial artist? You were toying with them then took out the trash! It was like watching a Kung-Fu movie.¡±


    The large man next to her did a few chops in the air.


    She tapped his arm and indicated the two men who were now limping away behind Corvayne.


    ¡°Get em!¡± she said, perhaps needlessly, as the big gentlemen had already started jogging past Corvayne. Corvayne put him and the sounds of two men getting further dismantled out of his mind. The woman coming up to him commanded his full attention.


    ¡°I don''t think I was that impressive in beating those two. I''m not fit to call myself a martial artist. Where I come from, I am the weakest and would be soundly thrashed if I implied I was even thinking of calling myself a warrior.¡± It felt good! He had gotten praised! He kept his face neutral.


    She looked at him. ¡°Oh. So you''re nuts. But that''s fine, you''ll fit right in here.¡± She was smiling at him! She looked him in the eyes!


    He sighed as his happiness fled. He didn''t want to tell the truth, but it would come out sooner or later. It was better to be blunt, even if for some reason he didn''t want to tell this woman something that might push her away. ¡°I do not have any money...¡±


    ¡°We are not robbing you.¡± She laughed while looking up to him.


    ¡°I mean, I need money.¡±


    ¡°...are you going to rob us?¡± She tilted her head over and looked to her partner. Looking behind him Corvayne saw the big guy just rolling his eyes and grunting as he lifted two prone forms over his shoulders.


    Corvayne looked back to her. ¡°Miss, I think you fundamentally misunderstood me.¡± He adjusted his bag before continuing. ¡°I''m not looking to steal. I was leading to a question about how you would make money here. I''d rather not partake in the oldest profession.¡± He would not turn into a outlaw, stealing from travelers.


    She took a moment and looked him up and down. ¡°I wasn''t suggesting it but... Hmm. Maybe you could make a living like that.¡±


    ¡°As I said before: I do not wish to become a bandit.¡± Well, perhaps if he was a good bandit. One of those steal from the rich and give to the poor.


    ¡°That''s not the oldest profession.¡± she looked annoyed and her cheeks got flushed.


    ¡°Farmer?¡± he asked. The big guy also looked at the girl questioningly, hands open, after Corvayne spoke. As if to say: Well, what''s the answer?


    ¡°Eat a dick. I''m going.¡± She turned on her boot heel and started walking out of the alleyway.


    Corvayne hurried to follow. ¡°Wait! I am sorry if I offended you. If you could assist me in finding work, I will be in your debt.¡±


    ¡°Name!¡± She barked without turning around or stopping.


    ¡°What?¡± He could see her shoulders sag and her head droop. A sigh.


    The woman spoke again. ¡°I will help you. What''s your name?¡±


    ¡°Corvayne.¡±


    She stopped and turned around. ¡°Really? Corvayne?¡±


    ¡°It''s a stupid name.¡± He muttered, feeling deep shame. She laughed a little, but then she smiled at him, and the difference between her grinning crazily and her little natural, almost shy, pleased smile made something in his brain click. She wasn''t the first woman he''d seen or met or talked to, but she was the first person to ever be happy to see him. He felt some strange pressure moving through him, the inevitable thrust of some internal spear that wanted to carry him closer to her.


    ¡°Your name''s not THAT bad. My name''s Wick. A pleasure to meet you Corvayne.

 Chapter 3: Making the Rounds

    Corvayne, Wick, and her large friend carrying two muggers stopped a couple of blocks down the street at a building where two large men in coveralls were playing cards under an awning. The huge fellow with the thugs over his shoulders just sort of grunted and dropped them onto the pavement before the two card players. Wick pointed at the two prone forms.


    ¡°We found the guys who were robbing people. Corvayne here, new to town, took both of them out barehanded. Not even a SCRATCH on him!¡±


    The two card players looked at each other and one smiled at Corvayne. ¡°Good job. We upstanding folk gotta look out for each other.¡±


    ¡°All in a day''s work my good man.¡± He added the theatrical voicing that a proper bandit prince might take.


    The talkative one turned to Wick. ¡°We''ll let the boss know it''s taken care of.¡± Then he turned and nodded to the big guy. ¡°Good to see you Grunt.¡±


    The large man pretended to tip his hat twice.


    ¡°Oh yeah Corvayne, this is Grunt. Notice how happy he looks?¡±


    Now that she mentioned it, the glare he had was sort of... happy? Friendly?


    ¡°A pleasure Sir Grunt.¡±


    Grunt offered his hand, palm open, and Corvayne had pause and stare at the hand for two seconds to process that someone wanted to shake his hand. He almost leapt forward to put both hands around Grunt''s sausage fingers and shake hands with someone for the first time.


    ¡°Now that your all introduced... Grunt this guy says he needs a job..."


    Grunt nodded, then pointed at Corvayne and put his hand on his chin for maybe a second, then gave Wick a nod.


    ¡°Wow... just like that?¡± Wick took a step back to look at Grunt.


    Grunt pointed at his eyes, his head, then his chest. Corvayne was interested in how dedicated he was to either grunting or saying nothing at all. If that was the case he might have to get good at charades very quickly.


    Wick turned to Corvayne. ¡°He thinks you''d be perfect.¡±


    ¡°Oh, is it a problem I don''t have any of the things you need to get a job? Like an ID?¡±


    Grunt just motioned for him to follow, and so Wick came with them as they started making their way down the dimly lit street. What Corvayne noticed during the walk was that the pair he was with were well known. A few people walking into a rare neon lit building on the street waved and said hi to them. A lot of people knew her name, and a few also knew Grunt''s name.


    The three of them walked six blocks to stand in front of a a white corrugated steel building labelled ''BRINES'' in red paint. It was surrounded by a barb wire topping a short stone wall and sharing it''s block with what looked like another factory or warehouse. If he had to guess, the building was about six stories tall. Outside of the wall was flat cracked concrete all around and a dingy bus stop with spray paint caking it... well graffiti caked everything around here. Besides the two large buildings on this block, he could see further brick buildings with faded paint stretching back in the direction of the city. The warehouse was across the street from either a river or a bay with an empty lot buffering the dark water. There was a huge factory a mile distant on the water with furious orange lights and smoke steaming from it. Even with the open water to the side he still felt boxed in by thick girders holding up the train tracks. Those tracks were a hundred feet up with elevators on some of the buildings for pushing stuff up to load into cars and stairs to get up to the tracks. The extra layers of road and rails above him combined with the brick buildings butting up against the road made it feel like he was in a concrete and steel tunnel even though the warehouse was framed by a square of open night sky. It just struck him how different the environment was.


    Grunt waved a square of plastic and the chain link fence slid open to admit them to the grounds, then he pulled out a key and lead Corvayne in to the building itself. The smell of combustion and rain faded as he stepped into the warehouse. The place was dusty, full of tarp covered crates and rows of metal boxes. The overhead lighting was bright enough not to bump into anything but not much more.


    Wick pointed at the 10 foot tall containers stacked 3 to 4 high and taking up the majority of space in the building and spoke as they walked. ¡°Brines Brothers is one of the major trading groups. They own mines all across the planet. This place is where they store the slabs of Cascadian Jasper. Whenever demand goes up, this place empties out and they make a LOT of money. Usually comes around every 5 years that some planet decides Jasper is what they want their counter-tops made out of for the next 2 years. On and off they ship the smaller stuff to rock shops across The Collective at the rate of about 4 crates a month.¡± She went over to a small wooden crate and lifted the top with a little grunt, then showed off a small piece of polished stone that was an orange-red splattered with electric blue freckles and swirls of deep green. She tossed it back in.


    Corvayne''s only comment to that entire demonstration was ¡°Nice rock.¡± as there was some sort of disruption in his confidence and vocabulary that had to do with both being a fish out of water and a weird need to impress her. It was also influencing his eyes as he kept looking at her during the walk around the warehouse. He pushed himself to be more alert. Grunt nodded his agreement at the rock being nice, then went over to the side of the warehouse, past a pair of extremely bulky looking machines painted yellow that were probably used to stack and unstack containers. He entered a door and flicked a light on, spilling bright green florescence out in the other wise dimly lit interior. He came back with a clipboard and pen.


    Wick looked it over. ¡°Can you read?¡±


    Corvayne looked it over, the letters totally alien squiggles like everything else but still making perfect sense as he signed a few places. ¡°Seems I can.¡± His brow furrowed as he saw he had signed in the same squiggles, and he further furrowed it as he read more of the boxes.


    ¡°Will it be OK? I don''t have any of the things it wants. Honestly, I don''t have a place to stay.¡±


    Grunt smiled, and flicked a thumb over his back to a room up above the warehouse floor. Corvayne looked up at the two story tall loft attached to the ceiling as Grunt gently took the form back and started filling things out. He saw Wick nudging Grunt and whispering something. Grunt pointed at Wick, then back at Corvayne. She looked at him, then whispered something that made Grunt actually look at her shocked. She then turned to face Corvayne and smiled.


    ¡°Oh I guess you''ll be neighbors then! Grunt lives in a loft there. It was built for Brines Brothers managers to stay in if they were coming from off world.¡±


    Corvayne guessed what was next. ¡°They never come from off world.¡±


    She laughed. ¡°Damn STRAIGHT they don''t! This is the ass end of the galaxy my friend. The main branch has a few family here to run the mining stuff and act as slumlords if they aren''t cut out for dealing with rocks. You''ll probably run into the fail son who we just call Brines anyway. James Brines.¡± She had to think about it for a second.


    Grunt lead them up the stairs that buffered the inner and outer wall of the warehouse onto a catwalk that ran along the outside of the factory and under part of the loft. He went to the door to the loft then handed Corvayne a key. The drab gray steel door opened into a room with a table, a few plastic chairs, a microwave, sink, and a fridge. Everything was white, gray or black. A screen was positioned above the table with a few wires leading down to square boxes. Corvayne knew that gaming systems existed from reading and deduced that the colorful boxes were games. Grunt gave him the left suite: really a room with a dresser, a single wide bed and a bathroom with a shower. He felt pretty lucky, it beat sleeping outside where it stank of garbage. The only thing he did was take his spare clothes out and put them in the drawer. His pack was pretty hefty but he didn''t like leaving it behind.


    Wick lead them back down the stairs. ¡°Grunt will show you the ropes, but it''s really just walking the grounds every so often and making sure people don''t break in. If someone does, call the cops.¡±


    ¡°Can we stop them? I mean, without killing them of course.¡±


    Grunt nodded and smiled.


    Wick said ¡°You were right Grunt, this guy is perfect for this job. Yeah. If you can disable robbers do it. Just be careful, there''s some crazy gang that moved into town recently. ¡±


    ¡°We will see who has trained harder.¡± Crovayne mused. They''d have to be pretty impressive for him not to bet on whatever side had Grunt.


    Wick was looking at him then looked at her phone. ¡°I gotta run soon... Can you help Corvayne get settled in? Maybe get him started tonight? Oh... here!¡±


    To Corvayne''s delight, she took his hands then pushed a piece of paper into them: A flier for the Oldtown Cascadia Neighborhood meeting next weekend.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Wick smiled up at him. ¡°Real interesting meeting you! I''ll see you there right? Right?¡±


    Corvayne''s emotions, long since pushed into a sort of bland paste by years of conscious self suppression, were rebelling, boiling, filling him with long forgotten yearnings related to women in general because of the woman in front of him. They manifested in visions of eating ice cream together. Going to a park. Holding hands. Maybe attending a fireworks festival. Or a public execution: the books had a lot of ways for the deal to go down and he was finding himself game for anything. She blinked at him and he forced himself to stammer out a too enthusastic ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°Great! Haha, Nice to meet you Corvayne!¡±


    He watched her stroll out of the factory and close the door after herself from the window, then turned to his new roommate.


    ¡°Well Mister Grunt.¡±


    A single Grunt and an over acted offended look and stance. What was wrong? Hmm.


    ¡°Umm. Just Grunt?¡±


    Better. Nodding and a smile.


    ¡°Grunt. Can you show me what I need to do?¡±


    He was handed a thick binder called ''Security Protocol'', and Grunt flipped to the last two pages. The instructions could be summarized as follows: If someone snuck in, he kicked their ass then called the cops.


    Corvayne''s first night on the job was mostly following Grunt and reading through the rest of the binder as he walked the Factory grounds. There were catwalks on both the inside and outside that let him get a sense of the neighborhood. During the shift he asked Grunt how to go about getting food as it had been a couple of days since he ate anything. The large man had stocked the break room with microwavable food and even had a hotplate and tabletop grill for cooking other things. The larger man made a gesture for Corvayne to patrol while he cooked, and so Corvayne dutifully did the beat, walking around looking down outside, then coming inside and walking the rows and rows of containers full of rocks. Two patrols later he heard a spoon on a pot coming from the loft doorway. The large man had made 12 sausages and toasted buns, and happily served Corvayne three sausages heaped with something like spicy barbeque slices of soft meat and gray slightly sweet leaves that reminded him of cabbage. The combination tasted better then he thought it would and he had downed his six before he went from feeling a little weak from hunger to being completely full. Grunt took a few with him and ate and patrolled at the same time.


    In the morning two replacements arrived and Grunt talked to them down on the factory floor while Corvayne made himself a microwavable egg and noodle dish with ground sausage that was a major disappointment after the previous meal. He was more then happy to shower and sleep afterwards. In the afternoon Grunt showed him to a boiler room and garage attached to the back corner of the factory where the large man had hooked up a washer and dryer next to a workbench full of tools and racks that had a trio of what looked like hover-bikes. They had wheels rather then impulse coils which struck Corvayne as very backwards. There was also what must be a canoe, fishing gear, and other stuff that looked like sports gear: Lots and lots of baseball bats. Most importantly: A shelf full of random paperbacks. Corvayne had three sets of clothes that were all in dire need of cleaning so he took a book that Grunt suggested after which the big man started tuning up a large bike. Because he had to wash everything but a pair of shorts and his cloak which didn''t get dirty, Corvayne had to get a little creative with clothing choices. He took his cloak and wrapped it around his waist unrolled.


    The morning guards came in and seemed to report to Grunt, as did the afternoon replacement who asked him a few questions before starting, as did a woman dropping off two crates of what must be stones. All three congratulated Corvayne on coming aboard without any comment on him sitting on a fold out chair reading while shirtless in a weird make-shift skirt. The woman did stare at him for a while but looked away when he turned to look at her directly. Weird.


    Anyway, it seemed like Grunt, despite his name, ran the entire place. Given the state of the boiler room, he probably has done so for years. It reassured Corvayne that he wouldn''t be put on the spot any time soon and be forced to lie for his silent employer.


    The next night started smoothly. Corvayne had a sandwich before work started and Grunt was going to take him to a food store in the morning. He found a good mix of working and training: First jogged quietly around the inner ground floor, then would do a normal walk on the exterior cat-walk, then jog the inner cat-walk. The misty rain outside felt good so he left his cloak tied around his waist as he looked down on the streets. The first unusual thing he spotted: someone who had left a large flatbed truck on the street across from the warehouse¡¯s entrance gate. He also saw someone step away from the wall and look both ways down the street. He stopped and with a flick of his hand undid his cloak and wrapped himself in it, twisting the collar to make it blur his outline. Crouching, he watched from above as someone threw a large thick carpet with weights on it across the barbed wire top of the wall. There was a thunk as it hit the wall and he watched as four black clad figures clumsily pulled themselves over the wall. They were creeping to a side door, so Corvayne went inside as well and carefully stepped off the catwalk onto a 20 foot tall set of boxes, then down onto one that would let him drop right behind someone coming through the door. He decided he would avoid using his spear unless it got down to life or death and left it on his back.


    The door was breached a few seconds after he had positioned himself flat on the container. The thieves entered and split up, two creeping to the left and two creeping to the right, taking time at the corners before creeping off to the next set. Corvayne rolled off the container with an acceptably quiet landing, checked to make sure both pairs were not looking back, then decided he''d handle right side first. It was as simple as walking up and taking the back one in an choke hold as the front one was peering around a box, then pulling him around a corner. Corvayne waited until the man passed out then let him flop to the ground. His partner was creeping back towards him, quietly calling out the man''s name. Corvayne padded around the other side of the crate then did a quiet jog to get behind the woman, who was crouched near her partner. He pinched her neck while focusing on his fingers. He found it helped him perform the nerve pinch correctly if he thought of gingerly pulling a pickle out of a jar. There was an odd sensation this time. Like having an extra arm that had been asleep that started waking up. That was new, but the technique worked and the woman joined her friend on the floor, both passed out and breathing. With those two down Corvayne strolled down the wall they had entered from until he found the other two, sitting in a dark spot and watching Grunt on the catwalk by the loft crunching on chips.


    ¡°They didn''t say this was where that fucker worked!¡± one hissed.


    ¡°We should abort...¡±


    Corvayne was sadly about five feet behind the back one as the front one had turned around to hiss, thus was spotted. He reached out and there was something that helped him pinch the right spot and apply the right energy. Something odd happened as he touched the man''s neck: A thought calling out he was doing a [Nerve Pinch] and the feeling of something in him stirring awake was stronger, but perhaps it was because of Grunt''s book where the hero would think of moves in brackets in his head. Maybe his father was correct and he did read too much.


    He banished those thoughts as the remaining burglar pulled a gun. This close to the man Corvayne just slammed his forehead into the man and knocked him over on his side, then kicked the gun away before he could react. The guy pulled a knife and Corvayne groaned and kicked it away too. The guy then pulled his wallet out and Corvayne kicked it away. Oh that was just a wallet. By this point the guys hands were pretty much broken and he gave up. Glancing up, he saw that Grunt was watching and the big man looked... proud of him?


    The Police came and the crew admitted quickly they were after the one thing worth stealing in the warehouse: the two machines that lifted and stacked the heavy containers. High fives were shared, and Grunt took him to the store once their shift was done, helping Corvayne get his own supply of food as well as buying him a six pack of beers.


    Grunt didn''t talk, as it turns out, ever. After a few days Corvayne had spent enough time with him that he was almost certain he knew what the friendly man with head-sized hands was thinking anyway. Corvayne would have picked up on it faster, but there were barriers to his social understanding: well developed layers of self control, restraint, and sometimes wishful thinking that had kept him sane through years of relentless verbal abuse and the harsh environment of the Watchers Village.


    It was a thunderbolt moment that came after Grunt bought both of them coffee and donuts to share. He was about to take a bite of the glazed chocolate cake donuts when Corvayne came to realize that somehow he had made a friend. A brother in arms, fighting to keep riff-raff out of the warehouse, and trying to find new places for takeout. Grunt had an on again off again girlfriend, so it was a platonic brother at arms rather unlike in some gladiator books... most... all of the gladiator books he had found in the library. He recalled having to skip around to read about the fights as those authors did NOT tastefully fade to black when one warrior had to help his friend with a back muscle that was bothering him. How the best gladiators in their empire got so clumsy whenever there was an amphora of olive oil around also strained Corvayne''s suspension of disbelief.


    Corvayne saw Grunt was eating one of his donuts and trying to finish the cup of coffee (Which tasted terrible but seemed to be part of some sort of shared pain experience that every adult he had seen in Cascadia was participating in. Sort of like when the boys in the village would run around the outside of the wall barefoot, burning their feet horribly but oddly enough excluding him from this shared challenge and even odder pushing him to WANT to hurt his feet with them.) and reading a paper, a redundancy given the news was on.


    Anyone who had not, for example, seen Grunt secretly feeding a kitten that lived under the dumpster behind the warehouse might think he was angry or unhappy most of the time. Corvayne had picked up that Grunt''s appearance fit with what TV defined as the standard appearance of a thug: muscles, prominent brow with slightly beady eyes, nose that looked like it had been broken a few times, scars, tendency to be armed with improvised melee weapons... and so on and all this did not help him convey how he just wanted a relaxed life nor that he had boundless goodwill to most people he knew and many he never met.


    "Hey Grunt?"


    The muscled man raised an eyebrow. Not a challenge, it was ''Go ahead'' as he nodded a little.


    ¡°Are we friends?¡±


    Grunt laughed a little, smiled and nodded. Then gave Corvayne a little styrofoam toast, and sipped some coffee and pretended he didn''t burn his tongue.


    ¡°Thanks...¡±


    ¡°Hey Grunt.¡±


    Non commital grunt, eyes narrow, chin shoots forward a little: Hmm? Sup? What is it friend?


    ¡°Uh, hmm... with Wick...¡± Corvayne had been trying to figure out how to diplomatically edge around to the question he wanted to ask about her since she had taken over his thoughts over the past week. He went with a very neutral question ¡°Is she friendly to everyone?¡±


    It elicited a sort of half laugh. Grunt then stopped and both his eyebrows shot up. He smiled and shook his head. His hand half waved as if something was 50/50, then pointed to his ring finger and made an X with his fingers: She''s not nice to everyone. Maybe you have a shot. She''s not seeing anyone.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Corvayne put his hand over his heart and thumped it twice then pointed: Grunt. You are the best Bro.


    Grunt gave him a thumbs up then two thump to his own chest: You too. Anytime, bro.

 Chapter 4: The Goods are Odd

    Wick dropped by the morning of the Oldtown Cascadia Neighborhood Association meeting, bringing with her with a bag containing a few very welcome breakfast sandwiches from a greasy diner over by the stacks. ¡°Hey, you guys finishing a shift?¡± She had buzzed to announce she was coming in and Corvayne came out to the catwalk to see her shaking her umbrella off. Grunt came out of the office, nodded, then looked at the bag and wiggled his fingers. She laughed and tossed him a wax wrapped lump that filled the air with the smell of cheese and sausage. She handed Corvayne his sandwich once he was down on the ground floor. He noted that her fingernails were painted the same weird green as her hair. ¡°Hi Wick. Great to see you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah Corvayne right? I know this is dinner for you, I figure I''d butter you two up so you''ll come to the meeting and maybe help me afterwards with a little project...¡±


    Grunt held up one finger holding his sandwich, the other a thumbs up, but then frowned and held a second finger up then turned his other thumb down. He took a step with a leg tied to an imaginary weight forcing him to drag the foot: I can come to the meeting, but can''t do anything else after that tonight. Girlfriend.


    ¡°Oh right. Is Dawn coming too?¡±


    He laughed and made a catty fingers held out then flipped down motion: C''mon Wick. Of course she is.


    Wick smiled then turned to Corvayne ¡°How about it there, wanna make a little extra money as a bodyguard?¡±


    Grunt leaned in and looked both ways, then raised his eyebrows twice with a smirk: You trust this guy already?


    ¡°Hahah, you vouched for him.¡± Corvayne looked to Grunt. Bro! Wick looked at Corvayne, eyes a little wide and crazy but enthusiastic.


    ¡°Don''t worry, you''ll hear ALL about it at the meeting! You probably won''t need to lift a finger, just go on a little hike with me!¡±


    ¡°Oh of course, I mean, you don''t need to pay me at all, I still owe you for helping me find work and a place to stay.¡± Even if she had mostly just foisted him on Grunt, she had made the decision to do so.


    Wick laughed ¡°Come on, you sure?¡±


    Corvayne had fought countless strong warriors. One thing that they all had was a sense of when to go on the attack to score a decisive hit. He felt what that must be like: that lightning momentum pushing him forward to take advantage of an opening. ¡°I''ll do it if afterwords you buy me dinner.¡±


    ¡°Oh it''s going to be late, but sure. Why not? I''m a night owl too; I''m actually about to go to bed as well.¡± This prompted him to suddenly wonder if she had pajamas or slept in her underclothes. It was amazing what removing non-stop dread from his life did for letting him entertain new intrusive thoughts.


    The morning guards, a scrawny guy with an eye-patch and a woman with a lot of piercings were coming in. ¡°Hey Wick, meeting tonight?¡± The woman punched in while talking. Corvayne punched out, with Grunt gesturing for the man to go ahead and punch in as well. He smiled and tapped his wrist then his head: Grunt here''s getting that extra cheddar


    The guy laughed ¡°Milkin'' it Grunt. Mil-kin-IT.¡±


    Grunt tapped his head, rubbed his fingers with his thumb, stopped for a moment, then rubbed his fingers with his thumb and tapped his head: Got my mind on my money and my money on my mind.


    The guy laughed at Grunt then nodded to wick as his laughing wound down. ¡°Can''t wait to hear what you got for us tonight Wick.¡±


    Corvayne suddenly felt a little fear: was she that popular?


    Wick helped dispel some of his worry. ¡°Yeah! It''s good. I''ve got more people to bug... and Corvayne, you had better be ready to be up all night!¡± She gave him a playful punch, then spun and walked out. The eye patch guy was looking at him with something like awe.


    A solid 8 hours of sleep later, Corvayne was walking with Grunt down Copper Mill Avenue to the Old Town Community Center. The gloomy morning had turned to a gloomy afternoon, with dark clouds pouring rain. Only a few lights were on in either apartment tower flanking the community center. Despite both buildings looking imposing and possibly haunted, people with a variety of colorful umbrellas and tarps were streaming into the double glass doors between them. Grunt took a rain coat and he wore his cloak: it was waterproof and far more comfortable. It also had changed colors to match the grays and browns and blues of Old Town. Given that he might need to bodyguard, he had of course taken his spear and pack with him.


    The interior of the community center was faux wood paneling, floor tiles yellowed by age, and some cheap looking sound absorbing material in a grid above. The center actually was called Saint''s Retreat because it had a small monastery attached to it. Corvanye could see there was a hallway out to a little garden courtyard and there was even a simply red robed avuncular monk coming down said hall. Grunt waved, and the monk waved back. ¡°Ah Mister Grunt. Did you need me to take over the vow of silence?¡± Grunt smirked then made a lips zipped motion. The monk clapped. ¡°Good good! If you get hurt, you know to come by. Hospitals are too expensive these days. And I''d get rusty! Oh how rude, is this young fellow your friend?¡±


    Grunt nodded at the monk, who turned his gaze (or attention, he looked like he had his eyes closed) over to Corvayne. ¡°A pleasure to meet you. I''m the lone Monk of this monastery. My name is Icariii, but everyone calls me Mister I.¡±


    ¡°Corvayne.¡± He offered his hand, and the monk shook it vigorously.


    ¡°Corvayne, ah interesting name. Never heard it before. Did your parents have a reason for it?¡±


    The monk was trying to be friendly and didn''t directly say that it was a stupid name, so Corvayne did his best not to dock the man points before he really knew him. ¡°My dad hated me.¡±


    ¡°That''s too bad. If you need counseling, my door is open. I am a man dedicated to healing, helping, and hearing. That''s for people, watch out if you''re a fish!¡± He laughed and made a reeling motion, and Grunt did as well. That''s when someone got the drop on Grunt. Corvayne was worried for a moment as he never had seen the big man startled and he had jumped as arms wrapped around him. Corvayne already was reaching for his spear when a tall woman with black lipstick and a lot of cleavage hanging out of her spiderweb dress planted a big kiss on Grunt''s cheek.


    ¡°Hey big lug. I got the flowers. You think that crap works on me? Well guess what: it does.¡±


    Grunt turned and leaned in for a kiss, to which she stuffed a hand in his face. ¡°Yeah right, not with your friend gawking.¡± Her eyes, a vivid green, narrowed as she stared at him, and Corvayne actually felt his danger sense tingling as if he had just ran into a huge monster in the desert despite the woman only reaching up to his chin. ¡°Hey kid... do I know you?¡±


    Corvayne had to think how to handle this. He didn''t think she was a villager. But there was never an easy way to tell. Was she a merchant?


    She eyed him up and down and said dryly ¡°You look like you work out a lot. Did you work for me?¡±


    Corvayne smiled, her compliment confirming it. ¡°Sorry, I''m sure we''ve never met. My name is Corvayne.¡±


    ¡°Dawn-after-Night.¡±


    He had never heard that name before but it sounded like the names you found in his village. ¡°Hmm... you ever meet the Watchers? A village out in the desert?¡±


    ¡°No. I do run a lot of businesses here in town...¡± Every other word she spoke didn''t have the exacting and clear enunciation of business, which was loaded with the kind of emphasis that Corvayne could have picked up with about an hour of television, let alone the hours and hours he had spent watching since arriving at Cascadia. She stepped back and looked him up and down. ¡°You a cultist or something?¡±


    ¡°I don''t think so and even if they had been one, I got kicked out before they fed me to a giant snake or whatever cults do. I only asked as your name reminded me of them.¡±


    Grunt stepped between them. Corvayne looked him in the eyes and placed his hands on Grunt''s shoulders, patting them once: Bro it''s ok. Grunt sighed and relaxed, then stepped aside: Thanks for understanding Corvayne and not getting upset that I got a little jealous.


    ¡°Ok you two, get a fuckin'' room. Not really, Grunt take my arm stupid! Treat me like a lady. And you, Corvy, I see that spear. Grunt, you and him should drop the warehouse gig and come work for me. I pay better.¡±


    Grunt lined up his free hand with the one that was restrained by Dawn''s arm, as if drawing a bow. He then drew a line, then gestured at himself: I''m going to stay as straight as an arrow.


    Dawn rolled her eyes. ¡°Pfft. I know you damn baby. C''mon, lets get seats.¡±


    Corvayne followed them down the hall to a meeting room stuffed with plastic chairs with a little stage and podium. He was pretty shocked to see that the hundred seats were mostly full. Grunt went up to a seat near the front and displaced three people by looking each of them in the eye then clearing his throat. Corvayne was impressed that all three understood his request for his friends to sit up front. He sat between Corvayne and Dawn, perhaps still feeling slightly worried about his girlfriend acting on a fancy. Corvayne was thankful: Dawn radiated trouble.


    The meeting started with a man wearing workout clothes jogging in from the side. His pristine white sneakers and bright blue-black outfit clashed with the more faded colors everyone else was wearing. He brought with him the scent of aftershave.


    ¡°Hey guys! Alderman Brines here. I know a lot of you rent from me, good to see you all! I don''t have anything from the city council, we are still working on getting funding for potholes out here and we are looking into all the graffiti at the train stops. And hey, if any house owners here are looking to sell, you can see me after miss Wick does her usual thing.¡±


    Dawn raised her hand, and Brines pointed. ¡°Miss After-Night, Question?¡±


    ¡°Yeah Jimmy. Did they ever get a formal response put together for you about us forming a separate township out here?¡±


    ¡°I asked, there''s a lot of fuss from transit saying they are still struggling with the budget they spent on new stations 10 years ago. Also, City Planning objected, saying they want the water processing plant to remain in city limits. You know how much fun City Planning is to deal with.¡± His smile got a little forced at the end.


    Stolen story; please report.


    Dawn muttered to herself. ¡°Those fucks never are around when I am.¡±


    ¡°My dad spoke to the mayor last month, as I said, and I''ve been advocating for you guys to have more say about where the money here goes.¡±


    Brines gave a wincing smile as Dawn glared at him, but the woman sat back and waved dismissively. ¡°I know Jimmy, I know. Your our blue-blood.¡±


    ¡°Uh, I don''t think that has anything to... we can talk about it later, from the many angry looks I see that you guys are here to hear Wick!¡±


    Corvayne looked around as a bunch of people burst out with agreement. Brines got off stage and Wick came on, dragging from the side of the backstage a chalk board and a bunch of posters. She was wearing her usual olive pants and jacket. She went up to the podium and pulled the microphone off it.


    ¡°Ok everyone, let''s have some REAL talk now that the government is done telling you LIES!¡±


    Brines was off to the side and just smiled and waved.


    Wick started pacing. ¡°So last time we were talking about the REAL problem in and around Cascadia. No one wants to admit it but... folks? We got a problem. A BIG problem...¡±


    She leaned in, mic held in hand, looking at the crowd. He leaned forward in his seat.


    ¡°A BIGFOOT problem. That''s right... over the last week loggers, campers, hikers, and bikers all reported one BIG stinking APE has been stalking the good people of Cascadia Colonial Park!¡±


    She unrolled a blown up photo of a black furry blur 50 yards down a bike path from whoever took the photo. It was behind some bushes. In the rain. Corvayne looked around. Why were people smiling? It was an 8 foot tall humanoid monster. Did they not have any idea what happens if a tribe of monsters learns tool making? Decided to storm their walls? Wait, the city didn''t even have walls! He himself walked right in!


    ¡°For the last week too, the Logging camp at Delta Valley had been reporting missing objects, petty theft, and someone sabotaging their machines. Now there''s reports of people missing. The beast knows the woods are HIS and wants US out.¡±


    ¡°What about aliens Wick?¡± A man with a green flying saucer t-shirt in the back called out.


    ¡°Of COURSE. We know Cascadia is, via paranormal investigation, a dimensional weak segment of the universe. Outsiders, strange lights, creatures that don''t fit in, people stepping into realities next to but not our own, missing time... they all come crawling into our little slice of The Collective, and many of them are EXTREMELY dangerous if they are not handled by professionals. Like me. And it''s very possible that these hairy monsters are aliens, using tech beyond our understanding to slip into our universe and do who knows what. It''s why we started the relic investigation foundation.¡±


    ¡°Do you think they are mutilating the Cattle that you talked about a month ago?¡± Someone else asked. Corvanyne now had rapt attention: disrupting the food supply was a classic tactic to presage a siege. The entire town could be in danger! Why were people laughing? Wick smiled.


    ¡°No. That''s silly. Ape Cryptids don''t like open spaces that much. Getting out to a pasture to hunt a cow doesn''t fit with what we looked at last month. Unless... THEY were driving the black helicopters!¡±


    ¡°Do you think they are worried about Old Town becoming it''s own city because of a secret underground base?¡± Dawn offered, raising her hand but, like everyone else, not bothering to wait for Wick to call her. Wick only smiled.


    ¡°That''s off topic, but the answer is obviously yes, duh! Next question?¡±


    ¡°Wick, is there a difference between a skunk-ape and a bigfoot? Also, do they like humans?¡±


    ¡°No difference besides skunk-ape being funnier to say. The term sasquatch really means all of those. As for the second part: There are some folk traditions that ''wild men'' and ''women of the woods'' have some interest in humans of the opposite sex. Given the smell: Not going to test that one!¡±


    She started going into details about historical sightings both on the Collective''s Homeworld, old photos and eventually videos on the chalk board after she wiped the chalk off: it turned out to be a screen as well. The videos occasionally made the crowd laugh. Some of the videos were people talking about encounters. It seemed that the beasts left a little bit of physical evidence, and had some curiosity towards human civilization. There were also people who talked about why the creatures couldn''t exist in a place due to population size requirements, the expected food needed to support a large biped primate, the overall chance of a large unknown creature avoiding most contact without being captured by directed attempts... a whole bunch of reasons that monsters couldn''t exist. All these video clips of skeptical presenters were boo''ed by the crowd there. Then a few clips of a researcher explaining that if you removed people from the equation these places would be perfect for supporting hunter-gatherers. That maybe it was more something like ghosts: echos of a society or individuals that lived before modern influence. Wick tapped into some cadence of speaking that kept everyone at rapt attention until she got to the last image comparing a big foot to a picture of a triangle of lights in the sky.


    ¡°So anyway, I''m going to go on a fact-finding mission tonight! I hope to capture proof of the beast, possibly the monster itself! We''re going to lure the beast out and try to get a new gold standard video!¡±


    With that the meeting was wrapping up, with Wick recommending books for people to read on the subject. All of them had names like ''Out of Myth: The TRUTH about Bigfoot'' or ''Code Sasquatch: Conserving the Paranormal'' or ''Universe of Cryptids: Bringing Our Ghosts With Us''. He wished he could read them before coming with Wick: he got the sense that she wanted him to follow her out into the woods at night looking for a large monster and he had never hunted something in a forest before. Well, there was that one time he chased a white-horn hare into the petrified forest. That probably didn''t count. As Wick walked off the back of the stage he stood up and walked to a side door that looked like it lead to the back room. Dawn tapped him on the shoulder before he got too far.


    ¡°Hey, Grunt told me your going to keep an eye on her tonight.¡± Dawn''s black lips were put together in a frown.


    ¡°She didn''t say as much but yeah I guess I''m going to do some body guard duty.¡± Corvayne had a moment where he was dragged back to the village, doing drills where he had to protect someone while moving from one gate in the wall to the oasis and back. Spears-Like-Water seemed to enjoy that torment: she walked at half the speed while acting as his escort, and kept making him jump in front of attacks or pick her up to move her out of the way.


    Dawn frowned a little. ¡°I guess Grunt and her agree, which is weird. She''s usually very wary of people she doesn''t know. I don''t know what shit happened in her life, but she is HAPPY here. The town loves her. I love her. I want her up on that stage as long as she''ll have us to take us away from this garbage city. So, if you let anything happen to her or do anything to her, I will find out and I will use my carrot peeler to skin your balls.¡±


    Corvayne felt his sweat freeze. She was serious and something told him that all the training in the world wouldn''t help him escape. She had the same aura as the masters of the village. Maybe stronger. ¡°I will keep Wick safe. Please continue to use your peeler on carrots and only carrots.¡±


    Dawn''s glower became a smile and the aura faded. She playfully slapped his arm ¡°Of course. I have two peelers, silly.¡±


    A minute later Corvayne found Wick talking to Mister I who spun and gestured for Corvayne to come closer. Corvayne raised an eyebrow: the simple looking man had sharp ears to hear him from 20 feet away given murmuring of the crowd in the hall. ¡°Good good, I love seeing you kids going on adventures! Reminds me of when I was young ahahah.¡±


    ¡°Need a rain coat? Or a flashlight?¡± Wick herself had a monster of a flashlight, the kind that probably was meant to be mounted on a car. Corvayne flipped the hood of his cloak up. ¡°All good on the coat. Need a light though.¡±


    She turned and pulled one out of a large backpack, then flipped it to him handle first. Much much smaller. He frowned. Wouldn''t he need a big one too? He put it into his own pack.


    With that Mister I pushed open the doors out to the garden courtyard and walked them through the rain to a pair of double doors that lead into a large garage with a few tarps over partially dismantled vehicles and a beat up pickup truck. Mister I had to unlock the door and push it open as Wick opened the back door for Corvayne to slide into the car. The cracked vinyl seat was comfy, and the garage reminded him of Spaces-Torn-Asunder''s workshop. Perhaps the one sad point in his exile was not getting to tinker around in the garage. Well, he was thinking of staying in Cascadia for a while, perhaps Icariii wouldn''t mind him helping rebuild some of the obvious works in progress.


    Given that the door was manually opened and closed, Icariii drove them out into the rain then hopped out to close the door, then got them rolling out of town. Old Town''s roads were at their widest four lanes until the freeway, but most of the cars emptied out at night. It was dusk and only lightly raining giving Corvayne a little better perspective on the lay of the land. He had seen a topographic map and was pretty sure he knew where he had come from a week ago. The old truck had an little floaty ball compass that helped him also orient. The island of Old Town was sort of wedged in the middle city''s island chain. On the map it looked a little like a key ring with thin islands fanning out, strung along a deep channel between the mainland and Barrier Ridge island. Getting onto the freeway he could look out and see the passage out to open ocean at the south tip of Barrier Ridge, the name given because it formed a black rocky rise across the bay. The truck took a gentle turn on the raised expressway, pulling the north side of Old Town into view. Twisting train tracks at all sorts of elevations were coming into line to also enter a building the road tunneled through.


    ¡°This''s the old central station.¡± Icariii spoke. While looking out the other window he saw Wick had her glasses off and was watching lights stream by. Corvayne could see from her reflection as they passed lights the bags under her eyes. After a glimpse of a neglected looking atrium inside of the train station, a sign announced they were crossing over to Ko''Ban which looked to be a slightly less industrial slum, neon lights thrumming alive over narrow roads and sidewalks full of people. Mixed in with packed older buildings with odd additions were hints of when the neighborhood was nicer: more ornate buildings with carved stone men holding sections up, lions standing aside doors, and wrought iron lights, all now covered in a layer of graffiti 10 feet tall. Over the neon lights Corvayne could spot what looked like more warehouses and cranes and ships. The road split here, with the highway going further north to two more islands: one that was split from Ko''ban by a smaller straight that seemed to be full of houses and apartments, then one further in the distance, a mist shrouded island with lights that suggested it was a single large hill. His map called it Dolphin Island. He swore that he saw a huge black tower there for a moment, but a train going the other way blocked his view. When he looked back, he couldn''t see where on the island he had been looking. With the increasing rain graying everything out, Corvayne had to sort of guess what he was looking at anyway.


    The water and sky was turning from gray to black as they drove across the bay, one train racing along with the car for most of the ride. Their route took them to into the glimmering mass of lights that was the main peninsula of the city. From the elevated freeway, Corvayne could enjoy the buildings, and lights, and even see atop some of the shorter spaces as he would peer down concrete valleys full of cars and people all going over rivers that seemed to lace their way though the entire city. Then they were racing out of town as the ground rose to meet the freeway. They turned onto a leg veering north. The rate the city went from bright lights to countryside took longer then he remembered on his walk, and didn''t cross the large bridge he had come into town on. The road was laid in a forest lined valley and the only hints of the city were signs with names like ''Ocean Drive'' ''Pine Bay Ave.'' and ''Fish Spawnery Road'' marking bridges over the highway. He could see some homes as they drove over rivers, but more and more they were flanked by endless pine trees, only a few times broken by lit service stations, farms, and facilities that he didn''t have the slightest clue as to what they did: just sudden places where red warning lights on giant drums and exhaust stacks would break the pine on either side of the road. It was sort of relaxing, even after Wick started futzing with a music player on her phone and put on rock and roll.


    The drive ended up being nearly two hours total. Corvayne knew they were getting close as they started going down progressively smaller roads. The final turn ended in a gravel parking lot. With headlights blaring into a strand of trees with rain hitting the windshield in fat drops, Corvayne suddenly had insight into why people in stories didn''t want to go into the dark woods at night. Wick hopped right out, perhaps marshaling her fear or just completely ignoring the dangers of hunting large beasts. Then Corvayne decided if she wasn''t scared, he had nothing to worry about. It probably beat the heck out of the desert.


    ¡°What type of monsters live in these woods aside from Bigfeet?¡± he asked, trying to see if he could get his night vision to take. Sadly, with the high beams on and Wick''s own insanely bright flashlight, it would be difficult to handle the contrast.


    ¡°Monsters? I guess Cascadian timber wolves? Does elk count? They got big horns!¡± Wick sort of laughed. ¡°Cascadia has a few transplants and a few quasi mammals that are basically dogs and way far south you got a ten foot long salamanders that sometimes will try to bite people who get to close but no really interesting xenobiology here... aside from the Bigfoot!¡±


    The monk rolled down the window and waved at them. ¡°I''ll be back in a few hours, I''m going to go fishing!¡± and sped off, leaving Corvayne along with Wick... and whatever else was in the woods. She started happily making her way down the trail and Corvayne put on a brave face and followed her into the dark.

 Chapter 5: A Walk in the Park

    Corvayne had never actually hunted in the woods before. With the rain and all the plants, on top of being around Wick, he was doubly distracted. Still there were well made paths and he could mentally thumb through all the books he''d read about chasing monsters into the woods. He kept his eyes open for something that would suggest a tall monster: fur or broken branches far from the ground. Places where the brush was disturbed frequently. Vocalizations. Supposedly the monsters stank. Corvayne stopped every so often to take a big sniff. He was happy to report that the park smelled nice, mostly of pine.


    All of the tension he had felt in the first few minutes of being out in the woods at night was melting away: they had been walking for what he guessed was two hours now, and he hadn''t seen signs of any critters... well a few curious racoons. Maybe if they turned the lights off they''d have better luck?


    ¡°No way I''m turning my light off. How the FUCK am I supposed to see?¡± Wick asked, waving her light around.


    Corvayne didn''t think it was that dark, but didn''t press the issue when he figured it out. ¡°Oh right. You need to capture a video.¡±


    Wick shined her light back on the path. ¡°Besides, I have a little cheat to find them. See, I got hunches that help me figure out what to do. It''s telling me to go this way.¡±


    Corvayne thought about his own danger sensing instincts. ¡°That''s handy. What do you... do we need to find? What will be enough to establish bigfeet are here?¡±


    Wick had a laminated map she pulled out and looked at, then folded up before responding. ¡°If we get a good video that''s enough for me. The stuff about bodies is not realistic. Still, I want to get readings here and hopefully, once we find one, I want to test the area it''s in to see if it affects the environment.¡± She patted her bag, then reached into her pocket and checked her portable screen at the time, then put it back.


    Corvayne thought about this. ¡°Something like the guy who thought the creatures could fold space?¡±


    Wick made a happy squeal. ¡°You were listening! A lot of people take bathroom breaks during video parts.¡±


    ¡°I was listening to your presentation very carefully.¡± He would not go on a mission where he didn''t soak up every bit of the briefing.


    ¡°So: I need to find everything out about the fringes of reality... and I''ve done a lot of stuff. You know. Meditation. Drugs that expand the mind. Seance. Past life readings.¡± Wick had weird energy when she got excited, almost nervous, and Corvayne felt like he was approaching something large under murky water. Or what books made him think about swimming in a deep lake must be like: The only place to swim in his village had been crystal clear and shallow. Wick just kept talking as he realized he had stopped and started jogging to catch up.


    ¡°See, remote sensing got SOMETHING in my head working. You know they say it''s all about the RIGHT mindset? I have these hunches, but never one as clear as this. Paranormal research is a science but you gotta follow your gut too, you know?¡±


    ¡°What''s remote sensing?¡± He asked, turning while speaking to make sure they were not being flanked by anything.


    She didn''t spend much time checking her back out. Maybe it was safer then he thought, or she had some bad habits. Wick instead moved into a lecture, her scratchy voice somewhat hard to hear over the the pitter patter of rain. ¡°Usually it''s like, you try to focus on someone or something when you sleep, and try to match how they sleep, and your dreams lead you there. The Collective has research that suggests it''s not as crazy as it would seem.¡± Corvayne''s mind kept imagining her in bed. He might to do some meditation himself: Going through his spear forms helped a lot with being distracted but he couldn''t do that on the trail.


    ¡°Why would that be crazy?¡± He didn''t mean for it to be rhetorical but Wick was nodding, turning back to look at him.


    ¡°I know! It''s not crazy! It makes sense!¡± she was smiling. Corvayne felt his flagging attention pick up a little. For a few minutes at least.


    When he felt his focus starting to wane, he swept the light around again. The same hilly woods trail they had been on looked like any given section they had walked through. Maybe the parts where there were no trees looking off the hill had really great views? He wondered if they were going to spend all night walking. No wait, perhaps the rain would pick up and they would be forced to huddle together?


    He''d read about that in a lot of books he''d read about quests and adventure. In those stories being stuck together during bad weather frequently lead to sex, and most of the time situations where two people shared shelter in the rain did NOT involve any spilled olive oil to clean up. He had a few minutes of quiet to allow himself to explore the possibility that at some point he might have sex with another person, maybe even Wick! He tempered the thought with both how every other relationship in his life soured, and one of Dawn stalking him through the warehouse or woods with a carrot peeler. It worked to keep him focused on the task. Mostly.


    Corvayne was just about to ask her if they should turn back soon or if she thought the rain was getting worse when she reached a trail fork where someone had placed a ''TRAIL CLOSED'' sign in the middle of the path branching off.


    ¡°Bingo!¡± She cheered.


    Corvayne looked at her, then the sign. ¡°You think the bigfoot is using the sign to hide?¡±


    ¡°No no no... look the park rangers probably put it up because the lair is back there!¡±


    ¡°Ok, lead on.¡±


    Wick looked back at him, thankfully shining her light low rather then in his face like the last few times. Corvayne did his best to give her what he thought was a charming smile as she spoke. ¡°You''re not going to lecture me about how that''s not why the signs there?¡±


    ¡°You know what you''re doing. I''m just here as the spear.¡± Corvayne emphasized this by stamping his spear doubling as a walking stick on the ground.


    ¡°How refreshing! I see why Grunt was singing your praises!¡±


    The thought of Grunt singing an opera ballad got him quietly laughing to himself.


    Moving into the blocked off section of trails, they found downed trees blocking the path more then a few times. Some trees were bent, either in shelter or something else. Some of them were broken over the trail, and Wick stopped a few times to shine her light up there before stepping through. Walking through the dense ferns and bushes to the side of the trail left his boots heavy with mud. Corvayne was climbing over a tree when he spotted something that seemed very odd to him. The rain finding its way past his cloak suddenly felt cold rather then just cool.


    ¡°Hey Wick, why are there stairs here?¡±


    He gestured to a grassy area off the trail where what looked like a varnished wood set of stairs was just leading to nowhere. Rain was soaking carpet laid on top of it. Twenty steps or so, then a landing with nothing on it or around it. What was odd was it didn''t look weathered; even the bathrooms near the start of the trail had peeling paint and half rusted doors. It looked like it should have been indoors somewhere: there was no way it wasn''t new given how the reddish color of the wood stood out from everything else in the park.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Hmm. Don''t touch it. Stairs in the woods are supposedly linked with people disappearing... and associated with really bad luck. Might be related to fairies. Or demons. Not quite what we are looking for though. Nice catch!¡± She took a few pictures, with perhaps exaggerated care to stay three feet away from the stairs. There was indeed something about the stairs that Corvayne felt was off, almost familiar? ¡°I should get a reading...¡±


    Corvayne started using his own flashlight to look around the woods after a moment of blinking. ¡°You mean it''s some sort of fairy monument? Hmm. Interesting.¡± Was it just him, or did the rain suddenly seem muted? There was also the faint smell of rot now drifting through the rain.


    The first howl came from woods ahead. To Corvayne it was actually sort of a cute scream compared to Dune Reavers, Dusk Claws, Rotpedes, and so on. Perhaps it was the bigfoot they were looking for! Wick stepped away from the stairs and shined her light out to the edge of the clearing they were at, clearly excited ¡°Oh, that''s not a wolf or a bear!¡±


    ¡°Great, you''ll get to meet your big...¡± Corvayne''s ear picked up another howl joining it, from off to their left. Then another howl, from the right. Then one from behind them.


    Wick started whipping her flashlight around as the few became a chorus. Her hand was shaking. ¡°I think there IS a breeding population here, after all.¡± She didn''t sound so happy-go-lucky all of the sudden.


    Corvanyne shrugged and pulled his spear off his backpack, and closed one eye. ¡°If we can''t capture a live one, is there a problem if we just kill one that attacks us and bring it back as proof?¡±


    ¡°Dude, unless you got a FUCKING machine gun in your bag we are NOT making it... wait you EXPECTED us to catch one? Alive?!¡± Her voice sounded strained. She was panicking.


    ¡°I wouldn''t rely on any sort of automatic weapon unless it was part of a group defense or we had full open ground in one direction. Also that''s why we came: Getting proof is good, a living one would work best for that, correct?¡± He could see with his flashlight dark shapes coming out of the woods. He sighed. The numbers were not great. They should break through, but he couldn''t do that and keep Wick safe.


    ¡°Stand by the staircase and turn your light off.¡± He flicked his own light off.


    ¡°What!? No!¡± Wick caught the eyes of one of the things coming out of the wood and they glowed red before it covered it''s face with a hairy arm. Creepy.


    Corvayne gave her a look. ¡°I can''t see as well with it on.¡±


    ¡°It''s pitch black during a rainstorm!!! With monsters! Why the hell would you turn it off!!¡± The howling and hooting was getting louder.


    ¡°Turn your light off so I can adjust my eyes to the dark please. You said you trusted me. Help me keep you safe.¡± He did not want to knock her light out of her hands. Wick was hyperventilating but actually turned the light off with a whimper. Corvanye did a little stretch and opened his eye, the woods coming into relief with dark shapes treading through the barely visible grass. The shapes were very dark compared to the grass and trees, thankfully. Some of the shapes had stopped as the light went out. Corvayne had put his own light away now and was gripping his spear double handed. It was just like any other monster attack. Don''t let them get near Wick and go for killshots on everything.


    ¡°I''m sorry Corvayne, it''s my fault you''re going to die...¡± Wick said, her voice cracking.


    ¡°These guys are that strong?¡± He had gotten the impression she''d never fought a bigfoot before. A faint trace of worry came through him. He pushed his own doubts down: he was not going to let anyone die on his first date. Was this a Cascadian date? Well, either way he''d protect Wick.


    The closest furry monster roared and from thirty feet down the trail started running. A quick glance and Crovayne saw that there were almost fifty of them out of the woods now, two just a few feet behind the lead bigfoot. If they were too tough to fight, they''d have to try going up the stairs to hold the group off. The last stray thought he had before contact was that the things really did reek. Then it was time for work, his legs pushing him forward and his spear darting out for the neck of the first monster, then pulling back and snapping out for the second monster who ran right to him. The third monster was inside his striking range then, trying to grab him. He felt instinct pulling him, telling him to...


    [Juxtapose]


    Weird! It was a blend of instinct and basic footwork as he leaned into the monster while ducking and taking two steps that felt almost too fast for his body to handle, bringing his spear around as suddenly he was facing the confused monsters back... which was pushed to where he had been... He changed the grip on his spear as he wheeled, putting one hand near the blade and letting it slide so he was gripping the shaft about a foot from the head.


    [Cross Skill: Backstab]


    Why was his head calling it out!? He saw the result of doing so was impressive: the ten inch blade at the end of the spear blew a hole in the monster wide enough he could probably squeeze through but he didn''t have time to think about it: The monsters from the sides were swarming in now. He took a breath and felt the rain around him shift.


    [Flow Like Water]


    He slipped off to the side, his spear finding another pair of necks. Spears-Like-Water would have wrung his neck if she had known he had watched her practice then copied her style. Why was he thinking in brackets in the middle of a pack of enraged beasts? He couldn''t say. Each step he felt himself almost blur, directed by his plan of moving in a horseshoe shape to keep the herd of monsters away from Wick. Each step he took his spear would dart out to find a throat or where he guessed the heart was, then snake back in as he took his next step to move him around swinging fists and away from one that lunged at him. He took a step back, letting his instincts guide him as the monsters lined up in a way that felt right.


    [Cross Skill: Circle of death]


    Diamond-In-Passing seemed to prefer giant two handed monstrosity swords. She would have stopped the fight to tell him how poorly he just performed her favorite little move or how using it with a spear was ineffective, but four of the dark shapes crowding around the hill dropped as he spun a full circle, spear blade somehow finding all four rather then ending the wild swing by getting stuck in something. Their bodies were suddenly limp obstacles as he twisted the last part of the swing into a wild thrust into and out of a monster''s gut as it tried to run past Wick and the stairs to get him with an overhead two handed slam.


    The problem now, he thought with the part of his mind not focused on finding the right places to grip his gore covered spear, was that he had monsters coming at his back now and sooner or later one would turn on the girl or hit him in the head. He had a moment where the deaths of four monsters at once caused hesitation, then there were more roars and his preferred horseshoe movement was quickly becoming impossible. One of them did turn and reach for Wick, and she had to let it rip her backpack off her or be dragged off with it.


    ¡°Stairs! Up the stairs!¡± He used a flourish in front of him to make space, then checked to make sure Wick was out of the way. She had found the stairs so he instinctively did something was beyond impossible.


    [Cross Skill: Shieldwall]


    For two steps he felt like he was holding six spears arrayed in a fan. One lumbering monster was going too fast to stop themselves from running right into one of the phantom spears and was impaled, knocking Corvayne to his backfoot under the pressure of the creature before the spears faded and he was on the staircase, four steps up then turning to start dispatching creatures. They hadn''t started grabbing for his ankles yet but it was a matter of time, even as he jabbed the lead creature off the stairs, both arms clutching it''s chest as the ones crowding the lowest step had to back away. Wick was already standing on the second to last step. He was out of reach of the monsters but could see that he''d have to fight all night. The entire field now was covered in milling forms of monsters. He wasn''t going to be able to hold the staircase forever: He had to jab one monster that was climbing on top of another''s shoulders. And once the bodies piled up they''d grab Wick and it''d be over.


    An instinct, suddenly strongly flooding into his mind, was that the staircase was the way out. It was the same sort of instinct pushing him to do nearly impossible moves with his spear. He pushed power into his arms, filling them with his intent to clear the stairs off for just a second.


    [Storm Thrust]


    His arms shot forward, and it felt like a gust of wind extended from him, causing the beasts near the stairs to stumble. He turned and threw Wick over his shoulder. ¡°I hope this works!¡±


    She had been screaming anyway so there wasn''t much change as he stepped on the top stair and, fighting a sense of foreboding, stepped off the edge above the swarm of black shapes.

 Chapter 6: A Strange Realm

    Corvayne''s foot landed on solid ground, and suddenly he was in a different place. The dirt he stumbled off the top of the stairway onto was a strange deep blue color. He couldn''t hear anything because Wick was still screaming over his shoulder. Lifting his head he saw trees in pastel greens and pinks against a sky that was was a shade of light yellow. It was a momentary impression as he tried to get his bearings: there were too many details in the view he had that didn''t work with what he understood landscapes to look like.


    He was about to set Wick down when he saw the clearing they landed in had scattered bones strewn about. He identified the remains were human from a discarded skull and scraps of synthetic fibers they used as clothes in Cascadia. A shredded and blood stained flannel shirt, scrap of camo wrapped around a bush, a leg bone sticking out of a fur boot... He took a glance backwards and saw a solid door behind him. His back was safe for at least a moment but he was not going to wait for an ambush to start with him in the center of the clearing.


    He strode forward and was ready but slightly underwhelmed as a wiry green figure with a spear lept out of a teal bush directly in front of him. Corvayne had a shorter one hand grip on his own spear so he kicked the weapon out of the goblin''s hands then with two quick jabs killed it, then kept striding past the sputtering corpse as it writhed and started bleeding out. He moved between bushes until he found a solid green-grey stone to put his back to. He put Wick down then glanced back: Indeed there were seven more goblins, all with weapons who had obviously been waiting for prey to come wandering in from the door. Wick was obviously still trying to process the last twenty seconds since he picked her up and stepped through what must have been a portal.


    ¡°What the fuck!? What the fuck is happening!? What did you do?!¡±


    Corvayne didn''t look to her, instead watching the gobins. ¡°Focus. Situation still dangerous.¡±


    He stepped forward. All the goblins were equipped with crude spears, some made from steel knives lashed to sticks. They were all under four feet and had short reach. They had expected him to maybe be disoriented... they had a moment where they all looked at each other before one let out a tiny warbling warcry and as one they turned and started yelling nonsense and charging him in a semi-circle.


    Corvayne waited then once again spun his spear.


    [Cross Skill: Circle of Death]


    All seven goblins collapsed, all of them missing parts of their heads and necks. The smell of the little monsters was pretty nasty. He swore he saw a faint black shadow trailing the blade, but it might have just been blood from the first one he hit.


    Wick was pointing at him, glasses askance. She reached up and adjusted them with a shaking hand. ¡°How did you do that?!¡±


    Corvayne had to take a deep breath: using those moves was tiring. ¡°I don''t know.¡± He huffed. ¡°I was just copying someone else.¡±


    ¡°You GLOWED when you did that! Your spear was glowing black!¡± Wick was pointing at him, the spear, the ground.


    ¡°Let''s discuss it after we get out of here, wherever here is.¡±


    Wick looked angry at him for the first time he''d been around her: ¡°No, tell me! I want to do it too!¡±


    Corvayne understood, he wanted someone to also tell HIM what was going on. ¡°I don''t get how I did it... some of those moves were things I tried to copy from someone a thousand times. And the weapon is all wrong, you can''t cleave with a spear... Can we please talk about it later? I''m worried we are still in danger.¡±


    Corvayne did a quick sweep of where they were as he spoke. There was an arch where they had come from with a barred iron door. Dirt was a midnight blue color all around. They were at the edge of a circular area with bushes, surrounded by a cliff with steep paths leading to the top. Other paths were ravines where other ledges were visible, some of them had sky peeking through where the ground should have appeared as a horizon. The bushes had light teal wood with weird neon pastel leaves: Pinks, teals, light blues, flashes of yellow, magenta. Thick enough to snag legs, could probably push through if needed. Hard rock surfaces were a light blue. Some of the trees had deep blue leaves with red highlights. Sky was yellow but not like dawn or dusk: just a single solid color. Dead goblins and dead hikers or lumberjacks. He could hear the wind rustling leaves, birds chirping, something like a crystalline chime. Wick, in her raincoat, eyes red under her glasses from crying and looking angry. Some blood on her from the previous fight. Blood all over his pants and shirt. Probably why The Watchers picked dark colors despite living in a desert.


    Corvayne went up to the iron door blocking the arch and listened. He was pretty sure it was where they had come from, and his next worry was a few dozen giant monsters following them. After a few moments of listening Corvayne didn''t hear anything on the other side. An orange glowing lock, drawn in floating lines, appeared over the door while he was near it. He watched a pictogram of a line zig zagging across what looked like floors and up stairs, all made of orange lines. 5 floors were displayed, as well as a door with ''Exit'' over it. Then the picture repeated itself with the line zig-zagging upwards.


    Corvayne didn''t trust that they wouldn''t be facing a swarm of bigfoot if they could open the door. If the monsters were as smart as apes they''d start looking around the top of the platform. Thus he was eager to get away from said door. Wick, on the other hand, was studying it intently. She stepped behind the door, then walked around from the other side.


    ¡°It''s not connected to anything. I don''t see how it''s making the picture, but it seems pretty clear it wants us to go up to get out.¡±


    Corvayne nodded and searched through the bodies of both the goblins and their victims. Some of the bodies were not that old but the scraps were just that. It was hard to tell how long the bodies had been laying there as they were picked clean. One of the goblin''s spears had a pretty nice knife on it which Corvayne took, otherwise the spears didn''t look fit to throw let alone use as a weapon and the other knives had been bashed into dullness or shattered.


    There were really only three paths out: one further into the woods to the left of where he came in, and two paths branching to the right: one looked to be scaling the rock face, the other leading down into the rift valley. He decided to go up first: the door had shown him that''s how to get out. The path was a series of switchbacks, with packed darker blue rock showing where many things had walked before him.


    Getting more height above the trees on the ledge let him see that he was in a sort of floating archipelago of rocks: he saw floating dark blue cubes loosely connected by branches and thin blue lines breaking up the yellow of the sky. Looking down and seeing sky gave him a moment of vertigo. He turned back to land to steady and orient himself. From the higher vantage point he saw the portal had a clearing around it. Besides the dead goblins, he didn''t spot anything else in the clearing.. With another hundred feet or so of elevation he could see further into the valley: it looked like it linked the cube he started on with another forming a clump of three, and had a little stream running along paths on the floor of the valley before the stream hit open air, pouring into a yellow hole between precarious looking land bridges. He could see a different spray of water landing in the forest they were walking up and out of. Interesting place.


    Wick actually clamped onto his arm when she saw they were in an endless void.


    ¡°Are we dead? Where the FUCK are we!? Corvayne!¡± He didn''t mind her holding on aside from impeding his attempts to make sure nothing hostile snuck up on them.


    ¡°Again, I don''t know. I just knew it was the way out.¡± He knew staying calm would help her stay calm. He hoped staying calm would help her stay calm. He saw her glaring at him.


    ¡°How did you know that?¡± She said as she stopped and he stopped to avoid pulling on her arm.


    ¡°I had a hunch. I assumed it was the same feeling that lead you to the clearing.¡± He said, hoping she''d recall that she had taken him to the woods not the other way around. It seemed to work because she let him start walking again.


    As they crested the side of the cliff they were on, the top of the cube was more grassland then forest, but no safer as another pack of five goblins were patrolling the blue path up there. With a screech they drew crude axes and spears, mostly made of blue stone and lashed vines. Wick tugged on his arm ¡°They got weapons! What the fuck are they?!¡±


    Corvayne extracted his hand and twirled his spear into a stance ready to skewer and retreat. ¡°They are obviously goblins.¡±


    ¡°Well, sorry I''ve never seen one before!¡±


    The chat ended as the goblins decided to charge, all five rushing forward in a mad haste. Corvayne ran ahead to grab as much space between him and Wick as possible, then pivoted and began back stepping and jabbing once the first goblin came into range. He kept retreating after each stab, moving in a sort of spiral that kept the Goblins from surrounding him as he jabbed whichever one was in the front of the pack. Rather then retreating after one of their kind fell they just kept pushing to get at him, getting in each others way more then his own and causing the fight to be over quickly. Once more he was a little sloppy and got more gore on himself when he hit an artery. The last one died to his spear finding it''s heart. He felt sticky from his enemies blood, but a good fight was one where you got dirty rather then injured.


    He could see Wick was watching him as he crouched and took a deep breath. She then walked over and examined one of the monsters up close, using her boot to move things rather then touching the monsters directly. A good idea: they reeked.


    ¡°So you fought goblins before?¡± She stepped away from one with a torn neck, putting her arm up to block her peripheral view of it.


    Corvayne looked down at the creatures. ¡°No, never fought these, but I mean, they show up all the time in books, right?¡±


    ¡°... and you assume all the books are true?¡± Wick was giving him a look that he couldn''t figure out but was pretty sure he''d seen plenty of times on other womens faces.


    He shook his head while responding. Did he look like a fool? ¡°Obviously not. A couple of them strained credibility.¡±


    She looked shocked ¡°Only a COUPLE?!¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Yes: from some of the fights in them the author had never actually used the weapons described.¡±


    ¡°But you''d probably be okay with fairy handing you a magic sword from a pond or something?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I''m looking forward to it. Assuming it''s a good sword.¡± Corvayne couldn''t entirely hide that he wanted to see all the things the outside world might have that he had only read about.


    Wick seemed to be thinking about something. She looked at him, then looked down at the ground, rubbing her temple for a moment, muttered something, then looked at him.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Ok Corvayne. I''ve decided. You''re my new partner.¡±


    ¡°Uh, you want to go out?¡± Corvayne felt his cheeks heat up. A lucky break!


    Wick laughed a little bit. ¡°No! I mean, partner in crime! I don''t go on dates.¡±


    Corvayne nodded, trying to hide his crushing disappointment that Wick was not interested in romance, and that she did not consider this a date. ¡°I can understand that. Taking off all your armor and weapons around someone who you don''t know is inadvisable.¡±


    She laughed and smiled at that so some of the damage was mended for a moment. Corvayne redirected himself to the work at hand: surveying to find another exit to this weird space.


    The top of the cliff had a few bushes and while not flat seemed to only dip or raise so much off the baseline. There was short grass growing all over the top, which made the majority of the surface the same teal color as the leaves. Slices of lighter blue marked places where the surface was jutting up or dipping down a few feet. He could see that there were two visible titanic vines growing from the flat top of the cube, winding their way to cubes above in an olive line through the yellow. Looking up he could see dozens and dozens of other island-cubes floating, tethered with the roots or by dirt paths to each-other. The closer ones he could make out that others also had paths around the sides. The further ones looked hazy in the yellow sky.


    ¡°Lets cross and go up. Just keep your eyes peeled for danger, and your ears.¡±


    Wick pointed at her glasses. ¡°My eyesight is lousy but sure.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. He would have to adjust his scouting to the unexpected... he stopped himself from using the d-word to avoid jinxing himself with something silly like a big guardian at the end... he would have to think of a non-loaded word for the place they had arrived in.


    Immediately after he thought about that Wick added ¡°This is like a video game dungeon or something... there''s no sign of the park under us.¡±


    Corvayne bit back his annoyance. She had never heard of the rule of the unsaid: Bad things happened less if you didn''t think of them or say them. Even Spaces-Torn-Asunder, who wouldn''t take someone''s word that the sun came up without his spectrometer, agreed that the universe was listening to anyone who opened their big mouth. Even if it missed one comment, saying ''Dungeon'' also poisoned the well for him: He was now imagining a fat goblin three times taller then the ones they were fighting, sitting in front of the door out whittling while waiting for someone to stumble into his room.


    Before they could take another ten steps she opened her mouth again ¡°I wonder if at the end there''s a drag-¡± Corvanye moved like lightning to put his hand over her mouth. She looked pissed for a moment but he pretended to be alert and put his finger to his mouth, then looked around while gently easing his hand off her mouth. The old hunters trick to silence a kid: she''d probably be pissed at him when she figured out what he was really doing. Either way, saying the two D words together was REALLY bad luck: in every story where someone was in D1 and mentioned or wondered about D2, it ensured D2 showed up, and Corvayne''s data on D2s was universally that they were more then a match for a group of skilled warriors. Looking over at Wick...


    He offered her a knife, pretending that something off to the side in the bushes was concerning him, then started walking with deliberate quiet to the nearest vine up and off the cube, perhaps a mile away if his guess about the cube''s size was right. Wick followed doing an exaggerated sneaking half-crouch that just looked uncomfortable. It''s not like lowering her head here made any difference: if something was looking for them they stood out against the blue like two sore thumbs.


    The only other creatures they saw on the way over to the vine were a few badger sized blue-gray scaled armadillos that seemed content to ignore them while gorging themselves on leaves. Some of the crude armor the goblins had looked to have been made from the shells so that might be what the little monsters ate. Or perhaps they ate bright red fruits shaped sort of like a caltrop growing on some of the trees. Corvayne didn''t want to try it right now: getting poisoned meant Wick would be defenseless. Or at the very least it would be very embarrassing when he had to stop their progress to puke or worse.


    They followed a path of dark blue dirt worn into the grass that guided them through the bumpy top face of the cliff. The root between cubes was seamlessly connected to the path and had a worn trail to walk on as well. Wick grabbed Corvayne''s hand in a death grip before he could step on the path.


    ¡°You are fucking CRAZY if you think I''m going out there.¡± Wick looked down as she was talking, a bad idea. To be fair, he also thought he was pretty crazy for going out into the void, but if one of them didn''t take the first step, neither of them would. A spear drives forward.


    ¡°These roots are the only way to go up. I also want to be away from the door in case it opens again.¡±


    ¡°It looks like it goes on forever.¡±


    ¡°Look at the root. It''s part of the path. The top even has a little lip on the side of the flat part. It''s meant to be walked on.¡±


    ¡°If I fall...¡± Her eyes narrowed at him.


    Corvayne nodded at her. ¡°I''ll pull you up if you fall.¡± willfully ignoring basic physics: If her weight pulled him to the side he''d follow her off. After a few feet of nothing bad happening he relaxed. The root wasn''t sinking or swaying from him standing on it, it was solid. The view from the root was nice: a lot of open yellow sky. The path was a comfortably flat the entire time. It felt like walking on solid ground the entire mile and a half. Maybe two miles? He was glad it was only a slight incline: He didn''t want to think about having to scale a mile tall vine going straight up and down to reach the bottom of a cube nor the mechanics of crawling along the bottom.


    The root ended near the side of the cube and lead right up to a path under a pair of waterfalls pouring off the side. The light blue rock had green and yellow moss growing where the water splashed. Corvayne was still in his cloak so he just ignored the spray whereas Wick covered her head with her rain coat''s hood and ran through. The path wound up and around the cube''s corner and he saw there was yet another floating cube close enough to the next bend to form another valley. He kept his eyes peeled up and to the face of the cliff for ambush. No goblin murder holes. And the path seemed solid under his feet, even if looking over to a mostly empty yellow void sprinkled with blue cubes still was throwing him off.


    Turning the corner into the valley he saw another pack of Goblins, sitting around a fire about twenty feet under the path they were on. Corvayne tapped his lips again and decided to try to creep to the ramp up to the top of the cube without engaging the little monsters. If they were alerted, they''d have to scale a pretty steep slope or run down to the end of the valley to climb a ramp up, so he''d have time to mount a defense. This time he did crouch low, as from where the goblins were they could possibly be missed if their attention was on the fire. If they got caught they''d just kill the little monsters, no big deal.


    A minute later he checked behind him and saw that Wick was drenched in sweat and kept twitching and looking down and behind them at the goblins who were totally oblivious to them, focused on roasting a baby armadillo. He gave her a little thumbs up and kept creeping up the ramp to the top of the second cube. Of course, that''s when she kicked a rock off the side and the camp turned as one to look at her, then started shouting. It was ok, they would just take out the five...


    One of those little bastards grabbed a horn made of an armadillo tail and blew into it, the ugly noise surprisingly loud. Then Corvayne heard more horns join the first from up on the cliff. He thought about it for a split second then ran up the hill. He could see there were other camps of goblins, and about ten of them gathering weapons in two groups before him. There was a vine not more then fifty feet from where he had reached the top of the cliff that lead to a hole in the next cube.


    ¡°Make for the root there!¡± He gestured for Wick to see where to go, then moved to box out a group of goblins from attacking her as she started to swear and scramble across the blue grass and dirt to the olive root. The group closer to the root was four, and Corvayne used [Flow-Like-Water] to close the gap and get in the middle of their group. Not usually a good idea, but the initial two steps with their associated strikes left two of the monsters on the ground bleeding out and the other two surprised enough that he could kick one and then bring the blunt end of his spear around on the other. To the little goblin''s credit the monster tried to parry with his own spear but the difference in strength meant the creature was sent rolling butt over tea-kettle off a small rise, his feet up in the air twitching as he yowled in pain. Corvayne continued moving, not letting the little monsters behind him get a chance to close in as he veered to the vine. He saw Wick backing down off the vine away from four goblins advancing with a pair of spears and knives.


    [Juxtapose]! He swapped positions with her, the motion fluid, and then rushed three steps up the vine, willing himself to use [Cross-Skill: Shield bash]. The effect seemed to work even just swinging his spear like a staff: The goblin he hit was bashed into the one next to him, both them stumbling off the vine to fall into the valley below. Corvayne backed off when the other two stepped past the falling forms of their friends and tried to jab him with stone spears. He sensed that Wick was right behind him both from intuition and panicked shouting, and so he changed his grip and tried a different skill.


    [Cross-Skill: Sweep]. His swung the spear out, and felt improved power in using it to sweep the goblins off their feet. They didn''t fall off the vine but he stepped forward as his spear swing pulled his spear back and up by his side, and stomped one on the arm, causing it to drop it''s spear. The other he brought his spear back across like a baseball bat, not aiming to cut but just hit it as it was standing, knocking it into the air and off the vine. The lone goblin left didn''t have time to do anything before he booted him off the edge as well, then turned and used [Juxtapose] again to pull Wick away from a crowd of goblins who were jabbing at her. One blow should have grazed him but he was absurdly flexible for a moment when using the switch, able to almost slide on his heels around the thrusting spear. The vine was as wide as the one between cubes and he called out ¡°Up!¡± to Wick. Hopefully more enemies were not pouring out of the hole behind him where the root rose to meet the cliff face, but with at least twenty goblins swarming their position, he decided the better plan was to chance it on the hole having less monsters. He darted his spear out at the leftmost monster''s chest and used another cross-skill before the two goblins to the side of the one he stabbed could close in.


    [Cross-skill: Thresh]


    He used the spear while thinking of his practice with a battle scythe, cutting the monsters in front of him. The effect seemed to darken his spear with shadows for a moment, and those shadows cut a few goblins behind the front line while killing the first he jabbed and knocking the other two over, causing them to tangle the feet of the ones behind them. He risked a glance behind him: Wick had given him some room. Taking advantage of the space he backed off again, steadying his breathing. Using those weapon skills was taking it''s toll again: he had only been fighting a few minutes today and already felt heavy and tired. Still, given the crowd of spear and knife wielding monsters ahead of him and the need to protect Wick, he needed to keep applying his technical fighting style, using the terrain and focusing on controlling the crowd of green monsters.


    The goblins seemed to completely ignore common sense and kept climbing over their dead and dying friends to get jabbed before they had time to even orient their weapons. A few tried to leap over their fellow goblin''s bodies and puncture him with wild two and one handed stabs. Corvayne used his spear''s butt to send one flying back, sadly to the grassy edge of the cube a few feet down rather then fifty feet or so into the valley. The other one flying at him forced him to take a step back. It was worth losing some ground: the goblin''s leap had overextended him and left the little monster face down. Corvayne wasted no time and stepped onto the spear with one boot and kicked out with his other foot, the little creature hurtled back into another pair trying to crawl over the prone and screaming form of their companions. A few more jabs and the goblins were tripping over half their own dead laying on the vine. Even with about twenty trying to attack at once, the extra reach and height meant he could skewer the monsters before they had any chance to stab him. He used some of the time after killing a trio of attackers to turn his head to make sure Wick wasn''t in trouble: She was halfway up the vine and looking for anything coming up behind him. Good.


    He suspected there was something wrong with the goblin''s ability to reason as the last two injured monsters were struggling to crawl over the bodies of other goblins to attack him. Any thinking creature would get that the others in line had failed and retreat or played dead. No, they tried to rush him to the very last one. The root before him was covered in green and red. He had also got some more blood on his boots, pants, and cloak. The cloak did it''s job well and the blood slid right off once he shook it but other then that he was starting to look like a steak before it was cooked.


    Wick asked ¡°Are you ok? I can''t believe you killed, like fifty of them!¡±


    Corvayne nodded. He''d have preferred to just leave the goblins be. He was surprised he didn''t feel more shook after all the blood he''d spilled today, most of it from humanoids. Perhaps that''s what everyone at the village disliked in him: did they sense his cold-blooded nature? On the other hand: Those goblins did kill some hikers near the entrance. He decided he''d worry about not worrying after they had got out of wherever the heck they were in.


    Wick didn''t press him further or comment on the fight, perhaps sensing that he didn''t want to talk about it. Instead she lead them up into the hole, moving off to the side after they reached it so that he could step past her and lead the way into the tunnel ahead. The dark blue rock had moss growing inside the tunnel that lit up a well defined stone staircase going up and into the cliff. The dim path wound around a few turns and Corvayne stepped on to the top of the cube then stopped.


    What he saw now was a vast vista of greens and blues with a few red trees and swaths of short grass peppered in, sloping up and away from him into patches of forest. It was impossible that he hadn''t seen this cube was an order of magnitude bigger then the previous one. He could see both this island''s bright blue peaks and ones on other huge tilted plates, somewhat faded against the yellow sky. In going up the stairs he had once more warped to somewhere entirely different.

 Chapter 7: Second Floor

    Corvayne was confused for a moment as he stepped out of the stairway cave. Instead of a square cliff top capping a cube, the path emerged overlooking a gently sloped trail leading down to rolling plains between forests, all the same colors with teal plants and dark red and blue bark on light blue stone but organized more like a few miles of normal land going up a hill. Looking off in the distance he could see a hazy floating island shaped roughly like a squat diamond shape, ridges above and below visible. Wick just looked then spun back. ¡°What the hell? It''s another teleporter? Or folded space?¡±


    ¡°I want to go back and just see if it leads the same place.¡± Crovayne turned to do so and Wick grabbed onto the back of his cloak.


    She sounded a little angry at him again. ¡°Hey don''t just walk off airhead! Corvayne! What if we got separated by the stairs!?¡± He marveled at her distrust of a staircase but accepted her clutching his cloak.


    He took her back down where they had entered the cave at the top of the root, bloody goblins still laying where he had left them. He took a few steps out of the tunnel and onto the the root and looked up. There was no way the mountains of blue and the valley all fit on the cube above them... the mountain behind them would have to be directly above him and the wall was flat and too short to even do some sort of fake sky optical trick. Shrugging, he climbed back up the steps. At the top Wick sat down and he decided to take a break as well.


    She looked like she was also fixated on the mountain that wasn''t visible down the stairs. ¡°Corvayne I don''t think this place follows normal space-time at all! Fuck I wish I had all my stuff.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. It was a bummer she was without her gear. ¡°No kidding. The only constant here seems gravity is pulling us down.¡±


    Wick folded her arms. ¡°We can''t be sure of that, maybe it rotates when you walk around these islands.¡±


    ¡°I''ll throw a goblin and test that if more try to kill us by an edge.¡± He reeked of blood. Wick looked calm now but he could see her trembling. He checked his own hands. Mostly steady. He simply sat and kept his eyes open for any goblins that might be looking at them as a meal as well as taking in the surroundings.


    The open area had a few lines where dark blue dirt cut the bright teals and blues and reds of weird grass. A few paths meandered into the huge neon trees, their rainbow of pastel colored leaves forming an indistinct pink color as a whole. There was some really boring carpet in warehouse apartment he was in that had the same effect: from afar it looked blue-gray but up close it was a weird rainbow. They started walking again after about five minutes. Nothing came out of cover to attack them, but Corvayne suspected that if the previous area had goblins, this one would have them somewhere as well.


    Wick spoke again, perhaps to fill the quiet. ¡°So, if we find four more stairs, we can get out of here?¡±


    Corvayne nodded without turning to look at Wick as he walked along, spear acting as a walking stick. ¡°Yeah. Or three stairs and a door like what we saw. Assuming the thing on the door was telling us the truth. We don''t know what this space is and why it''s here. You mentioned Fae: I''ve read fairy folk tend to be cruel and love tricking and kidnapping mortals.¡±


    Wick thought about that for a good ten seconds before responding. ¡°Mmm. Don''t know if real Fae are like that, aside from being linked to disappearances in parks away from civilization. Mostly they seem to be weird forest hobos or ghosts. They might even just be aliens. There''s a lot of cross over with those sorts of things.¡±


    Corvayne gestured back in the direction of the goblin village. ¡°So this could also be... aliens?¡±


    Wick followed his hand then looked back over at Corvayne, hand rubbing her chin. ¡°I wish I could tell you without little vicious monsters trying to gut me with stone age weapons.¡± Wick spoke carefully in a manner that suggested to Corvayne she was tired. He guessed that her previous searches for paranormal things were probably much less stressful.


    Corvayne saw a track of deep blue on the ground and decided to follow it. It seemed like the first space they were in had packed dirt roads that linked areas together both on and between islands, much like the previous paths around and over the cliffs and roots. That didn''t look to have changed, with the blue paths leading to clear trails through the wood.


    There were some differences: This layer had a small ''sun'' where the yellow of the sky was brighter, but still dim enough not to blind Corvayne when he looked up. It did warm them as they walked, which he was thankful for as he still felt damp from walking in the woods. The forest they wandered into was a sort of pink-purple due to deep blue and red tree bark and the cacophony of pastel colored leaves. No signs of civilization but thankfully no monsters so far either.


    They did see signs of life: weird rainbow rabbits, small birds with three feet that would grip a tree with two and use the third to pick apart fruit. There were lizards with six legs that seemed to merge into trees or had tiny undetectable cracks they found as the two passed. To his delight he saw a beetle no more then an inch long with two heads that could switch from running forward to backwards without missing a beat. Wick was looking all around as well and occasionally making comments about how something she saw should be impossible. Corvayne had to check his enthusiasm as he was wary of large predators or more of the goblins.


    They had stepped a few yards out of the wooded path and were looking over a gently sloped valley with more woods and teal grass when Corvayne saw something like headless dogs splattered in a rainbow of colors. They were laying in tall grass and there looked to be about six of them. They stood up when they saw Corvayne and there was a sort of buzzing sound coming from them. They all started running at Corvayne.


    He tapped Wick''s arm once and spoke quietly ¡°Incoming, back up and stay behind me.¡±


    He then retreated back to the entrance to the woods. The paint-hounds were fast but were about the size of a desert fox or a small desert badger. Given how sturdy the limbs looked they probably slashed or bludgeoned. Wick held the knife she had gotten from him. ¡°Why are there so many fucking monsters? This is BULLSHIT.¡±


    ¡°Wick, we are here because we went to the woods to look for monsters you know.¡±


    ¡°It was supposed to be maybe one monster!¡± She muttered something else about rain.


    ¡°Well if you found no monsters we''d be in a diner eating right now.¡± He realized he was a little hungry as he spoke. Maybe the dogs were edible?


    The first of them was just a few yards away when it pounced, flying at Corvayne who just skewered it with his spear. The thing was heavier then he expected and he had to step back to let it drop then pull his spear out and face the next two. He could see something like teeth under the monster, and they had lion like front paws with large claws. The next two had one leap at him and another trying to rake at him with claws from the side. [Power Thrust] shot out at the one on the ground, blasting it and sending a wave of force back to knock one following it over. He leaned to the side of the leaper, a claw scraping him as it went by. He had pretty thick skin and it was a glancing blow. Still, Wick started yelling and waving her knife around and he hopped back and used [Juxtapose] with it, putting himself in front of it''s attempt to rake her. The sudden movement confused the creature enough that it hesitated with it''s swing and Corvayne jabbed it.


    Another dog thing was attacking Wick, and she got slashed on the leg while stabbing at the front of the headless things, drawing blood herself and causing the monster to back off. Corvayne activated another skill [Flow-Like-Water] allowing him to move and attack at the same time in a fluid series of steps taking him back to the one she was fighting. He then pivoted and much like flowing water he slide around Wick, his spear weaving around them both to jab another monster. The attacks were not precise enough to kill the monsters, but they stumbled around injured and he sensed the third one leaping at him. He used a skill on instincts honed from unarmed combat: [Cross-Skill: Judo Throw]


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Using the back of his spear he caught the monster by it''s horrible under mouth and then braced the blade of the spear into the ground, using the monsters momentum to fling it over Wick''s head and then into a tree. There was some stinging as he threw it: the monster had gotten a claw into his upper arm while he was throwing it. Only a little blood. As for the dog: It probably didn''t kill the thing but it might have broken some bones. His job was to finish the two wounded ones off before they did more damage to Wick, who had sliced up pants and was bleeding from a few wounds. He didn''t want to use too many more skills, so he jabbed one in a leg causing it to topple on it''s front, then the other he stabbed as it tried to lunge at him again, two more hits causing it to fall over and bleed out.


    The last one, dazed, tried to leap at them and just missed, so Corvayne quickly ran it through. He had only taken a few scratches and instead of worrying about them he moved to where Wick was sitting on the ground, helping her with some spare cloth from his pack to bind a deeper wound on her leg that might require stitches. She looked shocked, and kept staring at the bodies of the dogs then her blood drenched legs.


    Corvayne focused on trying to reduce the risks she took staying near him. ¡°Those guys are faster then Goblins. If more come, you might need to hide in a tree and let me fight them myself.¡±


    She looked down at her knees. ¡°I don''t wanna be eaten. Please...¡±


    ¡°No warrior is born in a day.¡± He said quietly to himself as he finished applying the bandage and looked for any other monsters, then sat next to her. He didn''t think she needed an arm around her. He heard her sniffling.


    ¡°I can usually handle myself. It... pisses me off.¡± She was quiet for a bit, pulling her glasses up and rubbing her face. He remembered his first patrol. He was sure he''d die before making it back home after his first encounter with monsters. He recalled worse patrols where he had been badly injured. He wasn''t sure how he had made it back a few of those times.


    He offered her a hand and continued to speak quietly. ¡°Does it hurt to walk? We should keep moving. We can stay near the woods if you like, it seems they are better suited to open spaces.¡±


    Wick nodded, and stood up with his help. She tested her leg tentatively and hissed a little but walked. ¡°It''s alright. Doesn''t feel great but I''ll make it. Thanks for the help. My hunch about you was correct.¡±


    ¡°What was your hunch?¡± He asked.


    He thought she looked a little embarrassed as she explained. ¡°I think I said it, but I''ve used remote viewing and had hunches about whats important or where to go. For some reason I knew I''d meet someone important the day I met you.¡±


    He smiled and puffed up his chest a little bit, then thought about his own instincts what often triggered them. ¡°I''m glad you think I''m important but I''d say any instinct that got you here was probably a warning rather then a request.¡±


    They stopped at the open fields again, looking more carefully at the wide spaces and roads for more packs of those dogs possibly hidden in the grass. There was one point distant in the colors that could have been another grouping, but that was behind the way they were headed and Corvayne resolved to just keep an eye open back that way as they pressed forward to another wooded section, closer to the large blue mountain jutting up from the plains. This forest was the same colors with a little less light streaming in. He didn''t realize how much sweat he had accumulated until stepping into the shade cooled him off. His cloak was starting to mend itself already so he took it off once it finished and placed it back in his pack.


    The path lead them out near the edge of the island. There was a grassy area with rocks, and he saw that the trail continued to another sky island in a sort of twenty to forty foot wide bridge. The gap between islands was much smaller then the last area, and there was less yellow below them as he looked over the edge and saw layers of land. Above, in the haze, he could see some faded islands that ranged from looking solid to almost blending into the sky. He wondered how big this place was. Is it a giant room? Or like a cloud of rocks floating in... something?


    Crossing to the next island, they found a pair of the dogs on the land bridge. Corvayne knew that there was an axe champion in his village who could cut things at a distance. He had been on a roll, so maybe he could do that too. As the dogs started charging at him Corvayne focused on the image of Mugs-Already-Empty swinging his burly arms and shattering a target fifty feet distant. [Cross-Skill: Whirling Axe] made him whip his spear in front of him as if slashing an invisible foe, and a weird phantom spear went spinning at the lead dog, hitting the monster and dropping him with huge slash. Corvayne thought it was neat, but also that it drained him a lot to use it with a spear. The more he stretched the use of the weapon, the more tired using it made him. He needed to get his hands on more weapons to test how the effect worked.


    He just regular skewered the other dog as it lept, and because there were no other enemies he flung it off the side of the path to see if it would stick to the back. As expected, it just fell out of sight, buzzing angrly. Wick hit his arm in a friendly or excited way. He turned and saw that her funk had lifted.


    She beamed and her eyes seemed to sparkle as she spoke. ¡°That was magic! You can''t tell me that wasn''t magic!¡±


    Corvayne didn''t want her to get too far ahead of herself. ¡°I saw other people in my village use those moves before. If you trained enough you could do it too. I''m not sure why I can use them all with a spear though...¡±


    ¡°That was magic. You can''t explain what happened!¡± Wick replied.


    ¡°Uhh... I swung the spear hard enough to make an afterimage in the wind. It''s pretty obvious.¡± He didn''t understand why it worked but it was pretty clear what events took place there.


    ¡°That explanation is bullshit. You''re a wizard, Corry!¡±


    ¡°I don''t like that.¡± He felt his voice go cold.


    Her face morphed from ecstatic to confused. ¡°You don''t wanna be one? Are you crazy?¡±


    ¡°Sorry Wick, I mean, hearing a cutesy version of my name...¡±


    ¡°Sorry Corvayne. Cor? Vayne? Either ok?¡±


    ¡°I don''t like my name, but those abbreviations always feel like someone is making fun of it.¡± Because they were.


    ¡°Why not change it?¡±


    ¡°Because it''s my name! You can''t just change your name.¡±


    Wick laughed. ¡°You think my birth certificate just said ''Wick''?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know. I thought it was short for something. Where I''m from there''s a whole ceremony where they give you a name.¡±


    ¡°So you have like, a little kid name and they should have given you a better one then, right?¡±


    ¡°No. My little kid name was...¡± Corvayne furrowed his brow. He had gotten the name Corvayne in the ceremony, and he knew he had a more normal name as a kid. Forgetting something like that went against years of training his mind with his body to take in and remember details even under stress.


    Wick waited expectantly. She wasn''t going to start walking into another possible pack of dogs ahead of him.


    ¡°Well, it was a whole ritual and they gave me a dumb name.¡± The memory not coming to him felt weird. Why was he having so much trouble calling up childhood memories all of the sudden?


    Wick shrugged. ¡°Ok, we''ll call you Spears!¡±


    ¡°No no, that''s weird. Spears was the nickname for a girl in my village, Spears-Like-Water.¡±


    Wick blinked. ¡°Ohhh... did you learn that blurring water charge from her?¡±


    How did she get that? ¡°Yes. Spears has potential to be the spear master in the village in the next few years if she keeps improving.¡± Using those skills was draining. He rooted around in his pack for a canteen.


    ¡°And you were watching her very closely to learn her skill?¡±


    ¡°Mmm. I didn''t know I could do it, and it''s sloppy compared to her execution. She really looks like she becomes water.¡± He unstopped his water and started drinking. They would have to find a source of water if it took them longer then a day in this place.


    A smile crept onto Wick''s face. ¡°So did you date her?¡±


    He spit out a mouthful of water. ¡°No!¡±


    Wick actually clapped at him. ¡°Haha, that reaction! She must have been really hot! Did she tease you about your spear a lot?¡±


    He frowned. ¡°Yes. Everyone mocked me for everything Wick. Whatever I thought about the outside of Spears, or her skill with the spear, or dedication to it, or that she was kind to others... she treated me like garbage, as did everyone else. She thought I had a stupid name and made fun of it. Just like everyone else. I have no desire to EVER go back to that.¡±


    Corvanye had to blink his eyes after saying it. They stung a little. He rubbed them. ¡°Sweat in my eyes.¡±


    Wick hugged him. He didn''t know what to do while she squeezed him. She never felt like any of the damsels in... like any of the women in stories he had read and he was a little embarrassed that she felt he needed to be hugged. It was just his life. The hug did make him feel better though. Wick looked up at him. Was she getting teary... sweat in her eyes too? ¡°It''s okay! Those idiots had no idea what they had! They should have pulled their heads out of their asses. That chick probably is probably losing sleep right now regretting you left her!¡±


    Corvayne''s heart warmed at how mad she got. ¡°That''s... not likely but thank you Wick. The last few days have been some of the best of my life. I will try not to dwell in the past.¡± He smiled down at her, then turned and looked forward. ¡°I owe that to you and Grunt. I will get you out of here or die trying.¡±


    ¡°Ok Ace.¡± She let him go with a pat.


    ¡°Ace then?¡± Corvayne thought it was kind of nice. Maybe he''d get a detective''s getup like on the covers of the crime focused books. Dame had a way with words.


    ¡°It''s weird, it feels wrong. No no... let me think.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged.h ¡°I''d be happy with anything other then my... vampire name.¡±


    Wick stopped what she was doing and stared at him.


    ¡°It''s really a vampire name... and you do wear mostly black and are covered in blood.¡± She moved a hand up to her hair and pushed it aside to scratch her neck. Corvayne sensed she was being cheeky, but it was better then getting dragged down into his past.


    ¡°I know. That''s why I said it. Also: you should be taking pictures of everything here if your portable device can do that.¡±


    Wick widened her eyes then hugged Corvayne again. ¡°You ARE the best vampire! Haha I totally forgot!¡±

 Chapter 8: Stranger Still

    Corvayne stood around for a good minute just looking between the land bridge between floating islands he was on, Wick who was tapping her all-in-one camera and phone, the floating blue plate-like islands with mountains in the distance, and the yellow sky beyond them in every direction around above and below him. Wick seemed excited to get some evidence of the paranormal: She was taking shots of things such as the dead splatter dogs, the weird landmasses, and Corvayne for scale on the creepy dogs size. Once she had taken a few dozen pictures and a short video, they shared water from Corvayne''s canteen which was now nearly empty. At the entrance to the next island there was a pair of the monster dogs guarding what at first looked like another rolling valley with forests placed willy-nilly and blue mountain walls forming ridges.


    A few spear strokes and they could take in a new and fantastic scene of what seemed to be multiple stacked islands: the landscape before them looked like someone had tilted an island one way, then punched a hole in it, then merged it to and punched a hole in the one they were standing on... forming a sort of series of drops for the water flowing along the landscape and a rough back and forth of land that would let them climb up, or follow the river past where it plunged into the open hole in one plate leading to the edge of the next layer down.


    ¡°We should look for a cave around here to see if there are stairs.¡± He spoke to Wick as she took a picture of the complex landscape before them. ¡°Or perhaps if you see a stairway off to nowhere, follow it up.¡± He surveyed the plains again and spotted an area where smoke was rising: off near woods there was a crude wall put up, and he could see a patrol of small green figures carrying one of the paint splattered headless hounds back. Wick held her hand up to block out the yellow sky.


    She must have spotted the same group. ¡°We should be careful... They must use traps or something to catch those things.¡±


    Her guess lined up with what Corvayne was thinking: the hounds were more dangerous and durable then the goblins by a large margin. In even numbers they''d probably rip the little green monsters to shreds.


    Corvayne would rather not deal with either group of monsters. ¡°Let''s avoid everything if possible. Skirt the edge of the land here away from that village, and try to stick to the woods. If we play our cards right we might get out of here without another fight.¡±


    After two hours and over a hundred assorted dead dogs and goblins later, Corvayne had to give credit for both species ability to see them sneaking whenever they were out in the open. His cloak helped him but Wick had nothing that assisted her in hiding. So it was a vicious cycle where they''d run into a small group of goblins and fight and kill them, then a grouping of two to four dogs would smell the blood or something and come bounding over, which made a racket so two goblin patrols would show up, which was a lot of blood and hollering that would pull another six pack of dogs over in a three way battle that Corvayne would walk away from then run into another patrol fifteen mintues later and start the process over, sometimes fighting so long the previous battle''s survivors would stumble over to join in.


    Wick''s contribution included actually stabbing a goblin who was trying to stop her from climbing a tree and one that tried to climb up after her. With her mostly out of harms way Corvayne was free to fight however he wanted. It was much easier to run circles around his enemies when he didn''t have to look after anyone but himself. He had taken a few cuts from the much faster dogs raking him but didn''t feel the burning or stinging of poison that would make him worry about his flesh wounds.


    After wiping his spear and boots clean of blood off on the grass, he poked a few goblins to see if they had any loot. No gold, no silver, nor copper coins, but he saw a few goblins with neck pouches. Opening them gave him a handful of rough emeralds, a few stubby rubies, and some stone coins. Those gems might be worth something, given that a lot of people were in the rock business in Cascadia.


    Wick made her way down the tree, stepping around bodies. She stared at him. He could only imagine how gross he looked covered in his enemies blood. He looked at the carnage then at her. ¡°Sorry, they just kept coming.¡±


    She spoke slowly. ¡°Do... do you need... a break?¡± She had a weird look on her face. Horror? Was she just tired? The dark circles under her eyes looked larger. Now that she mentioned it, he was coming off a battle high.


    He gestured that he was going to keep walking but he also started looking for a place to rest. A few more minutes and they had made it to a section of stream running through woods, and Corvayne had burned a little more stamina to attempt [Cross Skill: Chop]. It worked and he used a few applications to make a few branches into sharpened staves, one he gave to Wick as a backup weapon and a walking stick so she wasn''t wincing with her leg. He saw that where the stream fell onto the current island there was a pond on top of a rocky rise, maybe fifteen feet tall, with trees.


    ¡°If you don''t mind a little more climbing, I think we can clear that ledge and take a break.¡± He wasn''t sure they''d be totally safe from goblins but he figured the little monsters always yelled before attacking.


    He climbed up first then got out some rope and helped pull Wick up. The platform had a few trees and bushes flanking a section of stream.


    ¡°If you want to get a nap in, I''ll keep watch.¡± He purified a batch of water and offered the container to her and she drank it. Wick then sat on the sand against a rock and was asleep by the time the canister on the bottom of the purifier was full again. He drank all of it, then filled his canteen with the small output tube before screwing the container attached to the purifier back on and filling it one last time. Never knew when they''d get stuck without water.


    He wasn''t as tired physically as much as he felt like he needed to mentally decompress, so he went through his spear exercises and steps in a slow pace meant to keep his body alert rather then exert himself. He looked at his sleeping companion and felt himself smile. She had helped him out when he was totally alone, and being able to return the favor with skills he had worked so hard to obtain felt good. There was always an emphasis on selflessness in the village but it was delivered in a tone that made him feel greedy and selfish all the time, even though his entire goal in life had been to stay out of everyone¡¯s way. In stories when the hero arrived at the big city they were wowed at first but found it colder then the backwater they thought they hated. A week in and he had a place to live, a friend, and now someone who was depending on him. If she didn''t want to date him, well she still made him feel good. Honestly, watching her on stage the night before had been the first time he''d seen anyone get that animated. He had agreed to be her bodyguard, so he''d protect her. Simple as that. All the better that he wanted to do that anyway. It might be hard if she kept finding adventures, but how bad could it possibly be?


    He cringed, nearly throwing him out of his exercises. He took a moment to take his shirt off and dip it in the stream, then tossed it on a rock. He was feeling better as he resumed going through the dances and stances, spear snaking out in both practical and artistic moves, stretching every muscle a would-be spear man needed. In his own mind he had broken the rule of the unsaid. How about instead of saying it would be easy and regretting it: he would rise to meet any challenges to her safety. Better. She was his second friend, though he still wasn''t sure if it was reciprocated or if perhaps he was just a curiosity? Well, she said partner. And the context was of partners in crime, no doubt. He felt his shoulders un-knot. He would explore Cascadia and protect Wick. Maybe find someone who did want to go on dates! That might be a stretch. Still, He might have been a failure to the Watchers but...


    The thoughts of home and of his pitiless father banishing him stung now. Not because he was mad at them for that act, but of the pointless cruelty his father and the rest of the villagers had inflicted on him when he had spent so long trying to meet their approval. How hard had he worked, how many years on getting beat by elders with all sorts of weapons, working from dawn to dusk to get stronger and faster and doing endless chores when they deemed him a failure... Well then they could all go blow hot rocks: he''d... he''d one day show them. He''d become a warrior they begged to come back. Not that he would ever do return. He''d never be back, and he doubted a single person in the village would think twice about him in a month. Never go back. Never. NEVER.


    He stopped, focus wavering as he shuddered. His hand was shaking. He didn''t know how long he had been in a flow state, but he was soaked in sweat. How long had he been going through forms? He found he was breathing too fast, feeling suddenly hot and uncomfortable. The stream looked ideal to fix that. He just took his boots off and walked into the stream. The sandy bottom was only two feet deep but he ducked into it then flung his head back out, spear and eyes ready for trouble in between splashing himself to cool off. It washed everything away, cooled it off, let it seep back inside where it couldn''t bother anyone else. In a bit he felt in control and stepped out, drying his pants with a few stern taps to the leg. He sat down across from Wick.


    She was dreaming, her eyes moving and mouth opening a little. He could see and hear sorrow at whatever was going on, and went over and put a rough blanket from his pack over her. She gripped it hard, but didn''t wake. Hopefully it made her feel better. He dried off, put his shirt back on and kept tabs on quiet ledge they were resting on. He cleared his mind slowly as he absorbed everything around him. The noise of the stream, it''s clear yellow water reflecting the sky like gold.


    Some time later he heard Wick startle awake. She asked for some more water then they were ready to set off again. They needed to climb down then walk up hill to reach the lip of the next platform up. She took a few pictures of the stream then one of Corvayne.


    Corvayne didn''t think he merited a photo and couldn''t help but ask ¡°Why take a picture of me?¡±


    ¡°You are either a wizard or a cryptid. Either way, you are strange and I admit, interesting.¡± Wick took another one with a faux clicking noise.


    She walked up next to him and flipped the screen around, holding her hand high so she could get his face and hers.


    ¡°I generally hate pictures of myself, but if you are not a wizard you might be an alien. Unexplained tech being magic and all that.¡± She snapped a picture while making the peace sign.


    ¡°I am a human like everyone else.¡± Corvayne noted, running a hand through his hair.


    ¡°HA! Exactly what an alien would say.¡±


    They didn''t even reach the next layer of land before they they found a cave with stairs going up. Corvayne lead the way through the faintly glowing tunnel and once more the surroundings totally changed from what they were previously: This time Corvayne could see a dense pine forest. The trees were clad in slightly brighter blue and red bark while the pine needles were a pastel set of colors that made the trees look sort of blue-green from afar. The path from the stairs lead them down hill from where they were standing into the vast line of trees between two blue mountains. It looked like there were no gaps in the ground from this vantage point. It was also cooler on this floor: He could see the high points had caps of snow.


    Corvayne tightened his grip on his spear. The time he had to himself on break gave him a chance to think about his weird skills. He really wished he had thought to bring more weapons to try his skills with. Actually...


    ¡°Wick, are you attached to the flashlight you gave me?¡±


    ¡°Uh, it''s a pretty expensive one even secondhand. Why?¡±


    Corvayne realized again he had no idea what the value of it was. He assumed it was heavy because it was cheap. ¡°Oh, I was considering I could use it as a club.¡±


    Wick stared at him for a while. ¡°... only if there''s a good reason to, please?¡±


    ¡°No problem. Nevermind. Just a thought.¡± As usual, the moment he felt he was in control or had a good idea he set himself up to look foolish.


    While the yellow sky was bright above, under the canopy of trees everything was dark yellow, almost amber under what looked like a gently glowing blue ceiling of pine needles. They lost their colors on the ground, and the bark of those red and blue trees was nearly black in the deep woods. The few non-pine trees were dropping leaves like it was fall, covering the forest ground with dried leaves and pine needles. The paths through the woods were clear despite being mostly under the trees. What kept them clear? Corvayne couldn''t see the dogs and goblins cleaning them.


    He had them move steadily down the packed dirt road, pacing himself to keep alert for possible threats from above and below. Coming to a fork in the woods, he simply followed the right fork. It would either send him in circles or lead him out.


    The woods were... large and nearly silent. No birdsong nearby. Little more then a breeze to break up the sounds of them crunching on pine needles. It reminded him a little of the desert. Wick walked beside him, switching the knife between her hands whenever one got tired of holding it, the stick in the other. He wished he had a better way to have her carry it, but it wouldn''t fit in those goblin pouches.


    Wick broke the silence with a request. ¡°Can we sit for a few minutes?¡±


    Corvayne stopped and turned. ¡°Sorry.¡± It had been... a while?


    ¡°Sorry. I''m... really not used to hiking for hours and hours.¡± She looked away as she spoke and Corvayne wondered if it was like the girls at the village who tried not to look at him because they found him offensive.


    He kept himself neutral. ¡°It''s ok. I''ve never been in a place like this... I fear we may have to walk back from the park should we exit where we came in.¡±


    He sat cross legged on a patch of hard dirt, and she followed his lead, sitting to face him.


    Wick looked relieved and that made Corvayne feel better. She seemed to take a moment to consider what he had said about leaving the space they were in. ¡°What about the bigfoot pack?¡±


    If they didn''t follow them in, then he couldn''t see a bunch of monsters just waiting for them to pop out. Nor would they keep every bigfoot there: a large group of humanoids would need food right? Of course, one should be prepared for their enemies to do the thing you want the least, either by guile or by luck. ¡°If they are just sitting around the stairway... I guess we kill a few and jump back in?¡±


    Wick put her head down. ¡°That''s not reassuring.¡±


    Corvayne winced internally. Wick wouldn''t accept such a lame plan, he refined it in his head and tried again. ¡°I think we assess before exiting. If you leave me alone with that pack for about ten minutes I can possibly kill them all.¡±


    ¡°You poked a few then ran last time!¡±


    Corvayne looked at her. ¡°I killed ten if they can''t bind wounds. It was somewhat hard because I have to not endanger myself or run circles around them. My objective is to get you back home safe. If I had ten more minutes to hunt them properly, I could handle it.¡±


    Perhaps he was being too confident: Wick looked incredulous. ¡°Wouldn''t you die if one of them hit you?¡±


    ¡°In the head? That would be possible. I didn''t get hit previously. The only thing I was ever praised on was my thick skull, so it might be possible to survive a punch to the face. They are only as strong as they look, compared to most monsters which are far more dangerous then animals their size.¡±


    Wick frowned. ¡°Yes... well even if they are normal muscles they have muscles. More then you.¡± Of course, he was weak.


    ¡°Mine count more too.¡± Corvayne felt a little lame stating it, but it was strictly true.


    It surprised him that Wick nodded and moved on from his disastrous first fight so quickly. ¡°... Is that why you can do crazy things with your spear?¡±


    He thought for a moment about it. ¡°I don''t know... I don''t know how it works. I only was ever able to do one that was just me, being [Storm Thrust] and it took me many tries to focus the right way. Doing a bunch of them in a row with no issues is odd. Also some of them are just things you do with a weapon. For example: shield bashing isn''t special, and I''ve done it hundreds of times to dummies or people I''m sparring with, but now? It''s emphasized in my mind. And now I can do the same action, bashing with my shield, but instead it''s a spear that doesn''t have the surface area and sort of weight to it to properly bash, especially swinging it like a staff. And it certainly should not be able to punch three foot round holes in things if I hit them in the back, spear or dagger or anything else.¡±


    She smiled. ¡°Is that all I need to do to get you to talk... is ask you about weapons?¡±


    He blinked at her. She was probably teasing him. ¡°What else is there besides books and fighting? Oh. I like putting stuff back together. And I guess movies, I''ve seen seven with Grunt and so far six were good.¡± He didn''t like the dramatic movie he saw where everyone ended up miserable. He did like you could work out while watching a movie, something much harder then with a book.


    Wick kept looking at him with a warm smile. Once more he was sort of confused, as she had switched from dressing him down to asking to know more about him. Or had she been picking him apart? He had to admit he kept expecting the other shoe to drop. ¡°Ok. Tell me about weapons when we walk, and your village.¡± She stood up and he strode along with her.


    ¡°Well, we are not supposed to talk to outsiders about it, but I am an outsider now and they tossed me out without asking for any favors and not doing me a single one. I got to Cascadia crossing the desert but it was a weird blur. It should have been at least a few months to cross the desert on foot, and it would have been taxing but not impossible: I trained for years out in the sands and could live out there for a long time. To me it felt like a few hours, then I stumbled thousands of miles to the edge of the desert.¡±


    He heard her kick a pine cone. ¡°Like lost time? And it was a blur?¡±


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    ¡°I''d take a step then it''d pull me somewhere else in the desert, deeper and deeper. I was in a trance and when I woke I was here. I mean, Cascadia.¡± He sort of felt here was a part of Cascadia, but he wasn''t sure why he felt that.


    ¡°Do you have other missing memories? Scars you can''t explain?¡± Her voice had switched to a checklist interrogation of something.


    ¡°Uh, any scars I have healed over already. So no. As for memories, it might help to tell you what I do know, it might jog my memory. It''s been spotty since I came out of the desert... I think.¡± He felt a pang of worry about that last part.


    He walked and talked about things that happened in previous years. Growing up missing his mother. His father calling him a failure. The training sessions where he would be beaten around the arena by trainers. Being isolated by his peers, if not harassed about every mistake he made. Boys going out of their way to pick fights with him. The break from all that in the engineering shop with Spaces-Torn-Asunder. Learning to keep himself sane when he just wanted to give up. Trying to meet the standards set and failing every time. He spoke about how he had figured it out: The worst was being in bed in the morning, awake, and waiting for the alarm and knowing it was coming, that he''d have to get up and walk into the day on his own, and doing it, over and over. Over and over and over again. Every sun rise the dread about doing it again. It moved to training in the desert, and he found his tone shift. He had liked the long patrols, especially when it was solo. Just him and the sands, sometimes on a bike with the wind through his hair. The sun setting and turning the entire desert into gold for a few moments.


    Wick broke his train of thought. ¡°Were there other people you met? Outside the village? How did they treat you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, the traders? Hmm... I don''t think I really spoke with them. They also were... covetous. Our main job when they came was to make sure they didn''t steal anything they didn''t trade for.¡±


    He had to duck under a low branch growing out into the path that Wick just glided right under. ¡°You didn''t see any on the road when you left?¡±


    ¡°When I say it''s a blur... I honestly can''t remember it. It''s weird because it takes a lot of understanding and attention to cross the desert safely.¡±


    They started to round a bend. With how few turns there were he felt he was keeping a pretty good map of where they had been. He had always had a good sense of direction. He took a moment to look over at Wick and looked away when he saw her looking at him. Caught! She didn''t comment on it, instead offering a theory on his displacement. ¡°Maybe someone found you and drove you? If you were at the mines...¡±


    Wick stopped a moment, seemingly lost in thought. Corvayne liked the pose she took, fist under chin with her other arm supporting her elbow as she looked down. Who was he kidding? He liked every pose she took. He had always wanted someone to talk to. Even if she turned out to not care that much about him, he enjoyed that she listened to him.


    He stopped a few steps ahead of her and waited for Wick to finish her thought. She ¡°It''s at least a ten hour drive for any given mine into nothing but packed earth and dust... Was that where you were from?¡±


    He didn''t think they mined much out in the desert. They traded for raw materials by giving the traders trinkets. ¡°Must be past that. Cascadia wasn''t on the map I had.¡±


    Wick laughed and started walking. ¡°It''s definitely on your map. It''s not only the biggest city on this rock, it''s the NAME of the rock.¡±


    ¡°So you live in Cascadia, on Cascadia?¡± Corvayne felt his lips tug up into a smile despite himself. ¡°What''s the name of the country, wait let me-¡±


    She interrupted with a gleeful answer ¡°New Seattle!¡±


    Corvayne thought about that. ¡°Never heard of any of those before this week. We must call it something else...¡±


    ¡°Was your village new?¡±


    ¡°About twenty years? Even if some of the people living in it were really old... it wasn''t that new. It was founded after I was born. The oasis was there a long time, and I think there was ruins there too that we built on and over.¡± That''s what he thought he had heard from one of the older kids.


    Wick sounded like she was thinking aloud when she responded. ¡°I don''t think there''s ruins on this world. The colony is a little over a hundred years old. Unless... were they alien ruins?¡±


    He had read books about alien tech, but everything they used he felt like Spaces-Torn-Asunder knew how to make. What''s more, alien ruins on the covers of books looked like exciting places. ¡°I doubt it. The high tech stuff were all things we installed and maintained. I saw a drawing of the oasis before we arrived, it was just a bunch of stone buildings. Maybe the Magus''s quarters were older?¡±


    ¡°What year were you born?¡± She picked up a rare non pine leaf a mix of sky blue and pink, and stuffed it in her pocket.


    ¡°Uhh... I think I''m 24 winter solstices old. I know some places have a calendar...¡±


    Wick was staring at him. ¡°So you have no idea... Are you a freaking time traveler?¡±


    ¡°I might be a cultist, there was a weird wizard imprisoned in our town. Or our town was keeping people out of his way, I don''t 100 percent know. Look, I don''t know what year it is.¡± It felt like the forms all over again. He didn''t have any of the information he needed.


    Wick''s usual scratchy voice softened. ¡°It''s either CY 465 or around CE 2900 something if you''re a weirdo who never switched after the collective formed.¡±


    ¡°Neither rings a bell.¡± He muttered, her attempt to help him making him feel dumber.


    ¡°You guys don''t talk about what year XYZ happened?¡± Wick waved her hands around as if she was looking for the right words.


    ¡°Everyone in the village aside from the few kids younger then me were all alive when anything that ever came up, came up. And no one talked to me. About anything.¡± He calmed himself down as he spoke, smoothing his reactions and feelings out.


    Wick seemed to have seen something he couldn''t control in his face or tone. ¡°It''s okay Corvayne. Don''t get upset. It sounds like you were trapped in a bad place. It might have been a cult. You''re safe here with me.¡± She reached out and squeezed his hand and he felt dumb now because it made him feel better to have her tiny hand there.


    He stopped and pointed at a pack of boar sized furry slugs tearing through the layer of pine needles on the ground, homing in on them. Wick stepped behind him and cleared her throat.


    ¡°Correction, you''re emotionally safe.¡±


    Six dead slugs later, they resumed their conversation.


    The furry slugs only way to fight was to try to ram someone and they had no real armor. Corvayne had finished the battle with two [Flows Like Water] applications, sticking the entire pack of 6 with deep gouges. Three bled out without needing any further damage. The others had trouble getting at him when he zigzagged through the trees, stabbing whichever slug was in the front. In total the fight was a minute of his time from his first step at them to the last one falling still. He did see on one of the dead slugs that had flopped over a grasping mouth on their bottom which, he supposed, would be dangerous to someone knocked over with no assistance. Anyone else there armed with a knife would be able to simply kill the large soft monsters.


    Wick was agitated when she started speaking again. ¡°No I mean, it''s total BULLSHIT. They isolated you, tormented you, and when you didn''t conform or give up, they kicked you out, right?¡± Wick accepted his help getting out of the tree, using his hand as an extra step before hopping to the ground.


    Corvayne didn''t think it was that deliberate. ¡°No no... I broke the main rule which is don''t bug the wizard.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°The wizard is the cult leader. It happens a lot to groups-¡±


    He interrupted to try to save her some time. ¡°My dad was the leader. The wizard is just a wizard who lives in a rock. He did actual magic, like making things appear and so on. I broke into his place and talked to him, and he told me I had to go gather people or something. It seemed like he just wanted me to go away. So my dad found out immediately and told me to leave by morning.¡± Anger flared again. Why? It shouldn''t bother him.


    Wick frowned. ¡°And you crossed the desert to come here? I can try to find your village, maybe we can report them...¡±


    ¡°I would not advise it. The village is an insanely well defended compound even if it appears simple. Supposedly anything that puts it''s first foot on the desert is close enough to be watched. That''s how my father put it to traders. Whatever they are doing out there... just let it be. They wanted me to be a warrior or whatever but I was washing out. Never good enough.¡±


    Wick gave him a disappointed look. ¡°Ok. I won''t go there, but could I find it via satellite?¡±


    ¡°Maybe?¡± He looked up at the yellow light streaming in between the pastel pine needles while trying to remember the map. ¡°It''s at an oasis almost smack in the middle of the desert, you know, a rough square around it. There''s coast north of the desert but no settlements along it. ¡±


    He saw Wick shake her head before she responded. ¡°Uhh, I thought the desert was just a swath out to the other ocean, sort of shaped like a pear..¡±


    ¡°If you have a map I''ll look and point it out. The scale was thousands of miles. Err, do you have a map of the whole world? I know you have a space port.¡± He wanted to see that too. The idea that he might get on a space ship was wild to him. The traders had used beasts of burden every time they came by, which was not a good sign for attempting to find passage to put a few planets between him and his village.


    Wick stopped to stare at something in the woods then shook her head and kept walking and talking. ¡°Many worlds. But yes, when we get back we can look.¡±


    He walked for another mintue of silence before he got the courage to speak up again. ¡°Your turn. Tell me about yourself.¡±


    Wick responded like she had been rehearsing for a year. ¡°21 but I feel old as hell. I ran away from home when I was 15 and worked as a programmer on and off since then.¡±


    That told him a few things but raised another question. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Bad situation.¡± She stopped walking for a second, taking a deep breath through her nose with her eyes closed.


    ¡°Anything I can help with?¡±


    Wick opened her eyes. ¡°Probably not. No. I''m fucked up and there''s no fixing it. I sometimes talk to Mister I but it''s mostly just about treating the symptoms of... something.¡± Wick took another sharp breath then slowly returned to normal breathing, all the while staring ahead. ¡°I''m okay.¡±


    ¡°Sorry. I shared because I wanted to. I can''t ask you to do the same if you don''t.¡± Corvayne waited for her to start walking, looking around the woods for signs of anything out of place, basically looking anywhere but Wick.


    ¡°It''s ok. I got a few... friends and I''ve carved out a little place for myself.¡±


    She started walking after that and was quiet for a while.


    Corvayne lead the way. A bird somewhere close to them had started chirping, and that noise helped make the otherwise nearly empty forest feel a little less oppressive.


    ¡°You said there was a wizard at your village, right?¡± She asked, breaking a few minutes of them making no other sounds save the steady rhythm of their boots on dirt.


    ¡°I''m pretty sure he was. He did things like summon mirrors that could spy on things, made clouds that changed shape with his pipe... he seemed half insane and gave me a sort of never-ending weird quest.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. And he gave you a quest?¡±


    Corvayne wasn''t really sure if quest was the right word. It was a very vague request. ¡°He wanted me to fight magic users. And invaders from another dimension.¡±


    ¡°And did you accept this quest out of hand?¡±


    He smirked a little bit. ¡°Actually I told him I''d think about it. I sorta figured he was just blabbing whatever came to mind.¡±


    Wick was thinking. ¡°Maybe this Magus fellow could help me.¡±


    ¡°With what? I mean... we can go get any number of dead bigfeet once we go back to the clearing.¡± As long as she didn''t mind spear related damage to the bodies.


    Wick laughed a little then shook her head. ¡°No no, I mean that''s GOOD but the whole point is I''m trying to figure out what''s going on under the hood in the universe. This stuff that gets pushed off to the side because it doesn''t make star ship engines run cheaper has been perpetually ignored.¡±


    ¡°Well... the people in the village seemed to have way more esoteric interests then most of the people I''ve met in Cascadia, present company excluded. You''d get a kick out of Spaces-Torn-Asunder. He always talked about folding dimensions and even showed me a few tricks.¡±


    She stopped walking. ¡°You''re talking about wormhole transit, right?¡±


    ¡°No no. Proper folding. Wormholes are just sort of a bunch of old folds laying around that you can punch open easier.¡±


    ¡°Corvayne... do you... can you make a warp drive?¡±


    ¡°Of course not! Unless you mean a fold drive? They are totally different from warp drives. A warp changes the entire ships XYZD value and I barely get the overview of how that happens. A fold drive just pinches space a little to skip around. Easy to make it''s just a matter of powering a big one and having good info on where you''re going.¡±


    ¡°Do you-¡± She looked around for any furred slugs who might have heard her then lowered her voice. ¡°... Do you have ANY idea how many people would kill maim and torture for a working drive that did any of those things?¡±


    Corvayne once more had blurted something in extreme ignorance that set her off. ¡°Uhh... I thought that''s what you guys... that''s what we used? I mean, some guy in a shed out in the desert had a bunch of actual warp drives laying around. He put one on a piece of metal and made a sand sled so you could loop and slide down a particular hill...¡±


    She was clutching her head. ¡°You were using a warp drive with no hull to save kids the trouble of running back up a hill!?!?¡±


    He couldn''t help himself. ¡°A sled doesn''t need a hull Wick, the hill wasn''t that high.¡±


    It took her a moment. Her eyes widened.


    ¡°You just made a joke!¡± she shouted probably a little too loudly.


    There was a tense moment as they both looked around in the woods. No sign of any more monsters. This floor seemed far less dense in monsters then the other two.


    Corvayne was pleased it seemed to wipe away her previous frustration with him. ¡°You are right though, we had warp drives on adult sand sleds too. A fun way to surf the dunes.¡±


    He stopped talking when she gripped his arm hard, tugging him. ¡°You must NEVER tell ANYONE about this. Not a soul. You shouldn''t have told me. Play VERY dumb about fold drives. Unless you''re ready to personally take on an army and are also willing to doom your village. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°So you guys don''t have warp or fold drives? You just rely on wormholes? Oh that''s gotta be... expensive to do.¡±


    ¡°Yes it''s extremely expensive even after years of streamlining and developing better impulse drives, you are still talking in the tens of thousands of credits for even a short trip of oh two weeks.¡±


    Corvayne checked his pocket. After a week of working he had about 100 credits to his name. Granted, some of that work went into renting in the warehouse and food. Lots of it went to food.


    ¡°Ok. Well thanks Wick. I''ll be careful about that.¡± Good thing she was here, he really dodged an face full of melt-worm acid on this one.


    ¡°You NEED to be. You have no idea what The Collective can do when it puts it''s mind to it. Or anyone else who realizes you are a clueless ATM just wandering around waiting to be kidnapped.¡±


    He winced ¡°Sorry I... I won''t mention anything about the village to anyone else. I''ll just say it''s my weird desert cult.¡±


    Wick''s expression softened. ¡°Sorry, no offense. If you leave that stuff out, nobody would care... There''s just a lot of really dangerous people out there and you seem... very nice and trusting.¡±


    Corvayne just gave a quick shrug. ¡°None taken. I mean, I just don''t like being called names.¡± Especially by Wick.


    He couldn''t figure out why she spoke urgently after that comment. ¡°I''ll try really hard. I''m abrasive. I sometimes can''t help it. I don''t blame people who don''t like me.¡±


    The idea anyone wouldn''t like Wick gave Corvayne a jolt of indignant anger any anyone so foolish. He did his best to sooth out his previous complaint before she got angry at him. ¡°I enjoy your company and will do my best not to get stressed when you are inevitably frustrated with me.¡±


    ¡°So we both have some things to work on with regards to not talking. We good?¡± Wick offered her hand.


    Once more he didn''t quite get it, but took her hand. ¡°I think we are both good people.¡±


    ¡°You are going to be a project. But yeah. Let people think they got you figured out, pick your friends, and keep your head down and nothing bad happens. It''s why I like old town Cascadia. The stakes are low.¡±


    They had begun walking uphill and Corvayne saw the first signs of non-goblin civilization: a half collapsed stone wall. The endless lines of trees resumed, then was broken a few minutes later by a small stone house, trees growing out of the empty shell. More houses dotted the woods ahead, many just a wall and a pile of stones. Corvayne''s stomach was growling, which was unusual given it had only been half a day since he ate. Perhaps using all those absurd moves didn''t just tire him out, but also burned calories. He took one stave he had been holding onto and held it like a javelin. Corvayne slowed his pace then saw what he was looking for.


    With a sudden snap of his hand he managed to skewer a large rabbit... or something like a rabbit-snail. This caused Wick to jump nearly a foot into the air and Corvayne felt a little bad for startling her. Dawn had told her that Wick had trouble trusting people. It might have helped if he had warned her. Something to work on. Back to the rabbit: He had hit it in the neck which was lucky, as most of the critter was crammed into what looked like a wood shell. He hung it on a strap of his pack, and kept going.


    Wick pointed to his belt. ¡°You''re going to eat that?¡±


    Corvayne glanced at the rabbit. ¡°It''s not enough fat but yes.¡±


    She looked at him and he heard her stomach growl as well. He could fix that.


    It took him six throws to kill two more critters. One was like a flightless bird with feathered tentacles that charged at him when he missed setting up an easier second throw with another sharpened stake. The other critter very small boar that turned invisible when he missed the first one he had seen. The second wasn''t able to hide and dodge, and became part of dinner. He had food, now shelter.


    Walking another couple of minutes along the road he saw another ruined stone home, this one two stories and in better condition. There was part of a wall about waist high boxing in a grown over yard area. There was still a roof on it made of wood and moss covered tiles. Only one hole, but the beams holding the roof up were still straight. He only needed to chop down one tree growing in front of the door to get inside. There was a stairway to nowhere, the second floor had rotted away, explaining the debris covering the first floor and the layer of dirt. There was enough flat space where the stairs changed direction to lay out a bedroll on the landing. His feet might stick off, but it beat laying on the forest floor. On top of the landing there was an intact fireplace with an old blue-teal metal grate for cooking on.


    He also noted there was a wooden chest in a corner of the home, out of place for how it hadn''t rotted away. But given the tree growing in the door and that it was too big to fit through the small windows, it must have been there at least a year or two.


    He would save looting for later, first he cleaned the kills, removing the shells, fur, and feathers. Wick decidedly sat facing the other way. ¡°If I look I won''t be able to eat it.¡±


    She then noticed the chest in the corner and Corvayne called out to her ¡°Don''t touch it... we don''t know if it''s a trap or even a mimic.¡±


    Wick scooted to the other end of the house, looking at it now like a bomb. Which it might actually be. ¡°Shouldn''t we find that out first?¡±


    ¡°After I cook. Just yell if it comes alive or opens and starts spewing gas or something.¡±


    He took the tree he had cut down and chopped it a few times, then used some flint from his pack to start a fire with broken branches and shavings. He added more wood while taking the unwanted innards and skin from the kills outside and hurling it to the other side of the path. He wasn''t going to mess with scraping the pelts at this stage of the game; unless this place had a lot of floors and winter came it just wasn''t worth it.


    He gave Wick his bedroll and blanket for the landing and got to properly cooking his kills. The tentacle bird was by far the best haul: Lots of meat and the arms were basically all muscle. He used a little water to help wash the gunk off his hands and into the brush outside. He then used a pair of his staves to rotate the meat on the grill while walking outside to chop another thin tree down, piling a few small logs outside the door and making skewers out of a few branches. The boar and rabbit were done, crispy black and red meat dripping. No stranger to eating his way through the wilds he had a small pouch with salt he sprinkled on the meat as he finished cooking it. He also took the bird tentacles off, letting the rest of the fat bird cook a little longer. Wick was sitting on the stairs staring at the fire so he offered her the rabbit. He didn''t have a proper plate but using wood skewers worked in a pinch. Corvayne took a bite of the boar and glanced outside: the woods were getting darker. He was shocked when the little boar tasted phenomenal. It should be gamey... was it''s blood barbecue sauce? Looking over, after a tentative first bite Wick was attacking the rabbit. He offered her water and she took a long sip. Tomorrow he''d have to find another stream or they would be out of water by noon.


    She actually stated what he was about to say ¡°We should stay here for the night.¡± He nodded as he turned the meat over the fire.


    Wick had finished most of her rabbit and was nibbling on a tentacle she had liberated from his other hand. She chewed then swallowed before talking again.


    ¡°How long have we been in this place? Does it feel like 14 hours? My phone is guessing about that.¡± She showed him, the tapped it back to off.


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°This layer I have yet to see a stairway, present house excluded. But going to the top didn''t change where we were, so I think we look for a cave or something.¡± He finished the boar and tentacles and had pulled the bird out and noted that it tasted amazing as well, like it had soaked itself in beef stock and been eating garlic all day before it got caught. He offered some to Wick who took a bite and looked shocked.


    ¡°I''ve eaten wild game before... but this tastes like a four star chef made it...¡±


    ¡°I''ve never tasted monster this good either. Most of the time it''s like stringy chicken. It''s probably a good sign that it tastes excellent.¡±


    He declined to share that stringy chicken was far better then some monsters who''s edible innards were goopy handfuls of bitter slime with bits of shell mixed in.


    Corvayne ate just about everything he had made, feeling full and a little tired. There was still a dessert waiting however. After he came back from tossing the leftover scraps of bone and gristle across the path and into the deep brush, Wick was already crouched on the stone floor looking at the chest. She looked up pleadingly. He grinned. ¡°Let''s open that sucker up.¡±

 Chapter 9: Opening Chests

    Corvayne stared at the wooden box in the corner of the ruined house as he tried to recall all the worst case traps on opening a chest. He had to make sure nothing happened to Wick. As for his own safety: He could take a lot more punishment then most people. While the idea of a treasure chest seemed pie in the sky for him, he had taken a course on trapped chests. Everyone in the class despite being told to use the term lockbox just called them treasure chests. What treasure was waiting out in the desert that they needed to know that? He had no clue. Why did he pay attention in a class that he thought was an elaborate practical joke? No use thinking about it either. He turned to Wick ¡°Can you step three paces out of the door? I''m going to use my spear to unlock it and I might need room to exit the house fast.¡± She shrugged, but moved out of the way.


    He first gently prodded the lid of the chest. No response, just some wood splintering. Bumping it with his spear, rotating it on its corner... no response. The chest was not tied to the floor nor heavy enough that he couldn''t move it. The next step was to use a foot to push it closer to the door. It was heavy, but he could push the corners and sort of rotate it across the uneven stones if he lifted the corner with his foot a little. Stepping into the door frame, he used his spear to prod the lid, then undid the handle by lifting the latch with the very tip of his spear, then pried the lid open a little, then flipped it up and jumped outside in the same motion. No explosion or spikes or growing arms and legs or acid clouds. He went back into the house after a minute and looked inside of the chest. He saw a worn sack, a wreath made of blue and red branches, a short sword in a leather sheath, and a pair of gloves.


    Sack aside, they all looked new aside from a slight layer of dust. The sword, when drawn from it''s dusty scabbard, gleamed and was made of a metal with a slight teal coloration. The gloves were soft and supple leather, and seemed to expand when he picked them up. The sack had shiny coins, some silver, mostly copper, but at least a gold piece mixed in. The wood wreath felt warm to the touch.


    Wick''s eyes lit up. ¡°Loot!¡±


    ¡°We should probably test it all on something we don''t mind being cursed or...¡±


    Wick took the gloves and put them on then wiggled her fingers. She touched the ground with them, and laughed when they stuck to the ground for a moment. She tried on the wall then. ¡°They stick when I want them to!¡± She put her fingers on his bare forearm and activated it, Then tried pulling the glove away. When she released it, it yanked hair out with it.


    Corvayne winced then sighed. That was the suicidal way to test magic items. Just put them on and see what happens.


    She took the wreath next and put it on. ¡°Oh this is NICE.¡± She took it off and offered it to Corvayne, who tried it on his own head and felt some of his aching muscles relaxing. Taking it off, some of the stiffness returned. Nifty. Thinking about curses from his books: the entire point was to deter and punish thieves or act as a tool for assassination. On one hand: The chest had been put in a spot that couldn''t see that much traffic. It was hidden rather then secured. Perhaps it was a cache. But the objects inside were portable and had no reason to be just left sitting out. Though, given the red and blue wreath, they were all made from things in the dungeon. There were dungeons that were intelligent and tried to ''carrot and stick'' people into going through them. He decided to go along with Wick and just test the sword. He swung it and for a moment there was a chill in the room, the arc of the blade leaving a few snowflakes swirling in it''s passing.


    ¡°Corvayne you''re doing it again.¡± She had been watching for something interesting. But he hadn''t connected it to a skill in his head.


    Corvayne thought for a moment then offered the blade to her hilt first. ¡°Try it.¡±


    She stabbed out and he saw a whisper of frozen mist follow the path of the blade, the air once more chilling in the room. He also noted she had pretty good form compared to how sloppy her knife work was. Wick jumped up and down. ¡°Magic! It''s not just weird dreams, I can do magic! Oh my god! Hahaha! You have no idea what this means to me!¡± She laughed and swung it again.


    ¡°Wouldn''t it prove the paranormal exists?¡± He assumed that would make her happy, but it actually put a damper on her mood. She looked at the blade.


    ¡°Proof is something to be shared. A magic sword is something to be coveted.¡± she put it back in it''s sheath.


    ¡°It will certainly help us get out. Why don''t you take it?¡±


    ¡°Borrow this? But...¡± She looked at him and sounded... displeased? He might be having more and more problems reading her because he was tired.


    ¡°Not borrow. Use.¡± Corvayne clarfied. ¡°When we get out, I can even train you.¡±


    ¡°Are you... Are you just giving ME the... magic sword?¡± She looked stunned.


    Corvayne nodded at her. ¡°The gloves and sword... I''ll take the wreath as it might help me stay fighting longer. If you need it, I''ll let you use it of course. But you need a weapon with a little more reach, and the gloves will help you if you want to climb out of a fight. Also, it seems like those items make you happy. You said partners before so if this split isn''t to your liking we can renegotiate. I don''t know if anything but the coins can be sold... this magic sword might be a... a... warp drives kind of problem. We will worry about that when we are out of here. You need a reliable melee weapon, and I prefer the spear. More importantly, I want to make sure we are both happy if we are going to be working together.¡±


    She was looking at the blade, then at him. ¡°You won''t want it back later?¡±


    ¡°No. It''s your share of the loot.¡±


    Wick adjusted her glasses and stared at him, then the blade. Then back at him. ¡°Hmm.¡±


    He didn''t know what she was thinking at that moment, or really most moments. And he felt the lingering cold in the air wasn''t just from the blade: Dusk falling had dropped the temperature further. ¡°It might get really cold tonight. I''m going to get firewood and some more stakes to block the door before it''s too dark. I won''t go far.¡±


    Only a few steps from the door were plenty of trees. Using [Cross Skill: Chop] He got to work. Chopping helped him think about what he wanted to do after he got out of the dungeon. Using chop got him sweating by the second tree and he took his shirt and cloak off. The light had shifted from the sort of golden amber under the treeline to a deep orange. He just found trees and chopped them down, splitting the logs on stumps or just using thin saplings as stakes.


    Wick came outside and stopped when she saw him. Corvayne politely ignored her and focused on chopping as she walked into the brush, then came back a little later. She helped him carry some wood into the house, then watched as he fed the cooking fire and pulled out rope lashing stakes and wedging them into the dirt outside the door to form a crude wall blocking off the only opening. He put his shirt back on as he had cooled off in the night air.


    The little house glowed with warm fire light as the orange outside faded to a dark purple. Sounds of owls and crickets sang, and the moon came out to add a little silver light from the windows. Two moons actually: more proof that they were in a different world then home. Wick was sitting near the top of the stairs, perhaps lost in thought. She had taken her boots and raincoat off, as well as her olive jacket. She had a white sleeveless undershirt on, and had placed the sword and sheath next to the little pillow the roll came with. She then took her glasses off, set them on the window sill, then went back to what he guessed was thinking. He kept working on the stakes to secure the door. When he was done driving them in place he looked back. She was watching him. When she undid her hair, Corvayne instantly felt guilty at what he started thinking. He turned back to the fire, hoping she didn''t figure out what he had just thought about. How pissed had every other girl been at him looking a little too long?


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°It''s pretty cold at night.¡± She stated.


    ¡°Oh, if you need it, you can have the bed roll and blanket tonight. I''m used to stone. We can take turns on watch but I think the fire and gate will keep things out. I am a light sleeper, so if you don''t want a watch I''ll be enough.¡± Corvayne was blabbering, his thoughts stuck on what Dawn had said. Both things. One with Wick not trusting people, the other thing with the carrot peeler. He had been leering at her too much, and now she was uncomfortable. She had said she didn''t want to date: this wasn''t a date. He was doing a job! A job for a dinner together as payment, but not a date anymore.


    ¡°Corvayne.¡±


    He was her bodyguard. That also meant protecting her from his own confused desires. He laid down on the bumpy stone ground, pulling his boots off, then used his back to try to get his cloak wadded up on the stones. Laid out right, he could keep an eye on the door from near the fireplace. He then sat up unhappy at the ground, picked up his cloak, put it down closer to the fire, tossing another log on it while he was at it. A little better, even if his front was cold the warmth on his back...


    ¡°Corvayne?¡± Her tone was suprisingly calm. She was almost always loud.


    ¡°Wick, everything ok?¡± He started looking around the darkened room, then up to her.


    ¡°Come here.¡±


    He got up, tempering his own heart beat. She was sitting up in the bed roll. Her hair looked a billion times better when she let it out of the braids she kept it in. It was the same person as before, with dark circles under her eyes his main proof, but she was so damn pretty.


    ¡°What can I do...¡± He squatted a good two steps down from the landing but she pulled him on to his his knees by his shirt. He had a terrified feeling he had pissed her off like everyone else in his life.


    ¡°Did ANY of those girls ever fuck you?¡± There was a hint of annoyance in her voice.


    ¡°What?! Uhh... no... I''ve never been with anyone.¡± He was still stunned by the question. Then he got embarrassed.


    ¡°They were real bitches.¡± She muttered. Then there was more staring and she let his shirt go. Corvayne could see her eyes dart to the side while she was thinking, looking at him, thinking again, then coming to a conclusion with a small nod.


    Wick leaned in even closer, hands propping her up. There was enough light from the fire to see her freckles. Her eyes were dark pools reflecting the fire lit bricks down the stairway and the blue of the moonlight hitting the window behind him. He noticed she had dropped the usual scratchy quality she had when speaking. It was as smooth as butter to his ears.


    ¡°Listen very carefully. I do not date. I do not trust people. The bad stuff that happened to me means I am miserable all the time. I cannot handle a relationship. I barely love myself. If not for your weird vibe, I''d never gone alone with you. If Grunt wasn''t trying to hook me up with you and especially if not for you saving my life, I''d not sleep near you. I''d have slept in a tree.¡± She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then continued while looking directly into his eyes.


    ¡°I actually somehow trust you. When we get out of this, I really hope we can be friends and business partners. I don''t want that to be put into jeopardy. Are you picking up what I''m putting down so far?¡± Her stare was really intense. Corvayne had to look away because her cleavage was also right there. She''d be furious if she knew he was thinking about how soft the fluffy top of her bra looked.


    ¡°Yeah it''s ok! I''ll make sure to stay down the stairs so you can...¡± She took his head and gently pulled it back to her so they were face to face. She lowered her voice even more, her calm voice becoming an almost purr as she spoke.


    ¡°Corvayne, when we get out of here, I''m going to hook you up with a bunch of girls who really, really, want you to go have ice cream with them, or carry them around like a princess, or go on walks in the park where there are not monsters. If they are not totally fucking blind they will drag you back to their place and fuck your brains out.¡± The word fuck coming out of her mouth in the low voice she was using caused his whole body to tense up.


    ¡°Date one of them, all of them in secret, all of them in the open. They will make you very happy. Have some fun dates, break a few hearts until you figure relationships out. I will do everything to help you. But I can''t be that to anyone.¡±


    She paused, looking him in the eyes as if to make sure it was sinking in. It was nice that she''d help him out, and he got that she didn''t like him like that, but he couldn''t figure out where she was going with this, and it was a mixed message with her face this close. He was about to speak when she kept going.


    ¡°I am a fucking mess. You are an unrelentingly polite killing machine that has the social experience of a ten year old locked in a box aside from reading apparently nothing but dung... D and D novels. You were abused every day of your life, don''t argue, every day of your life. You are also fucked up. When we get out of here I want to be friends. Partners. Friends with benefits. Maybe roommates. Who knows. But no dates. No hand holding. No kissing. No romance. I worry you''re too nice and you''ll do something that will make me knife you. I have hurt people I liked before. Can you deal with that?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I''m sorry, I wont bug you, I only asked Grunt about going out with you because I-¡±


    ¡°No shit. Shut up. Listen. I didn''t know your deal before. And now? You need a real first girlfriend. Needed one years ago. Someone you fall in love with, maybe have a cute couple months holding hands, then you both give each other your first time or she''s lying to be nice, whatever. I want to be clear: I cannot be that. Do you understand?¡± She actually looked more pleading then harsh.


    He nodded, a little defeated but still feeling a weird tension in the air.


    ¡°So. When we leave this place, you are welcome to think whatever you want about me, just don''t fucking bother me about kisses, tender hand holding, going on dates, if you can marry me, if I''ll wear a dress. All that... Just take all that shit, and throw it in the garbage can. I like you as a person enough to NOT saddle you with all my baggage. With my story... If I start telling you my story, Run. Put your fingers in your ears. I don''t care if you wanna ogle my scrawny ass or stare at my tiny tits, just no couples shit ever.¡±


    Her talk was sort of backfiring: Now he REALLY wanted to know what was wrong. It made him glance down at her bra again too. Eyes up warrior! He was in control of himself. Wick wouldn''t talk to him if this wasn''t leading up to something important.


    ¡°You are not the kind of guy I look for. I want disposable. You are indispensable. You need things I can''t give you.¡± She was trying to get to a point.


    Corvayne tried to pull back from her. The compliments actually hurt as much as anything the girls at the village said because he was sure she was trying to explain why the one thing he really wanted was impossible.


    He wasn''t ready at all for her to lean in and kiss him. She just suddenly had her lips against his. They were warm and soft and confident. She opened her mouth to pull on his own lips a little then she pulled back. She stared at him and kept talking in soft, calm, steady tone somehow blasting through a tangled snarl of exuberance and nervousness and disbelief.


    ¡°Tonight, right now, I am off my meds. If I''m not totally exhausted before I go to sleep I''m going to have nightmares all night.¡±


    Corvayne stared at her and she looked back. She bit her lip, then looked off to the side. Then she went back to looking directly at him. She looked annoyed again. Corvayne didn''t dare move or speak here. Then Wick snapped.


    ¡°Ok, FINE. Look. I''ve been watching you kill and spill blood all over to protect me and get covered in blood hunting for me and you are feeding me meat and then the sword too? You gave me a fucking magic sword!? Taking your shirt off to FUCKING chop WOOD?!? You! It is YOUR fault I''m really fucking horny! Stop gawking at me already and take off your damn pants!!!¡±


    She didn''t give him the chance to do anything else besides nod before she pulled her shirt off, undid her bra, then frantically pulled Corvayne on top of her.

 Chapter 10: Over the River

    [98.9%]


    His first thought was a number, then he noted light pouring in from the empty windows, and that something warm and heavy and soft was on top of him in his bed roll. He saw Wick''s bare shoulder and green hair, spilled over his arm. He put one arm around her then put the other behind his head and grinned.


    Wick stirred then blinked ¡°Morning.¡± She rubbed her way up him, eyes closed and pushed her lips into his. After a a moment of her pushing his mouth open he responded and she pulled back. Corvayne gave her a flat look. ¡°Sorry, I knew you didn''t want kisses but...¡±


    She sneered down at him and seeing her without her glasses and with her hair down around her shoulders... Corvayne would freely admit it checked a lot of boxes. ¡°As long as it''s not romantic you dork. It''s not a problem to kiss me when you''re fucking me.¡±


    He glanced down the stairs at the stakes blocking the door. ¡°We probably wont find anywhere as defensible as this building again...¡± She interrupted him by wiggling next to him.


    ¡°Alright I hear you... and I feel it poking me.¡±


    ¡°About last night...¡± Corvayne started thinking about what happened but she pushed his arm.


    ¡°I said it was okay meat-head.¡± She frowned and her voice softened. ¡°Sorry, you didn''t like me calling you names.¡± She coughed and took a deep breath. ¡°I can''t have kids, so it doesn''t matter. Now, this time I''m going to give you some pointers in case we ever get stuck in an elevator.¡±


    A while later they were dressed and Corvayne felt a level of mental clarity and serenity that he hadn''t had... ever? Wick had tied her hair back up into stupid looking braids that he now both loved and hated and was wearing her thick glasses which he still just hated. Only a little more color in her face gave away any hints what they had been up to. ¡°All right. Get us outta here.¡±


    He stopped a few impulses he had to compliment her or thank her or hug or anything. He held his fist up, and she bumped it. With that, they left behind the stone house and started back down the road. He had a long walk ahead to contextualize what happened and he settled on Wick dealing with an incredible amount of stress over the past day and using him to deal with it. Even so, a lot of the walk was him just being stunned at having gotten laid. A sort of metaphorical weight of expectations about his life and age felt lifted off his shoulders. Weight that he hadn''t really ever expected to deal with. Wick for her part seemed relaxed and was talking about cryptids, a term he guessed was just a by-word for monster. The current subject was a creature called ''Mothman'' who had been terrorizing various colonies for ages, usually in remote woods like the one they were walking through. The creature was thought to be psychic and able to predict the future, as it showed up just before disaster. He listened and occasionally asked question as Wick went through the different sightings.


    The first pack of fur slugs they found that day was a trio just waiting in the road past a rise. Corvayne ducked as soon as he saw them, and Wick followed his lead. Not seeing any other monsters, he had a thought. The slugs were the type of thing he wished had been his first hunt, rather then an Ossiolisk that left him nearly dead from blood loss after it jumped out of a concealed pit and raked him with one of it''s hundreds of shattered bone spikes on it''s forelimbs. He looked at Wick, who was clutching her new sword.


    ¡°Do you want to try to fight one?¡± Corvayne gestured at the slugs.


    ¡°uh...Why?¡± She whispered back.


    ¡°One: if you need to fight later, having a little experience with controlled danger, having a fight you picked... even if it''s not a difficult one, it will give you confidence and help you keep your head clear when things are not easy. Two: Because I can kill two with just spear moves from ambush instantly, but not three. Three: When you swung your blade last night you had better control over your swing then I admit I expected. I think you''re good with a sword.¡±


    ¡°The thing I gotta worry about is their beaks, right? On the bottom?¡± She looked between him and the slugs.


    ¡°Yeah they hunt by knocking prey over then crawling onto them I''d guess. Their jaws are much harder to bring to bear then the claws of those dogs or even the dog''s mouths. You let one charge, put your blade''s point in it''s way. Keep your grip on your weapon when it hits, then try to keep it pinned on your sword when it struggles. It will widen the wound. They slow down real fast when they bleed. A few seconds later? Dead slug.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Got it.¡± Doubt crossed her face then and Corvayne saw her tremble as she spoke. ¡°If it gets me down on the ground...¡±


    He put a hand on her back and tried to summon the same sort of bullshit the warriors would tell little kids who were worried about their first hunt. ¡°I''ll have it spit roast and ready to cook it before it even scratches your jacket.¡±


    Corvayne tightened his cloak and moved off into the woods before Wick could voice her doubts further, flanking to put two of the slugs in a line then creeping up to them. He could see Wick gripping her blade, split between looking for him and at the monsters. He caught her eye and nodded, just as the better hunters he was aping would, then sprinted forward. The creatures had to turn to see what the noise of leaves was and his use of [Storm Thrust] on top of also running at a charge drove him through both slugs, making a mess as the force of the blow caused one to pop like a balloon and skewered the other. Wind swirled in his wake, scattering monster parts and leaves and pine needles. It wasn''t as bad as normal: This time most of the gore slid off his cloaked back.


    Wick yelled a scratchy battle-cry as she came over the hill. A bad habit to fix but sometimes it helped newbies. The slug, perhaps seeing an easier target, hissed then started undulating along the ground to bowl into her. Wick stopped and held her blade ready, then with a perfect fencing jab punctured the monster and spun out of the way. A moment passed and the slug turned around, rime forming on the wound. Much slower it charged again and Wick did the same thing striking and this time bracing and forcing the blade down into the monster, causing the slug to leak bloody slush as it expired flailing helplessly.


    Corvayne clapped and threw an arm around her shoulder. ¡°Good kill!¡±


    She was stunned for a moment, then laughed and threw her arm up, sword above her head exhilarated. ¡°Ah ha HA!Fuck that slug!¡±


    ¡°That first hit, you did a really good job striking and pulling the blade out. It looked like a fencing stance, did you train with a rapier?¡±


    She thought about it. ¡°I wanted to, but after running from home I didn''t... hmm.¡±


    Wick then set her feet in a fencers stance, doing a flourish with the short sword then jabbing. ¡°The length is wrong but yeah... maybe watching fencing is where I got it?¡±


    He didn''t think you could get the sort of natural motion he saw both times from just watching, but then again he had been doing impossible things he had only seen others do for the last day. ¡°I think if we find small groups, you can take an enemy like that on your own. If it looks iffy, climbing a tree is fine.¡±


    He cleaned his spear on the fur of the least-gory monster, and she copied him then belted the sheath around her shoulder. They kept going another hour before coming to a sparkling clear river running across the path. Someone had put stepping stones across it. Corvayne refilled their water.


    Wick pulled at her shirt. ¡°Can we swim?¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to be caught naked in a fight.¡± There were always stories about people on patrol getting frisky and then having monsters attack them. For every funny tale there were two cautionary ones.


    Wick gave him a look. ¡°Well, I''m dirty. Because of you.¡±


    Corvayne knew this was a fight he couldn''t win nor one he wanted to win. They stripped and walked into the water. Both of them quickly agreed the water was too cold for anything but to actually clean themselves off and to wash their clothes. He made another fire even though it was before noon and they huddled next to each other on a stone that was probably once part of a bridge. His cloak, which dried instantly, was being drafted as a blanket for them.


    ¡°Can I tell you something weird?¡± Wick asked, rubbing her hands then holding them out of the cloak near the fire to warm them. He thought she looked pretty tiny out in the light of day.


    Focus Corvayne. He glanced around to make sure that he wasn''t missing any monsters then turned to Wick. ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡°I kinda like huddling naked next to a fire in the middle of nowhere! Might be a future booty call. Or even just a group camping thing. Not a date.¡±


    What was a booty call? ¡°Not that crazy: I overheard kids who would do long patrols in pairs with no clothes. Just be aware that you can get sunburn on your privates.¡±


    ¡°Didn''t you mention fighting monsters out there? They fought naked?¡±


    ¡°I didn''t say totally sane. I said it''s not that crazy.¡± He smiled a little.


    ¡°So I said I wanted us to be partners... As I said I''m really trying to master the paranormal. A lot of the stuff with the occult is all tangled up with secret societies and other people who remind me of your weird hidden village. Terrible closed off groups. I''ve done tons of investigations and before this didn''t have anything to show.¡±


    Corvayne got where she was going. ¡°So you want me to come with you when you''re looking into this stuff?¡±


    ¡°This...¡± Wick gestured with one hand all around them. ¡°This place might be an outlier. But...¡±


    ¡°But?¡± Corvayne matched her tone to get her to keep going.


    ¡°But if we get out... I want to do a real expedition here. I mean, to both see if we can get back in... and...¡±


    She lifted up the sheathed sword. He had stressed they keep weapons near enough to defend themselves. ¡°I want to see if this works outside. What is this place built for? How big are these layers? We saw ruins: who left them? Is it just window dressing or is this a real place?¡±


    ¡°Grunt would probably be in.¡± He thought about destroying goblins with his buddy. For some reason it struck him as... fun. He might be a little bit of a psychopath after all. He grabbed his undershorts and took a look at Wick since it was unlikely he''d get to see her naked again. ¡°My clothes are dry.¡±


    ¡°Mine are a little damp but... warm enough from the fire. Lets press on.¡±


    They dressed, put the fire out to avoid the possibility of adding a forest fire to their troubles, and Corvayne grabbed his pack. They were nearing a mountain pass, and the trail had been going up very gradually over the course of their trek. A little over half a mile from the stream the path was now climbing up roughly cut blue rock steps, winding up blue soil hills between trees, gradually getting them to a bluff. Looking back the view of the forest was breath taking. The pass wasn''t far ahead. The next monster they found was a lone tentacle bird. At her request, Corvayne let Wick fight it while sitting back. She missed it with a jab when it charged and she got a peck from it''s beak and slapped by a stray flailing tentacle, but kicked it back and managed to chop a leg off with a slice, causing it to flop around off balance until she hit it''s neck and it fell over dead. After patching her shin up they kept going.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°So with a short sword like this... what''s the first move you can do?¡± She held out her freezing blade.


    ¡°Uh... I guess... Try [Backstab]. It works as long as you''re attacking something''s back. If it doesn''t have a back, I''d guess it''s based on if it''s aware of you.¡±


    ¡°... when you said it, you said it weird. Weird. Backstab. I can''t even say it right.¡±


    ¡°I can''t help but emphasize it like that when I say it or think about that ability. I also can''t tell you why it makes that sound.¡±


    She kept the sword out, and took a few practice swings. ¡°I admit I wasn''t listening that hard to what your weapon sounds like against packs of screaming goblins. I wanna try it myself. Can you disable a monster and I''ll see if I can get it from behind?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Actually that''s a very good idea: if we face something strong, you being able to land a telling blow while I keep it''s attention means you stay out of direct fire but still help.¡±


    They were short on monsters however: the next half an hour was endless two foot tall steps in the rock face when the path wasn''t winding them around trees growing on precarious ledges. The view over the woods now let them see that compared to the first two areas, the scale of the landmass was far beyond the cubes or even the multi-mile long plates and floating mountains of the previous floor. No floating islands marred the view above them, either. Wick was not used to climbing or hiking, so Corvayne stopped frequently to give her time to catch her breath, while claiming that he needed to sit for a minute or two.


    ¡°I wonder if we could build a cabin here.¡± She said as they sat on a step looking back at the jagged path they walked out of the tree line and the sort of blue forest.


    Corvayne thought about some of the D-words in stories, ones that were alive and ate bodies and toyed with people who dared venture into them. ¡°I think if we come in again... we''ll see if there''s bodies were we left them, then we''d know how this place operates with making changes to it.¡±


    Standing back up, they arrived at the pass. There was an area of sloped bare rock with a dark blue path once more leading them up between the shadows of two huge rocks. After an exhausting push to the end they reached the summit and saw a massive lake on the other side, with bluffs and more forest and mountains, as well a cave a few steps down and off to one side that glowed a familiar blue.


    Looking into it, Corvayne saw a stairway going up to the fourth floor, and Wick nodded and they walked about thirty winding feet up then out to what looked like a massive river full of sand bars. They had come from a rocky arch placed against one bank''s bluff. Behind them and across what looked like two miles of river was another line of trees. Some of the sand bars had trunks laid across them. The river was very clean and Corvayne could see that while it ran fast, it didn''t look deep. However, he could spot weird shapes on some of the dunes, something like rounded rocks sitting on the sand. They were all about two or three feet around. More monsters?


    Nothing gained, nothing ventured. ¡°I''m going to assume we will find the next stairway up by crossing. The paths seem to be intentional.¡± He pointed out how there was a fairly obvious line of packed sand and logs from where they were to at least halfway across. ¡°Notice how there''s clusters of those black rocks... I bet that''s the main monster of this floor.¡± He scanned the entire river, taking a moment too to look back at the bank behind him. The view upriver and down river both vanished into shining mist. The sky was yellow as usual, with the trees more teal on this layer but with the usual red and blue trunks. He spotted on the embankment further down what he assumed was a goblin camp: it looked like the crude buildings he had seen on the second floor.


    ¡°Goblins possibly on the banks. Let''s cross before we pick any fights with them.¡± Compared to slugs, the goblins were much more dangerous just because they actually had weapons. He didn''t see any Goblins wandering out on the river, but there was a large form swimming away from them upstream. Giant beaver? Bear? It looked like a black blob in the water. More immediate: The first group of the black rocks were two logs away.


    Corvayne took his time crossing the logs: they were large enough that it didn''t require much balance, but they were partially submerged and the first one had water running over it. He also wanted to keep his eyes peeled for monsters in the water: possibly trying to grab them when they crossed and drag them under. He crossed and watched Wick balance with her hands out then hop onto the sand. For the second crossing he got up on the log and waited a beat to see if the stones got up. When they didn''t move he once more checked the water. Ah-HA! There was one of those black stones on the bank, next to the log. ¡°Wick, stay back on the log there... there''s something in the water.¡±


    He drew his weapon and poked the rock in the water. The moment he did the thing popped legs out of it''s shell and ran up the bank. He saw the others on land unfold into what looked like crabs with alligator tails. They had crab eyes but shortened crocodile snouts. A very gross hybrid.


    ¡°Cute!¡± Wick said as she watched the little shelled lizard-crabs attack. Corvayne saw that they were not confident about just crawling up the side of the log and took a few steps back. The first crocrab ran up, suprisingly fast when it got lined up with where it wanted to go. Corvayne stabbed it in the head, and the thing''s tough skull made the attack slip off. However, the spear still gummed up the monster''s momentum and it was now driving the blade into the gap in the shell between it''s neck and leg. Corvayne held firm, glad his boots tread gave him enough traction to stop the shelled lizard''s charge. The monster was heavy enough that he didn''t want to try throwing it while on a wet log. So he stepped back, spear darting out in a probing attack as the creature hissed in pain and rammed it''s face once again into his weapon. This time it sliced the other side of it''s neck, and trying to avoid the blade fell off the log. Corvayne noted that even the soft parts were hard to penetrate. He swapped to the butt of his spear, and tried a mace attack he''d seen Knocks-Off-Tables use. The older woman, despite looking like someone''s well endowed aunt, was brutal with her dual maces. Corvayne preferred a shield so those matches had often resulted in bruises all up and down his arm.


    [Cross-Skill: Beatdown] made him slam the back of his spear on the crocrab''s head, knocking a bunch of teeth out before it slumped over onto the sand by the log. The wreath and perhaps that the end of the spear counting as a blunt weapon made it so he only felt a little winded, and he applied the same attack once more on the third and final monster. Wick didn''t have any attackers on her, so she followed as he went island to island, checking for crabs in the water and using his spear''s back to hammer them per-emptively. On an island with just one, he used his spear to break one of it''s feet, causing the top-heavy shelled monster to stumble forward and land lamely on it''s side.


    ¡°Ok, Wick, come here and see if you can use [Backstab].¡±


    She hurried, perhaps worried the monster was going to get up. Corvayne stepped on it''s jaw. Just like it''s namesake lizard half, the thing couldn''t open it''s jaws with nearly the power it had to close it.


    ¡°Backstab!¡± Wick shouted, dinging the blade off a section of shell. Corvayne had to actually step out of the way of her wild swing. But before the monster could get up he once more had a foot on it''s head. ¡°You don''t need to shout it. Maybe think about finding a weak point on it''s back.¡±


    She nodded, and stabbed out. This time there was a weird difference in the blade, it taking on a sort of wicked purple color for a moment. He heard the oh-so-satifsfying heavy chunking sound of the ability going off. The sword entered the monsters back and there was a fist sized hole that popped through the back of the shell, killing the monster instantly and freezing it.


    ¡°Sorry little Crab-a-dial.¡± Wick said with remorse. Then her moment of remorse was over and she took a picture of it and started cackling. ¡°It worked! I can [Backstab]! Hahahah! It makes the BEST noise. I wanna do it again!¡±


    Corvayne let her have her moment. He knew training to nail a technique and then showing it off out of nowhere was a pretty big thrill.


    Crossing the river was only a fraction of the distances they had walked on the previous layer, but the need to use skills to safely kill the monsters that were sprinkled across islands and in liberal numbers ground their progress to a fraction of the pace. Wick had offered to start fighting next to him but he explained that if she injured her foot by having a Crab-croc... whatever they were... if it bit her then he would have to carry her and fight at the same time. She conceded that slow and steady would be better this time, and Corvayne carefully fought his way across the logs.


    Near the halfway mark he noticed the black blob had been swimming back their way, and decided to book it back over a few logs to move out of it''s way. Some of the channels the logs went over were deeper, and the form followed those. While about a quarter of a mile distant, he guessed whatever it was that was patrolling the water had to be twenty feet long.


    ¡°Could you beat something that big?¡± Wick whispered from where they had crouched, half hidden behind one of the log bridges. Corvayne shaded his brow to try to see it better, with no real change. There was too much glittering on the water from a low angle to get more detail.


    ¡°Maybe? If it''s not strong.¡± He considered both a large bear and a large beaver. ¡°But something like that has reach with it''s bite. I think you''d want a bunch of rifles to at least do some damage before it closes and you meet it with pikes. You notice with all these things trying to rush at me, most of my fighting is getting them to impale themselves. Assuming I don''t need to finish a fight quick.¡±


    Wick nodded. The blob was moving out of sight down the river.


    ¡°Does your spear do more damage then a rifle? I''m not doubting you. I''m curious.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°It really depends on the rifle. I can''t match any rail weapons...¡±


    ¡°You shouldn''t, they are for ship to ship combat! Why would you even compare your spear to a rail gun?¡±


    They are both designed to kill people? ¡°They both work pretty well against infantry.¡±


    ¡°Why train with a spear if you have rail guns then?¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I don''t know. I asked them the same thing and they told me I''d never get it.¡± He looked at his weapon. The black tip caught the light of the sun and gleamed. ¡°And it''s a moot question to ask as I don''t have a rail gun to use. Just my spear.¡±


    ¡°Well, we''ll get you set up with a sidearm at least. I owe you that.¡±


    With the blob out of sight, they advanced over the next sets of logs. One fight had seven crocrabs pop out of the water behind a single one on land, which forced a running battle where they tried to swim behind him while he was on a log. [Juxtapose] fixed being flanked, and Wick did a very good job just keeping away, batting at a stray attacker with her blade while running back and forth to make it stop and turn, something it had trouble doing. Corvayne used [Backstab] on the monster to put it down, then finished off the last two of the swarm. Late in the afternoon, they reached the other bank. Mercifully, they didn''t need to navigate around goblin tribes after fighting crabs all day: the last log more or less lead them to an arch with a stairway up to the fifth and final floor before the exit.


    Both he and Wick looked back at a pile of dead crabs. She turned back to him and offered her hand for a high five. He smiled and slapped it playfully, then passed through the arch into the dark tunnel up. Thinking about the time spent with just him and Wick, Corvayne admitted he felt a little bit of regret that the next floor was likely the last.

 Chapter 11: The Fifth Floor

    Corvayne felt something off about the last floor before he even saw it. Stepping out, it didn''t look anything like the previous ones. The sky was a brilliant shade of pinkish red. The islands on this floor were almost entirely made of stainless steel surfaces, some flowing and some following strict lines and folds, all of them polished and finished in a complex array of forms and patterns of surface and different sheens. They were extra striking as grey and white and silver surfaces sitting in a sea of reddish goop. The overwhelming smell of strawberry and sugar nearly made him cough when he crested the stairs. Wick looked around. The place they had come up from was still a blue stone stairway, but the soil where they stepped out into was damp and sticky dark red. He saw bits of strawberry seeds mixed into it.


    ¡°Where did it take us?! This is like a painting of hell!¡± Wick commented. She lifted her foot and made a face.


    Corvayne didn''t bother adding anything. One more exit to get out. The scenery might be messed up, but he could see bridges and walkways between islands, and structures like towers with red slime flowing out of them, as well as islands that had purple and black bushes laden with titanic strawberries.


    Corvayne had saved a stave and took it and walked over to a metalic beach, goop less forming waves so much as just pulsing against the surface and leaving red stains. He didn''t worry about slipping because the entire surface was sticky. Dipping the wood into the goop, he saw that the beaches sloped into the muck. If they got into the muck, they could possibly get out. Assuming they didn''t drown in jam. Next was the acid test. Literally. He used his offhand pinky to touch a little dab of the jam and waited. No burning sensation. Wick was looking around while he waited.


    ¡°Try to stand away from the edges... There''s ramps out but we have no idea what type of monsters live here.¡±


    After a while he was pretty sure the slime was harmless in and of itself. He looked at the red blob on his pinky, shrugged, and tried it. Delicious.


    Wick was seeing if she could freeze the jam with her blade, and weirdly enough it seemed that the blade couldn''t affect the sludge. ¡°When I try it, the handle feels a little warmer.¡±


    ¡°Don''t overload whatever enchantment is on it.¡±


    Wick must have had the same mental image of her sword blowing up because she withdrew it immediately. Goofing off done, they explored the island they were on. It was about the same size as others in view: a steel dome shaped bump in the red ocean about four hundred feet all around. Bridges made of steel grates supported on thin poles rose out of the slime. No obvious monsters, but that just meant they either blended into the stainless steel, were lurking in the sludge and would attack as they crossed, or were hiding in the strawberry groves growing wherever there was enough slimy dirt to support them.


    ¡°Any chance we can go back and find another stairway up leading to, say, a warm lake with sandy beaches?¡±


    ¡°Very tempting.¡± Corvayne muttered. Honestly, maybe it would be better then trying to tackle a suddenly alien landscape. ¡°But that other floor had a large monster on it. I don''t know if I want to risk sticking around there wading through crabs and goblins. Maybe if we went down to floor 3, but then we''d be in the woods probably another whole day looking for a different path.¡±


    ¡°Ok. Well, one thing all the stairs had in common was that they were found in places that we went up to. The root, the route that followed the corkscrew, the pass on floor 3, and walking up the far bank. So, we should go try for the tower.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°That''s an excellent theory. I''ll get us there.¡±


    The first bridge over the slime he took his time, walking, looking, and especially listening for something to try to slurp it''s way out. A few minutes in and he was already of sick of the colors here: the over saturated pinkish-red of everything that wasn''t gray made the already sticky feeling from walking over jam even more disturbing. The islands were full of weird metal statues, spiny steel arrangements that he avoided on principal. The few patches of dirt had little rises on the ground dividing them from the unnatural steel landscape and were filled with trees usually arrayed in neat rows but with signs of neglect as plants merged together. Corvayne was sure the monsters were in the groves when he noticed both viable paths to the tall island required them to walk through one set of trees or another. On top of that, sometimes he spotted holes in the floor, often in rows. He pointed them out to Wick and made sure he didn''t step over any or leave himself with a row near his back. Picking the shorter grove, he stepped before the fifteen foot tall trees that had grown into a sickly purple red arch. The leaves ranged from purple to normal green, but every plant had huge strawberry textures pulsing out of them like (admittedly delicious looking) tumors.


    ¡°I think this is where the monsters are. My gut says ambush, possibly from the trees, possibly from the ground.¡± He stabbed a pulsing strawberry just to be sure, and got nothing more then a spear covered in fruit. He sighed and took a step into the grove, spear in both hands and eyes darting after each step. Wick was waiting behind him, sword out, trying to keep watch for something that might try to slide off the beach.


    Corvayne had a feeling something was off as passed the second row of trees. He leaned back into a backflip on his knuckles as a vine whipped past, making the same sound a high tension wire would when cut and sent warbling through the air. Trees! He saw the second pair moving and another vine flew out. The normal looking vines sawed through a tree like it was butter. Shit. ¡°Don''t stand anywhere near me! Dodge the traps!¡±


    He saw the trees pick up their roots and start skittering like spiders out of the grove, fat bulbs with weirdly animated vines coming off the top. He was almost certain if Wick stuck around she''d get cut in half by those flailing limbs. The trees were moving and trying to bullwhip him with their leading vines. Corvayne guided them to the bridge to the previous island. The metal bars holding it up might snare some of the limbs the enemy was using to try to cut him. Of course, the trees seemed to understand what he was doing and just dove into the muck. It wasn''t nearly deep enough to keep him safe on the bridge he noted, and the steel making up the bridge was getting dented and had sparks flying. He had to separate the monsters or just flat out run: going in on both would be ripped apart. There was a chance they''d tangle each other if he was between them, but the more likely result would be him missing a few limbs.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    He saw that the island they were retreating to had a slightly boomerang shape, and he came up with a plan. He moved ahead, and the first plant got up out of the goop and started moving a little faster. Wick was already retreating to the previous island while Corvayne moved to get the other tree''s direct line to him through slime, while the first had open ground. It seemed they were only so smart: Both were headed in a straight line, the back one ignoring that it could move much faster if it got up onto the land not ten feet from where it was wading. Corvayne had about twenty seconds to work with before the back one reached him. He noted any possible traps near him. Sadly, the tree skittering over didn''t trigger any. It was on him to kill it.


    He took his spear, and held it two handed connected to his hip. One hand he mimed holding the shaft like a sheath. The other as if the butt end was a hilt. He took a deep breath, trying to visualize Moon-Laughing-with-Stars preparing to draw. The woman had an unearthly beauty to her, and was one of the few people who also treated other villagers with the same icy distance as she did Corvayne. While he didn''t like her, the power of her draw techniques was no joke. His own katana training was tremendously draining, getting his arms to unleash his weapon in a sharp fluid motion, to follow through with an attack, and then to replace his blade in it''s sheath, setting himself up to move or strike again. There were more steps, meant to form a sort of endless dance of death.


    The Tree''s range was a couple of feet greater then his spears own reach. So he waited until the beast whipped and he ducked into it, slithering vine missing his scalp by no more then an inch as his heart hammered in his chest. He planted his feet and let the momentum from stepping past the attack move into his arms. His spear was a sword. It was a shackled beast that craved blood. Everything was slowed down as he moved his arms to unchain the beast, smoothly drawing his spear. [Cross-Skill: Draw] brought his spear out in between moments, the blade passing through the monster with no resistance. The only pressure he felt was from drawing his energy into the blow. The living tree, still not aware it had been cut once, was bringing all of it''s vines to bear when he used the second movement. His weapon was a beast, running through a snowstorm in the dead of night, untouched by the smallest blade of a snowflake. He became his weapon. He became the beast. He became darkness.


    [Cross-skill: Shadow step] made him run through the monster body as if it was a mere shadow itself, vines simply unable to touch him let alone cut. His blade drew a second line across the beast as he moved through it. He felt every step sapping him of power but refused to let his momentum slow, his will to win pushing his mountain like-legs forward. Behind him, the creature was still trying to jab at his suddenly missing form. He left the shadows with his back to the tree.


    He took a half step to pivot, and while not part of the normal sequence of katana strikes he saw in his mind the beast sink its fangs into his target, and he changed his grip on the spear and flowed into [Cross-skill: Backstab], adding another point shining with the two lines he had already drawn. The effort of driving his spear down and pulling it back was titanic. However, for the hunt to end, there was one more step. Prey in his grasp, the beast closes its jaw, sealing the monsters fate.


    [Cross-skill: Sheath the Life] let the beast end the hunt, returning to slumber as he placed his weapon back in it''s imaginary scabbard at his side. There was the click of metal against bamboo despite having neither in place, and Corvayne felt some of the energy spent flow back into him as time returned to a normal pace. He had to take a deep breath before he started moving back the way he came. The tree he had attacked was still for four steps, then tried to swing a vine. It plopped lamely on the ground, and Corvayne smiled. Then the sound of two high pitched slashes and the rending sound of a huge hole opening up in the monster all happened at once. The huge tree crumpled into a goopy mess of wood and strawberry sap, gushing out of the creature in a sticky geyser.


    The sequence worked great, with one problem: he was still exhausted after all those movements, and now still had one whip tree to tangle with. This one he had to fight the hard way: leading it around an island, getting it to commit with a whip, then step into range for just a moment to jab and back out. He felt himself slowing down even as he hit the tree a tenth time. His path took him back and forth across four islands, keeping the monster as far from Wick as possible while he slowly bled it out. Slowing down he ended up getting hit in the side, and nearly fell over as the vine cut into him. He instinctively folded with the blow and pushed to roll away on his back, coming up on his feet and a knee then springing back again, blood seeping out his side which was now pulsing in agony. The tree didn''t seem to slow at all from the places it was dripping sludge: it relentlessly skittered at him, and he did another dance with it, stepping around the first hit and landing a blow on the trunk of the thing that drew a thin squirt of strawberry before dribbling it''s blood out. Then he backed off, his cheek suddenly exploding in pain. It had hit him with a bullwhip flick as he backed away. His vision blurred for a moment and he was now bleeding from a cut cheek.


    Wick was trying to tell him something. He took a moment to process what she was saying. ¡°Corvayne we can just run!¡±


    She was right, he could. But he wasn''t sure it would give up at the stairs: the idea of running down several floors to try to lose it in other trees didn''t seem like it would work, not with how much he was struggling after the chain of moves. He ran faster, but the monster didn''t tire even after minutes of cat and mouse. After two more hits, he committed to trying to kill it with [Storm Thrust]. He got another grazing blow on his shoulder but the creature seemed to have adapted to his tactics and was expecting him to pull back, so it wasn''t ready and used the powerful attack to jam his spear into the creature up to his arms, then twist and pull it out. He stumbled away and turned when he didn''t hear skittering to see that he had won the battle. He gave the horrified Wick a thumbs up then his foot gave out, and the last thing he felt was hitting the ground, hard.

 Chapter 12: Dungeons and The Other Word We Dont Say

    He awoke, meaning he was alive. But he hurt bad. He saw the glowing blue of moss on the ceiling and could feel his leg


    While Corvayne was passed out Wick had dragged him back to safety then wrapped gauze from his pack around his bleeding wounds. His head was pounding, thought sitting up and drinking water helped, as did the wreath which he was terrified to remove now as it might have been the only thing holding him together. The trees were much much harder then the other monsters he had fought earlier by a staggering degree. He was not looking forward to another encounter with more then one at a time and he was pretty sure three would be impossible to beat with the tools they had.


    ¡°If we find other trees, then... we''ll try running down a floor. Unless we see the exit or a path they can''t follow us.¡±


    She nodded and gestured at the dim light blue cave. ¡°Let''s wait here.¡±


    She helped him get his roll under him and he fell in and out of sleep for an unknown amount of time, keeping a hand on his spear. He had a terrible dream where he running to spear practice but there was a mantis with a practice spear, yellow alien eyes regarding him. A lizard-man with a cruel jagged snout and a glittering monster that looked like an amoeba with slimy tendrils around a staff were staring at him. The Mantis clacked it''s jaws and hissed ¡°Right on time, Corvayne!¡±


    He woke feeling refreshed despite the nightmare. Wick looked terrible, eyes rimmed with red where the dark circles of exhaustion didn''t extend. ¡°Way to get under my skin then almost die you jackass!¡± She hugged him fiercely. It really hurt. He didn''t ask her to stop.


    ¡°I''ll be ok. Let me sit, you take a quick nap and we''ll find the last exit.¡±


    He put his spear in his lap and she slumped down into the roll next to him. He guessed he had been out more then a few hours. As always, he healed fast. His cheek was still swollen and his ribs on one side were covered in nasty bruises as well as the bandaged gash. Still, he had enough of his stamina back that he could probably take a single tree out. No fancy cross skills: the cost was just too much.


    Wick woke probably two hours later. Corvayne felt better but was hurting. He offered her some water from the canteen then got ready to try for the tower in the sea of jelly once more.


    Approaching the grove took a lot of will, and he crept forward, jabbing each tree before leaping back, ready for another lethal barrage of vines and branches. His luck held and they were able to move to the next island. This one had a large garden in the center so he and Wick plotted a route where they had one foot in the jam as they circled the island. If there was a fake tree in the overgrown center, it let them pass to the tower island without incident.


    Corvayne nearly lost his head not two steps into the island: he had been distracted trying to look for a tunnel with a stair and missed one of the tubes on the ground. Feeling a vibration he threw himself back as a spiked pole erupted from the ground, then slid back into place with a slow pace that was almost malevolent.


    ¡°We have GOT to get off this fucking floor.¡± Wick added and he agreed whole heartedly.


    The tower was three stories tall and only had a few panels here and there as walls. Most of each floor was a long rectangle having ramps both inside and out connecting them. Corvayne thought it looked a little like something he''d seen on a playground, on a much bigger scale and minus the graffiti. There was twenty feet between each floor, and he groaned as he spotted rows of plants on the second floor. He was glad they could see most of the interior: just knowing where the dangerous spots were made it daunting but possible. There were some parts that he''d have to go by plant patches to scout, but some good news: he spotted on the third story a doorway to a place that looked a black rectangle to nowhere. The lack of gray steel or pink sky made him guess it was the stairs. ¡°If we can get up there, that''s gotta be the exit.¡±


    He took his time, asking Wick what she thought the pros and cons were with each combination of stairs. After looking at the third path she stopped responding and started looking at the structure, apparently lost in thought, then turned to him.


    ¡°Let''s just skip the entire building.¡±


    Her idea was simple. Using her gloves, she would carry a rope to the third floor and loop it on a sturdy strut that the weird metal structure had. It would place them right by the stairs.


    ¡°But if there''s a killer plant up there...¡± He had an image of her being sliced in half.


    ¡°I run it back and forth until we can leave. They are dangerous but they are not as fast as we are.¡±


    Corvayne tried to keep himself from getting upset at the thought of her getting killed. ¡°Those whips will take your head clean off.¡±


    Wick gestured to his bandages. ¡°Oh yeah? Same to you. What''s one or two up there against at least five going through the whole damn building?¡±


    Corvayne had to agree. ¡°Your plan does sound better. I just want you to be careful. I may only have one head to lose but I''m not far behind on friends. I don''t think there''s another Wick out there.¡±


    She smiled, then stretched and he dug in his pack for a length of rope out and tied a loop. ¡°Sixty feet, probably enough. Just line it up with a wall, try to get it hooked so it won''t come off from tugging it.¡±


    She nodded, gesturing to a spot she saw that had a post with a nub on the top. Then she got climbing. ¡°Use your legs to push up, then hold with your hands.¡± Corvayne added helpfully. After some swearing she figured out what Corvayne was saying and with the sticky gloves got to the top, clearly tired as she pulled herself onto the third floor. She wrapped the rope around the pole with a nub, then turned and he heard her swearing louder. Wasting no time he started climbing.


    There was the sound of metal scraping on metal from the third floor and Corvayne ignored his ribs protests as he forced himself to mechanically climb at the rate of a respectable jog. At the top he saw a plant skittering after Wick. He started running after it, as she was going to be boxed against a large patch soon enough, and awaking more would be a death sentence for her.


    He caught up to the distracted plant and started using [Cross-Skill: Backstab] over and over, the drain not too heavy because he had his spear held two handed and was jamming it down like a knife into the monsters back. The first attack it started to turn, But he jumped up on one of the plant''s bulbous root and reached up grabbed a branch at it''s base. It was wiggling like crazy but it couldn''t hurt him like the fast moving ends of those vines could. It seemed it wasn''t able to attack it''s own back. In a few moments of backstabbing Corvayne was spent and the thing had six holes the size of pizzas in it''s back. Covered in jam, they stood before the last stairway up, two plants on either side of the exit. No guts no glory: Corvayne took Wick''s hand and they ran as fast as they could right past both of them. There was a light...


    They strode into what could only be called a waiting room. It reminded Corvayne of a nicer version of one at the medical station back home: Instead of a sort of dingy stone room the gray walled space had soft carpet, couches and chairs against the wall, and even a water fountain on the wall. After a few moments with no killer plants trying to squeeze in, he made a beeline for the water and found it was wonderfully cold. He didn''t hesitate to fill his canteen again and drink while looking around.


    The room had the stairs back down, a pair of lit double doors with the world ''Exit?'' on it, which worried him; there was a door with a lock, then what looked to be bathrooms. A darkened open door was there too: one that he couldn''t see into. It had a faint feeling of... regret? As he looked about, ghostly figures appeared on the couches. They looked like see through gray nervous warriors, wearing makeshift gear and all sporting large packs. He got snippets of them talking at the volume of a whisper, something about a big score? He tried waving to attract their attention, but they seemed to be in their own world. After a few minutes, the images stood up and walked to the ''Exit?'' door.


    Wick sat down. ¡°We don''t know what''s behind those doors.¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± Corvayne sat next to her.


    ¡°If it''s like those trees, we''ll die.¡± Wick said. She rubbed her shin.


    ¡°Oh. Yeah.¡±


    ¡°What a lousy life.¡± She stared at the wall.


    ¡°Yesterday was pretty good.¡± He actually rated it as the best day of his life. But he also had a sense that Wick didn''t want what happened at the house to be a big deal. Of course if they died it wouldn''t be a big deal for anyone.


    Wick thought about it then shrugged. ¡°Okay. I take it back. Some of it was good.¡± She looked at Corvayne, one of those inscrutable ones that perhaps if he was wiser would be as easy to read as ''Grunt asking for the remote''.


    ¡°So once we are through...¡± He was going to try to avoid saying ''If we get through''. ¡°We might run into a pack of Bigfoots again.¡±


    She nodded.


    ¡°I''ll kill a few and see if we can outrun them. Hopefully it''s daytime.¡±


    She checked her phone. ¡°Says... nine pm.¡±


    ¡°Do we wait for daybreak?¡±


    ¡°If you and I are missing for days, there''s a lot of people in town who might decide to come out to the woods. Into where those giant apes are.¡±


    The thought of her goofy fan club getting clobbered to death made him take a deep breath and stand.


    ¡°Five minutes, then we go through the door.¡± As much for himself as for her. She nodded. Like he did, she went to the empty door. Then took a step back from it. She sneered at it. Something about it was universally repellent. Or they both had the same sort of tuned senses that picked up something was off about it.


    He stood and stretched, using his spear exercises to center himself. Wick had moved back over to the door marked as an exit.


    ¡°We are definitely going out the double doors.¡±


    Corvayne took the lead and pushed them open, stepping into a glowing hallway that got so bright it blinded him...


    He felt stone under his boots and saw he was on top of a building with the city lights of Cascadia surrounding them. Not the real city: There was a dream-like fluidity to the lights around them as there were upside down buildings in the sky above them, carved out of darkness with lines of stars as the lights in them. Wick was with him, looking around. Her smirk soured when she looked up as well. Not quite home yet. The square roof they were on had a matching access door on the far side, also with an orange glowing line lock, and no other exits. The door they came from and the one on the other side were atop twelve foot tall extensions of the roof, and he could see a ladder behind the far one.


    He narrowed his eyes. Something else was with them, pulling itself onto the building across from them. It climbed up to perch on the other side. Green, gleaming scales able to turn aside the strongest blow. Horns, sharp enough to rip through armor let alone flesh and blood. Rows of jagged teeth, needle sharp. Yellow reptilian eyes betraying it''s cold disregard. It reared it''s head, breathing a searing cone of fire into the air, blue and yellow and red. It then spread it''s wings and roared at them. They were facing the reptilian scourge that ended all too many lives in the books he read. A green dragon!


    Corvayne blinked. It was... tiny.


    It hopped off the roof. Given that it was the size of a... moderately large dog, Corvayne just looked at Wick then back at the beast. The thing stopped in front of the locked door. He readied his spear, but it didn''t seem like it was attacking, just waiting. He stared it down. If it wasn''t going to attack, then he would use the time to plan.


    ¡°Okay Wick.... it breaths fire. If it comes at you, just swing your sword to try to dispatch the flames and to keep it back. Don''t get in close with it... even as small as it is, it''s probably extra dangerous. The best place to be against a dragon is behind it to the side of it''s legs or near it''s front legs. Given this one''s size... go with the back if you have to pick.¡±


    She looked between the dragon and him. ¡°I wonder if they didn''t give you a bunch of fantasy books to read on purpose.¡±


    ¡°Don''t look at me like that, My instructors had us learn a lot of stuff I assumed I''d never need.¡±


    It was sitting there, looking at them.


    Corvayne decided he''d aim to bleed it down.


    When he advanced over the halfway mark of the roof, the beast roared and bound over to him, spewing fire as it ran. Corvayne activated [Flow-Like-Water] and oddly enough, the fire sputtered as if doused as he slid around the side of the beast, hitting it with his spear and doing some damage to it''s shoulder scales.


    ¡°Tough bastard.¡± Corvayne kept circling it, and the monster used it''s flexible neck to snap at him to keep him at bay. It breathed in, and this time Corvayne was close enough to hurl himself into a forward roll, aiming to get the side.


    [Cross-Skill: Bleeder] He jabbed at the beast. His spear tip manged to find flesh, but he had to disengage as the creature started spewing fire again. His forearm and hands stung a little: the breath was radiating heat. He tracked that Wick was moving to try to get behind the beast, who now was trying to charge at Corvayne, vicious little mouth trying to get a hold of him. Corvayne met the charge with his spear and was actually pushed back a few feet as the blade caught on a scale then pushed an inch into the beast. As the neck snaked forward to try to clamp down on the leading arm of the spear, He activated another skill. [Juxtapose]. It meant he couldn''t drive his spear in deeper, but he fluidly pulled his arms and spear back, then rolled over the monster''s back as it was forced forward.


    Swapping positions with the monster confused it for just a moment. He used the opening and landed a [Cross-Skill: Backstab] that only helped his spear penetrate the hind leg. Even with what must be torn muscles between it''s legs and tail, the thing whipped his tail into Corvayne, the size belaying the weight it put into the swing. Thankfully it hit the other side of his ribs, and while there were spikes on the tail they mostly ripped his shirt rather then disemboweling him. It used the momentum of the turn to try to line up it''s face with another fire breath, and Corvayne went to a one handed grip and backhanded it, activated [Cross-Skill: Shield bash].


    The cone of fire sprayed harmlessly across the rooftop as the monster swayed from it''s head being bashed. Not wasting a moment while at it''s side, Corvayne took a deep breath and lined up a two handed thrust. He felt a skill activate: [Thrust]. It seemed to help him drive his spear through the scales, sending a few clattering to the ground and drawing another red mark into the things hide. The dragon responded by raking at him with it''s claws, one scoring a slash on his leg. Then the little bastard put it''s head down and Corvayne had to parry it''s horns with his spear, it''s head snarling and trying to bite him between the legs. Corvayne brought a knee up into it''s jaw, and the monster burped half formed fire into his abdomen. He cried out in pain and stumbled back, batting at his shirt as it was smoldering and he had been badly burned across his chest. Every movement sent waves of pain through him as he scrambled back.


    The distance let them lock eyes. The little reptile narrowed his, and Corvayne did the same, then they charged again. As it was spewing fire, he used [Flow-Like-Water] and found it negated the fire to some extent, sliding past the drake as his spear darted out. He did his best to aim for the same spot he hit last time, fully knocking a scale off and drawing another scratch in the things hide. It skittered to a halt and tried to turn, but Corvayne was already squaring a hit onto the same spot, moving his hands up and shortening his grip then using [Cross-Skill: Bleeder]. This time the wound took and blood started running down the creatures side, twisting it around the wound as it screeched angrily. Wick got a good hit on it''s back, hitting her [Backstab] and knocking another scale loose while leaving behind another bleeding gash, but it quickly responded by slapping her with it''s tail. The small woman was lifted off her feet and thrown back rolling to nearly the edge of the roof winded, stumbling away from the fight. The opening meant Corvayne could take another shot at it. He brought the butt of his spear around. [Cross-Skill: Shield Bash] staggered the monster. Once more he used the opening this time aiming for the wound on the back leg.


    It responded with a warding spray of fire, forcing Corvayne back. The monster leapt off the ground and flew to the roof of the exit door. Corvayne used the moment to check on Wick. He was surprised her glasses were still on. He ripped the remains of his shirt off as it was just fuel for the thing''s fire. His cloak, shockingly, didn''t burn or melt.


    ¡°You alright?¡±


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    She wheezed in a breath then took a moment to look at him wearing a cloak but no shirt. A little smile crossed her face then. Her voice was strained ¡°Just... hrfff... kill that thing¡±


    The monster was inhaling, puffing up to swelling, it''s belly glowing.


    Corvayne looked at Wick ¡°Hold your sword out!¡±


    She stuck it in front of her as the creature spewed an impossible fan of fire out. The blade glowed bright blue and Wick''s breath was visible a moment before the fire hit where they were standing. The wave of flame faded to just a blast of very hot air around them. Elsewhere, the roof was blackened with the results of their fight. The little dragon panted, then started sucking in air again. Corvayne rushed at the little roof access it was perched on. When it started it''s fan of fire, he used [Flow-Like-Water]. The moves he had been using seemed to be more manageable given he was trying to emulate the intended weapon with each use. Wick was standing and breathing heavily: the sword had protected her again. He put his spear in his mouth then climbed up a ladder in the back of the little square building, getting behind the dragon who had spent another wave of hot fire out at Wick. Wick herself was slowly backing behind the other building. He lept forward off the last rung and had his spear back in his hands in moments. The thing did notice him but it was too late to stop him from once more using [Backstab] and blasting out a chunk of it''s upper hind leg.


    It turned and started tried to bite him, scraping his collarbone with a horn, but Corvayne was done, and not just because he had gotten cooked. He brought his spear across as a bar and pushed it onto the dragons mouth, then braced his foot against the upper handle of the ladder and shoved, ignoring it''s claws wrecking his leg and one hitting his sore rib. He just pushed hard, arms bulging, and the dragon suddenly was off balance from clawing, trying to put weight on it''s now lame back leg to stop it from getting pushed over. It toppled from the smaller roof to the arena, landing hard on it''s back with a screech and a crack from one of it''s wings. Corvayne gave it credit: the little monster still tried to breath a cone of fire up at him, which Corvayne backed away from until the dragon was spent. Then, he gripped his spear point down. He had seen Spears-Like-Water, who had incredible legs that let her vault into the air, take down large monsters with leaping attacks who otherwise had hides they couldn''t pierce. Heck, the name of flying spear knights in the books looked like the word dragon because supposedly that''s what they were made for fighting.


    If he couldn''t do what they did with the help of a roof, he would eat his own spear.


    He lept into the air aimed at landing on the dragon laying on the ground, then felt something like lead pulling him down even faster then gravity. In that moment he was in the air, even with wounds bleeding and burns all over his torso that would hurt for at least a week, even knowing Wick would probably push him away over the next few days, even having no idea if he had a job after vanishing for god-knows-how long... He was flying, cape behind him, about to drive his spear into a god damned dragon and he felt so perfectly in his element he actually laughed as he drew a skill out, one that he didn''t think he could even stop himself from performing.


    [Leap Strike]


    He drove his spear down and it was like the hammer of the gods driving his spear through the beast, the impact buckling the stone tiles to form a crater as and punching a hole through the beast big enough to see through. There was immense satisfaction as he watched the surprised creature spit one last pitiful gout of flame then die. He was covered in it''s blood, and dust, and grit. His wounds would probably put him up for at least a week: The claw hit and him leaping almost certainly broke that rib. But he lifted his spear up and roared for a moment. He looked at his companion. Wick''s jaw had dropped open. Then she shut it and folded her arms.


    ¡°Don''t overdo it, it was only the size of a dog!¡±


    His retort died when everything blurred and went black.


    Killing the monster... had his wounds been worse then he thought? Or did it force them out of the space? No. He was in the dark... there would be sounds otherwise. There were faint dark gray words flowing by. He caught a few. The first one was [...first group clearing...] then he saw [Experience]... it came up a lot. An instance or two of [Cascadian Goblin]. Trying to focus on them failed. Whatever was making him think in brackets, he couldn''t quite connect with it. It just slid off his mind faster the more he tried. Oh well. He felt wind pushing him up. No... he was falling. Uh oh, did it deposit him in the night sky relative to how far they climbed? No, if it did he''d already have splatted on a pine tree somewhere in the park. Instead he suddenly dropped out of a cloud into another weird space.


    Landing on the ground didn''t hurt or make a sound. He just suddenly was standing on a cracked dark blue earthen hill in another space where the sky swirled red and purple with ominous clouds crackling with lightning and tinged in bright blue light. Huge stone gates leading to nowhere dotted the hill he was on and other hills, paleolithic arches rising out of a mist covering red, purple, blue, and black thorns. There was a moment of panic where he couldn''t find Wick, but he relaxed as something let him know she was near, just not here.


    That''s when he saw a being at least twelve feet tall no more then ten feet away. How he missed it before, he didn''t know. The thing looked like it was a pillar of lightning. It wore armor over it''s extended form. Swirling thunder danced across both the glowing blue metal it wore, and it''s hands. It wore an armored hood, glowing eyes crackling as it regarded him. He relaxed... somehow he knew it wasn''t hostile. In fact, the lack of sensation under his feet... this felt like a dream. He looked up at the being and waved.


    He saw it''s eyes look down to regard him, then it slowly shook it''s head and spoke in an inhuman voice with commanding weight to it.


    ¡°NOT. READY.¡±


    It crouched a little, and he could feel the air charge and then it vaulted with a tremendous clap of thunder into the stormy sky, vanishing in an instant.


    ¡°Well... that was rude.¡± He stood up and dusted himself off. One nice thing: his body didn''t hurt right now. So... where was he, and what was he going to do?


    There were gates. He saw they were shut by stone doors and most of them had a tremendous amount of thorny plants growing up out of the ground to wrap them in layers of spikes. They stood without anything on either side of them, aside from a pair that seemed to be facing the edge of the hill that he could only approach safely from one way. Down the hill: the ground was coated in curled thorny vines. If he wanted to leave the hill, he''d be wading into them.


    The hill he was on had 10 gates. He examined them and noted that any two differed slightly. The first he looked at seemed to have little currents of air around it. The arch of the stone gate had a mark on the top, it looked like someone had carved three lines like a slash mark there. The vines on that one were somewhat thick: it would take him a few minutes and some seriously painful wounds to pull them open. The next one he examined had a paint brush on it. There was a thin drizzle of yellow with lines of sky blue liquid running down the stones to disappear into the ground. The stuff didn''t seem to flow over the dark thorns and there were fewer. The next one had darker stones behind the vines, the etching on the top looking like a web with a bowling ball dragging it into a sort of upside down cone. Another had an image of a web and looked like spiders had spent a decade decorating the stones. One had a man running and mostly boring stones but a few delta shapes carved into the pillars holding the door up. Another had what looked like a bear trap on it, and the stone itself looked like it was peppered in arrows. It was all weird and surreal, but he had a sense he was stuck until he picked one.


    He noted that two of the gates, the ones on the side, were larger and thicker with thorns. He looked at them. One was oriented in the direction of an island with a circle of larger gates, the center of which held a titanic stone arch that was twice as large as any others, completely wrapped up with layers and layers of thorns except for the capstone, visible through the mess with a lightning bolt on it. Why was that one so heavily guarded?


    The gates closer: The one off to the big gate was itself size and a half the others, and made of black crystal. A red mark, something like a weird 5, was at the top. The thorns were triple wrapped around it. He looked at his bare hands. Not his first option. The other was not as tightly wrapped, and the carving at the top showed what looked like tendrils coming out of a hand. Thin wisps of darkness wrapped around the door, sort of how mist would roll off dry ice. Okay. Two more.


    The last pair of doors was one that on closer inspection had wood running up the stone block, mixed in with the black vines which were smaller and less jagged. The mark at the top had a magnifying glass. The last door was another small one but had green-black vines curled all around it. It had a pair of crossed staves.


    He checked the mists then, seeing if there was a path out without dealing with the gates. Winding his way around, the mist would part enough on the steep slope to show him tangled thorns waiting to rip apart anyone trying to wade between islands. A little looking and he found a gap in the brush and, after carefully climbing down, he followed it until it dead-ended halfway to another hill with four gates on it. From down in the mist he could see the gates and hills extended further then he had thought. He strode back, then checked for other paths. Two more snaked away, but neither connected to another hill without wading through thorns. He would try a gate then.


    He checked off the big obsidian black one: he''d be a wreck trying to open it. No to spiders, Maybe the one dripping paint. The one with arrows looked dangerous. He didn''t get some of them, being perfectly honest. He wish he understood what the gates markings and differences were telling him. He stood in front of them, trying to let his mind empty. No help from the instincts that had been pushing him. He then looked again at the shadow one. It had thinner vines, and he was good in the dark. Also, thinking back to some of the skills he had seen the weapons masters using, he was sure any ghosts or shades would have a very bad time fighting him if he set them free by picking that door: Some of the attacks he saw performed were ''derived from exorcism rituals''.


    Someone in charge of training obviously wanted them to have a tool to fight ghosts. If he ever saw the Watchers again and wasn''t shot on sight, he''d have some questions about what exactly he had been training for. Aside from fighting actual dragons, of course.


    He took a deep breath and started pulling the thorns away from the large shadow gate. Each tug he''d inevitably snag something on a thorn, the pain weirdly sharp despite many other things feeling dream like. Even when he tried using his spear to chop at it, he''d get bloody marks up and down his arms. He hissed and stopped, then looked at his spear.


    Odd... he only had his spear? Where was his pack? But he had his spear, and wounds or not he was away from Wick. Assuming she was safe because they were at the exit area, she might be wandering through a portal out into a pack of murderous giant ape-men. He grimly set himself to cutting away enough of the crud to get to the door without ripping himself apart. He was scraped up by the end, arms and legs bleeding from dozens of cuts when a spear strike snapped the entire mass of vines and they fell to the ground and dissolved into greasy smoke.


    He set his spear to one hand and experimentally pushed on the door. The gate creaked open at the first real push, revealing a dark place beyond that didn''t match the hill. He took a tentative step within, finding what looked like a dimly lit wood floor in endless black. Empty besides himself. No light visible above even if the floor was. Then a shadow moved. Another did, a tendril or foot questing into the light. He pivoted but it was too late: The door slammed shut and shadows rushed him and he...


    He woke, gasping as all the pain from the fights came rolling back into him, with another odd feeling he couldn''t describe. He was alive, thankfully... back on the rooftop, a ways away from the dragon. Wick had pulled his bedroll out and now it was further stained with blood from him resting on it after getting shredded up twice. She looked concerned.


    ¡°You okay? You can''t keep nodding off on the job.¡± Her voice betrayed a hint of panic.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Corvayne sat up, then paused. His hands were in front of him, but he had pushed himself up . What was going on? Had he lost that much blood?


    ¡°There was this place... with weird gates... and vines....¡±


    Wick looked confused. ¡°Didn''t see it. I do feel weird too, so maybe that monster meat or something causes hallucinations?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°It''s... probably nothing. Wait! Before we leave... can I have a few minutes with your knife?¡±


    Everything else they had killed was probably not worth a red cent. But... in books dragon scales and horns and stuff were used to make legendary armor. Even though he''d be lucky to get a jacket out of this little runt... a jacket is a jacket. He started prying scales off, and Wick seeing what he was doing gave him the steel knife they had found earlier.


    She huffed a little sigh. ¡°Once we are out of here, we will keep our public relationship professional, platonic... got it? I don''t want to deal with Dawn or anyone else...¡±


    ¡°You were very clear before we...¡± A little bit of bitterness edged into his voice so he cleared his throat and started over. Warriors resolve. ¡°I''ll keep a lid on it, but I appreciated it, and you. I''ll be your friend, and partner in the paranormal business but I won''t try to be your lover ... If you decide any of that needs to change, I will follow your wishes.¡± His heart would be OK as long as she kept her glasses on and her hair tied in the sort of goofy style she usually wore. He hoped.


    She laughed a little. ¡°See! That''s why I like you. It sounds real when you say it like that.¡± She then swore as she watched him peel another scale off.


    ¡°The scales on it''s head are really small... oh I got an idea.¡±


    Then with his spear envisioned his battleaxe training. Not so much the timing needed to nail someone with the extremely dangerous weapon, but instead the concept of finishing a foe who had stumbled a moment off.


    [Cross-Skill: Execute] activated and he sliced the dragon''s head off. Wick looked at him like he was nuts.


    Corvayne smiled and hefted the head. ¡°How cool will this look mounted?¡±


    ¡°That''s what you choose to do with a cryptid? Are you going to eat it''s heart too?¡± She looked down at the body and looked a little sick.


    ¡°Uh... that''s just in stories that doing that gives you power or whatever, right? I bet it tastes amazing.¡± He watched her torn between her own revulsion at seeing bodies and the memories of monster meat.


    His own stomach grumbled. He was not about to eat the dragon raw, but he wouldn''t have put it past some other Watchers to do such a thing.


    Wick stood up and stepped away from the body. ¡°I''ll carry your pack for a moment but YOU gotta lug that thing.¡±


    The dragon indeed weighed more then it looked. Wick was complaining after lifting his pack that she had been tricked until Corvayne set the corpse down and challenged her to lift the dragon instead. After one attempt trying to drag it by a less mangled leg she conceded and they finally strolled through the exit door... into another forested area. No monsters this time: it looked like they were at a picnic pavilion, with benches on grass around a covered concrete square that had a single bench in it. Aside from normal looking green and brown trees there was a sign next to one of the paths away from the clearing labeled ¡°Exit to parking¡±. Another sign read: ¡°Cascadia Forest Floors 6 through 10.¡± on a bark chip path heading uphill. And most importantly, there was a large cooler sitting on the lone table under the awning. It looked like it was glowing almost.


    Corvayne strode up to it and popped it open, feeling only a little regret that the tiny dragon didn''t have a stash of gold. Inside the cooler were a pair of daggers, made of silvery blue-teal metal somewhat like the sword they had found. A Note reading ''BBQ'' was taped to them. There was also a pair of what looked like small plastic sports drinks, red, with a stylized logo that said ''HEALING POTION''. They were cool to the touch. One blue one with ''MANA POTION''. A pack of sausages with a picture of a cartoon griffon in lederhozen labeled ''SPICY GRIFFON BRATWURST''... a large flask with a stopper bound in rope with a stylized dragon''s mouth that looked like it should be a potion that granted eternal youth but had lemons floating in it and was clearly labeled ''LEMONADE IF YOU''RE THIRSTY.'' A smaller opaque yellow flask said ''YE OLD MUSTARD''.


    Someone had also packed bread, cheese, and some rolls, napkins, and paper plates. All were cold... the cooler seemed to glow blue. The napkins had little dragons printed on them. The dungeon must think it''s a riot.


    The last thing he found were four condoms (Spear-Man Brand. Hah!) with a note that said in black marker ''Use a condom'' double underlined. He could read it, but he was pretty sure it was written in an alien language when he focused on the letters. That yellow post it note had been scrunched up but unfurled, with a wink drawn in red marker under it.


    He showed both to Wick. She looked at him, then the pack. He refrained from wiggling his eyebrows. He did not wink at her. He did not jiggle the cold silvery line of condoms. He did not look hopeful. He kept himself stone faced and simply presented the loot. Her face paled ¡°Fuck. Does it think you got me...¡± She slapped her forehead. ¡°Not going to say it. I gotta stop at the pharmacy on the way back.¡±

 Chapter 13: A Well Earned Meal

    The sign did not lie, walking down the path to ''Exit and Parking'' lead them out to the dingy parking lot they started at. It was dark and rainy, no big shocker. Corvayne also wasn''t surprised to turn around and see the path had vanished. What was interesting was that Mr I''s beat up pick up pulled in right as they were walking out.


    Wick looked at her tiny screen and watched as it updated the time, popping backwards two days to read 4:23 AM.


    ¡°According to my phone we were only in there a few hours.¡±


    Which meant...


    Corvayne dropped the dragon on the gravel and drew his spear. No rest for them: He could see large shapes moving in the trees. Two of the bigfoot emerged. They stopped, looked at the tiny dragon he dropped on the ground, then at Corvayne, who covered in blood, wounds, burns, and was now just waiting for them to make a single move before he turned them into swiss cheese. The creatures turned and looked at each other, and held their hands up and just backed away into the brush.


    Corvayne sighed, then hefted the headless half-scaled dragon back over his shoulder and picked up the magic cooler. Wick was behind him. She looked like she had fought off a bear too. Icariii hopped out of the car. ¡°Oh my goodness! You two, what happened? I thought I saw your monster... what is THAT?¡± the tone of his voice went to concern to childlike excitement. ¡°What is that on your shoulders!? Did you find it in the woods!? Here!¡± The man nearly fell over himself running to open the back of his truck, laying out a tarp. ¡°What is it? Can I try cooking it?¡±


    Corvayne turned and looked at Wick. She stepped up to the plate. ¡°We had to run from a swarm of bigfoot. Corvayne found a magic staircase and we ran up it, were trapped in a weird dun- place for 2 days but it looks like it was just a few hours. If you help us cook our dead dragon, sure. Uh, we want the scales and heart meat.¡±


    Icariii nodded. ¡°Of course. A dragon heart probably would make a young man very potent.¡±


    ¡°It''s not a sex thing.¡± Wick said firmly.


    The monk shrugged in a way that suggested he was thinking ''yeah sure it isn''t''. ¡°My apologies. Old monks like me have nothing better to do then encourage young couples.¡± Corvayne did not react to Wick''s sour face but secretly enjoyed it.


    Mister I didn''t linger on his comment and instead helped Corvayne heft the thing onto the bed of his truck then put another tarp over it and tie it down. The monk then did some basic first aid, cleaning wounds and supplying them with a large number of bandages. Corvayne hadn''t brought any spare clothes with him and wasn''t up for sewing, so he accepted a spare shirt the monk had with palm trees and surfboards embroidered on it, appreciating that it was a button up as he was terrified taking the wreath off would cause him to pass out again. He took his cloak off his neck and wrapped it around his waist, the fabric pleating and accepting the form of a belt. Wick saw the shirt and laughed at him as they were putting the cooler into the back seat. He sat in the back and Wick joined him.


    ¡°You look like a tourist. No self respecting hero would wear that.¡±


    He shrugged. ¡°I was out of torn white shirts and I don''t own a cape.¡± He looked at Mister I in the mirror and bowed as best he could sitting in a seat. ¡°It''s very comfy thank you Mister I.¡± Corvayne said. The monk just nodded in response and started driving.


    Wick piped up. ¡°Can we stop at a 24 hour grocery store for... snacks?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes! I will get things to cook that with too. We will have dragon for breakfast!¡±


    Wick grinned. ¡°You can be our official Crypto-Gastromy expert¡±


    ¡°The dungeon gave us mustard.¡± Corvayne added.


    Wick looked up at him. ¡°I thought you told me in the woods you didn''t want us to use that word! Also, it was open skies for almost the entire place.¡±


    Corvayne thought. ¡°Fine. How about we call it a Tower? Because it goes up. And there were more floors.¡±


    Mister I looked back. ¡°Ah, well, can you tell me what happened? Oh how rude: I caught a big grouper but let it go.¡± He used a stop sign on the back road they were on to pull up a picture of the fish on his phone.


    ¡°Oh nice.¡± Corvayne gave him a thumbs up.


    ¡°Not as big as your catch!¡± The monk laughed.


    Corvayne didn''t know how much to lie. So he prompted Wick to tell the story and she told a mostly straightforward account of getting cornered at the stairs, the ambush and fights up to the third floor, cooking and eating monsters, taking watches while sleeping, crossing the river, and sneaking past a forest of dangerous trees to reach the exit. Then the fight with the dragon, where she didn''t mention anything aside from how talented he was with a spear. She mentioned finding a cold cooler full of food.


    The monk laughed. ¡°Griffon Sausage! Do you think it''s really griffon meat? They are a legendary monster...¡±


    Corvayne popped the cooler open, brought the pack out. Wick used her phone''s light to help him read the label.


    ¡°Made with griffon, salt, red pepper. Well, that settles it.¡±


    Wick laughed. ¡°Says so on the package! They can''t make it up.¡±


    They pulled up to a huge store about thirty minutes out of the park that was seemingly located in the middle of nowhere but lit up like they were afraid the sun was never going to come up again. The parking lot reminded him of the huge flat area they had built the space port on. Mister I sighed ¡°The big guys really squeezed the mom and pop 24 hour mega stores out of business.¡±


    Corvayne looked at the parking lot as they cruised through it. Aside from a handful of orange trucks, there were only maybe five cars in the lot. They grabbed a cart someone had left in front of where the monk had parked them and entered the store, which also was lit for surgery. Corvayne had shopped at tiny corner grocery stores with Grunt, but the difference in size for this store vs one in a place packed with people was hard to wrap his head around. Stepping into the store, Wick turned and looked at him in the florescent light. ¡°I didn''t realize how bad that last floor was... You look like you got put through a meat grinder.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°You too.¡±


    Wick turned to Icariii, then gestured to their shredded clothing. ¡°We are going to get some new stuff to wear and replace the first aid things we used.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Certainly. It would be nice to not have to explain to the police tonight that you two are not the victims of nor perpetrators of a crime!¡±


    Following her in the store, Corvayne was shocked by how many rows of stuff they had. It was something that was never brought up in his books. There were grand palaces, exotic giant space ports with endless wonders, or ruins stretching under mountains with arcane engines running sinister energies into arrays that spelled doom for the good guy: But he had an image for how stores were. He did not gawk (too much) at the ocean because there was some frame of reference: Some farmer boy with a magic sword sees the sea and says ''What a big lake!'' in so many of those books. And now here he was, in the men''s clothing section of a store large enough to hold his village and the wall around it squared with Wick handing him clothes and all he could think was ''What a big store!''. It was... too clean: stark whites spotless aside from where he brought mud and crud onto tiles. A little robot was following him cleaning up afterwards he noted. The only disruption were boxes here and there, half full of clothes or other goods. He barely noticed the pile in his arms before she pushed him over to a dressing room.


    He balked at a price tag. ¡°Uh, I can''t pay for all this...¡±


    ¡°You goofball. First! I ruined your old clothes. Second! You saved my LIFE! Third... If you''re around me... I can''t have you looking like I just pulled you out of the Wastes! Fourth! I make money I cannot spend. At the very least I can play dress up with you. Hmm... I wanna see you with a real haircut and a suit.¡±


    ¡°No way... I can''t fight in a suit!¡± She ignored his protests and pushed him into the changing room.


    Wick was sharp: she had guessed his size pretty well. Most of the clothes fit, though some of the shirts were a little snug. She handed him another set, then set about getting herself new stuff. When he came out of the dressing room, she had new olive slacks, and a new olive jacket with some other stuff in a bag. He looked at his own outfit: tight white t-shirt with no sleeves. Leather vest with fur around the hood. Black pants with all sorts of belt buckles. Cowboy hat which he took off. She had also thrown in socks and a lot of briefs. She picked all black ones.


    ¡°Uh, is this my style?¡±


    ¡°No, but we work with what we got. Dump anything that didn''t fit in the basket there.¡±


    After he did so she fed a card into a little machine nearby and all the tags fell off the clothes that were left. A little robot started sucking them up. Corvayne wondered what she''d look like in a dress, then squashed the thought and focused on following her to the pharmacy, piles of clothes in hand, where she got pills and first aid supplies forcing him to find a cart. Her buying more bandages reminded him of all the cuts and bruises and mild burns covering him. It was actually weird that he didn''t have third degree burns on his stomach now that he thought about it, he had been sure the dragon had cooked his midriff. Then she dragged him over to the camping section, up a flight of concrete stairs with a cart ramp to a second floor that looked like it was just built across shelves rather then a planned section. There were antique rifles gleaming in cases, small arms, and so on.


    She only spared them a short glance. ¡°I don''t want to buy any of these here, but we will get you a pistol in town.¡±


    He frowned. He should have taken one off those guys who tried to rob the warehouse.


    Past the actual weapons were tools that doubled as weapons. She bought him two large hatchets, a machete, a sledgehammer, and a hunting bow and 20 arrows. She also bought a spearfishing spear and went to the garden section and asked him a few questions about what types of weapons he trained with that he lead to her trying to get him to decide which garden tools would line up best with them. She bought him a hand scythe meant to pull weeds. Wick grabbed a broom handle too, why not? On the way she had grabbed another cart and bought a lawn bag and dumped it all into it, buying it and dropping the tags on the floor. The last item was odd: she went into the toy section and bought a plastic wand with a big pink star on it. They met Icariii by the grocery section, and he paid for his food and they walked out of the nearly empty store, never seeing more then a single worker on the way out, who waved then went back to walking down the isles.


    Looking over at the monk, he had just bought stuff for seasoning meat and three different mustards as well as normal looking spicy brats and sauerkraut. ¡°I want to compare them to yours. We''ll do a taste test together?¡±


    Corvayne rode up front while Wick squeezed in with the stuff they had got. During the ride back, Corvayne discovered that talking about his experience eating giant crickets and worse in the desert was some sort of life-affirming experience for the monk, who it seemed had put all the enjoyment of all the vices he was likely self denied into really loving to find, kill, and eat things that walked around outside. After a more in depth blow-by-blow of skinning and eating three monsters inside the tower and the assurance they were absurdly delicious Mister I had taken to slyly asking if they would consider maybe bringing him, and some of his friends who enjoyed camping and new culinary experiences, samples of the game they had found.


    Corvayne agreed and had joked about throwing in a few furry slugs in and the monk was laughing and nodding and slapping the wheel vigorously in a way that made his polite enthusiasm in every other thing he said seem hollow. He had also made his third friend by simply stating that, growing up in the middle of the desert, he hadn''t fished. He was worried that the Monk was about to slam on the breaks right before getting back into the city and drive over the median to turn around and drive an hour and change back to the fishing spot, but Wick managed to calmly (by yelling she wanted to get the FUCK out of the woods) convince the distraught Mister I that Corvayne would be OK for a week because he didn''t know what he was missing.


    It hadn''t been raining since they left the store, and the rest of the drive took them to before sunrise. Mister I had a grill in the courtyard behind the community center and they decided to have dragon for breakfast and also the griffon sausages too, with the heart as well. Mister I pulled out some custom mustard sauce and pulled the body with a grunt onto a wood table in the corner by the grill and started butchering the dragon. Once again, Wick pointedly turned around.


    ¡°I''ll smoke anything I don''t use and give you the scales and horns and bones!¡± Mister I called out. There was a picnic table where Corvayne dropped his pack and the cooler then sat down, resting his chin on his elbows. Wick sat next to him and they watched the monk cook. Corvayne cleared his throat.


    ¡°You want to be partners and I''m interested, but I''d like to have an idea of what you have in mind and what we''ll be doing.¡±


    Wick nodded at him. ¡°I know I get into conspiracy stuff a lot but I am dead serious that in the upper Collective government have supernatural powers.¡±


    ¡°I honestly don''t know what the Collective is. I assume it''s interplanetary given our previous conversations.¡±


    Wick had gotten used to him asking questions he was sure outed him as a sheltered weirdo. ¡°It''s the interplanetary body that rules over a thousand colonies give or take. That puts it at roughly 90% of the total human colonies.¡±


    ¡°Ok. So they have a lot of power. And they are secret wizards.¡± Corvayne lowered his voice. ¡°I don''t want to jump to conclusions, but I''m guessing now that whatever your background is, you came into contact with them, your family was involved in it, and whatever happen made you run away. It would explain too why you are hiding.¡±


    Wick was silent for a moment. ¡°What?¡±


    Corvayne glanced at her hair, then with his eyes looked down at her lap a moment. ¡°You dye your hair.¡±


    Wick smirked. ¡°Ha! Green, blue, purple, pink hair all occur without dye because they were passed on after genetic modification. My parents were both recessive gene carriers. My hair is natural.¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t going off of color. Your hair is a pretty natural shade of green. But you need to make sure to get down to the roots when applying the dye.¡±


    Wick ran a hand through her hair. ¡°Hmmf. I didn''t pin you for being stubborn. Look at my roots. I''m a classic mint, I even got the freckles.¡±


    ¡°I mean downstairs.¡±


    She hissed and lowered her voice, face getting red. ¡°How hard were you looking?¡±


    ¡°You laid out ground rules inside and now that we are outside I am trying to work on our business partnership and friendship, so I will not give you a blow by blow. I am explaining to you something that someone else could pick up on. I didn''t understand until now that you dying your body hair might be related to hiding, and could be relevant to keeping you safe.¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Wick buried her head in her hands. Corvayne kept himself neutral and calm despite finding it extremely pleasing.


    ¡°No one else is going to-¡± She groaned and sighed. ¡°Thank you. I''ll fix it whenever I go outside our arrangement.¡±


    Corvayne was a little confused. ¡°Arrangement?¡±


    ¡°Friends with benefits.¡±


    ¡°Like the business partnership you proposed.¡± Corvayne nodded.


    ¡°Corvayne I can''t tell if you''re joking when you go poker faced. Crank it back a few notches.¡±


    He eased his control up a little. ¡°I wasn''t making a joke. You''ve said that I am like a flawless killing machine who spends too much time reading pulp novels. That comment hurt me. Really, it did because it''s true. The learning everything from books part. I''m hardly flawless. So: I''m poker faced because I am following rules you laid down and I agreed to.¡±


    Wick looked around. ¡°Is... is this a fight? I haven''t even told you what we are doing, and you somehow picked a fight over my pussy?¡±


    Corvayne didn''t fully understand why she thought it was a fight. ¡°Hunting voices. You just made Mister Icariii laugh.¡±


    Wick took a deep breath. Corvayne felt emotions roiling under him but held firm on his respect for and trust in Wick. She looked annoyed, but lowered her voice. ¡°I really wish you could talk about this shit with Grunt. Friends with benefits is the nice way of saying fuck buddies. As in we have a working friendship and when we are not seeing anyone else, I will sometimes call you over to watch a movie or something then we enjoy each others company... ''Streaming with Chill''.¡± Wick made finger quotes around the last phrase and stopped and looked for understanding on Corvayne''s face. When she didn''t find it because Corvayne didn''t want to jump to conclusions she rolled her eyes. ¡°We will have sex. And possibly watch a movie together afterwords.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. Oh. Ooooh. Then he felt his cheeks heat up. ¡°I... thought it was a one-time...¡±


    ¡°It will be if you can''t shut your trap and listen. You were more or less right: I do not want the Collective''s attention. They have, on top of a huge fleet of warships armed with weapons that are able to turn large chunks of a planet into magma, a bunch of cults. Some of them have done impossible things like you can do. I am very concerned that someday I will be at their mercy. Ok? I want you to help me figure out magic. I want to do the same bullshit you do. The thing with... [Backstab]... heh, that''s a good start. But I need more. I want our own group or something so when they show up at my door someday I have you and another hundred people like you at my back. I need to think greedy. To be perfectly honest, if I can find a way to get outside their reach, that would be fine too.¡±


    Corvayne couldn''t have cared less about fighting wizards for a crazy wizard. But fighting wizards for Wick? Game on. ¡°I''ll train you. You help me with, well, figuring out all the stuff I''ve missed over the years. Maybe help me get a phone so you can call me. I think our goal is to use money from the expeditions into that tower to possibly find other spaces like it.¡± He lifted the cooler. ¡°The tower, after our trial, gave us things. It had the note and the items with the note that suggested there is an intelligence behind the tower responding to how we handled the climb. And if it gives rewards? It''s encouraging it. So I propose you and me recruit Grunt for this and then explore the place. Also, can we get him over here? It''s early but he might still be up: I''d like him to get in on this breakfast we are making.¡±


    Wick thought. ¡°Ok. I''ll give him a text. It''s what, 7? He''s going to be working until 8. But the expeditions: I agree that I want to go back with equipment, stuff that measures a whole bunch of physical constants, and study that place. I have a guy who puts them together who''s going to be pissed that I lost the stuff in the pack. But money shuts him up.¡±


    He pulled at the clothes she picked out for him. ¡°I got the impression you have a sizable amount to work with from the scene at the store and all.¡±


    ¡°Buying property or a car leaves a bigger paper trail. I want a space ship. That''s nearly impossible unless I can make or pay for expertly made credentials that will let me use a loan.¡±


    Corvayne for a moment imagined the pictures of bustling street markets he had seen in art books, imagining a man standing in front of a pile of space ships calling out for someone to buy them. ¡°You can''t just give them a pile of money?¡±


    ¡°That makes me look triple suspicious. It''s also more money then I expected to make in my lifetime even given my job overpaying me for about three real hours a week.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. I would imagine if magic is rare and precious...¡± Corvayne mused


    ¡°We can charge whatever we want for it.¡± Wick finished. She had a grin on her face. ¡°It''s only worth what someone will pay.¡±


    Corvayne thought. ¡°Maybe ask Dawn for help? She is, after all, in business. Excuse me. Business.¡±


    ¡°I like her but she''d still take a huge cut. I have another idea who we can use as a fence.¡±


    Corvayne trusted her on that. ¡°Ok. So to start, 50/50 on whatever we make after a cut?¡±


    ¡°If we split costs off from that. I''d actually like 40/40 then save the overhead for whatever we need for the group. Possibly as a fund we have for getting off planet. I do more planning and research, your role is to train me and Grunt, if he needs it, on how to operate in the dungeons and act as our leader inside there. Keep in mind bringing him now means that split is on our 2/3rds of the shares unless he buys in, then I don''t know, whatever keeps a fifth of our income liquid enough.¡±


    ¡°It''s a little over 25 percent each. I think that''s a good breakdown. But I''m not a leader.¡±


    ¡°You did fine leading me. You really felt... in your element. I think you actually were kind of happy?¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. He did have squad leadership training. Whatever else his failings, he was good at keeping a calm head under pressure. Correction: When not faced with Wick related stress. She was also right: there were a few moments when he had been happy. Alive. The difference in facing a life and death situation with people who hated you vs doing it with someone like Wick? It was night and day.


    ¡°Very well. I''ll draw something up for standard procedures, what we do with things we find in the dungeon, how we make decisions on what the value of things are before they are sold. If we are exploring rather then simply trying to escape, it''s more likely there will be a point when we disagree on who should get an item, or perhaps even if we should consume a non-renewable resource that might be sold instead.¡±


    Wick smiled. ¡°You go from mister humble to mercenary captain pretty fast.¡±


    Corvayne scratched his cheek. Was that a compliment or an insult? He was starting to think Wick''s favorite thing was to combine them.


    ¡°So You lead outside. I lead inside. Going in means training. We are all on various night schedules, right? I think we stick with sleeping during the day, Train in the evening, work at night. When we go explore, we aim for early morning. The rate of time in there seemed slower.¡±


    Wick smiled and nodded. ¡°You got this all figured out Corvayne! I can''t promise I''ll like exercising every night.¡±


    Sorting that out, Wick sent Grunt a text that there was a breakfast barbeque at the community center. True to form, Grunt just sent a thumbs up. He did show up a few minutes after his shift right as Mister I said everything was ready and the four of them sat and ate. Wick and Corvayne split the heart which was chewy and tasted like high quality jerky with a hint of sweetness like strawberry. It was one of the best things he had ever had in his life. The other meat off the dragon was amazing too, strips of muscle somehow turning from incredibly tough when alive to being succulent and soft and juicy with a hint of something sweet that Corvayne wanted to say tasted like teriyaki peanut butter.


    The lemonade was also peerless: each sip reminded him of a rare good village moment: sitting on a dock on the oasis in palm shade with a cold drink, feet in the cool water, a breeze carrying away the oppressive desert heat while he just stared at the water and sky. It was sweet and clean.


    The regular sausages that Mister I got were good too, but the Griffon ones had a strange heat to them that, merging with the honey mustard that the monk had supplied with them along with the sauerkraut: Corvayne ate the first one in probably three huge bites and got the monk telling him to slow down and savor the food. The second one he took the time to chew and discovered that in addition to the odd spices griffon tasted like freedom... somehow. The second sausage put him at comfortably full.


    While Corvayne was finishing his meal Wick was retelling the story to Grunt. Grunt raised an eyebrow at first but didn''t seem to question what he was told, just shrugged and nodded that yes, next time? He was in.


    Mister I laughed ¡°If I was younger I would go too! But if you''re selling the meat I''ll buy it...¡±


    Corvayne looked over at Wick. She thought about it and nodded. ¡°We''ll need money for stuff. Our own car eventually. Anyone who wants to try it pays oh... say... twenty times the value of similar cuts of meat. If you want to give people a sample to get them hooked, go for it. Any leftovers, same.¡±


    The monk nodded. ¡°If you bring out another dragon like this, the meat would buy you a house.¡±


    Wick and the monk got into details on the monk''s hunting buddies and how he was also a member of The Order of the Grill. Grunt spun around to put his back to them on the bench and gave Corvayne a look and a head tilt to follow him: Quick huddle.


    Corvayne nodded, then got up and they walked a little bit away from the table. Did Grunt want him to confirm what Wick told them?


    Grunt made a goalpost with his fingers, then mimed one finger kicking a ball, then darted his eyes back to the two arguing about how much beef should be: How did it go with Wick?


    Corvayne gave him a blank look, then looked both ways, and smiled with a single thumbs up: Oh it went. Then he held up a fist, and Grunt bumped it: My MAN!


    Corvayne offered to help Mister I clean up. Grunt waved and vanished before Wick could rope him into helping. Wick stayed as they still had some things in the cooler to check, namely the daggers, then deciding who got the cooler itself. There were a few bowls and pots to wash. Mister I got the rest of the scales off and offered to have his buddy taxidermy the head in exchange for dragon jerky. Corvayne was a little confused on that deal.


    ¡°What if he needs more then just meat to pay-¡±


    ¡°He is like me.¡±


    Oh, well that clears it up. Onwards: the remaining items were the pack of napkins, the bread, and slices of cheese, as well as paper plates, the two daggers, and four condoms.


    Corvayne looked at the remaining items. ¡°We ate the rolls and they were pretty good... all the food that came in it was extra good.¡±


    Wick picked up a dagger and pointed it away from anything important, then swung it to no effect, then squeezed the hilt. The weapon shot out a jet of yellow flame, with little red tinges. It lasted a second then Wick nearly collapsed onto the park bench. ¡°That... really winds you.¡±


    Corvayne grabbed one and pointed it into the sky then triggered a red flame with sparks of blue in it for a solid five seconds before he willed it to stop, cutting the fire off. ¡°It''s not that bad. Let''s take one each. I bet they run off your endurance... I''m going to really recommend jogging every day.¡±


    Wick gestured around herself. ¡°Oh yeah. Jogging here in Old Town! That''s a good way to break both legs tripping over something.¡±


    ¡°I just run laps around the warehouse.¡± Corvayne realized after saying it that he was inviting her over and was about to think of how to explain himself but Wick didn''t seem to mind.


    ¡°OK! I''ll come by in the afternoon and we''ll jog then.¡± She smiled at him. He felt his cheeks warm.


    ¡°So as I was saying, the food was extra good. I''d like the paper plates to see if things taste better when eating from a paper plate. Maybe the napkins clean better.¡± He really wanted to see what kind of boots the place might spit out. Or an enchanted version of his cloak.


    ¡°Let''s have the cooler be communal, we take it with us on expeditions so we have say, stuff to cook inside the tower with.¡± Wick looked at it. ¡°I''ll keep it with me, be in charge of stocking it, we''ll hash out what to put in it after I get you a phone.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I''m ok with that. Leave the mustard and cheese in then.¡±


    ¡°That leaves...¡± Wick looked at Corvayne, perhaps testing him for any signs of enthusiasm.


    ¡°The fair party way would be to split them 2 and 2.¡± he said maybe a little too evenly.


    ¡°Test the plates and napkins. If they also have enhanced effects, I''ll make a call about splitting the last thing either 2 for each of us or if we BOTH feel like it, 4 for each of us.¡±


    ¡°But there''s only... oh yeah.¡± He let himself smile. ¡°Agreed.¡±


    They split the napkins and plates, then Wick closed up the cooler. Corvayne still needed to get his bag out of the truck, and the clothes they bought, and they needed to put the other things they had piled into the truck somewhere too... He''d do that later. He wanted to go shopping again, it had been fun watching Wick sort of just steamroll through the store.


    It had been fun being stuck in a dungeon with her.


    Corvayne stretched then laid himself down on the bench. The sun was shining orange on the apartments flanking the community center. Wick did the same. He looked over at her, then back up at the sky and breathed in and sighed. He had a big problem. His eyes narrowed as he looked up at the sky. Make that two problems. Suddenly having a new one must have let his poker face slip because Wick dropped some of the scratch out of her voice to try to be encouraging. She was looking at him.


    ¡°Hey, our first adventure...¡± She said. ¡°We won.¡±


    ¡°We didn''t get a bigfoot.¡± That was the original goal.


    ¡°We''ll go back for one. We got a dragon, that''s way better.¡±


    ¡°We ate it.¡± It was good though.


    ¡°We''ll get another one. What''s bothering you?¡±


    Corvayne wanted... he wanted to take Wick out for ice cream. Kiss her. Carry her around like a princess. Go for walks in the park without monsters. Definitely see her in a dress with her hair down and no glasses. Kiss her again. She did not want that, and the irony that he had no idea that how bad he wanted before she no to it wasn''t lost on him. He might have said no, refused any deal, told her he wanted it all, gotten dumped, and gone on with life. Now he had set himself up the same as how he got out of bed every day where he willingly walked into it. No, this was different: the possibility of sex was like a nuclear bomb tossed into his thoughts to stir things up. The entire situation was already too complicated for him! He really needed a third party to talk to. Maybe Grunt? The thought of navigating the conversation... maybe yes no questions? The only other person who fit the bill was Icariii. He wondered then if Spaces-Torn-Asunder gave good relationship advice. Crap. He needed more friends. He decided then to address his lesser problem to Wick.


    ¡°Well, it''s going to seem really silly.¡±


    ¡°Try me.¡±


    Corvayne pointed up at a pair of orbs in the sky, faint against the rising sun. ¡°Has this planet always had two moons?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, why?¡±


    Corvayne stared up at them, comparing it to the lone moon he had grown up with.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± he muttered to himself. Where the hell was he?

 Chapter 14: Grunt, Love Doctor

    In his dream hes walking over a giant obsidian ring embedded on the sandy shores of a river. He''s walking with the girl in the white dress. Her hair today is gray and white with streaks of brilliant orange, as if the sun is setting behind her. Her dress today is a spiderweb of steel lines and glass. The eyes are always the same: dark eyes that shimmer with a thousand stars, gold gleaming around the edges.


    ¡°You were asleep. You still are. Remember me. Please.¡±


    Corvayne nodded or said yes and tried but everything around the obsidian circle wavered. They were coming up to


    the center of the ring. A door, made of glittering diamond, stood above him in the center. A sky blue dragon larger then the door even was there, and nodded it''s head. ¡°It is good to see you, young hero.¡±


    He laughed. Good to see you too misses dragon!


    The woman in the dress tugged his arm.


    ¡°You were lost. You still are. Find me.¡±


    [98.4%]


    He woke up.


    Wick tugged his arm.


    ¡°Hey fucker. Wake up.¡±


    He blinked. ¡°What?¡±


    She smiled. ¡°Training!¡±


    ¡°I''m in my underwear.¡±


    She yanked the sheets off the little bed. ¡°So what? Oh ho ho. Good dream?¡±


    Corvayne stood up and started putting his pants on. ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡°Don''t get salty. I did that BECAUSE I wanted to get an eyeful... Sorry I gotta remember you really don''t like being teased.¡± Wick looked nervous. Corvayne took a deep breath, then exhaled. It was the second day of training. The first he had advised her not to do anything more then a light jog. Wick had a form fitting outfit for working out that meant whenever he lapped her around the warehouse he couldn''t help but check her out. Grunt seemed amused when Corvayne asked if that''s what everyone who worked out wore, and just nodded and shrugged: You get used to it. Well, getting used to it was not making his attempts to keep his mind on task easier.


    Yesterday they just did jogging, so he hoped the weapon testing they were planning on doing would have him spending less time looking at her behind. He grabbed a red T-shirt Wick had bought him, then put his boots on.


    ¡°I gotta get you some sneakers.¡± She mused.


    ¡°Why would I need different shoes?¡±


    ¡°The little things together help make you more attractive to... other girls.¡± Wick looked him up and down again. ¡°Just in case you forgot, I''m going to help you find someone to get all that out of your system.¡±


    Corvayne stretched his arms. ¡°If I fall in love with one of these girls and neglect the partnership to spend all day in the arena spilling olive oil all over each other, that would hurt your plans.¡±


    Wick squinted her eyes at him. ¡°I don''t get the reference but okay. Oil away. I help my friends out. If you dropped our friendship because you were infatuated with a girl but were happy... I''d at least get to enjoy the moral high ground!¡±


    Corvayne waved the comment away. ¡°I was trying to tease you back. It worked I suppose.¡±


    Wick scrunched her face up. ¡°Terrible! Everything about your attempt was awful! We''ll work on it. Put you on a ROM-COM diet. I''ll leave the room a lot.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a military term.¡± He opened the door out to the warehouse for her.


    ¡°They both deal in guys with square jaws, ha! Anyway... Mister I is dropping the weapons off. Go to Grunt''s garage. He wanted to also give you a quick check-up. Mister I. Grunt might too.¡±


    Corvayne went down the stairs and walked through the back office hall to the boiler room. Grunt was there, opening the door to let the beat up pickup in. The old monk was smiling as usual as he got out.


    ¡°Grunt! Corvayne! Oh and Wick too! I saw your ankle yesterday, I cannot believe how fast it healed! It was black and blue when you stumbled out of the woods. Corvayne, come here... how is your side feeling?¡±


    Corvayne shrugged and lifted his shirt a little. Mister I carefully looked at the slightly yellow skin and nasty looking cut. ¡°Incredible. Does it hurt when I do this?¡± He used two fingers and pressed on each rib.


    Corvayne didn''t think it hurt much so he said ¡°No.¡± prompting Mister I to jab harder.


    ¡°A little now.¡± Corvayne added, which made the monk interested and he jabbed even harder.


    ¡°Please stop.¡±


    Mister I laughed. ¡°Your burns are covered in new skin. I think it might be that food. My old foot injury hasn''t hurt for two days! Let me know if you need a ride to get more miracle meats.¡± Mister I''s eyes sparkled.


    ¡°No hunting today.¡± He wanted the option of using a gun for when he encountered something like the steel vine trees, and Wick had said she''d have a gun, or guns, by the end of the week. Mister I left a little later, saddened that his culinary adventure was not today.


    First up was just seeing which of the tools actually counted as what. The hand sickle, with it''s green plastic handle and price tag still on it, DID count as a scythe. [Reap], [Thresh], and a swing that both forced him to move very slowly and left a weird shadowy afterimage: [Soul Reap]. The broom handle staff only activated cross-skill abilities. Cross activating [Shield Slam] and [Thrust] were not nearly as taxing as any given sword skill with the handle. Maybe it was considered a staff, something he hadn''t trained with.


    Grunt had a piece of warped plywood lying around meant for the garbage and so they tried the bow next. Corvayne took a few shots, activating [Double Shot], which created an extra arrow somehow, and [Pinning Shot]. The extra arrow after a minute crumpled into dust, and the one from [Pinning shot] was almost impossible to pull out. He visualized a gun then thought a little about what he had been planning to do and relaxed the draw before pointing the bow downwards.


    ¡°I don''t want to do [Ricochet] inside.¡±


    Everyone agreed it would be a bad start to the day if they needed to go to a hospital to pull an arrow out of someone.


    The machete allowed him to use [Light Cut] which made the blade gleam as he swung it. It felt like the hunk of metal he was swinging around WAS lighter, too. He wasn''t sure what was special about [Sundering Strike] but it was supposed to be for breaking swords, so maybe he could use it for things that were too solid to deal with otherwise? He then had an idea pop into his head. It was from one of the lessons where he had been excluded from anything but watching One-Last-Note. Holding the machete up before him, he closed his eyes and took a few even breaths.


    [Crescent Blade]


    He felt weirdly unstable. He swung the machete and it felt like a thin layer of himself was left behind. He took another step while swinging, then a third and stepped forward. Grunt actually whistled. Wick started yelling ¡°Look! Look behind you!¡±


    He turned and saw three weirdly blue glowing images of himself in the poses of the swings he had just made. He lept back from the closest one. That it worked was surprising. It might be a better way to hurt those trees. ¡°Don''t touch those images before they totally fade out. They cut.¡±


    Of course, Wick grabbed a plank of wood and poked an image, causing it to burst like a bubble and blast the stick out of her hand, sending chunks of wood clattering to the floor. He was glad his version of the effect was weaker. One-Last-Note left behind images that you could roll a boulder into and watch it turn into gravel.


    After a few moments the images faded. Corvayne didn''t want to yell at Wick about listening to him about safety so he just moved on. ¡°It''s probably supposed to be ''moon blade'' but... that''s another handy tool. What''s next?¡±


    ¡°The spearfishing spear is for me... how about these?¡± She handed Corvayne the hatchets. Corvayne saw Grunt perk up. Temper your expectations, Corvayne thought, I''m barely qualified to chop down a tree. He swung them together and alternating swings a few times to limber up and get a feel for them, then lined himself up with the plywood they had used as an archery target. He swung out with [Whirling Axe] and a greenish swirl went flying at the board, chopping in an X shape and breaking the plywood into 4 pieces. He could smell sawdust mixing in with the faint smell of motor oil and laundry detergent that normally lingered in the garage. Grunt mimed clapping and was smiling.


    Wick lightly backhanded Grunt''s shoulder and nodded at the display he had put on. ¡°See? He didn''t think this was magic!¡±


    He considered his surly axe instructor. Mugs-Empty-Again was burly, with a bushy beard and thick hair covering basically the entirety of his face aside from part of his nose poking out. If he wasn''t a normal height Corvayne would have just pinned him as a fantasy dwarf. The man bellowed non-stop, trying to show him how to hurl an axe the right way, that his feet were wrong, that he needed to love the axe, or that he''d probably just do better drunk and blindfolded. Practice axes were sort of just big chunks of axe-shaped wood so he had taken a lot of abuse from Mugs, one session trying to teach him how ''proper'' axe use was to just stand there and trade blows...


    [Chop]


    He swung, standing his ground.


    [Chop]


    The next swing was easier. He kept his feet planted.


    [Chop]


    It became effortless.


    [Chop] [Chop] [Chop]


    Using the skill over and over, it clicked. He had spent those sessions surly as well, thinking about what he''d do to Mugs-Empty-Again if he had his spear. Trying to avoid everything. No, the essence of the style was to have an axe, maybe a shield, a whole lot of armor, and to tap into the rhythm of downing foes. It was the problem he had with fighting around Wick: He would dodge or move enemies around and all the sudden she was in trouble. When they were cornered by the bigfoot swarm, he might have stood at the top of the stairs and fought for days with the ability used the way it was meant to be used. Well, that and chopping trees. He stopped swinging, no more tired then after the first.


    Corvayne spun the axes around his finger like how he had seen a gunfighter on television treat his guns. He didn''t have a holster so he just stopped after a few spins. ¡°Hmm... I need a shield. Ok, one more move. Give me room, hitting anyone with this would be very bad.¡±


    Wick gestured at the mostly unused garage. ¡°You got room just uh, point it at a wall?¡±


    The walls were a pretty important part of the building. ¡°No no, it just would make training dummies fall apart when the axe trainer used it.¡± He stepped over to where the open door out to the warehouse yard was. He thought of the hatchet in his hand as a long hafted axe, then focused on the image of a hardened clay statue being cleanly sliced apart, arms falling on the ground and rolling.


    [Limbtaker]


    The swing felt heavy. Raising his hatchet felt like he was lifting a car. Letting it drop had the same inevitable feeling as when he skewered the dragon: once the swing started he could stop it even if he wanted to. There was actually a snapping sound as air parted then came back together. Mugs-Empty-Again had both told him he''d never master it, then also warned him to never use the move on a living creature he didn''t mind dying, even with a practice weapon. Make up your mind! On top of being dangerous, using [Limbtaker] also drained him more then chopping over and over had. He huffed and let his arm fall. Another finishing move he guessed.


    Grunt closed his open mouth and gave Corvayne a thumbs up. Was he crying a little? Sometimes his buddy was weird. Corvayne walked off the mat and fell onto a folding chair. ¡°Ok Wick, I''d like you to just swing some weapons...¡±


    ¡°Haha, no! First thing''s first.¡± She held up the one odd object she had bought: the toy wand.


    The thing was barely fit to stir coffee, let alone fight with. ¡°Ok. Just find something more sturdy if you intend to take it with you in a fight. A broken weapon only helps you kill yourself.¡±


    She rolled her eyes at him then strode over to the mat, thinking, and examining the wand. Corvayne couldn''t figure it out, but she was tracing her fingers over it, rolling it in her hand. Grunt actually was also watching her like a hawk, leaning forward a little, like the large man knew what she was thinking and was willing her to do something with the plastic wand.


    Wick swung the wand. ¡°Magic!¡± she said, her voice cracking a little from the force she put into it.


    Corvayne blinked. Well, what did she think was going to happen? Maybe she wanted to make her own move? ¡°The weapon attacks I used, they manifest if I understand what I want, better when I have a clear image about the attack and what the underlying principal is, and best if I know the actual motions and try to do the move manually. Like, if I know what the footwork in the flight is for a use of [Flows-Like-Water], then it''s not as draining to do.¡±


    Wick looked back at him, annoyed, then turned and swung the wand again. ¡°Thanks for mansplaining.¡±


    Corvayne''s exasperation made him snap back with ¡°I''m just telling you what works.¡± He clamped down on himself and got his tone under control. ¡°What are you trying to do?¡±


    She took what looked like a baseball practice swing with the wand, lining it up with a wall. Wick closed her eyes.


    ¡°I want magic, and I want something as good as that watery-spear move. You have something that gives you defense, offense, and movement. If you were in good shape you''d have just used that in a triangle around the dragon and poked holes in him without the thing landing a single blow.¡±


    Corvayne sighed. ¡°It''s not very useful on a lone armored enemy. That''s why we were trained on a lot of weapons. To be ready for whatever came along. I knew I wasn''t great at any of them, but as long as I was good enough across the board I knew I could get by no matter what happened. That ability is built on fundamentals. And I couldn''t do it before I came here, it was too hard.¡±


    Wick stopped and turned back. ¡°There you go again. Saying you''re not great when you just kept belting out magical attacks like you know a dozen. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to hear you dump on yourself? What''s that say about me?¡± Corvayne didn''t get why Wick was in such a bad mood. What had he done wrong? She, meanwhile, was visibly gritting her teeth as she swung the wand again and again. ¡°Ha! Ya!¡± She stopped, and sighed, then started doing something like his spear dance...


    ¡°Hey were you... watching me do that?!¡± Corvayne felt really embarrassed.


    ¡°Shut up. This requires intense focus.¡± A sly grin formed on her face. ¡°Hmm, maybe if I take my shirt off it works better?¡± She turned it into a full on smile back at him, then turned to the wall. She breathed in and out then resumed. Corvayne shut up. She was right about one thing: it did require focus at the start. Wick was folding and unfolding her arms with the wand, taking steps slowly as she breathed in and out. Corvayne got why she might have watched as for a moment he thought of Spears-Like-Water wearing shorts and going through the same motions in a shallow part of the oasis. What a shame they put such a terrible person in such a graceful body. Wick was a little bit clumsier, and the plastic wand with a pink star was pretty stupid compared to the lethal allure of a sharp spear weaving in and out of hands, across the back, rolling lazily with the slower motions of the dance. Wick however understood that it was about control and didn''t fumble or drop the wand, just sort of traced circles that stretched her muscles, matching her movement with steady breathing. Then she pointed the wand and flicked it once more at the wall...


    Something flew out, like a sort of hazy emerald orb, and slammed into the wall. Coin sized chips of brick fell in a clatter on the ground. Wick looked at the wall, then the wand, then tried pointing a finger. ¡°[Disrupt]!¡±


    A smaller orb flew out from the tip of her finger and once more chipped away at the wall.


    Corvayne''s jaw dropped then. It wasn''t the same as his weapons at all. It was something totally different. He could somehow see it.


    ¡°Wick... you just did... How did you do that?! That was magic!¡± He felt himself stand up.


    She laughed and once more slipped into a melodious voice free of scratchy inflection. ¡°You told me how to do it! You''re the one throwing wind weapons and stuff!¡±


    ¡°It''s just martial arts. That''s wizard magic you just did!¡±


    Grunt held up a hand. High five! Wick did that, then offered a hand for Corvayne to slap. He did so, then she turned and added some dents into the bricks with a few more disrupts. She let her wand drop after about ten total blasts. ¡°I''m not tired but it''s like... I suddenly got really bored by it.¡±


    Grunt nodded. He stuck his front two teeth out, and mimed pushing glasses up: If you don''t mind me nerding out...


    He went over to his bookshelf and picked out a paperback, and flipped through pages... did he know the books that well? Anyway he held it open for Corvayne to read aloud.


    ¡°The old wizard-knight laughed at his apprentice. ''I asked you to do those tasks because the spell-sword needs three things: The will to fight evil with it. The strength to keep fighting past when a normal man would die. And the mind, to direct it''s power into useful forms.'' He pointed at the stump. ''Cutting a tree down needs muscle but it also is a contest of will. Such is the blade, for the evil you face is relentless. For a large tree you must be tireless. However, the flying fish? You needed both will and mind to be tirelessly clever! Cleverness to figure out how to trap them. The will to keep pushing your mind past failure, frustration, and boredom. I watched you looking at them, then the lowly spider. Only when you could see your own net could you use that weave to catch the fish. A sharp mind is it''s own blade: Such is the blade''s magic. For magic is imagination. Now about the three lasses, it took both the mind you sharpened and your muscles to-''¡±


    Grunt gently lifted the book out of Corvayne''s hands. Oh. That''s why he knew were to find that passage.


    Wick clapped. ¡°Corvayne you are a GREAT storyteller! Why don''t you talk like that normally?¡±


    He winced. ¡°I understand what characters in stories like these want, because they are vivid. I feel like their voices are... more real then my own... I was told to be objective all my life. Speaking like I do, keeping my tone even, focusing on facts, that helped me communicate to my village. It''s like how Spaces-Torn-Asunder would address things... mistakes: he would avoid describing the quality of what was done, or his own feelings about it. He instead patiently went through what happened in concrete facts, then what needed to happen in concrete steps. I am trying to be more friendly, as I like you two.¡±


    Grunt blushed and rolled his foot on the ground. Aww shucks. Wick laughed then took a deeper voice. ¡°Well, Wizard-Knight, What''s my next task?¡±


    ¡°I''d say testing your limits. I''d use that spell, a small one, a few more times. If you get a headache or something, stop... I don''t want to discover that if you use too much magic it melts your brain or starts drawing power from your bones and you break your own skull. I know with skills I passed out, so this is mostly to feel out your limits... not break them.¡±


    She nodded. Corvayne was surprised, he was just feeding her lines from books. Wick took longer to focus but shot out another small bolt. This one was the size of a pea and just clicked when it hit the wall. She was fidgeting with the next cast, groaning with frustration. It took her third swing of the hand, yelling ¡°Disrupt!¡± to make another small ball of energy fly out. ¡°I''m done. I need to do something else. It''s like I coded all night and can''t look at another word.¡±


    Grunt took the book he had been re-reading, flipped it ahead two pages from where he was, then held it up to Wick. She took it, read for about ten seconds, then her eyes widened slapped his arm with the book. ¡°That''s just what a stupid fantasy story written by a guy would suggest!! I''m not doing that for ''mana''.¡± She looked at Corvayne and looked, embarrassed? He couldn''t get what was on her face before she had turned back to Grunt and shoved the book into his chest. Grunt winked at him and Corvayne looked back to where Wick was striding out the door to the yard. ¡°C''mon, lets jog.¡±


    The sun had started to set as they did some laps around the warehouse, then spent another hour with Corvayne going over melee weapon forms with them. Grunt showed that he preferred mace, but was a fast learner with everything. He was adamant about not picking up a hatchet despite how much Corvayne felt a big axe would fit him. It was sort of weird for him to refuse anything, but Corvayne didn''t press him. Either way, by the end Wick had the basics of using a spear, and Corvayne gave her training homework: Get good enough with it to throw a ball at a wall then poke it when it bounced back at her. Before they went to get dinner together, Wick tried her spell another time and found that her attention span for casting it had recovered a little.


    Wick lived in one of the towers near the community center. There was a noodle shop nearby in a roofed market street where she bought them noodle bowls. In Cascadia one of the seasonings they used in their noodle dishes was a handful of soft pine needles which Corvayne thought added a sort of soapy taste to the dish. Wick added an extra handful and Grunt didn''t say a word about. It was probably a personal taste thing. With Grunt being the silent partner and busy using his fingers to hold chopsticks, Wick spoke with him.


    ¡°For those coins and gems, there''s a pawn shop here you can sell to. They won''t give you as much as setting up an agreement with a jeweler''s shop, and very few people here in Old Town can buy gems. You''d have to go to either Ko-ban, an island north of here, or back to the mainland. Don''t sell anything magic to the shop here. There''s a chance the buyer will source it back to us.¡±


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°I saw that Grunt has hover-bikes with wheels.¡±


    Wick gave him a look again that made him feel dumb. ¡°... Yeah. A bike.¡±


    Corvayne felt his own cheeks heat up. ¡°Oh, uh, I suppose hover bike is a portmanteau of hover and bike, now that I think about it.¡±


    Wick shook her head. ¡°... I can''t tell sometimes if you''re really smart or really dumb.¡±


    Corvayne looked sideways at her.


    Wick held up a hand. ¡°Sorry. I meant, you know a lot of things and obviously you know big words, but... I guess you didn''t have normal bikes out in the desert.¡±


    ¡°No. Too much sand.¡± Corvayne kept his gaze gripped on the salty bowl of broth in front of him, watching an onion swirl around it. He felt Wick reach over.


    ¡°You know I''m really happy with you today, right? I''m a wizard now.¡±


    Grunt stopped slurping his second bowl of noodles to mime his thumbs on a controller across the counter. The gray haired woman serving them saw this and laughed. ¡°I hit level 80 on my Oak Sage Tuesday myself. I guess I''m a big kid too, huh Grunt?¡± She winked at him and added a few more noodles to his bowl. He winked back and kept eating.


    Corvayne leaned over. ¡°He''s popular with the women it seems.¡±


    Wick laughed. ¡°They wouldn''t dare put a finger on him, not while Dawn''s got a claim. But yeah, the whole town likes him because he''s a walking police station. The real cops avoid this island whenever possible.¡±


    ¡°So he''s a vigilante hero?¡± Perhaps he should have given Grunt the bow after all...


    ¡°You can''t stop everything. People here are pretty unhappy. Jobs are drying up. There''s still heavy metals from the mines that are used on some big old impulse cruisers but they are a dying breed. We get one landing once every few years, and it messes up boat traffic in the bay because they gotta drop it in water then cruise it into the channel to unload it. Even easing it into the water you''re talking ten foot waves. Unless something changes, this place is really only where you go if you want to be a weirdo in the woods.¡±


    Economics wasn''t his strong point. ¡°You said this was, well, the backwater of the galaxy. I suppose it''s because there''s nothing to sell then?¡±


    Wick sounded a little defensive. ¡°It looks really pretty... If you like rain. If fold drives were a thing and cheaper then worm-hole ships, like a quarter the cost, you''d have a run on lumber and I bet you''d be swamped in annoying tourists. Maybe? There''s a couple of worlds that have large swaths of forest like this one.¡±


    She had brought up something he had been thinking about. ¡°I''d like to look at maps of other worlds...¡±


    ¡°You NEED a computer. Or a phone. Or both. Sell those coins and emeralds, and have Grunt buy you a computer. I''ll give you a phone tomorrow.¡± Wick set her chopsticks in her empty bowl. ¡°I need to make sure your phone isn''t going to rat out where we are if you take it out with you.¡±


    Or Wick, we could go shopping for that phone, together. ¡°Ok. I''ll bug him about it.¡±


    Wick lead them out from under the shaded market street to the main road through Old-Town then looked both ways for traffic. It was dusk, when most of the workers left the island for slightly better neighborhoods they lived in, so there was actual traffic to wait out. Corvayne looked at the red ''STOP'' palm glowing across the street then looked at Wick. She turned and looked at him.


    ¡°What are you staring at?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, just...¡± He felt immense frustration. Why couldn''t he tell her that he liked her? Because she had said no romance. He wanted ask her to explain why she was so adamant about not having a relationship. But she had also said not bug her about her past. On top of dealing with her today felt like a mild version of full-blown Watcher level catty behavior. ¡°... feeling a little odd.¡±


    Wick gave him a look that suggested perhaps impatience? ¡°You can talk to me.¡±


    ¡°No, I can''t.¡± He winced a little. He let what he was thinking slip. Sloppy. He stared at the red ''don''t-walk'' hand in the crosswalk signal. He imagined it flipping him off.


    She meanwhile tugged his arm ¡°What? Are you mad about something?¡±


    ¡°No. I just swore to not talk about it with you.¡± He placed a hand over his own chest.


    ¡°Tch. Whatever. Who the hell already has you keeping secrets?¡± YOU.


    Grunt looked between the two. Corvayne could see him quietly thinking. The big man also gave him a look as if to ask: Can I help at all? Corvayne just shook his head.


    They walked the rest of the way silently until they got to her building. ¡°Appreciated. Ko''Ban has a crime wave that''s threatening to spill across the bridge. It would be a shame if after all those monsters some idiot kid with a knife got me. Good thing I''m packing heat today!¡± She showed that she had one of the fire-breathing daggers tucked into a sleeve. Corvayne nodded. ¡°Good. Stay safe.¡±


    He turned and started walking away. He heard Wick ask Grunt if he had sat on his spear or something. Might as well have. He felt alone and lost.


    Corvayne could at least work on being lost while he was alone. A computer would let him get at maps. So before work he and Grunt went to the pawn shop and the large man managed to haggle them up to about 1000 credits for the silver coins and emeralds. He had Corvayne save the gold as it would make more sense to go to a better part of town. They took the money to an electronics shop and paid 200 for a used computer, a roll out one that would handle him reading, writing, or surfing the planetary network. He also got a card that could be used for online payments without needing anything else for another 100 credits.


    Grunt asked him when they got back to the warehouse loft if he was willing to fly solo for the night. Then after some confusion Grunt used his hands to ask if he was okay working alone. Corvayne nodded and Grunt wandered off, leaving Corvayne with some time to himself. Between his first and second patrol he ended up putting down a whole 2 credits off the card for access to ''The Galactic Library''. He then started a download for all 1000 Colony world maps. ¡°A spear goes forward.¡± He muttered to himself, watching the load bar do the same thing. It was a weird bullshit mantra, he spent all his time with a spear backing away from things and jabbing in and out. No comment about jabbing Wick then running away too.


    The first world to pop up was, of course, The Collective''s capital world, Tripic. The entire surface was heavily engineered bands of straight land stretching from north to south alternating with ocean. With a few of those bands being ultra-dense cities it had the largest population in the galaxy. As far as his library access could tell him, humans were alone in the universe, and there were no other large collections of them anywhere. Back to Tripic: It was the sixth settled world and was planned to balance population and nature, hence city and land bands that kept and possibly enhanced biodiversity. No big deserts, just slices of gray and water.


    The second was Mud. The name didn''t sit right with him, but aside from being the planet all humans came from it wasn''t notable. Mud''s map let him scale back through centuries of maps until they got to fantasy style sea serpents in the water. Neat, but none of the major deserts matched the size or shape of his.


    He skipped down to 780: Cascadia. As Wick had said: the desert he walked out of was the wrong shape. He flipped it a few ways, but it didn''t line up.


    And so he went, making the rounds then spending a few minutes looking at a new world.. Some of the worlds were weird low density super worlds, and those maps might take him an hour look at, the surface more then a hundred times the size of something like Cascadia and requiring him to try to zoom in on square patches of desert, hoping to see the same shape as the map he had looked at weeks ago. He wondered what it would be like to explore a planet like that. Just endless untamed wilds.


    Dawn called the office and let Corvayne know that Grunt wouldn''t be back that night and also that she had her eyes on him. ¡°Carrot peeler. Got it.¡± He was glad that his moods were apparently hard to read, because Dawn didn''t seem to catch that he was putting a surly edge to it. Come at me. ¡°Glad we understand each other.¡± She hung up.


    He spent some time drilling with the broom handle instead of a spear, willing in secret for someone to show up and try to steal the oversized forklifts again, a distraction from hours of being alone. When two guards arrived for the morning shift, he was all too happy to punch out and shut himself in the loft, turn off all the lights and pull the shades down, then lay in bed staring at the tiles on the ceiling until he fell asleep. Lost. Alone.


    Grunt was back when he woke up at the crack of 4 PM. His large friend was sitting in the shared break room in the loft, eating fried chicken. He gestured for Corvayne to sit, then pointed to the clock and made a rewinding motion: How was last night?


    ¡°Just fine.¡±


    Grunt pretended to blow on a party favor and mimed opening a can, then gave Crovayne a sort of goofy stern look.


    ¡°No parties while you were gone Grunt. I was wondering... do you think I can talk to Mister I about stuff in my head?¡±


    Grunt looked a little offended, holding his hands first at himself then out palms out: What''s wrong with me?


    Corvayne sighed. ¡°I got a lot of abstract and complex problems to work through. You''d be my first choice, but you''d need to get a pen and paper or something. Also, I don''t know if you''re maybe too close to the subject...¡±


    He reached over to a drawer behind him and pulled out a birthday cake candle, then pointed to the tip. Corvayne nodded: Yeah, it was about Wick.


    Grunt rolled his eyes. He did a little damsel in distress hand on forehead. He puffed up his chest and made lots of spear stabbing motions while looking confident. Then back to distress, but slowly morphing to an ''Ooo I like that'' face, finger on lip, nodding. Then back to confident, and then shock, then made a sign anyone could understand, a finger going through an OK sign. One mime of someone shrugging and walking off whistling. Then he started miming someone upset. Hands comparing things. He then pointed at Corvayne and raised an eyebrow: Wick went with you somewhere dangerous. You did a lot of dangerous stuff as you were her bodyguard. She was impressed, jumped you, then acted like nothing happened. Meanwhile, you''re freaking out because you don''t know what it means.


    Corvayne bolted out of his seat. ¡°Seriously how do you do it? I mean, all I did was give you a thumbs up about things going well...¡±


    Grunt held a hand up. He mimed kicking something through a goal. Then he made the sex hand motion.


    ¡°I just thought you were just asking if I did well!¡±


    Grunt laughs and reached for a deck of cards. He pointed at Corvayne, and drew then held a hand of 5 cards facing outwards instead of being hidden. Corvayne was annoyed. ¡°I''m that obvious?¡± Grunt nodded. Then he pointed to the candle. Then held 3 of the cards facing outwards and 2 properly facing Grunt. ¡°We can''t all be as unreadable as you, Grunt. Ok fine, I''ll tell you what I''m thinking. Can I hold you to confidence? Your girlfriend has stated she will grate my balls with a carrot peeler if I did anything to Wick. I would assume that Dawn would consider everything you surmised ''anything''. I get the impression as well it''s not a mere joke.¡± Corvayne would have to avoid Dawn if he couldn''t keep his face straight. Which was rarely a problem before he had met Grunt.


    Grunt winced. Then shoke his head. He points at the candle top, then makes a little heart over his heart, then points at Corvayne.


    ¡°I don''t think so. She said she doesn''t want to date, or romance. She''s also been... meaner? Since we got out.¡±


    Grunt holds a hand up for a second: Table that. Grunt pointed at the Corvayne, then the candle, then made the heart and tilted his head.


    He nodded to Grunt. ¡°I think so. It''s why I want to talk this out.¡±


    Grunt nods. He thinks, then points to the candle, makes a heart. Then holds up 1 finger, tilts his head, 2 fingers...


    ¡°First time.¡±


    Grunt made the fucking motion. Sort of leaning forward stern look while holding up 1 finger.


    ¡°Yeah. She''s the first girl.¡±


    Grunt looks incredulous. He makes the kissing. He holds up 1 finger after that with a sort of sad look on his face.


    ¡°She''s the first there too.¡±


    Grunt raises an eyebrow. He nods and frowns. He holds up the candle, one hand held out as if confused by it, keeps that other hand out as he taps his head then holds both out.


    ¡°I think I got this one: Did Wick know this?¡±


    Grunt nodded, very pleased. Ok, so he gets that it''s sort of tough to follow too. It sort of made Corvayne feel a little better knowing that Grunt probably never could have this sort of talk with most people.


    ¡°I told her. The last one you just asked me about. I''ll give you the story... we didn''t take watches like in the...¡± Grunt rolled his eyes: Duh. Corvayne continued. ¡°She stated she couldn''t be in a relationship. She didn''t want to date. No affection. I said okay, because I assumed she was telling me to stay away from her. I don''t know if I''d turn her down if she made the same offer again. She wants to be my friend and partner for, well, raiding this tower thing and getting magic. But she said she''s going to set me up with a girl to date, while I guess sometimes looking for us to...¡± Corvayne this time made the universal sex motion along with Grunt. Grunt smiled amused and nodded and gestured for Corvayne to keep going.


    ¡°Well I mean, it was the best night, and morning, of my life, and it pops into my head when I''m trying to focus on other things. What''s more, the stuff she said she hates like romance, holding hands, walks in the park... it''s all the stuff I want to do now with her. I''m also lost. I don''t want to ever go back to where home was but I hadn''t thought I was on a different planet. I don''t want to complain: I got exactly what I wanted. But I''m still settling in and I mean, you''re great but I want to be able to tell Wick that she... is kind of... well you read a lot of those hack and slash books? Or the ones about jetting all over the universe looking for treasure?¡±


    Grunt nods.


    ¡°Well in them, there''s this thing. The first girl.¡±


    Grunt makes an ''ah'' face then nods knowingly.


    ¡°Ah good. I don''t need to explain it, but that''s what I know, you know? I feel like it''s fate running into Wick, you too buddy, but she is literally the first person to ever say anything nice to me. In that alleyway, her calling me incredible was... it was the first real ray of hope.¡±


    Grunt thinks. He starts emoting something with thinking and heart and Corvayne admits he loses the thread, and Grunt sees it almost to the second. He holds up a finger, then hurries out the door faster then Corvayne assumed the burly fellow could move. He came back in a minute with a dozen books. He flips through them, and in a minute had 10 passages he highlighted.


    Corvayne read the first Grunt offered. ¡°Dawnstar was alone in the dark then, a bitter victory behind him... but then he saw the gleam of Dancer''s ship, and then another gleam, and another... the fleet pulling into formation behind him...¡± He wasn''t alone, or he thought he was alone but wasn''t.


    ¡°... Candace took the needle and worked it back and forth, her idiotic banter about how the count''s kindness her way of hiding furious calculations as she knitted a message in the fabric. The princess had to see it, to know the secret, how the count hid his true face...¡± There was a code? Someone, maybe Wick, maybe Grunt, couldn''t just lay out what they thought or felt. Or Corvayne couldn''t say it. They were hiding their feelings, maybe of protection, and hoped they came across.


    The next passage was longer, and Corvayne couldn''t figure out what some jackass wasting his dad''s money had to do with him. ¡°... and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off his father... his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck, and...¡±


    He stopped reading aloud. Grunt had a rare total miss. He felt a weird tightness in his chest. ¡°This story... I can''t get into it... my Father exiled me and told me I was always a failure. He told me I''m no longer his son.¡± Corvayne''s eyes stung and he closed them. What was wrong with him? His father deserved to rot in the desert. He was free. Grunt got up and enveloped him in a hug until Corvayne had to tap out or pass out.


    ¡°Sorry Grunt. You mean well. But... well, let me tell you about the village.¡±


    Grunt mostly just listened as Corvayne told a few stories. Grunt winced at hearing him being battered and bruised almost every day. His peers leaving him isolated. Mockery of his name, his skills, claims that he only was there because of his father being in charge. Even a few he left out when walking with Wick, like Smiles-at-Dust trying to sneak into his room to kill him.


    Grunt looked at him and shook his head. He made the sex hand motion again.


    ¡°No, she started strangling me.¡±


    Grunt made the motion of drawing a weapon. Mimed hitting his hand with a pipe. Mimed using a garrote to strangle himself.


    ¡°No it was...just her bare hands. She was weird... I was half asleep when it happened. They kept her away from me after that, and I started barring my door when I couldn''t fall asleep worrying someone was going to get in again.¡±


    Grunt picked up a book and highlighted another segment. Corvayne read it aloud. ¡°''I''m not locked in here with you, you''re locked in here with me!''¡±


    Corvayne wasn''t sure exactly what that signified. ¡°I assume because they didn''t want her to get in a habit of murdering people, even myself?¡±


    Another passage, same book. ¡°''To protect you!''¡±


    ¡°You are a great person. I''m sort of glad you can''t even fathom how miserable The Watchers are. You know, you remind me of a half giant from a story...¡±


    Grunt got a weird look on his face. Pained, even. He didn''t think he was sensitive about being huge, Wick called him big guy all the time.


    ¡°Ok. Yeah, the one I''m thinking of was sort of a weird druid who liked animals...¡±


    The pained look faded and he crossed his arms. Really?


    ¡°Well, it''s a story about a kid who-¡± Grunt held up a hand and shook his head. Pointed at Corvayne: Focus on you.


    ¡°Wait! I mean, you''re my first friend. I wanted to tell you that I appreciate you making time to talk to me and help me out. That''s in addition to being one of the only people I''ve met in the city I''d trust to get my back in a fight.¡±


    Grunt nodded and smiled genuinely: My pleasure. The same to you Corvayne.


    He then pushed a book forward, skipping a few in the stack he pulled.


    ¡°They spent two full nights, sitting in a darkened room, the nights clear and the moon bright. Tilou wanted to get up, to blow open the front door, and start fighting. But he didn''t even have to say a word as that first long night rolled on. Every time he looked over at his unfortunate company the young woman waiting next to him would roll her eyes, shake her head, then go back to watching the sky, the ground, the wall like a hawk. It was as she had said: They would have their revenge, but it would take patience. Days of waiting for a perfect cloud to roll across the courtyard and deliver them to the wall.¡±


    Corvayne thought about it.


    ¡°So... you think instead of blurting all this out to Wick, or acting... I need to wait and see?¡±


    Grunt nodded.


    ¡°Do I really let her find some other girl to date?¡±


    Grunt nodded. Mimed doing sword swings, then acted a pushup on the table.


    ¡°Think of it as training. Is that fair to the girl then?¡±


    Another handful of cards, putting one alone in one hand. He looked at the other four of them while glancing at the first card. Then he dropped down to one card in each hand. He started looking between them, thinking. Once he selected one card he immediately put the other down. Grunt looked both ways slyly. Then he picked the card up and faced them to each other, then raised his eyebrows: Or maybe, BOTH.


    ¡°Before I start trying anything complicated... well I get the point you started with. It''s okay to have feelings for Wick but don''t string two people along.¡±


    Grunt then grabbed a full hand, all face open. He nodded slowly and smiled: Or maybe: ALL of them!


    ¡°I''ve read books where they have a harem. That''s not a Corvayne problem.¡±


    Grunt handed him a pencil and paper, making two quote marks on either side of the page.


    ¡°You want me to write that down? Here you go.¡±


    Grunt took the pencil and dated it.


    He grabbed the book from before and flipped forward to right about the halfway point. He had guessed what it was about. Why does that happen halfway though every book? Either way he started reading aloud.


    ¡°They laid in bed, Maiser glaring at him. Tilou glared back. He had never had a hate-fuck before. It wasn''t that bad. Right now, wrapped up on the bed in layers of insulation against lethal cold filling the rest of the chamber, even glaring at him, she was more of a person then before. A person he still couldn''t wait to be rid of. ''We never tell anyone about this. Ever.'' Tilou''s turn to roll his eyes. ''Don''t worry, we''ll probably die trying to get out of here.''¡±


    Grunt smirked, then flipped to near the end of the book.


    ¡°Maiser sat on the bed. ''You don''t have any reason to stay.'' She didn''t sound happy, but Tilou couldn''t tell what she was mad about. He shrugged. ''I can think of one reason.'' She looked up, and for a moment the warrior dropped away. She closed her eyes, and he leaned in and kissed her. She was just as warm as before. She pushed him back, but only a little. ''Just one reason?'' Tilou smirked. ''We''ll work on more.''¡±


    Corvayne looked at the book. ¡°I think... I read this one before. Or one like it.¡±


    Grunt nodded. He pointed to the 23rd edition in the front cover, based on a true story...


    ¡°Oh. Well... You think I just keep my cool and I have a shot?¡±


    He flipped a few pages back, and highlighted two passages on the page.


    ¡°''We can end this here...'' Falenti stirred his tea with a pearl white spoon, the same color as his mask ''with an arrangement we both like. Or maybe one we both hate but can live with.''¡± Corvayne looked further down the page, skipping plot details to reach the next highlighted section. ¡°''That... or we walk away with our grudges intact, the same as before. Or just try to kill each other here and now. It''s not even the outcome that''s important sometimes. The thing that will endure is at least one of us remembering this moment. Having tea together as enemies. Even in dark times, there is hope of doing better.''¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°So... spend time with Wick. Even if things don''t turn out, I like spending time with her, and you think I''ll grow from it.¡±


    Grunt clapped: Congratulations!


    ¡°I feel better talking about it. Though, what about what Wick wants?¡±


    Grunt took the candle and placed it by Corvaynes chest. Corvayne took it. Grunt made a screwing motion, then shrugged. He made the screwing motion again, but then made an X. He shrugged. But then he tapped the tiny candle Corvayne was holding again firmly: Wick might want sex. She might not want it ever again. She needs friends.


    ¡°Right. Thanks Grunt. You don''t have to worry. I don''t want to hurt Wick. I''ll also try to make sure whatever happens, I figure out what I want and need and get it.¡±


    Grunt puts his thumb to himself and makes a blowing something off motion rolling his eyes with both hands open: Well what the heck did you even need me for?

 Chapter 15: Here we go again

    The group gathered at Mister I''s garage the morning they were going to set out. Wick had picked up a thick canvas jacket and pair of pants. Still olive, but made of a tougher material then her previous one. She handed Corvayne an old pistol and 4 loaded clips as well as a box of ammo. 120 shots total. She also handed him one of those little screens that everyone called their phone. She had put a brown and black cover on it that matched the colors he usually wore, which made him feel a little less queasy about where she stood after a rocky week.


    Grunt wore an old painters outfit with heavy leather gloves. Corvayne at least hoped those were red paint stains. Grunt''s weapon of choice was a bundle of wood and metal baseball bats he slung over his shoulder in what might be a laundry basket rigged with rope. Grunt also carried the machette on his side. He had a backpack about the same size as Corvayne''s but it looked comically tiny looking on his huge frame. Grunt had brought an actual steel mace, painted a dull black with spray paint, and gave it to Corvayne.


    Mister I came into the garage and he was dressed in hunter camo, bow strung across his back. He also had a rifle, and a full hikers backpack. ¡°Oh what a coincidence! You and I going hunting on the same day!¡± He walked with a spring in his step.


    Corvayne called a quick huddle.


    ¡°It''s probably fine as long as he understands it''s dangerous and you''re in charge, Corvayne.¡± Wick looked over.


    Grunt nodded, three fingers, shrug, four fingers, shrug: The more the merrier!


    Corvayne looked at them. ¡°I thought that keeping the tower a secret would mean we can extract it''s resources more efficiently to further your... research.¡±


    ¡°Counterpoint: He is the only person we know who can do surgery.¡± Wick rubbed her ankle as she said that.


    Grunt motioned with a finger thrust out in a dramatic pose, then mimed holding a steering wheel: objection or counterpoint: He is also the guy with the car.


    ¡°Is he really a doctor?¡± Corvayne had to admit Mister I did patch them up pretty well before.


    Wick had a thoughtful look. ¡°I get the sense that he''s a lot of things, and monk is just the current one.¡±


    Corvayne looked up at the man who was, with a peaceful smile, patiently waiting for the group to finish discussing him. ¡°Did you take an oath not to hurt others or something?¡±


    The monk just laughed at that. ¡°I abstain from drinking, gambling, loose women. There is no censure for slaying dragons.¡± He put a camo cap on his bald head.


    Grunt looked at him while pointing at three fingers, then opened his palms up and out, then made a big circle and cupped his chest: Loose women? Not ALL women?


    The old man laughed. ¡°If you read the Book of the Shattered Mask, you''d be one of the few people who can tell me I''m doing it wrong!¡±


    Corvayne looked at him and nodded. ¡°Make sure to bring a knife, and a bedroll. Ideally a canteen or water pack too. Time works odd where we are going. It''s going to be a long Saturday.¡±


    Grunt hopped in the front seat then fell asleep in literally three seconds. Wick hopped in the back seat with Corvayne and used the drive to show him how to use his phone. She had added her number and Grunt''s.


    ¡°Does Grunt type messages?¡± He noted the man didn''t seem to write except when filling out forms.


    ¡°No. Just emojis. Little faces. If you call him he''ll listen, then one grunt for yes. Two for no.¡±


    ¡°Ok. I need to ask him if there''s something I can do to help him communicate.¡±


    ¡°I think it''s maybe religious? He can highlight or point to words someone else wrote. There was an evening at Dawn''s where I got a dictionary and he spelled out it''s forbidden for him to make new words. Excuse me, he pointed at ''Dangerous''. Do you think he saw an INFOHAZARD?¡±


    She started to get excited. While she stated that it was only for practical reasons she was into the paranormal, she still was excited when she gave a clearly well put together presentation at the meeting the night before on extra dimensions. Corvayne got stuck up on a detail on one of the early slides: Having fought skin-walkers in the desert, he had trouble paying attention for at least fifteen minutes knowing that somewhere, somehow, someone had tried to ranch them. That was until he asked Wick later and learned that they weren''t the 2 foot long bugs that tried to burrow inside of people then pop their babies out, but possibly some sort of energy vampire or shape-shifter that took human and animal forms. He didn''t think they would be ranched either but he rolled with it.


    Corvayne eventually put a damper on the infohazard thing: ¡°I was told that most people are actually extremely difficult to kill or even damage with memetic agents unless they are extremely rigidly set in their ways. Plasticity of the brain or something. But there are things that can lock someone up for a little bit, so we might practice medusa tactics at a later date.¡±


    He thought back to Whispers-In-Darkness, the gloomy man who taught theoretical tactics. It was an odd set of exercises that dealt with all that, things like how to fight a wizard. How you''d fight a dragon. Breaking out of illusions. He was one of the few Watchers who directed his disdain across the entire group of youths he was teaching, not just Corvayne. Corvayne thought that it was one of the few watcher activities he excelled at, as it seemed the content was pulled from the same books he was reading.


    ¡°I want to test something else too, after we do this. I used to get really tired just jogging a mile. Now I barely feel it after 3.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it''s nice when the exercise kicks in.¡± Jogging made him think of her workout outfit. He focused on the suburban off-ramps they were driving by. In the day there was a lot more traffic getting on and off the highway.


    ¡°No Corvayne! Pay attention!¡± She poked his arm. Oh Wick you have no idea. ¡°It''s harder to sleep. It might be something in that meat is a stimulant, but it''s possible that going through the tower made me stronger.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I don''t feel any different.¡±


    Wick was thinking.


    ¡°Corvayne you said that you were not worried about most of the monsters, and had thick skin. If you took that gun and shot yourself... would you be able to keep fighting?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. It''s just a single bullet, I mean, assuming it''s not hitting your head at a weak spot. Or your eyes, that would ruin your day. I did okay when they did shoulder wound practice.¡±


    ¡°Wait wait wait... did they SHOOT you at the village?¡±


    He could see she was about to get mad on his behalf and cut her off at the curve. ¡°I didn''t count that because they shot everyone. First in the shoulder to give us a healthy respect for guns and to adapt to combat when wounded. Then anywhere else if you were sloppy.¡±


    ¡°How long did it take you get better? From being shot, not at dodging bullets.¡±


    ¡°Oh, most of them didn''t get too deep so I''d pull them out and it''d sting for a whole week tops. You know, I think that''s probably as close as I got to my peer group when they were complaining about counter-arms training. They even called it ''The Corvayne treatment''.¡±


    ¡°Took me months all three times!¡± Mister I added from the front seat.


    Wick turned to talk to him. ¡°Where did you get shot?¡±


    ¡°I was told it was lodged my sense of humor! They had to take the whole funny bone out! Ha Ha ha!¡±


    ¡°They couldn''t make you a prosthetic out of popsicle sticks?¡± Corvayne asked, proud he had applied know that jokes were printed onto popsicle sticks in Cascadia to make his own joke.


    ¡°The hospital would have charged me 100 credits per stick, then 125 to eat the popsicle attached to it!¡±


    Wick rolled her eyes. ¡°Thank you Mister Fun-I.¡±


    Corvayne got back to the point. ¡°It''s possible that a diet of monster meat influences durability or strength. Interesting. I did ask my trainers about what makes some monsters or people stronger and was told to not think above my station.¡±


    ¡°And the people at your village you said could clown on you... I mean, they were vastly faster and more skilled then you?¡±


    Corvayne nodded at Wick. ¡°I couldn''t land a hit on most of my instructors. If I could get one to break a sweat, it was one of my better efforts.¡±


    ¡°But if a normal person on the street had a gun, and shot you...¡±


    ¡°I''d disarm them.¡± Corvayne thought most people seemed weak enough he could do so.


    ¡°What if they shot you in the gut?¡± Wick pressed a hand against the seat belt going across her belly.


    ¡°I''d disarm them then make sure it didn''t hit my heart.¡± It would be annoying to spill blood everywhere after all.


    ¡°If it hits your heart, you''d know because you''d be dead.¡±


    ¡°Not smaller rounds, but it''s going to hurt.¡± Corvayne remembered having to plug up then drag Spears-Like-Water miles across the sand on his bedroll because a Grit-wurm got a heart wound on her. He was pretty sure he saved her by double-timing it to where they could start pumping blood through her again, but she treated him exactly as poorly before as she did after. So much for gratitude.


    ¡°If you shot me anywhere, I''d bleed out.¡±


    ¡°I will be careful when aiming.¡± Corvayne was horrified at the thought of hitting her now with a gun.


    ¡°Mister Corvayne, these people that trained you, what say, your spear instructor, how would they deal with someone using an automatic weapon 100 feet away?¡± Mister I asked, eyes on the road.


    Corvayne had seen the gun trainer Coming-In-Hot and his spear instructor Waves-Within have some sort of duel... it was after gun training. Waves-Within had been annoyed at the woman for some reason.


    ¡°They would close the distance to force them to drop the weapon. You can''t track with a machine gun easily enough.¡±


    Mister I laughed. ¡°I don''t mean something dinky. I mean a big gun that punches you back when you fire it.¡±


    ¡°Coming-In-Hot''s gun was about the size of Grunt''s stack of baseball bats. Waves-Within is very fast. He sort of just stepped around where she was firing until she had to drop it, then they fought.¡±


    Mister I hummed. ¡°Did he get hit?¡±


    ¡°Of course. It''s not possible to dodge that many bullets.¡±


    Wick slapped her face. ¡°Oh no. You think you can dodge a bullet.¡±


    ¡°No. I cannot do that yet. I doubt I ever will. No, at range you throw up dust or some other visual cover and then close fast. On the flip side, if you have a high powered rifle or automatic you can deal with lesser threats, but rifles are an opening gambit and meant for slower targets. Energy shields completely negate most rifles except for heavy rail slugs. Everything else doesn''t have enough mass and momentum.¡±


    Mister I nodded at the windshield ahead of him. ¡°When, Mister Waves-With-In, he ran at a gun, he was shot. It was a large gun. What happened?¡±


    ¡°Oh. He got some nicks.¡± Corvayne did see a few slashes and one hit that nailed Waves head on, slowing him for a moment.


    Wick asked. ¡°Would the bullets go through this truck?¡±


    ¡°Usually with fist sized holes.¡±


    ¡°So he is stronger then this truck.¡± Wick concluded.


    ¡°I explained this to you. I am really weak. It might be because it''s not important that this city seems to have a lot of weak people in it.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Corvayne for the compliment. No it''s what I thought. I want to figure out where I''m getting stronger. Is it, fighting, killing, eating meat, or clearing floors? Time spent in the tower? I felt weird when I exited... Or something else?¡±


    Mister I added ¡°I only ate the meat, and feel better then I have in years.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°We have a couple of days of inside time. I brought food. I want to see if, as we clear, I get stronger. We''ll go off pushups.¡±


    ¡°I will test eating meat!¡± Mister I added.


    Grunt just snored.


    At the park''s parking lot there was a sign across the entrance they used last time. No sign of anyone else parked there or otherwise. ¡°Trail closed until further notice¡± was on a little wooden stand and there was some yellow tape across the two trees at the entrance to the trail. Corvayne looked at it, then took a deep breath of fresh air. It was better out here then in the city, and it was nice to have clean air that didn''t feel so uncomfortably hot like the desert. Also, during the day the park was MUCH prettier. Grunt woke and stretched. He tapped his wrist and tilted his head at Wick.


    Wick nodded at Grunt. ¡°10 AM. We can get to that spot in under an hour.¡±


    Walking around the tape, they walked along the trails. Corvayne saw the sun was shining and heard birds singing, and the first Bigfoot they saw two minutes into the walk took one look at him and fled into the woods. Wick snapped a picture. Mister I just stared at it, mouth open. Corvayne felt bad now. He might have to just disable them if they were not suicidally aggressive like the goblins.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°Do those taste good?¡± Mister I asked. Grunt just gave him a playful backhand to the shoulder: Cmon!


    The two then looked at each other and waited for Corvayne and Wick to pass by. ¡°You two lead!¡±


    ¡°Ok. Please watch our flank.¡± He scanned the woods, then looked at Wick''s hand. Patience.


    ¡°It''s nicer during the day.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I like the woods, you know? I''d live out in a cabin but it''d have to be off the grid.¡±


    Corvayne secretly enjoyed a mostly-monster free walk in the park with Wick. They arrived at the clearing on the hill. The stairway stood there, with no signs of the struggle aside from a few smears of blood. He stopped them before walking off the stairs and waited to make sure there wasn''t another monster swarm. One bigfoot was out there, deep in the bush. A larger one grabbed it''s shoulder and dragged it away. Corvayne gave a wave. Don''t bother me, I won''t bother you.


    ¡°Last time I carried Wick in. Once we go in we are locked in there, so I think we should try holding hands in case it splits us. Be ready for an ambush right when we get in, last time little goblins tried to kill us with spears.¡±


    He offered his hand to Wick, and Grunt took his other hand. Mister I finished the circle. Then he stepped off.


    This time he was more aware of a shift, his foot moving from open air onto the blue dirt. Wick, Grunt, and Mister I were all with him, hands still together. There were goblin and human bones, a rough semi-circle where Corvayne had killed a slew of them in one attack.


    Mister I laughed as he took in the yellow sky, floating cubes, and more. Grunt scanned for trouble, then looked up at the sky, shrugged, and walked over to a small tree. He squatted then lifted, his face going red, before pulling the entire tree out. He threw it over his shoulder, raining dry blue soil behind him, then started snapping teal branches off it.


    Wick shook her head. ¡°Still surprising me after all this time Grunt.¡±


    ¡°We are going to clear cube by cube. Mister I, stick to the bow unless we find something bigger then a goblin. They respond to sound and gather on loud noises. They don''t seem... conscious? They just attack until we die or they do.¡±


    They started near the bottom of the cube, checking the valley and stream. Corvayne felt pressure he hadn''t noticed leaking out of him. He had everyone''s attention as he added another point. ¡°We want to keep our eyes open for small spaces. There was a chest before, and I bet we missed others.¡±


    Wick moved next to him. She had bought a boar hunting spear, a better choice then the fishing one. It was okay to practice jabbing with, but she needed something that was designed to stop something she stabbed. They moved through the valley instead of heading up the first path to the top of the cube. They found a cave but there was nothing inside besides a camp fire. The first goblin pack was on top of the ridge, a group of 4. Some of them we wearing blood-stained fleece. Grunt put his free hand on Corvayne''s shoulder. Can I try?


    Corvayne nodded. The big man grinned, then started running, tree gripped with both hands, then as the first goblin shouted he got into range and swung. The 8 foot length of wood took three of the four and send them flying, landing limply twenty feet away from the last goblin with a spear, who yelled and charged at Grunt. The big man just brought the bottom of the tree down, smashing root and goblin onto the ground. He picked the tree up and hefted it over his shoulder again not paying any mind to blood on it.


    Wick looked at Corvayne. ¡°Yes... this might be easier with him here.¡±


    The first cube did have a few small caves and another tribe of goblins, but with Wick having a larger spear then they did, she was able to stand next to Corvayne and Grunt. He seemed to have practiced with trees before: He hit every swing over his head, connected with more then one green monster every grand slam, and even with a goblin trying to dodge he faked it out then took another swing faster then Corvayne would have expected.


    They found a pair of neck pouches on the broken goblins, once more mostly iron coins but a few rough gems. The first cube secure, they followed Corvayne to the next area they had previously been to. Seeing the next pack Mister I wanted to try greeting the monsters. They just started screaming and charging him with weapons when he waved and called out hello. He shrugged then brought his bow around in a well practiced motion and plugged one with an arrow before everyone else stepped past him to kill the other four.


    ¡°We can now rest easy, they don''t wish to speak to us.¡± He yanked the arrow out and wiped it clean on the teal grass. Corvayne''s nose wrinkled. The smell of goblins and blood ruined the sort of minty scent the brush atop the cube had.


    Wick spoke from behind where Corvayne was looking. ¡°They killed a bunch of hikers who wandered in here.¡±


    The second cube and third were connected by vines. This was where they had exited to the second floor the week before. Some goblin bones and crude weapons remained on the ground, proof they had been there before. They pointed out the stairway hidden up the vine in the wall of a third surface. ¡°I want to see if there are other stairs up. But that''s the way we went before.¡±


    They didn''t run into any large packs on the second cube. It made sense: they had taken out a large number of monsters before. The hilly grass, with it''s odd rises and drops, had more caves tucked away. Corvayne lead the way into a tunnel that had goblin and human remains in it, carefully checking for places a little green monster could hide. He need not have worried: the few in the cave made sure to start screaming as they charged bare-handed. There were three branches to the place, one ending in a pit that emptied out to the side of the cube and yellow sky. Another was an empty chamber full of armadillo parts. The last branch had a small chest.


    Corvayne told the new members how he would check for traps. First, sweeping the area around the chest. The goblins might have rigged it to drop a spear on them or put it on a pit trap. Then, a jab to make sure it wasn''t a mimic. Corvayne was sort of happy that the chest screeched, revealed tiny serrated teeth and a tounge as it opened it''s mouth all the way, then grew little legs, then died when he activated [Thrust]. Well worth missing some treasure.


    At least, that''s what he thought, but Mister I opened the chest all the way up and took out a knife and started carving out chunks of mimic meat. He found a blueish steel dagger. ¡°Neat!¡± Like everyone else, he just grabbed it and swung it. Corvayne requested to see it a moment, balancing it, then handing it back. It seemed like a normal weapon. He had brought a few rags this time for wiping his hands of gross stuff, and used it. Mister I had brought a lot of bags and ziplocked up the purple looking meat.


    Grunt looked at him like he was crazy, but they went back out of the cave and found a stony suspended path to a new cube. Corvayne took out the trio of goblins blocking the end of the path with an aggressive charge, skewering the first with his spear then throwing the body off of the tip into the other two goblin''s feet. Two thrusts into their stumbling figures and the way was clear.


    ¡°Don''t want to ask you guys to practice on these walkways.¡± He gestured with his eyes over the edge. Mister I nods. ¡°I suppose I should save arrows here too. Might I have a baseball bat, Grunt?¡±


    Grunt gave him a light aluminum one from his bundle, then tightened the rope holding it together. Corvayne wasn''t sure the large man could carry nearly 150 pounds of gear all day, but he could also just drop the tree whenever he was done with it. Same with the bats he supposed: There was no lack other trees to clobber things with.


    The cube they came up to didn''t have a path around the outside, so the rock trail lead to a ramp switchbacking up the side. Corvayne could see as they rose the crest that there was a small lake on the cube, with a few goblin camps. He held a hand and crouched. The group came up to his back as he stalked up to a small rise in the direction of the village and looked over it. The little monsters had captured some... other goblins. For food. The sight of a goblin literally butchering another eliminated the last worries he had about the incoming slaughter. There were six captured monsters left, mostly in a pair of wood cages, and about twenty five or thirty ones milling about a wrecked camp, looking for stuff or chewing on meat or fighting over stuff.


    ¡°Big fight coming up. Me and Grunt will go out front. Wick and Mister I cover our sides. Now''s a good time to try your disrupt magic. Thin them out then use your spear once we are fighting.¡±


    ¡°Way to give away I''m a wizard.¡±


    Mister I laughed. ¡°Wizard, healer... which one of you two is the thief?¡±


    Grunt crouched stealthily, and started sneaking around while dragging his feet loudly.


    Wick stood up, letting her spear rest in the crook of her arm as she drew her plastic wand. She had taped a laser pointer to it, and flicked it on. She then pointed it at a goblin about two hundred feet away that was eating a smaller goblin.


    The disrupt that came out was a softball size, clearly better formed as it flew out and blasted the goblin. It seemed that it didn''t hit it, like a thrown rock would, but just tore into the monster, killing it but not knocking it over despite savaging it. Another goblin saw this and started yelling and looking about. Wick threw another spell, the same sort of hazy jade orb flying out to hit the screamer in the shoulder, dropping it''s arm to the ground and causing it to gush blood until it flopped over twitching. The others had heard it''s call, then blown a horn. She stepped off to the side so that Grunt and Corvayne could step up, and fired another shot, this one at the horn blower standing on a stump. It might be the leader, it might not: they would all charge mindlessly in a moment.


    Grunt took his tree, reared up, then tossed it like a javelin into the first three goblins leading the charge up to the rise they were on. It clobbered those first three, sending them flying as the tree rolled and snapped, hitting two more. Corvayne saw Grunt pull two bats off his back and look at him. No gestures, because Corvayne got it: Beat that, hotshot.


    Corvayne used [Flows-Like-Water] into the next three running at them, moving up and through them, spear finding it''s way into two goblin''s hearts and the third''s head, dropping them as Corvayne turned and used it again, this time taking four steps and killing three more in a second, his black spear stabbing and hacking goblins down as he ended before five, knives and axes held overhead. He put hand over fist on the back of his spear, emulating a double-handed sword grip on his spear. Doing so he found helped some of the extra strain of using a Cross-Skill.


    [Cross-Skill: Circle of death] guided his legs and arms, pushing a swing into a spin, spear forming a perfect black arc around him as he came out of it, snapping back to a standard grip as he took his normal ready stance. Even where just the haft of the spear touched, goblin flesh split. He jogged back to Grunt, half the goblins charging them dead in no more then five seconds. On the run over, he made sure to bash a lone goblin trying to intercept him with his spear''s butt, sending the crazed little monster screaming to the ground but still clawing to keep going at them even when injured.


    There were about ten left. Wick had stepped over and aimed another spell, blasting a goblin off it''s feet. Or it''s feet off, it looked like. Grunt was perfectly happy to wade into three goblins coming at him with spears, using baseball bats like drums to break skulls. Corvayne could tell the man had spent time training: he killed the first two with a brutal but controlled one-two pair of swings, then sidestepped the third''s spear attack and brought his second swing into a backhand, catching the goblin''s head and almost certainly killing it as it was battered away. Mister I had an arrow nocked but had taken to heart not to waste them and decided, correctly, that they had this. Corvayne advanced with Grunt and met the last clump of goblins and started to jab at them while stepping backwards. Grunt didn''t care, he just waded into the back of the pack swinging, shrugging off a single spear jab as he sent bodies flying. One straggler from the group got blasted with Wick''s magic, another Corvayne picked off. As always, Corvayne was shocked when after so much chaos a battle ended and everything was suddenly overly calm.


    Grunt was hardly bleeding, the crappy edge barely breaking his pants leg and skin. He took out a bottle of vodka, splashed some on the wound, then started looking for loot. Wick didn''t seem to like the gore and so went to the first cage. Inside were five goblins waiting for her to get close then hissing and trying to get to her, biting at the wood and reaching and scratching air as she stepped back. One of the goblins fell over and the others stepped on it, trying to push against the wood and knocking the cage on a different side, fighting with each other for a moment then returning to hissing at and trying to claw at Wick. Even from a distance, Corvayne could smell them.


    ¡°I wanted to meet other intelligent creatures... I''m going to just say these things don''t count.¡± She said with disgust dripping from her voice.


    Corvayne heard a tired voice came from the other cage holding a lone goblin. ¡°You and me, lady.¡±

 Chapter 16: Have I got a deal for you

    Corvayne could have sworn he had heard the caged goblin just speak. He looked over to Grunt, who was checking for neck pouches. Wick didn''t seem to have noticed either. Well, this was a wrinkle.


    The goblin with his own cage was watching them with a tired expression. Corvayne picked out a few key differences in it''s appearance. Some of the monsters wore crude loincloths, and they did make tools. This one had armadillo skin pants and what looked like a fur-slug pelt as a shirt. He had posture, an expressive face, and his eyes were clear... if miserable. Corvayne walked up to the lone goblin.


    ¡°Oh great, hey hey! I''m not a monster! Don''t stick me!¡± The goblin put his arms up. ¡°Not a monster! See? I surrender.¡±


    Corvayne looked at him. ¡°You can talk?¡±


    ¡°... Holy shit you speak goblin!?¡± The little green man grabbed the bars. ¡°Look, I don''t know what happened but you GOTTA get me outta here. I''m not a monster! My name is Mosh Trickyclax. I went to bed in my nice apartment on my leather recliner, I woke up a week back and suddenly I''m naked on the dirt in the middle of a pack of feral goblins. Every time I tried to get away other goblin packs would start chasing me! Are you from the HAF?¡±


    Wick looked at the goblin. Corvayne could see Wick was unhappy... perhaps she also felt guilty. ¡°Corvayne... this one is trying to talk to us.¡±


    ¡°I understand him perfectly.¡± Corvayne looked back to the cage.


    The goblin looked pleadingly at Corvayne. ¡°Tell the lady I''m friendly. I''m harmless! I''m a nobody! Wait, no... I''m a big deal! I can pay you guys back if you help me get home!¡±


    He turned to the group. ¡°He''s asking for help. Also, the others were ''feral'' according to him.¡±


    Grunt came over to look at the caged goblin. The goblin''s ears dropped and his shoulders fell. It seemed to Corvayne that Grunt''s huge form was universal in how it scared anyone smaller then him.


    ¡°Hey, tell the big guy I''m a good one? Please?¡± Mosh puts his hands up.


    Corvayne held a hand up to let the goblin know he wanted to speak. ¡°I will try to help you. First, I will free you from the cage. Just know if you attack us, it will likely end badly for you. Step back a moment.¡± Corvayne pulled a hatchet out and applied [Chop] two times then stepped back, giving Mosh time and space to come out.


    ¡°Oh thank you! Ah ha ha, it''s been a nightmare... look. We gotta split, there''s a big goblin that''s been leading those guys you killed.¡±


    Corvayne looked at his black spearhead, then back at the goblin speaking to him. ¡°Is he intelligent?¡±


    ¡°I think so... but he''s got a screw loose. There were humans that wandered in and he''s been capturing and killing them.¡±


    Corvayne looked to the others. ¡°We are aware that people came in here and died. I removed the ambush at the entrance.¡±


    Mosh nodded. ¡°I think there''s more then one ambush, err, entrance... you guys look more modern then the other group that got caught.¡±


    Corvayne let Wick poke him then turned. ¡°What''s he saying?¡±


    ¡°There might be a group captured by a big goblin. The larger goblin is possibly sentient, but responsible for this in some way...¡± He gestured with his spear.


    Mosh nodded. ¡°Yeah, he showed up around when I did I think. I ended up the ''shaman'' of this pack.¡±


    ¡°Have you spoken with him?¡±


    ¡°No, I tried! He was speaking a language but it was just gibberish to me, then I had to run when he sent a whole pack after me! Look, I''m just a handyman... I don''t got money here but I''m well off! If you can get me to the HAF they''ll pay...¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I''m sort of lost too. We are in The Collective. You are the first non-human I''ve ever spoken to.¡±


    Wick heard that and took out her Camera and took a picture. First, Mosh put his hands up. ¡°Gun!? Oh, photo.¡± He struck a pose with both arms on his hips. ¡°Take one where I''m ready!¡± Wick understood Mosh was posing and obliged.


    Corvayne waited for them to finish their selfies before he made his call. ¡°Ok. Here''s what we are going to do. We''re going to go find the big goblin and subdue him or kill him. If he''s taking prisoners alive and they haven''t been mistreated we do everything we can to do the former.¡±


    The goblin starts to panic. ¡°Look, he has two hundred goblins following him. He''s like, 10 feet tall! How the hell are you going to fight that many? The big guy alone...¡±


    Corvayne was a little offended. ¡°Find a choke point. Hit one to get them blowing horns. Me and Grunt sit there mowing them down.¡±


    ¡°The big one is the problem. They listen to him and he''s been clearly making plans...¡±


    ¡°We have Mister I and Wick. I''m not going to lose that much sleep over him dropping dead if he''s capturing and killing people.¡± Corvayne stood up and talked to the others.


    The goblin was rubbing his hands. ¡°Well, wait... what do I do while you''re fighting?¡±


    ¡°You can hide or help us. I understand you''re not used to fighting. However, helping free prisoners or avenging them will carry weight with us in terms of figuring out how we can help you.¡± Corvayne took a side glance over to Wick as he spoke and saw her nodding. He smiled a little at that.


    Mosh groaned. ¡°Ok, but you understand I''m a craftsman right? I build really nice things for people''s coffee tables. I don''t even HAVE to do that, work is optional where I live.¡±


    ¡°I''m Corvayne by the way.¡± He offered his hand to the Goblin.


    ¡°Corvayne! Uhh... great name buddy! I love it!¡± He shook it.


    ¡°I appreciate you lying. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Is he being sarcastic? I can''t tell.¡± The goblin looked to Wick.


    She shrugged then pointed at her ear. ¡°I have no idea what you''re saying.¡±


    ¡°Me too lady. Hey, She''d be pretty cute if she took those glasses off. You want me to make her a nicer pair?¡±


    Yes. PLEASE. ¡°Not now. We need you to lead us to their camp. Aside from that, you decide what you''re going to do. Keep in mind I can''t trust you entirely.¡±


    ¡°Oh hey no no no I get it! Trust, but verify, then thrust if it''s a bust. I''ll stay back! No problem!¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. He should have the little Goblin tied up while they verify what he was telling them. It was possible everything he had said was a lie, and if he wasn''t up at the front it put him where he could hurt Mister I or Wick before Corvayne could react.


    ¡°Lead the way.¡± Corvayne motioned.


    The goblin had been smiling and nodding as he took a first step and then back, turned, ears down. ¡°In... front?¡±


    Corvayne folded his arms. ¡°Were you watching us fight?¡±


    ¡°I saw the big guy clubbing goblins. What happens if his aim gets sloppy?¡± Mosh gestured to the tree trunk laying in the ruins of several goblins that met their end under it.


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°He''s got your back.¡±


    Mosh looked at Grunt. Grunt grinned.


    ¡°Oh god. Hey, HEY! What''s he eat? What do you feed him?!¡±


    After a little (lot) of Corvayne insisting that Grunt was safe to be around, the goblin pointed out where the other goblins had hidden their shiny stone that turned out to be a large rough emerald. He then lead them across the cube to a root that curled in corkscrew downwards to the top of the next cube. The next cube had forest and brush covering most of the surface. Grunt immediately ripped up another tree and made a club out of it with a few sharp snaps. A little ahead of Grunt, Corvayne walked into the shade. Mosh was talking nervously while Corvayne kept his eyes on the trees to the sides and limbs over head. They were about fifty steps into the brush when he slowed Mosh down with a tap to the shoulder.


    ¡°This is where I''d ambush anyone if I was a goblin.¡±


    Mosh held a hand up. ¡°They get simple requests, but I couldn''t get these guys to make weapons or give me stuff to craft better spears with. I only got these clothes because they don''t care about the hide of baby armadillos, just the adult''s for armor. Same with Furlugs.¡±


    Corvayne gave Mosh a level look. ¡°You are stating there''s no ambush.¡±


    ¡°If there is, that would be double BAD because it means they are getting smarter. I saw the boss ordering em around, but besides getting them to camp somewhere, hold as long as he''s there, or attack... that''s what I''ve seen. They are not screaming and running at us. Plus, I have pretty good eyesight...¡± He took two steps forward and Corvayne sighed and tugged the little goblin backwards by his fur-slug shirt. That saved him, as two Goblins dropped, spears skewering right where Mosh was stepping a moment ago. So he either was lying and just got betrayed, or more likely he was so sure of what he said he would have gotten impaled.


    The goblins that had been waiting in the tree might have been a little smarter or better directed then the feral packs, but they just yelled and charged after the ambush failed. Their spears had broken jumping, so Corvayne just skewered both of them. Mosh was shivering. ¡°Oh god, I''m going to die!¡±


    Corvayne didn''t have time to reassure him. ¡°If we fail, yes. So, help me spot more goblins.¡±


    Wick pointed and a green orb flew out of her finger, knocking a spindly goblin out of a tree. One stood up and shouted, then slipped and fell twenty feet to the ground on it''s head, neck broken. Moments later, more shouts and the underbrush started shaking as more forms started to push through it.


    ¡°We fall back to before the vine then fight our way forward. Mister I, please watch our guest.¡±


    Mosh just turned and ran back for the path. Grunt and Corvayne back-pedaled, jabbing out as goblins came running at them in twos and threes. On the path ahead, they could see more massing. Corvayne stopped them on the rise meeting the vine. Enough room was behind them to step back, and there were no trees right above him to worry about getting dropped on.


    Wick stepped out of Mosh''s way. Mister I had his bow ready, stopping the goblin from going further. Mosh held his hands up and turned around. ¡°Easy old guy! Mosh has enough holes in him! Oh god, this is a nightmare.¡±


    Corvayne and Grunt took up a position before the root. If they couldn''t hold they could step back onto the more dangerous but narrow way back. ¡°Wick, pick off anything that tries to go around.¡±


    ¡°Right. I got it!!¡± She sounded nervous, but that was fine. They had picked a good spot.


    ¡°Grunt... here they come.¡±


    Grunt nodded and smiled, grimly.


    Previous fights were packs. Even when standing against twenty alone, they would come in waves of three or so. Before him was a wave crashing through the brush and scampering at him on the path. He wouldn''t say he was completely calm: he had never fought so many enemies before. But having a formation helped.


    The wave of green was steps away when Corvayne activated [Cross-Skill: Shield wall], the phantom arc of spears killing a dozen goblins in the two seconds he maintained it. It was worth the strain: The little goblins had to stumble over corpses in the way, and he and Grunt had more time to deal with the press of monsters. The large man swung his tree back and forth once, knocking the crowd backwards and stalling their momentum while also breaking limbs. Then, he grabbed the tree sideways, and heaved it into the mass, bowling monsters over and breaking goblins in a cacophony of horrible cracking noises. Corvayne stepped into the gap and activated [Cross-Skill: Circle of Death], shadows following his spear once again, absurdly cutting the monsters apart even with his haft. An arc of bloody parts scattered in his spear''s wake, only slowing the waves of green screaming humaniods scampering at him.


    Grunt activated a skill for the first time as Corvayne stabbed two on his side: Both baseball bats flashed out three times, killing six goblins. [Beatdown] could help thin out their numbers but Corvayne stuck with his spear, Jabbing and using [Cross-Skill: Sweep] to keep the goblins at least a few feet away when four or more would crowd in. He took a few jabs because he couldn''t stab everywhere at once. The ones with the spears had enough reach that they could prod him from the line of bodies forming. Goblin arms were short and the crude weapons they had didn''t help them slice too deeply. He grunted as an axe slashed his leg, and activated [Cross-Skill: Thresh]. His spear became shadowy as it raked the ground in a cone in front of him. He almost stopped fighting to gawk: shadows were clawing the goblins he had sliced, the little figures falling, bleeding, then dying as black limbs from the ground grabbed them and started twisting and clawing them.


    No, it wasn''t just the ground.


    The shadow was coming from him, and it snapped back and he felt something weird: A third arm, materializing from his left side, darting out six feet like a spike to skewer a goblin in the neck. Then moving like smoke around to his right side to whip a spear away. He could feel the impact of each, but forced himself to focus on spear work. Could he use the hand? It was helping him...


    He did a one-two stab, and two goblins were rushing him with spears. He had both hands on his spear, then the shadowy limb drew his fire-breathing dagger for him hilt first, letting him one hand jab with his spear, then jab the other monster in the neck and hose the goblins behind it in dragonfire as he gripped the pommel and willed it. Those first two crumpled over dead immediately, with him igniting a whole wave of them. The monsters didn''t stop rushing him, just tried to go around the stream of fire. Corvayne didn''t want to cripple himself so he let the effect fall after a few seconds of buying them space. His shadowy limb took the knife as he grabbed the spear with two hands, then sheathed it and faded back into him. No time to think about it, every goblin he killed another was right behind them. The flaming pile of dead monsters had goblins still leaping over it, howling with mad fury as he and Grunt stabbed and crushed. Grunt cracked a bat and threw it into the pack, knocking a monster down screaming and holding it''s face. He just drew another one and kept his tempo, goblin blood and teeth flying as he slammed head after head. Corvayne was taking deep breaths, spear blade flashing out as he forced himself to not reach for his skills more then needed. He started to fall into his own tempo, the spear dance. Fire and smoke he ignored, just slaying anything that came running out of the flaming pile.


    There was a huge goblin in the thinning crowd, holding a double bladed staff as it slashed away a smoking pile of burnt goblins. The monster was at least ten feet tall, it''s frame muscular but lean. Ok, call it a hobgoblin maybe? It barked something and the goblins stopped rushing, spears held out and shouting and barking, but moving out of the way. Sometimes not fast enough, the huge creature knocked a few aside, almost certainly killing one that slammed into a tree. It might be intelligent but Corvayne''s hope of perhaps reasoning with another goblin was diminishing fast.


    ¡°Well... well... well... little humans.¡± It snorted. ¡°Good. Running out of fresh meat. Beg for your lives and I might make you my-¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Corvayne interrupted, eyes locked on the monster''s yellow sickly pupils.


    ¡°What?¡±


    Corvayne had been tensing his legs while the monster strolled over. He sprung into a charging [Storm Thrust].


    In a moment he closed the 20 feet and his spear surged forward. He was aware that, in many of the stories he had read, this is where the hero would fail. The clearly bigger and stronger monster would be too tough, or parry, or dodge, and suddenly the brave hero would be on the back foot. Corvayne, however, was not trained to have dramatic fights. If they happened, as was the case with the dragon who was a good match for Corvayne, so be it. But the big monster was open. It was like the big foot ambush: It probably could kill him if he stood still, but it was just slow and fragile for it''s size and he somehow knew it was the right time to just alpha strike it before it had his measure. He saw his spear wedge itself into the huge green monster, blasting it off it''s feet, spear driving through tough muscle into it''s heart. He stepped back, blood pouring out of the wound he had made. The huge goblin was trying to process it.


    ¡°Impossible... no human...¡±


    ¡°I don''t care what you think. You seem like a real piece of... work.¡±


    The other goblins watched their leader slump and fall. Once he was dead, they sort of just turned to the group, started screaming, and ran at them. With about thirty left, Corvayne and Grunt finished most of them off, with some help from Wick. At the end of the fight there was silence, punctuated only by fires burning where he had torched bodies and a few goblins who were on their way out, weakly snarling.


    Mister I, per their request, watched Mosh the entire time, bow held utterly still as the old monk hummed. ¡°Oh, did you finish already?¡±


    There were still goblins in the woods, so they moved carefully. Thankfully whatever command the leader had faded. Instead of waiting to spring ambushes, the small clumps of resistance would just attack mindlessly as soon as they saw anyone. Corvayne was testing his new arm: the shadowy limb was clumsy with swinging weapons, but could hold, slap, or skewer. He couldn''t figure out how it made a patch of shadow, perhaps it was unique to [Thresh]? He then thought of the gate from the weird blue landscape. Was it a passenger he picked up from the gate? A gift? Or a curse? Well, it helped him stay out of a tangle of monsters. So far so good.


    Corvayne felt the hand waving at something, and Wick was behind him. It... seemed to have it''s own mind? It offered a hand with two fingers and a thumb to Wick, which she shook. He felt her hand and it''s warmth through it.


    ¡°It''s very soft... did you grow an ectoplasmic limb?¡±


    ¡°It just popped out when we were fighting...¡± He could give it specific directions, but if he just left it alone it sort of folded itself on his back. Grunt flexed near it, and the arm came out and imitated him. Mister I held out some jerky to the limb, and it took the meat, held it up, twisted it as if examining it, then handed it back to Mister I.


    Mosh came over to see as well, and seeing the hand the goblin laughed. ¡°Wow! I''m jealous! That''s the kinda power I''d love! Can''t tell you how many times I''d say ''I could use another hand! Sadly, all I got were duds¡±


    ¡°Powers? Duds?¡± Mosh and Wick were flanking him. He felt Wick doing something with the hand and turned. She scolded him. ¡°Don''t pay attention to me! Keep talking to the goblin, I want to see how well it responds when you''re distracted.¡±


    Corvayne felt he needed to speak up for their new green follower. ¡°His name''s Mosh. Mosh, Wick.¡±


    Turning back to Mosh, the goblin looked a little confused and started making hand gestures. ¡°You know, like breathing fire, being able to jump really far, shooting webs out of your palm... everyone gets three powers. Almost everyone. Some people are freaks with way more. ¡± Corvayne felt the hand gesturing out of his back as Mosh spoke and tried to not pay the shadow limb any mind.


    ¡°I can make weapons act like other weapons, but aside from the hand I''ve never seen anyone use powers.¡±


    ¡°Well, you used a fire breather power during the fight, right?¡± He was paying attention to Mosh but was also pretty sure Wick just licked his shadow hand. What the hell was wrong with her?


    ¡°I have an item that does that.¡±


    ¡°Well, the item has a power and you borrowed it. The weapons thing sounds right. But yeah, watch.¡±


    Mosh held his palm out and something granular started to flow from his palm in an arc, landing 10 feet away and forming a white pile on the dirt. ¡°I can shoot salt! Totally worthless!¡±


    He put his palm on the ground. The dark blue soil started to bubble and became grayish blue mud. ¡°I can boil minerals down into mud or clay. It''s slower then a real mining ability and leaves crap you gotta haul away. Nearly useless.¡±


    For his last trick, he put his hands together, and formed what looked like a soap bubble. ¡°I can make a glass bubble. Any contact with it and it shatters outward. Given the shards, I''ve barely used it.¡±


    ¡°They all seem to have an earth theme. Perhaps there''s some synergy to them you and I cannot see? Can you make a shield with the glass bubble? Or fling it at something then use the salt shot to shatter it...¡±


    Mosh held up a hand. ¡°I know you''re a battle maniac but slow down. I''m a craftsman. I build things up, not tear em down. Also, with people who just fling lightning a dime a dozen, who wants to do some laborious set up to try to fling glass shards all over? It''s faster to learn magic.¡±


    Corvayne smiled at Mosh. ¡°This all seems like magic to me.¡±


    ¡°No no no, magic is sort of like powers anyone can use as long as they understand the pathways. Like, your squeeze is using [Disrupt], woah weird, anyway, it''s which is a solid mid-level time spell. I tried my hand at it, pretty much every kid does, but I could only do the basic spell: Curdle. All that does is make liquids and gasses run slightly thicker. Rashishina, I am not.¡±


    Corvayne noted that his shadow hand was pointing at things now as he was waking. It was still a little distracting but he could ignore it. ¡°You make it sound like everyone has magic where you''re from.¡±


    ¡°You can learn it, but there''s no reason for most people. It''s like, most people will never need to throw a javelin. There''s heroes who can blow up a planet or whatever tossing one. If I need to defend myself from a monster, I run and find the third person in the crowd who''s 20,000 years old and can summon 6000 swords.¡±


    Corvayne had to think about what it''d be like to just let someone else fight. ¡°I lived in the desert. Almost everything you can see coming outruns you.¡±


    ¡°See? It works. You''re the 20,000 year old guy I''m hiding behind.¡±


    ¡°I am 24... Maybe 25 or 26.¡± He had apparently walked from one planet to another. Or did he have help? He''d have to investigate that road he wound up on.


    ¡°Already losing track of your age? Hey, you''re young like me! I''m only 30... meeting you I might live to 31. Progress!¡±


    They arrived at the edge of the woods. There was a buffer of brush, then a few roots that crossed downwards over a ravine to a cube with a small and ruined looking goblin village not far inwards. A river from some unseen height was pouring down into a depressed lake that had eroded a large spherical area of the cube, then spilled off the edge to race down the ravine and pour off to the yellow void. With trees growing out of it and mist hovering at the bottom of the bowl it was kind of pretty. They checked the village but it looked like it had been picked through similar to how Mosh''s village was.


    Wick finally had had enough of playing with his shadow hand and tapped him on the shoulder. ¡°If we find someone alive, what do we do? The gates sealed. We can''t get them down and out.¡±


    ¡°Ok. We drag anyone alive up and out then. I''m confident in having a smoother run this time.¡± He inwardly winced at saying it aloud.


    She frowned but nodded. ¡°Sure but.. too many blabbermouths about this tower and us having super powers and we''ll have to leave town though. Not that we won''t help save anyone. Just... Tch...¡±


    Corvayne almost tripped. ¡°We? You''d... take me with you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, duh.¡± She used her spear as a walking stick. ¡°I''d offer to take Grunt too but he seems happy here. If this place exists, then others do.¡±


    ¡°I guess you''re right.¡±


    ¡°I''m ALWAYS right. HA!¡± She took a look back. Grunt had taken more then a few scratches, but all of them were minor cuts with a slightly deep one on his forearm and his worst injury, a stray tooth shard that was lodged in his arm and required a lot of disinfectant, considering goblins probably ate... anything.


    The main camp was on the next Cube over. There was a cluster of huts and a few goblins milling about that went into attack mode when the group neared them. Corvayne found he was getting sick of killing them. Fighting? Fine. But they just ran into his spear. Hunting at least there was some interaction between the intelligence and tools of a prey animal trying to hide and survive. There was no point to this, and talking to Mosh between stabbing sessions was making him feel guilty about endlessly skewering goblins. He was more then ready to move onto fighting the painted headless hounds on the next floor even if they were more dangerous per monster.


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    The goblin village had something like streets and blocks, but otherwise was a mess of dwellings that were a mishmash of whatever materials the builders could get their hands on. Vine rope was used to keep everything together in the case of better built structures.


    They heard screeching as they moved past crude tents and lean-tos. They followed the sound to a large house made of teal wood, lashed crudely together with vines and blue clay. Inside a trio of frustrated goblins were trying to reach through a wood stake cage ground into the floor to get at a woman bound to a post with her hands tied behind her back. She was filthy and she was desperately trying to kick their claws out of the cage, legs bloody with slashes.


    Corvayne didn''t hesitate, using [Flows-Like-Water] and killing all three goblins.


    Grunt smashed the bars apart, and Wick crouched by the woman and helped undo her ropes, then helped her stand.


    ¡°Please... my friends.¡± Corvayne saw now that she had long ears. Oh, an elf. Well, check that off the list.


    ¡°We''ll see if they are here. How many were in your group?¡± Corvayne gave her some space.


    She was trying to get circulation back in her hands. ¡°There were five of us in the party... we were not ready for...¡±


    Wick frowned. ¡°Are you not hearing gibberish?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Yes, the same as Mosh... I understand her perfectly clear.¡±


    ¡°I don''t get a word she says boss.¡±


    Corvayne stopped on his way out the door. ¡°...Boss?¡±


    ¡°It''s a goblin thing.¡±


    He tried it back. ¡°Ok Boss.¡±


    The little goblin''s face instantly stormed over. ¡°Don''t do that. You''re not a goblin.¡±


    ¡°Ok Mosh.¡± Corvayne said, chastised. To his credit, Mosh instantly looked sheepish about snapping at Corvayne.


    Corvayne looked back at the woman as they lead her out of the dingy hovel. ¡°My friends are going to keep you safe and handle your wounds, give you water, and food if you''re hungry. I''m going to try to go find any survivors.¡± He turned to the Mosh. Well, since he had spoken up... ¡°You wanna help me see if these guys are alive somewhere in here?¡±


    ¡°Odds ain''t good but... yeah sure. Poor elf looks like hell.¡±


    He gave the goblin a spare steel knife, and while obviously not enjoying it, Mosh helped Corvayne check some of the smaller caves and buildings in the village. He had to see if he could trust the Goblin: 4 more floors of forcing someone to watch him or tying him up... he didn''t want to be that sort of adventurer. He also hadn''t shown the goblin how he could sense attacks from behind. If the goblin was somehow both hostile and as skilled as the handful of villagers who had been able to sneak up on him... well then he''d have picked off Mister I then the rest of them during the fight. During the search of the village there were plenty of opportunities for Mosh to attack him, some of them intentional. Not once did Corvayne get a shred of the odd queasy feeling of danger.


    Corvayne fought a few small stragglers but it seemed like the chief goblin had emptied out the village to go raid other cubes. The few stragglers would investigate noise then run at them, quickly dying to Corvayne''s spear. They found a battered chest in shed locked by a old padlock. He frowned: he honestly had hoped they''d find living people inside instead. He did the usual checks for traps, setting off a spring that tossed a rusty knife out of the latch. A few more pokes and it opened, revealing a few weapons that looked mundane and had some rust from uncleaned blood. In the corner of the room was a quarterstaff, which Corvayne took, as well as a pair of maces, and a blood stained purple cloth robe that was at least cleaner then the elf''s dress. The rest of the weapons would break on first swing or second. There was a cracked bow, a glass wand that had snapped in half, and a pair of bent knives. Aside from the robe... no signs of armor. Five sets of weapons if you counted the staff. Corvayne sighed, seeing Mosh doing the math in his head too and frowning up at Corvayne. He had a feeling he had just adopted an elf and a goblin. Well, Mosh seemed alright.


    Coming back, they had taken the woman to sit down a little way out of the village. Mister I was checking for injury and disinfecting a wound on her shoulder that looked like a huge bite mark.


    Corvayne showed her what he had taken from the chest. ¡°I''m sorry, there''s no signs of anyone. I found these and some other weapons in a chest. Did they belong to your allies?¡±


    The woman saw the robe and maces and started sobbing.


    Wick glared at him. Grunt gently patted the woman on the shoulder.


    He didn''t think they were alive. But he thought about how he''d feel if Wick had been captured. ¡°I think I''ve had enough of this floor, to be quite honest. But... we are going to check the connected islands. We can''t be sure they are not penned up somewhere else. Me and Mosh will keep looking.¡±


    Grunt nodded. Wick took the woman and helped her up. ¡°Lets find a stream. Legolas here reeks.¡±


    Mister I coughed. ¡°That''s a woman, Wick.¡±


    Wick rolled her eyes. ¡°Yeah, so was Legolas. I saw those old movies too.¡±


    Grunt slapped his head. He looked like he was about to start a fight over that comment for some reason.


    Corvayne handed Wick the marginally cleaner robe then started on the trail out of the valley along the stream. The large rocks and pebbled bottom of the stream and the big cliffs reminded him of the mountains. Perhaps he should have waited for them to move as one... Splitting the party and all that... but he needed a moment away from everyone and only having one person along was a good compromise.


    ¡°Boss you sure you don''t want me to help her? I can...¡±


    ¡°What did you have in mind Mosh? Remember: She''s going to need time to deal with everything. I don''t want to put you at risk of her lashing out.¡±


    The little goblin man nodded and smiled. ¡°Boss I didn''t even think about that! I''ll show you when we get back. You also want me out of her face because... I get it. The goblins here are monsters. That''s why I''ve gotta help you out. If not for you, I''d be stew tonight. I really am grateful.¡±


    Corvayne looked over to the goblin who was huffing to keep up with his longer stride, and then looked back to see they were out of sight. Corvayne slowed a little to let him keep up. ¡°I like to think anyone who saw you trying to talk and wearing clothes would do the same as I did.¡±


    The path through the valley wrapped upwards to another valley, A sort of vestigal half pipe of ground with a little brush on one side then yellow void. Like many of the ditches, water flowed in a few sheets out of the side of the cube, crashing to form a stream that ran down the second valley. The more turbulent stream of the pipe met the first one then poured off a little ring to the side of the conjoined cubes. Mosh kept looking all around, and his gawking proved useful when he pointed out a hole above their heads and under the waterfall.


    ¡°Can you lift me up? I got a hunch.¡±


    Why not? Mosh was light enough that he could crouch facing the goblin and let him climb on his shoulders, then simply stand up. The goblin pulled himself over the top of the lip. ¡°Yeah! There''s a hidden cave here, and a chest!¡±


    ¡°Leave it for now. We''ll grab it once we survey the next island.¡±


    ¡°You sure? Treasure Boss! Isn''t that what you adventurer types always are looking for?¡± The goblin gestured to the unseen chest.


    ¡°Anything we find now is more stuff we gotta carry there and back. I''ll be ready to head back to them in a bit.¡± He let the goblin step onto his shoulders then bent down so he could hop off.


    Mosh picked up that Corvayne was tired, perhaps. ¡°Hey, boss, what''s going on?¡±


    Corvayne waved the question away. He didn''t want to admit that it felt crowded to him.


    ¡°Ok. What do I do if we start a fight?¡± Mosh


    ¡°If we find more then a few goblins, or a monster we don''t know, we back off and gather the others. That horde would have been difficult alone but not impossible. No risks. Just checking if we can find where captives might be, then report back. Or hopefully we can get to them before feral goblins do, like the elf.¡±


    Mosh nodded then followed. Corvayne found it weird that he was so trusting given his own reservations about having Mosh along. On the other hand, he found he had already made his decision: The goblin seemed trustworthy to him.


    Corvayne had found a root that weaved in and out of the cliff wall leading them up. He walked slowly up the woody surface of the plant as he spoke. ¡°Part of why I''m taking off for a bit is that I don''t want to play telephone right now. So you and I are spares: Mister I is there to help with medical issues. Grunt is a professional guard. Perhaps Grunt should go scout so I could talk to her, but then he can''t talk to his partner easily. Wick... well I figured it might give the wrong impression if I tried to help her get clean.¡±


    He could practically hear Moshes eyebrows going up and down. ¡°Or the RIGHT one BOSS! Eh Eh?¡±


    ¡°I''m not in the right mood. Maybe when we are a few floors up I''ll feel like joking. I''m worried about you and her now: I''m not sure if there''s another exit that leads to her world... or yours. I don''t know what she has been through, especially since I don''t think we are going to find anyone else. The hobgoblin said he was running out of meat... I think that means it was just her left. Still, we have to try. If we can find one companion of hers...¡±


    ¡°That''s the idea boss, a two for one deal!¡± Mosh clapped, which made Corvayne wince a little. Even all the talking was something he''d not do if he thought there were things other then semi-suicidal goblins out there.


    ¡°As I was saying: There are no goblins or elves where we live. It''s all humans. It might be that no one speaks either of your languages, so you''ll be dependent on me to learn the language. The good news is, if we don''t see an obvious way to help you leave... we can come back and start searching for other exits.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the depressing reminder boss, but we hit the door and I bet you twenty kudos that my bracer perks up and I get my ass home in thirty minutes or it''s free. No offense to uh, the hospitality of a world with only humans.¡±


    Corvayne exited the hole that the twisted root had wound them through. The top of this cube looked down on the main goblin village from an edge, and otherwise had the usual dark blue packed dirt trails snaking through what looked like especially long teal grass. There were signs of feral goblins having lived on the cube: Grass had overgrown a few crude shelters. He could see damage and blood stains on the remains of a hide tent. They took a few minutes to check for goblins waiting in ambush, then strode to what looked like the center of the village. Most of the other buildings were arranged around a large cave at the bottom of a depression, dried blood and old bones the only signs of anything living on the outside.


    Inside were more signs of violence: Broken stone weapons, dry blood, bodies that had been cleaved in two, bones. Corvayne assaulted by lingering scents of blood and death. Mosh seemed only mildly upset at it. Corvayne had to force himself to slow down, to check every cave up to the main chamber, where a wood throne sat, a dead goblin pinned to the chair by a handful of stone spears.


    After a few seconds of looking and seeing no signs of living goblins, let alone a possible prisoner, Mosh asked ¡°Can we go back?¡± and Corvayne nodded.


    They returned to the waterfall. Corvayne wanted to grab the loot there, give out any equipment, and check the other islands out to quickly see if there was any hope of recoving the elf''s friends. He helped Mosh up then just climbed up to the ledge himself.


    ¡°Damn, rock climber too... can you crouch down and do the trap thingy from here? Otherwise I can try it.¡±


    Corvayne''s spirits perked up. ¡°Are you our rogue then?¡±


    ¡°Hell no, I told you, I''m a HANDY man.¡± He looked at Corvayne and looked sheepish. ¡°Boss. Can you give it first poke?¡±


    ¡°Sure. Also, I''m not really anyone''s boss. I just want to get people out of here alive.¡± Corvayne did so. No trap from shaking it.


    Taking the dagger he was given, the little goblin crawled into the opening, checking the ground carefully before putting his hands down, and then crouched by the chest. He had watched Corvayne and did a pretty good job of imitating the same steps of looking for traps. All that effort and then green man tried to open it and the lid didn''t budge. The goblin turned around.


    ¡°You got any wire?¡± The ''not a rogue'' goblin asked him.


    Corvayne crouched by the hole and set his pack down. He''d have to add some lock-picking stuff if these chests were going to come trapped and/or locked. Thankfully, the ''trade trinkets'' he had tended to be weird odds and ends the village hadn''t needed.


    ¡°Would a mithril flachette work?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, as long as it''s thin.¡±


    Corvayne had a handful of tiny white rods of the incredibly durable metal.


    ¡°Oh those are beauties. Who made em?¡±


    ¡°Mugs-Empty-Again and Spaces-Torn-Asunder.¡± The axe instructor had challenged the even-keeled Spaces to a contest to make flachettes out of exotic materials. Mugs made the white rods, perfectly crafted, able to survive being packed into a flachette round, fired, and retrieved. In theory. In practice, after discharging a full clip the pearly white rods were scattered out in the white sand desert behind and with the rock the rounds shredded. Nobody wanted to actually spend that much time finding slivers of mithril in the desert.


    Nobody but Corvayne.


    Handing one over, there was some jiggling and a satisfying click. Mosh wiggled his green fingers. ¡°Oh my goddess, that noise... I think I get IT. The whole dungeon diving thing. It sent shivers up my spine!¡±


    ¡°Easy. Might still be trapped. Some of them trigger on opening...¡± He called to the goblin who quickly stepped back, then used his spear to open it with more rock cover.


    Mosh ran over once it was safe and like an eager puppy put his whole upper body into the chest, then came out with a handful of stuff. A coin pouch, a pair of soft leather boots, a palm sized sundial made of wood, a fencing rapier and sheath, and one red and one green potion in simple flasks, as well as a worn backpack.


    Corvayne felt it looked promising. ¡°For now, we''ll put the stuff in the pack. We will test and distribute it later.¡±


    ¡°Even the sword eh?¡± He looked like he wanted to draw it out.


    ¡°Finding out it has a curse is an annoying way to lose the use of a hand.¡± Corvayne remarked, which made Mosh much less enthusiastic to just try everything out.


    Corvayne saw Grunt and Wick sitting with the elf by the stream. The elf wearing the dark purple robe that still had some black stains on it, and was gripping the quarterstaff that Corvanye had brought her. She was looking down at the water dribbling by as Mister I rubbed something on her leg, now sporting gauze. Mosh saw this and groaned. ¡°What''s his problem, is he outta mana?¡± The goblin came charging over and had to stop when Grunt reached for his club. ¡°Woah woah easy! I''m a follower of Lythandies. Being a crafter and all that... I can Mend! Tell him!¡±


    ¡°Mosh I don''t know what that means. Also the elf is terrified of you.¡±


    Corvayne gestured at the woman and Mosh looked and rolled his eyes. ¡°Fine. Tell em I''m going to heal her.¡±


    Corvayne turned to the others. ¡°The goblin says... he can heal her.¡±


    Mosh, to his credit, held his hands up and approached slowly, speaking like one would to a wounded animal. ¡°Easy. I''m going to fix your legs up.¡± Mister I stepped back. Corvayne felt some empathy to the goblin then: he had seen the way Mister I, Grunt, and the elf were looking at Mosh, and that was how the village treated him.


    The little green man kept his hands where everyone could see them, the elf flinching for a moment. Mosh put his hands together. ¡°Don''t worry. I wont touch you even. Just gotta do the shtick.¡± He held his hands out at the elf. ¡°Lythandies, mend that which is broken. Weave that which is hurt. Our flesh is clay. Help me build good things: life, health, joy. Knit her wounds into skin, kneed pain into comfort, and be her shield against sorrow.¡±


    His hands glowed green, then the smell of sawdust and the forge came with a swirl of wind. A moment later, the woman had regained color. She touched her legs, then looked up at Mosh.


    They stood suddenly. Mosh backed up. ¡°Easy lady! It was a healing spell! Boss, if I get whacked on the head I''m not going to fix her again, tell her that!¡±


    The woman calmed down. ¡°I''m sorry, your companion looks like one of the monsters...¡± Her eyes were still red from crying but she had regained composure.


    ¡°No problem. I''m Corvayne.¡± He pointed to each of his friends as he named them. ¡°You met Wick and Grunt and Mister I by now I''m sure. This here is Mosh.¡±


    She hesitated, steadied herself, then nodded.


    ¡°I assume he''s a priest or white mage, either way thank him on my behalf.¡± She bowed to the goblin. Corvayne noted she still was gripping her staff with white knuckles. Not one hundred percent OK but trying. She turned to face Corvayne. She was rather short and her features gave him the impression that she was younger then he was. Though, elves aged differently according to books. Part of him thought she was attractive, but he was stressing already how to discuss what measures they would take to look for her companions. He feared they were already dead.


    ¡°I should introduce myself. My name is Hari Silkbloom. I''m a Stillwater elf. I''m an investigator.¡±


    Corvayne once again played telephone. ¡°Everyone, meet Hari Silkbloom. I''m sorry that your companions fates are in question, can we walk and look together? I''d like to ask about them and how you got captured.¡±


    ¡°Let''s go look at the bone pile in the village above.¡± Mister I added. ¡°If they are there, then it''s just a matter of laying them to rest in peace.¡±


    Corvayne nodded and gestured for Hari to follow him as he went back up to the village. She started speaking as they made it up the path from the valley to the field around the goblin village.


    ¡°It was a group that my mentor had arranged for me to trial with. We went into Paltros investigating the section known for slimes and skeletons. The leader of the group, Khorkos, was part of the patrols to keep the dungeon from shedding.¡±


    Corvayne wanted to stop her and ask a bunch of questions but instead let her continue speaking.


    ¡°Khorkos was a big half-elf who used the maces you brought back. He would patrol with his fiancee Floowine, who was our combat wizard, a human, and Sissl who was a Khitoran priest of the Veiled Root.¡±


    This he had to get clarity on. ¡°I don''t know what a Khitoran is...¡±


    Hari looked conflicted. ¡°Some rudely call them ratmen...¡±


    ¡°That helps me know what to look for at least.¡± he stopped and turned to his friends. ¡°Two of her companions were human, one may appear to be a rat-person. Rat man? Rat woman?¡±


    Grunt held his hand up to his waist as if to say: this high? Then held his hand to his chest: Or this high? He then made a gesture of something like an elephant trunk, then floppy ears, then a questioning look: How rat we talking?


    Hari was patient, stopping to listen as Corvayne relayed what Grunt was emoting. Perhaps she was also dreading returning to the village for any reason. ¡°He was a rat-man. They have animal faces and many parts that resemble the animals, but more human hands and feet and stature... he was badly wounded and likely... perished. The final member was a Prihoff ranger, Grimspear. He was a blue skinned very tall man. I had been patrolling Paltros with them for a week.¡±


    ¡°Paltros is the ruins, correct? We came into this place from somewhere that only has humans. Does the scenery resemble your world at all?¡± He secretly felt extra bad for the ranger. How close had Corvayne to having an even more absurd name like Grimspear?


    Hari looked around. ¡°No. Everything is the wrong color. There''s more trees here, the ruins I speak of are in a savanna.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°It''s not the right colors for our world either.¡± Though, he sort of liked the dark red and blue trees with pastel leaves. Floor three was easily his favorite. For a number of reasons. ¡°Sorry for interrupting, please continue.¡± They were back at the village now and Corvanye started skirting around the outside, looking for a garbage pit or pile.


    Hari had moved up to follow right behind him. ¡°We were carefully cleaning out a section of buildings and tunnels where a lone scout had reported monster buildups. So groups of five slimes, maybe three regular skeletons. There was a large group of thirty slimes that we had to spend a couple of hours splitting and killing. It was not very dangerous. I got a burn on my leg but an appeal to Veiled Root took care of it. I mainly was there in case the ruins grew locked doors and to cast unseen passage to sneak up to and take out any skeleton warriors from behind with my staff. We did not expect to find any treasure aside from cores from slimes.¡±


    She''s the Rogue. Corvayne thought about the cooler that cheekily told them to use protection... did the dungeon also know what kind of party he had always wanted? Well, the wires might have gotten crossed; she sounded like what he always expected a priestess to sound like, and the goblin seemed like the cowardly street smart type. Something like how the lemonade was in a fancy flask and the potions (which they discovered glowed in the dark a little) looked like sports drinks.


    He went back to listening to Hari speak. ¡°Well, we were exploring a section that was behind a freshly spawned locked door. It hadn''t even gotten all the way out of the floor and was still a little slimy. I picked it, we go inside, and there''s a stairway with light coming from it, deep in part of the cells. So we go in, thinking we found a shortcut to the surface. Suddenly we are facing a few goblins rushing us. No problem. Khorkos alone could beat them senseless. The problem is that as soon as we stepped in the door shut behind us. I couldn''t open it with magic, it''s just asking us to go up somewhere. Climbing up to the top of the cliff we heard a horn from somewhere and suddenly we are surrounded. The big one waited until we were busy then jumped in, Sissl I think got his arm chopped off, it was... I...¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to push yourself to talk about everything.¡± Corvayne stopped and looked at the young woman. ¡°I see bones. You can wait here or come closer. I''m not going to ask anyone to help me with this next part.¡±


    Wick followed him. Suprising Corvayne.


    ¡°I thought you were squemish.¡±


    ¡°Oh there''s no way I''m going to start going through remains, I just wanna ask what she said... and maybe why you are suddenly running all over for this elf?¡± She looked annoyed.


    Corvayne looked back. Grunt, Mister I, and Mosh were having a three way pantomime conversation now.


    ¡°I think it''s likely her friends are dead.¡± Corvanye spoke after gathering his thoughts. ¡°It looked like the goblin leader was killing and subduing other villages. If that''s the case, at the very least she''ll need help to get to the 5th floor. I also feel like while I owe you a debt, I want to help other people who are lost.¡±


    Wick used her spear like a walking stick. ¡°Yeah. And what do you do when you find a rat skull and 3 human ones?¡±


    He stopped.


    ¡°Wick. If you told me it would take me a week, I''d still want to take that week to look. I think my father''s meanest act was not simply telling me my mother died. It was always that I''d never see her again. If he just said she was dead, it would have been better. So if I find them, I''ll tell her what I found, then try to get her home. Imagine if she went back, and had to talk to people who knew them, and give them half formed answers. Your son is probably dead. Your Father might have gotten eaten. I didn''t see a body. How would they feel?¡±


    She scoffed. ¡°You''re too nice. What about the hikers who walked up the stairs and ended up dead?¡±


    Corvayne felt a little frustration at Wick grilling him. ¡°I don''t know them. They didn''t ask me for anything. If I could have saved them I''d do so.¡±


    ¡°Don''t get angry at me, I more meant how are YOU going to break the news?¡±


    ¡°Like a naive killing machine raised on pulp novels.¡± He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.


    ¡°Geh. Don''t be such a little...¡± Wick stopped herself. Corvayne watched her reset. ¡°Have some faith in me. I didn''t know if YOU thought you could handle this. Just stay calm, show empathy for her losing her friends, offer to do a little funeral. Maybe that goblin knows last rites.¡±


    He realised she had been trying to help him. ¡°Sorry Wick. This has been a bad start to what was supposed to be a more relaxed patrol. Not looking forward to this myself.¡±


    He stepped up to the bone pile. He offered to look, and now he offered to deliver the bad news. Another two for one deal.

 Chapter 17: The Dungeon Provides

    Corvayne ended up spending only a few minutes picking through the bones piled with other scraps of hide and flesh that the goblins had no use for. Four skulls, near the top of the pile. One rodent, an elongated one, and two humans. Most of the other bones were small, and the goblins all had slightly blue bones. He was pleased that Grunt came over and started helping too. The big man helped him break the news to Hari, standing next to him looking contrite.


    Corvayne didn''t sift out the sorrow he felt for the elf woman and her poor friends when he spoke to her. ¡°I''m sorry. I found four fresh skulls near the top of the pile.¡±


    Hari sobbed, and Corvayne carried the skulls for her away from the village and buried them. He had decided he didn''t want to spend too long on the floor, but they could go sideways from the village to the ambush site then climb back up to cube that had the door they came in, and get to the stairs that way.


    A dozen goblins were loosely clustered around a door, this one slightly different then the stone arch they had come in: it looked like the door itself was stone too. Mister I timed his first arrow with Wick throwing out a disrupt. The Monk was a crack shot, driving his arrow dead center into a goblin''s tiny neck. ¡°I didn''t know I disliked these little monsters until now. No offense to my fellow doctor.¡±


    Corvayne felt that perhaps the monk would be better suited to running a hunting lodge rather then a monastery, but who was he to judge? Hari on the other hand used magic to vanish then did her version of [Backstab] on a goblin, blowing it apart. So much for clean robes. The little spells she used quickly moved her around, and she pulled her weight, killing two goblins almost as fast as he could run them down. Corvayne found he really liked fighting side by side with Grunt. Wick might be his business partner but Grunt was the brother in arms he never had in the Village.


    Mosh tried using his glass bubble, forming it then blowing it. It touched a goblin and shattered but didn''t down the creature or slow it much. Wick was near him and skewered the monster on her spear. Mosh gave Wick a thumbs up then yelled over his shoulder to Corvayne. ¡°Tell your girlfriend thanks!¡±


    ¡°She''s not my girlfriend.¡± Yet. Spear drives forward.


    Wick growled. ¡°Tell your goblin to shove it.¡±


    Corvayne smiled a little. ¡°She said you''re welcome Mosh.¡±


    There were two more cubes between them and where they started. The first had a few furry slugs on it and a ruined goblin village. It had larger trees then any other island, feeling like a slice of the third floor. Mister I shot the first slug they found and tied it to his pack while humming to himself. ¡°I hope it tastes as good as it looks! All muscle!¡±


    The next cube up had a tangle of roots that formed a short but extra wide pathway over the valley between it and it''s neighboring cube. One half of them went down to the ledges around the cube and the valley that stretched between them. The split going up then branched into two paths: one to the wall of the cube and the other to the top of the cube. Corvayne went up to the hole in the side and saw both the familiar stairs and blue glow.


    He reported back to the group. ¡°There''s another way up...¡±


    Wick looked into the stairs. She then went back to the vine and sat down, then took out some stuff that had a lot of wires and dials. ¡°Before we leave this floor, I''m going to get a reading.¡±


    While she was taking her readings Corvayne explained to everyone what the floors they had seen already were like, how the monsters they had encountered acted, and some of the issues with floor 5 and how it was very different. Some of the questions they had were things he wanted to test. Maybe not today with ''how big are the floors?'' as every new cube they went onto was connected to at least 3 cubes by roots and paths that he hadn''t seen from other cubes.


    ¡°Wick, do you want to come over and we''ll split the loot? We found a chest.¡±


    He had the backpack that they had found and took the items out, careful when handling them. There were five things including the backpack: The wooden sundial, a rapier made of the same blue material most weapons in the dungeon were, the soft leather boots, and the two potions.


    Hari blinked. ¡°Oh, do you need help identifying them? I can investigate them.¡±


    Interesting. ¡°I''d appreciate that.¡± Corvayne laid the goods out on the little dip in the roots they were sitting around. He made sure there was no chance of the stuff falling off.


    ¡°There''s also coins, which we plan to sell to help finance things like gas and guns, and so on.¡±


    Mister I nodded, adjusting his camo cap. ¡°I claim my share in meat.¡±


    ¡°I''d say we are all going to get plenty of meat before this is over.¡±


    Grunt pointed at the boots. He pointed at his own worn ones that needed replacing.


    ¡°Yes, I''m sure you''d look good in them.¡± Corvayne gestured for Hari to start.


    The elf woman looked at everyone, even thought Corvayne was the only one who understood her. ¡°Are you familiar with [Investigator] as a class?¡±


    ¡°... class?¡± Corvette¡¯s bracket alarm was going off.


    Hari stared at him. ¡°Everyone has a class. It''s like, what you want to do. You have [Spearman] or [Lancer] right?¡±


    ¡°The way you said it... it''s not like you''re saying ''a man with a spear is a spearman''...¡±


    ¡°The voice of order is what we call it. [Weapon Skills], spells like [Shadow Step], and [Special Actions] like when I invoke my [Investigate] skill...¡±


    He nodded ¡°I know what you mean. There''s a weird emphasis on words associated with my attacks. I feel like when you read a word that''s in brackets... sort of like there''s a weird emphasis on it but no audio.¡±


    Grunt was thinking. He looked at Corvayne then mimed hitting something three times with a club: Oh, like with my skill. He then shrugged. Mister I leaned in. ¡°So everyone should have one, how do you know what yours is?¡±


    ¡°My father always would use a deep voice to announce a skill so I feel like the words rumble a little or are underlined. Either way, [Investigate] is a catch-all skill that gathers information. I can at least tell you if an item is safe to try.¡± Now that she said it, her soft high pitched voice would drop a little when saying skill names. It was kind of funny.


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I''d appreciate anything you can tell me about our things.¡±


    ¡°Are you familiar with tiers? Items range from mundane which are everyday objects with no special care or features to artifact, many of which are extremely powerful and quite a few grow when used. It is not always related to magic: many works of art are ''notable'' even by the system, which is the first step up from mundane. Most minor magic items are notable.¡±


    Hari bent over and picked up the boots first, and she let out a little surprised ¡°Oh!¡± as she looked at Corvayne.


    Hari''s elf ears actually twitched a little. ¡°You are extremely lucky. This is exceptional bordering right on reaching apex value...¡±


    Corvayne felt his brow furrow. ¡°That sounds... good?¡±


    Hari nodded enthusiastically, stopped and her face flushed, then she looked away from Corvayne and started speaking quickly and half mumbled. ¡°I am sorry let me finish reading them... though it''s almost certainly...¡±


    She took some time to feel the surface of the boots, and pinched the leather. They looked worn and soft but had a fresh leather scent to them.


    ¡°Boots... Boots of running!¡± Hari half gasped, then once more started motor mouthing. The mental image Corvayne had of a serene noble elf did not survive Hari assessing their first item. ¡°I''m near certain, this is one of those items that everyone wants to use! They passively improve walking and running speed. They are different then the more common boots of speed in that running also passively improves coordination while walking or running so they feel more natural and are thus much more prized.¡± She took a deep breath and realized everyone was looking at her, and paled a little, averting her eyes. ¡°Sorry, I know I am an odd one.¡±


    Corvayne turned to Grunt. ¡°She says they are boots of running. Anyone mind if I give them to Grunt?¡±


    Mosh raised a hand. ¡°I''d like to run away faster.¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°If he moves faster, he can intercept things coming at you sooner so you don''t have to run. I already have movement tricks.¡±


    Wick looked at the goblin. ¡°Is he a little coward? Tch.¡±


    Corvayne took a drink from his canteeen to parch his throat. ¡°We''ll say he''s reasonably cautious.¡±


    Mosh pointed at Corvayne. It wasn''t hard to tell Wick had said something mean from her tone. ¡°That''s right! Tell her that''s right! I am risk-adverse at worst!¡±


    Hari kept opening her mouth to speak but stopping as went back and forth. Corvayne had to hold up a hand and nod at her. She had picked up the potion next. ¡°Potion of healing. Not an exceptional one but it is a notable healing potion which can stabilize someone who''s in critical condition or help if someone is anemic, but complex fractures for example need some assistance from a healer of course.¡±


    Corvayne turned to Mister I. ¡°Can you pull those bottles out of the cooler? Hari stated that the red potion is another dose of healing potion... Hari can you look at these and confirm they are healing and mana potions for us?¡±


    She accepted the first bottle from Mister I, flashing a short nervous smile at the as she accepted it then quickly looking down at the container. She spoke slower this time. ¡°I can read the label and it says healing potion... and my skill agrees it''s also a notable healing potion.¡± As if she forgot, her excitement grew handling the plastic healing potion. ¡°What an odd bottle though... if you drink the potion while I''m with you, can I have the bottle?¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°She says she can also read the label like we can.¡±


    Hari was looking at the power drink design rather then waiting for Corvayne to answer her question. ¡°It looks like it was made by an insane mage. Who lists the nutritional value of a healing potion?¡±


    Actually Corvayne thought had a good point. ¡°Hmm. You know, I didn''t look that closely. It has ingredients on it?¡±


    Hari nodded, passing the healing potion back and checking the mana potion. ¡°Mana potions are a little less common but still notable. They can upset the stomach if used too rapidly.¡± Her expression and the flattening of her voice on the second part told Corvayne she had certainly had that happen to her.


    Corvayne took the potions back and put them in the cooler.


    ¡°Ok... how about the other potion?¡± Corvayne gestured for her to keep going.


    She picked up the green potion. Hari''s ears went flat against her head as she squinted at the vial. She gave it a small swirl. Then her eyes widened and she started speaking quickly.


    ¡°It''s brimming with energy! I don''t know what it is yet, but it''s almost certainly powerful. Firmly in apex... and the way it was bottled, notice that the stopper has a pretty little latch to it? It''s not meant to be opened in combat. Color on apex potions is usually closer to fixed. Green... green... I wish I had my book still! Those monsters took my pack...¡±


    A miss, Corvayne supposed, given her frustrated tone. ¡°Ok, well, we can put it aside. If we see a pack with a book, we''ll get it back to you.¡±


    She swirlled the potion a little. ¡°Well, the good news is that at apex power and not hostile, with that stopper... it''s going to possibly be something like a potion of evolution, a potion of augmentation... it''d be nimble fingers or vital essence... it''s not divine intervention as that healing potion is pearly white and you never see it stoppered like that.¡±


    Corvayne saw the others looking between her and him. ¡°She know''s it''s something good... why are you sure based on the bottle? I think the dungeon itself put the chest and items there... it played a joke where it put the potions in drink bottles and lemonade and mustard in fancy flasks.¡±


    Hari laughed. ¡°Well, the theory many investigators had is that dungeons are semi-sentient. I was talking about how it will spawn doors, but only in doorways. It sometimes will repair a doorway, but there''s a respect for what something was before the area became saturated in whatever energy forms the dungeons. Form follows function, but function follows form. It''s rare, but dungeons with a lot of energy will create chests with nick-knacks, some of them developing into magic items. The theory some investigators have is based on, for example, that boots of speed all look like random shoes, but boots of running is almost always a soft, worn, but well cared for pair of boots.¡±


    She held up the bottle of green stuff. ¡°We think the Voice of Order responds to what people think. On our world, certain classes have gone extinct over the last several thousand years... [Scavenger] replaced [Hunter/Gatherer], [Spear thrower] has become [Launcher]. [Flower-tenders] advanced to [Druid] or [Gardener]. Many were old elves who thousands of years ago claimed they had once lived in paradise. They understood the class system... the requirements don''t work because the concept of what they were has advanced. So it would be odd for the dungeon to use this kind of stopper for a potion meant to be drank quickly, hence the dungeon doesn''t do so.¡±


    Corvayne thought the point was interesting, but might be something to digest with Wick later rather then bog down assessing their things. ¡°To sum it up: You''re pretty sure it''s a beneficial, long term effect. Could you explain what some of the effects do?¡±


    Hari nodded, eager to talk about the items it could be. ¡°Evolution gives you some sort of positive trait... there''s a theory that such potions are the origins of many species as the effect is permanent and can be passed down to offspring. There''s a noble house that only accepts marriages with people who''ve had a dose, with the goal of turning their line into a new race. Augmentation influences and improves a specific thing. Like, makes you stronger, more hardy, smarter... there is a king who claims to have stopped aging after drinking ten potions of vitality augmentation. It''s possibly quintessence which is an oddball: some people say that it''s like ''augment everything'' and others note no effect. They are nearly impossible to make as any contaminant ruins the potion, and there are apparently invisible things everywhere that can ruin it, the glass not being perfect ruins it... there''s potion of the iron mind, which allows access to the weave. Usually they are either glowing purple or shadowy but I think those can be any color. It could be aspect of venom, which is an elemental augmentation that adds poison effects to everything. That one is dangerous to others as it makes bodily fluids potentially lethal. It is, however, prized by venomancers and a very easy way to become one. The last one that I know of is potion of potent visions. It''s another crap shoot, sometimes it does nothing, but investigators consider it the holy grail of potions because it supposedly can enhance someone''s understanding of the world. It''s also one of the few potions that''s no one has ever brewed.¡± Hari handed the potion back to Corvayne. ¡°Can... can I get some water?¡±


    He handed her his canteen. ¡°If you have more time, you said you might learn more? Drink, I''ll summarize the info for them.¡±


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    He gave a foot note version to the group. Hari waited for him to be done then continued talking. ¡°Using the power slowly fills me with information and will narrow it down. If it was an artifact or apex weapon, it would take longer. I''ll use my skill on it over the next day or two.¡±


    She reached for the backpack next and concentrated. She sighed with relief.


    ¡°I don''t know what I''d do if this was something crazy. It''s just a backpack of ease. They protect the items inside and reduce their weight by a quarter or so depending on the individual item. A common item.¡±


    Corvanye held it up. ¡°This one makes the stuff in it a little lighter.¡±


    Mosh was a little sheepish. ¡°Am I on the list for stuff? I need a bag...¡±


    Corvayne looked at the group. ¡°If it''s ok with everyone, I think we give him the bag. We got several floors to go and, well, Mister I is going to need help carrying dinner sooner or later. We will also get you a better weapon.¡±


    Mosh nodded. ¡°Sure thing. Tell you what, when the HAF picks me up I''ll give it all back anyway and put some of my Kudos down to give you something nice. Heck, maybe some of the old Adept skin-suits. Never imagined I''d WANT one, but the things are self cleaning, self repairing, tough as hell to rip but flexible somehow, and they adjust to heat and cold. When I get back I''m making that my pajamas!¡±


    Wick looked at Mosh waving his hands as he spoke, then turned back to look at Corvayne. ¡°You building bridges?¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°I think I am, if I understand you correctly.¡±


    Wick gave him a geunine smile. ¡°Ok. Then I agree.¡±


    Grunt nodded.


    Mister I thought about it. ¡°I love the idea of a meat assistant! But let''s hurry to the next floor. I refuse to eat goblin.¡±


    Hari looked at Corvayne then sheepishly raised her hand. ¡°Err, Mister Corvayne, I would vote yes to give him the bag, but I''m not sure what our relationship is.¡±


    Corvayne was puzzled. ¡°We are in this place together. Until you state you want to travel alone, I would say you''re part of our team and you''ve been a part of adventuring teams. I don''t know your experience, but this is our first intentional outing into a dungeon. That you can safely identify items was something that I was worried would be a problem. The invitation to be a part of our group goes out to Mosh as well.¡±


    He took the bag and placed it in the goblin''s arms. ¡°I''ll do my best to keep you alive and get you home. The previous time we were stuck here, it was me and Wick. We had to be as careful as possible, as a major injury, even something like a sprained ankle, might doom us. It was stressful even for me, and I wouldn''t subject someone to face the dungeon entirely alone. So until we reach the end at least, Mosh, please help us with your insight and perspective. And hopefully we don''t need to bother you for any more mending.¡± He smiled.


    ¡°Aww boss! You''re a real champ. You know, even though I never thought I''d do something like this... If they put down an Arkstone I might be up for a weekend dungeon or two.¡± Mosh slipped it on. ¡°It fits perfectly! Like magic!¡±


    Hari picked up the rapier. Her ears fell and she looked at Corvayne. ¡°How... how long have you spent gathering these items?¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°We found a chest while looking for your friends. These are all what we found in there. It was just a three minute detour, tops.¡±


    ¡°It''s an airfoil rapier! Like, an air elemental enchanted rapier of super speed. A little under apex, again... it takes years for most adventurers to find an apex item, and that''s if they keep at it. I''m going to ask if you can... let me use it for the rest of this dungeon. Please! I will give it back, but I always wanted to try fighting with one. My mentor actually was going on a two month trip to see if she could buy one they had found in Couerl Springs.¡± She held the item with awe then smiled. ¡°I''d love to tell her that I got a chance to use one.¡±


    Corvayne spoke. ¡°She says it''s an air enchanted rapier of speed, and it''s also really good like the boots. Also she would really like to use it for the rest of the dungeon.¡±


    Wick folded her arms. ¡°I would say me or you should have it.¡±


    Corvayne rubbed his chin. ¡°I agree from a tactical perspective. But I already have the fire-breathing dagger if I need to use a short blade.¡±


    Wick thought about it then offered a comprimise. ¡°I vote we let each of us try fighting with it... if we see monsters we can prepare for. You need something that''s fast on you at all times for things like these goblins. You keep having to use your moves to space the monsters away from you, and I know that it nearly killed you when you fought the trees. We will decide on an actual owner of the item at the end.¡± Wick dropped into a smooth voice before her throat closed up a little and the scratchy aspect returned.


    Corvayne ¡°Ok. I vote to let her use it first, then you, then I''ll try it last.¡±


    Hari seemed very happy, and set the item down by her feet to pick up the last magic item, practically tripping over herself bowing. Corvayne had to put an hand on her shoulder so she didn''t keep bowing and trip. The vines they were taking a break on were double or triple the width normal for the paths but still he didn''t want her to fall and break something.


    She looked totally surprised to be touched but was still babbling. ¡°Thank you so much, even getting to use one is...¡± Corvayne used her talking to take the last item and hand it to her.


    She stopped dead, going pale as she looked at the simple wooden sundial in her hands.


    ¡°Was this... in that chest too?¡± Her voice was a squeak.


    Corvayne found he was enjoying her reactions. A perverse part of him could only imagine how she''d over react and become furious if she was handed a heap of enchanted weapons they had just found ''under a rock'' or something. ¡°Yes. Another Apex?¡±


    ¡°This is a high artifact... what is this place?!?¡± She started hyperventilating, almost pushing the dial back into Corvayne''s hands.


    He grew concerned. ¡°Hari! Calm down. Mister I, can you help her?¡±


    ¡°Did the item do something?¡± The monk rushed over, with Mosh coming by too.


    ¡°It''s a high artifact. I think that means it''s very strong and possibly very rare. Hari, easy. Deep breaths.¡±


    The monk dumped the contents of a paper bag back into his pack (mostly apples and potatoes) then looked to Corvayne. ¡°Tell her to put it over her mouth, and to breath in and out with the bag. Have her cover her nose and mouth. Then after ten breaths or so, deep belly breaths without the bag.¡±


    Corvayne related it word for word and the young woman took the paper bag and started breathing in and out of it. Corvayne handed the artifact to Wick. ¡°When she''s better we''ll walk again. Boots on Grunt ok?¡±


    Wick placed the dial in her pack. ¡°It''s fine. Hear that Grunt? You''re going to be the fastest shaved bear in Cascadia.¡±


    The big man mimed a bear and swiped the boots. Putting them on he then ran up and down the vine, his form nearly perfect and faster then a car. Corvayne thought his feet were sliding as he ran, perhaps the way those boots boosted speed.


    Wick had done whatever her tests were and recorded a bunch of numbers. Then she lead them up the new stairs they found. Hari was using her staff to walk, rapier tucked in her robe''s sash.


    He offered a hand to steady her. ¡°Do you need a hand?¡±


    ¡°I''ll be okay.¡± She croaked. She looked down and away. ¡°Sorry. Sorry!¡±


    Getting to the top of the stairs, they came out under a vast night sky. Not just above them: Below the rim of the ledge he could see a reflection of the night sky. The horizon was the color of a setting sun, an dull orange glow, in a ring that faded to blue then deepened to black and purple as you went closer to the top and bottom of the sky. There was enough starlight and fading sunlight that the grassy path down was lit up. Looking on the island sprawled out before them Corvayne spotted a lake sparkling in the dusk as well as a patch of woods. The island had a mountain slope on one side linking it to the next island. Smaller islands floated around the larger one with wood constructs leading up to them.


    ¡°Well shit, this is a different floor!¡± Wick looked all around her then took a few photos.


    Mister I laughed. ¡°It''s pretty! I wanna see what kind of fish are in the lake!¡±


    Grunt perked up and Corvayne could see him miming pulling on a fishing line.


    Wick turned and spoke partially to the group but facing Corvayne. ¡°We can stay a little while, I wanna get a reading on this floor. Also see if there''s different wildlife here.¡±


    Corvayne considered that. ¡°Cryptids or lunch?¡±


    ¡°Both hahaah! I bet Plesiosaur tastes great! Lunch ness monster!¡± Wick marched forward.


    Mister I laughed at that. ¡°You should come to meat club! They would die if you did a talk on meats the same way you do your other talks!¡±


    They walked down the grassy hill. It was about fifty feet wide and the sides had little stone nubs like handrails. Corvayne was keeping his eyes open for possible threats. He was pretty happy when he saw a pack of six paint dogs coming up like a bunch of dark blobs. They had been asking for dinner, and the dungeon was all too happy to serve it up.


    He barked ¡°Incoming.¡± then readied himself to fight.


    Grunt ran down, suddenly picking up speed, and darted between the two front dogs, just battering them as they tried to claw at him or leap. His speed meant they had trouble tracking him. Corvayne was running behind him, stabbing stunned dogs and keeping his eyes open for more packs or goblins who might pick up on the noise: he had vividly remembered the running battle on the previous floor 2. There was a twang and an arrow hit one of the painted hounds, sending the creature tumbling. Wick added a disruption blasting another dog, and in a moment the pack was dead.


    Hari and Mosh had ended up too far back to do anything. Mosh from prudence, Hari because she was still wheezing a little from hyperventilating.


    Mister I was estatic as they followed a path through the dark woods and reached the sandy shore of the lake. He undid his pack and pulled out a portable grill and coals. ¡°Moonlight grilling by a lake in another dimension! Perfect!¡±


    Grunt held out a hand and Mister I handed him a fishing rod. ¡°My friend, see what you can pull out!¡±


    He smirked. Thumbs up. Corvayne noted he was holding a baseball bat and a fishing rod. Did you pull them in then beat them up? Ah. That''s different from what he read about fishing. Wick started taking her readings. Mosh looked at Corvayne. ¡°What''s the plan boss? We camping here or just taking a break?¡±


    ¡°If you wanna come with me, I was going to clear out part of the island, make sure we don''t get goblins.¡± Corvayne added quickly. ¡°I mean bad ones.¡±


    Hari stood up, using her staff to help her stand smoothly. ¡°Could I come as well?¡±


    Corvayne looked at the woods. Hari was an adventurer. He wanted to see how well she fought anyway. ¡°If you''ve recovered, yes.¡±


    Wick looked up then went back to her equipment with a huff.


    ¡°It''s just the first time I''ve ever seen an artifact. I''m already feeling better.¡± She said, holding her chin up. Then she touched her hands together and concentrated, her form fading to a blurry shadow that was nearly impossible to see in the moonlit dark.


    Mosh had a baseball bat. ¡°Look! Your buddy gave me a club! More my speed.¡±


    They started into the woods. He couldn''t help but ask the goblin as they walked ¡°Why the change of heart Mosh?¡±


    ¡°Well, it''s one thing to be out in the open during the day. But the woods? At night? Perfect for running away. Also, I see ya girlfriend giving me the stink-eye. I need a break from the glaring. Besides, I figure you can tell us about you. Right princess?¡±


    Hari totally ignored him. The little goblin''s ears dropped. ¡°Oh yeah, right, well... tell me your deal.¡±


    ¡°I was the most hated person in my warrior village. They exiled me and I somehow walked across worlds. I have no idea where I came from and only the barest of where I am. I like Wick both as a companion and, possibly more, but she is not interested in romance.¡±


    ¡°Buddy, some girls are for dating and some girls are for, well, I bet you do alright.¡± Mosh elbowed Corvayne. His shadowy limb elbowed the goblin back in the same friendly manner.


    ¡°That''s too bad, did you try a love letter?¡± Hari''s form was a little easier to spot now that he had looked for it a few times.


    ¡°I have a feeling Wick would be very, very, very annoyed with me.¡± He said. He had not seen Wick raging mad before but given that she tended to be a little volitile as-is...


    ¡°I won''t pry...¡± Hari said, while looking up. Her ears were twitching, probably from a desire to pry. ¡°But did something happen?¡±


    ¡°That''s between Wick and myself...¡± Corvayne instantly felt he had made a blunder but also was not sure why he was sure.


    ¡°Haha! As if we can''t figure it out. Mission accomplished, right?¡± Mosh held out a fist. Corvayne just looked at it. His shadowy fist bumped it. Traitor.


    Hari meanwhile was talking, maybe to herself as she was looking away again. ¡°Well, I''m sort of young and I''ve not had a real romance before, but I had a crush on a tall half-elf boy and waited for him to ask me to the harvest dance all summer. Years later I met up with him and he told me that he thought I hated him because I didn''t ask him! I uh... set the record straight there.¡±


    The shadowy arm switched sides. Corvayne felt Hari gave it a fist bump and saw her shoulders hunched, sheepish.


    Corvayne kept his voice down. ¡°Well, Wick has stated she plans to send me off on dates...¡± He stopped and squinted ahead. There was a pair of the dogs, trotting through the carpet of pine needles on the ground. They buzzed and started running around trees at them. ¡°Hari, two ahead. I can distract them for you to try the rapier out.¡±


    She blurred again, and cast something. She popped out behind one, blade ready to strike and her other hand held out. Corvayne trotted forward but she hit the dog with something like a green glowing net, then squared herself with it''s back as it tugged it''s legs helplessly.


    He hadn''t considered: if she was so excited about that rapier, and it was really strong... ¡°Wait! If you do that it''s-¡±


    She clearly activated [Backstab] then attacked. There was a sound that reminded Corvayne of the wonderful sound of firing a displacer gun. Something like a fencing sword and sewing machine sound combined. The blade barraging out and hit the monster in a blur. There was a moment before the skill took effect where he swore he saw the weapon stabbed ten places at once, then the whole monster exploded, covering her with gore. She had got some in her mouth because she spit out a chunk of something, and sort of stepped back from what looked like a circle of blood someone had painted on the forest. Mosh whistled. ¡°Oh hey, I think you just graduated to blood elf!¡±


    ¡°Are you okay? You look...¡± He stopped himself. Her disgust had turned to wonder as she went from staring at her gore covered hand to the other, holding the rapier.


    Hari started laughing. ¡°That sounded so nice! It feels so good to use it!¡±


    Mosh looked at the blood covered elf laughing, then to her sword, then up at Corvayne. ¡°Hey boss... can I try that thing?¡±

 Chapter 18: The Old Up and Down

    A few painted dogs later Corvayne took his own turn with the rapier. For the most part he acted the part of an adult. But he REALLY wanted to try it with [Backstab] too. Walking back to camp, covered in blood, he had to admit that while one [Backstab] was music to the ears, a dozen was a symphony.


    Mister I was busy grilling and preparing a slug, a dog, and a fish that looked like a porcupine with how many spikes it had. The paint dog would be done first: the legs looked like giant chicken drumsticks and smelled amazing. Wick saw the three of them and laughed. ¡°Can''t leave you alone for a second and you baptize the newbies in blood. Not a cultist my ass.¡±


    Corvayne spoke in as innocent a tone as he could manage. ¡°The weapon works very well.¡±


    Wick looked him up and down and he swore she licked her lips a little. ¡°I wanna mess with the dial too but I wanted to eat and give her a chance to rest. She probably drains stamina like when you use those attacks.¡±


    He followed his gore soaked companions to the stream pouring out of the lake. Corvayne just walked into the water and out. The goblin set his pack down and did the same. Hari handed Corvayne the rapier and looked between the two. ¡°Turn around!¡±


    Corvayne did so, then gave Mosh an elbow and the goblin rolled his eyes and did so. A few splashes and annoyed grunts followed by water dripping onto water later the elf called out. ¡°Better. Had to squeeze the robe out.¡± Wet but much cleaner, they went back to camp.


    Dinner, or late lunch, was fantastic. The slug meat when cooked seemed to exude something like cream. Mister I, confident a healing potion or Mosh could fix him, took the first bite and confirmed it was tasty. It was like the monster ate the ingredients for beef stroganoff. There was also a hint of pear. The dog legs had a little barbeque sauce on them and tasted like chicken in the best possible way. The fish probably just had butter or something instead of blood. The meat had little rough ridges that tasted like bread mixed in too, with the barest hint of strawberry. He had also made mimic strips, and the meat tasted like wood smoked bacon and maple syrup, the meat crispy but juicy. All monsters brought to mind odd flavor combinations that he was almost certain would be disgusting but worked, with exotic textures as he chewed.


    Mosh was skeptical. ¡°There''s no way some of this stuff isn''t toxic.¡±


    Corvayne turned to Hari who was eating her leg, zoning out. ¡°Can you use your skill on meat?¡±


    ¡°Oh, well, sure...¡± She looked at each of the dishes. ¡°It''s interesting. Most monsters are usually poisonous or don''t taste good at all. It seems like the saturation in magic has fixed some of the chemical problems in these. The rule of thumb is just don''t eat anything that has poison attacks, anything that makes your lips numb, or anything that tastes bitter. Beer Slime excluded from all three.¡±


    Corvayne tried to summarize what she said in fewer words. ¡°Okay. it''s safe. Let''s eat...¡±


    Mosh didn''t wait for more then the word safe and started eating his way though sliced slug. Mister I had packed drinks, water for himself and juice for anyone who wanted it. Grunt popped open a beer. Corvayne declined: he''d take first watch when they camped for real. Wick also waved it away. ¡°Maybe one before bed. I got WORK here... can I get a juice?¡±


    Corvayne helped with cleanup. As did Mosh, who did another invocation. ¡°Lythandies! To the clean we call to you. From the clean we to call you. Order pulls us forward. Lythandies!¡±


    Mosh started cleaning, everything he packed somehow added something else that just sort of ended up in a plastic bag. Mosh arranged everything on the little folding table they brought and the faint smell of sawdust followed him. Corvayne was not sure how the just dipping the grill in the lake got it warm and soapy, but Mister I was impressed. Mosh mimed eating, patted his belly, and gave a nod and a thumbs up.


    The monk beamed. ¡°Good! Another meat friend has arrived! Did the young lady enjoy it?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°She seemed to be decently hungry.¡± He spotted her sitting on the drop off to the sandy shore, staring at the lake.


    ¡°That''s good... I worry though. The events that happened... losing her friends... she will need support and attention.¡±


    Corvayne shivered as he thought about losing his own friends. ¡°I thought that Mosh... hey, what''s your mending do in regards to her feelings? You didn''t like, blast her memories aware or something.¡±


    Mosh looked offended. ¡°Boss, if I was a mind-bender I could do that. Mending someone who''s depressed is like stitching a wound. It can help it from opening again and help it heal, but it still hurts. I thought that''s why you were working her like a horse! Keeping her busy, feeling important, and maybe developing connections with us. Even just venting on goblins... as unhealthy as it is, that all helps heal the wound. Don''t look at me like that. My opinion of my own species has dropped a BUNCH over the last week lemme tell you... I think loaning her that sword is helping, as is making the artifact a project. How many days do you think we''ll spend here?¡±


    ¡°I talked with Wick, we planned for three or four, but for up to a week. Time moves faster in here, but we''re burning weekend in here.¡±


    The goblin sighed, then spoke. ¡°Ok then just keep a steady pace. Taking turns with the sword will help. Let Wick know not to be jealous.¡±


    He thought of the best way to say it without drawing Mister I into his situation. ¡°As we talked about earlier, that should not be an issue.¡±


    ¡°I think you''re underestimating yourself and maybe overestimating her.¡± Mosh finished folding up the little table and handing it back to Mister I. ¡°People convince themselves of things they don''t want to be true all the time. Even I had a few years where I thought I was a wunderkin. But after meeting a dozen younger people from all walks of life who put me to shame, it put me in my place a little. Stressed me the hell out, I decided to go into meditation to even things out, then said ''what the hey'' and you know, started just focusing on making... Lemme back up, your eyes are going to glaze over like a Burtzchezinan Sponge ran through the kiln a few times. I say, keep Hari busy. Give her some work compliments when she does solid work. You were doing good back in the forest. Oh and one last thing; give her some time before you put the moves on her.¡±


    Corvayne frowned. ¡°It''s only been on my radar as so far as you keep mentioning it.¡±


    ¡°Sorry boss. I don''t know how you run things.¡± Mosh scratched his head.


    ¡°Poorly. But I''m learning. Thank you for giving me a heads up. I''ll try to keep Hari engaged... With work.¡±


    Wick had Corvayne repeat the plan: They had wanted to establish if there were multiple ways up, and now were going to do experiments. They had tested if being apart made the stairs go out to different floors. Corvayne hadn''t been worried on that front: a gun and his fire breathing dagger meant he could fight the trees with a large degree of safety, and he was pretty sure Grunt could clear the entire place himself. Those worries about what to do if the party split were for naught, he had agreed to run all the way to the first stairway they had found, 2 cubes away. It took him less then twenty minutes. One odd thing was that it was day on both floor 1 and original floor 2. But the starlight dusk remained on the new floor 2.


    Corvayne appreciated that everyone was happy to see him back. Even Wick gave a rare real smile, then quickly let it fade back to a manic grin. Grunt nodded: I knew you''d be OK.


    Grunt had offered to be ''bait'' with his new boots. They were sitting just inside the stairs down, having backtracked up the hill. Looking over the moonlit landscape, he could see Grunt with a pair of dogs chasing him. He actually slowed down to keep their attention. One was injured, the other was untouched. The group went down the stairs as Grunt jogged the leaping and bounding monsters to the stairway threshold. Corvayne was backing up and saw that the one that was unharmed simply turned before it got to the stairs, and the injured one slowed but then kept running at Grunt. It followed him out into the light then was skewered by Corvayne. Mister I was quick to pick up the body.


    The monk shook the painted dog. ¡°Breakfest!¡±


    Grunt tested it a few more times over an hour, with Corvayne as helper and cleanup. Sometimes an uninjured dog would follow, usually one that Grunt had bothered before. Ones that he harmed seemed more determined and would almost always run down the stairs after him. Injured ones didn''t like the floor and would usually turn back if Grunt was out of site or too far. They would turn and try to attack Corvayne if they ''lost'' Grunt... so they had a sense the monsters knew what floor they belonged on, though with some prodding Grunt found if they ran one down a floor then ran away, it got lost somewhat easily and just started milling about as if to say ''ok, fine, whatever''.


    The basic tests were done. Corvayne thought that perhaps a separate trip could be finding out how big the floors were, but they wanted to reach the third floor and rest where there were far less monsters. The second floor (from the previous week with the tilted plate-like landmasses) had less monsters on the path they had blazed before, though at Wick''s insistence they did do some detouring to try to find a different down stairway and any chests on the second floor.


    They found stairs down at the bottom of the islands gentle slope, tucked into the rocky walls that hedged floor 2 sections in. The group stepped out of a cave into a configuration that actually looked a lot like a mish-mash of the trails around the park, rendered with the yellow sky and teal trees with red and blue bark with small cracks crossed by bridges. In scouting for fifteen minutes they figured out that there were small predatory salamanders that patrolled the floor. Wick wanted to look for a door and while searching Corvayne spotted a large biped watching him from behind the trees. A bigfoot. He waved, and the creature flinched and looked back, then, it waved back, then pointed. Corvayne nodded at it. Pointed, then waved once more. The creature then turned and vanished into the underbrush.


    Wick blinked. ¡°Was that...?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. They were thinking beings. ¡°Let''s try not to kill any more of them.¡±


    The rest of the journey to find a door out took another half an hour of following trails down to a place where three creeks all ran together to form a little pond that then ran off the edge of the island. There was another door with pictograms on it, the same ''go up five floors'' instruction.


    They hiked back up. Mister I was the most animated, taking pot-shots at critters that looked to Corvayne like heavily armored crickets. The monk took one of each thing. He must have felt the weight of all that meat climbing up, because he asked politely if Mosh or Grunt would be willing to carry some. Mosh took a cricket-thing that couldn''t have been twenty pounds, and Grunt just accepted another lump of weight onto his mostly undiminished stock of baseball bats and huge bag.


    The second island of floor two had repopulated only a little after Corvayne''s slaughter. Indeed, there was a section of grass where there was a circle of broken weapons and bones around a tree. Mister I went over to the tree. ¡°A great battle happened here... yet a tree still sprung up. I want to observe this! Hold on...¡±


    He sat on the ground.


    Wick tapped him on the shoulder. ¡°Mister Icariii, uh, the battle was...¡±


    The older man held a palm out to Wick. ¡°Shh. Five mintues.¡±


    Corvayne sat and looked at the tree. It was just the one Wick had hid in while he killed everything... oh, maybe they left out the tactics of fighting large packs on their first time. Still, he calmed himself and tried to do as Mister I was doing. Just thinking about the fight he had there, and the view of someone who didn''t know what the carnage looked like when the blood was fresh. Hmm. Did it rain on these islands? Wait... there was something in that tree. A blood red fruit.


    He stood up and walked over to the tree and pulled it off. Mister I saw him and gasped. ¡°I didn''t see that! It must be a natural treasure!!¡±


    Corvayne gave it to the Monk. Wick groaned. ¡°If it''s worth something, we should divvy it up.¡±


    ¡°He found it, if not for stopping I''d never have looked.¡±


    Mister I immediately ate it.


    Everyone watched. Mister I''s eyes widened a little. He had a look of supreme relaxation go over him. Then he slapped his knee.


    ¡°It tasted really good! Kinda like a blood-fruit. Thank you for letting me try it!¡±


    Wick seemed disappointed. ¡°I was hoping he''d start glowing or something.¡±


    Corvanye shrugged. ¡°Can''t all be artifacts. Let''s keep going, it''s been a long day.¡±


    The sloping islands of floor 2 didn''t yield any treasure with the cursory examination they gave the nooks and crannies around the ''drain'' where islands came together. They found another down stairs. They walked out into a floor 1 that looked to be organized in vast straight valleys, probably in a grid. The sky was blue on this shard and grass green. The natural looking greenery went down and up to hills at the center of a vast grid of what looked like square pillars a mile high, still carved out of blue rock. Looking up, he could faintly make out huge cubes in a regular grid in the cloud streaked sky, mirroring the floor they were on. The roots winding their way up between ground and the first grid (or coiling down?) were miles and miles long.


    Hari sighed. ¡°I feel like my luck was terrible. Had we not been ambushed... maybe my group would be seeing this too.¡±


    ¡°If things came down to the worst case scenario I''d rather that at least someone made it out. Your companions were avenged, and I''d be surprised if the way out doesn''t sort you out to where you belong.¡±


    She stopped, looking a little shaken. ¡°I''d be alone in the middle of the ruins...¡±


    ¡°You''re helping us out. We''ll try to get you things that will allow you to make it out of your dungeon safely.¡±


    Wick looked between them. ¡°Yeah. Tomorrow is going to be about exploring and finding more treasure. If we need to delay leaving to secure more stuff, it fits with what we were thinking about doing anyway. Push comes to shove, it was 2 hours to a day or so, we could explore for a couple of weeks and have you kitted out.¡± Corvayne was secretly pleased that Wick thought similar to what he did about helping the elf.


    Corvayne turned to Hari. ¡°I agree. Wick was saying it wouldn''t break us too bad if we stay longer to find an item that would help you escape your dungeon.¡±


    Mosh said ¡°As long as you don''t wanna stay on the goblin cannibal floor I''m down! Just don''t take too long, I wanna meet friends for my birthday next week.¡±


    Corvayne sighed. ¡°I will also consider you want to return home for your birthday. Being teleported from your bed to another world sounds like it would be longer than a week to get back, but the last two weeks or so of my life make me hesitant to say there''s no way.¡±


    Mosh laughed. ¡°Ahaha, you''re so careful! Just say I''m full of shit Boss. I can read between the lines.¡±


    ¡°I try to keep it civil, but noted for future use. We might come back here though... the grid to me suggests that those hills are points of interest.¡±


    They hiked back up the stairway that was a very obvious impossibility from how the entrance was nearly the entire face of the rock at the top of the hill. It was creepy even though he had come to accept the impossible as matter of course from the hours spent in the tower. Corvayne wished he had spent more time in the physics section of the village library. Or maybe had Spaces along to point things out. The only villager he''d miss.


    Floor three was glorious to see again! The air was cool. The vast landscape felt more natural.


    Wick walked ahead of them. ¡°We''ll change the way we go when looking for a camp. Night falls on this floor too, it looks like we have at least a few hours to find a spot.¡±


    The path had split a few times on their long journey the first time on the floor. Entering the dimmer under canopy, Corvayne could see the group relax. Grunt had a small smile looking at the scenery. He mimed daintily picking up a tea cup, then eating something with both hands. Good place for a picnic, Corvayne was pretty sure was the message. Hari''s grip on her blade eased a little. Mister I especially was pleased. ¡°Perfect weather! The previous floors were too warm.¡±


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Wick laughed. ¡°It gets really freaking cold at night. That''s why we had you pack blankets. Eh, we''ll need to do something about the newbies.¡±


    Grunt had brought two huge fleece blankets and lifted the flap of his bag to show them off. Wick looked at him. ¡°That still leaves us one short. Gah. Maybe the dungeon will provide one if we find another chest.¡± Grunt looked between her and Corvayne, and then put his pointer finger out. Corvayne was willing for Grunt to NOT make a screwing motion. Don''t suggest it Grunt. Don''t do it. Then he took his other hand, and tilted his head a little: Don''t do what? This? He put both pointer fingers together and gave Corvayne an innocent look. He turned to Wick and did the same motion without the snark, somehow, and then mimed sleeping.


    Corvayne noted that Wick glared at Grunt, then looked at Corvayne. ¡°Grunt, why! Are you asking me to arrange for Corvayne to bunk with you?¡±


    He rolled his eyes. One finger up. He mimed a ball and chain, then mimed stabbing, choking, machine gun: Dawn would not approve. Two fingers up. He mimed cupping a chest, then swinging his bat four times one direction, then patted his crotch and turned around and mimed swung once, but shrugged with a head tilt: I prefer women mostly but not exclusively; Also your attempt at a barb doesn''t phase me one bit. Three fingers: Points at Corvayne, then hits his chest. Crosses his arms then mimes swinging a baseball bat, crosses it again: Corvayne is a bro. Not that kind of love, lady.


    Wick folded her arms. ¡°So why shouldn''t I be offended that you''re making assumptions about me and Corvayne?¡±


    He rolled his eyes. He pointed at Wick, pointed at Corvayne, then held up a single finger. He was miming faster, face locked into a glower. Arm folding, his head tilted like a disapproving adult. Mimed throwing something in the air, then striding along and getting hit by it. Mimed firing an arrow, then pointed at his own heart and jabbed it with his finger, made a heart sign. At this point Mister I had stopped trying get Hari to try his bow and Mosh was just watching the exchange and Corvayne.


    He tried to review what he assumed the rather fast gestures Grunt used. Wick and Corvayne were one? Or maybe blurting out that Corvayne had only ever slept with her. He wasn''t happy about that. Wick had done something careless? Or she wasn''t thinking about consequences? He was thankful that everyone else was missing context. Grunt was currently miming something like a mixing bowl: No clue here.


    Wick seemed to understand. ¡°Well, Grunt, I''m not a damn kid, and he isn''t either. I know he didn''t put you up to this because he looks horrified. I wish you had his usual poker face though, because you''ve been FUCKING obvious about it from the get-go that you''re trying to...¡±


    Corvayne stepped between them and did his best to adopt a tone that mimed his father sorting out two Watchers having a dispute. ¡°Grunt. Wick. Thank you for both sticking up for me. I want to talk with you two, just the three of us, about your points. Later. After we set up a camp and have time to think about what you think is happening, and how that makes you feel, we''ll step out of camp. We are ALL tired. We are going to have people staying up to watch. So the entire staying warm problem will not require anyone sleeping with anyone else. We did good today.¡± He looked at Wick, then Grunt. Both seemed a little annoyed with him, but he kept going before Wick could open her mouth or before Grunt started miming opening a can of worms. ¡°You two are essential team members. More importantly you are my friends, my first ones.¡± He gave Wick a look in the eyes. She was fidgeting furiously, but looked down and away.


    ¡°Fine. I''ll hold off on this.¡± Wick said with a sigh.


    He turned to Grunt and gave him the same double barreled stare. Grunt sighed and nodded. He looked a little sheepish. Corvayne fist bumped his chest at Grunt. He turned and did the same to Wick. She rolled her eyes behind her glasses and made a really annoyed face but put her fist against her chest. ¡°You''re really a pain in the ass Corvayne.¡±


    They resumed walking. Grunt and Wick were still giving each other room as they walked through the forest. They took the left fork in the path near the entrance this time. This fork lead to a pair of shallow streams with rocks affording a crossing if they stepped across. There were more broken walls on either side of the path now. The yellow sky was still bright but the dot had moved closer to behind them. They had been in the dungeon now, thirteen hours? Fifteen? Maybe more. It would take them to dusk to backtrack to the entrance now. But the walls had what looked like collapsed homes near them, so he hoped to find another comfy spot to rest at.


    Corvayne crested a hill that he expected would be a pass into another vast forested valley and was surprised to see the path turning from packed blue dirt to grass matted stones ahead. A ruined village spread out beyond that, homes visible as well as roads where the brush hadn''t climbed so high. There was a square with a fountain housing a scraggly tree, houses covered in moss and vines, and even a collapsed bridge across a stream that he could see winding through the ruin. There were maybe twenty or thirty dwellings. What drew his eye, aside from forest, were the ridges that formed huge impenetrable walls on this floor met at a gap. It looked like there were fortifications up there, but he''d need to get closer to see what was beyond a stone arch he could make out over the trees.


    In stories, ruins would always be silent places, full of mists and dangers and shadows shifting. He was relived that the tower didn''t throw that at them. There were no skeletons laying about, though they did defeat some furry slugs. Mosh even tried to help in a fight by spraying salt at it. While it did irritate the monster he had to then run from the creature as it glided after him, trying to bash him.


    They were duitiful about checking the collapsed homes for chests too, moving as a group. He had Wick teach Hari and Mosh the Collective words for ''Clear'' and ''Help'' and ''Yes'' and ''No'' so they could at least start expressing themselves. They didn''t find any treasure, but the lack of anything lurking there was worth it.


    Corvayne motioned ahead. ¡°I want to look at the gate ahead, then we can come back and set up a camp in one of those ruins with most of the walls intact.¡±


    The paved road continued through the trees and opened up to a large stone arch over a long stone bridge reaching out into the yellow sky. Two tower-shaped gate houses flanked it, stone and overgrown with vines but still standing. He guessed the structures, despite their squat profile, were at least thirty feet high. Between them, a rusted gate made of bars hung open. The structure was like a dark gray line into the void. He had guessed things more than a few miles away didn''t block the ambient light. Near the horizon line and under it, the yellow had started to take on a deeper orange color as the light set.


    Corvayne turned to the group. ¡°Hari, do you happen to have methods of detecting traps?¡±


    She shifted her weight a little. ¡°I have something that I can use to evaluate hazards in a space, so yes. It exhausts me... I am sorry It''s something that... had I used it more... maybe they could have...¡±


    The mend was wearing off. ¡°Can you check the towers? We really appreciate your help. If they are safe we can claim them and have shelter for the night.¡±


    She nodded and held her hands up, stepping to the tower. ¡°This area is blue... weird.¡±


    ¡°Blue good or blue bad?¡±


    ¡°It''s safer than most places...¡± Hari looked about. ¡°Give me a moment and I''ll take another reading.¡±


    She stood before the other building. ¡°Blue as well. You get blue in safe inns, some temples, places warded... I''m just confused...¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°Mind walking with me back to the village? I want to see if the reading there is green or yellow.¡±


    That felt like a reasonable request. They wouldn''t too far not to be heard if they started shouting. ¡°Ok... do you guys want to explore the buildings while I take Hari back for a reading?¡±


    Grunt nodded and cracked his knuckles. He made a small cupped hands, then a big cupped hands, then wiggled the fingers. He then punched his palm, grinning: I really want to kill some giant spiders!


    Corvayne laughed a little. ¡°I hope for everyone''s sake there are no giant spiders in the tower. I''ll be no more than five minutes anyway.¡±


    Mister I waved. ¡°Later I want to see Hari fire a bow!¡± He mimed it.


    ¡°I heard him say my name... he seems convinced I should try my hand at archery.¡± She looked back.


    ¡°The elves in stories are almost always supernaturally skilled archers. I must admit, I''d love to see a master archer doing things such as splitting another arrow he shot in midair.¡±


    Hari put a hand against her face to block it off from Corvayne. ¡°I am sorry, I only really practiced with magic aiming...¡±


    Corvayne nodded as she trailed off. ¡°You are fine.¡±


    They reached the edge of the village. She once more held her hands up. ¡°It''s yellow. That''s usually safe enough to camp with a watch....¡± The woman stopped and bent over, putting her hands on her knees. ¡°Sorry.. can you... give...¡±


    ¡°Do you need to sit?¡±


    She nodded and he lead her over to a wall with a gap. She had to push herself up to reach a spot to sit and didn''t quite have her balance right. Hari started to slip backwards, hands reaching out to try to grab the brick around her perch. Corvayne caught her arm and her waist and pulled her forward to try to stabilize her, and she managed to avoid falling forward with a huff. He let her go and she started crying. Oh no. He should have seen this coming. Corvayne crouched near her.


    ¡°Hari it''s okay. You''re safe here.¡±


    She was a mess. ¡°I''m sorry. I''m trying. I didn''t see the ambush. It was my, I deserve...¡±


    ¡°HARI.¡± He''d yell her last name too but he honestly had forgotten it.


    She looked up eyes red. He softened his voice to be gentle. He had learned that from Spaces. Sometimes the man would just tell him facts in an even, low voice, and the flow of words would smooth everything out.


    ¡°Hari, I once asked my father why I ended up with him, instead of my mother. I was particularly angry at him. He was always angry at me. He looked at me and said ''Bad luck.''. Did you have issues in the ruins you were exploring before you came here?¡±


    She was confused. ¡°No. We at worst had a few mild injuries and some burns from slimes, but nothing serious.¡±


    Corvayne kept his confident tone of voice. ¡°Your team knew what to expect, and was prepared for it, and you were trialing with them, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes. They had mentioned I did my role well. I sensed a trap that had spawned in the way before anyone ran over it.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°They knew the risks of the dungeon and matched it with expertise. You understood what was going on too. You discussed what to expect in the ruins, you learned from it. Once you walked through the portal, you were all stumbling blindly in the dark. What happened to you was bad luck: Something unexpected and awful happened to you and you had no control over it. You had no reasonable way to find out that you''d get moved to a different world. You might go back and prepare for it now but there was nothing you failed to do before. Can you think back to your mentor? You mentioned someone teaching you to be an investigator.¡±


    She nodded sniffling. ¡°Lady Undine.¡±


    ¡°Did she try to talk to you about the risks of doing your job? Of working with adventurers?¡±


    Hari nodded.


    ¡°What did she say about when disaster strikes? Did she give you advice?¡±


    Hari bobbed her head again. ¡°She said that death throws darts in the dark. Endlessly tossing and missing. Then one day, he''ll hit one, then miss for years, then he''ll hit another, then miss for years, then one moment he takes three or four or five darts in his cold palm and flings them at the board carelessly and they all stick to the board it cannot see it''s winning or losing or anything it just reaches for the next one, a rain of time and chance. Idiots live all the time, and there''s never going to be a shortage of good dead adventurers. She told me that when one dies, or everyone else dies, I should...¡±


    She put her head in her hands. ¡°She said I should go home. See my family. Start one. Go drinking with friends. With my rivals. Embrace life.¡±


    ¡°Ok. I''ll get you home. To your family, friends, rivals, and your mentor too. Maybe see that half elf again.¡±


    She looked miserable. ¡°I cant... he was... uh... set to be married.¡±


    ¡°Did he tell you that when you went out for drinks? Or was it after you... set the record straight.¡± He shouldn''t pry but she brought it up.


    ¡°He waited until afterwords. Like, right afterwords! I was just sitting there, half drunk, in a strange inn bed trying to figure out what happened. It was also... my first time.¡±


    Corvayne looked around at the stone walls. Too much information. He understood that she needed to talk to someone, but he couldn''t look her in the face while he tried to think of what to say, and just started talking when that didn''t come up.


    ¡°Well, you had no way of knowing. After a bad first outing, I''m sure things went better?¡± Corvayne saw some sort of danger sign as he spoke. Shame crossed her face.


    ¡°No...¡±


    Corvayne nodded. The way she said it quietly filled him with anger, some at himself for an idiotic question, and more to the monster that he had already killed. ¡°I want you to be here, present, with me now. You''re safe. We will keep you safe. You''ve more than helped us with your skills. I will get you home. I killed that monster. Whatever... happened it isn''t your...¡±


    ¡°Wait wait wait! Hold up Corvayne! I didn''t... do that with a goblin!¡±


    Is that what breaks her out of a funk? He had been worried for her. Patience hat. She literally couldn''t talk to anyone else. Leader training: Leading is the worst job everyone wants to do. If you hate doing it, you probably understand why.


    ¡°You were hurt when we untied you. Are you OK?¡± Calm. Gentle. Firm. Understanding.


    ¡°No, but not just because of the monster... I felt like I deserved it. See... no... it''s that... the friend I slept with... was the party leader. I met him a few days before we went out to the ruins. I didn''t know he was engaged. I thought that it was fate. And I really got to know his bride, Floowine, on the patrol. She kept showing me the ring, and she was so happy to see another woman in the group because she wanted to talk about how they were going to get married and maybe settle down with something safer. She had a lady asking for her to be her court mage and thought that Khorkos marrying her meant he was ready too.¡±


    He thought of the dart board metaphor that she had described to him. In combining both ''This is my last job then I''m out.'' and ''I''m going to get married when we get back from this adventure.'' was like jumping up and down on the board with a flare yelling ''Death! Death! Over here!''.


    ¡°And I liked her! He acted distant from me and Floowine joked that he was so worried about making sure she didn''t get jealous of me... She invited me to the wedding. Right before the last attack she was telling me we''d get out of this together... and now she''s... I can''t even tell her what I did to her...¡±


    He knew there was guilt at being the one person to walk away from a slaughter. One of the cooks would sometimes need to leave the building and be alone. The story was that a trader''s caravan was attacked by a roc. The huge birds knew to stay away from the village, but attacked traders, and it was eating them when the patrol arrived. The bird took the cart with it when it scattered, with people inside. The group followed it to it''s roost in the deep desert. The cook usually broke down if he was telling the story there, whatever happened in the deep desert weighing on him. Others would always add that he had come out of the desert covered in wounds, blood, and had a living trader''s daughter in his arms. The monster flying off was the last Roc anyone ever saw to the day he left. Corvayne had always longed to be seen with even a fraction of the respect every warrior gave that broken cook.


    ¡°Hari, look at me. You didn''t do anything wrong. You didn''t know. She would have forgiven you. You are young. This is going to hurt you, but you will get better. You didn''t give up. You''re a survivor. Someday, you''ll be better. Ok? It''s going to hurt. You''ll find people who can share that burden.¡± He heard snapping sounds. Then relaxed when he glanced back and saw Grunt was gathering firewood bare handed. ¡°Come on, let''s get a fire going and warm up, and get some sleep. There are better days ahead.¡± He decided this time to not pose it as a question.

 Chapter 19: Matryoshka Dungeon

    On the walk back to the two stone gatehouses Corvayne gave Hari space. He focused on keeping an eye out for danger as the elf woman obviously was still upset. Back at camp he could see the group settling in: Wick was taking readings and writing them down in a notebook. Grunt was hauling wood into one of the gate houses. Mister I had Mosh helping him with cleaning a painted dog for supper.


    ¡°Ah Corvayne! Good news! We''ve discovered another chest and an interesting feature. Also, I''d like you to help me talk to Mosh. I''m curious if I can perform the same mending ritual as him.¡±


    ¡°Boss! Good news, the other side has a chest and a weird pillar. We left it because, well, the elf does it better. Also, my bracer has started cracking context. I''ll be speaking whatever it is they speak in no-time! Oh, maybe you can parrot someone for a couple of minutes while just talk? It might push it to morning.¡±


    He looked between the two. He was curious about the bracer comment. The goblin had nothing visible on his arms. ¡°You both asked for basically the same thing. I''m going to lay out my bedroll and let Hari sleep. I will take first watch then either sleep on stones or take a bed from someone going third.¡± He wrapped his cloak around his form, a rare breeze from the gate carrying a hint of the night''s cold. He caught himself looking over at Wick: he had two conversations then where he was going to act as a go-between. She still looked annoyed while she tinkered. He had a sense that she could have finished sooner, and in the same way Grunt had collected enough wood for the entire night but was still going back to snap trees. He gestured for Hari to follow him into the watchtower.


    The interior of the tower was a simple circle with a stone stairway leading upwards. A depression and stone steps down into it was built into the stone floor on one side and had an ash marked fire pit and a chimney. He picked a spot far from the door and laid down his bedroll and blanket. She took the airfoil rapier out of her belt and handed it to Corvayne, then went over to Grunt''s pile of stuff and withdrew the staff he had offered to carry for her.


    ¡°Are you sure? It''s fine if you sleep with the blade nearby.¡±


    Hari looked embarrassed and once more avoided looking Corvayne in the face as she stammered. Oh. She thought he was ugly. ¡°No... I don''t want Wick to be angry at me.¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°She is upset at Grunt... and me, probably.¡± The elf sat back up but he held a hand out. ¡°Rest. I''m probably going to cover your watch.¡±


    She glanced over at him then looked away again. ¡°Sir Corvayne I am sorry. I feel guilty that you''re working so hard to cover for me...¡±


    He laughed. ¡°We got that potion, the artifact, and they added a chest to open and probably more things to sort through. You''re keeping us safe from possible harmful or cursed items.¡±


    ¡°It''s... pretty rare that something is cursed...¡± Hari was about to get started again. Corvayne held a hand up.


    ¡°Sleep. Or just lay on the roll. We''ll get a fire started soon.¡±


    After she laid down Corvayne took a moment to peek at the upstairs. The building had a second floor supported by molded stones. From the second floor, a wide window and balcony gave him a good view of the ruined town as the sky turned maroon. He stood there for a good minute, just taking in the view. Treasure, fighting, confidence issues, and his role as both leader and translator. He saw there was a stairway up to the roof and climbed to the top of the tower then looked back at the bridge. It was a black line in the fading dusk, drawn into the wine red sky. It would look sinister except stars were starting to emerge. He took a few breaths, looking both up at the array of stars and also down, the top and bottom of what felt like a dome reaching night sooner then a ring of faint orange-amber. This was what he had been begging for, every day, for years: a party, the stress of working with them, the promise of treasure balanced by the background of danger. The view too: he had read about so many worlds he had wanted to see. It was hard work. He could probably stay up another two days jogging but he was secretly looking forward to being on watch and not having to talk. Oh, but had to talk with Wick and come up with a watch order.


    His minute to himself had, he walked down the steps and returned to the room they were using as a camp. Grunt was grabbing another tree and Mosh and Mister I were cooking. He was surprised to see Wick taking her bedroll up the stairs. He walked back up to let her pass.


    ¡°Wick... are you sure you want to sleep away from the fire? It''s going to be freezing.¡±


    She shrugged the shoulder of her free arm. ¡°I''ll be fine. I make a lot of noise if I have a nightmare.¡±


    Corvayne wished he could help her. ¡°Ok... I''m going to talk to... with you and Grunt after dinner.¡±


    ¡°What do you think of the goblin and the elf?¡± She said as she laid out her bed roll, then sat on it.


    Corvayne took a deep breath. No breaks from talking. ¡°They seem genuine. Mosh seems grateful to have someone to talk to. I never felt him sizing my back up when I took him out scouting. He claims he wants to just get out of here as quick as possible but I think he''s enjoying the exploring and finding treasure part. He''s getting better about staying in formation. Maybe loan him the boar spear so he can keep things away from himself until we can get him out. Oh, Hari wanted you to have some time with the Rapier.¡± He felt odd standing and took a seat next to her.


    ¡°You had a long talk with her.¡± Wick gave him a grin. ¡°Already hitting it off?¡±


    ¡°I have a lot of reasons not to. First: She''s dealing with guilt and feeling isolated. I don''t want to be courting someone when they are vulnerable.¡±


    ¡°It''s cute you want to court girls.¡± Wick didn''t seem to be mocking him. She was instead looking out the door at the sky and stars starting to come out.


    ¡°Even if you set aside morals, giving Hari more emotions to think about seems like a poor decision for the group''s success. Second: I''m dealing with the stress of stumbling over new problems, personal and practical. I''m still figuring out both what I want in this world and how to get it. I know I can seem a little, lost, but I was just thinking about how I''m happy to have a different kind of stress. It''s worth the view.¡± He gestured forward, and Wick nodded in agreement. She leaned over and put her head on his arm. He stilled the desire to put his arm around her.


    ¡°Third: I get the sense she''s young. I assume she''s an adult as she seems to have a career planned, but she was new to her group and said some other things that put my estimate as ''barely an adult''. I know I''m barely an adult too.¡±


    ¡°You got a job. You moved out of your parents place. You have killed hundreds of monsters.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Wick. But yeah, I''d also rule her out if she''s the elf equivalent of a teenager. Fourth point is sort of similar: Time frame. Our goal is to get her home. That might happen when we exit. Or next weekend. Her access to this place is in a very dangerous ruin. I don''t know if it''s fair to start a relationship that''s just going to end.¡±


    Wick rubbed her hair against his sleeve and forarm. ¡°You have good points with regards to Hari. Don''t feel guilty though about one night stands.¡±


    ¡°I''m going to be supportive, friendly, and maybe keep her a little busy so that she doesn''t get stuck in her thoughts.¡± It worked sometimes for him: When he was busy he didn''t have time to chew himself out in his own head. Mostly.


    Wick turned her head to look up at him. ¡°Corvayne, how about you? Are you doing ok?¡±


    ¡°Two strangers popping into the mix that both require me to translate took what I had conceptualized as a camping trip with occasional combat into a sort of trial-by-fire.¡± He paused and inhaled. The cold air had a trace of cooked meat slipping into the smell of pine that most of the floor smelled of. ¡°You are also on my mind. You spent a lot of today scowling.¡±


    ¡°I''m a little annoyed you talked to Grunt. I sort of expected it. But he got into his head that he knows what I want better then I do. Fuck that. I''m a grown-ass woman. No height jokes. You should be mad too: he was acting like you were passed out or something.¡±


    ¡°I am sorry. I failed you: Grunt figured it out when I asked him if he thought Mister I would be a good neutral party to talk to. He got upset that I wasn''t talking to him, then was upset that I thought it would be hard to have a conversation about my internal problems, and then he guessed what happened more or less. I had hoped he understood I was just venting.¡±


    ¡°He is a perceptive bastard at times. So you were upset with me? Why do you think you can''t talk to me?¡±


    Ok, he was a little frustrated now. ¡°What did you ask me not to bother you with?¡±


    ¡°Mushy shit. You agreed to it.¡±


    ¡°That''s exactly what I did. You... I mean... It did not make the last week easy. Talking to Grunt helped me deal with my feelings. I have feelings by the way. For you. I tried my best to just keep it in and deal with it, but I''m weak and needed help. I didn''t mean to get you two at each other''s throats.¡± Better to be straightforward.


    Wick was still a moment. ¡°Wait...¡±


    She sat up. ¡°Are you a dipshit? Fuck... I''m sorry. Let me start again: Did you think I meant you couldn''t talk to me? I should say, I thought I had pissed you off. Look me in the eyes.¡±


    She looked at him with the stare from before but it softened. ¡°It''s okay to have feelings for me. It doesn''t make me mad that you like me. It makes me happy. I like you too. I just don''t want... attachment. When I think about someone constantly touching me, or trying to buy me with gifts... it feels fake. No, it grosses me out and scares me. I don''t feel comfortable with someone doting on me. I don''t want to feel like I''m being hunted... I actually like that you are really reserved. I got issues, weird thoughts that scare me and all the stuff couples do really freaks me out for some reason. See, it''s confusing. I don''t understand why I''m the way I am, how the hell could you?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Can you tell me what doesn''t bother you?¡±


    ¡°I''m fine with you liking me. No PDA. If you really need something like a date... I feel safer if you take me out in a group. A double date. I really like that you wait for me to do things, but talk to me if you need something. I''m fine with kissing you in private, and if we are fucking. I''m okay with you calling me to talk. I''m down to hear whatever weird shit you''re into.. except biting me. I hate the terms girlfriend, lover, and so on. I like partner better because it''s even. I want our arrangement to be open. I have a few guys on my phone who are pretty much just for sex. Mostly scumbags.¡± She shrugged. ¡°I''m okay with being each-others primary. You know, our go-to. You look like you have a question.¡±


    He thought about what was important to him. ¡°Can I get you to wear a dress... in private?¡±


    ¡°I basically don''t own any. Are we bargaining?¡±


    ¡°Women in the village only ever wore dresses and makeup for specific formal events. I was never invited, so it was like looking from afar at entirely different people. Attractive strangers rather then well toned tormenters who hated my guts.¡±


    ¡°I''ll try it but it might freak me out. I might lock myself in the bathroom for a few days.¡±


    ¡°I hope Grunt keeps his bathroom clean then. So... I''ll use some of the money I made walking in circles protecting fork lifts to buy something. You look great when you take those glasses off.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t complain before.¡± She looked down, sheepish.


    ¡°I did. Silently. In my head.¡± He watched Wick pull her glasses up and lick her lips. Then put them back down and stick her tongue out. Corvayne sweetened the deal. ¡°If you wear a dress, I''ll come to you covered in monster blood with meat.¡±


    ¡°Damn you got my number. Let go eat something. We can take watch together if you need to talk more.¡±


    ¡°If I could stop talking today that''d be great. But I got two more possibly long conversations.¡± Enough bitching. He stood up and offered a hand to help her up. She took the hand and pulled herself to her feet.


    ¡°Are they time critical?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I can put Mosh and Mister I off I think to tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Blow them off. Take watch with me and stare at the endless dark beyond our fire light together, that work?¡±


    ¡°I''ll check with my partner. Might be too romantic.¡±


    She laughed at that.


    He walked downstairs and was pleased to see that Hari was asleep. A little less she was drooling onto his pillow. Grunt was eating alone, back to everyone. Well, that might be his next problem. Corvayne ate quickly, which prompted Mister I to scold him in a friendly tone to savor the meat. He slowed down when he saw Wick taking her sweet time.


    He went over and sat next to Grunt. ¡°How you doing?¡±


    The big man tilted his hand back and forth: So-So.


    ¡°Ok. I talked to Wick a little. I''m glad you are looking out for me here. Can we go upstairs and just establish what we are all thinking? That and hash out watch order.¡±


    Grunt grunted with a slight nod.


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    When he was done he caught Wick''s eye as she was sitting by the fire finishing her meal and pointed up. The three of them went up the stairs then sat in a circle on the stone floor. Wick turned on a flashlight and pointed it up so there was enough light to see what Grunt was saying. Corvayne reflected that it was surprising that Grunt would pick a fight about him with Wick. He wondered if maybe he knew what the scoop was with Wick. He took a breath in and out. Patience.


    ¡°Ok. So let me state what I think happened, and we''ll give you turns to agree or disagree and add to it. Then try to reach an understanding.¡±


    Both of them nodded, so he continued.


    ¡°The background is that me and Wick spent a night together. Grunt stop trying to get me to laugh.¡± The big man was just miming finger sex. Some never-indulged part of Corvayne that was 13 thought it was hilarious. ¡°Anyway, I understood that to mean she didn''t want me to get attached at all. I spoke with Grunt to help sort things out. I think perhaps I don''t always understand the nuance of what he''s emoting, because it didn''t seem like he was angry at any point during the talk. He correctly identified that I have complex feelings, positive ones, but complex ones with regards to Wick and how our relationship as friends, partners, and friends with benefits as well as the idea of persuing other people.¡±


    Wick held a hand up. Corvayne gestured for her to speak.


    ¡°I want to say sorry to Corvayne. I asked him to basically never talk about anything that he felt because I assumed he understood what I wanted and I probably used the wrong words.¡±


    ¡°Apology accepted. So today, you and Grunt had an argument. I don''t know if anything Grunt expressed was malicious or just teasing. Either way, both of you were upset because, as far as I understand, Wick doesn''t want her friends to publicly announce who she''s sleeping with and Grunt felt that there was a problem with how she was keeping me at a distance.¡±


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Grunt pointed at Wick, then Corvayne and stood then mimed pushing away, then started to turn and keep pushing in a full circle. Then he looked around sadly, and curled up into a ball. He unfurled back to sitting and made a big X with both arms: Wick, you pushed Corvayne away. You push everyone who gets close away. I refuse to let you just be alone.


    Wick took a deep breath and took a few moment to respond. ¡°Thank you for worrying. I need different things then most people and don''t like what they do. But I care about my friends. I''m lucky that you and Dawn helped me out when I was new to town. I know it''s hard to see me years later and not to see a lost and sad girl.¡±


    Grunt sighed. He then bowed his head: I''m sorry too. He mimed a beard and a paunch (ok he didn''t need to mime it, he had a gut) then an X, then removed one set of fingers to make a slash and tapped his head, then his heart. He pointed two fingers at his eyes, then at Wick, then put his head high: I''m not your dad. But that won''t stop me from caring about you. I see you and am proud.


    Corvayne wasn''t sure it was correct but Wick sighed. ¡°I care about you too Grunt. Can we cut out the sappy shit and have a good clean day of dungeon fun tomorrow? Everyone done? Good. Watch order... Corvayne said he''d double up to let Hari sleep. First watch him and Mosh. Second me and him. Third you and Mister I, let me and him sleep in a little.¡±


    Grunt nodded, then made a very delicate hands held up and slowly moving back to him. Wick sighed and nodded. ¡°Go ahead ask it.¡±


    He took his two pointer fingers, held them together, then laid them down with a questioning look. He held up a hand, then pulled a blanket out, and mimed sleeping on, waking up, then offering it to Corvayne with a questioning look: I don''t know what your plan is, but I''m fine letting Corvayne use my blanket.


    ¡°We''ll hash it out on watch.¡±


    [98.1%]


    Corvayne woke up, and had to let his half asleep brain catch up to where he was. He saw an open door, stone, Wick''s hair down. Oh. He and Wick had crawled into bed still dressed and passed out after Grunt relieved them. The morning air was cold. The bedroll was warm. Maybe she''d wake up and they would...


    ¡°It''s a thousand degrees in this thing.¡± Wick muttered as she unzipped it. Corvayne accepted defeat and got up, picking his spear up as he started doing his forms.


    She stopped whatever she was doing to watch. ¡°Do you use any of those in combat?¡±


    ¡°It''s a lot of fancy stuff that you might need if your weapon gets knocked into the wrong spot and you need to bring it back to between you and them in a moment. The most important thing for me is that it''s familiar. I could just do some regular stretches... but I think it helps to make it less of an implement and more an extension of my body.¡±


    ¡°Would I distract you?¡±


    He thought: I would like that, thank you. ¡°I can do it in my sleep.¡± He started going through the motions.


    She let out a little half bark and half laugh. ¡°Can you talk while doing it?¡±


    ¡°I''ll be absent minded.¡± He spun and practiced stepping back while swinging. He was considering the monster fights.


    ¡°We should set some of the stuff we find aside to sell.¡± He nodded while switching hands, stances, grips. Flowing from offense to warding, to overhead, down to a knee for stopping a charge.


    ¡°I think if we find toys or nick-knack magic especially. See, I know someone I could sell the boots too already and they''d pay a fortune but it''s tricky: We need a lot of stuff. Even these climbing gloves were the difference between us living and possibly being ripped apart by trees last time.¡±


    ¡°Two chests yesterday though.¡± He swing and switched stances.


    ¡°We haven''t opened the other one yet. It''s insane that you don''t just go right for treasure chests Corvayne. Everyone wants to know what''s in it!¡±


    ¡°I''ve spent a lot of time living in a stone room in the desert.¡± He huffed as he swung his spear then rolled it across. ¡°I don''t put as much value on stuff... well the dragon head because one: it''s just cool.¡±


    Wick laughed. ¡°It''s only the size of a large dog.¡±


    ¡°Two and more importantly: it reminds me of us fighting our way through this tower together.¡±


    She went red. ¡°You''re putting your toe on the line of mushy shit! Back off... and take your shirt off!¡±


    ¡°Sure thing, miss wasn''t-really-asleep.¡± He took his sweet time, pretending that the process of removing a shirt had to be done very carefully, wiping his brow as if he was covered in sweat. Payback for her workout clothes.


    ¡°Well keep going!¡± She was watching from the bedroll. He tossed the shirt next to her.


    ¡°So today, we open the chest, check out the bridge. Maybe look at more of this floor for other chests or strange features.


    Wick nodded while taking his shirt and feeling the fabric. ¡°I think we drink that potion as soon as we know what it is.¡±


    ¡°I won''t if it''s mutation.¡± It was still too chilly without a shirt. He pushed the dance a little faster to try to warm up.


    He spared a glance. Wick was giving him a stare that he met for a little while spinning and sliding the spear around the open floor of the second floor. He cleared out the extra stuff in his head, including that Wick was looking at him like a slab of meat. He was in a better place today. She also seemed to have mellowed out. He spent a few minutes on shuffling and striking, finally reaching a point where the cool air felt good. Looking out the door at the trees and sky made him ready and excited to keep exploring. After all, he had sorted out that Wick was okay with his feelings.


    He noticed someone spying on him though: Hari was just watching him do his forms from the stair. He stopped, and Wick turned to follow his look.


    Hari noticed she was on the spot and ducked down, looking away. ¡°Sorry! Breakfast was ready, and Grunt suggested I see if you two were awake. Sorry!¡±


    Corvayne looked over at Wick then looked back at Hari. ¡°We''ll be down in a few minutes.¡±


    Hari dipped all under the rim of the stairs then scurried away.


    ¡°Hmm. Looks like you gave her the full blast. Put your shirt on before breakfest.¡±


    ¡°It''s your fault it''s off... I guess that means Hari wants to look at chests as well.¡±


    Wick pointed at Corvayne. ¡°As if YOU don''t like them either. Everyone agrees! Breakfest then treasure!¡±


    Everyone was up. Grunt had gathered more wood. Perhaps they would camp here again: the towers were defensible and very comfortable with flat stone floors. Mister I served eggs with mimic meat. Corvayne and Wick had to wait, being the last two awake. They heard Grunt dragging something across the ground outside. He just brought the chest across the way to them.


    ¡°No traps then?¡± He asked.


    Grunt gestured at the elf, who responded with. ¡°Yes. Clear!¡±


    Mister I clapped. ¡°A fast study of languages!¡±


    Grunt opened it, and took out a pouch then a longsword in a sheath. Opening the pouch they found mostly silver coins. He also pulled out a scroll. It was in a case marked with an painted directional arrow pointed to a pillar standing in a circle. He offered them to the elf woman who was waiting near where he set the chest down.


    Hari took them. ¡°The blade is a common enchanted longsword. It''s got durability and sharpness on it. The scroll is exceptional quality...¡± She gently passed the blade to Grunt, who gave it to Corvayne. Couldn''t hurt, beat using a machete if he was going to fight with a sword.


    Hari had moved onto the scroll. ¡°It has something to do with teleporting to a specific object.¡±


    ¡°They mentioned a pillar in the other room... Let''s look.¡±


    Corvayne went to the other tower. Inside was a similar set up but with a twelve foot tall pillar of stone at the center of a stone circle there. The others came with him. The surface was smooth but dull, with carved runes in even rows of 5 all around six segments.


    Corvayne leaned over a little while keeping his eyes on the structure. ¡°Hari what''s this pillar feel like?¡±


    ¡°It feels like... a safe spot? No. The word I get is a waypoint. It seems like it''s... made to be easy to identify. My instincts are telling me it''s safe. I''m going to try touching it.¡±


    She strode forward and put her hand on it, and the pillar glowed blue faintly, blue lines for a moment dancing over the stone then fading back to gray.


    She stepped away and looked a little sheepish as she spoke. ¡°um... sorry. If it''s supposed to do something, I cannot figure it out.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°As long as it isn''t hostile, that''s a start.¡± He touched it himself, and this time the pillar glowed brightly, the entire pillar started humming and sections shifted... then settled with runes glowing blue.


    ¡°I feel it. You did something... like attune to the pillar.¡± She closed her eyes and turned. ¡°It''s like I can tell which way it is... Why did it work for you to attune me but not me for myself?¡±


    ¡°Why do I understand you and Mosh? My guess has something to do with a weird wizard living in the village I grew up in. I was told to go do... something vague about fighting other wizards. It was not much of a quest. But perhaps I got some help from him.¡±


    He looked at the pillar. He had charged it with something. It also felt like he could... slide to it?


    Corvayne stepped away from the pillar, out the door. Then he turned and focused on it.


    Everything blurred and he found himself at the pillar.


    Wick pointed. ¡°It''s a warp point!¡± She started setting up equipment around it.


    Corvayne took a step and staggered. He had only been up for what, a half an hour? ¡°Careful, the pillar sucked me dry to move about thirty feet.¡±


    Grunt wanted to try it anyway, stepping out then squishing his face with his hands to psych up. He stomped a foot, then blurred forward. A little cloud of blue runes marked where he lept from. He stood, wobbly, at the marker. Corvayne offered a shoulder for Grunt to lean on. Of course that might have been a mistake: Grunt was about 400 pounds of muscle under what Corvayne guessed was a very thin layer of fat.


    He tried not to sag. ¡°Dang. Grunt, you''re coming jogging with us.¡±


    He made a frowny face, then shakily made a heart then a circle he mimed eating: I''m sorry everyone, I love donuts.


    Wick was running all around, testing something with a tool that looked like a microphone. ¡°Corvayne! Come out here! Stand here...¡±


    He left the door of the tower and walked to where she was. She then circled all around him with the microphone looking thing. ¡°Trying to get the perfect picture?¡± He was getting cold and was ready to start exploring the bridge.


    ¡°No... there''s some sort of tether between you and this thing. But there''s also faint other tethers in the air. So maybe there''s another pillar somewhere... up? Or someone else touched it and is further up on floor 3.¡±


    ¡°I want to shelve this: We don''t know what lines coming off it tell us. I think we explore the bridge, and then come back here before nightfall and camp at the tower again.¡±


    Wick looked around. ¡°All right. But I''m going to keep taking readings.¡±


    ¡°I don''t mean to stop you, but I wanna see what''s over the bridge too.¡±


    Corvayne played translator as they were walking on the bridge. Namely between Mosh explaining how devotion to Lythandies was expressed, and as best he could the details of how he joined by crafting his own altar/work bench. It was a lead up to mend, which Mister I was interested in.


    ¡°It sounds interesting. I''d like to see if building an altar would open a pact like Mosh has with her.¡±


    Corvayne repeated one sentence.


    Mosh liked to gesture with his hands while he spoke. ¡°The more important thing is understanding that the more you bring what she is about into the world, the stronger she can act through you. It''s okay to fight, but gods help you if you do something stupid like smash someone else''s work. She''s the builder, after all.¡±


    Corvayne repeated it verbatim, applying as much of Mosh''s tone and cadence as he could.


    ¡°Hey Boss, you''re a really good parrot!¡±


    Corvayne repeated it, but put emphasis on all the wrong words and said it in a sing-song voice.


    ¡°Ok fine I appreciate you doing this for me Boss.¡±


    He looked between the two. He couldn''t wait for the auto translator to kick in.


    On the other hand: There wasn''t really anything else to do. The wide bridge now was far enough from the towers that the ledge was a mere outline behind them. One thing that was a little weird was that as he walked, he swore the sky was slowly changing it''s yellow hue to a grayish color.


    Wick noticed too. ¡°The sky is changing color, but this doesn''t match day night...¡±


    Corvayne interrupted the two chatting to comment.


    ¡°There was a floor where the colors were normal... It could mean something.¡±


    The sky kept changing, the color turning from yellow to yellowish-grey to a sort of sickly greenish midnight blue hue. More importantly, ahead of them a dark shape was starting to form out of the mist. Corvayne saw what looked like a floating mountain but with hard cuts and sloped shapes suggesting a building. The word that came to mind as the features started to emerge from the mist was imposing. By the time they reached the wide open steel gates, Corvayne could see before him a huge castle. The sky was now a midnight blue, cloaking everything in an oppressive dim light. Above, bleak black clouds swirled around the tower at the top. He saw stone towers, huge windows with broken panes of glass, walls within walls with steel fences and perilous looking bridges. Closer to the ground, the fortress had what looked like a tightly packed city at it''s base. There was evidence that someone lived in this place once: Baskets laying in the road, empty. A wagon parked near an open shop door. Tatters of banners or flags that hung from some of the buildings.


    Corvayne saw there was an out of place flat metal tablet facing out to the side of the open gate. When he went up to it, a pictogram appeared. This one was a skull drawing. It quickly displayed six stick figures, with little details to suggest the party they had. The image was in an angry red. Then it slowly started adding generic stick figures, turning orange, then was yellow once it had drawn three rows of six.


    Mister I mused. ¡°I think it''s saying going in with so few people would be dangerous.¡±


    Wick tapped Corvayne on the shoulder. ¡°Ask Hari to take a reading.¡±


    He turned to the elf, who was in the back looking a little intimidated. ¡°Hari, can you give us the danger level here?¡±


    The elf nodded. She then widened her eyes. ¡°It''s... a really deep red ahead. If we go inside, we are going to be in for a fight...¡±


    The swirling clouds started to part, letting a pair of moons with skulls imprinted on them shine down on the fortress. As the moonlight bathed the street, phantasms appeared, drifting along the streets in glowing green configurations.


    ¡°We step in there, we are getting swarmed.¡± Corvayne was thinking about it, to be honest. Would there be a reward worth the risk? Or was it just a sealed off dangerous area?


    Mosh said it ¡°Well, fuck. There''s another dungeon in the dungeon!¡±

 Chapter 20: What Were Here For

    The group all took a few steps back from the open gate. Everyone had seen the drifting clouds of ghosts and while they were not paying the group any mind no one wanted to be the first to draw their ire. Corvayne didn''t have experience with them outside of stories, but he was pretty sure they''d react once someone stepped inside the city. Corvayne''s gaze drifted across the square before him, tracing the moon lit stones, bluish ghosts, and ruined buildings. He hadn''t planned on going in, but something caught his eye.


    He didn''t look away from the floating figures in the square as he softly said ¡°Hari, can you gauge say, how strong monsters are?¡±


    When he wasn''t looking at her the response seemed more confident. ¡°I have to be closer. I''m going to say that fighting a ghost is much harder then most monsters. Hard to see, immune to normal physical attacks, nearly immune to enchanted arms, can attack you through your armor, some of them just drain your life, will move through objects to follow you.¡±


    It was good she was feeling better, even if the news was less then welcome. He turned to her ¡°Ok. So can you assess people?¡±


    She looked both ways, then nodded and lowered her head and voice. ¡°um, I can but it''s sort of rude.¡±


    That''s a little puzzling. ¡°How would it be rude?¡±


    She rubbed one of her fingers with her other thumb in a circle. ¡°It''s like, if you... It''s like lifting someone''s skirt to get a good look.¡±


    He heard Wick snicker. Corvayne couldn''t fathom why Hari had picked that. ¡°How about we say it''s like stopping someone''s car to look under the hood?¡±


    ¡°What''s a car?¡± She blinked and tilted her head up. Corvayne held a hand up.


    ¡°Would it bother you to look at me and gauge how strong I am, then see if you can do the same to a ghost?¡±


    Hari nodded and put a hand on Corvayne''s chest. Well, she hadn''t lied: With her hand sort of rubbing his shirt he did feel VERY uncomfortable. He saw Wick looking at Hari annoyed, but then Wick looked at him and he saw the anger instantly replaced with amusement, so much that she started cackling which made him feel even more embarrassed.


    Hari was ignoring Wick and spoke as she continued to trace her hands over his shirt. ¡°Since I already told you about item tiers... if you were an item I''d say you were exceptional going into apex. I''m surprised... you had told me you were new to adventuring. This is the assessment I''d expect out of someone who''s been exploring and fighting for years.¡°


    It would be nice if she could pin down what that meant. ¡°I did a lot of fighting monsters in the desert when I''d do patrols. This is the first dive I''ve ever done.¡±


    Hari looked between him and the quietly drifting mass of ghosts. ¡°Well unless you have a way of fighting an army of ghosts, I think we should...¡±


    ¡°Does your skill let you get anything at all from afar? I''m asking because there''s a chest in that doorway across the way.¡±


    Everyone heard that and turned as one to look. Mosh laughed. ¡°I see it! Oh man you got good eyes Boss!¡±


    Grunt used two fingers to clap. Oh he knew this one: A ''Golf'' clap.


    Hari turned back to Corvayne. ¡°I don''t want to... I feel...¡± He waited as she blinked her eyes. ¡°I owe you my life. It''s not worth going in there, and you um... what about your friends? How many ghosts are going to come running out after them when you get drained to death trying to stop one ghost?¡±


    He looked at Hari and gave her a level look. ¡°I''m going to absolutely crush them unless they are all on the level of my trainers. Even then, they are fighting at a tremendous disadvantage.¡± He shot a glance over to Wick. ¡°Can you give me the rapier?¡±


    He accepted the thin weapon then turned back to see Hari was giving him some sort of look that was either her being worried or perhaps she was distraught because he didn''t think she was correct. Hari turned around and started staring at a ghost. Corvayne guessed it was some sort of extra level of effort to do whatever she was doing: he could see her standing so rigid she shoke a little and that one of her fists was clenched so hard it was white. She managed to break through and let the tension in her drop so fast that she stumbled a step back. Hari sounded a little tired as she turned around and reported facing the rest of the group.


    ¡°Notable ranked risk. Keep in mind it''s relative to me. But it does mean that each individual one is weaker then you. That hardly matters because there''s at least a hundred. If three touch you that could be enough to disable you.¡±


    He gave a little flourish and salute with the Airfoil ¡°Thank you Hari. I''ll get this back to you quickly Wick.¡±


    Wick didn''t share his assessment. ¡°Corvayne you sure? That''s a lot of...¡±


    Watching the ghosts he felt more sure he could handle them. But she had a point. ¡°Mosh, if you could please make a line of salt blocking the entrance, and ask for Lythandies to bless it? It would put my mind at ease knowing the rest of you are harder to reach.¡±


    Mosh looked at him like he was crazy for a half second but then grinned and said ¡°Sure thing Boss!¡±


    Mister I was concerned now. ¡°I understand wanting to climb out on a narrow branch to taste the juiciest apple on the tree, but you are taking a risk...¡±


    Corvayne nodded at him. ¡°I agree. However: I don''t think this is a dumb risk. It is a risk, but my gut instincts and my mind both agree I''m going to be able to carve my way to the chest and back without issues, especially with the airfoil. Please move back, perhaps have Grunt with his boots wait near here to warn you if I''m completely wrong and set off a ghost explosion on this floor.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Okay. I trust you. I also agree... we need things for money. We need gear for Hari to fight her way home. We need magic to get more magic.¡±


    Corvayne turned to Grunt, who just nodded. X fingers then tapped his belly, X fingers then raised hand: No guts, No glory.


    He wanted to try to get everyone on board. ¡°Mister I... if I kill enough ghosts there might be ectoplasm you can cook with.¡±


    ¡°That would still technically be cannibalism wouldn''t it?¡± The monk frowned with his brow furrowed, then slowly looked up and raised an eyebrow instead. ¡°Unless...¡±


    Hari folded her arms. ¡°How are you going to deal with the chest if there''s a trap?¡±


    Corvayne had missed a detail. That''s why he appreciated the people with him. ¡°Good point. Stick close to my back once I start wading in. Everyone else, back up. If I get into trouble, do your shadow step to Grunt.¡±


    The elf looked fully horrified at this. ¡°Wait wait wait!¡±


    ¡°I understand. I''ll go clear the entire square.¡±


    He put his pack down, only taking the rapier, his spear, and firebreathing dagger. He let his cloak unfurl to full length. Mosh quickly put a line of salt down. ¡°Boss I just wanted to say, it was a real pleasure working with you.¡±


    Corvayne rolled his eyes, then stepped over the line of salt and waited for everyone to back up a few hundred feet.


    He made sure he was limber and started using his eyes to track ghosts movements. Where the were flowing. There were clumps... and some strays. First, double check they were hostile. He stepped into the gate, and all the ghosts visible turned and stopped, staring at him. Check complete.


    The ghost closest to him, about twenty feet away, howled in a low sorrowful tone then drifted at him at the rate of a jog, bluish claws out, face twisting from a sullen villager to a glowing blue skull with empty eye sockets. More were turning and howling and shifting in appearance from harmless spirits to vengful shades.


    He strode forward and activated [Light Cut] as the rapier thrust into the first ghost. The blade gleamed white as it touched the creature with just the tip, the blade''s speed urging his arm to pop back out. He did again, activating [Light cut] once more, and again, and again. With six thrusts and six steps he had tagged six ghosts. Each of them shone with light where they had been stabbed, then splattered into a glittering mess with a faint squelching noise. The rapier was a perfect match for the ability, despite the name of the skill using the word cut.


    He looked the clumps of spirits floating across the street and over abandoned carts and crates. He could outrun them, but he would need to make room before they just washed over him. Corvayne started running, boots hitting the cobbled stone as he dashed at the concentration of enemies on the far left, blade popping out in a barrage of rainbow colors as he activated [Light cut] over and over, blade trailing radiant energy. He hardly had to stop running forward as he slew an entire pack of ghosts with rapid burst of the skill.


    Some of the ghosts he had popped seemed to have a core: uneven rainbow stones that clattered on the ground as he stopped his rush and pivoted, already drawing the rapier in for another barrage of jabs, each time meeting the next clump of ghosts. They seemed endless but each cluster who floated at him was giving him ground to work around the crowd as they drifted after him, arms outstretched.


    It wasn''t just his sword arm either that was keeping the monsters at bay: his shadowy hand jabbed at a loner ghost, and the limb was unharmed but cold after somehow knocking the incorporeal spirit back. He focused on his footwork, on his blade: Jab, pivot, then attack in a barrage. He had probably dispatched fifty of the monsters and was drifting back to the gate to cut his way to the right side of the plaza before he noticed a few of the monsters acting odd.


    One of the ghosts who was a little slower grabbed it''s own arm, ripped it off, and hurled it at him. Corvayne skewered it but didn''t have time to look for other monsters doing the same: He was no longer pushing forward into the crowd as there was a semi-circle of spirits trying to reach for him with grapsing blue hands. He had to take a step back even as his blade flashed out over and over, each attack split apart by Corvayne using his eyes to pick targets. He took three more steps backwards then darted across the now closing wall of blue to where they had made room on the left side of the Plaza. He could see a side street behind buildings there, and even though he didn''t want to move to close quarters he would sooner have his back to the wall then risk his flanks when slashing his way out.


    As he watched a ghost float through a cart he had to veer away from the narrow corridor. Walls wouldn''t help him here, just distance.


    He had left his pack at the gate in case he had to do something unusual in the middle of the fight. He let his ghostly hand hold the rapier for him as he ran right at one of the empty stores then lept, landing on a window and catching himself so that he didn''t tumble in, standing as fast as he could then leaping up to grab the edge of a balcony overlooking the street. He smoothly pulled himself up to the second floor then used a window to reach for the roof. In the span of three breaths from being on the street Corvayne was crawling up onto the roof, already running and leaping over the gap to a lower sloped roof as the ghosts started to clump up even further and began floating through the air to try to reach him. Corvayne kept his feet as close to the edges of the building to avoid having the roof collapse: one small thing he was thankful for were shingles being old but intact enough to keep his footing steady as he aimed for the next roof, leaping and landing on his feet, lining himself up for a smaller jump to land on a slopped one story home.


    Corvayne landed high on the roof and took a few steps to slow himself before sliding down right off the far corner of the building to land feet first. He felt the shock of impact fade as he ran out of the alley entrance he was in back into the plaza. His shadowy hand passed him back the rapier with only the merest thought of rearming himself. The ghost swarm now was above him and to his sids. He called it a swarm because the majority of monsters had formed a large singular cloud. He ignored the mass that was drifting after him even as a few more started ripping off arms or drifting legs and trying to hit him with thrown limbs. Corvayne instead ran while lashing out with the rapier at the last few ghosts that were not fully bunched up, letting the wind magic do the work as he slew anything remaining on the outer edge of the market.


    He couldn''t run full speed because of the limbs coming his way: While he aimed for the last four or five stragglers he tried to slide and duck a little and take unusual steps forward and sometimes push himself to roll while keeping the faster ghosts clumped in a ball that had started to follow him around the edge of the square. His footwork failed him as he neared the stone wall with the gate out: a thrown arm splattering on his thigh, feeling a wet snowball as it dissolved. For a moment after that there was a sting like he had held ice too long, then numbness. He kept running even with the numb feeling, and in ten steps felt icy pain creep back in. These ghosts had nothing on skittering death heads he had fought back in the desert. A clump of ghosts came drifting out of a house and he barraged them with a series of [Light Cut], not stopping more then a moment as the enchanted weapon worked his eyes overtime to split attacks.


    He completed his first lap and kept running as he assessed the huge ball of ghosts as well as the few glowing dots drifting out of doors and windows. He repeated his next circuit of the square briskly: he could mostly just run and do single [Light Cut] jabs for the four or so ghosts that hadn''t joined the ball. He was only a little winded: [Light Cut] made most swords just glow a little and move a little faster and lighter: a distraction. He did not know where the certainty that it would harm spirits came from, but it didn''t feel like a gamble. Nor did tucking the rapier into his shadowy hand while drawing his much slower spear feel odd. He had spent the last week trying to think about his tools, the weapons his masters had used, and what kind of monsters he could deal with.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    He took a deep breath, then held his spear low, near his leg. He visualized a scythe, and readied the cross skill he had been thinking of as soon as he had seen the ghosts. The skill that made him state earlier he was confident that he''d win. [Light Cut] was perfect for the rapier, but it was his second pick for this fight. There was a skill that demanded to be used even as clumsy as it was to set it up.


    His feet set, he thought back to his scythe instructor. They had demonstrated an oddball technique that was absurdly slow. The instructor had told them that it wasn''t for demonstration sake how deliberately they moved the scythe through the air. ''This stroke is meant for exorcisms rather then real fighting.'' they said as they started the swing. For as slow as the movement was, it made an impression on him because her blade called out in a ghostly howl and left trail of white mist behind. He suddenly worried it was just a show she had put on for the trainees. Well, no room for doubt now: He had a huge ball of ghosts coming at him.


    [Cross skill: Soul Reaper]


    He took a step back as he lifted the spear to his side and above, then let it fall in a painfully slow arc before him, as if carefully cutting... no... as if he was driving the spear through the air, pushing it against a growing unseen resistance. The tip of his spear, slowly dragging into the ghost''s path, touched the first ghost drifting in the ball when he was a little past the middle of the swing. The tip of the spear stopped... then all the strange energy he had built pushing against the seemingly thick air snapped and bounced his spear back to being held aloft for a moment. Then the form shifted and grew to the cruel form of a scythe with a glowing white blade that he immediately slashed out across the ghosts through the center of the grouping. Instead of resistance, it was like each spirit pulled the scythe through it, the feeling of cleanly cutting something that begged to be sliced.


    He felt them cling to his spear as he finished the swing, it looked like the still forms of the wad of ghosts were wet paint, and someone had dragged fingers across them. He wanted to... he needed to finish the work he started. He felt his hand reaching for his rapier, letting his spear settle into a waiting shadow hand. He stepped forward then fired off a barrage with a dozen [Light Cut] mixed in, creating points of light in the now smeared cloud of perfectly still ghosts. He stepped back as the motes of radiance from his jabs spread. The light flared into golds and pinks and blues and greens and reds, every color blooming, deepening, then shimmering and compressing. The ghosts he had hit with both started shining like distant white hot stars. Did he trigger some sort of transformation?


    [Combo: Soul Nova]


    Well that was a new-


    The cloud compressed and exploded, sending Corvayne rolling into a wall which slammed into his back like a sack of bricks. He opened his eyes to raining ghost parts splattering the ground in glittering stones that thumped Corvayne a few times on the head for good measure. He stared at the momentary nova at the center of the open square, steaming souls into the night. He tried not to be distracted by the warm glow of the rapidly fading cloud. He spun once to make sure no more ghosts were hiding in the entrance square, then turned around to go find his friends, stepping past piles of the glowing rainbow stones.


    Grunt and Wick were there, just staring at him. Wick''s mouth kept opening and closing. It was worth the bruised back to see her at a loss for words.


    Grunt took two fingers, twisted his other hand palms up, and golf clapped.


    Everyone else started gathering rainbow stones. Whatever they were, they glowed and felt like magic, so they were probably something like ''monster cores'', a thing that cropped up in a lot of stories but was handwaved over. Thankfully, there were two people who might know what he was dealing with.


    ¡°Mosh, Hari, can you guys tell me what these are?¡±


    Hari crouched and touched one, taking her turn first. ¡°It says that it''s crystallized soul. I''ve never seen it before, nor do I know what it would be used for. It''s made from ghost humors and carries great latent magic... if you took a bag of these to a wizard they''d pay you back in gold I''m sure.¡±


    Mosh was looking. He rubbed his fingers on it. ¡°It''s a small soul gem, looks like fused protoplasmic glass... Did you nuke the ghosts? Anyway: The rainbow color means they are full to capacity. They can be used to recharge things, or I can grind them up to arcane dust. They are the currency in high magic societies, so we are basically picking up a nice chunk of change here boss! Something I''d have to work three months, and hard, to make hustling crafting contracts.¡±


    ¡°Thanks both of you. By the way it sounds like you both had insights into them. I appreciate the expertise. Hari, can you help me check the chest?¡±


    The chest was peeking out of doorway and stood out as vivid brown whereas the rest of the house was a dingy broken mess of faded colors. There were remains of furniture, a slashed painting, and a few bones under a collapsed pile of wood. Hari gave the chest a quick once over with her hands out. He noted that some of her gestures looked like she was miming the tests he would perform to look for traps.


    Hari relaxed and turned to Corvayne. ¡°This is safe to open. Do you wish to take your right to be the first to look inside?¡±


    Corvayne nodded and opened it. The chest was literally packed with goods. It made him feel better about taking a risk: it looked like it was going to pay off.


    There were mundane objects of value: Silverware made of silver, a pouch with seven fat gold coins and a handfull of silver coins, a brass lamp that Corvayne felt sad to learn was rated common due to the craftsmanship rather then any dijin inside. There were a few cloth covered paintings that looked like they were done in oil. They were genuinely pretty images of pine trees and coastline. Perhaps he''d put them up in his room with a new frame: the old ones looked cheap. A oilskin wrapped around a wood box proved to be a chess set with brass figures and a wonderful black marble and white jade board. Mosh and Mister I both reached for it.


    ¡°Hey Boss... I love chess.¡± Mosh said, green hand firm on the board even if his smaller arms gave a little as Mister I tugged.


    ¡°Ah Corvayne, your good friend Mosh seems to have gripped the chess set...¡± The monk said as his smile suddenly looked more forced.


    ¡°I''m going to give it to Mister I if he agrees to treat us all to ice cream on the drive back, with the option for you to trade for or buy it when you get your ride back to your home planet. In the mean time, you both clearly play, so maybe just share it. Deal?¡±


    Hari pulled out a blue robe with white feathers embroidered on the back and sleeves. It struck Corvayne for some reason, giving him a warm feeling. ¡°I like that robe.¡±


    She held it up. ¡°It''s a common magic robe. Many weavers when crafting them pick sky colors and themes to announce what it does. It''s durable and it uses energy from falling or being thrown to slow you down to a safe speed. It needs at least twenty feet to make a difference in falling, and further if something throws you.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like it might be very useful for how many of these floors are giant voids.¡± He thought it reminded him of... a famous painting from an art book? There was a picture of a woman in a blue robe he had always loved.


    ¡°I''d ask for it, but perhaps given you found it fetching, maybe we should engage in a small conspiracy to have Wick take it?¡± She smiled warmly at Corvayne.


    ¡°It would pair well with her gloves.¡± And her. ¡°Wick, this robe slows falling long distances. I think with your climbing gloves it''s a good match.¡± He saw Wick consider it. ¡°It''s not too close to a dress, is it?¡±


    She took her jacket and pack off, then put the robe on. ¡°Nope, no PTSD. I''m good. Oh it''s really soft! I hope it''s washer safe.¡±


    ¡°Hari said it was durable too. So yeah. Probably. Is there a tag?¡±


    Wick, who was a researcher at heart, searched and found no tag with washing instructions on the magical robe.


    The next item was a ring with a stylized feather eye setting for a yellow gem that looked like a predators stern gaze.


    ¡°Ring of eagle eyes.¡±


    Corvayne noted she didn''t do anything but look at it this time. ¡°Not using your ability?¡±


    ¡°This is one of those ''I know it when I see it'' things. It can only be a normal eagle eye ring or a cursed one. I''d see a dark aura if it was a cursed ring. These are nice common tier rings for scouting. They improve eyesight¡±


    ¡°I''d like to try it.¡± Corvayne opened his hand.


    He slid the ring onto his ring finger, and noticed that the air sharpened a little.


    Corvayne looked at it''s raptor-eye yellow and black gem. ¡°Wick if I claim an item, can I later just give it to someone?¡±


    She shrugged. ¡°I think it''s fine. Just don''t expect anything back.¡±


    Foolish Wick, he thought in his best inner bandit voice, Eagles don''t need glasses. My trap to get you to stop wearing them is set now!


    The last two things in the chest were a cloth hood. Hari lifted it and looked at it.


    ¡°Exceptional class item... this hood has shadow and mind properties.¡±


    ¡°Mind?¡±


    He watched Hari run her nimble fingers along the fabric. Looking at her face, she was nibbling on her lip and concentrating.


    ¡°I think it''s a hood of shrouding. Provides almost no extra protection but makes the user harder to track or detect through any means. The mind power helps divert attention away from it as well.¡±


    ¡°A hood that lets you sneak even better? I vote we let you have it.¡± He wondered a moment if Hari maybe helped him with getting the previous two items where they were because she wanted to push for a piece that would help her get home. But he would have voted that way either way, and she seemed genuinely surprised and started waving her hands.


    ¡°I couldn''t! I mean wouldn''t it make more sense for...¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°It helps us if your totally undetectable, or nearly so. I also want to be sure you''ll make it home after you leave us.¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡± She hugged Corvayne. He held his hands up while catching Wick''s eye. She just looked and laughed.


    ¡°Don''t look so guilty you dork! Every other nerd would kill to have an elf hug them.¡±


    Hari let go. ¡°I was wrong about being you reckless... it seems you indeed cleared the entire entryway yourself.¡±


    He tried not to think about how soft Hari was as he responded to her. ¡°Not reckless, just a risk taker.¡±


    The last item was in a velvet bag. Corvayne had a hunch and stopped Hari from opening it.


    ¡°Turn so you can show everyone.¡±


    He stepped down two steps from the doorway and cramped room to the street. Hari, confused, faced them then took a book out of the bag. She made another really excellent surprised and shocked face. In her high pitched voice she shouted and jumped a little. ¡°It''s a better version of my book! A tome of the eye!¡±


    ¡°I gotta get her to open my paychecks.¡± Wick commented.


    Grunt mimed an annoyed over-exaggerated signing motion: Or your bills.


    Mister I looked over at Mosh who had his arms folded and was nodding.


    ¡°I suppose the mend works very well. I hope it''s not an addictive effect.¡± The monk mused.


    Corvayne shrugged. He trusted what Mosh said about the ability helping what people did naturally when working through trauma. Hari meanwhile was hugging the book.


    Wick looked at her, somewhat tired. ¡°We keep getting stuff tailored to her skills.¡±


    Mister I looked at her and rubbed his chin. ¡°I think she is of... a material fixation despite her shy demeanor.¡±


    The elf calmed down. ¡°Corvayne with this I can probably get more info on that artifact, and I''ll have that potion analyzed for you.¡±


    Grunt made a gesture of finger walking one way, then fingers walking backwards: Do we press on or call it a win?


    Corvayne thought about it. The grouping he fought would be exceptionally dangerous if he wasn''t as fast as he was with the right tools. Also looking back he had weird certainty that he could win, he knew he had skills that would work, and he also somehow hadn''t burned all of his stamina using [Light Cut]. He knew a lot of things but he didn''t know HOW he knew them. On the other hand... he looked up at the center of the castle. The same hunch told him that there was something up there, that if he could get to the top the reward would be monumental.


    ¡°I think this represents our end goal for exploring this space. As in, something we should consider in training and preparation. I''ll scout ahead a little, but if I don''t like what I see, we can go back to the forest and continue exploring there.¡±


    Grunt nodded at his idea.


    Wick thought about it. ¡°Fine. Just if you have second thoughts, come back and we''ll keep pushing through places we know.¡±


    Mister I nodded. ¡°I prefer the woods. For as rich as the treasures we found were, the place feels... cursed.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t disagree with the monk as he set his pack down by the entrance. ¡°If I come running, assume that''s a good reason to run as well.¡±


    Hari stopped him, and handed him the hood. ¡°Use this. Don''t get spotted.¡±


    Corvayne nodded and pulled it over his head. A mental image of her kissing his cheek came up unbidden. Watching Hari step back he rubbed his face then cleared his thoughts again. There was no time to get distracted by elfs, or Wick for the matter: He was going into clearly hostile territory to try to pick out a few more riches, or identify what they''d have to overcome next time. As he started to move into the claustrophobic streets Corvayne couldn''t help but look up at the grim pair of skulls etched on the full moons above the tower. He hoped they were not put there just for him.

 Chapter 21: Bad Times and Broken Hoofs

    Corvayne let his friends know he''d aim to be back in fifteen minutes or so, then set off down the twisting street to the right. It was a tall, narrow corridor of buildings and cobblestone that dipped and climbed unseen hills the city had been built over. The doors on either side hung empty and open, black against the pale blue of the moonlit walls and door frames. He moved slowly, new eagle eyes helping him make out details in the murk inside buildings. There was no movement and no noises aside from a faint breeze. There were side streets here and there but they all were short, ending in brick walls decorated with gargoyle faced foutains dribbling out water, or in walls that didn''t match the surroundings. In a way it felt more grounded then other places in the dungeon: there was a sense that this place had been lived in at some point.


    Corvayne turned a corner and saw another large plaza, this one mostly recessed down from the street to look out at the endless dark blue void. The street curved around the space, branching off to two more streets. Three sets of stairs let one walk down from the street to a large fountain, empty but still bearing the mosaic pattern at it''s dry bottom. The overall size of the open space was larger then the one at the entrance, and even had a large patch of overgrown grass that must have been a park. Statues on pillars dotted the perimeter. There was a lumpy hill in the park... Corvayne backed up, his breath catching.


    Curled up on the patch of parkland was a green dragon, this one at least thirty feet long. The scales however were dull green, mint rather then leaf green, and it had huge wounds and any number of weapons were literally stuck into it. Corvayne looked and saw that those wounds were not leaking blood.  He relaxed a little as he realized the lump was dead. Or undead. Looking at it, he noticed a chest that the dragon had laid it''s head on  before it died.


    Corvayne was many things, but stupid was never one of them. A chest? Under it''s head? Yeah that''s a trap. If the dragon didn''t turn out to be undead (the obvious one), then there being something in the courtyard that would attack when he went for the chest. Maybe some of the stone figures in the plaza were golems?


    Sitting and observing, he spotted something coming into the plaza from the other side: A pair of huge shambling hooded figures, as wide and thick as they were tall. One was carrying what looked like a battle axe, the other a nasty hooked polearm. Given both the long claw-like hands and one wore a loop of skulls around it''s neck Corvayne decided diplomacy would probably be a waste of time. He felt they were both strong: even as goofy as the tent sized robes they wore looked, he could tell from how they moved that they were more agile then the bulky appearance would lead one to believe. Perhaps they were undead as well: he could see stitching on one''s arms. He thought about how he''d fight: he could go up onto the roof and take one down quickly with [Leap Strike] then just fight the other. But that could wake the dragon...


    A feeling of alarm came over him and he dove forward to the side and turned, seeing a huge form of one of the guards lining up what would have been a swing to his exposed neck. From this vantage point he could see under the hood: the creature had no face aside from a bony pertubing mouth: Something like four elbows put together with missing and broken teeth. The creature looked half dead but only stopped a moment when Corvayne moved, emerging from the alley way it had been in and coming at Corvayne with a furious series of blows. Corvayne noticed it''s robe was twitching with unseen limbs: it explained the gliding.


    The good news was that it telegraphed it''s attacks, overhead chops brisk but full of wasteful movement and often taking a moment after a missed swing to revert to a standing ready position before moving in to try to strike again. The bad news was that Corvayne could see that the other two had spotted him and soon he''d have three large faceless guards trying to hack him apart. So the next time it swung in a brutal over head chop he drew the rapier and stepped to the side while activating [Cross Skill: Juxtapose]. The drain was much higher then it had been on smaller targets, so he did his best to make the next attack work: a barrage of [Backstab] with the foil made a wonderful sewing machine meets machine gun noise. The cloth back of the monster was shredded and chips of bone flew out as melon sized holes formed in the creature''s dead flesh. The shards of bone forced Corvayne to back off: in pulverizing the zombie he had sent shards of bone flying everywhere with one leaving a stinging cut on his forehead and a few scraping his arms. The robe gone he could see the creature had at least three or four human forms twisted and sewn together to form something like a zombie braid, further torn up by his attack. The creature didn''t respond to the attack besides to start twisting to swing at Corvayne again.


    He considered barraging it again but he saw the other two would be on him in seconds and he didn''t want to fight a three way battle with these monsters. Holding the rapier he timed a leap over a low swing and started running for the street. A fourth guard was waiting as he came around the bend, and Corvayne had only a moment to try to evade before he was hit by what felt like a cannonball to his leg. Instantly he could feel bone cracking as he collapsed, jagged spiking pain making him cry out. Only instincts saved him as he felt danger and rolled. He didn''t have time to think about how much it hurt as adrenaline kicked in. He wasn''t sure if it was his knee or hip. He forced himself to keep rolling then try to stand up. He got to a half knee before he tried to stand and toppled to the side.


    Half prone he rolled again, feeling the wind of that fourth guard''s mace moments before stone clanged like the hammer of a god slammed into it. Corvayne willed his shadow limb to try to help him up as the guard lifted the mace for a swing and he felt the tendrils pull him on his back like a spider. This moved him only a few feet away on the ground as the mace crashed into where he was again. He let the rapier fall into a whispy limb and drew his spear, then used it to push himself standing while using the spear as a crutch with both hands. He hopped away on one leg as the same monster smashed overhead where he had just been. There was no way past the four guard to the street, but he could go down into the plaza... near where the dead dragon was.


    With no choice but to either be cut down by guards or roll down the stairs, he gripped his spear and lept onto the thankfully smooth stone railing and slid down, causing untold agony both from step after step hitting his sides and when he hit his ribs on a stone decoration at the bottom. He wanted to just crumple up but he pushed himself to get up, keep going. He had bought a few feet, but he could see the guard already turning to line himself to go down the stairs. He started hobbling with his spear again, eyes watering as each little thump jolted his leg. He could see the guards gliding down the stairs in a line. He should have brought potions. He was doing the math then, seeing the guard striding across the plaza: in ten seconds or so on open ground they''d be on him in a line. He cut across to the pillars that surrounded the park then curved around the pillar. He forced his attention to his shadow hand, one hand holding his spear the other drawing the dagger. He pointed with his offhand and squeezed the dagger''s pommel, and a torrent of fire shot forward and started the dry brush into a torrent of fire. The moonlight vanished in an instant, flames whipping through the park. Corvayne kept moving and felt the ground shift through his boot as he hobbled at the stairs with the ignited park behind him but he had no time to look, pushing himself with his spear up the stairs in a barely controlled forward fall, both arms pushing himself forward using his spear.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Then there was a roar, and he turned and saw that in addition to 4 flaming monsters lining up 20 steps behind him, the dragon had awaken and was snapping at the fire, then turned it''s empty eyes to Corvayne. Oh he was double dead. He kept pumping his spear and hopping up a few more stairs, stopping when he felt the heat of the burning monster behind him. He dropped to his back, zombie towering over him as he took his spear in both hands and leaned forward to jab his spear betweent he front legs of the advancing monster in a desperate last ditch attempt to knock the monster off balance: [Cross Skill: Reap] activated as his tip touched the back leg of the monster with it''s mace overhead, reap pulling the leg inwards at the right time for the monster to start toppling. There was a moment where the flaming monster looked like it might balance with it''s mace wavering above it''s head but then it''s flailing pulled it back and the monster fell back into the next guard. The whole mass of tumbling burning flesh rolled into the lower plaza as Corvayne pushed himself onto his belly and started crawling up the stairs, spear in hand as he used his elbows to pull himself over the rough stone as the smell of smoke mixed with a horrific burning smell of the long dead. He felt every stair as he pulled himself forward and finally up onto the higher level road. No safe places. He thought again that he was likely dead. In moments the dragon would surge over the railing from the lower floor and snap him in two.


    He wished for some scrap of better luck as he pulled himself to lean against the stone railing along the stairway. He pulled his cloak over himself and tucked against the protective half wall, gripping the collar to shift the cloak to the same color as the stone at his back and cobblestone under him. His leg throbbed as he shifted weight onto that side and Corvayne bit his lip not to let a groan escape. His world now was the leg alternating radiating pain and twitching. He focused on mental steps of the dance to help his pain. He visualized the dance, how his body should move. He tried to think of his legs as whole, part of him. He was part of the spear. Then he shifted to his belly and breathed, easy, even breaths as he pushed forward. A spear goes forward.


    His ragged breathing quieted a little to his own ears, but was still peals of thunder to him for three long breaths as he breathed in, moved, breathed out, moved. He then felt his shadowy limbs swirling then moving to a fine mist. Then he heard fighting, the dragon roaring, and sounds of things being flung around. No voices: his friends would have said something. Corvayne spotted an open door across the street and crawled along the ground now with it as his goal. His cloak would match the grounds colors, and the bright fire from the park was lighting up the upper half of the buildings with red light. As the fighting finished he forced himself to keep a steady pace through the pain to the doorway. The home he was in was full of broken pottery and had an exit out to the alleyway. Hide here, or try to sneak out? The smoke helped, but he didn''t know if the undead could just smell the living through it. Or could see his life force. He decided to keep moving: his only hope was to get out of the plaza and pray the dragon didn''t know exactly where he was. He crawled, not trusting his spear to keep him quiet but still gripping it in one of his hands. Even when he wasn''t touching it, his leg felt like it was tearing itself apart. He avoided the chunks of pottery. Maybe the dragon hadn''t been looking at him with it''s empty eyes...


    There was a roar and a crash that knocked him over again. Glancing over his shoulder he saw one of the walls behind him collapsed in a rolling pile of dust as a dragon claw slammed through it: the monster had simply rammed itself into the next house over. Corvayne pulled himself to his feet with his spear and hobbled while the noise of bricks settling and wood falling would cover him as he slid around the door and leaned against the wall. From inside the house there was a low rumble, then crashing a little further and he felt the wall at his back shake. He hobbled across the alley to another door and crept in. This was a shop with a counter of faded wood, empty shelves, and another door out to the plaza. He risked slowly looking out the front door, not seeing any of the guards. He slowly looked around the edge and moved his head back when he saw the two hind legs of the dragon pulling the beast out of a building. He waited: once he heard another crash he''d have a few moments while the dragon was destroying a building to try to make it to the next home. There was the sound from the home he had just left of something crashing into it and he did an awkward one legged jaunt out that door and started along the wall to the next door. Four more buildings and he could get to the street back to his friends. If he got back he''d never try to run off again. How many times had he read it in books and thought that someone was an idiot for going off on their own?


    He nearly swore aloud when he saw the next shadowed doorway was a recessed closed door. He pushed himself to it anyway and using his one good leg and spear did his best to to make his profile as thin as possible. In his mind he begged the insane undead dragon to not see him. Please don''t pick this house next. The beast, as if hearing that thought, plowed into the store he just left. He started hobbling as soon as he heard the crash, trying not to trip in his haste out in the open. His heart sank when he saw another closed door the next door down. He didn''t dare go back: The monster was just going down the line and he could see over his shoulder it was going to be shaking the destroyed building off itself in a moment. Corvayne then saw a stone bench on the open side of the street and aimed for it, ignoring how he was likely maming his leg to roll under it and pull his cloak tight, willing his shadows to hide him. He rubbed the hood he had been wearing for good luck.


    He saw the titanic dead leg of the dragon set itself next to his bench. He was face down, and turning his eyes he could see out of the corner of his cape another leg. Would it pull him out? Or just pulverize the bench?


    He wondered if Wick would be sad when he didn''t come back.


    Then both legs hurdled the dragon forward. It was far away now, having picked a building at random it seemed. It meant he was safe under the bench. The word safe nearly had him laughing until he caught where the dragon had crashed into: The next two buildings it had smashed while looking for him had collapsed into piles of rubble six feet high blocking a street out. The street that was his only way back. Climbing up and over would put him out in the open for at least a few minutes. The dragon could charge then crush him before he had made it five feet over that pile. With a sinking heart he realized he was trapped in the Plaza with a broken leg and an insane dragon.

 Chapter 22: Hunter and Hunted

    Corvayne''s world had been trimmed down to the space under a stone bench. He was thankful that he had found a spot to hide at all, as laying under the stone slab was the first moment since his fight with the undead guards went wrong where he could actually observe and plan. He could see that huge undead dragon had started to wander away from the house it had been trashing. Most of the plaza on this side was a wreck and now he was faced with either trying to hobble around more then half the unexplored and hostile city on a broken leg, or trying to climb over a shattered wall with only three limbs and a dragon listening for him. He could just hide until his friends showed up and then team up to fight a building destroying monster, which would put their lives on the line for his overconfidence. He knew Grunt was strong but the man didn''t have tools for fighting a dragon unless there was a bazooka in that basket of baseball bats.


    He also thought of how he had told Hari that sometimes you just hit bad luck. He was proving himself wrong by making his own terrible luck. Hiding like a rat, hot, sweaty, huffing air reeking of ash, and with eye-watering pain lancing through his leg... with all that Corvayne still was the most upset at someone getting the jump on him.


    He watched the huge dragon zombie, now covered in dust, pad it''s way over the bench again while thankfully neither stepping on him nor bothering to look under the bench. The huge beast then tail whipped a section of building, and moved to the less destroyed section of homes further from where he had come from. He was pretty sure the dragon was trying to look into the houses to spot him. If he did nothing, it would eventually look under the bench. Or his friends would show up and get crushed and stomped to death. No, he couldn''t sit still: he had to act. Corvayne had to fix his leg.


    Seeing the dragon stick it''s head through a wall, Corvayne rolled out from under the bench and made his move to the stone railing between the upper street and lower level. The fires he had started earlier were dying down to embers, but there was enough fire that he could see the dark form of the monster considering a building it had just stuck it''s head into, then turning and whipping it''s tail through it. Corvayne froze as it twisted about until he saw it was settling in with a commanding view of the plaza''s remaining exits. He lowered his head slowly back under the railing.


    Each foot he dragged himself was sending jolts of pain through his bad leg. Taking a few deep breaths, he tried to see if he could will himself back to the beacon. It didn''t feel... ready. It felt like he might push it further and make it work, or messing with the link he felt might split the difference and send him halfway. Halfway being a point off the bridge over an endless pit: no thanks. He kept crawling, certain there were bone shards he was jamming further out of place. He really needed his leg fixed, and since he was wishing he could also use a plasma rifle and Wick waiting in his bed back at the warehouse.


    It wasn''t impossible though. There was one object he already knew about that might save him. If it was in the chest. If the fire he started didn''t break everything in the chest apart. He didn''t like all of the ''Ifs'' he had pied up. He continued crawling along the rail to the nearest stairs, and sort of inch-wormed his way down the stairs along the wall. The dragon had put it''s head down: From the stairs he couldn''t see it''s head but some of it''s upper back was poised above the rubble it had settled on. Near the bottom of the stairs he risked looking at the stairs on the other side and spotted what looked like the weapons of the guards scattered by a burnt parts of limbs and bodies. So his guess was right: The dragon had no idea who it was supposed to kill and so went after the bright moving creatures. Something to consider in the tower: The monsters were not friends. He saw that everything in that corner was sitting still.


    He was getting... used to crawling. His leg still was sending him jolts of pain as he laboriously pulled himself across the stone. He could feel how hot the stones were as he neared the park. Thankfully the chest was there, singed but not destroyed. It also had a pillar blocking where he thought the dragon was. He still had to push himself up to a sitting position. He asked his shadows to feel the chest and make sure it wasn''t a Mimic. It felt like brittle wood and hot metal. He touched the lid and opened the hot top of the chest.


    Inside he saw three red potions, which he had to force himself not to hoot and holler at, a glove that looked like it was made of some blue shimmering material, a light blue potion, a nasty looking throwing knife covered in angry red runes on it''s curved surface, then what looked like wooden chain mail. It looked like wood and even smelled a little of cedar but was cool to the touch as if it was steel. First things first: He took one of the red potions and downed it. In a moment a numb feeling washed over him, then his leg felt like someone was stomping on him, mercilessly pounding bone and dragging it and ripping his leg. It needed more power and he pushed past the pain and drank another. The bones snapped back into place with a sound he heard inside his head like a gunshot. But his leg moved and after a few twinges of tightness flexing it, it felt as good as new... maybe not perfect: he had to pull a bone splinter out of his leg with a little prick of blood: the potion seemed to have made leftover bone and pushed most of the shards out while rebuilding him. At least, he hoped it was a leftover and not the potion skipping a step.


    The glove had on the back what looked like a light blue gem, smoothed like a bubble. He saw hints of circuitry and recognized a force buckler: a good find since the energy shield didn''t require a hand and weighed no more then the glove itself. He slid it on, careful not to summon a shield until he was ready to fight something. He considered leaving the mail in the chest but hefting it, the armor somehow made no noise. He now was regretting not taking any armor from The Watchers: anything protecting his leg might have prevented a break. He could have simply run from the guards and been on his merry way over the bridge by now if he had better defensive gear. Putting it on felt more like wearing a sweater then armor. The last thing he did was take the nasty looking knife. It felt like... a grenade or something. Push come to shove, he''d try to clip the dragon''s leg with it. He had a basic plan forming: Distract the dragon with a rock, run up the stairs while the dragon head-butted a building, then climb over the rubble and haul his behind to the exit.


    He stalked through the smoldering grass to a pillar and then crouched. Staying as low as possible he came up to the scattered weapons of the guards. Most of them had been mangled during the fight. A meat cleaver caught his eye: It had survived without a scratch and laid almost casually against the wall. Did it count as an axe or something else? Even if it didn''t it might be better weapon for fighting a giant undead monster. His spear was really made for foes that could bleed. If he had to fight an animated corpse, hacking it apart would hopefully do the trick. If he could avoid doing so he didn''t want to fight the dragon. But if it didn''t let him go: He''d give it the fight of it''s life... fight of it''s death. He put his spear on his back and took the cleaver in hand. The heft of it felt good.


    He picked up the snapped handle of the guardian monsters'' mace, the same one that had bashed his leg into being unusable, and walked a few steps up the stairs then pulled his hand back and launched it. He started walking until he heard the tell-tale roar and something slammed into a building hard.


    Corvayne ran, sprinting up the stairs and sliding a little as he pivoted then started running for the pile of rubble. He heard a roar and looked. The monster was turning around in the building, it''s undead eye sockets narrowing.


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    He looked back at the pile of rubble, then over at the charging dragon. Fine. Someone had to take out the trash. He squared up with the beast even though he was tiny compared to it. The dragon had it''s head down and Corvayne could see rows of rotten teeth as it bared down on him. He tensed as if about to leap to the side then lowered himself and jumped forward along the ground as the monster''s mouth clamped down on the air behind him. He attacked above him twice, two quick cleaver cuts then out from under the ribcage of the monster. It didn''t seem to feel pain, but it knew he was under him and tried to slam the ground behind it with it''s tail. Corvayne thought he had got away clean to the side of the monster but felt a hammer hit his chest as the tail snaked around and slammed into him. His worries about the armor were addressed as the tail flung him into the air: One of the spines had been caught by the chain mail before it could skewer him. He was also able to roll with the blow and twisted in midair. He clenched his glove and summoned the ghostly shield on it, using it to skid to a stop then rolling to his feet in the span of a second.


    He didn''t wait for the dragon to sort out where he was, instead running for a two story house with a balcony. He took the stairs two at a time then dashed down the hallway as the enraged dragon started charging at the home. He could see it out of the open door he was running through. He didn''t stop, leaping to put his feet on the balcony as the dragon put its head down and tackled the home. He lept off the railing before the entire structure fell apart and gripped his cleaver in both hands overhead. [Cross Skill: Leap Strike] activated as he swung down, blasting the dragon''s spine with a solid hit and then rolling off the back and tail as it ran through the house. He turned and planted his feet, then charged after the beast''s back. The tail snaked around like it had a mind of its own, but Corvayne was not right on the monster. He stood off to its side and took the cleaver with both hands aloft like a batter. The tail managed to whip him in the arm with the very tip of a spine, drawing a nasty gash across it but not enough to stop him from holding firm. He could feel power saturating his hands and the weapon. Then the dragon extended its back leg to pull itself out, and he swung at the limb squarely in front of him. [Cross Skill: Grand slam] drove the blade deep into the leg then there was a cracking sound as the weight of the weapon dug into the bone a moment before Corvayne yanked it out. The monster roared and before it could move its leg, Corvayne attacked with his follow up: [Cross Skill: Limbtaker]. The cleaver felt like a mountain and he slammed it into the monster''s back leg, the entire leg shattering.


    Corvayne kept his head down and held up his shield glove then, backing away as the tail went into a frenzy trying to smash the ground behind the monster. He took another glancing blow from the tail on his arm, the limb ringing from being hit. He had his shadow hand hand him the runed knife as the dragon turned. [Expert Throw] activated as he fling the knife at the dragon''s roaring mouth, aiming for where the creature would be after another moment of turning to roar. A moment later there was a flash of heat and hot magma blossomed from where the dagger stuck inside its cheek, overflowing out of its mouth and starting its neck on fire. The smell of rotting flesh being seared along with the stench of sulfur was almost more overpowering then the blazing heat now radiating from the monster. Corvayne moved as fast as he could away, recognizing that he would cook the same as the monster if it slobbered magma all over him. The monster''s eyes glowed with the fire burning through it''s skull. The dragon was rapidly losing flesh to the fire and hot slag, not to mention the few solid hits Corvayne had landed.


    It was slowing down, and though it turned and charged at him the monster''s damaged leg caused it to veer off to the side and sent it plowing through the same stone bench he had been hiding under just a few minutes ago. Corvayne waited for the tail, the real evil MVP of the dragons arsenal, to come whipping by at his head. He met the tip with [Shield Bash] from his glowing shield, sending the spined limb back as the dragon scrambled to stop its momentum instead of slamming into another building, tumbling onto its side. He charged after it again, this time letting the tool in his hand guide him. He didn''t have memories of anyone using the weird weapon, but holding it made him think of how he''d attack with the tool. The shape his mind took for his attack felt right, and so he put it into action.


    He waited until the beast started righting its self to standing then activated [Butchery] as he swung the cleaver. The effect was obvious both in the cleaver leaving a trail of phantom blood in its wake, and that when it bit into flesh to effortlessly seemed to slice through it. The bony tail''s end was hacked off and fell dead to the ground. One less thing to worry about, but the titanic monster was whipping about.


    Corvayne took a few steps back as again the dragon off with him, most of its front face burned off. Flickering flames ignited whenever a glob of the magma fell to the ground from its still oozing mouth. The bright light coming from within made the reptilian skull look pitch black. Corvayne drew his rapier and activated [Crescent Blade] as he jabbed out, all three ghostly images practically on top of one another, with the blade in very slightly different spots. He took a few quick back-steps as the beast sputtered another roar, then lumbered at him. Corvayne guided it into the images, one of its forward legs touching them and getting shredded, throwing its bite off aim and letting Corvayne calmly step out of its way and gash its flank with a one handed [Butchery], then rolling behind its tail-stump as it tried to turn the direction he moved. With his other hand he put himself behind the healthy leg and barraged [Backstab] into it. He didn''t take out much flesh before he backed off. It looked like the beast was going down, but it planted its head on the ground, flaming skull and now blackened neck and ribs dripping magma. Was it dead? Corvayne didn''t approach, but then the beast''s bones started dissolving as an image formed. Wisps of energy were flowing to its skull.


    The brittle colorless scales left on it flashed and grew bright green. Its missing horns curled out. Its eyes grew back, stemming the flow of magma. Corvayne didn''t wait, and started hurtling for the fallen building blocking his way. He heard the beast inhaling and felt it drag him back a step with the intake of so much air. Corvayne sheathed his rapier as he ran and handed his shadowy hand the cleaver, spear rolling into his hand. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the image bringing its neck down. He hit the pile running, using the momentum to make two jumps on parts of a wall before he hit the top, took a breath, held it, and then activated [Flow Like Water] down the back side. Three steps later he immediately used the skill again as a wave of force and light exploded from the other side of the barrier, only not frying him because he activated the ability immediately after stepping out of the first. He was still in the middle of a firestorm as most of the buildings around him had ignited. He closed his eyes and pushed forward, searing his forearms and the back of his neck before he burst out of the fires around him.


    He ran a few steps until he could risk breathing in again, the air hot but not enough to sear his lungs. Looking back he could see the dragon''s image waver and then the skull fell into the fire, magic spent, the shadow of it dissolving into the fire. He was left to stumbling back to the group in pain, burns everywhere. Still... he felt like a champion.


    He strode into the plaza with his friends. His skin was red with burns, he coughing a little from the smoke, and his armor actually steaming. Still, he felt himself smile. He had made it out alive, and was glad to see his friends were fine as well.


    Wick turned from the pair of guard corpses they were looking at. ¡°Ha! You look like you got your ass kicked.¡±

 Chapter 23: Kings Crossing

    Corvayne''s body felt better after Mosh and Mister I teamed up to help properly sort out his leg and burns. His mood, however, was pretty lousy even if the pain from his ill-fated scouting mission had faded. Mister I and Mosh had both spent most of his recovery, as well as the entire walk across the bridge, chattering and arguing through Corvayne.


    Getting the two on the same page meant he had to listen to them both, sometimes while they talked over each other or argued at him to let the other one know they thought they were wrong. It was a small mercy that during the long walk back over the bridge Mosh''s auto-translator had gotten most of the words that Mister I usually used. Mosh wasn''t out of the woods yet as Mister I sometimes got it into his head that bigger words were better and would start talking about resplendent blessed fortune or transcendent mastery and he was obliged to parrot what was said word for word.


    Looking behind him to not face either of the two arguing healers, Corvayne could see Grunt had also taken a pretty bad hit fending off the two undead guards. He still had a mark on the back of his fist where a huge hook had gone through his hand. Even after mended it Grunt was still flexing it. He looked angry and Corvayne felt a strain of cold fear. Maybe his stupid decision to go off on his own had raised Grunt''s ire. Corvayne must have been extra nervous because the big man saw his concern as they picked their way though the soft pine needles off the trail and just emoted an open mouth dumb face then pointed to himself, then pointed at his hand''s wound: I was an idiot and got hurt because of it.


    Corvayne nodded, made his own stupid face, then mimed a dagger held at his throat: I also almost died because I got careless. Grunt nodded then gestured over his shoulder. He had added the same nasty hook to his pile of weapons. Corvayne showed off his own oversized cleaver. Grunt didn''t need to say more, and Corvayne at this point appreciated it.


    Hari had been concerned when he had staggered back to the group but once Corvayne healed she had been skittish around him. It was odd if he was checking to make sure she was ok behind them she''d often be in the middle of looking away from him.


    The group was spread out over the woods with the goal being to find another treasure chest. Wick was leading them roughly zig zag across the trail and outlying quiet woods. She hadn''t spoken to him since he got healed, and for once he wasn''t especially looking forward to their next conversation. He wasn''t a genius when it came to reading people but he knew she was angry, and no doubt it was at him. How could he blame her? He had nearly died because he had been snuck up on. He had managed to recover from being overconfident but it had nearly cost him his life. He needed someone else to help him up front. Maybe get Grunt a whistle. Or let Hari help him scout. Another pair of eyes might have spotted the guards flanking him.


    The Watchers had tried to drill into all trainees not to let a victory go to their head. He had been drunk off the ease of slaughtering the ghosts and the allure of treasure. He could remember plenty of times, at least two or three, where he was certain he was going to die due to a mistake he made in the desert. Afterwards he just shrugged, fixed the problem, and never did it again. He couldn''t figure out why this time he felt so bad. Perhaps because he suddenly had more to lose?


    Thinking back, he definitely didn''t help himself with his impressing his partner. Wick had spent most of the time he was getting patched up happily telling him to stop running into walls. She also kept explaining which end of the spear was the pointy part and how he should point it at the enemy. Him telling her what really happened just made her madder and madder until she flat out called him an idiot. He couldn''t remember the last time someone made him feel so upset with just words. He had stood up after a few minutes of Wick ranting at him and told Mosh he''d just deal with the rest of his pain. It wouldn''t have even bothered him but he felt like an idiot already, he didn''t need her to rub it in! Every now and then she''d look back and glower at him and he kept his face neutral as best he could.


    This went on for somewhere between an hour and two of wandering through the woods with the occasional encounter with slugs. Their leisurely backtracking lead them to a branch in the trail he and Wick had not explored the last time they were here. As per the plan, they followed it off into a new section of woods. The new branch of the trail dipped down, more leafy trees joining the mix with red and yellow and orange leaves. The amber color under the trees was brighter here, perhaps because of the the other colors.


    Corvayne was trying to let the woods calm him down. He was distract himself by picking off small lizards for Mister I to cook when he saw an intact stone fence in the woods. It looked like it had been built long ago but repaired recently. The next high point in the trail was a rise where he could look out over a small town, bristling with people.


    Hari was shocked. ¡°We are in a dungeon, how are there people here?¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I don''t know, Let''s go find out.¡±


    While suspended in the strange space of the dungeon, the town they were walking downhill to looked like a moderately sized medieval settlement. Two figures wearing leather armor and spears passed them on the road and nodded but kept going down the road without further comment.


    ¡°Is it weird they didn''t stop us when we have a goblin with us?¡± Wick asked while turning back to watch them wander away.


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°Maybe our grouping says ''adventurers''¡±


    Hari nodded. ¡°It certainly does.¡±


    Grunt put a hand over the side of his eyes and mimed walking quickly: Or they don''t want us to be their problem. They saw farmers working the fields and Corvayne waved at a nearby one. ¡°Nice weather today!¡±


    The farmer nodded and waved back. ¡°Just like everyday. King''s blessings on you!¡±


    ¡°Anyone else get that?¡± He turned to the group.


    ¡°Yeah. Clear as day Boss.¡± Mosh walked up the fence a ways and tried the same thing. ¡°Heya champ, great weather today!¡±


    ¡°Hahah, Sun King shine on you, traveller!¡±


    Mosh went back to walking. ¡°Maybe they don''t got goblins on this floor.¡± He said in what sounded a lot more like Cascadian then previously.


    ¡°Yeah, wonder what this ''King''s blessing'' is.¡± Wick thought.


    Mister I helped with a counter point. ¡°Or they were telling Mosh something rude, and we are laughing at an insult.¡±


    It was weirdly tuned to Corvayne''s expectations when they finally arrived at the town proper and saw friendly townsfolk milling about and waving at them while they wandered past. Everyone looked clean (even somehow the dusty old farmer watching folks come into town), everyone wore bright colors, and everyone was about their buisness happily. The few other conversations about asking where they were or anything else gently directed them to the inn, King''s Rest.


    The inn was a two story building built out of wood with white stucco bridging the gap between painted brown beams. A porch in front of the double doors was finished but didn''t look entirely painted yet. Inside was spotless and mostly empty tavern, lit from daylight streaming in from a large window at the far end of the bar and lanterns on the walls closer to the bar. Most of the furnishing and floors were made of a deep whiskey redwood, polished to nearly reflective shine. There were about fifteen tables about the room, and the bar itself with. The entire establishment was watched over by a stuffed fur-slug with horns attached that hung above a rack of wines. A painting of a pair of farmers drinking together hung over one wall, the other had a lady bard singing to a rowdy inn. Corvayne also spotted a slightly more risque painting on the ground under a newer still life of fruit.


    A red nosed drunk man sat at a table in the far corner and as Corvayne met his eye the fellow raised his mug for the newcomers then went back to humming something. There was another adventuring group talking about fighting goblins but ignoring Mosh entirely, and the innkeeper behind the bar, looking at the group with far more wariness then anyone else had. He was large, balding, and had the first hints of gray creeping into his beard.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°Hello. I''m Corvayne. Me and my friends are travelers who''ve found themselves here...¡±


    The man nodded. ¡°King''s Crossing.¡± He didn''t offer his name.


    ¡°I had some questions and was told to come here.¡±


    The bar tender lifted one of his hands and gestured to the bar. ¡°Buy some stew and I''ll talk while you''re eating. It''s pricy stew or cheap stew. 5 irons for cheap, 1 silver for a more filling soup.¡±


    Corvayne put a silver in front of him then stopped a moment. ¡°Each or all?¡±


    He slipped it into his hand. ¡°I''ll let you know after we talk. I take it you''re not from... here.¡± He turned and took a step into the kitchen to grab a large iron pot. He set it down on a table and served them a red stew in wood bowls. ¡°Slug stew.¡± No complaints: it smelled delicious. Everyone else settled down onto seats, most looking around. Hari used the time to open her book and work on the potion and sun dial.


    ¡°I was saying... we are travelers. New to this land.¡± Corvayne prompted.


    ¡°You don''t act like natives? Outsiders?¡± The innkeeper lowered his voice a hair as he asked, ¡°New to the Under-Sky?¡±


    ¡°New to here, we call it the Tower.¡±


    The barkeeper nodded and relaxed a little. ¡°It''s rare to see other folks who are awake, let alone outsiders. You come from a different floor?¡± He sounded skeptical and was looking from face to face as he spoke.


    Corvayne nodded at the man. ¡°We are trying to make heads or tails of this place. You mentioned asking if we are awake and I had a hunch talking to people along the way here: It''s like how some goblins can talk and reason, and the rest just charge you?¡±


    He heard Wick add from a few seats down, ¡°Corvayne speaks, but can he reason?¡± He pretended he didn''t hear it.


    The man nodded. ¡°Whatever name you go with, most of the people in town are simple. Don''t mistake that for stupid now, a farmer knows farming, a guard will arrest you if you start stealing... but if you don''t ask them for a detail or thought on something, they just make small talk. They have daily routines, and you can shake them up if you try but otherwise they follow them like clockwork.¡±


    He lowered his voice to a very flat tone. ¡°Some people think they are not... alive. I think they grow as they interact with others. Either way... if you don''t treat them like people just walk away now and there won''t be any... trouble.¡±


    ¡°They are obviously people.¡± Corvanye stated, not entirely understanding what prompted a threat.


    ¡°I''d stay away from anyone who doesn''t think that way.¡± The innkeeper nodded and Corvayne could see his shoulders and arms fall a little.


    Corvayne stirred his stew a little then went to the next thing he wanted to learn. ¡°The town had made me wonder if we had reached the border of some large country or something.¡±


    ¡°As far as I saw? No. There might be more towns on this layer, as it''s on the low side of monsters and the ones here are trivial. Was there another country on this layer?¡±


    ¡°We don''t know either. I''ve only been in once, and we went to floor 5, cleared a monster guarding the exit, then left. We had come in totally on accident last time. This time was curiosity and profit.¡±


    ¡°Well!¡± The barkeeper gave a little bow that Corvayne felt had a hint of sarcasm to it. The big man continued, ¡°Welcome to town. Don''t bother the locals and we''ll get along fine.¡±


    ¡°Do you know how this place sorts people who come in from different worlds? If you form a group then get through the floors and leave.¡±


    He gestured to the stew, which everyone else was still eating as they listened to him talk. ¡°A silver for your friends seconds. Cheap given the quality.¡±


    Corvayne tossed another coin out. Why not? ¡°It''s exactly what we need.¡±


    ¡°Ok. It should work that it splits up any temporary parties. That''s what awakened adventurers said back when I ran with them. But... that assumes you haven''t wandered too many doors away from where they live.¡±


    ¡°The only doors I''ve seen are the entrance and exit doors from a more ''real'' world. Unless it''s some turn of phrase...¡±


    The innkeeper shook his head. ¡°There are no entrances to this yellow-sky stack without a lot of back and forth through doors. I''ve lived here a while and checked. The arches are all empty.¡± He had a very pointed look at Corvayne.


    ¡°The arch we came in was not far from here but was sealed by a door. It barred us from exiting the way we came in but described a path up out. We entered on the floor with cubes, not far from here. Maybe three, four hours at a brisk walk, most of that on this floor.¡±


    ¡°I explored that floor almost ten years ago. Went sixteen cubes down, up, left, and right. All the arches are empty. No door, no portals, nothing.¡±


    Wick had been listening between tapping buttons on a gray plastic device with a green readout. She looked up and asked, ¡°Is that how big the floor is?¡±


    The big man thought about it. ¡°As far as I know the floors are infinite. Or at least long enough you can walk across a floor for a year and see no location twice. There are different densities to floors, that''s usually what people think of as big or small. Some places you won''t see a stair up or down for a week.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°It sounds like you are very well traveled.¡±


    That elicited a shrug from their host. ¡°I''m on a break from exploring.¡±


    Corvayne looked around the inn. ¡°A long one?¡±


    ¡°A few years.¡± The innkeeper nodded.


    Wick asked a question that Corvayne wished he had thought of himself. ¡°So you''ve never had anyone from Cascadia come in here?¡±


    ¡°No, where''s that?¡± The bartender started polishing a mug as he spoke. The name didn''t seem super interesting to the man.


    Wick frowned a little. ¡°It''s the place the entrance is at. A large park. A group of furry monsters chased us in the first time.¡± Wick gave Corvayne a look. At least she wasn''t throwing barbs at him right now.


    Hari had been listening and seemed to understand the man. ¡°So what about Nal'' Fer''al? Is there a way to get there?¡±


    ¡°I''ve heard of it. So that world''s probably not too far. Maybe search for a door that looks right for the world and see if you can find an exit arch.¡±


    Corvayne sensed some terminology differences. ¡°You mentioned doors again, are you referring to the arches we came in with?¡±


    ¡°No no... doors go sideways... you really are adamant you came in and went straight up aren''t you?¡±


    ¡°We did last time we were on this floor. This run of it we went up and down looking to figure out how it worked. Going up different stairs takes you different places.¡± Corvayne kept smell the aroma of stew as he spoke and finally tried a spoonful in while the innkeeper was looking at him. It tasted extremely good. ¡°Sorry, it looked really good! I just was happy to talk to someone who''s better informed then we are.¡±


    The innkeeper sighed and ignored the compliments to continue the discussion. ¡°When you''re walking around the floors, look for out of place things. Like, you go into a place that everything is gray stone, and you find a door made of red wood with bright white limestone: it''s going to lead you to another world''s associated Under-Sky. In theory when you exit the bottom floor, it always takes you to that world that the layers are normally imitating. You can sort of move sideways by going up and down through different floors, but doors are the direct way to move ''over'' between different Under-Skies.¡±


    A younger woman came out from the kitchen of the inn, wearing a simple barmaid''s outfit. ¡°Dearest, do you need any help?¡±


    In the moment the barkeep heard those words, Corvayne saw the mans face morph from brooding to pleased and his tone was about a hundred degrees warmer. He even laughed a little. ¡°No honey. I''m just chatting with some explorers here who are off to fight goblins. Don''t want to see any in town, right guys?¡±


    The other group raised their mugs. Were they even drinking from them? Not one had got up to get more.


    Mosh muttered ¡°Rude as hell.¡±


    The woman nodded and smiled at them. ¡°Stay safe. King''s blessing on you.¡±


    When she was gone, the innkeeper went back to glowering. Corvayne looked at him. ¡°Is there a polite way to ask if someone is ''Awakened''?¡±


    ¡°If you ask them in any way and they get mad, they are awakened.¡±


    ¡°Your wife wouldn''t.¡± Corvayne stated.


    ¡°She might in a few years.¡± The man looked defeated. ¡°What do you want with me?¡±


    Mister I lifted his bowl. ¡°The recipe!¡±


    Mosh folded his arms. ¡°Everyone to stop shit-talking goblins.¡±


    Wick called out ¡°A potion that raises someone''s caution. The innkeeper looks like he''s had a few.¡±


    ¡°Coming into my Inn for trouble miss?¡±


    ¡°Paranoid knows it''s own.¡± Wick shrugged but didn''t turn away from the man.


    Corvayne waved at them to stop. ¡°Hey! Sorry sir. We are not going to harm anyone here. Perhaps another day we''ll come back and order more stew and have a less hostile conversation.¡±


    He got up to leave, then stopped. He had paid for information. It was time to cash in. ¡°Actually I want to know before we go, what are you really worried about?¡±

 Chapter 24: People of the Tower

    Corvayne eased back into his seat as the Innkeeper just looked at him. Corvayne went poker faced and stared back. He had paid the Innkeeper to talk, and while there was some good information in there he needed to know what was putting the man on edge.


    He softened his tone and forced himself to relax. ¡°I don''t mind if you don''t trust us for some reason, but who or what are you worried about? If it''s a possible danger to our group, I''d appreciate knowing as well.¡±


    There was silence, then the man behind the bar just laughed once. Not a happy laugh but one that Corvayne felt was the man''s way of saying ''what does it matter?''.


    The innkeeper thought a little and looked back to make sure the woman was out of the room before speaking. ¡°Some people think of the Under-Sky folks as... prey. They, the Under-Skyers or unawakened folk, can''t intuit hostile intent or manipulation as well as a normal person until they are exposed to lying. Or get hurt.¡±


    Wick crossed her arms and used her head to indicate the kitchen. ¡°That or you''re worried because people who protect the Under-Sky people would see what your doing with her as wrong.¡±


    The innkeeper''s face darkened with anger and he started leaning forward. Corvayne thought he was going to have to jump in front of Wick but the man lowered his voice and spoke, ¡°Wrong? How about this: May''s loop was asking about her young husband who went off to war, and then begging people to spend more at this inn because times were hard. I just wanted to fix up this shitty inn up so I had a base on the floor, I was really aiming for a cabin. I wanted to live out here for a few years cooking monsters and fishing. Alone. This floor has a huge variety of game and they are all soft targets. That and I like the fucking pine forest. So every day I was in town I''d patch up a section of inn and she''d pay me to cover the materials and ask about her husband before I left to go into the woods. When a Under-Sky person has a problem, seeing them hurt wears on you. Eventually I asked the mayor about it, he tells me that a traveler came into town, ''Married her'', got bored, and left years ago. If the mayor himself was awake, he''d have told her the truth himself probably. I didn''t think that alone would help her.¡±


    Wick didn''t look impressed. ¡°I''m waiting for the messed up part of molding her into what you want her to be.¡±


    ¡°Well I spent a few months repairing the inn. Her parents had owned it before they passed. At the time I''d just fuck the miller''s daughter June if that''s why you''re so upset: She normally rolls through the unmarried men in town once a week while ''helping them with their laundry'' if left alone. So yeah, I was fucking a willing villager.¡± He folded his arms. ¡°If they don''t want to, they say no, just like anyone else.¡±


    Mister I cut Wick off from making a comment. ¡°Do ones that always say yes do so? Or do they have preferences?¡±


    ¡°The bar is not always high, but I''ve seen the same Under-Sky folk say no, then warm up to someone and say yes to sleeping with someone.¡± Watching the innkeeper speak, Corvayne had a feeling he was speaking about himself.


    ¡°I treat them like people, June was always happy to see me, and was fine with me saying I was around her for fun. So I had fun. Then one day, May asks me if I could stop seeing June. I was stumped on how it happened, I''d never had an unawakened make a personal request like that. She couldn''t express why she wanted me to stop either, and she looked frustrated at the question. I felt worse about getting May upset then I ever will with anything I did with June, so I took a break that day and I asked her to tell me what she was sure she felt. She knew she missed her husband. She worried he was dead. She had been worried about the inn before I showed up. She had weird thoughts that scared her.¡±


    Corvayne looked and the others were mostly finished with their stew and just listening. He noticed the drunk wasn''t paying them any mind, and the other adventurers had left.


    The innkeeper went on. ¡°She had thoughts of leaving the village and dying on the road like her husband might have, far from home. She sometimes would think about burning down the inn and it would make her cry. She told me she sometimes was really scared and trapped: it felt like she couldn''t leave. That she thinks her husband had killed her parents.¡±


    Mister I leaned back. ¡°Some of that sounds like depression.¡±


    The innkeeper nodded and kept speaking, ¡°You have the right of it. She was living a loop that was chipping away at her. I admit that before I came here, I only cared about the unawakened in that people were cruel to them for their jollies and they were the canary in the mines for sociopaths. But I was interested in May now as a problem or outlier. I admit, not very romantic. So I told her I wanted her to talk to me when she had odd thoughts. That was the most forceful I was ever with her: if she had an impulse to do something she found scary to talk with me first. I promised her I''d stop seeing June. I also said I''d ask around town so that it might be possible to find out where her husband went.¡±


    Hari smiled. ¡°That was sweet of you.¡±


    His expression had gone thoughtful, but Hari''s comment made him resume his stern face while holding up a hand. ¡°I''m not sweet. I just always had a desire to see how things worked. I figured I''d just solve a mystery. Sometimes the Under-Sky folds in challenges from the unawakened as part of the forging...¡±


    Wick interrupted. ¡°What''s the forging?¡±


    The question made him blink. ¡°Oh. Sorry, I forgot, you guys say you are newbies. There are travelers of the tower that think it''s specifically trying to ''forge'' people with trials and rewards to make a champion or army or something.¡±


    Corvayne thought about nearly dying earlier in the day. ¡°There''s a place on this floor that''s much, much harder.¡±


    ¡°10 gold and I''ll tell you everything I know about that island of the dead. Otherwise, yeah, stay away.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t want to go back right away, but he was tempted by the man''s offer. ¡°I''d think about it, but maybe when we are ready to go back. Not this week for sure. You were talking about your wife?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Well, I talked to the townspeople. The butcher, the smith, the wandering merchant... the merchant helped the most. She says she trades between here and Larscoc and other towns on more mild floors. I never followed her to a different town... another thing I ended up putting off. Maybe we''ll go when me and May are ready to leave.¡±


    Corvayne found the idea of living on the floor so appealing he let a little disbelief slip into his voice. ¡°Ready to leave?¡±


    The man nodded. ¡°If she fully awakens I think she''ll want some time to explore. I''d be happy to do that with her.¡±


    ¡°And Larscoc is another town...¡± Corvayne asked. He noticed Hari had stopped paying attention because his comment caused her to look up from her book and the sun dial.


    The Barkeep was mostly focused on him. ¡°It''s down then up through ''The Rainy Spiral'' As she tells it. The trick is to follow the lines of trees: they planted lines of trees to help mark a path to their place. The trader says that Larscoc also knew of her old husband, and he had knifed a woman there and beat an awakened within an inch of his life. They survived, so the Mayor of Larscoc apparently put out a bounty for him, preferred alive. I gave the merchant some money to add to that bounty, with a request to tell me if he''s captured so we can go for the trial.¡±


    ¡°If they don''t know the way to the ruins I came from here, perhaps the trader does, or they do at Larscoc.¡± Hari said, looking at Corvayne.


    Corvayne nodded at her.


    Wick picked up the word that Corvayne had also heard. ¡°Bounties? How can you possibly collect one in here? I mean, finding someone in the woods we saw would be impossible.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°It would seem impossible, but there''s something in this place that likes when people fight. The tower seems to support it further with a figure who helps people hunt each other... you''ll find him or her in the big inn if you look.¡±


    ¡°We are in the inn.¡± Corvayne gestured.


    The big man finally laughed. ¡°I''m convinced. You''re either the best actor I''ve ever seen or you''re really on your second run up. Names Banner. I forgot yours, to be honest. I was waiting for a fight to start.¡±


    Corvayne shook the man''s offered hand. ¡°Again, I''m Corvayne. I sensed you were... tense... are people after you?¡±


    ¡°... That''s your real name? Corvayne?¡±


    Corvayne was composing a very... diplomatic response to that when the innkeeper Banner held up his hands and apologized, ¡°Sorry Corvayne, yeah. Same as half of everybody: the Illaureii. They call the unawakened ''Enpiiseia''.


    Wick blinked. ¡°They call them En-pii-seas?¡±


    Grunt cracked his knuckles: A sign of disapproval.


    The innkeeper frowned. ¡°The Illaureii are a blight on the entire Under-Sky. Yes. Enpiiseas for plural. Your enunciating it a little off...¡±


    Mosh laughed with a hint of perhaps anger? ¡°No, she''s got it. It''s three letters buddy: NPC. A very not nice way of saying someone''s being played by the computer. A non player character.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what the computer is, nor what a player is in this case.¡± The barkeep said. Corvayne also wasn''t following, but he HAD seen the term before, just never explained.


    Corvayne put a few more coins down. ¡°If you don''t mind serving us a few drinks, I think we are fine to keep listening.¡±


    ¡°That would also cover rooms.¡± Banner looked at them. ¡°How many beds do you need?¡±


    Grunt held up seven fingers. Wick elbowed him. ¡°Six.¡± Yep, angry.


    Mosh took a sip of his drink after Banner was done pouring them beers then explained. ¡°Boss looked confused too, so... Think of NPC as a term for someone... in a play who has one line. Not a long one and they go off stage, so you have one guy maybe playing a dozen different NPCs. The actors everyone knows, the players, they get big roles that have depth. A range of emotions. NPCs exist to either help or hinder the roles the named players in this trope are playing. But unless an actor says ''I kinda like the guy who handed us our cups, I''d like to know more about him'' then they don''t have more depth and never will. They are like props who exist because the world needs someone to hand people cups, not all of whom are important like say a cup-hander who''s the assassin. Sometimes you just need a dude to exist for 5 seconds in a play to say ''here''. That''s why the term NPC is so insulting. These folks are obviously living a life. Now I''m double mad, why the hell did it put me with a bunch of unawakened monsters? I coulda been living the high life here! Pardon me gentleman, where does June live?¡±


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Wick leaned to glare at him behind Corvayne''s back. ¡°Mosh you little...¡±


    ¡°She knows my name! Praise the Sun or whatever they say here. Look. June is a woman. If she doesn''t want to help me wash my clothes with lots of suds in the little shallow part of the river where no one can see us, then okay. But hey, you probably saw Boss and thought ''the goods are odd, but the odds are good'' exactly the same way, right? Why deny June an new adventure with a new adventurer?¡±


    Wick went red, possibly with fury. Wait, had she thought that about him? Should he be insulted or pleased? He felt both, honestly.


    ¡°Down the street to the bridge, follow the trail past the mill to the little house there.¡± Banner handed Mosh a key. ¡°If you bring her back here tell her to keep it down. She gets loud.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Banner! See ya guys later!¡± Mosh waved then skipped out the door.


    ¡°Mosh! Hey, why did you tell him that?!?¡± Wick hissed.


    Banner shrugged. ¡°June was at her most awakened when shes complaining about sleeping with the same ten men every week. So I figure I''d throw her a bone.¡±


    Mister I stood up, a serious look on his face as he bowed to the shorter woman. ¡°Do not worry Wick. I will make sure he doesn''t do anything unmentionable.¡±


    Wick slammed her palms on the bar. ¡°I know you don''t honor a vow of chastity! You also never drop your smile unless you''re lying!¡±


    ¡°Nor a vow of difficulty. But I really want someone to wash my clothes, and I can fish if that''s all she''s going to do. We cannot know what the future holds until we try. Have a good afternoon!¡± He took another key and strolled out, whistling.


    Grunt stood up next.


    Wick was shaking and Corvayne could hear how mad she was. ¡°We just had someone get hurt wandering off! And now THIS? If you go I''m telling Dawn. I''m she she''s keeping that peeler sharp for Corvayne as-is!¡±


    Grunt gave her a look that said: Come on, you think that little of me? Then the big man mined pulling on something and reeling a dial. He continued by putting his thumb against something... no! He was putting quarters into a machine, then mimed getting cut and blood flying, and then gestured back at his clothes: I actually want to fish while she washes my clothes. Look at how much blood are on these.


    Corvayne laughs. ¡°Build a fire, it''s really freaking cold out there if your just sitting around this floor naked.¡± As intended, it made Wick glare at him a little in a way that amused him.


    Grunt nodded, then pulled his actual fishing pole out his back-basket then tapped himself and pointed at the innkeeper then the stew: I''ll try to catch something tasty and bring it back.


    Banner smiled and placed a key on the bar for Grunt. ¡°Much appreciated... mister..?¡±


    Grunt grunted in response.


    ¡°Mister Grunt?¡±


    A nod and smile then Grunt walked out, putting a hand on Corvayne''s shoulder and giving it a shake before pushing both doors open to let himself out.


    The innkeeper had a little laugh. ¡°Anyone else going over to woo June?¡± He saw there were no takers and kept talking. ¡°Well, the long and short of the rest of the tale is that the story the town had always heard was monsters and bad luck got her folks. But I asked everyone about it. Including June who mentioned that when Agotti asked her to wash his clothes, sometimes there was blood on them. The last time, before he left town, he was covered in blood and had been stabbed. June refused him as she felt something was wrong. She did end up washing his clothes for the coins, and when he left at the same time someone else went missing, one of the guards. I talked to the Mayor and head of the watch.¡±


    Banner paused and took a sip from his own cup behind the bar. Corvayne could see that Hari and Wick were both listening rather then continuing work on their projects they had started at the bar.


    The innkeeper asked aloud, ¡°Where was I? Oh, when we met. So I laid out what I had found out, and then they could fill in other details that fell into place. I think talking to them might have woke them a bit. As for May... I told her that her husband probably wasn''t coming back. He was wanted, and he had hurt people, but it wasn''t her fault what happened. She cried because she felt lost, so I told her I''d help her full-time with the inn for a few days and be there when she needed to talk. The next day she walked over to the mayor and asked him to divorce her. From then on she''d call me into her room to sit by her bed and talk to her as she fell asleep. She had hard questions when we talked, the reflex maybe of being jolted out of her routine twice I think. Questions like: what''s the point of life? Why do we feel sad? Why do people do bad things? Sometimes when I told her that there wasn''t an answer she''d get frustrated or sad, and she''d talk about her memories and how they kept growing and changing in her mind. Either way, sitting in a chair by candle and listening to her talk... she had a good trick going: after the first three long nights of sitting by her side I knew she had me. So much for not being cunning: I had married her next summer after she dropped hints asking me to do so and life has gotten better. I like that she''s more complex even if sometimes it drives me up a wall.¡±


    He was smiling by the time he finished speak.


    Wick nodded and held her hands above her head. ¡°Ok. I''m sorry about doubting you... you looked happy when you talk about her feeling better.¡±


    Hari nodded. ¡°I liked the story.¡±


    Banner looked thoughtful as he started cleaning one of the mugs from the bar with a rag. ¡°If I was younger and still full of fire I''d probably have gone after that guy''s bounty myself.¡±


    Corvayne shook his head before saying, ¡°I''m not going to hunt anyone, but I want to visit this other town. Do you know if the trader is in today?¡±


    ¡°She''s out of town, sadly. But if you follow the road out of town over the river it turns into a path through the woods that leads to the Rainy Spiral floor. You then follow the lines of trees to mark the path to the way up.¡±


    Corvayne added something else to his to-do list. ¡°What kinda monsters do you find on that floor?¡±


    ¡°Armored-rats, brush-slugs, vine-birds, maybe a few painted-lions.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Corvayne said. He was pretty sure it was a list of creatures he had already fought. He took a sip of beer and added, ¡°Maybe tomorrow that''s our goal. Would anyone else in town know about other worlds?¡±


    ¡°I don''t think so. The unawakened take a lot of prodding to start accepting and talking about the Under-Sky. The only ones that generally move between floors without some sort of push are the traders.¡±


    ¡°Ok thanks Banner.¡± Corvayne took his key from the bar. He looked between Hari and Wick: Hari was gently fiddling with the artifact sundial and was rotating the entire thing around to look at the bottom of the base. Wick, on the other hand was looking back at him.


    She looked calmer but he wasn''t sure she was actually over what happened earlier in the day with him nearly dying. So Corvayne stood up and stretched his arms, then spoke to his two companions. ¡°I''m going to meditate and rest. I''m still sore from getting beat up earlier today.¡± He grabbed his pack from beside the bar stool.


    Wick called after him, ¡°You sure you''re not going to go off and try jumping off the edge if we leave you alone?¡±


    Corvayne stopped and turned around. He cut off a dozen sharp responses. ¡°I don''t know why you''re acting like this.¡±


    ¡°Because you almost died you dumbfuck!¡± Wick had stood up, looking around as she realized how loud she was, then grabbed Corvayne''s sleeve and tried to drag him towards the stairs up to the second floor. Corvayne let her guide him as he didn''t want his shirt ripped. Once they were out of the main room of the bar she lowered her voice to a hiss. ¡°You were standing there with a dumb look on your face when you stumbled in half dead. Did it cross your thick head that the rest of us worry about you when you run off and come back half dead? You think it''s funny to drop you have feelings for me, then go off and fight a dragon alone?¡±


    Corvayne inwardly winced but marshalled himself to stay calm as he pointed to the second floor. ¡°Up stairs, I''ll give you the talk.¡±


    Wick followed him. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°The talk.¡± Corvayne just lead the way upstairs and found his room, a small space with two beds. He put his things down and then leaned against the wall next to the window.


    Wick had her arms folded. ¡°Ok, the talk. Give me, THE talk.¡±


    He hadn''t thought she cared that much about him, so it made it easier to understand why she had been mad at him. ¡°It''s the one every warrior has with the people he loves. I never had to do it in the village but Spears made me listen to her practice her run of it at least 3 times, and I''ve heard at least 3 other people go over it.¡±


    Wick folded her arms. ¡°Given how much you like your spear, and that her name''s come up more then a few times... I''m starting to think she was dating you and you didn''t know it.¡±


    Corvayne couldn''t stop himself from looking disgusted. ¡°She broke a lot of my ribs sparring.¡±


    Wick folded her arms and gave him a chilly look. ¡°Right now I feel like that just reinforces my theory.¡±


    Corvayne closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. Then he looked at her and spoke. ¡°Every warrior, scout, guard, and solider; Hunters even... they all accept into their lives danger. I do too. In this case because you''ve asked me for help. I know you don''t want to get into the details but there''s danger in doing this. I want help, I mean, I''d love if Hari was sticking around as another scout. Until then, I''m going in first because that''s the role I took. I take risks to get the things we need to mitigate those risks we find later. I do this with the goal of protecting you, and my other friends too. I think today was not good, and I''m going to do my best not to worry you without a good reason. I never leave home without making every effort to come back alive. I face danger to save others from doing so.¡±


    Wick''s glare softened a little bit. ¡°You need to run sooner.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°I may need a partner such as Hari when looking at dangerous places like that.¡±


    ¡°We are dumping a lot of gear on her as-is. I actually think we''d see Mosh more then her.¡± Wick looked away, and Corvayne had thought a little about what watching Wick go into danger would do to him.


    He waited for her to look him in the eyes. ¡°I also would like to say I''m really sorry. I had not... I need to think about what it means to you, Wick, if something happens to me. I''ve never had anyone who cared if I got hurt or died.¡±


    ¡°That''s right. You''re my god damn rope up and out. But there''s a third thing... conspiring with Hari! Your job is to conspire with me.¡±


    ¡°She''s was trying to help me with you.¡± Corvayne laughed a little at this.


    ¡°I was going to help you with HER.¡±


    Corvayne smirked. ¡°Why? She''s going to be gone in a week.


    ¡°Hah. I bet you she WON''T be.¡± Wick folded her arms.


    ¡°Wait what? Why''s that?¡±


    ¡°I don''t KNOW why it''s a gut instinct. Anyway, before you and her get involved I''m taking a turn.¡± Wick headed over to the door and latched it locked.


    Corvayne was completely caught off guard. ¡°Wait, what? I thought you were angry at me.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? And? Get on the bed.¡±

 Chapter 25: Should Have Named it The Drunken Elf

    Corvayne left Wick''s warm, and only sometimes rough, embrace to check in with the group for dinner. He was also going to bring some up for her as at the moment she looked pretty comfortable on the bed. While putting on clothes he wondered how the innkeeper knew which keys to give to everyone to match how their rooms were arranged. Corvayne stopped as he pulled his shirt over his head: who was rooming with who? He was now fully clothed but felt a little naked without his spear and his leather holster. He really didn''t go places without them often.


    Walking into the common room he saw that Mosh and Mister I both looked equally tired and pleased as he had felt. They were sitting at the bar with the junior adventurers laughing it up. Mosh had picked up a goblin sized golden-yellow tunic, red vest, and leather shorts that all together made him look like a proper adventurer as he made hand motions that were obviously related to the afternoon''s activities. He saw Grunt had found a seat with the drunk man who had been in the bar since they arrived. Grunt''s huge form was half leaning in to listening to the man ramble while drinking beer from a wooden tankard and half shifting his gaze about to watch the crowded inn. Hari had found a dark green and olive barmaid''s dress and was dancing with a young woman who was also flush and giggling. The elf caught Corvayne''s arm as he was heading past her to the bar, and he could feel her balance wasn''t quite as steady.


    ¡°Corvayne! Here!¡± Hari said with a laugh.


    She pushed a satchel into his hands. He took a moment to peek under the closed pouch and saw the potion, the sun dial, and her shroud as well as feeling her book on the bottom. Well, it would be good to not have to lug it around if she decided to have a nice evening with the lady there, or one of the lads who were watching them.


    ¡°Wait!¡± She hooked his arm and tugged him to form a trio with them while laughing. He didn''t know the dance and spent the first few moments freezed up and looking between his unasked for dance partners. They didn''t put up with him standing there, with Hari urging him, ¡°Dance!¡±


    It had been a long time since he felt as physically clumsy as when he was he was trying not to elbow Hari in her chest or step on the other girl''s feet while being pulled this way and that by both of them. It was only a minute of stumbling before he could extract himself with Hari''s bounty of items, both girls expressing laughing disappointment. Maybe if he didn''t have Wick and a warm bed waiting he''d have found more enthusiasm. Either way, he went up to the bar to go pay for his dinner as well as a bowl up to Wick. The innkeeper, Banner, waved away his silver and gave him two bowls of stew.


    ¡°Your friends paid in fish and game already.¡± Banner said and smirked a little, about as much as Corvayne expected out of the man.


    Corvayne thanked him and picked up the warm wooden bowls. He picked a path along the outside of the room to head to the stairs, but Hari had started following him with two mugs of beer.


    ¡°Here I got some for Wick and you!¡± She was a little too loud. Corvayne showed her that he was already managing two wooden bowls. ¡°Ok I''ll bring them up for you! Don''t I look like a bar maiden?¡±


    She was standing on the stairs down from him, meaning he saw a face and her ample cleavage with just a thin line of olive.


    Corvayne gave her a guarded nod. ¡°It works on you.¡±


    ¡°May I stay in your room tonight? Miss June was going to go with our goblin again. I would prefer not to have to listen to Mosh and her all night.¡± She didn''t look to Corvayne that drunk, but he motioned with his eyes back at the door.


    ¡°I would have to ask Wick. I fear you might be trading rooms for a... similar problem.¡±


    Hari didn''t hide she was looking Corvayne up and down. She teased, ¡°You two are not done yet? Wow you really love her don''t you?¡±


    ¡°I haven''t... I mean I... ¡° Corvayne didn''t want to just blurt it out to everyone.


    Hari just laughed and kept going. ¡°It''s ok! She''s seen me naked. What''s fair for the wyrm is fair for the wyvern.¡±


    ¡°How many drinks did you have?¡±


    ¡°Two? I always limit myself to two.¡± Hari insisted as she got a little closer and Corvayne wondered what her math looked like on that. The first two, the middle two, and then the last two?


    He warded her off with the bowls in his hand. ¡°Ok, let me take this in and see if she''s up to talk.¡±


    He tapped the door with his foot while cradling one bowl in his elbow to open it, then went into the room. Wick was sitting with the blanket on the bed pulled up to her chest and her glasses off and hair down. Corvayne enjoyed seeing her for a moment then remembered he was standing with his back to the hall. He closed the door with his foot and offered her a bowl of stew. She accepted with one hand, then patted the bed next to her with her other.


    He sat with his bowl. ¡°I got bad news: Hari is asking to bunk with us.¡±


    ¡°Did you explain to her we are fucking?¡± She scooted over so she could lean against him.


    ¡°Oh she got that. It''s just that nobody wants to bunk with Mosh, because he''s got another loud session with June.¡± Corvayne had a desire to try feeding each-other but tapped it down until he could ask her if that was too mushy. It probably was, she didn''t like holding hands.


    ¡°Those fuckers Grunt and Icariii really won''t offer their beds up for the elven maiden?¡±


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Corvayne blew on his spoon and took a sip. The hot spicy stew packed flavors that made him suspect that it had been packed with monster meat. He stirred his bowl then responded to Wick''s possibly retorical question. ¡°I think our assumption was that the guys would take two rooms, and you and her would take the other.¡±


    ¡°I thought we''d put her with Grunt. Mostly because I thought Mosh and Icariii would keep people up talking about the meaning of rituals or whatever they were going on about today. Hari in here though? Didn''t think she''d be into watching but sure.¡± Wick made herself a robe from the top quilt and went over to the door. Corvayne followed her.


    Wick opened the door and Corvayne could hear her half of the conversation. ¡°Hey Hari. You don''t need to whisper, we both know you''re there.¡± Corvayne saw Wick realize talking was pointless and step aside to let the woman speak to Corvayne through the door.


    ¡°Tell Wick her hair is pretty.¡± Hari''s ears gave a little flick. True.


    Corvayne told Wick that and she laughed once before responding.


    ¡°Tell Hari she''s got a great pair of tits.¡± True.


    ¡°I''m not telling her that Wick.¡±


    ¡°Tell me what?¡± Hari asked, swaying a little and leaning on the door frame.


    ¡°She''s impressed with your chest.¡± Corvayne paraphrased a little.


    Hari giggled and shook her bossom back and forth then offered Wick the mugs. The elf finally blew someone in the room a kiss before turning to carefully walk down the stairs.


    ¡°She''s as drunk as a skunk.¡± Wick laughed as she took a sip from the wooden tankard.


    ¡°Do we need to go down and chaperone her?¡±


    ¡°She''s an elf, she''s probably older then both us put together.¡± She finished her stew then prodded his side with a finger as he ate. That and the gleam in her eye prompting him to eat faster. He felt like he was starting to understand Wick better and the message her smirk was sending loud and clear.


    The next knock on the door came when Corvayne had Wick comfortable enough to be gently kissing after the fact. Corvanye was tempted to just ignore the interruption but settled for stealing one more kiss. He felt Wick rummage around under the covers and hand him his pants.


    She pushed the pants at him after looking at him and giggling a little.¡°Go. It might be important.¡±


    Corvayne was annoyed as pulled his pants up while hopping across the cold hardwood floor. He opened the door ready to try his hand at being rude but was greeted with Hari sobbing. She followed the door opening to end up crying into his chest.


    ¡°It''s my fault they are dead!¡± She wailed.


    He looked back at Wick, who held her hands up in the air to say either ''I can''t understand her'' or ''not my department''.


    He must have been waiting too long with Hari crying hot tears all over his bare chest because Wick hissed at him, ¡°Bring her in you dolt!¡±


    ¡°Can we ask Mosh to...¡± Corvayne trailed off as noises of a woman very loudly enjoying Mosh''s company filled the hall. Hari was once again his problem, and perhaps Wick''s too. They helped the woman inside and she started crying and apologizing as she flopped on the bed next to Wick, who looked supremely embarrassed by the elf crying on her shoulder.


    ¡°Corvayne what''s she saying?¡± Wick said, her hands hovering as if they didn''t know what to do.


    Corvayne kelt before the woman and tried to find his most reassuring voice. ¡°Hari, I know it feels overwhelming. Don''t worry about what you need to do. Come here... we''ll get you into a nice warm bed, okay yep, there goes your dress. Wick? Uhh, can you help?¡± He had gone from trying to support her emotionally to doing so literally as a crying drunk elf maiden latched onto him.


    He was deeply embarrassed as Hari was wiggling trying to get her dress the rest of the way off her butt with one hand and also bawling into his armpit, and he could see Wick was biting her lip with jealousy... no she was just trying not to let her laughter spill out. She did however relent and grab his shirt to get out of bed to help peel her off him. ''Well Grunt,'' he thought as Wick rolled her eyes while Hari hugged her and bawled, ''behold the majesty of my harem.''¡±


    Hari hiccuped as she spoke, ¡°I''m so sorry, Wick, Corvayne, I''m a mess, I''ll sleep in the hall...¡±


    Wick looked up at Corvayne as the girl half-heartedly tried to pull herself away from Wick. ¡°Why''s she trying to get away? Does she have to pee?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head and Wick held Hari tighter and tried to sooth her. ¡°It''s okay Hari. Good girl.¡± She''s not a dog Wick!


    Hari calmed down as Wick pet her. Wait, it worked?


    ¡°I gotta pee.¡± The elf announced, waterworks vanishing as she stood up and half knocked Wick to the other bed.


    Corvayne gestured at Hari as Wick looked between them. Corvayne took what he thought of as an instructive tone as he spoke, ¡°Wick: We talked about the rule of saying things out loud. Now she has to pee.¡±


    Wick helped her get dressed then gave Corvayne his shirt back then spun him to face her and help her down the stairs and out the side door to the outhouse. Corvanye made eye contact with Grunt as he used an arm to stop Hari from stumbling into a table: This is your fault Grunt. Grunt looked back and waggled his fingers with an innocent smile: Sleep well tonight buddy!


    The morning Corvayne and Wick joined everyone else around a table for breakfast. Corvayne had, despite everything, slept very well after getting Hari into her bed where she had fallen asleep and started gently snoring after about five seconds. The aroma of eggs mixed with the fresh cedar sawdust the innkeeper had swept with, leaving only a little lingering hint of spilled beer. Wick was sitting beside him and had put her boot next to his under the table while decidedly not looking at him over it. Corvayne felt he under stood the warmth of that little gesture from her, like he was starting to get how Wick moved from wanting to be close to him to a more distant partnership then back again. On his other side, Hari''s hair was messed up and she looked a little green as she stared down at her untouched eggs.


    ¡°Corvayne.¡± She croaked, not looking him in the face. ¡°I didn''t do anything stupid when I drank, right?¡±


    ¡°I think you were dancing with another girl when I went upstairs.¡± He said, avoiding the question like it was a spear thrust at his neck.


    Grunt tapped the table for her attention, mimed dancing, then mimed pulling a blouse down.


    ¡°Wait... what?¡± She shook her head. ¡°You''re joking. Ha ha ha.¡± She mimed laughing with not a trace of humor on her face. ¡°Joking, right?¡±


    Grunt mimed two drinks from a mug. Gave a thumbs up. Mimed three drinks. Made a little X. Then started miming more drinks. Corvayne was enjoying breakfast too much to watch how many times he repeated it. Did the eggs have sky blue swirls cutting through them because they were monster eggs? Maybe Mister I had the right idea: the food sometimes felt like the real reason to explore the Tower.


    Mosh had finished his eggs quickly and had pushed his chair a little back from the table to see everyone. ¡°Oh yeah Boss, Hari also started kissing both June and July last night!¡±


    The elf in question had buried her face in her hands. Perhaps her memory was returning?


    Mister I nodded while focusing intently on cutting his own scrambled eggs up. ¡°Corvayne if you could advise her to temperance. We had to ask July to try to tell her to go upstairs and lay down. I''m sorry, if I could talk to her I''d have intervened myself.¡± Corvayne noticed the monk sounded particularly clear-headed this morning.


    ¡°It''s all right. Sometimes we all need help.¡± Corvayne ate his eggs while pointedly not looking over at Hari.


    Banner''s wife, May, brought them steaming sausages and a pitcher of watered down blood-apple wine and asked if they all slept well.


    Wick smiled. ¡°My bed was VERY comfortable, thank you.¡± Wick took a sip from her cup and looked over. ¡°So today, do we want to push upwards, try to find the other town, or just bumble around on this floor?¡±


    Corvayne looked at the others. He recapped for Hari ¡°Upwards, to the other town, or keep exploring this one. I want to see other floors, to be honest. If we are going to take time to explore a floor...¡±


    Mister I laughs. ¡°I like this floor the best. Lots of game to be had! Only a few monsters and they are delicious.¡± Corvayne caught that as Mister I was talking Grunt looked a little annoyed at him.


    Corvayne took another sip of his breakfeast wine. It was pretty much juice and tasted good but he wondered if he could get a portable coffee maker. He let his mind wander about living on the third floor. Would Banner help him build a log cabin near town for gold? ¡°I''m fine with that, exploring on this floor while we figure out tactics and get everyone equipped.¡±


    Wick finished chewing on a sausage before she spoke. ¡°I think we''re going to run out of room carrying stuff soon. Grunt''s going to have to ditch his bats and have to use an actual weapon.¡± Wick elbowed her friend, who grunted agreement while eating.


    Mosh, who was sitting next to Grunt, started using the fork to clean his teeth. Then the goblin spoke, ¡°Well, you know my vote is up and out. A little less now that I''m having a pretty good time, so I guess it''s a vote for eventually getting out.¡±


    Hari spoke while rubbing her head. ¡°Let''s spend another day on this floor. Maybe take it easy today.¡±


    Corvayne looked at everyone. ¡°Would you all be okay with another night here, at the inn?¡±


    Grunt nodded his agreement, and Wick gave Corvayne a thumbs up as she took a sip of her wine. With Mosh nodding and Mister I smiling, Corvayne stood and asked Banner if the rooms would be open again tonight.


    The big man laughed. ¡°Are you kidding? The only person who used them before is the trader. This is the busiest I''ve ever been!¡±

 Chapter 26: The Three Room Problem.

    With their lodging secure for the next night the group was set to explore the woods. Corvayne lead them downstream, planning to see if the small river linked up with another stream he had been to before. As they walked past the mill they found a path along the stream that meandered back and forth along the banks. Talking with the group about yesterday, no objections were made to exploring at a more leisurely pace for chests. Corvayne recommended everyone move in pairs and to stay within vision of each other while exploring the brush.


    Corvayne used some of the time the other party members spent canvasing the woods to help Mosh practice fighting, which he wasn''t terrible at once he stopped screaming every time something came at him. Wick let the goblin use her spear instead of a knife. Mosh was more then happy to use the larger weapon as it meant he could try to keep a monster at bay before it started clawing him. It looked like the spear should be too big for him but Corvayne could see Mosh had slightly enhanced strength. When they had finished and were walking further along the sandy river bank, Corvayne asked Mosh what he remembered about practicing powers.


    ¡°It''s been over ten years, and I took crafter courses but okay! What I remember from it is they''d make us run laps around the campus and use abilities until we were exhausted.¡±


    Corvayne looked at him. ¡°And they didn''t encourage you to see if your gifts were useful?¡±


    ¡°I did exceptionally well making things Boss. I slacked off with regards to fighting because, well, the whole universe is a part of the HAF, even if you guys don''t know it! Wasn''t any wars left to fight, so you really went to training to meet people. Meet people. You know, like I met June all night-¡±


    ¡°Got it. Good job. You nailed that Mosh. Anyway... your abilities tire you out?¡± He looked from the goblin to the bank of the river and woods. Grunt was ahead of him, and the rest were a few steps behind.


    Mosh was just looking at where he was walking and Corvayne. ¡°Yeah, of course! You do all those fancy special attacks, don''t you feel winded after a few? Same deal with using those powers.¡±


    ¡°So you should, in other words, use your abilities as we go so that you can start to develop them into useful ones?¡±


    Mosh, with some foot dragging, agreed to practice his powers while Corvanye tried to get his shadow limb to do different tricks. What was odd was he didn''t feel like it was tiring him the same way doing weapon skills did. Perhaps the limb was extremely efficient? Either way, the sound of glass cracking and swearing from Mosh punctuated the otherwise quiet birdsong and occasional raspy warble which they discovered was a furry slug noise.


    A section of a trail that crossed the river path went higher into rocky hills. Grunt and Corvayne turned them to walk up into the more jagged terrain of blue and gray rock. With the trees pushed back from the packed dirt trail, monsters would more frequently seek them out. The majority of these were slug encounters that Corvayne used as practice for his shadow limbs, skewering the low to the ground monsters while following his usual spear footwork. The packs of the charging monsters tended to be clumps of six slug. Perfect numbers for everyone to try to kill one. Grunt and Corvayne dealt with any spares when Wick would miss or Mosh would break formation. Hari and Mister I proved very reliable with taking one down each time Corvayne called incoming.


    Slugs were not the only creatures in the hills: Other monsters such as painted dogs would crop up in small groups moving through gaps in the underbrush when there were wooded portions of the trail. A small flock of tentacle birds also tried to attack at one point, providing them a variety of meat that no doubt would go into the stew at the inn that night.


    The highlight for monsters was Mister I bagging a tiny griffon with his bow. Corvayne appreciated his methodical shooting: Mister I sighted the monster then drew and released in a smooth motion, hitting the creature in the neck as it took flight from a ledge above them. Recalling how much they had enjoyed the sausages, they roasted the monster for lunch with some bread from the cooler. It tasted like something between chicken and beef with a hint of some flavor that he felt was airy. Almost like how one felt breathing in after eating peppermint but not sharp and it actually tasted like it was clean.


    A little after lunch was done they found two chests while exploring about an hour apart: One off the path on a ledge behind a huge light blue rock towering over the path, the other at the back of a den of furry slugs. Hari found a trap on the later, and between both the group found a few more healing potions, a quiver of arrows that were extra sharp they gave to Mister I, a knife that when held made it''s user a little lighter they gave to Mosh, a trio of throwing hatchets that returned to the person throwing them Corvayne took for himself, a belt that made things stick to it, and a few handfuls of silver coins along with a statue that made an area around it smell like fresh pine needles, and a set of sewing needles that could mend paper, glass, and were extra effective at stitching. There were a few art items that had no special properties: a necklace of glass beads with tiny life-like fish in them, a wooden toy-sized rocking horse Pegasus, and two more paintings, small ones that also looked like Cascadia''s coast: The paintings required grunt to make a special stack of delicate items.


    The two more interesting common items were a scroll of ''Unfalling'' and a book of beginners alchemy. Wick and Mister I both wanted it, with Corvayne arguing that it could be shared and they''d see if there was a tie-breaker item that one wanted the other didn''t.


    Hari held up the scroll of Unfalling as they walked out of the den into fresher air: Their lair had a swampy smell to it. ¡°It''s not flying really, you read it and anything that was nearby that fell reverses it''s drop.¡±


    When Corvayne repeated that, Wick mused ¡°Maybe it restores something''s potential energy?¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°Either way, if we can find some way to duplicate these, I''d prefer if we all had them for floors like the first.¡±


    ¡°Didn''t take you for someone who worried about heights.¡± Wick teased while also giving Corvayne''s arm a gentle squeeze. She was wearing the blue feathered robe in place of her olive coat over her white undershirt. A small tinge of envy came along with enjoying how she looked in it: It looked far warmer then his cloak.


    The group came back to familiar ground at the stream Wick and he had bathed and started a fire at when it had just been the two of them. They went up over the hill to the next valley then searched the woods for about an hour and a half before taking a break when they found a large lake. The view was spectacular: A nearly still lake splaying out from the woods to lap against shores miles away. There was only the lightest of breezes and it reflected the woods and blue peaks and yellow sky like a huge mirror.


    Grunt happily sat on a log and gave his feet a rest. Mosh more or less flopped on the ground, and Mister I eyed the lake and started putting his fishing pole together. Wick took out more of her little devices to get more readings, and Hari settled on a rock with the satchel holding the unidentified potion and Sun Dial. A few minutes into the break she suddenly stood up.


    ¡°I got it! Potion of Quintessence.¡± Hari handed it to Corvayne and beamed at him. ¡°I feel like I just brute forced it with all those [Investigate] applications.¡±


    ¡°Is that the one where nobody is sure what it does?¡± He held up the bottle and saw it was just a little translucent.


    ¡°Yep.¡± The elf nodded.


    ¡°But it''s good. And rare.¡± Corvayne considered it. A boost in power... and expensive. He was of the mind to give it to Wick, but he turned to adress the group, ¡°So the potion is Quintessence. It''s sort of a either ''does nothing'' or ''does everything'' deal. The book didn''t clarify effects.¡±


    Wick pointed at Corvayne. ¡°I say we give it to him.¡±


    Grunt nodded as he also pointed to Corvayne. He mimed drinking it then having a horrible transformation with horn fingers and wavy tentacle arms.


    Mister I thought about it, not turning his attention to far from where his fishing line met the lakewater. ¡°I will agree but if I see another chess-board mundane object I''d like more consideration.¡±


    Hari stepped up to Corvayne and tugged his sleeve. ¡°Are you debating who should drink it?¡±


    Corvayne nodded at her. Hari looked at her feet a little bit, then looked Corvayne in the eye as she said, ¡°I feel your choice boils down to either give it to your strongest member, yourself or Grunt, or your weakest member, Wick or Mosh.¡±


    ¡°You don''t want it?¡± Corvayne watched Hari''s face flush a little.


    ¡°I am already asking a lot. You rescued me and both the shadow hood and book are both extremely precious items. Also you''ve been patient with me while I''m been...¡± She got flustered and Corvayne nodded.


    ¡°It''s okay Hari. You''re doing a lot of work for us considering how stressful this all must be. We did what any decent person would do.¡± He turned to Mosh, who was on a rock looking out over the water.


    ¡°Mosh, what''s your vote on the potion?¡±


    ¡°You said it was Quintessence right?¡± The craftsman turned back and hopped off the rock. He sauntered up to Corvayne, standing tall to peek at the bottle.


    Corvayne blinked. ¡°Do you know what it does?¡±


    Mosh grinned. ¡°Do I ever! It''s the potion alchemist''s brew for bragging rights.¡±


    ¡°What happens when you drink it?¡±


    ¡°Oh. No idea. It''s expensive though. It''s one of those things were people say it does nothing and some people put down tons of money for.¡±


    Corvayne sighed. ¡°Thanks for the information Mosh.¡±


    ¡°No problem Boss! Try it and tell me if you feel stronger.¡±


    ¡°It seems like you guys have voted I try it...¡± Corvanye looked at the bottle, then shrugged. ¡°Ok, bottoms up.¡±


    He took the stopper off and drank it. It tasted like thick chocolate milk actually, with an oily hint of perhaps something savory. As it flowed into him... he didn''t feel any different. No glowing lights. He had his shadow limb come out and take the bottle, then place it back in his hand. He tried using [Flows-Like-Water]... no difference in the slight drain taking a few steps.


    ¡°Ok I''m stumped as to what it does too.¡± Corvayne looked for something dramatic, like scales to grow from his arms or something.


    Mosh laughed. ¡°See, that''s what I told you. Probably only works for certain people. Hey, sometimes you gamble and lose!¡±


    ¡°Are we going to backtrack to the inn then?¡± Corvanye asked the rest of the group.


    ¡°How long a walk is it from here? Two hours? Two and a half?¡± Wick rubbed her ankles while asking.


    ¡°Two and a half I''d guess. But I wanted to stop at that house where we found the chest last time and see if the dungeon is refilling it.¡± Corvayne looked away from Wick to see if there was any other input.


    Mister I shrugged without turning to face everyone. ¡°I''m enjoying this pacing better then the goblins, I''ll say that.¡±


    Grunt motioned that he would like to drink some more.


    Wick nodded. ¡°Fine. But we need to hash out some RULES for rooms because last night was chaos.¡±


    Mister I started reeling his line in. ¡°I think me and Grunt being roommates was fine.¡±


    Grunt turned and gave the monk''s back a glare.


    Mosh added ¡°I was perfectly happy to share a room with June.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes! Meanwhile. I had to nurse a DRUNK elf last night.¡± Wick snapped over at the goblin.


    ¡°Corvayne I am sure was more then willing to help you Wick!¡± Mister I added cheerfully.


    Grunt pointed at Corvayne, then Wick, then Hari and mimed pushing two things together.


    Wick growled. ¡°That''s NOT a solution!¡±


    Corvayne mused. ¡°We could just camp outside of town and let them fight over inn rooms.¡±


    ¡°I LIKED sleeping on a BED.¡± Wick said with a strained smile. She turned and started to walk through the woods.


    As he started to follow her Hari jogged a little to walk next to him and whisper, ¡°I''m sorry Corvayne! I shouldn''t have had that second mug.¡± Hari''s ears drooped while she was speaking. OK. Corvayne had to admit that she was cute when she did that.


    He looked ahead to Wick. ¡°I can sleep in a tree if you two would-¡±


    Wick turned her head and growled back, ¡°No no no, you are not sleeping in a tree! Mosh, can you stay at June''s house or something?¡±


    ¡°No way! Have you seen what the miller looks like?¡± Mosh folded his arms.


    Corvayne wasn''t going to press sleeping outside too hard: it was cold outside.


    The goblin snapped his fingers. ¡°Hey, just do the girls together, Grunt and the I doctor, and me and Corvayne! I don''t mind an audience... or a competition. Eh? EH?¡± Mosh slid up to Corvayne, had to sidestep around a tree, then came back and elbowed him in the side. ¡°Eh?¡±


    He held a hand up. ¡°Mosh I''m sure there''s an audience somewhere that would think that''s great. Sadly, it looks like you don''t have any takers.¡±


    Grunt tapped Mosh on the shoulder and mimed his ball-and-chain pose then a considering face. The goblin laughed.


    ¡°See? Grunt would be down!¡± The goblin lowered his voice ¡°Anyway, your going to be sleeping in Wick''s bed anyway right? Or maybe Hari''s?¡±


    Corvayne did look over at Wick, who was glaring at either him or Mosh. He startled as Hari appeared walking next to Mosh. The elf looked down at the goblin with a concerned look on her face. Her voice came out suprisingly cold. ¡°I heard my name out of him.¡±


    ¡°He''s suggesting sleeping arrangements for me. I am politely ignoring him as he seems to enjoy pushing me to conquests I''m not interested in.¡±


    ¡°You mean me?¡± Hari gently placed the end her staff on Moshes shoulder, stopping him.


    ¡°Boss she''s giving me the evil eye! Why''d ya tell her what I said?¡±


    ¡°Please forgive Mosh. He has particular ideas about male bonding. I think.¡±


    Hari withdrew her staff. ¡°Of course.¡± The hint of ice in her voice meant that even though Mosh couldn''t understand what was said, he was still sweating. She hurried up to walk beside Corvayne. Wick was glaring at him again. Why? He had shut the idea down.


    He heard Hari sigh and looked over to see her watching her feet as she walked. ¡°I''m sorry, an ugly elf like me is...¡±


    ¡°I would say your attractive. My reservations are related to your own circumstances as well as much as...¡± He lowered his voice to a loud stage whisper while leaning in and giving Wick the side eye ¡°The girl I was with last night being exactly my type.¡±


    Hari giggled while Wick went red. The elf gently pushed Corvayne''s shoulder. ¡°A shame! ...for me. You seem a... fine knight! Tell your lady it is I who envies her.¡±


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡°She would prefer I not express myself in a mushy manner. I''m sure she would appreciate your envy, however.¡±


    Wick had slowed down to elbow him, much more gently then when she was really angry, and growled a little. ¡°Don''t flirt with the elf in front of me! Where''s your tact?¡±


    ¡°Not flirting.¡± Corvayne saw that Mosh was ahead of him looking back with a raised eyebrow and a smile.


    Mister I joined in. ¡°A treasure on each hand! Corvayne did Mosh give you some sort of blessing? Has he been holding out on me?¡±


    Corvayne suppressed a groan. Moshes smile became a full impish grin. At least Grunt was paying attention to the forest: Everyone else was focused on forming some non-existent love triangle with him and an elf he''d never see again after a few days. It perhaps made sense because he kept his sometimes bursting affection for Wick carefully under wraps. If they were holding hands or caught sneaking kisses then maybe they''d lay off him.


    He pushed his pace a little harder and spent a while focusing on scouting rather then starting to think about both girls. There were people in the village who could make those sorts of relationships between multiple people work, but most of the time they were chaotic. Wick made him happy. Hari was a lot of work. Then again, so was Wick.


    The trip back up to the stream was faster when they didn''t beat around the bush, literally, for treasure. At the little stone house there was still signs that they had stayed there: the remains of a fire as well as sharpened stakes and the tree he had chopped down. The chest was closed and Hari obliged Corvayne by checking for traps and opening it. Inside were a few copper coins and a clay tea cup and saucer with no special properties. Corvayne decided to place it all back into the chest.


    ¡°I want to see if it changes or improves whenever we come back this way next time.¡±


    Mister I looked longingly at the normal clay tea cup as they put it back into the chest.


    The arrived back at the inn in the afternoon and paid for another night. Corvayne stowed his gear while Mister I and Mosh gave the innkeeper a spread of meat for stew then vanished, likely to ''take a bath down by the river''. Grunt took a fishing pole and winked at Corvayne.


    Maybe everyone else thought he was after both girls but Corvayne''s impure thoughts were secondary to how cold he was.


    ¡°It''s a silver for a hot bath in the tub. If you want a cold bath you got a bucket, just draw the water yourself. It''s free, just dump down the ditch once your done with it.¡±


    He tossed out three silver, trying not to think about how many hours of security guard work he was paying in silver for a hot bath. The innkeeper looked at him and the two women flanking him. ¡°All at once or...?¡±


    ¡°You two go ahead of me.¡± Hari stepped back. ¡°I''m going to go shop for a good pack, belt, and some better boots.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°We''ll double up.¡±


    ¡°All right. You can clean up now in the bathroom if you just want to soak, pumps out back by the drainage. I''ll get the water boiling.¡±


    He gestured to a door that lead to a small room with a large iron tub. There were two wood benches and buckets, as well as a screen for privacy. The wood walls had iron bars with fluffy looking gray wool towels and wash cloths. The floor was a step down and made from smooth stones, sloping to a drain that ran under the wall and outside. Wick picked up a bucket and handed another to Corvayne. He followed her out to a little courtyard holding the pump and a drainage ditch that lead down to the stream. Wick set her bucket down and rolled up the sleeves of her robe, then started the squeaky lever going up and down to pump water.


    ¡°You''ve gotten more endurance in the last week. And you put on muscle.¡± Corvanye said while watching her arms extend as the handle came back up.


    ¡°I''m still scrawny. And my feet hurt, I''m just not complaining.¡± Wick grunted a little as she pushed the lever down. ¡°I should make you do this, what ever happened to being a gentleman?¡±


    ¡°I paid for our baths and I didn''t want to be presumptuous that you needed help.¡± He put a hand on the lever and started pumping one handed. He flexed with his other, keeping his face neutral while looking at Wick.


    Wick laughed. ¡°Show off.¡±


    He filled her bucket then his and grunted as he lifted them and put them inside by the benches. Wick pointed to another pair of wood buckets, which he filled while she went to get her soap and some shampoo. She came back and lit a candle in the bathing room then stepped out to help him carry the fourth bucket inside. Setting it down, Wick pulled the screen out to block part of the room off from the door and stripped. Corvayne did as well and accepted her bar of soap. She took her glasses off, placed them on a spare stool with her clothes, undid her braids, then started scrubing her hair. The water was, as expected, freezing. He did his best to not rush while scrubbing himself clean. Wick then washed his back, and he scrubbed hers. Finally the innkeeper walked in and dumped what looked like a barrel into the tub.


    He couldn''t see more then his arms around the screen, but he heard the man say. ¡°One more on the way.¡±


    After a minute he came back with a slightly smaller barrel and filled the tub with steaming hot water. ¡°When it gets cold drain it and I''ll bring the next barrels in. Just ring the little bell.¡±


    He shut the door on the way out and Corvayne hopped in the tub and sighed, feeling his entire form unwind as he fell into the warm water. Wick dropped something that fizzed a little and made the water smell like flowers, then stepped in carefully with a little help from him, and settled into the water resting on him.


    He could see Wick''s shoulders go from tense to jelly. ¡°Haaaa. It''s been years since I had a good soak.¡±


    ¡°It would help my enjoyment of exploring this floor if the streams were this warm.¡± Corvayne put an arm around her and closed his eyes. ¡°Or just the floor itself.¡±


    ¡°Well, if there''s a cold floor, there''s got to be a tropical floor as well, right?¡± He felt Wick wiggle a little.


    ¡°It might only take variations on the local climate, in which case we won''t find one.¡±


    ¡°Well, it would kick ass if in winter we could just take a week on a beach.¡±


    ¡°How cold does it get in winter?¡± He asked, tension entering.


    ¡°Winter feels like this floor. Dress warm and you''ll be fine. I might drop in to warm your bed. You might have to share it with Hari. You never know.¡±


    ¡°I''m guessing we get split up at the exit.¡± Corvayne still had his reservations, especially if she became dependent on him. He knew how it felt to be trapped in a bad living arrangement. Also, why bring her up now?


    ¡°If she sticks, your going to have to spend a lot of time with her.¡±


    ¡°If.¡± He kept his tone even.


    Wick turned around in his arm and he felt her rubbing against him as she pushed her head against his chest. Her green hair looked almost black when it was wet. He closed his eyes. Life was good.


    ¡°She was looking at you a lot today.¡± Wick said.


    ¡°I was looking at you.¡± The irony that he had his eyes closed at the moment was not lost on him.


    ¡°Don''t think I didn''t notice you creeper!¡± She pushed herself up far enough to kiss him then sank back down to nestle comfortably at his side. The water sloshed a little. ¡°Still... we need to find you a nice girl to get the dating thing out of your system.¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to date other women.¡±


    ¡°You sure?¡± She dropped the scratchy voice.


    ¡°Yes. I love you.¡± He felt sure of it. Corvayne opened his eyes to look at her.


    Wick laughed. That hurt a little. Then the laughter got quieter, devolving into little giggles.


    ¡°Wick?¡±


    ¡°Don''t... tell me that with that face.¡± there was pain in her voice. He put his arms around her to hug her, and suddenly she started trembling. Before he could even think the trembling turned into her flailing, water splashing all over as she went from docile to limbs flying. Before he could ask what was wrong Corvaye got a palm in the face that split his lip, and felt her trying to grab his hand and claw it away from her, nails digging in. He pulled himself out from under her, getting kicked as she started gasping and scrambling to pull herself out of the tub, water churning as she splashed, out of control. He got out and offered her a hand.


    ¡°I''m sorry! I didn''t realize...¡±


    She wasn''t listening, slapping his hand away and balling up in the back of the tub, covering her face and taking gasping breaths, then kicking and reaching out, her eyes wide with terror.


    ¡°Easy! Wick! Calm down! You''re ok!¡±


    She lashed out at him again when he got close but he was too scared that whatever was happening would make her hit her head and drown in the tub. He took a solid punch in the jaw and a kick on his forarm as he took her back and legs and lifted her out. Even in his arms she kept battered him and the tub, cutting her own hand and hitting him in the nose. He didn''t think she was aware of anything, her breathing and eyes betraying raw animal terror. He carried her over to her robe.


    ¡°Get away from me!¡± she wheezed out.


    He put her down and put a hand up, then reached with his other hand to the clothes rack. Then handed her the robe. She took it and he stepped back to grab his shorts. She wrapped herself up in her robe and sat on the bench and started sobbing. Corvayne rubbed his nose: Bleeding. She hit him hard and the pain was coming back on top of the warm trickling feeling of a nosebleed. He put his shorts on then used some of the cold soapy water to clean his face and pinched his nose.


    Hearing her quiet cries was a new type of agony for him. He felt lame as he spoke, ¡°Sorry Wick. I... I''m sorry.¡±


    Looking at her crying into her hands, shivering, he felt horror and shame and confusion filling him. Corvayne stood up, and grabbed his shirt. He had just ruined the only relationship he ever wanted. Why didn''t he listen to what she had said? Or pull away faster? He dried himself off and walked out of the bath room, just striding up to the room and laying on his bed, a queasy feeling of total failure taking root.


    A few moments or minutes later there was a knock, and Wick came in, glasses in hand, hair wet and drooping, looking miserable. He turned away to give her privacy, then heard her start to sniffle and looked back at her as she sat down on the other bed.


    ¡°Corvayne I tried to warn you. Now you went and said it... and I... I can''t...¡± Corvayne could see Wick starting to cry again and felt his own tears gathering.


    ¡°I''m sorry. I won''t... touch you again. I''ll switch to Mosh''s room and...¡±


    ¡°You idiot... I love you too Corvayne.¡± Her voice sounded frustrated.


    He turned and she held a hand up to ward him from getting up.


    ¡°I hate  it. I can''t take it when you tell me that, or hold me... It scares me even if I want it. I trust you, and in my head I know you''d never try to hurt me, but I just hurt you because there''s something wrong with me. I told you I was crazy, right? Something happened, or might have happened, it might really just be in my head, and it''s bent me out of shape, and it ruined my life before I ran away and it''s ruining it now.¡±


    Corvayne sat quietly. His thoughts were in chaos however.  He shook his head.


    ¡°If I tell you how I feel like that when were close... is that what caused it?¡±


    She nodded.


    ¡°Do you need me to just be... cold to you?¡±


    She shook her head.


    ¡°Do you need me to sleep somewhere else tonight? I mean in a different room.¡±


    ¡°Maybe. I... Just give me some time. I''ll be okay.¡± She closed her eyes, and to Corvanye she never looked smaller. Wick took a shuddering deep breath. ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°You nailed my nose.¡± He checked his hands. ¡°And I got some good scratches bruises. I feel... like it''s my fault anyway.¡±


    ¡°MY shit isn''t YOUR fault. That''s why I didn''t want to be exclusive. I was trying to keep my own feelings out of it.¡± She huffed a little.


    Corvayne laughed. ¡°I can tell you from experience, now, pushing your feelings out doesn''t work.¡±


    Wick rolled her eyes and sniffled. The barest hint of a smile appeared under her red eyes. ¡°You pick the weirdest shit to crack up at.¡±


    ¡°Can I say it?¡±


    ¡°Fuck you! I''m not going to let you make me cry again tonight!¡± Wick grabbed her pillow and threw it at him.


    ¡°Ok... I''m going to go down and finish the two baths I paid for. The water''s still warm, probably.¡± Corvayne hopped off the bed.


    ¡°Wait! I want a hot bath still.¡±


    ¡°Well... you okay with taking turns?¡±


    Wick sat with him during his bath and they talked about neutral things such as fencing goods, considering what they might bring next time they did an expedition, and what to do with Mosh after they got back. The last one they quickly agreed to dump him on Mister I. It would be an fitting response to the both of them using Corvayne to argue for a few hours yesterday. When the water got cold he rang the bell and grabbed a towel. Banner looked between them and shrugged, then refilled the water. Corvayne got up to leave so that Wick could bathe, but she demanded he at least sit with her so they could keep talking about what the plan for tomorrow was. She had him put his hand on the rim of the tub and placed hers next to it for a few moments before drawing it away.


    ¡°I want to try a different floor four.¡± Wick said as she sunk into the tub.


    ¡°Ok, we''ll look for another exit. See if we can''t get something aside from the river.¡±


    He started cleaning his clothes, taking a cue from her, and then left as she got out. Hari was waiting for her turn, and smiled at him. He nodded at her, then sat at the bar and graciously accepted the first bowl of stew. The inn''s bar room filled up as the crew came back, Grunt first with a fish, then Mister I, then Mosh with a pair of girls whom he was pretty sure were June and July. He really hoped that Wick didn''t mind him sleeping on the floor if push came to shove.


    She came out of the bath room and joined him at his table with a pair of mugs and her own bowl of stew.


    She pushed a mug across to him, then raised hers. She looked more like herself. ¡°Cheers, to our fucked up relationship.¡±


    He tapped her mug. ¡°As long as it exists.¡±


    Wick then kept feeding ordering them drinks, and Hari joined them and they all toasted him and Wick. Hari was talking about her village and Wick kept playing with her ear which made her make annoyed noises that cracked Corvayne up. In reviewing the evening, he could remember thinking he had never gotten drunk before, that it was great, toasting Grunt, then flopping into bed with Wick and kissing her and telling her that he loved her as she was pulling his pants off then...


    [97.5%]


    He woke with a headache, and struggled a moment with opening his eyes. He had an arm around Wick, who was sleeping with a leg wrapped over him. Well, everything would work out with her. He would learn from his mistakes and...


    He then felt something warm and soft on the other side of the bed pressing up against him. It was very warm and very soft. He turned his head up the ceiling, eyes rimmed with pain that suddenly became pounding as he realized that he was in trouble. He turned, and saw a blond tuft of hair and a pointy ear half buried in his other arm.

 Chapter 27: No Easy Way Out

    Corvayne''s groggy brain catapulted to instantly alert. He had to resist the urge to rocket off the bed. He started with a few possible explanations for what he was seeing on his left arm. Wick laying his right side, spooning him? Totally fine, okay, great, cool. Hari on his left? No. Bad. Not good. Problem. Maybe she got into the wrong bed after he and Wick... had he crossed a line while drunk? How had no one fallen out of the bed?


    He felt warmth up and down his side, telling him she wasn''t wearing anything. Hari stirred a little and put her arm across his chest. One of her legs slung across his shin and rubbed it. She was snoring a little, which was fine if extremely not elf-like, but Wick was waking up. He shut his eyes. Time to die. Let it wash over him.


    She pushed her leg up to start to straddle him then lifted her head off him when the space was taken. He felt her pull the warm covers back from his chest to let in the cold air and cold light of day. Then he heard her say ¡°Oh shit.¡± This was it. Screaming match? Or would he be treated to silent cold regard the rest of the trip then never hear from her again?


    ¡°Hari...¡± Wick whispered, and he felt her shake Hari. ¡°Wake the fuck up Hari!¡± She hissed.


    He felt Hari stir then she yipped. Okay, that was a cute sound. He felt her tense and whisper, ¡°Oh no... I''m sorry!¡±


    ¡°Just get out of bed before he wakes up.¡± She hissed. Now, even while pretending to sleep and trying to recall more of last night, Corvayne could have told Wick that Hari only understood about 10 words of whatever they spoke on Cascadia.


    Hari sounded like she was appologizing. ¡°I don''t know what happened! It''s my fault though, I got drunk. Please don''t hate him.¡±


    ¡°I can''t understand you, just go! To! Your! Bed!¡± Wick must have been poking her because he felt Hari tip a little with each word.


    Corvayne pretended to stir and put his face against Wick''s chest since it was right there. Waves-Within had said: ''It is when a warrior is about to die that he is most alive.'' which for a long time Corvayne had considered bullshit but he totally understood now.


    ¡°Out. Out of bed!¡± she hissed.


    ¡°Okay! I understand!¡± She extracted herself from him and then fell out of bed and hit the floor with a thump. He lolled his head that direction. He was starting to piece together the previous night. Hari had joined them for drinking. But when he tried to pull Wick up to go to bed, Wick told him that they had to get Hari to stop drinking too.


    ¡°Oww.¡± He opened an eye and saw Hari with her face on the ground. He was both thankful and regretful her butt was pointed away. He turned his head to look at Wick. She had her face turned away from him, a half crooked smile on her face.


    ¡°Good morning Corvayne!¡± her voice was extra scratchy and Corvayne could only describe her as guilty.


    ¡°Morning Wick.¡± Corvayne used his head to indicate Hari. ¡°Why is she on the floor naked?¡±


    ¡°Must have rolled out of her bed.¡±


    ¡°Wick the covers are made... did she sleep on top of her bed?¡± Saying bed jogged Corvayne''s memory a little. They had got to the room and Hari had started to sit on her bed then Wick pulled her over to their bed... wait a minute.


    ¡°Yep!¡± Wick nodded.


    ¡°Oh... it must have been cold.¡± He muttered as he thought. Oh yeah, Wick had one arm around Hari and one arm around him had been laughing about it. ''Look at me! An elf and a hunk!'' She just stole that from Mister I.


    ¡°Did you have sex with Hari... then me? Or wait... what exactly happened last night?¡± He was getting more and more sure that this was entirely her fault.


    ¡°I... can''t lie. I love elves. I told you... uh... open relationship.¡±


    He put his face in his hands then wiped them down. ¡°Hari.¡± He said. He saw her on all fours looking up at the bed.


    She looked like she was about to cry. Corvayne asked, ¡°Did I have sex with you last night?¡±


    ¡°I''m very sorry! I was lonely and you told Miss Wick and she said I was pretty and you told me she did then you did too and you tried to stop me from coming into bed but Wick is a really good kisser and...¡±


    You didn''t answer the question Hari! Though, given how red her face is, the answer was fairly clear.


    Slow down Corvayne. Stay in control. ¡°Ok. We did some things last night that perhaps we didn''t mean to do, but-¡±


    ¡°Wait, so you don''t love me?¡± Hari asked, ears drooping.


    Corvayne was not in control at all here. ¡°That was you who was taking my pants off?¡±


    Hari''s face went from upset to neutral a little too fast. Ah. That was why Grunt had compared him an open hand of cards. Throwing up your poker face was as obvious as announcing aloud you were guilty.


    ¡°You two... my head hurts.¡± He let his head fall back to the pillow.


    Hari stood up and went to her bag and brought back a canteen for him. Corvayne''s head hurt so much he hardly enjoyed the view. Hari realized as he was mid-swig that she was giving him a full view and she used her arms to try to cover up. Corvayne had to admit her reactions were cute. He turned to Wick after drinking some water then gave her a stern look.


    ¡°So Wick... what''s your story about last night.¡±


    She laid back down next to him and pulled the covers over her before telling her side of the story. ¡°I felt bad about having a panic attack with you in striking range. But then I had a few drinks and I thought it''d be funny to get you drunk. Then I got drunk. Then Hari started getting drunk, and was leaning on you, so I sat between you two and she started leaning on me and I might have told her she''s beautiful while looking into her eyes. Then I told you to say it to her for me. Then I told you that you could do all that cute shit I won''t let you do to me to Hari and you started pulling me upstairs, but Hari looked lonely...¡± He thought Wick looked very pleased with herself at that moment. ¡°... and she was pretty willing to come to bed too, then all I had to do was pat the bed and she sat there and we started kissing and you were watching so we kissed you then I took her clothes off and things get hazy after that.¡±


    Her story jogged his memory. He should have hit the brakes on the whole thing but part of him DID want to take someone out for ice cream, maybe having some on her nose then he takes his finger and licks it... Corvayne clamped down on the thought. No. A spear man was a weapon. The big spear was in charge, not the little one.


    ¡°Ok. So we are all in some way to blame for this?¡± Corvayne asked, getting nods all around. He went on, ¡°And we are going to not get drunk around each-other in the future, as with all three of us it''s a bad mix, right? Right?¡±


    Hari''s sad puppy voice demolished him. ¡°So you wouldn''t want to... see me again?¡±


    ¡°Please don''t put words in my mouth Hari.¡± He pinched his nose. ¡°I''m somewhat... annoyed... that I did something I was, respectfully, trying not to do with you because you depend on me. I told Wick that I didn''t want to take advantage of you because, uh, we can''t tell how young you are, and I didn''t want to start something that''s going to be cut off after a few days.¡±


    Hari looked hurt. ¡°I told you my age last night! You''ve only been around half as long!¡±


    Corvayne winced at her shouting.


    ¡°Ok. I''m also annoyed that I had... that I slept with the girl I love and an beautiful elf and I don''t remember more then a few moments of it.¡±


    Hari looked confused. ¡°Wait, you think I''m beautiful?¡±


    Wick elbowed him. ¡°Just say two beautiful women next time dumbass!¡±


    Corvayne didn''t inform her that it didn''t hurt that much, instead nodding at both. ¡°But it still stands that-¡±


    He didn''t get further as Hari hopped back onto the bed, her knee hitting Wick and knocking her off the bed with most of the blankets. Hari however was glowering at Corvayne. ¡°You cannot change the subject after calling one of your party members beautiful! Then follow it up with ''we made love and I don''t remember''. Do you know how embarrassing that is?¡±


    ¡°Wick... I think she''s about to...¡± Corvayne got slapped on his chest, playfully. Or Hari was really weak in the raw strength department. Actually, her grip on his arm felt pretty real. ¡°Wait wait...¡±


    ¡°Tell Wick also that if someone does something for her, especially after you and her were together, to not respond in kind is rude. You really don''t remember? Hff. Wick can wait though. Look at me! I may be the only elf you ever meet. If you were the only human I ever sleep with, how embarrassing would it be to say ''He doesn''t remember it''! I don''t care if you are lying, I want you to tell me you love me again then do what you did last night.¡± She folded her arms. ¡°If you do not, I shall not move from my perch.¡±


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    He shook his head. ¡°I refuse to say ''I love you'' under duress to anyone. With honest regret, I must reject your deal.¡± She looked a little cold.


    Hari huffed. ¡°Corvayne, I don''t need you to mean it! Just whisper it into my ear while you put your big hands on me. Those are my terms.¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to upset Wick.¡± Corvayne looked for help.


    Wick stood up, blanket wrapped around her, and leaned against the wall and smirked. ¡°I am perfectly happy to watch you squirm under her.¡±


    Corvayne sighed and turned his eyes back to Hari, who was looking at him expectantly. Even the sternest, hardest warriors of the Watchers sometimes had a bowl of ice cream. ¡°I accept your terms.¡±


    ¡°Wick as well. She should return my favor.¡± Hari added then leaned into him, stealing a kiss with a little tongue.


    Corvayne admitted he was warming up to her, both figuratively and literally with her sitting on him. When she gave him a moment to speak he looked at Wick. ¡°Also I think she wants you to do something to her that she did to you last night.¡±


    Wick made an interesting contrite face she had never shown Corvayne. ¡°Could we do that before... you two get started?¡±


    Corvayne asked on her behalf and the elf turned to Wick, smiled a beautiful smile, and shook her head.


    Wick groaned. ¡°Oh. Your elf? She''s a freak.¡±


    That was all very well sorted out by the time they walked downstairs to catch a late breakfast. Hari had demanded all three of them properly cuddle and expressed she loved Wick after bothering Corvayne to ask her how it was said in Cascadian. What Corvayne picked up on was that he was emotionally on the hook with regards to Hari in a way that perhaps saving her from ravenous goblins then helping her home would not engender. He put his frustration into slaying a painted-lion breakfest ham with knife and fork.


    Speaking of goblins who were a menace to woman-folk: Mosh was doing something under the table. He stood up and dusted himself off, then gestured for Banner and May, who were watching, to test the table he had just crawled out from under. Banner put his weight onto his hand and nodded.


    ¡°You do fine work indeed...¡± Corvayne saw the flash of silver in the innkeepers handshake. ¡°Though if you keep it up your going to be the miller''s son rather then Mr. Mosh.¡±


    ¡°No problem chief. Look, here''s the MAN himself. Boss, I knew it! Grunt, Mister I, they said ''no way, he''s too shy...''¡±


    ¡°I think you would be better off congratulating Wick.¡±


    He bowed to her ¡°Wick, your highness, they say that to get two-¡±


    She snapped before he could finish, ¡°Call me that again and I''ll blast an ear off.¡±


    ¡°Ok you got it Boss-lady. As I was saying though, nice work bagging a little two for one! Let me know if you girls need to give the Boss-man a break and do some management training. Or you two drop the elf and we do a performance review on the green machine...¡±


    ¡°I don''t really like sleezeball Mosh. Turn it down a few notches.¡± Wick said pointedly.


    Mosh''s voice leveled off and he sounded less like a hot-shot merchant and more like a person. ¡°Ok Wick. Sorry, the attitude helps me deal with a few social disorders-¡± The goblin wilted a little.


    Corvayne cut him off. He had enough moping for one tower run. ¡°Helps you seal the deal, you mean?¡± He held his hand up and Mosh revived instantly, laughing and gave Corvayne a high five by leaping into the air.


    ¡°Yeah BOSS that''s what I''m talkin'' about!¡±


    Wick signed. ¡°I liked that five seconds where he sounded normal.¡±


    He pointed with his fork at both women. ¡°You two ran me through the wringer. I''m not doing therapy for anyone today.¡±


    Banner looked between Hari and Wick then Corvayne. ¡°Remember these days well. You will miss them when you settle down...¡±


    May smiled politely and swatted her husband on the butt with her drink tray. ¡°So says mister bleeding heart. Come on dear, I want to see what he fixed.¡±


    After breakfeast was done Mister I and Grunt were came back from fishing and then the group was ready to go. The goal was to find another fourth floor stairway. The normally clear sky was overcast with dark looking clouds. They scaled the rocky path that lead up to the river fourth floor as there were no stairways near town, as far as Banner knew. The trip to the stairway was slow due to Mosh having to pull himself up each steep step. They took a break at the top of the pass.


    Corvayne gestured to the cave that lead to the river. ¡°We are going to skip the entrance down there.. it leads to the river floor and the jelly floor. I hope we can go to any 5th floor and exit from there.¡±


    ¡°Boss, you getting me outta this joint?¡± Mosh looked happy even though he was panting from essentially climbing the entire time.


    ¡°We might camp out one more night if we find a suitable fourth floor. I was hoping to get another chest or two.¡±


    ¡°Heh, Boss I''d say you had two chests...¡± Mosh wiggled his eyebrows.


    Corvanye rolled his eyes and just spoke over Mosh. ¡°When we get to a new floor, we''re going to need to be on our toes. I''m hoping we find a place easier to navigate then the river.¡±


    Wick added something they had discussed about going through the river again, ¡°Yeah, we don''t want to fight the unidentified floating object.¡±


    The lake valley on the other side of the mountain had a few packs of slugs and a trio of painted dogs. Corvayne used [Flow-like-Water] to defeat the dogs in a single attack as they were lined up nicely. If not for the tinge of a headache behind his eyes he felt like the group had started to figure out the groove of fighting, moving, and exploring. The dark blue path through the woods forked again, with Corvayne following the side path which would guide them up between another set of light blue mountains. The path here wound between two cliffs and placed them next to a lake with a few dark blue and red logs floating in the otherwise calm water. The sky was now full of distinct clouds that looked sickly with the yellow light of the floor. There was a light rain as they reached another fork and Corvayne picked one that cut through the woods to another set of hills. His hunch about looking for places that went up was right again: Off the path was another cave with stairs.


    Corvayne lead the way up and arrived at a floor that was far less natural looking then the last one: cliffs of blue rock were all around them, each topped with teal grass and many held waterfalls careening off them to splash between land masses. Something in the water upstream made the water look a little purple. The cave in a cliff wall they left was very close to a path that he could follow switch-backing over wooden bridges and up to higher clifftops. The arrangement reminded him of seeing the room where the Watchers kept their money for making change with traders: there had been a table with stacks of coin with no rhyme or reasons to how tall the stacks were. That was what he thought of seeing the blue rock cliffs towering over them as well as diping down to churning wine-purple and white rivers.


    Of course, given they were on a new floor, it only made sense that they''d find new monsters. Corvayne had lead them to the high point of the cliff top they were on when he spotted what looked like four blue and pink salamanders climbing up the cliff face. They looked big, perhaps twelve feet long.


    ¡°Back from the cliff. Four monsters incoming.¡±


    He had his spear out and joined Grunt as the front line. The big man looked a little sad there wasn''t a tree to open with, but you took what you could get. Hari meanwhile took his other flank, then cast her initial spell to blur herself out into a faint outline. He wasn''t sure if it would help them with the salamanders as they didn''t look like they had eyes, but he focused on darting out, opening with [Thrust]. His spear dove into the lead salamander''s stubby legs, scoring a sizable cut that immediately started oozing blood. He didn''t try to drive it home, instead darting back to Grunt''s side as the creatures rushed them. Grunt brought both of the bats he was holding down in an overhead strike, but the salamander rammed into his legs. It should have bowed the large man over, but Grunt simply picked up the slimy creature and with a grunt for emphasis threw it into the back two. Hari used the confusion this caused to hit one of the flailing creatures with an overhead quarterstaff attack. There was a solid crack but the creature was not dead, even though one of it''s legs was dragging. It turned and Hari moved to dodge faster then Corvayne had expected, the frustrated monster lunging after her as she ran through the grass.


    Corvayne''s monster was near enough that he dodged around the creature again and applied [Cross-Skill: Thresh], his spear slashing grass and leaving a trail of shadows as he tangled two limbs for just a moment, causing the whole beast to tumble. The two after Grunt made a good target: Grunt was slamming clubs down on both in a sort of work-man like tempo, but the creatures were big and seemed to weather blunt damage with their rubbery hides. One of the pair bit his leg with it''s huge mouth. It clearly didn''t understand the threat Grunt provided: The huge man grabbed the mouth, forced the jaws open, then with a roar dislocated the monster''s jaw. The other suddenly was down for the count when Corvayne used [Flow-like-Water] to slide by it and jab it once, then use [Cross-skill: Backstab] to finish it off.


    The monster chasing Hari sank into a patch of muddy ground and when it did, the Elf turned with her staff and started battering the monster with overhead strikes. Mister I hit the one Corvayne had tripped with arrow after arrow, mechanically aiming and firing until the beast stopped. The salamanders were dead, but the the commotion fighting them drew more creatures in: a huge bird with a person sized wingspan swooped in, one of them drawing a gash on Wick''s arm as she fended them off.


    ¡°Fuckers!¡± Wick responded with a point blank blast, the orb not only blowing a leg off the bird but also causing it''s movement to become sluggish as it dropped to the ground. It looked like a much sleeker version of the birds on the previous floor, with tentacles looking like black squid limbs coming out of it''s back. A moment later an arrow slammed into the grounded monster.


    Grunt gestured and Corvayne saw three more. What was odd was they seemed to distort in his vision, their fluttering shapes wavering as if he was looking at something under water. He used [Cross-Skill: Whirling Axe] and threw a spinning spear at one, and missed.


    Hari called out ¡°They are like displacer beasts! Try to use different senses or hit them with something wide!¡±


    She then cast a spell, and as the bird dove at her pink flames erupted around a flapping shape next to where the black monster was. The glowing figure came in for another run at the Elf and there was a wonderful crack as she sidestepped it and nailed it in the head with both hands from her quarterstaff.


    Grunt had put one of his bats away, took a batter''s stance, then took one step over as a bird lined up to swoop at him. Corvanye''s eyes widened as he saw what Grunt was doing: the image had to match the bird somewhat, so how it adjusted it''s neck would tell him where the real one was.


    He swung at nothing and the bird shifted as it''s body went flying back, broken by a direct hit.


    Corvayne moved to help Mosh, as the goblin was running for him, bird ripping at his arms covering his head.


    ¡°BOSS! HELP!¡±


    ¡°Just keep running!¡± He ran to where the goblin was running down hill and activated [Juxtapose], taking his spot and swinging his spear. He managed to clip the bird with it, but not enough to kill it. The thing suddenly blurred, then Corvayne felt it coming from the side. He rolled away, feeling a razor sharp line drawn across his ear. The bird flew up then blurred again, the image moving suddenly five feet. But Corvayne knew that the monster HAD to attack him, even as the image was lining up to dive.


    He with a thought activated [Cross-skill: Crescent Blade], suddenly sweating as the strain of using skills brought his headache back. He swung his spear across empty air three times in a fan shape then stepped behind them. The one on the left popped even as the bird was ramming through the one on the right. He used [Flows-Like-Water] as soon as the image vanished, jabbing where the bird had to have passed to aim for his head. As he followed the flow of the skill he jabbed out, and felt with satisfaction the spear peirce the bird. He didn''t pull it out as he put his foot down, instead angling the back up then leaning into it. He caught a bone as he had hoped and suddenly the invisible bird and it''s now flailing image were pinned to the ground by his spear. He stomped the monster with his boot three times and then it appeared, it''s bloody form twitching before going still.


    He ran over to where Mosh was and helped the goblin up. He was bleeding pretty badly from his head.


    ¡°Mosh, are you okay? Can you mend yourself?¡±


    The little goblin stood up. ¡°Boss... what the hell was that?¡±


    He looked Mosh up and down to make sure he only had that scratch. ¡°Bird version of a displacer beast. Good footwork.¡±


    The goblin sat down and made hand gestures. ¡°Lythandies, Fix my shit.¡± With that, the gashes in his head and across his hands started to seal.


    ¡°She accepted that?¡±


    ¡°She understands injured clergy might not want to have to say every little word.¡± Mosh stood up. ¡°Any scarring?¡±


    Corvayne looked. ¡°Probably not. You''ll be fine for your wedding with June.¡±


    Mosh laughed at that. ¡°Yeah sure, Boss.¡±


    They walked back to the others. Mister I was disinfecting cuts on Grunt''s leg. Wick had a bandage on her arm and was looking at her robe sleeve, the tears in it already starting to stitch together. Mister I and Hari were uninjured.


    Corvayne felt it was obvious but wanted to make sure they were all on the same page. ¡°The way these monsters move means we also need to keep an eye on the sky, as well as under us.¡±


    Wick groaned. ¡°Great. Monsters above and below.¡±


    Grunt mimed rolling dice then pointed up: I''d rather we take our chances with the birds.


    Mosh snorted and folded his arms. ¡°Counter-point: the birds can get past you guys and tear us up.¡±


    Mister I held a hand up. ¡°We can decide which one we''d rather face once we''ve enjoyed the fruits of our fight.¡±


    Grunt pointed at the salamander, mimed lifting a box, and shook his head: I''m not carrying an entire one of those.


    The monk chuckled and pulled out his knife. A few minutes later Mosh had the bird that hurt him tied to his pack, and Grunt was carrying four salamander tails on the sticky belt they had pulled from a chest on the previous floor. Corvayne took another bird, and Mister I took a third. They started moving across the rope bridge only after Corvayne took time to survey for more birds: Either enemy would be a problem fifty or sixty feet above raging waters, but the birds were far faster swooping down to attack versus dealing with the salamanders coming up. There was an overwhelming amount of blues with just the yellow sky breaking up the hues of sky blue rock, teal grass, purple water, and dark blue pathways. That the bridges were brown wood was a little odd to Corvayne: shouldn''t they have been the same color as the trees? The second and third bridges both lead to paths that were mainly between two cliffs, and Corvayne kept his eyes peeled for signs of the birds or salamanders laying in wait. Some of the side branches would lead them up to the top or down to where the water was. Going up to the higher cliff tops gave Corvayne a perspective on the sky where he could faintly make out ghostly ridges and waterfalls in the yellow to one direction, and see a few waterfalls splattering down from the sky in a different one.


    There was a chest on the second cliff they ascended, but it also had a trio of birds circling above it. Hari managed to hit two of them with the spell that coated the real birds in shimmering purple flames. He wouldn''t assume it was called fairy fire just as [Investigate] wasn''t called identify, but he knew the score. Mister I laughed and shot two arrows right after each other, the birds falling to the ground. Mosh clearly had some unworked anger as he beat Corvayne to one of them and was skewering it with his spear. Grunt bashed the other, So Corvayne set himself in front of Wick as she lobbed spells at the monster. One connected and suddenly the image faded, the real bird popping into view a few feet away. Corvayne didn''t hesitate, using [Cross-Skill: Whirling Axe] and flinging a spinning ghostly spear of wind out. One hit and the thing exploded in blood, falling to the ground.


    Mosh laughed. ¡°See, now that wasn''t so bad!¡±


    Corvayne got a tingle on his back. ¡°Mosh no! Never say that!¡±


    He heard squawking and turned to see at least more ten of the birds shimmering as they flew around a cliff an island away. They were headed directly for the party.

 Chapter 28: One for the Birds

    Corvayne only gave himself a moment to grit his teeth at the incoming flock of black birds, trailing tentacles and shimmering with displacing magic. He upped his initial estimate up to nearly twenty monsters flying at them.


    ¡°Into the crevice. If they can''t surround us, we can whittle them down. I''ll take one side, Grunt get the other.¡±


    Grunt used his boots to speed ahead of them as the group made for the ramp down. Hari stopped to throw out another marking spell, lighting two birds up. Corvayne jogged after Wick. ¡°Mind if I take the rapier?¡± She pulled it out of her belt and turned and passed it to him. His shadowy limb appeared and stowed his spear as Corvayne swirled the airfoil blade around in a figure eight. The wind magic left a little trail of playfully swirling green. He clenched the shield glove and with a flick a blue-green field shaped like a shield formed on his arm.


    He supposed he hadn''t shown Wick it before. She pointed at his arm. ¡°What the hell is THAT?¡±


    ¡°Something from the dragon I fought.¡± He motioned with his head to focus on their enemies.


    With the ledges covering their sides, the monsters were forced to attack either Corvayne, Grunt, or strike from directly above. Mister I hit one of the marked ones. Grunt had two swoop at him and for a moment let loose a frenzy of club strikes. One bird fell to the ground, the other got a claw into his shoulder. A mistake: the large man dropped a bat and whipped his hand closed on the invisible bird. There was a horrible crunching sound and cries of pain as the bird appeared, both talons firmly held by Grunt who used it as a bat for the third bird coming in, knocking it back even though it appeared to never get close, then following through to splat his ''club'' against the wall.


    Corvayne had to cut watching short as two of the birds were now diving at him. He didn''t mess with success: [Crescent Blade] was perfect for this. At least, until he remebered the rapier made three images nearly on top of each-other: One bird hit all three and was torn to shreds in an instant. The other slashed Corvayne''s face and score a cut on his neck. He spun with the impact and tried to throw a barrage out at the quickly retreating bird. No hits, but his neck wasn''t gushing blood. Two more of the birds dove him while others were diving into the group. This time when using [Cross-Skill: Crescent Blade] he slowed his strikes down as much as the rapier would let him, getting a half wall just in time for both birds to hit images. He forced his arm to move without his eyes guiding the weapon, aiming about five stabs in each gap before the birds could move. Both appeared and fell to the ground.


    Mister I had one bird harrying him. Even with a nasty gash on his bald head the monk had time to call out ¡°No! My beautiful hair!¡± then use his hunting bow as a stick to try to fend the monster off. Mosh had his spear wavering between targets, but Hari was next to him throwing out more markers and nailing one bird with a thrust of her quarterstaff.


    Corvayne didn''t waste her effort as another bird dove at him. He forced the rapier to spread out it''s barrage of attacks, two of them connecting what felt like open air. Thankfully the monsters were not durable and two stabs was enough for it to fall to the ground, flailing it''s wings and trying to scratch him. Corvayne just gave it a solid kick as the next bird dove him from behind. He let his danger senses guide his movements and it seemed it worked better then his eyes: the bird was hit by nearly every jab and appeared before falling to the ground dead.


    Grunt was bleeding all over, but now had four birds dead by his feet with a fifth joining them as a titanic crack marked him breaking yet another bat and a bird with it. Two more birds dove Corvayne, one getting a grip on his rapier arm while the other snuck a hit and run on his other shoulder, missing his head only because he leaned away. He willed his shadow limb to strike above where he had a gash and the snake-like jab of it''s black claws punched through something. He spun as the dead bird fell off his arm, taking some of the arm with it. He felt burning pain with all those wounds but didn''t hesitate to use [Phantom Knife] with the rapier. He threw his weapon, missing the bird still above the group harassing Wick but also forcing it to back off. The skill ensured his foil returned to his hand. It''s grip whipped back into his hand and he watched as Mister I hit the monster he had distracted with a well placed arrow.


    After a few seconds Mosh asked ¡°Was that the last of them?¡±


    Corvayne held a hand up and climbed to the top of the ridge. He surveyed the sky and looked cliff to cliff. When he was satisfied that he didn''t miss anything he raised his hand. ¡°Clear.¡±


    Mister I got to work bandaging up minor cuts and scrapes. Mosh insisted on healing Corvayne, perhaps because he was covered in his own blood. ¡°Don''t give me that ''I''m fine'' routine Boss. You are leaking from a dozen places.¡±


    Corvayne unsummoned his shield and let the goblin work as Hari strode over to the chest and started checking it. No trap or mimic. Hari showed off the first item: what looked like an eyeball. ¡°It looks almost like a clockwork eye! Oh this has got to be good...¡± She used her spell then got excited. ¡°Exceptional! It''s a... I don''t know what it means. Corvayne, do you know what an occular implant is?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. It''s a body part replacement. Given it''s an eye, it probably improves what wavelengths you can sense. I have no idea why it''d be in a wooden box.¡±


    ¡°Wait... you would take out your own eye?¡± Hari paled at that.


    Corvayne smirked. ¡°I assume it was for a slightly less organized group who fought those birds.¡± He frowned when no one laughed.


    ¡°Not very reassuring Boss.¡± Mosh also looked a shade of green lighter.


    Hari held the eye away from her. ¡°Well, I don''t understand everything it''s telling me, but the implant also is enchanted with dexterity.¡±


    Mister I sighed. ¡°That would be something I''m interested in, but nobody else here can do surgery.¡± He looked at Mosh who responded by shaking his head.


    The Monk pointed at Mosh and the goblin laughed before saying, ¡°You are NUTS if you think I''m going to try it. Or use it!¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°We might sell it. Or wait until we have someone who''s missing an eye and needs a spare. If it''s perfect for someone but we can''t use it, my instinct is that we might as well turn it into money so we can dive in here and find things that we can use.¡±


    Hari handed Wick the eyeball, then bent over to reach into the chest. She pulled out a piece of chalk, pinkish in color. She felt it, then turned it about. ¡°Chalk of rest. Putting a circle around an area makes a relatively safe camp. It can''t stop extremely strong monsters.¡±


    ¡°Useful to us, almost no value out in the real world.¡± Wick accepted the chalk as well.


    Hari pulled out potions. A gray one, a vial with clear fluid, and a little cluster of bottles shaped like pencils with wax handles blocking green fluid.


    ¡°The gray one is strength. Temporarily bulks you up.¡±


    Wick took it and waved it to Grunt. ¡°I say it''s for our strongest guy to double down on being the strongest.¡±


    Corvayne also might have taken it, but he had kept a healing potion on him since the dragon incident. He focused on Hari who was holding up the clear vial.


    ¡°Oh. Vial of sleeping. Considered a poison as you can apply it to darts, getting it into the blood or body via consumption puts the target into a magical sleep. Not recommended you use it with bladed weapons or a lance as the sleep has a threshold for how damaged something can be.¡±


    The weird green cluster of potions she pulled out next caused her to raise an eyebrow. ¡°It''s ammo: Bolts of acid. Really really strong and dangerous. They will hold their form while pulled out of the wax and fired, but once shot they become super corrosive.¡±


    ¡°We don''t have a crossbow... could we even sell them?¡± Corvayne didn''t think they were the kind of magic that people wanted.


    Hari nodded. ¡°There would be a market for them where I come from. And buying a mundane or even toy crossbow to fire these would be worth it: one shot offensive items tend to be extremely strong.¡±


    Corvayne considered the rather dangerous feeling vial. Hari reached into the chest and pulled out a fur coat. ¡°Mundane, but very luxurious.¡± She pulled out a pair of blue boots. ¡°Also mundane, but they feel soft.¡± Then she produced a bag of coins. A mix of silver and gold. ¡°There''s one more thing... looks like another painting.¡± She produced another one of the coast of Cascadia.


    Grunt took it and placed it carefully in his backpack with the other paintings.


    ¡°All this loot is getting heavy.¡± Wick showed off that her pack was full.


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°We are almost out of here. I figure we''ll find another chest on the fifth floor, and if our hands are full walking back to the car, that''s probably a good problem to have. The meat will definitely sell.¡±


    Mister I laughed. ¡°Not every man owns a crossbow and kills with it, but every man eats.¡±


    Still, they had to get back. Corvayne kept them on the route for another two islands. The first was far above surrounding pillar-cliffs, giving him a view of a gradual gradient in the islands and the view of more then a few bridges. He picked the only path that would lead to a higher cliff to the side of where they were going. He very much welcomed the second island having tree cover. Everyone felt some of the tension drop as they no longer were constantly craning to look up for potential threats. They didn''t spend long in the red and blue trunks before they spotted a cave in the rocky wall leading up.


    The next floor Covayne stepped out under a shining blue sky. The grass was green, the trees were browns and grays with proper green needles. It looked at a single glance like they had crawled up to Cascadia National Forest, abet one where there was a sun overhead rather then endless clouds. There were large towers made of wood that dotted the landscape. It was the detail that established it was still a tower floor. To corvayne they looked like long brown varnished tuning forks holding up tracks also made of wood. He saw a ''car'' that looked more like a cage of vines glide along the track. Looking further around, they were everywhere, cruising off what looked like a titanic cliff and stopping at fortress-like stations. Down and in the distance, perhaps a mile lower then him, he could see the shimmering of an endless sea, with more tracks running out along them and more pillars fading into a blue haze that matched the horizon of sky and sea.


    He gave everyone a straightforward plan. ¡°Let''s look around the interior of this island, then we''ll storm one of those wood forts to ride to a different island.¡±


    Mister I was looking up in the air. ¡°Just be aware that once more there''s danger in the sky.¡± He pointed with his finger and Corvayne followed. He saw more birds gliding in the open air between the huge cliffs. He needed to watch the distant monster before he saw they were far bigger even then the displacers on the last floor. They were not roc sized, but that was what came to mind.


    Corvayne met the Monk''s eyes. ¡°Take heart Mister Icariii. The bigger they are...¡±


    The monk smiled and nodded. ¡°The better they taste!¡±


    The woods had a few furry slugs and large armadillos, with the former not being a problem and the latter not attacking. There was a path around the island and across the hill in the middle that Corvayne visualized as a figure eight shape, but there were no chests or an exit up on the island they could find. There was a path winding down the cliff to another station lower down, but the group decided that unless they absolutely had to trek down the steep path, they wanted to stay away from the edges.


    The fortress didn''t have any monsters in it, which came as a small suprise to Corvayne. It wasn''t as interesting inside as he had assumed at first glance: The wood structure was a pair of stairs and a framework of logs supporting a platform rather then having rooms inside. The top had a few covered areas but otherwise was mostly open to the sky. The wood they were standing on looked like a hardwood floor that had scattered objects along the walls that reminded him of the train stations he had seen at Cascadia. That was only a first impression as looking closer Corvanye could see the benches, signs, garbage and the lone vending machine were made of plants with leaves arranged as if someone carefully pruned and shaped it to mimic objects. He peeked into a garbage can and saw the interior was a leaf collecting rain water.


    As interesting as those plants were, he didn''t let his curiosity distract him. Looking out over the vast gap Corvanye spotted that a pair of the huge birds had turned and was gliding their way. They looked to be blue and green, shaped like desert scavengers. He wasn''t the only person that had been keeping tabs on the skies. Mister I had set his meat-laden hiking pack down and had pulled an arrow out of his quiver. Grunt had also noticed the incoming monsters as he had drawn one of his baseball bats and was leaning on it, watching the monsters fly towards them.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Incoming. Big birds.¡± Corvayne called out before turning to the monk. ¡°Mister I, we might as well use some ammo here.¡±


    Corvayne then pulled his own pistol out of a side flap of his pack and had his shadow hand grabbed a spare clip. Mister I put his bow on his pack and pulled his rifle off his back then loaded it, and lined up with one of the distant birds. There was a crack and Corvayne could see a puff of feathers trailing one of the two monster birds. Mister I was very serious as he aimed again and cracked off another shot. Seeing him so focused made Corvayne think the previous floor had given him and everyone else respect for what a moderate sized bird could do. Wick pulled out her wand and aimed at the birds, then started firing off distorted green orbs the size of eggs.


    One of the incoming giant birds got clipped by a [Disrupt] and slowed considerably. The other took enough rifle hits that it''s wing went a little lame and the huge bird started losing altitude in a wobbly spiral. Corvayne took a shooter''s stance and fired four times at the remaining bird once it was within a hundred yards. He didn''t feel the pistol was very powerful, but it helped bloody the bird further before he switched his spear. There was another disruption and rifle round that hit the bird before Corvayne dug his feet in and set for the huge monster diving him. He looked at it and saw it had no eyes, just a head with a huge beak on it.


    Corvayne watched the line that formed the huge bird growing and gliding then suddenly it was all wings. He fought the impulse to run away as the bird impaled itself on his spear, it''s huge claws twitching inches from him before his spear caught something in the monster''s body and jerked him backwards a step. Corvayne would have fallen over over but he had set his feet and spear just well enough to hold his ground. The monster kept writhing, blood streaming from it as it tried to snap his head off with it''s beak. Corvayne twisted his spear and the monster shrieked in rage. He saw a staff come down hard on the monsters skull and felt the bird jerk one more time before falling limp.


    Corvayne breathed a sigh of relief. Given how active that monster was he sure he was going to get shredded by it had it kept pushing into his weapon. Perhaps next time those birds attacked them he''d use the meat cleaver and aim to dodge then strike when it passed him.


    Mosh clapped. ¡°Good work everyone!¡±


    Corvayne leaned down and offered him a hand to help him get out from under the bench shaped bush he''d hidden under. ¡°I''d recommend setting a spear... there''s no way a bench will stop a monster like that.¡±


    ¡°Sure Boss. I''m the guy they can pick up and just carry off but let me try to play chicken with those giant birds.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. He passed on calling the goblin a reliable chicken. ¡°Good counter point. But we are going to be stuck on a train soon.¡±


    As he spoke the car was arriving. It looked to have rolling wood components that connected the base of the car to the rail and was made up of three long cars, connected by more vines that were parting to let them aboard. There were seats made of wood, all fashioned out of what looked like roots and branches woven together in a way that left the sitting surface smooth. The entire contraption looked like a cage: hopefully strong enough that birds wouldn''t attack them over the open air. Grunt looked over the wood lip of the carts walls, past the vines down at the distant ocean. Corvayne took a seat where he could watch Grunt''s back, and Hari sat next to him and grabbed his hand very hard.


    They had a full minute and a half after everyone was on before the gap in the vines formed bars again and the tree-train started building up speed as it followed the wood rails floating on nothing out into open air. Wick looked and laughed but then Corvayne felt one of her hands grab his, perhaps without noticing she was digging nails in.


    ¡°Easy. We''ll be to the next station in no more then a few minutes.¡±


    He saw a pair of big birds and a flock of smaller ones flying between two distant cliffs start to slowly veer to them.


    ¡°Oh great.¡± He looked between them and started gauging the speed they were going vs the flock. ¡°Mister I, can I borrow your rifle?¡±


    Icariii handed him the weapon. Corvayne checked the clip: ten shots. More then he''d get off. The monk asked ¡°Do you think you can hit the big one enough times to stop him?¡±


    ¡°I''m going to try one of the abilities I couldn''t test inside.¡±


    He lined up the rifle using the lip of the cart to steady the gun. For as much as Coming-In-Hot made training miserable by shooting everyone, she was unquestionably the best sharpshooter in the Watcher''s village and had endlessly snipped away Corvayne''s bad habits when shooting while harping at him to think about what he was fighting. That meant for a monster like the bird he''d have to hit something vital. He decided to try to clip the monster''s head. He let his hands and eyes guide the sight on the rifle. He breathed in once, then out, held it, aimed and used [Drill Shot] as he squeezed the trigger.


    The shot left a faint red spiral to his eye, and he heard two cracks: the bullet firing and the sound of the skill activating. The effect on the bird was instant as it jolted then plummeted with wings trailing. Corvayne took a deep breath in and out as he placed the rifle on the rim, and aimed once more. The other huge bird was closer now. One more chance. [Drill Shot] fired off another spiral and the second bird stopped for a moment then started to flap wildly, losing altitude. He had missed where he was aiming, but got enough of the wing to send it plummeting to the sea below. He handed the rifle back to a stunned Mister I


    The monk then cried out ¡°I want to do that too!¡±


    Corvayne kept his face neutral. ¡°No time to train you before the birds come. Try to keep them out of the cage.¡±


    He drew his spear and his shadow hand passed Hari the airfoil rapier. Then the squawking monsters struck and he had no time to do anything but stab and run about trying to keep birds from squeezing in. Corvayne and Hari moved between sides and Grunt took charge of killing any that snuck in. No time to think of anything but skewering and flying feathers and birds screaming.


    A huge bird slammed into the car from the other direction and for a moment it was on two wheels. Corvayne used [Leap Strike] immediately, his little hop slamming onto the elevated side of the car and knocking it back onto it''s tracks. Someone was screaming and he put even money between Hari and Mosh.


    He saw that Grunt had grabbed the goblin before he could fall out, and that the girls were still in the car, as well as a trio of birds. He didn''t dare deal with the small ones, not with the big monster tearing away part of the cart. He tried to jab it''s face and got a gouge on his arm from a jagged piece of wood. The eyeless bird was still rocking the car as it opened a gap large enough to stick it''s upper body in. He met it''s head with his spear, using [Cross-Skill: Shield Bash] on the bird. The moment it was stunned was enough for it to lose it''s grip on the car. It only fell ten feet or so before it started flapping to catch up, aiming to perhaps ram the car again. There were sounds of something being slammed into the cart and more rocking but Corvayne didn''t look back and instead drew his pistol with his shadow hands and took a firing stance. He lined up with the bird then fired at a steady clip, each shot aimed at the base of the wing. He emptied the clip then let his arms down as he saw through broken branches the big bird was dead.


    Then Corvayne heard the last small bird go quiet. He looked around the cage and at the group, where everyone was okay but all looking nervously at the damage done during the fight.


    Besides Corvayne, everyone else jammed the gap out of the cage when they arrived at a platform. He stepped off last, hoping there was a way out on this island rather then forcing them to ride again. One of those large birds hitting the car nearly killed them all. Maybe: He could possibly survive and have enough working parts to swim. That and Wick''s robe and the scroll he had that seemed designed for falling. If at all possible he''d avoid ever testing any of them.


    Corvayne let everyone take a moment to collect themselves as he looked over the wooden lip of the station down at the hilly forest. This cliff top had a central rocky peak with hills up out of the woods. There were some bluffs that he suspected might hold the next stairway.


    It wasn''t much more then five minutes walk to reach a fork in the path. Corvayne took the route which guided the group up a steep grassy hill, keeping an eye out for any caves. They didn''t find any by the time they were standing on a high point above the forest. Corvayne could trace a few paths winding through the trees, but the only treasure was a spectacular view of the ocean and it''s titanic pillars. He even envied the birds as he could see himself wanting to fly over the sparkling water and cruse past the mile long cliffs under each island.


    With no stairway the group pressed on around the island. There were painted dogs and a few tentacle birds that were more of a distraction then an actual threat. Corvayne kept them moving at a slow and steady pace. The big birds were not nearly as dangerous as the steel-wired trees had been, but he didn''t want to get impatient with the way out somewhere on the floor.


    On the fourth rise, overlooking the opposite side''s station fort, they found a chest.


    Hari started her usual inspection then backed up. ¡°Mimic.¡±


    Corvanye nodded and struck out, his spear flashing as he used [Thrust]. A moment later the chest sprouted a mass of whiping tentacles and he used [Flow-like-Water] to get out of it''s range. Wick started lobbing disrupts into it and Mister I peppered arrows into it until the beast bled out. Moving closer, Corvayne cut his way to the center of the monster and pulled out a single slimy pouch. It contained about twenty copper coins, two silver pieces, and an amulet forged of blue metal in the shape of branches, with an amber carved into a heart shape. When he cupped it in his hand he could see the amber was glowing. He handed it to Hari.


    She just shook her head. ¡°Apex. Again! You guys... have some absurd luck.¡± She thumbed through the book and showed them an illustration of a slightly different amulet. ¡°It''s an amulet of health. Makes you harder to kill, resistant to disease, and improves your regeneration. It''s a must have for any front-line fighter.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°An amulet that helps it''s user stay alive... I think we give it to Grunt.¡±


    Mosh pointed to himself. Grunt shook his head. He pointed at Mosh as well.


    ¡°Really... you sure?¡±


    He made a few complicated hand signs, something like big guy hurt, little guy mends. Little guy hurt, can''t help him.¡±


    ¡°Boss I get it, it''s a big ticket item. But I''d only wear it in a dungeon. Outside? I don''t really have to worry about getting sick or aging or healing.¡±


    ¡°Something about the HAF?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Something like this I could pay for. Heck, the HAF appreciates when people bail their civilians out. You guys will have it made when we get out! They got gold and magic and tech up the wazoo!¡±


    Corvayne hefted his backpack. ¡°I think we got a pretty good haul of stuff as-is, but for now let''s keep you alive so you can wow us with your large theoretical wallet.¡±


    ¡°It''s REAL I''m telling ya. Even Wick''s icy heart will melt.¡±


    Corvayne gave Mosh an even look. ¡°I would say spending less time talking about her private life might help.¡±


    Wick''s eye was twitching, but she didn''t comment and they got back to scouring the clifftop for a fifth floor exit. When they had exausted following all the pathways, Corvayne picked a platform that continued them moving the same direction. Getting to the station was easy. Getting everyone to agree to another trip was not.


    It took about ten minutes of wood carts arriving and leaving for Corvayne to convince everyone to board the fourth to arrive. Their luck was better the second trip as no monsters attacked them and they arrived at a third large cliff top island after a smooth ride.


    The plateau they were on was devoid of trees. Instead, the island sprouted fifty foot tall blue stone monoliths sticking up and out of the grass. They, and the paths on the island, all radiated like spokes in a wheel from a central hill. With all the signs pointing to a single stone spot, Corvayne was not surprised to find the stairway up in the lone stone arch built into the rock at the top.

 Chapter 29: Too Many Goodbyes

    Corvayne lead the team up the stairs and stepped out into a concrete floored area with large metal containers and crates with  a single brick wall, all forming a small room. The space had a few couches laid out with cargo netting over the back, a pair of restroom entrances in the brick wall, and a water cooler with paper cups. A white painted arrow with EXIT was pointing to a gap in the crates. On one of the couches a group of ghostly dwarves were strapping armor on and hefting hammers and axes. Another group looked like a special forces team, armed with guns, shotguns, and tasers. All four members were wearing synthetic fabrics and tactical armor. Some of the gear looked damaged.


    Hari looked a little sad as she handed Wick back the sun dial. ¡°I was unable to determine the details. I''m sorry! If I had a week or two, I could tell you more about what it is. It feels safe, perhaps use it outside without anyone else nearby.¡±


    Wick looked at her then the dial. ¡°I''m guessing she couldn''t crack it?¡±


    Corvayne said, ¡°She said she thinks a week at least. A shame, but she said it might be safe to experiment outside and alone... in her words it''s not self harming or catastrophic in scope. Either way... we''re going to give Hari the book and the hood right?¡±


    Wick unfastened her freezing shortsword and handed it to Hari as well. ¡°If you ever find a way to Cascadia... well, don''t lose it. It has sentimental value. Bring it back and I''ll trade it back for the rapier. You''ve been a great team mate. Oh... also your share of the gold and silver.¡± Wick counted out some coins and put them in a bag.


    Corvayne tried to translate for Wick word for word. Hari blushed and hugged Wick, who squirmed as soon as she had arms around her. ¡°Ok enough! enough!¡±


    Mosh held up a hand and went over the rites of Lythandies''s mending on Hari. His hands glowed a little after which he stepped back. ¡°A little pick me up cutie! Hey boss make sure she doesn''t lump me with those psychos on the first floor!¡±


    Hari smiled and bowed to Mosh. Grunt gave the elf a thumbs up, then gestured with his eyes to Corvayne. She looked at Corvayne and blushed.


    Mister I laughed. ¡°Well now the young lady has a reason to find her way to us! Here... Corvayne tell her this card has my address. I think if she ended up on Cascadia we would have to have a barbeque!¡± Mister I handed her a card.


    Corvayne repeated what was said and added after speaking: ¡°I mean, if she didn''t have a translator I think she''d be in trouble finding it, but it''s a nice gesture.¡±


    Hari mimed writing with her hands. ¡°Do you have paper and a quill?¡±


    Wick got what Hari wanted before she could speak and took out her phone. ¡°Tell her to give me her address.¡±


    ¡°If you end up on Nal Fer''al, I live in the city of Geshi in the Terruit Empire. Ask for me at Uphine''s book shop in the hill district.¡±


    Corvayne dictated that to Wick while looking at Hari, who nodded at him that he had related everything correctly.


    Hari had turned to him. ¡°Sir Corvayne. You are very kind. My only regret of our dalliance was that it was too swift, and I wish you and Wick well.¡± She smiled then hugged Corvayne, sneaking a kiss on his cheek.


    He felt his own cheeks warm, then dug in his pouch and pulled out one of the sport drink healing potions. ¡°To keep you safe and... the bottle you wanted.¡±


    She laughed and accepted it. ¡°You remembered! Thank you. You think we''ll be split up after we defeat the guardian?¡±


    ¡°That''s what the Innkeeper had said. Last time we faced a small but potent dragon. If the same trial awaits us, the frozen sword we gave you wards against it''s fire. I would advise our slower members to stay near the buildings if we face the same monster: It jumped up on one and breathed an arc of fire. Larger dragons can do the same trick I think too, on a much larger scale.¡±


    They split their healing potions and Corvayne made sure his weapons were ready in the right spots so he could draw them quickly. He knew his shadowy limbs were clever in a way that they seemed to know when he needed a new weapon, but he wanted to make sure he could switch without them. He took the airfoil rapier off and passed it to Wick as he was more likely to need his spear or the cleaver assuming they fought the dragon again.


    He felt a little nervous as he lead the way between the crates into the dark and emerged on a blue-grassed cube, smaller then the ones on floor 1 but obviously inspired by them. Other party members were fading in as they stepped through a locked wood gate, orange runes appearing as they stepped through. Looking across the field, he saw a huge hobgoblin standing there, clutching a blue stone battleaxe and waiting. It looked lanky like the one he had dispatched on the first floor. One difference was this one was wearing crude armadillo armor. It might not be as easy to score a fast kill with a heart shot. One other thing to note: given the battlefield, and some caves he could spot from where he was, there might be other goblins too.


    Everyone was assembled. Corvayne noted they were on a pretty good defensible ramp, mirroring the boss''s platform and the door out behind him. Grunt drew a metal bat and his real mace, slightly bent due to hard use.


    ¡°Get ready to shoot him. Me and Grunt up front. Wick and Mister I on the ramp. Mosh stay back, try to keep anything off the ramp that isn''t us. Hari, wait until you see the boss''s first trick, then attack with me. If hordes of goblins come out, Mister I and Wick pick them off, Grunt help them, I''ll slow the big guy down.¡±


    Grunt and Hari followed him as he stepped down the ramp onto what he thought of as the battlefield. He memorized the uneven terrain as best he could, then when about a third of the way across the arena motioned for Mister I to open fire. With a crack the boss took a shot to the head, knocking him back but then focusing his anger as the monster pulled his axe to his side.


    ¡°Scatter! Get off the platform!¡±


    Mister I and Wick were stunned for a half beat but Mosh acted immediately, kicking them both then diving off the five foot drop. Wick rolled off and Mister I dove into a bush as the Hobgoblin completed a swing, sending a green axe blasting across the arena and blasting chunks of wood out of the walls around the door. Mister I was crouched and shot again, scoring a hit on the Hobgoblin''s shoulder. The monster started charging across the ground, hollering which caused two groups of goblins with knives and axes to come boiling out of a cave charging.


    ¡°Grunt, take the left group! Everyone else right!¡± He dove forward to meet the Hobgoblin. The monster saw him running forward and hefted it''s axe above it''s head. Corvayne waited for it to start chopping then used [Flows-Like-Water] to dash forward. The monster could throw it''s axe, but he still aimed to cripple the monster''s leg as fast as possible. He managed to land two spear strikes as he dashed past the monster''s right leg. The monster''s axe crashed down a moment later, and Corvayne used a single [Cross-Skill: Backstab] on the same leg to add a third hole in the monster''s leg. He then saw the beast pulling it''s axe out of the ground and looking his way over it''s shoulder. Corvayne guessed from it''s pose it was going to backswing off a pivot. He moved to the other leg as the beast brought the axe back, actually almost above his head before the monster spun.


    Corvayne ran in a circle and was perfectly placed to once again [Cross-Skill: Backstab] on the same leg, causing blood to start gushing from the monster as it cried out and fell to a knee. Corvayne used the moment to check his allies and saw Hari was fending one group of three remaining goblins off from Wick and Mister I. Grunt had killed all the goblins attacking him and was aiding the others. One little monster scored a hit on the huge man but not hard enough to both slice through his thick pants and do more then draw blood. Grunt was poised to crush the monster. Mosh stood specifically behind Grunt and waved his hands, undoing wounds while Grunt lined up with the giant hobgoblin.


    He focused on the back on the large enemy, using [Flows-Like-Water] to simply move away on instinct as the monster tensed up then exploded into a whirling strike that looked like three different strikes. It was an axe technique that Mugs-Empty-Again had used. Probably called tornado of death or something. The Hobgoblin''s whirl ended and the beast staggered. Corvayne didn''t hesitate, drawing his cleaver. [Butcher] activated as he chopped at the already injured leg, and activated again. There was a crack as the bone in that monster''s leg broke. Corvayne had a shred of empathy for the huge beast as it tried to get up without using that limb. He knew fighting a bunch of enemies with a broken leg was just not fun.


    The hobgoblin couldn''t use it''s leg under it''s knee but hadn''t given up, instead bellowing and calling forth another group of goblins from caves. Corvayne thought he saw two groups of four with spears. Corvayne used [Cross skill: Flows-Like-Water] away from a poorly swung axe strike and then used his shadow limbs to hold his cleaver as he swapped to the fire breathing dagger and simply sprayed a group down with a torrent of red and blue flames. All four of the goblins ignited and fell to the ground unmoving. He then turned and saw the monster, even on one leg, pulling the huge battleaxe back while on his belly, readying [Whirling Axe]. Corvayne took his cleaver and activated [Cross-Skill: Fastball] from his throwing training. Hitting the monster''s elbow normally would be a poor choice, but in this case the huge cleaver stuck to it''s arm, causing it to fling the air blade harmlessly into the air when it swung. Corvayne didn''t bother to draw his spear, running to the giant and leaping with his dagger.


    On the monster''s back, he used [Backstab] over and over, each impact blowing out chunks off monster until it''s spasming fell still. He slowed down as the last twitch happened. He went to wipe the sweat from his brow and discovered he was covered in blood. He shrugged hopped off the monster''s back to retrieve his cleaver. Everyone else was putting their weapons down as there were no more goblins. Corvayne also spotted that the door seals had faded. Thinking for a moment, Corvayne grabbed the huge axe the monster had. It''s armor had been shredded by him into being useless. It would have been too big anyway for a person to wear. No other trinkets on it. Everyone looked like they were in good condition, so Corvayne turned to Hari.


    ¡°Hey Hari, I don''t know if this will spit us out in the same spot... get home safe.¡±


    She was breathing pretty hard. ¡°Thank you Corvayne. You are a fine young knight.¡±


    ¡°If I wasn''t covered in goblin blood my face would be pretty red.¡± He got out the blood rag and started mopping himself off as best he could, then dragged the titanic axe to the door. As he was about to go through, his mind went blank.


    He fell through dark clouds, blue tinged with lightning, and slammed into the ground unharmed but without grace either, forming a ring of dust as he hit with his arms trying to protect his face. The stop without impact was jarring and he was surprised when he felt dirt under his hands. He looked up and saw he was once more in the middle of massive stone arches, stretching into the haze on hills above a thick mist. The dark sky rumbled as if any moment the swirling storm above him would break. He glanced about and saw near him the huge glowing blue figure he had seen last time. The thing had little waves of lightning sliding over it''s armor. Even without a face, he could tell from the tilted helmet it was looking down at him.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    ¡°NOT. READY.¡±


    With that it jetted off into the air, leaving him alone under clouds that crackled with distant thunder.


    ¡°At least let me ask what the heck is going on...¡± He stood and dusted himself off. Okay, so the gates did something to unlock a power, it seemed: He had gone through a shadowy gate and received shadows. He was pretty sure all the gates from before were there. He tried to imagine what they were offering: There was the gate leaking paint, and it had a paint brush. He was pretty sure it was paint: up close it smelled like it. He wasn''t planning on being an artist, so that one didn''t draw him to it. The one with air currents might be good. It''s triple slash mark didn''t tell him what it would give him. The webs... possibly useful, but he wanted to be sure that it wasn''t a gate that turned him into a spider. The thought of being trapped in another world as a spider bothered him. The dark stoned one... he had no idea. Touching the stone past the thorns wrapped around it didn''t tell him anything. The bear trap and arrows... perhaps it was a hunting skill? Mister I would be happy with it, but Corvayne hadn''t had trouble finding food when walking to town. The previous gate with a magnifying glass on wood was replaced with something like a skeletal dragon wrapped around tombstones. Thick thorns swirled around it, and the gate was marked by a skull. He really wished he had some help with the results of going into a ''death'' gate.


    The big shadow gate was there too, closed again but without thorns. Near it was the other large gate he could get to, the one with the red mark on it, made of obsidian. The extra thorns on it made him wary. He decided to leave the two gates with more vines alone: The thought of pulling vines open and screwing up his arms to the point where he was bleeding to death alone... wherever this was... was not appealing. He was missing everything but his spear in this place, and it didn''t help him clear the vines without getting hurt.


    He didn''t want to even risk becoming a spider, not even a little. The hunting skill was redundant. Paint he couldn''t think of as useful. So, air current... a running skill... and the bowling ball webs one which could be anything. He had to admit... the bowling ball made him curious. So he set about using his spear to slash the door open, vines ripping and shredding his arms and legs even when he wasn''t close to them. The pain was searing him but he grit his teeth and just kept going: he didn''t think there was any other way out.


    His arms and legs were covered in blood as the thorns all fell away and faded to nothing. He pushed the door open and the next thing he knew he was back where the boss had been, getting helped to his feet by Mister I and Grunt.


    ¡°Ah! Wick told us you''d sort of fainted last time. We''ll join her if you wish to give Hari a private goodbye.¡± The monk winked. Mosh elbowed Corvayne.


    He did sort of want to say goodbye with a little more certainty so he let them filter out then turned to Hari, who had stepped very close to him. ¡°I think we''ll see each other again. If the tower wanted us to meet once, it might do so again.¡±


    ¡°Didn''t you say you loved me?¡± She smiled at him.


    Corvayne folded his arms. ¡°It doesn''t count if it''s under duress so ask me again next time. Also... I wouldn''t dream of stealing Wick''s girl.¡±


    Hari came up close to him, pulled out a cloth, and wiped his face. ¡°A shame for me. For I would declare my love for you.¡± She kissed him, and when she pulled back she looked embarrassed. He felt stunned as she backed away, then turned bright red and stumbled once before running through the door.  was one of those people who tries to look cool but gets embarrassed midway though. There were a couple of people like that at his village.


    Corvayne, now that she was gone, admitted he was a little confused by Hari. Maybe he was feeling a was a little bit of mania from the mend spell. Or a drive to forget what happened with her old party. He did like her, and if not for Wick he''d probably go for a nice girl like her. He hoped she got home okay.


    Stepping through the exit he saw the group was opening a treasure chest placed on a picnic bench. The area was once more a clearing that looked like the ones in the park. The chest, once he looked, resembled a red metal toolkit. Hari was looking around. ¡°I guess the split will happen afterwards...¡±


    Wick laughed. ¡°You wanna see the loot right?¡± She gestured at the chest, which Hari did pick up on.


    ¡°Well, since I''m here...¡± The elf woman stepped forward, cheeks still red.


    Inside the chest was a blue steel short cutlass. Wick pulled it out of it''s sheath, and frost formed on the blade. Hari accepted it then closed her eyes a moment. ¡°Cutlass of frost. Same enchantment as the sword I got.¡±


    Corvayne repeated it. Wick looked at Hari ¡°Want to trade for your short sword again?¡±


    She held up the Cutlass. Hari nodded and they swapped swords to give Wick back her original frost blade.


    Next were camo pants and a jacket. Hari held them up. ¡°Minor protection: makes them more durable.¡±


    Wick looked at them. ¡°I say Mister I.¡±


    The monk took them before waiting for anyone else to say anything. ¡°Ah! Many thanks! I wish they were a bathrobe, that would be comfortable!¡±


    There was a six pack of beer. ¡°Enchanted anti-hangover-¡±


    Grunt gently pulled it out of Hari''s hands.


    ¡°Wait, Corvayne didn''t get a chance to tell him what it was!¡±


    ¡°I think we give it to him.¡±


    Mosh coughs. ¡°Maybe I wanted one, did you think of that boss?¡±


    Grunt passed him a can. Mosh laughed as he accepted it. ¡°See, that''s why your the BEST big guy!¡±


    The next item was a six pack of spearman brand condoms. Hari flipped the package around. ¡°I don''t know what these are... Investigate tells me these are blessed, but it says that it makes the wearer more sensitive... usually that''s a cursed effect...¡±


    Corvanye turned to everyone. ¡°Magic condoms.¡±


    Mosh raised a hand. ¡°I humbly request those.¡±


    Wick looks at them. ¡°One for everybody.¡±


    Hari looked at Corvayne. ¡°What''s a condom used for? Alchemy?¡±


    ¡°It prevents disease and pregnancy during sex.¡± He forced himself to respond seriously to her.


    Hari laughed. ¡°You have a strange sense of humor Corvayne.¡±


    The last item she took out was a red orb about the size of a pool ball. She actually dropped it on the picnic bench when she tried to pull it out, sucking on her fingers. ¡°It''s really uncomfortable for me to touch. What are you?¡±


    She leaned over the table and squinted down at it. ¡°It''s not... I can''t get a reading on it.¡±


    Corvayne offered, ¡°So it''s a mundane item?¡±


    ¡°No.... mundane things are gray. It''s like I can''t see it. It''s very odd. I can look at an empty cube in front of me and it lists the vapors in them.¡±


    Corvayne grabbed his towel and tried picking it up. The thing reminded him a little of the glass from the watcher''s village.


    ¡°She says it doesn''t have a reading... but it certainly is doing something. I say we shelve it as a long term investment then... I might try to aim for a skill like investigate because of how useful it''s been...¡±


    He started handing it to Wick, and when she got near it she backed away so fast it looked like she had been burned.


    Wick cried out ¡°What the hell!?¡± and her pulling away as he was handing it over meant it was slipping out of his hand.


    Before he could think about it Corvayne caught it with his non gloved hand. Sharp pain came as the orb seared his skin and he tried to drop it, but the thing had merged into his hand. He felt intense pressure as it forced it''s way up inside of his palm. It was painful but more then that, the discomfort of feeling his skin flow around it made him queasy. He tried to grab at it''s with his other gloved hand to pull it out, but the then he felt the pain fade to nothing. The orb had vanished, even though it couldn''t have fit fully inside his hand.


    He looked at everyone else, who were all looking at him, stunned. He was sure in a moment his heart would explode, or he''d grow wings, or his hair would go pointy... instead the pain faded and he felt nothing.


    ¡°Any... any ideas what happened to me? Please?¡± He couldn''t keep a tremor of fear out of his voice.


    Mosh approached and looked him in the eyes, then stepped back. ¡°Try summoning a sword or something.¡±


    He did a few hand motions and tried to summon a blade. He did make his tentacles emulate his hand for a while. ¡°I think... I''ll be okay.¡± he said while having zero conviction it was true. He did not like being a guinea pig for untested things. A minute of worrying and after Mosh checking him with divine assistance it seemed there was nothing obviously wrong with him. If there was going to be, then there was nothing he could do. What was done is done. Next time: wear gloves on both hands before touching anything. The last item in the chest were six stacks of paper credits and six mundane brass rings.


    ¡°Damn, the dungeon just paid us each about six thousand credits. Not bad!¡±


    Hari took a ring and slipped it on her finger. ¡°No magic, but perhaps the magic of a promise for you to come visit, should you find yourself crossing worlds.¡±


    Mosh took one too, not putting it on but instead taking a copper coin from his pouch and whispering to it. The coin seemed to melt into a line then Mosh weaved it around his finger forming a fine chain. He took his nail and spun through the ring, then put it on his neck with another gesture to clasp the ends together, forming a seamless necklace. ¡°Right!¡±


    Corvayne shrugged and placed the ring on his finger. ¡°Fare thee well, friend.¡±


    Wick winked. ¡°Tell the freak we''ll miss her.¡±


    Hari waved, and was tearing up a little, then turned to the exit and walked out. The third time''s the real one. For sure. He worried that she''d be waiting on the back of Mister I''s truck, pointing to her ring and calling herself his wife. Wait, why was that a bad thing? Three weeks ago he''d have slain a roc with his bare hands to have two girls interested in him. How quickly he got spoiled.


    Grunt stopped waving and took the giant axe and walked out on the gravel path too. Mosh ran after him, laughing. ¡°Hah! Freedom! Maybe even flushing toilets!¡±


    Mister I followed him while sounding offended. ¡°We are not that primitive!¡±


    Wick walked with Corvayne. She looked up at him. ¡°You think we''ll see her again? I kinda liked having another girl around. Even if she gets weird in bed.¡±


    He shrugged then smiled. ¡°Banner suggested these towers cross worlds. We might find her home if we keep exploring them.¡±


    Her face darkened a little. ¡°Maybe not too soon.¡±


    ¡°Wick was that a hint of jealousy?¡± They started down the wooded path that would spit them out at the parking lot. No hand holding.


    ¡°Your damn straight. It''s one thing to date different people. Having them jump your boy toy in front of you... I got a little bit annoyed it wasn''t me. Only a LITTLE bit.¡±


    He was about to respond that she had nothing to worry about but then he considered how Wick thought. ¡°You were annoyed you weren''t on top of me or that you weren''t under her?¡±


    Wick laughed. ¡°I''m glad you get me!¡±


    They arrived from the passage of trees into the parking lot. Corvayne stopped dead as a high pitched wailing sound filled the air. It took him a moment to note that Hari was there, but she was mostly just shocked by the others arriving. No, it was Mosh who was sobbing.


    Hari instead looked at Corvayne sheepishly, face now entirely red.


    ¡°I''m here! Uh... Do any of you have a spare room?¡±

 Chapter 30: Close Encounters

    There wasn''t enough room in the cab of the truck for everyone so Corvayne offered to ride in the back. In doing so he found, despite the steady rain, he was more then happy to trade comfort for a little space and fresh air, nestled in the midst of all sorts of gear they looted. He could peer into the back window and see Hari looking out of the side window, clearly enjoying watching the scenery of an entirely new world. Mosh was looking glum on the other side of Wick. She put a hand on his shoulder.


    He spared Mister I going out in the rain when they arrived back at the community center in Old Town. Hari was still in shock from the city and was sort of stumbling out of the car, Grunt offering a hand to steady her.


    Wick looked around at Mister I''s garage, then looked at the monk himself. ¡°I think it''s obvious. Mosh has to stay somewhere that other people won''t bother him. The monastery is perfect for him...¡±


    ¡°Are you freaking kidding me? How am I going to get any action here?¡± Mosh had got his energy back fast.


    Wick laughed. ¡°I guess you have a really good reason to come back into the tower with us. Okay. So then, Hari either stays with me, or we give her a hat and have her live with Corvayne and Grunt.¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°I think she stays with you. I can help her learn the language but you''re pretty close to Mosh here if she has an issue.¡±


    Hari frowned. ¡°What about what I want?¡±


    Corvayne winced. ¡°You are right. Sorry. Take what I say as a suggestion.¡±


    The elf woman paused a moment. ¡°I admit I don''t have input besides I''d be happy to share a room with either of you. I just don''t need you to make a call for me!¡±


    Corvayne laughed. ¡°Ok. Still, I should not speak for you before laying it out next time. Sorry. Wick should be leading the conversation anyway.¡±


    Grunt poked Corvayne''s shoulder and made hand motions and made finger walking motions. He pointed at himself and made typing motions.


    Corvayne took a moment to get what he was offering. ¡°So you would be okay with her taking over patrol and moving to do more paperwork?¡±


    Grunt nodded, and made hand talking motions with one hand, then both hands.


    ¡°And have me teach her language? No offense to Miss Hari, but I''m not sure I''m ready to move in with someone to be honest. I''m more used to having quiet time to think about life. I mean, also, we don''t have a spare bed.¡±


    ¡°I am not that... I mean... we wouldn''t do that... it was...¡± Hari started stammering.


    Wick nodded. ¡°Oh yes! Good point. Corvayne probably would not appreciate her attacking him constantly.¡± Is THAT what she thinks the problem is? Well she was right. He was pretty sure she was right.


    Grunt grunted and pointed to his sleeping bag, then mimed laying down to rest, then held up four fingers.


    ¡°You have four beds?¡±


    Grunt nodded.


    Corvayne felt like he had lost the conversation before it started. ¡°And Wick, can she stay with you? Or did you not want that?¡±


    ¡°I do, actually. But I also think she''d get some of your first girlfriend shit out of your system and we need to help her learn Cascadian. You are the only person who understands her.¡±


    Mister I laughed. ¡°Corvayne and Hari should just move in with Wick! No reason to go over three mountains when you can walk between two.¡± He saw the old man''s eyes glitter with mischief. So it was probably dirty in some way Corvayne didn''t get.


    Wick shook her head. ¡°No way, I hate sharing my room with anyone. All right I made up my mind: Hari you''re with Corvayne for now. I''ll come visit daily anyway.¡±


    The rest of the week left Corvayne exhausted. Hari was needy with his attention, both to help her learn Cascadian and also just dealing with her feeling lost. He couldn''t blame her, as she was thrust into a completely different world. What did bother him was how she flip-flopped between being extremely reserved around other people around then would cling to him in private, holding his arm, sitting next to him if they were watching television, walking next to him when they did the rounds. Corvayne had privately hoped to keep her out of his bed as the thought of sleeping with someone who was so dependent on him was weird.


    After the first morning where she started crying, he broke the letter of the rule if not the intent. Hari was having trouble sleeping alone. So Corvayne pushed their beds together and let her lay next to him. The first few nights this worked and she had slept fine. However, Corvayne had trouble finding time alone to... clear his thoughts. The spear dance didn''t help, as Hari decided to try to learn it with him. Wick didn''t help, as she brought Hari pajamas that for some reason were more distracting then the barmaid outfit she had been wearing before. The problem was also that he knew he could just ask Hari and she''d probably let him do whatever he wanted.


    By Thursday afternoon Wick had noticed Corvayne seemed a little worn out.


    ¡°She keeping you up at night?¡± She said winking as they jogged around the warehouse along the inside of the little wall.


    ¡°Opposite of what you''re thinking. I... don''t like the idea of sleeping with other girls that much. I mean, I''m sleeping with her, but more like a body pillow then a...¡±


    ¡°Are you an idiot? Just fuck her. I mean, Grunt said you must be borrowing my eyeshadow.¡± She tapped the dark circles under her own eyes that Corvayne suspected were just makeup but he had come to find as attractive. He stood firm against those thick glasses, though. As they rounded the bend, Wick added, ¡°That, or just take a nap and jerk off.¡±


    He kept his eyes forward. ¡°Can you not call me an idiot? I have pretty good reasons not to. Not the second suggestion, I managed to sneak away once.¡± Him saying that brought up how much he disliked Wick''s most common euphemism for it. Polishing a spear was an important act of maintenance!


    ¡°That''s so lame. I mean, before? You had good reasons. But she''s an adult, she''s going to be with us probably for a while, you are not taking advantage of her being too vulnerable, especially if it''s right after Mosh is soothing her. Hari, at her most Hari, likes you. If your goal is me, I already like you as my main guy. I might throw you a bone after we jog.¡± She huffed a little, her pace lagging, then added. ¡°You might have to do all the work. So... I got a question about Mosh. Do you think he counts as an alien?¡±


    "Not really, because we knew he was a goblin, and he knew he was a goblin."


    Wick kept running. "Oh. Well, I was thinking of sleeping with him."


    Corvayne missed a step and had to stumble back into form. ¡°What!? Why?¡±


    ¡°Corvayne. Don''t you see it? He''s a little green man. Alien sex! Look, you can come too!¡±


    He rounded a bend a little ahead of her then slowed down. ¡°I don''t think it''s a good idea... If I told you I was sleeping with someone to check a box, I think you''d also say that''s not respecting the being I''m choosing to sleep with as an individual. I also don''t like it.¡±


    Wick bumped her shoulder into him as they jogged together. ¡°You are so earnest it''s hard sometimes to listen to you. It was a joke!"


    Corvayne narrowed his eyes, suspecting it wasn''t entirely a joke.


    "Don''t pout that''s a compliment. C''mon let''s jog to your room and I''ll kick Hari out so we can take a ''nap''.¡±


    Friday afternoon before the town meeting Corvayne woke up next to Hari. He had decided to kiss her while they were settling into bed the previous morning and she at first was very shy, acting surprised then blushing and thereby making Corvayne second guess himself until she kissed him back. Corvayne then followed her lead until she was asking him to talk dirty where he reached then went a little beyond his tolerance for swearing and his ability to pronounce extremely filthy phrases in elvish. Just as Wick had straightened him out the previous day and left him with a spring in his step, he did notice Hari looked much better rested that afternoon. They took a shower together and got dressed. She put on a pair of jeans and a hippy tie-dye long shirt on top of a hat to put her ears up into.


    ¡°It''s really uncomfortable to pull them up and back.¡± Hari said as she followed him down the stairs to the warehouse floor.


    Corvayne decided to be tactful. ¡°I like them better when they are out, but you look pretty either way.¡±


    Corvayne opened the door and was surprised to see Wick reaching out for the handle.


    Wick didn''t miss a beat, grabbing Corvayne instead. ¡°We got a situation! My fans will have to stew... They''ll get the canned version, we GOTTA burn rubber south.¡± She started tugging Corvayne''s arm to drag him to the gate.


    Corvayne allowed himself to be dragged along, noting she was so worked up she was acting like her stage persona. ¡°Okay Wick, what''s the situation?¡±


    ¡°UFO crash fifteen minutes ago! South part of Pinefall Peninsula.¡±


    ¡°Hello Wick.¡± Hari said in a stiff voice. Corvayne was pretty sure it was that she was speaking the local language.


    Wick stopped dragging Corvayne and looked at Hari, perhaps finally noticing her. ¡°Hah! Getting better! Cute shirt Hari. Cmon.¡±


    Mister I already had the truck running. Corvayne as able to take a seat inside as Grunt was missing today. Mister I cheerily called out hello while Wick hollered at Hari to get in faster. Mosh was in the truck waiting and raised an eyebrow.


    "Everything okay boss? You were looking at me weird."


    Corvayne thought about it then gestured at Wick with his head. ¡°Weird is the main theme of my life. How are you feeling?¡±


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Mosh shrugged, then smiled. ¡°Better now that I''m outta that damn building. I''ve never been under house arrest before! So... Wick''s all excited about a spaceship she can''t identify. Must not be a very good one if it crashed!¡±


    Wick turned around. ¡°We don''t get that much traffic, maybe one or two ships a week. An unauthorized or black book landing is still interesting to me.¡±


    Mister I nodded along. ¡°Or something non-secular! What if it''s a divine object?¡±


    Wick looked over at Mister I. ¡°You think it''s going to be an angel or something?¡±


    ¡°I just don''t like defaulting to space craft. Having developed a basic rapport with Lythandies I''d like to start finding other members of a ''true'' parthenon.¡±


    Wick just kept on the track she was on. ¡°What if it''s a monolith? Did anyone pack some bones to throw at it?¡±


    Hari whispered into Corvayne''s ear. ¡°What is Wick so excited about?¡±


    ¡°An unknown space ship crashed near us. Wick hopes it''s something no one has ever seen before.¡± He thought about the irony of getting super excited for a ship when he could build her something just as nice if he wasn''t under the restriction of never letting even a peep out about how to build a fold drive.


    The clouds cleared up as they drove south. The road was situated right by the sound, giving everyone a great view of the water and pine covered hills of Crater Island. Smaller islands crowded the sandy banks with patches of forest.


    Wick was in lecture mode, pulling out a map showing the complicated bands of sea and land that formed the area around Cascadia City. The peninsula jutted down about sixty miles before being cut off by the inlet that the first bridge he walked across spanned. Mister I had to stop for gas once, which caused Wick to be sputtering mad.


    The monk just laughed. ¡°That''s the good news about a crash: it''s not going anywhere anymore!¡±


    ¡°We could have stopped for gas on the way BACK from the tower.¡± Wick folded her arms while glaring at the monk outside the window.


    She was proven somewhat right later when they reached the last road to her suspected crash site. Mister I saw the police cars blocking the road and did a U-Turn. Wick looked like she was going to crawl out the window. ¡°Just say we are investigating! We have an alien here already!¡±


    ¡°You gotta stop calling me an alien. Goblins are everywhere lady!¡± Mosh looked over at Covayne to back him up.


    Wick turned around, giving Mosh a cross look. ¡°Don''t ruin the allure of driving around with an alien to go find a UFO!¡± She turned back and focused on her map, holding it out to show Mister I something she was tapping. ¡°You think we can drive on this logging trail over the pass?¡±


    Mosh stuck his tongue out at Wick, then elbowed Corvayne. ¡°Hey Corvayne, does this planet have any millers with open minded daughters?¡± Mosh made a hand motion that suggested ample endowments.


    Up in the front seat, Mister I was laughing. ¡°Miss Wick please. How long have you known me? I will get you there.¡±


    After saying that they pulled off the road. They had only gone a mile back from the police blockade, parking on the gravel shoulder right near the sandy slope down into the waters. Mister I had walked around to the back of the truck bed and pulled out one of the large canvas bags he had secured back there, then pulled out an inflatable raft and pump, as well as a small boat engine.


    ¡°Wick you''ll note I was prepared if the crash was not situated perfectly on land!¡± The monk said with a hint of Mirth.


    ¡°Fine, I''m sorry. I wanna see the crash real bad!¡± Wick was excited in the way that he thought only little kids got.


    Corvayne folded his arms. ¡°What''s the angle?¡±


    ¡°Firstly, I DO like the paranormal. Second, we should take tech where we can find it. Magic and alien tech might even the odds a little if we have to fight the entire Collective.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. Always be prepared for a fight. While thinking that, he pulled his spear out of the truck bed as well as the short blade of frost for Wick, the airfoil rapier for Hari, and a fire-breathing dagger for Mosh. Mister I passed on any arms. ¡°I think my role here will be to stay with the boat.¡± He pulled out a fishing rod. Corvayne suspected this wasn''t the first spontaneous trip into the woods he had undertaken for Wick, and that the monk probably had learned early on to take a fishing pole on these trips to skip any potential battles with supernatural monsters. Or to avoid a long walk through the rainy woods.


    A few minutes of automated pumping later, they were out into the darkening water of the sound. The waves caught both the dusty blue of the sky as the last hints of day faded, as well as the black lines of the trees around them. The engine was fairly loud but so were the sounds of emergency vehicles coming up to the blocked area. Corvayne had started mentally reviewing police tactics in case it came to blows. He had learned a lot from watching television. For example, one key concept was to not fight a police officer taking cover behind a sports car or on a hover-bike.


    The boat slid away from the blockade and Mister I steered them along the dark shore. There were crickets and the faint crackling of something burning. A chemical smell floated faintly in the air, edging out pine and sea. There was the crack of a rifle going off, then a cacophony of trees breaking. Corvayne could see something flashing odd colors in the woods across a large bay that diverted the road away from where they were steering. There were three low booms that scattered nesting birds and could be felt almost as much as they were heard.


    Hari leaned over to Corvayne. ¡°Can you tell me what we are fighting?¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°We don''t know what we''ll find. So no idea what we might be fighting.¡±


    Wick was watching lights flashing ahead too. There was another deep thud and an explosion could be heard if not seen. ¡°We try not to fight... we want to meet aliens not fight them.¡±


    Mosh pointed forward. ¡°Well Wick I got bad news, somebody else DID want to fight, and it sounds like the brought rocket launchers.¡±


    Mister I guided the boat to a spot where something knocked over a large section of the woods, singed trees flanking the corridor of broken wood. Setting foot on the sandy ground, Corvayne turned to Wick. ¡°It sounds like the military is fighting something. That or the alien has missiles... still wanna go in?¡±


    ¡°Explore carefully. Don''t engage in fights. Observe... steal stuff.¡± Wick offered back. They stepped into the dark woods, chemical smell stronger as they followed broken trees. The woods were silent when there were not booming noises: everything else had decided that it was a great time to be somewhere else. With the sudden lack of lights or sounds of fighting, Corvayne couldn''t blame Mister I deciding to skip this.


    He crested a fallen log and saw a clearing ahead with a dirt crater, lit with erratic fires. There was what he assumed was the ship, a silvery orb nestled in a mound of disturbed dirt, rocks, and plant matter. The orb looked completely unharmed by the path it blasted through the woods. All around the crater were injured and possibly dead soldiers or police in tactical gear. From the patterns on the ground, Corvayne actually had an out loud laugh.


    ¡°Oh they tried to fire a rocket at a shield. What were they thinking?¡±


    Wick had to tug Corvayne''s arm. ¡°You mean like sci-fi shields? Those don''t exist.¡±


    He rolled his eyes and clenched his glove, summoning a force buckler. ¡°Even I have a small one.¡±


    Wick blinked at the sudden light in the forest appearing. ¡°Ok, well then, tell the rest of us what happened?¡±


    ¡°Crash came in from the trees. You said it was fifteen minutes before we left, so the soldiers here showed up from somewhere closer. They might have been tracking before it landed. I say landed because it looks intact. It landed and there was a welcoming party. Maybe they talked. I''m guessing that the injured ones were a pulse weapon given the colors we saw in the woods, and the ones who look shredded were the geniuses who fired rockets into a shield.¡±


    Wick didn''t argue with him on his assessment. ¡°So... how would you fight shields?¡±


    ¡°EMP, or something with both momentum and mass. Blunt is good, piercing is bad, slashing blades tend to break on them. A big heavy sword works. It takes repetition. Explosions? You have a lot of impact over a large part of the shield, but most shields are reversing momentum. So you have a ton of shrapnel fire back, or some shields just reverse the momentum of the shell and that does it too. I also would guess Hari would give any shield user nightmares because she just teleports behind them inside the barrier... I think we want to stay away from the ship. There will be more troops on the way soon.¡± He looked at the group, outlined by the dim fires around them. ¡°Can we head back to the boat? We should be looking for more colored lights, then we''ll know where the target is.¡±


    Wick had one of her devices out. ¡°No gravity changes... Hari can you [Investigate]?¡±


    Hari got it, and pointed at the ship. ¡°Artifact tier. It is a starship, no other info.¡±


    ¡°Right. Back to the boat, get out on the water, look for lights. Tch. We didn''t stand a chance.¡±


    They heard voices coming through the brush and stepped back into the woods, backtracking to the boat. Mister I pulled in his line and they puttered out into the dark water. Corvayne navigated having the best night vision, first guiding them away from land to just keep an eye out for any unusual lights. No signs of aliens, or additional fights.


    ¡°Bah. How annoying is that? A UFO lands in our lap and we can''t even go see it!¡±


    Mister I guided the boat up to the bank near where his truck was parked.


    Mosh groaned. ¡°That was anti-climactic!¡±


    Wick nodded as they started putting their stuff in the back of the pickup. ¡°We did see an alien ship.¡± She didn''t sound convincing.


    Mosh sounded disappointed. ¡°Yeah well, I was hoping it''d be an ARK and I''d be on my way home. If that''s alien tech to you, I''m VERY sorry.¡±


    ¡°But I mean, that''s it? Where''s the confrontation? Where''s the aliens?¡± Wick threw her hands up.


    ¡°Not in the trunk.¡± Corvayne helped pack the boat up and shrugged. ¡°I mean, that''s where real life differs from the books: we''re probably never going to know what exactly happened here. We saw it, took some pictures-¡±


    ¡°FUCK!¡± Wick slammed the side of the truck then clutched her hand.


    ¡°Easy! She is a vintage truck!¡± Mister I waved his hands around.


    ¡°Corvayne! Your new job is to remind me to take goddamn pictures!¡±

 Chapter 31: Stiff Competition

    Mister I got everyone drive through burgers on the way back from checking out the crashed UFO. It helped at least stop Wick from grumbling for five minutes about not taking any photos. When they got back she barely said goodbye before storming out of the garage to her apartment building.


    Mister I sighed. ¡°She is very hard on herself when she makes mistakes. I wish she would look at the good of such an outing.¡±


    Mosh laughed. ¡°Yeah, I got some fresh air finally.¡± The goblin went over to a bench in the garage that was littered with what looked like art projects. ¡°Were we going to go back to the Tower again tomorrow?¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°Wick had some ideas... she wanted to do something with the paintings we found in there.¡±


    He waved goodbye to the two then Hari and him walked back to the warehouse. The second shift guards waved at them as they walked in. As long as she wore a hat with her ears hidden, she was a human. Figuring out how to get Mosh out and about would be more difficult for sure.


    While Corvayne was considered off work that night, it seemed silly to not keep Hari company during her shift. She was asking questions that explored the edges of what Corvayne knew about how things functioned on Cascadia, namely what one had to do to get and drive their own car. Corvayne had asked the same questions and thankfully his computer had the answer.


    They had settled in for a break in the middle of their shift when there was a knock on the door. Three rapid raps on the metal door. Corvayne looked at Hari, who looked at him.


    He walked down the stairs and opened the door to see a trio. He knew the man in front was Brines. After all, Brines was technically his boss. Emphasis on technically as Corvayne only had seen him at the town meetings, never actually at the warehouse. Brines was flanked by two hooded figures. Corvayne might not have the nuances of what a road test to obtain a license in Cascadia would entail, but he was pretty sure his boss showing up at 2 AM was slightly odd, as was his boss hanging out with two people clearly trying to disguise themselves.


    Brines spoke before he could. ¡°Uhh... hey! I''m here to pick something up. Is Grunt in?¡± Brines usually somewhat forced smile was really forced. ¡°If Grunt''s in I could REALLY use his help to find where something delivered a few weeks ago is.¡±


    Corvayne could hear the edge of panic that crept into Brines voice, and gently eased into his poker face. ¡°Grunt isn''t in right now, but I think I might be able to help you.¡± Corvayne stepped aside to let them in. The two cloaked figures looked about. The taller one walked with extremely good balance which Corvayne assumed meant they were a warrior. The other strode in and pulled his hood off. He looked well kept and was wearing what looked like a parade uniform, a red suit with gold epaulettes. He''d have cut a pretty heroic figure if not for the haughty look on his face. When he put an arm around Brine''s shoulder Corvayne could see his boss flinch a little.


    The confident figure spoke in a confident commanding tone. ¡°Well, I think we can say we found the right place if we are looking for a box, eh Brines?¡±


    ¡°Just like I said! If uh, Grunt were here, he''d certainly welcome us and shout out exactly where this crate was stashed. It''s so quiet without him here hahahah!¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I can''t tell you how many times I''ve thought how quiet it is when he isn''t around to shoot the shit, or sing sailor''s songs.¡±


    ¡°It should be fine though!¡± Brines laughed. ¡°We''d only need him here if there was trouble, with him not here we won''t have to hear him yammering on while we look for the crate.¡±


    The figure beside him brought Brines closer. ¡°What a shame. It sounds like you were really desperately hoping we could meet this Grunt fellow.¡±


    They had started walking down the main isle of the warehouse. The tall one now kept herself positioned in a way that they could quickly put Corvayne in a flank. Yeah, this was one of those situations where it was going to devolve into violence sooner or later.


    ¡°It''s a little strange to do material transfer orders late at night boss. Let''s grab a form then we''ll see if we can find that crate.¡±


    The tall one walked up to a smaller stack of crates, then a gloved hand reached from the cloak to lift the lid off the small monthly ''rock shop'' box full of Cascadia Jade. Corvayne was a little suprised when the voice that came out of the hood was female.


    ¡°Not this one. But I feel something is odd here.¡±


    Her companion gestured at Corvayne. ¡°Besides that the security guard has a spear and has on chain mail? Wait, it''s not even chains. Hahaha. Is that wood?¡±


    Corvayne gave him a cold smile. ¡°I don''t know what it''s made out of. But it''s not wood.¡±


    ¡°I''d offer to test it, but as a man of my word I want to help Brines find that crate!¡±


    Hari arrived then, wearing a sun hat and her hippy clothes. Her hand was on the hilt to her freezing cutlass.


    ¡°Hello!¡± She waved. ¡°I am Hari! Nice to meet you.¡±


    The tall hooded figure turned to Brines. ¡°Grunt''s the heavy in this trio, I take it?¡± Her voice was dripping with amusement.


    Corvayne could see the sheen of sweat on Brines. ¡°I uh... trust his... judgment of character.¡±


    The woman hummed. ¡°A pity then he''s not here. I''m always up for a good judging.¡±


    Hari switched to her own language but spoke in an inflection that made it sound like was asking a question. ¡°Corvayne, the tall one has magic on her? Be careful?¡±


    Corvayne nodded, said ¡°Yes.¡± then added some gibberish. Hari nodded, then walked out of sight on the catwalk. He turned to the uncloaked man who had his arms folded. ¡°Let me go get that form. Actually, I''ll be honest, I''m still iffy on which drawer it''s in. Mister Brines, can you come help me find it?¡±


    Brines started to move but the arrogant looking man had a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Oh I think it will be fine. It''s mine, after all.¡±


    Corvayne folded his arms. ¡°Well, I wouldn''t want you to tell me you didn''t get what you so rightfully deserve after the fact.¡± He kept his tone casual but he was mentally getting ready to fight.


    The man let Brines go with a small shove. ¡°Perish the thought, the contents of the crate are not worth the effort you wish to put in. Right Brines? Perhaps inform your man to take the night off. He seems to be working perhaps a little too hard.¡±


    ¡°Uh, Mister spear guard... If you want to run and take the night off...¡±


    ¡°Brines, we never really met, but I''m not type of person to look away when there''s paperwork right in front of me.¡± His eyes drifted to the tall figure who he could see was cracking her neck under the hood.


    The man laughed. ¡°Is everyone on this backwater planet itching for a fight?¡±


    ¡°Why don''t you let Brines go and then we can have a civilized discussion about Cascadian hospitality.¡±


    ¡°Civilized, says the man with a spear and chain mail. Don''t you have a dragon to go kill?¡±


    ¡°I''m two for two on killing dragons.¡± He thought about it. Would the zombie count for half of a kill?


    ¡°Not many dragons around here, I imagine.¡± The man said as he undid his cloak the rest of the way. Corvayne saw he had a shield belt and force gauntlets. Ah. Wick would be disappointed as her alien was just a jerk with fancy toys.


    ¡°Easier to find a place to park a spaceship.¡± Corvayne nodded at his enemy and pulled his spear off his back with a twirl.


    His enemy gestured at Corvayne. ¡°Lady, if you would be so kind to entertain our host. Try not to kill him: he''s just doing his job.¡±


    Corvayne turned slightly so the woman and man were both in view. Brines had run off. He wasn''t sure were Hari was, but he shrugged.


    The woman took her cloak off, revealing a tall figure with wine-purple colored skin that then changed to a caramel shade as she drew a sword length vibro-blade. Her hair was a silvery bun pulled back behind her head. Hmm. Little bone spikes along her arms. Another non-human. He reclassified her weapon as a heat-sheer when the humming noise was followed by the curve of the katana turning red hot.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Nice sword.¡± Corvayne said, eyes tracking the glowing orange arc of her sword.


    She weaved a lazy loop with it. ¡°I''d say the same but you have a spear. Let''s see if you know how to use it.¡±


    ¡°Wait, that''s all you have to say about her?¡± The arrogant man held up a hand.


    ¡°I like how her skin changes color? It''d probably be useful for stealth operations. I have a cloak that does something similar.¡±


    The woman''s skin turned to a pleasant shade of grape purple. The arrogant man looked insulted. ¡°That''s it?¡±


    ¡°She has a good stance, excellent balance. It''s clear from her grip she''s not aiming to do anything flashy, just try to get some cuts and tire me out.¡± He left out that with her sword, a few cuts would cook him and possibly knock a limb off.


    The man gestured to his companion. ¡°Your non-reaction is... impressive.¡± he looked disappointed. Was he really proud of her? Oh!


    ¡°Yes. I think she''s pretty. But I already have two women...¡± He stopped himself. Why did he say that? There was a happy squeak from somewhere on the catwalk. His opponent had turned blueberry. Why did her skin keep making him think about food?


    ¡°Whatever! Lady, teach him a lesson, I''ll go find the crate.¡±


    ¡°You dare mock me?!¡± Lady shouted.


    ¡°I meant what I said.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I''m a little worried about the magic you have on you. If you want to brag or shout, do it before we fight. I haven''t had a good fair fight in a while.¡±


    ¡°Save calling it fair until you see what I can do.¡± The woman curled her fingers and snapped, then in a blur closed to attack, aiming to clearly nick him across the chest. Probably not enough damage and heat to kill someone, but a trip to the hospital if they didn''t move out of the way. Corvayne moved out of the way then prodded with the butt of his spear near her. There was a glass sounding chime as he felt it connect with a shield.


    ¡°Ah. Fine.¡± He lept back out of the way of a backswing, and activated [Juxtapose] as he stepped in. The shields might stop him from stabbing her or getting close, but the skill worked through the shield, letting him slide into the bubble and back out. He didn''t stop, moving for his new goal: A small metal box of rocks sitting on a larger container. The thing was extremely heavy, but he grabbed it and activated [Expert Toss] as he threw it. The box hit the shield then dropping as the shield shattered with a buzzing pop.


    The woman, to her credit, immediately started attacking, her sword swinging in lethal looking glowing red arcs. Corvayne''s biggest problem, now that her shield was gone, was that there was no way he could parry that weapon with his own. It went through the metal shipping containers like hot butter, and she attacked with relentless certainty. The smell of burning metal filled the air, as did smoke from sliced containers. He had to wait for her to get frustrated or try an attack that he could use his force shield to push past. He feinted being a little slow to move after a rising slash, and he activated his shield and used it to parry the downward attack to the side. Huh, she had actually used the back of her sword that time. He used her opening to [Flow Like Water] and hit her in the gut with the back of his spear rather then disembowling her. Fairs fair.


    He spun and saw her get back up, wince, and then look at him. There was a weird moment where they were just staring at each-other, then she snapped out of it and attacked. Each swing looked furious but she kept her spacing beautifully. She favored attacks where his shield wouldn''t help him, both strikes from his left and thrusts where he couldn''t count on the force construct to keep him safe. His shield and her style made it a little easier to keep his distance, but attacking into her would be a Pyrrhic victory. He could kill her with a jab but not fast enough to lose his arms or get burned to death as whatever blow he took seared him. Meanwhile, there were giant dents and holes appearing all over the warehouse. He heard the window of the loft shatter and forced himself not to wince or look up as the woman''s blade passed close enough to feel the intense heat it carried. If he didn''t end this fight soon, the other guy was going to bring the entire warehouse down on them.


    His opponent maybe had a similar idea as she stepped back and gestured at him, then attacked with even faster strikes. Corvayne was on the back foot now, giving lots of ground. Strangely, she looked frustrated even though he couldn''t keep up toe to toe anymore. Against her shifting skin he could see the gleam of sweat. If he could create more space he could back up and barrage her with [Whirling Blade]. He had his shadow pass him his fire-breathing knife as he took a one handed grip on his spear. He waited for a moment after she swept a burning hot blade at his face, an lunching attack that she''d need a short moment to recover from. He responded by sweeping his own burning dagger across the space between them. A torrent of red fire forced her to step back, and he followed it by bringing his spear across with his other hand and activating [Cross Skill: Whirling Blade].


    The spinning spear caught her across the shoulder, cutting her. She responded by snarling something out and flinging her hand forward, a series of sparks hitting Corvayne all at once. They hurt like crazy but he was able to stand and deflect the next pair of sword attacks with his buckler. If he didn''t know better, he''d have said she had also wanted to win without using any tricks. He used [Cross-Skill: Crecent Blade] and jabbed out a line of images in the middle of the row they were in. She swung through one and kept stepping forward, and suddenly was covered in slashes as the afterimage exploded.


    He was thinking up the next attack when he got the sense of an attacker behind him, and quickly used [Flow Like Water] to dive forward past the sweeping fire blades. Two force beams blew open a crater on the floor where he was standing before.


    ¡°Elbyscee! Enough! He threw the crate we needed at you!¡±


    The arrogant man was floating, arms folded. Corvayne saw that Hari was on the ground near a rock filled container that looked like it had been blasted open. He dove for her when the man lifted up his arms and blew another crater by his feet, causing a container to fall over. He saw him blow a hole in the wall and the woman picked up the crate.


    ¡°I intend to finish our fight!¡± She yelled, pointing her sword at him.


    One of those battle maniacs. He saw her spring through the hole out into the night, then he ran over to Hari. He was revealed she was alive but saw her leg had a shard of rock sticking out of it, slicing her jeans and staining them with blood.


    She reached out and he took her hand. ¡°Hari, you okay?¡±


    ¡°Yes... or I should say I''m alive.¡± She winced. ¡°I think the spell he hit me with broke a rib.¡±


    Brines took that moment to peek around the corner, looking both ways. ¡°Did they... are they gone?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°They got what they wanted. Sorry, I couldn''t stop them.¡±


    The man just shook his head. ¡°You thought you could stop them? I want to know how you didn''t die, I saw her take out a cop car in one swing.¡±


    ¡°Oh? It''s the secret to winning any fight: don''t get hit.¡±


    He helped Hari up, and then noticed her ears were showing. Brines did too.


    He pointed. ¡°Wait... she''s not human!¡±


    ¡°Her parents had elf ear genes. That''s why she has them.¡± Corvayne didn''t like lying but telling half truths was always considered okay. Elves of course had elf genes.


    ¡°Oh. I see.¡± Brines wobbled a little as he tried to stand.


    Hari helped Brines up. ¡°Who is this guy?¡±


    ¡°Our boss.¡±


    She bowed. ¡°Thank you deeply for your patronage.¡±


    ¡°She''s definitely an elf. The ''Lady'' was an alien. The crate? The crate had something they pulled out of the mines in it. What the hell is going on?¡±


    Corvayne looked over at the giant hole in the warehouse. ¡°Well, now that''s my question too.¡±

 Chapter 32: On the Trail

    After the warehouse had been trashed Corvayne called Wick and she was over in record time, beating out the police by a wide margin. She took pictures of everything, as well as taking notes on Corvayne''s thoughts on the fight. Corvayne noticed she had forgot her scratchy voice. Maybe something to do with getting a good nights sleep? Grunt arrived not too long after the police did. Brines didn''t mention the crate. Once the police left he alternated between sitting in the office shaking and asking Grunt if he knew he had hired an elf. Corvayne needed a moment to sort out what Grunt responded with. It was basically: ''I just thought it was cosmetic, there are no elves, she''s just a weird kid.''


    Wick came into the office and undermined them when she just rolled her eyes and told Brines that Hari was a real elf with real elf parents, she was a mage, and more importantly a model employee so would he please not say anything, nor get upset when she introduced him to a different alien hiding in the community center.


    Brines of course was bewildered. ¡°What the hell, why not bring them out at your talk? Your goal was to prove paranormal stuff exists!¡±


    ¡°No no. My goal is to learn about it. Educating people means they come to me when something weird is up. Like the guy who told me about the UFO. I think it''s important to note I like attention, but never fame.¡± Wick smiled. ¡°Also, Hari and Mosh are part of my team. I''m not going to expose them to the galaxy at large. Who the hell is going to believe me when I tell them the sky is yellow? Corvayne put your hand down you don''t count. Anyway here... this is a photo of me and a goblin having burgers. That''s Mosh, you''ll meet him. Nice guy. Don''t look so surprised! If you were at the meeting two years back where I covered fairy tales, there''s always been stories of little green men.¡±


    Brines looked between her and the phone. ¡°That''s a prop.¡±


    Wick smiled. ¡°Hah! I should have you write that down. Look, you want to be rich right?¡±


    ¡°I''m already kind of rich.¡±


    Grunt made a stern arms folded pose, then rubbed his fingers together. He then pulled out a wallet, mimed reaching into it and handing out invisible credits to someone.


    Brines sighed. ¡°Ok, you''re right. Almost everything I come up with burns money. I swear, it''s not that I''m an idiot, my luck is terrible!¡±


    Wick smiled and leaned in to Brines a little. ¡°Good news. We are going to make you, and ourselves, rich. Probably rich enough to pay your dad back everything you''ve lost if we can keep this up a year.¡±


    Grunt nodded, then gestured out the door at the hole in the wall.


    She turned back to Brines. ¡°Yeah, back to the topic on hand, I too wanna know what the hell was in that crate that those two kidnapped you out of your condo and had you drive over here.¡±


    ¡°I honestly don''t know! There was something the foreman of the mine wanted out on the next ship to get it to Tripic.¡± He looked away a moment then back at Corvayne and Wick.


    ¡°... if it''s shipping to the Capital... I REALLY wanna see what''s inside it.¡± Wick said firmly and turned to give Corvayne a look. He recalled she was after power because she was afraid of small groups in the government who had powers as well. It made sense to Corvanye. The man was human and was certainly arrogant enough to be a noble or something. Knowing there might be more interest in Cascadia he was willing to find a way to move elsewhere to keep her out of harms way.


    ¡°Guys, guys guys... look, it belongs to my Family business. It was something from the mine that needed special delivery.¡± Brines was looking between them. Corvayne shrugged.


    ¡°I''m guessing they are on the way back to their ship. Did they steal your car Brines?¡± If they did, then they had a head start back to the ship.


    ¡°No I got the keys.¡± He jingled them as if they needed proof.


    ¡°Did they say how they got around before?¡±


    ¡°No but I think it was an police car. There was one parked by my car when they dragged me down to the garage. Thanks for the save by the way, did you pick up on the thing...¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°It was pretty obvious right from the start that you were not coming at 2 AM without calling on offical buisness. Even Wick calls when she comes by late at night.¡±


    ¡°I forget sometimes she''s doing IT work for us.¡± Brines said after a moment of thinking.


    ¡°Well, it''s weird they didn''t steal your car keys... are they going to fly back? That one could float... I think if they can move faster than we drive this would be over before it starts.¡±


    Brines thought long and hard. Corvayne had guessed that Brines had an idea of what was in that crate that the pair wanted. The problem he clearly saw was that Wick was going to pop it open and take a peek of it for herself. ¡°Look... the container had a tracker in it. If they don''t just take whatever is inside out of the crate, we can follow where they go.¡±


    ¡°They are going back to their ship. They bee-lined for you, then the crate.¡± Corvayne folded his arms. ¡°On the other hand, why didn''t they drive their ship closer to the city? Or have transport ready?¡±


    Wick laughed. ¡°Lets go, Mister I will drive us. We''ll get that crate back, and catch those two aliens!¡±


    Grunt gestured around him then pointed at himself. Brines nodded. ¡°You trust them that much?¡± Grunt nodded. Brines fiddled with his phone, then Grunt''s beeped. ¡°I sent you a link to the tracker. You said there was a ship?¡±


    Grunt showed Corvayne a map of Cascadia''s coast, a static image of it during the day. The marker was on it''s way out of the city but to the north along the coast.


    ¡°Did they get turned around...? Hmm. Is there a way to mark where they make stops?¡±


    Grunt demonstrated that the program could replay the progress of something tagged with a time stamp.


    ¡°Ok. We follow them, get the crate back if possible.¡± He folded his arms. ¡°Even with Grunt, they have a lot of firepower. The lady with him has some way of speeding herself up. They both have shields, the guys are heavy duty equipment.¡±


    ¡°We taking everyone?¡± Wick turned to Corvayne.


    ¡°Everyone who''s willing. These two are dangerous.¡± He wanted to get into why Wick had such an interest in the box. He also admitted he had enjoyed having a fair fight with another skilled warrior. Not that he thought it was a good idea to spar with someone swinging around a vibro weapon.


    Hari was still clutching her side after the fight, but had a determined look on her face. ¡°After Mosh patches me up, I wanna try again. I want to bash his smug face.¡±


    Corvayne smiled and nodded. ¡°Let''s get you to that rematch.¡±


    Grunt offered to ride in the back of the pickup this time. Mister either slept in the same robes he wore day to day or he had been awake as he seemed like he was perfectly happy to go on an unplanned road trip in the middle of the night. The route took them about halfway up the highway to the tower then split off just before a huge river, eventually leading them to what Corvayne guessed was the north part of Ripple Sound. He could see the lights of small towns shimmering against the dark water. When they pulled onto a slower road Mister I rolled down the window to let fresh air into the car. Despite being on his way to pick a fight, the drive felt suprisingly comfortable to Corvayne.


    Once he had enough of watching scenery go by Corvayne leaned forward and gave Mosh''s shoulder a poke. ¡°I wanted to ask if there was anything we could do or make to fight shields or deal with force blasts.¡±


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    The goblin''s face went from bored to pleased in a moment. ¡°Well Boss, the guy has to have something that generates power! Even though shields are weird cheats for the energy involved, they still have to be maintained. Shields that are see-through have to go opaque when you flash them with a laser or you can just use a laser rifle to blow through them. They have to be permeable to air and slow moving objects or the user bounces off everything. Smart shields can adjust around all that, but it doesn''t sound like that''s what we are dealing with Boss. Good, strong, smart shields won''t pop with just one heavy crate.¡±


    ¡°So they probably are not great, and I might be able to throw a [Whirling Axe] through a shield?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! That''s using your noggin, it''s made of air right? At the very least, the first one will certainly mess him up.¡±


    ¡°Crud, I should have brought that meat cleaver... that thing had enough heft too.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, it''s easier for it to do that attack because it''s sorta an axe too?¡±


    ¡°Just like the rapier I can use both [Backstab] and [Crescent Blade]...¡± Corvayne sighed. ¡°I wanted to do more testing this week. Alien invaders trashing my house is messing up my weekend plans to go into a dungeon.¡± Not to mention dealing with Hari. Well, he shouldn''t put it like that. If she had been around back at the village... maybe he''d still be there? Or had it been the training they do that changed everyone into jerks who had nothing better to do than trash talk him when he couldn''t live up to their expectations?


    Thinking of training and the fights ahead made him wish he could spend less time just doing forms and more time actually sparring. The problem was that Hari and Grunt were the only people versed in fighting with Corvayne''s preferred melee weapons. Ok, Mister I probably could show him a thing or two about a bow. He had only trained a little with them compared to other weapons. Did his desert village trade to get wood for arrows? Did someone cart a few logs across thousands of miles, or did they just grow it in one of the underground farms? He hadn''t spent much time in the cushy job of farming as they ALWAYS put him on patrol rotations. Probably because no one else would work with him. Or whoever decided that wanted to have him get eaten by forty foot long bugs.


    He had to give them credit for holding a surprisingly low mortality rate even fighting those big monsters. How would his instructors handle the two aliens? They had EMP grenades. Probably toss one then move in to attack or fire off guns as a follow up. No, that struck him as wrong. He had been a little too ready to fight back there. His goal had been to get Brines free. Now, their goal was information. Possibly the object in the crate was some artifact and then it would be a struggle.


    Or would it? They had a source of magical equipment. More importantly, Hari and the tome represented a unique resource. The pair they were after... the lady had tried to end the fight with the back of her blade when she saw Corvayne feint a mistake. He wouldn''t treat these enemies the same way he would insane cannibal goblins.


    ¡°Wick.¡± He was in the window seat this time, with Wick using Hari as a sort of pillow instead of just sitting in the center seat. Clearly the healing had taken or Hari would be in agony rather than looking contented.


    ¡°Corvayne.¡± She hadn''t bothered opening her eyes. ¡°Are we there yet?¡±


    ¡°No, but I wanted to talk about if we can negotiate with these two.¡±


    ¡°After they tried to kill you?¡± She sat up a little, then scooted back and pulled Hari''s arm around her.


    ¡°I don''t think the large alien woman was really trying to kill. On her best shot at me, she flipped her blade around. I also didn''t kill her when she left herself open for a counter.¡±


    ¡°As long as you don''t hesitate when you''re faced with someone who is really out to harm your friends or family.¡±


    ¡°I don''t have a family Wick.¡± A bit of bitterness crept into his voice. He stopped himself. Too much living in the past, a spear moved forward. ¡°Yet.¡±


    ¡°I was going to talk to you about that... I think you and I, separately, should have Mosh and Mister I try to help us with our issues. I already see him once a week for therapy, but I''d like to see if mend works with the pills for all my problems.¡±


    Corvayne looked at her then nodded. ¡°You are on it right now.¡±


    ¡°If it''s really not habit forming, it will help me be more productive during the week. I mean, I want to talk to you sometime when we are both under it''s effects because I feel like myself when I haven''t felt like myself for a long time. Years.¡±


    Corvayne felt suddenly a little... not insulted but perhaps defensive. ¡°With your current clarity, do you think there''s something wrong with me?¡±


    ¡°You get stressed out by... well... people. You obviously like people, given you''re already willing to try to speak to some hopped up aristocrat and his alien heavy. At the very least, it might help you feel better.¡±


    ¡°I''m willing to try it.¡± Corvayne felt it was probably not going to be useful for him. After all, he''d had those wounds poked and scared over again and again over the years. It felt like spending too much time trying to dive him back to forgiving bad people rather than just leaving them to wallow in the dust.


    Hari added in broken Cascadian. ¡°Want Corvayne happy.¡±


    Wick corrected her ¡°Want Corvayne to be happy.¡±


    Hari switched back to elvish. ¡°I hate all the little words you guys use instead of modifying the start or end of words. I mean... ''Want Corvayne toobee happy'' better?¡±


    ¡°I appreciate it Hari.¡± He smiled as best he could at her, still feeling a little conflicted. He didn''t like her as much as he did Wick and he felt like she deserved better then wishy-washy appreciation. Maybe something to bring up if they both got hit with mends. It didn''t help when she pulled out a banana and gave him an innocent look as she peeled it. Corvayne pointedly looked forward, and was glad when Mister Icariii started pulling them off the main road and down to the rocky coast.


    Mister I pointed ahead. ¡°Grunt texted me: the crate stopped over here.¡±


    It was close to morning as they pulled off the paved roads onto a gravel path down to the bank of one of the smaller rivers stretching out from the sound. They came up on a house that looked to be extremely old set to look out over the river. Two stories, built around a rocky hill, green shingles missing, brown paint peeling. Pine trees towered over it. Corvayne saw a pickup truck that rivaled Mister I''s for sheer wear and tear. Getting out of the car they could smell something reeking.


    Hari''s nose wrinkled and she frowned. ¡°We are going to find a corpse.¡±


    Corvanye nodded as he caught the smell as well. ¡°Probably. Anyone who''s squeamish, stay back.¡±


    The interior of the home was trashed. The back had been slashed open and there were piles of sawdust around a body that had been decomposing for weeks. His head and a hand was missing. Wick turned around green and hurried over to the brush. Hari went up to the body and used [Investigate].


    ¡°Killed with some sort of saw-like weapon. Dead for weeks.¡±


    Grunt picked up the empty crate near where the fallen man was. Corvayne accepted it and looked into it. ¡°So whatever was IN the crate, they hoped to talk to him about it.¡±


    Mister I noted ¡°The container was on it''s side... whoever was holding it probably flung it.¡±


    Well, the next question was... ¡°Who is this person?¡±


    They spent a while looking around the house. There were piles of stuff that looked to be unopened. Most of the boxes held appliances or items bought for recreation like an inflatible boat and a small tent. A few boxes had been ripped to shreds by whatever had cut the man''s head off. Corvayne found the missing hand on the floor and kicked it under a table, then headed upstairs. For a place with miles and miles of empty space around it, the house was pretty small. In the bedroom were numerous orange jumpsuits and an ID badge laying with a wallet.


    He came back downstairs and showed it off. ¡°He worked at Tel-Star mine... it says he was a general manager.¡±


    Mister I looked at the ID. Grunt came over and did as well, then produced a piece of paper. The order from weeks ago, sent from the same name to the warehouse they worked at.


    ¡°So he shipped us the container, was killed probably not long after... I''m surprised we didn''t get anyone showing up at our place.¡± Corvayne mused. ¡°Who was the person who delivered it to us? Were they with a general company or a private courier?¡± Grunt held up 1 finger: The first.


    ¡°My guess is they know which mine this guy works at, and so that''s their next stop. They want to know where whatever was in the crate came from. If it wasn''t just the goal in and of itself, then it probably is a part of what they are looking for or evidence it''s out there.¡±


    Wick had recovered at this point. ¡°Ugh. Why is there so much gore in going on adventures? Look... I got a hunch we gotta go to that mine too. Maybe... a tower entrance is out there?¡±


    Corvayne stopped. ¡°You think there might be another tower out there? Why... because they pulled this out?¡±


    Wick blew her nose before replying. ¡°That and the ruin rumor. Supposedly there were stone buildings out there at the site before they rolled in and built a pre-fab town. That isn''t unheard of. There are a lot of weird ruins laying around on planets with no other signs of civilization. It strains plausability that all of it is off-grid colonies. Nobody is going to settle on a searing hot sulfur world and build huge rings of stones when most of any given giant planet is totally open to start a potato farm.¡±


    Mister I rubbed his chin. ¡°I think not everyone wishes to settle somewhere that will eventually be busy. I did listen to your lectures and agree with you. There are many planets that have artifacts on their digital maps. It is unfortunate that the difficulty in investigating out of place ruins is that one doesn''t have a personal space ship...¡±


    Mosh said, ¡°I''d say swipe theirs but it''s buried in goons by now.¡±


    ¡°They either think they can brute force their way back, or never planned on taking the same ship out they came in on.¡± Corvayne mused.


    Wick got excited by that. ¡°So... maybe they think there''s a ship somewhere out in the desert? Hmm... I''ll scan my phone while we drive.¡±


    Mister I looked back. ¡°Drive where?¡±


    ¡°To Tel-Star mine, of course!¡±


    Mister I thought about it. ¡°That''s a long drive.¡±


    ¡°Yes? And?¡± Wick''s hands waved around a little, a sign to Corvayne her mend was wearing off.


    ¡°You misunderstand my apprehension miss Wick! My truck literally cannot do it.¡± Mister I patted it lovingly but had a look of understated sorrow on his face. ¡°If his truck wasn''t destroyed you might be able to refuel at the controlled station on the way. That''s assuming I''m not caught by Tel-Star police.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t think this would be a large sticking point. ¡°Ok. So why not rent an Hoverbike and just ride out?¡±


    Mister I blinked at him. ¡°Perhaps because lift systems like that are extremely expensive and do not fit on a bike?¡±


    Corvayne laughed. ¡°Of course they fit on a bike... what else are they good for? Elevators?¡±


    Mosh butt in here. ¡°I guess space ship floors if you like old fashioned crunchy Agrav. Field generators work much better. Best is you have an Ark network. Basically like a better warp because it re-writes anchor points remotely to move people around.¡±


    Corvayne winced. ¡°Don''t talk about warp. It''s one of the rules.¡±


    ¡°Oh sorry Boss.¡±


    Mister I held up a hand. ¡°I appreciate that you two seem familiar with both experimental and beyond theoretical engines and such, but crossing the desert is impossible for us unless you can-¡±


    Corvayne laughed. ¡°I''ll build a bike. Do you got tools in the back of the truck? I need an engine, the one in his truck will do. Most of what I would need would be in your garage. And that big empty store had everything if I''m missing something.¡±


    Mister I thought about it. ¡°How likely would building one cause the entire community center to go up in flames, destroying my humble home?¡±


    ¡°Zero.¡± Corvayne said with absolute certainty.


    ¡°About three percent.¡± Mosh said with absolute certainty at the same time.


    ¡°I can live with one point five!¡± The monk laughed.


    Wick gestured off to the west: ¡°This sounds like fun and all, but how does this solve us catching them? Those two will have ripped the mine apart by the time we roll in.¡±


    ¡°How many hours does it take to get to the mine? You said it''s out in the middle of the desert.¡± Corvayne could guess given the distances but wanted assurance.


    ¡°It''s about two and a half days if you drive straight through. Assuming you go at the speed the trucks do when they are on open ground, which is usually a solid hundred.¡±


    ¡°Okay. When the bike is done, I can cut that down to three hours with a tank of gas getting you there and back three times.¡± Corvayne smiled. Spaces-Torn-Asunder could have made a fully functional warp cruiser in the same time, but as his apprentice Corvayne at least could do his part. ¡°Grunt, Mosh, wanna help me dismantle the car here real quick?¡±


    Grunt poked Corvayne and mimed a bike, held up one finger. Two fingers, then his hands moving back and forth a little palms out. Two fingers, fist, six fingers. An X. Then two fingers, fist, two fingers and a look of concern: You might have time to make a pair of bikes, but one? It means you''re going into a fight with just two people.


    ¡°Me and Wick are going to negotiate with the pair first. If it comes down to a fight? Bet on me.¡±


    Grunt nodded, then pointed to his boots. Mosh saw it and handed Corvayne his amulet. ¡°Yeah, Boss! We''ll help you, but you better come back safe.¡±


    Hari poked Corvayne. ¡°Are you planning on running off without me?!¡±


    ¡°If I can make it fit three people I will take you.¡± He was pretty sure he couldn''t.


    ¡°Hah! That''s my Boss! Takes all the girls with him!¡± Mosh smiled. ¡°With me helping, you''ll all be riding in style!¡±


    Now that worried him.

 Chapter 33: Desert Garage

    Corvayne and Mosh hopped out of the Truck and started unloading the spare engine from the back before Mister I had finished switching to park. The first thing he had to do was get the specs of the part. He was happy that his personal screen... excuse him... that his phone was a functional computer for pulling that information up.


    Grunt offered to be their lab hand. Everyone else settled in to watch. Why not? Well, Wick quickly dragged Hari out to get coffee for them before more esoteric requests came in. Corvayne was pretty sure he could do the entire job with what was there, maybe needing some copper wire if Mosh had a limit for making it up.


    While thinking about Mosh he noted there was a small shrine with a pair of crossed hammers next to a work bench.


    ¡°Will it help if I say a small prayer to your building god?¡±


    ¡°Lythandies is a goddess. But yeah! The pantheon loves it when they start getting new attention off the beaten path. I''m sure I''m earning a lot of brownie points if people in a new universe are also calling her.¡±


    Corvayne wanted to ask if Mosh knew how big the universe was and if he maybe was mistranslating galaxy, but relented. He had an anti-grav unit to make, as well as a kinetic impulsor for the crankshaft of the engine so the non-electric output could be put into useful as where he was going, they didn''t have roads. He took a knee at the shrine real quick and thought about building things, then sprung back to standing to get to work.


    Mister I proved an almost perfect audience, asking him about both parts. ¡°How are you going to make the output of the engine power something that floats?¡±


    ¡°The electrical output of this engine''s alternator should be enough to stay buoyant in air with two... three passengers of medium size. I was going to ask if I could buy a motor bike you''re not working on to cannibalize parts, otherwise I guess a non motor bike would work for steering a front impulsor but I''d worry it''s too light to just jump on and go.¡±


    Mister I smiled and gestured to numerous half deconstructed vehicles. ¡°Hah! Take your pick, besides the one under the tan cloth. That''s my baby.¡±


    There was a mothballed bike that was perfect for what Corvayne needed: steering, a seat, windshields helped too but anyone riding wore a mask and goggles. Mosh understood exactly what was needed and had been doing some work around the shop as-is to start building various tools. Corvayne recognized the start of a gravity calibrator, and a few sub devices for changing bond strength that were needed to produce covering for anti-ferrite wires. He wasn''t trying to build anything that fancy, thank you, just a simple A-grav bike. So he asked Mosh if he could use a large chunk of copper wire since he''d need it for both parts.


    Working with Mosh saved incredible amounts of time. The little cleaning ritual had nothing on him calling for his godess''s help with making something. Corvayne stopped a few times just marveling at how things Mosh touched would just bend or melt into place.


    Corvayne had the bike and engine prepped for work and all the parts laid out they''d need aside from a length of steel pipe. Everything else could be welded together.


    ¡°Mister I, can you get me two one and a half foot lengths of steel pipe, around two inches in diameter? Also, does your drill work on steel?¡±


    Mosh nodded. ¡°It''s got a good diamond tip. Mister I''s stuff looks old but it''s all good workhorse stuff. Don''t tell the old monk I complimented him. He''ll get an even bigger head then he has.¡±


    Mister I looked offended. ¡°My green friend I find it odd you''re so adversarial when we are more alike then different.¡±


    ¡°That''s the problem! You''re a workaholic, meanwhile I can''t go hiking because I''ll cause an incident!¡±


    Wick came back with Hari and coffee in tow as Mister I left to go buy steel for the bike''s wheels. Hari sat down and watched with facination, using the time to try to [Investigate] the parts and the engine, and tools they were using. She had bought more bananas. Corvayne considered trying to sit her down and explain she needed to eat them in a less sensual manner but opted instead to just push it aside.


    ¡°You two look like a pair of gnomes.¡± Hari added when she saw he was looking at her.


    ¡°I hope that''s a compliment.¡±


    Corvayne and Mosh began spooling wire for the anti-grav unit. It was important to get the shape right and to have it on a structurally sound frame so that the lift and weight would balance out. Oh yeah, he needed to find something to adjust the gravity.


    ¡°Mosh, can you adjust the lever for the turn signal to be go-neutral-reverse for the A-grav strength?¡±


    ¡°You want throttle or video game controls Boss?¡±


    ¡°Throttle, assuming you mean pull down to go up.¡±


    ¡°I can even move it to be a throttle position! Lythandies'' reformation is nifty like that!¡±


    Corvayne gave him a friendly pat on the back. ¡°Thanks Mosh.¡±


    Wick stopped him about an hour and a half into the project with more coffee and a question. ¡°Would you be willing to have a pair of gophers help you in exchange for letting one extra person in on Mosh existing?¡±


    Corvayne set down the wire to give his hands a break. ¡°Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°Because it would pay for getting three pairs of faked mine credentials. And any parts you''d need or could want. Possibly a friend for life.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn''t mind more help. Someone to do some of the boring stuff would free me and Mosh up to make the bike more comfy... possibly better storage since we got gear we''ll need.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Thanks. I trust Horton will be eager to help after this. You okay with Brines showing up too?¡±


    He laughed. ¡°Wick, you''re the leader out here. I trust your decisions are to our benefit.¡±


    A little later Brines arrived his usual joggers outfit accompanied by a heavy set man in a green I heart UFOs t-shirt and MUFO''ker hat. Corvayne assumed that he was seeing Horton who was talking as he walked into the garage. ¡°Okay Wick, but this better be damn good to burn a sick day, I don''t-¡±.


    Mosh of course had a flair for being a little troll, waiting with arms folded as they walked around the parked truck, then with a theatrical voice calling out to them, arms up in what Corvayne would call a very corny impression of the kind of aliens that you saw on paperbacks where the guys and girls sharing space on the cover had damaged shirts. ¡°Humans! I am Mosh of the Trickyclax family! Take me to your single women and craft beers!¡±


    Both Horton and Brines had different reactions to Mosh, but with the same words. ¡°Holy shit that''s an alien!¡± said with both alarm and joy.


    ¡°I see what you guys mean. They are both freaking out.¡± Mosh shrugged. ¡°Nice to meet you guys. Wick said you might help me and Corvayne over here build a hover-bike.¡±


    ¡°Wait, is the spear guy Chad an ET too?¡± Horton asked Wick, excitement obvious in his voice.


    Did she give him a goofy fake name? "Wick, my real name is bad enough."


    Wick ignored him. ¡°Maybe? He walked to Cascadia from another planet, so he''s definitely something all right.¡± She turned and smiled and winked. He smiled back.


    ¡°What planet? One we know?¡±


    Corvanye shrugged as Horton shook Mosh''s hand then pinched it. ¡°It feels like skin!¡±


    Mosh pulled his hand back and rubbed the back of it. ¡°Of course it does you nutcase! What did you think it was going to feel like?¡±


    ¡°Rubber suit? Wick being Wick.¡± Horton said while staring at Mosh.


    The goblin shrugged. ¡°Fair enough. Listen, we got work to do.¡±


    Horton wasn''t done. ¡°Hey, did you crash last night?¡±


    Mosh once more looked offended. ¡°No way! I am a CAREFUL driver. Never touched a spaceship though. I''ll tell you my story if you help me by drilling holes in this piece here and here.¡±


    ¡°Wait, she said Hover-bike!¡± Brines added as Corvayne used one of the man''s free hands to hold a screwdriver while his shadowy hand handed him a wrench. Like that, they had two more helpers. Brines flipped a few times from fear and shock to eventually looking happy to be included on what he stated was the coolest thing he had seen in a long time. Horton had questions which Mosh put up with as long as he got the goblin things Mosh needed to get the inductor working.


    A few more minutes of work passed before Horton noticed what the project was. ¡°Dude, are you building an impulse engine in a garage!?¡±


    Mosh didn''t stop this time to look at Horton. ¡°Well how else are we going to make this bird go forward! Corvayne ain''t going to get a gondola stick to do it!¡± Corvayne covertly looked up what a gondola was after that and the image was funny enough, but who in their right mind would build a city in water rather than around it?


    With Brines on gopher duty and Horton picking up some of the stuff they were doing, it only took about four and a half hours to make the parts. Thank Lythandies too. The blessing Mosh provided cut down on some of the spooling and adjustments on the anchor chamber for the main anti-gravity unit. Without divine assistance tweaking them might have taken hours. He''d have to introduce the goblin to Spaces-Torn-Asunder if the opportunity ever arose. The only Watcher he liked would probably be a high priest in a few hours if the goddess really rewarded building things.


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    As they started putting things together, Horton had more questions. ¡°So wait, I thought you''d like, need to mine something out of the core of a moon for anti-gravity.¡±


    Corvayne laughed. ¡°No, you don''t need apergy material for something this small. It would save us the trouble of hooking it up the alternator and getting the thing powered.¡± That was always the trick, converting the energy source you had to what you needed. Having an alternator on the engine beat the weeks of sessions trying to figure out how to essentially build one under Spaces'' supervision. That had been stressful, even if his instructor guided him without malice. Working a project with Mosh was the complete opposite. The goblin kept cracking bad puns like ''building an anti-gravity engine old-spool''. Corvayne couldn''t believe how fast the day flew by. Maybe this was why in Grunt''s books they got into details of building golems so often. Corvayne hadn''t found them at all interesting but now understood the author probably had a TON of fun building them and just wanted to share.


    Note to self: consider building a golem to patrol the warehouse.


    Note to self two: consider asking someone else to do it, as lots of those sections involved explosions, golem AI going sideways and clobbering people, and more explosions.


    It was close to six hours after starting that he had a final build and done a few adjustments on the hover bike. The throttle was a little too gradual for his taste, but the desert on the other side of the mountains was mostly flat, and the roads along the way there were smooth enough to deal with the controls feeling slow. He had to add a little weight to the wheels to get the steering feeling ''right''. Mosh loved that Corvayne went from previously worked on engineering to feeling things as ''right'' or ''wrong'' but there''s a difference between building something and driving it! Still, he took it for a spin around the block, then again with Wick and Hari riding. Wick had a death grip on him even at only one tenth max speed, and Hari was laughing.


    To make the riders feel better, he burned another hour taking a seat out of an old car and adding belts. The weight was easy to compensate as he could have put the truck on the bike and still gotten enough lift to stay off flat ground.


    Horton asked for Hari''s measurements. Wick stared daggers at him. He cleared it up by saying he needed all three''s info. Once he had it, he vanished for an hour, and came back with three badges and three patched up orange coveralls.


    Hari held the old jumpsuit she had been given away from her. ¡°This what they wear?¡±


    Horton held up the one for Corvanye. ¡°You will look like miners. Except that you three... I mean the girls don''t look like beef jerky left in a tanning bed, so say your newbies whenever any problems come up.¡±


    Corvayne looked at Horton. ¡°I look like dried meat?¡±


    ¡°No, you look like a bodybuilder surfer wearing a desert prince''s disguise for being a commoner.¡±


    Corvayne felt his eyes narrow a little. ¡°I don''t know what that looks like, but it seems very specific.¡±


    Wick looked Corvayne up and down. ¡°It''s true but it''s all good on you.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Thanks then, Horton.¡± He smiled at the man, who just nodded back.


    ¡°No problem. So Wick... you had an alien or two working on hover bikes out back. Anything else I should know? Find bigfoot? Met the fae? Dragons? Magic?¡±


    Wick thought about it. ¡°Uh, yes to all four. We killed a lot of bigfoot but they got rid of the bodies. The girl in the hat is an elf but she doesn''t speak a lot of Cascadian. Me and Corvayne killed a small dragon. Mister I had a barbeque and we ate a bunch of it. Corvayne has a mounted head. I got a single spell but it''s a good one.¡±


    Horton just stared at her. ¡°You know that since you have an alien who says he''s a goblin in your garage, that''s all sounding less like a joke to me.¡±


    ¡°Things are very different this month compared to last month Horton. I intend to make money too, so if you''re in maybe we can work out me losing my gear to a pack of bigfeet...¡±


    ¡°I get paid really well, thank you, but if you can show me an elf or magic I''ll consider your story and waive off the cost of all that stuff.¡±


    ¡°Hari, show him your ears.¡± Wick tapped her own.


    The elf took her hat off and shook her head, rubbing her ears. ¡°Hate hiding them.¡±


    ¡°I would request to know where she came from. Also if there are more.¡± He turned to Wick. ¡°Is she a wizard as well?¡±


    Wick shook her head. ¡°Not just her, I can do magic too! I''d show you but it''s a spell that knocks things around. Mister I forbid me from casting it in his house.¡±


    She then seemed to realize there was a flaw in that command and went out to the parking lot and fired a few disrupts into the ground. Horton started laughing and pumping his fist. ¡°This is epic! Wick whatever this is you know I''m in! This is fucking EPIC! Elves are real! Uh Wick, question...¡± He lowered his voice. Corvayne was still in the garage with Mosh getting the second seat and belts secured and honestly he could guess what Horton was asking.


    ¡°I''d say they are pretty interested in humans, yes.¡± Wick turned to where Hari and Corvayne were watching her and winked. Very subtle Wick.


    ¡°You sure we''ll catch up? We spent all day building this thing.¡± Besides Grunt seeing them off, everyone else had wandered off, with Wick setting up deals for Horton and Brines. Horton wanted to do an engineering project like a hoverbike with Mosh. Brines was all too happy to look for rich people to sell literally enchanted items to. At the moment they were still wearing most of the stuff aside from the one enchanted longsword. Corvayne had thought honestly him and Grunt would be better to go off to the mine than him and the two girls, but Grunt explained with a few hand gestures that Corvayne and himself were NOT good at talking their way into places. Fighting the two would also likely bring the entire mine down on both of them. Hari might give them an edge on finding something out about the artifact or ruins if they got there first.


    Wick added the last bit. ¡°On top of what Grunt''s saying, you want us to try to talk first. We do that, then if a fight happens, it happens.¡± She handed Hari the Airfoil Rapier.


    The elf sqeaked happily and hugged Wick. ¡°I love the sword! I love you Wick!¡±


    Corvayne was a little irate that it didn''t seem to trigger Wick when Hari did it. Maybe it was a thing about him being a guy? Either way Wick gestured for Hari to calm down. ¡°As long as you don''t ditch us, I figure this will set you up to be fully equipped.¡±


    Wick had the robes folded up on her back. Mosh had made her a real metal wand with an emerald he had somehow smoothed into a perfect marble shape inset into the hilt, as well as made her a holder for the yet untested sundial. That might be something they did once they were out in the open desert. Corvayne gave her the amulet of ''health'' that supposedly made someone more durable. Her last gift was that Grunt was loaning her the boots of running. How they fit her feet AND his? No idea.


    Corvayne went with the cleaver and his spear with the sidearm. Of course the fire breathing dagger too, since it was pretty easy to hide on his back in a pinch. He was wearing the armor he found under his jumpsuit. It was weird that something that looked like wood and felt like stone was so comfy. Hey, since Hari WAS here...


    ¡°Hari, can you investigate my chain mail that I found by that other dragon?¡±


    ¡°Oh sure... ''OH GOD DAMN''¡± she swore in Cascadian. Corvayne felt the a bit of pure joy at her face expressing surprise and disgust whenever she got a good result. ¡°It''s an artifact! Again!¡±


    ¡°Well, it explains why it''s so tough and lightweight.¡±


    ¡°We have to talk about your luck. It''s supposed to be a once in a career thing for a party to find one!¡±


    ¡°Maybe it''s good luck making up for a lifetime of bad luck.¡±


    They had packed potions of healing and Corvayne had the strength potion too. Supposedly it was usually able to make someone half again as strong, so that might be enough to pop the shields around the aristocrat if it came down to fighting him with his cleaver. He wanted to try talking before fighting. All he wanted was information. With Brines safe, he could hopefully trade something. But Corvayne also knew that if they didn''t find common ground, half of diplomacy was the strength you brought to the table.


    The bike had been mangled and looked like a patchwork of colors but it had room for their stuff, a gas tank that could cover at least six thousand miles, and room for three. He had moved the front up and built better protection from the wind, as the machine was going to go FAST. They were wearing orange jumpsuits, put on goggles and had masks for when they hit the desert. Corvayne also had a pair of headbands and had Wick bring a pair of small clean socks for Hari''s ears as he didn''t know if they would get clogged with crud and he didn''t want his teammate to suffer during the ride. Same with earplugs for everyone.


    Hari thanked him while she stretched the socks over her ears.. ¡°Do you think we will catch them? I want to give that smug jerk a few broken ribs back...¡±


    Corvayne reminded ¡°They have half a day lead on us... also our goal is info. If we start fighting, that almost certainly goes out the window.¡±


    ¡°If they are driving, that''s nothing. You got a GPS on your phone that will work out on the dust?¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Are you ready to do some seriously high-grade trespassing?¡±


    Corvayne adjusted his goggles to be a little looser. ¡°Ideally we catch them before they hit the mine proper.¡±


    Wick put her goggles on and grinned. ¡°We''ll see if your luck... and your bike holds up.¡±

 Chapter 34: Arrival at the Mine

    If Corvayne had been alone, he''d let his cape flutter behind him as he sped over the endless flat desert. He instead felt Wick on his back, possibly sleeping despite them being hammered by wind. He glanced in a mirror to make sure Hari was still back there, and then went back to steering. It wasn''t strenuous as there were few hills, no trees, and no buildings of any kind. It was just desert speeding by and the sensation of being blasted by wind. He had looked into the desert while trying to find his home and it was one of the most desolate places on any inhabited planet. That was good for what they were doing as Corvayne could navigate by moons alone. At least when there were hills to see. The endless flat segments sped by ten feet under them, falling away when Corvayne raised them into long arcing jumps.


    He wasn''t pushing the bike hard. If they had a true shield generator like the two invaders were packing, he could go five times as fast. But he was pretty sure he''d trash the bike otherwise. Even loosely following the road it would be a long walk and a hell of a story to try to get a ride back to Cascadia. He swallowed his fears about climbing a hill and seeing his village. Once the thought happened it stuck with him for hours until Hari kicked his foot to tell him that she needed a break. They took a moment to drink water, pop the plugs out of their ears, maybe run to the other side of a rise to pee, and most importantly stretch. Corvanye was stiff as hell from just sitting in on position for hours.


    Wick was too. ¡°We still following the road?¡±


    ¡°You can see it when we crest our jumps. It''s about five or six miles north of us right now.¡±


    Hari was walking around trying to steady herself. ¡°I wish we could just take a horse. A horse is nice and slow, no big hundred foot jumps. You fall off a horse? A good one stops and waits for you.¡±


    Corvayne looked at her. ¡°I thought you looked happy when we hit the open desert...¡±


    ¡°I was screaming! Half the ride!¡±


    ¡°Not that long, I had to slow down and remind you to put the mask on.¡±


    ¡°I was still screaming you just couldn''t hear it.¡± She pouted.


    Wick shrugged. ¡°Corvayne''s a pretty good driver, I got a nice nap in.¡±


    ¡°How sleep?¡± Hari was back to speaking Wick''s language. She understood it better then she spoke it still, but she was getting better by the day. He really should remember the name but as he understood it, there were lots of dialects and he just called it ''Cascadian'' since he could remember that.


    ¡°Might as well rest now. Also Corvayne makes a pretty good pillow.¡±


    ¡°Switch place!¡± Hari said much more forcefully.


    ¡°Fine. Quiet as a mouse then suddenly all bossy.¡± Wick hopped on the back. Corvayne reminded the grabby elf to keep her hands around his waist and to strap herself to the vehicle too, then off they went.


    Blasting across the landscape for another hour Corvayne crested one last hill and saw the warm glow of the company town at the edge of his view. The next few minutes of driving he could make a concrete wall, as well as the metal buildings that reminded him of the warehouse. Corvayne lifted the bike for a better view and he saw that the mine itself was a deep hole in the center of the compound. He could also see that there was a bonfire and people milling about. He slowed the bike down and eased up to the wall. He pocketed his earplugs then heard the distant din of people shouting, laughing, and talking.


    Corvayne stopped the bike, then amped the antigrav and peeked over the lip of the concrete to make sure he wasn''t going to alert anyone with his landing. He spied a nice open dirt patch behind a corrugated steel building. Shady, out of the way, and quiet compared to the ruckus he heard elsewhere in town.


    ¡°Sounds like a party... I thought this place was supposed to be dreary.¡± Wick noted. Indeed, as he touched the bike down and pulled the key out, he heard what sounded like whooping and loud music. ¡°Hey! This could be a good chance. People get loose if they are drinking.¡± She nudged Hari, who must have got it because she frowned.


    ¡°I am not drink.¡± The elf stated with a little huff.


    Wick continued. ¡°Okay, so let''s find someone who''s a little tipsy, not completely sloshed, and get them to spill the beans on what the party is about, if they''ve seen those two aliens, and so on. If we can''t get anything solid, then we head over to the mine and infiltrate that... with Horton''s help I can probably crack an ID.¡±


    Corvayne mostly agreed with the later part of her plan. ¡°I think interacting with the locals might give us away. We should project an air of knowing exactly what we are doing.¡± He took his spear as he talked and tied a shirt around the point, making it a walking stick as he had done in the past.


    Wick nodded. ¡°Yeah. DUH. Sneaking 101 Corvayne!¡±


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°I''m not confident on this plan.¡± They had started walking to the outskirts of what looked like a miner mosh pit around a bonfire. Everyone had on the same orange jumpsuits that Corvayne and company was wearing, some stripped down to reveal undershirts as the miners were drinking and yelling around a bonfire. Someone had supplied a lot of booze: Corvayne saw several kegs, tables full of bottles, and even a truck with the back open for the miners to pillage at will. Wick orbited around the main throng as another song started up from speakers on a rooftop. Much like Wick had predicted, they saw a few people who were talking a little too loudly while sitting on the porch of a run down looking bar. Two guys and a woman just blabbing. Corvayne assumed they were going to just wait to hear some juicy details but Wick pushed Corvayne forward. Alarms started going off inside his head. This was not his forte!


    Wick, oblivious to Corvaynes discomfort, pointed forward ¡°Ok Corvayne, go act a little drunk and tell them you can''t believe this party.¡±


    ¡°Why not you Wick?¡± Corvayne turned his head. Hari obviously couldn''t go. She was busy working on another banana anyway. Thank you for eating it mostly normally this time, Hari.


    ¡°Well if I show up the guys will hit on me!¡± Wick had her hands on her hips.


    A small flare of jealousy turned him back to the miners. ¡°All right. I hate this.¡± Corvayne couldn''t remember the last time he willingly walked up to more then a single person to talk to them. He approached casually and waved, then forced himself to pretend he was just acting the part of a half drunk miner. Pretending he was playing a role made things easier.


    Corvayne waved. ¡°Hey great party! Can''t believe they put it all together.¡±


    ¡°I know! Big bonus for all the jasper selling!¡± One miner laughed and held up his beer.


    Corvayne looked around nodding as if he was impressed with everything then said, ¡°They should do this more often.¡±


    ¡°I hear you man! After the last three weeks I''m glad the fuckers recognized they were pushin us too hard.¡±


    Corvayne decided to push his luck and walked around the bar, grabbing an empty bottle as he slid up to another group hanging at the edge of the party. He thought about the newbie adventurers from the tower''s inn, and the way they would walk and talk after a few drinks.


    ¡°Can''t believe it man, all that jasper sold? And this party?¡±


    ¡°Yeah buddy, the new management rocks!¡±


    He walked up to another group as he rounded a corner to what he guessed was the front door of the bar.


    ¡°New management rules!¡± He held up a bottle.


    ¡°Hahaha, yeah man. Thought they were jerk-asses but they are all right!¡±


    ¡°Remember when they first got here?¡± Corvayne offered, seeing if he could get creative to dig something up about them.


    ¡°Glad they recognized they were pushing us to dig too hard. Though...¡± The miner lowered his voice. ¡°I''m still worried. The new section of the mine has had a lot of accidents. If they put you on it, I''d recommend trading shifts if you can. ¡±


    He walked around another corner into a darker alley. There were two people sitting at a card table and eyed him with suspicion. Corvayne looked both ways, and nodded at the two men.


    ¡°Hey, you guys think this is too good to be true?¡±


    Both men looked at each other and nodded. Corvayne leaned against the wall then stood again.


    ¡°I wonder... what the real reason they threw the party is.¡±


    One guy was glaring at him, the other nodded. ¡°No free lunch. I don''t trust the mercenaries that replaced the guards either.¡±


    The more guarded one looked over at his buddy then at Corvayne. ¡°The guy with the weird weapon smells like blood. It''s all too sudden.¡±


    ¡°Yeah... stay safe.¡±


    He kept walking and turned the last corner back to Wick and shared what he got. She looked stunned. ¡°You got all that in what... two minutes? Three?¡±


    ¡°It was YOUR plan! Why are you surprised it worked?¡±


    ¡°It wasn''t a great plan?¡± Wick shrugged. ¡°Anyway, we don''t need to hang around here. Let''s go break into the mine and check out that new section.¡±


    Hari grabbed her shoulder but spoke to Corvayne. ¡°We should ask where the guy with the weird weapon is. If that miner was particularly worried about him... we should know what they look like.¡±


    Corvanye nodded. ¡°I think getting a look at him might help.¡±


    Wick shrugged. ¡°Ok, but how are you going to find one person in a city full of drunk miners?¡±


    A little later, after asking about a dozen people if they knew where ''the guy with a weird weapon'' was, Corvayne learned the unnamed man and the new guards were unloading booze from a truck, then were directed over to shipping docks. Those docks were little more then prongs of raised concrete above the black top, open to the and topped with the same corrugated steel as most of the buildings. There were a few trucks set up for loading or unloading. A pair of miners were making out in the gate that let vehicles in and out of the loading area, but aside from that the docks were empty of activity or people, save for one truck that had men hauling a large piece of machinery out. He would need a closer look to see what they were up to.


    Wick and Hari both got what he was thinking as he motioned to move behind a truck and followed him, crouching.


    ¡°I wanna take a closer look. Something about this strikes me as... off.¡±


    ¡°You mean like EVERYTHING?¡± Wick folded her arms. ¡°I''d have heard about a public sale of the company, and Cascadian Jasper hasn''t had a price spike in three years. So either the miners independently lied about two things, or the guys buying everyone drinks are lying about everything. You know what? I bet you 200 credits the guy''s weird weapon has some type of sawblade.¡±


    ¡°I am not going to take you up on that bet.¡± Corvayne whispered back. ¡°You know what free booze tells me?¡±


    Hari seemed to have followed enough of what Wick had said to nod at Corvayne. ¡°This party is a distraction.¡±


    Corvayne nodded, and used his cloak to blur into the same color as concrete. Staying low he peered at the guards. It looked like they were unloading dune buggies, driving them across a ramp and onto the raised dock. The guards in question looked to have assault rifles but one stood out in particular. He was dressed in some sort of custom armor, and had what looked like a sawblade with a wire strung to it on his back. Probably a version of a ''Hell''s Yoyo''. The kind of dangerous weapon where someone trying to use it untrained would injure or kill themselves.


    Well, unless there were two men with sawblades in this group, he found who murdered the manager back at the cabin. So the idea that there was some sort of takeover at the mine going on seemed increasingly likely. As the last buggy rolled out Sawblade guy pulled out a complicated orb about the size of a microwave with a steel framework that nearly made Corvayne do a double take.


    Corvayne wasn''t able to just magic what any given box with tubes on it was but the watchers had made sure that anyone who picked up a spear quickly was able to determine what a weapon was if they saw it. It looked like a containment unit but had no obvious plugs. There was also hints from how the thing was handled: Even the guards not touching it gave it an extra foot of room. When the people hoisting it spun it and he saw that it had a certain yellow and black marking on it Corvayne frowned as his gut reaction to what was being unloaded was confirmed.


    He was pretty sure he had just watched them unload a nuclear bomb.


    Corvayne crept back to the girls. ¡°Okay I have good news and bad news. The good news is I''m 99 percent sure we got the guy who killed that miner and thus knows something about the crate.¡±


    Hari asks. ¡°You said you had ill tidings as well?¡±


    ¡°The bad news is he has a nuclear weapon.¡±


    Wick nodded. Then stopped. ¡°What?!¡±


    Corvayne looked around the truck they were crouched by to make sure no one decided to jump off the dock and find them snooping. He looked back at the raised dock and saw the sawblade guy drive past, top of the nuke visible in the back of his buggy.


    ¡°I don''t know if the nuke was what the crate was or this is a response to it, but I''m not going to let him blow up the miners.¡± Corvayne stood. ¡°If we get separated, meet up at the hovercycle.¡±


    Wick had a death grip on his arm, shaking him a little. ¡°We are rapidly getting out of our wheelhouse! They got a nuclear weapon!¡±


    ¡°It''s Okay. I''ve got a spear. Let''s see who trained more.¡±

 Chapter 35: The Mine Over Matter

    Corvayne raced through the dusty mining town on foot, going full speed as Wick ran beside him and Hari burned spells to follow them. Their goal was a row of houses away on a dune buggy and neither aware of them yet or hurrying. The mercenary with a giant saw-blade on his back was actually driving rather slow with a hand behind him on the nuclear bomb.


    Corvayne sprinted and tried his best to keep an eye on the buggy as it dipped in and out of view. He panicked for a moment when he got to the other side of a building and lost track of the cart for just a split second, then saw the red lights and realized it turned, and he kept sprinting, across the black top, legs and his lungs starting to burn. He almost collapsed in relief when he saw the buggy stop at fenced gate leading into the mine. Sawblades was speaking to a guard in a gate house and gestured back at the bomb.


    Corvayne was getting mentally prepared to move like a shadow across the ground, reach into the window, pinch the guy''s neck, drag the prone form behind a building, and so on, when Wick tapped him on the shoulder and pointed. The man left the booth and just jogged down the road in the direction of where the other dune buggies had been going. With nobody guarding the gate they just jogged in. Ahead, between two large steel buildings, Corvayne could see the red lights of the buggy dip into the ground. Sawblade was taking the freight elevator down into the huge pit.


    ¡°Gah!¡± Wick was huffing, even though she was wearing the magic running boots. ¡°Corvayne, stairs? Elevator?¡±


    Corvayne walked forward to the chain link fence surrounding the pit, trying not to stop as he looked around. ¡°There''s gotta be a person elevator...¡±


    Corvayne stood next to the closed elevator door and looked down. The mine was a titanic hole in the ground surrounded by buildings and it looked like there were multiple elevators down and a pair of ramps carved out of the wall that intersected with buildings built along the side. Okay, there was a personnel elevator a few feet over, thankfully on their floor. They piled into the steel framed cage and Corvayne punched down.


    Hari was looking all around. ¡°This is very cool!¡±


    Wick meanwhile kept glancing down and to the side at the larger elevator car ahead of them. ¡°Make it go faster!¡±


    Corvayne saw the other elevator was perhaps two hundred feet under them. Looking at metal box the controls were clearly not designed to let the elevators race.


    ¡°No luck. We will get to the bottom when the elevator is ready.¡±


    As they went down floors, Corvayne saw that in the helix of paths dug into the walls of the pit, there were still people working at night, perhaps maintenance or third shift. The blue moonlight painting the walls was replaced with sickly green and orange lights. Looking down Corvayne was pretty sure the pit was at least a mile deep. He could see bands of different minerals, and signs that some of the walls of the pit were not worked.


    ¡°Wick, was this something they just... found out here?¡±


    ¡°Natural cave they expanded into a mine. Geologists couldn''t make heads or tails of how there was a shaft this big in an area that shouldn''t form them. That was a hundred years ago, the mines been here for almost as long since the place has heavy metal deposits and that Cascadian Jasper in huge quantities.¡±


    Hari was looking too. ¡°Looks like a dungeon.¡±


    Corvayne considered the huge pit they were sinking into. ¡°It could have been one. Wick talks a lot about deception, that people will do one thing to hide another.¡± Corvayne started, thinking about the oddities involved with the mine. ¡°So I don''t get it, you have hundreds and hundreds of miners, but the big ticket item they were mining was unguarded if Grunt had a sick day. I would keep the crate somewhere secure.¡±


    Wick shrugged, eyes constantly looking down off the platform at the other elevator. ¡°I don''t know. It must have been a rush job to get it somewhere hard to get to, given the hostile takeover. We are not the only warehouse for material, it kinda makes sense. Somebody finds this odd object, you realize that psychos are infiltrating the mine, so you send the thing to a place that frequently sends out smaller crates of stuff to get it up and out. I mean, the majority of the mines metal was just stuff they send directly to factories.¡± Wick said. ¡°I''m more wondering why the hell they are going to blow the place up.¡±


    ¡°Money. Mystery solved? Follow money.¡± Hari folded her arms and switched to speaking her native tongue. ¡°Whenever there is a mystery, understanding the motive is perhaps the most important task to figuring out why it''s happening. Undine called them the big three motivators: Money, Power, Sex.¡±


    ¡°So maybe the party was to make sure just about everyone is OUT of the mine, then what, they collapse a particular tunnel? Irradiate it?¡± Corvayne thought about the idea Wick had earlier regarding a tower entrance in the mine. ¡°The forest had a bunch of signs to try to keep people out too...¡±


    Wick shook her head. ¡°The guy getting buzz sawed to death in his remote cabin makes me doubt there''s a party to save everyone. I bet that bomb is big enough to collapse the entire mine and kill everything on the surface too.¡±


    Hari tugged on Corvayne''s shoulder. ¡°Please explain to me what''s going on. I can''t follow everything.¡±


    ¡°Oh right. The guy we are chasing probably killed the miner we were looking at earlier. It looks like hes going to plant a bomb here.¡±


    ¡°What''s a bomb?¡±


    ¡°Uh, kinda like a really big fireball to kill everyone. Then it poisons the ground.¡±


    Hari looked around. ¡°Why are we here?! Corvayne, we should run!¡±


    Corvayne pointed down. ¡°That guy has to have the switch to set it off. If we wanna save the miners, we gotta get it.¡±


    ¡°You''ve got a hero complex! That''s one of the first things my mentor pushed out of me!¡±


    ¡°It''s not about being a hero, we''re just the group who can stop it, so we should.¡± Corvayne didn''t think heroism had anything to do with what he was doing.


    Wick holds up a finger. ¡°IF we are right, it could be that he''s installing a new AC unit that looks like a nuclear weapon.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°It mean, it would make more sense to use two honestly, one for inside the mine one up in the town.¡±


    Wick nodded and laughed. ¡°They probably would have to use two given the size of the bombs...¡± She paled. ¡°Oh god, let''s go! This is beyond us!¡±


    Corvayne looked at her. ¡°The guy planting the bomb probably has a detonator. We just take him out and the mines themselves are safe. Also... where does your hunch say to go?¡±


    Wick frowned. ¡°Down.¡±


    ¡°So let''s save some people, solve the mystery of the crate, and if possible we do it in disguise and slip in and out without anyone knowing we were here.¡±


    ¡°Don''t we have to fight this guy? Maybe even kill him?¡± Wick had her arms folded. ¡°I mean, there''s a difference between goblins and street punks and a guy who can and will defend himself to the death, and will come after us if he doesn''t die.¡±


    ¡°I am prepared to take a life if it means saving a bunch of other ones.¡± Corvayne undid the shirt on his spear. ¡°Especially if it''s to protect you Wick.¡±


    Wick started slapping Corvanye on the arm. ¡°Damnit don''t get fucking sappy!¡±


    The other elevator had stopped. Looking up Corvayne could see they must be over a mile down given the size of the hole above.. It was uncomfortably warm now, and it felt like the lights were dimmer as their own elevator stopped. Sawblade, as Corvayne thought of him, started driving down a tunnel the elevator pointed right to. Moving to the carved stone corner and looking around the bend he saw the red lights of the buggy disappearing around a gentle bend. Corvayne started jogging down the tunnel as it slopped downwards, cool air rushing from within. The faint humming of the engine ahead of them faded as they fell behind the buggy.


    It was only a minute later that Corvayne came to a four way intersection in the tunnel. Looking down each dimly lit passage Corvayne didn''t see the tell-tale glow of lights. Before he had to start rolling dice he heard sounds of a confrontation. When in doubt, follow the fight. Corvanye walked straight. He turned a gradual bend and spotted the cart, with six armed Miners facing down the Sawblade man.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    One of them spoke with his gun aimed at Sawblades. ¡°We knew the party was bullshit. You god damn clowns think nobody would notice you disappearing our managers?¡±


    The man on the cart laughed. ¡°It''s worked before. It will work again!¡± He hopped off the cart. One of the miners fired a burst, and the man had the shimmering glow of a shield around him.


    ¡°Oh yes! You guys might have figured it out. But you... just don''t have the right tools for the job!¡±


    Sawblade whipped his hand forward, his blade spinning and making a high pitched noise as it flew out and hit the man who fired in the neck. Corvayne backed around the corner as a barrage of fire rang out. Stray shots peppered the wall on the other side of the shaft. It stopped after a few seconds.


    ¡°Well that''s too bad. Looks like those guns don''t work too good, eh friends?¡± He heard another humming noise and another scream.


    ¡°Wick, lead with disrupt please.¡± Corvayne pulled the cleaver out of his pack. He wasn''t going to let a bunch of people get murdered for no good reason. There was a cry of one of the miners trying to surrender, cut short with another buzzing noise.


    Hari held up a hand and vanished. She then appeared back by Corvayne a moment later and proudly dropped off a big box and a paddle.


    ¡°Uh Hari... did you just steal the nuke?¡±


    ¡°The little stick there came with it. It''s a ''detonator'', whatever that means.¡± The elf looked pretty proud. ¡°The ''Nuck-leer Bomb'' is an apex class item!¡±


    Wick tapped Corvayne''s shoulder, and he nodded. She popped out and drew her wand, aiming a disrupt at the sawblade wearing killer. Corvayne gave her a clear corridor of fire and saw the green orb fly out, then hit the shield. There was an ear shattering sound and something on the man burst in a shower of sparks. Corvayne saw the man''s hand move and the blade was flying at him. He tossed the cleaver into the path of the blade and at the man while his shadow limbs pushed his spear into the hands. He ran through a shower of sparks, saw the spinning blade was in the ceiling. He kept his eyes on the hands.


    ¡°You dumb FUCKER that belt cost a LOT!¡± The man roared as he jerked his hand back. Corvayne saw the hand pull left and he sprang forward and right. He felt something move just past his ear. The man snarled and yelled out ¡°[Chain Frenzy]!¡±


    Corvayne used [Flows Like Water] to dive through a sudden wall of sawblades trying to converge on where he was. He was now in front of the man with a dozen writhing chains arcing around where he was standing, attached to saw blades that were behind him. The man narrowed his eyes, then grinned and pulled his other hand back, no doubt to turn Corvayne into a pile of shredded meat chunks. But yelling his attack out? The big telegraphed moves? What was it that his sword trainer liked to always say? Oh yeah!


    ¡°Sloppy!¡± Corvayne activated [Juxtapose]. In a step he spun past Sawblade as the man stumbled forward. Suddenly the fancy weapon user was in the way of his own saw blades. This was why a ''Hell''s Yo-Yo'' was a weapon he never bothered to train with. It was too easy to kill yourself with it.


    Corvayne kept moving as he didn''t really want to get covered in gore. There was a horrible scream and a few moments of wet noises. Turning around, Corvayne saw the guy was somehow still standing, but staggering and losing blood rapidly. The figure turned around, his blade wedged into him with a dozen other cuts. ¡°Mother... fucker... Fine... let''s both... die.¡± He reached into his vest and pulled out a banana, then mashed his thumb into it, grinning madly. Blinking, then a look of confusion. He had just mashed a yellow fruit rather then summoned mutually assured destruction.


    Corvayne was not naturally snarky. If you were talking, you were not fighting hard enough. For all the crap the masters gave him before and after a fight, during fights they put everything into combat. They respected even the weakest enemy. It was trained into them, the idea being confidence breeds carelessness. On the other hand, this guy was an asshole for trying to blow everyone up.


    Corvayne smiled. ¡°Hey... is that a banana, or are you just happy to see me?¡±


    ¡°Looks like it''s bruised, like your pride!¡± Corvayne added.


    ¡°No explosion to stop us from peeling out.¡± He tried.


    The man stumbled and fell over from his own wounds.


    Wick approched, arm bleeding. ¡°My god. He''s dead... Your puns musa killed him.¡±


    Corvayne guessed Wick had just got one over his head but instead inspected her arm. A glancing cut from a rock. He then turned back and went to see if any of the miners were alive.


    Hari followed. Corvanye smiled at her. ¡°Good work guys. Hari, great job stealing the detonator. We''d all be dead if not for that.¡±


    ¡°Why, what''s it do?¡± She said, inspecting it but not pulling the hard cover of both buttons off.


    ¡°It sets off that really big fireball that would kill us all.¡±


    Hari held it at arm''s length. ¡°Ok not doing that.¡±


    There were two miners still alive. One was bleeding from a missing hand. Corvanye rushed to tie the limb off with a tourniquet using his spear-shirt. The other had a slash on his leg. He grabbed Corvayne''s arm as he was leaning in to treat it.


    ¡°You gotta help! He said they are... going to set off another bomb... on the surface.¡±


    Corvayne sucked in air through his teeth, but managed to exhale without swearing and schooled his face as he nodded at the miner. ¡°I thought so, but I don''t think they''ll set it off with this guy down here.¡±


    Hari helped lay the wounded man on the back of the cart. The miner who wasn''t wounded too badly accepted Corvayne''s help standing up. He looked around. ¡°I dunno how you took that bastard out, but I owe you man. Listen, these guys are mercenaries, nobody bought the mine... all the old managers are missing and probably dead.¡±


    Wick kicked half of the sawblade guy''s radio. ¡°No faking a report in either. We gotta get outta here, unless you want to die when the radioactive remains of the mine fall in here and cook us.¡±


    Corvayne wiped some blood off on his jumpsuit. He took it off, revealing his normal clothes under it. He pulled his fake-wood chain-mail out of his bag.


    ¡°By the way my name is Corvayne. Do you have any idea where they planted the bomb? You seemed to guess where mister saw blade was going.¡± He hopped into the buggy. There was space for four people in the seats with the wounded guy in the back.


    ¡°Names Coatz. I was a grunt in the collective navy before this and if I was going to drop a bomb upstairs... I guess as close to dead center in the compound to get everything. Get us on the elevator out I''ll try to think about it. Nice fight by the way... I saw you pull off some fancy footwork. Why do you have a spear and armor?¡±


    Corvayne did a 3 point turn and started driving back to the elevator, trying to find a balance of speed and not hitting a bump that would send the critically injured man flying off the back. ¡°I''ll give you the short version: I''m a weird desert tribe exiled warrior sneaking into this mine chasing a power shielded duo who probably is not related to this guy who might be here because of a crate they stole. The sender of the crate was dead from saw blade wounds and was a manager at this mine. So got here, snuck in, and decided following the guy with the saw blade who was clearly up to no good with a nuclear weapon would be the best way to get an answer of why the heck someone blew a huge hole into the wall of my home last night.¡± He left out ''also because it''s important to my girlfriend'' as there''s some things you just don''t share with someone you don''t know.


    Wick was glaring at Corvayne but the man just laughed. ¡°Well, fuck. I was getting real sick of cloak and dagger shit! I''ll take the intruder that saved my ass over the one who''s lying to me and clearly been killing people down here.¡±


    ¡°We haven''t seen the two people we were looking for, but I''d appreciate if you laid out what he was trying to blow up down here since we are probably going to be really busy trying to stop a bomb from cleansing the entire camp with nuclear fire.¡±


    ¡°There''s some sort of ruins down here. Like a castle or something. These tunnels lead to a cave system where a lot of weird stuff was going down. We''re missing a lot of people who were sent to work down here, they had guards posted here. Part of us coming down was being sure they''d try to sneak something out while we were distracted by the party. As if we''d trust that bullshit sales excuse... Oh yeah they said that the party was that they dumped a bunch of jasper. The mine doesn''t sell jasper to anyone directly. The Brines Brothers do the selling, and they got a warehouse guarded by a pro wrestler or something where there''s tons of it just sitting around!¡±


    Getting onto the elevator Corvayne stepped out of the seat to hit the button to send them back to the surface. He was building a likely explanation in his head. It felt like the same thing Wick had talked about with the park, but with the secret black ops stuff she peppered into her soup of theories added.


    ¡°I''m going to ask a weird question... did some of the people who came back say they saw monsters?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Things slinking around back there. Good guess. You some kinda monster hunter then?¡± Coatz was checking his rifle.


    ¡°I don''t hunt them so much as fight them because they make it a pain in the ass to get treasure.¡± Corvayne added conversationally.


    Wick grumbled. ¡°The fucking bomb means we can''t go look at what we CAME here for, the monster tunnel.¡±


    Corvayne let her stew. ¡°Hey... if they found something in the mines that''s unusual... where would they store it?¡±


    ¡°Management has quarters over by the north wall.¡±


    ¡°Did anything unusual come out of the section where there was weird stuff going on?¡±


    ¡°Oh of course. Small and light containers. We usually need motorized carts and lifters to pull anything.


    Corvanye''s own hunches were zeroing in. ¡°Did they ever pull something like an honest-to-god treasure chest out of the mine?¡±


    The man slapped the dashboard of the buggy. ¡°I thought Hank was joking! If he lives through this I owe him a drink.¡±


    There was probably another space like the one at the park here. Wick had said that Cascadia was dimensionally weak. The group got wind of something here, and probably sent miners into the breach to go find stuff then take it back to the mine. Some of the miners might have died in the dungeon, but perhaps a group could go five floors. The mercenaries probably finished off the survivors and took whatever they fished up.


    Corvayne had time in the elevator to think. The Mercenaries knew from the dead man, probably, that the crate was bound to Tripic. Maybe they don''t know that it was given to Brines to ship under the guise of one of those rock-shop crates. The two aliens did. They went looking for the dead guy after securing the crate.


    Wick was thinking along the same lines. ¡°Hey, how long ago did they show up? Not QUITE three weeks ago, but after the new area of the mine was opened, maybe a day or two later... right?¡±


    The miner nodded. ¡°Right on the money.¡±


    Wick started thinking. ¡°There was a manager who TOOK a little break right after they pulled the first shipment out. Brines KNOWS that the crate was different. There was a break-in RIGHT away when that crate landed. Brines could just lift the damn thing, so probably not him. Either our aliens or these Mercs, who were in town and were expecting something unusual to be found. No wait! The Mercs would just send Sawblade at you...¡±


    Corvayne looked back at Wick. ¡°So the Mercenaries or black ops guys or whatever these new guards are, they killed a bunch of people to get the stash at this mine, and are going to ride off into the desert or something with the loot? Why else use a dune buggy when they have a truck they controlled well enough to ferry at least a pair of nuclear weapons around?¡±


    Wick pulled out her phone and hissed. ¡°I need RECEPTION! I gotta look at a map!¡±


    Corvayne poked Hari. ¡°Hey Hari, can you grab my computer out of my bag?¡±


    ¡°Sure! It will cost you a kiss.¡± She turned around and did a little magic, the computer glowed a little in the bag then flew out to her fingers.


    ¡°Your friend just cast a spell.¡± Coatz said, numbly.


    ¡°Yeah. Magic is real. We think that''s what''s in the other crates and chests. Real magical items.¡±


    Wick started slapping him on the shoulder. ¡°Stop blabbing everything!¡±


    Coatz held up a hand. ¡°Miss, you know why I''m going to help you? It''s because this guy is like an open hand of cards. I owe you my life. That means something. I''ve served with guys like him, and they are the only reason I stayed with that shit pile as long as I did. You ever decide to sign up with the Collective kid, I''ll give you the name of my old C.O. You''d love him. Guy was like a rock on the outside but you could tell he loved his grunts.¡±


    ¡°I think I had my fill of gruff military figures for a few lifetimes Mister Coatz but I appreciate the offer.¡± Corvayne had a few minutes of elevator and barring nuclear fire blasting down the hole and killing them, he had plenty of time to pull up the Cascadia map. Zooming in on the desert, he showed Wick the area around the mine. ¡°There''s a stretch of barren and nearly flat rock nearby. Big enough to land a ship on.¡±


    ¡°Any ships land nearby recently Coatz?¡± Wick adjusted her glasses.


    ¡°Miss, no. Any unauthorized traffic you have AFRs or ground resources on it.¡±


    Wick nodded but Corvayne had to ask. ¡°What''s an AFR?¡±


    ¡°Aerial Fast Responder. Planets usually have a few fleets off in the middle of nowhere to blow up unauthorized atmosphere breaches. They are probably jet boosted long range helicopters here,¡±


    ¡°There was a UFO crash a few days ago that fit the bill, but we didn''t see them.¡± Corvayne was curious: it seemed like they tracked them.


    ¡°Crash implies they didn''t slow the hell down. Your not going to see a firefight if a ship breaches and doesn''t slow to aircraft speeds to land. There are punch craft that do that, but that''s a one way ticket and damn risky. If you track something and it''s a punch craft, the people in it are going to ride off on an ATV or something before your planes get there.¡±


    ¡°Grr now I want to talk to these damn aliens already!¡±


    ¡°I want a banana.¡± Hari added.


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°Well, if there''s a flat place for a ship, I think our goal is to disarm the bomb then stop them from leaving without paying the bill. Ideally, paying me the bill. Hari... is there any talents you have that might be able to detect an item you already know... say a different bomb?¡±


    ¡°Only if it''s exactly the same type of item. So it has to be a noclear bomb.¡±


    Corvayne tried not to think about the bombs both under and above them going off. ¡°But you can find it?¡±


    She fished around in her side pouch. ¡°I''ll learn it from the book... it''s in here but it will take me a few minutes, and it only gives me a general direction if it''s pretty close.¡±


    Wick rolled her eyes. ¡°I''m annoyed that we are getting dragged into other people''s problems. Here I was, hoping we''d get some information outta this.¡±


    Corvayne couldn''t help smile at her. ¡°Wick, why settle for that? Let''s also steal their ship.¡±

 Chapter 36: Corvaynes wild ride.

    Corvayne drove the buggy with Wick, Hari, and the miner Coatz as well as his injured ally back into the elevator out of the massive mine pit. Corvayne felt pretty certain they''d be back at some point to try to sneak in and see possibly another tower entrance, but the second nuke hanging in the air pitted his greed against his sense of right and wrong. He wasn''t a hero or chosen one, but he wasn''t going to let a bomb go off.


    Hari had her book open and was step by step casting a spell designed to find a specific item. She sometimes would stop and get Corvayne to give her details about what materials were in the weapon. There were also restarts where she got a word wrong, but there was a long ride up for her to cast the spell properly. She could sense both the nuke a mile or so below them and one on the ground above them. She gestured off one direction as the elevator came to a halt. ¡°That way!¡±


    Corvayne tore down a side street as fast as the cart would go. Hari lead them to a building with five other buggies parked outside of it.


    ¡°Admin building and quarters.¡± Coatz added.


    ¡°Coatz, you can take the buggy and your friend to a medic. I''ll plan on dropping this weapon off on the east side of the wastes: hopefully it wont block the road or rain radioactive sand back down on here.¡±


    ¡°You''ll be okay here?¡± He looked eager to join in and shoot the guards, but Corvayne wanted his enemies to have no idea they failed to cover their tracks.


    Corvayne tapped his spear and gave his most confident smile. ¡°Save your friend, and grab a beer for some fireworks.¡±


    Then he checked his weapons, hopped off the buggy, and slid up to the wall of the admin center. Hari and Wick followed him. He considered just running in but before that he wanted to know what weapons they were packing. They certainly had machine guns and maybe other shield units. The steel walls of the building were probably thick enough they couldn''t just shoot him through it and cripple or kill him. He winced at probably. So, he could probably stall them out in a fight, but he really only needed to get one person to tell him where the other bomb was. He didn''t want to have to kill anyone else today if he could avoid it. Okay, technically the sawblade psycho killed himself.


    He was considering where to breach the building when there was a trio of bangs like the worlds largest steel drum rang out and the wall of the building blistered then exploded outward. Corvayne had a moment where he was sure the next moment would be a radioactive hellstorm but instead he found himself on the ground. He turned from the smoking hole and checked his crew, Wick and Hari looked alive if not upright. Turning back he saw the aristocrat from the warehouse float outside backwards as a flickering snake of bright pink danced out of the hole in the smoke.


    The floating man fired back into the building, punching huge holes in the smoke as he glided away from the hole. Another mercenary with modified armor lept at him, energy whip coiled like a spring around his forearm. He landed, lashed out thrice in a blink melting a corner off a building. They kept fighting without a glance at the three of them. Well fine, Corvayne would deal with the winner.


    The hole was billowing smoke from inside the management building. Corvayne decided that whoever won that fight going on, he was going to focus on getting the bomb and getting out.


    ¡°Wick, can you bring the hovercycle over?¡± He tossed her the keys which she caught. ¡°Me and Hari will get that nuke.¡±


    ¡°And anything else we can carry.¡± Hari added. He smiled at the little streak of greed she had. Noise from the front of the building made him flip around the girls and edge to the corner. Wick ran off with her boots to get the bike while he peeked around and saw they were cleaning the place out with garbage bags. Hari peeked around his should. The smoke here helped, as much as it made his eyes water.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Corvayne pointed to five guards bags to the buggies lined up out front. ¡°We just need the bomb, we can try to fish them out when we go to the ship.¡±


    He used [Cross Skill: Sundering blow] on the melted lip of the hole in the wall, his spear cutting away red hot metal before he stepped through. Hari hopped up after him and pointed to the back corner of the building.


    ¡°If you see someone pointing a gun at you... get behind cover as fast as you can.¡± He reminded her as they moved through what looked like a series of bedrooms that someone had shattered and burnt. There was a thin layer of smoke and a few fragments of a bed burning. He could spot a straggler running out with a bag over his shoulder. Loot, money, whatever. Hari was pointing the correct way for the bomb even while looking over at the guard running out, then snapping back to focus.


    He smiled as he ran down a hall to the back of the building. Another point for the elf, she had her priorities straight. The miners lives came first. Broken tiles crunched under his feet as he walked into a mess hall area that reminded him a lot of where he ate most of his meals growing up. They had put the bomb on a kitchen table. Corvayne didn''t waste time, picking it up.


    He actually grunted when he tried to lift it. The thing was heavy as hell! They must have had two people lugging it, or the guards also had above normal human strength. He got it into a cradle carry and, very aware the bomb could go off any moment, double-timed it back through the smoke to the hole in the wall, hopping down.


    Wick was gliding the hover-cycle carefully down the road, so Corvayne ran with the bomb, trying to keep it steady as he pumped his legs to meet her. He tossed it on the back and buckled it in. If It fell off too close to the mine then this was all for nothing. Wick hopped off the bike and he jumped on before it had even come to a complete stop.


    ¡°Hari, any other bombs besides these two?¡±


    She shook her head. Okay good. A third one would be death. The buggies were probably going out a hole in the fence to the south or east. The guards would wait until they were at least three miles away. Closer meant they might get rads. Depending on how fast those buggies went, he might have only two minutes.


    ¡°I''m going to run this out over the desert and get back here. I''ll either be back and we can try to catch those assholes or dead. Wish me, try to get the miners to run west.¡±


    He pointed himself east to the nearby fence. He amped up the power going to the anti-gravity engine and then slammed on the impulse and with a hum and the roar of the engine between his legs went flying, a punch in the gut as the bike flew off into the black of night. He gunned it as fast as possible, his a wild leap clearing the low fence and aiming him like a rocket into the air before he had to let it drift down to set up another jump. There was a short rise in the direction he picked. A hill was better then no hills. He was going three hundred miles an hour as he arced into the air, roaring all around him.


    Of course, no good deed goes unpunished. His hair stood up, and had the sudden feeling of imminent attack behind him. Corvayne tried not to panic. He had to buy himself a few seconds and so he swung his arm backwards to the weapon behind him and used [Cross Skill: Sheath the Life] on the bomb.


    He nearly blacked out from the drain it caused, but suddenly the pressure dropped. Only for a few moments before it surged at him again. He applied the skill again and suddenly he had a pounding headache. He could feel his skill as a queasy balance with something hot and angry under his hand. He started into a turn over the hill, having his shadow hand hold the bike steady with most of his attention spent imagining a beast he had shackled. It was too big, too strong. He ramped up his speed to max then forced himself to use another one of his weird modified skills.


    He manifested [Cross Skill: Soul Reaper] and pushed the bomb off his cycle, then cut and turned while hitting the gas as hard as he could.


    He didn''t dare look back, just keep whipping away from the bomb and praying that his rattling bike could throw him far enough if it fell apart. He felt the skill finish and there was a jerking on his back as his shadow suddenly fanned out behind him. A moment later it was daytime in the desert. If he was going to die, he hoped someone told the Watchers to rename him ''Brings-The-Sun'' or something. He felt muted pain through his shadow the something wet exploded out from his chest and suddenly he was in a fog bank. A moment later something like a hammer left in an oven hit his back and he was sure he dislocated his shoulder keeping himself from being torn off the bike, belt digging into his guts. He had no idea how he was alive but he could see the air around him shimmering and his chain armor was dripping water.


    More importantly he was still alive, watching the blast wave that had just hit his back flying ahead of him as the light from the bomb dimmed. He looked back at the mesmerizing cloud, a mushroom shaped pillar. Then he saw eyes and teeth and holes for a nose appear on the crest of the cloud. The burgeoning glowing cloud for a moment was clearly skull shaped, probably due to handling the bomb with [Soul Reaper]. He might have just been exposed to an insane dose of radiation, but he couldn''t help himself. He thought of when Eats-Fights-Leaves rode Sandworm while waving his stupid hat around. You were only really alive when you were on the razor edge of life and death. He smiled. Then laughed a little.


    ¡°YEEEEEE-HAAWWWW!¡±

 Chapter 37: The One that Got Away

    The bike glided onto the desert with a clunk. One of the mirrors fell off. The back of the bike was a little melted, and his skin felt very, very warm. Corvayne watched the nuke fade, then he rode back to the mine.


    Most of the miners had stopped partying and were piling into ore trucks to run from, well, the nuclear explosion that happened just a few miles off. Corvayne thought about having the worlds worst sunburn as he glided into town. He hoped Mosh could fix the damage inside and out, or he''d have a few painful weeks of digging tumors out of himself before everything was back to tip-top shape.


    He rode back to the intersection near the smoking managers compound where Wick and Hari were waiting, both looking relived to see him. Wick hugged him then pulled her hand back from his skin, looking at him. ¡°It feels like it''s burning! Are you okay?¡± A pause. ¡°How close WERE you when it went off?!¡±


    ¡°Oh, it started going off in my hand I think. I used my skills to slow it down.¡±


    Wick stared at him. ¡°Those bombs go off a hundred times faster then you blink!¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I can sense the intent to attack. So I guessed it meant the bomb going off was imminent. I was correct.¡±


    ¡°Did you fucking [Flow-Like-Water] out of a NUCLEAR BLAST?!¡±


    ¡°No Wick. That''s absurd. I could probably do that with a grenade though...¡±


    Hari poked him. ¡°No more stupid risks.¡± She said in Cascadian. He was pretty impressed with how fast she was learning a new language.


    Wick laughed sadly. ¡°Good luck Hari! He doesn''t seem to get it.¡±


    He smiled back at her. ¡°I don''t make any promises regarding dumb risks. Speaking of risks, are those two with shields still fighting?¡±


    ¡°The whip guy ran south. Aristo followed. They are driving some sort of souped up motorcycle.¡±


    ¡°I''ll just have to bet ours is better. Hop on. We''re going to try to catch up and get answers or at least more loot.¡±


    Corvayne saw flashing lights ahead in the night and knew they were catching up to a fight in progress. He kept the vehicle about ten feet in the air so he wouldn''t hit anyone on the ground. Ahead he could see flashes of overturned vehicles and heard series of pops where the guards were firing machine guns.


    The energy whip user was on the back leg as arrogant man had broken his shields with enough pulse blasts. His partner was cutting down guards with her heated blade while also chopping through buggies. The whip user activated what was almost certainly a weapon ability, his weapon darting off to the side of their fight to wrap around the lone motorcycle. Corvayne watched the man yank the bike to land at his feet in the blink of an eye. He was impressed how fast the warrior spun and peeled out to try to flee.


    The floating man put a hand on his forehead then shrugged, aimed his hands, and blasted his own bike knocking the whip user off it. Aristocrat then leisurely floated above the stunned man and did a barrage of kinetic bursts, blasting ruthlessly downwards as a thick cloud of grit lit by fires bubbled up. After a few dozen shots he stopped, barrier shimmering green at the grit boiling up from under him.


    That had been the last of the turncoat guards. Which meant this whole mine incident had boiled down to Corvayne''s friends and the pair in a circle of burning wreckage. With about forty feet seperating them, the floating man and his blade holding partner were staring at Corvayne.


    ¡°Ah! The spear commoner! Following us with transportation! How fortuitous.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know if you''d define lucky like that. You did blow up the factory and then attack me. What else was I going to do?¡± Corvayne folded his arms. If things turned sour he had the induction on reverse, he could be flying backwards at a moments notice. ¡°Still, I wanted to ask what was in the crate that everyone is losing their minds over.¡±


    The snobbish man put a hand under his chin, overselling that he was thinking. ¡°Hmm... I don''t think you need to know.¡± He said with a smirk.


    Corvayne felt a tap on his shoulder then saw Wick point for him to land. He shrugged and set the bike down. Wick hopped off and for some insane reason started walking closer to the floating figure. He held a hand up.


    ¡°That''s close enough. If I need someone to start licking my boots, I''d ask.¡±


    What a little shit. Talking to Wick like that... he was going to regret it. Especially since she seemed able to instantly pop shields. He was confused when Wick took her glasses off.


    ¡°Nyxion Augustus. The Third.¡± She folded her arms.


    Nyxion looked over to his partner, who shrugged her shoulders. ¡°Not to be rude...¡± Corvayne was pretty sure this Nyxion guy knew exactly how rude he was at a baseline. ¡°Should I know you?¡±


    ¡°I''m a total stranger to you. We never met. Is your sister well?¡± Wick said.


    He flew at Wick, stopping close enough to put a palm up to her face.


    ¡°What do you know you sullen eyed jackal?¡± His eyes narrowed. With the illumination of the circle of fire, he looked furious, his eyes catching the flames.


    ¡°I want to know if she made it.¡± She didn''t waver, even when those pulse cannons on his arms would almost certainly break her neck fired point-blank like that.


    Nyxion did not fire. Instead he lowered his hands and looked at Wick. The kind of look where a person squints a little as if that will squeeze a little more information out of what they are seeing. He then startled in recognition, a tiny hop, then underwent some sort of complex series of facial expressions that ended in contemplation. When he was thinking rather then sneering, Corvayne thought he looked like a real person.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°I know you.¡± He said finally. ¡°She''s alive... I owe you.¡±


    ¡°Nyx...¡± The alien woman looked between them, sword having gone from ready to strike to held at her side. Corvayne was glad someone else was just as lost as he was. The man held a hand out.


    ¡°What shall I call you?¡± Nyxion asked.


    Corvayne had a hunch that Nyxion knew more then a little about what Wick''s deal was. He certainly knew her before she was Wick, and had some idea why she changed her name. Creeping worry set in. It was one thing for both of them to be making moves on aliens. He didn''t like thinking about her with other people, but he could deal with a little discomfort. It was an entirely different thing to suddenly have someone who knew her better show up. He felt intensly jealous the this floating man knew her in a way he didn''t. A voice in his head asked if he shouldn''t have gotten this bent out of shape over a nuclear weapon.


    ¡°My name is Wick. Just Wick. Are you going to float there all day Nyxion? We can give you a ride to their ship, assuming you got what you came for.¡±


    Corvayne got annoyed. ¡°Wait... we can?¡±


    She held up a hand without looking at Corvayne, which pissed him off even more. What happened to partners? Enough that the man dropped to the ground.


    ¡°The container was an anomaly they pulled from ruins under the mines. One of my contacts informed me that he had swapped the manifest for the item and a box of ordinary rocks, giving me enough time to arrive and liberate the box before the ''mistake'' was fixed.¡±


    ¡°What was it?¡±


    ¡°Spent. My right hand woman can detect the energy in such devices, and this one was totally spent.¡± Nyxion gestured and his tall alien helper pulled out what looked like a brass and emerald model of an atom. He took it from her, then turned and floated back to Wick with it. She looked surprised for a moment, a little gasp escaping her as she took it then gestured for Hari to look at it.


    ¡°I''m guessing it was spent before anyone picked it up. Don''t ask me how I know.¡± Wick added as Hari cast investigate and held it out.


    ¡°Like uh... red stone. No reading. Don''t trust.¡± She pushed it back to Wick, who took it.


    Wick glanced at the elf. ¡°The one Corvayne touched?¡±


    Hari nodded.


    ¡°That tracks.¡± Wick said with a nod.


    Corvayne turned the bike off and stood to watch the exchange from the side. Wick gestured at Nyxion. ¡°


    I should introduce you all to the exiled noble, would-be prince of the Collective, Nyxion.¡± She gestured to Hari and Corvayne. ¡°These two are my consorts. Corvayne, and Hari.¡±


    Corvayne noticed that Nyxion didn''t laugh openly at his name, which he appreciated even if the man had to cover his mouth. The alien, however, started staring at him with laser eyes. He ignored her, though some part of him kept wanted to drag his eyes back. She might have reminded him a little of his two tall tormenters back in the Watcher village in build.


    Hari folded her arms while locked on Nyxion. ¡°Owe you for fight.¡±


    ¡°Can you call your little blonde one off? She seems to harbor a grudge from me knocking her out.¡±


    ¡°I probably couldn''t. Maybe Corvayne could.¡±


    Corvayne couldn''t, because the alien woman had stepped up to him. Her skin was a deep purple blue at the moment. He tensed as she was staring at him with color shifting eyes in... wonder?


    ¡°What do you think of your own name? Isn''t it core and vein?¡± She asked.


    He could feel his eyebrow twitch. She said the obvious! Corvayne had thought that a million times! Why didn''t he just introduce himself to Wick as ''Corey'' or something?! Why wasn''t he able? ¡°Oh. I hate it. It''s a dumb vampire name. But it also drives me up a wall when people make up nicknames. They just don''t stick.¡±


    Her reaction was to nod, then her face softened from her sort of glare into a smile. ¡°I have finally met my equal.¡±


    The praise helped him get some of the anger clouding his thoughts. Maybe the radiation cooked his brain a little. He tried to carry the respect this woman deserved when he spoke. ¡°Well, I was going to say, if you ever want to spar with non-lethal weapons I''d be delighted, you were the best match I''ve had in ages. Most of the time I got stomped before I came here.¡±


    She held a hand out. ¡°I meant for names. I''m Lady Blood Claw.¡±


    He shook her hand. It felt very very warm. ¡°That''s another vampire name. So your first name is Lady Blood...?¡± He couldn''t stop it. He wanted to ask if her first name was ''Blood'', but the Lady part just came to mind, and he was biting back saying ''Claw''.


    ¡°I have to say Lady Blood Claw. Any time someone thinks my name, it forces them to think Lady Blood Claw. You can say ''Miss Claw'' or LBC or something and I''ll know you''re talking about or to me, but if I want to give someone my name I have to say it. Lady... Blood Claw...¡± She trailed off. Corvayne could hear Wick soothing Hari whom was making feral elf noises. The alien in front of him looked like she was lost.


    Corvayne stepped back and waved a hand in front of her face. ¡°Hey, uh, Lady, are you okay?¡±


    ¡°I''m just so happy someone else has a stupid vampire name!¡± She was beaming.


    He looked away to his companions for help. Nyxion and Hari had brokered some sort of truce and the three of them had started to gather bags of ill gotten gains from the mines. He turned back to her. ¡°You guys gotta get your stuff and catch that ship out of here, right?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw looked back at them picking up the bags. ¡°Securing the ship is more important then flying off on it.¡±


    There was a whirring noise that punctuated her saying that. Corvayne stepped to the side and looked up.


    A bright light lifted up past the next hill. It was a ship, rising off the ground, getting ready to punch through the atmosphere. Everyone else seemed to pick up on it and saw it a moment later. The woman''s skin was turning a shade of green, then flush to red like a firetruck before back to a deep blue, putting her hand over her eyes.


    Nyxion, on the other hand, kicked the sand, throwing a garbage bag of magical loot. ¡°FUCKING COWARDS!¡±

 Chapter 38: Freeloaders

    Riding back across the waste, Corvayne had a lot of expectations that were not met. At no point did he need to have a moonlit duel across the wastes with the alien woman who was clearly Nyxion''s heavy. Nyxion didn''t grab Wick and laughingly drag her to the ship, forcing Corvayne to follow and duel him in orbit. There was no big reveal of who Wick really was. Perhaps the noble was biding his time? No, it turned out that the man matching the exact profile of every spoiled noble from any given book, right down to his arrogant tone of refined disgust at everyone below him and his resting disdain face, happened to have goals extremely closely aligned with what Wick had always planned for their partnership. He had laid it out without prompting while they were rigging the bike up to leave the mine.


    ¡°My goal is simple. To take down The Collective. My grandfather and father both died of the rot. It nearly took my sister.¡±


    He reminded himself Nyxion didn''t just attack them right away and left Hari alive after the attack on the warehouse. Both good points. Nyxion helped them negotiate with Coatz, a bag of treasure in the mix, to let them hide in a garage for a few hours and rig up something with cargo netting to carry the haul, not to mention buying a few gallons of gas with a wad of credits. They even were graciously using thier shield belts to make the ride home smoother. Great! So... what the hell was with this seating arrangement for the ride back?


    ¡°I need to talk to Nyxion. I can''t hear him outside his shield bubble.¡± Wick had told him.


    That''s why he was sitting in the middle of an elf-Corvayne-alien sandwhich. Lady Blood Claw was taking this all with stoic silence. Or maybe fury. Her skin seemed to be a sort of mood ring and it was a deep purple right now. Probably anger,  looking at her hands clutching his sides. Corvayne didn''t blame her being annoyed: There was barely enough physical space for five people on the hover cycle. His partner in crime was half standing, half laying on Nyxion, clearly having a discussion they couldn''t hear.


    Hari was also looking in the rearview mirror. ¡°I wanna kick that guy''s ass so bad.¡± she said in elvish. The delivery was graceful, the kind of tone and cadence that you''d expect from the queen elf welcoming heroes to sanctuary or something.


    ¡°Me too.¡± Corvayne muttered. At least he didn''t have to walk out of this desert. His skin was starting to peel from a nuclear sunburn. Given that''s the extent of his injuries from having someone try to detonate a nuclear weapon he was holding... lucky. Sloppy. Then again, he got lost in the desert and walked to a different planet.


    He was considering said walk in the desert when Miss Lad... Miss Blood Claw decided to ask Corvayne a rather odd question.


    ¡°Sorry to interrupt.¡± She said in a voice that conveyed no sorrow at all. ¡°Corvayne, are you cursed?¡±


    ¡°I feel pretty lucky with my life now, actually.¡± He had to half shout, even with the shield buffering sound it was still loud sitting on a running motor. Hari twitched then wiggled in his lap. ¡°Sorry, I can''t help but yell.¡± He said in a quiet voice. She butted his collarbone gently with the back of her head, still hiding her ears with a sweat band.


    ¡°No, I mean... did a wizard curse you?¡± LBC continued.


    ¡°I don''t think so, I only met one wizard. They were insane but I don''t think I was hexed or anything. He asked me to kill any other wizards. I didn''t agree to anything and he didn''t expect anything out of me.¡±


    Lady blood claw sounded resigned. ¡°Ah. That is about my experience as well. Except I think my name is my former master trying a spell out on me.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like your master was a real asshole.¡± He stopped himself from adding any editorial comments about her current boss. ¡°How would I go about seeing if I was cursed?¡±


    ¡°Oh. Try changing your name. Just pick a different name and try to write it as your own.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a good thing to do before bed since my sleep cycle is completely messed up now. I''m going to be up all day probably.¡±


    The alien woman with a big vibrating fire blade who tried to kill him yesterday then proceeded to matter-of-factly tell him all about how to get a good night''s sleep.


    Corvayne followed a river that started up in the mountains and shimmied down into the bay to get back to Old Town. Rolling up to the community center and dropping the shields, Nyxion''s reaction was immediate.


    ¡°You live in this dump?¡±


    Wick laughed as she hopped off the cycle. ¡°It''s the best I can do with living off the grid while still getting internet.¡±


    ¡°Pfft. No excuse for living in squalor. Get your manservant to apply in his name.¡± Nyxion gestured to him.


    ¡°He''s even more off the grid then I am. Doesn''t exist in the system. He also seems like he''d be fine off in the woods.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I''d miss so many of the just wonderful people I''ve met.¡±


    ¡°What about your... maid?¡± Nyxion gestured to Hari.


    ¡°Even worse! She''s not a human.¡± Wick helped Corvayne open the garage doors. Mosh was in there, welding another hoverbike. Lady Blood Claw stopped dead in her tracks. Nyxion spent a moment looking at Hari then snorted. He returned his gaze to the metal shed that Mister I referred to as his garage.


    ¡°Did you have to pick the most backwards city then find the poorest worst neighborhood? Look at all this junk!¡±


    ¡°Oh heya Boss! Picking up more freeloaders?¡± Mosh flipped up his welding helmet.


    Nyxion strode forward, a thunderhead ¡°Freeloader?! Listen you little runt I... dear gods what the hell is that thing!? Is it even safe with all those teeth?¡±


    Mosh hopped off the stool he was on and wandered over, offering a sooty gloved hand. ¡°Heya prick! Names Mosh. Don''t  give me that look. You''re all barbarians to me.¡±


    Nyxion recovered quickly and shook the hand. ¡°If you want better accommodations then this I''m sure I could find someone classy who''d buy you. Stuffed of course.¡± Nyxion started squeezing Mosh''s hand. The goblin gave him another all-teeth smile and did the same.


    ¡°You sure you have time bud? The rest of your marching band left hours ago.¡±


    They stepped back from each other. ¡°Where did you find this clown?¡± Mosh asked, switching languages.


    ¡°Wick knows him... I think.¡±


    Grunt came in then. He looked at the two newcomers.


    Nyxion gave the man a disdainful look. ¡°Oh, and now who''s this oaf?¡±


    Grunt smiled, and walked up to Nyxion who summoned his shields before Grunt reached him which earned him some points in Corvayne''s book. He least had recognized the huge man was a real threat. Grunt would not be stopped by mere energy shields and simply picked up the bottom of the field and lifted Nyxion over him onto his back and started walking outside, ignoring that his hands and shirt were sparking from holding the shield up.


    Wick folded her arms. ¡°Put him down. Nyx, stop trying to piss everyone off.¡±


    Grunt shrugged and Nyxion rolled off, cape tangled up as the noble dusted himself off while talking to himself. ¡°Tch. The things I do for justice.¡±


    Corvayne bumped his fist to his heart then pointed at grunt. Grunt made like he was grabbing something with two handles, then mimed throwing, then dusting his hands off: No big deal, just taking out the trash. Corvayne watched Grunt turn to Wick, gesture to the community center, then a fake wrist watch, then a hand with all fingers out: Mister I will be here in 5.


    ¡°Oh, he seeing a patient?¡± Wick asked. Grunt nodded.


    ¡°Right, well, let''s have a quick meeting. First though, Mosh I need a favor.¡±


    ¡°Yeah Wick?¡±


    ¡°Corvayne was exposed to radiation. Can you mend him and just make sure he doesn''t keel over?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah of course.¡± The goblin came up to him and did the usual mumbled prayer. He felt the burnt skin on his back ripple and slosh, then something like minnows swimming through him. It tickled like crazy rather then hurting. Mosh walked around him, grabbed the back hem of his shirt, and shook it. Something like a dozen wet raisins hit the ground. ¡°Woah you picked up some cancers boss! What the heck?¡± He made an appeal to cleaning and swept them into oblivion with a broom.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°Nuclear bomb. Thanks Mosh, digging em out when they get too big is a pain.¡±


    Corvayne helped Grunt grab some folding chairs so they could sit and talk. Hari followed him, and after handing her two chairs from the row of twenty by the door to the courtyard, Grunt told them that he had bad news. Or, they played charades a good minute until Corvayne repeated what he understood: ¡°The warehouse was closed while they cleaned up the damage. Because Brines'' father or a different boss was involved, me and Hari are homeless?¡±


    Grunt nodded and frowned, looking contrite then patting Corvayne on the shoulder: Sorry bro.


    ¡°It''s ok, I mean, I left clothes in the dresser...¡±


    Grunt motioned to himself and mimed opening drawers.


    ¡°Oh thanks for grabbing it Grunt. I really wish I had one of those magic rings I''ve read about where I can just take all my stuff with me weightlessly.¡±


    Grunt nodded. Last mission he had to have been carrying around eighty pounds of meat alone. Corvayne told Hari the bad news while putting chairs down.


    Hari just laughed. ¡°We can camp outside the city, or go live at the inn inside the tower!¡± Her voice had more enthusiasm for the second option.


    ¡°Or we ask Wick to put us up for a while.¡± He noted Hari''s disappointment. With him moving in with Wick? Or that he didn''t want to pay for inn rooms?


    He shelved that conversation for later. He was pretty sure it wouldn''t go over well with Wick at all.


    Wick herself wasn''t paying attention to him and Hari, having sat down next to Nyx and recapping the last few days. ¡°So, we went to the mines with the goal of finding out if the two people who attacked the warehouse were connected to Collective groups that have supernatural power. The answer is yes and no.¡± She gestured at Nyxion.


    He sighed, then cleared his throat and said, ¡°Fine... I am Nyxion Augustus the third, grandson of the former Emperor Augustus. My father was a bastard of his with a noble mistress. If you looked me up, you''d find me by my grandmother''s family name, Nyxion Myrell. A would-be prince. Or perhaps, should-be emperor, missed by a purge of the rest of my family. The purge was likely at the urging of the leader of the most powerful Collective cult. He is a parasite named Goule Remenant who styles himself as a mystic man... that is either a fake name or another victim of the same monster who named my new friend Corvayne here and my old one Lady Blood Claw.¡±


    Corvayne leaned against a tarp covered wreck. ¡°Probably not, my dad never mentioned any brothers.¡±


    Wick shrugged. ¡°It sounds like a kid made it up.¡±


    Nyx snorted once then continued. ¡°Mature alias or not, the man was raised to Praetor and has had the current emperor''s ear after serving his father. It''s an open secret that he''s one of the most if not simply THE most influential man in the Collective. Think Rasputin, or Count St. Germain.¡±


    Wick and Grunt were nodding. Mosh looked to Corvayne, who shrugged and walked over to the circle of chairs to sit between Hari and Grunt.


    Nyxion saw they needed some background and rotated his hand slowly while speaking a little slower and more clearly, as if leading idiots through a plan. ¡°There was lot of spectacle around a man who arrived to court from nowhere. The outsider impressed the right people at the top of society. He gets them to think he''s an honest to god wizard. He boosts his supporters and kills or ruins his enemies with ''magic''. Got it?¡±


    Mosh raises a hand. ¡°Are you jealous that he''s on the track to running the empire and you''re not?¡±


    Nyx sneered. ¡°Of course I am you chewed up wad of seaweed!¡± He adjusteded his collar and continued. ¡°Goule seems to really have supernatural powers. He can levitate and I saw a bullet go through his head, hole in the front and blood out the back, and he stood right back up as if it was a stubbed toe.¡±


    Mosh played devils advocate. ¡°It''s not impossible to fake that with a blank or something.¡±


    ¡°It was my bullet. That''s part of why I switched to these.¡± Nyxion took a moment to show off the gauntlets he was wearing, blue power gems on the back and a gem on the palm in a clean brass. Nice decorative finish, as Corvayne judged that sort of thing.


    ¡°Anyway, he hasn''t aged in fifty years. He took my father''s life and would have taken my sister''s as well if not for us being forewarned. It has become my life''s work to discover his secrets, then ruin him, then kill him. Slowly, painfully, and thoroughly.¡± Nyxion frowned and paused. Some of that arrogance was gone, in the face of what sounded like a monumental task. Corvayne might have even guessed that the man was uncomfortable if he hadn''t shrugged and moved on.


    ¡°My father did not trust anyone. I have wealth hidden in many places, ear marked for a rebellion that will likely never happen, even as much now as more mystics emerge from the woodwork. In some ways, my associate Lady Blood Claw is such a figure... she was discovered at one of the unexplained ruins on a border world twelve years ago by my father when we were setting up a safe house.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°You can find some good company diving into ruins.¡±


    ¡°You mock me but...¡± Nyxion started to speak but Wick cut him off.


    ¡°Corvayne isn''t Mosh. I think he meant it at face value.¡± She looked over at Corvayne.


    Corvayne didn''t confirm or deny anything.


    Nyx kept going. ¡°As I was saying, I''ve been cultivating my father''s old contacts for information on unusual finds where people dig. The Tel-Star Mine was years ago a possible tactical asset. So when I got the information that this informant gave me on a potential object I figured it might assist me in my goal, especially since Lady Blood Claw recognized the trinket at something her former master had once been looking for.¡±


    The woman''s skin had turned to a yellowish lime color. ¡°While it was spent, the contaiment unit that was found on Cascadia means there''s likely more ruins here. Ones that have a potential for including a fleet of ships.¡±


    ¡°So... you think there might be a whole bunch of alien ships under the mines?¡± Corvayne was curious as to what sort of ships they were talking about. Spaces-Torn-Asunder had once mentioned his personal challenge was to recreate a type of ship that was beyond warp, including one that effectively stapled sections of space together. Of course, the real value of a bunch of wild card ships would be ones with better power sources then whatever they were running here.


    Lady Blood Claw turned to him. ¡°The suspected points I investigated when being sent to try to find that trinket were all ship graveyards.¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°Ok. So the artifact was sort of a... secondary prize. What your after is a fleet. But you didn''t find evidence that''s what''s here.¡±


    Nyxion looked a little frustrated, but nodded in agreement with Corvayne. ¡°Like Lady Blood Claw herself, the trinkets in the mine have magic, but trying to fight the cabal with it''s own strength seems idiotic. My objective is to find ships, ones that will permit me to hit them when they move between planets. Or at least find one with better stealth so I don''t have rude assholes surrounding me when I land.¡± Nyxion folded his arms, shaking his head and muttering, ¡°I cannot get over how those idiots blew themselves up.¡±


    Wick looked between them. ¡°I want to know exactly why her master wanted THAT trinket, even if it''s sideways to the ships.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shook her head. ¡°He didn''t talk about why much, all I know is that it made the master very, very nervous.¡±


    ¡°Wait! Let me guess! You lived in some weird society, you were a wizard''s apprentice, the wizard dumped you for whatever reason, you wake up and everything''s backwards ass, then you find out that your wizard is the guy next to the emperor, right? Right?!¡± Wick was grinning.


    LBC shook her head. ¡°No. Very imaginative, but no. Goule is a whole different can of worms. He''s beyond anyone here unless you''ve all been holding back, but he''s still an amateur compared to my old Master.¡± He saw her skin turn light blue and her expression turn troubled.


    ¡°No... even the most dangerous man in the empire, The Praetor, is but a child playing with matches compared to my master, The Magus.¡±

 Chapter 39: Sparring

    Corvayne sat up straighter in his chair when he heard Lady Blood Claw say she had worked for The Magus. He wanted to immediately ask her about him, but it would side track Wick''s garage meeting so he decided to wait until they wrapped up.


    Wick, however, wasn''t nearly as patient and turned to him. ¡°Hey Corvayne, wasn''t that guy trapped in your village?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°It could be the same person. All I really know is he wore all green, had a three eyed mask, and was difficult to listen to when he spoke.¡±


    Lady Blood claw leaned so far forward she nearly fell out of her chair, eyes changing color from gray to vibrant purple as her skin changed to lemon yellow. ¡°You trapped him? Tell me what happened!¡± Her excitement caught him off guard.


    Corvayne shrugged and related the short version of living in the village of the watchers and getting pissed off enough to break into the wizard''s home. His description of getting lost got a snicker out of Nyxion, but he ignored it and finished up his story.


    ¡°... I was disoriented until I stumbled out to the road, but it lead me into town and I met Wick and Grunt. That was over three weeks ago. ¡±


    Lady Blood Claw listened patiently then replied. ¡°Since you were near him... I''d wager he did curse you at some point. Though it''s odd, one of his biggest faults The Magus had was he couldn''t sit still. I didn''t think there was anything strong enough to contain him anywhere either. Still, finding someone else that ran afoul of him in some way...¡±


    Corvayne picked up on a small contradiction. ¡°I thought you said you worked under him. But you''re acting like you were enemies?¡±


    Her expression soured a little. ¡°Yes to both. I was an apprentice until one day he told me to try out a pod he looted from a ruin, then I woke up somewhere entirely else where my race and shifting skin have cut me off from others.¡± A hint of bitterness crept into her voice as her skin shifted from a light yellow to sky blue.


    ¡°Well, I think you have nice skin.¡± Corvayne said as she looked like she was self conscious about it. For some reason this made Hari elbow him, and Wick was rolling her eyes. Lady Blood Claw herself turned a dark blueberry color.


    ¡°Watch your mouth you philanderer!¡± She looked angry now. Corvayne guessed that counted a mission accomplished for pulling her out of a funk.


    Mosh called out from the workbench he was working at, ¡°Don''t hate Boss! He can''t help it.¡±


    Nyxion clapped his hands together. ¡°Well now, at least you have a good candidate for both sparring and wrestling afterwards!¡±


    She turned red and swatted at him, missing the laughing noble. ¡°Piss off Nyx!¡±


    Wick put two fingers in her mouth and whistled. She picked up the brass and emerald object. ¡°Hey! Focus. Do you know why the Magus wanted this artifact?¡±


    Lady Blood claw composed herself and her skin turned charcoal. ¡°I can''t tell you details because I honestly don''t know what it is or what it did. It was an on and off again task for me and the other apprentices, and he expected to find it around or in a bunch of ships. I assume it was part of an organization we had conflicts with called Infinitus, but I never went toe to toe with them.¡± Her skin shifted back to a lemony color. ¡°Does the name Infinitus ring any bells? Corvayne? Wick?¡±


    Corvayne looked to Wick, who turned to look at him. He spoke first. ¡°It''s the first I''ve heard of it.¡±


    Wick shook her head. ¡°News to me.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw sighed, skin reverting back to a darker gray as she accepted Wick passing the artifact to her. ¡°This probably means there''s a fleet buried out there. Or they''ve been mining degraded Infinitus cruisers for years.¡±


    Wick shook her head. ¡°I doubt that. Even as stubborn as people are about the paranormal, they are not dumb enough to look a gift spaceship in the mouth. Also there''s not been significant rain in that desert for a long, long time. If there''s a big fleet somewhere out in the desert its going to be intact and I can probably find it. I have a sixth sense that''s always served me well.¡±


    Nyxion beamed. ¡°I''d be greatly in your debt if you can walk out into the desert and get us a ship from an untold advanced civilization. Or fifteen ships.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw leaned back, shaking her head. ¡°I''ve tried to dampen his expectations. Most long forgotten ruins are just stones. Most ''alien artifacts'' we''ve found on empty worlds are tools you could get better version of at a hardware store. If there''s a huge pile of super valuable ships out in the desert, they would have found it in survey data when they were parceling out land to be sold. Though, the mine might be a rift ruin.¡± She turned and looked at Corvayne. ¡°I assume you know something about them given your quasi magical powers.¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I''m not that experienced. That being said, the word rift makes me think we are thinking about the same thing.¡±


    Wick nods. ¡°You could call it our source for supernatural weapons. It also sometimes gives us high tech objects.¡±


    Nyx perked up at this. ¡°Your own private mine? Lady Blood Claw had told me that our enemies probably had places they were using to fuel their powers, or find items to do so. Their own private rifts.¡±


    Wick smiled. ¡°Something like that. It''s not as secure, but it hasn''t been as obviously claimed as the mine is.¡±


    The noble laughed. ¡°Well, that''s nice but I really want ships, and you want... my money?¡± He then made a gesture as if throwing coins out.


    Grunt raised his hand. Sure, I''ll take it.


    Wick raised her hand as well. ¡°That, and more... it''d be nice to have a better fake identity. But yes. I need money. Ideally the kind a young bored noble has. To make a bunch of odd purchases. Especially land. I assume you can do it without attracting attention. As in, bringing a bunch of empire officials around asking me questions?¡±


    Corvayne had a thought about a dozen power-shielded bounty-hunters all converging on Cascadia trying to capture Nyxion. He''d be pretty pissed off if the noble told them he was dragging people after him.


    ¡°I''m not drawing off the funds I got from the Myrell, which was an allowance and would be more conspicious. I have plenty of quiet funds. But I want to know that I''m spending my father''s war chest well.


    Wick looked around. ¡°I''m not at the stage of picking a fight with the Collective yet, so I doubt we are thinking of the same level of funding. I want to work together and get better footing, as in, I want to be strong enough nobody will fuck with me. You want to be strong enough to fight Goule. So for me that means magic and money, for you it''s magic and ships and supporters. I have no supporters...¡±


    Nyxion laughed at that then swept his hand around the room. ¡°People listen to you. Even out here, talking about what, land locked sea monsters? Weather balloons? Black helicopters? Who makes helicopters anymore?¡±


    Wick''s expression darkened, and Nyx realized he was being an rude, for once, and held up his hand. ¡°I mean it in jest. Let''s go back to what we need and want. You need my money and... better information. But if you don''t want to help me with gathering support... my biggest problem.¡±


    Wick folded her arms and sat back. ¡°It''s where we will likely branch apart. I''m aiming to be safe. I''d rather keep a low profile. Yes, the meetings I host go against that. We all need a hobby. You want revenge and to what, have me help you whip your peers into a frenzy?¡±


    Nyx looked down at his lap then looked up. ¡°I inspire confidence but I need loyalty. I think you can handle that... Wick.¡±


    ¡°I''m not whoring myself out to do public speaking. Or the other way, sleeping with a bunch of spoiled brats, while we are talking about that.¡± Wick was frowning at him.


    Lady Blood Claw put a hand on Nyx''s knee, stopping him from what looked liked a snide comment, then turned to Wick. ¡°We need people. Even just this crew, but we need help.¡±


    Nyx cleared his throat. ¡°Yes. I need help. You have at least two very capable fighters.¡± He nodded at Corvayne, then over at Hari.


    The elf blinked and looked over her shoulder. Corvayne felt the same way. It felt weird to see the cocky man take a serious tone.


    Nyxion leaned forward. ¡°Let''s get into what we are trading. You have a good team. You are willing to give me manpower, which I need, but want to sell magic. I can''t buy it. More to the point, I have a garbage bags full of magic. I have my own wizard-knight who can''t teach others her trade! Don''t either of you glare. I want you to convince me... You realize that most of the stuff won''t help me? You can''t embargo a planet with a sword.¡±


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Corvayne half hoped Wick would agree they had no avenue to trade, stand up, and walk Nyxion out the door.


    Wick smiled. ¡°Oh you have those garbage bags, but is any of it good? We have an expert who can sort through it and tell you what the things that are not weapons are used for. Sooner or later you will have to fight Goule. You said yourself, a gun just won''t cut it. A magic sword that turns him to hot slag might. With less collateral then firing an orbital barrage into the imperial palace.¡±


    ¡°Or I can just experiment with my haul.¡± Nyx countered. ¡°Perhaps I have two swords of lava.¡± He paused, frowned, then waved a hand.


    ¡°It''s pointless to argue about that. If I strike him down as an assassin or part of a group of them? I''m seen as a coward. I picked ships because of perception. Ambushing his ship and escort ships strike the peerage as different, an act of war instead of murder. Now, if I could win a duel? That would be the best, of course. Unless you can get me the same sort of cheating he applies when he just pops back to life.¡±


    Wick summoned a disrupt orb, letting the green mist swirl on her finger. ¡°That is not off the table, Nyxion.¡±


    The man started at the green glow at the tip of her finger, tracing it with his eyes as she waved it back and forth, then looked up, his eyes gleaming. ¡°Oh Wick. Why didn''t you lead with that?¡±


    Corvayne woke looking at dark wood beams above him and someone banging on the door. He had a moment of confusion until he remembered he wasn''t at the warehouse. He was at a factory they had been turning into a home. The knocking continued while he sat up. No, a knock was a polite sound, a rap rap rap of knuckles. This was someone''s hand deciding it was time to start a war with his door. Not that he didn''t have a guess who. He made sure he had pants on, threw on a shirt, then opened it. Lady Blood Claw stormed in, forcing him to take a step back. She had workout clothes, favoring gray. That just made her skin red-orange color stand out more.


    ¡°Corvayne! I wish to train.¡± She barked as if he didn''t know.


    Corvayne stole a glance past his short bed to the clock in the room. No normal person would wake up at five in the morning and want to start fighting.


    ¡°Sure, lets spar... I mean after we...¡± He trailed off, having gotten used to a certain perk of living near Miss Blood Claw.


    She nodded as she knew exactly what he was after. ¡°Breakfast.¡±


    He followed her out of his room onto the railed walkway. He could look down and see the large open space they had set aside as their dojo, harsh florescent lights shining on a white foam mat pulled across a smooth concrete floor. It was blemished around the mat by a few lines of fading paint and markings where machines had been bolted to the floor. He stepped around a tarp laying across the walkway, hiding a room that he had been working on fixing with Hari and Mosh. He entered a hallway to the side, pushed a bar door open and walked down the stairs to the ground level. The hall on the ground floor smelled like a mix of industrial cleaner and a floral spray scent that Lady Blood Claw insisted on. Clean linen, according to the bottle resting on two stacked metal desks. He passed by a few old fabricators as well, bearing Mosh''s post-it notes on their bulky rectangular sheet metal forms. Green, red, and yellow tagged which ones to fix, sell, toss.


    Lady Blood Claw walked past the training mat to another wing of the building, light spilling over the dark forms of machines they didn''t need to rip out. She walked through a wide opening into a kitchen Mosh had spent an entire day restoring, and then gestured to a pair of steaming plates sitting on the wood work bench they had re-purposed to a standing table. The smell of ham and eggs and pancakes coming from two plates made him smile. His new sparring partner was both relentless about training and considerate.


    ¡°Thank you Lady Blood Claw. Looks delicious.¡± He said to her before walking over to a huge refrigerator, opening it up, then pulling a flask of orange juice from the mostly empty shelves inside. Her skin faded from a deep orange to a more pink shade as he filled her cup then his own. Miss Blood Claw probably had been Nyx''s cook, as the tall woman seemed to like getting up and making everyone breakfast. Two plates sat on the paint splattered wood counter next to the fridge. Hari and Mosh would have to re-heat theirs unless they woke extra early today. He knew Grunt would text Lady if he was going to show up for breakfast before he fell asleep. That happened twice over the last two weeks. He might see Wick for lunch. Today was her meeting, so she probably was still up preparing.


    It was a little frustrating that she stayed in her old apartment, given they had rented or bought such a big building. Well, it was one of the factories closer to the two apartments, and she had come over five or six times to jog with him, as well as sometimes other things. Last night they had taken a shower together in a cavernous stall that he was pretty sure had some industrial function. He had put two stools together and sat back to back with her, just letting the warm water flow over them. Not that the sex before that had been bad at all, but he liked when Wick talked through her day with him, or was just there. She had been spending a lot of time with Nyxion, selling and plotting, as well as trying to meet with someone from the provincial government to buy something.


    He pushed down rising loneliness as he tried the pancakes. Nice and fluffy, and the eggs she had made were creamy and had just the right amount of salt. He''d compliment the cook, but then she would yell at him for ''trying to flirt''. Maybe that was LBC''s way of joking with him? He looked up at her and saw she was looking at him, skin moving from bubblegum pink to a light purple color as she looked out the doorway to the dark factory floor and the rows of machines catching the light spilling out of the kitchen. If he had any say in their next home, he''d push for less metal and brick, and maybe more wood. He''d also push for more Wick.


    Something about staring out at the barely lit gray forms in the abandoned factory made him imagine for a moment he was out there, standing in a gap, also untouched and forgotten. He knew the feeling he would have, looking at light and life and people eating together from out in the dark. He had been alone. He''d be alone again.


    He took a moment to calm himself down. He had seen her what, ten hours ago? First, this wasn''t unexpected. Grunt and Mister I had both told him she fell into projects hard. She would get the money, do whatever she was planning, then fall out of her mania and pay more attention to the world again. Second, when he got worked up it seemed to summon Hari. Maybe not now since it was so early, but it felt like she knew. He wouldn''t put it past Wick to have pulled the elf aside and formed some sort of rotating schedule to keep him busy. On that thought, it might be a good day to finish training early and go find Mister I. He''d been meaning to try talking things out with the monk. He was pretty convinced the fellow had a thing or two to teach him about juggling women.


    He shrugged and dug into his meal. He appreciated that LBC, as Nyx often called her, didn''t talk much. He especially appreciated that she wanted nothing more then to spar with him or train with weapons. That meant less time fending off Hari. It also kept him out of his own head, lest it be covered in lumps after the tall alien thrashed him. That all being said, he got the feeling she wanted to ask him something, and was biding her time.


    With breakfast finished Lady put Mosh and Hari''s portions away while Corvayne cleaned the plates and put them on a drying rack. Mosh''s first attempt at a dishwasher had been a rare miss that cost them a set of plates.


    He followed Lady Blood Claw out of the kitchen and back to the sparring mat. He could see the clouds out of the second story windows were brightening. She went over to the rack of weapons and selected her standard two handed wood katana. He decided to practice his short sword fighting, grabbing two toy wooden swords that had been weighted with lead. Mosh had insisted on getting the density to match the blue metal they found in the tower.


    Corvayne twirled the blades in his hands and stretched. ¡°No magic, no shadow hands?¡±


    The alien woman rolled up her sleeves, pink skin blossoming into charcoal gray in a matter of a moment. ¡°It''s not a fair fight if I don''t get to haste myself.¡±


    ¡°Fine, one spell.¡± He settled into his form, blades held in a loose cross in front of him. Lady Blood Claw bowed to him, and he bowed back, then she charged forward with a barrage of slashes. Corvayne pushed aside three then on the fourth he slapped her blade wide and thrust, poking her in the chest with the tip of his wood blade.


    They reset, and Lady Blood Claw opened with another barrage of attacks. One swing ended short and she thrusted then threw her blade wide and took one of Corvayne''s weapons with it. Corvayne had to block frantically against her longer sword, hungry to land a solid hit. He felt his hand sting and backed away as she pulled her wood sword back. His loss.


    He picked up his swords, not disappointed in starting off even. Miss Blood Claw was exactly who he should be sparring to stay sharp. Grunt, after all, wasn''t really about finesse with his methods. He clearly had experience under his belt with his baseball bats. Hari was still finding her style, so training with her was about helping her be a little more efficient with the weapons she preferred. That and she''d get really shy when he was earnestly instructing her, which meant later she''d double down being aggressive. He didn''t understand what the weird flip-flop was.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Lady''s stern voice snapped. He held his wood swords in front of him and nodded.


    LBC attacked and Corvayne parried another five attacks but got clipped on the arm trying to close to finish her off. He was coming to appreciate the tall colorful alien because she didn''t seem to have the weird baggage anyone else in the group had. Himself included.


    He called out. ¡°Nice one.¡± Then reset. There was the pounding of feet on the mat as they met again, this time she landed a clean hit almost right away. Then they reset and he tried to roll around her and got hit when she pivoted.


    ¡°Use your skills.¡± She urged him.


    He nodded and spun his double blades. He activated [Cross Skill: Flow-Like-Water] and tried to trip her up. She was getting good at dodging and hitting him once the blurring effect ended. Her own magic that made her faster let her keep up, and once she knew that attacking during it was useless it was harder to create an opening. He used the same move three times and got tagged coming out of the third, her wood blade this time disarming him then hitting him in the collarbone. If she had her real sword that strike would take his head.


    They reset. He used [Cross Skill: Storm Thrust] as soon as she moved to attack, slashing with both blades and blasting her with wind. She rolled with it and came out with her wood blade ready as he charged. Corvayne ran into the sword hard even as he tried to pivot away. His side flared with pain and he staggered back. He didn''t fall to the mat but he held up a hand to take a moment. She stood slowly and waited as he walked a few circles on the mat.


    A few deep breaths and they reset. She sprinted at him, slashed to knock his weapons low and thrust into his shoulder.


    Next reset, she ducked under him overextending and tapped him on the leg.


    Next, he was a little short and she hit him hard in the chest with her longer reach.


    Next. He disarmed her after two exchanges but she rolled and got her weapon. He had not been ready for the disarm to work. She slapped his arm with her recovered weapon.


    Next. Her first attack was a swipe that knocked both blades out of his hands. She didn''t even bother following through, instead setting her sword on her shoulder.


    ¡°What''s wrong? You don''t seem as focused today.¡± LBC frowned and her skin faded from charcoal to a teal color with splotches of green creeping across it. Corvayne grabbed the blades.


    He felt himself blurting out what he had been trying not to worry about. ¡°Wick''s been spending a ton of time with Sir Augustus. I feel left out in the cold.¡±


    The teal color in her skin solidified as a hint of a smile crossed her lips. ¡°Nyx is picky about women. I don''t think you have to worry.¡± LBC gestured to herself. ¡°He''s left me alone for example.¡±


    Corvayne heard just the faintest amount of emphasis on me. Maybe Nyxion turned her down at some point. ¡°What''s his type?¡±


    ¡°Noble ladies? Their filthy minded maids? In general he likes bossy women.¡±


    That didn''t help much. Wick had something going on with her past and the government and it was entirely possible she was some sort of wayward noble. Or a wayward maid. She was bossy too. He looked up and saw that she looked a little uncomfortable.


    ¡°You done moping?¡± The tall shifting skin woman''s skin was a faint orange.


    ¡°Yeah. For now. Let''s keep going.¡±


    She shifted her skin to a pinkish color a moment before it dipped back into a charcoal color. Corvayne performed as promised and in the next five exchanges landed four hits with the practice weapons to Lady Blood Claw''s one hit. They took a break to drink from one of the five water coolers lined up next to the practice weapons.


    Next Corvayne continued to gave her advice image training. Wick had pitched the idea of him helping Lady in developing a technique, which the woman had jumped on. Sadly, while it looked like a sword, the weapon she was using wasn''t really a katana, sword of either the short or long variety, nor did it count as a two handed blade. Lady Blood Claw generally had a good poker face but she looked like a wet puppy when he told her that she couldn''t use [Circle of Death] with it.


    LBC had folded her legs and laid her sword across her black leggings, eyes and skin both shifting colors as she stared a the blade. She kept the weapon off, of course, and plugged in. He wondered exactly how long you had to plug it in to swing it around for a minute, as the batteries he''d seen on other devices didn''t impress him. Maybe it was enchanted by her? Or was the sword something they found near the tube?


    He turned his own attention back to the cleaver he had looted off the multi-legged undead horror. It felt like a good tool to have in his arsenal, as his go-to tool for fighting large slow monsters. He used his spear for anything that required finesse, he could use the rapier or fire breathing dagger for crowd control, and he had a pistol as a decent ranged option. Okay, it was horrifically weak compared to sidearms his village used, so he perhaps should spend more time with a bow or carry some hatchets to facilitate [Whirling Axe].


    The problem was becoming how much he could pack. Yes, he could carry his spear across his pack, rapier holster at his side, dagger tucked into a hip holster, and usually when he needed the cleaver he was fighting something large and slow enough he could have it on his back and draw it out of his pack. Some of his time between jogging or sparring he had been getting his arms used to grabbing the right weapon before he needed it. He couldn''t get them to hand him a pistol ready to fire as fast as a cowboy, but he was getting better at switching while running. So then, once he had that down what could he add? A hatchet for whirling axes, maybe side of the hips?


    He felt envy for anyone who only needed one weapon type and no backups. Wizards just need one stave or wand! Everything''s a nail for hammerlord who only uses hammers! Yeah he could use his spear for a hammer. So what?


    Wick shouting cut through his thoughts. ¡°Corvayne!¡±


    So much for calm meditation. He turned to the dark room and saw Wick run around the corner. Nyx was behind her a moment later. She must have been wearing her boots of running because she got in his face almost instantly. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were wild.


    ¡°Corvayne get your shit! We gotta leave, they found me!¡±

 Chapter 40: Trouble Follows

    Corvayne was looking for an enemy, perhaps the one that had found Wick, before she pushed him to the stairs up to the second floor of his new home.


    ¡°They are coming! Get your shit and get ready! We are leaving! I''ll get Hari and Grunt.¡± She didn''t wait for him to register and instead bolted down the hallway ahead of him. As he climbed the stairs two at a time he heard her yelling. ¡°Hari! Grunt! Mosh! Grab anything important RIGHT now!¡±


    ¡°Wait, another UFO?¡± Mosh''s sleepy head popped out of a door. Corvayne didn''t waste time as Wick was already pointing to her own pack and yelling at the goblin to hurry up.


    Corvayne didn''t delay walking into his room and grabbing all the nice new holsters he had for his gear. He was loaded up in fifteen seconds, put his boots on and laced them tight, then put his pack on.


    Hari was hopping into jeans and Grunt sauntered out of his room with a bucket full of bats strapped to his back, cracking his knuckles as Corvayne watched. Mosh was clearly not fully awake so Corvayne helped him grab a backpack and stuff some water in it as well as a tool kit.


    Mosh''s room was actually really well organized work space, now that he looked. A shame they were moving.


    ¡°Wait, Boss where''s my weapon?¡± Mosh said as Corvayne more or less tossed the pack at him.


    ¡°We are probably going to be dealing with guns. How good a shot are you with a pistol?¡±


    The goblin threw his arms through the straps on the pack. ¡°Terrible!¡±


    Corvayne grabbed a knife sitting at the corner of the room''s desk and handed it to Mosh. ¡°Just stay alive.¡±


    Wick yelled at them and they ran down the stairs to where she was waving at them. He felt her push his shoulder forward ¡°Back storage room!¡± She shouted then sprinted ahead, boots of running letting her overtake Corvayne. Mosh huffed and kept up pretty well.


    He entered the open door to the bare room they had set aside for storage. It had a wood floor unlike the rest of the ground level. Wick was pointing and shouting at a kneeling Grunt ¡°That one! That board!¡±


    The large man ran a crowbar along the ground then caught a gap between the boards and pryed up a square hunk of wood that had not been attached to the floor. Corvayne saw that under it  was a patch of rough concrete and a square metal door. Grunt didn''t need to be told to pry that open too. The smell of stagnant water filled the room. Corvayne thought he picked up the sound of a helicopter outside. He shook his head. All the more reason to hurry.


    Nyx looked at Wick. ¡°Seriously? The sewers? First off, they will expect it...¡±


    ¡°Shut up and get your ass in there!¡± Wick pointed. Nyxion rolled his eyes then hopped down, not bothering to use the ladder. Corvayne went next. He had something flash in his face as he climbed down. Arriving at the bottom, he saw Nyxion had directed lights coming from his shoulders, flashing brickwork around them. Wick came down next, with LBC, Mosh, and Hari following. Grunt was last, crowbar in mouth as he pulled the metal door down and barred the latch on the bottom with the crowbar. The thud of him slamming it into place reverberated as it was suddenly quiet.


    Nyxion turned his lights out to the gray tunnels. The chalky surfaces had obvious water lines and it smelled like pond water, but the water flowing in a semi-circular ditch didn''t come past the tip of his boots at it''s deepest.


    Wick lit her flashlight then checked everyone was there by shining her light on them. ¡°Stay quiet, follow me, don''t fall behind. If you get lost, we are going to the space port.¡±


    Mosh looked around and whispered. ¡°Where''s Mister I?¡±


    Wick was tilting an ear up, then shook her head and turned to Mosh, her voice surprisingly gentle. ¡°He will be fine. I''m pretty sure this is fallout from the mine.¡±


    Corvayne saw her starting to walk down a tunnel, south if he had his bearings still, and followed while asking ¡°Does Grunt need to run with us then?¡±


    Wick looked to Grunt. Corvayne had to admit his friend looked ominous when lit by a flashlight that was pointed at his belly. Grunt blinked then made finger walking motions then held up a hand and saluted while looking up. She nodded and kept going, turning east and decending when they hit a three way junction.


    She spoke quietly as she walked on the dry edge of the tunnel. ¡°Grunt''s going with us until we hit the port. Dawn will take care of him. I''m using an exit plan. We are going to crew engineering on a ship headed to Balric, then get on another ship headed to a megaworld, Dion. Corvayne, Mosh, Grunt... you guys are probably going to have to be in charge of the rest of us while we keep a star ship engine going on the first leg.¡±


    Corvayne felt a knot of sadness as she spoke. He had already felt weird with leaving the warehouse. Now it seemed they were going to try to get off Cascadia as a whole. Then again, maybe on a more remote world they''d settle in.


    They made a few turns that wound them down into cooler tunnels. Wick seemed to know the way, sometimes skipping tunnels going down to walk up thirty feet, but overall their progress was down. It felt like an hour of walking through the same tunnels. Wick would shine her light on anyone making too much noise, so there was no conversation.


    He was about to risk being beamed when the tunnel they were in emptied out into a large concrete chamber that looked like someone had buried an forgotten city block in it. Her light took a moment to sweep over the dusty windows and black reflective water lapping in and out of the top of an open door. She followed the side of the tunnel to a metal walkway that skirted the top part of the flooded city chamber. Corvayne wondered why someone wouldn''t demolish a bunch of buildings before making a sewer or structural chamber over them... it didn''t make a lick of sense to him. A set of steps took them to a lower platform that lead into a square tunnel. Wick produced a key, opened a padlock, then gestured everyone in. Once they were in and she locked the gate behind them, she let her shoulders slump and sighed.


    She pointed the flashlight up so she could be seen, showing off the tunnel as another concrete passage, this one having one raised section and a flat grime covered floor both slanted downwards. ¡°Ok, we should be safe to talk again.¡±


    Mosh ¡°What was that place?¡±


    Wick didn''t look back. ¡°Parts of Cascadia sank because an earthquake messed up the foundation. Most of the islands out in the bay have old parts of the city that sunk ten to thirty feet. In a few places they turned them into underground malls but for the most part they just built stuff above and around everything. It IS odd that they just... entombed that very rustic city block in concrete.¡±


    Hari poked Corvayne as Wick started walking. The elf looked bewildered. ¡°Corvayne, are we going to be okay?¡±


    He nodded back at her. ¡°We''ll be fine. Wick''s been expecting this for a long time, right?¡±


    Wick smiled over at them. ¡°Yeah. Next time, I''m living out in a compound in the woods though.¡±


    ¡°Next time?¡± Corvayne asked.


    ¡°When we get to Dion.¡± Wick said quickly, prompting him to imagine himself in flannel chopping wood.


    Nyxion snorted. ¡°Any mega world you land on you are likely to be out in the middle of nowhere. I do look good chopping wood, though.¡±


    LBC was more goal oriented. ¡°What do you know about the people who were planning on attacking us?¡±


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Fits with a private contractor doing a raid. Police blotter asked for everyone to clear airspace and you have at least a few people not in the loop asking about a APC convoy. It''s why I wanted quiet, if they sweep the tunnels with drones they try to find non-water sounds.¡±


    The cloaked woman looked around. ¡°And your sure that what you heard is all for us?¡±


    Wick shrugged. ¡°Not entirely. But the reason I lived in old town was there wasn''t anything happening there. It''s either me or Dawn. Go ahead and cross off Dawn, she''s a low stakes low profile operator. No one cares if she wants to become queen of the slums. On the other hand, we set off a nuclear weapon and killed a few dozen private contractors, and one got away.¡±


    He felt the need to correct Wick. ¡°Nyx and LBC did most of the work, I just got one guy to kill himself.¡±


    LBC sounded happy. ¡°Thanks for giving us credit Corvayne.¡±


    Wick kept them moving through a more involved pipe maze, taking turns and going down ladders next to slice gates then up ladders to other tunnels then back down ramps, generally headed what Corvayne thought was east and south.


    Mosh broke the silence first. ¡°Ok this doesn''t make sense. Why build flood tunnels under the bay?¡±


    Wick started to speak but Nyxion laughed and beat her to it. ¡°That you can blame my grandfather for. While he was in power, he made a push to expand the Collective. He wanted Cascadia to be one of the launch points for world ships, and eventually part of the road for exotic materials to flow back from. I suspect you could find a lot of infrastructure for a mega city they funded and never fully got to use.¡±


    ¡°Good for us. It''s why the space port is large enough to have a few people hanging around who I''ve bribed.¡± Wick muttered.


    They reached a point where the path took them into older looking tunnels, made of faded grey bricks. The side tunnels and intersections in the run down section were flooded with nearly still water, throbbing a little as they sloshed past. For some reason, Corvayne found his hand resting on his fire breathing dagger. At the crest of a junction Wick held up a hand, shining her light on a huge torn apart rat corpse, then jerking it away. The smell hit Corvayne a moment later and he winced. He was pretty sure he heard Wick gagging as she moved past it.


    Hari said aloud. ¡°Monsters?¡±


    Wick looked a little pale. ¡°Nothing should live down here. If it does, well, it will regret meeting us.¡±


    Even so everyone slowed down, and he could see Nyxion''s gloves clenching and unclenching. Lady Blood Claw was stalking, hand on her blade. Mosh held his knife and kept looking back and ahead nervously. Hari kept a hand on her blade but didn''t slow as she twitched her ears.


    Grunt... well Grunt just yawned. Corvayne smiled a little.


    Wick slowed, then turned around a moment, light following to look at the tunnel they had just walked out of, then forward. She pulled her phone out and tapped into something and rotated it, then frowned.


    Mosh saw her doing this. ¡°Oh lady, if you say we are lost...¡±


    Wick turned her phone off. ¡°No. Just this... part... wasn''t marked differently the map.¡±


    She kept going and Corvayne saw what made her stop. The pipe was missing the wall on one side. Wick shone her light out of it for a moment, then kept walking. As Corvayne looked out into the murk, he saw a huge flooded cave with buildings jutting up. He could only make out details on a few in the dark, mostly that there were windows on the nearest building that suggested it was several stories tall. Corvayne guessed the black water below must be deep, as he didn''t see signs of doors above the water level, just windows. He stopped and made sure everyone passed before he kept moving, something about the gap made him suspicious. He had visions of tentacles trying to drag them out. As if they didn''t have real soldiers somewhere above their heads looking for them.


    He admitted to himself he felt relieved when they left the old tunnels and were back in the modern molded concrete ones, headed upwards.


    They walked out from the tunnels into open chamber with huge pillars and a ceiling distantly above them. The floor was under two inches of water that sloshed as Wick stepped into it. The concrete vault clearly was another link in a system to move water around and had a few dim lights around it. There was a control room built into a nearby wall that looked out into the concrete structure but the group walked directly under it, and Corvayne could see no light coming from it. They went into another pipe, and now the trend was walking upwards with a few locks that Wick picked rather then having a key for.


    Corvayne watched her jiggle a curved pin in a lock then swing the door open. ¡°How do you do that so fast?¡±


    ¡°They always use the same brand of lock down here, and it''s really cheap.¡± She waited for Grunt to bring up the rear then snapped the compromised lock back into place. There were probably ten different gates and half as many styles of pipe as they moved upwards and eventually reached a point where the abandoned flood tunnels met up with gushing storm drains. These were like white water rapids sewers with two railed walkways and a churning torrent of water between them.


    Corvayne followed Wick around a corner, feeling every bit of clothing and skin was soaked from the latent humidity, when he spotted daylight now. They had climbed back up far enough that there were points where water would pour in from above, huge grates letting muted blue light into the tunnels. They crossed a few bridges, and Wick triumphantly turned them down a tunnel to see a giant red painted grate leading out of the sewers. It had a built in lock and was blocking the entrance or exit to a culvert facing a concrete flood channel. Past the concrete lip of the tunnel the gray sky was cut by the huge infrastructure of the spaceport. The shapes formed giant slopes with red pipes, burnt orange girders, and machines of all colors and shapes under hyper smoothed concrete curves that followed parabolic arcs, no doubt with an endpoint at some wormhole the ship could slip through. It was raining hard enough that, despite being day, there were outside lights that had turned on.


    Grunt moved to bend the bars, but Wick slapped his arm and actually dug a key out for the grate, then with a rusty start pushed it open. He wondered if that was part of the thing she spent so much time on, just getting herself copies of keys for places they shouldn''t be. She was the first to  step out into the air. Wick turned to Grunt. Corvayne saw her eyes were a little red.


    ¡°Hey Grunt... It''s been a damn pleasure working with you. I don''t know if we''ll make it back here.¡±


    Corvayne stopped, stunned. He had heard them say Grunt was with them to the port. But now, looking at the skyscraper sized ridges that would push them into space, it struck home that his first friend wasn''t coming with him. He looked at Grunt and felt regret and sadness welling up. The big man shook his head sadly, tapped his lips, then pounded his heart. Corvayne tapped his own heart. No need for words: They were always going to be bros. Grunt then nodded at Wick, then at him, and wrapped them both in a bear hug. Grunt let them go a few seconds before he suffocated someone, then looked at Wick and pointed at her, then Corvayne, and made a sort of splayed hand next to him gesture that Corvayne didn''t understand, then and folded his arms.


    Wick threw her hands up, fully crying. ¡°Isn''t he supposed to take care of me!? You know I''ll look out for him. Tell Dawn thanks for everything.¡± She tossed him a plastic bag full of credits.


    Mosh waved. ¡°You know, I''ll miss the big lug. And the trees he''d throw at things trying to kill me too.¡±


    Grunt laughed and ruffled Mosh''s head, and Hari hugged Grunt which actually made the big man blush a little bit.


    Hari stepped back and smiled. ¡°No tears. We meet... We will meet again.¡±


    Grunt wiped his eyes, then turned to Nyxion and Lady Blood Claw. He gave them a look. Corvayne knew that most people didn''t really understand Grunt without spending time with him, but the look was one of those times where the perception of Grunt and reality overlapped. He pointed his fingers at his own eyes, then at them: If you fuck around with my friends, I will somehow find out and I will find you and make you regret it.


    Then he slipped back into the tunnels and was gone. Wick broke the sound of rain and water. ¡°Come on, we got a ship to catch.¡±

 Chapter 41: To the Bitter End

    Corvayne waded through ankle deep water into the shadow of the titanic launch ramp. Above and around him was a mish-mash grid of red pipes and orange girders and lights and machines and walkways with ladders and little huts for things and yellow danger lines and pipes hissing clouds that either boiled rainwater or left patches of dry ice on surfaces near where they billowed. He was following Wick in it''s shadow, the little concrete stream guided him and his five companions along the outside of the spaceport''s tangle of concrete runways and launch ramps. The actual spaceport building was gradually getting closer but was still hazy in the rain and fog. The entire place reeked of either fuel or some other chemical residue from the launches.


    Corvayne felt like he was tasting the air, but poor Hari had it worst. She was covering her nose and looked like she was going to be sick. Mosh on the other hand swapped from being annoyed at the water he was sloshing through to sniffing the air like it was dinner.


    ¡°Isn''t it odd we haven''t had to disable any security yet?¡± Nyx said as they passed under the second huge launch ramp, a tangle of pipework all around them. Corvayne at some would have to explain to everyone in the group the whole concept of not saying aloud the one exact thing you didn''t want to happen, but that would have to wait as he saw a man wearing a raincoat turning around a pipe running and spotting them.


    He had his radio out but couldn''t start his call before Corvayne took three tremendous steps to get to him and put his hands on his neck. [Nerve Pinch] almost instantly caused the man to crumple unconscious. He was glad he was swift as Nyxion or LBC might have just killed the man. Corvayne dragged the man to sit him against a beam out of direct sight.


    Corvayne gave Nyxion an annoyed look after the aristocrat started golf clapping. The noble didn''t seem to care. ¡°Very fast! I see why she keeps you around.¡±


    ¡°Oh, do you now?¡± He delivered flatly.


    Wick coughed. ¡°Come on, we are on a timer. Security is light because they probably pulled a bunch of officers off the airport to go kill us at home.¡± She cocked an ear as Corvayne heard it too. Helicopters were flying somewhere nearby. Given the rain and fog, it seemed like a bad idea.


    ¡°Wait, so then are we fighting the government? Or are the guards at the spaceport mercenarys? Who''s trying to kill us?¡± Corvayne asked.


    ¡°Corvayne that''s a fantastic question and if I had five hours I could get into the 100 different organizations and where they fit on the government slash goon grid. I could also get into how Nyxion''s money spending habits are almost certainly what FUCKED us.¡±


    The noble cringed a little then tilted his chin up and said calmly. ¡°If you spent money to make money, we''d have a private ship taking off from the bay right now and we could be giving this place the finger while tipping our wine glasses.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw put a hand between them. ¡°We haven''t been spotted yet. If this guy has a cart, let''s steal it, and drive over to the ship we chartered.


    Corvayne looted keys, the guard''s hat, his poncho, and his radio and gun. Why not? Around the side of the pillar was a little cart that had a flat back that Wick made everyone but her and Corvayne get into, then covered them with a tarp. Wick put on the cap and poncho. Corvane had his cloak match her colors with a few twists.


    He flipped the cart on. ¡°I''m going to miss this place.¡± He said to her, looking at the rain, listening to helicopters flying unseen above them.


    Wick looked around. ¡°Me too. A little. Hey, Corvayne this is my fault. I got carried away.¡±


    Corvayne eased the gas and started the cart towards the spaceport. ¡°It''s fine. I fully expected to be homeless for years.¡±


    ¡°Oh well, I have good news then.¡± She laughed. Then looked over at him. ¡°Hey, we might die here. If they have someone talented at the star port, we are doomed. I guess if we get ambushed here and make it out, we break for Cascadia park to the north and try to get into that tower.¡±


    ¡°We''ll get to your ship.¡± Corvayne looked around. ¡°I''m confident in that.¡±


    ¡°You''ll make it. The rest of us are not bullet proof.¡± Wick lamented.


    He was not bullet proof. They hurt like crazy. ¡°Just point me to the ship we''re going to and as long as I don''t hit another cart, we are out of here.¡±


    Wick squinted, pushed her glasses up, then pointed him to a clunky looking ship ahead and to the left, shaped sort of like a squat hacksaw where the blade was taken off and turned into circular wings on the back. Hari poked Wick''s back.


    ¡°What?¡± Wick replied.


    ¡°What''s the buzzing?¡± Hari asked.


    Wick leaned back so Hari could hear her better. ¡°Black Helicopters. I bet you a hundred gold coins they are unmarked and looking for us.¡±


    ¡°Flying car, right?¡± The elf added.


    ¡°Close enough. These ones always show up after something unexplained happens. My theory is that they are used to intimidate people. The big mystery is always how they have a perfect time table for an unexplained event. It''s like an hour before a UFO shows up, they''d have to jump in fuel up and roll out with a pilot who''s ready. It''s why they''re built into the government being in cahoots with aliens and all that.¡±


    Corvayne heard Hari sigh. ¡°Corvayne explain?¡±


    ¡°She says they might be ghosts.¡± Corvayne said while not letting himself smile.


    ¡°Oh that makes sense.¡± Hari pulled the tarp back down.


    Wick hit Corvayne in the shoulder. ¡°Corvayne stop talking out of your ass! I''m going to have to sit you down and give you a proper... well actually books of unified cryptid theory means you might be right...¡±


    He heard the tarp flap again and Nyxion started talking behind Corvayne. ¡°Now''s not the time for your pet theories. What''s our plan for signaling this guy and getting on board?¡±


    Corvayne was about a thousand feet away from the ship when the rattattat of the helicopters faded and he felt something was very wrong. A flare of hostile intent, so bad he had nearly animal panic in response to it.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Corvayne jerked the cart to the side, nearly tipping it as he changed directions. There were surprised cries from the back followed by a solid thumping sound and a sharp crack behind them.


    Nyx lifted the tarp. ¡°What the HELL are you doing you idiot!?¡±


    Corvayne looked back. There was a house sized cloud of gray expanding where they had been just driving. ¡°We are under attack.¡±


    The next moment, a man was in front of the cart, swinging a black staff at the front of it.


    Corvayne felt a jolt like he had hit a wall and was flung out of the vehicle and he felt himself rolling, pain blazing down his arms and legs as he scraped himself badly. Only his training got him to his feet and had him drawing his spear as fast he he could roll back upright. He was still confused, eyes looking for an enemy. Everyone was scattered across the ground, with a crumpled cart rolling backwards. Hari looked like she had badly landed on her arm and was crying. He heard rain, and the sound of the crumpled cart screeching to a stop. It felt like everything else had gone silent. Standing in the middle of the group was a man wearing dark blue robes. He had a bald head and wooden prayer beads strung across his chest. Corvayne met his steely gaze and was reminded of how a veteran Watcher looked.


    Corvayne was afraid of this man. The same instincts that had kept him alive so many times were trying to get him to turn and run.


    Nyxion stood next, shield shimmering as he dusted himself off. ¡°Well, who''s this little shit looking for a fight?¡±


    The monk turned his head and shoulders. Something about the way that he moved was too smooth. He didn''t feel like a human. Nyxion already had his hands pointing out, but the monk suddenly was behind Nyxion.


    ¡°Neat trick but-¡±


    The monk did something, and there was a shattering sound as Nyxion''s hand repulsors and shield belt fell apart, the shield itself fading with a pathetic whimper. In the next moment, the Monk''s staff seemed to just appear, sticking halfway out of Nyxion''s chest. The black hexagon slid back as Nyxion crumpled.


    Corvayne saw blood pooling and was shocked when he realized he just watched the man die.


    Lady Blood Claw screamed in fury and charged the Monk, blade trailing steam. Corvayne lined himself up to flank with her but the Monk once more moved without moving. He could see her sword crumble out of her hands, falling away in a shower of rust. She stumbled off balance and turned to face the monk bare-handed, skin blazing red. Mosh saw this and started running. Corvayne stepped back and grabbed Wick and pulled her up.


    ¡°Wick you need to RUN. NOW!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw had but a moment before the monk charged her and swung his staff into her side. There was a terrible crack.


    Corvayne saw the hit twist the woman out of shape while sending her flying and didn''t bother to try to see if she was alive. The sound of it hitting was more vivid to him then Nyx''s blood.


    He started to move to Hari, as the elf was stumbling backwards holding her arm. He felt his blood run cold, watching her staggering. No. Please. No no no no. Something urged him to dive and so he dove to the ground in a roll, seeing one moment the sky behind him, the next the monk appearing just where he was. Corvayne found his feet and spun, spear lashing out. The monk stepped back and turned.


    Corvayne saw the monk there one moment, then there was suddenly a gap in the air and the monk stood over Mosh. Mosh, to his credit, tried to fling salt at the man''s face. It didn''t matter. A moment later the steel rod swung down on his head and Corvayne''s heart twisted as the little goblin fell over dead.


    Rage filled him. [Storm Thurst] pushed him forward, his spear aiming for the man''s neck. The monk just vanished and he suddenly was flying through the air. Searing pain lanced out of his chest where his armor had stopped the stave from simply running through him. He tried to breath and it felt like dragging hot coals into his chest. He forced himself to stand and tried to [Flow-Like-Water] to get by Hari. He never felt slower. He had totally clarity as he saw Hari dodge the Monk''s next attack as she shadow-stepped behind him. He felt a surge of hope as she brought her staff around to attack.


    The monk shrugged as he vanished again, staff passing through nothing. Corvayne saw the monk''s robes flutter behind Hari''s back. Corvanye met her eyes as Hari jerked a little and mouthed something, blood leaking from her mouth before she collapsed into a pile on the rain soaked tarmac.


    Wick fired a bolt at the monk, screaming something, but the man simply batted it away with his staff.


    Corvayne felt a mantle of calm surrounding him. This was it. This was where he failed everyone.


    ¡°Wick...¡± Corvanye wheezed. ¡°Run.¡±


    He met her eyes. She was crying. For everyone, for him too. She turned to follow his last request and he pulled his pistol. The monk appeared right where he expected, near Wick with stave held like a pool que. Corvayne used [Cross Skill: Limbtaker]. His agony spiked as the gun glowed then the pistol kicked his hand like a horse, nearly hitting him in the face. Part of the monk''s jaw exploded. A little hope spread in Corvayne''s chest as their attacker started to stumble. It didn''t matter how strong the monk was, or how they moved around. As long as he could land a hit on the man''s neck, he could kill him.


    His enemy however, didn''t appear near him or Wick, throwing Corvayne''s aim off. Instead, the monk popped away from the fight, stuffed part of his robe into the hole in his face, then waved his blood soaked hand. Corvayne''s pistol cracked then fall apart into rapidly rusting components, as did the force shield on his arm. No toys then. He drew his spear, chest laced with agony. He could taste blood in his mouth. The monk sneered at him, then as soon as he vanished, Corvayne activated [Juxtapose] behind himself, then slid back and around something. The monk swung at empty air, and Corvayne lined his spear up, then poured the last of his strength into [Cross Skill: Backstab].


    He shot forward, and his blade sunk into the monk''s back, catching on a rib. He drew blood but the Monk''s robes were armored. Maybe enchanted as well. Whatever small satisfaction he got from hearing [Backstab] go off was drowned out by the monk vanishing again, and then Corvayne felt something hit his back and suddenly he was on the ground, unable to move, his arms mangled, his feet not responding. He felt cold creeping up his neck, and sleep calling him. He forced his eyes open. Wick was near the ship, almost there, when the monk appeared behind her and...


    Nothingness.

 Chapter 42: Its One of THOSE Deals

    [95.7%]


    [4 left]


    Corvayne stumbled onto concrete. He turned around, and was confused for a moment. No monk, no spaceport. It was sunny out. He turned in a circle. He was standing at the end of the road, or the start of it. He saw empty highland desert behind him, with the single steel guard rail with red reflective diamonds on it suggesting that the road was over. There was the distortion of heat above the guard rail.


    He fell to the ground. Why was he alive? What was the point? His friends were dead. Wick was dead. The last thing he saw before he fell over was her murder. Hari too. He fucked up. He should have told the elf he loved her. He should have gone drinking with Mosh. Even his new sparring partner died too. While he didn''t care for Nyxion, he felt bad watching Lady Blood Claw die trying to avenge him.


    What was he left with? His pack, his spear, his cloak, and a shadowy hand that snaked out, pointing down the road. He stood. A spear pointed forward. No time to rest on shattered goals. He''d go into the tower, arm himself with artifacts, then hunt the monk down and kill him. Or just go grab the other nuclear bomb from the mine. His shadowy hand started slapping his side. Of course. High tech weapons failed. He needed another magma knife. If it could melt a dragon, he just needed to land one hit on the monk.


    Corvayne stood up, burying everything as he started down the road. He took a step. He''d recruit Grunt first. He needed help. He took another step. What would Grunt...


    What was he going to do when he learned Wick was dead?


    Corvayne imagined the big man looking confused, then falling to his knees. He''d weep for his friends. What about Hari? Or little Mosh? They both were so... upbeat even after being dragged away from home.


    He had failed them. He never got Mosh home. He never got Hari home. He wasn''t able to protect Wick. The watchers had been right, he was a failure. He was no warrior. He had nowhere to go back to. Maybe he''d head down into the valley there, and dive off a bridge into the rocks. Better then ruining a new set of lives. His shadow hand jabbed him in the side.


    ¡°What the hell? That hurt!¡± What kind of stupid power hurt yourself? Ok. He owed them. He would have vengeance. He''d find out who the monk is, who Wick was. He''d finish their fight. The shadowy hand was poking his side, he swatted at it and it fled into him then popped out of his belly, pointed down the road.


    He picked himself up off his knees, and wiped his tears away. He pulled his spear out. He started walking back to town. Even if there was nothing left for him there. Slap slap slap. He could work for Dawn to get contacts. Probably kill a few people. Slap Slap slap. Even if Grunt wasn''t willing to engage in a suicidal attack with him, he knew his friend would help in any way he could. Slap slap slap.


    ¡°WHAT?¡± He shouted at the shadowy hand. It shifted to his hair and flicked his forehead then pointed forward. ¡°I''m going plenty damn fast. What, do I need to get there by tonight to tell all Wick''s fans that I failed her? Tell Dawn to get the peeler out because Wick''s dead? Let Mister I know he can stop thinking about the next move Mosh is never going to make on the chess board?¡±


    The hand actually made a little shaking it''s head motion using it''s thumb and pointer finger, then kept pointing forward.


    ¡°Oh you don''t like that I''m angry? Or sad? Or that I''m getting ready to wipe out a whole damn civilization to pay them back for what they did to Wick? Why don''t you tell me?¡±


    He slapped the shadowy hand then winced as it was him slapping himself.


    ¡°What the hell is wrong with the universe, huh? Why do I have to GUESS about everything? Why did my family kick me out?! Huh!? Do you know that hand?¡±


    It made a little face with its thumb and a fist then actually nodded.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    It nodded again. Another hand joined it, then formed a box.


    ¡°Wait, what, your trying to mime something?¡±


    It made a pointer finger and went up and down, as if pointing to a list.


    ¡°Can you TALK? You and Grunt, just spit it out! Fuck, I''m going crazy right?¡±


    The thing shook itself off, then both hands made something like a face with a hand shading it and it looked around, then... a magnifying glass.


    ¡°Investigate?¡±


    Yes! The hand gave him a thumbs up.


    ¡°Investigate... myself?¡±


    The hands clapped. He could feel it draining stamina. Then it pointed him forward. It was a much longer walk when you knew what was at the end of it, and didn''t want to go back to it. But he looked down at the hand still pointing forward.


    ¡°Fine. I''ll mourn my friends later. No suicide either.¡±


    The hand gave him a thumbs up and then snapped back into him, finally leaving him alone to walk up and down the mountains into Cascadia.


    This time down the hill he didn''t bother stopping to rest. He could see well enough at night that following a road was not a challenge, even as he dipped under the clouds. Previously he had felt joy at each new turn, but now it was torture. Not to mention when he got really mad or sad his hand would come out and goad him to keep going.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Yeah I get it. You like being alive. Think happy thoughts. The whole reason I left the damn village was because I can''t do it forever. I got tired of it already. So I''m going to think about that monk bleeding out and you can''t stop me.¡±


    There was a sound behind him and he remembered the orange trucks that used the road. He wasn''t too far past where he had slept last time. He waited for the last truck and hopped on, hitching a ride down hill. He hadn''t realized that it was a shipment out of Tel-Star, or at least another mine out along the mountain path. Well, the trucks had Brines Brothers on them.


    At the turn in for the facility, he hopped off as they turned in and kept walking. Funny, it was the exact same weather as the last time. He got a little hungry, so he decided to kill the first rabbit he saw.


    Which was in the same spot as last time. Ok. They liked that bush. His shadow hand, however, kept pointing at the rabbit.


    ¡°Right.¡± He skinned and cooked it, then kept going. At about the same point as the walk down the last time, the line of trucks came past again and he hitched another ride to the station where they all pulled in. He kept going. He knew this road would get him into town. So he was ready to walk a few more hours downhill.


    What he didn''t expect is to see Mister I''s beat up pickup truck speeding down the highway the other direction. He heard loud braking as it shot past him and the squealing ended as the car turned around to pull up next to him. He mentally composed himself to deal with Mister I as the rust covered truck pulled up next to him. The passenger-side door popped open before the truck had fully stopped.


    Corvayne saw Wick nearly trip as she lept out. He dropped his spear and ran to her. ¡°Wick! WICK!¡±


    His mind was empty besides getting to her and hugging her and she started crying and wrapped her arms around him too and even kissed him back and there was no denying he was crying as he held her.


    It took him a a few moments to get back to reality. ¡°How... did we make it?¡±


    Wick''s expression fell a little.


    ¡°Well, uh... we didn''t make it. We both died.¡±


    Wick had settled in his arms. She had been crying too it looked like.


    Mister I cheerfully added ¡°You both look like hell warmed over! Good matching expressions!¡±


    Wick added ¡°He doesn''t remember everything, Grunt sort of does, and say, Brines and Dawn don''t remember you at all. We are headed to the park.¡±


    Corvayne frowned. ¡°What about the monk?¡±


    Mister I pointed at himself. Corvayne shook his head and added. ¡°Murder monk. You''re meat monk.¡±


    Wick dug in her pocket. ¡°No clue about where he is but... look at my phone.¡±


    ¡°What am I looking at? You didn''t unlock it.¡± He squeezed her as he spoke. Tough luck Wick, you''re never getting away again.


    She waved it in his face. ¡°The date stupid! Sorry, I mean, take a look at that!¡±


    He looked. April 9th... wait, wasn''t it the next month, and the fifth?


    ¡°Did we lose a month?¡±


    ¡°Yes. This happened to me before. Not this conversation, I mean I''m pretty sure I''ve died and come back before. I wasn''t sure before today, I thought I might just be crazy. But it''s more clear this time.¡± She closed her eyes. ¡°Sorry, I know you wanna talk, but I''m glad you remember me... I need to sleep.¡±


    ¡°Sleep?¡±


    ¡°It feels like... you know how magic weapons tire you out? It''s like that. Mister I is going to take us to the tower. When I wake up, we''ll see if we can clear the way for Hari and Mosh to show up safely.¡±


    ¡°You think they''ll be there?¡±


    She elbowed him. ¡°Let me sleep!¡±


    After three hours of willingly serving as Wick''s pillow, they arrived at the Cascadia National Forest. The parking lot actually had a bunch of other cars parked there. Corvayne could see why as it looked a lot nicer during the day, even with a little rain. Granted, everything was nice to Corvayne right now.


    Mister I brought his bow and rifle, and Wick had a different plastic wand then the one she had bought last time. She swung it and disrupt came out, blasting a small branch off a tree.


    ¡°The one Mosh made for me was nicer...¡±


    They passed a pair of hikers walking out of the woods. It was odd seeing other people on the trails. The views off the hills were nice though. Even with a little rain he could see bluffs and waterfalls off in the distance.


    ¡°Hey Wick, some time let''s walk around here in the day.¡±


    She was still groggy and leaned on him. ¡°Sure.¡±


    Corvayne smiled. He was going to count that as a date. They walked up the bark lined trails, through pine forests with a few other trees mixed in. They followed the same path they used the previous two times, with the last trail leading up to the clearing not being blocked with a sign as it had been before.


    Corvayne event commented. ¡°Huh. Trail''s open. That''s different.¡±


    Wick shrugged. ¡°The people probably didn''t disappear yet...¡±


    Corvayne thought about that, then handed Wick to Mister I. ¡°There were bodies in the entrance... Catch up to me!¡±


    He ran ahead, under bent logs and into the grassy opening. Two people in completely clean outdoors-man gear were taking pictures of the strange staircase, admiring out loud the wood and lush red carpet. Corvayne was focused on a girl in an expensive looking coat with lots of fur accents who was standing at the top of the stairway taking a selfie.


    She had turned and held her hand out, then stepped forward to take a picture off the edge of the stairs. Of course this pushed her hand out past the edge of the stairs and with a little pop she got dragged into the tower, the motion looking a little like slipping into an invisible pool of water. Corvayne didn''t wait for the two people in front of him to react and instead charged through them up the stairs two at a time, drawing his spear to be ready.


    ¡°What the FUCK is your problem bro?¡± One of them called after him.


    Corvayne didn''t bother responded, instead leaping past the edge of the stairs. The world blurred as he nearly ran over the very confused woman who had just passed the threshold. Three other people in bright outdoors clothes were there as well. All around them were the blue rocks and teal plants that defined most of the color in the tower.


    ¡°Try to hold the door open! We''re stuck!¡± One man, a pretty woodsy type with flannel with a thick beard, stood up.


    Corvayne ignored them and jogged the perimeter bushes around the clearing. No monsters yet.


    ¡°Was there anyone else?¡± Corvayne asked the man.


    ¡°No we''ve been here an hour... what the hell... is that a spear?¡±


    Corvayne took a moment to catch his breath. ¡°Crud. I should have told those guys to NOT let anyone else up the stairs and to call a ranger.¡± He looked at everyone, who were all focused on him. Might as well establish leadership now. ¡°Okay. When my friends get here, I want you four to follow me. My group is going to kill monsters and help you get out. This place is very dangerous. Get your knives ready, or grab a branch. We''ll find you weapons while in here, but my main goal is to make it so you don''t need to fight.¡±


    ¡°Oh the sky is all messed up! Someone put E in my water bottle!¡± The woman was looking up at the yellow sky. She stopped and looked at Corvayne. ¡°Wait did you say monsters?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. You guys ever read books about fighting goblins?¡± He looked at them to see if they recognized anything he was saying.


    The girl of all people raised her hand. ¡°My parents sent me to a Gygaxian private school! Though, I always thought goblin stories were really gross.¡± Corvayne nodded at her. There were bad goblins in books who were like the ones here and were looking to eat people. Then there were the REALLY bad goblins. Most of the books featuring them were by all the gladiator novels in the library.


    ¡°Oh. OH! YES!¡± One of the guys, the flabby one, gestured frantically at the teal rocks, blue dirt, and red and blue trees, yellow sky. ¡°We just got transferred to another world!? Like one of those novels?!¡±


    Corvayne''s shoulders relaxed. ¡°Oh good. You guys get it. I didn''t want to have to explain that to you.¡± He laughed a little. ¡°Yeah. Try to remember the tactics and ideas in those books. Stuff like being careful when opening unknown chests, no splitting off... and so on.¡±


    ¡°You think there''s monsters in here, and you were worried about just trying to tell us about it?¡± One of the other hikers says, a bald guy who looked like he was going to throw up.


    He was about to confirm that when Wick appeared at his side, with Mister I stepping in behind her. Wick seemed pleased.


    ¡°Oh shit. Glad we didn''t find their bodies this time.¡± She said.


    The three guys reacted the same way. ¡°Bodies?¡±


    The girl caught the other part. ¡°Wait, this time?¡±


    Mister I smiled when he looked around. ¡°Ah ha! It''s coming back! I remember meat world! That and something about... Lythandies? Mosh?¡±


    Corvayne was distracted by a clicking noise. The girl was pointing her phone at him taking pictures.


    ¡°Uh, can I help you?¡± Corvayne asked her.


    ¡°Dude! You''re buff as shit. A real life Krangor.¡± Corvayne had no idea who she was talking about. ¡°You ever consider wearing animal fur briefs?¡±


    No? Who would do that?


    Wick waved at Corvayne and he turned his attention to her. ¡°We convinced the two picture takers to warn people away and call for a ranger to block the path off. So you don''t gotta worry about other people getting in here. We''ll just have to protect these guys.¡±


    Corvayne was already thinking about how to route them. They had a rifle for the trees this time, so perhaps it would be better then fighting swarms of birds on floor four or going anywhere near the death-trap trains that ran between islands on the pillar version of floor five.


    He took his spear in hand and turned to the path that would lead to the top of the cube. He could decide that later. ¡°Okay. Let''s hunt.¡±


    As he walked on the packed dirt path through the brush he glanced back at the four new members as well as his two friends. It couldn''t be that bad herding four hikers through with Wick and Mister I to help him. This would be even easier then the first time!


    Only as he started uphill did Corvayne remember that even thinking something like that was asking for trouble.

 Chapter 43: Adventures in Adultsitting

    ¡°Fucking normies are so slow!¡± Wick complained for the sixth or seventh time as Corvayne waited for the people they had picked up to carefully make their way under the waterfalls. Corvayne had spent about three hours to get from the entrance to the first treasure chest he wanted to grab. The good news was that the goblins had not yet formed into a super-cell, so opposition was sparse. He guessed the big goblin had yet to arrive or hadn''t figured out how to make the little groups work together. Without organization, the scattered groups were much easier to fight, usually five goblins at a time. Wick also had improved her use of the spell disrupt, and Mister I joined in with his bow.


    ¡°When it was you and me, I had to wait for you to rest as well.¡± Corvayne reminded her as he jumped up and pulled himself to the hidden ledge. He quickly flipped the chest open, took out the rapier, drank the green potion, crouched down and handed her the sundial, and took the boots and the backpack and potions of healing himself this time. Switching for the running boots he felt suddenly much, much lighter.


    Wick laughed while looking up at him. ¡°I was in worse shape than them and I didn''t complain NEARLY as much. Wait, isn''t it weird that I''m still in better shape? Also, are you SURE you wanted to drink that? We are clueless about what the hell it does!¡±


    Corvayne shrugged and lowered his voice as he put his legs over the edge of the hidden cave. ¡°If we are stuck in a time loop I''ll give you the next one and maybe it will give you some sort of boost?¡± He let Wick give him some space on the path under the alcove and lept down, splashing a puddle that had formed on the dark blue stone. Mister I was keeping an eye on the people making their way to them now. Having spent hours with them, Corvayne had at least a pretty good idea of who they were.


    Jake was in front. He was the beard and flannel guy.


    ¡°Hey, Corvayne?¡± The man spoke and Corvayne did his best not to roll his eyes. ¡°We need to find a source of food and shelter soon... or get out of here. You said you''re waiting for someone to show up, but WE need to get out of here. Sooner or later those packs are going to start hunting us.¡±


    Jake was a manager of something or other in Cascadia. Jake also wanted to be the manager of the group. Wick had almost immediately started ignoring him and refused to use his name. Corvayne had tried in a ten minute conversation to explain that he had done this before while dancing around details that gave literally but Jake didn''t seem to acknowledge Corvayne''s experience at all. Perhaps he assumed Corvayne was a monster too? Over the first two hours the man had so many complaints and demands, often of a completely obvious nature, that Corvayne started acting like his father did as a way of avoiding blowing up at the man. He would just stare at him when he spoke then walk away or wait for the man to falter.


    Jake turned to Mister I. ¡°Look, we need to arm everyone...¡±


    The Monk laughed, and grabbed his own wrist and held it up, fingers wiggling. ¡°I might not be a licensed doctor but I can tell you, we are averaging two arms a person here!¡±


    Jake turned to Wick. Wick stored the sundial away, which caused the man to notice Corvayne had the rapier.


    ¡°Wait, you found something?¡± Jake took a step forward and gestured at the blade.


    ¡°Yes. The airfoil rapier will be my offhand weapon until I give it to Hari.¡± Corvayne kept his voice neutral.


    ¡°You have a spear which needs two hands.¡± Jake pointed at the spear, as if Corvayne didn''t have it on his back nearly every moment he wasn''t in bed. ¡°We should be spreading weapons out.¡±


    Corvayne handed the rapier to his shadow hand. ¡°I have three hands.¡±


    The man took a step back, but then folded his arms and stepped back up. ¡°You nearly missed a group of monsters, what happens when they get to us and rip us apart?¡±


    He did NOT miss any packs. Jake had urged everyone to back up instead of wait where they had been told to hold and they backed into a wandering group. Corvayne was not going to get into another five minute fight where the guy ignored him.


    ¡°Goblins are about the size of a child and as strong. Kick them over, then stab them a few times. Pick a spear off the ones I kill if you are worried about getting jabbed.¡±


    The second man, Dave, put a trembling hand on Jake''s shoulder. ¡°Stop arguing with him. For god''s sake, he could just ditch us!¡±


    Dave was bald, wore camo, had age lines in his face, and seemed pretty close to a total meltdown from blood and monsters and things trying to kill him and eat him. Corvayne picked up that Dave had gone to the park to watch birds in for a few hours and that was all the excitement he had wanted for the day. Corvayne gave the man some credit as he had a walking stick and had killed a goblin by himself while Corvayne was killing two packs together. The problem was Dave had curled up in a ball afterwards. Mister I had to treat him for shock, and eventually just use the prayer of mending to get him walking. That was another ten minute delay. Corvayne wished he could reassure Dave that he''d get them through the tower safely but the last time he tried to do that Jake got pushy about how they should go right to the exit.


    The third guy, wearing all black and tactical gloves, was huffing as he came up on what was becoming another group discussion by Corvayne. ¡°I''m hungry.¡±


    Corvayne felt bad that he had tagged Gary as ''the flabby one''. He was starting to think that Grunt and himself were extreme outliers in physical prowess, and Hari wasn''t a good ''average'' to tag people with either. The most out of shape of the group, Gary was also the only one who tried to come up with Corvayne and Wick to engage a group of goblins. Corvanye gave him full points for enthusiasm but was not happy about having an extra person he not only needed to actively protect in a fight, but also was out of shape and only seemed to get that the goblins had better weapons then his hunting knife once he got stuck by a spear.


    Gary had part of a blood soaked bandage wrapped around his arm, as Mister I brought first aid things with him. Corvayne looked at him and softened his tone. ¡°We''ll go up a floor to hunt for food in an hour or so, but we are clearing the tribes out down here as our main goal. Anyone who stumbles into this place, we want them to have a fighting chance.¡±


    ¡°Right, and we need the EXP. You guys gotta get up to the level of this hunk here.¡± The girl in the back added, walking while taking pictures. Of all of them, Corvayne was most wary of her. Jake might try to stage an ineffective mutiny. Dave might never step foot in the woods again. Gary might be an extra hazard for fighting. Corvayne could work around all that.


    Seru was a problem for three reasons. First, she had grown up every sunday playing the ''lord''s game'' and thus had ideas about what they should be doing. Most of those ideas were really smart like staying together. Move slowly and stay aware of your surroundings. Follow the guy who knows what he''s doing. Then she had announced what Corvayne was doing was ''grinding experience points''. That had won Gary over to his side but made Jake and Dave more convinced that Corvayne was stalling or nuts like her.


    Second was that she was making passes at him. This was partially Wick''s fault, as he told her immediately on being asked if he was good with ''all his spears'' that he was dating Wick, and Wick had replied too fast for his liking that they had an open relationship. He didn''t feel like entertaining Seru as she veered into making crass offers. If she was accomplishing anything, it was just making him miss Hari''s far classier flirting. Perhaps Seru was just teasing him as a response to stress. Or she was having a religious experience. After all, she had asked him twice if he was sure he wasn''t an agent of Gygax. He was about 95% sure.


    The third problem was the big one. Seru was some sort of self promoter, and wanted to share them with the world. ¡°I always like, wanted to do journalism!¡± She said while snapping pictures of everyone and everything. Wick hid her face every time she saw she was getting filmed or a picture taken but Corvayne had heard Seru say that she had a million followers. He had already died once because they had got the wrong kind of attention. Now, someone was following them with the intent of effectively shooting up a signal flare to alert people to Corvayne and Wick. While waiting for the group the fifth time Wick and him had agreed on how they were going to handle the problem.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    That phone was going to take a long dive off a ledge before they finished the tower.


    Corvayne tried to pay attention to Jake again but the man was saying something like ¡°The interpersonal skills and tactical experience I have is...¡± It had been five minutes, so Corvayne just stopped listening to whatever Jake was accusing him of and spun and started walking for the next island. Wick somehow got her timing perfect to turn and walk right at his side. Mister I jogged up to his other side but the other four were always a distance behind.


    Wick said. ¡°You know, if he really wants to go it alone, we don''t have to stop him.¡±


    Mister I nodded. ¡°Sometimes you can''t stop a lamb from running into the wolf''s jaws.¡±


    Corvayne looked at the man. ¡°Aren''t you supposed to help everyone?¡±


    ¡°I''m the kind of monk who knows better then to carry the scorpion across the river!¡±


    They made their way up to the next floor after another hour of killing goblins. There were a few blessed minutes while the others stared at the night sky with the wrap-around effect and impossible number of shimmering stars. Corvayne spent an hour clearing out around the lake. The color-splattered headless dogs were familiar enough now that he could confidently run at groups of them and dispatch them before they could leap past him. Gary had taken a goblin spear and tried to fight a dog along with them near the end, forcing Mister I to use more gauze and disinfectant to deal with a large wound on his lower back before cooking up some of the monsters Corvayne had killed. The poor monk couldn''t catch a break. The moment he started prepping dinner for them Jake came up to ask Mister I if he was really going to eat dogs and if he had any idea what they were, if they had parasites or poison.


    Corvayne thought it was impossible for Icariii to get genuinely angry but one glance at the monk''s face as Jake grilled him made Corvayne append that. The monks true religion was the grill, it seemed, and in the face of blasphemy Mister I looked like he was snarling. He decided to let the Monk deal with Jake for a while. The problem Corvayne wanted to work on right now was leaning against a tree, trying not to let their tender butt touch the bark.


    Corvayne put his hands on the man''s shoulders and looked him in the eye. ¡°Dude.¡± That was how you level with someone, right? ¡°You''re going to run out of blood. Just guard the others back there with you if we miss something. Call out for help.¡±


    Gary laughed. ¡°It''s okay! Seru told me I''d get more EXP by training harder. The DM prevails. The dungeon provides, right? I feel lighter already.¡±


    Every time he heard the D1 word he felt his forehead throb with a slowly building headache. ¡°You feel lighter because you''re missing part of your butt that dog clawed off.¡± How did it even get behind him?!


    ¡°It''s okay! I''m pretty sure I hit level 2 now. You''ll remember this as the day you got your strongest disciple.¡±


    That word sent warning flares up in Corvayne''s mind. ¡°My strongest what?¡±


    ¡°Master Corvayne, I''m going to be a spearman like you. Train me like you were trained! I''m tough as hell, and I''m one of the highest ranked Dented Shield players in Cascadia, graduated top of my class at New Seattle Community College, and have over 300 confirmed kills in PVP on-¡±


    ¡°The only people I could hate enough to ever inflict my own training on are the same people who trained me.¡± Corvayne said, while creating a scene in his mind of the man who killed him getting his ass beaten by Mugs-Empty-Again to ''toughen him up''. It made him smile a little.


    ¡°Master Corvayne, I want to use weapon magic like you do, I can endure any suffering! This wound is nothing.¡± Gary looked like he was going to cry. ¡°Break every bone in my back if you have to!¡±


    That comment brought him back to seeing Lady Blood Claw get mangled by that monster. He turned to Gary.


    ¡°I would advise you to totally forget all this when you get home. Take up... making things for coffee tables as a hobby. Go hiking somewhere that doesn''t have swarms of monsters.¡±


    ¡°Master, I understand... you want to test my enthusiasm! I will kill a monster dog by myself!¡±


    Corvayne breathed in, held his breath, then breathed out. Calm. Stay calm. ¡°I will not take you as my disciple if you attempt to fight a dog alone.¡± Because you''d be dead, Gary.


    He thought being the only translator was bad. Hari and Mosh were a blessing. He''d hug them both when he saw them. They listened to what he said!


    As if summoned by his own thoughts to contrast Hari, Seru strolled up to him. ¡°Hey Corvayne, wanna go skinny dipping?¡±


    ¡°There are fish larger then you in the lake, so stay in the shallow area.¡± He didn''t bother turning to her and focused on a problem he might be able to handle. ¡°Don''t watch her, look at me. Now listen Gary, if you want to train, you can do it once we reach the village on floor three. I''ll at least show you the basics of the forms, how to do the spear dance which is a fancy name for stretches. But the key thing is that no matter if spearman says things like ''A spear always goes forward'' or ''the point will guide you'' or ''a spearhead is the front of an army'' what you really need to remember is that you use a spear to stay away from whatever your jabbing to death. Your job the next few fights is to stay a good distance away and focus on watching what I do when I''m not doing ''weapon magic'' as you call it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you mean like how you somehow run backwards at the same speed most people run forwards?¡± Gary had been paying some attention at least.


    ¡°I''m spending most a fight trading ground for cuts and jabs that will bleed my enemy out.¡± He nodded. ¡°When your leg heals, assuming we are still in here, you''ll start by jogging and doing drills with your feet while holding your stick.¡±


    ¡°Master yes! Thank you for teaching this worthless disciple!¡± Gary dropped to his knees to bow. ¡°Oww. The grounds kinda hard here Master Corvayne!¡±


    Corvayne''s eye twitched. ¡°Please don''t call me Master or use the... d word... it makes me feel really weird. Like I''m starting a religion or something.¡±


    Seru hadn''t actually gone away and her voice made him turn to her ¡°Don''t worry Corvayne, if I''m ever on my knees in front of you, it''s not worship.¡± She gave him an overblown wink. Corvayne sighed.


    ¡°I''m really not interested Seru. My goal coming in here was to gather my friends and now it''s getting you home.¡±


    ¡°You can come in here after you take me home.¡± She pointed to herself and laughed, then leaned into him pushing his shoulder.


    ¡°I don''t think you get it... I appreciate the thought but I''ve got my hands full as is.¡± Corvayne thought about how Hari at least had taken time to get to know him. The pushiness was the worst part. Take a hint!


    ¡°Hey, compared to Wick, I''d actually fill your hands.¡± She demonstrated by cupping her chest and making what he guessed was a duck face at him.


    ¡°Are you saying you don''t think Wick is... good enough for me?¡± Did he want to know? His job was to get her to the fifth floor. Do not get mad.


    Seru smiled and pushed her chest into his arm. ¡°Corvayne you are such a nice boyfriend but if she was really into you, she''d not like, totally give me the go-ahead to jump your bones. You could do WAY better, maybe she like, knows it?¡±


    ¡°I really love Wick.¡± He felt his teeth grinding a little. ¡°She is exactly what I want. I don''t want to sleep with you. Please get off me.¡± He pulled his arm away from her. Did this work on other people?


    Seru doubled down, rubbing her hand on his chest and laughing then lowered her voice. ¡°Well, I mean, she looks like a dork. She dresses like one too. You are a cut of meat, you know? She looks like the kinda person who brews potions for the real heroes. I mean, c''mon. What''s your story anyway? You know, I bet I can teach you a few tricks that your bookworm can''t. There''s a nice stretch of beach behind those rocks if you don''t mind a little sand.¡±


    Enough was Enough. Corvayne looked over at Seru. The smug look on her face sealed it. ¡°Say, you want to make me famous, right? With all those photos you took?¡±


    Seru''s voice went closer to normal. ¡°Yeah, dude! You could be a movie star. You guys are going to get some killer exposure.¡±


    If only you knew how killer. ¡°Can you show me some of the pictures you took?¡±


    She held the phone out. Corvayne plucked it from her, and used [Cross skill: Expert throw] to launch it far enough to fly off the platform. It was a nice toss in his estimation. Right up there in satisfaction with hearing the [Backstab] noise.


    Seru slapped him. ¡°What the FUCK!? That thing cost me 3000 credits!¡±


    ¡°It''s okay because Seru? You could do way better.¡± He couldn''t help but smile as he strolled away from her to get some monster meat.

 Chapter 44: More Than We Signed Up For

    [95.2%]


    Corvayne yawned and stretched, greeting the brightening yellow sky above their campsite. Outside the guard tower, he could see village ruins and lines of oddly colored pine trees. The third floor as always was cooler then the other floors they explored, but miles safer to rest at. He walked down the stairs where Mister I was sitting with Dave, a bald headed older man who was sharing coffee the monk had made. Corvayne took a seat by Mister I, who handed him a cup of chai tea.


    Dave was sitting calmly. He had added a cloak to his camo gear, the homespun fabric of it an odd juxposition with his cap. Corvayne was glad the older man was doing better: Mister I had been applying a prayer for mending and that had helped the man deal with his anxiety. Mister I also was leading him through meditation and quiet talks at the start and end of their day. It probably didn''t hurt they were camping away from the first two floors where packs of monsters were extremely common. Nor did it hurt that the large furry slugs on the third floor were absurdly weak. Corvayne wasn''t sure how why they hunted. He figured they probably ate moss off the bottom of the forest floor or bugs if it was based on a real animal.


    He looked at the group putting their gear on. He had gone to town to outfit their new... friends... in equipment after the first day. Dealing with the group wasn''t that bad aside from Seru. Wick had, after laughing at him, warned him that he had made a critical error with throwing her phone off into the abyss. His objective had been to remove both their likenesses from her inevitable info dump. He had no questions that the four ''normies'' would talk, with Dave being the only one who might not want to speak about this place. Corvayne wasn''t a psychopath so he rejected the idea of not helping them. It would probably be the same as personally cutting their throats when they slept. In doing so he had to accept they would tell tall tales about him and Wick. The problem with throwing the phone away was that it had caused some damaged part of Seru that wanted attention to make her pick fights with Corvayne then moments later hit on him even more brazenly.


    Gary, the guy Wick dubbed ''missing fedora'', had a lot to say about why treating Seru like garbage would just make him ''hotter'' to her. The entire thing sounded to him totally unhinged, as he was never lacking in attractive tormenters and the thought of seeing them again made him ill. He had started ordering Gary to do pushups whenever he got onto the subject of women. Between that and Gary''s fanatical attempts to follow Corvayne''s own warmup and emulate it meant that Mister I had to call for mending every day to deal with Gary hurting himself.


    That left him dealing with Seru still, who''s alternating between vague threats that he ''owed her'', and bumping into him on ''accident'' left him confused. She also had picked, of all things, a pair of spiked brass knuckles as her weapons. That was probably a calculated move to get hand to hand training from him. She especially wanted help with learning throws. He did have a moment of sublime satisfaction from her response to getting completely splattered by goblin blood when she got her first kill. It wasn''t unusual for a person to have a melt down after the first time they ended something''s life. Of course, it wasn''t remorse that she killed a living creature, it was that she had done so in the grossest way possible. Then she flipped and demanded Corvayne help her bathe.


    The entire weird display made him miss Hari more, as at least the elf could act like a normal person in public. He owed the elf a better effort, and hoped she was okay. He wasn''t as worried about her party now. They had killed enough goblins on the first floor that even if she had lost her memory and wandered back in, there wouldn''t be an army to distract them. He had to trust they could keep each other safe if he somehow didn''t spot them.


    On the opposite side from Seru was Jake. Jake had maybe dialed back to thinking there was a fifty-fifty shot he should be calling the shots rather then second-guessing every decision Corvayne made. Corvayne had used some of the spare gold they had found in chests on the first floors to outfit Jake with a blade, wood shield, and leather armor including helmet, shoulder pads, chest piece, gloves, and boots. That was at Jake''s request and made sense to Corvayne: Jake wanted to take charge, and in order to sway the three people who he came in with it meant putting his blade where his mouth was. Despite not liking the man at first Corvayne had to admit he at least was willing to spar every day to try to get better with his sword and shield. It also seemed that fighting Corvayne in a fair fight with training weapons had reinforced why Corvayne had told them over and over if they tried to escape on their own they''d die to the strong monsters that were blocking the exit.


    That lead him to thinking about an observation Wick made the previous night. All four of them were getting better at an absurd rate with their chosen weapons. They were not stopping nearly as many times for breaks, and they were getting better at marching between floors. Seru had converted Gary to the Gygaxian thought process that they were getting stronger because they were ''leveling up''. They were crazy but it meant he had two people totally fine with roaming the first floor killing goblins. Jake and Dave were both ready to leave but had yet to try to up and leave on their own. He figured the first floor was safe enough now they could travel to the top floor, unload everyone, then walk out and back in to wait for their friends.


    Jake''s last sore point, shared in various degrees by the others, were accusations of hording magic items. Which, to be fair, he was. He knew where the chests were, and was going to use the gear to both to pull them out of the dungeon and for a long time into the future.


    He, Wick, and Mister I agreed not to share any loot pulled from the ghosts and stolen from under a dragon''s nose. Some of it he earmarked for Hari again, the book especially. The previous day he had taken Wick and Mister I across the bridge to the creepy ruined castle, leaving the four alone at camp. The first challenge in the ruins, a city square full of ghosts, he emulated his original fight where he gathered them up and used [Light Cut] and [Cross Skill: Soul Reaper] to repeat the interaction that caused [Combo: Soul Nova] to go off. For getting the second chest, he roamed the streets and fought a dozen of the weird tent-wearing corpse guards. The boots of running made things so much simpler as he could bait them into coming after him to a safe spot using [Cross Skill: Whirling Axe]. On the first one he fought he tried to activate the combo again but it didn''t stick. Perhaps it needed something weak to [Soul Reaper] for the interaction to work? Wick''s [Disrupt] and Mister I learning [Double shot] were a huge help in picking the guards off. The monk was pretty happy about his new skill as well. He was overjoyed he could kill twice as many animals with the same number of arrows! He might have been in a better mood because he got the chess board without having to negotiate with Mosh.


    Sneaking the items out of the dead dragon''s treasure chest was the most dangerous part, but with boots of running on and the cleaver in hand he was pretty sure he could fight the dragon again and win. It was moot as the thing didn''t wake up, so he now had the magma knife and his wood-looking chain mail shirt out of there. The armor was nice, but the knife he had earmarked earlier. It essentially summoned a volcano inside whatever it stuck so he was going to save that for the monk that had killed him. One thing that he noted when looting those chests was the force shield was missing. Did the monk destroying it have some sort of weird time ripple effect? Annoying.


    Anyway, they hadn''t left their charges completely without loot. The undead tent monsters had a wicked looking spear that Corvayne gave to Gary, a serrated blade for Jake, and a large mace that Seru took. Letting them take some gold and silver just meant that Corvayne wouldn''t have to carry as much stuff as him, Wick, and Mister I were already overburdened from guard gear. The rest of the loot including 2 huge swords, another cleaver, a mace, a battle axe and three nasty looking polearms. That he didn''t have to make more than one trip with over two hundred pounds of weapons bound in a bundle on his back made him realize he was stronger than even a few years ago when they made him run around the wall with a hundred and fifty pounds of stones in his pack. In typical Watcher style, everyone else on that run was given a normal backpack.


    Corvayne had told the newbies anything they wanted to carry from the pile of weapons was their loot, and he''d haul the rest down to floor one later. He was left with a glaive that was possibly too big for him, a battle axe, and a two handed sword. At least, until Seru handed him her spare weapon back, as did Gary with a billhook. Even the allure of possibly magical items faded when you had to haul them all over.


    Breakfeast pulled him back to attention. It was eggs, cheese, slug steaks, and bread. The good food helped everyone''s mood. Even the ever-sour Jake had changed his tune on monster meals, praising on Mister I while also slyly asking the Monk if he could get a course in butchering and cooking monsters.


    Wick looked at him, and he nodded. The loot was a pretty good token of goodwill, and they had secured all the stuff they needed from earlier floors. It was time to move on.


    Corvayne danced around another barrage of steel cables, the stray branches lashing the floor with sparks as he activated [Juxtapose] than switched to the freezing short sword as he leapt onto the bark back of the vine-tree. The monster could still hit him, but the vines were weaker if he was too close, and it''s sensory organs, embedded in the bark, were at the front of the monster. Each [Backstab] froze sap in the monster, cracking parts of it until finally it died. Corvayne stepped back, a few minor cuts marking the group clearing the last of the guardians of the stairway out. In a few moments, he would deliver the four to the exit and could explore in peace.


    Corvayne had lead them up through the river and into the weird steel jelly floor. His reasoning was that they had a rifle this time and could attack and lure trees out, whereas the other route they took had a much more dangerous fourth floor. In practice, the monsters were huge walking walls of wood. [Disrupt] and rifle shots could take one down with five minutes of combined fire, but they needed someone to hack the monsters apart if they were not going to run circles around everything. With his boots of running Corvayne was able to pull close to the trees and mangle them with enchanted weapons. Some very firm herding prevented any trap related injuries. To be honest, Corvayne was pleased they had reached the dragon with their entire team alive. Corvayne walked up the stairs into the waiting room. This time, ghostly images of a woman adventurer with a crossbow stood addressing a group of knights. The dreary office space was a little different this time: there were lots and lots of the same potted plant all over the place, and a window to an outside that looking like an endless rainy city could be seen, the streets entirely underwater under the dark grey skies. He looked at the group that Wick kept calling ''the normies'' and tried to stay positive.


    ¡°All right, one more time. This area lead to a dragon last time. We have a rooftop to run around on. There''s two areas where the roof is higher, everyone but me is going to clump by them. If the dragon comes after you, just play keep away until I can get it back to fighting me. When you see the dragon get up on the roof, you want to be out of sight of it, the thing can fan fire impossibly far and wide. I gave Wick a weapon that can help ward it. If you''re caught out, try to get behind her. Any questions?¡±


    ¡°How did you know all this stuff, like where this place was, and the dragon?¡± Seru asked while chewing gum.


    ¡°Because we''ve been here before. Weeks ago.¡± Corvayne shrugged. ¡°Next?¡±


    Jake raised his hand as he was already speaking. ¡°What if you die?¡±


    Corvayne smiled. ¡°Well, then keep the dragon busy and hope Wick can kill it before it burns you to death.¡±


    Gary shot his hand up. ¡°Can I help you?¡±


    Corvayne smiled harder. ¡°Help me by keeping the dragon away from your group with your spear.¡±


    Dave raised a shaking hand. ¡°How big is the dragon? Is there something else we can fight?¡±


    Corvayne felt his smile strain. ¡°Like I said... It''s way more dangerous than it''s size suggests. It''s like a very large dog sized flamethrower.¡±


    Seru raised a hand while bumping her chest out. ¡°Can we have a quickie in the bathroom since we might die?¡±


    Corvayne bit his lip. Don''t give her attention. ¡°Let''s kill this thing then you guys can use the restrooms at the park to do whatever you want. Without me. Sky''s the limit.¡±


    He walked into the double doors, the drab office in a ruined city giving way to the vertigo lights of not-Cascadia. Corvayne stretched a little as he walked forward, then made sure everyone was inside as the dragon jumped up and roared.


    Seru pointed at the dragon. ¡°Ahahah he''s so tiny!¡±


    Corvayne lept forward as the dragon landed on the ground. He immediately used [Flow-Like-Water] when the dragon started moving to land a few glancing blows but switched to his cleaver as the monster overshot where he was, spewing fire into empty air. Corvayne then activated [Butchery], the blue metal cleaver slamming down into the dragon''s back trailing a phantom wake of blood.


    Sometimes, Corvayne reflected as he lopped the dragon''s back leg off, a plan fell apart in a good way. That''s what he was thinking when he heard a second roar from the rooftop they came into.


    Corvayne frowned. Why were there two dragons? ¡°Uh oh.¡±


    Gary yelled as a yellow dragon, also the side of a large dog, landed on the ground with a cloud of dust right by him. The first thing the dragon did was tail-slap the poor man into the side of the building.


    Wick ran forward and pivoted, blasting the monster with [Disrupt]. Corvayne couldn''t pay attention to the other one just yet: he had to leap over an tail sweep then use [Butchery] on the monster when it started spreading it''s wings.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Oh no you DONT!¡±


    The dragon snaked it''s neck back and seared his arm as he used [Cross skill: Flows-Like-Water] to hit it with the back of the cleaver as he moved away from the crippled monster to rush to Jake''s aid. The yellow dragon had a bowling ball sized bone orb stuck on it''s tail, and charged the man''s shield with it''s horns then knocked him over with a tail strike. Dave in a panic had tripped running from it. Seru actually ran in and punched it in the side of the face, and the monster staggered for a moment. Corvayne was there and sank his cleaver deep into the back of the monster with [Butchery] before he had to pull it out and roll to avoid being brained by the club. The monster squared up with Seru and Dave then opened it''s mouth.


    Corvayne used [Cross Skill: Shield bash] and slammed into the monster''s face, diverting what looked like a mouthful of steaming mud that started eating through the floor. Seru started screaming as part of it got on her arm.


    The other dragon meanwhile was starting to take deep breaths. Corvayne willed his shadow hand to give him a two handed blade off his bundle, and passing it to his hands while grabbing the cleaver. Holding the huge sword at his side, Corvayne used [Cross Skill: Draw], feeling something awaken as he brought the blade to bear, swinging and scoring a wound on the yellow dragon''s side. He then used [Cross Skill: Shadow step] onto the green dragon, feral desire to fight and destroy fighting with a sort of frantic control he needed to use [Cross Skill: Shield bash] on the monster''s cheek, spinning it to unleash a lethal fan into the building rather than Corvayne, then using [Cross Skill: Sheath the Blade] as he put the huge weapon back to his side, the hunger to fight like a beast requiring him to bite his lip as he gasped for breath then pulled out his spear. There was a click and the green dragon started spraying blood and screetching. No time to gloat, the Yellow dragon had gored Jake and was now lining up Wick to try to bath her in acid. Wick ran behind a corner of the building and the dragon started running after her, barfing a trail of sticky brown acid. Corvayne ran the other way and as Wick came around the little building he used [Juxtapose] with her, pushing her a few feet away as the monster, still dribbling acid, skidded to a halt and breathed in.


    Corvayne had a choice. He could move easily off to the side, but Dave was directly behind him. He put his arms in front of his face and got punched by what felt like a bag of wet laundry fired out of a cannon. Then it started to burn. Corvayne knew he was screaming but he dug his feet in, acid splattering down his body and leaving a trail of pure pain.


    The monster had started to move past him, perhaps figuring that Corvayne was as good as dead. He felt the pain lessen as something like water ran down his body, taking most of his clothing from his chest down with it, but cleaning away the acid.


    The pain was maddening, and he was still screaming, but Corvayne had a lifetime of pain. His shadow hand handed him his cleaver, and he activated [Butchery] first on the monster''s tail, the swift blue blade chopping right through it. The monster let out a horrible whine, and turned to him. He didn''t wait for another gout of acid as he grabbed the severed tail and whipped it up and into the monster''s face. Then with his cleaver, he swung down again. [Butchery] Sliced through a horn and part of the monster''s cheek. It started to spew acid but he used his other hand to bring the morning-star like tail down, slamming the things head into the ground where it started choking on it''s own acid vomit.


    Corvayne didn''t stop, slamming the tail down on it''s head over, and over, and over, and over, each impact jarring his arm, sending waves of pain down his body. It was only when he was sure it''s skull was totally destroyed did he stop. The other dragon was still as well, his massive use of stamina proving worth it. Wick let her wand fall. She had been blasting it too. Seru was alive, holding her arm and crying. Dave was pushing himself away from Corvayne, looking terrified. Jake was clutching his chest, and Mister I was helping him with Mending. Gary was looking at him in awe, arm danging uselessly at his side. He looked down at himself, covered in dragon blood, skin peeling and melted. His backpack would need new straps for his waist. Oh. He needed everything aside from new boots. Somehow the boots of running were unharmed.


    Wick smirked. ¡°Your dicks hanging out.¡±


    Corvayne smirked back at her then passed out.


    He woke in the same storm-scoured hill covered in thorns that seemed to call him whenever he killed an exit guardian. Pillars towering over him, this time he didn''t immediately sit up. He didn''t feel pain here, and wanted to just take a moment before he had to deal with his body trying to heal being melted by acid. That and he wasn''t wearing pants.


    The weird lightning wraith, in the same tone, spoke then. ¡°NOT READY.¡± then blasted off. Yeah yeah. Cool. From now on, the tall lightning monster was dubbed Sparky until it told him something besides that he wasn''t ready.


    Corvayne stood up, and looked. Something new this time: in the middle of his landing hill was a red floating orb. Oh yeah, it had crawled its way into his skin before. Odd. He pushed himself up and went over to it. Touching it, he felt a weird warm feeling, like something alive. It felt friendly though, so he decided not to get too worried. He wished he had a clue what any of the stuff in here was. He still hadn''t figured out what the last gate he stepped through did for him. Or if it did anything. He reviewed the gates. Ah, the wood one was back, with a magnifying glass. Maybe a set of investigation skills? Or he could wrestle with thorns and get the power to zoom his vision in. Then again, there was the stone gate with a man running... if it was something that made him run faster, he could give Wick the boots.


    An idle thought crossed his mind: what happened if he just walked through one of the already open gates? It was worth a shot. Maybe he''d make his shadowy hands stronger? He didn''t have a coin to flip, so he took his spear (which was there, even though the rest of his pack wasn''t) and stood it up on it''s point. He noticed he was wearing pants, which then flicked into damaged gear when he thought about it. Was he half naked or not here? Make up your mind! Anyway, he spun the spear like a top. For a half second it twirled in the dirt, then wobbled and fell over. The back of the spear pointed to the somewhat imposing obsidian door with a billion thorns around it, while the front pointed at the open door swirling with shadows.


    He stepped through the already open door, and woke up in searing pain. He fumbled for his pack and drank a healing potion, then looked around. Mister I was tending to injuries. The only person totally fine was Wick. Mister I had put a floral print button up shirt over him. He reached into his pack and pulled out a spare pair of pants. It seemed his pack would need some new straps, boots were fine, his cloak was totally fine which surprised him a little. His shirt was ruined but she was going to drag him shopping anyway after they got out.


    Wick looked around. ¡°I''m going to go ahead and grab the cooler before they get ideas.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡±


    She headed through the doors. Corvayne stood. ¡°Mister I, can we get everyone out of here?¡±


    ¡°Soon. I fixed Gary''s arm but he needs to lay off it a while. Seru''s arm was really badly burnt by acid, I gave her some medicine for pain. Dave was shaken and a little hurt but he''ll be okay once we are out of here. I took one of our potions for Jake... the monster partially disemboweled him. I had to push guts in then apply some topically... somehow he says he feels fine. I still told him to go to his doctor and get an X-ray.¡±


    ¡°You''re a real Doctor Icarriii.¡±


    The man laughed, a hint of pain in his eyes. ¡°Sadly Corvayne, I lack the most important part of being a real doctor, as you''d say.¡±


    Corvayne looked at Mister I. ¡°What don''t you have?¡±


    ¡°A large bank account!¡± The pain was mirth. Oh.


    ¡°Do no harm, unless it would taste good smoked?¡±


    Mister I laughed and elbowed Corvayne, which caused him to spasm in pain due to the fact his skin was still a mangled mess of acid seared flesh.


    Jake walked over, still rubbing his ribs. He looked, tired? ¡°Hey Corvayne... I gotta apologize. You''re a damn good fighter and now I get why you took all the stuff.¡±


    ¡°It''s fine. If I was a better leader, I might have expected the tower to throw something new at me. Tell you what, there''s something you can do to make us square.¡±


    Jake nodded. ¡°What''s that?¡±


    ¡°Help drag these dragon bodies out of here and into Mister I''s truck.¡±


    With Gary helping and Dave looking sick at the idea of touching either blood soaked body, Corvayne tugged the dragon bodies into the next area, the same camp ground with a pair of coolers. Wick was sitting at a picnic bench looking through them.


    Corvayne''s second pack had made it through the acid bath he took. He set down a bunch of the weapons he''d been hauling around to the newbies to take to the truck or steal, keeping only the two handed sword and battle axe. Wick was making stacks of cash as well.


    Corvayne glanced into the cooler. ¡°Did it give us money this time too?¡±


    ¡°We''ll go over the loot later.¡± Wick waved him away and started pushing wads of cash into hands.


    Mister I got Gary, Jake, and Dave made a stretcher for the dragons using spare polearms and Mister I''s tarp. After the finished he gestured to the path out. ¡°Good news! This leads out to the parking lot.¡±


    As they dragged the tarp down the gravel path and vanished, Seru walked up to Corvayne and Wick.


    ¡°Hey like... you like still owe me for a phone.¡±


    Wick handed her a wad of cash. Corvayne gave her a handful of gold coins.


    ¡°That should do it. Have a great life Seru.¡± Corvayne waved.


    ¡°Uh nice try. This is the story of a life time! I wanna interview you two!¡±


    Wick looked at her. ¡°I thought you just posted pictures of expensive stuff you bought online.¡±


    ¡°Yes. But I really wanted to be an investigative reporter! And this is the most interesting thing I''ve ever seen!¡±


    Wick sighed. ¡°No deal. Go home, maybe show off that you can use [Judo Throw].¡± Wick put the second cooler down on a table and opened it up. She pulled out... a cell phone covered in pink stickers. Seru was fast enough to grab it right out of Wick''s hands.


    ¡°It''s mine? Oh it''s mine! Cool! Haha!¡±


    Wick stood up. ¡°You idiot! If you post a bunch of stuff about this, you might literally kill all of us!¡±


    Seru stuck her tongue out. ¡°Ha! That''s like, a little kid threat! I like you guys, and the whole world will too.¡± Corvayne walked over to pluck the phone out of her hands. Seru put it in her purse and smiled at him. He summoned all his diplomacy.


    ¡°Seru, listen, Wick''s not lying. If you want to post about this, fine, but you have to scrub us out of your story.¡±


    ¡°It''s not fine!¡± Wick fumed.


    ¡°Ok. I will not post a thing... if you dump her and be my boyfriend.¡± Seru folded her arms.


    Corvayne sighed. ¡°Is there something that we can actually do that will convince you to not publish?¡± He glanced back at Wick, who looked furious. Was she mad at him for not just playing along? Or at her for suggesting it?


    Seru started laughing. ¡°Even the tower gave the phone back! It''s like the church of Gygax says: The Dungeon provides. How funny, all those hours wasted on Sundays and it was all real! Ok, give me all your gold and cash, and I''ll not publish anything related to you.¡±


    Wick''s eye was twitching. ¡°You venomous little shit!¡± she hissed.


    Seru held up a finger and did a little head bob. ¡°Excuse me bitch! You were totally looking down on us the entire time! I can tell.¡±


    Corvanye folded his arms. De-escalate. ¡°Would you agree to not publish if we did something for you like, save your life?¡±


    Seru turned to him. ¡°But you would have done that anyway.¡±


    ¡°Yes. You are correct. Instead of just screwing you over, we chose to help you four survive.¡±


    ¡°But you HAVE to help people who are like, in trouble!¡± Seru''s shoulders moved up a little as she held her hands up. ¡°And you can''t do something good and then say ''you owe me'' and have it still be good!¡±


    Corvayne ignored whatever Wick was trying to signal at him, focusing on staying calm. ¡°Okay. So we are asking for you to help us, and you''re demanding money so you don''t publish and we don''t die. What does that say about you Seru?¡±


    ¡°You guys are making that up, like, cmon!¡±


    Corvayne took a deep breath. He noted that Wick was inching closer and willed her to stop. If Wick attacked Seru, what was the endgame there? Her only crime was being, well, a little stupid and a little greedy. Corvayne wouldn''t murder her, and if Wick tried to... He had to trust she wouldn''t. He had to make sure she wasn''t put in a place where they had to hurt an innocent person. Mostly innocent.


    ¡°You know what? We''ll give you the rest of the money and gold, for the phone.¡± He pulled out a wad of cash.


    Seru started to reach for the money and stopped. ¡°You know what dude? Let''s not do any trading. It''s my phone! It''s like my arm. Uh... okay, I know you''re not happy with that, but look, I need this, okay?¡± He wasn''t doing anything, but she had started stepping back away from him. ¡°Look, we are all adults here...¡±


    Wick dove for her, and managed to bowl the larger girl over. Seru still had her knuckles on but Wick was, somehow, strong enough to pin her down.


    ¡°Corvayne! FUCK Corvayne! Grab the damn phone!¡±


    ¡°World''s oldest profession...¡± he reached into Seru''s bag and got the phone. Then Seru somehow pushed Wick off hard enough to send her flying, her robe activating and slowing her enough to land safely, if not gracefully.


    Seru turned and ran down a gravel path out of the clearing. Wick spat out grass. ¡°That fucking little snitch is going to have a dozen kill-monks ramming staves through our guts in a week!¡±


    Corvayne ran up to her and picked up the purse. ¡°Wick, We can''t...¡±


    Her arm shot out and grabbed his. ¡°We are NOT killing that dipshit. No matter how much you want to.¡±


    He smiled at her and helped her up as he shook his head. ¡°I really love that we''re on the same page. No, I mean, I really hate that I''m going to save her ass. Can I get some potions out of the cooler, and one of the fire breathing daggers if they packed them?¡±


    Wick looked confused. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    He gestured at the trail Seru ran down. Next to the gap in the woods a nice brown wood sign with yellow letters that read ''Floors 6-10''.

 Chapter 45: Asking the Right Questions

    Wick looked at Corvayne, the purse and phone that Seru left behind in his hands, and then the trail she ran down.


    ¡°We can''t chalk this one up to her own dumb fault?¡± Wick muttered.


    ¡°I don''t really like any of these people, but dealing with them just emphasizes that the love I feel for you, Grunt, Hari, Icariii, and even Mosh is well earned.¡±


    ¡°Ok. I''m going to call Grunt outside, and have Mister I drive home, pick him up, and drive us back. It''s going to take hopefully less than four hours, plus whatever time it takes us to run this dungeon again. Can you find her and keep her alive near the entrance to the sixth floor for a day?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I love you Wick. Take her phone.¡± He tossed it to Wick.


    ¡°Keep it! If we take it outside, there''s a chance it just syncs to her cloud and she gets all the pictures. Just toss it into lava or a lake or something.¡±


    He turned to go up the trail but Wick grabbed him and hugged him, then kissed him before pushing him at the trail.


    The sixth floor opened up into what looked like Cascadia''s suburbs. It was a hilly neighborhood under a rainy amber sky, with grayish painted houses on dark orange-red paved streets, and light gray sidewalks. It seemed that there were folds where the angle of the island changed. The best way he could process it was compare it to a piece of paper that the suburb was built on, then someone took started the process of making a paper frog out of it, then unfolded it halfway. As with the other entrances to floors this one was given a nice view from atop a hill. He could see that the weird geometry of the suburb seemed to bend and twist everything into a sort of half-pipe shape. There was no sign of Seru yet, but a dirt trail lead down to the streets.


    He first checked the hilltop, to make sure the woman wasn''t in the bushes. He noted the floor entrance was a doorway like the one on the first floor, and it also was shut and refused to budge when pushed. It showed the same pictograph the other exit doors had of glowing orange figure walking up five stairs to a door. Annoying that he couldn''t just get her and pull her back to the exit. No sign of Seru up top. He glanced down then spotted her running while looking behind her near the foot of the hill. He really wanted to sit down before he got into some sort of chase but he couldn''t let her charge into a pack of monsters alone. So he started to sprint after her, his body heavy as he ran.


    ¡°Wait!¡± he called out. She kept running down the street, stumbling. He would have out ran her without the boots, with them pushing him forward it was only a few more moments before she turned and put her fists up, eyes red with tears.


    ¡°Don''t come any closer! Please! Leave me alone! I won''t talk! I swear!¡±


    Corvanye looked around. He didn''t see them yet, but he heard a buzzing noise. He drew his spear. She screamed, but Corvayne yelled. ¡°Monsters!¡± loud enough that she stopped screaming. He then gestured to one of the nearby homes. Down here, he could see they were covered in graffitti. ¡°Go hide on a porch! Now!¡±


    She looked confused, but Corvayne was watching as a pack of five small plastic droplets with dual propellers flew over the houses and started charging at him. He could see tiny guns on the drones, and he took his cloak and tossed it over Seru. The fabric changed colors and the drones as one locked into attack formations aimed at him.


    ¡°Stay hidden, or you''ll get shot.¡± Corvayne spoke and, as if to prove him right, felt a sharp slap on his arm. It stung like crazy, but it was a small bullet and looked like it was silver. Corvayne started to run in a zig-zag, the sound of pellets hitting the ground beside him louder than the soft plops of the guns firing them. Corvayne got hit in the leg too, but the flying drones seemed to have run out of bullets after about twenty shots and neither wound was deep. He readied his spear and used [Cross skill: Whirling Axes] to fire off a ghostly spinning spear. It blew one of them out of the sky, scattering it into a cloud of plastic and metal. Corvayne then had the four others charging him, attempting to slash him with their propellers. Despite still hurting from the dragon fight, he stepped into the oncoming formation.


    [Flows-Like-Water] let him swim through the swarm that was trying to fly through him. He jabbed out twice, one hitting a propeller mount and flinging the robot onto the pavement, another breaking the casing with a shower of sparks, then he turned and rammed the back of his spear into the third and knocked it out of the sky. The fourth dive bombed him but he used [Juxtapose] and harmlessly shifted it so it smashed into the ground. Two quick jabs later and all five robots were dead. The smell of burned out circuit boards wafted from the more intact ones.


    Corvayne himself was huffing now and leaned on his spear a moment while he turned to look for Seru. He was concerned she had taken his cloak and ran again but no, she was hiding under it on the street. He heard soft sobbing.


    Corvayne walked up the cloak covered girl, crouched by her, and offered his hand. ¡°Hey, Seru, can you come out?¡±


    ¡°You''re going to kill me.¡± She whimpered.


    ¡°No. I wouldn''t need to talk to you if I was planning to do that.¡± Corvayne felt blood dribbling out of the small bullet holes in him, and the acid burns had moved from raw pain to post-healing hurting and itching. He really wanted to break into a house and see if they had a working bath. Or fall on a lawn. Not yet. There was work to be done, and he been through worse.


    ¡°Wick''s going to kill me.¡± Seru said with a sniffle, pulling the cloak back enough to peek out at him.


    ¡°No, we don''t operate like that. Your phone is in trouble, but we''re going to do everything we can to get you home alive.¡± He really wished she would just take his hand so they could get to cover. Or so he could put it down.


    ¡°I was going to fuck you guys over.¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡± Corvayne breathed in, then breathed out. ¡°I''m pretty hard to rile up, and I''m guessing you have a reason you want to break this big story so bad. Cmon, let''s get out of the open.¡±


    She finally accepted his hand and he pulled her to her feet, to the protest of his own legs. Her makeup was running, which made him wonder if she put makeup on every day the last week they had been killing goblins. He took his cloak back, and slung it over his shoulder. She meekly followed as he walked across the trimmed grass lawn into the shadow of a porch with a swing-couch on it. The pillows were teal red and blue plant patterns. Did the dungeon stitch them to match the plants?


    He knocked on the door then used a hand to lean against the frame. No response after a minute. Seru crouched down and lifted the ''Welcome!'' mat and produced a key.


    Corvayne stopped her from leading the way inside after she unlocked the door with a squeeze on her shoulder. ¡°I''ll go first. If it''s clear, we''ll hole up here and wait for our friends to arrive. I have Wick pulling backup.¡±


    The interior of the house was dark. The walls were wood or wall paper, with dark thick carpet glazed with a layer of dust. There were furnishings covered in dusty plastic tarp. Corvayne lead spear point first. He called out ¡°Hello? Anyone home?¡± as he walked through the living room to a kitchen. The age of the fixtures and everything reminded him a lot of the community center.


    ¡°This looks like a retro home, something built before space travel.¡± She paused. ¡°Like, Hundreds of years old.¡± Seru added.


    ¡°Makes as much sense as finding a medieval village out in the monster infested woods.¡±


    Stepping through the kitchen he stopped to try a faucet. Water spilled out, first gray with dust then eventually a clear stream. He turned it off. Good, with his purifier they could stay for weeks even with minimal food.


    Corvayne checked the entire home, starting with the ground floor then moving upstairs to abandoned bedrooms with plastic covered beds, then down creaking steps into a basement. Corvayne looted a toolbox and also checked if there was any power on the fuses. He was a little shocked when flipping a switch brought the furnace online. Then again, Kings Crossing back on the third floor didn''t really make sense as a village... why were there roads if there were no travelers? Who was pumping power into homes that looked to be totally empty? More importantly, what else besides drones would this floor throw at them? The last question was one that he''d be sure to get an answer for.


    ¡°Seru, I''m going to go outside and hunt. I mean, thin out anything hostile, and see if I can find food here. I''m going to make a big arrow or do something else that points to this house so Wick and company comes for us, but it might be a whole day until they get here. So I want you to secure this place as best you can. Do your best with a flashlight, okay?¡±


    He turned away but felt her hand grasp his arm, tugging near enough a bullet hole to make him wince a little. ¡°No! You can''t leave me alone!¡±


    He gently removed her hand and put his on her shoulders to look her in the eyes. She looked like a lost puppy, so he tried to sound supportive, sort of like how Diamonds-in-Passing spoke to other trainees. ¡°You got those fists right? You''re more than a match. Also, I''m not going too far from here, and I''ll help you barricade the doors. I''m going to need you to take the tools and find some wood and nails we can use to secure the doors. We''ll stick to going in and out the front door. So for now, lock the doors, pick a room to sleep in. I''m not going far enough that I won''t hear something going on, so if something scary happens, just make a lot of noise and I''ll be right back.¡±


    By the end of him talking she was nodding. Corvayne went downstairs and checked the garage attached to the home out. One car, covered in dust. No obvious monsters as he circled it. He shut the door, then called upstairs. ¡°The garage is clear too. It looks like there''s some old boards in there. I''m going out the front, I''ll be back inside an hour.¡±


    Cloak on and over his head, he locked the door behind him, then spent a moment pulling the silver bullets out of himself. He kept one in his pocket, silver was silver after all. He tried not to eye the swing-couch next to him on the porch. He had to keep moving for a while yet, and resting outside with the drones was off the table. He stepped off the porch and started his search.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    The neighborhood was quiet. No birds, just wind and the pitter-patter of rain. Good weather to sleep to. Just not yet. He started with the homes on the block. Half of them had keys somewhere by the front door, or under conspicuous fake rocks, even a pile of plastic dog poop. The homes were very similar, and empty of threats. Checking in their fridges he found they were empty, though he did fine some dried beans and an unopened package of rice in a cupboard. He was really hoping for chests or an exit back down to five that would circumvent the locked door, if there were such stairways, or an exit to floor 7. If push came to shove, he''d prefer to wait on a stairway where he was sure there would be no surprises.


    Leaving the seventh house he heard buzzing again and crouched on a porch, his cloak melding his shape to blend in with the manic scrawls of graffiti. He knew it did something that made machines not see him as well or at all, so he felt pretty safe watching a flight of five drones meet up with another flight, then swivel around the pile of destroyed parts he had left in the street, then fan out in ten different directions. Corvanye felt himself frown.


    That was behavior that suggested more intelligence than the opponents he''d faced on lower floors. He wished he had a bow so he could quietly kill scouts. Also, with a bow he could probably fire it while sitting down or at least while taking a knee.


    He was about to enter his tenth house when he heard popping noises that suggested a gun fight down a few blocks. He jogged that way, clipping through yards and bounding over short fences as his cloak shimmered colors. He came up to a house and slowed, then peeked his head around the side.


    Six drones, with two down, were blasting what looked like a two headed corpse. A different kind of undead. It seemed to be frustrated, grabbing parts of downed drones and flinging it, attempting to stop a barrage of silver bullets. Each hit actually lit the corpse on fire a little until finally it''s legs gave out and it fell apart. The drones swarmed around the remains of the corpse, spraying it with something that caused it to ignite with green fire, then they flew off. Well, that was interesting.


    He crept back the way he came, and visited a final house. Breaking in and heading to the kitchen, he opened a few drawers and smiled. He pulled out a few fancy spoons and a serving tray that were actual silver. This time, he''d not walk into Cascadia with an empty wallet! Not that he had a wallet, yet. He had a little time left before an hour was up, so he headed up to the bedrooms in the last house and scoured them for jewelery. It wasn''t magical gear, but it was a few more credits in a pinch.


    He returned and Seru had cleaned out a bedroom and started boarding windows up. He advised her to cover the window with a black garbage bag first so there were no signs someone had boarded the windows up. Corvayne helped her with nailing doors shut with wood stops, then went into the garage and found some spray paint cans that still worked. One set was a nice shade of yellow too. Actually, given all the grafitti on the houses, it sort of made sense that there was a lot of spray paint. He went outside, then thought about it: If he painted an arrow, would the drones know or report back to someone that there was obviously a house that something pointed to? Ah. He painted a yellow diamond on the door, then next to it. A lot of yellow diamonds. He went back inside and followed hammering to a side door then let Seru know he''d be gone for about five minutes after scrounging and finding a working pen, paper, and a nail. It was raining, so he had to walk back inside and find a paper bag.


    The drones could see things, but they didn''t have fingers. Any undead, especially one mindlessly trying to claw at something flying away from it, wouldn''t notice the paper, nor the diamonds mixed in with graffiti. He wrote a note, explaining where they were going to hole up, folded it, put WICK in big letters on it, put it in a clear bag, then dashed to the entrance and found a nice obvious tree to nail it to, then used paint to draw an arrow pointing to it on the trunk of the tree.


    Back inside the house, he moved a plaid sofa over and put a floral print chair on it to block the front door, then got working on his real ultimate goal: getting the water heater working. Once more, he owed Spaces-Torn-Asunder a huge debt for pushing Corvayne to learn machines. He only had to fiddle with a few knobs to turn it on and get water flowing through it.


    He kept his footfalls loud to make sure to not startle Seru, who was checking through clothes in an upstairs bedroom. She must have decided enough was enough with her now filthy workout clothes, torn jacket, and medieval worker garb backup.


    She startled a little when he cleared his throat. Corvayne pretended not to notice. ¡°Good news. I got the hot water working. I''m going to make some rice and beans if you want to get cleaned up first.¡±


    She moved next to the bed. ¡°I''m going to ask you something, and I know it''s totally stupid to bring it up... Are you really not going to get mad at me, like, at all?¡± Seru folded her arms. ¡°I''d rather you tell me exactly how you feel than blow up.¡±


    Corvayne thought for a half second and shrugged. ¡°I am mad at you. You ignore people who tell you to stop doing things they don''t agree to. Flirting with me was one example. It''s odd you think I''m attractive and that might have been part of why Jake was so eager to try to second guess me all the time. Otherwise? I should have spoken to you about the phone instead of provoking you.¡±


    What else? Corvayne held up a finger. ¡°I also really love Wick. She has faults, but bad mouthing her makes me angry.¡±


    ¡°So you like glasses?¡± Seru sat down on the bed, crossing her fur lined boots. Corvayne stopped himself from looking at the tights she was wearing. Could he just get a break? From himself too.


    ¡°Oh no. Those glasses in particular are ugly as hell. I mean, it''s more that Wick makes things happen, she''s entertaining, she''s smart. I mean, I''m also a little angry that you were on board with doing something that would lead to our eventual deaths.¡± Corvayne realized he was sort of looming over her and stepped back and sat in a chair covered in plastic, making crunchy noises as he settled in and felt his body lose tension that he hadn''t noticed he had.


    ¡°Who''s going to kill YOU? You got shot twice and didn''t even bother with the wounds.¡±


    ¡°I almost died to the surprise extra dragon. Besides that... I''m not going to disclose everything about Wick and myself. Just imagine someone sort of like me but faster and stronger to the point where getting hit is inevitable, and when that happens I''m dead. Maybe I get to watch the woman I love die if I''m just laying there mangled. If you want to make me happy? Just leave me and Wick out of the story, out of the pictures. Honestly, I think you talking about this at all is going to get you killed, because there''s another dungeon under Tel-Star mine, for example, and there''s a group who are in the process of swooping in to clean it out. They will take over operations, loot it for a few weeks, then they nuke it.¡±


    ¡°What? Wait, does that mean you''re with them?¡± Seru asked. A surprisingly sharp question.


    He shook his head. ¡°No. I assume they are mercenaries but they might be some sort of off the books group.¡±


    ¡°Black ops?¡±


    ¡°Oh no they wore... wear mostly navy blue.¡±


    Seru did laugh at that. ¡°Okay smart ass. Are you going to stop them?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know. It''s opening me to risks I am not willing to take.¡± It was likely that the raid happened because of what happened at the mines or because something they sold triggered a response. Probably Nyxion''s fault if it was the later.


    Seru held out a hand palm up ¡°That''s like a thousand people! Versus, you deciding to rescue me and those three guys, despite knowing they''ll blab about it. Knowing double that I will blab about it.¡±


    Had he got everyone killed because he decided to be a hero in the mines? ¡°It''s one thing if it''s a bunch of strangers and another if it''s someone right in front of you... on some level I''m stupid like that.¡±


    Seru laughed. ¡°You''re not stupid! Maybe stubborn. It was really funny that you kept pissing Jake off! That and he was so sure I was going to go along with his stupid plan to break off. Okay, I gotta say, I really owe you my life, and I''m sorry I was being greedy... but, I didn''t do well in school and it''s hard around here to do what I''m good at. I wanna be a real journalist but nothing ever happens on Cascadia!¡±


    Corvayne had to laugh at that. ¡°Oh yeah. Nothing like good old boring Cascadia.¡± Corvayne stood up. ¡°I''m going to start boiling some beans and some rice, then after we take turns with the hot water I''ll at least tell you a little about myself. I will say, I don''t think anyone knows who I am, it''s Wick that I''m worried about. I have no enemies, perhaps aside from Jake maybe? And my best buddy''s girlfriend, who has made an outstanding offer to castrate me with a carrot peeler if anything bad happens to Wick.¡±


    Seru gave him a blank look.


    Corvanye nodded. ¡°I know. A real great story. Right. I''m going to go cook now.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t take a lot of long hot baths when he was in a desert where most stone surfaces could cook an egg. He could have taken another one at the inn, but every coin he shelled out at the inn was one less he could pawn to get cash. But the hot soapy water he lowered himself into made him sigh involuntarily. Looking up at the dim light panel above him and the ceiling, he felt himself loosening up. He had never understood how someone could fall asleep in a bath like they did in books before finding himself in this situation. His thoughts turned to his current large list of problems.


    One of his biggest problems was he had placed himself in Wick''s corner but didn''t know nearly enough about who her enemies were, aside from being fairly certain The Collective had an hidden class of mages trying to find and control the supernatural. He needed more information on the ruling class. He needed to know who was going to blow up the mine. Who''s the monk that killed them? Corvayne breathed in and out, causing the water to slosh a little.


    He needed to know who Wick was. Or more importantly, why she thought people were after her. He wouldn''t push her, but he needed to get better at getting information. Maybe next time grab the magnifying glass. Finish getting Hari up to speed at speaking and reading Cascadian, assuming she got back. He hated that he missed the elf, but a week of Seru had really put into perspective someone who sometimes did some gentle flirting rather than, say, standing in front of five other people while telling him that she liked being bent over things. Granted, once the door closed Hari was... interesting. If she came back he''d treat her better. He hoped she was alive. He had to rub his eyes after thinking about her looking at him as she died.


    Putting aside thinking about Hari, he needed more information. They needed money to bribe people to get it. He''d have to see if he could buy information from Dawn. As a legitimate businesswoman she almost certainly had connections that would at least help him map out who people in Cascadia itself were connected to. He could bring Wick in on looking for information on the staff-wielding monk and the mercenaries at the mines. He''d do his own research on Nyxion, and hopefully figure out who Wick was in the process. New skill to pick up: investigating a pan-galactic conspiracy while doing laps around the factory. Maybe his shadow hands could hold a phone and type? He willed the extra limbs to come out, and saw four limbs snake up from the water. They were thicker than before, and he dismissed them after a moment. He had more now. Interesting.


    Corvayne dried off and put his clothes back on. His skin still itched a lot from the acid, but the raw areas had healed enough that it wasn''t painful. He dished out beans and rice, purified the water from the tap and poured out two glasses. He took a bite. It was bland but better than eating nothing. The little bit of light coming from around the covered windows was fading fast. The floor had a night, which he had no desire to go wandering about in.


    Corvayne remembered he wasn''t alone and turned on a light in the kitchen so Seru could see. A few minutes later she came into the kitchen. She had changed into a black dress she had pulled out of the closet. She claimed she picked it because it looked expensive, but he was pretty sure she picked it so her cleavage was hanging out. Besides that, she ate quietly, only sometimes staring at him for whatever reason when she thought he was focused on his own plate.


    He finished his meal quickly then stood to go double check the doors and windows. A board and a few nails might not keep a monster out but it would wake them up if something had to break in. Seru finished her meal and started up the stairs as he added a table with a lamp on it to ensure the door couldn''t be opened without making a clatter. He then went around and turned off any extra lights Seru had turned on, aside from one she had on in the bedroom she cleaned out. She was sitting on the bed. Hmm. He flicked the last bedroom light off and heard her make a startled sound.


    He then turned went to a different bedroom and started tugging the plastic off a bed. Seru called out.


    ¡°Wait, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°What does it look like? I''m going to bed.¡± Corvayne called out as he sat on the bed. It smelled a little old but not musty. He could see her down the hall trying to feel rather than see in the dark, hands tentatively reaching for the door frame. It was odd that everyone else had such crappy night vision.


    ¡°In a different room? Are you crazy? Haven''t you ever seen a horror movie?¡±


    ¡°I''ve seen exactly one. I also figure it''d be better for both of us if-¡±


    ¡°I''m not sleeping alone in a dark house like this!¡± Seru had started to feel her way to a light switch. Corvayne sighed and stood up. He made loud footfalls then gently flipped the hall light on and pointed to the bed. She had fixed her makeup or took it off. She looked genuinely upset about the dark and he felt bad. A little bit.


    ¡°Okay. I am going to trust you, Seru, to let me just sleep. If you do anything weird I''m going to a different bedroom. Sneak into that bedroom and you can fend for yourself in this dark house for the entire night, got it?¡±


    She huffed and then went and pulled the covers off the bed then got under them, then realized her dress was uncomfortable and pulled it off and tossed it on the floor. ¡°Not doing anything weird... Same to you! I know you''re thinking about how I owe you.¡± She sounded like she was trying to lecture him. It made him think of Diamonds-in-Passing. Like Seru, Diamonds was someone whom he''d enjoy as a picture to look at but was insufferable as a person. He thought about that time he caught her sun bathing. Just another sign he was tired. Why else was he thinking about how everything on her sparkled?


    ¡°No, you don''t owe me anything.¡± Corvayne turned the light off and closed and locked the door.


    ¡°And you don''t like assertive women...¡± he heard Seru add.


    ¡°I''d say you''re zero for two on that one.¡± He sighed as pulled the covers off his side of the bed and slipped in.


    ¡°You say that, but now I''m no longer interested, you''re thinking about pushing me down right?¡±


    ¡°If I did that it''d be to put a sock in your mouth.¡± Corvayne muttered as he rolled to face away from her. Did she put perfume on? Or she sprayed it on the bed. He had to stifle a sneeze. Seru kept going, keeping that angry and indignant tone.


    ¡°Just because you''re stronger than me, I know you see how small I am compared to you... and you had better not think you can get away with just pulling me onto you, or tying me up, or grabbing me by the hair-¡±


    ¡°I get it. It''s not to late for me to sleep in the other bedroom.¡±


    ¡°Do you get it? I have to trust that you haven''t decided you''re going to grope me, or rip off my underwear when I''m asleep, or pushing me down and-¡±


    Corvayne squeezed his eyes closed then opened them, staring at the wall by the closet. He cut her off.


    ¡°Seru!¡±


    She stopped talking. Instead, he heard her breathing like someone who was jogging. It made him irritated and... something else.


    ¡°Seru. If you wanted me to do any of that, or wanted me to even THINK of doing something like that... surely, surely you''d know as much as the sweet, innocent, inexperienced elf I slept with who told me what to do to her, a word to stop me, then asked if I was okay with it. Even then I refused to do some of the things she asked me to do. I''m really, really, really tired. I had half my skin burned off today. You asked me to sleep in here, so I am. If you want something else just ask me like an adult talking to another adult. Otherwise for fuck''s sake please, PLEASE shut up and go to sleep.¡±


    She was quiet for a while. Corvayne''s eyes drifted shut. Finally.


    He heard her ask, very quietly, ¡°Corvayne, can you fuck me?¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡±

 Chapter 46: There Goes the Neighborhood

    [94.5%]


    Corvayne woke up in a dark bedroom. He could see outlines of most of the room from slices of dim light streaming through gaps where garbage bags didn''t quite cover the windows. Seru was next to him, and it smelled like a bottle of perfume she found, with sweat mixed in. Oh yeah. They had slept together. Which meant she would ask how it was, he''d say ''I can''t remember'', then she''d badger him into sex again. Corvayne wondered when he had changed from the pariah in his village to sleeping with strangers on a bi-weekly basis.


    Seru stirred, and opened an eye. ¡°Mmmm, how did it feel?¡±


    ¡°I barely remember, I was tired and just wanted to sleep.¡± Corvayne shrugged.


    He felt Seru should have been upset. Instead she laughed and he felt her warm and wet tongue on his finger. ¡°Who''s the dumb one now?¡± she asked in a breathy growl. Or tried too, it was hard to do that while eating a finger.


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Corvayne looked at her sucking on his hand. Then looked away. No repeat performance for Seru. No way.


    She popped her mouth off his hand for a moment to laugh. ¡°You were really rough last night and called me names while you ravaged me...¡±


    Corvayne didn''t want to tell her that the name calling was not entirely role playing at that point. ¡°I''m going back to sleep.¡± He pulled his hand away and rolled to face away from her.


    ¡°Mmm, you sure you don''t want to push me down and...¡±


    ¡°I made a mistake.¡± Corvayne muttered to himself. A big one.


    ¡°I''ll not tell anyone about your mistake if you fuck me again.¡± Seru pushed herself against him. Corvayne felt how warm her skin was and tried not to let himself get sidetracked further.


    ¡°More blackmail... why did I save you again?¡±


    She was rubbing his back. ¡°Don''t be like that! And I think we might have had a shot if you didn''t come along. Well, we could probably could have gotten to the village.¡±


    He had an image of those skeletons and scraps of cloth from the first time he had come into the tower. He couldn''t tell Seru about it, because blurting out he went back in time would mean Seru writes about it, and he had read a few stories about time loops and understand that letting someone know about a loop was the first step to them joining a loop, which would mean Seru all the time, every time.


    The thought of Seru forever made Corvayne bolt out of bed.


    ¡°Hey come back! Corvayne, we don''t gotta go anywhere!¡±


    He got up and got dressed. What the hell had he been thinking?


    ¡°I''m going to go find a chest. Very nice, but not those. I mean the kind that has treasure.¡±


    Seru started pushing the covers off. ¡°Wait! Let me get dressed! I''m coming too!¡±


    Corvayne stepped over a twitching and bleeding undead monster and smiled when he saw a wood chest at the back of the garage they had just broken into. Zig zagging back and forth up and down the street, they kept an eye out for drones or Wick while looting. Seru had stayed back and let Corvayne deal with a variety of zombies prowling the streets. He was feeling more and more that the ''strawberry hell'' floor''s tree monsters were a massive outlier on difficulty, and perhaps even the first floors goblin packs were too, mostly because the zombies were really, really, really easy to kill. Slow, soft, and he only needed to hit their head and they''d collapse. No need to strain himself or use skills.


    He had given Seru a backpack they found in one of the other houses. At his suggestion, she had been loading up on jewelery. He had to consider the sort of things he could sell in some way without leaving a trail. That or find a rich merchant inside of the tower.


    He snapped his attention back to the wood chest resting on the concrete floor. First, he did his usual mimic and trap finding routine. In flicking the lid open with his spear he set off a small gas explosion and so they had to wait a few minutes for the garage to ventilate before Corvayne could go back in. He helped the process by using [Storm-Thrust] a few times.


    Inside the wood lockbox was a mixed bag of copper and silver pieces, a healing potion, and a jacket with hexagonal patches on it. He handed it to Seru.


    ¡°We don''t know if it''s cursed or not, so consider...¡±


    She put it over the black dress she had taken from the previous house. ¡°Oh check this out!¡±


    She hit an arm with the side of her fist, and the hex patches hardened.


    ¡°Ok. Skipping a few steps, but go ahead. You can keep it.¡±


    ¡°Oh you''re sweet on me now that you feel guilty for pounding me?¡± She pushed her cleavage up.


    ¡°Use your reporter skills and try to guess what I''m thinking.¡±


    ¡°Tch. I know. You don''t like me yet, but you already care enough you want me to be safe. I''m a big girl. I can handle a one night stand. Dice over dollars I bet you''re the type of guy who thinks a woman sleeping with you is a commitment.¡±


    Corvayne looked back at her as he checked the street and hill with the entrance. No signs of a party. He strode out into the road and checked the house he had marked. Door was still closed. No one had painted a red X on the door either, which he had put into the note as a way to signify if they came, didn''t see him, and were going to look around for him. He spoke as he walked.


    ¡°I think sleeping with someone is a commitment. From me to them.¡±


    ¡°Is that why you''re so hung up on Wick? Oh did she pop your cherry? Congrats!¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Where was the next pack of monsters?


    ¡°Hey, don''t be embarrassed! That''s really cute! Hey, she told you that you should sleep with me on like the first day. I thought you guys were both swingers.¡±


    Corvayne moved around the corner of a house and unlocked a white fence. ¡°She said I could. Yes, I know she wants to sleep with different people. But I don''t like the idea. I don''t want to add more people to our relationship. I''ve failed once already.¡±


    Corvayne stopped talking and focused on checking for threats. A trio of zombies stood up from behind a bush, but were blocked off by a chain link fence. Corvayne strode forward and stabbed all three in the head, dropping all three in a second flat.


    Seru followed him as he used his shadow hands to almost instantly shift his two handed blade into his hands while a spare took his spear. The weird misty limbs had gotten quicker and stronger. [Sundering Blade] with the huge sword blasted a path through the fence. He put it away.


    ¡°Hey, if you wanna talk about your relationships, like, I''ve had a LOT of them since I started school and since I started being an influencer.¡± Seru followed a little closer then he''d like as he stepped over pieces of broken fence.


    ¡°I don''t really like talking Seru. I don''t mind listening.¡± He also didn''t want to talk with Seru about Wick, and how he always felt he was on thin ice. Nor did he want to talk about how Hari was probably at her home and he might not see her again.


    ¡°Oh yeah. Mister stone faced leader. Ya know, I think it''s funny when I see the mask crack and you, like, feel something. I love seeing a reaction, you know?¡±


    He used his spear to break an old lock on a garden shed. Opening it, he saw a bunch of dusty gardening tools, and on wire metal shelf was a pair of red potions. Maybe the dungeon expected people to use way more health potions? He pocketed them while not paying her any mind.


    Seru couldn''t stand thirty seconds of silence it seemed, as she started up again. ¡°You know, I don''t just sleep with anyone. I was just teasing you before.¡±


    Corvayne turned and looked at her with as much doubt as he could summon. ¡°Okay.¡± He then resumed walking through the back yard, dodging around sun-bleached patio furniture and a rusted grill. It was odd that the houses had graffiti covering them, but nothing else did. It was also all exterior. In theory, with the dull amber color of the sky, everything should be in sepia tones too, while he was thinking about how the world of the dungeon didn''t quite operate as it should.


    Her voice broke his train of thought. ¡°How many of these dungeons have you done? What''s the highest floor you''ve gotten to?¡±


    He considered lying, but decided to just be honest. ¡°Three dungeons. Six floors.¡±


    Seru hurried to walk next to him. ¡°If I don''t talk about this, would you let me come along on your next run?¡±


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°I thought you want to do journalism.¡± He turned his head to look her in the face. She was cute when she wasn''t making stupid faces, he had to admit.


    ¡°It doesn''t pay the bills!¡± She said with a laugh.


    ¡°You said your parents are rich.¡± Corvayne moved to the backdoor into a garage and tried pushing his shadow hand through a lock to open the door from the other side. Didn''t work. Worth a shot.


    ¡°You were paying attention. Yeah, they are rich. But they only support me because it''s safer then me getting into trouble!¡±


    ¡°If you disagree with their thought process then does that mean you really like this?¡± He gestured to the sky and spotted a far off swarm of drones. Oh they spotted him too. ¡°Hold your thoughts a minute.¡±


    He threw his cloak over her, eliciting a startled squeak, and ran into the street and used [Cross Skill: Whirling Axes]. As soon as the first spear spun out he used it again, sending another projectile out. Both connected and two drones fell out of the sky. As the other drones closed in and started shooting at him, Corvayne ran sideways in a zigzag.


    He felt something like a punch to the face but kept moving rather than deal with tearing hot pain in his cheek. He tasted blood and spat it as he rolled then pivoted, the clatter of bullets hitting the pavement behind him. He moved in a serpentine pattern, and after thirty seconds of side lunges the popping noises slowed then stopped, replaced by a few clicks as the robots ran out of ammo. They switched to trying to dive bomb him, and Corvayne turned to meet them.


    One [Flows-Like-Water] later the drones were on the ground, broken and sparking. He collected a handful of silver slugs, then felt something hard clink against his teeth and spit a bullet out. He dug around in his pack for a healing potion he had just grabbed, popped it''s yellow plastic top, then took a half swig. His cheek burned then started to knit itself back together.


    ¡°Are you ok? You just got shot in the face!¡±


    Corvayne tried to talk and it hurt like crazy. He glared at Seru and waited a few more seconds for the potion''s effects to finish.


    ¡°It hurts, but I''m okay. They are using something a step up from BB guns. Also they are pretty much firing money at me. One man''s injury is another man''s meals for a day.¡±


    ¡°Oh those are silver bullets? Was there a werewolf problem or something here?¡±


    Corvayne smashed a garage window then pushed his shadow hand through the hole. The maximum range had gone up, he could reach ten feet to the door to unlock it. ¡°Don''t say things like that unless you want it to be true. I was asking, do you think you can deal with this lifestyle? Where there''s lots of danger?¡±


    ¡°Uh maybe? But my folks, see, they''d be crazy about this. They are both conservative Gygaxians. They think when you die you get teleported to a fantasy world if you''ve done good in your life. One with level ups and elves and everything. For last rites they even have a priest with a truck bumper on hand because they believe it will get them to heaven.¡±


    This garage had a car parked in it that reminded him of Mister I''s truck. There was the usual mix of workbenches, as well as what looked like a loft above the garage for storing things.


    ¡°But you also think that you gained... levels? I only read a book that had something like it, and I admit I didn''t really get it. Killing monsters gives you invisible energy, and it''s not a matter of actually practicing with a weapon, it''s just ''killing monsters makes you better at spears'' right?¡±


    He opened a few drawers. Mostly old tools. On a hunch he popped the trunk of the lone car in the garage. No treasure, but might be a place the dungeon... the tower would put a chest.


    ¡°I don''t think I''ve gained levels.¡± Seru added as Corvayne jumped up to grab a support above the garage door track, then pulled himself up to look at items piled on plywood boards strung over the otherwise empty garage. He saw old buckets, a broken chair, tomato cages... Oh! Another chest.


    ¡°Okay, so you don''t think you gained levels, and were just messing with Gary?¡± He spoke, then grunted and pulled himself up using the metal crossbeams supporting the plywood. ¡°Another chest, stand by the door.¡±


    He craned his neck and saw the woman walk over to the door. She was biting her lip while thinking. ¡°No, I mean I KNOW I gained levels. I''ll give away a secret about levels, I can tell my own level.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead and tell me, but we are getting away from talking about your goal of being a journalist.¡± He sent his shadow hands up to the treasure chest. With the limbs he could move it and try to open it from around a corner. Handy when Hari wasn''t around. Holding himself up was digging into his hands, but he needed to stay off the floor to touch the chest with his shadow limbs.


    ¡°Like, why do you care? You just sounded like a shrink.¡± Seru put a lot of derision on the last word.


    ¡°A shrink?¡± Corvayne stopped and turned to look at her. He felt a shadow hand scratch his head.


    ¡°Psychologist... you know sometimes you act like you grew up in locked in a box or something. A shrink!¡±


    Oh. Sort of like Mister I. He turned back to letting his shadow limbs feel the chest ¡°Well, it has to do with control. To fight with a weapon? Takes self control. Doing something unpleasant or painful? You have to be in charge of yourself.¡± He lowered himself down so he was once more hanging three feet above the floor from the beam, then sent his hands up to feel for the latch of the chest.


    ¡°So you don''t cut loose? Get drunk?¡± Upside down Seru looked at him with pity. Annoying!


    ¡°I''ve gotten drunk once. It''s why I have an elf lover.¡± It was sort of tiring to try to talk, open the chest, and hang there. He breathed in and out to clear his head, then pushed his shadowy hands far enough to throw the latch. He heard a bang then lots of sounds of something thudding into wood.


    ¡°What the fuck!?¡±


    ¡°Trap.¡±


    He pulled himself back up to the wood platform above the garage. Embedded in the triangular beams holding up the roof were a score of sharp spines. Trapped chests were a pain.


    Seru seemed to recover and continued to talk. ¡°That you can drop weird lines about elves deadpan is impressive.¡±


    ¡°People can''t tell when I''m joking I guess so I''ll help you on this. The elf thing isn''t a joke.¡± He looked into the chest. Four items. A few stacks of credits. He counted ten thousands. Good haul. He threw them into his pack. He pulled out a glowing gold stoppered potion. No way in hell he was drinking that without Hari looking at it.


    ¡°Elves are real.¡± He heard doubt.


    ¡°Yeah. She''s cute. Also is our expert at assessing gear.¡± There was a large case. Inside was a bow and twenty arrows. All of them looked to be insect parts with veins of what looked like snakeskin running across it''s green surface. The arrows had nasty horn like heads and beetle wing fletching. He put the nice black leather quiver on, and strung the bow on his back.


    ¡°What did you find?¡±


    He pulled the last object out of a plastic bag. It was a black dress but felt a little heavier then normal cloth. Actually, it looked almost exactly like the one Seru had wore earlier. As he touched the hem to feel the fabric, the interior moved. Corvayne dropped it out of habit. The dress was a mimic? No, it would have attacked. He picked it up again and put part of the lip inside out and saw the interior looked like a mass of red tentacles, most about the size and length of his finger.


    ¡°A potion, a bow, some cash, and a dress for perverts.¡±


    ¡°Oh, how so?¡± Seru perked up at that last part.


    ¡°It''s full of moist tentacles.¡± He showed her the interior, it''s pink frills arching then curling back up.


    ¡°Oh that''s fucking gross.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, probably a cursed item. I''ll have our elf look at it.¡± He put it back in the plastic bag, then set that in his second pack. Last thing he wanted to do is be fishing in his main pack for something and become intimate with a magic item.


    ¡°You''re going to have her wear it.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Maybe.


    ¡°You guys find a lot of stuff. Who put this there? Does it come back?¡±


    ¡°I think the tower repairs itself over time. You saw how there were lots of armadillos on the last day we patrolled for goblins. The chests refill slowly if they are left alone.¡± He opened the door into the home they were at. Room by room. ¡°Clear.¡± He lead the way up the stairs to the closets where the jewelery usually was.


    ¡°Ok so, this place is going to be worth a LOT of money.¡± She had a handful of gold that she dumped into her bag.


    ¡°If you can sell any of this without someone tracing it back to you and killing you, yes you can make a lot of money until the second part happens.¡± Corvayne tapped the bow on his back for emphasis then lead the way back downstairs.


    ¡°That''s why you tell everyone about it. If ten thousand people know about it, it''s much harder to kill all of them without people going ''it must be real''.¡±


    ¡°You still are the first person stepping out to get hammered down.¡± He walked out the door and scanned for hostiles, then looped back to check the hill. No sign of his friends. Not at the house either.


    ¡°I bet if I walked out of here and could look at my PHONE I could pull up a video of some expert gym dude doing a weapon skill thingy like you did, with a billion comments it''s fake. If you sent him a PM... a message saying you know it''s like, totally real, he''d prob be willing to buy there''s a dungeon.¡±


    ¡°... I never thought to do that.¡± Corvayne put his hand on his chin. She had lead him to a pretty good idea: he might be able to expand his skill set that way.


    ¡°So yeah, that''s why you get a bunch of people who all have photos and video of a dungeon and have them publish it in a bunch of different spots. Boom. You are just a guy who happens to be suspiciously good at finding stuff and selling it.¡±


    He sighed. ¡°You''ve made some good points if I wanted money. But our goal is to match Collective members who already have access to supernatural powers.¡±


    ¡°You make them weaker by making everyone else stronger. You have a guy who came after you and killed you all, right? Well gain a few levels and you can handle him. If everyone he normally kills might suddenly be level 10 or whatever...¡±


    Corvayne stopped her. ¡°You keep speaking matter-of-factly about this level buisness. Yes, I''m very strong. Yeah, you got stronger too, but we think it''s from eating monster meat.¡±


    ¡°Oh that might be true, but hitting level six I got a big bump in my stats.¡±


    ¡°Did you grab weights or something and figure out you can bench press more or something?¡±


    ¡°No doofus. Status! Ta dah.¡± She gestured to something he couldn''t see. ¡°Just say status.¡±


    ¡°Status.¡± Nothing happened. Well, there was a tickle on the back of his neck. He looked around. Just houses, the road, Seru looking expectant, teal grass, cloudy amber skies.


    ¡°Nothing.¡±


    ¡°Weird. Mine came up. Gary could do it too, after he did some of the prayers for Gygax.¡±


    Seru tugged his arm to a porch then closed her eyes. She put her hands together and shook them, then spoke in a calm, even voice. ¡°I am my numbers. I make my alignment. Show me who I am, and who I shall become. In this life, and the next.¡±


    She cupped her hands together again, then shook them up and down and pulled them apart. Then looked expectantly at Corvayne.


    ¡°All right. I am my numbers. I make my alignment. Show me who I am, and who I shall become. In this life and the next.¡± He put his hands together shook them then pulled them apart.


    ¡°If you half-ass it it won''t work. You have to have faith.¡± Seru folded her arms. ¡°I mean like, you''re trying to commune with a god! Granted, Gygax was really just a dude who lived in land called Wisconsin, but that''s not important. Heh, weird, his first name was also Gary. It''s like, watching Mister I do the healing, you know, you have to put weight behind saying it.¡±


    ¡°Whatever. Okay.¡± Corvayne sighed. He thought about his images of priests in stories. Swinging incense around and chanting. The idea of fervor, of the strongest certainty that there were larger forces looking over him.


    ¡°I AM my numbers. I make my alignment! Show me who I am, and who I shall become. In this life, and the next!¡±


    Corvanye cupped his hands, shook them once, and was surprised as he let go that he swore he felt something between them for a moment, and the sound of something hard clattering on wood. Something like a blue glowing piece of paper appeared.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 19.8215%; background-color: rgba(0, 25, 252, 1); border-color: rgba(250, 250, 250, 1); border-style: solid" border="2">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 16.0391%">Limited Status Due to Restrictions.</td>


    <td style="width: 31.5231%">???: 94.5%</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 16.0391%">Arms Master (4)</td>


    <td style="width: 31.5231%">LV 30</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 16.0391%"> </td>


    <td style="width: 31.5231%"> </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 16.0391%">HP</td>


    <td style="width: 31.5231%">565/588</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 16.0391%">MP</td>


    <td style="width: 31.5231%">98/98</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 16.0391%">SP???</td>


    <td style="width: 31.5231%">139/154</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 16.0391%"> </td>


    <td style="width: 31.5231%"> </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 16.0391%">Shadow hands</td>


    <td style="width: 31.5231%">Rank 2</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 16.0391%">Gravity???</td>


    <td style="width: 31.5231%">Rank 1</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°Oh wow. That worked.¡± Corvayne was stunned. ¡°I see level 30 Armsmaster. Then there''s a four? It also says shadow hands rank 2 then gravity rank 1. What''s HP, MP, SP mean?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, I guess you don''t know the lingo. HP is health. MP is magic power. I assume SP is stamina, because when I run around a lot it goes down.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. So I have... 565 health. What''s yours?¡±


    Seru blinked ¡°That''s a lot... I''m at 55... I only gained 6 health last level! Hey! How much constitution do you have?¡±


    ¡°It just displayed ''status restricted'' then those numbers I said. Nothing else.¡±


    Seru looked at Corvayne like he had just spit in her cereal. ¡°You should have a whole bunch of stats, some skills... nothing?¡±


    He rubbed his chin. ¡°Maybe it''s because your faith in Gygax is established, and I only prayed to try to learn what the deal was.¡±


    Seru''s eyes narrowed. ¡°It explains why you got shot by drones and just said ''whatever''.¡±


    ¡°No, getting blasted through the cheek just now was pretty painful.¡± He tapped the side of his mouth.


    ¡°Oh yeah, you got blood on your teeth. Eww. Not making out again unless you clean that.¡± She scrunched up her face.


    Corvayne started leading them back to the house. ¡°I''m not interested in making out with you.¡±


    ¡°Oh really? Yet you did it anyway!¡±


    He sighed. ¡°Did anyone ever tell you that you are infuriating?¡±


    ¡°All the time Corvanye baby. I also get told I''m enchanting, insatiable...¡±


    He felt his hackles rise. ¡°Hold up...¡± He held a hand up for silence. Something was thumping close to the crossroads ahead. Corvayne walked across yard they had been on then pulled Seru with him to creep between the houses. He gestured for silence before she could start berating him for pulling her around, then he lead the way back to an empty home they had looted.


    Inside, he shut the door leading from the garage to the back yard. He lead her over to the car and put it between them and any windows. Seru thankfully had picked up he was serious. He spoke quietly.


    ¡°I noticed the drones on this floor took a scouting pattern. I think whatever they were doing the looking for decided to send a non-scouting team.¡±


    ¡°Meaning what for Me?¡±


    ¡°We stay hidden or get drawn into fighting something that will be much stronger then the drones. Nothing that shakes the ground like that is going to be a pushover.¡±


    He shut up when he felt the tremors coming closer. Something blotted out the windows of the garage, the car shaking for a step as the light came back and the stomps started getting quieter. Corvanye, cloak on, peeked out the garage window. A machine the size of a house was stomping down the street. It looked like a six legged bug, huge segmented legs supporting a sleek tank frame laden with weapons. Thankfully, unlike the dragon it didn''t seem to be destroying houses.


    He went back to Seru. ¡°Big robot....¡±


    ¡°Can you beat it?¡±


    ¡°Very unlikely. It''s three stories tall.¡± If he was going to fight something like that, he''d trade his trusty spear for a shock-lance and a bandoleer of EMP grenades. That and at least ten other similarly cloaked warriors.


    ¡°Oh. So we''ll just hide until it goes away.¡±


    ¡°I would if I could.¡±


    Corvayne had spotted the problem immediately. Okay, the robot was the more obvious ''problem''. He could solve it by sitting in the garage a few days until it had patrolled around and decided the pesky intruders were gone. The issue with playing it safe like that was when Wick and company strolled through the one way entrance and it turned all it''s chain guns or rail cannons or whatever the thing was packing on them. He had to act and protect his friends before they arrived. Just like how they had cleared as many goblins as they reasonably could, he would need to get the robot away from the entrance so it didn''t mow his friends down.


    Or in simpler terms he was about to play cat and mouse with a sixty ton robot.

 Chapter 47: Walking the Robot

    Corvayne climbed to the corner of a house. With light rain falling from the amber cloudy sky he could see his breath mist as he pressed his back to the cool, slightly damp siding of the house. The ground where he was standing was sloped, being further along the edge of the neighborhood. Navigating up the steep slopes of the road proved difficult, but he was now a few miles away from the entrance. He peeked around the graffiti covered corner he was at. With his eagle eye ring boosting his sight he could just make out the sleek top of the robot peeking above a home in the distance. It had been tromping around in a circle for the last half hour. It''s head was looking from side to side as it moved, and he had no doubts the three story tall robot was looking for him.


    If he was alone he''d not have to deal with the machine at all. With his friends on their way, he had to risk pulling it away from the entrance and losing in the massive empty neighborhood. Getting it''s attention wouldn''t be hard, as it seemed the drones were working with it. He was pretty sure he just had to kill a few and the robot would come over. The more dangerous step was evading it and sneaking away. To that end he had made a route that crossed through homes and looped around and back, with a few random doors thrown open to confuse the giant machine if it was smart enough to track him that way.


    The only downside of his plan was that he had to leave Seru alone. She''d be okay for an hour or two. Hopefully. Now, to see if the same could be said about him.


    The house he was standing at had gravity that absolutely followed the slope. Things he picked up seemed to shift back to going down. The home he was by was only at about fifteen degrees off kiter. Everything was a steep hill, but not as bad as trying to ride on the back of an elder bone worm. He hoped that the slope effect would also mess with the monsters trying to aim across the divide, giving him possibly a few extra shots before it compensated.


    He frowned as he looked for and found the bobbing head of the bot again. He didn''t know how fast the thing could haul it''s cookies over to him nor did he know what it''s targeting range would be if he wasn''t entirely covered by his cloak. He stretched the collar out and the cloak shifted to a scarf. He vaulted over a fence and made his way to a tilted street. A zombie shuffled into his way and he dispatched it, the body stumbling forward as if his spear broke the spell planting it to the hill.


    He found what he was looking for at the next crossroads. A swarm of drones was following the street. One turned and the rest swiveled as well. He had a shadow hand give him a hatchet he had pulled out of a garage, then swung it to activate [Whirling Axe]. A blade made of greenish energy flew out and clipped one of the drone''s propellers, causing it to spin out of control.


    The other four opened fire as he ran down the road. His shadow hands swapped weapons for him. He owed them a few high fives after he got out of this stupid extra climb. He dared to look to the side and was pretty sure he saw the big robot turn his way.


    Corvayne ran and got a building between him and the robot. Using the ability to run full speed with his boots on a slope, he got the drones to empty their guns then dispatched them when they dive bombed. Another pack came buzzing in from another direction, visible between houses as they skimmed low over a pool trying to match his direction. He continued running, legs pumping down the street as the drones popped out from the other side of the house he was running past. Corvayne turned and already had his shadowy limbs pushing his two handed sword into his hands. He jumped out of his pivot and used [Circle of Death], wrecking three of the drones as the world blurred from him making a near instant 360 degree spin. As he had learned, having the right weapon to use an attack made a huge difference.


    He took a shot to the ribs from the last drone flying but swung his spear before they could plink him again. Hopefully that was enough mayhem. He ducked into a house he''d opened the door to previously, and squeezed his cloak to make it fan out again. He put the hood of stealth on then yanked his cloak hood over his head. Then he slid out the back. From between houses on the slope he could see the giant robot scuttling over to this part of the neighborhood. He moved through the houses he opened in a blur, not even bothering to engage a zombie that moaned at him from the other side of a dining room table.


    Through a door, around a pool to another garage, out the front door and into another and then out a side door and cutting across more lawns. He forced himself to focus on moving quietly and smoothly, resisting the urge to try to stop and figure out where the robot was. A few more homes and he had reached the strange spot where a line marked the perfectly folded neighborhood, cutting down a street into a flat half and one tilted up to a place miles away where an even steeper fold was. He tried not to look, it gave him vertigo, as did when he looked into the horizon and started seeing hints of further grids of endless suburbia. He was near the end of his planned run when heard something behind him.


    He turned and saw two moderate sized mecha skittering along the street, headed in the direction of the big one. Even with his cloak, he knew that he was still visible as a smudge while moving. Both robots stopped and activated laser range finders, sweeping across where Corvayne was running. He could see the bright red light flashing across the deeper red of the street and so he lept forward into a roll as the first mech pounced after him. The second charged him after, trying to trample him.


    What the hell, were these things melee robots? He switched to his double handed sword again. Right tool for the right job. Actually, he wanted to test something. He lined up with the first robot who had turned and was readying another pounce. The other had crashed into the wall of a house, so he had time to first use [Sundering Blade], using the flat of his sword to hit one of the monster''s legs and crumpling it in a way that wasn''t natural even given how hard he swung.


    He drew his sword in, then used [Cross-Skill: Sundering Strike] as he thrust forward. Both moves were designed to do damage to equipment, and the effect on the robot was impressive. The leg and half the robot''s main body shattered, shards of metal, wire, and pipe flying across the lawn. Then, a cloud colored like rust burst from the machine like a hurricane expanding.


    [Combo: Shatter Storm]


    It ate through both robots then faded, leaving two rusted husks of robot with a few shiny parts. Corvayne grabbed a box he was pretty sure was an untouched energy source. He guessed either nuclear or plasma batteries given it''s density and the milk-jug shape attached to the electric output. No time to marvel at it. He could feel vibrations in the ground and considered fighting it as he hiked away. He had a shot at fighting the robot with his new combo. Perhaps if some wise master told him he needed to break his limits, or the robot had kidnapped his beloved Wick, or there was a clock ticking down and he needed to kill it to win a prize... maybe then he''d fight it. But Corvayne''s goal was to draw it over to where he was. Getting an engineering toy was just a small plus.


    Corvayne dashed away from the two broken robots and resumed ducking into and through houses, moving into hiding in backyards and sneaking between homes until he had circled back to near the start of the neighborhood. He didn''t see the huge robot, but he didn''t hear it either. And that was his end goal. He was tempted, for just a moment, with the idea of getting his hands on something that put out enough juice to power a ship-sized fold drive. He didn''t need a ship that badly. Yet.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    He knocked quietly then opened the door to the garage. Seru startled in a way that meant she had fallen asleep.


    ¡°You scared the shit out of me!¡± She hit his arm, which didn''t hurt.


    ¡°It''s your own fault you were up late.¡±


    He lead her back to the house they had slept at, then took a moment after letting her in to check for his friends. Looking at the ridge leading into the neighborhood he was pretty pleased to see Grunt trundling down the slope, Wick behind him talking to Mister I and... Nyxion and Lady Blood Claw. What the heck?


    Wick was happy to see him at least. She waved and he waved back. He met them halfway. Wick wrapped her arms around him, squeezed, then stepped back. He was about to hug her back but he saw she looked nervous even just hugging him. He buried a little disappointment and suspicion that she didn''t want to act affectionate in front of Nyx. She had her ups and downs. He stepped back and smiled.


    ¡°Don''t stress yourself Wick. I''m glad to see you.¡± He looked past her fidgeting form and nodded at Grunt, who thumped his chest: Good to see you again bro.


    ¡°Same. Sorry. We were worried... worried we''d get another weird boss, but the floors were clear and uh, Grunt handled it. Did you keep that idiot safe?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± He had to fend Mister I off from his back, as the old monk had spotted the bow. ¡°Ease up, I haven''t used it yet, don''t know if it''s cursed.¡±


    He lead them to the marked house. ¡°Let''s hurry. There''s a huge robot that''s patrolling the floor with scout drones. I''ve picked off a few but I think it''s going to keep bringing in bigger machines if I keep killing them.¡±


    Nyxion held up a hand. ¡°Did any of them have shield belts? Or advanced weapons?¡±


    ¡°... Oh yeah, your stuff got completely wrecked by that asshole.¡± Corvayne noticed now he was missing his nice toys. It wasn''t just his own missing shield buckler.


    Nyxion shrugged. ¡°I did just fine with a mace, thank you.¡± He showed off the same weapon Seru had left behind. Lady Blood Claw had one of the spare two handed swords strapped to her back.


    Nyxion pulled plastic wrap off the recliner and sat down. ¡°Let''s take a break.¡±


    Seru came back from the bathroom and Corvayne wasn''t surprised when she started pointing at Lady Blood Claw and said ¡°She''s not human!¡±


    ¡°That''s really rude.¡± LBC countered, folding her arms. ¡°Go through a few dozen floors and see if you don''t have weird features that make you look like a freak.¡±


    ¡°Seru, stop harassing LBC.¡± Corvayne said with what he felt was a stern tone.


    Nyxion gestured at the woman. ¡°The goblin and elf I get, but why exactly did you run up a one-way path for a-¡±


    Corvayne cut him off before Nyxion started another pointless argument. ¡°That''s a whole other can of worms I''ll get into later. We need to find an exit and get off this floor. That big robot has guns on it.¡± Corvayne folded his arms.


    Lady Blood Claw shrugged. ¡°So we don''t fight it. You lured it away, right?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°But it might return. Also sooner or later we''re going to run afoul of the drone scouts, and they seem to call out to it. There''s also zombies. They are slow but I''ve seen bigger abominations fighting drones. Not as big as the tent zombies from the castle, but... I don''t want to find out the undead side of this floor also something like a three story tall spider tank.¡±


    Nyxion laughed once. ¡°Fine. We won''t try to replace our gear. We need some down time however. Wick has been running us ragged.¡±


    Mister I nodded. ¡°A short break is good. Perhaps this is meant to be a sneaky challenge. Some floors are a test of courage! For a lion! And others require a light foot. Like a mouse. Perhaps like a mouse we shall sneak from house to house in the dark, listen for drones and hide, and try to use quiet weapons to nibble on undead.¡±


    LBC sat on the couch. She rubbed her arms, little spurs along them retracting as her hand ran across them. Her skin turned teal then light orange. ¡°Icariii is correct. The logic in one of these spaces is to not spend any time you don''t need to on floors that have a factor you can''t completely control. The only good news is that it''s fair in some way. If the huge tank has incredible range and accuracy, there''s a factor to dealing with it that makes it appropriate for floor six.¡±


    Corvayne turned to her. ¡°You sound like you''ve been in one of these before.¡±


    The lady''s skin turned brown. ¡°Yes? Of course. Why do you think my stupid skin keeps changing color?¡±


    ¡°That''s a power?¡± He blinked.


    ¡°No it''s a side effect. The Magus had more advanced apprentices pull me through twenty floors of three different places. It was to try to push me to unlock a better magic affinity, but it didn''t give me anything he found interesting.¡± She folded her legs, her skin turning light purple. LBC always had a very professional demeanor but sometimes Corvayne got a sense she was bottling everything in.


    Nyxion nodded. ¡°I had told Wick, we didn''t expect to find any of these... towers... as Lady Blood Claw informed me that the Magus had told her ages ago they are associated with the extensive ruins. They are, as far as she was told, part of a scrambled transportation system. That there are two on the same world is a monumental concentration.¡±


    ¡°The wizard had told me that he was hoping my magic would shift to item enchantment or summoning.¡± LBC added. ¡°Even in my day, these places were extremely tightly controlled by the Magus. My theory is the Collective groups that have supernatural powers are hording these spots.¡±


    Mister I nodded. ¡°Some of the less sane personal palaces and Military complexes I imagine are covers for these then. Like L''Tderu Estate. It would explain why someone build it in a glass-storm planet.¡±


    Seru tugged Corvayne''s sleeve. ¡°What''s a glass storm planet?¡±


    Mister I laughed. ¡°Imagine instead of rain, a place where super heated sand forms molten glass then whips it about at several thousand miles an hour. A planet sized blender.¡±


    Seru looked around. ¡°How would you build something? Also wouldn''t that erode any ruins instantly?¡±


    LBC shrugged. ¡°Nyxion''s personal shields are expensive novelties, but there are ship sized ones too. You can enter with extremely thick diamond glazed hulls. That was how they shipped in materials to build it. Now that shielding is good enough that you can insert into the air currents and ride with them. It''s a hot gas giant, and the L''Tderu Estate moves with a mostly stable wind band floating on a layer of clouds..¡±


    ¡°Any advice then for navigating these towers?¡± Corvayne had to remember not to just default to term D1. He appreciated that LBC seemed to avoid using that word as well.


    ¡°Intent seems to affect which powers you get, but it''s also warped by some inherent factor. That''s why I was abandoned. The Magus considered me a failure since my magic is mostly pointed inwards.¡±


    ¡°His loss. I''d be ecstatic to work with a skilled warrior like you who can make herself faster on command.¡± Corvanye shrugged. Lady Blood Claw looked at him evenly and her skin blossomed into a deep purple. Some time he''d have to ask her if the colors meant anything.


    Nyxion waved his hands. ¡°Stop buttering up my second in command. Pah, and here I thought I was a philanderer. You shameless flirt!¡±


    ¡°I''m not buttering her up.¡± Corvayne frowned. There was a reason he had sparred with her for two weeks every day. She was a natural with a sword, good with a bow, and fair enough with a knife fight to where Corvayne didn''t just win every exchange. It felt like Nyxion was, again, sparing no effort to rub him the wrong way.


    Nyx laughed and gestured with a gloved hand. ¡°Coming from me, it''s a compliment. I''ve rarely met anyone who was a rival for my looks and charm. Not to mention my lovely associate is usually not much of a talker.¡±


    LBC gave him a look that radiated irritation, her skin shifting orange. ¡°Nyxion, on the other hand, talks too often and for too long.¡±


    He glowered back at her, and Corvayne couldn''t keep a tight grin off his face. ¡°Either way, we need to move on soon. Once you''ve caught your breath, we should move away from the direction I pulled the robot and try to find a stairway.¡±

 Chapter 48 Building Bridges.

    Corvayne left the house first and lead the group through back yards, taking care to be quiet and listen for drones. Both times they crossed streets to other blocks he tried to have them go from between houses, and only after he was sure nothing was in the air either way.


    He heard a drone group coming while moving through the third block. Corvayne sundered open a backdoor and they piled into one of the homes. Watching from a window, Corvayne thought the drones didn''t seem interested in objects being out of place, as they didn''t move closer to inspect a broken door. When it had been quiet for a good minute, the group kept moving along, Corvayne shifting their direction a little, both to throw off any drone trickery and because he decided to guide them to a steep slope. His thought process was the stairs up seemed to favor high places, and if they couldn''t find it there, it was possible there was a stairway in a house near the slope that would act as a way up.


    The second time he heard a patrol they once more entered an empty home. This time the group went ahead and checked the house for goods. Seru bee-lined for jewelery upstairs. Wick instead scoured the book shelves, opening books then closing them. Grunt took three paintings. All of them looked like views of homes in a subdivision. Nyxion sneered at everything in the place. Mister I of course went to the garage and started rooting around for tools. Corvayne checked the basement, finding a bunch of junk like old grills, a lawn mower... He stopped, went downstairs, grabbed the grill, then brought it upstairs and out to the garage.


    ¡°Mister I, some of these homes have grills in them.¡±


    ¡°Pah, look at how small the one you found is though. Not fit for rabbits even! Grilling should be a grand adventure for many friends!¡±


    ¡°No no no... some of the stuff you find in this place is magic as-is.¡±


    Mister I stopped. ¡°Ah. AH! We should check every house for a magic grill!¡±


    ¡°I don''t know if we can tell what''s magic without Hari. And we can''t carry a dozen grills. Still... let''s collect a few tools and see if there''s something that aids cooking or butchering.¡±


    Wick had pulled out three books. Corvayne veered over to her as Icariii stepped into the kitchen to check for unusual utensils.


    ¡°What books did you get?¡±


    ¡°Oh I just grabbed the three oldest looking ones. The selection on the shelf is random, but old books sell for a lot. One''s a collection of stories, another is a single novel. The third is a nice replica of a mysterious book called the Voynich Manuscript.¡±


    ¡°What''s weird about it?¡±


    ¡°It''s written in a language nobody-¡±


    She stopped talking and her eyes widened, then she thrust the book at Corvayne. ¡°Read this!¡±


    He looked at it. ¡°An account of falling out of the sea into a sloshing world by an Aelfic.¡± Flipping a few pages the tome had bizarre drawings. ¡°It''s hard to read, the concepts are... I mean, I get words but the organization is off. Like: ''It moves the woman through the woman into the essence of the first star we share called hunter in the warm time but the woman walked right out of the direction of the star and became a good place. The hunter rises again and she grows a foam of clay about her. Many baths will wash the homes out of her but the greed of the godly she would rather die as a tree for the fruit of the town to be on.'' Does that make any sense?¡±


    ¡°So if something is alien enough, you can read it but not understand it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I''m sorry, I don''t get what the book is about either. Maybe give it to Hari and see if there''s some other property to it?¡±


    ¡°No no no. You just did something really good! Nobody ever claimed to know what the words meant. It was a total enigma that people guessed was a hoax. If you can read it, that probably means it was in some way a legit otherworldly account.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Well, I guess translating books is always on the table if my other job falls through.¡±


    Wick nudged him. ¡°What do you consider your other job, exactly?¡±


    ¡°Trying to keep you alive. So far I''m the worst still-employed bodyguard there has ever been.¡± Corvayne finished flipping through the book and handed it back to Wick.


    ¡°Oh because normally you''re fired if the person you''re covering died?¡±


    ¡°Let''s not find out exactly how many lives you have.¡± The rest of the group had finished looting the house and were coming back to the living room.


    Seru looked around. ¡°Isn''t the layout of these houses really boring? It''s almost always the same.¡±


    Nyxion shrugged. ¡°Isn''t that true of most of these carbon copy dumps?¡±


    Mister I chuckled, unscrewing a jar of pickles he had found. When did he switch to the kitchen? ¡°My friend, to some people this home would be a palace of impossible prosperity.¡± He crunched on a pickle. ¡°Also, if you could pull a house from here out of the ruins, you could sell it to a museum and buy a modern home six times it''s size. I lament the dungeon has not seen fit to give us something like a ring you can store things in.¡±


    Seru nodded along. ¡°I''d KILL for a purse of holding!¡±


    Grunt nudged Corvayne while barely containing his mirth, then made a gesture like pinching something and turning it, then took the pinched hand and lifted his other elbow, dropped the pinched object under the arm. Then he mimed a hand around his arm and reaching and grasping: Yeah, you''d lose your keys forever in that. Corvayne didn''t know why Grunt found that comment so funny but he smiled anyway.


    Corvayne went over to a window and gently pulled the curtain aside. No drones, no zombies. He lead the group out of the home and down a few streets before they had to once more duck into a home. This one DID have one zombie, which Corvayne stabbed then kicked out of the way. The group for no reason Corvayne could possibly imagine did not spend as many minutes looting alone in this home. He did see that Lady Blood Claw had been looting clothes. Her skin while stepping down the stairs was a light pink.


    ¡°Trying to find enchanted clothes?¡± He offered.


    The woman looked at him and the faintest hint of a smile crossed her mouth. ¡°Before I got picked up by the Magus, there was a style of absurd clothing where I lived that these houses have. Most of these will need a little fitting, but I can do alterations.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°A woman of many talents.¡±


    Her light pink skin flickered to dark purple. ¡°Flattery will get you nowhere Corvayne.¡±


    Wick found another book she wanted, and Grunt took more paintings. Corvayne wondered what his game was, but Wick also handed him one she had pulled off the wall in a different room. They looked to be pictures of a house from different views, some close and some far, then one of a large chunk of neighborhood. He could ask them flat out and just get the answer, but he wanted to think it over and try to get it without them just telling him.


    They were not magic. Hari put the paintings as common class items. So they had value, but not like a magic item, and they didn''t seem exceptional or photo realistic like the masterworks in some of the art books he had flipped through at the Watcher''s library. Weight wise, they didn''t rate compared to handfuls of silver coins.


    Come to think of it, the two from the castles were different places that looked like Cascadia''s pine covered coasts. Why wouldn''t they just be random pictures? Or images of the castle, since the ones here were of the neighborhood. Or were they? The houses on the paintings were not covered in graffiti.


    Maybe... the images were of a real place, and there was something at the place in the ''real'' world outside the tower. Oh then... it was a scavenger hunt! Like when he found those flachette rounds in the desert, but easier!


    ¡°Are you guys trying to find where those paintings are outside of here?¡± He blurted out. Instantly he regretted it, as he turned and saw Seru had raised an eyebrow. Wick rolled her eyes. ¡°Corvayne sometimes...¡±


    ¡°Wick, instead of taking the whole painting, just take a picture of it.¡± He countered.


    ¡°FUCK. You FUCKER! Fine. I append my statement. We are all idiots.¡± Wick gestured to Grunt and he took the five pictures he had packed out. Wick took pictures of each of them, checking to make sure they showed up on her phone correctly.


    Seru laughed. ¡°I''ll make sure to spray paint an X on the spot after I find it so you guys will know to stop looking.¡±


    Nyxion had come in, looked at the pictures, then at her. ¡°Oh did you live near one of those hovels?¡±


    ¡°No dickwad, but my dad worked with city planning so I know which neighborhood that is.¡±


    Grunt made a gesture of holding cards then mimed taking that hand and throwing it in the garbage: She''s bluffing.


    Seru looked at Grunt. ¡°Does any of that mean anything or is he some sort of weird mime?¡±


    Grunt looked annoyed, but Nyxion started laughing. ¡°If seru had giant blonde drill curls she''d could effortlessly blend into the all bark no bite noble girls they parade out at balls. So much makeup, nothing of substance under it.¡±


    Corvayne wanted to comment they might have picked those women well for Nyx but he wasn''t going to jump in and help Seru. Seru, on the other hand, pointed to Corvayne. ¡°You going to sit there and let them trash talk me?¡±


    ¡°Uh. Yes?¡±


    ¡°Hmmf. You and Wick should be doing everything in your power to butter me up so I HELP you when I push this story out.¡±


    Nyxion leaned against a wall. ¡°So, my question to Wick, well, more to Corvayne at this point: Why on Tripic did you run after her to save this woman? The correct course of action would be to shove her off a cliff and let the fall do the rest.¡±


    Corvayne glared at him. ¡°I can''t just let a bunch of people die because it''s inconvenient to me. Nor would I shove anyone off a cliff unless I was dead certain they were trying to do the same to me. Even if she''s a risk, it''s one I''m taking on.¡±


    The noble shook his head. ¡°You have to weigh the value of a stranger to say, keeping Wick safe. Not to mention your own well-being. Even if she doesn''t blurt your name and address out, you can be found. After all, how many people carrying spears are there on Cascadia? I''m sure you want to be better then the people we are trying to beat, but doing it spotlessly? There''s not enough room on Nickle III to bury all the idealists who''ve tried to change the world that way. Just leave the dirty work to me if you''re not inclined.¡± Nyxion tapped his mace on the floor.


    Seru looked worried, which Corvayne begrudgingly gave her some credit for. He spoke up before she said anything that would dig herself deeper. ¡°Seru understands that if she is careless, the bad guys will trace it back to her first.¡± He looked to Wick, who was looking between him and Nyxion. Who did she agree with? Well, she had been on his side at the moment of keeping the girl alive. Corvayne decided to push forward. ¡°We are going to kill people. It''s inevitable. But there''s enough people who''ve earned it, like the asshole with the staff who took out my friends. I know full well what happens when someone gets careless.¡± He looked directly at Nyx while saying the last part.


    Nyxion sneered at him. ¡°I took a calculated risk. Careless? Hmmf. I only trust you to the extent I do because of... Wick and that you generally don''t seem prone to pointless stupidity.¡± Corvayne could see his hand resting on the pommel of his mace. Oh yes Nyx. Try it without shields or force blasters.


    Corvayne smiled at the man. ¡°Then forgive me: This will be my own calculated risk. The odds Seru exposes us against the value of not being a cold blooded killer. Keep in mind... we already have three potential leaks out in the world right now.¡±


    LBC put one of her hands on Nyx''s shoulders as the man tensed. Her voice as gentle as he''d ever heard her talk and Corvayne just barely heard her. ¡°Easy. Nobody will listen to that girl. They need us, and we need them.¡±


    Nyxion took a deep breath and waved Lady Blood Claw''s hand away. ¡°Fine. You''re correct. Corvayne, let''s find out if your gamble pays off at all then, or if we end up mangled on a runway somewhere.¡±


    Wick nodded at Corvayne as Nyxion strode into the kitchen to have a talk with LBC. She watched them go and then looked back at Corvayne, her expression a little embarrassed. ¡°I know he''s not easy to work with, but he''s got connections we''ll need when we eventually leave this planet. Also... Seru you can let go of Corvayne''s arm.¡±


    He hadn''t even noticed she had it in a death grip. He gently pried her off. She looked at him a little teary eyed. ¡°He... he was going to kill me.¡±


    ¡°Yep. But it still stands, I''m going to get you home alive.¡±


    Wick stepped forward. ¡°Seru, listen to me. For the rest of the trip, I need you FULLY on board with either helping us or NOT trying to announce, loudly, that you are going to actively screw us over. Forget Corvayne, or Grunt, or even Nyxion. I want you to think about you before you talk from now on. Give yourself five seconds to really fucking go over what you''re going to say, and how you''d respond to that if you''ve been living most of your adult life with people actively trying to find you and kill you. Get it?¡± Wick lowered her voice. ¡°I know you''re going to fucking blab everything about me, and that after we get out I need to immediately make plans to get off this world. Fine. But I need Nyxion''s help. I need Corvayne''s help. The shit about jumping on something we uncovered? What the hell were you thinking?¡±


    Seru was silent a few minutes, then started tearing up. ¡°I was trying to get you guys to take me with you.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Seru sniffled. ¡°I don''t want to... just blurt it out... I want the real story here. You guys are cool.¡±


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Wick took Seru and held her at arms length. ¡°Look... Seru. You''re going to mess up your makeup...¡±


    Mister I came back with a blue metal chef''s knife. ¡°Everything harmonious? Your esteemed friend Nyxion was red faced in the kitchen.¡±


    Grunt acted panicked then made a little wavy dance motion. This was one Corvayne had previously needed someone else to explain to him: Trouble in paradise?


    Mister I nodded. ¡°Nyxion has never had to deal with so many issues before. Even in exile he was wealthy. With both his figurative and literal bubbles having been burst by Cascadia...¡±


    Wick looked over to Corvayne. ¡°Oh, for all that fucks me sideways! Corvayne PLEASE help Seru understand that this isn''t the assignment to cut her teeth on.¡± She then ran to the kitchen.


    Mister I looked at Corvayne and pointed to himself, then gently patted Seru on the arm and gestured to a couch. He kicked the mummy-like zombie that had landed in front of the recliner out of the way then sat facing the couch, gesturing Seru to sit. The woman looked confused but sat.


    The monk spoke gently. ¡°Miss Seru. I''ve known you for a week, and before I plead with you to part ways with us amicably... I''d like you to tell me what you think... Corvayne, If you wish to go hunting for treasure rather then listening in, I think our young lady might be more at ease to share what she''s really thinking. I am a neutral party, and want to help both sides find a more harmonious solution to your current issues. Ah, you need not worry Corvayne... I''m already aware you slept with her.¡±


    Seru responded. ¡°What? No way. He was a huge jerk and left me all alone...¡±


    Corvayne was honestly shocked. He didn''t think Seru could adjust her attitude that fast.


    ¡°You have not bothered him once about taking a juicy slice of your butt, you have not once pulled your shirt down to show him your cleavage, in the two hours or so we''ve been reunited you haven''t offered him oral sex which was a half an hour spaced affair during our goblin hunt, and also you haven''t tried to bait him into an argument. On top of that, Corvayne is perhaps less hardened in his heart then his calm exterior would suggest. Without Wick there to help fend you off, I could see a tired Corvayne just letting nature take it''s course.¡± Mister I turned to him and gave him a look that said ''sorry'' but Corvayne was a mix of embarrassed and impressed.


    Grunt grabbed a book, then plugged earbuds into his phone and picked up what Corvayne had guessed was a microwave with an opaque rounded front and two little metal lines coming off it, set it on the out of the way zombie body, and took it''s place on the flat surface.


    ¡°Grunt, you going to keep Seru safe?¡± Corvayne asked.


    The big man nodded then flipped his book open. Good. He owed Mister I as he didn''t like squabbling. Secretly, he was glad it wasn''t two people he liked that were causing the problems this time. He wasn''t a fan of Nyxion or Seru. That Wick thought they needed Nyxion grated on him.


    He went out the front door and found a key under the mat in front of the next door. Why did they need him? Was it a whim like the thing she suggested with Mosh? He was an exiled noble so he had money... money he couldn''t safely tap on Cascadia. That or they died because the mine incident got linked to them. Connections. Nyxion knew who might be against the Collective, right? He was some sort of rebel. He definitely knew Wick from before, and Wick trusted him. Grunt, Mister I, and Dawn were three people who all said in one form or another that Wick didn''t trust people easily. So either Nyxion was her weak point, or he had a chance to completely screw her over already and passed it. Wasn''t he a poor choice? Nyxion stood out. He never dropped the noble act. She had said somewhere along the line she dated assholes. Wick did have an impulsive streak which is how she had gotten into trouble in the first place. Not that Corvayne regretted being stuck in a dungeon with her. So maybe she had another hunch.


    It boiled down to did he trust Wick? He did, so he''d have try to keep Nyxion on board.


    The next house had a few paintings that he took so Wick could get pictures of them. He glanced at the books and picked an old one to loot. Upstairs he checked the closets and bathrooms to grab some jewelery, killed a zombie in the basement with four shadow hands jabbing holes in it, then noticed a washing machine made of wood with a brass door. A treasure chest? He went around the corner, thought about a gas trap, then moved to the stairway and snaked a hand down. He opened it, stepped down, and claimed some gold and silver coins sitting at the bottom of the chest''s drum. There were three pieces of clothing. Pants, a shirt, and a pair of socks. He put them in a laundry bag that had been nearby. More things to identify. Did Hari have to start over on that sundial if she came back?


    The garage had a pair of zombies who hissed at him and started to stumble forward. Three spear jabs later he was rummaging through tools. There was a hammer that looked like it was made of pressed stone. He put it in his pack. Oh interesting! One of the things laying on a workbench looked like a shield belt. A flick of the switch on it and he confirmed that. Perhaps that was the pay of of this risky floor.


    He let himself think as he puttered around the house. There were two dragons on what Wick called ''the boss floor'', then two treasure chests. So, risk and reward. Was there a reward for possibly bringing Seru along? Or was Nyxion right? She wasn''t going to turn any heads with her fighting skills. Maybe the right course would be to push her to do something for them that would keep her busy. Mister I''s point about how she stopped badgering him for sex because she had gotten it had Corvayne wondering, as he rummaged through the kitchen. That could work... sending her to do something ''important'' might be enough to keep her from blabbing about the weird space. The other three... well he couldn''t do anything now. How many seconds behind a table facing a one way mirror would Dave last before he told his life story? Could Gary stop himself from telling everyone who would listen how cool the adventure he went on was? Jake, possibly, was already calling up four or five friends and telling them to grab rifles and hockey gear and come up to the park. That would be annoying if he had idiots with hunting rifles and tourists filing into the portal.


    It would be whatever it was. Seru had mentioned that a bunch of people all thinking they were the first would diffuse suspicion, but anyone who heard about it would know where they heard it. Would a monk who killed six people without even saying a word torture someone to get them to talk? Corvayne took a spoon made of the same blue metal that other magic weapons were. What kind of magic did a spoon have? Maybe he''d throw it or something?


    He stepped out to a screened off porch and saw Nyxion, LBC, and Wick were in the other porch. He shrugged, and opened a screen door to walk over to them.


    Nyxion stunned him then by looking at Corvayne and standing, and offering a hand. He looked chastised. ¡°Corvayne, I wish to apologize. Wick has informed me that I''ve been... inflammatory without needing to be. And that you actually wounded the enemy who defeated us. I have been underestimating your prowess. As well as you being our third leg of our triumvirate.¡±


    Corvayne raised an eyebrow. ¡°The third leg is a dick, Nyx.¡± He looked at the hand and sighed. It might be a forced gesture of peace, but Wick had gone to bat for the aristocrat. For as little as he trusted Nyxion, the man had died with them. Corvayne took the hand as Nyx looked like he was going to waver. ¡°Accepted. I also think your reasoning is sound. Just disagreed because we can''t be the same as the people we''re fighting.¡± He stepped back and tossed Nyxion the shield belt. The noble looked surprised, then beamed.


    ¡°Corvayne, you rogue!¡± The man laughed. ¡°Most scoundrels I know would keep one of these for themselves!¡±


    Wick gestured to LBC. ¡°So are you going to give it to your loyal right hand woman then?¡±


    ¡°Oh I didn''t say I was good person did I? I seek power, glory, and revenge.¡± He snapped it on himself.


    Lady Blood Claw actually laughed a little, her skin flashing stripes of red, pink, yellow, and sky blue. ¡°That''s the sort of person the ''young master'' is hah.¡±


    Corvayne motioned for them to return to the house. ¡°Lets talk later. We should get off the floor. There''s still a giant robot somewhere.¡±


    Going back into the house Seru was laying on the coach, looking up while talking about college. Mister I held up a hand at Corvayne while not changing his focus on her. He shrugged, then turned to Wick and them. ¡°Or let''s loot the houses for a bit.¡± He said quietly. ¡°Mister I, we''ll be back in thirty or so.¡±


    Nyxion rolled his eyes, but followed as they went out to the shared grass between a few homes and picked one at random to go ransack. A few more pictures, one that was a repeat. Lady Blood Claw looted the jewelery this time, and Nyxion followed Corvayne out to the garage. One of the larger double-zombies was waiting for them. The noble happily tested his shield belt by standing his ground and simply battering the thing to death with his mace as it tried to use it''s mangled four hands to flail at him, mouths moaning in a low groan until Nyxion did enough damage for the thing to sigh and stop moving.


    Checking the drawer he found more coins. To be honest, he was probably getting close to having too much as they could only sell so much of it to pawn shops before they raised questions about how they got it. He hadn''t talked to Wick about if Brines or Horton were the leak. Brines would be his guess if he had to pick between those two. The man had been in charge of the crate.


    Corvayne finished stuffing a handful of silver nuts and bolts into a pouch of his pack. ¡°Nyxion, I got a question... what do you know about Brines, the man you had kidnapped to try to get that crate?¡±


    Nyxion had grabbed a ladder and was positioning it to reach a shelf high up on a wall. ¡°My agent on Cascadia had known James Brines... can you hold the ladder? My thanks good man, anyway my agent Ira told me the mine''s head manager had tasked him with shipping something to a holding house. James actually is running the warehouse where they hold most of the oddities... and of course pretty jasper... that comes out of mines that had proper control. He does that for his father and his uncle. I think they were sending that crate to Tripic for a faction that isn''t Goule''s. Possibly Havorti''s circle, since he and Martin Brines, one of the titular Brines Brothers who founded the company, work together in public.¡±


    Nyxion came down from the ladder and shook his head, so they returned to the home''s living room to talk.


    ¡°Martian Brines... he''s James'' grandfather. So what you''re saying is it''s very possible Brines sold us out?¡±


    Nyxion nodded. ¡°The Brines have influence here on Cascadia. If the staff-user who killed us was in play from the start, he''d have been at the mine. I think we can say the mercenary was one group, and that monk was working with the police in some capacity. I''ll assume he got called in by Jimmy''s grandfather until we have a better theory. I doubt have a freak who can stop time or teleport or whatever simply guarding ships like a common doughnut eating thug.¡±


    Corvayne thought out loud. ¡°You and your agent learned that the Brines had something they pulled out of the mine that they didn''t want to leave at the mine or at their mansion or whatever. Someone broke in pretty much the night after we got it. Shit! They might have just happened to be looking to steal the crate! Crap, we missed that.¡±


    ¡°Grunt dispatched them without your aid. He told Wick about it on the drive back here. We can speak to this possible fourth group later.¡±


    ¡°Ok, well that might be a FOURTH group. They knew about it, so it''s possible a miner blabbed it... no it was someone who knew where the crate was going. So anyway, you jumped at the chance to try to get it, because LBC knew the object was important and that the Magus, and most importantly for you that it might point to ships for the taking. Then the mercenaries, who took over and tried to get the package...¡±


    ¡°Or they just killed my man just because. I made sure to give the man a call and tell him they were on to him... I assume the ship touched down already so after we are done here... we can maybe try our stunt at the mine again.¡±


    Corvayne frowned. ¡°That''s annoying. I''d say no since it might be what got us in trouble before, but they nuke the entire mine otherwise.¡±


    A voice he wasn''t expecting cut in. ¡°Not a fan of trolly problems, are you Corvayne?¡±


    He turned and saw that Mister I, Grunt, and Seru had followed them to the house they were looting. She looked more chipper, which he wasn''t sure was a good thing.


    ¡°Planning is a pain. We just don''t know enough.¡± He rubbed the back of his neck. It felt bad to admit that to Seru of all people.


    She folded her arms and raised a finger in the air. ¡°Well, whenever you get into trouble online, sometimes it''s better to just go on the offensive. Get your followers to spam someone out and they gotta sit there and deal with bullshit.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shook her head at Seru. ¡°You are not a very nice person, are you?¡±


    Corvayne stopped. Seru had, somehow, made a good point about how it was harder to deal with a lot of people who all disclose all at once. He thought about it. One of the unarmed trainers, Smiles-And-Tears, often told his students that sometimes it was about control, focus, and strategy. And sometimes the best move was to just cause as much chaos as possible.


    ¡°When this is done, we are going to go clear the mine while we muddy the water. Who cares what 3 or 4 people say when you have thousands of workers all trying to sell the same stuff we did?¡±

 Chapter 49: To the Next Level

    The next floor was near the steep fold in the neighborhood that Corvayne had pointed them to. He had spotted a gap in the houses from a block away and veered that way to find a path off into a wooded lot. If the landscape was flat it would have been a blue dirt path downhill to a stream bed in normal orientation. With the weird origami folds, the resulting area was like foot path going up a hill with trees all pointing out forty five degrees from an uphill slope.


    ¡°It''s like we are climbing a big blue porcupine.¡± Seru commented. Whatever she and Mister I had discussed, she had calmed down. The Monk himself looked thoughtful, and Corvayne hoped Mister I would give him and Wick guidance on what to do with Seru once they had a moment to stop and talk.


    There was a concrete stairway near the end of the path that branched off and back down the slope at a dizzying angle that lead to a tunnel where a normally aligned stair way was. Corvayne lead the way up the stairs to the next area, emerging in a misty forest once more. Both pine and deciduous trees loomed out of the mist, covered in moss and surrounded by smaller plants creating a blanket of teal against red and blue wood.


    Corvayne didn''t see any threats, and there was a clear path forward to a more open area. Stepping forward away from the trees he saw the new orientation of the floor was long needles of forest floating in a slightly yellow foggy void, with what looked like ski-lifts and power lines strung on floating rocks between them... or stretching off into the mist at least. There were also a few monorail tracks but they looked bent and he could see a ruined train car on one line, covered in vines. The outlines of the land-needles that were not swallowed up in fog were oriented in a particular direction and slightly tipped upwards.


    Wick looked annoyed. ¡°This looks like a huge pain in the ass... Let''s find a different floor.¡±


    Mister I looked thoughtful. ¡°So far it''s always been possible to get around without getting too crazy, like with the moving platforms on the other fifth floor.¡±


    Corvayne gestured. ¡°I want to see if we can use the train track to get around. It looks thick enough to walk on. Let''s explore before we resign our selves to go back to the robot floor.¡± Not waiting for more complaints he lead and others followed, moving along a path that was a few trees away from the drop off into the vast yellow void. He lead them slightly up hill.


    Grunt gave him a little tap then pointed out a tree with what looked like porcupine quills stuck in it.


    ¡°Monsters on this floor shoot needles.¡± He announced. Not much different then the drones, hopefully. Corvayne went up to the tree and tugged one of the thin spines out. ¡°Might mean there''s a second creature that fights them maybe.


    Nyxion strode to the front of the group. ¡°I''ll walk with you then. I want to see how the new belt holds up.¡±


    Corvayne looked back at the other needles stuck in the tree. ¡°If it fails though...¡±


    ¡°A face full of needles! No worse then a bullet.¡± Nyxion laughed. What the hell did Wick say to him that flipped his attitude?


    Corvayne heard something not twenty steps later and held up a hand, putting his head down and pushing through the brush slowly. A game trail led him to a clearing where he saw the monsters themselves. They looked like three foot tall porcupines, but with elongated snouts, showing off brown sharp teeth in slavering jaws rather then a sort of cute rodent face. There was the smell of blood and a terrible gutteral hissing as they pushed their back feet up to aim their spikes at Corvayne and Nyxion.


    Corvayne dove behind a tree while Nyx just held his arms out as the barrage harmlessly scattered off his shield. Then he undid his mace and strode forward. Corvayne felt him radiate something cold. No, not actual cold, it was a feeling he generated. The Rodents trying to fire quills started to hesitate as he strode up to them. Some were still flinging spines but a few froze up before he waded into them, Mace swinging as he laughed.


    Corvayne shrugged and used [Flows-Like-Water], the forest rushing past him as the world blurred, with his spear darting out to find three of the monsters. He aimed for faces and their bellies, spear piercing the soft parts of the monster and causing terrible damage. He landed past the first three, and saw the monsters flip on to all fours, aiming their backs at him as they for a moment puffed up. Corvayne just kept moving and used [Flows-Like-Water], forest blurring again as his spear jabbed one monster in the face killing it, and wounding two more. As it hit one of the monsters, there was a popping sound and the monster deflated around the wound, body flying back as if he had hit it with a warhammer. He stepped out of the ability past where the pack was facing. He could see they were fixated on Nyxion, with Wick adding spells from cover, and Mister I hitting a few with arrows. Grunt just took a chest full of spikes to run up and bash the rodents to death.


    Before Corvayne had turned to fight the remaining rodents were dead. Grunt made a cocky thumbs down: Too easy! He then ripped a bunch of bloody spikes out of himself and tossed them off to the side.


    ¡°No poison, right?¡± Mister I said, looking at the wound.


    Grunt shook his head. Aside from the big man, Corvayne didn''t see any injuries. After giving Mister I a few minutes to collect a few, they resumed their walk until they reached the fat and high end of the needle. Out of the mossy forest around them, a steel platform covered in vines had stairs leading up to what looked like a chain link covered bridge. It looked old but intact, and more importantly the path had a measure of protection. He couldn''t see the next needle, but he could spot where the bridge was anchored to small floating clumps of rock.


    Seru tugged his sleeve. ¡°Couldn''t we go back to the other floor? This looks creepy as hell.¡±


    Wick snorted. ¡°And an empty neighborhood full of the dead isn''t?¡±


    Mister I held up a de-quilled monster and shook it. ¡°There food is likely better here, however!¡±


    LBC looked back. ¡°I think this floor is better. The threat here is clearly the spine throwers rather then something insurmountable. As long as we can find passage between needles that''s sure footing.¡±


    Corvayne gestured for them to follow him and started down the bridge. The concrete and chain link structure curved a little for about half a mile, then had a larger floating rock that it had a little side stairway down to. Corvayne took a moment to step down and survey the island, only a hundred feet on any side and with a handful of trees. He found a small cave on a path leading down to the side, but no treasure. Still, it was the kind of place that might have loot. He waved at his curious friends and stepped back up the stairs to lead the way forward.


    It was a full mile to the next needle. The path landed midway onto the needle, and Corvayne diligently went uphill. A smaller back of quill beasts blocked the way. Corvayne had a trio of needles hit his arm while killing the five. Getting struck hurt but not badly. Wick got nailed in the leg and had Mister I just bandage it up, and they went another third of the way up the needle before coming to what looked like a Ski lift. It was running, the machine making squeaking noises with a generator hidden in a shed rumbling. It looked like there was room for two or three in each car.


    Corvayne was wary of being in those cars while they floated over the void. ¡°I want to see what our other options are, even if this leads upwards.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°If we are going to fight these stupid rodents, we also should go ahead and check the entire island.¡±


    Nyxion lead the charge when they found another group of quill-flingers. He saw the monsters flinch as Nyxion ran forward. Corvayne was pretty sure he had some effect that actually intimidated the monsters as they kept hesitating before attacking. it was the first time he saw any of the mindlessly aggressive monsters ever ran away rather then attacked. It wasn''t the particular species of monster, as Corvayne squared off with a few of the spiny monsters who always moved closer to him if they were not lining up an attack.


    He had time as they stepped away to consider it might be Nyxions power. Wick had, after all, gained magic after exiting the fifth floor. He had developed his shadowy hands. Seru had thrown Wick nearly twenty feet away when she had been pinned to the ground... he''d have to sit everyone down once they reached camp to try to figure out if everyone got something or it was just random.


    The third pack Corvayne got a dozen quills in his leg and his side. The had traveled far enough that they didn''t dig all the way into his tough skin, but it hurt pretty badly to get hit with so many at once. Grunt was such a showoff, acting like the things didn''t sting like crazy. That or the large man was much more used to pain then Corvayne was. He kept a straight face the entire time Mister I was humming and pulling quills out.


    He turned and offered his side to Mister I, who had a pair of pliers he was using to pull the quills out. There was pressure, a sudden release, and terrible pain. While trying to look at anything else besides the spikes getting pulled out of him, he saw Grunt was biting his lip and had watery eyes. The big faker was just acting tough!


    They uncovered two other ways off the floating needle they were on. First was a monorail track with a single metal handhold bolted onto the wildly twisting trail. The second was a crank-driven trolly cart on a pair of wires. Given the group''s size, the cart would require two trips, with someone cranking the cart to carry them back. The only other feature Corvayne felt was notable on the needle was a stream that came from a waterfall running down a tree. Corvayne considered climbing it to see where the falls were coming from, but it looked like people wanted a break from walking. They found a spot with a fallen logs that would let them sit.


    ¡°Let''s eat something, I want to see how these things taste.¡± Mister I held up one of the quilled monsters. Grunt nodded then started breaking firewood bare-handed.


    Nyxion looked horrified. ¡°It''s going to taste like rat, old man!¡±


    Mister I arched an eyebrow. ¡°Oh! Has our esteemed prince dined on four star rodent before? Paella Ratton? Pasta Rattus?¡±


    ¡°Paella can have rabbit! No, I would vacation on Oscard, a similar backwoods planet like this one. There were trappers who ate rats. Told me it tasted like beaver.¡±


    ¡°I am surprised you would lower yourself to dine on beaver. I didn''t think there was much bush meat in high society.¡± Mister I said.


    Wick started to laugh. ¡°He probably had no idea the trapper was fucking with him.¡±


    Nyxion waved his hand. ¡°He meant it literally. I''ve done survival training and I actually caught and ate a muskrat. Even cooked it''s not very good. I''ve also had the best rabbit Paella you can get on the capital world.¡±


    Corvayne was surprised that the man had ever caught anything. ¡°I didn''t peg you for the camping type. Or one to eat beaver, either.¡±


    Mister I agreed, his face too serenely pleased to be taken seriously by Corvayne. ¡°I think it''s good. You cannot appreciate the rich things in life if you don''t lower yourself to embrace the simple pleasures. It''s sad that many men and women in high society look down on eating beaver. Perhaps it''s not befitting of one who seeks enlightenment, but I never pass up beaver when it''s offered. One can perhaps find serenity in a hearty meal of beaver with a friend.¡±


    Nyxion smirked. ¡°Har har har, cunnilingus joke. Since you brought it up... Most high class girls barely want to hike their dresses up enough to get at it, let alone have someone smash their face into their unmentionables. Maids and governesses on the other hand love seem to love sitting on men''s faces. Especially if they were bossed around the same day. Same with the male servants and having a haughty lady get on her hands and knees.¡±


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Corvayne was still listening but started to lay down the wood Grunt had broken into a fire. Most of the logs were wet, but he was pretty sure his dagger would do just fine starting a fire. He was trying to figure out if Nyx was making it all up or not as he let a short burst ignite the starter pile, then started placing larger pieces onto the fire to keep it going.


    Seru frowned. ¡°Isn''t that like, an abuse of power?¡±


    ¡°I never slept with my own employees. I rarely saw them! No, being a member of high society you spend an ungodly amount of time at other people''s homes, and only match it when you spend two months at home out of twelve hosting a dozen other families. So there''s a never ending stream of frigid girls to sleep with. I made a point to have breakfast with the staff. It was a good way to get the dirt on their masters, as well as making myself available for curious maids, governesses, female bodyguards, and so on.¡±


    Seru was leaning forward. ¡°I''m interested now, why don''t the girls who are your equals like sex if they are having it?¡±


    Nyxion laughed. ¡°Half of it is fuel for gossip. That and at some point it became very poor taste to not ''entertain'' your guests. Why would people come to your nice estate if they don''t make fabulous memories? Asking your staff to handle it would be abuse, so back when there was a mass shortage of staff two hundred plus years ago related to ''Guest Bedding'', parents would push their unmarried adult children to go have flings with other single guests as a sort of courting and alliance forming exercise. It''s something you get nagged about, but because you have families who make their marriages out of such flings, or remember them fondly it''s hard to even speak of the practice as bad without a few men and woman loudly calling you a lowly prude. I don''t know what sort of obligations commoners have to do to please their parents, but my dear great aunt felt it was important so I had to go along with it if I wanted an allowance.¡±


    Wick looked sick. ¡°If you wonder why people who deal with nobles think they are scum...¡±


    ¡°The noble girls who really don''t want any part of it are perfectly happy to simply fake a few minutes of passionate noises and take a night off of frippery to get solid sleep.¡± Nyx continued. ¡°It was a little tricker in places where their parents bug the guest bedrooms directly...¡±


    ¡°Wait what?¡± Seru was shocked. Grunt was just shaking his head.


    ¡°Do you have any idea how degenerate the peerage is?¡± Lady Blood Claw asked. ¡°There''s a reason I''m loyal to this man.¡±


    Nyxion bowed as best he could on a log. ¡°What a low bar you''ve set at merely not being a perverted cur! I had a problem of having too many bored third or fourth daughters knocking at my chamber doors. I suspect it''s because a few families knew I was the grandson of the former emperor. I can say firmly that I don''t miss much of my dalliances with bored socialites besides seeing some impressively well made underwear. Of course, sometimes at the provincial estates you get a wildcat daughter. Go for the shy ones who still make eye contact over a fan.¡±


    Corvayne thought of Hari being coy until the lights were off. ¡°Be careful when you go hunting tigers, as you might catch one.¡±


    Seru folded her arms. ¡°I''m totally down for bad behavior, but I''ve never heard of any of this before and I grew up in high society.¡±


    Nyx gestured at the woods. ¡°On Cascadia? You have what, three major cities strung out over an entire planet? What''s the worlds population? It''s under a hundred million, right?¡±


    Wick picked up the slack. ¡°Something around fifty to seventy-five million, the majority of that is rural towns plopped down around the cities. I''d say four major cities, but I''m guessing you don''t count space ports under a million population. Hey, you know the actual reason for pushing their kids to have all sorts of affairs is, right?¡±


    ¡°Go on Wick. I delight at your theories.¡± Nyx gestured.


    ¡°Obviously to get some accidental heirs, but also... Sports team.¡± Wick''s glasses gleamed from the fire.


    Corvayne knew what she wanted from her audience and beat Lady Blood Claw to the punch. ¡°What the heck does that mean, Wick?¡± He added with a hint of bewildered shock in his voice. He saw her grin.


    ¡°Nobles don''t actually do much. They have a lot of passive income, only a handful of passive expenses. Maybe if you get a string of really permissive emperors they get to participate directly in local law... but to what end? The development of the wormhole designed ships shook it up a little, but the upper class exists as-is because noble sounds better then interplanetary trust-fund baby. Most of them are pampered, clueless, and prone to just accepting the rut previous generations have worn in for them. The parts of the family who are good at business have to monetize for the rest of them. So someone figured out you can do branding. Not every planet plays every sport, but they all understand sleeping around and are encouraged to live vicariously through nobles. Society thrives both on striving to be ''betters'' and thinking they are not better.¡±


    Nyx folded his arms. ¡°You think then whenever something really embarrassing happens...¡±


    Wick smirked. ¡°It''s leaked. Who cares about what the public thinks as long as they are thinking about the peerage? And more importantly, do you think it''d be wise for someone on Tripic who isn''t a noble to drag them back down reality? There was an age where they were tinkering with laws to make money. But they did most of that hundreds of years back. The last big change was... the emperor''s father taking over.¡±


    Corvayne looked around. ¡°I''m curious. How much money do these nobles have? In stories, they get a lot then spend it all on lavish stuff, so eventually those who rise fall...¡±


    Wick pointed at Corvayne. ¡°That''s why I like you! You ask good questions. The poorest noble families on Tripic have combined net worth in the hundreds of trillions of credits if you have the patience to research and add up a maze of trusts and assets. There is a huge gap between people who can scrape together a billion credits, and people who own multiple planets who''s very smart ancestors tampered with everything to make sure a few dumb generations wouldn''t squander it. Most of those poor nobles are that way because they spend more money on investments rather then just save their interest. The Brines Brothers will make the jump over to landed nobles probably in a few years, if Cascadia jumps in value, that is.¡±


    Corvayne felt that her certainty there was a little weird. ¡°Okay, but why do the super rich leak stupid things the families do?¡±


    Wick held up all her fingers. ¡°It''s almost always the same ten tepid scandals! Drug problem. Cheating. Dumb social blunder at some event. Got scammed out of a pittance of money that sounds like a lot. Weird Sex habit, legal kind. Hooked up with criminals, in ''legal trouble''. Major diplomatic blunder with a figurehead. Caught nude at a beach. Sired a bastard. Got knocked up by a commoner. For the last two the pool boy is always actually the son of a successful merchant elsewhere. Do you know how many shotgun married maids are really billionaire heiresses? Fifty percent at least. The core families take in new genetic material when it happens to come with another small piece of the pie. Same with breaking up families and dumping bad assets. I dare say that''s why James Brines is running all the bad properties his dad and uncle don''t want.¡±


    Mister I sighs. ¡°It''s why one chooses to live in the hinterlands. People here are still making their fortunes... and there are riches to be found yet on Cascadia! At least until the Brines family reaches peerage. Now who has the courage to munch on some angry beaver?¡±


    Grunt pointed at Corvayne. Wick didn''t see it or care to comment.


    Corvayne accepted a paper plate with a plastic fork and a glistening pile of steaming monster meat on it. ¡°Thanks Mister I.¡±


    The first bite of a new monster was always a joy. It started off salty but became sweet like fruit, lemons and blackberry perhaps, as he chewed. He had to slow himself down and savor every bite, as much as he wanted to just chew his way through the entire plateful. It was sort of like eating fruit, in that he didn''t feel the need to drink with the succulent meat.


    Nyxion actually stood up after his first bite. ¡°How in the hell does a mutant porcupine taste this good?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shrugged. ¡°Monsters are basically full of magical aspects you can''t absorb through regular food. That''s part of why it tastes so good.¡±


    The noble turned and stared at her. ¡°Well how come you never told me this?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw''s skin shifted colors to something like orange with bands of yellow rippling up it. ¡°I didn''t think you''d accept a motive other then revenge for finding such a place.¡±


    Corvayne nodded as he swallowed the mouthful he had. ¡°Imagine how good beaver tastes in here.¡±


    He heard Wick mutter ¡°About the same as anywhere.¡± which made Nyx start laughing.


    After finishing his plate, Nyxion stood. ¡°Cheers to our fine cook, and to foolish ventures that will certainly lead to us dying a-¡±


    LBC elbowed him in the leg. Corvayne clearly thought to himself ''do not look at Seru to see if she noticed'' while looking at Seru to see that she had noticed.


    The woman looked between them then gave Corvayne a flat stare. A darker part of him lamented that they had helped her. Curse the dungeon for giving her the phone back as well. He decided to divert and distract.


    ¡°Nyxion, how much was our take last time you fenced something for us?¡±


    He looked to Wick, who actually gave him a small smile.


    Nyx tapped his chin and hummed before speaking. ¡°Oh. Minus what I put away for things like replacing my shield belt and renovating that building...¡±


    Wick stood up. ¡°A belt like that is at least a million credits on the black market!¡±


    Nyx waited for a few seconds after her outburst then quietly said ¡°Your cut was Sixteen million.¡±


    ¡°For all seven bags?¡± Wick was wide eyed. ¡°That''s a lot of money.¡±


    ¡°No, I sold one pair of boots that granted magical flight for sixteen million credits. Granted, that was the easiest object to sell as the wings on them make them look like the classical crap my client eats up. It was luck a buyer like him was on Cascadia...¡±


    Seru looked around the campfire. She had finished her plate when he wasn''t looking at her. ¡°You guys are millionaires too?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°Our money is gone. More importantly: Remember how I said you could die hanging around us? The six people who had our money, all about as strong as we are, were murdered in moments because of that sale.¡± Corvayne made an effort not to lie after being told by Grunt he had a crappy poker face. There was a part of him pleased by what he just said.


    Nyx nodded. ¡°That''s why you should stick to, I don''t know what you do... take pictures of yourself?¡±


    Seru smiled and stood up and then sat right next to Corvayne, between him and Lady Blood Claw. She leaned against Corvayne and stretched her arms in a way that showed off her cleavage.


    Seru then looked at everyone, smiling. ¡°Taking pictures is nice, but that was yesterday. I REALLY want in now.¡±


    Wick laughed and folded her arms. ¡°We are here, now, because you couldn''t even FUCKING lie to us about not just exposing everything!¡±


    ¡°See... but here''s the thing: you have experts in a lot of things. You have a Tripic Noble who''s your access to resources you need to eventually get a private ship as well as bringing his alien who seems to know about where we are right now. Wick, your obviously the leader, and you have Corvayne who is your heavy hitter and planner in here. But you guys need an information specialist! I''m really good at digging out stories, yes I know I''m not very professional, and maybe I was totally actually going to run off with your stuff, but it''s different now because...¡±


    Corvayne dug his fingernails into his fist. Do not say we had sex. Do not say we had sex. PLEASE Seru.


    ¡°You guys are in a time loop.¡±

 Chapter 50: Uhh No, Thats Crazy Talk!

    With the forest and mists muting everything outside of a faint breeze, there was complete silence as Seru looked at each of them, face quickly becoming more smug with every set of eyes she met.


    She couldn''t help the glee in her voice. ¡°Yeah, you guys are definitely in a time loop.¡±


    Everyone else around the camp fire was still frozen, Corvanye included. He turned to look at Wick for her guidance, and she looked at him helplessly. Nyxion started to stand and Lady Blood Claw quickly grabbed his arm.


    The alien woman''s voice was tight, and her skin rippled red then orange. ¡°Let''s.... chill out for a moment.¡± Corvayne watched Miss Blood Claw turn to look at the girl smugly smiling at everyone from next to him. ¡°Seru is your name, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I don''t know yours.¡± Seru responded.


    ¡°Lady Blood Claw.¡± She offered her now gray hand and Seru shook it.


    ¡°So Seru, when you say you think we are in a time loop... what exactly do you mean by that?¡± Lady blood claw had darkened into a charcoal color. It had to mean something. He wondered if LBC would tell him.


    ¡°Okay. All three of you...¡± Seru pointed at Corvayne, Wick, and Mister I in turn. ¡°All three of you kept saying things that implied you were working off a time table. Key words like ''again'' and ''this time'' come up a lot. Sometimes you responded like you had made a mistake. Also, you have friends who are going to pop in here, but why wouldn''t they be geared up to blow away a hundred goblins with guns? Or heck, any weapon. Let''s talk about how Corvayne knew every other floor where to look for things, but he hit floor six and I watched him run around like a chicken with his head cut off because he had no idea what he''s up against. Then after he does know, I see how he acts later once he has a handle on a floor and he might as well be striding out of a movie screen. Like, the dude is a natural and all once he''s not distracted and tired, but it''s totally different from the feeling he had say, on the river. He seemed to know exactly where monsters were hiding and just bolted at them like a machine. More importantly, every single one of you has been one hundred percent sure if I blab you''re dead. Okay, cool, but I could also tell there''s some sort of resentment aimed at Nyxion, and it''s not just that he''s an asshole who likes getting sat on...¡±


    She paused and leaned forward to look at Nyxion. ¡°Sorry, no judgement on your tastes. I bet girls have fun riding your face.¡±


    ¡°Oh perish the thought you irritating harlot. Water under the bridge.¡± Nyx spoke in a jesting tone, his eyes sharp. ¡°Do go on with your amusing theory.¡±


    Seru continued. ¡°See, Corvayne had said he had been here a while back. Weeks ago. Except I go hiking here at least every weekend because my parents own a place just down the road. The clearing on Goblin Hill is my favorite spot.¡±


    ¡°Wait it''s named literally Goblin''s Hill? Hmm... uhh that''s interesting.¡± Wick was clearly sweating like crazy. Grunt was watching all this happen and simply grabbed another log to toss it on the fire. Was he... faintly amused?


    Seru didn''t stray from her point. She smiled and stood up, pacing near the rekindled fire. ¡°I was there on Thursday because Friday is a holiday for Gygaxians. Unless you did everything the previous day, the stairs didn''t exist at all before Friday. Also, that discussion about the value of how much money people got killed over was suspicious as hell. You all knew what happened, with some guy poking holes in everyone, I heard the same example every time. How would you all know that''s how your friends died but not all the amount of money they had? Or how much sold? Not to mention what you''re doing, farting around with goblins. Like, do I look dumb? You wouldn''t do that if you thought someone was on your trail. I know people think I''m stupid but come on.¡±


    Wick grimaced ¡°We do think that, but less so in light of the rather EMBARRASSING last five minutes. Did you pillow talk it out of Corvayne?¡± Wick looked over at Corvayne. ¡°Oh don''t give me that shocked look! I gave you permission because because I knew you''re a sopping wet cracker for lost girls and I can tell you felt bad for scaring her. Also you looked guilty on seeing me again.¡±


    ¡°I... didn''t say anything.¡± He felt angry, and tried to divert it with rigid control as he folded his arms. Could she not make his mistakes public? Was being in love with Wick ever going to just work?


    LBC shrugged, then rubbed her hands a little. ¡°Ok. Thank you Seru for explaining why you think we are in a loop.¡±


    ¡°You have not done this a lot, or this is the earliest you''ve hit this dungeon in the loop... but wait, you didn''t take my phone any of the other times?¡± Seru looked between Corvayne, Mister I, and Wick.


    Wick sighed. ¡°You nitwit. You know how Corvayne kept saying we saved your life? The entrance was nothing but bones and scraps of nice jackets. You and the other three were almost certainly eaten.¡±


    Seru''s triumphant look faded. ¡°You don''t know that. Maybe I made it out?¡±


    Corvayne gestured. ¡°Maybe. But with only one leg if that was the case. I saw one of your boots on a leg bone. I am pretty sure Jake would be shirtless since he gave his to a skeleton. Dave left some of his camo in the tree by those two. So I can say, maybe, but I''d not start a fight at such long odds.¡±


    Grunt nudged Wick and made some gestures. Corvayne looked between them and Seru who was digesting his comment. Her face was wobbling between on the verge of tears and horrified.


    ¡°Wait, you slept with me even though you''ve seen me dead? That''s really weird!¡±


    ¡°You were the one who kept bugging me to do it.¡± Corvayne shot back. ¡°I just wanted to go to bed and saw no other way to stop you.¡±


    ¡°I don''t like it. You''re telling me I got eaten?¡± Seru said. ¡°Did they kill me first?¡±


    ¡°I assume you fought to the bitter end and didn''t feel anything.¡± Corvayne didn''t mention that it would probably take a long time to bleed out if the goblins were just using poorly made knives.


    ¡°Let''s move on.¡± Wick added. Her shoulders were moving up and down as she took deep breaths and he could see her closing her eyes. Wait, was she okay?


    Mister I nodded. ¡°We know the nature of our goblin foes. Why do you think we were so adamant about exterminating them? If not us, they eat each other. Mosh being an exception.¡±


    Seru backed off a little. ¡°Sorry it''s just really gross to think about being... torn apart... like something eating my foot.¡±


    Wick was trembling ¡°Stop.¡±


    Nyxion was focused on Seru. ¡°Oh no, never... I''m sure they just started at the soft parts, you know when animals eat a person it''s gruesome because they...¡±


    ¡°Shut the FUCK UP! FUCK! FUCK!¡± Wick stood up, stumbling for a moment, then ran into the underbrush.


    Grunt moved to stand but Corvanye was already walking past him. ¡°I''ll try to calm her down.¡± he told everyone who was looking between where she ran off to and him. He ignored their protests and started jogging after her into the mist shrouded woods.


    Wick didn''t get all that far and he found her by following the sound of her sobbing and throwing up. She was hunched over in a circle of ferns, coughing and retching with her cloud robe splayed out behind her. It was getting dark, but he didn''t see anything else moving in the brush. He crouched near her and spoke softly.


    ¡°Wick, are you okay? I''m here. Take your time.¡± He really wanted to comfort her, but felt this was a moment she''d rather not have him all over her.


    ¡°Fuck. I can''t... It won''t stop.¡± Wick was crying then coughed and started retching again.


    ¡°I''ll get you a towel and some water.¡± He dashed back to camp and picked his pack up.


    After a minute of her heaving he was able to hand her a towel he had looted from the house he was staying at. She rolled back and wiped her face then blew her nose into it, and offered it back to him. He took it and tossed it into the woods, then handed her the canteen. She swished her mouth out, spit, then drank some. The girl he loved was miserable, and he couldn''t do anything.


    Wick ¡°I''m sorry. This isn''t going to work. I''m just spinning my wheels and I...¡±


    Corvayne sat next to her. ¡°You haven''t slept well since the car. Lets make camp.¡±


    ¡°I got plenty of sleep. We should keep going...¡±


    ¡°No, you haven''t. You look burned out. Wick, I am willing to die for you. Heck, I did die for you. I''d do it again-¡±


    ¡°That''s part of the fucking problem! You''re such a god damned idiot, what do you THINK it felt like to see you die? Then we can''t talk about it, at all, for a week, and you run off and now it''s like, do I have to kill someone to stop it from happening again? And I keep thinking about the memories I have that, of the... of the first time and it hurts and I just want it to stop. The pills help sometimes. Mister I tries, Dawn, Grunt, and you... can''t you see I''m not worth it? I''m not a good person. I can''t fix my own problems. I can''t protect myself, I''m going to get you killed until it sticks for both of us, and I was going to ask you about fucking some jackass who I-¡±


    ¡°Wick. I love you despite that.¡± Corvayne said. There was silence, then she leaned against him.


    ¡°If I was a better person I''d tell you it''s over.¡± Wick muttered.


    ¡°I have no idea why you like me, at all, but it''s why I''m not rolling around in the dirt like you are right now.¡± He put an arm around her.


    ¡°I really mean it. I don''t know what I''m doing. I don''t have a... a... plan. I think it''s going to happen even faster this time. We''re going to die again.¡±


    ¡°We''ll figure it out. We are going to get stronger. Seru, for all I don''t like her, might be right about leveling up. So even if we don''t get treasure killing stuff here may be doing something.¡±


    Wick turned to him and pulled her head back. ¡°I know coming from me it''s absolutely the pot calling the kettle black, but did fucking her give you her crazies too?¡±


    ¡°I wish you had just told her I was off limits.¡± Corvayne noted dryly.


    ¡°I wish you had exceeded my expectations and just tied her up instead of letting her wear you down.¡±


    ¡°Ok good, now we''re both angry about the same person rather than moping.¡± He thought for a while. ¡°If you want to just get out of here... we can try diving deep into this place. The inn keeper had said he came from a different world. Hari showed up here so it''s probably not strictly one way. We can go back to the inn and ask him how to travel through the dungeon. If you need to get out, we can get out.¡±


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Okay.¡± She put an arm around him.


    ¡°Hey Wick?¡± He looked off at the pale fog, a shade of blue-green against the black outlines of trees as dusk fell.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°You smell like vomit.¡± Corvayne squeezed her shoulder. That got a laugh out of her.


    They moved camp to the little hill with the pulley cart platform. There was some fencing that Corvayne dragged along the edge of the hill to make it harder for any porcupines or other monsters to sneak in. Before Wick was willing to sleep, she wanted to finish the conversation from before. They sat on the grass at the edge of a tarp they had put out under a tent. The biggest suprise to Corvayne was Seru and Nyxion had worked together to set the tent up and did so pretty smoothly.


    Corvayne had set up his own tarps as a lean-to opposite the tent. He didn''t mind sleeping outside in a bedroll. Wick had laid out her sleeping bag next to his.


    Wick started their little meeting. ¡°Okay, First things first. Seru, I vote you can work with us. But I want to say, we don''t know why we are not dead on a tarmac. We don''t really know what exactly we did but it stirred up a hornet''s nest. You are probably going to die.¡±


    Corvayne looked over at Seru. She nodded, pushing a little hair out of her face. ¡°As the holy vestments say: Death is Certain.¡±


    Wick looked around. ¡°Anyone strongly disagree?¡±


    Nyx smiled and looked at Seru. ¡°I think if she''s close to us, there''s less trouble.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Fine point. Seru, you already know about us. Catch.¡±


    He tossed her phone to her. She caught it and fumbled the catch a little before getting a firm grip on it. ¡°Just hand it to me! I mean, thank you Corvy-Baby¡±


    Corvayne winced. ¡°Don''t ever say that again. Please.¡±


    Wick rubbed her hands and put them closer to the fire. This prompted Corvayne to extend his cloak around her. ¡°There was talk about running a smoke screen. We''ll talk about it, assuming it takes us another day to reach the end of floor 10. I want to talk about leaving Cascadia too. As in, going into this dungeon and not coming out.¡±


    Nyxion shook his head. ¡°I''m against it. I actually DO want to fix The Collective and get my revenge.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shrugged, colors of blue and gray gently flowing across her skin. ¡°I agree to leaving but I want Corvayne to help me find the Magus.¡±


    Corvayne folded his arms. ¡°I agree and I''m not going back to my village. They exiled me, and even if they didn''t they can eat rocks.¡±


    Seru laughed. ¡°I think that''s the angriest I''ve ever seen him get aside from at me.¡±


    Wick butt in. ¡°We''ll have Corvayne explain why we''d rather not deal with his village later.¡±


    Mister I shook his head. ¡°I don''t think the dungeon is an option if the three gentlemen blab. Or at least, this one wouldn''t be. Finding somewhere else may be the most enlightened choice. I also defer my vote.


    Grunt made an X with his arms. He then punched his palm: Don''t run. Let''s beat that guy up.


    Wick said. ¡°I vote we leave, but not before we get Hari and Mosh.¡±


    Seru thought. ¡°I''m okay with going on an adventure, but I want to tie up loose ends before we go.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Most of us only have shallow roots here, but I know Grunt and Mister I are exceptions...¡±


    Mister I laughed. ¡°My friends would skin me alive if I didn''t chase a meat-dream. I think if I tell them about the tower, they will forgive me. In fact, they are the sort that would cherish being part of the first wave.¡±


    Grunt folded his arms. He looked at Wick, then Corvayne, and nodded.


    Wick asked him ¡°Even with dawn?¡±


    Grunt nodded. He made a reeling gesture then a shrug with hands presenting to Wick: Could we bring her too?


    ¡°Yes but she seems glued to Cascadia. I think she''s going to just dump you again rather than leave.¡±


    Grunt made a salute. It was odd: he was a great bro and all, but what was the difference that made him stay previously and now willing to go with them? Maybe the difference was Grunt thought they''d make it off the planet? He reflected that Grunt and Wick were both kind to him for so long, and resolved that he''d be Grunt''s wing-man should Dawn not come along.


    Oh. He really hoped Dawn wasn''t coming. The woman terrified him.


    ¡°Ok. Leaving has it.¡± Wick leaned against Corvayne.


    Nyxion raised an arm. ¡°We should raid the mine. Stop the group from nuking it, take a few items, and we have another point for the information to spread from.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw laughed, her skin flashing bright blues and pinks. ¡°Greedy!¡±


    The nobleman smirked and made a flourish with his hand. ¡°Greed is good. Also, if we are keeping our things, I''d like to fly again with those boots.¡±


    Corvayne added ¡°Not to mention saving lives.¡±


    Wick gave his shoulder a friendly headbutt. ¡°Okay. Last... levels.¡±


    Seru nodded. ¡°The church of Gygax believes in systems. Tabletop games, video games, they are sort of like shadows cast on the wall of a real thing or something. I admit, I thought it was kind of just an excuse for a bunch of old guys to get kids to play healers in their Dung-¡± Lady Blood Claw gestured and for a moment Seru''s audio went out.


    Her color shifted to orange and she frowned. ¡°Don''t say either word. Just say DnD.¡±


    Seru looked angry and a few seconds later was audible again. ¡°That was really rude!¡±


    ¡°What you say in a place like this can influence it. Maybe even you. It''s thought that intent fuels how it picks what perks you get. You don''t say that word because it frames this place as an adversary.¡± Lady Blood Claw folded her hands and frowned as her orange skin rippled to light gray. ¡°I can''t comprehend what would happen if you played a game of ''you know whats and you know whos'' in here. I don''t like it''s in my head even.¡±


    Seru shrugged. ¡°Anyway, the Church of Gygax did well because it pushed personal growth, but maybe the pope on Tripic has been actually gaining levels... it would explain why they fuss over any attempts to move people to a philosophical interpretation.¡±


    Corvayne added ¡°It''s real enough... watch.¡±


    He intoned about being his stats and rolled his hands. Again he saw a blue piece of paper appear. No changes in anything aside from his HP being full at the moment.


    As silly as everyone looked, they all tried it at once. He thought he heard LBC swear as she either messed the incantation up or didn''t say it hard enough.


    Nyx stood up. ¡°I do NOT like what it thinks my class is! I am no ''Tyrant''!¡±


    Seru waved a hand. ¡°Calm down. You can be a good or bad anything. It''s probably a statement of how you overcome challenges or something. I mean, I want to be a journalist, my job is to take pictures of myself, and my class is Monk 7.¡±


    LBC tried the motion. ¡°Level 7 enchanter, level 10 blade, and plus 10 next to it. Hmm. Seems I have a boost to enchanting.¡±


    Grunt shrugged and flexed: Can''t say the words but who cares I''m buff.


    Mister I invoked it and raised an eyebrow. ¡°Hmm... It doesn''t like me. Perhaps because I''ve been trying those invocations to Lythandies?¡±


    Wick hissed and held her head. ¡°Time Mage 11. But something about it gave me a real bad headache.¡±


    Corvayne figured he''d add his two cents. ¡°I already checked. Arms Master 30.¡±


    Wick looked at him. ¡°How the heck are you so high level? Also Arms MASTER hmm? That might explain why you can fire lasers out of a can opener.¡±


    Corvayne smiled. ¡°I''ll try that next time I''m disarmed in reach of a drawer of utensils. But as for level... I''ve been fighting monsters for years? I was stunned when Cascadia didn''t have a wall around it.¡± Corvayne thought about the kinds of things he fought non stop. ¡°There was some sort of disturbance in nature north of my town that spawned things like sixty foot wide birds and huge armored bugs that could spray acid all over, as well as swarms of little things. I suppose it also means if Gygax thinks I''m skilled enough to be called an Arms Master, then my village would be full of people it would call ''ultra grandmasters'' or whatever is above that.¡±


    Seru gestured at Corvayne. ¡°Well Gygax thinks you''re ten times as durable as me. But we don''t really know if 30 is high or we are all just really low.¡±


    Nyxion folds his arms. ¡°I''ve killed men. But not many. Lady Blood Claw has certainly slain more...¡±


    Seru gestured to the woods down the hill. ¡°If you just think about games... usually taking down bigger prey is worth more. So it could be that Corvayne is so high level because the monsters out in his desert are big baddies. We killed goblins for a whole week, but the porcupines got me a level somewhere in there.¡±


    Wick gestured around them. ¡°I would assume then that going deeper we''ll find more dangerous monsters. The armadillos and dogs are not as dangerous as the monsters on a different floor four. And these floors have added monsters that can attack at range, though from what Corvayne said of the drones, they were very ineffectual.¡±


    Corvayne felt his cheek with his tongue. ¡°Yeah. As long as they didn''t hit something delicate. The spines are way worse due to the number in a volley.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°But really... we need tools to get better at understanding what''s making us stronger.¡±


    LBC said. ¡°So lets see. Our group needs: A space ship. More magic powers. A better understanding of forces few people even know about. A way to defeat an entire empire that has all three of those. Was I missing anything?¡±


    Grunt mimed holding reigns: How about a pony?


    Mister I held up a hand. ¡°I would like to eat the natural treasure of a million planets that would restore my youth.¡±


    Grunt reached into his pack and handed Mister I a banana with brown spots. The monk accepted it and started peeling it. ¡°Not quite what I had in mind, but thank you Grunt. Your friendship is a million planet treasure as well.¡±


    Grunt waved his hands then held up three fingers, four, waved his hands, then five.


    The monk laughed ¡°You are too modest, I''d say at least in the ten to twenty range.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Grunt''s worth it. All right, I''m calling last watch or none at all, you guys figure out the rest.¡± She stood up, messed with Corvayne''s hair then took a few steps over and flopped into her bedroll.

 Chapter 51: Uncomfortable Poking Sensation

    Corvayne sat with the fire at his back, watching the woods. He ended up with Lady Blood Claw on first watch. He liked that she usually spoke about once every ten minutes or so, and was properly quiet the rest of the time.


    ¡°You don''t need much sleep either?¡± She asked, eyes still trained out in the dark.


    ¡°That and I take two watches because I also have really good night vision.¡± Corvayne shrugged.


    There was a crackle. He turned and placed another small log on the fire. There was a few limp tendrils of mist creeping past the fire''s light, but little wind. There were a few owls hooting on a different island or perhaps from the far side of the one he sat on. While the monsters were the most obvious animal life on any given floor, there was usually a number of smaller creatures around.


    ¡°What did you think, back at your village, that kept you going through the day?¡± LBC asked. Her skin was charcoal with occasional flutters of flowing color.


    ¡°I''d think about when I could leave. I kept in mind it wasn''t forever. I''d read books and know there was something more out there.¡± He stared into the dark. ¡°It''s only been... two months?¡±


    She spoke in a clinical tone, perhaps from practice. ¡°I was considered a failure as well. I don''t know who I am, or where I came from. I lived in the slums of Abresguard with a woman who was not my mother, maybe an orphanage? Until one day the Magus took me from my home. From then on, he spent time molding me and other kids into being... I guess wizards? Soldiers?¡±


    Corvayne wasn''t sure why she would share with him. Perhaps because they were sparring partners, and Nyx probably had heard it all before and... Nyxion didn''t seem like the most sensitive person. Corvayne nodded without letting his attention drift from the forest. ¡°He wanted me to fight wizards. So maybe he was asking me to clean up after he made mistakes.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw waited a while then continued. ¡°Not surprising. I think he considered us failures. I was always the worst of the lot. I never met his standards, my skills were laughable compared to others. For the most part, the Magus would claim we were his apprentices, but rarely tried to teach us magic. He had minions he used to ferry us around. Some of them were nice, some of them were mean, and others... I was scared of them. There was one minion who was kind to me. I thought about him because he had a spear like yours. Said it reminded him of home.¡±


    Corvayne looked over at her. ¡°Oh. Is that why you held back when we first fought?¡±


    A small amused laugh, with a little edge to it. ¡°That and you could have skewered me after breaking my shield. Why did YOU hold back?¡±


    ¡°Trying not to kill people.¡± Corvayne went back to checking for signs of monsters. He saw Seru step out of the tent and walk past them to the woods. She stopped and looked embarrassed.


    ¡°Uh, bathroom.¡± Seru said with a little waver to her voice.


    Corvayne looked over at Lady Blood Claw, then back at Seru. He caught a whiff of perfume. ¡°Do you want someone to go out into the woods with you?¡±


    ¡°No no... it''s like, fine...¡± Seru waved then went down the hill. Corvayne watched the direction she went... He could see far enough in the dark to see she was going further then needed, past two lines of trees.


    ¡°Do you think she might want someone to keep an...¡± Corvayne gestured off to where she went.


    ¡°Why not go yourself if you''re concerned?¡± Lady Blood Claw smiled at him. ¡°No, I wouldn''t worry. Wait a minute or two. Watch.¡±


    He sat and waited. About two minutes later he heard the tent flap open again. Nyxion strode out, fingers hooked in his belt, nodded at them, then walked downhill to the woods headed in the same direction.


    ¡°Shouldn''t we uh... stop him?¡± Corvayne gestured then looked over at Lady Blood Claw. She looked bored.


    ¡°I won''t stop them unless you care if Seru sleeps with someone else.¡± She shrugged.


    ¡°Oh. OH! Not at all.¡± Corvayne frowned. ¡°Just... Nyx and her? I didn''t think he liked her. At all.¡±


    LBC nodded. ¡°I''m pretty sure she''s a local noble. Before we tried to sell to Gygaxians. One couple weren''t buying because they were in mourning. Their daughter had been missing for weeks after going hiking.¡±


    ¡°Oh so... She''s a noble, and that''s enough for him to drop disliking her?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw rolled her eyes a little, skin flickering orange. ¡°He doesn''t always have good taste. I think sometimes he just goes with what''s available and willing.¡±


    Corvayne folded his arms. ¡°Going off in the woods to have sex... That wouldn''t be a great idea even on floor 3. On this floor it seems especially dangerous we don''t know the patterns of monsters on this floor.¡±


    ¡°Ok. Tell them to fuck on the platform like non-idiots.¡±


    Corvayne sighed and got up then strode down the hill. He could hear the two talking, and saw Seru''s head looking down. He didn''t see Nyxion, so maybe they really did just have to take a bathroom break. He was about to turn around when he heard Nyxion''s say something softly from the same direction. He couldn''t make out what the man said at all.


    ¡°Well of course it''s fucking sweaty! I''ve been walking and fighting all day!¡± Seru hissed while still looking downwards.


    Nyx sounded muffled. ¡°It''s not a complaint.¡±


    Corvayne cleared his throat. There was a squeak and Seru fell behind the bushes. Right after that he heard Nyx call out. ¡°Watch it! You''ll break my neck!¡±


    Seru sounded annoyed. ¡°I fell OVER.¡±


    Corvayne spoke clearly and calmly. ¡°Guys, if there''s monsters roaming they''d come for you with the noise you''re making. Just do it behind the tent or on the stairs up to the lift or something.¡±


    Stolen novel; please report.


    Nyx stood up, putting a white undershirt back on. It was hard to make out other features but he sounded annoyed ¡°Talking pretty big for someone who did the same thing last night... without any backup, Corvayne.¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to worry Lady Blood Claw.¡± Corvayne folded his arms.


    ¡°Fine fine fine. We''ll just wake everyone up.¡± Seru called out, standing up and reaching over to a branch where her dress was draped.


    Corvayne heard a thwump and Seru jerked then started screaming. He had his spear in hand and ran into the bushes to where she fell. A glowing green shell appeared ahead of Corvayne, and he could see Seru laying naked with six spines sticking out of her, blood pouring out of her guts, screaming, and Nyx looking for the enemy.


    Corvayne ran past them and dove behind a tree as he saw something in a bush bucking up to fire. There was the sound of wood splintering. He used [Flows-Like-Water] and moved into a pack of the porcupines, spear jabbing the front one three times as he moved past, landing with monsters all around him.


    Another started to rear up and he used [Circle of Death], hitting another three. He didn''t think it was a clean hit, and he missed a few altogether. A moment later he felt something like a hammer in his side then intense pain. He hissed and fought the urge to fall over, instead using [Flows-Like-Water] again to run by another Porcupine, killing it as he flowed out of the center of their pack. The monsters were still facing where he had been before. He could still see the bright florescent glow of the shield from the direction he had come from. He needed to get the monsters away from Nyxion and Seru.


    He pulled out the fire breathing dagger then and swept it across the trees. Smoke and hissing steam roiled off the wet forest and there was a set of startled squeaks then screeches as the creatures caught fire. They started to run around in a panic, trying to do something about their burning bodies that lit up the night. Then one of the burning ones popped into a cloud of needles.


    He only saw a moment of the burst before something hit his eye, punching his head back. He felt pressure on the back of his eye-socket.


    He fell down as agony spiked through his head. Another pop happened and more quills hit him in the other side, causing him to fall on the side that already had a dozen or so. He screamed and adrenaline pushed him through the pain as he himself back up with the help of his spear. A few of the creatures had rolled around and put themselves out, while another one popped, this time not hitting him with spines.


    Corvayne stumbled forward and rammed his spear as best he could into the fires still moving, squealing sounds letting him know he was scoring hits. Squeal, stab, squeal, stab, quiet. He killed another two before an arm grabbed his. He stayed his spear as Lady Blood Claw wrapped his arm around her and started helping him limp to back to base. He heard Seru screaming and crying so she was still alive. Mister I was running out to him.


    ¡°Help her.¡± He croaked. He tried to gesture to where Nyx''s shield was lighting up the forest. He could sort of make out Seru sobbing as Nyx tried to hold her still and stop the bleeding with her dress.


    Icariii ran and nearly fell over to reach Seru and start invoking mending. Corvayne felt Lady Blood Claw''s side press into some of the spines and they caused a sensation that was both stabbing and intense pressure that curled his feet up. Every step jostled the spine stuck in his eye.


    ¡°Corvayne!¡± A horrified cry came out of where his bedroll was. Wick. Grunt came up and had a potion ready, taking Corvayne''s other side with a burly arm.


    He forced himself to speak. ¡°Make sure they are dead. Go, don''t let Icariii get hit...¡±


    Lady Blood Claw let go of his other side as Grunt guided him to the ground, mercifully not jostling spines in his side. He could feel warm blood running down his face.


    He saw Wick with shaking hands looking him over. ¡°I don''t know what to...¡±


    Corvayne tried to hold really still, but every time he breathed he would jab a rib with a quill in his side, which caused him to sort of spasm a little with pain, which jostled the needle in his eye, which made him try to shut his eyelid, which made it worse. ¡°Help... Seru.¡±


    ¡°Fuck her!¡± Wick cried out.


    Corvayne took her hand. ¡°I''ll be okay. I need... Grunt for this. Help Seru.¡±


    Wick stood up and backed off. ¡°I''ll be right back.¡± She went for her bag and came back with a potion, and moved to hand it to Grunt.


    ¡°Seru. USE it on Seru! Don''t use it on ME!¡± Why wasn''t she listening to him? He had to get Grunt to do something and he didn''t want to ask the man to do it. But if he wanted to let his eye heal... he knew Wick was horrified with gore. She backed off, potion in hand, and ran over to where everyone else was. He couldn''t pass out yet.


    ¡°Bad... luck.¡±


    Grunt nodded. His big face clouded with worry.


    ¡°Gimme something to bite grunt.¡±


    The big man pulled out a banana with brown spots. Corvayne, despite the pain, started to laugh, which of course, made his sides and eye hurt.


    ¡°Fucker...¡± He took a breath that was too short and shallow, trying to not move. He was pretty sure he was crying out of both eyes. Or what was left of one. ¡°A sock or towel.¡±


    Grunt wadded up one of his socks and stuffed it in Corvayne''s mouth. He tried not to laugh at how terrible the sweat-drenched sock tasted. Corvayne took an arm and gingerly pointed to his eye. Grunt''s nodded. He could hear Seru screaming too. He should have stopped her from leaving camp. Grunt placed a knee on his arm, used his other to hold his shoulder down. Corvayne closed his good eye and tried not to whimper. How many monsters had he jabbed in the eye? A spear moves forward, a spear moves forward, a spear moves forward...


    Grunt pulled, and Corvayne felt it rip something, and he tried to scream for Grunt to stop then blacked out.

 Chapter 52: Caution and Recovery

    He''s walking in the dark. He''s had this dream before. Water seeps around him, black and shimmering like the night. He sees two eyes open, yellow lines becoming crescents becoming circles, the size of everything. Like a moon the eyelid moves from pure black to glowing hot white and blue. He''s standing on a plane of water reflecting her form, her pale features too bright to make out, except her eyes in a glowing white face. Her hair falls down, the grays and blues and sandy yellows threaded with evergreen. She emerges from the water, looking down at him but somehow eye level. Even though she could crush him, he feels safe. Loved.


    In a moment she''s with him, taking his hand. He first sees Cascadia, but it looks, smaller? Less impressive. Then things blur, and he''s standing in a plaza. There''s a castle on a rocky hill, and a village all around it. A mantis with four arms and two spears like his bows to him.


    ¡°Fantastic! I couldn''t hit you until the end!¡± it says in a clipped voice. ¡°I wish I could get everyone to work as hard as you do.¡±


    Thanks Mantis. You are not so bad for a monster.


    His guide tugs him. Her hair has grown gray, her dress fading from stars to paint dripping a thousand neon colors. Her eyes turn from gold to green.


    ¡°You have to remember. You have to find me...¡±


    He blinks. There''s searing pain.


    He wants to stay, to ask her more, but he''s waking up.


    [93.8%]


    Corvayne woke to a headache. Popping an eye open, he sees it''s morning somewhere above him. Moving even a little sets his closed eye hurting like a bolt of lightning was trying to get out. Oh yeah, he lost it.


    Wick was laying against him, and looking at her face he could tell she had been crying. He gingerly tried to take in his surroundings as he recalled the events that lead to getting skewered, then lifted a hand and gingerly felt a bandage wrapped around his head. His sides ached too, but someone had removed the spines and stitched him up. Nyxion was sitting by the fire, looking miserable while balancing a paper plate on his knee.


    Corvayne pushed himself up and moved closer to the low flames.


    ¡°Hey Nyxion... did she make it?¡±


    The noise startled the noble enough that he dropped his plate onto the dirt by the fire and for a moment looked like he was about to come over and throttle Corvayne. The moment passed as Nyx took a deep breath. ¡°For gods sake man, that scared the shit out of me... Yes she''s alive. We gave her a healing potion. She lost a lot of blood... You as well.¡±


    ¡°Wasteful. I wasn''t in serious condition.¡±


    ¡°You lost an eye. We were worried Grunt had taken your optic nerve with the quill when you stopped moving.¡± Nyx looked down.


    ¡°It''s okay. It will grow back.¡± Corvayne shrugged. It hurt and itched and he dug his fingers into his leg to stop from trying to touch it.


    ¡°Eyes don''t grow back.¡± Nyx gave him a look.


    Corvayne laughed which turned out to be a terrible idea, as it sent waves of pain through his eye. ¡°My eye will grow back. Why do you think I had Grunt pull the spine out?¡±


    Nyxion stomped one of his nice boots on the ground. ¡°You two are nimrods! Mister Icariii nearly killed him for that! You don''t just pull things out of wounds until you can... are you fucking with me?¡±


    ¡°Nyx... if I was messing around do you know what I would have said?¡± He felt his voice croak. Too dry. He furrowed his brow, which hurt, then looked for his pack and reached into it for his canteen, taking a sip. Nyx waited for him to do all this slowly, and watched him put it back before he finally got frustrated with Corvayne.


    ¡°Well, what would you say?¡±


    ¡°Oh. Use protection when having sex.¡±


    ¡°Bloody fucking idiot.¡± Nyx put his hand on his head. ¡°So, can you fight one eye''d? Or did I just cost us our best fighter?¡±


    ¡°Grunt is way more dangerous. I just am flashy.¡± Corvayne shook his head. ¡°Don''t worry. It''s my fourth eye.¡±


    ¡°Fourth eye?¡± He looked confused, then looked back at the fire and grabbed another piece of firewood, tossing it on. Thin wisps of embers joined the misty morning.


    Corvayne sat on one of the other logs placed by the fire ¡°I''ve lost an eye already once, and two at once. I lost an arm one time. I''ve broken a femur on a hunt. That was the worst. They set it then just left me on a table for a few days for it to get better.¡± Corvayne patted his leg. Which was dumb, his sides started aching.


    ¡°That''s absurd. You would be crippled for months if you broke your Femur.¡± Nyx sat back and stared at him, eyes widening. ¡°... you''re not joking are you? You''re like Goule.¡±


    ¡°Weaver-of-Men told me I was too stupid to die.¡± Corvayne thought of the woman just shaking her head and leaving him to lay on a bed in the medical building. Spears and Diamonds looking annoyed as they took turns feeding him. He had jumped on a sandbull and managed to wedge a spear into it''s brain before it could trample over Two-Moons-Sapphire. Everyone called him stupid for nearly getting two people killed. Spears and Diamonds of course said that Two-Moons would have been fine since she wasn''t weak. Well, miss MOON was on the GROUND. He was pretty sure if the thing broke his femur when it fell over sideways, the full weight of it''s foot would have killed her. No thanks of course from Moon. ''I had that without your help.''


    ¡°There is nothing stupid in trying to be better then we are.¡± Nyx said, breaking Corvayne out of his reverie. ¡°It''s my fault... unlike you I can''t get away with just having a quick fuck in the tower.¡±


    ¡°Nyx... I block or lock the doors because of what just happened. Or stay in camp and just try to be quiet." He hissed as shifting his head wrong lanced pain through him. Nyx was about to stand but Corvayne held a hand up, and turned it into a thumbs up. "Lesson learned. Seru might live, but she probably won''t sit on your face again.¡± Corvayne felt it was a good place to smile, so he smiled.


    Nyx smiled back. ¡°I would not be cracking jokes with a man who cost me an eye.¡±


    ¡°I''m happy you protected her. I don''t like her that much, but... I was kind of worried when you two went off.¡±


    Nyx nodded. ¡°I had half a mind to scare her into more sense then to have a dalliance with a man who has pointed out her dying would solve a few problems. But no, she''s not evil. Just clueless. I fear some of her remaining child-like trust in the world being kind to her has been left on the forest floor. As was a sizable amount of her blood.¡± He pulled down a white silk undershirt with his family crest on it, stained dark. ¡°Yes. She''s the reason you got stabbed, but is a bystander in... whatever this tower is.¡±


    ¡°As long as I get her out of here alive, I''ve done what I set out to do. I''m not a warrior or killer. I want to be someone who protects.¡± Corvayne said as he looked at his hands and legs. He was wearing a clean shirt and pants, but felt blood on his cheek where they failed to clean it all off.


    He glanced back up and saw that Nyxion was frowning. He looked worried perhaps? ¡°Corvayne some day, likely very soon, you''ll need to hurt people who have done nothing to you save picked the wrong side. That or accept that Wick will never be safe. Seru isn''t a person who needs to die, but there will be a guard, or a hostage pulled into being a shield, or some dumb hick who''s just spots us at the wrong time. If it costs us lives to fight The Collective, then remember that weight behind you when you must take lives to save those who matter to you.¡±


    He smiled. ¡°You saw her naked once and she moved into the second category. You trying to tell me that, or yourself Nyx?¡±


    Nyx just nodded at him.


    Corvayne felt an arm touch his shoulder, and followed it to see Wick. She hugged him, which made his side twitch from being pulled. ¡°Easy Wick that hurts.¡±


    She just squeezed harder. ¡°What did I tell you about putting yourself in reckless danger?¡±


    ¡°It was that or we lose two people.¡± Corvayne put an arm around her and squeezed back.


    ¡°I brought my belt. It might have held through another dozen barrages.¡± Nyx smiled.


    Wick nodded. ¡°I already yelled at you, and once Seru feels better I''ll give her a damn lecture too about wandering off in the fucking dark. Our whole day is going to be shot as we can''t move Seru, Mister I is exhausted, Lady and Grunt are also too tired from taking watch, and you''re going to be dog meat as well since you''ve been up since they fell asleep. I need more rest too.¡±


    Corvayne blinked his good eye. ¡°Ok. I''m going to go climb a tree.¡± He got up.


    Wick grabbed his arm as if he was about to fly off. ¡°Oh no you don''t. We gotta see if healing potions fix eyes.¡±


    ¡°Or I pick up a new hobby.¡± He reached into his pack and pulled out one of the treasures he''d re-acquired on the third floor. A book of Alchemy. He smiled and showed it off.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°You think you can just brew an eye back?¡± Wick said.


    ¡°You didn''t hear me argue with Nyx just now? It will grow back. It''s the fourth time I''ve lost an eye. Maybe a week''s time it will be good as new. Back when I got injured they wouldn''t lift a finger for me aside from force me to rest in bed. Healing potions might speed it up.¡± Corvayne opened the small leather-bound book and looked for a table of contents. He smiled. The book included a list of plant ingredients with a densely written section that had clear pen illustrations with faint coloring on page after page of magical and mundane plants.


    She saw what he was looking at. ¡°Oh no you don''t. What the hell is the difference between you running off alone to pick daisies and them going off to perform a nearly fatal sex act?¡±


    Corvayne flipped a page. ¡°I have a non-stupid reason to do so, I''m ten times tougher, and I can actually run away now instead of doing perhaps the most aggressive possible action I could take to stop them from hitting our nearly naked allies. But relax, right now I''m reading this, and I won''t be wandering the woods aimlessly. I have one tree I''m going to climb.¡±


    Wick relented, but only after Grunt woke up. She followed Corvayne''s relaxed pace to the massive tree with a stream pouring down it. His side hurt a little, but walking no longer made it much better or worse. It was only a minute and a half walk from where they camped, and they needed to get water anyway. Looking up, the huge tree was maybe a few hundred feet tall. No big deal.


    Wick looked between him, the tree, then back at him again and asked ¡°Why? The actual why, as well as ''why do you think this is a sane idea even if you were fit, and the ''why are you fucking doing this instead of resting?''¡±


    Corvayne smiled and wiggled his fingers in the stream flowing down the tree. ¡°I want to know where the water comes from.¡±


    She folded her arms. ¡°If you fall you''re breaking every bone in your body on the way down.¡±


    ¡°I bet there''s a treasure chest wherever the water comes from.¡± He smiled. ¡°They have healing potions what, like thirty percent of the time?¡± He stepped up to the tree on the opposite side of the waterfall pouring down it, felt for hand-holds, and then let his shadowy hands also find grips. He then had them help push him up as he climbed. Using the arms was a little draining, but the improved hands were a tremendous help. He couldn''t quite use them to just drag him upwards as the four had about twenty or thirty pounds of sustained pull, but combined that was enough to make climbing the tree relaxing enough that it let him forget about his eye for a stretches where it wasn''t throbbing.


    Corvayne had not climbed a tree with branches before, but it wasn''t too much different from rock climbing with extra ledges. He ended up zig-zagging around the back of the tree and saw that it was taller then he had expected. Maybe a thousand feet tall. Most of the other trees on the needle had fallen away, letting him see the mist was more of a cloud that had been hovering at the level he was at. There were more clouds above him, but off to the side he got half of a good look at hundreds of needles shaped floating islands, connected by delicate lines, as well getting a commanding view of dozens of other super tall trees. Or probably super tall trees, as his depth perception wasn''t what it was yesterday. After a moment of letting himself take in the sights he continued to climb until he found a hole with water flowing out of it. There was enough room for him to climb next to the gap and crouch and swing his foot into the tree, then duck inside. The wood interior was shaped like a flat floored dome, with a spring flowing out of a door or portal that stood in the middle of the hollowed out tree.


    He took a moment to examine it, noticing quickly the door was non-euclidean in nature. The back was solid stone, but the front showed him a tunnel to what was clearly another world that contained the spring. From this side of the door he could make out blue dirt, some crystals growing out of the pond, and a dark pinkish sky with purple clouds. A flash suggested lightning from the realm beyond the door.


    He didn''t think it was a floor stairway, nor was he interested in trying the portal out. It posed a reasonable risk of stranding him, and there wasn''t any good way to bring his friends up to come with him.


    A wood ledge ran around the pool, and of course there was a discolored oaken stump with hinges to open the top, like a chest, was waiting behind the door. This would be tricky if it was trapped. He decided to settle into the water and use his shadow hands to reach around the doorway. A click but no gas, spikes, lasers, or mimics. What was Seru saying? Dungeon, please provide.


    With the heavy lid open, he saw three potions, a painting, and a silver ring shaped like a delicate branch woven around itself. Without magic it would be too fragile to wear, but he was pretty sure it wasn''t mundane. His phone had survived being nearly impaled, so he took a picture of the painting of pine trees parting to view a rocky beach and part of an island. It reminded him of the inlet. One potion was a weird gray and seemed to have flakes of stuff in it, but there were two bright red healing potions. Bottoms up! He drank one there and then, and felt his eye itch and his sides shuffle. He could feel the ruined orb start to reform under the bandages. He tucked the rest of his loot away.


    Just before leaving he spotted something on wall to the side of the door. The wood pattern of lines in the tree had formed a square of empty space. Someone had written in what looked like yellow paint, perhaps mimicking the signs around the park ¨C ''Time weaves a twisted path. - Sage of Skills.'' He took a picture of it too. Was it someone else moving through the dungeon leaving graffiti? A quote they liked? Or the start of some mind bending puzzle? Not his problem.


    Corvayne marshaled his shadow limbs and started descending. As he stopped a moment on a huge branch, he felt something like another shadowy limb trying to move. Pushing on it, for a moment he felt something pulling him onto the branch. He stopped it and felt normal. Oh right. He had something that stated Gravity 1 on his sheet. He tried pulling himself upwards, and felt a more pronounced drain while also feeling lighter. Perhaps if he was in pristine condition and a little more depressed he''d be tempted to test the power by flinging himself off the tree. There was a certain type of hero who tried to baby-bird new powers into existence. He was not that type of person to try to see if he could slow his fall by pure will. Instead, he maintained the pull upwards as he lowered himself down. It didn''t make the climb easier as he was getting tired faster, but it seemed he could cut a chunk of his weight off with the gravity ability. Another thing to practice.


    At the bottom he saw Wick and Grunt both were keeping an eye out for porcupines. He cleared his throat and made a little extra noise as he descended the last fifty feet as to not startle them.


    ¡°More potions, a ring, and a portal to another floor. But not a stairway so... I''m not messing with it. It makes me miss Hari on the tactical side of things even more.¡± He didn''t want to burden Wick with blurting out that watching her die had filled him with regrets, nor the worry that she''d not come back.


    Wick nodded. ¡°I want to find a portal, but I think our goal here is to get out...¡± She looked him in the eye and smiled. ¡°I miss Hari too. You''re happier with her cheering you on.¡±


    Corvayne tried to look nonchalant. ¡°It''s not as good as Wick time.¡±


    Grunt shook his head rolling his eyes: You two.


    Corvayne lead them around the woods near camp, trying to spot which plants were ones that the book said they could use, and reading how to harvest them and preserve them. As it turned out, the cooler was the correct solution for the plants they could use. The woods were thick with Arrowspite and Criers root: Arrowspite without any other processing could chewed to speed up healing or put in a salad. Criers root was a different ingredient that grew under thin tall ferns with a slightly blue color that was also another ingredient in two variations of healing potion. It also could be used to brew various ailment healing potions. There were Viper-Cat plants: bushes named for scaled bark and cat-eye patterns on the leaves. The berries were an ingredient in mana potions and a slew of other things he''d need to process in what sounded like a workshop''s worth of materials. He found one patch of Claywood Bramble which was used to make a barkskin potion. The trees had regular moss with no use but a few patches of Bloodbind moss. To find it, he had to poke moss until he found a patch that bled red sap. It was a pretty potent if made into a paste and applied to wounds, but also had innate healing properties if chewed... as long as someone chewing didn''t mind that it tasted like triple strength mint. The only outlier in rarity he found was a plant called an obsidian orchid. He saw it danging from a branch while he was climbing a few feet up to test a big patch of moss. The thing looked like a glittering black cup. The book said it was used in a few potions that offered permanent boosts. He wasn''t about to go full alchemy lab or cultivator pill maker, but he had a feeling Mosh or Mister I might.


    Back at camp Mister I was up, though looking tired. He, being a resourceful man, had dried a bunch of porcupine meat in between checking up on Seru.


    ¡°How is she?¡± Corvayne said, setting down a cooler now full of herbs next to the Monk.


    ¡°She woke up. In pain, and while I removed the spines and did surgery and mended and used potions... I cannot be sure how long she''ll take to recover. It seems that being healed by magic has a price the body pays... I''ve been feeding her as best as I can to hopefully restore her spirit.¡± Mister I sighed and sipped from a tea cup he had.


    ¡°How about salad?¡± Corvayne tapped the cooler.


    ¡°No!¡± The Monk shouted in horror, then calmed down. ¡°Wait, what''s in there?¡±


    ¡°Herbs. The natural treasures talk made me think about things we were not using. Including that book of alchemy.¡±


    He showed Mister I some of the things he had seen, as well as the book entries. ¡°Well! I bet I can make something that will help her pain. And perhaps yours, since you seem to be driven to what, ascend the heavens while your sides are taped together?¡± Mister I poked his ribs and Corvayne used a lot of willpower not to spasm at the uncomfortable feeling it produced.


    The rest of the day was spent helping Mister I make healing paste and sometimes wandering out of camp in threes to gather more of something. Seru lay on a cot in the tent, drifting in and out of being lucid as Mister I applied gels and forced her to drink teas he brewed out of various plants. Corvayne tried a cup of red tea made out of Bloodbind moss and found the overpowering mint flavor haunted him many hours past reaching the bottom of one small cup. By dinner Seru could come out of the tent and eat with everyone. She looked a little shocked still, which wasn''t too surprising. Everyone dealt with their first brush with death differently. Corvayne took first watch with Wick, then fell asleep pretty much the moment his head hit the pillow.


    Wick woke him up before it got light by slipping into his bedroll and while they were quiet, he was pretty sure he heard a an amused snort from Grunt, who very pointedly had his back perfectly lined up with his sleeping bag to act as a visual barrier to the tent.


    That morning they were ready to move. Grunt had whittled Seru a walking stick to help with her being wobbly. She could go at a steady pace, but Corvayne decided to risk the platform with the wire rather then having her walk along treacherous railing. The cart had a crank that could be used to roll it up the wire, with a release for letting the cart slide back down. The whole contraption was about six feet by six feet.


    Wick complicated everything by noting that it probably had a maximum weight. ¡°We might all fit in that thing but no WAY am I going to trust it won''t break under all that weight! We need to take two trips.¡±


    As much as splitting the party seemed like a bad idea, Corvayne agreed to have him, Grunt, and Lady Blood claw go first, then ride with the cart back down to ferry the other members.


    Grunt took care of winding the rotating lever to wind the cart up the wire. It was ten minutes but the big man didn''t show any sign of tiring as the platform gently bumped into place on another overgrown platform hanging off the back of the next needle-shaped island. The platform''s metal steps connected to what looked like raised concrete walkways over a carpet of ferns. Lady Blood Claw quickly dismounted, looking visibly relived to be off the platform. Grunt was more leisurely, and did a sweep of the surroundings. He gave a thumbs up to Corvayne: There are no obvious threats either on the walkway nor down the steps to the forest floor.


    Corvayne hit the lever that released the gear and with cranking noises the cart made steady progress back down the line, hitting the platform below with a much louder bump.


    Corvayne found himself nervous the entire time he was taking the other four up with him, partially because he was thinking about weight limits. Wick picked up on this and reminded him that Grunt alone was probably more then any three of them combined, which did take some of the worry of falling out of his head.


    Seru did apologize to him and for the third time he explained his eye would grow back. ¡°I was more worried about you. You almost died there.¡± He said while using his shoulders to push his arms forward like a piston, cranking the cart upwards. Grunt had made it look so easy...


    ¡°I was at three health. I was going to bleed out.¡± Seru said quietly.


    ¡°Well you didn''t, and you''ll get tougher, and you have your jacket on now to help protect you. It was a matter of time before we had an attack while encamped, I''m just glad we didn''t lose anyone.¡± Corvayne tried to be encouraging.


    ¡°I was trying to make you jealous!¡± She blurted suddenly.


    Nyx laughed. ¡°That and you were horny.¡±


    Seru turned away, pouting. ¡°Sleeping with him once only made it worse.¡±


    Wick looked at Corvanye, concerned. She leaned over to him and whispered ¡°Do I need to worry?¡±


    ¡°I didn''t think I was mind blowing or anything. I was tired and sort of annoyed with her... not putting in my best work at all.¡± He admitted.


    ¡°Sometime I''d like to see what it''s like when you''re angry at me.¡± Wick mused.


    He turned back to Seru to try not to get too sidetracked on Wick. ¡°You need to focus on yourself. Your goal is to be a journalist right? Excuse me, an investigative journalist. Maybe put me off to the side and look at what you need to do to make your own dreams come true.¡±


    ¡°Okay but doing one thing doesn''t mean I don''t want to do another thing.¡± Seru said, gesturing at Corvayne. ¡°I''m not that easy to shake off.¡±


    Mister I was looking over the edge of the cart into foggy yellow nothingness. ¡°Let''s not shake anything off! I can probably look down to see Mount Tai!¡±


    Wick ignored Mister I and kept her gaze on Seru, folding her arms as she asked, ¡°Why are you so fixated on Corvayne?¡±


    Seru thought about it. ¡°Oh. He saved my life, he''s really hot when he''s fighting with a freaking spear like some sort of real life gladiator, he looks weirdly sexy when he''s covered in blood and glaring at things, and really, really hot when he''s doing stuff like coming back to camp with meat and cooking it. He also makes you want to tease him.¡±


    There was something familiar about that list. Wick was biting her lip ¡°Why the HELL can''t she be this sharp when it comes to stopping herself from doing something stupid!?¡±


    The next pack of Spine monsters was off the raised path midway across the next needle. They could possibly just walk over and past them but Corvayne didn''t want them to leave things at their back. Grunt and Nyx charged into the fray and Mister I and Wick picked monsters off. It was a safe strategy except for Grunt, who took a hell of a beating. The man seemed fine with it and he did a pretty good job of protecting his face every time he ran in, baseball bat swinging wildly. Nyx on the other hand was clearly angry, battering the last monster left to the point of it being unrecognizable.


    The staircase up was in a concrete tower they saw at the highest point of the needle. There structure looked sort of like either an air traffic control tower or fire watch building to Corvayne. The interior had a mundane stairwell that actually lead up to the top floor as well as a door that opened up into the blue cave-like stairs to the next floor.


    ¡°See, this would have been a fine place to camp.¡± Nyxion said while patting the door.


    ¡°Next time we camp somewhere fine, you can be on top so whatever is trying to kill me hits you first.¡± Seru said, catching her breath. Mister I had her chew on some more Arrowspite.


    The noble nodded. ¡°Fair enough.¡±


    There wasn''t a full chest at the ruined office up the stairs, but there was a first aid kit with another healing potion and what looked like a blue-metal needle. Mister I took it and the rest of the kit, given that every other object with blue metal seemed to be magical and often times things from the tower just were better. In one of the drawers in a desk there were a few silver coins.


    Once they had taken a moment to drink water and catch their breath, Wick gestured to Corvayne to take the lead up the stair, which he did. He''d had more then enough of the floor and getting shot at by monsters. He stepped into the blue light of the tunnel and made his way up the stairs to the 8th floor.

 Chapter 53: Detour on Floor 9

    Distant thunder rumbled and bounced between crevice walls as Corvayne slowly lead the way through the 8th floor. He held onto his cloak, trying to stave off the gusts of freezing air. He glanced back at his friends, looking equally cold and uncomfortable as they followed the grassy ledge clinging to an imposing wall of stone. Two huge blue cliff faces made up the entirety of the 8<sup>th</sup> floor, large enough that every direction they looked the walls gradually vanished into cider colored mist. Everything on the floor either hung on the parallel cliff faces or formed rocky bridges spanning the hundred foot gap.


    Wick was following first in line, blue robe fluttering under her backpack as she trudged forward. Seru was next, taking her time and using her walking stick to keep herself steady. Grunt followed closely behind her, perhaps the only member of the team who didn''t seem to react to the wind, aside from rubbing his hands together every so often. He had signed to Corvayne he''d keep an eye on Seru, and true to his word he stayed close enough to offer a hand when the woman looked unsteady on her feet. Mister I, about ten steps behind Grunt, had his camo jacket buttoned up and it''s hood pulled tight. In contrast to his body leaning into the wind, his expression stayed serenely pleased even when he had to put an arm up to block a sustained gust. Twenty steps behind them, Nyxion had thrown up his shield for himself and Lady Blood Claw and was walking jauntily as if this was a pleasure stroll. Miss Blood Claw at least was keeping an eye out behind them for trouble.


    Corvayne didn''t vocalize his doubts now about walking into the wind, though from the start he stressed moving slow and to be prepared to stop or seek cover if the wind got worse. He turned back to the trail and saw a gap a mile ahead, appearing as a band of amber in the dark blue walls. A little closer and he saw it was, in fact, an intersection of chasms. There were bridges that connected three of the corners to each other, but he could hear the winds of both intersections coming together into a sort of localized windstorm. He might have been tempted to cross if he was entirely alone and saw a treasure chest, but there was no motivation for him to do anything but turn along the same wall the group had been following. If they needed to cross, he''d stick to a bridge where the wind wasn''t constantly shifting directions.


    Starting down the path he saw movement on the wall and Corvanye''s arms tensed up, side twitching a little as he reached for his spear before relaxing a little as he watched a thin limb ahead of them pushed a ten foot long gray oval further up the cliff.


    If there was one blessing to the wind-swept floor it was that the monsters they had passed were not interested in attacking. The one climbing ahead of Corvayne was an insect that looked like giant gray walking stick with a shelled body and ten spindly legs. They looked like dangerous desert fauna he had grown up fighting, but they only seemed to prey on lichen and grass growing on the side of the cliff. Whenever he lead the way near one, it gently moved away from the group, barely looking away from the walls on it''s search for more greens.


    He didn''t relax entirely, as he was sure there was another monster prowling the floor. He glanced down and then up, catching what he thought was movement far up on a ledge. He got the sense of something running at high speed. Earlier in the hike, he was sure he saw some beast leap and glide across the chasm far above them. He had zero interest in finding out what it was given how far he guessed the monster was from them. That was always the worst part of losing an eye outside the itching. The drop in depth perception made it much harder to gauge sizes and distance.


    Mindful of danger, he slowed to look ahead and behind and above and below. Whatever direction he looked he saw dark amber light swirling, suggesting if they kept going they''d eventually walk into an amber storm cloud. As of yet, the floor had practically nothing but teal grass, blue cliffs, and thin strips of orange suggesting a horizon. One they should have reached at least three times by now.


    An hour after they made a turn, Corvayne spotted a cave next to the path. As he moved closer he smiled and turned back, calling out so he could be heard over the howl of wind. ¡°We found the stairs!¡±


    He wasn''t sure if they heard what he said in the back, so he pointed for Nyxion and LBC''s sake at the cave, then strode inside. The moment he stepped into the cave he felt warmer, and he reveled at the sudden quiet as well.


    ¡°Another down. Two more floors and we are out.¡± he said, and noted everyone looked pretty happy to leave this floor behind. If he ever did this climb again, he was finding a different route with less needles and cliffs.


    Mister I laughed. ¡°I am very happy nothing was trying to fling us off this time.¡±


    ¡°It might be another floor with low monster counts like the third floor was.¡± Corvayne noted.


    Wick sighed. ¡°The third floor was the best one. I am ready for a bath and maybe something that will really knock me out for a solid five hours of sleep.¡±


    Grunt made a gesture climbing, then of pouring something onto himself, then putting his elbows on something, relaxing, and a satisfied unwinding grunt: Maybe the next floor has a hot springs.


    LBC shrugged and her skin turned a chalky white. ¡°That would be nice.¡±


    He kept forgetting to bring up what the colors on her skin meant. Next time they shared a watch he''d ask. Assuming no one got attacked by a dune-reaver while peeing just outside the firelight. They would be closing in on two full days in outside time pretty soon, not that he personally had a job or house yet.


    He lead them up to the next floor. Cresting the stair, he blinked. From a sort of gloomy, windy storm wracked cliff face they had arrived at what looked like a tropical beach. What''s more: the colors had corrected to natural tones for everything. Earth toned rocks, green trees, white sand and blue water. Stepping out of the tunnel carved into a huge beach rock he felt the warm air swirl around him. Oh he had missed the heat.


    Seru winced. ¡°Why couldn''t we just do a beach dungeon every time?¡±


    Wick laughed. ¡°Well, if we find a tower entrance on a beach, YOU can enjoy trying to have a day at the beach with monsters attacking you every ten minutes.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully this is not a floor with a lot of monsters like the first or second floors.¡± Seru spoke, and Lady Blood Claw''s skin turned orange as she groaned then turned to Seru.


    ¡°You MUST stop saying things like that!¡±


    A half an hour later, they had made it about 200 feet up the beach. Corvayne used his spear to tap the ground, and another six sand golems and five crabs emerged from the ground. They were a little different then the Crocrabs of floor four, as these little monsters looked like hermit crabs but would hurl their twenty pound shells like dodgeballs at the group. The golems were small, usually waist high to chest high, but took strike after strike if Corvayne didn''t use [Sundering Blade] and the airfoil rapier. So every time they found a pack he was burning through his stamina to hack at monsters made of fine sand that exploded into blinding clouds on death. At least they hit about as hard as a pillow stuffed with socks.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Nyx and Grunt were up in front with him, trying to whack as many of the crabs as possible with their maces to keep their attention on them rather then beaning Mister I with a shell, which happened in the first fight. Or hitting Seru and causing her to crawl back to the stairs for a five minute moping session. Or hitting Wick in the chest causing her to swear like crazy and throw out a hazardous barrage of [Disrupt]. He didn''t think her reaction was merited. After all, they weren''t throwing the shells that hard, though the little buggers did become VERY fast once they ditched their armor. It seemed that [Crescent Blade] was a good way to protect their backline fighters from the fast crabs, as they ran right for the images and would be diced apart the moment they hit them.


    He stepped back, airfoil blade darting out to tag four of the golems and batter them with the blade''s wind magic. Clouds of sand flew off the monsters each time he connected. Grunt stepped up and used a relatively new trick, [Drumming Blow]. The attack was a barrage of reckless swings that indeed made a sound like a second of a drum solo as it attacked over and over, blurring his arms when he used it. The attack this time hammered three different crabs into paste, leaving two to try to run past Nyxion, only to slow down and hide in their shell as his aura caught them. One of them was brave enough to fight back, but the other didn''t help at all, and a single crab wasn''t enough to break the shielding.


    Corvayne meanwhile dodged a handful of sand and stepped away from three fists swinging in, and used [Sundering Blade] three times rapidly in succession. His sword darted out and each time it touched one of the constructs it blew a good chunk of them away. Sometimes he hit Nyx''s shields with the blowback from an exploding golem, making a relaxing slithering sound. Other times he''d hit Grunt''s back with a blast and he''d hear some non relaxed noises from his friend getting sand in his shirt.


    Two of the golems were close enough that Wick hit them with the same [Disrupt]. She now seemed to be able to cause one explosion then bounce the emerald ball again, causing another impact point that shredded the golems. When she hit them, the golems didn''t explode into sand puffs but instead just limply melted into piles. Over the last half an hour he had noticed when the golems didn''t explode they left behind tiny silver pyramids that looked to be the only non-sand part of a golem. Corvayne was up to about fifteen in his pack.


    Looking at the vast expanse of sand between them and the next rocky area, Corvayne called for a stop then lead everyone back to the stairs. He guessed it was at least ten hours of fighting and resting to move across the beach. LBC had spotted a tree moving on the grassy section. He could only imagine what was waiting in the water from watching things churn under it. Looking at them all covered in sand, with shell-related bruises, and a few crab cuts on everyone''s legs... Corvayne knew when it was time to retreat.


    ¡°Lets find a different way up.¡±


    Back on floor eight they exited the tunnel and decided to follow the paths along the cliff they were on as they ascended the face. Corvayne had seen wider bridges below them at one point, betting that moving off the same wall might be part of the expected navigation of the floor. He wasn''t going to risk being on any walkway narrower then six feet for any reason. Losing someone to tripping and plummeting seemed to be the main threat of the floor and he''d take it as seriously as any monster.


    His resolve not to hurry started to fall apart as he felt the pressure dropping and the wind pick up into blustering gusts. It wasn''t a hazard to his balance when moving into it, but he felt his jaw clench when he saw a walking stick folding up into a crevice in the rock. On top of that, his bandaged eye started aching like he was an old time farmer who''s knee told him when a storm was coming. This was the last place he wanted to be if there were some sort of windstorm kicking up.


    He spotted another cave and called out, ¡°Double time!¡± eliciting a groan from Seru and possibly Wick. Hiking at a jog, he got to the entrance to the cave just as he felt the first fat rain drops. He let the group file into the stairs, with Seru hurrying as rain started to pour. Corvanye let everyone pass and waited by the stairs, curious about how much of an environmental buffer there was on the boundary between floors. He could see the driving rain, but he only heard the wind five steps in. Taking a few steps down, there was a barrier on the third step that when crossed let him feel the air cool and moisten. On the second step he felt the wind tugging, and the last step he heard the full howling of the storm and the splatter of rain being flung at the wall. He returned to the group, and they made their way up to another ninth floor.


    His first view, as he crested the stairway, was of a golden yellow sky with a huge orange sun setting behind a jagged line of buildings. It didn''t seem to be a real star, as he could look directly at it and not be blinded. Stepping up the last few steps, he saw what looked like a clearing with a stream reflecting the light from above. The stairs had a high vantage point that let him follow the water as it stretched across ground clear of buildings, snaking between blue and orange ferns and titanic blue stone buildings or cliff faces. Orange-red roots and trees with turquoise leaves grew around dark blue concrete paths that seemed to have built over roots and shattered normal concrete structures.


    Wick looked over. ¡°Looks like a huge ruined city. I can tell you this as someone who watches a lot of movies: I don''t like it.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Let''s try to stay in the shadows until we know what the monsters on this floor are. Looking at them, we might get a sense of what they can do.¡±


    He was wary of a place that looked like it was set up to play hide and seek. The sixth floor had demonstrated to him that the tower had floors that were better suited to different approaches, and he wanted to keep the risks low especially after having a team member nearly die. Shading his eyes from the sun he could see the vine covered buildings were full of carvings of ordinary objects. Some were things like staplers arranged around a throne. Yet another mural was a sort of complicated snake made of spoons. A two story high carving of figures bowing on either side of a halo marked fire hydrant was his personal favorite out of about fifteen he could see in the plaza. He focused back on the ground level and visible roof line. No movement.


    While he was pretty sure there wasn''t a welcoming committee, he lead them down the stairs into the plaza then off to the back streets running between buildings. The party had been quiet since the beach, and looking back at them he saw clear worry. Maybe it was because the only sound was wind blowing down empty streets. Or the slight chill of standing in the shade. In stories these sorts of lost cities had a habit of going from creepy to overrun with monsters at the drop of a hat. Could that be what they were worried about?


    The path mostly was flanked by one to three story tall square homes in various levels of disrepair, draped with vines. When they passed tall pillar-like buildings it felt like they were viewing the backsides. Most of them formed large featureless walls, save the few that had indents that allowed for passing through them. Given how dark the passages were he had no intention of going inside to try to find a shortcut. Granted, the pillars were the kinds of places in books a plucky treasure hunter would find all the treasure. It''s also where they''d get eaten by all the monsters.


    He heard faint footsteps far ahead and held up a hand for silence then lead the group to a thick tree root with the perfect height to let them crouch and look at the next intersection. The gold light of the psudo-sun lit up buildings on the far side of a plaza. Across the still dark portion, Corvayne saw short shadowy forms marching in lockstep. He could hear the faint clicking of chainmail, and as the moved along the root to a better viewpoint of the square he counted 10 goblins. These ones had helmets and spears and armor and scabbards on their sides. One of the leaders had a silver eagle on his shoulder pad and a red cape that was either tattered or battle worn depending on what had rent cuts in it.


    Great. Organized monsters this time. He put his head down behind the tangled roots and half cracked wall and looked at his group, all doing their best to stay out of sight. He heard a goblin hiss from afar, then more hissing. There was a shout in a shrill voice of something like ¡°Wall up!¡± and the clatter of weapons as more goblins hissed.


    Corvayne looked over their cover and was confused: The little group of soldiers had formed a semi-circle shield wall but not at the side street they had been entering the plaza from. He followed what they were looking at as they put themselves into a corner between a building and a tree: another group of goblins was swarming out of a building across the shaded plaza, scampering on four legs and hissing, with nothing but their claws. Neither party even looked their way.


    Wick tugged his arm to direct him back the way they came. ¡°None of our business.¡± She whispered.


    True. How many goblins did he kill on the first floor? Then he looked at the ten, and the now swarm of at least two hundred goblins pouring out of the dark hole. He saw one of the soldiers, not too much further then a hundred feet away, gulp and close his eyes to pray.


    The leader drew his sword and thumped his shield. ¡°No warrior dies alone!¡±


    He looked at Wick. She lifted her glasses and rubbed her eyes with her palm, sighing. Corvayne smirked. ¡°I''d rather they win then the horde. Right?¡±


    Grunt nodded and smiled.


    Nyxion snorted. ¡°I''ll be right here, guarding US humans if you want to go pick sides in a monster fight.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw hefted her two-handed sword, looking at the two already clashing. ¡°Why save them Corvayne?¡±


    ¡°One of them was scared. They also have a language. So I''m going to help my fellow warriors fight monsters.¡±


    ¡°Tch.¡± Nyx threw back his cape. ¡°I''ll guard our rear.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Fine. Go. Just don''t start pulling this bullshit because you see a 20 foot tall roach or something getting bullied by a 30 foot tall one.¡±


    Corvayne and Grunt hopped over the wall of roots, with Lady Blood Claw surprising him by leaping over along with him. She saw his look and just yelled. ¡°I can''t just let you two hog all the killing!¡±


    He smiled then turned to the horde of goblins. ¡°All right, let''s get to work.¡±

 Chapter 54: The Stairs to the Stars

    Corvayne lead the charge across the plaza, hitting the goblin swarm from the side. He pumped his arms as he swung his spear like a scythe while using [Cross Skill: Thresh]. The effect left black trails. In five swipes he had formed huge patches of shadowed ground, spurting limbs that twitched before they grasped at the incoming goblins. The curve of darkness cut into the surging swarm like a knife, snagging feral goblins who had been out of range of the slicing attack while dragging other frothing goblins into the ground.


    He couldn''t stop swinging to watch, as the shadowy muck would expire in seconds due to scores of goblins rushing into it. He had to drive his spear into goblins sneaking past a few times as pools of shadow dried up, forming gaps. Those were the only safe places to try to attack him, but safe was a relative term as a few unfortunate monsters discovered the hard way. Other goblins tried leaping over the puddles and were skewered for their effort. He kept stabbing between spear swings, punching monsters out as he laid down hungry dark lines. A few goblins were able to use a sinking ally as a stepping stone to pounce at him, teeth and claws out, red and yellow and white eyes all empty of reason. Corvayne felt his mind tuning out his aches and pains as he worked his spear, spilling blood from the horde of monsters pouring into the kill zone he formed in what felt like an endless stream.


    After a moment where he didn''t have anything breaching his shadow lines, Corvayne risked turning to see how his friends were doing. Grunt was at one side of the wedge he had formed, and the big man had found a very large bird bath and was using it in wide swings to decimate goblins,sending them flying. Corvayne only had a moment to look before he turned back to his central spot and used his foot to test the vanishing shadow patch. Still solid to him, even if another goblin was sinking in up to it''s waist not three feet from his boot. He drew his spear back, and swung it again, activating [Cross Skill: Thresh] and forming a new wall deeper into the torrent of green monsters, then stepped into it to do it again.


    To his side, Lady Blood Claw had enhanced her strength and done some sort of enchantment to her blade that allowed her to use it one-handed while her other hand swept over the mass of goblins, spreading something like spores that made a section of them stumble around, suddenly drunk or dazed. Even with one hand, she was able to hold the huge metal blade and swing it in the wide arc needed to start [Circle of Death]. Blood sprayed over goblins and they hissed and even more diverted from the swarm to the three of them, standing in the gap between the half broken wall and a pile of rubble.


    Corvayne could feel his upper body start to strain as he used another [Thresh] to form a new patch as the first started to dry up. He ground his teeth and kept stabbing. His wedge had pulled away large number of the monsters from the crowd forming around the goblin soldiers. He wasn''t sure if they could save those defenders, but if the soldiers could hold out for another minute or two they''d be the only living goblins in the plaza. Them making it that minute wasn''t even close to a sure thing as the sheer number of attackers manged to pry a shield from the wall and it''s soldier with it. A moment later the soldier goblin a trio of feral monsters dragging him into the swarming mass. He was certainly dead, but that left nine they could...


    The crowd of goblins attacking the wall started shrieking and like a wave of startled birds and pulled back from the formation. The goblin soldier who had been pulled out was bleeding and crouched on the bricks, protecting his face and trembling, perhaps waiting for death, when a hand reached down and pulled him to his feet.


    Nyx pushed the goblin away from him and gestured back to the wall, then walked next to Grunt. With the wayward soldier out of the way Nyxion extended his shield bubble. The leader of the soldiers showed the good sense not to waste surprise help and barked a command, using the moment to arrange themselves in a line linking up with Nyxion.


    The leader saluted them. ¡°I know not what strange giants you are, but by Ionis I appreciate the help!¡±


    Nyx glanced over at Corvayne. Not again!


    ¡°I can''t help but stand with other spear men.¡± Corvayne called back, then Nyx''s fear effect seemed to lessen and once more the horde crashed into their line. Corvayne and Grunt and Lady Blood Claw surged around Nyx''s combined shield and fear bulwark, catching the last ends of the goblin swarm. He put down a fresh patch of shadow then drew his firebreathing dagger and stepped out, sweeping the swath of goblins with a burst of concentrated flames. The fan of fire ignited a good thirty of them and broke up their ranks. From behind him bouncing green [Disrupt] orbs as well as arrows picked off goblins.


    He waved with a shadow hand raised above his head as he focused on jabbing and stabbing. It felt like no time at all passed when the last feral monster went still. He looked back, a line of carnage following them. He turned and saw the goblin leader doing the same, then step towards him and offer a hand. Corvayne strode forward and shook it.


    ¡°Corvayne.¡±


    The goblin had a solid handshake despite the size difference. ¡°Constantius. I didn''t think anyone was going to make it out of the plaza when I saw the swarm. We owe you our lives.¡±


    Corvayne looked around. ¡°I take it this place is overrun?¡±


    ¡°The feral host pours from here. Swarms of mad ones and worse hide in the shadows. And I suppose, at least one miracle.¡± The goblin leader bowed at each of the fighters, even Seru who had hobbled over. Constantius turned back to Corvayne. ¡°Even seen your kind in these ruins, but never saw them aid us in a fight nor speak to us.¡±


    ¡°You''ve ran into other humans?¡± Corvayne gestured to himself and the others joining him.


    Constantius shook his head armor shifting a little on his green form. ¡°Not personally. Last sighting was ten years back, and survivors say it just scythed through them.¡±


    Corvayne turned for a moment to look around the plaza, past the pile of goblins to the buildings catching the setting sun as the shadows grew. ¡°Well, we are looking to go up a floor in the tower, as in, get out of here.¡±


    ¡°Blue stairs up? There are a few in this city. Most of them are in towers, and I''ve only seen the inside of those buildings because that''s where the objectives are. Leaving, there''s only a handful at Last Bastion and the outlying colonies. That''s if you don''t want to go into swarmlands.¡±


    He was catching a lot of names. ¡°Is Last Bastion a town? How far is it?¡±


    ¡°A day''s march. Was trying to drag ourselves back to the gate about an hour away. Sundown''s close, and you don''t want to be out in the open at night.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t need any elaboration to agree with that. ¡°Let me confirm with my team. I have a talent or something that lets people understand me.¡±


    Wick shrugged. ¡°I understand him just fine.¡±


    He turned to her. ¡°Why didn''t you say anything?¡±


    ¡°I thought you were doing a good job?¡± She stepped forward and offered her hand. ¡°I''m Wick, the other leader of this band. I like the idea of getting the heck out of here. If you can guide us to the gates and get us to safer lands, we''ll be happy to team up with you to fend monsters off.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Constantius turned to a goblin pulling a body off his shield. ¡°Also Groveller, you owe that fancy one some boot kissing. I''ve never seen the insane bastards get scared before.¡±


    Nyxion brushed his uniform. ¡°A hero like me strikes fear into the hearts of monsters.¡±


    ¡°If hero you wish to be called, then hero you are. All right green-hides, march.¡± The goblin pointed and his troops started heading down the street in what Corvanye thought was south. He checked to make sure his team was good. Only Grunt and LBC had taken even scratches during the fight. Seru seemed more motivated to move faster, forcing Mister I to fuss over her. She ignored him and caught up with Corvayne, nudging him with her elbow.


    ¡°Can we trust them?¡± She asked quietly. ¡°Goblins are...¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I know you''re worried about bad goblins. I think we can trust them, however. They look genuinely in awe of us, and also... I think there''s a reason we can all understand them. I think they are this floor''s ''people of the tower''. Like the villagers on floor three. I don''t know if that''s for sure true, but I''d rather trust and get disappointed again and again then get into an extra fight without trying.¡±


    Wick stepped ahead and looked over at Seru. ¡°I have enough doubt for both of us. Right now? I like the idea of getting the fuck outta this place.¡±


    They caught up with the patrol in a block. Humans had longer legs, so even being sore and tired Corvayne didn''t find it hard to stride up to the front with the commander. ¡°I have good dark vision. Are you able to operate in shadow if we can''t make the gate?¡±


    ¡°We''d be fumbling mostly blind. I heard in the old days we were better in the dark. One of us, Cat, has the knack. See her yellow eyes? Near worthless during the day.¡±


    The Goblin in question was wearing an eye patch and pulled it off as she looked at Corvayne with two eyes that were solid yellow with a black slash. Corvayne thought about it, then decided not to show off his still-forming eye under the bandage. It probably wouldn''t be all that funny to anyone.


    ¡°Okay. I can see well in both light and dark. I''ll try to keep an eye... my eye out for trouble. You said it''s an hour march?¡±


    Constantius nodded at Corvayne then continued speaking while marching. ¡°We share many traits with those monsters on the outside, but they are crazed zealots. We specifically send groups in here to try to cull their numbers and possibly ascend and evolve our skills. Otherwise they spill out into the surrounding lands and we get wars and raids on our farms.¡± The goblin leader paused for a moment. ¡°I don''t know how easy it will be to get you to a stairway inside of Last Bastion. The high command will throw a fit just at the idea of big monsters aiding us, let alone bringing giants into the city.¡±


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Our only goal is to get out of the tower. Or whatever you call the collection of floors those stairs lead to.¡± Corvayne shrugged.


    The captain raised an eye. ¡°You too eh? There''s always a few goblins convinced we are in some sort of giant maze. That there''s a start to the stairs and an end. A hundred years back we sent our best five heroes up through the stair to the stars. Never heard back from them.¡±


    They walked through a shallow stream flowing along the road and climbed up onto a wall that lead them over a flooded series of blocks. While only about fifteen feet above the water, it gave a better vantage point to see how long the major roads stretched, towers lining the way to the setting sun. Corvayne blinked his eyes and looked down into the murky water instead, seeing brickwork and fish swimming with a faint current tugging plants. Some of them were swimming in gentle circles in a fountain that raised above the water. Perhaps rain or a flood had deposited them there and trapped them to go around it in endless circles. He looked back at the goblins and decided, meeting a few gazes that he could only think of as curious, to share what he knew.


    ¡°Well, we came from outside the tower. I think after floor 10, there''s an extra strong monster that guards the exit. Maybe they fought it, won, and couldn''t find their way back? This is the 9th floor, and there seems to be a lot of paths through the tower. I would imagine when they found new worlds, they''d also want to come back and tell you all about where they went.¡± They passed another section of the wall they walking on heading west that was still lit by sun, extending deep into what looked like a lake growing between all those buildings. If not for all the monsters, he''d love to spend a day exploring a ruin like this.


    ¡°Do you wonder about other floors?¡± He asked as they stepped down a set of stairs back to street level. Corvayne glanced back and Wick waved from the top of the wall. He saw Lady Blood Claw start walking a little faster, perhaps to come up and ask him something.


    The goblin was clearly thinking about his answer as they marched together under another road that crossed over on raised bridges. Great vines coated the stairs up to the cross street. Only the building tops were catching fading sunlight at this point, another sign it was going to be dark soon. Lady Blood claw slipped beside Corvayne before Constantius finished thinking to speak. ¡°Only really brave and crazy goblins, the thinkers we sometimes call them, are willing to even go past the third step of the stairways up or down. I''m a little brave and a little crazy and a thinker, but the star scape if you go all the way up is terrifying to me. Wonderful, but terrible. The next sky up fills me with... wrongness. Like something in my guts knows it''s wrong for me to go up. Maybe if I become a graybeard in a good fifty years I''ll not care, and pick up a notched sword and march up and try to get out. That''s after I''ve paid my dues to The Last Bastion. The Bastion is why I have clothes, friends, a blade. Without it? I could be like the insane things in the ruins here.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°And you''d give anything to protect that thing that gives you meaning.¡±


    ¡°Everything up to my honor. There are good and bad goblins. I won''t lie to you and say I''m leading you to paradise. But I''ve always said, that there''s anything to stick to out there is because of the people who try. Those beasts out there? Can''t figure if they are really mad, or if they got so selfish that they lost everything. It''s possible to find ones that are more timid and slowly bring them to awareness. But in the same way, it''s possible to lose your mind. Thinkers sometimes do that, lose themselves to a single desire. They repeat the same actions over and over until they break or spirals down, returning to an animal state.¡±


    The goblin looks both ways, his voice becoming conspiratorial. ¡°That was our goal. There''s a fallen one somewhere out there we think, stirring up the tribes. They say it''s why there''s all the chaos. First a surge of thinkers, the kind of numbers never seen before in our history, then a surge of fallen, three in a week, then you showing up. Giant thinkers who speak rather then kill us.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw was lemon yellow while walking up to Corvayne and shifted to gently flowing colors. The Goblin glanced at her and raised a scarred brow. The Lady nodded at him, and he nodded back. He appreciated that the Goblin, as well as Lady Blood Claw, because they gave him time to think and respond as they marched. For walking through a possibly hostile city the conversation was relaxed.


    He worked what he generally wanted to say and started speaking. ¡°Outside there are worlds separated by great rifts of nothingness. Huge spheres that would take years to march across, separated by distances that would take someone walking a million life times to breach the gap. Ships sail these vast distances, and spread humans to many worlds. My home is a...¡± He had a pause as he thought how funny it was that he almost said desert. ¡°A lush world. A place of mountains and great trees and few monsters. I guess you''d feel a little sad there... there are no goblins out there. Just humans.¡±


    The goblin nodded. ¡°Maybe some day we can boast like that. Right now we need to find what brings the madness and the swarms. Sometimes we get years of peace, when the city slumbers and there are few raids. Time to clear land, build new walls, love, and explore. We dream of peace without the endless horrors. If there came a time soldiers were not needed, I figure we''d follow the steps of the heroes.¡± The goblin leader stopped for a moment. He pulled out a map, checked where a statue ahead was, then gestured to the ember glow of sun lit clouds and directed his group to follow him west a block. Wick and Grunt were leading his friends behind the goblins, with Nyx taking up the rear with Seru.


    The leader cleared his throat a moment and once Corvayne was looking back at him nodded. ¡°If you don''t mind talking about your equipment, would you tell me how you found your spear? We have hard earned trinkets from the ruins, but nothing we own is able to cleave great swaths of monsters or call shadows.¡±


    ¡°The spear isn''t anything special. I guess it''s nice and sturdy? No. Those shadowy limbs are something I got from beating a guardian of the fifth floor. And the spear strikes I use, anyone can do that if they train. Watch...¡±


    He took a few steps ahead of the group, looking carefully with his good side to make sure he didn''t trigger another horde from a goblin watching the road, then activated [Flows-Like-Water], doing little flourishes with his attacks to empty air rather then efficient lethal strikes.


    ¡°That''s magic if I''ve ever seen it.¡± The goblin said while he rubbed his chin.


    ¡°Err... try [Thrust].¡± He called it out and showed them the enhanced version of a basic strike, a little bit of shadow forming as he strode forward. Constantius stepped a little ahead of his men. Corvayne could tell from his expression that he was sort of humoring Corvayne.


    The goblin called out. ¡°[Thrust].¡± and emulated his stab, with a small snap of sparks as his iron spear darted forward. The goblin was so surprised that he nearly stumbled.


    ¡°What? What did I do!?¡± Constantius looked at his own spear then over to Corvayne, the first break in his gruff persona Corvayne had seen. Then the stony goblin laughed and tapped his spear head, smiling. It reminded him of Wick''s reaction to using magic. If he had years and years, he might have right there and then decided to stay on the floor and help them clear out the city. He was a little sad he couldn''t commit to it. Wick looked annoyed enough he stuck his neck out for them, even though it seemed they were going to get safe passage to the next floor from a few moments of fighting. Still, he thought about Wick and how she extended help to a stranger who needed it. He would pay her back and pay it forward.


    No, there was more to it. Whatever the Watchers had done to him, he would take the good from their bad. The good being that he wanted to help others. ¡°You might not be able to ever use that sweeping ability. Different weapons have different abilities. I can, for some reason, use a bunch of different weapons as if they were something else. I''ll show you a few things you can do with either your blade or your spear. Who knows? The hero who cleans this city out and brings peace to the floor, it might be one of you.¡±


    As he spoke they turned the corner around a building and Corvayne saw the gate out to open road, faint white stone contrasting the dark landscape beyond. Standing between him and the gates was one last road block...


    Three feral goblins. Corvayne steeled himself. He''d kill one, or they''d call out, and a whole host would swarm down...


    Lady Blood Claw looked over at him. ¡°Trap?¡±


    The soldier with them just laughed. ¡°Not likely. A few of them try to wander out of the city and if it''s not overflowing, they get scared and run right back in.¡±


    Bolstered by the soldier''s words, Corvayne walked forward and dispatched all three with [Flows-Like-Water].


    He shook his spear off and looked at the goblins. All of them had been watching and listening, and he could see they were eager, perhaps starving to learn how to wield a force that to them was one and the same as magic. ¡°How long is the walk to your town?¡±


    Constantius cleared his throat. ¡°A night camped and a good five hours if we don''t take breaks or hit wandering monsters.¡±


    Corvayne smiled. ¡°I think that''s plenty of time to show you guys how to do a few tricks.¡±

 Chapter 55: To Last Bastion

    Corvayne looked over to the iron knife laying at the base of the tree, then back at the Goblin soldier who was frowning at it. Corvayne shrugged and resumed showing Pouncer the footwork and motion of his hands, step by step, as well as stopping to show the goblin his grip one more time before he used [Phantom Knife] to throw his fire-breathing dagger, sending it spinning to the same tree, cutting a notch with it, then popping back to the hand that threw it with a small twist and pull of the wrist. He was surprised how well he could aim given he was still down a working eye.


    The shorter goblin had a shield and spear and was nominally a soldier, but she was also a sort of hunter and scout. The scout had picked up [Backstab] along with everyone else, and Corvayne supposed that being able to boomerang a knife was the next step in mastery. It wasn''t as hard to do as [Bleeder] which he had thought was much simpler to do but actually took some mastery of knives he had gained that the goblin had not. Maybe that was the whole point of having him learn from all those ''Masters'' back at the village. Or maybe they just didn''t want to deal with him for the full course of having a pupil.


    Anyway, he had been using the march and any breaks in their hike through the woods to train them on sword, spear, and a other weapons. The five hours had turned to seven plus as rain had flooded a river, forcing both groups to trek an hour out of the way to find an old but sturdy stone bridge over the rushing cloudy blue water. With the colors were all different it was still weird to see an opaque blue body of water. Seru had commented it looked like when someone was painting and dumped the water for cleaning the brush out. With the extra walking he had plenty of time to walk and talk. Some of the soldiers would walk out of formation, try a few stabs, then slide back into steady marching. All of them used spears frequently and could perform [Thrust]. Constantius was further along and could use [Juxtapose] as well. The older and more experienced leader also was nimble enough to draw a knife and follow up with [Backstab] if something he didn''t fumble it. Corvayne gained some appreciation for his ability to just use the same weapon to do both.


    Pouncer, compared to some of the other goblin soldiers, was a little smaller and softer spoken and not as buff as her peers. What was important was that she was intent on learning [Phantom Knife] even though Corvayne hated using the move because if you messed up your weapon was out of your hand. [Whirling Axe]''s fail case was you looked silly swinging your weapon at nothing. Still, the goblin nearly cried when after twenty tries they nailed the hand motion and activated the skill, their curved knife flying through the air to thwack a tree, then fly back to place the hilt in their hand.


    ¡°Thank you Captain Corvayne! I''ll practice it a hundred times!¡± she said in a high pitched voice.


    He didn''t know where the Captain business came from, but it beat master by a mile. A goblin calling you master something means you''re probably a necromancer. Maybe he should just tell them to call him boss? Now he was missing Mosh AND Hari. He hoped he''d be there to greet them if they both landed on the first floor again. Focus. Pouncer was looking at him with awe. ¡°You will tire yourself out if you don''t take breaks. These abilities sap your stamina. Jog a lot, that helps. Maybe eat monster meat, if you can get it.¡±


    ¡°Well, first we''d have to not get eaten, but I''ll try.¡± Pouncer was acting odd and kept looking back at Corvayne as she walked away. Wick had been following Corvayne around as he did training and gave him an odd look when he looked to her.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You know what. I guess I can''t blame you for wondering about it.¡± She nodded at Pouncer who was showing off his new move.


    "Training a goblin army?¡± Corvayne looked over the other troops taking a breather. "Seeing if they have a spear prodigy?"


    Wick rubbed her forehead. ¡°You idiot! Pouncer''s been checking you out.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Wick gestured. ¡°Her, and Cat, and Weed. All of them want you to go green.¡±


    ¡°Ok. So what should I do about it?¡± Corvayne had started walking across the clearing they had taken a break in. It looked like a crossroads that once had a town: he could see a mound that suggested a wall or earth works, and places beside the road where a few stones rested in teal weeds.


    ¡°Them, and Gold Gap too in case you do start swinging both ways, are probably all hoping we take another full day to get back.¡± Wick looked torn, probably between egging him on to try it and not liking when he got waylaid by other women. Pun intended.


    ¡°I don''t think they are staring at me with sex on their minds.¡± He thought about sci-fi books with aliens. ¡°I bet to them I look like a giant with a stub nose, weird small ears, and a tiny head and the skin of a dead creature.¡±


    ¡°No, you''re like a giant elf, this weirdly graceful creature of incredible power and a lithe, deadly body who is also teaching them magic. I''d honestly be more okay with you taking a short stack goblin to bed then Seru. What WERE you thinking?¡±


    He bit his lip and tried a joke. ¡°Figured she''d get shot first by the drones if she was on top of me?¡± He waited for a respose from Wick. ¡°Too soon?¡±


    She smirked. ¡°Heh. Barely. It''s going to be really funny if you save it a week and tell it to me next time I ask that. Also try to sound flippant instead of stating it like a fact.¡± Wick looked across the clearing to where Seru was talking with Mister I, showing him a small book. That was a weird pairing. Maybe not. Mister I was a monk in name and Seru was as well in class, even if he couldn''t think of two people that fit the ideals of an aesthetics¡¯s lifestyle.


    ¡°Good. But no, I''m not going to try goblin sex. I talked with Constantius, and what I''m teaching them is getting me serious good-will with the squad, and will ferry over to command since I''m trading a possibly permanent benefit for passage and nothing more. I don''t want to jinx it by leaving a crying goblin girl behind.¡±


    Wick growled. ¡°If you were SMART you''d wait until we had a deal in writing before showing them how to do psycho crusher or bowling bash or whatever all your moves are called. You are smart. I meant you''d be MORE smart if you were less NAIVE. What if this is the one NICE group of goblins and they were sent to the ruins to die because everyone else is a jerk?¡±


    Corvayne was starting to get better at spotting when her paranoia was kicking in. ¡°I think a smaller race, like goblins, would be more then happy to let a big dangerous unknown simply walk away, rather then attack them. I''ve shown them our abilities are linked to skill, not to our gear. Though of course, push comes to shove we have the tools to back the skills up.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Good cop, bad cop. Anyway, if you do decide to sleep with one of our soldiers here, you got one more break before we march into town. Ideally we are there 15 minutes then walk into a portal. I know better, but that''s the hope.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I think good will counts for something. I mean, I guess I''m more mellow because everyone who was supposed to be my allies growing up basically made my life miserable, so I have a very low bar for strangers who won''t do half as good a job stabbing me in the back as Untouched-By-Arrows. Don''t get upset, it was a wood knife and it usually didn''t draw blood and he only left it stuck in me once.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Fine. I''ll be mad if you don''t give me a front row seat to you beating the shit out of them in order whenever you get around to returning to your village after becoming the latent god-king of weapons.¡±


    He shrugged, stepping to the side to walk out of the mound circle and keep the goblins who had started marching ahead of them in view. He could walk at a relaxed pace and keep up with them. ¡°That''s a big if. I don''t feel like I''m getting much better. I only have one person to do weapon sparring with. And if Nyxion leaves, so does Lady Blood Claw.¡±


    ¡°Well, I think she''d visit. I honestly think you''re her best friend. Nyxion is sort of... blas¨¦ about his alien heavy.¡±


    ¡°Lady Blood Claw is pretty light, she''s pinned me on a mat before and I got her off easily.¡± Note for his internal Color chart: The color she has when pinning him was pink going on to glowing pink, then deep purple. So that''s probably something like, exertion or excitement, concentration, then satisfaction? But she was also pink sometimes when she was just walking next to him. Is it possibly a physical state having just jogged a little to catch up?


    ¡°I knew you''d stick it to the alien lady too... hey does everything change color?¡± Wick was watching him for a reaction and started cackling as he felt his cheeks burn.


    ¡°What did I say that made you think that I slept with her? Oh. Get your mind out of the gutter Wick.¡±


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°You are what, three for four of getting on female party members? If one of the three goblin girls tags along, she''d probably trick you into it within a week.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Then I''d have a short girl with green skin and a short girl green with envy.¡± Corvayne acted like he was thinking about it. Wick walked a little closer and elbowed him. He gave her shoulder a squeeze but kept walking. Putting his arm around her when walking made her nervous.


    He saw they would be back in the woods soon. This floor''s orange-red bark stained with dark blue colors reminded him of the Cascadian Jasper. The darker trees with brighter leaves reminded him of pictures he had seen of forests in fall. ¡°You called her a... heavy? Like, heavy infantry?¡±


    ¡°No, like a bad guy has... Grunt made sure to show you a Brass Gold film right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. He''s kind of a bad spy, he said his name all the time.¡± Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I did love the tools the spy had.¡±


    ¡°It''s because he''s a rip-off of an older series of spy movies. Nobody appreciates Bond any more. But yeah, the bad guy probably had a scary looking henchman that did most of the fighting before the end? That''s LBC.¡±


    ¡°Ohhh yeah. I Nyxion aware of this?¡±


    Wick sighed ¡°I''m pretty certain. Anything you think a noble does unconsciously is either baked into their DNA or a very exactly executed gesture with inspiration from very smart or very stupid sources.¡±


    ¡°Nyx is smart, I take it? Or you wouldn''t have him along.¡± Corvayne didn''t think she needed money.


    ¡°I might have him as a handsome idiot to act as our front. Or see if we can mend his arrogance out of him."


    ¡°If mend worked that well we could go get ice cream and hold hands.¡± He chose to say instead.


    ¡°Nope. I''d still shank you if you tried to take me on a date like that.¡± Wick pulled her open robe aside and patted a spot on her jacket.


    ¡°I could teach you some tricks to shank me better. It would involve me demonstrating how to use my short sword with you. It would be rigorous and require perhaps an entire evening.¡± Corvayne folded his arms. ¡°Maybe longer if I think you are not properly spent.¡±


    Wick cackled. ¡°You are such a weirdo.¡±


    ¡°I picked a weird girl. Thus it''s fitting.¡±


    ¡°I''m glad you''re getting better Corvayne. Or I should say, I think I''m getting better at reading the invincible poker face too.¡± Wick was walking and staring at him, and nearly tripped on a branch. He steadied her. Looking ahead, the path was flanked on both sides by forest that was starting to tower over them. With less light coming in, the colors around them were becoming dark red and blue lines with teal foliage glowing far above them. He moved to catch up with his friends who were walking behind the goblin group.


    Corvayne flipped his cloak over his pack and twisted the collar while pulling it a little, extending it to cover more of his back. Wick fell in with Nyxion, who had been walking behind Seru and Mister I. Lady Blood Claw nodded at Corvayne as he strode past, and Grunt was keeping an eye on the woods as well. He could see from the Goblin''s shifting formation that Pouncer and Cat were giving their shields and spears to bulkier goblins to double up and were heading off into the woods. The goblins had slowed to a walk, and Constantius nodded at Corvayne as he made it up to where the soldier was leading the march.


    ¡°Trouble?¡± Corvayne asked.


    ¡°This portion of the wood has flickers.¡± The goblin held a finger out from the hand holding his spear, and put his other finger about ten inches from it. ¡°Monsters with long spikes all over who can throw out a dozen at a time like arrows.¡±


    ¡°Oh, the porcupines that shoot spines?¡± He felt his eye itch thinking about them.


    ¡°Yeah. Need to have a shield up or they pin you and you die. Also, never try to cook one that you haven''t butchered, especially with the spines still on it. The damn things explode. There was a patrol that lost six goblins to them cooking a monster wrong.¡±


    Corvayne gestured at his face with his free hand not on a spear. ¡°I got a spine in the eye from burning a bunch to death and also had a full barrage hit me in the side. They suck.¡±


    The goblin was scanning the woods as he said softly ¡°I''m surprised you''re alive then.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I''m not easy to kill, even with bad luck like that. My eye is growing back faster then I expected. I might be able to take the bandage off in another day or two.¡±


    ¡°Well, if we run into flickers unaware, it''s unlikely we can take more then a few quills before we bleed out. So slow and steady, and if we see them we fight with shields out.¡± Constantius stopped and unslung his own shield, calling out. ¡°block out, resume march half pace.¡±


    Corvayne heard some groans as it was easier to walk with a big shield on your back compared to holding a hunk of reinforced wood ahead of you. His own group had Grunt and Nyxion as a human shield and the holder of a shield belt respectively.


    ¡°I''ll roam ahead with your scouts and keep an eye out for packs.¡± He twisted his cloak once more and it faded into the dark colors of the woods with the shoulders and hood taking on the teal color of the trees. It wasn''t perfect but it helped break up his outline.


    There was a shrill bird whistle from the left then two crow noises from the right, and the goblins were split between looking at Constantius and twisting to have their shields facing the woods on the left.


    ¡°Left face wall.¡± The goblin pulled the visor down on his helmet as the group started slowly moving sideways.


    ¡°Can I just go kill the porcupines?¡± Corvayne asked. Watching them slowly crawl along...


    ¡°It costs nothing but time to be careful. But if you can get them all, sure.¡± Constantius said with a little grunt as he crab walked with his squad, looking out from the side of his shield to try to spot whatever his scouts had seen.


    Corvayne put himself low and crept into the teal underbrush. The porcupines seemingly wild colors would be hard to spot in the brush. So instead of relying on his eyes, he shut the only open one and listened. He could hear them make little rodent grunts, and he guessed there were six.


    He didn''t have to dash into the middle of the formation so he crept out of the way as he heard them squeak once then start shuffling in the direction of the road. He heard a bird call from behind where he was crouched, six times. He guessed it meant something obvious like six monsters. When the monsters were between him and the shield wall he crept out, shadowy hands gently coaxing plants out of the way. He saw the quills of one monster shuffling in front of him, and he paced himself to catch up, waiting for it to turn or lift it''s hind legs to fire forward. The memory of the night attack made him hesitate for just a moment when he saw the spines, but he pushed on and got within arm''s length. [Cross-Skill: Backstab] blasted his spear through the creatures spines and then it''s body. There was both the standard [Backstab] satisfying crunch as well as a horrible clattering noise as the spearhead shattered the monsters quills then dug into it''s back and killed the monster almost instantly. He didn''t wait for a reaction and moved to cover, but heard the monsters continue on towards the road, oblivious.


    He had to consider it was a weapon attack designed for knife work... Maybe the sound effect and even the creature''s death noises were dampened on enemies? Another thing to experiment with.


    He wheeled around the tree and moved to flank another monster. This time the creature was pushing it''s back up and creeping forward, setting up to start spraying the goblins not far ahead on the road. Which meant he could jab the monster behind it''s hind legs and hit it''s tender looking belly. He used [Cross-Skill: Backstab] once more, this time causing the monster to pop as it perhaps it had primed whatever it was that shot the spikes.


    Of course, when one monster went off, all of them were hit. There was squealing so Corvayne once more dove for a tree and heard the noise of quills hitting trees, a screech as one monster got hit by a misfire, and one set of loud clacks as a goblin holding a shield blocked a line of spikes.


    He moved back at the pack through the brush, saw an exposed porcupine, then used [Cross-Skill: Whirling Axe] to blast the monster with a wind spear that left it alive but bleeding. He heard the twang of a bow and a squeak then rasping hiss as another of the monsters died.


    There were not too many left crawling in the brush. Corvayne carefully took the last two out, making sure to not accidentally skewer whichever scout was on this side. He dragged a few Porcupine bodies back with him as he reached the shield line. One goblin had a shield full of spines and looked fine, but another''s shield had failed or he had maybe let his guard drop to try to watch. He had a trio of spines in his side and was bleeding badly.


    Oddly enough, Seru was holding the goblin''s hand. Maybe because she had been in the exact same spot two nights ago. ¡°Mister Icarriii please!¡±


    Constantius ran up to Corvayne. ¡°I hate to ask you a favor, but the only way that Cat''s going to live is if we can run her to headquarters and get her a healing potion. One of the spines hit a lung. With your big legs we-¡±


    Mister I crouched by the little goblin as Constantius was speaking. Corvayne had to interrupt the little goblin with an upraised hand. ¡°If our friend can''t fix it, I have a healing potion on me I''ll be happy to spare for you.¡±


    Mister I went through the prayer of mending then on the last few words yanked the spines out. Cat started screaming for a moment then sat up. The other goblins were in awe as well as they could see the monk wipe away blood to reveal smooth new green skin.


    The goblin captain crouched by Cat who was laughing in joy now. ¡°I''ll eat my damn shield. How in the five hells did you do that?¡±


    Mister I just laughed. ¡°Actually, would you believe I learned it from a goblin?¡±


    Standing on a hill, Corvayne could see the settlement of Last Bastion ahead. Given the name he expected a ramshackle wood encampment, but the goblins had clearly been there a long time. It was a proper walled fortress, built out of steep walls of stones in a variety of blue hues. The walls had points where the goblins had obviously expanded, and behind the stone barrier he could see an orderly street pattern with well made brick and clay buildings. Dominating the center of the town was a blue stone sky-scraper like the ones in the city, but with windows carved into the stone, and supports of wood where he could see tiny figures working.


    They ran into the first group of goblins heading the other way down the road not long after cresting the hill. Corvayne had let the soldiers go ahead, given that it was preferable that the captain warn any other goblin travelers or other soldiers about them and that, no, they were not monsters. Oddly enough, two goblins had fallen behind the group. He saw Cat was walking besides Seru, asking about the world outside the tower. Seru was only too happy to brag about Cascadia.


    Groveller, the goblin who Nyxion had saved during their first encounter, had asked Mister I how he had done what he did, and was now doing his best to absorb a long discussion of Lythandies''s philosophy which, Corvayne imagined, was a huge disappointment for someone who maybe was hoping to just learn how to heal other people. He appreciated both Mister I and Mosh but the two together talking about religion was too much for him.


    He focused ahead. Constantius was telling a group with a wagon, axes, and a few soldiers something, and pointing back at Corvayne, who did his part by waving at the goblins. Their already surprised looks at him were shocked further at the friendly gesture. Of course, he could tell the moment they spotted Grunt, who startled humans let alone looked like a titan to a goblin.


    One of the encounters with either travelers or soldiers had trickled word back to the gate or they had been properly spotted by the wall, because two thirty goblin formation of spearmen with shields marched out of the gate and stood in front of it. They had their spears up at the moment, but Corvayne guessed they were not blocking the road for anyone else. He was impressed by seeing a formation of warriors in person, as the majority of Watcher fighting was done against monsters and thus they tended to encircle a beast or scatter rather then brace as a group for a potential attack. You also had the problem of trying to accept a charge from a big monster on anything other then packed stone...


    He snapped his attention back to the present. Constantius had gone forward to speak to another goblin, this one riding a muzzled goat. The one on the goat was following Constantius''s arm to look at him, so he started to walk forward. If there was going to be a discussion, he might as well hear it.


    Stopping a few paces away he tried what he thought a hero would do in this situation. He lifted his hand in a wave. ¡°Well met! I''m Corvayne, and we are looking for passage up the stairs to the next floor.¡±


    The goblin on the goat had a good thousand yard stare, and looked pretty regal on his goat with the cape and helmet and everything. When he spoke he had a stern voice. ¡°Maxius. Commander of the defense. You are monster adventurers?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°We call ourselves human. Well, five humans and a.... human with changing skin.¡±


    ¡°My good captain here is telling me you have magic you can teach anyone. And you know ways to heal without red life potions.¡± He sounded skeptical.


    ¡°I''ve given the soldiers basic instructions on how to use some of the attacks I have. The other aspect, the healing, is trickier.¡±


    The mounted goblin considered Corvayne. ¡°I''m taking the captain to report the council. We might be a while.¡± With no other words he turned and started trotting back to the small army of goblins waiting at the gates. Constantius nodded and a gave Corvayne a smile.


    Wick looked at him. ¡°Great, so they stuck us outside?¡±


    He looked back and saw Mister I setting up the Grill while he continued to speak with Groveller about Lythandies, with Grunt pulling spines out of a porcupine.


    ¡°Well, while we wait, why not have a little barbeque with the goblins?¡±

 Chapter 56: To the Tenth Floor.

    Corvayne had a pretty good view of Last Bastion from where he was sitting next to Wick, a little away from where they had set up a fire pit. He was close enough that he could smell the cooked porcupine on a spit that mister I had set up. Lady Blood Claw, Seru, and Nyxion had drifted over to sit on stones arranged in the short grass around another pit of blue dirt mixed with gray ashes. Corvayne guessed this place was used frequently for camping for the goblin army.


    Near the fire, Grunt was using his hands to finish telling the goblins a story that caused the soldiers to burst out laughing. Swapping war stories and making some friends was a nice change of pace from fighting non stop. If the council didn''t approve letting them pass through or threw down a bunch of errands, he would have to consider a different way off the floor. The goblins had told him that aside from the buildings, stairs were not common.


    ¡°If they stonewall us, I say we look for another building.¡± Wick said, eyes glued to the tower.


    Corvayne looked past the tower in question to where he could just make out mountains in the blue mist that formed the sky. ¡°I''d walk around town and make my way to the hills in that case.¡±


    He greeted Grunt, who was strolling up. He mimed shoveling food into his mouth then tapped his wrist, then made a pinching gesture with his fingers: Food will be ready soon.


    Nyxion gave him a thumbs up. ¡°My fellow meat-shield, we were discussing if the goblins ask us for some sort of further concession or send us on a silly quest.¡±


    Seru folded her arms. ¡°What''s wrong with helping the goblins?¡±


    Nyxion rolled his eyes, impatience seeping into his voice. ¡°Every day we spend in here is two hours outside that someone could blab there''s a magic portal, and be giving Corvayne and Wick''s description to everyone on the planet who has a good reason to come and hunt us.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shook her head. ¡°I think we''ll still have time even giving them what, a half a day head start?¡±


    Grunt nodded but then got a concerned look, and held his arm out in the ''objection'' pose, then mimed a bunch of commando style ''soldiers getting ready to fight'' and ''I''m holding a rifle and clearing rooms'' poses. He then put two fingers by his ears making crude elf ears. He then made a waving motion, and then mimed getting shot. Corvayne felt his stress levels instantly spike when he figured out what Grunt as worried about: Hari and Mosh were not human. Hari was traveling with a group of non-humans. If there were a bunch of people like Gary wandering around armed with pistols and rifles, they were going to be in the mindset that the entire area was monsters.


    Mister I and Wick clearly understood what Grunt was saying, even if Nyxion and LBC just looked confused. The monk nodded. ¡°This will delay our stated plan of leaving everything behind...¡±


    Wick groaned. ¡°See, this also means this won''t be a good way OUT of the damn city. We need to find a third tower.¡±


    Nyxion broke in. ¡°What''s wrong with this one?¡±


    Corvayne looked over at the goblins and their city. ¡°The three guys who left after floor five, they are potential leaks. If any of them starts talking to the news or cops, sooner or later you''ll have a groups of people armed with automatic rifles running around the first floor, killing monsters. Hari had a party who died in the first timeline. I suspect there will be a gun fight if she tries to come back. Mosh certainly will be in danger if he just lands on a cube alone with a bunch of guys who are trigger happy and have been shooting goblins for days.¡±


    Wick clenched her fists. ¡°Also, if we use this set of towers... even if there''s a billion paths through it... we''ll always be watching our back since our enemies could figure it out. How lame would it be if five years down the line we''re laughing and eating lobster in some fantasy inn and the murder-monk busts it up by killing us all?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw was thinking about something. ¡°The real problem is your names. If they know your name, there''s a way to find people when they are inside the tower.¡±


    Nyxion nods. ¡°Well, you all see now this is the cost for not being ruthless. You must have thought about this when saving those people, right?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking from the perspective that we''d be harming our income. I admit, I was a little distracted with trying to herd a group I didn''t like.¡± Corvayne turned back to watching distant goblins working on replacing stone in Last Bastion''s central tower.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Seru got it a few seconds late. ¡°Hey!¡±


    He heard Wick talking over his shoulder. ¡°Why act hurt? You got what you wanted anyway you pain in the ass!¡±


    He looked over at Seru and saw the woman lift up part of her shirt, showing off some of her quill scars and a little bit of bra.


    ¡°Hey, Look! I almost died. I think that more then makes me one of you guys!¡±


    The goblin scout, Cat, was walked up next to Seru and looked at the woman. ¡°Are you trying to mate with Corvayne? Foods ready, so maybe eat first?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw sighed and stood up. ¡°That hill has already been crested young one. She''s a new member of our squad, and is the FNG.¡±


    Cat looked between the members of the group. ¡°What''s FNG stand for?¡±


    Nyxion laughed as he stolled to the main fire. ¡°Fucking new guy!¡±


    ¡°But she is fucking the leader guy.¡± Cat pointed at Corvayne.


    Corvayne rubbed his head, eyes down on the path as he walked into the fire circle. ¡°Mistakes were made.¡± He muttered.


    Groveler was by him. ¡°Did you make a mistake Captain Corvayne?¡±


    ¡°No, we were talking about what FNG means. The new guy in the squad who doesn''t fit in yet and screws things up.¡±


    The goblin''s ears drooped. ¡°Like me, you mean?¡±


    Icarriii laughed and put an hand on the goblin''s shoulder. ¡°Next time you go out with a group, you will see them make the same mistakes and bark at them, and so on until you''re leading the whole group. Chin up! If you can appease Lythandies and start healing... why people are willing to overlook a LOT of things when it comes to doctors!¡±


    Grunt folded his arms and raised an eyebrow at Mister I: What exactly have people been overlooking?


    Corvayne could learn a thing or two from how Mister I''s joval expression never gave anything away. ¡°Oh my taciturn friend! I''m the least interesting man in Old Town. I''m referring to other, unnamed doctors, who might create disharmony with bad behavior.¡±


    Wick laughed. ¡°Any examples of these, OTHER and THEORETICAL bad doctors?¡±


    The monk went from joval to looking wistful. ¡°Ahhhh. The minds of us old folks... it gets all hazy when I try to pick from examples so clear a moment before.¡±


    Groveler was laughing along with them. Cat, on the other hand, was looking over at the gate which had opened a sliver. Lady Blood Claw as well. The woman''s skin had been hovering at a light orange that slid over to a lemony yellow. Corvayne guessed it was something about waiting to becoming interested? He turned and looked and saw Constantius walking out of the gate to town with two other goblins, both sporting gray hair around their ears.


    The Captain had good news. ¡°You''ve been granted passage up through the stairs.¡±


    The elders looked at them. One spoke. ¡°You fought for Last Bastion. You saved our sons and daughters. You marched with them. Taught them your secrets. And we saw them wait with you. A simple request like yours? The bastion would fall apart if we couldn''t do such a thing.¡±


    Corvayne bowed to them. ¡°It was my pleasure.¡± He meant it.


    It was as he was walking through town that he thought how odd it was. Why did he jump in to help these goblins?


    She leaned closer to him. ¡°Hey Corvayne, you were in a pretty good mood on the march. I think you enjoyed training them.¡±


    He didn''t deny it. ¡°It felt weirdly... right? I felt really welcome. I''m sorry I was marching up at the front or with goblins so often. I like spending time with you but it was like... I don''t know.¡±


    She laughed. ¡°I get it. It was your chance to do better than your elders.¡±


    He stopped walking for a moment, which caused Nyxion to walk into his back, which prompted the noble to push him stumbling forward. ¡°Pay attention Corvayne! You''re supposed to be the dependable one.¡±


    Corvayne turned and apologized, then hurried to reach where wick was looking back, smirking. They were close to the central building now. ¡°You think it''s like, me compensating?¡±


    ¡°If we didn''t have so many different things... the nuclear bomb, Hari and Mosh, being hunted... if we had more time I''d say we stay a week and let you drill these guys. I didn''t know you could do the knife toss thing.¡±


    ¡°[Backstab] won''t really help an army, nor does [Phantom Knife]. They have bows for guarding their walls and hunting.¡±


    Wick rolled her eyes. ¡°You are too... Yeah, you couldn''t bust out the big guns. But they have a few goblins you tried to teach [Flows-Like-Water] to. They know it exists. They know it will work eventually. Same with [Bleeder] which you told them helped you kill a dragon.¡±


    ¡°I didn''t talk about how big it was. Maybe I was getting caught up in being the expert for once.¡± Corvayne stepped into the tunnel at the base of the tower and enter the central chamber. The interior was more open then he expected, with a sort of lattice skeleton with windows carved into it to shed light on stone work done to let goblins walk or climb up to wood walkways and rooms. The bottom floor was set up to be defensible, but looking at the types of things that were going on he guessed this was more of an administrative center, with chips of bark marked with gritty runes being used to sort things out. A group of goblins was imprinting clay tablets with records of some sort in one corner. In another two soldiers were holding up swords and pointing to something on them as a third sat in a wood folding chair and nodded.


    He spotted the goat-rider leading his mount out. He sort of expected a dirty look or something but the goblin just nodded at them and walked out one of the other doors. Their own path took them up stairs that were a little too small for human feet but had a stone rail built for safety. In all the books he read goblins were always about breeding fast and not caring if a few died. Story goblins found life cheap. The nod to safety on the stairway told Corvayne that this group''s mentality wasn''t limited to just an oddball captain trying to keep his men alive. The people of Last Bastion worried about one of their own falling. It made him feel better about giving them the start of the weapon techniques.


    They climbed past the first chambers ceiling to a broad floor with a black stone pillar at the center of the hall, rising out of the blue stones like a grim island in a stormy sea. A beacon, like the one on the third floor. He wasn''t sure what they did, but they passed by it and Corvayne went ahead and placed a hand on it, feeling like a connection formed a moment.


    The elder who hadn''t spoken before laughed. ¡°It was considered good luck for a goblin to touch that stone before they left Last Bastion for the first time. They say it helps us find our way back.¡± Her eyes glittered with mischief. ¡°If you do come back, you''ll always be welcome.¡±


    The stairway to the next floor was one of the rooms built into the floor of building they were in. Corvayne paused a moment before the path to the next floor, just take in the large stone bridges and walkways above them, then waved at the goblins who had followed them to the stairs up, stepping into the blue light and starting his climb. Fifty steps up and he stepped and out into the tenth floor then stopped, stunned by what he saw.


    A long winding road in a moon-lit wound through desert sands, leading to gleaming metal walls. A spire of rock stood behind them and off to the side. The tenth floor of the dungeon was a perfect replica of the watcher''s village.

 Chapter 57: Not Quite a Homecoming

    The moon shone down on the metal wall, as did a sky bursting with stars. The village walls gleamed silver before him. Corvayne had not been expecting to see his home ever again. It was so unexpected and unpleasant that he wanted to just turn and walk away. It was a different kind of terrible to actually dying or waking up alone convinced everyone you cared about was dead.


    Corvayne looked away from the front of his village to make sure he wasn''t alone in some sort of dream as well as to try to come up with some way to explain the dread he had about exposing them to the whims of The Watchers. Wick was beside him now, tugging his sleeve.


    ¡°You okay? You look like you''ve seen a ghost, I mean, one you couldn''t kill effortlessly.¡± Her concerned tone snapped him out of his daze.


    ¡°I''m fine Wick. But be ready... this looks like my village. If this is just a floor based on it, we might have to walk a long way across a desert full of vicious monsters. Or face down things like my old masters.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw strode past him, her skin turning some shade that made it look pitch black under the blue moon. She sounded agitated as she asked over her shoulder. ¡°Corvayne, where is the Magus?¡±


    He picked up his pace, calling after her. ¡°Slow down! You''ll die if they think you''re hostile. For better or for worse let me lead, they at least know me so they won''t blow my head off before I can talk.¡± He said with less confidence than he actually projected. He looked back. Grunt had a determined look on his face. Nyxion was rolling his eyes and gesturing him to get on with it. Seru was not paying full attention, looking back at the stone marker that was rising out of the road at the stairway back down. He looked over and saw the road back looked as familiar as the town ahead of him.


    Mister I was looking around, but met Corvayne''s stare with a look of concern. ¡°It looks very real, save that stairway. How safe do you think we will be if it''s drawing from your memories?¡±


    ¡°If it''s my memories? It would honestly look worse.¡± Corvayne took a deep breath. He felt Wick take his hand. She squeezed it.


    ¡°If you don''t want to do this, we can find a different floor.¡± She said quietly. She then looked down at their hands and in a panic yanked hers back. ¡°Urf.¡± She held up a hand. ¡°Sorry... It''s my own damn fault this time.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw was already halfway to the gate, so Corvayne jogged to catch up to her. He heard Seru behind him asking Mister I if it would be wrong to maybe take one goblin with them. He wasn''t paying full attention as he scanned the moon lit dunes all around him. If this was based on his town, there were any number of monsters who would pose a real threat to the group should they be lurking in the sands, or have found their way into the village.


    The monk laughed. ¡°Oh miss Seru, I think you will have your fill of amiable goblins sooner than you think. But I would advise you not to use my friend Mosh as a seat. The results might be a disaster for BOTH you.¡±


    Corvayne smiled at her voice squeaking a little with outrage. ¡°I nearly died!¡±


    The monk behind him took a sanctimonious tone. ¡°And it was a team effort to keep you alive. Looking at it through the lens of mirth I feel is better than a pointless lecture on getting blindsided.¡±


    Corvayne looked back at the village but heard Seru say. ¡°Fine uncle-I. It''s a very funny joke. Ha Ha. The goblin would get hurt too. Except, I am VERY in shape.¡±


    ¡°Ah! Your sense of humor as well as your temper are making a suspended recovery I see!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw had only slowed enough to let Corvayne catch up as she walked to the gate.


    Corvayne started talking as he tried to keep up with the alien woman. ¡°Look, they don''t like me. This is going to go really poorly I know already, and all the villagers are stronger than me...¡±


    LBC didn''t turn, her silver hair bobbing as she kept walking forward. ¡°If the Magus is here, I need to see him. I want to know why he picked me, changed me, and threw me away. If I have to beat every villager here in combat to do so...¡±


    Corvayne tried to get ahead of her. ¡°No no no. I''d put them all on even footing with that guy with the staff who smoked us. I''m not ready to take them on myself, truth be told.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw stopped. Her skin flickered between dark colors. ¡°I realize... I''m not considering you what you want. Corvayne, I want to ask you to muster your courage....¡±


    They didn''t have much of a chance for any mustering. Grunt surged forward, leaving the two of them in his dust.


    Wick was calling after him. ¡°Grunt what the hell! Stick together people!¡±


    The big man slowed as he stepped into the gate and looked about, then gestured for everyone to follow him. Corvayne didn''t even notice he had been leaning against Lady Blood Claw. He stood up straight, and looked over at the tall woman. ¡°Sorry about that... being back I''m feeling off balance.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw was hard to read, but she seemed to make an effort to soften the glare she had been wearing. ¡°Corvayne, we both have people in there who owe us answers for our past.¡± She offered a fist and he smiled and bumped it as she continued. ¡°This time you are not alone, no matter what happens in there.¡±


    Wick had run up next to him. ¡°Yeah, I''ll give them a damn piece of my mind about you! Those bitches especially!¡±


    Feeling more confident from his sparring partner and lover standing at his side, Corvayne crossed the village boundary again, then was struck by how dark it was. No signs of people. Open doors, black empty windows. Even at night there should have been lights, patrols, people who lived and worked at night visible as lone figures or pairs. The oasis was there, but buildings were shuffled from what he remembered. A mix of relief and disappointment swept into him. This wasn''t his village, which meant both avoiding the confrontation he had been fearing, but also missing a confrontation that he had tried to tell himself he didn''t need.


    ¡°It''s okay, I don''t think this is really my village. It looks like it, and I see the eye sigil the Watchers used in their designs... but the streets are wrong. Like... my house isn''t here. It''s like a memory of a different village. See, I see my dad''s house, the elder''s place, but it wasn''t around the oasis. It was back there by the wall.¡±


    Wick of course ran forward as soon as he said this.


    ¡°Wait! Check for monsters!¡± He called out as his mind painted the image of a dune-lurker and a sand-reaver and a coiled up cobra-wurm all waiting for her to open the wrong door.


    He followed her into his darkened and empty kitchen. It was odd, the details of some houses were designs he had never seen, or weird color patterns that didn''t match anything he could remember, yet his kitchen was rendered perfectly. Wick was waiting for him, grinning.


    ¡°You said you lived in... was it the closet under the stairs, no! Attic!¡± Wick started running up the stairs.


    ¡°Wick stop! We don''t know if there''s monsters!¡± He ran after her, hearing her laugh as she started opening doors on the third floor until she found the smallest room. He stepped into his old room. It looked like how he had left it. It wasn''t in the right place, but it had the makeshift bar across the door and a window with a field generator along the bottom. It was off, letting cool night air flow into the room.


    She had sat on the bed, but Corvayne just folded his arms.


    ¡°You afraid your dads going to find us?¡± She wiggled her eyebrows at him while pulling her robe off her shoulders, revealing the straps of her tank top and bra.


    ¡°I''m not going to taint my good memories of you with the bad ones from this room.¡± He did step in and look around. He opened the small closet out of curiosity. Nothing in there. His other thought had him crouch and reach under the bed. He smiled as he closed his hands around the rough fabric of a spare cloak.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Did you want one of these?¡± He offered it to Wick.


    She showed off her blue robe she was wearing. ¡°I like these robes, even if I need to wash them... you really don''t want to break in your bed? Pretend I''m one of the girls you didn''t like?¡±


    He felt sick at the very idea, and was about to get angry when he saw she had pulled her glasses up and was smiling at him. She made the room better than it was. ¡°I really appreciate the offer and I always want you, but we got a bunch of people with us. And Lady Blood Claw is...¡±


    ¡°Here.¡± She strode in and looked around. ¡°I take it this isn''t where the Magus is?¡± She looked at the cloak in Corvayne''s hand, then at Wick with her glasses up. Wick gave her the same eyebrows motion she had given Corvayne.


    ¡°Want a spare?¡± He offered the cloak to Lady Blood Claw and she didn''t hesitate a moment to take it and throw it on.


    ¡°As always you keep things very weird.¡± She said with a hint of amusement in her tone. Corvayne watched bright greens and blues and yellows form bands across her skin as she pulled her hair up through the collar of the cloak and shook it.


    He offered a hand to Wick then lifted her off his bed. ¡°We''ll gather every one then go see if the Magus is here. I doubt it, I think this is just a reflection of my old home. A pretty good one, as it''s missing the second moon that Cascadia has.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw stepped aside and they walked back downstairs and out to the Oasis. Grunt was standing on the end of the dock scouting, Nyxion was examining the mosaic on a nearby home, a strange perversion of the usual crow or eye motifs the watchers sometimes used to represent themselves. It was of two crows fighting each-other. He saw Mister I crouching by some reeds, pulling out a flashlight to shine it into the water. Seru was standing pretty close to the middle of the group, taking a few pictures with her phone.


    ¡°Hey.¡± He called out. His face flushed, as it felt wrong for him to speak out in the open in the village at all. When was the last time he had wanted someone to see him standing in front of the water of the Oasis? ¡°This place resembles my old village, but some of the details and buildings are off. I don''t think it''s a memory thing, I''ve only been gone about a month and a half by my personal time-table. I don''t know if we''ve hit some sort of free floor, but I think our goal is to find the stairway up rather than linger and soak up the atmosphere. That said, I''m going to throw a bone to Lady Blood Claw and show her to the place where the Magus was before we do anything else.¡±


    Wick raised her hand. ¡°First let''s go to the workshop of Space-Rent-Anew... I mean, I assume he isn''t home but maybe you could borrow something useful from him?¡±


    ¡°Spaces-Torn-Asunder you mean? I suppose... Oh yes!¡± Everyone looked at him shocked. Whatever! He remembered something he''d wanted from the shop. ¡°It''s this way if it''s like how I recall!¡± He started walking quickly to the industrial row, only slowing to make sure everyone was following him.


    The roads were a little different, and he found that there were extra branches. The rock circle around the oasis seemed larger and added entire roads he didn''t recognize between ones he knew well. On an entirely odd looking road he spotted the library standing exactly as it was the day he left. There were enough land marks close to where he remembered them that he found the workshop after a little wandering. The entire time he walked he had hoped to reach some sort of catharsis by strolling through the empty town, but instead he just felt the urge to leave again. Whatever change he wanted, it would have to wait for when he faced the other Watchers. If that ever came to pass.


    He knocked on the door to the workshop in case someone was hidden inside, but the dark windows didn''t change after thirty seconds, so he pushed the door open then flipped the lights on, bathing the entire shop in florescence. He saw the same four tables he had worked at, as well as most of the machines used to fix parts placed off on the far side of the workshop. Three tables were kept open and the fourth was where unfinished projects and parts were placed. It was a compromise that Spaces allowed himself for tinkering balanced against having enough room to do something like properly take an engine apart and put back together again.


    Corvayne''s pack was close to full, but he crouched by a drawer and pulled out the two angular batteries there, as well as a bread-loaf sized warp drive. He stuffed the drive and a battery into his pack, then offered the other to Wick.


    ¡°What is this?¡± She opened her hands to accept it.


    ¡°Battery pack for either a hover-cycle or a hover-truck. It actually might be more accurate to call it a tiny power plant.¡± He dropped it into her hands then crouched by a different cabinet and rubbed his hands. Please be there. He''d been thinking about them for on and off a week, with the plasma battery he found on floor 6 making him anticipate finding the real deal. He closed his eyes, open the door, looked with a single open eye, He couldn''t help but grin evilly as he pulled out two fusion batteries. Grunt had followed them into the shop, the big man looking around and smiling as he accepted the batteries Corvayne handed him. ¡°Nuclear batteries.¡±


    Grunt''s smile faded a little as he looked at the two black boxes with leads in his hands.


    Wick held up a hand then pointed at Grunt, who had some sort of epiphany then started grinning again. ¡°Wait a second. Those are nuclear?¡±


    ¡°That''s mostly why they are so heavy. The batteries are basically doubled up optimized shield belts. You''d have to hit them with a direct rail cannon shot to break the outer shield that protects the inner shield. Then hit it again to make it pop. It''s how you make really small nuclear weapons with controlled detonation for warfare.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but what happens then?¡± She had put her other battery away and was pointing now at the two Grunt was holding.


    ¡°Oh. Depends on how much juice the battery has. Really good ones you could vaporize a city block. The container makes the reaction efficient. These are about one fourth of the charge.¡± He tried not to think about how much energy the first two batteries he looted actually made, nor what would happen if the nearly indestructible material they were forged from failed.


    He met Wick''s eyes and gave her a sly smile. ¡°I also know another way to break the containment.¡±


    ¡°What, is it some sort of special attack you have? Why would you WANT to do that?¡± Wick took a step back from him, then thought about it herself. Corvayne might love his spear, but when it wasn''t enough he had been trained to think outside the box. Grunt seemed to have got what he had in store for the batteries. Wick figured it out too. ¡°Okay. But how would you even set that up so it''s not hitting you as well?¡±


    Corvayne frowned. ¡°That''s why I was going to ask you about setting up a trap... let''s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Magus stuff next.¡± He looked past the workshop door where LBC was folding her arms and nodded to her.


    As with many things in the village, the Magus''s giant stone was in the wrong spot having shifted from north of town to south of it. The tower otherwise had been recreated faithfully, down to the odd glass-work clinging to it. The usual field around the base was down so Corvayne walked right in. The stonework outside was the same, but on the inside Wick''s flashlight lit up scenes of battles, huge buildings being built, carvings of spaceships burning, and a man with a broken crown, sitting on a throne, face in hands. The last scene, carved above the door into the Magus''s chamber and in a more yellow color of stone, was the same man on the throne and seven warriors walking away, arranged in a semi-circle.


    He stopped. There were lots of carvings of monsters up and down the tunnel, but he was pretty sure he had seen the blob with a spear before. There was also a dwarf-looking figure who might have been Mugs-Empty-Again given the axe. He saw someone with tentacles next to them, then a spiked golem with a horn on it''s forehead with a huge sword, then a slim figure in an apron he was pretty sure was Spaces-Torn-Asunder. The second to last figure was a then a figure with horns, and the last was a hooded figure, carrying a book.


    Seru took a picture. ¡°That looks like the kinda stuff they put up at my church! Well, they would all be stealing gems out of a big statue rather than running away.¡±


    Corvayne pointed at the figures. ¡°One of them looks like my axe trainer. He''s second to the left. The figure to the middle of the right is Spaces-Torn-Asunder.¡±


    Wick squinted at the stone image. ¡°It looks so old. Why the stone carving? I guess it''s a tower thing?¡±


    ¡°It might have be that it picked something up from me, and this floor is pulling things from my subconscious. I had a weird dream where I saw that weird thing on the far left.¡± He was trying to remember what else happened. He had one where he was greeting a dragon... he pushed his head up and continued down into the Magus''s chamber. Next time, write everything down.


    The interior of the Magus''s cave was different too. It was empty of anything aside from a single recliner, surrounded by piles of those weird cylinders the man had been carving. All of them looked scorched or melted. No signs of anything else. Nor the Magus.


    Lady Blood Claw crouched and picked up a slightly melted carving. ¡°He was here... a long time.¡±


    ¡°Be careful. The same tower also makes floors that are needles with ski lifts. I''d take this all with a grain of salt.¡± Corvayne bent and picked up a figure as well. They looked machined with how well made they were.


    ¡°Do you know what these are?¡± She held the little stone object up she had picked up and shook it.


    ¡°No clue. I just saw him making one in his chair when I walked in on him.¡± Corvayne caught LBC''s eyes. The tall alien woman frowned, her skin settling into an olive green color.


    ¡°They are magical amplifiers. This many fed into a spell would be cataclysmic.¡± She dropped the blackened object back to the ground. The clacking of it settling into the pile matched Seru taking a picture.


    Corvayne could see there was more cave down, and so he started walking to the stairs down into the cave. He could see more and more layers with water flowing into a stream that went deeper and deeper, but the first layer of the cave had a stairway up.


    Lady Blood Claw stood by the path deeper under the rock. ¡°I want to see where it goes, first.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. He looked back at the group. Wick shrugged. ¡°We are well rested, and I wonder if what''s down there is the point of this place.¡±


    Mister I was looking all around. ¡°There also may be natural treasures in such a cave...¡±


    Nyxion rubbed his hands. ¡°Or just treasures. This is that insanely powerful wizard you worked for, right Lady?¡±


    Grunt shook his head, looking down. He looked at Corvayne, and mimed taking a watch off and throwing it behind his shoulder: Waste of time I bet.


    Seru prodded Corvayne''s side. ¡°Yeah, if it goes down for more than what, fifteen minutes or starts branching like crazy, we just come back, right? Same for monsters. Right?¡± She looked for any sort of agreement from the group. ¡°Right guys?¡±


    Taking the first step down chilled Corvayne''s exposed arms and made his eye itch. He tried to not let it distract him: The wild looking cave and it''s melted wax appearance with stalactites and stalagmites everywhere could hide any number of creatures. Each sub floor wasn''t very large, mostly just a ledge with the underground stream running through it, and slightly curving to the next stair down to a ledge.


    He counted sixteen sets of steps down before he was standing in front of a vast underground lake lit up in cloudy blue colors from below. The calm water was neat looking, but the walls of the cave cut the section they were in off. There was nowhere else to explore unless someone wanted to swim across slightly glowing waters or dive into the lake. There were a few objects strew about the chamber. He saw empty supply crates, a bedroll, and dried up painting supplies as well as several canvases. Each was attempting to paint a woman wearing a blue robe with clouds on it, sitting in a garden or a room with ornate shaped wood. Around her neck was a brass necklace with silver storm cloud and lightning bolt symbo Something about the woman''s face, looking both amused and annoyed, struck Corvayne and made him stare.


    ¡°Dead end?¡± Wick looked past the pictures at the lake. She then looked at the picture. ¡°Is this a Watcher?¡±


    ¡°None I know of... at least they didn''t usually dress in robes like these. It would be stifling hot in the desert. If she was painted angrier... I might recognize who it was.¡± He tapped his chin, and tried to find some detail in the picture, a hint of why it was striking him.


    Wick took a picture, then pulled on her own blue robe. ¡°I could probably pose like her... maybe with less on under my robe?¡± She nudged Corvayne.


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I''d like that, but that''s not the mood I get out of this painting.¡±


    Wick frowned. ¡°So did the Magus paint it?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw looked and shook her head. ¡°Not a chance. He thought making art was too boring, and he''d not try the same painting twice to get it right unless there was something in it for him.¡±


    Corvayne kept looking at the painting. Was it something a Watcher knew about? Looking at it, he felt his thoughts clouding. He blinked his eyes. ¡°If we come back, I might take one of them with me next time...¡± Turning away from it, he felt himself waking back up. Maybe he''d skip messing with the image if was messing with him. LBC had mentioned the Magus cursed people. Why not a painting too?


    ¡°Come on, let''s trek back up and get out of here.¡± Corvayne watched as Nyxion, last down, huff and turn and start walking up.


    Lady Blood Claw sighed as she looked at the lake. ¡°A disappointing dead end to a disappointing trip into town.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°It wasn''t all bad. I didn''t see anyone I knew.¡±

 Chapter 58: Flow Like Water

    Walking up the stairs off of the tenth floor, Corvayne found himself in another waiting room. This waiting room looked like a lounge. There was leather furniture and everything was black and looked well put together. There were double glass doors with exit that stretched out to what looked like a walkway to a different building. There was also, as last time, a door they came from and one marked ''Emergency Exit'' that felt off to him.


    There were about six couches and some tables around the space, and again he saw ghostly figures. One group was dressed like military commandos. At another table... he saw what looked like a terrified group of four miners arguing. The voices were faint but Corvayne could actually make out what they were saying.


    ¡°We''re dead if we leave.¡±


    ¡°We''re dead going forward. Nobody''s come back.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw raised an eyebrow. ¡°It''s the miners. Of course. The tower likes connections. Poor souls...¡±


    Grunt stood up and walked over to the miners table, pulled up a chair, then sat down. Corvayne felt Lady Blood Claw''s hand latch on his shoulder as she stopped him from following. ¡°Don''t sit down with them you oaf!¡± She turned to face Corvayne, who felt her steely grip harden. ¡°He just switched channels to them!¡±


    A miner looked at Grunt settling in. ¡°Wait a second... did you see that? I think I see a guy sitting with us!¡±


    Grunt nodded and pointed to the man''s outfit, specifically the grit covered Tel-Star patch.


    Corvayne stepped one step closer. ¡°Grunt, is that a group of miners? About to try to fight a boss?¡±


    The big man nodded, then cracked his knuckles. He mimed counting, then held up seven fingers and shook his head. He held up two fingers, then mimed something scary: Can''t go in with seven. That''s why you had two monsters before.


    Lady Blood Claw whistled. ¡°Impressive that he figured it out from Wick... I was going to suggest we send Seru out the loser''s door.¡± She looked over at the shorter woman who was giving her the finger. ¡°It''s fine. The miners could do that, but they probably have guards waiting to kill them and take their stuff...¡±


    ¡°... I thought they were just images here... You think you can follow them in?¡± Corvayne looked closer. Grunt was fading a little, matching the miners. He looked around and nodded. Then he looked at Corvayne and made a little ''fists up'' motion, then held his hand up like a prizefighter who won: Don''t worry Corvayne. You got this!


    Grunt then gestured at his watch, then held up all ten fingers then gestured to the door: This will take ten minutes then I''ll meet you outside.


    ¡°He could end up at the mine entrance with them, couldn''t he?¡± Wick asked.


    Lady Blood Claw thought. ¡°Yes. It''s possible. I''d say if I was them, I''d just stay in the tower they are in and go looking for a town, then delve back to level one on a different route that puts them at a different exit. This particular tower is nasty because of the one-way doors, but usually it''s not as strict with forcing you forward.¡±


    Grunt and the miners then vanished. Wick looked around. ¡°Isn''t ANYONE else worried we just lost one of our heavy hitters?!¡± Mister I shrugged. Nyxion looked insulted. ¡°Please. We''re going to make mincemeat out of our enemies, isn''t that right Lady?¡±


    ¡°A floor ten fight isn''t usually that much harder then a floor five one.¡± Lady Blood Claw had her two handed sword ready but looked a little bored.


    Corvayne looked at her. ¡°Lady, uh, why didn''t you tell us more about dungeons before we went in?¡±


    ¡°I had no idea I''d see them again, and you guys are doing pretty well? I don''t know. The only thing that''s odd is getting two lobby floors in a row before bosses. Usually you hit The Inn first.¡±


    ¡°The Inn?¡± Corvayne asked.


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. ¡°Yeah. It''s a shared space run by a sort of ''might not be real'' innkeeper who dishes out jobs. I guess you can trade with other people climbing, or do some things with getting more help, or selling yourself to others running the tower.¡± She shrugged. ¡°The people I ran with only had me talk to the bar keeper to cash in on things we were doing anyway and one time hired a guy to help them pick locks on a stretch of floors.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°If we have some spare time, I''d like to sit down with you and learn more about your trips into the tower. Even if they were not pleasant, it might help us learn further down the road.¡± He''d also grill her on what the skin colors meant. It felt like he was missing something every time she started flashing colors, and Lady Blood Claw might be used to Nyx who probably knew what they all meant.


    He looked at the glass double doors. ¡°Now, however, we are breaking out of here.¡±


    Corvayne found himself standing on a sky-blue stone stairway overlooking a rocky hill, a cool wind swaying the grass on the hill. The sun hung in a perfect blue summer sky, warming him as he walked down the stairs. His eyes followed the broad steps down to a half-bowl shaped amphitheater with a circular arena at the bottom, ringed with stone walls carved in faux arches. Above the rim of the arena limestone seats rose from a green grass slope. Beyond the edge of a cliff marking the edge of the arena and amphitheater there was a vast cloud covered slope that reminded him of the one down to Cascadia.


    Ghostly spectators faded into being as he got lower. Closer to the bottom ring he could see a clear gate at the end of the staircase. Looking down at the arena, he could see a lot of it was out over the cliffside. He would have to be careful during whatever fight the dungeon cooked up, as going off that cliff would be a long tumble down. Eyes studying the arena, he saw a figure in a cloak stride from a wall to the center of the arena. They were holding a spear, and the cloak they had on shifted as they crossed from the shadows near the wall into daylight. As they arrived at the center and turned he could feel their eyes looking up at him from under the dark hood.


    A black spear, just like his. A cloak, shimmering with the colors behind it. A Watcher? Or just a monster dressed like one?


    At the bottom, near the gate, were six ornate seats on either side of the path. The best ones in the house. A strange being, made of vines but shaped like a human, was waiting for him there. Corvayne hoped that at some point he''d not be constantly confused by everything around him, but the figure didn''t start running at him when he got within fifty feet, so he eased up a little as he approached.


    ¡°Hello vine person.¡± He greeted the figure as he got close enough he was sure the figure wasn''t hostile.


    The vines slithered and an pink crystal came out of the head. ¡°Greetings. Before you enter... There are rules. Only one may fight her at a time.¡±


    Corvayne looked between the vine and the arena floor, and saw that the figure had pointed it''s spear at him. He also saw that it''s arm... glistened.


    The vine figure shuddered and Corvayne got the impression it was laughing. ¡°How unusual for a guardian... She only wants to fight you.¡±


    ¡°What''s to stop us from just bum rushing them? We fought here as a team after all.¡±


    The vine figure wiggled it''s shoulders back and forth. ¡°Each person would face their own trial.¡±


    Six Watchers? No way in hell. He looked back to his friends and Seru coming down the stairs. Of them, maybe Nyxion and Lady Blood Claw could deal with the average watcher. Wick if she had the airfoil rapier maybe. Six on Six would be impossible.


    ¡°Fine. Put me in.¡±


    With a pop he found himself standing on the rough stone floor of the amphitheater. The pit was much deeper now that he was in it. He and his enemy were still separated by fifty feet and for now they were just watching him as he looked around and did some stretches. The figure facing him, he saw now, had a feminine shape. She pulled her cloak''s hood back and he saw she looked like a pool of living water. Currents swirled inside her hands and face, tinted blue with complex distortions of darker colors from the cloak. The scowl she had on tickled something in the back of his mind, as did her black tunic and brown shorts, similar to what he was wearing.


    Wait. No way...


    ¡°Spears-Like-Water?¡± He looked at her and had to stop his jaw from dropping. ¡°What happened in the last month? Did the Magus do something to you?¡±


    ¡°You fool.... you have no idea what you did! To me! To everyone!¡± She snapped her spear into a stance ready to attack, and started circling him. He followed suit, stepping back.


    ¡°Kick her ass Corvayne!¡± Wick cheered from behind him.


    He held up his hands while still holding his spear. ¡°Wait wait wait, I in fact don''t know what I did, EVER, to piss you off... what did I do?¡±


    The woman facing him narrowed her eyes. ¡°I can tell you what you should do... DIE.¡±


    She lept into the air and Corvayne knew from sparring with her what was coming. He started running and looked upwards, searching the sky with his eye. Once he saw her, he crouched and changed directions. He really missed his second eye as he couldn''t attack her in the air by just guessing how far away she was. A second later she hit the ground like a comet, a huge burst of dust and grit flying as she slammed a hole into the dirt. A moment after her [Leap Strike] hit the ground he had to leap an extra step back as sharp blue spikes fell around her for a second. The rain of spears vanished after a moment but he felt a surge of annoyance. What the hell, his attack didn''t do that!


    She pulled her spear out of the ground and whipped it back to point at him. ¡°Exile! You will pay for what you did to me! Do you know how long I''ve been awake? Searching for you? Twisted into a body that fills me with revulsion?¡± Spears was sputtering mad as she spoke. Or that was just how water sounded when it was speaking.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°Uh, didn''t I see you like three days ago? So three days?¡± Corvayne asked lamely as they circled each other.


    He could see that wasn''t the right answer as the Spears''s watery eyes narrowed and she crouched then blasted off like a bullet at him. She turned into a torrent of foaming sea as she used [Flows-Like-Water]. Corvayne knew that trying to dodge would get him gutted. So he stepped into [Flows-Like-Water] as well, his form becoming immaterial for a moment as he cut across the water.


    He came out of the form but felt a slice on his arm. Of course, when SHE did it, her entire body was probably a spear or something.


    Mister I shouted helpfully. ¡°I think you may wish to hit her back!¡±


    No kidding? She was about twenty feet away. He grabbed his weapon then lept forward, using [Thrust] to close the gap. She aimed a [Thrust] back, and he stepped to dodge the spear-head and land a blow on her shoulder. He managed to just avoid her spear as his own spear just glided through her. She brought the butt of her weapon around through herself and hit him in the chin. He rolled with it and stepped back, then spit a tooth out. ¡°Cheater.¡± He muttered.


    ¡°Hah! You never focused on one thing. It''s why you were weak in everything. To know you stole my move though... unforgivable! When I defeat you... you will know true pain!¡±


    He got a twinge of a headache as something struck him as off about what she had said. The words were wrong, even if that''s what Spears always sounded like.


    Wick shouted from her seat off to his side. ¡°I swear to everything above Corvayne if you lose this on purpose I will kill you myself!¡±


    He dodged a barrage of spear strikes. ¡°Why the hell would I lose if she didn''t beat me!? You notice she''s trying to kill me?!¡± He yelled as he weaved away from Spear''s jab and thrusts. Spears response to missing every attack was the holler in frustration then once more leap into the air.


    Another dirty attack was incoming. He saw her in the air, and he juked to the right using [Flow-Like-Water] again, not trusting her to try the same attack exactly the same way. Sure enough, as he came out of the ability, he saw what looked like the ground where she landed explode into a geyser.


    She tapped her spear to her hand, drew out a watery copy of her weapons, then flung it at him. He dodged it, but not enough: Where it hit the ground behind him the aquatic spear exploded, knocking him forward. He saw her coming and used [Juxtapose], stepping around her. Then he felt something yanking him backwards. She did it right back! He dove out of the way, sending his weapon out and doing little besides ripping her shirt some. Her own spear hit his leg, not enough to cripple him but he was now bleeding under his shin.


    He stood and took a defensive stance. Spears closed again, her own weapon darting out. The black spear was relentless, but she wasn''t Waves-Within. One of her attacks was flawed, and he did a non-skilled step around her, then pulled her hood up and pulled it down over her face. He kicked her back, sending her stumbling forward then she turned, tossing her cloak aside.


    ¡°What a coward! Can you even hurt me?¡±


    The foot worked when she wasn''t expecting it, or couldn''t react to it. So she wasn''t invicible, just NEARLY impossible to damage. Corvayne had no time to gripe as she prepared another [Flow-Like-Water], crouching with her glare fixed on him. A bad habit, you didn''t need to spring forward when using the move. She couldn''t turn very well so he dove to the side.


    Once more he took some small cuts and groaned as she was already next to him him, forcing him from a crouch to parrying while moving backwards. He knocked a blow high and drove his spear into her shoulder but jerked his weapon back as she struck downwards trying to club him with the shaft of her spear. He stepped back as she did, and they resumed circling.


    He was covered in his own blood from hits on his arms and legs and one small cut on his neck. She was totally uninjured. He hadn''t lost yet. He could beat her... Corvayne pushed himself to stand up straight. He wanted to win this fight.


    He planted his feet and rushed her, Spears parrying three strikes then letting the fourth hit while countered by stabbing Corvayne, hitting his hand as he pulled his spear back then darting out again, this time driving her spear into his chest. If he hadn''t stepped back fast enough, she would have driven it through him. He felt his side tighten up where the blade hat connected.


    ¡°Corvayne, stop being a stubborn fool. Are you soft on this water girl? Use another weapon! Your Cross Skills!¡± Lady Blood Claw called out, skin practically glowing orange.


    ¡°I want...¡± Corvayne spoke, looking at Spears who stopped for a moment, smirking.


    ¡°You want to look good? In front of those women?¡± The watery woman gestured to the stands. Nice try, he wasn''t looking away. He could see water gathering behind her, a sort of wave slithering up from the ground to hold behind her.


    Corvayne spit blood from the tooth that had been knocked loose before. ¡°No you... annoying shrew. I wanted to beat you in a real fight. I wanted to fight you spear to spear, somehow win, and get you to stop treating me like crap. But Lady Blood Claw is right... I got a job to do here. You haven''t been showing me mercy have you?¡±


    ¡°Of course not!¡± Her voice lowered to a growl. ¡°I want to break you. I will show you how far I''ve come since last time and make you say it! Diamonds isn''t here to drag your ass out of the fire this time!¡± Spears clenched her hands with both hands and started glowing blue. There was something wrong with what she was saying, but he didn''t have time to rub away the headache. He guessed the swelling water around her was going to be a real attempt to finish him off.


    He heard Wick from the stands off to his side. ¡°Wow. Corvayne do you HEAR what she''s saying?¡±


    ¡°I told you, that''s why I hate dealing with her! She can''t just shut up and have a fight. No, it''s always about pinning me down and making me cry or some bull... bullcrud!¡±


    Spears-Like-Water pointed her spear at him. ¡°Good bye, Corvayne. [Tidal Wave]!¡±


    The wall of water gathering behind her shot forward. The fifteen foot wave had foaming hints of spears in it. Corvayne knew he couldn''t get over it, not out in the open. He ran for the outside of the arena, and pivoted and activated [Flow-like-Water] as he felt the water closing.


    It might have saved his life, as even inside his skill the wave hit him like a hammer in a dozen spots as it crested over his head. He tumbled out of the skill into a battering current. Salt water stung his cuts and he fought the urge to cry out, instead slaming his spear downwards, wedging it into the floor of the arena as he felt the current pick up. The water felt like blades cutting him as it tried to rip him away from his spear. He knew it would flush him out the back of the arena and off the cliff behind him if he didn''t hold fast. Just as he thought his lungs and grip would give out, his head broke the water and he gasped for air. He was surprised he could still stand when his feet felt ground.


    He looked behind him and saw that his heel was a foot away from the edge off into open air. A chill passed through him. If he had been a little slower...


    Spears gave him a disappointed look as he turned back and coughed, spitting out seawater. She then shrugged and pointed her spear once more.


    He saw water start to form behind her again, rearing up a foamy ten, twenty, thirty feet tall. He glanced back at the stands and the arena wall. It looked like there was a shield over his friends. Good. He turned and started running for the nearest wall as he felt the ground start to shake.


    He lept as he neared the stone wall, grabbing the lip of the arena and pulling himself up, then turning. The wall of water was still looming as it was closing ground. So standing above the floor of the arena wouldn''t stop the wave from breaking on him if he got caught but it was ten less feet of water he''d have to deal with. He took his spear, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them. He couldn''t simply jump over it, and going through it had left him bruised.


    A spear moved forward. He drew his weapon back, then leapt at the wall.


    [Storm Thrust]!


    He saw his spear glow blue and purple and red with lightning as he drove it forward into the tidal wave. It hit the water and the entire wave split with a tremendous crack of lightning.


    He landed on the soggy ground left in the parted water, his spear before him pushing away the magic propelling the wave like a knife under a faucet. He could feel a little of the water slice his boots and leg where fingers of spray slid through the wedge he was making. Then, holding his spear out, took a step forward against the water.


    He saw her shadowy figure in the current, and as he took another step Spears stepped back. The entire body of water evaporated away as she lept into the air.


    He felt a little tired from his last attack and the abuse he had taken. While he used [Flow-Like-Water] again to avoid her crushing him, this time one of the rain of spears hit him in the arm.


    ¡°I can do this all day Corvayne! All day! How soon will you fall?¡±


    ¡°If you turn off your water tricks now, I''ll give you a fighting chance.¡± He set the bottom of his spear against the ground as she stepped back to about thirty feet away, her own pointed at him.


    ¡°You haven''t even hit me once! Aside from a kick. Are you going to try it again? I bet I can twist your foot off if you land a hit near my muscles.¡±


    He ran a hand through his hair. It was wet from sweat despite how cool the hilltop arena was. ¡°Last chance.¡±


    He heard Wick yelling at him. ¡°Stop FUCKING around Corvayne! I thought you didn''t have an ego!¡±


    He had to laugh. ¡°I don''t. If I did, I''d stick with the spear until I died. If I did, I''d not try to reason with her.¡±


    Spears was laughing too. ¡°It doesn''t matter. You were passable with a spear. Pathetic with swords. A klutz with a scythe, a coward with a knife, and too slow with an axe to take a tree down. I don''t treat with fools.¡±


    He put his spear away, and drew the airfoil rapier. He concentrated, his shadow hands forming behind him. He couldn''t help but smile. ¡°Maybe you''re right. But, did you ever see me fence? En guard!¡± He playfully swung the rapier in a figure eight.


    She stopped and just laughed mockingly. ¡°Sure. Fine!¡± She gripped her spear sideways, glowing blue as she readied another [Tidal Wave].


    Corvayne drew on his stamina and used [Cross-Skill: Flows-Like-Water] to close the distance between them.


    Spears stopped channeling the moment he got close. ¡°I have you!¡± Her spear went to a point, aimed at his throat.


    He used [Cross-Skill: Juxtapose] and slid around her, this time stopping at her side rather then a full shift and he leaned into a roll as soon as the shift stopped, putting a spear length between them. She of course immediately used her own [Juxtapose] but thrust harmlessly into air where he should have been as he ended his roll a step behind her. He caught her eye as she realized where he was and lined up her back. She was smirking.


    ¡°It''s use-¡±


    He wasn''t going to let her finish that thought.


    [Backstab]


    [Backstab]


    [Backstab]


    [Backstab]


    [Backstab]


    [Backstab]


    [Backstab]


    The airfoil blade blasted water out of her with each attack, drenching Corvayne as he slammed attack after attack into her back.


    She somehow managed to reform, on the ground facing him. She stabbed out and he sidestepped then hit her twice. Each attack with the air-aligned weapon pushed bubbles into her, disrupting her ability to stand or hold a weapon. She tried to stand and he jabbed her knee twice, forming another bubble that popped it, flopping her over. She turned to water and slid away, then crouched and rallied.


    ¡°[Flows-Like-Water]!¡± She half growled as she came at him, a tsunami of spiraling water streams all aiming for him.


    ¡°[Cross Skill: Storm Thrust!]¡± He called out as his arm shot the rapier out, his eye tracking each point coming at him as they blurred to hit each spike of water. He saw her coming out of the wave he was dispersing with his blade, her own spear aiming at his side. Four shadow limbs appeared out the same spot she was lining up an attack to, skewering her arm before she could stab him. She screamed in pain as her watery arm turned black and she leapt into the air again and landed at the back of the arena.


    ¡°I don''t care about your stupid tricks! Die!¡± She started charging her spear with another tidal wave.


    He responded with [Cross-Skill: Whirling Axe] limited to a single thrust that sent an image of his weapon flying out to hit her in the shoulder. He started strolling across the arena. The water forming behind her burst into mist.


    She held her spear one handed and clutched the wound. Her eyes were wild as she leapt into the air, and Corvayne started jogging forward. She always got more aggressive when she was mad. And boy, was she mad.


    As he guessed she had aimed for him to try to do something besides run right at her, not expecting him to be anything but timid during a fight. He spun as soon as he felt her land behind him and ran at her. She turned and used [Flow-Like-Water] again. Corvayne brought himself up short, and activated [Crescent Blade], taking a step back and leaving three images in his wake.


    Spears ran right into them, creating what looked like an explosion of water as the images disrupted her. He sidestepped the current that remained, then dodged a weak one-handed jab and once more attacked, this time just striking spears over and over again, no longer giving her even a moment to recover, bubbles churning until she finally screamed and rolled over, watery form starting to leak on the ground. The vibrant blue she had at the start of the fight had faded to a sort of foamy white. Her spear was on the ground, three paces behind where Corvayne had started relentlessly attacking and driving her back.


    He stopped his blade.


    She was on the ground. He had her. He could... he...


    His rapier fell to his side.


    He didn''t want to finish her off.


    ¡°Don''t... don''t pity... me...¡±


    ¡°I don''t care that much but... I''ve known you my entire life. I''m angry at you, you and everyone else, but even if you''re a weird water blob you''re... how do I put this? Hating The Watchers to the point of killing them? It''s even dumber then me insisting on using the spear. I''m never, ever going to see you outside of here again. You treated me like garbage, but...¡±


    He looked at Wick a moment, then looked back at Spears, who he could see was struggling to keep her head off the ground, looking at him. ¡°I was jealous of the people you liked. You treated everyone else well. So that''s really what I want. I want to know.... WHY?!¡±


    He felt his fists clenching. ¡°Why me? Tell me! Why the insults! I saved your life! Heck, you saved mine too. We were both spear fighters. What was it? What did I do to you? To everyone?¡±


    ¡°I''m... I...¡± he saw something in her form under her torn shirt. It was a red gem-like core, with dark jagged lines around it. Black, green, red vines. He walked to stand above her. There was something wrong with those vines... the same ones he saw in the place with the portal. He felt what he had to do snap into place with clarity.


    ¡°No! You said you...¡± She tried to cover her face.


    ¡°Hold still.¡± He said then plunged his hand into her chest.


    He heard Wick yelling at him. ¡°Corvayne you''re better then this! Stop!¡±


    The water that made Spears was warm. He felt tension from her skin, but no guts or anything as his hand found the jagged spines of the thorned vine. He pushed his other hand in, ignoring spears trying to weakly push his arms away, and steeled himself as he put his other hand around the vine then started pulling it apart. Once more cuts and slices danced up and down his arms, blood falling onto spears and turning her watery form pink where the blood fell. Then something snapped and she gasped, flopping on the ground as Corvayne fell back, shadowy vines in his hands falling apart into sludge then evaporating.


    He had a moment of fear, on the ground, watching her flop. Did he just kill her? No... her gasps faded, she coughed, and he heard her cry.


    ¡°Corvayne please... I didn''t know. Forgive me.¡± She gasped out, then coughed, then clutched her chest. ¡°Please... don''t... hate me.¡±


    ¡°Fine. I don''t hate you Spears-Like-Water. Despite the mockery, you acting like a real, uh, jerk during training, everything... I used to hate you. But after a while it''s just sort of dust. I just want to know why?¡±


    She put an arm over her face and shook a few times. Corvayne felt a weird shock to realize she was crying. ¡°I never... I always... I tried. I tried to get you to smile... but it always hurt you...¡±


    Corvayne looked around. He had thought it was some sort of curse on her, but maybe that vine was a part of her brain and he had just really messed up her memory.


    ¡°What would make me smile? You constantly insulted me and would gang up on me during sparring.¡±


    She looked up, and her face looked horrified. ¡°Oh no, he got you too! Corvayne, I always-¡±


    Spears froze, then curled up. Corvayne stepped back as a tube formed around her, the glass melting into place like someone had poured a mold, then a machine formed around the glass. She was in a jar full of pink fluid. The arena was fading, Corvayne getting pulled away from her. But he saw her eye open, Spear''s real face, a look that begged for help... as the world turned dark and she faded with it.


    Corvayne fell into the black, feeling as though he had been punched in the gut.

 Chapter 59: Complications

    Corvayne plummeted into the dark, his mind reeling from the look of desperation on Spear-Like-Water''s face before a machine formed around her and she vanished. No one in the Watchers had ever asked for his help before. Nor had he seen those vines outside of the weird space rushing up to meet him.


    He could look down and see the thorn ringed hills expanding as he fell. In a confusing moment he hit the ground arm first then he was suddenly standing up, unharmed, in the center of the huge stone gates faintly outlined in blue by the glowing storm roiling overhead. He forced himself to focus and spin, looking for the bright armored form of the lightning creature. On the second turn all the way around it was right in front of him, forcing him to tilt his head back to look at it. The apparition was twelve feet tall and bathed in dancing bolts of lightning.


    He felt himself step back forward and shout, and it sounded both thunderous and muted. ¡°What are the vines?!¡±


    The being looked down at him. He forced himself to not look away, meeting what must be it''s gaze behind the ornate blue armor that sizzled with power. ¡°What is this place?! What are the vines?!¡±


    The glowing figure shook it''s head. ¡°NOT. READY.¡±


    He tried to grab it and in an instant he felt like he had put his palm on the surface of a star. He fell to the ground clutching his hand, feeling it cook and sear and his skin bubble and blacken as he sobbed in pain beyond anything he had known. He saw through blurred eyes the glowing blue shape blast upwards, feeling the wind in it''s wake.


    Time passed, and the pain faded, and he was alone under the ominous red, blue, and purple sky. He stood up, holding his hand up to see it intact. He had been to this place now four times. Twice he had picked a shadowy door and that did something to his shadows, so it had to be linked to him. His body didn''t move... so perhaps this scene was something inside himself. Nobody else was experiencing something like it.


    He skipped looking at the gates for now, instead focusing on the vines around the portals and hills. They ranged from finger thickness at their tips to being huge tubes as thick as he was, all of them made out of black and red and green and sometimes purple colors. They didn''t look as solid as they felt, the substance appeared to him something like the liquid shadow that flowed out of him to shape into limbs, but his shadow hands had a clean look to them. They were the perfect black that suggested to him a panther at night. The thorns absorbed light but it was a sickly oily black, a faint hint of a sheen on it as if they were dirty.


    Touching the vine, even on spots without thorns, would open small cuts. The vine would also start to shrink, pulling away from his finger. Touching them did something that hurt him. He walked around, trying to map the place as he waited to see if the wounds healed. As far as he could tell, the only change was the magnifying glass gate had been replaced with a different wood wrapped stone portal, this one with a compass over it.


    The two gates he had ripped into previously were both uncovered by vines. He got now that the bowling ball going through a net or web was [gravity] thanks to Seru''s ritual. Another thing he needed to test more. He tried summoning his shadowy hands, but they didn''t appear. His spear did, which seemed odd since the hands were more a part of him then the spear was. Perhaps it came with him because of his perception of himself? In the previous set of floors his clothes had been burned off, but were still there when he arrived in this place. It not for his instinct for danger when he considered trying to wade through the vines, he''d take the entire place for a dream.


    Corvayne walked down the hill to where there was a gap in the vines and tried touching one of them with his uncut hand. Doing so sent a staggering amount of pain up his arm, the kind that made it feel like his bones had locked up and his muscles were tearing. He yanked his hand back, lines of red already starting to weep blood. The vine had shrank a little but he''d need to completely drain about twenty to make a path through to the next hill. Perhaps the big one facing the center lead to that island as well as opening up a power?


    That brought up the question about how many he could absorb. Mosh had mentioned three. What happens if he had too much power? That was something books didn''t really get into. Usually you had magic, maybe one other thing a character did, but they didn''t shop for powers like he was. Granted, he''d rather pay in money then the agony he was currently avoiding. So, did he go for the big gate and hope it had more vines because it offered more raw power? Or perhaps the compass, which might give him better information? Maybe not too much information, as a compass offered a direction rather then details. He noted that the hand that had previously taken a few small cuts had not healed like the one he had cooked on the lightning creature.


    No, he''d been sitting on questions and mysteries for too long. He needed something to start pointing him the right direction in some way.


    Corvayne looked at the vinces and steeled himself with a hastily muttered ¡°A spear goes forward.¡± and started ripping his way to the compass door with his spear, feeling wounds appear all over him as he slashed one vine after another. He felt like his strength was starting to wane as he slashed the last branch and there was a snap as all the thorny vines around the gate dissolved.


    He pushed the stone doors of the portal open and awoke looking up at fluffy clouds in a blue sky ringed with faces as Wick, Lady Blood Claw, Seru, Mister I, and Nyxion were all staring at him. They backed off as he sat up.


    ¡°How long was I out for?¡± He asked.


    Wick shrugged. ¡°About thirty seconds?¡±


    Looking around, there was no sign of Spears-Like-Water left in the arena aside from a few puddles of salt water, nor any sign of the vine creature or the spectators. Instead, he saw the stairway had extended down to the arena grounds, then a doorway filled with diffuse light had formed in the center of the of the platform.


    ¡°Let''s go.¡± He got up, feeling every bit of the punishment he had taken fighting Spears-Like-Water. Wick picked up his arm and helped him walk.


    ¡°You sure you don''t want a potion?¡± She asked, struggling a little until he stopped leaning on her as much.


    ¡°No, I''m not sure... So you know how I go to this place every time we beat a boss, right? I see the same sort of thorns there as what Spears had around her core. Pulling them out felt the same here as it does there.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t tell me she was a water blob.¡±


    ¡°She wasn''t before. Hence me asking what the hell happened.¡± He stepped with Wick through the gate, landing at a spot that looked like a bluff overseeing a vast pine ringed lake. The forest stretched away to distant mountains. There was a picnic table set away from the edge with a chest, and two paths. One, to the right facing off the drop, started downhill with ''Exit'' on it. The other was on the left and slopped up and into trees, with ''11-15'' on it.


    He was about to walk up to the treasure chest when he felt the air shift around him. He saw a key rise from the ground halfway, it''s shaft leaking shadow into a cartoon keyhole painted on the ground. The key turned, and there was a titanic click and the image vanished.


    Before, this would have just been another thing that happened that Corvayne was utterly lost on, but the compass gate had done something to how he thought. He closed his eyes and while he couldn''t read the messages, he felt them telling him they were the first people to clear the tenth floor, and he knew the tower was now ''open'' with the one-way exit becoming two-way. He caught something about ''soul points'' and ''curses'' and ''mindscape'' too.


    His eyes popped open. ¡°I think we just unlocked all those one-way doors.¡±


    Nyxion folded his arms. ¡°Great. Make it even easier for everyone and their kids to come loot this place out from under our noses.¡±


    Corvayne rolled his eyes. ¡°I also felt words about souls, curses, and a mindscape. Lady Blood Claw, did anyone speak of them before?¡±


    Turning to her, he saw her skin go from light pink to charcoal as she thought about it. She looked up. ¡°I want you to tell me exactly what you''ve seen in this place your going.¡±


    Corvayne looked around. The distraction of those messages faded back into exhaustion. ¡°Treasure first, we''ll talk on the car ride back how about? We also have to figure out where Grunt went.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw turned from gray to teal colored, waves of neon green flowing across her.


    Corvayne turned back to the treasure chest, which popped open when he touched it. Inside was a lot of objects tied into neat parcels. On top was a gold ring with inscribed flowing arrows pointing to the center of the band. When he picked it up, he felt connected to something. The compass power was guiding him a little perhaps, usually he just picked an item up and had to fool around with it to activate it.


    He looked back at everyone, then put the ring on. As the cool metal slipped around his finger, the connection he felt before was tangible, like a web out to something. He reached out for what was connected with the ring, feeling his hand dip into what felt like a cool dry cellar before it touched plastic bags, a sleeping roll, plastic bottles full of fluid... he pulled on the plastic bottle and a healing potion appeared in his hand.


    Mister I let out a sound that Corvayne would not think a man his age could make. It was a squeaking sound that had him and Seru looking around for a possible monster before he noticed that Mister I was pointing at him, finger shaking.


    ¡°That''s IT! It''s a storage ring! They are real!¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah. They have things like this in stories. Bags of holding.¡± Corvayne looked at it then tried putting his cleaver into it, then checked how fast he could pull it out. Not as fast as having it on hand with shadow hands.


    Corvayne held the ring up to inspect it''s fit on his finger. ¡°It''s lighter then everything that''s inside of it right now. I''d like to have it... but I also see Mister I is salivating over it.¡±


    Nyxion gestured. ¡°It''s also one of those things that will sell for an insane amount of money, there''s nobody who wouldn''t want one.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shrugged. ¡°I pack light.¡±


    Corvayne pulled the rest of the objects in the ring out as well as the rest of the chest. The parcels under the ring were labeled. Three ingots of Cascadian metal packed into a box, a few wrapped spools of slugsilk cloth, one well wrapped and cooled parcel of something squishy labeled as ''Royal Bloodhorn Meat'' in black marker, a pouch that held gems, then under it all was a pair of brass bracelets with stylized lizards on them, an empty bottle, and a whip that looked like a snake except with tails on either end. The bottom of the chest was a wood case holding a painting. Opening it he saw that it looked like an eagle eye view of a beach with a dab of red. That supported the treasure idea.


    The objects that had been in the storage ring turned out to be credits and sandwhich bags. The stacks of money were about two thousand credits each, with seven packed. He guessed the dungeon set one aside for Grunt.


    He loaded it all up into the ring and lead the way out into a setting sun lit forest. The moment he stepped out to the wooded trail leading to the parking lot he heard a helicopter somewhere overhead and he dove under a tree. He used his cloak and looked around, recalling that the teleporting monk had appeared after the same sort of sounds. Surrounded by pine trees and crouching in ferns, he couldn''t see much sky which meant he couldn''t be seen, far more important. The others came out of an empty arch formed by two dead tree and he managed to get them to crouch by hand motions and example, all except Seru who was confused as to why everyone was hiding before Wick hissed at her.


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Seru whispered ¡°What the hell now? We are OUTSIDE.¡±


    Corvayne turned to her. ¡°Might be what killed us. It also had a helicopter noise associated with it.¡±


    Seru''s face went pale. ¡°This is bullshit! I got out, I should be safe!¡±


    Corvayne heard more helicopters swirling around, particularly back over the park. He put a hand on Seru''s shoulder. ¡°Quiet. Take long, soft breaths.¡± He then turned to Wick. ¡°I think we need to ditch the car for now.¡±


    Mister I pointed in the direction of the parking lot. ¡°Before you make a hasty decision, consider this: that''s my truck!¡±


    Wick folded her arms. ¡°Well? Anything in the truck you are willing to die for?¡±


    The monk thought about it. ¡°No, I cleaned it out since we might need the room for loot. But the radio is only ten years old!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw kept her voice especially even. ¡°How will you ever find another like it?¡±


    Nyxion frowned. ¡°So then, we are walking back? None of you have a car.¡±


    Seru coughed and raised her hand, speaking as it went up. ¡°Um. I could call my mom to pick us up somewhere else.¡±


    Mister I pointed away from the sun. ¡°Move in the direction of the coast, follow valleys to Copper River? There''s a bridge about 20 miles away but there''s a town there.¡±


    Nyxion groaned. ¡°I just spent what, three days running around in the woods like an unwashed savage and now we got another night of it ahead of us?¡±


    Corvayne held up a hand. ¡°Before we start cutting across the woods west, I want to look at the stairway.¡±


    Wick looked at him like he was nuts. ¡°That''s the first place they are going to look!¡±


    ¡°We need to see if this is our adversary or if we can cut our losses and make a break for a different world through that portal. With Grunt off on his own and Hari and Mosh in there it''s not ideal to do that. If I don''t check now, I''m not going to know who''s here.¡±


    Nyxion ran a hand through his hair. ¡°They might not know about the stairway yet, they didn''t post people at this exit after all.¡±


    Corvayne felt cold at the thought. ¡°Or they haven''t got through floor five yet. Move!¡±


    He lead them off the side of the trail into the brush. Moving through the woods while staying out of open sight was hard. The ground was a quagmire of mud, sucking at his boots where it wasn''t a wall of plants brushing at his face and eyes. He only caught a short glimpse of a single black helicopter through a gap in the trees after a few minutes of cutting through the woods, but his ears made him think there were three.


    He stumbled out of the green underbrush to a path worn through the woods. Not an official one, but a game trail. He caught a whiff of something unpleasant, a sort of wet animal odor. Smell aside, Corvayne was pretty happy to find the trail. It was hidden enough that he couldn''t see more then patches of orange clouds above him between pine branches. Following the trail to a fork, he held up a hand and put his cloak''s hood up over his head then twisted it''s clasp, causing it to flow into patterns and shapes around him. He followed the little trail uphill until he was looking at the meadow from shaded vantage point. He could see a single helicopter had landed near the staircase and portal. The stairs were catching the setting sun.


    Corvayne''s heart nearly stopped when he saw the man who had killed him climbing up the stairs to take a look at a now visible hole in reality. The monk stepped in, then stepped out. Watching his enemy move around, Corvayne suppressed any thoughts he had of approaching. The monk rubbed his graying beard, then did something odd. He touched his face with the palm of his hand, cupped it, then pulled something out of himself. As his hand moved Corvayne saw another monk flash into existence. The second one was wearing what looked like the same things but with maroon robes. The second monk stepped into the portal and the first turned and did a little set of hops down the steps then walked over and leapt up into the helicopter.


    Corvayne felt this was a pretty good indication that his enemy knew of the portal, and he crept backwards away from the clearing as the chopper took off. He still heard a pair sweeping the area, but he could see that the chopper carrying the blue robed monk was jetting straight south towards Cascadia.


    Corvayne returned to the group. ¡°They know about the tower here. The monk somehow split himself and put a copy in the portal.¡±


    Wick groaned. ¡°So there''s at least two of him running around? We still don''t know if he knew about the tower last time but I don''t like having my best routes of escape cut off by this guy!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw was shaking her head. ¡°I am not sure this is related to us. Even if all three of those men you saved went and told everyone they know, how long would it take to reach the right channels?¡±


    Corvayne started leading them into the woods as Wick was responding. ¡°We can''t risk that it''s just happenstance. It''s too soon for it to be related to Corvayne unlocking the entrance, yes, but one of them drives back an hour, starts calling four weird friends who all own guns, right? Because if they buy into what Seru said with levels, the dungeon makes you stronger AND gives you money. One of those gun guys is a Collective agent or something, and knows they can make money reporting on the site, so they do that. Heck, if you told me that Jake guy acted like hot shit because he was a goverment agent I''d not question it at all.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t have anything to add, instead moving ahead and doing his best to lead them through the dimming forest. He was glad that the brush trails had moved up and out of the muddy low ground at the park along slopes of forest hills. His only complaint was how often he was following the trail blind, pushing through bushes and sticks as it winded around trees and only sometimes broke out into more clear pine forests.


    His internal complaining manifested when he turned a bend and found himself facing a seven foot tall bigfoot not five feet away.


    The creature had also frozen, it''s fur reeking a strong animal scent that made Corvayne''s eyes water. It had dark eyes that gleamed with intelligence. It was assessing him, perhaps. Was it trying to determine how wounded he really was? Maybe it saw him favoring one foot, or how torn up his arm was from ripping those vines out of Spear''s core.


    His thoughts tapered off when he saw the creature holding it''s hands up and backing away while giving him a nervous looking smile.


    Corvayne held his own hands up in front of him, mostly to show they were empty. ¡°I''m not going to hurt you if you leave us alone. Deal?¡±


    The creature nodded vigorously, hands still in front of it as it stepped off the trail to let him and the group pass.


    ¡°Thank you. Sorry for intruding.¡± Corvayne waved at the monster and kept walking, then stopped a half step later as he thought about Wick. ¡°Actually, if you can understand me, I''ll trade you some meat for a small favor.¡±


    The creature put it''s hands down and pointed at itself. Corvayne nodded.


    A while later the group was one quilled porcupine steak lighter. Corvayne was walking through the forest with a very happy Wick bouncing behind him. The helicopter noises had started to fade as they moved into the woods away from the scenic trails around the park. They were far from home, and maybe not fully safe, but in a better position then they were an hour or two ago.


    ¡°I don''t care if it looks fake as hell, Corvayne! You''re the best!¡± Wick whispered, gigging as she looked at her phone. Corvayne thought it was interesting that the bigfoot knew enough to understand not only standing still for a moment while someone took a photo but resting his hand on her shoulder and grinning for the camera. An idle thought came to him involving taking a bunch of hotdogs out to the park and trading them for crash course in sneaking around the woods from furry experts. The smell wasn''t so bad once you''d been hiking through it for a while.


    It wasn''t too dark for everyone to see yet, and Corvayne felt that with how clear the afternoon was he could probably lead them by moonlight through the woods. Nobody was willing to risk using a flashlight to travel aside from Seru.


    Mister I was the one who asked her with more then a little mirth, ¡°Are you afraid of the dark?¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t that scared until this week! I nearly died in the woods because I didn''t see something.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw was at the back of the group. ¡°If it makes you feel better, you are probably stronger then anything that spills over from the portals like that friendly shambler.¡±


    Nyxion asked a beat faster then Corvayne could. ¡°Spill over?¡±


    Corvayne looked back to see the tall alien woman scanning their dim surroundings. ¡°Towers tend to bleed weak monsters into the world around them. I''d expect those armadillos and maybe goblins. Perhaps furry slugs.¡±


    Seru laughed. ¡°I wonder if the baby fuzzy slugs are cute.¡±


    Corvayne could hear Nyxion''s sneer in his voice. ¡°They''d eat out of the palm of your hand! Literally, as they''d be eating your palm.¡±


    The trail had started to peter out as the brush became sparse. Corvayne called for them to stop once they reached older and deeper pine forest, with huge trees lined with ferns. The compromise between stopping and going on with limited light was broke by Wick saying that it was better to get the hell out of the woods if people were looking for you rather then worrying about a phone light pointed at the ground.


    They pressed on as the moon rose and shading everything in blue-silver light. The steady crunch of boots on pine needles and rustle of them stepping through ferns mixed into the sounds of the forest at night, mostly crickets and owls. As they went downhill, Corvayne started hearing frogs as they found more muddy patches.


    He called for a fifteen minute rest as clouds rolled in above them, shrouding the forest again and pulling their world tight around the little bit of phone light shone on the ground. He found a log with a tree at it''s back and sighed as he sat. The entire walk he had been thinking about Spear-Like-Water''s plaintive cry for help. Did showing mercy for a monster risk his friends more? That morphed from worrying about wick to worrying about Grunt and Mosh and Hari and if he''d see them again. Which shifted to thinking about how to test his powers. Then he started making plans for getting Wick out of Cascadia. How could they get past the killer monk? Where would he find videos of people using weapon special attacks? Should they tell Seru to info dump about the park? Could he make Wick happy?


    He didn''t notice he had nodded off until he felt a hand gently shake him awake. Everything was shadows and splotches of moon touched blue, forcing Corvayne to blink a few times to properly see who was standing over him.


    It was Lady Blood Claw. She straightened when she saw he was awake and spoke very quietly. ¡°Pardon me waking you. Wick wanted to wait for you to rouse yourself, but I figured a full eight hour stop was beyond what you would allow yourself.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Thank you... I''m surprised she didn''t wake me.¡± He looked and saw Wick was sleeping on her bedroll by the foot of the log. Mister I, Nyx, and Seru were also asleep, not ten feet away. It seemed it was just him and Lady Blood Claw. ¡°How long was I out for?¡±


    ¡°It''s been four hours.¡± She pulled out a phone and showed him it was midnight.


    ¡°Good. Great. Super.¡± Corvayne looked around.


    ¡°I wish not to pry, but you look worried.¡±


    Corvayne looked up at Lady Blood Claw. In the dim light it was hard to tell what color she was, not that he had figured out what the colors meant. Yet. Another thing on the list. ¡°Right. Sorry, I am worried. I must be tired if people can tell.¡± He laughed a little bit.


    ¡°Yes. I usually envy your iron control.¡± She said with a faint smile, not letting a hint of the irony of such a statement come through her voice.


    Corvayne only wished he was as calm as she thought he was. ¡°We gotta beat this guy. Somehow. I''ve never had to plan to actually kill anybody, let alone someone several times stronger then me. But I want to protect Wick, and if that''s my goal then I have to be strong enough they can''t just crush me.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shook her head at him. ¡°Tough words, but I hear fear in your voice. You are worried about turning your spear from creatures to people.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I was okay with goblins in that they didn''t act like... people. I don''t like the idea of killing a person.¡±


    ¡°I saw with the girl.¡± LBC looked away. A hint of annoyance.


    Corvayne folded his arms. ¡°I worry something like that could be a mistake. It might not even have been a person, but just a monster trying to target my weakness.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw was quite for a while after he spoke, finger tapping on her leg for a few minutes before she spoke.


    ¡°You have the control to empty your mind, right? To think or not think about things? That is what I was told to do. I do not remember the first time I killed another person, but I remember an older apprentice teaching me to bury emotion. Either bury it, or face pain.¡± He heard her breath in then breath out. ¡°Did they teach you something like that?¡±


    Corvayne laughed a little at how tactfully she had phrased a request that he just ''suck it up''.


    He saw that the little laugh might have hurt LBC''s feelings so he quickly answered her question. ¡°They put a lot of stock into stoic bullshit lines about how history is lines, and you have to decide if your line goes on or your enemies does. No, most of what I learned about burying was self taught. They would run me into the ground if I talked back. Watchers like One-Last-Note would specifically drag out sparring if he thought I was being weak. Which was all the time, but it only made it worse if you showed how unhappy you were that your body couldn''t keep up. No, the odd things about me are all just... me trying to keep myself going.¡±


    ¡°Use those tools to protect what''s important to you..¡± Lady Blood Claw said and Corvayne wasn''t sure how well she saw in the dark but she was looking at him. ¡°Do what needs to be done, and afterwards, let your friends help you with the feelings that come after.¡±


    He thought about things for a little bit.


    ¡°We''re going to fight him.¡± Corvayne said and felt some of the stress melt away with the certainty he had. ¡°I mean, I had been trying to figure out how to run... but it would just be putting off the inevitable. They know about our way out. Heck, with the truck there, they could be waiting at Icariii''s door when we show up.¡±


    ¡°If that monk is on the straight and narrow and they can trace his truck, I will eat this longsword.¡±


    ¡°What makes you say that?¡±


    ¡°Everything?¡± Lady Blood Claw had a hint of amusement in her voice as she continued. ¡°Too many skills. Too many interests, and he''s too good with the bow.¡±


    ¡°He probably just hunts a lot.¡± Corvayne said lamely.


    ¡°Also he happens to be an underground street doctor. Who is also a champion archer living an hour from anywhere to practice, but he''s also a monk. A monk of a very nebulous sect that doesn''t have any other members where he''s living. Yes, old town is poor, but the center itself is large. His truck is made up of a few different makes. It''s not rattling because it''s poorly made, it rattles because it''s a custom mashup.¡±


    Corvayne laughed when he figured it out. ¡°You know he''s not going to get traced to the car because you did background checks on everyone.¡±


    She looked at him and smiled with satisfaction. ¡°Of course. Grunt is suspicious as well, but he fits what I''d expect out of a reformed criminal jumping ship and his reputation about town is sterling. I suspect he was a space pirate, as he picked up work at the space port helping maintain ships for a few years before he moved to Old Town. That or a private security type. That might be why he tries not to talk or write, fewer samples to compare to someone who''s wanted.¡±


    Corvayne was amused. ¡°Do you think I''m who I say I am?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but the weird weapon thing is what puts the most weight behind that. It reeks of the weirdness the Magus had following him. I also don''t think anyone I''ve fought was ever trained to overload a shield with mass instead of force.¡±


    He looked over to where Wick was laying. She didn''t want to talk about her past. He suspected Lady Blood Claw know, but even without her saying a word he suspected Wick was a noble. It was possible she had been a young maid or something, but Nyx treated her like an equal.


    ¡°Let''s skip Wick, she didn''t want to get into her past. It''s enough that Nyx knows her, right?¡±


    LBC nodded. ¡°Fair.¡±


    ¡°Can I ask a question about you? It seems like your colors change...¡±


    He thought he saw her skin lighten a few shades. It was hard to make out what color it was, but it was obvious. Her voice sounded heated for a change. ¡°Why... why would you wish to know that?¡±


    ¡°Sorry. I didn''t know it was a sore topic.¡± Corvayne was mentally noting that it had to be mood related. Perhaps when they had some time to breath he''d put together a list. He already was guessing orange was annoyance or frustration.


    He thought she''d be quiet, but she turned to him. ¡°You said something before. About seeing things after you defeat a guardian. Tell me what you see when you pass out. You had said the words mindscape, cursed, and soul points came to you.¡±


    Corvayne started to describe how he chose powers. He noticed that she had lightened in skin tone but had waves of color passing over her. He could see her lean in. He couldn''t figure out what her look meant, but after he finished speaking she pointed at him.


    ¡°Corvayne!¡± She realized how loud she was then dropped her voice. ¡°When the Magus curses someone, there''s green, blue, red, purple vines with spikes on them that appear near him. A landscape full of them, that only you experience and seems to affect you... you are wrestling with them to get powers in a place that must be some sort of representation of your self...¡±


    ¡°Lady Blood Claw, I think you are projecting. I''m having a great time here...¡± He fidgeted.


    ¡°Tell me something from when you were six years old. Now!¡± Lady Blood Claw snapped, and he could tell her skin was turning a blue color.


    ¡°I... I don''t remember being a kid.¡± He felt his guts twist.


    ¡°How about your name? Do you remember the first time you picked up a spear? Any important day in your life before you were an outcast?¡±


    Corvayne felt himself freezing up. She kept going. ¡°It messes with your memory, doesn''t it? You don''t act like a cursed person most of the time, but you look like you''re squirming right now.¡± She took a deep breath, then spoke in an even tone. ¡°Corvayne, look at me.¡±


    He didn''t feel himself looking away, but her saying it made him aware of how much he wanted to get out of this conversation. He forced himself to meet her eyes. Lady Blood Claw leaned in, and her face wasn''t the tough alien warrior who mostly glared at people. He saw her as a girl then, despite being taller then him. He saw sadness and kindness and pity as she took his hand, her own warm. She squeezed. Corvayne knew what she was about to tell him.


    ¡°You are like me. You''re cursed by the Magus.¡±

 Chapter 60: Having a Moment With a Drow Cosplayer

    Lady Blood Claw was looking Corvayne in the eyes, holding onto one of his hands. ¡°You are like me. You''re cursed by the Magus.¡±


    He felt very weird with her holding his hand and looking at him so expectantly. ¡°What does that mean? You mean, the name thing?¡±


    ¡°It could be a number of things. I''ve seen him rip groups of allies apart, half of them turning on each other. Others afflict the target with confusion, scattering whole groups because their movement becomes confused, one stopped a person from using an arm as they became convinced it wasn''t there. It might also explain why everyone was so negative to you.¡±


    Corvayne looked at his own hand, gently pulling it from Lady Blood Claw''s. ¡°I had a rough time of it, but I''m not sure I''m really cursed.¡±


    She leaned closer to him. ¡°Even if not... could you try it? Doing the same thing you did to that Water girl? Can you try to pull the curse off my heart?¡± her skin drained of all color, glowing a faint white as she pulled the zipper on her jumpsuit down and pulled Corvayne''s hand to her chest. He had not realized how much the jumpsuit compressed everything.


    ¡°Uh, Lady-¡±


    She cut him off, pushing his hand into herself harder ¡°Please Corvayne! I hate that name! I want to know my real one again. If I knew my name, I might find my home. My family.¡± The pure white glow was tinged blue a moment.


    He was struck by how warm she felt, but boxed up that and other unproductive thoughts about his sparring partner and tried to push his hand through or into her or something. He felt her trying to push forward into his hand more, and sparing a glance up from his hand he saw her eyes were closed.


    There was a moment where he felt a little give, and he felt his hand start to move past the skin and he swore he felt a prick of something sharp an inch in, when suddenly a squeezing sensation pushed his hand back out. He tried pressing again, but only felt skin with a slight bit of sweat.


    ¡°It was working a moment, but...¡± He looked at her and realized she was glowing bright red with flickering orange, with a look of absolute mortification on her face.


    He heard a chuckle and turned to see Wick''s glasses reflecting the redish light that Lady Blood Claw was giving off. He heard rather then saw her smile. ¡°Well Corvayne, I know we didn''t talk about this yet but keep going...¡±


    Lady Blood Claw was shaking and saying something. Corvayne leaned in, saying. ¡°Sorry, I didn''t hear that.¡±


    ¡°Please... remove your hand.¡±


    He pulled his hand back and she turned and zipped up, hiding her face. He turned to Wick. ¡°I think you got the wrong idea. I was trying to remove her curse.¡±


    Wick leaned forward. ¡°Or her pants. I figured she''d have you try this. Jokes aside, what did it feel like? Was it wet, or...¡±


    ¡°I had the normal sensation of having my hand pressed against a breast...¡± He paused as he considered the implications of those words ¡°...then the feeling of touching skin moved up my fingers, like putting a glove on. It was warm, but there was resistance, then I felt a point a little ways under the surface, not a bone but thorns, then she pushed me out.¡± He looked at his hand and saw there was a single small cut, forming a drop of blood.


    LBC turned to Wick. ¡°Wick, Corvayne is not at fault. I asked him to help me.¡±


    Wick waved her away. ¡°I thought you guys slept together when you were bugging him to train every day...¡±


    Corvayne shook his head at Wick. ¡°I can make friends with women without sleeping with them. Those goblins for example.¡±


    Wick laughed. ¡°Only because you play at being above it. Also Lady Blood Claw, you know you have my express permission to take Corvayne out for a spin.¡±


    LBC''s skin was still glowing red with orange flashes, though it wasn''t quite bright enough to light up their camp site. ¡°I would not bother him, the attention he got from Hari flustered him enough!¡±


    Wick was laughing. ¡°Once you get past how he thinks he should act, he''s just like any other man.¡±


    Corvayne felt blood rushing to his ears. ¡°We''re getting off topic.¡±


    Wick got up and sat next to him. ¡°You want to undo her curse, right? I only caught part of the conversation.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Yes. She requested I try to apply the same method I used to pull that... thing... out of spears. We also discussed the potential that I have some sort of curse on me. She was telling me things about my tale had struck her as off. I do agree, as my backpack now, for example, was not the one I used on desert patrols. Stepping foot on Cascadia, I had a different pack with slightly worse tools mixed in with the ones I packed.¡±


    Wick looked at him. ¡°Okay. I think once we gather everyone out of harm''s way, we should try to find someone who knows about the curse.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. ¡°I think the best source is going to be Corvayne''s village. If they managed to capture The Magus, then they might know a method to undo the damage.¡±


    Corvayne caught that there was something in her tone... she had unfinished business with the wizard too. Well, now he had some too. That being said, he didn''t really want to go back to his village. He was glad Wick understood, perhaps because she was a runaway too. As he thought about it, it was more likely they''d help Lady Blood Claw then himself, even. As an exile, his contact with the Magus was what triggered being cursed, if he was in fact cursed. He stood up.


    ¡°I think we need a specialist like Hari is aiming to be. Not that she isn''t great, but it''s like treating a disease when you don''t even know for sure it''s there. The village might work, but I don''t want to ask them for help because I''m afraid it may be dangerous to all of you.¡±


    Wick shot to her feet and slapped his arm. ¡°Yourself! Think about you too.¡±


    ¡°Fine. I don''t want to go back at all, and it might be dangerous for me to go back. So I want to find another option to help Lady Blood Claw and myself. Assuming she''s right and there''s something influencing me and my memory.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw gestured to the way they had came. ¡°If not your village, then we have to find a way into the tower.¡±


    Wick sighed. ¡°Which means we are back to the question we''ve been asking for 2 weeks of subjective time: how do we deal with the monk?¡±


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Corvayne pointed the way forward. ¡°First, we wake everyone up and get out of the woods.¡±


    Corvayne put a foot on the gravel beside the road and smiled despite himself. It was early morning and everyone was tired, dirty, and had been on edge with the fear of finding a dozen killer monks hiding behind a pine tree. Corvayne himself had started to worry they had been following the wrong branch of the river given the lack of landmarks, but bursting out of the trees near the bridge and seeing the highway was more then welcome.


    Corvayne turned ¡°Seru, if you can get us that ride...¡±


    Seru blinked then pulled her phone out. ¡°Sure... let me just call my mom.¡±


    Corvayne had a thought... what if the phone she back that only looked like the one he had hurled off a cliff weeks prior. What if it didn''t work?


    He sighed in relief when he heard Seru talking. She was describing where they were, and stressing that she was not in trouble.


    ¡°No no, I was with a party, not at one.¡± Seru spoke something quietly then held her phone away from her head as the speaker on the other end, a woman, got very excited.


    Seru shouted back into her phone. ¡°You heard me! If you want to know more, then come get me. Bring the van.¡±


    The phone call reminded Corvayne of another little thing he could do while stuck waiting for Seru''s mom to show up.


    ¡°Okay, Wick... how do I find videos of weapon masters?¡±


    About an hour later, Corvayne and Wick were sitting side by side looking at phones. Corvayne had borrowed Icariiis and planted himself on the grassy side of the road. Seru, unasked, had plopped next to Corvayne''s other side to join them in looking. They had found three videos. A guy who specialized in staff fighting had a video where he was in his dojo trying to explain ''using energy'' to perform to abilities, one an attack that seemed to aim for weak points using ''critical instinct'' and another that ''was a reactive crushing blow''. Corvayne watched the demonstrations a few times and was pretty sure he was looking at two abilities. Good. Corvayne would try them with his broom handle when he got home.


    There was an old woman in an expensive looking home training ground. She gave her credentials as a multiple championship swords woman, then talked about weird sword fighting and how masters could perform many moves that should be impossible. The video was from years and years ago and heavily down voted, as people assumed it was the woman trying to cash out before she retired. A shame, she went right down the list, giving names to each move. Her first attack was [Fast blade] which looked a version of [Light Cut]. She swung normally, then showed off a lightning fast attack that made a small whip-crack as it broke the sound barrier.


    For [Afterimage] she struck out and left a faint image behind. It only left one image but otherwise looked like [Crescent Blade]. The cameraman moved around the image, then her unseen helper threw a pillow at it, bursting the pillow. It made the old woman laugh in a way that brought a smile to Corvayne''s face. [Blade Breaker] looked like [Sundering Strike]. She called the name out and destroyed a brick with a wood training sword.


    The next two were moves he didn''t know personally, and he watched them a dozen times. The first had two dummies, the woman did a regular tap with her practice weapon, then turned and used [Pivot Thrust]. She said it only worked on two targets, switching from attacking one to another with high power. The last technique he had high hopes for, as [Metal Arc] looked like it turned her arm and weapon into steel during the swing.


    Seru found the final video. It was focused on hand to hand martial arts, with a wide eyed man staring at the camera for too many shots. It reminded him a little of the kind of videos Wick put on at her meetings, ones where speaker was always calm but in a way that set off warning bells. He had to skip a few segments where the person talked about the ''coming great change'' and ''all will awaken''. The actual techniques were four that he knew about but rarely used. [Rabbit Punch] was weird and rapidly tired him out. He guessed there was a use for it but those fast attacks were laughably weak. He didn''t use [Sweep] with a weapon because [Thresh] was better. [Nerve Pinch] was there, and Corvayne recalled it was the first technique he used that made the brackets show up. The man called out the name [Judo Throw] and demonstrated how it wasn''t using regular physics as he had someone run right at him and slapped their leg, causing them to flip over as if they had grabbed and thrown the man. Something worth considering as he''d be picking a fight with a psychotic murderer pretty soon.


    After an hour a white van pulled up. Seru stood up and waved. ¡°Yo mom!¡±


    Nyxion looked at the van and sighed. ¡°Backwater nobility.¡±


    Wick pulled the door to the side open, then threw her hand out to the treeline. ¡°If you want to walk, Nyx, and give us more room, be my guest.¡±


    ¡°... I suppose the van has it''s rustic charm.¡± He added half-heartedly. Corvayne found it odd... maybe he hadn''t slept well?


    Lady Blood Claw had pulled her cloak out and tried her best to hide her non-human nature, but Seru''s mom started laughing as soon as she spotted the alien in the back seat. Corvayne could see she looked like Seru aged up twenty years, clad in leopard print, and wearing large orange icosahedron earrings.


    The older woman smiled. ¡°Hello! I''m Seru''s older sister.¡± She turned back and winked.


    Seru got flustered and pushed her mom''s shoulder. ¡°Mom!¡±


    ¡°Oh I like your friend''s drow cosplay! Tell me who does your makeup.¡±


    Corvayne turned around to see LBC''s skin had turned deep purple. Ah. So that color was embarrassment?


    Nyxion leaned forward. ¡°I hate to break up the fun, but perhaps we should get away from the woods. Also I regret to inform you, my good friend Lady Blood Claw is not human.¡±


    Seru''s mom just laughed at that. Seru snapped, ¡°Mom! Drive!¡± and the laughing woman peeled out, leaving the woods behind.


    They arrived at Seru''s driveway after cruising down back roads for about forty minutes. Corvayne admitted he enjoyed watching Seru get frustrated during the drive, undercut by a little jealousy. He wished he had grown up with a mother. Someone to fuss over him and protect him. Then again, he didn''t really have much of a dad, either. He''d settle for a single good parent.


    Wick had spent most of the ride trying to tug Seru''s arm from a seat back to get her to stop blabbing secrets, but Corvayne could have told her that it was pointless, as Seru''s mother didn''t get she wasn''t talking about a table top game and, as she was driving, couldn''t pay enough attention to Seru trying to show off her porcupine scars. So the conversation would be Seru describing something that actually happened and then her mom offering critiques on the action.


    She spoke while slowly cruising up the driveway. ¡°Well, it''s fine to be a little fly in the ointment but it sounds like you split the party! So it''s really your fault if your character almost died. It''s good roleplay though! These things are the sort of experiences that teach you about how to work with your party, and things like not saying to the other players ''oh yeah I''m betraying you.'' to their face. I''m so tickled pink you''ve started playing on your own!¡±


    As the car stopped Corvayne saw what looked like a huge lodge, made from dark red wood and three stories tall with wings and decks and a commanding view of trees climbing to mist cloaked peaks. Seru''s mother turned back. ¡°Okay, who wants some breakfast! Does your drow friend eat surface food?¡±


    Wick looked at everyone. ¡°We need to head back...¡± Her head stopped turning when it landed on Seru in the front seat trying to will her to say no. Corvayne saw Wicks face curl into a grin. ¡°So we can ONLY stay for breakfeast.¡±


    Mister I agreed. ¡°I have monster meat we can grill!¡± He produced a baggy from the cooler.


    Corvayne expected Lady Blood Claw or Nyxion to protest another break but he heard a stomach grumble and LBC looked away. Nyxion looked distracted, staring off into the distance. Corvayne silently hoped he''d not get drafted to give Nyx a pep talk.


    Seru''s mom looked back. ¡°Wow, I didn''t see as well when you were getting in but those are some really high quality props... ¡±


    Nyx smiled. ¡°Many of them paid for in blood, sweat, and tears.¡±


    Seru''s mom nodded. ¡°I still sometimes cosplay too!¡± She shuffled over to Lady Blood Claw. ¡°What''s your name?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw was biting her lip, eyes closed. Seru stepped between her mother and the alien woman. ¡°She''s shy! She can talk to you about makeup over the phone or something!¡±


    She rushed ahead with LBC and opened the front door and let them into a huge wooden den. There was a lit fireplace, a balcony, bear furs, a titanic couch, and huge windows out to the pine forest. Seru''s mom went to make food leaving Seru to show them around.


    Wick held up a hand. ¡°There''s really no need. I wanted a chance to eat before we head back to Old Town and to see you squirm. Good job keeping a facade going!¡±


    Corvayne looked around. ¡°I think we should have gone right home...¡± There was something about the really big house with large, all-new devices that made him feel uncomfortable. A whole watcher home might fit in the living room... His awareness of money and treatment when he first arrived at Cascadia made him aware that there was something perhaps brazen in the display, like a warrior having a dozen weapons strapped everywhere.


    ¡°I kinda want to count the notches in her bed.¡± Wick said as she also looked around Seru''s home.


    Seru frowned at Wick and folded her arms. ¡°Rude!¡± then spun on her heel and lead them to the dining room, a long glass encased section off from the kitchen that looked out over a deck and a lake studded with pines. Seru let them seat themselves and walked into the kitchen. Corvayne picked a seat near the door and Wick sat next to him. Nyx and Mister I followed by sitting across the table, and Lady Blood Claw walked to the far end of table and sat a good fifteen feet away from everyone, throwing her cloak over her face to perhaps sleep for a bit. Seru came back with a pot of coffee and cups on a tray.


    ¡°You said Old Town. Is that where you guys live? Isn''t that a rough part of town?¡± Seru asked while pouring coffee for everyone. He noticed she sounded ever so slightly more formal when talking.


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°Yeah. I don''t know about rough so much as just poor. I''ve only been mugged once.¡±


    Nyxion raised an eyebrow. ¡°Well, did they get your wallet?¡±


    ¡°Hah. No. They met a terrible end. I do owe them, I guess, because I met Wick because she was trying to find the muggers.¡± He took a sip of coffee. Not terrible.


    Wick elbowed him. ¡°No sappy how-we-met bullshit.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± He looked over at Lady Blood Claw who was snoring, then saw Seru sit next to him. Mister I laughed.


    Corvayne didn''t pay her any mind. ¡°We are going to be fighting the monk. He''s cut us off from two of the ways out, and I think if Grunt comes strolling out of the mine you can cross a third off. My only problem is that we don''t know what the limits of his powers are. He destroyed our shields and Nyx''s weapons, but our clothes were fine.¡±


    Nyxion leaned back. ¡°If you pick a fight with him alone, you''re dead. He can teleport.¡±


    Corvayne closed his eyes then opened them, trying to shake the images of his friends dying. ¡°Even with that skill, he did miss a few times. The problem is, when he hits someone, they are dead. Also, my backup plan is shot until Grunt comes back with nuclear batteries. Still... he has a limit for how fast after a teleport before he can do it again. He saw me aim and fire at him and wasn''t able to just pop out of it. A clean shot to the neck with a pistol and a cross-skill might kill him. Hitting him in the face wasn''t enough.¡±


    Wick said. ¡°Corvayne, you took two hits to put down... you hit him twice in the back with you spear after blowing half his mouth apart and it didn''t slow him down.¡±


    Corvayne turned to her. ¡°Did you die right when I did?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± She didn''t look pleased to remember it.


    Seru''s phone buzzed and she looked at it. ¡°Hey, the monk was a bald guy with beads around his neck, right? Big metal staff? Blue robes? Beard going gray?¡±


    Wick turned to her, looking a little sick. ¡°How did you know?¡±


    Seru frowned and flipped her phone around to show them a video feed of the monk who killed them staring at his wrist on a porch, then lifting his hand to press something. At the same time, Corvayne heard a chime announcing someone was at the door.

 Chapter 61: Unwelcome Guest.

    Corvayne stared at Seru''s phone with the Monk standing at her front porch, heard the doorbell, then sprang up from the table. ¡°Seru, you need to stall him. Give us a minute!¡±


    She stepped back. ¡°No way! I mean, this guy KILLED all five of you, how would I even fight him?¡±


    ¡°I don''t mean fight him! Just... talk to him. If he asks... I''m your trainer. Nyx, LBC, Wick, you hide. Go!¡±


    Nyx gave Lady Blood Claw a kick in the foot then pulled her standing and awake.


    Mister I looked around as the others scrambled to leave. ¡°Shouldn''t I hide?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I trust you to help us in this conversation, and I need your eyes on him.¡± He squeezed his storage ring as he spoke and started putting his stuff into it. He kept the boots of running on, since he might be able to get away with them. Ha! ¡°Those three he might know. He doesn''t know us... and you''re a therapist. Try to get a read on him if he comes in. Seru, go before he knocks your door down!¡±


    Her face was going white. Corvayne took a deep breath. Calm would help them.


    The monk smiled. ¡°Ah. A fellow monk at the door? How nice that we''ll get a chance to talk. I''ll have to do Seru''s therapy session after breakfast, if you don''t mind Seru? Corvayne, can you do the workout later?¡± Mister I unslung his pack and bow and handed it to Corvayne, before pausing and fishing a bag of monster jerky out of it to keep on his person.


    Seru''s mom peeked her head in from the kitchen. ¡°Did you guys hear the doorbell?¡±


    Seru stood up, looking between her mom and the door. ¡°Y-yes!¡± Corvayne grabbed her arm before she could walk off.


    He locked eyes with her and summoned confidence in her he didn''t actually have. ¡°Seru. You can do this.¡±


    Her face hardened and she nodded.


    After she left, Corvayne took a sip of coffee. Mister I frowned. ¡°I hope Seru''s mother finishes cooking before we get impaled.¡±


    Corvayne nodded, keeping his hand rock steady despite part of him screaming to run away and hide. ¡°Nothing worse then dying on an empty stomach.¡±


    He heard Seru talking loudly as she came walking back.


    Seru''s voice was coming around the corner as she rushed ahead of someone. ¡°So yeah! A guy threw my keys off a cliff.¡± Seru stepped into the room and topped off Nyx''s discarded coffee and swung it up from the table to offer it to the monk who strode in a few moments after her. The bald man moved with a sort of inevitability of an avalanche. He didn''t bother watching Seru, instead looking right to Corvayne. It was an effort to control his breathing and force himself not to tense up. Instead he met the Monk''s steely gaze and nodded. No fear. No aggression. If the man had anything like Corvayne''s warrior''s sense, he''d know if someone was going to attack. Seru was not helping. She didn''t get that the more you talk the worse your story sounds. Corvayne felt his stomach tensing. He was going to die again. The monk would think they were suspicious and use the staff and knock his head off, splattering his brains all over the breakfeast nook and-


    ¡°Morning.¡± Corvayne raised his cup, and took a sip, then forced himself to keep looking at the monk, taking in the clothes as if he wasn''t expecting someone wearing prayer beads. He raised an eyebrow as if checking out the clothes, while his mind kept trying to push images of Hari dying and Mosh trying to run away. He forced himself to put his elbows on the table, and breath in and out like he was doing his spear motions. It almost instantly cleared his mind again.


    ¡°Coffee.¡± Seru held up the mug.


    The man glared at her then looked down at the cup then back up, lips curled into a slight frown. ¡°So very kind. Thank you.¡± The time monk still had his staff in hand, accepting the cup without bothering with the handle. ¡°I''m glad to see that you made it back. There are dangerous animals loose at the park, and a few people are still missing.¡±


    Seru nodded. ¡°Can you describe the people? I may have seen them.¡± Corvayne hoped she kept asking the monk questions. It was a simple way to keep him off balance.


    The monk shifted his tone. Corvayne was pretty sure he was parroting what a police officer had told him. ¡°Going off the cars there, there were a few that didn''t have an owner return to them. When we cleared the park there was a pickup truck that looked scavenged, a van who''s occupant is a single man who''s mother called him in missing yesterday, and a camper that was rented out to two college age women who cannot be contacted by phone. So, one unknown and three people.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I saw a lot of guys but I didn''t see a pair of girls.¡± Seru said. ¡°Do you have photos? Maybe I''d be able to ID them.¡±


    The monk shook his head. ¡°I came here quickly because I had hoped to learn what happened to you. I see you have company... I would think you''d not arrange a meet up so soon after walking home... or I should ask, how did you get home if your car is still there?¡±


    Seru blinked. ¡°Oh. I called my mom for a ride. Hey! I''ve been rude, meet my therapist and personal doctor, Mister I, and Corvayne my trainer.¡± She scratched her neck, smiling lamely. ¡°I invited them in for breakfast rather then just send them away.¡±


    The monk gave her a sideways look then set his coffee down on the table and offered a hand across the table to Corvayne. ¡°Argyle. Tripic Special Interests.¡± Corvayne smiled a little. Real solid handshake. Smile didn''t touch his eyes. Corvayne felt like he was staring down a wolf.


    Corvayne forced himself to smirk. ¡°Nice to meet you. Looks like you work out. Good alpha handshake.¡±


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


    Argyle chuckled once. ¡°I suppose I pump a lot of iron. And the gentleman in the corner...?¡±


    ¡°Icariii. I''m a multi-lateral specalist for issues of body and soul, trained in both traditional and standard practices of medicine and mental health, as well as spiritual counciling. You look like a fellow man of faith... Are you a Gygaxian like Seru?¡±


    Argyle shook his had as he finally sat, choosing a spot that gave him a commanding view of both doors and not fully resting his back in the seat. He set his staff down against the wall behind his chair, and sipped the coffee he had, holding a saucer in one hand, his cup in another, and never looking anywhere but at the other people in the room. He took another sip, while his eyes rested on Mister I. Corvayne couldn''t tell if the delay on speaking was him being incredibly rude or if the murderous monk was just thinking about the question.


    ¡°Not Gygax.¡± Argyle said as he set his cup down. ¡°I''m a little off the beaten path in terms of spiritual matters. I''m an animist if you need a category. I wanted to ask if Seru saw anyone or anything unusual.¡±


    Seru sat down a little too quickly. ¡°I was at Goblin''s hill, which I usually take photos at, and I saw that someone built a staircase as like, an art project or something, so I climbed up to take a picture and some guy yelled at me and tried to grab my phone, my keys fell out while I was wrestling with him and he grabbed them and ran then tossed them off a small cliff. He was weird, like, sort of short? Long ears?¡±


    The muder-monk leaned forward and spoke in a low, dangerously level voice, ¡°Are you saying a goblin took your keys?¡±


    ¡°No! It was a guy. I mean, I don''t know, he was weird. His skin was a sort of olive color, but he looked weird. His clothes looked weird.¡± Seru was getting a little flaky and perhaps speaking a little too fast, she reached for her own coffee and sipped.


    ¡°You lied somewhere in there.¡± Corvayne felt cold sweat forming on him as the man spoke, staring at Seru. Argyle continued.


    Seru''s mouth opened. She for a moment looked like she was going to cry. Her eyes darted to Corvayne. No! Don''t look over here, focus on the guy who can kill everyone here in three seconds.


    ¡°It''s true.¡±


    The monk sighed, and stretched his fingers then made a fist and cracked it while otherwise appearing completely relaxed, leaning back and folding his legs. Shit. What if there was a power or spell that let him detect truth?


    Seru''s eyes went wide. ¡°I... I... I stayed up too late last night. I got picked up this morning, you know? What are you trying to ask me? I mean, it was scary wrestling for my phone and I just wanted to get home and I didn''t have reception.¡± Seru said, and while she was doing good weaving lies around true things that happened to her she was going to crack soon. He could see a drop of sweat rolling down the side of her neck. She looked to him and her eyes pleaded with him.


    Corvayne frowned at her... she was dragging him into this. He buried the terror trying to claw it''s way up his body and freeze him like a rabbit. Make the monk think she was seeing if HE was buying a lie. A spear moved forward. If this guy could detect lies, well, let''s see how he does with a LOT of them.


    Corvayne adjusted his shoulders and posture, trying to doubled down on his gym rat persona. It wasn''t hard, he could just copy Fights-Like-A-Bull''s tone and brand of bullshit. Deep voice, fake authority, be preachy, talk like you''re selling something. ¡°Seru...¡± He started low and deep, shaking his head. ¡°Seru you trying to cover that you slipped? You know I''m not a judge. I don''t judge you, but it hurts.¡±


    He gestured around. ¡°You see Seru, you did so good for a long time so it just hurts to catch you slipping. This is why you gotta cut anything that''s not natural. I''m a trainer, I know when someone''s hungover, sugar or otherwise. You were putting stuff in your body not on the power chart I gave you? Did you slip, maybe smoke something last night? Slip something in you that you shouldn''t have, it''s going to hurt the next day. It hurts your prime-ape mindset Seru. It hurts me too, when you got junk in your system and we can''t push your workout to the next stage, keep you tight and trim. You sound distracted too. It''s like I say, you need total mental commitment before we work out, and you probably just dropped your keys because you don''t maintain your grip strength and clarity vit-b''s. Awake, alert, and thinking about how to stay fit, That''s how you maintain a gorilla grip.¡±


    He made a squeezing fist, and heard Mister I snort, but he was in the character now, and everything he said right now was the most important thing in the world, as well as being both totally obvious and something only he could tell them. Seru had gone from looking terrified to embarrassed. Was she that serious about fitness?


    ¡°I bet you splurged sugars too since our last session. I know what it''s like, you wanna go out, have fun with your pals, eat something you shouldn''t eat. Hey, maybe you have a drink? Then you are putting who knows what between your lips. You know what I mean. Fat, sugars, salts. I know, it sucks to have to give things up but no pains no gains. If you wanna get back to your target weight as steel not flab? You want to go out with a guy who''s rock-hard? You need an alpha mind. If some guy in the woods did take your phone and was going for your keys, you going to be a lamb? A victim? Prey? I taught you how to do the six basic strikes. Like I say, BTW. Be. The. Wolf. Go for the throat next time Seru. Alpha mindset. Works every time, all the time.¡± He mimed punching and nodded after his own bullshit.


    He could see side-eye that Argyle''s eyes were narrowed. Corvayne just looked sternly at Seru.


    ¡°Corvayne you... I... I really don''t want a lecture okay? I just wanna look good.¡± Seru snapped back at him, her balance seemed recovered, perhaps because she was getting actually annoyed at him.


    He kept his voice firm. ¡°You look good but you should be looking great. It''s not enough to just get thin, we need you tone so you can keep your followers. That''s my job. If you stop me from doing my job I-¡±


    ¡°I look GREAT.¡± Seru slammed her hands on the table. ¡°I don''t pay you to tear me down, Corvayne!¡±


    ¡°Enough.¡± The man''s voice felt like it drained the air out of the dining room.


    Corvayne then had Argyle''s full attention. It was like when a dune stalker pack had tried to creep up on his camp. ¡°She feels very strongly about you Corvayne. Core Vein? A heart? Or is it Corvine said wrong, as in a crow? Hmm. What a silly name to take.¡±


    He turned and glared. It''s only when death is right next to you that you live. Also, FUCK this guy for playing the name card. ¡°Oh yeah? Well, you don''t even look plaid at all to me, bro.¡±


    Corvayne was pretty sure the monk was thinking about blowing their heads off with his steel rod. Corvayne looked him in the eye, raised an eyebrow, and sipped his coffee, pretending that the guy he was looking at wasn''t clearly debating if he should kill everyone in the room and be done with whatever he came to Cascadia to do.


    Suddenly the heavy feeling broke and the stern monk''s eyes lit up a little bit as he laughed once. ¡°Hah. Not even plaid. No no, as goofy a name as that is, I''m not that mad at my parents. After all... I could have been named tube or knee-high instead of Argyle.¡±


    Corvayne laughed and waved his arm. ¡°Hey bro, hey... If my folks, hah hah, hey, if my folks, if they named me one of those, heh? I''d sock them.¡±


    Argyle sucked in his lips like he had eaten something sour, and he wordlessly turned to Seru. ¡°It''s not my job to slap your wrist for drug use, but the regular cops would so work on your... ''gorrila-grip mindset'' before you go pick up your car. If there''s any problems or you hallucinate any other halflings after your purse... call me.¡±


    He produced a piece of paper smoothly and flicked it to slide across the table as he stood. ¡°I cannot stay longer here, there''s work to do.¡± Argyle looked between everyone seated. ¡°It''s been very interesting meeting you all. Corvayne, perhaps if I need a little work out I''ll have Seru give me your number.¡±


    Seru looked confused. ¡°But I haven''t given you my contact information. Are you sure about breakfast? Let me get my number for you, then we have eggs bacon and maybe some strawberry pancakes. Don''t worry Corvayne, we have sugar free syrup and wheat.¡±


    Mister I clapped and spoke with an odd cadance he''d never used before. ¡°Oh no no, don''t feel rushed! I''ve not had a discussion on the development of Animists on Tripic in years! What good fortune to find someone else who has wrestled with the philosophy of The Esoteric Host. There are some tricky points of the scripture that I always wanted someone to either confer with... or spar over!¡± He raised his voice in a heady little giggle at that last point.


    Argyle smiled coldly as he took his staff and stood. ¡°Sounds riveting but I''ve taken up far too much of your time already.¡± His tone making it clear that they had taken up too much of his time.


    ¡°Have a pleasant day. Thanks for the coffee. I''ll see myself out.¡±


    He strode out of the room. A few moments later Corvayne heard a helicopter start up, but looking out the window couldn''t see the actual vehicle. The trees were whipping about as they would if one took off over the house. He realized, watching the trees whip around, his armpits were drenched in sweat. Thank goodness for black shirts.


    He looked at everyone else, then voiced what he had been thinking the whole time. "How the heck did we get past that?"


    Mister I shook his head. ¡°He suspected Seru and you were hiding something, but your amusing deflection got him thinking it was a joint, rather then an extra-dimensional portal. Still, this means the next time he sees us, we will attract much, much more attention from him. I doubt we will simply exchange words.¡±


    Seru slumped in her chair. ¡°How do spies do it? That was like, ten minutes and I''m exhausted.


    Corvayne smiled and took on his fake voice again. "Keep working out. Do reps. Build endurance."


    His smile was wiped out when he heard a thump and jumped halfway out of his chair. Seru''s mom bumped the door again with her elbow to open it all the way bring in a platter of eggs and bacon and pancakes.


    ¡°Breakfeast!¡± She said happily, looking around. ¡°Why do you all look so pale?¡±

 Chapter 62: House Hunters Cascadia

    Corvayne didn''t move as he waited for the monk who had killed him previously to come back for a repeat performance. He wasn''t sure how Mister I just shrugged and started eating bacon again. Corvayne felt a little envy at how the monk seemed to just be totally okay with whatever the universe threw at him.


    Seru was swiping her phone, having unfolded it for more screen space. From what Corvayne could see she was flipping through cameras trained on the outside.


    ¡°It looks like he''s gone.¡± she said then exhaled. ¡°I''ll tell everybody they can come eat!¡±


    ¡°I think they will be more excited about being alive, but sure.¡± Coravayne felt himself deflate a little as the tension eased out of his body, and he pulled his gear out of storage as well as Mister I''s bag and bow. Wick came into the dining room looking both ways before sitting back down. Nyx and Lady Blood Claw followed when she motioned for them to join them.


    Wick was split between relief and outrage. ¡°What the hell? That was too close!¡± She pointed at the front door with an egg covered fork.


    ¡°He knows we exist. Which isn''t how I wanted to start this encounter. Ideally we got information on him that makes it worth him knowing we exist. I suppose knowing he is working with the police is a good start, maybe.¡± Corvayne sipped his coffee.


    Nyx sat where had been before, just looking out the window. He reached for the mug he had before and Corvayne had to hold his hand out to cover it. Nyxion looked confused before Corvayne pulled his hand back. ¡°He drank from your mug.¡±


    Nyx looked down then pushed the mug forward. ¡°Oh, I wish I had spit in my own coffee then.¡±


    Seru beamed. ¡°I mean, you did pretty much anyway thanks to me!¡±


    Wick laughed. ¡°Just like the conversation, we were not prepared. Seru, he might come back or have someone follow you. I think we gotta eat and go. If he comes back or they find a bunch of us here he''ll be on us in no time.¡±


    As they dug into plates of eggs and bacon, Seru looked down. ¡°Hey Corvayne?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± He chewed and swallowed.


    ¡°I wanted to say sorry about the phone thing. I didn''t get it before I opened the door and was face to face with him.¡± She was dragging her fork across her eggs. Oh no. She looked like she was about to cry!


    Corvayne held up a hand. ¡°You saved us all there by not panicking. If he forced his way in and you objected he might have searched your whole home. That was the most critical point to act like you had nothing... important to hide and you succeeded. Playing a slightly pushy host who was insisting he stay made him want to leave.¡±


    Seru wiped her eyes and laughed. ¡°See? I told you I was a good addition!¡±


    Corvayne saw Nyxion staring off into space before he shook his head then looked back at everyone. Corvayne thought he had seemed out of it since they came back from the dungeon. The nobleman gestured to the table, regaining a more focused look of impatience. ¡°Well, now what?¡±


    Wick thought about it. ¡°I think we fuck off before he decides to come back... I want to investigate the paintings and gather up before we leave Cascadia, however. Grunt, Hari, Mosh... if they are okay then we clear out. We might not see Hari if she''s safe and sound where she came from, that was her whole thing, getting home. We also need to build a new car or hover car or a space ship or something so we can leave town. Ideally faster then his helicopter.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Fine. Seru, you said you knew about where the suburb paintings pointed us in the suburbs, right? Can you drive us there, we''ll see if we can locate a treasure or whatever, then if we can get a ride home that''d all be super.¡±


    At Wick''s urging they piled back into the van. Nyx had gestured with a plantive look at the other four cars in Seru''s huge garage, which prompted Corvayne to wonder how the oversized jeep would handle, but Wick insisted they take the least conspicuous car. Seru pulled off the highway into town further north then the city proper, following another four lane road out of pine trees and into suburban sprawl. The trip took them into the same sort of neighborhood that the sixth floor had resembled. The homes themselves looked very different from the ones in the tower with more smooth surfaces and larger windows, but the organization itself of a grid of low traffic roads and fenced parcels all lined felt similar. The main difference between houses was there was a set that had overgrown lawns and a set that didn''t.


    He wasn''t sure how she could tell the neighborhood they entered apart from a very similar looking one that was on the other side of the highway. Perhaps Seru had something like his sense of orientation out in the desert. She pulled over to the side of the road and let Wick show her the pictures again, then drove them through the neighborhood. Corvayne had her keep the window rolled down to listen for helicopters. Instead he heard sprinklers going off, dogs barking at each other in the distance, and at one point the sounds of kids splashing in one of the pools.


    Twenty more minutes of driving up and down twisting streets prompted Lady Blood Claw to throw her hands up in the air.


    ¡°This is pointless, these houses all look exactly the same.¡± She growled out, a statement that Corvayne found himself nodding along to.


    Wick thumbed through the photos of paintings. ¡°There''s the same single house in all of them, and there are other houses in the paintings that look like these, but nobody painted the street signs or house numbers in.¡±


    Nyxion opened one eye. ¡°You guys are getting all worked up when maybe, just maybe, Seru got the neighborhood wrong.¡±


    ¡°Shut up you dick! I am totally right here. There''s a LOT of roads in this place.¡±


    Wick turned in the front seat to address Nyxion. ¡°I hate to admit she''s right, but I''m pretty sure Seru has the right neighborhood. This is ABSURD though. Why the hell are there slums at all if there''s thousands of homes? The place isn''t even full either, all those little posts mean the company that built them never sold these!¡±


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Looking again out the window, Corvayne spotted all the overgrown homes had little signs on posts with a phone number. Oh that''s it, it was the same phone number. He had wondered if he didn''t need to put his number outside the factory or something. He looked between Wick in front and Mister I in the back, ideas forming in his mind.


    ¡°Can I see the pictures again?¡±


    Wick turned around in the front and thumbed through them. They had moved through the neighborhood street by street, and hadn''t seen the right style and colors combined. Every house was just a little bit different. What about the colors there?


    ¡°Okay. So these paintings... two of them are at sunset with sunlight on the house.¡±


    ¡°Or morning.¡± Nyxion snorted. ¡°You can''t tell if a photo is taking during sunrise or sunset. Even dew being in the picture you''d have to know for sure it didn''t rain before it was taken.¡±


    Wick took her phone and flipped it back to look at it. ¡°I''m missing it... the pictures don''t tell you which it is.¡±


    Mister I looked forward, puzzled, then beamed at him and clapped. ¡°Ah Corvayne! I wasn''t aware you were an artist!¡±


    Corvayne didn''t respond, just smiled and nodded at Mister I.


    Seru had stopped the van as she wanted to look at Wick''s phone too. She put a candy colored nail on her lips. ¡°I don''t get it either. You really can''t tell, no matter what.¡±


    Corvayne felt what Wick must feel when she goes into lecture mode. ¡°You can tell if it''s night or day because they are not pictures of the house. They are paintings of the house. When people paint a sunset, they almost always use darker colors and deeper reds. Sunrise paintings use brighter ones.¡±


    Everyone besides a giggling Mister I was staring at him. Wick adjusted her glasses. ¡°How the FUCK do you know that? You kill a bunch of lizards with a paintbrush?¡±


    Corvayne laughed at the image of him stabbing a lizard with the back of a brush, then shook his head. ¡°We had lots of art books in the library back home. Sadly, nobody who would barter with me had paint.¡±


    Wick started chewing on her thumb, moving across the pictures they had taken of the paintings. ¡°So, the house is facing probably south and west? It''s almost certainly west. We are looking for white with forest green details. It''s got two homes on either side, one across the street... driveway looks to be concrete.¡±


    Even with some better ideas of what they were looking for, they drove back and forth for another half an hour before Wick yelled ¡°Stop!¡±


    She pointed at a home, one of a dozen on the street unsold, that looked to be the wrong color. Some of the bushes and trees had grown bigger, and the grass was only trimmed enough to form a ten foot non-feral lawn in front, but it was pretty close to as-is with the painting.


    ¡°It''s all different colors, but this is the house. Look at the windows, the type of pillars on the porch. The placement of the storm drain out front... back up three feet!¡± Wick barked at Seru, who rolled her eyes and crept the van back a few feet.


    Corvayne saw what she meant. It was a perfect match, just with a coating of gray and red paint. The other homes next to it remained the same colors they were painted. So why was this one special?


    Mister I shrugged. ¡°I think white isn''t popular as a color for a home right now? They probably built these assuming they''d need a lot of homes when the colony became a major stopping point for expansion... but the gamble of Cascadia growing turned out to be a poor one.¡±


    They got out. Corvayne walked a little away from the van and looked around. This street was quiet, with all the homes showing the same minimum of care. It was still morning and there were gaps in the clouds for the sun to shine, but everything felt subdued too. Like, the shadows were a little to long.


    Wick tugged him out of his stupor. ¡°You need sleep Corvayne? Cmon, wake up. We''re doing CRIMES again!¡±


    She strode up to the house and took her hairpin out. Corvayne stepped onto the porch, looking around. He could spot a few spider webs in corners. As others came up he heard crunching from dry leaves. The window next to the front door had a layer of dust on it. He stepped back from Wick quietly futzing with a black box next to the door.


    He heard Seru ask Wick what she was doing as he was walking away.


    ¡°Real estate agents leave the keys in these lock boxes. If I can''t pick this I''ll just blow this one up.¡±


    Corvayne started looking up and down the street. He kept thinking something was wrong about a set of homes on this street. ¡°I''m going to go look at something, be right back.¡±


    He jogged past the houses in the painting, stopping as he saw the grass on one lawn, a barely mowed rough mix of weeds, give way to a soft carpet of well kept grass as he arrived where the street met another. The four houses at the end of the block, all of them had markers that stated they were never sold. He glanced back and saw Seru coming up to him.


    She had a smirk on her. ¡°Don''t split the party. It''s one of the ten commandments!¡± She was probably thinking of a way to flirt. Maybe to piss Nyxion off? Not important right now.


    Corvayne motioned her to come over. ¡°Seru, can you take pictures on your phone for me? I don''t own a phone yet.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah. What''s kinda photos? Gotta take a leak?¡± The woman looked up at him impishly, then darted her eyes over to the side of the house before looking back at him, finger pulling on her lips. He did not think it was entirely a joke but let it wash over him, instead stepping next to her and pointing.


    ¡°These four houses on the end are wrong.¡± He looked between them, then felt Seru jump away from the homes. Good foot work. She was getting better at it.


    ¡°What? Are they going to attack?¡± She pulled out the brass knuckles from the village smith and slipped them on very fast, her hands shaking.


    ¡°Easy there.¡± Corvayne put a hand over her fist and he felt her stance loosen.¡°No. They are just regular houses.¡± Which was what he was trying to point out.


    She with a practiced motion slipped them back into her jacket, still looking around suspiciously. ¡°As long as they don''t turn into a gazebo. My dad told a story about one killing a PC in one hit.¡±


    ¡°Seru you said you want to be a journalist, right? That''s someone who hunts information and discovers things. What do you see that''s wrong here?¡±


    ¡°Well, these four are well taken care of... but all four of them are on the market.¡±


    ¡°Well done. That and the number on the marker is different then the real estate company''s number on every other sign.¡± He pointed at the sign.


    Seru crouched and took a picture. ¡°That''s a lot of nines....¡± Not one to wait, she shrugged and punched the number into her phone.


    Corvayne couldn''t tell if that was really smart or really dumb, given how much Wick stressed that phones were both vital for some things but in others were an annoying liability in terms of being a record of everything you did. Seru didn''t seem worried, just had her ear to the phone. She nodded along with something, then frowned, then bobbed her head some more. She closed the phone.


    ¡°It connects me to Cascadia City Planning''s answering machine.¡± Seru turned her phone off and put it away. ¡°But it might just be random, because 999-9999 is not a normal phone number.¡±


    Corvayne glanced around to make sure nobody who wasn''t with the group was watching, then walked up to one of the homes. He smelled fresh paint. Looking at the door, the glass on the front was sparkling clean. Looking into the windows he could see it was empty inside. He jogged back down the porch steps, without a single creak.


    ¡°Okay. Well, my next question is why these homes are brand new...¡±


    Seru snapped a picture of the house. ¡°I''ll try to find it on the website and see if it shows up, then try calling the number for the other houses and ask about it. But you''re right... there''s no reason to keep building...¡± She pointed down the street to a point where bare roads stretched out to a woodline that was creeping towards the neighborhood. ¡°They like, didn''t sell most of the homes in this place as is. More telling, you see any construction vehicles?¡±


    Corvayne stepped over to the crossroads and looked both ways. One direction had houses for a few blocks and sloped slightly downhill, the other went another block with two empty lots before it ended in a line of pine trees. He looked back at Seru. ¡°If you could explain why that is a further issue, I''d appreciate it. I''m not familiar with this terrain.¡±


    Seru looked really smug as she held a finger up in the air. ¡°WELL! You don''t build a house or even two and just pack up and leave because there''s one set of people who do foundations and bricks, then another group builds the frame, another does the roof, walls, insulation... they generally go down the street since it''s more efficient to not transport equipment back and forth. Even then, if this house was finished a month ago... look at the grass!¡± She stepped on it. ¡°It should be lines of sod. When you build a house, you make a mess of the ground getting it level... it''s not impossible that they mowed the lawn, put a layer of fresh paint on, kept the windows clean. But it''s more like they just popped into existence a few days ago.¡±


    Corvayne pointed over his shoulder. ¡°Tell Wick about it, because it sounds like the kind of thing she''d do research with you on.¡±


    A few houses down he saw Wick waving, so he trudged back. She swung a keyring around her finger, smirking.


    ¡°We''ll just let ourselves in!¡±


    She opened the door, turned the handle, and stepped inside. It was cool in the house, with the faint smell of something sweet mixing with a hint of decaying plants. The boards creaked under his feet. Wick only took a few steps in, then laughed.


    ¡°Jackpot!¡± She pointed and he followed her finger.


    The stairway upstairs was odd. Moss hung on the outside of the door frame, and he could see it was made of stone. More importantly, there were blue stone steps, glowing faintly with walls that looked to be hewn in stone and looked to go on beyond where the second floor or side wall of the home would be before it curved.


    Lady Blood Claw folded her arms. ¡°Three on one world... what''s going on here?¡±


    The paintings had lead them to another tower entrance.

 Chapter 63: Ball Pit Run Part 1

    A new dungeon prompted a meeting, as the group needed to decide if they were going to go up the stairs the paintings had lead them to, or if they wanted to regroup. So they stood around an empty living room and started hashing it out.


    Corvayne stepped forward. ¡°I say no. Not until we make sure Hari and Mosh are safe. I wanna make sure Grunt gets home, too. I also want some time to talk over some of the stuff that happened in the tower. Finally, I think we need to fight that monk.¡±


    Nyxion laughed, flapping his cape a little. ¡°We need the resources in the tower even if we turn around and fight. You and Wick and Mister I are richly adorned. I''ve got what, a belt? Also, if the man has some way to track us, we''ve lead him right to our way out haven''t we? Better to move fast and lose ourselves in this other realm, come back when we can actually win a fight. Unless you value the elf and booger more then all our lives?¡±


    Corvayne narrowed his eyes. ¡°I do value Hari and Mosh. A great deal.¡±


    ¡°And you mentioned the monk pushed a clone of himself into the gate into the forest tower, right?¡± Nyxion folded his arms. ¡°Going to talk to them will doom them if we run into the monk on even ground. If they know the monk is dangerous, then perhaps Mosh and Hari will rightly avoid getting into a fight in the first place. We don''t know the first thing about our enemy, except that he exists and he''s aware of you three.¡±


    Corvayne sighed. Nyxion had a point. They needed more info. ¡°Can you learn who he is?¡±


    ¡°I have a theory, but I''d like to do a little probing.¡± Nyxion sounded guarded about it. ¡°I still think we escape then worry about it.¡±


    Mister I raised a hand. ¡°If it ends up being a one way portal, we will be stuck in there, cutting us off from our allies forever. I also want to go home and take a shower.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw gestured at the portal, skin turning orange. ¡°It seems silly not to explore it now. Given the time difference, it would be, what? Two hours for a day in there?¡±


    Corvayne decided to put a trump card down. ¡°We know there''s another entrance then, because our other set of paintings.¡±


    Wick looked at LBC. ¡°Lady. How hard is it go across places in these towers?¡±


    ¡°It''s not one hundred percent sure to happen. If you have a space ship, it''s easier to go from A to B that way.¡± The alien woman frowned, turning charcoal. ¡°I never did cross planet moves. It was implied you can move to a different planet, do big sideways moves through doors, but I''ve heard you are more likely to walk out of a tower elsewhere on Cascadia then bore through worlds. The bigger problem is if we get bounties. If the empire knows about you, they can use that as a way to keep it''s agents running into you inside the tower.¡±


    Wick swore. ¡°I really needed to sit you and that innkeeper down and get better info. How do I look for a bounty?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw gestured to the stairs. ¡°You go in, run to floor 5, and half the time before a fight you end up in an inn. It''s a weird shared space in the tower. The theory was that things that run the place are some sort of gods. There''s a thing there that accepts cash to post bounties. You can look up if someone is hunting you, at least.¡±


    Wick folded her arms, and turned to Seru. ¡°I think you''re the last person to speak. If we leave now, it might be a long time before we come back. Got anything to add?¡±


    Seru looked like she was thinking then looked up. ¡°Let me define the thoughts you have. Corvayne wants to fight. If you have a defensive battle, you have options that don''t exist otherwise. Corvayne had a trap right?¡±


    Wick groaned. ¡°Grunt has those nuclear batteries. Fuck! The big oaf just screwed us out of a pretty good trap. Hey Corvayne, do these other batteries work for it?¡±


    He adjusted his new ring. It was nice to only have weapons out. ¡°I don''t think you can overload those with tools we have. Anything here would just break it. You would need a device that both sets it off, limits the output, and directs it. I don''t know how to make one, and I do not care to try. I would rather use them to build a ship. We don''t need to go to a space port to get off world.¡±


    Mister I held up a finger. ¡°You can build a ship, but can you build a navigation computer?¡±


    Seru had a notepad. ¡°Sounds like no trap, ship is limited to buying time? I guess Corvayne still wants to fight. Nyxion is all for just flat out running. That loses you some allies, but that might not actually be a problem if you haven''t triggered whatever this guy really is after, yet. You didn''t see him in the portal the first time, right?¡±


    Wick nodded at Seru, who was furiously scribbling this all down with a pad of paper and pen. She tapped her lip with her pen then spoke. ¡°Okay. So that further breaks down into where you''re running. If we go into the tower and we are tagged by bounties, how fast does a pursuer find you Miss Claw?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw thought about it. ¡°I honestly don''t know enough about how it works. It was used by the apprentices training me to catch someone who ran away while on rift tour, hoping to escape. All I know is that they eventually caught the girl and killed her, but it was only much later that I asked someone about it. They may have just lied to discourage me getting any ideas.¡±


    It was like a switch had been flipped in Seru as she pointed with her pencil. ¡°But it only works in the tower? That it somehow tells people where the target is? Or helps them find them somehow? We need info about the way the system works. We need powers and ideally something that makes him unable to just pick us off. We need to confirm this is an escape route at all. How fast did you guys clear lower floors if you were just going directly to the stairs?¡±


    Mister I shrugged and looked at Wick, who looked around. ¡°I think if we are lucky, we can go up a floor in twenty minutes. At the long end, eight hours of exploring at least for something like floor three. So average it at four hours a floor?¡±


    Wick stopped, seemingly thinking about her own figures. ¡°Okay! We go in. I wanna see this damn bounty thing. If the monk put bounties on all of us or some of us, then we exit and fight. If not, we decide if we bolt or stay. I know a few people will probably want to stay. Mister I, perhaps Seru?¡±


    She looked annoyed, the business face she had dropping. ¡°It''s freaking complicated. You guys are clearly on the rise, but also like, it''s not cool for me to just vanish on mom and dad. This sucks! It''s a really hard choice!¡±


    Corvayne followed what was said. ¡°I think if the bounties are clear, we lay low and see if we can use this place to get into the other dungeon somehow, and pull our friends out. Otherwise, here we go again.¡±


    The broke to go back to the car and gather their things, as well as to move the van to a different block so if it was found it didn''t point the way to the right house.


    Corvayne lead the group up the stairs, spear ready as the stone steps wound, and the air changed. The stairway didn''t disappear, but morphed into to a sort of white bone color with blue glass or crystal running through it in lines. The walls looked like the same blue stone common in the other dungeon.


    Corvayne turned a corner and saw the path pass out from an arch into a bone white space. It looked like a large roughly cubic room, a few hundred feet in all directions with varying light. There were tunnels and pillars that supported what looked like tubes with windows in them that suggested they were bridges. Everything was smooth, and it smelled faintly of limes and plastics. A faint wet noise came from ahead.


    He scanned the room. No monsters, but his eyes saw an extra thick line of blue that glowed faintly, recessed a few feet from the rest of the flat floor. There were also lines of glowing white in the room, which is how the space was lit it seemed. Walking forward, he saw the blue line was a flowing stream of translucent beads, faintly glowing and gleaming. It was hard to tell if they were in a slimy liquid or just flowing over each-other through the room. He tapped the river with his spear, and it seemed to be very shallow, at most a foot deep where his weapon reached. No damage to the spear.


    Corvayne called for his allies. ¡°Looks clear unless there''s a hidden monster. Also looks like a river.¡±


    Wick came over and looked with him. ¡°Those beads look slimy. Also look, the way back isn''t locked!¡±


    Mister I saw the arch and stepped through it, then walked back. ¡°Be right back! I want to see if it really goes back.¡±


    Nyxion activated his shield and tried wading into the beads, pushing them aside. He had to step out. ¡°I can push my way through, but they move the shield with the current.¡±


    Corvayne bent and had a shadowy hand pick up a bead. It was soft, about the size of an orange. He let it fall back into the slurping flow.


    ¡°Okay, I think we follow the river and go up when we can. No reason, gut instinct.¡± Corvayne shook his shadow hand. The beads had a thin layer of something oily. Maybe they were alive? Or just leaked oil. He did a pinky test next, touching a bead. The residue didn''t sting and didn''t smell like anything.


    He didn''t trust that everything was safe, as he had read books with dungeons stuffed with deadly traps and walls dripping with super lethal poisons, as well as space ruins exposed to vacuum or flooded with radiation. He was going to have to bank on his ability to detect danger and maybe a little bit of super human vitality to keep him from accidentally cooking himself if he stepped into a floor made entirely of plutonium or something equally crazy, like a floor designed to resemble the surface of a star. At least with that, it seemed the threshold of floors gave him a few steps where it eased into the conditions ahead.


    That didn''t help the others if they ran into something they couldn''t tell was hurting them. ¡°Wick do you have a radiation detector?¡±


    She laughed. ¡°Of course!¡± She slung her pack off and pulled out a bulky looking object. ¡°I''m glad we didn''t lose it this time. They cost a decent chunk of change.¡± He felt a little bit of tension leave him. Maybe he was over-thinking it. After all, the castle in one area warned them that it was dangerous for small groups.


    Lady Blood Claw and Seru were both also looking at the river of beads flowing across the room, from atop an arched bridge. Seru bent down and made the sign of Gygax, then frowned. ¡°Not able to tell me anything aside from what I see.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw smirked and bands of bright blue flickered across the her otherwise charcoal arms. ¡°Maybe we should have asked your mom to come instead. Wasn''t she the one dragging you to church?¡±


    ¡°Pfft! I''m going to go tomorrow if you guys don''t kidnap me to another world.¡± Seru said while glancing between Corvayne and Nyxion. He was getting used to her looks, but he was starting to think Grunt and Mister I not getting entangled with in-party relationships made them wiser then he was.


    The monk returned and Wick clapped her hands. ¡°Let''s go, we are still burning time in here, even if it''s like a tenth the speed outside.¡±


    That got everyone to gather behind where Corvayne was standing, the rounded tunnel the river cut into. Looking further down the tunnel he saw it was not like a sewer, in that there was no way to follow it without stepping in. He frowned. ¡°Okay, before we wade in this stuff, maybe see if there''s a route up?¡± He turned and could see what looked like three distinct floors of exits from the room.


    Lady Blood Claw shook her head. ¡°We can''t get up to those ledges and tunnels from down here, unless we climb.¡±


    ¡°Okay, lets cross and follow the river without wading in it. At least, I don''t trust it to be monster free even if it''s safe.¡±


    Leaving the large room, the tunnels were about twenty feet tall and seemed to start round then gradually become a sort of hexagonal shape. The path came to an opening that looked to be a sort of chasm. Coming out of it, Corvayne quickly looked all around to make sure nothing ambushed them from above nor below. It looked like they were on a bridge thirty feet above another blue bead river, running along a huge gash in the bone white rock. The walls of the chasm were rougher, forming shapes that made him think the material was some sort of crystal or mineral. He couldn''t see the top of the chasm as it faded to inky darkness above. The few points of light were bands of glowing white under more bridges crossing the chasm far above them. Next to the bridge they were on, a slightly lower and thicker one carried the river across the gap. To his left, the chasm went quite a ways, possible to the horizon as the glowing line of blue vanished. On the right, he saw what looked like an end to the walls.


    ¡°It''s pretty.¡± Lady Blood Claw had gotten closer then Corvayne expected, and he realized he had stopped.


    ¡°Ah! Yes. Sorry, didn''t mean to hold us up.¡± He crossed the rest of the way over the bridge and back into the tunnels. Wick snickered a little, but when he looked over she schooled her face into what he guessed was her version of a poker face.


    The first fork in the path was a small dome shaped room that had three branches, letting him follow the path he was on, follow a tunnel that curved downwards, or one that sloped upwards. He noted that the floor had banded blue lights like the entrance stair did, pattered in a spoke shape connecting a small circle into a larger one. It reminded him of a bike wheel. The only objects in the room looked like broken rods of the dungeon wall-stuff left in a few neat piles. He poked them with his spear to make sure some sort of monster wasn''t hiding in them, but it was just innert stone. Seru picked a piece up and swung it, then tried hitting the wall with it. It made a dull clacking sound but didn''t break.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Pretty sturdy.¡± She tossed the piece she had and found a walking stick length one. Nobody else commented, though Mister I took a smaller bar shaped piece. Corvayne lead the way up the ramp. The path curled slightly as the climbed for about five minutes. The path came out to an open chamber with a view of what looked like a park. The trees looked like a mix of Cascadian pine trees and some alien tree with corkscrew leaves and bright blue fruit. The ceiling or sky was dark, so he couldn''t tell if it was outside or not. Did that matter in the tower?


    Wick tapped his shoulder and pointed him off to the side, at a stone path leading into the woods. ¡°See it? Near that light.¡±


    Impressive. She had spotted what looked like a volley ball sized blue bead with four white, stick-like legs. It quivered a little as it strutted over to a plant and dropped on it.


    Seru huffed. ¡°Is that supposed to be a slime? It looks more like a robot then a monster. Slimes should be cute.¡±


    Nyxion looked at her like she had a screw loose. ¡°What? The word slime implies that something is inherently disgusting. Why would a quivering blob be cute?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shook her head. ¡°I think it looks cute. It''s got tiny straw legs.¡±


    Corvayne kept his spear ready and went down stairs to the forest area, ready for the monster to notice him and attack. It seemed to sense him when he was within ten feet, jumping and scuttling at him. He shot his spear out and the thing splattered like a water balloon, drenching the ground with water, stick legs falling over, and leaving behind a few chewed up plants.


    He looked back at a frowning Lady Blood Claw and Wick who shrugged. He backtracked to the group and lead them along the rim of the room. The forest-park had real water features as well as a river of the blue beads running through it. The river followed the direction they were going, and Corvayne oriented himself along it as they left the green space to enter another tunnel, taking them back to the same chasm they first crossed but further over and higher up. He saw two of the stick slimes patrolling the bridge. They lept like they were surprised when they got closer and started scuttling, still slowly, at Corvayne.


    He popped one with a spear jab, stepping back to avoid getting goop on his shoes, then used the butt of his spear on the other, seeing how hard it was to push them away.


    The blunt end of his spear barely touched the thing and it started leaking, then fell over dead as it collapsed into a film between the legs.


    ¡°Okay, so that''s gotta be poison or acid or something, right?¡± Wick pointed at the slime it left behind.


    Seru walked up to it and looked at it. ¡°I could try praying to Gygax.... I''ve never done it to a monster.¡±


    Kneeling down, she made a dice rolling motion then put her hands over the puddle. ¡°I take 20, which you gave freely so that others may have it.¡±


    There was a faint glow about her, which faded. Seru stood up, looking at something in front of her that they couldn''t see. ¡°It''s not poisonous or acidic. It does not combust. It might cause someone to slip on a smooth surface. It''s juice can be concentrated by a lyer to add a lime scent to soap. No other info.¡±


    Corvayne lead them across the bridge to another tunnel to find another pair of the slime-walkers approaching them. As an experiment, Corvanye walked up to one and let it attack. The little monster bashed him with about as much effect as a toddler hitting him with a pillow, then tried to whack him with a leg. The little stick legs might leave a mark if he let it hit him a few hundred times. Corvanye crouched and flicked the monster with a finger. He punctured it, causing it to start to bleed and deflate.


    He stood, turning to the party. ¡°These things are... really, really, really weak.¡±


    Wick came up next to him and actually picked the other monster up. It feebly tried to bash her, which cradled in her arms was even more futile. ¡°Yes they are.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to take that thing home?¡± Corvayne asked, a little alarmed.


    ¡°I wanna see what happens when we drag something out of the tower. So yes?¡±


    ¡°As long as you get a cage for it...¡± The image of him in bed with Wick while having a slime on his shoulder poking him with stick limbs while he tried it ignore it came unbidden. Corvayne did not need a monster attacking him during sex, no matter how pitiful a monster it was.


    The pattern of finding open spaces and threading their way back and forth upwards got them to an open room with ramps up and down as well as a side passage with blue stairs.


    As he made his way up the stairs to the second floor, Corvayne turned to Lady Blood Claw. ¡°Could you tell us more about the Towers? I''d like to know more of what you know.¡±


    She walked a little faster to climb the broad steps on Corvayne''s other side, opposite Wick. ¡°There''s a couple places like the Inn. Since our goal is to visit the inn now, I''ll tell you about them once we get there, so we don''t end up in another one because you''re thinking about it.¡±


    She tapped her mouth, thinking. ¡°The rumor was always that towers have a hundred floors. It''s based on guesses, however. They get more dangerous as you go up. Some of the rifts are pointed downwards and tend to have more traps and be nastier in general. I went on six runs, mostly as a kid they were dragging through to try to trigger a magic gift. If you want a particular skill, you are more likely to get it thinking strongly about having it, and thinking about what you''d do with it. So I was told to try to imagine myself enchanting things. I messed up, because it formulated self enchanting almost exclusively.¡± She turned a color of electric blue. ¡°All the other runs reinforced that instead of getting what the master wanted.¡±


    She stopped talking and Corvayne saw the stairs were ending. She nodded at him, and Corvayne took point.


    He stepped out to a bright blue sky with pink tinged clouds drifting through it. They were on a wide platform, a few hundred feet wide. It looked like it was suspended above a huge ocean of blue beads, dotted with other bridge connected white bone towers. A huge pillar of blue shot up from the ocean, a geyser of beads blasting into the air. The stream looked large enough to ride, but jet past the platform they were on. Looking up, he could see other towers and bridges floating above them with no obvious connections that perhaps the geyser was rushing towards. A few were very faint against the bright colors of the sky.


    ¡°I bet it would be fun to ride a geyser!¡± Seru said, pointing.


    Mister I laughed. ¡°Before I did that, I''d ask how the landing is. Perhaps if beads absorb energy better then diving into water?¡±


    Corvayne heard Wick say ¡°Bleh!¡± and whirled around, to see her holding four sticks and covered in blue goop from her chest down.


    ¡°The damn thing is too weak! Ugh, I smell like lime now... I guess it''s not to bad. It''s a fruity smell at least.¡±


    Corvayne tried not to laugh at Wick, turning back to look for anything above or below that might be a threat as they walked forward across the platform, looking to reach the nearest tower jutting through it nearly a mile and a half away. He didn''t see any obvious monsters so turned to Lady Blood Claw.


    ¡°Lady Blood Claw, if you don''t mind more questions... You knew how to fish for powers, but it didn''t give you what you wanted?¡±


    ¡°As far as I know, powers are tied in some way to class. They manifest as soon as the boss dies, but you have no way of really forcing something you want. Eventually we decided to bank on my enchanting evolving.¡±


    Corvayne frowned. There was an implication there that changing powers was difficult. ¡°Can you ask or wish to shift the powers you have? Or is it just trying to get new powers where you influence it?¡± He saw her rub the bone spurs lining her arm as she looked away from him, skin shifting to a light pink color. What was the thing that triggered it?


    She didn''t sound unhappy at least when she spoke, so the pink was probably a good color. ¡°Oh. I think it has to do with class, which is a subject that was, when I learned about it, mired with problems and contradictions because the line between a class ability, a power, and a weapon based attack blur in places. The theory was that you defined your class at some point by what you wanted to do. Anyone who wanted to be a warrior got more out of two hours of sword practice, more so then someone who wanted to be a baker but also fight with swords. The only thing taken for granted was classes existed and gave people an edge in doing various things. The other thing we knew was you had to go into a rift, I mean, a tower or be influenced by one to start really building essence.¡±


    Wick was wiping her shirt down while she listened. ¡°So you could have used something like Hari''s skills real bad? It sounds like you were just shooting darts at a board, no offense.¡±


    LBC nodded vigorously, pink turning a sort of pinkish gray. ¡°Yes. I also wanted to learn more about how Mosh had three powers without a boss kill, and how they were unrelated to priests or crafting. Hari just wanted to spend time with Corvayne, and quite frankly didn''t seem to like me all that much. Perhaps because she didn''t like Nyxion?¡±


    Nyxion laughed and Corvayne looked back at the three walking in line behind them. ¡°Getting bitter over one loss. I''d never stoop that low.¡±


    Mister I poked his arm. ¡°Of course not. Were you not just saying you wanted to pull Mr. Argyle''s spine out of his mouth?¡±


    Corvayne turned back to Lady Blood Claw, ignoring Nyxion''s numerous calls to flay Argyle alive. As if they''d have time to do anything but kill the monk and be done with it. He cleared his throat, then asked his next question. ¡°So the powers from clearing floors are almost always related to your class, even if you don''t know it? Hence Mosh being unusual.¡±


    Miss Blood Claw nodded. ¡°Right. I have to repeat, a lot of this is inference. The Magus was next to useless. Our job as apprentices was mostly to follow his whims when he didn''t actually want to commit to doing them. There wasn''t an official listing of classes because people with access to a rift or two were fiercely protective of the rifts and often policed the use of their energy. As in, people manifesting power would make other groups wipe them out to avoid producing more rivals.¡±


    Corvane caught that hesitation, but wasn''t going to press her on it. She was turning emerald green with sort of blue waves moving along her skin.


    Nyxion spoke up. ¡°If you don''t feel like talking about the past, don''t let anyone bully you into it, Lady Blood Claw.¡±


    She held up a hand over her shoulder to let Nyxion know she didn''t need his help, then took a few deep breaths and Corvayne understood she needed a moment. Her colors faded back to gray, which he was starting to think was neutral.


    LBC then continued. ¡°I''m just trying to stress that until Seru showed me how to request my own information, I had no idea what my class really was. There were only a few archetypes that were given a name. Mostly we just called people fighter, caster, or crafter as a class name. The names we did have were stupid, like ''Spear Jumper'' or ''Shield warrior'' because there were a few apprentices or minions that developed similar skills. I think you learn some things by doing them, like spells or how to swing a sword, then going in solidifies it. But that''s also why he''d take people and run them through the tower with his groups, trying to pick out and develop magic users. Hence getting a spell setup was good enough for me to keep... keep getting runs to try to refine it. But my magic is focused on aiding my own skills or hampering others.¡±


    She stops for a moment as a geyser of beads erupts past the edge of the platform they are walking near, scattering beads onto the ground where they roll around randomly then start to flow with a slight downhill slant towards the direction they came from. Corvayne crouched and touched one. Not hot, which is what he wondered. Was there a purely mechanical function that made them erupt?


    He tossed it aside as Miss Blood Claw cleared her throat. ¡°Sorry, I don''t usually talk this much. So I''ve been on six runs. Four were marches with a leader and two fighters, then me and two other kids. We had armor and a weapon to ward off monsters but we followed our leaders in far past where I''d feel comfortable going alone today. We were only to


    try to absorb magic talents. I remember that we swapped sideways through doors, then only ascended and killed monster in a particular tower with lots of rainbow colors and glass bridges that you could bend by melting or freezing a side. So four runs like that, one run where I was an enforcer helping the leader, and one run that was ten floors in the base tower to put a bounty out for someone doing something elsewhere in the galaxy who had hit a dead end.¡±


    Wick sighed. ¡°So you were probably given limited info, and you mostly saw floors one through five?¡±


    LBC shook her head. ¡°No no, we went up about 15 floors in the tower. Higher floors, more danger, better rewards.¡±


    Corvayne thought about this. ¡°Any advice for us from someone schooled to be a leader?¡±


    ¡°They gave me a pretty shitty map, a pair of apprentices, and some total newbies. My advice from that run is to never goof around near ledges. As far as I know, that apprentice is still falling. What I learned about considering traps, moving through doors, the ghosts in the lobby, treasure, and powers is all stuff I got from knowing people who did it more frequently. It''s sometimes hard to give you advice because you seem to understand what the towers are testing.¡±


    Mister I added. ¡°Care to enlighten us?¡±


    She nodded. ¡°First, the tower is looking for combat skills as you cannot advance past sets of five levels without a guardian challenge, and they are almost always combat related.¡±


    That comment reminded Corvayne to look up and all around for a potential threat. Still nothing but blue skies, pink clouds, and a blue ocean of beads. ¡°What else can it be?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw frowned. ¡°If a lone child, for example, was the sole survivor of an expedition that reached a five fold floor, the tower might decide a combat challenge isn''t appropriate and instead do something like a simple puzzle or a quiz.¡±


    Mister I shivered. ¡°I would prefer not to imagine how one learns that.¡±


    LBC nodded, her face grim as her skin turned orange a moment before it returned to a gray color. ¡°The towers want flexibility. Each floor is different, the monsters require more variety in tactics to deal with, and because you can''t be sure what you are going to get in terms of treasure and powers... being able to improvise aids you. That ties in with preparation and planning... you can''t predict what a tower is the first time you step into it, but once you know the goal of any exploit run is to have answers to everything in the tower and the boss you are aiming for.¡±


    Corvayne caught how she described a planned run. ¡°You say ''aimed for''... do you mean that you run the segment trying to fight the same monster every time, as in ''our expedition is going for the dragon'' or do you mean you can go up a floor or into a boss fight and get something different depending on luck?¡±


    LBC coughed a little. ¡°Both, but glitched stairs let you retreat if you see from the threshold it''s given you a ''wrong'' floor. I''ve never had a boss swap happen to me, however I suspect that the two types of dragons you fought included the alternate to the green fire-breather. It extends to things like suddenly having a floor where there are traps in a tower that is normally just enemies and environment.¡±


    More things to worry about, but they needed to know that running down and out of a tower floor without looking ahead could get a person lost really fast.


    Wick bumped into him as she tried to step out of a shower of falling beads. Corvayne felt a few hit him, leaving lime-smelling oil. Nyxion simply blocked the barrage with his shield. Wick held her hands above her head. ¡°Ack! Sonofabitch! I guess you''re going to tell me awareness is a factor too?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. Some of the sharp and gruff inflection she carried with her voice had been slipping off. ¡°I''d say information gathering. Both from skills that tell you what your tools and skills do, the ability to sense hidden traps and enemies... and networking at the inn or bar we are hopefully going to find.¡±


    Seru perked up. ¡°I bet I''d be good at that! I got a bunch of people who didn''t want to do collabs to do interviews.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°I''m sure you''re quite good at jumping on people who told you ''no'' over and over.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw continued, her skin color starting to turn random gently flowing colors. ¡°The last point is the one the Magus''s students failed at, and it''s cooperation. One would need a protean skill set to clear entire towers alone. Hmm, Corvayne''s might fit the bill once he develops better ranged attacks and self recovery... but when a group of apprentices tried to actually farm bounties they lost nearly every member of a six person group to a duo of adventurers that were rated as ''extremely low threat''. It''s part of the reason I did most of my work out of the towers, all the delvers that worked under the Magus all wanted to become strong enough to become the boss so they never supported each other. It''s what I like about you guys. Nobody else I''ve worked with would care about missing party members.¡±


    She stopped talking and kept walking, skin turning blue when she saw everyone was looking at her. ¡°What?¡±


    Nyxion stopped walking a moment, looking at her. He then shook his head. ¡°I never suspected it.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Nyxion smirked. ¡°I didn''t know you could say that much all in one day.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw looked flustered and her blue color ripened. Her voice got gruff again. ¡°Stuff it!¡±


    Corvayne kept walking down the bridge, keeping his smile to himself. It was good to have friends.

 Chapter 64: Ball Pit Run Part 2

    The talking and walking on floor two of the tower had carried the group across the bridge to another tall building jutting out of the blue bead ocean. A wide round plaza surrounded the spire, decorated with lines and thin triangular pools of beads pointing at the building. Corvayne suspected that the pattern was a bike wheel given the ring inside a ring shape and how thin blue tiles radiated from a central blue ring. Inside the raised pools were larger slimes, with larger stick legs letting them meander through the beads without too much drag.


    Corvayne had guessed that despite the monster''s size being scaled up about fifty percent, they were not going to be much tougher then their smaller cousins. The first one he got close to charged at the speed of someone walking briskly, leaving a wake of the oily beads as it scrambled at Corvayne. He jabbed it and barely felt his spear slow as it burst the monster.


    The next monster wading through a pool to charge at them died to a single arrow.


    Seru stepped up and punched the third big slime, taking care to step back as it spilled lime-smelling fluid all over.


    Shaking one of her spiked knuckles off, she turned to the group. ¡°Yeah, if I can kill them, they are sooooo weak.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Good, it means we can go fast.¡±


    Moving around the inner plaza, the tower at the center of the bridge intersection had both a stairway back down and one upwards. Corvayne lead the way upwards and stepped out to a twenty foot white ledge gleaming in sunlight, and he had to put a hand over his eyes to see.


    Towers of white bone formed what reminded him of a desert canyon with banded towers of white and gray catching the sun. Bridges with ornate blue patterns plastered on the bottom shaded other bridges, some white arches connected pillars and walls of the canyon, others shimmering aquaducts filled with real water, and another set bright blue with orbs. There was a moment of sensory overload as he tried to parse out a criss-cross of towers, bridges, and blue and pink sky. He heard water splattering nearby, a small waterfall or fountain probably. He could see a water stream with a bridge, as well as stairs down to a stream of blue orbs. He had to be careful looking up, because this floor had a much more realistic sun that was blinding.


    Wick stepped forward and started laughing. ¡°Is this the vacation tower?¡±


    Mister I shook his head. ¡°Why would you want to go to a warm beach when you have sunny Cascadia just a few miles back the way we came?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw just groaned. ¡°We are on a time table here.¡±


    Corvayne made a note that he wanted to get a swimsuit and go to a beach with everyone, after all he''d read that was a critical component of a vacation and it sounded fun. He shook his head and refocused. How should he move to get to a higher point where up stairs might be found?


    It looked like some of the structures in this area were pools. Besides just waterfalls of both real liquid and the pods, some of the bead rivers were flowing up cliff faces. He scanned and tried to see if he could spot a tunnel into any of the pillars near him. There was a spire that caught his eye. It looked like it had a large tunnel bored into it. Also, there was a straightforward path to it. With of course, one catch to it.


    ¡°Do we want to see if those waterfalls are strong enough to push us up a cliff?¡±


    Nyxion pointed at the stream. ¡°Me, Corvayne, or Wick should try it first. Wick has the robe for falling slower. I can shield bounce if I make a mistake. Corvayne can survive a fall.¡±


    The logic was sound, but Corvayne frowned. ¡°I''d rather not break a bunch of bones. On the other hand... it does look fun.¡±


    Nyxion put a hand to his chest and leaned back. ¡°My word! First Lady Blood Claw is talkative, now Corvayne is ready to have fun. What wonders will we see next?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw jerked a thumb backwards. ¡°Icariii setting up a salad bar.¡±


    Seru laughed hard enough she felt she had to hold her sides. Corvayne didn''t bother correcting Nyx on the fun comment, instead stepping into the beads and settling into the oily squishy flow. The ''river'' was about waist deep and pushed him along. The same citrus smell that the rest of the dungeon had was much stronger as the beads carried him away from the platform and into the tangle of bridges. The aquaduct he was riding had low walls, so he could look down to a shadowy beaded sea below. Glancing back, he saw Wick wading chest-deep through the beads to catch up to him.


    ¡°Hey jerkoff! You are supposed to wait for me!¡±


    Corvayne laughed. ¡°I''m supposed to step in front of you and make sure it''s safe.¡±


    She tossed a bead at him, which was soft enough that it just bounced off his shoulder. He lobbed one back aiming over her head, which she caught then tossed back at him. He let it hit him because he was nearing the bead-fall. Would it be a bead-up? The reverse waterfall, with beads, seemed to pull a vertical river out of a pool of beads. It didn''t look like they were flung by air or a mechanical device, as the top layer in a line just sort of floated out of the pool and started flowing upwards.


    The beads deepened as he reached the pool and he found he was able to swim through them sort of like a ball pit. When he got to the updraft he felt his whole body lighten and in moments he was shooting upwards, the layered tower ahead flying by as he flew up with a stream of blue orbs. Corvayne couldn''t help but laugh when he heard Wick screaming behind him. Getting higher past the bridges, he saw more and more gleaming white and blue surfaces catching the sun as well as how they connected to each other with bridges. He crested with the stream as it rose above what he saw as an even plateau with white bone-like rock marked with giant blue geometric murals.


    He had time to look down as he dropped with the stream and start to half laugh and half yell before he plummeted into a pool of beads, sinking about fifteen feet down before touching the bottom. He could breath but the smell of lime-oil was strong enough that he only took one gasp before kicking off and something like swimming and pushing his way back up to the surface of bead-pool. He turned around then and reached into the pool and pulled Wick out.


    ¡°Thanks Corvayne.¡± She wiped oil off her face.


    ¡°No problem Wick. You think they''ll try it?¡±


    He looked up as he spoke then pulled Wick out of the way as Seru landed in the pool and swam to the top as if it was water. It dawned on him that there was some sort of power at play, one that wasn''t quite like raw strength. Might as well ask.


    ¡°How are you doing that?¡± He asked Seru as she swam up next to him.


    ¡°Doing what?¡± She tilted her head and blinked. Was she just acting?


    ¡°Swimming like a fish.¡±


    ¡°Might be the thing on my character sheet that says [Impactus].¡± Seru shrugged, then pulled herself out of the beads, oil just dropping off her like water. ¡°Says something about improving ''Physical Outcomes''.¡±


    Wick was watching her, frowning. ¡°That''s how you threw me thirty feet...¡±


    Corvayne sighed. ¡°If it''s good, I''d like that more then shadow hands.¡± He felt a pair of cold fingers yank his cheek a little. ¡°Okay okay. You guys know you always have a place uh, inside me.¡±


    A black limb floated in front of his face and gave a quick thumbs up before it vanished. Corvayne pulled himself out of the pit as Mister I cannon-balled into the pool. He walked out of the pool as Nyxion used his shield to slow his fall and land on the surface of the pool. He dispelled it only when it became obvious that trying to walk on the beads just spun the shield in place. Lady Blood Claw took a full minute to arrive after that, and it was clear she was not happy about the ride. She had a shade of deep green covering her that turned to lime green as she pulled herself out and stumbled a few feet onto the broad top of the pillar.


    Wick clapped. ¡°Nice alien colors!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw started throwing up off to the side of the bead river. Corvanye looked away while making a note to himself. Lime green was nauseated or sick.


    Mister I stepped up to her and offered her a pill, which she took from him with a shaky green hand. ¡°There. That will help you calm your stomach and prevent dizziness!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw took it and swallowed a swig of water. Her skin turned teal and she looked shocked. ¡°That worked. What was that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, just a little medicine I made to cure hangovers. Works very well on nausea, vertigo, and blocked sinuses, as well as buildup of humors.¡±


    Lady Blood claw pulled out a small cloth from her pack and wiped her mouth and blew her nose, then tossed it on the ground. ¡°I rarely found anything that worked that fast. What was in it?¡±


    Mister I thought about it. ¡°Horse bladder powder, a pinch of real yeti fur, lizard tail, honey, distilled water.¡±


    Her face turned lime green again.


    Corvayne made a note to ask the same question about ingredients before taking any medicine Mister I offered. He did a quick check of the surroundings. No obvious threats from above, no monsters. Sadly, the pillar he saw didn''t have a huge cave, but rather was a little cove with a pool and waterfall. Probably somewhere he''d camp if this was a vacation trip. Moving his eyes past it, he did spot a raised stone with a small dot that was probably an up stairway. So he started walking, everyone else falling in behind him. With the heat and the sun, it felt a little like being on patrol in the desert, but with people he liked who liked him back.


    As if picking up on his mood, he saw something kick up a bit of dust as it turned and started moving towards them. They looked like white and blue geckos. They reminded him of baby ripplers.


    Mister I spotted them and cried in joy. ¡°Monsters to eat!¡±


    They were not very large, perhaps four feet long. He saw three trails of grit, and took his spear out. Mister I took out the insect bow and in a smooth motion fired an arrow. Corvayne heard a buzzing noise and the arrow slammed into one of the lizards then exploded in a cloud of bugs for a moment, darkening the area. When the cloud vanished, only one dust trail was headed for them. Corvayne slashed with his spear activating [Cross Skill: Whirling Axe] and sending a greenish copy of his weapon flying into the front of the cloud, blasting the monster off it''s feet where it landed on it''s back up, twitching once before flopping over.


    Wick put her hand down, looking at Mister I then right at Corvayne. ¡°This tower is too easy.¡±


    Nyxion nodded as he stepped up next to her. ¡°Yes, unless you''re afraid of heights.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged and let Mister I go ahead to see if there was meat on the monsters. He seemed a little sad that they were super skinny, but didn''t hesitated to carve himself a few cuts of meat.


    It took a lot of walking to get to the distant rock with a hole in it. As it turned out, the rock and opening were larger and further away then it had looked at first glance, even prompting them to stop for a few minutes to drink and let Seru catch her breath. Corvayne was more then happy to lead the way up the fourth floor stairs as it took him into cool shade.


    He stepped out of the stairs into even more chaos. Once more the exit lead him to a bone platform in the middle a ravine, this time all distances blurring into a bright white fog. At his level, above him, and below him massive blue metal bike chains formed conveyer belts moving along and sometimes through tunnels in the ravine, making him feel like he was in a vast machine, complete with distant hums and clacks and some of the low noises that made him think of trains running over the warehouse. It was also clear that there were no bridges off the platform. If they wanted to progress, hopping onto a chain was the only way. The chain near the first ledge was about fifteen feet wide and had flat tops, like if a bike chain was running sideways threaded through gaps in rocks. There was a slight lip over where the chain ran, probably a foot above the surface. The chain took up half the space in the ravine, with another chain running diagonally upwards next to it about three hundred or four hundred feet down the line.


    Mister I was shaking his head. ¡°This is probably more dangerous then the waterfall.¡±


    Corvayne felt that was a pretty large understatement. Getting caught between chain segments when it hit a turn, or getting between the chain and the wall would almost certainly cost a limb.


    Wick nodded. ¡°If one of these chains runs into a bunch of grinders or something, we''d have to dive off them.¡±


    Corvayne tapped his boots, then walked over and looked at the chain rolling by. ¡°I''ll scout, then run back once I find our ledge.¡±


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    He pulled his cloak tight and hopped onto the chain facing backwards, then tried running. He stopped after he was sure he could outpace the chain, then turned around and walked forward as the chain shot past the starting platform, past a T-shaped gap in the rock, and right by the chain going up. He timed his jump to try to hit the middle of a chain segment so he didn''t get pinched if it shifted. The surface at least gave him good traction and he landed and leaned into the slope to keep himself steady as the chain pulled him upwards.


    The chain going up passed by another chain going back the direction they came with a platform near it, so Corvayne turned and started running down the chain. With the boots it was just a minute or so of leg work before he was back to the group.


    ¡°Okay. We can jump on that one going up, then on another going back this way. Get off on the first platform, then I think we follow the upper chain around and look for an exit or a segment we can walk around on.¡±


    Wick sighed. ¡°Fine. I hate this action crap though.¡±


    Nyxion nodded. ¡°It''s been very easy so far, but places like this worry me.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw was staring at the chain, then back at Corvayne with a look that suggested she didn''t like it, either. Corvayne looked at everyone.


    ¡°Nobody thinks this is fun?¡±


    Seru raised her hand, then jogged and jumped onto the chain. ¡°Lets Go!¡±


    Corvayne followed, and he turned to make sure nobody tripped. Wick went after him, then Mister I and Nyxion. Lady Blood Claw looked between him and the chain, and started taking deep breaths and clapping. He had confidence she''d step on, eventually. He turned back to people climbing the chains.


    Seru lead by hopping onto the second chain, some how landing perfectly. She did stop and put her hands on her knees huffing for a moment after.


    Corvanye leapt next and turned to make sure Wick made it. ¡°We jump the chain going the other way when it comes up.¡± He called out.


    Wick lept and landed on a joint which made her fall to her butt but not roll, her gloves gripping to the metal with a wet slap. Corvayne helped her out of the way as Mister I jumped next, then Nyxion who landed in a crouch, and finally Lady right after him who was once again light green. Ahead, the second jump backwards on the chain was coming up.


    Seru started shouting. ¡°Corvayne are you crazy? It''s going backwards too fast!¡±


    ¡°If you don''t jump, we don''t know where the chain goes! Go!¡± Corvayne pointed. Seru lept and the chain going backwards knocked her feet out from under her, rolling her for a few lengths. Corvayne jumped and ran with the chain then slowed to keep his balance. Wick made the jump also with a stumble, but Seru was going to miss the first platform as she was still standing up.


    ¡°Seru! Second platform!¡± He called behind him, running forward as Mister I had turned and ran backwards suprisingly fast for his age, then lept and landed on all fours.


    Wick flew by him. ¡°Bad idea!¡±


    Nyxion was next and he took a nasty spill like Seru did, rolling and forcing Corvayne, who was trying to run in place to watch everyone, to leap over him. Lady Blood Claw was further behind him, and she lept a little too early, skin changing from light green to dark green as she lept.


    Corvayne saw her hit the chain with her shin and trip spinning, then start to roll sideways off the chain. He ran and crouched, grabbing her arms as she started to slip and throwing himself on his belly. His hands flared with pain as he grabbed a bone spur, ripping his palm open, but he clamped down through the pain and now blood to catch her wrist with a hand, using his other to grab her free arm.


    He felt himself shift forward a little when he tried to lift her. She weighed more then he did!


    His shadow hands sprang out from his sides and started clawing him backwards, slowing Lady Blood Claw dragging him down, but he was looking at her eyes, wide with terror as she struggled, trying to get her feet onto the side of the chain.


    He heard a clicking noise growing louder and turned to see that the chain was going to go around a bend, and what looked like a set of gears. He had to get her up or drop her before that, otherwise she was going to end up as paste.


    ¡°Calm down!¡± He shouted, trying to get more traction with his legs to move his elbow. He felt something pressing down on his whole body, like he had clamped onto the metal. With the strange new leverage he could bring his legs in to pull Lady''s arms up and she caught the bottom of the chain then used her feet to help him pull her onto the chain. Nyxion had lept back onto the chain and helped him pull her up. The cruised around the curve, and Corvayne turned to check for a trap or anything.


    Instead it continued into the mist. He helped Lady Blood Claw stand, and she grabbed him and Nyxion into a hug which he felt was odd but patted her back. Her could feel her shivering, and he saw her skin fluctuated between deep blue and a teal color. He glanced across her back to Nyxion, who was giving him a look. He saw a platform coming up.


    Corvayne looked between them. ¡°Let''s jump off, we can regather here.¡±


    He felt Lady Blood Claw clamp onto his arm. Her grip was strong enough it hurt.


    ¡°I''ll jump with you. Okay? We''re going to get off the chain and won''t do any more riding. In ten. Nine...¡±


    They formed a line and leapt together, landing on the ground. She pulled her hand away and walked to a corner of white rock and sat down, burying her face in her knees. Nyxion walked over and sat next to her.


    ¡°Corvayne, my thanks. I didn''t expect her to have any problems with this. Can you go grab the others? I got this.¡±


    He flexed his hands to make sure he hadn''t broken anything, wincing as the wound he got from catching Lady Blood Claw stung. He glanced around the platform and saw it had a path leading into another rift that the platform bridged. That was good, there were probably exits in those cliffs. At least they''d be off the chains. He stepped back onto the chain in the direction it was going, then once he had his footing turned and ran backwards, boots of running letting him fly down the chain. He slowed near the turn, as he didn''t want to hit anyone who might have jumped after them. A good decision, as he had to stop as Wick came around the corner.


    ¡°Easy dungeon my ass!¡± She called out. Corvayne pointed to the platform and then stepped off as the chain arrived. Seru and Mister I followed a little after that.


    Corvayne had to agree with Wick. They might have made things harder for themselves. ¡°Okay, no more mid chain direction swaps.¡±


    Mister I laughed. ¡°A rare miss from Corvayne!¡±


    He felt his cheeks heat up. ¡°I make mistakes all the time.¡± After saying that, he couldn''t help but look at Seru. She caught his eye, looked angry for a little bit, then smiled made a kissy face at him. Wick, meanwhile, was frowning at him. Great.


    Still, with everyone on firmer ground, he lead the way into the canyon path. Once more the bone colored stones were layered in spiny shapes where it hadn''t been weathered down to smooth curves. The sound of the gear clicking on the chain faded. The canyon had running water about forty feet under where the stone ledge hugged the side. Blue trees with white leaves grew from the walls.


    Wick actually stopped them and pointed at the tree. ¡°What''s the point of a white leaves on a tree? It reflects all light that makes no...¡± She looked at everyone else. ¡°Nevermind.¡±


    A path started on the other side of the ravine from what looked like a downward stairway. A few large slimes with legs stood in their way but didn''t so much as scratch the group, spear and arrow and Wick''s spells popping them and sending limbs clattering off the edge. Corvanye heard roaring water as the canyon came to an eight way intersection with a large stone bridge shaped like a ring granting access to each of the gaps. In the center of the ring was a while plume of falling water. Corvayne lead them through the cool mist spraying off the falls and around to the opposite crevice. It wasn''t too long a walk before he saw another cave with stairs up.


    The final floor looked more like the sort of landscape he had come to expect from the previous tower, with flat white capped floating islands linked by giant white and blue wheels. The sky was a deep blue with lighter spots suggesting features floating far away. Light blue chains, the same size as the ones they had rode on the previous floor, spun the titanic wheels at a very slow pace. The size of the wheels meant that Corvayne could see they had little parks growing on them, in blue and white trees. From islands higher then the one they were on, he could see there were trails that wound under the islands as well.


    Seru whistled and took out her phone. ¡°It''s a shame I can''t just Insta-Snap all these places. The view is fantastic.¡±


    Corvayne thought about. ¡°Maybe if we do a massive info dump.¡±


    Nyxion laughed. ¡°Until you do, people will just think it''s a weird CGI mashup of a salt flat and your bike.¡±


    Wick was thinking. ¡°If we can deal with the monk... we should buy this house. It''s not as populated as the one back in the park, but having our own Tower? That''s how the big noble houses keep each other in check.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw wasn''t joining in, instead following the paths across the blue horizon that would take them to other islands. Her skin had been charcoal for a moment, but turned light green as she frowned. ¡°We... we have to get on those wheels, don''t we?¡±


    Corvayne sighed. ¡°Yeah, I mean, we could try to look under the island, but I think at best we''ll find a chest if we spot a path to the underside. Still Miss Blood Claw, would you rather take your chances with the bottom of the island we are on, or riding one of the two wheels we are connected with?¡±


    ¡°Don''t patronize me!¡± She snapped, then softened her face, her skin turning emerald green with wavy blue a moment. ¡°Sorry Corvayne.¡±


    ¡°It''s okay. That back there was my fault. We''ll go slow. If we need to get onto the wheel, I''ll give you the do-over scroll that supposedly pulls people back up. Deal?¡±


    They walked across a half mile of flat stone, with only a pack of 8 regular slimes as resistance. Given how easily the little stick-legged monsters died, they didn''t slow down to fight them, just kicked the monsters out of the way as they passed.


    Wick scooped the last slime up, this time with a towel to hold it in place. ¡°I wonder if this tower  is designed so that a child could complete it or something? Is it new, or just that easy?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw growled a little and Wick added quickly. ¡°I mean we did the chains wrong, don''t get angry about that! Aside from one slip up, it''s night and day. A pack of goblins could fight just about any number of these slimes.¡±


    Seru pointed at the wheels. ¡°Oh yeah, it''s all easy until you fall off that... The other tower was much safer!¡±


    Mister I poked her side. ¡°Perhaps your memory suffered... if not for me having both magic and non magic ways to fix you, you''d be dead on floor seven of the other tower.¡±


    Seru gestured. ¡°Yet a few days later I''m back to perfectly healthy. If one of us gets flung off the wheel, they dead. No, double dead.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw put a hand on Seru''s shoulder, nodding. ¡°Someone else gets it.¡±


    Corvayne chose then to switch his focus to watching the edges of the platform, eventually spotting a ramp about four feet wide that dipped along the underside of the island. Spoke-like white rocks fastened the path they were following to the side of the island, but it was still a jarring view to see nearly endless blue with only a sunlit white island below them breaking up the blue.


    Corvayne reached a fork, where the path split between going forward and spiraling further down. There was also an entrance into the interior of the island, which he took. The rough path quickly went downwards into a chamber where a massive slime covered in white and gray stone spikes was inching it''s way around the floor. Not even counting the spines layered around the huge blue blob, it''s body was as tall as Corvayne was. Corvayne took a step back around the corner, pointed at Nyxion, and motioned for him to come forward.


    Nyxion saw the threat, drew his mace, and Corvayne walked behind him, ready for the monster to make it''s move. The giant slime quivered then compressed itself, turning into an orb of spikes and rolling at Nyxion. His shield stopped the boney construct in it''s tracks. He swung his mace and took a spike out, but with his shield and reach he couldn''t get at the monster itself, which was rolling backwards off the shield.


    Corvayne stepped to Nyxion''s side and shuffled his two handed sword into his hands. He spun and activated [Sundering Blade], his sword shearing off more then a few of the hardened spikes on the slime''s side. He pivoted into the space he had opened by shearing off the spikes on the side and brought his blade upwards using [Sundering Blade] again, slicing off almost ten of the creatures spikes. He stepped back as the monster tried to spin again, and got stuck on it''s now mostly flat surface. He could see oozy psudopods trying to push it back to upright. Nyxion scored the next hit, bringing his mace down through a spine and shattering the armored plate the slime had retreated into. That first wound started the monster gushing goop, and a few more bashes with a poke or two from Corvayne''s blade and the thing stopped entirely. The scent of limes became overpowering as blue fluid spread across the floor.


    Ignoring the bubbling mess they had made, Corvayne walked to the back of the cavern to a path that lead down to an opening out the bottom of the island. Right before it was a treasure chest. Figures. He covered himself in his cloak and used his shadow hands to open the chest. No trap this time, thankfully.


    Inside were five scrolls, a small blue metal rod, and four wood carvings. He picked up the first figurine, an elf woman with a staff playing a harp. It matched the features of the only elf he knew, though she was far too serene looking to really be Hari. He couldn''t help but smile looking at it anyway. Another was a goblin, holding wrenches in each hand in a sort of combat pose, grinning. That felt like Mosh, but his buddy wasn''t a fighter like the statue was. The next was odd. It was a stocky figure sitting on a pile of defeated foes, but looking over his back. It looked like grunt, but again the attitude felt wrong. It looked... regretful? The final was carved in darker wood and bulkier. A woman with a spear, laying on the floor of a cage, eyes closed, hands clasped together.


    Looking at the scrolls, he saw that was ''uncurse item'', three labled ''identify'' and one ''slowfall''.


    Nyxion had followed him in. ¡°What did we find?¡±


    Corvayne put the scrolls away and showed Nyx the figures. ¡°I think the tower left these for me.¡±


    ¡°They look like your allies and... a girl with a spear. It looks like your indestructible one. Can I see that?¡±


    Corvayne handed the spearwoman over, and oddly enough Nyxion treated it very gingerly, in a way that he did not seem to care to do for most things.


    ¡°Do you think it''s the same girl you fought? The water one?¡± Nyxion held the statue up.


    Corvayne caught something odd in Nyxion''s voice. He rubbed the bandage over his eye. ¡°Maybe. I don''t know if the boss monsters are real. It felt like was her, that it knew me, though.¡±


    ¡°What was her name?¡±


    ¡°Spears-Like-Water. Her friends called her Spears. She got pissed when I did. It''s odd she''s in this collection, as she didn''t like me at all.¡± Corvayne frowned. She had been acting weird after he won. Was it just a figment of the dungeon, trying to act out some secret hope?


    ¡°Hmm. Well, if this is correct, perhaps she is in trouble? She seemed like a strong fighter, close to your own level. She might be very useful.¡± Nyxion''s voice wavered a little.


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I don''t know where she is. She did ask for help... but we have to help ourselves first.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw fell in with him as he retreated out of the slime chamber. They had to step around the remains of the slime as well as Mister I, who was jarring the slime.


    The alien woman spoke gruffly, in a low voice. Her eyes moved to Wick even as she spoke to Corvayne. ¡°If we reach the inn, you can buy information there. Including about the spear-girl you fought. It''s going to be expensive, especially if you''re just dealing in money.¡±


    ¡°I got things I can barter with, I found a bunch of little gems from killing ghosts, Hari and Mosh mentioned they would fetch a good price. Thanks for the heads up.¡±


    He stepped away but she reached out and touched his arm, stopping him. He looked over at Lady Blood Claw, who was a dark blue once more. ¡°Thank you... for helping me.¡±


    She looked embarassed. Corvayne smiled at her, partially because he was pretty sure he figured out another one of her moods. ¡°It''s no problem. We''re friends, right?¡±


    Her skin flipped to pink for a moment then light purple as she nodded. ¡°Of course. I still appreciate it.¡±


    Corvayne moved past a now smirking Wick to see if he could get lower on the island. As he suspected, the lowest point spiraled into a cave with a stairway down.


    There was a small platform where he could address the others following him. ¡°We can try going down then finding another two stairs up, or just suffer the wheels.¡±


    Nyxion gestured forward, and Corvayne shrugged and walked down a flight of stairs that should have taken him out the back of the rock and off into space, but instead wound into a dark space. Corvayne slowed as he saw something bright orange ahead, then stopped when he had a view of a room carved out of the staircase before the actual door back to the fourth floor.


    Wick poked his back. ¡°What''s ahead? Why did you stop?¡±


    Corvayne took another step forward then stepped to the side to let her see into the blue stone lobby. Before the archway leading to a brown-looking tower floor was a glowing orange exclamation point floating in the air. Under it was an animated image of a line of skulls, and a stick figure running away. The figure stopped running, and the skulls caught up and the little figure fell over, and became a skeleton.


    ¡°The tower is warning us. If we make a mistake on the next floor, we will die.¡±

 Chapter 65: Firewall Floor

    Corvayne looked at animated warning ahead of the entrance to the fourth floor. The floating image, which he could pass his hand through, was a glowing orange stick figure running from a wall of orange glowing skull symbols. The figure slowed a little and the wall passed through them, then the figure fell over. After that it''s dot-head morphing into a skull and the little stick body became tiny orange bones. In a moment the bones sunk into an orange line that must be the ground, and the figure dropped in and started running as skulls faded in to the side of the image, repeating the loop.


    Looking out the door, past the holographic warning, he could see what looked like a train station with crumbling walls and a sepia sky. It felt like Cascadia because he saw a graffiti riddled public transport trains roll up to the station, open it''s doors for about ten seconds, then zoom off.


    Wick watched the warning loop play again. ¡°So wait, the chains and giant bike wheels to oblivion were fine, but THIS floor it needs a warning? Is it random or is it really that bad ahead?¡±


    Corvayne took a step back and sat on the third step. ¡°I want to see if something happens. If the event looks like we can handle it, we will vote to decide if we press on, otherwise we turn back around and try the wheels.¡±


    Seru stepped up to the door, watching the second train arrive. ¡°We can go back the way we came and try the other branches of that ravine. Or like, just do this floor. I mean, there''s gotta be good rewards if it''s dangerous, right?¡±


    Mister I nodded. ¡°Risk and reward are part and parcel. But, the bold may become the foolish if they push their luck!¡±


    Nyxion sneered. ¡°Is that a yes or a no?¡±


    Wick shook her head. ¡°Why even ask us? The skull means death. What''s worth that?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw picked a spot near Corvayne to lean against the wall. ¡°When the tower offers you danger, there''s usually a reward for it.¡±


    ¡°I take that as what, four maybes and a probably not?¡± Corvayne watched as another train left the station. The place looked brighter then last time, and had started shaking. Interestingly, there was no vibration where they were.


    ¡°Hey, something''s happening.¡± He pointed. The group stepped back as Corvanye stood and took a step back. The light in the station intensified, then there was a flash of orange as a wall of fire that swept across the station, coiling and stopping at entrance to the stairway as if there was an invisible barrier. Corvayne felt heat even from three steps up.


    He heard one of the girls shout out ¡°What the fuck?¡± just barely over the roar of fire.


    The heat vanished and the door was dark for a few moments, showing a seared plain with smoking wreckage and burning chunks of metal. As he watched, things started to grow out of the ground, buildings and track sprouting and ending in the station forming once more, blocking the view. A few more seconds, and the first train rolled in.


    Mister I was the first to speak. ¡°Make my vote no, please.¡±


    Corvayne stood up. ¡°I don''t think I want to go into that sort of situation unless we had a lifeline out, or we could all fly faster then the wall was moving.¡±


    He started up the stairs. Seru looked between him and the door. ¡°You know, I bet there''s really really good loot in there!¡±


    He laughed a little. ¡°Seru, the best armor in the world is useless if you''re dead. I vote no. There''s nothing that could convince me otherwise.¡±


    He stepped out of the stairway back to the underside of the platform and motion made him look down. A lone figure stood on the white platform below them, perhaps a thousand feet down. But Corvayne knew the outline of Argyle well enough. He saw the monk turn and teleport away from them, but in the direction of one of the wheels going upwards, now jogging. Corvayne could trace with his eyes the path the monk could take to their island.


    ¡°Back down. Now!¡±


    He ran down the steps. Wick grabbed his arm. ¡°What the hell? No way! Corvayne!¡±


    He grabbed her shoulders. ¡°The monk is here. He''s coming. We don''t have a choice!¡±


    Nyxion groaned. ¡°Can we wait until the next cycle at least?¡±


    He ignored him and ran down the steps, two at a time. The station hadn''t lit up and wasn''t shaking. ¡°We got at least one more train ahead of the wave, if it repeats. Go!¡±


    He didn''t wait, moving into the station. It wasn''t a one-way portal. The station smelled of smoke, and on closer inspection all the brown bricks and gray floor tiles looked like they had a layer of soot or ashes.. He glanced back at the window facing the direction the wall of fire had come from. He could see something bright, a band of energy on the horizon. A train was also coming along an elevated track above the sandy wastes.


    Seru was first into the station, with the others following. A train rolled in, and Corvayne pulled Wick aboard as the others piled in behind him. The doors rattled shut and the train sped forward across the waste with a hum.


    Looking around, he could see that the stations were brown tiered towers dotting a tan and gray desert. Multiple train tracks seemed to come and go in and out of each, some of them veering off to the side. As far as he saw, no trains were heading backwards, but some of them went sideways, which meant riding them would slow them compared to the wall of fire. There were also stairs down to the wastes. He saw a chest out on the sandy wasteland. Oh yeah, probably full of really great stuff. Hopefully something he could use while dead. They reached the next tower after two minutes, the train starting to slow. Wick started to move to the door but Corvayne put a hand on her shoulder.


    ¡°Wait, let''s see what the stations look like.¡±


    He turned around and addressed everyone else standing in the train car. ¡°This place is a death trap. We wait until next station go up and find a higher line.¡± Corvayne looked out the open door at the station inside the tower they had. He saw weird figures with swords wake up as the train pull in, drawing blades. They were far enough away he didn''t bother attacking, as the doors closed and the train was back to moving in moments.


    Wick squeezed his hand. He blinked, and looked at her. He hadn''t seen her really scared like that in a few weeks. He squeezed the hand back, letting himself get angry. This was why he had to fight.


    ¡°It''s okay Wick. He''s gotta get through me first.¡±


    Mister I patted his bow. ¡°I want to test what happens when I use the good arrows with this thing. I can think of no better target!¡±


    Nyxion folded his arms. ¡°I want better stuff before we fight him.¡±


    Corvayne saw the next station coming up. ¡°Next station, look for a stairway up. We aim to kill anything fast or just knock it over and run away.¡±


    The train bored into a four story tall station, gray and sepia tones defining the otherwise ruined area. Corvayne practically pushed his way out of the door, holding his spear and ready when the piles of ''garbage'' unfurled into corpse-like monsters. He didn''t wait for it to them to draw weapons, just stabbed it then kicking it away, running to the stairway where another monster was putting it''s blades in position to attack.


    He didn''t have time to fight it properly, so he used [Storm Thrust] to push forward and knock his enemy in the wall at the same time, shattering tiles at the back of the stairway, then kept charging forward and the monster was split in half, top half falling off. He kept moving up the stairs, more of the weird monsters coming to life. He decided not to be stingy with stamina, using [Thrust] to kill one with a head shot as he bound up the stairs, then turning to the next platform and using [Flows-Like-Water] to slide across the tiles towards the gap with the track, killing two more monsters. A third one he used [Thrust] again, blasting the monster to slam into a pillar.


    He turned and looked to where he was. There was one more gray humanoid monster coming from an office. No train yet at the tracks, pillars and benches on tan walls. He glanced back out a broken window and saw the growing gleam across the horizon of the fire, broken up by train stations. The next train was still a ways away.


    He turned back to the slow moving monster and fired off a [Cross Skill: Whirling Axe] at the monster, green spear hitting it and knocking it over. He stepped up and stabbed it quickly, then walked up the steps and looked in the office. A chest there. He stepped out of the office and used his shadow hands to open it and grab a bunch of packages out of it. He stuffed it all into his ring, vowing to look later.


    Everyone was piling up to the station. The train was coming too, so he leapt off the stairs and watched as it pulled in, and he stepped aboard, making room for everyone else to get in. There was a hooded figure at the other end of the train, but he set himself between the figure and his friends piling on.


    The doors closed and the figure held a hand up. His skin was blue, even though Corvayne couldn''t see his face. ¡°Peace. I''m just enjoying a floor where I can ride forever.¡±


    Wick was looking behind her. ¡°What about the fire?¡±


    ¡°This line never turns... the trains moves a little faster then the fire.¡±


    Nyxion looked around. ¡°Where''s an exit? Or does it change?¡±


    The figure shrugged. ¡°I don''t know. I''ve only seen a handful of people since I found this floor. Nobody ever came back to talk to me.¡±


    The next station was coming up. Corvayne did have a question. ¡°Don''t you need to eat?¡±


    ¡°Oh no! I live on ambient mana. This floor has enough for me to sit and watch the scenery fly by. Of course, it''s a little bland, but I like trains. So this is enough for me, thank you.¡±


    Corvayne looked at the rest of the group. ¡°Okay. Just be careful if a monk shows up after us. That guy''s dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Ah. Thanks for the warning, but I''d not worry. I am good at making friends.¡± The figure waved at them as they tensed at the slowing train. The station they were in was larger, with a platform extending across the way to a track that was bending from entering the station to running perpendicular to the fire wall''s path. More of the strange humanoids started to stir. They looked like mummies, sort of. Corvayne switched to his two handed sword, just battering them out of the way as he lead the charge across the station.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Wick was huffing and yelling behind him as he barreled across the station. ¡°That train goes sideways! We could get cooked!¡±


    ¡°There''s no stairway down here. I don''t know how good the tracking is, but I want him to get stuck.¡±


    ¡°He can just teleport!¡± Wick called out.


    Corvayne brought his blade low and swept it up, through part of a bench as he hit the side of a monster and sent it flying into the air, hitting a rafter. His shadow limbs darted out to another monster and jabbed it through the neck. Corvayne was burning through his stamina but it payed off as they hustled to the next track.


    He huffed as he stopped running near where the track was, the way clear for the moment.  ¡°He can''t do it without limits. You saw him running between teleports, right?¡±


    Corvayne put his sword back on his pack as he checked the line. A train was coming. Looking forward, he saw the track went upwards as well as sideways. If they didn''t find an exit there, would they keep going sideways until they got cooked? Was he taking another stupid risk? The fire wall was a thickening band of white light under the dark brown clouds on the horizon. He could see it swallow up a building as he watched.


    Mister I brought up the rear with Seru, who was sweating. Corvayne saw that Nyxion looked worried too, and Lady Blood Claw was a light gray, face stuck in a frown. It was odd to see her skin match her silvery hair.


    The next train pulled up, blessedly empty. They got aboard in the ten seconds the train was there. The car shot out of the station then went flying around the corner and up a ramp, nearly knocking him off his feet. He saw Wick about to fall and grabbed the hem of her robe, while his shadow hands wrapped around a bar and kept up upright. He pulled her close after a moment and she jabbed him a few times with her fist before she stepped back, embarrassed.


    ¡°Sorry! Habit! Thanks for the save Corvayne.¡±


    He rubbed his ribs. ¡°Any time. You''re getting stronger.¡± He turned back, staring at the line of burning white, parts of it shining from the clouds. It was hundreds of feet tall, and he had a feeling it''d cook him all the same no matter how high up on a station he was. His only hope was the monk wouldn''t be able to follow them.


    The train reached another station. This one was floating in mid air, but otherwise was similar to others. Inside, a squad of weird dry humaniods stood ready. Behind them, Corvayne saw what looked like a lit stairway upwards where there should have been a wall or window to nothing. He felt the ground starting to tremble, and the windows were getting brighter.


    Wick opened fire with her wand, two disruption bolts flying out and slamming the first of what must have been twelve of the monsters. Nyxion clapped a hand on Corvayne''s shoulder and strode forward past him, glaring as he unleashed his aura, slowing the first attackers. The noble''s shields and fear effects did a lot to neutralize the monsters already pitiful offense. Nyx somehow was directing his belt to bounce the monsters off their feet then walking past them to slam his mace down on them as they tried to get back up.


    Mister I fired a few arrows, one of them triggering the weird bugstorm again. The swarm swelled for a  moment and killed two of the monsters in the back. Corvayne and Lady Blood Claw were a little slower to act but each took one of Nyxion''s flanks and used two handed swords to swat and slice the monsters. As soon as the last one dropped they broke for the stairs, even as the station started rumbling. The air had started to warm up as they ran the last stretch to the stairs.


    It was a clean looking tile stairway, but Corvayne knew it was an exit from the orange arrow pointing upwards with a stick figure climbing up and over a line of skulls. He didn''t want to risk the stairwell not being entirely safe and bounded up the stairs, slowing only to see his friends were with him as he came to a landing and ran up side stairs. He noticed as he ran the air had cooled and the trembling had stopped by the time he was on the second landing.


    Wick and Nyxion were right behind him, with Mister I and Lady Blood Claw next. Seru came last, huffing.


    They had beat the wall of fire, but they still were in danger from the monk. If the wall hadn''t been as close as it was, he might have taken them another station sideways.


    Seru coughed. ¡°Okay that was bullshit. We didn''t get any loot even!¡±


    Corvayne started up the next white stairway. It smelled like strong chemical cleaner. ¡°I got a chest on the first station we got off on. Not going to check it yet. Gotta keep going. If he has a way of tracking us, he''s going to keep chasing us.¡±


    He stepped up to the next floor and blinked. The view of the next area was blinding white buildings, many of them resembling smoothed trees with dome topped branches. Mixed in with these white structures were blue windows and tinted glass tubes. Unlike most floors, he saw barely any mist limiting his view of the superstructure in the far distance, bridging the plane he was standing on to one that extended upwards into the clouds. The horizontal space had white lines that were probably cities, but also patches of green forest and blue water. A few spindly lines extended from the ground to vanish into the blue sky. Looking off to the side of the immense form they were standing on, he saw a faint hint of part of another ring.


    Wick tugged his shoulder. ¡°It''s a ring world! Do you think they have two headed aliens? I wanna see one!¡±


    Nyxion looked at the clean looking plaza and fountain. ¡°Do you hear music?¡±


    As they stopped talking and started walking, Corvayne could hear soft wind chimes, or music that evoked them. A breeze carried the scent of the ocean. He tensed a little as they came around a building and saw an open area with white robed figures walking around. They didn''t look human, with some having bleached white skin, others blue. Some of them had umbrellas for the sun, and a few looked like they were playing crystal instruments. The old fear he had about killing with the goblins on the first floor returned. They were not acting like monsters.


    Wick stepped ahead. ¡°More aliens!¡±


    Nyxion tisked her. ¡°The murder monk is chasing us.¡±


    Wick stiffened a little, realizing that she had for a moment let the reason they were here slip her mind. She looked around wistfully. ¡°Okay. If we can bury this guy and clear our names... I''d like to come back here.¡±


    A pair of the white robed beings walked past the group, nodding but otherwise heading to wherever it was they were going.


    Lady Blood Claw gestured. ¡°They are people. That''s good, this might be a town floor. At least that usually means it''s safe zone. From monsters, at least.¡± She glanced back over her shoulder.


    Wick pointed at her. ¡°Quick, how do you ask tower-folks to tell you where the stairs up are?¡±


    LBC looked confused, but approached a blue skinned person wearing a white robe. ¡°Pardon me. We''re travelers, can you tell us where the up stairs is?¡±


    The person raised their head and said ¡°Ah! I thought you were cosplaying travelers! I was right.¡± He smiled and gestured past the fountain. ¡°Library, the large building with white and blue bands. The third door on the far left leads to a stairway. Find prosperity, wanderers. May you succeed at your quest.¡±


    Wick patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Thanks! If I ever come back, I owe you lunch!¡±


    They rushed past a few lingering people in the plaza, climbing steps to a raised pedestrian bridge giving them a better view of the nearby landscape, including an ocean dotted with white and blue crystals. The library was about a mile distant but recognizable for it''s banded lines of white and blue, changing thickness and direction on the side of the building to outline a book in a wood-carving sort of way. They had to just go down a hill and through a park.


    Corvayne turned to Lady Blood Claw, who had shifted to charcoal gray as she ran. ¡°How good is the ability to follow us? If he was forced to another floor... could he reroute?¡±


    She spoke between big breaths as they ran down the broad steps. ¡°I think it points him to the exit he needs to take to find us. The train stations on that floor might actually help us... if he tries to line up with our station expecting to climb to the exit he needs to get to, it might force him to get creative before he can find the right way to go. Even so, he moves much faster then we do. He might be able to keep pace with one of those trains, and even a wrong exit means he can probably find a different way to us.¡±


    Corvayne was focused on going down the stairs and avoiding people in white robes to the point he didn''t notice until he was right by them that one person, sitting on the steps between them and the last stretch to the library, was wearing a black suit.


    Corvayne stopped himself before getting too close. Even the non human tower residents on this floor felt more human then the pale woman sitting there. There was something wrong about the woman in front of him, something that warned him to stay away. Her black suit was... off. He couldn''t say if it was too old, or too new and stiff, just that it was wrong. As was the way she stood, unfolding with her arms sort of snaking upwards to where they folded above her head, which rose too smoothly moment later to meet them as the rest of her unfurled. The pose was very human, but something about the thing in front of him just struck him with a desire to run. It didn''t help that she was about 8 feet high.


    ¡°You shouldn''t be in here.¡± The woman said. The delivery had a sort of hissing steam pipe aspect to it.


    ¡°Men in Black! We don''t got TIME! Just go around her.¡±


    Nyxion shook his head. ¡°Wick that''s clearly a woman...¡±


    If the woman wasn''t using [Flows-Like-Water] she had something else like it as she in an eyeblink slid in front of Corvayne.


    The woman in black reached out for him. ¡°You. How did you get in here?¡±


    ¡°We walked in!¡± He ducked under a grasping arm, bringing his spear around to stop the other hand coming for him. The woman closed her hand around the tip, then the hand jerked back like a serpent. She hopped in Corvayne''s way then looked at her thrashing limb.


    ¡°You wounded it.¡± the suit wearing woman frowned showing her hand off, dripping orange blood that changed to neon blue as it poured from her. Corvayne swerved away from her, right as the blood itself formed links like a chain then snaked out of the puddle at him. His own shadow limbs grabbed the chain, and he felt one retract and vanish to avoid being ripped apart as the blood-chain formed a lasso and snagged a shadow limb.


    An arrow slammed into the thing''s neck, but the creature just pulled it out, even as the arrow exploded into a swarm of insects, concealing the woman for a moment before vanishing, leaving her unharmed.


    ¡°Should I fight? Ah. I suppose I''m still on lunch. Hmm.¡± Instead of responding she looked thoughful.


    Corvayne had spun, ready for the next attack, but saw that it had instead sat down on a bench to eat a sandwich, letting Seru and Mister I edge around it as it pondered, apparently, it''s lunch break.


    The library was close. He spared a glance back and saw a familiar figure at the crest of the hill, metal staff gleaming for a moment before the figure appeared a quarter of the way down the hill. A mixture of fear and annoyance raced through him. Didn''t this guy ever take a break?


    ¡°He''s here! Go!¡±


    Corvayne saw Wick trip and sprinted back, picked her up and throwing her over his shoulder while his shadow hands grabbed his two handed sword, then ran for the door. He beat Nyxion to the tinted blue glass door off from the main entrance. Throwing it open, he saw a clean tile stairway leading up. He stepped in, setting Wick down.


    Running back out, he saw Seru lagging behind, with Mister I trying to encourage her. Argyle was jogging through the park now, almost to the woman in black eating a sandwich. He''d overtake Seru before she got to the door. Corvayne gritted his teeth. He didn''t need to win. He just had to buy them a few seconds.


    That''s when he thought, when Argyle teleported and in the same moment appeared with the woman in black laying him out with an arm-bar. The monk, running into the arm and falling over, had a look of shock on his face that made Corvayne, for a short moment, actually grin.


    Any levity was knocked out of him when he felt something like a string of cruise missiles detonating. The force knocked him off his feet and triggered his body armor''s defensive mist, creating a wall of water that was knocked across the ground behind him as compressed air blasted across the plaza. It took his scrambled brain a moment to process that the noise had been the woman in black crying out in rage.


    ¡°HOW DARE YOU!? YOU CHEAP KNOCK OFF!¡±


    Glass rained down as windows shattered. Corvayne pushed himself to his feet, all sounds dulled. He saw Seru was screaming, holding her ears with blood coming out. Mister I was sitting on the ground, blinking. Corvayne ran to Seru and pulled her up, and with her leaning on his shoulder leaned over and helped Mister I get his feet back under him.


    He looked behind them to see that Argyle took a swing at the woman with his metal staff. Corvayne saw her catch the staff with no injuries, then punch the monk in the jaw, hitting him hard enough to send him rolling. He saw Lady Blood Claw clutching the door with one hand, her head with the other. He was in the door frame when another sonic blast came. He felt the words in his bones. Seru was screaming and crying, and even Mister I looked miserable.


    ¡°NO YOU DONT!¡±


    Corvayne managed to keep himself from being knocked over and grabbed a very dazed Seru and Mister I then dragged them through the door. As they entered the stairway, he turned and saw that Argyle had tried to slip past again, but got caught mid teleport again. He didn''t push his luck, instead turning and helping Seru and Mister I up the steps. He couldn''t quite hear Wick, as his hearing now had been replaced with a constant buzzing.


    He stumbled up the last step and felt something like relief as he fell onto a waxed wood floor that smelled a little like booze before passing out.

 Chapter 66: The Capital I Inn

    Corvayne was still a little groggy from having something like a dozen sonic booms go through him a few minutes back, so he remembered making it up the stairs but now how he ended up at a greenish wooden table in a bar that looked like a hybrid of a fantasy bar and a modern jazz club. Dark blue neon signs suggested the bar, which looked a normal size, actually went on for possibly miles. If not for warm light above his table, and Lady Blood Claw watching over him, he probably would have panicked. Especially since he saw people sitting all around him, filling up tables.


    Lady Blood Claw looked over and turned red, glaring at someone who pulled up a chair.


    A male voice, sounding annoyed, came from Corvayne''s side. ¡°Well, I don''t know what that was, but your luck won''t hold up.¡±


    Corvayne winced from the noise, then turned his head and saw a purple robed version of Argyle, sipping a coconut with an umbrella dangling off the side.


    ¡°That doesn''t seem very monk-like.¡± Corvayne mumbled.


    The monk glared at Corvayne. ¡°I''m strong enough I don''t give a shit what you people think.¡±


    Corvayne raised his hands. ¡°Oh. Thank you ever so much for visiting us mere peasants.¡±


    The old monk sneered, rubbing the tip of his white goatee with two fingers. ¡°My fault for letting you get away at Miss Seru''s home. I promise it won''t happen again. You can run into here, but there''s nowhere to hide. There''s nowhere I can''t find you out in Cascadia, either.¡± He sipped his drink, and looked at it. ¡°Pretty good.¡±


    Corvayne groaned. ¡°Any other pearls of wisdom from a serial killer?¡± He secretly was going to order whatever Argyle had after they were done trading pointless barbs.


    ¡°I am not some mere animal killing for fun. You must know what I want. Give me the girl, and I may permit you to live.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know who you''re talking about, but as my foul mouthed friends would say... Go fuck yourself.¡± Corvayne lazily flipped the monk off.


    Argyle smirked, gesturing with his drink. ¡°I''ll kill you in a way where you''ll have a few moments to regret dismissing a good-will offer to spare what, five lives for one?¡±


    Corvayne looked at the man. ¡°I wouldn''t make a deal with a coward who''s afraid to actually meet us face to face for a fight.¡±


    Argyle surged to his feet, pushing his chair back. ¡°You ran from ME! Bah... when you speak it''s nothing more then the yipping of a weak dog!¡±


    Corvayne leaned back. ¡°Who''s the dog here, us? Us, going about our day? Or you, who''s now glued to the space port hoping to spot us before we decide sneak onto our ship?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what house''s stupid son you are. Perhaps you''re really Nyxion, given your walking mood-ring companion, but it matters not. Just remember, you''re a long way from Tripic, boy.¡±


    Corvayne tried to copy a look of bored superiority that Nyxion might take, as well as the dismissive drawl. ¡°Ah, at least I have exile as my excuse for leaving civilization. I''m sure whoever your master is, they didn''t send you to this dump of a planet because you''re the best at your job.¡±


    The monk''s face went red and he reared a fist back, and voice that was so low he assumed someone had started a base intoned ¡°NO FIGHT¡± as hand that made grunt''s look dainty appeared out of the shadows behind Argyle and grabbed the man''s torso, pulling him back into a cloud of gloom before he could squash Corvayne''s head like a grape or whatever he was going to do.


    Corvayne looked down, and used his boot to roll the abandoned coconut in the direction the hand dragged him. ¡°You forgot this!¡±


    Corvayne looked over to Lady Blood Claw. She smiled at him, skin glowing pink. ¡°I''m glad I''m going to die following an interesting man.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Nyxion''s a real character.¡± He said without changing his voice. ¡°Speaking of, where is everyone?¡±


    ¡°Exploring the Inn. You can go as far or deep as you like and still get back to our table in three steps when you make that your goal.¡±


    He stood up and nodded at her. ¡°I''m going to go find Wick then.¡±


    A minute later he was holding his own coconut with a straw and looking around the bar. Doing so made him dizzy, as he discovered that space seemed to have more then 360 degrees in the place... he could keep turning for four spins before he saw the same table. Using the blue signs of the bar to orient himself, he first started walking deeper into the seat of tables along the bar. Oddly enough, after a minute of walking between tables he saw a girl sitting at a table who looked a little like Wick and nearly went up to her to ask her why she was sitting away from everyone, but got closer and Not-Wick turned and he could see under the hood she was wearing her hair was brown, and she was sporting an a scar and had a notch cut in one of her ears. She caught that he was looking at her and looked him up and down then flashed him a predatory smile.


    Corvayne was sorely tempted for a moment to find out exactly how much Wick and her doppleganger matched but his worry that Argyle would find where the tower entrance was made him shake his head sadly and he resumed thinking about Wick, once more letting his feet guide him.


    His path took him deeper, to another short woman in a blue robe sitting at a different table with another wizard-looking girl. Once more he''d swear that it was his Wick but with a different blue dye in her hair. In every other way she could be Wick''s twin, down to her blurting a word out extra loud to her companion in a scratchy voice. She seemed to notice him and turned to look at him over her shoulder, first annoyed, then with what looked like consideration. This version loosened her robe up a little to show off some of her neck and shoulder and succeeded in forcing Corvayne to turn around.


    The third one was a Wick look alike priestess with a chaste looking outfut. At least until she moved her leg and a slit on her dress revealed a garter strap which instantly made Corvayne turn around to the bar a foot behind him, which was nowhere in sight a moment previously, and ask for a glass of ice water. Five sips and a few moments staring at the dark teal rafters above helped him resist the urge to keep looking for interested Wicks.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    After some wrestling with visions of a Wick harem Corvayne took a deep breath and pulled together his self control. He was looking for his Wick, and only his Wick.


    Squeezing past a few more tables, he reached a wall lined with booths. Picking to walk right for no particular reason, he saw Wick sitting in a booth across from a figure in a cloak, taking up the dark corner of the booth. Wick looked at him coming and held up a hand. She pressed a stack of gold coins across the table at the man, then held up five fingers. The man shrugged, and took the stack of coins.


    She stood up and shook the figure''s hand. She frowned at Corvayne. ¡°Bad news. I''ll be at the bar. Talk to Stabby there and get the details.¡±


    He watched her blow past him. What now? He turned back to ''Stabby'' and sat down at the booth. The figure had no obvious features, aside from being tall and slim. It could have been a man, or a very tall woman. Corvayne could see a mouth and chin under the hood, but it was indistinct. Maybe it''s what machines felt like when they tried to look at his cloak... There was something about the man that his brain refused to lock onto. Or woman, the features gave nothing away.


    ¡°Ahem. Hello Corvayne. You can call me Stabby as well. Nice to meet you, your lady friend told me about you. As did people looking for you!¡±


    ¡°Someone else is looking for me?¡± Corvayne leaned across the table. Stabby had a smooth voice that was also gruff and manly but silky and feminine all at once. Trying to parse who or what he was talking to felt like more then he could handle. He decided to forget trying to get the extra details as it didn''t change that Stabby could help him figure out how they were being tracked.


    ¡°Argyle, as Wick knows. But I already don''t like Argyle. He put a bounty of what amounts to one copper on you. Cheap bullshit. Nobody is going to hunt you for a copper! He is stingy with essence. A pity. That''s how you actually get results. No, he''s using your contracts to try to hunt you himself. See?¡±


    The figure grabbed what Corvayne thought was a menu, but was actually a sort of chalkboard. On it was his name. Bounty alive: 168,000,000 essence Filed by: (defunct), currently on hold. Partial claim paid out to Anastasia. Bounty dead: .001 credit. Filed by: Argyle Baraboo 4/13/2900. Automatically placed in (ultra ultra low queue).


    He could see why the monk had annoyed the bounty granting figure with the one penny figure. ¡°Partial claim by Anastasia? Also, is the live bounty high for these things?¡±


    ¡°Getting you to the client would be worth a LOT of cash... if it was active. There''s a small sum of money for information that I add to the bounty that I feel would aid in finding you. A woman cashed that in. I was hoping the info bounty would stay whole, to be honest. I mean the whole thing is a pain, as I can''t clear the bounty itself to just pocket the money until the client is dead, or you are.¡±


    He did the math and it dawned on him the odd and likely extremely powerful being in front of him could make a lot of money by just finishing the job and giving themselves the money.


    Stabby waved a hand as Corvayne got ready to bolt. ¡°Relax. I am out of the game here, and you don''t have the highest bounty I could cash in. Not even close. Even if I could... I never broke a contract before. I loved killing, but I was always a professional.¡±


    Corvayne eased his bottom back into the booth as Stabby went on. ¡°As for everything else... I''ve very rarely seen a defunct tag. It means the tower itself can''t make heads or tails of whats going on with whoever put the bounty out there... it looks like you''re stumped.¡±


    ¡°Well, if I''m going to help you figure out who defunct is, first I need to know how the whole contract thing works.¡± Corvayne figured that would steer the conversation in a way that would tell him how he was being tracked.


    ¡°You supply money to me to form as the ''reward'' for completion. I keep some, obviously. To have me form a bounty you need a target''s name, or a specific description. Something like ''the masked desperado who keeps stealing the hearts of women in my village'' is good enough, though if it''s a bunch of guys all playing the same character, well, you have to reissue the bounty. Anyway, cashing in a live bounty, most of the time a hunter brings a target in, they sit in stasis, then we pop them out for the client. When the hunter comes back around again, the money is there. Kills are easier, they just bring us the body or something distinct specified in the contract.¡±


    Corvayne folded his arms. ¡°Okay, there''s a lot of money posted by... someone... to capture me alive?¡±


    ¡°No, it''s in limbo. There''s a lot of things screwed up here. The bounty was posted over fifty thousand years. It''s possible it''s some sort of mix-up on a cosmic level because you don''t look or feel like anyone who''s been alive for a hundred years, let alone since near the start of the system. No offense.¡±


    Fifty thousand years? He sat back, laughing a little. Stabby just folded their hands.


    Corvayne blinked. ¡°Is that serious? I''m a little bewildered. I''m not yet thirty seasons old, and the years were about the same length where I was as they are to Cascadia. Did something happen like, some other guy had my name and I inherited his bounty?¡±


    The hooded figure nodded while somehow keeping the shadowy hood from revealing any features. ¡°Well, that''s what I wanted to ask you! There''s some funny business going on with your name! I''ve only seen this a few times before. Mister Argyle triggered it with Lady Blood Claw just now. Oh, he''s still trying to throw pocket change your way to remove the hold on the bounty, while blustering about how I have to tell him how much he needs. Which I do, but I can drag that conversation out.¡±


    ¡°So there''s something making it hard to add to my bounty, and it also happened to LBC?¡± His mind drifted to the certainty she had about him being cursed.


    Stabby put a rough hand on their chin, then started tapping the table with the same hand, suddenly delicate with nails painted blood red. ¡°LBC? Oh, Miss Claw. Yes. Something''s wrong with her name. It''s like trying to cut your way through a ribcage: It works if you press hard enough but it''s a bumpy ride. I mean, that means something because I am having thousands of conversations right now, and usually issuing bounties is just me.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Can I ask you about being hunted? It seems this guy can track us inside the tower with his bounty, but for a bit it''s going to turn off if we match his price posted?¡±


    ¡°Yes. You know how your instincts tell you things? His right now also tell him which doors and stairs to take, as well as how physically close you are when on the same floor. He can''t split clones off his clones, so he has to either send his proxy off into the tower it''s in to find more money, or run another clone up a tower and hand it off.¡± Stabby shrugged. ¡°I''d say you have about an hour to clear out of the tower before he gets enough money to re-establish the link and can send a clone out of the tower entrance you came in.¡±


    Corvayne winced at learning he was on a time table. ¡°Why tell us this? Or do you help all the clients you put contracts out on?¡±


    Stabby shook it''s head. ¡°Oh no. See, the point of this is to encourage growth through conflict! That, and I like watching people fight, and the interplay of hunter and hunted and trying to outfox each-other with the system. That''s not happening, because this prick thinks the greatest assassin in the universe is what, a bloodhound to be rented? I might respect him if he was down on his luck, but he''s loaded in magic gear.¡±


    Corvayne thought about all this. ¡°Okay, so my name is on the books from a really old event and nobody is really looking to take me alive. Someone named Anastasia got the money for spilling the beans about... old Corvayne? Or me. So if someone comes in and goes ''uhh we paid for you to find this guy, where is he?'' what happens?¡±


    ¡°Oh. If they could somehow prove they are the person who issued the first bounty, and it was for you, I''d reopen the reward for taking you in alive. But I''d say that''s unlikely.¡±


    ¡°Can you describe who put the bounty in? Or do you, I don''t know, replace yourself with a younger version every so often?¡±


    The figure shook his head. ¡°Sorry kiddo. I''m more like a gestalt of people who fit the bill for this role, and because there''s something wrong with whoever gave the bounty, I can''t tell you who it was.¡±


    Corvayne smiled. ¡°Thanks Stabby. I mean, it worries me that I might have some ancient evil looking for me because I share the same name with someone else...¡±


    ¡°Careful. I didn''t say that was the reason. There''s something greater linking you to this bounty aside from just having the same name. You are either him, or have some sort of overlap. Maybe one of those reincarnation things that has been happening more and more?¡±


    ¡°Okay, can I use this to put a bounty on Argyle? Dead.¡± Corvanye dipped into his ring and pulled out a handful of the rainbow ghost cores from the third floor. Stabby leaned over the table and smiled, bloody and cracked lips shifting to pale flawless ones.


    ¡°Oh yes. That will do quite nicely. I will mark him for five thousand essence. A little cheaper then my normal ten percent rate so you get a nice even number on the bastard. Would you also like to take out your own bounty on Argyle?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Corvayne stood up and shook Stabby''s hand. As chaotic as it looked, it very much felt like something solid coated in warm blood. He was surprised to pull his hand away and find it clean.


    Stepping away and directing himself to their table, he saw that Mister I and Wick had joined Lady Blood Claw. Nyxion came back a moment later with a mug of beer.


    Wick shook her head. ¡°Don''t get too comfortable! Once Seru is back, we gotta move. I don''t doubt the monk can make money pretty fast in a tower, and once he matches the gold I put down he''s going to be able to track us again.¡±


    Seru pulled up a chair a few minutes later and set down a plate of beef nachos that instantly got Corvayne to salivating. The woman pushed the plate forward.


    Wick looked furious, which made Corvayne reverse his decision to ask if Seru was sharing. Wick pointed at the plate. ¡°Do you get that Argyle is here? We were going to go-¡±


    Seru smiled. ¡°Listen, I told you, I could get info right? Well I have a heap of it. All it cost me was some jewelery and a weird promise.¡±


    Corvayne, having read a lot of stories, wanted to ask her to tell him exactly what she agreed to. Images of her being dragged into a fiery portal by demons came to him, no thanks to a play the Watchers put on featuring that sort of thing.


    Wick leaned back a little bit, tapping the table. ¡°Oh did you?¡±


    Seru rolled her eyes, then tossed a pad of paper onto the table. Nyxion snorted. ¡°This ought to be good.¡±


    He lifted the pad and then squinted at it as he set it down, turning to her while rapping the pad with his knuckle. ¡°How in the devil...?¡±


    Seru smiled as Nyxion flipped through pages and pages of notes. Corvayne though the smug look on her face, for once, was backed up by her notes. She leaned in, looking all around before locking eyes with Corvayne. ¡°I told you, I''m good at what I do.¡±

 Chapter 67: Tower Powers First Issue

    Corvayne threaded his way back to their table with a pair of fruity coconut drinks. He could sort of see the tables in the bar shifting around him as he moved back to the table, pulling aside a green wood chair to rejoin his friends. He set Wick''s drink in front of her and she grabbed it and practically attacked the straw. Corvayne couldn''t tell if she was excited or angry at a glance, just that she was intensely feeling something. Nyxion was still flipping through a thick pad of paper Seru had set down.


    Seru was just grinning, facing Nyxion but looking sideways at Corvayne. ¡°I told you, I''m good.¡±


    The only person not extremely interested in the pad was Mister I, who was instead picking at a large plate of appetizers he had ordered when Seru had come back with a plate of her own. The older man stopped eating a moment and nudged the plate towards Corvayne, hand gesturing for him to try what looked like seasoned steak strips teleported into french fries drizzled with cheese, peppers, and onions. The fries and steak looked to be fused at a molecular level, as a french fry cleanly bisected by the steak let him pick the piece up, and eating the meat he could taste parts where there was both steak and fry and pepper mixed in. Wick had spent a solid thirty seconds laughing at the name of the dish, the ''Philly experiment''.


    Nyxion passed the pad to Corvayne and Wick''s side of the table, Nyx and Lady Blood Claw both looking between them and Seru who was buffing her nails. LBC met Corvayne''s eyes and nodded, skin a business-first charcoal gray. ¡°Some of it sounds like things I had forgotten... so I think we can trust most of what''s in here.¡±


    The first page of the legal pad was a list of people, then questions and answers. There were two questions on page one, then he could see Seru put a single question on the other pages to make sure everything fit. He read along as Wick flipped through it.


    A1: Burly cyborg with leather and chain mail armor. Lots of weapons, unshaved. 10 silver per question. Nobody else at table.


    A2: Serious tall thin elf with glasses, staff. 1 Gold per question. Rest of party thin female elves and one young man with black hair brown eyes.


    Kept moving closer as we spoke.


    A3: Sharp-eyed man with a flat straw hat. Green eyes may have glowed, slightly. Had three shadow-people sitting at the table with him. Made me promise that I do 3 quests for ''Gygax on behalf of Lythandies and Falenti'' and he''d answer any number of questions.


    A4: N/A


    Q: How do you for-sure transfer worlds in the tower?


    A1: You daft? Go sideways. Keep your eyes peeled for anything that don''t show up on your planet forming a doorway. Once you go through a few, step over, sink, and leave. Oh, have a destination in mind or you''ll just (unintelligible) right on back to where you came from.


    QA1: Sink?


    A1: I''ll give you that free girl. Sink means go down steps. Doors work better the further up you are. Keep your silver, anyone will tell you this free.


    A2: Go through doors. Five usually is enough as long as you don''t walk into floor types you see in the base tower you are leaving. Walk down to the bottom floor and out an exit arch while thinking about going to a different world.


    A3: Go through world bending doors on a fifth or tenth layer. Go into the section''s challenge waiting room. Waiting rooms tend to draw from the world the rift is rooted on. When you get two in a row that shouldn''t or couldn''t exist on your world, go down and out. Clearing a challenge then going up and out works pretty well on one-way floors as long as they don''t match the planet you''re trying to leave. As far as I know about going to a specific planet, you need to know if the rift is rooted there and go through it up or down willing yourself to go to that place.


    QA3: Rift?


    A3: You call them towers so I''ll try to remember that term, but same thing.


    Q: How can you stay hidden in the tower from people tracking you?


    A1: It''s a bitch. Zig zag between Under-Sky and the real world. Change up your exits and entrances by doing at least a few sideways doors... a few miles make a difference. Make yourself hard to call out in a single sentence. Keep your real name to yourself. Never travel with someone well known or easy to describe. (laughs, points to cybernetics on face) I''m a bad example, ain''t I?


    A2: (looked over at the party leader, smiled, then nodded) If someone tracks you, they either have a power or you have a bounty. Dispelling effects work for powers. Paying off your own bounty is an option, or at least slows them to post another bounty to keep following. Most tracking powers, like bounties, need for the target to be inside the dungeon-scape with the target or close on the outside. You can outrun the range of a tracking power if there''s lots of doors and floors between you and who''s hunting you. If you are alone, a large party could even the odds, especially if you have someone super strong.


    A3: Wear a piece of equipment that blocks psychic tracking, one that blocks soul attacks, and something with at least a little ''fate'' resistance. If you are not close, say, on the same planet or same layer the distance severely limits the ability for someone to find you via bounties. I personally recommend setting traps and an ambush at a hard to reach door and kill bounty hunters until you''re marked as ''Extremely low value'' or you kill the person hunting you.


    Q: What''s at the top of the tower?


    A1: Don''t know. Past 50 is dangerous. Starts getting nasty. Risk isn''t worth it.


    A2: I''ve heard a few people boast they''ve hit floor 100 but I don''t think it''s true. One said it''s paradise. Another said they met their god and fought them. A third story is that reaching the top of the tower you can trade everything you got there for a wish. The last is that people who reach the top ascend and become something we can''t understand, a silly thing to say. How would we know that? Since your paying well, I can tell you that the first time you clear certain big round number floors is important. We''ve cleared floor 60 twice. Many groups never go past 30, as that''s where it gets hard.


    A3: A roof! Ha Ha Ha!


    Q: What''s the fastest way to get stronger?


    A1: Find an Under-sky that that''s easy, like a fire theme if you got a set armor that blocks fire entirely (held up a bracer with red jewels), find the floors that are easy to hunt on, run around each of them or one lucrative one with weaklings for a while, then go up and clear it. Repeat until you get sick of it and settle down and pop out some kids because it takes forever. Don''t try to get strong fast, kid. You''ll be at a table alone, trying to tell some fresh faced newbie not to trade their friends for this. (Gestures to himself)


    A2: Given you asked about a bounty before, first make sure nobody is hunting you! Of course, with strong friends like us, that wouldn''t be a problem. Anyway! Find a pillar near a high danger rated area, ideally dense and with no projectile monsters, and one near a village or some other safe area. You want a safe area where you have an ally or someone you hired to help patch you up. Put essence into the safe pillar to go to the danger area pillar, fight until you''re exhausted or in danger, then recall back to the safe pillar. Do this a few times then clear the section of the dungeon-scape. We have a few spots for newbies we know about that work great for this.


    QA2: Pillars? Like the stone ones?


    A2: (wanted another coin) Correct. You can return to one you''ve attuned to that you think of as your home pillar. Feeding them essence, especially your blood essence, attunes them better and powers movement. It''s expensive, sadly. You don''t have a mentor to help you, do you? We are always looking for outstanding kids to join us.


    A3: Get strong allies. Do what you''re doing, and put money down for information on the system. Complete barkeeper requests, like the ones you''re doing for your god on those being''s behalf. Search out all the other special waiting rooms and use them. Develop powers that synergize with each other and your class. Ask aloud to reroll ones you don''t like after you clear a section challenge before you walk to the treasure room. You''re a monk? Don''t let me forget to show you [Springwind] so you can learn it later.


    Q: How do classes work?


    A1, A2: (A1 wanted 10,000 to go over the ''basics'', A2 said they had a book for 500,000 that covered everything a system researcher knew about tier 1 through 3 classes. I said no thank you.)


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    A3: Intent with a little luck and a lot of doing. The system isn''t well understood by any one person because very few skills or powers can actually look at everything. Your systems seem rooted in actions, skills, and jobs. Like a baker is someone who uses their cooking skills or [Skill] to make a lot of bread, a spear man trains their [spear skill], a soldier has class abilities for an army. Try to keep in mind your destination and then follow through. For you, young lady, I''d say consider aiming for a class concept like [Bloodhound] or [Street Enforcer] or [Bareknuckle Inquistor] if you want to punch things and ask questions.


    *Used ''air quotes'' for brackets.


    Q: What is essence?


    A1 (laughed) I think you should go home. You are in over your head. It''s money and power. That''s on the house.


    A2''s Male friend: Do you know what experience points are? Also, are you here alone? Oh, that''s a shame, but yeah, the same as EXP is an easy way to think about it.


    *He was elbowed by a third party member for asking.


    A3: It would take hours to get into what it is in terms of how it connects matter to the realm of collective unconscious to potential universes that powers transpose. Just think ''soul energy'' or ''experience points'' or ''chi'' but essence is the usual name, given the name because more of it makes you more YOU in some way.


    Q: How would one get essence?


    A1: Kill monsters. The stronger they are, the more likely they crystallize some when they die. I''d rather just kill lots of weak ones, but if you get cocky? Big ones give a lot more. Going higher in the Under-Sky or a super-dungeon, places where the Under-Sky warns you there''s danger is the most lucrative. I''d tell you it''s not worth it but I see the greed on your face... just promise me you''ll stay the hell away from ultra-risk areas where it tells you to bring 10 or more people.


    A2: Kill strong enemies and high value chests to find crystals. Wish for essence whenever you sleep in this inn before facing the boss. Are you staying at the inn tonight?


    (I told them that answer will cost them 5 gold.)


    A3: Do exercise and eat in high essence areas. You can get some essence if you have dreams about fighting, if you are a lucid dreamer. Fighting monsters with tremendous power helps. Use a tool or ability that captures essence when you fight or kill things, otherwise killing is very inefficient. I mean, so is eating something alive but people do weird things to get more essence. Oh, you mean little crystals as in essence money? Ha, okay. Use a weapon or tool that crystallizes blood. For tools you can use it to extract from yourself or you need to tie the thing down. For weapons, don''t use them on yourself unless you are tired of living. I don''t need to tell you to use the pointy end when it''s a weapon, do I?


    Q: How do I learn magic?


    A1: I never bothered with it. Waste of time compared to picking up power and levels.


    A2: There are academies inside the dungeon-scape that can help you get better. Otherwise, on a tough set of floors, wish to learn to use magic when you defeat the guardian. Do you want tutoring? I know your limited on funds but we might work something out.


    A3: Find a spell book or a trainer, or do moderately hard layer sets over and over and wish for a casting power until it gives you one and changes your class. Then find a spell book, or trainer, or keep gaining levels to learn more spells. All three together is better. You can also get a bunch of powers to look at and tinker with magic. I don''t recommend the last unless you have resistance to the magic you''re experimenting with and have a lot of time on your hands. It''s not as easy as the books make it sound.


    Q: How do I get more powers from my god?


    A1: Why learn magic if you have a god? Greedy kid. Fine. Follow whatever people who worship him think a good person does to be a good follower, but be really careful. It''s an ugly world out there and you''re cute as a button and, no offense, as green as they come. You''re going to meet people who want to rip you off and worse. Adventurer priests are more trustworthy then folks in a church.


    A2: Oh! You''re a priest? Talk to a high level priest of your goddess''s church to consult your deity for quests. I recommend verifying with a detect faith scroll to avoid the number of troublemakers who pose as priest but are actually some form of demon or trickster god. Do you want an escort to a temple level?


    A3: Depends on if they are manifest or ascended or both. Manifest? Just follow the most popular holy book and convert people if possible. Ascended you can ''negotiate'' or appease by figuring out conducts that support them and their core concepts. Like, angry water gods like when you drown people who disrespect them in their own tub. A god who likes building things will be happy if you dedicate something impressive you make to her, or mark it with her holy symbol. Wear your holy symbol. Ah, a d20? Hahaha. Gygax likes D20s.


    QA3: What do those terms mean?


    A3: Manifest is when a god is made up whole cloth, out of thin air. Ascended is a real person who develops enough power and adherents that they become a god. Both is between the two. I suspect your god Gyxax, if your religion involves dice, is both manifest and ascended, with a more manifest bent if he''s been dead a long time.


    QA3: Wait, I never told you who I worshiped...


    A3: That''s not a question. What''s the problem? Don''t you have more to ask yet? Ah, you are learning. Courage is defying fear, not it''s absence!


    Q: How do I learn more about the system?


    A1: Pay someone who has a class that revolves around the system to tell you whatever. A few slum it here, but the big shots sit in safe cities and universities on civilized floors. They will suck your wallet dry.


    A2: Recruit someone into your guild or party who has observation based powers and set them up with tools and tomes that provide system mastery. Our party leader is a specialist, and you''ve spent a lot of money with us. We can examine you as a favor!


    A3: Intent matters. Do you want to know about everything? The things around you? Or just how to develop yourself? Scholars get into deep questions, adventurers just care about if something is good or bad when they find it, and the lone wolf type looks inward.


    Q: Any advice for fighting strong people?


    A1: Run.


    A2: If the difference is overwhelming in combat power, try to find another way to divert them. People are easy to trick if they see what they want to see. That''s risky... easier to team up other strong people... Or run.


    A3: Get stronger and don''t sit on your short-term resources, I mean, potions, scrolls, one use tools. You can''t use them if you''re dead anyway. I mean, do all that if you can''t just out and out run.


    Q: What do you know of The Watchers?


    A1: It''s a class of gear the Under-Sky sometimes makes. Weapons and shields as far as I''ve seen, with a cloak that''s extremely prized. Even the less impressive pieces are durable. (Shows me a black crystal knife slowly, then puts it away) Never broken or dulled on me once, best utility knife I''ve ever had.


    A2: Not a clue, though the university of Eh-Fada-Flouri might know. See professor Vallis. I won''t give my name, even for the gold, but bring her 3 goldfoil roses and it will warm her mood. That''s my little tip, is that making connections will help you on whatever you need to do.


    A3: The best of them broken apart, lost their way, lost their hope. Waiting for a chosen one. What do you think, Seru? Want to be the hero?


    QA3: Did I tell you my name?


    A3: (Just smiled at me. I thanked him for the interview and stood up to leave)


    Q: What do you know of The Magus?


    A1: He''s worshiped by a bunch of cultists. If you see the three dot mask, you either kill em or run. That''s it? Hey... (Pushes most the silver coins back) Listen, I just wanted money for a drink. I know you are happy now, this all seems big and exciting, but look at the scars and everything. Some day, if your lucky, something''s going to tell you it''s to quit this lifestyle. Remember me when that happens. Also... Don''t trust people in here right now. You found me because I -always- wish I could tell a younger, clueless me to give this up. If you walked into this bar looking to get laid by someone with red hair, you''ll meet a dozen people with red hair who want to sleep with you, get it? Everyone who you meet is looking for a nieve girl. Stay on the farm with mom and dad.


    A2: I think he''s some sort of boogyman, made up to scare mages, that took on a life of his own. Are you sure you can afford these questions? I can come to an arrangement for you to help us for a little while to get some gold back.


    (I declined, very firmly)


    We can help you. I know you have friends, but we''re one of the best connected and funded adventurer''s guild groups out there and we don''t offer many people a chance to try out for our party (Idon''tcaretheseguyssuck). It''s an offer most people would kill for, you know? This opportunity is your big chance...


    (I left the table, have heard this pitch as an influencer too many times)


    A3: (Prompted me to ask my last question as I was standing up to leave) Tell the foolish summoner, when you see him: To steal joy from a child marks you a villain. To steal clouds from the storm marks you as prey. To steal my flock from me marks you beyond death. I like you kid. Good luck, and stay away from porcupines. Oh, I told you I''d show you [Springwind]. (A shadow at his table stepped to an isle and did a dash back and forth strike like a windy yo-yo.)


    Corvayne looked up from the pages of notes to a smug Seru.


    ¡°See? While you guys were goofing off, I got a good three interviews. Cost me a lot of money and I guess I got asked to do some weird stuff, but hey... I did good right?¡±


    Wick as looking at her, hand trembling. ¡°If you see question givers 2 or 3 again, tell me IMMEDIATELY and do not go with them or accept any deals with them. Seru, do you hear me?¡±


    Nyxion waved Wick away and grabbed Seru''s hands, pumping them in an exaggerated handshake. ¡°You beautiful little snoop... Actually, before I praise you too much, how many sources did you turn down?¡±


    ¡°I rejected offers for information that seemed too cheap, too expensive, and from people who looked inexperienced. So five tables to get A1, two before A2, then A3 was next to A2''s table.¡±


    Mister I snapped his fingers. ¡°I know this riddle! A2 is the first station, A1 is the second, and A3 is past a third train station!¡±


    Wick was poking Corvayne. ¡°Do you see it? Two of those...¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I think the second group leader just wanted to sleep with her.¡± He looked at Seru. She didn''t seem bothered. Maybe it wasn''t that bad?


    That earned him a punch for some reason. Wick shook her wrist. ¡°Yeah, while ripping her off and asking her to go alone with them! Did they also have a white van?¡±


    Corvayne looked over and nodded at Seru. Given the length, he must have been knocked out for a while. ¡°It''s real good work Seru. Wick can you take pictures of these real quick, then let''s get to the boss?¡±


    A few snaps later the conversation was preserved. Corvayne made his way to the door out, a pair of double doors right next to the bar.


    As he put his hand on the door, there was a cough beside him, and he saw the barkeep push a drink his way. It looked... solid green. Looking up at the barkeep, Corvayne was struck by how everything about him just fit what he imagined barkeepers in stories to look like. In the same way that Stabby might fit how someone, or everyone, saw an assassin.


    The burly man nodded. ¡°From a friend. When you''re less busy, come back.¡± He then resumed wiping the counter down.


    Wick was tugging his arm, but Corvayne nodded and took the glass, then downed it. It tasted like chocolate milk. He looked at it. ¡°Quintessence potion?¡±


    The barkeep laughed. ¡°The old nothing potion. Tastes great. That one''s virgin.¡±


    He finished the drink then let Wick drag him out as she yelled at the bar keep ¡°Not after me, he isn''t!¡±

 Chapter 68: To the Chase

    Corvayne pivoted and swept his spear out once more, summoning a slash of shadows with [Cross Skill: Thresh], splattering it all over the white stone arena. A moment later a creature that looked like a spider slime textured bicycle frame hit the wall of shadows and was knocked over. Mister I planted a pair of arrows with [Double shot] and the monster popped, sending stones shards skittering across the floor, then the arena was quiet.


    Wick''s words matched his own assessment of the boss. ¡°That was it?¡±


    Scattered about the stone platform were the remains of ten bike golems, attacking in pairs after riding in on huge chains rolling along the wall above the arena. The arena itself was a cylinder with bridges to an exit and entrance and otherwise suspended in a pit. It was the same white bone-like stone with blue decorations the entire dungeon had been. A really neat and dramatic venue for what was maybe thirty seconds of weapon work.


    Corvayne was about to warn his party that it might not be over, as he hadn''t passed out yet, when he passed out.


    He opened his eyes into the dark stormy sky and tried to use his gravity power to slow his fall. Well, it didn''t work, but he hit the ground without pain, standing as he surveyed the stone hill with portals all around. The lightning wraith appeared as he turned, appearing as a sparking 12 foot tall pillar of energy.


    ¡°NOT READY.¡± It boomed before once more blasting off into the sky. As it did every time he went to this weird world after the boss.


    ¡°Okay sparky.¡± he said to empty air. He noticed most of the gates were missing, with just a few tiny human-door sized ones that were marked as previously unlocked powers. It sort of made sense to him... aside from a scary detour to the train floor the journey hadn''t been quite as stressful as other dungeon runs. He strode through the bowling ball web that he now knew was gravity, while hoping that some day he''d actually understand what the hell was going on at any particular moment of his life.


    Back in the real world, he woke as Wick was lowering him to the ground. ¡°Oh, back with me already? Good work Partner! Let''s get the treasure and split.¡±


    The hanging exits to the chamber lead to a vast room where gears and huge chains whirled. There was a white raised path above the gear works that led to part of the wall that jutted out, more like a building inside the room then just a feature of the space before him. He saw a set of white stone steps down, marked as an exit by an arch lit with outside light. A blue lit door with stairs up to it was marked ''6-10''. The only feature on the walkway besides the expected glowing blue lines and marks on everything was a raised ledge with a bicycle messenger''s bag on it. Wick thumbed through it, offering a blue dagger that looked similar to the fire breathing daggers they had to Nyxion, then handing him a healing potion. There was another potion with winged sandals on the cap that she handed Corvayne.


    ¡°Rest is credits. We''ll split it in the car. Let''s get out of the neighborhood and back into the city where we don''t stick out like a sore thumb.¡±


    Corvanye had thoughts about that statement but lead the way out the exit without voicing them, keeping his spear in hand. He stepped from a door into the garage. No sign of the bad monk. He opened the garage door and checked for hostiles. Clear, and no helicopter sounds. He lead the way down the street to the van. He didn''t see anyone around and he didn''t feel murderous intent, but Argyle was somewhere on Cascadia and his attention was now likely focused on them.


    Everyone piled into the car. Seru started the van then her phone rang.


    Wick groaned loudly. ¡°FUCK! Come the FUCK on.¡±


    Nyxion sighed. ¡°Well, that''s one way of getting us. Don''t pick that up.¡±


    Seru looked down at it confused, then showed them the ID. ¡°Don''t get all bent out of shape. It''s just my mom.¡±


    Corvayne doubted that. If he couldn''t be sure to catch them inside the tower, how would he go about getting them outside the tower? He didn''t like the logic. ¡°Seru, if you pick up that phone, it''s going to be Argyle. He knows where you live, and he''s going to use your parents to get us to come to him. Then we all die, and them too.¡±


    Her eyes widened. ¡°What?! Wait, what? No! What do we do?¡±


    Nyxion pointed at her. ¡°You can come with us and make yourself impossible to contact. They might live. You can go back alone, and then he holds you hostage and tries to get you to contact us, which might kill them because he doesn''t need three hostages, and then he tortures you depending on his tastes. Thought as long as you didn''t take Wick''s number, he''d have trouble talking to-¡±


    Nyxion''s bracelet that started buzzing. He tapped it and his face darkened. ¡°Same number. That monk is a proper cunt. He''s calling my main number. Quiet down.¡±


    Wick slapped an hand on his wrist. ¡°Do NOT pick up while we are driving. God, I need to get you people burner phones. Turn all your stuff off. Now!¡± She dug around in her pack and pulled out what looked like a heavy box. ¡°Put your phones in here. Pronto!¡±


    Seru clutched hers. ¡°But my parents...¡±


    Wick gave her a glare. ¡°If you pick up, they will die for sure... right now I need you to drive. He can get which WIFI towers your phone is connected to. Put them in the box, NOW!¡±


    Seru complied, with Nyxion and LBC also putting devices in.


    The van started and Corvayne had turned around to ask Mister I and Nyxion a question when there was a bump and jolt and the car tilted ten degrees, Wick crying out ¡°Break! Stop!¡±


    In the drivers seat, Seru was sobbing. ¡°I don''t want mom and dad to die!¡±


    They stopped the car and Mister I took the wheel. Corvayne was given the job in the monks place of trying to calm Seru down, shuffling to the back seat with her now sobbing into his shirt and in no way helping his clenched gut as he tried to think about what the hell he could do. Wick was in the front, yelling at Mister I to drive faster for a few moments before he stepped on the gas and got the van peeling out of the neighborhood they were in.


    They were on the freeway when Seru started pushing against Corvayne. ¡°Give me that box! I want my phone!¡±


    Her hand pushed against him like a sledgehammer and he jerked back, seat belt saving him from slamming into the far side of the van. The car actually tipped a little off it''s wheels.


    Mister I wasn''t good at getting angry on command. ¡°Knock it off back there, or I''ll turn this van right around!¡±


    Wick yelled at him ¡°You try to turn this around I''ll kill you myself!¡±


    Seru held her hands up as if punching him hurt her. ¡°I didn''t mean to do that!¡±


    Corvayne held up a hand to say ''got it'' as he was wheezing. He hadn''t had the wind knocked out of him since he ditched the Watchers. He coughed a few times, then felt his breathing settle back into a normal pattern. Recently it felt like the moment he got back to feeling healthy something else happened. Which reminded him... he reached up and tore off the bandages on his face then blinked his new eye. Not bad.


    Nyxion had his arms folded. ¡°If you''re going to smack us, then we should cut you loose and let you deal with the monk on your own.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw turned a salmon color. ¡°Her mother picked us up and fed us. Leaving them for dead...? No. I have standards.¡±


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Wick sighed. ¡°It''s a conversation we need to have in the financial district. I mean, we''ll be ditching the van anyway as soon as we get further into town. Cops are going to probably have Seru''s plates run if they haven''t already. Give me five minutes to get further into town.¡±


    Nyxion nodded. ¡°Fine. Lady Blood Claw, when we get the phones back text Mila and spend that favor she owes me on getting who exactly he works for.¡±


    Ten minutes later, the homes and businesses of the suburbs gave way to tall boxy buildings. Corvayne marvelled at how much less noise there was in the city when you were inside a car. Wick opened the metal box and handed them back, including Seru''s phone which started ringing.


    Seru tapped the speaker, then asked ¡°Hello?¡±


    Someone on the other end cleared their throat, then Corvayne heard Argyle''s voice. ¡°Well, it certainly took you long enough to pick up. Let''s cut to the chase. Seru, I happen to have your parents here. I''ll let them go free and unharmed if you and your friends come back to your home. If you do not-¡±


    Nyxion looked over at Lady Blood Claw and made a motion of knocking his knuckles on his forehead. She nodded at him, then waved a hand in front of Seru. Seru slumped and Nyxion gently took the phone from her as she slid off her seat, leaving Corvayne to stop Seru from falling onto the floor of the van. She was snoring gently.


    ¡°Sorry, Seru just got very sleepy. I take it you''re Argyle?¡±


    The voice on the other end of the line sounded annoyed. ¡°Whom am I speaking with?¡±


    ¡°Nyxion of course, you nitwit. You actually tried to call my phone, you know who I am. Stop stalling. What are you offering us to release Seru?¡±


    The voice on the other end sounded confused. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You want us to release our hostages? We need to make a deal. One moment.¡± He tapped the mute button. ¡°Mister I, 56th and Brook street, please.¡± He untapped mute.


    Argyle''s voice sounded cold. ¡°I''m going to kill these two if you keep messing around.¡±


    Nyxion, on command it seemed, could do what Corvayne had always imagined a perfect villain laugh. The amusement didn''t bleed out of his voice when he responded. ¡°Why would you killing OUR hostages family hurt us?¡±


    Argyle yelled into his phone. ¡°You are her group! I know you''re allied with her, you ran with her from my image!¡±


    ¡°She''s going to be the new Supreme Dungeon Master of the Gygaxian Church in five years, tops. Also, that''s not what you''re really negotiating for... and not what you SHOULD be after. Corvayne, can you describe for me, please, what I''m holding in my hand?¡± Nyxion leaned over to reach into his bag.


    He settled into his weight lifter voice. ¡°Well, bro, it''s a phone, it''s pink, lots of stickers...¡±


    Argyle''s furious voice cut in. ¡°I KNOW you are not actually a dumbass trainer! You spoke normally in the tower!¡±


    ¡°Other hand.¡± Nyxion pulled out the spent ornate artifact that had been in the crate.


    Corvayne reported what he saw dilligently. ¡°Looks like someone made an urchin out of brass with an emerald core.¡±


    The other line was silent for a moment. ¡°How did YOU know about that?¡±


    Nyxion set the object on the floor between his feet, then tapped the phone and pointed it downwards and clicked something. Corvayne heard the monk hiss.


    ¡°Impossible!¡±


    The noble flipped the camera to capture his smirk. ¡°You''re going to walk out of her parents house, or we give this to Goule''s mercenary group. Might be a good way to start off on the right foot with him, hmm?¡±


    Argyle was clearly livid from his voice. ¡°You dumb bastard, Goule killed your grandfather!¡±


    Nyxion sounded bored. ¡°I quite liked breakfast today. Seru''s mother and father were excellent hosts. Let them go and I''ll bother to negotiate a price for this useless piece of trash you want so bad. Starting at a hundred M. Or six hundred K Ts.¡± Nyxion leaned back. Lady Blood Claw held her screen up. Nyxion read it, then smiled. ¡°If you do it under an hour, I might even skip calling Baron L''Tideru about you using his pet Gygax faction as hostages. That''s all aside from disregarding Jimmy who the Brines Brothers would not be happy at all if you jeopardized.¡±


    Argyle had a moment where he was just huffing, before asking bewildered ¡°How... what.. who the hell is Jimmy?¡±


    Nyxion pointed at a concrete structure ahead and Mister I pulled into an underground garage. Corvayne saw that James Brines, the warehouse''s owner, was getting out of a nice car and locking it.


    Nyxion laughed. ¡°Why Argyle... our other hostage of course.¡±


    Corvayne had never kidnapped anyone before, but Nyx''s directions were simple. Grab him, pick him up, carry him over to the van, put him in the van.


    ¡°Oh god! Please don''t hurt me! I''m useless!¡± James Brines cried out as Corvayne gently moved him into the van, careful with his head and flailing arms so that he didn''t hurt himself.


    Wick slapped him on the shoulder. ¡°Hey! Jimmy! Relax. We''re kidnapping you to stop a government conspiracy.¡±


    He looked at the front seat. ¡°Wick? What? And Mister Icariii too?¡±


    Wick turned as Mister I peeled out of the lot. ¡°Someone''s trying to kill me. Play along and we''ll flip that apartment complex you bought by the space port at a profit for you.¡±


    The man blinked. ¡°Wait, all I have to be successful is be your hostage? Where''s my rope and gag?¡±


    Corvayne tapped Nyxion on the shoulder. ¡°So, what happened there?¡±


    Nyxion turned and smiled. ¡°I guessed he didn''t work for Goule, then spent a pittance to get info on who he really works for and their allies on Cascadia. He''s one of the Baron L''Tideru''s men. I suspected he was after the jewel as a guess, what else would bring him to this planet? No offense to Wick.¡±


    Wick was glaring at him in the front seat. ¡°Keep your trap shut.¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°If he was just supposed to get that thing, why wasn''t it the first thing he did?¡±


    Brines laughed. ¡°I got that one! There was a crate that was supposed to be sent to the the main factory and storage facility. It got switched with a regular shipment for rock shops. That''s partially the fault of Cascadia Mail Special Service, who actually run the shipping even though they have a big label over all their actions.¡±


    Wick shakes her head. ¡°So this thing worth a tenth of a billion credits is on the floor of the van because the mail sucks?¡±


    Brines shook his head. ¡°This is the first time I''ve heard of a mistake like this, otherwise the city tracked their accurate and on time metric at nearly one hundred percent...¡±


    Nyxion cleared his throat. ¡°Basically, the error caught him off guard, the portal caught him off guard... and I made it so anything he does to Brines or Seru will loop back to his boss''s boss.¡±


    Corvayne looked down at Seru. ¡°So... what''s do we do with her?¡±


    ¡°I release her and Brines so he drops the parents.¡± Nyxion folded his arms and leaned back.


    Corvayne was boggling at this. ¡°That doesn''t make sense... you were saying they don''t matter to you that much! He has to know it''s a bunch of lies.¡±


    ¡°He''s not going to take Seru hostage. His boss is going to call him in about ten minutes to tell him to ignore Seru, her parents, and Jimmy.¡± Nyxion smirked while adjusting his bracelet.


    There was something else that was off, but Corvayne was trying to track too many things. ¡°Nyxion, this guy kills first and asks questions later.¡±


    Nyxion held a finger up in front of his mouth for quiet, then moved his wrist up to his mouth. ¡° Call Sir Havortti of L''Tideru. Hello? I''m Nyxion Myrell. Yes. Exiled, but still peerage. Thank you, appreciated.¡± He let his wrist drop a little. ¡°I should get a secretary too. I wonder if Seru needs a job...¡±


    Wick shot him a glare.


    Nyxion heard something and cleared his throat. ¡°My good sir, I bid you a good day! I have a small matter on the planet Cascadia that concerns some Gygax followers and one James Brines. Yes. Let me cut to the chase, I''m at the other end of a negotiation with a fellow named Argyle. Oh no, I understand, I''ve my own flexible help. ''Can''t make an omelet...'' and all that. But what I was calling about was in fact egg related. You see I had a wonderful breakfast at a local lady''s home. The Innas family on Cascadia. Very hospitable. Mmm. Yes. Well, I owe the Innas family, and I have no bone with the Brines Brothers. Yes. Of course. As I was saying, right now I''m trying to enter a simple negotiation for the gold and green stone the Brines misplaced, and the entire hostage aspect seems barbaric. Oh yes, two people of your allied factions, but I want to release them as soon as possible. Ha, never! He probably had it slip his mind. Oh, a hundred million for the stone, but that''s my opening bid. It has no value to me aside from economical. I know, it''s a shame. Yes! Yes of course. I mean, maybe when the weather clears up there. Haha! Yes. Give my regards to the Baron, it was a nice party. I thought so too. She looked radiant. Yes. Mmm hmm. Of course he''s not versed in our customs, but I trust he''ll find me no slouch to be tricked and robbed. Of course. No hard feelings on your end either if mister Argyle is badly maimed or killed? Ah, good. Just let him know to leave enough of me to attend the next time I''m back into society. You as well, have a nice day!¡±


    Nyxion clicked his bracer. ¡°Ah well, we''ve solved one problem at least. Mister I, please park the van. Mister Brines, thank you for playing along for five minutes or so of being a hostage.¡±


    Corvayne saw that Brines hadn''t been paying attention. He looked behind him to where Corvayne had placed Seru in the back seat. ¡°Is that little miss Innas?¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°It''s her van. Mister I, swing back around to his place and drop him off.¡±


    The van turned around and backtracked through crowded streets. They were a few blocks away in a snarl of traffic when Corvayne heard chopper blades.


    Wick paled. ¡°For REAL? Not again...¡±


    In this traffic, they were not going anywhere. There were a few other white vans on the street, but with traffic stopped the monk could probably destroy them all before they got away. That is, unless he had a good reason to leave the area.


    Corvayne thought about it a moment, then scooped up the artifact from the floor. ¡°I''ll meet you all back at Wick''s.¡± He said, and leaned forward to kiss Wick''s open mouth before Wick could protest.


    He threw the door open and threaded between cars before he jumped out onto a nearby stopped car''s hood. He raised the artifact above his head. Looking up, he saw the black helicopter bank, and felt a tingle of hostile intent as it lined up with him.


    Corvayne started running between and over cars, wondering if his latest round as the bait counted as brave or just stupid.

 Chapter 69: Run Corvayne Run

    Corvayne ran. He felt his feet pounding pavement as he dashed between cars and into the gap between two office buildings, trying his best to weave between people as he sprinted down the road. The feeling of malice towards him didn''t lessen.


    He scrambled around a corner to an awning. Two people blocked his way, so he used [Juxtapose] to slide through them, ignoring the panicked yelp as his focus was on forcing the monk to have follow him on foot. The monk had a limit on teleport range and frequency, so it was possible with the boots of running he could escape. As long as he didn''t have every bone in his body broken by a single staff strike.


    Corvayne came out from the cover of the awning next to a large four way intersection. He ran along the sidewalk, pedestrians pointing behind him as he shoved his way past. He heard the chopper noises plateau followed by the tell-tale pinging of gunfire behind him. He dove between another pair of buildings and saw lines of green behind him instead of clouds of dust. It was like the street had become a bamboo forest, the impacts throwing up a haze of scattering sand. He heard screams but couldn''t gawk and kept running down the alleyway.


    He heard the chopper whip past the building as the noise crested then faded, then crested again. He heard shots again, and he used [Flow-Like-Water] to try to dodge the bullets. His vision suddenly was full of green lines and something speared through him as he reformed. In a haze of pain he saw a green line of bamboo, slick with blood, sticking through his gut, sudden agony causing him to throw up as he saw part of an intestine sticking to it, with little wood needles coating it. Pain was bad enough, but his own guts horrified him. His shadow hand pushed something into his hand as he screamed, and by instinct more then thinking he gripped the hilt of his two-handed sword with a single hand. He forced himself to focus, to keep moving, and swung the blade behind him while activating a skill.


    [Sundering Blade] cut him free, shaft of bamboo still sticking a few feet out of his front and clacking, hitting another bamboo shaft. He let his shadowy hands take the sword and summoned a healing potion, drinking it then throwing the bottle away and pulling the bamboo out as his reforming body filled in the holes behind it.


    The chopper noise was still whirring but ahead of him, so he turned and slipped into the thick wall of bamboo growing both from the ground and walls, using [Flow-Like-Water] to slide between them. Corvayne saw that the line of bamboo thinned out near the lip of the alleyway. Out on the sidewalk, someone was screaming but he didn''t dare stop. He had hoped to lose the helicopter in a crowd but the monk was a psychopath who didn''t care about collateral damage. Corvayne had to get away from the crowded downtown streets.


    He heard the chopper circling around the block. People were scattering now, yelling and running as something they didn''t understand was happening. Corvayne dove for a parked car, but heard glass shattering as the chopper strafed the entire line of cars and he dashed to get behind a sturdy looking iron garbage can, which knocked him from crouching to flat as something blasted it into the wall of a building. Behind him, he saw a row of green porcupines where the parked cars had been. Of course, spears of bamboo covered the vehicles and had trashed some of the brickwork on the buildings across the sidewalk. He''d have been dead if not for leaping out of the way.


    His heart wrenched as he looked behind him and saw a woman had been skewered through the arm by one of the stray shots. Another man was lying on the ground. He heard the chopper flying down a different street.


    Guilt and rage swirled through Corvayne, but he couldn''t do anything about it. He had to hope that whatever the monk was doing drained him like the weapon skills did Corvayne. He kept running down the street, turning down an side street with parked cars and less spectators. He ran across the street then up the back of a car and leaped off it''s side to plant his feet on a fence between buildings, then leaped and landed in an alleyway too narrow to be followed through. He heard the chopper buzzing around the other side of one of the buildings then lifting off to get above them. He swept his cape around himself and clenched it, blurring into the gray and browns of the alley, as well as touches of the brick around him.


    Out on the next road was a traffic jam. He heard the chopper coming back his way. How was he being tracked? He saw the crowds of people, hundreds of cars, and turned and ran back through the alleyway, leaping onto the fence and pulling himself up and over, then diving to the side as he saw another line of green coming. This time two bamboo spears hit his arm, spinning him to scrap and roll against the concrete, his forearm getting ripped up as well as his pants leg and a knee. He pushed himself to stand again, scraped hand protesting in pain as he stood and tried to pick stones out of his palm before running down the street, boots probably the only reason he didn''t run into anything.


    He came to another busy street and saw a group of people walking towards him, with the chopper behind him. He pulled out his spear and shouted ¡°RUN!¡± at them, then dashed through the intersection. A line of bamboo sprung up behind him as he dashed along storefronts that exploded in showers of glass as green spikes burst apart the sidewalk. A shower of newspaper shreds fell on him as he dove into another gap between buildings, this time running down the alleyway and leaping to grab a fire escape and pull himself up as the chopper fired a line of seeds and turned the entire alley into a spiked deathtrap.


    The bamboo hitting the wall knocked the entire structure loose and for a moment he was dangling by one hand over a sea of sharp spikes, crying out from the searing pain of his hand''s wounds grinding against metal and the weight of his body tearing at his shoulder. Corvayne gritted his teeth and willed himself to be lighter a moment and pulled himself up enough that he could use his shadow limbs to further help drag him up. He pushed himself onto the titled metal structure and start climbing the wreckage of the fire escape. Once more he heard clattering and felt something like a rain hitting his back.


    Getting onto the roof was a terrible idea, so he kicked a window and stumbled into a darkened apartment. He ran for what he thought looked like the door out to the hall as spikes blasted through the kitchen he had just been in. How was Argyle tracking him through walls? He got into the hall, spotted an elevator opening and screamed at the woman inside to get down as he threw himself flat. Moments later, the window shattered and the hall was filled with spines. The woman was wimpering but unharmed, though the elevator doors tried to close, hit a plant, then opened back up.


    Corvayne started belly crawling, soot falling on his head as the chopper fired into the roof and spikes burst from the ceiling, one digging deep enough that he stopped just short of impaling his nose. He rolled around it and saw the red exit sign that would get him to a stairway. He scrambled to his feet past the last lines of green, spitting out plaster as he barrelled into the stairwell and stumbled down the steps. He saw the bottom of the stairs explode in green and he stopped and ran onto the second or third floor and dashed with his boots down the hall in a second then flung himself out the window, balling himself up and activating gravity to try to reduce his weight.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    The fear of the ground rushing at him made him force more of his own gravity out of himself, dropping his weight enough that Corvayne only felt like being punched a dozen times when he hit the street. His momentum let him roll rather then splat into traffic. He had only a moment to get his feet as he heard honking and there was swerving and crashing. He saw a truck trying to dodge him veer and he dove for a little girl standing in it''s way and managed to grab her and pull her back before the truck itself slammed into a brick wall behind her. For some reason, seeing the truck made him feel very lucky to not get hit. He put the crying girl down and stumbled past the wreckage, covered in grit and blood and aching all over. He started zig-zagging down alleys, moving away from the crowded streets to cut through a parking garage, helicopter blades slowly getting louder. The sound of shards of something hitting cars was followed by a hail of broken glass washing over his back. Corvayne dropped as a row of cars was knocked around by more spears of bamboo growing through them, furious car alarms and the pops of gas tanks going up in flames punctuating the same rattling sound he heard after each attack. Perhaps the break between attacks was just the monk assuming that he had finally killed Corvayne. If not for the boots, he''d have gotten killed a dozen times.


    As he sprinted down the alley, legs protesting, he felt something itching in his shoulder as and pulled out what looked like a wood needle.


    It started to sprout, growing leaves. He tossed it away as it suddenly burst into a bamboo stake, with only enough force to wedge itself between the buildings with a clatter.


    Was that how he was tracked? Corvayne heard the chopper behind him and used [Juxtapose] on the dumpster in front of him, his spear vaulting him over it and pushing it behind him to swap positions in a moment. As the move finished he grabbed part of the dumpster pulled it to the side, forming a wall across the alley.


    He had just finished when it kicked and knocked him back as the other side grew thousands of arm-thick spines. He rolled into the base of a few stalks of bamboo that had formed a cage across the exit to the alleyway. Corvayne stood, scanning the brick wall and finding a door. He used [Cross Skill: Sundering Blade] to break the lock with his spear then pulled the door open, rolling into a dark room then slamming it shut as he heard more machine-gun fire and the steel door dented with a spike of bamboo managing to just poke through. He didn''t wait, moving through the dark building. It looked like a large garage where they parked or serviced buses.


    Even though there was at least another story over his head to protect him, Corvayne could hear the monk just blasting the top floor with bamboo spikes. He was already halfway to the other side of the building before he heard the ceiling groan, and was breaking the next door when he saw lines of green spikes forming from the ceiling. He kicked his way outside and saw a mostly empty parking lot. He whipped his head around for cover, and spotted a storm drain cover. His shadow hands grabbed his two-hander once more, and this time he let them hold his spear and used [Sundering Blade] three times quickly to destroy the cover, then dived into the dark hole. He started walking against the flow of the water, then spotted on his arm a stray seed. He ducked into the water and rubbed himself, then willed his shadow hands to run over his body.


    ¡°Nothing?¡± he whispered while dripping water, and his shadowy limb gave him a thumbs up. He kept sloshing forward in the tunnel when he heard reverberations from behind him of a helicopter. A moment later he saw a green bag fall into the open hole. It had a smiley face marked tree on it, and was trailing bamboo seeds.


    Corvayne ran against the current then dove when her heard a clacking noise. Moments later the tunnel exploded into a tangle of bamboo, and he felt a spear take a chunk out of his leg and knock him into the side of the tunnel. He surfaced and had to wedge his sword into the wall to avoid running face first into a wall of spiked plants.


    He found his footing and forced his hands to de-seed him again. They flowed away through the bamboo and he sloshed the other direction. From down the tunnel he heard clattering.


    Corvayne heard the chopper whip past the sewer grate he was under. He saw ahead of him the entire tunnel get filled with plants and he lept to clutch the grate he was under and watched as seeds floated under him. He looked up and saw the underbelly of the black chopper above him for a moment as it flew away. He heard it flying around, still waiting for him to come out.


    How many people had died because Argyle fought like a craven little shit? Corvayne''s hands gripped the sewer grate. It wasn''t enough to just keep running forever. He felt himself snarling. He wasn''t going to let the monk just get away with it.


    He dropped back into the water then climbed back up the bamboo. No doubt all the seeds on him would bring the chopper right back. Something in him had snapped though. He was strong. The strong protected people who couldn''t protect themselves.


    Corvayne pulled himself into sunlight that peaked through afternoon storm clouds and strode into the bus station, his shadow hands throwing all the bamboo seeds against a steel garage door. He walked up to a bus, and pushed his gravity power into it, dropping it''s weight. He placed his hands on it, and planted his feet, starting to charge one of his slowest and most powerful skills. It was time to really test the limits of his power.


    Bamboo shredded the door, which collapsed in a pile as Argyle''s helicopter dropped to hover over the street, not twenty feet away. Corvayne was looking over his shoulder, and saw a yellow robed version of the monk in the cockpit as he took a deep breath, then forced his powers and Arms Master abilities to mesh together.


    He could see the monk''s clone looking smug. Until Corvayne smiled back, and somehow the monk must have known exactly what was going to happen. He started firing seeds but it was too late.


    ¡°[Cross-Skill: Grand Slam]!¡±


    Corvayne swung the bus around, blasting through walls and the frame of the garage door as the bus hit the helicopter and send it flying back with the solid CONK of a baseball. It hit the building on the other side of the street and shattered into a thousand pieces, the monk piloting it wedged in a brick wall, blood spurting from his mouth, but not dead.


    ¡°You cannot... beat me!¡± Argyle''s clone screamed, teleporting. Corvayne used [Cross-Skill: Juxtapose] and took a step backwards, pulling the bus he was holding to the side with him. The monk appeared with his back to Corvayne.


    His stamina was flagging, but if a powered up bullet could hurt the monk... he clutched the metal bus frame tighter, the metal bending as he yanked the entire bus back, then pulled it forward and changed his grip to push with his whole body, shouting as he thrust it at the monk. He felt something like an ocean of power behind him.


    ¡°[[Cross-Skill! BUS-STAB!]]¡±


    The monk only had time to turn and meet his gaze, the hardened face morphing into look of pure surprise, right as the bus slammed into him. The noise it made was a combination of backstab''s normal sharp sound turning and a truck horn going off. Corvayne let the momentum of the bus carry it out of his hand, and the monk was driven into the opposite building, boring a hole through it Corvayne could see. He saw the bus had broken cars in a parking lot behind the building, and walked up to the monk clone, spear ready to finish the job.


    He lowered his weapon and relaxed as the broken image of the monk blurred and started to melt away, leaving a pile of frozen steaks and bones and scraps of yellow blanket behind, with beer cans on a string clattering as the dropped to the shattered and scraped pavement.


    A thin smile crept across his face. If he could do it once, he could do it again.

 Chapter 70: Sometimes Villians Have Bad Ideas, Too

    Corvayne moved deliberately through the streets, trying not to rush or hide from the helicopters he heard. He had to trust that his cloak would make him hard enough to follow that he could slip onto a train and get home. That was the plan, anyway.


    Passing by rows of solar panel clad buildings, he kept his shadowy hands quietly moving over his form, making sure that he didn''t have any more bamboo seeds on him. He wasn''t familiar with this part of town at all, with the tall buildings blocking him from orienting based on a shoreline. He did see train tracks crossing the street above him, but not the yellow line that would take him home for sure.


    He also was trying to pick roads and paths that had less people, mostly because if Argyle caught up with him he didn''t want to have to cause a large number of deaths from the murderous monk''s poor aim. He was getting angry about it, not just from hurting innocent people, but also that he lost to such a sloppy warrior.


    He came to a large open space in the city, a fenced in pit where six huge flood channels ran side by side in a giant concrete basin, with flood gates and walkways built over them. There was also a path around the outside. He could see at the opposite end of the open space was a stairway up to a train station, one of the lines merging into it painted yellow. The sound of cars and smell of exhaust meant the large metal wall along the far end of the open space was a highway. Ah ha!


    He heard a helicopter above him but kept walking while forcing himself to look at the huge concrete structures in the depression next to the sidewalk he was on, rather then at the chopper passing by. Of course, the chopper slowed.


    ¡°Can''t catch a break, can I?¡± Corvayne said as he glanced behind him and saw the black helicopter moving into a firing position. His arms were stiff from his bus stunt, so he stretched his legs, then sprang across the road to his side, using an empty bus stop to block his line of sight with the helicopter. Once more, spines popped up all around the structure, with glass shattering and metal crunching. Corvayne jumped for a parked car, diving over a bamboo spear growing out of the sidewalk and heard the car get mangled, the door he was up against rocking into his back as more stalks of bamboo erupted from it. The chopper stopped firing for a moment. Corvayne saw another parked car and dashed for it, then dove behind it and channeled gravity to reduce it''s weight. He lifted it to form a bar shape as the chopper opened fire again.


    He activated [Cross-Skill: Shield Wall] and the car seemed to grow larger as bamboo spread all around him in an arc, growing into a ring of spines except for where bamboo had broken the fence into the culverts. Corvayne could run that way, but another idea crossed his mind. He pushed his gravity further, then lifted the car above his head, reduced weight still straining him as he used his ears to make sure the chopper was still hovering in the same spot.


    He pivoted and launched the car while activating [Cross-Skill: Expert toss]. It flew and veered a little to slam into the chopper, the flying vehicle shattering as the car flew through it. Corvayne staggered under the drain of using the skill, both how it had tired him out to combine his power with his skill, and that he could feel he''d torn a muscle in his arm.


    Argyle, the blue one he thought might be the ''prime'', dropped to the street, managing to land on his feet. His staff clattered to the ground next to him as shards of the ability that made his helicopter fell apart and dissolved into smoke. Corvayne could practically feel the heat of Argyle''s rage as the monk glared at him while standing up, dusting his blue robes off and straightening his string of wood beads. The monk was actually breathing heavily, perhaps the strain of flying a million magic choppers and clones around cost him something after all.


    The monk pointed at him. ¡°YOU! You know how many people have pissed me off three times and lived? None, that''s how many!¡±


    Corvayne wasn''t sure if the Argyle was stalling for time to recover his skills, but he was also trying to catch his breath. ¡°If it makes you feel better... you''re probably somewhere around the twentieth strongest person I''ve fought, Argyle.¡±


    ¡°You don''t even RATE you worm! I''m going to rip every limb from your body and wring every secret from you and your friends, Baron''s orders be damned.¡±


    He saw Argyle inch closer. There was a maximum range on the teleport, wasn''t there?


    Corvayne smiled and tried to sound as smug as possible. So a halfway impression of Nyxion. ¡°Am I talking to the real one, or just another pile of garbage? Oh wait...¡±


    He bled gravity off as he spoke, growing lighter, and the moment that Argyle vanished he leaped off to the side, flying over a few stray bamboo and the fence around the huge culvert. His control with lightening himself wasn''t perfect so he stumbled and rolled as he landed, adding more scrapes to his already impressive pile. He got to his feet as Argyle walked to the fence, then teleported to close the distance, appearing twenty feet from Corvayne, dark metal staff tapping the ground.


    Corvayne stood, and the monk appeared next to him, and he just barely manged to leap away to soften a blow that sent him flying. He was sure his ribs were broken from the impact, pain lancing from each little turn he did in the air. He dropped his weight further with gravity as he hit the ground, bouncing and rolling into the running water of the culvert. He pushed himself up with his good hand, wincing, and started climbing the embankment out of the water. He looked back and saw Argyle watching, amused at him struggling.


    ¡°Where''s the bravado? The confidence? The banter? You stopped all the sudden!¡±


    Corvayne saw him vanish at the same moment a line of splashes formed on the stream bed. He spun sideways, guessing the monk would aim for a jab. He didn''t know what instinct made him think that but it saved him as the blow narrowly missed his guts, instead grazing his side harmlessly as he spun. Corvayne used his good arm to grab the monk''s outstretched limb, then activated [Judo Throw] throwing the monk over shoulder off and into the water. He winced in pain, his broken ribs protesting the extra weight.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Corvayne didn''t have time for pain. He was dead if he didn''t get away, and the constant ability use was making him light headed. Behind him he saw the monk vanish from the water and a line of splashes leading to the monk halfway up an embankment, dripping wet. He turned forward and put as much energy into gravity as he could muster and jumped again, pain lancing through out his body. His stomach twisted when he saw how far away the ground was, but he managed to reach the metal top of the wall overlooking the highway next to the open area. He kept gravity on and started running down the wall, aiming for a truck driving by. He pumped his legs and hurtled off the wall and managed to land atop it, rolling and forcing his gravity power to flood him with weight for a moment, flattening him against the top.


    He grabbed a soft drink shaped healing potion from his ring, truck rattling under him, and twisted the plastic top open and chugged it, drinking so fast that he inhaled a little. It evaporated rather then drown him, but he was still coughing. Thankfully, the potion was helping undo some of the damage he did to himself running around with however many broken bones he had. Looking back, he saw the monk pull himself atop the wall. The monk vanished and appeared on a car right below where he had been standing... the monk had definitely made longer teleport jumps before...


    No. He wasn''t teleporting... He left a trail in the water after he moved between moments. And it wasn''t a shockwave like if he was just pushing through it really fast. His other powers... he caused things to rust and fall apart. He made seeds grow fast...


    Argyle was manipulating time! He could stop it to move, but it broke when he had to attack! Corvayne pushed himself to a knee as he watched the monk vanish and appear on another car, closer in traffic to the truck. Corvayne turned and scrambled to the front of the truck, then looked up. Fifty feet above the road he saw the yellow line stretch across the freeway. Argyle appeared on the same truck he was on.


    ¡°You can''t get away!¡±


    Corvayne crouched and put all his remaining energy into reducing his weight, then leapt one more time as high as he could manage, soaring up to the tracks and desperately reaching for the lip of the bridge, just barely getting his hands onto the top of the metal rim and pull himself over before gravity gave out on him, flopping him onto the tracks. The pain and fear of death kept him from stopping or letting go or just falling asleep on the train tracks, he pushed himself to stand and run for the station, his boots probably doing more the keep him moving then his legs were. He was a few hundred feet from a station. He heard pattering sounds, and bamboo appeared then fell off the side of the metal track. Huh, that was something. The deadly green shoots normally stuck to and punched through metal.


    He reached the station and saw the monk try something else as a light fixture above him start to fall apart, but the tracks didn''t budge or crumble or even rust. Corvayne became more concerned when he felt the track vibrating under his feet. He could see the monk moving and vanishing over the lip of the bridge, following the train line from far below. He could also see a train coming around the bend behind him. One more jump. He could do it. He was wheezing, and his eyes felt heavy, and he knew he was going to pass out soon. He tried, and his legs failed him and he stumbled against the platform fell back to the track. He couldn''t do more.


    He thought about Wick getting upset at him throwing himself into danger. Was he going to let her down?


    No. He opened his eyes. Was he going to lose to an asshole with a few powers and a big stick? No. Was he going to die an embarrassing death to a train when monsters couldn''t kill him? NO.


    Corvaynes love and pride forced him to push gravity away for another jump, getting about ten feet of air which was enough for him to make it off the tracks and land rolling on the yellow line platform. His whole body was limp.


    He looked down behind him, through a railing at the edge of the station, and saw Argyle below him, about a hundred feet distant but with a clear line to Corvayne. The monk hefted his metal staff then hurled it like a javelin. Corvayne got down, and pushed himself away from the edge of the platform, the indestructible metal staff blasting through concrete without a dent or bend, then vanishing in a purple flash to return to the monk''s hand. Corvayne frowned. He could destroy the station or the track like that. Possibly stopping the trains, which was Corvayne''s only hope of getting far enough away from Argyle to lose him.


    Argyle threw his staff at Corvayne again, and this time it broke off a chunk of fence as it slammed into a pole behind Corvayne. It started to vanish and Corvayne got the sense it was rewinding...


    Instead of backing away and getting out of sight, Corvayne got to his feet, pushing his knees to stand, then flipped the monk off. He could see Argyle''s face turn red and he once more aimed his staff from his fence-top perch by the freeway. Corvayne dove... Corvayne fell out of the way and felt air rush by as the missile shot past him to lodge itself through a steel garbage can into a wall. Corvayne scrambled to grab it, then activated his ring.


    The staff vanished into his storage ring, with a faint tug a moment later that fizzled purple dust around him. He felt the staff firmly inside the ring when he thought about it, another tug doing nothing but puffing dust, and a third one, weaker, not even summoning little bits of magic crud. He turned, and some of his energy came back seeing Argyle''s jaw had dropped.


    Corvayne heard the doors to an incoming yellow track train open, and he used blood covered arms to push past concerned commuters getting off the train to flop into a seat. The doors closed and the train started rolling along the train tracks. He looked out a window and saw Argyle teleporting across a street below him to try to reach the station, and Corvayne stood and shuffled over to look back out of the other window, seeing the man appear on the tracks behind the train, which was speeding up to the point the monk couldn''t keep up. Corvayne slumped on the seat as the figure disappeared around a bend. The pain might have been the last thing keeping him awake. He didn''t dare drink more healing potions until he was sure he could safely fall asleep. Which might be never.


    So instead of healing himself, he grit his teeth and got up at the next station and put credits into a machine to get a new ticket for a different line, covertly rubbing shadow hands to make sure he didn''t have more seeds on him, then spent about fifty credits switching trains for another hour before consulting a map and taking a direct route back to Old Town Cascadia.


    When he walked through the door to the community center, Wick rushed up to him, clearly pissed that he did his usual thing. He had a plan he had spent the hour developing.


    As soon as she was close enough, he just fell asleep on his feet.

 Chapter 71: In Cash

    Corvayne was laying in Wick''s bed, happy to be there and have her warm back pressed into his side. She was in a far better mood then when he had stumbled through the door, happily giving him a run down on ''Goat Suckers'' and how they were not just dogs. He was starting to see the patterns that monsters away from towers had. ¡°So they are like the other monsters, where they just sort of appear and disappear?¡±


    Wick wiggled against him, apparently pleased that he was asking her questions. ¡°I think so. Some PEOPLE want to say that it''s just an animal with mange, which does make canids look monstrous, but there''s reports of lizard-like versions. I mean, we are on the topic because of black helicopters and how they are associated with the same sort of odd livestock deaths that Chupacabra are.¡±


    Corvayne looked over her shoulder at the stack of books on Wick''s desk. Her main bedroom-study-office was buried in countless works focused on monsters and magic and aliens. He had spent the last day reading up on black helicopters while recovering. ¡°And with cattle and helicopters, there was a rash of cases on Cascadia, fifty years ago? As well as ''Goat Sucker'' sightings.¡± He wondered if the origin of those helicopter sightings was a power or item. It would explain how they often wasn''t physical evidence of them in terms of radar or flight logs.


    Wick spun under the cover to face him and started enthusiastically slapping his shoulder. ¡°I think we should be especially alert for anything that looks like a Chupacabra you know? Argyle has something that lets him make or summon unmarked helicopters. What if he''s really old and he has a team that all work together to steal cows?¡±


    ¡°I thought the monster targeted goats.¡± Corvayne moved his arm out of the covers and stretched it, feeling there were still tight points where he had gotten hurt. He formed a fist and cracked a few fingers in the process.


    ¡°Doesn''t that hurt?¡± Wick ran a hand through her hair. Some of the roots were starting to show blonde, so she''d need to dye it again soon.


    Corvayne smiled at her, then looked at his fingers flexing and unflexing. ¡°I''ve been in a steady state of pains and aches since getting half melted by that dragon. Which is why Mister I thinks I should be in bed rather then doing anything useful.¡±


    ¡°I disagree with the idea you can''t do anything useful in bed...¡± Wick purred.


    There was a knock at the door and he heard Mister I''s voice through the wood. ¡°Sorry to disturb you two, but Mr. Grunt has returned! Can you spare a few moments apart to talk about our next step?¡±


    Wick propped herself up on her elbows. ¡°Be down in five!¡± Wick threw off the covers to the bed and carefully stepped around a pile of sweaters, bent over and pulled on a pair of sweat pants, a shirt, then tossed her blue robe on.


    She looked back at Corvayne, who felt his muscles protest as he pushed himself out of bed and put clothes on as Wick tied her robe and adjusted her glasses, looking at a mirror.


    ¡°Should I even bother to keep dying my hair?¡± She pulled it up, then down.


    ¡°I''m sure it''d look good no matter what you did with it. I like the green color though.¡±


    She beamed and played with her hair a little as they left the room and made their way down the dim hallway of the apartment tower. Worn carpet covered the middle of a poured concrete floor between dark boxy metal walls that hinted at the apartments past as part of a colony ship, as did a bulkhead entrance granting access to the stairwell. Entering the stairs down he ducked under plastic tarps blocking rain from an unfinished section two floors above.


    The meeting was on the stage in the room the Oldtown Cascadia Neighborhood Association meetings were held, which was a gymnasium when cleared of chairs. A curtain hung across the stage, separating them from a group of kids practicing to play some sort of ball game with a ''you cannot carry or kick the ball'' gimmick. They were operating under the watch of a trio of women in sweat suits, their whistles infused order to sounds of shouting and cheering and balls bouncing off walls.


    Mister I had set up a table next to a chalkboard with ''MEN IN BLACK'' scrawled atop a mostly cleared board, and pulled out enough metal folding chairs to sit and talk.


    Corvayne didn''t mind the noise, but worried about curious kids or adults peeking through the curtain. ¡°Why not the garage?¡±


    Mister I shook his head. ¡°Not enough room. Grunt stole a truck from our would-be nuclear bandits.¡±


    Wick, who had been looking at her notes, shot her head up. ¡°Did he steal a nuke?!¡±


    Nyxion held up two fingers. ¡°Congratulations everyone, we are now a nuclear power.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw was wearing the cloak they had looted from the fake Watcher village, as well as work gloves and a long sleeved shirt. Her silver hair was damp with sweat and she was fanning herself with a sheet of paper that had a black and white image of how butchers take cows apart. ¡°The wrong tool for the scale we want to work with.¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°I doubt we can use them against the Monk... but I kinda want to set another couple of nukes off to see if I can learn a weapon skill from them.¡±


    Wick turned to him. ¡°I say no to that. We want the option to blow something up if we fuck up and summon Cthulu.¡±


    Nyxion nodded. ¡°Or a fleet of our enemies.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t argue the point, as he could still feel bones shifting around inside of him from his encounter with one enemy. Not that it was all Argyle''s fault as Wick had chipped in too. He had been a more willing participant with the latter''s contributions to his injuries. His train of thought broke when Grunt strolled in, wiping shaving cream from under his face where a normal person might have a distinct neck. Wick stood up and ran over and punched his leg. Grunt had to think a moment then mime being wounded, dragging his leg as he staggered in a circle, hamming it up by reaching his arm up as if clutching for light.


    ¡°You big idiot! Both you and Corvayne always run off!¡± She wrapped her arms around him, and Grunt patted her head. Corvanye came over and offered a fistbump, which Grunt looked at offended before he dragged Corvayne into the hug as well.


    Wick got away from Grunt. ¡°Okay, I am glad to see you but you both are going to kill me with running off with no way to talk to you.¡±


    Corvayne held his hands up. ¡°I ran off because the Monk found us. Somehow.¡±


    Grunt made a phone gesture with his hands. He mimed throwing it away and dusting his hands off.


    Wick nodded. ¡°I called a burner I had on Seru''s phone, then put hers in a Faraday cage, glued my phone on the blue train, then wrote it''s number in the men''s room of the station.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw looked confused. ¡°What was that going to accomplish?¡±


    Wick sat down and folded her legs. ¡°Bad case, they find it immediately and ignore it. Good case? Tie them up doing contact traces. Best case? Send him to play fetch with a train for a few days. It''s stalling... with the bounty board we can''t hide from him, and he moves much, much, much faster then any of us besides Corvayne in boots of running. We have to take him out, or the tower is off limits. If we fight, we need to know more about him.¡± She sighed, then looked over at Grunt. ¡°So I think our next step is to speak with Dawn, while preparing our defenses.¡±


    Seru pointed at Corvayne. ¡°He totally fucked up our best fighter, who was just running!¡±


    Corvayne bristled a little bit. ¡°I''ll have you know I engaged and defeated one clone before the one I think is the real Argyle forced me to run. Also... I got his staff.¡±


    Nyxion and Grunt both clapped.


    ¡°Thanks, let''s go see if Dawn can add more then just who he works for.¡±


    Old Town''s Central Station was something like a giant mound of classical architecture, statues of gods mixed with pillars around windows that let the tracks and the highway enter and leave the building, tapering in tan brick towering a hundred feet over the highest railway track with a clock stuck at midnight. Corvayne''s perspective was from the front steps, a sort of hill of black stone and worn brass handrails leading up to the titanic building''s bulk. Of all the things in Cascadia, the biggest thing that made him wary was how suspiciously clean of graffiti the ground floor was. It was sort of like parts of the desert that dune-reavers avoided. How scary was Dawn that everyone avoided tagging her building?


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Corvayne turned to Grunt and Wick, who were his companions for negotiating with Dawn. Or he was theirs, since they both knew the woman better. ¡°Is this her... office then?¡±


    Wick skipped up the steps. ¡°Lives here, works here.¡±


    The doors leading inside had new brass handles, and he was surprised that despite the outside showing signs of wear and tear, the inside was clean if not new. Pushing into the main atrium, he heard the roars of occasional cars on the highway reverberating through the building, with a slight rumble picking up strength as a train rocketed through the building on a track far above his head.


    The Atrium floor was a couple of steps down, cluttered with building materials, pallets of boxes, and scaffolding surrounding a story building being built against the far wall along other store fronts homes and shuttered counters for tickets. Wick directed him sideways after he got a look into the room, herding him up three flights of stairs that lead to a hallway leading to raised railway platforms. Someone had torn down the two turn-styles in the middle of the hall, granting them a path across the atrium from far above. The tile birdge had brass railing to prevent getting near the tracks, some of it installed to block off stations that trains no longer stopped at. He spotted to the far right another road, lower then the freeway, that ran near a platform and still had trains stopping at it, with a taxi picking someone off.


    Past the platform and arched bridge that supported it, they climbed another staircase, this one twisting around to get above the huge vaulted ceiling to a hallway lined with wood panels and frosted glass doors as well as the first instance of some sort of security that Corvayne saw, a woman in a yellow raincoat with a longbow who was perched on a bench, nearly blending into the bright colors of a large painting behind where she was crouched. She nodded a little at them when Corvayne met her eyes. Another pair of men in yellow rain coats with assault rifles flanked the door that Wick strode through, both of them nodding at her and Grunt.


    The interior of the office they walked into had been partially reworked with driftwood. The entrance way looked like a clerks office that lead to a section decorated with driftwood. Cut branches and trunks covered the walls and gave them a tree-like texture. More wood scraps had been sanded, cut, stained, and glued back together to form an organic series of wood walls subdividing the space, making Corvayne feel like he had stepped into a giant tree. Rugs and wood furnishings were everywhere, as were maps and swords and guns on tables. The exception to the wood was a tan tiled kitchen area. The whole room smelled of wood with a little bit of smoke and a hint of spices and cooked rice. A map of Cascadia and the surrounding mountains hung opposite a lit fireplace, the rows of ink streets marked with pins and post it notes with cash amounts scrawled on them. As he was looking about the space, Dawn-After-Night herself came in from a set of double doors, wearing a black bathrobe over what looked like a nightgown and holding an unlit cigarette.


    Dawn looked between them. ¡°Grunt, Wick... who''s this clown?¡±


    Sitting down in her den, which like all the other rooms had been covered in bleached wood outside of a window looking out over the next island and the rainy waters of the sound, Corvayne found himself a curious mix of comfortable in the surroundings and anxious of the company. Dawn was very defensive of Wick. She was dating Grunt. If she was unhappy with either of them getting into trouble, the natural scapegoat here was him.


    Dawn swirled a cup of wine. ¡°I didn''t expect to see either of you during daylight today... what has you up past your normal bedtimes?¡±


    Wick cleared her throat. ¡°I need info, the kind I can''t get on my own. The empire''s finally closing in, and to make an exit I need to punch a hole through an enforcer by the name of Argyle.¡±


    Dawn gestured at Grunt. ¡°If it''s just one person, I cannot fathom why Grunt couldn''t handle it alone.¡±


    ¡°We are dealing with someone on a higher scale... he might be the right hand man of Baron L''Tideru. His abilities are beyond a normal person to handle.¡±


    Dawn made a hand gesture to Grunt, the speed of her fingers moving a blur. Grunt mimed ripping a band-aid off. Dawn frowned. She tapped her fingers together.


    ¡°That strong, huh? Okay. He works for the Baron eh? L''Tideru is annoying to get info on. The sources are expensive and probably tainted as the man has easily the most secure location in the entire collective.¡±


    Dawn rubbed her wrist and a holographic screen came up, which the woman started poking and stirring with her finger. It was the first Corvayne had seen since leaving his village.


    Wick leaned forward. ¡°Dawn I know it''s going to be costly, but I''m pretty sure this guy has all our escapes bottled up.¡±


    Grunt also made some gestures, but Dawn held up a hand. ¡°You didn''t really answer my question, who''s the third wheel?¡±


    ¡°That''s Corvayne. He''s my heavy.¡±


    Dawn stopped, finger mid swirl, and narrowed her eyes. ¡°I wasn''t aware an IT technician or a paranormal researcher needed muscle. Especially since you know Grunt.¡±


    ¡°Cascadia is a lot more dangerous this week then it was last week, Dawn. In ways I don''t think you''d believe.¡±


    Dawn laughed. ¡°Oh, I''ve been around the block.¡± She sipped her wine, then noticed the cigarette she had and slipped it into her mouth, hand moving extremely fast to produce a lighter from a pocket and light it, then slipped it back into her robe just as quickly.


    ¡°Corvayne, tell me, where do you come from?¡± She asked as she stood up, going over to look out at the city for a moment.


    ¡°A desert village of warriors on another world.¡± Corvayne saw Dawn turn back to face him, but noted her eyes were looking between Wick and him.


    ¡°I see you have a spear. Do you think you''ll need it here?¡± She walked to the middle of the room.


    ¡°We really don''t know when this guy is going to catch up to us. Hopefully I don''t need to use it for a long time.¡± He felt a little lame as he was saying it.


    ¡°Of course! Of course. Say, are you sleeping with her?¡± She smiled and loomed over him. It was not a friendly smile.


    Wick stood up. ¡°Dawn!¡± She barked, glaring across the room at the older woman, who leaned away from Corvayne.


    ¡°I can tell.¡± Dawn frowned and turned to look at Wick.


    Wick covered her face. ¡°This is why I hate coming to you for help. You trash my lifestyle, and you don''t understand me at all!¡±


    ¡°I worry when you pick armed strangers up and have flings with them. How long have you known this guy? Why haven''t I seen them anywhere before?¡± Dawn gestured at Wick, nearly spilling wine but somehow always moving her glass to catch it again. She downed the rest of it then set the cup down so she could put a hand on her hip while gesturing with her cigarette hand. ¡°I''ve spent how many years trying to stop you from blowing yourself up, trying to get you to sleep, trying to help you keep a job, and dealing with the fact that you don''t feel safe. I told you, you can just stay here. This is the safest place in the entire city. Entire planet.¡±


    Wick stood up. ¡°There you go again! It''s all about control with you. It''s why I moved out! And furthermore, the entire reason I DON''T do that is because you are so stubborn you''d die before admitting there are problems you can''t fix DAWN.¡±


    Dawn punched a hole in the wooden wall, splintering around where her fist went. ¡°It''s better then making more problems! You get it in your head that you''re right and you don''t listen to others. Again and again. I''ve put a lot of time and effort into trying to get you back to being normal and healthy and yet you refuse to tell me what''s wrong with you. I could figure it out, what, do you think I couldn''t turn the screws on the three doctors you went to before Icariii? I don''t do that because I CARE about you. Fuck, you remind me of myself, pushing everyone away. Let me tell you, I''m HERE because I made one too many mistakes. Not little ones, BIG ones.¡±


    Wick rolled her eyes. ¡°Maybe I get it from you? It''s all hints of some bigger picture... I know you''re a crook. I don''t care about that. What matters to ME is that I can''t bring in someone who CARES about me without you pulling out the fucking carrot peeler! Oh yes. Why don''t you go through the whole song and dance with Corvayne? Who''s saved my life before and will do it again?¡±


    Dawn rolled her eyes. ¡°You come over asking for help and start a fight... I''ve tried to tell you that until you''re better, like, really get some help and fix things, your relationships are all going to be fucked up.¡±


    Wick had balled her fists, standing up. ¡°I''m NEVER going to be normal. I could go to therapy for a thousand years and it won''t fix me. I''m always going to have nightmares, and be scared, and it''s ALWAYS going to stop me if I let it from doing the things I NEED to do.¡±


    Dawn spread her arms out. ¡°Then tell us. Tell me, what happened. I can''t understand unless you let me in.¡±


    Wick walked to the door. ¡°All three of those other doctors thought I was fucking crazy. Is that what you want from me? A pretty daughter who sits in a chair all day and looks at the rain, because she''s so drugged up she can''t remember anything? Mister I is the only one who''s actually been treating me. I was a fucking idiot to ask for help.¡±


    Dawn took two steps after her. ¡°Where do you think you''re going?¡±


    ¡°The BATHROOM.¡± Wick snarled back, opening then slamming the door behind her.


    Dawn picked her cup up and hurled it into a wall, then swept a hand through her hair. She turned to Grunt. ¡°What about this kid she''s riding Grunt? Who is he?¡±


    Corvayne felt his eye twitch. He was sitting right here, yet totally ignored.


    Grunt looked over at Corvayne for a moment, sheepish, then turned back to Dawn. He made a gesture like someone holding something before their chest, then twisted his elbow and wrist to hold the object out, then pulled it back and did the same gesture again, then held the thing up.


    ¡°No... you''re kidding. Him?¡± Dawn looked at Corvayne, narrowing her eyes.


    Grunt smiled at her and nodded.


    ¡°Then...¡± Dawn''s eyes widened and she took a few steps back from Corvayne. ¡°He isn''t...¡±


    Grunt rolled his eyes and nodded, then blew through a series of hand gestures and emotes at warp speed. Probably faster then most people could talk. Corvayne caught a few he got... something about ''Information'' and ''Understanding''.


    He decided to speak up. ¡°Grunt buddy, I can''t understand when you go that fast.¡±


    Dawn rolled her eyes. ¡°Grunt is a walking information bomb. If you understood everything he signed just now, it might trigger it. So first of all, he needs to NOT be sloppy. I''m immune to him personally because I am allowed to be myself at home.¡±


    Grunt gave him a normal speed gesture of a guilty shrug then mimed writing a note, then reading it, then tapped his heart: Sorry I can''t let you in. You know you''re my bro.¡±


    Corvayne nodded and bumped his own chest. ¡°I can go talk to Wick if you guys need a moment alone...¡±


    Dawn sighed. ¡°Grunt stuck his neck out and argued that you are slightly different then her past reprobate boyfriends, so for the moment I''m not going to do any emergency surgery on you. Just remember, while his word counts for a lot, if I find out you hurt Wick in any way, you will discover that the peeler is not, and has NEVER been an idle threat. Both of you.¡±


    Grunt paled and gripped his chair, then nodded vigorously. Corvayne silently thanked whatever gods were out there that Wick didn''t seem as prone to threatening his manhood with kitchen equipment.


    ¡°All right. Well, I''m going to look this up, but I have a favor to ask since I gotta dump money into it, I don''t have off-world resources that just hand me this on a platter, you got me boys?¡±


    Corvayne nodded, looking over at Grunt who was folding his arms and leaning back, but made a ''go on'' gesture with a hand.


    ¡°Two girls vanished at Cascadia National Forest...¡±


    Corvanye couldn''t help but groan. Grunt quickly made a set of hand gestures. Binoculars, someone calling something in on a radio, a fist and hand held straight up like an exclamation point.


    ¡°Do you two have 300,000 credits laying around, in cash?¡±


    Corvayne adjusted his storage ring. ¡°Not in cash, no.¡±


    Wick came back into the room. ¡°What''s she trying to pull you two into.¡±


    Grunt made a door motion, then held up two fingers, then mimed his fingers walking in a circle while wobbling his head: She wants us to find two people who probably went into the Tower.


    ¡°In Cascadia National Forest.¡± Corvayne added.


    Wick shook her head. ¡°We can find them but it would result in the guy after us finding us and killing us. So no.¡±


    Dawn-after-Night threw her hands up. ¡°Come the fuck on! That''s the SAFEST job I had. No killing anyone, just finding a person. Pays for nearly the whole info packet.¡±


    ¡°What else do you got?¡±


    ¡°I''d have to get a bunch of jobs done, but the big one is disappearances in Ko-Ban... I didn''t lead with it because it''s going to put you guys into contact with the Bone Hounds.¡±


    Corvayne sat up. ¡°More monsters?¡±


    Dawn paused. Shit, maybe he should just keep his mouth shut and let Wick do the talking. That''s what the withering look he got from both them was telling him.


    Wick stepped in. ¡°So you''re worried we don''t have the firepower to beat a few gang members?¡±


    ¡°There are hundreds of members. I haven''t dealt with them yet because they know better then to step onto my bridge.¡± Dawn jerked her thumb at the window and Corvayne stepped over to see a four lane road running over the water to connect Old Town with Ko Ban, about a mile away.


    Wick shrugged. ¡°How many people are missing?¡±


    ¡°At least a dozen.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Okay, deal. We''ll do a rescue operation.¡±


    ¡°Keep in mind it''s covering about a third of the cost...¡±


    Wick pulled out a wad of cash. ¡°I have money too.¡±


    Dawn accepted it. ¡°You''re still fifty thousand short... but I think the other easier jobs will make us even.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Me and Nyxion can cover some of the other stuff I bet...¡±


    Corvayne went over to look out the window at Ko-Ban as Wick and Dawn started talking about bank transactions and waiters. He could see neon lights blaring even during the day, and the view from Dawn''s office let him catch a glimpse of a crowded market street. A simple rescue operation, and it paid six figures?


    ¡°All right, Grunt, let''s go make some money.¡±

 Chapter 72: Ko-Ban

    Lady Blood Claw looked at Corvayne and the bits of her skin showing rippled orange with irritation. Much like the orange chicken skewers that he and Grunt were eating.


    He swallowed a bite and offered an untouched skewer to her, speaking loudly to be heard over the din of hundreds of other people talking. ¡°You want one LBC?¡±


    She pulled her flu mask down and gasped fresh air. ¡°No! We''ve been walking around in circles for an hour. I geared up for a fight... not to watch you two pig out!¡±


    They were standing in a rare open patch of damp concrete outside the flow of people shopping at the street market. Corvayne had been worried they would stand out, but a lot of people openly carried knives and guns. He had settled for a sidearm and a fire-breathing dagger, with his spear and other weapons stored in his ring. He admitted to himself he felt naked without the heft of his spear and kept patting his back expecting it to be there. The only thing that stopped him from doing it again after Lady Blood Claw yelled was that he was still holding skewers. It wasn''t practical even if it wasn''t a dead give away to anyone looking for him, as his spear would get caught on everything and everyone however he held it.


    Moving through the market involved letting people push you against other people until you saw something you wanted and found a square foot of ground to stand on. Even without the crowd the environment felt constrained, a mix of damp weather and three story buildings on both sides with tracks and a highway running overhead all added to the claustrophobia. The neon lit signs lit everything in flickering lurid colors, mixing with some of the stalls flipping on multicolored lights to better show off their wares, bathing the darkly dressed crowd in rainbow halos. The smell of the sea mingled with scents of food mingled with hints of garbage filled dumpsters in back alleyways. His biggest shock of all was that, despite being in a dark cramped place with too many people, he was enjoying himself.


    Corvayne wanted to join the shoppers and pick out parts for building something, as the market had stores that were just bins of old space ship leftovers. The only real shopping he had done, however, was dumping some of his gold to a guy strapped with guns who was buying precious metals. Three gold coins had net him nearly three thousand credits, and he now suspected that the first pawn shop he went to his previous life had ripped him off. Grunt, on the other hand, had been buying street food whenever he wandered by. Corvayne was impressed by both him and the vendors, managing to buy a sample of whatever in the time it took to shuffle past.


    Lady Blood Claw had come to the market cloaked in the Watcher cloak she had found under his fake bed, with a pair of goggles, a loose long sleeved shirt with wrists meeting her gloves, a flimsy paper flu mask, and a bandana. Only someone looking very carefully or catching her when her mood changed might notice that she wasn''t fully human. Corvayne watched her take a glove off and scratch at the straps holding all that skin obscuring gear on. If it was itchy it explained why she was in a foul mood.


    Grunt made a few hand motions. Four fingers, tapping upper wrist held towards his face, shrug, mimed stuffing his face: We are waiting on our fourth person anyway, might as well eat, right?


    Before Lady could say anything else, Grunt pulled out something that looked like a long helix of pastry with strawberry and chocolate filling. Lady Blood Claw looked at it and her visible skin turned white with rippling brown dots. She grabbed at it and Grunt pulled in back and gave her a smug look.


    ¡°Fine! I am hungry, and would like to try... that... Corvayne what kind of snack is that?¡±


    He shrugged. ¡°Sorry Miss Blood Claw, I don''t know.¡±


    Her skin turned orange for a moment. ¡°Tch, I don''t like that. Miss makes you sound like I''m your teacher.¡±


    ¡°Okay, since we are friends... do you like Lady as your informal address?¡± Corvayne was perplexed that she was still orange. Why was she annoyed?


    ¡°Lady is as much a first name as I have...¡± She said as she flickered back to light purple, a color that he wasn''t quite sure of yet, before swapping to charcoal which was her serious or neutral or poker-face mood. ¡°I consider you a friend as well. I don''t mind how you address me except when it seems too formal.¡±


    Grunt pointed between LBC and Corvayne, then made a motion bringing his arms in a loop like he was hugging someone, then mimed cradling someone by the back and head in his hands, leaning in to whisper in the person''s ear, then turned and raised his eyebrows at them: She wants you to call her.... darling.


    LBC turned violet and clenched her fists. ¡°You shithead!¡±


    Grunt laughed silently holding the snack ahead of him like a shield, which actually worked to stave off the large alien woman.


    Corvayne spotted a pair of white furry boots moving through the legs of the crowd. ¡°Ease up, Seru''s coming back. Might be go time soon.¡±


    Seru arrived at the open spot with one hand burdened with eight coffees from different places, the other held a large plastic bag with takeout containers.


    LBC made a fist, visible skin turning red. ¡°I cannot believe I stuck my neck out to vouch for her, and she got distracted by... by food!¡±


    Grunt lowered the pastry in front of Lady Blood Claw and she grabbed it and started angrily chewing on it.


    Seru set all her food down and huffed. ¡°Okay, it cost me a hundred credits but I got where the Bone Dogs are! They live in the overflow tunnels under the city.¡± Seru had a smug look on her face. ¡°You might not know it, but fifty years ago-¡±


    Lady Blood Claw held up a hand, swallowing her pastry bite. ¡°We know. Former colonization under the late emperor Nyxion Augustus. I have maps of the tunnels now.¡±


    Seru''s face turned grim. ¡°Well, I know which entrances they use... it only cost me buying extra food from some vendors. But I GOT it! I told you, you guys need an info specialist, and I''m the best at it! I''m really really good at it, right?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°You did good, but don''t overdo it. I don''t want you to get in over your head.¡±


    She brightened up at the comment. ¡°Corvayne, you care?¡±


    He pointed to his new eye while looking at her. He couldn''t help but sound a little tired as he replied ¡°If you get into trouble, I usually get hurt pulling you out.¡±


    Grunt relieved her of the extra food. Lady Blood Claw took the coffee tray and started looking at each cup, settling on one that was practically coated in black marker for additions and radiated a cloyingly sweet smell.


    Corvayne took a random coffee for himself. ¡°Okay. Seru, I think for this you might want to stay on standby at Dawn''s place... I don''t know how dangerous the gang is going to be.¡±


    ¡°They mostly use knives and clubs with the enforcers packing guns, including assault rifles.¡± Seru said while offering coffee to Grunt, who grunted in thanks and popped the top off it, then drank the large coffee in a single gulp.


    Lady Blood Claw frowned. ¡°I should have brought the shield belt.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah. The disappearances started about a week ago...¡± Seru had notes. ¡°And the group that was seen being taken by the Bone Dogs were all nerds.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw considered it, looking down with her chin on her hand as she mused, ¡°Maybe they have some tech goal in mind?¡±


    Seru shrugged. ¡°The gang has a reputation as weird... the term someone used was ''walking clich¨¦'' but couldn''t explain why. They also told me repeatedly to not go into any side streets alone.¡±


    Seru walked with them away from the market streets, heading into brown and gray concrete apartments hidden in little walled blocks. Every flat surface at street level was covered in graffiti, some of it popping out from fresh coats of paint adding even more texture and strange colors to the walls of names written so large and bold they were impossible to understand.


    They stepped out of the closed off streets to walk around larger old fashioned buildings, similar to the train station they had been at earlier in the day, all of them arrayed facing a section of raised park littered with plastic bags and take-out containers. A lone dog sized robot that looked like a white plastic beetle covered in spray paint looked to trying to collect all the garbage strewn across a block of grass. The path Seru lead them on kept going down the worn walkway between the grass to stairs down to a brick path along the river, rimmed with stonework and solid looking metal light poles, caked in soggy fliers and stickers. If not for all the broken glass scattered on the path, Corvayne might have fooled himself into thinking it was a nice place to walk. He could even look back and see both the bridge they crossed into Ko-Ban and the train station, it''s clock tower light standing out in the shapes of old town and it''s tangle of train tracks.


    Seru guided them the other direction over to a small building built into the slope, no more then fifteen feet on a side with bronze bars over the windows.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°You might have to break in, but this might let you skip the entrance everyone says they use... the big pipe a few blocks off the market street.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw smiled. ¡°Thank you Seru.¡±


    The girl waved. ¡°Good luck guys! Don''t die!¡±


    Grunt waved, then turned to the door and gently wiggled the handle, then yanked it open mangling part of the metal frame. He dusted his hands off and made a dainty pinching gesture with his three fingers up in the air, then cocked his wrist as if he was holding a tiny key and twisting it, then looked like he was bowling.


    Lady Blood Claw tapped Corvayne on the shoulder. ¡°Can you tell me what he''s saying?¡±


    ¡°Oh, he''s jokingly telling us ''make yourselves at home'' with the careful unlocking thing and rolling out the red carpet.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw held her chin up, curtsied, then drew her two handed sword and grasped the cloak, her form and skin shifting to match the dimly lit concrete stairs into the tunnels, suddenly moving with the smooth confidence of a predator in the dark.


    Grunt held back a moment, and nudged Corvayne.


    ¡°She''s my training partner. I''m not going to mess up a good thing.¡±


    Grunt made a vacant face, held his fists to his hips and wiggled them, then started strutting about aimlessly while bobbing his head.


    ¡°I take offense at the suggestion I am any form of bird.¡± Corvayne responded.


    LBC slipped from the shadows to grab their ears and drag them into the entrance to the flood tunnels, hissing at them, ¡°Stop fucking around! We got a job to do!¡±


    The same drainage system was very different in Ko-Ban. The smell of concrete and damp mixed with a hint of the ocean and a faint hint of something rotting. The more elegant graffiti of the city above morphed into crude drawings and runes, painted in white and yellow and red. Corvayne''s boots were stained in clay that leaked through or washed in, and the concrete pipes and paths seemed more broken then the previous section.


    Corvayne was sort of on edge getting into the first few tunnels, expecting a serious gun fight or something, but found nobody despite signs of being inhabited by the gang. Corvayne saw make shift homes in some of the larger tunnels, as well as crude drawings of sex acts and demons, piles of garbage heavily skewed to drinking and drug use, and gas lanterns with chairs. The tension he felt.


    It was about ten minutes of careful stalking through the dimly lit tunnels that they saw the first two residents. Given the dog skulls on their heads, both with an extra hole hammered between the eyes, Corvayne felt it was safe to assume they were members of the Bone Dogs. They sat around a fire, prodding a can of beans with a stick. Something about their expressions were off, but Corvayne couldn''t quite pin it down.


    Corvayne was considering what to do with them when Grunt appeared from the dark behind them and struck their heads together, knocking them both out.


    He did [Nerve Pinch] on the second group, dropping them around a burning barrel for a nap. All three still had the dog skulls on, and what looked like scavenged sports gear mixed with a lot of belts and bits of tire, often showing off ragged clothes. He wondered why anyone would join the gang if they didn''t at least chip in for matching clothes, outside the dog skulls as hats thing.


    After the third group, the intersection they arrived at had five gang members, three of which had guns and were clearly acting as sentries for a pipe that lead to a major open area.


    Grunt tapped Corvayne and LBC on the shoulder, and made three fingers then with some gestures mimed sneaking behind the three guards with guns and knocking them out.


    Two were standing on broken crates near a makeshift house and would be pretty easy to get behind, but one was in the middle of the pipe. Corvayne gestured to himself and the guard... he''d take that guy on once the others were dealt with. He held up two fingers.


    The moment they crept from the entrance of the tunnel, all five members of the camp turned to face Lady Blood Claw, which surprised Corvayne because she was nearly impossible to spot with her multiple sources of camouflage in dim light. The unity they had when doing so was eerie.


    ¡°Get her for the ritual!¡± One shouted and pointed in exaggerated way, as if a first time actor was practicing for a bit part.


    ¡°Heh, I can smell her.¡± Another called out, slowly walking towards where LBC was crouched. The way all five seemed to perk up at once, and they all drew their weapons at the same time... the weird way they walked slowly forward... it all seemed very unnatural to Corvayne who was used to lightning fast predators. That and the taunting.


    ¡°Heh. What are you doing alone here, girl?¡±


    ¡°Rich kids shouldn''t wander the bad parts of the city alone!¡±


    He sprang into action once they had drifted past where he had frozen in place, leaping from the shadows and tapping a neck, causing the gang member to flop onto the ground with a thump.


    Lady Blood Claw ducked under a gang member trying to grab her, slamming her fist into their gut twice. One of the ones with a gun raised it at her, which forced her to dash behind tent home. Grunt managed to grab the would-be shooter and use him to barrel over the other two remaining thugs. Grunt then gave everyone laying down a few punches to be sure.


    Corvayne disarmed the prone forms, picking up a few extra guns for his storage ring. Why not? He looked around. They had avoided any shots fired. ¡°Should we put on disguises?¡±


    ¡°I am not putting a dog skull on my head. No matter how much money Dawn is paying us.¡±


    Grunt also pointed at the dog skull and shook his head, then mimed holding and petting something. Giving it scratches. Throwing a stick and gushing and clapping, looking sternly at something then picking it up, then whatever it is making him laugh: I love dogs. Same.


    Corvayne nodded, and moved down the pipe they had been standing watch over. Noises echoed down it, chanting and clapping. It got louder as he crept forward, and as they moved around the bend Corvayne saw the reflection of a bonfire. He slowed as he saw darkened figures dancing in an open space around a stack of burning pallets. He looked back at Lady Blood Claw and Grunt then pulled his hood tight and slipped forward, spear in hand. There were a lot of people, and it was unlikely they could be knocked out like the previous group was. How did he feel about stabbing humans?


    He focused back on the gang; a huge throng of dancing and yelling figures with drums, all clad skulls. He saw the fire lighting up hundreds of gang members faces and dancing forms, as well as piles of small animal bones scattered everywhere. It took him a moment to hear someone shouting from a long cage suspended in the dark above the bonfire. His eyes saw a pair of hands try to bend a bar and the cage shake a little. Looking up from the rusty cage he could see it was attached to a crane on the ceiling and followed it over to a control room. He motioned for a retreat and lead them back around the corner.


    ¡°I''d rather not have to take an entire cult on... Can we get to the control room through a different tunnel?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw pulled up the map and they moved around to waterways that would take them up a layer and let them reach the control room. The drawings in this part of the tunnel looked like aliens that plastered Wick''s room, except with three black eyes like holes in the white and red chalk. Corvayne saw a group coming ahead and motioned for everyone to hide in corners of a smaller square junction. Crouching in the dark he was sure they''d pass, but stepping into the room all three gang members stopped and spun to face Lady Blood Claw. They stiffened in an odd way for a moment, and their body language changed.


    ¡°Well well well. Look at what we have here.¡±


    ¡°She''s perfect for the ritual.¡±


    ¡°Heh, yeah. Where you going little lady? Don''t run.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t quite get why they said that, as Lady Blood Claw was walking right at them and punched all three in the face, knocking the skulls they were wearing off. ¡°Scum bags!¡±


    Grunt stood and made some hand motions, something tall, looking, something shorter, looking and a eurkea fist in palm: How the hell did they find YOU and not ME?


    Lady Blood Claw looked at Corvayne. ¡°Is my cloak defective?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Corvayne saw it shimmering.


    ¡°Then this is stupid.¡± Lady Blood Claw said.


    Corvayne nodded at both of his companions, then bent down and pointed at the groaning gang members. ¡°They all sort of pointed at you at once... also the way they behave is odd. It''s like they all notice you at once.¡± He picked up a skull and looked at it. ¡°Maybe these things are not just a decoration in very poor taste... every skull someone''s punched a hole in the forehead to make a third eye... you know, in stories it''s a term for a person''s extra senses.¡±


    The alien woman kicked a thug, eliciting a groan. ¡°Well I''d appreciate it if these goons didn''t find me every time I hid.¡±


    Going further up the pipes, they crouched to ambush another group of four gang members. Once more, they spotted Lady Blood Claw... who was in the far back of the entrance pipe, mostly hidden whereas the other two were inside the junction with them.


    ¡°Hey, we can use her! Get her!¡±


    ¡°Heheheh, missy, you''re going to be the STAR of the show.¡±


    ¡°We''ll make this ritual the strongest one with HER.¡±


    Instead of getting their weapons ready to wound her so they could capture her, they''d just advance slowly, sometimes slapping their palms with their equipment. Corvayne followed Grunt to hit them from behind. Grunt slugged one, throwing them forward and to the ground. One went down to [Nerve Pinch]. Corvayne tried pulling the dog skull off the other gang members head, which prompted the man to whip around and attack with a knife. Corvayne ducked under the knife thrust and broke the mans arm then used a palm strike to break his face.


    ¡°Grunt hold that guy.¡± Corvanye directed.


    Grunt just grabbed the fourth gang member, a woman who tried to spit on him and missed. ¡°Heheh, you guys think you''re tough, our master is coming... this whole world is going to burn!¡±


    He undid the strap holding the dog skull to her head, and she started snarling and screaming and squirming to get out of Grunt''s grip.


    ¡°You don''t dare! Put it down! Put it back!¡±


    He pulled it all the way off and dropped it on the ground, where it cracked. A moment later the woman screamed once and her eyes rolled up, shaking. Grunt dropped her and stepped away, looking a little disturbed but then shrugging.


    Corvayne tried giving her a few prods to see if she''d wake back up, but the woman was out of it.


    Lady Blood Claw poked his arm, and gestured with her head. ¡°Let''s just go.¡±


    There was one more set of guards before the control room, who once again saw LBC through her cloaking and started walking up to her, wiggling their fingers rather then putting the rifles they had to any good use, and pretty much ignoring Corvayne and Grunt.


    ¡°You are perfect for the ritual!¡±


    ¡°Join the others. A tribute to the master!¡±


    Corvayne knocked them both out and strode into the control room, a slightly less trashed space but still rusting and covered in dust from a lack of care. He looked up at the crane, which could be guided to an exterior walkway overlooking the crowd of dancing cultists as well as their bonfire. From above he could make out a clearly painted red pattern, encircling the bonfire and probably a part of the ritual. A few last bits were being painted on by more ornately adorned Bone Dog members. From here he couldn''t tell if it was paint or blood. It was probably blood, it would fit how messed up the place was.


    The cage was the important part. He could see eight people inside, and the control for it looked to be just a simple lever. He strode over and gently pulled the stick towards him and the platform. Grunt had turned and looked to be trying to warn him with his hands and Corvayne had a sudden spike of clarity where he realized Grunt been trying to reach Corvayne to tell him to NOT to touch the controls. Lady Blood Claw looked horrified as well, and Corvayne figured out what they had been worried about as the cage started drifting towards them with a titanic screech.


    That caused everyone to look up, and see the cage moving, and with a roar they started charging at the tunnel entrances, especially the one that Corvayne knew would lead right to them. He could hear all sorts of the same lines every other guard said, all directed it seemed at Lady Blood Claw even though they were headed away from her at the moment.


    ¡°Get her!¡±


    ¡°For the ritual!¡±


    ¡°Where you going, miss?¡±


    LBC sighed. ¡°What a great fucking part of town.¡±

 Chapter 73: Walking the Dog

    As he watched cultists swarming into the tunnels on their way to the control room, Corvayne took only a moment to ponder if he was going to have to kill someone before Lady Blood Claw started swearing.


    ¡°Fuck, we got to abort! There''s no way we can take hundreds.¡±


    Corvayne knew that was strictly not true. They could possibly take down the entire gang or cult. But not without badly hurting themselves again wading through possibly two hundred enemies. He looked around, and yanked the crane controls to bring it rushing to the walkway, slamming into it.


    ¡°Grunt, get a belt, I want to ride this over to the other side.¡±


    Grunt nodded and headed out of the room.


    Lady Blood Claw looked agitated, skin taking on a dusky orange that suggested some annoyance. She was probably mad at him about the switch. ¡°Corvayne there isn''t anything on the other side of the room.¡±


    ¡°Including cultists. I have a plan.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell us the plan before we get ourselves killed?¡±


    ¡°Oh sure, we ride the cart across the room, then I use gravity to lighten the cage and cut the top and we ride it down to the floor and leave behind the backs of the gang of cultists.¡± He stepped outside and drew his two-handed sword.


    Lady Blood Claw narrowed her eyes. ¡°I do not LIKE this plan of yours!¡±


    ¡°That''s why I didn''t want to say it, because it involved heights miss, Lady!¡± He turned back and addressed the cage. ¡°Step back, I need to make a hole.¡±


    Her skin shifted to blueberry, he guessed embarrassment. ¡°I am NOT afraid of heights!¡±


    Corvayne didn''t respond, instead slashing the end of the cage was open, and he could see a few pale kids, mostly teenage boys, a single girl... and a slightly overweight fellow who''s face was now gleaming in the dark.


    ¡°MASTER!¡±


    He groaned as Gary stepped forward to bow, then looked back while pointing. ¡°It''s the guy! This guy! My master!¡±


    Corvayne stopped everyone rushing to leave the cage, stepping in alongside Lady Blood Claw. ¡°Stop it Gary! Everyone, we are going out the other way. Stay there... Grunt! Cmon!¡±


    There were some cultists below, pointing at them, a few with rifles not firing but keeping them trained on the office and pathway. Grunt tied off the belt and the cage started lurching away, but Grunt ran and took a flying leap, managing to catch the cage and causing it to tilt as he held on for dear life forty feet above the circle and bonfire. The entire crane apparatus groaned as it sped towards the other wall.


    Corvayne braced himself, and started using Gravity on the cage, flooding it as he swiped his blade up into the roof of the cage and slashed the chains linking it to the crane, causing it to glide for a few moments. Grunt let go and rolled off to the side as the cage regained some of it''s gravity and slammed into the ground, definitely killing a few of the cultists who tried to catch it. Gary saw an arm sticking out and started throwing up.


    ¡°Don''t gawk, we gotta go!¡± Corvayne shouted as he switched to his spear and blasted a [Storm Thrust] out, bowling over the remnants of the cultists who hadn''t either been squashed or ran out of the room. Corvayne ran for the entrance the least of them had left, but felt a weird tug.


    Grunt brought up the rear as Lady Blood Claw ran up to where Corvayne was guiding their eight charges. Gary was at the front of the group, loudly telling Corvayne how cool he was.


    ¡°What''s that feeling?¡± Corvayne interrupted, something like wind starting to push against him.


    Lady Blood Claw looked back. ¡°It''s the circle... I think the blood activated it!¡±


    Gary yelled and pointed at her. ¡°It''s a DROW! HOLY SHIT! Corvayne!!¡±


    The one girl in the group stumbled then shrieked as she started rolling back towards the room. Grunt put a hand down and caught her. Then the next nerd stumbled into Grunt, then Gary hit one of his trunk-like legs. Corvayne let him self drift back and touched Grunt, using gravity as he braced himself. Suddenly he felt heavier, the storm tugging him and pulling at his clothes but not moving him. It made standing harder, but Corvayne had a hand on Grunt and they formed a wedge that caught the rest of the nerds as well as Lady Blood Claw, who slid into his chest and wrapped her arms around Corvayne as she nearly got dragged right around him. He decided to just pick her up and did so while leaning against the wind.


    Something about Lady Blood Claw made her especially hard to brace against, on top of just how tall she was. She winced. ¡°What the hell is this ritual?!¡±


    Corvayne heard wailing behind him and saw that the bonfire was glowing a weird rainbow of flashing colors, and cultists were being sucked in screaming, vanishing into the fire as it grew. Lady Blood Claw''s silver hair was flying in Corvayne''s face and he increased his gravity power more as he felt more of a hook feeling tugging and tearing at him, then suddenly there was a burst of air that made him stumble forward.


    Looking back, the bonfire settled into a deep red color. No... the bonfire had shifted form into a huge creature. It turned it''s head to glare at them. It''s eyes were dark spots against a burning face, huge maw opening to black teeth against a glowing yellow jaw. The rank smell of sulfur flooded the tunnel.


    The nerds took one look behind them and started running. Grunt looked over at Corvayne and shrugged, then ran with them. Corvayne only waited a moment and started running, Lady Blood Claw in his arms.


    She got out a few words in anger, ¡°Let me-¡± then stopped and squeezed. ¡°FASTER! It''s coming!¡±


    Corvayne bled away gravity from him and Lady Blood Claw and his boots sent him flying into the tunnel in a leap. Behind him he felt warm air and heard something snap. He took a glance back and saw that a tremendous flaming wolf face had stuck itself in the tunnel and was glaring at him.


    Lady Blood Claw was holding onto him with one hand and had her phone with the other. ¡°Left! Go left!¡± She shouted and he nearly slipped as he pivoted. He felt the air inside the tunnel flowing inwards, and his vapor mail kicked out a cloud that hissed as flames pushed him forward, practically shooting him up a damp ramp and flying out of a broken sewer grate and into a fenced off parking lot. He had a moment to think, midair, that he hadn''t realized how hot the tunnels were until he hit the cool air.


    He hit the ground running, and saw a Bone Dog gang member pulling out a gun. Corvayne charged forward, boots pounding, then whipped to the side to side, spoiling the thug''s aim as he coiled, sprung, and kicked the gang member in the face, then jumped over a ragged chain fence onto a roof. Behind him, he heard the sound of things breaking. He didn''t dare look back and he pushed his gravity power further and hurdled over a side street, landing on top of a two story building. He set Lady Blood Claw down, and she gently let go of him then looked around and went from pink to red.


    ¡°Why did you jump on a building? How are we going to get down?!?¡±


    He didn''t have time to form a response before he heard the crack of gunfire and crouched. A chunk of the lip of the roof they were on vanished into dust.


    ¡°We are taking fire, cloak up. Hopefully Grunt can get the hostages out.¡±


    Lady Blood claw nodded and they crept away from the part of the building taking fire. A wood plank had been laid between the building they were on to another across an alleyway. Corvayne stepped across and Lady Blood Claw turned green a moment then rushed forward as well.


    Two gang members with pistols were climbing up a ladder up to the roof they were on. Corvayne flicked his spear out, wind blade knocking them back, one off the roof and the other off the ladder. Nobody died! Probably. He looked over the side as he ran by and pulled his head back as someone shot at him.


    Corvayne looked over at LBC. ¡°Great, this place is lousy with Bone Dogs...¡±


    The edge of the next roof was overlooking the market street, packed with people and stalls and neon. Corvayne glanced behind him and saw three gang members firing. A shot landed near him, so he grabed Lady Blood Claw''s hand and said ¡°Jump!¡± and pulled her before she could stop him, lowering their gravity enough that they slid off an awning and into the crowded market street.


    There was a roar behind them. People at the market looked around, startled. Corvayne pulled Lady Blood Claw through the crowd to an alleyway and padded along, turning back every so often to look for the wolf. ¡°We can''t stay there. If that thing is chasing us, it''s going to kill hundreds.¡±


    She pulled her hand free of his, rubbing it. ¡°Then we need to fight it. Isn''t that what you want to do, Corvayne?¡±


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    He turned around. ¡°It''s going to cause a lot of damage, and it''s going to mark us out for the monk to find.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw was huffing as she spoke and jogged after him. ¡°Yeah, but you''re not just going to let it hurt people, right?¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to live in a world where a hell hound summoned by a street gang, somehow, gets to just tear it''s way through the marketplace.¡±


    He spun his spear. ¡°Okay, so what''s the plan for fighting it?¡±


    ¡°Lure it into a tight alleyway or building, then get above it when it gets stuck and hack it apart.¡± Corvayne turned and saw something on fire the size of a bus looking at him. He could see steam billowing off the monster as pushed into the market street with a chorus of screams as shoppers ran. But the monster only had eyes for him and Lady Blood Claw.


    It padded across the street, and Corvayne grabbed Lady Blood Claw''s hand before she could bolt.


    ¡°Walk away and take side streets. If it''s like a sand wolf, running away triggers it''s prey response.¡±


    He couldn''t help but think about being chased by One-Last-Note as he hustled through a series of back streets, speeding up after a corner to keep ahead of the massive prowling beast. A single Bone Dogs gang member tried to stop them, but he used the butt of his spear to knock them into a wall. He turned another corner and motioned to a ladder.


    Lady Blood Claw shook her head. ¡°You go up. I bet it''s after me... the gang members kept seeing me, right?¡±


    He felt himself frowning. ¡°Just be careful here. Honestly, I don''t like the idea of you being bait.¡±


    She turned bright pink... then wiped the smile off her face and turned gray. She was really happy when he said that? ¡°Same Corvayne, that''s why it''s my turn this time.¡± She gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder and ran down the alley as Corvayne crouched and leaped halfway up the ladder. He definitely was going through the gravity portal again when he saw it.


    How was he going to hurt the thing? Did [Flow-Like-Water] actually have a water element to it? If he could do some sort of combo to it, he might be able to slay the thing outright with his opening attacks. No, he had the movement of [Flow-Like-Water] down but he couldn''t copy what Spears did with it, and the other move he considered with it was a Diamonds-In-Passing technique that he had thought had something to do with using a great-sword that had a freezing liquid core to make the downswing hit harder and make things the sword hit brittle. He''d tried weeks ago to make it work, and he suspected it might be something that only worked with the sword. He decided instead he was going to apply was to charge a [Grand Slam] when the flaming monster was on it''s way past where he was crouched, then [Execute] since he''d have a shot at the wolf when it was boxed in.


    He pulled a healing potion out and put it into a pouch on his belt. Total confidence that it would work, right there.


    He could see the monster was coming just from a trail of steam wafting above the rooftops, and the faint smell of sulfur growing stronger. He turned, and started charging [Cross Skill: Grand Slam] as he saw the back of the monster moving to where his increasingly heavy blade was urging him to strike.


    He brought the weapon down, blasting through a bit of brick as the blade cleaved down. The monster wailed as the blade sliced through it, leaving a huge gap in it''s blackened hide that gushed magma. Corvayne stepped back while pulling the sword with him to bring it back up, then stepped forward again and used [Cross Skill: Execute], landing a solid hit on the thing''s snout as it''s attention turned to him. Another huge gash opened, pouring magma all around. A tiny splatter landed on Corvayne''s arm and instantly ignited. He rolled away, arm flaring in agony as he dragged it through a puddle, boiling the dirty water on the roof and putting out the fire, but doing nothing for the pain. He saw the monster''s head and open mouth and he sprung out of the roll to toss himself over the lip of the roof and barely activated his gravity power, slamming into the ground on his back. He took a trembling hand and grabbed his healing potion as an explosion of fire blasted across the rainy sky overhead. He popped the stopper on the glass bottle and downed it, feeling his arm cool off and things in his back snapping back into place.


    A moment later he was back up to his feet, running towards the open grass of the waterfront park. He could see in puddles that something glowing was above and behind him and he switched to his spear and used [Flow-Like-Water] as the alleyway lit up, the skill propelling him out of a fireball rolling through the alley.


    He looked back and saw the monster perched on a building, face and back oozing magma. Little fires sprung up where it bleed. He was sure the monster caught his eyes, because it''s own black eyes rimmed with orange narrowed. He turned, put his head down, and ran as fast as he could as a tremendous roar punctuated by a building collapsing was heard behind him.


    His current terror was mixed in with annoyance that he was running away, again. He spun and used [Cross Skill: Thresh] do draw a line of shadow behind him with his spear, leaping and spinning a little as he found his feet again and kept running. He saw Lady Blood Claw ahead, running along the waterfront.


    ¡°I''m going for the bridge!¡± He cried out, feet out as he leapt over the slope and landed on the brick walkway along the sound.


    She nodded and he slipped along to run next to her. Behind him he heard metal creaking and the sound of bricks breaking, the beast having slammed into a light pole as it hurled itself onto the walkway. The monster seemed to be struggling with the black shadows that it was dragging along, so Corvayne spun around and ran backwards for a moment to create another line of shadows, then another. He huffed and pumped his legs to keep up with Lady Blood Claw, who had her eyes half closed and looked in pain. The path was curving around the island, with maybe a half mile left until they got to the bridge.


    ¡°Keep going! It''s bleeding from my attacks... if we weaken and slow it enough we might be able to turn on it.¡±


    His armor flashed another layer of vapor as the air behind him ignited. He slashed more shadows into the ground. Lady Blood Claw put her head down and matched his speed. Behind him, the hell hound kept dragging the shadows he put down. Corvayne could feel his cloak heating up as the monster''s fire breath licked their backs. He was on the home stretch to get to the bridge, fifty feet.


    He hit the stairs up to the street two at a time, grabbing the rail and Lady Blood Claw''s hand to spin her out of the way of the charging dog. It didn''t react to them pulling themselves away and scampered and skidded across the road, nearly getting hit by a honking car that quickly decided to peel out to get away from the flaming monster dog.


    Corvayne turned, grabbing his spear and feeling a sting on his heels where his feet had been cooked by stray fire. He was drenched in sweat too. ¡°I''m going to fight it here, where'' there''s almost nothing it can ignite and where it can''t use it''s full speed or it will fling itself in the river.


    Lady Blood Claw looked like she was wrung out. ¡°We should have just jumped in the water from the get-go.¡±


    The dog had stumbled down the stairway on the opposite side of the bridge, but was now padding up the stairs, facing them. Corvayne spared a glance back at Lady Blood Claw. ¡°Can you fight?¡±


    She nodded wearily. ¡°I need a weapon, I dropped my sword when it tried to suck me into the fire.¡±


    Corvayne handed her his own two-handed sword, then hefted his spear and split from Lady Blood Claw as the monster huffed a cone of fire at them. It seemed to hold a grudge as it followed Corvayne with it''s cone of flames. Corvayne used [Flow-Like-Water] and found that performing it out in the rain made it work better, to the point actually overshot the side of the dog and landed near a back leg, spear scoring a few hits on the side of the monster.


    The monster radiated heat and even more so when he opened wounds up, the monster bleeding lava. It looked like it had stemmed it''s bleeding from previous attacks, as the wounds had scabbed over with rock. The monster suddenly heaved itself at him, trying to roll over onto Corvayne. He manged to avoid getting crushed but he brushed the monster with his forearm, cooking the skin and forcing him to back away as he closed his eyes and stumbled away. In a moment the monster was rolling back to get on all fours, but not before Lady Blood Claw hammered it''s side with a sword strike, running past it and avoiding the monster spinning to snap at her.


    He heard another car stop and turn around behind him as the demonic looking dog turned back at him, crouching. He hefted his spear, then ran backwards as it charged forward, jaws snapping. He used [Cross Skill: Thresh] and managed to engulf it''s face with sticky shadow. In a moment where it was trying to break free, he took a wild stab at it''s eye, missing and clipping it''s brow with another wound leaking lava. It twisted his head and he rolled to the side, fire flashing out and leaving behind motes of steam. Corvayne pushed off the ground and regretted using his palms as his hand was burned almost instantly by the concrete.


    Lady Blood Claw was at least capitalizing on his pain, her blade lopping off the monster''s tail and scoring a hit on the other back leg. The monster tried to claw the shadow off it''s face so he jabbed it with his spear, each wound worsening the intense heat the monster was radiating. Frustrated, Corvayne directed his shadow hands to help, the limbs darting out with his spear to jab the monster. Where the hands hit, the monster''s skin turned from a deep red to a burnt black, and a cut of magma went from a thick substance to a watery flow.


    The monster roared and spun, not managing to bit him but instead clubbed Corvayne with his jaw, hammering him off his feet and burning his whole side, cloak or not. He could feel his skin crinkle as he stood, waves of pain forcing him to clench his teeth. He couldn''t stop yet. The monster could at any point turn around and start killing people in Ko-Ban. He pushed his spear out, using [Cross Skill: Bleeder] then forcing all four of his shadow hands to jab the wound. It worked too well and he had to use his cloak to stop a spray of high pressure magma from dousing him. His fingers got cooked by a bit of Magma, and now his entire body hurt.


    The monster at least wailed and was trying to lick it''s wound that was gushing burning rock.


    Lady Blood Claw was staggering back. ¡°Corvayne, if this keeps up we''re going to cook!¡±


    Corvayne knew that, but one more hit might be enough to bleed the monster out... this time he started in then darted to the side as the huge beast reacted, head snapping out to keep him at bay, but only catching air as he had started to pivot before it even moved to bite him. He knew this was his last shot, as he could feel the strain of all the pain and burns starting to sink into him. With both arms he once again used [Cross Skill: Bleeder] and thrust his weapon into the monster''s leg, twisting the spear and shooting out hands, shadowy fingers jabbing the cut as Corvayne turned and started running down the bridge.


    There was a titanic howl of pain. The hell hound couldn''t quite reach it''s flank, so instead it started hobbling after Corvayne. It''s size and speed meant that it was keeping pace with him. He didn''t see where Lady Blood Claw was, as he looked back, just the beast and him on open road, it''s lame leg slowing it enough that his boots of running were keeping it ahead of him. Focusing on what was ahead, he was about halfway across the bridge to the train station. If he could get there, it might be possible to use a smaller entrance and get away from the dog.


    Flames shot out behind him but they were tepid, the monster having trouble running and breathing on him. His own sprint was slowing as the monster did. The gravity use and running and skills were catching up. He had to get away from the dog after luring it... where? Old town still had people living on the street. The monster was going to eat them.


    He had resigned himself to turning around to try to land a few more hits when he saw something going on ahead of him, at the station. A set of double doors was swinging open and someone was pushing something out. A heavy cart, or car? Focus. Maybe get to that door, warn whoever was there to hide, then once he had a moment try to healing potion up and go finish the job. Where were the cops with guns when there was a monster to fight.


    Corvayne knew he was risking passing out. A quarter of the bridge was left and his legs were feeling heavier with each step, even with the gliding feeling the boots gave him. The dog had not slowed since the last wound, and once glance behind him established that the monster was going to pay him back for the damage done one way or another.


    His instincts told him to hit the ground, and he did. Falling to meet the pavement, he had a moment of dream-like clarity as to the action in the station. He could see Dawn-after-Night in the arch, lining up what looked like a small car with a hole in the middle. As he hit the pavement his hands pushed themselves against his ear. Even so, he FELT the weapon go off and heard a terrible yip even through his ears being plugged. Risking an open eye, he turned to see the hell hound''s corpse start to topple, a hole punched clean through the beast wide enough that Corvayne could see dark sky through the white hot shimmer of it''s blood. A moment later the dog collapsed into a heap and started to fade away.


    He pushed himself up, head lolling a little, and started walking towards the station. Getting closer, he could see that Dawn had an anti-tank gun scaled up three times over that she had pulled out on cart. Given the size of the bore... he looked behind him and saw that there was a hole in the sidewalk and railing of the bridge. It took him a full minute to trudge up to where Dawn was busy humming to herself and cleaning the gun. She looked up at him, then back to the last vanishing embers of the dog, then back at Corvayne. She looked expectant.


    Corvayne took his time, pulling his hood back, checking to see where he was going to have blisters, then finally turning to Dawn. ¡°Nice shot.¡±


    ¡°Nice jog.¡± She said with a smirk.


    An hour later he was sitting on a crate in the garage, still gawking at the modified ship rifle Dawn was checking for rust. Lady Blood Claw was next to him, using her cloak as a balled up pillow. He was pretty sure she was awake, as sometimes she''d look up. Grunt had come with everyone the Bone Dogs had kidnapped, Gary included, and had gotten them to a place where they could get cleaned up and call someone to pick them up. Grunt took charge of that, seeing as he was in much better shape aside from a few bullet holes in his clothes.


    Corvayne lifted his head as Grunt returned. Dawn stopped playing with the rifle and planted a big kiss on Grunt''s lips, then folded her arms. ¡°So Grunt... we got everyone back, including the kids the client wanted... so what the fuck happened that a giant flaming dog chased these two halfway around Ko-Ban then down the bridge?¡±


    Grunt made a series of hand motions that Corvayne half payed attention to, seeing as they were a retelling of their day.


    ¡°Okay, so the hostages were for a ritual?¡±


    Grunt made some more hand motions. Dagger and chanting.


    ¡°But they only took dorks for some reason? Was it an intelligence thing?¡±


    Grunt shook his head then looked back at Corvayne and Lady Blood Claw, then crept up to Dawn and made some furtive hand motions, which Corvayne caught an X with Grunt''s fingers then the universal sex sign. What was he saying?


    Dawn laughed once. ¡°Okay... I guess taking nerds makes sense if that''s the reason.¡±


    Corvayne couldn''t help but ask. ¡°What was the criteria?¡±


    Dawn started to speak but Grunt put a hand on her elbow and shook his head.


    She turned to address Grunt rather then Corvayne. ¡°What the problem? Why does he care?¡±


    Grunt mimed sighing. A few more hand motions. Dawn waved him off. ¡°Okay, fine. Huh. So I guess spear-boy didn''t go all the way with Wick? All-right. I''ll use the money and get that info for you guys. Good job out there, you included Corvayne. Running the monster away from the buildings was dumb, but also gutsy. I like that. I guess I won''t do any peeling this week ha HA!¡±

 Chapter 74: At the Clinic

    ¡°I guess you are the only person who likes barbeque even more then me, even I would never try to grill myself!¡±


    Mister I laughed as he applied goop to Corvayne''s burns. Corvayne had repeatedly asked the monk not to disclose the ingredients of anything he used after ingesting something last time he was banged up that had a lot of various animial''s reproductive organs in the mixture. So far, so good.


    Corvayne shrugged, causing some of his burns to twist. He winced a little as he adjusted how he was sitting on the exam table. ¡°I''ll just take it as a compliment that I''m the first thing that''s come before you cooked that you were willing to fix instead of eat.¡±


    Mister I hummed but kept dabbing at the wounds, so Corvayne''s attention drifted, at first to the T.V.


    Mister I had flipped the news on, where reports of arson in Ko-Ban the previous night was matched with a story about Tel-Star mine shutting down after a safety incident and hikers reporting a gang of kids in costumes was trying to mug people out near Cascadia National Forest. The little room in his clinic was stuffed with a mix of old complicated machines and various herbs and jars all lined up on shelves and counter tops. He was not sure what was medicine and what was food, as Mister I sometimes slipped things that he assumed were animal based alchemy components into his mouth as snacks. He also had a bunch of various statues and totems positioned in corners of the room, faced along the walls to look at each other. Despite all the musty materials, the smell of rubbing alcohol overpowered everything else.


    After some more dabbing, Mister I dusted his hands off. ¡°You can put your shirt on... If Mr.Argyle shows up in old town today you might want another mend, but you seem to set your own bones well enough, and of course all too quickly! Ah, on matters of the heart... I still wish to do that session with you and Wick, but...¡± Mister I trailed off and waved his hand around, as if showing off the wood panels. Maybe he meant the office was crowded?


    ¡°Always busy with mortal danger.¡± Corvayne nodded. ¡°I hope once this monk thing is over... not you, the bad monk. Once it''s over, I''d like to get a solid week to actually do things like talk about Wick and me with you, go fishing, watch more movies with Grunt... is it weird I think about when me and Wick were stuck in the dungeon? Just us?¡±


    Mister I shook his head. ¡°I don''t want to speak too early, but perhaps you are in fact a danger seeker? You seem to often step out in front of everyone else.¡± He held up a hand. ¡°I don''t mean to say it''s not appreciated! My old bones are more fit for sitting down or eating rather then leaping and hunting!¡± He patted his barrel chest. ¡°But you are cavalier with your own well being, and have picked a rather difficult target to woo. I won''t tell you anything Wick hasn''t, but I want to urge you to take caution with her, lest you push too hard and hurt yourself in a way that you cannot heal from.¡±


    Corvayne felt a need to protest, but bit it down. He was about to take a more neutral response when Mister I practically stuck his finger in Corvayne''s face. ¡°Ah! Right there! What did you want to say? C''mon! Spit it out! You have these flashes of real Corvayne then you dump them, throw them overboard. Even if you somehow got me to hate you, I would still help you. So out with it! What did you want to say?¡±


    He felt himself frown. ¡°I wanted to tell you to butt out. I got angry for a moment.¡±


    There was a pause. Mister I smiled. ¡°If you had said that to your trainers, from the Watchers? If you told them that they made you angry, they would twist it back on you, right? Or hurt you?¡±


    Corvayne closed his mouth. The monk just laughed and patted his knee. ¡°Corvayne, people bump into each other. I''ve been called a lot of things, someone once called me a ''real doctor'' which truly hurt but I forgave them, since they''ve never had to deal with one haha!¡± He slapped his knee. ¡°But really... you are racing to catch up. If you are fighting a giant turtle, yes, bottle it up. But around us? Try to embrace what you feel.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Will you then tell me how you really feel any moment as well?¡±


    Mister I laughed. ¡°Never! It would break your heart!¡±


    It got him to laugh, which was something.


    ¡°Corvayne, I am an old man. Old men have regrets that young people shouldn''t have. Sure, I''m spry, but it''s getting harder and harder to find people who match my age that are also so lively. Why, I''ll have to add another girlfriend soon to balance ages out!¡±


    Corvayne folded his hands. He would not trust Mister I with a meat pie, but everything else? ¡°I know your busy and I''m hogging your time but I got really mad all the time before I left the village. I sometimes feel like... the me in the village was a different person.¡±


    The monk smirked. ¡°You fought monsters before, right?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Yes. We needed to keep the numbers down, and hunting the creatures allowed us to have a pretty large... maybe suspiciously large village. I say that, but it was more like a city in the middle of nowhere.¡±


    Mister I smiled. ¡°Well, you are still the you who fights with monsters. The Corvayne with a spear. The Corvayne who nearly dies but comes back from it. Tch. How annoying do you think it is for me hmm? To have another person like Grunt who goes out and gets his ass kicked and shrugs it off? Another Wick who shies away from the support she needs? Pah! Even Dawn is like that, you know, she is afraid of herself! Oh, and Lady Blood Claw, she had bad burns! Wincing all over, was considering using a dart gun to knock her out because she kept running away. I don''t give two craps about alien or not. Chicken, Beef, Squid, all of them don''t like getting cooked. Totally clueless about why cultists were after her. Tch. Okay, didn''t have the heart to tell her.¡±


    Corvayne tilted his head. ¡°You know why they could sense her?¡±


    Mister I froze. ¡°Oh boy. No no no. I''m not going to tell you that one. She would kill me! You figured out the painting thing, so you should be smart enough! Think about fantasy books!¡±


    He took a minute to think but he had no idea what Mister I was trying to tell him about LBC so he switched back to a different tact. ¡°You implied me and Dawn are... afraid of ourselves?¡±


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°You both have the same problem. Tch. You are terrified that the person you are, we won''t like you. Some of it is because yes, Wick is terrible for you! You love each other but she''s too hard for you. The elf girl? She''s really a simple person. It''s sort of disappointing you know, to finally meet an elf and instead of a wise ancestor type she''s a teenage girl.¡±


    Corvayne felt his heart clench. ¡°She''s older then me!¡±


    Mister I laughed. ¡°Sure, and I''m older then a twenty year old dog, but in dog years? She is not a KID kid, calm down criminal.¡± He chuckled at his own joke, then swept some stuff aside to pull out a hotplate and got a beaker of water boiling.


    ¡°Cold rainy day, let''s have some tea. So Hari is an adult, yes? But she''s just barely one. Thankfully, she''s wise and doesn''t act like she knows it all. Just knows what she knows, and she knows she likes you. Perfect first girlfriend, because you are young at heart. You say your twenty... twenty six? But if the years are empty... well you are an adult. You had a job, got your own place, started making friends. She is the same, but all her trauma came all at once. Bad relationship, then her new friends all got eaten. But... she liked you. She likes Wick too, but LIKE likes you. Honest, strong, and careful. Plus she thinks you are hot.¡±


    Mister I saw the water was bubbling and grabbed a black glove to take the glass off the burner and pour it into a teapot, then tossed a bag in to seep and turned the little hotplate off, peeling the glove off. ¡°She will be back. She''s a good match. Even if you two changed and dump each other, you are at the right stage of life where it will last long enough to figure what you want out.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Okay, so why are you trash talking Wick? You, Dawn, Grunt all basically took her in. She is maybe a little paranoid, but she''s getting treatment for something, and I bet the meds she talks about come from you.¡±


    Mister I nodded. ¡°She has fake identities she could use to see someone better then poor old me but, well, I''m the only doctor she trusts, because I''m not a doctor. I told you, she''s too hard for you to handle.¡± He opened a drawer and produced two teacups, their glaze a little cracked with age but elegantly painted white and blue.


    ¡°The pattern reminds me of the dungeon with the slimes.¡± Corvayne said as he looked at the cups.


    ¡°Oh no. The pattern is Artoodeetoo. Based on an old fantasy movie. I mean, the cup is expensive now as it''s 600 years old, but they were made as a joke. Jokes eventually become fine art. Just like me!¡± Mister I poured tea for himself, then for Corvayne who took the cup as Mister I continued. ¡°I have a bunch of them and other things I could sell if I ever badly needed more money. I mean, there were two whole boxes full of them in that garage. I can afford to lose these.¡±


    ¡°You have secrets too, Mister I?¡± He smiled.


    ¡°It''s my name! Ick-ari-E. Hence, Mister E! Ha ha ha. No, no. My secrets are boring burdens of an old out of touch man who sticks his nose into things.¡± He took a sip of blazing hot tea and winced a little. ¡°Now, you and Wick. She is going to be hard. Two reasons, first that she is terrified of the things she wants. You see how she likes to hug you and kiss you, and sometimes when you do it, okay! And sometimes, she goes into fight or flight mode? That''s not going to fix itself. It might get better soon, I hope, from fighting back. But ah, even if you defeated all her foes, her paranoia is not her being crazy, so it will take a long time of knowing she is safe.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think she''s crazy. She has problems, but that happens to people...¡± Corvayne sipped his tea and narrowed his eyes. Soapy. ¡°Mister I, did you put those pine needles in the teapot?¡±


    Mister I grinned evilly. ¡°Hahah, when you like the taste, you''ll be a real Cascadian.¡±


    ¡°You Jerkbag.¡± Corvayne smirked and tried another sip. Bleh. It was a clean taste, too clean.


    Mister I took another sip and leaned back in his chair. ¡°Wick has people after her, yeah? And they want to kill her. You know this. She is right, they will always be looking for her. So it means she had to learn to break things off. She came to Cascadia with almost no money when she was fifteen and ended up at my doorstep, yeah? Maybe she knew of me, but I think it was fate, dumb luck. But no money, only a few things to sell to pay for something to help her sleep and a room. Same deal as Grunt, shockingly! And before him, Dawn was the same. This is where people go who have nothing. Well, except me. I used to care about money, a lot. Once I stopped, I had too much.¡±


    Corvayne thought for a bit. ¡°You''re not just here... you own this building, don''t you?¡±


    Mister I smiled. ¡°Wick has the deed to her side. I... forget to charge rent sometimes on mine.¡±


    ¡°Why not... fix it up?¡±


    ¡°People see what they want to see. It''s why Wick is hard to deal with too. She cannot be herself. She lets a little of who she is out on Saturdays when she speaks to a crowd, but even that is filtered through who she has to be.¡±


    ¡°She''s acting. All the time.¡± Corvayne felt a chill run through his stomach.


    ¡°Wrong! Boy!¡± Mister I''s voice suddenly had steel behind it. Corvayne nearly dropped his cup as Mister I''s eyes grew serious. He softened his voice. ¡°She''s been dropping it, more and more. She loves you fool, and I''ve heard her voice slip. You gave her hope.¡±


    ¡°That''s good though?¡± Corvayne asked.


    Mister I sighed. ¡°She''s not my daughter, but she''s like one I never met.¡±


    ¡°You mean never had?¡±


    Mister I pretended to not hear that. ¡°She''s not ready to drop her acting or mindset, at all. It''s going to snap back, and hurt you. People who are hurt like her... they do like other hurt people, but you are odd. That''s the second problem. She is going to be attracted to bad people. Both her attraction and fears mean she wants act out for a reaction or because she cannot deal with things, and sometimes she is just tolerating people who love her and that she loves because it''s too scary. Think of it this way, some people, you tell them the tea cup is precious, and they don''t want to drink tea from it! So... it will go great then one day, she will dump you because she cares about you and it scares her. You become a cup too precious to lose, then it all gets boxed up and forgotten and then you are old and griping about being old to old men.¡±


    Corvayne was confused. ¡°But she likes you, and Grunt, and she hasn''t...¡±


    ¡°Not romantically. She keeps a certain distance from us, and Dawn too. Too afraid to trust at first, but then too afraid to bring people she trusts with her. She''s accepted Grunt as a sort of brother, which is good. But I want you to set your worries of her aside. Even if it''s rough, I''m more okay with it now that I see you have friends and maybe an elf on the way back for you. Good learning experience! And if I am wrong, I will happily officiate the wedding.¡±


    ¡°I thought you were a monk, not a priest.¡± That got him thinking about Mosh waving his hand telling a bride and groom they got the gist of it and to get to smooching. A pretty good thought.


    ¡°Oh for sure! I''ve had a lot of jobs! But no no, enough about Wick. I want to talk about Corvayne.¡±


    Corvayne felt a little odd. ¡°Me?¡±


    ¡°Yes you! You should be broken. When someone is abused and has no support or is neglected, they are usually non-functional. Or feral. The only odd thing I see is that you take risks that suggest... you don''t value yourself. That''s part of why I want to do real therapy with you! It''s sort of boring I know, I just ask you questions and let you talk, but it''s sort of like the spear-dance thing you do, where it''s about stretching muscles so that when you do have to spar, you''re ready. Let''s say, Monday next week.¡±


    Corvayne nodded at the idea of penciling in a time, but it took him right back to the elephant in the room. ¡°What about the monk?¡±


    Mister I pointed to himself looking confused, then just waved his hand and laughed. ¡°Oh, I''m betting on Mr. Argyle being dead next week and you needing to talk about killing him. So Monday early, maybe after we get back from a dungeon too? Maybe eat ribs too? Eh? Eh?¡± He smiled and raised his eyebrows.


    ¡°What if I lose?¡±


    Mister I laughed at that. ¡°You know, then we are probably all dead! No pressure!¡±

 Chapter 75: Rainy Day

    After the talk with Mister I Corvayne wanted to spend some time with Wick, but she wasn''t in her room, and he saw she was doing magic practice in the garage which he didn''t want to interrupt with his usual insecurities. It was raining pretty heavily, but the humidity trapped inside the building felt suffocating so he parked himself under an awning in the court yard of the community center, the pattering of rain mostly blanketing out Wick banging on the metal wall with spells.


    Looking around at the little walkway, handful of trees, corner garden, and grill all getting pelted by rain relaxed him. It took him away from the desert to see a puddle shimmer. So what now? Well, Mister I gave him a lot to think about, but he guessed it was a worst-case assessment between him and Wick. He would put it off to Monday. That''s assuming he got there, he might very well die in the next couple of days. Even if it didn''t stick last time he died, he had a feeling he wasn''t going to get to live a hundred times and unless he vastly overestimated his enemy, sooner or later he''d stroll into Old Town, possibly with a legion of cops.


    Corvayne was cursed, and he knew he had tried to dodge thinking about it, but Lady Blood Claw had been right. Something was wrong with him. The memory gaps bothered him. What was he going to do about it? The only people that might know what to do were on a different world. He''d have to talk to Mister I about if there were things he could do to train his mind here. That and maybe some mental flexing would help give him clarity. It was one thing to empty his mind and just act, but he sometimes felt overwhelmed by all the stuff he was now trying to keep track of.


    So, list, he had to beat up the monk, then find his way back home, all the while trying to sort of fix himself long enough to deal with his own tribe when he found them. The Magus cursed Lady Blood Claw, and probably cursed him. He''d go into the prison and... ask nicely? Wring the wizard''s neck? The second option usually was how warriors did thing, but it didn''t feel like it would work. Either way, he''d come back to the village stronger. He was pretty sure that he wouldn''t be the bottom of the barrel with the weapon powers he had, especially with a one on one duel with Spears under his belt. He couldn''t take a master yet, but with those skills he used he might actually land a hit.


    Spears-Like-Water had changed too. Did he lift her curse? The black vine around her heart felt like what he pulled away to get his powers. He didn''t like her, but the look on her face when the fight ended and she vanished after being stuck inside that... thing... He summoned the wood statue of a spear woman in a cage, the carving oddly familiar to him. He was pretty sure he hadn''t carved anything before, but there was something nostalgic about it. Holding it... he felt himself turning to stare at a part of the inner courtyard wall, north near the door to the garage. He tried thinking of the desert, his bed, home, and his attention jerked sharply back in the direction of the warehouse. Right. He felt at home here, in the city. He wasn''t at all out of place or out of touch! Thinking about Spears again, his senses started drawing his attention north again... it didn''t feel like gravity or his shadow hands, so was it the compass power or did he have something else that might let him sense where things were?


    Someone sat down next to him and he jumped out of his seat and turned. Lady Blood Claw looked up at him, skin turning brown with orange and red circles swelling up, her face looking a little hurt.


    ¡°Sorry, I didn''t notice you come up on me.¡± Corvayne held his hands up, then sat back down. She had been stern the first week they knew each other but more and more she was acting... less like a gruff alien mercenary. ¡°I was just watching the rain and thinking.¡±


    Her skin drifted to a sort of pinkish darker gray color. Halfway between happy and keeping a lid on it. ¡°Ah. Sorry, I was just going to say you''ve been doing a good job. I wanted to try to train some before we face off against the monk, too, but there''s not a good place to do so here.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Wick''s using the garage. And it''s kids field hockey day in the gym.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw sighed. ¡°All that effort renovating that factory... down the drain.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°It had plenty of space. And of course I''d train with you if we had a spot... You are a good sparring partner.¡±


    She raised an eyebrow, looking amused with bright banded colors flowing over gray skin. ¡°Ah. I had hoped we''d moved up to friends.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I sort of thought that, but I''m still finding myself... unsure of what to do with other people? And myself.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. ¡°I lived for the organization so long that I sort of grabbed for the first thing that offered me a place, with Nyxion. I appreciate Nyx, but you''ve sort of upset the status quo of jumping onto his brand of chaos.¡±


    ¡°You still want me to try to find my village and the Magus, right? I think if Wick is safe, that''s what I want to do next.¡±


    ¡°That''s sort of what I wanted to ask you about, but... I''m okay waiting a little longer if Wick gets caught up in what Nyxion wants to do. I know often I''m... brisk and direct. I had talked to Wick about you and she had admonished me about badgering you, telling me it would be like pushing me to go back to the Magus''s apprentices.¡± She scratched her cheek, skin turning a deep blue that Corvayne was nearly certain was embarrassment.


    Corvayne nodded, suddenly feeling odd looking at her face to face. ¡°Thanks for your concerns, but I''m dating... trying to date Wick. You barely register on the pushy scale. I don''t know if Nyxion is up for a quest to try to find my village, but you''re welcome to come when I go.¡±


    He heard the door open to the courtyard from the direction of the main community center and clinic and spotted Grunt, who produced an umbrella while holding another. The large man smiled and walked over, offering Corvayne an umbrella. He made a shoveling-food-in-his-face gesture.


    ¡°Can I see if Wick''s down too?¡± Corvayne asked. Grunt nodded and handed him an umbrella.


    Inside the garage Wick was in a tank top and shorts, her blue robe and pants draped over a folding chair, and was waving a wand overhand and underhand alternating as she threw tiny bolts from the tip. Sweat covered her forehead as guided a trio of jade bolts into a bulls-eye. Each disrupt made a small pinging noise as it dented the metal. He saw one swing going wide from the target and smack into a different part of the wall, and as much as he liked watching her sweat he decided she probably would appreciate a break.


    ¡°Wick, food?¡±


    She turned and tucked her wand in the band of her shorts, then swept her hair back, the mop of green damp with perspiration. ¡°You don''t mind that I''m sweaty?¡±


    Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°No.¡± He didn''t think the circles under her eyes today were makeup, and didn''t want to freak her out by telling her that right now he was very tempted to skip eating to do something else. He forced himself to calm down. Despite what Mister I said, Wick didn''t need to know every time he wanted to grab her and... He redirected himself to food.


    Wick threw her robe and pants on, reducing some of Corvayne''s baser thoughts. She looked him up and down and he saw a little smile on her face that suggested she noticed him checking her out. Then she slipped back into her manic grin and walked past him. ¡°Good! I''d kick your ass if you complained about me working out. The stunt with the hell hound means he''s going to be in Ko-Ban soon. Thankfully, the cops are spread out trying to deal with the shit Grunt stirred up, but it''s a matter of TIME. When are you working out? I wanna watch you, see how you like it.¡±


    He fell in step with her as she strode outside. It seemed like jogging she had been doing in her past life had carried over, as before when she was a little tired she was fully winded. He tried to do a little acting with her, adding a baritone confidence to his voice. ¡°You are always welcome to watch me.¡±


    She laughed. ¡°I won''t have a choice since you live an empty door frame away.¡± She had stopped under the awning as he stepped past her with the umbrella.


    ¡°I haven''t gotten a job yet, hence living in your spare room.¡± He had to either loom over her or get wet to keep the umbrella on both of them. He saw that Grunt and Lady Blood Claw... he would try to say Lady next time he wanted to get her attention... he saw that they were waiting inside the front part of the community center.


    Wick was looking at him. ¡°Corvayne, you know most people don''t live where they work, right?¡±


    ¡°I sort of guessed.¡± He didn''t really know, but he missed living next to Grunt for as much as he liked crashing at Wick''s. ¡°Why doesn''t Grunt live with Dawn?¡±


    ¡°I want to challenge you to think about it, or just ask him.¡± Wick said. ¡°You are smart enough... oh I wanted to talk to you about the gang. The Bone Dogs. Also I''m glad you don''t open doors for me. It would weird me out.¡± She swung the door open and he used a shadow hand to keep the umbrella over her, then held the door and yanked the umbrella in after them as they both went inside.


    A wide eyed child in the hall, probably less then 10 summers old, was pointing at him with mouth agape. Corvayne smiled and winked at him, using a shadow hand to shush himself. ¡°We''re on a secret mission. Shh.¡±


    The child beamed and repeated the motion, then turned to run back into the gym and likely tell everyone what he had seen.


    Corvayne looked over to Wick, who gave him a level look. ¡°Sorry, I might have pushed the time table up if the rumor spreads.¡±


    She laughed. ¡°I''m so beyond caring at this point. I mean, the hell hound you guys dragged into the neighborhood probably did the trick. Argyle might not know my name but people know Grunt, and Grunt associates with me.¡±


    Corvayne felt his shoulders slump as they walked up to Grunt and Lady Blood Claw. ¡°Sorry Wick. We tried to keep a low profile.¡±


    Wick waved her hand. ¡°We got Dawn working on the info, and you guys all lived without being maimed. Corvayne. Stop. Look at me. I''m not mad. I''m a little scared, but I am NOT angry at you. I warned you that I am fucked. I was always going to have someone show up and try to kidnap me or kill me. You''ve been at the front lines of trying to give me... something back. You get me? No sappy shit, just nod.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. Grunt held the door for them, and as a group they strode into the rain and a couple of blocks over to the covered street mall. Grunt lined them up at the noodle stand, just far enough in the awning that the rain pouring down didn''t splatter them. The warm light of the stand and the delightful steam coming off the broth mixed with the subdued daylight and cool mist of the rain. A group of teens ran in from the street, holding a newspaper up as cover. The noodle lady looked at Lady Blood Claw and laughed and added another person to the tally assuming she was in costume as a drow elf. He had half a mind, once he got a computer again, to figure out why she got that response every time.


    The lady behind the counter served them up then watched the rain as they ate, swaying to the music coming from a radio that looked a century old. The beef noodles he ordered were good except for the Cascadian habit of slipping native pine needles into their food. Corvayne tried to give them a fair second chance with the noodles but found them intolerably soapy again. Lady Blood Claw was eating carefully, rolling the noodles and chewing them and sipping from her soup spoon rather then slurping. He secretly was pleased to see her carefully remove the soaked needles from the soup and set them on the serving bowl, meaning he wasn''t alone in despising them. Wick ate like she was possessed but instead of hurrying away like the last time, turned to look at the rain. Grunt was working on his second bowl as he spun as well.


    ¡°Hey. What do you guys want?¡± Wick asked.


    ¡°You to be safe. Obviously.¡± Corvayne added.


    Wick groaned. ¡°No no no. I mean, that''s my goal too, but what about afterwards? When you''re too strong to mess with... what did you want to do with your life?¡±


    Grunt put his bowl back on the counter unfinished to mime out a fist bump, then binoculars, then a hug: I have a friend I want to find.


    Corvayne was surprised. Grunt seemed so content with wherever he was. ¡°Oh, you have a buddy that went missing, or you just lost touch with them?¡±


    Grunt nodded. He shrugged, and gestured around him, at the bowls of noodles.


    Lady Blood Claw offered with hesitation. ¡°Grunt wants... the simple things in life?¡±


    Grunt nodded vigorously, beaming at Lady Blood Claw. He mimed drawing out a string, then cutting it with finger scissors, then shrugged and took two offered beers from the cook, clinking them together and putting one in front of Corvayne: Life''s short. So don''t sweat it, and enjoy.


    He took a sip and offered it to Wick who shook her head. ¡°Can''t drink for another hour. Meds.¡±


    They sat and watched the rain. Corvayne must have slept through this storm last time.


    Lady Blood Claw broke the silence. ¡°I haven''t done anything, have I?¡±


    Wick leaned over and patted her on the shoulder. ¡°You lived as a noble for years, right? Everyone thinks it''s the high life.¡±


    ¡°Nyx enjoys it, but I found it... tame. Boring. Same with trying to start a rebellion. He rarely even gets to ground level. Most rebels are other nobles who want more. It won''t change much of anything if he wins.¡±


    Grunt grunted in agreement, then slurped down the rest of his noodles.


    Wick rested her head on her palms, watching the rain. ¡°I just like telling stories to people. I wish I could just... stay here and do that. Or somewhere.¡± Her scratchy voice sounded tired. ¡°But until I figure this all out... I''m stuck fighting or running or whatever.¡±


    She leaned on Corvayne, and he ruffled her wet hair a little. When he saw she was looking up at him expectantly, he cleared his throat. ¡°I''m still figuring my goal out. I always wanted to go on an adventure with friends... and it''s happening despite all the extra stuff. I do have some unfinished business though. Both with tracking down Spears-Like-Water, and then the village itself and The Magus.¡±


    Wick leaned back on the counter. ¡°So what, we need Seru or Hari or someone to get buff as heck to figure out what''s wrong with you two... or do as you say and go back to your village. What do they actually want or need from traders?¡±


    ¡°Raw materials. Mostly metals, seeds, potted plants with living dirt...¡±


    ¡°Okay. I want you to try to make a list so we can stuff a bunch of it into your ring. They might not like you as a person, but money talks.¡±


    Corvayne ordered another bowl which he''d probably have to toss in a container and finish later, but he had been curious about what a ''spicy buffalo'' tasted like. That, and the warm bowls and smell of soup were comfortable. He watched a couple of people run to get under the cover of the covered street, passing an old couple with two bags of groceries waiting for the rain to die down. The pair saw him looking and smiled and waved, so Corvayne waved back. A truck rattling through the rain merged into the sound of a train clattering somewhere above them. It was just another moment to most of the city, but to him it was the exact opposite of his old life.


    Wick nudged him then wiggled the fork she had, so he slid the bowl he ordered over let her try it as he went back to watching the rain fall, thinking about things he could not afford to lose.

 April fools bonus: The result of the attack!

    The crowd roaring for Sir Icarus''s blood fell silent as the martial artist stood in the parting dust, spitting a tooth out but smiling a bloody grin, eyes alight with heaven''s thunder even as they placidly gazed on his foe, Ar Gau-Lee. The hush from the rows and rows of spectators was so deep you could hear a mouse cough into it''s paws, that''s how silent the arena was at the moment! Only the sound of crumbling bricks from the Jingu-Bang strike dared interrupt. Sir Icarus drank in the quiet greedily. Oh yes! These were the best moments!


    Ar Gau-Lee''s cold raptor blue eyes narrowed. The young legend looked at the smiling fool standing before him and thinking about the situation he smirked right back. Of course, the idiot had harmed himself leaping into the ground under his staff! The dust from the arena had obscured it, but he saw the hole in the wall behind his enemy, and further a fresh cave carved into the hill a mile distant. He gripped the orange metal staff and gave it a twirl.


    ¡°Your feat dodging it is impressive, considering your full belly! As a reward, I shall show you my invincible staff technique once again, and send you to heaven where you can contemplate the order of everything and your place in it while waiting to be reborn as a tadpole.¡±


    Sir Icarus closed his mouth, lest his own mirth burst out. This was Glass Storm Sect''s great up and coming warrior? He had to hold up a hand.


    Spectators watched this happen and started to murmur unhappily. They had wanted a real fight! For the first round to be some nobody giving up after one attack. This was supposed to be the elite''s chance to show off their pupils. Yet the Old City sect had put this fat fool before them?


    Ar Gau-Lee could keep fighting until the idiot yielded, so he set his staff to his side and held out a palm. ¡°Go on, are you going to beg for mercy? If you lay down and grovel now, I won''t hit you after you yield.¡± He sounded magnanimous but it was a lie! His villain heart was full of envy for how Little Wi had chosen to hide in his factions camp. He also not only had the favor of the emperor, but the judges watching were all in his pocket! They wouldn''t call a late hit even if a bird called three times after Icarus gave up. He was going to stain the ground with this cheeky brat!


    Sir Icarus nodded. ¡°If you wish to give up, or fight my junior, Little-Spear-Heart, he could perhaps cut his teeth on you...¡±


    He paused and watched as Ar Gau-Lee''s face twisted in rage. Even the gold beads he wore on his blue-pheonix silk robes danced from his trembling!


    ¡°... As long as you brought all your fellow disciples out too. I wouldn''t coddle him you know!¡± Icarus laughed now, and there were gasps in the crowd.


    The tall Chameleon Clan Smith in his booth, Lady Xue Zhou, stood up from where she was sitting next to Little-Spear-Heart and called out ¡°Do not be reckless! Ar Gau-Lee is the favorite to win the tournament!¡± Little-Spear-Heart looked nervous too. ''Ah!'' Icarus thought ''I had not sparred in front of them yet.''


    His smile only grew as he saw Ar Gau-Lee go red, his face scrunching like a bull about to charge! He pulled his staff up.


    ¡°You will regret your impunity! If you live through this attack, then I will be sure they dump your broken form in the street to be trampled into the gutter!¡±


    With that Ar Gau-Lee rushed at the puny Icarus, pulled his staff back, then snapped it forward. It was the Jingu-Bang technique once more, augmented by Glass Storm Sect''s blood line to break through any defense! It was called the seven mile strike, because the force of the attack killed anyone foolish enough to stand even seven miles behind an enemy of the Glass Storm Sect! Now, he was going to hit the worm before him with the staff channeling the technique, which if this Icarus was lucky would reduce him to a bloodstain before he could even think of the pain it would cause! Ar Gau-Lee hoped his enemy was stronger then he appeared, just so he could suffer after taking the hit.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    His eyes lit up as the man didn''t dodge, letting his staff go right at his face! He was dead!


    There was a sudden jolt as the staff stopped. There was no retort of explosive Ki blasting another hole in the wall, no spray of red mist, and without the dust that had been kicked up by his first attack he could now clearly see what had happened to the first attack.


    Sir Icarus grinned, his teeth clamped onto the staff. He spit it out, nearly jerking the weapon out of Ar Gau-Lee''s hands, then wiped his mouth. ¡°I didn''t properly catch it the first time, because your chi tastes like garbage! Bleh! Does your clan cultivate in a sewer?¡±


    ¡°What?! IMPOSSIBLE!¡± Ar Gau-Lee cried out! It was a trick, this man had almost no Ki! He was the lowest of the low, possibly an F- class cultivator.


    ¡°Ah, I see the problem. You are a leaky windbag, holding your mouth open like that! Someone probably thought your cultivation base was a latrine and put a turd gem into it!¡±


    The crowd was just stunned. They knew the Glass Storm Sect technique was one of the strongest known styles, and the young master Ar Gau-Lee was expected to win!


    Ar Gau-Lee closed his mouth and returned his spirit to confidence. The man had used a treasure! As a proud strong warrior, he could see the man had a merchant''s body. Ah, then he would strike him a thousand times, and add to the burden of death reducing the fortune he had spent on impact charms to nothing!


    A hundred times his staff lashed out, blasting Ki out and kicking up a cloud of dust as he blasted the far wall of the arena into a thousand thousand shards of dust, destroyed six hills and brought them crashing down into a valley. As he stepped back and planted his staff, he swept a hand over his head to fix a stray strand of hair, then turned and found Little Wi sitting near the brute Icarus had been with the other day. Little Wi''s hair was as green as jade, and she was a thin beauty. Of course, her rich family was the real reason he was after her! Crushing this man, he''d not only continue his climb through the ranks of this tournament, but he''d take Little Wi back into his camp and marry her, which of course would let him get her wealth! Then, well, the ambition of man is understood by heaven. Little Wi was unfortunate to have sided with Sir Icarus. Had she come to him openly, she might have been a good third or fourth seat wife, fit for enjoying when he tired of fuller beauties who possessed bodies meant to be used, rather then looked at!


    All these thoughts happened when he heard laughing and clapping in the silence after the mountains fell. He spun around, as the crowd had been watching in silence. Then he spotted who was so amused. Up high in his gold booth, the emperor was roaring with laughter, slapping his knee. What? He looked at his staff, confused. Was him crushing a fool so amusing that the legendary cold-hearted Emperor Jiti the second had broken his face? He started to smile himself at the thought. Perhaps he had even greater ambition, a thread of connection between him and the ruler of the entire realm! The smile became a chuckle, then he was laughing as well. It was amusingly perfect! A perfect debut for him in the tournament!


    Then he heard the crowd gasp between Emperor Jiti''s laughter, and he spun and Ar Gau-Lee saw something impossible!


    Sir Icarus stood untouched! Not even his clothes were ruffled by the barrage of attacks!


    Ar Gau-Lee was about to attack again when he heard a sound. One that filled his heart with dread, he looked to his side and saw a thin black line snaking down the staff, splitting like a little black thunder bolt. He forced his hand to go still as the creaking noise continued, each little finger of darkness marring the perfect orange finish. ''No this cannot happen!'' he cried in his own mind.


    The noise stopped and he held the staff still, fearing that any motion would bring this vision of insanity to pass! The weapon forged out of a meteor ox''s metal bones could strike the sun and not melt. It took a dragon smith to forge it, no other fire but the breath of a great dragon could do it! They needed a titan to hammer it, for any other being was too weak to move the metal. It had been cooled in the tears of a snow witch, the rarest and coldest material, tempering it so that not even a god could hope to break such a treasure. Yet he saw cracks in it! So he stood very still, willing his staff to stay together.


    A faint gust of wind swept across the arena, and in slow motion he felt it stir his hair, play across his neck, catch the cold trail of a sweat drop. The wind brushed his staff, and with that it crumbled into a pile of orange shards. He couldn''t help himself, staring like a dumb cow at the staff, then at Sir Icarus, who''s eyes were lit up with amusement. All the while the emperor was laughing even harder!


    Ar Gau-Lee spit up blood then fainted right there, falling to the ground and dirtying his robes. Everyone was stunned, except the still laughing emperor and of course, Sir Icarus, who simply looked at the judges and tilted his head.


    ¡°Does this count as a knock out?¡±

 Chapter 76: If It Bleeds We Can Kill It

    After finishing their noodles, the group walked back through the rain to the community center. Corvayne saw Nyxion was waiting in the entryway, wearing a poncho, bandana, and rough looking clothes with bright yellow reflective stripes.


    Wick laughed. ¡°You going to try to sneak away in disguise?¡±


    Nyxion smiled with a slight twitch in his eye. ¡°No. I need Corvayne and Grunt to help me with some large game snares.¡±


    ¡°Large dangerous game that manipulates time?¡± Corvayne asked.


    Grunt sighed a little bit, and turned his eyes back down the street to the warehouse. Corvayne knew him well enough to guess he was mentally tracing the path back to his bed.


    Nyxion folded his arms. ¡°Well, do you want to kill this guy or not?¡±


    Grunt smiled then tilted his head a little with a finger point at Nyxion: Okay, you got good a point.


    Wick poked Corvayne and motioned for him to bend down to her level, then planted a kiss on his cheek. He nodded at her with a smile to not overwhelm her and she looked very pleased with him as she went inside.


    Nyxion lead them to the site they had picked. It was near the warehouse and looked to Corvayne like a train yard chopped into thirds and arranged in steps that lead to garages sized for train cars. A chain link fence had been stretched across the lower two sets of tracks, blocking them off from the ramp that lead from street level up to the raised freeway. The size of it suggested that it was another ambitious addition to Old Town that never got off the ground.


    They entered on the lowest level, past a large hole cut in the fence and a little checkpoint booth covered in spray-painted names, like everything else that was near enough to the ground or a ledge for someone to paint it. Someone had dumped a bunch of metal bars and chains and springs and pins and rope, all in a pile.


    Nyxion gestured. ¡°Our plan is simple. When we know he''s in old town, we make a stand here, trap the interior, and lure him in there.¡±


    Grunt made a particular salute with three fingers then made a pair of horns on his head pointed with his other thumb at his own butt.


    Nyxion understood the gesture better then Corvayne did as he responded after a few seconds. ¡°If you have a better idea then ''Boy-Scout bullshit'' then fire away.¡±


    Grunt just sighed, then cracked his shoulders before lifting what Corvayne suspected was four hundred pounds of steel. Corvayne put the other half of the pile in his storage ring, getting all but four of the bars in before he hit a weight limit and the ring started to rapidly gain weight on his finger. Spitting out the last bar he put in fixed it.


    He followed Nyxion to the wall opposite the road, a series of arches that lead into a space where trains could be parked out of the rain before they were diverted along a back track to the Old Town switch yard above and beside this one. Stepping into the train garage was a moment of visual overload. The amount of slightly rusted pillars that could act as cover or places to secure traps was staggering, a metal forest that had stairs at the back linking this layer up with the next one. The rain didn''t find it''s way through the ceiling inside, so Corvayne dumped a pile of steel beams near where Nyxion had stashed his tools, including ladders, then they started work creating a tangle of traps in the building.


    He appreciated that when it came time to haul metal around and pull it into place with pulleys, Nyx didn''t shirk his work, standing side by side with Grunt to heft and weld trap parts onto the rusted pillars of the empty depot. Corvayne asked Nyx to have the first layer as a variety of traps and the second almost all trip wires, as they might do a little more damage to Argyle when he did his trick to move really quickly. It probably hurt to get tripped even if time was stopped.


    He had to ask Nyxion as they were hefting a segment of a lead pipe using ropes hung over a beam. ¡°Is this what you did while camping?¡±


    The man smirked as he held the rope around his arm. Above them, Grunt secured the pipe to the trap. Always a treat to see how agile the huge man really was. Nyxion looked over too, sweat dripping down his forhead. ¡°Yes, but mostly on the scale of rabbits and maybe a bear here or there. Of course, they are not BEAR bears, the creature in question was more like a large star-headed mole. Grunt are you done yet? This damn pipe weighs a ton.¡±


    Grunt flipped him off, then clicked something into place and gave a thumbs up, which was Nyxion''s queue to lean against a pillar for a few minutes before they did the next one. Corvayne let his rope go and grabbed the light and battery powering it, then went towards the last area they were going to trap. He and Nyx had arranged the traps around a particular office that overlooked the tracks on the second tier. He wanted everything to be arranged to make it look like it was keeping Argyle away from the room, and had explained to both Nyxion and Grunt his general plan and why he needed a hole cut through the back of the room.


    They ended up working late into the night, but all the hefting, building, and tying meant they had at least a dozen major traps and quite a few minor tripwires and spring triggered metal bars with spikes to show for it. Grunt left after a few hours and came back with take-out after a two hour break that possibly involved a nap. He also brought a half dozen beer bottles that steamed when he pulled them out of a cooler.


    It was sort of funny to Corvayne that Grunt and Nyxion were finally getting along after a whole day of thinking up traps, and sitting with them eating felt less like preparing for a battle, which is what it was, and more like a day of hard honest work with friends. The smell of gravy and beef wafting from the big bag didn''t hurt either.


    Grunt had brought beer and handed one to Nyxion, who accepted it and raised it in a toast to the big man. ¡°Nothing like sabotage to bring folks together, eh Grunt?¡±


    Grunt nodded. Corvayne noticed he had brought a duffle bag with him as well, one that ominously was heavy even for Grunt. Maybe they were not done? Grunt mimed clicking a remote, reaching for popcorn, hand over eyes, then a yawn: They make it look easy in the movies.


    ¡°Yes well, if this was brush and we were booby trapping for normal humans, it would be easier. I was going to ask you Corvayne... I noticed that Lady Blood Claw has been getting close to you of late, even telling me that she might need a leave of absence from my service soon, possibly dropping me to go somewhere with you. Did you make a human-alien hybrid, you sly dog?¡± Corvayne felt Nyxion''s elbow dig into his side, nearly making him drop a piece of beef he had pinched out with the little eating sticks provided.


    Corvayne saw, oddly enough, that Grunt had frozen but then snorted a single time in amusement. Suspicious.


    ¡°No. We''re friends at this point. I know it seems like I sleep with everyone, but I like the relationship we''re building... I always sort of wanted something like a partner in arms. Wick''s my partner in business I guess, because we both lead, but with LBC it''s different. I mean, it''s a little weird sometimes because she reminds me of the girls like Spears from the village. She''s very pleasing to the eye and fit and tone and I know she''s athletic and flexible and has a nice face. Except I associate all that with viciousness so I''m always shocked when she acts friendly. Her kind of friendly, as I think she''d break my arm if I tried to hug her.¡± He did not add that some of those thoughts had come from carrying her through the sewer away from a hell hound.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Nyxion started laughing. ¡°You two. You know, she''s a good planner and leader, but she doesn''t generally like people. She would rarely put two sentences together if she didn''t have to before we crash landed here. I think she''s soft on you... I mean I really assumed you two were already...¡±


    Corvayne folded his arms. ¡°No, I don''t think she''s interested in me like that.¡±


    Grunt pointed at Corvayne, made an x with his fingers, pointed at his head emphatically: Clueless!


    ¡°Well, I mean, I had assumed Wick jumped you, Nyxion, and she got angry at the idea.¡± Corvayne frowned.


    Nyxion nods. ¡°I like her as a person, but... our relationship to one another is complicated, and I''ve sworn not to tell her one shiny secret. I''ll say this, it''s possible that someday I''ll marry her, but I don''t find her very attractive as an example of the female form. I would not do that without asking you for permission first, of course Corvayne. I expect if we were married it would be a means to an end and we''d keep our actual lovers in our private lives. A well managed house needs not do tacky things like parent testing if they already know who is who''s bastards.¡±


    Corvayne felt his face screw up in confusion and couldn''t stop himself from blurting out, ¡°What the hell, you don''t find her attractive?!¡±


    ¡°I think if she let herself eat more and got proper rest and fixed her hair, green dye? Really? But if she fixed all that I''d find her at least okay. The glasses are sort of cute. But she''s shortest and thinnest... well she''s short and thin and for as much as she barks, she has no bite behind her insults. She looks at me, and very much you, as equals. Perfect for someone I work with, like a business partner or wife. You can''t marry someone you are not able to sleep with, I agree with you there. But that doesn''t get the old royal rod going, you know? I think I''ve implied it, but you know I prefer someone who acts like they disdain me and drops the act in private. I wouldn''t dream of poaching your elf if she came my way... I mean, who do you consider yourself in a relationship with, exactly? Wick and the elf, Hari?¡±


    The sudden shift from Nyxion''s usual levity to caution when he asked that last question got Corvayne to think about what he was angling for. ¡°Just those two. Seru badgered me into sex once, I don''t hate her per-say but she''s a lot of things I don''t like.¡±


    ¡°All right. And you don''t have any particular attachment to your fiancee?¡±


    Corvayne stopped chewing his food, narrowly avoiding spitting it back into the container. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You didn''t even mention Spears-Like-Water aside to say that you didn''t care for her. I understand totally, I have a few suitors who my aunt had to disarm and one she had to sedate because they despise me so much. Usually they calm down if you offer invitro. Especially the ladies who wilt away from the touch of a man. I don''t know if your village had the medical-¡±


    ¡°No no, no. Not your weird ideas about the bond between two people who love each other and yes we had a geneticist work on all our pairings... Say that word again. Fiancee? You think that Spears-Like-Water, who didn''t say a THING to me when I got my ass kicked out of my village, would agree to that?¡±


    He looked to Grunt for approval but the look he was giving Corvayne... it was like Grunt was hurt on his behalf?


    Nyxion just looked confused. ¡°She said if you lost that fight between you two, you''d finally have to marry her though?¡±


    If Grunt looking sad at Corvayne''s reaction was odd, the fact he spit food out at that statement set off some alarm bells. Grunt waved a hand in front of his mouth, maybe a little too fast with his reaction time: Spicy! Oh that was very spicy! Hahahah I''m such a goof.


    ¡°She did not say that.¡± Corvayne folded his arms.


    Grunt was looking at Nyxion and frantically signed something that even Corvayne couldn''t follow.


    ¡°Slow down blabbermouth.¡± Nyxion said coolly.


    Grunt looked annoyed but stopped, and signed slower, with a thrusting motion moving into a wave, then pointing at Corvayne, then fingers in an X one way then the other like they were clashing, ten fingers, point to self, finger walking out away from his arm, then again thrusting motion in a wave, the gesture so oddly smooth it almost distracted Corvayne from putting things together with the last few gestures: Spears-Like-Water was there? You fought her after I left as the tenth floor boss?! The Spears from his village?


    ¡°Yes. The fight was... incredible. I mean, I was rooting for Corvayne of course but she was absolutely beautiful with her spear play, and the watery form she has... she looks like a jewel. I was a little jealous of you there Corvayne, not going to lie, growing up with a beauty like that side by side then having her try to beat you up to finally pin you down.¡±


    Corvayne could barely follow that line of thought it was so insane. ¡°You have Lady Blood Claw, didn''t you basically grow up with her as your bodyguard?¡±


    Nyxion sighed. ¡°Her? I mean, I suppose but I find the cuttlefish skin to be a little odd. Not to mention she picked the job up because she had little else she could do.¡±


    Corvayne was trying to match someone saying the mood ring skin was too odd but that being made of water was perfectly fine, but also someone who didn''t like Wick? Was Nyxion insane? Nothing about what he said made any sense.


    Grunt looked pale. He looked at Corvayne and tapped his forhead, pointed at Corvayne, then gave a thumbs up while leaning forward and lifting his eyebrows up in a questioning manner: That''s a lot to think about, are you okay?


    ¡°I''m okay Grunt. It was a one on one fight, I beat her... though I''ll be honest, I think she''s in trouble. Nyxion, she was one of my partners for patrols, but nobody referred to her as my fiancee. My own father lamented that I''d be alone my whole life and he''d never be rid of me. Spears never asked me to marry her, in fact she looked repulsed when she was near me... the nicest she''d ever been to me was after the fight where she asked for help. That and saving my life twice, but I think she did it because she wanted to be a good Watcher.¡±


    Grunt draged one of his meaty hands down over his face. Corvayne held a hand up. ¡°Easy. There might be some effect of a curse going on. Like the name thing. It might explain why she was made of water... Grunt when I knew her, she was a normal person with tan skin and blue hair. She also didn''t have water powers, either, aside from using [Flow-Like-Water]. I talked with Lady Blood Claw after the fact and we think that I''m carrying some sort of curse too.¡± A thought he wanted to avoid was coming up. ¡°I think after nobody is following us, I need to leave Cascadia and go home- I mean, back to my village to try to figure out what''s wrong with me.¡±


    Grunt nodded and pointed to himself, then gave a thumbs up, then hit his chest: Okay. I''m in. Bros for life.


    Grunt always warmed and lifted his heart after it felt heavy. He put a hand on Grunt''s arm. ¡°Thanks man. You''re the best friend I could ask for. I''ll need the backup too for finding Spears-Like-Water. Especially if I can''t understand what she''s saying because I''m cursed.¡±


    Nyxion laughed. ¡°You had better not leave me out of that adventure! Also, if you end up rejecting marriage to her, I''ll deal with the fallout myself. You''ve warned us all that she''s vicious but have no fear, I will keep her from savaging you using my own body if need be.¡±


    Corvayne gave Nyxion a level look and said in monotone. ¡°Thanks man. You are the best friend I could ask for. I really need the backup of you getting your balls crushed by my amazonian patrol partner.¡±


    Nyxion looked annoyed. ¡°Better me then you, right?¡±


    Corvayne felt himself laugh. ¡°Can''t disagree.¡±


    Grunt looked at Corvayne and made a series of motions including popcorn, couch, flipping books open, and a bro fist pound.


    ¡°You want to hang out one of these nights?¡±


    Grunt nodded, extremely pleased that Corvayne got the gist of it. Corvayne felt pretty proud too, it was a pretty hard Grunt-ism to unravel. Corvayne kept eating. ¡°Yeah. I might not get into the Spears thing yet. A lot is on my plate, and if she''s in a tower I can''t go in there without Argyle sending images after me. My hope is to surprise him and take him out before he goes for backup. I also want to say that I prefer having too many things to do then being helpless...¡±


    Nyxion lifted a beer. ¡°To never ending struggles.¡±


    Corvayne lifted his. ¡°To endless distractions.¡±


    Grunt made the universal sex gesture then a figure eight, grinning as he lifted his beer.


    ¡°Very ambitious Mister Grunt.¡± Nyxion laughed.


    Grunt proceeded to finish all three of his take out containers in the next two minutes then hefted his bag, motioning for them to follow him. Carefully navigating the path through the traps they came up to an office they had arranged all the traps around. It was the most secure point in the building. He started pulling out tools for making serious traps. Munitions. Mortar. Tubes packed with spikes.


    ¡°Where did you get this?¡± Corvayne asked.


    Grunt smiled and mimed walking with something heavy dragging his ankle: Dawn.


    ¡°Ahh.¡± He was about to place a trap then stopped. ¡°Do you have a lock? If we got one, I want these somewhere that he won''t degrade it before he''s close.¡±


    Grunt took the nuclear battery from his bag, then an electronic lock. Seeing the goods, they backtracked and mixed in some firepower to earlier traps, emptying the bag then arriving back at the door. Grunt handed him the battery, very gingerly.


    ¡°No need to do that, it''s almost impossible for us to set it off.¡±


    ¡°If that device is impossible to set off, how are you going to hit the time monk with it?¡±


    Nyxion looked confused until Corvayne explained how the battery worked. Then the nobleman grinned as the sequence of events Corvayne was setting up clicked. ¡°Oh... that''s nasty. The perfect payback for my belt! I hope he''s just alive enough for me to laugh at him after this.¡±

 Chapter 77: The Argyle Report

    The next day, Corvayne woke alone in bed. He got up and looked through the doorway between the ''living room'' where her bed was to her ''bedroom'' where her office was to find Wick hunched over her computer, furiously typing and scrolling through things. Her eyes looked dark rimmed and bloodshot, and when he cleared his throat she just waved a hand and grunted. He was tempted to pick her up then and drag her away from work, since she had been working on something when he came back from a very long day of building traps.


    He knew better, so instead he went the other direction, cutting through her thin and shockingly clean kitchen to her bathroom, which had towels and clothes all over the place as it was also where her washing machine and drier were. He cleaned himself off then got dressed in casual clothes that Wick had bought for him. Most of his other shirts and pairs of pants needed mending from being impaled by the monk or getting singed by the dog. The jeans she bought were worn enough that they didn''t restrict his legs, though she bought shirts that felt a little tight and would probably rip as soon as he got into a real fight.


    She had also bought him a brown faux leather jacket, which would help keep him warm as summer moved to fall in June. Same with the socks she got, ones with little black pine trees on them that she said reminded her of his spear. The gestures like this helped him weather it better when she was being anti-social. All and all a little space now and then was small price to pay for nights where she was cackling and telling him yarns about secret underground bases as they spooned.


    While Corvayne made his way down the stairs he looked out of a windows cut into the hill of the ship-turned-apartment where he could see Mister I leading exercises in the green space in the community center. He saw old folks, and a few kids following along as he did stretches and poses. His destination was the warehouse what Dawn had spent the money on learning.


    He kept his eyes and ears open as he walked down the street. It looked weird and it took Corvanye a moment to realize he hadn''t really seen the street bright and sunny since he fell asleep when day came. He buzzed to be let into the rock warehouse and Grunt greeted him at the door with a wave. He saw the other two guards after climbing the stairs, a woman with piercings and the eye patch guy sitting on the catwalk, having coffee and watching him and Grunt stroll over to the manager''s suite. He gave them a nod and a wave, and they nodded back.


    Stepping into the break room he could see the young woman with the yellow raincoat was sitting at a chair. She kept her hood up even indoors, and her bow was next to her. She wore all green and as she looked at him, he could see she was wearing contact lenses that gave her lizard eyes.


    Or maybe she was a lizard person, given she had scales on her neck. Wick had brought them up a few times. She made them sound like bad guys, so maybe they were criminals like Dawn? Which all seemed odd to him, because Wick had made a big deal about goblins and meeting another intelligent life-form. Sometimes what his girlfriend believed got hard to sort out from what reality presented to him.


    The girl stood and bowed in a well practiced motion, then spoke with a precise tone. ¡°Nepthia, at your service. I am going to be assisting you with your time monk problem, including information on his equipment, methods, habits, and suggestions from Goule''s think tank on how to fight him.¡±


    Corvayne had not forgotten that Goule was likely someone trying to kill Wick. ¡°Isn''t the monk and the information both related to the Baron something? Lideru?¡±


    ¡°Le Tideru. It usually comes out as ''lay tit deru'' if you haven''t practiced saying it.¡± Nepthia eased herself back into a chair, looking at Grunt, then back at Corvayne. The woman had a complex expression on her face.


    Corvayne joined her at the table. Grunt started making tea for everyone as Nepthia continued staring at Corvayne. ¡°Excuse me greatly for staring. You look like someone I know.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I''ve never seen, uh, someone with...¡±


    Nepthia nodded. ¡°It is alright to be a little offput. Body modification is sort of an odd-ball''s habit. Are you from...¡± She leaned in a little as she spoke. ¡°...Far off?¡±


    Corvayne thought about it, nodded, and he could see her settle into her chair a little bit. Grunt made finger walking motions and wiped his brow then took two fingers and rubbed them together, then put those pinched fingers next to his eyes and adjusted them up and down a little, like reading glasses: Since we don''t want you to have come all the way out here for nothing, shall we take a look at that report?


    Nepthia nodded. ¡°Very well. It''s well known that Argyle is an enforcer with Baron L''Tideru. This would have cost you just a few searches on an engine assuming you know that he looks like a monk. He works under Havortti who directly takes orders from the Baron. Argyle is a citizen of Tripic, but spends most of his time on Cascadia. It''s suspected he is watching something, as we were able to get his last few reports from this year.¡±


    She dropped a stapled paper with neat typed lines.


    It looked like he reported once a week. He flipped through, most entries being one line repeated over and over.


    2/5 ¨C No activity. No intruders.


    2/12 ¨C No activity. No intruders.


    2/13 ¨C No activity. 1526 Breach. 5 adults Males outer threshold. Trespassers prospectors per load out. Caused weathering in rocks and rock slide crushing group. No cleanup needed. Made sure camp is visible. Standard operating methods in desert to not bother with bodies.


    2/19 ¨C No activity. Prospecting team of 5 breached on 2/13 had no follow up


    2/26 ¨C No activity. No intruders


    3/5 ¨C No activity. Airspace Breach 1 helicopter. Landed at previous incursion camp, given pass due to low chance of further intrusion. Confirmed prospectors perished and retrieved some prospecting equipment.


    3/12 ¨C No activity. No intruders


    3/19 ¨C No activity. No intruders.


    3/26 ¨C No activity. No intruders.


    Corvayne flipped back a few additional pages but it followed the same pattern: Once every few months, someone would stumble into his territory and he''d decide if they lived or died, then would kill them and make it look natural or ''age out'' the evidence. The last few pages was what Corvayne found interesting.


    4/2 ¨C Small amount of static in coms. No intruders. No signs of exterior jamming.


    4/9 ¨C <urgent> 1200 huge spike in EM radiation. Clone started taking damage. All objects activated and set themselves to standby. Black box broken, subjects are large land predators in form. May be bio weapons. Finally. Get a team out here so I can stop babysitting these things.


    <High> 345 huge spike in EM radiation. Requesting equipment from local resource to check for gravity waves. Please respond.


    <extremely urgent> 530 routine walk revealed subworld entrance formed in arch left near B Site. Two way entrance. High difficulty. Low density. Congratulate F and N Brines for me.


    4/10 ¨C <extremely urgent> Acquired gravity wave tool to try to measure connectivity. Something is wrong. Reading drop off almost 0%. Please respond.


    4/12 - <extremely urgent> Per cooperation with local police, srg Jake Tapper reported subworld (used term tower? Odd). Reported he breached with 3 civilians who died in the final confrontation with a floor guardian. Jake Tapper likely at advancement 6 or 7, will draft or eliminate based on loyalty/personality assessment. Used site B to tag him as live bounty. Do I have support on the way?


    4/13 - <extremely urgent> 1320 Arrived at park and confirmed subworld. Please clarify if 1200 issued Code Red needs activation and if possible update me with status w/r/t responses on my reports.


    <CODE RED> 1525 Found 3 entrances to same subworld in Cascadiaj National Forest. Estimated 30 people missing based on cars, including a logging camp. Major containment breech. May downgrade, subworld seems very hostile. Goblin infestation, major surge spilled half regular and half berserk bigfoot into local woods. Trying to lock off site.


    <update code red> 2200 Possibly 56 people entered rifts. Partial groups of survivors arriving at areas near parking. North Cascadia PD is swamped. 1 noble daughter missing, will do follow up.


    4/14 <update code red> ¨C 925 daughter fine, very stupid. Somewhat suspicious characters in company. Weight trainer who might have advanced? Added cheap bounties to see if they walk into a subworld. 3 more groups of survivors returned. Said they didn''t arrive at Cascadia National Forest. Something is up. Cascadia is going to pop. Where is my backup?


    <CODE RED> - 1200 noble and 2 others have entered a subworld. Going to go arrest them.


    <CODE RED> - 1230 They are not in Cascadia National Forest. There''s a third subworld. Moving to capture. It would be nice to have another agent, there''s only so many of me to go around.


    <CODE WHITE> 1333 Spotted ''White Flower'' associated with gold nugget. What the FUCK is going on here?


    <CODE RAVEN> <BLACKBOARD PROTOCOL><CODE GOLD> 1414 Trying to trace group. Construct died in subspace due to overwhelming enemy. Attached relevant descriptions. Able to totally ignore time stopping and was attacking during stopped time. CODE GOLD TARGET HAS NUGGET visual conf. Code Raven because ''little bastard'' said ''Raven'' has forces on planet. Request background into ''little bastard'' as to how he knows about GOLD NUGGET, probably related to ''White flower''


    <updating to CODE GOLD> Test test. Are you reading this now? Good.


    <CODE GOLD> - 1422 Target ''fake trainer'' has gold nugget. In pursuit.


    <CODE GOLD> - 1615 Target ''fake trainer'' escaped. Trashed a construct. Advancement at least 20. Has multiple advanced powers. Possibly shadow mage, but also extreme physical strength and agility. Note: Compromised Cascadia PD assistance possibly due to collateral damage, going with cover story that it''s target''s powers. Need military intervention. Locked down spaceport w 2 clones, have 2 clones at ports watching for group to try to board boat, watching portals with spare. Going to need more helicopters to eat. Lost 2. Got an idea, maybe don''t kneecap me when I COULD HAVE FUCKING HAD THEM COME TO ME.


    4/15 <update code red, white, gold, possible purple> Discovered four more subspaces. 7 total on Cascadia. Gravity wave detector practically worthless, this place might have 20 other subspaces. Put traces on phone activity related to white flower and ''fake trainer'' but targets are dark save 1 possible connection to noble''s phone that''s going crazy with activity. Communication problems might be related to using ''fake trainer''''s given name, there''s an issue with ''chameleon'' we already know about. Might be issues with ''little bastard'', ''fake monk'', and we use a code name for ''white flower'' anyway. Revised and resent requests. What is priority?


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    4/15 - 1545 HEY. HEY HAVORTTI? KRY? EITHER BRINES BROTHER? GOSHAN? BIG L-T? PICK UP YOUR PHONE.


    4/17 <CODE RED> - 1755 this is impossible. This time giant fucking fire dog destroyed part of a city, 5 blocks ablaze, 100s of witnesses. Destroyed by unknown force using what looks like a ship rail cannon. Media suppression? Please respond FFS.


    4/18 <CODE PURPLE> 925 ¨C per srg Tapper: Media breech imminent. Do I need to go kill an entire news station? You have about 3 hours to respond.


    4/18 <CODE BLACK> 1200 nevermind! They are interviewing people coming out of portals. Hope nobody is watching!


    4/18 <CODE BLACK> Someone leaked photos of a black chopper killing a few random people. Police not helping. Why are you only giving me short ''confirmed'' messages?


    4/18 <Code who-gives-a-shit> I can''t send updates with the damn names! Read the messages! Might be from abusing Stabby for years? We don''t know what he/she/it can do. I''m on the tail of ''White Flower''. Suspect ''gold nugget'' has lost it''s luster. You know I''m just going to kill her and most of her friends when I find her, so maybe get some backup if you want to try a ''ritual'' otherwise she''s probably worth a few advancements. I''ll send the Core by the same postage you sent it to make sure it gets into the wrong hands again.


    4/19 ¨C 0014 Listen you hopped up three musketeer, I don''t give two shits about you being my boss OR what Goule has been up to with the current emperor. Even if he takes the throne it''s just a damn formality. You don''t actually care, I don''t care. I''ve barely slept in the last six days. I''ve been killing people at an insane rate, partially because stupid cops are attacking me now. I''m going to kill everyone in this ''fake trainer''s group then I''m going on a several month, outside time, vacation into a portal here. I MIGHT come back.


    4/19 ¨C 0025 Sorry Havortti. I always thought your hat looked good. I am very stressed and need that vacation. Not happy with Goshan blowing me off for ten days. Would appreciate your informant helping with the search. Going to try to wrap up killing them in the next week and blow off some steam. Not dealing with anything else on Cascadia for a while.


    Corvayne looked up. ¡°Why didn''t you say anything? He sounds like he''s about to come rolling right into town!¡±


    Nepthia shook her head. ¡°You have time. He''s barking up the wrong tree, he assumed that given your connection with Seru, you are located somewhere near one of her apartments, Dolphin Isle or on the mainland. But yes, sooner or later he''ll catch wind of a guy with a spear. Possibly here, after he goes everywhere else. We will warn your group, but in a few days, he''s going to roll into town.¡±


    She flipped a few pages and set down the first document. ¡°Let me give the assessment of fighting him the Goule group had laying around... In real fights in the past between him and Goule''s enforcers he is mostly a melee fighter. His tricks are time based. I see you nodding Corvayne, I assume you figured this out fighting him? Interesting. Next time you come to Dawn''s place I''d like a few moments of your time, but I know you are busy... as I was saying...¡±


    The young woman produced another set of papers, held them in front of her and read.


    ¡°Recommendation is to fight with approximately five people in an area with limited avenues of escape, isolated from his clones. Alleyway with reinforced walls is an example. Two people in close range with high agility and durability, one person supporting them, two people with ''catches'' on the exits, staying around 250 feet away from where the fight happens. His main power is a time stop, but it cancels on hostile actions, duration is probably 5-6 seconds. He can sprint pretty far on his first few uses but it prevents him from properly setting up to attack. If he is impeded before he moves, the ability has a low range.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. So possibly hit him with a net? Or his shadow patches might help.


    ¡°In fights where he lost and had to escape, the main factor is that he cannot deal with multiple ranged ambushers in superior positions covering each other, or pairs of skilled melee fighters with a healer undoing his physical attacks. High powered standard arms can break his skin but his durability factor is closer to metal then flesh. Unusual strength overall, do not rely on brick or thin sheets of steel to slow him down much. Limited throwing threat. High tech weapons not viable up close, see powers. Limited ranged threat outside of vehicle. Has a vehicle form, always a black helicopter that does not show up on standard vehicle detection. Considered a form due to object permanence, seems to never be ''parked'' if he''s not inside. Form has high speed and the ability to engage with large scale ''plant spikes''. Much more limited if he cannot use his vehicle form, still can create barriers to help him escape or trap people. Only fight he was at serious risk and could have been killed involved an attack on a Goule facility where they wore down his endurance and had far superior forces chasing him. He does not seem to have a limit on the number of times he can use time stop, applying it constantly for hours, but he couldn''t move as far being chased. He killed 1 agent, his two partners on the raid died due to an enforcer nearly immune to physical combat...¡±


    Nepthia tapped the table. ¡°The details of his escape are more relevant to Tripic. So, he can summon a helicopter. There''s likely some material and labor cost with repairing it, as he can do it given an hour out of sight, but not 5 minutes. The helicopter has an enhanced gun he can fire bamboo seeds with the same penetration as a standard bullet. Seeds rapidly mature with intense penetration available from the plants produced. The effect ends up being like a rocket launcher but the shrapnel is left behind. Can use fruit as well, mostly coconuts, when they are available. Isn''t as effective as bamboo aside from the initial impact.¡±


    Corvayne winced. ¡°I got the seed spears treatment first hand.¡±


    Nepthia gave him a cold stare across the table before she cleared her throat and continued the report. ¡°Temporal powers and plants can be used to provide cover and alter a battlefield, but seems to be attention intensive to summon a ''moss'' forest. Growth rate of seeds, spores, or other plants is not dangerous outside of very fast growing plants that have high velocity impact to properly take root, otherwise they slip off what they are trying to hit. Argyle is limited when firing seeds with his fingers, as lethal as it can be, because the penetration drops off rapidly if he''s not close by due to air resistance. Without the gun, estimated range for lethal seed flicking is approx 50 feet, longer for 0 advancement targets, as in normal people.¡±


    Grunt snapped his fingers, then made a few hand gestures that looked like putting things atop one another: What level is he?


    ¡°Oh, forty was their guess. Can you save questions and comments for later? Lets see, can destroy complex objects via aging, especial high tech objects. Has a connection to objects he used time magic on, giving him the ability to recall them or sense where they are. Might not work with spores but works with bamboo seeds.¡±


    Corvayne thought that would have been great information to know before he had nearly been killed trying to fight the monk.


    ¡°Has the ability to craft constructs of himself, store them, and release them. Estimates place him at a maximum of 7 copies. They are not as strong as the prime. Usually they have a prime crafted helicopter to help compensate for lessened strength and speed on the clones. Process for making them seems labor intensive... the person doing the report noted this is assumed because particular objects which includes meat, cloth, and something to simulate magic items he duplicated.¡± She took a moment to stop and drink.


    Corvayne picked up his own cup, having sort of forgotten to enjoy it. Since Nepthia was taking a short break while holding her tea, he didn''t feel she''d mind a question. ¡°When I defeated a clone, he had a string of beer cans... I guess he tries to make sure to copy the beads so he''s harder to target?¡±


    ¡°Indeed. The other items are his robes, suspected to be standard very damage resistant clothing armor, and a staff probably made of some magical metal. It can bat away spells, and he seems to be able to recall it after throwing it. When not mounted in his helicopter form, he uses it as a throwing spear, and can punch through stone easily with it within 100 yards. Advice is that anyone under 50 advancement shouldn''t engage in close quarters combat because he is extremely lethal up close.¡±


    The young woman reading took a sip of her tea. Grunt was leaning against the wall, arms folded. Nepthia looked at him, and Grunt nodded.


    ¡°Their assessment is that he''s probably near 40th advancement, with a very strong specialized class. The Baron has a staple of odd operatives that do not use common soldier, warrior, healer, caster, support templates. Argyle has some sort of non-religious monk variant, as he does not seem to have any known divine powers. He is used in operations where the target is something high tech that his ability to destroy objects applies. He sometimes did assassination work on Tripic because he has effective escape tactics and can kill most advancement 40 and under assets in a single surprise attack. Has a high rate of collateral damage when using his helicopter powers, due to the plants forming 15 to 20 foot wide bombs of spikes. The report assumed that after he nearly died, as well as doing a lot of damage on Tripic during a raid two years back, his boss pulled him back to occasional wet work and act as a guard for a location, something his clones do extremely well. He reports to Havortti, who is a fencing fanatic who pretends to be a ''dashing gentleman'' while acting as Baron L''Tideru''s right hand man. The Baron is one of the major players in the Collective''s power struggle despite spending most of his time away from Tripic in his fortified manor, Chateau Le Tideru, on the planet Candau III, better known as ''Splinters'' as a joke. Havortti is in charge of directing the Brines Brothers, so in a sense we are standing in enemy territory. Grunt, please don''t report us to your bosses, bosses, bosses, boss.¡±


    Grunt pretended to think about it, then used a 50/50 chance gesture while smirking. Smartass.


    Nepthia smiled at him, then returned to glancing at her paper. ¡°He has an operational weakness of getting upset and single minded to the point that he''s specifically paired with flexible people who can keep him in line when he''s frustrated. Very few qualms about killing, but doesn''t like hurting kids or mothers with kids, pregnant women. Might have to do with being an orphan... mom died when he was five? Right now he''s 87, but appears to be in his fifties or early sixties and is probably going to stabilize in his 40s if he keeps advancing.¡±


    ¡°Huh, he''s aging backwards?¡± Corvayne asked, considering how many books he had read about people going mad with power to live forever.


    ¡°There are theories that some of the people around the Collective are on their sixth generation of pretending to be one of their descendants. That''s part of why the Brines Brothers are tied to the Baron, they want in on those Subspace expeditions and to start getting advancements. It was nearly impossible before this week to find a Subspace entrance, and those that were found were jealously guarded as they are the only place where you can get advancements if you are not killing hundreds of mundane people.¡±


    Corvayne sat back as she took another sip of tea. Subspace was the term for Tower they used, advancement was probably the term for levels. ¡°How much of this did Dawn know? It might have helped us a little to know, well, the value of what we found in the woods.¡±


    ¡°Dawn knows a lot of things from the other direction, so to speak. It''s not up to me to blabber about her deal, nor will I poke my nose into your affairs rather then let you come to me. Do not look so concerned, the conversation would be platonic.¡± A slight smirk gave Corvayne the impression that Nepthia was either pleased he looked concerned or was considering him like a snake that was just handed a mouse. His danger sense faintly went off until she placed the paper down on the other report.


    ¡°That''s pretty much it, though I think the final piece of the puzzle with his behavior is the ''chaotic'' events happening in the power structure of the Collective, which is why he seemed to have been getting non-commital answers and why he''s alone out here, but it could also be that it takes 2 weeks to ship out reinforcements, less if the faction is able to commit to ''cheating'' with something out of a subspace rift. I''m prone to think the former, that something happened about two weeks ago that shifted everything. Some examples of chaos here are disappearances spiking at a bunch of parks, loggers quitting like crazy, a workers revolution at the mines, Ko-Ban growing a cult overnight then exploding. Our information source in the Goule faction did not see any movement to Cascadia.¡±


    She looked very pointedly between Grunt, who was whistling and rubbing a foot in the ground, and Corvayne who put his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair, smiling.


    ¡°The police running around every other part of Cascadia stems from Argyle responding to your actions. It''s chaos everywhere. News is leaking on other planets through the net. You have governors being overthrown in every state, an entire city sinking into the ocean then bobbing right back up as if nothing happened, a flock of giant birds running rampant on a thread on Tripic, on Mud there''s a bunch of ruins rising from the ocean. All my off world contacts are trying to figure out why it seemed like everyone decided April 9th was the date to go absolutely fucking crazy.¡±


    Corvayne winced. ¡°That was the day I arrived on Cascadia.¡±


    Nepthia nodded. ¡°My theory is that we are experiencing the start of an integration event, where a mostly idle system starts rapidly inducing people into it.¡±


    Grunt raised an eyebrow and held up a book with a very standard bulky man armed with a blade, and three women that looked like they were clawing to hold onto him. In bold letters he saw the title: ''Chronicles of the Apocalypse''s number 1 Sword Harem: How I became king of my high school.''. He pointed to himself, then gave Nepthia a questioning look: Maybe... it''s my chance to shine?


    Nepthia groaned. ¡°You read too much garbage, but I suppose in this case it''s sort of correct. Some of the local chaos is Seru''s fault, to be honest. Most of it. She did a little too good of a job figuring out where a bunch of portals were, and now I''m sure there''s going to be a whole bunch of-¡±


    She was interrupted as someone knocked on the door, and James Brines burst into the room, wearing hockey gear and carrying a fire axe. ¡°Grunt! Grunt! Join my party!¡±


    Nepthia finished. ¡°A whole bunch of fools going into the subspace dungeons.¡±

 Chapter 78: Dress-up Disasters

    Corvayne watched Brines pace and rant about buying cotton swabs or stocking up on dog food for a good five minutes. He felt bad for Grunt, having spent a lot of time in the previous week keeping Seru at arms length. It was annoying to have someone jumping at you like an eager puppy. Eventually Grunt got tired of trying to follow what Brines was raving about and signed a sort of spinning hand then gestured at Mr. Brines: What''s this all about now?


    The athletic man was frantic. ¡°It''s the end of everything, the system is waking up, the world is going to fall into chaos, everyone is gaining powers! We gotta hurry, or we''ll fall behind!¡±


    Grunt rolled his eyes, then held his hand up, and with a thought it turned to stone then back after he shook it. He shrugged, then went over and grabbed himself a snack from a little wicker bowl on the break room counter. He offered his boss one too, and Brines took it and pocketed it. ¡°Good idea, we need to have food for when things go haywire.¡±


    Grunt looked over at Corvayne, pleadingly. Corvayne stood up. Of course Bro.


    ¡°Mister Brines? Sorry, but Grunt is currently busy with our group project and keeping Wick alive.¡±


    ¡°Oh... well that''s sad to hear. I was hoping he''d be on my... hey you''re the kidnapper guy! You''re pretty strong too... wait, are you guys already a party?¡±


    ¡°We have a loose fellowship thing going on, but yes. I''d advise not involving yourself, as we might all be dead in a week.¡± Corvayne didn''t add that it might not stick, as he already had two enthusiastic amateur adventurers lurking about Old Town.


    ¡°Okay, well if you need help let me know. You know me Grunt, I''m reliable. A local fixture!¡± Brines pivoted to face Nepthia.


    She turned and politely bowed. ¡°I''m afraid I cannot go on free ranging adventurers, as I have responsibilities to Miss Dawn.¡±


    Brines deflated a little. Corvayne felt a little bad, but then shrugged. ¡°How about some training, if you don''t mind us using the warehouse for space?¡±


    A little later, Lady Blood Claw was standing on a mat they had ferried over via storage ring, her skin a very light gray that suggested she was uncomfortable. He had gone to get Lady Blood Claw, but had somehow picked up Gary and Seru and Nyxion as well, the noble sitting on a crate half watching while making calls on a burner phone while using his wrist computer to get the numbers he needed. The security guards were watching too.


    Lady was probably uncomfortable because she hadn''t had spent something like twelve years having to pick and choose when she could walk around not covered from head to toe in concealing gear. Walking down the street, they found that Brines was not to be the last person trying to get Grunt to join their party. Or at least to party, a few of the propositions were women of ill repute. It was interesting that at least one of those offers resulted the entrepreneurial woman being arm-barred by her peer at the corner. He suspected it had to do with dating Dawn as he heard the other woman hissing ''carrot peeler'' and the initial whore going pale. Never a dull moment in Old Town.


    He snapped his focus back to the present, practicing with weapons and a little bit of instruction. He had gotten some wood staves for spear training and had passed them out to the participants.


    What he had assumed would be chaos turned out to be a pretty nice time where he''d give little directions and do a spar with Lady Blood Claw, hand out some exercises, do another spar while, then they''d both take a break to watch Seru spar with Gary. Seru had gotten enough extra experience that she could overcome the inherent problem with fighting with her fists against Gary who was using a practice spear. Brines was mostly doing forms, and Corvayne found himself having a bit of fun actually teaching someone who was enthusiastic to learn to fight.


    After an hour Gary was reaching his limits for sparring, so he called them to do laps around the warehouse, at whatever pace they felt they could jog at. Brines pulled Corvayne aside, looking at Gary with open concern.


    ¡°Look, I''m not sure the big guy should be doing this... if he has a heart attack on the grounds not even a system apocalypse is as scary as liability lawsuits.¡±


    ¡°He spent a week killing monsters, he''s theoretically above a normal human''s abilities.¡± Corvayne said. It wasn''t the case, but maybe in a few weeks he''d reach that point if he kept training his coordination.


    Brines looked confused. ¡°Really?¡±


    Corvayne sighed. ¡°That big polearm he is lugging around everywhere is a literal magical weapon.¡±


    ¡°Do you think he''ll sell it?¡± Brines asked. Corvayne turned to study the man. A bunch of little dominos in his mind started falling over.


    Corvanye thankfully had a lot of practice in controlling his voice. ¡°No, but if you want to buy magic gear... we can do something about THAT.¡±


    An hour later at Wick''s place, Corvayne had accomplished one of his outstanding goals, having used some of their hard earned spare knick-knacks to purchase a house with Wick. Granted, it was really more about owning the dungeon entrance rather then a house for the sake of a house, and he''d need to build himself a car or hover bike since that section of suburbs was not designed for walking.


    The trade was a fire breathing knife, leaving him with two leftovers, three ingots of Cascadian steel, and two grab bag items that he had stowed from the slime dungeon but had neglected to inspect. One was a shirt that oozed a red fluid and was supernaturally tough. While the stuff quickly evaporated, it could be wrung into someone''s mouth and was essentially a low grade healing potion. The other was a scepter that produced smoke that made anyone inhaling it move much faster, but tired them out quickly when the effect ended. He didn''t feel that bad about trading either object, as the boots did what the scepter did with no drawbacks and the shirt seemed like it was a very useful item for someone fighting weak enemies like the goblins but not the kind of thing that would help him deal with the kinds of monsters that kept nearly killing him. Especially not Argyle.


    That actually brought him to things he had really, really wanted to try out and the reason he had been willing to experiment with the shirt and scepter before selling them. They had 3 scrolls of identify and one scroll of uncurse object from the chest right before Argyle had attacked.


    ¡°Okay Corvayne I want you to try reading the scroll while targeting yourself.¡± Wick had cleared space in her spare room, where Corvayne slept if she didn''t want him in the main room.


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°I''ll try it, I don''t think it will work but I''ll try. First, we should test a bunch of items before we spend the scroll in case they are cursed. There''s one thing I want to use an identify scroll on since I don''t think it''s the kind of item anyone would be willing to test.¡±


    Wick folded her arms. ¡°What item?¡±


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Corvayne pulled out the white dress he had found with Seru in a garage. Wick smiled. ¡°Oh that''s pretty... wait what''s that look you have? Knock it off, I can appreciate clothes without wanting to wear them.¡±


    Corvayne took two fingers and lifted the hem of the dress to show her the inside, which had pink and purple tentacles and villi and finger-like knobs all writhing and searching for something, glistening with fluid.


    Wick looked a little ill. ¡°I don''t care if that thing can make me orgasm hard enough to reach orbit, nothing could make me wear that.¡±


    Corvayne nodded and he tried not to think about the mechanics of her comment. ¡°I think it would be very... distracting, but if it''s not cursed-¡±


    Wick held her hand out at it. ¡°The thing is definitely cursed Corvayne!¡±


    He very patiently continued on to the point. ¡°If it''s not, this is the kind of thing that would sell to a certain type of person for a lot of money...¡±


    Wick perked up. ¡°Oh yes! You''re right, an extreme pervert would LOVE this.¡±


    ¡°... Or we let Hari or maybe LBC wear it if it has significant combat abilities.¡± Corvayne tried to keep his mind out of the gutter with those choices. Though, he would not actually offer it to Lady Blood Claw nor would he want to be in the room when she saw it, as for some reason he felt it would feel wrong to offer that to a friend.


    His mind went to Grunt trying to wear the dress and he tried not to laugh at that thought as he took one of their scrolls, unfurled it, and read the word there.


    It created a little lasso that his mind could attach to things around the room, the faint gold lines solidifying into a sort of yellow highlight of the dress in question once he designated the dress as his target. It sensed that he agreed with what object he wanted and the glow brightened then the scroll folded itself up with a snap and disappeared with a little puff of dust.


    The results drifted into Corvayne''s head, reminding him a little of the blue sheet Gygax gave him.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 98.6755%">


    Living Dress


    Apex Class, nearing Artifact


    Living gear


    Growth item


    Semi-aware


    Cloth Armor


    +20 Base HP


    +10% total hp


    +1.5/Sec HP Regeneration


    Symbiotic 300/10: This item has 300 HP and bonds to a main ''user''. It drains a little of it''s host''s life when damaged (up to 10 health a second) but can also restore some of it''s wearer''s health when they are in danger. If the item''s health reaches 0, it will need to have a weaver repair it with living thread. It has a singular self, so while it appears to be a colony this item is actually a sort of hive mind. It is fairly intelligent.


    Naughty: This item has adult functions, responding to it''s bonded user''s will. Please use magical items responsibly.


    Semi-aware: The dress is aware of who it''s bonded to and reacts to their whims. It can understand intent towards it.


    Growth: This item can absorb latent essence to improve it''s statics and abilities and may add new ones if it is used and cared for well.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°Oh wow, it''s actually a really good piece of equipment.¡±


    Wick glared at him. ¡°Oh really Corvayne? Care to try it on?¡±


    Corvayne held it up. ¡°I mean, for a weirdo.¡±


    ¡°I AM a weirdo and even I wouldn''t put the damn thing on!¡± Wick pointed at the dress.


    ¡°Alright, I understand Wick. I''ll find one in green.¡±


    ¡°Thank you much better.¡± She said smoothly as she sat back down. Corvayne folded up the dress and set it off to the side. He took out the green serpent skinned whip as a back up, then at motioned at Wick''s bag of gear, hanging from a hook by the closed window curtains. ¡°Can you get the sundial? I''d like to try the scroll out on it.¡±


    As it turned out, whatever effect the scroll had it wasn''t strong enough to latch onto the artifact, the magical gold lasso the scroll summoned just slipped off the object. The whip on the other hand was hard to focus on but with a little shepherding the pointer with his eyes the scroll eventually locked in on it.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 98.6755%">


    Weeping Whip


    Artifact weapon


    Growth item


    +4 to hit and damage


    On using an ability while holding the handle of the whip, the whip gains a stack of ''Weeping Toxin'' and increases the range of the whip by 10 feet. It may be empowered by a maximum of 3 charges. Charges wear off on connecting with a solid object and applying the poison.


    Growth: This item can absorb latent essence to improve it''s statics and abilities and may add new ones if it is used and cared for well.


    Further powers unlocked via growth.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Reading about this prompted a quick trip down to the garage where they stood in the thin spot that Wick had cleared between the huge mine truck and a few other random machines that Mister I had been working on. Wick flicked the whip, then fired off [Disrupt] a few times, then tried again. The weapon didn''t seem to get it''s bonuses from casting, so Corvayne took it and flicked it, then activated gravity twice. Snapping the whip out it hissed and grew a serpent head that bit a hole clean through the thick metal garage. The whip recoiled and shrank and Corvayne watched as neon green goop slid down the wall, bubbling and hissing for a while before it faded to a dull brown sludge. Not trusting that it was still safe he got a bucket and shoveled it up, vowing to discard it in a tower at some point.


    Wick was beaming. ¡°Oh that''s a good one! I think that''s the sort of weapon you''d want when fighting the monk.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I also think it''s something that would eventually work well with Nyxion''s style of fighting, given he uses his fear effect frequently.¡±


    Returning to her room, he decided to reserve the last scroll and do some tests. First was the gold lizard bracer, which he tried on and felt his fingers change. It at first looked be like the sticky gloves Wick had, with him being able to control his fingers sticking to things. Then he tried shaking his hand and his fingers stretched out like they were made of rubber, growing to eight feet before they hit the walls and papers tacked up in Wick''s room. With a twitch they retracted, netting him a handful of paper and a chess trophy.


    ¡°Oh those are going to Grunt, assuming they adjust magically in size.¡± Wick grinned. ¡°He would appreciate an item that means he doesn''t have to move to yank people to him.¡±


    There was a wood club from the train station that felt very light yet was sturdy enough to dent metal. Maybe another Grunt weapon? There were socks from the floor six chest that seemed to dry and warm his feet, not bad, a pair of dress pants that seemed fairly normal but were tough, but a little uncomfortable to wear in a fight, then a skirt.


    Wick was very suspicious of it. ¡°If you go to the other room I''ll try it on.¡±


    Corvayne had a moment where he wanted to argue, but he would give Wick her space. ¡°All right. Take a photo.¡±


    He stepped through a drape into the kitchen. A few seconds later he heard an annoyed cry. ¡°Corvayne! Help this thing is cursed!¡±


    She was struggling with the skirt, trying to get it off as it started to snow on her bare legs. Corvayne relented and decided trying to cut her out was a bad idea, instead he picked up the scroll of uncurse object and handed it to her. She took it and unrolled it, stuttering through the words before there was a flash of silver and a line snaked out across the room, slowly saturating everything in Wick''s space. The skirt turned a blue color then let Wick peel it off, falling to a soft pile of fabric that glistened with frost.


    Wick grabbed Corvayne''s hand he felt her shove it against her butt, which was freezing. Corvanye quickly took off his socks and helped Wick put them on. Seeing as she was shivering, he pulled the covers back for her to hop into bed. Seeing as she was still cold, he hopped in with her.


    ¡°If you think we are going to have sex r-r-r-right now while my pussy has frostburn, you have another thing coming.¡±


    Corvayne looked at her oddly. ¡°Why would I think that? You just got hurt.¡±


    ¡°Your pants fell off when you came to bed! You stinking liar!¡±


    She snarled and wrestled with him, but because there was no punching it felt fake so he just let her flip over and ''pin'' him.


    Wick sat triumphant on him. ¡°Ha! How''s that?¡±


    She needed not ask what he had thought about her pushing him down. ¡°I am worried if you don''t get warm you''ll catch a cold.¡± He said, taking the tone of a very concerned friend.


    Wick rolled her eyes then looked behind her. ¡°Hey, these socks are getting me really hot... I mean am starting to thaw.¡±


    ¡°How far up can you pull them on your legs? To assess their value as armor, of course.¡±


    Wick rolled her eyes. ¡°Stupid asshole. You think your funny?¡± She rolled out of bed, grabbed the golden lizard bracer and slipped it on, then flicked her gecko tongue hands through the door. Corvayne heard the refrigerator open, ice cubes shuffling, then the door shut as she snapped her fingers back, clutching ice cubes. ¡°Let''s see how you like it!¡±


    Corvayne judiciously pretended to suffer from Wick''s attention, ice cubes and all.

 Chapter 79: The Battle of Copper Mill Road

    [93.7%]


    For the next few days Corvayne trained at the warehouse, using instructing his ''pupils'' as a break from training. Seru was having trouble with fighting weapon users barehanded and had been allowed while sparring to use her ability to catch weapons where there were no blades. Gary was showing up to sessions looking tired and sometimes beat up but over three days Corvayne was pretty sure the young man looked more in shape then he had seen him before and suspected that one of the ''Towers'' was somewhere nearby. Brines was learning to use the fire breathing dagger as both a knife and a make-shift flamethrower, his high endurance allowing him to use the weapon for almost as long as Corvayne could before tiring. Corvayne and Wick had, by luck, sold him a perfect fit for what he was already good at. With the sessions happening in the day on mats in the warehouse, he ended up on day two with an audience of five people. His audience watching him guide the newbies through fighting with spears included both security guards, the two huge enforcers who ran one of Dawn''s buildings down the street, and even the delivery woman who had checked him out back on his first day at the warehouse.


    Each time he set them up with an exercise he would then throw himself at Nyxion, Lady Blood Claw, Grunt when he didn''t vanish for hours at a time, and even a round with Dawn''s right hand guard Nepthia using blunted arrows, which proved to be the most fun he could have with the looming threat of the monk. When they were not training, Nyxion had them rig up more possible traps all around the neighborhood.


    Corvayne at first objected, as he did not want to kill bystanders, but walking to the noodle counter for take out with Grunt he saw that what Nyxion had told him about the chance of that happening was correct. Old Town was emptying out, the milling masses gone. When he saw people they tended to be in groups, pointing and talking or moving with purpose to one of the roads that would take them out of town. Corvayne asked the woman behind the counter if she knew what was up.


    ¡°It''s the end of everything. People are getting crazy powers, and a whole bunch of religions say the end is near. People in Old Town, with nothing? A bunch of them went to the weird portal they found on Mare island. They called it a Tower, people get stronger when they come out. They say something it''s like an RPG? If I didn''t have a kid to look after, I might consider it. Just can''t risk dying and leaving him alone, you know? I mean, unless you guys are down for helping an old lady out. Might be worth a few meals, eh?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I don''t think you''re very old, miss.¡±


    She laughed. ¡°Look at this shameless flirt! No wonder you and Wick are an item.¡±


    Corvayne looked over at Grunt, who was whistling and looking away innocently. For someone who didn''t speak he sure ran his mouth a lot. The thought made him smile.


    ¡°What would you want out of a tower run? We have to deal with a dangerous criminal in the area first, but that might be a thing we do, act as tour guides through towers.¡±


    The woman nodded. ¡°I''d trust you if you told me you could handle it yourself. You know, has ever tell you that you seem, I don''t know, solid? I like you, what''s your name?¡±


    ¡°Corvayne.¡± He offered his hand, and was surprised that the woman''s hands were as rough as his.


    ¡°Ayame. Do they have things in there that help you cook?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± He produced a spoon he and Wick had tested once they were both fully thawed out. ¡°Stirring with this sweetens a drink without ruining the other tastes. I was considering trying it on the soup today but the idea of ruining the broth seemed painful.¡±


    ¡°Well boy, don''t use it on yourself because you already are too sweet on an old aunt like me. Oh a magic spoon! Something like that for noodles, maybe a cooking super power, maybe another that made me look younger, I''d love those! But then if I was pretty and such a good cook I''d have Dawn after me for trying to steal her man!¡± She nudged Grunt.


    Grunt shook his head and stood straight, but then pretended to wipe sweat off his brow which made Ayame laugh.


    ¡°Oh you kidder. I know, that''s why you''re good for her. She used to be so... down.¡± Ayame finished putting the last of the order in a container. ¡°You sure you don''t want any pine Corvayne? It''s supposedly good for virility.¡±


    Like half the things in Mister I''s jars, which also probably tasted worse. ¡°I think I do fine in that department. Listen, Miss Ayame? I''m a little worried that we''re going to have a brawl in the streets, sometime soon. Maybe tonight, maybe in a few days. I don''t want to scare you off, but do you have somewhere safe to go? Maybe for a few days?¡±


    The woman looked a little scared. ¡°Is my stand in danger? Dawn can handle it. She was a... you know, Grunt?¡± The woman saw Grunt nod, then Ayame leaned in and lowered her voice. ¡°She was a mob boss.¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I don''t know if Dawn is tough enough to scare him off. I''ve had Mister I tell people to take a few days and stay with family, if possible. This is the same guy who trashed downtown.¡±


    Ayame nodded. ¡°Okay. Thank you for the warning. Though, I think a lot of us who''ve been here a long time, we probably won''t leave. This is the spot we got pushed to by life, you know? It was this or be a farmer. So... kick his ass for us! And try not to hurt the stand, otherwise you might starve!¡± She shoved the packed bags into Grunts hands, then handed Corvayne a third bag as well as a little paper bag. He somehow knew, even before he opened it to check, that it contained a huge pile of the cooked pine needles.


    Ayame winked at him. ¡°They are also good for getting your blood up... for fighting!¡±


    Everyone that had been training together as well as Mister I was waiting for him to get back. The plan for the evening was to eat noodles and watch a movie on couches that Corvayne had moved using his ring. The empty streets stressed him out a little. The air felt heavy, as if something was about to happen. Movie night was a welcome break. More and more over the past week he had taking to new distractions with relish. It was perfectly reasonable to have a little fun now since he was likely to come out the other end with a showdown with the monk badly mangled given his recent track record.


    Grunt had picked a movie that Corvayne needed to see according to Grunt''s list which he found shifted depending on what Grunt had watched the previous night. This one was pretty good, and had laser swords and a handsome boy rescuing a girl on a spaceship, which he thought was romantic until Wick told him that they were brother and sister. Still, looking at the monolithic black armored bad guy, and moving into the second one where they revealed the evil warrior was his DAD made Corvayne laugh aloud and slap his knee... it was a nice movie even if Seru complained that the effects were cheesy and the third remake was better.


    They were about to start the third one, when Dawn and Nepthia showed up, turning the lights on.


    Dawn strode up to the ring of seats around the chalkboard. ¡°Get ready. Helicopters all over town.¡±


    ¡°Shit¡± Wick stood up, and Dawn held up a hand.


    ¡°Wick. Everyone. Come to my place. You don''t have to fight this guy alone.¡±


    Wick shook her head. ¡°Dawn, I appreciate it, but I know your weakness. I can''t live my life in an old train station forever. Besides, we got a plan.¡±


    Dawn was getting pulled by her assistant. ¡°And? What''s your plan?¡±


    Corvayne stood up and stretched, grabbing his spear and his new whip. ¡°Run him in circles then beat him like a drum.¡±


    Corvayne couldn''t quite see miles from his perch far above the streets of Old Town. It was dark out and the rain blurred lights past a certain point into a latent glow. But from the lip of the smokestack he could see two of the bridges into town, including the one he had strode in on. The little platform he was on would give him no room to fight on, but Corvayne was calm, even being two hundred feet in the air.


    From his perch, the sound of helicopters converging overpowered the rattle of trains and the howl of the highway that defined Old Town to Corvayne''s ears. Despite giving Dawn snappy lines, the real first stage of the fight was man vs. chopper. The problem of him having possibly seven extra bodies didn''t make Corvayne happy, but having a ground to air battle was unacceptable. He was going to even those odds.


    He kept a brand new disposable phone by his ear, listening to Wick try to sort everything out as she took reports from Dawn''s people and a few volunteers who refused to leave her high and dry.


    Wick spoke and he could hear her handling papers as she spoke, ¡°Final count is four helicopters. Dawn''s people reported two monks walking into town.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Six targets at least. So... maybe he''s holding one back, probably at the spaceport, and one is probably camped at the portal.¡±


    He paused. ¡°Did they see one wearing blue?¡±


    Wick was very even, perhaps having taken something to level herself out before the battle. ¡°Three of them wearing blue according to the report.¡±


    Corvayne rolled his eyes. If he was going to hide as a clone user, how would he do it? Establish a pattern then change it. He was pretty sure from the report he read that Argyle had full sensory feedback from all his temporal clones too. As in, the monk would be coming with a full assessment of Corvayne''s skills. Well, maybe not full. It would be hard to tell his use of gravity powers from general super strength.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    The only benefit was that he didn''t have any assessment of anyone else in the group. Six clones, the real one probably mixed in. They had to kill six super powered monks without anyone dying. Piece of cake. Or he should say, he had to kill ONE of them and then the rest should die. Might die. He sent a text to Seru. ''Add to questions: Do fire and forget powers stay on after you are dead?''


    She sent back some parentheses and dots around a Y. Corvayne assumed it was some code he''d understand if he grew up on Cascadia and put his phone away, waiting for the signal to start. It as possible Argyle would figure out where he was from his first shot, but he''d get at least one good one in. He lined up four metal orbs on the lip of the smokestack, all arrayed for him to easily grab and throw.


    Staring out at the rainy night he traced the path of three choppers against the industrial lights and reflection. Good enough. He was ready when the first flare went up, causing all the vehicles to slow and turn to it, even if it was only long enough for their tail to swish before they started evasive action.


    Corvayne smiled, and grabbed the first orb, decreasing it''s weight before he grabbed the chain and started building up momentum. He then activated [Expert Throw], the skill letting him make a small adjustment before he whipped the orb at a helicopter. The moment it left his hand he grabbed the next chain, dropped it''s weight, then whipped it a chopper. He snatched the last one and used his gravity power, scanning the skyline for a third target and he saw a helicopter veering his way. He hurled the orb and jumped from his ledge, using gravity to slow his fall. Above him was a clacking sound. He landed and looked up as the smokestack exploded in a bloom of green.


    He used his shadow hands to check for seeds and rushed to the main road, keeping his eyes above and to the sides. He heard one helicopter still, so he hoped everyone else was staying out of sight. He made it a block before he spotted a figure shift into the road. A monk in purple robes, with a long rod of steel as a weapon.


    There was just a moment where they looked at each other, making Corvayne smirk a little bit as he thought of the old cowboy stories.


    ¡°Argyle! This town ain''t big enough for the two of us.¡± He called out.


    The monk sneered and raised a hand. ¡°Fine! Then die!¡±


    Corvayne readied himself as Argyle popped forward two hundred feet in an instant. Corvayne dragged his spear across the ground, using [Cross Skill: Thresh] to lay down thin lines of shadow, forming a half circle which he backed away from.


    The clone vanished and Corvanye felt his right shadow touch something, so he dove left, chips of concrete spraying by him as he pivoted and [Thrust] aiming for the monk''s shoulder as he turned. All four of his shadow hands speared with him, driving five points into Argyle''s torso. Corvayne leapt back, knowing the hits were shallow. He saw the staff blur as Argyle brought it back up, tip inches from him as the Monk jabbed out, then swung and swung, each attack pushing Corvayne backwards to avoid a follow up. The monk vanished and Corvayne rolled forward and to the right, feeling something pass by his head as he kept moving, using his boots to give him some distance as he spun, seeing Argyle coming in swinging. He used [Cross Skill: Thresh] to gouge a pair of lines. The monk simply forced himself through the grasping hands, some of the threads of shadow snapping.


    Trailing black, the monk''s staff snaked forward and Corvayne twisted with a blow that glanced off his armor, knocking him a step back and bruising his side. The sting of pain brought fear, and Corvayne dodged the efficient flurry of blows, each one pushing him a step back. The monk appeared right in front of him and Corvayne used [Juxtapose] and nearly tripped after sliding around the monk. He was filled with sudden panic as he became sure he was going to fail. He forced himself to try to jab with his spear but the monk just batted it away, then swung. His vision filled with mist a moment before he was sent flying down the street, each roll dizzying him as he hit concrete over and over. The pain then spiked from his side, where the staff had smashed his ribs.


    Corvayne got to his feet as the Monk sauntered over, staff on his shoulder and a cruel smile on his face. ¡°You couldn''t even-¡±


    An arrow slammed into Argyle''s face and a moment later swarms of insects exploded outward from the wound. Corvayne stumbled back as the Monk vanished, then dropped to the ground as he felt the monk move behind him, an attack brushing his shoulder as it flew by. He heard screaming and rolled away as another arrow slammed into the back of the monk, swarms of bugs crawling all over Argyle who was trying to push the biting insects off, dropping his staff a moment. Corvayne met Argyle''s eyes through the swarm of insects, then they both dove for the weapon. Corvayne''s fingers brushed it, then pulled it into his ring.


    Argyle screamed and tried to kick Corvayne, who felt his flagging energy coming back as he did a proper roll backwards into a standing position with his spear. The disarmed monk rushed forward, but his fists meant he had to rush at Corvayne. He had not gotten any slower but Corvayne put everything into his reach advantage, punishing punches with retalitory [Cross Skill: Bleeder] strikes. The three serious jabs he landed were trickling out blood now. The monk flickered behind Corvayne, who whirled and used [Cross Skill: Sweep] at the same time Argyle tried to grab him, his spear hitting what felt like a tree trunk and managing to cause Argyle to stumble and overbalance, tripping over Corvaye''s back which hurt, but let him turn and draw his oversized cleaver with his shadow hands.


    He used [Butchery] and watched as blood streaks followed the wicked curved weapon down, slamming into the monks back as he kept hammering blows into the monk rending his robe and back into bloody tatters. Argyle was tough, trying to get Corvayne in a leg lock. He saw it and leapt with gravity boosting him twelve feet up, then held his cleaver above his head two handed and used [Cross Skill: Leap Strike] as he brought the weapon down. The monk vanished as Corvayne hit the pavement then rolled, letting go of his cleaver as he rolled backwards, then pivoted and drew his fire-breathing knife as his shadow hands jabbed forward, skewering the monk who was reaching for his cleaver. Corvayne twisted the handle as he slammed it into Argyle''s chest, blasting fire into the wound and cooking his own hands with the heat of the flame going off.


    Argyle screamed in pain before something popped and suddenly Corvayne was shooting fire through a pile of garbage. He let the dagger''s fire die down and found a wall to lean against as he pulled out one of the home made healing potions that Mister I had made. He drank the bitter fluid as he scanned for Mister I and found the older man wave on a shadowy perch on a rooftop under the steel frames of a train line. He saw his friend wave then vanish as they stepped back into the dark.


    He pushed himself off his wall and retrieved his cleaver. He felt the broken bits of rib mending and shift around in him as the makeshift potion got to work. He was lucky he had his armor, if not for it he''d have broken half the bones in his body. Still, five clones to go, with the real one mixed up in there. He''d have the best chances fighting at the train yard, but as another Argyle was running down the street he detoured into a garbage choked alleyway. Behind him he slashed a few times with [Cross Skill: Thresh] and lines of darkness along the ground and walls made him feel better about his chances of staying ahead of the monk.


    While weaving around garbage he heard swearing behind him, then the crash of the monk blasting apart the walls and ground. Once more he was back to running as a blue robed monk appeared behind him. He felt a brick fly past him, only seeing it a moment before exploded on a wall, shards flying into him but not slowing him even as he felt a dozen cuts open up.


    He ran around a corner, heading back towards the street. He heard a helicopter ahead, and slowed. He looked around then up, channeled his gravity then soaring up to the third story roof, taking a moment to breath then hurrying to a dark spot near a train track support. He pulled out an anti-helicopter orb and waited, either for the monk to appear over the lip of the roof or for the helicopter to be over him where he could attack it from it''s blind spot. He took a moment to pull his phone out and make a call to the group line.


    He whispered. ¡°Checking in, one clone down, one in pursuit and a helicopter over here. By Copper Mill road.¡±


    Wick sounded surprised. ¡°You beat one? Corvayne, I got-¡±


    Corvayne paused talking as he heard something breaking below him. Quickly he used his shadow hands and found a bamboo seed stuck to the back of his coat.


    ¡°Can''t talk, chopper about to fire on me.¡± Corvayne shut the phone off and put it away then infused the bamboo seed with gravity, dropping it''s weight to near nothing. He had a shadow hand hold it up and only dropped it as he moved under the steel tracks, keeping it as cover as the seed started to fall slowly.


    He heard the helicopter getting close as he jogged under the train tracks, nearing the other end of the building before he stepped out while spinning another scrap bola, channeling gravity then launching it at the helicopter from it''s side as it blasted the spot he had left the seed. He then canceled his power as the metal orb hit the helicopter and shattered the wall, cracking the entire shell of the construct and dropping a monk thirty feet to the rooftop. He didn''t wait, cleaver sliding into his hand as he moved to get behind the stunned figure and used [Cross Skill: Dismember], the attack severing one of the Argyle clone''s hands. He saw a window shatter and jumped off the roof, using gravity to land safely on all fours and then run back out to the street. Looking behind him he saw a blue robed Argyle staring down at him.


    Corvayne flipped him off, because why not? Then he kept running down Copper Mill road as two more Argyles came out from between buildings ahead of him. He stopped as they both teleported towards him, turning and running away from the location and towards a train station. He threw behind him some lines of shadow, then slowed to a stop as a dozen pine trees sprung into existence in front of him, choking the alleyway in trees. No way out up, tracks and roads blocked the space above the alley off. Sideways, then.


    He used [Cross Skill: Sundering Strike] with his cleaver on a window then jumped into the dark factory beyond. He could make out that the floor had gaps and rows of machines. He ran and crouched and pulled his cloak over his head, using his hands to check for seeds before he started creeping back the way he came. He heard a wall crumple, and the sound of grit being crunched as at least one Argyle clone enter the factory.


    He really needed backup! He didn''t like his odds fighting. He looked at a hole in the floor, then quickly crept to it then lowered himself, using gravity to help him feel under the floor for a metal beam above the abyssal dark under the floor. No sign of the floor even with his darkvision, but it wasn''t time to worry about that. He flipped himself and hung away from the hole, steadying his breathing as he heard the footsteps above him. Then another pair. Then another set, from a different side. A fourth, then a fifth. Maybe six sets of footprints.


    A sing song voice called out. ¡°Come out come out wherever you are, you stupid gym rat!¡±


    ¡°We know you''re here.¡± Argyle again.


    ¡°No way out.¡± Another Argyle called.


    He pulled his knees up close to his chest, to be sure that someone glancing down into the murk wouldn''t spot where he was holding himself up. He didn''t think his arms would give out, but using powers always drained him. He heard someone on the other side of the beam he hung on going down steps, and saw a flashlight sweep across the dark. He used gravity as hard as he could, forcing himself to be nearly weightless as he twisted so that he was mostly wedged laying flat in half the I-beam, trying to keep his breathing even as the flashlight flickered across beams and the ceiling. The monk in the basement stepped onto the floor, which sloshed. Corvayne took a steady breath, using his hand and keeping most of his body rigid to avoid falling, he grabbed a potion of strength. He could hear sloshing and see the cone of light would soon shine around and up to him.


    He was about to drink the potion and try to fight his way out when there was a bang, and he could hear feet scuffling. The one in the water sloshed through it then he heard footsteps running up steps. After a few moments there were no more monks above.


    He silently unfurled to hang in the dark, then pulled himself hand over hand to a column holding the grid of beams up and shimmied down it, gravity power fading out once he reached the water. He took a moment to breath, then stepped through the water, listening for Argyle as he made his way through the darkened basement and up the stairs to the ruined ground floor.


    He crept out of a hole in the wall that Argyle likely made and watched for clones. He started to pick up speed as he reached the road and started heading for the trainyard.

 Chapter 80: To Not Be a Burden

    Corvayne crept around the corner, concerned at the quiet he heard. He had been hunted just a moment before, but something had pulled all the copies of Argyle off of him, and the only signs of them were blasted buildings and a few urchin clusters of bamboo spines. Corvayne oriented himself and broke into a run for the train yard, pulling out his phone as he started pounding his legs on the pavement.


    ¡°Corvanye here, they were all on me then left... what happened?¡±


    Wick responded. ¡°Lady Blood Claw said she was going to bait them away...¡±


    ¡°What? Why? She won''t be able to outrun a dozen clones. Where is she?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know! She said something about owing you.¡± Wick was yelling at someone else for a moment. ¡°It''s a mess!¡±


    ¡°I''ll figure it out.¡± Corvayne hung up, slowed to a stroll, and tried to use his compass power while thinking of Lady Blood Claw.


    He felt the something like a ticklish feeling, the smallest tug pulling him past the train yard turn, over into the streets near the warehouse. He was not surprised to round a corner and see someone had blasted a hole in his old home, right through the Brines Brothers Logo. He felt she must be somewhere inside, and could see a the back of a monk watching the main entrance to the building. Corvayne slowed down and drew his fire-breathing dagger, steadying his breathing.


    He walked carefully up to the monk, willing his feet to find places on the ground clear of debris like glass, nails, and soda cans. He willed himself to ignore the sounds of something slamming around inside the warehouse. He wanted to hurry, each step felt like it took a minute. In his head he kept repeating ''A spear moves forward. A spear moves forward.'' He was worried he''d hesitate when he got up to Argyle''s back. He reminded himself he couldn''t show any mercy as he would have to kill a lot of Argyles today. This was for Wick.


    He sunk the dagger into the Argyle''s back and twisted the handle as he used [Backstab], the combination of his own power and the daggers cone of fire blowing out a large chunk of the figure''s back and igniting the monk. The clone wasn''t dead somehow and vanished with his time stop. Corvayne felt something change in his viewpoint then ducked and whipped his dagger''s flaming cone around as he spun. The fire bathed the clone behind him, staggering the figure before it could slam it''s staff down on his skull.


    Corvayne still got out of the way as the clone made inhuman noises before collapsing into a heap of burning garbage. He didn''t have time to enjoy taking a clone down as he saw another Argyle burst out of the upper catwalk door and hurl a crate at Corvayne, the metal box hit the street like a cannonball. Another three clones came around a corner, armed with steel rods.


    Corvayne wasn''t sure on the math but knew there were way too many Argyles teleporting at him. As they took their first steps to run at him, he noticed they had made a mistake and all activated their power at once. So instead of turning tail, Corvayne started running at them, smiling. The trio had to slow and adjust their staves as they vanished once more, all at the same time.


    Corvayne fell into [Flow-Like-Water] and felt himself glide around an incoming trio of staff attacks, scoring a hit on one of the clones who was in his way as he broke into a run for the warehouse, watching as bamboo punched a set of holes in the steel side of the building. He danced over the shattered bricks of the wall around the property and used [Flow-Like-Water] to slip into a gap between bamboo spikes that had shredded holes the main metal doors.


    The warehouse was a mess, broken containers spilling shards of jasper in piles clogging the isles. He didn''t stop as he breached into the hole, using his powers to leap to a higher perch four containers up and to get away from the trio breaking the bamboo behind him.


    Landing on the crate Corvayne turned and saw a blur ducking and weaving as a clone missed the blur and blasting the catwalk and the walls with screeching steel noises. Lady Blood Claw was fighting with the huge sword he had given her in one hand, the other held against her chest and covered in blood. He saw a clone appear behind her and he drew a pistol and used [Cross Skill: Leg Sweep] as he aimed for the figure''s foot. Lady Blood Claw responded to the crack of gunfire by hopping back, head whipping for a new threat. When she saw Corvayne, she had a moment between looking at the monk getting up and the gap, then closed her eyes as she leapt 10 feet off the catwalk to the container stack, nearly landing on Corvayne. A form appeared climbing over the lip of the crates and Corvayne jabbed at Argyle''s face. The attack missed but the monk let go.


    Lady Blood Claw stood, and Corvayne could see at least six clones in various points in the warehouse, with at least three somewhere under him. The report had been wrong! He turned to Lady Blood Claw.


    ¡°I''m going to pick you up again.¡±


    He looked around, spotting a pair of clones bending over and hefting rocks. A different pair pointed at him and his pistol fell apart.


    ¡°I don''t need help!¡± Lady Blood Claw glared at him, skin turning blue.


    ¡°Princess carry, piggy back, or over my shoulder?¡± Corvayne looked all around him. At least seven monks hefting projectiles, picking spots to pelt him from every angle. He put everything but his spear and his belt knife in storage, handing his spear to a shadow hand.


    Lady Blood Claw dropped her weapon into a shadow hand, then jumped onto his back and wrapped her good arm around his shoulders. Corvayne grabbed her legs then used gravity and leaped upwards. He heard a thundercrack under when half the rocks hit each other. He had a shadow hand to grab a rafter as he neared the top of his jump and tug on it as he started to fall, swinging him forward. With another swing he aimed for the break room. Lady Blood Claw started screaming as Corvayne used his shadow hands to break the glass a moment before he slammed into it, and he landed with only a few cuts on on his legs as he drifted into running forward, shadow hands pulling the door open. He saw that a clone was coming up the stairs, and as the purple clad Argyle appeared next to him Lady Blood Claw stuck her lame arm out.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°[Sleep!]¡±


    The clone slumped and fell backwards down the stairs as Corvayne turned away, running towards a hole in the wall along the catwalk. He trusted Lady Blood Claw to hold on as he took his spear one handed and used [Cross Skill: Sundering Strike] on the gap, widening it enough to rush through, stepping onto the curved metal roof of the garage.


    He heard a splash and he dodged a staff swing that brushed his ear. Lady Blood Claw hollered something but he didn''t bother looking, instead running for the edge of the garage.


    ¡°What is with you and roofs?!¡± Lady Blood Claw yelled into his ear.


    He responded by jumping off the roof, his gravity power extending his running start into a long arc across the street. Sadly, he didn''t have a nice window to break through, instead watching as a brick wall flew at him. He had his shadow hands out and braced with his feet to avoid slamming full force into the wall, kicking back and dropping at half speed to the sidewalk below. He grit his teeth and ran away from the warehouse, Lady Blood Claw hyperventilating on his back for two blocks.


    He hit Copper Mill road and curved to start heading back to their prepared battlefield. This time everything was properly set up with a swarm of angry monks running behind him. Lady Blood Claw looked back and cried out every time a clone popped up, shouting that they were gaining on him. Corvayne felt something a little odd while jogging with gravity, a sort of sloshing feeling that was pushing him forward. He finally reached the street he had been aiming for, huffing as he took the ramp up to the train yard.


    He dashed into the dark and veered for a particular set of pillars, trying not to feel tired as he heard the first thump of a trap going off. He jumped over a trip wire and kept running. Behind him he heard Argyle shouting in stereo as the monk''s clones started tripping and getting hit by makeshift weapons. Running up the spiral stairs, he pulled a cord that tipped several cans of oil, then moved through the second floor, stepping carefully around the far more lethal traps that Grunt had helped rig up.


    He finally reached the inner circle and let Lady Blood Claw down as Nyxion opened the door. ¡°What the hell is with you two idiots kicking up an ant hill? We were supposed to lure them here first.¡±


    Corvayne took a moment to catch his breath before he replied. ¡°There''s a lot more then six or eight clones. I killed two, maimed one, and there were probably ten or twelve different ones at least. I think they were sort of... poorly made. They were not as responsive as the one I fought in the city.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw took out one Mister I healing potion and stared at it for a moment. She turned a little green then downed it, wincing as her arm cracked back into place. She tested it by wiggling her fingers and deemed her hand good enough. He offered her sword back to her.


    Lady Blood Claw accepted it then looked at Corvayne, her skin shifting from a pleased or happy pink to annoyed orange. ¡°I''m annoyed! I was supposed to save you this time.¡±


    Corvayne turned and looked at the dark second floor. He heard crashing noises below. ¡°You did. And then I paid you back. Nyx, where''s everyone else?¡±


    ¡°Mister I is at the community center. Wick''s in the office, probably, and Grunt went off on his own, had to tell if you don''t have eyes on him. Seru, if you care, is also at the community center. We told her to sit this one out.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Grunt wasn''t at the warehouse, so he''s probably out there... did he say anything?¡±


    Nyxion just stared at him.


    Corvayne rolled his eyes. ¡°I mean with his hands.¡±


    The noble sighed. ¡°Oh, said he''d be fine alone, ignored me yelling at him for leaving the DAMN safe spot here. I take back anything nice I said about the oaf.¡±


    He pulled the pin off a smoke grenade and flung it, blowing a cloud over the path to the stair up and out. Nyxion called out, nice and loud so everyone could hear him. ¡°We take out as many as we can here, then make a stand in the office!¡±


    Nyxion grabbed another grenade, pulled the pin, and took two steps before throwing it. Corvayne noticed that Nyxion had spread out several weapons around the back of the depot they were in.


    The grenade exploded in a deafening bang and halo of fire, revealing a monk trying to creep into the room and starting a trail of fire that ran over to the stairs. Cries of pain echoed into the room from the stairway and Corvayne could see the oil he had spilled had turned the stairway into a death trap. Nyxion took out a cigar and lit it, eyes reflecting the fire. His voice was much lower, not meant to carry outside of him and Lady Blood Claw.


    ¡°I pay my dues back Corvayne, you know what I mean?¡±


    Corvayne nodded, then pulled his cloak, the blurring changing to a color that matched the dimly lit space. In the dark he could make out traps, and as the fire died down he saw figures moving in from the stairs, as well as a few that were running across the open yard to go in the arches directly from outside. Nyxion waited until one blinked, then fired a rifle, missing the first shot but causing the monks to dive for cover. He handed the rifle to Corvayne and ran over to get another weapon, this one a heavy tube.


    Corvayne took a firing stance and aimed [Ricochet] at the doorway. The round glowed and he heard metal dings as the round bounced. He chambered another round then turned to spot a monk appearing and moving to a pillar, and he used [Drill Shot] hitting the figure in the torso. Not enough to stop a clone, but he stumbled the last two steps. One of the monks blinked past the steel beam trap he had worked so hard on, so he lined up another shot and used [Cross Skill: Pinning shot] as the monk stepped between him and a trap. The clone jerked back, then the steel beams swung down like a four hundred pound hammer and there was a popping noise and the figure fell apart.


    Corvayne watched Lady Blood Claw fired an arrow into the haze. When it connected, it lit up a monk in purple fire, who in annoyance pulled the arrow out and crushed it, moments before an explosion blotted the place he was standing with debris.


    Corvayne took another shot but felt his rifle wobble and he dropped it and moved to the next weapon as it fell apart, scooping up a pistol and activating [Drill Shot] twice, hitting one monk in the upper leg before another of Argyle''s anti technology beams broke his pistol apart. He drew his spear and called out ¡°Protect the office!¡± to Nyxion and Lady Blood Claw, who were already moving to the stairs up to the upper deck. A clone teleported near him and he used [Storm Thrust] to simply push the attacker away, sending them stumbling over a trip wire that let a trio of steel beams swing loose, slamming the Argyle clone in the face, sending it tumbling to the ground as a pile of garbage.


    Corvayne heard more loud pops as traps close to him set off, so he ran for the office, bounding up a few steps to the little chamber at the back of the train station. He pulled the door closed and clicked the electronic lock shut while making sure the battery was snug by the door, then moving to the hole they had carved out of the back leading to the train tracks. He didn''t dare slow down, running up the slope of the tracks to catch up to where Nyxion and Lady Blood Claw were running, out to where all the tracks of Old Town met then split away.


    Corvayne caught up and matched their pace down the tracks, then looked back, seeing a pair of clones on the roof of the building looking for them then pointing.


    ¡°Do you think-¡±


    Corvayne jabbed his finger forward. ¡°Run faster.¡±


    Thirty seconds after they started sprinting, Corvayne heard a thump and a crack then felt something move through him like a wave of force. His vapor armor created a cloud at the moment the shockwave sent him rolling. A few chunks of steel touched down around them, prompting Corvayne to grab LBC and Nyxion and half drag them stumbling to a train car as it started raining steel beams and bricks. On the inside they could hear hammer blows as chunks of metal rained down on them.


    They shared the last of Mister I''s home made potions which popped their ears back to normal, in time for him to cringe at taking cover in what turned out to be essentially a giant steel drum.


    ¡°I guess that''s a good chunk of the clones huh?¡± Corvayne laughed as the rain of bricks slowed.


    Lady Blood Claw looked down, her skin shifting to blue. ¡°I''m sorry. I was trying to help you. Instead, you had to rescue me once again.¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°We''re a team.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw turned bright pink. Corvayne couldn''t figure out why she was happy, but her skin turned green as she looked back.


    Corvayne turned and saw that out of the burning fire that now defined the train depot, there was Argyle, on fire but striding out of the ruins as if it was a stroll in the park. He was a little burned but patted out the fires then planted his staff on the track.


    Corvayne gripped his spear. ¡°I''m pretty sure we just found the real one.¡±

 Chapter 81: One To Be Feared

    Corvayne just stared at Argyle, maybe a quarter of a mile down the track, backlit by fire that was oozing smoke and steam that mixed with low clouds over Cascadia. The man was walking slowly, perhaps the same pace one would stroll through a park, as if he hadn''t just gotten caught in a city block sized explosion.


    Nyxion was next to him. ¡°What''s the plan?¡±


    Corvayne glanced backwards. ¡°We wear down his stamina while I do everything in my power to piss him off and keep him on me.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw stared at him. ¡°You''re going to make him... mad?¡±


    Corvayne spun his spear then handed it to his shadow hand, flexing his fingers. ¡°Our only hope to beat him is to tire him out. One good hit up close and we are dead.¡± He had a plan for that, too. It just was going to really hurt right at the start of the fight. He picked up his cleaver.


    Argyle finally vanished, moving forward a good five hundred feet.


    ¡°Back up, next jump is on me.¡± Corvayne called and readied his spear.


    Nyxion readied his mace and Lady Blood Claw cast a spell on herself, then moved quickly back. They formed a wedge with Corvanye at the front. His stomach was in knots. One hit, and someone died. Him included.


    Argyle appeared before him, steel staff swinging right for his arm. Corvayne swung to parry, activating [Cross Skill: Sundering Strike] as he chopped at the steel rather then try to hit Argyle or dodge. His cleaver blasted right through the stave but the loose bar hit his shoulder like a cannon and broke it as he was flung spinning into a train car. He hit it and felt something snap in his back. He forced his good arm to move, even as he was gasping in pain and feeling cold move down his back. He pulled a potion out of storage and into his good hand, vision swimming for a moment as he forced the stopper open and downed it. His arm and back made cracking noises and he found he had dented the thin steel wall of the train car.


    He got up, pain throbbing through his back almost a relief after the numb feeling and he saw Argyle was fighting Nyxion and Lady Blood Claw, hitting Nyxion in a blow with the halved stave that connected with his mace, sending the noble flying. Oddly, the monk used his time stop to chase but only got a few feet, looking hesitant. Lady Blood Claw used the opportunity to slice Argyle, hitting his arm and drawing blood, then pulling back and crouching under a retaliatory swing. Corvayne started to run forward as Argyle teleported and Lady Blood Claw turned the duck into a roll forward. Argyle''s overhead swing was short, clearly expecting his longer staff.


    Corvayne used [Power Thrust] and darted forward, jabbing his spear into Argyle''s leg in what should be a crippling wound that instead had the monk twist and bring his metal bar around, forcing Corvayne to step back. Argyle''s next attack forward forced Corvayne to roll on his back, but he was too slow to realize that the monk had vanished as he rolled to a knee, and a moment later he was sent flying again, his side screaming in agony before he landed badly on a leg and rolled, hitting a hand on a metal track. He was screaming in pain, and through tears he saw Argyle''s outline appear close to him.


    He tried to stab out but his arm wasn''t moving quite right and his spear fell and Argyle grabbed him and picked him up by the neck of his shirt. The collar ripped out from under his armor and he dropped on the ground, the impact refreshing the agony he was feeling all over. What washed over him then was that he already had lost. They couldn''t beat Argyle. He couldn''t protect Wick. Again. Ever.


    Argyle snarled. ¡°What is WRONG with you? You fucking pile of garbage! This hasn''t even been a fight! I''ve never, ever had someone insult me so bad, so many times then just... it''s PATHETIC!¡±


    Corvayne was woken up a little by Argyle breaking his nose, the agony mixing with hot blood pouring down his face. ¡°Wake up. Here''s what''s going to happen. You are going to call Anastasia, now.¡±


    Corvayne blinked. He tried to talk but he felt sluggish at the same time the agony lanced through him. ¡°I dunno who she is.¡±


    Argyle rolled his eyes. ¡°For GODS sake you know who I''m talking about. C''mon. This is what I mean! You are totally unsatisfying!¡± Corvayne felt himself getting shaken, which caused every part of him to ache and new pains to flare all along his torso and arm.


    He had a moment of hope when he saw Lady Blood Claw coming up, bloody but holding her two handed sword high, but Argyle turned and held Corvayne out as a shield, which forced her to alter her swing. She was totally open with her sword point on the ground and Argyle smoothly kick out, disarming her and sending her rolling over train tracks.


    ¡°Look at this! I was hunted by The Trio! I had to build a fucking helicopter out of an air conditioner in an hour to escape. And this? It hasn''t been five minutes to kill you all! Do you fucking get how pathetic it is that I''m here?! Call fucking Iana or White Flower or Anastasia. The PRINCESS. Call the FUCKING PRINCESS!¡±


    Corvayne looked at him confused. ¡°I... Don''t... know...¡±


    Argyle gently set him down, and crouched, and looked him in the eye. The monk touched his face. ¡°You... you are not fucking lying? REALLY. So you did all this and you have no idea, NOT a SINGLE clue...¡± He rubbed his face. ¡°This is exactly what I''m talking about! It''s so unsatisfying! I was sitting on this planet, looking for SOMETHING. Anything to stop guard duty. At least don''t look at me like a fish. Spit in my face! Tell me you''ll never let me have her. You are so FUCKING boring. When you were lying your ass off at that breakfast table, I was like ''Maybe, maybe there''s something here! A person!'' Then I saw your names light up on the bounty list. A hunt! A job! Interplay! Let me clear something up, I don''t like killing people. Setting up an escape route and sitting there waiting for prey to come to you? It''s a chore. I honestly don''t hurt people because it''s fun to me. It''s a job. Wake up Corvayne or whatever your name is. I''m talking here. I was saying, this is a CHORE.¡±


    Corvayne was very confused... maybe the nuclear battery fried Argyle''s brain. ¡°So why not just... let us go?¡±


    ¡°Because you idiot, you have two things I need to possibly BUY my way out of the hole I''m in. The ''Nugget'' and the ''White Flower''. You waved it in my face. Nyxion was trying to sell it for what, a few million? No... Half a billion? That sounds better. Half a billion! He has no idea what it''s worth, he bluffed so low I knew he was clueless. The Baron would give you planets, plural, for it. It''s freedom for me. It''s worth more then Anastasia.¡±


    Corvayne coughed and the pain and wet choking feeling gave him a sense that he had blood in a lung. ¡°Who is Anastiza?¡±


    The monk sighed and started walking over to where Lady Blood Claw was trying to get up, dragging Corvayne by an arm to continue speaking to him, ignoring that Corvayne was screaming as his battered legs got pulled across an iron bar. He did everything he could to try to stumble along with the iron grip. ¡°The girl with the green hair you were with, whatever she calls herself. She''s the run-away royal. So call her, or I''m going to start crushing your alien girlfriend''s limbs.¡±


    Corvayne heard Lady Blood Claw say something at the same time he croaked ¡°We are not an item.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Your friend''s limbs. Crush them.¡± He used two fingers to mime snapping limbs.


    Corvayne summoned his phone. ¡°What...¡± He had to spit some blood out. ¡°What do you want me to say?¡±


    Argyle sighed. ¡°Just get her to come out here. I haven''t decided if I''m going to take her alive or dead, the more you hurry...¡±


    Corvayne pulled his phone out of the ring, and dialed it to the group line. Argyle reached over with his free hand and tapped speaker.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Corvayne, what''s going on?¡±


    Argyle cleared his throat. ¡°Your clueless friends are all on the ground. Maybe not dead yet, but close. So you have two options: Tell them you are going to abandon them and leave them to die, or come to the train yard next to the burning building, with the core.¡±


    ¡°Don''t...¡± Corvayne croaked.


    The monk beamed and nodded at him.


    ¡°Don''t come here, Wick. Trap.¡±


    There was silence on the line. ¡°Counter offer: Put Corvayne down, step away from Lady Blood Claw, and we''ll let you go.¡±


    Argyle laughed. ¡°Fine, I''m breaking her neck first. Then your body builder, then your little would-be emperor.¡±


    He turned to line himself up with Lady Blood Claw, then stumbled a little. Corvayne felt a little drowsy too. Possibly because he was dying.


    Argyle had to take a moment to clear his throat and wipe the grin off his face. ¡°They are acting brave, but letting three of them die? Painfully? Slowly? Shameful.¡±


    ¡°This is your problem, Argyle. Whatever it was that pushed you to be a perfectionist in your early days, it left when you got your powers. I read the report. Even Goule knows you''re sloppy. You underestimated his forces and escaped through dumb luck, right?¡±


    Argyle ripped the phone from Corvayne''s hand, then unceremoniously dropped him to the ground to yell at it. ¡°You papered bitch! Have some fucking dignity! Unsatisfying! I was half tempted to spare you, you know. I''d do it if I thought there was something MORE to you. I keep looking for it, there''s NOTHING MORE. It''s endless, and meaningless and stupid!¡±


    A pause. ¡°Are you done? Argyle? I know you won''t spare me. I read your reports. All of them. You can''t control your temper at all. Why chase us? Oh, I mean aside from pissing off Stabby so you''d have to wait for backup. That isn''t coming, is it? We know what''s going to happen to me if I was spared. You know. You know about me.¡±


    Argyle looked right at Corvayne. ¡°Fine? You don''t get it? Fine. Nobody gets it. I fucking hate this universe. Ok. Fine.¡± He cleared his throat, going back to his cold predator voice with a slight change in his bearing. ¡°I want you to say it. Just tell your friends you''re leaving them to die. I''m doing this because I love hurting people so much..¡± He stepped forward and put a boot on Corvayne''s back, dropping him to laying on the ground, face in gravel. ¡°He''s helpless, trying to get up. Tell him you don''t care. Do it.¡±


    Wick started laughing over the line. ¡°That''s your game, right? You can''t stand it. Your power, the clones, it''s because you HATE being alone. Since you were abandoned as a kid. You HATE yourself too.¡±


    Argyle pressed down on Corvaynes back, and he could feel his already cracked ribs stabbing things inside him. He schooled himself to not cry out. It was better to die not giving the man what he wanted. Argyle sighed. ¡°They are dead now. You could have saved them. Maybe begged me to let them live. Coward.¡±


    Argyle turned, spinning his half-staff then gripped it like a knife. Corvayne cried out a little despite himself as he knew Lady Blood Claw was about to die.


    His heart turned to ash as he heard Wick waver and cry out, ¡°Wait!¡± It was his fault. He had just doomed her. He had needed to stay silent, and he couldn''t do it.


    ¡°Too late.¡± Argyle drawled, then stumbled back, blinking. Lady Blood Claw looked up and smiled, blood covering her.


    Argyle froze, as Lady Blood Claw pushed herself to stand, and staggered over to Corvayne. She crouched and shoved a potion in his mouth.


    ¡°He''s asleep. One minute maybe. Had to keep breaking the protection from his beads. Make this shot count.¡±


    She lowered herself to the ground as her skin shifted to pure bleached white, only stained with grit and blood. Corvayne felt his pain start to fade and his cracked bones start to pull themselves out of place as he pushed himself to his feet, picking up his spear. It didn''t hurt as much as clawing his way home had.


    Corvayne also grabbed his phone. He heard Wick crying, said ¡°It will be okay.¡± and turned it off. ¡°Lady. Thanks.¡±


    Corvayne picked up her sword, then turned to Argyle.


    He walked around behind him, hurting from every hit but starting to feel things shifting into place, his blood pumping. Both hands on lady''s two handed sword, he held it near the back of Argyle''s neck, then pulled the blade back. There was no ambiguity of supposing he might survive this, no buffer of saying ''the cage killed those gang members''. If Argyle woke up with his head still on, he and Nyx and Lady Blood Claw were dead. Wick probably too.


    Corvayne swung, activating [Cross Skill: Execute] as his blade slammed into Argyle''s neck.


    There was a spray of blood as the blade sliced into his neck and somehow it got caught on the spine instead of just shearing right through him. Corvayne pulled back for another blow as Argyle''s eyes popped open and he roared.


    [Cross Skill: Thresh] was his only option, spraying a wave of shadow under Argyle''s feet as the monk clutched the back of his neck.


    Argyle vanished, but Corvayne felt his position shift a little as a fist sped past his face, his shadow limbs jabbing the Monk''s leg, aiming for the gash his spear strike made there. One handed, Argyle tried to curl his arm into a grab, and Corvayne stepped with it, the gesture not having power behind it. Still touching Argyle, he summoned as much gravity as possible and dumped weight into the monk, then directed all his shadow hands into pushing himself away. Argyle kept a hand on his neck, blood streaming down his back in amounts that should have left him dead. But the man vanished and appeared three steps closer, eyes narrowed in rage.


    He reached with his free hand to his beads crushed one, causing the entire chain shattered at once as it fell away. Argyle took his hand off his neck, and Corvayne felt something push his gravity power back into him.


    ¡°Better! BETTER! Cmon!¡± Argyle rushed forward, fists flying at Corvayne, who simply grabbed the arm and used [Judo Throw] to flip the monk, pushing gravity into Argyle as he slammed him into the gravel and tracks, rocks flying out. Corvayne stepped away as Argyle spun his legs into a sweep and hopped to his feet, grinning despite his wounds.


    ¡°Well boy, can you win? You can''t run. If you do, Nyx and your alien bride are dead.¡±


    ¡°Wick is my girlfriend. Can you die so I can go find her?¡± He swapped his two handed sword for his spear. He needed distance. Maybe he should have busted out his trump already, but spear against unarmed was the fight he was closest to beating a master at. Argyle vanished and Corvayne felt his shadow hand touching something and used [Juxtapose], swapping with the monk who was trying to use a full roundhouse on Corvayne, who stepped back and then rammed his spear into Argyle''s wounded leg, using [Cross Skill: Backstab] to force the wound open more. It felt like trying to shovel nearly dry clay, the muscles as hard to cut as steel cable. Argyle spun and tried to advance, but Corvayne feinted with a blow that Argyle grasped at, hissing as his hand closed around the black tip of the spear rather then the incoming shaft.


    ¡°Too slow.¡± Corvayne felt himself grinning as he punished the attack with a second spear strike, grazing Argyle''s torso. Before he was death. Now, he was fighting unarmed, and Corvayne had a spear. The monk kept moving forward, stopping time to get right in front of Corvayne, inside his spear''s range. So Corvayne just dropped it into his shadow hands and used his own arms to deflect and counter, the monk faster and stronger but sloppy, his movements letting Corvayne get in an elbow to the chin then step into a kick to hook his leg around Argyle''s and push the monk backwards onto his back. He did a quick kick downwards, doing almost nothing to Argyle''s leg and nearly getting his foot caught but he was riding high on momentum. Lady blood claw had shifted the fight and he was going to ride the wave as far as he could take it.


    Argyle just got up and rushed him again. Corvayne forced himself to keep going through flares of pain as the monk tried to teleport to his side again. Once more his shadow limbs seemed to be tracking the man even when he wasn''t aware time had been stopped, and he used [Cross Skill: Juxtapose] to guide Argyle''s fist past his head so he was at his back. This time Argyle was fast enough to elbow Corvayne away, but didn''t connect more then a glancing blow on his armored torso. Corvayne started to move back, then had to charge to follow Argyle who started running away, perhaps aiming for Lady Blood Claw or Nyxion.


    Argyle shifted away from Corvayne when he had nearly caught up, popping next to where Lady Blood Claw was sitting against a train. Argyle pulled back a fist then slammed his hand on a shield that appeared moments before he struck, bouncing him back. Nyxion followed up by slamming his two handed mace into Argyle''s raised hand, then diving out of the way as the train car that LBC was against half melted, rusting enough of the sides that the roof of the car started to creak.


    Nyxion was already was running away, wailing ¡°Corvayne! Protect my belt!¡± As he turned it off and dove for a train car. Argyle didn''t have time to fire as Corvayne pressed into him with spear attacks, using [Cross Skill: Thresh] to lay down a line of shadow that stuck to the monk. He struck twice, only scoring small cuts on Argyle''s legs before the monk was stomping his way, shadows in tow. Corvayne backed away, using his spear and shadow hands to slow Argyle''s advance.


    When the monk vanished again, Corvayne was already moving to Lady Blood Claw, using his [Juxtapose] on Argyle''s side, diverting a barrage of attacks into the weakened train car while Corvayne scooped her up. Argyle roared as he turned and Corvayne pushed himself past exhaustion by focusing gravity to lighten him and letting his boots run him along the tracks, leaping to the side as he felt sure that Argyle would appear there, trying to trip him. His shadows were still sticking to Argyle too, the threads from [Thresh] letting Corvayne keep a step ahead as he ran from the entrance to the yard towards lines of parked boxcars, heading into the gravel between rows that hedged him in. He saw an car open on both sides and pivoted and jumped into the empty boxcar, mentally starting to feel a rhythm to the fight and leaping in low gravity and letting his shadows hold him against the roof for a moment. He could see the shadowy threads pop into being under him, trailing Argyle who was running out the other door under Corvayne, who dropped and ran back the way he came, weaving between cars a few times before running down a row, his shadowy limbs checking for seeds and finding one planted on him and another on her that he tossed into a box car he was running past. Sneaky fucker! Corvayne crouched in a car after a few more zig zag movements, setting Lady Blood Claw down. She looked half dead, her skin a faint green of fear. He squeezed her hand.


    ¡°I''ll get him away... I can''t fight him if he can kill you two.¡±


    ¡°Where''s everyone else?¡± She asked.


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I don''t know. I''m going to pull him down into the streets and try to finish him off there. Wick''s still at our second fallback.¡±


    ¡°I was useless.¡± Lady Blood Claw looked down, her skin turning a dark shade with ripples that he couldn''t quite see in the gloomy car.


    ¡°No, due to that wound he''s slowing down. You helped lure most of his clones into one spot. I''m going to draw him out and finish this.¡±


    Corvayne pulled the serpent whip out of his storage ring, as well as the strength potion he had stashed.


    ¡°Corvayne.¡± Lady Blood Claw looked at him, face suddenly stern. ¡°I''m going to catch up to you some day.¡±


    He smirked back at her, told her ¡°I know.¡± then hopped out of the boxcar and started walking down the row, rolling his shoulders to get some of the healing stiffness out. He breathed in and out, pushing away the desire to hide and lay down. The constant use of powers and weapon skills and fighting through injuries made it feel like he was stepping through mud. Argyle was just as wounded, he was sure. He wasn''t sure how long the potion would last, nor if it would let him really fight toe to toe with Argyle, but the monk wasn''t fighting at the same level he expected. He could risk using a whip, unless the monk had been really sandbagging his reaction time. Crap, he hurt. Next adventure he was going to avoid getting mauled by everything.


    He stepped out of the end of the row, walking towards where the tracks merged into curves off the hilltop and onto the elevated tracks. A spotlight was on, shining down on the end of the rail yard. It outlined Argyle, a dark shadow. He was missing a sleeve he had turned into a makeshift bandage around his neck. Despite his own fears, Corvayne uncapped his strength potion and stepped into the light.


    Corvayne threw back the potion, feeling the peppery liquid slide down his throat, and tossed the bottle to the side, wiped his face, then put his spear on his back and gripped his whip. He forced himself to grin, the fire of desperate struggle, having something worth fighting for, all of it running through his veins, pushing him to be a warrior, the kind that The Watchers had hoped to mold him into, and in staring at Argyle with crazed eyes he saw it, very subtle but he was sure of what he had seen like a flare in the dark, and it made the smile he had on real, his steps more sure. He had not imagined it.


    Argyle had flinched.

 Chapter 82: A Little Help From Our Friends

    Corvanye stood about fifty feet from Argyle, both lit by a light that cast long shadows on the end of the train yard and caught a halo of rain in a white flare around it. He had somehow kept pace with the monk up to this point, dispatching countless clones, surviving multiple rounds with him and disarming Argyle twice. They were both still for a moment, just breathing and staring each other down. Argyle had blood all over his hands and neck and was soaked with it down his robe, turning most of it black. Corvayne had hit him with what should have been a lethal blow to the neck, but it seemed like the monk healed like Corvayne did. Perhaps he was stalling to get better.


    Corvayne was stalling to try to shake off exhaustion. Every trick he had pulled to stay alive and keep his friends safe had cost him. He locked eyes with Argyle as the man started to circle. Corvayne knew he was moving to try to get the light directly at his back. So Corvayne picked up a rock, and tossed it up as he started to circle.


    ¡°You had better hurry up and kill me, boy. I''ve still got plenty of clones left, and I know those two you were with are hurt and weak. I know that Anastasia is somewhere on this islands as well.¡±


    ¡°They said you only could make seven clones. I see that''s bullshit.¡± Corvayne tried not to look at the light. Pretend to be stupid, and your enemy will make openings for you.


    Argyle smiled. ¡°I had a lot of time on my hands here.¡±


    He was a few steps from having the bright light right at his back. So Corvayne pretended to wince while he used [Expert Toss] to flick the rock at the light. He felt Argyle behind him to his left, so he used [Cross Skill: Flows Like Water] to cut to the side, flicking the whip out as darkness fell. He used a shadow hand to pick up a stone as he walked and threw it to the side, Argyle leaping for the sound with both hands and tumbling as Corvayne channeled gravity, making himself lighter so that he could creep along the train track.


    ¡°Rat, hiding in the dark. It won''t work.¡± Argyle put a hand in his robe then pulled it out, the limb starting to glow blue. Corvayne snapped his whip out, cracking it as it slammed into Argyle''s arm. He could see that it grazed him, and the man used his robe to push the corrosive glob off.


    Argyle vanished and this time Corvayne''s shadows couldn''t tell where he was. Corvayne spun, then spotted Argyle bending down further down the rail he was on. Corvanye saw the man''s plan a little late, as Argyle ripped the track upwards, pulling it from the ground and tripping Corvayne as the ground jerked under him. Argyle started running towards him as Corvayne started to stand. He couldn''t get out of the way of the monk kicking him and connecting with Corvayne''s shoulder.


    The blow sent him flying, but with a sustained gravity adjustment he landed feet first atop a boxcar. When Argyle popped up near him, Corvayne used gravity on the whip, then snapped the extra heavy weapon out. The head flew the full 40 feet this time, catching Argyle''s hand which he put in front of his face. There was a hideous scream and even from full distance the acrid smell of the acid working carried to him. Corvayne''s momentary triumph didn''t last as Argyle rushed to the train car he was on. Corvayne didn''t have time to react as Argyle just shoulder tackled it, knocking the car onto two wheels and flinging Corvayne off, hitting the gravel with his back.


    He saw the monk appear standing above him, and Corvayne tucked his knees then kicked, catching Argyle''s chest and flinging the surprised monk into another car further down, denting it. There were slams of metal as the empty car rocked from getting hit so hard, and Corvayne stood. He only had a moment to sense danger as a burnt figure with a steel beam tried to brain him. Corvayne dropped his head under the swing then punched out with his hand holding the whip, blasting the clone into a pile of garbage. He didn''t see Argyle. Not good! He turned and head down sprinted back to the open area, nearly running into a pair of clones with staves. He managed to skid to a stop as both vanished. He used gravity and sprang up into the air, flicking the whip down at a clone destroying it, as well as pushing him to fall behind the other one. The potion showed it''s value, as he was able to catch the steel coming at him and leverage the attack into [Judo Throw], creating a small crater with the remains of the garbage used to make the clone.


    A moment later he threw his arms up and and felt one break as Argyle, likely the real one, slammed into him with a steel stave. Corvayne went rolling, arm slamming on the ground a few times and lancing intense pain up his limb. He gritted his teeth, stood, and stepped into Argyle''s next attack, dropping the whip into a shadow hand as he braced himself with Gravity, grabbing the monk''s elbow before he could bring the staff down and pushing upwards, unbalancing him into a stumble. Corvayne took a step with him and just slugged the monk in the face, smashing Argyle''s nose, causing the monk to further stumble. He readied his snake headed whip but another clone literally dove to take the hit, fading into scraps of cloth as the serpent head blasted through him. Argyle slammed something on the ground and a forest exploded between them.


    Corvayne turned and ran, knowing that he needed to see when Argyle vanished or he''d get ambushed. A pair of Argyles was running beside him, neither real due to being uninjured. Corvayne snapped the whip at one, then had the other clip him on his good shoulder with a staff blow. Frustratingly, the clone stopped time to retreat before Corvayne''s whip hit him, the image laughing. More voices joined him, two clones climbing the hill, one stepping out of the tower on the building overlooking the train yard, and three more walking down the tracks.


    ¡°What a load of crud that ability is.¡± Corvayne muttered to himself, trying to gauge where he could break through one handed. No, if he tried to run, they''d have plenty of time to find Lady Blood Claw and Nyxion.


    The clones started to run at him, and Corvayne set himself for one that would let him cut to the outside of the train yard between the last row of parked boxcars and the hill down to apartments. He met one clone that teleported right in front of him and with his extra strength he was able to whip and pull the staff swinging clone into his upraised knee, which didn''t dismiss the clone but made it fall to the ground, clutching the tender spot he hit it at. Another clone threw it''s stave at him, hitting his bad arm and nearly blacking him out, the pain blurring his vision a moment with tears. He blinked them away and used his gravity power to pick up speed, catching the clone who wasn''t expecting him to arrive as fast as he did with a single boosted whip strike that seemed to break the figure''s neck, returning him to a tattered beach towel.


    Corvayne huffed, running boots the only thing keeping his legs in rhythm. A pair of clones appeared in front of him, including one missing an arm. He spun but behind him were three more, and down the hill he saw a pair. He heard laughing from a boxcar.


    ¡°Better! This is much better. I haven''t had to HUNT someone like this before.¡± The real Argyle was sitting with arms folded, smugly watching Corvayne as he whirled his head at the circle of enemies.


    ¡°Unlike you, I can afford to lose a few friends.¡± the monk added.


    He snapped his fingers and the circle started to close. Corvayne closed his eyes a moment, breathing in and out. As he was thinking about some way to not trade his injured friends for a few piles of garbage, there was a sweet sound, one that made him smile. The twang of a bow.


    An arrow slammed into the side of a clone, staggering it. The clones turned, just as a pair of fiery projectiles burrowed into a different clone. Corvayne faced both the images still coming at him and did his best to roll out of the way as they swung, his injured arm and shoulder throbbing with pain. Argyle himself stood up.


    ¡°What idiots would-¡±


    A battle cry rang out and a man in armor with two spiked maces jumped behind a clone and smashed both weapons into it''s back. Corvayne caught a glimpse of a blurry figure and felt new energy as he snapped his whip at one of the clones, even as the other near him raised it''s staff over his head. There was a satisfying crunching noise as the blur buried a pair of daggers into the clone''s back, [Backstab] scattering trash all over as the clone exploded.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Corvayne whipped a clone trying to intercept a figure that looked like a rat in robes squeaking in either terror or a battle cry as it charged at Corvayne with glowing white hands.


    ¡°[Greater Healing!]¡±


    The little rat hands found his arm and he felt his pain fading away.


    Argyle screamed as he leapt into the battle, teleporting at Corvayne. ¡°What the FUCK!?¡±


    Corvayne ducked under Argyle''s swing, switching his whip for spear as he used his enhanced strength to pin Argyle''s weapon to the ground. He smiled at the furious monk. ¡°I see your clones and raise you friends I never met.¡±


    Hari appeared behind Argyle, both hands on a steel rod overhead that she brought down so hard it made her feet leave the ground. The monk vanished, leaving his weapon behind. Hari pointed.


    ¡°Corvanye get him!¡±


    As she spoke, he had to turn and disarm another clone, this one trying to use a stop sign as a sort of battle axe. He spun and elbowed it, strength fading a little as he didn''t demateralize it. ¡°Hari! I can''t tell you how much I love you right now.¡±


    ¡°Tell me!¡± She faded back into the shadows and teleported to a clone locked in melee with her party leader, knife darting out. ¡°We''ll be fine, GO!¡±


    He hesitated, then ran up to her and kissed her, then turned and ran down the tracks after Argyle.


    There were still trains running, and Corvayne saw one run by before he got up on the pair of tracks the ramp out of the train yard had lead to. He saw the monk moving further along the track, just barely visible as a blue light flickering in the rain. For a while it was just running in the rain on the tracks. Argyle neared the end of the island before he hopped onto a station platform then jumped off the side to land on the stairs back down to Old Town. They were not far from the bridge out of town so Corvayne wondered if the goal was to escape, or was Argyle trying to bait him into a trap?


    Corvayne shrugged to himself and followed, taking the same shortcut using gravity, taking steps two at a time as he saw Argyle fall in with a pair of clones on the street.


    Down on street level started running after Argyle. The monk saw him following after teleporting and looked annoyed, one of his clones peeling off to intercept. Instead of moving directly to attack, the clone placed itself in Corvayne''s path, steel rod at ready. He flicked the whip out and the clone parried, the snake''s head leaving steaming goo on the steel rod. Corvayne ducked under an attack, but the clone didn''t step forward, instead moving to make sure Corvayne couldn''t circle around it. Another exchange where the clone gave a little ground but kept him at bay sparked realization in Corvayne: The clone was stalling him!


    Corvayne moved in close, the figure backing up and parrying again as Corvayne flicked the unpowered whip. A few strikes and the monk tried to grab the whip, which grew a serpents head and bit him then recoiled. The figure started howling, the voice not sounding quite right as it fell over clutching it''s hand.


    He didn''t bother to check if it was dead, running around the fallen form. He guessed that the monk was heading to the community center. Another two clones ran from side streets, unarmed but reaching for him. Corvayne once more had to stop and flick his whip, the first using a teleport to try to get behind him and grab him. Corvayne danced away from the first and tried to step around the second, which lurched at him. This pair in particular looked half-finished, the clothes weird pink and green colors and the skin tone off. He clamped down on getting annoyed and started fighting the pair, letting his whip''s reach do the work for him. When one teleported close to him, he used [Flow Like Water] to move past them, the clones setting up to hit him out of an expected [Juxtapose] and thus both getting struck by the whip. Even without poison on it, they staggered and Corvayne used the opening to switch to his fire-breathing dagger and ram it into one.


    He spun as he activated the weapon, a swirl of fire following the knife''s path as he slashed the jaw of the other clone, igniting him and destroying both. He put the knife back in it''s sheath and took his whip back from the shadowy hands.


    He sprinted down Copper Mill. A pair of blocks ahead he could see Argyle running for the community center. Gary was trying to guard the door, but Argyle didn''t even slow as he just caught the shaft of Gary''s polearm and slammed him into a wall, then strode past.


    Corvayne sprinted as fast as his aching lungs allowed him, nearly overshooting the door. Inside, Gary was groaning in pain so probably not dead, but he could hear shouting. Corvayne saw the door to the gym was broken open, and ran inside. Mister I was firing arrows at Argyle, who had been hit once and was engulfed in insects. Wick was behind Mister I, flinging a spell at a clone climbing the stage. Argyle waved away the swam and vanished, then appeared next to Mister I, who used his bow to shift the staff jab into the ground then kicked Argyle square between the legs. Sadly, Mister I didn''t seem to be as tough as Argyle, and hopped back, clutching his foot. Argyle stepped forward as Mister I stumbled.


    Corvayne was sure Mister I was dead. He couldn''t get there fast enough, an insect swarmed clone was in his way trying to grab him. Corvayne whipped the figure''s feet and dropped him, stepping around the swarm, trying to will himself to get to Mister I. Wick was turning to fire a bolt at Argyle, which seemed to do nothing as he lifted the steel rod above Mister I.


    Seru stepped in front of Mister I, and raised her hands above her head. The monk laughed and then slammed his staff down on her as she yelled and braced herself.


    It looked almost gentle as her hand touched the staff before she shoved it to the side. Corvayne felt his mouth open as the lethal blow diverted to shatter the stage by her side. She balled her fist and slammed it into Argyle''s gut, her power activating as the blow blasted the monk off his feet and into the air, slamming into the brick wall and wedging him there. Corvayne used the moment that the clones seemed to be stunned to dispatch the two of them in the room.


    Argyle fell to the ground then vanished. Corvayne dove for Wick, pushing her out of the way as Argyle''s staff bounced off his armor, prompting a burst of water that slowed the blow enough to not kill him outright but leaving him sore all over. Wick lifted a hand with her wand and Corvayne rolled off her to see a jade bolt connect with Argyle''s gut and fling him back. Corvayne started to stand as Argyle took a step then stopped, looking confused. He swatted away another [Disrupt] bolt, so Corvayne used the moment to flick his whip out, catching the monk off guard and connecting with his collarbone.


    He narrowed his eyes. ¡°Hmm... something you''re doing is blocking me?¡±


    Wick fired another jade bolt. Argyle used his staff to deflect it, the attack jerking the weapon back but not disarming him. Mister I lined up another arrow, and Seru had her fists up.


    Argyle just laughed, striding forward. Corvayne whipped at him, but the monk reached into his robe and flicked his finger four times. Corvayne felt something nearly knock him over. He saw he had a giant green spike growing from his arm and ripped the bamboo shoot off. He saw Mister I had been caught by a bamboo spike from the floor that pierced his hand. Seru was on the ground, clutching her leg and hyperventilating as a piece of bamboo had struck through it. Wick had a gash on her cheek but threw the seed away.


    Wick fired another bolt, and Argyle just caught it in his palm, doing no obvious damage. He ignored Icariii and Seru as he strode forward to Corvayne and Wick, his smile not touching his eyes.


    ¡°Anastasia... Corvayne. You two... if I kill you both, recover the core, I win.¡±


    Wick snarled. ¡°That''s not even my real name you asshole!¡±


    Corvayne snapped his whip at Argyle, forcing the monk to put his now dented steel bar in the way of the serpent head. ¡°What makes you think this is going to be any different then our fight before?¡± he spoke while stepping back, glancing at the door out to the hallway.


    Argyle hurled a pouch at Corvayne and Corvayne quickly used [Cross Skill: Storm Thrust] with his whip, diverting the bag sideways as it exploded in a green patch of bamboo spikes, knocking over the chalkboard and damaging curtains on the stage. A little slower and it would have skewered him.


    ¡°You''ve been fighting mostly my cast off, low effort doubles. Now that I have eyes on you, I don''t really need to watch the spaceport or portals, do I?¡±


    Corvayne took another step back to the door. It could be a bluff, but it made sense. Some of the images had been far too weak compared to fighting the real deal.


    Corvayne whipped the ground, using [Cross Skill: Thresh] to lay down a wave of shadows that Argyle just strode through. Wick fired another bolt, this one much smaller. Argyle didn''t even block the attack, the magic doing little more then ruffling his robe. Corvayne could see Mister I had freed himself and was helping Seru. Corvayne met his eyes and nodded.


    Argyle sprinted forward then, jabbing at Corvayne with his mangled stave. Corvayne drew his fire breathing dagger and stepped past the stave, but Argyle was quick enough to bring the weapon back that Corvayne had to use [Cross Skill: Juxtapose] to not trip, putting him at a point where he couldn''t bring his dagger around to jab or burn Argyle. The monk swung his staff backhanded, forcing Corvayne back. Corvayne used that motion to turn to the door that Wick was pushing open, and together they ran out into the hall. As they reached the front door of the community center, he heard Argyle laughing.


    ¡°That''s right you two! Run while you can! I''ve got friends on the way!¡±

 Chapter 83: The End of the Line

    Corvayne and Wick ran out into the street, Corvayne leading her by the hand. He could hear another helicopter, and suspected there were more. ¡°Is it too late to hide at Dawn''s?¡± He looked back, not seeing Argyle Prime but sure he would be after them.


    ¡°I''m not too proud to ask for her help here...¡± Wick followed as he started jogging. They had a good mile between them and the far end of Old Town''s island where the train station and possibly a respite would be.


    ¡°Where''s Grunt? Is he okay?¡± Corvayne asked, trying not to pant as the toll of the day dragged on him.


    ¡°I dunno, haven''t heard anything from him over the phone.¡± Wick said as she huffed, glancing behind her every so often. Argyle appeared as Corvayne was looking back over his shoulder, striding after them.


    He was turning back and felt his Shadows react to something so he leaned into the way they tugged him, grabbing Wick''s shoulders and head and pulling her to the ground as another Argyle swung at them, staff humming as it sliced through the air above them.


    He used [Sweep] as he stood, managing to catch the clone''s leg and get it to stumble and fall on it''s butt, giving him and Wick a chance to stand.


    The clone smirked. ¡°It''s interesting to see that you always know where I am coming out of my time stop. But it doesn''t matter... we''re coming.¡±


    Corvayne whipped at the clone and this time the figure let the whip hit his hand and caught the weapon, even as the serpent head started viciously biting his wrist. Corvayne pulled the weapon taunt, but the figure just smirked. ¡°What''s wrong? I can afford to sit here the hour it will take to chew through my hand! Hahahahaha!¡±


    He drew his fire breathing dagger and shot a cone of flames into the clones face, which made the extra Argyle let go of his whip and start screaming. He saw Argyle Prime teleport closer as the clone batted the fire on his face. They had another three blocks to go to get to dawn''s tower. Corvayne rushed at the burnt clone, following up after a [Disrupt] bolt by taking the dagger and ramming it under the clone''s armpit. The tip penetrated but the burst of fire didn''t stop the figure, instead pushing Corvayne and the clone apart.


    The real Argyle arrived, staff snaking out to try to hit Corvayne''s leg. The clone would recover in a moment, and he could hear the helicopter getting closer. That''s when a sharp whistle broke out from above the street. Corvayne spared a glance up and saw Nyxion looking over a rooftop before he turned back to keeping both Argyles away from Wick as best he could.


    ¡°Hey guard dog, are you looking for this?¡± Nyxion held up something brassy that caught the street light and gleamed. The core? He had it though!


    The bluff worked, as Argyle snapped and pointed, and his clone popped over to the door of the apartment.


    Corvayne turned to the real one, who vanished himself. Corvayne felt himself shift a little bit, and saw that his shadow hands had somehow pulled him and Wick away from Argyle, the monk looking furious. Corvayne started to step into staff range then took a step back as Argyle swung at him. Corvayne followed the staff rather than charge at Argyle, using [Cross skill: Sundering Strike] with his dagger, cracking the weapon into thirds.


    Argyle took the jagged shard and threw it at Wick, hitting her arm that she threw in front of her torso. With a scream she fell, blood and shards of brittle steel in her wounded arm.


    ¡°So weak!¡± He laughed.


    Wick snarled, and with her free hand whipped a disrupt at Argyle''s face. The bolt was a little odd, leaving a green cloud and managing to add a bruise to the man''s stern face.


    Corvayne didn''t wait, closing in with his dagger, leaping and using gravity to make himself heavier as he barreled into Argyle. The monk tried to elbow him, but Corvayne was too close for him to get a solid blow in, using the burning dagger twice, only the second time remembering to use [Bleeder] before a boot launched him off the prone monk, who vanished for a moment to re-appear next to a bus stop sign and pull it from the concrete. Corvayne smiled and wiped a little blood from his lip, then turned and lifted Wick. Even before using gravity, she felt light. He started sprinting down the road, his ankles burning and muscles in his calves starting to twitch. He was getting heavier every step. He made his shadow hands sheath his knife and coil the whip around his belt before they faded out.


    ¡°We gotta get help for the helicopter, I can''t take it out alone. I''m... almost out of everything.¡±


    Wick trembled. ¡°My... fault. Again.¡±


    The next clone popped into view a block ahead. Corvayne would have to bait out the figure using it''s time stop before he could close, then get around and out of range. Even through the pain a part of him just wanted to sit down. He felt a fading shadow hand poke him, then point forward, then give him a thumbs up.


    ¡°Thanks bud.¡± He did his best to refocus, even as he felt the lids of his eyes get heavy. His muscles were all sore, and fast healing or not he''d be paying for every step he took. But he slowed as he got near the clone and started to make like he was going to juke sideways into an alleyway, then ran right at the Argyle clone once it appeared, surprising the figure enough that it''s attack was sloppy, a low strike that he leapt over. He jolted Wick as he landed but she pointed with her good arm behind them and threw a disrupt out.


    ¡°Sorry! Almost to Dawn''s place!¡± He just had to circle one more block, just six buildings or so. He could see the lit tower from here over buildings. His heart fell as a second helicopter swung out in front of them above the street, matching the noise he was hearing behind him. No, he wasn''t going to quit. He pivoted and ran sideways, running down an alleyway.


    He spotted a metal beam leading up to a lower track. The yellow line, the road home.


    ¡°Hold on tight, arm and legs.¡± He said and helped Wick move to his back as he lightened their weight as much as he could. Then he hopped to the steel beam and started climbing, putting every bit of will into gripping the metal. He ignored the thrumming of choppers, the patter of feet in puddles coming down the alleyway. He had this weird feeling, a gut instinct to go up. The yellow line was safe. Maybe. Or he was losing his mind.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    He pulled himself onto the track, the night air and soft rain soothing rather than chilly. The choppers were already rising, spotlights honing in on him. Looking down, he could see two more monks looking up. Maybe it wasn''t safe. Two below. Two above. He wavered a little, the weight of Wick or Anastasia or whatever her real name was pulling at him. He squeezed her leg. What kinda last words would he say, watching both of the choppers lining up their guns?


    ¡°I love you Wick.¡±


    Wick replied. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    There was the sound of thunder, then the cold rain was joined by hard fragments. The sound repeated, and the noise of choppers was gone, Corvayne spotting two clones fumbling as they fell several stories down. Huh. He shook his head, and started walking along the tracks. There were sounds down below him, and he looked and saw people rushing the two clones. Dawn''s heavies leading the press, keeping the monk''s arms up as a mob frothed down the alleyway. He was pretty sure he spotted the noodle lady pinning one of the monk''s legs, stabbing at the figure with a kitchen knife. What the hell was going on?


    Further along the railroad bridge he heard people start chanting. He could look down on the glow from the street and he saw another clone, trying to throw a bag of seeds into the crowd, get shot from the side by a group of Cascadia police and fall fumbling the bag which explode in a green spiked cloud. Someone else drove a degenerating car into another clone, fast enough to bowl the figure over. The Old Town people then mobbed him. Hmm, he probably couldn''t stop time to get away if attacking someone to move them broke the effect. He could see further down the street Hari''s party chasing a fleeing clone. All the while the people of Old Town were chanting the same word.


    ¡°Wick! Wick! Wick!¡±


    Corvayne smiled at it. He looked over and saw Wick had wet cheeks, possibly from the rain. ¡°Looks like they love you too.¡±


    He stopped as the real Argyle pulled himself onto the track ahead of them, caked with blood, eyes blazing. Corvayne rolled his eyes, trying to sound less tired than he felt. ¡°It''s over Argyle. Go home.¡±


    ¡°You haven''t won. There''s nobody on this shitball who can... stand up to me.¡±


    The Monk staggered despite his words. The blood from where Corvayne had jabbed his gut had spread. Corvayne took a deep breath. Argyle was on his last legs. Corvayne set Wick down, then pulled his spear out. He wished he had a cigar to chomp on as he called back. ¡°Nobody... but me.¡±


    ¡°Who are you really? Who do you work for? Goule? Ketis? Is this a test by the Baron himself?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°Nobody but me.¡±


    Oddly, Argyle pointed the bus stop sign at him a moment and saluted with it. Which actually scared Corvayne as much as anything else as the Monk had ever called out. The anger seemed to slough out of the man. ¡°Well Nobody. A fine night to die.¡±


    Argyle popped forward, and Corvayne warded his first attack off with his spear, stepping carefully to avoid tripping on the pair of tracks or falling off the raised railway. Argyle could still stop time, a little, but he seemed to only get a second or half second out of it, making small positioning moves before striking. He swung the sign he had like a crowbar or battle axe, all his brutality bending the sign. Corvayne used his spear to divert each attack, rain splattering as the weapons met. His spear bent but never broke as Corvayne deflected and prodded, Argyle barely grazed by his careful attacks. He couldn''t commit to a large strike, as every moment he had to push his sore body and tired eyes to track the Monk. It felt like he was in water, silence broken with each sound of metal sign clanging.


    Argyle didn''t need to hit him but one more time so all Corvayne could do was scrape and cut and grind away at the monks nearly impossible to cut robes and skin. The rain didn''t help at all, his spear edge sometimes slipping a little rather than catching as he grazed Argyle then fell back under a barrage of steel. Only once did Argyle attempt to lunge back at Wick, who was slumped against the bridge. Corvayne put his all into using [Cross Skill: Thresh], the thin lines of shadow enough to send Argyle rolling. If he had anything left, he''d have ran over and tried to finish cutting the monk''s head off. Instead he walked to where the monk was standing, scoring another cut before a swipe of the sign forced him back, and they staggered together, blows slowing. The monk hit him with a near miss, slicing his arm. Another trade and a glancing blow bruised his leg. He cut the monk back ten times over, his spear pulling him forward even when every other part of him just wanted to stop.


    It went on for what felt like an hour. Corvayne, soaked, felt his spear getting heavier each time he deflected a blow. Even if Argyle was slowing down, he felt like he was made of mud, stuck in it, feet and arms moving like water was flowing against them. Each impact of the sign jolted him awake for a moment, his focus on just making another move. One more strike. One more parry. One more little wound that might drop him, if it could just bleed a little more.


    Argyle stopped and smirked, and the little third sense Corvayne warned him before a hand clamped on his arm. A clone, covered in arrows and missing an arm had crawled it''s way to him. The bus sign jabbed out and buried itself in Corvayne''s leg, dropping him to the hard stones.


    ¡°Too bad, you thought it was a fair-¡±


    He heard a sound like a sewing machine and an uzi going off as one. Wick, airfoil rapier in hand, stumbled away from Argyle''s back, staggering as she resumed a one handed fencers stance, wounded arm tucked in. The monk clutched the front of his robe, confused a moment looking at Corvayne. He started to turn, and the sound came again from [Backstab] going off over and over, and this time the tip went clean through the front of his robes, dark with blood. Argyle looked in the moment sad, confused even, before he fell to a knee. Wick stumbled, and Argyle swung his sign back, hitting her leg and causing her to fall into steel lip of the bridge. Wick screamed as Argyle forced himself to stand, using the sign to hobble back over to Corvayne.


    ¡°I''ll take you with me.¡±


    Corvayne tried to get the mostly dead clone off him, to crawl backwards. He felt a rumble, and started dragging himself to the tracks.


    ¡°I''m going to kill... you... then... take her... alive.¡±


    Corvayne took a deep breath as he pulled himself onto the track. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a train coming for him. Argyle wasn''t paying attention. Maybe he''d never had to fight wounded like Corvayne had so many times. Corvayne schooled his face, then acted hurt. Afraid. Defeated. He didn''t have to reach too far.


    Argyle saw him. Saw his face, and like a dog smelling steak the monk perked up, hobbling a little faster, to loom over Corvayne who had turned to put his back on the tracks, trying to sit up, propping his spear to attempt to stand.


    ¡°If... she''s.. alive... going to suffer. A lot. You know what they will... do to her... right?¡±


    Corvayne grimaced, pretending to try to stand then flopping down. He couldn''t waste a shred of what he had left. The rumbling grew louder, and Argyle stood wavering as he looked down at Corvayne. He smiled, teeth bright. ¡°Oh... you know. She''s going to suffer... more... because you had to... make me... try.¡±


    Argyle saw the train coming for Corvayne but he seemed more focused on getting the last word, on not just winning the fight but ending it himself. He took another step, raising the sign above his head to slam down on Corvayne. Corvayne met Argyles eyes and it took everything he had left not to smile or look away, just keep them fixed on him for a half moment as the train came up on where he was laying, as the sign started to drop.


    Corvayne wrapped his legs around Argyle''s and pushed with his spear using everything he had left to activate [Juxtapose], rolling and dropping Argyle onto the tracks as he fell to the gravel to the side. Argyle tried to stop time, flickering to be halfway sitting before he looked at the light of the train and then there was a thump and the roar of the yellow line speeding by. For a moment Corvayne felt warm rain.


    He pushed himself off the other set of tracks, and laid down by where Wick was slumped. She was awake, watching him, expression hard to read with how dark everything was.


    Corvayne smiled at her, giving her a weak, bloody thumbs up. ¡°Screw... that... guy.¡±

 Chapter 84: Meanwhile...

    Meanwhile....


    Argyle gasped as he reformed into one of his last clones. Ruined! Everything was a mess! He had lost all of his equipment and most of his doubles, having thrown everything at trying to reclaim The Core. Fucking goat-shit! The Princess, that weight-lifter, the Baron and Havortti, everyone, all of them SCREWED him! Oh, they were probably mocking him right now, thinking they had won. Only a fool would assume their enemy wasn''t armed with trump cards and fall backs. Oh yes, clever move, somehow swapping him into a train!


    He cleared his throat and blinked, internal ranting dying down as he took stock of where the clone he snapped into had been: A neon lit back alley in Ko-Ban, just off market street. It was odd that he didn''t have more then this and a backup close by, one that was in a dark sewer or tunnel somewhere. If he had time, he''d need to review what exactly had happened with each of the clones. He''d not bother with it yet, he needed to move fast, and sorting memories was disorienting and best done sitting or laying down lest he add throwing up to the evening''s indignities.


    There was still a crowd walking through the market not to far from his clone, despite everything in the universe going fucking tits up. Perfect! He''d blend in, steal a few things during stopped time, then use his vehicle mantra to rebuild his helicopter. He wasn''t sure the princess would think to immediately start tracking his bounty, but with all the extra portals she might think to be in subspace as fast as he could get there. So, he could get into a distant rift and dive deep through doors, get enough space between him and her posse that he could earn and then dump money on hiding. Yes! He would assemble a helicopter from parts in the market and be to the desert site in as little as four hours, and from there he''d dive into the deep subspace. He could cover vast stretches of ground both with his time walking and the helicopter.


    A specter of greed slipped into his thoughts as he considered it: A completely virgin Subspace entrance! Forget The Baron, he''d rob this new gold mine for everything he could possibly need to get back at his enemies! He''d come back with a hundred clones, all armed with magic items and made from high quality materials. An army as strong as him, should he find enough enchanted robes to convert into copies. No need to try to appease the police, he could bury the entire city in a bamboo grave with a hundred fully powered copies. If the Baron had abandoned him, why would he care about dragging the man''s reputation through the mud? Not to mention he had come to HATE this place. The rustic charm of buildings sitting on land and ground based travel had worn very, very thin.


    He stopped and ripped a pipe off the wall of a building. If he happened to see one of those brats, he''d get them started on a proper funeral this time. Just slay them flat out, no lucky breaks! Maybe not the body builder... Argyle did not like the idea of seeing him again without an army of backups. The faint trace of fear he felt was shocking. Even during the worst string of bad luck he had, even with The Baron himself furious with him he had never been afraid. Something about the heartless face of the princess''s whip-wielding knight was bothering him. Argyle shook the feeling away. He was stronger then his weaknesses. He was alone in the universe because he was a shooting star.


    He stepped into the marketplace and walked past stalls of parts and the weaklings browsing them, using his time stopping ability to steal parts. A waste of his talents, but he didn''t have money to go with his pride. Anger quashed his fear further, so much that he was half tempted to go back, while they were no doubt licking their wounds, and finish the job! Poor anger management be damned, it made sense!


    He stepped off the street, feeling the simpler blue robe he was wearing sway with stolen metal parts stuffed into his pockets. Argyle felt better already and found himself diving into the thought of revenge. He was so focused on how he was going to pay his enemies back a hundredfold that he almost walked into a wall. Stopping, he saw the wall was wearing painters coveralls.


    He looked up and saw a broad face that looked almost comically gormless. A perfect painting of a dull-witted thug... wait! This was one of their friends! His source had told him about who Anastasia kept company with, and provided him with the big man''s picture. Perfect!


    The man clearly knew him too, looking down at him as he stepped back, then pointing at him, then drawing a sausage finger across his neck with a grimace. How generic! How pitiful. As imposing as he looked, absurd bundles of muscles were a sign of inefficient training once you surpassed human norms.


    ¡°Since your friends harmed me, you will die a dogs death.¡± Argyle happily informed him, then stopped time by clutching it and twisting it. As everything went a little gray he calmly stepped around the oaf, lining up his feet to attack. A good solid hit, maybe upwards to pop the head off? No, use the weight of the weapon and just crush his skull. Getting a firm grip on his lead pipe but carefully not starting his attack, he resumed time as he fluidly lifted and slammed the makeshift stave down hard enough that the concrete around the man''s feet shattered.


    Argyle knew something was wrong when he saw the pipe had broken and the man wasn''t even bleeding. The big figure met Argyle''s eyes and shook his head sadly. When he spoke, there was something wrong with his voice. Something that twisted Argyle''s guts when he heard it. It felt like an ice pick in his ears.


    ¡°You had yer chance, laddie!¡± the thick man called out as he produced a fireman''s axe. The man''s face started spewing hair, an absurdly large beard flowing out of his face. Argyle yanked time as hard as he could, moving down the alleyway away from what looked like hair flowing like water. As color returned and time sped up, he felt a sharp pain then his legs go numb as something spinning and green blasted by him, slamming into the wall near him. Argyle fell over, then noticed he was missing everything under his torso. He was in shock. How?


    The thug was striding over to him, twirling his axe. ¡°Lil roach, ain''t goin let ya harm wee Corvayne!¡± Argyle, seeing the man''s face from on the ground looking up, was flooded with memories of baseball bats slamming into clones faces. Over and over. The big man then happily brought his axe down on Argyle''s head.


    Argyle''s next clone was somewhere dark. Odd. He tried to move and felt something dig into his wrist. What... he was tied to a chair! It was in what looked like a dingy kitchen, lit only from what looked like a dim bulb in another room. He tried to flex and break the rope, but it felt like all his power had been sapped away.


    ¡°Oh... welcome welcome! Have a seat!¡± A woman''s voice with fake cheer called out as she stepped into the kitchen, glowing with her own light. Dawn-something-or-other. The crime boss who he had been briefed to avoid before he started his guard duty. Tch. He flexed again, tried stopping time, aging the rope, getting mold on the rope to run rampant and dissolve it... nothing.


    ¡°Let me go, and my boss will reward you.¡± Argyle said, not liking that he felt fear flooding back into him. Something was very wrong about the woman. It was like the one time he had met the Baron''s patron. The woman smiled and patted him on the head.


    ¡°Oh honey, you don''t remember it, but you know you killed my little ray of sunshine once, Wick? And this time around, you messed her up pretty bad. Not only that, you got her involved in... hmmf... adventuring. She''s forming a party, going off and getting into extreme danger. Meanwhile, I''m stuck here. Helpless to stop her from getting herself killed. Again.¡±


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The woman moved over to a drawer and pulled it open. Argyle put on a brave face, and snorted. Even with powers suppressed, eventually he would die and be free. At the very least, they could skip the pointless torture. ¡°You kill me, I''ll just go into a different clone. We should work out a deal. I am currently unemployed. I have skills that would benefit you.¡±


    Dawn just stared at him, face beyond love or hate but at a point of total apathy. How many people had he looked at the same way, like a bug? He couldn''t help but start sweating, reaching out with his still functioning quantum link, sure that he would find a clone somewhere off world. He always kept a few backups. He''d survive this, and like a cockroach that wouldn''t die he''d come back, somewhere, and...


    Faint memories started to surfaces. Baseball bats. Those clones falling over. One getting drowned by a huge meaty arm pushing his face down into mid. Another that had a truck dropped on them. Over and over he recalled the large bearded man with an axe welled up, a visage of death rising from a sea of fur, stained red with blood. His blood.


    The connections were cold. He heard the woman rifling through metal in the drawer, and he kept pushing his senses out. He couldn''t feel any clones. Where were they? WHAT HAPPENED?! More memories, baseball bats. Huge hands, stronger then him, crushing his throat. A rock dropped on him. A giant figure blasting through walls as it ran unerringly for him. How? How had he found them all? This couldn''t be happening! Not to him!


    He heard Dawn pull something out of the drawer.


    ¡°I can be... I can be useful!¡± Argyle''s memory filled him with hundreds of clones terror, the last second memory of a cheery giant hunting him down over and over. He had been tracked across numerous bodies on many worlds, all in the last two weeks, all by a that dumb thug! If he hadn''t been weaving an army of clones, he''d have noticed! Still. She might just pull a nail or two. You had to scare someone to get a good deal right? Argyle did not need motivation to act scared as he heard her humming, and the sifting of metal objects in the drawer.


    He felt his guts drop as he recalled the how uncomfortable his underworld contacts and even his information source were about Dawn. All that terror had been focused on one thing. One recurring mundane object that was linked to the woman, found in grocery stores everywhere, the center of a threat that had seemed silly to Argyle before. He pulled his wrist against the rope, hard, trying to break the chair or the cord. He nearly tipped the chair over as he felt it dig into his arm. He was made of steel! It shouldn''t harm him at all!


    Unless she had shut it down. She had shut everything down.


    Dawn was looking at something, her back turned him. Argyle stammered as he spoke, pushing words out in a way that he could only think of a man on a sinking ship, bailing water. ¡°I said, I can tell you... about the Baron! I''m strong, you need agents right? Miss Dawn, trying to kill your friend Wick was a mistake!¡±


    Dawn picked something up, then turned and craned her neck to look back at him. ¡°You were going to take her alive. I can hear outside my domain, you know? Heard what you said.... what you MEANT on the tracks. You know what they''d do to her, right? Yes. You know. I saw it. That moment you wanted to throw up a little. Even you think it''s too much?¡±


    Argyle started nodding furiously. He knew about the ritual. He had seen the aftermath. He... he had been offered it. He did not partake.


    ¡°I would never, never actually...¡±


    ¡°That you have a shred of remorse... That will help you.¡± Dawn turned back to what she was looking at, and dropped something that shed flakes of rust onto the counter, then turned back to the drawer.


    ¡°That bit where a part of you feels regret for what you do... I won''t do the full course on you. This isn''t even entirely about being furious at you, some of it is just, well, I''m sure everything you did was just a job, right? Think of it as my job. You''re pretty lucky I''m in a good mood, you know? You''re lucky...¡±


    Argyle for a moment started to hope. Maybe he was going to go free, and what they had said about her favorite way of showing displeasure was wrong.


    Dawn turned, holding a brand new carrot peeler that she swung around a finger. ¡°Though, you probably won''t feel that lucky.¡±


    Argyle started screaming.


    <hr>


    Mister I hummed to himself, cycling his Chi as he strolled down the street. His patients were all wrapped up nice and neat in their beds, and Mosh had returned with Hari and they had offered to keep an eye on the three worst cases. Thank heavens he didn''t need to keep an eye on them by himself. It was good for youth to do something for their elders! He had plucked some of his good lizard tail jerky from Avalon II out of a jar and was chewing on it as he strolled down the street. He needed the protein to help keep his mind sharp, because he smelled a mystery! Yes, something had bothered him about the fight. A little detail, leading to another little detail, to another, all ones someone who hadn''t lived in Old Town for a long time might have missed.


    He walked along the sidewalk next to Copper Mill road, ignoring the few cars blazing down the street while looking at two particular buildings coming up on his right. One of them was a machine shop that never got running and which had developed a leak in the roof that ended up collapsing the floor in spots. The other was an old micro factory that mostly did custom industrial parts for locals and some of the island''s factories. The owner had moved to north Ko-Ban ten years back but sometimes dropped into the meetings Wick held. Nice fellow! Lucky for him Corvayne decided to break the right window when he entered the alleyway rather then one on the left. Except...


    Mister I took out a mag light and twisted the handle, then stepped into the ruined machine shop, not far enough to plummet into the basement, of course! He wasn''t very afraid of an extra Argyle popping out. Grunt had told him that it was ''taken care of'' and while he played the fool well, Mister I felt he was somewhat of an expert on it! If Grunt gave him a thumbs up, then he was once more the only monk in town, as poor of a monk as he was! Hah!


    He hummed happily and shone the light across what he could see from the monk-made entrance to Copper Mill Road, then strolled along the near wall to the corner wall, spotting glass on the floor, then lifting his flashlight up at a blank wall. Moving the light over to the hole that the monk had punched into the wall, he saw the gap, and the bricks laying on the floor in a way that only someone ''Kool-aid-man'' bursting through a wall would leave. A little beyond it, he saw the rather filthy wall of the next building over, the gap between the buildings no more then a foot. A gap he had seen Corvayne and Argyle dash into, followed by a bevvy of clones. He did not recall them turning sideways, as would be needed to squeeze in there.


    He stepped back out of the building and walked to the Brines Brother''s much abused warehouse, ignoring the hole riddled building. He had pressed the lovely Miss Blood Claw about what she had seen while treating her arm, and she had given him a fairly accurate idea of how they had ran away from a ravenous swarm of stick swinging Argyles. Argylites? Argolings. He liked Argolings! Perhaps they spawned in twos? They made the same sort of sound as the other ling-think he thought of when they hit things! Hah! Anyway, he ran his eyes along the building as he followed the street around it, looking at the gap that Corvayne tore in the side, and followed the line of the roof down the street and across to a grimy boot print fifteen feet above the ground where Corvayne had kicked off the wall after leaping, landing on the sidewalk. So far, so good. All lines up.


    Lady had specified that there were Argyles clogging the streets around the warehouse. But the direction they ran had gotten every clone to line up behind them. She had said ''they turned right and ran right over to Copper Mill Road'' after he jumped off a roof. She was pretty upset about the roof, and had not spent as much time here as Corvayne did. And Corvayne had a lovely young woman on his back, no doubt pressing against him with her charms. Ah! To be young again. He''d have to ask what Corvayne saw after running down the road in the back of the factory, but it probably wasn''t this Cul-de-sac where the street ended. You could turn a building after the warehouse and double back to streets that would eventually let you turn left to get another block over to Copper Mill. Perhaps they simply forgot a bunch of twisting and turning?


    The third stop on his little tour was closer to home, and he saved it for last since after his little investigation he could go to Ayame and get noodles and maybe do a ''house call'' as he did for so many other women in the neighborhood. Putting dessert aside, even Grunt had scratched his head about how Corvayne got to the yellow line off of Copper Mill. Wick didn''t notice because, well, streets and alleyways were boring. Even though he loved Old Town and it''s rustic industrial charm, he couldn''t totally dismiss such a position: Old Town was an ugly grid that hadn''t respected the natural flow of the island, and you had to be a stickler for details to notice things didn''t add up. Corvayne was out of his element in that he had gone this way... possibly three times? So Wick''s recount of the last part of the fight, even with her being in pain, didn''t make her stop and question how they made it through the last alleyway to cut from the street to the stairs up, on Portview. The alleyway he was looking at, which was only direct route from the street they fought on to where he ran to, was three inches wide and little bits of garbage were wedged in between the buildings. Oh yes! Maybe there was a mistake.


    ¡°One might be a mistake, two might be a coincidence, three is a conspiracy.¡± He quoted himself as he looked at the gap. ¡°The city must love you like a woman does, Corvayne, to open paths where there are none.¡±

 Chapter 85: Excuse Me, Princess

    [87.0%]


    [31]


    Corvayne Croaked. ¡°Urrrrrr.¡±


    Nyxion groaned. ¡°Uoooo.¡±


    Gary moaned. ¡°Uuuuuu.¡±


    Corvayne had learned something important while fighting Argyle: using gravity and shadow hands over, and over, and over again past the point that his body asked him to please sit down and rest actually borrowed against his future self. He could barely move after the fight, and needed help to get down the station and over to Mister I''s side of the apartments. Which is where he was now, in a wood panel room with plain metal frame beds and yellowed stiff plastic partitions. The three beds had a pretty good view of the TV ahead of them, somewhat diminished by the rare sunlight peeking in through the blinds and washing out the screen.


    It wouldn''t be so bad if he was just tired but gravity gave him feedback, both feeling like he was made of lead and a sort of queasy swishy feeling, not like getting physically sick but still just a feeling that something was not right, like there was a weight in him that was rolling back and forth in a container he was stuck to, wobbling. Corvayne was tiring himself out breathing, enough that Mister I kept someone sitting next to him to make sure that he didn''t stop when he fell asleep. The extra person might also have been to keep him from ''immediately picking a fight with a worse monster'' in Wick''s words.


    Corvayne breathed out, the weight of his chest forcing the air of his mouth with a croak. ¡°Urrrrr.¡±


    Nyxion groaned. ¡°Uooooo.¡±


    Gary moaned. ¡°Uuuuuu.¡±


    Nyxion had made a fake core out of a thrift store coffee table knick-knack and lured a pair of clones to the top of a six story building, likely saving Corvayne''s life given the ''good'' clones were much more lethal. What Corvayne hadn''t seen was the two clones bashing their way through the locked door, forcing Nyxion to toss the fake core at them then jump off the roof into a dumpster. His shield belt had taken a stave hit right before he hit the garbage, which overloaded the device, leaving him with a badly broken leg and arm. Grunt didn''t find it amusing that he had been drafted to hose Nyxion off since the noble reeked of garbage.


    Nyxion made a pretty good choice, as it seemed like Seru had been calling in the calvary and thus the clones got mobbed by newly leveled up residents and police before they could reach Nyxion.


    Corvayne croaked. ¡°Urrrr.¡±


    Nyxion, who probably needed a fresh batch of pain killers, groaned. ¡°Uooooo.¡±


    Gary moaned. ¡°Uuuuu.¡±


    Gary got hit by Argyle prime and somehow lived. Possibly because it''s wasn''t a direct swing that sent him flying into a wall. The indirect attack was enough where he had broken a few ribs, his hand, and his hip. If not for mend he''d be bed ridden for at least a few weeks. According to Hari, Gary hurt himself even more when he saw Mosh coming for him and started trying to scream and drag himself away, even though Mosh, in perfect Cascadian, told him that he was going to help. The goblin was upset but after a day turned it into a source of amusement.


    Mosh came back into the room, carrying a comically large sandwich. He chewed and talked at the same time. ¡°Hey Boss, feeling any better?¡±


    ¡°Ruuur.¡± Corvayne croaked, moving his head a little up and down, tiring himself out by nodding.


    Mosh turned to the second bed. ¡°Hey dumpster eagle, you think you''re ready for another mend?¡±


    ¡°Uooooo¡± Nyx groaned.


    Mosh looked over at the third bed. ¡°How''s my big chicken?¡±


    ¡°Uuuuuu.¡± Gary moaned.


    ¡°Great, let''s see what''s on T.V!¡± Mosh hopped up on a stool next to Corvayne''s bed and turned the volume up, happily munching on his sandwich.


    Hari relieved Mosh a few hours later as the sun was setting and by then Corvayne was well enough to sit up and talk to her. Her olive dress looked a little more plain then the green barmaid''s outfit she had worn before but far more comfortable. Just seeing her there and happy made him feel better. He hadn''t had a spare moment since she popped up to talk to her or reflect on how glad he was that she was okay, nor how glad he was that she came back.


    ¡°Thanks for the save Hari.¡± he said as she settled down onto the same stool next to him, placing a tray with steaming oatmeal bowls down while she sat.


    ¡°I''d call us even but only if you agree you won''t squirm away next time I want to cuddle.¡± Hari smiled, then took a bowl and blew on it, handing it over. It was still a little too hot, but Corvayne needed to move before he got stiff and pulled something.


    He looked at the red sky out the window. ¡°I missed you these past few weeks. I was worried.¡±


    Hari looked away embarrassed, curling her finger around her hair before looking back at Corvayne. ¡°Aww! Me too. I told my party all about you! And the time loop thing.¡±


    ¡°I saw you die, and it really hurt.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I didn''t know what happened at first. I woke up on the first day of my excursion with the party. I told them that it was a dream I had because, I mean, it seemed like it? So they wanted to see if the portal was there, and it was, so we went back to town and put some money down for tools to handle a swarm of goblins. I figured we go in a day or two earlier, handle the first ambush, and fight in a solid defensible position. Instead of that, there was a lone giant goblin with four helpers eating armadillos that were everywhere, along with goblin skeletons! Well, we also found Mosh, who had been using his mud to trap armadillos and stab them with a goblin spear, as well as two Cascadian girls Varia and Caala who Mosh had been helping. The three of them had a regular Sir Blackcherry fortress made of wood and armadillo sinew!¡±


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Don''t get the reference.¡±


    ¡°Oh, he was a knight in a story who was stranded on island after a sea voyage and built himself a little fortress out of what he found.¡± Hari leaned forward. ¡°Shoot, I should have brought you a copy!¡±


    ¡°We have stories like that, but I''d be happy to read something you liked. I mean, if you have the time before you go home.¡±


    She leaned over the bed and gave him a lingering chaste kiss, then pulled back a little. ¡°I''m not going back. Alone, at least. If I go, it''s with my new party. I mean... if, if you''ll have me!¡±


    He nodded at her. ¡°I have to share you with Wick, I think is the deal. Unless she decides she''d rather be with your... what was your priests race called?¡±


    ¡°Sissl is Khitoran. He doesn''t think humans or elves look right, so he''ll decline. Anyway, we cleared more of the dungeon, ah, I mean tower! We spent extra time since we couldn''t really avoid training the girls, and I promised them treasure, and we had to leave the first floor and do a bit of side-tracking to reach the town since the monk was spotted wandering around. That was ALSO complicated by looking for treasure.¡± She rolled her eyes but Corvayne caught a hint of a gold necklace around her neck, as well as the shiny blue knives she had sheathed at her side.


    ¡°There was also an issue where Floowine got jealous of Varia because Khorkos was hitting on her, and Caala and her were also sort of fighting over Mosh then got mad at him because we stopped in town and he slept with June, then Khorkos got caught with July so Floowine was pissed at him, and that delayed us another three days at the town where she shut herself in a room, and June started acting odd and following Mosh when he went with the girls to train out in the woods and Mister Banner, the innkeeper, got mad at the girls when Mosh agreed to handle it and they complained... it was a whole big briar patch of trouble and I ended up pretending I was you to lead everyone and patch things up so we could get out of the damn town.¡± She huffed. ¡°Was trying to herd us that bad?¡±


    Maybe. ¡°Probably not. It sounds rough.¡±


    ¡°Well, we went up a floor that was very hot and had to backtrack and buy stuff we could wear that was cooler, then arrived at a floor that was really cold, and we had to backtrack to go buy warm winter gear and we ended up running into then having to kill the monk guy, but it was weirdly easy and he turned into a pile of garbage. Then we fought the boss which was a bunch of bears. The treasure chest just gave us a bunch of food. Like, a cake made of meat.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I thought Mister I was in a suspiciously good mood.¡°


    ¡°Perhaps it was that he forgot his truck at the park? Mosh used that to get us here, in time to follow the fighting to you!¡± She smiled.


    ¡°I owe you guys my life.¡± He heard someone opening the door and saw Seru coming in.


    She looked a little confused as Hari turned around, and there was a weird moment where Corvayne saw Seru''s expression shifting through surprise then jealousy then slowly to excitement and joy.


    ¡°YOU!¡± She pointed, and practically charged up to Hari. ¡°Sorry Corvayne, I''m making her a STAR. NOW!¡±


    Hari looked confused and turned to Corvayne while Seru was gripping her hand and starting to drag Hari away. Corvayne nodded. ¡°It''s fine, she''s like a painter with pictures basically.¡±


    Hari''s ears perked up. ¡°I might get a really nice portrait?! Wait, I don''t have credits. How would I pay her?¡±


    Seru kept tugging while looking at Corvayne ¡°What''s she saying? Does she speak Cascadian?¡±


    Hari turned to Seru. ¡°Sometimes.¡±


    ¡°She''d pay you to take your picture. You might find it fun, otherwise we''ll come rescue you.¡±


    Hari pulled Seru back over to Corvayne and planted a kiss on his lips and gave him an intense look while she spoke in breathy Elvish ¡°I''ll properly accept a welcome back when you''re feeling better, then.¡± Then let herself be dragged off by Seru.


    Corvayne felt his body shifting back to it''s normal weight and took a nap, waking up well into night. Both Nyxion and Gary were snoring. Mosh was sitting at the desk in the room, sketching something by lamplight. Next to him was June, the girl from that third floor village. The millers daughter scratched the goblin''s head. Corvayne could see that there was a little bit of... oddness... to her, but she seemed to genuinely like Mosh. So, good on them.


    The goblin closed his eyes and pushed into it a little, green ears wigging a little. ¡°Thanks toots. Woah he''s alive! Boss you up?¡±


    Corvayne nodded, picking up his spear left to the side of the bed, as well as fresh clothes folded in a pile. ¡°Yeah. I gotta talk to Wick. It seems you''re on you''re way to being the Miller''s son?¡±


    Mosh laughed. ¡°Maybe! She always wanted to be a craftswomen you know?¡±


    Corvayne pulled the plastic for some privacy then changed, nodded to Mosh and June, then left them and his wounded friend and disciple. Corvayne made his way down one tower and through the community center hallway to the other side of the apartment buildings. He knocked on Wick''s door, and she opened it, saw him, and frowned. What was that reaction?


    ¡°You look serious.¡± Wick said, wearing her robe. Corvayne was for a moment distracted by a sucker sticking out of her mouth.


    ¡°I wanted to talk, but there were people in the hospital.¡± He looked at her, and met her eyes as she stood in the way of the door. ¡°I want to talk about what Argyle told me.¡±


    ¡°He probably made stuff up to distract you.¡± Wick said, looking back into her room.


    Corvayne just gave her an even look. ¡°If you want me to drop it, fine. You''ll always be Wick to me. But he called you Anastasia, and that''s the name of the woman who collected part of a large bounty on me at the inn at the Tower in our house.


    She sighed and swung the door open. Corvayne stopped as he started to step in. ¡°Are you annoyed to see me? I don''t care about the bounty.¡±


    Wick threw her hands up. ¡°No! I''ve been trying to avoid it! The Anastasia thing. Don''t give me that look, you''d think you''d be happy to hear your asshole dad''s voice? Or get beat up by... what was the name of your axe trainer?¡±


    ¡°Mugs-Already-Empty.¡± Corvayne added and Wick snapped her fingers at him and pointed.


    ¡°Right. It soured your face when you said it! Why do you think I''m out here, hiding from my old life, under a different name?¡±


    Corvayne held a hand up. ¡°I''ll put the entire conversation aside if it''s that bad. We don''t need to do this, I just thought-¡±


    Wick got even madder for some reason. ¡°You can''t just ignore everything when it''s inconvenient! It''s like you don''t even fucking care!¡±


    He felt his voice raise a little. ¡°I do care. Wick. Tell me why he kept calling you Anastasia.¡± He keep his eyes on her and Wick sighed, her whole form slumping as she walked inside.


    ¡°Close the damn door!¡± She barked and Corvayne did so, settling on her couch as Wick rummaged in the fridge and fished out a bottle of wine, then pulled out a wine glass and poured herself a cup. ¡°I''m going to tell you gist of it, since you know the part where I ran away when I was 15.¡±


    She went by the couch and sat on her coffee table, resting the bottle on an already existing circular stain. ¡°I was born Ianasia Leona. Everyone just calls me Anastasia when they talk about me since I ran away. I''m the 12th in line for succession for the position of Empress of the Collective.¡±


    Corvayne blinked. ¡°Okay so you''re a princess. Why''s that a bad thing? I get you''re in hiding.¡±


    Wick ¡°It''s bad because people are looking for missing royalty, and they attract people looking to kill me! Look, I don''t know how much Argyle blurted out, but there''s two overlapping groups who want me dead. First, quite a few of my siblings are murderous sociopaths. They don''t know WHY I ran, so they''ll assume it''s a plot and try to snuff me out. Second! Second, there''s a bunch of cultists who think I''m holding some sort of incredible power, and killing me or worse would transfer that power to them.¡±


    Corvanye folded his arms. ¡°Then I guess we have to convince them otherwise, by word or spear.¡±


    Wick sighed. ¡°One agent killed all of us once and took an entire town to actually take down.¡±


    ¡°One down, however many to go.¡± Corvayne saw Wick was looking away. ¡°I don''t care that you''re hunted, or your past is that you''re secretly really important... I mean, I care. I''ll deal with it.¡±


    Wick stared at him. ¡°Are you smirking at this?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. He avoided blurting out the main component, self satisfaction as he realized he had bedded a princess. ¡°The royalty thing. I read a lot of fantasy books, and it always strained the believability that every other girl in them was secretly a princess. I should say it seemed off once I learned about monarchy and how many commoners there were to a member of royalty, of course. So I had spent some time since we met expecting your secret to not be so... on the nose.¡±


    Wick glared at him, wiping the smile off Corvayne''s face. ¡°So my life of worrying about not only myself, but the entire Collective is funny to you?¡±


    ¡°No. It was my own expectations of-¡±


    ¡°Out! Get out!¡± Wick shouted while jabbing her finger at the door, and Corvayne stood up.


    He felt frustrated, for a moment wanting to point out that he had just risked his life fighting for her, but Wick looked miserable and just kept pointing at the door and shouting ¡°OUT! Leave me alone!¡±


    Corvayne didn''t know what else to do so he bowed and walked out. He turned and saw the door slam, nearly hitting his nose as he said. ¡°Excuse me.¡±

 Chapter 86: A Bike Ride

    Corvayne woke up in an unfamiliar room in the apartment building. He got up from a few blankets thrown on the floor and looked over at where Hari had passed out on the bed, still wearing what looked like a shimmering silver cocktail dress. Whatever Seru had put her through, she had snuck into his new room and fallen asleep in between Wick kicking him out of her apartment and him taking a long jog to clear his head.


    The entire run last night his body had felt stiff and it was the first time he could remember being tired after only a mile, but he toughed out running out to Dawn''s Tower and around then back along the bay. He had spotted Dawn''s sniper Nepthia up on a ledge six stories up. She had given him a little salute which he gave back, then ended his jog by the noodle stand, thanking Miss Ayame for the help in stopping Argyle.


    The noodle lady had waved his thanks away. ¡°Oh you of all people can''t thank little old me! There was a thing Wick sent out, asking for us all to leave, and all about this Argyle fellow and you know, a bunch of us at first went along, but we met with some police officers who Miss Innas had spoken to over in Ko-Ban. She mentioned you too, and when I told her about the stand here she said she liked the food! The daughter of one of the lords ate take out from my noodle stand, can you believe that? Well, we all had this feeling that Wick needed help, and a lot of folks who had been running the dungeon came out and heard about people coming after Wick, and it was like all of Old Town just... we all just knew we were needed. Like, a gut feeling. We all went back, and it was weird because the whole time I didn''t think I''d have it in me to fight. I mean, I knew from what you said that those monks were dangerous, but I got all worked up and it was like, we all knew what to do. After the whole thing went down I thought what I did was crazy! How nobody died last night was a miracle!¡±


    Corvayne then had no choice but to accept a freebie, which extended in the next minute, through some sort of social Ju-Jitsu, to him offering to act as a ringer for her and some other people from Old Town who wanted to try a dungeon. He had been walking up to the door into the community center when Lady Blood Claw intercepted him, having come from the other direction.


    ¡°Are you feeling better? Are you ready to train?¡± She wavered between a teal and green skin shade and lemony yellow, which were colors he couldn''t remember if he had pinned down or not, maybe a mix of concern and impatience to train.


    Corvayne had taken a moment to breath in and out. ¡°A bit. Not ready to spar... it would be a poor fight.¡±


    She followed him into the center. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡±


    Corvayne stopped and looked back at her, and while he was trying to explain that he was angry and tired and felt like crap and really wanted to be left alone, she held up a hand.


    ¡°I know that look. I will not bother you until you are rested. When you feel a little better, come find me, alright?¡±


    He was extremely thankful that she had enough awareness to cut herself off after three questions.


    James Brines, on the other hand, picked right up before he could get into the apartment lobby from the center, and badgered him in a weird aggressively friendly way to agree to fill in, in place of Grunt, as a ringer for when he tried a dungeon with friends. Corvayne actually wanted to throw him through a wall when, after what felt like twenty minutes of being held hostage in the conversation, he realized Brines was going with Ayame''s group and he had been hard-sold on doing something he was going to do anyway!


    So, he wasn''t entirely sad that Hari was asleep on his bed when he got to his new room on Mister I''s side. He didn''t want to try to welcome her back when he felt like garbage, and was tired, and sore, and surly. He just grabbed some of the spare bedding Mister I kept in the room, removed the wrapping and mothballs, then tossed on the wood floor so he could pass out.


    He had been awake then a half hour before he stopped thinking about last night and Wick yelling at him, looking out the window at a mix between morning light and rain clouds. He turned and considered jumping into bed next to Hari and letting her own brand of ''waking up'' take it''s course, but the elf liked to sleep in and he was in a weird spot where he was waiting for some sort of party or celebration or catharsis triggered from beating Argyle and was getting frustrated that it was just Sunday and he felt like crap and he had pissed Wick off.


    So he opened the fridge, saw there was nothing in there aside from a jar of sauerkraut that looked fossilized, and shut it. He grabbed his last non-torn shirt and a wad of credits out of his ring, then slipped into his well worn boots and took his spear with him, not that he expected trouble going to the corner market, but it just felt better to have it on hand.


    The grocer who ran the store nearest the community center had a dozen monster eggs for about ten times the price of regular eggs. He was about to pay for a basket of ingredients when the man behind the counter mentioned he was looking to become a general crafter with portal materials and Corvayne felt the first turn around from a bad mood as he successfully haggled the man into accepting four of the mithral flechettes in exchange for breakfast. It brought to his mind the old saying: A good deal is one where both parties think they ripped the other guy off.


    While Mister I didn''t stock food in the spare apartment, he had plenty of lightly used cookware. Corvayne made eggs, bacon, and toast. Hari woke to the smell of bacon but acted like she needed help getting out of bed. The sneaky elf used him pulling her up to steal a kiss, but was successfully leveraged into breakfast before she demanded they test the shower in his new quarters. Rigorously.


    Corvayne felt better after the shower. Hari''s luggage had ended up in his room, which he didn''t complain about as he watched her get dressed in a frilly tunic and a pair of more contemporary black leggings. She then slipped on an adventurer''s belt with her daggers and grabbed a small leather backpack, then tied her hair into a bandana rather then braid it. He threw his own clothes on pretty quickly. He still needed to go shopping for something aside from his black slacks and shirt, but he didn''t feel like it today.


    ¡°I was going to go visit Grunt at the warehouse, and just do something fun.¡± He only paused for a half beat. ¡°I mean, another fun thing. I don''t think she''ll want to come, but I was going to ask if you and Wick wanted to come along.¡±


    ¡°Ah, wouldn''t we get in the way if you''re hanging out with your buddy?¡± Hari asked.


    ¡°I think you''re part of my group of friends too...¡± He saw her look and held a hand up. ¡°I mean, you are also in addition to being my...¡± Corvayne suddenly got embarrassed by how enthusiastic Hari was about him finishing that sentence.


    ¡°... Girlfriend.¡± He did not want to use lover for some reason, it felt awkward like grabbing a spear when someone was within arms reach with a knife.


    Hari seemed pretty happy by what he said anyway, sweeping him into a hug and planting kisses until he got his arms free to guide her out of his room. He wasn''t surprised Hari was a yes for coming along. Wick, on the other hand, didn''t respond to him knocking two times. Hari tried pitching in too.


    ¡°Yohoo, it is your elvish lovebird, waiting for my little angry parrot to swing sweet songs into my cage!¡±


    Corvayne saw her look a little sad that Wick didn''t come out for her either. He stopped by the clinic to ask Mister I to check up on her, and the monk nodded and waved him off.


    ¡°She took some of my breakfeast so she''s fine. Go out, she''ll be there and probably better tomorrow when we sit down to talk.¡±


    Corvayne and Hari made their way to the warehouse. The place was still a wreck, thought he could see someone had dropped off a pile of sheet metal to start patching holes in the walls. Corvayne didn''t bother ringing, as the wrecked fence wasn''t going to bother anything smaller then an elephant. The inside of his former home showed a basic effort to start moving rubble out of the main isle. He found Grunt by following rock and roll coming out of an old radio. He was starting the process of sorting out rocks, but he wasn''t so absorbed that he didn''t notice the two of them and smiled and waved.


    Corvayne grinned back. ¡°Good to see you Grunt. I was worried when I didn''t see you during the fight that he had got the jump on you.¡±


    Grunt just knocked his shoulder to say: I''m tough as heck.


    Hari looked around. ¡°You are busy? Corvayne to, ah, Corvayne wants TO hang out.¡±


    Grunt smiled at her, then set a stone down and shrugged. He gestured at various messes including metal containers wedged at a 45 degree angle, broken sheets of Cascadian Jasper spilling out of another, huge holes in the wall of the warehouse leaking rain onto the concrete floor, a wrecked loader that looked like a crumpled up yellow spider, up at the broken window to the break room (which made Corvayne wince a little. Sorry Grunt!), and over at an office where a bamboo urchin had demolished just about everything. After sweeping his hand around, he made a fingers-walking-fast motion then followed up by crossed arms, then a shrug: I mean, this isn''t going anywhere soon so, what''s up?


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Corvayne pointed to the back. ¡°If your bikes were okay, I was going to ask if we could ride them? I''ve seen some other people doing it.¡±


    Grunt brightened, and motioned for them to follow. The garage was, it turned out, mostly intact. He had put a tarp over a hole in the wall, and Corvayne could see where Argyle had dented the roof trying to smash him, but all the stuff inside was intact and Grunt lead them over to his bikes.


    Hari looked at them and nodded sagely. ¡°I see. It''s like a hover cycle but I don''t see how it stays stable...¡±


    Corvayne thought that was the natural reaction to seeing a bike, despite what Wick had said!


    Grunt hefted one down and rode it in a circle, and while seeing his huge form on the bike was sort of amusing, it was pretty impressive how he rode without wobbling. Corvayne took a bike down, and tried to emulate what Grunt did but instead wobbled and fell over slowly enough that he had time to dart a leg out to catch himself. He tried a few times to ride like Grunt had, then stepped off the bike.


    Hari looked at it and looked up at him, saying ¡°What''s wrong with this ''Hover bike''?¡± in elvish except the last word. Corvayne enjoyed her switch from the elves eloquent language to the more stilted Cascadian loan word.


    ¡°It''s leg powered, and it doesn''t have a stabilizer. It''s a regular bike, without the hover.¡± Corvayne said, looking at the gears and wires that were connected to the pedal.


    Hari looked at it, then Corvayne. ¡°So you and Mosh will fix it?¡±


    ¡°No, I think people just ride these as-is here.¡± Corvayne got on the bike, and saw Grunt motioning for him to pedal quickly or speed up. Corvayne adjusted gravity a little and tried speeding up despite his sense of balance going haywire, and found he stabilized for just a moment before he started rocking and hit the ground, scraping his elbow a little.


    Hari rushed over to help him up. Corvayne looked at the toppled bicycle then over at Grunt, who seemed very amused.


    ¡°I might add a stabilizer.¡±


    Grunt called in a helper for the task of teaching them to ride a bike. Brines saw Hari and was shocked to recognize she was the girl on Seru''s feed who looked like an elf.


    ¡°I am elf.¡± She stated and huffed a little, which set Brines to saying that he was sorry and didn''t mean it was a bad thing and that it was really insensitive of him and it''s not about race and it says something about his own experience that he thought of that first and so on.


    Hari put a hand out. ¡°Hari Silkbloom, of the Stillwater tribe. Nice to meet you.¡± Corvayne felt she spoke rather smoothly when it was a simple phrase.


    Brines took the hand and shook it with both of his. ¡°Oh! James Brines. Cascadian old money. Council member of Old Town too!¡±


    Hari beamed. ¡°Ah! Jimmy is very important!¡±


    ¡°Oh only my pals call me Jimmy, so please by all means!¡± He laughed. ¡°So Grunt explained to me over the phone you guys need to learn to ride a bike!¡±


    Corvayne stared at him until he mimed texting. Ah. Okay.


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°It''s hard to watch what I''m doing and watch Grunt''s hands and get what he''s talking about.¡±


    ¡°Oh well I owe you a mountain for both the training and that you''re willing to come with my group out of Old Town to act as a guide!¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Well, I was considering doing that to make credits. I enjoy teaching people after all, and I have very few skills aside from fighting.¡±


    Saying that made him think of Wick urging him to never build a warp drive. He nodded a little. Yep. It definitely wouldn''t have neatly solved their problem with Argyle to warp off world... He''d have to talk to Wick about it as they would need a way of skipping out on town without having to get beaten nearly to death at the dock or space port or running from bounties in the tower. Not that he was entirely blameless on deciding to stand his ground this time, as he had wanted to give his goal of protecting Wick solid progress. Maybe that hadn''t quite happened with how close the battle had been.


    He refocused when he heard Hari''s high pitched cry and saw her wobble with Brines grabbing the back of the bike to try to help her stay upright. Brines actually was a pretty good instructor on the finer points of non-hover bikes, helping Hari first then Corvayne get confident at going quick enough to not fall over, then guiding them on how to use the breaks. After fifteen minutes it looked like Hari was just as confident as Corvayne was that they wouldn''t slam into a wall. Hari pointed her nose in the air just as Grunt came back with a large cooler bag, the steam and smell teasing them with the promise of a greasy take out picnic if they could master their bikes.


    It was turning into a day, as outside the rain had passed, leaving reflective puddles and a mostly sunny sky. They set out slowly, Corvayne less willing then Hari to trust that the device he was on could handle all the bumps and potholes on Old Town''s poorly maintained roads. Grunt was riding a bike with much thicker wheels and just barreled through them, no worse for balance as he bobbed up and down.


    Brines followed them a mile then veered off with a wave, having some other task to do in Old Town. That left the three of them to bike, riding on the intact side of the low bridge out to Ko-Ban and taking the ramp down to the lake path, grass still fried where the hell dog had incinerated the park. Corvayne was wary of riding through Bone Dog territory but there was no sign of the gang as they followed the lake shore path around to a ramp that gently pulled them onto a bridge running just under the freeway to the next island north. Mare island was a little less urban, but Grunt had them stay on the raised bike path under the freeway, letting them look at tree lined streets and little intersections where old steel and glass structures capped the corners. There was a crowd over by a park forming a line with little clumps by a stone stairway, probably the new dungeon entrance.


    Grunt took a two minute break to pass out water at North Mere island, staying on the raised path, giving them a commanding view from about fifty feet up, only hedged by freeway and the ubiquitous train tracks winding along the roads. Corvayne watched the waves in the sound drift by until Grunt rang his bike bell, and they followed the bridge and tracks to Dolphin island, veering away from the freeway to a downhill section where the bikes built up speed alarmingly fast. Corvayne gritted his teeth while Hari was laughing, perhaps not as worried about all the trees and signs and benches they were flying by.


    When his bike had slowed, Corvayne caught the glint of something black and shiny, and looked to the side and saw what looked like an obsidian building, near the top of the hill that formed the ''spine'' of dolphin islands north side. It was maybe five stories tall, but the tower''s black featureless form weirdly resonated with him as they caught the sun peeking through gray clouds.


    He realized he had stopped to look, and that Hari and Grunt were looking between him, and the hill top questioningly, and he shook his head.


    ¡°I just thought that building was interesting, is all.¡±


    Grunt gestured to his bike then made a winding finger moving up motion.


    Hari shouted a little too fast. ¡°No! That''s too far up-hill!¡±


    Corvayne put a hand up. ¡°Yeah, why don''t we keep going to wherever it was you were taking us Grunt.¡±


    The big man nodded and only once looked back at the tower, eyes narrowing a moment, before he started riding at a relaxed pace to another ramp up a bridge. Ahead of them, Corvayne could see Barrier Ridge Island, and off to his right as he rode on the raised bridge was a view of the south sound, with Ko-Ban''s Port on one side of the sound, and an imposing wall of pine trees rising up from a few fishing boats and small homes on the other.


    Hari was pointing while riding, a bold move that Corvayne wasn''t sure he''d do on the raised bike path even with the guard rails. ¡°Mister Grunt, we can''t ride up...¡± Hari had a moment where she just jabbed her finger forward, then made a complex finger motion. ¡°Hill... hill... can''t ride up mountain!¡±


    Oh! Was she using her Investigator spells to help learn Cascadian? Interesting. Also, she was correct. Corvayne was going to say something then saw Grunt had been riding while watching Hari and was responding with one hand, which made him feel extremely uncomfortable just watching, given the distance they''d fall if they went off the side of the bridge.


    ¡°Grunt! Both hands!¡± He felt himself call out, then got embarrassed when the big man turned back forward and Corvayne saw his shoulders bobbing up and down in silent laughter.


    The wall of green loomed as the bike path curved over the sound and off from the roadway to a path close to where the ground tumbled into the water. Grunt had them stop off to the side of the path under the bridge. Then he made a few hand gestures, making a circle in the air with his finger, then sliding his hand along a flat table.


    Hari looked at Corvayne then Grunt. ¡°So it''s... flat? Easy?¡±


    Grunt nodded. He gestured backwards at the concrete slope the path formed over the water, and wiped his brow. Then gestured down at the strip of concrete they were on, and waved at it dismissively.


    ¡°Okay, and I bet the views here are pretty good, right?¡± Corvayne offered.


    Grunt beamed and nodded. He pulled his finger under his eye, made glasses with them, yanked on two extentions of hair he didn''t have behind his head, then made a head shaking motion. He repeated this by squinting and making a round belly gesture, a fishing gesture, then another head shaking motion.


    Hari was sweating. ¡°Grunt... can''t see well, and it''s frustrating, and he can''t fish here?¡±


    Corvayne saw Grunt''s face fall a little and stepped in. ¡°Good guess, but there''s a tempo to how he does the gestures, and he''s saying he couldn''t get Wick or Mister I to come out. I guess Dawn''s a no go on biking here too huh?¡±


    Grunt waved his hand. Sometimes, but rarely.


    As promised the path around the island was pretty and nearly flat, with comfy looking cottages covered in moss built on the hill down to the sound, all of them with docks and stairs down. The trail gave him a view of a bunch of cranes on the mainland north of downtown, a section he hadn''t seen populated by half finished skyscrapers, as well as the north side of dolphin island. The scent of pine and the green of the surroundings made Corvayne feel at ease, even as they rode along to a spot where the ground was too rocky and steep to support homes, instead being just wet mossy forest. Grunt had them stop at a picnic bench in a copse of trees next to a waterfall that poured a thin trickle of water into a pond. Hari ran over and took her shoes off, dipping her toes in the pond. Corvayne slapped a hand on Grunt''s shoulder as the large man pulled out lunch.


    ¡°You picked a good spot, man. Thanks for sharing.¡±


    Grunt nodded, and they ate the takeout he had brought, something like deep fried potato wedges used like buns with saucy meat and cheese between them, with a side of diced up steamed carrots with cheese and refried beans on them. It tasted amazing, but both Corvayne and Hari had to let Grunt finish their containers. He wasn''t sure if Hari also chose to not finish because the food was too heavy to keep biking, but Grunt happily ate everything and stuffed the garbage into one bag. They started riding and Grunt stopped to toss the bag into the garbage bin in front of a random house, then used a few hand gestures to challenge them to a race.


    ¡°Are you sure? We could fall off into the water.¡±


    Grunt shrugged, then turned and just peeled off, and Corvayne saw Hari look at him at the same time, then smile. He wasn''t really sure who won given they kept stopping to look at the ocean, but by the time they arrived back at the garage he was tired and satisfied, maybe even ready to try to talk to Wick again. Grunt smiled and waved, then turned back to the pile of rocks waiting for him and Corvayne could swear he heard a whimper from the normally silent big man.

 Chapter 87: Whats Eating Anastasia Wick

    When it was time for what Corvayne assumed was couple''s therapy, Mister I lead him to a room on the second floor of the community center. Rather then having the run down d¨¦cor of the rest of the center, everything in the room was new. The walls were painted a warm brown and lined with natural wood book shelves, it smelled clean, and there was a nice trio of chairs and side tables on a thick carpet that didn''t look worn down by years of feet.


    Mister I was in one chair, sipping steaming teah, and he beamed and gestured for Corvayne to sit once he saw him. Corvayne put his spear in the corner behind him and sank into the chair. He frowned. Why did The Magus, a being that most likely cursed him, have to be the guy who had the most comfortable chair he had ever sat in? Well, this one was... maybe halfway there? Not too bad.


    Wick came in, wearing her blue sky robe over a closed jacket. She plopped down, looking away from Corvayne. Corvayne felt his stomach twist. Why was she still mad? He was going to say something but he saw Mister I shake his head before he went back to sipping tea. Wick had fixated on the window, pointedly looking at the tree in the courtyard rather then at Corvayne or Mister I.


    Mister I didn''t speak, setting his cup down and focusing on a little digital clip board he was tapping very gently with his pen. It seemed like their silence was intentional, so Corvayne didn''t break it. The little taps of both Mister I''s pen and rain drops on the window


    Corvayne waited, and every second he was more and more sure there was some sort of deliberate game of chicken here, and while he didn''t want to turn the sandworm first, someone had to say something and he-


    Wick sighed, and turned to Mister I. ¡°I am PISSED at him.¡± She said, scratchy voice very intense. Mister I held his hand up, and Wick rolled her eyes and said it again, sounding more normal. ¡°I''m mad at him.¡±


    The monk too had played with his tone, scrubbed of his usual jovial energy. ¡°Why are you mad at him?¡±


    Wick sighed. ¡°I told him something important and he laughed.¡±


    ¡°How did that feel?¡±


    She avoided looking at Corvayne. ¡°It felt shitty. I was really stressed. I expect him to take my problems seriously.¡±


    Mister I nodded. ¡°Is this something that I can ask Corvayne about?¡±


    Wick finally looked at Corvayne, and nodded. Mister I turned in his chair a few inches to square with Corvayne. ¡°Can you tell me what happened the other day? In your own words.¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°I went to her room because Argyle had said something about her and I wanted to know if it was true, and she got mad at me because she didn''t think I took her seriously because the situation had me in an odd mood.¡±


    ¡°You DIDN''T take it seriously! You were grinning like an idiot!¡± Wick interrupted.


    Mister I tapped his board, and there was a beep. ¡°Wick, take 30 to breath. Corvayne, what do you think about Wick, in general?¡±


    He heard Wick start to take a long breath in, and he sat straight up. ¡°I love her and I want to protect her. She''s the first person to be kind to me. She''s Smart and beautiful. She''s the standard I judge everyone else by.¡±


    He looked over and saw Wick had buried her face in her hands. Mister I was biting his lip too. Did he say something wrong? The monk recovered his impassive expression.


    ¡°All right, so Corvayne, you respect Wick. And you learned something about her, something she was very scared to tell you, but you felt happy? Or were smiling?¡±


    He nodded. ¡°I was both laughing that... her secret was something I had dismissed as highly unlikely. Also I was... happy she trusted me. I had previously been, uh...¡± Corvayne suddenly felt embarassed at just telling them he was jealous of Nyx. Hadn''t he told them each about it before?


    Mister I held up a hand, then produced another plate and teacup from his table with the sort of effortless speed that Corvayne only matched when using a spear. The cup didn''t even click as the monk placed it on the plate and poured very slowly. Corvayne could smell a hint of ginger as Mister I passed him the cup, and the sip he took helped unknot some of his stress the conversation brought on.


    ¡°Take a moment. Have some tea. Wick, what do you feel about Corvayne? In general.¡±


    She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. ¡°I trust him. He''s strong, and straightforward. I love him, but, he makes me feel guilty and anxious. I get frustrated that he doesn''t see what he''s worth, and I worry he''ll... figure me out.¡±


    Mister I nodded. Wick was now looking at Corvayne. She sat up straighter. ¡°Corvayne, I''m Ianasia Leona, a princess on the run, and people are going to keep coming after me. I... I want to change The Collective. As the 12th in line when I left, it might be an impossible goal.¡±


    Corvayne nodded at this, and looked her in the eye. ¡°I''m Corvayne, but it might not be my real name. I will protect you, and your secret, with my life.¡±


    Wick smiled at him, then leaned forward. ¡°Thank you, it means a lot to me. But... I have other problems. I don''t always sleep and yes, my mood shifts sometimes too fast, and I can''t trust people easily... and I can''t trust myself. I have a problem where it''s like there''s someone else is in my head, trying to steer me. It''s subtle, but it''s there, and I worry it''s trying to keep me with you, that when I''m with you and I''m happy and don''t mind you touching me, that there''s an person like an enemy or... or a thing riding in me that''s tricking me into being okay, into being happy, because I''m not who I was, I totally changed at 15, I just woke up one day and I knew the day before I hadn''t been worried about anything and then had thoughts that I couldn''t trust anyone, and I suddenly didn''t care about anything I had before and then I was terrified that someone had done something, and I kept doing things, like steal things, reading weird books, avoiding people, I had these compulsions, and I was really scared of the boy I thought I was going to marry, even though the last time I had seen him he had been a date and I remembered thinking I was in love.¡±


    She stopped for a moment as her mouth got dry and she coughed, and Mister I handed her a cooled off cup of tea that she just downed before she kept going.


    ¡°So I was trapped in a palace and I felt weird, like I wasn''t in the right body, It was horrible, I felt naked even with clothes on and part of me was looking at this boy who I''d known for four years and saw all the little things that gave away he was... he was lying about things... all these details that were there before that I didn''t see before, it was as clear as day he didn''t like me or hate me, just that he didn''t care, that nobody around me cared about me, and it was horrible to be there, I didn''t want to see it, but... that weird guide kept pointing it all out.¡±


    Wick stopped a moment to blow her nose and wipe her eyes.


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Is it like when you say Lady Blood Claw''s name?¡±


    Wick shook her head. ¡°It''s more subtle. But it makes me doubt... myself. Everything. If I didn''t know it was... it was right about some things, I don''t know who I am anymore. I think the meetings are me, because it doesn''t care about them, there''s nothing pushing me to do them, but Corvayne, it''s pushing me at you, and I don''t like it. Mister I''s pills help a little. It shuts it down. But... when I''m on them it''s like a fog. I can think and act but I''m under a blanket. When it''s gone, I have memories. But it''s not clear, they are not clear, like my last life was, I mean, the one we all experienced, and I get scared because I can''t tell if they are nightmares or me.


    Corvayne held his hand out, and Wick took it, then continued. ¡°I talked around it, before, but I think, I think this isn''t my first life, or second, and maybe not third. I get memories from the past, and they are fucking me up because I see things that don''t make sense, or are wrong, and I see places I''ve never been, and I have dreams where I die, and there''s places it wants me to go, and I''m scared of it. I just want to sleep, and wake up, and things to be normal, and I know that I can''t do it, because there''s something in me, and and it''s like a warning, there''s a threat and I keep seeing the sky falling apart and crying and it shows me worse things, and... I can''t talk about it, I just don''t know if it''s real or not. I''m sorry, I''m sorry Corvayne I''m...¡±


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Wick was sobbing and babbling and Corvayne squeezed her hand. Mister I mumbled a short invocation to Lythandies, activating mend, and Wick sighed and slumped a little in her chair.


    ¡°Wick, Thank you for sharing that with us.¡± Mister I nodded.


    Corvayne leaned in. ¡°Wick. I''ll say this. Whatever your feelings are, however we can figure out what''s going on... I''ll help you however I can. Okay?¡±


    She looked up. ¡°I can''t promise I''ll ever get over this. I''ve been trying for years.¡±


    He met her eyes and nodded. ¡°You told me what I was getting into, and I''m still saying yes.¡±


    Wick closed her eyes a moment, and there was a pause with just Mister I gently shuffling papers beside him and pouring some tea. Wick stirred after a minute. ¡°Can I see that Core thing, the one Argyle was after?¡±


    Corvayne pulled it out of storage. The dark green emerald in the center of the soft gold spines gleamed softly as he handed it off to her. Wick took it and rotated the device, some of her energy returning as she stared at it.


    ¡°I saw it before. When it glowed. It was... there was a Tower, I went into it when I was here, but it wasn''t this time or the last.¡± Wick lifted her glasses and rubbed her face. ¡°It''s like, sometimes I think we''ve already had a conversation, and it feels like deja-vu, like I''m going in circles.¡±


    Corvayne patted her knee and tried to project the most neutral . ¡°If you can remember the place you went, I think we want to look at it. If you can''t, it doesn''t change that we like you. In the here and now.¡±


    Wick smiled. ¡°Thanks... but there''s another thing. I''m pretty sure I met you before.¡±


    Mister I stepped in. ¡°Do you want to talk about what you think you remember?¡±


    Wick shook her head. ¡°I think we were older. It was a place like Cascadia, but a smaller town. Maybe one of the other cities on the planet, but they don''t have lots of little islands like Cascadia does. I remember a resort on an circular island, I think it might have been what''s called Crater island, but I remember taking a boat to a place... Nap Bay.¡±


    Mister I helpfully handed Corvayne a roll-out computer, which he used to try searching the names she gave. The larger map of the Cascadia area followed a pretty similar pattern both north and south where a number of large barrier islands formed many layers of land and water. There was, as far as he could tell, no bodies of water named Nap Bay. Not every feature on Cascadia''s surface was named, just places within two hundred miles or so of the big triangle of cities, and a few places out in the desert by mines.


    ¡°How big was the island?¡±


    Wick was thinking. ¡°I think it was something like, two miles across? It had a hill and a light house, but it was an old-time one, you know, brick and a tourist thing. I remember it because I hid up there, and you were talking to me while I sat on it, I think I was running from you, and you were like a guardian or watcher but it felt like you were... a warden.¡±


    Corvayne stopped typing in Light houses. ¡°A watcher, or capital W Watcher? And a warden?¡±


    ¡°I remember I was annoyed you were following me. You were worried I was going to jump, and I was considering doing it to make your life harder? I might be remembering it wrong, it''s like an echo of something placed there, where you don''t know if it''s real or not.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Well, in this life, I''d definitely jump with you and try to break your fall Wick.¡±


    She blushed a little and Corvayne hooted and hollered on the inside while outwardly calmly continuing to look at the computer. ¡°It seems like there''s not a lot of brick lighthouses, and none of them are a part of any island resort. But... there''s one on a circular island. Would you want to go look at it, or do you not want the memories?¡±


    Wick stood up straight. ¡°I both want to know and don''t. It''s like, what if I see something that changes what I think of you? If a different you hurt me, would I hate you? And it''s the other way too. What if I do figure out what''s driving me to be different? If it''s something a different YOU did to me. Would that lessen me? Us?¡±


    Mister I slurpped his tea loudly, and Corvayne and Wick both looked over to him. The monk set his cup down on a side table and smiled. ¡°That you are worried, would you say it''s because you value what you feel now, and wish it to be real?¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Yes. But there''s the other problem too, that someday-¡±


    Mister I held a hand up. ¡°You worry about what you need to do for your empire, and how it might stop you from doing what you want to do for yourself.¡±


    Wick leaned towards Mister I. ¡°Yes! You understand?¡±


    Mister I flashed a very faint smile. ¡°I do. It seems like you need to be prepared. Corvayne, you have read stories with princesses before? You must understand that if Wick wishes to rule...¡±


    Corvayne felt his heart drop. ¡°In those stories, ruling means deals, and marriage is the best way to get someone at her side who gives her political power or immense wealth...¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°There''s a lot going on, but if I wanted to protect others from... what I know is going on... it''s the other reason to keep my distance from you, Corvayne.¡±


    ¡°You don''t think you can fix it without being the, Empress? CEO?¡±


    ¡°Empress, since it''s the executive role for the entire Collective all the former holders preferred that term rather then the buisness side. My family directly owns all of Tripic aside from a few houses the nobles still own. The entire main fleet of warships is ours...¡±


    Corvayne could guess where it was going. ¡°And whatever supernatural secrets your family has.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°All the wealth in the Collective is at the top. All the power? At the top. I think the Towers opening everywhere will wobble things, but unless they can provide all the trappings of a modern life, most people would rather be comfortable.¡±


    Corvayne folded his arms. ¡°It might just break, on it''s own. I mean, it sounds like under the noble class, the ceiling for wealth is so high that there''s a normal world of trade under it. Then you collapse the monopoly on magic power... I guess the nobles could commit some sort of high powered satellite strike on society where they buy everything up and hyper inflate, but yesterday I traded materials to a grocer for food. Now life will go on.¡±


    Wick held up a hand. ¡°Wait. You... grew up... how did you... you must know what a satellite strike is from reading a book, right?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°We were expected to know how to use a lot of weapons. I only directed a kinetic payload once, but it''s very effective. Burned out an entire next of crunchers in one shot.¡±


    ¡°You describe a lot of experiences that make me think that the clay town out in the desert isn''t really where you were from.¡± Wick narrowed her eyes.


    Corvayne held a hand up. ¡°I don''t know where The Watchers are, or where they are from. I was more focused on staying unobtrusive then asking a lot of questions. But it''s beside the point: I''ll continue to help you with your goal. Nyx had gently suggested, with an earlier talk, that at some point if you were important enough that you might marry someone else. For power reasons.¡±


    Wick nodded. Corvayne nodded back. The political figures in stories sometimes had a sideways way of talking, and thinking about things. Carrot and stick, then the twist where they threw the framework out. It wasn''t enough to just be quick and nimble with a spear. He needed to keep developing. For a moment, he felt like he had an ocean balancing on his head, and a warm trickle of something like ambition crept into him from the vast weight he felt.


    He felt himself speak louder and clearer then before. ¡°You have given me a new challenge. To overcome it, I simply have to be strong enough, politically, financially, and of course physically that I can crush every single one of your potential suitors, and enemies.¡±


    Mister I spit his tea out.


    Wick froze. ¡°You... you realize that''s something families have spent... hundreds of years trying to do? The Brines Brothers, the real ones who are not even ''real'' nobles by Nyxion and Tripic standards, are old, and they are carrying on what their father started here in Cascadia over a hundred and fifty years ago. Goule is trying to do something like that, and he has killed and will have killed untold numbers of innocent people as collateral for the little moves he does to keep his position at father''s ear.¡±


    Hmm. Might have to beat up Wick''s dad too. Poor guy. ¡°Trying to do what they are doing through The Collective itself... seems pointless. Right?¡± He looked at Wick, who looked confused at him twisting the conversation again. Mister I had a raised eyebrow, but nodded. A spear is sharp. It has momentum. He had momentum.


    Mister I leaned forward. ¡°You are more right then you even know! There are a flock of problems with the Collective and navigating it''s hundreds of groups, many made up of hundreds of mystics and nobles, is a thankless task to try to take any power. There are thousands of people who could buy a planet, and The Collective''s laws and systems are weak to that money, and as an outsider with paltry connections you are the last person they''d want to share it with...¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°So I go sideways, again. To marry Wick...¡±


    Wick waved her hands. ¡°Corvayne slow down, you have no idea if I-¡±


    ¡°A spear moves forward. I''ve learned a lot these few weeks. But... if I want to keep you safe AND make you happy... what I am won''t be enough. For you to be happy, I need you to not be torn between what you need to do and what you want to do. I need an outside force, something that tips the balance.¡±


    It was odd, he was totally calm but felt that rolling weight, pushing him forward now, like a mountain just a little behind him. Is this what Wick was talking about, when everything felt TOO right? Well, too bad, because Corvayne agreed with whoever was in charge. The spear lead him, and it knew the way. He had defended Wick, but he couldn''t forever. He couldn''t wait for the next Argyle, and the next one, and so on.


    Mister I was beaming. Wick was just, staring at him. ¡°What... Corvayne... what''s with that look?¡±


    He looked at her and smiled. ¡°There''s a route for me that no one else in The Collective has. I need to find and take over The Watchers.¡±

 Chapter 88: Where we are going.

    The meeting this time was in the hospital room. Nyxion was the reason, as he couldn''t get out of bed yet. Corvayne had helped drag chairs in. Gary would listen in, but the man hadn''t complained about being included by default.


    Wick had called the meeting on short notice, after about 10 minutes at the end of therapy trying to convince Corvayne he didn''t have to go back to The Watchers. He had patiently exhausted all their other options and flatly rejected just giving up on her. Mister I looked stunned that Corvayne was holding his ground, but recovered at the end to urge her to make it a normal meeting.


    They set up so that Nyxion''s bed was part of the circle of metal chairs. Lady Blood Claw sat on one side, while Wick took the other chair. Grunt just leaned up against the wall. Dawn and Nepthia were sitting on the wall next to him, which made Corvayne try to guess who invited them. He might still owe Nepthia at least a meal or something, as he suspected she had picked off the helicopters at the end of his fight with Argyle.


    Mosh had left however many girls he was normally with home. He did have a big notebook and a pen tucked behind his ear, clearly planning to take notes.


    Hari was there, along with Khorkos. The half elf warrior who had been her party leader had a shopping bag that Corvayne saw was stuffed with pairs of jeans.


    Mister I came as well, first checking up to make sure Gary was doing okay, then to ask what everyone wanted him to cook for lunch.


    ¡°Don''t worry! I''ll bother Nyxion for the meeting details!¡± He happily rapped on Nyx''s cast, which made the nobleman bite his teeth and tear up a little as Mister I walked away.


    Brines showed up next, pulling in a dry erase board. Seru came into the room with him, carrying a box of coffee she set on a desk and waving at Corvayne with a smile then bounding up to Hari and taking a seat next to her. Khorkos looked over at Seru and gave her a goofy smile, to which Seru made a kissey face and Hari made a finger across the neck gesture that had the same effect as a bucket of cold water on the warrior.


    The last person to come into the room Corvayne didn''t fully expect. Jake, or he should say, officer Jake since he was in uniform, came in, got a coffee, and sat down.


    Wick cleared her throat. ¡°Thanks for the guests who came. We''ll do new business first, then recap.¡±


    ¡°Corvayne has laid out a goal to find his village of desert super humans, undo his exile, and then take them over to help us deal with The Collective. On the flip side, we can expect some sort of response from defeating Argyle in as little as two weeks, assuming they don''t have agents here and assuming that they can''t charge through portals to get here faster.¡±


    Seru added. ¡°The good news though is every world has portals that popped up, and Old Town isn''t wired as well as other parts of town, so there isn''t a bunch of HD video of say, Corvayne tearing apart a train depot. That is to say, there is video of a few parts of the fight, but it''s mostly security footage of Corvayne running from a bunch of guys in robes, in fuzzy IR.


    Jake nodded. ¡°We have cameras on the tracks, one of them caught the end of the fight where Corvayne managed to push Argyle in front of a moving train. Considering the monks actions, Corvayne has the backing of the Cascadia PD as justified self defense. The folks who have to clean those trains might have a few words with you, however.¡±


    Mosh laughed really hard at that, amid a few chuckles other party members had.


    Wick nodded. ¡°Back to a possible long journey, Dawn''s going to help us, namely Mosh, secure what he needs to start working on better transportation. I''m going to finalize a few investigations around town. I know Corvayne accepted a dungeon leading role, we''re going to do some scouting while he does that. I hope you''re making money off it?¡±


    Brines nodded. ¡°I intend to pay him, but I can divert some of the money to help with whatever you need to get organized.¡±


    Dawn nodded. ¡°Motorized carts, pack animals, or a big truck, it''s all expensive.¡±


    ¡°I''m guessing you don''t need the full two weeks for those?¡± Corvayne asked.


    Dawn just rubbed her fingers together. Fair enough. Corvayne turned to Wick. ¡°So you''re going to be out doing survey work? Does that include the paintings?¡±


    ¡°Stuff we talked about with Mister I tomorrow. Paintings and where you showed up when we get back.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Who''s doing what?¡±


    Hari cleared her throat. ¡°I''m going to be off for two days, I''m going to give Caala a crash course in investigation so she can go with the party, as well as a letter of introduction to Master Uphine.¡±


    Dawn shifted a little, raising an eyebrow. Corvayne didn''t smell smoke but she had a lit cigarette. ¡°She''s MOVING to another world?¡±


    ¡°If she''s in their party, it should let her shift with them, but yes. She always wanted to explore dungeons and such.¡±


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Dawn shrugged. ¡°Well, you guys got the credit bounty for finding the girls, not my problem after that.¡±


    ¡°So, I''d like to take Grunt, and Mister I if he isn''t busy. I guess Lady Blood Claw can back Corvayne up or come with us. Maybe we''ll offer to drive around any of Hari''s party that want to see the landscape.¡±


    Hari repeated what was said in a language that Corvayne hadn''t heard her speak, then turned to respond. ¡°That''s fine, they want to go. I''ll set it up tonight so Sissl can cast understand languages again.¡±


    Jake cleared his throat. ¡°I wanted to ask if, in the next few weeks, you''d arrange a group to investigate the Tower instance in Cascadia National forest, again, to try to find if there''s any of the missing people left in it. That and help hunt goblins, they are spilling into the forest from somewhere.¡±


    Gary shot up. ¡°Oooh man it''s just like one of those novels! If you don''t do dungeons, they spill monsters!¡±


    Seru winced. ¡°I hope not! There''s like a hundred of them around here.¡±


    Everyone in the room was quiet. A hundred portals, even spilling weak monsters, would require massive changes to how the city was laid out, how people went about their lives... either by forcing folks to clear out near the entrance of every dun- Tower, or by accepting they''d spill monsters and building infrastructure for that...


    In the quiet Mister I barged into the room with hot dogs and burgers. ¡°They are made from hydra and land Kraken according to the packages! Thank Hari for giving me some of her precious treasure... Why is everyone staring at me?¡±


    Wick folded her arms. ¡°Given your talent for therapy, there''s no way you can''t read the room.¡±


    Nyx chuckled. ¡°Very smooth transition from monsters possibly tearing civilization apart to lunch. I''d like a hot dog, please!¡±


    Dawn then laughed once. ¡°Maybe this will get city planning to actually pick up their damn phone. Fuckin assholes still won''t talk to me or Brines about making Old Town it''s own munincipality!¡±


    Brines looked a little wilted. ¡°Don''t you think that''s a... a little unimportant compared to swarms of monsters?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shrugged. ¡°James, I don''t think it''s actually that big of deal, most monsters on the first floor of any Tower are very, very weak. Just carry a small sword and keep an eye on ones that have goblins or large carnivores.¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I think it''s going to be something that''s on people who live near the Tower entrances to deal with. Beyond my scope to do every single Tower if there''s over a hundred known ones, on top of the one in my house.¡±


    Wick pointed to Corvayne. ¡°Our house! Wipe that grin off your face! I have a local task for you too-¡± Wick turned and saw Mister I frowning, then sighed and held her hands up in defeat. ¡°Fine, we''ll spend some time in the house after we do a little mission. You know what? Hehehe, consider it a date!¡±


    Corvayne felt mild alarm. ¡°I''m guessing from your smile, it''s going to be messy and not actually a date, at all?¡±


    Hari stepped forward. ¡°What about me? Wick, you are a poor Girlfriend!¡±


    Wick held up a hand. ¡°I don''t date! Fine, I''ll show you all the crappy rom-coms you''ll ever need to woo Corvayne.¡±


    Hari clapped. ¡°And you!¡±


    Wick looked miserable. ¡°And if you try that with me, I will hurt you.¡±


    Mister I coughed. ¡°Hari, she''s not joking, so please...¡±


    Corvayne tapped his foot. ¡°Do we have any other business to bring up?¡±


    Nyxion stirred a little. ¡°We should locate Corvayne''s companion, especially if he''s to return to his tribe.¡±


    Corvayne felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. ¡°Not my companion.¡±


    Nyxion looked down at his broken form. ¡°Well then dig up some healing potions so I can go find her, then.¡±


    ¡°It''s covered in what Wick was talking about with the paintings. Her own stuff might also lead to finding the ships you are looking for, since we are trying to find where we think the core came from.¡±


    ¡°It came from the mines.¡± Nyxion sounded a little confused.


    ¡°We think there''s another Tower instance somewhere that the object was originally pulled from, when it still worked. As of now, it''s a brass paperweight. Either way, you''ll be in the loop.¡±


    Jake raised an eyebrow. ¡°Are you sure you wanna talk about that in front of me, I mean-¡±


    Wick nodded to him. ¡°That you came out to help us take down Argyle at all... I can''t thank your officers or the people of Old Town enough. But even if he got caught off guard when everyone rushed him, I don''t want to risk it again. I can''t ask you to try to come up with cover for us and put more officers lives down to stall some magic fueled monster.¡±


    Jake nodded. ¡°Ideally, by the time that happens our boys will have their own tricks to help do their job. I''m sort of shocked we haven''t seen a spike in crime.¡± He turned and looked directly at Dawn, who just smiled.


    ¡°It''s because, Officer, all the criminals are also running into magic space-time portals to kill things for treasure. Just, probably not all monsters.¡±


    ¡°That''s a whole other problem too... we can''t keep people safe if there''s no system for where they are, or we can''t track someone going in one hole and out another. Some people are forming camps by the entrances and sleeping in the portals so they can get a nights sleep in an hour of real time. That''s not a secure spot!¡±


    Seru gave a little wave. ¡°Okay, so lets post some basic safety tips outside these Towers, and maybe get the city planners to help change how things are set up so that Cascadia makes some of the area inside the dungeon public?¡±


    Corvayne rubbed his face. ¡°Or just, open inns inside the gateway. Not like there''s a lack of materials in most of them.¡±


    Mister I raised a hand. ¡°Speaking of dungeons! I have my own group who''s going to want Corvayne for an expedition.¡±


    Corvayne wiggled his hand as a maybe. ¡°Later this week I might have time, and put the money to whatever we decide by say, Thursday, be it leaving or if we stay and try to weather another storm maybe going with a better defended home.¡±


    Everyone in the room''s expressions told Corvayne that was going to be unlikely. No arguments from him, once was enough. For now. A spear holds in place, and lets the moment come to it. He wasn''t sure that was one of the things Waves-Within said, but it sounded like a WW original.


    Wick put her hands together. ¡°I think that''s new business, so have a burger or hotdog and we''ll do a quick recap of things to do. I have some locations to scout that might shed light on why folks like Argyle are after me. No comments from the peanut gallery.¡±


    Grunt nodded, then saluted and walked out after grabbing two hamburgers without bothering to take a bun. Wick cupped her mouth. ¡°It won''t take THAT long you jackass!¡±


    Mister I held a hand up. ¡°Grunt has the total clarity of someone who doesn''t care about what they do not know or cannot remember.¡±


    Corvayne folded his hands. ¡°I cannot tell if that''s a compliment or an insult.¡±


    A meaty hand popped in from the hall and gave everyone a thumbs up.

 Chapter 89: And where have we been? (Recap)

    Wick put her hands together. ¡°I think that''s new business, so have a burger or hotdog and we''ll do a quick recap of things to do. I have some locations to scout that might shed light on why folks like Argyle are after me. No comments from the peanut gallery.¡±


    Grunt nodded, then saluted and walked out after grabbing two hamburgers without bothering to take a bun. Wick cupped her mouth. ¡°It won''t take THAT long you jackass!¡±


    Mister I held a hand up. ¡°Grunt has the total clarity of someone who doesn''t care about what they do not know or cannot remember.¡±


    Corvayne folded his hands. ¡°I cannot tell if that''s a compliment or an insult.¡±


    A meaty hand popped in from the hall and gave everyone a thumbs up.


    *********************************************************************************


    Wick got up and shut the door, then walked over to the white board. Everyone else took a moment to grab food as Wick wrote. Corvayne offered her a hot dog and she wolfed it down then went right back to writing.


    ¡°So, a few weeks back Corvayne arrives on the same day that Towers star forming. We don''t know why those events happened the same day, but they did.¡±


    Jake looked confused. ¡°Wait, you guys act like you''ve known each other for a while, so wouldn''t-¡±


    Wick stopped writing. She looked between Jake, then Brines, then rolled her head a little. ¡°Just tell him everyone.¡±


    Corvayne said ¡°Time Loop.¡± at the same time as Seru, Nyxion, Lady Blood Claw, and Mister I.


    ¡°Oh, okay. Makes a lot more sense why he was always so annoyed we asked him basic questions about running into an unknown hostile space.¡± Jake had a little notebook out. ¡°How many loops? Is there anything you know is going to happen we need to work on here?¡±


    Brines perked up. ¡°Lottery numbers?¡±


    Wick shook her head. ¡°They changed this time.¡±


    Corvayne raised a hand. ¡°One and No, Jake. I think since we just included more people, let''s start with the entire recap. We met about three months and some change in our perspective...¡±


    ¡°Might have been more.¡± Wick added.


    ¡°Wick and I might have met before. But we don''t have clear memories of it, so I''m going to let that slide and focus on our story. I grew up in a warrior village and was a pariah.¡±


    Gary gasped. ¡°No! They couldn''t have hated Master!¡±


    Jake folded his arms. ¡°Did you kill or r-¡±


    ¡°No Jake, they''d have branded me as well if I did either.¡±


    ¡°So you pissed off the village leader? Council of elders.¡±


    ¡°My dad hates me, no idea why. It might be a curse, but if you have more questions ask away.¡± Corvayne was starting to remember why he didn''t get along with Jake.


    The police officer just waved. ¡°Well, we all like you, so don''t get upset.¡± Wait, really?


    Corvayne continued his part. ¡°Anyway, we had a weird being called The Magus locked up. I got fed up with being picked on and went to talk to him, even though there was a rule to never disturb him.¡±


    Jake tapped his note pad. ¡°Was he a prisoner, or the real ruler?¡±


    ¡°Don''t know, but probably the former. The Magus asked me to hunt down wizards, which was an odd request because he''s the only thing that I''ve ever see do magic.¡±


    Jake smirked. Gary was slapping the bed. ¡°I knew it! You''re the chosen one!¡±


    Corvayne bit his lip. ¡°No. Mr Magus was VERY clear that he was just trying to get me to do something since I was handy. He might have also cursed me while I was there, because in short order I was found, exiled, and soon after I got lost in a desert I had patrolled for years, sometimes months at a time without issues.¡±


    ¡°Which desert?¡± Jake asked. Seru was giving him a look that suggested some sort of re-assessment and Corvayne had a tremor of fear as he recalled dealing with them both together for five floors.


    Wick stepped in. ¡°We don''t know. Not on this world. Also, Corvayne thinks some time passed, because it seemed like as he walked the sun rose and set quickly. The only thing he knows is what seemed a moment later, he was on Cascadia. He later learned it wasn''t his world, and walked into town and bumped into me and Grunt. He kicked two guys who were robbing people''s asses for us, and he seemed lost so I decided to help him, you know? Grunt agreed to have him work at the warehouse, and I ear marked him to help me with a possibly dangerous project to track bigfoot.¡±


    Corvayne, knowing Wick better, thought it was possible that she was more worried about other people then Bigfoot.


    ¡°We go into the woods, and end up near the stairway when we get surrounded by hostile Bigfeet. They were probably monsters in another section of the same Tower. Corvayne used a bunch of his spear-fu moves but we got forced to retreat up the stairs and rather then make a last stand, Corvayne tried to commit suicide by jumping-¡±


    Corvayne couldn''t help but blurt out, thrusting with a hotdog like it was his spear. ¡°I some how KNEW there was a portal.¡±


    Wick kept writing her time-line without adding what he said nor changing the word ''suicidal''. ¡°Okay sure. Anyway, we ended up in a weird world, saw some skeletons, and we couldn''t go back, and had to fight goblins and monsters and eventually a dragon, and because it took a few days I got to know him better and the big lug grew on me.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think of myself as a lug because it implies I''m not agile.¡±


    Nyx laughed. ¡°What happened, Corvayne? Tooting your own horn for once?¡±


    ¡°That or Argyle has very poor aim.¡± Corvayne nodded at Nyxion, and Wick cleared her throat and kept talking.


    ¡°So I asked him to help me, partner up with me because I wanted to keep looking into the paranormal and I wanted to get stronger because of people like Argyle.¡±


    Jake tapped his pen. ¡°Very clearly there''s more. How do you know this?¡±


    Wick waggled a finger. ¡°People like Praetor Goule. The weird stories you hear about them are not all just bullshit.¡±


    Jake nodded while he wrote everything down. ¡°I''d buy that, maybe not three weeks ago but now? Now I think everyone''s filter is turned down a few notches.¡±


    Wick kept going. ¡°So we started training and got geared up and tried things, then next week went in again, with Grunt and Mister I joining us. While inside we found Mosh and Hari who were alone...¡±


    Mosh waved. ¡°I told em I was a good goblin! Boss got me, thankfully, before Grunt ate me.¡±


    Hari frowned. ¡°I don''t think Grunt eat people.¡±


    Wick shrugged. ¡°Never anyone I liked, at least. So... Hari''s party had fallen to a monster and his goblin army which Corvayne and Grunt then killed. We rescued her and made it a goal to get her and Mosh home, though because she was going to end up in a hostile place we explored the third floor for treasure and found a highly dangerous castle where Corvayne nearly got himself killed himself, one of many times.¡±


    Corvayne leaned away from Wick towards Jake. ¡°Just for the record: This chain armor I found by the dragon and guards that nearly killed me probably saved my life a half dozen times.¡±


    Wick picked up a marker cap and landed a hit on Corvayne''s shoulder, doing no damage but carrying her intent. Corvayne tried winking, and Wick just shook her head at him, then refocused on writing and looking at the room.


    She pointed to the next event with her marker. ¡°We also went to a town, where we learned about ''People of the Tower''. There''s people who call them NPCs but I prefer to think of them as extremely innocent ... Jake! Jake, make sure people understand that even if they act... odd... they are people and can grow and learn to act more normal.¡±


    Jake nodded. ¡°I visited the town with you, I remember.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but I don''t want Banner to have to kill a bunch of teenagers who find a cat woman or something and think it''s a game with 0 rules.¡±


    ¡°I''ll add it to the list.¡± Jake nodded.


    ¡°Right. So, we cleared the Tower up through five floors, and we thought Hari would get sent back so we got her ready to run out of the dungeon she came in on, alone, but she stayed with us, and moved in with Corvayne for a while...¡± Wick sucked on her cheek a little. Hari took the moment to scoot her chair up and start brushing his leg with hers.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Corvayne spoke at the same time Jake did. ¡°Not relevant¡± ¡°Not important.¡±


    Wick laughed. ¡°You two! I think it''s important enough.¡±


    Gary agreed loudly which made Wick pause. ¡°Anyway, we heard of a UFO crashing after a week of Hari adjusting, and we went out into the woods where a military unit had blown itself up on a kinetic shield. Turns out that was Nyxion''s shield. Nyx, our troubled noble, and Lady Blood Claw, his non-human heavy, made an unapproved landing.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw pinched the bridge of her nose. ¡°I want to make it official that I argued heavily to NOT have that title.¡±


    Jake paused his jotting of notes. ¡°What''s wrong with being a Lady?¡±


    Nyxion rolled his eyes at her objection instead. ¡°Heavy suited what you did better, a lieutenant implies there''s more troops under you.¡±


    Mister I added. ¡°Perhaps we should amend as well that Nyxion is the grandson of the disposed Emperor Nyxion Augustus before the current royal family instituted a Hostile takeover.¡±


    Wick threw her arms up. ¡°Yes but we could mention it later, the main thing is that they broke into Brine''s Old Town warehouse... Officer Jake don''t glare previous time line. You too Jimmy. I was saying, they broke in, in literally an event there is only oral evidence for, looking for a crate that contained an artifact, realized it was a ''dud'' and went chasing after where they assumed it had come from. Because they had fought us and wrecked our beloved rock warehouse, we built a hover cycle and chased them out into the desert, ending up at the Day Star mine.¡±


    Jake, Brines, and Hari all perked up at hoverbike entering the conversation.


    Wick was thinking a little. ¡°The situation is similar to what happened in this time line, with the managers having been disposed of while a group of mercenaries took over camp, in this case looting a bunch of Tower gear they used the miners to gather. They planned to nuke the entire place, but we managed to save the whole mine, with Corvayne getting a little fried. When the mercenaries were dead, we ended up negotiating with Nyx and LBC.¡±


    ¡°We were stuck on this turd of a rock so I like to think it''s a mutual hostage situation.¡± Nyx rolled his eyes.


    Corvayne held up a hand. ¡°I want to ask him...¡±


    Lady Blood Claw rolled her eyes. ¡°On the next loop, we were in the forest where we landed, minus our space ship and whatever had been bleed out of time by the monk. There. Happy?¡±


    It did and didn''t answer Corvayne''s questions. ¡°But why?¡±


    Wick thought about it. ¡°Maybe it''s because something here marks when a person starts interacting with... something, like when they set foot on Cascadia? Or perhaps, when they see me? I also don''t know why it can''t do anything with gear that Argyle destroyed. He trashed most of your spines too yet they came back, as with clothes too. Let''s get back to the thread. We formed a group to try to both sell the items and help Nyxion get stronger so he could get revenge on a certain figure...¡±


    ¡°It''s the creepy wizard who shows up behind the Emperor whenever he does events. Right?¡± Jake waved his pen around to gesture at Nyxion. ¡°Sorry Mr Augustus. I do my home work.¡±


    ¡°Never call a noble mister, Lord is the appropriate-¡± Nyx was drowned out by Hari giving him the rasberry.


    ¡°Too late, we know you already.¡± Hari said, folding her arms.


    Nyx went back to resting. ¡°Fine. No respect from the rabble, I tell you.¡±


    Wick huffed, and tapped the board. ¡°Focus class. Okay. Great. So, We formed a team, rented out a nice place in Old Town, and we were getting ready to start running the Tower seriously... and a squad of helicopters and APCs started moving into town towards Old Town, with orders to find me.¡±


    Jake nodded. ¡°If the mine almost got nuked, it''d have woken him up. We were pretty sure he operated out in the desert somewhere.¡±


    Wick nudged Corvayne. ¡°Add seeing what he was guarding to the list. Anyway, we got pushed to the point where I activated an escape plan on a trader ship that was at the space port.¡±


    Jake put his pencil down. ¡°That''s always a bad idea, there''s so many sensors on the Space Port that when a mouse farts it''s a 10 page report.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Well, we didn''t have Grunt. If the big lug was there, it might have been different. As it was, Argyle attacked us without even talking, knocking us to the ground then picking us off on the runway one by one. He hit me last, and then I woke up in my apartment with something like a hangover from hell, could barely move or breath, no staff wounds through me. So I know something is wrong, but I have this urge to go... go for a drive, and I ask Mister I if Corvayne made it, and he looked at me crazy and wanted to know who Corvayne was. Looked at the date, and it''s April 9 again, back to the middle of summer.¡±


    Mister I nods. ¡°I thought she had forgotten to take her pills, but she''d never wanted to actually go on a car ride anywhere, so I took her for a ride and the entire time I was thinking of friends I thought I had visited, it was like an echo of the time before. Corvayne helped jog my memory, seeing him walking down the road, I recalled grilling with him!¡±


    Wick slapped her pant leg. ¡°Don''t mention at all that I was happy to see him because I had seen him die hours earlier!¡±


    Mister I nods. ¡°There was no crying and hugging. At all¡±


    ¡°If you were not there I probably would have baptized your back seat.¡± Wick grinned wickedly.


    Mister I rubbed his mouth with a sleeve from the robe he was wearing. ¡°I would say my truck is plenty holy, given it belongs to me.¡±


    Corvayne hesitated. ¡°Even... uh... the back seat?¡±


    The monk looked offended. ¡°Young Corvayne... ESPECIALLY the back seat! Ha ha ha!¡±


    Wick looked a little sick. ¡°I''m never going to be able to ride inside the truck again!¡±


    ¡°Outside also somewhat blessed.¡± Mister I shrugged.


    ¡°Okay, so by this point a day had passed, so we decided to do the only sensible thing and rush to the Dungeon to see if it was there.¡± Wick pointed at Mosh and Hari. ¡°We also wanted to clear it out so you two didn''t have the same poor experience. When we got there, we found civilians inside.¡±


    Seru lept up. ¡°That''s where I come in!¡±


    Gary raised his hand. ¡°Oww, number 1 deciple!¡±


    Jake tapped his pen. ¡°Don''t we all know it?¡±


    Dawn shook her head. ¡°All new to me. Might have to up her dosage doc.¡±


    ¡°Don''t compare me to a doctor! Very rude.¡± Mister I acted offended.


    Mosh laughs. ¡°If it helps Icariii, I think of you mostly as an easy mark for chess.¡±


    The monk rolled his eyes. ¡°Says the little ball of sweat who clutches his head so hard it turns yellow.¡±


    Wick rolls her hand, eager to wrap it up. ¡°Well, we had seen Seru and possibly Jake and Gary before, as skeletons right at the start, so we had to split objectives. They needed to be guided out safe and sound, but if we left Hari and Mosh to get attacked by wild goblins we''d be bad friends. So we dragged them around the dungeon and trained them, much to their complaints. That included removing photo evidence of us, because we had just came back from dying and didn''t want to repeat it by attracting the murder-monk''s attention.¡±


    Seru huffed. ¡°You tossed my phone off a cliff!¡±


    Corvayne narrowed his eyes. ¡°You insulted Wick. Of course I''m going to respond.¡±


    He snuck a glance at his lovely princess girlfriend and saw her smile.


    Jake took his hat off and ran a finger through his hair. ¡°I didn''t realize I was going to walk out of there in a week with a better body then a year of going to the gym. Also, you pretty much kidnapped us by not just getting us directly to the exit.¡±


    Corvayne kept the ball rolling. ¡°After a detour, and Seru threatening to reveal us to the world, we managed to get them out alive. But Seru tried to blackmail us over the treasure at the end.¡±


    ¡°I wanted to come along! Why do you sound angry I totally helped us!¡± Seru whined.


    Wick pointed the marker at Seru. ¡°Yeah, but... remembering it makes me mad! You think it was fun? First you hit me like a truck after I took your phone, then you ran off the wrong direction!¡± Wick sighed. ¡°Me and Corvayne both agreed to try to save you, despite you not really deserving it then. Don''t get all teary eye''d, you''re growing on me. A little. I''m still annoyed you slept with Corvayne.¡±


    Seru popped her hips out. ¡°Who can resist?¡±


    Jake raised a single hand, still writing.


    Corvayne cleared his throat. ¡°We had to split the party here. Wick left to tell Mister I what happened, and get more help with Grunt. I ran up to floor 6 to find Seru. We had to camp out, and she needed comfort and kept bugging me until I said yes to go to sleep.¡±


    Gary shook his head. ¡°You and Seru had s-s-sex?!¡±


    Everyone turned to look at Gary with some level of eye twitching as Corvayne turned back to try to figure out what everyone was thinking. Hari held her hand out. ¡°You have eyes, right? No suprise.¡±


    Gary sighed. ¡°I had thought master was above worldly temptations.¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I''m just a guy.¡± He was thinking about how they found the inn before the boss fight, an infinite space that could supply him with a whole bunch of Wicks. Temptation.


    Hari nodded. ¡°When he gives in, he gives it his all!¡±


    Corvayne held his hands up. ¡°This is going to take all afternoon. Let''s cut it down. We reformed as a group of 7, and went through floors six through ten. The sixth floor was hide and seek with robots and zombies in a neighborhood, on the next floor Seru took a life threatning injury and I got my eye shot out by a porcupine from hell. We healed through it, and had to backtrack when we ran into a floor that was stuffed with monsters, instead meeting up with some nice goblins who we rescued from rabid ones and went to their town...¡±


    He heard Dawn mutter. ¡°He probably could have skipped most of that section.¡±


    Mosh poked him. ¡°Boss what the hell! I wanna go see it! The goblin city!¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°We gave them the basics on using mend and worshiping Lythandies, as well as the weapon skills that Corvayne uses, the simple ones.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Put that on the list of things to do before you got to war, Mosh. Anyway, we made some friends, then the next floor was an empty version of my old town. When we went down to fight the five floor guardian but Grunt decided to go help some miners stuck before a the big monster...¡±


    Gary coughed. ¡°Just call them Bosses Master. It''s clear the Tower is a game of some sort, right?¡±


    Hari pointed at him. ¡°Don''t make baseless guesses! Bad! Will sic goblin on you again!¡±


    Mosh acted menacing, and Gary pulled the covers over his head.


    Wick cleared her throat. ¡°Well, the boss was a 1 on 1 fight, against Corvayne''s old fiancee...¡±


    Corvayne rolled his eyes. ¡°I won. She looked like a water monster because of a curse, I wouldn''t trust anything you heard. She was trying to kill me.¡±


    Wick added. ¡°Interestingly, I sometimes want to kill you too, when you go and risk your life on something stupid instead of sticking with us and trusting us to help you!¡±


    ¡°Wick I''ll get you ice cream after we finish this catch-up thing.¡±


    Jake flipped his notebook closed. ¡°I think I can fill in the rest. You learned who Argyle is, he learned about you...¡±


    Wick held up a hand. ¡°There''s more, like he nearly caught us at Seru''s house, and we slipped away from him twice in a different tower where we learned that Corvayne has a huge bounty on him for taking him alive to someone that the Tower itself forgot.¡±


    Jake stopped. ¡°Bounties?¡±


    ¡°There''s ways to track people in the tower.¡± Corvayne said. ¡°I mean, if there wasn''t the answer to most of life¡¯s problems would be to just wander away.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know, I spent a few years helping our missing person''s department. Except when you ID a body and it''s someone who fell in a river in winter.¡±


    Corvayne perked up. ¡°I hope I get to see snow, I''ve always read about how you can sculpt it.¡±


    Wick looked at everyone else. ¡°Please don''t ruin it for Corvayne.¡± Corvayne blinked.


    Nyxion looked at everyone else looking away puzzled. ¡°He knows that it barely snows here, it''s all freezing fog, right?¡±


    Mosh patted Corvayne''s arm. ¡°I''m sure it freezes and snows real bad further north. We''ll go play in the snow buddy, all right?¡±


    Corvayne started to stand and Wick gently took his arm and he found himself sitting. ¡°Just stick it out we are almost done. Jake was sort of right, we hid from Argyle, trapped in Old Town, set up traps for him, and had a grueling fight. It''s a miracle none of us died.¡±


    Dawn snorted a little, and Corvayne caught Mister I getting tight lipped.


    Jake tapped his notebook again. ¡°So, you have a powerful enemy in the empire, possibly the Baron L''Tideru, who might be sending a massive army to crush Cascadia?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Yeah, so if you don''t mind, I''d like to spend some time with Wick, alone time.¡±


    He then vigorously made up for those few days away from her.

 Chapter 90: Into the Land Locked Docks

    Mere Park was a two-block park near the middle of the island. Right from the train station he could see the park he was headed to, a rectangle of green amid rows of tightly packed homes with little yards in front and behind them, all partitioned with fences. The Tower in this instance was obvious, as a set of stairs had grown out of the basketball court. Like the rest of the Towers discovered the last few days, it was doing brisk business with would-be weekend adventurers flocking to try to get super powers. A crowd of them had formed lines by the court, with some people setting up booths for food or weapons bought from a hardware store like axes and machetes. Corvayne read many books where society just broke down when portals came into being, but he had read most people that had dived into Towers were planning to be weekend warriors, and some people were rightly hesitant to go in and ''gain levels'' when there was a real risk of death.


    He could see the group he was going to go with gathering at the end of the line, this time a few friends and some unfamiliar faces mixed in.


    Brines had made a sheath for his fire breathing dagger that matched his padded diving suit. He was sweating, either because he was extremely nervous, or because his outfit was probably too warm for days where the sun was shining. As the organizer of this expedition, Brines had helped supply everyone with some of the things Corvayne wanted anyone going into the Tower to have: A backpack, at least two days supply of water, trail mix and some jerky, a knife, a bedroll, rope and mesh bags, a pair of flashlights, and a fire kit. Corvayne was carrying extra water in his storage ring, guessing that Brines might not have made sure people understood two days was something like two gallons of water.


    Lady Blood Claw was behind him. She had knocked on Corvayne''s door to request training and his explanation of where he was going shifted to coming along. She held Mister I''s old bow, in addition to the two handed sword she usually used, shifting the weapons on her back while looking around. Her skin was a light gray that suggested she was nervous, perhaps because everyone lining up behind her came up to ask her if she was an alien or monster or demon, and then if she was a Drow after the first few curious civilians embarrassed her to the point her skin turned dark blue.


    The only other person in line getting as much or more attention was Mosh, whom everyone wanted to snap a picture with, given that he looked like a monster. June was waiting beside him, mostly ignoring everyone to watch cars go back and forth on the nearest street, shifting a well made silver spear. Corvayne and Mosh had spent a little time the night before forging metal spears and sharpening steel knives. Mosh had woven his armadillo armor into a nicer set of clothes, and June had an outfit of thick cloth with leather padding on her torso and legs.


    Behind them was a tall athletic girl wearing what looked like a larger version of Mosh''s armadillo armor. She had a pair of what looked like slightly rusty hatchets, though they gleamed with a new edge. Corvayne hadn''t spoken to Varia yet, but every so often he''d catch her staring at him over her phone. It felt like she was assessing him.


    Ayame came up next in line, Hair pulled into a bun and wearing her sauce splattered apron loaded up with old kitchen knives and a large cleaver only put to shame by his own. She was huffing a little, and keep looking at the stairs ahead nervously while shifting a large backpack she had.


    An older man with a plumber''s wrench was behind Ayame, currently fanning himself with a piece of paper. He had a lot of extra body weight and was sweating and looking impatiently at the people in front of him. Brines had reassured Corvayne that the plumber, Curtis, was nice enough even if he wanted to go go go.


    Behind Curtis was a fellow that Corvayne had met in a previous life. Horton was Wick''s friend who apparently supplied her with all the high tech toys she had. He was wearing a green T-Shirt with a man shooting at a UFO and the words ''Not Today, Motherfucker!'' on it, and was packing a bunch of gear stuffed into a bulging backpack. His weapon looked like a wood carved wizard''s staff, complete with a hand grasping a blue glass orb. He spent a lot of time looking at Lady Blood Claw and Mosh, and sometimes shooting Corvayne a look that seemed to also be sizing him up.


    The last three he knew by face from the warehouse: The two morning security guards and the parcel girl. Corvayne had forgotten their names but Brines had helpfully pointed out who''s who. Lessy was the guard with a ton of peircings, Buck was the skinny guy with the eye-patch, and Kayla worked as a courier, actually bringing them the crate that Nyxion had been looking for. Corvayne had stepped over to talk to them and found that Brines was behind the curve, as they had decided to pick new names.


    ¡°Ears-of-Steel!¡± Lessy had said proudly, dressed in black leather with metal spikes of questionable defensive value.


    ¡°Reaper-of-Fish.¡± Buck nodded. He had brought a fishing rod with him as well as his tackle box, with a fishing spear in addition to a sidearm as his weapons.


    Kayla hefted her backpack, and tapped the ground with steel toed boots then cracked her knuckles. ¡°Bearer-of-Burdens.¡±


    A quick check with Lady Blood Claw''s phone confirmed that this was probably the result of Hari, who knew about his village and it''s weird names, blurting to Seru, who then blurted to what he was starting to fear was all of Cascadia about his business. The three guards definitely knew at least some of his exploits, as ''Reaper-of-Fish'' had asked him if Corvayne could help him regrow his eye too, which he redirected to asking Mosh for help.


    Corvayne''s group was a blob and he felt it was probably too many people to properly protect, but on the other hand this was a non-blind Tower run, for once. He had a copy of the same paper the plumber Curtis was using as a fan, except Corvayne used it for it''s intended purpose: a rough outline of what the most likely set of floors were. The floors even had nicknames, Seru picking the ones that she liked the most to throw into a guide.


    He was going to review it one more time but it was their turn to step into what was dubbed ''Docks''. Brines undestandibly hesitated when it came to leading the way up so Corvayne simply walked past him to get the sand flowing on this expedition. He climbed his way up the concrete steps to nowhere, each step pushing away the faint traces of exhaust and mowed grass at the park and replacing it with the scent of the ocean until he reached the top and then walked through a dim gray hole in the world into an open area on a concrete pier, surrounded by warehouses and fog.


    The air was cooler and somehow drier in the Tower despite the clouds of moisture. The din of the city and crowded park morphed into clanking and lapping noises of the sea battering metal structures. Another group of adventurers were deciding where to go in the large concrete plaza around the gateway he had stepped from, and Corvayne could see a few people had set up a rainbow of tents in the area. Another group was waiting to leave, so Corvayne moved off to the side as his much larger pack gathered.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    It took more then a minute for their entire party to arrive through the portal. Brines was smiling the entire time, waving people over, then turned and gave Corvayne a sharp salute. ¡°Corvayne, why don''t you tell us which route we''re going to take?¡±


    The athletic man handed Corvayne a laminated page that had a basic map, also curated by Seru. Corvayne scanned it briefly then handed the drawn map to Lady Blood Claw behind him and reviewed Seru''s floor report.


    1A ¨C Landing Docks, crate mazes. Mostly safe, some weak sea life, and ''fake crates''. Everybody uses the exits on bridges up to ships. Most of entry area cleared out. Water varies from 1-10 ft deep, most of the time you can stand in it unless you''re short! Low water is salt, warehouses have fresh water in taps and hoses, slightly rusty taste but no sickness after 2-3 days of drinking it with boiling.


    Major injury: urchins punctures hurt! I guess that''s why he uses a spear, huh? Also two people lost toes from crabs. Wear boots not flip flops!


    Deaths: 1 reported death due to heart attack when box mimic screamed at them.


    to do: scuba diver checking for deeper areas?


    Report of some pipes in the water with stairs in them go up to a sewer, some pipes go to ''wall''. No extra info on sewer.


    2A ¨C Pool tunnel. Poorly lit, enemies blend into plant life on walls, and water. Water elementals can punch twenty feet away. Standard exit stairs up into skylights. Water rarely deeper then 3 ft, suspect it''s ''pool water''. Smell of chlorine might irritate your nose. Non standard exit -> waterfall stairway.


    Injuries: several concussions from water bolts hitting people in the head. 1 broken nose.


    Deaths: sometimes find old bones with odd mideval gear, using resting in corners of the pools. Mineral growth on them.


    To do: Try to follow faint flow of water to/from source?


    2B ¨C Pipe wall: Not explored much. Tunnel exits lead to paths on side of giant building with huge pipes dumping water, thin walkways along huge wall. Looks like a huge abandoned industrial city. Sky wrong color. Flying monsters and risk of falling into hazy darkness below. Comments from people who checked ¨C Size and scale of area looks incredible.


    No known deaths/injuries.


    To do: explore with tools to prevent falls.


    3A ¨C Water malls. Huge moonlit grids over ocean, trains running between ''malls'' on stilts. Filled with picked over stores, shadow teens who spray paint, so use face protection or cover eyes. Also weird horse shoe crabs with fingers instead of crab. Malls each have 1-2 patrols of shadows in guard equipment, stronger then teens no guns but large group, run out of mall to lose them.


    Injury: some attempts stalled due to people getting blinded by paint. Wear eye protection! 3 people in critical condition after engaging shadow guards.


    Deaths: 2 people in a group were beaten to death by shadow guards when they tried to fight a whole group.


    To do: take stairs down to base of stations and malls and see what deal with ocean is. Groups noticed the stairs under platforms but wanted to go up.


    3B ¨C Night boats from waterfall stairs on 2A. Very dark, lit boats on an ocean with wood docs and metal gangways between them. Water looks full of sea life, prob hostile. Some sort of sniper monster, parties backed out with injury rather then try to fight.


    Injury: 3 groups had 1 or more members with puncture wounds from embedded shells, like literally sharp seashells. 1 Group had eye injury and had to abort climb.


    To do: have a big strong hero, possibly with night vision, check this floor out ;-) ?


    Corvayne stopped reading a moment to roll his eyes, as he had the first time he saw that little note.


    4A ¨C Dock Cube. Big open area. Like floor one but forest growing out of water. No sky, instead faces of cube w/ similar docks with gray mist obscuring most of ceiling, can walk up walls where they meet. Enemies are spiders on land and striders on water. Striders tall recommend bring a gun, legs tough. Watch out for living fork lift will try to run you over in warehouses. Can kill by stabbing engine or bleeding gas tank. Main stairs on side of warehouse to ''office''.


    5a ¨C Green Tower. Cramped area. Very vertical. Felt like a dungeons and dragons dungeon, lots of rusted gates and mossy-vine overgrown places, flowing water. Possibly a maze due to tunnels leading between ''shafts''. Heard things moving far away. Only creatures both groups reported didn''t attack, look like large bugs covered in flowers, eating moss. Going up a few hundred feet found a stairway into light.


    Boss ¨C Rusted machine. About the size of a desk, tries to ram and hammer people with four arms and legs. Dangerous due to mass and difficult to harm but hurts itself ramming walls.


    Corvayne switched with Lady Blood Claw, who hummed while reading the dispatch. Corvayne took a moment to look at the hand drawn maps of the floors. They were crude sketches of part of the first floor with 3 standard stairs listed around the entrance. The second floor was a scatter shot of room drawings loosely connected by lines, with directions how to get from landmark to landmark to the stairway. The third had a grid of four by four of the ''malls'' with where stairs were inside and which down stairs took you were in floor 2. Floor four had a rough map of two cubes, the drawing mostly showing the shape of land vs forest in one, the other was a series of lines laid out over a cross like a maze. No maps for floor five.


    Lady Blood Claw finished reading as he put the map down. She actually smiled at Corvayne ¡°Good info... Seru is full of surprises.¡± she handed the paper back and turned gray as she thought for a moment. ¡°I think if we are just killing for essence, I suspect that third floor will suit us best. In a big group we won''t get as much essence hunting small fry, but if there are big clumps of twenty or thirty enemies you''ll get the best results for trying to bolster someone who has not advanced. However, it goes without saying we should check to see how hard it is to dispatch shadows before we commit to trying to kill a whole pack.¡±


    Corvayne nodded at her, then gestured at their surroundings. ¡°Given the number of tents here, and the people I see about... I think we need to do some serious hiking on this floor to get away from the entrance and find some lone monsters to act as practice so nobody is surprised.¡±


    He was pretty sure he heard the old plumber groan, and the three who picked up new names frowned, but he held up a hand.


    ¡°The Tower changes time inside at a rate of about 7 to 1. So we got a few days here, and most of it is going to be moving from spot to spot. It''s better to do some hiking on the floor with the least threats and the one where we are not wading through water.¡±


    Mosh laughed. ¡°Don''t worry your pretty little heads about the walk. I''ll make the aches and pains go right away. Donations accepted.¡±


    There were more groans and Corvayne sighed. ¡°Okay, also if people haven''t been through there''s more treasure for us.¡±


    The entire group perked up and stood a little straighter. He heard Lady Blood Claw chortle as he inwardly shrugged. Whatever works, right?

 Chapter 91: A Long Walk off an Infinite Peir

    Corvayne had discovered very quickly that he marched a lot faster then anyone in the group, and so they took a slow and steady path in a direction that Corvayne plotted away from the trio of stairs, using the time hiking across the rusty industrial docks to try to get to know his new charges. Ayame was very friendly, though a little disappointed that the first floor looked like it could be any of the run down docks in Cascadia aside from now and then peering through the clouds of fog and seeing long line of similar docks and warehouses running off for miles and miles. She had frozen up when they saw the first monster two hours into the walk, a slowly moving urchin creeping down from a pile of shattered crates that had been full of coral, but after seeing Corvayne effortlessly skewer the third one she had been willing to try attacking a monster, but only after Corvayne chopped off some of it''s spines to give her a spot to attack without running into a wall of needles.


    Considering the aversion to violence and horror Ayame, Curtis, Horton, and Brines seemed to have at these rather small and mostly boring monsters, he might have gotten lucky with his first few companions and how often they just seemed fine with killing monsters. Even the security guards had pretty adverse reactions to the first time he caught a box mimic. Going anywhere on the floor required some bobbing and weaving through stacks of boxes, some piles fresh and smelling of sawdust, while others were more aged and a few reeking of mold. One box near the path he took was a little too... perfect for it''s stack and Corvayne held up a hand then approached it, spear ready. The little monster didn''t react to Corvayne getting close enough to jab it, so he used [Cross Skill: Nerve Pinch] with his spear to stun it so he could wrap an arm around it before it''s jaw could pop open, then wrestled the wood and muscle creature over to the group for them to kill it.


    ¡°Okay,¡± he said calmly after he had tied it''s spike tipped tentacles in a bow around it, locking it''s foot wide jagged jaw shut and set the angry box down to flop on the ground, ¡°Curtis, Ayame got the Urchin, so you''re up. Just take your wrench and give it three good hits and it should die.¡±


    Ayame was looking between Corvayne and the box hopping up and down. ¡°Did you have to be so mean to the monster?¡±


    Corvayne looked at her and nodded. ¡°I want it to be as easy as possible for him to kill it without slowing us with injury. Ideally we do not have any wounds today aside from those associated with sore feet from walking.¡±


    ¡°It''s so mean though. I''d feel bad hurting that little guy.¡± The noodle lady looked down at the box mimic, which was still struggling to undo his knot. From experience, the monster was less upset he was tied up then being unable to get to the humans and attack them.


    ¡°I gotta hit that little fucker?¡± Curtis asked, looking between the box flipping and hopping on it''s purple wiggly limbs, a single eye glaring now above it''s mouth that was straining to open past it''s rows of wood teeth.


    ¡°Yes, don''t worry. Monsters don''t seem to react to injury like people do, from what I''ve seen they will fight even when given every opportunity to run or surrender.¡± Corvayne nodded and gestured.


    The Plumber took his huge wrench and grabbed it in both hands, then lined up to hit the Mimic and swung, missing the box and hitting his own foot. His face went red and he dropped to the ground, lips shut but groaning anyway. Mosh sighed and walked up to the older man rolling on the ground and after a little mending, Curtis was still red face but standing, and Corvayne had picked up the little box and moved it back away from Lady Blood Claw, whom it had been steadily moving towards.


    This time Curtis stood feet apart and swung overhead, hitting the monster and chipping off some wood, sending purple blood flying. The monster hissed but kept bouncing around, so Curtis hit it again, and a third time, and a fourth time, sending bits of wood and gunk flying, horrifying more then a few of the group before Corvayne gently caught the man''s upswing and then let the slimy wrench down while calmly nodding.


    ¡°Good. That''s what you do. Good job killing that Mimic. For monsters like Mimics that we can eat, it helps to not totally destroy them, but it was a good first fight.¡±


    Someone threw up. Then another person did. Ayame was crying for ''Mr. Mimic.'' The whole thing had a weird effect on Corvayne, perhaps piggybacking on his previous statement that he was going to go find The Watchers: He slipped into the sort of halfway ''supportive apathy'' as many of the masters had shown other pupils as the day wore on.


    ¡°Good idea Horton. Puke now so we can keep going, we have a lot of territory to cover today.¡±


    ¡°Reaper-of-Fish, don''t worry about stabbing your foot. Once it''s healed we''ll go through basic footwork.¡±


    ¡°Miss Ayame, don''t fret. You are not the first person to stab themselves on an urchin. We''ll have that arm patched up in no time.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw had bright banded colors rolling across her skin, meaning that while she looked bored the whole thing was amusing to her, if not as much to Corvayne himself. He did not plead for help from her, as he had a few bright spots in addition to many messes. June clearly was at ease with a spear, as was Varia with her hatchets, and both of them seemed to be happy to kill anything that looked like a monster aside from, of course, Mosh, whom softened Varia''s steel personality, and whom June flirted with which caused Horton to complain to both Corvayne (who didn''t care) and Brines (who didn''t have a clue how to stop them).


    Horton himself was dragging a little bit, stopping to take readings then dashing forward to catch up only to fall behind again. As opposed to Curtis, who was just falling behind. They had gone a few miles, though the area still was sparse on monsters, and Corvayne had seen an emptied chest still sitting around. He wasn''t too shocked that the first floor would be sparse. He was a little surprised they had yet to run into any other groups, however.


    Breaking for water and some packed sandwiches, Corvayne took a moment to scale one of the buildings and try to get a sense of if there were any interesting features around. Far in the distance between pillars of gently drifting fog, he could see what looked to be strands of something emerging from the gray mist, all connected to what looked like a huge arch. So there were probably other features besides the endless squat expanse of warehouses, crates, and concrete piers chewing into the water ways like rocky teeth. Maybe he''d steer them that way, since he didn''t have any other pressing concerns besides just getting far enough away from the start that they could start making money and getting supplies.


    The floor didn''t have a sun, as the sky was layers of rolling clouds and gray and white mist, but the floor was getting darker to a point where looking up at the Sky Corvayne was a little worried it was going to thunderstorm. Given the thought of being caught out in either the dark or bad weather, Corvayne called for a long break once they found a warehouse clear of Mimics and set up watches. Curtis, despite lagging behind the group, had plenty of energy once they started a campfire and told stories his dad had told him about fighting in the war fifty years back. Corvayne was joined by Lady Blood Claw at the edge of their camp, overlooking the door in.


    ¡°Shouldn''t you be resting Lady?¡± He asked as she sat on long box he was using to watch the warehouse''s entrance. ¡°It''s going to be another long day tomorrow.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw snorted. ¡°You mean boring? The first wave cleaned this area out. We''ll have to go another few miles before you get fresh Tower.¡±


    ¡°We''ll do some more training tomorrow, then start head up to do serious looting and fighting on floor three.¡±


    She gave him a gentle elbow and her stern voice dropped a little. ¡°You doing okay? I''m surprised you left without Wick or Hari here. I think it made you a little meaner then usual. Which is fine, mean drills into them it''s not a game...¡±


    ¡°Worried I''ll become Nyxion?¡± Corvayne turned and smiled, and Lady laughed once.


    ¡°No. It''s just you''re the captain here.¡±


    Corvayne considered that. ¡°True. Mosh is a friend but he always refers to me as boss, and most of the others are sort of... rookies.¡±


    ¡°Why are you here, even?¡± Lady Blood Claw asked, looking right into his eyes.


    ¡°I''m going to need to be a leader. I don''t know if you know about... well I assume you know about Wick.¡±


    She just nodded, prompting Corvayne to continue.


    ¡°I need to become someone who can return to The Watchers and take over, or do something else to cement myself as a power, or Wick can''t commit to me.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw stared at him. ¡°That''s bullshit.¡±


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Corvayne nods. ¡°It is but I''ll overcome it.¡±


    ¡°No, I mean Wick shouldn''t tell you that. You are not the manifest hero from another world, sent to our world to right every wrong. Nor is Wick. You are people, and either you love each other or you don''t. I know, it doesn''t help me with my goal of getting to The Magus, but...¡±


    She held her hand up and gestured around her. ¡°This seems like it''s a sidetrack in every way.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°Maybe. I get it, we should be doing this with people we know will help us. I mean, I do know most of the people here, and I feel like you, me, and Mosh''s ladies are going to be around a while. I also want to build myself some connections, and try to... pay Cascadia back a little? At the very least... I might get Ayame to stop giving me pine needles.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. ¡°Before coming here, I would have assumed that someone giving you pine needles was trying to kill you. My advice then is to start getting to know your team.¡±


    She left him to the rest of watch, a duty he shared with Brines who was nervous and constantly asked what the sounds he was hearing were. After a few hours Corvayne tagged Mosh in and went to bed.


    Corvayne spent most of the next day focused on teaching people to walk while making less sound, and the general points of how to scan their surroundings for threats actively, what to look out for when facing ambush predators, and the general principal of learning an environment then looking for details that are off to find things like traps or mimics.


    They didn''t see another group in the morning but by the time they stopped for lunch more and more monsters were present, suggesting they had reached a fresh spot. Urchins were now oozing in packs over crates and slowly crawling between buildings, with hermit crabs the size of volleyballs sometimes trying to dart in to attack those urchins. It wasn''t even as much a real ecosystem as near his village, a low bar to pass since he had always been told was ''off'' because of the deep desert had an influence on the wild life. Just the same here, he thought the urchin monsters must be living off algae or chewing on the dungeon itself, and the crabs could eat discarded spines while occasionally killing an urchin. He supposed the mimics ate crabs? LBC''s question about if it mattered caused him to shrug.


    ¡°A spear''s most important part was it''s point, but a point without a shaft isn''t a spear.¡± He muttered to himself. He saw LBC shake her head at that, then shrugged. Okay, maybe stick to jabbing things and drills.


    He, with Lady Blood Claw''s help, started identifying details about his group as the gray light brightened. Ayame had issues with hurting urchins and mimics but no problem with crabs. So he got her used to killing crabs, showing her how to [Backstab] with her kitchen knife and [Butchery] with her cleaver. The first time she connected with [Backstab] the noodle lady lit up with joy.


    ¡°Huh, can I use that while cooking you think honey?¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I don''t know why you''d need to kill anyone while making food, but I suppose?¡±


    Ayame laughed, and Corvayne let himself smile a little.


    He had Mosh support Curtis, as the goblin could mend whenever the older man got tired. The wrench was an excellent bludgeon but given how tired he was from walking, Corvayne had him practice moving quietly and counter-ambushing mimics rather then fast crabs or knocking spines off urchins until he could hit the body.


    The plumber, after successfully spotting a mimic and splattering it, was in a much better mood. He came back to Corvayne, overalls stained with purple, using his wrench to point backwards. ¡°Did you see that? I nailed that little sucker!¡± He laughed and started coughing a little.


    Corvayne nodded and gave the man a multi-functional pat on the back. ¡°Good job unclogging that thing''s skull.¡±


    Curtis nodded. ¡°I used to get into fights and win em when I was younger. Soldier with no war and all that, maybe because I wanted to be like my pop, you know?¡±


    Brines was pretty easy. The dagger worked well with his endurance from jogging and while he sometimes winced at the flaming animal remains he left behind, he would be back to smiling a moment later.


    He gestured at the smoldering corpse of a monster with his dagger while he grinned at Corvayne. ¡°You think I''ll catch up to Grunt soon?¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°I think the question that most people should ask is if Grunt can catch them.¡±


    ¡°Well, it''s good he''s our friend, right?¡± Brines gave him a thumbs up.


    ¡°Couldn''t ask for better.¡±


    He dropped back with Horton a little later as they neared where the main arched rod connected with the ground to take a break near it. The warehouses had changed a little, picking up an extra story of height and showing slightly more color in their flaking paint. Horton saw him falling back and gave him a wary look, so Corvayne instead of getting in his way, turned to walk the same direction and eased back to him.


    ¡°You going for magic, then?¡±


    Horton held up a hand. ¡°I know you are acting as the wise sensei in this little party, but I''m trying to see if I can feel mana in here. Are you here for something important?¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I''m trying to determine the answer to that. I noticed you have what looks like a wizard''s staff.¡±


    The man moved to hold his staff a little closer, giving him a side eye. ¡°And do you have a problem with that?¡±


    Corvayne wondered if Horton had grown up in an environment like he did: the man certainly seemed sour. ¡°No, I just wanted to help everyone with their weapons. If Wick and Hari were both not busy, they''d probably have been more help for anything related to magic. For what it''s worth, Wick cast her first spell after doing a particular meditative stretching exercise, then visualizing what she wanted to do, then trying to swing her wand.¡±


    ¡°You were there.¡± Horton stated, then thought about it and stopped in his tracks, putting away a device that Corvayne was pretty sure Wick had called a ''gravity wave detector''. ¡°Could you demonstrate the exercise?¡±


    Corvayne started doing the stretches with his spear and poses that helped him loosen up. He was a little surprised to find he had gotten tense just walking briskly between people and talking.


    Horton held up a finger when he was done. ¡°I was paying close attention, but could you please repeat what you did and explain why you''re doing it?¡±


    Corvayne nodded and flowed into his forms. ¡°The main importance, outside of stretching, is that it''s a break for my mind. I start out with both arms extended because that''s the first pose I learned and it''s the most familiar. I don''t have a set pattern, but anything that feels stiff or aches I try to stretch. I suppose it could be anything familiar that lets you feel your body. To start, I was focused on slowly learning the moves while staying at a pace I felt controlled.¡±


    Horton nodded as Corvayne finished a set of stretches, then with his own staff he started moving it in slow rotations that reminded Corvayne of slowed down tricks he could do with his own spear but never had an audience for. Horton didn''t really dismiss Corvayne, but stopped a little removed from the space where the party was gathered. Corvayne just walked to the giant steel cable rooted in the ground and moved to the next group he wanted to talk to.


    He was sure from watching him dispatch monsters that Mosh had gotten more confident with his spear, perhaps from defending two girls for however long he had been in the first tower. Corvayne figured he wouldn''t mind talking shop during the break, seeing that Mosh was jogging in place.


    ¡°Mosh, how''s the trip been so far?¡±


    The goblin smiled and gestured to his two companions who were speaking with the security guards. Varia looked his way and glared, for some reason. ¡°Great, heh, thanks to my company.¡±


    ¡°They are adjusting okay to the adventuring life?¡±


    Mosh nodded. ¡°Honestly? June lived in a frontier with monsters, and Varia had a few weeks worth of a crash course. I''m more here because Banner''s advice.¡±


    Corvayne had to think a moment to pull the name up. ¡°That''s the innkeeper who married a Tower-Folk lady?¡±


    Mosh nodded. ¡°He said that if June doesn''t get perspective of how people who don''t just have roles act, she might go full nympho mode because that''s usually how she interacted with people.¡±


    ¡°By that logic she might also open a laundromat.¡± Corvayne added, his mind drifting to Banner''s discussion of Tower-Folk. ¡°I thought Hari had said that you didn''t have much of a choice but to take her?¡±


    His ears dropped. ¡°You make it sound like it''s bad, but boss you know I''m going to take care of her! I mean, you know, she''d be perfect if she was a teifling, you know I love me some horns and a devil tail, but I like June and I don''t want her to sit on the river broken-hearted or worse, to have decided she''d follow me even if I said no, and end up getting torn apart by slugs.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Welcome then to the headache of worrying about more then one significant other.¡±


    Mosh tilted his head. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    He felt killing intent and looked over to meet Varia''s eyes burning into him. More out of a desire for harmony in the group then any real thread did he change his reply to Mosh ¡°Your disciple. I''m sure you worry about Varia too.¡±


    Out of the corner of his eye he could see the person in question turning red. Had it been this obvious with Hari as well?


    Mosh laughed and slapped his shoulder. ¡°You bet I do! Her and Caala were clueless, tired, wounded, starving. I did what any good goblin would. Helped em out!¡±


    ¡°You didn''t want to... date them or anything?¡±


    Mosh waved a hand. ¡°They were both scared of me, I had to literally lure them out of a bush with cooked meat, I mean, I''m not their type.¡±


    Varia put her hand over her face.


    ¡°I suppose they both told you, at some point, to not get any ideas?¡±


    Mosh nodded, looking a little sad. ¡°It''s the downside of being a goblin outside of civilization, someone twice your size gets scared of you.... I mean I got past that, heck even the monsters lumped me in with them, these kids are okay. Now I''m getting helpers, and they get a boss who knows a thing or two around the work bench.¡±


    Corvayne looked at Varia, who looked ashamed of something. It was likely that Mosh was the cause of these wild mood swings. Perhaps his time around Wick and Lady Blood Claw and Grunt had made him better at picking up stories told by how people held themselves? This would be the sort of problem that he might help Mosh out with as a friend, rather then a leader. ¡°Okay, well I''m sure this arrangement works for everyone then, so let''s down some water and-¡±


    He stopped speaking as he caught a wiff of something familiar. He knew decay when he smelled it.


    ¡°-And you know what? Take fifteen.¡± Corvayne undid his spear. He looked over to a crate where Lady Blood Claw was sitting, who shot him a puzzled look, matched by her skin turning dark yellow for just a moment, then started to shift to the color of boxes and walls around her as she became alert.


    ¡°Watch the group.¡± He called to her. ¡°Mosh, come with me? I want another pair of eyes and ears.¡±


    Of the group, the security guards caught the vibe he gave off and instantly fanned out to cover entrances and exits to the broad open area they were in. Corvayne followed the smell as it started to get worse, and he could see flies buzzing. Corvayne motioned for Mosh to stop, and he used gravity to get up to the slanted roof of the surrounding warehouses and check that he wasn''t going to walk into an ambush. Checking over the lip of the roof, he saw what he had been dreading.


    He hopped back down, stomach queasy. Mosh looked expectant. ¡°Boss, I gotta say I don''t like that look.¡±


    ¡°Five people, some with slit throats. Back to the group, we''re cutting this short.¡±

 Chapter 92: Dont Bring a Gun to a Spear Fight

    Corvayne hurried back to the group and described the bodies he had found, after which he had 11 concerned faces pointed at him. Well, actually 10, as Lady Blood Claw just nodded.


    ¡°You should always be aware of who''s around you, and unless there''s a very good reason do not go near anyone you don''t know.¡± Lady Blood Claw looked around. ¡°It means we need to take securing places to rest or break seriously, and we need to never be alone, and never let our awareness lapse. Things we probably should have stressed anyway.¡±


    Brines looked disappointed. ¡°It really stinks that we have to leave.¡±


    Corvayne folded his arms. ¡°If there was a monster I thought could do what happened to them... I might be okay staying. But three of them had slit throats, and I think they were moved, suggesting both intelligence aiming to deceive, and there''s an ambush spot rather then the group getting attacked just out of happenstance.¡±


    Horton sniffed. ¡°It would be near the bodies, and it would have to be something that they are sure people would come to. Like the big cable might be enough of a marker that they are watching us now.¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°First thing I did before coming back is check the rooftops. Nothing high near us, nothing low.¡±


    Mosh seemed to be scratching behind his ear nervously. ¡°Maybe we didn''t get all those Argyles and he''s coming back for revenge!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw glared at Mosh. ¡°They were shot, and had their throats slit, not turned into jelly or swiss cheese.¡±


    The goblin visibly relaxed. ¡°Oh thanks Lady Blood Bae, I was having a little panic attack. Tell Nyxion no hard feelings for all the times I made fun of his parade outfit, allright?¡±


    She shrugged. ¡°If I stop by band camp, I''ll let him know.¡±


    Corvayne waited until Mosh stopped laughing to keep going. ¡°Whatever it is that got the other group, I don''t want us walking into an ambush. There is the possiblity of very strong groups hidden in these towers, given what we know of the Collective and from the report on Argyle we read. Think of a party of five people as strong as that Monk who all have different abilities.¡±


    People who had seen Argyle in action got it, those who didn''t looked confused.


    ¡°Put it this way: We''re connected to an ecosystem of rules we don''t understand. It''s better to walk away and find a place that we don''t see signs of predators that can seriously endanger us.¡±


    Ayame looked over at Corvayne. ¡°I wish we were stronger, I think this is exactly the sort of thing that should be stopped though!¡±


    Mosh rubbed his head. ¡°Boss, I think you''re right. Mostly because these guys are not just going to show themselves to us.¡±


    Corvayne heard a cry from behind them and turned to see a man in baggy coveralls waving from a gap in the direction he had planned to go. ¡°Lo! Hey!¡± he shouted.


    Corvayne strode forward ten steps at the figure, blanking his face and keeping his form relaxed as he raised an arm. Some of the odder points of training came in, and he did a quick assessment. The man was armed, looked like a sidearm, and a knife. Fit the pattern of the ambush. But he didn''t look strong. The outsider took a quick glance back and Corvayne did a quick sweep of the buildings behind the man for signs that he had backup. Had he missed someone on the roof?


    ¡°Hey! Thank god we found you, my friend is hurt! I''ve been here for a few days trying to get him back to the entrance. Can you help us?¡±


    The man''s head and eyes were moving to look over the group. Corvayne didn''t look back at his companions. ¡°Wait, before we help, what happened? I''m experienced in search and rescue, I don''t want to walk into a gas leak or monster swarm that followed you.¡±


    ¡°There was a swarm of monsters, yes! A group of ten crabs, they hurt my friend''s legs.¡±


    Why did Corvayne need to know the number?


    The man was uninjured on his hands, no signs of damage on his matching thick canvas jacket and pants nor stains of the yellowish crab blood, which even Corvayne had on the bottom part of his boots. Corvayne didn''t change his expression, just nodded. ¡°Okay. Wait there, we have to decide as a group.¡±


    He went back to where everyone had been standing. Lady Blood Claw shifted her eyes. ¡°Corvayne, this is very su-¡±


    ¡°Yep. He''s lying.¡± Horton filed his nails a little.


    Lady Blood Claw looked at him. ¡°I didn''t peg you for a people person.¡±


    ¡°I study tells, and his body language has him looking around, he is fidgeting.¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°Lady Blood Claw, I think we can take them. You and me.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°He''s for sure a rookie.¡±


    Brines looked between them. ¡°How do you know that?¡±


    Corvayne smiled. ¡°Look at what he''s wearing, compared to what I have on, or what Wick runs around in.¡±


    Brines looked puzzled. ¡°Well, I thought she just got a bathrobe she really liked...¡± he spent a moment looking at Corvayne, taking in the cloak with another hood around his neck, the wreath of stamina he was wearing on his sleeve, the chain mail over a shirt that didn''t match colors at all, three visible weapons that looked extremely different from each other, and a pair of boots a shade that didn''t match the same brown as his pack or sheaths or even the designs on his clothes.


    ¡°If you are not wearing a bunch of random gear, it means you don''t have a good enough supply of magical items. I''m going to see if I can disrupt the ambush, maybe save someone else''s lives.¡± Corvayne curled his fingers to crack his knuckles. Lady Blood Claw fell in beside him as they walked back up to the man, who was waving but didn''t seem to be looking Corvayne in the eye.


    ¡°Oh thank you so much, hurry it''s this way!¡± The man said, not saying the name of his friend or using a pronoun for a man or woman.


    Corvayne gave the man ten paces of space and asked as they walked, ¡°It''s just you and your friend?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°Why did you go in with just two?¡± Corvayne didn''t really care, he was looking ahead and could see that the huge metal wire arch was actually the support for a set of chains connected to a bridge over the canal. To get to the bridge, there was a long thin street between two warehouses. There were spots that the concrete looked like it had dark stains. Oh yeah, that''s an ambush point.


    ¡°Less people, less need to split loot, right?¡± He walked and started hurrying a little, speaking a little louder. ¡°It''s right over here!¡±


    Corvayne nodded. Lady Blood Claw waited until the man started looking away then slipped on her cloak. Corvayne used gravity and jumped to a rooftop. A pair of men near the corner of the roof overlooking the choke point startled when he landed, one of them dropping a rifle and the other falling on his side.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Corvayne had a weird sense of deja vu as he closed the distance, using [Flow Like Water] as the first man brought his rifle around and shot at Corvayne, not able to connect with Corvayne''s blurring form as he appeared close enough to the man to leap at them, ruining their aim and slamming into the first man feet first, denting the sheet metal roof under him as Corvayne flexed on landing to bounce off the first sniper and barrel into the second, knocking them off the building with a wail. He saw there was a fire team on the other roof as well, two attackers with rifles. Lady Blood Claw was on that side, so he just kept moving, ignoring that the man in front of him created a shield of fire. Corvayne just used [Storm Thrust] at him, the combined force of the spear and wind blowing him off the roof, which Corvayne then emulated to get out of the line of fire, sliding off the roof and activating [Leap Strike] to flatten a man under him using his legs. There was a crunch and scream, but Corvayne didn''t bother trying to figure out how much damage was done, moving away from two men with knives, one of who threw his blade clumsily at Corvayne and tried to draw a pistol. [Flow Like Water] let him weave between the two gunmen, spear jabbing through one''s hand and the other man''s leg. He could hear shouting from the other rooftop.


    He was facing down the original man who lead them into the Ambush now, who had his hands up. ¡°Oh my god, I didn''t know!¡±


    Corvayne saw the man''s hand twitch and punched the bandit in the face before he could draw his own pistol. The man staggered back, starting a low moan as blood poured from his broken nose as he fell over.


    They were so slow. Maybe it was the result of fighting Argyle, but these bandits just were so slow to draw their guns. They took forever to aim. They were weak. He saw a headless body fall off the roof, and Lady Blood Claw gave him a wave then made a zero with one arm. Corvayne looked around at the groaning forms near him, and made a wavy hand sign.


    He went over to the groaning ambush lead and pulled him up by the shirt.


    ¡°I found the other bodies.¡± Corvayne said but saw movement from inside a warehouse and pivoted, using the man as a shield for three quick shots, two of which jerked the man. Corvayne dropped him and used his shadow hands to swap to his whip, then snapped it, hitting an arm holding a semi-automatic rifle. The venom caused the man to start shrieking as his arm melted off. Corvayne kicked him out of the way and entered the warehouse, his eyes looking for movement. He saw another gunman in the rafters lining up a shot on him and he rolled for two shots then scooped up and threw a crate, the improvised weapon knocking the man off his perch to land hard on concrete. Corvayne ignored the sounds of pain the sniper made, instead looking for other targets. He moved to the back of the warehouse where a crude partition had been made, listening for sounds aside from the twang of Lady Blood Claw''s bow.


    He used his spear to push the partition aside and then looked around the corner, where one of the bandits had a woman and a gun to her head with his own back against a wall.


    Corvayne stopped and looked at the wide eyed man and the battered woman. Seru''s allusion to ''bad goblins'' for some reason came to mind, filling Corvayne with a white hot fury even as he maintained his exterior control, aside from taking a single long breath.


    ¡°If you come any closer I''m blowing her brains out!¡±


    ¡°How far?¡± Corvayne asked, moving to a position where he held his spear upright. Going to kill him. Going to kill him fast. Do not pay him back. Do not get even for the woman. Do not draw it out. A warrior fights, a warrior kills, a warrior is not cruel. Power is a tool, not a toy. Going to kill him.


    ¡°What?¡± The guy winced a little when Corvayne spoke.


    ¡°I asked you,¡± He lowered his voice from booming to quiet ¡°...how far?¡±


    ¡°Any closer! If you get any closer, she''s dead!¡±


    ¡°No. I mean, how far can you walk with that gun to her head? Because if she dies, I am going to kill you. If you drop her and hurt her, I''m going to kill you.¡±


    The man pivoted and aimed his gun at Corvayne a moment before he put it back to her head, then as he was raising it to shoot Corvayne the woman bit his arm then dropped to the ground. Corvayne hefted his spear and in a fluid motion used [Expert Toss] to land it squarely in the mans shoulder, pinning him to the wall as the spear made a little springing sound. Very satisfying. One of Corvayne''s shadow arms found the bandit''s neck and there was a flush of blood as the dark limb slashed the bandit''s throat. He looked around, ready for the next threat, before LBC called out she was coming into the room.


    ¡°Corvayne.¡± Lady Blood Claw waved. ¡°Do you want me to kill... oh. I pegged you as nicer then me.¡±


    ¡°Me too, but... fuck them.¡±


    ¡°Three of them will live as is, the one you jumped on is going to die.¡± Lady Blood Claw looked at him. Corvayne felt the rush of fighting leave, draining his desire to be at this bandit camp any longer. The crunch of him landing on a person played and morphed in his mind.


    Corvayne gestured to the woman, who had started sobbing. Lady Blood Claw nodded. ¡°I''ll get the story from the bandits then meet you back at where we stopped.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. Miss? Was there anyone else?¡±


    The woman shook her head.


    ¡°Okay. I''m going to take you to a friend who will help patch you up, and give you something that will help you feel better for a while, then I''m going to get you to the exit.¡±


    ¡°They took... they took...¡±


    Corvayne waited as she spoke.


    ¡°They took my car keys.¡±


    Oh. He tried to use that with his compass, and felt something tug him over to a line of crates stuffed with stolen goods. He pulled out a purse.


    ¡°This one yours?¡±


    The woman took it and clutched it, hands trembling. He decided to treat her like when Wick wasn''t feeling well. ¡°We are going back to the group I''m leading. I''m going to walk ahead of you, and I''ll deal with monsters. We''re going to patch you up, then I will take you to the entrance back to the park.¡±


    It was a few minutes to camp. Corvayne went slowly and gave her space while checking to make sure he didn''t go too far ahead or too close. Mosh and Varia were quick to the draw when they arrived in sight and rushed ahead to meet him.


    ¡°What happened to the other guy?¡± Brines asked as Mosh started invoking mending.


    ¡°I think the ten crabs he mentioned got him. Very, very tragic.¡± Corvayne said, glancing back.


    ¡°Uh, you got red on you.¡± Brines pointed to some splatter on his brown boots.


    ¡°Part of the risks when you kill monsters. I''ll go clean up.¡±


    Corvayne went away from the group to the stairs down to the water, threw up, used his towel to wipe his face, then cleaned his and boots and pants and spear off in the salt water, then sat to look at the waves lap against the concrete maze of docks for a while. He saw a few regular looking fish and something like a fish mimic with one eye and spines, thankfully only about the size of his thumb. He was mostly bothered by how little he felt. The entire fight felt like... he had done something like it a dozen dozen times, as if he had heard a thousand sob stories to try to lead him to a place where robbers waited, and killed them all over and over. He couldn''t remember every fighting bandits in the desert. More memory problems? Or just, muscle memory from fighting humans to train, over and over again.


    No, this was different then fighting the masters or Argyle. The fight had felt too comfortable, in a way that fighting with monsters didn''t, and while a battle high when dispatching a creature was one thing, having it erase any feelings afterwards felt... wrong.


    He heard Lady Blood Claw walking extra loudly so Corvayne stood and went up the steps to meet her. She had also got blood on her jumpsuit. She didn''t look affected by the violence at all.


    Corvayne took a deep breath then asked, ¡°Anything I need to know?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw lifted her hand to show off a sack she had. Despite her body language looking calm her fire engine red skin made it clear she was angry. ¡°I gathered up the belongings that might identify people who are missing.¡±


    ¡°What did the survivors say?¡±


    ¡°All someone else''s idea, all of them were really about to be hero who just they were too scared to say no to killing people to level up faster. One of them was a former Bone Dog, two of them were in a gang from South Port... that''s the island across from the warehouse. Guy who tried to lure us over to their ambush spot was the leader. They did this at least three times this week, going off the stuff they had. Seems I was wrong when I said three would live, turned out all the bandits had fatal wounds.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± Corvayne nodded. He saw she was shifting from red to teal with waves. ¡°It''s okay. I''ll be fine.¡±


    She sat next to him. ¡°We have some time, Mosh is helping her fix her clothes and is treating her wounds. Focus on the good: you saved one life for sure.¡±


    ¡°Thinking about landing on the guy and the crunching noise.¡± He felt a little sick. He was also thinking about his shadowy limb going into someones neck. He felt it like it was own hands plunging through a plastic bag full of warm jam.


    ¡°Do you need a hug?¡± Lady Blood Claw was fighting to stay charcoal, but Corvayne could see the bits of blue embarrassment seeping in.


    ¡°No. I''m a warrior, we-¡±


    She put her arms around him and squeezed his shoulder. Something she had on her smelled a little like lemons, and her arms were not soft in the slightest, but it was still comforting. She let him go. ¡°I know you try not to kill when you fight people, and I respect that. I also think you did no wrong today by following through. If you are still worried, trust me. I will not let you slide from doing what''s needed into darkness.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Lady. I''m glad you came along.¡± Glad she was here. There was something about her that was... different from the support Hari and Wick gave him. They sat together a few minutes, just listening to the waves.


    ¡°I know you had stated before you were worried. With the threat dead do we still turn around now?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°A spear goes forward. Even if it''s not easy.¡±

 Chapter 93: Into Murky Waters

    Corvanye didn''t need to push his gravity power on the way back from carrying the woman they had found, Laura, back to the entrance of the dockside floor. One of the medics who had set up a tent near the entrance had tried to get him to stay, but Corvayne didn''t know her, or her group, and so after recommending Mister I at the Old Town Community center for therapy, he walked off while they fussed over her.


    The woman had said thanks, so that was enough for him. The long run helped him calm down and empty his mind, drifting through the dockside in a blur of rusted steel buildings and piles of crates and banks of fog drifting over shallow water.


    The round trip took him about two hours, to which he once again thanked his boots for. Perhaps when Hari had been flipping out about them way back when he got them, she had actually undersold how useful they were.


    Corvayne didn''t know what the large bridge was, so they elected to instead move along the extra wide canal that it was built across. In the mist he saw the large metal tube they had camped by formed an X with another arched titanic steel beam, and the bridge looked like a sluice.


    The group moved slowly, running across enough monsters that stops became more natural as they rotated practicing with their weapons. Corvayne pulled out a spare grill from his ring and Ayame helped him grill some of the large pieces of crab meat to make sandwiches. He sat and ate with Mosh and Varia and June. During the meal Mosh telling them about growing up on a space ship the size of a solar system, with details about all the strange machines they used to make impossible food like foot by foot cubes of steak with layers of potato and veggies and mushrooms forming smaller cubes between layers of other meats, and a yarn the weird group projects the ship would undertake as something to do including knitting a scarf so long it was shared between two people on a different planets, and how he could change his rooms to resemble anything, sleeping in a cave lit by moss, eat breakfast under fall foliage overlooking the mountains, and work in a hut sitting on a tropical beach.


    After lunch Corvayne had the group fan out in threes, with instructions to leave from a central point, explore a point of interest, then return. Over the next few hours of moving through the floor he helped open two chests, the first having a half dozen healing potions, two rings, a pair of uncurse scrolls, a pair of gloves that had the texture of bark, a sword made of blue metal that chimed like crystal when moved, a black robe that trailed mist, and a bundle of lumber. Lady Blood Claw acted as a test subject for the gear they found. First were the gloves who''s obvious effect was coating her limbs in a thin layer of bark. Some testing showed it acted as a low powered shield. Kayla, ahem, Bearer-of-Burdens wanted that, as she fought with her hands. She slipped the gloves on then put her brass knuckles over them, somehow all fitting on her fingers. The bark skin grew back after a few seconds but broke whenever she punched something.


    The black robe seemed to be able to flow when Lady Blood Claw willed it, changing it''s shape. It was not a strong replacement for armor, but did seem to slow things swung through it and the material recovered from being jabbed. June and Ayame both were interested, with Brines directing it to June after she put her bid for the trip into it, slipping it on and turning it into shadowy material to something that somehow compressed her rather bulky cloth armor into a sleeker ninja outfit. Corvayne had some questions as to where the former Tower Folk had seen a ninja, but then again he didn''t know how long she''d been washing clothes for adventurers. She had probably seen and slept with some interesting folks along the way.


    The humming blade seemed to create a burst of sound when it hit anything, the chime eroding things the blade touched. Varia, Curtis, and Brines himself all wanted the blade. Corvayne didn''t bid as he had a good selection of weapons at the moment, but he thought about it for a little bit.


    Varia and Curtis both bid, so there was a dice roll by Brines to determine who got it, with Curtis pumping his fist. Varia looked annoyed and muttered, ¡°You don''t even know how to use it.¡± before she stepped away to go sulk away from the room the chest was in.


    The rings didn''t have an obvious effect but neither were they cursed so Brines took one and Mosh snagged another. ¡°We''ll get Hari to tell us what''s what when we get back!¡±


    Corvayne''s own take was three of the healing potions, under the assumption he was the most likely to dive into trouble. He was a little sad no one disagreed with his own argument. At all.


    Brines took the other scrolls and leftover healing potions, with Corvayne storing the stack of wood for him. Mosh had wanted it but wasn''t going to waste his bid so early.


    Corvayne started keeping his eyes open for ships as they woke up the second morning. The information stated that was the sign of a standard staircase, and he felt the group was ready to fight slightly more dangerous monsters, having cut their teeth on urchins and crabs. A few new monsters had started to flow into the mix on the second day: Floating piranha that moved at a steady pace but constantly gnashed their teeth, starfish that grabbed and threw random objects such as rocks or parts of crates, and passive dog sized cuttlefish who kept their distance.


    Corvayne noted the little cephalopods seemed content to scavenge urchin quills. He sat during a meal break watching them crawl up from the water with a large number of extra tentacles on their bellies, turn invisible when they saw the party, and scuttle back into the water when they didn''t have anyone looking. The group agreed to not fight them after Lady Blood Claw, looking stern but feeling playful, started trying to match her skin color to it''s pattern of one that had frozen in place...then had it follow her for an hour after they started hiking again.


    Mosh looked between it and LBC. ¡°Which one''s the real Blood Claw?¡±


    Lady herself was not amused. ¡°Are you trying to be a pest?¡± She reached into her pack and tossed the creature a little bit of dried meat, which it took then scurried around a corner, feasting as it kept one of it''s orange sized eyes on her. Corvayne thought it explained why he had seen the same behavior three times, even if he hadn''t seen LBC feed it the other two times.


    ¡°We never tested if Wick could take a slime out of the dungeon. Do you want a pet squid?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw put her hands on her hips and frowned at him. ¡°That''s absurd.¡± she said while flashing a happy pink for a moment.


    Ayame pointed at it. ¡°It''s a cuttlefish, and it might not be good to take it out of here, different salt concentrations in sea water would mess it up.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw looked at her new friend regretfully. ¡°Hey, get out of here!¡± She sounded angry but her skin was the pure blue of sadness. ¡°Go on, get out of here! We don''t want you anymore!¡± She waved her hands and the little squid scampered off. Corvayne heard her say ¡°Goodbye, friend.¡±


    Curtis shook his head. ¡°We could have eaten that... oh yeah! Corvayne, I wanted to point something out... there''s pipes that don''t hook up to anything in these buildings! Go from ceiling right into the floor.¡±


    He thought that just sounded like something for rain. ¡°So it might go to a sewer system?¡±


    Curtis shook his head. ¡°I thought that at first too but, you''ll notice that there''s all sorts of greebles on the water line, but there isn''t pipes near here.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°These worlds are like fever dreams. This is one of the most sensible ones I''ve seen yet.¡±


    The plumber nodded. ¡°Yeah, that''s why it''s odd. I wouldn''t mention it but the other buildings before actually had proper PVC downspouts that would divert rain from above to channels in the dockside and going inside... when there''s a sink it also routes it off to the wall and drains, you could follow the water to channels and out to the sea. Cept these buildings here it just goes down. I know, it''s not anything, I''m just trying to be useful. Everybody else is keeping up and I''m Mr. slow guy.¡±


    Corvayne patted the older man on the shoulder. ¡°You showed up. And you know, let''s take a moment and see if there''s a basement on one of those buildings. A lot of times if you can find something people wouldn''t notice, The Tower likes to put chests there.¡±


    He waved to the group then lead them into the building in question, which like many of the warehouses had crates around the sides with a few piles where monsters could hide in the center. Corvayne had been ignoring the containers, as opening them he had found they always contained dried pieces of coral, piles of shells, bleached starfish, or fishing nets.


    Mosh called Corvayne over and pointed to a pipe that wasn''t connected to an outflow. ¡°This goes from floor to ceiling. So why''s it got a knob?¡±


    Corvayne did the only thing anyone in his place would do and twisted the little knob until it stopped and he heard a click, then there was a rumble as a patch of floor started to sink, forming a stairway down.


    Corvayne lead the way down, Lady Blood Claw and Curtis following him as he went twenty steps down to an open space hidden under the docks and water. It looked like a squat version of the flood tunnels, a 12 foot tall underground chamber with vaulted arches extending as far as Corvayne could see. The stone and wood walkways formed bridges over water lit from below. Looking over the lip of the path by the stairs, Corvayne could see the bottom of the pool, maybe twenty feet deep, was lined with glowing lights that outlined sea creatures swimming over it. He could also see what looked like rows of empty lobster cages bobbing gently in the water.


    ¡°Hey Boss!¡± Mosh tapped his shoulder. ¡°Treasure chest!¡±


    Corvayne turned and saw there was a brass rimmed chest, fancier then the old wood ones he''d dealt with before. Corvayne gestured for everyone to head back up the stairs. ¡°It''s too nice, I feel like it''s definitely trapped.¡±


    Corvayne only got as far as poking the chest with his spear when it started to spew acid everywhere, forcing him to run back up the stairs as it spewed a seemingly endless stream of acid.


    Corvayne was pleased he didn''t lose any gear as he stepped into the pitted circle and repeated his chest opening technique, and set off a barrage of crossbow bolts in front of the chest, which finally fell apart to reveal a scroll, a potion that looked milky, and what looked like a pair of knuckles lined with jagged shards of ice. Corvayne was split between calling them knuckles, punch daggers, or cestus given how they covered the knuckles, how prominent the ice shards were, and their heft.


    ¡°I think we can give it to Bearer-of-Burdens, unless someone else wants to punch things?¡±


    ¡°If I can wear them with these oak gloves, sure.¡± The woman accepted the pair of knuckles, and took off her brass knuckles. ¡°Oh, they keep my hands nice and cool! I might wear these while doing deliveries in summer!¡±


    Corvayne thought for a moment. ¡°You wouldn''t happen to know a Bearer-of-Burden, no ''S'', would you?¡±


    The woman''s hat raised a little. ¡°No?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Okay. There was a guy in my village named that. He was... sort of gloomy.¡± In fantasy stories, he was the sort of tortured soul who became a warlock who summoned demons and tried to get people to drink their blood, a perfectionist necromancer with anger issues, or a dragoon. As an actually miserable kid, Corvayne didn''t really connect with the overacting that Bearer-of-Burden had.


    Reaper-of-Fish looked between them. ¡°We could ask my dad. He''s part of the ''native settler'' community, I thought that''s where you got the idea from for the names.¡±


    ¡°Huh, might explain why Dawn has that name then...¡± Corvayne rubbed his chin. But Reaper-of-Fish shook his head.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°She ain''t involved with us. There was a big to-do years back when she first showed up. Dad said some intelligence guys dug for something and nobody knows her. There wasn''t a missing girl her age, the name''s never come up in the official name ceremonies either. I mean, I think she probably just saw our names and decided something that sounded like that for a pseudonym, right?¡±


    Corvayne started guiding the group through the room as he spoke with Reaper. ¡°There''s something about her, I have a knack for feeling how dangerous something is, and she screams danger when I think about her like that.¡±


    ¡°Well, the name thing is just sort of a social wee-gee board thing anyway, like hypnosis, right boys?¡± Ears-of-Steel moved up to join her friends.


    Corvayne was interested but stepped a little ahead and used [Flow-Like-Water] to kill a pair of urchins, their bodies falling off the side of the path with a plunk into the glowing water. He didn''t see other monsters so waited a little.


    ¡°Can you guys tell me about the name ceremony?¡±


    Reaper perked up. ¡°Yeah! I mean, you and that Seru chick got a lot more people talking about native settlers, folks who made homesteads before the big ship came. Basically, the name ritual is you have a bunch of people who know the person sit in a circle around the person. Ideally, it''s a community. They each take a scrap of paper, and you have some words they each say, and you gotta make an offering of something that evaporates before you go, so most people do salt water but some big wigs do wine, I mean you can offer it right then but it works best if you ''pay'' first you know? Anyway, then the person in the center offers their name. The people who know them wait for a sign of how many words they gotta put down. There''s drummers who can drum it, they sort of mess around until they get a rhythm that makes out the pattern of the right name. Can''t make a name with no pattern. Then you have those folks in the circle write what they come up with. Whatever the majority of them write, that''s your name.¡±


    Corvayne stopped and turned to raise an eyebrow. ¡°Majority... wouldn''t you get 40 names from 40 people? Like, I might be Spear-changes-Shape or, if my old village had their say, Guy-we-Hate, but don''t people tend to see the same person a bunch of different ways?¡±


    He heard someone, probably Varia, say ¡°Too-many-Wives.¡±


    Reaper laughed. ¡°Yeah, you get some duds, but I mean, I had twenty people who came, you know, buddies, kids I fished with, old folks who I shoveled the walks for in August blizzards... got eighteen people who thought I was Reaper-of-Fish. I''ve done the writing too, for example, with these two goofballs they got six slips of paper with the same name, mine included. Other folks it''s like, you ever have a thunderbolt hit you with an idea? Where you gotta drop everything man?¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°It comes sometimes when I fight and remember a skill I saw...¡± Well, except for when he made [Storm Thrust] which was his own take on [Power Thrust].


    ¡°Yeah! Well, that''s how it happens.¡±


    Corvayne smiled. ¡°Well, is it possible to trade a three-beat name for a regular one using the ritual?¡±


    This made Reaper confused. ¡°I dunno, maybe? I can show you how to do it, but I never heard of someone giving the ritual name away.¡±


    That aside, they were also nearing the first large pillar in the underground space. Corvayne was pleased to see stairs up carved into the rock. ¡°Bingo. I''m sure this next floor will be untouched.¡±


    The stairway was odd. Rather then the cool blue stone he had seen before, it was sort of gray and faded. It was still the same design as other breaks between floors, with thirty or forty steps that wound him up to an outdoor area, in this case a hazy view from a tall hill of a set of islands that looked like Cascadia.


    No, it was Cascadia. Corvayne could see he was standing on Dolphin island, with a view of the Barrier island he had ridden his bike on to his right, and Mere island ahead. There were far fewer train tracks and roads, and the connections between the islands looked to be much simpler two lane concrete bridges. No cars were visible, but there were automatic trains running and he could see flocks of white birds and what looked like people down on the ground.


    The whole group were native Cascadians aside from Himself, Mosh, June, and Lady Blood Claw, and they whistled at the long view of the sound and The Key-Ring islands.


    ¡°We''re going to travel as a group and pick spots to spread out and rally back after we explore. I''ll go with Curtis, Ayame, and Horton. Lady Blood Claw, I''m going to have you go with Reaper, Ears, and Bearer. Mosh, I''d like you and the girls to take Brines.¡±


    Ayame looked nervous. ¡°Is this going to be okay? Isn''t it safer in a group?¡±


    ¡°We''re going to pick some fights to make sure this floor is okay, but this environment is ideal for learning the basics, as you are familiar with how things are laid out.¡±


    Horton gestured at the vista they were viewing. ¡°This isn''t Cascadia though.¡±


    ¡°Well, no, but it''s the same land footprint right?¡±


    ¡°Oh, well not totally. They built up some parts of the islands to put down all those railway tracks. This looks like a what-if version of Cascadia where it had been a typical logging and mining colony.¡±


    The left the starting area, a radio tower near the crest of dolphin island and followed a gravel trail down the green slope to town. The buildings were a slightly different style, reminding him a little of the folding suburbs from the Cascadia National park dungeon.


    Corvayne and Lady Blood Claw took point and tried hailing a shadow person, who turned and pulled out a knife and rushed them. Two spear blows dropped the monster, which bled out gray ashy smoke as it''s clothes fell to the ground.


    Some testing showed that pairs or trios of monsters just sort of fanned out then attacked rather then ran for help or communicated. They were dangerous, many having knives, but after twenty minutes of engagements Corvayne had them split from a small fountain plaza with a circle of shops.


    Ayame stayed behind Corvayne, the older woman perhaps a little too close. Curtis was behind her, with Horton doing readings and picking through desks and drawers when the Corvayne called a store clear.


    Corvayne looked for and found a few stashes of credits and a few paintings of locations, which probably wasn''t quite as critical with the tower locations becoming public, but he figured at some point there would be a database for Seru to post all the locations too so he took the paintings. Besides, he had a house for them, right?


    Actually... wouldn''t that mean people would break into his house to do the slime dungeon? He hadn''t even moved into it!


    Ah well, as long as they didn''t burn the place down, it was fine. Though, he''d have to see if Wick wanted to stay there for a little bit. Even though it was more likely Hari would be game.


    There were two shades waiting for them in closed rooms during the second fan-out, with Ayame opening a door to one and in a panic killing it while also getting injured, either from her own weapon or the letter opener the shade had. The cook, terrified for a moment, suddenly stood up rod straight when Corvayne suggested going back to the meet up point early and insisted he bandage the wound and they keep looking, so Corvayne took a table cloth from the house they were in and wrapped it around her wrist.


    The room with the shade did have a trophy made of the blue metal that many magic items were covered in, so he took it and searched the desk like Horton had been doing, finding a bag of dried herbs too. A gift for Mister I.


    Horton had found cash but also stacks of papers. ¡°This is going to cause inflation.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I think you can spend this money at the bar after floor 5, so maybe not?¡±


    They met back up and saw that everyone was fine, no major injuries. They reported a few shades had hidden in their buildings, and a group found a stairway downwards in a basement. Lady Blood Claw had gone in and reported that the floor it lead to looked like chalky cliffs with over blue skies and water and tons of vivid green plant life that clearly they''d need to climb and balance on to move from point to point.


    ¡°No, I was not going to do that, not over three hundred foot drops. Not even with a shield belt.¡± She said while turning the green shade that signified fear. Behind her, Ears, Reaper and Bearer were all looking disappointed.


    Corvayne reminded them that if they wanted to organize an expedition to explore that floor, people were always looking for new spots.


    ¡°Yeah, but it''s not the same without the gruff alien lady barking orders.¡± Ears-of-Steel added. Corvayne had to admit it was easier now to just remember their new names.


    ¡°I was not barking!¡± LBC fumed, turning brown for a heartbeat as she moved from fearful green to angry red.


    Reaper laughed a little. ¡°It''s okay, I like the way you bark Miss Claw. You''re a good leader too.¡±


    They made their way further downhill towards the bridge south to Mere Island. With the same groups, they raided what looked like a factory. The building had blue unnatural lights in it, which made the shade workers with wrenches seem creepier. The black forms did not emote or speak, just moved efficient purpose, instantly shifting from idle to running, the only sound they made was their boots on ground, no smell, and no reaction to pain until they collapsed into a puddle in death. Curtis was still huffing but did manage to kill a shade that broke off after him.


    ¡°Hey Corvayne good call on just holding it out, the guy impaled himself on it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, just be careful if you are facing something smart, use corners to watch your back if they are trying to flank.¡±


    ¡°I ain''t ever going to fight two people bud! I just wanted to lose a few years and get in shape like people were saying. Two people come at me, I''m running.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Better to do that and live then learn you''re not as good at fighting as your enemies while you die.¡±


    All the groups found tools of blue metal, with Corvayne calling them to keep and or trade anything not found in chests. He personally tried to keep his eyes open for materials, knowing they could be bartered for groceries or given to Mosh. He also wanted to take some to the Ko-Ban Market and try to barter parts to rebuild the hover-bike. Curtis had given him an idea for his best find, which was to take the lights from the ceiling. Despite looking like long bulbs they were actually little rods that while not directed could provide excellent illumination for camping. He was able to get at about twenty rods. Hopefully the Tower didn''t mind too much if they took some of the props.


    Horton had gathered some credits and tools, including a bunch of blue metal screws and a power drill with a red hot bit. The man had been very careful, letting others open doors and check rooms. Given his staff wouldn''t survive too many swings as-is, perhaps a wise decision. Every so often he''d repeat his staff movements, and then end his little dance with a thrust, then shrug and go back to collecting papers.


    They regrouped and moved to a large ranch style house by the bridge that was on a fairly defensible hill. The orange paint and fuzzy earth toned furniture really reminded him of the sixth floor in the first dungeon. He had the group clear the house, then had Mosh come with him to see if they could restart the circuit breakers and hook up the hot water. Mosh and June had everything set in five minutes. The announcement that they''d have hot showers that night was met with cheers.


    Outside, the blue sky was changing color, deepening to a red shade as it got dark. Corvayne cooked with Ayame and gently turned down an offer to sleep in the same room, and they had potato cakes with marinated chicken and some lettuce, which wasn''t as good as eating monsters but even if shades left bodies Corvayne wasn''t about to try it.


    As the group finished eating he went outside and laid down glow rods around the home and pushed some of the couches against the windows and doors. With the lights on the driveway and outside the windows, he was sure anyone on watch would have plenty of time to spot any enemies. On top of that, the renamed trio was sleeping on couches out in the large living room. He was sort of glad they had the ambush incident, as there was always a struggle to get people to recognize their watches as important.


    Horton was clinking his glass of boiled water when he came back. ¡°I wanted to tell you what I was looking at today.¡±


    Ears pointed at herself. ¡°My leather clad ass?¡±


    ¡°I meant the subject I became interested in, being this floor, but I don''t think there''s anything wrong with looking when your pants are extremely tight.¡± He cleared his throat and kept going before Ears could sputter a response. ¡°Anyway, this map and the papers are all written in clear Collective Common. They are dated in a similar pattern to our own date system with most of them published within the last ten to twenty years per copy-write dates on the published objects, and incidental dates fall pretty within normal for- Um is there a problem?¡±


    Corvayne looked at everyone glaring at Horton and over where Curtis and Ayame had went off to take their showers. ¡°I think you should lead with your thesis, then circle back to evidence and interesting points.¡±


    Horton nodded. ¡°Ah. I should have taken a page from Wick. I always liked how well she did this thing. Okay, this is not Cascadia. Or it is a different Cascadia. The planet is Cascadia, per text, but this place has a different name: Cascade Landing. That''s important, but I want to just support this from evidence, as I think there''s internal integrity to these documents. An expense report that includes dining at a cafe I saw before we reached the factory. This makes me suspect this is a bubble of alternate time...¡±


    He looked around again. ¡°As I was saying, the name Cascade Landing is only found in really old charter documents... from off world and only off world. You don''t see anything, even from older buildings in the Cascadia History museum, that use that name.¡±


    Reaper whistled. ¡°Okay, that''s pretty good UFO guy. I mean, I assume you knew about this weird one-off name for the place before we came in?¡±


    Horton smiled. ¡°Right! That''s why when I saw this place I was looking for papers, because the Cascade Landing thing is a mystery that I wanted to one day spring on Wick! It''s a weird hiccup in historical documents that ONLY is seen off world, but is extremely consistent in any documents from a three year span a hundred and forty or so years back. So yes, I wanted to brag a little about there being evidence that the towers are either pulling from or bleeding out slightly into our reality.¡±


    Mosh had been listening while resting his head on June''s lap. ¡°Well, yeah. It means we''re in a time-stub here. Happens all the time, somebody makes a really tiny binary choice and history responds with dead branches. There was a big old spaceship city that had thousands of really, really nasty time lines that they had to purge so people wouldn''t fall into em.¡±


    The goblin tapped his chin. ¡°Though, I''ve never heard of anything bleeding through into the real world across planet lines. So maybe I''m wrong... That might be a historical project Mr. Horton. You could try to figure out where the split is!¡±


    ¡°I''d organize a trip with the historical society. They''d pay good money to see this.¡±


    Ayame looked pale. ¡°So all these houses and roads... Do you think people lived here then? Where did they go?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°. Every thing I learn about The Tower or Cascadia just makes me feel like I''m splashing around for answers but every step I take just muddies the water.¡±


    Horton just snorted, and replied as he walked out of the room, ¡°Yeah, that''s life dude.¡±

 Chapter 94: Its Not Even a Mount, Guys!

    Corvayne jolted awake as someone pushed him. Ears was standing over where he was sleeping by the lit fireplace.


    ¡°Monsters!¡± She hissed. Corvayne snapped awake and looked around then out the window. The glowing rods were faintly catching the forms of shades moving near the perimeter. It could be as few as six or a hundred with the only concrete sign of the shadows passing were rods on the driveway flickering as something passed in front of them.


    ¡°Good move waking me.¡± He saw that Reaper was up, eyes on the back window where the shades were also warded by the light. He was ready for contact, spear in hand, but as the seconds became a minute he sat back down on the mantle of the fireplace.


    Ears looked at Corvayne expectantly. He shrugged. ¡°I''ll stay up in case, but it seems they don''t want to pass the lights on the ground.¡±


    Eventually they switched to a third watch with Mosh and June and Varia. Mosh wasn''t having any of Corvayne''s ''three watches in a row nonsense''. ¡°Get some sleep boss, we''ll wake you with breaking glass and screaming if they try to rush the place.¡±


    The thought of waking up to the shadows swarming the house didn''t make his sleep restful, but he did sleep, waking as the sky shifted from nearly black crimson to red orange to just the orange of morning, falling back asleep after handing Ayame his cooler with cooking supplies and waking up to full sunshine and a reheated breakfast.


    Lady Blood Claw had asked they let him sleep in as well as taken the three renamed and Curtis and Horton out to explore nearby houses, and was already back when he was finished eating and had taken a shower in a bathroom that smelled faintly of lime, perhaps suggesting there was nearby door to his slime bike house. Oh, that might be bad: He could be sitting in his house''s living room and have wounded adventurers flop out of the door and start screaming and bleeding on his floor.


    Mosh looked at him. ¡°Rare to see you frown, boss.¡±


    ¡°Hidden things they don''t tell you about home ownership.¡±


    ¡°Ohh very criptic. Ever consider becoming a mystic? They are known for their big balls Boss!¡± Mosh slapped him on the shoulder and Corvayne laughed a little.


    LBC wiped her boots off on the mat inside, where as the others didn''t care and strolled right in. Ears had found a spiked choker with a stylized bull-demon clasp and was spinning it on her baseball bat.


    The piercing laden woman tossed the clasp to her other hand and held it up for Corvayne to see before saying, ¡°Your other-other girlfriend wanted me to wait until we had an uncurse scroll to pop it on. You didn''t read it, did you? Because I want this for fashion reasons.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°If it was in a chest it''s probably magical. I''ve seen cursed items, and it''s very easy to imagine what something that was cursed and put on your neck could do.¡±


    She snapped it on and grew horns, her hand shooting up and feeling them while her face moved from shock to joy. Mosh''s hand shot up. ¡°I want to bid too!¡±


    Ears turned and looked at herself in the mirror. ¡°No way, this is badass!¡±


    Corvayne asked the obvious question. ¡°Can you take it off?¡±


    Ears shrugged and snapped it off, set it down, then snatched it back up while keeping her eyes on Mosh.


    Varia raised her hand. ¡°I want that. I bid.¡±


    Mosh looked over at her and smiled. ¡°Oh you''re getting it for June?¡±


    Corvayne winced inwardly as Varia somehow looked even stormier. ¡°Never.¡±


    What followed was an long argument over an item that didn''t have any obvious property besides adding horns and, when one pulled their pants down or up enough to let it out, a little devil tail. The last detail came out after Ears needed a bathroom break while Horton played devils advocate for Ayame, and after the tail detail came out Mosh looked like he was the one who had stayed up all night staring at shadows swarming just outside a ring of light.


    ¡°You gotta understand Ears-of-Steel, I''ll do anything! ANYTHING! You want a hover-bike? I''ll craft you a magic bat! Three of em! Corvayne, Boss, buddy, you GOTTA help me out!¡±


    Corvayne looked up from where he had been reviewing the map Horton had found in the house of Cascade Landing. ¡°Oh, I think Brines is doing loot.¡± A good leader delegates when needed.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    Brines looked terrified as Mosh and Varia were on him in a moment.


    ¡°Hahaha, I''d agree to share but I''m the BADDEST girl!¡± Ears was bobbing up and down, new tail swishing.


    Varia escalated the argument. ¡°Fifty Thousand Credits.¡±


    Ayame raised her hand. ¡°Oh, can I bid then too if she''s paying money?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw had her hand on her forehead. ¡°I wasted an identify scroll on it! It''s just a cosmetic item and a few points of Charisma. Why have we been fighting an hour over this?¡±


    The noodle lady laughed. ¡°Well, both because I''d like to see if I could sway our young leader with it...¡±


    Brines asked ¡°Do you mean me or Corvayne?¡±


    Ayame laughed. ¡°Why not the two of you, one after the other? Or perhaps all at once! If I''m wearing that collar, I''d probably need one of those madame pipes... anyway, both you, and also because Miss Varia is offering a nice lump of money for it.¡±


    Ears looked between them. ¡°It''s not about money old lady! It''s about STYLE.¡±


    Ayame looked really angry for the first time in the discussion. ¡°Oh, I guess someone so stylish doesn''t need to get noodles from an old lady, hmm?¡±


    This is where Ears-of-Steel looked to Reaper-of-Fish and Bearer-of-Burdens for help.


    Reaper just shook his head. ¡°All you ladies fighting over this neck thing, I ain''t sticking my hand in that catfish no sir.¡±


    Bearer-of-Burden waved her frozen fist weapons around. ¡°Really sorry Les, but I don''t have my bid for an item left and, uh, Ayame always gives me extra pine needles.¡±


    Corvayne looked over at her disbelieving. How did people like those? Ears also looked disbelieving, probably expecting solidarity.


    Lady Blood Claw sputtered. ¡°How do you LIKE those?¡±


    Brines popped open a bottle of wine and downed a quarter of it in one swig, then stepped in and started soothing Mosh, placating Ayame and assuring her she was very much a MILF to him, telling Ears-of-Steel that he''d work with the group to make sure people didn''t leave bitter. Corvayne was watching how he''d listen to each, ask questions and make comments to affirm he understood their perspective, then ask about why they really wanted the item, and if Ears found something more metal if she''d be willing to rescind her bid and finders-keepers rights, and if Ayame wanted it forever or just for a while... It was odd everyone called Brines the ''Fail Son'' when he clearly had a talent for dealing with people, especially since he had cooled the room off in a few minutes.


    Then Varia said. ¡°A hundred thousand credits for the choker.¡± and it was like a lit match.


    Curtis looked over at Ears-of-Steel. ¡°Hey lady, you wanna trade for my sword?¡±


    Corvayne decided to try something, asking his internal compass to try to point him to another devil choker so he wasn''t part of an evolving battle that, once Varia stated her bid was 130, was dragging Horton in as well. He felt the power sort of rev up, like how he charged his gravity and...


    He woke up and it was late afternoon. Mosh was sitting by him, looking heart broken while he clipped out scales from a sheet of blue metal.


    He winced, having a slight headache that he felt shift when he turned his head. ¡°What... what happened? Is everyone all right?¡±


    ¡°Hey boss, you fell to the ground like a rag! Maybe don''t do whatever you did, it gave you a nose bleed! You try to fry your brain?¡±


    He looked around and nearly started crying as doing so moved his headache. Then he sat up and tried turning without moving his head, shoulders rigid, and felt the pain was specific in it''s direction.


    ¡°Hey Mosh, uh, I have a power that points me to things...¡± He started saying.


    ¡°Well don''t use it if it''s going to kill you, you double-sized dumbass!¡± Mosh was upset? Corvayne knelt down and gave his friend a hug, going off the LBC playbook. Mosh squrimed. ¡°Aww man, don''t! Sorry, I didn''t mean it! Cut it out you sappy goofball!¡±


    Corvayne stood up and pointed in the direction his head hurt. ¡°Look Mosh, instead of having a huge fight over it... I tried to use the power to point me to another choker that did the same thing.¡±


    Mosh hugged him so fast it nearly threw him back onto the couch, latching onto Corvayne''s leg like a warm limpet mine. ¡°Corvayne! CORVAYNE! My home boy! You''re the best, Boss. Boss, see, I knew someday sticking with you would be BIG, Boss, I mean, I knew it right from the start because I ain''t ever had anyone I called Boss as fast as you, you know?¡±


    Corvayne nodded, not entirely sure after the exchange if being called ''Boss'' had some connotations that he didn''t get, but flattered by the statement anyway.


    ¡°And hey, if you can use the power again and not fry your brain, well, you know, I bet you could get Wick to wear it.¡±


    Corvayne''s head snapped to Mosh, headache suddenly not important. Wick, swearing at him and pushing him over onto the bed, with devil horns and a tail that emoted with her...


    ¡°Mosh, has anyone ever told you that you are a genius?¡±


    The unexpected detour and argument still had split the camp, with Ears-of-Steel''s friends wandering back first, having found more loot in the form of scrolls and potions and a magic baseball cap that Reaper was wearing. It seemed it let him see through fog and liquids better, which for the fisherman meant it would have been a bid if anyone else wanted it.


    Ayame, Curtis, and Brines had left as well, with Lady Blood Claw going with them given how they were a little less athletic and trained than Ears, Reaper, and Bearer were. Lady Blood Claw proved she was better at sniffing out chests at least, returning with armored boots, a head band that made people''s hair reach out like a rubbed balloon, and a spiked wood club that made little flashes of brilliant light when the embedded metal points touched things. She also had found a local library and made them spend an hour checking it for scrolls and to form a pile of readable books, mostly related to herbs and crafting and but also a few clearly magical or unusual tomes. She showed one book to Corvayne while her skin turned a happy pink with little flecks of gold that might be pride. It was a glowing leather grimoire titled: ''The Arte of Enchantism and Enhacemathurgy, (and if in dire need, Hexolchemy).''


    ¡°That''s great Lady, it might help you be an even better sword wizard than you already are.¡±


    She responded by asking far more questions then even Mosh did to try to make sure he wasn''t having a stroke or that he didn''t give himself a concussion. He smiled at Lady Blood Claw, once more wishing that he had grown up with her instead of Spears-Like-Water.


    He was also happy she had grabbed some of the light rods from the library and propped a few more around the place. He had to fight to take first watch, and ended up with Brines as his watch partner. It was a pleasant evening of sitting by the fire looking at Cascade Landing''s map. Brine talked a little about his father and uncle and how they wanted him to be an intellectual and socialite and make enough money to bring culture to Cascadia and how he always seemed to screw up.


    ¡°You know, they were nice, but they hoped I''d be successful and I just wasn''t, and maybe I should have followed Grandpa who urged me to be a police officer like he was...¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I think you are in the right spot. If Old Town ever split, you''d make a good mayor.¡±


    The man shook his head. ¡°That''s such a nice thought Corvayne, I love the positive energy you have! But no, I don''t think my family trusts me to run a town.¡±


    ¡°Well, James, if you don''t get people supporting you, it might mean it''s time to pack up and move on.¡±


    Brines nodded at that. ¡°Oh yeah, definitely. I hear you.¡±


    A thought occurred to Corvayne in the silence that followed, and he took a red marker on the table and walked here and there, his power pointing him a direction. Looking at the map, he oddly could orient just from the map alone, rather than having to find a static point to get his bearing. Perhaps another perk of the compass power? He drew a line on the map, sure it was the right direction in a way that actually lessened his headache, then went back with his hand and circled a spot on the map not to far from a set of docks. It''s likely he''d find a larger map meant for someone sailing, and from that he might be able to pin point where Wick''s remembered ''Nap Bay'' was. Perhaps this trip would be more productive than he had thought.

 Chapter 95: The Fellowship of The Collar

    The shades once more swirled outside the light perimeter, the soundless creatures only daring a moment to step into lit spots before they slipped back. In the gloom outside the light Corvayne could faintly see movement that suggested thousands but, it might have just been his own mind playing tricks on him. Lady Blood Claw and Curtis had agreed to take watch, so he waved at the unlikely pair and pushed a chair by the fire, falling asleep faster than he realized.


    It was early morning when he woke with a blanket over him. He looked over and saw Lady Blood Claw had fallen asleep with her back to the chair and a pillow wedged under her silver hair. Her skin was gently flowing in colors that reminded him of the cuttlefishes he had seen on the previous floor. Perhaps if she had a birthday, he''d go into the tower and drag one out as a pet?


    The mood in the morning still seemed confrontational, so Corvayne explained over breakfast what had happened with his compass power. ¡°I think I can get us another collar, but I don''t know how long it will take, just the direction my power wants us to go.¡±


    Corvayne could see a bunch of furrowed brows and tight shoulders loosen at the long table. He explained what he wanted to do at the large dock as well, since he didn''t want to get into a fight out in the field about it. He was a little surprised that Horton was fully on board for this extra detour until he remembered that the man liked historical facts about Cascadia, and this was a rare case to look at a ''what-if'' that might actually be real.


    They suited up, with Lady Blood Claw putting on the static band they had found. The headband caused her silver hair to puff into a sort of cloud around her head, which she rubbed back into submission with her hands. She had traded the spiked club to Curtis in exchange for the humming sword. She had given Ayame the boots, which made the noodle vendor look sturdier. He noticed that Curtis had lost some of his wrinkles, and Ayame also had a spring to her step. Earlier they had performed the little hand shaking motions and calls to Gygax, and announced they had reached level 5 for Curtis, and level 10 for Ayame.


    Corvayne tried the invocation again and noted he had moved from Arms Master level 30 to level 31, and picked up Compass. Probably the extra level was from beating Argyle? He wasn''t confused at all that the ability that looked like a Compass was called Compass.


    Out the door the line the power had compelled him to draw on the map cut through several key-ring islands in Ripple Sound, so Corvayne lead them over the bridge, Lady Blood Claw using the opportunity of being in a wide open area to practice shooting her bow. The daytime monster count was low, with encounters no more than once every ten to fifteen minutes. He wasn''t sure where all the shades that swarmed at night went, and decided after a few seconds of thought that he was not really interested in finding out. Some of the shades on the bridge were nearly as big as Grunt and needed two arrows from Lady Blood Claw to drop. Her shooting was good enough that Corvayne didn''t have to lift a finger to catch stragglers.


    Down on Mere island, there was a marina that he had marked that wasn''t too far off the line. His power was adjusting the direction as he moved, and he guessed from the changes in bearing the target it wanted him to reach was at least ten miles away. The dockside had boats lined up at it, but they looked dusty and old, and Corvayne didn''t trust his sailing skills nor that the water didn''t have monsters. So he instead killed a few shades in the main office and looted a nautical map. He cleared off a desk by a window for light and laid the map out.


    Nap Bay and Nap Bay resort, part of what was named Crater island back in Cascadia. It had a different name on this map but was south of the key ring, though the island in question had no crater hole marking the north part of the island. Corvayne made little marks to the map to form a triangle and found the spot where to look for the devil band, moving the group across another bridge. It was past noon when they arrived at the mainland. Instead of a vibrant city center, there were lumber yards and a few homes along a country road. There were groups of shades that Corvayne used as instruction on flanking and fighting as a group. No treasure chests, but the roads seemed to be letting them go in the directions they needed to go. The businesses fell away to sporadic houses surrounded by trees.


    Larger shades were roaming out in the woods, beasts on four legs and hunters armed with rifles. Corvayne got hit once at the front of the line before they slowed their pace and had Corvayne move further out front. It was a little like the drones where the holes a bullet punched through his skin and bled, but the bullets the shades had couldn''t drill deep enough to be more than just painful stings. Lady Blood Claw''s aim wasn''t always good enough to hit a monster in partial cover, so Corvayne would step up and use [Flow-Like-Water] to skewer hunters she missed. The big ones were soft targets and he used them as confidence boosters, pushing Ayame, Horton, and Curtis to fight more than the others who seemed more motivated. He didn''t offer as many pointers as Lady Blood Claw, as he had the eagle eye ring and was using it to try to keep them out of trouble.


    Corvayne was so busy with trying to spot ambushes that they were nearly to the spot before he had noticed that nobody had been complaining.


    Sure, he had heard some murmuring, but nobody had been calling for extra stops nor saying their boots hurt their feet, so when he turned around and really looked, he saw that there was a sort of... energy? Or perhaps a better word would be a feeling building in the group. Little details like Ayame checking her knives while humming. June''s normally passive face looking focused. Horton smiling a little. Varia giving Reaper a fist bump. Bearer slapping her frozen knuckles together in a rhythm while she walked. Mars turning back and looking at Mosh, tapping her horns, then pointing at him. Mosh looking game and walking a little faster. Something was going on, and before Corvayne could get a grip on it they turned a bend in the road and Corvayne could see their destination at last. Over the tops of the trees he spotted cooling towers, and the woods thinned as the paved part of the road veered off from a gravel path to the entrance to the power plant and it''s huge swaths of pavement and support buildings.


    Over the chain link gate was floating glowing orange pictograms, this time suggesting what was beyond was for groups of at least six, which prompted Corvayne to wonder if the Tower expected people to just walk in alone.


    He turned back to the group. ¡°This sign means the building is going to be a harder-¡±


    Mosh stepped forward, face determined. ¡°I want that choker.¡±


    Curtis nodded. ¡°It''s an age where a man, or even a little goblin''s impossible dreams can come true. Isn''t that worth fighting for?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw looked confused, even turning dark yellow. ¡°Isn''t this all just for a sex thing?¡±


    Ayame ignored her or didn''t hear LBC, and nodded at everyone who was gathering into a huddle. ¡°I also want to try it on, then after that, you can have it Mosh.¡±


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The Goblin''s green cheeks turned a little red. ¡°Oh miss Ayame, you know I love your noodles! No hard feelings about this morning.¡±


    ¡°Same kiddo.¡± She smiled and scratched his head.


    Ears-of-Steel gestured. ¡°Let''s show these bastards what happens when they get in our way!¡±


    Corvayne pushed the gate open with a rattle, and somebody shouted. It was like a dam was opened: Everyone else besides LBC started hollering and they charged in with Mosh, MOSH leading the charge! Clumps of shades reacted to the noise and started running over, and the group used the techniques Lady Blood Claw and Corvayne had taught them during practice fights to surround and attack the Shades in tandem. It felt like an entirely different group of people from just two days ago.


    Varia took as much attention from the monsters as Corvayne did, her hatchets whipping out to down shades before they could clobber her with shovels and wrenches, pivoting after clearing the space around her to toss out [Whirling Axes] everywhere she wasn''t, popping shades both near and far. Horton used a sword he had found to impale shades, a smile plastered on his face as he efficiently moved, stopped, braced, impaled, moved again. June was moving back and forth, using her spear to shore up when someone else had two enemies to fight. Brines was jogging around the battle, dagger out and burning any clumps of approaching shades, while the three renamed members were their own unit with Ears at the front laughing as she bashed faces in, even using her horns to gore a shadow when she batted it''s weapon out of it''s hand, and laughing the entire time. Bearer-of-Burdens punched the ground, creating ice patches that tripped whole waves of shades. There were tons of them pouring from a hole in the wall of the plant. Reaper-of-Fish somehow already was able to use [Flow-Like-Water] with his spear, covering gaps between ice patches and the no-mans-land in front of where Ears was swinging. His version of Spears-Like-Water''s signature movelooked different, like he was wiggling through the air to dart at enemies. Corvayne swore he saw a ghostly swordfish jab with Reaper. Maybe his variant was [Flow-Like-Fishes]?


    Even Mosh, who did not relish fighting, was throwing out waves of salt that popped the shades like they were shotgun pellets, laughing and just shouting ¡°Horns! Horns! Horns!¡±


    Corvanye tried to stay ahead of the enthusiastic newbies, running back and forth to keep the line they had formed moving across the yard. Normally it would be no problem to take the point but knowing that an object they had fought over for a whole day was near... it pushed them into some sort of shared mania. In searching for a bedroom accessory for Mosh the group had become a fellowship. The team tore through countless ghostly forms, Mosh using glass bubbles and salt to destroy a group of shades with rifles before anyone was shot... Corvayne had to sprint to keep up as they reached the plant itself.


    The groups converged on the hole in the wall then stormed the hallway it lead to, yelling as they ran down shades, cut apart robot sentries armed with hammers, ripped apart offices and bashed open chests to arm themselves with whatever they found, tripping traps with desks and rolling chairs they were pushing down the hallway as a group. Corvayne was just bewildered the entire time as they cheered and high-fived after getting to another treasure chest and just dumped everything in their bags before charging to the next hall.


    There were big monsters, which Corvayne did his best to run ahead and engage rather than let someone else discover that, despite their momentum and morale, they were not invincible. The first huge monster was a nine foot tall ape in a rad suit, holding a half melted steel beam with concrete attached as a weapon. Corvayne rapidly disarmed both it''s makeshift club and a sneaky SMG it whipped out of a pocket, and then punched a bunch of holes in the monster, it''s huge fists swishing by as Corvayne ducked and weaved until the ape gave a grunt and flopped to the ground, bleeding glowing blood.


    Next was a giant spider, legs as long as a bus, living over a pool of boiling water. Corvayne took a look at the complicated web, with globs of boiling water issuing from pipes in the back that rolled down the web in changing patterns, the steam vents covering as much as half the web with boiling hot air, in set patterns shifting every ten seconds, and the numerous sacks that probably would contain spiders ready to pop out and assist their mother if he dared step wrong.


    Corvayne took it all in then just used [Sundering Strike] to cut the webs apart and drop the spider and most of the web into scalding water. He didn''t care to challenge himself on anything that could liquify then drink his organs. The web blocking the path beside the open chamber dissolved when the spider died, allowing the group to get to the final floor, where they fought to the control room overlooking the reactor where a double sized shade stood between them and the chest which Corvayne knew had the choker. It was armored in swat gear, and held one handed a claymore sized blade that glowed red and started to vibrate.


    Corvayne started the fight but after thirty seconds of jabbing and baiting swings to start bleeding the shade, the group caught up to him and did a screaming bum-rush on the monster, Curtis dragging the monster''s arm down while Ayame hacked away with her cleaver and took it''s hand clean off with [Butchery], which was the opening that let the rest pile on, stabbing and punching and kicking until the monster deflated in a stream of gray gunk. As it dropped the ran to the brass chest sitting on a table. Lady Blood Claw managed to hold them back while she checked for traps but as soon as they opened the lid Mosh dove his hands into the chest like he was doing a high dive and came out with TWO of those collars and the entire group went berserk, screaming and high-fiving and hugging and lifting Mosh up into the air...


    Corvayne met Lady Blood Claw''s eyes and he shrugged at her. She shrugged back, not getting why they were yelling as-


    Her eyes widened and she turned and sprinted for the boss''s body and vaulted over the shadowy form then grabbed his huge red-hot vibrating weapon, her skin turning so happy-pink it nearly glowed as she hefted the weapon over her head and roared herself drowning out the rest of the group.


    Damn, he lost her.


    Corvayne let everyone else bubble happily as he looted some more of the glow stones and they wound their way out of the plant, clearing more of it as they chatted and showed off and gradually corralled them and lead them through the afternoon woods to a two story house. It was just past the plant off the gravel road, which was good because the noise they were making probably woke up undead as far away as the Tel-Star mine. Corvayne stayed outside as they entered and cleared the building, tromping through thick green brush while surrounded the building with light stones. It was a nice contrast to see the orange-red light from above contrast with their dim blue glow. He wished he could paint it, even.


    As it turned out, the time he had spent creating a perimeter wasn''t nearly as important as where they stopped for the night, as the shadows didn''t swarm as the sky turned red. Perhaps there were no swirling shadows because they had killed at least a thousand of them when walking across the parking lot? Aside from the eerie color, with the stars out and crickets and frogs and other sounds of the woods it was pleasant and Corvayne spent some of the evening on the house''s porch, drinking a potion of lemonade he had saved from the first dungeon run and watching purplish clouds roll across the red starry sky.


    When it came time for bed the house didn''t have as much room as the ranch home did, so Corvayne ended up sharing the kitchen floor with Lady Blood Claw, who placed her bedroll next to his to also be as far away from Mosh and June''s enthusiastic testing of the collar as she could manage. He had to scoot his own bedroll a few feet over after he discovered she flailed her arms in her sleep. It would be a poor way to die bleeding out from getting stabbed by her bone spurs on accident.


    The group had breakfast a little late and took their time hiking up a trail leading into the foot hills, enjoying that the floor had given them a bright and warm day, even if the blue sky didn''t have a visible sun. There were still shades that sometimes would run over to attack them, but Corvayne was more and more confident that they could handle the monsters even without him in the front. It wasn''t more than an hour and a half of walking before they stumbled on a stairway up, moving on to the next floor with Ayame, June, and Ears all swishing tails behind them as they climbed.

 Chapter 96: S S S Shopping Spree!

    The elevator hummed as it carried the group upwards towards a mesh of lights strung out against a moonlit sky, all shades of yellow and black. Corvayne felt the cold sea wind and wrapped his desert cloak tighter around himself. Almost everyone else seemed fine with the chill as the platform hummed and lifted them up the base of the huge lines of faint lights that must have been the train-mall grid.


    Lady Blood Claw had a tight grip on his arm, eyes shut rather than looking down at the distant waters. Corvayne guessed she tended to latch onto him because her grip would break a normal person''s arm.


    He caught Mosh''s eye and for some reason the goblin raised and lowered his eyebrows. Likely having to do with June wearing her devil horns, her item-granted tail swishing as she sat against the chain link caging for the platform and looked lovingly at her goblin. Varia stood on the other side of them, placid expression sometimes twisting at annoyance, especially when she saw Corvayne was looking at her. He smiled to be friendly which made her even madder. Every time he thought he was getting better at understanding people it felt like someone would crash through his understanding of people. Well, that someone was usually Wick.


    The elevator platform stopped and the wire cage door opened to a platform outside and under the mall. The huge pillar that supported the structure, which Horton had spent the first five minutes of the ride telling the group was as impossible, went right up into the mall, while the area they were in seemed to be something like a parking lot for little carts. There were train tracks that ran through this space, but Corvayne assumed it was something like a dream of a real building, and the underground parking was part of it even if it made no sense for a mall in the sky to have car parking.


    They followed bright yellow painted lines that lead them to an entrance to the elevator up and some automatic stairs, and Corvayne had them walk up rather than possibly get stuck ferrying the group up in parts on a crowded elevator.


    The dim light of the stairwell brightened as they went up three floors, the stairs ending in a glass vaulted entrance into the mall proper. Given the dim exterior, Corvane had assumed it would be poorly lit, but instead it was bright, marble tiled and full of plants in a walkway, with stores primed with bright colors. Corvayne and Brines actually took a step towards the athletic gear store across the way before Lady Blood Claw cleared her throat.


    She folded her arms, skin shifting from green to gray. ¡°You wanted to try to power level the group, correct? We can browse after we find our enemy.¡±


    Curtis pointed. ¡°LB, You mean like those dumb-ass kid painting the bench there?¡±


    Corvayne saw a lone shade in flashy clothes shaking a can of spray paint. They didn''t look that dangerous, but if they blinded someone it could be set up for a more dangerous monster.


    ¡°We need eye protection. I''ll go in, I can fight blind.¡±


    As he spoke the lone shade became a trio became five as more teen shades vaulted over a plant bed or dropped from a stairway leading to the second floor walkway. Corvayne tried taunting them by motioning for them to bring it on, but they kept their deliberate pace until they got close, suddenly skating forward. Corvayne used [Flow-Like-Water] through their formation and a moment later there was clattering as pairs of skates and cans of paint fell to the ground.


    Corvayne shook his spear and strolled through the mall, stopping at a store selling sunglasses. There was a ghostly hint of a smokey figure behind the counter, and the glasses had price tags on them. He picked a few cheap ones and paid for them, the hint of a shopkeeper flickering as the credits he put down sank as if the counter was liquid, then change pushed itself up, bits of counter dripping off like mercury.


    ¡°Uh, thanks, have a nice day.¡±


    Brines clapped. ¡°Oh, I bet you get the mob of guards will go aggro if you shoplift and get caught!¡±


    Ayame winced. ¡°Pack. Mob is one monster, pack is a group. You might aggro a pack by stealing.¡±


    Mosh picked up then set down a pair of shades. ¡°A society that makes you pay for this crap is so quaint! Let''s wait till Boss says he''s ready though...¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°We''re close to the stairs out of here, so no better place to try. But, uh, can we do it at a different store? We might need more glasses later.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw rolled her eyes at him and grabbed a handful of shades and walked out, then dumped most of them into her pack save one pair she slipped on. Her skin turned to a gold-paint color which was probably pride given how her chin was lifted and she had shifted to striding rather than just walking.


    Corvayne stepped next to her and readied his whip as a pack of shades came around the corner ahead, moving in unison over objects in the way. When they got close, Corvayne used [Cross Skill: Thresh] and drew a line of black across the tile in front of him. Corvayne didn''t think his lines of shadowy hands would work as well on the shades, but the arms seemed to trip the monsters up the same as any other. The first line of charging shadows fell to the ground, and the second line stumbled on them, but the third just walked on them and came at Corvayne and Lady Blood Claw, batons held high. Lady Blood Claws sword began humming and glowing then with two hands she swept it across the incoming group, blasting shades into burning chunks of shadow as they fell apart.


    The smell of burnt chemicals filled the air as Lady Blood Claw''s backswing took out the rest of the group. She rested the tip on the ground as both Corvayne''s shadows and the security guards faded, leaving only bits of soot behind.


    ¡°Nice work Lady. That new weapon reminds me of your old katana.¡±


    She was a vibrant happy pink as she huffed and swept a hand through her silver hair. ¡°Forget whatever I said, this detour is worth it to just do that and not feel guilty.¡± She turned and snapped at the rest of the group. ¡°Quickly! Steal some more stuff!¡±


    The second group she did what looked like a new weapon skill, whirling with one slash then twisting into an overhead slam that knocked the shade formation apart like bowling pins.


    Corvayne took his normal two handed sword back and from lady blood claw and just used [Circle of Death] to cleave through most of the shades in the third set, parrying the two surviving guard that had survived by being in the back corner of the five by five by catching their clubs with his blade, then pushing up to throw them off balance as stepped forward to a stumbling shadow and bashed it with his shoulder into the other, where they fell in a tangle of limbs hard enough to pop them both.


    Mosh called out ¡°A Seven ten split! Nice work Boss!¡±


    There was no fourth group, the guards in the mall seemed spent with only one showing up, then none the fifth time they stole from a store. The group took this as permission to loot whatever they wanted, though Corvayne quietly paid for anything he took. It seemed the stores were mostly mundane objects, and Horton informed them based on a game store that they were a mish-mash of randomly chosen years, with ''nothing that would really make money like future games or movies''.


    Corvayne consulted with Brines about where they might upgrade from shades to goggles to better deal with the scattered punk shadows with spray paint. This prompted a detour into the back rooms of the mall where they encountered ''hand crabs'' which were shelled things with fingers, LOTS of fingers, acting as legs.


    In the aftermath of trying to kill ten of them with part of the team, Corvayne decided once they had goggles and some paint thinner to clean them, he would stick to the main paths of the mall and the much less creepy shades. Every other door had a few behind them, and with their shells it was hard to kill them before they got onto somebody''s leg, trying to grab or scratch them ineffectively. Corvayne thought of them as the furry slug of the floor, but FAR less cute.


    Ears-of-Steel curled her lip as she kicked fingernails loose from her boot. ¡°It''s fucking GROSS as hell those things try to... tickle us to death.¡±


    Ayame tugged Corvayne''s sleeve and pointed at the still twitching forms of the finger-crabs. ¡°Who''s idea was this? Why are they like that?¡±


    Corvayne thought it was the sort of question better addressed to someone like Wick, but he gave answering a shot. ¡°Perhaps The Tower pulls ideas from things people think of, it might be unintentionally scary?¡±


    June looked at the bodies, confused. ¡°Are these scary?¡± She asked, looking over to Mosh, who was panting in the corner of the hall.


    The goblin was still catching his breath as he said, ¡°I... hate... being... tickled.¡±


    Reaper chuckled. ¡°Maybe they wouldn''t do it if you didn''t laugh, man!¡±


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Ayame responded to June''s question, sounding incredulous, ¡°Dear just look at them, doesn''t the thought of all those fingers on you make you feel gross?¡±


    ¡°Well, no? I''ve had lots of fingers on me.¡± June looked at her own hands. ¡°Am I gross? Are my hands gross?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°They are fine. If you spend time looking at what people think is beautiful, it''s things that are natural.¡±


    June looked back at her hands, then at the finger-crab. ¡°But its fingers... are not natural?¡±


    Ears looked between her and Mosh. ¡°It''s really like dealing with a kid...¡±


    ¡°It''s not a natural creature, because it has human nails that are suited to fine manipulations of tools when it''s an animal intelligence that just skitters like a spider. Harder limbs would suit it better.¡± Corvayne said while pushing one of the crabs out of the way of a door, it''s blood reeking of vinegar. He suspected the thing tasted like pickles, but would never test it.


    He found a tin container of paint thinner and a tool box with a few blue metal tools. Even if they were not magical, Mosh had said the material was great. Corvayne added it the pile accumulating in his ring.


    They set out for the next mall soon after, moving through second floor double doors to a harshly lit deck with stairs and ramps that lead down to the long lit spindle between this mall and the next titanic building suspended in the dark world. Above, the moon shone but didn''t seem to bath the landscape in any light. The train cars looked like some of the older models Corvayne had seen rusting in the depot yard.


    The second mall was similar to the first, with four well lit floors lined with shops and connected by walkways and stairs. Instead of normal trees, the fauna in this mall had the deep red and blue bark with teal leaves he associated with the first Tower instance he went into. The walls and planters had blue and dark blue tiles, and many of the stores had yellow branding and signs.


    Corvayne lead the way in, walking through a three story arch of shaped pine trees to enter the food court, where a group of goblins in hoodies with bandanas over their mouths were lounging. The ten monsters armed with yellow spray paint cans stood up knocking over chairs and started rushing at him. He switched to his whip and snapped at them while dancing away from the paint, more worried about a mess than blindness given his eye protection. He saw another monster go down with an arrow in it''s head, Lady Blood Claw staying back this time to take potshots with her bow. Curtis stepped up, slashing one goblin with his sparking club then slaying another but puncturing his can of paint with a pop, spraying paint everywhere. Ayame fended another off with her cleaver, while Mosh''s girls protected him as he summoned glass spheres that shattered where the goblins were walking, knocking them over onto broken glass. It was a short fight given that one side had weapons and the other had spray paint.


    Ears looked a little guilty as her face, hair, and horns were blasted with yellow paint except for the obvious outline of her goggles. ¡°I hesitated... they look like Mosh!¡±


    Mosh folded his arms. ¡°I know, but I spent a week with a tribe and even when you work with them... they are at their core nasty little cannibals. Though, Corvayne found a thinking tribe out there which I wanna see, after I get tough enough to deal with porcupines Seru posted about.¡±


    Corvayne thought it was odd that Mosh knew who Seru was so quickly. Did she try to get her hooks into him too? Or was she more important than he had thought? He shrugged to himself and resumed looking around the food court. The equipment behind the counter worked, but he didn''t trust the few bits of freezer burned food he found in the back. A pair of Hand-Crabs were waiting for him in the kitchen of a pizza place, two spear strokes causing them to spasm and die in a puddle of blood that stank of vinegar. The crowded kitchen had an out of place chest that was covered in red plastic, and when he used his spear to open it a burst of heat came out, but instead of a sulfurous fireball he was instead hit with the smell of fresh pizza.


    Now, Corvayne wasn''t born yesterday. Dungeon, excuse him, Tower pizza sounded like a metaphor for something unsavory. On the other hand, the toppings looked fresh, the cheese was melting, and there were two large pizzas in the treasure chest, as well as a pair of oven mitts and a blue-metal pizza cutter.


    Mosh helped sell everyone on the idea of eating pizza that had been waiting for them in a treasure chest that looked like a delivery bag by reminding them they ate strange monsters all the time. Curtis shrugged and took the first slice, even as Brines was urging everyone to consider all the reasons not to eat weird stuff out of the dungeon. After a minute he hadn''t dropped dead, so Corvayne took his chances.


    ¡°Pretty good.¡±


    Ayame wanted the cooking stuff, and because it was a short range weapon and gloves that made holding stuff harder, the group let her take them and they continued to move through the mall, finding more goblins. At a store that stocked sports equipment they triggered the guards a few times by looting chest protection for Horton and Ayame. Corvayne bought a few bats rather than just take them, as well as a bike he bought and stuffed in the ring so that he could invite more people with Grunt the next time they rode.


    He and Lady Blood Claw destroyed the goblin swat packs that stealing seemed to summon, tearing down five waves before the mall had run out of guards.


    Brines looked at Corvayne. ¡°Do you want to go? I think these stores are mostly the same as what we''ve seen before.¡±


    ¡°I want to confirm something, you notice the trees are all oddly colored? It''s like the dungeon I first explored with Wick.¡±


    It took another hour of exploring, and slaying a few of the finger-crabs in dimly lit back halls before he found what he was looking for. A wood and vine covered door frame that lead down a hallway that seemed... vague in a way nothing else had been in this mall. Next to the door was a riddle or warning. ''Those who wander these woods a little might never get lost again ¨C Sage of Skills.''


    Corvayne took a picture, then let the group know he was going to test the door. He smelled the difference as the hint of cleaning chemicals and freon faded to the scent of pine. He stepped out onto a ridge overlooking a pastel colored pine forest, complete with red and blue trees. He couldn''t help but melt into a big smile, knowing from the yellow sky he was on the third floor of the Cascadia forest. The peak he was on wasn''t familiar, as it was near an edge he hadn''t seen. He could look down in the gap that meandered between the plates like a river and spot another complete forest, shrouded in shadow from being under the layer he was on.


    As much as he wanted to stay on the third floor, he decided that exploring an entirely new part of the forest wasn''t his goal. He did spot that the door back to the mall looked like it had a roll up metal gate, as if it could be closed like a storefront. Next to it was scrawled in white chalk ''Those who drink the water every step of the way, may master it. - Sage of Skills.''


    Corvayne took another picture, not sure what the Sage was on about but deciding that Wick might really like the puzzle. He rejoined the group and they extracted themselves from the back halls and went to the train station, Brines picking the largest mall of the three adjacent ones they hadn''t been to.


    Corvayne raised an eyebrow, as the exterior was brushed stainless steel, and the places where the exterior had details it was painted red. Stepping through the glass doors, Corvayne saw bright red pools of goop, flowing from the ceiling to pools between stores. The sugary smell hit him a moment later. He saw what looked like the junior version of the killer whip-trees planted in the beds along the stainless steel walkways and turned around and started walking out before Lady Blood Claw pushed him back in.


    ¡°Don''t be a baby, they are a tenth of the size of the ones on the fifth floor.¡±


    Corvayne frowned. ¡°They will still kill someone if they can whip a steel wire like the big trees do and they hit someones face or neck.¡±


    She folded her arms, a smug smile forming on her face. ¡°Are you... afraid of trees?¡±


    Corvayne looked at a shrub thirty feet ahead he was sure he saw move then freeze with a root out of the garnet colored dirt it was resting in. ¡°When you put it like that, I feel a little stupid. Aside from nearly being decapitated a few times and nearly bleeding out fighting them...¡±


    She gestured around. ¡°Fight one tree, if it''s dangerous we leave. Otherwise, odd terrain like this suggests doors to find or unusual treasure. I thought you knew that when you wanted to search the last spot.¡± A hint of orange filtered across her skin, suggesting mild annoyance.


    ¡°Lady, sometimes I feel like you over-estimate me.¡±


    ¡°It''s because you under-estimate yourself. I wouldn''t train with you if you were not exceptional.¡± She was charcoal colored as she spoke which made Corvayne believe she was being extra serious.


    Corvayne felt his cheeks heat up a little and scratched them. ¡°Aww shucks.¡±


    They proceeded as usual, with the painting thugs replaced with tiny trees laden with yellow fruit that had the same chemical smell as paint once he skewered it. The stores were just as weird as the mall. Instead of normal shelves there were rows of jars with metal tops and bottoms hooked up into the walls, and each of the glass tubes had pink fluid suspending an object in it. No check out, just a thin strip with a digital price on it next to a slot for money.


    The details Corvayne saw as decoration for the first store were also weird. The lights were all white with red dots taped over the bulbs, adding spots of red. The stainless steel had jam-soaked dirt pillars mixed in, covered in deep red vines. Jam falls coated some of the walls, chunks of strawberry slithering down to pools that ran under the floors under steel grates. All the lettering was a strawberry font that he thought said something boutique. Being able to read any language didn''t apparently help when it was poorly written. He guessed it was a store for clothes, as in the fluid were floating garments, the colors of the clothes reduced to light and dark maroon shades by the goop.


    Browsing the garmet tubes, he noted some of the prices were within the expected range of fifty to a hundred credits for high end clothes while others spiked into the thousands and tens of thousands, with no visible distinction. One tube had a price of 199,999 and contained what looked like strawberry pants.


    Ayame was browsing as well, and looking between an apron that was 100 credits and one that was 2000. Shrugging, she pulled out cash she had gathered from looting other places and fed them into the more expensive machine, which clicked and drained of fluid before the glass at the front melted, letting her take the apron.


    When she tried it on, a thin layer of what looked like oil covered her in a flash. Corvayne was reaching for the uncurse scroll when she laughed and breathed in, the film parting to let her breath. When she tapped her clothes, the oil hardened.


    ¡°Look! I bet the expensive ones are magical!¡± Ayame said, pointing at the jars.


    Corvayne saw Ears look directly at the pants and rear her bat up. It felt slow motion as he just knew, somehow, that stealing what might be the most expensive thing in any mall they had visited was a bad idea.


    ¡°No wait! The-¡±


    With a smash the case collapsed and Ears-of-Steel fished out the pair of slimy pants, holding them up with one hand and her bat in the other. ¡°Heh. Louisville credit card, right?¡±


    The lights in the store dimmed and turned an angry red. Somewhere in the mall an alarm started going off, and Corvayne rushed out of the store to see that the doors out of the mall had been blocked off with steel bars. He turned to face the other way, and could see a cluster of ten foot tall trees skittering their way towards the party, their steel wired vines swishing with lethal promise.

 Chapter 97: I Hate That Name

    Corvayne felt his heart quicken as he saw a line of ten killer trees crawling across the mall''s small lake towards him. He could hear their roots making clinking noises, the sound merging with the high tension warbling of their whip-like steel vines. The wall of trees must have been twelve feet tall, their bulbous bodies clad in bark and flecks of metal interrupted by pulsing strawberry tumors. If they got cornered by those bulky monsters, they were done for. Even if he fought well, the trees could seriously injure or kill his charges.


    He guessed this was the time to test if all the toys he was packing now would make a difference. He saw a few of the newbies were frozen in awe of the wall of huge monsters coming at them. He took a deep breath. He had to focus on getting the help he could protecting those that couldn''t defend themselves.


    ¡°Lady Blood Claw! Brines! Cover my flanks. Everyone else back, fire if you have a clean shot but don''t risk hitting us, bullets don''t do much. Brines use the dagger to burn things, don''t get close and don''t try to take them down, just starting them on fire is enough. ¡± Corvayne got his whip ready, while holding his own fire-breathing dagger in his other hand.


    Ears, Reaper, and Bearer came up near him. ¡°We''ll help.¡± Ears said. ¡°It''s my fault anyway this time, right?¡±


    Corvayne gestured to the stairs behind where the party was behind him. ¡°If you have to, keep any upstairs monsters from getting the group. If I die, finish off what we don''t kill.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shot him a sideways glance and huffed. ¡°I think you''re underestimating yourself again.¡±


    ¡°If my head''s on my shoulders then by all means laugh at me for trying to be safe. Also, just for that you get be the one to tell Wick if I''m missing limbs after this.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw''s color turned an uncomfortable ashen color. ¡°I reject that deal.¡±


    There was no more time for talk, as the cluster of plants finished slithering past the jam fountain and Corvayne wanted to make sure them the moment all monsters were at the edge of the jelly that he met them to have as much room as possible.


    He ran to about ten feet away and swung his fire-breathing dagger before the wall of wood, with a squeeze directing a red jet of fire out of it and scorching the first three monsters. The cone of fire left scorch marks on two and started one tree ablaze, driving it into a frenzy. Corvayne took advantage of his running boots to back up as the front three trees whipped at him, the noise of steel air a reminder of his first encounter.


    He saw Brines warding a pair off with short bursts of fire while yelling, and Lady Blood Claw darted in, slashed one of the trees before she moved back with enhanced speed. Her new blazing sword seemed to both cut and set the monsters aflame. Corvayne stuck with the dagger, letting the already singed trees saunter forward before applying another layer of fire, the smell of wood smoke mixed with burnt fruit. He heard shouting behind him but disengaging before glancing back to spot that the upstairs team had two trees gliding to them.


    Corvayne stepped back further when he felt a wave of heat as another tree ignited, flailing in a thrashing cloud of steel vines then falling on it''s side as it''s strawberry tumors popped. The nine other trees came on, one of them managing to snap a steel vine and draw blood on Corvayne''s arm. He used gravity to lighten himself, then snapped out with his whip, the snake-head finding a spot to bite a tree by the root. The toxic blob it left disappeared into the wood, then the tree who had absorbed it sagged as a quarter of it''s leg-roots rotted from the inside out, turning a large chunk of it''s wood into black mush. No time to celebrate, as the other trees marched forward, slow but relentless upper branch whips snapping out. Mosh was standing behind Lady Blood Claw healing a wound pumping blood out of her shoulder, before she surged forward to continue fighting.


    Corvayne took his dagger and once more swept the five trees striding at him. The fire wasn''t quite long enough and he felt a whip snap right near his knee, knocking him over. Corvayne rolled away, shadowy hands helping push himself back to his feet. He squeezed the handle of his dagger hard, pushing the pommel itself to glow red hot as it shot a cone of radiant fire focused on the middle tree, then once more sweeping back and forth. More of them ignited, doing enough damage that some of their legs were burnt and dragging along the ground, breaking the line they had formed. Glancing around he saw that one of the trees from above was about to creep down the stairs.


    ¡°Flanking! Just focus on survival!¡±


    Corvayne lowered his gravity and darted forward after it seemed there was a moment the vines all tried to strike at once, and with his blazing dagger leading him he rammed his way through a tree using [Cross Skill: Flows Like Water], the burning weapon shooting jets of fire in all direction as he landed on the edge of the strawberry reflection pool. He spun, then readied his whip with [Cross Skill: Thresh] and swept it under the trees, the attack creating a wall of shadows that snagged their roots. When they started to strain against the shadows the three caught trees spun to move away from the group towards him. He looked to the stairs through a gap in the monsters and saw June and Varia were trying to fend the trees from getting to the ground floor, their spears sparking as wires knocked them nearly out of the girl''s hands.


    Corvayne resisted the urge to move back to assist, as he still had four trees on him. He had to hold or Lady Blood Claw would be facing five alone. Make that four, as her blade found an opening and cleaved into her second target dropping it. Brines was doing okay holding the other two back with fire destroying some of their legs, but Corvayne saw that the monster on the stairs was going to over run the two girls fending it off. Corvayne threw his still blazing weapon with [Phantom Knife], turning the weapon into a streak of fire that thumped into the tree then exploded in a shower of embers before it rocketed back to him, the handle hot as he caught it.


    The trees pressing him seemed to know he was open after catching the knife, forcing him to snap his whip to keep them from just rushing him down from three different directions. Another pair was creeping up behind him, both of them fully sized like the security trees. That''s when he heard something like a buzz saw, and there was sawdust where one tree had been. There was another cracking noise, and the one in the catwalk slipped, the renamed trio closing in and attacking over and over, even as Reaper got slugged with a vine in his chest and fell back wheezing.


    Corvayne was cornered, but he smiled at seeing his team take down two trees.


    Brines burned one of his trees to death finally but was drooping from the effort when a vine shot out, hitting his wrist and cutting him so bad that Corvayne was sure his hand was going to fall off. The distraction nearly cost Corvayne his neck as he ducked away from a strike that grazed the back of his head. Drawing on gravity once more, he crouched then leapt, snapping his whip at a cross-beam above him and letting the force swing him in an arc towards the group.


    After pulling the whip back to him he realized his positioning and been off and he was falling right at Ayame.


    Thankfully he weighed so little she was able to catch him in a panic, oily arms only holding him for a moment then letting him drop. Corvayne got to his feet, thanked her with a salute, then ran to Brines. The same tree that had bloodied the man tried to slap at Corvayne with it''s steel vines, who cracked his own whip as he nimbly side stepped the barrage.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    The glob of poison from the whip literally chewed it''s way down the tree leaving a greasy black trail that caused the monster to drop. Brines saved for the moment, he turned back to the other side where Lady Blood Claw was jabbing with her huge flaming sword, darting in to strike then moving backwards, pain evident in her face and stance but her skin holding gray suggesting her control. Mosh had switched to helping Brines, who''s diving outfit had turned black where his blood had soaked in.


    Corvayne stepped up to the group of three trees on the ground and once more stabbed out with his dagger, using the cone of flame to ignite another of the monsters. He was starting to tire but moved his dagger over, applying the fire to a fresh tree that had joined the original ten, quickly setting it ablaze before the third of Corvayne''s cluster came whipping in, top branches sparking as they hit the metal floor. The heat from the fight and pain from his wounds didn''t stop him from stepping forward with his whip ready and jumping with gravity, boosting him as he flicked his weapon downwards, activating [Cross Skill: Juxtapose].


    Suddenly he was on the ground and he dashed forward moments before the tree he had swapped forty feet up fell. He felt sleepy, but turned and saw that Varia had stepped up next to him then gestured, blasting a tree with a thin blue line of white energy. Ayame helped his other flank, getting hit by a steel vine that bounced off hardened olive oil as she slashed at the monster with her pizza cutter. She started crying out in shock and fell back, holding the spot where she had been hit and falling over, pushing herself away from the line of battle.


    Horton shouted, and Corvayne dispatched another tree with a whip strike before looking and seeing Horton was upstairs and running down the steps. ¡°Three trees up here! I can''t do anything!¡±


    Mosh was starting to look tired as he let his hands drop. ¡°I''m going to actually run outta mends soon Boss!¡±


    ¡°Fling salt at them or something!¡± Corvayne said then got belted in the gut for letting his attention lapse, a cloud of mist blasting out. No broken ribs, but the dumb hit had made him angry. He was done playing around. He put his dagger away and visualized his whip as a caged beast, gripping the green leather handle with both hands and tilting the weapon like it was the hilt of a katana at his side, He took his stance then opened a chain of attacks with [Cross Skill: Draw] to unleash the whip like a beast sent to hunt. [Cross Skill: Shadow Step] made him feel like he was slithering as the whip swirled around him, and with a hiss he slid through the clump three trees then back into reality. He cracked the whip with [Cross Skill: Sheath the Life] to finish the chain of attacks. Toxic slime burned out the path through three trees he took, which crumpled as they died and turned into putrid puddles of bark and berry seeds. For as well as it worked, his anger and strength faded, left him feeling emptied out. Taking a moment he saw that there were still monsters trying to reach the stairs to their level.


    ¡°Lady! Top!¡± He called out, and she saw the trees moving after Horton and nodded. There was one that had been late to the fight skittering across the ground floor, so despite being tempted to leave it to the newbies he grabbed his dagger one more time and squeezed, turning the last tree into a burning pile of embers. Looking back up at the fight on the second floor walkway he saw Lady Blood Claw bait three whip strikes then move forward, activating [Circle of Death] after moving into the middle of the trio, and in that moment she slew all three at once, turning to look down at him while she shifted to the gold hue of pride.


    Corvayne gave her a thumbs up then mentally forced himself to not just pass out after a fight for a change, striding over to a bench to rest. His ribs hurt but compared to getting hit by Argyle, the trees were... quaint.


    Mosh did some triage, mostly focusing on making sure Brines was alive. Ayame was rubbing her arm and biting her teeth. Bearer and Reaper both had taken a hit, and were sprawled out on steel benches, groaning. Corvayne saw the shiny bars in front of the door back outside slowly slide back to the floor, suggesting the threat was really over.


    Ears came over, holding up what looked like strawberry pants. Not pants with a strawberry print, as he had first assumed, but if someone had taken the texture of fruit and sewn pants out of them.


    The punk girl smiled ¡°Hey, Corvayne, we decided you and Miss Blood Claw should have these.¡±


    He blinked. ¡°Oh. Why?¡±


    Ears looked at him doubtfully, extending the pants. ¡°Because... you earned them.¡±


    Reaper called out from his bench, ¡°She said they looked stupid.¡±


    Corvayne accepted them, then felt that they were not just fruit, they actually oozed with jam inside. His hand didn''t come away sticky, but it was almost certain it would be like sticking his legs in pants that had been washed in preservatives.


    Bearer-of-Burdens nodded at Corvayne. ¡°The texture is too off for us to wear, but you''re really strong and it seems like you could deal with it. Mentally.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw looked at the pants then up at Bearer. ¡°That doesn''t mean anything, gross is gross!¡±


    Corvayne saw June coming up, and held them out. ¡°June did you want-¡±


    Mosh lept up from where he was giving Brines water. ¡°No! Don''t go giving her slimy pants Boss!¡± That evoked a laugh from Ayame. Corvayne caught Varia nodding. Oh, was that her problem?


    June took the pants, felt them, then handed them back. ¡°I''m sorry Corvayne. I cannot accept your gift. The Jam-Jammies are too gross.¡±


    Everyone stopped for a good three seconds as the statement she had made hung in the air. Mosh came up to her and hugged her. ¡°Great job baby, you figured out what''s gross and not!¡±


    June beamed, but everyone else was looking at the pants. It probably didn''t matter if it was an artifact, Corvayne could see Ears turning away from Corvayne, her shoulders shaking in mirth. Once June had named them, it would always be the Jam Jammies. If he became an immortal demi-god, still alive in a thousand years, and they were the strongest legendary armor he owned that they called Blood Ocean Leggings, or Blood Splatter Chausses, and he was sitting on a throne of skulls or something, king of the universe... he''d know he was wearing Jam Jammies.


    ¡°Mister leader Corvayne...¡± She started saying. Reaper was biting his lip and breathing through his nose as he walked further back, clearly nursing his ribs. Ears-of-Steel continued. ¡°I think I speak on behalf of the group-¡±


    Corvayne looked pleadingly at Lady Blood Claw. Her support for him vanished as he met her eyes. ¡°No Corvayne. No same woman is ever going to wear something that shoves sugar into your crotch.¡±


    The girls aside from June were all nodding. June just tilted her head at that comment. Corvayne didn''t get it either but LBC''s conviction convinced him it was bad for some reason.


    ¡°Well, if no one wears them we can-¡±


    Ayame had her hands folded. ¡°You want to protect Wick, right?¡±


    Unfair. ¡°Yesss....¡±


    ¡°You can''t waste power like people waste food. We worked hard and risked our lives. Take it.¡±


    ¡°We don''t know what-¡±


    Mosh took a scroll of Identify from Brines and read it, then stared into the air a moment before his eyes widened.


    ¡°Oh yeah, that''s a hell of an artifact. I''ll write down the stats for ya.¡± The little goblin smiled.


    Corvayne tried to use the suggestion against Mosh. ¡°Why don''t you have them then? It would protect you-¡±


    Mosh laughed and took a step back. ¡°Oh Boss no. Green and red? Those colors don''t look good together. Also, too big for me.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw started speaking. ¡°Magic items adjust their-¡±


    ¡°Too big!¡±


    Horton raised a finger. ¡°Actually about red and green, they work very well, in fact there''s a holiday that-¡±


    Mosh kept talking over Horton. ¡°Sorry Boss, if it was grape flavored...¡± He looked at June who shook her head. ¡°... I''d still be a no there champ.¡±


    Curtis, who had been frozen the entire fight, shook his head. ¡°Even if you didn''t wear em, I was useless that fight. I didn''t earn a single bit of goop from those Jammed up Jammies.¡±


    Corvayne looked over at Brines. Even half dead from blood loss, the man raised a hand to stop Corvayne. ¡°I made a promise to my dad, to never... never wear.... pajamas... in... public. It would kill him if he heard his son, his own... flesh and blood... say Jammie.¡± Oddly enough he sounded the most sincere out of everyone who spoke up, actually making eye contact.


    Horton just said, ¡°No. The texture would make me throw up. I veto any attempt to give me the Jam Jammies.¡±


    Corvayne winced. Maybe he could at least fix part of his problem. ¡°How about we change the name before we decide on-¡±


    It was too late, in his eyes he could see ''June''s Jam Jammies'' had stuck, and now he was going to spend the rest of the dungeon trying to purge that alliteration from his mind. He was going to tell the group that they did a good job but... he looked again at his new strawberry leggings, then at his friends who had clearly abandoned him to his own fate. Only Lady Blood Claw looked like she might waver, but he caught the look in her eye and decided he wasn''t going to try and slime his friend.


    He stood up and sighed. ¡°Fine. I''ll take the damn pants.¡±

 Chapter 98: In Which Our Heroes Do Not Slip Away Quietly

    The group had to spend half a day after the battle with the trees recovering. Brines wouldn''t be able to use his hand for a while, but hadn''t lost it thanks to mend, and nobody died even if there were some bruises and likely second thoughts ever doing more Tower runs after seeing a hard fight.


    Corvayne relented and put on the Jam Jammies, but only after finding a pair of rubber tights at a store that let him wear the artifact without it leaking all over him. Once he put them on in a minute he felt better, his aches fading and his energy returning. If it made him last longer in a fight they were worth the need to possibly find a bathrobe to wear over them.


    The ID scroll gave them a better picture.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 98.6755%">


    Strawberry Preserver (AKA ¡°Jam Jammies¡±)


    Artifact Class


    Upgrades with: Rare or better fruits. (Stronger ID needed.)


    Can be Modified with: Rare or better fruits. (Stronger ID needed.)


    Bio-Armor ¨C Self recovers from damage. Accepts healing as repairs.


    + 10 Physical Damage reduction


    + .5/sec Regeneration


    +7 Constitution


    +3 Agility


    +.5/sec Stamina Recovery


    (Stronger ID needed)


    Special abilities:


    [Dish Best Served Wiggly] ¨C When the wearer of the ¡°Jam Jammies¡± is attacked, a bit of it''s jelly aura will form a [Strawberry Meteorite]. The user of the Jammies can squeeze the artifact to launch collected meteors at a target designated by their willpower. Maximum of 100 stacks.


    [Slime Strider]: Gives free movement through slimes, jelly, mud, honey, and any other amorphous solids that the user chooses to move through. Greatly enhances resistance against corrosive oozes. Enables user to breath any amorphous solid for a period of five minutes per day.


    [Mold-Proof]: A beacon of hope for strawberries everywhere, this item confers immunity to mold based attacks and hazards.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    They rested in the previous mall they had cleared of goblin guards until the moon had halfway set, then rode a train past the jam mall to a titanic horizontal mall with a run down exterior. The insides were a shamble as well, littered with broken tiles, fallen light fixtures, and every surface had plant life encroaching on it. The narrow gap between the walkways had vines hanging in the gloom, moss exploded out of pools of water on the floor and beside lakes formed by broken floors and tangles of roots. The otherwise empty stores were choked with vines and ferns blotting out most of the light. When they stopped Corvayne would use the break to venture into the overgrown stores, sometimes finding mundane products jutting from roots and dirt as if offered by the plants. He didn''t find treasure, but the stores had exterior windows that let him see the mall grid below and spot that another layer above them. He stopped at a few stores as they climbed and watched as the layer they had been on faded.


    They climbed, moved around obstacles, and rested for a good five or six hours. The thing that shocked Corvayne was a lack of monsters, but perhaps this mall was considered a town, or it was part of the infrastructure of the Tower floor, just like how there were not monsters on the trains.


    Corvayne was worried they would reach the next grid before they found a stairway, but they were only halfway up before they found a passage near the bathrooms that took them to the next floor of the Tower, coming out in a place made of pink stones shaped in long blocks.


    Those blocks were arranged in arrays that combined to form what looked like a blocky half mile wide sinkhole. Bright sun light and streams of water poured in from above, with the light turning the stone white and the water staining it a deep maroon as well as filling the bottom with a turquoise pool full of coral and colorful fish. Bright green trees with pears, apples, and less recognizable fruit grew along the outside. As an experiment he picked one and tried offering it to his pants, but the weird fruit he selected just fell on the ground.


    He thought that Mister I would probably love the spot, as Reaper begged the group to stop for an hour. After all the stairs everyone else was tired, so Corvayne and Lady Blood Claw scouted the sinkhole while Reaper-of-Fish got to fishing.


    The monsters on this version of the fourth floor were floating rhino-horned fish that tried to ram them but died to a single strike, and thing that was like a living coral knight, formed of colorful shards and wielding a curled shell spear and a shield made of what looked like fish scales held together with barnacles. The aquatic monster fought with basic ideas of defense and actually tried to block then strike, but didn''t respond to anything Corvayne said, relentlessly stomping with it''s thick legs forward even after Corvayne had chipped it''s shield arm off.


    He claimed the shell-spear but it was already chipped, so he used it as a javelin on the next fish as they made their way around the fishbowl shaped depressing. The sink hole had two large passages that bridged the pond and walkways to what looked like other sinkholes, and he could see without venturing to far into those gaps that this floor probably was another rock maze of connected chambers. He saw that there were large fish swimming in languid strokes between pools, so perhaps the fishing was part of the treasure of the floor.


    Three fourths of the way back around he found a natural stairway to a higher ledge, nearly up to the surface. With only a few feet between him and the top, he climbed a little to peek up at the cliff top.


    The moment his head started to clear the top his danger sense screamed at him and he let himself drop. Moments later something slammed into the cliff where his head would have been, crashing into the opposite wall. It looked like a cactus with thick white thorns embedded in a crater.


    Everyone below was looking up and pointing, and there was a tense five minutes while Corvayne waited for a monster to show up. After holding ready to unleash his most powerful attacks and sweating in the direct sunlight until he was drenched, he figured he was wrong and decided to experiment. He found a loose rock and tossed it above the rim, which triggered something to hurl another cactus-ball at the rock with the force of a cannon ball and the accuracy of a world class sniper.


    It didn''t follow up after a few minutes, and it wouldn''t stop them from going up the stairs, so they moved on and found themselves gathering in ankle high water inside of a dingy tower. Rust and grime and moss and bright green seaweed covered industrial looking walls. The whole space was squeezed around claustrophobic walkways that ran above the water they were in. Corvayne urged everyone to move slowly, and he lead while checking his steps. It would be easy even for him to miss traps or robot ambushes with so many pipes, vents, tunnels, bulges, valves, and holes lining the walls. Blazing light shining down from a gap in the ceiling of the chamber revealed that the tower extended for a long way up, opening after one climbed out of the pit by the rusted stairs leading up.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    As stated by the info packet, it was barely a two minute climb around the room to discover the stairs up. Corvayne heard clanking coming from somewhere distant, but didn''t have to call a vote. Brines walked right into the stairs up, and nobody argued. It looked like after the fight in the mall and the long climb everyone was in agreement that was enough adventure.


    The waiting room for the battle was a snowy mountain lodge, with glass windows looking over pine trees and dusk winter sky lit by a volcano spewing magma into the sky in the distance. It broke up the black and whites and blues of the outside with bright orange pillar of light, giving the landscape and the room they were in a red glow.


    After showing off the ghostly parties to the newbies in the group (This time a group of bird people in shamanistic gear, a standard fantasy party who all had orange crystals jammed into their skulls, and what looked like swashbucklers with cyber limbs) they went through a double door and walked out into the boss chamber, a large square warehouse with two sides as open walls accessing a dock. They had entered from what looked like a side office. Across the concrete floor, Two rusted robots were waiting, outlined as dark forms by the bright light from outside. Corvayne saw what looked like six legs and two arms with hammers attached to a sort of rounded rectangular body.


    Corvayne had everyone spread out against the far and the opening opposite the robot, then had Lady Blood Claw line up with one, him the other. Across the room he could see their cyclopean sensor tracking them.


    She gestured with her head. ¡°Get them to charge sideways? Hopefully they get lodged in a wall, then we can beat them down before they start ramming the rest of the group.¡±


    Corvayne took out his two handed sword. ¡°I''m going to try to kill mine with a combo.¡±


    She nodded at him, and he turned to his enemy and stepped forward. As they crossed the halfway point, both robots activated for real, legs clattering and the sound of diesel engines roaring to life. In a blur, both robots charged. Corvayne leapt out of the way, getting nicked by a hammer-arm the robot held out. He readied his weapon as the robot who had charged him skittered to a halt, and Corvayne sprinted forward, using an overhead strike while activating [Cross Skill: Sundering Strike] then drawing back and slashing with [Sundering Blade] in rapid succession. The first hit bounced off the solid chunk of metal, but the second hit sent up a cloud of rusted flakes.


    [Combo: Shatter Storm] covered the room in a red dust cloud, swirling for a few seconds then vanishing, leaving the robot before Corvayne a rusted pile of scrap and causing the other one to creak then fall apart as Lady Blood Claw slammed her burning sword through the monster.


    A moment later the world went dark, and Corvayne dropped onto the hill surrounded by thorns that he had come to think of as some sort of projection of himself. Except that there was also the massive lightning creature in armor looking down at him.


    ¡°Hi Sparky!¡± Corvayne waved at the lightning wraith.


    ¡°NOT. READY.¡± The wraith boomed, the zipped upwards in a streak of white energy.


    No point in trying to deal with it, he instead reviewed his surroundings. The red orb that had jumped into his hand was there, floating in a manner that he though of as ''happily''. There were dark gates on his hill, with further islands and gates hinted at across dark ground covered in ominously colored thorned vines.


    Corvayne knew the gates were powers, so he started browsing them. Open gates for Gravity, Shadows, and Compass were there. In addition to those, there were the vine encrusted gates which included one dripping yellow and sky blue paint with a paint brush marking at the top of the arch, another covered in arrows with a bear trap, the remaining large gate with an ominous symbol that was entirely made of obsidian, one with air flowing around it with claw marks, and one he didn''t want to bother with that was covered in webs. A running person was etched into the keystone on one gate, perhaps running? And another had crossed staves on top of it, which he now guessed was magic. A tempting portal.


    It seemed like the Tower gave him a rotating option, as the last portal in the lineup was covered in fish scales and dripped water, the icon on top looking like a fish. No. Huh uh.


    No to fish, no thanks to webs. He didn''t think paint was a useful tool, and he wasn''t sure what the slash marks were. He felt there was something about the big portal that kept drawing his attention back to it, and it helped him get why Wick worried about someone else steering: he didn''t like the feeling of something in him trying to take him over there.


    A running power would let him either use the boots better or give them to someone else, perhaps. Magic was tempting, though he never really imagined himself as a wizard. Arrows and bear trap probably was a trap power. Finding, or setting was the question: he honestly thought finding would be better.


    He thought about it, and decided he''d try to keep powering up his current set. The compass felt very strong, but Gravity and his shadow hands were exceptionally useful and had improved his ability to fight both with multiple weapons and opening up places he could move and attack from. He wished he had a power coach... well, Seru and Ayame both played games. Ayame sometimes talked to Grunt about specials and picking spells and abilities... even if there was not an exact equivalent she might have insight as to what he should do. That''s if anyone spoke to him after what a disaster this run had been, especially with the killer tree fight.


    Either way, nobody was here but him, so he went to the gravity gate and strode through it. If it let him do more with less of his own stamina, it would be worth it for that alone.


    He got up from the floor of the boss chamber with help from Lady Blood Claw, who had stood over him while in his trance. She pointed the way though a door over to a small ship with a crate on it that Curtis was prying open.


    Stepping across a gangplank to the deck of the tugboat, the plumber had pried the crate open and was heading over to the second one as the group assessed what fell out. Some money, a box of plastic eye protectors, a bag of marbles that radiated cold mist, and leather armor. The second crate had more cash, a cooler full of fish on ice, blue metal crowbars, and some healing potions. Corvayne took a pair of potions and his share of the credits, then stood in front of a stairway to the cabin marked Floor 10 until everyone had finished splitting the rest of the loot and had left. Lady Blood Claw hung back with him.


    ¡°Did you find anything you needed?¡±


    The tall alien woman shrugged. ¡°It was better than herding a bunch of scared children, but I prefer running with our allies.¡±


    Corvayne looked around. ¡°I have a question... what made you decide to come along? You happened to get a replacement sword...¡±


    ¡°Friends fight together. They become closer through shared trials.¡± She said. Corvayne had never heard her say anything like that, AND her delivery was uncertain and her skin looking a little glossy instead of a matte gray, which he suspected was probably another tell that poor Lady Blood Claw couldn''t do anything about.


    ¡°Lady.¡± He folded his arms.


    Lady Blood Claw pursed her lips tight and brushed some of her silver hair away from her ears. ¡°I didn''t have anything better to do.¡±


    ¡°Odd, you could have gone with Wick, or Hari, or anyone, and you didn''t seem to need anything...¡±


    She folded her arms and sighed, looking over at the view of the harbor outside of the boss room. ¡°Wick asked me to come. To keep an eye on you.¡±


    He raised an eyebrow. ¡°Oh, didn''t trust me around girls she doesn''t know?¡±


    ¡°Other way around. That and we knew you always found a way to get into trouble.¡±


    He nodded and relaxed a little. His theory was way off, thankfully. ¡°Okay, was that so hard? I mean, either way I appreciated you coming. Shall we?¡±


    She looked a little distracted but nodded. Did he do something wrong?


    The exit was a slide connected to the back of the ship, and it of course hooked up to the playground slide, moving from cool sea air to a warm evening with chirping crickets. He was sure he heard Lady Blood Claw make a sound but when he turned around she was stone faced, though a little blueberry embarrassment had slipped into her gray neutral expression.


    Everyone else was clumped together, with Horton being the exception as he simply walked away.


    ¡°We wanted to thank you Corvayne!¡± Brines said.


    Ayama laughed. ¡°And Lady Blood Claw too, you two really pulled your weight.¡±


    Corvayne rubbed the back of his head, and of course the praise made Lady Blood Claw go full blueberry.


    ¡°Anyway, We''re going out for food and drinks!¡± Brines smiled and showed on his phone a restaurant. ¡°You guys are welcome to join us!¡±


    Corvayne felt a little nervous. Drinking had gotten him an extra girlfriend, and he had decided to never get drunk again. Not to mention he was ready for alone time. Preferably with Wick. ¡°I was just the hired help, I-¡±


    ¡°No no, you saved our hides in there. Cmon! The best part of a dungeon is throwing a party afterwards!¡±


    Corvayne could see the rest of the group motioning for him to join, including Ayame who tapped her horns while winking. Corvayne turned to Brines and smiled while he shook his head. ¡°I really miss Wick and Hari. So thank you, but I''m ready to-¡±


    Brines smiled and tapped a few numbers in. ¡°Heya Wick! No no, I was wondering if we could rope you into a celebration of clearing the dungeon. Of course. Le Guin''s. Great!¡±


    He tapped the phone off. ¡°Both them will meet us there! Okay everyone, if you didn''t drive it''s on Dolphin Island so blue line will take you there!¡±


    Corvayne on a hunch spun around as Lady Blood Claw started sneaking off but he caught her by the cloak. ¡°Oh no you don''t. What did you say earlier? ''Friends fight together.''¡±


    He heard the tall alien woman say something unlady-like under her breath as they trudged over to the now mandatory party.

 Chapter 99: An Overdue Return

    Corvayne opened an eye and saw Wick straddling him, grinning and fully clothed, glasses on, hair in pigtails.


    Hari, in pajamas for a change, stirred a little next to him but rolled over taking more of the blanket instead of waking up. He looked back at Wick, who was beaming and raised her eyebrow. ¡°Uh, good morning Wick?¡±


    She yanked his arm. ¡°I need your service as a body guard!¡±


    She had, of course, wanted a copy of the map Horton had, so after dinner they went to where he lived in northern Ko-Ban and pounded on his door until he gave her a color copy then shut the door in their faces. Wick repeated the door slamming gesture later, so Corvayne ended up having Hari stay over, watching a movie on her phone that put her to sleep while Corvayne stayed up to finish watching.


    ¡°All right. I could use breakfast-¡±


    Wick pulled a wax bag from her pack and jiggled it. ¡°Sausage sandwiches! Lets go! The other world map had a bunch of stuff under Ko-Ban, including the ruins of a library by where the Bone Dawgz were.¡±


    Corvanye slowed her pulling him. ¡°So you want to do a two person run into dangerous territory...¡±


    Wick groaned. ¡°You wanted a date? This is THE fucking date! A dark place, the kinda weird mystery that gets me excited, and there might be a magic tome.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Okay Wick. If it''s that kind of date, I better dress up.¡± He opened his closet and pulled out a plastic garbage bag where he kept the Jam-Jammies.


    ¡°You are such a fucking troll!¡± Wick said, as lovingly as he had ever heard her say anything to him.


    Geared up for a battle despite Wick''s insistence the gang had fallen apart, Corvayne entered the most romantic sewer access in all of Ko-Ban. It was further north along the sound from where he had fought the hell-hound, a squat building with vines crawling up it''s graffiti covered exterior. It was connected to the water walk, but tucked away from every other direction by a parking ramp and two older buildings with bricked over windows.


    The exterior door was locked via chains, which Wick pulled a bolt cutters out and snickered at before she clipped the lock, called out. ¡°Sundering Strike! Hah, remind you of anyone?¡±


    Corvayne opened the door, checking the dark interior for threats then holding the door for Wick. ¡°You sure got me down.¡±


    ¡°What a gentleman! Though, we''ll see if you don''t show your true colors in the dark.¡±


    Corvayne gave her a blank look, winked, then took the lead by hopping down a flight of steps, strolling into the gloom while Wick got her flashlight out and shone it at his back. He kept his spear out and his whip and dagger ready on his belt.


    The stairs went down about four floors into the ground before he entered a sewer tunnel.


    ¡°It should be not too far east of here.¡± She said, correctly picking the east branch of the tunnel they were in.


    To Corvayne it looked like the same storm drain system they had used before. It was odd to him there was an empty one built along side one that handled all the actual run-off. ¡°So you think there''s a library from that map down here?¡±


    ¡°There''s some weird shit with this two city shit going on, and I mean, this gang that lives in the ground here HAD to have learned to summon a monster from somewhere. If we don''t find this library, well, we''ll go to a movie and lunch.¡±


    Corvayne stopped. She just said if she was wrong, they''d go on a regular date. ¡°You really are that sure of it?¡±


    Wick stepped around him and turned, winking. ¡°Yep!¡±


    The storm tunnels they were following were cleaner than the ones near where the Bone Dogs operated, but still had some muck from grime washed in from the regular tunnel''s overflowing. They were under sea level, so Corvayne started to wonder where the trickle of water that was running down the middle of this pipe went.


    Well, that wasn''t on the menu today because they reached a spot that looked like a gap in the pipes, and Wick gestured and they walked into the hole, entering a stone cave. A few beer cans and chalk drawings of a stick figure sucking off another stick figure suggested that the Bone Dogs or some other immature vandal who went drinking in sewers had found it.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    It was a short jaunt to what looked like a collapsed subway tunnel. Corvayne had Wick climb onto his back and they leap over the black murky water where the tracks would be, moving towards double doors on the other side, which lead to what looked like an underground station. The light from her flashlight caught puddles and old metal work. It was very quiet aside from little drips and distant rumbles from things happening far above them.


    Looking at the abandoned station, he guessed it wasn''t always underground, as it looked like there was one window that had mud spilling out of it to coat part of the station in a layer of brown film. A skylight was a source of one of the drips, rocks jutting down dripping water into a little lake on the tiles. Wick looked at all these with her flashlight, but kept them moving east, entering a large arched hall then down six steps and through another pair of doors, entering what looked like the lobby of a library. The dim room had a checkered floor leading across a vaulted room to rows of books in a reading room with blue ghostly lights. Corvayne stopped immediately, seeing the body of a dead gang member with spines sticking out of them in the dark area near the door.


    He backed up out of the entrance, then turned to Wick.


    ¡°Hell porcupine killed a guy in there.¡±


    ¡°Can you keep the date going?¡± Wick asked.


    He slipped back in and looked. He saw movement as a monster crept from a corner of the room, sniffed the air, then returned to it''s hiding spot. Corvayne took his whip out and lightened his gravity, then reached into his storage ring and pulled out one of the glow-stones he had pilfered from the previous Tower. He tossed it onto the floor where it bounced then skidded across the floor, and moments later there was a pop then the clatter of needles hitting it and bouncing off the stone. Corvayne tightened the clasp on his cloak to blur himself then crept along the outside of the shadowy room, slinking along the wall for a minute until he got to the hell porcupine''s alcove. He could see the monster''s face, and new quills pushing up out of it''s back but didn''t care to get into a deep dive with biology, instead using [Thrust] to brain the monster. It died with just a little surprised grunt.


    It didn''t seem anything noticed him, so Corvayne tossed out another glow-stone and listened and waited, but no quills came out.


    He returned to Wick. ¡°There might be some monsters spilling out, should we go back and-¡±


    ¡°End this date?¡± Wick grinned. ¡°I got potions on me. You got a potion in your pocket too... unless you''re happy to see me.¡±


    Corvayne gently removed her hand from a side pouch. ¡°I am always prepared AND happy to see you, but I also took my lesson from Seru about engaging in activities that inhibit attention while I''m on a mission.¡±


    ¡°You need to just say ''no sex in dungeons''. Though, you know our first time was kind of hot because of the danger.¡±


    As she spoke Corvayne heard something creak. In the stacks beyond the reading room tables, he spotted what looked like an out of place wall forming a dead end between book shelves. Then the wall moved, revealing it was something scaled and large slipping through the shelves of books.


    Corvayne turned and pulled Wick with him, going across the lobby, sweating intensely as he guessed how big that monster would have to be. No. No thank you. Not starting a fight with the giant snake. Wick stopped him when she let go of his hand and pointed to a door with a broken lock, but broken towards the library. ¡°Look, they came IN here from that stairway!¡±


    Corvayne rushed her along, not trusting that the serpent hadn''t heard her excited voice. ¡°Wow, someone''s in a hurry to get home. Slow down, you know I''d be more likely to put out if we take our time.¡± Wick tugged her arm free as they reached the dingy stairs down.


    ¡°I saw something I''m not interested in fighting in the library.¡± He started to say what he had seen but Wick nodded and patted his shoulder. She trusted his judgement on these things.


    ¡°Ok, so back? or down then?¡± Wick offered.


    Corvayne thought about it, then started down the steps into the first blue landing. The glowing light came from blue fire burning in the cages where usually the electric lights rested. Wick put her hand near one then pulled it back.


    ¡°Cold fire.¡± She grabbed a bit of wood and tried to get it to burn, but the flames seemed to only function as light. ¡°Will have to study it further. Right! That''s a good sign though, MAGIC!¡±


    Corvayne was instead concerned with them getting trapped under tons of stone so he checked to make sure the concrete around them looked intact before he and Wick continued down. What he thought of as the back stairs passing floors locked off from the stairs, no hint of the library to be seen in the ominous black voids behind the blue lit wire windows in the doors.


    At the bottom of the stairs they found the charred corpse of a Bone Dog, excuse him, Bone Dawg, burned black by something that had scorched a trail across muddy concrete. The origin of the trail was a cleared patch of ground with a circle of dried blood. The burned bodies of chickens nearby suggested that someone had summoned a hell-hound or something else that charred the ground, gotten charged by it, then vanished after killing one person.


    There was an exterior door with ''EXIT'' above it and another door into the library that looked like it was jammed shut by books and part of a fallen floor, but the Corvayne and Wick both made their way down a hallway with more bodies. All of them showed evidence of something going horribly wrong.


    Wick stopped and looked at each of the corpses, using the airfoil rapier to push them aside, commenting when she found out of place objects.


    ¡°Should we be here?¡± Corvayne asked, noting the variety of ways in which the six or so bodies in the hallway had expired.


    ¡°They always originate from a circle. Acid trail from this one to this person, but no other damage. Stone spikes with more damage to the wall but they curve until they skewer that guy. Looks like part of the floor got turned into glass here, so maybe lightning?¡±


    Corvayne looked at the grisly scene. ¡°I''m making an official request to be in charge of our next date, whenever you let us have one.¡±


    Wick stopped. ¡°I''d do this a thousand times over mushy crap.¡±


    ¡°If you need bodies Wick, then we''ll do a bike ride to a graveyard.¡±


    He stopped talking and listened as he started to move up to the shadow end of the hallway. No, not shadows. It felt like the blue glowing light was growing deeper rather than dimmer.


    Rounding the corner there was an ornate chamber, covered in gold-leaf and weird faces and drama masks, lit by gold fires that outlined both the gold details and several faded red banners, all of them arranged to draw attention to a stage at the far end of the room. It looked like the chamber was spliced into the library, boring peeling wallpaper slowly turning into the gold paint or coating of the chamber. A light on the center of the stage showed Corvayne what looked like a shattered jar and the body of a four armed woman in a stained white dress with mummified skin, wearing a three eye mask.


    Corvayne walked down the bare concrete then up stairs to the stage, where he could see the woman was huge, perhaps ten feet tall or more if she had been alive and standing. There were other details but Corvayne was focused on the very familiar mask. It looked like there was a bloody hand-print on it, and someone had set up a little shrine around it, with withered flowers and Bone Dog masks as effigies, melted candles coating much of it.


    ¡°Hmm. They worshiped her?¡±


    Corvayne shrugged then gestured at the face covering, noticing up close it was cracked. ¡°That''s the same mask the Magus wore. If not the same one, the exact design.¡±


    Wick nodded, then clapped her hands and reached down, pulling out a partially burnt tome from a skeleton. ¡°The book of the Long Callings... I bet this is how they got that hell hound!¡±


    Corvayne heard doors open behind them, and he spun and suddenly the gold was gone, the lights were gone, it was just him alone in a dark space, with the only light a faint blue glow seeping in from the door. Wick had vanished, but he didn''t have time to panic as he felt something drawing him off the stage, across the hall towards the double doors.


    From within he heard the call. ¡°Come, nameless one...¡± Then he passed the threshold and heard the doors shut behind him.

 Chapter 100: The Quest

    Corvayne drew his spear as he stepped through the shadowy door and came back to his senses. He was in a library chamber, but one so vast it wouldn''t fit under Ko-Ban. The stone floor and book-shelf lined walls had weird dark cracks in places, a sort of jarring emptiness against the pale blue colors inside the space. Following the shelves until they lost detail, Corvayne guessed the ceiling was at least a thousand feet above him. He wasn''t sure he saw it: blue fire torches, bridges, and walkways complicated his view. Corvayne made his way around the cracks in the floor as well as piles of books as tall as his head, curled out like dunes of sand. He startled as a book drifted down and landed near him, the pile letting it settle to a certain spot.


    He rounded a tall bend of books and saw the center of the chamber where the piles spiraled to a large figure sitting in a central clearing on a worn cushion. It had a mask on just like The Magus''s, but wore blue robes and had four midnight blue skinned arms, three waving around and clearly guiding books from the shelves to the piles, then from the piles further away to closer ones, and some from piles nearby back to the shelf. Looking at the way the figure moved, it''s long violet hair, and the shape the short sleeved robes hinted at, he felt it was a ''she''. Her fourth arm was holding a book she was reading, using a super long and agile thumb to flip pages. Little streaks of pink on her arm were either highlights against the blue or scars.


    He took this all in wondering if she would attack once she saw him, but without looking up the figure gestured him to come. He was debating if he should do so when the figure spoke.


    ¡°Nameless one... Come closer. It''s hard to hear you from afar.¡± Her voice had a sort of forced gravitas that instantly reminded him of The Magus''s act, done better.


    Corvayne stepped closer, fairly confident from the moving books and blue fire light everywhere that, given the connection, this woman was some sort of wizard, perhaps one of the ones The Magus had asked him to dispose of.


    ¡°My name is Corvayne.¡± He spoke as he stopped within the circle of clear books.


    The woman laughed and gently took one of her magic using hands and plucked a bookmark from the air, slipped it into her current tome, then closed it and with a little hop scooted on her pillow to face him. Given the three eyed mask and her size, he thought she looked like the dead figure outside the door. If she stood she''d tower over him.


    She set the book down next to her and waved a hand. ¡°I reject the false names here. But you may call me... BOOK-BINDER WORD-TASTER, FINDER-SEEKER. Or whatever idea you conjure up that pleases you to name me.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Where''s Wick?¡± He asked, looking about.


    The figure waved a hand. ¡°I assume you mean the wizard you are with.¡±


    Corvayne stiffened a little. ¡°Well... I don''t know about wizard but yes, the woman I was with before the lights went out.¡±


    ¡°She is fine. This space is a modified mind-space that''s merged with the poorly sealed Dungeon. Time does not pass in here. I called you in because you bear the marks of someone who''s been manipulated by my kind.¡±


    ¡°Your kind... Are you with The Magus?¡±


    The figure looked at him with three softly glowing blue eyes visible against the darkness behind holes in her mask, then shook her head. ¡°Not in the sense we are allies. In fact, I seek to stop the petulant child. Forgive me, I have to remember to ask when I touch your mind. Are you comfortable with your surface thoughts being skimmed? I follow good neighbor rules.¡±


    He did not find it shocking that a creature with too many arms could read minds. He thought about it. On one hand, this one had asked rather than pinning him down to suck his brain dry. On the other hand, it was still creepy. ¡°Uh, I''d prefer you not look inside my head, Ms. Taster.¡±


    The figure averted her gaze to the side, her voice wavering. ¡°I am sorry! Skimming is visual memory only. I require direct eye contact, and I have to prompt the subject so you think of it. Good neighbor rules means I only fish for details that aid in communication. From my poor conduct, not to mention bothering you on your excursion, I have once more had a breach of manners. Can you forgive me?¡± She asked while she looked sideways at him, all three glowing blue eyes fluttering under the mask.


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°Under the assumption I''ll be reunited with my companion soon, I forgive you for any skimming before you asked.¡±


    ¡°Hmf! Polite. Not like the ones before. Rude remarks, tried to peek under my robes, took all the cookies I offered, and left beer cans here. They even stole books! I did not think it was possible to bring pollution to my mindscape...¡±


    Corvayne saw the cans she indicated and shrugged and walked over and placed them in his storage ring. Or tried to, they seemed to vanish as his hand neared them with the intent to clean them up. Odd.


    ¡°So... you called him a Petulant child...¡± Corvayne said as he finished grabbing at the cans left behind in the first ring. Looking back at ''BOOK-BINDER'' he got the sense she was, happy? She was wiggling where she sat, two of her hands locked and swaying a little. Then she took a breath and went rigid, returning to her gravitas, ''fairy queen who knows everything'' voice.


    ¡°The Magus was taken to this universe as babe. His degenerate personality now is due to not having limits until it was too late. Too much power at an age far too young meant there was no-one to guide him. Part of my goal here is trying to determine how this universe pulled him in still. I figured you might have a hint, given your own situation?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I don''t know how I got to Cascadia. Sorry. So the books in these piles are about him?¡±


    Three of her arms gestured around her. ¡°The Dungeons pulls things from all sorts of places, or makes them. This spot one can sit and fish for any book made, if you''re patient. Every week the shelves shuffle and billions of new books appear, pulled from anywhere due to the cracks under Cascadia. But these books are second hand and often flawed in small ways, perhaps they are based on people''s memories of reading them, or just the things I seek are mired in Chaos. Repetition weeds out some of the details.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate uh, the information but I''m still not sure why I''m here. I guess they stole a book about summoning from you?¡±


    She tilted her mask in a nod. ¡°A poorly written tome, not one I''d give to someone who I wanted to succeed.¡±


    There was a hint of amusement in her tone which made Corvayne wonder if it was an accident they left with a book that resulted in a great deal of their deaths. He looked around. ¡°If I''m stuck here, would you mind making a place for me to sit?¡±


    Book-Binder waved her hands while saying, ¡°Oh no no! You''re not stuck here, I didn''t mean.... oh, I was rude again. I wanted to possibly trade information, and you have the mark of Curses about you. I have terrible manners, would you care for refreshments? A cookie?¡±


    She made a gesture and a soft looking pillow as well as tray appeared in her hands. The tray was loaded up with cookies and smelled fantastic, so Corvayne shrugged and tried one. As he tasted warm chocolate chips, he felt his mind expand.


    [Cooking effect: Clarified Assessment][Curse integrity at 87.0%] [Loop integrity: 4%][You are suffering from System Blocking effects.][Power cap 2*/6][Power level cap 3*/62][Curses Cleared: Mindless, Night Blind, Curse of Atlas][Bloodline abilities: Blocked][Racial/Civilzation abilities: Blocked][Experience point malus: Extreme ++++][Invader status: (((((Overridden per Admin)))))][Immune to Banishment (((((per Admin)))))]


    Corvayne looked down at the tray as Book-Binder pulled it back. The painted on mouth-line on the mask faintly smiled as she spoke. ¡°It''s easier to show you than tell you, isn''t it?¡±


    Corvanye sat down on his pillow and tried to sort out what he was seeing. The cookies gave him a cooking effect. Some of the things he had thought he saw suddenly made sense. The percentage that ticked down had to do with curses. Probably it dropping was a good thing. Loop integrity was low, likely tied to the [4 left] message he recalled when he had died. Why hadn''t he noticed or been upset by any of this? Oh, system blocking effects. Some of his curses were clearly laid out, good, but he didn''t get what the ''Power cap'' number meant because he had 3 powers. Unless that''s what power level cap meant, and the first number was something else? His conversations with Seru made the experience point ''malus'' not make sense to him either. It must not matter much, because he was the highest level person they''d seen aside from Argyle who had likely been higher level than them. Admin of what? He wasn''t sure why he had those messages.


    He scratched his head as those thoughts faded. ¡°I have no clue what it all means. I mean, what did you pull me in here for?¡±


    The woman nodded and folded her hands. ¡°I wanted you to see that you''re cursed, and that you have some odd statuses. The most important one is, somehow, you are not an invader while also not a native. Usually a native would start corrupting into floor, books, or air just from being here. That''s why I picked you, as for what...¡± She looked down a moment, took a breath, then looked up at Corvayne. ¡°I... I want you to kill The Magus.¡±


    Corvayne put his hands up. ¡°I''m not an assassin, and if I was I''d guess my odds against him are poor. On top of the basic problem being I have no place judging if he lives or dies. I don''t want to fight...¡± Corvayne slumped his shoulders as he thought about that. ¡°I''m good at fighting, but I want to just live my life. Does what I''m saying make sense?¡±


    Book-Binder made a placating motion. ¡°I understand, but he has been ripping holes in the universe with his summoning experiments, ignoring everything else he does that causes misery and death. If you personally cannot or will not, then someone else needs to end him. Holes in the universe like this will eventually corrupt everything. Matter, space, energy... It will destroy everything BUT you and a handful of folks from other universes. That''s part of why I''ve been trying to figure out what books he was using. If you cannot kill him, raiding his library and returning his books he''s using magic from would put me in your debt, and might help me solve the problem.¡±


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    ¡°Back up. The universe is going to end, and it... won''t kill me?¡±


    She nodded. ¡°That''s why I''m trading information with you... I suspect you are a pawn of the third universe, but you have something that doesn''t make you eldritch to this space. Assuming the merge doesn''t convert the place you''re standing on into the surface of a star. I tried to negotiate with the Bone Dawgz too since they have some oddities that made the less susceptible to this space, but they just stole that bad tome on summoning and ran off leaving garbage behind. I was shocked that people could be so against rules they actually leave rubbish behind in a mindscape! Perhaps it''s because they are not fully invaders. You ever read umm... the racist one from Mud who named his cat something deplorable? With the fish wife, and cultists, and a lazy Yxgnox who slept under the ocean and pretended to be a god?¡±


    ¡°Lovecraft? The librarian liked him but I couldn''t get into it.¡± Corvayne found the stories dreary and depressing.


    ¡°Yes! The gang members are a little like that to me, and me to them. My reality is bleeding through here, and in turn they brought in eldritch corruption except instead of tacky four-D d¨¦cor or wallpaper that looks like flesh and spines and screaming faces, they instead left cigarette butts and beer cans.¡±


    ¡°Okay, well, can I think about what we''ve talked about?¡±


    She nodded and he took a break. So she had tried and failed to get the Bone Dogs in on her plan. Amusing that the gang was so exemplified by urban decay and leaving trash around that that''s what they ''tracked'' in.


    Not one to be rude to a being who had been polite to him, Corvayne stood up and started picking up cigarettes left around the nearby stacks, as well as other pieces of trash which vanished at his touch. He wasn''t sure he trusted this creature, but the effect of the cookies felt like it had for a moment pushed back some of the fog his thoughts took on. If he was going to deal with this figure, then his interest was how to get enough power to be eligible for Wick. The main path he saw was going back to The Watchers. If not where, then how to go about finding them. More importantly, he needed to know why he was hated, and how to fix it.


    ¡°I did a little house keeping, so if you could please help me with some questions I''d appreciate it Miss. Book-Binder.¡±


    ¡°So POLITE! Oh, I bet the ladies love you. You... yes I can point you in the right direction. And, if you want to trade more favors... would it be to much to ask you to find me a particular tome I''m looking for, The 10,000 Paths by Falenti? That and finding someone who doesn''t mind helping me find the types of books I''m looking for, thought they''d have to have some sort of anchor or being in here three minutes would kill them. Ah, but I also owe you for cleaning!¡±


    Corvayne sat down. ¡°The cleaning is no trouble, you''ve given me confirmation that I''m under a curse. With your other requests, I will keep them in mind, I don''t want to make promises about anything because I''m already overloaded... I need to ask you, you really think I''m the person to ask to... that I''m some sort of chosen one who''s the only person you can talk to?¡±


    The figure nodded. ¡°Not the only chosen one, so we''ll say you''re a candidate. You remind me of the girl.¡±


    He turned to look at the double doors out, then back at Book-Binder. ¡°Did Wick come here once?¡±


    ¡°The Vessel-Wizard wouldn''t be very comfortable if she came in here. No, I mean the one with starry eyes....¡±


    She stopped and stood, pointing. ¡°Wait, you!! Ah! How?! She asked me to help you!¡± Book binder started pacing. ¡°Oh my goodness, It was so long ago but she told me about you, that you were her-¡±


    Corvayne felt something inside him snap and dark vines hatched out of him, his shadow hands manifesting under his skin and straining to stop the vines, pain lancing through the phantom limbs. In a moment the vines started to burst from him, shredding his arms, his legs. Corvayne fell to the ground as his sides started to bleed, jagged spikes ripping him as they burst out wiggling from between his ribs.


    ¡°Please! Stop!¡± Corvayne cried out as he tried to stop the thrashing, the thorns ripping his hands up.


    He heard panic in Book-Binder''s voice. ¡°I did no such thing! Oh no, no no no, oh! Wait, I see! So Sorry! I''ll fix it.¡±


    The pain vanished as she reached out and pulled something from him, dulling his mind a little and causing the spiked vines to wither. ¡°Sorry little Nameless one... the cookies on top of the starry-eyed girl... it was too much for all the damage you have. I''m careless, please forgive me!¡±


    He looked down and saw the wounds start to slowly fade, though he felt a little cloudy headed as he stood. He could remember the conversation and that the cookies had given him hints to something. He clenched his nails into his hands. He was cursed. There was something about a starry-eyed girl that triggered them. He could practice with his spear or go jogging for hours but it was frustrating that these conversations where he could start getting, something, anything to work on slipped from him.


    Book-Binder perhaps misunderstood why he was angry. ¡°It''s annoying, but I can''t bring my talents fully to bear. Well, not yet. For us to talk more, you need to recover your shattered memories and undo your curses. The Magus put more than a few on you. Not smart at all, but perhaps I''ll say he''s cunning, like, um, a really dumb tiger good at sneaking around eating villagers, right up until he tries to eat someone inside of a tank. Cunning is why he killed the Pilgrims, burned their cities down. Tried to bury their system too, it''s terrible what he did.¡±


    The figure was silent as Corvayne took deep breaths to steady his now throbbing everything-ache. Then the masked figure spoke again. ¡°I want to look into your mind. If you say no, I will still try to help you, but I need more context on what''s going on.¡±


    Corvayne stepped back from her a little, nearly stumbling pile of books. ¡°I don''t know what I even need help with...¡±


    ¡°Stop. Clear everything away but your true goal.¡±


    Corvayne heard and felt himself struggling as he stripped away all his other goals. ¡°I just... want to be with Wick.¡±


    ¡°How odd... Wick... the name tastes weird, I wonder if she-¡± The figure looked past him at the door, then placed two of it''s hands over the mouth on it''s mask as the lines shifted to a frown. ¡°Oh no. No no no. What has she done? Oh that poor lost soul. No wonder. I thought the name was too much a coincidence.¡±


    Book-Binder sighed then, and reached out and put one of her hands on his shoulder. It was surprisingly warm. ¡°Nameless child. I can tell, you were not the one meant for this task. But you are one who may succeed anyway. It seems you cannot jump ahead, those black thorns are strong and threaded deeply into you. Should you shred too many too fast, you will be torn apart, a lost soul like his bride out there, or turned into the mindless adherents of The Magus like those gang members who made their own masks.¡±


    Corvayne blinked. ¡°That''s not you we found? Oh sorry, I sort of assumed something rude Ms.Books; I thought that was your body out there and you were a ghost.¡±


    She laughed at that. ¡°No, look carefully. That woman is a crude attempt to copy my form. The Magus had a harem of brides. His indifference to them drove them mad to find new ways to please him. If you find those poor souls, I suggest you send any still alive to oblivion. Ahem. No. I''m not in your universe at all. If not for The Magus''s blundering, I''d be ejected. This space is the only place I can breach, and even then it''s because this city is a mess. I was worried when the gang showed up and could come in that I''d only get mad men tainted by The Magus. Or universe raiders.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. It made sense now that the three-eyed masks meant something. ¡°Well, I''m glad to give you company. What were you saying about those thorns ripping my soul apart?¡±


    ¡°You need to strengthen your soul... let it heal when it hurts. Essence never hurts, or perhaps meditation if you''re a CAVE-SITTER-STRONGER.¡±


    ¡°Cultivator?¡± Corvayne offered.


    Four fingers snapped at once. ¡°I like my word better but yes!¡± She motioned with a free hand and pulled out a little blue ribbon award and stuck it to his chain mail shirt. ¡°Nameless one...¡±


    ¡°Ms. Books you can call me Corvayne.¡±


    ¡°That name is very...¡± Corvayne must have been glaring at her because the figure waved her hand. ¡°Well, Nameless, you have quite a lot of work ahead of you don''t you.¡± She muttered, then coughed into her hand. ¡°I could try to true name you...¡±


    Corvayne felt the the thorns thicken under his skin, pointed at her. He shook his head. ¡°Don''t! No, No, Nameless, or Nameless One is fine.¡±


    The woman nodded. ¡°If you don''t wish for me to pull from your mind, can you tell me your story?¡±


    He gave a summary of the events, both his rough life at the village and what happened as he came to the city. He suspected she was picking up details from his mind as he spoke, because even with what he felt were a lot of glazed over details, the only interruption she made was, ¡°Why in the six hells would anyone put pine needles on their food?¡±


    He finished with a quick summary of the dungeon having a different Cascadia and how that had lead Wick to want to look at this library to find where the magic the Bone Dogs used came from, suspecting a book.


    ¡°Good good. That explains much. So, what is your quest right now?¡±


    ¡°Uh, my quest is to find my way home and become their ruler so I can marry Wick.¡±


    All four arms slid up over her mask and she sighed, then she snapped her fingers and a little crown appeared. ¡°Oh my. Well... let''s do this properly. Ahem. You, Nameless one, have been chosen.¡±


    Her words had weight. He felt them sticking to him.


    ¡°Perhaps by fate. Perhaps by your own hidden desires. Perhaps by dumb luck, given what I suspect you are. I charge you with these tasks. Discover the legacy of the Pilgrims, travel their road. Restore your memories, that your truth becomes clear. Return to your home, and find the starry-eyed girl. You, The Nameless, the invader turned protector... may you find the love you deserve.¡±


    She did something, and a thorn shot out without harming Corvayne while shredding it''s way up her arm. She started bleeding neon blood but did not waver.


    ¡°I pay the price, under the pact that you become The Magus''s judge. Learn his crimes, and help him find redemption, or end him.¡± Her head dropped a little, and Corvayne felt himself aware of things he had been ignoring or neglecting. He could start backtracking to his home via the place he arrived from the desert. There had been a disturbance behind him which was no doubt a portal. But he would do better with a guide, and his compass had hinted at where someone who would know the way home would be.


    His thoughts refocused on Book-Binder as she clapped twice, and a bag with a credit sign appeared before her. ¡°Since you are undertaking these tasks ostensibly at my request, I shall fairly aid you with your quest. I will grant you kingly sum of 50 credits... actually wait... if you gave it to someone this would probably kill them since it''s made of my-matter not their-matter.¡±


    She shrugged and tossed it behind her where it made a too-loud clatter, as did when she produced and discarded a gleaming crystal sword, another sword in a stone, a phoenix feather wand, a broom, tacky red shoes, and a normal looking leather whip all while whistling innocently. Was every person that wore the mask like this?


    ¡°Sorry... I''ll have to do something else. Ah! I know... just don''t let anyone who isn''t you touch these books.¡± She clapped her hands and gestured, and from a far pile two tomes lifted and flew towards her.


    She presented them to Corvayne. ¡°Can I place them in my ring?¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Yes, storage items don''t actually have items contact anything. That''s why I''m giving them to you at all! But you may need to develop a chamber with no air to read them, as Cascadia''s planar matter will either eat them, or vice vs and they''ll slag a city block into melted bookstuff. It also likely would damage anyone who breathed hybridized air in by turning a bunch of the bronchial nodes into paper.¡±


    Covayne froze.


    ¡°You live in a post industrial society, surely you can have someone make you something you stick your hands into that''s nearly airless and clear so you can read in it?¡±


    He nodded. A project for his wallet and Mosh. Looking at the books, he saw ''Summoning Fundamentals: Eons of Aeons, Animas, and Espers.'' and ''Master of Arms, Master of Self.''


    He put them in his storage ring. ¡°So, given you''re telling me to look into the Pilgrims, where should I start?¡±


    Book-Binder gestured outwards. ¡°To make it all the way to where you started, you must go backwards. Do not hurry, and do not fear. I see hurt, and pain, and suffering, but beyond that is hope. Protect and cherish your friends. Oh, and find the girl you think is named Sharp-Water.¡±


    ¡°That confirms it''s my next step.¡±


    Book-Binder nodded. ¡°You fought her in a place north of here... You thought she was really her, right? If the dungeon is just playing a shadow memory as a challenge, it doesn''t feel like it''s real. So, she''s on this world, or I''ll eat another book!¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Okay. Whatever you did is helping me see this stuff too.¡±


    ¡°You need help focusing because of your afflictions. I loosened one, not entirely, but enough so you''ll since by the time it comes back you''ll have started doing those goals, lessening it''s ability to block important things.¡± The figure nodded. ¡°What a pain in the butt these curses are! I should be able to just send you on your way with a list of them and what to do to get rid of them all. I know it. I could tell you how to break every single one on you... can I say how many?¡±


    Corvayne waited for his skin to erupt into spikes and then nodded. ¡°I think so.¡±


    ¡°Thirteen of them! That little fool is going to regret it. So yes, they influence your thoughts. Which is why I am giving you that little shot that hurt me.¡± She tapped her bright pink bloody arm. ¡°Doctor''s orders! Go find your spear companion, maybe finally marry her-¡±


    Spears? No. She had knives on her, even when she went swimming nude. Somehow. Also she was a slime. Who''d want to date, let alone marry a slime girl? ¡°Never.¡±


    ¡°Fine, but find her. That''s my first quest to you. Second, journey back to where you started, and seek your home. Third! The Pilgrims and their Pilgrimage. Tell your friends to help you, for I know it will slide from your mind. Bah, I''m writing this down.¡± She snapped her fingers and a note appeared. ¡°Oh, store this in your things.¡±


    ¡°Fourth! Recover your memories. The tower finds and gives away lost things. If you seek them, you will find them. Fifth.... find the starry-eyed girl. All those will tie together, and will lift the clouds from your mind, and past, and soul. If you do those five things, then decide on my original plea, to kill The Magus, I will repay my debt to you until I am spent or you declare us equal. If it means finding the means to marry this Wick girl, so be it.¡±


    He had one question for her. ¡°I appreciate you think all these will help me, but you are an outside, so why me and him? Who is he to you?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°It would confuse you if I told you... the curses! Growing is overcoming pain and conflict. Do difficult things, seek and explore peoples, places, experiences. Not just with a spear, child! You will find power in the very tools your enemy used on you.¡±


    She had told him not to get distracted. ¡°I ask you again. Who is The Magus?¡±


    ¡°He is a fool, and knows not what he''s doing... Your time here draws to a close. Go! Oh, and if you find me that book or a helper who won''t die, I''d be rude not to repay you with something of equal value...¡±


    Corvayne saw it. A pleading look from the figure. One who he knew was stronger than him. Whatever her three-eyed expression was, the mask slipped to sorrow.


    Corvayne held a hand up. ¡°I don''t make a demand. But I am trusting you and will do as you asked. Can you trust me?¡±


    She put her hands over her mask. Her voice dropped to a croak. ¡°I''m sorry. You have a gentle heart for a killer, and you would waiver when you need to be strong.¡±


    Corvanye nodded. ¡°All the more reason I want to know. Who is he?¡±


    The figure looked up at him and sensed something, her weakness dripping away into bitter determination. She spoke four words then Corvayne felt himself being dragged or fling backwards, around and over stacks of books the fly out the door, the Book-Binder''s chamber fading as the four words she said echoed in his head.


    ¡°He is my son.¡±

 Chapter 101: Searching for Spears

    Corvayne felt the wind on his face as the boat he was on blasting across open water, bouncing as it hit waves. Behind him spray foamed out. Wick sat near him, wearing a captain''s hat and looking at a laminated map. She cupped her hands and shouted at Nyxion over the roar of the engine.


    ¡°That inlet!¡±


    Nyxion nodded at her and swung the wheel, curving them to towards the coast.


    Corvayne looked back, at the open ocean and the islands they had passed, as well as his other two party members on the boat. Hari and Lady Blood Claw had also agreed to come on the expedition, and seemed content to just watch the scenery fly by. Corvayne didn''t know what to expect, but in the week after his encounter in the library the party (which he guessed was between 8 people to somewhere in the mid 20s at this point) had been putting every effort into cashing out whatever they didn''t need for their expedition, checking into the locations that Wick remembered, and trying to build a container that Corvayne could use to read the books that Book-Binder had given him. Corvayne did his part by diving into his home''s slime dungeon with Hari and her pupil, Caala, as well as Hari''s party. He didn''t spend much time inside the house Wick and himself owned because he was either in a dungeon, sleeping, or riding the first of three hover-bikes him and Mosh made back and forth between the suburbs and Old Town.


    Wick had been busy with the boat they were on, scouting out Nap Bay. There was an abandoned light house and what looked like a long abandoned villa on the island, and the island itself was the right size, but there were no signs of stairs up to a Tower entrance. Wick had been glum about it, so Corvanye''s time with her was mostly sleeping in the same room and one night where she pulled herself away from her computer to watch a scary movie in the community center, making it about thirty minutes before she left the room to go sit in the courtyard.


    Corvayne told himself he didn''t need to worry about Wick, but he worried about her anyway.


    Meanwhile, Hari had been putting her energy into getting Caala up to speed as a replacement, and so was all business during the dungeon day, using her spells and skills over and over again in demonstration to the point that half the time she just fell asleep after dinner, fully clothed. Out of the dungeon she''d been working with Seru, both to ID what their group had found, what other people found for a fee, and making videos.


    Corvayne told himself he didn''t need to worry about Hari, but when she said she was too tired for sex it really worried him.


    Lady Blood Claw had also been acting odd. She had asked for training a few times but after the Docks had thrown herself into running dungeons with people out from Old Town and Ko-Ban as a guide. She seemed to have been controlling her better; instead of blabbing what she felt her neutral dark gray tone only changed slightly when she was paying attention, which seemed to be whenever Corvayne was around. Of note was that she twice was brightly colored talking with Ayame at the noodle stand and both times the women got real quiet as he came over, with LBC going gray in a snap. The second time he had asked them what they were talking about.


    Ayame and LBC both had told him at the same time he didn''t need to worry about it, which was making him sweat with worry when he thought about it.


    Nyxion looked driven. Mend and bed rest had fixed the damage he had done to himself, and once he was up and gotten the kinks out of his muscles he had been pushing the group to go investigate the paintings. There was a weird sort of pointedness to him in the last few days. He looked, well, like what Waves-Within had called ''a spear ready to stab''. Others called it the thousand-yard stare. Nyxion looked like he was willing them forward, standing rigid as he guided the craft and scanned the islands and sandbars for the right combination to match the painting that they had found after defeating Spears-Like-Water. It had been set up next to his hospital bed, with Nyxion using his more lucid moments to try to track where it was, scanning the endless coast lines of Cascadia. Not an easy task, as there were inlets within inlets that branched off and curled around, not to mention islands that broke up the coast and inlets into further complicated lines and blobs of water. Corvayne guessed that the nobleman hadn''t gotten enough sleep while searching, as he could see a faint rim of bloodshot red in his eyes.


    Corvayne told himself he didn''t need to worry about Nyxion, so he didn''t.


    His compass power was getting less direct as they got closer to where it was leading them. He also thought it was weird that it hadn''t drained him like finding the chokers. Perhaps because Spears-Like-Water was well known to him? While not difficult to pick up on her, it was like there was something jamming the connection, causing the direction to fluctuate and fail as he felt they were getting closer. Perhaps his power was drawing on something and now they were close, it was all around him having been defused. He hope it meant she wasn''t blown up or a rain cloud. That would make it harder to talk to her, for sure.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    They pulled out of the ocean and started heading into the waterways, looking for a sort of J shaped sandbar between two ridges with pine trees. Wick had said there was a road on a large Cascade Ridge map near the spot they had in mind, so they hoped that the three methods pointing to the spot would help them find it. In case that didn''t work, they had their camping gear, and a few extra gas tanks for the boat.


    Wick directed Nyx to curve the boat to follow the shore and head into a different branch of water, now at least two or three layers of land and sea seperated from open ocean. The few deciduous trees mixed in were turning yellow and orange, signs that fall would reach Cascadia City soon.


    Corvayne closed his eyes, trying to use his compass powers again. He thought of Spears-Like-Water glaring at him, then how warm it felt to reach into her and pull out the curse. He shook his head. He wasn''t here for weird thrills. His long time patrol partner, hate his guts or not, had asked him for help. The thought made his compass pull together and he walked next to Nyxion and pointed at a small branch off the waterway.


    ¡°Can we get up there?¡±


    Nyxion nodded and they guided the boat off the waterway into a much smaller river. The larger pines were nearly touching over the boat, and Corvayne was worried they''d hit rocks or get beached on the sandy banks, but the boat made it as they came out into what looked like the south part of another complicated inlet. Miles of water, reflecting the clouds and bit of sun shining through. He pointed ahead, with Wick checking the map and following his gesture.


    ¡°Oh yeah, Take us over there! It looks like there was a town near that hill.¡±


    Nyxion hit the gas and Corvayne had to tap him to get the man to blink and slow down as they came near the sandy shore. Corvayne had hoped they''d drive right up and find the spot and whatever it was that the painting was telling them to find.


    Instead it was an hour and a half of coasting in and out of bays and looking at hills and trees before Corvayne caught a hint of something on a bluff. Directing Nyxion to take the boat over to a nearby sandbar, Corvayne hopped off the boat into sucking wet sand and trudged across the shallows to get a better look.


    It was hidden by the hill and trees, but now that he was looking for a castle he the hill for what it was. He turned back to the boat and motioned them to bring it around to a better spot to land. Surveying it from the water, the ruins looked remarkably close to the castle-dungeon on the third floor where he had fought the undead guards and dragon.


    He closed his eyes and checked the signal, feeling hints that Spears was near, under him. Walking around the shore, he spotted what the map had been telling them to look for. A rock down on a J shaped sandbar, with a steel door built into it.


    It was a moment of work to pry it open, the lock and latch to the door no match for [Sundering Strike]. There was a valve hatch in the floor which took him and Nyxion working together to break whatever gunk held it in place. Compared to the drab interior of the tiny rock room, the ladder down was burnished steel in excellent condition. It was dark, but there was pinkish light coming from below and he steadily climbed down, Nyxion right above him.


    He smelled the overwhelming fruit and sugar scent before he came down out of the ceiling into a steel room with pinkish red jelly flowing out of the ceiling by the walls. It was about thirty feet cubed, with grates at the sides to allow the jelly to flow in the same direction as the exit of the room.


    ¡°Well, I guess this is what the Tower was copying huh?¡± Corvayne said as Nyxion came into the room.


    Hari slid down the ladder next but looked at the chamber and shook her head. ¡°Gross!¡±


    Corvayne pulled a glow stick and lead the way into a steel passage. The floor of the passage was a grate above the jelly flow, with the ceiling also dripping jam along the walls and sometimes in globs right on him. He tried to use his shadow hands to block it, but the slime dripped right through, leaving holes in the shadow stuff. He slowed his pace and tried his compass. The substance seemed to scatter his senses, telling him Spears was in all directions.


    ¡°Careful, this stuff is at least anti-magical.¡± Corvayne said as he moved into a cylinder shaped room where aside from steel to keep the slime out of passages, the walls were just flowing strawberry. Under him was a spiral staircase that lead to four other exits. Below that was pool of slime, churing a little as it flowed. Above was jam flowing over a glass cap with a light shining down, causing the light in the room to fluctuate weird dark pinks and reds.


    Wick took out a jar and took a sample from the slime on the wall. ¡°Never know when we''ll need a thing of slime.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw had some fall on her skin, and Corvayne saw that it left a crazy rainbow trail where it touched her. She looked like she was annoyed by the sludge.


    Corvayne could still feel the compass pointing under him and lead them down the lowest passage he could find, the hallway gently undulating like a snake frozen mid slither. In places the floor grate stopped and was replaced by steel blocks of metal rising from the goo, something like stepping stones surrounded by jam. Corvayne checked each step in the slime for traps, but neither the stone nor the shin deep river of jam held any surprises.


    The passage started to move downhill after a gentle bend, fifteen minutes of walking downwards, then placed them into a massive room.  Steel girders supported rows of giant jars, each person-sized tube capped with machines and filled with jam suspending objects in them. The array of jars in the room was huge, long ahead and to one side that Corvayne could only guess how many rows there were, extending off into the pink hued distance. Three floors of metal grated walkways started above him, and looking down he saw three floors and a point where the stairs dipped into the glowing pink jam, with even more jars submerged near where the lake of jelly was under them.


    Wick gasped as she ran over and looked into a jar, then ran back, hugging Corvayne. ¡°Corvayne! You fucker, you did it! You found me a real secret alien base! With OOZE!¡±

 Chapter 102: SCP: Strawberry Containment Place

    Corvayne stood for a moment in awe of the giant steel room he was in. A glowing pink haze suggested the room went on for a long while past where the silvery steel walls faded into it, and looking down at the slightly glowing pinkish-red goop below him, he imagined the stacked girders and walkways that held the rows of jars were at least another layer deep in the goop.


    Leading the group across the bridge onto the stacks, he could taste that some of the strawberry jam aerosol in the air. Not surprising since it flowed from the walls, as well as from pillars supporting the room. There were bits of jam even falling from the ceiling, globs driping along several layers of jars above them to fall and splattering parts of dark steel grated walkways with pink ooze. Even if he wasn''t wearing the jam stuffed artifact pants he was pretty sure he''d be sticky.


    Hari touched a glob on a handrail and tried to wipe it off. ¡°Why so much sugar goop?! Pervert dungeon!¡±


    Nyxion laughed. ¡°Takes one to know one!¡±


    Corvayne offered Hari one of many towels he had started carrying on his person. Adventuring was messy business. ¡°I would assume it''s functional rather than preference based. The ooze is probably to contain and diffuse abilities that find things inside of here.¡± He demonstrated by having a shadow limb try to touch a puddle of jam. The part that touched it burst into a little puff of shadowy smoke.


    Wick nodded, and dipped her finger in jam, then pointed it at the wall. The little glob glowed green a few times before it evaporated and a small [Disrupt] flew out.


    She smiled and adjusted her glasses. ¡°It eats magic up. Which is the good news, because it probably means there''s reasonably dangerous magical tools here.¡±


    Corvayne stopped and turned. ¡°So what''s the bad news?¡±


    ¡°There''s probably reasonably dangerous magical creatures.¡±


    ¡°There''s people in this one!¡± Hari shouted as she slid back, then pointed with a knife at the glowing pink tube. Corvayne came over and looked at the jar, holding a sharp toothed body with razor sharp talons and no eyes.


    Corvayne tapped the screen attached to the container''s bottom and read.


    Blood-and-Blood-and-Bleeding-and-I-and-AM-and-Tired.


    Subject: Deceased.


    Termination date: 24,675.02


    Internment date: 24,675.02


    Notes: Physical traces of curse, but no observation of actual roots. Hold for burial. -STA


    Aflliction: Betrayer.


    No life signs. Stasis at full efficiency.


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°Dead before they put them in. Though, it sounds like they were studying curses.¡±


    Going down the row, they found another three humanoid bodies and several non-named monsters before they reached the first isle crossing the rows. All of the subjects they found were twisted with extra body parts or replacements, and quite a few of the creatures had extra long Watcher names.


    Wick looked back at Corvayne. ¡°Anyone you know?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°Not yet, thankfully.¡±


    Nyxion looked upset. ¡°Let''s look for someone who''s alive.¡±


    After another row and more dead people and monsters, Corvayne stopped and tried to get a reading on Spears.


    ¡°She''s down.¡±


    Nyxion took the stairs two at a time, which made Wick look over at Corvayne. ¡°You know what''s up with him? You think maybe he hit his head when he fell in that dumpster?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw sighed. ¡°I find it funny that you are confused at all.¡±


    Wick folded her arms. ¡°The fuck''s that supposed to mean?¡±


    Corvayne found a jar with someone marked alive, but they looked contorted in pain with spikes jutting out of them.


    Name Unknown


    Subject: Chemically induced coma.


    Internment date: 23,961.15


    Handling: Warrior 25/Thug 6. Can shift objects closer to him. Projects self-damaging spikes 10 ft.


    Notes: Extremely hostile to everything including self. Some curse infrastructure visible if subject is restrained while trying to harm their current target. Recommended be placed into long storage and checked at 74,000. -STA


    Affliction: Berserker, (pending classification) Iron Maiden.


    Hari tried using her Investigator spells on one of the containers but shook her head. ¡°It tells me the slime in the jars is more concentrated ''Strawberry Stasis Jam'' but I can''t push past that.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw held a hand up. ¡°Focus on our actual objective.¡±


    Wick nods. ¡°Operation Childhood Friend.¡±


    Corvayne stopped examining jar filled with leeches to look at her. ¡°Is THAT what you got out of everything I told you about the Village?¡±


    Hari looked between them. ¡°I thought all the girls hated him? Were blind and crazy?¡±


    Nyxion put a hand on Corvayne''s shoulder. ¡°Don''t get distracted.¡±


    Corvayne nodded, and pushed out his compass again. The sickening feeling of all the ooze diffusing the effect faded as he just let the direction drift, walking down rows and isles, moving back and forth until he was standing on a walkway above a large gap in the pods. He gestured into the goo, sure.


    ¡°Five or so from the end on the left, either that layer or another under it.¡±


    Nyxion ran down the nearby metal stairs to stand right at where they dipped into the jam then he stopped, hand gripping the rail as he looked between the jar Corvayne had indicated then at the sludge.


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Wick pushed him out of the way. ¡°You fussy bitch! Move.¡± She tossed her robe off in Corvayne''s direction. ¡°You got a towel right?¡±


    He caught her blue robe. ¡°Yes?¡±


    Wick took her braids and tied them together. ¡°You know how to open these things?¡±


    He looked at her and the jam. ¡°I should go. My... new armor is suited to this.¡±


    ¡°You don''t care if you''re covered in jelly? Fine. Come with.¡± Wick pulled her pants off, prompting Lady Blood Claw to grab Nyxion''s shoulders to turn him around.


    Wick thrust the rest of her clothes into Hari''s hands and climbed naked over the railing, then dropped into the goop with a squelching noise, bobbing quickly to the surface. Corvayne grit his teeth and jumped in after her, falling into the jam and...


    ((Tall alien)), Hari, and Wick dragged him back up the stairs. All of them were covered with jam and he felt like his limbs had been dragged through gravel. Nausea filled him as he felt something sloshing like a swimming pool inside of him.


    He turned his head and spit out a glob of jelly, not helping the sloshing feeling. It was like he was balancing a mass of water over his head. What had happened?


    He looked at ((tall alien)) and he knew she was his training partner but her name was sliding off his mind. She looked furious even though her skin had large patches of fizzling rainbows edged by streaks of gray, then the rest was a sort of luminous blue with neon glowing green lines. It must be some very particular brand of angry?


    He could see she had cuts on her arms and legs. ¡°What were you doing? You fool!¡±


    Corvayne tried to speak and it came out as a burble, so he spent a moment coughing up the jam currently filling his lungs. The pants did something and he expelled a cloud of pinkish mist with a dark red puddle of drool and soggy strawberry bits. He could taste the sugar in his mouth and back of his throat and coming out of his nose.


    ¡°What... what happened?¡± Corvayne tried to scrape some of the jam off his face.


    Hari looked at him, naked and covered in slime. ¡°When you jumped in there was a flash, we thought you triggered some sort of trap!¡± She then crouched and gave him a sticky elf hug which he felt was heartwarming if not a little gross.


    R-something... no it was Lady. Lady Bloom Thorn? Lady spoke. ¡°The curse seemed to have hurt us when we went in...¡±


    His scrambled thoughts made him wonder if he had hit his head jumping in.


    Lady continued talking while squeezing sludge out of her hair. ¡°Whatever the anti-magical effect is, it does not like me and it hates you. It caused you to explode in black vines that tried to electrocute you.¡±


    Wick put her hand on his forehead then lifted his brows and shone her phone light into his eyes, which caused Corvayne to jerk his head away and shut his eyes, spots appearing in the dark. Wick spoke while he was blinking off the spots and her voice was clear and extremely enunciated. ¡°My knight, I think it''s no longer safe to have you assist us. You were wounded just from a few moments of exposure.¡±


    She took him and gently embraced his head against her heart, which Corvayne enjoyed in a purely romantic way despite the slime and lack of clothing, then Wick looked up and sternly announced. ¡°I will take the lead here.¡± Then back at him, smiling kindly. ¡°Rest, we may need your help if your former lover becomes hostile.¡±


    Wick was acting and talking very weird. ¡°Spears-Like-Water was just my-¡±


    Hari snapped her fingers which made Corvayne see she was holding a hand up in front Nyxion''s face while the other was covering her legs. ¡°Dickhead! No look, looking! No looking!¡±


    Nyxion rolled his eyes and pushed her aside. ¡°I don''t find teenage blob women, goo covered chemelions, or slime princesses titillating, you half-baked tart. Look, the slime on him is slowly dissolving.¡±


    Oddly enough, Corvayne felt a sharp sense of what Nyxion said was tickling the back of his mind, but Wick squeezed his hand and looked him face to face. It was so odd to see her not flinching away when this close. She kissed his lips chastely then gave him a serious look.


    ¡°I want to establish that it was not a trap. Can you bear a little pain, Corvayne?¡±


    ¡°Uh, yeah Wick but-¡±


    Wick leaned over to the gap under the railing on the landing and dipped her finger in, then let a dollop of slime fall on Corvayne. there was a popping noise as it touching him stung, then something that felt like claws poking up out of his skin caused a trickle of blood to appear. The pink drop glowed bright blue in a flash then hissed and dissolved.


    He then felt Wick and Hari taking his pants off, pulling his legs up then letting them flop down on the metal. They at least left him with the waterproof leggings, but it was sort of odd seeing Wick wearing nothing but the Jam Jammies. ¡°Hari, I wonder if you mind assisting me, since we are both already in dire need of a bath? A little more wouldn''t be too terrible, would it?¡±


    ¡°You asking nicely are making it sound dirty!¡± Hari complained, then stepped down into the slime from the stairs they were on, putting a steel knife in her teeth as she swam under the railing and resurfaced.


    Wick stepped down into the goop and laughed. ¡°Curious, these breeches work despite functioning off magic! My rings and earrings, sadly, are not active.¡± She then dropped all the way in up to her neck as she walked down the stairs.


    Nyxion in an agitated voice cried out. ¡°Can WE please focus on rescuing Lady Water now that you''re both done rubbing our enigmatic exploding spear-man?¡±


    Corvayne pushed himself back to his feet, using the steel railing to steady himself. ¡°We''ll focus on the mission when you stop focusing on either of my girlfriend''s tits. Wick, be careful. We don''t know if there are threats in the jam. The green button opens the tube, one good tap and it will crack right open like a rock crab in heat...¡± He saw that everyone was looking at him, even Hari up from the slime.


    Lady Blood Claw looked at him. ¡°Nyxion, how many of us are acting out of character?¡±


    Nyxion folded his arms. ¡°All of us besides the long eared minx, but I have an excuse, as do you.¡±


    Hari lifted a hand from the goop to flip Nyxion off. Corvanye turned to where Wick had swam up next to the floor.


    ¡°Wick, you don''t feel odd, do you?¡±


    ¡°It''s to be expected, my love! I''m covered in jelly and there''s a sensation I''d describe as ten million ants are crawling on body parts I don''t have. But I hardly see the concern that would merit, given your injuries? This should be my burden to bear.¡±


    Corvanye felt a weird chill. ¡°You haven''t sworn since you took a dip in the slime.¡±


    ¡°I''m really... freaking... fine!¡± She lifted a hand out to give him a thumbs up.


    Nyxion gestured. ¡°If you don''t hurry I''m going to also take a dive in the slime and we''ll lose the rest of our sanity.¡±


    Wick took a deep breath then submerged herself. Corvayne could sort of see her in the goop as a dark spot blocking latent light diffusing through the jam.


    Wick then surfaced a moment later. ¡°I''m afraid it''s the deep container, one more row down.¡± She tossed a jelly covered metal box towards the stairs. ¡°Unless she''s in that.¡±


    Corvayne used his senses to try to help, but found they had become even more erratic and made him feel a little disoriented on top of that fading sloshing feeling. Lady Blood Claw retrieved the crate Wick had recovered. Corvayne turned back and saw Wick vanish under the slime again, and he felt something poke him.


    He saw a shadow hand extending, trying to wave at him. What? With the goop the limb was thin and reedy, but it was gesturing frantically. Back at Hari? No, it was pointing further. Corvayne squinted into the gloom, getting up and walking up the stairs. Lady Blood Claw looked at him, sizzling rainbows now mostly gray spots.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± She looked between the girls and him.


    ¡°My shadow hands have a mind of their own...¡± He called back down at her, then strode down the row. He passed a bridge, more jars, another bridge, then saw the wall form out of the dimming pink glow, with a single line of brighter haze implying a gap in the aerosol of jam. A door, half closed.


    Then the passage jolted, a few inches but he saw the gap being pushed open. Something down in the muck on the other side of the door sloshed back, and Corvayne could see something huge was in the goop, hints of fins pushing up slime behind the creature. He heard another dull thump and the door started to slowly open. He turned and pulled rope from his ring as he started running back. He heard metal groan and saw the sloshing of the slime to his side as the dark form behind the door broke past it then started swimming towards Wick and Hari.

 Chapter 103: Slimed Out of Our Minds

    Corvayne summoned a coil of rope from his ring as he ran along the platform, watching the huge dark shape in the glowing jelly below swimming towards where his lovers were. Hari had seen him waving his arms and yelling at them, but Wick was submerged and weaponless in the ooze.


    Hari, to her credit, dove right away. Nyxion and Lady Blood Claw saw him too, Nyxion activating his shield. The orb he created repelled the jam while he stood on land but apon jumping out Nyxion couldn''t get under the surface, instead landing on it like he was stuck in a giant hamster ball. Lady Blood Claw drew her two handed burning blade.


    ¡°Corvayne, I can''t see it! How large is the enemy?¡±


    ¡°Thirty feet!¡± He threw out a guess as he tried to think of how he could do any real damage to the creature without falling into the goop.


    Lady Blood Claw perhaps could tell what he was doing. ¡°Corvayne, focus on getting them out!¡±


    Corvanye felt terror welling up in him as he saw the huge form closing in. The jam made wet sounds as the monster hit the surface then dove after them. He stumbled as the walkway shook. The creature must have rammed into the entire structure. Some of the containers fell over, and Corvayne heard a shattering sound. He looked down and saw two containers knocked loose bob to the surface.


    The creature resurfaced, bits of broken container stuck to it''s rubbery hide. Lady Blood Claw leapt onto it''s back from the walkway and slashed with her huge red hot blade, bathing herself in a cloud of pink steam. The monster cried out over the hissing noise and dove, dragging Lady Blood Claw under with it''s back. She then surfaced a moment later, grabbing her sword and kicking herself out of the way through the muck as a few small black vines slithered around her.


    Corvayne was preparing to toss the rope at Wick when he saw something out of the corner of his eye and ducked as a claw swiped at him, followed by a foot coming around. He stepped back and thrust with his spear, impaling a toothy monster with six opaque white eyes. The creature hissed and squirmed and Corvayne kicked it off his spear, sending it tumbling to the steel walkway where it started writhing and slashing itself.


    He didn''t bother trying to make sure it was dead, focusing on the river of slime, searching for any sign of the girls.


    Hari came up then, knife in her hand and looking around, bits of jam sticking to her pale hair. ¡°Where''s Wick?!¡± She asked.


    Corvayne felt another bump and saw that the creature had rammed the row of jars again, metal groaning as the structure protested the treatment. Ignoring more shattering noises he looked frantically for any signs of Wick then saw her break the surface swimming across the open jam as the monster turned and swam at her, it''s back cresting the goop again as it''s mouth opened. Moments before she''d be swallowed Wick dropped suddenly under the surface and Corvayne saw it smash into the opposite row of jars, shattering and breaking bodies loose as it thrashed and backed up, then turned to keep swimming after Wick. A creature from a jar spasmed in as it hit the jam then popped into a burst of fire and tangle of thorns that dragged it to the bottom.


    He could see Wick as a dark spot in the glow as she dropped down further into the goop, and the huge fish swam past her and then started wiggling its way down. There was another thump and groan, this time the opposite row of jars rocked slightly.


    Nyxion swore. ¡°Lady Blood Claw! We need distractions! Elf! Get that damn jar we are after!¡±


    ¡°Fuck YOU!¡± Hari replied in high pitched Cascadian.


    He didn''t have time to watch them, bolting down the metal walkway towards where the fish thing had resurfaced and was whipping around strange barbed tails as it seemed to almost casually turn and dive once more.


    Corvayne felt the weird sloshing feeling growing inside him as he ran for the bridge and saw Wick try to get up the opposite metal stairs out of the slime only to have the huge monster ram into the metal under her, knocking the structure over with the whine as the beams bent the stairway halfway over. Wick looked like she was screaming and panicking as she tumbled backwards into the slime, jam making it hard to tell if she was wounded already. Corvayne was about to leap off the bridge when a slimy hand grabbed his cloak and pulled him down.


    ¡°Thrice cursed fool! Depend on us!¡± Lady Blood Claw hissed.


    ¡°Why are you up here?!?¡± Corvayne demanded, panic mixing with fury. Wick! Wick was down there!


    She pointed, and he saw Nyxion was smash a tube, then some sort of trembling spined horror out. Nyxion ignored the thing slashing at him as he planted a foot on the railing and heaved the screaming writhing thing into the water in front of where the whale was swimming.


    It opened it''s mouth and caught the struggling form as dark thorns exploded out, and the whale thrashed in pain before it crested the water and spat the monster out, the creature streaming thorns behind it.


    Corvayne saw Nyx smashing another jar and grabbed his arm. ¡°Those are PEOPLE!¡±


    Nyx threw his arm off, sneering ¡°They are insane monsters! I''ll trade them for us! Would Death-Blood-Blood-Blood matter to you more then Spears? Or Wick?¡±


    Corvayne was frozen a moment. Lady Blood Claw gripped his shoulder. ¡°When it surfaces, that''s our chance to do as much damage as possible.¡±


    He had a weapon he hadn''t brought to bear in the Argyle fight, and he pulled the magma knife out of his storage and waited for the fish to surface again. It came up, this time with Wick clinging to a canister it had in it''s mouth. He only hesitated the throw the knife a moment, adjusting his aim and throwing the knife at the back of the beast, it landing and instantly starting to pump magma into the wound as the monster dropped the canister and dived once more, boiling the jelly in a trail of sputtering bubbles as it dove.


    Corvayne saw the whale surface again, whipping up a spray of jam as it screamed like a wounded cat. Wick was swimming away, refusing to let go of the canister she had. The monster turned and squirmed then lined up with Wick, back caked with carmelized jam and hissing steam as it made screeching noises then surged after Wick. Nyxion and LBC ripped a jar out of it''s place in the row and together tossed it right in front of the monster but the creature just slapped the container aside with it''s nose and focused entirely on Wick who was coughing and flailing with one arm trying to get under the bridge he was on and reach the far stairway out.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    Corvayne tied his rope around his waist then tossed the slack to Lady Blood Claw, who looked at it confused before looking up at him. The wave inside of him was getting to be staggering, his insides feeling like they were sliding back and forth. He had been fighting through the sick feeling, but now he waited, boot on the railing, until it sloshed forward and he pushed with the wave feeling thorns start to burst from him even as he felt more awake than ever.


    He heard Lady Blood Claw cry out. ¡°No!¡±


    Corvayne felt his skin bursting as he leapt off the bridge, Wick nearly under him and no sign of the fish until he had started the jump, both hands on his spear as it''s back was under him, it''s face moments from overtaking Wick.


    [Leap Strike]


    He applied gravity power to himself and flew into it''s rubbery back, the impact like a spearing a train trying to run him over. There were wet sounds as blood splashed up around him, blinding him a moment. He could feel through his boots the creature was still alive under him, gooey muscles twitching as the monster prepared to dive, and Corvayne lifted his spear again, blood and jam and gore coloring everything red, and used [Cross Skill: Backstab] to jam his spear into the monster''s back once more, this time causing a crack like a mountain breaking in half as he shattered the creature''s spine and the spear and hole kept going before jam and blood rushed around him. He could feel Lady Blood Claw tugging to start pulling him out, hear her calling to him, but she was too late as the goo swept up his torso and the vines exploded out of him.


    [85.5%]


    He opened his eyes, whole and clean, then sat up as he saw he was outside. It was not Cascadia, as the sky was a deeper almost unreal blue with not a cloud in sight. He was sitting on the sandy shore of a river, arid plains visible across the water with a fortress of stone next to him. He was without his gear aside from his spear, but he could hear talking behind him so he stood and turned to a crude village or nomad camp, full of simple lean-tos and tents clustered around cooking fires. The warm air felt good compared to how cool the chamber he had been in was.


    [85.4%]


    As he reached the edge of the tents he saw a man who looked like himself in the company of strange creatures, speaking with a woman with dark golden skin. Many of the other beings in the camp had the same gold glint to them, he noted as he saw two children run between a row of tents around him, giggling. He looked back up and saw the other Corvayne was holding a crying child, and the woman he had been talking to gestured. The man then lead the group in the direction shown, followed by a glass golem in leather armor and a face he recognized. Mugs-Empty-Again was there, wearing a horned helmet and looking about warily. Following him was a reptilian girl with a bow who reminded him of Dawn''s helper but with different colored scales, and Whispers-In-Darkness, the librarian. It was a shock to see him in broad daylight and not wearing all black, but he instead focused on the lead figure.


    [85.2%]


    The Watchers, he guessed, were following him and the baby to a tent. He looked immensely relieved as he stepped in. Corvayne started to head closer as a hand gripped him. He felt a little hot as he turned.


    [85.0%]


    A pair of gold starry eyes looked into his, and he felt nearly overwhelmed, some complex feeling bubbling up from him as he looked at the girl. It was a crippling sense of nostalgia, enough that he felt his eyes start to water.


    ¡°You!¡± He couldn''t help but shout, ¡°I''ve seen you before!¡±


    The woman closed her eyes and shook her head, hair glittering in the sun like it was the sea itself. Her skin had changed to the gray of a cloudy sky, and her dress this time was literally sand, flowing. The air was so warm but all he could think about was looking at the girl.


    [84.7%]


    She spoke. ¡°You have to go. This place will tear you apart. Look for me.¡±


    He took her hand. ¡°Who are you? Why do I keep seeing you? Tell me!¡±


    He felt like he was in an oven.


    [84.4%]


    ¡°We are bound by fate. Keep looking! Now, go! If you awaken your bloodline it will burn you to death. Wake up!¡±


    The heat burned him and he woke, pain shooting out of an arm and a leg, his mouth full of fruit punch flavored healing potions. He nearly coughed it up but forced it down, trying to get up but Hari and ((not her real name)) were holding him down.


    ¡°Stupid! Always with the big stunts!¡± Hari said, eyes red.


    The other woman, ((her name elusive)), was orange with annoyance though her face softened as her skin changed to a plum color. ¡°At least this time you gave me a rope before you leaped to your death.¡±


    He tried to get up, but he could feel he had somehow torn muscles all over his arms and legs. That, and there were scabbed over wounds all over him.


    ¡°Wick...¡±


    Hari rolled her eyes. ¡°Is fine. What about me? I was in slime too.¡±


    ¡°Sorry. Was worried about you, too.¡± He smiled at her, and Hari smiled back at him. She forgave him too easily.


    A scratchy voice said quietly. ¡°It... was ignoring you. It was after me.¡± He looked over and saw that Wick had put her undershirt back on but was still smeared with jam and wearing the Jam-Jammies.


    Nyxion laughed and clapped. ¡°We all once more made it through, and we recovered your friend Spears! Though she''s a little slime.¡±


    ¡°Slimy?¡±


    Nyx laughed. ¡°No, she is, at the moment, a little slime. As in, a ball of goop.¡±


    He gestured over to where he had surrendered his cape, letting what looked like a large glob of blue water rest on it.


    Corvayne looked back at his noble friend. ¡°Spears was a tall, athletic, and I hesitate to say it but, attractive young woman.¡±


    Nyxion nodded.


    Corvayne put his head down and tried to point at the glob. ¡°That looks like a glob.¡±


    A meek voice replied with. ¡°Sorry! Sorry sorry sorry.¡±


    It took Corvayne a moment, even knowing that the slime was supposed to be Spears, to connect that it was the same voice that had called him garbage on a daily basis. The shock made him bolt upright, despite causing horrible pain.


    He felt really weird addressing something with no face. ¡°Spears, I know you don''t-¡±


    A moment later the glob lunged at him and for some reason his defensive instinct failed as it knocked him back over and then Spears-Like-Water, a glob of living water, grew pseudopods and hugged him and started bumping his face.


    The usually stern and dusky voice she had sounded cutesy to the point that Corvayne was doubting what he was hearing. ¡°It''s you! It''s you! Oh gods I missed you so much, Corvayne, I thought it was just another bad dream... oh I''m so glad to see you again!¡±


    He looked to his friends for help. Nyxion was biting his lip and looking away, face red. Trying not to laugh? He was making fists though. Lady Blood Claw had a disappointed look. Why? Hari was hiding clear amusement, a glint in her eye promising mischief.


    Wick pulled Spears off Corvayne, the slime making sucking noises as Wick spun the blob to face her, despite it having no features that Corvayne could identify as front or back. Wick glared at Spears anyway. ¡°Pardon me, Miss Spears-Like-Slimes, I don''t think anyone cares that you are getting more goo all over my lover, whom nearly drowned in jam twice today, but before ANYONE here does ANYTHING else naked involving slimes in ANY manner, I nearly got eaten by a whale and I demand answers!¡±


    Wick sounded really weird to Corvayne, but there were hints of her scratchy voice at least returning.


    Spears quivered. Her voice sounded like she was on the verge of crying. ¡°Buh...¡± Sniffle. ¡°Buh...¡± Sniffle again. ¡°Buhf-¡±


    Nyxion stood straight up, snatching Spears from Wick. ¡°You are going to make her cry!¡±


    Hari jabbed Wick''s arm. ¡°Why were you mean? She just woke up!¡±


    Wick looked ashamed of herself. ¡°I would never be mean! I am a lady, I was simply acting-¡±


    Spears finally wailed out. ¡°Corvayne''s your boyfriend?!?¡±


    Corvayne heard in the silence afterwards Lady Blood Claw mutter. ¡°Another one...¡±

 Chapter 104: Longer Than You Think, Corvayne!

    Corvayne let Lady Blood Claw help him pick out black shards that had lodged themselves in his arm and leg as he faced Spears-Like-Water, who was currently a large ball of water with a little red core resting on the dark steel grate. Parts of the monster whale were drifting by in the glowing jam, black islands in the the reddish pink color. Spears stood out as the only blue spot because everyone else was caked with jam.


    Corvayne had propped himself up against an empty jar stand-machine and now looked at the slime who had calmed down. ¡°Okay. Spears, I need to talk to you. About The Watchers.¡±


    A quiver and Spears folded the top of herself a little like a nod. ¡°Yes.... what''s happening? Is the war still going?¡±


    ¡°War? Wait, I want to start with... why did The Watchers all hate me?¡±


    She stopped. ¡°I didn''t hate you! I tried really hard to get through to you! I tried to be your patrol partner every time I could!¡±


    ¡°I thought they were assigned.¡±


    ¡°No? I''m sure me and other girls told you that you could ask the head of security... I don''t remember you picking people. I remember people thought you were weird, so maybe other people didn''t like you, but most people knew you were just... uh... your own person. I tried to give you space, but it was hard for me to do that... sometimes.¡±


    Corvayne folded his arms. ¡°You, of all people, called me a slime ball and told me to never touch you.¡±


    Two ovals of red water appeared on Spears. ¡°Wh-wh-what!? No! I never said that!¡±


    ¡°We were on patrol, and I had found a bone large enough to sit on, and when I put it down by the fire, that''s what you said.¡±


    ¡°I remember that patrol! You got a place to sit, and I said ''Are you cold? We could sit together.'' and you said ''Fine, I''ll sit alone.''¡±


    ¡°What about the last time we spoke? On the tower you stated you had hoped you wouldn''t find my sorry... butt.¡± Corvayne folded his arms, which hurt, but sometimes pain was worth showing how you felt.


    Spears hopped up and down a little. ¡°No way, I said I found you because you always went to spots with great views! Didn''t I sit next to you?¡±


    ¡°What about when I was Exiled?¡±


    ¡°Exiled? I remember you looked oddly happy before you vanished. You thanked me and honestly I should have been more worried, but I was so happy to hear it I didn''t think how odd it was...¡±


    Wick moved to sit so she could speak to both of them. ¡°One or both of your memories have been fricked beyond recognition.¡± She coughed. ¡°Fucked! Fucked up. Gah¡±


    ¡°You''re sounding more like yourself again.¡± Corvayne noted.


    ¡°What did I sound like?¡± Wick asked.


    ¡°Princess!¡± Hari responded, hugging Wick.


    Spears voice sounded hesitant as she said, ¡°I think it might be my memories are broken. I can''t remember details about the past, or who else liked Corvayne, or who disliked him. Aside from One-Last-Note who was rude to everyone. The search and the war... It''s blurry to me. But! I remember when I was alone with Corvayne. On patrol. When he was hurt bad and the times he saved me, too.¡±


    Wick managed to get herself pulled out of Hari''s grasp. ¡°Listen, he remembers you being tall, tanned, and solid.¡±


    Spears quivered. ¡°Part of the Magus''s containment was The Watcher''s Pact, which included ''Normality''. I was still a trainee Watcher, but near the village it altered reality. Something like, we traded most of our natural strength to lock The Magus down better.¡±


    Corvayne looked around. ¡°You said something about searching for me, but how did you get down here? I left The Watchers a month ago.¡± Corvayne said, deciding he''d go with linear Cascadia time rather than the time compression dungeons caused.


    ¡°A month? That can''t be... I was part of The Watchers sent to look for you. Right as the war started, I was out for two years and came back to find The Watchers split down the middle.¡±


    Corvayne paused. ¡°It seems my guess that I had been walking for a while in the desert was correct... there was something like a slide show from walking through the deep wastes.¡± So he had lost a few YEARS on the walk? He found himself getting a little angry. He had skipped right to his thirties!


    Spears rolled forward a little. ¡°I don''t see how it''s possible you got there without us finding you... I mean, I''m sure you of all people could make it Corvayne, but we have so many patrols and only one group spotted you on the road the night you left, then you were just... gone.¡± The slime girls voice sounded very hesitant.


    Lady Blood Claw tapped Nyxion. ¡°Let''s see if there''s anything else here we can take.¡± She caught Corvayne''s gaze and nodded.


    Wick looked between them. ¡°Corvayne, if you...¡±


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ¡°You can all hear whatever she''s going to say, if you want.¡± He spoke even as a little tinge of worry started to crawl it''s way up his back.


    Spears did her little slime nod as Nyxion and Lady Blood Claw sat. ¡°Corvayne, a long, long time has passed since you left. For sure at least five years if you just went off what I am sure passed, as I spent two years looking for you, and two long years of fighting while watching the curses split us in half. While I was gone The Magus escaped and somehow destroyed the pact we had. Curses turned friends into enemies, drove Watchers mad... he divided our forces, broke us in two, maybe even more pieces. I was captured by the renegades and put in stasis before I got placed in that tube. When I woke again, they said that... they told me... a long time passed.¡±


    It was quiet for a moment. Wick poked the slime. ¡°How long?¡±


    ¡°Two thousand seasons.¡±


    Nyxion swooped in. ¡°When we fought you before, you looked pretty good for two thousand!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw added. ¡°As does Corvayne, since he stated you grew up together.¡±


    Wick held a hand up. ¡°You said you were in stasis, so they could have been lying to you.¡±


    ¡°They were Watchers, but ones I''d never seen before with weird names.¡± Spears grew a pseudopod to scratch her own head.


    Nyxion butted in. ¡°No offense to your peers, but aside from your lovely appellation, I''d say all the Watcher names are weird.¡±


    Spears laughed at that. ¡°Corvayne, your friend cracks me up!¡±


    Corvayne saw Nyxion beaming. Lady Blood Claw tapped the ground. ¡°I have a question. It seems that you and Corvayne both speak perfect Collective. How is that?¡±


    Spears hopped and twisted a few times, which Corvayne could tell was her spinning to face Lady blood Claw, though given she had no features he wondered WHY she bothered to do that. ¡°The ''non-native'' watchers have bracers. They work as our communicators, storage, and translators.¡±


    ¡°So Corvayne could have just called home?¡± Wick looked at him. ¡°You doofus! I could have skipped the part where I was fish food.¡±


    Spears squeaked a little. ¡°He cannot, he doesn''t have one. Corvayne was the cut-off point.¡±


    Wick was sharp, pressing her. ¡°You said it was non-natives.¡± Not to mention he understood everyone fine.


    ¡°I was very young and I don''t remember much, but the older Watchers told us that we had been somewhere else before, and that they had been displaced from the people they knew. I mean, it''s why I was raised by Waves-Within and Chases-Up-Trees. I don''t remember the before time or more than impressions of before the change, I do know that Waves is my father in every way that counts, the same that Chases is my mom.¡± She ended the statement sounding a little more like her old self, as if asking for anyone to argue otherwise.


    Corvayne paused. ¡°If she and Waves were together, I mean, didn''t she hit on my dad all the time?¡±


    ¡°Well, as a matter of course I encouraged it, as the result would be me becoming your sister.¡± The smile wobbled happily, then once again two pink ovals appeared on it. ¡°They were friends who raised me together.¡±


    Wick looked over. ¡°So The Watchers are... refugees? From something?¡±


    Spears quivered. The time spent with Grunt made Corvayne think this was a slime shrug, but for all he knew she had just burped. ¡°I don''t know. My memory is terrible. I do know we were Watchers as in ''watch over The Magus''s prison'', and I was told we had been a large part of why he had been imprisoned.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw perked up at the reminder that The Magus was involved. ¡°Miss Spears, you said he got loose. Do you know of Infinitus? Or his apprentices?¡±


    ¡°I knew during the period I was awake after being in statis that he had help, and I know The Watchers operated under the assumption he had allies, but as far as I know his escape had been on his own.¡±


    Nyxion looked around and cleared his throat, saying ¡°In the spirit of communicating, would it be possible to resume your human form?¡± To which Lady Blood Claw elbowed him.


    ¡°I could. The suppressive fluid is mostly worn off but... oh I don''t have clothes!¡±


    Corvayne pulled out one of his spare sets. ¡°I have some but-¡±


    ¡°Oh those will do fine! If you would, hand them over. Please.¡± She extended psudopods towards him and when he gave her the clothes they snatched them back to the main body which grew and flexed until there was a watery Spears-Like-Water sitting in his clothes. He noticed she looked pleased with herself.


    ¡°Thank you, do I look okay?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°But uh, let''s go back to you, and by extension me, being two thousand years old.¡±


    ¡°Well, the place I was imprisoned wasn''t here. It was a prison-like facility where there were long dusty plains around it. I saw a city of silver too. I don''t know what side of the battle it was... my memory hasn''t been working right since I got cursed. I spent a lot of time in a cell built to keep me from just flowing out. I remember waking up and going to sleep a lot, then them putting me back into a stasis tube, either because the facility was about to be attacked or to try to help with the curse I have, then I remember fighting lots of people in the arena, sometimes losing but mostly winning, of course, then you arrived and beat me soundly, and I realized I was dreaming...¡±


    Wick gave her a thumbs up. ¡°It''s okay, I think it tracks. Though, if you don''t know the way to The Watchers we''re going to have to leave through the Towers...¡±


    Spears stood up. ¡°I intend to bring Corvayne back home. And go home myself. To that end, let''s look around here. There has to be something that would point the way back...¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°... Actually, I wanted to see if the place had a date that let us know what time it was compared to what was on the jars.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw was already heading down the stairs to grab a half-open container out of the muck. It seemed they were not as heavy as he supposed, or she was strong enough to drag it up the stairs. Even coated with jam, the screen worked and popped a pleasing blue display up.


    Spears-Like-Water


    Subject: Alive. Chemically induced sleep.


    Internment date: 1967.12 (Recovered 1966.10)


    Internment CI ~99.9%


    MANUAL RELEASE DATE AUTO ADDED: 53045.09


    ESTIMATED CI 18% (based on 50% at 33,472.12)


    Handling: Dragoon 29/Spear Artist 5. Hydrogen-Oxygen hybrid lifeform, use extremely heavy sedatives, avoid re-equipping. Apply small amounts of suppressive jam to aid in normal sleep.


    Notes: Suffering two curses at least, one that makes her extremely prone to wake up after falling asleep (May not be the usual insomnia, She is patient 0 for this curse). Other is scrambled Friend/Foe. To whoever takes over site: Subject has connection or bond with BIG DELTA. May be the SEW. Estimated time for curse to completely degrade: 64,241 +/- 50 years due to odd occasional essence infusion.


    To do: Investigate essence additions.


    Recheck stasis integrity: Subject was put to sleep before re-storage, but seems to be dreaming and will move and twitch despite stasis fluid.


    Spears grabbed the container, watery hands trembling. ¡°This can''t be!¡±


    Corvayne looked at her. ¡°Spears, please tell me the large numbers are days. Those dates are in days and hours, right?¡±


    She turned and looked at Corvayne, her opalescent watery eyes conveying terror. She tapped the release date.


    (Subject was in Stasis for 51078 Years.)

 Chapter 105: Finding Home

    Corvayne was freaking out. He was sure everyone knew he was too, because otherwise Wick would not have slipped him one of her pills, and certainly Lady Blood Claw would have complained more if he WASN''T freaking out about moving him around like a sack of potatoes, and how could anyone blame him, fifty thousand years. FIFTY THOUSAND YEARS. He had almost calmed down until Nyxion had brought him a screen that matched his old Watcher one at the end of the row, and he found huge folders full of both cryptic text logs and automated logs after the place was abandoned in 37,000 something. Fifty thousand years of a few robots keeping things tidy. He could see them now starting to repair the place and swimming after whale parts and shards of containers. Fifty thousand years since he walked past Spears.


    What had happened? He had walked out of the village, blinked, and woke up in Cascadia. Fifty thousand years. He was twenty something. What happened!?! Was there anything left of The Watchers? Was it just him and Spears? Did they have to restart the whole thing?


    Lady Blood Claw had pulled him to the side of the the rows of canisters, near the bridge back to the passage out. She set him down far gentler than she had carried him. ¡°Corvayne, It''s going to be okay.¡±


    He looked up at her. She was gray with hints of red-orange dots rippling across her skin. She continued. ¡°I''ve been where you are. When I woke up I was alone, I had to learn the language, and they told me the ruins they found me in marked me as old. Perhaps over a thousand years old. I''m the only non human.¡±


    It didn''t help him much. The disconnect was too much. He hated his home, so he didn''t understand why he felt he was trapped and lost and it felt like he wasn''t taking full breaths. He expected Lady Blood Claw to slap him or shake him, fitting of the persona she usually had, but she just sat across from him for a while before she eventually stood.


    ¡°It will hurt, but you''ve already started putting roots down... I should ask Hari to help you here. Wick as well.¡±


    Corvayne reached out and took her hand. ¡°I want you...¡± He had to huff a little bit, his head cloudy, before he continued. ¡°I want you to tell me about it. Please.¡±


    He looked up at Lady Blood Claw and saw she was glowing red with flickers of orange, her expression wavering between incredulous, angry, and mouth-open shocked and Corvayne knew something was wrong with him because he started looking at her jumpsuit and curves. He was surprised when she turned gray with a sigh then sat by him.


    ¡°Okay, back when I was first got pulled out, Nyxion''s father gave me to him. I guess to try to get me to speak the language. Nyx made a pass at me, once, and I broke his arm. We''ve become friends since then, but at the start part of my problem was I was angry at being abandoned. I knew The Magus was fickle, and that people around him died, and by all means I was hoping that it meant I was rid of him, but he took my name, everything, to try to mold me into something and I wanted to know why I had failed. I don''t want you to pity me Corvayne, but I had nothing but my wounded pride, and there I was being treated as a curious pet by a clearly arrogant man. A man who looked like he expected everyone to say yes. Which is why the first word I learned was ''No''. I figure I''d leave him as I got better at navigating the world, but then the thing with his sister and father happened, and suddenly he was cast off too, and I started to get that he was playing a part, and he was just as lost and floundering at it as I was.¡±


    She sighed. ¡°I guess what I''m trying to say is you''ll be okay. You have Wick and Hari and now Spears. I''m on the same road as you too, looking for the past. So, say to yourself one of those stupid spear lines you told Gary, and remember that when you stop stabbing forward you have friends and lovers all propping you up.¡±


    She put an arm around his shoulder and shook him a bit, pushing herself to sound stern. ¡°Besides I will be pissed if my training partner mopes so much we both get weak!¡±


    The thought made him jump to his feet. ¡°Spears is probably feeling the same.¡± He stopped and turned to Lady Blood Claw. ¡°Thank you Lady... if it weren''t for Grunt I''d say you''d be my best friend.¡±


    She turned blue with embarrassment, hints of happy pink rippling across her. ¡°Shut up!¡±


    He smiled at her, then turned and walked back down the row and across the bridge, stepping over little disc shaped bots cleaning up the damage.


    Back with the group, he saw that Hari had her arms around Spears who had also fallen into shock. His watery patrol partner was larger in her humanoid form than Hari was, which made it look like rather than sitting in her lap Hari was getting her face pushed into Spear''s chest. The elf was patting her back. ¡°It''s okay. Until you find your way home, you can live with us.¡±


    He knew Hari was a good person, but it melted his heart to see the elf reach out and help a stranger... then he noticed her turn and give Nyxion an evil smile, and that Nyxion was clutching his hands, muttering.


    ¡°That should be ME damnit.¡±


    Corvayne went and found Wick, who was checking the contents of tubes.


    ¡°Sorry, I had a little moment. My head still feels a little weird...¡±


    ¡°I''ll say. I gave you a double dose of my usual shit.¡±


    He blinked. ¡°I feel mostly normal though.¡±


    Wick looked him up and down. ¡°It''s a downer, and you''re usually really calm. We''ll do some mending to really fix you when we leave. Also... you''ve been doing this for me non-stop since we met. In fact, I wanna say I''m sorry. I let Lady Blood Claw handle most of it. I''m not a comforting person.¡±


    He turned around. ¡°Before I hadn''t pegged her as one either... maybe she felt like a big sister or a mom to the kids she trained before?¡± He was trying to avoid thinking about his own situation.


    Wick stopped looking at the screen on a tube and walked next to him, then leaned on the railing and put her head on his shoulder. ¡°Hey goofball. You''re not alone anymore. You need to toughen up, be the guy who marched me through a dungeon, but this time for Spears. When you left, you were ready to go. She''s probably acting timid because she''s totally cut off from everyone, and you''ve effectively dumped her by telling her you''ve never seen her as a partner.¡±


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Corvayne put his arm around Wick, then removed it after she pinched his hand. ¡°Sorry.¡± He tried patting her head and that worked. ¡°If I had known what she felt, I''d be a different person. I would have tried to get back to her.¡±


    ¡°That''s fine. I''m glad you''ve stuck around... For this next part though, we''re going to work on YOU! Even if you and spears are the last two Watchers, I expect you to verify it all! I''ll be right behind you prodding you in the right direction, because otherwise how the heck else can you expect to marry me?¡±


    He couldn''t help it and hugged her, which had her elbow him. ¡°Off idiot! I just nearly got eaten, you think I want you to touch me?¡±


    Corvayne couldn''t help but think, even with a little strawberry jam still staining her hair, she was the most beautiful woman he''d ever seen. ¡°I love you Wick.¡±


    She shoved a hand in his face. ¡°I love you too, so fuck off and let me finish looking at this stuff!¡±


    After an hour Wick had enough, having pulled out three metal containers from three other jars. ¡°We''ll have Hari see if anything in these are worth it. I left everything that recommended keeping it in containment or a ring that gave you incredible stats but lethal doses of radiation if you wore it for an hour.¡±


    ¡°I could probably...¡±


    Wick hit his shoulder. ¡°It was written BY a Watcher. That''s actually something I want to study, how you and they can write things I understand.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I bet the entire facility also functions like the Bracer does. You probably won''t be able to read anything once we get outside.¡±


    Wick laughed. ¡°Smart! Maybe they did... do you think your engineering master, Spaces-Torn, had something to do with this place?¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°I don''t know what powers he had, but I''d suspect the robots would have his hand in it. He stressed making things that lasted nearly forever. You know... you made me feel better thinking about it...¡±


    He reached into his ring and pulled out his water purifier. It was the same as when he got it before his first patrol. He flipped it over to read the name on the bottom. Corvayne. It was the same one, for fifty thousand years. Yet... his bags and canteen had changed.


    ¡°Spaces was thinking of the long game. This place too... if someone was only was going to live seventy years, they wouldn''t have made this to be found intact eons later. The notes! They say 70,000 years after the place was built someone was going to come back and check em out.¡±


    She walked back with him and they went to the screen Nyxion had found. The map of Cascadia they pulled up obviously didn''t fit with the current area, but there was a path marked. One went deep into the desert, the other went to a location near the Cascadian National forest, and one lead up the hills to end where he had woken up.


    He pointed to the dot where the road ended. ¡°That''s where I woke up both times.¡±


    Wick smiled. ¡°Well, lets go check it out!¡±


    They didn''t end up finding the one thing Corvayne actually wanted to find in there (aside from Spears herself, of course!) which was another spear like his, or a third cloak. He stored the things they wanted to take, including two of the jars. Spears requested they take some slime with them or a sedative.


    ¡°My curse keeps me awake, so that or I drink until I pass out.¡±


    They found a storage unit that had a water containers that worked for holding jelly, and loaded up on the substance. Spears needed some, Wick wanted some, and Corvayne wanted some as well, as hurling it at an enemy The Magus had cursed might be as devastating as being thrown into the substance was.


    Corvayne had mostly recovered by the time he pulled himself up the ladder then turned and helped Spears out, her warm hand not slimy despite feeling wet. She gasped and laughed as he took her into pouring rain.


    ¡°Oh wow! I haven''t been rained on in years!¡± Spears opened her mouth and for a moment Corvayne could see water flowing inside her, which for some reason made him feel self conscious about holding her hand.


    After she spun a few times, Spears also realized that it was kind of chilly and made for the boat. Lady Blood Claw was the last up and out and closed the hatch behind her. Wick motioned with her head at the ruins overlooking the hidden facility. ¡°I want to know who owns this spot... I''ll do that while you check out the portal.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I''ll also find somewhere for Spears to stay.¡±


    Wick shrugged. ¡°Just make sure Hari is on board, and I guess Nyxion was acting weird around Spears? Lady Blood Claw was trying to ask me about it but I don''t get what she sees.¡±


    Corvayne wasn''t sure either what was going on so he got on the boat, handed Spears one of his warm rain coats, then they took off through the drizzle back south. As the pulled out into open water Corvayne had that rolling feeling start up. The sloshing on top of the boat bumping up and down made him feel like he was going to throw up, the feeling stopping when he felt a sharp pain and found another shard of metal in his side. Holding his cloak up, he pulled it out and hissed.


    Nyxion laughed. ¡°See, if you were clear like this lovely lady, you''d have found it earlier!¡±


    He winced as he pressed a finger against his wound until it stopped bleeding. Odd he hadn''t felt it climbing the ladder. With the blood covering it, the shard looked black, like obsidian. He took it and tossed it overboard. He was glad the fish responsible for it was dead.


    They pulled into the Ko-Ban dock as dusk was falling and Spears seemed delighted by seeing a large city with lights and, interestingly enough, was tickled pink by the trains. Wick puffed up a little bit as she gestured to the train station visible above a building by the dock. ¡°Why, we''re going to ride that orange line home!¡±


    Spears looked at them. ¡°Home... Would you mind if I stayed with Corvayne while I find a place in your tribe?¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Sure, we got a house! You know, we could take the purple back to our pad... I haven''t even slept in it yet.¡±


    Corvayne thought that sounded nice, but worried that he''d have a big ball of goo between him and Wick. Worth the risk. ¡°Go orange, I parked my Hoverbike at Mister I''s. Besides I want a mending to ensure I have no more spikes in me.¡±


    Hari cheered. ¡°Sleepover!¡±


    LBC took her bag off the boat and finished making sure they had gotten everything. Corvayne caught her mumbling, ¡°...Mosh make it bigger.¡± but he wasn''t sure what it was about so he just waited for her to finish then walked with her to join the others and head to the stairs up to the elevated tracks.


    Nyxion nudged him, mercifully missing the spot with the wound. ¡°I''d like to see your place Corvayne.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw turned orange. ¡°Didn''t you call it a hovel the first time you saw it?¡±


    ¡°Please LBC. I would have said something elegant like ''prefab peasant cage''.¡± Nyxion smiled. ¡°I mean, shouldn''t you ask our most social member to help her get used to society?¡±


    Hari clapped her hands. ¡°Good idea Nyx!¡± Her phone appeared in her hand a moment later.


    Nyxion nodded and smiled then thought about it and looked at her suspiciously, then his eyes widened. ¡°Don''t you dare!¡±


    She had an evil grin, locking her eyes on his while she walked backwards. ¡°Hello, Seru? Can you help me with a project?¡±


    Spears herself ignored them to plaster herself to a train-car window, crystal eyes shifting colors and for a moment catching the lights of the cities like stars. Some nameless emotion hit Corvayne like a hammer. It was... a desire to see the girl with stars again? Worry that it was Spears? Was this a threat to his feelings for Wick? His head spun a moment as he sat. He snuck a glance at Spears-Like-Water again and she was his partner, shaped like water, yes, but it was the girl who stabbed nail-creepers out on the dunes with him.


    He relaxed as Wick and Hari took a seats next to him, Hari sneaking in a kiss before going back to her phone, and Wick giving him a gentle headbutt to his shoulder. He''d worry about mysterious girls and visions later. Right now, life was good, aside from them likely getting dragged into a shopping spree.


    Corvayne guessed that was what Lady Blood Claw was laughing about, and probably the same reason that Nyxion looked so defeated as the train doors closed.

 Chapter 106: Gifts With Tentacles.

    Mister I grabbed the little black shard with his tweezers and tugged it out of Corvayne''s ankle. It made a little plink sound as he placed it in a steel cup. When washed off the chunks looked less like metal and more like black crystals.


    Mister I had found a coffee cup worth of the slivers since Corvayne woke up with one poking out of his elbow early in the morning. The monk had been awake, thankfully, so Corvayne had monopolized his morning with some impromptu surgery.


    ¡°I am pretty sure this time we collected everything. Hmm. Well, if not, you seem to be pushing them out! That''s a healthy response!¡±


    Corvayne . ¡°Did anyone else have shrapnel?¡±


    ¡°No. All healthy! Except your water girl... her humors are all out of balance! Ha ha ha!¡±


    Corvayne stared at Mister I who laughed at his own joke for a good thirty seconds before patted Corvayne''s shoulder.


    ¡°She is worried about her figure, because... she''s retaining water!¡± Mister dusted his hands off.


    Corvayne stared at him. ¡°Icariii, are you finished?¡±


    ¡°But really, never had a patient where the problems were so clear!¡±


    Corvayne waved at Mister I as he walked out the door. ¡°Great. Thanks.¡±


    He went back up to his apartment. As he opened the door Hari stuck her head in from the other room and snapped at him ¡°Out!¡±


    Corvanye stepped back outside his apartment and waited until she opened the door. Hari smiled. ¡°Sorry! Spears needed measurements so we could get her clothes.¡±


    ¡°Isn''t her body malleable?¡± Corvayne thought about trying to jab her with a spear. Perhaps he should have tried a T-shirt?


    ¡°Yes but she has a shape she naturally takes. Seru and I are going shopping with her!¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Just remember we are going to have to put some of our money into the expedition.¡±


    Hari laughed. ¡°I know that. That''s why we are going, to make money. People watch us do things, and it''s I guess like a little play they pay for?¡±


    ¡°The more I learn about money the less I know about it.¡± Corvayne tried to figure out what would motivate someone to watch someone spend money. ¡°Okay, have fun. I''m going to shower off and actually get some rest.¡±


    Hari laughed. ¡°Lazy bones!¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°No, I had a bunch of shards in me.¡±


    Hari kissed him, and turned and waved as Spears-Like-Water came over, wearing his black outfit which contrasted her bright blue watery form. She brushed a strand of liquid hair out of her face, and looking at her Corvayne was surprised at how well the little changes in blues made her face readable. In this case, she looked tired, despite him being the one who slept on the couch.


    ¡°Thank you for lending me your bed...¡± She mumbled, looking down.


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°No problem but... you look exhausted.¡±


    She looked back at the room. ¡°Sorry, I woke up every time I heard something, so I got about an hour of sleep.¡±


    Corvayne knew Wick had a tool to help her sleep and looked to Hari. ¡°Can you get her some noise canceling headphones while you''re out?¡±


    ¡°A magic item?¡± Hari pulled out her magic tome and started looking for it. ¡°Might be hard. Cascadia doesn''t have a good market set up yet, but perhaps if I talk to Miss Dawn we could find a broker...¡±


    Corvayne patted her on the shoulder. ¡°It''s not magic. I guess Seru can help you both out.¡±


    Hari slipped past his hand to give him a longer deep kiss, and he heard Spears gasp. Hari coyly pulled back, then turned and grabbed the sputtering Spears-Like-Water and dragged her out the door. Corvayne heard the click of the door locking and retired to the bathroom. As he cleaned himself up he felt another shard on his back and pulled the little sliver out. Holding in the running water, it didn''t look like metal, even the darker steel that the grating had been made of. Maybe it was hardened residue from the thorns? But then Lady Blood Claw hadn''t had any shards that he had seen. It might also have been bones of the whale in the jelly that had pierced into him when he broke the monster in two.


    As he dropped the shard to let it wash down the drain he felt the rolling sensation return. Standing there, leaning on the tiles while hot water spilled about him, he felt queasy, even though it wasn''t nausea. His footing was good and it wasn''t a feeling in his gut, but almost like standing before a great wave and knowing it''s coming, then being lost in the force of it when it hit, over and over. Closing his eyes and taking a spear stance seemed to slow the unbalanced feeling. Corvayne took a long deep breath, focusing on the act as his world shrank, and with that the feeling died down. He felt totally fine by the time he had dried off, so he just made a note to ask Mister I if it was an ailment he had heard of before. He put fresh sheets on his bed and consigned the ones Spears used to laundry, then laid down.


    It was late afternoon when he woke. There was something stiff under his back and he saw that his fresh sheets had what looked like a crusty black section in a circle under where his back was. He sighed and picked them up to go to the laundry room. It would take the machine a few hours to wash and dry his clothes so he went over to the other tower to ask Wick if there was anything that needed his attention for their plans to leave.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    She let him in, seemingly in a pretty good mood in that she gave him a one-armed hug, the other balancing a bowl of colorful kids cereal. ¡°How did it go last night?¡±


    ¡°Fine? I slept on the couch. Hari actually used her room for once.¡±


    She took a spoonful and chewed loudly for a few seconds. ¡°Oh Fuck. You didn''t sleep with both em?¡±


    Corvayne rolled his eyes. ¡°I appreciate the confidence but I don''t like her like that.¡± Of course this made him think about shoving his hand into Spears-Like-Water''s chest and how warm she was. There was a part of him betraying the rest of his better judgment.


    Wick was ignorant of this conflict as she just laughed. ¡°What an asshole, dumping the girl who waited fifty thousand years for him!¡± Wick shook her head. ¡°Tisk Tisk.¡±


    Corvayne deftly disarmed her spoon and tapped her on the nose. ¡°She''s a stranger. The Spears-Like-Water I knew doesn''t exist. That or she changed tremendously since I walked out of my village.¡±


    Wick made a lifting and falling motion with her bowl. ¡°Yeah, but you owe her at least getting to know her, right? Riiiight?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I know you love novelty but we''ve got a major project underway and-¡±


    Wick with her free hand pulled up a piece of paper with green check marks next to a list and shoved it in Corvayne''s face.


    ¡°You worked your ass off. I worked my ass off. Everybody worked their asses off. Money was raised. Mosh invented a few things. Dawn made deals. We know where the portal you came from is thanks to Grunt, Seru, and heck even Spears. For fucks sake, we all need breaks. There''s only one thing left to do before we go, and at that it''s a... curiosity we''re doing the night we leave.¡±


    Something about picking the night they were leaving raised suspicion in Corvayne, but knowing Wick it could be just some whim of a place she wanted to check out and it''d be fine. Maybe she was taking him to a meal at that big steel corndog that defined the skyline. Or she was taking him to a ''real mall'' as she said she''d do. Or to a cemetery to look for ghouls. What was the worst that could-


    No, he had better ask now. ¡°What would this last minute errand be?¡±


    Wick grinned. ¡°Breaking into a bank.¡±


    ¡°Mmm. Okay. Why? I thought we had plenty of cash.¡±


    She finally set her bowl down so she could wave both hands around. ¡°Not to steal! The bank handled setting up a trust for whoever owns that plot of land the dungeon is on. I wanna know who owns that shell corp.¡±


    Corvayne thought about this then he felt his eyebrow shoot up. ¡°You think my problem and yours are connected?¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Goule is a weird wizard. You have beef with a weird wizard who told you to fight other wizards. Also, somebody owns that land. There''s 0 chance we''re the first people to find that spot. All the metal under the ground alone would have been found when they did a mining survey.¡±


    Corvayne nodded and handed her the paper back, then sat down on her couch. ¡°All right.¡±


    Wick sat down next to him. She seemed to be waiting for something, so Corvayne just put his head back and waited too.


    She poked him. ¡°Aren''t you going to tell me it''s a bad fucking idea to break into a bank?¡±


    Corvayne looked at how she was staring at him. He took a deep breath, then made himself look incredulous. He slid into a more masculine impression of her.


    ¡°Are you MAD Wick!? We can''t break into a bank! We''ll get into trouble!!¡±


    ¡°Better. Anyway... the current plan is four days to pack up and leave. I know if you don''t get goaded to do Tower runs you''ll So... I got you a little something to help you pass the time.¡±


    Wick reached under her desk and pulled out a wood box and something like a stand... an easel? Corvayne felt his heart jump a little as he opened the wood box and saw six brightly colored plastic tubes of paint and five new brushes.


    ¡°I mean, you talked about art and you had a good guess with the painting before so clearly there was some sort of long-¡± Wick stopped. ¡°Are you tearing up?¡±


    Corvayne wiped his eyes. ¡°Maybe?¡±


    Wick slapped his arm. ¡°You asshole! You''re going to make me start crying too! It''s just a little gift! You got me that selfie with a bigfoot and I wanted to get you something nice too.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I''m just...¡± Corvayne blinked tears away. He was happy, it seemed silly that he was crying. The gift was nice, and now he had something that rivaled his spear for his most cherished object. He was just overwhelmed with the suprise. There was a weird feeling of nostalgia that washed over Corvayne as he closed the case and stored it and the easel. Wick handed him a few small canvases, still wrapped in plastic.


    ¡°Hah, but it''s not free, since now I wanna see what you''re going to paint!¡±


    Corvayne frowned a little bit. ¡°I can''t promise anything astounding... I''m going to take some pictures of Old Town to work on if there''s downtime when we are traveling.¡±


    ¡°Once again, isn''t this where YOU tell ME that it''s going to be dangerous?¡± Wick folded her arms but sounded amused.


    Maybe if it was three months ago and he didn''t know better. ¡°I think everywhere is dangerous so it wouldn''t make any sense to repeat that.¡±


    ¡°And here I thought I was paranoid.¡± She wiggled her eyebrows.


    Corvayne laughed then composed himself. ¡°Okay Miss Trusting-Others, if you are down to help... I was going to get some people gifts. I mean, I want to give Hari something she-¡±


    ¡°The dress!¡± Wick snapped her fingers.


    ¡°Oh. I suppose she''d at the very least be interested as it''s a peculiar piece of loot. However, if she uses it I''d prefer at our house. Thought it may be presumptious...¡± He produced the dress in question. The living dress was still warm the to touch and was no worse for wear from being stored. What if Hari hated it? Or thought that he was accusing her of being gross.


    Wick seemed to pick up on his hesitance. ¡°Think of the horns that your little field trip fought over. She''ll love it.¡±


    ¡°Well, maybe it''s too much... but we''ll check Hari off. I did have someone else I wanted to thank for their help. Can we take a pet on the trip?¡±


    Wick stopped. ¡°Uh, as long as it''s dog sized, maybe? Or if it''s a mount, but we''d probably kill a horse if you tried to keep up.¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°Okay, then let''s go do an experiment, if you don''t mind Wick.¡±


    She hopped up and grabbed her blue robe, nearly tripping throwing it on. ¡°YES! I thought I''d NEVER hear you say that!¡±


    Corvayne and Wick stepped through the portal from Mere Island onto the infinite dock floor. The tent town near the exit arch had started to co-opt some of the buildings nearby to create a hotel inside the Tower and had been joined by a bar and restaurant, as well as parts of a more permanent medical hall. There were people wearing strange Tower versions of Cascadia outdoors-wear milling about outside the bar and bringing materials into piles for some future constrution. He was tempted to see what the restaurant was serving but no, he had a specific objective and would ignore anything else. He closed his eyes and tried using his compass power to find the nearest monster.


    It took him down to the water where he saw urchins under the lapping waves, gently gliding along rocks. He waded into the cold water and with his spear broke down a bunch of a monster''s spines, enough that he could wrap it in a towel without impaling himself. Turning, he went over to the exit arch and stepped back through.


    Wick followed him out of the portal and down the stairs. He unwrapped the urchin, dropping on the ground. It was still alive, attempting to lunge as much as a creature with a top speed of a steady crawl could lunge.


    She clapped. ¡°It worked! I could get that slime pet!¡±


    Corvayne killed it with a single spear strike, angling his weapon so it stayed on the tip as he turned to walk back into the portal. ¡°Alright. Now for the real deal.¡±


    He stepped through, tossed the urchin down to the concrete, then tuned his compass power for his real target.


    Not too much later, he was knocked on Lady Blood Claw''s door. He hoped she was in, as while she often meditated or studied spells in the early evening. The past few days she''d been reveling in walking around town out of disguise, especially finding high points to watch the ocean and let the wind run through her hair. Perhaps when he made a new bike for Grunt he''d work on getting one set up so she could ride around town when they got back; Despite her curt persona the word around town had spread that the ''drow lady'' was nice. Likely Ayame''s fault, but old guys also waved at her so maybe it was Curtis too? Either way he hoped tonight she was in.


    Lady Blood Claw opened the door, clearly having just put her clothes on and stood before Corvayne with arms folded. ¡°Corvayne, Wick. I was just about to take a bath. What''s with that strap you''re holding?¡±


    Corvayne felt himself grinning and coughed into his hand. ¡°Well, when we did a dungeon run earlier in the week you left something behind.¡±


    As if it understood, the little levitating cephalopod from the dungeon floated around the corner then wiggled happily and Corvayne had to let the leash go as it flew a little circle around Lady Blood Claw.


    She looked down at it, then looked up at Corvayne. Her skin flashed happy pink before it veered to a worried teal.


    ¡°Ah... but the trip...¡±


    Corvayne smiled. ¡°It can come along. We''ll have a place for it.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw looked down at it, her practically glowing pink. ¡°Very well. I will care for this little beast. Pardon me, might I go take my bath now?¡±


    Corvayne looked over to Wick who just nodded. ¡°Sure, we''ll leave you to it.¡± She tugged Corvayne''s arm and he let her take him away from the door. He frowned a little bit.


    ¡°I had hoped she''d be more excited about it.¡±


    Wick stopped and shook her head, smirking. ¡°You are so clueless sometimes... walk quietly now.¡±


    Corvayne watched, confused, as she started creeping back to Lady Blood Claw''s room.


    She reached the door and smiled, then motioned him over. Corvayne followed and could hear through the door what sounded like if LBC had inhaled helium.


    ¡°Aww you hungry little squidy? You want tickles and hugs? You like tickles and hugs? Yes you do! Yes you do!¡±


    After eavesdropping for a few more seconds Corvayne eased away from the door and carefully moved back towards the stairs. Wick caught up and nudged his side a few times.


    Corvayne smiled back at her. ¡°Well, I suppose we''ll have to see if Hari likes the dress as much.¡±

 Chapter 107: More questions then answers.

    Corvayne saw the steel sign for Dolphin Back Office Park pop out of the brush as Grunt slowed the car down, turning them to line up with bank, a dark glass building sitting near the top of the island. Other minimalist structures dotted the manicured surroundings that had been hidden away in what looked like solid forest. Even the drive itself transformed as Grunt guided the car off the slightly bumpy road running along the hills and onto the silky smooth brand-new asphalt. To Corvayne it looked like a black river, flanked by uniform length grass and spotless sidewalks and all lit in harsh florescence by evenly spaced lamps and street lights. The lack of personality in the scattered buildings and sprawling parking lots struck Corvayne, having spent so much time in dense mis-matched urban settings that it ended up reminding him of a desert.


    Wick sneered. ¡°So glad I don''t have to actually work in one of these dumps.¡±


    Wick had given everyone black outfits in anticipation of the ''Bank Job''. Corvayne tried to explain to her that black was actually too dark and that for this work they wanted a dark gray, but then again Wick put on a black turtleneck and looked great in it so it wasn''t all a waste. He liked the color black anyway, so for him they were another set of clothes.


    As for the team, he argued they should keep it small since they were breaking into an office rather than the bank or it''s vault. So it was Wick, Hari, and himself. Grunt had somehow caught wind of the whole thing and had set himself up as the get-away driver and his clear enthusiasm made it hard to say no. Corvayne hadn''t thought he owned a vehicle but he had driven up in a blue monster of a car, wide enough inside for two Grunts or five of anyone else to sit comfortably next to each-other, and everything else sized to Grunt how most vehicles were sized to everyone else.


    Corvayne looked out the back window at the nicer homes of Dolphin island, the rows of streets on both Mere islands, and the much more lively Ko-Ban behind them. Further south, Old Town blurred into the lights on the horizon save for a bar of light he was sure was the train station. He could see that if they had to run away on foot, there was a railed stairway on the opposite side of the road they could cut downhill on. Though, given the lack of other traffic or pedestrians here, they''d stand out like sore thumbs if anyone cared to check for them.


    Wick sighed. ¡°Should have taken a cleaning van or something.¡±


    Hari cleared her throat, her voice raspy from overuse. ¡°I can make us mostly invisible. Works on cameras. All types.¡±


    Grunt took a hand off the wheel and pointed as his throat, then raised an eyebrow.


    Wick looked between them. ¡°That damn dress, wasn''t it?¡±


    Corvayne could see Hari squirming a little bit and answered for her. ¡°She said she wanted to get used to it as normal gear.¡±


    He felt his face flushing a little thinking about it. Forget the horns, the living dress was probably a true multi-million credit item. He was very glad that he had taken her out to the very nearly empty suburbs to try it, as otherwise she would have awoken the entire apartment complex and possibly the entirety of Old Town. No great surprise her vocal chords couldn''t keep up.


    ¡°Can still cast magic. Use magic to get inside, works fine.¡± Hari weezed out.


    Corvayne put a hand on her leg. ¡°Hari, try not to talk... if it doesn''t get better we''ll have to ask Mister I for some medicine.¡±


    Hari looked a little ill at the thought. ¡°Urp. Nothanksyou.¡±


    They passed by the bank. It was not the highest building on the boulevard, and beyond it Corvayne saw what looked like a seven story building made of a material darker than the glassy bank. He had seen it pop up a few times, and was once more struck at how ominous it felt. Imposing. It felt like the lights on it were just there to light up the clouds and drizzle around it, as the shape of the building itself was like a rectangular black hole. He tapped Wick''s shoulder.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°What''s the tower at the top of the hill?¡±


    Wick pulled a burner phone out and tapped it. ¡°It''s the old office for Cascadia City Planning... not sure why the place would have a fence. Gah! See, if we were not leaving after this, that building is suspicious as hell! Why do they have a big modern building off on some fuck-off office park on Dolphin Island?¡±


    Grunt grunted in agreement, but turned the car around and pulled over to the side of the road before they could get a better look at the tower. They had passed the bank but could see the taller part of the building over dark bushes as the car squeaked to a halt.


    Grunt turned and tapped Hari, then produced what was certainly a Mister I special pill and pressed it into her hands. He then handed her a plastic lined paper bag, which Hari looked at then up at Grunt.


    Grunt hemmed and hawed a little, then made a lurching motion with a hand cupped over his mouth, then mimed a fishing reel, then mimed cupping his hand again and tossing something in his mouth followed by drinking from a cup: It''s for when you give up and use Mister I''s medicine then throw up.


    Hari laughed a little at that which irritated her throat. Grunt looked pleased with himself despite making a ''forgive me'' hand motion/semi bow to Hari.


    Wick took the borrowed Watcher cloak and tossed it on. With it on, she looked like the scrawniest Watcher he''d ever seen... if not for two days of non stop Hari he''d probably have been distracted on it.


    Instead he was glad for fresh air and some sort of challenge that didn''t involve trying to get Hari to take breaks. Hari rasped out a few lines of a spell that seemed to leech color out of the three of them, and Corvayne waited for the effect to finish then rushed across the well trimmed grass and between shrubs to the back of the three story bank. He could make out Wick and Hari as sort of faint images but the spell made it hard to see them even when he knew where they generally were. None of the motion sensor lights by the door activated, which was his other worry. Hari crouched by the side door into the bank and placed her hand on the electronic badge reader.


    He couldn''t really see Wick but he heard her. ¡°Does it really work on e-locks?¡±


    Hari let out a raspy laugh then hissed. ¡°Ow. Yes. Tested. Quiet. Might be noise trap.¡±


    A few more muttered spells and the light turned green. They opened the door and crept into a frigid air conditioned office. The d¨¦cor inside was black and gray, with intermittent lights left on in the office so someone could navigate the main corridors. Inside the cubes were computers that glowed with idle power running, often adding to bliping lights that reminded him a little of eyes peeking out from dark bushes as seen on fantasy paperback covers.


    ¡°We are going up to the second floor of the office.¡± Wick whispered, then they moved over to the stairs. In the well lit stairwell Corvanye could see cameras watching the doors, but looking back at best anyone reviewing the video would see a faint outline of Hari, that is if the cloaks didn''t cause everything to blur out. Which would possibly give them away if someone was paying attention to it right now.


    That was all the more reason to move quickly. On the second floor, Wick turned to ask Corvayne a question.


    ¡°To make this faster, can you use your compass power to find a particular office? Blake Besting.¡±


    With that prompt, Corvayne activated his power and lead the way to an office looking at the parking lot and front branch entrance, with a large desk laden with nick-nacks and a large screen on a tripod with a keyboard attached. Wick strode over and tapped the screen then typed a password. The clacks sounded loud even with the latent air conditioning noises. There was a pleased ''Ah ha!'' as the computer booted and she clicked on a few icons.


    ¡°How know code?¡± Hari asked.


    ¡°Well, if it didn''t work we''d have tested Corvayne''s ability to find where the code was written, or your talent for unlocking, but I hacked this guy''s home system by phishing him a keylogger and looked for a wrong password he typed when logging in. Found one he did out of habit three times, guessed it was his work password. Luck is on our side.¡±


    Corvayne always worried about people who relied on luck, which of course got him thinking about having dozens of armed police chasing them through the cubicle maze and woods.


    Wick cackled a little. ¡°Got it! Rasputin Holding Corp are paying the funds for ''Hotel Cascadia inc''. Well, since we are here... let''s look up which rich entiled bastard owns it.¡±


    Corvayne tapped her still transparent shoulder. ¡°We got what we wanted, right?¡±


    Wick waved him away. Hari hissed. ¡°No hit! Invis will break.¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t going to hit him, but I want to know...¡±


    She stopped. ¡°Odd... RHC is a subsidiarity of Royal Successor Holdings of Tripic and Beyond. I''ve heard that name before...¡±


    Corvayne was starting to sweat. ¡°We really...¡±


    Hari wheezed out. ¡°Corvayne. Chill. Is okay.¡±


    Wick then shouted ¡°WHAT THE FUCK?!¡± at full volume.


    A calendar fell off the wall, and the motion lights in the room popped on.


    Corvayne looked out the window and saw a light bobbing downstairs, then flick towards the office they were in. ¡°Wick, we are going. Now.¡±

 Chapter 108: Car Chase

    Despite the near frigid air conditioning, Corvayne was sweating as he saw a security guard downstairs on his radio. They had succeed in finding the group paying for the land Spears-Like-Water had been imprisoned on. Whatever Wick had read torpedoed their previously flawless operation was moments from contact with security after she tripped some sort of noise alarm.


    ¡°One second FUCK!¡± Wick was still on the computer, flipping back to the banks internal tab and the muted glow of her entering something onto her phone with taps. ¡°I gotta write the numbers down here... this is fucked up, I gotta be sure!¡±


    As soon as she looked done he grabbed what her arm and yanked her away from the computer. Wick sputtered ¡°I just gotta check again!¡±


    Corvayne didn''t have time. ¡°We were spotted. It''s time to go.¡±


    He lead the way out into the cube farm just as the door to the second floor burst open and a pair of security officers turned on the lights in the main office. As they hummed to life Corvayne could see that while he couldn''t make out features for either of his girlfriends, in bright light Hari''s spell would make them visible enough to spot and to shoot at against the gray sections of the cube walls.


    He gently tapped them and then moved around where he heard noises, taking a steady pace towards the door to the stairs, keeping himself focused rather than letting the glaze of sweat and worry rush him. He pretended it was just a drill. Worst case, they were leaving town, nobody would know where to go after them, and Wick was already one of the most hunted women in the galaxy. He tried not to think of how much he had come to enjoy Cascadia itself.


    He took the stairs two at a time and was near the bottom when the door to the first floor opened. He saw two more men with flashlights, one of whom started to point at them.


    Corvayne nearly reached for his spear but decided not to go lethal, instead reaching out as he dropped next to the first guard to [Nerve Pinch]. His fingers brushed the mans neck and the skill knocked him out. The second one hadn''t entered the stairwell and called out ''Shit!'' and managed to pull his gun. Corvayne activated Gravity on instinct and the gun fell to the ground with a thud, then Corvayne leapt over the man''s partner. The man to his credit stepped back and tried to punch Corvayne but with a slight adjustment to his stride Corvayne caught the arm and flipped the man using a non skilled judo flip then tapped his neck as well, applying [Nerve Pinch] once more and knocking him out. A quick check showed they were alone.


    ¡°Cmon!¡± he called back as he ran to the side door they entered from.


    ¡°Spell!¡± Hari replied nearer to him than he thought, and even with the pressure of things going wrong she managed to belt out the incantation again, once more blurring and fading Corvayne before they burst out of the door and bolted across the parking lot and through the bushes to where Grunt was waiting, car running.


    Corvayne opened the door and pushed the shadowy Hari and Wick in then jumped in himself. ¡°Go go go!¡±


    Tires squealed as Grunt started racing downhill. Wick cried out ¡°Seatbelts!¡± as Corvayne saw red and blue lights at two different points downhill.


    Hari croaked out. ¡°I don''t know what a seat-belt is! Let me check my book!¡± Corvayne saw her grabbing her throat, still sore from the dress.


    Wick shrieked ¡°It''s not a FUCKING magic item, it''s the straps in a car! Like this! Corvayne help her!¡±


    Grunt slapped the wheel. He shook his hand furiously, making a casting gesture.


    Corvayne finished strapping her in then himself then asked. ¡°Hari, do you have a spell to make our car less obvious?¡±


    ¡°Uh, maybe?¡± She started flipping through her book.


    Corvayne took a deep breath, feeling himself sweat. He also felt a stinging sensation in his shoulder... had he been shot? He didn''t see a hole. No time for this. Grunt hit the bottom of the office park and barely slowed, wheels squealing as he slid the back half of the car around then punched the gas pushing Corvayne into his the seat as the car roared through the hilly roads, kicking up fall leaves.


    ¡°Wick! Why yell!¡± Hari squeaked, flipping through her book.


    ¡°Because I know who owns Royal Successor Holdings and it makes this entire trip a MINDFUCK!¡±


    The first police car came hurtling around a turn ahead of them, and Grunt grunted in amusement as the vehicle at first made to try to block him, then quickly got out of the way as the person driving realized the physics of trying to slow a car likely eight times the weight of their police cruiser.


    Hari tried casting something but the swerving interrupted her as Grunt used a storm gutter to take a turn faster.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Wick was grabbing onto the seat. ¡°God damnit, Grunt if we die in a car crash I''ll kill you!¡±


    Hari tried to speed up the spell but wheezed at once part and in frustration pulled out Mister I''s pill then and swallowed it, immediately looking ill. The elf darted for the bag she had put in a cupholder, right as Grunt turned a corner to two police cars turned sideways to block the road. He sped up and the police ran from the cars as he barreled through them. Corvayne could see Hari had a hand over her mouth and was flailing to get the bag which fell on the floor as Grunt took a turn on maybe two whole wheels.


    ¡°Wow elves make cute sounds when they throw up!¡± Wick shouted over squealing tires and sirens.


    Corvayne gestured. ¡° We have to get off this road, they will set better traps if we don''t!¡±


    A side street came up and Grunt burned serious rubber as he turned left, the small neighborhood road barely large enough for the huge car. It had speed reducing ridges as well, each bump jolting them up and down into the backseat as the car would go airborn every time it hit a bump.


    Corvayne found the bag in time as one last bump was too much and Hari started throwing up. Grunt made as much noise as he had ever heard, a wordless cry that likely had something to do with the smell of vomit.


    ¡°It''s ok! We got in the bag!¡± Corvayne said to his friend.


    Wick screamed. ¡°Drive!¡± and Grunt turned the car before they hit a house, momentum from going downhill swinging part of the car onto the lawn and kicking up dirt and smoke. Corvayne caught a glimpse of an airborne mailbox.


    ¡°Wick navigate for him!¡± He rolled down a window and pulled his spear from his storage ring.


    ¡°Corvayne! No weapon skills or they will 100 percent know it''s us!¡± Wick hit him with her phone and Corvayne rolled his eyes. Fine. He put his spear back into his storage ring and instead handed Hari one of his many hand towels. She toweled her mouth off and started casting a spell, then frowned.


    ¡°Car too heavy, barely works!¡±


    Grunt gestured twice at the dashboard, and started to look back to glare: What the hell this is a GREAT car?


    ¡°Drive!¡± Wick snapped.


    Corvayne could see they were now at the bottom of the neighborhood, but there were train tracks between them and the businesses further downhill. Who the heck put train tracks on the ground?


    ¡°Fuck no wonder there''s no cops, this is a dead end!¡± Wick tapped at the phone.


    Uphill, he could see through houses red and blue lights fanning out. Corvayne tapped Grunt''s shoulder. ¡°Drive back uphill a block or two, try to get the road with the huge bump. I got an idea.¡±


    Grunt hit the gas again, and sped past a side street where two cop cars were speeding downhill to cut uphill on the next. Corvayne was surprised they had so many police, but maybe it was just Dolphin Island. Either way, Grunt cut the wheel as another police cruiser with a bullhorn started calling out to them, ¡°STOP YOUR CAR. PULL OVER OR WE WILL SHOOT!¡±


    Grunt rolled down the window and flipped them off, then used both hands to point them downhill. At the bottom of the road, the police were laying out something that looked like caltrops. Not a bad strategy for stopping a car.


    Hari looked around. ¡°Can we give up to guards?¡±


    Wick snorted. ¡°The day we lose to mere cops is the day I die.¡±


    Hari nodded. ¡°YES. That is problem!¡±


    Corvayne tapped Grunt''s shoulder. ¡°Full speed downhill. Trust.¡±


    Grunt nodded and grinned, then hit the gas and with another squeal and the smell of burnt rubber they started going full speed towards the spike trap, the parked police cars, and solid looking trees behind them. Corvayne flexed his gravity power, pulling as much weight out of the car as fast as he could. Grunt was aimed for the bump and he felt his power pushed to it''s maximum output as the wheels hit it.


    There was a great thump then the rumble of the road fell away, leaving only the sound of the engine still purring as Corvayne saw them arc up and over the tree line and railroad tracks, and of course it reminded him of outrunning a nuke so he started laughing until he saw they were coming down, his Gravity power rapidly wearing him out as they hurtled towards the rooftop of a store. He squeezed out a little more power to get the car to miss landing on top of a store, instead catching a street light as it fell onto the street and they slammed into their seats. There was a pair of terrible thumps and screeching and sparks as the monster car bounced a little and Grunt pulled the wheel back and forth and a moment later they were rushing off into the suburban streets, broken street light tumbling on the street behind them.


    ¡°Yeah! Great driving Grunt!¡± Corvayne said.


    ¡°Fucking stupid city! Never drive car again! I want out!¡± Hari squirmed against Corvaynes side.


    Wick slapped her knee. ¡°Yeah! Once we are off the island, we''ll have to ditch this, but I''ll get you another one someday. Isn''t our car anyway.¡±


    ¡°Who did we steal it from?¡± Corvayne asked.


    ¡°Goule, of course.¡±


    Hari wavered and put her hand back over her mouth, and Corvayne tapped Grunts shoulder to get another bag. Grunt gestured forward, as if now driving a normal speed on a road with no police was less taxing than the car chase that had Corvayne soaked with sweat.


    ¡°Hari''s looking sick again.¡±


    Grunt quickly fumbled with something and handed Corvayne another bag, which he turned and gave to Hari too late as she threw up again, this time all over the interior.


    Wick sighed. ¡°Ah the smell of victory.¡±


    Grunt made some hand motions of driving and his heart as they stepped away from the ill fated vehicle.


    Wick waved him away. ¡°It would have been stolen even if we didn''t do crimes with it. I told you not to get attached.¡±


    Grunt''s shoulders slumped. Corvayne hoped a big bike as a gift would help his friend miss the huge car less.


    They had picked a driveway by a dark house near the bridge south. Grunt turned the lights off and simply parked it, and with that they activated a somewhat weaker stealth spell and made their way through a few yards to the main highway they followed to the bike path. Grunt was in charge of watching out for a late night bicyclist to prevent them from crashing into the shadowy group.


    Hari was staggering as she made her way up the ramp, but her voice sounded better if not miserable. ¡°Why did you shout? Wick not usually stupid!¡±


    Wick folded her arms. ¡°I know, but I''m not Corvayne. I was pretty fucking freaked when I figured out who owns the land and I''m still trying to figure out what it means.¡±


    ¡°It''s Goule, right?¡± Corvayne said as he looked out over the water. It would fit with the bad guys knowing it was there.


    Even Hari huffed a suggestion. ¡°It''s Baron Le''Stupidface who monk worked for.¡± Which made sense too. The Baron seemed to have a lot of power on Cascadia.


    Grunt made a smug face, then mimed flicking on a shield belt: Nyxion?


    ¡°No. That fund is one of hundreds that a particular noble family uses to make allowance. It''s attached to a large chunk of land north of Cascadia, in fact it owns the land that Cascadia National Forest is a subsection of. That was my other fuck.¡±


    ¡°I would assume a national park would be entirely owned by, you know, the nation.¡±


    ¡°I had talked about how buying it would be smart, but as it turns out it would have been incredibly STUPID if I bought it. Also, sorry to you all, our entire little adventure here was a shit pile of risk for absolutely no good reason.¡± Wick sighed.


    Grunt laughed, then pointed at Wick. She looked at him, and he made a scrawling motion then pointed twice at Wick. Corvayne narrowed his eyes as he thought about the gestures. There was no way...


    Wick started rambling. ¡°Correct! Big guy, you''ll win a car. Eventually. We can''t take a whole car with us. I''ll let you drive the truck. But. Yes! The mysterious slime dungeon which we were sure would be owned by a shadow figure who knows all the real reasons all this stuff is happening is not owned by Corvaynes dad or Argyle or The Magus or something cool like that but it''s instead property of the dumbest bitch in the entire FUCKING royal family, a woman so head-in-ass stupid she actually started the process of buying it from herself while trying to negotiate the commission from the broker down. She shouldn''t have been worried about the finances revealing her because anyone combing through them would think it was TOO FUCKING STUPID.¡±


    Hari looked around. ¡°Don''t grandstand! Who is dumb bitch who owns mystery merchant company dungeon?¡±


    She turned and pointed to herself. ¡°Ianasia Leona. Aka Anastasia. Aka Wick. Me.¡±

 Chapter 109: Big Rig Tour

    It was close to midnight by the time they got back to Old Town. Corvayne, Grunt, Hari, and Wick''s destination was the place they would start their expedition, Dawn''s tower. One of the huge garages on the side of the building was open and Corvayne could see one of those titanic mining trucks with modifications lit up from all sides. Mosh was apparently putting the finishing touches on the bottom as the goblin slid on a dolly out from the bottom.


    Dawn was supervising and waved them over, waving and looking genuinely happy. ¡°Wick! You are right on time.¡±


    Wick nudged Corvayne. ¡°Check out our ride!¡±


    The mining trucks without any additions were large enough to be a small house on wheels as-is. Mosh had added a segment to it and had lifted the back up. The second segment looked to be half of another truck, spliced to the back with an umbilical segment.


    Mosh lead him around the front. ¡°This beauty is able to run on pretty much any petrol, but I helped modify a micro fusion drive. If you just drove it without any additional fuel you''d have three straight months of driving and normal energy use, and as long as you can park it near water we can refuel over the course of a week. It also runs on essence dust too so if we can find even a few magic items, we can grind them up and use that instead.¡±


    Corvayne considered that ¡°So liquified compressed dinosaur bones, magical artifacts, or water for fuel?¡±


    Mosh ignored the comment and pointed at the cab. ¡°There''s room for five people up there, one driver, two co-pilots, and two can sleep as backups or just complain from the bunks about the driving.¡±


    Mosh patted the front of the truck. ¡°All the interior areas can be sealed to be airtight. You have to stop and be parked nearly straight to dock the airlock thingy I made between the front and back though. Getting in and out of the cab is possible from under or over in a double set of hatches.¡±


    Corvayne looked it over. ¡°You make it sound like we''re going into space.¡±


    ¡°We might as well be, Boss! I''m not as worried about bio-hazards with my improved mend, healing potions, and a good doctor around, but it''d be dumb to drive through a gate then all die because there''s nothing to breath.¡± The goblin slapped the wheels. ¡°These suckers are better versions of what the miners use, the whole suspension is made for hauling over rough ground and I took the space version of the wheels. Too heavy usually and not great for if you need repairs, that is unless you''re buddies with Lythandies, praise her name!¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Though, if we encounter a cliff and have to cross a rope bridge, I''ll feel bad leaving it behind.¡±


    ¡°Boss boss BOSS, please. If push comes to shove, well, me and Dawn think you''ll be very pleased with where your truck can get to if you put your mind to it. Also we can just build a bridge, you know?¡±


    Corvayne didn''t voice doubts he had about a bridge that could carry how many tons the truck was.


    Mosh kept going, pointing at a few sensor and other pods that were clearly added to the normally flat hull of the truck''s trailer. ¡°Extra cameras all over. Everything hardened against EMPs unless they nuke us at point blank and then, well, the cab probably won''t make it but I would bet the back is solid enough, as long as you closed the bulkhead for the addition.¡±


    Corvayne knocked on a pod. ¡°The hole here... is it a rifle?¡±


    ¡°Yep! Good eyes! I figure our best defenses are you guys, but we have side front top and back guns. I didn''t finish installing a LM rail gun but only because I can''t test it near Cascadia. It will need a mend after each shot anyway.¡±


    ¡°LM... Liquid metal? Or Linear motion?¡± Corvayne asked.


    ¡°Linear motion. If this was a spaceship and we had good vacuum storage I''d consider it, but where the heck do you think I''d get weird metal out here?¡±


    Mosh lead him around to the back, where Nyxion was hefting a bag into the second section. Corvayne helped him get it up and onto the raised back of the truck. ¡°We added to the second part with quality of life stuff. Kitchen, two bathrooms, two shower stalls that can flip out for exterior decontamination, laundry, and a larger shower and water tank. Big enough for Grunt.¡±


    Mosh used slanted ladder-steps to head past the showers in the back, bathrooms, and a galley kitchen. He could see that there was netting and what looked like a pantry up a ladder, as well as marked water storage.


    The umbilical section was through a door and then lead to a small double set of doors. The interior of the main vehicle had two single seat bathrooms in what he thought of as the Cargo area. Netting surrounded boxes of stuff. Some of it was marked ''AMMO'' in pink crayon, others were marked ''NONPERISHABLES'' ''TRADE'' ''EMRGENCY WATER'' then lots of crates marked ''PARTS'' with hints as to what they were used for. A set of crates had a mattress and Grunt''s stuff on it. On one side of the truck was a sealed hatch and what looked like a conveyor.


    ¡°We are set up that if we need to restock something heavy or we gotta scrap something, most of the place is modular enough that we can take it out and dump it. Hopefully we DONT. Boss, I had big plans for that last place and even with a shoestring budget, I''m bummed we were there a WEEK! So don''t give up when we hit the first cliff, this baby WILL climb it!¡±


    ¡°I''ll try not to crash our new home, Mosh.¡±


    What looked like a line of lockers right after that as the stairs went down prompted Mosh to tap a button and have the locker fold out, showing a small metal drill. ¡°I can do some crafting by hand, but we have a machine shop in case we need to build something bigger, or more tools. Drills, metal cutting, welders...¡± In the next section was a ''den'' with a couch and two screens. ¡°Extra sleeping areas too, with fold out beds when you pick up more women.¡±


    Corvayne forced a smile but Mosh didn''t seem to be looking for a response, implying it wasn''t a joke. Up the stairs was a hallway that Corvayne had to crouch a little to move down, with perhaps ten sliding doors lining the elevated hall. ¡°Each of these has two beds, you can switch them to slide together.¡±


    ¡°Mosh, stop wiggling your eyebrows.¡±


    ¡°Well, this one is your room. It''s also closest to the gunner hatch, if we need you to go up and shoot something down. Ahem. Storage under the beds, fits what we told people to bring. I told everyone if they needed more stuff to hash it out with you because you have the one ring. God, wait till I start enchanting this fucker more!¡±


    Corvayne felt the bed. Hmm. Still better than his father''s house was. Small, but enough room between the bed and the ceiling that he could... He stopped himself from getting distracted by what he was going to do in his downtime. ¡°Okay Mosh, what did you enchant the truck with so far?¡±


    Mosh waved a hand. ¡°Mostly so that things seal easier and making the exterior and interior skeletons stronger. There''s some other magic tricks with the engines so everything you toss in the fuel feed converts to power. I wanted it so that if things ever got BAD we could expect to use this section as the lifeboat, though the front would work too. To be honest, if it gets that bad, Dawn and I got a little trump card, but I''d rather not drop it, it''s like the Grunt thing where, you know, Infohazard.¡±


    Corvayne poked his head back out of his room. ¡°What about this truck could be an Infohazard?¡±


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Mosh coughed into his hand. ¡°Some of the tricks Dawn helped install mean that if we used them all, the truck would be flagged by ''The System'' as an ''Invader.''¡±


    Corvayne didn''t miss the implication. ¡°Wait, is Dawn an Invader according the the system?¡±


    Mosh laughed. ¡°Yep! Technically, her territory is system-hostile.¡±


    ¡°It would explain why she''s so strong inside the tower, and weak without... actually you mind if I chat with her? Unless you got more stuff on the tour.¡±


    ¡°No, everything else is stuff like exterior storage for tents, and going over safety features like fire extinguishers and stuff like the entire truck filling with fluid if we ever have catastrophic decompression.¡±


    ¡°I can''t tell if that''s a joke or not Mosh.¡±


    Mosh laughed. ¡°I never joke about important stuff Boss! Just know it''s all handled, and your love-nest has especially good sound buffering.¡±


    Corvayne extracted himself from the room and moved down the ladder out of the cargo area, passing by Hari who was carrying two bags. ¡°I am Bunking with you? Yes?¡±


    ¡°Uh, we have you and Wick sharing space.¡±


    Hari pouted. ¡°What! I love my little swearing song-bird, but it will be lonely away from you!¡±


    Corvayne pointed up at the top passage. ¡°I think the idea is that you and Wick are together and they left me as a wild card to bunk with so you can switch.¡± He realized he had no idea who really did the arrangements. Mosh? Wick?


    Hari puffed her cheeks out. ¡°And you didn''t fight this?¡±


    Mosh held a hand up. ¡°Hey Hari, Wick did the rooms! Don''t get mad at Boss!¡±


    Corvayne put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Look Hari, I''m fine with you bunking with me. Have I ever turned you away?¡±


    Hari brightened at that. ¡°Thank you... I worry sometimes you don''t care as much about me.¡±


    Corvayne kept his face neutral but it felt a little on the nose even if he tried not to think of one girl as more important than the other. Add that tangle of feelings to the Mister I discussion. Or Grunt. Or a discussion with all the boys.


    He hopped off the truck as Spears-Like-Water came up. She only had a light pack and looked a little bit lost. Her watery face brightened when she saw Corvayne. ¡°Corvayne!¡± She waved a clear hand. Her new outfit was a white shirt with a brown rain jacket and rubber pants like Corvayne had for his Jam-Jammies.


    He waved back. ¡°Spears.¡±


    ¡°Did your mission go well?¡± Spears fell in line with Corvayne as he walked towards the passage back into the main station tower.


    ¡°Well, we didn''t get caught. I don''t think what we learned did much besides muddy the waters, no pun intended.¡±


    Spears laughed anyway. ¡°I''m happy to see you back unharmed, and I''m glad to see you with friends... I worried about you a lot.¡± She pushed her hair back. ¡°You''re not upset I''m coming along, are you? We''ve had barely a chance to talk, and I know... I know you don''t like me...¡±


    Corvayne shook his head, trying to get over how weird Spears being nice was. ¡°I have to get to know you. I remember you dragging me home when I was dying, that counts a lot in my book. We''ll have time to get to know each other better, I suspect, on the trip.¡±


    ¡°If you don''t mind me being bold, I''ll hold you to it.¡± Spears stopped for a moment and looked back. ¡°That huge vehicle... do we need all that stuff? And is it going to get to where we need to go? What if the second portal is too small...¡±


    Corvayne also wondered if pack animals wasn''t a better approach. After all, he might have walked the entire way from here to wherever his village was. ¡°I wasn''t sure it would get through the first, but supposedly they did a survey of the place I came from and there''s indeed a large rift there that''s not a tower entrance.¡±


    He opened the door into the main building and found Dawn chatting with Brines.


    Corvayne stopped. Brines looked suspiciously geared to fight, with rock climbing gear augmented by leather armor, his dagger and another blue knife strapped into his belt...


    Dawn smiled. ¡°Corvayne! Glad to hear you''ve worked with Brines before.¡±


    Brines rushed forward to shake his hand. Corvayne confusion clearly leaked out because Dawn rolled her hands.


    ¡°To pay for everything, we added some backers who wanted in.¡± Dawn smirked. ¡°First of which was Mr. Brines.¡±


    James Brines smiled dazzingly at Corvayne. ¡°Of course, this is a fantastic chance to set myself apart in the family, and I know this will be a titanic success!¡±


    Dawn laughed. ¡°He always picks the BEST word for what kinda success we''ll see here, anyway, Corvayne, you look like you wanna ask me something.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it''s about the system. Do you mind if Brines or Spears overhears?¡±


    Brines salutes. ¡°I''ll go finish getting everything I brought stowed! I wonder if anyone else brought skis.¡±


    Corvayne watched Brines go then turned to Dawn. ¡°Spears for sure will be fine. It''s about something the system calls Invader status. I want to know because I had a weird encounter under Ko-Ban and it came up.¡±


    Dawn rolled her eyes. ¡°Tch. Fine. I''m a banished thing from another dimension. Happy?¡±


    ¡°Another Tower world?¡± Corvayne asked.


    Dawn put her hands on her hips. ¡°No. As in: Outside the System. Infected with other systems, ones not as visible as they are here. So yeah, I have powers I avoid using lest I turn Cascadia into a puddle of mush, as well as probably killing myself in the process, and no doubt causing some sort of bounty system to crop up.¡±


    Corvane took a step back. ¡°I ask because I saw ''Invader Status: Overwritten''. Do you have any idea what it means?¡±


    ¡°I don''t. I did have an outside... consultant who told me more about my deal, supposedly because I''m not causing damage the system doesn''t seem to flag me as a problem. Being a crime boss isn''t the kind of trouble the system cares about, and it doesn''t seem to care if I buy property or whatever, the only spot I ''own'' is this train station. Imagine a really, really, REALLY big fish but a tiny tiny pond.¡±


    Spears smiled. ¡°See? It''s like I said... The Watchers are not native to this reality. We fell in through some sort of hole. We''re stranded here.¡±


    Dawn nodded. ¡°That''s part of why I want to ask if you can bring one of the Big-Wigs here to talk to me. I can''t really tell you why... but I want to see who''s really who with The Watchers.¡±


    Corvayne put a hand on Spear''s shoulder. ¡°Spears here isn''t someone you know?¡±


    Dawn shook her head. ¡°I spoke with her when Seru brought her by, I don''t know who she was before. I have met plenty of gas-dweller hybrids though, and it''s a flavor of magical interbreeding I doubt is that common on a large scale.¡±


    Corvayne held his hands up. ¡°I''m getting a lot of info, and I don''t know what gas-dweller has to do with it... but I think you answered my real question indirectly. If you''re an Invader as well and the system isn''t sending god-like assassins after you, then it''s something I can put off worrying about until later.¡±


    Dawn gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder that would probably leave a bruise. ¡°That''s the ticket. Oh, I gotta give Grunt his send-off.¡±


    She strode over to the Truck where Grunt was helping load stuff. Corvayne followed in her wake.


    Dawn cleared her throat. ¡°Grunt.¡±


    Grunt saluted and smiled.


    ¡°Because you are going on a dangerous journey, the kind which will likely test both you and your companions, the kind that might be a few weeks or might take you untold years... I''m not going to saddle myself with the bullshit waiting, hemming, and hawing, or binding you to not fool around. In other words, I''m dumping you.¡±


    Grunt stared at her a moment, then nodded and opened his arms and Dawn smiled and they hugged. She stepped back, a few tears in her eyes. ¡°Also, take care you doofus. You''re one of the good ones.¡±


    Grunt tapped his heart and pointed at her, then went back to loading.


    Meanwhile, three figures stepped into the hanger. Ears-of-Steel, Reaper-of-Fish, and Bearer-of-Burdens, all with packs. Corvayne looked over at Wick who was checking things off.


    ¡°Right on time. Bearer you''re currently bunking solo.¡±


    ¡°More people?¡± Corvayne looked at the trio.


    Wick tapped a huge tire with her clipboard. ¡°They put down some serious fucking money to come along. They are three of the better dungeon runners in Old Town who I know aside from us. Also, logically, we need an away-team so it''s not always you and me risking life and limb.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I thought that was my job.¡±


    ¡°We are going into the unknown. Boldly!¡± Wick stuck her arm up and Corvayne took her clipboard.


    ¡°Hey! Corvayne! No spoilers!¡± She shouted and snatched at it while Corvayne reviewed the list of names.


    Him. Wick and Hari in one room. Nyxion and Brines sharing another. Lady Blood Claw and Spears in another room. Mister I was given as solo room, likely due to snoring? Mosh and June where together, as were Varia and Ears-of-Steel.


    Horton was coming along and had been given a room to himself, as had Bearer-of-Burdens. Possibly because of gender imbalance. Looking down the list, he saw that Reaper-of-Fish was with... the last name caused Corvayne to shoot his head up and if summoned by reading his name, saw Gary with a buldging backpack and dufflebag.


    He looked over to Wick. ¡°We asked for double everyone else and he somehow scraped it together. He also agreed to do most of the cleaning.¡±


    Gary nodded. ¡°Master! I sold all my MMO accounts. Who needs games now that real life is the REAL adventure? I can''t wait! We''re going to be the strongest duo!¡±


    Corvayne sighed and turned to Wick. ¡°I thought going on a dangerous and uncertain journey would push people away.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Oh it did. Ayame decided not to take her kid with her, even though she took him on a dungeon run to kill monsters. Dawn of course said no thanks. There was also one on-the-fence person who did probably as much work as I did.¡±


    Corvayne checked the list again as a white van pulled up in front of the garage. Wick nudged his shoulder. ¡°Well, THIS should make you very happy, it turns out our biggest backer DID in fact decide to join us.¡±


    Seru stepped out wearing what looked like brand new white leather adventuring gear as well as two huge chests, possibly full of clothes. She lifted a pair of glittering shades and blew a kiss in Corvayne''s direction.


    Corvayne looked back at Wick. ¡°Is there any way I can always just sleep up front?¡±

 Chapter 110: To boldly go where he doesnt remember going before.

    ¡°Ready Grunt? 3, 2, 1, GO!¡±


    Corvayne flexed and pushed and grunted a little while Grunt used one hand to help him lift the chunk of metal onto the truck. He kept his ears open as they worked for sirens announcing that the bank job they had just did would come back to them, but they were on one of the last tasks before leaving and Corvayne would only stop short of saying aloud they were in the clear, if only because saying it would jinx him.


    Grunt motioned for them to finish the job so Corvanye helped him lift and mount the third hoverbike onto the back of the truck, all three sliding into a sort of metal contraption between the showers and the kitchen. Grunt pushed the rack in then snapped the interior door shut. Mosh dusted his hands off like he had lifted a finger. Corvayne didn''t point this out because he had been building this beast most of the week.


    The little goblin chuckled and sighed. ¡°You know, it''s funny Boss. I could have been doing stuff like this for YEARS if I wasn''t such a chicken back home! Look at this thing! I mean,¡± Mosh coughed ¡°I had a GREAT base to build off of, but Boss, I love this monster! We''re going to go on a big adventure in it, and I''ll be behind you guys the whole time!¡±


    Corvayne looked at it. ¡°I would have liked if we could have kept the orange paint job, but with the layer of black it''s pretty sweet.¡± He put a hand on Mosh''s shoulder. ¡°You should be proud of yourself Mosh. You''ve made a pretty cool mobile base.¡±


    Mosh held up a finger. ¡°It''s made to be modular, so if we get the right stuff, I''m going to improve it. Make a home away from home that''s a real mansion. Also, uh, give it legs because wheels are, well... we''ll see if my little project pays off.¡± Mosh rubbed his hands, grinning.


    Corvayne looked over at the huge vehicle. ¡°I''m going to say it again, I don''t know if this thing is going to be able to handle, uh, steep hills, let alone if the terrain is a forest.¡±


    Mosh smiled. ¡°The road outta town keeps going through the portal... We didn''t buy this thing totally blind as an impulse buy! We peeked a little, Spears mentioned a pilgrim''s road thingy where there''s paths between worlds, and Seru did some interviewing at the bar. Chances are if there''s a road into a portal, there will be more. And hey, worst case I''m sure we can... sell this thing back to Brines or whatever.¡±


    Corvayne frowned. ¡°I don''t think that''s really something we should do to him. What use would he have for it?¡±


    Someone honked the horn right after he said that.


    The little goblin held his hands up. ¡°ALL RIGHT! All right, Dawn will take it back! Either way, we''re all loaded, everyone''s aboard. Corvayne, I''m going to be front, and I wanted you and Wick and Nyx and Spears since if you need to know where the wipers or shields are, well, I know what all the buttons are for.¡±


    As always, letting someone else think about these details worked out. ¡°Makes sense. Wick''s the leader and Spears might remember something since she has possibly been this way before.¡±


    Corvayne climbed up into the cab. It was arranged with the driver sitting up at the front of three comfortable looking seats in a space tall enough to stand, with a standard wheel for the vehicle on top of a cockpit sized array of levers and buttons. There were lots of screens with important information like Cascadian time and date, outside temperature, if the atmosphere was breathable, and which radio stations it was picking up were playing commercials. Nyxion had taken the driver''s seat and was wearing clothes that Corvayne suspected were a fancier version of his own usual outfit. He also had a pilot''s cap on.


    ¡°Nyx. You taking the first leg of driving then?¡± Corvayne asked as he moved around the front three chairs to get at the twin bunks.


    Nyxion turned around. ¡°Of course, and I have a lovely Co-Pilot to help navigate.¡±


    Mosh rubbed his ears. ¡°Geez Nyx. What do I say to that?¡±


    ¡°Not you, you half-baked booger with an engineering degree! I mean Lady Spears, of course.¡± He turned and smiled at Spears, who patted him on the back.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Thanks Nyxion! You know Corvayne, I''ve said it before but I can''t believe how friendly they are! I bet the village will love them!¡± Spears settled into a chair and looked back at him twice with a little smile.


    Nyxion smiled back. ¡°Well, I like the sample of villagers I''ve seen hah haaaa!¡±


    Corvanye just waved once then turned away, not sure what to say to Spears. Instead he focused on getting set up for the first leg of the drive, placing his mostly empty backpack in a netted cubby and climbed up to the bunk in the cab, vanishing his boots using his ring as he laid down. Up front there was chatter then a blip as LBCs voice came on over the radio. ¡°We''re loaded up and ready here.¡±


    Mosh grabbed the CB radio. ¡°Got a few more checks! I don''t want this thing to explode.¡±


    Wick popped her head out of the other bunk''s curtain. ¡°It better fucking NOT... while we are inside.¡±


    Mosh muttered something about crazy little women then went back to flicking switches on and off, tapping lights, and finally taking a take out container of noodles and opening a hatch in the floor to shove it in. ¡°Okay. I think we''re ready. Boss do you want a count down?¡±


    Nyxion rolled his eyes. ¡°It''s a CAR not a rocket.¡± He then cleared his throat and pulled the radio down, and took on a slightly deeper voice than the normal snooty tone he had. ¡°Excellent. As our Captain I just want to say that you are the finest crew I could-¡±


    The radio crackled. ¡°Are you wearing your yacht hat?¡± Lady Blood Claw asked in a flat tone.


    Nyxion bit his lip and glared at the radio, which came alive again with LBC''s bored voice. ¡°You are. Copy that.¡±


    Wick climbed up into the other bunk, stowed her glasses in a pouch over the bed, then was asleep almost instantly.


    Nyx grumbled then tapped a screen to look backwards, then hit another button and there was a clack, and Corvayne could see the doors of the garage opening, then he turned the key, and there was a roar and a purr of a huge engine coming alive, lights in the cab briefly flaring then fading along with a low hum that for a moment he felt in his bones. The huge machine eased out of the garage then slowly turned backwards before Nyxion straightened it out. From there it was smooth sailing, with the giant wheels gliding over potholes and only one curb as they made their way over to the freeway.


    It was the middle of the night and Copper Mill Road was nearly empty, which was good because the truck took up two lanes. They passed the community center and the apartments attached to them, and Corvayne felt a little sad to see everyone''s lights off. Mister I had assured him that someone else responsible was watching the building, but everything he hadn''t felt from walking away from the walls of The Watchers Village he felt now as the apartment vanished behind other buildings.


    The route also took them past the burnt out husk of the train yard they had trapped, hunks of twisted steel laying to the side of the on ramp Nyxion carefully guided them up. Then the engine roared as they came up to highway speed over Old Town and Corvayne caught a glimpse of the warehouse, still battered and written off as a loss. He gave it a tiny salute.


    The rest of the city was a blur of lights over the sound and he just watched the glowing buildings and trains as they sped along the left two lanes of the freeway, and in what felt like a flash the city was gone, fading behind them as they made their way over the same bridge he had came into the city as they sped into the mountains. Patches of fog preceeded them driving up through the clouds, bits of water condensing on the windows and streaming off. Nyx tried to put on classical music but Mosh put on a twangy song that Corvayne felt went better with going up the hills in a big truck on a dark night.


    They punched through the clouds to see a brightening sky, and crested the last hill. A the top the morning sun blinded Corvayne for a moment before Mosh slapped a button and the windows tinted out. As they started down the switchbacks Corvayne felt something poke his back and reached under his shirt and pulled out another stinging black shard and tossed it in his storage, not knowing where the garbage was, yet. The scenery pulled him back to the walk to Cascadia. It felt like a long, long time had passed, but it was what, a few months? Maybe half a year from all the stretched out time in dungeons.


    Corvayne snapped out of his thoughts as Nyxion slowed the truck. They were gliding down the road to nowhere, gravel crunching as they pulled to a stop. Looking out the front Corvayne could see the metal guard rail and little circle of gravel he had arrived at, merging into the cracked dirt of the desert.


    ¡°This the right spot?¡± Nyxion lifted his cap a little bit, clearly enjoying himself as he turned to Spears. Corvayne might have to ask Mister I to look at Nyx''s head, since the man had been acting very weird. Well, maybe later. Corvayne got down out of his bunk to look out at the shimmering portal. It was clear it went somewhere, with a different sandy desert beyond. Was it his world, his desert?


    An instinct made him look backwards. First at Wick''s sleeping form, then at the people following them, then in his minds eye he saw the city they had just left. He looked forward to where Nyxion and Spears, as well as Mosh, were looking at him.


    He fumbled a little bit before he tried to straighten his back, and in the same voice Nyxion had been using he proclaimed, ¡°Looks right to me!¡±


    Corvayne wasn''t sure what he was feeling. It was a mix of excitement and sadness. He was looking forward to the trip: they were going on a long adventure, one where he had a whole cartload of friends along for the ride. But he was also on his way back to his past, a dark place despite the sunshine he could see through the rippling portal, and he''d miss the city Cascadia. Spears had spoken of dark times, and he thought back to countless books, where a young man looked back at his town for possibly the last time before he started off to his destiny.


    Mosh looked back and he must have saw something on Corvayne''s face because he grinned with sharp teeth. ¡°Boss, don''t sweat it! We''ll be back here, one way or another.¡±


    Corvayne looked at the little goblin and smiled. ¡°All right. Let me wake Wick up.¡±


    One poke and she snapped away. ¡°Fuck! FUCK what?!¡±


    ¡°We''re at the portal.¡±


    Wick rubbed her face and looked down at it. ¡°Are the readings going?¡±


    Corvayne looked to Mosh, who nodded.


    Wick got down from the bed. ¡°Okay. Go.¡±


    Corvayne and Nyx must have been on the same wavelength, because their eyes met. That wouldn''t do at all.


    Corvayne puffed his chest out, putting his arms behind his back. ¡°Captain Nyxion? Full sails ahead.¡±


    ¡°Aye aye, wait... I''m the captain! I should be telling... whatever! I''ve had my fill of this dumb planet, onwards!¡±


    Driving through the portal, there was a wave of darkness, then there was a flash and he felt himself flung forward then snapped back into place as the truck rolled onto through to the next world.

 Chapter 111: Nel Ferral

    The white flash of the portal cleared and the windshield of the yet-to-be-named truck shifted to the pink sky of morning on another world. Out the window was scrub grass on dry soil, making him wonder if all the portal had done was just turn them around. The biggest change was that they had shifted from morning to the moment of sunrise, the sun painting both dry plants and mesas near them bright orange as it crested the horizon.


    Nyxion slowed down as Wick hopped out of her bunk and leaned over Spears-Like-Water''s shoulder to start tapping at a screen. Spears, not wanting to be in the way, slid through Wick with what looked like a casual Flow-Like-Water and moved to stand next to Corvayne.


    ¡°She is very direct with what she wants.¡± The spear woman remarked.


    Corvanye nodded. ¡°I''ve been trying to take notes from her. I love her.¡±


    Spears smirked a little before she spoke. ¡°It''s still very odd to hear you say that, you were so terse and bitter... sorry, I shouldn''t speak of you such. Hopefully you''ll be as proud of yourself as you deserve to be.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I don''t know about that. I lost to everyone at the village. I''m glad I have you and other heavy hitters like Grunt along, to be quite honest.¡±


    Nyxion spun and hopped off the drivers seat. ¡°Yes, I was telling her about our adventures while we drove, and she was telling me about some of the characters in your village. Maybe we''ll be there before nightfall?¡±


    Mosh sniffed. ¡°We have no freaking idea what planet we are on. For all we know that nice sunrise is through Carbon Dioxide and if we rolled down the window we''d all asphyxiate.¡±


    ¡°I can tell you it isn''t mine or Cascadia. There''s three moons.¡± Corvayne tapped the window.


    Wick drummed the console. ¡°Hey! Good news. Mud-Standard atmosphere. We can breath out there, though the air is a little cooler than Cascadia. Still let''s be fucking smart about exploring a possible alien planet.¡±


    Mosh laughed at that. ¡°You mean like, don''t barbeque creatures you don''t know and eat them?¡±


    Wick swatted at Mosh with the hem of her robe. ¡°Things like not bringing shit back aboard if we don''t know where it''s from. Saying ''durr it''s just a weird itch'' or something when you get stung by an alien wasp. Things like not checking our lights battery backups. Taking off environment suits in a hostile alien ruin. Not telling anybody you took your suit off and something humped your mouth. You know.¡±


    Spears looked confused. ¡°I don''t think there''s anything that can properly metabolize my body unless they turn the normality effect back on somehow.¡±


    Mosh nodded. ¡°Ah, the HAF Geneticist guild really cooked up some winners in it''s day.¡±


    There was a knock on the door into the cab and Wick spun and stomped over. ¡°Now, which IDIOT in there thought it was okay to leave before we gave an all-clear that this planet is safe? I''m going to wring their neck!¡±


    Hari came into the cab with a blast of cold air, wearing a thick wool coat.


    Wick started to sputter incoherently but Hari just kissed her then turned to Corvayne.


    ¡°I know where we are! We''re on Nel Ferral, probably up on the high plains! If we find the high road, I can show you where I grew up!¡± She started tugging at Corvayne and he let her take him out onto the bridge between the cab and the back of the truck. She was pointing at the moons as Corvayne started to sip from his canteen.


    ¡°That''s Ellia, Dawnward, and The Interloper gleaming between them! I wanted our wedding to be under a diamond moon like this!¡±


    Corvayne spit water, then sputtered and coughed. ¡°Wait wait slow down our-¡±


    Hari laughed and nudged him. ¡°You two are so easy to fuck with! I love you!¡±


    Corvayne looked down at her. She might have been joking, but something about how she was looking at him suggested a kernel of truth. On the other hand, he probably could listen to her swear in Elvish for at least fifty years before it got old.


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I am easy to mess with. Since you''re up here, should we have you help navigate then? After all you know-¡±


    Hari waved her hands. ¡°I would be as useless as a tree without leaves! No idea where we are, the high plains take a month to cross on horse or those birds The Empire uses. No, I wanted you to ride in back with us! They are teaching me Cascadian Card games!¡±


    Corvayne waved his hand around. ¡°But the adventure-¡±


    Hari looked past him. ¡°Mosh! You have tool, err, you have a device that map everything, right?¡±


    Corvayne looked over his shoulder to find she said it to the shut door, but a voice came out of a speaker somewhere. ¡°Yep. We are going to switch it up anyway. I wanted to sleep before you guys start breaking crap. Mister I is going to drive for a while with Grunt Co-piloting.¡±


    ¡°Crap? I thought camp was word for tent...¡±


    ¡°No, breaking our crap is the same as sayin'' breaking our stuff.¡± Mosh sighed over the intercom.


    Hari did a little bow. ¡°Okay thank you Mosh. Oh! You need to hide, all goblins are bad goblins here.¡±


    There was some swearing from the radio at that.


    They had to take a step back as Wick came out, dressed in her usual camo attire under her sky blue robe but with a hat and mittens that were both a little too big for her. ¡°Taking readings!¡± She barked, then strode past them and climbed up to the top of the truck.


    He wasn''t sure how Grunt could get in and out of the seat, but Corvayne had to make way for his friend as he walked to the cab. After watching Grunt pop into the door sideways, he felt Hari take his hand and she lead the way into the door. Corvayne followed her down a few steps to the lounge, which was really sort of like a pair of horseshoe shaped restaurant booths. Gary was dealing and as clumsy as the man was at many things, his hands smoothly dealt cards out.


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Reaper-of-Fish waved. ¡°Hey hey! It''s the spear-man himself. You ever play Spaceman poker?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head at the one-eyed security guard. ¡°I know of poker, how is spaceman poker different?¡±


    Reaper grinned. ¡°Well man, unless you''re on Mud you''re a space man. Lady Blood Claw, if we get Corvayne in, you in sweetheart?¡±


    LBC was in the other table, her little squid resting on her lap as she laid along the padded seat, reading a book and not looking up. ¡°He''s not going to play unless Hari lets him. Also I never play bluffing games.¡± Her skin flashed a bunch of colors in rapid succession and her pet did the same, neither moving despite the rainbow of patterns playing across them.


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°Maybe later! Corvayne and I are busy!¡± Hari called back as she lead the way to the work bench, where Horton was examining components.


    Corvayne slowed his walk, looking back at the card game. ¡°Wait, I thought that was the whole point-¡±


    Horton stopped what he was doing as they walked past and held up a hand. ¡°Hari, I had a question but you left.¡±


    Corvayne gave her hand a little tug. Hari stopped and turned. ¡°Okaaaaay.¡±


    Horton held up two fingers. ¡°One, does this world have UFOs?¡±


    Hari turned back to Corvayne and in elvish asked him a few questions before turning back to Horton.


    ¡°Definately. Called NMF. Non-Magical-Fliers. Glittering craft that sometimes follow people on the ground. Can''t be seen with scrying, and nobody has ever seen them attack anyone, so sages think it''s just drunk peasants. Or like clouds, just something that''s there. Don''t get too excited they are rare.¡±


    Horton beamed. ¡°Yes! I need you to...¡± The man stopped and looked upwards a moment. ¡°I mean, I would appreciate if you could direct us to images and accounts... I have theories about those objects and I always wanted to hear how pre-industrial societies looked at them and if they act different if they know there''s not video!¡±


    Hari smiled. ¡°I was surprised that non-magical societies had them too.¡±


    Horton nodded. ¡°Common ground. Second question, can we meet other elves?¡±


    Hari rolled her eyes. ¡°Inevitably? Yes.¡±


    With that she pulled Corvayne over to the kitchen car, passing in the coupling area Mister I who was steaming and had a towel around his neck. Brines and Seru were in the kitchen beyond that, doing dishes together, with Brines giving Corvayne a sudsy wave and Seru dragging a trail of soap into her cleavage and winking. Hari laughed and shouted, ¡°Bad!¡± at her.


    ¡°You''re the one checking out the big shower.¡± Seru countered.


    Corvayne was a little confused as Hari pushed him over to the large shower room.


    ¡°What?¡± Corvayne asked as Hari shut the door and locked them inside.


    ¡°You smell, you''re tired! Shower, Sex, Sleep.¡±


    ¡°What about the new world?¡± He was on an adventure! He wanted to be up at the front while they drove! He... He had been awake a long time. But, a new world!


    ¡°You helped drive us here. Also, this is an old world. Boring. Sleep while we try going east.¡± Hari had taken her coat off and was removing her sneakers, a very un-elf like accessory on top of her wearing jeans.


    ¡°But-¡±


    Hari huffed and switched to elvish, the lyrical words sounding a little sharp as she spoke rapid fire. ¡°Do not put your head up a goat''s ass! Resting is part of the job! Not just you, I need rest before we run into people, so I''m clear headed when I have to deal with The Empire!¡±


    Corvayne stopped taking his shirt off. He couldn''t help feel a hint of excitement. ¡°They the bad guys?¡±


    ¡°No. They are idiots in charge who are letting everything fall apart, but they are better than the other guys. I am going to have to talk to every patrol and answer questions about truck when we get close to civilization. The same questions every patrol. So I need to be in a good mood! Make me cheery Hari so I do better.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged then helped Hari with the rest of her clothes.


    Showered and... the other one, twice over, Corvayne had ''cheery Hari'' next to him reading her book under the covers with him. Corvayne had set the virtual window in his little sleeping closet to a star-field, which helped make the small space feel less claustrophobic. The truck had started moving again and he could feel the bed rock a little as they ran over bushes and divots and boulders. He had the radio turned to a low volume to hear if he was needed, voices mostly reporting little things they saw. Mostly it was just Wick, who had decided to perch herself in the gunner seat on top of the truck for this leg of the trip, yammering about readings. Corvayne had worried but Hari assured her there were no birds like rocs out far from more verdant spaces that could actually support the huge predators.


    Hari studying the catalog reminded him that he had some reading he wanted to do, namely the two books that The Magus''s mother had given him under the library along with the quest to kill her son. Ironically, the request eased up some of the ire he had from the weird man cursing him. That all aside, the books were supposedly aids to help him succeed in following some sort of pilgrimage, recovering his memories, then undoing his curse. All things he was becoming more interested in, but there was the problem of reading them: If he took them out the books from his ring they would start liquifying in the air, damaging the contents and possibly harming anyone who ended up inhaling the book-gas.


    Mosh had made a prototype clear plastic vacuum box that he could stick his hands into. Given that it hurt his hands to have exposed to an vacuum, Corvayne found that he could take about five minutes of reading before he had to magically store the book and let his hands rest and deflate. So he pulled the box out of his storage ring and placed it on the covers, undid the screw cap on one side and put one hand into one of the rubber rimmed holes, then used his free hand to press the button on top to tighten the seal. Pressing it again started the vaccum, and a third time would release everything.  Mosh had cobbled together something with the idea that if he needed both hands, he could tap the button with his nose.


    Turning it on Hari nearly jumped out of bed and actually hissed a little like a cat.


    ¡°I hate those things!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Corvayne had to shout a little.


    ¡°Stupid noisy brooms!¡±


    Hari glared at the machine and then glanced at the door, clearly torn between leaving or putting up with the ungodly noise for the minute it took to get the interior near airless. She covered her ears for the minute it took to get most of the air out of the contraption, relaxing as the whine of the engine stopped. Corvayne then flicked the book from storage into his hand and carefully opened it. He could turn the pages with a single hand but rather than risk dropping the book he chose to abuse his shadow limbs, snaking one out of his wrist to help turn the pages.


    With his non ring hand he took his phone and pulled up the camera, then took pictures of each set of pages with high settings. It was a clunky way to do it, but as a result he could share the book with Wick and make notes of what the translated sections meant.


    The pages he had captured earlier in the week from the summoning book proved more popular with Wick, partially because they had seen the results of using the book poorly under the library, and partially because it was full of weird pictures and beasts and magic circles, like a proper spell book. The introduction was 5 pages of increasingly dire explanations of what would happen if someone just tried to start doing spells in the book without proper defensive measures and careful understandings of what they were summoning. Choice phrases included: ''blasted apart like a dandelion'', ''crushed like a poorly made pastry hitting the floor'', ''everything removed, as if the skin was a useless container to be discarded'', ''the entire river delta kills anyone who lingers for more than an hour'' and ''...often people think of the lesser condition of being flayed when they think of what turned inside out means''


    The martial guide was far more tame, though it did have simple diagrams to show off techniques, most of which Corvayne knew. Still, he would copy the entire book and if nothing else, get a nice review of the things he had known growing up in his warrior village. The summoning work was first because Wick wanted it, and the illustrations of some of the things pulled up from the nether beyond existence looked interesting.


    His hand started aching but he was close enough to the end of the book that he powered through another minute of his hand throbbing from the pressure before he put the book back into storage and hit a valve that let the air slowly fill back in then undid the wrist binding that kept it airtight. He pulled his hand free and shook it to restore feeling.


    He saw Hari had fallen asleep, so he placed a bookmark in the spot she was reading and set her book on her bag, then settled in next to her and closed his eyes and got some rest as the truck rumbled east.

 Chapter 112: Probably Just Swamp Gas

    Corvayne was woken up by Wick hollering at him and Horton to get topside on the radio. He was pulling his spear from the notch along side the bed when he caught what the screaming was about. He looked over at Hari snoring gently next to him and extracted himself from her and hopped into his discarded pants and grabbed a jacket, not expecting to be really needed after going up to verify the word Wick kept belting out.


    ¡°CORVAYNE! UFO! HORTON! UFO!¡±


    He twisted open the hatch by his room and popped out into the cold night air, fingers of chill finding their way past the fluffy collar of his jacket. Stars surrounded them, bright like he had seen out in the desert on patrols but with far more colors, reds and blues and purple washes behind the countless bright points. He felt the rushing wind and low grumble of the truck pushing through the desert and took a deep breath of clean desert air, then looked for either the UFO or his lover, and saw Wick first. She had strapped herself into the gunner''s seat with a blanket and goggles, waving then swiveling back to track whatever it was she saw. There was a railing Corvayne could pull himself along from the hatch to the chair, so he leaned against it and scanned horizon.


    With all the stars it took him a moment to notice the glittering object, perhaps two miles out. It wasn''t the third moon, which was on the other side of the truck drifting between the slivers of the other two setting moons. He guessed the object was two or three miles away, maybe half a mile off the ground. It was bright enough some of the far off stone mesa faces were lit by it''s passing. It was moving slightly away from them he thought, shrinking a little as he watched.


    Horton joined them and spotted it in half a second of poking his head out from the hatch. ¡°Oh wow!¡±


    Corvayne looked between them. ¡°Take a picture.¡±


    Horton snorted. ¡°UFOS almost never properly let you take a picture-¡±


    Wick fumbled with her coat and got her camera out. There was some clicking as she took a few pictures. She lowered her camera, looked, then pulled out her phone and started recording a video.


    Horton had his own camera, snapping a few pictures, then pulled out a sensor. Corvayne turned back to the disc. It looked like it was moving pretty fast and smooth. Maybe it was using A-grav?


    Horton sniffed. ¡°EM readings are nearly dead, just a spike right at the light spectrum and a little heat. Like, animal level of heat.¡±


    Wick took out binoculars. Corvayne just adjusted his ring a little, squinting. The disc had subtly changed directions.


    ¡°It might come over! Remember, UFOs got crazy on Mud when people started doing nuclear tests! They had UAF all over nuclear test sites. We probably are the first nuclear power source on the planet!¡±


    As if it was listening, the disc started getting larger faster. Corvayne rubbed his chin, then scratched his back. He felt something crumble on his back as the itch faded. ¡°Uh, and you are sure they won''t be hostile?¡±


    ¡°Oh well, UFOs that attack people is a very small subset of all encounters, and normal people seemed to be able to resist getting taken, so as long as we have mend for the chemical poisoning or radiation damage they sometimes do...¡±


    Horton added from behind Corvayne. ¡°I am actually curious if a standard UFO could actually abduct someone who has leveled up. Many people say that they were paralyzed right before the encounter happened.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Hypersonic projection is one theory. The other one is that the occupants are telepathic and can lock down someone''s motor functions.¡±


    Corvayne looked at the disc that was now clearly tracking along with them, perhaps a mile away and getting bigger as it drifted their way. ¡°So perhaps we should go... inside?¡±


    Horton and Wick started talking at the same time.


    ¡°This is the chance of-¡±


    ¡°-any Ufologist worth their salt would want to experience-¡±


    ¡°I''ve waited YEARS for this shit to happen!¡±


    ¡°-Curious to see if it''s actually sleep paralysis rather-¡±


    ¡°Out of your FUCKING mind!¡±


    Corvayne cleared his throat. ¡°Well, we have about fifteen seconds to decide.¡±


    Horton dove into the truck while Wick wiggled. ¡°Uh, hey! Horton you craven fake! Corvayne! Help me outta this chair!¡±


    He undid the straps and lifted her by the armpits out of the chair as suddenly the top of the truck gleamed under intense light.


    ¡°Too late.¡± Corvayne muttered as he looked up where the spinning glittering disc was flying, matching the truck''s speed perfectly. It was about fifty feet above them. It was difficult to look at it as the disc was so bright it was blinding. It was almost totally silent, with just the faintest of chimes and humming from it.


    Corvayne squinted and there was an sensation, a sort of awareness of him of this object, a connection, and with it a certainty that the disk was looking at them, looking at him. Not him, as a stranger, but HIM him. It was a magnificent object, a thing of beauty and both startlingly real but also dream like in that he couldn''t see more of it than the constant shifting blinking of lights. Then there was a faint hum and it started speeding off, slightly north of the path they were tracking between rock monuments.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Everything felt muted as the light faded, then the noise of the truck came back and he remembered to blink, a dark spot etched onto his vision from looking at it for too long.


    He then noticed Wick was holding onto him tightly, and he took the opportunity to squeeze her. She pushed her way out of his arms. ¡°Corvayne! What are you doing? Get the radio! AFTER IT!¡±


    They lost sight of the disk after following it in a line for about ten minutes, but at Wick''s insistence Grunt kept the truck going in a straight line the direction it flew.


    Corvayne wasn''t that excited to stay up in the cab and watch a nearly endless patch of dirty roll at them, even with Wick in a manic mood, so instead came down and played cards with Horton and Lady Blood Claw. Spears sat down after the first hand, and asked a bunch of questions about the rules that Corvayne figured he''d just try to learn by doing.


    She lifted her hand of cards, watery fingers not leaving marks on the cards despite looking like bluish hose streams. Her more defined face looked happy to be included. ¡°So this game, you can trade one card if you and the person trading put another chip into the pot?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. The tall alien, despite giving Nyx grief for his skipper cap, was wearing a dealer''s visor. ¡°You can''t look at the card, so part of the game is figuring out if someone is lying. Which is why I don''t play with anyone who can read my moods, and Corvayne because he''s bad at reading my face, and a newbie.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Corvayne frowned. ¡°I think I get what your face is telling me.¡±


    LBC for a moment emoted a new pattern, gray and blue zig-zags that raced across her skin for a half second, but then returned to her gray base tone and smirked. ¡°Is my face telling you that you''re going to lose again?¡±


    Corvayne shrugged, making a note to himself to record that new pattern. ¡°In a card game it''s mostly chance if you get the cards you want. Reading the faces doesn''t matter too much since people always think they are going to win, otherwise why play?¡±


    Spears shook her head. ¡°You didn''t ever play cards with us, did you? It makes me wish I still had some of the cards Spaces-Torn-Asunder made. It was supposedly based on magical duels...¡±


    Horton held a hand up. ¡°Don''t talk about it. You''ll summon-¡±


    Gary was already behind her. ¡°Oh man, water people have something like Magic Cards!?¡±


    Corvayne didn''t understand that but he put his hand of cards down then gestured between his would-be deciple and Spears. ¡°Gary, I don''t know if you met her, but this is a fellow Watcher. I should say, she''s a Watcher I''m an exile, but-¡± Corvayne saw that Gary looked a little confused. ¡°She''s as good if not better than me with a spear.¡±


    ¡°Ah! She''s master''s rival!¡± The larger man bowed to her. Spears smiled and bowed politely back. Gary turned to Corvayne. ¡°I won''t ask her for training, I don''t wish for you and her to develop some sort of feud. Can I watch when you have matches?¡±


    Spears laughed politely. ¡°Of course you can watch! And I don''t think Corvayne would be mad at all for us both to train you. Any two Watchers are two halves of a whole when they fight. Partners and Friends.¡± Her eyes turned to look at him, glittering a slightly darker sapphire color.


    Corvayne couldn''t help but mutter, ¡°I never heard that before.¡±


    Picking his hand back up, he had a pair of high rockets and the Ace of Moons, but his red cards were a three of suns and a four of stars. It was sort of like poker but there was a blue suite, planets, that only had face cards, and one of the winning hands was one of each suite and something about ascending cards with having a higher value moon card over a planet card beat a double.


    ¡°Dude! Corvayne! Two of YOU training me? That will be awesome!¡±


    Corvayne put his cards down when LBC raised. ¡°I don''t think it will be exceptional. Also I want to stress that I don''t want to put anyone under the same conditions I learned to fight under. It made me profoundly miserable.¡±


    A little heat had entered his voice and he saw both Spears and Gary lean away. LBC put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze while laying out three of a kind to take the pot. Corvayne heard something between muttering and water boiling from beside him, but Lady Blood Claw smoothed it over with an invitation.


    ¡°No need to hover Gary. Let''s play cards. Corvayne, it''s your turn to ante.¡±


    Her gentle request got him to blink and look at his hand, then push forward a few Cascadian coins, about half a full credits worth.


    Spears looked sheepish as she pushed a single chip of blue essence into the pot. ¡°I''m sorry. I know it''s weird. But I am looking forward to sparring. I remember you always pushed me to get better! You were really good, I thought you didn''t like me because you had a secret girlfriend.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Horton exclaimed, then pointed a finger at the hexagonal blue crystal.


    ¡°Is it too little for ante?¡± Spears reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of the tiny blue flakes with a few green ones mixed in.


    Horton snorted. ¡°Too big! Don''t you have credits? You can''t raise us to three credits.¡±


    Spears looked down then up. ¡°I don''t have anything smaller...¡± The water turned pink for some reason on her cheeks.


    Corvayne took the credit and a half on the table and just pushed the pile to Spears-Like-Water. ¡°I think we can make change with this.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. ¡°Spears, I''ll give you some change, or we can switch to blue essence chips.¡±


    That perked her up. ¡°Oh, I''m so sorry. I  honestly didn''t get to make or spend any money in the city, so I was worried it was too little, to be honest.¡±


    Horton shook his head. ¡°If we are going to bet, we have to follow rules, or things get nasty. Credits are lower stakes than essence, same reason. Nothing personal.¡± He said while waving his hand, all in a gruff manner that suggested he was annoyed by every part of the entire exchange.


    Gary laughed and patted Horton''s shoulder, which made the man look practically volcanic with ire. Gary had no idea. ¡°See! That''s why I like you guys! All buddies!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw and Horton seemed to take turns demolishing them at cards for an hour or so before the truck started to slow. Corvayne started to stand to go check what had changed when Horton tapped a panel on the table and the screen behind him flared to life and displayed that they were moving along a road that weaved between small streams and fenced off fields with greens poking out.


    The screen changed to the frontal view and Corvanye could see a village built around and likely inside the rock pillars ahead.


    Corvayne looked at the other card players. ¡°I wonder if they saw the UFO... wait what did Hari call it? NMO? Hopefully we don''t go driving another hundred miles cross country.¡±


    Spears beamed. ¡°Look at how colorful those buildings against the rocks are! I hope we meet some new friends.¡±


    Corvayne could see people starting to gather facing the truck as it ground to a halt, and it looked like quite a few of them had spears and bows.


    LBC didn''t look like she missed that detail, folding her arms as she put her feet up on the table. ¡°I hope this goes smoothly.¡± She frowned a little.


    Gary looked around. ¡°I hope we don''t get drawn into some sort of fight.¡±


    Horton swept up the credits and essence chips he had won on the last hand into a messenger bag, injecting a moment of empty levity into his voice. ¡°Well, since we''re making wishes, I hope they are all elvish volleyball players! But since I don''t see any trees or nets around here, I''d say we shouldn''t hold our breath on any of that crap.¡±

 Chapter 113: Monster of the High Plains

    They parked the truck outside of the loose circle of stone pillars that formed the village. Corvayne could spot curious faces cropping up from windows high up in the rock. Waving would cause any observers to vanish with a swish of a curtain. No arrows yet from the fifty to hundred foot tall structures. Good sign. But he got a feeling that something was going on besides just their truck arriving.


    Corvayne followed Hari, a few paces back while she stepped up to the group of villagers. They hadn''t formed a line, rather they were standing around, looking about and adjusting their cloaks, chewing on flatbread, or talking quietly as if they just decided to all take a armed fifteen minute break in the center of the village. Everyone''s spears and arrows were pointed at the air or quivered or stuck into the ground, but he wanted Hari to keep her distance. The elf had laughed and told him the the show of force was for any official Adventurer''s Guild members who were looking to extort the town. The first few words she spoke to one of the men in the front melted a lot of his tension away, but a few people still were looking out of the village, expectant or worried.


    Corvayne had started to sweep his gaze across the horizon and thought he saw something on a hill a mile away when he felt a finger in his back. He looked again and saw he was looking at a rock. He ignored the second poke and went back to scanning the crowd. Then he felt two fingers with extra thrust so he turned to see Wick with her arms on her hips and an expectant look on her face.


    ¡°Well? What is she saying?¡±


    ¡°Hari was speaking in a third language neither Elvish nor Cascadian.¡± He tried to capture her friendly delivery while looking for signs the villagers were about to draw knives on his other girlfriend. ¡°Loosely, she said ''Hello. We are travelers. We do not belong to the adventurer''s guild. Is there a stream we can draw water from that won''t disrupt your fields?''¡±


    Seru frowned. ¡°I gotta learn both these languages or how else am I going to snoop when we get into the big cities?¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Good idea. You are our expendable information gathering team.¡±


    Seru started flipping Wick off, and seeing nothing important was happening behind him Corvayne turned to watch a younger woman come up to Hari. The girl was adorned with more colored beads and slightly newer garb. Hari nodded then turned and gestured for them to follow as the Villagers with spears scattered across the packed dirt area between window studded rocks. He had to stop as a pair of stocky bipedal birds carrying jugs of water crossed his path.


    ¡°Perhaps we can trade water for having Mosh make them a simple pump...¡± Corvayne mused, mostly to himself.


    Wick snorted. ¡°I bet they have screw pumps, and anything else we make runs into problems with powering it.¡±


    Corvayne waved a finger around as he watched Hari enter one of the stone pillar-dwellings. ¡°Plenty of cold wind to power a windmill.¡±


    The stone chamber he stepped into was about twelve feet high and lit by grass rope nets stuffed with large glowing crystal balls. The orbs mostly were white but a few other colors gave hues to different parts of the carved out rock. Rugs were arranged on the floor where a few men were sitting, drinking from clay mugs. Corvayne smelled alcohol mixed with spices as he stepped around the mats and over to a stone alcove that Hari and the girl had walked into. Faint wisps of smoke danced around swaying beads, and looking past them he saw the source were three older men laying on a padded stone bench carved into a sub chamber.


    The girl had introduced Hari and the oldest of the men was speaking to her. ¡°You need not pay us to simply take water from our streams. There is enough clean water from The Source that you could fill ten wagon a thousand times and no one would notice. Guests do not want for food or water at our village. However, I cannot promise you the customary safety should you stay here.¡±


    Hari looked thoughtful. ¡°We would be courteous and pay for anything we are given. I would ask, elder, if you could tell me why it would not be safe here.¡±


    He nodded and rubbed a gray beard. ¡°There is something out on the wastes. It has been hunting our goats the last few weeks, and there are disappearances from villages around The Source. Our most skilled hunters and warriors are empty-handed.¡±


    Corvayne felt two pairs of fingers prodding him and glanced back to see Seru and Wick looking at him expectantly. He held a hand up and tapped his ear as Hari asked questions.


    ¡°What do you think it is?¡±


    One old man coughed into his hand then pointed upwards. ¡°Sometimes when people are buried wrong, their ghosts wander and gather. Perhaps those who went to join the army found their way back as a restless spirit.¡±


    The third wheezed. ¡°Dumb! That idea is dumb! Ghosts don''t eat goats and leave bloodstains behind.¡±


    The second man rolled his eyes. ¡°If it''s not a ghost, how do you explain how it moves? There one moment, then distant another, then gone.¡±


    Corvayne felt a small chill down his spine. Another time bender?


    Hari looked between the three. ¡°Who''s gone missing, and where?¡±


    The young woman who had lead Hari to the bar or meeting room they were in spoke up. ¡°A few young women are missing. Two of them were goat-herders, their father''s flocks scattered. One was a weaver who had been going to trade dyes with another village. A girl and her sister who went to The Source and would bring back glow orbs is missing too.¡±


    Hari''s ears flicked a little. ¡°The Source is a place you scavenge? A ruin?¡±


    The elder laughed. ¡°Adventurers are all the same! Big ears for treasure. But it would be slim pickings at the Source. Most of the places you can find things were picked clean long before this village was formed. Kids who have less sense than courage will wade deep into the dark to try to find things to sell... It''s how we have all these glowing stones.¡±


    The second older man nodded. ¡°The Source is sacred, once home to The Pilgrims. It is by their blessing that endless clean water slakes the thirst of this otherwise arid land.¡±


    Corvayne met Hari''s eyes, and the elf turned back to the elder. ¡°Is the monster living near this... Source?¡±


    All three old men started agreeing. ¡°It is a certainty.¡±


    ¡°It''s always been haunted.¡±


    ¡°Most of the sightings, it was either coming or going from those ruins.¡±


    The girl added. ¡°When it is not looking at you.¡± She made a little folding gesture that Corvayne guessed was to ward off whatever the monster was.


    Corvayne heard clay clinking and turned to see that Wick and Seru had found out how to trade coppers for mugs of whatever the locals were drinking. Normally he''d have some words about compromising one''s self in unknown territory, but a few swigs of spiced wine meant he could listen to Hari ask the relevant questions. It reminded him a little of the videos Wick had shown him of interviewing people who had seen Big Feet or Chupacabras.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Nyxion and Spears poked their head into the bar, Nyx looking around and asking a question with his eyes if they needed to be concerned with anything, and Corvayne gave him a thumbs up. Nyxion nodded and strode away. Spears waved a little then left, letting him go back to Hari trying to figure out what it was, guidebook open as she danced back and forth.


    ¡°How big is it? How many legs does it have?¡± Hari held her arms out, one still clutching the book, trying indicate something pig sized, to which the men shook their heads and started to sit up to pull their own arms wide.


    ¡°It is the size of a man and crawls on countless legs.¡±


    ¡°It is bigger and walks on four. It might be a sickly horseman. It has a thousand eyes.¡±


    The girl shook her head. ¡°I saw two red eyes.¡±


    The third man waved his hand. ¡°It is ten feet tall and walks on two legs. I''ve seen it holding a blade.¡±


    The oldest and first man slapped his couch. ¡°I saw it! It was like a desert mite, a black tangle of limbs and I saw it running across the dirt, three full moons and nearly as clear as day! It was no bigger than you or I, save it''s spindly limbs and three eyes, glowing pink.¡±


    The second kept shaking his head. ¡°I disagree! Like many dark spirits, it is mounted. I saw it ride along a river, a bound goat on it''s back. I believe from the lack of blood... it is a cloud vampire, made from fallen sons of the villages. It had countless red eyes, it looked back at me as it rode off!¡±


    The third laughed. ¡°That is so stupid it boggles the mind! The thing is a giant. I saw it lumbering during the day, it''s black form measured at the boulder near Errold''s pasture. It walked right by it and towered over it. A man and a half, on two legs, with a single eye! A cyclops rogue, all the more dangerous to men and especially girls when a runt of giants survives.¡±


    The girl shook her head. ¡°There must be many different monsters, because I was sure I was meeting the glowing red eyes of a woman. It was under the faint light of the diamond moon, but even in the dark I know what I saw.¡±


    Corvayne had heard enough conjecture and walked back to the counter and got himself a water, then sat with Wick and Seru and started repeating what he had heard.


    He was on his third water when Hari had enough bickering over why it was kidnapping or killing women and hunters and tapped out, as did the girl who had lead her into the room in the first place.


    Hari bought herself a whole steaming flask of the spiced wine and dropped onto the rug between Wick and Corvayne.


    ¡°They started talking about what kind of women it wants to marry. Then got into how each form would seal the deal!¡± Hari huffed then poured herself a cup. Corvayne waited until she was drinking from her cup then removed the flask from her side, hoping to avoid a repeat performance of her first experience getting drunk and exposing herself to a group of strangers. The moment he put the wine flask down on the rug it vanished while he blinked and at the same moment Hari was pouring herself another drink. She was the rogue after all. Corvayne shrugged and turned to the girl who had joined them.


    ¡°Hello. My name is Corvayne, and I''m one of the leaders of our band of adventurers and have a translation power. This is Wick, the main leader whom I''m translating for.¡±


    The girl bowed once to him and once to Wick. ¡°Kirae. Daughter of the elder Kopek.¡± She spoke as she accepted a cup from Hari and gave it to Corvayne, who handed the clay cup to Seru, whom got a sip before Hari took it from her and downed it in one go.


    ¡°Kirae, I know the monster is probably the most important thing in the village, but I wanted to know if people saw the bright light last night pass by as well.¡±


    Wick nodded and took out a few coins and rattled them. Kirae shook her head, pushing the coins back. ¡°We saw the light, it was headed right towards The Source. There have been more lights out and about since a few weeks ago. Children had also brought back more from the ruins this month than as we''ve seen entire years before.¡±


    ¡°... I''d like to hear about The Source itself.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°It is a large pile of rocks, the size of a small mountain. It would have rivaled the imperial palace when it was whole, but now it is mostly just rubble and broken halls. From within there is something the produces water from near the top of the mountain and it flows down and floods out to form the streams that make this part of the high plains wet enough to support the villages.¡±


    ¡°It''s not natural though, right?¡± Corvayne asked as Hari pushed a cup into his hands. He tried a sip of the warm wine and nearly spat it out. It was like someone pureed a bouquet of flowers then soaked the slurry in booze and cinnamon. He saw that Kirae was assessing him and so he resisted the urge to spit it back in the cup and swallowed the mouthful he took. She raised an eyebrow as Corvayne fought to keep from spitting what he drank back up.


    Hari started laughing. ¡°He drank a cup of the pure stuff! What a man!¡±


    He felt Hari rubbing up against his side and looked around, hoping Lady Blood Claw would swoop in with her sleep spell. No such luck. He saw that Kirae was amused by the whole act, hand over her mouth but not really covering her smile. Corvayne felt his cheeks burn and he straightened his back further to keep Hari from licking his ear, which just meant her tongue was instead on his neck. He pretended that Hari wasn''t there as he tried to keep the conversation going.


    ¡°You mentioned halls. Do you know what the ruins were before?¡±


    The village girl thought about it. She responded while Hari headbutted his shoulder. ¡°Everyone has a different theory, usually something like a temple, palace, or burial spot.¡±


    ¡°I don''t want to offend you, but honestly you seem pretty well informed about it.¡± Corvayne felt Hari peel away from him a moment and worried, turned to see she was pouring herself another cup of the undiluted drink. Seru took the cup away from her and for a moment Hari paused, then started muttering.


    ¡°Imluhdespredistishion.¡± She pointed, then looked at her finger.


    Kirae had taken a cue from Corvayne and was ignoring Hari trying to cast a spell. ¡°Every few years researchers from The Empire come by and kids will lead them around the ruins. There''s miles and miles and miles of tunnels under the ground too, not counting areas that are flooded. A hundred years back someone who could explore under water tried to see if there was something interesting deeper but they gave up after a month. Perhaps something shifted in the pile and a new set of halls opened... the last month before the creature shut it down was the most fruitful in nick-nacks for generations, to hear grandfather tell it.¡±


    Hari''s musical elvish voice called out ¡°Ima Imades- Pre dis. Pre dis. Predispoisition.¡±


    Corvayne suspected that like Cascadia, the new sections appearing was some effect from whatever happened on April 9th. At the very least, there was probably a brand new Tower entrance in those ruins. And if the thing hunting goats was smart, he might be able to reason with it. ¡°So what you''re saying is that a monster or a glowing flying light could go there and hide for years and not be found?¡±


    The local girl nodded. ¡°It is something we all agree, the monster or monsters would naturally lair somewhere in the ruins. Anywhere else and it would have been found.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I wanted to ask, what did people go to the ruins for before? You made it sound like it had been picked clean.


    The girl nodded. ¡°Very few treasure seekers. Most of the researchers were trying to decode what the language in the ruins says and trying to find if there''s some message from The Pilgrims...¡±


    ¡°I''ve heard that term... The Pilgrims... are they who built the ruin then?¡±


    ¡°They at least decorated it, then someone else desecrated it. We think they were taller than humans, because often they are shown as taller figures. Something came later and scratched the stone. That is, places where it hasn''t been worn to nothing. Most of the outer ruins are smooth.¡±


    He felt an itch that only going to the ruin would scratch. Then a sharp pain let him know another shard was trying to worm its way out of his shoulder, and with a wince he pulled out a black shiny shard and dropped it in his ring. He held up a hand to request Kirae take a break. ¡°Please let me relate all this to Wick.¡±


    It didn''t take long before Wick was beaming. ¡°Oh FUCK yes! UFO hunt, monster hunt, AND a term that the weird lady under the library urged you to find... we are going to those ruins as soon as we are done here. I bet it''s a hotspot! A regular skinwalker ranch!¡±


    Hari shook her head, and slurred her words as she spoke. ¡°We took too long it''s going to be dark before we get there! Let''s keep drinking then test the bed again.¡±


    Wick rolled her eyes. ¡°Corvayne, tell her to speak Cascadian to us!¡±


    ¡°Hari, we''ll be fine but it''s time to stop drinking... what is this stuff called?¡±


    ¡°Rutspice.¡±


    Hari shook her head and poured herself another cup. Corvayne tried to intercept her drink and pass it to Wick, but Hari produced another cup the moment he grabbed the clay vessel and smoothly downed it with one hand while draping herself on Corvayne with the other, pushing her warm and slightly sweaty cleavage into his forearm. He pulled her onto his lap as he sat with his legs crossed then used [Cross Skill: Expert Throw] to toss the clay flask onto the bar''s counter where it landed right side up, wobbling before it settled without spilling a drop.


    Kirae and a few men who were watching started clapping, as did Hari until she started pouting about the booze. Corvayne looked past her to Kirae and motioned with his head.


    ¡°What would you say to making some money guiding us to those ruins?¡±


    ¡°You are not worried about the monster?¡±


    Corvayne looked down at where Hari was biting his collarbone for attention. ¡°I''ll put her to bed before we head out.¡±

 Chapter 114: The Source

    Corvayne felt Nyxion had a knack for driving the truck. He suspected Grunt would be excellent at it as well, but Nyx seemed to get that with the size of the vehicle and the supposed power that Mosh had put into it, when faced with something that should stop a normal vehicle like, for example, a stream bed with six foot sandy banks, you just had to go fast enough that the relative drop didn''t matter to the momentum you had. In that way, he had established the route back by battering the truck through the soil and forming his own set of ramps. Needless to say, the card players in the back were not thrilled the first time he did this with no warning.


    ¡°Front end what''s the situation!?¡± Lady Blood Claw called out via radio.


    Corvayne could see Nyx smirking from his seat beside him. ¡°Speed bump. Over and out.¡±


    The village girl guiding them, Kirae, had a look between alarm and wonder at the truck. ¡°I thought you''d get this thing stuck.¡±


    Nyx looked to Corvayne. ¡°Did she need us to turn sooner?¡±


    ¡°No. She just is surprised, as most of us are, that a shallow stream wasn''t the ultimate end to the truck.¡±


    Nyx shook his head. ¡°Tell our temp worker mere rivers will not stop this... the... this beast.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t bother passing it on, instead heading out the back of the cab and scaling the ladder on the middle section to check and make sure Wick was still strapped into her chair above. She saw him and gave a thumbs up and big smile, so Corvayne hurried down and got inside as Nyx started speeding up. Realizing what was about to happen, Corvayne activated gravity and planted himself on the ground, standing upright through the ensuing twin jolts as Nyx threw them down another embankment then plowed through the other side.


    Mosh came on the radio then. ¡°Hey Lord Clownly! I''m going to have to check the whole freakin'' truck for damage! I hope you enjoy playing errand boy for a few hours when we stop!¡±


    ¡°Copy that Chief mechanic Mosh. Given the circumstances, I can''t possibly get in more trouble if we try a third time?¡±


    Corvayne quickly scrambled into his seat and this time applied his power to the whole truck, causing it to hit the other side in one massive bump instead of two. He could swear he heard the engine make a funny noise, but it also might have been a low sound of distress from the village girl gripping the dashboard with one hand and her seat belt with another, knuckles nearly white.


    From the bed in the cab he could hear Seru wooping, clearly enjoying the ride. Gary''s voice came on the radio. ¡°Oh man! That was sick! Do you think this juggernaut goes through walls?¡±


    Nyx slammed his hand on the dashboard. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, we have a name! The Juggernaut!¡±


    Scattered applause from Seru and whoever was hiding up in the other bed.


    Corvayne cleared his throat. ¡°I''m glad we thought of a name right before you total it, Nyx.¡±


    The exiled noble flicked his hand dismissively. ¡°Pfft. I''m just getting us there faster.¡±


    The Source was visible a few minutes later, at first an unimpressive lump on the horizon. It was only three streams and twenty minutes of driving later that the form started to grow, and eventually it dominated the landscape, which was increasingly made up of shallow streams. Thankfully, the ground was harder and so the rocky crossings were pretty smooth by the time they passed the first toppled walls, black piles of stone growing out of the brown and yellow of dirt and scrub grass. The Source itself was dark stone as well, a mix of obsidian blacks and the wet red of what must have been part of a mesa the entire place was built from. Or an entire mountain: Corvayne guessed the structure was several miles around.


    From afar it didn''t look man made, but up close there was no mistaking that it was made from a jumbled mass of blocks and pillars, many of them collapsed and spewing out water to cascade down the sides. In places he could see shockingly green moss flanking the outflow of water, a patch of color and life in what otherwise was an imposing ruin.


    Most of the group took the stop as a sign to get out. Wick, having the high ground, whistled and called everyone but Mosh, Nyx, Varia and June to one side of the truck. Those four were already laying out tools and working on removing a small boulder from the front bumper.


    Wick, for as small as she was, had been blessed with a loud voice. ¡°Okay listen up! We are going to make 2 groups who go in, a third who stays with the truck. Who wants to stay with the truck?¡±


    Grunt raised his hand, as did Horton.


    ¡°Fine, Grunt you get up here as lookout, Horton help fix shit or get some rest.¡±


    Wick looked around.


    ¡°Okay, groups are, Me, Corvayne, Hari, Gary, Seru, Brines. Corvanye ask if Kirae wants to go in or stick with the truck.¡±


    Gary pumped his fist. ¡°YES! Cool kids group!¡±


    Everyone stared at him but he ignored them and ran over to Corvayne, practically bouncing and waving his hand around for a high five. Corvayne held his hand out and let Gary slap it, then with a finger directed his unasked-for disciple to pay attention.


    ¡°Other group: Lady Blood Claw, Spears, Ears, Reaper, Bearer, Mister I.¡±


    LBC mused. ¡°I think we''ve discovered a one Mosh problem. We have two people who are trained to Mend but one of them also fixes the truck.¡±


    Mister I smiled. ¡°Wouldn''t that be a one Mosh one Monk problem?¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°I''ve been working on a trick with my magic but it''s rough, which is why I took the two people least likely to get hurt exploring, and a bunch of people who they can probably carry out.¡±


    Hari still looked ill, having been made to take Mister I''s miracle hangover cure again. Whatever that was, it looked like it''s own effects were worse than the ailment it was made to address. Corvayne resolved to never get drunk again, especially if there was an operation coming up.


    Corvayne went up to their guide.


    ¡°Kirae, you can come with us if you really want to, but otherwise we figure you''d be fine staying inside our Truck.¡±


    She thought about it. ¡°What''s my split of anything we find?¡±


    Corvayne glanced at Wick. ¡°What''s her split?¡±


    ¡°One seventh. She can go with either group.¡±


    Corvayne translated for her. Kirae listened, thought about it, then started looking at both groups. She pointed at Lady Blood Claw''s group. ¡°Someone there can translate?¡±


    Hari rubbed her head, eyes carrying dark circles. ¡°What the hell, where''s your loyalty?¡±


    ¡°Always go with the... more interesting group of adventurers, they are probably stronger. Thanks, good luck!¡±


    Wick looked puzzled. ¡°I thought our groups were pretty even, HEY! Tell me why she''s going over there.¡±


    Hari spoke for Corvayne. ¡°She picked the weirder group.¡±


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Wick nudged Corvayne. ¡°Take off your workout pants.¡±


    ¡°Do I have to?¡±


    Wick snapped. ¡°Yes! I want the local guide with me!¡±


    ¡°Then why even ask her what she wanted to do?¡± Corvayne sighed. He yanked his pull-away workout pants off, revealing the bright red Jam-Jammies to the world.


    Kirae possibly broke some sort of land speed record wheeling back, as she already shaking Wick''s hand. ¡°I''ll be in your care.¡±


    ¡°I''ll have you know these are an artifact.¡± Corvayne said dryly.


    Kirae nodded. ¡°Obviously Sir Adventurer. Why else would someone wear something like that?¡±


    Corvayne didn''t think he cared much for his own pride, but he felt a little better that she got it. The groups took devices from Mosh to help 3D map the ruins, and a pair of high powered radios. There were two entrances, with LBC leading her group to a lower one across a flooded plaza, and Corvayne taking a steep rocky path near a waterfall. He was treated to a moss and tree draped covered terrace, water flowing over stonework to form the falls as it fell through ruined stone railings. The smell of damp mixed with the scent of something like mint, perhaps one of the hardy plants growing from the rocky terrace.


    Wick tested the radio and make sure everyone was on the same channel, then tucked it into a belt she was wearing over her robe. ¡°Magic communication should be on our list. Right up there with arcane Wi-Fi so we can browse the net on the road.¡±


    Gary added. ¡°Uh, but you''d probably have a set of items and you''d probably have to drive back to Cascadia to get on their network. At least, if it wasn''t just a ''wish'' artifact.¡±


    Corvayne tuned out Wick''s response, instead splashing over to the railing and looking out at the arid landscape, trying to ignore a bit of chilly water soaking through his ankles. There were hints of ruined walls stretching at least a mile out, a few jutting mesas, and dark lines where streams flowed, with a few showing hints of green.


    He just let his eyes play over the land, then froze when he caught movement. Black shape. A few miles off. He caught it again, impossibly far from where he first saw it. He was pretty sure it was skittering. He only relaxed a little as he watched for another few seconds and saw it wasn''t bee-lining for him. Whatever it was, it was faster than the truck but not kicking up dust as it moved.


    ¡°Wick, got binoculars? I think I see it.¡±


    He ignored her yelp and kept tracking the thing. It was not bipedal, for sure. It had a flat outline. As he watched, it''s color changed and he only spotted it a brief moment before he lost track of it.


    ¡°I didn''t see it!¡± Wick whined a little, clearly more excited to see the monster rather than the potential threat it was.


    Corvayne tried to guide her to where he thought it might go. ¡°Dark. Low to the ground. Can change color. Skips distances. Might be like Argyle was.¡±


    ¡°Well, you have experience fighting him.¡±


    ¡°This thing has a higher continuous speed. Also, Argyle killed us in a moment of inattention. All of us.¡±


    Wick wiggled a finger. ¡°They threat level we''ve seen is taking out lone people and goats. If it''s you vs the monster, I''d bet on you every time.¡±


    Corvayne looked around. ¡°I feel like honestly, UFOs and everything aside, we should have skipped this place.¡±


    Hari was huffing. ¡°I would have liked to... hah... wait a day.¡±


    Corvayne helped her stand upright. ¡°Sorry we keep upsetting your stomach.¡±


    ¡°It''s not you... it''s the stupid quack doctor.¡± Hari frowned and glanced back to where the other group was no doubt heading in.


    Wick patted them on the shoulder. ¡°We need to be here. I feel like the UFO was a sign. And I got a feeling that if we DON''T go in, we''ll regret it.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Okay. I trust you Wick. I''ll take point. Hari, can you watch our back? Gary, up front with me. Brines stick with Wick. Seru in the back with Hari.¡±


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Seru happily started patting Hari''s back, and the elf had to hold a hand up.


    ¡°Please don''t rock me.¡±


    Seru looked concerned. ¡°I''m not going to get a back full of desert porcupine quills?¡±


    Wick laughed. ¡°Not unless you start making out with Hari.¡±


    Seru shook her head. ¡°Don''t swing that way. Also, she''s pretty close to throwing up. Honestly Hari, just get it over with, you''ll feel better.¡±


    Hari flipped a segmented staff open, locked it, and used it to support herself. ¡°Seru, please.¡±


    Brines couldn''t help but put his hands on his hips. ¡°Instead of drinking so much, maybe have a fruit smoothie?¡±


    Hari glared at him and Brines moved to take cover behind Wick. ¡°Miss elf if you eat natural you''ll feel really good, trust me...¡±


    ¡°I''m an elf, what is you think I''ve eaten for my whole life? Salad, salad, and salad! Ahhh.¡± Hari hissed and pinched the bridge of her nose.


    Seru rubbed her back. ¡°I think you meant to say ''what is it that you think I''ve-''¡±


    Hari turned and looked daggers at her. ¡°You try talking and thinking in three languages with fucking hangover!¡±


    Seru blinked. ¡°You slipped into Elvish again.¡±


    Corvayne had heard enough and ironically found himself glad Gary was there to walk with him as he lead the way into the ruins. Kirae followed, and Wick was calling to wait up, meaning she was on the way. The air was even cooler inside The Source, though hints of warm air sometimes flowed past him. Corvayne''s boots of running were waterproof, which was good because the entire passage was a gentle stream a finger-length deep, flowing over tiles and around rocks strewn in what would otherwise be a large hall.


    Gary sputtered a little and turned on a flashlight, so Corvayne stepped a few paces ahead to avoid losing his night vision. A glow ahead illuminated the first set of branching paths, a elevated octagonal space with broken stone columns supporting a vaulted ceiling above. Corvayne could see pictures above the passages, lit by glowing stone laid around the room bathing everything in blue. Someone had slashed the walls half-heartedly, but he could see images of tall figures, walking, fending off monsters, and following a road. Spinning around, he saw the mural was a sort of spiral, figures growing larger as they moved around the circle.


    Wick startled him a little. ¡°Oh, so it''s a journey they kept doing, and it made them stronger? Or added more? You can see there are crowds, and the figures get bigger.¡±


    Gary snorted. ¡°The worlds oldest profession. Grinder.¡±


    Hari looked confused. ¡°I thought it was Archer?¡±


    Corvayne folded his arms. ¡°Bandit.¡±


    Wick slapped him playfully, then shone her own light down the passages, and then at the floor. ¡°The flow varies, but most of them are flowing into the room.¡±


    ¡°Ones flowing in should lead us up. Or do we go down?¡± Corvayne was sure she''d suggest up. The UFO was in the sky, it made sense you''d want a high vantage point.


    Wick looked conflicted. ¡°Up. No wait! Down. It''s down.¡±


    Corvayne raised an eyebrow. ¡°It?¡±


    Hari gestured. ¡°Corvayne, Kirae... come look.¡±


    She was by a flat stone. Someone had used it as a camp, as there was a burnt out pile of sticks there. There were also wet boot prints. Lots of big ones.


    ¡°Someone else must be here... can''t be more than a few hours as the camp is warm.¡± Hari spoke while dipping a hand in the cool water and splashing it on her forehead.


    Kirae looked between them. ¡°Look, some of the fuel for the fire was dried goat dung... the missing girl might be here.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Who else would the other boots belong to?¡±


    Kirae looked at them. ¡°Perhaps Bandits? Sometimes groups of men are pushed out here by the law. Most of the time they are half starved deserters who don''t know a thing about living off the land, and usually we find them lost and frozen if at all.¡±


    Corvayne frowned and related what Kirae said, spending some time looking down each passage as he spoke, looking for a hint of light. He didn''t feel like he was being watched, but the number of potential dangers had just jumped up, again. ¡°There must be at least ten, and they looked at the camp, then all went a particular way. Wick, are we going to look for trouble?¡±


    Wick cracked her knuckles ¡°Damn straight. They probably know where the treasure is. Or are chasing the girl. Either way, whatever I want is down.¡±


    Brines held a finger up, looking nervous. ¡°Perhaps they are also monster hunters, and we''ll make friends.¡±


    Wick sneered. ¡°That''s a poor theory, and coming from me that makes it pretty damn dire.¡±


    Following the other stream leaving the room, Corvayne lead them down steps. He slowed down, as the footing with a little bit of running water was slick, and there were points where the stones had been worn smooth. Corvayne nearly fell himself when a bit of crud Mister I had missed started jabbing the inside of his arm like an angry hornet, and he had to stop, roll his sleeve up, and pull out another black shard.


    ¡°If this keeps up I am going to have my own body weight in black crystals.¡± Corvayne muttered.


    Wick looked at the wound, and smirked. ¡°Watch this!¡±


    She uttered a word. ¡°[Rewind harm]¡± And the bleeding stopped. Until the shard appeared again and once more stung it''s way out of Corvayne. Wick looked confused. ¡°That should have worked, it moves your physical state back in time.¡±


    ¡°Hence the shard was in me a few seconds ago. A good lesson for trying to use it to undo something already happening I suppose.¡± Corvayne now had two bloody shards. Which didn''t make sense, wouldn''t the spell have put the old shard back... whatever. He flicked them into the stream as the path leveled out after a long shallow decent.


    ¡°Remember if you get lost, to go upstream to that room.¡±


    He heard either Gary or Brines (perhaps both) gulp.


    ¡°You know Corvayne, perhaps I should stay with the truck...¡± Brines started to speak.


    Corvayne held up a hand, then started creeping forward as he spotted the end of the tunnel and a figure sitting off to the side.


    Gary asked ¡°What''s the hand gesture mean?¡±


    Wick hissed behind him. ¡°It means SHUT UP.¡±


    Corvayne guessed that whoever was there must have heard them anyway, but wasn''t moving. A little closer and the reason was obvious; He saw that the figure was had a slit throat, as well as a hole punched into his skull. The stream flowed out of the tunnel off a ledge that circled an open space, and Corvayne could see other bodies, some bisected, others stabbed, and at least two more with punched skulls.


    Hari groaned. ¡°Dead bandits.... I bet the monster did it.¡±


    When she said that, Gary and Brines started throwing up, which started Hari throwing up.


    Corvayne could hear their guide mutter ¡°I picked the wrong group.¡± and he couldn''t find himself entirely disagreeing.

 Chapter 115: Live Bandits Dont Smell Great Either

    After a bit of throwing up and cleaning up from half the group, they were ready to move again. Corvayne led them down a gore soaked ramp that corkscrewed around the outside of a large cylindrical chamber. Cold water misted them from both the entrance they had come from and another part of the complex as they wound their way down and helped push some of the reek of death out of the chamber. There were more murals, mostly repeating the pilgrimage scenes he had seen before. He wasn''t fully paying attention, having set a glow stick near the top of the ramp that he was eyeing, as well as one near the bottom that hopefully would catch anything moving to attack.


    Bodies alone could mean anything, but how clean the kills were put him on edge. The bandits did not look like they had been wounded more than once or twice in each case, aside from the hole in the skull which on a closer inspection of a body seemed to not be leaking blood.


    One more he looked up then back down at the murky water the ramp was corkscrewing towards. There was also a cross passage too. If he was going to ambush someone, it would be down by the water or from a side passage.


    Hari meanwhile was using her [Investigate] skill on a body and frowned. ¡°Bandit-Cultist body.¡±


    Corvayne looked around. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°Bad gear, most of it damaged and poorly kept up. The good news is that my [Investigate] tells me they are much weaker than us, so even if this fight was catastrophic for them...¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°It might not be another Argyle situation.¡±


    Gary stammered out ¡°Uh you know, me and Brines could totally make sure the route back is clear.¡±


    ¡°Alone?¡± Wick looked between them. ¡°You know that if Corvayne fought these guys, he''d had made an even bigger mess.¡±


    He looked back at Wick. ¡°That''s part of why I''m worried. A few of these guys were killed by precision strikes. A regular monster probably doesn''t know that you can cut the inner thigh to kill someone nearly instantly.¡±


    Brines looked around. ¡°Four threats? A monster and an assassin?¡±


    ¡°These bodies are not very old.¡± Corvayne stated, wiping a hand off on one of his storage ring towels. ¡°We might be dealing with more than one monster, after all. The elders described one with a large sword....¡±


    ¡°Which wouldn''t make these kinds of wounds.¡± Hari gestured.


    ¡°Not unless the target is totally unaware. At least a few of these men had drawn weapons in their hands.¡±


    Gary blinked. ¡°Any good loot?¡±


    ¡°No. As Hari said: inferior weapons. Mosh makes far better stuff.¡± Corvayne looked down and with his toe pulled a net from under a slumped man.


    ¡°Maybe they were after the monster?¡±


    Nobody else had any other theories, and Wick was already ahead of him in the time he stopped to try to examine a body. Corvayne jogged downwards, air cool and damp as the sound of water falling and flowing came from the bottom.


    ¡°Wick slow down. We don''t know if it''s got a faster way down here.¡±


    Wick paused and sighed. ¡°Look, if it comes at us, we''ll kill it. No way some monster is more dangerous than a guy trained in a Tower for years and given hand picked artifacts.¡±


    ¡°I''d rather not find out if we don''t need to.¡± Corvayne frowned.


    Wick patted his shoulder and pointed at the walls. ¡°There''s answers down here. Don''t get all Scully on me now Corvayne. You''re the one who''s charged into zombie dragons for no reason.¡±


    The moment he heard the Z word Corvayne had a terrible chill run down his spine, and he had his spear out before his nose picked up the smell of rotting flesh.


    He saw the things start to rise from the water pooled near the bottom of the ramp, limbs reaching as a mixture of lumpy rotting flesh and odd fleshy segments rising up. It looked like the living parts were animating the dead.


    ¡°Gary, up here! Seru watch our back, the bodies behind us might get up.¡±


    There were at least thirty of them, and as they started to stumble on four legs up the ramp Corvayne used a shadow hand to pull out his fire knife. Shooting a jet of fire he ignited the first wave and could hear them make sounds like wet balloons deflating, shivering but stubbornly crawling at them.


    Wick aided him then with a blast of [Disrupt] that bounced between monsters, leaving trails of green and causing the first hit to simply fall apart.


    ¡°Hah, magic is keeping the thing together!¡±


    Corvayne didn''t gloat even as he started jabbing monsters and moving back, spraying with the dagger in short bursts to ignite anything that wasn''t already ablaze. ¡°These might be a distraction. Hari, keep alert back there!¡±


    Gary, to his credit, whimpered but stood next to Corvayne and followed his example, throwing out [Thrusts] to match Corvayne jabbing the slow moving monsters and backing off. It was almost a weapons drill, similar to the fight he had with waves of goblins but slower. He had to force himself to look forward and trust Hari, as he kept expecting an assassin to drop in the middle of their formation.


    It wasn''t until the last of the tumor-riddled zombies flopped to the ground that Corvayne realized there was no ambush.


    Corvayne looked about, taking a few even breaths. Gary was winded, but unharmed. Wick was resting, eyes closed. He knew she had mentioned meditating to help get her spells back to full power after using too many. Brines was glowing a little, a complex pattern overlaying the ground. Corvayne would have to ask him later what he was doing. Hari was still watching their flank but gave him a thumbs up. Kirae and Seru were near the wall, also looking for other possible hostiles or just staying away from the fight.


    His team intact, Corvayne looked to his surroundings. There could be more in the water, which meant he was going to keep the group clear of the passages down in the murk. There was no reason to go all the way down, not with a walkway between the two dry doors to the sides. On top of zombies, without knowing how deep it was it seemed like a poor idea in the already cold ruins to soak themselves. At best, they''d catch a cold.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    He pulled the mag light he kept in his ring out, and used it to look for more monsters both in the side tunnel and the water. He could see the current was flowing into something like a rip in the world. A Tower entrance? As he was watching, a pair of the zombies were squeezed from the hole and started sloshing towards him.


    Wick was watching them slowly wade towards the ramp, only taking a moment when they got close to blast them with [Disrupt].


    Wick hummed to herself then said, ¡°I bet it''s like those bigfeet we fought... like there were fifty all right near the portal.¡±


    Gary pointed. ¡°Oh, so it''s like a dungeon break? In stories when there''s too many monsters in a dungeon it spills out.¡±


    Wick shrugged. ¡°We don''t know how the tower works, but if dead fucking bodies are coming out of it I think we can put that rift down there as our last option for exploring this place.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I would likely be fine if it were ghosts, but I don''t have a zombie killing move.¡±


    Brines was flabbergasted. ¡°You are faced with the living dead, something that''s horrified people since the first cave dwellers thought about it, and that''s your problem?¡±


    Hari laughed and patted Brines''s shoulder. ¡°You will fight a lot of zombies in a standard party. Besides these are some sort of life variant, they are animated by a cancer that killed its host and kept going.¡±


    ¡°How was that supposed to make me feel better? Let''s get the hell out of here!¡±


    Hari rolled her eyes. ¡°I looked and they are not contagious, they are just dumb tough monsters. You have a flame thrower dagger too.¡±


    Corvayne guessed that Mend could fix a zombie disease if push came to shove, but was relieved anyway that he would hopefully avoid having to be a human taxi this week. He felt a sharp pain in his leg and found another splinter and pulled it out and tossed it in the water. Back to the mission. Or side mission.


    Corvayne started looked carefully at one of the exits. Aside from just admiring how well the stones fit together, he used his light to focus his attention on scrapes or little things left behind, and in a stroke of luck found a little blood marking the floor of one passage. ¡°I think this way... Wick? Hari? Kirae? Any input?¡±


    Kirae responded first. ¡°I don''t know if the person with the campfire could make it past those monsters. If the girl is still in the ruins I wouldn''t think she is this way...¡±


    Hari ¡°It might have happened suddenly and cut her off from the way out. Or been triggered by bandits dying. Or both.¡±


    Wick patted Corvayne''s shoulder. ¡°Any blood in the other passage?¡±


    Corvayne walked over to the other tunnel and looked, but there was no sign of passage.


    Hari was also crouched on the ground. ¡°It is more dangerous in the tunnel with the blood. But it might be because I know it''s a sign of whatever killed the bandits passing.¡±


    Wick perked up. ¡°Oh, does info change your assessment? So it''s not just some sort of augury to the universe?¡± Wick emphasized this with miming censor shaking.


    Hari shrugged. ¡°Knowing more makes it a more accurate signal from the voice of everything. If the beast can kill intruders that easily, either the girl is dead and we''ll find a body ahead, or the monster let her live and she''s ahead, or we were wrong and she''s off in another wing and it''s just bandits and monster. Or many monster.¡±


    Wick groaned. ¡°Forget the campfire we found, the bandits, the girl. Monsters! UFOS! Forward!¡±


    Gary nodded. ¡°Glory! Treasure! EXP!¡±


    Corvayne smiled at this deciple putting on a brave face. ¡°Good attitude Gary. You and me lead the way.¡±


    ¡°Err, less glory, less treasure, less EXP?¡± He offered lamely.


    Hari pushed him forward. ¡°You are never going to impress some goat-herder princess with that attitude.¡±


    ¡°Oooh, she''s a princess? Why didn''t you guys tell me?¡± Gary looked over at Kirae, who shook her head.


    ¡°Whatever he is asking me, tell him no.¡± Kirae said while looking at Corvayne.


    Corvayne nodded back to her, then turned to his deciple. ¡°Enough, Gary. We go in first. Less chatter, eyes and ears open.¡±


    The tunnel they were in was dry. No bandit bodies, but one zombie was laying off to the side of the path. Some of it''s limbs had been sheered clean off. The tunnel split into three paths, one leading into a room with broken stone pots, and one curling up with another curling down. The pot room had murals that to Corvayne looked like scenes of pilgrims meeting, and building things that looked like pyramids. Perhaps the source was one such one. The image showed more than one, and there were figures dictating to smaller builders orders or perhaps the builders were worshiping a king?


    ¡°Do any murals have text?¡± He turned to Kirae.


    ¡°The larger ones had words under them, but all the big ones I''ve seen were gouged.¡± Kirae walked over to a pot and lifted a stone top, bathing the room in light. She pulled out a glowing stone. ¡°I think this tunnel is new, somehow.¡±


    ¡°You''ve been here before?¡± Corvayne asked.


    ¡°Most of the kids sneak off to try to find treasure at some point. We usually went up instead of down.¡± She shrugged and put away a few of the colorful stones.


    Wick grabbed a few for herself. ¡°Maybe these are related to the UFO!¡±


    Corvanye was more worried about the monster, but he took pictures then lead the way further down, pushing past Brines and Seru.  Hari was still in the rear, keeping an eye on both the tunnel they came from and the upwards one.


    Picking down, Corvayne ran into a living pair of zombies and dispatched them with Gary, passing through a small dome-shaped room with what looked like a stone table but no other features. The next open area was a vast chamber, with a huge pillar supporting a dome like ceiling and fallen columns of stone peppered around stone devices. Corvayne guessed from the fragmented ones he saw that if they had been intact they''d be something like an infinity sign pinched at one end. The examples all had parts missing, with about eight of the stone objects visible. Someone had tried to fix one, with elements that looked like white plaster working towards creating a whole statue.


    He didn''t have a good vantage point for the rest of the floor, only that the room looked circular from the parts lit by the blue lights and that there were other tunnels along the wall. He let his gaze wander, looking for movement. He saw a dead zombie, sliced apart. It reminded him a little of hunting monsters near the town. A weird queasy mix of boredom and anxiety swirled in him.


    ¡°Any thoughts Gary?¡± He whispered.


    ¡°Looks like someone''s building a stargate.¡± The large man was twitchy. Corvayne nodded and put a hand on his shoulder. Wary was good. Nervous was usually counter productive. Gary put his chin up, and Corvayne went back to focusing on the environment.


    ¡°No UFOs here. I don''t see a passage up, and the UFO made a lot of light.¡± Corvayne added as the rest of the group was out of the tunnel and following him across the rubble strewn floor. He took his time, taking corners around fallen boulders wide. Despite the cold air he was sweating as he moved around pillars.


    He was perhaps a hundred feet into the ruins when he was sure that he was being watched. He saw something move for a moment from behind a pillar ahead of them, but in the dim light it was impossible to track the black blur.


    ¡°I saw it. No noise when it leapt down... move quiet.¡±


    ¡°I saw it too. Thing''s small.¡± Gary added.


    Corvayne didn''t respond. Underestimating an enemy based on size could be a fatal mistake. Especially one that was moving around like a silent lightning bolt.


    Wick pointed to a side tunnel. ¡°That one.¡±


    Corvayne frowned. The monster might have moved into it. ¡°I don''t know if I can protect you in a fight. Something about it... I think it''s more dangerous than the dead goats have let on.¡±


    There was a scream from the tunnel and Corvayne didn''t even think, running into the tunnel and down to where he heard shouting punctuating a woman screaming for help.


    He burst into the room and saw near a campfire a ragged looking man, hole visible in his head, holding a knife to a villager woman, then pointing it at something in the dark. Two other bandits were there, also facing away from the fire.


    Corvayne stopped running, and when he blinked, something was moving at the bandit, and a moment later the man was dead, and one of his allies was trying to pull the girl to him. His arm a moment later was cut in half, cleanly.


    The woman fell down and shielded herself as a spider-like monster appeared, six red eyes looking between the last standing bandit and the girl. The man charged and the monster flipped into a fore-limb what looked like a bone knife and took his throat while sliding around the scimitar. Corvayne was shocked at how smoothly it happened, as if they had both practiced the motion thousand times. The man slumped to the ground gurgling, dead by the time woman pushed herself away from the body and the spider.


    The monster, however, ignored her. Instead, it turned to stare down Corvayne.

 Chapter 116: Stalker in the Dark

    Corvayne had a moment to look at the Spider before it started to circle him, slower than he expected. The girl was trying to scramble away from it, and Corvayne stepped away from her, hoping that the monster would focus on him given he was armed.


    The armed insect passed it''s two knives between it''s hands once, then twice, six red eyes on it''s head blinking separately. In the firelight Corvayne guessed that Kirae had been right, it was about the size of a large goat. It''s face had some sort of plating on it, perhaps it''s mandibles. No large fangs, so unless they were hidden it probably didn''t inject venom. Given how fast it had killed the three bandits that had been near the fire, there was likely no need for it. The shape and black carapace reminded him of a spider but it only had six limbs.


    ¡°That''s it. Eyes on me. She''s not a threat.¡±


    Gary came running down the slope into the room and Corvayne quickly strafed to get front of him. The insect vanished then popped into view flipping it''s blade backwards like an assassin, then noted where Corvayne went and the insect pivoted back to get out of spear range, watching Corvayne. Corvayne didn''t dare take his eyes off the insect but grabbed Gary''s shirt before the man could charge further at the bug.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Corvayne commanded him, and Gary froze.


    ¡°It''s going to kill you if you fight it. The thing moves too fast. I''m going to keep it''s attention on me. Get that girl, and get her out of here.¡±


    The bug clicked at him a few times, tapped two of it''s limbs together, scratched the ground, then fluffed it''s wings. Corvayne had no idea what it meant but kept his weapon up, not moving to attack but slowly shielding Gary''s path along the wall to where the girl was.


    He had fought fast things before. Mirage Vipers. You couldn''t fight them by thinking. It took too long. You had to just move. He loosened himself up a little, thinking about the spear dance. It was like letting his shadow limbs just act, but with his whole body. Trust yourself. Just put your weapon in the enemies way. They either bleed or retreat.


    Gary reached the girl and the monster turned, and Corvayne used his boots of running and [Flows-Like-Water] to intercept the insect''s path. It vanished and appeared right in front of him, one knife sliding his spear aside while it''s other tried for his hand. Corvayne moved back and the blade bounced off his haft, but a third limb on the monster formed a bladed three finger knife palm and aimed for his inner thigh. Corvayne''s shadow hands shot out and he lowered his gravity to push himself back off the monster''s wrist. There was a wet sound as it managed to grazed him and for a moment Corvayne was sure he was going to see half his leg missing, but instead a glob of jelly broke off from his pants and orbited him. He felt the cold air of the ruins only a moment before the leg resealed.


    When it vanished the next time, Corvayne pushed his shadowy arms out and pivoted, and the bug vanished before it could plunge a knife into Gary. He caught sight of where it had moved, near the fire, but the spider didn''t waste time, popping in to try to jab him then away with a faint puff of something Corvayne felt rather than saw. Corvayne risks a glance behind him at Gary putting himself between the monster and the girl, holding his own spear in a useless parry.


    The bug appeared next to his disciple causing the girl to scream and Gary pivoted, trying to block and stop it from getting at the woman. The monster in midair moved it''s knife from a path at Gary''s throat to slice his wrist. Gary dropped his weapon and fell to the ground, clutching his hand as it started to bleed and shrieking.


    Corvayne used [Cross-Skill: Whirling Axe] and flung a blade of green at the insect, and it avoided getting sliced apart but had one of it''s knives knocked loose. It then popped into the corner of the room. Corvayne watched as it fluttered it''s back wings and then reared it''s butt at him. He was expecting it to try to shoot a dart or acid, but instead it birthed another knife, several teeth on it''s back carving or weaving a clear hilt on the blade. One hand reached behind it, then armed again with two knives it vanished vanished. Corvayne guessed where it would show up and activated [Juxtapose], swapping him with surprising ease.


    He aimed his spear at it''s back and the thing caught it with a limb it flexed around. Corvayne didn''t draw blood as whatever it''s hand or claws were made of seemed to be as strong as his spear. The monster flicked one of it''s other limbs out and sliced his hand before it landed and hissed and chittered at him.


    Corvayne called back, eyes straining to both stay on the bugs lightning fast movement as well as not blinking. ¡°Gary get up! Get her out of here!¡±


    The spider hissed and dove at him, and Corvayne just barely got his spear up to push the bug out of the way rather than slice it. There was a sudden itch on his cheek, suggesting a very fine cut. He hoped that the spider hadn''t landed a serious wound on him. He couldn''t feel it make another cut on his neck that was dripping blood, just he registered something warm was hitting his shoulder. Either he had gotten grazed or another shard was popping out.


    ¡°My fucking hand isn''t working!¡± Gary cried out.


    While he was trying to talk the spider vanished and he felt something hit his armor in the heart. Not hard like Argyles staff, but almost perfectly aimed. Another glob of jelly popped out as the spider-thing vanished.


    Corvayne ducked and felt a blade glide by his ear. He felt the tip of his ear sting and he resisted the urge to check if he was missing a chunk. The monster was above him, and Corvayne slapped it with low gravity before it reached him, slowing the monster''s fall and causing it to tumble as Corvayne rolled away from it then pivoted to stab it, only hitting air.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    It appeared again far away and used what must have been a spell to just pop into the right orientation without any of it''s legs moving. It was a hint it wasn''t bending time, as was something like a tug of war with his power as the monster fixed it''s own weight, then hissed and clicked and tapped the ground at Corvayne.


    Gary and the girl were now both slowly edging their way to the door. Corvayne closed ranks as he heard Wick call from the entrance. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡±


    ¡°Wick DON''T come in. The monster is insane-¡±


    The spider moved then, popping next to Gary. Corvayne used [Juxtapose] on Gary and felt the knife try to jab his leg but fail to get purchase with the Jam-Jammies, summoning another meteor. It slashed at him again, it''s blade close to his eyes but Corvayne moved a little bit away as something clicked with it''s pattern of attack. It charged him with a one-two aimed at his face then his leading arm. He backed away a little and lifted his arms out of the way and felt the flat of the blade for a moment. The next attack was from the side but he knew the monster would go in low and that he could avoid being cut open by pivoting.


    The bug was fighting with the exact same style that Untouched-By-Arrows taught him. While the spider could appear anywhere, it wasn''t too different from his instructor''s footwork and insane speed. Corvayne was just as outclassed but it felt like any number of sparring matches that he had done before. He felt the instincts he had honed on the dirt arena in his village take over.


    Untouched, in an odd coincidence, called his style ''Spider Queen'' and it was a brutally efficient style that depended on reading the enemy, so Corvayne stopped thinking, stopped trying to score hits and just fell into the spear dance, using his weapon only to discourage the little trades where a knife might open a cut or try to snip a muscle or even hit the straps of armor. He didn''t bother trying to leverage his reach, as his weapon was just too slow even held like a quarterstaff. He didn''t feel slow. It felt like everything had slowed down, and suddenly he could see both the spider''s rapid movements on the ground near him, and his arms seemed to sense when it was warping, letting him turn, and duck, and sometimes even leap over the razor sharp blade.


    It might have been a minute, or two, but the bug relented and blinked back, stopping near the fire. It took a few breaths, little feelers wiggling, holding it''s knifes out ready for an attack, but just watching Corvayne.


    Corvayne slowly took his spear, and placed it at rest next to him. He didn''t think about what it meant, just watched and let his body move. If she attacked, he''d stop her. If she sat there, he''d do nothing.


    The spider looked at it''s knives, then put one to it''s face, which unfolded to show off what looked like three tiny human jaws. They started moving and quickly became a blur, then there was a deep hum as it ate it''s knives, one right after the other, creating a small puff of grit. The bug dusted it''s hands off, then pointed it''s back forward and started squeezing a different weapon out. A bone two handed Katana fell into the bug''s hands and it shifted into a stance, then used [Draw].


    Corvayne used [Flows-Like-Water] as a reflex and managed to avoid getting tagged by it''s blade. It was only because the monster was like a centaur version of Moon-Laughing-with-Stars, using four legs to charge better then his katana instructor could but still the tell-tale explosive hunch into a slice. He could feel the essence of the beast it''s attack even while he slipped around it in his flow state. It felt to him like an army of ants in lockstep, the strong feeling a sign of mastery of the two handed katana.


    The spider swung around and readied a shadow step. Corvayne took a deep breath as the spider blurred then activated [Juxtapose] and felt a disjoint. The monster turned and spun and Corvayne ducked under [Great Crecent Moon Drop], leapt above [Swaying With A Hunter''s Touch], bent backwards as the spider rushed him while using [A Breeze Through Open Trees]. There was a moment where the spider stopped, and tried to use [Sheath The Life] by tapping it''s blade on the ground.


    Instead of spurting blood everywhere, Corvayne just shrugged at the monster, who seemed confused and used [Sheath The Life] again, looking between it''s sword and Corvayne and trying a third time.


    ¡°You know you need to hit me for that to work.¡± Corvayne said.


    Any levity in his voice drained when saw the spider holding it''s blade in front of it in a stance he didn''t recognize. Suddenly his flow state was broken as he realized it was about to bust out some totally new move and he had NO idea how he had dodged all of those previous strikes. Sweat started to pour down his neck as he thought about his instructors had always dismantled him after toying with him. Worse, he was in a spot where Wick was behind him.


    Corvayne activated [Cross Skill: Shield Wall] forming a wall of crossed spears as the monster slashed the air and a black Crescent flew out and crashed through his ghostly defense as if it was made of paper. Corvayne felt a ripping sensation on his right arm, and a burning sensation on his left. The force against his chain mail knocked him over, rolling him like a wrecking ball into Wick and Hari behind him. The only good thing was they sounded dismayed rather than mortally wounded.


    Corvayne used his good arm to push himself up and saw the spider looming over him and rolled over to cover Wick as the monster raised it''s blade.


    There was a pause, and Corvayne cracked an eye open to look behind him at the monster.


    The monster still had it''s sword up, but one of it''s legs was gently reaching for his neck. Instead of a brutal chop, there was a little prick as it pulled a little tiny black splinter from him, dropping it''s sword with a click to stare like it had never seen black crystal before, both hands cupping it.


    Corvayne picked up Wick and grabbed Hari and pulled them to their feet. He noticed his arm was covered in blood. Whatever the shard was doing to the monster, he wasn''t going to waste it.


    ¡°RUN!¡±


    Brines and Seru and Kirae were already moving away from them, with the girl they rescued supporting Gary as they jogged away from the room. Corvayne considered picking up Hari and Wick but stopped as the Spider appeared between him and Seru ahead, blade slung over it''s shoulder and it''s hand pointing at him.


    Hari started to draw her rapier but Corvayne clamped her hand. He knew better than to tangle with it. It was as good as any master, and so he waited for Hari and Wick to back up and start making for the tunnel, then used [Flows-Like-Water] to move right through it, pounding ground to get to the tunnel.


    A moment later it was in front of him, sword pointed out forcing him to stop. It ignored the two girls running past it. Hari turned back. ¡°Corvayne!¡±


    Corvayne held his hands up. ¡°You two. Go. It wants me.¡±


    Wick had to grab Hari, who looked numb. ¡°Don''t be stupid! Corvayne''s got this...¡±


    Seru stopped to run back and help Wick drag Hari away. ¡°We''ll get Grunt and Spears down here... just stall it!¡±


    Corvayne nodded, eyes not entirely leaving the blade pointed at him. ¡°Thanks Seru. Whatever happens, I think I was wrong about you before.¡± He saw Seru wavering. ¡°Go! Before it changes it''s mind.¡±


    With that, he was alone in the tunnel, silent but for his own and the insect''s breathing, blade pointed at him.


    It clicked at him. Corvayne just shrugged. The monster lowered it''s blade and Corvayne waited, seeing if it was testing him. The spider blinked but didn''t attack, instead moving near him to hold up the black shard it had pulled from him, waving it practically in his face.


    Corvayne lowered his hand and used his spacial ring to produce another one. ¡°Are you hungry for them or something?¡±


    The thing seemed excited, grabbing the little chunk of metal or crystal and bobbing a little bit, and it would be almost comical except for the beatdown it had delivered <u>not</u> two minutes ago, and that it had grown an extra two limbs while losing a pair of eyes in the span of two seconds. If it didn''t have the sword a few inches from him, he''d have thought it was a different monster all together.


    Then it turned to face the direction his friends had gone.


    Corvayne tried to move to block it, and the monster held it''s sword and pointed to his side, behind him, gesturing at him, then back, waving its arms around. He didn''t know what it wanted, but he knew that if it decided to shred him, he''d be dead. If it decided to spare him and hunt his friends... he''d be alone again.


    Corvayne blinked and the monster in front of him was gone. He turned and saw it running down the tunnel the direction Wick and Hari had gone, and Corvayne could only say ''FUCK!'' as he started to run after it.

 Chapter 117: Spider Vs Cultists on a Lost Temple

    The spider vanished, teleporting into the hallway his friends had ran down, and Corvayne started running as fast as he could, feeling a little light headed from losing blood. The spider had cut enough muscle that his right arm was out of commission. He could fight one handed with a spear, but it was awkward at best. He tried not to trip as he put his spear away and drew his fire-breathing dagger and he slowed to a jog, his muscles complaining about sprinting and fighting non stop the last few minutes.


    Corvayne saw two lumps ahead, and he prepared himself to see two of his friends dead, throats slashed. He got closer and was instantly relived to see they were tumor zombies that had been cut down since they had passed that way. He entered the large spiral chamber up and saw his friends all alive and well, if not looking confused. He figured it out when he saw the spider teleport from the top of the ramp down by him, and make a weird hand motion towards itself, then pop forward to look back.


    ¡°Sort of like a dog.¡± He muttered as the spider ignored Hari who was inching around it. It made a sort of stomping dance while facing Gary and the girl supporting him, but didn''t move to attack them, rather teleporting behind Corvayne when he stopped and prodding him with a palm.


    ¡°I get it! I get it. Going.¡±


    Corvayne spoke as he started jogging up the slope. ¡°It wants me to follow. Stay together, get back to the truck. If I don''t come back...¡±


    Wick slapped him on the shoulder as he passed. ¡°Don''t give us that bullshit!¡±


    Corvayne slowed to say something back but the spider appeared behind Wick and gently picked her up and put her off to the side of the ramp, then it took Corvayne''s hands and tugged him to follow. The thing''s hand was warmer than he expected, it''s hands sort of like a dog''s padded paw rather than carapace. After a few steps it let go to blink ahead.


    Corvayne let his boots help him run but to his annoyance he found the spider still moved faster than him, blazing a trail up and slowing or teleporting back down the ramp to keep prodding him.


    It reached the stream spilling from the tunnel and actually didn''t seem to like the water too much, slapping it''s legs with black energy and running along the ceiling instead of the floor, all the while being surprisingly quiet.


    ¡°Is that gravity magic?¡±


    The thing didn''t respond, and Corvayne heard sloshing ahead. Far too many feet unless the entire team had left the Truck to come aid him. No, definitely not right. He could see something glowing green mixed in the the blue light spilling from the water logged intersection.


    The sword bug above him had slowed and was readying it''s weapon.


    He was about to cry out for it to wait but he saw it wasn''t his crew ahead. They were using torches lit with green fire, and there was something wrong about the way they moved. Corvayne gripped his dagger. Perhaps there WAS a necromancer afoot after all? He snapped to attention as the men started falling apart, the dark shadow of the monster he had been following twirling.


    Closer to the commotion, he noticed the men were not crying out, or talking besides to grunt a little as they swung their weapons or died. He also saw something glowing in their foreheads. He had to shield his eyes when one of them started spewing green fire out of his mouth at the spider. The monster was too fast and the bandit ended up hitting his friends instead. Another flung a green energy net that the monster vanished out of the path from, the net hitting another bandit then sliding right through the man, causing the bandit to fall apart. Corvayne was trying to decide friend or foe when one of the swarthy men turned to him and started breathing a cone of green fire down the tunnel.


    As the flames neared Corvayne used [Cross-Skill: Flows-Like-Water] and for some reason felt extra liquid, maybe from having water right there. A moment later he appeared next to the man and knocked him to the ground with the back of his spear.


    ¡°Kill him! He''s with the little bitch!¡± A bandit with a mask snarled. The spider had popped up on the ceiling to avoid a flaming skull that was trying to home in on it, so that left Corvayne with ten men spread out in the intersection of tunnels. One of them tried to hit him with an energy whip, and Corvayne had seen it shear rock so he shrugged and moved around the man and used [Backstab], killing him then with some footwork moving back into the dark of a tunnel.


    There was another burst of fire, nearly scorching Corvayne as he rolled through water away from the green flames. He could see that the bandit had killed two of his allies, their burnt bodies falling to the ground.


    The spider dropped then, landing on two feet and standing head and shoulders taller than the men. Corvayne should say, it looked like a humanoid warrior then, falling into a spin that left a trail of flower petals then using [Sheath-The-Life] to kill the remaining bandits, bodies falling into the stream.


    He heard Wick coming up behind him, panting from sprinting. ¡°What the hell is going on? Who did she just kill?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, these guys were trying to kill me too!¡± Corvayne called back.


    The Spider didn''t wait for him or Wick, teleporting towards the light of the exit.


    ¡°Why are we helping the spider?¡±


    ¡°It spared me, possibly you too. Also, it knows my people''s moves. It might be a cursed villager.¡± Corvayne held up his arm. ¡°You wouldn''t be able to fix this with that spell, would you?¡±


    Wick mumbled something. ¡°No, you took too long. It has a limit of a few minutes.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged and popped open a water bottle Mister I had mixed a potion into. It didn''t fix his arm but helped with the dizziness.


    ¡°I''m going to keep tabs on it. Go to the truck, allright Wick?¡±


    Wick nodded and Corvayne ran out of the exit. As he stepped onto the balcony he heard gunfire and what sounded like the din of battle. If there were gun shots they were almost certainly his friends firing at something. He scrambled down the rocks and around a bend on the high ground and saw that their truck had moved to block the top of a ramp up a cliff-side, and an army of men in dark colors were mounting both horse and running charges at the choke point. The truck was also being pelted by arrows and had bits of green fire sticking to it, and Corvayne could see three masked men and a clump of archers pelting the truck from a high point amongst The Source''s tendrils of broken walls.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    Corvayne moved to a boulder and activated his cape. As he was plotting his route, one of the masked figures raised an arm.


    ¡°Halt!¡±


    Like clockwork the men stopped. Corvayne could see little hints of green fire on all them, and they didn''t seem to mind the machine gun still killing ones who had been charging. They turned, the mist of red still blowing open their ranks. The man in the mask didn''t seem to care either, and only after whoever was firing in the truck stopped did the man speak again.


    ¡°My GOOD friends! We need not waste so many useful lives. Help us capture The Wizard, and we will invite you into the fold!¡±


    The turret stopped for a moment, and Grunt flipped open a hatch and mimed holding a hand to his ear.


    ¡°We know your contraption will run out of magic before I run out of men. We are all humans!¡±


    Grunt folded his arms.


    The man in the mask put a hand up to the mask as if to look at him, then put a fist in front of his mouth before speaking again. ¡°You need not be skeptical, my half ogre friend. Our elites are treated well, not like the rabble here.¡±


    Grunt mimed thinking, then flipped the bandit off, closing the hatch and Corvayne could see the gun bob and click as another box of ammo was slotted into the weapon.


    ¡°Fine. Kill them all!¡±


    The Masked figure lobbed a green fireball at the truck, and Corvayne started moving as the insane mob started running into the grinder. He saw a shiny globe fly out and hit the fireball, bursting it before it got to the truck. He saw the dust flying up a moment before the shockwave hit him. Whatever the spell was, he wasn''t sure even The Juggernaut could take a direct hit. The figures on the hill fell over, then got back up and started charging up the ramp. Moments later the machine gun started drilling through them, the sound almost like firecrackers as it swept a wave of death through the men mindlessly throwing their lives away. Even if they got to the top, the Truck had been parked like a literal wall across the passable terrain. The only wild card here were the wizards.


    The spider appeared near him, tapping his shoulder. It had switched back to it''s small six legged form.


    ¡°Yeah?¡± Corvayne looked over at it. The spider pointed at the mage, who was channeling another spell.


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°I would think Mister I would just-¡±


    There was the retort of a big rifle and the masked man''s head flew off. ¡°He would just do that.¡± Corvayne gestured.


    The spider tapped him and pointed back at the spot, using one of it''s padded fingers to push his chin to pay attention to the scene. From his rock, Corvayne could see one of the archers run up to the head, grab the blood splattered mask, and put it on then fly back into formation and start casting spells.


    The figure even started laughing. ¡°Death cannot stop me, small minded Artifacers!¡±


    Corvayne mimed pulling a mask off and throwing it away. The spider mimed it as well, then shivered it''s body back to it''s wings, then blinked down the path to the lower scrub as the sound of battle continued. Watching the spider he could see it''s skin change color and it seemed to be able to run flattened in a sort of cockroach configuration. Corvayne did his best to move low and quiet, passing the first gap in the black stone walls and dusty yellow grass, circling around to get behind the formation.


    The spider moved first, darting out and leaping into the air, dropping two daggers into a mage. Corvayne moved after them, watching as both figures dropped to the ground. The spider grabbed the mask and gestured, hissed, then ran, trying the gesture a few times as a fireball exploded behind it. Corvayne tried to lighten his gravity to leap at a man and felt something block it as a mage pointed a ring at the spider and fired a white energy net at them. It hit the bug but didn''t stop it, just slowed it as it started dragging the mage slowly behind it, legs changing into four as it turned into what looked like a rhino as it stomped and pushed.


    Corvayne could see they were turning to focus fire at the spider, and had a moment where he had to really decide between bandit-cultists and the spider. They had both attacked his friends, though the spider had stopped.


    Looking at the masks... the bandit mages looked like The Magus''s mask, which tipped the scales. Corvayne whipped a [Cross-Skill: Whirling Axe] at the flying mage who was pinning the spider, activating the dagger as he did and creating a spinning disk of fire. It blasted right through the flying wizard, slicing him apart and breaking the spell in the ring. Almost instantly Corvayne had to dive away from a dozen arrows as the archers retaliated. There was a hint of something sloshing again inside of him. Maybe he was started to feel what they called the ''high of battle''?


    He scrambled back to cover and saw that the Spider had darted around a wall and was struggling with the mask, using two hands to try to hold it steady. It then put it up to it''s mouth and with a buzz ate or ground it down, spitting out a little green ember that whined as it extinguished itself on the sand.


    ¡°Oh so that''s how you kill it?¡± Corvayne said, not expecting an answer. He then popped out from cover and blasted a wave of fire at a pair of archers trying to get around the rock. One of them had already retrieved the mask he had knocked down. The other mage flung a fireball at him and Corvayne used [Cross-Skill: Flows-Like-Water] and slid past it, moving into melee with the archers. He stabbed two then used Juxtapose on one inhaling, pushing him to blow a cone on fire out at the other bandits while Corvayne started the dagger ablaze and used [Cross-Skill: Circle of Death], twirling out another wave of his own fire that at least knocked the mass of men over, sending a few tumbling into the stream bed.


    Corvayne didn''t have time to follow up, as he saw a wall of green fire falling onto him. Stinging pain rolled over him and there was a hiss as his armor summoning a bubble a moment before the hose of high power fire completely fried him. It might have saved him, but he could feel himself burning under the armor, which was now oven hot and full of scalding wet air. He was also nearly blinded by the sudden billowing cloud of steam, but so were the archers near him. Corvayne felt the sloshing feeling in himself grow and he leaned into it, opening his eyes and moving over to an archer and trying to apply gravity to lighten them.


    His gravity power failed, but he didn''t slow, the sloshing making his muscles bulge and as he moved his damaged arm knit itself back into peak form just as he got his hands on the man''s shirt then fling the wounded bandit at a hazy dot he was sure was the floating mage. The man flew like a rocket and slammed into the mage while flying onwards, both of them twisting like dolls with their strings cut as they arced and plummeted.


    Corvayne watched the mage hit the ground and saw the spider dart around his troops then bury it''s knives into him. With a foot it pinned the mask down and chewed it apart. There was a shot, and the last mage dropped to the ground, his neck a mess. Corvayne saw the head start to roll towards him and put his hand between his face and the figure as the severed head flew to him like a loadstone. Corvayne saw the mask''s glowing green fire between his fingers and could feel it trying to get at his face, pressing into his hand like ten thousand pounds of weight.


    For a moment Corvayne felt his arms tire, and there was crack as one of his fingers broke from the force pushing at it. Even his shadow hands were bracing him. He grunted in pain, it hurt all over and he could hear the dead man''s lips moving under the mask.


    ¡°Give yourself to me. Give yourself to us.¡±


    The sloshing feeling grew and Corvayne used both hands and grapsed the mask and slammed it into the ground, flicking the head off as the mask was now writhing and bucking, trying to get him to slip up so it could get to his face. Another finger broke but the sloshing was stronger and Corvayne embraced it as it crested, a wave inside him.


    ¡°No... way... you''re... taking... me.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t have the buzzsaw teeth that the spider did, so he pushed his shadow hands onto the mask and then started twisting it with his hands, fingers that it had broken cracking as they mended in a moment. Corvayne ignored the gore that had stuck to it when it''s previous owner''s head fell away, his whole being on holding and twisting the mountain of power in the artifact.


    There was a crack then and Corvayne snapped the mask into two then smashed the pieces together before they could slip through his hands, the entire mask shivering for a moment before he crushed it, shattered against itself into a little ball of shards. When he let the pile of grit in his hands fall, he laughed a little. His hands were dusty but whole.


    In fact Corvayne felt great everywhere. His arms itched a little, but he couldn''t believe how fast they healed. His burns were gone, the skin already replacing itself as the old skin and blisters just dissolved. On top of that, despite using a few cross skills and onging blood loss, he felt more awake than ever. He looked around for the next fight, and saw the entire army was falling over, twitching, the green fire winking out both where bolts of fire had landed and in the holes the bandit-cultists had drilled into their skulls. Even the horses were collapsing.


    He saw the spider coming up to him and Corvayne offered a it a hand to high five. The spider held it''s hand up, and waved it in a circle near his, then moved gracefully around him to go use four limbs to pick up the mask shards and inspect them, then grind them down. Corvayne stepped away to let it do it''s thing, heading back towards the truck while picking his way through a near carpet of both dead bodies and catatonic bandits. The rolling feeling left him twitchy and he kept waiting for everyone laying down to stand up so he could fight again.


    He put his dagger away and pulled out his spear, flowing through a few exercises, only stopping when he considered that that they had won already and he was acting a little odd. He slowed and looked for an intact bandit in the carpet of them laying around.


    Flipping a relatively bloodless body over, Corvayne could see the man was breathing but unresponsive to any stimulus, including a fairly hard kick to the ribs. Some of Corvayne''s energy faded as his arms and burns started to itch. The entire battlefield reeked of death, unwashed men, and burnt flesh. His heat from fighting and running was turning to a cold layer of sweat, and he started thinking about the fact that he had killed more than a few people just now. He didn''t throw up this time, if only because he kept his head up and kept walking, trying not to trip on bodies.


    Corvayne had to slow down as he made his way towards the truck just because there were piles of the dead. He made sure to call out before he stepped into the turret''s killing field.


    ¡°It''s me!¡±


    Grunt''s head popped up from the top of the truck and he smiled and nodded, then frowned and pointed at Corvayne.


    ¡°What?¡±


    Grunt pointed at his own arms frantically, and Corvayne looked down.


    He saw gleaming shards starting to erupt from his skin, itching as the rolling feeling inside of him seemed to push them out. Then, he felt something bursting in him and he manged to gurgle ¡°HELP!¡± before everything went dark.

 Chapter 118: Pain and Understanding

    Hari dunked the purifier tube into the river and watched the clear snake-like trinket fill the bucket in agonizing slowness. The fellowship had been boiling water and washing rags and trying to stay on top of keeping Corvayne alive, plugging holes in him made by shards of black glass that popped up like a crop of worms in summer rain. She had taken her bucket far behind the truck, a few hundred paces away as directed from Lady Blood Claw. They had a bounty of water from the closer of the two crystal clear streams, yet it had taken Hari a full trip before she realized this activity was a distraction. It was a break from watching her lover slowly dying in agony. In theory it would be a perfect time for her to step up, investigate, and figure out the problem so they could try to come up with a solution.


    Her spells had no traction on whatever was happening to Corvayne. Her book had no clue what the ailment was.


    She hadn''t been able to help Corvayne with the spider, tripping him up rather than backing him up. She hadn''t helped with the battle either, catching the end from the high bluff near The Source. She hadn''t been there to catch him.


    Wick had reacted first, and Hari saw her pushing up the hill with Corvayne trying to drag him with her, snapping at everyone present to keep him alive, running to find Mister I, whipping out orders for everyone to drop pretty much everything and aid Mister I, yanking off Corvayne''s ring to get as many healing potions as she could muster. Good moves, all while Hari was still reeling from trying to process what was happening and her own value as a team mate. The moment she snapped back to attention and offered help to Wick, her other lover retreated to her room to see if there was something in the copied summoning book that might be able to fix Corvayne. Later, going back to her room to change clothes her ears caught Wick''s frustrated sobs and so took it that Wick knew what she was doing was an arrow into the dark.


    Lady Blood Claw, whom Hari thought of as the third leader, had been rolling through a thousand colors, ones that to Hari suggested she had her own regrets. The big alien had taken over from Wick getting people organized over the last four hours, and had been the one who pried Hari away from Corvayne''s side to send her on a chore away from camp. Down by the far stream bank, there wasn''t the noise and chaos of Mister I trying to deal with both Corvayne''s injury and Mosh getting burned nearly to death defending the truck. There was no lingering scent of rot and ash when the winds shifted. In theory her mind should be fertile cleared of all the stumps and rocks. Instead it was worse as the sandy stream offered no distractions for her to latch onto.


    All Hari had to do was look in the bucket at the water and she could see her face. She had never like how rounded and human her face looked, as much as she found it fetching in others. She hated her face even more with red puffy eyes, shifting slightly when she looked down into the slowly rising purified water.


    She was fixated though on the bucket, the slow and inevitably filling of water, knowing that it would on it''s own keep going until it overflowed. She tried to look up at the dimming evening sky, or back at the lights coming on outside the truck. Or up at the two moons she could see, one probably a rocky, barren world with no air, the other a diamond that glittered, reflecting sunlight which came from the star they were pinned to by gravity. All tremendous secrets sages had hinted at, secrets she knew now that felt empty and pointless. She looked back at the bucket, how it slowly filled on it''s own.


    Looking at the bucket, and herself looking at it, the words danced into her mind: Inevitable. Overflowing. Failure. She pulled out a little pocket trinket that was a Cascadia thesaurus and tried to turn her obsession with the word into something productive. She was good with languages! Corvayne might have a trick for it, but she knew Elvish, Common, Imperial, Dwarven, a little Gnomish, and now Cascadian, which had some other lich-sounding name that she discarded. Cascadian was a terrible language with a bloated vocabulary, right down there with trying to learn Gnomish. If she mastered it, she knew there were other more sonorous languages used on some world that were bilingual, and... that made her see herself alone on a bench in a train station, learning from a book. She had a vision of endlessly trying to fill more buckets, and getting to the top and emptying it to start another, without end, all trying to not look at herself.


    What got her out of her head was that the real bucket in her hands was almost full of water and Corvayne was dying. Undine had told her about times where people she knew would take sick or become injured in a way that was like a boat taking on water. The thought kept kicking up in her mind, or sliding back to let her recall Corvayne dive for Wick as the monster charged them. Not her. It wasn''t her. Wick... wouldn''t dive for her either. She''d dive for Corvayne.


    Hari pulled the hose from her bucket and ran back to the camp anyway, back to the commotion of the medical tent. Back to where she was trying not to think it might be the last. Perhaps time would rewind, and they''d be on Cascadia and laugh about mistakes they mad and everything would be fine.


    Mister I had been pulling those shards out for at least a few weeks. Lady Blood Claw had seen things like it, feedback from bad power combinations. Corvayne might never live beyond this day, no matter how many times they went back. Would this sequence of trying to keep him alive be a loop, a nettle strung little circular path around a tree, one that would bleed her dry?


    Hari blinked as she realized she had arrived at her destination, one of the many sets of fires going on the flat stretch of ground the truck was parked at. June, having been a washerwoman possibly for ages, had some sort of skill that helped her clean bandages faster than anyone else, and she was sitting near a raging fire heating kettles of water. June was sweating like a summer hog despite the cold breeze of the oncoming night. Hari delivered her the water and took the pail and purifier back as June dumped it into a fresh pot she used a power to flare her fire up. She had been working nonstop to meet the endless demand for more gauze. Hari retreated with her empty pail after they had nodded at each other, both from lack of anything to say, and that they were both exhausted, and the scent of whatever bleaching agent they used was like hooks in Hari''s nose.


    Cut loose of her duty a moment, she was drawn like a fly to the lit tent where Corvayne was. Hari saw Ears-Of-Steel was using a broom to push the black crystal fragments out the flap. The dirt leading out of the tent was covered in bits of blood and black crystal, and the normally rebellious woman seemed solemn as she held the flap for Hari. A hint of pity that only hurt her more.


    The inside of the tent was white and the pale light reminded her of a sort of temple, built around her warrior as he lay twitching on the table. As she watched, another blindingly white bandage started to grow red spots which flowered as the gleaming black tip of a blood soaked shard pushed it''s way out of him, trailing a little bit of flesh and something vile smelling that Mister I furiously mopped up and dabbed with healing potion. Off to the side of the tent there was a little workstation where glass jars were bubbling with weak healing reagents. From what Hari understood, the resulting potions were not nearly as important as the crafting, as that''s what would help fuel Mister I''s attempts to keep Corvayne alive.


    ¡°Is he awake?¡± Hari asked, then shook her head and repeated the question in Cascadian.


    Mister I tossed the newest knife sized shard onto the ground and hastily filled the hole it left with a wad of gauze. ¡°The good news is no, he is out. The bad news, not for long. He bleeds the medicine out with the knives. I cannot say, with what is happening, if his great constitution is a blessing from heaven or a curse from the darkest hell. When he wakes, he is aware of pain we cannot imagine. You will know because he screams for a few minutes before he passes out.¡±


    Corvayne arched his back a little and coughed, spitting out blood and another shard. Mister I looked over at Hari ¡°Since you are here, pass me the stitches then... tell me a story... no better yet... sing or hum something.¡±


    Hari looked a little confused. ¡°Hum? Like, sing?¡± She shook her head and picked through the tray, finding the twine and needle. ¡°Are you sure? I was forbidden from singing when I was younger by other elves.¡±


    Mister I started working. ¡°I have not had a drink, or cigarette, or a good, ahem, anything for eight hours! Just give me a rhythm. That or return with a music player.¡±


    Hari cleared her throat and tried to start singing the song of spring, even as she kept seeing an iced over lake. Pale with snow. She sang and thought about the seasons changing. Mister I didn''t seem to notice that her elvish tune slipped into winter, the season of death and silence, until she stopped, her throat parched.


    Mister I laughed, probably for the first time since Corvayne had fell after the fight, setting his tools down to turn back to his potion table. ¡°That was terrible! And just what we needed! Go get yourself some water, eat something, come back and sing again. I''ll be here.¡±


    She started to turn and walk out of the tent, trying to figure out why he had asked her to sing, and nearly ran into the thing who she had assigned the blame to for the whole incident.


    The spider was in it''s normal form, maybe a bit bulkier as it seemed to grow and shrink even in the same configuration. In bright light it was easier to see purples and reds and blues, as well as parts with fur that shivered in odd patterns. This was the second time it had come into the tent, and was hissing and clicking and moving about and stamping it''s feet, perhaps at Mister I or maybe at Corvayne. It had intruded into the camp and stopped short of going into the truck, but since they couldn''t catch it or stop it even if they wanted to, everyone but Grunt had ignored it.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    The big man had been following the spider around, but not once reached for his bundle of clubs to try to swat the thing. Instead there was a weird... awe.... about him. The Spider, in turn, ignored him entirely.


    The insect pushed itself up to look over the table, then dropped and started hissing and stamping and flapping it''s wings even more vehemently. Seru used the term ''Pissy'' and Hari liked the Cascadian word, implying someone just walking around peeing on everything. It fit the bugs mini tantrum that Mister I was trying to ignore was he patted his blood stained apron for a tool. No, a package of cigarettes.


    The bug put a foot on his foot and kept pointing up at Corvayne on the table, then moving it''s hand in a triangle.


    Mister I turned to it and waved it away. ¡°Bah! The little moths getting in was bad enough! Hari take this pest out of here, if you can. Try a light spell or flashlight.¡±


    Hari didn''t care at this point if she died, again. She tapped the monster on it''s wing covers and as it spun she firmly took one of it''s hands and started walking it out. The Spider snatched it''s hand back, scurried to the table, then teleported back to her with a bloody shard she hadn''t seen it pick up, waving it in Hari''s face. It reminded her of when Undine had been drinking and the old witch would start harping on some minor thing. Saying, ''Look you fool! This right here! How could you miss it?''


    She started to move around it and it moved to block her, practically pushing the bloody crystal in her face.


    Hari snatched the shard then threw it on the ground. ¡°We KNOW. We know it''s killing him! We''re not stupid! We can''t DO anything! For all we know, you did it!¡±


    Shouting at it only made it block for a moment, then it lowered its arms and stared at her.


    Hari sighed, and waved it way. ¡°Whatever. It''s useless.¡±


    The spider saw she had calmed down or was just doing whatever it wanted as it grabbed Hari''s arm. The grip was firm and the hand pads felt like new leather, more supple than she had expected. It also was warmer than she thought it would be. The Spider started to tug her out of the tent, hitting her in the face with the flap as it hadn''t bothered to open it all the way. It had the shard in it''s hand, and stopped by the campfire where Reaper-Of-Fish was sitting guard.


    He glanced up from staring at the fire. ¡°Oh hey Elfie, is Corvayne better? Oh shit lady! You got the big-ass spider on ya.¡±


    ¡°I know and Corvayne is...¡±


    The spider tugged her arm, pointing at a triangle it drew into the ground with the shard. It moved fast to one point, then shifted into a sturdy looking form and walked to another point, then shifted into it''s two legged form, then pointed at the triangle, then at the tent, waving the dark crystal around. It made the marks barbed then tapped one for running in a circle fast, one for sturdy (even hitting it''s own shell with a now club-like armored fist), then in it''s bipedal form flipped into handstand and started using it''s arms to push itself up and down.


    She got that the barbed lines suggested an order to it. She stared at the drawings. Perhaps the problem was the spider thought just swapping his form would work. Being exposed to a totally alien high tech low magic world had given her some hands on experience with being on both sides of an assumption.


    Hari folded her arms, then took the shard and drew a poor figure on the ground with little spikes coming out, and a little tent. Corvayne wasn''t part of a triangle. She even drew a barbed line to another spiked figure.


    ¡°Corvayne. Is. Dying. He can''t shift his body around like you.¡± Hari drew her own triangle off the first two impaled Corvayne stick figures, and moved her staff in a triangle to tap all three Corvaynes she had drawn with spikes coming out.


    The Spider actually started cleaning it''s legs, following the triangle, but it was looking at it then Hari over and over in a way that meant it clearly didn''t understand, and it went back to it''s triangle and pointed at it.


    ¡°We don''t know what''s wrong with him. If I understood how to play Dee and Dee, I''d be in the Truck helping Seru.¡± Or drinking with Seru. If she got really drunk, it would happen, and they would sob, and maybe Mister I could mend her so she got over it fast, like when her friends were eaten.


    She was so stupid. Everything from the moment she had left home had been her stumbling from one disaster to another. Even a bug could cast [Blink Strike] better then she did and did it without a single word of chanting, just effortlessly popping behind her as she walked down into a shadowed river bed and started filling up the pail she had been still holding onto. They had a hose they could just run down to the river. Even she could have done that.


    She heard stamping and clicking and a whistle and turned to glare at the stupid spider. If it had done something to him... They could kill it if she bound it. There were spells to anchor something to the ground. Even for powerful adventuers, getting pinned and dog-piled in a sneak attack...


    It wouldn''t save Corvayne. She took a deep breath in. Killing wouldn''t save her relationship with him. She exhaled. She could push for more, but he''d never push back. He dove for Wick. Not her. The spider had exposed things that had always existed. It wasn''t the spider''s fault.


    The spider extruded something from it''s spinner, a bowl, and dipped it into the water, then turned and vanished. Hari, despite herself, turned and looked at it appearing as a black shadow against the bright light of the fire. It scurried up to June and presented it''s gift of water. The Tower-Folk didn''t react aside to bow and accept the water. Hari sat down on a stone by the bank of the stream as the Spider started to eat the bowl it had ferried the water with.


    It probably was frustrated too. It might be trying to save Corvayne too, and annoyed that it couldn''t get them to do something. Hari looked at the stream, it''s running water distorting the shimmering moon that was hovering above everything. The Interloper, silently watching their struggles like a glittering eye. Did it judge them?


    She hadn''t realized that she was just sitting and crying until the bug reached out and put a hand on her back. It was tentative, and it gave her shoulder blade a little squeeze. It was next to her, fanning itself and growling then whining. Hari pointed at herself.


    ¡°Hari.¡±


    The spider made a hacking cough then clicked. Was it an attempt to make the same sound she did? It then tried to do the same gesture she had made, except over it''s own head rather than at itself. But it then growled and whined.


    ¡°Hi Growl-Whine. Nice to meet you. I''m a useless elf, novice investigator, and third wheel.¡±


    It pointed at her. Hack and cough. It pointed at itself. Growl and a whine.


    Hari pointed to her mouth, then her ear. ¡°If we could talk, you''d hear about how I''ve failed everything I''ve really tried to do, and you are some sort of apex magical predator.¡±


    The spider tapped her, and popped up to it''s feet, starting to pull her away from the overfilling bucket.


    ¡°What... what do you want now?¡± Hari tried not to groan as the pushy bug started dragging her back to the fire.


    The spider ran to the triangle it had drawn and started tapping it, drawing a sort of blob with little spikes, and putting symbols that looked like dashes and dots in. Hari was trying to follow what the point was, when the spider went over to her own triangle and drew same dashes and dots then moved between them. Hari watched and thought, trying to follow where the thing was looking. It was trying to tell her something, and Hari felt some of her winter mood thaw.


    ¡°We need to figure out at least what you''re going for...¡±


    Hari drew a basic math problem with adding 4 dots to 4, then the solution 8. Then she did that with a different number of dots but same symbol. The spider added 2 + 3 then drew the symbols slightly off kilter and curved, but with five dots to five dots. Hari drew ten dots.


    It then drew the same problem but with triangles around the dots, then a square around the answer.


    The spider clicked and tapped it''s head, then tapped Hari''s.


    It started moving around the triangle it had drawn in the dirt, doing the same mimed actions as it moved around it, then drew littler triangles around the spiked forms, and drew a person in a box. It didn''t add spikes.


    ¡°Okay. You think that if we do what you want, he''ll be okay? Fuck it, I''m going to try to use my magic to figure out what you''re saying and...¡±


    Of course, trying to ask The Voice of the World about the spider was met with silence. She spent twenty minutes making a little pyramid of clay, but the spell she was trying didn''t work. It might be as simple as level difference: It was likely at least as strong as the staff-wielding monk had been, then.


    While she had been trying to cast [Understand Language], the spider drew five webs, and a crude figure with sharp ears that might be her and a spider at the bottom, then drew a big horned monster at the top of the five webs, then drew her and the spider at the top of all that but merged into each other, with heads together and overlaping. She guessed it was her, the figure had pointed ears. A chill passed through Hari. It knew about the Tower unless something else had five sets of problems or areas, then a monster.


    Hari drew her own doodle of Th Tower, just a 5 lines in the dirt with stairs connecting them. At the top she drew a pointy ear figure, then the triangle, then a bunch of other stick figures including a spiked one. To say: we climbed them too. We know.


    The spider started to pat the ground and chirp and flick it''s wings while dancing back and forth. Either happy or thinking?


    The spider tentatively pointed at her, then put a hand over it''s head, then put a hand over the drawing of the webs. It was saying, they needed to do a Tower run.


    Hari felt something building. ¡°Okay, but...¡±


    Hari did two things, first trying to add four more figures, but the spider wiped it down to three people and the spider at the bottom of the webs, then two people and the merged figure at the top.


    Hari would do it. Whatever it took. ¡°Fine! However...¡±


    She pointed to the webs and circled it. ¡°Where is this?¡± She mimed looking around. Hari drew the source as best she could, which took two minutes of dragging her staff around, but circled it, then pointed at the black mountain blocking the starry sky. She drew a truck, circled it, then pointed at it. She then circled the webs.


    The spider pointed at the source then. No, just a little way off from it.


    Hari got up, kicking the bucket she had been filling but not caring that it spilled water. ¡°Shit! Let me get Seru and... whoever isn''t doing anything useful!¡±


    The spider took her hand, then pointed at the diagram it made. The spider and the person with a head together. Hari looked it in the eyes and kept it''s gaze for a second.


    It clicked, and Hari nodded, and drew the merged head with pointed ears, then pointed at her own pair. ¡°If we can''t do anything else to understand you, then yes.¡± She drew herself near the spike figure. Touching hands.


    The spider tapped the side of it''s head... then turned, flipping and snapping it''s mouth together as it expanded and hissed like an enraged serpent. The aggressive display made Hari back up, for a moment lamenting that whatever progress she was making might end if it decided to attack someone.


    It blinked, and she hurried after it as the thing teleported into the medical tent. A moment later it popped out of it, carrying Mister I. It would have been funny to see him flailing above two stick arms if she didn''t know how dangerous The Spider could be.


    ¡°Put me down! Aid me Hari! The bug has gone mad! Get a big shoe!¡±


    Hari tried to approach the spider, asking ¡°What are you doing? Corvayne needs him to-¡±


    It tackled her, sending Hari sprawling along with Mister I. She started preparing a spell to bind the monster but at that moment the tent exploded with the sound of glass shattering as black spikes erupted from it, shredding it to tatters as they expanded and shattered, raining knives on them and creating a black crystal wall of spears, centered on where Corvayne had been.


    Hari didn''t wait this time, and started running at the wall of dark crystal.

 Chapter 119: Ticking Time Bomb

    Hari rushed over to the remains of the tent, cutting her foot as she stumbled into the circle of spikes, knocking a spear of black glass down and getting slices all over as she slid past. Corvayne was at the center, twitching and groaning in pain but still alive despite a circle of devastation about him. It was humbling to see him whimper, his poker face twisted in a grimace. Hari turned to The Spider, Growl-Whine, who was taping the black crystal, then took a little shard and put it in her mouth, her teeth moving like a buzzsaw.


    A moment later, she shuffled over to help Mister I stand. As she was pulling the old apocathary to his feet, she spotted Lady Blood Claw running over, blazing hot fire sword lighting up a patch of dirt around her as she barked, ¡°What did it do!?¡±


    Hari stepped in front of the spider. ¡°It saved Mister I. The burst came from Corvayne.¡±


    The Spider, ignoring this drama, took another shard and ate it, then scrambled over to the firelight again, it''s leg turning into a fin for a moment to sweep the ground clean, then started drawing.


    First was a circle of spikes drawn outwards in a ring around a figure with spikes coming out of it, the now shared shorthand for Corvayne.


    Second drawing, an orb with lines, no, a sun! The sun, cresting the horizon, then around the spikey figure were two circles of spikes, twice as big. It even drew a truck, with the spears nearly touching it.


    A third drawing, with a sun at the zenith of an arc, three big circles of spikes, past the truck.


    A fourth drawing added a line of spikes all the way between a shockingly accurate rending of the two nearby streams as the sun set.


    Then a sixth drawing, showing the sun rising again, and she drew a source then a line of spikes around a tiny figure that might be... a mile or two all around given their distance. Hari was not shocked when the spider erased the little figure at the center.


    Hari got the picture. ¡°We have until the day after tomorrow morning at latest to do... something. And he''s going to progressively explode out further.


    The spider tapped her, and pointed at the ground at the noon drawing. It brushed the sun, and moved it a little forward. It erased it again, then drew it closer to the ground...


    Hari didn''t know how to tell it she understood but she tried to draw the same thing with the same spikey figure exploding. ¡°It''s telling us the spikes are variable... so treating him is going to be risky.¡±


    More of the shards were crumbling, and Hari saw the spider picking it''s way past the jagged formation to Corvayne, motioning for Hari to follow. Hari was less agile and this time was more careful to not walk into the razor sharp formations that spiraled out from where the tent had been. She had to turn sideways and still felt a cut form on her hand as she saw Corvayne laying on a mangled black crystalized stretcher. The Spider was very pointedly watching him.


    Hari cut off asking a question that it wouldn''t understand and looked at her wounded lover. Something was wrong with him, beyond the knives digging their way out of him. His skin had started to swim. Hari drew closer and saw Corvayne''s arms were starting to puff up. A moment later she lept back in suprise as a line of fingers erupted from his hands and wrists, sort of like centipedes spiraling up his arm before fading back in, a few falling off and dissolving into black sludge. A line of lungs, some punctured, some whole, emerged from his chest and puffed up or popped in little wet splatters of blood before sinking back into him.


    Hari felt her stomach heave and turned to the side, throwing up for the third time in as many days. She only realized Lady Blood Claw had been following her when the alien pressed a clean cloth from June''s stash into her face. Hari just let her wipe her face off.


    ¡°Sorry Lady Blood. I''ve been doing a terrible job...¡±


    ¡°You''ve taken point with the weaver. And you are our link to this world''s customs and laws and geography. You are holding up better than I... than I would if I was his lover. If anything I should have forced you to take a break sooner.¡±


    Hari reached for her canteen and took a swig of water to rinse her mouth out. She had never seen another elf throw up or even imply they could. Then again, she wasn''t any other elf, was she? ¡°Okay. Then, I''m going to take some people and we''re going to go with the spider and try to get translation powers in the dungeon. That or a mind meld skill that might fuse me to the spider.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw put her hands on Hari''s shoulder. ¡°You are NOT to do that. Corvayne needs all of us. And we need you. Cut the bullshit. Start thinking like an investigator, and a woman who loves him.¡±


    Hari flinched a little, but Lady Blood Claw wouldn''t move until Hari nodded. The moment she was free she started towards the truck. As she was walking, Kirae, the local guide, came up to her.


    ¡°I still haven''t been paid.¡±


    Hari turned to the steppe dweller and nodded without stopping. ¡°I know¡± She reached into her pouch and pulled out a handful of gold coins. ¡°Can you settle for this? That or you have to learn to speak with the spider.¡±


    ¡°Even if I take that,¡± which she did, ¡°...I have to get home too. You are the only person who can speak to me, the gnome they had was also hurt.¡±


    It was just another distraction, but Hari tried to school herself to think like a leader. ¡°I will get someone, say, Spears, to take you back, I''m sorry that there wasn''t loot, just spiders.¡± Hari spoke while pulling open the conveyor ramp into the truck. In all honesty she wanted the local guide to just piss off. Instead, she followed Hari.


    ¡°I want out of town.¡±


    Hari forced herself to turn and not start cursing her out in four languages. ¡°With the gold, can you... no, I know you can get ride with the next trader who wanders by. My lover is going to die in two days. If you want to make it my problem... Give me something that even might help me fix it. If you keep bothering me otherwise I will get the awkward one to take you home.¡±


    Kirae nodded. ¡°There''s a place where most of the village''s real treasures came from. The ones we keep and still use to this day. But you need to fly to get to it.¡± Kirae looked hopeful. Hari turned to go into the truck.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    ¡°There''s a portal in basement too.¡± Hari didn''t mention the spider''s drawings.


    ¡°You will never come back if you go down. Or if you do, you will lose other people. There''s two holes down we know of, and only a handful of explorers who went into them came back. I know where we send the strongest boy in our village every generation.¡±


    Hari stopped. ¡°You are willing to betray your village for just a... ride with us?¡±


    ¡°The world is ending.¡± Kirae shrugged.


    Hari stopped. ¡°I doubt it. And there''s more than one world.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what far off lands you came from, but The Empire is collapsing. The Shield of Light is failing, and both the remaining princes died in the last two weeks. These plains will be overrun by invaders in a month, two or three if the army stops bleeding deserters into our land and puts up a good fight.¡±


    It wasn''t totally news to her. The number of soldiers going rogue had been going up for years. Same with the rumors that the Emperor was sick, and that the families ability to use their tools was sputtering out. So she thought about it. Sooner or later the other human empires would realize The Empire could no longer vaporize them, and the ensuing chaos would be bad news for even her enclave and Undine. Undine might listen to reason, but her family? They scoffed at everything outside the wood wall. Her first party, should they have come back to Nel''Ferral, were the ones she could most easily convince to ''hit da bricks'' as they said in Cascadia.


    Distractions, Hari decided. She needed to focus.


    ¡°Fine. I''ll give you my spot if anyone complains.... actually you need to learn the language we''re all speaking, right? How about this... we are gunning for a power to understand that spider. That or something that can fix Corvayne. But the spider knows what''s wrong with him, and it''s more than we got.¡±


    Kirae folded her arms. ¡°I have no powers.¡±


    ¡°There''s a method for getting them. If you can learn a language power, we''ll take you. Either way, you''ll be better equipped for whatever happens. Show my pals the other treasure cave. If it''s a power try to get a language power or find something to keep him alive or stall whatever''s happening.¡±


    Hari went over to the lounge, Kirae following, and pulled the curtain they had put up aside.


    Seru was in the middle of the weird play-acting adventurer training she said was part of appeasing her god. She had put a cloak on, and her arms were wide as she announced. ¡°An ogre barrels through the bar door, splinters flying as he roars a challenge... now roll initiative!¡±


    She had Horton, Brines, Spears-Like-Water, and Nyx sitting at the table. Horton looked attentive at the little tactical map, Brines looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown, Spears-Like-Water kept wiping her face but also rolling the dice, sniffling as she called out. ¡°I rolled 8.¡±


    Nyx might have been asleep. He had his captain''s hat covering his face and his feet up on the table. Hari was very tempted to kick his chair, but she had bigger fish to catch than the puffed up human noble. Her eyes did linger on the chair leg an extra second before she looked back up at the proceedings.


    Looking again she realized she almost missed that the girl Corvayne had rescued from the spider was there. The villager was sitting in the booth between Horton and Spears, watching the table and adjusting a female archer game piece that had a long pony tail like hers. Her clothes had been in poor shape, so someone had given her a ''DEATH IS CERTAIN'' T-shirt five sizes too large that she was wearing like a baggy dress. She looked a little... placid... which meant someone had spared her a mend.


    ¡°Do you know what Seru is saying?¡± Hari asked.


    The villager girl shrugged. ¡°The water girl tells me when she''s not crying.¡± She replied without looking away from the map on a mat where Spears-Like-Water was moving her own statue. ¡°Everyone else forgot about me.¡±


    Hari supposed she had too, and considered asking Grunt or Spears to take her back to her village. Her own small ounce of jealousy towards Spears had evaporated when she saw how lost the girl looked. Maybe it was why Wick took Corvayne in. Wick was prickly sometimes if Hari tried to talk about Corvayne, and Grunt... Grunt couldn''t always emote the more complicated things in a way that Hari got.


    She could worry about the burnt mushroom stew that was her lover triad was later. Focus. Hari turned and put a hand on Seru''s shoulder. ¡°That''s enough. The spider knows what''s wrong with Corvayne, apparently. If we can help him, her, it with some sort of understanding power...¡±


    Seru made a sour face and got a little bit of whine in her voice. ¡°Like, That''s why we are doing this! So we know what''s going on with Corvayne if the spider doesn''t know, or actually did it... You do you Hari, but I''m going to bet on Gygax.¡±


    Hari nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Seru apparently saw something in her face because she sighed and stood up. A moment later Hari felt warm arms wrap around her. Seru gave her a determined look. ¡°It''s okay sister. We''ll pull through. Compared to Argyle, what''s a few crystal explosions?¡±


    She decided not to remind Seru that Argyle actually DID kill her, and dying was very painful.


    ¡°I was going to ask you and Brines to come with me... but instead keep trying your ritual, we can ask Lady Blood Claw to head a group and see if their treasure stash is a tower.¡±


    Hari left the Truck, spotting the woman who was Mosh''s bodyguard rushing the other way with a bundle of clean cloth. Varia looked troubled, clearly out of sorts since Mosh had been hurt. Usually she was extremely cheerful when Hari had spoken with her. Hari wished she had time to help the girl.


    Focusing back on her task, Hari stepped away from the truck. Bright non-magic lights had been set up to illuminate the dirt outside of the truck. There was some organizing going on, with Mister I trying to set up a windbreak from where Corvayne was laying on his crystal altar, still twitching as knives erupted from him and prompted new organs to surface and move about. Hari moved over to Kirae and explained getting drafted to lead Lady Blood Claw''s team to the treasure. Then Hari called Brines over before looking for her last team member. She had hoped to get Grunt, but spider made a crossed arms gesture.


    Instead, they got Bearer-Of-Burdens, dressed in her brown delivery outfit with a few modifications so she had some padding on her elbows and legs. The icy knuckles she used as a weapon distracted Hari for a moment. It was absurd this group''s luck with items, almost as bad as their luck with nearly dying had been. Scratch that, they had all actually died.


    Hari addressed her two fellow party members. ¡°I don''t know what the Spider''s plan is, but we''re trying to get a power to either understand it or to perform some sort of telepathy with her-¡± She stopped herself. There was no evidence the spider was a woman. ¡°Telepathy with it to get Corvayne to do something. I suspect it knows exactly what''s happening, and how to stop it.¡±


    Bearer raised a hand. ¡°I am not going to mind meld a spider.¡±


    Brines started to walk away and Hari had to blink to him and pull him back by his stretchy shirt. ¡°You can go for translation too. I think it wants you for the aura you had though.¡±


    ¡°Hari! I''m one of the backers of this excursion, we need a vote!¡±


    Hari shrugged. ¡°All in favor of dragging Brines along?¡± She raised a hand, saw Bearer raise hers, and the Spider watched them and tried miming them by lifting a leg.


    ¡°Sorry Brines. You are in with us.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw had pulled Reaper, Ears, and Gary with Kirae. The alien woman was wearing the Jam-Jammies but seemed to be focused on the mission enough to ignore the the jelly oozing strawberry pants. It was fixing the holes the daggers had pounded into it, but it left globs of strawberry goop everywhere. They had given Bearer-Of-Burdens the running boots. The only piece of gear they left of Corvayne''s was his spear in their shared room.


    ¡°Can you handle flying somehow?¡± Hari asked LBC.


    ¡°I have a potion of flight tucked away that I was saving for...¡± Hari saw Lady Blood Claw turn from gray to pale-green gray. It was curious that [Investigate] couldn''t tell her what the skin colors meant. Corvayne offhandedly had said he had cracked most of them. Clearly he wasn''t paying a tenderfoots pinky toe of attention to her face and body language or he''d have had a lot more to say about Lady Blood Claw, but that was between her and him.


    Still, she knew that LBC hated heights and Hari wrapped the woman in a hug. ¡°Thank you! I know what it means to use a trump card like that.¡±


    The tall woman gave her an awkward squeeze back, hastily pushing her back and stuttering out ¡°I-It''s n-nothing! I just don''t want to lose my sparring partner is all!¡±


    Ah. She was, as the elves say, a Stormy-Sunny Maiden.


    She was about ready to prod The Spider to lead the way when she heard someone coming up behind her and turned to see Wick, eyes red, holding the Airfoil Rapier out.


    ¡°Save his dumb ass. Please.¡±


    Hari went to hug her but Wick backstepped. ¡°Stop! It''s really weird!¡±


    Hari paused. ¡°You never minded before.... not with me, just with Corvayne?¡±


    Wick put a hand over her glasses. ¡°You stay safe too. Don''t do any stupid shit to try to be a hero.¡±


    Hari felt herself smile, warmth blossoming in her chest. ¡°Rejected! I will do whatever my heart tells me to do for love, and if I am a fool, it''s only because I tell you the same, don''t do anything stupid!¡±


    Wick snapped her gaze upwards. ¡°Fuck that!¡±


    Hari nodded. ¡°Then we agree, my lovely Wick.¡± She blew her a kiss rather set Wick out of sorts.


    Armed with the blade, Hari strolled back to where The Spider was pacing, and once it saw they had formed a clump of three it tapped each of them on the leg, then Hari felt a party form. It had never been so forceful that she noticed the connection, it was a Cold-Day-Blanket-Shock, another word to find in Cascadian. She felt the spider putting threads of magic to them as well, reedy feeling bands that demonstrated casual mastery of whatever she... it... she. Something about the spider was... maybe a little bitchy? Seru probably wouldn''t like to hear that the monster reminded Hari of her when she was was doing whatever she wanted.


    The spider seemed to tie off the mana with some sort of horrible dangling construct that broke a dozen rules but Hari had only a moment to puzzle out what it was doing when, with a magical yank, they flew off to the moon-lit spire of the Source, cold air whooshing for a moment then stilling then whooshing as displaced air kept blowing back at them, a hint of the momentum involved with Blinking that nearly winding her. If she hadn''t thrown up earlier, the lurching speed of popping in and out of oddly structured Blink casts that somehow worked on the entire group would have done it. Their path went up The Source, her view of the moon lit streams lifting as they popped higher, eventually swapping to near total darkness.


    Her eyes adjusted as the Spider set them down before a stairway covered in orange glowing glyphs. The same type she''d seen before. Brines and Bearer took a moment to throw up, but she strode up the stairs with the Spider to enter The Tower and hopefully find a way to save Corvayne.

 Chapter 120: Speedrunning Towers

    Hari climbed the last step into the dungeon and was washed over by golden brown light. She saw cliffs of masonry, a tiered garden of floating geometric shapes made of huge stone blocks. Plants, both normal green ones and silvery made of swords and shields and other weapons, grew as a doppleganger of the sort of hanging gardens around the Empire''s palace. There were signs that the Spider had been here before, namely what looked like goat skeletons piled neatly off to one side next to the efforts of someone learning to make clothes out of their hides. Hari noted shaped bone tools scattered about that resembled Growl-Whine''s weapon.


    The Spider was right behind her, and seemed to stare between the piles of bone and the crude attempt at sewing for a half beat before it scurried ahead and down a set of stairs. Hari supposed it had forgotten that it could teleport for a moment as it came back up the stairs to clump near her reeling companions. Brines was steadying himself against a huge clay pot impressed with tiny swords as decoration, wearing his athletic gear under a few belts and bandoleers. Hari always felt a small bit of annoyance at how many materials Cascadia had for different clothes and colors. His stretchy outfit had everything in black with neon highlights. Bearer-Of-Burdens, on the other hand, was brown and beige in delivery get up including a baseball cap that made it impossible to see her eyes. By chance she actually had a pretty good set of colors when they were in the shade from a sun that Hari could not see.


    She only had a moment to start tracing a path down and back up out of the garden when yanking happened. Six teleports, whisking them to high points in the garden and then another stairway. The spider started up the stairs and Hari found herself running to keep up. Bearer dashed past her because of the boots, but Brines kept up which was impressive. Most humans couldn''t run as fast as she could, especially not when she was tipping the scales with a quick [Swiftfoot] before she took the stairs in twos.


    It might be the aura he was giving off. It didn''t feel like she was pushing herself at all, and the faint white lines she saw outlining Brines on the floor would explain why the fight in the ruins hadn''t taxed her much if at all. Perhaps that''s why the spider pointed him out: he wasn''t as heavy to teleport as Grunt and was some sort of energy battery. Handy.


    Cresting the stairs to the second layer they saw a landscape made of metal vines swinging segments of Tower back and forth like clockwork through a dusty brown sky. Each segment would swing to meet two to four others, interlocking a moment before swinging back. There was a creak as if something was straining that filled the air as clusters of buildings and walkways swished through the air, one segment passing sideways right beside the entrance, blowing Hari''s hair back and tickling her ears.


    Brines started to speak. ¡°There''s no way we''re going-¡±


    A moment later they teleported onto one of the swinging stone floors, connected by stringy steel vines to something far above them. Hari had a moment of fear as her stomach dipped as the floor swung forward and she felt the air screaming past them and she started to throw her arms up as she saw a castle approaching like a runaway carriage, but The Spider was walking over to the edge and as it did the vine started to slow it''s swing.


    Once it stopped, they were blink-yanked to the other side of the castle island she had just seen link up to them, then blinked again and for a half moment Hari was out in open air and she didn''t have time to scream before there was a blur and they were at another island somewhat stumbling on the ground aside from The Spider who started popping them up a vine. She could see a dark tangle of vines like a ceiling get closer three times until they were at a stairway at a stable feature hanging down near the gently tilting landing they were standing on. It looked like a small stone fortress suspended by thick steel vines.


    The spider just stepped over the small gap between the slightly rocking vine, and Hari had to help Brines by stepping across and pulling him to the platform. Standing on stable ground, the residual effect was causing her to feel sea-sick. The Spider didn''t help, pushing them all to go up the stairs with it''s surprisingly firm stick hands. Hari had to take a few seconds to try not to start heaving, stabilizing once they climbed the winding blue stair passage to the third floor.


    Hari saw a vast pond with steel lillypads. The sky was brilliant blue, and huge obsidian walls that resembled the ones of the High Plain they were camped on towered in the distance, their black colors fading to a blue hue from the sky. Some of the plants coming out of the water had cruel bladed edges, and the colors were a metalic rainbow as vibrant as any garden Hari had seen.


    The spider moved them like a child''s toy, bouncing from pad to pad, avoiding natural obstacles in the form of sword-plants that curled all around the platforms as well as the spears that formed ''flowers'' at the center of every plant.


    They came to a halt as the spider flicked a knife into it''s hand and killed some armored mammal the size of a racoon. A second later it blinked back to them and they were off again, getting higher out of the water towards a large actual lotus topped lily pad. At the apex of the water garden, Hari could see miles, and the smell of the flowers was wonderful, but they were there to enter a floral staircase, bright pink and impossibly carved into the plant.


    Brines was staggering, given that they had moved two dozen times in the last thirty seconds. ¡°What the hell is this-¡±


    The spider grabbed him and started dragging him up the stairs, chattering and stamping an arm on the ground angrily.


    ¡°Yeah! You heard the bug. Keep up!¡± Bearer added, running backwards up the stairs. Maybe she had some sort of corrective ability like Seru''s, where it made her movement less prone to tripping. Hari suspected as an elf she could learn to do that, but it would probably take a solid fifty years.


    The pink stairway merged back to blue, and Hari barely had time to see plants floating in a void, connected by black walls standing on little segments of dirt before they were flying into the blue void, two teleports later landing near a stream flowing out of a stairway.


    Sloshing up cool water, they arrived at a fifth floor that resembled the source ruins, but as a possibly endless hillside with water flowing down it. She had a moment to get disoriented seeing the horizon skewed from where she was standing then the teleporting started again, only pausing as The spider dispatched two monsters that looked like giant arms with a tiny person attached. Hari started casting Blink Strike but stopped when the spider was putting it''s own weapon back into a wedge in it''s carapace, both monsters falling over.


    Back to teleporting right to another set of stairs. The Tower''s boss lobby looked like some sort of glass enclosure looking at the stars, with little phone-like devices built into tables blinking in the dark and displaying green lines like hills. The spider ignored it all, just skittering forward.


    The clean doors lead to a dark hall that spit them out in a chamber that was a horrific flesh spun arena, with monster arms or tentacles jutting out of what looked like innards all around. The chamber had mouths gnashing and eyes following them as they all moved away from the walls. Hari looked all around, trying to avoid puddles of brown liquid that reeked of bile. The smell  didn''t help Bearer-Of-Burdens who started gagging, and Brines looked green again. Hari just had time to notice the Spider was finished extruding a two handed blade before the bug was gone, slicing parts of the room off, the entire room spasming and screaming in a thousand voices as she worked her way through the five limbs present, poked out two big eyes, and then slammed her sword into an exposed brain, breaking the blade. A moment later Hari''s vision flashed.


    Hari opened her eyes. It was blue. She tried to ask an open sky ¡°What the hell was that?¡± but there was no response from drifting clouds. She thought it was odd how calm she was despite falling. Perhaps the wind being absent made it feel surreal. She landed on her feet even though she should have at least broken her legs hitting the ground as hard as she did. There wasn''t even a scuff mark on the stonework under her boots. Looking around, she was surrounded by the green of an elvish garden, a space made from wood that had been shaped before it was culled from giving-trees, interlocking in shapes that both the elves who had tended the tree and the tree itself would have found fanciful, but in this case she saw things from Cascadia such as a stop light and a helicopter made of shaped wood mixed in with warriors and animals. Bits of green marked it as a living garden, and as she turned she saw more and more twists and turns, to the point that she spun more than a full circle and kept seeing new things, arches of shrubs, a climbing tower, a flower glade, and a green bottomed crystal springs that looked perfect for drinking from. There was no breeze, but the faint sound of tittering fae laughter and the smell of hundreds of flowers made her feel at home.


    ¡°Intent breeds power.¡± A voice called. It was a small woman with mouse ears, wearing purple and red robes. It should have been impossible to hear the woman given the distance they were, but it was as clear as if they were standing feet apart.


    Hari started wracking her brain to think of an elvish goddess who favored the mouse as she strode across the stone paths and a barrage of wooden bridges, but found that she lost sight of the mouse-woman for just a hair''s breath and in that moment she had vanished. Still, she could see gates into deeper segment of the gardens, scrawled with little runes and drawings.


    ¡°Corvayne told me about something like this...¡± Hari started walking, looking for something that suggested melding or communication. She rejected a campfire capping steaming wood, and also passed something that circled a staff and sword with curled helix vines of red around blue wood.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    She had, sometimes, thought that Corvayne could have intuited his choices better, but in the moment having a wealth of choices and knowing that she needed just one thing made her reconsider. She on a whim tried casting an [Investigation] spell, but even though the magic flowed it didn''t change anything about the garden. She kept walking around the edge, seeing one for a boot with wings, one for a pick-axe and mug of ale that looked dwarven and out of place, and another gate that looked awful and fleshy and was dripping blood on the grass.


    There was a gate that was patterned like Corvayne''s clothes and had a circle of weapons. Perhaps it would let her pull all the tricks he did. Not what she needed.


    Hari stopped in her tracks when she went around a corner into a shadowy nook and spotted an black obsidian gate, edged in sharp black crystal and actually encircled in green spiked vines. She was tempted to take the gate herself, guessing it was related to Corvayne''s condition. Her hand started to move before she paused. No, she wouldn''t get any better info on it taking it herself, and it might very well put a death timer on her as well.


    Part of her hesitated to pull her hand away. She could try to figure out the secret of the triangle that the spider was using. Maybe her spells would work on herself, let her figure out what was happening.


    Foolishness. She didn''t have time to waste.


    Hari kept going. There was one gate that reeked of pine sap and deep forest that had a ranger on it. It was hard to think about what it could do. It seemed to Hari that Corvayne''s powers were direct, mostly, things he activated. He claimed, however, the shadow hands sort of did things without him really telling them to.


    As if summoned by thought she saw a gate cloaked in shadow and once more she was tempted to take it but passed, guessing it wouldn''t help her current problem.  One that had more promise was a book supported by wood carved books stacked into an arch. She noted it''s location and wandered to the last two gates. One was made of emerald, but smooth where the obsidian gate was jagged. It was also marked with a symbol rather than a drawing. It was the only other gate with an obstruction, curled plants covered in sap blocking it. The last gate had a person with a backpack on the arch, a simple figure looking at a wood horizon. A traveler perhaps.


    It was... REALLY hard to decide!


    The presence of something preventing her from going into the two gates now suggested there was perhaps an inherent danger in the power. But emerald was a life color and she might find something that actually helped her heal Corvayne. Risk, reward.


    Carved books might help, as might the traveller: the compass power supposedly let Corvayne find things. Perhaps if the cure were her destination, the power would help guide her there. She rejected the ranger, and campfire, and whatever blood and shadows were. Even with those four, she kept running through what she knew in her head. Forget dooming Corvayne, the wrong pick might doom herself. She tried to think back to Undine''s advice, the old woman talking about three friends and three paths. ''We got into an argument for a good hour of the day before we just took a dice and rolled off for it.¡±


    She thought of Seru too. Fate. Luck.


    Hari had a thought, and reached into her pocket, thinking of Seru''s game. She pulled out a dice made of wood, with four sides and painted green appeared in her hands.


    ¡°One for the Green Stone, Four for the black, Two for books, Three for a traveler, looking forward, not back. Gygax and Lythandies, help me save him.¡±


    She rolled, and the little four sided die clattered on the stone, making the sound of plastic rather than the wood she conceptualized it as.


    Three. Traveller, looking forward not back. As she picked up the dice and looked to the gate, she felt like the carving had changed slightly. She was a traveler, and this was a trial to keep going on her journey. She didn''t have the kind of goals her friends had, just the vague desire to become a great adventurer. To return home to Stillwater and prove to her tribe that she wasn''t some clumsy human-born bastard. It was a childish fantasy, to make her family do more than laugh at her desire to see more, to be more than another elf molded to what their elders had long ago deemed as perfect.


    She was a traveler, and with the dice roll cementing her mind she strode up to the gate, and walked through it.


    A moment later she was back in the gross chamber. There was some whiplash as the smell of flowers was instantly replaced with that of the acrid chamber they had left.


    The spider was rooting around in the treasure chest. It pulled out a bag and fished into it for a ring. It put it in it''s mouth, then spit it out onto it''s finger.


    ¡°Anyone get a communication power?¡± Hari asked.


    She tried asking the spider, who didn''t respond besides once more starting to push and prod them to exit the room. It tried hissing and chittering at them, but it didn''t seem like anything to Hari.


    Bearer started walking, giving the spider an flat look as she made her way to the door. ¡°Nah. It''s still gibberish.¡±


    Brines shrugged. ¡°I think it''s a crap shoot, we didn''t really pick our abilities...¡±


    The spider didn''t wait for them to finish the thought, first pushing then leading them up a sinewy tunnel that merged into blue stone as they stepped out into the next world. This one continued at least the stonework theme, with large boxy black bricks forming lines that moved through geometric arrangements of yellow sandy blocks.


    Brines whistled. ¡°Looks like an Escher drawing.¡±


    Hari had no idea what that meant, but it looked like the sort of line carvings dwarves put on random stones when they got bored. She didn''t like the lack of smooth surfaces, having just come from the garden. Then again, it didn''t look like an organ, having just came from an organ too.


    The spider grabbed them with it''s magic and started pulling them up a series of broad cube to the top of the boxes. Hari hadn''t really gotten the scale before the fourth teleport set them atop a vast plain with open pits from which stacked cube spires reached up to the next row of boxes. Standing on them for a half second, and seeing how slow the perspective changed, Hari realized that the thin lines reaching up like black needles must be more than a mile thick.


    They kept teleporting, and Hari was in awe of the amount of mana that the spider had to be burning through to keep moving over and over. It did stop at some point, pulling something out from it''s wing that looked like a pouch. It bit into it and sucked out some sort of blue fluid, then five seconds later they started moving again, gradually moving towards a pillar.


    Oddly, Hari felt way more comfortable with the constant jerking motion of the teleports as they neared the huge pillar, no longer a needle but instead an imposing black tower. The spider turned perhaps ten or fifty miles before the pillar, the scale hard to tell. What had looked flat from afar had features that hinted at other floors, including streams bubbling up from unseen springs, a garden of steel and dust, and smaller ruins that looked like The Source''s entrances. In those dark spaces she could see things reacting to them but not fast enough for the spider to bother.


    As they neared the base of a second huge black line of cubes and it loomed to take up the whole view forward, Hari saw there were not as simple as she thought, with a maze of stairs, walkways, balconies, ladders on the black surface of the structure, all made of cubes and colored browns and golds to contrast the shiny black surface. Dark holes into the cube suggested untold more miles of square tunnels and chambers inside.


    There was a single wide bridge across the titanic square chasm around the pillar up and the spider skipped them across it in six blinks, landing them in what looked like a temple entrance. It stopped and chewed another blue sack while Hari looked back. The needle behind them must have been further than a hundred miles.


    Bearer looked back. ¡°How far do you think we just went?¡±


    Brines was holding his gut. ¡°Too far.¡±


    Hari had been thinking as he asked the question and blurted the number as it came to her. ¡°Three hundred miles.¡±


    Bearer shrugged. ¡°Yeah, I mean, this pillar is at least three miles thick.¡± She gestured back at the black and gold colors of the line. Hari looked up and got a sense of both virtigo and insignificance as the fine rows of hundreds and hundreds of floors and walls extended into the tan dimness above them.


    ¡°We''re so small....¡±


    She felt a hand rest on her butt, and felt white hot fury for a moment as she spun ready to kill Brines or slap Bearer. ¡°Wh-¡± She stopped when she saw it was the spider, who wasn''t even paying attention, instead just looking up and placing it''s hand at a height that was probably natural.


    Brines and Bearer were both looking up too. There was, at that moment, unity with them.


    Then Bearer turned to Brines.  ¡°You wanna put your hand on my ass too?¡±


    Brines started sputtering and the former courier girl laughed, then lead them into the stairs up to the seventh floor.


    The spider didn''t blink when they crested the lip of the tunnel out, instead popping extra legs out of itself to walk into a series of courtyard gardens, no more than twenty feet across and lined with wood that supported tomatoes, stone planting beds full of peppers and rainbow chard, and some blue tubers peeking out from dirt that Hari had never seen before.


    The spider followed a particular path, not bothering to teleport. Hari followed right behind as she knew it probably would get annoyed again if they didn''t keep it''s pace.


    Sitting in one of the points of the garden was a old man. If not for him waving Hari might have missed him for how the browns and grays blended in with the garden''s colors.


    ¡°Oh hello miss bug! It''s been a little while.¡±


    The Spider dropped a few shaped tools, and some coins. The man smiled, and gave it a burlap sack, then adjusted something near him and a door opened to a stairway up. It was not blue stone like before, but orange.


    ¡°As always, a pleasure doing business.¡±


    Hari slowed. ¡°Does it understand you?¡±


    ¡°Oh no. But I gave her some food and she started trading me gifts.¡±


    Hari looked at the old man, then the spider who was waiting on the stairway. ¡°How do you know it''s a she?¡±


    ¡°Not sure. Sometimes you just... understand things. Like, I found this garden and decided to work here. Keeps me young on the inside.¡±


    ¡°I''m surprised she doesn''t just teleport through.¡± Brines asked.


    ¡°Oh she used to!¡± The old man laughed and patted the door. ¡°But she always walks through now.¡±


    The spider gently prodded Hari''s hand, and she waved at the old man and once out of his view they picked up the pace again, jogging up the stairs.


    The orange stairway was longer than a blue, and she felt like there was something about the orange gently glowing crystal that was building energy.


    The spider turned a curve in the shallow steps and slowed, and Hari saw where it was leading them.


    At the top of the stairs was what looked like a literal wall of animal arms and faces, straining against a barrier only suggested by orange glowing runes that suggested to Hari the expectation was to bring at least 36 people, and a horned monster icon like the spider had drawn, next to ''times 128'' in elvish.


    Brines must have seen his own language, because he asked. ¡°Wait, over a hundred times the monsters, why would-¡±


    The spider didn''t slow as it hit the last steps, instead bursting through the wall with a shadow step. The wall of monsters froze in place then fell apart in a torrent of blood and parts. A stream of blood started flowing down the steps, seeping into the stone as howls and cries of rage and pain came from the floor ahead like a thousand panthers stepping in a bear trap, all at once.


    Hari, despite feeling the correct action would be to run, stepped up to the threshold of the level, and it was madness. A landscape that was heaving with monsters, deep crimson under a blood moon that was dripping to the ground.


    Brines looked at Hari, then turned back to stare at the carnage unfolding in a circle around the spider.


    ¡°Uh, do you think it meant to take us to monster hell?¡±


    Hari didn''t need to use any investigation spells to answer him. ¡°Yes.¡±

 Chapter 121: The Spiders Lesson

    Hari was too tired to even yell, focusing on keeping her nearly numb arm glued to the Airfoil rapier as she strung a series of jabs across the face of a human with a beetle''s face, blue liquid spraying from it before it dropped.


    She felt Brines''s back against hers, the man slumping from overusing his dagger. Bearer was the one actually protecting her back, slamming frozen fists into monsters and forming a wall of ice around still squirming parts, the only reason the hill they were on hadn''t been overrun.


    Stab, thrust, back away, stab again. She resisted the urge to let Brines hit the ground. If not for his aura, she''d have fallen in the waves of monsters.


    It wasn''t long though. There was no end in sight, and the Spider was just sitting on a pillar of bones it made, possibly napping or just watching. Sometimes it would cough and snap at them, but otherwise it was silent.


    Hari saw the last mutant penguin collapse in a puddle of it''s own acrid blood, and there was a moment of silence before the next wave of monsters reached them. Hari reached down to pick up a dismembered paw and threw it at the Spider. ¡°You Bastard! Do something!¡±


    She was pretty sure the coughing and clicking was laughing.


    The floor had started promising in Hari''s mind. The spider had blasted into the monster infested terrain and started killing, using spinning sword strikes and it''s teleport to create massive holes in the carpet of monsters covering the moon lit hills. Her blade toppled black trees reaching up the red-black sky, sliced through hide, flesh, fur and bone, rendered the white grass underfoot red with blood. Hari marveled at the number of skills The Spider was using over and over and over, darting around and leaving blossoms of blood behind.


    After a few minutes the swarm near the entrance had been culled enough that Hari dared to step out, using her own blade on a few wounded survivors and slow moving monsters to help secure a foothold.


    ¡°Looks like a whole zoo tossed in a blender.¡± Bearer commented.


    Brines looked nervous. ¡°She isn''t going to hit us on accident, right?¡±


    Hari thought about it. ¡°I suspect it''s absurdly high level, look how fast it''s moving even without teleporting.¡±


    They had to kill a few more monsters, particularly a pack of four lizards with teeth so long they impaled themselves when snapping at the group. Hari knew she had gotten stronger in the last few months, as her blade punched through them without much effort.


    ¡°Even so... what''s the point of taking us here? We need a power to communicate. This is just a slaughter.¡±


    Bearer shrugged. ¡°Either it knows what it''s doing, or Corvayne is dead. No biggie.¡±


    Brines stepped in front of Hari before she even knew she was turning to Bearer, his hands out in a placating gesture. ¡°Hari, don''t-¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t going to do anything!¡± She hissed. After a moment of staring down Brines, Hari pointed her chin up. She was better than that. And she was only thinking about grabbing the woman and shaking her. Maybe a slap.


    Bearer didn''t seem to notice or care, doing stretches for a moment before starting to walk through a field of corpses. ¡°I think the spider is moving away, we should follow the safe patch she makes, unless you want to walk back through the previous floor.¡±


    Brines started trying to jog ahead of her. ¡°Hari! Cmon!¡±


    Hari was annoyed at Bearer for treating the whole thing as a joke, and at Brines for stopping Hari from responding to how she had just addressed Corvayne dying. She was pissed the entire time she was stepping around monster bodies and trying to avoid tripping, and was still pissed the entire way up the next hill, pouring it out in furious rapier barrages. The green tip weapon turned dozens of monsters coming at her into bloody cork.


    All that did was make her madder when they reached the top and their insect guide had kept killing her way forward, forcing Hari to run. Brines was fine jogging forever it seemed, and Bearer had the boots that let her run as fast as she liked.


    Hari found herself in a deeping foul mood as over three hills they tried to keep up with the spider. Maybe it was the white ground, black trees, and red moon in the sky. She would take the weird endless stone works of previous floors any day.


    Hari caught up to Bearer three hills and a countless number of chaff monsters later. The woman was pounding a larger creature into an ice sculpture.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°You! Take...¡± Hari had to breath in, having stomped her way up the hill double time. ¡°Take what you said...¡±


    Bearer laughed once. ¡°Look, Hari, sorry, but you know Corvayne isn''t the only reason we are out here. We all got reasons for ditching Cascadia.¡±


    There was a flare of orange light as Brines used his dragon-tooth dagger to torch a line of mushroom men with jagged glass maws all over their torsos. ¡°Ladies please!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but Corvayne is the heart of it!¡±


    ¡°Wick is. Corvayne is a great fighter, and I respect him. A lot. But it''s dumb to commit to things. That shit weighs you down.¡±


    Brines started hollering and ran between them with a pair of gargoyles with feathery feelers instead of faces. Hari killed one and Bearer killed another, then Hari stepped past the bodies reeking of fish.


    ¡°It''s important! You should see what it''s like to have NOTHING and mean NOTHING to anyone!¡±


    Bearer frowned. ¡°You don''t know anything about me, elf.¡±


    ¡°Same to you, human!¡±


    Brines stepped between them, and Hari shoved him aside to go fight the next group of monsters. Bearer walked right up the Hari, the taller woman looking down from her cap.


    ¡°You lack drive. If you had it you''d not give two shits about me.¡± The woman folded her arms.


    ¡°Would you really not care if your friends died? Steel? Reaper-Of-Fish?¡±


    Bearer rolled her eyes. ¡°I fully expect to someday be at their funerals. But they are my friends because they understand I might just vanish too. I always told everyone from the get-go. Someday, things will change and I''ll be gone.¡±


    Hari was so annoyed by the attitude. ¡°That''s so rude to them!¡±


    Brines started shreiking for help, so Hari turned and started picking off monsters. Bearer fell in next to her.


    Hari started jabbing and slicing. ¡°This conversation isn''t over.¡±


    Bearer turned a monster that looked like ripe fruit on spiked legs into a pile of shards with a single punch. ¡°It''s over if I don''t talk to you. All your attachment does is cause you suffering. Attain a higher level.¡±


    ¡°My attachments made me who I am!¡±


    ¡°That''s stupid.¡± Bearer froze a monster and grabbed a limb, throwing it into another pack of monsters climbing up the hill and bowling over a cluster of club wielding orcs behind them.


    ¡°It''s stupid you don''t care!¡± At that moment Hari had to stop arguing to focus fully on fighting monsters, as they were streaming in from one direction in twos and threes.


    Bearer grunted and performed a sweep, scattering monsters before she punched the ground and sent a shockwave of ice out in a cone. ¡°I obviously care or I''d be like Grunt and sitting on my ass. It''s about being FREE to decide what''s important.¡±


    ¡°Grunt isn''t-¡±


    Bearer laughed and huffed as she lashed out. ¡°Are we going to argue if Grunt is lazy or not? Speaking of lazy... is that spider building a perch?¡±


    Which lead to an hour later. They had killed the swarm on them, giving them a short break. Hari knowing she couldn''t keep it up. None of the swarming monsters were strong, no, but a thousand weaklings meant that they had slowly been piling up cuts, scrapes, bruises. Brines was losing blood from a major mistake and was barely standing. Bearer had broken her act somewhere in the fight to tell the spider to fuck off.


    Hari tossed the stray paw at the Spider and she just knocked it aside and coughed and clicked at her. Hari caught it''s red eyes a moment, but after that moment it just pointed at a pack of giant hands using their fingers like legs to run up the hill. Maybe a minute behind them was a pack of twenty painted lions from the Cascadia dungeon was leaping along at them.


    ¡°Stupid! What is the point of dying here?¡± Hari hissed.


    Bearer groaned. ¡°Still... talking?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Say you''re sorry!¡± Hari huffed, blinking her eyes. She was tired.


    ¡°Fine. I am really, actually sorry. I''m a jerk because I will, someday, just vanish, and I don''t want my friends to miss me. Happy now elf?¡±


    Brines groaned and Bearer laughed. ¡°What''s he saying?¡±


    Hari cocked an ear. ¡°I think he''s just asking for a healing potion.¡±


    ¡°I gave all mine to Corvayne.¡± Bearer shrugged.


    Hari turned and looked at her. ¡°Why didn''t you say that?¡±


    ¡°Because I know you glomp onto people.¡± Bearer folded her arms, watching claws start to climb up a wall of bodies.


    ¡°Well, you''re right.... I have to, okay? If he passes, or leaves me I don''t want to regret doing things halfway.¡±


    Bearer laughed. ¡°Too bad we couldn''t have hashed this out at a bar rather than monster-hell floor.¡±


    Hari felt a little embarrassed how mad she had gotten. ¡°Yeah. I just needed to actually listen. If we come back from the dead, I''ll take you to a bar and we can yell at each other.¡± And next time, she''d pay more attention to things like Bearer giving away all her potions. Watch what people did, more then what they said.


    Bearer nodded. ¡°Do you want to try to kill the spider before the next wave knocks us over?¡±


    ¡°Hey Growl-Whine! I''m coming up there!¡± Hari called out.


    She saw the spider jolt up, and it''s daggers appeared in its hands.


    Bearer looked between them. ¡°Did she just get we were threatening it?¡±


    ¡°No, I''ve been shouting in elvish I was going to kill her for... the last hour between battles?¡±


    The spider coughed and clicked. Hari stopped. It wasn''t cough, click. It was Cough-Click.


    ¡°Grow-Whine.¡± Hari pointed at the Spider. Then she grabbed a bloody ant soldier wing, and started to try to draw a spider with three stick figures.


    ¡°Hey elf, can you finish your will in, like, two seconds? The hands are here!¡±


    Hari didn''t look at the hands, instead pointed at the drawing she made of a spider with three people, surrounded by horned orbs. It was what she had used for monsters.


    A moment later she felt a swooshing sound, and the spider squirmed into the ground.


    Hari drew her blade back and started fighting, having no more time.


    Bearer laughed as the sound of monsters shattering came from her direction. ¡°All right, see you in the next li-¡±


    Hari had trouble paying attention to Bearer, because Growl-Whine had done something that knocked Hari down with a massive cracking sound. She started pushing herself up, ready to fend off the next monster, but there was none.


    All around the hill were clouds of blood, or bodies flung into the air. Parts of bodies. On and on they could see broken ground and parts of monsters dropping to the ground. Hari just stared for a moment in stunned silence at destruction Growl-Whine had unleashed.


    Brines... coughing, rolled onto his back. ¡°Oh, I get it! She...¡± He spit out a tooth. ¡°She was waiting for you to ask for HER help by name.¡±


    ¡°... Or respond to her yelling at you.¡± Bearer shrugged. ¡°I mean, I think it was talking to you.¡±


    Hari watched as the little bug emerged from the hole it had crawled into, slightly smaller than she had been before and quickly reabsorbing what looked like spikes all over herself.


    "You could have done that at any time... couldn''t you?"


    The spider looked up at her. Hari was pretty sure she was just projecting that the spider knew what she was saying and was just playing dumb as it''s donkey ears twitched. Fairly sure. Not entirely sure.


    On the bright side, her annoyance with the spider had meant that she had forgot about Corvayne for an hour. She was ready to keep going, and no longer pissed at Bearer. When she could talk to Growl-Whine there would be WORDS and...


    Hari took a deep breath, trying to keep herself even like Corvayne would. It was his best trait as a leader.


    ¡°Okay Growl-Whine. We all learned a lesson in communication. Can we please, please leave this floor?¡±


    While the Spider probably didn''t know the words, it must have understood the tone because it started blinking with them across the floor, giving Hari a view of miles and miles of carnage spread across the hills. In a moment between jumps, she met Brines and Burden''s eyes, all three of them sharing the same thought.


    ''What the hell is Growl-Whine?''

 Chapter 122: Bloody Buisness

    Hari slammed the Airfoil rapier into a wolf-man''s mouth, and pulled it back. She tried to ignore the ringing in her ears as she looked about for the next monster.


    She had to blink twice, eyes searching for moment without her thinking, before her brain caught up: she was hearing silence. They had killed the last monster in the mega-swarm they had entered the floor into, and she could taste blood and Goddess knows what else that had splattered her beyond the concept of clean or dirty. She couldn''t belive how much death they had dealt on the rise they were on.


    She turned to The Spider... no, turned to Growl-Whine and looked into her eyes. Once Hari had met all three then all six and gotten a little chirp, Hari flopped to her ass and heard two other soft squelches as her other party members plopped into what before had been a disturbing amount of blood and gore. They couldn''t get much dirtier, anyway.


    It must have been a full dawn to dawn day of fighting. Every time she had felt she had hit some limit, Brines would shift his aura a little and she''d bounce back able to keep killing. The green version erased enough little wounds to compensate for monsters clawing her arms and legs. She wasn''t physically tired, as the standard white version seemed to slough off muscle pain, exhaustion, hunger, and even the need to use the bathroom. Her mind wasn''t tired either as Brine''s blue variant kept her senses as sharp as she would have been first thing in the day. It also kept her with more than enough mana to perform [Blink-Strike] on both stragglers and the rare acid spitting monster that didn''t just charge in. It was like the time she had a whole pot of coffee on a dare from Seru: she could feel a buzz that would let her spring to her feet and start doing jumping jacks.


    The problem with all that was her soul didn''t want to move an inch, let alone keep killing. She needed something else besides screaming and blood.


    The spider looked between them, and started blinking them as they sat. After the first jump  it left them for a while. Hari was pretty sure it was after treasure after she saw it climb under a bent over tree, drag a chest out, and kick it open. The creature clearly had a storage ring or some other device somewhere on it, maybe in it, as stuff vanished into nothing around it.


    Bearer turned to Hari. ¡°Hey Hari... I haven''t seen this much blood in a month.¡±


    Hari was so beyond grossed out that she chuckled once at it.


    Brines said ¡°Bleh, really?¡±


    Bearer-Of-Burdens shuffled closer to Brines, leaving a smear of monster blood and ichor where she had been sitting before. She did a minstrel''s whisper as she said ¡°Well, if you wish to learn for yourself, I''ll call you into my room in day or two...¡±


    Brines shot to his feet, flicking a bit of blood and fried monster off him as he moved to put Hari between him and Bearer. Hari used the moment to take a rag from her pack and start wiping her face and hands, writing everything else off as hopeless until she could jump in a soapy stream.


    Bearer slinked around her, plopping right next to Brines and unbuttoning her shirt and moving her bra aside a little. ¡°It''s like a monster blood tanline!¡±


    Hari pulled her chainmail away from her chest a little and saw that she had a line of blood that had gotten in and between her breasts, then reported it to make Brines look even more uncomfortable.


    ¡°You two are worse than Seru! Come on, we''re wasting time. I''m here to help Corvayne, and I''d much rather be working on that than listen to Kayla tease me.¡±


    Hari shot to her feet. ¡°Shit! It slipped my mind a moment!¡±


    Bearer got up and stretched. ¡°I didn''t even know you knew my name Jimmy! And Hari, you needed a break from thinking about it. That, or the Spider was hoping you learn it''s word for ''stop''.¡±


    Their discussion was cut short by Growl-Whine appearing, using a limb to anchor extra stuff wrapped in silk to her back. It then started blinking them again, whisking them past hills until they were standing in front of a hole rimmed with white grass around gray dirt.


    Brines stopped before going up the stairs after the spider. ¡°Wait...¡±


    Hari saw what he saw. Five feet away from the stairs up, in the same face of the hillside just angled away a little, was the orange stairway they had come from, ringed with blood.


    Bearer started laughing. ¡°What a fucking TROLL she is! I love her!¡±


    Hari felt her ears twitch. They could have SKIPPED this floor! ¡°What... why... were... we... here... for a WHOLE DAY.¡±


    Brines didn''t look mad, just defeated.


    The spider didn''t look guilty or innocent, just stared at them until they followed her up the stairs.


    The ninth floor was a broad street in a slightly off-looking stone town with buildings that were strung with steel and regular vines both up the walls and across alley ways. The floor had a breeze come through, causing a noise that Hari thought of as clashing when steel plants knocked into each other. There was a reflecting pool they used to quickly get some of the muck off, Growl-Whine included, before they blinked away from the entrance.


    The insect didn''t waste time, blinking them twice before it started killing a pack of monsters that looked like beetles with pyramids on their backs. It was careful with it''s strikes to not get dirty again, even as it made a mess splattering golden blood everywhere but itself. The blood seemed to sizzle and glow for a moment before it turned brown. From a too-strong lemony smell it was probably a strong alchemical substance but Hari was too tired to worry about trying to collect it, and the Spider finished the last one in the pack and started teleporting them three times to another stairway, this one on a tower that overlooked another road a few hundred feet down. From the edge she could see the area was atop the sloped side of a massive ziggurat, with more streets stretching out to the tan haze below them. Perhaps they were standing on a wall, rather than a road?


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    She shrugged and trudged up the blue stairs, into a space that looked sort of like the village they had arrived at on the high plains in their quest to find the glittering flying objects. Cresting the top of the stairs she could see it was actually parts of the village bent around a taffy-like stream of ground. The sky here was black even though the surroundings were bright, making the earth tones of the land-vines stick out. Buildings sticking up from distant strands of land made her think she was looking at a tangle of thorned vines. Hari squinted, and could see things walking on the bottom of a nearby curve. One figure on a branch was walking on two legs, upside down. If not for the previous few days she''d have gotten vertigo from the complex and conflicting information about what direction she was facing.


    The spider gave them a few seconds to observe the floor before it started dragging them through the terrain again, flashing from roof to roof as they followed a twisting path, sometimes rolling as they shifted to an entirely different gravity field.


    Hari felt that even with the teleporting she was in a weird state where she was just too beat to get sick from either teleporting or her guts getting shifted as local gravity changed. She was hungry though. Killing monsters all day she hadn''t stopped to eat or do more than drink when a rare gap happened. Perhaps Brines aura wasn''t getting rid of her hunger as much as pushing it back, but now she really wanted to sit and camp and maybe eat something they had killed. It had been a little hard to adjust to how little greens there were in what Mister I served to them in her first Tower run, but now she would have eaten a whole fried tree slug on her own.


    As if agreeing, she heard Brine''s stomach grumble.


    Sadly, the floor kept going. It was getting on her nerves as they kept jumping thread to thread, almost shocking her when she realized she was honing in on the direction they had moved, starting to feel which place they had come from, and that she knew where they were going to go before they went. It was like every blink the spider did let her get a little more familiar with how she had twisted the spell into her impressive variation.


    She even knew that they had reached the stairs seconds before the spider started scurrying over the rounded horizon of the root they were on to enter a stone tower.


    Hari had sort of hoped they''d arrive at The Inn and was disappointed when they arrived at a large blue stone hall, vaulted ceiling rising up on dark silvery lines. Not that she thought they''d stop for a bite to eat, but she was sure they could get something to go. Pizza with pepperoni and some of those pine needles would really hit the spot. Her nose told her that there was no food, just plenty of dust in this sub-floor.


    The Spider stopped and looked around. Hari guessed she was surprised, or perhaps it was just that it was the largest lobby Growl-Whine had ever seen.


    Actually, maybe she was just looking for the door out. Even the stair they had took was sort of slippery to look for given the dark blue colors all around them.


    Brines was blinking. ¡°Weird... it''s a church?¡±


    Hari noticed statues then in the alcoves, some she knew like a knotted cane for Isalapode The Shepard, or three flowers in a bowl of water for Kelha. Others were ones she thought she could place. A giant icosahedron was certainly Gygax, given the focus on that shape she had seen from his followers. A woman hammering a sick man healthy was Lythandies if she had to guess. That left the vast rest of them as unknown shrines.


    ¡°No, not a church. A temple.¡± Hari corrected him. Perhaps a place of power.


    She considered who had helped her on her journey, and placed some of her gold at the altar for Lythandies and some before Gygax.


    ¡°My thanks for your help.¡± She whispered. The silence that followed felt warm, and it felt like some of her stress was drifting away. When she glanced back, her offerings had vanished. More than some gods did, that was for sure.


    She contemplated the divine for a few minutes until Growl-Whine started dragging her and Brines out to a pair of double doors.


    Hari was shocked when the Boss floor looked like home. The forest she grew up in, with it''s titanic trees and carved homes spiraling up their trunks. They were at the clearing near her parent''s place, and standing there were two figures.


    Brines looked between her and the figures. ¡°Hey, they look kinda like-¡±


    Hari snapped her hand out to catch The Spider. Weirdly, she somehow stopped it from using it''s [Blink] without actually casting [Anchor].


    ¡°No! You can''t kill them!¡±


    Growl-Whine shook herself free and looked at her, then her parents (who were standing still and not reacting at all to her being there) and then at her... then scurried away from them to a dirt patch and started to draw with a dagger. It drew five webs with stairs between them, a hybrid of her drawing of the average Tower floor.


    ¡°Are you guys going to do art or fight? Just kill these things and let''s go.¡± Bearer tapped a wrist without a watch.


    ¡°I can''t kill my mom and dad.¡± Hari said, not bothering to quantify that with a bunch of statements about how much she actually liked either of the two.


    ¡°It''s to save Corvayne. Also, they are probably not real.¡± Bearer explained in what Hari was sure was intentionally the wrong order.


    Hari saw the same argument in pictograph form from Growl-Whine, who had made a drawing of a little monster in a spider''s head and what looked like lines to project it as a big monster on top of the 5 floors.


    Hari was still looking at her mother''s bored stare before Brines spoke up. ¡°Oh yeah! There was a fight I had last week where I went into a dungeon and the boss was my dad and uncle, they even bickered over wine during the fight but I called them afterwards and neither were dead. It''s fine, it just pulls stuff from your mind.¡±


    Hari felt that was a little too casual for what should have been very traumatic for Brines, but perhaps it was the effect of a day of just killing things.


    The spider was looking at her, so Hari pointed and then covered her eyes. She heard sharp and wet sounds then a moment later she was dropped into the weird elf garden in her mind, now on a summer evening lit by the warm light of glow-flies dancing in little streams. There were no strangers in the garden with her, but the air felt charged, and she suspected the reason was how many monsters had died to their group.


    She considered her dice, and rolled it. Instead of landing on a flat surface, it wedged itself into a crack, giving her the numbers 1, 2, and 3 from the points at it''s end.


    ¡°Six... hmm.¡±


    She strolled through the garden, looking at the options. The campfire. A dwarven arch with a beer mug and a shield... absolutely not. The staff and sword melded, which she might have taken if not on a deadline. The shadowy gate, the ranger. Then a new option... a woman accepting a star from a taller being with six points.


    ¡°Sixth gate, Six pointed star...¡±


    She hesitated. The woman accepting the gift did not look entirely happy. The being offering it was not looking AT her, rather over the woman.


    She looked down at the phantasmal die, playing a hand over it''s wood surface. A cowardly thought snaked into her head. She could run. She had fled from her life with the elves, had replaced herself in her party, and had not made plans to seek Undine out once again.


    She clutched the dice she had pulled out of her pocket. That refusal to engage, to take risks... that was what made her hate her parents. The rejection of hardship was what pushed her away. They were so strong but never even considered going out in the wild world to exert their power for good or ill. It wasn''t even some ideal about not disrupting the world with their strength. They just were beyond caring about their borders.


    She was here. She was alive, taking risks. She loved Corvayne, maybe more than she should. He had saved her, and he didn''t think about it. There was no debt in his mind for rescuing her, it was just what he''d do and would always do, and that thought more then anything was what made her step through the portal.

 Chapter 123: Dark Milkshake River

    Hari shot awake after stepping through the gateway that she thought of as ''Conduit'' and saw both Brines and Bearer rummaging through a post-boss treasure chest made of shaped wood. She was still in the grove that resembled her home woods, a tinge of unwanted longing for home fighting against her better judgement. Hari tried to put her chin up and assess what everyone was doing.


    Corvayne''s workout obsessed former boss was writing down everything they pulled out of the chest, while Bearer-Of-Burdens was clearly borrowing a bar of gold from the materials. Hari turned away and tried not to laugh as Brines started tying a green elvish loin-wrap around his head like a bandanna. Bearer had found skimpy leaf armor which likely would not fit her unless it adjusted for her non-elvish figure.


    Hari didn''t think too long on her own more human-like endowments either. Instead she looked over at the fourth member of their party, the insect who had been teleporting and killing them at absurd speeds through this Tower.


    Growl-Whine had her eyes closed, in a form that looked sort of like a serpent wrapped in beetle wings. An eye opened, and she saw parts of the insect fall off and turn to dust, reducing it to what she thought of as its basic ''goat sized cricket'' form. It looked at her and waved. It knew the gesture was a greeting but its hand was sideways then started drawing in the rich soil aside the stone path.


    Hari felt a new connection as the insect drew itself offering a triangle for a wobbly shape. It tapped its fingers together, then drew a six sided die with slashes on it.


    ¡°You took a chance!¡± Hari laughed. So, there was some way to swap out powers perhaps, and the spider was sacrificing part of what it had to roll for new ones. At least that meant she wouldn''t be stuck with whatever she had just picked.


    Hari tried to draw her ability, and she looked and saw the spider frozen.


    ¡°What''s wrong?¡±


    The Spider tapped it and circled it. It seemed excited, but then slowed and drew Hari, a simple figure with sharp ears, then drew a spider inside of her. It drew the two minds together picture.


    ¡°If that''s what we need to do to save him, then...¡±


    Growl-Whine drew a sun rising. Then a sun setting, then another sun rising.


    Hari got it. ¡°We have time. Okay, I''ll try to strengthen it, and we keep working towards a communication power.¡±


    Hari tried drawing a human talking with a spider in the bubble, and a spider talking with a human in the bubble. The spider disagreed, and drew a spider with a person inside them and rubbed it out, then drew an elf with a spider inside and circled it.


    Bearer was looking over her shoulder. ¡°Is it trying to knock you up?¡±


    ¡°Not on your LIFE miss Bearer!¡± Hari calmed down and rolled her eyes. ¡°Whatever it is, I think it means we have an option, just not a good one.¡±


    The spider made its way to the ramp leading up to a silvery gate, marked in elvish ''11-15''.


    Bearer didn''t need help with translating that. ¡°She wants to keep fishing for powers.¡± The woman followed, and then tried to start prying silver off the door before giving up.


    Brines looked nervous. ¡°Uh, what happens when the monsters get too dangerous and it... she can''t help us?¡±


    ¡°I trust her.¡± Hari turned to Brines and put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°You''ve gotten stronger too!¡±


    Brines looked at her hand, and was visibly sweating. ¡°I know! I''ll just go and tell everyone about-¡±


    Bearer threw an arm around Brines. ¡°Jimmy, you going to be a pussy?¡±


    He stood straight up and removed her arm by plucking her hand and lifting it off his person. ¡°I''m just being reasonable.¡±


    Her voice was even with only a hint of amusement. ¡°Look at Corvayne. Reasonable is not how you get laid.¡±


    Hari stepped between them. ¡°Ignoring her wording, she''s right. You want to be exceptional and a success right? For an adventurer, getting rich means taking risks.¡± She paused, then added sheepishly. ¡°Also I think we need your auras to keep going.¡±


    It was the first time she''d ever seen the man look annoyed with her.


    The next few floors were fast and it felt to Hari like the spider had been taking it easy up to this point. Floor 11 was some sort of maze of aqueducts suspended in the air that Growl-Whine skipped in three well placed teleports, crossing a multi-mile gap to land them at a stairway. She didn''t even see any monsters in the thirty seconds they were on the floor.


    Floor 12 they only fought one monster in a vast dusty plain full of reflecting pools. It was a bird that seemed to shrink Growl-Whine as she got closer, but even sized like an actual bug she sliced the huge bird into pieces before popping back to regular size. Hari thought stairs were easy enough to spot, being almost the only feature in the endless flat expanse of dusty grass and clear water pools. They skipped every other shrinking bird to drop right at the small stone building with a square entrance to the stairs.


    Floor thirteen looked like part of Cascadia but textured in yellow brick with a few of the more fantastic things from the city rendered as either Nel Ferral equivalents or as monsters. The main monsters were things that looked like car-beetles. They attacked by ramming and exploded in bursts of flame when defeated. She mostly saw this from looking back after a few blinks, having been curious what the popping sound following them was.


    Hari was amused for a moment by what looked like a covered wagon train rolling along stone rails, but they didn''t have time to goof off as they were in and out of the floor inside ten minutes, walking up stairs located outside a parking structure that hummed with insect cars idling inside.


    Floor fourteen was a series of stairways inside a giant bramble and sword growing plant, sort of like being inside a sphere shaped from vines. The spider took two teleports and they didn''t even see monsters before leaving the floor.


    Floor fifteen looked different, the yellow and brown stonework replaced with grassy green cliffs towering in what felt like endless blue sky, clouds above and below and around them. The gritty air was impossibly clean, cool and crisp and alive. Growl-Whine teleported them across three isolated cliffs and then walked them through a doorway made of what looked like fat steel spoons. She paused for a moment and pulled out the ''phone'' that let her paint pictures and made the device picture the inscription by the door ''Intent and Form Forge powers. A daring leap to one day fly.'' Both Wick and Seru liked those little Tower puzzles.


    She stepped through the door and was blasted by cold and for a moment disoriented as her eyes shifted from psudo day to a dim shadowy black and blue cavern. It wasn''t made from stone, as Brines had a light that reflected off glaming surfaces including a grid of steel that was the walkway further into the dark. Looking down, she saw a slope of white snowy sludge oozing across stainless steel shapes reached out of the ooze like huge dark fingers. The cold dulled her sense of smell but there was something sweet in the air.


    Hari was surprised that Brines seemed to instantly know what it was. ¡°Is this a... milkshake floor?¡±


    Bearer was already down a side stair to where the flow was. She knelt down and grabbed a handful of it then licked it. ¡°It tastes like a potato milkshake with lots of sugar. Eww.¡±


    Growl-Whine saw they were all through the door and started teleporting them again, flinging them through the dim light across platforms and bridges dripping with cold slime. The stairs up lead to a little boxy waiting room with uncomfortable chairs and metal tools that looked to Hari like a surgeons kit. The harsh lighting and white surfaces everywhere made her feel uncomfortable and exposed, and she could see from Bearer and Brine''s reactions that she wasn''t alone. The spider didn''t even need to push them into the boss room.


    They were on a ruined building then, shards of city floating all around them. Hari could see a figure glowing with energy but only for a moment before Growl-Whine vanished forward. The figure must have been twenty feet tall, but the tiny Spider flicked its blade out a dozen times while the figure started charging up energy. Hari wasn''t sure how Corvayne had kept up with her at all when they had fought, as her last strike blew the figure apart in a wash of white light.


    The journey to her garden found her laying in the grass, early in the morning before sunrise. There was mist everywhere, but the doors she hadn''t been through were missing, and the ones she had stepped through felt... asleep. Perhaps they had gone too fast?


    She opened her eyes to the group opening another chest and pulled out lots of healing potions and a dog leash as well as a bow and 3 daggers made of redish dwarven steel. Hari started testing it and found it was mostly commons with the bow being exceptional. They didn''t have arrows with them so they just gave it to Brines to carry.


    Floor sixteen was another stainless steel floor where the dungeon was made of gleaming chairs welded together. Rivers of frozen slush flowed through the chilled halls the metal formed. Perhaps the Tower had flavors it liked, as the air reeked of something cloyingly sweet to the point she was pretty sure she was tasting sugar just from breathing. They slowed the pace down a little as Growl-Whine fought boxy metal monsters that had ice-cream innards, breaking bone blades as she turned them into scrap.


    After the second one, Bearer crouched and took an handful of icy mush and tried it. Given that she was still partially covered in monster blood stains , she looked positively deranged when she grinned.


    ¡°Oh my god! It''s great!¡±


    Hari came over and tried a mouthful as she was hungry enough and found that while it tasted amazing, she almost instantly developed a jarring headache. She started tearing up and pressed her hand against her forehead.


    ¡°Oh ho ho! The elf has discovered brain freeze!¡± Bearer slapped her back.


    Brines teeth were chattering. ¡°Can you get the sp-sp-spider to GO?¡±


    Interestingly, the Spider tried not one but two handfuls before she chittered and started rubbing her head and flicking her oddly donkey shaped ears... perhaps also suffering from ''brain freeze''. A moment later Growl-Whine started teleporting off again.


    She was moving more carefully, clearing spaces for them to land rather then just skipping past packs. Hari was able to watch her fight what looked like a trio of the metal monsters, dodging both rays of cold and globs of freezing goop. Watching the battle she could tell the monsters were timing their attacks to try to prevent Growl-Whine from dodging. It did no good as the little bug could just move through space while slicing enemies, but Hari felt it was important to address what she was seeing.


    ¡°The monsters not only are getting more abilities, but they are smarter on this floor.¡±


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Bearer shrugged. ¡°I don''t think we''re even close to where it matters, they can''t touch her.¡±


    Brines however was more attuned to what Hari was getting at, already looking around for anything that might decide to go after the easier prey.


    Hari herself teleported to where Growl-Whine had been by casting [Blink Strike] on a metal monster''s body. Her blade could punch through the metal shell, which was good. The Spider had stopped a moment to expel an orange glob that steamed from its backside (she refused to speculate what else came from the hole it made weapons out of) then rubbed it all over herself. It smelled faintly of alcohol but radiated heat. Hari considered asking for a glob for a moment then just pulled out a winter cloak and sucked it up.


    Bearer was walking over, stomping her work boots to get frozen crud off of them. ¡°I''m glad she''s here, I just wish she picked a beach rather then this frozen tomb.¡±


    Brines spent the moment collecting a boxy metal shell from the monster. ¡°She''s been here before... right guys? So there''s a reason she went this way. Thought I''m worried she''s going to leave us in over our heads again and ditch us.¡±


    ¡°I think if we were a group of six we''d still be breezing through this, just not as quickly.¡± Hari was cheating a little by looking at things through [Investigate]. The colors were still nice shades of green, with a bit of yellow-green in the room they were in. That suggested they were still punching down.


    The next few levels up to twenty were visually very similar. Dim, full of steel in blues and grays and white and brown icy mush, and mechanical monsters with hard exteriors and soft sweet goop for organs. Some places had open spaces where sort of pretty, with thin metal bridges weaved between dimly glowing blue lights shining on streams of milkshake falling from darkness above to darkness below. Others were claustrophobic steel caves, requiring the three humaniods to duck when Growl-Whine was teleporting ahead to kill metal monsters that sometimes let out shrill cries that sounded like metal screeching on ice before they fell.


    Floor twenty was something like the hell floor, full of soft-serve golems that exploded into hardening slush when killed, and weird shades in freezing robes that would sometimes form more golems from ice cream streams, doubled with up pairs of shadowy claws weaving shapes of ice and flinging stinging shards of cold. The only saving grace is that the formations were random rather then tactical. Half the time the delicate wizards were in front of their minions and a single [Blink-Strike] would cut half a room down.


    It seemed like Grow-Whine wanted them to take their time on the last floor, and so they explored the series of rooms and rises that corkscrewed around waterfalls of icy drinks and pillars of ice-cream that according to Bearer tasted like ''tires'' or ''watered down beer''. Nobody opted to experiment a third time.


    The first real roadblock was a set of perhaps four rooms that bled into each other to make a huge chamber, full of ice mages and golems and ''ice cream machines'' as Brines had called them. The spider started teleporting at the ice mages, but the three of them had to fall back as streams of monsters kept diverting from the room to run at them. Hari tried to pick off the machines in the group so they didn''t get blasted with ice magic, but they had to let Brines melt the ice cream golems to avoid them exploding, and while Bearer was somewhat resistant to cold due to her weapon, the same weapon often would make the dying blasts of golems worse. Even with Growl-Whine coming back to help it took them the better part of an hour to clear the room, with a chest that contained a few frozen health potions as the only thing to show for it.


    They kept going and it was another hour or so into the twentieth floor when they teleported into another room, and Hari saw momement and pulled Brines and Bearer back by their collars as The Spider did an emergency roll away from what looked like a chair leg that telescoped from a point in the ceiling. The thing was as wide as a tree trunk and dented the metal floor with a halo of sparks.


    Brines started to get up and was asking ¡°Trap?¡± and Hari managed to grab him and roll away from the strut as it smashed the ground where he had been standing, and something like a steel golem spider unfolded from the ceiling, at least thirty feet tall.


    Hari cast [Anchor] as fast as she could, and the leg held for a half beat before Growl-Whine teleported them back and started breaking weapons on the steel monster.


    Bearer made a spitting nose after the Spider had another sword break and was extruding and teleporting. Hari watched as the monster lashed out with liquid metal tentacles wiggling on its underside. The flew like curving lances at the Spider, kicking up vast clouds of snow and broken metal as their agile ally danced away.


    Bearer looked over at Hari then tilted her head up over the rock they were hiding behind. ¡°I''m tired of letting it do all the work. We have elemental attacks right? I bet I can shatter its legs.


    Hari nodded. ¡°I''ll anchor it. Brines, if Growl-Whine doesn''t go for it, try to fry the frozen section and destroy it with heat shock.¡±


    Hari blinked to a spot where it would, in fact, notice her, and dropped [Anchor] on its leg, then used [Blink-Strike] as it slammed a dozen chrome tentacles into the slushy ground she had been standing on. She found her airfoil didn''t do much aside from draw sparks from the steel, but it did divide its attention enough that Bearer-Of-Burdens could move in and slammed her frozen fists against its leg, activating her wooden hands to help deal with hitting steel dozens of times until the leg had gone from shiny to glazed in white.


    The monster managed to hit her with another leg it swung around and she slammed into Brines rolling away in a tumble, but Growl-Whine understood what they were doing and slammed her blade into the frozen leg, shattering part of it and tipping the monster off to the side. Bearer sucked down a slushy health potion and ran in again as Hari ran over to the next leg and used [Anchor] again. This time the limb managed to pluck itself from the ground but Bearer dashed forward and managed to clip it twice before it pulled its now chilled leg up. When the monster slammed it down, parts of the leg fell off, and now the creature was lopsided and the next time it tried to use a leg to slam one of them it stumbled, its flat body listing back and forth as it scrambled on the frozen ground.


    Hari felt warm for the first time in the dungeon as she ran again and used [Anchor] on the limb she thought it was trying to keep steady the most with, and this time Bearer got in four punches before the liquid metal on its underside drove them away.


    Growl-Whine had decided to forego her usual weapons and had extruded a bone mace in the meantime, and shattered the third leg, causing the monster to spin when it tried to make adjustments. The blunt weapon was enough for the Spider to just beat the last two legs out of shape, eventually causing the monster to crumple to ground level where they could pin down the stabbing metal tentacles and slice them off, bleeding the monster out.


    The slashing tentacles had left them all with nicks and scrapes aside from Growl-Whine. Or perhaps she regenerated much faster then anyone else.


    Brines spent a few minutes crawling over the thing as they rested, but aside from taking a few pints of its chocolate ice-cream blood and some of the liquid metal tentacles to see if Mister I would eat them, there wasn''t anything of note on the creature.


    Bearer snorted. ¡°Boo. Big monsters should have treasure.¡±


    Hari was wrapping a banded on over a gash on her leg. ¡°We were probably supposed to avoid it.¡±


    Brines gestured to the room. ¡°Well, if we couldn''t teleport away, it would have stomped us to death before we could assemble and form a plan.¡±


    Bearer gave the steel spider a kick with her boot. ¡°Well, we stomped it first! Good job everyone!¡± She walked over and pulled Brines into a one-handed hug. The man looked pleased until he started reaching for a handful of snow the woman had deposited in his shirt.


    ¡°Why!? WHY?!¡±


    Hari felt like the bullying was probably Bearer''s way of flirting, but simply let them continue while she and Growl-Whine rested.


    Growl-Whine got them moving a little later, and it was only a few short fights later they found the stairs up. Moving through, they entered another lobby, this one a series of steel cages above a burnt out medieval city some fifty feet below. It looked like a siege or raid had happened, with the only thing missing from a real fallen castle being bodies amidst the knocked over carts and broken weapons.


    Bearer hurried to the boss door, looking more upset that Hari had seen her before. ¡°I hate this.¡±


    Brines looked around. ¡°Yeah, The worst parts of prison and being an acrobat.¡±


    Hari wondered if the landscape was real, but shook her head and focused. There was more fighting to do to save Corvayne.


    Entering the Boss''s room, Hari saw they were on grassy light blue hills, under a swirling sky of gray and gold light. They must have been high up, as clouds swirled around the frosty hills they were standing on. Hari startled as a titanic hand appeared out of the cloud, an icy gauntlet steadying a huge body that pulled itself out of the mists below and pulled out a huge two handed sword. It was hard to say if it was all ice, or frozen flesh, or dull metal.


    The whole thing must have been over a hundred feet tall, its torso and giant helmeted head looming over them. Hari guessed that fighting it without some sort of ranged fire attack involved picking away at its armor.


    Growl-Whine started making a few daggers, then teleported. The boss lifted its huge sword, ponderously raising it above its head, and Hari didn''t need to be told to leap to the side as it came plummeting down, dragging clouds with it as it slammed into the hillside they had been on. The hit made her stumble a moment, and one of her ears popped from the change in pressure.


    Hari checked to make sure nobody had been splattered then helped Brines up. Bearer was already running for the far side of the clump of hills as the monster turned its blade sideways and slashed. Hari had to brace herself against a hill as the arena shook, and once she saw the knight withdrawing its blade she looked and saw it had cut through two of the hills and was halfway though a third.


    Brines slapped his hand. ¡°It must be a race to kill it before it wrecks the-¡±


    He stopped as there was a noise like a thunder crack. Hari froze too, as the monster had stopped. She was confused until she saw there was a hole in the boss wide enough that one could probably ride a Forest Wyrm through. The spider shuffled through it almost casually and chewed on a broken dagger, as if it was perhaps a carrot, as the huge knight started to fall apart, ice melting as it reached for the sky. The spider, stepping off it, jerked a hand back and hissed something, then looked almost crestfallen when Hari was confused.


    ¡°Sorry I don''t under-¡±


    Hari was falling a moment later, the garden rushing up at her again. This time it was late in fall below, a dizzying array of oranges and reds awaiting her. She landed and found she was wearing a dress made of blue threads. The mouse eared woman was there this time, resting a staff in the crook of her hand. When she tried to get closer, it felt like the figure would slide away, never letting her move within thirty feet.


    ¡°You wear the dress of winter already.¡± It should have been easier to see the woman''s face. Perhaps Hari''s eyes were not working as well, it was hard to make out features besides the gray mouse ears and pink eyes she had.


    ¡°It was fitting given the floors I went through. What is this place?¡± Hari looked down and watched the fabric of her dress turn orange, slipping back to fall.


    ¡°It''s your mind trying to comprehend the true form of the Tower and your powers. You can''t interact with it in a way that''s clear, so you lie to yourself as best as you can.¡±


    ¡°Lies outline the truth.¡± She didn''t say that Seru used that line to get her to try makeup. The thing she was speaking with might be some sort of Goddess.


    ¡°Are you prepared to change yourself for power?¡±


    Hari nodded. That was always what she wanted to do. ¡°The risks are worth it. Who are you?¡±


    ¡°The voice of the System, made manifest.¡±


    ¡°I want to save him.¡± Hari stated, feeling more resolve.


    ¡°There are many paths to do so, more then trying to become a Wizard''s vessel or a Wizard itself. But telling you would open you further to his Curses.¡±


    Hari stopped. ¡°They can spread?¡±


    ¡°He has slightly infected you with your interactions. Mainly that you would have to shred your soul some for the same power he is developing.¡±


    Hari looked over to the black gate, eying the dark thorns curled around it. She turned back to the figure.


    ¡°What do you care about me? Why do I have this, now?¡±


    ¡°Because I hedge my bets, even my best ones. You know, even I am a hybrid of something old and new. That being said, do not rush. Even if you only take the gift a moment to save him, it will change you forever.¡±


    The figure vanished, leaving Hari frowning and considering the gates. One obvious new one was a iron gate leading into a frozen garden, snow falling beyond its wrought iron bars. It should have been out of place, but there was a serene beauty to the winter beyond.


    Turning back, she kept looking, and saw again the gate of the six star offering. In the gate now, instead of kneeling the woman was holding the star with the being offering it. Partnership.


    Hari squared up and marched through the gate, and came out to Growl-Whine spitting out bone weapons all over an iced over pond. Brines and Bearer were huddled together around a fire Brines had started with his dagger and the remains of a wood chest they had looted.


    ¡°What is she doing?¡± Hari asked, pointing at the spider and its impossible pile of weapons.


    The Spider stopped, then reached under itself and pulled out something that looked like a humming six point star. It was dripping something like orange fluid, possibly her blood since Hari had never seen her harmed. Hari felt it. If she touched it, something would leave the bug and enter her. Perhaps most of if not all the entity that had been helping them. Hari had spent too many hours listening to the system to doubt her instincts on what she had become. A vessel for those stars.


    It looked similar the pointed star they had been chasing at that mine before she had died the first time.


    ¡°Not yet Growl-Whine.¡± She found herself saying, and perhaps her look or tone helped the creature understand because it put the sphere away with squelching sounds.


    The monster then created some silk and bound the weapons into bundles, then gave each of them a sack and took one herself, then shuffled over to a patch of clean snow and started drawing with a dagger.


    The spider drew five more webs, a little skull for a boss... then five more webs and a huge skull. The spider drew four figures, then erased three of them. The message was obvious: ten more floors would be too risky. They had one more shot at getting a power, or Hari would accept the orb and probably warp herself into a bug hybrid or something. It wasn''t clear through her power what would happen exactly, but there was a sense of merging, of making herself open, and change.


    ¡°One more set of floors.¡±


    This time, both Brines and Bearer nodded, and carrying a bone and silk arsenal, they walked up to challenge the path to floor 25.

 Chapter 124: The Die is Cast

    Hari took a moment to pour red sand from her boot as Brines let his green aura spill out over the group. Bearer and Growl-Whine had both taken hits during the fight, with the spider already looking fully fit but the former courier needing a few minutes to undo a nasty gash on her arm. Floor twenty five was starting to show the limits of what the spider could do to carry them.


    The floor was shaped like drifting dunes and rocky mountains, with machines and stonework poking out of red sand. The wind kicked up wisps of grit that drifted through what looked like giant hollow statues made of bony fingers between patches of twisted forgotten machines. Growl-Whine had been pushing them in a path that threaded far away from what looked like mountain sized skulls wired with thousands and thousands of metal towers. She had no desire to find out why: Hari''s curiosity for this barren set of floors had run out.


    There was little time to rest. Save one floor, Hari had seen evidence of organized resistance on top of the monsters getting stronger. Their spider guide and guardian had broken most of her weapons destroying hunting packs of sand-sailing lizard men with crab like barnacles forming parasitic armor. The little bug would kill one or two then crack a weapon and discard it or use it as a shiv until it broke as well. The why seemed obvious after Hari thought about it: The spider had given up its grinding teeth at floor 20.


    She wasn''t the only change: Brines had stopped complaining, having found his niche in their fights with a second elemental dagger that blasted out lightning a few feet from the blade. His control with the dragon''s tooth he was using earlier (though he insisted it was a ''firebreathing dagger'') helped them form a solid defensive triangle when Growl-Whine picked a fight. Seeing him toughen up, it was hard to think of him as the same man who had been taken hostage by Nyx and Lady Blood Claw without putting up a fight.


    Bearer of Burdens, on the other hand, had not changed too much. She was punching harder, and now had accumulated a few extra pieces of odd armor that made her tougher and faster, but she had spent the downtime as they climbed just trying to see if she could get Brines to blush, and a few times asking Hari if they considered sharing Corvayne or whatever else she could do to nettle her companions, save The Spider who she could not safely irritate.


    It was a pretty obvious ploy, Hari realized sitting around a campfire back on floor 23, to keep her from falling into a funk. If she were to step away from herself, she''d realize they were going to run close to their day seven deadline. Now, with one more night inside the tower to make it to the exit, she was worried they wouldn''t draw the right powers. She feared death as much as any other adventurer, but having to choose to dilute herself with another person''s soul or watch her lover die... it was getting harder to goad herself forward as she became more sure that was the choice she''d have.


    The Spider also was spending more time fighting rather than just teleporting, clearly killing patrols as often as she was scouring the path ahead. The constant use of [Blink] to pull four people clearly was too much strain after whipping through a nomad camp of lizard-men, grinding them down while casting the spell over and over to minimize damage from getting peppered with metal bows and spears. After some of the fights they''d walk, or hide and let patrols pass.


    The next patrol was ahead, blocking the path around a broad corner in a metal valley, peppered with metal scraps and carpeted in red sand. Six of the lizards were trudging across the dirt, two of them heavily armored in barnacle and bone and two of them with bows. Hari was thankful that the airfoil hadn''t shown any signs of wear and tear, as even without armor their hide was strong enough that she didn''t always penetrate it with her barrages.


    She crouched behind scrap and cast [Shadows] on the group. Growl-Whine was already positioning itself behind the monsters and above. She had taken a pair of crude weapons from the last encounter that were intact enough she could break them on her opening strike.


    Bearer and Brines faded as Hari''s spell helped them blend into the metal and sand they were crouched beside. The lizards, despite their heritage, mostly used sight and started trudging right past the group. Hari felt gripped her rapier''s tighter. The floor was cool, but it was hard not to feel her pulse surge at the impending violence.


    As the first armored figure stepped beside where Bearer had hidden they sprang the Ambush. Bearer slammed frozen fists into one of the heavy armor lizards, blasting bits of frozen armor and lizard off while both archers only started hissing a warning before there was a sharp sound of Growl-Whine shattering her blades and their backs. Hari moved as fast as she could, belting out a [Blink-Strike] to smoothly attack one of the spear-lizard from behind, setting her up for [Backstab]. As always it made a sound like a hundred blacksmith hammers all slamming anvils, the attack blasting out flesh from the monster''s back but Hari was moving away, knowing it wouldn''t take the burly monster down alone.


    Sparks flew as Brines trained one dagger on the armored lizard, causing it to try to protect itself with its club. The other monster was screeching as it hadn''t moved away fast enough and was ablaze.


    Hari didn''t have time to see more, as the monster''s spear came flying around, looking to take her head. Hari, however, had sparred with Corvayne. The lizards were strong but not nearly as frustratingly perfect with their movements, and she slipped under its swing and got her blade into its armpit twice before rolling past. She had a moment to assess, and took the moment to cast [Anchor] on the armored monster charging at Brines.


    The lizard halted and Brines backpedalled, turning to shock the armored monster that Bearer was fighting. Hari squared back up with her lizard, who had turned and started thrusting its spear at her. She kept far out of range, confident seeing Growl-Whine downing the burning spear-lizard.


    When the lizard drew back for a lunge, Hari used [Blink-Strike] to move around it, using positioning she had copied from Corvayne''s swapping to set herself up to pivot and [Backstab] the monster as it ran past. This time she struck something vital and the monster dropped two steps after pulling itself off her rapier. Turning, she saw that the second armored Lizard had been downed with a combination of lightning and being clubbed to death by one of its allies bows.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    ¡°Everyone okay?¡± Hari asked as she watched Growl-Whine toss the mangled bows it had been using as a club away. The spider turned and coughed and hissed at her which meant at least it was saying her name. Then it gave a thumbs up. Hari gave a thumbs up back. ¡°Good work Growl-Whine.¡±


    Brines was sweating. ¡°These daggers still take too much out of me.¡±


    Bearer laughed as she tapped the armored monster she had been fighting. ¡°You sure you can''t roast this lizard more? I''m kinda hungry and it looks cold.¡±


    He waved her away, instead sitting and letting his white aura fan out to help them get ready to hike again. After a few minutes they stood and started jogging across the sands again. Hari took a moment to marvel at the size of the landscape she could see. The twenty fifth floor had impossibly clear air and they were on a rise, letting her see the vast maze of metal from a commanding position.


    Moments later her position blurred a few times, and Hari was so caught up in thinking about the scenery that she was stunned when she realized she was looking at the stairs up.


    Brines laughed for the first time in a few days. ¡°Oh thank GOD I thought this would never end.¡±


    ¡°Everything ends.¡± Bearer shrugged, and pulled out a cigarette and smoked it while Growl-Whine took a moment to drink another blue potion.


    Hari cleared her throat. ¡°Boss time. We''re better equipped than before, so distract and slow whatever the monster is so Growl-Whine can finish it off.¡±


    No inn this time either, instead spitting them out in a large lobby that was a dark room full of machines trailing ribbons of tape. A single window out into a dark gray sky tinged with red suggested smoke and the ruins of a great city. Hari made a small warding gesture, hoping it wasn''t a portent for what she''d find on the other side of this tower.


    They entered the boss arena through a pair of steel double doors, and stepped into what looked like a familiar garbage ridden street in Old Town Cascadia. Standing at the far end was a copy of Argyle, the robe clad monk who had killed her once. Growl Whine didn''t wait for them to try to draw out what Argyle did, instead lowering her ears and hissing like crazy at the figure then dashing forward.


    Argyle vanished, and Hari was turning to try to cover their flanks, but there was a sort of sharp noise and she saw Argyle flung back to where he had tried to vanish from.


    Hari rushed in as Argyle tried to skewer Growl-Whine with a wave of bamboo spikes, activating [Backstab] with her Airfoil rapier. The blade barely could penetrate his robes and back, but she did see pricks of red before she used [Blink] to retreat before the monk could stop time and catch her flank with another wave of green spines.


    He instead appeared behind Bearer, but she threw up a wood arm and took the hit, hissing in pain but countering with two rapid punches into the monk''s gut. A moment later the Monk vanished, and Growl-Whine was on him, trading her last few bone weapons to parry and start gutting Argyle.


    Hari cast [Anchor] again. She felt it snap as the monk moved, but he only got a few feet from where he had been before, putting him in a spot where Brines could open up with both magic daggers, blasting him with a torrent of fire and lightning. His battle sense had gotten better, as he threw himself to the side just before Argyle''s stave flew through where he was. A second later Growl-Whine was on his back and Hari heard the satisfying crunch of [Backstab] landing a serious hit.


    Argyle vanished and she heard the droning of a flying machine, prompting Hari to start moving for cover. The spider didn''t bother, instead making a sputtering hiss with a little dance. It might have been laughing, as she took her empty silk weapon-bag and hurled it to where the vehicle was coming around a building. Almost instantly it snared the blades and there was a horrible metal on metal sound as it got caught on the windmill that made helicopters fly, tripping the entire vehicle with catastrophic results for it and its pilot as they fell twenty feet onto concrete and shattered.


    Growl Whine teleported and slammed the shards of her last weapon into Argyle''s prone form. With that, Hari fell into the dark of her mindscape.


    The garden was just before winter now, with hints of red dirt coming from a metal gate marked with a skull hosting a radio tower atop it. Hari understood it hinted at invisible communication, but even so she didn''t rush to it, considering all the options to make sure there was nothing new. After a minute of reviewing, she stepped through it.


    [You are more attuned with the System]


    Hari woke up shouting ¡°Fuck!¡±


    Brines looked over. ¡°What''s wrong?¡±


    ¡°I didn''t get some form of telepathy.¡± She felt bitter irony that it was an outcome she would have wanted badly any other time. The thought stilled her. Did her desire for it before change the outcome? Greed. They had been right, she was a better human than elf.


    Then the spider woke, and blinked, then ran over to where Brines  was looking at a graffiti covered chest. The little spider slapped him, then stopped moving.


    Brines started hissing and clawing at his head for a good five seconds, then blinked. He hissed something and then tapped his head, looking directly into Hari''s eyes.


    A moment later he stiffened and the spider startled awake and started running for the exit. Brines stumbled and Hari snapped her fingers. ¡°Bearer, take care of him!¡±


    Brines was hissing, pinching his nose. ¡°She was in my head! ¡­ But it feels like she punched me in the face.¡±


    Bearer didn''t bother actually going to Brines, instead saluting from where she was looting the chest. ¡°Go! Run free! Save your boytoy!¡±


    Hari hurtled through a pair of metal doors out to the ruins. The Spider had not waited for her, so she started running out of the gloomy tunnel out of the The Source and into the morning sun. Looking over, she could see something like a fifty foot tall ring of spikes where camp used to be. Her heart stopped a moment, wondering if she was too late.


    She saw the Spider still teleporting across the scrubland, so she used [Blink] liberally, pushing to get off the huge mountian of ruins and across field and black brick, rushing past lines of huge black crystal spikes that had upturned the dirt. She heard shouting and saw that Nyx and Grunt and Spears were fighting what looked like a pack of adventurers. Part of her twinged in annoyance: She had hoped they''d steer entirely clear of the Adventuer''s Guild and its thugs.


    She turned back to the goal at the center of those spines. Corvayne was writhing on a black crystal platform that had thickened to be something like a bed, eyes shut as his body kept erupting in horrific spurts of organs that just as quickly joined a pond of mush around the space he was on. The Spider teleported next to him, and placed her hand on his head.


    Hari relaxed for a moment as she saw Corvayne twitch. It was all on Growl-Whine and the gods.


    A moment later, after wiping her eyes, she drew her weapon and turned to the melee happening at one of the cracks into the bowl of black crystal Corvayne had made. She''d make sure the Spider had no interruptions.

 Chapter 125: The Adept Awakens

    The bad dream kept going. Corvayne knew what was happening as he had moments of lucidity. Horrible points where he emerged into just pure pain and nausea to meet Mister I''s eye and have the old man tell him he was dying, and that his friends were racing for a cure, and ask him to hold on. Then his thoughts would float back down as the knives came. They were in him, burrowing out, killing him as something else surged out to fix the holes they bore through him, forming as gnarls of pressure that kept expanding everywhere.


    He felt it in his dreams too. He could feel his chest explode with lungs and he''d take a hundred breaths at once then drown as they collapsed into goo, choking him then causing him to try to heave out of mouths that were growing and shrinking and spitting knives out of his legs and arms and side.


    Then he would sink into memories of places he''d never been. Corvayne stumbled through a town that sat under a looming blue dome, spear gripped tight in his hand as thugs moved to block his way. He tried to move his arm, and felt it dragging his intestines as the scene shifted to a city built of strings and he was flying over the bands of mega city and the wilderness under it, before he felt his wings start to dissolve and he was falling through a cypress swamp to the desert.


    He landed, and for a moment he saw his home and despaired that he was going to live and have to go back before he saw his hand shedding thousands of fingers to wiggle and die on the ground like maggots that he could still feel the dust through, and he felt it and knew it was happening outside for real.


    He heard Wick again, begging him to... do something. That hurt the most. She sounded scared, but she was never there when he was awake or aware.


    He faded back into pain, then dreamed he was before a pair of gold eagles, lying on carpet that he was bleeding out of a wound on his chest that spit out cloth and guts.


    The golden woman was there again, and the pain faded a little.


    ¡°Corvayne. You cannot die. You promised me we''d meet again.¡±


    He croaked out ¡°Sorry.¡± as best he could as his tongue filled his mouth and started exploding against rows of teeth that then fell out and he swallowed them and felt the bones like itchy knives matching the searing pain of black shards.


    ¡°Corvayne! A little more. Just hold on a little longer¡±


    I can''t. Even in his dream his mouth was full of blood. He couldn''t. This was too much.


    He dreamed of being a child. He was with the golden girl with the starry eyes. She was saying something and smiling at him and he smiled back with too many mouths.


    Another memory... a group of men in the woods, and their blood running on his spear, and a woman thanking him, cutting herself on shards that jutted from his legs.


    He walked along a coastline, a trail of dead monsters behind him, even as he melted into the waves.


    It was forever and an instant. He tried to close his eyes, to stop the knives and nausea and horror he felt. He knew what he must look like, what a horror he had become. Did Wick see him? Did Hari run from him? Wouldn''t Nyx know to put him out of his misery?


    He felt something then, something solid, and for a moment he woke to darkness all around him, a bright blue box with searing white around it the only thing he saw as he oozed shards of crystal and blood and knives, his pain following him in this fever dream.


    [????? is asking to use [Brainjack] on you. Y/N?]


    No! No!


    [????? is asking you to let them [Brainjack] you. Y/N?]


    NO! NO!


    [????? needs you to open your mind, so it can [Brainjack] you. Y/N?]


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Corvayne searched for his spear, and found it his mind and placed it between him and the window.


    The window vanished and appeared again.


    [????? needs you to open your mind. You are dying. You have nothing to lose. [Brainjack]? Y/N?]


    He held his spear firm. ¡°No. I am me! I''m myself! I won''t let anything take me again!¡±


    [You are not whole. You have been robbed, and ????? is trying to help you.]


    ¡°Brainjack doesn''t sound like a freaking....¡± Corvayne had to stop talking as a spike skewered his brain, causing spasms as he felt it inch his way through him. He wasn''t sure how he could still form thoughts or have memories given that a fist sized chunk of glass had caused him to start spilling brains out of his nose and ears, falling away into the dark as they poured out of new noses he made to keep his head from just exploding.


    [????? doesn''t want to break you. The pointy-ears one loves you. ????? needs you too. Please. [Brainjack] Y/N?]


    He forced his arms to coalesce. He started to aim for no when another box appeared.


    [Wick is watching you die.]


    He let his arm fall. He was afraid. ¡°I''m afraid.¡±


    [Of losing yourself?]


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    A shadowy arm snaked out of him, weak and tepid like a piece of black grass swaying against the black background.


    It pointed at the blazing Y in the prompt.


    [Trust others. Trust yourself.]


    ¡°Fine. Fuck it. It... can''t be worse than this.¡±


    He poked the Y with his spear.


    It flooded into him. Something else. Something huge, bulging him until the pressure in his head was too much, then clamped him down, forcing his mind to discard the pain. It was like suddenly someone was on top of him, flipping through his mind like a mugger counting bills in a wallet.


    Then, it gently put his mind back in place with a thousand arms before it pushed something into him. A triangle.


    ¡°FORM A LOOP. STRENGTH. VITALITY. SPEED.¡±


    He tried to cover his ears, and the thing let him writhe a moment.


    ¡°NO TIME FOR SUBTLETY. THE WORD HAS POWER. THINIK STRENGTH. VITALITY. SPEED.¡±


    He tried to speak strength, and in a moment he felt his body start to ripple as his muscles began to grow and snap as new ones grew under them.


    ¡°VITALITY.¡±


    He thought of life, and suddenly the pain she, the spider, had been hiding washed away and he could feel his flesh starting to stabilize.


    ¡°SPEED.¡±


    To be faster. He had used it before... He suddenly felt like he was holding a titanic bowl aloft, sloshing an ocean of power that was trying to jolt away from him. Too fast, he was stumbling.


    ¡°NO AGAIN. STRENGTH.¡±


    He pivoted in his own head, his mind quick to its words even as his form was prone. He could feel its hands shaping his thoughts to help him, trying to find words he understood. It was changing his sick growth from gross explosions to quicksilver now, flowing through him smoothly if still not nauseating.


    ¡°VITALITY.¡± The figure of the spider drew, and it somehow had a human finger that formed a glowing triangle. Red eyes opened in the black and bore into him from every direction.


    He thought of exercising then, and the spear dance. Breathing. Sweating. Growing. Eating. Living.


    ¡°SPEED! AGAIN!¡±


    Then he stood and ran in the dark, going faster and faster through nothing. The voice was laughing as he carried that sloshing ocean, turning and pivoting as it tried to buck away from him, to push outside him.


    ¡°NO. STILL NOT RIGHT. STRENGTH!¡±


    He clamped on the sloshing, squeezed on the knives trying to leave him. He had the strength to change himself.


    ¡°GOOD! YES! VITALITY!¡±


    Corvayne turned a corner, his strength bringing solidarity. The knives were frozen, and a part of him, and he was a mountain, carrying a load of power.


    ¡°SP-¡± The word morphed ¡°AGILITY¡±


    He danced on his toes, solid as rock, the power to lift an entire world shifting to letting him guide the sloshing to a stop as he brought it from above his head and danced it around him.


    ¡°AGAIN!¡±


    Strength. Vitality. Agility. He cycled through those concepts back and forth. The sloshing inside him became his. He was a sea of black crystal, flowing through him and in him. The pain was gone.


    ¡°ENOUGH! WAKE UP ADEPT! YOUR ALLIES NEED YOU!¡±


    Corvayne''s eyes snapped open as a last blast of white crystal swirled out from him. He reached out and caught the arm of an armored man trying to swing through Hari who was standing before him, bloodied.


    Strength.


    Hari gasped as he took her with his other arm and spun her out of harms way, then with a thought flung the man who had been attacking into another group that was hounding Nyx, shattering a spire of black crystal as he bowled them over. He set Hari down and met her eyes, saw them shift for shock to joy.


    Agility.


    He moved like lightning. everything crawling as he moved to where Grunt was trying to push through vines to get at a wizard lining up a smear of destructive magic to fling at the huge man. Corvayne reached the wizard''s back and was somehow both shocked and not surprised at all to find he had picked up his spear somewhere, and like a bolt from god he drove it through the robed man trying to disintegrate his first friend. He skid to a stop in front of the slowly turning group streaming through the gaps in spikes.


    Vitality.


    One blinked behind him and tried to jam a dagger into his back. It felt like a fly biting him, and he grabbed the thief and started striding through the formation of warriors, catching a sword with his forearm rather than spear, flinging it back up into the air as if he was made of stone.


    Strength.


    He pivoted and elbowed the swordsman, crumpling his armor and sending him to slam into a black crystal spire behind him. Another pivot and spear thrust and another warrior fell, and he finally threw the rouge in his hand at another wizard, clobbering them as they rolled helplessly away.


    Moments later he was joined by The Spider.


    Agility.


    Together they fought, and it was clockwork as they reached the last few attackers trying to break into the truck, spear and stolen blade striking the enemies down before they knew what happened.


    A moment later and he slowed, letting the feeling of the triangle lock back into Vitality as the sloshing slowed. A last little chunk of black crystal formed in his palm and he tossed it away.


    Looking at the hatch to the truck opening, he saw Wick without her glasses, eyes red from crying.


    He couldn''t help but smile. ¡°Did you miss me?¡±


    She ran to him and he wrapped her up in one arm, her tiny hands gripping him like claws. He saw his friends gathering up, some like June and Mister I looking exhausted. Nyx had a nasty gash on his head, but was grinning. Grunt, despite having two spears sticking into him, was already gathering groaning enemies to tie them up. Lady Blood Claw was glowing pink but holding her mouth as tears formed in her eyes.


    Hari ran up to him and he used his other arm to pull her into a kiss. He looked between her and Wick and felt his eyes water.


    Mosh, of course, ruined the moment.


    ¡°Hey boss. Your dick''s hangin'' out!¡±

 Chapter 126: Friends old and new

    Corvayne woke sometime in the middle of the night, untangled himself from Hari and Wick, then stumbled down to the kitchen car wearing his blanket like a toga. He grabbed a pitcher of ice water off its magnet base on the counter and took the top off and downed the entire container, then opened the refrigerator, its light nearly blinding him for a moment before he squinted and pulled out a huge round chunk of grilled monster meat. Holding it by the bone he ate it in what felt like six bites.


    Moments after devouring the meat he woke the rest of the way up and, feeling guilty, cleaned up the mess he had made eating and refilled the water pitcher. He bounced his mind through the rotation of Strength, Agility, Vitality when he felt a small prick on his shoulder. A few moments of breathing and cycling and he felt the sloshing still and little parts of him that had tiny crystal slivers growing in them relax as the crystals folded back into nothing.


    He jumped a little as Spears Like Water flicked the light on, then her watery face somehow turned pink before she spun around to look away. As she turned back he marveled at how much human detail her liquid body retained as her form simulated a collarbone despite not having one. She seemed to be very rigidly standing there keeping his back to him.


    ¡°Corvayne! You recovered!¡±


    He felt a breeze and looked down and pulled his blanket closed. Given he had already flashed everyone else today, he shrugged, and sat down. ¡°Yes. Sorry for any trouble I caused you guys, I''m still not sure what was going on.¡± He meant it both about himself and how long he had been out. He had gone from posing nude in front of everyone after waking up to showering off his own gore then gone right to bed, only waking when Hari and Wick had come to check if he was all right all over.


    Spears looked back at him and fussed with her t-shirt and pajama bottoms as a stray thought bubbled up from somewhere in him.


    ¡°I should say, I wasn''t sure what was going on, but I know somehow that I''m an... Adept? Capital A.¡± Hari had told him they were looking for a way to talk to the Spider, and that the little insect had been drawing triangles that, with hindsight, were instructions how to deal with the crystals that were tearing him apart. Or more accurately, the energy in them. He felt like every cycle he did was reinforcing a foundation. The word foundation actually made the form wobble a little and he reasserted strength, agility, vitality to quell some sloshing.


    The watery woman shrugged. ¡°I don''t know what that is... hey! Can I cook you something?¡±


    Corvayne realized while thinking he had also been eying a pie someone had left under a glass lid on the counter. He then looked back at Spears. ¡°I didn''t realize you cooked.¡±


    She smiled at him. ¡°I blame that on whatever the curse was, I learned to cook to try to get your attention.¡±


    Corvayne watched her stand and stalk through the kitchen, smoothly opening cupboards for bowls and spoons and fetching a pair of large monster eggs from the refrigerator as she moved. Water or not, she didn''t walk so much as prowled, tall and graceful. Corvayne clamped down on a few thoughts that threatened the structural integrity of his blanket toga.


    ¡°French toast all right?¡± She asked as she flicked the electric stove top on.


    ¡°I think I''ve had that before.¡± Corvayne said, trying to remember if it was the fried square batter cakes that Grunt brought home a few times or the one made of heated flour-slime.


    They lapsed into a silence that Corvayne felt was awkward until he heard Spears humming as she started making french toast, which the ingredients reminded him was a fancy way to say ''egg bread''. He noted that her liquid hands seemed to have control over other liquids, letting her flip pieces of bread into the goop she had whisked the eggs into without it sticking to her hands. She also didn''t bother with a spatula, simply flipping the toast with her hands.


    ¡°I guess that form helps you cook...¡± Corvayne said, feeling a little odd watching her swishing her hips as she hummed and turning his attention back to a screen that showed stars outside and a fire that Reaper and Ears were using to warm their backs as they handled watching bound sleeping bags.


    ¡°Yes, though I can boil so I try not to touch red hot things. I was pretty clumsy before I started training my spear craft with Waves-Within.¡±


    ¡°I don''t remember you ever being clumsy.¡± Corvayne added, trying to make it sound light.


    ¡°But you remember saving me a few times, don''t you?¡±


    He nodded and she turned back to cooking, and a little while later he had a plate of french toast with strawberry and powdered sugar and butter and syrup drizzled on it.


    ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Corvayne took a bite into the toast, taking a moment to enjoy its soft texture and blend of different sweet flavors with a savory hint of butter. There was a faint taste under it that suggested the monster eggs gave it a hint of orange flavoring, but it might have just been her recipie. He hadn''t thought after eating a whole chunk of meat he''d still have room for anything, but found he was still hungry and thirsty. Spears seemed to guess he would be as she set down a tall glass of cold milk. Possibly also from a monster, because it somehow had a hint of something like mint in it that made it even more refreshing.


    ¡°its very sweet. In a good way. its delicious.¡±


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Spears sat next to him, scraping her metal chair against the floor. She didn''t have sleeves on, so he could see some the light both reflecting off her and diffusing through her clear arms. She stopped eating for a second and Corvayne realized he had been caught staring and he focused very hard on slicing his toast. Spears leaned over to bump her shoulder against his, feeling like a warm water balloon, then pulled her own plate closer to his and ate next to him for a while. When Corvayne had cleared his plate he stood up, made sure his bed sheet covered anything sensitive, then nodded at Spears.


    He watched her face as she smiled and looked over at the door. ¡°Did you want to train?¡±


    ¡°I need pants.¡±


    Spears blue watery surface flushed a little pink as she held a hand over her mouth. ¡°Oh! Did you not get your strawberry pants back from Lady Blood Claw yet?¡±


    Corvayne gave her a level glance. ¡°I have other pants... also other people are sleeping.¡± He glanced back to where he had left Hari and Wick in bed.


    Spears folded her arms. ¡°Now that you have... two? Anyway, now that you have girlfriends do you think you can get out of training just because you were up late kissing?¡±


    ¡°Kissing?¡± Corvayne had managed to push it aside, but once again he was struck at how different Spears-Like-Water was from her previous viper-mouthed self.


    ¡°You know what I mean!¡± She got flustered, and Corvayne put his hands up.


    ¡°Okay Spears. That aside, its the middle of the night and after everything that happened just now I''m still sort of... spent.¡±


    She folded her arms and looked away. ¡°When we were growing up, I remember you making time for me.¡±


    ¡°Well, we spent a lot of time hunting and training after we grew up. And you are here now, and I won''t say no to another friend.¡± Corvayne got to his feet and took his plate and considered if he had a cross-skill that could clean it. Maybe [Flows-Like-Water]? He moved over an inch using the [Cross-Skill] with the plate but it was still covered in Syrup. He double checked his sheet''s knot. What other skills could he use?


    Spears walked beside him and wiped a hand over his plate, cleaning it flawlessly. ¡°What about our engagement?¡±


    Corvayne jerked away a little and his sheet started to fall. He wasn''t shocked enough to let that happen, and pinched it closed. ¡°You had said that it was just an assumption that people had, right?¡±


    ¡°I have to remember... that you don''t remember it. Or me.¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°Okay we''ll work on making some new memories. Different ones! Get dressed and we''ll go watch a movie. You can paint or carve wood if you don''t want to watch it.¡±


    That stopped him. ¡°Carve wood?¡±


    She looked at him. ¡°That was one of your hobbies. You like reading, working on machines, and you made little figures... I know Wick borrowed your big paintbrush to make her summoning circle.¡±


    Corvayne caught her word choice. ¡°But not my paints?¡±


    ¡°We had plenty of both fresh blood and bodies and quite a few spare fresh body parts from you... she was only going to complete it as a last ditch effort.¡±


    Corvayne now had to ask Wick what exactly she was going to try summoning to save him. That and let her know she could keep that paintbrush. He sidestepped wondering if extra copies of his brain that had spilled out also had his memories. Focus on the important stuff. ¡°I guess I was out of the loop, was that why those other guys were attacking us?¡±


    ¡°Oh! The adventurers? Well they came to shake us down, and Nyx told me to tell them off, along with... Grunt?¡± She winked. ¡°So I gave them both barrels, and then they came back with friends and we were beating them up when you woke up. Most of them are alive and we''re going to ransom them when we get to civilization since the guild pays people not to kill them.¡±


    Great. Already making friends on this new world. Hopefully they didn''t have any Argyle-Class threats that were going to ambush them and destroy the truck in one blow.


    Corvayne looked over at Spears and could see the water under her eyes looked a little dark. ¡°Don''t you need some rest? You were up with Seru trying to run that game...¡±


    ¡°Curse keeps me awake, I''ll probably drink myself to sleep after tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Oh right, I forgot. I''ll try carving, I suppose.¡± He had the fire breathing dagger and he could try to see if he could turn off the aspect that made it burn things it cut while also cycling his talent and watching a movie. He''d be sitting down, so it was technically resting.


    He walked out of the dining car and went up to the series of rooms and crept into his, careful not to wake Wick who was tossing and turning. Hari of course was dead asleep, spooning a large pillow under the covers. There was such a large difference between Hari awake in bed and Hari asleep... he had heard his friends had all done different things to try to help him with his body erupting into shards and that Hari and The Spider had ended up finding the solution. He owed her even more, now.


    He left the room and climbed down to the group space. The girl who they had found cornered by bandits near the spider was sleeping on the curved seat, turning fitfully and clutching a blanket. There were some of Seru''s table top gaming debris left on the table near the girl, including a ''reforge'' bin full of garbage.


    Spears saw the girl and turned to a hatch near the group area and opened it up, pulling another pair of blankets from a cubby and tossed one over the villager before sliding with the other blanket into the other side of the divided space. She turned the television on and dropping the volume to nearly mute before flipping through the hard-drive attached to the screen that had movies.


    Corvayne sat down near her and Spears tossed the blanket to cover both them and put on what looked like an action movie about a group of aliens with dart throwers and stealth suits who were getting picked off in a jungle by an insanely strong commando. He didn''t pay much attention, having taken a block of spare wood from Mosh''s shop under the sleeping area and started carving on the table a little figure.


    He was shocked that while he needed to focus on the dagger not to singe the wood, and his own body to try not to start producing knives, he didn''t need to think about what he was carving that much. His hands just knew where to go, making little cuts and knicks and fishing out details as the lump of wood became a woman in a fetal positon clasping a sword, a city growing out of her spine. He had gotten the idea from the Cascadia seal and flag, a light blue figure on a white background in a similar pose. His own rendition, with his knife moving without thinking, took on some of Wick''s features.


    Spears leaned against him and it broke him out of his trance. She had her head against his shoulder, and looking over she was snoring gently.


    He shrugged and went back to carving and half watching the second movie she had put on, a comedy about a colony ship where an AI mistakenly edited the crew so there were a bunch of lookalikes on the way to a planet called ''Forum 4''. Corvanye actually got the reference, as he had watched the Watchers put on a play this movie was no doubt based on. Which stopped him a moment as he thought about something. The books that the Watchers had were a weird hodgepodge. Sometimes they''d have the full series on things, but just as often he''d find the first or middle or last book...


    Of course, he was away from the network, where he could probably find out if some of the stories he had read had endings if there was a shared culture.


    Another thought for later. He had a lot of those and was sure he kept dropping them, but it was hard to be laser focused when there was a new crisis every few days. He flicked his knife across the wood, adding a few more details to the Cascadia City Crest Girl, Wick Edition. Wick was probably happy to sit tight for a little while, until the next UFO or NMO or whatever you called the glowing lights in the sky dragged them elsewhere.


    He set the finished figure down and saw that the Villager girl, well, young woman, was awake. She crept across from her couch to theirs, still wearing a blanket, and settled in to watch the movie.


    ¡°Do you know what they are saying?¡± Corvayne asked, and the girl shook her head.


    ¡°No but its interesting.¡±


    ¡°Corvayne, by the way.¡±


    Her stony expression for a moment twinged into a smile before she schooled her face. ¡°Shallee. Is Corvayne you real name, or an adventurer''s name?¡±


    ¡°Uh, its real.¡±


    ¡°Oh. It sounds like the kind of monster names my uncle would have in his stories. Like Bludfyre a goblin wizard who ate children near swift rivers. Or Mudguts, who would stab children in their bellies as they slept if they didn''t make a cooking fire to ward him off.¡±


    That sounded like they were just trying to get kids to not drown or get the runs, but Corvayne nodded. ¡°I can see that.¡±


    ¡°You''re not a vampire, right?¡±


    Corvayne felt himself glower a little. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I know they cannot lie if you ask them. I just figure you might have been exploding for the last two days because you got caught in the sun or something. I would not tell the others even so, I owe you.¡±


    She didn''t seem to wait for a response and went back to watching the screen. Corvayne felt Spears stir a little but continue to snore, so he pulled another chunk of wood out and started working on carving as the goofy movie played on, enjoying his quiet company.

 Chapter 127: Prisoner Policy

    After a night of half watching movies and acting as a pillow for spears, there was a call for a meeting outside by Wick.


    Corvayne gently shook Spears awake. Leaving the truck, he saw they were set up a little closer to the black crystal spires he had made. In the shadow of the big spikes, protected somewhat from the cold wind, the group had set up some picnic tables and Mister I was grilling a huge monster that looked like a cow-shark across two different grills. The monk had a cooking apron that someone had stitched ''Kiss the Cook/Sniper/Healer'' onto.


    The prisoners watching him  looked split between salivating and resentful. Corvayne noted silk binding them to black crystals in clumps of two and three, with a group of four tied up with standard rope and looking more bruised than the other survivors. He guessed there were about twenty adventurers who survived, mostly human men but with a few women and non-humans mixed in.


    He was trying to see which prisoners he thought were more likely to try to escape when Lady Blood Claw walked up next to him and handed him a freshly laundered pile of gear and his storage ring. She was wearing what looked like a new jumpsuit covered in tiny scales that hugged her form enough that Corvayne could see the shape of the workout gear she wore under it for modesty''s sake.


    ¡°Thanks LBC.¡± He stored his gear after slipping his ring back on.


    The alien woman put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a warm smile, a shade of gray and pink that suggested satisfaction to Corvayne. ¡°Just glad you''re back.¡±


    It wasn''t her without the small interaction turning her a bit blue as she was, for some reason, embarrassed by what she said even as she kept her face serious. Corvayne pretended not to notice, instead facing forward as Wick strutted to two large blocks facing the tables where most of the group was sitting. She was wearing a stocking cap that looked like a knitted furry slug and she had fleece under her blue cloud robes. She cheated a little, stepping onto a half stone in front of the speaking spot, but as always she seemed a natural when it came time to talk to a crowd.


    ¡°All right! We did it, Corvayne is alive, and we''ve already won two major battles involving the, Truck proving it''s resilience and that we''re a team not to be messed with!¡±


    Mosh knocked on the side three times. ¡°Everyone, let''s hear it for Juggernaut!¡±


    There was some scattered applause, including one of the prisoners who had his hands close enough to clap until the person next to him stepped on his foot.


    ¡°Okay, let''s start with the big one, we got a bunch of prisoners. We''ll do a quick vote. Hari suggested we ransom them back to the guild. Grunt thought we should try to integrate the better behaved ones into our parties. Spears suggested we toss them into a one-way tower. I think you can all guess Nyx''s suggestion.¡±


    The noble smiled and drew his thumb across his throat.


    Hari sighed. ¡°The chance of that is slim. The Gold and Silver rank adventurers they sent are realists. They understand completely that a second attempt will result in their deaths. We don''t need to antagonize the guild and the money is enough for us to get any basic materials we need, grease palms, and even buy some information and maybe a few magic items if we barter well.¡±


    Nyx stood up from his spot near where Wick was speaking. ¡°You say that but they have human hearts that nurse grudges. We can be certain a few of them hate us. We killed some of their peers, though that was on their own heads for daring to cross Corvayne, Grunt, and Spears.¡± Nyx turned to Spears and winked at her, which she was ignoring as she looked at the prisoners.


    Spears addressed everyone. ¡°Rather than just going kill kill kill... We could toss them into a one-way portal like Hari''s group went through. By the time they get back to this world, we''ll likely be either long gone or too established to bother.¡±


    Corvayne felt it would be nice if there was one handy but...


    Mister I spoke up. ¡°I also advocate mercy, but that seems like it wouldn''t be easy to find the exact sort of temporary jail you seek... How would we test it without going in ourselves? And the option of selling them back to the guild seems like it''s reasonable.¡±


    Nyx groans. ¡°Have you EVER tried to handle a hostage exchange?¡±


    Mister I laughed. ¡°I''ve seen you do it, it can''t be that hard!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw looked at them rather pointedly. ¡°Doesn''t the fact that we keep taking hostages say something about us?¡±


    Corvayne shifted his attention back to Wick who cleared her throat. ¡°I think ransom is the easy way, but I think there''s room to get more info out of them, and if any of them are actually important, sponsoring them and maybe winning them over would help shield us from reprisal.¡±


    Nyx shrugged. ¡°Or their family would spend boatloads of money to hire competent bounty hunters.¡±


    Hari shrugged. ¡°Actually, there''s almost no platinum or above bounty hunters, so these are the guys they probably would hire.¡±


    Corvayne knew he was out of the loop, but went ahead and asked while raising his hand. ¡°Sorry, I heard they tried to rob us, but why were they up here in the first place?¡±


    Hari started to explain ¡°The Spi-¡± but was interrupted by a tied up adventurer barking out a laugh. ¡°Rob you? You went into a dungeon and tried to stiff the guild on it''s share mate!¡±


    Spears took a rough looking napkin from the table and placed it in his mouth, then walked back over to a set of stone blocks they were sitting on. ¡°Sorry, Hari go on.¡±


    ¡°They were investigating The Spider. The Cult of the Mask put a bounty on it, and so the guild figured it was worth money and sent a group to try to get it either to sell to the cult or keep for themselves.¡±


    She looked at the group tied up, frowning as she scanned the faces either avoiding her gaze or glaring


    at her. ¡°Given they got completely dictionaried and we...¡±


    Horton raised a hand. ¡°You mean decimated.¡±


    ¡°Decim- desk mated?¡±


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Horton said it louder and slower. ¡°Decimated. From the Latin root for ten.¡±


    ¡°Lah-tin? I''d sound as smart as I am if you understood fucking elvish you pedantic goat-fucker!¡± In elvish the insult sounded graceful and ethereal even if she snapped a little at the end. Since he woke up, Corvayne had felt she was getting more assertive outside of bed, instead of just in it.


    One of the captives with slightly pointed ears snickered at what she said.


    Hari shot him an annoyed look then kept going. ¡°Since we defeated them, captured them live, and did it with few injuries, the guild will probably assess us as...¡± She paused and Corvayne was fairly sure her eyes were looking at something only she could see before she continued. ¡°... assess us as Platinum or Diamond level, and from what my master had told me, the wisdom for threats like that is to just leave them alone if you can.¡±


    Corvayne looked at the group rounded up. They seemed pretty weak, even as imposing as some of their figures were. He paused from looking them over to pull a moderate sized shard of black crystal out of his neck then flicked it on the ground, cycling through his stances until he was back on vitality and the little cut had closed.


    Turning back, he saw the adventurers looked terrified at him. He felt little flicks like something was watching him, clearly a few of them using something like Hari''s skills and a few of them looking pale from whatever it told them.


    Nyx nodded. ¡°All right, then, Grunt what''s your argument?¡±


    Brines stepped up. ¡°I''ll repeat it since Grunt only wanted to make it once.... he thinks we could use more muscle, and that we should have a few of mixed in to make it harder for the guild to crack us. I like the idea since a few locals would make us less conspicious.¡±


    Corvayne raised his hand. ¡°Doesn''t that mean we''re weakening ourselves though? We can''t really trust anyone forced to work for us to do a good job. I can''t imagine trying to watch more than one.¡±


    Wick folded her arms. ¡°Corvayne! You are thinking too narrowly. Making friends out of your enemies is the best possible outcome! Besides... Hari told me that the adventurer''s guild has a nice big fat store of info on UFOs and NMOs.¡±


    Corvayne gave her what he felt like was a flat look. ¡°Wick, your bias is on your sleeve again.¡±


    Ears-Of-Steel devil-tail whipped about and she drove her finger into the fold out table with a thump. ¡°We also would be splitting the treasure shares, again.¡± She glanced over at Kirae who was mostly just staring at Mister I''s smoking grills and the meat on it. ¡°What do you do if they get set up and then just skip town the next world we end up on?¡±


    Hari sighed. ¡°Most of these guys won''t know anything about the UFOs as it doesn''t involve treasure, and I agree with how Ears is thinking of it. I say we use one of their memostones to call the guild now and arrange a pickup. I think if nobody shows an interest in joining, then...¡±


    Lady Blood Claw interrupted. ¡°Sorry to play devil''s advocate... but some of them might be bribed with the items we took from them.¡±


    Grunt and Wick both pointed at the same woman, a red-head glaring at them all.


    Corvayne looked between them all. ¡°What? Why her?¡±


    Grunt looked to Wick and made the money sign, and Wick laughed. ¡°She had the fanciest armor!¡±


    Corvayne looked at the woman. She looked to be somewhere in her thirties, if he was going by Cascadia years.


    The woman glared at Corvayne. ¡°Come near me and I''ll bite it off you bandit scumbag.¡±


    Corvayne folded his arms. ¡°First, why is that where you immediately go? Second, didn''t YOU pick a fight with US?¡±


    ¡°Okay, anyone in favor of killing them all?¡± Wick asked. Nyx raised his hand halfway and wavered his hand back and forth.


    ¡°It''s easy to suggest but I''d feel bad about actually killing prisoners we could just leave tied up.¡± He admitted.


    ¡°Fine, Hari''s pure ransom with NO funny business idea.¡± Wick continued.


    Mister I stepped forward. ¡°I think it''s by far the best suggestion.¡±


    Corvayne considered it. ¡°Why would we bother with indenturing them any way? Even for, as Wick said, to get them to buy back their gear? We don''t need their help... do we?¡± That and they were still trying to get everyone as much enchanted defensive gear as they could pull from Towers even after two weeks of intense delving to prepare for the trip. He saw Ears-Of-Steel turn her horned head his way and nod at him.


    Brines thought about it. ¡°What if some of the gear is leased? So they don''t care about the guy in it, but they want their artifacts returned?¡±


    Hari nodded at Brines, and Corvayne saw Bearer of Burdens nudge him. ¡°Jimmy you''re sharper than you look!¡±


    Nyx wiggles his fingers. ¡°Shallow graves rarely name names.¡±


    Wick waved her hand. ¡°No warcrimes! Bad Nyxion Augustus the Third. BAD!¡±


    Mosh shrugged. ¡°So take half the money and give em back the stuff we don''t really need, keep the good stuff!¡±


    Hari rolled her eyes. ¡°That''s the same as just keeping everything. Give it all back. We dump them at a random guildhall and let the guild punish them for getting caught and living to tell about it. Paying out ransoms or healing costs is part of how they keep their members in debt.¡±


    Corvayne felt a little worried about that last part. ¡°Hari, I''m not going to put some poor bandits-¡±


    The tied up red-head interrupted, ¡°I am NOT a BANDIT! Get me a sword! I''ll duel you!¡±


    Corvayne finished ¡°-I''m not going to be a party to slavery in any form.¡± He thought about the feeling of being trapped in his village.


    Bearer of Burdens stepped forward. ¡°Same times a thousand.¡± She swept her gaze over everyone else and Corvayne had to respect that she looked a hell of a lot tougher than she had before.


    Hari waved a hand to calm everyone down. ¡°Anything related to slaves is punishable by death in the empire, including not freeing them on crossing the border. It''s why I called them... good, if not the best.¡±


    Ears folded her arms. ¡°Will they pay us for these guys? I mean, they are just thugs right? No offense Grunt.¡±


    Grunt waved and smiled while shaking his head: It''s all good Ears.


    Hari shrugged. ¡°The Adventurer''s guild won''t use anyone who''s a notorious criminal. They don''t look too deep into people''s backgrounds though since can''t share perfect paintings of people like Cascadians can.¡± Corvayne supposed she was talking about pictures. Hari continued. ¡°They present a united front with their members though, and that means they''ll pay, even if it''s coming out of the hostages pocket in the end.¡±


    Reaper of Fish raised a can. ¡°I say we hurry up and vote before I run outta beer.¡±


    Wick agreed. ¡°Ok, who wants to let them go scott free, armed with everything?¡±


    Nobody responded to that.


    ¡°Do we want to keep any of them?¡±


    Corvanye looked at the vicious woman glaring at him. ¡°I vote no on that.¡±


    ¡°Okay, what about just plain old ransom them and get rid of them?¡±


    It seemed that most of the group went with that, as Corvayne saw just about everyone raising their hands.


    That settled, Wick cleared her throat. ¡°Okay Hari, call their moms to pick em up.¡± Seru snorted at her comment, but she continued. ¡°So let''s talk goals. We can make a lot of money here pound for pound with magic items, but what else are we after? Any thoughts?¡±


    Corvayne thought about it for a little, then started walking around the table up to where Wick was standing, and she nodded at him as he turned to face his friends.


    ¡°We are in a spot to hold for a little bit. Any organized search of Cascadia for Wick has to determine how we left, what vehicle we used, where it went under the cover of night, figure out there''s a portal, then pick the right direction to find us. We have a lingual advantage they might struggle to meet. Hari is a native, and the only one we''ve met in the city. We also have a few Tower entrances nearby. I think we slow down and work on getting stronger and filling out our powers by running the dungeon before we go find the next disaster, or it finds us.¡±


    Corvayne noticed that everyone was sort of looking at him, including the adventurers.


    ¡°Lots of dungeons?¡± One of them perked up.


    Wick glared at Corvayne. He looked around. ¡°I''m not the one asking for strategy in front of a bunch of bandits.¡±


    The red-head woman snarled and started hopping at him, trying to drag three grown men tied to her along and doing a fair job.


    ¡°Fine, respectable adventurers.¡± Corvayne said before she throttled another prisoner trying to drag them at him.


    Hari looked up and called out. ¡°I agree with Corvayne! Let''s get strong and explore the Tower!¡±


    Wick swished her hand. ¡°I think the food is ready so... Hari, call their minders, arrange some sort of exchange. Everyone else, we bulk up while we wait for another UFO. Or the next disaster.¡±


    Corvayne went to go get meat while wondering if Hari was on the phone with it, right now.

 Chapter 128: We Got Tricked

    Corvayne sloshed his way out of the frigid water, accepting the mapping tool that Lady Blood Claw was holding for him. This entrance to The Source was a knee deep stream coming out of a crack that was about waist-tall, meaning they had to crawl through water and silt to get in and out. He had hoped it wasn''t it''s own set of tunnels and portals, but it was and now the running tally of Tower entrances in the complex was something like fifty.


    It was near dawn, and everyone''s breath steamed in the near freezing air. If there was one nice thing about his new ''Adept'' power, it was the rotation generated heat if he did it frequently. It made him trail a wispy line of water, but he''d rather that than be cold.


    Lady Blood Claw touched something on the jumpsuit she wore under her armor, and the water fell off her as she leaned past Corvayne to bark at everyone else. ¡°Hurry it up! The sooner you go in the water, the sooner you''re out and the sooner you can get in line for a hot shower.¡±


    He stepped around her to help Gary up from the water and saw his disciple was shivering. Corvayne popped a discolored but clean towel out of his storage ring and tossed it to Gary, who caught it and rubbed his hands dry. The cloth armor he was wearing was probably twenty pounds heavier wet, but Gary looked cold rather than tired. His disciple, for all he complained on the training grounds, had been sticking to the same workout that Corvayne did. Granted, after any given training session Gary needed mending, but he had stuck with it and was starting to replace his flab with muscles.


    The next face out was Shallee, who Gary waded back to as she crawled out from the tunnel. He was surprised at first she came along, but as Hari had pointed out they had met her while going deep into the ruins. With about a week of delving and food, well, she still looked skinny to Corvayne, but the girl had proved to be a steady shot with her sling and was able to fend off monsters with her knife-work. More importantly, her attention was not on Corvayne.


    He watched her blush as she accepted Gary''s hand.


    Shallee had Mister I and Mosh stepping in when the girl sometimes would space out. Never on missions, perhaps because she followed Corvayne''s commands with an intensity most people did not. Sometimes after missions she''d just hole herself up in a bunk. He didn''t think she was afraid, just dealing with her life changing. They had tried letting her return home as Wick feared that she thought she was a prisoner. Kirae, the guide girl who had shown them The Source in the first place, had taken her to the village. A scant few hours later she stormed back to the truck with a shaken Shallee in tow. Kirae had done a lot of cursing and spitting and a gesture Hari used that must have been the local middle finger, all pointed in her former homes direction. Shallee did some crying until Spears took her for movie time and they watched a computer animated feature with a cuddly magic teddy bear who learned to sew so he could fix his friends at an orphanage.


    He had asked Mister I if the very innocent friendship blossoming into romance between her and Gary was healthy given she had some sort of trauma going on and the monk actually raised an eyebrow at him and pointed to Hari. Touche, Mister I.


    A sultry voice only a little broken by hypothermia cried out, ¡°Hey, I could use a big strong man to help me up!¡±


    If Gary was becoming a gentleman, Seru had regressed. She seemed irritated most of the time and would start trying to flirt with Corvayne almost as hard as when they first met. That was a conversation he needed to have with Hari as back up. They were friends and Hari had told him Seru was probably just frustrated she wasted time on a dead-end path to a cure when he was dying from his Adept power. Corvayne wasn''t so sure, as she didn''t seem to bother the other guys like she did him.


    That, and it was almost always when Nyx was around. Corvayne helped her up anyway, lest she get flattened underwater by the shield bubble following her.


    ¡°Seru, you''re better than this.¡± He said quietly to her, and felt bad when he saw a hint of genuine hurt on her face.


    Nyx needed no help, popping up from the barrier and springing into the air as his new levitation anklets kicked in.


    ¡°I just need my force bracers and I''ll be exactly as I should be. Imposing and untouchable!¡±


    Seru turned. ¡°Spears certainly hasn''t yet!¡±


    Nyx rolled his eyes and waved her away. ¡°For someone who just wanted meaningless fun, you are clingy.¡±


    Corvayne stepped in. ¡°Nyx, take Shallee over and find Spears and Mister I. Her mends going to wear off soon.¡±


    Appointed to a task that got him to his goal, Nyx beamed and turned to the villager. Despite his profession of despising peasants, the noble seemed to treat Shallee kindly and stood up straight when tasked with her. ¡°Shallee... Spears, Mend, Movie.¡±


    She nodded at the string of Cascadian words she knew, and he floated near her, scanning the horizon for signs of trouble. Corvayne felt Seru move and put a hand on her shoulder.


    She tried to make a... Corvayne supposed what she thought was an alluring face... at him.


    ¡°Seru, are you okay?¡±


    It was getting easier to get her to break character. Her face fell. ¡°This sucks.¡±


    Gary picked up her pack and Corvayne nodded for him to jog back to the truck. ¡°Go get warm, eat something. I''ll be up for sparring in twenty, barring if the exchange starts.¡±


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Gary nodded. ¡°Yes Sensei!¡±


    Corvayne silently thanked whatever forces were helping him that Gary had stopped calling him master. Lady Blood Claw moved up to Seru''s other side and put a hand on her shoulder as well. ¡°You did good this run. You protected Gary and Shally in fights, and you helped us pick what treasure to take with us. Chin up.¡±


    ¡°So what?¡± Seru wiggled away from them and spun. ¡°I got dumped. I never get dumped!¡±


    Corvayne thought about that. ¡°You took it better with me.¡±


    ¡°I never sat on your face.¡± Seru countered.


    Lady Blood Claw covered her face, turning dark blue in embarrassment. Corvayne gave Seru a sideways look. ¡°Did you really sit on anyone''s face? You got skewered right away.¡±


    Seru looked mortified. ¡°That was just that ONE time. Who do you think I was screwing until... until SPEARS showed up.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw wiggled a finger. ¡°Don''t get mad at Spears...¡±


    Seru fumed. ¡°I wasn''t! She''s clueless.¡± Corvayne was on the fence about that statement but let it slide. ¡°And he follows her like a little kid, trying to get her attention and make her laugh and it pisses me off, where''s MY guy to do that?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shrugged. ¡°You can''t change who Nyx is.¡±


    Corvayne saw a puff of dust on the horizon and tapped LBC''s shoulder to point it out to her. ¡°Seru, Lady... Let''s double time it. I think they are coming for our guests.¡±


    Both Seru and Lady Blood Claw for a moment looking longingly at the Truck and it''s supply of fusion heated water, then both sighed and fell into step next to Corvayne.


    For the exchange, Hari and Growl-Whine had rode out on a hover cycle to a flat spot, with the prisoners standing tied up near a pair of campfires. There was only a few stone blocks in the spot chosen, otherwise a large slab of empty ground. One stone was currently acting as a table for Hari, and two other stones Grunt had moved to act as the drop off points. The huge man made the slab of black rock look dainty with the ease he was able to move them, but Corvayne knew he''d struggle to lift it unless he was using his strength form and even then it was a challenge.


    A bit of near freezing wind reminded Corvayne he had wet clothes on and he cycled a few times to push back the discomfort. Seru tried to glomp onto him, so he started a fire for her and Lady Blood Claw, then stepped past them to watch the exchange. He knew he wasn''t needed as Growl-Whine was there and Grunt was by the prisoners, but more eyes were better, and he was watching their flanks and the sky for any tricks.


    The head of the lines of dust resolved into three covered wooden wagons, manned by what looked like a wizard and driver on the first, with another two drivers on the wagons behind them. The animals pulling them looked like large lizards with egg-shell armor. The carvan pulled up to the furthest stone and a silver armored figure floated from inside the middle wagon to the ground, then waved. Hari waved back, and strode forward, Growl-Whine following. Corvayne noted she was shifting forms again, having not done so for almost a week.


    Corvayne lost sight of the exchange for a few moments as he moved down into a ditch and back, cresting as Hari and the armored figure had reached eachother and started speaking. Hari was gesturing and the figure waved her away and walked around her to the stone and put down a few large stacks of gold, then motioned for the wagons to head  over to the part of the field with the prisoners.


    Corvayne was waiting for some sort of complication: The gold to be fake, them arming the prisoners to steal it back, a wizard starting a long incantation to blow them up with a meteor... instead Hari returned to their allies with a bag of gold slung over her shoulder, grunting as it was, in fact, very heavy.


    Corvayne met her and kept his eyes on the Adventuer''s guild. ¡°No tricks? No traps?¡± Maybe they coated the gold in poison or tracking spells.


    ¡°[Identify] tells me the amount and no, no tricks. That''s Plantina... who''s likely a very old silver dragon. She''s who they send to look respectable.¡± Hari took the sack and handed it to Corvayne, who put it in his ring to be split later.


    ¡°I thought they were thugs?¡± He said while watching the adventurers being freed. Hmm. They''d need to buy more rope, since a lot of it had been used to tie the prisoners up, but he had a feeling that had they asked for the rope back too it would see... petty? Pedantic?


    ¡°There''s a sort of division between local branches who generally are mercenaries and thugs, then the old guard who are respectable.¡± Hari was looking all about. ¡°We''ll watch and make sure they leave... we should be okay.¡±


    ¡°We do have most of their stuff.¡± Corvayne noted. Which probably included rope, which made him feel a little better about dipping into their supply.


    Lady Blood Claw nodded, her skin turning teal for a moment suggesting relief or being content with something. Most often seen when she sat down after training with a cup of tea. ¡°We will need more. The artifacts we have and the magical weapons are great but pushing up we need to be careful when we enter new floors.¡±


    They passed Grunt and Seru, who had stopped with her arms folded. ¡°Okay, so what are we going to do about Nyx?¡±


    ¡°Talk to him? I can''t change his mind.¡± Corvayne said, scratching his face and cycling to remove a shard.


    Hari tugged Seru''s arm before they started across a set of stones that provided a footpath across the icy creek. ¡°You can do better Seru!¡±


    Corvayne saw Hari start to look over at him in a look like a child taking in a puppy. He looked away. No deal. Seru was not his type. He took another look behind him but could see the dust of the caravan leaving. Grunt was following Growl-Whine and neither of them seemed worried, so Corvayne hopped his way across the rocks and took a big breath of cool clean air. After he sorted Seru''s problem out, they''d have some solid time to sort through the massive amount of material they had pulled from the ruins, test some powers, train, all without some crisis hanging over their heads. Maybe even figure out some of the mechanics of the systems and classes, which Seru HAD been working on with Wick, but they needed more runs where they hit the inn, and the money to pay all the greedy info sellers. Basic class books were ten thousand gold.


    He kept running through his list of things to do, and was thinking about asking Mister I if the good doctor had found a place to go fishing yet when he saw Growl-Whine stop and turn around, the spider-like creature not seeming agitated but very focused behind them. Corvayne gripped his spear and spun to try to track what she saw. He could see a speck of  the wagon''s dust but Growl-Whine wasn''t looking that way but rather a little lower.


    He frowned. ¡°Hari... you didn''t ask for too much, right?¡±


    Hari was still walking, and looked back a little confused. ¡°Honestly? Don''t get upset, but... I didn''t press very hard to negotiate, we could have taken a much higher sum if we played games and dragged it out. Better to not have them call our bluff and be forced to drag a bunch of captives around an-¡±


    She stopped as she saw it too. ¡°Why?!?¡±


    Corvayne just sighed.


    Out from the dust, he could see red head was running after the wake of the caravan, hands still tied and stumbling to try to keep up, with a note stuck to the back of her shirt with a pin.

 Chapter 129: Young Rich Mistress

    Corvayne read the note on the kitchen table. Again.


    Dear Hari and Explorers,


    We regret to send you this letter informing you that we could not produce the needed funds to handle the ransom of every member of our guild. It might seem odd, but given the financial value of some members of the guild, it would create bad feelings if we were to, say, undervalue a member. As well and perhaps more importantly, if it came to your attention later that their monetary worth was far far greater than the rest of the hostages combined this might also create bad feelings. Given your tremendous prowess in defeating then capturing a large squad of mid-to-upper-range adventurers with minimal casualties on either side (thank you for your mercy!) we respect that while one side or the other would -win- in a conflict, it''s better to avoid any misunderstandings. Thus let us try to find harmony and remove bad feelings from the equation.


    We will continue to count every coin, tuck in our belts, slice the bread thin, half our visits to the brothels, water down the soup, skip the morning trip to the Kaffa parlor, sell our remaining gold paperweights, and ride two to a horse to cut down on stable fees as we tirelessly work to produce an appropriate sum for the mysterious young lass who we would not dream of taking off your hands without fairly compensating you for her value.


    If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at our guild branch in (smudged) and request me by hitting the little gong in the kitchen behind the bag of millet, and I will do my utmost to quell any fears you have via a medium on (also redacted) street to whom I will contact on my end through the spirits to begin our dialogue. In the mean time, you may note there is some extra gold in the amount negotiated to help offset the many, many costs you may need to address in dealing with Bell. Please remind her that if she were to, say, run away, it would put her current guild standing in jeopardy as it would constitute breaking the agreement the guild had with Miss Hari and Miss Undine.


    Have a blessed day,


    Your humble Ruby-Rank Guildmaster Servant, Corky D. Rottweiler.


    PS Hari: Good news! We''ve collected some of the funds by completing a request Undine had submitted to us to find your location. Please thank her on our behalf for helping meet our material debt to you when you see her next.


    Corvayne handed the letter back to Wick, then wiped his hands on his pants. The smell of perfume the letter had been soaked in didn''t disperse off his palms. He was very careful not to get any closer to Bell, the red head who was snarling at him from the chair she was tied to.


    Hari had been tapping her finger on the table and swearing in elvish, clearly the result of Undine being put into the fray. That was a problem for tomorrow.


    ¡°Let me GO! Let me GO!¡±


    Wick didn''t know Nel''Ferrallian or Imperial or whatever they called it, but Corvayne was certain she had memorized those words as she quickly replied. ¡°Don''t even fucking think of letting her loose inside.¡±


    ¡°I learned my lesson when we untied her outside.¡± Corvayne simply replied.


    Hari groaned. ¡°We have to let her free eventually.¡±


    Wick looked at her. ¡°Why?¡±


    Corvayne looked at her and pulled his lip slightly down and Wick held her hands up. ¡°Corvayne I know, I know! We''re not that type of group.¡±


    Bell hopped her chair over to Corvayne and tried to headbutt him, to which Corvayne responded by using [Juxtapose] to slip past her and catch her before she fell, then righted her and moved his chair around her to sit where she had been next to Wick. ¡°I didn''t think you were entirely serious. But when we let her go, definitely outside. She doesn''t trust us, and I see no reason to antagonize our crew by having someone bunk in the same room as her.¡±


    Wick looked at Corvayne and her eyes narrowed as she asked, ¡°Are you... going to make her a project?¡±


    Corvayne sighed and looked between his two lovers. Hari nodded at him to keep going and Wick quirked her lips. Corvayne looked over at Bell who was clearly thinking about how to get to the knife block. ¡°I''m aiming to be the leader of the Watchers. If I want to do that I need to be able to work with people who dislike me, ranging from none to all of them. It''s the other side of the coin... if I just have overwhelming power, I''m just a tyrant.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°That''s what you have me for. I actually know a thing or two about leading people.¡±


    Corvayne smiled at Wick. ¡°I''ll also probably need help just keeping her from running off but I don''t think she can get the drop on me.¡±


    Bell started tipping over from trying to leap to pull a knife from the block on the counter so Corvayne gently spun her back to the table while she wiggled and sputtered. ¡°You will pay for your mockery! Tch. You have no idea who I am!¡±


    Corvayne had to turn away to hide his amusement. So close! She almost asked THAT question. He shrugged and lifted her up, chair and all. ¡°I''ll see if maybe Lady Blood Claw can help me keep her in line... I figure she won''t be as likely to try to knee Lady in the groin.¡± He did not have a strong conviction this was true, and so he mentally assigned himself to offer to walk LBC''s Squid or take one of her cleaning shifts as penance for what he was about to drag her into.


    He couldn''t stop her from digging her nails into his hands while he was ferrying her out the back of the truck and down the ramp. It didn''t really hurt, so he just marched across camp and set her down in the shadow of the spines. After a moment of preparing himself he focused on his ring then willed the ropes binding her and the chair into it. He started moving before she shifted forward to try to lunge at him.


    Corvayne just let her charge past, then slid past a backhanded punch. She was not a terrific assassin nor a skilled boxer nor even a novice rouge. It was pretty easy to catch her fist, parry her knee with his then spin and almost effortlessly guide her to the ground without slamming her against the dirt. He locked her hands above her head and used his leg to keep her from bucking and kicking him.


    ¡°Miss Bell, I''d much rather you be on that caravan with your peers...¡± She started trying to snarl a denial at peers but Corvayne just kept talking ¡°... and not be my problem, but since you ARE my problem now, I''d like to ask if we can have a truce.¡±


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    She calmed and Corvayne loosened his pin, which she used to try to draw and jab him with a sharpened spoon. Corvayne flipped her face down and put a knee on her arms, plucking the missing spoon from her so that Mosh could repair it. ¡°All right, we''ll talk like this. Who are you, and why did they leave you behind?¡±


    She huffed and glared at him with the one eye he could see. ¡°I know what a lowborn cur like you is thinking! I''ll bite my tongue off before I become your woman!¡±


    It was like Seru had been but worse. ¡°If I''m touching you, it''s because you''re about to hurt yourself or someone else. This is not an attempt at romance. Didn''t you ever do hand to hand training?¡±


    ¡°I was a prodigy, and dismantled my trainers! And I won''t tell you anything!¡±


    ¡°Okay. I''ll talk about myself then. Let me know if you get cold, hungry, thirsty, or anything else.¡± He felt her wiggle under him but his strawberry leggings would be a challenge for her to cut if she was armed let alone trying to gouge him with her bare hands.


    So Corvayne spoke about himself. What he remembered from his village, waking up, Cascadia and Wick. He was talking about how Grunt would get carry-out when Bell barked at him, voice cracking with frustration. ¡°I yield! Damn it! Enough!¡±


    Corvayne got off her, turned, and offered his hand. She rolled away from him and stood up on her own, dusting off her now gray under-armor clothes. If not for her stance that suggested she was still considering fighting he thought she might start crying. Corvayne cut her emotional ride short by producing an enchanted purple gambeson and maroon work pants as well as a backpack that had been tagged in Cascadian as ''The Red-Head who bites''.


    Bell caught all of it and took a step back to balance herself before glaring at him over the lumps of leather and tough quilted cloth. ¡°You dare toss that at me like a... common pack animal?¡±


    Corvayne smirked and tossed her a wood practice sword to send her stumbling to balance her load.


    He waited for her to get it under control and start donning the gear before he spoke again. ¡°Tell me about Bell.¡±


    ¡°That''s not my name! You haven''t told me your real name either, I don''t see why-¡±


    Corvayne felt his eyebrow twitch. ¡°My name is Corvayne.¡±


    Bell stopped to look away and tried to fix her hair as she frowned. ¡°Oh. How unfortunate.¡±


    That this was the first time she had shown any tact somehow annoyed Corvayne further, but he buried it as he addressed her again. ¡°Okay, if Bell isn''t your name, tell me your name or what you want to be called.¡±


    ¡°Tch, I need a new adventurer name, I hate my current one.¡± She folded her arms and glared off to the side, perhaps annoyed just thinking about it.


    ¡°I need a name you don''t mind, or I''ll call you Bell.¡± Corvayne started looking for some sort of backup and spotted Lady Blood Claw walking Squidgglesworth and, to the credit of the tall alien woman''s sense of danger, she almost instantly veered away from where he and Bell were once she saw who he was with.


    Bell didn''t notice. ¡°Hmm. Call me Lady Red.¡±


    Corvayne shook his head and gestured for her to follow as he tracked after Lady Blood Claw. ¡°She''s Lady Blood Claw... you wanna just be Red?¡±


    ¡°No! I hate that nickname too.¡±


    Corvayne rolled his eyes. So as long as lady was there, she didn''t care?


    She had taken to pawing through her pack, pulling out a pretty nice down sleeping bag before crying out, ¡°Where did my tent go? And my furs! Do you see how thin this is?! You said we were camping, was it not enough to force me to freeze under rough blankets before?¡±


    Corvayne tried to imagine it was poker face practice. ¡°Well, Bell, I also hate the cold and I''m going to be staying out too... if it bothers you well, we have people whom you could attack with a sharpened spoon and actually hurt, and we don''t trust you not to run and have the guild implicate us if something happens to you.¡±


    Bell looked askance at him. ¡°That''s what YOU think? Hah.¡±


    ¡°Wick does.¡± Corvayne said, trying to pretend he didn''t notice her trying to get closer to him, probably looking to strike him with her wood sword.


    She paused at her advance a moment to ask, ¡°Which one is Wick?¡±


    ¡°Green haired girl, one at the table. She''s my girlfriend.¡± Corvayne counted down steps and then spun right as Bell tried to smack him on the head, letting it fall past him and disarmed her before stepping away. He really had to resist elbowing her as he did so. He instead waited for her to yell and charge, then got her into a headlock, Bell''s arms flailed as she tried to elbow him and ram her nails into his arm. Corvayne just waited, letting her thrash and tire for about minute before he let her go and stepped back to let her huff, hair slick with sweat.


    Corvayne used a shadow hand to pull the wood sword over his shoulder while also folding his real arms. ¡°Are you finished trying to attack me?¡±


    Bell made a gesture at him, one he was pretty sure was Hari''s version of flipping someone off. Then she huffed, eyes red. ¡°Monster! You enjoy watching me struggle, you sick little peasant?¡±


    ¡°Only because I want you to get something out of it.¡± He paused. ¡°Okay, there''s also a bit of karma there too. Either way, we need to lay down some ground rules. If I thought you could just run away and we''d both go on with our lives, I''d pack you food and possibly steal a horse so you could get away sooner. I''m tempted to do so anyway, but I need to know who you are, why they sent you out here, and why you think they are not taking you back, aside from the obvious. They tricked us into taking responsibility for you. Why?¡±


    Bell rubbed her neck. ¡°I''m not telling you because you''d make a power play by forcing me-¡±


    Corvayne held up a hand. ¡°Wick is a Princess of an empire that spans hundreds of worlds. I don''t care about it, I''d rather she NOT be one. It is a major negative. It is part of why I''m on this trip rather than going on dates in the woods to try to find secret bases and building a cabin in a dimensional rift.¡±


    He realized she was getting distracted thinking about killing him and that he was getting distracted by his own issues. He took a deep breath, switched forms and pulled a shard out from between his fingers, then tossed it away and imagined his own annoyance falling away with it. Mind over matter, hands over spears. The wound bled a little and he produced a gore towel and dabbed it. Bell started staring at him with the same look of horror, so Corvayne started talking again to hopefully get to his point.


    ¡°We, as in, this group, are here because she was in danger at her home, and eventually we''ll need to leave to keep putting ground between us and them. I want to know why the guild doesn''t want you, and if someone is going to kill you and blame it on us. Before we let you go, we HAVE to know what your deal is.¡±


    Bell glared at him. ¡°A likely story, no doubt trying to get me to admi-¡±


    ¡°... are you an imperial princess?¡± Corvayne saw a little flash of panic then a sort of clumsy attempt to cover it up. He cleared his throat. ¡°I think you are an imperial princess.¡±


    Bell laughed a little too fast. ¡°Ha! Wh- what sort of royalty would get along with those lowborn adventurers?¡±


    Corvayne felt his normal mask crack again as his eye twitched.


    ¡°Bell, you need to learn how to lie if you are not sticking to the truth. We and the Guild now know you''re worth more than the rest of the group combined, and that you are also a huge liability either because you are some sort of target or you have no emotional control, possibly both. If we were looking to hurt you even with the flimsy excuse of self defense, we''d have done so. So I''m going to instead try to train you to master yourself because... I have a feeling you''re going to try to take a shot at someone who isn''t as patient as me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes! When I get back, first you! Then, those bastards who left me behind-¡±


    ¡°Bell! Look at me. If you don''t care about the guild, we''ll take you to your home. Right now. In fact, PLEASE tell us where you really live and let us take you home. PLEASE.¡± Corvayne had to unclench his fists. He silently apologized to Seru, Gary, and every other newbie he had ever tried to train. Bell already looked to be a monumental challenge.


    The woman folded her arms. ¡°I refuse to go home! I gave myself a quest, and I will see it through.¡±


    Corvayne sighed. ¡°All right, that''s good. What''s your quest? Can we help you complete it?¡±


    ¡°I can''t tell you.¡± Bell frowned.


    Corvayne tried not to grit his teeth and failed. ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°Because you''ll figure out who I am!¡± She put her head down, clearly trying to come up with something better. ¡°It''s related to my circumstances...¡±


    Corvayne folded his arms. Time to try a different tact. ¡°Your empire is dying.¡±


    Bell snapped her head up. ¡°Shut your cur mouth!¡±


    ¡°Imperial princess, or heir to some major house, I don''t actually know how your empire is structured.¡± Corvayne turned from her and pulled three tents from his ring, placing them off a rise near a pond that Mister I was fishing in. The monk waved at him and Corvayne waved back.


    ¡°If you can''t tell me your name, and you don''t want me to call you Bell, I''m going to name you ''Princess''¡±


    She glared at him. ¡°How did you know my old adventurer name?! Were you hired by my father?!¡±


    Corvayne sighed and started setting the camp up. ¡°I told you my story. C''mon, pick and set up your tent then we''re going to go fishing. Oh, ground rules. Don''t attack me when I sleep, or I''ll tie you up before bed. If you run away at night, we''ll tie you up before bed. Don''t steal our stuff and we''ll give you back everything we took from you when we defeated you. If we take you into a dungeon don''t mess around. You attack me, that''s the last time we take you.¡±


    She looked excited for a moment, then her face morphed back to her normal prideful sneer. ¡°Ha! This dungeon was tapped out ages ago. There''s probably not two coppers to rub together in there!¡±


    Corvayne raised an eyebrow and felt a hint of a smile. ¡°You wanna bet on it Princess?¡±


    She glared at him. ¡°That''s-¡±


    Corvayne held up a hand. They needed a last rule, the most important one. ¡°Fine, Bell.¡± He looked at her then and tried to project the look his father always gave him. ¡°Bell, if you hurt someone else in my group, we are done. You become an enemy, and we already decided that we''ll never take someone who attacks us twice prisoner a second time. Do you understand?¡±


    For a moment she looked terrified and Corvayne felt like he had maybe gone too far. The moment before he broke she lifted her chin back up and folded her arms. ¡°What''s in it for me? Hmm? Why go along with anything?¡±


    Corvayne gazed at her like one of his old masters and his shadowy hands formed slithered out to hold his spear. ¡°Because I can see you hate being weak more then you hate me.¡± With his own tent set up, he walked down to the pond.

 Chapter 130: Routine

    Corvayne woke and stepped out into the morning air. He almost ducked back into his tent the moment his whole body was goosed with a frigid breeze. If not for Kirae selling him her grandmother''s goat blanket they would have found a frozen body in his tent. That and a snoring elf maiden. He turned to watch Hari roll over on the ground mattress and steal the rest of his blanket.


    Looking at the patterned blanket, he was pretty sure it was a completely new one from a different village, but fleecing somebody seemed to make Kirae happy and they had entirely too much gold and nothing to actually spend it on outside of tower runs.


    He took a moment and caught a steady breathing pattern between Hari snoring. Princess Bell was still asleep, and he wouldn''t wake her until it was closer to The Spider''s time to run. Corvayne pulled his cloak tighter and walked a little ways over on the rise, looking at the trio of moons as they started to set. The glittering one was catching the sun unseen sun and flashed in blazing orange lines against the purple sky.


    Corvayne took a deep breath of clean air. If not for the cold he would be happy as could be staring at the long horizon of the plains, broken by bits of wall and little dips that the streams had carved out. The only better place to watch sunrise might be the peak of the source itself. Corvayne walked back towards the camp and flipped his fire-breathing dagger out along with some wood from his ring, let his shadow hands arrange it, then produced a camp kettle and got water boiling.


    Lady Blood Claw emerged from her tent. She was wearing a sweater and wool pants and had silver hair tied up in a bun for once, letting Corvayne see that yes, she did have sharp ears. She noticed him looking and for a moment was dark blue before she went gray and produced a blanket and camp chair from a bag of holding she had found on one of the adventurers. In a moment she was settled in by the fire.


    ¡°Morning Corvayne.¡± She said, then pointedly looked over at where the sky was brightening. The clouds were tinged with maroon as they started catching the first rays of sun.


    ¡°Hey Lady. Thanks for helping, again.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think she''s getting better.¡± Lady Blood Claw tilted her head to the third tent.


    ¡°Rome wasn''t built in a day. Give me another week, at least.¡± Corvayne took the kettle and a packet of powdered Coco Golem that Mosh had made. Once again, the team with Ears had risked life and limb and done something incredible when they dragged a literal chocolate golem out of the dungeon. It was odd to think of the giant pile of stones as their larder, but the results spoke for themselves. He produced another cup mixed some of his packet in, then offered it to Lady Blood Claw.


    ¡°I hate sweet stuff.¡± she muttered but accepted anyway, Corvayne assumed because the steaming beverage was hot.


    Mister I wandered by the campsite, as did Grunt, both carrying fishing tackle. Grunt came over and Corvayne got a third mug out.


    ¡°Hey Grunt. You don''t mind that we scare away the fish, do you?¡±


    The big man mused, and with his free hand gestured at Mister I, then at Corvayne, and closed his eyes, looking satisfied, then sheepishly rubbed his head then mock glared at Corvayne: I enjoy it as much for the company as anything else, but don''t go blabbing about that, got it?


    Corvayne smiled, sensing the joke, then drew his pinched fingers across his mouth: my lips are sealed bud.


    Grunt laughed silently then turned to Lady Blood Claw, and gave a sharp look at the third tent.


    LBC sighed. ¡°She is following the rules, so far. But the only time she can sit still is when we use Mend on her.¡±


    Corvayne noted that other people seemed to receive more pronounced soothing effects from the divine power then he did. That or he didn''t notice it smoothing over trauma. He chose to think that Mister I and Mosh''s divine healing was more notable when a person didn''t have as tight a grip on their feelings as Corvayne did. He sipped his drink as the sun rose.


    ¡°She gets very frustrated when she fails. Feels like a trope sometimes.¡± Corvayne had to be careful about Bell overhearing him, as he couldn''t switch languages even though he knew them and could tell them apart. When he spoke, everyone understood him all at once even if he wanted to not be understood. Unless he picked specific words and phrases that Bell couldn''t sift through.


    Bell pushed her flap open and stepped out into the air, wearing thick rough robes. She put her chin up and ignored Corvayne and Lady Blood Claw, sitting at the other end of the fire as if they didn''t exist.


    ¡°Good morning Bell.¡± Corvayne offered her a cup. ¡°Hot Coco?¡±


    She ignored him for a moment until he lowered the cup at a point were she could look without turning her head. ¡°I don''t drink muddy water.¡±


    ¡°It''s sweet.¡± Corvayne wiggled the cup but kept his face and tone neutral.


    ¡°I don''t need your charity.¡±


    ¡°I''ll set it down on this rock here and ignore it for a while. Anyway, Lady Blood Claw, Bell... we''re going to do our run, then fish for a while, then Spears will take over for me while I go with Wick to translate the murals they found in The Source''s nose.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw and Bell both chimed in with two different languages, ¡°That''s a dumb name.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged, and tossed another piece of wood into the fire. ¡°Blame Kirae. She came up with it.¡±


    LBC sipped from her cup. ¡°I''d need you as a go between to yell at her.¡±


    ¡°Or Mosh or Spears.¡± Corvayne added, pretending he didn''t hear the scrape of the cup being pulled off the rock or a slight hiss suggesting Bell drank too fast and had singed her tongue.


    ¡°Are we going to forage for breakfast?¡± Lady Blood Claw looked back over at the source.


    ¡°I''ll let Bell decide. Forage, boil a monster egg, eat with the group?¡±


    Bell glared at him and Corvayne sighed. ¡°I''m not asking you to stick your hand in a sand-wolf''s mouth, I''m asking if you want to have hot breakfast.¡±


    No response, so Corvayne sighed and decided for them. ¡°Group then.¡±


    Watching her gradually start to follow him and LBC as they walked back to the truck, he wondered if he was going bring her into the unit by forcing her to rub shoulders with people or if he was just going to bribe her with food the entire way.


    He sat down at a table where he could sit with Hari, Wick, and Spears, with Bell at the far end. Their makeshift camp outside the black spire had expanded with lights, better tables made of stone, and exterior freezers made by Mosh and Varia and Horton from machine enemies that Growl-Whine had brought back.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    There was a row of stone pickets being put up, via earth magic, around the island in the streams they were on. There were gaps and ramps in the picket for the truck to leave forward or backwards. Lady Blood Claw had told him she was enchanting those pylons to help light up the area so it would be harder to sneak up on the truck. He could see a few glowing a faint purple.


    Wick looked at him while peeling an orange that looked like it had a screaming face on the rind. ¡°So, is it true what they say about red-heads in bed?¡±


    Corvayne rolled his eyes. ¡°Don''t even joke about it.¡±


    Spears looked between them. ¡°Joke about what?¡±


    Corvayne didn''t merit the question with a response as he kept his eye on Bell and her fork, mostly to make sure she didn''t try to lunge across the table at one of the girls rather than attack him. To her credit, she only glared at him a little and then settled into eating a monster omelet.


    Hari pointed her fork at a bit of pepper in her omelet. ¡°You know, we got these veggies from Growl-Whine''s friend in the Tower? I think they are like monster versions of food.¡±


    Wick thought about it. ¡°That''s from the dungeon that''s a garden, right?¡±


    ¡°I want to see if we can do some agriculture in the lowest level, but I don''t know if we''ll be here long enough.¡± Hari said, putting a pinch of pickled pine needles on her omelet.


    Bell narrowed her eyes. ¡°Is she... eating quills?¡±


    Corvayne nodded and swallowed the bite he was chewing. ¡°They don''t taste good. It''s like eating soap.¡±


    Hari laughed. ¡°Corvayne, you told me stories about eating slimy monster parts in the desert to get water all the time.¡±


    Wick leaned over and whispered something to Hari, and the elf laughed while Spears face turned red with embarrassment.


    ¡°What?¡± Corvayne asked.


    Hari used a hand to cover her smile. ¡°Nothing!¡±


    Wick just wiggled her eyebrows. Spears was wiggling in her chair. ¡°Corvayne, your wives are perverts!¡±


    Bell looked between them all. ¡°Are they all fawning over... YOU?¡±


    Corvayne shrugged though she annoyed him a little by sounding incredulous. ¡°I''m dating two of them. The watery girl grew up with me and may be my fiancee, but I think it was arranged under duress.¡±


    Wick laughed. ¡°Corvayne, you know she asked if she could sleep with you?¡±


    Spears stood up. ¡°Wick! Please don''t give him the wrong idea! I fell asleep once when I was near him, and with the curse I can''t usually sleep without getting drunk or drugging myself!¡±


    Hari frowned. ¡°What she said, also Seru would be a better person to let into his tent!¡±


    Corvayne finished his meal and stood up. ¡°Ahem. Let me know if I get a say about it.¡±


    Wick sighed. ¡°Jokes aside, I''m fine as long as one of us is there to keep you honest. Spears needs sleep too.¡±


    Hari crossed her hands. ¡°Him I mostly trust to not do anything.¡± She shot a look at Corvayne as if to say she was sorry about praising his self control, then turned back to Wick. ¡°Can we trust you around her?¡±


    Wick pointed at herself innocently.


    Hari cried out. ¡°Yes, YOU!¡±


    Spears was hiding her face with her hands. Behind her, Corvayne saw Seru bringing her plate and camp stool over, perhaps having heard her name.


    Corvayne looked over at Bell and rolled his hands. ¡°If you don''t mind eating faster...¡±


    Bell looked at him, and seeing the girls had started arguing she curled her lips into a smile and started deliberately cutting tiny bits of egg off and chewing them slowly as possible while Seru sat down between them.


    Corvayne signed. ¡°Damnit.¡±


    Corvayne stayed out of the bickering about his love life and motioned for Bell to follow once she tired of the act and finished eating.


    ¡°Going to lay your claim on me too now, you pig?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°Your opinions of both me and your own appeal make me doubt you pay much attention to others, but... I was going to say that you were doing a good job being patient while trying to make me suffer through them arguing.¡±


    ¡°Hmf. I am my own master.¡±


    ¡°You are not. Catch some fish, and we''ll see.¡±


    ¡°Why? It''s stupid. We sit there. Getting stronger? No. Finding Treasure? No. Learning secrets? No. We sit there. Doing. Absolutely. Nothing.¡±


    ¡°Yes. It''s perfect training for someone who has no impulse control.¡±


    ¡°Oh such dry mockery from the man who divides his heart to multiply his pleasures.¡±


    Corvayne stopped for a moment and thought about it. ¡°Indeed. I have my own problems with impulses when I''m tired or drunk. Which is why the girls were arguing about who to toss into my bed, when the answer for who else I''d want is ''nobody''.¡±


    Bell snorted. ¡°You cannot hide you bask in the slimy girls attention.¡±


    ¡°I''m trying to... reclaim a friendship and... she''s alone. Everyone she and I knew is gone. What about you? Any friends going to come to your rescue? Don''t give me that look, I''m really asking.¡±


    ¡°Hmf. When armies come marching on you, looking for your head... if you beg me for mercy now I might spare you.¡±


    ¡°I am really asking, do you have a husband... or a wife?¡±


    ¡°What did you say? WIFE? Do I look like an elf?¡±


    ¡°I come from a world where nobody really cares who you want to sleep with. I mean, given that they can agree to it.¡±


    Bell laughed. ¡°They still care, they just hide it I bet. Like elves do. Two girls than, with more around you. Do you have designs on the Drow too?¡±


    ¡°She''s not an elf.¡±


    ¡°Sharper ears then your eyes, peasant.¡±


    They arrived at the Fishing spot and Corvayne used the excuse to cut her off. ¡°No, and it''s time to fish. I want you to be quiet, calm, deliberate. I don''t care if you want to glare at me. Just sit still doing nothing while you plot my death.¡±


    She picked a rock on the far side from camp across the stream and mini-lake. She took a moment to look behind her, perhaps checking for wandering monsters but more likely thinking of if she could escape. Corvayne sat and put his rod in the water, letting his mind drift as he watched a cork lure bob. He hadn''t bated his line yet as Mister I had enough meat to feed a hundred for a few weeks as-is. He instead let his eyes play across the ripples near where his line vanished into the water.


    Grunt beat Mister I to the fishing hole, sitting next to Corvayne and pointing up and giving him a thumbs up to say: Nice weather. He was wearing a large shirt with a metal band logo on it that strained to keep his huge form contained. In his hands the rod he was holding looked dainty but he cast it expertly after attaching a worm and waited.


    ¡°Hey Grunt.¡±


    Grunt nodded.


    ¡°Is this thing with Bell here a waste of time?¡±


    Grunt shook his head. He gestured to the wide world, then back at the truck, and then at Bell. He reached over, and flipped a rock over and raised an eyebrow at it.


    ¡°You sort of told me to go with different girls before... I guess because you think it''s good to meet lots of different people?¡±


    Grunt nodded, and held up an arm.


    ¡°Oh, I know it will make me tougher... maybe because of stress though.¡±


    Grunt pointed at himself and make his ''bad-guy'' face. Then pointed between him and Corvayne and made a ''good guy'' face.


    ¡°I suppose you''re right, though I struggle to think of anyone who thinks you''re an actual bad guy if they get to know you.¡±


    Grunt nodded and pointed at Bell, who was looking around and fidgiting.


    ¡°Find the good in her, huh? Well, I''m trying, but it''s like...¡±


    Grunt made a full belly motion, then a cradling motion, then mimed holding someones hand. He held up a hand for a moment and started reeling in his rod, pulling up... an empty hook. He shrugged, then started again up to miming chewing bubble gum and rolling his eyes.


    ¡°Calling her an angsty teen, or like, a kid I have to raise? She''s a middle age woman though. She''s a white elephant the adventurers guild dumped on us.¡±


    Grunt motioned to his skin. Then tapped his head and his heart. Corvayne nodded. ¡°I''ll look inside, but maybe get Mister I to mend her?¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡± Mister I chirped, startling Corvayne a moment as the older man had managed to sneak up on him. Mister Icariii was in full fishing gear, a smile plastered on his face as he tipped his fly-lure adorned hat. ¡°I''d like to see if it affects her personality given she likely acts like that from either trauma or attention deficit disorder!¡±


    Grunt made a hand motion as if he was cranking something. Corvayne tried to guess. ¡°Something outdated?¡±


    Mister I tisked. ¡°I only have very old copies of the mind-fixing books Grunt! They call it something nicer now. But yes, I think it''s a good exercise for you Corvayne! I''m surprised you decided to do it on your own!¡±


    He felt a little embarassed now that it had come out in the open with Grunt and Mister I. ¡°I should have asked you two for help.¡±


    ¡°Yes! The lesson was learning to ask.¡± Mister I said, already pulling his rod back with a little fish monster attached. He looked at the fish, then Corvayne. ¡°But before we help you...¡± He pointed one of his hands to the next bank of a stream, where a wet Bell was running with poor form away from camp.


    Corvayne looked at his fishing line as it jerked from a nibble, then back up at bell. ¡°Huh, I should probably catch her.¡±

 Chapter 131: Empathy

    Corvayne jogged, pacing himself and giving the stumbling woman about twenty feet to his side plenty of space as she tried to veer away from him again.


    ¡°Let me know if you need water or want to take a break.¡±


    ¡°Stick... your spear... up your...¡± Bell huffed and stumbled and rolled onto the dirt. Corvayne slowed to a walk then offered his hand. The woman responded by covering her face up.


    ¡°You got a good distance away from our base, but you need to work on your running form.¡±


    She slapped the dirt then started bawling on the ground. What would his masters have done here? The Watchers would just leave her behind. His old tribe wouldn''t leave their recruits to die, but they would make them suffer in the sun for pouting or giving up. It had made them tough in a lot of ways, but looking at her he didn''t feel superior, or smug, or the expected disgust at watching Bell break down. There was a little pity, but he let it slide off and focused on something else he was feeling.


    How many times had he wanted to do the same, to give up, to just fall down? Slyly, he summoned a shadow hand, and the wispy limb gave him a thumbs up.


    He sat down to face her, and offered her his canteen. ¡°What can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°Just let me fucking go!¡± She yelled into the ground.


    Corvayne looked around. ¡°I will if you just tell me why the guild decided to dump you on us.¡±


    ¡°I-¡± She sniffled. ¡°I don''t know.¡±


    Corvayne knew she was lying but shrugged. ¡°Would you like a ride back to them so we can ask them together?¡±


    ¡°I don''t need your pity!¡±


    ¡°I''m not offering you pity, I have devices strapped to the truck that go hundreds of miles in an hour. If you want to go home, or to your guild, I will give you a free ride. With all your gear.¡±


    Bell finally looked at him. Corvayne didn''t smile, or frown, or anything. He extended his canteen and this time she snatched it and drank, fast enough she started coughing. Corvayne went over to her and patted her back a little until she calmed down, then backed away again. In the moments that passed he started to wonder if she had heard him.


    ¡°You''d be back tonight. You''d lose nothing. I already say we are square, you attacked us, we forced you to go camping for a few days.¡±


    ¡°I heard you!¡± She snapped, rubbing her face. ¡°It''s infuriating! The fake mask you wear. The even tone. Playing at being a little emperor above it all. You''ve been messing with my head this entire time!¡±


    ¡°Because uhh, I''ve just told you the truth?¡± Corvayne felt pretty confused by what she was saying.


    ¡°Yes, your miserable straight face and bland stating of facts, has anyone told you it''s humiliating?¡±


    Corvayne frowned. ¡°Fine. So, you have a reason you didn''t say yes, right?¡±


    She once more went from miserable to angry. ¡°Hfm! Do you have any idea who I am!?¡±


    Corvayne quietly checked off something he''d always wanted to hear. ¡°I have ideas but as I said, I''m a total outsider. I really don''t know who you are. All I know is you remind me of myself before I met my friends.¡±


    ¡°You think you''re a... red-headed princess?¡±


    ¡°No, I mean being angry. Frustrated is a better word. When I watch you I see you get mad at the world around you, but I''m guessing you''re more angry at yourself. You expect better results than what you get.¡±


    Bell started to stand and hissed as she put weight on her foot. Corvayne forced himself to not roll his eyes at this, instead moving swiftly to catch her and gently sit her down before stepping back.


    ¡°What do you know? Hmm? Of failure? You stand tall, and have allies and women at your beck and call and even forsaken monsters bow to you.¡± There was a hint of envy or longing in her voice.


    ¡°I don''t think anyone tells that spider what to do, especially not me. Figuring out why it saved me is on my list... we''re getting off topic. I know a lot about screwing up. I was the worst warrior in my village. I was hated and an outcast, even to my own father. I had nothing, and I hated it, and I hated myself for being too weak to do anything about it.¡±


    ¡°I know! I was half-listening to you blather on about it the other day.¡±


    ¡°Well, I got a long walk back to the truck. If you want me to carry you, I can hear your story.¡±


    She started to make a rude gesture but switched to clutching her swollen ankle. ¡°I know what you are trying to do. I''ve had swindlers and philanderers after me before.¡±


    Corvayne stood up. ¡°I can carry you piggy-back-¡± ¡°Absolutely NOT!¡± ¡°Princess carry,¡± ¡°I would slit my own throat before I let-¡± ¡°Or throw you over my back like a potato sack.¡±


    She stared at him. Corvayne nodded. ¡°All right, option 3...¡±


    ¡°WAIT! Piggy back!¡±


    He didn''t need to wait long on the walk back across the dusty plains before she started rambling. Bell would have been heavy but he could maintain his strength power with a little bit of sloshing and sometimes shifting to vitality and changing gravity to keep her light.


    Ah, her story. ¡°The emperor, my father, who IS going to hear about this...¡±


    Corvayne rolled his eyes. She was in her thirties, right? ¡°Right. So why can''t you go back home?¡±


    ¡°I refuse to be a breeding sow! I have a younger sister with five children already. I suspect the only reason I am free is that I.... I don''t have a scrap of the royal gift.¡±


    Corvayne hitched her up on his back with his shadow limbs, causing her to squeak and swat his head. ¡°Impudent! You hear breeding sow and grab my ass? And DARE to call me impulsive.¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°You were starting to slip downwards, and for as strong as I am I still need to stay balanced. Hold on while you talk.¡±


    ¡°Hmf.¡± Her grip tightened around his collarbone despite the obvious annoyance in her voice. Corvayne listened and tried to pretend she didn''t have her legs wrapped around his back. ¡°Should you start bragging about getting fresh with an imperial princess, I would remind you that it would be-¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°You''ve told me I''m going to be executed enough times. Instead, please tell me why you can''t go home to make good on it.¡±


    ¡°Well, I am gifted in swordplay, and rather than sit around as a brat factory, I decided to go on a quest to determine what malady is afflicting the royal clan... Wait! Ignore that!¡±


    ¡°Ignore what? Your empire has a magic set of defenses, and you''re at about one in ten royal family members able to use them. They know about it here, in the middle of nowhere.¡± Thank Seru and Hari for dragging that out of Kirae with some well spent gold. ¡°It''s genetic drift.¡±


    ¡°You are speaking gibberish again! Tch! Cocky barbarian! I cannot wait until the imperial elites arrive, I will teach you your place under me!¡±


    Corvayne thought about Seru bothering him and fought off a very real temptation to piss her off. Empathy. ¡°I''m not cocky, and it''s not gibberish. What you said about breeding... if it''s not a dominant trait....¡±


    ¡°We have the blood of the empire!¡±


    ¡°Stop wiggling, I mean, you know how two people might have three kids that all have one parent''s hair color?¡±


    She stopped. ¡°I have not spent much time thinking about such trivial matters.¡±


    ¡°I''m guessing that it used to be a long time ago royalty all could use the devices, but whatever traits that let you do it started to dry up... they are relics you can''t replicate, right?¡±


    ¡°It''s common knowledge!¡±


    She gave him a little kick. Corvayne saw a stream bed coming up and walked down a sandy slope to the water, then lowered his and Bell''s gravity and took a flying leap across, stumbling a little and using his shadow hands to steady them both as Bell shrieked from his back. He got his balance right before another slap on his chest.


    ¡°Warn me before you jump!¡±


    ¡°Sorry. Didn''t think about it.¡± Corvayne thought about what she was saying. He wasn''t going to bank on Mosh just waltzing up to the devices and recognizing them, as talented a crafter as the goblin was. He also couldn''t imagine what the weapons looked like. His curiosity as a warrior made him want to ask her to lead them to an example, but he shook it off and went back to active listening. ¡°So from what I''m guessing... You are looking for something else your empire can do to protect itself, or perhaps how to rekindle your own legacy, right?¡±


    ¡°... It''s the only sensible course. My father had fifteen siblings, all duds.¡± Corvayne did not comment on the hypocrisy in her saying that. She continued, ¡°My father cannot sire any more children, and the one prince with the gift has produced no heirs.¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°Is there a way to test for it? What if you find some commoner can activate the relics, too?¡±


    ¡°Testing commoners? The last one we found was married into the family after the census discovered her, but that was hundreds of years ago. A century ago they started asking non-humans to try, but it has been fruitless. We know our enemies have stolen devices we use for testing, and not once have they turned our tools against us. We''ve not seen the faintest of sparks outside the royal line in a century.¡±


    ¡°Right. And you are worried that if you go back home, you''ll have failed doing things your way, and be hemmed into a life you don''t want.¡± He was half speaking of his own fear, that he''d be stripped of his allies and pressed back into the role of desert cleaner. A risk he was willing to take for Wick.


    Bell didn''t dismiss his idea, leaning forward as her voice took on a husky intensity. ¡°I''d rather die than return empty handed! It''s inconceivable that the adventurer''s guild kept trying to foist me off on SAFE missions rather than listening to where we should be looking for a solution! Nothing else matters!¡±


    ¡°Well, I understand why you feel that way, but they were right. You would have died on this mission. At the blades of our spider friend. Or the army of cultists would have killed your group. I killed a few of you and bested the rest.¡±


    ¡°You killed three adventurers, but nobody liked Erkus...¡±


    Corvayne didn''t feel as guilty as he had with the first group of bandits he had slain. The people he hurt and killed were trying to do the same to his friends. ¡°You don''t seem... close to them.¡±


    She frowned. ¡°I would have been more bitter but... NOT a WORD of complaint up about leaving me behind! The lot of them were BASTARDS!¡±


    ¡°Did you get to know any of them? Share food? Smile at them?¡±


    ¡°Of course NOT! I am a princess! They know the difference between us!¡±


    Corvayne sighed. It wasn''t going to be easy. He tried to think about how Grunt and Wick treated him when he didn''t know the first thing about living outside The Watchers. ¡°How many of them, do you think, risked their lives in the field hoping to achieve something they thought impossible?¡±


    ¡°What? I mean, they just wanted money, right?¡±


    Corvayne was quiet for a while. They were getting closer to the black crystal near where the truck was. ¡°Wick wants two things. To be safe, and to find out as much as she can about the world, the parts of how reality works that other people don''t dare touch. Hari wants to be a great adventurer, but also seems to want love and acceptance. Mosh came along because he wanted to see how his work holds up. That and he thinks exposing his Tower-Folk girlfriend to more things will help her awaken faster. Grunt came because he felt guilty about us all dying last time.¡±


    Bell tried to interupt, ¡°Wait, What do you mean you all died?¡±


    ¡°Mister I wants to eat a lot of different meats, and I think he might be one of those kung-fu wizards. I was surprised Nyx came but he wants personal power and I think that''s why he''s friends with me, but him and Lady Blood Claw are hard to figure out. Horton I suspect is sort of like Wick, Gary still has something about the romance of battle... Spears? I think it''s because I''m sort of a last straw she''s holding onto for the past... even though Seru says it''s for the story I can''t figure out why she gave up her internet for this... there''s a couple who are in for money yes, but it feels like that''s almost an excuse for Brines... I should be spending time with them, because I owe them.¡±


    ¡°I thought we were talking about me!¡± Bell groaned. ¡°ME!¡±


    ¡°Ah. Okay.¡±


    ¡°I suppose though you have a point. I''ve seen generals spend time with their underlings and it seems to... make them work better. What''s your angle with me then? You got what you''re after, as I''ve why I don''t want to go back.¡±


    ¡°I... I''m helping you because I feel responsible for you, and I hope that extending some sort of help I can do better than the people who made me strong. They made me miserable. That, and dealing with someone who hates me, my old tribe, is the way I can see forward where I can marry Wick.¡±


    ¡°You say I hate you... Hmf. Don''t you have an inflated opinion of yourself to tell me what I think?¡± Bell huffed, then sniffed. ¡°It''s cold out, can you hurry up?¡±


    Corvayne heard her tone had soften, just a little. ¡°If we had radios, I''d call ahead for more hot chocolate.¡± He finally could see the fishing hole and Mister I was still there, happily filling his cooler with smaller monster fish.


    Bell for once sounded happy. ¡°Oh, that would be divine!¡± Then there was a moment of silence. ¡°Don''t you dare-¡±


    He spoke over her. ¡°I won''t tell anyone that you were happy for a single moment in our camp.¡±


    ¡°Good! Hmf. Seems this walk has some upside, as I seem to have talked some sense into you.¡± Bell sounded very satisfied on his back. Corvayne shifted from strength to vitality, spitting out a bit of black crystal that had formed in his gums.


    ¡°If I set you down, can you walk if I offer you a shoulder?¡±


    He found it odd she paused for longer than a few heartbeats.


    ¡°I would rather not while my leg is injured and you exhausted me, herding me like a hound might his sheep. The least you can do is continue to be my personal mount.¡±


    Corvayne winced. ¡°Do you understand what you''re implying?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that you''re a beast of burden to be ridden into the ground.¡±


    ¡°Princess, if you were in a tavern, the lowly kind adventurers inhabit...¡±


    He felt her shudder. ¡°I''ve been in FAR too many of them.¡±


    ¡°And a woman said they''d ride a man like an animal, would that bring to mind me helping get you back to camp by carrying you, or something else?¡±


    For a little while there was absolute silence, colder than the air around them, and Corvayne could practically hear the gears in Bell''s head clicking.


    ¡°Inexcusable!¡±


    ¡°Yes, so please think about what you''re saying about me. We both don''t want people to get the wrong idea.¡± He nodded at Mister I, who waved and laughed the cupped his hands to greet them.


    ¡°Good job Corvayne! You''ll bed her yet!¡±

 Chapter 131.5: In which the girls talk about numbers

    Hari had to stoop a little to knock on her bedroom door, but thankfully for her back Wick slid the door open right away and made room on the bed for her. She had been sitting on the bed wearing her sky robe and a bra and little else, and Hari tried not to stare, as Wick had started getting strange when she pressed for kissing or more. Oddly enough, a sign the woman likely had begun to have deeper feelings for her. Which made Hari both happy and frustrated.


    Wick, as far as Hari could tell, was acting more normal today with dark circles under her eyes from staying up too late. A scattering of paper with dried monster blood patterns and a tablet she had been making notes in suggested she was still playing around with summoning. All of that was folded and put into a crash net near the bed to make room for Hari.


    Wick waited until she was comfy to start grilling her on the latest assignment. ¡°So Hari, Report?¡±


    ¡°Corvayne is out chasing Princess Bellidine. He doesn''t like her, but you know him.¡± Hari annoyed by the entire operation the guild had pulled on her... the introduction of the princess meant sleeping in a cold tent with barely enough blankets for her and Corvayne.


    ¡°And ID?¡±


    ¡°I asked first, but yes.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Wick said and folded her robe to be more decent then scooted over on the bed, pulling out the computer she had been working on. ¡°All right, so let''s go over what we know about the System! First, any changes for me for doing it over and over?¡±


    Hari shrugged, and used [Identify] on Wick, her system mastery boosting it.


    [Wick][Anastasia (Ianasia Leona)]


    Race: Human/Wizard


    [Time Disruptor Level 16 (Tier 2) / ?????? ]


    Strength: 6->10


    Dexterity: 10->14


    Constitution: 10->14


    Agility: 14->18


    Intelligence: 20->28 (+20)


    Wisdom: 10->15


    Will: 10->18


    Magic: 0->8


    Charisma: 20


    ***Territory: 513


    (Slow Fall)


    (Improved Mana and Health Regeneration)


    (????)


    (????)


    (????)


    HP 78.4  (100%)


    MP 161.8 (100%)


    SP 68.8 (100%)


    Hari let the screen drop. ¡°It''s the same... it feels like I''m missing a lot. It hasn''t made a dent on your other class. The sundial is boosting your mana regeneration and your intelligence, which I think is related to your mana. You have three effects I can''t read.¡±


    Wick frowned. ¡°I wish I could tell. We still don''t know what''s going on with multi-classes?¡±


    ¡°A few people have them. You, Mister I, Grunt, and Growl Whine. Mosh. Oh, and Lady Blood Claw, but she''s told us she got it in a particular tower room, but that it''s not the only way.¡± Hari suspected that Lady Blood Claw had lots of missing memories and was more cagey about it than Spears or Corvayne was. Corvayne seemed frustrated sometimes by it, Spears only was ever sad, but Lady Blood Claw pretty much shut down the conversation and went ''Grey'' as Hari had started calling her poker faced state. The only person who could probably get through to her was Corvayne, and that of course would mean another elf joining the table. Which was NOT what she wanted at all.


    She loved Wick, but loved Corvayne more and if she could be his girl, well, there were lots of places in the world they were going to go together.


    Wick didn''t notice or didn''t care that Hari''s cheeks were burning. ¡°Alright, I wanna know more about Mosh.¡±


    She composed herself before saying, ¡°He''s one of the few people who gives me a proper race, Goblin. It might be a problem with my ability to sort of get the system to tell me the truth in a way I understand, rather than the scrambled words being something it has hidden away. My mentor explained to me that world had watered down all the ''pure'' races a long time ago and as distinct as the races are, for thousands of years they have been dregs.¡± Even the elves, Hari thought bitterly as she once again looked at her fat human-like proportions.


    Wick raised an eyebrow over her glasses, rolling over and resting chest-down on a pillow with her feet in the air. ¡°Even the elves?¡±


    ¡°Tch.¡±


    Wick frowned. ¡°You pissed because I asked, or because you don''t have a clue?¡±


    Hari shook her head. ¡°How can I explain? I trust Undine, my mentor, over my parents swearing the elves have stayed pure. I do not look much like an elf, so I have been used as an example supporting Undine on that. Oh, that reminds me of a project... I want to try to ID a wild goblin and see if it gives me ''person'' stats. Also if wild goblins have the hidden races as many of us do.¡±


    Hari found she was pleased to see Wick smile and nod at her. She watched Wick take her stylus and tap in on her lips, distracting her so that Wick had to ask her a second time, ¡°Did you talk to Mosh about it?¡±


    Hari thought about it. ¡°He was confused, I think, because he said that he was from a society that had discovered how to mix any two living things into a true child. I know life shapers can make little changes to nudge two different creatures to interbreed, but he spoke of things such as plants marrying rocks. Any time he speaks of home he is either lying or from a place that dwarves our understanding of the system, even if he says there ''was no system''. His Omnicrafter is tier 6 and his priest class keeps evolving, right now he''s an ''Arch Bishop'' which is tier 5. I don''t know why it''s going up. Besides him, Corvayne is the only other person above tier 3 I''ve seen.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°I bet it''s Seru''s fault, she did do a video of how to build piety with her and how to call for mending from Lythandies.¡±


    Hari smiled. Every little bit she could do to convince Wick that Seru was better than they had pegged her at first glance made her happy. ¡°Since he showed her... he''s the head of the church?¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Her monk class is evolving too... so we know the Tiers are some sort of upgrade path.¡±


    Hari folded her arms. ¡°Yeah but what Undine always taught me was that there were only 2 tiers, as they just looked at ''basic'' and ''advanced'' classes. There was always evidence of forks in the road because some classes can cross over. To paint a picture, Spearman was a basic soldier class who used spears, and they evolved into Lancer if they survived a lot of wars. But a Warrior who used spears might evolve to Lancer as well.¡±


    ¡°Are the higher Tier classes strictly better?¡±


    Hari nodded. ¡°It varies between classes by how much but, yes. It may be bias, after all you can see lots of bad warriors who will never advance past that class.¡±


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Wick sighed. ¡°We need... to do a Tower-Inn run and buy one of those overpriced books. And figure out damage formulas too, since you can pull hit-point readings. It seems like it all follows physics until Corvayne does massive damage past what physics says his spear attacks should do.¡±


    Hari didn''t follow Wick''s rant about physics after the test in question. Something about how in Corvayne''s hands it did more damage than it''s weight and speed would allow in someone else''s hands. Undine suspected that there were things that even the most powerful [Investigate] casts couldn''t see, and had stated one of her goals was to get or develop a better spell and see stats she suspected were hidden.


    Hari guessed that her mentor was right, and there were some extra small multipliers beyond simple skill and training. ¡°We don''t know what it is, it might just be how his new forms work.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Tower power maybe? His shadow hands seem to be able to do things inside himself. I saw them try to slow vines from striking outwards before.¡±


    Hari waved a hand. ¡°Enough of Corvayne suffering for a year or more! Though to talk of Powers... I also wonder if the Tower powers are related to Class intent... you found your magic after a fifth floor exit, right? My traveler power is well suited to [Investigator] as a class, as I''ve found it makes me stronger for a few moments after I move places. Horton wanted magic and got magic, like you did. Brines wants to run longer and be liked, so he got a power that helps him run and makes him popular as a group member.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°So we should pay attention and see if Reaper and Gary get different spear powers?¡±


    Hari had the same idea but the sample size was too small to really make a conclusion. ¡°We can see there are differences possibly related to alternate classes? Reaper can ''Fish'' enemies to him, and it''s not equipment based. Gary on the other hand hasn''t manifested a power we can measure.¡±


    Hari hesitated a little, but she felt Wick would understand. ¡°What do you think about the things hidden on you and Grunt?¡±


    Wick stared at her. ¡°I don''t know what''s up with it, but my guess is it has to do with... the Wizard thing and that core. It''s part of what I want to figure out. Corvayne kept it on him and we''ve looked at it, but besides basic measurements we can''t tell what it''s made of or anything. As for Grunt... I trust him.¡±


    ¡°What does he say?¡±


    ¡°Nothing of course. Ha Ha HA!¡±


    Hari sighed. ¡°I''m trying to bounce ideas off you... what do you think his deal is?¡±


    Wick at least after that rolled her eyes and stopped talking to at least pretend to about it. ¡°He might have touched another artifact like the one I did. Dawn says there''s a risk of something leaking when he speaks.¡±


    ¡°So he could be cursed?¡± Hari lowered her voice, feeling a little guilty for talking about Grunt behind his back.


    ¡°Whatever Grunt''s hiding... he''s always got my back. So if he is, we''ll figure it out while we help Corvayne too.¡±


    Hari smiled. ¡°You are a good friend.¡±


    Wick muttered just loud enough that Hari could hear, ¡°Yeah, except for the part where I''m keeping an eye on my allies and trying to pry open their secrets.¡±


    Hari knew if she got into the graveyard of her thoughts it would be hours of backrubs and sneaking treats from the kitchen before Wick was feeling better. ¡°Okay, so let''s not pry too hard... let''s talk about Powers then.¡±


    Wick perked right up as she went into lecture mode. ¡°Corvayne has Shadowy hands, he can manifest at least four wispy black hands, and they have limited strength but the potential to pierce objects and hold things, as well as some sort of tactile damage to hostile things. He also can manipulate gravity, somewhat well for himself and weakening the further it gets. He is a bonehead and has not been pushing these powers to their full potential. He also has an internal compass that can point him to things, but it seems to have a complicated relationship with his stamina. As in, we knocked his ass out when we tried asking it where The Magus was. It could point to the portal when asked to lead him to Tripic, but if I asked him where my fifth brother was, it also knocked him flat on his butt.¡±


    Hari nodded. ¡°I think his Cross-Skill weapon talents are related to his class, but it might also be a power.¡±


    Wick frowned at Hari. ¡°That''s an assumption based on the name, but I won''t fault it. It fits what you said about how Lancers spears have more reach than their length.¡±


    Wick gestured to herself. ¡°Time magic. As far as I know, just giving myself the ability to do it, then improvements to my main spell. I can make it explode, bounce, you name it.¡±


    ¡°It doesn''t do a lot of damage.¡± Hari pointed out.


    ¡°Fine! But it slows, and it''s cheap to cast!¡± Wick pouted a little, so Hari pointed at herself and batted her eyes.


    ¡°Ok you over-sexed keebler, you for sure have a power that boosts you when you move, and from our jogging with Growl-Whine, it lets you last a lot longer and move faster than you should move, which makes you look like you''re gliding like a poorly coded video game character. You picked up something that has to do with cores, but it doesn''t work on the emerald core, and you are NOT going to mess with the Spider''s core if we can help it.¡±


    ¡°Mosh we know too...¡± Hari said, ¡°But we also know it''s a good example of missing all the functions. His glass bubble caught that big fireball that would have destroyed the truck.¡±


    Wick shook her head. ¡°The little green dumbass should have figured he couldn''t safely hold the spell, as he nearly fried himself!¡±


    ¡°Aww you worry about him?¡±


    ¡°He''s the only person on this trip shorter than me!¡±


    Hari didn''t dare question if Mosh was actually shorter than her if he stood up straight. ¡°Well, he has more powers. The ability to fling salt that purifies undead, and can liquify earth to a small degree. It''s a nice fit with Varia and her earth magic.¡±


    Wick smiled. ¡°Varia is such a sweetheart. I hope Mosh gets a clue.¡±


    Hari nodded. ¡°She has a mineral compass power too, maybe we''ll have them open a mine and see if being together in the dark helps her get a little courage? At least Reaper is easy... he has that ability to hook things.¡±


    Wick tisked. ¡°We don''t know if it''s related to his class!¡±


    ¡°Well, Bearer of Burden and Ears are a little easier to assess. Ears has metal coating her bones, and Bearer has some sort of movement corrective ability that lets her run sideways and backwards perfectly well.¡±


    Hari did not add that Bearer had also been telling her it also made her tremendously flexible in bed. Or, more importantly, had been loudly telling Corvayne that.


    Wick shrugged. ¡°Those are a little boring to me. I think Brines getting an aura is more interesting. As is Horton learning to cast three elements of magic, almost all destructive but, if he''s happy who can complain?¡±


    ¡°Wick, since you know them well.... any ideas for Grunt or Mister I?¡±


    ¡°Grunt it might be just being... big? Hard to say. He''s very straight forward, but he''s always been too strong for even his absurd frame, and certainly too agile for it. Mister I... good question. He picked up on Lythandies quickly... so maybe piety? But he''s also very good with a bow. And can make medicine.... maybe if there''s some sort of jack of all trades ability?¡±


    Wick holds up three fingers. ¡°We also have our weirdos... the two girls from the nearby village. Kirae has been making lots of gold, even with people she shouldn''t understand. Shallee has only been in a few dungeons, but I guess she''s learning Cascadian almost as fast as you did.¡±


    Hari blushed at that.


    ¡°Spears being a slime girl... I suspect she''s got something that aids her with water attacks and leaping, since Corvayne has to cheat to match her when doing the dive-bomb moves. June I''m also stumped. She''s a Tower native, and has something about her that makes her unnaturally good at cleaning, cooking and other little chores... It''s annoying because she wouldn''t complain if we just had her do all the chores. If we could just have her and Grunt meet halfway...¡±


    ¡°You are less worried about his hidden status and more that he''s lazy, are you not?¡± Hari didn''t think Grunt was that lazy. The elf tried to vary her hours now and then, and no matter if she stayed up late or woke up early, she never actually saw Grunt use his cushy bed to sleep in.


    Wick blinked her eyes. ¡°Fuck Hari.... honestly? I just don''t know. For all the crap I want to give Corvayne, I''m also walking around in a haze of mystery about myself. Part of why I spend so much time on the system.¡±


    ¡°Any luck figuring out Essence or experience points?¡±


    ¡°Reminded me, we skipped your friend. Seru.¡±


    Hari smirked. ¡°We know what she can do, Impactus seems to give her legendary attributes but for a single moment. And we still haven''t talked about levels!¡±


    Wick rolled her eyes. ¡°They make you better. Stats influence your gains. Classes do too. What I want to know is what I can do to get more health, I''m one of the most fragile people here.¡±


    ¡°We''ll ask when we get the Inn again. Or maybe see if Corvayne can compass his way to an academy in the Tower.¡± Hari assumed since they ran into one tower-folk settlement, they''d find another. Eventually.


    ¡°Honestly, I''m ready for a nap after all that, and for all we know it feels like we''re missing even more. Like, the Spider''s power set? How do they switch powers? Or is it a racial thing?¡±


    Hari had hoped Wick would be in a more affectionate mood, but settled for getting her to lay down, then gave her a kiss on her forehead. ¡°It''s okay Wick. When you''re ready, we''ll figure it all out together, okay?¡±


    Wick had closed her eyes, but smirked at Hari who settled in next to her.

 Chapter 132: History Lesson

    Corvayne met Wick at lunch. She was helping Varia cook, the two women laughing until Varia spotted Corvayne and flipped to a scowl before storming off with her pot to another table, giving him a nasty look before turning to Mosh and June.


    ¡°She really hates me, huh?¡± Corvayne frowned.


    Wick waved her hand, still beaming at Corvayne. ¡°I bet she''s jealous. Mosh looks up to you. A lot. Anyway, where''s Princess?¡±


    Corvayne jerked his head back in the direction of his camp, even though it couldn''t be seen past the giant crystal array. ¡°Mister I is fixing her leg, then Spears is going to babysit her for a while.¡±


    ¡°Good, you remember what we''re doing?¡± Wick leaned in.


    ¡°There was stuff in The Source you wanted to look at together. Murals?¡±


    Wick nodded, then looked around. ¡°Not to mention you''re attracting too many women. Seru, Spears, and now Bell? I also heard Bearer-of-Burdens teasing Hari about you too. Do I need to worry about Kirae, as well? Maybe take your gold purse away?¡±


    Corvayne gestured back towards the truck. ¡°I understand you have doubts. Do you think we should delay our trip so I can vigoriously I establish how I feel about you?¡±


    Wick gave him a side eye that made him suck in air as she lowered her voice and said, ¡°No. I''ll come to your camp tonight and make my claim known. Cmon, lets go check some ruins.¡±


    As they walked away from camp, Corvayne felt wispy patches of yellow-white grass with his shadow limbs. They took a path across Varia''s new stepping stones, around the crumbled dark stone walls that dotted the plain, and up and over little mounds that had formed where grit caught on a piece of the ruins that had rolled away. Corvayne used the time to just enjoy a sunny clear day. It was warm enough that a single layer felt comfortable. Wick was quiet, as she sometimes got when they were alone, but also kept looking back to smile at her. He stopped to watch her as well, watching her blue robes flutter as she walked, noticing how small her hands were, even caught a hint of her natural blonde near the base of her evergreen hair.


    He followed where her eyes were trained too, tracing the outline of The Source and looked at all the spots where water spilled from the jumble of titanic building fragments that made it up, painting traces of the stone red against darker obsidian blacks and a few hints of lighter materials. Looking back, the truck was just visible as a glint in the sun near the large spiny formation he had made.


    ¡°We''re going to ''The Nose''. No dungeon diving yet. I want to see if you can read the text.¡±


    The Nose, as it was called, was a spot where a pool of cold water poured out of a suspended waterfall coming from an overhang. Looking at the pointed protrusion of fused stone jutting out from a steeper part of The Source... well it sort of looked like a nose. The image of crawling up into a sinus cavity didn''t make him eager to scale the rope hanging from it, but Wick went first and so he followed.


    He was impressed that she seemed stronger than before, pulling herself up without help. When Corvayne got to the top he was in a circular cavern lit both from the daylight below and blue lights further in. There was enough room on a stone path around the hole to move to stairs beside where the water was pouring out. Running his hand along the cold damp stone he felt no cracks, just smoothed shaped stone.


    ¡°Artificial, reinforced.¡± Wick said as she tapped a wall then finished climbing a stairway.


    Corvayne followed her as a path lead into a dim blue passage. It resembled the Cascadia sewer a little, with water running between two raised walkways on the side. Wick lit her flashlight and waved it around.


    ¡°Any monsters?¡± Corvayne felt his eyes looking up and down.


    ¡°Just a few slimes and a few sky moles. About the size of a small dog, not aggressive unless you bother them or bring food and don''t share.¡±


    Corvayne saw a hint of something moving in the gloom ahead, like a large potato with wings strapped to it. ¡°Right.¡±


    Up the stairs Wick waited for Corvayne, then gestured, robe matching the blue color from glow stones embedded in the passage. Corvayne saw pictures of large cities, somewhat limited by the stone carvers artistic skills, but clearly cities with windows.


    ¡°Can you read what it says?¡± Wick asked, a hint of excitement in her voice.


    ¡°Heed the warning here. We had made a terrible mistake, and paid for our borrowed power with our lives.¡±


    He gestured to the city. ¡°Once we were prosperous. We call ourselves ''Pilgrims'' and wandered The Great Gate Road.¡±


    The cities in the first section gave way to paths winding through the stars, with figures on them standing tall and holding objects. Swords, tools, pots, scrolls, a few leading animals.


    ¡°We walked the long dark paths, and many suffered and became lost on the long path to enlightenment.¡±


    The panel showed people falling off the paths. Pilgrims with their heads down walked past bones.


    ¡°A wise man showed us how to tame the wild roads. We made our rounds in peace for many years. We tamed the children-races of the-¡±


    ¡°Children?¡± Wick interrupted.


    ¡°I''m trying to be as literal as possible. And look, you can see elves and dwarves and humans... all smaller than the pilgrims.¡±


    The image he was pointing at flowed into a stone ring made up of segments. He looked back at Wick. ¡°Do you want to take a picture?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I took pictures. I''m recording you!¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Love you Wick.¡±


    ¡°Love you too, fucker!¡± She snapped her fingers. ¡°I said it. Now, translate!¡±


    Corvayne smiled and looked. The ring had points on it that were clearly distinct and had been made with colored rocks... a black circle at one. A gold eagle at another. A pair of green hands, held together. A blue stone lock, and crying red faces.


    ¡°The gift, however, spurred us for more. The pilgrimage extended our lives and gave us power, but took us years and years. We delved into the power that had tamed the roads, and built the first artificial portals. In doing so, we discovered Towers and Dungeons.¡±


    An image of stairs up and down, spiraling to gods above and demons below. Corvayne frowned. ¡°From below, monsters came. There was war... then... he appeared.¡±


    An image of The Magus appearing in a circle of Pilgrims. ¡°We were saved from our war, but it wasn''t long before our savior turned on us.¡±


    Corvayne stopped before the stone panel and saw a tiny masked figure pointing, and meteors falling on a city. ¡°Everything we built, he toppled. No statues left, no cities, only heaps and pock marked worlds. In our ruins, his minions tore everything they could find apart.¡±


    An image of the portal road, shattered. A panel of people walking into portals, then vanishing. ¡°We tried many things out of desperation, until a desperate group of our summoners brought heroes to our world.¡±


    A circle where small figures came from the circle. ¡°The strangers aided us, defeating the wizard''s followers and binding him.¡±


    The last panel on the wall was of broken cities, collapsing to dust as figures around The Magus pushed him into a pit. ¡°It was too late. Our era had ended. The fighting had drained the portals, and the great road was shattered. We had lost everything. We were pilgrims no more. But for what? The great evil was not defeated. It will break free!¡±


    Corvayne stopped before the end of the hall, another ornate panel acting as the ending. The Magus''s mask, carved into green stone, around which the artist had drawn thousands of spiny vines. In the blue light it flickered with hints of opaline glass just under the surface of the rocks.


    ¡°While he burned our worlds, the Beguiler spoke to me. Told me to spit out the ashes of the past. He told me how to hide this warning! He told me the great evil sows his own demise! One comes who will rebuild the road! The city of forever will descend! The lost will find their home!¡±


    Wick handed him water, and Corvayne took a drink, realizing he had been stressing his throat by yelling the last few lines. ¡°Sorry, carried away.¡±


    Wick gave him a little hug. ¡°We all get carried away. Sometimes.¡±


    She drifted away, then shone on the next set of panels walking back. It was all text. ¡°Are you up for all this?¡± Wick looked at him.


    ¡°Let me try.... it''s a different writer. Or they wrote it at a different time. It''s all more personal¡±


    ¡°I have been cast aside, so I will cast aside. My love, I walk away from you, bury you deep. The enemy I love most, I vow to strike you down, that a greater evil is foiled. I have no home to give up, no treasure to offer. So I offer to the rift myself. My body itself. My dreams. My hopes. My Love. Take everything.¡±


    Corvayne stopped. ¡°We might be reading it backwards.¡±


    Wick shrugs. ¡°If it follows the other wall, you read it walking back.¡±


    ¡°The Watchers prepare for a grim war...¡±


    Corvayne stopped, then continued. ¡°A grim war, one of weapons and devices and of a magic that ended all magics. I hope for their success but know they will fail in the end. They have not walked the road and washed their souls. In the end, he will find the little cracks in them and tear them apart.¡±


    ¡°The answer is in this tower. I will become a warrior, a killer, a monster if need be. Whatever it takes to win.¡±


    Corvayne stopped at the last panel. ¡°It just says I''m sorry, over and over. With names.¡±


    ¡°Is yours on there?¡±


    He read. ¡°There are watcher names.... Crown-Half-Worn.¡± Corvayne couldn''t help but curl his lip downward.


    ¡°Who''s that?¡±


    ¡°My father.¡±


    ¡°Tell me the ones you don''t know!¡±


    ¡°Suckers-on-Suckers. Smiles-And-Tears. Short-Road-Home. Most of them I don''t know. That and ''The fated one''.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°You''ll have to say a whole slew of the names on there, and tell me who''s there, and who is missing, and which ones you don''t know.¡±


    Corvayne sighed. ¡°It''s a lot... and my memory might lead us astray here.¡±


    Wick stopped what she was going to say and bit her lip, then looked up at him. ¡°Corvayne, I won''t make you do it if it hurts.¡±


    He shrugged. ¡°Knowing it was probably a long, long time ago and might not have been real...¡± He wouldn''t say he wasn''t still angry. He just wasn''t sure what he had known was real. ¡°Maybe we should have brought Spears.¡± He pointed at her name on the etching, Then started from the top.


    ¡°I don''t know who Suckers-on-Suckers is. Spears is near the top of the list. Mugs-Empty-Again was my Axe trainer, hairy guy who spent most of the time laughing when he was beating me senseless. Diamonds-In-Passing was the leader of my age group and a stickler for rules. Suns-First-Water was Spear''s friend, and was very possessive of her. Better-Days-Ahead was the cook who saved a caravan a few years before I left...¡±


    As he went through Watcher names his mind drifted back to the sun-bleached desert town he had lived in, and as he shifted through names and locations he paused.


    ¡°Waves-Within was my spear trainer... but...¡±


    Wick was patient and understanding for about ten seconds then started to fidget. ¡°Well? What? Don''t sit on it.¡±


    ¡°I don''t remember ever having to recover after a lesson. I do recal; putting ice on my bruises, or walking into first aid, and in my mind he slapped me silly with a practice spear, however I should also associate it with limping out of the arena...¡±


    Wick clapped. ¡°Because he probably WASN''T kicking the shit out of you! Memory fuckery!¡±


    ¡°Somebody was, I remember getting first aid from axe training for sure. Mugs-Empty-Again broke both of my arms.¡± Corvanyne certainly remembered sitting in the clinic twice and having his Axe trainer tell him both times ''Well laddie, it will give you time to think about how you''re defending!'' before shuffling out. But no, Waves-Within never had Spears carry him off to the clinic. He had been annoyed that sometimes Corvayne would show up with wounds...


    He checked for some other names. Spaces-Torn-Asunder, who had been his one island of neutrality was there. He started trying to remember the first few times he had been around Spaces. When they were introduced. Once again, there were gaps. He had trouble past a certain point. It was something else though.


    ¡°So, I told you about my one... I guess friend or mentor, Spaces-Torn-Asunder?¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°That''s the guy who wasn''t a dick to you.¡±


    ¡°Except he was, exactly once. I remember he yelled at me when I first rotated to do basic repair training with him. He stated that I wasn''t fit for this class and he didn''t want to see me again. So I left, then I was told to come back, and since then he was always chill. No praise, but-¡±


    Spaces-Torn-Asunder was the person the other villagers usually said was the smartest. He certainly came off that way. What if... that the bland neutrality wasn''t just him being far more tolerant of Corvayne. That he had figured out something was wrong with, for example, Spears? But then, why didn''t he just tell everyone to leave him alone?


    Spears had started to do it too. The flesh and blood woman in his memory still told him he was a worthless pile of dung, but before he had left she often would be biting her lip. Just two people had changed, when he hadn''t. One of them who now liked him. He took a deep breath in as he felt thorns start to uncurl inside him.


    ¡°Corvayne what''s-¡±


    He held up a hand. ¡°I need a distraction. I dove too close to something and it''s activating the curses... go ask Spears if-¡±


    Wick took her glasses off and undid her hair, then swept it around. ¡°Did I mention that finding secrets gets me going?¡±


    Corvayne took the moment to sit and start focusing on his stable triangle, discovering that the ragged feeling of those thorns in him backed off as he cycled his power. That and Wick had pulled open her shirt to flash her bra. He smiled as some of the pain receded.


    ¡°Thanks... it''s helping. Still, give me some room. I don''t want to get you tangled in spikes.¡±


    Wick fixed her bra and shirt then re-closed her robe. ¡°You''re getting harder to tease.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Okay, remember Magus Mom? The Pilgrim thing jogged my mind. We need to ask Spears if she knows where the road picks up here. The panels are hints... but we need to find those colored features.¡±


    He walked back to the Magus mask panel at the end, and placed his hands on the two raised hands, and tried pushing. With a slight groan, the wall split down the middle then swung open into a blurry pink and silver portal.


    ¡°Oh of course, YOU touch it...¡±


    Corvayne shrugged and watched as her light caught another carving. ¡°Wait! Hold it there.... ''I have gone on this way. The changes take things from me... but I must stay strong. I will reach the top.¡±


    He thought about it. A message for him. Perhaps a Watcher? Or was it the Starry-Eyed girl? It could be his mom for all he knew, or The Spider. Or a pilgrim. Or Grunt. Or Spears. Or... himself, to be honest.


    ¡°We got all this? We need more eyes on it. That, and to see what''s in this tower entrance.¡±


    Wick looked at him. ¡°I recorded everything here, because I know you. I''m going to try to speak with Spears to try to figure out who wrote this.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. Wick attacked puzzles and mysteries with a sort of single minded focus he wish he had. ¡°That and we should consider asking a local expert what they know about the Pilgrims.¡± He had read many books about ruin seeking heroes and started thinking about bribes and fetch quests and dealing with scholars, winding their way into thieves guilds in sickly slums to trade wits and daggers with the information brokers of a city, tricking their way in to see a royal historian in some fortified castle, maybe even doing a heist in some imposing cliff-side monastery to get a book that had everything they needed. Perhaps they escape on a passing airship...


    He re-focused. For now, he needed to prepare Wick for some both boring and dangerous work. ¡°Given the tech level and the way the adventurers guild tried to claim jump our loot from here, this ruins falling into our lap might be a stroke of luck we won''t see for months. Finding someone who knows more might be an ordeal for outsiders such as ourselves. Please don''t get frustrated if it takes a long time.¡±


    Wick laughed and grinned. ¡°Or we do nothing.¡±


    Corvayne''s image of having to disarm a magic vault while the walls closed in vanished. ¡°Nothing?¡±


    Wick tapped her head. ¡°We do nothing because the world''s foremost expert on Pilgrims is going to stroll into our camp any day now.¡±

 Chapter 133: Undine finds out

    Undine rubbed her horses main and dismounted, her boots hitting the hard ground with a little halo of dust. She hadn''t needed any directions after reading the letter Corky sent as The Source was her old stomping ground. A tapped out Pilgrim ruin with no claim had been a perfect place to spend a year or two studying without too many distractions.


    Now, however, she had a less enjoyable visit ahead of her: Finding her wayward apprentice. Hari was a bright girl with about the same sense when it came to people as a bag of rocks. It was a time honored tradition for many races to just blame the elves for any problem, as often one could point to something they had done ages ago that made the cards fall just. What differed from all those cases was that this time it was entirely the fault of the two elves who called themselves her parents. If they had thrown her to be raised by wolves she''d have the same manners but perhaps be more focused.


    Nearly three months ago, Undine had arranged for to join a fourth and fifth advancement mixed party as a way to get her used to doing day to day adventuring without supervision and as a way to get her to bond better with others, and of course help her learn the value of her role as identifier, opener of doors, greaser of wheels both mundane and arcane.


    The first sign of trouble was a report from the local guild, furious that Hari had spent probably every coin she had on buying almost every potion in town.


    The second was when instead of passing along a response as to what she was thinking, the guild reported to Undine a week later the group was missing, with no sign of them in the ruined city.


    Undine had to cancel her plans exploring the new and unclaimed ruin that had surfaced far south on a sunny unspoiled tropical island to instead go tromping around a playground ruin that had been long ago looted to the ground looking for clues. She didn''t find any sign of foul play, nor had any adventurers seen them outside the first day. What she found very odd were rumors that Hari had been leading her party rather than the other way around.


    Then nothing for two months, except of course endless worry that she''d wasted years trying to help the poor girl, and then what? Khorkos is seen at the capital, but not with Hari in tow, no no no! He had some other human girl in odd clothes with six ranks in Investigator.


    Undine tracked their worthless hides down before they could get on a boat to the ruin SHE had wanted to go to, and was ready to skin them all when she was presented a story that reeked like dung about going to another world, and Hari telling them she fell in love with the strongest warrior she had ever seen, and dying and coming back. It was a worse lie than kind of pulp that bards slung to half drunk sheep herders!


    More infuriating was the girl was carrying a brand new copy of a first printing of ''Arcane Investigation''. As far as Undine knew, every copy anyone knew of was at least the seventh generation, full of errors from being a copy of a copy of a copy and so on.


    She felt her forehead veins bulging as she thought about it! The damn book smelled new! It was in a language she''d never seen before, granted, but [Understand Language] fixed that. It didn''t fix her sputtering in shock as she read the correct way to cast [Binding Ray] and [Glimmerstorm]. She... needed a moment just thinking about both how little the group valued that book AND how stupid she had been to not see the correct spellwork!


    She would have kept being angry, but her source from the guild threw a big wet goat turd at her feet: The reports from the Adventurers guild, delivered by a very, very brave platinum rank adventurer, stated that there was a group of at least fifteen gold ranked and up adventurers with Hari. Given the mix of gold and silver, she already would have had doubts on anything reported by them. Then she heard the claim that the girl, barely a third stage Investigator three months ago, somehow was fighting toe to toe with several tenth stage second tier classed adventurers at once.


    That was on top of them stating there was a super high level monster that the group had been hunting that had JOINED the group Hari was with and repelled the attack with them.


    What she didn''t doubt was the information that the group had a VIP hostage. She had to pick between heading into town to pry who that was out and rushing to find Hari, and choose to move quickly with the later. It still meant there was likely more complications with the group, and if you learned one thing as an adventurer it was how horrible any sort of escort mission was, even without the presence of danger.


    She thought about all this as she prepped her gear and cast a few spells to make her harder to see, then pulled herself to stand on a block and look over a taller obsidian wall fragment at her target.


    As reported, she spotted what looked like a great mass of black crystal spikes exploding out from one of the little chunks of land the streams had carved. The metal carriage they were using was parked not far from it, with signs of a make shift camp extending out from it. There were also a trio of tents further out... well that didn''t make much sense from a defensive perspective. Perhaps camp followers? They had picked a slightly higher rise to camp on, possibly from the spines, but there were taller ridges between the streams, with walls like the one she was on even, that would have been much harder to view without climbing.


    Undine considered how to proceed. If the thugs from the guild were telling the literal truth, then there was either a blanket identify block on the camp or everyone viewed had found some sort of fountain of essence and gotten the same set of powers. The third option was absurd: that everyone in the camp all had high enough advancements that the adventurers couldn''t see their levels. Undine herself was a prodigy and had rocketed to the seventeenth advancement before she was thirty, but it was almost impossible to find enough monsters to push past twenty, and at twenty two she had very few things she could fight that were worth anything outside of hunting down the other old hands in the adventuring game or picking fights with dragons.


    So, it was more likely the earlier blanket ID was the culprit, but she wasn''t born yesterday when it came to walking into enemy territory underestimating them. She decided to focus on scouting, and see if Hari was in the group and what the possible threats were that had kept her pupil from reporting in.


    She twisted a ring to warm herself up some more, then intoned ¡°[Eagle Eye]¡±.


    It was still early morning, but there were sentries on the carriage. They seemed bored, but were doing their job somewhat well. One was a reedy fellow with a fishing harpoon, the other looked big even from this distance. She looked over at the tents but saw no signs of habitation. Why were they far away?


    She saw a fit man step out of a tent, then start preparing something to drink. There was no watch over the far camp, and Undine decided that if she needed information, that would be the best place to go as there was likely no more than six people for those tents.


    Still, she wanted to test how strong the block was before she did anything else. She invoked one of her class skills, boosting the range of her spell multiple times, then another to boost accuracy, then hard cast [Investigate] with a full chant.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 98.6755%">


    Reaper-Of-Fish (Buck)


    Level 16 Spearman (1)/Level 20 Angler (2)


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Assessment: Green


    Race: Human


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Undine blinked. Two classes? It wasn''t a dual Class, as that always had a single level with the classes subdivided. Well, now aside from rescuing Hari... a hint of her greedy side made her smile. This group had a secret, and she wanted it.


    Undine turned to the big thug, who was reading a comically small book while sometimes looking around camp. Poor discipline, why didn''t Reaper beat the hired help senseless? Maybe the big one was some sort of idiot helper. She felt her skills re-align and used them to try to register his stats, but her instincts stopped her mid cast and she ducked behind a rock. Her gut rarely acted up, but she was certain if she tried to identify him, even miles away from cover, he''d spot her instantly.


    She thought about it, then cast [Relay], burning a solid chunk of mana but giving her a point to cast out of that wouldn''t draw his attention to her. [Wizard''s Eye] let her bounce her vision to the spot too. All that set up, and she aimed at the large man and used [Investigate], which failed. She used a few meta magic tricks again, and pushed out [Investigate mk 2].


    From her magic eye perspective, she saw his head turn instantly, and an eyebrow raise.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(18, 19, 36, 1); border-color: rgba(224, 62, 45, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 98.6755%">


    GRUNT: HELLO LADIES ;-) LIKE WHAT YOU ID?


    STRIKE TEAM THUNDERSLUGS 4 EVER


    Level 17 Thug (1)/Level 15 Warrior (1) / LEVEL ??? (?????)


    Threat Level: BLOCKED


    Race: BLOCKED


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Undine''s blood ran cold. The only way she''d see one advancement and not the other was if the man had attained twenty seven in the class. The only person close to that was the Emperor himself at twenty five, and that''s the result of destroying multiple armies using his empire''s defenses. Also, she had never seen the spell just... fail.. to spit out a threat color, even as a novice trying to find Plantina''s level. All that on top of some sort of tampering with the spell...


    She sat there, crouched for seconds that ticked by as the man raised a hand to wave at where her [Relay] was, then resumed reading.


    No, she would not try to tangle with that brute. Especially not on his home turf. She waited a good five minutes for some sort of other response or alert, but to her trained senses nothing was happening.


    Undine shifted her focus. Remote camp then. First was a human woman. Looked like one of her former party members, actually.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 98.6755%">


    Bellithica Terueshi


    Level 5 Spoiled Princess (1) / Level 7 Squire (1) 7


    Threat Level: Deep Green


    Human / Terueshi Bloodline (0)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Undine hissed, ¡°Ashes and shite stew... no wonder they didn''t take her back!¡±


    The ''White Elephant Princess'', as she was known, looked like she was just staring at the fire. For a prisoner to not have a minder or even something to slow her down, it looked like she could just walk off. Then again, the plains were not friendly to someone who didn''t know how to hunt, nor who might not know practically or magically how to keep themselves warm. She didn''t look angry at the moment, just frustrated.


    It fit with what Undine knew about the woman. Thirties, three failed engagements, was a large burden on whatever branch of the adventurers guild she operated with. Undine thanked all three moons and the small stars that The Emperor was kind enough to never foist Bell on her. Every person who had dealt with her had stated that training her was like trying to cuddle a mountain lion, except a beast master who stated it was like trying to cuddle a mountain lion who didn''t like you.


    There was that fit fellow with a spear near the princess, who was trying to speak with her. The princess was frowning but her body language had her leaning towards the man as he spoke and she mirrored the way he was holding his cup of steaming drink. A man made interesting by the fact he was taming her alone. She queued up another spell through her focus.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 98.6755%">


    Corvayne


    Level ????? Armsmaster (4)


    Threat Level: Red


    Race: ''Human''


    (ADEPT:VITALITY)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Tier Four? FOUR? Undine jammed fingers into her leg, biting her lip not to shout out ''How!?'' Even the Emperor was a Tier 2. Ignoring that two people with advancement above twenty seven was a major new power in the region, she HAD to speak with the man. At least, she was considering diplomacy for a moment before she saw Hari slip out of his tent, obviously putting her clothes back on.


    For a moment she was angry. Then she coolly considered her pupil''s play. If the man knew how to unlock higher tier classes, he could completely shift the balance of power between The Empire and their neighbors. Perhaps she had finally started thinking in a way more fitting of a freelance Investigator.


    She tossed an identify out to check if she had made any progress.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 98.6755%">


    Hari


    Level 20 Scry Blade (2) / Level 0 Adept Initiate (1)


    Threat Level: Yellow


    Race: Elf


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Undine''s background headache surged as she saw the ghostly letters of fade away. Her little pupil had somehow reached 20 and gotten a system boost to [Investigate] since she had unlocked the second tier class! Also, she had two classes! Undine turned back to her horse. Power differences be damned, she was going to waltz into camp and shake Hari upside down until all her secrets fell out!


    Of course, refocusing on her remote construct she spotted the bluish steel gleam of an Airfoil blade on her side. Undine double checked that her own was still there. It had taken her years and years to source one! She spit and checked it for blood. Her pupil, one who tried to escape every lesson, had found some once in a century source of essence AND treasure! What the hell else could happen?


    She was about to cancel her spell when she saw a Drow elf wake up from a tent near her pupil and start walking what looked like a levitating squid around the black spines. No defenses showing, but her skin changed color as she walked, as did her pet. Possibly some sort of underdark Drow-Mind Flayer creation?


    She invoked her spell, and was for a moment pleased that it connected fully. Then she read what it said, and she felt her vision focus on the ghostly glowing words, her head pounding. She was seeing a little red as she pushed all her meta-magic abilities into casting the spell again, to be sure. [Investigate mk. 3] gave her the same results, her eyes failing to find a hint that she had missed some waiver.


    She read it a third time as it faded, then her heart stopped and Undine felt her chest explode in pain and she started involuntarily gasping for air. She forced herself to curl her hand to her belt and pull out a healing potion as chest pains started lancing up her arm. Her wrinkly fingers slipped on the stopper and she fell and had to push it to her face and use her teeth, then shoved the glass with shaking hands into mouth, possibly cracking a tooth as she half breathed, half swallowed the healing drought before it hit her bloodstream and she felt her heart start to beat again.


    She coughed and rasped for air until the healing potion had enough drowning damage to evaporate itself, and she was staring up at the sky, trying to breath and process what she had seen.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 98.6755%">


    Lady Blood Claw


    Level 15 Enchanter (2) / Level 10 Blade (2) / Eff Level +10 due to previous classes


    Threat level: Yellow


    Race: Pilgrim


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>

 Chapter 134: Why the heck are we having tea?

    Corvayne watched as Hari helped an older woman take a seat at camp, his elf lover fussing over her presumed mentor and asking if she was okay, and the older woman sputtering and trying to gesture at something towards camp.


    ¡°Is it danger?¡± Hari asked. ¡°Undine! Calm down! Corvayne, can you get Mister I?¡±


    The woman was sputtering ¡°The Drow Pilgrim! Hari! What.... tell me everything!¡±


    Hari froze and looked over at Corvayne. ¡°Everything?¡±


    Corvayne waved his hand. ¡°I''m fine with telling her whatever you wish, I''m going to run and get Mister I.¡±


    Bell meanwhile had her arms folded. ¡°Undine the Undying... where have you been hiding from father?¡±


    Corvayne looked around. ¡°Miss Undine, if you come with us to camp, we can make sure you''re in tip top shape and we can discuss whatever you wish. We wanted to ask you about Pilgrims ourselves...¡±


    She was up in a flash, faster than Corvayne expected and was waving her hand around. ¡°You piss drinking clown, you have one waltzing around your camp!¡±


    ¡°Oh... Grunt?¡±


    ¡°No, not that Lummox! Lady Blood Claw!¡± Undine spoke then her eye twitched. ¡°Lady... Lady... Blood Claw. Blood. Claw. Lady Blood C... she is a Pilgrim... why is it so hard to not say her whole name?¡±


    Corvayne felt a small shock pass through him. ¡°She is?¡± He looked at Hari. ¡°Didn''t you scan everyone a few days ago?¡±


    Hari looked confused, her long ears flicking a little as she scrunched her face up to think. ¡°I did, but most of the time I don''t pull races...¡±


    Undine snorted. ¡°You can''t compare a rank amateur with a master. Well, lead on. I have a host of questions, including why HARI is here and why I had to come to HER... also PRINCESS get off my arm. I am no nag for you tug at.¡±


    Bell straightened and took a step back, giving her a little bow. ¡°I simply wished to ask if you could help our Empire out...¡±


    Corvayne held a hand up. ¡°We''ll ask her about it when we''re sure she''s okay.¡±


    Undine was well enough to walk over to the Truck. Mister I was out on a dungeon run, but Corvayne saw that Mosh and June were working outside. Mosh had almost totally fixed his burns, with only some more yellow rough areas hinting to the burns he had taken protecting the truck.


    Corvayne heard Undine mutter a spell then start coughing as Mosh approached.


    ¡°You have a... goblin? That''s tier 6?!? I mean, he''s also wearing clothes...¡±


    Mosh laughed and replied in the same language. ¡°Sorry babe, but if you want to see me without clothes ya gotta go through June first. I kid sweetheart. Corvayne, who''s this classy old gal?¡±


    ¡°Hari''s Mentor. Can you make sure she''s okay? She looked like.... she looks like she''s in shock again.¡±


    Undine was sputtering again, which made Corvayne lean over and quietly ask Hari, ¡°Did she always have problems speaking?¡±


    Hari shook her head. ¡°Something''s got her spooked...¡±


    The old woman gestured all around. ¡°Tier Six! Classes we''ve never seen before! A Pilgrim walking through your camp! Her first...¡±


    Mosh held a green hand up in front of her face. ¡°Aunty calm down! Your heart is showing signs of wear and tear, and you''re vitals are all going crazy! Sit!¡±


    Hari helped her mentor find a bench and Mosh spent a few moments invoking Lythandies and mending. Corvayne swore Mosh seemed more real as he invoked healing.


    ¡°Okay doll, you be careful! It would break my heart to hear you-¡±


    Undine gave him a little pinch on his cheek. ¡°Thank you... goblin... I will be more careful.¡±


    Corvayne expected Mosh to retort with something witty but instead he was blushing. ¡°Thanks toots!¡± He was sweet on old ladies? Interesting.


    At this point, Lady Blood Claw was coming back around with her Squid. Corvayne waved her over, and there was a small flash of pink from her skin, suggesting a little hint of joy, before she turned neutral gray and jogged over to Corvayne.


    ¡°Hey Lady, this is Hari''s mentor Undine.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw looked at Undine, then looked back at Corvayne looking confused. The tall alien arched an eyebrow. ¡°Is there a reason her mouth is stuck open?¡±


    Hari responded to the question by patting her teacher''s back. Corvayne wondered if Hari''s reactions to all their treasure back when everything shocked her were a learned reaction rather than just her response.


    ¡°Sorry LBC, she''s in awe of you... I guess the system thinks you are a Pilgrim.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw blinked. ¡°But I''m not? The Pilgrims were a dead precursor race even when I was growing up. I''m a Kypori. Not a rare thing.¡±


    Corvayne started to translate for Undine''s sake, but the woman cast a spell on herself and then started speaking perfect Cascadian.


    ¡°I see her denial writ large on her face.¡± Undine shook her head. ¡°The voice doesn''t lie. You can hide things, but you can''t change what the voice of everything has named you.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw leaned back. ¡°It might explain why The Magus took me in, but only that he did. Whatever awesome destiny you are hoping for... I am a failure. I am a child from the gutter, I failed as both a ruthless soldier for him and failed as apprentice enchanter, and I was cast into the ground and forgotten for untold ages.¡±


    ¡°Tch, then screw him! These ruins have things that are waiting for an owner! I''ve seen things others ignored, or were too blind to... answers about WHY things are as they are! For starters, the third moon! There is no art in the Pilgrim ruins of three moons! It means something! That and that there''s more likely to be dungeons near certain types of Pilgrim ruins. It''s not just magic radiation, as there''s plenty of cities that rose on the bones of those long broken cities.¡±


    Stolen novel; please report.


    Corvayne spotted a group coming around a wall. He waved, and a short figure in blue waved back. A few minutes later of Hari filling Undine in on some of the broad strokes of her story, Wick walked into camp looking very pleased with herself. ¡°My expert came!¡±


    Undine looked for a moment annoyed, but Wick parried any possible complaint with her phone and a video of the hidden chamber in The Source''s Nose.


    ¡°Oh, a handy device, that is, but-¡± Then she heard Corvayne speaking. She froze again. ¡°Does... is he translating it?!¡±


    Corvayne met her wide eyes and couldn''t help but smile as he nodded. At least, he smiled until Undine turned pale again and started clutching her chest. Mosh had to be called back over from making a meat smoker to fix her second heart attack of the day.


    A little later, and with some warm tea, Corvayne sat with Hari and Wick and Bell and LBC as well as Undine in a large heated tent Mosh had crafted out of spare parts from ice cream machines. The faint hum of the warmers was joined with soothing chime music that Mosh had put on to make sure that Undine didn''t suffer another heart issue. It was a near thing with The Spider popping into the tent to poke Hari and draw something on the ground, but Undine had calmed down without further cardiac arrest once Growl-Whine left and they were now working through what they knew about the Pilgrims.


    Undine sipped her tea and spoke, mostly addressing Wick at this point in the conversation. ¡°It''s interesting that you have a name for the wizard who appears in some of the unmolested art from the newest ruins. The story is not too hard to follow, but there was always a schism on if the Pilgrims were located on just this world, or the greater scattering of prime material planes. Your tale makes that less of a question.¡±


    Wick mused. ¡°We are from another series of worlds. We have an egghead... I mean a learned scholar trying to see if any star formations might be shared between worlds or if we hail from another plane or dimension.¡±


    Undine rolled her eyes. ¡°There''s divine priests who can tell you if you''re extra planar, even from another prime. You have the gold to answer that one yourself. What I find hard to swallow is that you have this Spears woman, someone that a Pilgrim NAMED, in your party and she doesn''t remember any of them.¡±


    Wick nodded. ¡°Well, The Magus didn''t just raze planets. He seems to be able to completely turn people''s emotions inside out, block their memories, possibly change them, and who knows what else. Corvayne here sometimes has killer vines start trying to blast him with lightning from the inside out whenever he gets close to figuring out his dead dog''s name.¡±


    Undine nodded. ¡°That''s actually something I wanted to ask you about... a long time ago, when I was a girl, I saw a man that looked just like Corvayne, same sort of chameleon cloak with a black spear who came through my village. There were whispers he was The Wanderer, a sort of folk-legend who slew bandits and monsters and the wicked.¡±


    Corvayne felt himself leaning forward. Could he have just stumbled on a clue to his past? ¡°I don''t remember it, but we found evidence that I''m older than I had thought I was. Possibly by thousands and thousands of years. So, I won''t rule it out, but I''d like to know where I passed through.¡±


    Undine laughed a little. ¡°Your ears are too round for you to say you don''t remember thousands of years! As for my village, it was in a place you can no longer safely tread. The hordes of the Black Raven took Embersmote long ago. If you fought through his patrols, and bandits, and monsters, you probably ran also afoul of at least a few adventurers guild members whom are okay living in his territory.¡±


    Hari clapped. ¡°Even if it''s dangerous, we might figure out where to go next if we know where you came from!¡±


    Bell snorted. ¡°Everyone has heard a thousand theories of who The Wanderer was. Five men who visited the palace claimed to be him by the time I was a teenager. How many knights have painted their spears black, like Corvayne did, professing to be some sort of master of justice?¡±


    Corvayne had just been thinking Bell had done very well to avoid blurting anything out while Wick and Undine had been talking for the last however long. Perhaps he needed to feed her?


    Undine narrowed his eyes. ¡°Your father''s stubborn streak combined with your mother''s short attention span makes for a dangerous combination, Bell. This man has a class I''ve never seen before and is higher level than any ruler I''ve ever seen, your father included. You tempt death toying with the unknown.¡±


    Bell stuck her chin up. ¡°Hmf. He has taken to protecting me with his whole being. All you do is confirm that divine providence is at play, favoring me with such a talented ally!¡±


    Corvayne tapped the table. ¡°If we are speaking of favors, you could start treating me as most allies do and we''d all be sleeping inside. Anyway, I want to look into this ''Wanderer'' and might bother the adventurers guild to trade for information. If the way the man fights matched my fighting style, it could lead me to the way home. The pilgrimage is important, but that''s my first and foremost goal.¡±


    ¡°Let me ask this. Hari said you were a contemporary with figures in the tablet. They apologized to them. Is it not possible that in finding the rest of the Pilgrims, you will also find your tribe?¡±


    Corvayne knew that it wasn''t totally based on solid logic that they worked together in any capacity. She seemed to think they were strong, and Hari said she was shrewd. On the other hand, what she said wasn''t totally without merit.


    Wick stood up. ¡°We''ll eat soon Undine, then if you don''t mind keeping that spell up, we can focus on trying to figure out how what LBC told us fits into what we know of the ruins. There''s also a set of portals in the basement that Growl-Whine was trying to fix.¡±


    Undine nodded. ¡°It''s slightly frustrating that you all have so many clues but no answers. Before anything else... did you know how you attained your stronger classes?¡±


    Wick shrugged. ¡°We''ve only had the system a few weeks and have been relying on a patchwork of sources to get information. However, Corvayne could show you how he trains and maybe you''ll notice something we don''t. I have theories about the other high tiers, but Mosh''s crafting prowess has something to do with strange materials and changes the ''HAF'' made to his ''Smallest patterns and structures''. I was hoping you would know more, at least I suppose how tier 1 goes to 2. As for Pilgrims, I''ve decided we also are going to try to explore the Tower entrance near the untouched ruins we found.¡±


    Undine paused. ¡°What Tower?¡±


    ¡°Oh Hari didn''t explain how the rift worked?¡±


    ¡°I didn''t understand what she said about Floors.¡± Undine admitted. ¡°But I wanted the whole story in my head before pressing for details.¡±


    Wick was all too happy to lecture. She even reached out of a gap in tent fabric and dragged in a dry erase board. Hari shot to her feet from the bench and started clapping. ¡°Wick does the best stories! You are going to love them Undine!¡±


    Wick stopped for a moment. ¡°You know, I should do a Saturday speech... or whatever day you call it here. Anyway, Towers! It''s another layer of realities. In places, often near landmarks, there are rifts which are like dream worlds. They are like dungeons. You have those right? Places with lots of monsters and treasure?¡±


    ¡°There''s no such place in the source... right?¡± Undine pulled black gloves tighter. ¡°No... Hari what are they speaking of?¡±


    Hari cleared her throat then tried to sound a little scratchy like Wick. ¡°Well, uh, see, there''s... magic rifts in reality that have treasure chests and give us extra powers... like I told you, I think they opened up recently.¡±


    ¡°How big are they?¡±


    Corvayne answered that one. ¡°They are of a size that we put exploring that size on the back burner. From a report Seru made, groups walked a whole week and didn''t find obvious ends on some floors.¡±


    ¡°So what you are telling me is there are unexplored, treasure and monster filled demi-planes, and that''s why Hari is about to out level me, AND there''s one, here, at the source, that was behind a secret door in that Pilgrim''s secret hideaway?¡±


    Corvayne looked at the group. ¡°Yes?¡±


    Undine looked over at Wick, then back at Corvayne. ¡°Can I see it?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Yes!¡±


    Undine frowned for a moment and stood up. ¡°Then why the hell were we having tea!?¡± A moment later she broke out into a grin. ¡°Cmon kids! Let''s go see what''s in there!¡±

 Chapter 135: Floor of the Unending Hair

    Picking a best team to go on another tower run wasn''t quite as easy as Corvayne expected. Grunt waved him off, pointing to himself then the truck, and they couldn''t find The Spider.


    Still, with Undine rounding the group out, Corvayne went with Wick, Lady Blood Claw, Hari, and Nyx. This was after a hour or so of making sure they had their gear on and making their way to The Nose. Standing in the stone hallway leading from the hole down to the dusty plains over to the Magus marked door, Wick addressed them.


    ¡°Our goal is to see if this tower floor has ties to the Pilgrims. No heroics, slow and steady and fucking careful. I''m going to stick in the middle and use [Rewind] to fix injuries. We do five floors, ten if we do well and the opposition is easy. Any hard floors we go around.¡±


    Undine shifted her view. ¡°No other healers?¡±


    ¡°Mister I cooked us a whole slew of potions. We don''t plan to go up too many floors to where the monsters start co-coordinating, so I''d rather have Hari and Corvayne working to spot problems. Between that and my talent I think we''ll be alright.¡± Wick pulled her robe a little open showing off her camo pants and a potion belt flush with red vials.


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Nyxion takes very little damage with his shield, his repulsive magic, and the range from his whip.  I have very solid fundamentals and some recent powers that help me fix myself. It''s important to also note that from what we''ve seen, the ability for monsters in the towers to use tactics and tracking is-¡±


    Corvayne tried to wait to pull a shard of glass out of his arm but couldn''t help it and plucked the bloody fragment out before switching to Agility ¡°-They usually wander around until they see or hear something that pulls them over to us.¡±


    Hari smiled. ¡°And the rest of us have stealth or flat out invisibility so it''s less likely we will be targeted before Nyx or Corvayne.¡±


    Undine frowned. ¡°We lack ranged attacks then?¡±


    Wick smiled. ¡°Everyone is packing guns, with Lady sporting a bow. Think crossbows but-¡±


    ¡°I''ve seen flintlocks... not reliable but at least a good way to soften something.¡± Undine shrugged.


    Corvayne wondered if Undine had identified their gear. Probably not, since Hari was wearing the living dress. She didn''t look uncomfortable, so it likely meant the dress knew it wasn''t play time. Corvayne''s mind drifted a little thinking about Hari in the dress until he re-focused. Wick wanted him to act as group leader, so he resumed checking everyone.


    Nyx met his eyes and nodded, patting his shield belt and activating levitation, drifting over to the breach.


    Lady Blood Claw had been quiet since hearing that Undine insisted she was a member of some long lost race, and turning to check if she was okay, he could see her looking at the image of The Pilgrims and other races standing on the roadway etched in stone. Corvayne knew light gray meant she was anxious, and he put a hand on her shoulder.


    ¡°Lady, you ready?¡±


    She snapped her head over and in a moment looked determined. ¡°I want answers too.¡±


    He smiled at her, and she managed a small smirk. Corvayne moved on to Wick, who had an odd look on her face as she was looking at the murals as well. She had her staff, potions, her freezing short blade, and her pack. She looked at him and for a moment he felt like he was looking at a stranger, then she shook her head and smiled at him, and he smiled back.


    Undine was checking her own gear after casting [Understand Languages]. Corvayne offered a hand to her as she finished double checking knives and scrolls. ¡°Given how effective Hari is, I''m looking forward to working with you.¡±


    The older woman''s eyes crinkled as she met Corvayne''s gaze with a stern look, and for a moment he was sure she was going to shank him with one of her knives. After Corvayne counted five uncomfortable seconds Undine grinned and took his hand. ¡°Same, I''ve heard your class is... interesting.¡±


    Figuring she was just doing a little banter, he smirked and shot back, ¡°We''ll just have to see then, won''t we?¡±


    He saw the older woman nod at him, so Corvayne considered the banter finished and double checked his own fire breathing dagger, side arm, and assault rifle he was packing, his potions, his cleaver, and of course his spear.


    Set, he pushed his way through the Magus marked door and into The Tower once more. The world blurred, and he stepped into what looked like an ornate black metal hallway. His first step he saw the hall was in fact a forest of dark metal, rendered in brass so dark it appeared black at first glance. Hints of still reflective surfaces added a hint of gold to the surroundings, though any time he stopped moving it resumed looking like endless halls to him. Corvayne looked all around for threats, and looking up saw, suspended in the branches that formed the ceiling, various dim lights. The orbs shedded multifaceted shadows onto a floor that looked like it was made of the same material as his chain mail, something like a combination of stone, wood, and metal. Glowing orange letters, similar to the one-way locks in other Towers, flitted through the trees. Looking back, Corvayne saw that this instance was not another one-way climb, the archway between trees hinting at the corridor they just left. He moved away from the entrance and scanned for movement, listening to faint sounds of water flowing.


    Wick stepped in, and blinked. ¡°I feel weird. Don''t go in too far... lemme check something.¡±


    In moments she pulled out a few random looking detectors, probably radiation and gasses. She looked almost disappointed. ¡°Nothing wrong...  what do your shadow hands think?¡±


    Corvayne didn''t think it was scientific, but the shadow hands pointed the way forward and gave a shrug and thumbs up. ¡°They... uh... think it''s fine.¡±


    Nyx walked past him to take the front. ¡°It''s not to late to swap her out for Spears.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw sounded annoyed. ¡°You need to start thinking with your brain again.¡±


    The noble stopped and smiled at her. ¡°Oh! My once oh so loyal helper... Might you be projecting unspoken feelings onto me?¡±


    Corvayne made a gesture for quiet. ¡°Enough. Let''s show Undine what we can do.¡±


    Bringing up the outsider, who was watching this all with folded arms, seemed to help remind the two of their pride. Still, even as Nyx lead the way into the trees, Corvayne saw Wick was looking at him with what looked like anxiety.


    ¡°Hari, Undine... what''s your readings here?¡±


    They both cast their [Investigates] and both women called out, ¡°Yellow-Green.¡± so Corvayne fell into place behind Lady Blood Claw, leaving Hari and Undine to keep Wick out of trouble in the back half. After trudging past a few rows of trees he checked to make sure they were following.


    Undine hiked a little forward to match his pace. ¡°Do we need to map here?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°As long as we find a path upwards, after five floors we can exit where we came in. That being said... if we get really lost I have a power that can give me directions.¡±


    Still, as they walked for the better part of an hour through the dimly lit metal forest, Corvayne was pretty sure he''d be hard pressed without his compass power to ever find the place they had come from. He saw some signs of clockwork life and a non-aggressive palm sized furry slug, but no real monsters.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    He was about to call for a short rest to assess if he needed to invoke his [Compass] when he caught a faint sound of running water.


    ¡°There''s a river or waterfall somewhere near here. Let''s see if the floor opens up and we can spy a place to go up.¡±


    Corvayne called back, causing Wick to pull her head up. Lady Blood Claw also seemed to jerk a little hearing his voice, perhaps having been lulled into the quiet pace of the floor. He could guess what was up with Lady Blood Claw, having been in her shoes several times over the last few months when he had to try to scramble to understand some new piece of his past floating to the surface. Wick, on the other hand, had been alternating between hurrying to try to get into the middle of the group, face gripped with terror, then moments later sagging with some unseen relief as she strode through the black metal trees, seeming at peace.


    The ground started to dip a little, and ahead he saw faint blue light as the trees opened a small gap and he could see the sky of the floor for the first time. He stepped out from the canopy and saw stars. Billions of them, so many they shone like moonlight onto the ground. He could see other segments of the floor as black shadows against the stars, gleaming with orange-gold lights in spots.


    Standing near the water was a shaggy figure, looking something like a towering beard with a huge blade. As Nyx stepped from the clearing, the figure raised it''s blade, then started stomping at him, set up to strike. Nyx put his hand up, and there was a wave of darkness, causing the figure to falter a moment. The next moment Nyx''s gold serpent whip flicked out, and the monster stumbled and fell apart as Nyx put the whip away.


    ¡°Good warm up. Where''s the rest of the monsters?¡± Nyx asked as he turned around, grin on his face. Moments later his brow furrowed as scraps of the monster started to reform, and it stood back up.


    Wick stepped forward and pulsed a blast of jade energy at it. The entire figure was blasted apart as [Disrupt] tossed what looked like shards of cloth everywhere.


    ¡°Hari, can you ID it?¡± Corvayne asked as he tracked some of the bits slowing and starting to roll back together.


    Hari cast the spell, and frowned. ¡°It''s an ''Endless Shambler''. Level 3 but-¡±


    Undine interrupted, ¡°Advancement is a better term! I hate calling it levels! We are not houses.¡±


    Hari muttered something about wiring her mentor''s jaw shut in elvish before clearing her throat. ¡°It''s going to keep coming back to life, so-¡±


    Corvayne swung his spear, saying aloud, ¡°[Storm-Thrust]¡± as he did, blowing the scraps into the river. The monster reformed as it was swept away.


    ¡°From what we see, this floor seems to be a test of dealing with constant pressure. Or the ability to explore and find the exit without getting cornered by a pack of them following you.¡±


    Undine shook her head. ¡°Wouldn''t a powerful creature like that be keyed to some wizard? Otherwise, what''s feeding it magic to keep coming back?¡±


    Hari responded. ¡°The Tower seems to be a test of different aspects. I think since we''ve seen floors based on stealth, as an example, it is populated with powerful monsters that require avoiding but were made with a flaw to make it possible to hide from or escape them. Or floors where there''s less monsters, more practical obstacles exist. So it''s likely something inherent here fuels them.¡±


    Wick tapped Corvayne''s arm as Hari was speaking and pointed backwards. Corvayne blinked and saw what she had seen. ¡°There''s another pair of endless hairs shadowing us. I propose we find a crossing then knock them into the water, or find an edge and knock them off that.¡±


    Corvayne watched the monster''s blade start to roll itself in the direction the monster he had tossed into the water was going, and decided to take them upstream. A few minutes of treking up increasingly steep hills and they found a point where rocks in the water would let everyone cross. Hari offered her hand to her mentor, but Undine put her nose up and cast [Blink] to cross, then looked shocked when Hari showed off her new version of the spell that she had been working on with The Spider.


    ¡°No chant? And what the devil did you do with the mana threads? It''s so sloppy! It''s... genius!¡±


    Corvayne ignored the incoming magical theory lecture and offered a hand to Wick, who took it without thinking, still looking concerned.


    ¡°Wick, if you have something you are worried about, I''ll help if I can.¡±


    She looked around and looked at him and blinked, and Corvayne could swear she was looking at him like a stranger. ¡°I feel like I''ve been asleep a long time and you''re part of a dream.¡±


    Corvayne wasn''t sure he understood. ¡°Do you want to go back?¡±


    She shook her head, not bothering to take her hand away. ¡°I... I cannot begin to describe how I feel. But do not fret. I will pull my weight here.¡±


    Corvayne mentally tried to think if she had sworn in the last hour or so. ¡°Wick, I''m a little concerned right now, to be honest.¡±


    ¡°Those monsters are slow, I''m sure we can walk faster than them, and we can punch holes in a group if they flank us. It seems disrupt is also-¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I''m not worried about the tower. You''re speaking to me in a very formal manner, which is unusual... One moment.¡±


    Corvane left her on by the bank and took a few steps back to Hari, lowering his voice, ¡°Can you cast [Investigate] on Wick and tell me if she''s got anything odd going on?¡±


    Hari twitched her ear and retorted in Elvish, ¡°I assume you mean something other than stats and a class that I can''t see and she will not speak of?¡±


    He gave her a little nod and she did as he said, then hummed. ¡°Nothing wrong I can see, besides being just as tangled as it was before.¡±


    So much for a system answer then. Corvayne ruffled her hair. ¡°Thanks Hari. Sorry to foist intrigue on you.¡±


    Hari smiled while fixing her hair. ¡°Wick''s paranoia actually extends to herself too. She''s asked me to look at her abilities several times.¡±


    Corvayne looked back at Wick, who was standing on the lip of the rock surveying the tangled black steel forest below, sometimes gazing up to the stars. He sighed and kept his voice low.


    ¡°That''s why I''m worried. She hasn''t sworn and isn''t keeping an eye on Undine, which is what Wick usually would do with a stranger in the mix.¡±


    Hari bit her lip. ¡°I feel foolish for not seeing it myself. I agree she is acting odd... but she''s definitely not a doppelganger. Identify is really hard for them to spoof.¡±


    He met her earnest concerned expression. ¡°I didn''t think she was a doppelganger.¡±


    Hari thought about that, then narrowed her eyes and he felt her use [Investigate] on him, the same sort of feeling he had when he knew someone was watching him. She read something and Corvayne saw her shoulders sag a little as she relaxed.


    ¡°Good, I was worried for a moment because that''s also what a doppelganger might say.¡±


    The little stop to ford the stream made Corvayne want to get the trip over with, and he burned some of his stamina to point to an up stairway, then felt a tug leading him further up the dark hillside they had been climbing.


    ¡°Our path is up.¡± He called out, and took a spot near Nyx who started floating up the switchbacks, now with little tufts of black and gold grass along worn paths.


    The group quieted as they paced up a hill that seemed like it just kept generating more rises. The stars rotated slowly in the sky and Corvayne could see what looked like asteroids and planetoids in the distance, but no signs of a moon or sun. A few times they''d attracted the undying monsters they had seen before. Hari would bind them to set Corvayne up to blast them either into the stream or just off the hillside, sending them tumbling down with a clatter of rocks.


    Corvayne made them take a break when they reached the stairs to floor 2, walking back to the path they had taken to gust away any of the strange tatted cloth creatures. He didn''t see a tail, but Undine approached him while he was glancing back to see Wick speaking with LBC.


    ¡°So far, not much to show eh warrior?¡± The older woman folded her arms, and Corvayne tried to figure out if it was bravado or small talk, deciding to error on the friendly side and go with the latter.


    ¡°I try to not show off unless it''s needed. Wick and Hari would complain if I keep picking up girls.¡±


    Undine chuckled, then looked serious. ¡°If you plan to try to fight whatever destroyed the Pilgrims, I want you to leave Hari out of it.¡±


    Corvayne paused. ¡°The Magus? I''m not seeking him out by choice. Lady Blood Claw might, but my only goal is to be strong enough to marry Wick. We''re here because the Pilgrimage might work against the curses I have.¡±


    The old woman tilted her head. ¡°Can''t you just ask a priest to dispel them?¡±


    ¡°I''ll try that when I get into town, but if Mosh and Mister can''t fix them, and Hari can''t find them... well, I can sometimes see what percentage of power the curses have, and I guess I''ll try to get a different priest to remove them and see if it works or at least offers improvement.¡±


    ¡°Hmf. Well, you don''t seem that cursed. But I suppose many a fool has said the same about swords that end up stuck in their hands. You think there''s a solution in this vast mess?¡±


    Corvayne just shrugged. ¡°The Pilgrim who wrote all that went this way. We might not be able to follow them all the way, as the tower gets stronger... but there''s also no urgency to agonize over the information we have. We don''t know where any of those five colored points are, for example...¡±


    Undine laughed. ¡°Well, I could have told you where one is. The black ring is deep under the Imperial Palace.¡±


    Corvayne looked between his group and Undine. ¡°It might make sense then to turn back and-¡±


    ¡°Nonsense! This place has answers. I feel it in my boots. So pick your strawberry ass up and help me get them, and I''ll help you figure out how to sneak into the most well protected place on this miserable disc.¡±


    ¡°You mean miserable globe?¡±


    Undine snorted and stomped away muttering, ¡°Of course, I end up in the party with a Round-Worlder.¡±

 Chapter 136: Path of the Solo Climber

    Corvayne took a moment to swing his spear through a tree with [Cross Skill: Sundering Strike] as he walked. They were trekking through brush, trying to solve an odd semi-3d maze. Compass was telling him the way to the stairs, but the landscape under a pale blue sky kept folding and twisting, maintaining gravity while sending them off course. The auto-mapper that Mosh had made was struggling with trying to deal with gravity warping in non-euclidean ways, drawing and erasing lines as they curled around and over waves.


    Undine seemed to be the least frustrated, with the old woman stressing to Hari (and by extension him) the need for patience. He wasn''t sure if their goals lined up entirely, but they needed to keep getting materials and essence from fighting in The Tower, and he hadn''t reached his mindscape since he nearly died after the battle at The Source.


    That was not even counting that he was still waiting, two days after entering, for Wick to swear, or fly off on a tangent. Instead, she had been quiet, formal, and requested that he not sleep near her. At this point, Hari looked worried too. Corvayne took a deep breath. For all his fears, his shadow hands kept motioning for him to go forward. So he played the spear, thrusting onwards, trying to keep himself from turning knots on himself worrying that he was missing something critical.


    It reminded him of every time before going off into the desert, the nagging feeling that he was going to reach for his condenser and not have it, then wither up and die of thirst when he forgot his compass as well. Granted, he never bothered with his compass because the desert wasn''t very difficult to navigate once you got a sense of what animals lived where, but still.


    Corvayne advanced on a path leaing to a curl of earth like a frozen tsunami of dirt and bushes looming over them. Surveying the chaotic landscape''s brown dirt and yellow leaves and black branches, Corvayne saw another set of drop bunnies and whistled sharply once. Nyx got the signal and followed his gaze as the monsters hurled themselves out of their burrows, leaping far enough to hit the gravity reverse and start falling like furry meteors. Getting hit by one of their armored heads would break bones, but Nyx''s shield was perfect for covering an area and there were plinks as the monsters hit the barrier and were reflected off, one of them snapping it''s neck from connecting at the wrong angle.


    The others were dazed and Corvayne didn''t give them the courtesy of recovery, darting into the group with spear strikes. Behind him, Wick blasted an incoming drop bunny and send it off course while Hari and Undine teleported out of the way, then Hari flashed back into the group. The pair''s airfoils sprayed blood, armored headpeices, and pristine white fur in a cloud whenever they connected with more than one hit.


    Corvayne didn''t let his attention stray long, as another monster was trying to pick both him and the rabbits off. Corvayne switched with shadow hands to his assault rifle and lined up a burst at what looked like a rubber band with insect parts grafted on in random spots. It also snapped out, trying get something caught on one of it''s serrated legs. Hari had gotten caught by the first one and blinked to safety, so it had taken a rabbit victim getting caught to see how the monster used it''s elasticity to brain it''s prey.


    A few bullets at the base of the burrow killed the monster, shredding organs and causing the mound far above him to ooze green ichor on the ceiling.


    Lady Blood Claw hit another with her bow, letting Nyx worry about rabbits on the ground with his whip. The monsters, once up, would leap around like little battering rams. While no one had gotten hit by them falling in a few days, everyone in the group had taken a number of bruising hits.


    Case in point, one of them managed to land a glancing blow on Undine''s hand. She hissed for a moment before Wick used [Rewind] to undo what may have been a broken wrist on the older woman.


    Corvayne''s shadow hands snaked out and started thrusting and killing, and against a straggler rabbit trying to fall on him Corvayne simply pulled it into the ground near him with higher gravity, causing the monster to crumple in a bloody mess.


    He kept his eyes peeled after using [Cross Skill: Reap] to kill three more, but he saw the last rabbit die and then called, ¡°Is everyone alright?¡±


    A chorus of ¡°Yes¡± and ¡°Yep¡± and ¡°Fine¡± returned to him, all five of his allies whole.


    ¡°Rabbit stew again for lunch?¡± Hari asked.


    ¡°I''m trying to ration how much pre-made soup stock I use until Spears gets the hang of making it from bones.¡± Corvayne replied, having done some math about various sundries on the truck. Some of the things he worried about were trivial for Mosh to craft, but they had yet to find a monster that bleed syrup.


    Though, on the other hand, the drop rabbits were really good without anything else, once they were roasted. They had a salty taste with a hint of carrot and citrus.


    No time to drool. They were going to figure out how to get to the stairs before the whole plain shifted back to night and they had to camp.


    Only a minute later Hari found she could take shortcuts to the other side of the rolling landscape through the burrows the bandipedes made... and suddenly Corvayne and the group were able to just walk in the direction they needed to go, possibly going further in fifteen minutes than any given four hours of walking previously.


    ¡°Why didn''t we notice that?¡± Nyx asked, sounding more annoyed at everyone else rather than questioning why HE didn''t notice it.


    Undine apparently had let her enchantment lapse and hadn''t noticed, so she started recasting as Corvayne responded with, ¡°We accepted it as part of the problem so we didn''t think it could be part of the solution.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw sniffed. ¡°I prefer when you sound like a warrior rather than a poster with a kitten on it.¡±


    ¡°We are all hanging in there, Lady.¡± Corvayne responded, keeping his face neutral even though he wanted to smile. At least, he wanted to smile until he saw that Wick was hanging in the back again, looking dazed.


    ¡°Wick.¡± He started, and it took a few finger snaps to pull her out of her daze. ¡°Are you okay? You''ve been acting odd since we got into this Tower. Are you sick?¡±


    She looked pale to him. ¡°No.¡± He watched her look up at him, and there was something with her look that was... perhaps revulsion? It wasn''t something he''d seen before. It was like she was a stranger, and he was a stranger, and she didn''t know why he was bothering her. ¡°No... Maybe. It...¡±


    Corvayne waited, but Wick didn''t follow up, instead looking down at the ground before leaning over, face completely neutral as she spoke. ¡°We should go. We got dungeon to clear.¡±


    ¡°I''m worried about you. Is something wrong?¡±


    Wick stood up, angry now. ¡°What''s wrong!? Hmm? You don''t know?¡± She stopped, then stood still, seeing everyone looking at her. ¡°... he doesn''t know.¡± She muttered, pushing past him, then stopping to hold her hands up.


    ¡°If you are all finished being amused,¡± Wick sighed then lifted her chin before continuing, ¡°Then we should proceed. Perhaps the solution to all the rotten things the universe has rendered onto us is ahead. Corvayne, please proceed.¡±


    Hari stepped forward. ¡°Wick, Corvayne isn''t the only person here that thinks you''ve been acting strange....¡±


    Nyx groaned and slapped his head. ¡°Did you knock her up?¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± Wick snarled, then turned to Hari. ¡°I apologize Lady Silkbloom. I feel mostly... fine... just a little empty.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw waved Corvayne over, and so Corvayne stopped watching Hari try to talk with Wick and strode over to her.


    ¡°Please tell me you have an idea why she might do this.¡± Corvayne pleaded.


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. ¡°The Magus''s... followers... had something like this sometimes. He had... groupies. Most of the time they were criminally insane and unstable. Then a few times they''d snap back to being a person. Usually for a few hours.¡±


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Corvayne frowned. ¡°You don''t think we should just leave? It started when we went in.¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what triggered it, but I never trusted when the shift happened either, since they were all very destructive women.¡± LBC frowned. ¡°I''m being rude, I shouldn''t imply Wick is by default, insane, but... she isn''t acting hostile or destructive, so perhaps the shift happening is something else.¡±


    Corvayne wasn''t entirely sure if Wick had spoken to Lady Blood Claw about her circumstances. Wick had stated that there was something like another person sometimes pressing her to act, and with the connection to The Magus made by Lady Blood Claw he had to consider if Wick, the wizard, and the brides she was speaking of were connected.


    ¡°If she isn''t better by the boss, I''m pulling us out.¡± Corvayne stated, then continued. ¡°I''m not above turning back if she gets more unstable, either¡±


    LBC nodded. ¡°She''s a little less formal than the slime bath incident, but it sort of reminds me of that.¡±


    Nyx clapped his hands. ¡°Undine is going up the stairs Corvayne, cmon.¡±


    Corvayne frowned and pushed his way to the front of the group and up the stairs, passing Undine in the blue stone corridor as she made a courtly gesture for him to go first. Checking the third floor, it looked like the plains outside the source, but with sections where it looked like walls of dust, moving at high speeds.


    Wick walked next to him and pointed. ¡°I... think we can make our way through gaps in the wind where the walls divert it. I apologize for my shameful display back there. I lost my composure, and was lashing out. It wasn''t fitting for someone in my place.¡±


    Corvayne felt his gut twist a little as she bowed to them. ¡°Think nothing of it.¡± Had she gotten hit by something like the jam from that facility? The formal language... it was very close. The same effect that also made him forget Lady Blood Claw''s name... and what may have accelerated his own self destructive meltdown a few weeks ago.


    Undine snorted. ¡°I''m not getting involved with whatever cheap minstrel play you''re putting on. I''m going to go figure out what this floor is about.¡±


    Hari looked worried, but Corvayne shook his head when she looked at him, then followed Undine. The wind was, as it turned out, razor sharp and made the imitation of the high plains they were on another maze like the previous floors. A stairway up formed out of a free standing arch, which was the most reality defying bending of space with staircases yet.


    Floor four was a weird sort of crawlspace made of stone with dirt under titanic runic blocks hurtling across a plain. Looking out from gaps he could see that it would be a nightmare to navigate above the tunnels they were in. It was less of a maze than previous floors, with a fairly easy to navigate grid layout. Sand golems and something like undead crabs that spit bone spears proved a poor match for the group as Nyx didn''t even bother a response with the golems, instead walking through them and dispersing them on his shield. Lady Blood Claw used the crabs as target practice as they had poor aim and were slow to reload.


    The fifth floor was something different. Corvayne didn''t know why, but the air felt  different. It was a twighlight plain, similar to the one outside save that it was not broken by streams, nor dappled with a scattering of wall fragments. Instead, a dusty road on an endless gray plain led to a titanic tower in the distance, Dark green and orange in places but stark black as it rose against a cacophony of colored stars. Blue and red and purple gas clouds shimmered with glittering lights.


    Hari pointed out the wild-life, which seemed to stay away from the road. He saw large three legged monsters standing forty feet tall that seemed to be eating leaves from needle thin trees with a prehensile tongue coming from their heads. Something that looked like a skeletal extended hair-pick floated far above, possibly hundreds of feet long trailing shimmering glass ribbons. Other strange lifeforms hid in burrows or skittered away as they passed down the road towards a light they saw between them and the tower.


    It wasn''t a town, more a shelter. A small circle of rocks where a simple wood structure had been built, with a covered stable for horses and a well, as well as a place for a fire and glow stone lighting.


    Corvayne peeked his head in. ¡°Clear.¡± Then stepped inside the dark space, sitting down. Suprisingly, Wick, who had been straying away from him, walked right beside him and lifted her light, using the bench to stand up.


    ¡°Look, graffiti.¡±


    Corvayne turned and saw what she was talking about. Starting high up on the wall inside the shelter, something was written in the Pilgrim''s script.


    He cleared his throat, then started reading it aloud. ¡°I don''t know who follows me, but if you are this far you can still turn back. I have gone much further. I have challenged this endless maze, alone. Every step through it, I am trading my old self away. More and more, I change. Floor fifty... is not the end. The gifts I''ve been given, I cannot give back. I have heard the voice of The Tower. It is calling me upwards still. To the apex. I am becoming more, changing. If you follow me, know you will change too.¡±


    The words wrapped around to over the door, and Corvayne stood on the bench to keep reading.


    ¡°I know what must be up there. It spoke to me in dreams. It can not move a pebble on it''s own, yet it is the vastest greatest most powerful thing that has ever been. It speaks to me, tells me I am changing more and more. I know this. They will not know me any longer. I will hide from everything, a secret little thorn. It brings me my only joy. When I find water, I can no longer look at myself. It is becoming harder to cry.¡±


    Another carving, lower. More clear? Maybe it was written earlier, as it was at the height he might expect someone resting to scratch it. ¡°It''s been weeks. I have fallen into pointless circles of fighting, exploring, gathering, then trying to get further. If I was not such a coward, I am sure I would be dead. Instead, is this better? I want to go up. If you are strong, and find my body, inherit my gear, and the will to go to the top.¡±


    Another. ¡°I tried to speak, but my voice was the sound of things crumbling, hints of metal screeching, the rumble of a Watcher engine.¡± He stopped as he thought about some figure, slowly mutating away. Perhaps that''s what he was? A doomed fragment of a man who walked into the tower and never really came out.


    Wick nudged him, gently alerting him to his lapse of attention, and he turned to her and saw her back away but gesture at a wall. At that moment, looking at her eyes, he swore Wick was a pretty stranger he had never seen before. There was something wrong about how she moved and spoke and carried herself, even if every feature was her. She seemed to know it, deflecting his gaze to the next spot, down on the other side of the door near knee height. ¡°Please, keep reading...¡±


    Corvayne took a deep breath, pretending that it didn''t bother him. ¡°Hard to write. Fingers changing. Tower will... give me what I need. To fight him. Next time, I''ll get there. I''m close to the top. Please, don''t forget... what I was.¡± He reached out and touched a carved figure of a woman, distorted.


    He looked under the bench. The script was barely legible. ¡°What have I done? Not a person. I''m not a person anymore... I don''t know how to go home anymore. I''m sorry I''m sorry I''m sorry I''m sorry.¡±


    Nyx clapped his hands. ¡°Well, I think we''ve overcome a mystery with stunning ease! Capital job. You had a Pilgrim who went up into the tower after The Magus killed everyone for revenge, and over eons managed to solo their way to the top, and that''s how you get things like The Spider who can''t even talk anymore but are a match for an army. Can we keep going?¡±


    Hari did the Nal''Ferral equivilant of flipping Nyxion off, then cast [Investigate]. ¡°It looks like the ones up high are older and more coherent.... but madness took the writer as they dropped to the ground.¡±


    Corvayne looked to Lady Blood Claw. ¡°You said that the shifting you have was a side effect of you getting powers, right?¡±


    LBC nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Corvayne continued, ¡°So it''s possible the writer underwent a catastrophic mutation?¡±


    Her skin flushed a few different colors. ¡°It also could just be the tower writing things for it''s own amusement. We don''t know. It creates things that could be, or we think should be.¡±


    Corvayne tried to give Lady Blood Claw a reassuring look. ¡°The writing in the hallway also suggested that something had changed... I suppose this is something we all need to consider. Going up in the tower changes us.¡±


    Undine pointed at herself. ¡°So does being an adventurer. I gave up the comforts of a family to chase my dream. For the matter, getting old changes you too. I''d never put up with a brat like Hari-¡±


    Corvayne caught Hari fuming out of the corner of his eye but kept his attention on Undine. ¡°-back when I was younger. But... I suppose she''s led me to you. It brings me around to saying I never had a real daughter, I put it all into my pupils. This person, who left these little hints? Maybe they regret being alone, but they crawled back down from that tower-¡±


    Corvayne held up a hand to stop Hari from interrupting her teacher''s lesson with a correction about how Tower floors work.


    ¡°To give us a legacy. This is not a warning, it''s them pleading with us to follow them. They knew the only group that could read it would be an ally of the Pilgrims. So, Hari, Mister Corvayne, wasn''t that the question you had as soon as you saw this setup, with these floors gradually strengthening monsters? What is it all for? It says right there, the answers are at the top!¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. Undine had her own motives, for sure, but he had heard The Spider pushed the group to reach a certain floor. ¡°I think we''re all interested in going further up. Especially from this entrance. So, let us keep going.¡±


    The long plains led them to an abandoned town at the base of the tower. The buildings were made of what looked like petrified wood and steel girders, all smoothed by a faint wind that ran through the starry sky, kicking up little plumes of dust. The group didn''t see any more markings nor chests in the empty warrens of rooms clustered at the foot of the tower. It reminded Corvayne of tiny mushrooms sprouting from the base of a titanic pine tree, slashing the colorful night sky with a dark green nearly the color black. One of the glowing orange lights at the base outlined a dark arch. Within was the stairway up.


    ¡°Some time, when we have better means to do so, perhaps we should see what happens when you climb these super structures The Tower creates. That might be an inn question, to find out how big the floors are.¡±


    Nyx waved his hand at the setting. ¡°Well, I could use a drink. So the Tower damn well better cough up this bar.¡±


    Corvayne was not entirely surprised when they stepped into a dimly lit bar. He nearly dropped his spear in relief when he heard Wick say ¡°The Inn''s the first floor? What the fuck just happened?¡±

 Chapter 136.5: Grunt to the Rescue

    Spears stared at the woman staring at her, regretting that she wasn''t assertive enough to take someone''s spot on the excursion Corvayne was on. Her favorite spear-wielding pillow had also taken her new friend. It wasn''t all bad, there were lots of interesting people still around camp! She just wasn''t around any of them all day. Instead, she was pretending to be big sis Diamonds-In-Passing to the stupid, useless, spoiled, spiteful woman-child before her.


    The first day it was dumping her dirty dishes on Spear''s plate before she had finished eating. Then she kicked over a pole June was using to dry laundry. Kirae had to ask for Spears to hop on a hover-cycle and catch a donkey carrying the trade goods they had bought. Of course, Kirae saw Bell kick her donkey''s side for no reason other than it being there. Which brought her to the morning of the fourth day in charge of a grown woman with the emotional intelligence of a six year old.


    ¡°Okay Bell. I see you''ve trashed my tent. Can you tell me why you did that?¡±


    ¡°Because, if I''m going to be sat here with this farce of incarceration, I demand that the young master in charge of the camp train me!¡±


    Spears moved her organs around her core, her version of breathing deep. She refocused on her vocal chords, trying to mimic a supportive older woman voice. ¡°So, you want attention, and you figure this would help you get what you want?¡±


    ¡°Stop your mummery. Take me to the young master, I have no need of lesser pupils of his.¡±


    Pupil? ¡°Well, if Corvayne isn''t back....¡± She felt something in herself boil a little as the word sloshed around her head. Pupil?! ¡°We can work on the lessons he gave me for you...¡± I''ll show you pupil you little shit! ¡°... so when he gets back he praises you for your diligence!¡±


    Bell raised her nose, and with a boot kicked Spear''s tent, causing it to start blowing away in the wind. ¡°Perhaps instead you will work on your running form while I wait for a man with a spine.¡±


    Spears had to decide between revenge and gear, and picked the tent. She used flow like water to appear in front of the tumbling bundle of synthetic cloth and catch it, the fabric feeling especially slippery due to it''s waxy cover. She nearly stumbled, then shifted the billowing mass under her and sat on it while she watched the princess fold her arms behind her back and stroll off.


    Bell had a small smirk as she waved her hand imperiously. ¡°Go go. find Corvayne, I will resume my training with him when you return.¡±


    Spears wanted to grab a staff and beat her ass so very badly... But it was hard not to see her as a dumb kid. Bell was like Corvayne, a little. She was lonely. Spears was older, wiser, and better trained. Even if she was... nearly totally stranded from everyone she had known aside from Corvayne, well, he was always the best person you could ask for to watch your back, and he was changing in good ways from the boy she remembered, and had fallen for. She reshaped her chin upwards. She could do this!


    Still, she was also stuck with her hands full of tent, and none of the friends she had made so far were there to give her a hand. It was an odd thing to say, but Nyx had been helping her with everything so much that now he had been gone for a few days, she really was missing him!


    ¡°A spear moves forward!¡± as her master used to say, so she used her spear''s butt to pound the stakes back in and then extended her arms as psudopods to quickly get the rest of the ropes in place, and a few moments later, ta-dah! A tent, not too much worse the wear except her boot prints. Dusty boot prints, all over HER tent!


    She was going to kill that little brat!


    Spears started storming across the grounds, having to double back when she left some of her mass behind. She detoured to a stream to cycle grit she picked up out and water in, then blazed off to find Bell and give her a solid beating- some training. She wasn''t going to fall into the same trap that some of the trainers did when they punished Corvayne for no reason.


    Spears saw Shallee and waved, and her movie buddy waved back but was walking with Gary on a little strolling date, both them blushing as they held hands, possibly going over to the crystal court to smooch. Spears tried not to go back to thinking about Corvayne and the times they were very close together. Like, sleeping back to back on a mission once. Or when he didn''t notice her looking while he was bathing. Or when she pretended not to notice him looking while she was bathing. It was so hard! She wanted to get closer, but everyone who did that pushed him away.


    She found she was wandering, and blinked. As much as she was glad a lack of sleep wouldn''t flat out kill her, it made it hard sometimes to be awake and present. She could see Bell also stomping around camp, and then saw she was on a collision course for June and Mosh.


    Spears started double timing it over, and of course was still too late.


    Mosh just sounded tired. ¡°I don''t have to do anything for you lady.¡±


    ¡°Rebellious filth! Why they let vermin into camp, I cannot say-¡±


    June, for as much as she often resembled The Watcher''s oasis on a day with no wind, was rigid with anger. Spears didn''t know either her or Mosh very well, but Mosh spoke highly of Corvayne, and so on some level she thought of the goblin as a friend too.


    ¡°-I assume he pulled you from whatever warren to be his shoe shine boy.¡±


    Spears saw June pull her fist back, and moved to step between her and Bell. The Tower-folk woman''s fist pushed through her membrane and felt a little too intimate but didn''t hurt. Spears saw Bell look surprised at the attack than righteous.


    ¡°See? Even the hopeless lovesick slime, who thinks she''s good enough for Corvayne, has enough sense to block the dull witted washerwoman lest I aven-¡±


    Spears suddenly was in a glass bubble, Bell was on the ground, and Mosh was crouched by Bell, trying to fix a bloody nose. She could hear faintly the exchange.


    ¡°Outraged! How dare she? How dare she?¡±


    ¡°Put your hands down so I can heal your nose.¡±


    ¡°No! Stay away! I want the other healer.¡±


    Spears saw Mosh back off. ¡°Fine. I''ll go get Icariii, you racist shrew. Because I am a class act, and you''re a savage.¡±


    ¡°Sav-sa-savage?! I am an imper-¡±


    ¡°You are a backwards ass barbarian! I''ve yet to see anything past stonework here. You sent a fucking wagon! I make better clothes than anything you or your allies were wearing as armor. What you call an army wouldn''t stand up to a single person we consider a warrior.¡±


    ¡°Green devil, you dare mock me?!¡±


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Mock what?! You are bleeding on the ground, June has your training sword... what''s there to mock?!¡±


    Spears watched as Bell tried to speak. ¡°Goblins are nothing but-¡±


    ¡°See? You have nothing!¡± Mosh spat on her pants. ¡°NOTHING! I lived in an empire so large it would take millions and millions and millions of years to count all the worlds. The goblins you think you are so above lived in paradises that floated between the stars. Thousands and thousands of different races, working together to make sure nobody is hungry or sick or old or ever in danger unless they want to be. We defeated gods, and we were strong enough to show them mercy. Where''s your cities? Your roads? Your armies? Your space ships? What did you make with your own hands, even? You have nothing! You make nothing, you have nothing, you are NOTHING! I know about you. I spoke with Kirae and Shallee. They lived in caves, but they are better people than you. There''s something in them. They are more fit to rule than you. Kirae, even when she''s trying to rip me off, has something behind her. A dream, a point, a mind, a soul. Shallee speaks a million unsaid words in how she STILL keeps going despite everything that happened to her. The things you say? They mean NOTHING. You can''t speak your mind, you can''t tell us what you want, and thus you sit there and make nothing, You are a DRAIN. Nobody at this camp wants you here, except for Corvayne, and that''s because he''s a hero, and a better man than a million others I''ve met. I ain''t a hero. I don''t care what you think, or your stupid empire. I''m STUCK here too, but instead of being a whiner day in and day out I got OFF my ASS and DID something!¡± Spears felt herself spellbound figuratively at this point (on top of literally) as she watched Mosh step forward and Bell stumble away from him. ¡°If you''re to be the ruler of the empire, it''s no wonder it''s fucking dying! If you''re NOT the ruler then stop fucking acting like your shit doesn''t stink. You are a hole, draining everything. SIT UP! GET UP! Give me your stupid fucking nose! Lythandies, mend this useless woman!¡±


    He got his hand on the stunned princess''s nose and there was a crack as it fixed itself.


    ¡°Right now, march your ass back to your tent or I swear to Lythandies herself I''m going to let Spears loose on you before she cools off, and she WAS ready to kill you because you''ve been pissing her off for no reason all week.¡±


    ¡°You... you all...¡±


    ¡°Fuck you! Stand up!¡± Mosh yanked her to her feet. ¡°From now on, if I hear someone ELSE say you were rude to them, I''m melting you into a god damn rock! The only reason I didn''t let Spears tear you apart was she''d regret it, Corvayne would be mad at her, and she''s been NOTHING but nice to EVERYONE else.¡±


    The princess started to stumble and run. Mosh watched her run, then sighed and turned to Spears. ¡°Hey, sorry about that, but you were going to kill her. You okay?¡±


    Spears nodded, which didn''t work too well as she was stuck in a sphere. ¡°I didn''t think I was that angry.¡±


    Mosh lowered his glass bubble and it evaporated, letting Spears pour herself to the ground. Now that she was out of the bubble, embarrassment overtook her. She was supposed to be better too, and she wasn''t. Hadn''t been. Shame flushed through her.


    ¡°I have failed, Mosh. You were a more level headed warrior than I was there. Corvayne gave me a job, and I failed it. I am not fit to flush a toilet.¡±


    ¡°Spears, cmon. You cheer us all up. You''re like a living jewel, and I''m sure sooner or later Corvayne will see you''re sweet on him and well, you know. That''s why she started in on you first, I bet. She can''t get that he''d like someone so different more then her.¡±


    ¡°But not Hari or Wick?¡±


    Mosh waved for Spears to follow. ¡°Let''s walk and talk, gotta go check to make sure she didn''t run off a cliff. If she''s dead before Corvayne gets back home we''ll all be in the doghouse. So, Wick is a princess, and as a spoiled princess she assumes it''s right and just someone likes a princess. Hari is an elf, and everyone has a thing for elves.¡±


    Spears laughed a little to try to deal with the sinking feeling around her core. ¡°But I''m too weird for him to like me, huh?¡±


    June spoke up. ¡°You are enchanting. I enjoy watching light play though you and the way you shift as you move. I used to sometimes watch the river, and it reminds me of simpler times, happy days spent washing laundry and happy nights laying with menfolk.¡±


    Spears got distracted from the point by that comment and trying to decide if it was innocent or not, and so she sort of slept walked up to a point where they found Bell, currently trying to free herself from one of Grunt''s hands. His other mimed a quick series of gestures that Spears guessed Corvayne had taught him from Watcher hand code, with flavor that seemed to her to be saying: ''I found her sneaking (poorly) around, possibly trying to steal a bike (Hover). Do you want me to transfer her (prisoner) to you? She''s really wiggly (poorly).''


    Spears nodded. ¡°I''ll take her back to camp. I will not lose my temper.¡± She quickly slapped her heart and tapped her head twice. ''I hope I wont, at least (don''t hold me to it).


    Grunt made a spear-thump, which was a good gesture for Corvayne in Spear''s opinion, then used his free hand to look vigilant, then a few hand words about effort: I don''t know what Corvayne expected us to do.


    He looked down and Spears could see that Bell was weeping. ¡°The goblin was right, I''m awful, empty and I don''t know why, and-¡±


    Mosh slapped his hand to his face. ¡°Of course. Once you mend someone, it unfucks their head a little for a while! Which means she''s probably acting like her shit don''t stink as some sort of deflection or denial we just peeled off.¡±


    Spears looked to the woman she had punched. A spear goes forward. Corvayne was trying to fix her. If her approach failed, she needed to not double down but find a different angle.


    If Spears was worn out from training, sometimes she''d just go out with Coming-In-Hot and a bucket of ammo and just kill a few hours shooting at things in the desert. The older woman acted cold but made time for Spears.


    An idea formed. A real bad idea, but something that might help Bell at least let some steam off.


    An hour later, Spears, Grunt, and a sullen Bell stood before a bunch of stone targets.


    ¡°Okay, before anything else, Bell, I''m sorry I punched you in the face.¡± Spears put her head down, then looked up.


    Bell looked at her, silent with misery. The look said everything about how well that was accepted. A spear moves forward, so Spears clapped her hands.


    ¡°Now, I had a thought to make it up to you, Grunt has some neat weapons that Mosh helped make for us. When I''m down, sometimes just shooting weapons makes me feel better.¡±


    ¡°I''m a lousy shot with a crossbow.¡± Bell muttered. ¡°I''m... nothing.¡±


    Spears silently made a note to not get Mended right after someone roasted her. ¡°Well, even if you can''t aim well, these things fire sixty times a second.¡±


    She took an assault rifle from Grunt''s hands, then smiled back at Bell before handing her ear protection. ¡°You''ll want to put these on, or the weapon will make you deaf. It''s very loud.¡±


    Bell wasn''t in a mood to fight, shuffling closer and taking the earmuffs. Grunt tapped his own ears then gave a thumbs up: I''m okay.


    Nodding, Spears took her gun and laid prone, aiming for the stone target. She washed her pseudopod fingers up to the trigger, feeling the currently cold metal and plastic weapon. It looked like a beauty too, painted black and gleaming in the daylight. While she wouldn''t get hurt by kickback, she still pushed the stock into her shoulder and lined up her target. She flicked the safety off and used the sight to aim for a rock, then gave the trigger a short squeeze, blasting the rock with three shots and sending stones and dust flying with a satisfying crack.


    Bell looked at Spears, then the target, then Spears. ¡°So? I cannot use magic like that....¡±


    Spears pulled her over and pushed the gun into her hands, using her limbs to get her grip right, then helped her aim, prepared for the weapon to kick up. ¡°It''s not magic. It works for anyone who can pick it up. When you''re ready, squeeze the trigger and-¡±


    Princess pulled the trigger and of course the weapon started kicking up, blasting bullets mostly into air with only the first few hitting stones. After a few seconds there was a click click click as the weapon was empty.


    Spears took the weapon back, but there was a weird look on Bell''s face.


    ¡°Please....¡±


    Spears mentally swore. She probably was traumatized by-


    ¡°Please Spears, can I do that again?¡±


    Grunt let out a single laugh that Spears felt was odd coming from the otherwise silent man, then held up a finger. He ran for the truck and came barreling back with a rocket launcher.


    Spears looked at him. ¡°Do we have enough missiles to-¡±


    Grunt jerked a thumb over to Mosh, who was helping Kirae unload baskets of rocks.


    ¡°... These are home-made? Nice!¡± Spears grinned, watching Grunt hand over the missile launcher to Bell, using a hand to make sure it was pointed at the rocks and nowhere else. There was a hiss as the rocket launched right into a distant boulder, the retort booming across the empty plains and reverberating from the crystal and the source. It knocked Bell on her ass, and even Grunt wobbled a little.


    In the silence while she rebuilt her ears, Spears watched Bell laughing with pure joy.


    Spears wasn''t sure if Mister I or Corvayne would approve trading explosives for good behavior, but where had they been the last hour?


    ¡°Let''s get everything squared away and see if we can''t help make some more.¡±

 Chapter 137: Free Questions You Cant Afford

    Even with the entire bar calling them. Corvayne had to check if Wick had really returned to her senses, and wrapping her in a hug was well worth an elbow and a string of swears to confirm she was back to normal.


    ¡°What the fuck are you talking about?¡±


    Hari was smiling. ¡°You worried us you idiot! When we stepped into this Tower instance, you started acting like someone else! You didn''t swear at all, or scan anything, and it was like... you forgot about me. Us. Sorry Corvayne, it was bothering me almost as much as you!¡±


    Corvayne rubbed his still sore ribs. ¡°Well, I can tell you it''s her. Now, what''s on the list for this time?¡±


    Wick dug in her bag and pulled out a list.


    ¡°The Corvayne questions: How do you navigate the Towers and Portals? Where are the Seekers? What''s the Pilgrimage? What does it do if you complete it? What''s the best way to do it? Who is The Magus? How does one remove his curses? Where is he? What''s he up to?¡±


    Nyx rolled his eyes. ¡°Didn''t you get answers from some weird woman under Cascadia on most of those? Why bother paying good gold?¡±


    Wick tisked. ¡°Because we can''t trust she''s telling us the truth. Mysterious imprisoned beings who only speak to one person are NOT up there on the list of things I''d listen to. Possibly lower on the scale than the voices in my head.¡±


    Hari tugged the sleeve of Wick''s robe then. ¡°You are making yourself sound crazier than you are, Wick!¡±


    She ignored the elf and tugged her sleeve back, poking Corvayne''s note pad. ¡°My questions: How big are floors? Is there a system that organizes The Tower? How many floors are there? What''s at the top?¡±


    Corvayne nodded, taking notes with a pencil. ¡°And your emerald core thing?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw hissed, ¡°Don''t be a fool and tell them we have it!¡±


    Nyx nodded. ¡°Sooner or later I expect the Baron to sic bounty hunters on us. Assuming that whatever chaos preventing them from helping Argle settles down. I''ll check the bounty hunter and find someone from Tripic.¡±


    LBC glared at him. ¡°Double fool, reminding anyone there-¡±


    ¡°Tut tut. If what happened on Cascadia happened there, then the nobles will be scrambling to try to find and secure all those portals. That''s why I want to find someone from the capital. If I can''t find someone who isn''t a minion from a noble house, then the portals are still on lockdown. I want to also see how much the information spread.¡±


    Corvayne knew that Old Town Cascadia had nearly emptied and that he had bartered for food with gear a few times in those weeks leading up to leaving. ¡°Do portals scale with population? Nyx actually might ask that.¡±


    Hari thought about it. ¡°The portal I went through to The Tower was in a ruin pretty distant from people, and The Source is nowhere as well, so I''m going to say no to that.¡±


    Wick turned to the noble. ¡°I like Nyx that you''re checking up on Tripic. I have mixed feelings about possibly discovering Seru is going to be who historians point to as setting off the chain reaction that destroys The Collective.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw pointed a finger that had turned faintly orange at Wick. ¡°You helped her do it.¡±


    Wick just smiled at that. ¡°Meet back at the table... oh yeah Hari''s old boss-¡±


    ¡°I am her MENTOR you moon-child!¡± Undine snarled back.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Wick barely paused to let her speak. ¡°This place has people who you can pay gold or... other things to answer questions.¡± She held her hand out to the barroom, as if to show off the odd green wood floor and sturdy tables and dim lights all seeming to go off further and further the longer Corvayne looked.


    Nyx smiled. ¡°As you move through it, your desires determine what you stumble on. So-¡±


    Undine held up a hand. ¡°I got it pretty-boy. So, what are the dangers?¡±


    Corvayne turned to Lady Blood Claw, who saw she was on the spot. ¡°Fine, since Corvayne missed it last time... Don''t leave this space with people you don''t know.¡± She turned to Nyxion and paused while looking at him, while the Noble simply cleaned his fingernails as he and the chair he was sitting in floated near their table.


    ¡°The Inn and the rooms are also safe ground, but if you agree to something then what happens in private rooms won''t trigger The Bouncer. I''ve heard of people getting things stolen, so watch your wallet. Be careful of deals you make, and don''t give people names. Make up a-¡±


    Wick cleared her throat. ¡°Standard fae bullshit! Stay five minutes if you need a refresher.¡±


    Lady turned a sharp shade of orange before she returned to gray skinned and repeated what she had started saying before Wick interrupted her, ¡°Make up a code-name. I''m probably fine because my name sounds fake, but just call me Lady if you have to. Don''t assume anything about things you meet here. Everyone has things they lie about.¡±


    Corvayne caught Lady Blood Claw''s head move a little to where Wick was leaning against another table before she kept going.


    ¡°No matter if someone lies or steals from you, do not start a fight. If possible avoid fighting back until The Bouncer shows up. Be respectful to Stabby, The Barkeep, The Innkeeper, The Bouncer, Barmaids, Waiters, Cooks, and any Tower-Folk who show up. Don''t order a drink that will kill you. Use protection if you decide to go have alien sex. When you''re ready to go, come back to the table. Deal?¡±


    Nyx stood up, suddenly looking a lot more awake. ¡°What time do we come back?¡±


    Hari looked at everyone. ¡°How expensive is it to sleep here?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shrugged. ¡°Meet up after you wake up. Rooms starts extremely cheap, but you get what you pay for. I''d say drop at least... what''s about 200 credits?¡±


    Hari did some quick math. ¡°Maybe 1 or 2 silver?¡±


    Nyx cleared his throat. ¡°Just drop a few gold pieces, where else can we spend it?¡±


    Corvayne had heard enough. ¡°We should all have enough money to stay, Undine I''ll cover your room if you didn''t plan on spending the money.¡±


    She waved her hand. ¡°I''ve got a dragon''s horde hidden away. If a gold gets me a soft bed and a good bottle of win that''s all I need as an adventurer. That and a good pair of boots. See you all in the morning.¡±


    Nyx nearly crashed into her as he floated off, rubbing his hands.


    Wick took Hari''s arm. ¡°We''ll meet back at the table for dinner... LBC you mind going with Corvayne?¡±


    ¡°Not at all, I just question why we wouldn''t move as a group.¡±


    Wick turned to LBC and put on a big smile, her voice extra scratchy as she spoke. ¡°I have sensitive questions, ones that Hari needs to know too. Girl stuff!¡±


    Corvayne heard Lady Blood Claw growl a little, and saw Hari wave her arms. ¡°Lady you''re very girly too, Wick was just making a joke!¡±


    ¡°I''m not bothered.¡± LBC said while Corvayne could see hints of almost glowing orange peeking through her gray skin layer suggesting she was, in fact, very annoyed.


    ¡°Lady shall we?¡± Corvayne took a step back and gave her the sort of bow servants in plays and movies used after cleared a chair out of her way. For her part, Lady Blood Claw closed her eyes and tipped her chin up. She coughed a little.


    ¡°Yes, let us take our leave, Sir Corvayne.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw started walking past tables then slowed to take his hand. ¡°Don''t get distracted.¡± Perhaps for a good reason: lots of girls sitting at the tables around them looked like Wick, with one blonde elf sporting Wick''s green pigtails and fake glasses.


    As he walked with Lady Blood Claw, he saw lots of shadows sitting at the tables they were walking around. Some were wispy dark smoke, others were glitched messes, with static distorting them or shifting faces that sounded like a tv laughing then crying then snarling.


    ¡°What''s wrong with them?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps because the desires I have are vague things, formless like these half remembered people I''ve lost.¡±


    Corvayne squeezed her hand. ¡°You''re our friend. If you need something, we''ll help you get it.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, but we should keep going. There''s nothing here for us.¡± Lady Blood Claw pulled him along a little faster, not slowing until they reached a booth, dimly lit.


    ¡°It''s empty.¡± Corvayne said, then immediately saw something moving, shifting across the floor. It looked like grit, dust, sand, slithering in a gray line and hissing as it rolled up the padded booth to fill out a shell of a person. It went both fast and slow, only moments passing before the last bits of dust formed a wide-brimmed straw cap. Pure black eyes opened, then with an electric twang a bright blue sin-wave formed and shifted to form slit eyes, and the dusty face looked amused.


    ¡°Come Seru''s friends. Sit. You have questions, and I have answers you cannot afford.¡±

 Chapter 138: In which the heroes ask some good questions and some bad ones.

    Corvayne: Before we start, thank you for letting us record this. Can I test to make sure it works?


    The Dust Man: I don''t mind. You pay for your answers, and you''ll get them. I do not intend to manipulate your memories or deny you anything you can safely get out of me. I will not answer a question that does extreme harm to you in any way. I''ll let you know the rules in a moment. First... did you want drinks?


    Lady Blood Claw: I''ll order for myself.


    TDM: Not very trusting. Good. Stay sharp. And you, Corvayne?


    Corvayne: Seru told you my name?


    TDM: We haven''t discussed price yet, so to be polite... Seru was exactly who I was looking for, as I was looking for a connection with you. I didn''t know your name, and she didn''t say it, but it''s very easy to see you walking around with a botanical garden of cursed thorns dragging behind them.


    LBC: You have high system Mastery.


    TDM: This was true before I knew the real numbers as well. I am going to save you some time and present the deal: For most questions I want you to perform a quest for The Barkeeper, on behalf of Falenti, dedicated to Gygax and Lythandies. The Barkeep is mostly just there as an arbiter. Falenti is ''paying'' for these with the questions, and Gygax and Lythandies are the beneficiaries. As for the Quests... some will be difficult, some will be easy. I rate them based on how good your questions are.


    LBC: I don''t agree without questions about the deal. My first question: What if we fail to do those quests?


    TDM: An interesting question.


    LBC: Well?


    TDM: I''ll collect the effort one way or another. You have a deadline of oh, fifty years.


    C: Can we offer you anything else?


    TDM: Freebie. Yes! For example, I''ll take Hari and The Spider.


    C: No.


    LBC: Let''s leave, this thing is-


    TDM: Don''t be so hasty to uproot yourself. That was a joke. See, I am a being of time. I don''t need to ask you for her. She''ll find her way to me eventually. Just like you will find your way back the Magus.


    C: If you hurt Hari-


    TDM: You can do nothing to me that I have not already done to myself, and I am not going to harm her when she comes to me after you are long, long, long gone.


    C: Gone?


    TDM: Agree to my terms. That ones a real question. One that would put a terrible burden on you. Hmm... that one might be too dangerous. Oh! I should warn you, the cost is on a sliding scale. The Barkeep knows the score or this deal is null and void.


    LBC: I don''t like this. We should go find someone we can pay gold. I am-


    TDM: Miss Blood Claw... Corvayne could save the Brides. Anastasia could. Hari could. You, as you are, won''t be able to do it.


    C: Lady?


    LBC: How do you know about them?


    TDM: Agree to my terms.


    C: I agree.


    LBC: Corvayne!


    TDM: That''s a lovely color under your top layer of pigment, my little flower. Teal with waves of Neon Green. I''ll give you a question if you tell me what that means truthfully.


    C: Don''t tell him if it''s bothering you.


    TDM: Well miss LBC, I don''t think you need tell me what red is. You can be expressive if you want.


    LBC: Teal with green waves like an ocean means I''m worried.


    TDM: Good. See Corvayne? The gruff alien woman worries about you.


    C: Lady...


    LBC: I want to ask my companion a question.


    TDM: If you are facing him and address it to him I''m not going to count it as a question, and therefor will not answer it. I''m not a pedantic jackass. That much.


    LBC: Corvayne, what''s our most important question?


    TDM: Waitress! Sour Spring Lemonade for all of us. Put a little extra sugar in the ladies cup, she seems bitter today.


    C: I wish we had listed them by priority now... I want to ask him what I need to do to marry Wick.


    LBC: (audible groan) Something we both need. Getting rid of our curses.¡±


    C: What are ways we can rid ourselves of curses?


    TDM: That''s a good question! You are dealing with two different responses. Some of the afflictions he has are based on conditions the curse makes difficult. Others can be shattered with information. The Curses act as defenders against you learning that information, and in some cases retaining secondary facts that would lead you to understanding what you have to break.


    LBC: You did not name a single way.


    TDM: Tut, tut. (Sounds of glasses being put down) Thank you. Ahhh, best lemonade in this universe or any other. So... you''ve already sundered a few curses. Ones with absurd time limits, some based on stepping foot onto Cascadia. I cannot tell you the exact conditions for your remaining curses or one of the big ones will start thrashing you and me and this bar and we''d both be kicked out to a waiting room. I can, however, tell you the best way to get rid of them all.


    C: You are dancing around the point.


    TDM: Ah! Perhaps a bet, my prickly young one. To see if you think it''s worth a question after I answer.


    LBC: Don''t bet this thing anything.


    TDM: FIRST! They are all usually based on how you think and how other people treat you, as well as how you treat yourself. So, after being cursed you can start fixing all the curses by experiencing new things and taking personal risks. Not just jumping off cliffs, more akin to stepping out of your comfort zone, or develop yourself against what the curses took away. It works because the magical constructs have to keep reconnecting and thinking about their own weak points. Learning new skills, having new experiences and feelings harm them. As does growing your soul, making it hard for them to cover it all, and eventually they wither enough you will be able to know what they are and start untangling yourself. So yes, do new things. Try new things. Seek out novelty.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    C: I suppose that-


    TDM: Second! The Pilgrimage remakes you bit by bit. It was holy and important to them for a reason. Walk the road, and find the holy places of the ones who came before. In doing so, the means to crush the curse and the internal power to do so will be yours.


    C: Is there a th-


    TDM: Third. The Tower, and the Dungeon. You can set yourself on a path for enlightenment at the top of the Tower and suffering at the bottom of the Tower. That has it''s own costs, but power is it''s own protection from those curses. That and you might find things that help fix yourself.


    LBC: Good we have options, but I suspect the last one is ha-


    TDM: Fourth!


    C: You do not need to shout at us.


    TDM: Fourth. Time. Time undoes everything. A few more thousands of years and they will weaken, then a few more thousand and you will shed it entirely.


    C: I don''t think I have that much time.


    TDM: Not if you want to marry that girl, no.


    C: I want to ask the first question that will cost me a quest. If you were me, what would your plan be?


    TDM: Oh bother. A good one! Right now I''d say put the moves on Lady Blood Claw and Seru and maybe Spicy Princess.


    LBC: I don''t care if it gets me kicked out, I want to kill-


    TDM: That''s if it was me in Corvayne''s shoes. Shush. What you are looking for... I''d knock out the quests you''ll owe me, then break camp and focus on getting stronger as you decide how to go about moving to the next world. You have a lot of things you need to do for power. I told Seru about them, but I know you forget things. For starters, clean house in yourself. The curses and your own complicated feelings make it harder but you need to keep working on them. You may wish to sweep the board clean, so to speak. Oh! Tonight, think about the most important words to you. Perhaps focus on [[Growth]], [[Understanding]], and [[Unity]].


    C: Why did you say them like that?


    TDM: You''ll figure it out in the next day or two. Also, learn [Springwind] already. Work with Seru on her hand-to-hand skill, she has better hand to hand visualization than you do, and you can learn it faster anyway from someone you have karma with. Also help her find a nice, boring guy to ride. Maybe be her wingman. Or make it happen yourself.


    C: I don''t know what to say to that last part... and you gave me a list of important things to do next.


    TDM: I can''t give you a grand solution to all your other problems. You are not the person you''re going to become yet. Don''t try to skip the whole journey. I''m not your mom.


    (Sound of glass tipping and ice clattering on wood)


    LBC: Corvayne? Are you okay?


    TDM: I didn''t think that would wound you so much. Poor kid. If it makes you feel better, you deserve better than the hand you were dealt.


    C: I have my question. Where is my Mother?


    (long pause)


    TDM: I forfeit my price for that question because I cannot answer that without triggering your curse and, even if I gave you my answer, it be useless as it''s broad and out of date and out of our reach. I also can''t get to the places she''s been. I''m here from a bit of luck, and I know there are paths to where I need to go. In some ways, I am as lost as you. I can say she is alive.


    C: You sound like my father right now.


    TDM: I am not him.


    C: Does... does my mom hate me?


    TDM: I forfeit my price for that question. Free answer: No.


    (Silence, then sound of chair scraping)


    LBC: I will not let this continue-


    TDM: ((Sit.))


    (Sound of chair creaking sharply and scraping the floor)


    TDM: If I wanted to tear you apart? Break you down? I could. I''ve been scheming for a billion years at least. You two are lost souls at sea, trying to find land in a fog bank. I would not kick you away, when you are both so close to safety. So, let''s keep going with this deal, right? After all, I could be robbing you blind and piling quests on you. So ask something worthwhile and specific so I can answer it. If you decide the trouble was worth it, come back and we''ll talk.


    LBC: You think you-


    TDM: There''s no violence to be had here. Work on your gains.


    C: What are we not doing, in particular, that will let me and my friends take on threats like Argyle?


    TDM: Better, better. Spend your free points. You get points for leveling up. Most people don''t know it, because it''s flagged at system 10 or something. Hari can see system 4, maybe 5 if she has time to investigate over and over. Argyle had nearly 100 points he was missing out on.


    LBC: How do we-? (hiss of frustration)


    TDM: Accepted! (chuckles) Go to sleep thinking about the stat you want to raise. Thanks for the question.


    LBC: I didn''t ask it all the way!


    C: What are the memories I''m seeing? Is what I remember real, and everyone else afflicted by something?


    TDM: Oh, now you think I''m able to skim your memories? Also, that''s three questions by my count.


    C: You know things becase you are doing this on behalf of Falenti. As you did with Seru''s questions, you are trading favors for him with Lythandies and Gygax. Gygax''s powers are related to information. You have some method of pulling them out of the aether, and you know about us because the dice rolling motion goes both ways.


    TDM: Ah fishing for info by making guesses! I can read your face too, you know. Even a poker face like yours under high enough observation is an open book. I''ll be nice again. You are not correct but that is a good line of thought. Think like that as much as possible. Even if your memories are not real, they mean something. When you''re dreaming, you are pulling from somewhere. You need clarity. What you should do is find someone in your group who knows how to use lucid dreaming. It will aid you in the Mindscape as well.


    LBC: What does me being a Pilgrim mean?


    TDM: It''s just a race. Compared to a human like myself, I''d say you''re physically taller than most beings, have sharper ears, and a few extra organs that help you navigate the pilgrimage road. Both better tolerance to environmental changes and a sharper mystical sense of where to go. If you are worried about breeding with a human, well based on gestation periods I think there''s a good chance-


    LBC: Cease that.


    TDM: (laughter tinged with radio-like crackling) As you wish. You might be able to turn on a few ruins here or there, but ultimately there is no divine destiny in your heritage, unless you choose to make it so.


    C: What''s the- No. What was going on with Wick?


    TDM: She''s a Wizard, Corvy. Wizards are hybrids of two beings... one of the few ways to really cheat the system. I don''t know enough about what rides in the cores to give you better info, but I don''t think they are entirely just happen stance tower-made loot. I suspect a lot of things that seem weird is the tower having an immune response reaction.


    C: You don''t know about the Wizard cores, though?


    LBC: (Hisses)


    TDM: My vectors of information has one clear example, one murky example, and one example you already know of. My best known Wizard is a sort of symbiont meant to repress [Invader] status and produce better stats. Wick is a Wizard too, and her ability to pull back time is certainly one of the keystones of what her fusion is trying to accomplish. The last hybrid I''ve seen was some sort of apex predator also using the core to prey on things while suppressing [Invader] status.


    LBC: Corvayne stop and think about what you''re asking! We don''t know what this is going to cost us!


    TDM: I''m trying to be polite and not throw him a land-mine. I see futures, and some of them don''t have the inner-group turmoil I see coming.


    LBC: Turmoil¡­ do we have to fear anyone in our group?


    C: Lady, You were just-


    LBC: Not asking about her. (can be heard saying something quietly that sounds like ''specifically''.)


    C: Oh. Then it''s okay.


    TDM: There are many liars in your midst, and you will rub shoulders with more villains as you walk down your path, but only one will walk with you who''s heart is too bitter to fix. So, yes? But not who you think, and they are not yet your enemy. I will not name names. I would not steal the one happy ending I see from you, even if the road is dark.


    C: A straight answer would help more.


    LBC: You are saying there''s a traitor? Who''s the Traitor? What are they going to do?


    TDM: This is in the future. They will provide you free wi-fi.


    C: That''s a non answer if I ever heard one.


    LBC: I do not trust your answer.


    TDM: A trade then for a better directive: Make peace with your enemies when you can. They can become your closest allies.


    LBC: Useless!


    TDM: Reflect on your own past, and let your skin show if you see the irony.


    (Corvayne laughs)


    LBC: You-


    TDM: Am less blue than you. Tut tut, I got my information right from the tap, Lady Blood Claw. You could probably figure it out if you asked the right people. Anyway, I think that was a good session. Any last questions?


    C: What''s the next big threat to us?


    TDM: The greedy raven in the north, a scheming dying man in the middle, and a long forgotten monster sleeping in the south. Take your pick.


    C: I petition that''s not worth a quest.


    TDM: I keep you on your toes.


    LBC: You gave Seru better answers.


    TDM: Yes.


    C: What''s your goal?


    (Quiet)


    TDM: Ah. Fine. Right now? Making connections and farming piety and recognition for Falenti. Looking for help, too. For example, I need folks who can get to go to the bottom of The Dungeon. Like the ''Towers'' you go in but they head down. I think what I need is likely on the 100th floor down. I need someone worthy to look for... something. You might one day be a good fit for what I need, but... I want you to come back when you know a little more.


    C: Why don''t you go? You seem able.


    TDM: Imagine you are sticking your hand into water, looking for something there. A fish, a coin you dropped, or a shell that caught your fancy. Pressing your arm into the water you might stir up dust, startling the fish, covering the coin, or pushing the shell away. What I do here is subtle. Nearly invisible but for the right eyes.


    C: Why me?


    LBC: Corvayne stop-


    TDM: You are hard enough to do a job, soft enough to have reasons to do it. I must go soon, I try to keep my interference subtle, after all! We will speak again. Looking at my list... hmm. Uhh... I counted 3 questions so 3 quests from the barkeep. Yes. All good!


    LBC: Three...


    TDM: Good-bye!


    (Hissing)


    C: He''s gone...


    LBC: The bastard! The entire time he wasn''t even keeping proper count!

 Chapter 139: The Barkeeper and the Innkeeper

    Corvayne sighed in disappointment as the figure he had hoped to get information out of slithered away. There were some points that would help them, but more and more he felt like he was drowning in too many facts and factors and threats and problems.


    ¡°We didn''t get a simple thing to focus on.¡± Lady Blood Claw pouted as she sat at the bar. In the washed out green lights Corvayne could see little ripples in the gray color she was trying to keep as her skin tone.


    A friendly fellow wiping a cup came up to them, and Corvayne sat as the man nodded. ¡°You two look like you could use a drink.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°Only one please, and not too strong. I make bad decisions when I drink.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw hadn''t ordered, as far as he saw, but already had a large bottle she was paying for. ¡°Coward.¡±


    The bar keep poured him a red cup. ¡°Don''t listen to her. Knowing your limit is better than finding it, when it comes to drinking.¡±


    Corvayne started reaching for his purse but the man put a hand up. ¡°This one''s on the house. Though, someone told me you fellows were prime to do some work, too.¡±


    Seeing the amusement on the man''s face, Corvayne felt himself smiling too. He took his cup and lifted it, moving it over to tap LBC''s bottle. ¡°To bad questions, and answers we cannot afford.¡±


    ¡°To sending the two worst speakers to do all the speaking.¡± Lady Blood Claw said before throwing back her first glass.


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°Yeah. Where''s Grunt when you need him.¡±


    It was the hardest he''d seen Lady Blood Claw laugh that he could remember. She elbowed him playfully, then poured herself another cup. Corvayne set his own empty glass down, and pushed it to the barkeep. ¡°My thanks. So, tell me what we owe the creepy dust spirit.¡±


    ¡°Three quests. First: Build a temple to Lythandies near the black spire you made. Out of any durable materials.¡±


    Corvayne saw something wispy appear before him then fade away. Perhaps a system window he couldn''t focus on? It seemed like he could get help from Mosh at least with that.


    ¡°Second, create a shrine to Gygax out of living wood in the Stillwater Tribe''s temple.¡±


    Corvayne frowned a little. That would mean one at Hari''s home town? In other words, ask Hari.


    ¡°Third, at both shrines present a strawberry dragon heart. So, you''ll need two. You can find the dragons at any 13th floor with suppressive strawberry jam.¡±


    Corvayne frowned. ¡°Right, I should have asked him that, why is there magic dispelling jam?¡±


    The Barkeep smiles. ¡°Well, what I figure is the Tower floors are made up of key words, and the tower takes a bunch of ideas and stirs them together, sometimes giving you nonsense word soup with things that were built outside of it. The jelly thing was a head-scratcher to a lot of folks, but there are places where someone sealed away things with a power to create fountains of jam. Mostly just dangerous monsters and garbage, but a few gems in the rough if you''re willing to roll up your sleeves and get dirty.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw slammed her bottle on the table. ¡°So we have to do construction AND a fetch quest?¡±


    The Barkeeper shrugged. ¡°Perhaps talking or sneaking for the elves. Many folks will look at a problem and approach it in their own way.¡±


    Corvayne frowned. ¡°How could we use stealth? We can''t shape wood, can we? I need to ask Mosh about both those requests.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw grunted. ¡°After we do all three...¡±


    The Barkeeper smiled and tapped his head before he went back to cleaning his glasses. ¡°I''ll know. So don''t sweat the small stuff! You folks come back and there will be a little bit of leftovers in the budget for you past what quests the three gods are swapping. I don''t really do the books outside of my little keep.¡± The man spread his hands out to show off his bar.


    Corvayne thought about it. He didn''t really get the point of this favor exchange, but perhaps Mosh might have a clue as a priest of Lythandies. Or Undine. He hoped Mosh didn''t mind the workout he was about to get. Well, the goblin usually was a good sport for pretty much anything.


    ¡°I want to report back to Wick now. Lady, are you finished with your drink?¡±


    ¡°It wasn''t strong enough to do much for me. I am.¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    With a thought they shifted to the table. No one was there, so Lady Blood Claw motioned with her head. ¡°Inn then, either they have a room or you can stake a claim first.¡± She didn''t really wait for him to agree and started walking off, but Corvayne jogged to keep up.


    Stepping away from the green wood table, they only had to go through a pair of seats before they arrived at a green wood arch out to what looked like a patio under a fabric awning. Corvayne saw that one side was open, granting him a view of a city made from curled blue buildings, sort of like twisted horns decked with lights rising out of a moon lit desert. It looked like it was miles away and they were viewing it from hundreds of feet above the dunes. Turning, Corvayne could see trees with an opening to an open air courtyard. The space smelled of sawdust with a hint of crushed herbs, all sides wrapped in warmly lit lanterns. Completing a circle, Corvayne saw there was a bar opposite the railing with the view.


    Lady Blood Claw actually smiled for a moment, then noticed Corvayne was looking and shifted from pink to gray. ¡°It''s trying too hard to be cozy.¡± She said with too much conviction.


    ¡°I don''t think you need to look cool here.¡± Corvayne strode up to an Innkeeper, who looked very similar to the barkeep except with a wood pipe in hand rather than a cup. ¡°Can I get a room?¡±


    ¡°Sure. You get what you pay for. Do you want to invite someone to your room?¡±


    ¡°Hari and Wick...¡± Corvayne said and dug in his ring for a pair of gold coins.


    ¡°A kingly sum. I''ll arrange a room you''ll like and let them know when they come.¡± The Inn Keeper clapped his hands then pulled a gold key out. ¡°Third floor. Enjoy.¡±


    Corvayne took it. ¡°Is uh, Nyx alright?¡±


    ¡°He found a room with another traveler. Such things are common here.¡± The Innkeeper had a small smile on his face.


    ¡°Oh. Good for him. Seru won''t be too happy though. I guess what happens at the inn...¡±


    The man behind the desk nodded. ¡°What happens at the Inn, happens everywhere all at once and never.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw dropped five silvers. ¡°Rolls off the tongue. Give me a room. Alone. With a hot bath.¡±


    ¡°Well within your means my lady.¡± He gave her an ornate silver key. Corvayne put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°We''ll leave when everyone''s rested.¡±


    She met his eyes. ¡°If I didn''t know better I''d have sworn you were looking forward to staying here.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t bother to confirm that, instead taking the key and heading up a flight of steps to his room. It was a spacious chamber, with a hard stone floor smoothed by ages of use and covered with simple patterned rugs. Even through his boots he could feel how nice the mix of hard and soft was. The chamber had tan desert stone walls with lively carved wood, shaped to form windows and gathering like roots into a bed easily large enough for three people to sleep like Hari did without disturbing each-other.


    A small fireplace gave most of the light to the suite, casting shadows on the shaped wood tables and couches arranged around a table, probably for reclining while dining. A well lit alcove led to the bathing room, composed of dark stones and tiles all layered with something that glittered in magical candle light. A faint smell of rain and the forest contrasted what Corvayne felt was a sort of desert theme to the room. It was almost odd to him that it made him happy, as it didn''t resemble even the larger homes of The Watchers. It was all a style he didn''t know but made him feel as if he was home.


    He drew a hot bath and took his clothes off, setting the Jam Jammies into his ring of storage, and feeling almost criminal relief as he freed his feet from the boots of running, then soaked himself in steaming water. He wasn''t sure where the drain was, only that new fresh steaming water flowed into the tub and just as quickly left. A silver statue of a woman holding a blue jewel, a brass burning ifrit with a red one, and a quartz wizard holding a rain cloud suggested controls. He made the water lukewarm by placing his hand on the blue gem, then used the ifrit to bring it up to near scalding and sighed in relief. He didn''t mind camping out to deal with the spoiled princess, but he missed being warm. Even in his little warehouse loft in Cascadia he could have set the temperature.


    He was enjoying never-ending steam when he heard the door into the room open and an enthusiastic Hari chattering about how perfect the room was.


    ¡°I''m in here.¡± He said to avoid startling them. Wick stuck her head in, looked at the ornate settings, then at him.


    ¡°Nice fuck-pad.¡±


    Corvayne let himself slip in up to his neck, heat causing knots in his shoulders to start unwinding. ¡°For that to happen, Wick, you would need to convince me to exit the bathtub or enter it yourself.¡±


    She looked like she was thinking about it, then waved her hand. ¡°I''ll let Hari deal with you. I''m more interested in seeing how soft the bed is.¡±


    He saw a hint of worry cross her face, but figured they''d talk later about what she and Hari had been after. He wasn''t that surprised that Hari was already pulling off her living dress and coming over to hop in. He was surprised to see Wick follow her in, unding her hair. The most surprising thing of all was that both them decided to just soak.


    Which meant, of course, when they fell asleep he had to haul them out of the bath and over over to the bed before he got to pass out on what felt like a cloud.


    He saw the eyes again. There was a field of stars before him, then they opened to even more stars weighted with liquid gold, staring at him with a marble sculpted face that was both familiar and alien to him as it looked like moving stone. Then she was next to him, the starry eyed girl. Her dress was flairs of orange with hair that glimmered like the sun on water. Little railroad earrings dangled from her ears, either tiny or thousands of miles wide, Corvayne couldn''t tell.


    They were sitting on a rock wall, watching people build something at a fork between two rivers.


    ¡°You''re back....¡±


    The girl turned.  ¡°I''m sorry. Keep going. Even when you want to quit. I''m looking for you too. Keep looking for me.¡±


    Corvayne looked at her, and saw behind her dusk, and Nel''Ferral''s three moons forming a triangle.


    Then the diamond moon opened a huge black eye with a glowing yellow line, looking right at him.


    He woke in a dark room with Hari on one side and Wick on the other, and took a deep breath. The details of the dream didn''t fade as fast as they had before. Still, there was something else he had forgotten to do to...


    Oh yeah. ¡°Hmmm.... I''ll distribute my points tomorrow.¡± He flipped the pillow to it''s cool side and feel back asleep.

 Chapter 140: Corvayne Gets a Break, For Once

    Corvayne woke up from a normal dream about patrolling or cleaning the gym at Mister I''s old community building and forced himself to pull out a pad of paper and write down a number that had caused him to wake up.


    [72.5%] - Dreamed Mister I was a lion-man, sweeping dust. Had to help. Didn''t use points.


    The thought almost immediately faded when he finished writing it. He settled back into bed between Hari and Wick, looking at rays of sunshine creeping in through a gap in the blinds. Got it this time!


    The group convened for breakfast. At least, the inn thought it was day, as the space outside his room had shifted from a star lit desert to what looked like Cascadia as the sun was rising over a foggy bay, sky scrapers jutting out above the hill. He took a long look at the skyline and islands, then turned to walk back into the dingy green inn.


    He was the second up, joining Lady Blood Claw at a table where she was sipping coffee and staring at a map that changed details whenever Corvayne looked away. She nodded in companionable silence while Corvayne got tea. Wick and a sleepy Hari showed up a few minutes later, fresh from another bath. Nyx didn''t so much walk to the table as swagger, giving Corvayne a wink as he flopped himself down. Undine was last, coming back with her own cup of tea and a muffin. When the waiter came, Undine passed on ordering anything else for breakfast.


    They ate and Corvayne shared what happened with their questions. Wick groaned and grabbed her hair. ¡°I knew I shouldn''t have had you go without me! One of those quests is going to be miserable!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw glared at her muffin. ¡°Well, I totally forgot to ask him about the Pilgrims.¡±


    Undine rolled her eyes. ¡°Thankfully, one of us remembered the real reason we are here.¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°Undoing our curses?¡±


    Nyx had a big goofy smile on his face. ¡°Getting laid?¡±


    Hari looked confused, as if there was no question. ¡°Treasure?¡±


    ¡°Tch. We are close to understanding a hidden cornerstone of history. It might even be something we can use to restore the empire.¡±


    Hari raised an eyebrow at Undine''s statement. ¡°I thought you didn''t care for them one way or another?¡±


    ¡°The other options are worse. Life would go on, just with a lot more pointless suffering.¡± Undine finished her breakfast. ¡°So, how do we leave this out of place tavern?¡±


    Corvayne gestured to the door next to the bar. ¡°The next floor will be a challenge of sorts. They are harder than the monsters on the previous floors.¡±


    Undine nodded. ¡°How often do you come close to someone dying?¡±


    ¡°Rarely, but we''ve mostly been sticking to lower floors. The longest fight we had was a duel between me and one of my former allies. The most dangerous monster was an extreme outlier. Me and Wick fought it on our first run, and the second time we had more people and it added a second boss that also kicked our asses. Overall, that tower path seemed much more dangerous than others.¡±


    Undine stopped. ¡°Have you done a study about powers of monsters and the challenges with Hari yet?¡±


    Hari shook her hear. Undine glared at her. ¡°What have I told you? Measure, Measure, Measure! What''s the average advancement of the monsters in this tower per level?¡±


    Hari thought about it. ¡°Seven?¡±


    Undine groaned. ¡°The golems were advancement three on level one, bunnies and centipedes were six on level two, the wind blades were advancement four on level three, the sand golems were advancement five on level four, and while we didn''t fight anything on the fifth floor the animals were advancement fifteen with a few of the big fliers higher.¡±


    Nyx for the first time since they had sat down for breakfast that morning looked annoyed. ¡°Did anyone order an extra large order of numbers?¡±


    Corvayne sort of agreed but nobody else seemed to be paying him mind.


    Hari shrugged. ¡°I couldn''t see the specifics before I got a few levels.¡±


    ¡°You can''t see on lower floors?¡± Undine asked.


    Hari''s eye twitched. ¡°Even the voice of everything uses levels instead of ''advancements''.¡±


    The older woman snorted. ¡°I will NOT. I am not a house!¡±


    ¡°You already used that line, Master.¡±


    Corvayne looked to Wick, and she nodded and cleared her throat. ¡°We''ll have to put a rain check on telling Undine she''s wrong and should get on our level.¡± Corvayne saw the old woman narrowing her eyes but Wick kept going. ¡°We only stayed here because it was convenient. We''ve got tower to explore.¡±


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Undine stood. ¡°It''s just as well. The bar''s clients are mostly adventurers, and they would smash a priceless vase egraved with a thousand secrets of a long forgotten era to pull out six copper.¡±


    Nyx cracked his fingers. ¡°Right. Enough bantering, let''s put a boss in the ground!¡± He had a little spring in his step, and Corvayne saw him look over at the bar and followed his gaze. There was a woman who looked like she was made of viscous gel sitting at the bar, wearing a white silk shirt tied off at her waist embroidered with the same coat of arms Nyx put on most of his things. Corvayne considered all the Wick clones they usually saw.


    ¡°Ah.¡± Was all he had to say about that.


    What would two Wicks at once be like? He decided that his answer was ''A spear moves forward before it gets itself into trouble'' and did so.


    The arena was familiar. It looked like the place where he had taken on Spears-Like-Water one on one, back on floor ten of Cascadia National Forest. He had walked into with his spear across his shoulder, and starting walking down the steps. It was a different hillside arena than the one before, with some of the hills holding ruined stone terraces. The lightning was daytime but the sky was a washed out star-scape, as before. He looked back and saw the group following him, and shrugged. Which person from the village would he have to fight next? Maybe he could give One-Last-Note a beating now that he had the ability to enhance his strength, speed, or toughness.


    At the bottom of about a hundred broad steps was the weird human shaped vines. He noticed out on the arena was a man he''d never seen before, holding a stave and looking what he usually thought wizards should look like, robes and beard and everything.


    When he went to the gate, the vine-figure gestured for him to sit.


    ¡°Wait, but isn''t this a one on one fight?¡± Corvayne asked.


    ¡°It''s not you being challenged. This time.¡±


    ¡°And I can''t offer to take someone else''s place?¡±


    ¡°Just as you had first right to fight, so will Undine.¡± The vined figure spoke, and Corvayne nodded.


    Corvayne got the hint from it''s gently gesturing vine and sat. Wick looked confused too as she walked down the steps. ¡°You going to make me fight this Gandalf looking fucker?¡±


    Hari sat down beside them as Corvayne explained. ¡°It''s Undine''s fight I suppose.¡±


    Nyx floated down onto a ghostly spectator, causing them to float away and reform one row back. ¡°Hah, I win the bet LBC!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw was walking past him, and looked at the shade sitting next to Nyx and made a gesture asking if the whispy being minded, to which the featureless outline of a person nodded and stood up, moving a few seats down. LBC sat down, sighed, then produced a few gold coins and slipped them to Nyx. ¡°I should never bet against your rudeness.¡±


    Nyx smiled. ¡°No, you shouldn''t!¡±


    Undine was last, her gaze fixed on the arena floor, face tightning at what she saw. ¡°Figures... they would shove that in my face.¡±


    Corvayne started to stand. ¡°What is it? If you need me to fight in your stead, I-¡±


    Undine turned and snapped at him, ¡°None of your business pup, this is MY fight! I''m old, not an invalid. Old choice between a family and my goals. Just the sort of illusionary nonsense I''d been waiting for. Still, it''s my nonsense. Would you deny an poor, helpless old woman that?¡± she finished in a mocking tone.


    Corvayne sat back down, holding his hands up. ¡°It''s your right to fight. I don''t doubt you''re skilled.¡±


    She snorted, then walked a few steps down to the vine and gate to enter the arena below them. There was a few words exchanged, and Undine nodded and strode down, her weathered face serious.


    She had her blade out as she stepped down onto the sand. She paused and cast three spells.


    ¡°Hari, do you know how she''s going to fight?¡±


    Hari was watching intently. ¡°Three buffs first. I think [Optical Shell], [Stone Skin], and [Arcane Evasion], all defensive.¡±


    Corvayne leaned back. ¡°But nothing to help her deal with his defenses?¡±


    ¡°She knows more magic than I do so she might have something, but as an Investigator I mostly use magic to help me land high damage hits from behind. I''m working on new spells from the book, Though! I promise I''ll stay useful.¡±


    He wasn''t sure what she was worried about, he''d have taken her along if she couldn''t harm a fly. He kept his gaze on the arena as Undine then crouched, her own head still trained on the wizard as she took deep breaths. Likely letting her magic come back, from what Wick did when she overused magic. Standing up, Undine cast [Investigate] and that started the Mage casting his first spell. Corvayne felt himself leaning forwards. He had always wanted to see a magic duel, the rare kind where two different wizards tried to trick and outclass each other with clever spells.


    Undine was responding to what the wizened caster before her was doing, diving as the wizard finished his spell sending an orange mote of energy to where she was standing. It landed and detonated, creating a burnt section of ground but not harming Undine, who was moving with enhanced speed around her enemy. The wizard turned and slammed his staff down, creating a patch of spines on the ground. Undine belted out [Blink] before she was hemmed in, landing behind the wizard. He spun and flung what looked like a glob of slime at her, both them blurring out of place as they traded attacks.


    ¡°[Optical Shell], he must have had it on too.¡± Hari added while Corvayne watched Undine cast another spell, creating a shimmering curtain of air around the Wizard''s head. The mage calmly reached into his robes and with a blindingly light cloth wiped the air clean. Undine used the time to close in, but slowed and reversed direction as the wizard summoned a ring of lightning around him that then exploded out into spikes. Undine was steaming a little, but shook herself off and cast another spell, this time wrapping the wizards hands together with glowing blue string. The wizard bit the string, and kicked the ground at the same time. A moment later strong winds picked up, forcing Corvayne to hold up a hand as the arena was covered in dust. Undine managed to get a spell off in retaliation, a quick word that splattered the mage in goop that ignited into multi-colored fire he could see through the grit flying about.


    It looked like the wizard was just ignoring the fire, so Corvayne assumed it was a modified [Fairy Fire], a spell that came up in a lot of books. A shield blocked most of the dust, but with the wind passing through it was still too loud to hear what Hari was saying, so he just watched the murky arena. The glowing caster he saw seemed to be making deliberate movements, perhaps directing the storm. In a blink, however, the magic faded and Corvayne saw Undine putting her airfoil rapier away as her still glowing opponent dropped to the ground.


    Hari leapt to her feet. ¡°MASTER is the BEST!¡±


    Corvayne was about to get out of his seat and applaud when the world vanished and he started falling through the stormy sky of his Mindscape.

 Chapter 141: The Spider Speaks

    Corvayne fell through tumultuous storm clouds colored blue, red, and purple. The misty clouds were lit by lightning bolts, but they didn''t shatter him nor his eardrums, instead rumbling as he whistled through the air.


    He had cleared more than a few Towers since his self destructive power nearly killed him, but had not been whisked away to this place since then. He had wondered if perhaps the black crystal explosion had damaged him in some way. Falling through the sky, he figured he''d find out when he landed.


    He hit a clear patch and could see islands in mist, arranged haphazardly in a ring around a titanic central gate. He could see the vines just before he hit the ground. Even though he had been diving face first, he was standing on his feet unharmed the moment after his forehead impacted the stone paved hill.


    Around him were the marked gates, some with vines coating them and closed stone doors, and others open. All of them had strange pictures carved into the stonework that formed them, which he knew now that represented a potential or unlocked power. Why it picked a stormy island in a sea of fog-covered thorns to represent himself, he couldn''t say. Nor what the vines around ones he had not unlocked really meant. They were a sign of curses, he knew, but beyond that he couldn''t tell if they were suppressing abilities he should have, or were just adding a barrier onto the cost of awakening those powers, or... if they were traps he kept plunging his hands, his mind, his soul into.


    He had few choices. Wick was not safe unless he created or conqured a place for her to be safe. A spear moves forward.


    He then remembered the resident who was there every time he fell in. He turned and saw the twelve foot figure of an armored being, radiating lightning from it''s luminous form. He held up a hand to wave hello, and it saw him and said the same line it always did, voice booming with the inevitable rumble of a dark storm rolling in.


    ¡°NOT. READY.¡±


    Corvayne continued waving goodbye as the being took off, leaving a trail in his vision from how bright it was compared to the dim yet colorful surroundings.


    He saw two things that were new. First the large obsidian gate, the one that he figured given it''s black crystal texture was the Adept power that nearly killed him, was glowing with red cracks and rippling with obsidian waves in the stone. It was also open, free of thick black vines. Beyond it was a bridge now, a path to the central island.


    The second was a figure sitting by the pillar. It was wearing a purple tattered robe, and it''s face was hodded. But he could see four sets of red eyes under said hood, and it had four clawed arms coming from within the robe. While it looked more humanoid, it felt familiar and safe despite outwardly looking like a monster.


    He walked up, and he saw the hood move a little.


    ¡°Greetings, Growl-Whine.¡±


    The figure lifted an arm. ¡°Greet.¡±


    Corvayne sat near it. ¡°Can you understand me?¡±


    ¡°Poor.¡±


    Corvayne frowned. He was pretty sure the spider was smart. He''d seen it write things out. Something in his head told him that the creature had done a sort of hack job getting him to understand it at all.


    ¡°Do you understand me?¡±


    The thing waved it''s hands. ¡°Translation.¡± Her hands, the raspy voice sounded spidery, for sure, but also female.


    ¡°Are you a connection our minds have?¡±


    Growl-Whine scratched the ground. ¡°No. Fragment, guide in you.¡±


    It stood up, turning it''s lower arms into legs to skitter over to jagged black pillar that had thrust up out of the stones between two gates he hadn''t planned on opening.


    ¡°Pacts.¡± It said, then pointed at the pillar. Corvayne could see for all the spines the top was smooth and had a place for his hand. ¡°System from home. Use words.¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    He shrugged and tried it, letting his hand rest on the stone. A moment of contact and he felt his hand stick to it, then...


    (((((System unlocked)))))


    A key seemed to twist inside his head, and looking up at the storm clouds in him they parted when he touched the pillar, instead showing him faintly glowing stars. Some near, some far. One was right beside him in the air, dim but close.


    They were waiting for something to bind them together.


    Growl-Whine''s voice rasped. ¡°Pick good words. Pacts change... everything.¡±


    (((((Enter a new pact word to begin. You have no pacts to enhance. You have no pacts to discard.)))))


    He thought back to the dust covered man he had spoken with before. He had suggested thinking about [[Growth]], [[Understanding]], and [[Unity]]. The thought stopped him first because he was stunned he remembered it. Every other system related thing was usually a struggle to retain. He didn''t think of himself as a great scholar, but it was possible that a curse had it''s thorny fingers in it.


    The second thought that stopped him was: Did he trust the stranger? Perhaps the system he was touching right now could help him better than a stranger at a bar making Faustian pacts would.


    In the stories where there was a system that actually told it''s users anything, there were ways to get it to work. ¡°Help menu? Info? Status?¡±


    He felt something stab his mind for a moment saying the word status, but it faded. At this point, he was almost certain it was a curse thing slapping down text from the system. He should say, from another system. It was clear this thing was... not the same.


    Growl-Whine was next to him.


    ¡°Hmm. I help. Growth for strong Adepts. Understand others, to make allies. Unity... form a tribe.¡±


    She held a claw up to her hood.


    ¡°Dimension... shortcuts. Dungeon... master them. Information, wiser. Beware, some two edged swords. Haunted... Damnation... Death... Cursed... Monster... all dangerous words.¡±


    He could feel as he thought about those words a faint desire to push them through his hand.


    ¡°What is this for, you said tribe. Is this some sort of leadership thing?¡±


    Growl-Whine made a gesture with her hands. ¡°Tools... build empire. Tools, make a few strong. Can also affect others, if strong enough.¡±


    He resisted the urge to throw Empire into the machine as a word. He had worries about that. It seemed like, given it was inside him, he''d be adding some sort of modifier at least to himself. Or, from what she was saying, modifiers to what he did.


    ¡°I think I get it. Is there a limit on pacts?¡±


    ¡°Expensive. Essence.¡± The spider raised it''s fingers, and rubbed them together. ¡°Worth.¡±


    ¡°Uh, how many can I afford?¡± He asked Growl-Whine, but felt the answer pulse up his hand.


    ((((( You feel like you can make a few raises. Costs increase with successive levels.)))))


    Corvayne decided to see what a safer option did. ¡°Raise, uh, [[Understanding]]¡±


    ((((( Pact not found. Do you wish to create a pact of: [[Understanding?]] )))))


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    He felt cold water wash over him for a moment, then it was gone and he felt... well mostly the same.


    ¡°Is it safe to do a few, Growl-Whine?¡±


    ¡°Good words?¡± She asked, and Corvayne was surprised that she sounded a little less raspy.


    ¡°Yes. I made a pact for Understanding. Why are they called pacts?¡±


    ¡°Binds and makes stronger idea...¡± Corvayne could see the figure''s frustration. ¡°Stronger idea onto to all Adepts. To all places near. Do Growth. Do Unity.¡±


    Corvayne shifted his focus back to the pillar. ¡°Create a pact for [[Growth]] and [[Unity]].¡±


    ((((( 2 pacts forming. )))))


    He felt more sensations, water washing through him, then he though the stars he saw were closer after a moment.


    ¡°... How many raises do I have?¡±


    ((((( One pact to three, or two to two. Pacts: Growth 1, Understanding 1, Unity 1 )))))


    Well, it felt like Understanding let him get a bit more of Growl-Whine''s meaning. He got a bit of a headache still when she spoke, clearly taxing his own mind to give him rough translations of the thoughts, or to process what he was saying and try to match it to something she knew. If there was another power that helped with that it might let him speak to the REAL Spider and given what Hari had told him... it would make her a potent ally if they could talk.


    ¡°Raise [[Understanding]] to 3...¡±


    He felt the cold water feeling once more, then the pillar unstuck from his hand and sank into the floor, as everything faded. Possibly because he had only so much essence to spend, and he had nothing else to do.


    A moment later he awoke.


    Undine was there, arms folded. ¡°And so Hari, what you are saying is now YOU pass out as well?¡±


    Corvayne held a hand up. ¡°I''m awake. I''m awake.¡±


    They had moved down to the dusty arena floor. Corvayne was a little surprised. ¡°How long was I out for?¡±


    Nyx looked annoyed. ¡°A whole ten minutes! Usually you are much quicker. Spending too long shopping for powers?¡±


    Corvayne felt a weird little surge in his mind as he picked up that Nyx was... actually worried about how long he was out. It was something he might have gotten if he had sat and thought about it before, but it felt like now it was much more obvious.


    He stood up. ¡°Sorry Nyxion. I promise to pick which sweater I put on for the power faster next time.¡±


    He rolled his eyes. ¡°The whole process sounds stupid and annoying.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I can''t help that my world is opaque. Would your version be a fancy restaurant where a waiter bring you a menu?¡±


    What followed reinforced that [[Understanding]] was helping his insight into the universe, as Corvayne was only somewhat surprised when Nyx fell over after hearing it.

 Chapter 142: Break While Nyx is Passed Out

    When Nyx slumped over at a mere suggestion, Corvayne was pretty split between assuming it was a joke and wondering if he had accidentally done something to his friend. He walked over and placed a finger on Nyx''s throat, felt his pulse and saw him breath, then shrugged and started walking over to the treasure chest.


    Undine looked between him and Nyx. ¡°Does your entire group have fainting spells?¡±


    Wick was thinking. ¡°So you had a mindscape, and now Hari has one, and maybe Nyx has one now... If Seru has one it might be sexually transmitted!¡±


    Corvayne frowned. ¡°You don''t have one though, Wick.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I have to feel it!¡± Wick winked and slapped her butt, which made Corvayne smile. Worrying about her for a few days made her return to normalcy that much sweeter.


    Lady Blood Claw picked Nyx up and slung him over her back. Corvayne was about to turn to tell Hari to handle treasure, but she was already kicking the chest open, face luminous with the prospect of finding more stuff.


    She pulled a cloak out, woven with dark gray fabric that looked like it was swirling like a violent storm. ¡°Ohhhh! This one looks good!¡±


    Corvayne noticed then that the chest was stone carved to look like it was hairy, and that it had been stocked with a lot of objects wrapped in furs. He reached in, pulling out what looked like a hairball with a pin and a note.


    Corvayne picked it up and cleared his throat. ¡°Fur-mal detonator. Looks like the Tower is paying attention again.¡±


    Hari started laughing. ¡°Another Apex level item! Stormbringer''s Cape!¡± She pressed it to her chest and bounced around in a circle.


    Undine spun around. ¡°You must be joking!¡±


    Corvayne pulled out a pair of socks that were distressingly furry. ¡°How about these?¡±


    Hari shook her head. ¡°Minor enchantments to make them comfy in cold.¡±


    He pulled out some fancy looking potions, the flasks made from what looked like fiber optic material shaped to look like fur and wrapped in bands of fur to protect them from impact.


    ¡°Greater healing potions. Never a bad pickup. Oh, this one''s bark skin, except it says on the bottle ''will grow hair on your chest''.¡±


    Undine grabbed the potion from him, tugging it close as she put a bony finger up in front of Corvayne''s face. ¡°You fool! You don''t know for sure what it is!¡±


    He shrugged. ¡°It''s the same color and consistency as every other barkskin potion, and I''ve seen a whole bunch of them. Notice the fur there is arranged into little shields? Form follows function here. It is a variant potion, probably ''iron fur'' rather than ''barkskin.''¡±


    Undine narrowed her eyes, and after an identify handed it back. ¡°Your fortune is frustrating.¡±


    He found a short tanto that gleamed with water on it''s edge. He offered it to Hari to look at. ¡°Drowning Dagger, wet hair version. Common, but a nice effect that triggers on the first hit.¡±


    He found a set of three normal looking clips, but opened it up and saw what looked like stuffed hair in it. ¡°Anti Fur-sonell rounds. Hari, does this work with any gun?¡±


    She took it and pulled a pistol from a holster on her thigh. Corvayne caught a little hint of tentacles on the inner hem of her dress as she tried reloading. The clip in question changed from a curved feeder to a pistol extended clip.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    The last mundane items in the bottom of the chest were bundles of fur, microfiber blankets, and shampoo with an image of a bigfoot closing it''s eyes as shower hit it and flowery designs around the title of the bottle: ''Mane Story Quest brand shampoo.''.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Hari looked at it. ¡°That''s normal quality, but it''s scented with ''new car smell''. Do new cars smell really good?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shook her head. ¡°It''s an industrial smell so you''d probably not like it.¡±


    Letting them banter, Corvayne pushed aside a few more bundles of fur to peer at the bottom of the chest and saw what looked like a curled up giant straight razor. Picking it up, it flipped open, the straight razor blade forming the head of a scythe. The shaft grew hair, swaying gently with a breeze he didn''t feel.


    Undine cast [Investigate] on it and rolled her eyes. ¡°The thing is an exceptional class scythe. A chest full of notable items, no wonder you kids are already so damn well equipped. Fetch me another investigation book!¡±


    Hari''s hands were grasping for the scythe, so Corvayne handed it over. ¡°You wouldn''t use that over an airfoil blade, would you?¡±


    ¡°Listen! Headseeker: Made to thresh beast cotton, it has an appetite for hair. It improves charisma by making the user have better looking hair, and has a ''conditioner'' effect-¡±


    Lady Blood Claw looked daggers at Hari. ¡°Please tell me that was you picking the wrong Cascadian word, and not a joke you made. PLEASE.¡±


    ¡°I barely make mistakes these days.¡± She huffed. ¡°Anyway, when you Investigate it, that''s what it says. Conditioner effect: shadow damage when striking a target with less hair than you, and it steals some hair otherwise.¡±


    Undine shifted through the items. ¡°It''s all hair themed. What about the Pilgrims?¡±


    Corvayne gestured to a door that had opened to the side of the arena. ¡°One door is up, the other is out. I say we go for floor ten and see if there are hints.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded at Corvayne''s suggestion. ¡°I think also if I can discover how to unlock my mindscape as well, then that might help you and I understand if there''s a reason my race is marked as it is and what Pilgrims place in the universe is, or if I''m just a random outlier who didn''t die when she should have.¡±


    Undine reached out and put a hand up on Lady Blood Claw''s shoulder, and Corvayne saw her skin flicker to a light gray that he guessed from her facial expression was ''very uncomfortable.''


    ¡°You have to accept you''re where you are for a reason. Even if you know it''s a lie, push through.¡±


    Corvayne was looking at the notes on some of the items. ¡°The Tower hasn''t done this in a while... so what''s different about this tower and Cascadia Forest that now it''s giving us these little cute notes again, as well as themed treasure?¡±


    Wick took the bottle of shampoo. ¡°Main story quest is a video game term... I see a lot of blank looks here. Fine. It''s like a movie- Undine I see you twitching, It''s like... if you invited people into a play. You would need to feed them lines to get them to act. Like ''My lord, were you planning to take your sword and duel so and so today?''¡±


    Undine considered the bottle. ¡°So it''s a clue for us to... do something?¡±


    Wick wiggled the bottle. ¡°Not a perfect one. But the bigfoot on it makes me think it''s meant for me and Corvayne. The tower wants us here, and I guess it wants us to go up.¡±


    Corvayne held a hand up, and Wick spotted his gesture right away and flapped her fingers in a ''give it to me'' gesture.


    ¡°Wick, have you been tracking who''s possibly trying to manipulate us?¡±


    She brightened. ¡°Yes! The System itself with what abilities and items we get, who gets a mindscape, possibly drawing in people from outside universes to round out our team or alter how we handle problems OR introduce us to systems and beings, thus Lythandies is on the list. The Tower, mostly the above, but certainly having a hand in picking say, bosses. The Magus for sure can change behavior. Would he push Corvayne and us to be hostile to him for some reason? It also might be that we are ALLIES for some reason, but I trust my gut and it says that''s not what''s going on. While Corvayne doesn''t seem to angry about The Magus and his bullshit, the rest of us are prone to assume he is an enemy by his actions towards people we like, or it''s another source feeding us info to make us fight that guy. We ARE under pressure from Baron D, as well as the potential Goule represents. Then there''s our allies, current and past. Dawn knows more than she''s told us. Grunt is on our side but-¡±


    ¡°The big one can change what [Investigate] pulls up.¡± Undine warned.


    Wick quirked her lip. ¡°Really? Noted. There''s The Spider, whom is a black hole at the moment but certainly has influenced events.¡±


    Corvayne coughed. ¡°She is certainly up to something. There''s a fragment of her in my mind now.¡±


    Wick stared at Corvayne. ¡°Why... didn''t... you... SAY that RIGHT away!?¡±


    ¡°If she wanted to kill us or take over our minds, she wouldn''t stop with me.¡±


    Wick was silent as she considered that. ¡°Fine. Well, she''s got goals and we don''t know them. The adventurer''s guild on this planet is pushing us to deal with Bell. We don''t know enough about it either. I don''t think Bell counts as manipulating us because she''s so freaking bad at it, and I don''t think it''s reverse psychology. That brings us to GODS, and whatever The Dust Man is. In the last few weeks they''ve started responding to followers on our world. Before? They didn''t, or if they did it was hidden from us. Which gets us onto a whole other can of worms, what happened April 9<sup>th</sup> that seemed to trigger a whole bunch of things.¡±


    Undine whispered something to Hari, and Hari responded with something that Corvayne understood was the local date but heard as ''April 9<sup>th</sup>''. As in, the day he arrived.


    Undine narrowed her eyes. ¡°There were some earthquakes on that day, and oddities in the movement of the jeweled moon.¡±


    Corvayne folds his arms. ¡°So that brings us to... ourselves. I have weird dreams. I don''t think they are from the curse. I also have shadow limbs, and they have helped me, but I don''t think they are entirely me sometimes.¡±


    He saw out from the corner of his vision Wick''s eyes widen for a moment but she turned as if looking at the mountains, and Corvayne couldn''t get a good look at her face without giving away that he spotted her.


    Undine took a half step away from Corvayne. ¡°Are you saying that my pupil is more sane than the lot of you? Pah. I suppose I did some good with her then.¡± The older woman ruffled Hari''s hair, and Corvayne''s lover blushed and fussed at the hand.


    ¡°Stop stop! It will look terrible!¡±


    Nyx chose that moment to wake up, looking queasy and holding his head and his stomach. ¡°I had to eat a plate of thorns, but... it was worth it. Ha! Corvayne, you know your little power shifting ability? I took it as well! Many thanks for your very long, very drawn out descriptions of the insides of your head!¡±


    ¡°I don''t know if I should be impressed you listened or annoyed that you told LBC you needed it to fall asleep.¡± Wick said dryly, folding her arms while still looking off the edge of the arena at the mountains in the distance or the stars above.


    Nyx spun on the tall alien woman, gesturing with a crooked finger as he cried out, ¡°Traitor!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw put her hands on her hips. ¡°Not that you listen to me, but treat Corvayne like a friend and less like a weirdo you need a ride from more often.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°It can be something he has in common with Spears. I put both of them to sleep.¡±


    The group started moving, but Corvayne watched Wick as she turned back. She glanced at him too. Obviously, she was worried about the mind packet Growl-Whine put into him, but now he had his own question, perhaps from having enhanced insight. She had left out the most notable person who might be changing their course. Who had mysteries about herself she didn''t know.


    He didn''t blame her for it, but he didn''t miss that Wick didn''t mention herself.

 Chapter 143: Tower of Towers: a 2001 Mile-Long Space Oddity.

    Corvayne rolled under a laser-vine''s searing beam, the white ray leaving a bar in his vision as he darted around a corner. The dark green plant slowly tracked after him. It had lashed itself to a pillar, and Corvayne lured the plant to wrap around it''s trellised base again as he used [Flow-Like-Water] to diffuse another plant''s light rays, stinging even in his watery form. He swung his cleaver to activate [Cross Skill: Reap] on a third plant as he rolled by. His shoulder ached as it''s light beam seared it''s way through his cloak, but he cut the plant he was facing off against into two, causing it to start flopping on the ground and firing bursts of light into the ground and in the air as it died.


    He took stock of how many monsters were moving up through gaps in the floor of the scaffolding he was in, noting the twisted up monster and the one who had burned him. He had his shadow hands aim his assault rifle as he turned to put his hands onto it and fire off a burst at one of the plants, popping it''s light pod and causing it to sizzle as it fell.


    Corvayne used [Cross Skill: Storm-Thrust] with his rifle on the last pod he could see, bullet punching through the plant with a swirl of wind. The blast also pushed aside smoke that had made the already dimly lit area even more opressive. The smell of burning plastic tarps and seared metal was replaced with rainfall for a moment, but Corvayne didn''t stop moving as he moved back into the main room they were fighting in, made up of metal shaped into girders, walls, and ramps.


    Nyx was doing a good job protecting Wick with his shield and his body when needed, blocking off the entrance to the room as it was the safest spot. Lady Blood Claw was the other source of fire, searing blade lopping through plant and part of the the cubical steel mesh maze they were exploring. Undine and Hari were flickering through the fight, picking off plants when they focused on him.


    ¡°Do we see the caster?¡± He called out.


    ¡°Not yet!¡± Undine yelled back, throat hoarse from shouting information about the battle. They had been fighting for at least four minutes now, and Corvayne could see more plants from seeds that had dropped into the lower levels starting to snake their way through gaps in the struts they were on.


    Corvayne called out the info fast, before the next engagement started. ¡°Look down, haven''t seen seeds falling, and they are growing up at us!¡±


    The next set of monster plants sprouted all-too-familiar eye like fruits, and while Corvayne slammed his spear into dozens of them, it was only a matter of time before he was raked with concentrated light again. A strawberry orb triggered as he got hit on the side and turned to see two plants at the end of one of the dead end extensions to the room. He stopped himself from trying to get into the room, spotting a short line of green filling itself in between two floor plates. He rolled back around the corner and reloaded. If he went charging in, that little tube would explode into a wall of cactus with steely sharpened spines.


    He shuffled to his fire-breathing dagger and then turned, burning the ground before the laser plants could track where he was. From there he used [Flow-Like-Water] with his spear in one hand, managing to kill both. He turned and felt his burns protest, but he had heard pinging that suggested machine-gun thorns circles, the third type of plant summon their current foes could conjuror up. He turned to see Lady Blood Claw with her glowing sword bisect three of the huge loops and a bit of wall too, blazing sword flicking red hot metal into the otherwise mostly dark room.


    He heard the structure creak. ¡°Lady! Watch your strikes!¡±


    ¡°Tch!¡± She responded, carving a cactus-wall with more care and hissing when a beam stung her. Corvayne was about to start calling for a retreat when the plants froze all at once. A few seconds later they all withered and started falling apart into flakes of dust.


    ¡°Good. They got the caster.¡± Corvayne sagged with relief. He saw LBC''s burns revert to clear gray patches of skin as Wick used [Rewind] to undo some of the damage.


    He sat, feeling burns over his torso and arms and neck all radiating itchy pain. Floor 10 of this Tower was playing rough. It didn''t help they had been working their way up for what was, to them, weeks.


    The sixth floor had introduced them to the interior of the green tower, and it''s structure. The first floor was a vast, in-building space with glass separating the tower from an open exterior that resembled space in orbit. The windows reminded Corvayne of a mix of a green house and space station, with a blue planet visible below when they were close to the windows. All the windows were made up of randomly shaped little panes of glass, diced apart by panes of the same dark green material of the tower. The walls were engraved with geometric images and a few dim green lights. Some of the walls gave off a faint glow, just enough to cast a sheen on the metal floors and walls. There seemed to be both structural material made of the dark green metal and interior ''buildings'' built up from the floor. They tended to be more colorful, with stainless steel frames, bright plastic stretched over colored glass walls, and flowering plants creeping up and around dark metal cables that seemed to support or bind together the structures, causing the interiors to require attention lest they run their head into a steel wire running at an odd angle.


    Practically, there were places that had been carved into the floor like streams, and they lead to a few places that looked like gardens where there was a little more light nurturing plants with fruits and vegetables and edible leaves. Undine insisted on [Investigating] everything, which was fine as Corvayne thought it was less risky than just trusting his taste-buds. The buildings had a few laid out like homes, and they found a few places where they could camp defensively.


    Corvayne could say with hindsight that the sixth floor was a sort of warm up. The monsters they encountered were all variations on space suits animated with plant-things inside them, and while some of them left trails of corrosive goop, or seeped  searing gas into the air on death, they were much like any other wiggling easy to kill monster that just rushed at them. Even with ten attacking him Nyx''s shield could hold while he beat them all to pulp, let alone with five other fighters picking them off around him.


    The main challenge on the floor instead was navigating conveyer belts, both standard rubber bound machines and ones that were floating strings of glass windows. The windows platforms broke under the weight of anyone standing on it after a few seconds, regenerating after about a minute of shattering. They had found the first one they wanted to test while on a ledge about ten feet above the floor and spotted gleaming distortions moving between the ledge they were on and one that was suspended about fifty feet up, floating in the darkness by a set of wires stretching to the unseen ceiling in the gloom.


    Corvayne spotted a chest on the ledge which meant everyone wanted to figure out how to navigate the line of windows drifting in a loop. Corvanye fell twice before he tried running with the direction of the belt, getting himself up to the chest and scoring them more healing potions and a hat with a feather in it that let the user create a trail of smoke behind them if they moved too fast. Undine liked how it looked and didn''t mind it smelled of cigars, so she took it.


    Wick, of course, was interested in floating glass sheets and wanted them to test the entire thing out. It ended up being a somewhat enjoyable hour detour as they figured out if the shards of glass violated conservation of matter (The glass shards evaporated after breaking), if Corvayne gravity offset the time to break (No, it was always 3.6 seconds), if more people standing on it changed how long it took (It was not based on their actual weight, but the time spent on the glass was divided by the number of people), and finally if they could pull the glass off the track and take floating sheets with them (They tended to break before they could be physically wrested from their spot, and using consistent force or gravity to float them or sink them caused them to vanish on the reform timer).


    All that meant Corvayne was drafted to scout, given his ability to fall safely. Floor six then was lots of walking, some camping, and doing a lot of solo exploring using low gravity jumping to bypass the annoying multi belt, direction changing movement puzzles. Some of them involved twenty different chains glass passing each-other, leading him to huge bridges between the walls up in the dark heights. After killing a few space suits he would use binoculars to scout for treasure chests or routes to get past building mazes that grew larger as they moved through the floor.


    Corvayne found it interesting that from the high vantage point, he got a view out of a windows that let him see thick black lines blocking the view of the blue planet out the window, suggested there were more tower instances on the floor and that they were just as insanely large. On one of the jaunts he saw a series of ramps and made his way back down to tell the group he found a likely spot to find the stairs to the next floor. He had started to get a feel for The Tower as he knew that going physically upwards tended to find stairs up more than just wandering did.


    Floor seven of the tower was lousy with mimics in a claustrophobic series of small chambers and narrow halls. A few were fifteen feed wide and twenty tall arched green corridors, lit with orange lights, but most of the floor only gave them room to move single file and was a grind of checking side rooms full of crates and doors that monsters could imitate. Corvayne guessed that half the doors he nicked with his spear grew teeth and would start to hop at him, trying to snap shut like a weird fleshy mouse trap. Nyx had trouble keeping his shield the ideal size to take more than one or two hits, but his fear effect helped them sometimes spot new types of mimics, like patches of wall that tried to fall on the middle of the group and start crushing them.


    One thing Corvayne noticed was that nothing on this floor seemed to notice or attack Hari, possibly due to her dress. Meanwhile, wearing strawberry pants seemed to make them reveal themselves quicker, so he ended up leading the way, poking things that moved or looked suspicious. Undine had a cleaning spell that took care of a nasty suprise that some of the mimics left even past death: Glue like blood that sometimes would stick their weapons to the bodies or to the walls.


    The entire floor seemed to be focused on making them feel trapped, as the entrance was the only place that had one ''airplane sized window'' (Wicks words) looking outside at the planet. Everything else was dark green metal, orange lights, or whatever colors the junk in store-rooms lousy with mimics was. On one room, Nyxion took point with the hopes of finding another shield belt and got chewed on by a veritable quartermaster''s dream of different mundane objects, including a swarm of toilet paper rolls with circular leech-mouths where the cardboard tube should have been.


    Lady Blood Claw had called it ''A fine complement to the gross hallway in the mall.'' and he was inclined to agree, given how many of the mimics died spraying purple goop all over the room.


    Despite not wanting to, Corvayne was forced to camp on the seventh floor. They first found a room with a real door they could close, but still kept watches due to Corvayne not trusting that they had caught every mimic on the rows of shelves. Wick said she was tired and rolled herself up in a sleeping bag in the corner that first night, and Corvayne got a sense that she was annoyed at something or upset.


    The second camp was a smaller room, and in a complete turn around Wick took watch with him and seemed to enjoy and encourage him to hold hands, ended watch by grabbing him and kissing him over and over, and used him as a body pillow when they fell asleep wrapped in a blanket against a crate they had stabbed a dozen times to make sure it wasn''t a mimic.


    After that it was just a slog. Corvayne couldn''t guess how many miles of dark corridors they pushed through, nor how many routes they took ended up in dead ends or loops. The chests they found that were actual treasure chests were stingy, mostly providing materials and money and a few healing potions. He did collect a nice set of throwing knives, and made an effort to use them as much as possible against the menagerie of living monsters until they saw another tiny window at the end of a hallway and he and Lady Blood Claw had to hold Nyx back from trying to just sprint to the end rather than checking for (and finding) more mimics.


    Floor eight the tower had open walls with large arches on the sides theoretically supporting the tower. Some of the passages to the outside were balconies, others bridges across the void to closer towers. Complex glass creations flanked these exits, depicting in subtle colors figures crawling to the top of towers of all shapes and sizes. All the more impressive when they got closer and saw the figures they saw from afar were nearly two hundred feet tall. The scale of the floor was huge, almost like a direct response to the previous one. Everything was big, and that meant that meant a lot of walking and a lot of open space where avoiding being spotted was impossible.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    It did answer another question Corvayne had since they arrived at the floors they were on: There was no pressure difference between the interior and the empty space between towers, even though it looked like the exterior should be vacuum from how far the planet was below them. Corvayne didn''t take risks the first time they got close to a massive arch outside, even with a gut feeling telling him it was okay to cross the bridge before him. He used Gravity to latch his feet to the floor and tested if he could breath with every step until he was a mile into crossing a massive green arched bridge.


    Lady Blood Claw had to be sedated by Undine for Corvayne carry her across, her skin staying deep green even after she had been knocked out by a [Sleep].


    They camped a few times on this floor as well, once by a half pipe made of stone that let flowing water trickle through what looked like some sort of abandoned fair grounds, then another time on a balcony over a bridge they didn''t want to tackle before they rested, and then at a place where rows of statues were bathed in moon light from a window far far above the floor in the endless dark. The third camp in the statue ground was stressful, but it was either stake down a spot and throw some glow sticks out or to risk traveling exhausted. The fourth night on the floor was spent in a series of small rooms. Wick stated that it looked like a hopsital. It was another day where she had been quiet and acting odd, and at night had pulled her things and walked off to sleep alone. Hari kept Corvayne company while being unusually subdued and asked him not to worry.


    The next night, camped out in a garden dome in the middle of a huge bridge, Wick almost attacked him the moment he was finished with first watch, so aggressive that they were interrupted by Nyx telling them to go outside so everyone else could sleep. Corvayne was slightly distracted by the possibility of falling off the platform but was more than happy to return her enthusiasm. Afterwards she slept like the dead.


    Hari stayed with her the last night they were on the floor, leaving Corvayne alone on first watch. Camp was a large broad platform with another platform above it reached with a spiral ramp along the outside, letting them camp with only one entrance to worry about. He had tried to go ask Wick and Hari what was going on but got a death glare from Wick and dropped it. Corvayne didn''t feel like sleeping after his first watch so he let Nyx sleep in and sat with LBC, both quietly looking out at the dark for movement. He tried to use Adept with his new word based powers, but it just resulted in creating more black shards and losing some blood. After days and days of travel, they floor finally played fair and gave them a huge multi-level ramp up to a stairway.


    The ninth floor was where they started running into semi-intelligent monsters. They looked like crows and caterpillars wearing space suits, poorly. The crows would leap thirty or forty feet with huge pushes from wings jutting out of torn off space suit arms. They were large, with twelve foot wingspans, and landed with disorienting gusts of wind. Wick had dubbed them ''Space Crow-Boys'', which stuck and suggested she was in a better mood. The Catter-nauts hung back spitting webs into the group. They were big, nearly ten feet tall, and the lumps of expanding webs were heavy. Corvayne got hit with one that was probably twenty pounds that knocked him over and left bruises for a good five mintues, even with his vitality boosting power running.


    The intelligence part was that the crows didn''t always attack on sight, instead trying to lure the group into places where the caterpillars could attack as well.


    Hari started just clipping the bugs with regular bullets, saving her mana for evading the birds. The suits they had on were sturdy space-age leather but not designed to prevent slugs from going through them. The soft bug-men splattered after one or two shots, and without webs the birds had trouble connecting with their leaping attacks. Corvayne kept on working on his throwing arm when there weren''t Catter-nauts, trying to see if he could come up with something besides [Expert Toss] and [Arcing Toss]. A treasure chest with a sack of baseballs let him carry on trying to hit leftover monsters with throwing attacks whenever the real fight had finished and they were dealing with leftover monsters, or fighting stragglers attracted by sounds of fighting.


    The floor was as titanic as the last but contained within what seemed like a single huge space-tower rather than many of them. All the windows were miles high and far, far off, barely coming closer as they trudged through the gloom. The majority of the floor was darker than the others, and it was full of pillars and mushroom shaped platforms above a dim floor level choked with air vents, pipes, tanks of some sort, wires, and panels with impossibly small font warnings on them. Lady Blood Claw had proposed just slashing through them, but Corvayne was aware that some of those tanks might be something nasty to cut through, like liquid oxygen or some other rocket fuel. So they wandered the floor, sometimes getting ambushed when they got into open areas or spots where the sloping ground took them to the upper layer of round platforms connected by lines of pipe and sometimes walkways. Some of the pipes vents where tentacles slithered out, clawed suckers grasping for them, which made resting stressful as they had to find a place both hidden from leaping packs of crows but also not prone to random tentacle attacks.


    The first mage they found on day two. It was out in the open, a weird weathered thing that looked like a potted plant with crab legs. The vines it summoned didn''t help it when Corvayne torched it with his fire-breathing dagger. But moving across bridges and through chasms, more of them came out in force to harass the group. It seemed like they could just keep bringing out more vines, and that included the searing beam plants who almost always managed to clip someone and require Wick to use [Rewind].


    They fought, rested, scouted, then camped in rooms at the base of the Mushrooms. There were no signs of graffiti, and for two days Wick became silent again, avoiding looking at or speaking with Corvayne. Hari would spend some time with her, and then sleep with Corvayne. Then Wick flipped back and Hari took watch with Lady Blood Claw, talking quietly with her, sometimes one or both looking over at Corvayne with concern. Nyx grumbled a lot about how they should have brought Spears-Like-Water and Undine most of the time was too tired to do anything but flop asleep when they stopped to camp.


    A week of floor nine and Undine complained that they were not finding secrets, and Nyx was firm that after the set of floors he wanted to go home or back to the inn. Lady Blood Claw was the only person who simply was in her element. No complaints from her, even despite Hari and Wick sometimes being... less than subtle.


    The end of the floor was a platform with three mages, and it was a prolonged fight with two of them summoning a forest of hostile monsters before Hari and Undine took them out.


    The tenth floor ditched almost everything else to throw mages at them in droves. The floor was stuffed with cityscapes made of metal lined mazes. It reminded him a little of the strange towers in the original fifth floor: They didn''t seem to serve any function aside from acting as detours full of monsters. It was a floor made for the annoying monsters too, as a plant-mage could sit there making cactus walls, grabbing vines, and laser buds all day and slide them through gaps in the floors, meaning at any point they could go from trying to go around a maze to fighting through every square inch trying to find the monster in it.


    All that brought them to the aftermath of  the fight trying to get through one of the cubes of twisted metal girders and tough bio-fabric walls. Hari and Undine were climbing up a broken section that Lady Blood Claw had sheared off during the fight, both covered in green blood. Lady Blood Claw looked around then shrugged and slashed an exit to the cube, wall turning into a ramp to the roof of the next building in the city they were trying to get through.


    Undine started stomping and cursing. ¡°A hundred floors of this?! What is this place?¡± She threw her hands over to point at huge window. ¡°Look outside! It''s not the same world as the last three floors! Different continents and moons every time! You can see other towers too! I think we''ve walked a thousand shitting miles, and naught a scrap of Pilgrim for it aside from Lady! What a rip off!¡±


    Wick snickered. ¡°At least we have yet to run into a floor that- no I''m not saying that shit aloud.¡±


    Hari laughed. ¡°I won''t say my ideas either, but we DID have a floor that Growl-Whine dragged us hundreds and hundreds of miles through. I suppose the solution is to go around. Different stairs lead to different new floors, right?¡±


    Undine huffed. ¡°What''s with that old whiny superstition about not saying things or they come true?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw put a hand on her. ¡°Undine, did you not see what happened to Nyx when Corvayne said the menu idea aloud?¡±


    ¡°I figured it was some sort of dumb joke. Power doesn''t just come out of saying ''give me power''.¡± The older woman snorted. ¡°Though, given that this place has infinite teen advancement monsters, treasure chests with expensive items just sitting in random corners, and grants non-class special powers for beating on an old friend turned rotten... I suppose this place doesn''t need much prompting to dump everything you want in a pile.¡±


    Corvayne sighed then tried to look like his vision of a good leader. ¡°We''re doing well, with no serious injuries. I don''t think we''ll make floor 100, but I''m getting better at tossing daggers.¡±


    They walked in silence for a while, hitting a stretch away from the monster cubes where the window lit path started to curve uphill. Corvayne knew it was a good sign, but kept scanning for monsters up until they reached an archway in a thick support cable that had a stairway up.


    Wick laughed. ¡°Oh it''s about damn time! Good job Corvayne!¡±


    Nyx clapped a little as well. ¡°If I never see dark green metal again I''ll be pleased.¡±


    He was about to step in then stopped.


    ¡°Lady Blood Claw... I got an idea.¡±


    She stopped, a little startled. ¡°You don''t usually tell anyone before you do anything.¡±


    Corvayne smiled. ¡°The conversation we had inspired me. What if there''s a place the Pilgrim left for us that answers our questions?¡±


    Wick laughed and slapped her knee. ¡°You mean like a hideout?¡±


    Corvayne looked at the others. ¡°We see those little waiting rooms, and they often are just that, but I was thinking while at the inn and looking at it''s version of Cascadia that often they look like particular spaces. Ones that were important to someone. So...  let''s see if we can go to the solo climbers lair by willing ourselves to go there.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw started walking up and hesitated, then put her chin up and took on her normal stern look, stomping up the steps.


    They emerged into a chamber, circular and ten good paces across and dome shaped, nestled in a glass crows nest overlooking both a large segment of floor and a window out of the tower looking down on a drab brown world and it''s ocean moon. The living quarters had alcoves and devices and furnishings, but all with a sort of disturbing biological component in their design. In the various cubbies he saw tubes from a suspended udder he thought might produce food, a chair with a  hole in it like a flower petal that might deal with waste, and a sweet scented object that looked like a portion of the female anatomy that gushed warm water into a basin, perhaps some sort of bath if one was brave enough to stick a dirty limb into the large gently overflowing orifice or place themselves in the suggestive basin. A finger table  with a greenish tan and fleshy looking legs held paints, hints of ribs formed shelves in alcoves with a few dusty books and lots of long stretches of empty shelves. Some of the lit alcoves had folded devices he could not make sense of which were chained together with what looked like rope. Perhaps the climber affected her sanctuary? The most obvious thing of value was more scrawled on the walls, this time in paint.


    Hari started casting investigate on something and stopped. ¡°Eww. I don''t like the feeling magic had on that.¡±


    Corvayne gestured to the wall. ¡°Then don''t cast, what we want is likely here.¡±


    Nyx rolled his hands. ¡°Go to it.¡± He said as he moved the paints over to take a seat on the bench, not trusting the taunt pinkish bed near the window. Given that Corvayne thought it had dark bands like veins, probably a good idea. He cleared his throat.


    ¡°I have left little places, stashes, in this tower. There are safe spaces, pockets where people could set down roots. It is old and empty, full of monsters hinting at other worlds. Look for my sign, an broken tower etching.¡±


    He traced his finger along a red painted rook with a crack in it. He wondered if it was in defiance of the tower, or a sort of calling card that something was broken.


    ¡°I found something today on the climb. A bit of a lost memory I found in the grand monster''s chest...¡± Corvayne squinted. ¡°The writer scraped the description off the wall. They just said the memory made them happy, but they had to release it because it wasn''t theirs. They also wrote something like... give it back, wish it to return to the one who lost them?¡±


    Corvayne had a hunch and pulled at the couch, little bits of it''s dry skin rolling off in flakes as he pulled it away from the wall.


    ¡°Ah ha!¡± He spied the sloppy lines.


    ¡°I knew what would happen I know what will happen I agreed to this happening it didn''t end the tower it didn''t end the tower.¡±


    ¡°World still broken. Calls for vessels. Calls for Wizards. Will sleep. Until ready.¡±


    Wick swore. ¡°Cryptic bullshit. Wait, is it the same word you use and The Magus used for Wizard?¡± She got animated saying it.


    Hari nodded. ¡°It was supposed to have answers... unless it''s in the rose machine?¡±


    She stuck her arm in what was assuredly not meant to look like a rose, and then pulled her arm out. ¡°Oh, it cleaned off some of the plant blood!¡±


    Nyx snorted and started saying, ¡°As always, elf, I can''t tell if I admire your bravery or regret your lack of-¡±


    Undine slammed out an [Investigate] on her and the.... washing station. She deflated a little on reading whatever it told her, but still wheeled on Hari, poking her with a finger and interuppting Nyx. ¡°You have NO idea what it was! What if it ate your arm!?¡±


    Nyx folded his arms. ¡°Here I thought your concerns would be on something besides Hari further establishing herself as a deviant. We are still looking for an ur-clue, aren''t we?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I think the person who was climbing, this was just sort of a rest stop. Looking at the devices though... they had some ability to make weird things or the tower gave them rewards like these and stashed them here.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw sighed. ¡°No answers then?¡±


    Corvayne rotated his neck, and while nodding something caught his eye. He looked at the window and spotted what he needed, a bony curtain that pulled a membrane over the window. As the room darkened to just a sickly glow from the lights at various stations, he pointed up at the ceiling as glow in the dark letters appeared, invisible green on green before. It looked almost like glow in the dark star maps they used to learn to navigate at night.


    ¡°What''s it say Corvayne?¡± Wick asked, looking up with him.


    He felt a weird sort of fear pass through him. ¡°.... it just says Cascadia. Cascadia, over and over and over again.¡±

 Chapter 144: Breaking Points

    Corvayne was also staring at the word written in glowing paint on the ceiling, trying to see anything else but ''Cascadia'' written over and over again. He sounded it out. Cas-cayd-ee-ah. It was the same word. He felt like he had started to build up ideas on what was happening and now was lost, again.


    Wick was the first to respond, stammering and waving her finger around. ¡°It.... it must be a more recent occupant than we thought! Someone having a big FAT laugh at us!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw turned to Hari. ¡°Identify it?¡±


    Hari nodded, and used [Investigate] a few times, tilting her face this way then that, then took a deep breath. ¡°It''s old! Master can double check my work, but it''s at least a few thousand years. The pigment is mundane, so unless it''s some insane artifact masking itself, it''s anywhere from five to a hundred thousand years old.¡±


    LBC turned orange with annoyance and in a very dry tone said, ¡°That''s a huge range.¡±


    Hari puffed her cheeks out. ¡°Well excuse me for telling you what the Voice of All tells me! You are welcome to start learning variations of the spell for ten years to get a better answer! Humf!¡±


    Wick tapped her arm. ¡°Have you tested [Investigate] with objects with known ages?¡±


    Undine laughed. ¡°All the time. Elves. Ruins from castles where we know the year it was destroyed. All sorts of things. Time is one of the least hidden stats in an object. What''s with everyone''s reaction? Is this Cascadia someone you know?¡±


    Corvayne cleared his throat. ¡°It''s the City I started my journey in, where most of us met. From what I picked up, it''s only a hundred and fifty years old, and before the city it was a world with no habitation... aside from finding a secret base on the planet that predates it all.¡±


    ¡°There were squatters, but no cities and nothing named Cascadia.¡± Wick corrected. ¡°So, now my question is, who picked that name? I wanna ask Horton that, because aside from just dumb co-incidence, that''s one way we might solve it.¡±


    Corvayne started picking through the information in his head. He knew Cascadia had some weird things going on. The city was built near a facility that had buried Spears, for possibly incredible lengths of time. He also remembered the neighborhood where the home he had bought had something odd going on with houses, there were ones that looked new, and had a phone number on the for-sale sign that seemed unusual, all nines. There were buried older cities visible from areas of the sewer, something unlikely given the age of Cascadia.


    ¡°Wick, we saw buried buildings under the city. Did you know what that was?¡±


    ¡°We know the emperor fifty years back was investing into a lot of the infrastructure on planet to try whip up a new wave of colonization and expansion. I figured it was something related to the project to make it a world-ship jumping off point, possibly to turn Cascadia into a world where they were refitted for even longer journeys.¡±


    Nyx puffed out his chest. ¡°Part of why I got outside was that Grandfather despised hyper dense worlds like Tripic. He pushed for us to enjoy the outdoors, learn to shoot animals, fend for ourselves and so on.¡±


    Wick laughed. ¡°Tripic is half wilderness.¡±


    Nyx shook his head. ¡°And it''s hemmed in by bands of multi-mile thick buildings. Nothing wild about a park.¡±


    Undine was trying to follow everything. ¡°I think my spell is wearing off...¡±


    Hari patted her on the arm. ¡°It''s working fine, it makes a little more sense when you see their cities.¡±


    She righted then, thrusting her chin up. ¡°I doubt THAT! Explain it to me.¡±


    Corvayne let Hari have her side conversation. ¡°Nyx, Wick, LBC.... I''m going to state that it''s likely that the city, Cascadia, is named after a word we need more context on. This person, who might be a little insane but also has a connection to us-¡±


    Nyx waved his hand. ¡°Is it you?¡±


    Corvayne stopped himself from just saying no. ¡°I think it''s unlikely... from what I read, the Pilgrim who was writing was contemporary to their attempt to seal The Magus, I never remember him being loose.¡±


    Wick sighed. ¡°Every thing we see makes me ask a dozen more questions.¡±


    Nyx nodded. ¡°It''s absurd how confusing you people make everything. What''s worse is you''re all dragging Lady Blood Claw into this mad soup of names, long ago dates, and places.¡±


    Corvayne looked over at the tall alien woman, who lifted her long arm and reached out to touch the paint on the ceiling. She looked lost then.


    He heard her speaking softly. ¡°I don''t know. This is all too complex for me. I''m just a stupid soldier.¡±


    Corvayne reached out and gave her shoulder a little nudge. ¡°Me too.¡±


    Wick groaned. ¡°You two, get a fucking room. Or don''t... Corvayne! I want your head in this. I take back my statement about co-incidences. They don''t exist! I was mentally impaired when I said it!¡±


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Nyx had started reclining on the flesh couch. ¡°Need I even say it?¡±


    ¡°Fuck you Nyx! You just say stuff and never WORK to make it work. I think Cascadia MEANS more than we think it does. That''s our goal then.... INN. Again. Go there, march up to that walking dust-ball and get him to spill the beans!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. ¡°So we go up, again? What about those quests we owe? If I was him, I''d not speak with us until we pay him back.¡±


    Corvayne rattled the quests he got from the innkeeper. ¡°We need to build a shrine to Lythandies at the black crystal spire, and one for Gygax out of living wood at Hari''s house. They said we need Strawberry Dragon hearts. We can find them on floor 13 as long as it''s a jam and steel floor.¡±


    Wick snapped her fingers. ¡°Okay. When we get them I want them in the cooler asap. We''ll find doors on floor 13 until we get to a slime floor.¡±


    Undine was listening and waved her hands. ¡°But we are trying to determine what the pilgrims were doing here!¡±


    Wick put her hands on Undine''s shoulders. ¡°I want to know why they named dropped my town, and you do too. Trust me.¡±


    Corvayne felt a little tug in his mind. ¡°What did you ask Wick? Questions I mean.¡±


    ¡°Mostly gold for tower info.¡± She shrugged but her eyes were slightly diverted.


    Corvayne turned to Hari, and he saw out of the corner of his eye that Wick was biting her lip. Hari, for her part, tried to look innocent which didn''t work. ¡°If you paid money for it, then it was important, right?¡±


    Hari cleared her throat. ¡°Some of them were about us. A few were about Wick. I promised to not reveal it, Corvayne.¡±


    Wick stepped in. ¡°That''s what I should have said! It was our private business, and nothing we asked helps us here.... I bought stuff about the system and a handful of questions about Pilgrims and I got a lot of bullshit about belt buckles.¡±


    Hari nodded. ¡°We also asked a few about the size of Towers, and floors, and we haven''t sorted it out yet.¡±


    Corvayne felt... something... that told him there was something wrong with his girlfriends, but took a deep breath. When Wick had hidden things from him, she hadn''t known him well enough. There might yet be things she wasn''t ready to share. Perhaps things that Hari would get better than he would, as he knew he was sort of... clueless.


    ¡°I trust you two.¡± He stuck his chest out. ¡°You guys saved me, both my soul and my body, and I love you both.¡±


    Undine snorted. ¡°How sappy.¡±


    Wick gave Corvayne a little hug, then stepped back. ¡°All right, thanks big guy! Let''s get back to  the adven-¡±


    A moment after speaking, her shoulders sagged, and the twinkle in her eyes dimmed to Corvayne. She snapped her head up and looked around, clearly slightly confused, then looking worried as she took a few step back from Corvayne, only relaxing a moment when she had moved behind Wick.


    Corvayne took a step closer to her. ¡°Wick, it''s happening again.¡± and was startled as she held a hand up, eyes blazing with cool anger.


    ¡°Stay back!¡± Wick said, clutching Hari. ¡°I know you! I know who you are!¡±


    Corvayne stopped. ¡°Wick, Hari, anyone? I need to know what''s going on.¡±


    Hari looked between them, then fixed her gaze on Corvayne and shook her head. ¡°Corvayne, we''ll be okay. We''ll clear this boss floor, and then exit. I think I can help fix what''s going on, but we need some space, okay?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw looked between them. ¡°You two always say that Corvayne is reckless, stupid, and doesn''t warn you when he''s about to do something stupid. Right now, you two are a perfect match for him!¡±


    Wick surged forward. ¡°Stop telling me what I am! You all have no idea who I am! Corvayne, BACK off! You''re tearing me apart, it''s your fault! I''ve had enough! Get OUT!¡±


    Corvayne slowly started stepping back, feeling a sharp pain under his arm as he had forgotten to cycle. He took a deep breath, and pulled out a shard of black glass.


    ¡°Wick....¡±


    He watched the love of his life turn glare at him with such anger and hatred he couldn''t help but recoil. ¡°Get out of here! Get away from me! Never again, never touch me EVER again!¡±


    Hari stepped between them. ¡°Corvayne, we need to leave. Let''s take the leader of the monsters out, collect our treasure, then I''ll try to help you understand-¡±


    Nyx stepped forward and pointed a finger at Wick. ¡°Stop covering for her, and have HER explain what the hell is going on.¡±


    Hari wheeled on Nyx. ¡°You Cocky asshole, you don''t do anything-¡±


    Lady Blood Claw tried to stop her. ¡°What is wrong with you-¡±


    There was a bang and a flash of light and Corvayne stumbled into a wall, suddenly dizzy. A moment later his vision cleared, and he saw Undine shaking her hand.


    ¡°Don''t say anything! Anyone! Corvayne, take Nyx and Miss Blood. Me and Hari and Wick will follow in a moment.¡±


    Corvayne was about to argue, but he saw Wick glaring at him with naked hatred with Hari holding her, perhaps holding her back, while looking torn. He saw Hari look at him, pleading for something, and he couldn''t look at them any longer, and steeled himself and turned and walked into the doorway to the arena.


    He didn''t slow, even as the arena formed around him, a giant circular metal something with a glowing hole at the center. He started running as a titanic man with jagged teeth started clawing their way out of the hole.


    They didn''t trust him.


    The thing swung with broken jagged claws but Corvayne moved around it. He used speed, hearing but not hearing his allies behind him as he got inside the monster''s reach.


    Something was wrong with Wick.


    The claw grazed him, but Corvayne slid past it, and with Adept strength he just started attacking with his spear in one hand and his cleaver in the other. A little strawberry orb expanded out of his pants as the monster kicked him.


    Hari looking at him, trying to urge him to go.


    Even as the monster slammed him back, Corvayne just got up and waded back in, hitting the thing. Hitting it over and over.


    He had been hurting Wick the entire time.


    It tried to fight back, but he swapped to vitality and just stood there, trading attacks. It was mindless and stupid, like Mugs-Already-Empty would train him to do with wood axes, an idiot version of fighting because he couldn''t think, couldn''t flow like water, couldn''t bother to go for the back or legs or eyes or weak points. His shadow hands stabbed out, perhaps deflecting the giant ghouls limbs. A swarm of strawberry orbs circled him and he let them go, blasting a dozen holes in the monster.


    Corvayne didn''t care. He felt something terrible was happening, and that he was clueless, and in a moment everything would fall apart, and only pain and blood and fighting would protect him. A spear moves forward to kill. It moves forward to attack. It moves forward when everything else fails, when there can be no words, no peace, no love. A spear moves forward in war. The monster in front of him was on it''s knees and he kept attacking. Forward. Forward. Forward.


    Lady Blood Claw''s fist connected with his jaw, knocking him away from the body he was butchering. She grabbed him and started squeezing. He sort of let it happen, suddenly feeling tired.


    Nyx helped him stand straight when Lady Blood Claw let go.


    ¡°Come on chum. They''ll get the treasure. Let''s go home.¡±


    He nodded and felt himself slip into darkness.

 Chapter 145: Finding Trouble to Avoid Trouble

    [68.0%]


    [WARNING: Loop Integrity 2%]


    Corvayne drifted to the ground in his mindscape, landing near the huge lightning ghost as it told him, ¡°NOT READY¡± and blasted off. He couldn''t care less what it thought. He flipped the thing off as it jetted off.


    After just staring at the swirling clouds for thirty seconds or ten thousand years, hard to tell, he pushed himself standing and moved to the base of the huge obsidian gateway and sat back down. Growl-Whine was there, silently waiting for him to address her, but not offering advice or comfort.


    What should he do? He knew something was happening to Wick. The last weeks, she had gone back and forth from being more physical than he had ever remembered, even flirting and letting him feed her, hold hands... then the next day she''d be cold, walk away from him, keep Hari between them, or act like she was afraid of him.


    ¡°What did I do?¡±


    The robed figure moved it''s head a little. ¡°Powers.¡± She gestured at both old gates and then at a new vine covered gate that had the same texture as the fleshy furnishings and a disturbing face as it''s capstone. ¡°Or Pacts.¡± Growl-Whine''s ghost (or copy or link or neural parasite) gestured with a claw at the panel already sliding up from the stone ground.


    There was a low rumble and Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I... I don''t care. I need to fix what I did with Wick.¡±


    The figure didn''t move for a few moments. Then the hood nodded. ¡°[[Understanding]]. [[Unity]]. Words... [[Empathy]] [[Companionship]]. [[Trust]].¡±


    ¡°Those will effect others?¡± He felt a tinge of horror at the idea some power might wipe out the real person he fell in love with. The Spider looked thoughtful. ¡°All five those words safe. Some words dangerous. Make bad pacts. [[Opression]] [[Obsession]][[Domination]][[Haunted]][[Cursed]][[Hunger]][[Rage]]. Dangerous.¡± Her claws ran up to where her chin might be under her hood. ¡°[[Dangerous]] also Dangerous. Funny.¡±


    ¡°Some of them can force people to act differently?¡±


    The figure nodded enthusiastically. ¡°Why, [Brainjack]... bad move. Only learn desperate. Corvayne''s mind dangerous too. Thorns all over. Don''t try fix, too dangerous. Only add help.¡±


    Corvayne nodded, even though the presence of a fragment of someone else''s mind made him feel very weird for a moment. Get over it. Wick comes first.


    ¡°So... if someone is acting odd, and it might be some sort of... emotional problem....¡±


    ¡°[[Empathy]] and [[Understanding]].¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°Can I split my gains? I wanted to improve my shadow limbs.¡±


    ¡°Touch shadow gate and think of what you want to do. Can spin gate, change what''s on it too. Hmm. Not shadow though? Hmm. Odd one. Adept too. Also odd.¡±


    He went up to the misty shadow gate and stepped through, feeling something inside of him shift like a thousand rattling marbles as he passed the threshold. [[Understanding.]]


    He woke in the hallway near the Magus marked stone door into the Tower. He was slumped over someone''s shoulder. From the fancy fabric he was seeing flowing down the person''s back, it was still Nyx. He was about to ask what the noble was doing when the noble lept off the path into flowing water.


    There was a splash as the shield displaced the stream, then they were flung into the circular cave where they had climbed in, shield-sphere rolling a little on the lip of the hole before dropping out of the dungeon alongside a spray of water then splashing down into the pool before surfacing, water distorting everything in clear waves as Nyx started walking, rolling his orb to shore.


    ¡°I''m awake.¡±


    Nyx took a few more steps then dropped him on the ground. ¡°Good! Wanted you out of the way either way.¡±


    Corvayne just laid on the cold dirt, staring up.


    Nyx poked him. ¡°Not going to respond?¡±


    ¡°I was ignoring that something has been off with Wick. Ignoring it, or thinking it would go away. I should have turned the whole group around.¡±


    The noble turned around and sat facing back at The Source. The wind blew his cape a little bit and he turned his shield back on to stop the breeze from flapping it into his face. ¡°Ptah! Why doesn''t your cloak do that?¡±


    ¡°It''s well made, and all the little adjustments I make with it change what it does. It''s smart.¡±


    ¡°Ah. What''s it think?¡± Nyx asked, smirking. Corvayne didn''t respond, instead covering his face.


    The noble laughed, even his friendliest voice sort of arrogant. ¡°Don''t wallow in self-pity, man! She didn''t actually say she dumped you! Just to never go near her, ever again! I suppose if you want to pre-game a little and get your wailing out of the way... I need you chipper for when Spears turns me down.¡±


    ¡°Nyx, you are a terrible friend.¡±


    He saw a thumbs up interpose itself between his face and the sky. ¡°And yet I''m the one who''s here when you are down on your luck.¡± The thumbs up became an extended hand.


    Corvayne sighed and let Nyx help him up. ¡°Maybe Wick can fix it.¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Nyx beamed and patted him on the back. ¡°That''s the spirit! You got a bunch of tasks to do, and Hari can tell you what''s actually going on.¡±


    Corvayne saw from his vantage point Wick, Hari, and Undine climbing down the rope. Hari dropped with a splash into the pond, then gave Corvayne a look before helping Undine and Wick down. Odd, he got what she was trying to tell him. He started trekking back to the tent, stopping a moment and turning to Nyx. ¡°Thanks Nyxion.¡±


    ¡°No problem. Us handsome, dashing types have to stick together.¡±


    Well, at least someone was having fun. Corvayne steeled himself and started tromping to his remote campsite. Or at least he started to walk when he spotted what looked like a clump of horsemen bolting across the plains. Tracing their movement, they didn''t seem to be headed for The Source nor his black tower. Scouts? Bandits? Adventurers? No, from here he could see they all wore similar colors and had matching armor in the same red that Bell favored. Soldiers.


    They seemed to see him at the same time he saw them, and veered towards the camp. Corvayne took a deep breath and started running as well, moving to make sure if they were hostile they couldn''t just run into camp.


    No rest, no time to actually talk out what happened with Wick. He''d been frustrated before, but it after leaving the village it had been more remote, a distant set of problems that sometimes made him sad, but otherwise he could go through. Not this time, it felt like he just kept screwing up little things and big things and that his relationships were suffering because he didn''t know what he was doing. A part of him was looking forward to a fight, something straightforward.


    He guided himself through the stone pickets Varia had made and followed the stone spines to the ford the riders were moving towards. That they slowed was probably a good sign, if they were attacking they''d keep running. Granted, Corvayne alone could use [Shield Wall] with his spear and completely shut them out anyway, lest they try leaping the 10 foot tall stone barriers around camp.


    Letting his boots just dip into the water, he saw the leader of the group dismount. The dust covered man stumbled a little and had to steady himself with his hand to stand back up. Corvayne could see a bandage with dried blood around one of his arms, and he had an empty sheath on one hip. Most of his gear looked professionally made, save for what looked like a spear he was carrying. No real pack, just a bundle of cloth he had tied around his neck.


    ¡°Hail Adventurer! By The Emperors light, I request your aid!¡±


    Corvayne nodded and waved across the stream. ¡°Well met soldier! What aid would that be?¡±


    The man gestured at the nine horses behind him, then to the horizon. Corvayne followed his hand north, then looked back at the man who was panting. ¡°We rode hard from Deraphi at the wall. The prince is dead, and wall has fallen to The Black Raven. Some of the army is falling back to sunder the Kelpin bridge...¡±


    Corvayne couldn''t help but sigh a little. ¡°How far is trouble behind you?¡±


    The man straightened. ¡°If our boys make it to the bridge and destroy it? The Ravensmen will have to punch through Ebolt along the coast.¡±


    ¡°... If they don''t or didn''t?¡±


    The man swallowed. ¡°General guessed we''d had two days lead if the bridge is up and they sent riders after us. Maybe a little more. They have to finish punching a hole in the wall to get their horses through. Hopefully that will let the engineers do their thing.¡±


    Corvayne did the math. ¡°I''m guessing this is a straight shot between wherever you came from and the next target the army would hit?¡±


    The weary man sighed and filled his canteen with stream water, then took a swing. ¡°You got the right of it. You''d make a hell of a sergeant or map maker lad. If there''s any soldiering left to do after The Raven comes through... and if you can bark or draw a mean sea-serpent.¡±


    Corvayne looked back at the huge black spikes of crystal behind him. Of course, why would that dust spirit bother asking for more quests, when just one already pinned him to either defending this location, or waging war to take it back?


    He turned back to the soldier. ¡°What do you need from me?¡±


    ¡°Fresh horse to carry a message. Two if you can spare ''em and still move your wagon.¡± The man gestured at the truck.


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°No animals you would want to ride in camp.¡± but then looked over at the horse, likely on the cusp of teetering over. ¡°However, I might be able to send you on your way. I have a little goblin buddy whom I bet dabbles in veterinarian sciences.¡±


    A look crossed the soldier''s face, and the man took a half step back, putting his arms up. ¡°No offense lad, but most goblins just eat horses.¡±


    ¡°The eating a horse thing is why I didn''t suggest the human who could fix them.¡±


    He left them waiting at the ford and called up to Reaper on his gunner''s perch to ask where Mosh was. The goblin, as it turned out, was under the truck not five feet away from where he was standing. Mosh slid out on a wheeled cart, covered in what looked like oil but smelled like blood. The tool he was using looked like a giant crab cracker.


    ¡°Hey Boss! I gotta say, you don''t look like you''re about to tell me we''re off to the all-Teifling hotsprings.¡±


    ¡°We got an imperial looking group of fellows outrunning what sounds like a major rout... Can you mend some horses while I try to squeeze some info out of them? Is June around?¡±


    ¡°Boss, hey, my little lady is-¡±


    He held up a hand as the Tower-Folk came walking over quickly, holding her basket full of clothes. ¡°June, small favor. Can you set that somewhere and heat up some leftover monster meat for the riders?¡±


    June looked down at her basket. Reaper hopped down. ¡°I''ll handle it. Grunt''s up there anyway keeping an eye on things.¡±


    With a few tasks in motion, Corvayne went back to the riders, Mosh plodding along next to him, waving and calling out in perfect Nel''Ferralian, ¡°Hey how ya doing? Nice to see you bud, nice armor. Heh, never see a goblin before?¡±


    A few of the men looked worried, but the horses were perfectly placid as Mosh walked up and placed a hand on one.


    ¡°Lythandies see the little parts that are about to break, and make them whole again. Weave that which is hurt, let rest that which is tired. All beings are clay, molded by well meaning hands. Help us build something good: Life with health and joy. Repair that which is hurt, tired, and lost.¡±


    Corvayne thought he saw something connect all ten riders and horses a moment, then there was a faint scent of sawdust and welded metal. A moment later the animals lifted their heads, and some of the men were looking at themselves.


    ¡°My finger came back!¡±


    ¡°Woah easy! Haha, she wants to run!¡±


    Corvayne saw the veteran who spoke to him standing up straighter. ¡°What the hells god was that? Most temples charge you the weight in gold of whatever they heal, and it takes em a whole day sometimes to handle half as many people.¡±


    Corvayne responded as Mosh started trotting back up the hill. ¡°Lythandies is the name of the goddess who helped you out. I got a hot meal coming in a few minutes if you take a moment to tell me what happened. No news out here.¡±


    The head soldier, or at least the one who had been speaking with him, beamed at the offer. ¡°Would have given my left jewel for that less than an hour ago. Not that it pulls us out of the shit. We manned the garrison up at the northern wall. Done so for about ten years, back when there was an actual king rather than a bandit one. Was up on the wall when The Emperor teleported in and fried the army and king with it. Lit up the whole wall like the sun. I guess the bandit king of the north wasn''t going to take that chance. There were people on the inside, deep cover. Possibly folks who had been working for the old king and were waiting for the next offer to show up. Slayed the prince with a spell that the magic scrubbing we use missed. A little later they start rolling up catapults, and I get on a horse and hope we got the men to plug the gap south before the line breaks.¡±


    Corvayne had a question. ¡°You didn''t see the wall fall, then?¡±


    ¡°It''s a matter of time. The light blood doesn''t run with more than a tenth of the imperial brats. Maybe one of those daughters is a hidden ace, but this might be it. Poor Prince Terueshi had been running ragged trying to teleport himself back and forth for every skirmish. Part of why I think it will take them two days, you never commit your forces into a light wall unless you can lose em.¡±


    The man stopped talking and Corvayne followed his gaze to see Reaper and June holding a basket of steaming meat and bread. Turning back, the man had a tear in his eye.


    ¡°I take back everything I ever said rotten about adventurers! I was worried I''d die before I got one last good meal!¡±


    Corvayne let them dig in while he looked north. Two days? Maybe a few more. Corvayne smiled. ¡°Once you''ve had a few bites, tell me about this Raven character. Been out here a while, yet all I hear about is gripes about poor grazing and that their sons don''t send enough coin back.¡±


    The man had grabbed a drumstick from a Warp-Bird, and bit into it then licked grease off his fingers. While chewing he spoke. ¡°Bandit king. Somehow has a million men with a trained core and a bunch of irregulars. Man''s said to be a... ''Wizard without magic.''¡±


    Corvayne raised an eyebrow at that. ¡°Wizard but no magic?¡±


    The soldier stuffed bread into his mouth and chewed for a good few seconds. ¡°Say he can kill afar from snapping his fingers. Arrows can''t find him, and even lesser men are cast aside where he walks. He flies too, but without a trace of magic. No glow, no spell craft. Our general said that he appeared out of nowhere maybe five or six years back, and has either an arch-fiends luck or can see everything all at once.¡±


    ¡°Does he have a Raven? Or is he just like one?¡±


    ¡°Hell if I know. From what I''m told he looks too pretty and his black clothes are too clean for a bandit. Teeth as white as your great grammies bones. His heads worth a hundred thousand gold, maybe more once his army starts carving up the northern Empire. And they will, no way Ebolt isn''t getting cut off.¡±


    With his meal finished and a second one stored in his sack, the man stepped back. ¡°I''d shake your hand, but we have to keep riding. What''s your name lad?¡±


    ¡°Corvayne.¡± He said as he gave the man a sharp salute.


    ¡°Eh, your folks like that too eh? I''m Pemprick, but they all call me old bones.¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I hate all the nicknames I''ve gotten.¡±


    ¡°Rotten luck!¡± The man said as he pulled himself up into the saddle. June''s basket was empty and most of the other soldiers were either mounting back up or already riding over to a gap that cut south.


    Mosh, Reaper, and June watched them go. Mosh took a deep breath. ¡°What did you learn, Boss?¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°I learned that I can put off dealing with my relationship problems if I go blow up a bridge.¡±

 Chapter 146: Princesses and Detours.

    In his minds eye, Corvayne had seen himself some day riding out on a Hoverbike alone. Maybe Hari hanging on his back. Possibly Spears, or Lady Blood Claw coming with him when things fell apart. There was part of him that worried about it and sometimes fixated on a second exile, worrying about it the same way one would lick a tooth that didn''t quite feel right, as if doing so would fix it or clean it or prevent whatever was wrong from being wrong.


    In some ways, him leaving the camp today was like that lone wolf fantasy. Something was wrong with his place in the expedition, and rather than try to bash his head against it, he needed something else. A problem timed like a spear sneaking under a shield would do just fine.


    His goal was to scout, determine what the other side of the conflict was like, then decide if he''d insert himself into it, or if he''d side step it and let The Empire reap whatever it had sowed with it''s northern neighbors, one''s whom they had apparently nuked with a ''light wall'' not a decade earlier.


    So, returning to the fantasy of riding off alone, his mistake was to assume that Princess Bell had been successful at driving everyone away aside from Spears, who if push came to shove would no doubt apply some of the classic Watcher discipline. He assumed that it would take weeks to find some lever to get Bell to act like a somewhat normal person. He assumed she would not be doing dishes in the kitchen and he for sure assumed that she would not be on speaking terms with June.


    He learned that he was all wrong about five minutes after the last rider left and Princess Bell, arms covered in lemon scented soap bubbles up to her elbows, came charging out, upset beyond even Corvayne''s newly expanded capacity to understand.


    ¡°Sir Corvayne!¡± She snapped, with a newfound level of controlled anger that made him actually straighten, for a moment sure that Coming-In-Hot or Chases-Up-Trees had snuck into camp.


    Warning bells triggered, both in how raw her voice sounded, that she was doing work inside the truck for some reason, and especially that she had elevated him from scum to a knight while he was gone.


    ¡°Princess Bell.¡± He gave her a little bow then folded his arms.


    ¡°Stop bowing! Time is of the essence, you had heard, correct? My brother was slain!¡±


    ¡°I heard from the messengers just a minute ago... I''m sorry for your loss.¡±


    Corvayne watched her wipe tears from her eyes while still looking angry. ¡°I mourn not he who dies for our great country, but rather that my... our empire is fading.¡±


    Corvayne had to back up and reassess what emotions she was displaying. ¡°... Did you not like your brother?¡±


    ¡°If he didn''t have the light in his blood I''d spit on his grave.¡± Bell''s voice quivered as she spoke, then she did spit.


    Corvayne felt an urge to put a hand on her shoulder and decided to take the risk. He patted her surprisingly clean white tunic, and to his surprise she looked less angry when he met her eyes.


    ¡°What do you need Bell?¡±


    She looked away, then back at him. ¡°I... we need to stop them. The lands past the walls are terrible places ruled by outlaws who prey on the weak. If it comes to them flooding the Empire, I would rather you slit my throat than let me be captured.¡±


    Corvayne nodded, not bothering to tell the princess that the chance of her falling into any armies hands if she was inside the truck was nearly zero. ¡°I promise it won''t come to that. I want to see what''s coming, so I''m going to scout them out, and decide if we can do something or we need to rally somewhere we can defend ourselves.¡±


    Bell thought about what he said a moment, and then with a hint of her normal incredulous tone asked, ¡°You think you can avoid fighting?¡±


    Corvayne frowned a little, thinking back to the advice about making friends of his enemies. ¡°In most wars, both groups consider the other side the bad guys. We thought you were a bandit too, and you thought I was one.... last time we saw each other... a few days for you?¡±


    She turned beet red, though Corvayne didn''t feel certain it was anger. For once, he was right as there was clear regret in her voice as she said, ¡°Spears spurred our leader to rash action.¡±


    He was suddenly hyper-aware of his hand on her shoulder still and took it off. ¡°So before I act, I want to see what''s going on... because we didn''t sign up for this, and I''m not dragging 20 other people into a war.¡±


    ¡°You were kind to my troops anyway, so I hope you will see what I have told you is true. But, I will also say what I know to be true was... reforged this week. Very well! We shall decide together, then, what kind of enemy we are facing. My question then is how you plan to move behind their lines without ending up facing a thousand men anyway.¡±


    Corvayne said, without thinking, ¡°Because I can fly over them?¡± then looked at her and saw the gears turning in her head. ¡°Princess, No. Absolutely not. The only person I''m willing to risk here is myself.¡±


    He didn''t add he was willing to do this at all because he needed a distraction, badly. Thinking about Wick''s gaze on him, angry, made him feel empty and stupid. They needed to talk, but that talk needed to happen when he had time to distance himself from her glare, and the certainty he had felt that she hated him, even if her face was twisted into that of a stranger. That and maybe she''d forget exactly what she had said about him never coming near her again.


    Looking back to Bell, he expected a tantrum in response to shooting her down. He did not expect her to bow. ¡°Then please, help our empire!¡±


    ¡°You''re not going to force yourself to come along?¡±


    ¡°The only thing I could offer you was directions, as I''m familiar with the tactical geography of the entire empire.¡±


    Corvayne paused. ¡°Fine. Get some warm clothes, I''ll get you ear plugs. No screaming while we are flying.¡±


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE¡±


    Corvayne winced as Bell started screaming about five seconds into the hover-bike taking off.


    ¡°Don''t they have potions that let you fly?!¡± He cried out as he felt her nails somehow digging into his ribs. Mosh had figured out how to make an aircraft grade shield for the vehicle, so that was a lot less worries about howling winds, grit, bugs, and birds ending up in his face. But shields did nothing against backseat attacks.


    ¡°There''s nothing under me! What foolishness did you talk me into?!¡±


    ¡°Princess you don''t need to hold me that hard, you have a belt on! Ow, ease up! I am slowing down.¡±


    Like that he stopped them in midair, floating about a hundred feet up and drifting slightly upwards due to buoyancy.


    He looked back and saw that she was about to start hyperventilating, and he used his instructor in charge voice. ¡°Look at me. Breath when I say. In... Hold...  Out... Slower. In... Hold... Out...¡±


    In a few moments he felt her iron grip lessen. Did they drag her into a Tower run while he was gone? No, it was probably something from her chosen training. Maybe she was younger then he thought and just had spent time working hard out in the sun. Non-Watchers apparently had problems with UV rays warping their bodies. As did smoking and drinking... he had been shocked that Reaper wasn''t past thirty yet.


    He saw her about to look down and he cleared his throat. ¡°While we are here, can you tell me what happened while I was gone? I''m going to drive us slowly, so take your time.¡±


    ¡°You''re trying to distract me from something.¡± She growled.


    Corvayne caught himself before he said ''from looking down'' and instead said, ¡°That and I want to know. You seem like you''re doing better.¡±


    ¡°I stepped over a line, and Spears-Like-Water stepped over a line, and we agreed to be sovereigns over ourselves.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t need a vivid imagination to imagine Spears mad. His memory did just fine. ¡°I like the wording Bell.¡±


    She was quiet a moment, so Corvayne lowered the Anti-gravity a notch and eased the bike forward slowly, shield still holding as a sphere rather than the oval shape it took when flying full bore. Just enough thrust to be a sort of gentle nudge in the back. He didn''t dare drive at a fraction of baseline gravity lest he accelerate her to death. If he hadn''t trained for so long on bikes like it, well, to most people they were death traps to be honest.


    ¡°You seem to only remember I am royalty when you are angry with something I''ve done, I''ve noticed.¡±


    ¡°Because when I''m formal, your title puts a wedge between us.¡±


    He felt her grip slacken a little. ¡°I formally say I am sorry for the conflict that set us off on the wrong foot.¡±


    ¡°Because you are not that sorry?¡±


    ¡°Because when I am formal, it is so there is weight behind it.¡± She said. From the tone, he knew her chin was probably up, which was fine because she wasn''t looking down.


    ¡°I''m sorry for not figuring out what to do with prisoners before we took them. You could have had tents if we had thought about it.¡±


    ¡°And for nothing else?¡± She asked in a flat tone.


    ¡°I felt the best solution to our mutual problem of you being our captive was delivering you home. You didn''t, so I made do with the next best thing, which was trying to get you to tell me your goal and help you with it while you were stuck with us.¡±


    She was quiet as he ramped up the speed a little more, until he heard and felt her crying moments before a hot tear landed on his neck. He took a deep breath and slowed the hover-cycle again in mid-air. He gave her a few moments before he asked the question. He decided to try to phrase it like Mister-I, as he didn''t know how to really cheer someone up.


    ¡°Can you tell me what''s wrong?¡±


    ¡°The Empire is really dying. I couldn''t save it. I''m a failure.¡± She didn''t cry loudly, instead only giving it away from how she was breathing. That and that she was soaking the shirt he had on under his armor.


    ¡°It''s not dead yet. Things don''t look good, but you are premature calling it a loss before it''s certain.¡±


    He realized a moment later that he was on a hover-cycle running away from Wick and Hari because he was certain that he was a failure. That he couldn''t fix what was happening, and that he was certain Wick had been testing him and found him wanting when he engaged in the type of romance she had warned him about.


    He bit his lip. No, he was not going to go back. He still felt something was off, and the potential for a huge army to come rolling up on them was something he needed to fudge until he made a shrine for Lythandies in that spot. That and the elf shrine, and consecrating them with a fruit-flavored dragon heart. He should have asked the Barkeep a bunch of questions about the quest.


    Princess Bell was wrapping her arms around him now, just sniffling. He took a deep breath and patted one of her hands.


    ¡°It''s going to be okay. As long as one citizen lives, the empire lives on. Every person who fights for their homeland knows this.¡±


    This wasn''t one hundred percent true based on what Corvayne thought of how one might split up city-states, kingdoms, and empires in terms of size and complexity, but the formly spoiled and now depressed princess behind him once more gave him a play worthy delivery of a response, this time ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yes... now I''m going north, tell me about the bridge they are going to blow up, and the other town...¡±


    ¡°The walls used to be along a ravine. After a previous emperor moved them...¡±


    ¡°He built a new one?¡± Corvayne corrected.


    ¡°No, he commanded the wall to move.¡±


    He waited for a hint it was a joke.


    ¡°That does not fit with what I know of large scale territorial defenses, Bell.¡±


    She huffed then sniffed. ¡°Do not compare meager stone walls to the works of art our ancestors made to defend the realm! Our walls can move and crawl and shift... should one of our bloodline be there to direct them.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Let''s go look and see what''s going on. Before we assume that the empire is doomed.¡±


    Corvayne pushed the throttle and turned down the gravity, using the imperial riders as a suggestion on which way to go. Below him, the dry high plains were occasionally broken up by one of the streams that snaked out from the source, and lines of spire-like rocks, set up in clear intentional curves spaced evenly a few miles apart, perhaps markers of old Pilgrim roads.


    He saw the ravine, first as a lip of rock near the horizon, then as the massive chasm it truly was, colored in both geographic bands with the normal colors of exposed rock: Reds, oranges, yellow, white, darker colors where volcanic rock might have found it''s place. But there was also signs that some other force had done tremendous violence to the ravine, including a gash that had green crystals swelling out of whatever had made it, the rent in the ravine moving along to the other side as if someone had seen a river carve the land and wished to challenge it.


    The princess gasped a little, perhaps caught in the sight, before she dared free a hand to point westwards. ¡°The bridge should be there, near where the stone line is.¡±


    Trusting that she would know, he guided them to a spot where a natural spire in the middle of the huge canyon was connected by an impressive wood bridge, clearly shaped by some sort of magic to form an arc across the gap. A smaller more human bridge finished the path across.


    Corvayne flew past it, marking the location, then followed the line of stones in his flight path. The land was starting to get less desolate, though it looked like it was still winter as the few trees appearing were bare of leaves. He saw what looked like farmland tilled into geometric patterns, and veered to follow a river nearby, eventually finding a small town nestled at the center of a web of tan winter wheat fields.


    He felt something was wrong before he really saw saw the soldiers in black and the distant white form of bodies, pale when stripped of clothes and lying near buildings, with just the hints of bright red gore from the distance they were at. Corvayne could look against the clear blue sky now and see first whispers of smoke rising from homes being torched.


    Corvayne let his shadow hands draw his spear, his cleaver, and his fire breathing dagger as he guided the hovercycle gently down.


    The princess must not have had as clear sight as he had, or had been distracted by the view. ¡°What''s happening? What''s going on down there?¡±


    Corvayne landed, then got off as he gripped his spear. ¡°Scouting''s over.¡±

 Chapter 147: A Nameless Village

    Corvayne slipped into the village like a whisper, cloak picking up colors of dirt and stone and dry winter grass as he slid by the walls, any sound he made masked by soldiers laughing and a few remaining villagers screaming.


    His anger was tempered by cold determination and a sense of familiarity in . It was a bright day, and the smoke from fires had only just begun to shift past the gleaming sun.


    He saw two men dragging someone still struggling over to a shed, and he walked forward and struck twice, neither soldier noticing they were dead until they hit the ground. He did not look at the person they had been taking, not while there was work to do. He felt a sort of unity with the shadowy limbs that let him feel around corners, and now he could feel shadows oozing from him, making him feel like he was gliding through air rather than walking.


    The next three men were covered in someone else''s blood and throwing bottles at a body with a spear driven through it. Corvayne''s enchanted cleaver took the first two in two quick chops, and the third''s shout was cut off as a shadow hand lashed out, striking the man in the head and then retracting to leave the body to flop to the ground.


    He paused, as he came to understand something. He definately had done this before. He had done this a lot. A thousand, thousand rough men dead at his hands. Perhaps what Undine had told him about a ''Wanderer'' really was him sleepwalking through fighting bandits. Or an army, if need be.


    The fourth group of four were not drunk nor distracted torturing a townsfolk, and thus at least one of them reached for his steel as Corvayne accelerated at them.


    ¡°We''re under attack!¡± Screamed the one in the back before Corvayne used [Cross-Skill: Circle of Death] to dispatch three with his cleaver. The last one wasn''t ready for his spear, despite having a blade, and Corvayne watched him fall and felt... very little aside a sort of momentum, a desire to keep going. A spear moves forward.


    Five soldiers, armed but still pulling their pants on came around the corner of a stone building, and Corvayne used [Storm Thrust] to bowl them back, breaking limbs and killing the first one in the line. There were shouts of alarm, and he heard the twang of a bow, but he was fast and they were slow, and he flung a [Cross-Skill: Whirling Axe] at the bowman who was aiming out of a second floor window, blowing him and part of the roof apart. Three men with pole arms and two with spears tried to form a wall and Corvayne switched to his dagger and burned them before they had finished organizing, barely giving them time to scream before they collapsed into burning piles of char.


    He stepped past a line of still villagers laid out on the ground, hardening himself as the remaining soldiers organized themselves at the other end of the village square. There was man on a horse with a helmet directing them to attack from two flanks. Two more archers shot poorly at him, and Corvayne simply met their line with [Cross-Skill: Reap], drawing a line of shadow across the ground that dragged most of them into the ground. A few stronger or more experienced veterans had stopped when he put the attack down and were running, so Corvayne threw a few more [Whirling-Axes] with his cleaver, taking a leg off one and hitting the other square in the back.


    The captain''s horse had startled and knocked the man off, his black furs ruffling and his oversized helmet making him look pathetic.


    He held his hands up, begging ¡°Wait!¡± and Corvayne considered that he could possibly get information, but then decided he''d rather ask a villager and dispatched the man on the ground. Maybe this was what they saw? That when he wished to, he could shrug it all off?


    The last soldier he found had his blade on a peasant boy''s neck, the child sobbing and the man yelling at Corvayne at the same time as the fires they had set were picking up momentum, and black smoke filled the village and Corvayne both wasn''t paying attention to the man with the blade and knew exactly what he was saying, somewhere inside of him knowing a thousand different soldiers or bandits or criminals or even nobles who thought they could use a hostage to get away, and Corvayne pointed his finger at the man and activated [Cross-Skill: Drill shot].


    There was the snap of something firing, and he felt his stamina drain, and the man went cross-eyed for a moment then slumped to the ground letting the boy run free.


    Then it was all done, and he was standing in a village, covered in someone else''s blood, hearing fire and the sobbing of what few townsfolk were left, while watching a hardened looking girl no older than 15 summers walk over to an injured soldier and start stabbing him and then he knew he was done for the day, perhaps a week, he needed to clean himself off and go throw up or take a few [Mend] from one of his friends and wash it away. Pretend for a few minutes he wasn''t going to do this again at the next village.


    At least, he was thinking that when he saw about ten villagers, all looking worse for the wear being that they had hidden in dirt, or been found and beaten, or worse. Ten people, all holding weapons and looking at him, and Corvayne sighed and turned.


    ¡°Gather food, water, and one of their weapons. We make for the bridge.¡±


    He turned and saw Bell had been watching, pistol in one hand, blade in another, and a look of shock and awe on her face.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°We must destroy the bridge!¡± Bell urged him as she walked next to him. Corvayne was on his bike, giving the two youngest remaining villagers a ride behind him, carrying supplies for the rest as he drifted alongside and a little above the group, keeping his eyes peeled for the inevitable army.


    ¡°I''m going to get them across.¡±


    ¡°Put them DOWN, ride ahead, destroy the accursed thing, then come back and ferry us across the gap!¡±


    He paused before he responded. ¡°Good plan, but then everyone else on this side is stuck.¡±


    ¡°Them or your family?¡± Corvayne blinked, trying to parse that, and Bell gestured in the direction of the truck. ¡°Your camp family! The one you were trying to bed me into!¡±


    Corvayne was pretty sure that was a joke, or perhaps she was regressing a little seeing people being treated like... things.


    Bell looked at him defiantly. ¡°If they find us, they find us. I say a few souls in exchange for the rest of the empire is a fair trade.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t feel like a pointless fight so he pointed back at the children and stated, ¡°I''ll take them over first. Head to the shadowy side of a stone pillar.¡±


    She saluted him. Perhaps the imminent collapse of her empire had pushed her to act her age, whatever that was. He saluted her back before pushing the throttle forward and flying off to the ravine, ground a blur under him.


    He told his two charges to hang on tight, and once they did he wrapped shadow limbs around them and hit the throttle hard. One of the kids, probably a little girl but possibly just boy who needed a haircut, screamed as they flew off the edge and kept going on air, engine revving under Corvayne as he guided them down to the cliff edge.


    He slowed, stopped his bike, picked them up and set them down, then unbundled the supplies off the back as well. ¡°If for some reason I don''t come back, follow the stones, take the supplies, look for the black crystal tower.¡±


    The kids looked worried, but Corvayne thought about what needed to be done, and steeled his heart and zipped back towards the bridge.


    The wood structure he might be able to take out with [Sundering Strike]. Perhaps he could burn it down with his dagger too. He did have some grenades, but he probably could do better demolition with his cleaver than a hand grenade. Unless a cross skill worked with it?


    He did a loop under then over it, and at the apex of his flight saw in the distance a group of twenty soldiers, wearing imperial red. Flying a little closer he could see they were moving towards the bridge at a run, with a wall of dust heading their way as a cavalry unit in black spurred their mounts at them. No way they made the bridge without help. A few of them were dropping their packs to try to run faster, only clinging to things that looked like giant white toilet pucks, but in a minute, and well before they were on the bridge, they were going to get run down.


    Corvayne pulled out his grenade as he halted his ride fifty feet above the line both groups were making for the bridge and when the clump of horsemen were a hundred feet away from catching the slowest soldier, he pulled the pin and used [Expert Toss] to lob it in front of the oncoming horses. The little green orb went flying as he pitched it, and Corvayne nearly lost his balance off the hover-bike, getting an uncomfortable view of the ravine below him. He used his legs and shifted to [Strength] to right himself.


    He saw the grenade bounce once as it hit the ground right near the first horseman''s hooves, and for a moment Corvayne was worried it was a dud until there was a burst of dirt and Corvayne could see little dark bits of the first few riders go flying. The effect spoiled the charge, horses suddenly falling over or veering off in fear. Corvayne didn''t expect that to totally stop them from hunting down the imperials, and he was moving as the back of the formation split around the front to finish the job. Corvayne had a different idea in mind, moving his dagger into his hand then bringing his ride around, getting close enough that riders were pointing at him before he let loose a jet of fire, searing the first horse and fully spooking the rest, shattering the formation. He pulled up as a more level headed horseman tried to stop his mount and pull out a crossbow.


    Corvayne turned in a lazy arc and the bolt missed by twenty feet, showing a criminal lack of practice. In response, Corvayne twisted and used [Cross-Skill: Whirling-Axe] with his fire-breathing dagger, the would be sniper wise enough to hurl himself from the saddle rather than let the attack find his neck.


    Some of the men on horseback were shouting, ¡°High level! Fall back! High level!¡± while scattering. Two tried to run forward into the fleeing Imperials, and Corvayne saw at least a few armed men on foot mount a defense. They were run down, but it was enough to cause one horse to rear and the other to knock both one of the men and itself off the bridge to tumble to the ravine below.


    He floated near the group and set the bike to fly backwards, using his rifle then to take pot shots at any riders still trying to take the bridge, then a few who were running away. He would have felt bad but, given what he had seen at the village it felt entirely justified. Screw em.


    The men on the bridge started shouting and cheering and clapping, and Corvayne nodded then gestured for them to keep going. Once they were over the span, he inspected the structure and decided to try burning it, applying fire to the underside of the wood and at first utterly failing to damage the structure.


    He then went over to the stone bridge and as the last soldier was stepping off, he floated to the arch and took out his cleaver, then aimed [Sundering Strike] at the keystone.


    It shattered into a hundred pieces, and Corvayne could hear grinding and cracking. Good, but not enough for him. He floated to the other side and aimed another [Sundering Strike] at the other keystone, and then pressed down on the bridge with gravity.


    The effect caused the entire bridge to snap and plummet into the ravine below, creating a gap of perhaps a hundred and fifty feet of air between anyone crossing the wooden bridge and meaning to go the rest of the way across. They might have a solution with mages in the mix, but Corvayne guessed it would be a nightmare to transport an army across now, especially since the high plains didn''t have enough food for a large groups of men.


    Barring them discovering a tower full of monster meat, which wasn''t out of the question anymore.


    The thought made Corvayne hurry back across the gap to find his wayward villagers hiding in the shadow of a rock further from the gap. The princess gestured him closer.


    ¡°I heard horses and sounds of battle and great retorts and see scattered remains on the field. Did you pack a rocket launcher, Corvayne?¡±


    That snapped him out of the funk he had been in since the village. Why... why did she know what a rocket launcher was? She had a pistol before, didn''t she?


    Corvayne noted that, when they were alone, he''d have to get her to tell him which one of the geniuses at camp thought it was a good idea to introduce her to firearms.

 Chapter 148: Reporting In

    Without wasting much time, Corvayne used his Hover-bike to ferry the few remaining villagers across the giant canyon, then picked up the kids he had left on the High Plains side and ran them back to camp. Princess Bell stayed behind, talking with the villagers who had questions about Corvayne but mostly looking across the huge chasm to where there were two trails of smoke visible against the daytime sky. A few minutes later he rode into camp and roped Spears and Reaper into getting other bikes to help him carry folks back.


    He also tasked Mosh with making radios. It was silly that they hadn''t put effort into communications assuming that they would be mostly split by Tower distances rather than same-world ones.


    He decided to leave the kids with Shallee and Gary. ¡°Just keep them out of trouble.¡±


    Gary stepped up. ¡°Sensei, I can handle this! But you sure you don''t want me to come along?¡±


    ¡°After we pick people up, I want to scout alone if possible. The Princess is only along because she knows the area. I might as well ask, where did Wick and Hari go off to?¡±


    Gary looked down at his hands as if Corvayne had asked him to take stock of his fingers. ¡°Mister I, Grunt, Hari, Wick, and Horton went back to the dungeon. They didn''t talk to me, that''s for sure. They were looking for Brines, but him, Bearer, Steel, Seru, Kirae, and Varia all went out for Tower time. Oh and Spider is out of camp... but Growl-and-Win is always doing Tower runs.¡±


    That was 11 people and 1 super powered spider away from the camp. ¡°I might need you to double up on guarding this place. I''ll bring some villagers back but... I''d rather they not fight. If they are okay with playing lookout until I''m back, great. We''ll take it. Otherwise just get them fed.¡±


    Corvayne tried to do the math on who he had and what they could do. ¡°Nyx and Lady Blood Claw are here too...¡±


    ¡°You want them to help?¡± Gary turned but Corvayne shook his head.


    ¡°They had their workout. Give em a break, but work with Mosh and June to get ready to defend against incursions... I don''t know if I caught the first group of cavalry or if there''s groups of hostile horse-men running around our side of the river. We might want to warn the nearby vi-¡±


    ¡°Sir, respectfully, fuck that village.¡±


    Corvayne stopped. ¡°Gary, between you and Kirae is there something I need to know about our closest neighbors?¡±


    Gary looked angry as he paused then spoke, ¡°... No. If Shallee changes her mind, Kirae and Spears and I would take care of it. It has to do with why she was out there alone. You got enough to worry about, right?¡±


    ¡°Okay Gary... if it''s complicated then maybe ask Wick or Mister I for advice. You let Shallee know she''s welcome to come with us as long as she likes. Maybe we need Mosh to build another... Hmm. He comes up a lot when I have plans... I need to do something nice for him and June, I ask them to do everything.¡±


    Gary thought about it. ¡°You should force them and Varia to do some sort of activity where all three of them go to like, a hot-springs inn. I would also suggest giving them an apartment they all live in together, or stranding them on a spaceship, or every time we go to town accidentally having them stay in the honeymoon suite together when the rest of the hotel is full...¡±


    Corvayne was pretty sure he was currently giving Gary the stare everyone on Cascadia used to give him when he talked about weapons or eating desert critters or getting beat up by everyone he knew.


    Gary thought for a moment. ¡°I''m trying to say Mosh and Varia need to hook up so Varia stops getting pissed at you.¡±


    ¡°Oh. It seems really obvious what you... wait why would that fix her not liking me?¡± Corvayne asked but Gary made a lips zipped motion. ¡°Fine, I got an idea on that, but first I''m collecting the people I managed to save, then doing some more scouting.¡±


    Gary looked at him. ¡°You fighting monsters?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°He who fights monsters....¡± Gary looked expectantly at Corvayne as he trailed off. ¡°Dude, don''t leave me hanging!¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°He who fights with monsters should take care to select a weapon that out ranges their natural weapons, I know that well my pupil.¡± He put a hand on Gary''s shoulder, and saw his pupils face scrunch as the man tried not to say something he badly wanted to blurt out, which made Corvayne smile.


    ¡°You''re improving in both mind and body Gary. When I''m not horribly distracted and pulled in six directions, we should see if we can get you up to where you can use [Flow-Like-Water].¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah!¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Leaving the beaming man behind, he got back over to his bike. Reaper and Spears were both armed with both their normal spears and longer pole-arms made from red metal. Spears had a spare, which Corvayne accepted.


    ¡°New Mosh toys?¡± He asked as he accepted the spear and whistled. For a weapon nearly 12 feet long, the lances were very light.


    Spears nodded, the slime woman clearly happy. ¡°We didn''t have quite as many magic items before, but since the forays into The Source we have more stuff than we can take with us and have been converting them to weapons. That aside, are you okay?¡±


    Corvayne blinked. ¡°Sure. Good. Great. Super.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit! You walked into camp with that soldier then immediately ran off. Wick and Hari came back then went off as well, didn''t say a word to me or anybody aside to round up bodies. Not to mention you''re acting wooden!¡±


    Reaper looked between them. ¡°That''s how he always is though...¡±


    Spears turned to the former guard and gave him a look that made him hold his hands up. ¡°Hey, we are following him on a crazy mission, I trust his ass, I''m just telling you how it is, right man? Corvayne?¡±


    Corvayne nodded and gestured out to the dusty plains. ¡°We should offer transport to the rest of the villagers, then we can worry about my stupid life.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± She pleaded, but Corvayne shook his head, and Spears backed off and took a deep breath inwards, then blew floating bubbles of herself out of a cheek, looking frustrated. Corvayne ended up wondering the whole ride out if that hurt Spears to do that.


    Getting out to the refugees was fast, as Spears had been trained on bikes like the ones they had made and Reaper, well, he was the sort of guy who would always say ''Heck YEAH'' to a flying motorbike.


    On the trip back they had to slow down as almost every villager they picked up had an adverse response to bikes, even ones who seemed pretty shell shocked would start yelling and panicking when Corvayne had them going over a hundred miles per hour or lifted them more than thirty feet above the plains, despite being higher running less risks of hitting the few things on the plains.


    Each trip took fifteen minutes there and thirty back, and during the third trip to get Princess Bell and the villagers belongings Corvayne spotted the soldiers he had assisted across the bridge. They were flopped out in the dirt and Corvayne guessed they probably pushed themselves to get the the bridge. Once they were rested he guessed it would take the men two days to jog to camp, three or four for the nearest settlement. Given that a few of them looked like they had ran until they were sick he talked himself into helping them out too, once he took care of his original objective in picking up the villagers.


    Corvayne picked up the Princess first, as she had been waiting out with the pile of random things the villagers had taken, mostly farm equipment stained with blood from doubling as weapons, a few keepsakes, and maybe a few items that would help them survive if the High Plains had game to trap or wood to burn.


    Bell got on with Corvayne, putting her arms around him but staying silent. Looking back, he saw Spears wink a slime sculpted eye at him. He frowned a little, but cleared his throat to address her and Reaper-of-Fish.


    ¡°We are going to pick those soldiers up too and try to get them enough food to march across the high plains rather than leave them to try it without anything on them.¡±


    He flew over with Bell to speak with them, and Corvayne saw the exact set of emotions play on more than a few faces in the same order. First, wariness as he drove near them, then recognition that he was the person who saved them and destroyed the bridge, then noticing he had a passenger, then squinting, then eyes widening, then narrowing again because they didn''t believe what they saw and they had to look again.


    ¡°All of you!¡± Bell snapped.


    Corvayne''s sharp ears heard someone ask a soldier next to him. ¡°Is that the ''White Elephant Princess''?¡±


    Bell thankfully didn''t hear, as she was thinking of what to say, actually closing her eye and moving her mouth a few times before they snapped open and she forced herself to look confident and determined.


    ¡°Today, you are heroes. I see seventeen men and seventeen charges that you carried with you, even in the face of forces about to cut you down, you were ready to complete the mission you were given.¡±


    The ones who knew her, and knew her reputation, were identifiable now because they looked extremely confused. Corvayne got it, because he was also waiting for Bell to really put her foot in her mouth even as part of him was hoping she''d nail the landing.


    ¡°I can only hope when my time comes, I can do as much for our empire as you would have done today. Today, when you were ready to lay your lives down to protect your homes and families. We have given the empire extra time to prepare. Extra time to repel the invaders we face.¡±


    One stepped forward. ¡°Your highness, I have bad news. Your brother, Prince Telick, has fallen. The wall is lost...¡±


    Bell nodded. ¡°Do not lose hope. The Empire will live if even a single citizen remains. We will prevail.¡±


    The men stood straighter, and Corvayne found himself raising an eyebrow. He REALLY needed to figure out what the hell had happened to her while he was gone. First though, he needed to ferry some people to camp, get them fed, and decide how much blood he was willing to bleed for Bell''s empire.


    The sky was starting to darken and cold winds were blowing by the time they finished moving the soldiers and reusing some of the prisoner''s tents to make a camp between Corvayne''s and the truck. It looked like Gary and Shallee had already started the refugees on converting one of the tents they had made for eating outside into a space for sleeping.


    Bell raised her chin, both assisting in the efforts to set up partitions in the tent and acting like she was in charge, which was at least more in line with how Corvayne saw her persona, but instead of disgusting the men who had really put their lives on the line, it seemed to boost them to see her surveying them looking aloof while sometimes nodding as if she was entirely pleased watching them accept sleeping rolls and discussing with Shallee how they could get food and water from Bell''s allies.


    Corvayne meanwhile now had extra mouths to feed, and supposed he would need to bother everyone coming out of the tower to hunt for even more meat and whatever other foodstuff they could drag out of The Source until they were in a position to send both groups on their way.


    All these thoughts of how to handle logistics were cast aside when Bell put a hand on his shoulder. When he looked at her she actually looked timid, but still gestured back to their tents. Once they were at the far camp, she threw herself on the ground, fully in the dirt.


    ¡°Please help me. I beg you, even just a week... buy my Empire time to defend itself!¡±

 Chapter 149: Arrival at Ebolt

    Corvayne raced towards Ebolt. The coastal city was built on a rise above the floodplains of a river that had carved huge canyon marking the northern boundry of the High plains. The plateau he had been flying over dropped away, and the hard packed dirt had become a proper road flanked with yellow grass waiting for spring. Right now Corvayne had more then a few carts, donkeys, and people people bowed over with luggage under him, a snake of animals people and goods all trying to get away from Ebolt.


    The city fit paintings he''d seen of fortresses that had grown into cities. A sizable keep had been placed on a hill, and a ring of walls with a few extensions provided it and part of the town defenses, sloping down to where the docks pushed out into a broad ocean. Corvayne was a little surprised that there were walls at all, given that there had been an incredible artifact that repelled invaders north of town. Maybe the walls were build when it was someone else''s keep, and post empire was where a large part of town was outside protection grew from.


    The town had a pretty good view of the coast and the surrounding lands between it and the steep mountains that rose to flank the river. From what Corvayne saw, it looked like an army could follow a road around the keep, but it seemed that it came down to bridges and fords if they wanted to press pass Ebolt. One bridge, the biggest and likely strongest one, was in the middle of town and had been built to handle multiple carts rolling over it, side by side. It had been there a long time, made of the same dark stone as the walls. Possibly the majority of fortifications were entirely blocks cannibalized from the high plains. He saw another bridge just north of the city that was stone work and something like a three section arch. Finally, a wood bridge further up stream that had stone and mortar bases on sandbars to support it.


    The Princess, right behind him, was still not comfortable at the speed he was going, nor was she ready for him to slow down mid-air as he tried to assess what was the most likely results of the incoming army, as well as where the defenders were.


    ¡°Bell, how far is The Empire''s wall from here?¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Corvayne leaned forward a little, and felt her lean with him. He couldn''t see what she was doing, but had a guess. ¡°Open your eyes. Please.¡±


    ¡°We''re too far up!¡±


    Spears pulled her hover-bike over to them, the back almost comically loaded up with gear. Next to her, Reaper''s bike slowed to a crawl as well. Spears was willing to fight with them, but Reaper had stated he wasn''t sure about killing people who hadn''t done anything to him, and Corvayne had given him a pass to just help carry stuff that Mosh had been cooking up for them anyway.


    ¡°Bell. I need to know more about this area. If not from you, someone who''s going to be trying to set up the defenses.¡±


    ¡°Hmmf. Fine! Get me closer to the ground!¡±


    Corvayne managed to glance behind him. ¡°You have to open your eyes to tell.¡±


    He mentally blocked out Spears laughing. Wasn''t anyone else concerned about the army headed their way? He sighed and took them down a few feet. ¡°Okay, where to?¡±


    ¡°If there''s a commander, he''s in the keep.¡±


    Corvayne wanted to hit himself. That seemed pretty obvious. ¡°Right. I''ll go look right now.¡±


    Bell started to protest and he just said, ¡°Hold on.¡± over her, as after all this was more or less a favor to her. That and an attempt to buy enough time to do the stupid quests now instead of adding on retaking a pile of dirt from them. He aimed for a high balcony, one a good hundred feet up, with the assumption that landing on top of a keep with an imperial princess was good enough for entry at whatever table of power he needed.


    He saw a guy in expensive clothes and a nice looking red cape surveying what was likely going to be the battlefield, so he pulled up next to the fellow which caused the man to turn then startle and call, ¡°Guards!¡±


    He sounded pretty theatrical when he spoke. The man''s face was pretty red, and he looked stressed. Shakespeare mode might help? Corvayne did a little bow in his seat. ¡°Peace milord, and apologies for any rudeness. May I introduce her Imperial Highness, Princess Bell.¡±


    Bell was about to stand up so Corvayne quickly pressed his hands into her legs to stop her from doing something that would cause her to fall. She jabbed her thumb into his side but cleared her throat and spoke in her usual haughty tone.


    ¡°Indeed. I assume you are Lord Kerrington, whom is in charge of Ebolt?¡±


    The same sort of complex emotions the soldiers had shown when faced with the princess played the lord''s face before he remembered his station and bowed to her. ¡°Princess, I am pleased to see you and saddened that I could not give you a proper greeting due to circumstances, and I bear you ill news on top of that, you''re-¡±


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°Stop. Stand up. I want you to tell this man everything you can about the situation. He is my chosen general-¡± Wait, Princess. What? Corvayne had only signed up to do some booby traps, maybe take out the leader of the entire operation if there was a good clean shot at it. ¡°-and as skilled a warrior as could be imagined, a fighter on par with my own father, His Eminence himself.¡± What was up with the weird quiver in her voice when she said that? Corvayne then saw that the lord of the castle was looking at him like a man sinking in quicksand might consider a rope, and he knew he was in trouble.


    First, he''d try to level with the man. ¡°I cannot save this city. What I can do is slow their army down, forcing them to either advance slowly or stop them dead for a few days while they determine what they are facing.¡±


    ¡°A warrior like yourself would be worth a thousand men, assuming of course you did not use some sly slight of hand to trick our courageous princess.¡±


    [[Understanding]] helped translate something he might have taken at face value: ''I don''t trust what the princess says because I know who she is. Got anyone else?''


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I would have brought Miss Undine along, but she had left for another adventure. I trust she spoke true when she said she was unable to properly assess me because my ''Advancement'' was too high.¡±


    The man let himself have a ghost of a smile. ¡°My word, it''s good to see her grow so reliable in our darkest hour.¡±


    Translation: ''Why the hell are you here with HER then?'' or ''How in the nine hells did she convince someone like him to ferry her around?''


    Banter aside, the man made room and gestured, and Corvayne set his bike down on the tower then turned and held a hand up. Spears and Reaper set theirs to float as Corvayne stepped out from the balcony into a dinning room that was being refit into a war room, as evidenced by silverware piled in a corner, a waiters cart holding figures, and someone pulling a map out of a hand-powered dumbwaiter.


    Lord Kerrington took a gloved finger and jabbed at the map unfurling. Corvayne could see a thick black line where his finger was.


    ¡°The Prince fell and with him the wall. That was 2 days ago. Reports from the troops fleeing ahead of the breach suggest that the first opposition could be as soon as tomorrow at midday. Given that the Raven''s troops are mostly irregulars, many of them chased after our men and ended up over extended. That gives me hope they will not be well organized, but more likely it means we''ll have attackers staggering into our lands aiming to pillage before the main forces march along the beach.¡±


    ¡°Are there ways around this city? Like, mountain passes, or areas where they can enter then exit the canyon?¡±


    The man drew his finger along a wavy line. ¡°There''s a bridge over here that would let them circumvent our city entirely to roam across the high plains.¡±


    ¡°Was. I destroyed the stone bridge.¡±


    ¡°Good. Even with earth shaping, half the bridge being gone might buy us months, and it could be an opportunity for us to pick off the mages and engineers his army has hired or conscripted that are working on the project. There is a pass here and here, but both them are exhausting trails and at this time of year. Right now every path would alternate between ice and mud. You could march men through single file...¡±


    ¡°But a few locals with spears could hold them up for weeks, or longer if they also take out their bridges.¡±


    ¡°I had runners going out to the villages asking them to obstruct those paths, and sent a few of the men who are keen to earn a larger commission for their widows and orphans.¡±


    Bell broke into the conversation. ¡°You should have promised them glory.¡±


    Kerrington shook his head. ¡°Your Majesty, glory is for winners. This is us buying time for the empire to evacuate it''s most loyal citizens and prepare for large scale battles at the cities across the high plains.¡±


    ¡°And give up this territory?¡±


    Corvayne put a hand up. ¡°The high plains is too much land to cross casually with an army. There''s barely anything to eat, it''s broken up by streams that chill soldiers and make them more likely to get sick, and the locals have been secretly arming themselves with magic items out of The Source for centuries. If you lose sight of the stone lines you can walk for days and not tell where you''ve gone. It''s freezing down here, and worse up there with the endless whipping winds. I think our plan is to cause some chaos and take out the bridges north of here. I use my tricks to blow up siege weapons and anyone smart enough to put them together. If they can''t breach the walls, then good luck trying to dig through mud to attack the foundation. I don''t see many trees around here, either, so making new weapons means they have to roll all the way down the coast from wherever this Raven guy is operating out of.¡±


    Kerrington shook his head. ¡°The numbers I''ve been hearing are estimates of a million troops. I wouldn''t be so sure he''s going to stop, but you are also right that I wouldn''t go tromping across the plains unless it was summer. I suspect The Raven''s goal is just to take my city. He can carve his chunk out of the empire later.¡±


    Bell turned on him but the lord held his hand up. ¡°Your father is getting older. Too old to teleport every time something happens. If he''s sitting on anyone else who can channel the artifacts, now''s the time to roll them out. Otherwise, it hardly matters which side of our empire buckles first.¡±


    The Princess was about to argue or point out that saying so bluntly would be grounds for treason, but she stopped. It stood to assume that Kerrington saying what Hari knew months ago about the empire hardly mattered.


    ¡°No aces on the table? Then we must defend our lands... as we did before we joined the Empire hundreds and hundreds of years ago. With steel, stone, and cunning.¡±


    Corvayne looked at the map, and then looked up. ¡°I have the sum of the situation. I will attempt to buy your fleeing citizens time. Do you have plans to sunder your northern bridges?¡±


    Kerrington nodded. ¡°A damn shame about it, since we were hoping to build another. The wood one will burn, and I have dispatched men to destroy the second one with elbow grease. Should they wish to cross our little river, they will swim or have to properly answer our walls. That''s assuming they don''t have scores of mages to throw at the problem.¡±


    Corvanye looked at the man. ¡°Do you?¡±


    ¡°A few old spell slingers and a few army mages who made it off the wall. Good for earth works and a few fire balls, but little else.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Then, put them to use shoring up your defenses.¡± He hefted a bag full of his own explosives and the unused bombs from the engineers. ¡°I''m going to go work on tipping the scales back in our favor.¡±

 Chapter 150: Opening Shots

    Corvayne hefted Bell up onto his hover-cycle, grabbing a bit of her wrist with muddy gloves to make sure she could get aboard. The woman was getting used to riding around now, and considering that she looked dead on her feet and was covered in dirt and sand, Corvayne expected a quiet ride back to the keep. It was probably noon, and they had been working all through the previous day and well into the night to get the battlefield prepared, only taking a short break when it got too dark for everyone aside from Corvayne.


    Behind them the ground was a muddy mess with a sprinkling of rocks for good measure. Terrible to march through, worthless for building on, and depending on if more rain came impossible to even mount siege weapons on. To a random observer, it might look like the patches were just willy-nilly mud spots, with some burnt fields and deforestation near the walls to prevent foraging from the oncoming army. Corvayne knew well that what he had seen at the farming village was what many of the locations along the way would face and that starving the attacking army was unlikely, so that wasn''t why some areas were burnt to a crisp and churned mud, and a few key points were untouched fields.


    He took his place on the inner wall, checking the multitude of weapons Mosh had prepared for them. Three guns, including his trusty standard assault rifle and over a thousand bullets, a ''hunting rifle'' with a hundred high powered rounds and a scope that looked like it had been made out of a spare headlight, as well as an over-under machine gun with a grenade launcher with sixteen grenades and sixteen hundred rounds... he wasn''t sure how the goblin could mass produce them in a day or if Grunt had stockpiled more ammo than Corvayne had assumed... they also gave him a rocket launcher with twenty rockets, and a nice collection of grenades and three magic items called ''Blood-Seeker Javelins'' which Spears had found and thought Corvayne might like.


    Bell was on the inner wall as well. She had wanted to go down and lead near the front, which Corvayne strongly urged her was something that one didn''t do in wars you wanted to be alive to win. So instead she had been set up with a pair of assault rifles, five hundred shots or so in clips strapped to her, and instructions to wait until the first walls were breached to start firing.


    Spears had a pistol and a chamber loaded rifle that had a bandana wrapped around it. Corvayne saw her  putting bullets inside her self, making a sort of squelching sound as they entered her clear fluid body, then pulling them out and putting them into a clip. He wasn''t sure why, but he also hadn''t fought along side her since they pulled her out.


    ¡°Are you sure you want to be here, Spears?¡±


    The slime woman nodded. ¡°I scouted while you were sleeping. There''s fires along the coast north, towns burning.¡±


    Corvayne frowned and nodded. ¡°I have my doubts, but when in error? Side with the guy not starting farms on fire.¡±


    The gates had been shut and he could see a few riders in black coming up to the open ground outside of arrow range. The riders were not yet willing to risk getting too close to the village left hugging the walls, instead ranging to see about going around town, staying well out of the way of bow-shot and moving past leafless trees that grew between fields.


    Ignoring them, Corvayne watched the irregulars stream into the clearing, with only a few foolish members of the horde running ahead to try to check the outer town for loot, or perhaps to look for cover there. Spears looked like she was thinking about pegging one, but pulled her rifle back as archers on the first wall caused most of the would-be attackers to fall back.


    Corvayne went back to watching troops assemble. There were some wagons here and there, but it looked like The Ravens army was out-ranging it''s supplies. If they couldn''t bulldoze the town, they''d have to set up a long line of materials coming from wherever they hadn''t killed all the farmers. That or they had Tower entrances they knew of, but Corvayne had a hunch from his fight at the village that only a handful of the soldiers had any levels worth mentioning. Lord Kerrington hadn''t heard of a Tower entrance in town, even when Corvayne explained what they were checking for.


    Which was good if there were none, and bad if they didn''t know about it. Corvayne wasn''t eager to be the first person to get flanked in another dimension by a whole army. Magic space warping panthers or dogs? Perfectly fine. A bunch of criminals? No thanks.


    He perked to attention as the growing army parted to let someone through. A sort of cart pulled by black horses, flanked by troopers on what looked like small drakes with eyeless mantis faces, and some sort of tether running between them covered in cloth. Given the wings and sturdy harnesses, Corvayne assumed that the army had airborne troops, which was an annoyance or possibly a crippling problem for the defenders, depending on how bullet-resistant the monsters were.


    Looking at the cart with his binoculars, Corvayne saw a man sitting on a throne in a pose particular pose; one hand supporting his chin, the other tapping the arm rest, legs crossed. A way to project boredom, dominance, and impatience. Corvayne thought the only thing missing was a wine glass to swirl... ah there was someone bringing him one. He saw the fellow with the wine glass hesitate about ten feet from the man, and so the leader gestured and Corvayne saw the fellow set the glass down and The Raven walked over to it and picked it up, then toasted his army with a gleaming white smile. All of it done with a sort of self assurance that this was a party, and he was having fun.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Corvayne tried to not degrade his enemies but he got the sense that he''d hate this person even if they were not leading an army to destroy innocent lives.


    A giant black banner hung behind the man, and while guiding his binoculars up Corvayne''s mind snapped on a detail that he found very odd. The black banner was three letters under a red raven with a bloody beak. N.V.G. He put his gun down a moment and walked over to Bell.


    ¡°Bell, can you read?¡±


    She set her gun down and put her hands away from it, then turned and slapped his arm. ¡°What sort of knavish question are you asking me when I am about to enter a life and death struggle? Is this some sort of stupid mental training? I''ve been doing COUNTING exercises to-¡±


    She got quiet when he held a hand up, and took a deep breath. Corvayne used the moment to hand her the binoculars. ¡°I want you to look at his banner, and tell me what you see.¡±


    Bell then got a 10 second crash course in the basics of binoculars, after which she got a 20 second crash course on how to actually find something when correctly using binoculars. She pulled them down. ¡°I see a man on a throne, one that looks like some sort of tacky sword throne with ravens and swords. No class, what kind of idiot wants to put their ass on blades? They have a banner with geometric patterns under a raven chewing blood, which is imposing but ravens don''t really kill things, they are scavengers.¡±


    ¡°You said a pattern, and not letters, correct?¡±


    She looked again, then handed him the binoculars.


    ¡°The middle one might be a U, but it would be a backwards Ghlu, sharp U, then a poorly drawn Cheh.¡±


    Corvayne frowned. ¡°That, or The Raven is from the same place I am.¡±


    He pulled his binoculars up and looked at the army. If they had guns or cannons, this was going to go south very fast, even with his own surprises primed.


    The man gestured, and two donkey driven carts with a patchwork set of huge batteries and two big speakers rolled up in front of him. If Corvayne had questions about The Raven being from a higher techo society, the man pulling a microphone out and tapping it, and the accompanying burst of sound answered them.


    ¡°A freaking outworlder?¡± Corvayne groaned.


    He started looking at the man with more attention to detail as a projected voice was audible at his spot on the wall. ¡°Attention!¡±


    The speakers caused a few of the bandits he had as his army to fall over, Corvayne suspecting that he hadn''t bothered to give the men holding their heads ear protection. He could hear a bit of an accent to his speech, and he stopped and stumbled picking Nel''Ferral words.


    ¡°Greetings, men, and fewtreur subjects! I have come to offe, offer you... ma- mercy! Lay down your alms, open zah gate, and surreif, sureeif... Give up, and my men will stay the hands! That, or have me crush...¡± He stopped and Corvanye guessed made a crushing gesture, then said the next part very smoothly. ¡°Crush your walls, burn your keep, break your women and pretty men into corpses, and reduce your life and entire world to a layer of ash.¡±


    He let the mic fall to about chest height as the man looked up, then Corvayne saw him think for a moment.


    ¡°I will give you an hour to wave a white flag, otter vice... otter wise die.¡±


    Spears looked over at Corvayne. ¡°Do you want me to just pin-point kill him?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°Zoom in on him. He''s got a shield belt, impulsors, and a-grav anklets. Can''t rocket him, snipe him, or drown him in mud... easily.¡±


    ¡°What''s your plan?¡± Spears asked, frowning. ¡°I see fliers too.¡±


    ¡°Let him advance. I hope he does.¡± Corvayne shrugged. ¡°If he has modern artillery, we run. From what I heard though, he used regular siege weapons on the wall north of here, the magic one that could have wiped his entire cohort out. If it doesn''t work or we run out of tricks, we run.¡±


    ¡°What''s your plan for the next hour?¡± Spears turned and wiggled her slime eyebrows at him.


    Corvayne sighed and looked at the army. ¡°Waiting to see if he''s going to set up a siege weapon.¡±


    The man on the throne made a gesture and a woman came out and sat on his lap. For some reason, this annoyed Corvayne and he suspected it was because it reminded him that Wick had flipped on him, and that Hari was weirdly sticking by Wick. It wasn''t just that either... Corvayne felt was something off putting about the way they were flirting, both theatrical and a little manic, and Corvayne went back to looking for where the trick was, or for artillery to show up, or to see a bomber coming in, or a stealth glider.


    After fifty minutes of waiting, it was clear that he wasn''t going to bother with catapults, and Corvayne had been scanning for signs of artillery, such as spotters, radios, or even places that they could be set up without being  seen from the wall, and he was stumped. At the very least, if they had guns and were placing them in the woods that Corvayne had visited, they''d only get a few shots off.


    The man picked up his microphone. ¡°Fine Minutes. Five. Five minutes! Tick Tock!¡±


    Spears twitched. ¡°I want to shoot this guy.¡±


    Lord Kerrington was on his balcony, and a robed figure cast a spell on a horn and handed it to the lord. ¡°We have unanimously agreed... to reject you and your terms. We know what you''ve done north of the wall.¡±


    Corvayne was watching The Raven. The man rolled his eyes, and bit the girl on his lap''s ear, causing her to panic and run off the throne. The man spit something out and wiped his chin, then grabbed a parcel out of what Corvayne swore was a cooler. He unwrapped something red, then shoved it to his mouth and chewed. Then he reached over beside the throne and pulled out what looked like a giant crystal sex toy.


    Corvayne snorted, and almost missed as the device grew a bright white, then realized what was happening and dove over Bell. He saw Spears melt herself down behind a parapet, then he covered his own head.


    Through his eyelids he saw bright light and there was a burning sensation,  and when Corvayne blinked his eyes back to seeing and looked, the keep and Lord Kerrington were just gone, as was a huge circular section of wall both coming and going through town.


    The air was shimmering with not heat, but something like gaseous sunburn that glittered with a rainbow of colors and hurt to breath tremendously. It was starting to dissipate as Corvayne got off The Princess.


    She stood and looked, and her look wasn''t fear, or anger, but a sort of helpless confusion. ¡°How, what...¡±


    Bell was blinking, looking totally lost. ¡°Corvayne, that... that was one of the Imperial Arms! He has the royal power!¡±


    He looked at his rocket launcher and put it back in his storage ring. ¡°We''re going to need a bigger gun.¡± Corvayne said, watching as a horde of men started charging for the gap.

 Chapter 151: The Ravens Means are Wings and Darkness (Raven PoV part 1)

    The Raven, the only name Neivibleing Von Gronszvert would permit on this play-world, was turning a corner in taking down one of the most interesting of foes on the oversized globe of Nel''Ferral. It had been good practice for his corporate spies to find people to blow up the lynchpin of the otherwise fearsome imperial defenses, letting him take the understaffed wall with only a few thousand casualties. Almost as important as both parts of his two step plan succeeding was that his men managed to secure the mangled remains of the prince. It was that detail that gave him the confidence to push south further. History was full of reckless idiots who over extended, but there was also a time to be bold, and if he was far enough south as summer came he''d be enjoying the spoils of war on sunny beaches.


    Those spoils being beautiful, delicious, slightly better baked southerner women. He did like pale ginger flavors too! The Raven understood the appeal of variety! However, he had heard The Empire had a whole bevy of useless princesses and royal consorts and concubines that would no doubt fall into his hands if he started taking core cities, and that sounded to his liking.


    These were the thoughts he had as he watched prismatic fumes sizzle off the walls. The Raven knew he was an odd fellow but thought any man who used a crystal shaft like his to, ah, penetrate the wall would also be under the same affliction that was keeping him sitting on the throne rather than riding closer to watch his men push into the breach. He pulled from a pouch on his waist a white tablet to help him calm down. While sometimes he''d play with the little white joys, roll them around his tongue and push them into all the nooks and crannies of his mouth, he needed to relax immediately. With a chomp, the strong mint made his mouth feel clean, and The Raven''s shoulders sagged a little in relief. Soon he''d be able to stand up, with none the wiser how happy the destruction had made him. He did that! With his hands! A power he''d use to break every regular wall that stood against him.


    Then again, who would judge his bulging pants? He sipped his wine and folded closed his paper package, his long fingers meticulious in resealing it, even if he had a device to keep it fresh. Partially because he wanted the joy of opening it again, the intoxicating juxtaposition between bleached white paper and it''s bright red contents a treat to his eyes. His black gloved hand for a moment hesitated with the parcel. A royal indulgence, begging him to partake...


    No! He must not waste it. Back into the stasis cooler it went, the gray and blue trinket a neat little gift from a rift he had conquered long ago. Perhaps this world had untapped rifts? He had years to find out! Who would stop him? The locals were weak, divided, and easily conquered. Life was good! Life was good! He sat up straighter as he saw his men moving like a carpet of army ants to the perfect circle he had punched into the walls. From his spot he the hole in the wall looked like it just ran out to the sky. Only by moving a little could he get hints of all the objects he had skewered with that wonderful beam of light. That and hints of it as his men started rolling over the wall. Any defenders trying to hold that gap had almost no archer support, with most of the keep in orbit somewhere past the horizon. So he didn''t think they would have any trouble securing the bridge here, or making on of their own.


    ¡°Rupert! Map!¡± He cried and snapped his fingers.


    His right hand man and translator stepped forward, gray beard streaked with wine. Well, perhaps not RIGHT hand man, as the ugly old drunkard had only been helping him learn Nel''Ferral and running the occasional errand rather than giving him advice. He considered Rupert as the other man studiously averted his eyes. Perhaps he''d throw that vile woman he had kicked off his fun-cart the man''s way. Even Rupert deserved a little spoils now and then!


    Taking the map from the man''s shaking hands and drawing it into his shields with a little will, The Raven considered what was beyond his new city. A few more miles of farm, then a long road through nearly unmarked terrain with a drawing of a mesa or something with a lot of rivers coming out of it. Probably another tapped out magical ruin. South though... he had heard there was a fresh dungeon spitting out treasure from pirates who roosted in Osteria. Maybe he''d see if he could get there before the slippery adventurer''s guild stole another march out from under his nose.


    He patted his giant glass... well it looked like a dick and even with his less than stellar understanding of Nel''Ferralian he knew his men agreed... well then, he would treat it just as well as his own treasure, as it was a weapon fit for gods! He did have to considered his ammo. How many shots would he have? Perhaps fifty? Sixty? It was more than enough for now, AND there was still one more user left. His sources had told him that the man was dying, but he understood that mostly meant the capital was off limits until their protector croaked. Six months and he''d have a smorgasbord board of royals to himself!


    He stopped himself from licking his lips, instead snapping his left hand so that his left-hand-man would fetch him his toothbrush and paste. Gilcrest, whom The Raven though of as his valet, bowed.


    Both his helpers were silent as The Raven mentally tried to pick the right set of words. ¡°Brink meee my truth brush and truth paste.¡±


    Gilcrest looked confused, but Rupert understood and leaned closer to the man.


    ¡°The mouth brush. Get him the good one from the tent they are setting up. In the brass and wood case.¡±


    Gilcrest started to turn to walk back the way they came, but there was a sort of glass-breaking noise and a soft squelch, and he saw bits of his left-hand man splatter on one of the speaker carts as the headless body toppled over. Rupert cried out and ran to hide under the cart, but The Raven simply stood up, sighing. He''d have to find another lackey now. He looked at the headless man.


    ¡°A new, actually interesting spell? Or did some boring sniper bumble onto my world?¡±


    As one of his knight escorts was knocked off their mount leaving a trail of blood he saw the tell-tale entrance and exit wounds of a bullet flying through both body and armor and thus had his answer.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    He stood, eyes narrowing. A cheater! Well, he was one too, but... another cheater!


    There was a ping as a bullet hit his shield then rebounded. It was too far for it to perfectly rebound into whoever fired it, sadly, but what was perfect besides his smile? The thing didn''t even put a dent in his belt''s reserve power. He put on a glove and reached down into his boot, drawing his backup tooth brush and paste, and started working on his teeth.


    Someone on the battlements was firing at him, likely. They were not with the keep or they''d be dead or fried enough that they''d be cooked crispy. He flicked the bristles into his gums, getting the stubborn bits of meat out before he polished the front, working up a froth. If there were guns, and they waited to open fire, then... well then he was going to lose a bunch of useless mouths to feed, wasn''t he? But they hadn''t moved to cover the breach.... what would he do?


    He made a hand signal and his knights took to the air. Not a moment too soon, as the thumps of mines going off started in earnest. Black clouds of dirt and mud and smoke shattered the dull roar of an army charging, turning the nice ASMR of a hundred thousand bandits into discordant screaming and thumps. He switched his grip on his toothbrush, getting the tops of his teeth, pushing some of the gunk out of the cracks and plying whiting cream that would bleach his enamel to a perfect snow white. He looked down at his cooler on one side of his game-throne, and the death-crystal-cock on the other. He could fire again, but each attack was a resource he might not have when he needed to take the final town. Oh, it would be his, but it was so hard to rally his men whenever too many of them died.


    Damnit! His tongue had found rough enamel on the back of one of his bicuspids. He''d be licking it for weeks now until he forced a new one to grow in!!


    He stopped licking that tooth, and focused back on what commands he should relay as the mine blasts died down in frequency. ¡°Perhaps I should just take this spot and hold, eh? No no, let''s see how they do.¡±


    The Raven spit a small glob of leftover toothpaste onto his dead left-hand man, and turned his attention to the blood splatters. The sniper was on the wall, no doubt, but he hadn''t seen much movement up there. So they probably were laying down, no? What section lined up best with it?


    There was a bell ringing sound as another bullet hit his shield.


    Well, he could just fry the whole wall. He still had some juice left from his treat. Picking up the crystal gun, he lined it up with the battlements, the inner ones that had were flanking the rounded stump that remained of the keep. He felt the juice in his stomach mature, and reach out into the weapon, connecting it to his hands and his will. At a thought he fired off another shot, the device creating a huge white circle where it was focusing radiance a billion billion times stronger then the sun. He swept it a little before he was spent, having demolished the wall as the light spurted then thinned with little flare ups into a point before vanishing.


    He was supremely annoyed to see two flying objects already whizzing away as the beam flickered off.


    ¡°Fine. Sky Knights! Get hem! Hem... ah! THEM! Get them!¡± He gestured, and his twenty remaining sky lancers hovering behind him darted out on their drakes, flapping wings a pleasing cover for more mines going off.


    Besides his good knights running in, a few of his men were running away, and then getting blasted by mines behind them. He shrugged. A sizable number had made it into the breach before the explosions had ruined his offensive, and once he put the fear of him into his men he''d have the main bridge by the afternoon. If not? He could just flatten the city itself to form a dam and cross the stupid river that way.


    He looked up and saw the first of his airborne knights get shot down, and he tapped his jaw. That''s why there were nineteen more. As often was the case, good planning during the previous encounters meant there wasn''t much to do here. He could watch his sky-knights take a few more losses before they got close to the modern tech using heroes and filleted them, but he had done simulations with his knights and hover-transport mounted troopers and the magic ratio was five to one, no matter how good the gunners were.


    He decided to go have sex with one of the receptive locals to pass an hour without annoying interruptions. Maybe he''d see to the fanatical follower of the local love goddess who had been tagging along and had taken to putting her very bright pink tent near his? He had taken her once before, and she didn''t seem to mind that he enjoyed biting. More importantly, despite her small frame she was sturdy and seemed to... quickly bounce back from their sessions.


    After an hour well spent, he left her to tend her injuries and went to find Rupert as well as the general he had dumped most of the work on and get a report about what was happening. That and he wanted to make sure they hadn''t destroyed the kitchen cart. He wanted a nice breakfast looking at the ruins of his new town.


    He had organized his camp so that everyone important had banners, and Rupert was waiting by his own lovely black and red raven, and the general had moved his own black and gold... was Osterian how you''d say things from the old kingdom? Well, his new ''Gron-land'' banner was planted spot where he could stand in the cover of trees. The man didn''t need to use a rifle to see how well some of The Raven''s old world friends put them to use.


    ¡°Reports? Gentlemen?¡± He said, confident in those two words.


    The general started talking and Rupert surged to action, casting [Understand Languages] on The Raven.


    ¡°-We were pushing well at the bridge, but we lost a large number of irregulars trying to take it. Whatever weapons they used killed a thousand men before we backed off. The second charge took the bridge, but no signs of the defenders.¡±


    The Raven reached for his right boot''s mouthwash. Gargle, swish, gargle, spit. ¡°Are you requesting me to blast it?¡±


    ¡°No sir, I said we took the bridge.¡±


    ¡°They just gave it up?¡±


    The General nodded, looking confused as well. ¡°I felt like they could have held for longer. Perhaps they didn''t have the Bolt-lets to hold it.


    He heard distant thunder. ¡°Oh, I see. That''s the sound of no bridge. Go send a messenger north to find those stone shapers and divert them from the canyon. We''ll worry about the northern pass later... I want this bridge here back up in a week.¡±


    The general gulped, which was stupid. The Raven valued him and was fine with bad news. The general hadn''t figured out that all the dead Oster... Ostanian? Ostuernian? All the dead Gronland nobles  he had culled were sycophants and useless traitors. So he made his voice buttery and spoke. ¡°Please say it.¡±


    ¡°Sir, you must know... We don''t have a good way to deal with whatever weapon they are using.¡± The general mimed the finger gun motion that The Raven himself made, which made the sort of roman soldier outfit he had wiggle on the older man. It helped bouy his mood to see some hand gestures were just universal.


    So, besides the fliers who no doubt were being eaten by Sky-Knights... there were some more on the ground then? The Raven thought about it, and pulled out a black coin. Pure black, absorbing all light. ¡°Pay The Dark Camp a visit. All the men this buys to find the gun-carriers across the river.¡±


    Nothing under the sky was safe from his wings, and nothing that hid from the sun was safe from his shadows. He chuckled, then started moving to follow his men into the town.  His enemies were as good as dead, and he was going to miss all the fun in pillaging the town if he didn''t hurry!

 Chapter 152: The Ravens Whims. (Raven PoV Part 2)

    The Raven''s men now had surged into town and the city was his. The rest of the day they spent... sort of cleaning up his new city and looting. A bunch of people were killed, some roads were cleared, women and money was divvied up, and he had a suitably amusing fight a knightly straggler who tried to issue him a challenge. The poor fool didn''t understand how energy shields worked, spending minutes flailing at the shield before The Raven put the tired man out of his misery... it was a nice afternoon! Two major wins in a week!


    Still, he hadn''t taken the bridge intact. Those fellow cheaters had... well, actually they showed up at the exact right time for him, when he had a new weapon that totally neutralized them. Even so, he had sifted through reports and could pin the numbers facing him yesterday at five people maximum.


    Between that and his sky knights, he had the little wrinkle under control. He could do the level math there. Anyone crass enough to use an assault rifle but high enough level they they wouldn''t actually need it? He''d have heard of them. That left some sort of new blood, and given they didn''t just hold the bridge they either were limited on ammo or were expecting another ray of god from him. The Raven knew a thing or two about what you could run without industry to support it, and they were likely not running a bullet making operation on this world with blacksmiths. More so, even with careful hit and run tactics they were limited by the size of their hover-chariots or using local methods of transport. Ones the size he saw flying away needed fusion reactors to get enough lift or to get enough current to generate an A-Grav field, which meant little room for impulse. They could go fast, but not turn or lift or drop without a catastrophic crash.


    Granted, they didn''t eat meat or shit the foulest goop everywhere, which was a point in their favor over Sky-Reavers, but Sky-Kights had their fear-glands removed from both rider and host and anyone using a gun likely didn''t enjoy getting up close and personal. So, the two or four riders were dead, and he had his elite assassins no doubt using sneaky methods to cross the river.


    The next day, he received news that soured his day. Well, good news first! They had found a way past the river. There were mountain passes that only had token resistance that lead to a bridge in the highlands. As well, one of the bridges made of wood had not been properly destroyed before some of his agents took out the task force, and could likely be repaired in a few days. He would have his routes into the northern empire! Even better, some enterprising souls in his army had managed to get the wood bridge up by the time he reached it. Oh, he was pleased with them! Extra spoils all around!


    His good mood turned sour when on the other side his men found the Sky-Knights he had sent, corpses still tethered by umbilicus to their dead mounts, their bodies telling the story of the how the fight went over a broad arc to the south of his new town.


    The Raven spoke for the sake of a hung-over Rupert as well as his grim faced general, One of the remaining Sky-Knights, the assassin leader who had accepted his commission from The Dark Camp, and the dreamy eye''d whore who was showing off her bite-marked shoulders. The last had no real tactical value but she had a real talent for great reactions, and her feigned horror at the bodies was a pleasing counter-act to how everything else made her pretend to be horny. For ease all the followers aside from the Sky-Knight were given horses to follow him as he floated along. He had once known someone who loved to listen to lectures, and in listening to a few he had found he liked giving them. A few snaps of his fingers and one [Understand Languages] later, he started explaining what they had found.


    ¡°So! The first four were gunned down. As expected, you cannot attack a gunman and expect to not get a few bullets! That''s why we have a million bandits, and our good luck that it''s not a half a million from testing the wall!¡± He smiled, and the assassin leader gave him a blank stare, the general forced a grin, and the fanatical whore was breathing heavily, as if he had sung her a sweet love song. She was a real ego booster! She might actually come back to Tripic with him next time he had to deal with ''the real world''.


    ¡°One of the riders is a water mage, as this...¡± He floated over to the fifth corpse as he spoke, causally moving it with his toe and causing it to gush a pink mix of water and blood all over the brown grass. ¡°This Sky-Knight drowned after something filled him with water. I use the term loosely, as it''s already congealing.¡±


    Tapping it caused some of the monster and rider to both melt, creating a puddle of slushy gore. The general looked pale, and the assassin made a warding sign. It looked gross but the monster was no different from any of the bodies that had been neatly killed.


    ¡°That was more or less what I expected, but this is where things get sad. At this point they should have swarmed the craft and torn them to shreds, given what my tests about how well you can shoot down the riders and how fast they can close with their target. Even with advanced radar you need to see to aim! Somehow, three more were shot down before they reached melee. Not great odds then, ten to two. Still, more than enough.¡±


    They followed him as he bobbed, sometimes stopping to see reluctant villagers trying to plead with one of his followers not to burn their house. It was sort of silly to burn them, as had their own farmers and beggars who could farm when given an unburt farm to farm from! What a loveable bunch of firebugs he had! Anyway, his army killed the men, burned the houses anyway, and took care of the women and children in the normal ways armies take care of such things. There was something about the natural smell of burning wood and thatch homes that was just so much more quaint then the metalic smell of plasma burning through a spaceships''s hull. Partially because the later meant that one was soon to be ejected from a gap in said hull.


    Neivibleing started thinking of an ever hungry hole in the world, and he pulled his second backup brush from his belt, a dab of toothpaste and his shaking hand started cleaning and after spitting froth out The Raven replaced his tools and adjusted his gloves, wiping a bit of toothpaste that had


    Well, back to the bodies. He crouched by a few of them and used a gloved finger to play with an entrance wound on the armor over his Sky-Knights''s umbilicus. Looked past his companions who looked horrified, he floated to the next body where there was another wound at the same spot. Perhaps someone who got lucky, but possibly the cheaters assumed that the link between rider and beast would turn them on themselves. A third hole spoke of some absurd level of control over their arms. Did one person do this? Or were both riders that trained?


    ¡°Here, we have evidence that our Sky-Knights fought something that killed them with pinpoint mounted charges. Not one or two charges either, but constant darting attacks. The kind I''d expect a knight at his peak of ability to do on a horse, but not cheaters.¡±


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    The glassy-eyed whore-priestess hissed. ¡°Cheaters! They need... punishment.¡± She writhed, and The Raven smiled. Whatever Goddess it was that this woman followed, please bless this erotic idiot.


    In a better mood, he pointed at the bodies. ¡°So, they swarmed and died to heavy frontal attacks. So there were gunners, and either they trained as pilots, or you had lancers driving and doing advanced air combat maneuvers while winning a melee fight... Hmm. Well, that''s what The Plan is for! We can shoot them down from the ground if they try to fly-by us. I''ll issue some special magic items for my loyal-¡± He felt Rupert''s spell floundering.


    The general coughed. ¡°Royal, sir.¡±


    The Raven beamed and floated over to clap his shoulder. ¡°Royal guard! My general, since we took the town, did you want any spoils?¡±


    His general rubbed his ear while looking around, then cleared his throat. ¡°Keep a few... keep a few of the local lads and lasses from the next village or two. Keep em alive and well. Ones who know the area. Have the boys crew up with pillagers or the core soldiers, but away from where they live, girls with our Valkyries and servers. Keep em away from the pillagers, get it?¡±


    The Raven paused. ¡°Mercy?¡±


    ¡°A little, your highness, because we need to know where the hunting is, where in those mountains we can expect resistance, and to know where the food stores are. It''s a drain on our own resources to push in early spring. Also, a few of us are still professional soldiers. The... levies... you''ve found are poor for keeping peace once we really own an area. You want your wolves hunting, and your dogs guarding your sheep. Sir.¡±


    The Raven thought on it, taking a single floss pick to his teeth and not bothering to finish before speaking. ¡°Oh, you don''fh ffahy?¡±


    The General swallowed. ¡°We run out of money and food, your dark highness, and you can''t go find new fun places to take over. We also need tradesmen. Tinkers, Fletchers, Smiths, Butchers. Even regular whores for men who have...¡±


    The priestess laughed throatily. ¡°Swolen cocks?¡±


    The assassin sneered. ¡°Or morals. Take your pick.¡±


    ¡°Either way, we could use local talent. Some of ours was blown up.¡±


    The Raven nodded. ¡°Fine, spare a few villages. I mostly stent... se.. sent forces in a line to the bridges and here, recruit from the moth... noth... north! North urn plains.¡± It didn''t sound right, but he shrugged. Never stopped them from getting it before. ¡°Do you have coins to hire?¡±


    The General stood straight, looking more proud than he had for weeks. ¡°My sniffer found a carriage with two gold bricks and a chest of silver! We''ll have new coins for our new hands.¡±


    The Raven wondered if the man understood at all that the point of pillaging was the MAKE money not SPEND it. For all his talents in tactics and organization he could be daft sometimes.


    The assassin, on the other hand, looked a little jealous of his general but shrugged before saying in his usual mild tone, ¡°Anything else besides showing me a dead dragon?¡±


    The Raven shook his head, then looked to the south where his enemies would be. ¡°No. Go have fun killing. Well, I should say good luck bu-¡±


    He paused as turning around, the Dark Camp leader was gone. ¡°Gah! Batman bullshit!¡±


    Day three, and he was already filling what was left of the city with troops and repairing the rest to make a camp along his new road. Mideval military campaigns, like the ones he undertook in VR games before he learned about ''play-worlds'', were based on momentum. That''s why part of his forces were surging ahead to open lands on horses. They''d field ahead and destroy and pillage and the usual, and start spreading out to pepper the cities near the high plains with raiding and force the remaining Empire on defense across a broad area. He wanted them reacting until he had everything but their capital boxed up. He might not do it with this million troops, as he had no idea what kind of numbers they had in reserves or what they could pull from a draft, but his own expansive kingdom was not by any means lacking for more rough and disgruntled men to point at their rich southern neighbor.


    Thus begins a 4x and empire management adventure! That, and sorting through loot given to him as tribune. Most of the magical arms were rather bad, stuff that wasn''t worth using over his smart-link guns or compressed carbon blades. So most of what he took were things for novelty or utility, like wicked looking sacrificial daggers, a red-metal meat cleaver, and a pair of bells that forced other people who heard them to freeze, but only if they were under level 2. Fun for terrorizing citizens, and reminded him of the kinds of things he got to do on Tripic before... well... the rumors came out and Goule had asked him to take some time off.


    Anyway! Day three saw his plans were moving along. He had horses and scamps running out to infest the scrublands of the Northern empire, his assassins were sniffing around for the would-be snipers, and he had a small kingdom to play around with. He would have some fun, both with local newly single ladies and his new cultist sexpot, then get his men working on the real goals, which was the bridge that would grant him access to the empire and getting the stragglers behind him to keep building the road from Gron-Land so he could get the territory making him money, goods, more troops, and so on and pushing them forward.


    The villages up in the mountains had shown some backbone with some of his scouts missing already, but it just made the rest of his men more determined. There was a group of mountain men from his own territory that were hungry for wives or bears to make wives or whatever they did in the wilds while covered in furs, and quite a few of them had started slipping into the hills, no doubt playing the most dangerous game. Every so often one of his officers would come over and happily report to have found a body that rolled down one of the longer slopes from the highlands, signs his crazed hill-folk were doing their jobs.


    The other good news came that someone had found a half-elf maiden, and while The Raven was sure that she probably was no longer really a maiden, she was certainly going to be coming back to Tripic with him! He would hardly need to force it, given the easy choice of working for him as a servant or taking her chances with his followers. She was already in his tent, fear turning to anger as she had been lashed to the central post. Ah! It was going to be fun to make her watch him ply his trade! She looked lovely angry and The Raven, despite his own pledge to only bed women who were willing, had to consider bending his own rules for an elf... but relented. He wouldn''t REALLY sample the girl either, not until he had a magical healer. Maybe the sexpot knew one?


    Either way, he had stones, and manpower, and a crossing. That evening men were still drinking from pilfered wine, and only a few barrels had been poisoned by fleeing citizens! Not the worst kind of poison, just a little brown-water special. The Raven had a pretty nice set of nano-filters in his stomach that could catch cunning and vicious poisons these backwards goofballs couldn''t even conceive of, so it was always a treat to take tainted wine and gulp it down, suffering only to be as drunk as he liked, then watch someone else get terribly ill.


    He returned to his tent smelling of wine and the tied up half-elf started glaring and swearing, thinking she knew the plot. She was too precious to waste assaulting. No, he wanted her to understand horror. Horror was not torture, but the fear, the anticipation of a fate worse than death. He would savor that too. Fear of him. He might be like a common man''s idea of evil... for he was certainly not a being of good. He had desires, and he fulfilled them. If he really desired her, he could take her.


    Tch! A lesser man might indulge in such boring games, but he was a true apex predator wearing the skin of a man. The half elf girl had no idea what kind of prey she was. The anticipation of revealing that to her, showing her the secret of his perfect pearly smile... he had to leave the tent, lest he break his future bliss for short term satiation. The thought of making a girl wide eyed in terror made him jog in the dark, doing a little jig as he rushed to the pink cultists tent and her no doubt warm bed. It was GOOD to be king!

 Chapter 153: Something Stalks The High Plains. (Raven PoV part 3)

    The Raven felt every bump of the wagon, through shields and all. He had been grounding his teeth at all the delays since they started up the muddy path out of Ebolt''s valley. It had rained the previous night, a chill downpour that meant everything had slowed to a crawl in muck, stuck between the steely sky and a dark brown line of crud. Someone had gave his sex crazed cultist bad wine last afternoon, so his usual method of dealing with stress had been cut off. He took a toothpick and gently felt near his gums for plaque, giving a side eye to Rupert asleep on his feet with a single eye half open, and his Half-Elf maid who was glaring at him while fixing him tea on the gently rocking cart. He had to think of a good name for her since she refused to say hers.


    He was thinking about deploying drones to help The Dark Camp find his renegade shooters, but it turned out that cheeky group with the guns was back and had mowing down whole heaps of his horsemen out on the plains. One survivor claimed that there was a shadow rolling across the ground, and he had seen dark hands extend from it like vines. The description from another group said that a single line lanced five men and their mounts, killing them all without a scratch in the blink of an eye.


    So, gunner, pilot and maybe a lancer or two, then one of them is a water mage, and another a shadow mage? Well, NOT on his watch! It was time to get the local team rallied, lest he have to stroll up there and blast them with the light of his phallic artifact.


    He had lots of resources. It was another nice part of being a ruler who was immune to all the common methods and some of the less common methods of assassination. Surviving a power play often meant you could take all the stuff from the people trying to kill you without anyone batting an eye. He was rich off-world and nearly as rich in play-world terms (relatively speaking, of course, a single orbital bombardment flight-group was worth several years of this entire planet''s production) so he could afford the Adventurers Guild''s rates. The best part was that a large chunk of the ones who had stuck around after the war were the sort of bastard mages and warriors and thieves he needed. The irony that he had to purge the clergy of ''The Cleanser'' was not lost on him, but even surrounded by men (and a few very dangerous women) of the same mindset as him, it was a shame in his company of kindred spirits he didn''t have good healers.


    Anyway, he pulled out the magic sea-shell he could use to ring up his accountant back at the city. Well, the accountant''s body guard, one of Goule''s permanent pets. He didn''t trust his staff in the capital without some supervison. And ah! Those wonderful pets Goule could summon! That was a trick he needed to learn, as the humaniod monsters could follow directions and were as smart as any given person, but also could harmed and maimed and killed and instead of making a mess, they would return to wherever they came and could be summoned again, whole and hearty! He would master magic, find a nice haughty succubus princess, and see where that took him. The thought distracted him, making him wonder if he could make a sort of magical dynamo using The Dining Table? He salivated a little bit, and reached into his glove and pulled out his breath mints. His teeth were clean, but the seeing all the mud caking everything not elevated above it made him feel dirty.


    So, he crunched on a mint, then made the call and arranged a few more ''friends'' to show up. Warriors and mages and rouges skilled at tracking. No investigators, sadly. He suspected that there was an element in the guild that had diverted all the more exotic classes and non-divine healers away from his kingdom as he was cementing his power. The money spoke and told him that it was the work of a cabal of people who acted under the name ''Corky D. Rotwieller'' which was an obvious fake name if he had heard one. The money also spoke and told him this ''Corky'' was real. And the money spoke and said that it was an alias for a real being, a venomous old dragon who ran the adventurers guild as a perverse way to protect it''s own horde. No he was a beholder. No, he was a she and was actually the White Elephant Princess, who was running it with the bird-child she abandoned...


    The only agreement was that Guildmaster Corky had strings he could pull and had done so quietly. Or perhaps it was that he HADN''T pulled different strings, and what''s the fucking difference when the end result was The Raven was doing a lot of creative labor solutions to solve various problems that a ruler here usually had a mage solve... instead of twenty engineers and untold carts, wagons, and horses that should be hauling gravel to try to tame the mud. The bridge and roads especially were time consuming to source stones for... what he would DO for more and better earth shapers! He had, in fact, dipped back into a few weirdos on Tripic who thought this was a VR game and had no idea that they had been committing insane crimes onto ''life-like NPCs''. If he had been willing to get to know them better, he might see which ones would be more driven to do even more terrible things if they knew that the people on a ''Play-world'' were real.


    He saw rain start to patter on his shields, and the entire enterprise slowed down even further. He saw his maid looking up at the shield''s top then over at the poor sods walking along the wagon.


    ¡°Ah! Finfally-¡±


    Rupert muttered ¡°Finally.¡± without stirring otherwise.


    ¡°Finally you see zee benefits of being near me?¡±


    The woman put a hand on her chains and said something that was likely ''eat shit and die''. The Raven looked to Rupert, who nodded. ¡°She told you to eat shit and die.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Perhaps some refreshing rain will help clean up your potty mouth?¡± He directed his shield to shrink to only cover his throne.


    Amusingly, the Elf just forced her chin up as the freezing rain hit her. Rupert, on the other hand, actually looked a little annoyed at her as water started to soak his hair. While he saw dark grey clouds, The Raven enjoyed a moment of sunshine!


    The next few days saw successes. They had fully repaired the wood bridge and would have the wide bridge finished in a week or so. The rain had stopped as they hit the road climbing into the plateau. His riders had managed to catch some of the people fleeing south including a fat merchant who had overloaded his poor donkey team. Throwing coins to his men and having some fresh barrels of very good wine, spirits were high despite the worryingly empty stretch of scrub grass they were on.


    Eleven days since he took Ebolt, and he was at the top of the world, standing in a thicket at the edge of The High Plains. No obstacles and no cover for a thousand miles. There had been an attempt by the Imperials even to harry some of his forces, and they got flanked by his untold hordes of riders. Yes, he was missing fifty of his outriders, but what was the worst a few scattered rats could do to him, with his untold armies, his pick of silver and gold ranked adventurers, and his weapon able to erase anything he pointed it at?


    It was day twelve when The Raven had to host an upset Dark Camp leader at his tent when he appeared just out of shield range. As it turns out, two of their best men were wounded, and six of ''The Accepted'' were killed by ''The Shadow''. The leader of his assassins even was muttering it was the return of The Wanderer.


    ¡°There are three of them. One of them, I am sure, is an Imperial Princess. I threw a poisoned dagger at her-¡±


    The Raven felt himself stand up. ¡°Princess? Take her ALIVE!¡±


    ¡°Please, I know my orders but you of all people should understand that sometimes you see a fool standing out in the open and your hand just moves on it''s own.¡± The assassin looked embarrassed but The Raven DID understood. The man had been killing so long, it was sort of just a thing he did.


    ¡°I love killing too, Mister Grim.¡± The assassin looked annoyed, but The Raver really got it. Who couldn''t resist just REALLY killing someone who was so open? Sometimes you just felt like splatting something!


    ¡°Right, so containyou... containyun? Continue! That''s the word. Where the hell is Rupert when I need him?¡±


    His memory jogged to giving Rupert some of the poisoned wine since the man had been drinking too much of the good stuff. ¡°Nevermind, he''ll be at the privy all day. Keep on it.¡±


    Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°She had a glimmer on her ride like your own paling.¡± He had to translate that from primitive speak to ''the guy had a shield belt, too''. No wait, the PRINCESS has one? The assassin looked tired as he went on, ¡°My dagger fell to the side harmless. Her allies were a shadow of death that I could not see...¡±


    ¡°Was it like a blur? Like a stream moving through the air?¡±


    ¡°No, how can I say it... I''d know he was there after he moved because he left a trail and a body, then I''d try to look for him and he''d kill the next person. He fought along side type of golem or elemental I have never fought before, blue like clear water and able to use weapons and magic like a skilled warrior. Our toxins were useless, our blades passed through her, and she commanded the fury of unseen waters that battered and drowned us. The shadow killed one with his black arms, then another with the strange repeating not-crossbows you, yourself, have used, and a third who tried to get close was set apon by the dark figure and dismembered in the snap of a finger as it moved to it''s next hiding spot.¡±


    ¡°Where the hell do you hide? Out there?¡± He gestured, and turned at the Assassin was gone.


    The Raven raised an eyebrow. A shadowcaster with a machine gun? There were houses who fought like that, but most of them had piss-poor advancement and didn''t, as a rule, spend time on mere ''Play Worlds''.


    A few moments later there was a cough and The Raven turned and nearly pissed himself so see Grim standing next to him again. ¡°What I do to you, he did to me, which is a hundred times harder for a brother trained against his own brothers.¡±


    ¡°Very funny. Point taken. What did he look like? Did you see him?¡±


    ¡°He had an object that blended into the dirt, and made him hazy even when he pivoted. I suspect he is tall, based on the blur we saw. Even as far into The Mysteries as I am, I would give my right jewel for such a treasure that would let me move like him.¡±


    ¡°Oh, great. You going to write him love ladder?¡± The Raven poured himself a shot glass of mouth wash and swirled it, smelling the cinnamon. A flavor he didn''t enjoy as much, but he was trying to broaden his horizons and the local dishes in the south supposedly used a lot of cinnamon, so it was sort of a tourist thing to do. In elevating himself to a very different idea of vacations, he had come to see that it was more fun to play along sometimes.


    Grim kept his response flat, ¡°When someone survives, they establish that their will to live was greater than our will to kill.¡±


    The Raven gave him a single raised eyebrow. He needed to find a way to do that and smile with his teeth but not look deranged. ¡°


    ¡°Yes, I was impressed with his movement.¡±


    ¡°No shame in it, my tsundere assassin pal! I think my little shadow is quite cheeky, and I hope we can take him alive somehow so I can figure out who he is. Perhaps he''d go in half-and-half on carving up the empire with me?¡±


    The Raven sometimes felt lonely, truth be told, that he didn''t have like minded fellows with him, enjoying everything and anything one could while slumming it. It wasn''t as easy as a VR campaign but with the right investments it was almost as comfortable and always more satisfying. There were things that the programmers of those games couldn''t or wouldn''t properly translate. Of course, he wouldn''t take any old pleb or barbarian as his friend. It would have to be a fellow noble who appreciated what he was doing. There was an art to it! A magnificent work that spoke to human nature, and his nature too.


    The assassin continued his report and The Raven focused back on him.


    ¡°I called off the strike, we had lost two brothers in shadows-¡±


    The Raven held his hand up. ¡°I thought you said there were six dead?¡±


    The assassin sighed. ¡°Six accepted. Twenty two initiates.¡±


    The Raven couldn''t help himself and whistled. That would put a dent into his Dark Camp. They would not be... oh how he wished he could resist his penchant for wit... they would not be happy campers! He bit off laughter and smiled at the man.


    ¡°You re-engaged?¡±


    The assassin shook his head. ¡°We retreated to a mountain path, using cover and used our mind-seeker abilities to shroud ourselves, our woodsman craft to fade into the brush, our small cantrips to become shades, and other tools such as gas, tanglefoot bags, slime-pots, caltrops... the shadow was hunting us though. He who has become death. The mind benders have not reported back, and their brothers of the sightless ways say they died without knowing what killed them. The shades were caught by arms that would come up from where he was, the only signs we saw before he would slip away. He moves fast, fast enough that I could not keep track of him when he was moving in a circle thirty foot wide. In the hills where there were trees it became a slaughter. He would fan gas back at us. Caltrops didn''t seem to penetrate what he was wearing on his feet. The tangle-foot bags vines started growing strawberries rather than ripper thorns, and the slime-pots... the acid slimes parted for them.¡±


    The assassin paused. ¡°I wounded him then, with signs of his passing. A dagger with the worst poison I could scrape together, but he pulled it out of his neck and drank a potion and it only slowed him enough for me to escape. The rest of the men we left in the forest who were slower, they are all dead.¡±


    The Raven thought about this. ¡°Do you reject the contract then?¡±


    A real pro, the assassin held up his hands. ¡°I can call for the elders to form a hunt. But it will take time, and they might demand more tokens. Or they will wish to take him alive and find out how he made us look like trained monkeys rather than ''The Blade Even Kings Fear''.¡±


    The Raven was not new to the whims of powerful. Everything about the assassin at that moment suggested that the fear of failure or death was dwarfed by the prospect of the fear he had for trying to convince his superiors. Either way, it was his problem to sink or swim. A man who can''t find opportunity in failure is doomed to keep failing.


    ¡°Same as you, I may make some calls. I have... special Sky-Knights I was saving for a bout with the Imperial elites or the adventurer''s guild''s Platina.¡± Could he fuck that dragon too? He wished he had more non-lethal tools at his beck and call. The chances of being able to fight her into submission with what he had was almost nil. He had heard her human form stern valkyrie thing going on. New goal: Fuck that dragon.


    He saw the assassin looking at him with a dour expression and The Raven beamed at him.


    ¡°Do not look so glum, the greatest challenges offer the best sport!¡±


    He scrubbed his teeth madly after the man did the usual vanishing when he wasn''t looking. A shadow beyond shadows then? Pah. You didn''t get darker than a raven. Well, a raven and his friends and minions and tools. He''d call his own cheating eyes in and figure out what was going on at the high plains.


    Day thirteen.


    Something was hunting his drones. He had posted a few men to watch them too, equipped with binoculars. They didn''t see anything when the feed died. The drones would just be flying and keep flying, and vanish into the horizon then never come back. Which was impossible, as they were slaved to his inner-brain network. Slaved, encrypted, and with fail-safes to find him, or just flat out turn around when they lost HIS signal. He grabbed one of his anti-mage drones then, one with a plastic casing full of pink anti-arcanite gel. The goop was insanely expensive and only one noble house sold it. Even then the assholes would cut it with strawberry jelly, it was the best sort of material on the market. It was widely accepted that they held onto the purifed form for their own uses, or perhaps buyers who made even his unfathomable wealth look like two pissed-on pennies. Not that the gel was cheap at all, no no no! It was a month of his passive interest to make one drone, an amount that could buy any given country on a boring farming world.


    So, his anti-magic device went, and started flying, and the signal cut off... then it made a little adjustment to something after it had lost the signal.


    The good news was that his bands of men had reached and taken a town out on the plains that would offer him a place to fortify, restock on water, and start attacking the other settlements that were out there. His general had suggested a soft hand for the early birds so that they could get info on both the lay of the land, and tell them what the hell you ate when on the High plains, aside from the crappy oversalted rations dragged a few hundred miles by carts.


    ¡°You don''t know? Don''t they herd goats?¡±


    ¡°We think they have other protein and grain sources that farming doesn''t cover.¡± The General said, trying to tip-toe around The Raven''s own solution to such a problem. One that was catching on with a few of The Raven''s most loyal men, but not so much his most important men. One must learn to chew before they swallow, lest one chokes.


    ¡°Oh, so we have starving bandits?¡±


    The General nodded. ¡°We missed a few meals before we took the wall and the city. It''s why we might have to delay pushing too far in here. Even the imperials hate moving material across the high plains, because you have to carry a store of food in with you. A million men, even spread out, we''ll be eating boots in a few weeks. If we had boats in port, I''d suggest we go the naval route. Might work for fishing... There''s inlets where you can walk on the water there''s so many fish.¡±


    The Raven considered it. ¡°Why don''t we attack along the coast then? I''ll call the pirates.¡±


    The General shook his head. ¡°There''s two parts of the coast line that are so steep, we couldn''t get anyone but maybe the insane fur wearing mountain men to tackle it. The paths around those spots would put us trying to take Gygol pass, and you''d need to be blasting with your glass toy all day to try to kick the dwarves out.¡±


    Why couldn''t they be stone elves? He could figure out a tactic to break a bunker-like dwarven city clear, but... Dwarven women might have beards. A risk he wasn''t willing to take. ¡°You are right. Not worth it. So we stay the course. Three people are not enough to stop an army!¡±

 Chapter 154: Dark Days for a Raven (The Raven PoV Part 4)

    Day fifteen.


    The leader of the mountain men came to him as he nearing his forward base. ¡°The Ogre is hunting us.¡±


    Raven reached into his pack and pulled out a dental hook. He was starting to get tired of these sorts of conversations, where something that had been going well suddenly wasn''t going well because a new named boogyman had started attacking here or there, and they were always elusive monsters his men had no idea how to fight against. He started gently scraping his gums, and the fur clad man seemed to recognize he didn''t want to be disturbed. From what little the man spoke, the assumption was that The Raven was doing ''shaman things''. No reason to explain modern dentistry and tooth care to him, both to preserve patience while The Raven saw to himself, and because the tooth fairy had nearly cleaned the poor man out, as-is.


    The scraping and cleaning of gums finished, The Raven dabbed his mouth clean. ¡°Just a normal... Ogre?¡± He had seen some fantasy monsters, but mostly the smaller green kind. Unlike what the most optimistic of games and books presented them as, goblins were always insanely stupid creatures. They wouldn''t even attack people, as they were absurdly cowardly too, instead running from anything larger than a dog, unless it was mating season. Then the males could be pretty vicious and might swarm a lone person who couldn''t jog faster than the little cretins, but mostly they were a worry for children who were prone to daydreaming too far from safety.


    ¡°Not normal. Normal ogre taller,  dumber. Easy to trick, trap, hunt, or lead away from people. Hmm. This thing is like a mountain lion. Keeps sneaking up on us but would barely fit in this tent. Has a clubs but uses his bare hands too, or drops rocks on us. No smell. Also has a weird... like a chair with wheels. Looks like a dwarf making something an elf designed. Metal but... elfy.¡±


    The Raven snapped his fingers and Rupert brought him paper and charcoal, then returned back to wherever he was when he wasn''t being the designated helper. The man DID have a talent for knowing what he needed before he did, and The Raven, for all he often abused the poor man, knew not to go too far lest he lose that wonderful talent.


    ¡°Can you draw the shape of the object?¡± Necessary, as he saw an ogre in a wheel chair and needed to take this request seriously. If he didn''t get some sort of drawing to counter that image he''d end up giggling all day. Also, if this thing was good enough to give the mountain men pause, it was a problem that would slowly bleed them dry. As a bandit king, he had done the same to Osteria. You could do a lot of damage even to people expecting you and preparing for you by just striking their backs over and over.


    With the materials, the man drew... a passable bike. Actually, he drew a mountain bike. Surprisingly well, even including the dumb little trick wheels both 14 year olds and professionals placed on their mountain bikes. ¡°My word, you are a tremendously skilled artist. If you ever get tired of hunting and skinning people, you should nurture that talent!¡±


    The grizzled mountain man blushed a little bit, looking away and thumbing his rusty blood stained knife. ¡°Shucks.¡±


    ¡°I have a question... is this fellow picking this device up? And carrying it up and down the-¡±


    ¡°Rides it right up the sides of walls, steep enough even a goat would pause.  He can go places we can''t follow him. We roundered up some boys-¡±


    The Raven had been improving his Nel''Ferral and knew that the man had misspoken, and was secretly proud of himself for noticing for the first time someone else butchering the language.


    ¡°And the ten of us saw him go up one slope, all rocky scree and about a mile off, then suddenly he was above us and bashed two of our skulls in, rang a little fairy bell-¡±


    ¡°What''s a fairy bell?¡±


    ¡°Sounded like, bring bring... ding ding?¡±


    The Raven narrowed his eyes, and the man across from him got tense until The Raven remembered his reputation. ¡°I''m more mad that I know what this fellow... well why this fellow rung a bell.¡±


    ¡°... reminds me of the legends up in my hills. Of the fur-men. Not monsters... not animals... not people, impossible to hunt or track. Fae too. Never hunt a fae. Or deal with them.¡±


    ¡°Oh, he looks like a bigfoot? I mean, he had fur?¡± The Raven straightend in his chair. He had once studied the paranormal, not entirely out of his own interest but rather for a project that... ran away from him. ¡°Can you sketch it?¡±


    The mountain man took the charcoal and made a sketch of something like a cave-man with a lethal glare, then blown up into a wall of flesh. It was the guy that seemed to always be holding a crowbar, the sort of fellow they parked outside a casino, the kind of guy who kept a knuckle uncracked in case he needed to emphasize something. A thug''s thug.


    ¡°Moved like a elk in a dream. On it''s chair it was completely silent, not even crunching leaves. The men are scared.¡±


    He could divert the adventurers to this new problem. Or just give up on the mountains? But leaving his back open then... no, he didn''t like he was facing a lose-lose situation here.


    ¡°Get with the engineers.... the ones by the bridge. Send a few of them this way, I''m going to try to see if we can just plug the known passes from the mountain or avalanche them or something.¡± He was thinking explosives. The cheater had used them against him, right? Cutting off most of the easy ways in and out of those passes might slow him down. Or keep him busy helping the villagers fix their escape routes if he was some sort of summon for them.


    Day seventeen.


    At last some good news, his adventurers had arrived! He had some warriors in full plate, a bevy of thieves, and a few wizards whom had human skin grimoires and skulls on their staves. Now then, Sic them on The Ogre or The Shadow? The Ogre was a problem for later, he didn''t need the mountains and he doubted they could sneak artillery in to extend how far his reach was. He had Elder Sky-Knights now flying patrols over the hills, looking for anything that shouldn''t be in the skies or on the slopes. The attacks had died down on the plains too since he deployed the fliers as recon. It was good news, suggesting they had something to fear from being seen.


    Day twenty.


    His Elder Wurm Sky-Knights had spotted something out on The High Plains by a spot called ''The Source''  but turned back per his instructions. The Source was a the given name of a giant pile of a pre-historic palace. Basically a mountain of rubble that had been sitting out there eroding away since a ''mysterious civilization'' left it there. It was once a very impressive dungeon and source of treasure, but that was hundreds and hundreds of years past. What was left was a giant pump spilling endless clean water on to what would otherwise be a wasteland.


    There was both a new feature, which was a terrific spiked black crystal hill, and signs that someone had prepared earthworks on the plains. There were more than a few tents, a camp of maybe forty people. The gestalt creature had thought it reeked of an adventurer''s camp, and decided to not get closer.


    He had this conference in transit to their new camp. From the maps he had, he was two hundred miles distant from said fortified area. He was intensely pleased, giving Rupert the day off from fetching things to go have congress with the discarded one-eared woman that The Raven had given him. Slowing down and increasing scouting had done wonders for clipping the losses a little.


    Once he had finally reached the town, the villagers were... mostly intact. The Dark Camp had already set up in one of the stone spires that formed the place. The place had nice textiles but otherwise could have been any group of steppe folk. He ignored them and took over the largest building, kicking a whole bar of half drunk goat herders out. The bartender was attractive enough that she got a role as staffer and personal bar-keep for The Raven, with the promise that if she did well she would not be assigned to do errands to one of the pillager camps. He also put her on the ''not a toy'' list for now.


    His little fanatic, whom had a name he had shortened to Tutu, was allowed to set up next to his building, and things were looking good. He''d let his men rest a day or two, then he''d figure out if his enemies were at that camp, or find whatever spot they were in, and then he''d have the whole north as his plaything! Simple!


    Day twenty one.


    The Morning started off great, with his roadway halfway to Ebolt, his engineers passing along a message saying they''d have the north bridge over the gorge back up in a week, and that they had cut the mountain paths off, blasting the passes into rubble. The Ogre had won the mountains, so perhaps he''d mountain bike down to the coast and raid... but one man could only do so much, especially if they didn''t have cover and the advantages the thing had moving up and down slopes. No Sky-Knights had died patrolling, and he was confident in the armaments and lesser shields he''d given the elites.


    The day turned sour when the first probing attack he had sent to The Source came back as one man on a horse, injured and looking pale. The Raven had been ready for a few of his men to get the full meat grinder experience when they found the proper lair, but the man''s story was something else. They hadn''t made it within fifty miles of the place before something had dismantled them. The Shadow again. Always that Shadow!


    ¡°I couldn''t see it. It made circles. Ten circles of death.¡± The man kept mumbling.


    He was ready to mobilize when the next report came in, where a man who had stopped to take a piss saw his entire group start falling down and sleeping, then were butchered by a drow elf with a flaming blade. A dark elf that killed his men?!? Talk about a black lining to a silver cloud. Oh, he was there!


    Before he could ride in haste to find her, another group stated that one of the legendary adventurers, some old broad named The Death Witch, had stalked his group as they went south and came back north, just cherry picking them off with lightning fast attacks before vanishing. This was a unit of archers. A hundred archers, killed aside from one man. It wasn''t even a bunch of ones or zeroes, these were veteran woodsman who had a few levels on them. Did they forget to fire their bows?


    Three units did not come back at all. One of the scouts heard ''tremendous thunder'' and turned back to find the entire unit behind him was scattered body parts. In the afternoon he lost few thousand men, missing or dead. No signs that they had been able to fight back, but he shrugged it off. His next project would be arming more of his bandits with crossbows and maybe even importing guns of his own. He had wanted to do a pure, (mostly) no cheating run, here but someone pulling in modern tech meant he''d be fighting with a hand behind his back otherwise.


    Day twenty five.


    He ranged back to Ebolt after a few days. The Cultist came back with him, and did her part, and he kept his half-elf close. He made nice with a local too, and his new maid watching him caused her to finally break down into a sobbing wreck, which was always a treat. Someone being so disgusted and scared without him laying a finger on them was like a gold badge. Goule had more power than he did, but was such a bore with it. When one was strong, they should be like a vampire lord. Untouchable, inscrutable, and fearsome to those allowed to see their form. He was, after all, an apex predator of apex predators. Covered in blood. Triumphant.


    Still, he was back at Ebolt because he had a problem. And his problem was that he was told by a confused messenger that HE had floated over to his engineers near the gorge and told them to sunder the bridge and start repairing the wall to prepare for a counter attack. He had told a large portion of his next set of cavalry to fuck off and wait at the wall! He needed those fucking horses! The messenger was also told to recall a set of adventurers to protect his capital. Doing those things would CUT him OFF. Did the man not understand that?!


    He took an extra big glob of toothpaste and worked up a froth. His teeth were filthy! They needed to be clean, hard, sharp, ready. Always ready. He spit the glob of white foam at the man''s boots, and he held his ground. The man seemed to catch on at that moment that the only thing that saved him was The Raven''s curiosity.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°What.  What made them THINK that? What made YOU take a message from someone who is NOT me, cannot POSSIBLY be me unless I FLEW a jet...¡±


    Of course, the peasant thought he could just fly there. It made more sense. He took a deep breath, but what he heard next confirmed what he had feared.


    ¡°He had black hair, wore your clothes, had the protection you have, he floated above the ground too, and I felt the same terrible awe in him that I do you! I did mention you... he didn''t look quite right, and he flicked his hand and knocked me over!¡±


    The news disquieted him. He HAD been missing a few things, but he had chalked the missing clothes up to Tutu being creepy. But the fact some SPY was LEAKING information meant a craven ape was mimicking him! That and it explained why he had the elf doing laundry what felt like every four days. Someone had jacked his clothes!


    Rupert? No. The man was past his shelf life and seemed content to accept scraps and The Raven''s leftover women, taking broken things and bending, rather than standing up straight.


    The general? No. The former Osterian was a little boy-scout and certainly didn''t like how The Raven did things, but he knew both where his bread was buttered and that their fates had been tied together the moment he had let The Raven take the capital.  There were plenty of bleeding hearts about how terrible he had been, but the general was hobbled by something better than threats and fear, or treasures and greed, even better than women and lust, and something only second to when all those things combined. The general knew that he had made Osteria BETTER. Oh yes, bandits would do things. There was crime, of course. But for every distraught maiden there were ten less people starving.


    The Raven had his own people attached to the general and had heard more or less those words from him. That and planted a  bug on his helmet and armor, because why not listen in on a society who didn''t know what a wire was much less wiretapping?


    It could be the cultist. Tutu''s pink tent, huge heaving chest and small body...


    Actually she was nuts. Like, really crazy. And her plotting was to try to marry The Raven, which either she knew she was being recorded but had badly misjudged what her appeal was, or was just crazy. She LIKED pain. Liked the teeth.


    Possible, but unlikely.


    The Dark Camp? Closer to it. The assassins were pragmatic and weirdly ritualistic. One man showing himself a true master of shadow could easily turn an ambitious assassin. If it was the head of the camp, the entire group was compromised. They had been waiting for their masters to respond for a long time, only doing minor house-keeping work. Might be time for a good old fashioned Stabtoberfest to clean house.


    Probably the best shot if there was a traitor. But they had a bunch of weird honor rules that they REALLY followed, even in the face of absurd money.


    Sky Knights? No. They had issues with talking with and understanding people but they were as loyal as anyone he''d ever seen. That and any betrayal they''d enact would be direct. The symbiosis or gestalt left them with a sort of bird-brain effect, where they could remember their past but not really understand society well anymore. It was all traded in for that lethal sense of how to work in tandem to spear, kill, and eat their enemies.


    They followed him because they saw him as kin. They didn''t have fear, and yet they respected him. The symbol of the Raven, the way he turned the furious leftovers of the starving peasants into a bandit army... he had attained symbolism with the kingdom. He had swooped in to take it, and them, away from less worthy masters. He also understood that they were gestalts and didn''t insult half the bottom half when talking to the top, which helped when it was time to ask them to turn on their former masters.


    The mountain people... another case of poor people skills, not in camp enough to be effective spies, and everyone watched them in camp, because they knew what kind of stuff they liked to do. But unlike himself, they did not know how to present their ways with confidence. They were embarrassed by it. Which was sad, because there was a confidence in hunting men who were also armed and woodsmen. There was once this show, his grandfather showed it to him, of people playing basketball, but it was some sort of fake show game where one team just clowned on the other while their music played, pulling goofy tricks and just outclassing them every time. Perhaps when he caught The Shadow he''d chain the man up, then do the old snake in a can or bucket of confetti.


    Up until The Ogre showed up, the mountain people should have been shoving it in everyone''s faces that they were good, dribbling the ball (or heads, as it were) all over the court and playing pranks to scare their prey further. They were the best damn hunters because they hunted other hunters, they should have had their own version of that whistling music from that basketball show playing whenever they were skinning some would-be ranger and whatever dumb pet they took.


    But instead they tried to NOT talk about what everyone knew they did. So no, spying was confidence and lies and they were too conspicuous and too embarrassed.


    He didn''t let too many villagers or natives near him, and the ones that he did bore marks and usually never came back.


    Bandits? Possible he had men selling information. But it was a numbers game, he had millions of eyes and ears too. He confirmed big windfalls after the fact. He had men who had seen the general''s melted coins. Even without his own measures, he had found that these terrible criminals were loyal to him because they had once been good people, and there was some core of them that wanted to go back to order, to have what they had but be more than the whipping boy, and that in picking up weapons under HIM they were stronger than those who did not fight.


    Osterias old army was under The General. When he bothered to think about it they called him General Sezlim. They were kept in the center of his formations because the old army was both more valuable as troops and because an outer layer of bandits kept them contained and observed. The messengers were a mix of both troops to keep each other on their toes.


    After letting the man go he set about finding three other messengers who had all had him snap at them in 3 different spots to do the wrong thing. No wonder his back line was faltering. Now he had to worry about a spy and impersonator too?


    Bah. He didn''t know. He wasn''t sure how he was being scouted. He needed more mages. The ones he had were all specialized. His best infomancers were in the capital and he didn''t dare pull them off keeping things clean at home lest he have a two day express trip on the back of a wyrm to go kill another one of his lordlings.


    He decided to focus on what he could control. He''d keep moving his units slowly, supporting each other. It would make advancing up the plains a grind again, and he had a few groups that going directly south had started skirmishing with imperials so... he needed tests.


    Slow and steady though would eliminate the advantages his enemies had, unless they were holding onto nukes.


    Day Thirty.


    A month after the fall of Ebolt, the raiding on his caravans had ground his forward press to a halt.


    First, it was just an attack by The Ogre from the mountains onto flat ground. Not shocking, as the old road was closer to the mountain than he liked and someone had not listened to his orders to stay closer to the coast. The costs were a few dead bandits and five carts of preserved food. The Ogre had not bothered to kill everyone, leaving behind five women who were part of the supplies being sent up to the front. The girls, once they had been cleaned of blood and could form words, all spoke of seeing something huge in the dark and talked a lot about blood. It was like they''d never got it in their mouths before.


    One of them saw the Ogre and said it used it''s hands to talk, but otherwise was silent aside from the ''minstrels bell'' on his strange conveyance. He run it vigorously before the attack, then a couple of times afterwards as he rode circles around the survivors.


    ¡°He set us free and with his hands said we would be safe to come with him, but I feared he would eat us.¡±


    The Raven did not comment on the irony there.


    He needed street lights so his men could see the big fucker on a bike coming, but he might as well wish for Goule to show up and summon an army of demons for him.


    Then the slime problem started. It started near Ebolt, and his mind snapped to the likely culprit right away: namely the Sky-Riders that had been shot down. The fluid filled one. It had leaked pink, and his problem was pink goop.


    The pink slimes that kept showing up at the bridge were no doubt related to the invasion, as the living locals he tracked down had never heard of them. So it was some sort of long-game gambit... to act as a distraction? The things had no interest in man or beast, but they LOVED eating stone and mortar. The adorable little gumdrops would bounce around and then, finding just the right piece of mortar in his critical infrastructure, then gobble it up and bounce off.


    After six days of them showing up the stone bridge in Ebolt fell apart, as did parts of the walls he had wasted two charges breaching and a few weeks trying to repair. Well, one charge and leftovers, but two shots!


    Then his food caravans started getting blown up by the drones he had lost, armed with explosives. The exact number he had sent came back and took out cart each. It was a staggering waste of resources to further drive the insult home: They were so much more useful as scouts than mere bombs. It was dumb, crass, domineering, and the sort of insult HE should be doing to SOMEONE ELSE.


    What really pissed him off after a few days was that all those attacks had also nearly completely destroyed his road. The one GOOD thing he was doing and they were undoing it! He couldn''t press forward until he had a supply line, and that meant pulling his elite troops back from the front to protect it.


    Day thirty three.


    He was missing Sky Knights. He had made titanium armor for them, given them basic shields and rifles, and taught them to hunt from the sky. But instead, they reported an archer on the plains was hunting them. The one who saw it happen said that the attack came from so far they could not see their enemy, even given the variety of altered eyes they had. Two arrows every time, one to break the shield, another hitting their neck.


    On top of losing Sky Knights, he was also low on food. The Shadow had been hitting his caravans now as well as The Ogre, appearing out of nowhere and stabbing his men hundreds of times before vanishing. His assassins had been thinned out and no longer wanted to leave camp. His adventurer forces went up into the mountains and never came back. The mountain men turned home. He considered killing the cowards, but he instead was trying to babysit the engineers lest he lose them to attacks. He broke another toothbrush in the afternoon. He was running low, they kept SNAPPING. He could FEEL a cavity forming SOMEWHERE on his teeth!


    Day thirty five.


    The north front was shot to hell. He guessed there were now at least twenty high speed hover bikes running amok in his back line. It meant almost all his food was moving through a hole in the wall, and now needed constant protection. He was burning cash to buy food now from dwarven ships. He should have blasted the fuckers, but they had oats, wheat, rice, and ''dungeon meat'' which he suspected was rat jerky but bought anyway.


    Day forty.


    Returning to the front, he learned that the natives on the high plains had been slowing his progress. They had abandoned their homes and started attacking his forces then leading them on merry chases... into more enemies. Well fed and well armed, they seemed to know exactly where he was, where he wasn''t, and when he set traps out.


    They left survivors too, and they always blabbered about whatever horrors they fought. Peasants with daggers that fired lightning. A woman with steel in her ears that took a charge of 20 horses and knocked them all over somehow. Another group of bandits turned into pink slush. His double even showed up and beat a squad of one hundred men, scattering them off into the plains.


    All that, but the real enemy was food. One of them, a woman in a brown outfit, would find his scouts and try to lure them to follow her with steaming hunks of meat. Sausage Siren probably was just one of the things eating his men.


    He had a few of his agents from the capital arrive, mostly to seek out anyone spying and to try to stem a trickle of bandits breaking off from the high plains to try to go back to Osteria. He had flayed one group who had dared to pillage his own carts for food! He then had to flay a few more men who caught and ate ravens attending to their dead. The first thoughts of calling it came to him, and he dismissed them. This was what he wanted... a real challenge.


    Day forty five.


    The Raven gave a short speech a few times, all the same phrase: ¡°The next person who tells me they are afraid to march because of a fucking spider, I will butcher myself.¡±


    The groups of men he had mostly listened, and listened hard when he followed through, cutting some flabby man into hunks of meat, glaring at the bandits around him as he did.


    He started brushing his teeth again as he stalked away. The man was old, gross, disgusting. Not worth his attention or skills. Perhaps he''d kill his bartender after all. They were running low on booze. That would likely decide it... every man needed a vice.


    Day fifty.


    He had seen two of things that had been hunting him. The shadow, riding a hover cycle off and waving at him. He had grabbed his cannon, but the damn cloaked figure was gone before he could draw a bead, using the sun to hide their flight path. He had to re-assess those bikes, he''d never seen anything that size in The Collective move that fast. No wonder he was getting ground down.


    The Ogre, on the other hand, did the same on a regular fucking bike. The big lump had been going over three hundred miles an hour, something like a huge figure blasting a line of dirt behind him.


    In his binoculars, he saw the man turn and look at HIM... and give him an evil smile. Then in a puff of dust he vanished. He fired at the spot he vanished, but FELT that he had just wasted a shot.


    Still, for every group that had been cut down to one man, he had dozens and dozens in his cluster. Yes, they were half starved.... but he was drawing closer.


    Day fifty-five.


    His enemy had been protecting The Source, and if he went there he''d force them to respond, to come to HIM where he could focus his forces. Sky knights he kept within support gunfire range saw The Source and it''s black spined tower. Signs of fortifications covered the entire area, and a mysterious wagon made of metal with no horses was resting on a rise next to the spiked tower. It was go time. He kicked Tutu out of bed and got a ride from a Sky-Knight to his wagon at the front of the army, carrying the crystal weapon and cooler with him.


    All the little frustrations were about to come together! He was going to CRUSH those CHEATERS!


    The fifty fifth night.


    The Raven fled across the endless dirt plains, shield failing to keep all the dirt out as he pushed his energy into his flight.


    It was a play-world. One he had been crushing!


    Instead his army had scattered, his elites were dead, and his weapon gone.


    That BASTARD. How many men did he have? How had he gotten so close? How did he move his entire camp?


    The Raven reached for his last tube of toothpaste, a nasty chemical brand that Rupert must have pulled from the bottom of his stash, and started running as he pulled a red metal toothbrush out.


    How? How had he LOST?! It was impossible! He was SMARTER and STRONGER and RICHER than these clueless apes! He had a WHOLE NATION wrapped around his finger! The WORLD was HIS!


    It was fine. He could come back from this.


    He switched his grip to get the side of his mouth, and the last thought he had was that he didn''t remember ever having a red metal brush.


    There was a pop, and The Raven was no more.

 Chapter 155: Corvayne Takes an L

    It had been two days since the battle of Ebolt.


    Corvayne felt his bike bucking and shaking under him, as it had the entire ride back. He was shocked that it was flyable at all, given how many parts were melted on the exterior. Spears looked like someone had been blowing bubbles in her, the combined bike wobbling and sometimes blasting out little sparks. A pack of Drakes chasing them managed to catch a few wires on Spears''s ride in the ensuing fight. Between his own melted anti-gravity and her impulse getting shredded,  Corvayne had to hitch them together to fly at all, using Gravity to help try to smooth out the strained anti-gravity unit when it got sketchy. The bumpy ride and slow pace reminded Corvanye of numerous times limping back to The Watchers.


    He swore the bike coughed when he let it finally drop the last three feet to the ground.


    Looking at Camp, he could see that there was a divided super-tent with lots of flaps, reinforced with what looked like red metal chains. There were some of the people he had brought across the gap wearing new clothes or cleaned imperial uniforms. All of them slowed as Corvayne made his way up to the truck. They started saluting, either to him or Bell. Perhaps it was her tattered gear, a bandage on her forehead where a chip of wall hit her, or the blood on her from holding the bridge. If it was him, well, they had the wrong idea. Corvayne had first gotten into this to protect the stupid black rock, no matter the reason he had now for sticking to it.


    He was no hero.


    At the truck entrance, he saw Hari come up and hug him, and he returned it half-heartedly. ¡°I''m back.¡±


    ¡°What happened? How did they catch you?¡± She fussed over places where the different levels of light and heat had burned his clothes or alternatively bleached them white. Even his chain mail was slowly recoloring itself from getting seared white. A little detail of the magic that made Corvayne wonder what the hell the crystal weapon The Raven had used really was.


    Corvayne looked to Bell, Spears, then at the imperial soldiers and civilians. ¡°He had a pretty strong magic weapon. Shields too. Won''t be easy to take him out, not without losing people.¡± A trade he wasn''t willing to make.


    Hari nodded, then glanced back at the truck. ¡°We should speak, at your camp... later...¡±


    ¡°What''s wrong?¡±


    The elf woman shook her head. ¡°Anastasia has been... busy. I mean, she''s working on the spell book, we''ve been trying to understand the system better with my Master... and now learning about The Raven and what happened to Osteria she''s coming up with time tables with the soldiers about how we can squeeze in those quests and what backup we can call... I might have to go for a few days, you know, home to make a shrine to Gygax, but if we are worker bees we....¡±


    Corvayne felt himself getting... angry at Hari. ¡°Hari, you''ve told me everything but why you and Wick are acting weird. Anastasia... she''s started using her old name, and her telling me to not come near her...¡±


    ¡°You... I...¡± Hari looked torn, glancing between Corvayne and the Truck. No doubt Wick was cooped up in what had been his room. Corvayne took a step towards the door, and she barred him. Was he BANNED from the truck? Her face turned desperate. ¡°Corvayne please!¡±


    He took a step back. Was she... scared? He took a deep breath and turned around, feeling so tired and frustrated that he was starting to feel sick to his stomach. Part of him wanted to just hike back to Cascadia.


    ¡°Fine. Good to see you too, after nearly being burnt to ashes.¡±


    He hooked a hand under the wires tying the Hover-Bikes together and once more called on his Gravity power to help lift it, dragging it off across the sand. He did look back and saw that Hari seemed to be still fidgeting, looking like a rabbit about to bolt. Everything in the air when he had walked up to the Truck made him feel that this was all the first hot winds of a sandstorm, about to grind him to the bone.


    Back by his tent, he dropped the cycles in the dirt and dropped onto a rock, holding his head between his knees for a moment. He''d have to go back to the truck, and go inside to grab wire. He thought about the past, when he had run for miles and miles with a broken ankle, every step on the shifting desert punishing him, his arms burning from pushing sand with his spear to try to keep weight off his foot. Corvayne wanted to walk back to the truck right now as much as he''d like to do a repeat of that run. The downside of [[Understanding]] was he was starting to notice things that he did not think about, and how many times he nearly died in the past was up there for sure.


    He felt his body lighten and looked up to see that Spears brought Brines with her, as well as a big spool of new looking copper wire. Corvayne''s former warehouse boss was fairly jovial, talking about all sorts of exciting things that were happening around camp as he sat and started spooling new A-gravs with Corvayne and Spears.


    ¡°-And we''ve been doing work with those Towers! It''s become a lot more organized with goals and I feel like Undine has been a boon.... she''s got Wick doing more organization stuff... oh sorry I know things are tender with you two, but take it from me, I''ve gotten more than my fair share of lumps dating. You''re fit, good looking, and smart! Not to mention rich, with your take of the gold... though I imagine if there''s dungeons on Cascadia, is gold even worth anything anymore?¡±


    Corvayne finished spooling his anti-gravity device. ¡°Probably not... unless the floors are smaller than we think.¡± He stood up to go replace the burned out unit in his bike.


    The athletic man shook his head, momentarily distracted from spooling and using a hand to help give what he was saying weight. ¡°Everybody at -the- inn says they are as good as infinite. Supposedly there was a thousand year expedition that went as far as they could on an easy floor, then tried to come back. I think of myself as pretty learned, you know, graduated from the most prestigious university on Cascadia, but the jargon about how they proved it, I worry that if I have wine it will react with the sleeping effect of the lecture and I''ll go into a coma, it''s so-¡±


    ¡°Brines, I totally get it. I have the same thing when I try to skip ahead on my summoning book. What did they learn?¡±


    ¡°Oh! Oh, well Corvayne, you see, every floor is at least millions of miles long each way. Then again, some other fine scholar said once wasn''t enough to just take someone else''s word for it. A little extreme, don''t you think? Well, other floors had it too.¡±


    Corvayne finished with putting the anti-gravity device into his bike. They still needed one for Spear''s ride. He thought about what Brines had said. ¡°So my point stands. You have a never-ending source of something, you tank it''s price. In the desert, you valued every ounce of water. On Cascadia you would kill to be dry for more than five minutes at a time.¡±


    Stolen story; please report.


    Brines frowned. ¡°It wasn''t that bad!¡±


    ¡°I was trying to be funny.¡± Corvayne shrugged. He didn''t feel it, but Brines was clearly trying to help buoy him, possibly looking over his shoulder back to camp for when a heavy hitter like Mister I or Grunt would come sauntering up. It wasn''t really fair to Brines, as he usually got pushed around by everyone else. Corvanye cleared his throat. ¡°Thanks Brines. Glad to have you helping.¡±


    Brines beamed. ¡°Why of course! A little upper body work out, spooling these things!¡± He rolled up his stretchy workout outfit then flexed.


    Spears smiled. ¡°Oh, you boys are so lucky. It''s really hard for girls to stay in shape.¡± She then oozed into a puddle with one hand kept intact to keep her project off the ground.


    Corvayne gave her a poker face until she started cackling at her own joke, which cheered him up a little.


    Bell came back to camp later in the afternoon, looking better kept and a little less shell shocked. She had killed a lot of men on the bridge and been very quiet the entire ride back. Corvayne had worried a little about a concussion but she didn''t have any signs, so he guessed it was just she hadn''t actually killed anyone before this.


    When Brines left with a bounty of newly made hover-bike parts, night was falling and so Corvayne started a camp fire. He didn''t feel like working anymore. He also pretended to not notice Spears looking at him, instead focusing on the fire. Watching it''s little whirls, how logs shifted in embers, the taste and smell when a faint breeze brought smoke to him, stinging his eyes, then rubbing them clear to look at  the burnt orange and dusky purple sky. They should be laughing, having a drink, talking about the next adventure.


    As he was thinking, he caught a whiff of something cooked moments before he heard then saw Hari coming to their camp, carrying a basket full of food.


    ¡°Sorry, I keep having things to do to get ready for the trip to see the shapers! I''m here!¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°It''s all right. Sorry I-¡±


    He felt something not-quite-hard hit his ribs, and he saw Spears frowning at him. What?


    The watery woman stood up, and folded her arms. The look on her face was, even rendered in liquid form, deeply familiar to Corvayne. How often had Spears looked at him with the same acidic expression, like he was a bug who just crawled out of her salad? He felt a little bit of embarrassment then because he was hit with nostalgia about being treated horribly.


    Spears spit. ¡°Hari, you can''t just keep giving him trite bullshit. Wick can get away with it because she''s legitimately nuts.¡±


    Hari had a vein on her forhead appear, her normally graceful voice squeaking. ¡°She''s NOT nuts. That''s the problem!¡±


    ¡°Then she is terrible. She''s doing this for some sort of plan? What''s the point here?¡±


    Corvayne could see Hari pushing her bottom lip into her top lip to literally clamp her own mouth shut. He recalled when he had been worried she was too young, and even though he knew she was adult the entire thing was so childish that it rekindled the annoyance he felt yesterday.


    Spears must have been thinking the same thing as she then said, ¡°You know what? It doesn''t matter why. I''m annoyed with you, Hari. Tell me why you and Wick are grinding away at Corvayne. What did you and Wick do? Tell me a lie, even. Corvayne, do you just let them give you pig swill and tell you it''s fine wine? You should be standing up for yourself!¡±


    Hari snapped her head up. ¡°I was ready to give my mind up to save him, get that through your piss-soaked soggy brain! I LOVE him.¡±


    Spears stepped up. ¡°Then WHERE the FUCK are you when he rides out to fight? Worse, you''re here, he comes back, you act like he''s a nuisance! Tell you what, drop the food and go eat kick rocks until you get your grit back and figure out if you care about Corvayne at all or about Wick''s stupid secret more. Where''s Lady Blood Claw when you really need her? Have you asked Corvayne about what he saw? How he''s doing?¡±


    Corvanye took a deep breath in. What the hell was going on? ¡°Spears. Enough. Hari... let''s eat. It''s been a long day, I did miss you, and I know whenever I get the whole picture, it will make sense.¡± He felt it was more diplomatic than genuine, but it seemed to work.


    Hari sat next to him and after a few sharp looks at Spears she got on with dishing out food, steaming loaves of bread stuffed with cubes of seasoned monster meat. Sesame seeds were sprinkled onto it, along with a sort of aquatic cabbage that grew inside a watery Tower. He wouldn''t have been surprised if the grain had been tower grown too.


    Hari spoke a little about a few tower runs she had done over the last two days. The elf stated she had stopped sleeping outside the instance to try to squeeze extra time for delving. He felt a little tired as he noticed she had started talking a lot about things they found, always back to treasure, and that she was looking at him to try to gauge... something.


    Bell was clearly not listening, staring at the fire and swirling a wine flask, blinking a lot. Spears was blowing bubbles of herself, again.


    Corvayne went to his tent after he finished his meal, and Hari followed him in. He was about to turn and try asking her what was going on, again, when she pressed herself against him, somehow too hot despite the air around them being near freezing. She pushed her mouth against his and jabbed her tongue into his mouth, trying to grab his hands and press them into her breasts under her coat and over her living dress, forcing him to feel her up. It was so weird and out of place for her that Corvayne wasn''t aroused at all, just confused. It extended to when she was pulled the straps of her dress down. It didn''t seem real to him. The spell broke a little when she started tugging his gear off.


    ¡°Hari, what the hell-¡±


    ¡°Just grab me. Come on.¡± Hari huffed, clutching at Corvayne''s strawberry pants which he had not let her take off, then pushing her mouth against his again and rubbing her bare chest on his... but it was too hot and stuffy in the tent and something about how she was acting made him nervous.


    ¡°Hari.¡± She pressed herself into him again and he grabbed her shoulders. ¡°Hari. Stop doing this.¡±


    ¡°Corvayne, please, if you''re angry at me...¡±


    ¡°I am angry at you!¡± He said with more heat than he had wanted. He felt a little sick with everything that had been happening, and something about seeing her topless, with her weird fleshy dress hanging off her... what had once always worked for him suddenly made Hari look fragile, and it didn''t help that she looked hurt. He turned away, and she hugged him.


    ¡°Please don''t hate me.¡±


    His shoulders drooped as he felt her crying on his back. Two different girls in one week was too much for him. ¡°I don''t hate you Hari, never. But I feel like you''re putting on a weird show, and when we have some madman killing burning towns and butchering farmers for no reason, it''s another thing I don''t need.¡±


    ¡°I just wanted to... make it simple. You''re angry with me, so... work it out.¡±


    Corvayne sighed. ¡°I don''t need sex, I need people to talk to me. I used to read books, you know? Instead of getting mocked and excluded, I would go off and borrow a book, and read it, and in these books there were so many stories where if someone had just stated something they knew, it would deflate the entire problem, and it made me mad to read it, and now that I''m living it it''s worse than any-¡± He reached into his pants and pulled a shard of black glass out of his nuts with a short burst of searing pain that reminded him to use [Vitality], shifting his stance and holding up the black crystal shard and waving it in front of Hari. He sighed and tossed it off to the corner of the tent.


    ¡°If not you, then I need to ask Wick, and I see the look on your face and it''s going to be the same-¡±


    ¡°Corvayne please.¡± Hari had shut her eyes, pulling her hands from her breasts to cover her ears. ¡°Just pretend it''s okay for a night. Please.¡±


    He sighed, and held her while feeling nothing but tired as they laid down together. What was wrong with him? With her? With Wick?


    He woke up in the middle of the night when she had woken to leave the tent, letting a whisper of freezing air in, and when she came back and was like a block of ice in his sleeping bag and tried to spoon, and he really wanted to toss her into Spear''s spare bedding. Instead he let her get on top of him until she worked herself up into a frenzy, and Corvayne tried to get into it but just ended up grunting like it had felt great then rolling to sleep when she tired herself out and it was warm enough in the sleeping bag.


    She somehow woke before him and left in the morning, leaving him cold, naked, and feeling numb to everything. Then again, he had hover-bikes, guns, and shadow powers to test out. He started putting his gear back on.

 Chapter 156: Standing Back Up

    Corvayne was busy.


    He had hover-cycles to repair. Weapons to forge. Plans to make on his little roll-up computer, and now he was working out maps of The High Plains, his old desert senses coming back. He spoke less, staring off at the brown and blue of land and sky while old lessons were swirling in his head. What troops did he have? Twenty one of his group, ten villagers and the fifteen imperial demolition troopers he had saved. He was surprised they hadn''t left for safer lands yet, instead doing tasks around the camp under the direction of Lady Blood Claw and Mosh.


    He patrolled between doing everything else. Every foray out had him fighting a few of the stragglers, using his weapon techniques to wipe them out. There was a decent running fight that turned to a rout when he took on a bunch of scouts.


    It wasn''t enough. He could make three copies of himself and send them out into the plains and it wouldn''t make a dent in the army The Raven had pushed up to Ebolt. They might make enough bullets to take out a few thousand men... and if they kept hitting and running they might win. Except, they had no counter to the beam weapon in The Raven''s hands. The days after returning were blurring together. Sometimes he went out looking for hints alone on his cycle, dodging the wyvern riders as he watched The Raven''s troops move. Trying to see if he could spot the man without being seen himself.


    He knew he was becoming disconnected, remote, cold. Grunt, Mister I, and Nyx were patient with him. He owed them better then sitting on his ass away from everyone and so their patience just made him mad at himself, especially when the understanding came from Nyx whom he had always pegged as reliably self-centered. Seru and LBC and Spears came by camp too, usually taking turns bringing dinner and sometimes trying to get him talking by just telling him what people were up to. Stories of weapons found, new powers, sometimes of fights with horsemen on the plains.


    During the day he was often alone at camp, as Bell had started to go off to train or help with tasks, taking with her his finished projects and bringing back new things for him to work on.


    A few nights after coming back Bell sat down near him. ¡°Corvayne,  I wish to admit something shameful.¡±


    He did not want her to go ahead, yet his mouth said, ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    She hadn''t talked much about nearly dying, or that Corvayne had saved her, which had been good. He wasn''t in the mood to do much besides fix little things, spar with LBC, and do whatever odd exercises The Spider had been coming up with him to do... something with a bunch of weird muscles. He should have kept helping Bell, as she had started acting like a better version of herself. Instead, Corvayne was staying out of her way, guessing that he might also drag her on downward trajectory. Yet he couldn''t tell her that, because some part of him (perhaps that pesky [[Understanding]]!) knew he was some sort of milestone she was striving to reach.


    More evidence: Bell couldn''t look him in the eye as she started talking. ¡°I have been considering... if I was to go into The Raven''s camp... and bed him... if it would solve my problem.¡±


    Corvayne stopped spooling another Anti-grav unit and couldn''t help his tone of voice from coming out shrill even to his own ears. ¡°What? What the fuck?¡±


    She looked up. ¡°I assumed you understand the logic of it. The fact is, if he can use those weapons like the empire used, he might be the next emperor. Our bloodline is spent, otherwise. I would rather not hand my lands to a madman, so... if I had an heir, if I stole away with his seed... I might skip whatever trials I had assumed finding a true solution would entail.¡±


    Corvayne had to control his own temper, leaning into a gut feeling she was not going to follow through with that terrible plan. The Bell from before might have done such a thing. That, or she wouldn''t consider lowering herself to do so at all. Hard to say how thinking before acting had changed her.


    Seeing her really thinking through what she was saying reminded him that he was failing her too, and that lead to how some of the people he loved had failed him. So no, the sleeping with the enemy solution, Bell probably wouldn''t do that, but maybe she was actually asking him permission, or feeling out what he thought about The Raven.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°You don''t want to do that.¡± Corvayne said, leaving the meaning ambiguous between advice or observation or threat.


    She nodded, looking embarrassed. Which made Corvayne really want to ask her why she brought it up at all. Bell continued, perhaps not noticing Corvayne''s sour expression. ¡°I shouldn''t because... It is the easy way out. The simpleton''s plan. Having a child and crossing my fingers that the last vestiges of the gift would manifest again... it would just delay the collapse, wouldn''t it?¡±


    Corvayne let a out a breath he had been holding. Not as bad as he had worried. ¡°Yes. I don''t have good ideas on how to fix it, and the ideas I have are in very poor taste, ones that I''m sure plenty of terrible people in your family who understand genetics tried breeding the line true...¡±


    He regretted saying that as her expression quivered. Oh no, they really tried that didn''t they? ¡°I mean to say I would never  wish that on anyone.¡±


    Bell took a deep breath. ¡°Our family tried that, in the past. When the power of the blood was growing cold. I bear my own sin too, one I try not to think of. It''s why I asked you such a terrible question. To be sure it''s another foolish solution, but I wished to hear it from you.¡±


    ¡°Let me really sink it... I can almost be certain it wouldn''t work. He''s from a high tech society, so it''s likely his weapon is some sort of technology rather then impressive magic.¡±


    Bell had a gun on her and put a hand over it, perhaps for reassurance. ¡°I''d rather it was, but any sufficiently powerful magic is indistinguishable from technology.¡±


    She had to have had someone feeding her those lines wrong! It was so CLOSE!


    Bell continued, ¡°Someone like you would need to watch what he does to command my empires holy light to determine if it is, in fact, a trick or real magic.¡±


    ¡°And to do that? I''d have to be close to him. I''m sneaky, but not-¡±


    ¡°You are a shadow Corvayne. When you want to be, you are impossible to see. Why are you a hero in everything but your confidence?¡±


    ¡°Not much of a hero in bed, either, these days.¡± Corvayne said as he tossed another log onto his fire.


    ¡°If I thought all you needed was another warm pair of loins to stand up straight, I would offer my own. Hari tried and is far better company then I.¡±


    Corvayne looked at her. ¡°That''s problem number two, which should have been my first objection. You also price yourself too cheap.¡±


    She snarled. ¡°That''s the exact opposite of what you told me for weeks!¡± Then she breathed in and paused, her face turning neutral impressively fast. Wait, was that what everyone saw Corvayne do when he calmed himself down? ¡°I know Corvayne, I am worth more then my weight in gold, otherwise the ''fucking'' adventurers guild would have taken me home already.¡±


    That made him smile. ¡°You''re learning to swear in Cascadian?¡±


    ¡°It sounds like a nasty, base, solid word. I would take it, therefore, as my own to be spit out at my enemies. And the reason I wanted to talk was... I was thinking that easy way did not work for my empire. It had never worked for me. You have helped me feel confident in my decision.¡±


    ¡°Would you have changed your mind if I said go ahead?¡±


    She took a deep breath. ¡°I would not ask you if I thought you were the type of person to dismiss me so easily. Nor would I ever have respected you if you were not dogged in doing what you felt right.¡±


    ¡°It sounds you''ve been talking to Mister I.¡± Corvayne noted.


    ¡°More Mosh. Mosh from a place where every man lives like a king.¡±


    Corvayne twisted his lip into a small smile. ¡°Not an emperor then? Not quite that good?¡±


    ¡°No Corvayne, emperors are busy all the time. Kings sit on their fat asses.¡±


    Corvayne took a deep breath. ¡°So, what about me Bell? What am I doing wrong here?¡±


    ¡°Every person I''ve treated with in your company, including the reclusive Wick and cowardly Hari, are exceptional. But, aside from The Spider Queen, they are being reactive, hoping that guns will fix the problem or that a solution will come from the dungeons they keep running. Which they might, if we had an army of them. As impressive as rockets are, they are nothing compared to the Empires bloodline weapons.¡±


    Corvayne sat there, thinking over her words. Start backwards. If that weapon was the one big problem, how would he go about taking it away? He didn''t know what the trick of it was. Maybe he really was able to use Bell''s weapons against her.


    ¡°... As you said, we need to get into camp and watch him fire it, right?¡±


    Bell thought about it. ¡°He has powerful allies, and a million men circling him.¡±


    Corvayne stood up. ¡°Who are you betting on then?¡±


    She must have seen it. Seen the thundercloud inside Corvayne starting to swirl, all the lessons he had never used before on how to fight an army.


    ¡°A stupid question, Corvayne. An empress does not roll dice.¡±


    Again! Just a little wrong Bell.


    Corvayne focused. Right now, he needed to consult with someone he trusted to fight dirty as hell. He started walking over to where Grunt did his watches atop the truck. From that conversation, he had more ideas.


    He ended up talking to pretty much everyone, with Hari awkwardly passing a few of his questions along to Wick. He tried his best to be civil, not to just sound civil. He loved them both, and even if they were hurting him, he didn''t really want to hurt them back.


    On the tenth night after the fall of Ebolt, he addressed his friends and family. ¡°I got a plan to take this bastard down.¡±

 Chapter 157: A 20/6 Plan

    Before the morning of the eleventh day, the first parts of his ideas were in motion. He had slept maybe two hours, enough time to finally spend his free points. Seru had used her own points to try to get the scoop on what everything did. A little Strength (Physical damage and improved muscle power... but more importantly so his body could keep up with his other stats), a little Constitution (He got hurt all the time, after all), a lot of Dexterity and a whole heap of Agility (He needed speed and to be co-ordinated and sneaky). He also spent a few points on Will (to boost his stamina. He''d be running up and down the plains on foot).


    Another aspect of the plan also came from Seru, though from her whining earlier in the week. ¡°Like, I bet Mosh and Horton could just get us internet so I could keep posting videos. I''m probably down to 0 subscribers!¡±


    That comment got Corvayne thinking about electronic warfare, and had turned to see if the two tech-savy members of the expedition could perhaps do something to stop someone using modern resources. There likely was no counter if The Raven had a satellite over them, but perhaps they could scramble attempts at scouting them with drones.


    Horton heard what he said, then for once looked happy. ¡°This is the kind of information warfare situation that doesn''t exist outside of thought experiments! There''s no other wireless communication besides your walkies-talkies, oh, which you should NOT use unless it''s life or death and you''re okay with them listening in. Anyway, we got a one source, one receiver situation! That''s always going to make it easier to find a flaw in a Crypto setup.¡±


    After that it started to get to a realm of information warfare that Corvayne couldn''t quite get, but Horton was already starting up his computer to design something.


    Hence, on the eleventh day of the fall of Ebolt, Horton and Mosh put the finishing touches on a device designed to catch drones. How it worked, why it worked? Corvayne wasn''t sure, but according to Horton it was only possible with the pristine airwaves on an undeveloped world.


    Grunt on that same day rode out on his new toy.


    Corvayne had spoken with him when he was stuck in a funk, at first trying to tap into the same sort of energy they had with Nyx setting up traps against Argyle. He even called Nyx over to offer the idea of doing the same for The Raven, but the man waved his hand.


    ¡°We have too much space. The only place we could trap would be ourselves, and even then when they find us they are going to use the hyper beam on us. I have ideas on how to use his army against him, maybe on one of your pity cruises you could take me along and show me exactly what he''s wearing, hmm?¡±


    He hadn''t understood what Nyx had in mind then, so he had drifted between people that night, eventually talking with Grunt about how he wished they could go on a bike ride somewhere interesting. The high plains had basically just one mountain and a lot of the same dirt, wispy grasses, and rare stones and streams.


    Grunt mimed riding a bike and taking out a mailbox with a bat, then stopped and started thinking. Nyx snorted. ¡°Maybe you''ll pull an E.T? Fly over the army on your bike?¡±


    Both he and Grunt stared at Nyx. Grunt mimed panning then finding a nugget of gold.


    The idea became the GOAT bike (both GOATs; an animal able to scale mountains, and Greatest Of All Time). It was the result of Corvayne and Mosh tuning an Anti-Gravity device to work with a normal bike pedal and tuned to Grunt''s weight. He would have called it a waste, but Grunt had in him the soul of a true troll, and the moment Corvayne had heard the little bike bell, he was sure that he didn''t need to ask Grunt to find any other way to provoke their enemy. Grunt signaled he''d be using the bike to get at The Raven''s supply lines with his hand shaking as he signed, he was so excited. Right after the big plan meeting Grunt had the bike out and started ringing the bell while riding around the campfire, whipping around camp twice before he bolted out into the dark, brand new baseball bats clanking in his upgraded extra-large laundry basket.


    Lady Blood Claw left camp for a few days after Corvayne started to pep up, coming back covered in grass and looking exhausted, but dropping in triumph a bunch of sweaty smelling black clothes at Corvayne''s camp.


    Corvayne looked at the pile of black leathers with black feathers and black furs. ¡°LBC I''ll help but I think June is better at washing clothes than I am.... you''re turning orange what are they?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw rolled her eyes. ¡°Welcome back Lady! It''s good to see you safe!¡±


    Corvayne laughed. ¡°Okay. Welcome back Lady, I''m always glad to see you safe. It means I don''t have to pretend to be the level headed one at camp. Better?¡±


    She smiled a little, skin turning a happy pink. ¡°I got the bastard''s laundry. Go get Nyx... and I suppose June too. Our little prude won''t wear these things when they reek of man sweat.¡±


    After some washing and June making adjustments for Nyx, he was fairly convincing as the figure Corvayne had seen through a spy-glass.


    Nyx himself distastefully pulled at a feather. ¡°Well, unless it''s my long lost brother I doubt anyone would mistake me for someone so ugly and with such poor sense of style. Black doesn''t even blend in as well as other colors.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw poked his shield. ¡°Says a man with a bright red cape who has no idea what this guy looks like.¡±


    Nyx folded his arms. ¡°What does he look like?¡±


    She didn''t miss a beat. ¡°Don''t know, don''t care. I had a goal and I accomplished it.¡±


    Corvayne thought about distances then, and who was moving between camps, and the projects in the new area that were being worked on. ¡°Nyx, it''s starting to come together, but I just need a few more little parts.¡±


    The next component came about on the eighth night since the siege. Corvayne was letting Spears rest her head on his legs, trying not to wonder if she had to think about something like keeping her eyebrows shaped or if it was just how she was. It seemed like the sort of question that would tank her self-esteem, which sometimes happened when people pointed out she was a liquid and everyone else was solid.


    So instead, he asked something he had been meaning to. ¡°When you blow bubbles of yourself, does it hurt?¡±


    She opened an eye. ¡°A little bit. Like slapping your own face. Not much.¡±


    That out of the way, he had another question. ¡°When we were getting ready, why did you soak those bullets in yourself?¡±


    She adjusted her head and pushed her liquid hair out of her face, letting it fall on one of Corvayne''s hands. It was warm, and made him think about when he pushed his hand into her chest to rip those thorns out. Again. His discipline stayed an attempt to repeat that. He knew Spears teased him a lot, but it would be cruel to make a move because he was angry at his girlfriends. Or singular girlfriend. No body knew where Wick''s heart was.


    She laughed a little. ¡°It can turn something''s blood into slimes, but given that we were killing the drakes in a single shot anyway, the extra effort wasn''t worth it.¡±


    ¡°Slime? Or did you mean slimes, like... creatures?¡±


    ¡°They are creatures, but not a really potent kind that can trap and kill people once they get out of the body. These are sort of useless pests rather than a threat.¡±


    ¡°... then why did you use it?¡±


    ¡°If not killing a dragon sized enemy by stopping their heart... I had been hoping to use it hit something on a mountain... they can set up an avalanche. I killed a small roc nest like that once, as the buggers eat stone.¡±


    Corvayne put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Can you tell me more before you go to sleep?¡±


    Spears smiled and closed her eyes. ¡°If you scratch my head, I''ll tell you all about them...¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Corvayne found it sort of soothing himself, running his fingers across her warm liquid scalp and listening to her bring another small line into what was forming.


    Not every part of his plan was a huge leap of logic. Mister I didn''t need much convincing for what Corvayne had in mind when he approached him on the tenth day.


    ¡°I''ve been waiting for the fliers to show up anyway! Do you think they taste like chickens since they fly? Or perhaps like the griffon bratwurst we had?¡±


    Corvayne got the older man to really smile by looking gravely back at him and saying, ¡°Mister I, I have bad news. We have to go find and grind up a griffon now.¡±


    The monk smiled. ¡°About time you got serious about grilling!¡±


    Shallee and Kirae also didn''t need much prompting to tell him that they wanted to pit the entire plains up against The Raven. As Kirae said, ¡°There''s not a choice. They either come and take our things and kill us, or we make their life hell.¡±


    Hari he had something else in mind with. He had sparred with assassins and taken out more than a few of the weaker ones, but he suspected that it was some sort of test and that soon they''d stop throwing novices at him. More importantly, there were now people in the camp who knew his game, so he had a simple job for her.


    ¡°When I enact the plan, I need you to use a cape like mine and keep showing up.¡±


    She was a little upset at first. ¡°You... want me... you want me to be a decoy?¡±


    Corvayne nodded but then stopped and shook his head. ¡°Not to draw fire, but attention. For a few days, they need to be sure I''m out on the plains causing trouble.¡±


    He spoke with Ears-of-Steel and Reaper-of-Fish and Gary as a set. ¡°I know you don''t want to kill people, but how about stealing and arming the population to fight back?¡±


    The guys looked confused but Ears-of-Steel laughed heartily. ¡°I suppose you''re about to ask us to do something silly, like become bandit bandits?¡±


    Corvayne just smiled.


    Even the Spider seemed to know what he needed. Twice a day she had started dragging him off to do odd things, things he was strangely bad at. It was about day nine he started mastering the weird little muscles she had been pushing him to use and train with, as well overcoming odd exercises with poles and the spider blinking around hurling pool balls at him (did they have a pool table somewhere? Or was it just loot from The Tower?) every time she saw him moving like a painful rendition of red-light green-light.


    He had started to slip into [Agility] mode now as a habit to keep up with her, and then he had been forced to use [Strength] for explosive movements, slipping into [Vitality] and every time The Spider would effortlessly start beating him until he used a trick better, all coming together as he realized The Spider was also teaching him to be even more stealthy, to just know when to move and when to be still. To be aware of when she saw him as reflex.


    His plan had solidified by day ten after the fall of Ebolt, but Hari''s comment about being a decoy spurred his love of dumb stagecraft. The final piece had been trying to figure out a way to get The Raven to miss his first shot. Mosh heard the idea, and laughed at it, saying it was stupid... then thought about it quietly for a good minute, then started laughing saying it was really, really, really stupid, and it would never work, but that he LOVED it.


    At some point Mosh talked to Wick, or Wick had heard him, because Mosh told him she had put her weight behind it. Smoke and mirrors to trick The Raven, but only once. It was up to Corvayne to find out how he fired the weapon, then remove that from the equation.


    All those encounters with his friends, as he pulled himself out of his funk, got him thinking to what he had seen. So he called the meeting on the tenth night, and everyone was there. Ears and Reaper were in their pajamas, getting ready to sleep, and June had slumped over her table, dead tired from working non stop to keep the camp running, but it was fine. Varia put a blanket over her, even while her gaze was firmly on Corvayne.


    A few of the villagers and soldiers were there too, watching him. Some of the soldiers nodded in respect. He couldn''t tell what made the villagers stare, only that it made him want to scurry back into the dark. He couldn''t, because most of all, across the fire from where he was standing on a rock, Wick sat on top of a bench looking at him over clasped hands. No emotions. No urgency. Just an even stare. Corvayne looked for friendlier eyes in the crowd.


    He saw Lady Blood Claw, glowing blade held for heat. Nyx nodded at him. Grunt was in the back, almost invisible from the fire. He saw Brines sitting with Bearer-of-Burden. Even Growl-Whine was there, shifting her eyes from two to eight to six and back as she waited. Before he got cold feet, he stepped up to the fire and started talking.


    ¡°So, the first thing I have to do, before I talk plans, or strategy, is ask if you are willing to fight with me. Most of you signed up for a fun trip to get rich, or an adventure to get strong. If you wish to go back to Cascadia, we have dozens of bikes now, and I don''t blame you. However... what I''ve seen out there is chaos. Madness. Evil. It makes me angry to see helpless people die, and while I cannot fix everything, I will not turn away when I can do something. So... if you are willing to fight with me... I have a plan.¡±


    He looked at Wick, and Hari next to her. The elf''s face was determined. Wick was still stone faced, but stood. Her voice was icy and as regal as he''d ever heard her as she said, ¡°If you are not willing to fight, you can leave and we''ll pay you out. There''s no sitting this out. This is the very rot I saw in The Collective as well: Those who think the lives of others are a game. I do not think it is an accident we are here the moment we are needed.¡±


    She nodded at Corvayne, and went back to sitting on the table. For a moment Corvayne looked and saw that no one had stood up.


    Nyx finally called out. ¡°Hurry it up Corvayne, I wanna know what the hell you''ve been having us do this last week!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw snorted a little, shifting her glowing blade. ¡°Yeah, We don''t got all night. What was my laundry for?¡±


    He nodded, allowing himself a little smile. ¡°We face an army of nearly a million irregulars, lead by The Raven. They dismantled a kingdom before we got here and are now swarming through the one we''re standing in. His biggest strengths are his huge force of irregulars, enough men to drown us out if he gets them all pointed our way. On top of that, he fielded a weapon that previously seemed to be property of the empire, a beam I''d expect out of a capital ship. We cannot let him bring either one against us. All his other assets... are hidden. So we will reveal them out by striking at his oversized army where they are weak. Where any army is weak.¡±


    Corvayne paused, knowing that there was a tempo to this. He wished he smoked just to have a little prop to justify a pause. Instead, he looked to his audience, glowing against the dark by firelight, then held up a hamburger.


    ¡°He, and his huge army, all need to eat. We''re going to cripple his army by shattering his supply lines. I want to see everything he has coming at us running backwards to protect his lines, and I want us to be frustrating and confusing those resources every step they take, forwards or backwards. Our main advantage is both our personal strength relative to his troops and that we have twelve hover-bikes that far out perform anything we''ve seen out of his mobility. I''ve yet to see him use elite troops or high powered adventurers, and Hari has told me that Osteria''s remaining adventurers are mostly silver ranked and gold. The same sort of people we handily defeated before.¡±


    ¡°So, we are going to be nightmares, shadows, misquitoes. We''re going to attack his food by going after his back line. Grunt, Myself, Lady Blood Claw, Spears especially are going to be aiming to cut off his food. We let Hari, Undine, and The Spider skirmish. Gary, Bearer and Ears, I want you guys to start off on defense up here on the plains. Patrol, keep raiders away with rockets and gunfire. We don''t need to get them all, Bell''s got a message going to the capital. Varia... I know you don''t like me but I need your help with more earth works. It''s part of a plan for Mosh to work on.¡±


    She folded her arms. ¡°Walls wouldn''t help us much.¡±


    ¡°They don''t have to be that strong, it''s for a decoy. Reaper and Brines, I want you to be our home guard. We have an anti air gun and I want you to try and take out anything that flies too close. Heck, give Shaelle and Kirae and Bell practice time.¡±


    Reaper nodded. ¡°I ain''t about picking a fight, but I''ve been talking with those folks you picked up, you know? I ain''t going to run from one either.¡±


    Brines looked around. ¡°Pardon my language, but this Raven guy sounds a real jerk.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Mister I, can you be our other solution to fliers?¡±


    Turning he saw a sly smile. ¡°Oh yes. Don''t worry. I might need a bike, can''t walk everywhere up here, but I love a good quail hunt!¡±


    ¡°You''ll get it.¡±


    He turned to Nyxion. ¡°I have a special job for you, Nyx. Relating to the now clean laundry. His current system has messengers, ones that don''t make it into camp. We''re going to abuse that and try to issue orders to retract his men.¡±


    ¡°I sense I''ll either love this plan or hate it.¡± Nyx folded his arms but was grinning.


    Corvayne kept going. ¡°Spears, if you can direct your pests to his roads, do it. Otherwise, I want you to try to hit the bridge and his roads with your pals. We''re going to use some of our fancy magic items to decimate his biological air force, and hi-tech tricks to knock out his electronic vision. I want him blind, confused, angry, and hungry. When you''re cleaning up his men, remember our goal is to scare the shit out of them. Leave one guy alive every time. Make a pattern of it. It''s important too.¡±


    Hari raised her hand. ¡°But what about the big beam? Sooner or later he''s going to figure out we are here and bee-line for us. Or just hit us when we get too close.¡±


    ¡°I suspect that he''s not able to just use it whenever he wishes, but either way nothing we do goes near his camp. Our focus is on his information. He will see this place, and come here eventually... but we''re going to disrupt his first shot. My plan also involves me taking the majority of the risk to make sure he doesn''t get a second one.¡±


    Wick nodded at him. ¡°Do not fail. You don''t have my permission to die Corvayne.¡±


    ¡°I have no plans on dying.¡± Corvayne stated simply. Especially not before Wick told him what the hell was going on. ¡°Any questions?¡±


    Seru raised her hand. ¡°You didn''t explain how you''re going to stop him from firing his hyper-beam.¡±


    Corvayne felt himself grinning. ¡°Well...¡±


    As when he had suggested the crux of his plan to Mosh, the entire camp groaned. Except Grunt, who was slapping his knee. The soldiers and villagers didn''t get it, save one of the engineers who was thinking about it seriously and nodding.


    Lady Blood Claw looked angry. ¡°I can''t believe that you are hinging the most important part of this plan on a trick that should only work on three year olds. I can''t believe that I think it might work, either.¡±

 Chapter 158: In Awe of The Mountain

    It was a month after the fall of Ebolt. The thirtieth night. Even with the full Diamond Moon in the sky, the dusty plain was cloaked dark save for the single island of orange light Grim sat in, nestled near the top of one of the rocks spread in lines over the plains.


    Ten men sat at a table made of a single flat rock. They lit their perch out on one of the rocks with a circle of torches, and placed their weapons down on the ground at the edge of the circle of light. They had pulled back their hoods, and poured out wine cups. Eleven cups, with a gap where one cup rests. Grim was among them, the assassin lord sweating despite the cold air. He had been told to sit next to the empty spot, on the most exposed part of the rock. A matter of faith in his own report, so they said.


    ¡°Will he really sit with us? Or slay us all?¡± One of the other elders asked. Grim knew a few names but couldn''t place them with faces. This was one of the highest gatherings they had done in his time.


    A more burly one snorted, finger tapping the rim of his cup while his eyes glanced into the dark around them. ¡°I think we''ll hear him. The report sounds like a one bladed babe''s first report. He cannot be that skilled.¡±


    The eldest of them, the grand elder, had been too weak to walk up the path on his own. Grim did not understimate the man despite that, as he was still possibly the greatest poisoner to ever spit into a cup. The white haired man shook his head as he had all day. ¡°I did not think I would have to choose between a short oath and the long one in my lifetime.¡± His eyes betrayed how eager he was to see The Shadow itself.


    ¡°There is work, and there is faith.¡± Grim said, hands moving into a pocket to feel the folded scrap of parchment. The message had come with one of the ''girls'' left behind by The Ogre. The false moon had spoken to their oracle. True Shadow walked the world again.


    They had argued what it meant, if they could trust the source, but the signs and codes were true. It asked them to hold a circle, and that the shadow itself would come to them. They were killers, yes, but there was a point to everything. A hint at salvation that would one day arrive. Grim supposed many of his peers did what they did for simple money and power, but one didn''t need to climb the guild nor seek the mysteries to become a rich assassin in their order.


    Grim himself was wealthy, enough to go off to some corner of the world and live comfortably through the rest of his elongated middle age and into the time when men wither and dry up. He certainly could have said no to The Raven, and let some lesser blade deal with the man. Until he got the missive, he had considered the entire enterprise a waste, black coin be damned, and was considering giving the price back and walking away.


    Now? The false moon had spoken. The true shadow was here. The avatar who will extinguish the current age and birth a new one. They were to open an invitation to a thing that had been killing them up and down the plains. If it wanted to gut them, it could now, and their order would likely grind itself apart. Grim found that oddly more worrying then death.


    One of the elders who had been in Old Osteria, Serkal, had thought the message foolishness, and gone hunting a week ago in the night. He was found dead by The Shadow''s spear from behind three days ago. The look of boredom on his face told them everything they needed. He had been taken completely off guard.


    ¡°What advancement do you think he is?¡± One of the elders asked quietly.


    ¡°You mean, what level, Tefril?¡±


    ¡°Start the ritual. Drink.¡± Another cut them off, the voice curt. Grim shrugged, and sipped his wine cup, then passed it to the side. He took the cup from the empty seat, and the grand elder passed his to the empty spot. It was an old ritual, called an assassin''s trust. The next person called out ¡°Pass.¡±


    Another called ¡°Drink.¡±


    So they went. Drink. Pass. Wait. If they wished to destroy one another, it was a time to do so. He had done this ritual twenty times. Never with an empty place before, but at least four times with a poisoning and three of them with more than one death. To partake in the sweet wine of killing others was to also accept their own inevitable deaths. On the other hand, there was The Wanderer, a human who had come and gone in history for over three hundred years. Grim suspected this ''Shadow'' was one and the same. The thing hunting them spared villagers and farmers and the camp followers. A killer of killers. Perhaps it was a trap, and they had been outmaneuvered the same way they often did their own prey.


    The sips of wine Grim took guided his mind away from the circle, from looking too long at the dark the torches barely held at bay. Was death inevitable? Every man dreamed, and many a wise man was made a fool seeking eternal life. Look what that had done to the elves.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    He raised the cup he was going to drink from. ¡°To us fools.¡± He toasted, and more than a few cups went up, a few lips curled into nervous smiles. He sipped, and passed his goblet along, but as he was reaching for the next one, he saw that a figure the size of a hippo had filled into the space next to him. In the torch light, the only thing Grim could see of the man''s face was the whites of his eyes. From the looming shadow, huge hands took the cup and daintily the man drank, then passed his goblet to Grim.


    A terrifying mountain of a man, yet he had slipped into their midst and sat without making a sound. He sipped, wondering if he would drop dead from The Ogre poisoning him. He could see the man''s conveyance now resting on a rock. He heard a raspy gasp, and for a moment worried someone had decided to add poison this night of all nights. Instead, the eldest pointed a thin finger in his direction. ¡°The Mountain!¡±


    The huge figure smiled, eyes glittering with the torchlight around them. He made a few signs in the assassin''s hand signals, pointing at his head, sealing his hands like a treasure chest, his tongue out then a spitting motion and a wiping of his mouth: ''You remembered me, young Bitter Tongue.''


    Serkal laughed, coughing a little. ¡°It''s been forty years since I had that name, yet you look the same. Do you know the shadow that stalks us?¡±


    The large man nodded. His hands went to work. ''My friend. The Wanderer. Awakened.'' He made a gesture like ''world core'' which Grim didn''t understand.


    A few of the assassins were sweating, possibly from the mention of The Wanderer from a man as imposing as The Ogre. Some of Grim''s brothers had been common criminals before they reformed. The Wanderer was a boogie man to any sort of wrong-doer, and while Grim held that his profession was honorable in some ways, in others they were the sort of men who had died in droves to the mysterious figure wandering Nel''Ferral for years. The guild had always instructed it''s members to drop what they were doing and leave whenever he showed up.


    An elder nearly at Serkal''s age and experience  stood up. ¡°We should not be here! The Wanderer can smell guilt!¡±


    The big man made a sitting motion. His hands worked expertly, showing off his talent for the assassin''s hand  signs. He made motions of a hunter dropping all his arrows but one, then firing high, and a field of dead: ''He only cares about stopping The Raven''s army.''


    Grim did not comment that, at the moment, more than a few of them might well as be a part of that army. One of the others nodded. ¡°The Raven is a man of the times, a locust feeding on what was left of the old order. The world has been changing. The oracle last month announced the old age is over.¡±


    A younger man grumbled. ¡°I had always said you old farts needed to step away from tradition!¡±


    Someone else laughed once. ¡°It''s all you have when chaos is everywhere. Even the empire is falling, something our fathers thought would never happen.¡±


    The Mountain smiled. His hands outlined a little kid. ''How''s the little scamp (The Oracle) doing?''


    Serkal shook his head. ¡°Her hairs turn gray, Mountain. The moon spoke to her. True Shadow walks with us. Is that your man?¡±


    Grim watched The Mountain look up at the moon, his eyes narrowing as if two pieces of a puzzle had been made whole. His movements were more than deliberate as his fingers mimed an arrow hitting an eye, sort of like saying something very, very, slowly and carefully and emphatically. ¡°Definitely.¡±


    Everyone was quiet. ¡°Then what does the True Shadow want from us?¡±


    The man grunted, then his hands moved again. A wolf walking into sheep, biting the farmers neck, then slipping past the sheep again... ''When he makes his move, let him. Do not fight him. Do not hinder him.''


    The youngest elder raised his hand. ¡°Do you ask us to put aside our vow to serve? Grim has been paid a part of the First Shadow.¡±


    The Mountain stood, finishing the wine from his goblet, then reached to his side and pulled out a pouch of holding. Grim saw the spell-weave, could see that it was like a bag made from the same paths he saw when he shadow stepped. The Mountain turned the bag over, pouring out hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of raw blades of the first shadow.


    If a gathering of assassins was quiet by nature, even Grim was stunned at the silence around the table aside from the sound of endless black coins hitting the stone. The amount of money the Raven had from plundering Osteria might be worth ten of the black crystals to a buyer who understood what it was, a pure infused shard of essence. The huge man''s bag of holding kept spewing them, enough to fill a cart.


    When the last of them dropped, Grim guessed that there was something like a ton of the stones sitting on their table. It would take their best assassins a thousand years of killing to earn that much, if Grim had thought there were enough black coins in the world before this man''s stunt.


    One of the other masters was sputtering. ¡°Where did... How?!¡±


    The large man smiled, and made a gesture of a candle cupped and snuffed out, then spread his arms wide as if tossing riches to a crowd. ''The True shadow''s generosity is endless... you are welcome!''


    Serkal bowed, putting his head to the table, then lifting it. ¡°Mountain... I had long suspected you were the guild master, before you left.¡±


    Grim saw the big man acting bashful. ''It was nothing.''


    ¡°I know now that you were, since Geskal told me that you told him you might be back. What can we ask but where shall our blades go, King of Blades, The Mountain of Bodies, friend to the True Shadow?¡±


    The man laughed a little, the sound nearly silent, and held up a hand, holding it for a moment then made a little bland face and saluted. Grim could see he looked happy, his eyes sparkling as he signed, ''Please, all that praise will go to my head. Just think of me as... another grunt.''

 Chapter 159: The Shadow Strikes

    On Day Fifty Five, Corvayne marched with The Raven''s troops into position, clad in black bandits gear over his real armor. Spears had promised fog on the plains as The Raven finally got his troops marching to their camp, and somehow delivered even with a small breeze. Corvayne could smell a hint of the sea in the rolling clouds. From where he was positioned, the source was a dark gray smudge, and the black crystal tower was just barely visible ahead. He was probably a five minute walk to where his camp site had been.


    He had spent the last two weeks slipping into The Raven''s camp, using the cover he had set up by insisting they left one survivor to every ambush, except of course when he was the lone survivor. He used the time to covertly take a few photos of the Raven, and made a trip both out and back in to report what he had seen and make some small adjustments. Now he had positioned himself into the assault group that camped near the cart at the front. It gave him the best view of the camp, and he was sure the leader would fire from the fore. He had been watching this Raven character on and off for a good two weeks now. The Raven himself looked like someone had just changed a bunch of colors on Nyx''s outfit to black and given him a slightly different face. Instead of Nyx''s standard arrogance, The Raven shifted between amused, bored, impish, or coldly angry about something.


    On his person he had a high powered shield belt which he always kept on in mid-range or short range with a low threshold for both action and constricting, probably military grade like the one that Nyx had before Argyle destroyed it. Certain black sheen objects on him and the color of his blades suggested he was using mono edged or folded carbon weapons with similar armor under his clothes. He had some sort of personal network device, and on his shoulder was a sort of black box, likely a smart-gun mount, given the comment about snapping his fingers to kill. He always kept ''The Glass Dick'' on him or near him. No storage ring... or the device couldn''t be put away. He also had a cooler, notable for the way he payed attention to the object in tandem with the giant penile weapon of mass destruction. That told Corvayne that was where the ammo was kept. Was it something temperature sensitive?


    In addition to a few potions, he kept a number of dental objects on his person. Multiple tooth brushes, two tubes of paste, floss, picks, a scraper, and whitening rubs too.


    The Raven used them when he looked upset, or sometimes just bored. Corvayne''s plan with the camp had got him on a trickery bent, and asked Mosh on his last trip back to camp to make something special for The Raven. Corvayne considered both requests a sort of back-up plan if he didn''t have a good window to just take the man out.


    The last point about his powers seemed obvious that given his oral fixation, and the woman missing an ear... Corvayne would have to be prepared for this guy to try to bite him, eat him, or use some sort of mouth based power.


    He had several officers and minions around him. A few captive and non captive women. Captives included an elf (possibly half, she looked more like what he imagined an elf looked like than Hari did) in chains, a High Plains woman acting as the bartender, and the woman who''s ear he had eaten. His officers seemed to be a man who dressed like a general that Corvayne marked as a professional soldier in how organized his personal camp was, the assassins including the one who had actually gotten a decent hit on his neck (whom Grunt had asked him NOT to kill a month ago), and a priestess of some sex goddess (or the saint of loudly overacting), and the head of the symbiotic fliers; Sky-Knights as they were called. The few adventurers he had seen seemed to speak through a mage when they needed to address The Raven, but given that his friends had defeated almost every Osterian adventurer trying to sneak onto the plains or into the mountain passes, that wasn''t very often.


    He wasn''t sure if the older man who attended to The Raven was a servant, butler, slave, or adventurer mage. He knew [Understand Languages] but was also treated poorly, and he certainly didn''t look happy.


    He spotted a few other people from advanced societies. The engineer corp all had dress that betrayed a post industrial origin and reminded him a little of Gary. There were also a few spooks, men with electronic equipment who had camo gear and were looking for something in the camp. Likely these military types had set up the trap that killed the prince... some of them sometimes were walking around with really lousy blurring that even a child would spot. He set his own cape to low and wide recording fuzz, and did his best to be in groups. The hood of shadows, even when not fully up, seemed to help him avoid notice. The Raven''s men, besides those obvious modern spies, were tired, hungry, and spent a lot of time clumped around fires. Corvayne just had to act nervous about the dark and nobody asked him anything.


    The moment of truth was coming up. Corvayne had picked a spot just off to the side of the sky knights. He tried to look eager, to help sell he wanted a good seat for what was about to happen. He was mostly just covering how nervous he was. What if he saw through the trick? One wrong flick of his wrist with the beam and his friends were dead.


    As he was standing there he felt attention on him and forced himself to keep squinting at the source and his friends distant camp. Likely someone in camp assessing him. He had a layer of a spell that would fudge his stats under [Investigate], assuming no high level investigators were casting it. At least, Undine had said that at the moment he had ''Warrior 5'' over his real stats.


    Once he felt the attention pass, he turned and ended up catching the eye of The Raven''s old servant. The old man was looking at him, in a weird searching manner that instantly set Corvayne to sweating. If he was suddenly exposed in this late moment, the entire plan could fall apart and he''d end up getting blasted by a beam of light.


    Corvayne was about to look away when the man broke into a smile, and gave him a nod and a wink, then went back to studiously ignoring Corvayne and looking forward, a little bit of joy in how he bobbed forward and back.


    The Raven had felt like a speech and was chattering about glory and the riches they were owed and how southerner woman had never had good large northerner cock before so they''d be squealing once the boys showed them what they were missing. From the half-hearted cheers, Corvayne guessed the camp of hungry men would be far more interested in having a square meal. Which was the point.


    Corvayne used the speech as an chance to watch The Raven and keep watching as he started to set up the weapon. Ah. He was opening the cooler. He reached in and pulled out a package. Corvayne saw him unwrap it, and tried to control his sweat. The old man was certainly looking at him look at The Raven, even sort of giving him a head gesture to ''do something'' from what Corvayne guessed, and he was nervous that The Raven would aim correctly rather than fall for the dumb trick he had set up, and he was really risking his friends because what if he couldn''t take down the shield?


    He didn''t have to. The man took a bite of a slab of raw meat, attacking the piece he got with gusto, clearly savoring it as red covered his pale face. Then, eyes alight in confidence, he wrapped the leftovers up and set it back in the cooler, dabbing his mouth with a cloth, then brought his crystal weapon to bear. The fog had started to drift, almost a tunnel pointed to the black crystal spire the truck and tents. He could see people hustling between the truck and a tent. Corvayne felt a small measure of relief. Even with his incredible eye sight AND knowing what he was looking for, it was very subtle. Spears had said they had practiced, and it showed.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    That is, as long as The Raven didn''t sweep the beam through the giant crystal porcupine. He had to focus on the opening he''d have. The cooler was his target. The Raven kept going, crystal weapon starting to glow white with rainbow energy as The Raven started wooping, ¡°Behold! We are going to put on a fireworks snow!¡±


    When the light fired, Corvayne would go. The Sky-Knights were between him and the edge of the cart, about four feet above ground and thirty feet away.


    With his new control over shadows, Corvayne carefully started moving a hand through the dark patches along the dirt and snaking up the side of the cart, aiming to do one thing.... test if he could move through the shield. It seemed that whatever effect the meat had, it took a moment to kick in as the man aimed and the light changed colors. Corvayne felt a shadow limb first brush up against, then pass through the barrier.


    The old man looked at him nervously, and Corvayne just shook his head and forced himself to smile, then it clicked that he was sure the man knew he was an enemy, and with a shrug Corvayne tossed him a small tube of blasting paste and a red electric enchanted toothbrush. The man looked at them and muttered an [Investigate]. For a moment he looked confused, then his eyes widened and he flashed Corvayne a genuine smile before he went back to looking at the camp ahead.


    The Raven stepped back, and aimed, and fired RIGHT at the truck and tents and Corvayne grinned as it held steady, blowing a hole in the faint fog, then looking away before the main beam swept through. It was his turn. The Raven had seen the obvious truck and tents and people moving, and not the faint edge of the giant mirror Mosh had made. Smoke and Mirrors, literally.


    He stepped back, then used [Flow-Like-Water] and slid around the Sky-Knights between him and the cart. He rolled onto the wood, then slid his shadow hands into the shield and activated his storage ring, taking the cooler, making a small exchange behind the throne as well, then rolling off the back while everyone else was blinded.


    The man had enough juice for two shots, so they were not out of the woods yet. He knew what was happening around him as he switched to [Strength], readying [Storm Thrust] then slamming it into The Raven as he was turning. The shields seemed to even absorb a little magic, but he was aiming for the weapon itself.


    The man, to his credit, was only surprised for maybe two seconds as the giant glass cannon he was holding flung itself from his hands. Corvayne didn''t waste time, using Gravity to leap over the shield and letting his shadow hands seep down to attack through the shield as a rain of spears. A few connected but Corvayne didn''t have time to follow up, adjusting to [Speed] to roll as he landed to grab the crystal weapon. Of course, the clouds remaining in the path of the beam seared him like plunging his hands into boiling water, and even though it was only a moment before it went into storage he could feel the weapon itself burn his hands with a crazy itching feeling.


    He then felt a bullet enter his shoulder and pass out the front of his arm, so he threw himself off the cart and in front of one of the Wyvern riders, a pair of insect mandibles jutting out to grab him. He used [Juxtapose] then [Cross Skill: Backstab], killing the rider and causing the beast to start wailing and jerking back and forth before The Raven''s next shot blew it''s head off. Already people were turning, but he pushed his capes disruption to full then activated his new power on the riders who were lined up perfectly. A black limb shot out, and like a bolt of black lightning the hand snapped out, feeling less like a limb and more like something hungry, dancing through the lined up monsters and their riders and snapping something inside them as it hit nearly twenty of them.


    He then dashed under the front of the truck as the line of monsters died, and as the next wave screeched and started to lift off he used another shadow hand that bounced between three of them, killing them in a moment, then another slamming through four more, dropping them from the sky. Corvayne was a little tired and used [Vitality] to help his arm mend as used [Juxtapose] to slide into the circle of bandits who had decided to stop watching and start fleeing.


    There was a sharp crack and he saw a small lance of light blast the ground near him, and Corvayne spun and saw that The Raven had a fistful of meat, and was chewing it as he aimed with one hand a smaller crystal penis.


    ¡°Yough-¡± Munch, ¡°Fuckerfh!¡±


    As he lined up another shot Corvayne quickly used [Juxtapose] on a Sky-Knight trying to lance him, applying gravity to fling himself upwards and forward over a ray of searing white death. While leaping he could see the beam lancing through The Raven''s own men, who had started to flee in every direction.


    The Raven pointed upwards at him as he fell, and Corvayne almost laughed to see his smart gun totally unable to track him through his cloaks effect.


    Corvayne hit the ground and switched to [Speed] as he used [Flow-Like-Water] to jet forward and try to force The Raven to turn, eat, and fire at the same time. To his credit, he almost hit Corvayne with the next shot, a sweeping three foot wide beam that seared the bandits behind him, leaving bleached white piles of gore in it''s wake.


    Corvayne countered by sending out shadow hands to prod through the shield, one eye on The Raven and the other waiting for bandits to start organizing when they realized he was alone, though it seemed that there was some sort of mutiny going on with assassins turning on their former allies. There were lots of black forms running around with nobody daring to step close aside from one guy who Corvayne used his spear butt to fling back with a sharp crack.


    He switched the direction he had been sidestepping and the Raven tried to overcompensate, and using [Storm Thrust] Corvayne sent a fist-shaped gust of wind into the man''s solar plexus, cracking some of the carbon armor and causing him to start retching up the belly full of meat.


    ¡°No! This is MY world! MY TOY! My... PREY!!!¡±


    The Raven tried to fire the gun again and the device simply sputtered, puffing out a rainbow cloud. Tossing it away, The Raven drew his blades and Corvayne saw his smart-gun pop a few poorly aimed shots off at random. Someone probably should have practiced hitting things that the gun couldn''t track.


    ¡°No matter, I shall beat you on your own terms then!¡±


    Corvayne parried the first swipe and used the moment that The Raven was pushed off balance to weave blows into the power shield, watching through flashes of green energy for the man to try to lunge and bite him or trigger the smart gun to manually start tracking his eyes.


    Instead, the first thing that happened was Corvayne accidentally sundering a blade with a parry. Then another....


    It was almost twenty seconds and in that time the would be dictator went through six broken carbon-blades. Corvayne could see the shield starting to shrink with his barrage of attacks, and so could The Raven. The man drew two longer heavier weapons and tried to lock blades. Corvayne used his cleaver to parry the other sword, then waited a half beat for The Raven to lower his shield and go in for a bit.


    Seeing the smile right before The Raven started leaning forward, Corvayne couldn''t help but mutter ¡°About time.¡± as he used [Juxtapose] then [Cross Skill: Backstab], sending the would-be dictator rolling through the dirt with a huge red hole in his back. He was about to finish the job when two of the sky knights opened fire on him with machine guns from above, and Corvayne rolled under the wagon, trailing strawberry meteors and bits of blood from where he had been shot. He wasn''t sure he had killed The Raven, but he could hear sounds of the battle being joined by his friends, and there was a retort as a shielded Sky-Knight got hit with a rocket, bouncing it into the ground and rolling into a shattered pulp inside it''s shield.


    He pulled the bullets out and watched as Grunt landed with a crater of spikes blasting out, then started plowing through smaller men, with Nyx floating behind him, sweeping the toxic whip across fleeing groups of bandits.


    Corvayne couldn''t see The Raven, but he did peek his head up onto the cart and saw the cooler. Good enough. He stored it then slipped away from the rapidly deteriorating camp.


    He returned as the sun started to set to find Wick waiting for him, clutching a photo of The Raven he had taken.


    She looked upset, eyes red as if she had been crying. ¡°Did you kill him?¡±


    ¡°Not sure, I had to book it.¡± He felt like it was a victory. ¡°I got his ammo and his main weapon though.¡±


    Wick gestured for him to follow her to a hover-bike. ¡°He might have more parts somewhere, and more weapons. We must finish this. Tonight.¡±


    ¡°Wick, I need to-¡±


    ¡°We can talk while we ride. We must find him!¡±


    Hearing desperate panic and feeling his own desperate desire to have her speaking with him after nearly two months, Corvayne nodded.


    ¡°He won''t get far.¡±

 Chapter 160: Dreams of Teeth

    We sit behind him. Corvayne is before us, sturdy arms holding the ramshackle steel and plastic hover bike that he and his clever goblin friend have woven into a thing of beauty. The ugly plain of dirt and wispy grass races under us, and even with the shields I can hear the wind whipping faintly over the hum of the engine.


    I wish I did not have to hold him. I wish I did not need to let go.


    We ask him. ¡°You sense he is not moving?¡±


    We cannot see as well as him in the dark, nor do we have his power to unerringly find things. But, I must know. I want her to close this chapter of her life. To close the fear... it might allow us to yet be one again.


    I know we will never fully bond after everything that has happened.


    Corvayne turns to us, looking at us as always like one. I want to tell him to look where he''s fucking driving/I don''t care to swear at him. For all he''s done to me, he has also been an ally and friend.


    He did as I asked him to/I could not give my permission.


    He must be ignoring that we are divided, as he simply says in his flat, calm voice, ¡°He stopped moving ten minutes ago.¡±


    In the rising dust, Corvayne guides us to a place on the darkening plains with a faint shimmer of a shield. A grim sight, one that fills her with relief. I see the face of Neiv, flayed open like his victims, and it brings us joy. I did not think Mosh and Corvayne''s cartoonish B plan would work/We should know better than to underestimate him. Corvayne is a workman of a sort, and thus unceremoniously loots the man. We want no trophies of him.


    In this dust strewn plain, there is closure. We should have been hunting him ourselves, but to know that our...


    Protector/Lover.


    The split hurts us again, and we stumble as we war in our minds. I feel sick/I feel scared. Corvayne offers a hand and I slap it away. But we have put this off too long. Lover or ally, we must be better then to keep hurting him.


    ¡°It''s time to tell you... everything.¡±


    He looks hurt. We feel guilt. I feel like I''m going to tell a child that he has done something terrible. I regret our split.


    ¡°We have been working with Mister I to remember our lives before.¡±


    ¡°We?¡±


    ¡°Ianasia and Wick.¡± We say our names. Even in the dark we can see his shock, showing that I was wrong/I was right: he didn''t guess it.


    ¡°So... you have multiple personalities?¡±


    We hate that he reaches for a bullshit/false diagnosis.


    ¡°No. Like the men merged with drakes we fought, we are a gestalt. Ianasia touched a strange core and drew me, I mean, Wick out. As we died and lived again, Ianasia weakened. Wick took charge as more cycles happened.¡±


    Corvayne looks concerned. I do not know what Wick sees him as, but he will always be partially my jailor. Yet, he was also my only friend.


    ¡°We met you on an island. Our prison, in a light house.¡±


    We gesture to the bike. ¡°Let us ride and speak.¡± Bless him, we can both love that he is a good listener, and a sure pilot just as he holds every weapon he has ever had firmly and with confidence. It is well, because we don''t want to see his reaction.


    ¡°I was born the 7th Daughter and 12th Child of the Collective''s CEO, Emperor Leon. I will skip a spoiled and pampered upbringing, at the hands of maids and matrons and burly silent protectors until I was old enough to be considered an adult. The Emperor gives his children the choice to participate in succession or to bow out. I was timid and knew the danger, so I fancied the other option which was to marry and start a family with some beautiful, rich idiot. I was a beautiful, rich idiot myself.¡±


    Corvayne starts to protest, and it is hard to hate him when I see him jump to my defense even against myself. I feel myself tearing apart again, and must keep going. We don''t have long.


    ¡°I married a man who could care less about me outside my title, was bedded many times, learned I was barren, and was thus two years later pushed to some place where I would not interfere with a younger sister of mine taking my place with... my husband. I did not enjoy any of it, but took the exile as a chance to tour my long neglected lands, what was left from paying my way into and out of a political marriage. Corvayne I know you wish to speak but we must keep going. Keep driving and listen. Drive us... Anywhere.¡±


    It keeps him from looking at us, and us from seeing him. We can instead look at the ground flowing by. The dim light of the sky darkening. The sky on this clean world is bluer than anywhere we''ve seen but Cascadia. We love places where we can see billions of stars.


    ¡°We ended up on a planet called Cascade Landing. One you know well under a different name. A sleepy fishing town on a planet with nothing but a space port and mine besides. I took a liking to the shores and it ended up being home for a while. It was me and a few helpers at my home... I didn''t have the resources any more for a large entourage. There was a spot, at the crest of Dolphin island that the locals said odd things happened around... I didn''t know about Tower entrances then. I had always wanted to experience the strange, so I stumbled in and was trapped much like when we met, this time.¡±


    ¡°I survived well enough on my own in a maze of green lines, defying gravity. No, I must correct myself. I had trouble at first, my first fight with a furry slug I nearly died to it eating my foot. I formed a crude spear out of a stick for my second fight, using my would-be crutch to skewer another. The third I had found a simple weapon, a knife.¡±


    ¡°I fought and hobbled on one foot and made it up a floor after a long time. I ate monster meat raw, as I didn''t know how to start a fire. I think I was leveling even then, and a lucky potion restored my foot. By floor three I understood there was some sort of progression, and I knew I was getting stronger. I had found other tools, weapons to fight. I had become a hunter.¡±


    Corvayne turned back to look at us and we see he''s pleased. He''s thinking of when Iana was asleep and I ran the tower with him. I have to look away lest we split more.


    ¡°After months of wandering the dungeon I stepped up from the fifth floor. There, I defeated a boss and opened the chest to find a glowing emerald orb. I felt a connection to it, and took it without knowing what it was. I didn''t know what the fuck was happening either, and thus we stumbled back into the world fused and confused.¡±


    Corvayne is following our direction not to speak, but he looks back at us, and we are sure he understand better now. Perhaps he gets the problem.


    ¡°At first I was groggy. I still don''t know what I am aside from that crystal. Ana came out of the dungeon with me riding along, and ended up at the mines. Of course, people had been looking for me, both Goule and Baron L''Tideru had men on the ground looking for us. My father is not entirely apathetic to me and they probably wanted to cash in on some political capital.¡±


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Corvayne speaks. ¡°I take it I worked for one of them?¡±


    ¡°It varied a little each time who hired you, but your talents almost always landed you with one of them. Sometimes I''d only see Argyle. It was Argyle, the first time, who figured out that we were somehow... important. There was a scuffle and I ended up with Goule''s men fleeing off world. You were there as sort of a... mostly a fixture. I think it was your curse, you had a sort of malleability to you.¡±


    Corvayne looks at us and asks, ¡°You mean, I wasn''t awake then?¡±


    ¡°You were like how Tower-Folk are... you seemed real and not exactly stupid but... pliable. Goules men sometimes wore masks so aside from being absurdly muscled and using a spear, you didn''t stand out in uniform. Sorry, we can''t remember the exact time we first met, probably while we were being pulled onto a transport under gunfire.¡±


    Corvayne sounds disappointed. ¡°I''m sorry I don''t remember that, either.¡±


    ¡°If not for everything else, I would never have remembered it. Even with the danger, my life was changing. I suspect now our gestalt changed things for me, my value as a person... I had assumed that my time in the Tower and what I thought of as extraordinary attributes was what drew me back into society. My first husband had been cold, our wedding beautiful but rigid. In Goule''s care I met a man who was handsome, dashing, and treated me with romance.¡±


    I must try not to throw up ahead of what happened. We steady our gut and watch the sky for a moment before we continue. ¡°When I think back to all the build up he did, I always see the ending. But I was on Tripic, important people were bringing me into their circles as a person not just a pawn, and I had a man I was deeply in love with. Neivibleing Von Grozsvert. The Raven. Romantic love. Sweet nothings. Love letters, flowers, dates to the fair.¡±


    ¡°My old marriage was annulled, and I knew Goule by then was the keeper to a different world, one my Tower experience had introduced me to. I had always had a faint appreciation for the occult, and now was jumping into it. Like out of an urban fairy-tale.¡±


    He starts saying ¡°It''s called Urban Fant-¡±


    We cut him off. ¡°Life was great. I accepted a proposal, and wed the man you know as The Raven.¡±


    I take a deep breath. We have told Mister I this before. We can tell Corvayne. ¡°We went back to his manor, and there were candles and roses and bottles of wine, and he slowly showered me with gifts and kisses as he lead me into the basement.¡±


    ¡°He had prepared a room for us to finally... consummate our relationship. I was eager, after my first wedding having been treated like I was a task to be administered to. He asked me so gently, so hesitantly, so sweetly, if I would allow him a strange fancy he had, to restrain me. I undid my fancy dress, placed my form on the silken white bed in the center of the room, and let him tie me down slowly as he kissed me and touched me. I remember liking it, more then anything.¡±


    Corvayne''s driving was becoming erratic. I jabbed him with our hand. ¡°Keep driving and listening.¡± We worry he''s going to hit one of the very few things out here in the middle of nowhere, but the wavering stops as he slows a little.


    ¡°Then, when I was... when we were trapped on that bed, naked, aroused, prepared to be taken by the man we loved... he bit my finger off. I was silent for a few moments, in shock, in pain, watching as he chewed. Then, he took me as I was screaming.¡±


    Corvayne slows and stops the bike. We can tell he''s trying to figure out what to say. But we don''t need him to say anything. He needs to listen.


    ¡°When the deed was done, he began eating us in earnest. The bed we were on was some sort of special artifact that replenished our blood and kept us from going into shock. I should have passed out and died of blood loss when he had finished eating my foot.¡±


    ¡°Wick, you-¡±


    ¡°Corvayne, I have to tell you. I have to tell you that he went up my body, eating us part by part, telling me how much he loved me while he tortured me. I cried, cursed him, begged him to let me go and to kill me. It took him hours to work his way up my legs. He forced a little of my own leg into my mouth and made me gag on my own flesh. He... he fucked me again, as what was left of my legs poured blood out. He ripped my ear off there, and I saw him chew it in my face, his teeth flashing. Then he kept going. The table kept me alive, awake, aware. I could not die or pass out even as he started to eat my organs, raving about the taste, the power he got from it, the excitement. I cursed everyone I knew, everyone who had ever existed.¡±


    ¡°All I could think about were the little romantic things he had done, this monster, and how empty they were.¡±


    We have to stop. The bike is on the ground, so we get off and watch as the last bit of light goes away and the stars really come out. Corvayne is pacing, nervous, not knowing what to say to us.


    ¡°I went mad, more than a little, and then as he bit into our heart, we somehow snapped back to the moment I touched my core. I was alive, whole, in the dungeon. I didn''t remember it all, but I saw the teeth, and I was unsettled and untrusting of everyone as I emerged from the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Something in... in knowing... or how I acted, I ended up imprisoned in a light house in nap bay resort. You were my jailor, Corvayne. You were never cruel. I was scared of you, of all men, and I didn''t know what the dreams I had meant. At some point Argyle and you had an argument, and he killed us both. And I started over. I would remember more sometimes, less others. It varied who won the fight... if Goule won then I as often as not ended up on that table. I ran back into the dungeon a few times, but whenever I finally died I''d be back where I started, no stronger and often not understanding why I had ran away, putting me back into harms way to discover what I was running from too late.¡±


    ¡°So, many lives, many years in the light house, Cascade Falls. You sometimes had hobbies I''d bother you about, and you''d mechanically answer questions about them, about fighting monsters in the desert, about killing bad men, in sort of an artless way. You did not flirt, nor leer... you were sort of sexless and thus the only man I could speak with.¡±


    ¡°I am not sure if I remember every life and death, but I know that at least ten times I was in the light house, talking to you about Deja Vu or whatever topic the books you were allowed to bring me would cover. The topic of the books was frequently UFOs or Bigfoot or Chupacabra. You didn''t mind that I would have you request more books from wherever they came, nor did you ever mind that you would fetch them off duty and read them when on duty and respond what you thought, even if it was odd how you would never speak about it unless I asked.¡±


    ¡°There was a few times we tried to escape and fought you and you accidentally killed us. I forgive you. We know you usually won and dragged us back to our cell, and never fought cruelly.¡±


    ¡°As time passed I remembered more of the mistakes, the lives lost, of times I had let romance take me into his teeth.¡±


    ¡°Then, I woke up before I had touched the core, during the boss battle in fact. We dropped our grenade on the ground and blew ourselves up, rather than the huge goblin we were fighting.¡±


    We are amused that Corvayne sounded a little excited at this detail, perhaps something to latch on besides the misery. He asks, ¡°The boss who tosses an axe? Like we fought?¡±


    ¡°Yes. The second time we missed with the grenade and won but bled out from losing an arm and various goblin spear wounds. The third time we were ready, blew up the boss correctly, and found the faded core inside the chest.¡±


    ¡°It was a sort of switch off. On every other life we couldn''t remember why we ran into the Tower, and we''d die on the outside... but it started pushing us backwards longer and longer into the past.¡±


    ¡°At some point, I woke in Cascadia instead of Cascade falls. I don''t remember it too well, and I think I still got caught, but... I started making friends. You were no longer working for either of the two men who kept killing me, instead you''d drift into town and Grunt would find you and have you mindlessly doing laps around the building.¡±


    ¡°I sometimes remembered a lot and sometimes a little, but we had been tortured into a mess of a person by the time we started healing. I couldn''t keep doing it, piloting myself... so I took over instead and kept moving further back in time...¡±


    ¡°Until I showed up and was awake?¡±


    We nodded at him. ¡°It was... last time. Things changed. It was odd for me too, I...¡± We stop. I have to explain this to him and I... We wrestle a little bit. There''s discordance. Please. I''m almost done. I''ll stop after this. We agree. ¡°I, Wick, it was the first time I felt something weird. I sometimes would fuck...¡± I don''t like to think of someone else using my body/It was our body . ¡°I would fuck while Ana was dormant, but it was sort of just like when you feel like having brownies, you go out and buy some brownies. It was a throw away thing, and I tried it with you when you were more of a... a person... and it did something to me. So, ever since then, as we''ve healed, and the mend spell is a part of that, Iana is waking up and she cannot love you, but I love you, and that has begun to tear us apart. Me, We apart.¡±


    I take over. ¡°I don''t hate you. There were times, I recall now, where you died fighting to try to stop them from taking me. Died fighting your own bosses, even. However, while Wick loves you as a man, I see you as someone else who partook of me, bringing my thoughts back to teeth and pain and death. I will not step aside in our own, MY own body MINE.¡±


    There is pain and discord again.


    ¡°Take us back to camp. I''m sorry Corvayne. The disconnect is going to kill both of us if it keeps going. That''s what this was all about. We appreciate you killing The Raven. You are our friend, our comrade, and our protector, but you divide us past that. We can''t be with you as a woman.¡±


    He is not well. We have crushed some small fragment of hope in him. We end up driving him back. It hurts us. To watch him set his tent up apart from us again. We will go speak with Mister I. Hope that mending can help start gluing together two parts that, at the moment, feel bitter to one another.


    And perhaps to also mend ourselves.

 Chapter 161: Bitter Tidings

    Corvayne had entered his tent and was preparing to fall over, exhausted already from hearing Wick''s story, when he spotted papers on his bedroll, face down with a small rock to keep them in place. He lifted the pages and saw flowing elven script, only marred a few places by running liquid but still legible.


    Corvayne,


    I''m sorry, I wanted to tell you, but Anastasia and Wick both wanted me to wait. I had hoped we could make something work, but I can''t be the woman you want, and I can''t live as a wedge between you and her.


    You remember that we had gone back into the tower? That first discussion was us trying to figure out what was going on, and what was up with the cores. The first time we didn''t learn much. Wick had theorized that if there was a meeting of minds to be had, it was part of the tower''s job to do it, and the Inn was the way it did it. So we entered after you had left and let the rest of the party disperse so we could discuss the things we had in common, namely that I learned Wick also had the vessel power... and because Wick might need emotional back up. I sort of understood what the ability would do from Growl-Whine telling us, but we needed to be sure. We could not use audio recording, so these pages are prone to how I remember it. Pardon if I paraphrase anything.


    Wick had spoken with me before about what our goal was, so we moved a few tables away to lose ourselves, and announced her target as ''The thing running the tower'' then we started off walking through the isles of the bar. At first I saw comely men and women, elves and humans who''s beauty made even you look lame and ugly by comparison (Not that you are unattractive, in fact so much that my heart hurts as I think of all that has happened). These strangers looked at me with hunger too. The inn showed me versions of my loves mixed in too. Scarred warriors who looked like you, a cocky warlock with your face and a pet beckoning me, another with a halo of lightning and no shirt... as well as Wick as a concubine, her as a valkyrie, an elven Wick combining my races cruel beauty with her fetching glasses. Even my old crushes and my one ill-fated fling were there, a prism of unspoken lusts. Around them I saw fairies and astral beings who filled me with more desire than even Wick did with her wild eyes. Deeper in I saw stranger forms, things of hard to fathom flesh and materials that made the same offers in oblique ways I didn''t understand. It was a strange trial, one I would not have minded failing, but I kept Wick in my sights and followed her.


    As with many things, these rows of beauty gave way to warriors, some resting, some sleeping, and some dead at their tables, wrapped in funeral clothes and given a last drink as their bones grimly claimed a spot at the greatest gathering point for heroes that ever was or will be. They were armed with a thousand different weapons, the kind you surely would name in that offhanded way you do, but to me were mysteries. They had scars, muscles, eye patches and missing limbs. All of them had weight too. Not fat, but the sort that begs for a bard to strum a lute as they tell their tale. I longed to sit at their tables and drink from their words, to train under them, to fight with them, to die together for their causes. Again, Wick was a lantern, somehow immune to the call of blood to blood for blood. The endless fighters vanished.


    We pushed on into shades. Dark things of shadow. Images of places and people who never were, or whom had faded into the past. I don''t know how I knew what they were, but there were hints of things I could have been, too. I saw a shadow of myself married at one table, another where I wore Undine''s gear and treated with generals over a map. I saw Wick sitting on a throne pulled up to a table, staring at it with such a bitter look it nearly pulled me from the real one.


    Then the shades too faded, and we walked empty tables. The minutes became what must have been an hour. It could have been a year, the monotony of my feet pulling me forward a sort of hypnotic trance. In this case there was no appeal to this empty stretch of bar. I felt if I sat or stopped it would consume me, or at the very least I would step back to where we started and never come back.


    Sometimes I would look at Wick, and think to reach my hand for her, but she did not look at me, only forward, pale from effort.


    The last part was odd. It was a mix of everything, and I saw races I''d never seen before. Some of them equipped with small scraps of technology that resembled the great star-ship we had seen before I died, chrome and steel and wires and glass eyes. Others looked primitive, wearing crude jade weapons and simple robes that radiated power. And near the back, creatures that were hard to look at, glowing with halos of power and intent and history. Many of them were wearing a red rain coat, marked with the same symbol.


    We navigated around what felt like the feet of titans, even though some were shorter than me! In the far reaches of the bar, we reached a corner booth, one with a window looking out at nothing, and that''s where we spoke to what we had called to us, a power that represented the Tower.


    Corvayne, if you''re reading this, it might mean we did something irreversible. I love you, and I love Wick, and I hope you will understand that I would never hurt either, or take her away. Nor, if things go wrong, must you blame Anastasia. The world was not kind to her, and that you loved parts of her and helped her survive count for much. I don''t know how much she spoke of her ordeal, but please think of it when you consider what happened. We do not know what we do.


    Corvayne flipped to the next page. It looked less orderly.


    I am writing as we meet. I will try to keep up, and pray my hand is swift enough. If the words are not perfect, then I captured what I understood of their intents.


    Wick sat across from her, and I slid in.


    Wick: Thanks for meeting us. I''m Wick, and this is Hari. I suppose you already know that.


    I can sort of describe the woman as short, pink hair, and mouse-like features offset by a simple robe of incredible quality. I think there are tiers of item far beyond artifact. It was implicit of power and authority. I will also state, more importantly, that I had seen this woman before, in my mindscape. She looks patient as I write. Perhaps she is giving me time to note all this?


    Woman: I am the Tower''s representative. You are either brave or foolish to seek me out.


    Wick: Cut the crap. You''ve been putting your thumb on me and Corvayne''s scale from day one. I''m not asking you to change your ways, but instead be direct. We need real help.


    Woman: I can guess. The glue holding you together is straining. Seeing him frays you.


    Wick: I know I''m two parts but I don''t know where I came from, I have to get hints from myself and only what Mister I can tell me from watching me act, and what I''ve told him I was like before and how I changed. What the hell am I?


    Woman: You are a Wizard. The name isn''t in the magic sense here, but the word is a good cover for what''s going on. Think more of a cheater, hacker, or someone who''s will is beyond the keen of the normal mortal.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Wick: Well, I''m dying or splitting and my will isn''t doing shit to keep me together. You said seeing him, Corvayne right, seeing him frays me. Why?


    Woman: Anastasia hates and fears men, you don''t. She seeks peace, you seek answers. When you were wounded, trapped without options, you were kin. Now? You are divided.


    Me: Can I take her on? I obtained a power, Vessel.


    Woman: You''d probably die Hari. You can''t contain Wick yet. Perhaps if Lady Blood Claw unlocked her own ability and you split it. But that might kill Wick. Wizards break rules, but not all of them are doing as well as Wick.


    Me: Such as the Spider?


    Woman: She does have Wizard status, but in her case it''s a very powerful core overpowering a weak monster and then building it into something able to carry it. I suspect it''s why she''s unable to communicate. Still, a brilliant hack from her. I want to know how the bone core she reincarnated into found a spider who had been through a tower or been touched with a power.


    Wick: So she wouldn''t be able to carry two, I take it.


    Woman: I wouldn''t recommend moving her into Hari and you into her. You are more valuable than Anastasia is.


    Wick: Fuck you.


    Woman: It''s true. But I want to save you both. You understand what you have to do. If Hari is to take you on, she needs time. But every moment he''s by Anastasia, he simply does damage to them.


    Me: What are you asking?


    Woman: Hmmf. I pulled Mosh because I needed Lythandies''s abilities. Corvayne will live. He found Spears. He has you.


    Me: You picked me too?


    Woman: If I said yes, that I put you in his way because he needed a number of things, all of which you are, would you spurn him? I grabbed a woman he could love, but also a woman whom could help him get at the system. I didn''t make you do anything, nor him.


    I had a moment of anger, and I forgot to write down what followed until The Tower''s representative pointed at the paper. I ranted for a while and Wick defended me (and I think Ana did too, for I feel the princess loves me even if sometimes when Wick was weak and she was strong she feared me) and told her to shove off.


    There is some back and forth about free will right now, and if I had been violated, and then if Wick had done grave wrong apon Anastasia while in her body.


    Listening to her, I add that it sounded like the being would have done something if it could, both in terms of power and it''s manipulations.


    Me: We are here because Wick needs protection, and we''re wandering around clueless. There''s all these things happening and you understand it.


    Woman: Wick is a weapon. She is getting stronger. Her vessel is carrying part of her that she can''t handle herself, and needs to contain it. If she goes back, there''s a chance that The Magus figures out what I''m up to and if he wins we all lose. So I''m not telling you the plan because he will get his hands onto you eventually, and there''s a chance that he recognizes what sort of threat we''re making before we spring it on him.


    Wick: I don''t give two flying FUCKS about The Magus. I want you to at least say what your dancing around telling me what to do!


    Woman: You need to dump Corvayne.


    Wick interrupted her, and while she was mad, at some point she calmed down after she had spun out a series of curses that were difficult to understand at the rate and distress she was pitching them out.


    Calm Wick was another person. I suspect she is still partly her, as the memories didn''t seem to change, but Ana is reserved, calm, controlled.


    Ana: I would like to, but it would fracture our fellowship, would it not?


    Woman: Grunt understands. Mister I understands. Nyx would oppose it because he both likes Corvayne as a friend and equal, and also knows where Spears would go. Horton would side with Wick. Bearer of Burdens and her minions? Hard to tell. Mosh goes with him if Corvayne asks, and June would follow him. But... if he sets off alone... depends on you Hari.


    Me: Me?


    Ana: I would plead with you to help me. I enjoy your company, even if your contact is often too much for me.


    Me: You''ve been avoiding me. You''re a stranger inside a woman I love.


    Ana: Hari, you say that. Yet you''ve touched me. Possessed me. Known me.


    Woman: You have to be more literal because she doesn''t read those sorts of books in Cascadian.


    Ana: You took me? You... we had sex.


    Me: You wanted me. Wick did. (I was upset and had to collect myself a moment here. I might have missed a few lines like the ones above)


    Ana (eventually): I did not blame you. Nor Corvayne.


    Corvayne had to squint to read the newer note at the bottom, smushed under the last line:


    (I must be honest, to be accused of even cursory assault, I felt very guilty for it, because I had started to understand that I perhaps was the worst of villains, and I think in reviewing this conversation it was planned on the part of the woman, who knew guilt and a debt would help Ana convince me)


    Ana: I need a friend. While I know it would hurt you...


    Me: You also need a backup vessel, because if you fail, Wick dies if I don''t catch her.


    Ana: I do not always like Wick, but I understand her. We are closer than any two sisters. She loves you, and, I... I do as well. More importantly, we both love you. And thus, with you, we are two halves of a whole, rather then stuck together.


    This is where it hit me like a hammer. That there were parts of Wick I did not like, and that some of that was because I was hurting someone I didn''t know was there, and Corvayne was certainly hurting her too. Now, the woman who I loved more than I thought was hanging in the balance with the man I loved and his heart.


    Me: Fuck you two. This wasn''t about getting Wick here, was it? She didn''t know what she was walking into.


    Woman: If I told you what we needed, you''d say no. You have to come into painful truths sometimes on your own.


    Me: Fuck you! You can''t do this. You pushed me into his arms! You can''t take him away.


    Woman: The one I wronged most was Anastasia. In this, I wronged you too. You are my chosen champion. If you cannot do this, don''t. You can run away with him, and perhaps I can push Lady Blood Claw to attain the burden for you and Wick. But the odds that either of you will be ready...


    Me: Don''t tell me the odds.


    Woman: Five percent as you are. Almost none for Lady Blood Claw. Wick has thousands of levels. What happened to Corvayne would happen to your soul. So your options are to almost certainly kill Wick by leaving her to the whims of her fate, letting her return to a core that can not hold her, or almost certainly killing yourself and her by trying to carry her...


    I broke down here, because I am after all an emotional fool and the most human elf there had even been, but I also understood what was happening. This whole errand had been a sort of last adventure for us together.


    Ana and the woman were trying to be comforting, but the options were clear. I had to keep Wick together. In forming a little polycule, playing at gathering myself a harem, I had bound myself to two lovers, and it was not lip service to say that I really love them... love you both.


    I had to be like you are then, because at the moment I wanted nothing more than to plunge my sword into Anastasia. I would have rather have Bellithca sitting on me than spend even another moment with Anastasia, who''s own weakness had pushed me now to say what was saying, pretending it was in any way okay, holding Wick hostage, and by extension Corvayne as well.


    I have never been smart with people. Undine had called me foolish, and again and again I had played wrong moves, done childish things, and had for a moment thought I was a lucky fool with you, and so I was so cursed with a moment of absolute clarity that I had been pushed like a chess piece from the start, with my desire to be with both man and woman, that a misshapen elf like me who loved humans would excite the loins of not only a trapped princess and whatever Wick was, but Corvayne as well.


    You love Wick more then me. I know this. It had almost broken me when you were was dying. Now, like a blade coming around, I knew that if I let Wick die, you would come to hate me. That the difference in love you have for her was greater then what you have for me.


    So I put on a brave face.


    Me: I''ll stay with Wick.


    Woman: You can explain it to Corvayne. He will understand.


    Me: No, he wont. And you know he won''t.


    I am sorry. I have been holding onto this for two months and had been afraid to hand it to you. I hoped in the war, we''d... find something. A new path. But after our night together, and how angry you''ve been with me, I have to do better.


    I''m going to go work on our quest, finishing the wood and bindings. Even if we are not together, I still love you and I''m sorry that I''ve left you when you needed me most, and I understand if you hate me. Even if you hate me I love you.


    Someday, when this is all over, please let us try again. Please.


    -Hari.

 Chapter 162: Painting a Whole Different Picture

    Corvayne lay in his tent, re-reading Hari''s note. Outside, he could hear people moving, no doubt related to the imperials who had shown up after they had killed The Raven and broken his army. Corvayne was glad Wick... no, Anastasia... he was glad she had not alerted anyone to their return last night. Spears also had skipped coming to see him, which was fine. He didn''t feel like company.


    Wick and Hari in one night had basically boxed him out his home. Or, perhaps he should say Anastasia did. Wick hadn''t surfaced as much and it felt like she had vanished. He was afraid that after sitting quiet for so long, her other personality was going to stifle the woman he loved. It was silly, to spend months methodically destroying a million man army than to be cut down by a problem that could not be stabbed away. Compared to Grunt or Mister I, who always seemed to be on top of themselves, or even Nyx or Brines who just had personalities that didn''t let these things get in the way, he felt like a fool.


    He stopped himself from ruminating further. He had decisions to make now, not when he felt like it. He might be able to shift his tent out beyond the pond, maybe keep getting breakfast hand delivered to him. But just like how being near Wick tore her and Ana apart, seeing her and knowing she was there was going to harm him as well. That and Hari... she was trapped between them, and even as much as the letter was cowardly, he couldn''t fault the logic.


    Wick had told him that Hari, her, and Seru were going to go negotiate with the elves. He wasn''t sure why Seru was included, but it gave him a few days to decide what exactly he was going to. The more he thought about it, the less he wanted to slink around the outskirts of camp. It felt like he was sliding back to the person he had been at the village, and he wanted to move forward. Even if he couldn''t change what was happening... no, what had happened. He had been mulling over Wick and Hari for two months.


    Which drew him back to the note. Hari had stated that Wick, the woman he loved, was essentially a sort of gestalt stuck into Anastasia''s body. She was still alive. She wanted to see him. And giving in would kill her. If he wanted to save them, ever, they needed time to heal.


    It meant it was time to pack up. If not right at this moment, soon. Corvayne flipped back through the pages Hari had written, looking at the people The Tower itself (or what they believed to be The Tower) had cited would go which way.


    He wasn''t going to go alone, but he didn''t want to drag all the resources away from Wick, either. Everything she had said about becoming strong enough to protect herself applied even more.


    He heard someone knock on his tent flap. He stood and opened it, and stepped back as Lady Blood Claw came in.


    ¡°Corvayne. I want to spar.¡± She said, arms folded. Sometimes Corvayne wasn''t sure if she just sort of shed niceties when she was focused, or she was acting gruff, or perhaps she had trouble with opening conversations.


    ¡°Sure. I mean, in a bit, I wanted to talk to you.¡± He said, and instead of the expected orange of annoyance she went dark yellow for confusion a moment before he saw light gray that implied she was uncomfortable. He held up his hands.


    ¡°I got dumped by both Hari and Wick, and between hanging out further from camp and setting off... I can''t fix what''s wrong here, but I have questions about who I am, and The Magus and curses. I know you have Nyx to worry about, but when I leave, I''d like you to come with me.¡±


    She folded her arms, skin flashing lemony yellow which was a new one, then light purple which was mild embarrassment he thought. Corvayne was still not a hundred percent perfect at reading her moods through her skin. Lady Blood Claw looked up at the tent ceiling for a moment, running a hand through her silver hair, then looking down at him, a hand on her hip as her skin turned brown with sharp black lines, which was totally new to Corvayne. ¡°Who else have you asked?¡±


    Corvayne smiled at her. ¡°So far just you.¡±


    It was so rare to see her mouth draw open, then for her to radiate happiness with bright pink and a big smile that Corvayne was a little surprised. But not too much, of all his friends, Lady Blood Claw was sort of different from the way he thought of Grunt and Nyx and Mister I. She coughed then forced herself to look stern.


    ¡°Good. I was worried you''d try to sneak off or something.¡± He had been thinking about it. ¡°I know you''re planning to ask Spears, who else did you have in mind?¡±


    Corvayne felt a little sheepish. ¡°I had just started planning who to ask. I can''t ask everyone to go off on a crazy quest with me.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw sighed. ¡°You need to accept you are a leader. Those who you need, will come. Those who you need to stay, will stay.¡±


    ¡°I think I should at least help Bell get home, and I wanted to have her help me ask the empire for what it knows about The Wanderer. Undine is convinced that it was me. Besides that, I really don''t know.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw moved across the rough carpet and sat in a camp chair Corvayne had set up in his tent. ¡°In other words, just a bunch of girls? Mmm Hmm.¡±


    Corvayne felt his face flush. ¡°You know, I picked you first and foremost because you''re dependable. I also need someone who keeps me sharp when we spar. I didn''t know if you would agree, because... I''m not always sure what you think of me.¡±


    ¡°Tch. Pure Corvayne here! I''d come if I didn''t like you just because you are hunting the people who beat The Magus. Really though, you''re the only sane person in this camp. I''d also lose my sparring partner. Not to mention... I''ve felt like I belonged since I started working with you. More than anywhere else I''ve been. You never treated me like a weird tall alien.¡±


    Corvayne did not comment on how often he tagged LBC as ''the tall alien'' in his head. ¡°Well, in our first fight I was thinking it was a novel weapon and opponent.¡±


    She grumbled. ¡°And I thought I was a battle maniac.¡±


    ¡°Well, let me ask again, can you come-¡±


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    She snapped, ¡°Yes, already!¡±


    They were both quiet for a few moments.


    Corvayne coughed into his hand. ¡°Before we go, I wanted to have one of the people leaving with us learn Mend. Honestly, I''d ask you, but I don''t know how well you put up with Mosh or Mister I.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw sighed. ¡°You trying to turn us all into paladins? It only works because they craft stuff. Nonstop.¡±


    Corvayne paused. ¡°Does fishing count?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw moved her hand back and forth. ¡°Cooking certainly does. I think Fishing is the one thing he does that doesn''t come with favor for Lythandies. Healing by other means does, for sure.¡±


    Corvayne sighed. ¡°In other words, I might take a jab at it, because I do enjoy working on machines.¡±


    ¡°Ask who you''re going to ask. If Bell is going to work with us, I think you should drag her through at least a tower run.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I don''t understand how she turned around so fast.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw chewed on her lip. ¡°We were just talking about Mend. An ability that came with a goblin who sort of materialized in your path. In doing so, set off Wick''s dual awakening. A powerful tool sort of carelessly thrown into our path, wouldn''t you say?¡±


    Corvayne looked down at his boots of running. ¡°One of many, I''d say.¡±


    ¡°Either way. We take anyone coming along for the ride and make sure they have powers, gear, and that Mosh has time to get us equipped for possibly a long haul. I mean, at least getting our bikes tuned to run on whatever we can find. He figured out a way to make the Truck run on your shards.¡±


    This caught his attention. ¡°They have a use?¡±


    ¡°The things are crystallized magic. The shrine to Lythandies is probably going to end up surrounded by a fortress the moment we move our truck.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I feel kinda silly now that I''ve tossed so many away.¡± He had dumped a whole bunch into the pond where Mister I was fishing. Would he have to go diving in to recover some?


    ¡°I see that look. We have tons and tons. We''re going to try trading next time we find a spot in the tower with things we want. Until then, I''ve got yarn to work on.¡±


    This shocked Corvayne. ¡°You knit?¡±


    ¡°I''m a complete newbie, but I''ve come to feel... over exposed when I''m just wearing my jumpsuit, and the only thing we can buy is goat byproducts out here so YES, I knit, and now I''m going to make things and hope it makes Lythandies grants me the ability to fix everyone''s broken brains. We thought of the same thing.¡±


    She got up, and paused. ¡°We''ll spar later but listen...¡± She looked around at the tent walls, then turned to him. ¡°Are you all right?¡±


    She always got him when she stopped sounding gruff. He looked down. ¡°I knew this was coming, some of what I was doing was... trying to throw myself into a distraction.¡±


    She sighed, and gestured for Corvayne to step closer, then as he did wrapped him in a hug. ¡°Make sure to take people along who are going to help you get better. Your spear being sturdy and sharp is no good if you''re broken.¡±


    ¡°You too. If Nyx doesn''t go...¡±


    She laughed and pushed Corvayne to arms length. She was smiling but looked a little blueberry around the edges of her enforced grey. ¡°He''ll go. Spears will go, so he will too.¡±


    ¡°Do you wanna knit in here? I was going to paint, and usually we feel like talking about as much as one another.¡±


    LBC nodded and adjusted a silver ring, producing what looked like a pink knitted cone.


    ¡°Is that a weird sock?¡±


    She flared blueberry with embarrassment, her voice soaked with ire as she said, ¡°It''s for Mister Squigglesworth!¡±


    ¡°Will he be okay riding with us?¡±


    ¡°What''s one more favor I owe Mosh?¡± She shrugged, then sat before pausing. ¡°What do we pay him with?¡±


    Corvayne stopped pulling his paints out to respond with the answer he had gotten. ¡°Muscle, materials to craft with, and enough adventure to meet babes.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw laughed once, then they settled into making things, and for the first time in a while Corvayne found himself at peace as globed paint onto the canvas... then he felt little corrections and let himself go.


    His warmup was to paint the first Tower floor he had seen on in a heavy sketch book. It was brand new and he spent a moment running his hands over the texture of it, then produced a pallet to mix colors and started moving the globs around.  Blue cubes connected by vines in a yellow sky. It was finished quick, and he had used a little too much paint, leaving ridges in places, but if he squinted it looked right.


    He did a few more of those, painting the weird tilted blue plates that made the second floor, and then the stone building he and Wick had taken shelter in... he stopped halfway through, deciding to switch to something slightly more removed. He picked colors and started with a dusty sky, eventually painting one of the places he had seen the starry eyed girl in a dream, The shore of a river next to a huge rock, and a black obsidian circle on the ground before a gate way in it''s side. Letting his hand go, more and more details started to emerge, and it felt like he was picking up a weapon he had long forgotten as he became more and more focused on the details of making something rather than worrying what it would end up as.


    Lady Blood Claw startled him as she put a hand on his shoulder. She took a step back, hands up. ¡°My bad. You rarely lose yourself, I assumed you knew where I was. Do you want me to get us dinner?¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Thanks Lady. Is the squid cap done?¡±


    She shrugged. ¡°It remains to be seen if he''ll let me put it on.¡±


    It begged a question. ¡°Where is he anyway?¡±


    She nodded her head towards the wall in the direction of the pond. ¡°He likes Reaper-of-Fish and Mister I because he gets the small fry they''d throw back otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Maybe we''ll pack a cooler with fish....¡±


    Lady Blood Claw looked alarmed and Corvayne held up a hand. ¡°Not The Raven''s cooler.¡±


    That cleared up, Lady Blood Claw went out to get food, and Corvayne went back to painting, eventually blinking and switching on a light to make sure he wasn''t messing up the colors. After a while Lady Blood Claw came back, bringing in the smell of whatever strong soap she used to shower mixed in with the steaming stew-pot she was carrying with her bare hands.


    As she came in, Bell called out. ¡°I wish to enter.¡±


    Corvayne looked over at Lady Blood Claw, who nodded. He called out, ¡°Come in.¡±


    Bell looked tired. ¡°The army is on it''s way, late and with messengers demanding to speak with me... I had hoped you''d come out to help me deal with...¡± She stopped herself from going on and instead took a deep breath. ¡°I mean, I should ask how you are doing. I take it something happened that''s kept you in this tent all day.¡±


    Corvayne caught the red-headed princess shooting a glance over at Lady Blood Claw, who was setting the pot down and producing bowls made of the red metal that most of the magical items from The Source was crafted from. The princess looked back at him, and Corvayne gave her a pointedly sour look.


    Bell tilted her chin up. ¡°Why not?¡±


    Corvayne decided not to bluntly say that Lady Blood Claw just didn''t like him that way, and it meant there was still one woman he felt comfortable around. ¡°We were enjoying our hobbies while trying to get power from a possibly extra-dimensional god nobody had heard of three months ago.¡±


    She sneered. ¡°I wish you would engage yourself as zealously as you hunted bandits. Very well, I will not intrude, but I wished to speak with you about what the story was with...¡±


    She trailed off as she glanced down at the painting he was working on. ¡°Why did you paint it without the palace?¡±


    Corvayne looked between her and the painting. ¡°Palace? I painted something I saw in a dream.¡± He recalled seeing the girl with stars in her eyes speaking to him as they looked at something being built there.


    ¡°Tch, a dream? Anyone could tell you... This is the Royal Gate, but open for some reason. Shadow Binders plaza with no buildings. You''re painting the cliff the palace should be on.¡±


    Corvayne looked at Bell, then back at the painting. ¡°How long has the palace been there?¡±


    ¡°Ages. At least five thousand years, possibly fifty thousand.¡±


    He looked back down at his painting. ¡°Well, that settles which way I''m going.¡±

 Chapter 163: Too Many People

    Corvayne opened an eye, then closed it.


    He took a deep breath, freezing air waking him up even as he tried to fall back asleep. He then opened his eye again, seeing that Lady Blood Claw had fallen asleep sitting in the folding chair, wrapped in blankets. Her squid was asleep on her lap, looking cozy in its knitted cap. They had been up working on their project and going over plans to leave. He had been meaning to leave his tent the previous day, and did for a few minutes here and there, but the painting and Bell implying he was painting from the distant past got him caught in thinking about himself and he ended up sort of just laying there. It felt like he had always strained to not stop, and suddenly he didn''t want to move. Only for a moment. A spear moves forward. He had work to do. A quest to finish. His curse wouldn''t fix itself.


    Corvayne heard Lady Blood Claw gently snore and snort a little, and tried to smile as he thought of his friends rather than his heart aching, then covered his face and felt his tears go from hot to cold as they ran down his face.


    Something ripped his tent flap open and with a flood of light kicked his foot hard.


    Nyx cheerfully called out, ¡°Uppy uppy you lummox! It''s been a day moping! Cmon! Those assassins who followed you home are worried, you have drake riders who have been trying to find your tent for hours, and you need to rescue Bell from the reinforcements the Empire finally sent! Not to mention you''ve been hogging MY heavy!¡± A gauntlet clad hand whipped up to point at LBC who was somehow still asleep.


    Corvayne forced himself to use Vitality and rolled over. ¡°Hate me all you want. I want a day off.¡±


    ¡°You know, most people would kill to have as many ladies as you had hanging on you. And I don''t hate you, that sick fucker Von Gronszvert was going to marry and eat my sister. I can''t believe HE was here. And you killed him! You know that''s what I owed Wick for, right? She warned me about him.¡±


    Corvayne blinked. ¡°If we have to do this again, I''ll save that lava knife for him.¡±


    Nyx perked up at that, ¡°There''s the spite I''ve always wanted to see in you!¡± then offered a hand to stand.


    Corvayne let himself get helped up, then turned but had Nyx put an arm around him. ¡°Right. Let LBC sleep, we got things to do!¡±


    The camp had changed in the twenty four hours since he holed up to mope and paint and plan. Whereas it had been just him and one or two of his friends on the rise, now black tents lined his high point. The novice assassins had woken before him, sharping blades and building fires to heat either tea or brew poisons, as well as tending to wounds they got helping him get out of the camp. There was also a pink tent he spotted in the sea of black cloth that almost looked like it was slowly creeping towards his own. Down the rise he could see some of The Raven''s former prisoners were also there. Namely the elf and a few of the girls fishing near Mister I.


    Nyx snapped twice. ¡°Ahem! Corvayne needs freshening!¡±


    A hand lifted a steaming towel into his vision. Corvayne blinked. It was the old man who had been acting as The Raven''s valet. Impressive that he erased his presence so well.


    ¡°Oh. Thanks. It won''t explode, will it?¡±


    The fellow smiled at the joke and patted Corvayne''s shoulder, then after Corvayne had rubbed his face, the man held up a razor with a questioning look.


    Nyx dabbed some foam on his own neck, and the man started shaving the noble. It should have been insane to let a stranger with a razor at ones neck, as much as doing any grooming with a pack of those wyvern-linked riders staring at them, but he also had a gut feeling the man was safe and he trusted his instincts. Instead, he just took a moment to enjoy the hot towel. It was hardly two minutes before the man had finished shaving Nyx''s face and neck clean. The man turned to Corvayne then.


    ¡°You don''t have to uhh... serve me. Let''s have breakfast. Did you take a vow of silence like Grunt?¡±


    The man shook his head. ¡°No, if I speak too much I can''t listen.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Then you don''t need to speak unless you want to. That''s fine. Err, do you have a home you want to go back to, or a family?¡±


    Corvayne got ''No'' from the look. A hint of something else. [[Understanding]] sort of told him to leave it alone.


    ¡°Okay. No nest egg or anything buried under a floorboard?¡±


    ¡°Raven took it all.¡±


    Well, that explained why he killed him. Corvayne gently took the razor from the man and started scraping his stubble, careful not to damage the blade on his tough skin. ¡°Why did you work for him then?¡±


    ¡°Least bad choice. I''m Rupert, sir.¡± The older man coughed.


    ¡°What''s your nam- ah. Well played.¡± Corvayne said, realizing that the predicted question had been answered as he was asking it. The man certainly had timing down.


    One of the assassins, the one who looked the most assassin-like by Corvayne''s standards of what he visualized non-Watcher assassins to look like, sauntered up to him hands on his belt, then bowed deeply. ¡°Shadow, greetings from the dark camp.¡±


    Corvayne stopped. ¡°Is that what they are calling our camp now?¡± He looked over at Nyx.


    The assassin saw this and looked a little worried, his face puckering up. ¡°Is that not to your liking, Shadow on High?¡±


    His mind instantly assigned this man to the ''Gary'' category. ¡°You''re being sort of edgy with the names, but I won''t stop you aside from saying what you want. I''d rather be just Corvayne. I''m also confused...¡±


    The man straightened up again. ¡°We watched over you during your repose, as requested by The Ogre.¡±


    Corvayne thought about that. It explained why Lady Blood Claw chose to sleep in his tent. Watching the watchers. ¡°What about the Sky-Guys?¡±


    The assassin glanced back at the fishing pond, where about ten of the fliers were using weird long straws to drink without dismounting. ¡°I am not sure. But, they surrendered and Undine The Death Witch had them swear themselves in service to you.¡±


    Corvayne stopped in his tracks. ¡°What? Wait. Why?¡±


    ¡°Because she likes flying?¡± Nyx guessed. ¡°Why look a gift monster in the mandibles?¡±


    ¡°It makes no sense. I killed so many of them.¡± Corvayne guessed that between all of them hundreds had died, and he had slew at least twenty himself.


    The assassin shook his head. ¡°You must see it from their perspective. They prize those skilled with lances. And your method of fighting.... most of the kills were the best death they could ask for, slicing the link as to kill rider and mount at the same time. They also recognized the killing aura around your pet spider-¡±


    Corvayne held a hand up. ¡°Growl-Whine is not a pet. Heck, she''s been training me in stealth.¡±


    The man''s neck cracked a little he snapped look in the direction where Growl-Whine rested, a large tent Hari had set up for her. He turned halfway back, eyes still locked in that direction. ¡°Do you think she would accept another pupil?¡±


    Corvayne had no idea and really wanted to dispense with people acting like he was in charge. ¡°No idea mister...¡±


    ¡°Grim.¡± The assassin held out his hand. ¡°Assassins don''t choose their own working names.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you, again, Grim.¡± Corvayne looked him straight in the eye and shook the hand without comment. The man stood up a little straighter and had a hint of smile. Perhaps bad name camaraderie was real. Or he was just happy that Corvayne was in a good mood?


    Nyx lead the way to breakfast over at the main tent, which had expanded to be a sort of long covered hall. It made him wonder how much camping gear they were pulling out of The Source, or if there was just a lot of canvas gear in their raids for Mosh to recycle. Out in front of the tent he spotted the standard he had replaced The Raven''s with, a red banner with a white elephant holding a white thunderbolt in its trunk. In the other direction a camp with numerous tents had grown out of where their truck, The Juggernaut, was parked. The larger camp with orderly rows was impressive even before he saw that behind the ridge was a full army, a good third of which were riding horses and carts laden with gear and kicking up dirt.


    Inside the now massive tent, Bell was sitting near a table where a man with a lot of decorations on his armor was pointing at the map. Corvayne came up and he saw a dash of relief cross her face, which meant some of her stress was about to transfer to him.


    She stood and gestured. ¡°General Corvayne was instrumental in our victory and has more details on the enemy and the state of their camp.¡± His [[Understanding]] kicked in here giving him a clear picture of how Bell wanted to be anywhere else but responsibility. He had figured she''d like to be the center of praise, at least before a grueling two months of fighting.


    Corvayne internally shrugged and mimicked the sort of expression the general had, aiming to seem like he was also a peer. He scratched at his chin, moved his lips around as if he was thinking or tasting something he couldn''t determine was fresh or foul. Then, the decisive finger jab onto the map, moving as he made something up on the spot. ¡°With the Raven dead and a number of his elite forces in our pocket, I expect the next set of challenges will be herding the scattered army here before it forms around a leader, then driving them to retreat to Osteria through the wall, then reclaiming the gap to put a bottle on further incursions. I intend to give your men the honor of opening this campaign, as we''re taking stock and regrouping. After all, we spent some serious resources to defeat him, and we can''t hold territory with our numbers.¡±


    He was sure this was technically true in some way, even if they also pulled insane wealth out of the Source whenever they dove into it AND he was pretty sure they could clean out the bandits given a few months. Even with all that B.S, the man looked impressed and Bell looked happy to have a chance to not talk, so Corvayne kept going, aiming to keep them from getting too entangled with what might be a collapsing Empire, even as part of his own mind knew that dune worm had burrowed.


    ¡°We can''t police or patrol for the empire, nor would we want to claim any other land but this patch we are on.¡± Every time he said we, Corvayne was quietly hoping the man would understand that Corvayne was not interested in cleaning up The Raven''s mess. He did not want to commit his friends to more than they had already done. Nor himself, given he was about to slip away.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The general looked at his staff, then Corvayne. ¡°Oh well, I''m sure we can award this old heap to you. I''m somewhat surprised that you''re not pushing for Bell to be the new governor of Ebolt. Or a joint rule?¡± He said, searching for something on their side of the table. He coughed. ¡°Between you two, I was prepared for a... more ambitious discussion.¡±


    Corvayne looked over at Bell and caught a faint shake of her head. ¡°I''m an adventurer first and foremost. I let her handle the politics, and given The Empire needs strength, she''d rather be free to hunt and head off the next big threat.¡±


    Bell nodded. ¡°I need power. The Raven will not be the last threat like that.¡± While she was looking somewhat in the general''s direction, she was also looking at him. Training? Better yet, drag her through a tower, show her how to do it, and let her go save her own empire.


    ¡°It was always the plan to show you more. Assuming you don''t have pressing duty.¡± That, and he felt like the locals would figure out The Tower in a few weeks if he didn''t.


    Bell shot to her feet. ¡°There is nothing more important right now!¡± She sounded angry again, which confused Corvayne as she had shed so much of that simmering rage in the last few weeks.


    Corvayne looked over at the general and felt his eyes narrow because the man looked pleased with something that had happened. He tried to look over at Bell''s face to get more clues why her blowing up would make him happy, but his vexing imperial princess charge had schooled her face. How did his friends not get mad when he did that himself? He tuned back into the general before him as the man continued speaking, ¡°Well, you''ve done the empire a tremendous service. From what I understand, it was an all hours campaign on your part, and any rest your group takes will be well earned. I''m sure whatever other rewards you could want, be they material, or position in the army, or perhaps a favor from The Emperor himself... ¡± He adjusted a ring on his finger nonchalantly. Was he trying to suggest he ask for Bell!? When he darted his eyes over at the Princess, who was glaring at him, then back at the general before him, the man winked once.


    Corvayne shook his head. Enough man, Bell probably would shank them both if she had any idea what they were thinking. ¡°I''m good for now. I saw a monster, and I killed it. I also have a duties to attend to that will take me away from camp and possibly the plains.¡± He rubbed his chin. ¡°Actually... I did had a favor I was going to ask for... The Wanderer. I want to know more about him.¡±


    Nyx snorted. ¡°Good excuse to sneak off there, Corvayne.¡±


    Corvayne felt a rough hand squeeze his, and saw Bell glaring at him. ¡°You will have that. I owe you Corvayne. More than I can repay.¡± Her tone and words didn''t match how intense she looked. A part of Corvayne was very worried, as he felt like he was trying to stare down a roc all of the sudden. Another newer part of him was considering how he WAS currently single and when she wasn''t snarling, she wasn''t that bad. He gave her a smile.


    She looked away, and a glance back saw the imperial officals eyes were bulging. Corvayne felt that there must be something more he didn''t understand and that he was walking into trouble, but before he could start to sift through what that was, he heard a small but rough voice cutting through the crowd.


    Corvayne glanced between soldiers looking stunned and saw Mosh wiggle between them. ¡°Hey! HEY! Move it! I gotta show Corvayne the shrine!¡± One of them started to draw a blade but Mosh clamped a hand on it and started waving. ¡°Yeah yeah fella, I''ll fix it later.¡±


    Corvayne got between the clueless soldiers and his goblin friend. ¡°Mosh! You must meet General...¡± he realized he didn''t have the man''s name.


    ¡°Mateo.¡±


    ¡°Great! Nice to meat you Matty. Look Boss, I got something you gotta look at.¡± Mosh turned and started tugging him.


    He let himself get dragged away from the table and the confused imperial general and his equally bewildered staff. ¡°What?¡±


    Outside the tent Mosh''s pace slowed. ¡°Easy Boss, I can tell you''re getting overwhelmed.¡± The goblin let go of his hand and gestured. ¡°Besides, I gotta show off what we''ve been working on!¡±


    Part of the jagged porcupine of black crystal had been sheared off, forming the first hints of a woman holding a shield and hammer. The tools used to make it included a lot of new industrial equipment. There were lifts, carts, projectors of some sort with screens, and what must be cutting tools. They looked like a blue glowing energy loop with an industrial handle, lined up in a cage with cords hooked up to the battery he had pulled out of the fake version of his Watcher town. He was very alarmed that battery was hooked up to anything, but Mosh held up a hand. ¡°Buddy, you think I don''t know what that is? Relax.¡±


    ¡°And you used it to make light sabers from that one movie.¡±


    Mosh laughed. ¡°More civilized age my ass, what kinda cop picks the most lethal weapon they can find?! No, no laser weapons. This is your favorite goblin making a tool that works just good enough.¡±


    He got a chance to see one in action, as he heard a very satisfying noise like punching a hole through armor mixed with bacon sizzling. Glancing up where he saw glowing blue chunks of rock dripping to the ground, he saw June on a lift helping carve out the massive form. Every so often, she''d point to the stone after shearing off a chunk, and it would react to her, quivering to help the rough form of the woman emerge.


    ¡°In a month, we''ll have a really stunning figure of Lythandies. Hari and Seru are working on the elf side of the quest.¡±


    Corvayne frowned. He had to say goodbye to Hari. Even if the letter she had written was... cowardly, it was at least something. At least, unlike Wick, it was sort of a mutal dumping in her case.


    ¡°I''ll come back and take a look at it.¡± Corvayne said.


    Mosh''s ears dropped. ¡°You really going to cut us loose boss?¡±


    ¡°If I don''t, it''s going to kill Wick.¡± He adjusted his storage ring where the letter was. ¡°It''s not forever, but-¡± He huffed as the little goblin slammed him with a hug.


    ¡°I gotta get you some goodies before you leave!¡±


    ¡°I''m not leaving immediately forever. I have some business with The Source. I''ll come back so you can show me some new toys.¡±


    Mosh shook his head. ¡°At least a few things! You''re as stubborn as you''re tall, ya know?¡± Corvayne wanted to argue that that was the opposite of what his main problem was, but as Mosh scurried off, June was making her way over to him. At the same time he saw Varia also approching, with her standard sour look.


    June went first. ¡°I understand you were the person who changed Mosh, and by extension changed me. I hope your journey goes well.¡±


    It was always hard to remember that she was a sort of lustful washerwoman and party girl when she was a part of the Tower... well he couldn''t be sure exactly what Towerfolk were, aside from people. It felt like more and more she seemed natural, though still sometimes she looked confused as to why people did the things they did. In that way, Corvayne understood her all too well.


    Varia was more direct. ¡°Listen, I don''t like how Mosh calls you Boss all the time and runs around singing your praises, nor do I trust you given how little you give away... BUT... you decided to go out and do good, this time. So don''t die, you useless bastard. And you better come back every once in a blue moon, or I''m going to have to follow him all over looking for YOU.¡±


    She punctuated her last point by jabbing a finger into his chest. He gently caught it, to Varia''s annoyance. ¡°Okay. I''m sorry I couldn''t help you with your romance with Mosh. I''ll ask Grunt to shoulder some of that for me.¡±


    For as angry as she always got, watching her go beet red for other reasons was very, very satisfying. He looked around.


    ¡°You did good fortifying our camp. I look forward to seeing you continue to master earth magic.¡±


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°Meanwhile, you''ll probably have entirely new bullshit the next time I see you. Fine. Have a good journey.¡±


    For her part, June looked a little apologetic. Corvayne just smiled. He hoped Mosh''s harem ended better than his did.


    Leaving them, he went over to the truck. The spider was buried in the ground, head a sphere of red eyes blinking. A single claw popped up from the ground and wiggled at him, which Corvayne considered a wave. Probably.


    ¡°Good to see you too Growl-Whine. No training right now. I might be gone for a while, look after them, right?¡±


    She didn''t seem to get it, but it was fine. He waved to Grunt, sitting on top of the truck, bike parked near him.


    ¡°Hey buddy, I have to go pretty soon. Maybe for a long while.¡±


    Grunt frowned.


    ¡°It''s complicated. You see...¡±


    Grunt just nodded, then smiled and tapped his heart once: I got you bro.


    Corvayne did the same back, feeling a little choked up. He stepped into the truck, heading down to the workshop where Mosh was rummaging through bins. Corvayne gave him a little room.


    Horton was there too, and the man nodded. ¡°I got to watch you pulling off that stunt. The mirror... it''s like one of those classic war tales. What else do you have up your sleeve?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I was just going to ask you to help Wick when she gets weird impulses to chase UFOs while I''m gone. Everyone does, I mean, but you are the only person who gets her...¡±


    Horton snorted. ¡°I''d do that even if you didn''t ask me. Go do your edge-lord exit. We''ll see you when you come back with an eye-patch.¡±


    ¡°Not a bad idea. Thanks.¡± It was pretty much what anyone got from Horton.


    Moving further into the truck, Gary and Shaellee were watching cartoons, curled up in a blanket on the couch.


    Gary saw him and looked down at Shallee, who wasn''t moving her head away from the screen. ¡°Master, sorry, I''d salute but...¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I''m making the rounds because... I have to leave soon, and I don''t know if I''m going to have the help she needs.¡±


    Seeing Gary start to tear up and not wanting the man to have to choose, Corvayne had to hold a hand up. He tried to copy his spear instructor Waves-Within, belting out orders. ¡°Pupil! I expect you to start drilling in every weapon you can find! If you wish to copy my style, you must train as I did. Your hands will bleed. But you''re tougher than that pain! You stood up The Spider and LIVED. So be strong, and protect your most important things.¡±


    Gary looked down at the girl curled up with him, then back up. ¡°But what about you? You''re...¡±


    Was Gary worried about HIM? ¡°I''ll be fine. I got business with my own past.¡±


    Shallee looked up, blinking. ¡°It''s not fair. You won.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I did win. But... sometimes things don''t work. Don''t look so sad... I''ll be back before I set out for the horizon.¡± He wasn''t sure if she or Gary needed to hear that more.


    ¡°Corvayne... I know you are wise and everything, but...¡±


    Gary gave him a serious look. ¡°You need to do what other men can''t do.¡±


    Protect Wick? Climb The Tower? Undo his curse? Find The Watchers?


    Gary pointed a finger. ¡°You have to get a new set of girls!¡± Shallee grumbled. ¡°Not me, him! It''s something only Corvayne can pull off. It''s a man''s dream!¡±


    ¡°What about Mosh?¡± Corvayne asked.


    Gary looked confused. ¡°He''s got a single girlfriend already... what about him?¡±


    ¡°Take care Gary. Shallee, try to keep him out of trouble.¡±


    The girl turned and saluted.


    Ears-of-Steel was waiting for him on the upper floor. ¡°Hey, I heard you''re booking it chief. You know where you''re off to yet?¡±


    ¡°I need to set up to finish my quest so... I''m going to go into the tower and find those dragon hearts. Then... maybe see if they know more about the Wanderer at the capital? I might lean on Bell to pay me back with info about it.¡± The painting he had made last night was also a clue to something.


    ¡°Okay. Come back kiddo.¡± She crossed her arms. ¡°I don''t want to have to deal with Grunt worrying about you.¡±


    Corvayne laughed at that. ¡°He wouldn''t worry-¡±


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°Every time you snuck into the enemy camp, he was worrying! He''s a big softy!¡±


    Corvayne nodded at her. ¡°Well, he''s your boss too. So just keep him busy. Keep sparring... you guys are did a number on the adventurers.¡±


    She laughs. ¡°Compared to trying to fight you or Lady, no contest! Not to mention, we had Bearer doing most of the work!¡±


    Interesting. Leaving the truck, he made his way back to his camp and the fishing spot. Mister I was casting his line next to Reaper, the two former prisoners likely finished getting mended or listening to Mister I''s advice.


    ¡°Ah Corvayne, I heard you were leaving us.¡± Mister I spoke before Corvayne had even thought about how he was going to breach the topic.


    ¡°Reaper knew?¡±


    Reaper laughed. ¡°I don''t know shit man. But I do know people are going to be bummed.¡±


    Corvayne looked around. ¡°I''ll be back at least once in the near future. I mean, I gotta bring the hearts back here, don''t I?¡±


    Mister I set his rod down and turned to Corvayne, opening an eye further than Corvayne had ever seen before. ¡°You bear an awful burden under a light heart. Remember we are here, your friends, when you need help. I want to see you grow... Some day, when the shadows are gone, I want to see the man you will become. However! This is a good time to retreat a little from what you think of as your day to day life. Cast down who you were, and become better.¡±


    Corvayne felt his shoulders sag. ¡°That''s a rather imposing request Mister Icarriii.¡±


    The old monk lit his face up in a smile, winking. ¡°When a door closes, another opens. The universe will balance things out, I''m sure.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t know what that meant, but nodded as if he did then walked up the slight rise to where he was camped overlooking the pond. Nyx was waiting by his tent arms folded.


    ¡°You really going to book it rather than live out here? Everyone is saying you''re acting like a broke guy with cancer.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I''ve got to sort myself out. I mean, I''m going to be back after I get those hearts.¡±


    Nyx rolled his eyes. ¡°You dipshit. We have TEN strawberry dragon hearts. Nobody else was going to tell you! It was pissing me off. If you want to stay, don''t be such a drama queen! Just fucking camp out on a rock so we can come see you.¡±


    Corvayne smiled at that. ¡°I can''t. I''m killing Wick, and I gotta sort out my past anyway. I''d go for good but... Mosh promised me goodies.¡±


    Nyx stepped to the side and picked up a backpack, tossing it over his shoulder. ¡°Right. I figured you''d say something like that.¡±


    That suprised Corvayne. ¡°You... want to come along?¡±


    Nyx sighed and put an arm around Corvayne. ¡°Corvayne, first off, you were never going to get out of here alone. Second, you are almost certainly going to drag Spears after you. I bet she''s camped out on your hover bike right now. I am perfectly happy to take the long shot.¡±


    A few minutes later Corvayne saw he wasn''t wrong. Arrayed on the far side of the truck were four bikes.


    Lady Blood Claw was sitting on Corvayne''s bike, eating while looking at a map. Spears had parked next to her, and looked up and waved. Bell sat on a fourth, with the weird sex cultist woman wrapped up behind her in her white elephant marked banner, squirming and swearing. Now that was an odd pair.


    The last bike was one he didn''t expect. Bearer of Burdens and Brines. Brines was clearly looking between Bearer, the truck, and Corvayne. From this distance, Corvayne couldn''t hear him, but could tell he was arguing something. Brines nodded, then put her hand in his face and turned it as Corvayne walked close enough to speak.


    ¡°Corvayne, you ready to go bud? Ready to run a dungeon? Great. Let''s go.¡± She smiled and tilted her head, still wearing her brown messenger outfit and cap.


    ¡°Yeah, well... I had some guesses who''d be here, but I was off on a few.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw looked up, then pulled her fork out of her mouth. ¡°We snhnow.¡± She said as she chewed.


    He had a moment where he saw Spears coming at him, a blur of blue in the corner of his eye, then she splatted into him, giving him a solid squeeze before backing up, sunlight passing through her making her glitter. ¡°We finally get to go on a real adventure!¡±


    He did his best not to look down, given that he could stare through her cleavage to the back gap between her pants and shirt. He wondred if she picked white undershirts on purpose. Instead he looked over at Bell. ¡°You sure you want to come with me?¡±


    She stared back, defiant. ¡°You wanted to know about The Wanderer? The best records are in the palace. I refuse to let you saunter off after saving the empire without doing SOMETHING to repay you.¡±


    ¡°It was nothing, anyone could-¡±


    ¡°No.¡± She interrupted. ¡°We are all here because you are more than just a man swinging a spear.¡±


    ¡°You don''t owe me-¡±


    ¡°I OWE you. If I am to EVER be the person you''ve been trying to make me, and I want to be her, I''m going to make sure to pay you back.¡±


    Corvayne keep his face neutral, while thinking she had a talent for making a favor sound like a threat.


    Bearer-of-Burdens nodded. ¡°Friends, Lovers, Rivals, Pupils, and whatever that girl struggling on the back of her bike is.¡±


    That was a question he had for Bell. Why did she have The Raven''s girlfriend tied up on the back of her bike? He forced his mind back to Bearer. Bell would tell him once he asked her. Bearer, on the other hand... Hari had told him she had been acting weird while he was out of commission. He had sort of pegged her as along for the ride, in it for either fun or money. Something about the way she was waiting, the smile... it felt weird. Like if he ditched her, she''d be setting up her tent wherever he decided they were going to camp for the night. He watched her clamp a hand on Brines shoulder.


    Corvayne looked back at her, and really looked. Bearer was smiling, but her stance was odd. Something about how she held herself made him think of an actor, playing a part. The Dust Man''s warning played in his head, of danger from within. He was thinking about if he could get her to stay and keep Brines with her when Bearer gently dipped her fingers into the front of her shirt, and produced a bloody black shard emerging from the skin in her neck, then tossed it over her shoulder.


    Corvayne felt his eyes narrow. Whatever game Bearer was playing, she was looking right at him as she did that.


    ¡°We''ll sort out why we''re all heading off some other time. Did you let Wick know you''re planning on taking off with me?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw turned her head and jerked her hand behind her. ¡°Yes. Corvayne, stop stalling. If you''re going to go, lets go. Together.¡±


    He got on behind her, and she pulled a pair of goggles down, then pulled his arms around her. With a rev of the engine, the front of the bike buckled and then dropped as they shot across the plains to The Source and the worlds beyond.

 Chapter 164: Corvayne and The Extreme Slime Training

    Corvayne waited as the naked woman under him stopped squirming, then eased up the hold he had on her as to not break her arm, and to stop driving her face into his bedroll.


    ¡°This is the second night in a row, Tutu. Please stop trying to sneak into my tent when I''m asleep.¡±


    Bell stuck her head and shoulders from her tent, fury evident where her own clothes were not. ¡°I knew I should have left her at camp!¡±


    The woman under him rolled over, exposing her chest to Corvayne as she looked across the camp to glare at Bell. ¡°You WOULD do that, wouldn''t you SISTER?!¡±


    Bell pointed a finger, briefly forgetting that hand was keeping her decent with a tent flap. ¡°What happened to the dutiful girl who followed me to sword practice? You''ve become a vile whore!¡±


    ¡°Tch! That girl realized what a useless rotten bitch her sister was!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw, who was on watch, had bright banded colors which meant she was amused, even if the look on her face was indifference. ¡°I can''t watch for threats coming at us and keep an eye on camp.¡± she said a little too evenly, which made Corvayne give her the stink-eye, causing her to practically glow with amusement. He looked between the two princesses.


    ¡°You both share something as sisters.¡±


    Tutu stopped hissing at her sister and looked up at Corvayne, who was keeping her hands from grabbing at his clothes. She tried to give him a sultry look and push her chest up further. ¡°Our bodies made for love?¡±


    ¡°No. That when I untied you, I regretted it.¡±


    Insulting her had the opposite effect, so Corvayne instead used [Cross Skill: Juxtapose] to get her onto his shoulder, then marched her over to her own pink tent while trying not to think about how physically hot her skin was.


    ¡°Tutu, I do not want to tie you up again. I don''t want to have sex with...¡± He was about to say anyone but that wasn''t true. He could say ''you'' but honestly, he had been half tempted to just roll with it. Go with honesty, Corvayne.


    ¡°... Someone who sees me as a walking sperm bank.¡±


    Tutu wiggled as he placed her in her tent, trying to show herself off to him as he shut the flap. ¡°Go to sleep. PLEASE.¡± He shouted at the pink canvas, then stomped back to his tent and flopped down into his own sleeping bag to find that Spears was settling in next to him. It was different, he told himself. She had clothes on.


    ¡°... That wake you up?¡±


    Spears looked sheepish, but Corvayne pulled a hand out so she could hold it. Her warm liquid hand slipped into his. ¡°Corvayne, sorry. I know you want to be alone but it helps offset the curse.¡±


    ¡°You''re fine Spears. You are not trying to get me to ''pump other-world babies'' into you.¡±


    There was a moment of long silence, then a single laugh and sigh. ¡°Go to sleep Corvayne.¡±


    He closed his eyes and let the sound of crickets and the wind lull him to sleep.


    He awoke rested and gently untangled himself from Spears, who had escalated to wrapping her arms around his, to go out to the dark camp and perform watch. Lady Blood Claw waved at him and offered up her camp chair, which he took as it was warmer than the stones and lush grasses that made up this Tower floor. It was still warmer than out on the High plains, so he couldn''t complain. He watched Bearer-of-Burdens drag a large branch away from a small grove of trees near camp, snap it into a few parts, then toss it into the fire. Looking away, Corvayne kept his eyes trained for the signs of any other movement. He pulled out a stone as he looked at the surroundings, intending to do a little sharpening of his weapons aside from his spear, which was still as keen as ever.


    Bearer stepped up next to him and looked around. ¡°You know, generally if you want to sun bathe you set your chair up in the daytime.¡±


    Corvayne had not yet asked her about the black shard she had produced. Should he take the bait?


    ¡°Bearer, you should be watching our back.¡±


    She shrugged. ¡°We got a minute before the monster trying to sneak up to camp gets close enough.¡±


    Something about how she made it sound like a joke compared to how level she was when saying wholesale lies made him think she was serious, and he stood up. She jerked her thumb back towards the back of the rise they were camped atop. Corvayne stood and stalked over, and spotted what she meant immediately: It looked like a wolf with rabbit ears creeping through the grass.


    Corvayne had done enough runs to know what he was looking at. A large monster that didn''t fit the floors normal types meant it was one of the outliers. On a low floor like this, that put it at a challenge for him alone, maybe, depending on what sort of abilities it had. He was about to spring down to the grass it was stalking through when Bearer put a hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°You''re looking to diversify, right? You need more moves. Fight it with a weapon you need to practice with.¡±


    Corvayne paused before responding. The wolf had stopped too, freezing after apparently noticing him for the first time even though he was only about thirty feet away. He felt calm as he put his spear back on his back and pulled out his fire-breathing dagger. ¡°Bearer, after this we need to talk.¡±


    ¡°Wolf first. If you use your spear, or I have to help, or you die, that''s a loss.¡±


    She said some very obvious things, but Corvayne had been thinking about it. He squared his feet, and jumped at the wolf, activating [Cross-Skill: Leap Attack]. The rabbit wolf was ready, leaping out of the way and leaving a cloud behind. Corvayne forced the skill to cancel and used his gravity power to drift past the point, then turned as the long eared monster leaped at him, blood stained incisors. He used [Cross-Skill: Juxtapose] and swapped places with the wolf, only to throw himself into a patch of sticky goop it left behind it.


    The monster turned and Corvayne swore it looked amused as it pounced again. Corvayne willed it to become lighter, and the monster flew over him, nearly clipping him with an oversized paw. In the mean time, pulling at the slime stretched it into threads, so he used [Cross-Skill: Flows-Like-Water] and managed to break away, trailing a few clumps of soil. At the same time, the wolf charged again, and Corvayne brought the dagger up and let loose a stream of fire.


    He heard Bearer calling out, ¡°Boo! BOO!¡± as the monster itself backed off from the gout of fire. He turned the still glowing dagger back on the threads and they dissolved into acrid smoke. He sized up the wolf and started circling, as the wolf did as well. He was trying to get to the essence of the dagger. His essence of it. For him, it wasn''t an assassin''s tool, was it? No. It was his fang right now, as an animal fighting another animal.


    The wolf charged again, and Corvayne rolled to the side then slammed the dagger into the monster''s massive chest as it passed, slashing but not getting very deep as its ribs blocked it. The monster however howled in rage, the noise being met with sounds of confusion from camp as the girls woke.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The monster turned and lunged with its claws, the blades flashing in the fake moonlight before Corvayne felt searing pain on the side of his face as one of the monster''s limbs seemed to grow longer than he had expected. Hot blood followed the slash, but Corvayne forced himself into [Vitality]. Once again he watched his enemy, and the next time it hurled itself at him he rolled forward, getting kneed by the monster as it brought its huge legs back under itself to land. Still reeling, Corvayne managed to scramble back to his feet before the monster did and pivoted into [Backstab], clipping it in the leg as it kicked out at Corvayne. The blow sent him fumbling through the tall grass. He saw the wolf leaping again and rolled through the grass, pushing himself to his feet and rushed at the animal, switching to [Agility].


    As everything seemed to slow he saw an opening and grabbed the rabbit-wolf''s fluffy hide and pulled and twisted with his legs even as it was turning to snap its jaws on him, and they spun for a moment as Corvayne''s other hand grabbed his knife and he somehow activated [Cross-Skill: Juxtapose] and [Bleeder] at the same time, ripping into the wolf as he switched places, almost too stunned to pull himself out of the sticky slime.


    He HAD to try it again. Forget anything else. He waited for the wolf to lunge, pushing [Agility] so hard that a knife sized black shard started growing out of his elbow. He grabbed it with a free hand to get two daggers, and did nearly the same move, even with the wolf knowing what he was about to do, dancing through goop with [Cross-Skill: Juxtapose] but finding his [Bleeder] follow up was late. Two times. Three.


    Eventually the wounds he had already inflicted caused the monster to just drop dead before he could try to repeat it a forth time. He didn''t care that he was tired, or covered in goop, or been slashed on his arms and legs. He turned to Bearer and saw he had a crowd of observers at various stages of waking up and dressed.


    ¡°Did you see it? What did you see?¡± He called out to Bearer, or anyone.


    ¡°I see you are covered in blood and staring at Tutu''s tits.¡± Lady Blood Claw called down.


    Nyx laughed. ¡°He''d rather see yours.¡±


    She elbowed him, and Corvayne searched the other observers. Tutu was clearly not interested in combat, Bell was covering her chest up with one hand and holding a sword with another, in the process of realizing there was no threat and giving into embarrassment.


    Brines of all people held a hand up to speak. ¡°You had three legs for a moment. Two spinning the dog, the other pivoting you to strike.¡±


    ¡°Legs? Shadow legs?¡±


    Bearer laughed. ¡°No shadows. But see? You can only break your limits when you challenge yourself. Good eyes too Brines.¡±


    Corvayne had a prickling feeling again meeting her gaze as the others started walking back to their tents. Lady Blood Claw turned to Spears and said something, then gave her a pat on the back. His contest of wills with Bearer-of-Burdens was broken by watching Spears down the steep hill near him. The watery woman had her own spear ready but looked relaxed. He appreciated her confidence in him.


    ¡°You alright Corvayne?¡± She asked anyway, then dug into a bag and offered him a potion. Right as he was about to reject it the rabbit kicks and claw wounds caught up to him. He was sore all over, even if he wasn''t injured. he took a deep breath and switched to [Vitality], then accepted a red potion either Mosh or Mister I had bottled into a former salad dressing container. He was pretty sure there was a hint of thousand island with the liquid, but it took care of his wounds fine.


    ¡°I''m okay. Tough monster.¡±


    She put her spear away and moved next to him. ¡°Lift your arm, I''ll help you up.¡±


    He thought about protesting, but another part of him kept urging him to get over himself, and he took her offer to lean on her. As always, he was sort of surprised how firm the slime-woman could be.


    ¡°... makes me miss hunting with you, a little. I like the new Corvayne even more though.¡± She laughed.


    Maybe it was experience, or acting like a spear and stepping forward over and over the last few months, or super natural [[Understanding]] pushing away everything else... but he asked himself: What the hell was he waiting for with her?


    ¡°Spears, you''ve been patient with me for a few months.¡± He started.


    ¡°Try fifty thousand years, but I wasn''t awake all of it, so yes. I''m patient.¡±


    ¡°You were always a solid team mate. Sometimes I thought about how I''d wish for someone like you but... who liked me.¡±


    She stopped and Corvayne had to instead turn and pull her up the last few steps to the flat hilltop. He could see her watery cheeks darken. He forced himself to keep talking, saying ¡°I don''t know if I''m ready to marry anyone but I was alone for a lot of the last month, except that you and everyone who tried to pull me from just fighting and moping all day. I''m not interesting...¡±


    She laughed aloud at that.


    ¡°Outside of my weird life that''s growing around me, but you''ve been a good friend and good fighter, and...¡±


    ¡°Oh, what about Lady Blood Claw?¡± She teased.


    He stopped and looked for her. He did care about what LBC felt. Doubts were threatening to creep back in. He took a deep breath.


    ¡°I think we got something close to what you and I used to have and... I also think she''s not interested in romance. Not right now.¡± The idea of trying to go in for a kiss on Lady Blood Claw brought him back to the one time she had asked him to try to pull her curse out. Even with that, the idea of trying to kiss her in his mind ended with a punch him in the face.


    ¡°Corvayne, Corvayne, Corvayne.¡± She held a finger up. ¡°I have her blessing, and if anything changes, we can deal with it. I mean, for starters, I doubt I can keep up with you alone. In bed, I mean. I talked with Hari.¡±


    Instantly Corvayne felt himself losing control of the conversation. Which was okay given as they were headed to his tent. ¡°I mean, I should admit even under the curse I always admired how high you could attack from, and once more... wait. I had a thought when I was alone, that... I was thinking of starting slow though. All my other relationships went sex first then everything else.¡±


    ¡°We are adults though, and...¡± Spears said, still smiling and obviously trying not to laugh. ¡°You''ve taken a peek at my slime puppies more than few times.¡±


    ¡°Fine. I do think about how warm you were when I had to pull that thorn thing out of your heart.¡±


    She wiggled her fingers and then used them to clean some of the blood and enemy slime off his arm, using the opportunity to whisper into his ear, ¡°And I kept thinking about it too. Those hard hands of yours. I remember it, sometimes when I slept near you.¡±


    Corvayne looked at her, and the expression she had finally sold him on the idea that she had also been holding herself back. He squared his shoulders up and tried to sound totally calm as he said, ¡°I suppose we are already sleeping with each other in the literal sense.¡±


    ¡°Was that so hard?¡± She laughed. ¡°And if you and Lady come around, well, everyone assumed you''d have at least three wives. Me, Diamonds, and... you know... huh.¡±


    She stopped and starting thinking. ¡°I know I remembered three of us.¡±


    A spear moves forward. He turned and put his hands on Spear''s shoulders rather than let her get distracted, and she smiled then closed her eyes, little features of her liquid face catching the moonlight and shimmering a little under the surface. He pressed his lips against her, and yes, they were wet, yet firm. He felt an arm wrap around him, and she let her lips part a little bit, and he risked opening his and found out that her mouth tasted like berries, which shocked him out of the moment for a second but made her laugh and she held up a finger.


    ¡°Try this one.¡±


    He opened his mouth and she let a drop fall in, tasting strongly sweet and sour. Then she went back to kissing. Corvayne wrapped his arms around her and when they came up for air asked.


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°I''m liquid. Of liquids. How do you think I color everything? Well, I can use food dye too, but I pack lemons and blueberries to get that nice teal color. Of course, if you like, I''ve been eating fish too, as I''ve heard there are many out there who enjoy that taste.¡± She winked at him.


    ¡°I''ll stick to sweet.¡± Corvayne said, feeling a weird sort of fatalistic joy as he brought Spears into his tent.


    Corvayne woke with a naked slime woman wrapped in his arms, and for the first time in months felt good, loved, and pretty well ready to handle whatever the hell life was going to throw at him next. He might regret that thought, given he was in The Tower, but Spears seemed happy, he was happy, and he felt like he was clear headed for the first time in a long while.


    Nyx waved from his spot as he left the tent. It was still night on the floor, but Corvayne was sure he got a full nights sleep even after watch.


    The noble grinned. ¡°Well well well, look who rebounded!¡±


    ¡°I thought you''d be devastated.¡± Corvayne said. He was pretty sure Nyx had a thing for Spears.


    Nyx waved a hand. ¡°There''s always the Bar of Infinite Whores.¡±


    Corvayne saw Bearer-of-Burdens sauntering up, swinging what looked like a long thin cylinder tied to a loop. ¡°Did you have a good sex break?¡±


    He looked to Nyx, then Bearer. ¡°Do you actually care or are you trying to get a rise out of me?¡±


    ¡°No and yes, but mainly I wanted to make sure you were finished.¡± Her smile was a warning. What was the metal rod she was twirling around her finger now?


    ¡°Is that a dog whistle?¡±


    She blew hard, and Corvayne heard howling in the distant hills. First one wolf. Then three. Then dozens. Nyx bolted to his feet and uncoiled his serpent whip, turning to Bearer and looming before her, face turning red as he shouted, ¡°What the HELL did you do that for?¡±


    ¡°More practice. Duh.¡±

 Chapter 165: Rabbit Wolf Fight Night

    Corvayne considered throttling Bearer-of-Burdens, but before he could do that he was going to have to fight off packs of wolves.


    Bell had finally put clothes on by the time she rushed out of her tent, hair wild as she struggled to get all the straps on her armor tightened. She looked like she was sweating as she stumbled and hopped towards Corvayne, trying to strap her armor to her legs. ¡°What the hell is going on? It sounds like you woke up every monster for MILES!¡±


    ¡°Miss Burden decided we needed more practice.¡± Corvayne gestured to the hills which were alive with the sounds of enraged vicious rabbits.


    It was almost reassuring, even in the situation they were in, to see that the princess could still get absurdly pissed off. ¡°We got PLENTY of practice going slow and steady! I''ve gained at least a few levels in two days! What the FUCK is her problem!? Did she get hit too many times by her farm animals? She should have to fight them off herself! Tell her to ''Fuck Off''!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw walked up while stretching, orange with annoyance with some olive green suggesting she was still waking up. ¡°I''d love to hear what Bearer was thinking.¡±


    Bearer still had her cheerful demeanor. ¡°Thinking too much is what got you all stuck in a rut. I suggest you do all your thinking now before the fight starts, so you''ll have time to evolve.¡±


    Lady''s blade started glowing red hot, matching her own skin turning furious red. ¡°Oh, are you SURE you want me to just start going with my first instincts?¡±


    Spears put her own black crystal spear between them, earning a glare from Lady Blood Claw. The tall woman stabbed a finger over the weapon to point at Bearer. ¡°Spears... If she was just stupid, I''d understand, but she just endangered us all!¡±


    ¡°Fight first. Protect the two girls.¡± Spears gestured with her spear back to the rise, the only defensible spot near enough. Not that the rise would likely stop the Rabbit Wolves from leaping up, but it might slow them enough.


    Bell stepped forward. ¡°I can fight. You don''t need to coddle me.¡±


    Nyx floated past her. ¡°I don''t consider it coddling. I''d call ''not it on pulling what''s left of her out of a monster''s jaws''.¡±


    Brines strode up. ¡°Corvayne, what''s the plan?¡±


    ¡°Stay near the center of the camp and help Lady Blood Claw with our back. Spears and Nyx, get them clumped up. I''ll try to wheel between helping you and watching the camp. That, and handle Bearer if I see even another hint of whatever it is you just did, again.¡±


    ¡°I condensed a week of having these things ambushing us into a fun little hour long adventure. Don''t worry, if things look bad I''ll take care of it.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw snarled. ¡°How would you do that? You are the same level as everyone else here!¡±


    ¡°Oh, in this system? Yes.¡± Bearer cracked her knuckles. ¡°What about Tutu?¡±


    Corvayne was watching three wolves leaping along a hillside in the moonlight, still a mile distant but dipping into the longer grass to start stalking closer. There were certainly other places he spotted movement. It took a moment to register she was asking him. ¡°How would I know? I tried to get Bell to put her back.¡±


    The Princess huffed. ¡°She has impulses that would get her killed if directed at someone without your own restraint!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw groaned. ¡°Yet you''d be furious if he decided to roll with it.¡±


    Bell made a noise that Corvayne associated with mice, but when he gave her a sideways look she had schooled her face again. Corvayne did the same, hiding his annoyance at how placid she looked. ¡°Can she fight, or do anything to help tilt the odds? The first wave will likely charge us soon.¡± He was tracking a pair that had started to bunny hop back and forth towards the front of camp.


    An imperious voice called from behind him. ¡°Worry about yourself, Little Shadow! I don''t fear the wolf. I have the blood of the Empire in me!¡±


    Hearing Princess Tutu say that, he was starting to think that avoiding the capital, even though it might kill him in the next five minutes, was probably a good idea. He snapped back to where they were. A small rise, with a broad easy to climb front and a steeper horseshoe shaped ridge. The rest of the plains were choked with thick lush grass that wavered both with the breeze on the floor and the Wolves moving through it. A few trees to one side might hamper the Rabbits from lunging at their flank, at least until they reached the tree-line. Corvayne moved to the side and with two sweeps of his spear used [Cross Skill: Reap] to lay down a line of shadow.


    Nyx was now ahead of the group, already having primed his whip for a full power strike, and Spears moved past Corvayne and gave him a little kiss on the cheek, then started drawing water around herself, forming a foaming crest of mist. Corvayne adjusted his Jam Jammies, and a bevy of strawberry textured meteors he''d been saving started orbiting him.


    Bearer, on the other hand, rolled up her sleeves and took her hat off and folded it into her back pocket, then pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a match, then extinguished it on her gauntlets, her face turning from the sort of vacant glee to serious.


    ¡°Why?¡± He asked.


    ¡°If you are the person I think you are, you''ll be fine. Again, if not, I''ll just bust out my secret, and maybe cause the entire Tower to try to cleanse this floor with fire, and you''ll never see me again.¡±


    ¡°Wait wha-¡± Corvayne had a SERIOUS question about that last part.


    ¡°Oops! Can''t talk. Wolf time.¡± Bearer ran forward, skipping and spinning effortlessly as she backhanded one of the first wolves, freezing its jaw then distorting herself as she instantly teleported to where she had bounded from, then leaped forward and slammed into the next one. Corvayne saw a wolf try to bite her and miss as she simply slid back to where she had been standing then fired off another of the same dashing attacks, this time sticking to her enemy and braining it before dashing again.


    Corvayne got to work as well as three of the huge rabbit wolves surged from another side, with most of the pack running at Nyx and Spears in the front. It looked like these didn''t have the sticky slime the main one he fought had, but they were still huge apex predators and had some level of the elastic limbs he had seen. He opened with [Cross-Skill: Bleeder] on the lead wolf, slashing it on the face as it charged at him with its pack mates looking to get around him.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Corvayne chose to leap instead, using low gravity to jump up then quickly reversing himself to become heavier and use [Leap Strike] on the wolf, breaking at least a few of its bones as he slammed it into the grass, knocking the other rabbit eared wolves back a few feet. His shadows then took over, black limbs jabbing at the monsters and forcing them back for just a half second, letting him get back to his feet and use [Flow-Like-Water] to land a series of attacks on one, spear hitting its side and leg as the third tried to lunge where Corvayne was, missing with its claw as he fell back a step then spun and used [Cross-Skill: Thresh] to trip the monster, then as it stumbled he hit it with [Cross-Skill: Bleeder in its neck, blood spurting as Corvayne turned to see how his allies were doing.


    Spears had created a lake that Nyx was floating over and drawing the monsters into, then whipping them and applying bursts of fear to keep them from getting close. Spears herself was blasting waves of water into groups of the monsters, battering mostly ones trying to get past them. Lady Blood Claw was spreading sleeping gas and dispatching drowsy wolves, with Brines running from a wolf and starting it on fire. He saw Bell following Lady Blood Claw about, as well as Tutu. Fair. Bearer had moved off to cover the other open direction the lake had left, bouncing forward and back with some impossible fist attack like a non stop pinball.


    He had his own swarm of six wolves coming at him, and Corvayne let them get in close then chained his shadow limbs, the black grasping hand bouncing between monsters and downing one, while the others staggered but kept limping at him, looking less like a pack of hunters and more like a calvary charge as they got closer. He activated [Cross-Skill: Shield Wall] and stepped back as the wall of flesh hit the spears and pushed him back, dirt flying around his boots of running a moment before he turned one skill off and activated [Flow-Like-Water], claws and jaws snapping around water and barely scratching his fluid form as he lashed out with his spear. One wolf lived, but there were five more coming. Once more he pressed his shadows into a chain and flung them out, killing two outright and causing the monsters to scatter with one unharmed. Corvayne moved towards it as two others prepared to lunge, and used [Juxtapose] to throw the healthy wolf into the way of the two wounded ones. Even with those three occupied a moment, another pair of monsters, looking older and larger, were running to attack him, staggered in a way that wouldn''t let him use the same trick.


    Corvayne instead pulled his Firebreathing knife into a hand and created a wall of fire, causing some of the grass to ignite as the wolf he was trying to fry stopped and bounced to the side. He turned and used [Cross-Skill: Whirling Death] to fling the knife again, creating a fire disc that killed a wolf in the pile and singed another. With so many targets, even rolling to the side he got hit hard by a claw from the other older wolf and went rolling, his side screaming for a moment before [[Vitality]] took over. He stood up and switched to [[Strength]] and set his shadow limbs to hold his spear as he drew his cleaver.


    As another wolf moved to lunge he activated [Butchery] as he stepped to the side, the bloody cleaver hitting the monster in the face and demolishing it with a crunch. Corvayne had a rabbit tooth hit him and he winced but yanked the cleaver free as the monster went down, and used it to keep another claw from hitting him in the throat. Another wolf snapped its jaws on his leg, the Jam Jammies holding despite feeling like a vice grip.


    The monster shook its head while jumping, and Corvayne was flung up then down into the ground. Even with the grass, it was like getting punched in the head. Corvayne saw another pair of teeth and used [Phantom Throw] while igniting the dagger, sending a flaming bullet into the wolves face starting its rabbit snout on fire. The dagger came back and he used gravity to force the wolf holding him to the ground, then started stabbing its face with one hand while slamming his cleaver into the ground to help keep him from getting bounced. Finally one hit from the searing weapon got through and hit something important, the monsters jaws locking for a moment before Corvayne could bring his cleaver around and slam it above where his leg was.


    Too slow though, because another wolf leaped onto him, jaws seeking his throat. Corvayne clenched his ass and used [[Vitality]] at the same time, getting his arm up to get mauled while his pants blasted another set of strawberry meteors into the monster, trading a broken arm for the entire monster getting shot up a few hundred feet into the air. With a rain of blood he sprayed fire about, then used [Cross-Skill: Flow-Like-Water] to retreat closer to camp. He saw a pair of wolves struggling with his shadows, and he swapped his knife for a gun and popped off [Cross-Skill: Bleeder] on each, hitting one in the head and one on the shoulder, then putting his gun away with shadow hands while grabbing a healing potion. He nearly had the stopper off when another wolf tried to slam into him, spilling it. He had a shadow hand catch the bottle and used [Cross-skill: Judo Throw] with his broken arm and cleaver, further snapping it but using his magical cleaver to dig into the monster''s guts before flinging its face into the ground.


    He screamed for a moment then grit his teeth and pushed his arm closer to right, then downed the potion. With snapping sounds, he felt his arm mending,  hurt but usable again. A spear moves forward. He was going to kill Bearer for this, but first a spear moves forward.


    He took his dagger out, switching to [[Agility]] as he felt obsidian spikes growing from his wounded arm, and saw the shadow of a wolf leaping from behind him, and as everything slowed he had a strange moment of clarity... and slashed at the shadow rather then the wolf above him.


    It came together as his blade cut along the ground, ripping part of the monster''s shadow off and drinking it greedily. [Shadow Stealer].


    The monster yelped, and Corvayne saw it fumble out of the sky early, landing off to the side as if he had really hit it in the foot, and shining like the moon. It tried to stumble away, but Corvayne moved towards it, feeling suddenly fluid as more shadow limbs grew from him, rolling in smoky darkness as the impaled the monster. Corvayne felt it die and moved past it, backing towards camp as he saw a pair of wolves moving to attack Bell and Tutu, both engaged with a single wolf ripping a tent apart.


    Corvayne drew his gun, dagger still in his other hand as he braced and fired. [Cross-Skill: Shadow Stealer] made him stumble a moment, draining his stamina but blasting a hole in the wolf''s shadow. The monster started to both glow and bleed, and he switched to [[Vitality]] and aimed for the other wolf, just hitting it in the side a few times. The noise let Bell see she was getting flanked and pull her own sidearm to blast the wolf that was trying to circle her.


    Corvayne rushed forward and watched as the wounded wolf leapt onto Tutu and sank its jaws into her belly, her scream urging him to run forward as he reloaded. A moment later, the scream of pain became one of pleasure, and the wolf started spaisming as a huge bite mark appeared on it.


    ¡°Bell! Save Tutu!¡± Corvayne shouted and tossed a healing potion at Bell, the surprised Princess catching it as Corvayne wheeled and switched to his spear. The wolf that had been stalking her was getting ready to lunge, so he activated [Flow-Like-Water] and darted forward...


    Black clouds formed around him, and like a ballista bolt he shot forward, his vision going stark black and white with the wolf shining as if frozen, and black smoke all around him. His spear became a claw of darkness, and slashed the frozen monster as he ran by, demolishing Tutu''s tent as he overshot the monster.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± was all he could say as he extracted himself from the ruins and saw that Lady Blood Claw had taken a few hits but was fighting a group four wolves, with several dead near her.


    Well, if it worked once.... Corvayne lined himself up with two of the wolves and did it again. The moment he set his feet down, heart pumping as he watched LBC furiously swing her blade to keep them at bay, he felt like something changed, that he had crystallized an unspoken idea he had been thinking about every time he did Spear''s signature move.


    [Flow-Like-Shadows] sent him forward, flinging him through the monsters and once more summoning huge black claws around his spear, ripping the monsters apart as he left a trail of shadows. Lady Blood Claw flawlessly turned the monster''s confusion into two slices that dismembered one and brained another, sending them to the ground. With another strike, she buried her blade in a wounded monster, then held it ready, facing Corvayne.


    A moment later she relaxed a hair. ¡°Corvayne?¡±


    He nodded and waved, then noticed his hand was pure black. ¡°New thing. Shadow stealing.¡±


    Lady looked pleased, her expression forming a crooked grin before it fell to looking annoyed.


    ¡°Dammit Corvayne, you proved Bearer right.¡±

 Not a Chapter: Corvaynes Weapon Skills

    Class notes:


    Classes are based on a concept, with powers diverting depending on how the person with the class develops. There are Armsmasters who don''t have Cross-Skill but instead get bonuses for switching weapons every attack, and others who can learn the ''Third Version'' of a weapon technique for each weapon they are sufficiently trained in.


    Armsmaster 30 (Tier 4)


    Requirements: Attain 10 in 15 different weapon skills and 15 in one weapon skill.


    Corvayne''s Abilities:


    1: Cross train ¨C Similar weapons get bonuses to learning if another weapon skill is higher level.


    1: Retention ¨C Weapon based training never fades.


    5: Strength of Arms ¨C When using a weapon skill, improves performance based on highest level of any weapon.


    5: Pupil of Arms ¨C Quickly learn other''s active skills if they are better then the known ones or when the Armsmaster has sufficient skill.


    10: Cross Execute ¨C Improves the ability to use weapon skills with similar weapons, reducing any penalties. Armsmaster levels improve what skills can be crossed as well as improve effect when cross attacking.


    15: Blade Dancer ¨C Weapon skill of wielded weapon improves parrying and evasion.


    20: Cross-Skill ¨C Can use known weapon skills with impossible weapons. Armsmaster levels improve stamina cost and improve effects.


    25: Quick Swap ¨C Skill that allows user to switch weapons very fast, even mid-swing. Corvayne usually uses a 2 handed weapon, so he doesn''t know he has this yet.


    30: Monkey Grip ¨C Can use double 2 handed weapons. Improves using a 2 handed weapons. When properly equipped makes the user much harder to disarm. This is something he just flat out doesn''t notice.


    What weapon skills does he actually know?


    Some classes, Corvayne has seen both Advanced and Basic versions of skills. I''ve put the Advanced first then used a / for the basic version.


    As you go further into the tree, skills become more and more personalized.


    Spears Weapon Skills:


    Spear Weapon skills are generally about mobility. A warrior using a spear is a skirmisher, striking important targets and backing off. Spears and Waves-Within both lean to styles that emulate water and channel her innate element, where Corvayne is focused on the martial advantage his reach gives him. Spears also leans into a style that uses air attacks to ambush and surprise enemies. Corvayne doesn''t have a shield, which would be a third soldier type spear use that focuses on being a bulwark.


    ??? / Thrust (Fast attack, improved damage, minor stamina use): A quick Spear attack, carrying more force then should be possible. The version Corvayne uses moves him forward slightly, but usually has no other notable effects.


    Juxtapose / Spear Slide (evade + move enemy, swapping position, minor stamina use): Spear Slide is the more physics friendly version that uses the haft of the warriors weapon to divert and get behind or to the side of their enemies, moving a little faster maybe then expected. Juxtapose is the extreme version, letting the user swap positions even when it doesn''t make sense. To outside observers, there''s often a bit of blurring.


    ??? / Leap Strike (extra damage from above. Mid stamina use. Extra damage vs Flying). Requires height to execute. The weight and accuracy increase that Corvayne felt the first time is part of the skill rather then just his gravity kicking in. The extra speed that the attacker falls can catch someone who doesn''t know how the skill works off guard.


    Flow Like Water/Charging thrust (attack and evade while moving forward. Water element: Turns into water, ignoring attacks. Mid stamina use. Extra damage vs Fire, Dust, Sand). Charging Thrust is an impressive set of six steps through enemies space, letting the user move and attack very efficiently. Despite the name implying that you are barreling at someone, it can be used to disengage. Flow Like Water is Waves-Within and Spears-Like-Water''s signature take. Corvayne often looks like hes trailing mist or creates splashes when he uses this move, but the master of this move is Spears as seen in their one on one fight.


    Storm Thrust/Full Thrust (high damage, extra range, peirces enemies. Thunder style: Knocks enemies down. Lightning style: Improves damage and range. High stamina use. Extra damage vs aquatic and water) Full Thrust creates a small shock wave when it fires which both increases the damage and knocks the target back, and when performed in the dark has a sort of orange glow to it. Storm Thrust is one of the few moves that Corvayne can call his own, and the very strong burst of wind means that it can be a less lethal way of knocking someone down without being close to them.


    Shadow Thrust/??? (Moderate damage, extra range, extremely low stamina use, low mana use) Corvayne has an affinity for darkness, but has not tried this yet.


    He may have skills he doesn''t remember... Hmm.


    Short blades:


    Many of the Short Blade skills are designed for assassins, either to dispatch a single target unaware they are there, or to tag their enemies with a lethal blow. Brines uses knives a third way: mostly as tools for their special attacks, as he is not particularly stealthy. Growl-Whine on the other hand grows her own knives, but has mostly been killing things with her katana. Grunt is suprisingly skilled with them, but they don''t match his preferred methodology like baseball bats do, nor do they let him enjoy recreational activities after washing blood off them.


    Backstab/Sneak Attack (Extra damage when behind enemy. Users report a very pleasing sound that no enemies can hear. No stamina use): The go-to of rouges everywhere, these attacks seem to create a larger surface of ''penetration'' to multiply damage. It would explain the large round holes it leaves in victims.


    Phantom Knife/Knife Toss (ranged attack, weapon comes back, small stamina use. Extra damage on high armor) The basic version helps ensure that the blade of whatever ''Knife'' or small sword thrown hits, as well as acting as a small force multiplier by leveraging the users skill in throwing. The phantom weapon leaves a translucent blue trail, but does not glow making it suitable for sniping. The biggest difference is that Phantom Knife allows the weapon to hit more then one object, and is much much much harder to disrupt by a pesky ''Catch'' ability.


    Blender (Multiple quick weak attacks. Spreads out damage on multiple targets. Mid stamina use). The user seems to blur a little and quickly jabs a bunch of targets. While useful as an assassin or using a weapon that has some sort of on-hit effect, it forces the user to be very close to a group of enemies. Corvayne knows this move, but usually has a better option. He suspects this is the basic version and that there''s some difference with an Advanced version that would make it better.


    Bleeder (next attack causes bleeding. Targets without blood will leak something based on animating force. low stamina use) The weapon leaves a trail of blood even before it strikes. Things that shouldn''t bleed do, but it works best on soft targets because the ''bleed'' is based on how big and deep the wound is. Corvayne should really be applying this with an arrow before any major fight, but I forgive him for leaving the bows to Mister I.


    Shadow Stealer (moderate damage. Causes target to be exposed and reduces armor and shadow resistance. Shifts user into shade state, improves physical defense, reduces light resistance. Moderate Stamina) With his shadows doing much more damage it seems like a very Corvayne move, especially if he keeps putting energy into improving those shadows. The effect is targeted at the target''s shadow, slicing off part of it. Author Note: (I don''t think it couldn''t be used in total darkness, but could be used on invisible foes if you hit where their shadow would be! This will never come up in the story, but please enjoy a battle where this turns the tide in your mind palace.)


    Long blades:


    The weapon of nobility, sword skills are built around dueling and hampering a single enemy. Hari and Undine favor swords, as they are usually skirmishing to pick off or distract an important target.


    Light Cut/Fast Blade: (Damages regardless of phase. Deals lots of damage to insubstantial enemies. Deals half radiant damage. Low stamina. Combos with Soul reaper). Fast Blade simply makes the blade vanish, where light cut leaves a glowing white trail. These attacks simply enhance a sword strike, so one could do a ''Light Cut'' where they jab instead.


    Crescent Blade/Afterimage: (Next 3 attacks leave afterimage that damages for 3 seconds if touched. Mid stamina. Extra damage on electric, large and bigger targets). Afterimage only works on a single attack, vs the advanced version creating 3. Crescent Blade images are difficult to tell apart from the person in the heat of battle, but watching from afar they are pretty unconvincing. Most intelligent people learn after the first one, which makes it more suited for controlling a battlefield.


    Sundering Strike/Blade breaker: (Deals extra damage to equipment or metal or stone monsters. Mid stamina. High combo chance on stone and metal and earth based enemy). See Sundering Blade. Blade Breaker is much worse as it can''t target metal and stone monsters. The hit is very loud and creates temporary debris even if the mass removed from the target wouldn''t merit it.


    Pivot Thrust: (changes direction quickly and deals high damage to secondary target) Corvayne hasn''t used this much, partially because it requires being engaged in melee with one target and having another approach. The effect makes the user''s movement unnaturally smooth and is somewhat disturbing to watch. Perhaps the main reason for this skill is to ensure that your duel stays a duel?


    Metal Arc: (high single damage attack, raises defense). Because Corvayne dodges, you won''t see this one too often. Still, the effect makes the arm swinging the weapon look like living steel, so it''s a neat cosmetic effect. I am amused to think of it being used when Corvayne is stomping on someones foot.


    Double Handed Blades:


    Big weapons designed to do high damage to everything around them. Lady Blood Claw and Diamonds-In-Passing are two notable users, though Lady Blood Claw really us using ''Heat Blades'' which likely have their own quirks. Maybe she''ll teach Corvayne a thing or two some day?


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Sundering Blade/???: (Deals extra damage to equipment, high chance of dismember if not blocked or evaded. High stamina use. High combo chance on constructs). See Sundering Strike. This version looks a little different and is more suited to a large weapon, but one of the ''Sundering'' moves is probably a bastardization of the other that someone wanted to make work on a bigger/smaller weapon.


    Giant swing/???: (Deals extreme damage and knocks back or knocks down. Very high stamina use.) Has a long forced windup, and because of the very high damage is hard to practice in a safe environment. Corvayne doesn''t use it very much, but it makes a lovely woosh and can launch whatever it hits into the stratosphere.


    Circle of Death/???: (360 attack, cuts through or knocks away enemies. High stamina use. Stops if sword hits immobile object. Higher skill makes it less likely for this to be an issue. High damage on small enemies.) You know it, you love it. Leaves a weird dark trail for most users, this attack sort of ignores matter between it and it''s enemies: it does less damage if the natural path of the weapon would hit armor or walls. As Corvayne may have noticed, this skill is not as hard to ''aim'' while spinning as it should be. It does not make you dizzy even if you do it over and over, though if someone is on your shoulders while you do this, they are not immune to throwing up all over, possibly in a wide arc.


    Diamond Wedge/???: (Large damage, partially ice damage and partially ignores defense, defense ignored and ice damage percent increases with skill, high stamina use) Diamonds-In-Passing could create a cone of ice by slamming her blade into the ground, but Corvayne can''t quite get the trick himself yet. I''m not bringing this up for any particular reason. Don''t worry about it.


    Hand Axe:


    Axes are sort of ''manly'' and want the user to stand their ground. Many of the attacks are used and developed by dwarves in heavy armor and lumberjacks killing trees. Mugs-Already-Empty is the axe user who beat these moves into Corvayne.


    Chop: (Extra damage. Mid stamina use on first attack. No stamina use on successive uses if standing in the same spot. High damage on wood monsters.) This move is well paired with shield skills due to not needed stamina to repeat. Makes a nice solid thwack noise on contact.


    Whirling Axe: (Ranged attack: Creates a wind blade that is thrown into an enemy. Throwing skill also improves skill. Small stamina use. High damage on earth monsters and fliers) One of Corvayne''s favorites... this makes a green disk of windy death. At least, it is on low armor targets and small monsters.


    Limbtaker: (high damage. Chance of dismember. Mid stamina use. High damage on humanoids): A very dangerous move, the sort of thing that people seeing or hearing it feel there''s killing intent with it. Even a small cut might jump across a limb, so it''s not something that can be practiced unless both warriors have a death wish.


    Battle Axe:


    All in big axe attacks for two handers. Mugs-Already-Empty was the main user. Corvayne doesn''t use these moves much as they are sort of the opposite style he takes of avoiding attacks and quickly striking.


    Cleave I: (High damage. Attacks again if a kill. Mid stamina use, restores some on kill) Like Juxtapose, it makes it look like the user just goes right through the enemy. Makes a mess. Highly recommended if you are trying to impress a twisted girl who likes gore.


    Berserkers charge: (High damage charge skill. Knocks enemy up. High stamina use. High damage on defending) A battlefield skill or well suited for enemies in tunnels, this ability requires a certain time spent building up speed, but aids it''s user. Targets sent flying tend to ''ragdoll'' while in the air. Corvayne probably has shown off this one on milk crates, at least until they landed on another building''s roof and he, Wick, and Grunt scattered back into the factory.


    Execute: (High damage, high chance of crit on enemy that''s movement is hampered. High stamina use) Actually very strong as a stealth move, this requires the enemy to be almost entirely unable to dodge or move. The user of this move glows deep red as does the weapon. It''s scary!


    Scythe:


    Used by Sand-Like-Waves, who isn''t really in this story much. I''m sure they are perfectly fine/horrible person. They are designed for crowd control and are associated with necromancers as it''s great for tripping people and letting zombies get them, or perhaps blinding them with patches of dark.


    Reap: (Mid damage. Low stamina use. Brings enemy closer or trips) Both the first scythe moves can be used to leave the trails of shadow that Corvayne''s version has. Reap doesn''t go through targets more then a giant scythe normally would, but has a little bit of ''draw in'' to things that the blade misses. The usual combo is to use this skill before anything gets close then Thresh to knock a bunch of enemies over.


    Thresh: (Low Aoe damage. Low stamina use. Trips enemies close). This is the one that goes through things, but the trip requires hitting something that counts as a leg. How Gruesome.


    </a>Soul Reaper: (very very low damage, steals mana, extreme damage on undead/spirits. Very slow attack. Low stamina use). As seen with Corvayne using this VERY SLOW attack to delay a nuke going off, this skill was meant to cleanse the dead. Necromancers do make mistakes sometimes after all, and there are harvest priests perhaps who might use a scythe and fixate on things like ''removing the wheat from the chaff'' a little too much.


    Katana:


    Moon-Laughing-with-Stars and especially Growl-Whine enjoy using the long curved blades. The Katana is meant to be a sort of tactical combo weapon, using Draw and Sheath to open and close chains of attacks. A thinking warrior''s weapon, as planning is required to be positioned to cap off chains and know which moves can flow into each other as part of the dance, as well as how to fight more then one enemy with the expensive attacks.


    Draw: (Extreme damage. Requires sheathed weapon. Attack Pierces. Damage is delayed. Extreme stamina use.) The lightning draw that samurai are known for! In movies at least.


    Shadow Step: (High damage charging attack. Moves very quickly past enemy. Extreme stamina use.) This move nearly knocked Corvayne out the few times he used it. Without the rest of the abilities, it''s really more or less a slightly higher damage Flow-Like-Water, which is why he doesn''t use it more.


    Sheath the Life: (puts weapon away, hits all enemies struck in the last 3 seconds with high damage bleed. Recovers stamina on any kills. No stamina use.) Corvayne could probably do more with Draw/Sheath, but it requires the right kind of fight and weapon. His spear is a poor substitute for hanzo steel after all.


    [Crecent Moon Drop], [Swaying With A Hunter''s Touch], [A Breeze Through Open Trees]: More advanced Katana moves the Spider uses. Maybe if Corvayne could understand her, she''d tell him how to use the damn things!


    Maces: Knocks-Off-Tables


    Beatdown: (Attacks 3 times in succession. Mid stamina use. High damage on armored)


    Grand Slam: (Extreme to incredible damage based on time winding up. Usually requires set up or large target to work. Mid stamina use)


    One-Two: (Low damage attack that stuns, Low damage attack that knocks enemy off ground. Mid stamina use)


    Drumming blow (Mid damage low accuracy chained attacks 5x times. Bound or slowed or knocked up enemies vastly improve accuracy)


    Unarmed:


    Fights-Like-a-Bull was the trainer. Like all good martial artists, he had spiky hair. Unarmed is also a sort of combo weapon, but with lots of tricks to use low stamina moves quickly. Corvayne uses them somewhat sparingly, as he spends a lot of time fighting monsters or bad people with a weapon. Of note is Springwind, which the mysterious Dust Man has been urging him to learn.


    Rabbit Punches/Hummingbird Strikes: (Extremely fast extreme low damage attack. Can be chained, starts free then uses increasing stamina. Can be used with free offhand. Deals fire damage after 5<sup>th</sup> hit) Makes chirping noises until you attack so fast your hands start on fire.


    Nerve Pinch/Jab: (no/low damage. Inflicts sleep/unconscious). Low stamina, requires much higher level then target to work. I go by Pokemon rules for non-lethal takedowns with ''JUDO CHOP''. I also showed incredible restraint not having Corvayne shout ''JUDO CHOP''.


    Judo Throw/Throw: (Low damage and throws enemy. Judo throw: Extra damage based on enemy moving. Low stamina use. Requires 2 free hands.) Throw and the less physics friendly JUDO THROW use an enemies own momentum against them. Great on burly types trying to ram you.


    ???/Sweep: (Low damage and trips enemy. Works better on enemies standing still. Low stamina use. Can be used with both hands busy.) Corvayne sometimes will use this instead of Thresh as it is more suited to buying space and can be thrown out a little faster then Thresh or Reap.


    ???/One Inch Punch: (Deals damage scales with stamina recently used. Low stamina use. Requires one free hand.) The finisher for Unarmed skills, Corvayne might use it instead of Sheath to cap off a combo if he''s not sure it''s going to kill his target. Another reason monks should need lots of Con for stamina!


    Springwind/???: Potential skill level 30 martial arts skill.


    Guns and Bows:


    Various ranged attacks. Bows also covers Crossbows and Guns Chases-Up-Trees was the archery trainer. She also helped raise Spears-Like-Water along with Waves-Within. Coming-In-Hot was the gun trainer, her name ironic given her cold demeanor. Bows are slightly better suited for groups, and Guns are best at taking out a single target at long range. Corvayne generally only uses these techniques when he has throwing knives, spare spears to throw, or a gun, because it''s VERY expensive to try to shoot someone with your fingers.


    Drill shot: (Medium Stamina, High armor penetration, Chance to break through shields) A bullet that leaves a spiral trail through the air and then grinds into whatever it hits. Corvayne does not use this very much because he''s not had too many encounters with heavily armored enemies. Maybe if he fights a dragon that flies it will be more handy?


    Ricochet: (Medium Stamina, Increased damage, bullet bounces several times depending on skill) The effect on this one leaves a small white line when the fired bullet hits a wall or impacts an enemy. Corvayne has reservations about using this skill, as it''s very chaotic and he doesn''t want to find out what happens when you hit someone with a spear using it.


    Double shot: (Low Stamina, Fires two arrows in quick succession): The effect looks like the person draws, aims, and fires two arrows very quickly. High skill levels reduce the time between shots, eventually creating a ''twin'' arrow. Because the second arrow actually homes in on the first, this ability is very effective for attacking a soft target with shields, provided the user has a bow able to trigger the high impact response in a section of shield the second is almost certainly going through.


    Pinning shot (bow): (Medium Stamina, reduced damage x3, Fires a trio of arrows that pin a target to something behind them. Can be fired downwards to pin someone to the ground.) There is a pinning shot for Guns which Corvayne knows exists, but hasn''t had time to determine how to use. With good aim and a target with baggy clothes, can pin something down without hurting it, but Corvayne will tell you that it''s better to pin a monster to a rock with something it can''t afford to lose getting free.


    Throwing:


    Any object, including knives and grenades. Corvayne as a habit does not like letting go of his spear, so he actually has a tougher time then one would expect with trying to master the simple javelin. Perhaps someone should get him a boomerang as a present? Oh, are they a separate weapon skill? Never mind...


    Expert Toss: (Low Stamina, Greatly increases accuracy and somewhat increases range) The most basic throwing technique is simply throwing something better, if not harder. Great for landing a trick shot on someone or getting a grenade right in the middle of a clump of enemies. Great for Baseball.


    Arcing toss: (Low Stamina, Increases range and accuracy while giving thrown object a particular arc) Overlaps a lot with expert toss, but lets the user find a way to throw things to hit both a certain mid point and endpoint. Great for basketball and horseshoes.


    Heavy weapon:


    Not used a lot (yet) as Corvayne has not manned the machine guns on the truck, which are the heavy weapons we''ve seen. All the skills are designed to compensate for dealing with an ammo hungry weapon then push them to be even more destructive.


    Burst Fire (Extreme Stamina: Weapon fires three times or triples it''s output for a short period of time) The effect causes the user to glow red and make a weird critical noise when it''s fired. According to Coming-In-Hot you can aim things like missiles slightly off target to maximize spread rather then have the first blow the next two missiles up. The only weapon he might have a use for doing this with, so far, was his lava knife, and he ended up burning it (no pun intended) in the spur of the moment. The skill takes so much energy that it''s really only viable as a Cross-Skill when he''s trying to alpha strike a lone target.


    Mow down (Extreme Stamina: Multiples shots up to five times on firing or for a short period of time, sending the extra attacks at different targets) Causes the projectile to split a little after being fired. Good against groups, but Corvayne would want a sufficiently lethal weapon to merit running a marathon to fire for five seconds.


    Shield:


    A weapon that''s armor! A person with super human strength can lug around a physical shield that actually lets them just block a direct strike, though using the flimsy weapons he has to block is usually a measure of desperation. Still, one can use a shield to deflect attacks and Shield Wall is something he''s used at times for zone denial.


    Block and Counter: (High stamina, block and regular attack back faster then normal. Stamina cost reduced by many factors.) Basically requires a shield or a large weapon to deflect or just drains a lot of stamina for a slightly faster counter attack. Also requires timing. Makes a nice ''Ding'' sound apparently when you block and counter with a perfect shield parry.


    Hunker down: (Improves stamina regeneration as long as user doesn''t move or attack. Low stamina to activate. ~5 seconds to break even) At the moment a very small cost for a very small increase in stamina. Corvayne, if he trained with Shields more, would likely be using this between battles when in the dungeons. One of those skills he might not recognize as a skill, to be quite honest: it''s very close to what one does with a shield if they are holding a line anyway.


    Shield Bash 1: (Mid stamina, low damage, Stuns, knocks back, knocks over): The weapon being used to bash turns gray for a moment. Blunt implements do better, but for Corvayne the flat of a blade is good enough, as is his spear''s butt. While this tends to be a more soldierly way of fighting, Corvayne in a pinch would be happy to hold a hallway with a shield and bash and stab his way to victory.


    Shield Wall: (High stamina, Creates an arc of shields. Shields block attacks, movement, and attack targets they touch at high skill): The shields are visibly ''semi real'' as they track with the user''s shield (or weapon in Corvayne''s case) as the center. There''s a few points early in the story where this was handy, but he needs a real shield and some more training to make it better at defending a point compared to just spraying it with a dagger. Still, a skill Corvayne likes a lot with his spear.


    Aegis Reflector: (Extreme Stamina, Reflects 1 attack back. Stamina cost reduced to free if another attack was parried.) Again, Corvayne knows that a really good shield holder, such as his father Half-Claimed-Crown, can ''bounce'' attacks with the right timing. A rare case where he doesn''t think he can use this skill because it''s just a pain in the ass to use right, and possibly requires a higher total stamina pool outside the ''if'' clause.


    Staff:


    Corvayne''s training with staff was mostly self-taught since coming to Cascadia. There was a staff trainer, Dreams-In-Gold, who used quarterstaves specifically, but he never got around to doing more then a few sessions learning to use a quarterstaff. One wonders if, given the right mindset, he wouldn''t have trained Staff up while sparring with ''practice spears'' that are pretty much just that. The weapon style that he saw Dreams use seemed to weave in oddball moves to surprise a single fighter, and wide warding motions to push multiple people back.


    Knock: (low stamina, moderate damage. Reduces spell power temporarily.) With a satisfying THUNK this attack hits an enemy wherever it''s brain is held and does a little extra damage, while also disrupting their spell power. With the possibility of a regular over-the-counter concussion too, it makes this weapon very good at shutting a mage down.


    Crushing blow: (low stamina, puts into overhead stance for extra damage on reactive attack) More then simple physics, this attack is sort of zone denial but for one enemy, IE the first to get close enough. Because it''s a special move and only takes energy when you first lift the weapon, it''s also a way to carry something that is like a staff without your arms getting tired, as long as you are doing it in a place where you can hold it directly above your head.


    Butchering:


    Used by Corvayne alone so far, it seems with the amount of blood Butchery shoots out that this is a MEATY skill set! Perhaps another necromancer standard, along with the scythe? Or their undead minions.


    Butchery: (high stamina, moderate damage. Ignores natural armor.) Very effective against living and dead targets. Both leaves a trail of blood and creates a sort of sharp meat packing sound when it connects. One of the better moves against things like the Dragons, with their very hard natural armor, and also why you won''t see Corvayne use Drill Shot against a similar target any time soon.

 Chapter 166: Flow Like Shadows

    Corvayne saw the darkness that had enveloped him disperse as he moved by Bell, who was crouched over her sister. Tutu was alive and slowly knitting herself back together, literally with a needle and string. The sex cultist princess seemed to be breathing evenly as she pushed organs back inside herself after sewing them. A weird sort of smile was on her face. Perhaps she was one of those people who enjoyed being hurt?


    Corvayne saw her smile fade and heard her voice go shrill after she sat up. ¡°Ah! What did you do to my TENT?!¡±


    Corvayne gave her a pat on the shoulder. ¡°Good enough to complain? You''ll probably live. Bell, keep her safe. There''s more wolves to kill.¡±


    Indeed, Nyx and Spears had nearly twenty of the monsters trying to attack them, necks extending to try to nip at Nyx as he floated over the lake. The water and his energy shield snarled any effort of the rabbit-wolves, letting him just focus on blasted them with the serpent whip and waves of dark energy that caused them to flee for a few seconds, throwing off other monsters trying to get close enough to jump. Every so often, he''d see a tidal wave form as Spears used the water she had summoned to slam, crush, and drown the monsters. It also seemed that she was barely harmed even if a wolf lunged through her, simply reforming and stabbing the offending monster. She looked beautiful, and lethal, and her clothes had been taking some damage.


    Corvayne shook his head, and took a moment to move near Brines, the effects the man was circling through melting some of his exhaustion, mending wounds, and even helping his wandering mind focus as the man swapped auras. The last suggested Corvayne might have been dipping into mana for some of the things he was doing too. Either way, Brines had gotten better at control over items, using a fire dagger and lightning dagger together to cook the few wolves near him. Brines noticed Corvayne and lifted his chin towards the lake. ¡°I need to get closer to the other three... can you cover me?¡±


    Corvayne nodded and drew his dagger and cleaver. He gestured for Brines to see the rabbit-wolves now filtering out from the woods. ¡°I''m going to harvest shadows, follow me.¡±


    Brines nodded like he understood what Corvayne was saying, even though he had just thought of the phrase a moment ago. He kept an eye out and saw that Bearer had about ten wolves trying to hit her and failing as she kept doing strange teleporting dashes over and over, leaving trails of green afterimages as she slammed into enemies like a comet over and over.


    Before they stepped into range of the next wolves, Corvayne turned to Brines. ¡°We''ll need to have a talk with her when this is over.¡±


    The man nodded, then readied his daggers again and followed as Corvayne jogged to get closer to the lake and Bearer. Monsters noticed and he saw a dozen running around the edge of water logged grass, no doubt thinking he was easier prey. Sadly, their shadows were on the far side of them, so instead Corvayne drew a line with his knife, using [Cross Skill: Reap] to make a huge patch of darkness. He left the cleaver for a moment in his shadow hand, and drew a trio of throwing knives.


    ¡°Keep stamina on. I''m going to tire myself out.¡± Corvayne said, and then felt Brines lock in the energy aura. He lined the knives up, and used [Cross-Skill: Shadow Stealer] as he aimed under the first three wolves. The thin blades flew and like magic the first three wolves were lit up as Corvayne felt darkness flow into him. He also felt like for a moment he was going to fall over, the combination expensive, but Brine''s aura worked like magic, letting him catch his breath by the time he switched to his spear.


    Normally it was extremely bad form to announce your moves, but these were wolves, and maybe Spears was watching him.


    ¡°Flows Like Shadows!¡± he called out, then moved forward like black smoke, rolling past enemies as his spear became a dark claw, reaching out to greedily pluck flesh from his enemies as he passed by them, then he pivoted and activated it again, black lines skewering the pack as he slid back to Brines. He felt a little light headed and waved at Brines.


    ¡°Mana?¡± He huffed, trying to blink his eyes to stay focused on the rabbit wolves still rushing into the battle. A moment later the fog lifted, and he charged into the few wolves that had survived his previous attack, spear and his shadow limbs ripping into the monsters and quickly dispatching them. One the last he pulled his knife and finished it off with [Shadow Stealer] before dashing back to Brines and pushing to where he could touch both Bearer and Nyx with his auras.


    That still meant there was a flank back to camp he had to keep an eye out, but Lady Blood Claw had rallied after his help, and finally it seemed they were starting to run out of wolves. Like most monsters, aside from flinching at damage they relentlessly attacked, the only exception being monsters near Nyx who seemed to flee as the noble directed his gaze at them. The man''s shields had barely been scratched as the last wolf died.


    Bearer meanwhile finally dashed into the last of her wolves and then plopped on the ground, sweating like crazy and drinking a huge bottle of water before springing back to her feet then kicking the frozen body of one of her enemies, flinging frozen wolf shards everywhere. ¡°Wow, maybe you guys should be a little more wolf and a little less rabbit.¡±


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Then she turned and looked very smug, tapping her cheek.


    ¡°Hey, Corvayne, did you always start yourself on shadow fire?¡±


    A moment later, Lady Blood Claw came from the side and slammed her fist into Bearer''s face, sending the woman flying for a half beat before she recovered into a backflip and landed on her feet, rubbing her chin. ¡°Wow. You training unarmed? Want some tips?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shook her fist, wincing and hissing. ¡°What were you thinking when you DID that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I can Adapt [[Grace]] which is why I can dodge like Corvayne, and [Efficency]] which is why I can do [Springwind] over and over.¡±


    Corvayne mentally reviewed the fight. She looked like she was doing pretty good even with dozens of wolves on her, and the repeated attack seemed like a more focused [Flow-like-Water] perhaps. Either way, Corvayne was pretty sure he didn''t want to have to strike down a potential ally, so he pointed at Bearer. ¡°From now on, if you spring a monster on us, you''re on their team.¡±


    Corvayne held his hand out, and Bearer shook it. Corvayne narrowed his eyes. ¡°I mean, give me that whistle.¡±


    Bearer laughed and tossed it to Corvayne, then pulled another one out and idly spun it. ¡°That one is spent. I got a bunch of Lures.¡±


    ¡°Please give them to someone who knows better than to test them when we have newbies.¡±


    Bearer shrugged. ¡°See, but we don''t have newbies now because that was a boatload of wolves, more than enough to push them to the mid teens.¡±


    Corvayne heard Lady Blood Claw crack something, possibly her fists or a tooth given she was speaking through them. ¡°Are you on our side or not?¡±


    ¡°Of course, you got stronger just now because you felt pressure, and adapted. That''s the only way to get better. It''s better to learn that with monsters than when actual people come around trying to kill you.¡±


    Corvayne felt like there was a little something he could peel there, something that Bearer might open up to. ¡°And have you had people trying to kill you before, that you would know about gaining power?¡±


    She looked back at him, expression content. ¡°Here and there, now and then. Not for a while.¡±


    Corvayne couldn''t trust her, but even as he was thinking about how to part ways without coming to blows, Spears stepped forward.


    ¡°Corvayne, she should stay with us. I''ll explain it to you and Lady Blood Claw.¡± She gestured to Corvayne''s tent.


    Corvayne ignored Bearer making catcalls as he followed Spears. She and Lady Blood Claw sat on the carpet Corvayne had put down and he took his own bedding as Spears pulled a new shirt from somewhere to cover her shredded clothes up. Slightly less exposed she began.


    ¡°So, Corvayne, the way to defeat the curse is to experience new things, as Book-Binder told you?¡±


    He nodded. He was pretty sure a few of the know-it-alls he had run into had told him that, and it made sense how the woman under Cascadia had explained it, expanding his mind would eventually tear the curse apart.


    ¡°Then, one thing that might challenge you is to keep Bearer close, someone you don''t know is friend or foe and who you have to watch.¡± Spears said. ¡°It will tax me too, and no doubt is stress you don''t want... but... I think she''s a burden we can bear.¡±


    Corvayne said. ¡°Ha.¡± flatly at the joke. He was sure Spears eyes glittered a little bit more than usual.


    Lady Blood Claw looked daggers at her, but Spears kept talking. ¡°The other thing is... weird... but you need lots of different relationships and experiences. So, if you want to simply be with me and no one else, I won''t complain, but if roaming helps your curse, I don''t mind.¡±


    At this LBC stood up. ¡°Did you really need me here for that?¡± A moment later Spears pulled her back to sitting.


    ¡°There will be times, I''m sure, when one of us isn''t around, and you are the person I trust more than anyone else to keep him on the right path, safe, and working to figure out the curses. We three are ALL trying to sort out how to fix ourselves, get our memories back, and maybe even our names.¡±


    Corvayne raised an eyebrow. ¡°I thought Watchers named themselves in that three word tempo?¡±


    Spears shook her head. ¡°I remember a little of the world before, and I know I had a different name. More the reason that Kayla out there irks me.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. ¡°I had forgotten her normal name.¡±


    ¡°I had hoped that the three of them might help us recover our own lost names by teaching us something as to the mechanics of it. As of now, she''s using us for something, so we use her back.¡±


    Corvayne held up a hand. ¡°I''m not sure I like being so... transactional with my potential allies.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw snorted. ¡°Do it to your potential enemies, then. Whatever she wants, she isn''t being forward with us, either. Everything she says is a tease that she knows something we don''t.¡±


    Spears narrowed her eyes. ¡°Do you think she''s connected to the Magus?¡±


    Lady shook her head. ¡°I don''t get the same feeling from here, but there''s something creepy about her. Watch her like a hawk.¡±


    Spears nodded and held up a glistening slime finger. ¡°Don''t sleep with her!¡±


    Corvayne felt himself frowning. ¡°Is that what you think of my go-to response?¡±


    She smiled. ¡°I know how easy you are, is all.¡± With that she gave him a peck on the forehead and pulled her own bedroll out of nowhere.


    Lady sighed and stood up. ¡°Of course...¡± She paused as she was leaving the tent, a faint hint of amusement playing over her skin contrasted with her poker face. ¡°Better hurry.¡±


    A moment after she had left, the two princesses barged in. Spears shot up from where she had been resting. ¡°What do you two want?¡±


    Bell put a grass covered bedroll down next to Corvayne. ¡°The fight destroyed my tent. Kick my sister out so we can go to sleep.¡±


    Tutu, instead of talking, tried to straddle him, which made Corvayne once more use [Juxtapose] to get her into his bedroll, then summoned a length of rope and tied her up. Taking a moment to admire his handiwork, he noticed her eyes half lidded and that she was panting, so he picked her up and put her in the corner, then looked over at Bell. ¡°If you want to stake her down, I''d appreciate it.¡±


    That all done, he crawled into Spear''s bedroll, wrapped his arms around his new slime girlfriend, then fell fast asleep.

 Chapter 167: Pondering Orbs

    [44%]


    Corvayne bolted awake and forced himself to summon a pen and pad of paper. Forty Four percent curse integrity. He was well over halfway to breaking it. Perhaps all the odd things he had been doing during the campaign against The Raven?


    He had to withdraw a hand from inside of Spear''s shirt, completely dry despite his fingers having sunk into her well rounded chest. He wrote down the percentage, then set his paper away and checked the tent. Bell''s sister was asleep, looking troubled as she shifted in her sleep. No visible scars, despite extended contact with The Raven. Bell herself was still asleep, red hair flopped out of her sleeping bag. He considered putting his hand back in its resting place and try getting back to bed but was too awake and decided to let Spears rest. He instead strolled out into dim light of predawn.


    Lady Blood Claw was sitting in one chair near a fire and nodded as she worked on breakfast. Brines was also helping while acting as watch, but given the carnage around them Corvayne was pretty sure they had depopulated the hills for miles around of monsters. Nobody seemed in the mood to talk, so he ate then moved into the grass around the camp, skinning wolves with his dagger. The elastic properties of the pelts meant Mosh could likely make something useful out of them. Maybe nice warm bed rolls, or a hammock, or an elastic coat. That''s at least what he was telling himself as he struggled to slice the rough blood stained hides.


    After both blood work and breakfast, the sun still had not crest over the horizon, so he moved down to one of the streams running through the floor and let the water wash off some of his sweat and gore. He trudged up a pair of slopes to camp and pulled out the book reading device Mosh had made. He stuck his hands, drained what little air had snuck in, then made some progress on the tome of martial mastery. He focused on a section with lots of diagrams on using knives and fists and other close work gear. Near the end of the basic exercises and practice moves, he saw there was a section on practicing putting ''energy'' into weapons. If he hadn''t been using reap and just discovered how to steal shadows, his eyes might have glazed over it. Instead he put the book and device containing it away, then cupped his hands to form a regular shadow. The practice was to hold a glob of an element in his hand, then pass it back and forth while keeping it round.


    Summoning one of his fists, he tried making it like a child making a mud patty, trying to grasp the smokey shadow and push it into an orb. When that failed, he tried relaxing, and had some success pooling darkness in his hand but no success moving it. He then focused, and after twenty minutes of pushing and pulling in his head, changing his breathing, and closing his eyes, he tried cupping his open hand with his other, and found that in the dark the magic was somewhat physical as he did so. Cupped hands and focusing on mentally squeezing the ball seemed to work. He wanted to hurry onto applying it to a weapon, but the book had stated that he needed to be able to create a sphere without ''external help'' which might include using his hands to make darkness.


    He could walk and practice. The sun was up. It was time to move.


    Corvayne set about waking everyone up to start their march across the floor. They broke down camp pretty quick, and Corvayne extended an olive branch to Tutu by offering to carry her tent with them until Mosh could mend it.


    ¡°Oh how thoughtful! Here I thought you were just a brute who pinned women down in their sleep-¡±


    ¡°You were awake.¡± Corvayne said while stuffing the mess into his ring. Interestingly, he was almost certain he had a higher weight limit than when he had stuffed it with steel beams.


    ¡°You also have put your hands on my sister, I can tell-¡±


    ¡°You are wrong.¡± Corvayne started breaking his own tent down, then shrugged and stored it as-is after pulling the stakes out.


    Lady Blood Claw handed Tutu a bundle of stakes and a bag. ¡°Make yourself useful and clean and store those.¡±


    With some grumbling, the royal sex cultist showed that she at least had breaking camp down pretty well. The group was ready by the time the sun was starting to crest the far hills, bathing the nearly endless grassy expanse in orange lines.


    For what Corvayne expected from a fifth floor, wolves aside, it continued to be a cake walk. There were very few monsters outside of rabbit forms, plentiful passive water and native animal life, and the gentle slopes and hills presented almost no challenge to navigation aside from just knowing where to go. Corvayne used his Compass power to orient himself to the stairs up, which meant they had been moving for the last three days in the same direction.


    Lady Blood Claw sauntered up to walk near the front with him, as did Spears. Lady had a ball she had made of elastic wolf-hide she was using to play catch, and sometimes would toss to Corvayne to keep Mr. Squidgglesworth on his toes (tentacles), the floating squid drifting over to try to gently pry the ball away from him or urge Corvayne to throw it, then go zooming off. It made little bubbling noises that Corvayne found surprisingly cute, given that his first impression of the dungeon fauna had been just another oddity to avoid... or eat. Spears mostly talked about the village, from the perspective of someone who hadn''t been shunned, punctuated by her leaping up into the air hundreds of feet every so often to try to spot threats.


    It was at midday, perhaps six hours of walking, that Corvayne spotted the stairs up after a lot of walking upwards. One of the hills had a rounded stone arch in its base that had the tell-tale blue glow of a stairway to the sub-floor before the guardian. He turned around, looking at both his group and the grassy landscape behind them. ¡°Everyone please aim for the Inn.¡±


    Nyx rubbed his hands together. ¡°You need not tell me twice!¡±


    Spears looked back. ¡°He''s so enthusiastic about completing the quest!¡±


    Corvayne looked at her, trying to match the woman who had given him a ''taste test'' before with the naive view of what Nyx was after. ¡°I think he''s going to go find a date, actually.¡± He picked a slightly middle of the road path between being blunt and totally ignoring the comment.


    ¡°Oh, I thought you were going to help play matchmaker with him and Seru...¡±


    Corvayne thought about that. ¡°She isn''t with us, maybe we''ll tag them in and tap out Bearer.¡±


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Spears tapped her own chest. ¡°If she wants to come. About Bearer, I think we talk to Grunt, and then decide if it was a one time mistake or a hint of malice.¡±


    Corvayne stepped up the stairs and sighed with relief at seeing green wood and rows of tables. Warm lantern lights and tiled interior walls were visible when he was focusing on things nearby, but the moment his gaze went further he''d start to get a box of mirrors effect. He shook his head and tromped over to the bar. Today he wasn''t going to go off seeking any weirdos for cryptic advice.


    The barkeep''s form at the moment was a primly dressed woman, but Corvayne was pretty sure that like Stabby the figure''s form changed to something that people would see as a respectable bar keeper, rather than it being distinct people. He blinked and in the net moment he saw a gruff man with an eye patch immaculately dressed in the same vest the woman before had been. The man winked at him, and when Corvayne winked back he saw a different woman, one with a wolf pelt, wiping the bar down.


    ¡°Welcome Back Corvayne!¡± She roared, then set a pouch on the bar. ¡°The Dustman left this as change.¡±


    Corvayne peeked inside the leather pouch and saw what looked like a glowing orb inside. He pulled it out and looked at it, then looked back a the barkeeper, who had turned into what looked like a cat-man with effeminate features. Corvayne cleared his throat then asked, ¡°Do you know what it is?¡±


    The Barkeeper shrugged. ¡°Since it was supplied to us, we just checked it was safe. The system thinks it can''t accidentally be used to harm you. Other than that, we didn''t identify it.¡±


    Corvayne hefted the orb a little bit, trying to figure out what it could be for. The interior had a sort of rainbow pattern. ¡°A perfect gift: exactly as enigmatic as he is.¡±


    Bearer plucked it from his hands and put it on a towel before he could respond. ¡°It''s an orb. You ponder it of course.¡± She held her hands up before Lady Blood Claw could get herself kicked out of the bar.


    Corvayne turned and addressed her faintly smug face. ¡°And how should I, or another potential orb enjoyer, ponder it?¡±


    Bearer put shades on. ¡°You look at it really, really hard for a few minutes while waiting for your dinner to cook. Speaking of, I''d like Spaghetti with meatballs, with garlic bread, with Sourspring lemonade, Cornacopia style cuisine, trending on cooking blogs, master cooked, Parmesan, minus generic sauce, minus watery sauce, pro chef, just like great-grandma made it.¡± She tossed a gold coin onto the table where it spun before the Barkeeper deftly pocketed it, not at all phased by what sounded like the nonsense Bearer was spewing.


    ¡°Right away.¡± The Barkeeper said, and she vanished, started filling another drink, and set Bearer''s drink down all at once. A moment that made Corvayne think of his own skill doubling. Bearer took her drink, raised it, took a sip, and then vanished into gloom despite Corvayne seeing things behind where she had been, no doubt from some Tower space warping function.


    Lady Blood Claw took a seat next to him and ordered her own dinner, Beef Bourguignon with mashed potatoes and a glass of wine. Spears took the other seat and ordered roasted roc with wild rice and green. Corvayne had to think for a moment what the sausages Grunt had given him on the first night they met were called, then asked for ''Red Dilly Brats, Cascadian style, absolutely no pine needles.''


    Corvayne then focused on the orb. Looking into its depths, he saw the the white light was actually a rainbow, and was gently splaying color onto the counter that shimmered. Shapes moved in the depths of the stone, and Corvayne felt himself getting drawn into it.


    He saw the girl from his dreams, skin of gold and stars for eyes, standing before a doorway. The one in the hallway. She looked at him mournfully, then turned and strolled into the tower. He felt someone holding onto him as she vanished into what looked like murky black portal.


    He saw himself then, younger. He was standing before a giant mantis holding a spear, then watched his younger self drop to one knee. ¡°Train me!¡±


    He heard Waves-Within speak as the mantid turned its head. Was his spear trainer actually a bug? ¡°Are you sure? It will be hard to keep up with all of us. Everyone but the children have had years and years of training.¡±


    Corvayne saw himself looking down. ¡°With my skills... I wasn''t able to change...¡±


    Waves-Within waved all four of his surprisingly human looking hands. ¡°I didn''t say no! I can only imagine what sort of warrior you will be! Don''t be so down, I''ll make you some tea!¡±


    Waves-Within skittered back into his home. A younger, shorter, and less toned but still fully slime-formed Spears peeked out of the doorway at young Corvayne.


    He felt himself thinking, his mind recognizing some weird aspects of things he had seen in the village. Stairs that were ramps. Extra wide doors.


    The mantid came back with a steaming cup of tea, and gave it to Corvayne. ¡°I know you had a rough couple of days. We all did. The plan didn''t work, but we''ll get him next time...¡±


    His younger self looked up and accepted the tea. ¡°I''m also going to learn from Mugs-Already-Empty.¡±


    Waves-Within stopped. ¡°Eh? Two? But...¡±


    ¡°And Coming-in-Hot for guns. And One-Last-Note for swords. And Diamonds for claymores. And...¡±


    Younger Corvayne started to sniffle.


    Waves-Within patted him on the head. ¡°I understand. You want to be her match, right?¡±


    Corvayne nodded and stood up straight. He couldn''t have been more than 12? Maybe 14. He was so scrawny and short.


    He remembered then, picking up a training staff for the first time. He also remembered asking the other masters. He pushed himself day and night. Never stopped.


    Corvayne was back in the bar, blinking his suddenly dry eyes. A plate of food was in front of him, and Spears was waving her hand in front of his face. Corvayne looked down at his hands, rough from endlessly repeating the forms of the spear dance. And the blade dance, and from learning knives, maces, axes, guns, every weapon he could pick up.


    Lady Blood Claw was also looking at him. ¡°What happened? You were staring at it for at least five minutes.¡±


    The orb faded as if it wasn''t there, and Corvayne felt something loosen inside him.


    [41.0%]


    He saw that both Lady and Spears were looking at him, as well as Bell. He thought about it for a bit, and to all three girls credit they seemed to get he was thinking and started eating rather than bothering him. He looked at his own freshly served dinner, letting the warm steam and spiced meat scent drift across his face as he rolled back to the memory of the starry eyed girl. He had been held back from following her, and had a sense of dread for the portals... but you could just walk in and out of most of them, right?


    Now he guessed that the memories he was uncovering were real, as was reality that he was experiencing now. He recalled the disconnect sometimes where someone would act or say something and he felt there was something off. So, he was getting a sense that the girl with starry eyes was important to him, and to his past. She was a fundamental part of why he turned himself into a walking arsenal.


    ¡°It seemed to uncover some of my memories of the past. It also reduced my curse integrity a little... Was Waves-Within always a giant mantis?¡±


    Spears put her fist in her palm. ¡°Oh yeah! You were surprised by me too! You said I was tan with dark hair, right? Hmm... so which do-¡±


    ¡°You right now.¡± Corvayne said immediately.


    ¡°So you don''t think-¡± Spears started to ask.


    ¡°I like your real form much more.¡± He said again without letting her even possibly finish asking.


    ¡°But was it-¡±


    ¡°It looked fine but I like your real form more.¡± When he thought about the person who relentlessly called him names and looked at him like dirt, it made him think of the misery he experienced in the village. He glanced over at his new girlfriend who had colored her cheeks red while looking happy. She looked great, though at some point he would have to ask her wear a swimsuit and go swimming to overwrite a few tan lines seared into his brain.


    He went back to thinking. He knew he had to doubt his old memories now. It would be foolish to think that everyone would be like Spears and go through a full 180 from love to hate. Still, he wanted to discover the truth. Just another reason to find the way back to his village.


    Corvayne picked up a seasoned sausage by the bun and started wolfing it down. Before he could go anywhere else, they had bosses to kill.

 Chapter 168: Sisterhood

    Corvayne''s plan to go fight the boss right away ran into a problem: Nyx had vanished.


    Lady Blood Claw rolled her eyes. ¡°Boys will be boys. That means we''re staying the night.¡±


    Brines had joined them at the bar. He looked at the wine cooler he had ordered but not yet opened. ¡°That wasn''t the plan? Bearer booked us a hotel room already. I thought that was always the plan!¡± He looked around in a panic.


    LBC snapped her fingers to bring his attention back to them. ¡°No you dingbat, we WERE going to make this quick.¡± She turned, silver hair swaying over her as she waved the Barkeeper down. ¡°Give me a bottle of the wine I had before.¡± She said while putting down a handful of gold and silver. Corvayne was about to say something about being rude but once she got her bottle Lady Blood Claw turned and said ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Bearer put her arm around Brines. ¡°Oh no! A drink? Looks like we can''t leave tonight. Come on space cowboy.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± He seemed stunned as she pulled him away from the bar. It was always sort of funny to Corvayne that an athletic and handsome man like Brines had so little confidence in himself.


    For as much as he didn''t like Bearer, he seemed pretty happy when she pushed his head into her chest. ¡°Later guys!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw watched them go while feeding her squid chips, then sighed. ¡°Fine. I''ll babysit the princesses while they go wander the bar. Corvayne, Spears... go have fun.¡±


    Spears stood up, putting a hand on LBC''s shoulder. Corvayne saw that Lady looked irked at it, but Spears didn''t notice or slow down. ¡°We can do a sleep over! Well, I mean, we should get a different room for Tutu because she''s a little handsey.¡±


    ¡°She has, multiple times, tried to have Corvayne give her a pelvic exam.¡± Lady Blood Claw said, swirling a cup of red wine and looking doubtful. Corvayne made a note that her skin was starting to turn a deep orange with black swirls. A bit like a tiger. Interesting.


    Spears pointed at him. ¡°Well, Corvayne is going to try to solve her problem anyway, right? Because he can''t leave someone in trouble.¡±


    He wondered if he had any say in it. Bell and Tutu were at a table not too far away, looking like they were trying to ignore each other while also eating what looked like a five course meal.


    That being said, he could use a little time ''off'' from worrying about losing someone to monsters. ¡°Okay. I don''t mind having some non combat related bonding with everyone. I mean, I suspect Nyx will be up late anyway.¡±


    He saw Tutu turning to them with a lavicious smile and shook his head. ¡°No. Not that sort of Bonding. Go back to your food.¡±


    He thought he really shouldn''t have untied her.


    ¡°You really shouldn''t have untied her.¡± Lady Blood Claw said before downing the entire glass of wine she had poured.


    Spears ended up getting a large room for her and Corvayne and Lady Blood Claw, with separate rooms off a shared suite. Spear''s room emphasized blue yellow and gold colors, with tall ceilings and exterior balconies with gardens attached to every room, even the bathroom. The smell of flowers mingled with a gentle pine scent. His own room had a variety of flowers that merged into the garden outside as they flowed out of the room''s glass doors. He heard a small fountain outside as well, burbling and attracting at least two small birds that dipped their beak into the water before flitting off. The sound of water encouraged him to revisit the bathroom, and when fully in the door he saw it had a balcony with a chest high wall for privacy as well as a large shower if one wanted to enjoy washing outside, which of course made him wonder exactly how many different configurations the rooms came in, and if it built rooms based on who was requesting them.


    He took a moment after testing the outdoor shower view looked to be some city in evening, the cooling sky contrasting with what looked like the lively glow of windows in the wood houses below. If he had to guess, they were about seven or eight stories up, but he didn''t feel like testing what The Inn would do if he tried to jump down and walk around town.


    Spears had got Bell and Tutu their own rooms as well, but asked everyone to come in after getting cleaned up and ready for bed. Corvayne didn''t want to point out it was only around four in the afternoon by Nel''Ferral time, both because it would defeat what Spears likely wanted (a slumber party) and would point out that LBC was day drinking. He let the girls bath before he did, and was happy to discover one of the side rooms had a place to wash his clothes. Mr. Squidgglesworth floated over to the drier and curled up on it after Corvayne started it, its skin melding to the brass embellishments on the device. He gave it a little pet and it wiggled happily. Lady Blood Claw cleared her throat, one hand holding her towel over her silver hair, the other pointing at her pet.


    He had assumed she was annoyed at something he did, but instead she turned slightly. ¡°Don''t beg Corvayne for treats.¡±


    Corvayne tried the outdoor shower and found it was a little weird and exposed, even with a wall blocking anyone from seeing him, so he went back indoors and drew a fresh bath.


    Refreshed and dressed in some of the clothes that Wick had picked for him, he walked into the main room to see Spears had packed a tiny projector as well as a few board games, which suggested to Corvayne that she had some sort of storage enhanced bag as well. Perhaps not as handy as the ring he had found, but it was nice to see everyone else getting more room to carry all the stuff that the Tower left laying about.


    Spears sat across from Corvayne as she spread the board out on the large fluffy white carpet dominating the center of suite they were going to be sharing with Lady Blood Claw. It looked like it was a game of chance, the sort where a person rolled the dice and tried to advance along the board. Corvayne flipped a few of the cards and guessed it was finance themed, as they seemed to be about taking or blocking money. Spears explained the rules for about two minutes before sensing that she was loosing her audience, and with that they began to play.


    Tutu and Bell had to have a helper tell them what the cards meant, which Spears offered to do so that the other four could play. Both royals were intensely focused they played, Bell using breathing techniques and staring holes at her cards while asking Spears to remind her what each was, while Tutu actually stopped trying to strip as she examined her cards, the board, and her stack of fake bills. Lady Blood Claw took the first game anyway, as Corvayne was relaxed and let his mind drift over some of the events of the last few months and let his shadow limbs handle moving pieces around. He was thinking about Spears and him suddenly being an item, of course, but also how he was going to handle what had happened with Hari and Wick.


    Spears took over for Corvayne by pushing him playfully towards the two princesses. ¡°I wanna to play!¡± She was smiling slyly, so Corvayne wondered if she had guessed what he was thinking about.


    Corvayne wondered what she was thinking, as he saw a gleam in her eye. Maybe some sort of curse reducing factor. Bell looked stressed out with him sitting between them, while Tutu was earnestly asking him about the cards she had drawn.


    Corvayne looked at the first card. ¡°Bank Lotus. Looks like it gives you a sudden infusion of cash.¡±


    Tutu looked a lot less insane when she was focused on something besides sex, though Corvayne still thought she was showing way too much skin, and he was pretty sure that she had put perfume and makeup on.


    She pulled another card with a thief taking a stereo on it. ¡°This one lets me steal a card from someone else, right?¡±


    Corvayne nodded.


    She shuffled through her hand, then showed Corvayne a card. ¡°How about this one?¡± revealing art of a man with a sneer driving off with a big money bag away from a sad looking wife and kids.


    ¡°Discard any number of family members for three money each... uh... what a jerk. It feels like this game is very cut-throat.¡±


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Spears piped up. ¡°It''s supposed to be instructive! Motivating the player to see how empty the pursuit of wealth is.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shuffled her hand. ¡°It''s dumb to try to make the winner feel like a loser.¡±


    Tutu looked at it, then handed the card to Bell. ¡°I think it''s meant to be in your hand.¡±


    Bell took it and looked at it for a moment, then her face went red and she actually crushed the card, face twisting in fury before she took a deep breath and went back to simmering, glaring at her sister. ¡°You think that''s funny?¡±


    Tutu sneered back, holding her hands out like an actor trying to be seen in the back. ¡°What else can I think, SISTER?¡±


    Bell stood up, for a moment looking like she was about to start kicking her sister. However, as Tutu hastily stood, Bell instead pushed past her and stormed out of the room. Everyone was silent, and he could see they were all staring at the door. While he had been hoping to take the night off from combat and drama, Bell was crying and everyone else looked like they had been caught off guard. He sighed and got up. ¡°I''ll go get her.¡±


    Tutu started to follow him but Corvayne put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°You''ve done enough. Watch a movie.¡±


    The princess tried to push his hand off, but failed. She instead gave him an annoyed look. ¡°You are wasting your time. She''s heartless.¡±


    Corvayne felt his eyes narrow, and he let her shoulder go and turned to follow Bell. He heard Tutu call after him. ¡°It''s an act or something! I''ve NEVER seen guilt work on her, not for years! She has no shame!¡±


    ¡°Well, you very successfully knocked her off her high horse, just like everything else in the last two months has.¡± Corvayne turned back and looked past her to where Spears was setting up the laptop. ¡°I''ll be back in a minute or two.¡±


    Stepping out into the exterior courtyard, the scenery had changed to what looked like late afternoon, with long shadows and a vista with buildings and palm trees black against the setting sun and shimmering ocean. It looked nice, but he didn''t see Bell anywhere, so he made his way into the bar and sought her out, finding her curled up in a corner booth with lighting as dim as he had ever seen at The Inn.


    Corvayne had a moment where he was trying to figure out if he should sit next to her or across from her. He chose across, given she might want to bolt and his gut told him to give her space if she needed it. A waitress walked over, and he ordered two hot chocolates and a little treat for movie night.


    Bell eventually looked up at him, eyes red. Corvayne decided not to smile or give his voice too much inflection. He considered trying to emulate Mister I when he was serious. Gentle yet firm. ¡°Are you okay Bell?¡±


    She took a deep breath. ¡°Something has been happening. I have taken stock of many things I have done in the past and find I am rich in regrets... A regret.¡±


    The drinks and his order arrived and Corvayne thanked the waitress, who smiled at them and vanished, features shifting a little as she did. He noticed he was becoming used to Tower dwellers doing all sorts of shape shifting. Corvayne took a sip of his chocolate, the mix creamy with a bit of cinnamon added. He saw Bell was just looking at hers. He wondered if this is what Grunt and Mister I saw when he came to them for advice whenever Wick had got him worried. ¡°If you want to talk, I can listen. I''m not as good as Mister I might be...¡±


    ¡°You will suit me better than a monk would. So listen well. You had brought up the idea of trying different things to find an heir. While I was not subjected to the worst schemes you had offered... when I was young I was pushed into an unusual match.¡±


    Corvayne considered putting the breaks on the conversation, worrying that it was going to be another one like Wick''s that would leave him totally unable to function for a day, but it was too late. He had cast the die.


    ¡°I had a half-breed child with an Avaria. She did not have the royal talent, and being only fifteen summers old I had felt like the entire process was a... punishment for me. It was a chore. Afterwards I wanted nothing to do with her and sent her away to live with her tribe. Since then, Tutu went from admiring me to despising me.¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°Was this when you started getting angry all the time?¡±


    She shrugged. ¡°I do not recall.¡±


    Corvayne was about to say that line made her sound guilty when she seemed to hurry to explain herself. ¡°I know I was more timid before, and I only agreed because... if not me, it would have been her.¡±


    ¡°Have you met your daughter?¡±


    ¡°She''s a little bird girl... I saw her once when she was three. Hylal. The tribe they picked... they didn''t expect me to want her at all either, so I tried to keep it out of my mind. I was told I had become more angry, but I think it''s just I noticed other people failing more. I think I had grown up.¡±


    ¡°You didn''t think about her, then get angry?¡± Corvayne asked, trying to not sound judgmental while moving the conversation forward. He sipped his hot chocolate. ¡°Or... did it feel like sometimes... something was wrong with how you were thinking? Then you''d get angry, and do something impulsive?¡±


    She looked down at her cup. ¡°I had not thought you''d be so familiar with the feelings I used to have. Of something being wrong. Even now I am... mad at myself, and you a little, to be honest. I think... if I met her now, I could at least say something. I''ve never thought about it so sharply, but... my sister was right.¡± She pulled from her sleeve one of the little car game pieces, empty except a pink peg driver. ¡°Thinking of a person, my daughter, as an unwanted burden...¡± She played with the piece, then slipped it back in her robe. ¡°You have been trying to push me, like an annoying bureaucrat dumping scroll after scroll onto my desk, to find some sort inner truth. But I''m lost as to what to do with myself, how to feel anything that I know I should feel to... something that I made... and it''s just wall after wall. Not even your monk knew what was wrong with me.¡±


    Corvayne stood up. ¡°I''m going to try something. Something weird. I have to put my hands on your chest. It might help you, or I might just be chasing shadows.¡±


    Bell went beet red, and curled up further, her hands crossing over her already modest dress. ¡°Truely? After all this time... Now?! You thick headed beet farmers son of a hero! A peasant''s sense of timing, one drunk on turnip wine mixed with sawdust kicked too many times by a goat...¡±


    After a few more lines comparing him to farm animals, farn implements, and something about having a chamberpot for a head, she stopped, bit her lip, then composed herself while turning her nose up while also tugging at the collar of the dress she was wearing, letting Corvayne see her cleavage and the tan line around her neck. She looked away, and closed her eyes. Corvayne was pretty sure, for some reason, she wasn''t as angry that he asked as she was about him not asking her sooner. [[Understanding]] sometimes only confused him more. Oh well. It was a long shot, and worse case he''d just say sorry for jabbing his fingers into her collarbone.


    Placing his hand above her heart, feeling her smooth warm skin, he started pressing, at first gently, then firmly as she pressed back until he felt something break, and bloodlessly his fingers sank into her, and she gasped and arched her back. His fingers moved with her and it looked like she was in pain, so Corvayne pressed further, certainly deep enough he should have hit bone, then felt something wrong, and seeing as Bell was hyperventilating he hurred and hooked a finger around what felt like barbed wire, got a grip tearing at his fingers and hands while still inside her, and pulled. A black thorned vine appeared with his hand and left a little blood but no wound behind as he pulled it from Bell. It was stubborn and Corvayne had to grab her shoulder and push her while pulling to get the last bit out of her, the thing fighting him as it had become a snake before he yanked it free and watched it fall apart, crumbling into ash that itself vanished.


    [42.0%]


    Corvayne winced at that. He just gained a percentage. Bell was still gasping, sort of making fish faces as she tried to take a full breath. Corvayne was about to pick her up and try to find a table with a healer when she abruptly stopped gasping and coughed, taking a full breath at last.


    Then the waterworks started. In a moment, she was bawling, coughing, her nose running. Corvayne looked at his hands, stained with a hint of black residue. An emotional load-bearing curse, it seemed. He sighed, and fixed her now torn dress so she wouldn''t accidentally flash a demigod, then pulled her off the bench and princess carried her to her room. She clutched his shirt when he was about to put her down.


    He sighed. ¡°Fine.¡± He left the two princesses room and carried her back to their own.


    Tutu saw him return and bolted to her feet. In three different voices with emphasis on three different words, the three girls asked at the same time. ¡°What did you do to her?¡±


    He set her down on a couch, then grabbed a blanket. ¡°She had a curse on her. I yanked it out of her chest.¡± He glanced over at Tutu''s well exposed chest. Perhaps when there was a mender around. The last thing he needed were two traumatized princesses.


    Lady Blood Claw folded her arms, entire skin turning brown with sharp black bolts. ¡°You pulled HER curse out?¡±


    ¡°It was pitiful and small, and the results are she''s a mess.¡± He shook his hand. While the wounds from grabbing the curse had vanished right away, the pain seemed to linger. ¡°I can try to fish yours out later. Tutu, can you call a truce with your sister for a while? She''s started to feel regret. You know, give her an olive branch?¡±


    ¡°Do I look like an olive farmer?¡± Tutu looked at him, and her eyes started to glaze over as she pushed herself into him, pulling her already too thin and too small night gown down. Breathing heavily, she asked, ¡°What if you extended YOUR olive branch... to me?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw narrowed her eyes. ¡°Corvayne, you had better not waste-¡±


    He thrust his hand into the princesses offered chest, with slightly less care or hesitation as he sunk his arm into her, and of course Tutu had a coiled thorny curse vine that he pulled out and tossed to the side before dusting his hands.


    [42.5%].


    Spears stood up looking between them and looking a little hurt. ¡°Both of them? In one night?¡± She took a slightly disappointed tone. ¡°Corvayne.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw was pouring herself more wine. ¡°No no, I''m fine over here Corvayne. I love my stupid name.¡±


    Corvayne''s hand felt like he had dipped it into fire. It might have hurt Tutu too as she started bawling her eyes out, which started Bell up again. Spears went over and pulled both girls to the couch and started trying to shush them like they were babies rather than fully grown (if somewhat short) women.


    Lady Blood Claw, meanwhile, toasted with her wine cup smile not touching her angry eyes. ¡°Great job Corvayne. Just the sort of audience I want for watching Terminator with you and Spears.¡±


    Corvayne sheepishly reached into his storage ring and pulled out the treat he was going to bring. ¡°Popcorn?¡±

 Chapter 169: Deeper into the Pacts

    Bearer of Burdens smiled and waved, glowing. ¡°How did you all sleep?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw, olive green with exhaustion, just flipped her off.


    Brines looked somewhat tired, even with his stamina aura flaring. ¡°Are those other girls going to join us for breakfast?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°Spears had to eventually drink the girls to sleep. So... late start. I''m in charge of bringing the three of them back to the land of the living, but I''m going to at least wait to be done with breakfast.¡±


    Bearer walked backwards, seemingly with eyes on the back of her head as she adjusted her trajectory to walk through the door to the main bar area. ¡°You and Spears are already parents then? Maybe let Auntie Claw take the kids and have a little night for you two to work on a third.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw growled, turning orange with flashes of red suggesting annoyance she was barely bottling up. ¡°If you were HALF as funny as you thought you were, you''d be be twice as funny as you are.¡±


    ¡°Thankfully, of the four of us, I only care if I find myself funny.¡±


    Brines perked up. ¡°I think you''re funny honey.¡±


    Bearer put him in a little headlock and rubbed her knuckles in his hair gently. ¡°Not while mommy is talking.¡±


    He looked embarrassed but Bearer just whistled and sat down. Nyx sat next to Corvayne, looking energized. ¡°Okay, Corvayne, you know how I''ve been looking for interesting girls here, right?¡±


    He thought of his own night. ¡°I have a pair of very interesting ones in my room. Want to trade?¡±


    ¡°For those messed up princesses? Hardly. I guess you have a type. Anyway... no... I found a table with a slime cat-girl and slime-elf... and sat right down and asked if they wanted drinks, or to get drunk.¡± Nyxion wiggled his eyebrows.


    Corvayne didn''t want to hear the entire story. ¡°And you bedded them?¡±


    Nyx clearly wanted to tell the entire story. ¡°They had a third lady friend, a stern looking elf warrior who glared at me, so I was looking at an uphill fight when she joined the table...¡±


    Corvayne ordered eggs and bacon for everyone, with extra juices for Spears to absorb, as well as a smoothie for himself as he had a small headache, likely from yanking curses out of people. ¡°So you bedded them.¡±


    ¡°Corvayne, please. Bedding them makes them sound like it''s sport. This was... an art as I kept the two laughing while melting their elf friend''s heart, plying her with drinks as well to loosen her-¡±


    ¡°You realize, that if you found their table, it likely means they they were looking for a guy like you in the first place?¡± Corvayne asked, accepting his drink and taking a sip. The cold definitely felt good right up until it started making his headache worse.


    ¡°Yes but Corvayne? I had to help them realize how much they ALL wanted a guy like me. Especially that elf.¡± He grinned, giving Corvayne a friendly punch on the shoulder.


    Corvayne cleared his throat. ¡°I know you did, since out of the corner of my eye I see the elf looking at you.¡± He motioned behind them, where a silver haired woman was quickly turning around, her pale ears turning red as she pretended she hadn''t been spotted.


    ¡°A cherry on top! I wonder if we''ll see her again. Well, anyway with all that rest and extra clarity I have, the boss should be easy.¡±


    Bearer tapped her plate, speaking with her mouth partially full. ¡°Dunno about that. There''s going to be a pair of them since we have eight. Or a double sized monster.¡±


    Corvayne cracked his fingers by flexing them. ¡°As long as we are not blindsided like with the Dragons, I feel we are going to be more then a match for the fight. It''s fifth floor.¡±


    Once the rest of the party was up, it was time to step out of the Inn and into the next arena.


    The scenery this time was a sort of dark metal or plastic chamber, lights and panels and little details breaking up what looked like smoothed black shapes, all forming a chamber that reminded him somewhat of two cupped hands.


    In the center were two machines, suspended about five feet above the floor and resembling to Corvayne a sort of mechanical spider egg hanging from a long length of tubes. The pair of fat sacks were made from rubbery material studded with clear sensor arrays and actuators and what looked like segments in their bodies that would likely house weapons.


    Most likely inorganic. [Sundering Strike] and [Sundering Blade] together would be his best offense. ¡°I could trigger a rust storm fairly quickly, but I might knock myself out.¡±


    Bearer grinned. ¡°Before or after you used your big-bad robot buster?¡±


    ¡°After.¡±


    Spears held a hand up. ¡°I can try to hit one with a pink slime bullet... but that''s going to take a while to chew through something metal.¡±


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Corvayne thought about what he''d do, and what the enemy could probably do. ¡°They will likely be able to lift out of the way, but we have Gravity to chase... Nyx have you been able to try your Fear effect on anything that is 100 percent inorganic before? I think we could have you try to float high and fear them towards the ground to open. I take the left one-¡±


    ¡°Our left or their left?¡± Bearer asked.


    Lady spun her by the shoulders to face the two monsters. ¡°Left for us, who are talking and will be facing them.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I just don''t want you freaking out that I was supposed to know it was stage left.¡± Bearer laughed. ¡°I''ll take the one on the right then. You guys just go after left left.¡±


    Spears ran a clip of bullets through her body. ¡°No need to goof off.¡±


    ¡°Okay. You can make popcorn while you watch me fight something that doesn''t likely have a single scrap of magical damage.¡±


    Brines started playing peacemaker. ¡°I''ll keep us all up with auras, and try to stay where Nyx and Bearer can cover me if they get shooty.¡±


    Bell had been sort of just following, but looked over at the figure. Corvayne hadn''t seen her looking as tired even when she had been tied up for a few days. Her ragged voice croaked. ¡°Guns?¡±


    ¡°Likely. Robotic enemies like high tech weapons.¡±


    Corvayne saw her sort of nod in a way that made him sure she didn''t actually get it, but her and Tutu looked like they were still dazed from whatever pulling the vine had done to them. ¡°Just stay back, we''ll do most of the work here.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw cracked her neck and shoulders, then flexed her fingers. ¡°I''ll follow up, Corvayne, if you can''t break it fast. I think we''re over-planning. Two level five bosses is still two level five bosses.¡±


    Corvayne turned to her. ¡°I am also trying to think about how we can work as a team. Right now, I get the impression we''re all just doing our own thing.¡±


    Bearer nodded. ¡°Great idea. You''ve got ten seconds to figure it all out before I start killing the bosses.¡±


    Corvayne smiled. ¡°I was about to say, ready.¡±


    He turned and could hear Bearer skipping across the metal as he strode forward, monsters starting to shift away from one another and unfolding their forms, hatches hissing open to extend jointed arms and a pair of guns on mounts that could swivel to aim. Corvayne sped up, charging [Sundering-Strike] and [Sundering-Blade] with his spear before the monster had a chance to warm up and extend all its weapons. The first jab applying [Sundering-Strike] bit into the rubbery sack, leaving a gash of rust around the gap it left, and of course there were tiny robot spiders inside. Corvayne shifted his stance to pull his spear out and down as he activated [Sundering-Blade], trusting the blast of rust from the wound to damage or kill the tiny robots with scalpel limbs leaping out of the wound at him. A moment later the boss let out a low grinding moan as a red dust storm exploded to life inside it, flinging flakes of damaged metal from the cut Corvayne had made.


    Nyx meanwhile applied his fear to the few stragglers that had slipped out, goading the tiny spiders to the back of the room and giving Bearer room to slam the boss over and over.


    Lady Blood Claw followed up as the storm vanished, using a spinning slice to run through the damaged metal monster, sending burning rubber and mechanical spiders out in a starburst pattern and filling the room with the smell of burnt pennies after her flaming blade cleaved through.


    There was a sharp crack as Spears blasted a rife round high into the left boss, damaging the servos above it. Pinkish goop started to spurt from gaps in the guardian''s umbilical to the ceiling, the deflated sack trying to lift itself above them to drop whatever remained of its spiders onto Corvayne. He started to back up, but hardly needed bother, as a few seconds later it fell to the ground with grinding noises as it gouged the metal in the chamber.


    There was the crack of other bullets being fired, and Corvayne saw that the more intact egg was trying to blast Bearer, but failing as she kept using the same attack over and over, dashing forward and springing back and somehow phasing through attack after attack.


    ¡°Do you think if we let them combine, they''d-¡±


    Bearer''s mouth was moving but nothing came out. She only stopped using [Springwind] for a second to shrug before battering the boss again and again, freezing and slashing it and battering it with each strike. Corvayne didn''t miss Lady lowering her hand, no doubt silencing Bearer before she could give The Tower any ideas.


    Corvayne used [Reap] to create a wave of shadow to kill the spiders, and by the time he had eliminated the stragglers the bosses were both dissolving.


    ¡°I still think that dragon was harder than anything else I''ve seen on floor five.¡±


    Spears shrugged. ¡°This also would be bad for anyone who couldn''t kill lots of little monsters.¡±


    Corvayne was about to comment but everything went black as the world became swirling clouds. He fell into his mindscape and landed on his feet in the quasi-real world that might be his brain or soul or whatever. He''d expect the last few months to find something that represented him to have changed from the last two months of war, but the swirling storm and towering stone gates and endless thorns were the same, as was the lightning wraith''s greeting to him.


    ¡°NOT. READY.¡±


    It once more shot up into the air. Corvayne considered flipping it off, but as he watched it vanish into the clouds he just wondered what its deal was. Perhaps just a waste of time. Whenever he was ''READY'' it would probably reveal what its function was, so instead of worrying he strolled up to the fragment of Growl-Whine, her hooded form sitting near the the panel that he had gained [[Understanding]] from. Her twisted form gave him a single wave.


    He looked at the gates first. The obvious new gate looked to have a slightly reddish color to it, and wiggled a little. The bouncing ball above the arch let him know what he was looking at. Rubber, unless he was totally reading the clues wrong. While the rabbit-wolves of floor five stretching caught him off guard the first time, he couldn''t see the point of becoming entirely rubber. Not interested.


    He felt slight tugs from all the gates. He had three options. The first was to keep buffing his shadows. Of all his skills, it was the one that seemed to be giving him the most options when it came to fighting with each upgrade. The shadow limbs turning into bouncing death rays alone helped him shore up one of his biggest problems, being how to fight multiple non-trivial enemies. What else would powering them up offer? How many times could he go through the gate?


    Gravity was sort of the same thing, but not quite as appealing. He did want to fly, eventually, but he had machines to at least help him now.


    The third power he had, the compass, was the second real option. It was an entirely different tool for solving problems, and while he was still wary of what would happen when he ran into a grand master Watcher, he otherwise felt like he had more tools to handle something on the level of Argyle now. He could fix his lack of direction, literally, with more power in his compass. Even if it simply helped him navigate Tower floors, it had proven its worth well over. A passive radar would be fine, but perhaps it could also pinpoint weak points, or even guide him across the towers and over worlds to things he didn''t know he needed, an arrow to point him to the heart of the mysteries he was trying to solve.


    The third option was a reflection of that. Since unlocking [[Understanding]] he felt like there were moments where he just thought a little more clear. It felt like whatever curse was working to make it harder to remember details of the system was slipping more and more often. What was clear to him was the power in Pacts, especially ones that might aid him in both fighting and exploring his past.


    ¡°Growl-Whine, do you have any advice or... insights as to what I should be doing?¡±


    The figure spoke slowly, its voice tinged with a hissing hesitance as if it was picking its words with extreme care. ¡°[[Growth]], [[Understanding]], [[Unity]]. Were the ones we used. Before this.¡±


    ¡°Are those for long term growth?¡±


    The figure thought about it and nodded. ¡°Good words... but... maybe better ones for... Corvayne.¡±


    Ah. He thought of how his style of fighting and Spears-Like-Water differed, both with spears and. She went all in on elemental combat. Corvayne had some of those now, but felt like he had overcome his problems by being versatile. Even if every Pact he made was only as strong as the first one, he''d gladly take three effects like them.


    He stepped up to the pillar and put his hand onto it. He considered how he could spend his power. More [[Understanding]] for sure. Could he split it between that and [[Growth]], [[Unity]], and [[Understanding?]].


    The pillar drew something from him, while also weaving something into him. Moments later he felt like he had just woken up another step, catching details of the islands around him in the curled thorny mists. That wasn''t the only change he noticed. He saw Growl-Whine straighten a little, her form seeming less twisted now, the clothes she was wearing less shabby.


    He felt like he had just a bit of energy left, so he walked out through the already opened gate of shadows.


    [[Understanding 7]]


    [[Growth 5]]


    [[Unity 5]]


    He smiled as he opened his eyes. He couldn''t wait to see how the new Pacts changed him.

 Chapter 170: Gifts, Duties, Farewells

    Corvayne rode into camp with Spears on the back of his bike, setting down near the shrine. It had been only two days on the exterior, so very little had changed with the shrine, camp, and truck. He did see a few more tools laying about, and what looked like the start of an obstacle course developing in the shadows of the huge black crystal.


    ¡°You going to say goodbye?¡± Spears asked.


    ¡°I do at least owe Hari a goodbye.¡± Corvayne said.


    Lady Blood Claw unstrapped Mr. Squidgglesworth from his felt bed on the back of her bike. ¡°Don''t take too long. I''m going to go take the last hot shower I''ll have in a while.¡± While she said that, Corvayne saw Brines was sneaking over to the back of the truck as well. Perhaps she had better hurry before the hot water was gone.


    Corvayne''s short list was to talk to Mosh for whatever he had been ''working on'', Hari to say goodbye, and Mister I to see if there was a way to start applying mend. Spears followed him, giving his hand a little squeeze as he slowed before the main tent. She had said he should try to move forward, which meant settling how he felt. His internal compass seemed to know where he was headed, but it took him muttering ''a spear moves forward'' silently to himself to keep him moving.


    Hari was the main tent using [Investigate] on piles of red metal weapons and moving things into bins. Undine was helping as well, but dropped what she was doing to storm over to Corvayne.


    ¡°You! You damned fool, you ran off with my Pilgrim!¡±


    Corvayne gently deflected the surprisingly strong finger jabbing at him. ¡°That''s her business.¡± he said, a little sharper then he had meant to. Undine settled down but folded her arms.


    ¡°You can''t just walk away from everyone and expect it to not be messy. You also dragged my poor pupil through the wringer!¡± While she said that, Corvayne got a sense that she was far more upset that he hadn''t taken Undine herself along with them.


    Hari, on the other hand, was wincing and looked like she was ready to bolt. Corvayne quashed a little malicious joy and walked over to her. ¡°Hari...¡±


    She looked up, then took a deep breath and forced herself to square up with him, her body suddenly stiff. She bowed, nearly hitting Corvayne with her head.


    ¡°I''m sorry!¡± She squeaked out.


    He put his hands under her shoulders, and gently pushed her back to standing. For a moment he felt like he could feel her regret and inner warmth, and it helped him push some of his bitterness away. He looked her in the eyes. ¡°Don''t be sorry. Focus on keeping Wick safe, getting stronger, and building something here.¡±


    She blinked and rubbed her face. ¡°So we''re-¡±


    Corvayne ruffled her hair. ¡°Young and will bounce back. See if we laugh about it next time.¡± It wasn''t a hundred percent what he felt, but instead what he was trying to feel.


    She started to fume and push his hands away from her now messed up hair, which was better than her looking hurt. Corvayne jerked his thumb back to the two princesses moping around their bike. ¡°I''m going to be going on to the capital. I don''t know how long I''ll be gone, I have my own past to work on.¡±


    It was odd... there was a tug in his heart, his own desire to try to be better having hints of something else mingling with it. He felt a little bit of regret and frustration in the air... and it felt like it was radiating from her, with an undercurrent of warm affection. He took a deep breath, and as he calmed his own thoughts until he felt like a bit of a bubble formed, Hari''s feelings still present but no longer influencing him.


    Still, when she opened her arms he hugged her back, then let her go and felt a faint tug of sadness when he pushed away, like a little string being pulled from a shirt by a cactus thorn but internal. Perhaps it was the new pact, [[Unity]]?


    Spears gave Corvayne a look then walked over to Hari. ¡°We''ve got some girl talk to do...¡±


    Corvayne felt Spears emotions wash over him for a moment, and got the sense she was tackling a task she''d rather not handle mingling with a general sense of warmth.


    As he was turning around he saw Undine. The woman was stalking towards him, no doubt with some sharp complaint, but when she got inside of three feet she nearly leapt back, arms before her. ¡°Whatever you''re doing, you need to put a bucket over it! You''re radiating metal magic like plutonium!¡±


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Corvayne noted that the word for plutonium was viper-steel, then frowned a little. ¡°I have an oddball set of abilities... so you can get something out of me? What feeling is it?¡±


    ¡°Impatience, boredom, and a whole lot of odd things mingling in. It''s like trying to use [Investigate] on a celestial body.¡± Undine folded her arms.


    ¡°One more thing to practice shutting down. Sorry.¡± He took a step away from her, but Undine took a step with him.


    ¡°Don''t be so hasty... it''s one more tool in your hands.¡± She raised a finger. ¡°One that any ruler would kill for.¡±


    ¡°I think it''s based on connections... I got Hari''s feelings more than yours.¡±


    Bearer set down the weapon she was looking at, and waved. ¡°What do you got from me?¡±


    ¡°Endless trolling.¡± Corvayne said, though with the thought he got something like a taste of... depression? It felt like the same dread he used to have waking up, with a sort of dull irreverence built around it. He tried to shield himself again, focusing on his feelings and building a wall.


    ¡°I have to speak with Mister I.¡± He excused himself and made his way down to the fishing pond. As expected, the monk was waiting there. For fish, not for him.


    Corvayne took a spot next to him and sat. It was an unusually warm day for the High Plains, and the sun was glimmering off the water. As a thought, he let [[Unity]] off it''s leash a little, but whereas other people had a glow of feelings, Mister I was calmer than the water he was fishing from. A bit of [[Understanding]] circled his thoughts to the phrase ''Still waters run deep''.


    Mister I set his rod down, and looked over. ¡°Ah, so, you seem determined. What happened on your break?¡±


    He smiled. ¡°Me and Spears started dating.¡±


    Mister I laughed a little. ¡°You were engaged weren''t you? That''s the wrong order!¡±


    ¡°So it seems.¡± Corvayne said. ¡°Sorry to be a bad friend, but I was really hoping you could give one of us a crash course on Mend before we go. I know Mosh would be the better person to ask but-¡±


    Mister I lifted his chin up. ¡°He is a grease monkey! I am a healer of bodies and minds. How do you think I learned it so fast? It''s fundamentally easier for someone who thinks holistically of the body! Let me tell you about ki...¡±


    Corvayne had been very much told about ki. He held hands up. ¡°He is, in fact, working on a dozen other projects, while I''m going to be walking away with two to three mentally unwell people.¡±


    Mister I rubbed his chin. ¡°Ah, I bet it''s... Bearer-Of-Burdens? Hari and her got sort of close, perhaps she''s acting out because of that? Though, Hari also said she was annoying. So maybe it''s just her.¡±


    ¡°It''s definitely just her.¡± Corvayne agreed.


    Mister I turned and rummaged in his bag, then pulled out what looked like a 1 credit spiral notebook. ¡°I inscribed a manual describing incantations for Lythandies. Performing a quest, even if it was to pay a debt, may mark you as interesting enough to start healing. But, you need to do acts of creation to establish more of a connection.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. It was sort of hard to wrap his head around the idea of quarrelsome gods watching everything he did and throwing him help based on what they liked or disliked but it fit with what he had read in numerous books.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± He took it and bowed a little to Mister I.


    The monk smiled. ¡°I hope you go out and find some truths about yourself, and we will strive to make this place into a home.¡±


    Corvayne looked around. ¡°I know we probably have a while, but sooner or later won''t someone investigating Argyle stumble onto the portal?¡±


    Mister I nodded. ¡°Yes, but after they reach this world they have to find us, and then, they have to catch us. Before then, we''re going to be gone.¡±


    ¡°We''ve already spent two months... I''d feel better if after the whole shrine finished everyone hit the road.¡±


    ¡°Then, find us a good road to hit young Corvayne!¡± Mister I said, joyful but somehow still not leaking emotion like everyone else was. Corvayne nodded, but was somewhat distracted at the earth works starting to rise further out on the plains, and the growing city of tents.


    In the end he didn''t see Wick again before he got back to Mosh loading things onto his bike.


    ¡°I got you some real tools and some raw materials to help ya Boss, a better tent, and some threads!¡±


    Corvayne looked at the very plain brown pants and black shirts, then picked them up. They felt finer than they looked. ¡°What''s it made of?¡±


    ¡°Strawberry Dragon Tendons woven into a threads by June, mixed with Growl-Whine donated silk by me, with dyes mixed from Kirae''s trading.¡±


    Corvayne smiled. ¡°They look very normal even with all that put into them.¡±


    Mosh rubbed his head. ¡°Hah, I knew you''d like em!¡±


    He did. For as much as he liked the strawberry pants when fighting, he much preferred blending in. He watched as Mosh went over what all the tools and materials he had packed were, the goblin radiating pride and excitement. ¡°The red metal here is packed with electric magic, so I used to make portable power tools. I wanted you to be able to fix your bike, or whatever else you find!¡±


    Corvayne looked over and pulled out a wrench. ¡°You think I''m going to run into a lot of leaky pipes?¡±


    Mosh shrugged. ¡°If you want to make Lythandies happy, build and fix useful things. A wrench is a good medium for basic mending, and you need to keep your bikes together. I know you''ll put it through it''s paces.¡±


    He accepted the gifts and slot them into places mosh had added onto his bike.


    ¡°Hopefully there will not too much banging around before I find the Watcher''s village.¡± Not likely, but he could hope.


    Mosh shook his head, on the same wavelength. ¡°It''s never going to be easy, buddy. I also think you are going to want more practice weapons, hence the woodworking stuff.¡±


    Corvayne pulled the lid up on one of his storage cases and saw a set of wood chisels and a simple saw made of ominous dark metal. ¡°I might not get to it until I''m done dropping the princesses off, going on a few nice dates with Spears, and maybe get stronger.¡±


    Mosh smiled. ¡°Yeah, yeah, I''m sure you are going to drop em off, and when I''m gone I''m just going to craft coffee table toppers. You can''t go back boss. You gotta move forward.¡±


    Corvayne happened to see at that moment Wick up on the top of the truck, glancing over at him. He waved, and she waved back, but there was no movement to go see him, and Corvayne felt something like fear and regret. He wondered if Mosh and Wick had timed the goblin saying that and her showing up. He looked around at their truck, and The Source, and the lines of tents, strangers who were slowly becoming part of a city, or army, or something else beyond his group of friends.


    He closed the storage on his bike. ¡°Your right Mosh. It''s time to move forward.¡±

 Chapter 171: The Imperial Capital

    The capital city was arranged around a titanic rock overlooking two forks of a river coming together. The cold air of the High Plains had been replaced by humid air that had turned the sky hazy if not cloudy. By the princess''s instructions, they had slowed and floated their bikes along the road the last few miles, not wanting to test if the city had aerial defenses. Corvayne used the time to marvel at the complexity of the city, it''s vibrant earthy tones different from the grays and black buildings that dominated Cascadia.


    Bell took the lead, floating past the few carts waiting to get inside the walls. The past few weeks of battle, delving, and travel had seen her lose a few years in Corvayne''s estimation, at least physically. With her anger diminished, she had been quiet on the trip to the capital, and with the great stone gate looming ahead she looked nervous. Given the way the men checking people on their way in studiously stepped back to avoid interacting with her, she might rightly have suspected that she was going to reap what years of being spoiled had sown.


    Or not... it was entirely possible her time with Corvayne was a fluke, and in a few weeks she''d revert to loosing her temper and bossing people around. It wasn''t his place to find out. He had been eyeing the palace now for the better part of an hour of travel and waiting in line, it''s orange-red rock form visible over the wall, lines of palace emerging from a ''rock'' that was closer in size to a small mountain. As he passed under the huge arch into the city proper, it helped anchor which direction they were headed even when they were not moving directly towards it.


    He heard Spears giggle and felt her tap his back, following her arm when she pointed at a halfling worker carrying a massive crate followed by a minotaur struggling with a much smaller one. Corvayne appreciated that rather than getting annoyed they were stuck in foot traffic, she delighted in the colorful stalls and people milling about. She was close enough that even with his new [[Unity]] power under a tight leash, he could still feel joy, wonder, and her affection trickling into his back.


    Bell, on the other time, showed off that she had been picking up Cascadian swears beyond just ''fuck'', but even as she was shouting up a storm she did not run anyone over. Tutu, on the back of her bike, just held on, looking listlessly up at the castle while they were winding their way to through dusty brick streets and around wood and stone buildings in all shades of brown, red, black, yellow, and orange. Those colors were accentuated by flashes of blue and maroon cloths and tiles, with brass and copper catching the hazy sun. When there wasn''t much wood built into buildings Corvayne could almost pretend he was back in the Village of the Watchers, save for how many more races of people he saw and the occasional groups of armed guards, wearing uniform gear and moving in fours.


    Having spent time in Cascadia, which was many degrees larger and stranger to him, he began to enjoy the languid push through the streets at walking speed on their bikes. Passing a bakery, he could smell fresh bread and a hint of the sweeter offerings. The rhythm of hammer on metal and the warmer air blowing out of the smithy made Corvayne a little sad to keep pushing forward, as it was still a touch colder than he''d like, and while he had probably the most exotic and beautiful woman in the whole city with her arms around her, he did spare a sideways glance at a ''tea house'' before which were two scantily clad and well tanned cat-girls, which of course caused one to hurry over and hand him a flier.


    Spears plucked it from his unresistant hands but, before she could no doubt destroy it, Nyxion plucked it from hers.


    "Thank you, save the poor ladies some parchment." He said as he let his own bike drift back. Spears frowned. "It was a cat cafe with petting... that sounded wholesome!"


    Corvayne did not correct her on the flier specifying ''heavy petting''. A flower shop had her elbowing him, house of ill repute forgotten as she leaned on the bike to guide it closer to the rainbow of plants set up out front. Corvayne spotted a flower with the same teal shade that Spears had, and slowed just enough to buy a bundle and then present it to his passenger while the procession of hoverbikes waited for a very slow trio of oxen to cross the road.


    "I saw them and thought of you... oh we''ll need a vase fo-"


    He stopped as she just took the cut flowers and placed them into her hair, stems visible inside her head. "Or not." He turned back to the road and saw a man with clay all over his hands frowning, possibly the proprietor of the next shop with pottery on display.


    Brines, on the other hand, slid right past the flowers to look at pots, while Bearer-of-Burdens sat behind him reading. She had not bothered to hang on, yet somehow stuck to the bike as if glued to it. Corvayne suspected it was some other aspect of her supposedly being able to channel [[Grace]]. She had been on good behavior since the wolf incident. He supposed that questioning his own judgment about letting her come along again might also be related to working on his curse. [[Understanding]] gave him a sort of hunch that he had just pushed his Curse back down to 39%, but he wasn''t sure what had triggered it.


    Corvayne caught a flash of chrome. He turned to see Lady Blood Claw''s new bike; Mosh had her one with a seat specialized for her floating Squid. She took a casual glance back then said in a low voice, ¡°No changes. She seems bored.¡±


    Corvayne kept his focus elsewhere but nodded. ¡°Keep an eye on her.¡±


    The foot traffic lightened as they reached an open plaza before the rock itself. Part of the plaza extended off at an angle, gently sloping down to the docks and shimmering water. Passing merchants and priests and entertainers all competing for coin, Bell guided her bike past a huge vaulted gate in the rock to what looked like a road carved into the rock, wide enough for five of their massive trucks to drive up it side by side, but still decorated with stonework planters and handrails and ornate statues.


    Corvayne felt more and more sure the more he looked that the whole palace was inspired by The Source, as he could imagine the structures would look very similar if one went to the far past. He could see the balconies and window-implied warren of tunnels starting part way up before the rougher rock gave way to murals and bricks and glass arched windows that would be a defensive liability closer to the ground. Broad stone pillars anchored the upper floors.


    Bearer sped past Corvayne and nudged Bell with her elbow, then jerked her thumb at the metal gate. "Not going to take us in the cool secret way?"


    ¡°It''s forbidden.¡± She glared at Bearer, then put her chin up.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Oh. Well, can you explain why? They don''t like mysteries.¡±


    Bell sighed. ¡°The palace was built to seal a forgotten evil. Our imperial family was given powers to keep the seal safe.¡±


    ¡°Well, you just blabbed it out. Why not at least keep it a secret?¡±


    "You should be careful about how you treat me." Bell replied coolly. "This is my empire."


    "Yeah, wouldn''t want to upset your dad. Good thing we are your friends, guests, advisors, and lovers thus are beyond protocol."


    Bell forgot to steer for a moment, causing Tutu to cry out. "Hey!"


    "Give it a few weeks, I''ll help you with Spears." Bearer-of-Burdens gave them a thumbs up.


    Brines started tugg. "Please can we not pick a fight with them? They are VIPs here, let''s leave them on a good note."


    Looking at the door, now that Bearer had pointed it out, Corvayne could see the massive gate in the side of the rock was more ornate looking than he had pegged it when he first glanced over it, the metal showing hints of the same folded red and black The Source weapons had, merged into a sort of faint purple from age or whatever else. Still, it hinted to Corvayne that there was something connected with the Towers in the palace.


    There were guards watching the ramps up to the palace, and a few made their way to block Bell the moment they saw the bikes. Within a few steps they recognized her and fell back while saluting. One of them, either the bravest or highest rank, didn''t move out of the way but instead walked up to the bike and began talking. It took Bell a few moments of gesturing before Corvayne decided pull up close enough to hear what was being said.


    The man obviously was tense, as if expecting the princess to explode. "Your highness, I only delay you because your previous suitor, the Avarian, had arrived rather unexpectedly in the last day and has been making a rather pointed fuss in an attempt to see you or raise assistance from us."


    "Is my daughter with him?" Bell asked, and Corvayne thought it sounded like she was hopeful and somehow terrified at the same time.


    "I know it''s related to her. Perhaps you can see him, as your father-" The guard hard started to move for for her to continue, and she flicked a switch and shot straight upwards, causing Tutu to holler out "Why am I on your bike?"


    Corvayne looked at Spears-Like-Water behind him, and with a nod did the same, skipping the winding path.


    He saw a surprised woman with a basket of fruit tottering near the stone handrail, no doubt staggering from Bell whipping past, so he applied his Gravity power to keep her from falling, then sped past after Bell. The princess flew into the huge open doors into the palace and skidded to a halt sideways in the grand hall, using her boot as an extra break before she hopped off and grabbed a random woman in fine robes.


    "Where is Kroo? The Avarian?"


    The woman didn''t know but Bell simply went to the next ornately dressed person that was too slow to escape her, then the third and finally someone pointed her where to go. Corvayne had already caught up at this point, abandoning his bike to avoid running anyone down. Bell had the presence of mind to announce, "They are with me!" as she stormed through the titanic entrance hall, causing a number of guards to lower weapons. He hardly had time to take in the massive plants and statues in the hall, nor the tapestries and perfectly carved statues lining a side passage, nor linger to see a garden view of the city below. Bell was ignoring it all as she stormed past scattering guards and servants that likely had a hundred different jobs.


    Corvayne heard Brines apologizing in stilted Nel''Ferral behind him, but kept up with Bell as she reached some sort of hybrid between a waiting room and a pillow, where a humanoid bird was sitting. He shot to his feet as Bell stormed in. Even if he had closed his eyes, Corvayne could literally feel the desperation rolling off the birdman, permeating the room in a way that made him want to open a window.


    ¡°Bellithica, I have been trying to see you! Time is of the essence! I know-¡±


    She waved a hand in her face snapping her fingers. ¡°Get to the point Kroo. Where is Hylal?¡±


    ¡°Our Daughter was training for her rite of passage at the Maw of the Sea when there was a dungeon break.¡±


    Bell froze. ¡°A break? How long ago?¡±


    ¡°Weeks ago. When I got the news I made haste here.¡±


    Bearer-of-Burdens looked around. ¡°Then what''s the hurry? She''s gone.¡±


    Kroo turned on her. ¡°There is still hope!¡±


    The woman walked over to a chair and sat, crossing her legs and putting her arms behind her head. ¡°Logic and reason time: If the dungeon break was something you guys could deal with, you''d have the fire put out already. Generally they take a few weeks if you don''t have someone vastly stronger the monsters. It happened weeks ago.¡±


    She unfolded her legs, put her hands together and gave both Bell and the bird-man a level look.


    ¡°Nobody else wants to say it, either because they are too nice, Kroo is too important, or because they have to save face regarding the royal line... but your daughter is dead.¡±


    Corvayne saw Bell start to turn, tears and fury coiling to strike Bearer, but of all people Nyx had caught up and caught her hand. ¡°Bearer is right, for once.¡±


    ¡°I''m usually right.¡± The woman reached over without looking and found a bowl of grapes, then started flicking them up into the air into her mouth. Her aim was perfect, which made Corvayne almost as angry as anything she had bluntly said. After some chewing, she spoke again.


    ¡°What do you think Bell can do? Nyx will be the first to tell you, there''s only so much princess number 10 in line can do, especially one who''s been grinding away any and all goodwill she had... recent exploits excluded.¡± Bearer stood, pointing a finger at Kroo.


    ¡°The first question is why you are HERE rather than at this maw place.¡±


    ¡°We tried... there is an endless tide of monsters flowing out of the entrance.¡±


    Corvayne put a hand on Bearer''s shoulder before she could respond. He looked at Bell, and Kroo. ¡°My... associate-¡± ¡°Best Bud¡± ¡°-is sadly correct. I suspect you have tempered your expectations, but to say it again: Even if we can break into this overflowing dungeon, if it was weeks ago chances are good we are too late. If anyone goes in, it would be to find her body and lay her to rest.¡±


    Corvayne guessed that even with a hover bike three months ago, the ''weeks'' would place the dungeon break at the same time everything else seemed to happen. He saw that his words had crushed Bell, and the birdman had fallen to his knees and started wailing.


    Lady Blood Claw, whom Corvayne hadn''t noted entering, looked to Spears, and Spears nodded. She stepped next to Corvayne, and gave him a small shove forward. He felt her emotions then... and it confused him. Pride... in him? Confidence. A small hint of jealousy, but also conviction. That, and love for something.


    He saw Bell turned to him. Kroo watched her, and turned to him as well. Standing closer to them, he felt the sort of frayed connection they had, but also something swelling in them.


    ¡°Bell, I''m not a miracle worker...¡±


    She dropped to her knees, head on the ground, then looked up at him. It was the most defiant begging he could imagine. Then her face softened.


    ¡°Corvayne, I have asked you for the impossible before. I don''t know what we can promise you that you haven''t already earned but please...¡± He looked around for someone else to say what he was thinking. That they would be risking their lives on trying to find someone who likely was dead for months. Nyx, however, had a calculating look. Lady Blood Claw seemed pleased with herself. He could feel the connection to Spears giving him something like... mischief? It also was confidence in him. Pride too. Oh no. Brines was nodding, and Corvayne felt that he was worried they needed to hurry! Those jerks, didn''t they see they were leading Bell on?


    He looked to Bearer-of-Burdens as a last bastion of logic, and he [[Understood]] that [[Unity]] was telling him that she 100 percent agreed with his assessment, and the woman just smiled and gave him a thumbs up. ¡°Corvayne, this sounds like a good side quest!¡±


    Bell was pushing back horror, even through his shields he could feel hope starting to flare in her. He wanted to shut the power off and tell her to just start grieving, that he did not want to give the woman false hope.


    He couldn''t do it. A spear moves forward, and he had to be honest and try to find her something that would tell her what she couldn''t accept yet. She was looking up at him, and of course looking at Bell she suddenly seemed radiant, and he could feel the connection getting stronger.


    ¡°Please... Corvayne... find my daughter.¡±


    Dammit. Everyone in the room was playing dirty. ¡°Of course.¡±

 Chapter 172: Guiding Lights

    Corvayne''s bike blasted over blue water, the ocean view dazzling as the afternoon sun caught lines of waves. He was following Princess Bell, keeping one on her gleaming bike, an orange dart in the dark blue-purple sky. She was navigating by sight, following a chain of green velvety islands ringed by white sands and turquoise waters. He counted a handful of ports and farms on the larger islands, every settlement ringed in layers of wood and stone arrayed out against imposing jungle.


    Bell wasn''t looking anywhere but forward, red hair whipping behind her. Corvayne could look behind him and see the rest of the team on their bikes, as well as a bit of Spears-Like-Water''s liquid shoulder catching sunlight. Warmth, both physical from her liquid body and emotional support from their link, flowed into him.


    It was part of why he didn''t further protest Bell''s request, even if he thought the entire venture was a bad idea. He was still confused about why his team had rallied so quick on this adventure to an overflowing dungeon months after the person they were trying to find got trapped. He didn''t get why they projected pride and confidence at him, even through his current barrier suppressing [[Unity]]. He could feel another pact working too, [[Understanding]] pulling from books he had read long ago... pushing into his head scenes he had read where the hero said yes to an impossible quest. Something about the way he had heard the problem, and his body language, they knew he''d step up.


    [[Understanding]] was also pushing the thought into his head that it might have also been that he was the tallest guy in the room, and people expect the tall guy to solve their problems. It sounded like something that Bearer-Of-Burdens would tell him. That it was sourced from himself was worrying. He snuck a glance behind him, where she was flying her hoverbike with her feet while Brines frantically tried to ask her to resume using her hands. Very worrying.


    The jungle islands they passed usually had a rock pillar like the ones he had seen stretching across the High plains. He suspected the line of rocks would link every ruin, assuming they were not buried. Bell slowed as they approached an island with a cloud rotating over it, strange colors of lightning flashing. Corvayne wasn''t surprised to see this was their goal, as they had slowed where the air felt charged. Magic, no doubt, as it wasn''t interacting with their bikes shielding.


    Moving closer, Corvayne started to see evidence that the dungeon breach was worse than he had imagined. Even from miles away in the air, he could trace places that a torrent of grey and pink things pouring into the water had worn down the trees, ground, buildings, rocks. The shifting mass writhed like a thin trickle of water as it marched into the sea. Drowned monsters bobbed in the bay they were walking into en-mas, and the beach near the dungeon break was now covered in bones. A cloud of large arial scavengers of all sorts were diving in to pick out meat, then retreating when the monsters were near. He was thankful the wind was going a different direction, given the carnage below.


    Flashes of light in the middle of the monsters suggested spellcraft, and following a mostly intact street sideways from the cone of bare ground he could see some adventurers or soldiers had built a fortress and a few hills over, with a few brave souls deflecting strays. The stampede of monsters had flattened everything in a cone from the mouth of the dungeon. It looked to be a stone temple covered in singed jungle plants. Given the output, even if he couldn''t be harmed by the stream of monsters, It would be impossible to push the sheer weight back of monster bodies.


    He pulled his bike up next to Bell, who was floating and just staring down at the waves of monsters. Corvayne let his shield drop, suddenly hit by gusts of wind and the sounds of dull thuds, likely some concussive spell going off. He spent a moment trying to think of anything else but suggesting a funeral.


    "We need a plan." Perhaps they could dig into the ruins, or they could attempt to force a gap if there was a focused blast of spells... but even then they''d need to know where they were going inside the dungeon, lest a group of monsters running up a stairwell or bunched up wherever they dug into just push them right back out.


    Bell turned to him, and Corvayne saw her nod, doing her best but not quite keeping her anguish off her face. Spears pointed a finger downwards. "They drown, so we might be able to flood them out."


    "Same problem with asking Wick to let us use a nuke here. We can''t control collateral damage and we are going to operate as a rescue until given evidence otherwise." Corvayne had his doubts, but he could feel Spears nodding behind him. On a whim he tried to use his compass power on ''Bells Daughter'' but came up with a sort of vague downwards pull. Not entirely unexpected, there was something tremendous going on with the energy pouring off the dungeon.


    Bell took a deep breath, then spun her bike around, slowing a moment to survey the islands nearby. After picking what seemed to be a random one about five miles away, she lead them over the ocean to it and started to descend towards what looked to be a port town that had burst out of it''s walls. Parts of the growing town were set in stone, with more wood and eventually canvas extending from the solid core into vestigial buildings, growing more haphazard further from the coast. The chaotic materials included colorful cloth, different colored wood, metal, stone, leaves, dirt, red clay, what looked like bones, sea shell, and canvas where there wasn''t enough of anything else. Utter chaos.


    Bell aimed herself for a patch of cleared out scrub that turned out to be a worn down graveyard up the road from what looked to be the largest patchwork building. Corvayne could trace that it had started as what looked like a tavern near the wall and had spilled over the barrier and in some places eaten away at it. Given the number of armed people walking out and injured people being carried in, he guessed it was some sort of command center.


    Bearer crunched her bike down on a tombstone behind him, and Corvayne spared her a glance as she put her socks back on. Brines looked even more nervous when he saw they were disturbing someone''s final resting place. "Can we park here? Will someone take the bikes?"


    Lady Blood Claw shrugged. "Bell picked it." She did turn and mutter a few words, causing her hands to glow a pale blue. The aura around her faded as the bikes took on a granite texture and seemed to melt a little into the scenery. He was pleased to see she had been getting better at her spellcraft, and felt a little pride coming off her as her skin changed to a faded orange with gold gear-teeth shapes squiggling up and down her arms.


    Setting down the stone and dirt path, the heat and humidity he hadn''t felt while flying caught up within three steps. Given the hot, still air and dark cloud slowly spreading from the dungeon, Corvanye would have thought the atmosphere was oppressive even without the sounds of construction, arguing, and groaning. Stepping into the closest entrance into the building, Corvayne smelled a mix of blood, booze, and sawdust before his eyes could adjust to the gloom and see blood and booze soaked sawdust. Dejected looking adventurers crowded tables in one dimly lit section, bamboo fans barely moving the air through the darkwood bar area. Some of the hammering was shared between a smithy trying to fix things in an exposed stone open roofed courtyard, and groups of men trying to fix a staircase to a second floor of the bar.


    Corvayne let Bell lead to the front desk, where an attractive but tired looking woman wearing an off white dress with red clay stains directed them to a smaller and even stuffier waiting room halfway up to the second floor, just large enough to hold the group and a small glass window that by showing them a wood wall a foot away somehow made the room feel smaller.


    Thankfully, Bell had some sort of in. A few moments later they were in a more spacious office that looked to have been built in the attic yet somehow was cool. Behind the desk was a swarthy looking man in trim leathers with an eye-patch and the sort of knickknacks that either a pirate or a crow might pick up.


    He offered a hand, but Bell just stared at it, then up at the man. "You owe me a favor Corky."


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Corvayne mentally aligned the man with the person who had pointedly not paid Bells ransom and wrote them the note. Corky himself sat down in what Corvayne thought looked like a very modern leather chair and propped his feet onto the driftwood desk before him. He took a wine glass and poured water into it, then raised it.


    "I''m surprised you made it down to this little slice of heaven! I''d offer you wine, but..."


    Bell slammed her hands on the desk. "I don''t care. I want to get into the dungeon."


    The Adventurer''s guild leader waved a hand. "Madness. Go take a boat or magic flying carpet over, look at it, then another home. The only reason we''re here is we want some warning if the thing starts spitting out swimmers or fliers."


    Lady Blood Claw stepped forward. "There''s not another way in?"


    Corky leaned to look around Bell, clearly giving LBC a once-over. He made a somewhat approving face then remembered to speak. "No idea. We only found one entrance. The dungeon was a relatively new discovery months ago, and now most of the people who really know it are dead somewhere inside."


    Corvayne could see Bell was starting to crush the lip of the desk, so he stepped up. "Did anyone who was inside the dungeon manage to make it out? Someone who can report what was inside?"


    Corky rolled his eyes but stopped and squinted at Corvayne, then smiled. "Why... yes. Perhaps we can come to an arrangement to have you discuss with that gentleman what he saw."


    It took Corvayne some effort to not reach for his spear, especially because he felt annoyance, anger, and a small spike of gleeful anticipation of violence slam into his [[Unity]] bubble from behind and to the sides. Looking back, even Brines was frowning with his arms folded, though still covered in sweat, possibly from the idea of conflict. Corky, on the other hand, was so confident that Corvayne could feel a sort of thrumming drum beat of it.


    Corvayne started to speak, "I relinquish my claim on Bell''s ransom for-"


    Bell stamped her foot, and her and Spears said "No" and "Absolutely not Corvayne!" at the same time. What the hell? He turned to tell them off, but Spears was already holding up a hand for calm. She moved next to Bell at the front of the desk, and leaned in a little. Corky spared a single glance down at her watery cleavage before looking up as Spears started to speak, slow and steady.


    "Listen you perfume soaked half cocked swine, I know that grog drenched head of yours thinks you are some sort of master manipulator because you''ve been swindling thugs for however long you''ve been clawing your way up the guilds ranks but we are so far up thug mountain that when we piss on you, you open your mouth to catch it thinking it''s snow. We operate on a level of violence you cannot even begin to imagine, and at the moment you are screaming that you are an obsticle to what we want to do."


    Spears paused, letting what she said sink in. Then she stood up.


    "So, because you don''t want that, we''re going to speak with the man who was inside, and you''re going to gather everything else you know in an hour. We''re going to have your full co-operation because if you don''t I swear to Lythandies and Gygax and the Tower itself I''m will wash this entire town into the ocean in a tide of blood to try to clean one little greasy shit-stain."


    She lifted her leg and slammed one of her boots on the desk, leaning forward with her watery arms on her liquid thigh, spear adjusted to be visible over her shoulder, and turned her nose up, and Corvayne felt something else through [[Unity]] that reminded him of old Spears, that aura of being looking at like a bug, but directed at Corky, who put a hand up to say something, thought about it, then nodded.


    "You know what, your watery friend has me convinced. No need to cross spears."


    Corvayne saw Corky wink, which would have prompted a lot of questions if the man wasn''t already moving downstairs. "There is a cost though, but I suspect you have healing potions on you. When he talks it tends to re-open wounds, you know."


    They started to follow, but Lady Blood Claw had to pull Nyx along, as he seemed distracted. Brines on the other hand had to stop Bell from bowling Corky over, sputtering to the princess that they were getting what they wanted and to please not force a blood tide. Bearer, on the other hand, looked and felt to Corvayne like she was suddenly... awake. Interested. He loathed to try to pull answers from her, but did she also think Corky might have just made a pun hinting he knew Spear''s name?


    They moved through the bar to a wood post and tent built part of the building, a make shift medic tent where all sorts of mismatched beds were sitting on cobble. Corky moved up to one with a man bandaged every which way, many of them doused in blood.


    "Old Edrick here had the good luck to be pushed out with the burst, and the better luck of not just dying when he got trampled and kicked off into the jungle, and the phenominal luck of being found before he died. Doesn''t he seem blessed?"


    The man in question just gargled in response. Corvayne handed a healing potion to Corky. The adventurer''s guild leader opened the stopper, sniffed it, raised an eyebrow, then shrugged and poured it down the mans throat. After some sputtering, the potion was absorbed and the man started croaking. "Please, more Wraithroot."


    "It''s very addictive." Corky said solemly before snapping his fingers. "We''ll give you some after you tell these nice folks if anyone could be alive in the dungeon."


    The bandaged man looked over, one good eye sizing up Corvayne, then Bell. He stiffened. "No... not her... not mean princess."


    Bell took the hand not in a cast and squeezed it, gently. "Please. We are wasting time. My daughter is in there."


    The figure moved his head and seemed to look at Bell, the wounded warrior trying to shake his head. He whispered "Sorry. Sorry. Have little girl back home. But..." He took a deep breath. "Flooded with monsters. All boiling up the main stairway. She would have to... hide... entire time. Maybe for a week she could. Dungeon is big. It''s dark. Monsters don''t like light, will attack it. No doors to close. Hard to cook monsters without attracting more. No drinking water. Just salt water. Two months..."


    He wheezed. "Two months, impossible. Record before surge... was three weeks. Will take you years to search too. Sorry Princess."


    For a moment there was explosive silence from everyone. The princess herself was frozen in place. She reached for something and Corvayne, despite himself, moved to be ready to stop her.


    Instead of whatever he feared, Bell pulled one of her own potions out and set it on the table next to him. "You did not lie and sugar coat it." Her eyes were watering as she stood up and strode out of the room. Corky looked at everyone with the unspoken ''I told you so'' clear on his face. Then he mouthed it, to make it extra clear.


    Corvayne did not punch Corky despite a clear desire to do so, instead striding after Bell, with Lady Blood Claw following. He wasn''t quite set on what to say, as he was hoping that the moment Bell faced reality would be at least half a day away. He''d probably just go with a Watcher''s assurance that when someone is fighting to protect others, those who live past them light death''s long shadows. Corvayne always knew that it was the same sort of thing that ''A spear always moves forward'' was, but he could pair it with an offer to sit vigil for something that would represent her remains.


    The sky had turned redish since they landed, and lamps were coming on in town as the mountain at the center of the island and trees turned to black outlines against the blazing sky. Bell wordlessly turned to him and he pulled her into a hug, recited words and offers dying before he spoke.


    He could see past Bell''s head that Lady Blood Claw was leaning against the far wall, perhaps waiting for the princess in his arms to stop quietly sobbing. He caught her eye, and she nodded at him, glancing over to her nearly invisible squid who was peeing. He couldn''t see her skin color, though there was a sort of swirling black pattern he had never seen before. Perhaps something like grim approval? He resisted the urge to open [[Unity]] up more, but still got through his ever improving emotional shield that she thought he was doing something right.


    Corvayne''s other side was getting scraped by the anguish rolling off the little woman in his arms, and Bell squeezed him harder. He felt extremely guilty that while his own tears were starting to form at her losing her daughter, he was also keenly aware of how close she was. He looked up at the red edge of the dungeon cloud as it caught the setting sun, and thought about painting it to help keep his feelings in check.


    He was searching the sky for other future paintings (really, distractions) when, as if summoned by his need, a bright light flashed into his eyes. He took an arm off Bell''s back and shaded his eyes. She recoiled as well, stumbling a moment before Corvayne caught her with his other arm.


    Glowing above them was the gleaming UFO they had seen when they first arrived on Nel''Feral. The disk was spinning above him, glittering like a billion of Wick''s super flashlights blasting out of a billion sided diamond, but somehow focused on just them. Bell was looking up, gaping like a fish with every feature of her either blazing white or pitch black.


    Corvayne watched as the light blinked then dimmed, leaving them in stark darkness as he tried to blink his eyes back to working. The light flared up a ways away and above then flew in a skipping stone motion in one direction, then stopped. It came back slowly, then dashed the same direction, stopped instantly, then flipped up and down. [[Understanding]] gave him the impression that it was telling him, in it''s own way, ''come on!''.


    He was also nearly sure as well that it was talking to him. A shadow limb curled out of him and gestured at it. Yes yes. Corvayne didn''t need two UFOs to figure it out.


    "When we went to the source, we were following it." Corvayne explained to Bell, and while he didn''t want to get Bell''s hopes up, looking back at the UFO he saw that it wasn''t forming a line directly to the center of the cloud. At the source, they were not flying when they followed it, and lost it at the village. But... it had vanished near the Apex of the stone structure, and thus might have known the back door there.


    So... it might know a back door here, too. There might be a tower entrance in the ruins. If so, there was a chance. A small one, but if it can find the smallest gap a spear moved forward, especially if the world is pushing at your back.


    He turned to Lady Blood Claw. "Get the others! We got a UFO to chase!"

 Chapter 173: The Undersea Ruins

    The light did a little circle around a spot on one of the smaller plant choked islands, not too far from the beach. Bell had ridden with him, with the glowing lights of the rest of their party not far behind. Corvayne could see the light fixated on a spot, but had his butcher cleaver as a machete to clear his way through the forest. Each chop made the light spilling from where the UFO was pointing stronger, until he saw a hatch more or less the same as the one he had seen on Cascadia. The thing was made of white stone, etched in a way that made him think of concrete. With the light on it, he could see the hatch was rusted.


    Bell bumped into his back and Corvayne caught her and steadied her before turning back to the hatch and giving the ring a tug. It didn''t budge, so he took a moment to think, then tried reciting Lythandies'' prayer.


    "Lythandies, mend that which is broken. Weave that which is hurt. Our flesh is clay. Help me build good things: life, health, joy. Knit the broken whole, scour rust, and restore this object to fulfill it''s purpose."


    There was a faint glow as a portion of the hatch and stone around it was restored to pristine conditions, even wiping dirt off. Corvayne spun the wheel and opened the hatch. A blast of cool air carrying the scent of the sea rushed out of the tube leading down.


    Corvayne started climbing down then, shrugging, put his hands on the side, channeled [[Vitality]], and started sliding down into the pitch black tunnel.


    He slammed to the ground feet first and surveyed where he had landed. There was some light, despite what he had been warned of: faded dark blue panels in what looked like a distant mural, shaped like the sky, cast enough light that his eyes could catch that he was on some sort of stone roof of a building buried in a cave. A few motes of light below suggested places where sea water had streamed in. He could smell sea water, and hints of stale death.


    While the few points of light didn''t show off much, he could hear lots of things crawling and sloshing through water. The sound was hitting the cavern ceiling. He drew his spear and used compass. It was still muddy, but the direction was clear like a weight in his gut. Down.


    Bell arrived and Corvane put a hand on her before she could wander off. "Once we are gathered, we''re going to go fast. We secure a path in that we can follow out." He could feel the compass starting to crystallize a path. Behind him, Lady Blood Claw and Nyx were next down the ladder, with Spears splashing to the bottom. Brines stepped out of the way and Bearer was last.


    It was nearly pitch black on the platform, until Nyx activated his belt. "What''s the plan?"


    "I can feel it''s downwards and there''s something like a path I trade, so I''ll lead the way. We move fast, no stops if possible. I got enough food and water for a few days."


    Bearer lit a flashlight and clipped it to her shoulder, then cracked her knuckles. "I''ll be rearguard with Brines."


    Lady Blood Claw cast a spell, tagging them with lights. Corvayne walked over to the edge of the roof that had a set of handrails and saw it was a stairway down to the next level of the building.


    From ahead there was a cry, then it was answered by an series of noises. Sputtering moans, gutteral hissing, something like a camel getting angry, and a roar that shook the cavern a little bit.


    Corvayne started down the stairs and saw the first two pale monsters tried to block him, looking sort of like pale peach people but with four tentacle-like limbs and no obvious face. He pushed himself off the top of the stairs and used [Leap Strike] to bury his spear in the first one, cleaving it apart. The second he skewered where it''s head should be, the bump having a bit of bone before he hit something that caused the monster to spasm and gush orange blood all over the stones. He wasn''t waiting, moving as a wad of something like acid hit the wall near him, sizzling and treating him to an acrid smell. He could see a monster on another roof, maybe fifty feet away, looking at him with a single green eye. It opened a tri-jawed mouth and coughed into it''s hand something that glowed green. Corvayne pulled his gun and stopped for one step to aim and hit the thing before it could throw again.


    He didn''t wait for confirmation that his group was behind him, letting his shadow hand holster his weapon and moving around and into the open arch. It wasn''t much darker inside than out, and he could see well enough that the first monster rushing him got a spear right into it''s torso, pushing him back and spraying him with hot monster blood that smelled like tomato. He pulled his spear out but wasn''t quite fast enough to skewer the next monster, so he instead pivoted and used [Juxtapose] to get at it''s back and with another strike broke the thing''s spine.


    Both monsters were on the ground, tentacle limbs thrashing as Corvayne kept moving. A group of acid throwers climbed up the stairs, one glob hitting Corvayne''s leg but doing nothing to the strawberry pants, another clipping his arm. It felt like fire, but a single use of [Flow-Like-Water] and he was clear, spear tip catching two necks and an eye. The blood gushing from the things eye smelled like flowers, and Corvayne kept going, the sound of Nyx smashing the monster behind him letting him know his back was clear.


    Corvayne slowed a moment as tougher monster with a bone shell and four metal hooves clomped to the bottom of the stairway. "Three types so far... flailers, spitters, clompers."


    Nyx laughed. "Can''t you come up with better names?"


    Corvayne shifted to his cleaver, shadow hands holding his spear a moment. As the first clomper started clambering up the stairs, he started a [Cross Skill: Grand Slam].


    The monster took three seconds to climb the stairs, arriving just in time for the delayed attack that sent the blue metal cleaver through it''s eyeless snarling face, nearly knocking it''s head off and sending it''s half ton body into the one following it, bowling them both down the steps and through a stone balustrade. Corvayne heard the sounds of stones and the two bodies hitting water below, and stepped to the landing. Behind him, he heard a few other crashing sounds and felt Brine''s aura kicking in. A spear moves forward.


    "Nyx, take the right." He curved around the left stair and moved down the stone steps flying past broken plaster and blackened paintings, swapping to [[Agility]] as he shot down the stairs, thinking of himself as a missile as he hit the cracked marble floor. Looking around the large hall, the extra dark patches clinging to two vase stands and one plastered to the wall near a painting stood out to him immediately. Corvayne started moving to the closest one, and his danger sense flared and he dropped to the ground.


    He felt the air move over his head, and saw Nyxion float down the steps.


    "Hostiles!" Corvayne called out, and a moment later there was a flash as one of the patches extended a long spear-like tendril, slamming into Nyx''s shield and blasting him back in a shower of sparks. Corvayne rolled as the third tried to skewer him, blasting a hole in the floor. Corvayne reached out and grabbed the spike as it tried to pull itself back in, and drew his firebreathing dagger as it shot him towards the patch. He thrust into it and activated the fire breath, turning the shadow glowing red for a moment before it burst into flames and started wailing as it fell off the wall and scampered around. One of it''s allies skewered it a moment later, and pulled it in starting the second on fire.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Spears took out the third, moving around the tentacle then chopping it into bits with [Flows-Like-Water]. The last shadow screeched as she aimed her spear at it then blasted it with a [Aqua-Thrust].


    Bell rushed into the room. ¡°An army of monsters is moving towards this building!¡±


    ¡°Stay in the middle, shoot only if you are not going to hit us.¡±


    ¡°I can fight!¡± Bell had shaky legs. He knew she could fight other people.


    ¡°My job is to get you to your daughter.¡± No matter what that means. ¡°We will handle the monsters.¡±


    He paid a little more attetion to his surroundings: the large hallway looked like it had once housed trophies, some still remaining but decayed to the point of being nothing more than junk. It couldn''t have been thousands of years old, given that some of it was recognizable. Focus. Exits? Entrances? Two big windows on each end of the hall. The stairs up they came down, two of them. He strode over and looked: Balcony and two stairs to an entrance hall.


    Corvayne ran and checked both stairs. ¡°Bell, which way were they coming from?¡±


    She pointed, and Corvayne waved them to follow. ¡°Run, find a better spot to fight.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw grabbed a vase, cast a spell into it, then lobbed it over the balcony into a lobby below. ¡°Sleepy time down there.¡±


    They cut to the side of the building and Corvayne pushed down the stairs. On the third landing he got hit with a shadow tentacle, blowing a hole in his arm. He used his good side to hack the monster apart with his hatchet, drank a healing potion, and kept going with [[Vitality]]. A group of spitters at the bottom of the stairs tried to keep them tied up, but Nyx surged ahead and fell to the center of the group, and pulsed fear sending the monsters scattering. A moment later Spears took them out with well placed pistol shots.


    Corvayne grabbed one of the dead acid cyclops and bashed it''s face into a locked door, melting the lock and letting him kick it open to a seedy looking walkway along a raised canal. Dim lights in the water suggested... things... swimming in it. His instincts told him to keep the group moving along the aqueduct. There were gaps where he could see streets and pools lower than where they were, and buildings where clumps of green eyes were looking down at them. The last made Corvayne pull his pistol, starting a running gun fight with spitters. Nyxion and Spears together deflected and washed away acid bolts.


    Corvayne was about to get cocky when a rattlesnake noise alerted him to a terrifying spine ball with four red eyes. The thing puffed up and fired a spread of spikes into the group. Lady Blood Claw parried with her blade and Spears used a wall of water to deflect and slow the ones aimed at Bell. Bearer moved in front of Brines and caught then hurled them back, killing two of the puffballs on her own.


    Spears pulled an assault rifle and after a few seconds of sustained fire dropped one, but with three pelting them Corvayne took another hit, and Nyxion''s shield failed for the first time, getting him hit twice, once in his arm, once in his chest. Whatever armor he was wearing under his uniform deserved some credit, as neither stuck in even though they drew blood.


    Bell needed attention after she took a hit to the side of her head. ¡°That whore! It nearly hit my eye!¡±


    Corvayne winced a little but bandaged her head and made a motion to keep moving. He could see more monsters floating their way, and looking back there were at least three tall figures in the horde holding glowing amber staves that his instincts marked as mildly dangerous.


    Right before they reached where the canal connected to a gate in the wall, a set of steel bars shot up and the windowless buildings on either side of the waterway melted. Or, the wall dropped, as grinding noises and gears alerted Corvayne to the trap moments before he saw a nest of shadow spears and floating quill monsters, sounds of rattlesnakes and quiet bubbling somehow suggesting they also were surprised.


    Nyxion reacted fast, blasting another burst of fear at the monsters. The effect gave everyone a second to prepare, and this time Spears took charge, pulling water from the canal around her then sending a wall of spikes into one side of the trap.


    Corvayne spun and used his Gravity power to leap across the canal at the other building, two stories of monsters starting to creep out. Three shadow spines came at him, but he gained weight and dropped like a meteor under them and a wave of new bone spikes, then pulled his dagger and swept it through the room once before ducking.


    He didn''t hear any pops, but did here something like agitated rattling, and he saw that these spike monsters did not, in fact, explode, but rather started melting. The shadows had burst into fire and were skewering each other, then one hit a floating quill ball, which fired back into the upper floor...


    Corvayne knew, from the sixth floor of the Tower back on Cascadia, that monsters sometimes fought. But he had assumed the dungeon creatures were allies, given that they sat in a room with each other waiting to ambush him (possibly for centuries?) and that assumption was being shattered as monsters turned on each other.


    His attention shifted from the chaos to a bright red button built into a statue on the back wall. Grabbing a spine, he used [Expert Toss] and landed it onto the button, which dropped the metal bars barring them from running to a doorway in the wall. Nyxion lead the way, as there was a new time of huge, centipede-like flying horror bearing down on the group. Corvayne pulled his weapon but Lady Blood Claw pointed and the monster went rigid and dropped out of the sky to whatever was in the gloom below it.


    ¡°Nice trick!¡± He called to her before he vaulted back to the side where his friends were, nearly hitting Bearer who grabbed him before he could fall in the water. She clearly was thinking about pushing him in, but managed to contain the urge and let him go.


    ¡°Don''t jump at me in front of my boyfriend. You''ll make your girlfriends jealous.¡± Bearer winked at him.


    Brines groaned. ¡°Now is NOT the time they are GAINING on us!¡±


    He was exaggerating, the monsters clearly were having trouble getting up to the level they were on, but he agreed that it was a fight they could avoid. He ran past Bell and Spears and Nyx and LBC to the front, passing into a shadowy arch into a carved stone stairway winding down in a chamber where other stairs were visible winding down across a large open gap. A trickle of water from somewhere above, smelling of brine and dead fish, cut through the middle of the chamber and caught some of the green light panels that seemed to give up somewhere before the bottom of the shaft. It was a long way down.


    Bell joined him at the edge and after looking down, turned to Corvayne and made a face that suggested she was having doubts at the moment. [[Unity]] and [[Understanding]] told Corvayne that she looking to him for assurance or anything. He also hoped he knew her well enough at this point.


    ¡°My instincts are telling me to keep going down. Way down.¡±


    Spears was looking back. ¡°Now I wish I had packed land mines.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw folded her arms. ¡°Now I also wish YOU had packed land mines.¡± There was a hint of light gray playing across her skin, paired with a bit anxiety. Perhaps from the large number of loud monsters they had left in the room behind them.


    ¡°We go down a few floors. Maybe cross the gap if they are really following us.¡± Corvayne gestured.


    Bell was sweating, even though the air around them was cool. ¡°Is she over there?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°The route is telling me... down.¡±


    ¡°Is she moving?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡±


    Nyx snapped his fingers. Bearer did too after seeing him do it. ¡°Move!¡±


    Spears put a hand on Bell''s shoulder. ¡°It will be okay. Corvayne will take care of it.¡±


    Corvayne tried his best not to rush as he started leading the way down the endless twisting stairs, weaving in and out of view of the what felt like endless abyss. The jagged rocks, sometimes encrusted with coral, felt more and more like rows of teeth around the stairway. Their steps were mixed with thrumming sounds, and odd dripping noises that echoed far too long. Even without the sounds of monsters, Corvayne had a feeling that they couldn''t stop.


    They must have made their way down hundreds of stairs before Corvayne''s compass started pulling him to a side passage, another stair down but one straight and off the endless spiral. He had to take a moment to steady himself on the cavern wall. Just a moment, as he could feel hints of anxiousness through [[Unity]]. He put his emotional shields up, both to keep their fears out and to keep his inside.


    Following the compass to rescue someone who might already be dead, Corvayne stepped into a room glowing cold colors from what looked like blue magma oozing from containers and pylons, and pits glowing blue. Putting his hand near one, Corvayne felt lightning leap from the rock at him and there was a second of a buzzing sensation followed by sharp pain.


    Corvayne pulled away from the rock, and looked to his companions. Lady Blood Claw put a foot near a blue rock then pulled it back, swearing.


    ¡°Fuck, don''t tell me we have to go through here.¡±


    Corvayne took his spear and pointed it the direction his compass was feeding him. On the far side of a lethally charged obstacle course made of melted blue rocks was their next goal.


    Corvayne turned to the group. ¡°We have to go through here.¡±

 Chapter Not a Real Chapter: This is what passes for filler

    The bus clipped the side of a boulder and barreled through slush, then snow, then the guard raid before it was stopped by jagged rocks at the bottom of the ravine.


    Invisible to mere mortals, latent systems kicked into action before the bus had finished rolling. They diligently set the souls aside with precise soul tongs, handling minds and souls frozen in the moment of death.


    To most of those students, there was a blip of the terror as the bus plowed through a guardrail and while they were in freefall, then they were an instant later calmly standing in a white space, wearing class uniforms, baseball jerseys, casual clothes, and in one case a set of basic leather armor... whatever their minds considered their default appearance.


    The main feature in the white expanse was the first thing they noticed besides taking a moment to look at themselves. A few at a time raised their head to see before them a benevolent looking Goddess with closed eyes. Looking elsewhere from the sheer white robed figure towering over them. they would see then the entire class 2-A. All of whom were all supposed to be on that bus. In theory, a student would look up and only see similar students. Emphasis on theory.


    No batch of requests is perfect, which was why there was also an old lady with a prosthetic leg, a man in a business suit and dark circles under his eyes, a tough looking woman in a flight suit, and a cyborg with chrome limbs and digitally enhanced black eyes.


    One might assume, given a certain passing familiarity with system integration and reincarnation, that the cyborg is the problem, the fly in the ointment, the monkey wrench, the odd man out who was going to wreck some fantasy world. In some other timeline, perhaps he did use his liquid cooled super computer brain to overturn the expected outcome of this summoning.


    But no, even he was looking in confusion at the twelve foot tall figure in a broad hat with ornate robes, who in turn was looking around at confusion at the tiny crowd of students who tugged at some long forgotten memories in his head. He noted there was also rather attractive, if under dressed, twenty foot tall goddess who had her eyes closed, and next to her some little demi-god secretary with spectacles sitting at a desk piled in papers who, in his mind, had the distinct look on her face of a woman who had just stepped in a very large pile of dog shit.


    The tall figure looked over at the students, most still in various stages of shock. He politely raised his hand. ¡°I think there has been a small mistake.¡± When there was no response, Falenti, the Adept Prime and ruler of the entire universe (for six weeks) just shrugged.


    Perhaps more explanation is in order. Class 2-A.


    They were set aside because Observers liked to tag entire groups of students, usually claiming an entire school to once a year to update room by room in the chance that any class all perished at once. When that happened, the grouping made for that class would be set aside until the entire tag was dead or re-classified, then forwarded to another universe where someone would pay some essence to take the souls and use them as a N class fish-out-of-water group reincarnation. It also meant you could pick out any good solo or small groups reincarnation targets in a batch, but there''s plenty of examples of all the ways that can turn out.


    It is a system that is meant to be used by active and attentive deities to help them fix things while avoiding self-incarnation or re-mortality by being too direct. There are plenty of good examples where things go fine with N grade tags, stories about middle of the bell curve cases where you have a few standout students who get a harem of colorful locals, maybe invent magic guns, sometimes wear eyepatches and often wear capes, then defeat the overwhelming evil and settle down, or more rarely ''pay out'' to be tossed back living into the modern world. N is a safer bet then M or L, which usually has more ''grit'' thrown in. Maybe a few too many adults as the teacher and bus driver got tagged, or it''s from the delinquent high school and instead of diligently training to defeat the demon king, there is a non-negligible chance they might try to join him instead. Some of the girls might smoke cigarettes while wearing long skirts, and just tell the priestess urging them to fight evil ''EH?'' instead of doing their job. The whole process becomes like pulling teeth with a low L.


    The ratings went up with letters, so Z Class would something like a tagged class of child space-wizards who knew how to handle a laser sword right out of the box but were also very, very, very trusting. Anyway, an N rating was good, not great or exceptional. Any teenage group from a nation of kids who played table top or video games in a system-light world usually was L to O. The standard example of A, the lowest rank, was a mass of crystallized necromancer kings who had existed in a low power system. With that example, their crystal only shattered after ten thousand years of rule because they were bored of being undead. Too smart, too powerful, extremely destructive, and worst of all system fluent enough to take a low grade baseline and twist it into loops. Such a group wasn''t even fit to sabotage another god''s work because they would figure out who really summoned them and come back around on them. Even if it took millennia to do so.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    So normally, an N class tag is a good, solid bet. Usually a TPK bus or plane or boat or ''dragon attacking a track meet'' situation. Any God or Goddess was willing to take the small gamble that a few of the tagged students would not only survive the start-up period of being thrust into ''adventure'', but make good on saving the world. It didn''t hurt either they''d rack up some followers as champions of the deity showed off. That was a nice warm link of faith for a few millennium while also giving your aligned royalty some help with new genetics that didn''t result in club feet as often.


    When you used group tags, mind you, you often got adults too. Usually a teacher. Sometimes a few adults if it was a senior class or the person was never fitted into another tag. So no gods or goddesses using the system were surprised to see maybe a few elderly folks who rolled the dice well and avoided falling off cliffs, crashing airplanes, getting stalked by volcanoes, or getting stabbed while thinking ''Is this really how I die, getting stabbed?'' These individuals usually looked all four ways for run-away trucks when crossing the road, sidewalk, train tracks, and when generally anywhere a truck could get at you.


    The harvesters and trucks have a sort of grudge, but that''s a whole other can of worms.


    Where was I? Oh, yes. The problem that started this is really that tags were rated off the majority of contents before they were finished, or to be more blunt: dead. In a normal situation, one would take the tag and consider cutting a few of the oddballs out. In a normal situation, a group tag that had been sitting idle for far too long in it''s home universe would be a sign that there was something seriously wrong with it and that it needed be checked and reclassified. In a normal situation, someone would actually look at the souls and notice one was, while about the right size for a human, was too perfectly smooth and too bright. A soul like a compressed globe of pure light, rather then a misty floating tenuous thing.


    This chain of failures is what lead to Falenti looking at class mates he had nearly entirely forgotten about. In Falneti''s defense, he hadn''t thought of them on a geologic scale of time. He was waiting for the Goddess to notice him and perhaps pull him aside, offer him a role as some sort of god-in-training, maybe drag him into hell or dissolve him into the void.


    ¡°I wonder if I could take over hell?¡± He mused to himself. He refocused on the Goddess.


    She had not stopped monolouging, nor looked at him. As she kept talking for a few more seconds his eyes narrowed as he realized that, indeed, the deity before him was giving the kids a plea to take mortal forms again as heroes... in her sleep. He usually did not care about respect so he would have found it amusing except it rankled him to see someone doing their job poorly. He had a small streak in him that wanted to step in and ''do it right'' that he had often needed to tap down on.


    He met the eyes of the secretary and saw the demi-god hold up her hands, telling him without words that it was, in fact, a cosmic mistake. Well, crap.


    Could he opt out? Falenti had died because he had been ready to die. He had ruled the (an) entire universe for more then a month, yes, to cover his former pupil''s vacations three times, but with even a single moment his most absurd ambitions had been met and so he had decided to die in a pretty good way, essentially jumping on a universe-ending grenade some clueless fanatic had been trying to use to kill his entire faction. He had even been to his own funeral, being a time traveler, and had said his proper goodbyes before stepping backwards a few weeks to meet his fate, using a trick timeline splint to steal the moment of glory a second before another time mage. Whatever rival he beat out was probably stomping their own distinctive hat as they had to go find a different meaningful death to retire themselves on.


    His split mind was paying enough attention to the Goddess while he ruminated to catch the pitch was getting to the ''pitch''. She was telling them of a world being consumed by a relentless dungeon, and dying kingdoms in need of brave heroes. Pretty standard stuff from books and shows and holocubes. Fun... if you didn''t do all that already.


    The secretary was looking between her sleep-talking goddess boss and him, clearly considering if she should wake the titan, before she motioned Falenti over. Falenti moved in a few different dimensions to avoid bowling over confused school kids, and crouched as the demi-goddess was seated and not quite as tall as he was.


    ¡°Sir, there''s been a mistake!¡± She hissed at him over her artifact and paper strewn desk, likely loud enough that everyone in the white void heard her.


    Falenti just waved her concern away. ¡°It''s fine. I''ll manaburn myself to death making a pocket universe. It won''t harm anyone and whoever your sending us to will have a nicely furnished safe room, and these kids will get have their little adventure and character arcs and somesuch.¡±


    ¡°No, you won''t be able to! She''s going to...¡± A mental lock stopped her. Falenti wanted to roll his eyes as the woman tested a phrase in her head. ¡°When you get in you won''t be able to do that!¡±


    Falenti hoped she could give him more information but The Goddess had finished talking and yawned, then waved her hand.


    A moment later, 20 relatively normal Japanese high school students, a one-legged grandmother, a test pilot, a cyborg, and the thrice ruler of the (an) entire universe went hurtling through the system to the goddesses pet planet.


    This is the story of the first batch of souls to ever earn an A- Rating.

 Chapter 174: Lightning Forge

    Corvayne advanced down a ramp towards a glowing depression. On both sides were steel machines, some standing tall, others tilted. The latent lights painted them in shades of blue from gleaming white to the black of sea at night. Parts of the huge interconnected metal structures reminded him of a foundry, others seemed like reactors.


    Brines broke the low hum that passed for silence on the floor for a third time. "Do you think it''s radioactive?"


    Corvayne and Lady Blood Claw and Nyxion all said "No." at the same time in the same tone. He wasn''t sure if it was [[Unity]], or just that everyone was equally nervous about the area they had found.


    "I mean, it''s crackling with energy, it''s got blue light, are we sure we don''t have a geiger counter?" Brines was trying to walk as close to the middle as possible.


    Spears took a glob of water and tossed it onto a pile of rocks, causing a small storm of hissing and cracking as electricity blew it apart. "I think Wick had one."


    Bearer laughed a little bit. "There''s an easy way to tell if this place is so blue because of radiation. If we all die in twenty minutes, then yes."


    Bell growled. "If you don''t have anything productive to say, then let us stay silent."


    "There are barely any monsters here." Bearer gestured with her hand, and she was mostly right. The floor had a few spitters here and there, but the acid flinging monsters were sparse compared to the huge city they had just traversed. That left Corvayne nervous about the other shoe dropping rather than letting him relax. The ambient blue light glowing from black rocks, the huge machines, the low hum... to him there was something creepy about it.


    They reached another fork in the road, this one formed by what looked like a huge wedge carved out of the floor. Corvayne could see over the lip of the crater that a lake of electric magma had melted into the floor. Corvayne guessed the mess was still sinking, as there was a metallic smell in the air and he could see what looked like bright blue streaks near the pit of stones.


    Spears looked over the edge. "That stuff is melting through the metal and stone floors..."


    Corvayne let his compass point him to the right on the path around the lake of electrified stones and started leading the group to a There was a small crackle and he heard Bell hiss. A moment later Brines was extending his recovery aura. Looking back, he saw she had strayed too close the walls.


    "There''s no way some kid got through here." Nyxion said as Spears hung back to help Bell walk.


    Bearer stuck a finger out, watching as the rock she got near zapped it. "Nasty, if you fall you probably lock up on one of the rocks and just die. Fun place Corvayne! Different then a regular volcano."


    "I didn''t pick it." He had to pause. He sort of did, didn''t he? The compass power was a part of him.


    Nobody picked up on his hesitation, so he shrugged and kept walking. The walkway they were on weaved between machines, with even more rock oozing from them. The smell of ozone was stronger as they approached what looked like a pyramidal building with a small entrance. Inside Corvayne heard a buzzing noise.


    Monster, Trap, or environmental hazard... whatever it was he made sure he was ready, activating [[Vitality]].


    He stepped into the darkened passage, careful to stay away from a vein of the blue lava running through the side of the arch. Passing it he felt the hairs on his arms rise. Looking into the chamber, he saw that there were racks of the blue material, caged in what looked like ornate metal structures that made them look like lanterns. Around the room were tools of forging: Hammers, anvils, tongs, buckets with sand and what looked like metal filings. There was an obvious exit across the smithy floor, a series of bars caked with glowing blue stone and arcing lighting across itself. Stepping in, spear ready, he saw that the room fit the pyramid shape, stretching up to a catwalk and ceiling with vents at the top. It smelled like ozone and solder.


    He strode in. There were half finished weapons in some of the buckets. He could see that the anvils had what looked like rubber bases holding them off the floor. Tapping it with his foot, he felt it spring a little. Likely rubber as well. Glancing up at the walkways, he could see that the stairs up and what looked like a platform overlooking the operation had been slagged by lightning rocks.


    Spears was the next in, and took a deep breath. The watery woman saddled up next to him, looking sharp at the moment. He remembered that was one of the things he had always respected about her, even on patrol with him she was all business and didn''t waste much time talking. Seeing her now, looking around the room like a hawk, he suddenly felt a little more calm about the situation. Sure, they were on a hopeless quest, but he had someone to watch his back. Someone who understood him. Someone who noticed him looking too long and turned her slimy cheeks bright red.


    He averted his gaze to see Nyx help Princess Bell past the narrow electric vein. Her daughter was somewhere in this maze, but he doubted that all the damage to the room had happened months ago. There were hints of wood things that had disintegrated here. Was his Compass picking this path because it was the fastest? Or most direct? Or did it ''know'' that it was the only one that worked?


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Corvayne didn''t think it would point him to a dead end, at least. "Any ideas?"


    Bearer gestured at the bars. "I doubt they decided to make a jail out of that door. There''s probably a way to lift the bars."


    Lady Blood Claw looked around the room. She used her glowing red blade to gesture upwards. "And I bet the switch is on the extremely dangerous platform full of lightning-lava."


    Corvayne started to lower his gravity while rubbing his hands. "Right, I''ll go-"


    Nyxion floated up, shield letting lightning lap harmlessly against it as he levitated to the platform and kicked something on a raised console. A moment later, the sounds of heavy chains could be heard moving in the stonework and the electrified bars slid up. It left a small pile of the stones by the door. Nyx floated back down and dusted his hands. ¡°Why thank you, I AM amazing!¡±


    Corvayne nodded as he did appreciate not being actually called on to handle a dangerous feat of agility for once. He turned his attention to the next problem, being a line of rocks he really did NOT want to jump over. On a whim, moved towards the loose blue rocks. His shadow hands snaked out and while there was a buzzing, they seemed able to pick the electric stones up. He started throwing them off into the corner of the forge, but commanded his shadow hand to take one and put it into his ring. At the very least, Mosh would get a kick out of it.


    Corvayne stepped through the now clear portal, but he liked the looks of the next section even less. It looked to be some sort of housing area, something like a few blocks of a city built to house whoever was doing whatever this section of the dungeon was made for. There were three floors, and bridges and stone walkways linking everything together. There would be many ways to get to where they were going, but whatever accident that had claimed this dungeon was pumping an electric river of running blue rock magma through the streets and buildings. In some places it was falling like a waterfall and splattering with little lightning bolts arcing in pops of white. In others places it flowed thinly down the street, a faint blue stream cackling with energy like rippling waves on water.


    Lady Blood Claw took a deep breath. Spears put a hand on Corvayne''s shoulder. He looked to Bell.


    Bell was looking at everyone. Corvanye felt her determination through the [[Unity]] link. If they left her, she''d keep going forward.


    The Compass gave him a sense of where his goal was, but it seemed to have trouble with the maze he saw before him. He was moving for a stairway when he saw something moving in one of the buildings. His danger sense spiked as a distortion moved towards him.


    Corvayne bolted backwards but got clipped by what felt like a sharp wall of air. It slammed him into a wall practically made of the electric rocks, and a moment later he felt a hundred hot knives blasting through him.


    Bearer-of-Burdens pulled him off and Corvayne laid on the ground a moment, pain blasting through his whole body as every muscle seized up. A moment later someone forced healing potion into his mouth, and for a moment he was drowning in it until it seeped into his lungs and he could breath again.


    There was commotion as he saw what looked like a ball of death fly through a house, blasting lightning everywhere. His eyes twitched for a while before he felt the shock lessening.


    Lady Blood Claw waved her hand in front of his face. "You alive?"


    He tried to move his hand to get hers away. "Yes."


    She nodded, and helped him up. She hissed when he gave her a nasty shock but didn''t drop him. He wobbled a little on his feet. It felt like he had sunburn inside his ribs. "That literally cooked me."


    Spears came back down the steps, dragging something that looked like a deflated balloon made of skin with too many beady eyes. "Got em for you Corvayne."


    He nodded. If the thing took a second shot and hit Bell...


    "We need to change our tactics..." He took a hand and gingerly reached into his ring''s storage, and pulled a sturdy coil of rope out. "We buddy up."


    A little later they started moving through the maze, roped to one another like mountain climbers. He was thinking it was like a book he had read long ago, probably the same fantasy novel where he got the notion that people fall off cliffs in the dark. It took a few starts and stops to get used to tugging everyone behind them.


    Lady Blood Claw was faint orange as she looked down at her spot in the middle. "I feel like you''re implying I''m the heaviest person."


    Bell had a death grip on her rope, and Corvayne could see her struggling how to tell Lady Blood Claw she was jealous of her, and Lady Blood Claw not happy with the implication that she was a heavy heavy. Corvayne stomped with enhanced weight, slamming dust into the air around his foot.


    "I''m the heaviest, actually."


    He channeled gravity to his whole form then started up the stairs, knocking bits of dust off. He had to apply [[Strength]] to not wind himself after three steps, and the extra weight still tired him out. As did exploring the buildings while weighted to avoid getting knocked into ever present piles of shocking sludge. The entire process was slowed by dozens of ''pushers'' lurking in the buildings and in windows, all of them trying to knock them into electric lava. Even with the ropes, Spears got badly shocked twice and Bearer had to cram two potions down Brines throat after a hidden ''pusher'' knocked him into the size of a fireplace that had a few glowing blue bricks in it.


    "We need a break." Bell said, breaking up the tense monotony of trying to find a way around for the tenth time Corvayne opened a door and nearly was shorted out by sloshing magma.


    Nyx snorted. "You should be the one pushing us forward."


    Corvayne agreed. With Brine''s auras, they didn''t really need to stop. "There is, in theory, still an army that is looking for us from the previous floor."


    Lady Blood Claw sat down, pulling Bell to knee with her. "Corvayne, it''s been ten hours at least. They probably know better than to come into this place. Even if our bodies are keeping up, I need to shut my eyes before they get burned out by the color blue."


    Spears motioned with her head, and Corvayne followed her into a side room. Less space, but only a single path out to an isolated balcony and no electric blue lava pouring in.


    "We can camp in here." He called back to the rest of the party.


    Lady Blood Claw helped Bell up so they could file in after Nyxion, who glided in right away and claimed one of the forged benches in the room.


    Bearer went for the other bench and plopped down. Corvayne felt Spears tap his hand and he squeezed her hand, then went to the balcony to try to plot where they would go next.


    Looking over the ruins, caught movement and held a hand up for quiet. [[Unity]] somehow slipped it''s leash in that moment, and his desire was instantly transmitted to his team. The low murmuring behind him went dead.


    He started getting tired as his entire team saw what he saw for a moment, multiplying the number of people looking. The shields came down and everyone''s feelings and ideas and thoughts were pushed back into a warm glow. The moment they had linked, however, had defined what he had seen. Just a blink of a short figure made from the electric lava.


    Everyone who had settled was already standing up preparing to move. Corvayne, Lady Blood Claw, and Spears had in the instant they were linked had looked at the way the monster was moving, and come to a single conclusion.


    It was hunting them.

 Chapter 175: Sparks Fly

    Corvayne glanced over his shoulder as he pushed his weight enhanced body up the stairs ahead. As every other time, he only saw the monochrome blue dungeon behind them, streets and bridges and balconies splattered with glowing blue streaks of hyper conductive ''lava''. He was straining his eyes, searching for any movement in the glowing blue shapes that lit up the city he was leading them through. He had been looking behind him now every five seconds or so for an hour as the group wordlessly followed, keeping their pace by Brines flipping endurance and healing auras. The others didn''t slow their pace, but even with their bodies in top shape he could see a sort of weariness in their faces.


    Lady Blood Claw was flipping between a camo pattern (Alert or wary) and a color that he was starting to think of as her default, orange (annoyed). Spears had her game face on, the same one she had worn during patrols when they were close to contact with big game. Nyx always looked a little irritated when he wasn''t amused but his gestures to everyone else were curt and he nearly bumped Corvayne forward a few times from his shield. Bearer looked relaxed, but she also naturally seemd to swivel her head around. Brines was a wreck, and had his flaming dagger out the entire time, head swiveling to try to look every direction. The only person who didn''t seem to be jumpy was Bell. She kept looking forward, her thoughts and worries ahead rather than behind.


    Everyone else had spent the last hour whipping their heads all around to simultaneously watch Corvayne and how he was moving around the glowing chunks of electric rocks while also looking for a creature with excellent camouflage that might be stalking the wrong direction... or could possibly be waiting ahead of them to strike.


    There was a spot where they saw a stream of water running through the building, falling from a gash in the ceiling to rain down on a barren stone floor in an otherwise empty room. Corvayne steered them away from the puddle, as there was no telling how much current was running through water in these ruins.


    He had spent the hour aiming them higher, taking stairs over bridges as they passed the first few blocks and started moving up further than three stories. He was starting to think he had vastly underestimated how much space the city was as they got to a rooftop and could see hundreds of other buildings. Corvayne pulled a length of rope from his ring and secured it to a sturdy looking gargoyle at the corner of the roof they were on. He wrapped the other end of the length around his fist, then used gravity to leap across the gap. The next rooftop further along had a spot where blue electric magma was pooled at the far end, but it didn''t stop him from securing the rope. Nyx was already floating across, and Spears leaped and landed next to Corvayne, actually taking a moment to pose with her chin thrust up, one liquid eye open at him. He smiled and mimed clapping.


    Lady Blood Claw cast something then crouched by the rope and quickly pulled herself along, hand over hand. Corvayne helped her up when she reached the roof. He saw that it was just Brines, Bearer, and Bell on the other roof. Then a blue hand appeared on the far side of the building.


    ¡°Contact!¡± Corvayne cried out. Bearer turned and saw the monster pull itself up. It was made of bright glowing blue magma, sparking between parts of itself as it righted and looked at them. Then, it put its hands wide, and a bolt of lightning flashed at Brine''s feet, knocking him up into the air. Bearer moved fast, catching him and grabbing Bell in the same motion.


    ¡°Catch!¡± She called out, then threw both of them at Corvayne. He fell back as Brines and Bell slammed into him, arms scraping against stone. He quickly struggled to his feet as the electric golem was charging at Bearer-of-Burdens.


    She put her fists together and started to slide out of the way, but it didn''t seem to matter as a bolt arced through the air, connecting the golem to her shoulder in a blinding clap of white light. She flew back, rolling across a patch of blue magma and jolting as it blasted her against the far lip of the roof.


    Corvayne had his spear out and leapt at the golem, activating [Cross-Skill: Sundering Strike] as he landed. For a moment, as he plunged his spear into the blazing blue creature, he was sure he had done serious damage to it, but it turned unhindered by his weapon and backhanded him.


    Its fist was pretty soft before he felt a thousand knives of fire passing through him. He only realized he was flying when he saw his friends under him a moment. He landed on another building in a nauseating roll, face, elbows, and knees getting battered by rock, little bits of extra pain on the buzzing agony that was causing his whole body to seize up. Switching back to [Vitality] he forced his cooked muscles to respond as he ground his teeth and tried to get up. It had done something to his diaphragm or lungs too, as he was breathing in ragged gasps.


    One of his shadow limbs grew out and started trying to gesture at him. He didn''t need to think much about what it was saying. His spear wasn''t doing much, and he could see his friends trying to open up with firearms and doing little more than distract the golem. They needed magic, and his own abilities were limited to gravity and shadow... so that''s what he was going to use.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Corvayne reached into his ring and found one of the higher quality healing potions from the dungeon. He pulled the cork out with his teeth, and downed the red liquid, the cold tart flavor causing him to twitch a little as he felt it seep into him. A moment later he was un-cooked enough to move. Not a moment too soon, as the attempts of his allies to keep the golem''s attention were waning. Lady Blood Claw had done something to slow it, but the monster was turning back to Bearer was. Spear''s magic was a bad matchup: Water didn''t seem to short it out, and he could see that some of her spears of water magic were carrying its electricity back to her. Brines was trying to get up and get to the rope back, and Bell had a hand on him to try to keep him from running in.


    Corvayne switched to [Strength], and activated his gravity power on the golem, as well as trying to tap into [[Grow]], hoping it might make him bigger or at least add heft to his next attack. He didn''t feel any bigger, which had him wondering what the pact did, but he didn''t waste time. In a moment, the monster would turn its attention back to Bearer.


    Corvayne got a running start and jumped across the gap to the building his friends were on, not looking down but focused on the glowing blue monster stomping over to Bearer, and he pulled his spear back and then pointed it forward, shouting wordlessly as he thrust at the golem from at least thirty feet away. [Storm Thrust] hit the man sized creature and sent it flying.


    Corvayne aimed another thrust and mid-air connected just before his gravity power snapped, sending it tumbling across a roof back near the beginning of the city.


    He pulled gravity back into himself and lightened himself to help Bearer up. He could feel Brines healing starting to work, but it just outlined how many aches and pains he had as he threw Bearer over his shoulder. The woman groaned. ¡°You idiots... I coulda taken him if you guys had just left me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, would we have gotten in your...¡± he paused to lower their gravity and leap across to the others. He huffed a little bit as he spoke the last bit. ¡°..Way?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Bearer started coughing.


    Corvayne set her down carefully, then sat for a moment. He could see Spears had lost her form a little, and was twitching. Lady Blood Claw was busy making sure Bell and Brines were given small doses of Mister I''s potions. Nyxion was rebooting his belt and coiling his whip. He gave Bearer a potion then moved to Spears-Like-Water and sat by her blobby form, something like a fat ball with watery limbs coming out.


    Spears manifested a single eye in the middle of her body and looked up at Corvayne.


    ¡°Ah... water and electricity...¡± She sounded embarassed.


    ¡°Lean on me for a while.¡± Corvayne picked her and her clothes up, and placed her on his back. She gripped around him like the backpack he had been wearing before, and with a few touches her cloak formed a bundle. He slotted her spear between her and his back, which earned him a little poke from his girlfriend turned accessory.


    ¡°Sorry, but I want you to have it in case...¡±


    ¡°Corvayne, getting shocked fucks up whatever it is that actually holds me together. Gimme a few hours with that healing aura.¡±


    Reading between the lines... even attacking the monster had nearly killed her. ¡°We bought ourselves at least a few minutes. It can move past the lava flows, but it has to climb up.¡±


    Nyxion overheard him. ¡°I know you are mister ''Always calm'' but you make it sound like it didn''t just track us down and HAND us OUR asses!¡±


    Corvayne Paused. ¡°Lady Blood Claw, is it more or less dangerous than Argyle?¡±


    She barely paused lifting Brines and Bell. ¡°Less. Easily.¡±


    While Corvayne agreed with her, Spears made an unhappy burbling sound, Brines groaned, Bell swore in her native tounge, and Bearer laughed a little which turned into a hissing intake of breath.


    ¡°It''s a bad matchup for killing it, but it''s only dangerous if we are close to it.¡±


    Nyxion had his arms folded. ¡°Well, we are going to have to go up and down these buildings to get wherever we are going. Please tell me you have a plan for dealing with turning a corner on the street and having piles of lava blocking us.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I do, but I''m going to need your help Nyx. And Brines as well.¡±


    He saw Nyx slow in his float near him and Spears. ¡°What''s your plan? This better not be another smoke and mirrors.¡±


    ¡°I''m going to throw everyone across the gaps. Health aura while I toss, stamina while I jump over. You catch people so we don''t take too much pain. Brines can you do that?¡±


    ¡°I wish I had a go-home aura right about now.¡±


    Nyx floated over the gap and clapped his hands. ¡°Go ahead and throw him first. He''s probably the most aerodynamic. Hurry it up, I don''t want that thing to blow out another shield belt.¡± He snapped a few times so Corvayne picked Brines up and launched him, gravity and his [Strength] only tiring him a little. There was a soft ''Oof'' from either Brines or Nyxion. He turned to Lady Blood Claw.


    ¡°If your hand strays anywhere odd I swear-¡±


    Corvayne swept the large alien woman off her feet in a princess carry for one moment, and as she turned deep blue and leaked embarrassment through [[Unity]] he threw her like a sack of potatoes across the gap to where Nyx braced himself to catch her.


    Bearer held up a finger, and did a cartwheel off the edge of the building they were on then somehow jumped in mid-air. She didn''t account for her injuries and bowled into Nyx, who stood his ground and just looked down in amusement.


    ¡°You looked real cool. Then real stupid.¡±


    Bearer shrugged and pushed herself back to her feet. ¡°When the bards sing my tale, I will float like a swan.¡±


    Bell was last. Corvayne picked her up, and saw she had her eyes closed tight. He hesitated a moment, and she opened her eyes and glared at him. He felt desire leaking through her, fear being suppressed by the princesses hunger for family. To try to save her daughter. It made him feel guilty for a moment. He felt that determination surge.


    ¡°Don''t be a coward, thro-¡±


    He threw her.

 Chapter 176: Excessive Force

    "One leg in front of the other." Corvayne muttered to himself. They were most of the way across the huge array of buildings, their equal heights and mostly flat rooftops hiding a variety of challenges in navigating between them, even using the throwing method. Looking back, he could see about six buildings behind them the electric golem chasing the group dropped off another roof.


    He stepped on a bridge across buildings and blast of wind like a hammer hit him from the side. He crouched, gravity power planting him to the sturdy stonework as the gust passed, then let the weight go and sprung forward, his own spear and Spear''s in tandem glittering in the blue light of the dungeon as they punched through the ''blower'' or ''flesh balloon'' that had hidden behind what looked to be the access to the roof from the floor below.


    Monster deflated, Spears liquid limbs pulled her weapon to his back, her slime form resuming it''s backpack grip around him and giving him a small squeeze. Corvayne reached up and gave her one back, then felt her voice tickle at his ear, as she spoke softly from just over his shoulder. "What do you think? Were these things waiting years and years for someone to come through? Or did they move into position ahead of us?"


    "A few of them could get into place without being seen. But I don''t see things moving across the rooftops now. And there''s a few that are just at our back and can''t get to us."


    He gestured with his spear back and over his left side, where perhaps ten buildings diagonally one of the windbags was fully inflated and sort of wandering at the edge of the roof, trying to get at them.


    "The monsters are individually dumb, but someone or something semi intelligent placed them or directed them. It''s not doing it at the moment." He suspected that whatever force it was that gave them directions, it had done so at the same date where everything else happened two months and a few weeks ago.


    Spears vibrated in what he guessed was agreement. "We''ve been spoiled by dumb monsters."


    Corvayne stepped over to the edge of the roof. A twenty five foot gap or so, glowing blue lava flooding the street under a few bridges lower down. Nyx floated next to them. "It''s still chasing us. Persistent bastard."


    Brines switched from endurance to healing as Corvayne turned to look at Lady Blood Claw. She turned green a little bit, not enjoying the prospect of being tossed again. "I swear I''m going to learn to cast a flying spell after this."


    Glancing over his shoulder, he could see the monster climbing back up to the roof six buildings back. It seemed to prefer moving in a straight line for where it last saw them, rather than moving around to catch up at street level. Corvayne turned from the sparking blue monster to looking forward to where the compass power was urging him to go, they''d be back down to city streets soon. That would cut out the current climbing and dropping their pursuer was doing.


    Even moving quickly to toss and jump over past two more gaps, Corvayne saw the monster was going to get close enough to start hurling lightning before they hit the way down.


    "One more push, then we go low and fast to the exit."


    He planted his feet, taking a moment to rub his calves. The extra weight he was putting on them made them hurt tremendously, even with the stamina and healing auras that Brines provided. Stay sharp.


    As the monster clawed it''s way up two buildings back, Corvayne pulled on the pact [[Growth]] and shifted from [[Vitality]] to [[Strength]], then let off another [Storm Thrust] at the golem as it hefted itself up. It was knocked a little upward but he only bought them a few rooftops of space, and he had to take a deep breath. His arms were burning after the attack, perhaps because of how hard he had to jab with his spear to create a hammer of wind. He wasn''t sure what [[Growth]] did, but if it made him hit harder he''d use it.


    Corvayne landed and had Lady Blood Claw help him to his feet, healing aura somewhat soothing his muscles but not entirely pushing away the pain. Bell looked impatient as Corvayne stepped to the front of the group and activated weight, but she took her spot in the middle without complaint. LBC, on the other hand, seemed to have been thinking the same thing that Corvayne had been coming around to.


    "The placement of the monsters... they seem stupid. Someone set them up or told them where to sit to knock people into lava."


    Brines added. "You mean, electric lava."


    LBC turned and Corvayne saw the man clench his jaw shut. "Thank you, Jimmy. Yes, the glowing blue death patches. First area: Monsters in a mechanical trap. Here: Monster smart enough to ambush us, but if it fails they wander around like lost kids looking to get to us. The dungeon break might be planned. An outside force going in and flipping a switch, or something inside this place suddenly getting control. Move and talk."


    Spears wiggled on his back. Probably making a head to speak with Lady Blood Claw. "So you think that the UFO wasn''t trying to help us save Bell''s daughter?"


    Corvayne doubled down on his weight and started moving, trying to go fast and call rooms clear. He wished they had tracked if the golem could tell which direction they were going without seeing them on the rooftops.


    Nyx responded to Spears, in a tone with a few bars of his usual arrogance removed. "It would have started pulling us south right from the get-go, wouldn''t it? I think we can assume there''s another goal it has for bringing us here."


    Bell piped in. "Humf. How can you be sure it ISNT for me though? It lead Corvayne to where we met, the source. You know, the royal family has long been associated with light. The creature might be a reminant of the pact we made to protect the land."


    Spears shifted on his back and was about to talk before Corvayne braced as he spotted another windbag coming around a corner. The bloated monster shot a burst of air and caused him to stagger into a wall, thankfully not coated in lava. Nyx this time was quick to the draw, snapping his whip and melting the monster into a hissing pile of brown and green goop.


    Nyx dusted his hands and gave a polite bow in midair "How rude. Please continue Spears."


    "I was saying... these ruins, more so than the source, look like they might be Watcher related. We had started making something like this under the village before I left."


    Brines looked about. "So, what''s the point of all this?"


    Bearer chimed in from the back. "Isn''t it obvious? You guys are cute."


    Corvayne thought about it. "They were making weapons or energy sources."


    Nyx laughed. "As the battery stunt we did on Argyle proved, my dear Corvayne. they are one and the same."


    Corvayne saw that part of the wall was missing in the hallway he was walking down, and getting hit out of the hole would put him in patches of lava. So instead of just relying on weight he readied his spear and dove around the next corner. His instincts were correct, as the air blast actually went over his head. He jabbed upwards and the monster popped, still half inflated.


    "Good Kill!" Spears cheered from next to his ear and gave him a little squeeze.


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Without the enviroment, the monsters were pretty weak. Inside the Tower, they tended to take more punishment. "Clear." He thought about what they had been discussing as he wiped his spear off on the leathery remains of the popped monster. "The golem is likely the weapon. Or is a manifestation of it."


    Nyxion turned around. "So what your saying... is that if we take that thing down... Mosh could make a really sick weapon out of it?"


    Lady Blood Claw sighed. "Cut it out. It''s clearly a threat we can''t take. You need to meet overwhelming power with overwhelming power."


    Bearer raised a hand. "I can kill it. Just I''d have to stay away from you guys for a month or so."


    Corvayne stopped midway through the room he was leading them through. "Adept stuff, right?"


    Bell and LBC both piped up. "Keep going!"


    Corvayne tried not to roll his eyes. He took a deep breath not to shout at them. Bearer was going to talk! Don''t interrupt her when she''s finally playing cards.


    Some of his frustration clearly had gone through the clamp on [[Unity]] as he felt Spears sent back warmth and love through his back. He felt himself responding in kind with appreciation and trust. Even when he had thought she hated him, she had his back.


    Bearer, thankfully, never let what other people thought stop her. "Imagine that your sitting down to play monopoly."


    Bell commented. "I don''t know that game."


    Corvayne added. "Nor I."


    "It''s basically a predatory merchant''s game designed to waste time and make you hate rich people." Bearer said. "It''s more proof that Grunt and Wick like you guys. Okay, Corvayne you''ve played Risk right?"


    Lady Blood Claw groaned. "Get to the point! You are slowing us down."


    Corvayne at least had heard of it. "I was an outcast and while I know it''s a board game I-"


    "It''s also a terrible game, but a terrible strategy game at least. Okay, all you need to imagine is that you are playing a GAME. This game has PEICES that represent money, or calvary units, or unicorns. It doesn''t matter, what matters is that you are playing a game, with rules, then someone comes up with actual money or a real army, and ruins the game. When you sit down at the table, even if you actually do have a magical broadsword +5, you have to pretend you DON''T when playing a game, because it BREAKS the game when you ignore the rules. So imagine that I''m currently playing a GAME, a nice quaint one, where we take turns and move colorful little pieces around that represent say, a level 29 monk. Lets say my level 29 monk, completely arbitrary number, lands on a square and can''t beat a level 35 hyper compressed lightning golem in game, but outside of the game could dismantle a real one almost instantly, like an adult could crush a plastic figurine or throw a metal one into the garbage disposal."


    Brines gasped at this. "Is that why the sink was clogged a few days back?"


    "Trust me, Brines, anyone else but you on the other end of that monopoly board and your shoe would have gone in an entirely different hole."


    Nyx laughed aloud. Corvayne checked another room by a window. "Clear."


    "Where was I? Oh yes. I have to follow RULES. Just like I''m sure the crime-boss lady does. If I break them, then I become a cheater and everyone at the table has an almost overwhelming urge to kill my level 29 monk for a long time."


    Corvayne shot back. "And it interrupts your goal of following me around, right?"


    "It would be extremely dangerous. For you.¡±


    He didn''t have anything to say to that, so after a pause Bearer continued. "Some day, when you wake up from the dream, we''ll have a drink and I''ll clear up what I''m about. Until then, I''m a level 29 monk, a little general on a horse, and the shoe in the garbage disposal."


    Corvayne thought about it. "You want to keep your trump card for something we can''t just avoid."


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. "Don''t let Nyx talk you into wasting turning into a giant steel shoe for more toys."


    Bearer looked annoyed. "My true form is much cooler than a shoe. Wick would like it."


    Nyx turned back to Brines. "My condolences. Your future wife is a cryptid."


    Lady Blood Claw sighed. "Don''t be stupid Nyx. She could also be a paleolithic ring of stones."


    Corvayne stopped for a moment and turned back. "You two... first: I don''t want to actually find out what it is unless we need to. Second, it can''t be sillier than the guy who kicked all three of our asses who turned into a black helicopter."


    LBC looked annoyed. "Let me have my fun."


    Nyx folded his arms. "It absolutely could be stupider."


    Corvayne looked to Bearer, who shrugged, and shrugged back, then lead them down to street level, out a door, back into a building, then across a bridge to the wall. Without the overwhelming blue light nor the threat of lightning stones, the tunnel felt warmer and safer. Corvayne didn''t let that fool him.


    "We are not safe as long as it''s on our trail." He reminded the group, picking up pace as they reached another stairway around a large shaft, this one with only one other stairway across the gap from them.


    Corvayne heard some jostling then Bell''s voice close behind him. "Are we getting closer?"


    Corvayne paused and pushed his attention to the compass as he reached a landing. "We are almost there." He paused, feeling something like overwhelming need from her through [[Unity]]. "Steel your heart Bell. We are close."


    He then set a brisk pace down the steps. Above them, he could see something shedding flickering blue light as it wound down the stairs. The golem was following them.


    Lady Blood Claw seemed to notice too. "How do we beat it?"


    Corvayne thought about it. "We trigger the combo Rust-Storm and try to trap it inside maybe? I wish I had something that would..."


    He paused, and dug around in his pack. There was a tool he had stolen months ago. He pulled out Argyle''s heavy enchanted staff. [[Understanding]] kicked in, knocking dust off his mind. There was something about it that tickled at his thoughts. Perhaps the curse was blocking him from a memory?


    Snapping back to the dimly lit dungeon, he could see Lady Blood Claw and Nyxion both looked terrified of the rod. Corvayne couldn''t blame them, he too had been killed with this very tool in his.. possibly first life. The first he remembered. Moving to a tunnel away from the stairway, he hefted it and tossed it like a javelin, and true to form it flew back to his hands.


    "I guess it recognizes me as it''s master now..."


    Brines was wringing his hands a little. "It''s made of metal though..."


    Bearer somehow slipped it from Corvayne''s hands before he could grab it, and she tested it''s balance. "It''s some form of bastardized Mythril. Nearly indestructible with the enchantments on it. Won''t hold a charge, but is conductive enough that your first swing at that thing will be your last. Or at least, I''ll record you shocking yourself out of your shoes for posterity."


    Corvayne handed the staff to Spears, who squished and locked it in place. "That thing won''t ever get close to us again if I have my way."


    He pulled out a bag of rocks. Everyone looked confused save Bearer, who snorted with a little laugh. At him or with him? Spears was wiggling, clearly getting what he was going to do. He heard her whisper "Fathoms-In-Shallows?"


    Corvayne ruffled what he hoped was her liquid head, and nodded.


    Two hours further into the dungeon, Corvayne had killed dozens of monsters by just braining them with well thrown rocks. They had been descending a long hill with dead gardens and what looked like particle accelerators curving from under the hill to forming rings over the little fake neighborhood. There was no shortage of rubble from stone villas or the road itself to brain fanged monsters that charged them or the acid spitting monsters that seemed to always pop up if they lingered too long. Behind them, up the hill, a blue light stood out from the dim dungeon. A sort of inevitable force pushing them deeper. Corvayne tried to ignore it, once again using [[Growth]] and [[Agility]] as he pitched a rock that went right through the acid monsters skull.


    He stopped, and hefted the staff again. Fathoms-In-Shallows had once done a ''party trick'' that turned a javelin into a cruise missile. The man barely spoke, though when he bothered to the giant was always thoughtful or thought provoking. More importantly to the point, he could turn a stick with a spearhead into something like a missile.


    Argyle''s staff might have a boatload of enchantments to make it return, but more importantly it was heavy and could survive being used as a club by someone with Argyles unfathomable raw strength.


    Corvayne adjusted his grip. He switched to [Strength] and started powering gravity into the staff, turning it into an incredibly heavy bar. He couldn''t help but grunt as he started to run uphill, straining as he pushed the concept of weight into the throw, his empowered arms tearing a muscle as he launched it and the ability instantly pulling the rug from under him, every muscle instantly going slack as he hit the ground. He was awake enough to see the result.


    [Mass Driver] caused the staff to gain speed as it moved upwards, aimed at the little blue dot like a train building speed. He could feel it getting heavier even as it left his gravity''s range, and something like the personality of the weapon as it went gleefully at it''s target.


    There was a crack like the universes biggest egg opening, knocking most of the team down and requiring Corvayne to limply catch Bell before she rolled down to further monster infested plaza and streets. His ears were ringing and he felt like someone had splashed hot water over them, and he felt dizzy. Brines healing kicked in, and he felt pain and realized [[Unity]] had done something to the team and his shields, as everyone besides Bearer slumped and had to roll themselves against walls and was radiating confusion or nausea. He felt his shield weaken letting in panic from everyone and a faint thread of amusement and someone who was horny while also extremely ill, and he didn''t want to guess at that, and of course a single thread of clear awe coming from Nyxion, who was shielded and floating and seemed to have got a good look at whatever [Mass Driver] did.


    There was a minute or two before Brines started pumping energy back into them. Good guy, Corvayne could feel he was scared but determined to help Bell save her girl. Well, more like terrified out of his mind of the golem.


    Corvayne turned back and squinted. Someone had turned a spotlight on pointing down into the slope they were on. A little later the light vanished, and Corvayne saw there was still a glowing blue spot, now fatter than before. Had he somehow healed the monster?


    He took a deep breath and pushed unity down again, lest he throw up and start giggling, as Bearer was feeling some sort of euphoric triumph that was making her laugh, even though she was too tired to do more than roll around and was on the verge of throwing up herself. "You son of a bitch. Literally. Oh, I knew it! My mom''s going to eat her suit."


    He looked again, and his brain, which seemed to have strained itself with something he did, got it''s ducks in a row and helped him notice what he was seeing was not, in fact, an engorged golem. He held his hand up and the staff flew back into it, hot enough to burn his hand. He dropped it and hissed, switching to [[Vitality]] to mute the pain. He pulled his canteen and poured it onto the staff, the metal steaming and somehow feeling... satisfied through [[Unity]].


    He looked up again. They were miles down, having gone down stairs for the better part of a day. No golem, no lights. He watched a distant cloud drift past the hole, darkening it for a moment.


    Lady Blood Claw broke the silence. ¡°I need a bigger sword.¡±

 Chapter 177: In the Darkness at the bottom of the Dungeon

    Corvayne shoved his spear into another enemy, the shadowy puddle flailing with it''s spiked probiscus before going limp. It made enough noise to alert the other monsters in the room, but they were too late as he moved into their midst then activated [Cross Skill: Circle of Death]. His spear flew in a circle, blade catching the monsters and sending the pack dropping to the ground gurgling. A second check for shadows and he motioned that it was clear.


    "Clear." Nyx called out.


    "Clear." Lady Blood Claw called out from her building.


    They had reached at the bottom of the sloped. The compass power had picked up clarity, directing Corvayne to one of the walls of the settlement at the bottom. What he had assumed was a mural on the wall turned out to be some sort of vault or tomb. It had been broken into recently he guessed from the mangled door frame . Whatever had broken in had also left a bunch of monsters to act as a speedbump on the outside.


    Spears was still on his back. "How are we on potions?"


    Corvayne reached into his ring and recounted by touch. "25 normal ones, 3 exceptional healing potions. 10 marked as ''not my best work'' from Mister I."


    "That''s good enough." Lady Blood Claw said, staring onto the gap. Corvayne lead the way in, entering a too-smooth chamber made up of what seemed like endless pillars, stretching off into the dark. He heard Brines gulping and could feel from Bell through [[Unity]] a hint of sharp fear. Looking back at her then following her gaze, he saw forms off to the side. Decomposed bodies, bird men, slashed in half. Adventurers pinned to the pillars by something that cut gashes in it, probably a sword or axe, then fell down, blood drawing their path. The compass was pointing him forward, but his danger sense pulled him back as he spotted something else that he had mistaken for fallen adventurers.


    They were dark things, spindly limbed, and unlike other monsters Corvayne could see they were measuring him rather than attacking. All he could see were outlines, and pairs of white eyes.


    Spears noticed as well, and a moment later Nyx radiated his fear effect, causing the creatures to skitter away into the gloom. Brines actually squeaked.


    Bearer was more calm. "Whatever killed the adventurers, it took a few of them out too."


    Corvayne was impressed. He hadn''t spotted the two bodies she was looking at, both seemingly dead by being skewered against the wall.


    Nyxion gently floated in a circle. "It happened a while ago, but they didn''t eat or disturb the bodies..."


    Bell moved up next to Corvayne, which made him nervous. The princess pointed forward. "A spear moves forward." She said with only a small waiver in her voice.


    "A spear moves forward." Spears said behind him. He took a deep breath.


    "Form a diamond, and stay close." The danger in his mind had faded a little, or it wasn''t from the spindly watchers. They moved through the rows of pillars, with more signs of battle along the access the compass was pointing him.


    Brines was clutching both of his daggers, him and Bell being put in the center of the formation. "Shouldn''t we take them out first?"


    Lady Blood Claw was looking all around. "They didn''t do that. Look at their limbs. They use claws, and would shred the bodies. Unless there''s a really big one that''s bending over to poke through little people."


    Bearer laughed as she walked backwards. "Case closed!"


    Nyxion grumbled a little. "What happened to not talking?"


    "They know we are here." Corvayne said, seeing a glow ahead the compass was directing him to. He felt they were close. He also saw that the shadows had backed off, keeping far away from the gateway. Danger?


    "She''s in the Tower." Corvayne stated, his compass starting to change direction rapidly as he stepped up to the free standing stone portal, carved stone with stern stone guardians on either side, armed with armor and blades like knights.


    "It''s a Dungeon." Bearer said. "Dungeons go down. Tower goes up. The dungeon is more risky."


    Lady Blood Claw was looking off in the distance. "Did you hear something grinding in the distance?"


    Corvayne supposed he did. It had blended into the dungeon noises. "We are going in, so we''ll worry about it later. Take a moment to be prepared. If it''s hostile, it means it might not wait for us to get our footing before we are fighting."


    Lady Blood Claw tapped Corvayne''s shoulder as everyone rechecked their gear.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "Hmm?" Corvayne saw she looked serious. It was hard to gauge her skin color in the dim light.


    "When we deal with the princess, we should come back. Do a real investigation here. I have a feeling in my gut something is seriously wrong here. Like, we''ve been crawling through a bomb while it''s going off."


    He agreed on some level. "You afraid some old evil is waking up?"


    Spears prodded him. "I might have popped out of that pod hostile to you depending on what The Magus did to us."


    There were a few steps up to the gate. Corvayne grabbed his spear and walked into the distortion, landing in a dark place that was colder and wetter then the dungeon even. In the dark, a pair of waist high monsters that looked like rocks with crab legs started skittering towards him.


    He switched to [[Strength]] and used [Cross Skill: Crescent Blade] Twice in quick succession, leaving two glowing copies of himself. The Stone Crabs rammed into them and there was a horrible crunching sound and the smell of shellfish as they died. Their demise gave him a moment to look around as Nyxion joined him. Orange lock on the way back, they''d have to go through. It looked like there was dark water, lit by faint green and blue lights running under the platforms. He could see lights above him, but it looked like he had stepped into a room. More worrying was a cube of water floating in the way of the path, about the size of a swimming pool each direction. It was drifting along, puffing up as it passed a pillar. Inside, Corvayne could spot the outlines of large fish. As the cube of water floated past, it dragged the walkway with it, stones from one path twisting to connect to a different one. He watched a moment as the cubes moved through the space, gently dragging lights and walls with them, then depositing them in different formations.


    He returned his compass, and saw that it was pointing upwards, while also directing him to the new path that formed.


    ¡°This way.¡± He had just thought that it seemed like any other tower floor when there was a click, and the bridge he was on collapsed. As fast as he could he reduced his gravity and used [Storm Thrust], getting just enough height to land on his back, bowling Bell over.


    He got up then helped her up. ¡°Traps.¡±


    Bearer nodded. ¡°These upper levels are nicer, but you should let Nyx lead since he floats and has a shield, which will help with everything but when it tries to drop the ceiling on you.¡±


    ¡°No doubt the cubes of water are full of hostile fish life too.¡± Corvayne could see something frothing where the bridge fell.¡±


    Waves within reached down at a puddle and touched it. ¡°It''s clean water... where is she?¡±


    She wasn''t more than a mile, but he could tell she wasn''t moving either. ¡°Close, but we have to move carefully.¡±


    Even with the shield in place, [[Unity]] was picking up on Bell being overcome with terror. Corvayne gripped her arms and she blinked.


    ¡°Whatever happens... within a few minutes we''ll know. So we''re going to carefully try to find where your daughter is.¡±


    He glanced again, trying to see the shapes above them in the darkness, then Corvayne shook his head and started walking down the pathway, tapping with his spear to ensure he didn''t fall in. Lady Blood Claw cast something that lit up a few things with purple light, including what looked like slowly moving weeds off to the side of the platform. Sure enough, passing near them they sprang to try to grab him and drag him into a bunch of sharp thorns that made up the body of the monster. A spear thrust was enough to end it, but it made him worry they were going to just find a body, if that.


    There was a trap with spears and one that nearly hit him with a crossbow bolt, and swarms of monsters mixed in. They died fast, but would wait behind traps or engage and try to ram them off into the water. It wasn''t like the mindless aggression of the Tower''s monsters nor the loose organization of creatures they had made their way through before. The cubes too would float by, dropping off vicious razor toothed fish. Even out of water, they got underfoot and at least twice Corvayne had one draw blood before he could kick them away.


    Nyx slowed and leaned over to Corvayne, speaking in a low voice. ¡°Where is she?¡±


    He was pretty sure she was on a cube, one not connected to platforms. ¡°She hasn''t moved.¡±


    ¡°When we find her, you''ll need to comfort Bell.¡± Nyx said. ¡°I don''t mean just fucking her, but hold her, listen to her, you know.¡±


    Corvayne asked the question he had. ¡°Why was everyone so... excited to do this?¡±


    ¡°If I want to reach my goals, I have to be a hero.¡± Nyx said, and he pointed at Corvayne. ¡°I have to know it''s possible. I have to believe there''s a person out there who''s the real deal before I can fake it.¡±


    ¡°You say that, but you came along too.¡± Spears said.


    Nyx jerked back a little. ¡°I forgot you were riding him this entire time.¡±


    ¡°Like a jockey! You are too hard on yourself Nyx. But I agree... I was happy to see Corvayne be the person I thought he was.¡±


    Corvayne''s compass had a sort of split, pointing across the way at a cube of dungeon material just floating, not connected to any other walk ways, but also trying to urge him to go upwards. He could see what looked like a room or house, with windows, but it was dark inside. Two months. They were going to find a body. Somehow, that bothered him more than however many people he personally had killed over the last few months. Maybe it was because the whole subject of the quest could be alive or dead.


    A spear moves forward. ¡°Bell, she''s over there, but... to get there I have to jump over.¡±


    The princess''s response was instant, grabbing his arm. ¡°Please. Take me with you.¡±


    ¡°You don''t mind if I...¡±


    She looked determined. ¡°I don''t care if I look stupid.¡±


    Spears grabbed her and stuck her to Corvayne''s back. ¡°Okay. Done.¡±


    He wrapped shadow limbs around her, and Bell put her arms around him and squeezed. ¡°Even if she is...¡±


    ¡°We''ll know in a few seconds. When things get bad, just keep breathing. Keep putting your feet in front of one another.¡±


    Bell started crying, and [[Unity]] couldn''t stop the raw emotions from the two girls on his back from seeping into him, hope and sadness and despair and the desire to be loved and love and queasy feelings, images of a bright red bird lying dead, and an image of Corvayne holding Bell, and one of a dark room at the palace. He slammed the shield back into place.


    Lady Blood Claw looked about. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡±¡±Nothing.¡±¡±Nothing.¡± They said at once.


    ¡°Corvayne, whatever that power is, you need to get a grip on it ASAP. The last thing we need is you merging into one person or some bullshit.¡±


    Bearer laughed. ¡°We saw how well that worked for Wick.¡±


    Corvayne turned, anger welling up in him. but felt Bell dig her fingers into his collarbone. ¡°Please. Go. We need to know.¡±


    [[Unity]] seemed to do something, and he felt himself calming down. Was he pulling from Bell for a moment? No more hesitation. He used gravity to soar across the gap and land on the roof of the building. Tying a rope, he repelled down to the entranceway, a platform to the room itself.


    He stepped into the dark room, and there was a click. Corvayne looked at the crossbow bolt in his arm, shrugged, and pulled it out.


    The starved, ragged little bird woman holding it dropped it, slumping as if the effort had totally drained her. Bell flung herself off his back, rushing across the stones to scoop her up. ¡°Hylal! Hylal!¡±


    In a voice ravaged by thirst, Hylal managed to croak out, ¡°Mom?¡±


    Corvayne turned and walked out of the building to both give them a moment and to give a thumbs up to the team. Lady Blood Claw let out a battle cry. Nyxion folded his arms and smiled. Brines jumped up and down. Bearer even wiped a tear from her face. He turned back to go into the room, already pulling out water and food and potions. He was about to get down to business when he stopped in his tracks.


    In the Darkness at the bottom of the dungeon, the princess''s face when she turned to look at him was radiant.

 Chapter 178: Resurface

    Getting Hylal a fresh set of clothes, some food and water, and a healing potion did a lot of good for both her and Bell. Corvayne used Gravity and strained himself a little to ferry Hylal and Bell back to the group. It was well worth a bit of fatigue, as Corvayne could feel himself relaxing at the sight of them hugging, at Bell trying to wipe away tears, and running her hands along her daughter''s beak and watching the bird girl curl up against her.


    Sitting in the dungeon, even with it''s purple and blue haze, dank slime coated walkways, and the slight smell of sea life decaying... it couldn''t stop him from enjoying the moment. Right up until he started thinking about the next steps they''d need to take to actually get out of a one way Dungeon. They had reached the bottom, now they needed to re-surface.


    "It feels low level, at least." Lady Blood Claw said, perhaps reading his mood as she kicked a fish corpse off the pathway.


    "Brines, Spears... can I have you two help carry Hylal?" Corvayne figured they kept Brines in the center of their formations, with Spears as a sort of sling, it would keep the young bird-woman out of harms way. Besides the mass of feathers and the young girls beak, the plumage she had was the same red as her mother''s hair.


    Spears slid off his back after a squeeze, then rolled up onto Brines''s workout clothes with sewn on armor. Corvayne noted that Brines looked VERY uncomfortable, forcing a smile anyway when Hylal said "Thank you uncle!" and wrapped her finger clad wings around his neck, some of the loose feathers sticking to the slime where spears was.


    "Oh of course." Brines said, before sneezing.


    Spears manifested a head. "Are you allergic?"


    "No no." He said, nose starting to run. He sneezed again. "It''s probably a cold from all the dungeon air."


    Corvayne was about to step in to suggest someone else carry Hylal, but Bearer leaned over to Brines. "Wow, who''d think you would be willing to suffer to help that girl out? Now I think you WOULD make a good dad."


    Corvayne caught Nyxion muttering under his breath. "Sadistic."


    Lady Blood Claw didn''t bother to hide it. "It makes sense because he''s the middle of the formation, and isn''t going to have his legs give out like your mom will."


    Bell looked upset. She even added in Cascadian "I can carry!"


    "Your job is to motivate Corvayne." Nyx folded his arms and gestured at Brines. "Brines doesn''t have to do that all the time."


    "What does that mean?" She looked over to Covrvayne, angrily, as if she understood perfectly and he had anything to do with it. All she did was ask him to help her, that hardly counted as motivating.


    "All you did was ask me to help you. They are teasing us." Corvayne explained, considering giving Nyx the bird.


    Bell, after a moment of glaring at Nyxion, turned to Corvayne and smiled, actually taking his hand for a moment to squeeze it, then turned to Hylal and ran her hand along the feathers on her head.


    "I had always wished to see mom again! I was thinking, when I was getting sleepy just now, maybe I''d get to see her one more time! Thank you for making my wish come true, Step-Dad Corvayne!"


    There was a pair of snorts, one that to Corvayne''s ear was sure was Bearer, the other suspiciously watery from beyond where Hylal and Bell were both looking at him with wide eyed expressions.


    "Please, don''t jump to-"


    "Uncle Brines, Step Dad Corvayne, thank you for saving me! You as well, Queen Bloody Thorn! Big Bro Nyxion, Twisted Sister Bearer, and huggy slime!"


    Corvayne could see Bell herself looking confused. "Okay, we''ll sort out our real names and titles on the way home. We got a dungeon to run."


    A loud sneeze punctuated him turning to lead the way.


    During the following navigation first floor, Corvayne learned that Hylal had survived by killing fish and pulling them out of passing cubes and getting fresh water by using magic to condense the moisture in the air into a little canteen. She has two older half-brothers, and may be either the princess of the tribe or a total pariah, given that her father is something like a king but she herself lived really far from everyone else and spent a lot of time growing up in the company of a few injured hunters who taught her pretty much everything she knew.


    This story went on while Corvayne was trying to make sense of collapsing paths, endless spear and arrow traps, and a boatload of aquatic monsters that, while pathetically weak taken alone, had a level of spite that he hadn''t seen since he barbecued a porcupine and lost an eye for it. The crabs exploded in spiked shards, some of the walking fish had organs that melted their bodies and smoothed out the stones, some of the tangles of snapping eels were charged with electricity even after death, and worst of all were cute seal like creatures with pathetic attacks that once killed revealed they were writhing with parasites. Worms and fanged things would boil out of the body the moment it was still, trying to seek out and burrow into flesh.


    Corvayne just started using his fire-breathing dagger every time, resting between fights be damned. He didn''t want to imagine having a single one of those monsters touch him.


    There were more subtle dangers. The stone paths were slippery and had narrower bridges in places with a slight slope that made them treacherous. The threat of a fall was dire too, even though they could spot water no more than a hundred feet below. Corvayne couldn''t see obvious points to try to get back out after looking dozens of times at the lowest floor. It made the large shadow shapes just below the water even more threatning.


    It was slim pickings on the loot, as well... wayward daughters aside, of course. There was one chest they discovered wedged in a salt encrusted grate... and it was trapped to the point of damaging it''s contents. Hylal took a mostly intact robe with singed sleves, replacing the rags she had been wearing. Some of the potions had broken but Corvayne pulled out a slighty molten healing potion. He got a sense that the magical items not damaged were cursed and put them away for someone to ID, either Hari or Seru.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Nyxion helped take some of the attention from the endless traps, and from behind Hylal would sometimes pepper enemies with her spells, unassuming bolts of fire, lines of lightning, and shards of ice that injured but rarely killed the ever present monsters. Lady Blood Claw kept casting spells on Corvayne, mostly some sort of effect that hardened his skin further.


    He had lead them up for a few floors before finding an orange sealed stairway upwards. He didn''t comment about forgetting that they were going DOWN in a tower-like space now, but instead worked his way forward and down to the inky ocean below, keeping his eyes open for cubes drifting at their path. More than once he had to backtrack as he saw the potential of being stranded on a pillar with both pathways dragged away, the slowly moving impossible blocks of water having a sort of maliciousness in how innocent the paths looked until one saw a potential checkmate from a cube drifting downwards.


    It was slow, and he resisted an urge to test how well they could just swim with a cube past problems. There were fish that looked to Corvayne a little too close to piranhas for him to want to risk anyone not as tough as himself.


    Down on a path nearly touching the water, Corvayne had to pause. "I have no doubt there''s going to be a lot of monsters from the depths. I want to move like a double wedge, with me and Nyx near the front clearing the way and triggering traps, Lady Blood Claw blitzing through whatever we leave, and the others following up."


    He gestured, not sure if the others could see the little building and it''s tell-tale faint blue glow, nestled in the pillars supporting platforms far above them, that looked to be the down stairs. He took a deep breath, made sure [[Vitality]] was on, and started down the path.


    Almost immediately the dark waters churned with white froth and segmented worms, grasping tentacles, scurrying barnacle encrusted sea-roaches, and fish with human-hand like feet swarmed the platform. Corvayne used [Cross Skill: Circle of Death] to cull the herd, careful to not hit Nyxion. Nyx used his fear effect and his whip to batter an open line ahead, then simply let his shield knock anything that remained on the path off. There were splashes and more thrashing as monsters struggled in the dim waters, sometimes too injured to float, other times getting back up and clambering at Corvayne.


    The real threat wasn''t just the spines, teeth, stinging cells, or whatever the hell else was crowding him and breaking against his incredibly durable Jam-Jammies. No, the problem was now and then weightier monsters would hit him from the side, pushing him closer to churning water.


    He doubled down on his own weight while Nyx simply floated along with a tentacle battering him off the path, shields holding and his whip lazily flicking out, melting the titanic appendage. Behind them, Brines spun, both daggers slashing with lightning and fire anything trying to get at Hylal, who was also flinging spells around.


    Corvayne even saw Spears jabbing away with her weapon, head only formed enought to direct her eyes but arms handling her spear like an expert glued to Brine''s back.


    Lady Blood Claw hissed. "Keep going forward!" as she cleaned up the monsters that had tried to seperate them. Corvayne didn''t need to be told twice, using [Storm Thrust] and [Flow-Like-Water] to keep up with Nyxion, who alternated between doing something to drive the monsters wailing off the platform into the water, then gathering clumps of them before detonating grenades just outside his shield.


    The end effect was that the path was slick with monster guts, some of them smelling like cooked fish, the rest reeking of whatever measures they took to try to poison or explode their killers.


    They were just about haflway there when, even with gravity keeping him steady, a flailing limb, bouncing off Nyxion''s shield, came at him, catching him in his center of gravity as he was walking on a gore-slicked brick. He stumbled and tried to windmill his arms. He tried to shift his weight all into his foot but the power resisted the attempt and he fell backwards into the water, cold shocking him as he tried to orient himself.


    At the same time, something big brushed up against his leg before swarms of smaller monsters converged. With no land to stand on, he simply took whatever punishment their fangs and claws and fins could do, putting his spear away and stabbing out at the monsters with his glowing red fire-sword. The molten weapon caused rents of steam to surface, even as fish-like monsters clamped onto his other arm and started ripping. The pain of it''s needle teeth breaking the skin wasn''t as unpleasant as how heavy it was, trying to drag him further down as he slammed his knife into it. The monster burst like a fleshy popcorn kernal and started drifting upwards.


    Corvayne could see flashes of fighting above and was swimming up, lungs starting to protest, when something clamped onto his leg and ripped him further downwards, something bigger than him and made of coiling muscles.


    He had no time for this. [Cross-Skill: Flow-Like-Water] let him free his leg and shoot upwards, breaking the surface with a crest of froth and landing him in the middle of their formation, where a wounded Bell hit him with her sword. Thankfully on his armor, meaning only a secondary effect of a nasty shock came through. Nothing compared to the golem.


    "Sorry! Sorry! I thought you were a-"


    Corvayne shoved her to one side and Brines to another as a huge open mouth came flying at them. Corvayne protected his head and neck as it bowled him over and tried to bite down. He crashed into the dark and cold water with his mouth open and inhaled some. His lungs instantly started to hurt, and his instincts caused him to panic, pushing him to try to bash the armored scales with his free hand still outside the mouth, legs and torso being battered by teeth that couldn''t push past the Jam-Jamies. He clenched his butt, mostly just trying to flail, and the saved meteor charges exploded in the monster''s mouth, strawberries embedding themselves in the stiff flesh and filling it with a salty and vile mix of salt water, sweet berry jam, and rancid monster blood. The sensation of drowning and wanting to gag for a moment overwhelmed him, and he was sure this would be his second death.


    The monster was flailing, but tried to bite down again, huge jaw hammering his arm even through his tremendous durability.


    He steeled himself and put on his poker face. He would not die without doing everything he could to fight back. He opened his eyes, despite the misshapen teeth filling multiple jaws and blood filled water. He pushed his face through the water towards one of the berry meteorites in the monster and tried to breath in the goop flowing from it.


    The identify had not lied about the pants, as he was able to get a single clean breath out of the slime before more water dispersed it. One breath was enough for him to clear his head. Even as the monster kept trying to break him by chewing, Corvayne pulled his other arm into the monster''s mouth and then braced himself, searing dagger pointed at the roof of the mouth. No room to draw his main weapon, so he would become a spear himself.


    It bit down again, and as it did Corvayne activated [Cross-Skill: Shield Wall] and formed his own barrage of spines, each one a searing dagger that lit up the horror''s mouth in orange light. At the same time his shadow limbs all pointed upwards, and as the jaw shut he pushed everything at the roof of the mouth. It felt like charging into the front of a bus, the painless sensation of his shadow arms getting hit hard enough to snap unpleasant to say the least, but the fish''s upper jaw then pushed into the multiple lines of daggers. In an instant they seared the monster, flesh glowing as each knife flash boiled it''s blood before bubbles of steam burst into his face. Corvayne scalded himself, but it was nothing compared to every point burying itself in the monster.


    There was a moment when his chain mail kicked in and formed a bubble of clean cool water, not a moment too soon before something gave in the monster''s skull and Corvayne was sent rocking out of it in a torrent of gore. He adjusted his own gravity down and in turn buoyed up out of the water with too much velocity. With his first gasp of real air after coughing up sea water mid flight, he started screaming. Mostly because he could literally feel his ass cooking from steam trapped in the berry pants, but a detached part of him suspected would have been screaming anyway as he fell back down to the stone walkway, or would have crashed if Lady Blood Claw didn''t catch him in a perfect princess carry before sliding on her knees right to the stairway down to floor 2.


    She gave him a glare, then winked once with a faint smile. He winked back. Thanks LBC.


    He looked back and saw that Spears had extended her arm to the water and was retracting it, but also looked a little queasy on her slime face. Her color was off too, darker than it should be. Corvayne felt agony with every little movement., because he had cooked himself like a lobster to the point all the skin he could see on his hands were bright red and felt hard to move, but he still moved over to Spears.


    "Corvayne! You scared me!" She sounded relived but even shouting her voice sounded weaker.


    Bearer chuckled. "She''s pushing herself to get stronger! She was about to pull the entire ocean up and flip it upside down!"


    "You are having trouble keeping Hylal on Brines." Corvayne stated, pulling the girl off Brines and then gathering up the now much less cohesive girlfriend. "Trust in me."


    She curled around him, less constrictive. "You always... worry about others instead of..."


    He took out a healing potion. "Drink."


    She slipped around it, then handed him back an empty cork and bottle. She felt... limp. The short fight with the golem... he was starting to worry that it wasn''t as temporary a set back as he had hoped. Spears kept mumbling. "I didn''t know if you swam well enough to-"


    "Good enough to get back to the surface. Rest."


    With nothing more to say, he lead the way down to floor 2.

 Chapter 179: A literal Minefield

    The dungeon under the ruins kept to it''s first floor plan for the next three, and in the same way Corvayne and crew kept to the tactic that got them through it. Corvayne and Nyx in front, triggering traps and baiting monsters, with LBC, Brines, and Bearer in the back protecting Bell and Hylal.


    The second floor had clean water flowing in shallow streams across statues of weeping goddesses. The shallow pools had a dark rainbow of sea life, some of which stung to the touch. The monsters on the floor seemed obsessed with ambushes, forcing the group to move at a glacial pace to catch a number of predators trying to attack from every direction.


    The next floor had more straight forward monsters in that they were tough fish with legs. What made things difficult was the floor being a series of knee to waist high deep flowing water moving along a maze of glowing sea anemones. While they lit everything in warm light, touching the tan glowing creatures resulted in agonizing pain. With the currents sometimes shifting due to a complex series of holes carved in the walls. Some of them were positioned to where Corvayne could prune them with his spear, but others were in spots that would result in anything chopped off flowing back to the group, with one painful lesson on that before Corvayne spent more time looking at the currents.


    The monsters, of course, were totally immune. Perhaps they were orange and white because they were mutant clown fish. They didn''t talk as he killed them, so he could say that was probably it and move on.


    The fourth floor was a series of stone balconies above a torch lit canal in a ruin studded cavern, water pouring out of stone carved buildings and cascading down stairs and along narrow walkways often missing railing. It formed treacherous terrain certain to split the party if anyone wasn''t sure of their footing or tried to cross the wrong path. The cavernous length and flickering light meant that Corvayne had to be the eyes of the group to try to catch archers firing fish-jaw arrows at them. Corvayne took the opportunity to give them swift lessons in archery.


    Being cautious meant that Corvayne had to do a lot of climbing and pulling people up by ropes to avoid trying to not get blasted a hundred feet down by white water rapids flowing through someones apartment, but as they finally found the stairs down to the last floor, Corvayne had felt a certain amount of mastery at the dungeon, a sort of confidence that the nice, easy floors of the Tower had prepared him for a much less friendly run through the hazardous aquatic ruins.


    What worried him on first glance was that rather than deep in some dark vaugly underground place, the floor was under a dark gray sky with dark seas in a driving rain, the entire floor pitching like a boat in a storm the moment he stepped off the stairs back up. It looked like an interconnected set of steel boats, lashed together to parts of dungeon that bucked and swayed and crested then fell, water splashing up along railings in foaming globs. Anyone who fell into the water that wasn''t Spears would almost certainly be lost, himself possibly included... but the storm and driving rain and swaying floors didn''t give him nearly as much pause as what he saw, outlined in black against the gray sky, floating upwards if not for a chain holding it to the ocean floor or deck of the ships.


    Nyx spotted the same thing, and over the rain Corvayne could hear his voice crack a little. "Is that a fucking old-timey SHIP mine?!"


    Lady Blood Claw grumbled under her breath. Bell had heard Nyxion but looked confused. In pretty good Cascadian she asked, "What sort of monster is a oultimie shipmine? It''s chained, can we not avoid it?"


    Lady Blood Claw looked over at her. "You know, I have a question."


    Bell looked back. "Okay."


    "Are you naturally a linguist? It seems like you are as fluent as Hari in Cascadian, and she had months of extra practice."


    Bearer picked up a rock, and started tossing it up and down one handed. "Corvayne''s thing linking us is teaching us each other''s language." Her voice changed pitch a little, becoming deeper and scratchy. "The Black Tower does not care if the sun ever sets on it."


    Brines shied away. "What did you do? That sounded creepy."


    Corvayne had his eyes glued on the stone she was tossing up and down, and caught the moment he saw her changing from letting it fall to her palm to grabbing it to throw it.


    "We test that, if at all, on one where we are not likely to go deaf and knock half the floor into the ocean."


    Corvayne was soaked from the wind rain and sea already, dampness and cold adding to the stress of seeing mines peppered into the landscape. He could see the rain and water slipping off Nyxion''s shields and felt a bit of envy for the first time in a while at Nyx''s gear.


    Lady Blood Claw had already pulled Bell back to the door in a ship''s tower that formed the stairs up. "Most of that ball is similar to the rockets that Spears had you fire. Imagine what a rocket that size could do. So, don''t set them off."


    Bearer gestured. "Notice it''s not perfectly swaying in time with the wind."


    Corvayne wasn''t sure what she was saying, as it was an impossible mine floating in mid-air, but then he caught that there was something like a small bit of force that was having it bob in their direction, even though it was possibly a third or half a mile away.


    Corvayne said aloud what he was thinking. "They are alive, or a monster mine, or an enchanted trap... now I gotta test the explosions and how the mines move off the chain, and how it influences the ships."


    Bell perked up. "Can I watch?" Hylal chirped as she added. "Me too!"


    Spears burbled. "Maybe if we hit one far away... and it doesn''t cause a chain reaction."


    Corvayne''s enthusiasm dimmed. "Okay, everyone in the stairs."


    Nyx shot him a look. "I''m watching too. If anything I should do it with my shields."


    Corvayne didn''t want to admit that it was going to be fun. Nor that he wanted to see if he could cause a chain reaction. First, he attuned his compass to an exit, and noted the direction. He spun the other way, leaping onto the rain slicked second floor of the naval tower. He scanned the horizon, gray metal and gray sky bright compared to the dark naval mines springing up from the ground and water like some sort of twisted garden. He pulled out Argyle''s staff. Nyx put goggles on and gave him a thumbs up.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    Corvayne activated [Cross Skill: Arcing Throw] and launched the staff into the air, aiming for a distant mine. There was a moment where it simply dropped through the mine that he thought they were duds, then there was something like a humming noise a moment before the mine glowed white then exploded. The rain formed a wall of water, the clouds parted, a huge circle around the mine was turned into glowing slag... and there was another humming noise.


    Corvayne used his shadow arms to grab Nyxion and pull him down the stairs before the chain reaction slagged the boat they were on and even caused the wind to pick up past the fifth step of the stairway. All that was left of the area a moment later was a hot breeze pushing to the fourth step, and glowing clouds of metal gas sizzling the rain as it cooled to liquid moments after every mine on the floor went off, a haze of steam soon pushing up against the stairs.


    Corvayne turned to the group. "I think there''s a lesson here, but besides testing before we step foot on a floor, I don''t know what it is."


    Bell was frowning. "It didn''t SOUND that loud. It just made it foggy."


    "It turned the metal into gas for a moment." Nyx reported. "We''ve tested the stairs before, they act as a dampener for effects between floors." He turned to Corvayne. "I want to see what happens from far away when you do that."


    Bell nodded. "Metals are solid. I don''t believe you saying it became wind."


    Corvayne clarified. "Gas. Like how ice melts, becomes water, then water evaporates and becomes clouds."


    Bell folded her arms. "Clouds DO cause rain... you''re saying they are water?"


    Hylal looked at her mother. "Mom have you never been in fog? That''s a the same as being in a cloud."


    Bell frowned. "I can''t fly."


    "You don''t need to! You can climb! Come to the mountain I live at."


    Bell started to form objections, but as she was stuttering Corvayne got a sense she needed a little push, so he did just that, a gentle touch to her shoulder to push her forward a step closer to her daughter. She straightened, and nodded. "Nothing I can do is more important. After we are out."


    Corvayne looked back at the steaming sea he had left behind. "Different stairs, one that will let us go down in a different spot."


    Corvayne took the strategy from the Towers and twisted it, using his compass to find another stairway by working his way down whever possible. Several dozen arrows, and two near disasters where he had to catch Lady Blood Claw by the belt and Bell by the collar of her cloth armor when they got hit with a surprise burst of water out of shuttered buildings opening up, they reached a stairway at the end of a torch lit temple.


    Thirty fishmen tried to rush into the chamber once Corvayne and Nyxion were fully in. Corvayne''s moment of excitement was dashed when the monsters were not much stronger than the goblins Corvayne had fought alone months ago, or groups of bandits he had single handily defeated. The environment kept proving itself to be the real enemy.


    The stairs down lead him to another part of the minefield floor, pristine if one overlooked places the gunmetal gray paint was bubbling, or hints of rust, or places where the ship had been patched. Corvayne this time held up a hand.


    "We don''t know how close the mines can get before they detonate. Do we want to test that?"


    Nyx sighed. "How about we just don''t set any mines off rather then lose someone to find that out?"


    Corvayne sort of agreed, he wasn''t too keen to keep risking falls in the previous floor, and it didn''t look like the dungeon played nice and gave him a new floor with hazards. So they moved carefully, Corvayne checking corners and relying on compass and danger sense to keep them away from the mines, all of which were slowly drifting and straining towards the group, tethers causing them to bump like slow moving sinister dark balloons.


    Corvayne had a moment of sheer terror when he nearly walked around a corner and spotted a mine between two walls right near him, but thankfully it seemed the devices were sensitive to touch rather than simply blowing up the moment someone was close. Still, there were mines behind doors, mines that would float up from between gaps in the boats floor to try to drift into him. They had to backtrack when a seemingly safe bridge was suddenly surrounded by mines coming from the water, a slow motion ambush that had Corvayne lightnen his gravity and grab Nyxion then leap out from a circle.


    Bearer was amused. "It seems like it''s a metaphor or something, turned into a dungeon floor."


    Lady Blood Claw looked at her. "Perhaps when we are done you can try whispering it into a mine''s ear and see if it agrees."


    Bearer-of-Burdens had an impish smile. "Why don''t you point to the spot on the mine you think it''s ear is?"


    Ignoring the two while searching for a different path, Corvayne saw a chest on a platform under the bridge, one that had raised with the mines.


    "How can anyone get that?" Corvayne asked aloud. His mind instantly snapped to Hari. "Oh. Blink."


    Lady Blood Claw was looking at the chest. "I think if your gravity power worked a certain way, you could have the chest fall off the platform it''s on to say, the wall right by where we are, then we could haul it up.


    Corvayne tried it, but got a sense he was hitting a mental wall on it, and after ten seconds he was winded, somehow, just trying to do nothing with the power. A few crystals chose the moment to rise up out of his skin, and he shook them off and cycled to [[Vitality]]. Brines helped with his regeneration aura, then swapped back to Stamina.


    LBC looked ruefully at the mines. "Go around then, huh?"


    "Unless someone has an idea to get that chest that doesn''t involve us all blowing up."


    Hylal poked Corvayne with a sharp talon on his arm. He looked over at her. "What can I do for you Hylal?"


    "Well, dad..."


    "Do not call me dad." "Hylal!" Bell snapped.


    "Sorry. Anyway father, I was going to tell you that Spears is getting that chest."


    "I think that''s disrespectful to your real f-" He paused. Looking, he saw Brines, LBC, Hylal, Nyxion, Bell, and a very pleased looking Bearer. Turning, he saw Spears floating and slowly moving against the waves, still looking a bit like a wad of chewed up clear gum (which he paused to note he should not be thinking about the being he was currently courting and sleeping with in a way that equated them to something you find on the bottom of an unclean desk.). What was interesting was that some of the mines that were only visible at the low point between waves didn''t move a inch towards her. She picked a spot and bobbed up and down in the water, then spit a pink slime at the chest. It splattered against the wood then started dissolving it, setting off a spring on the platform that would have likely thrown anyone opening it into the floating mines. She wait for the trap to finish and the platform to shift back down, then swam up to it and started using psudopods to grab stuff before gliding back over the water like it was nothing.


    Corvayne had to help her get out of the water as the extra junk in her was heavy. His only question was. "Why?"


    "Because water doesn''t set them off, nor do they seek water. I''m totally safe as long as nobody else sets a mine off."


    Corvayne folded his arms a little bit. "Please stop saying it. The universe gets ideas."


    She dumped (barfed possibly, again, not what he should be thinking about his lady) the items in a pile at his feet, and he once more put them in his ring for later classification as cursed or not.


    They reached the stairs down, and there was a moment that Bell turned to Corvayne, eyes pleading. Hylal looked between them. "Mom wants to DO IT!"


    "We are not married." Corvayne stated, then pulled a rifle out of his bag. He handed it to Bell, who for a moment looked like a child getting a birthday present.


    "Far better than all the rings from useless men tossed my way." She raised her nose in the air, and Corvayne smiled. Nature was healing. Then she turned and blushed. "Can I really... blow it up?"


    She had started acting weird since Hylal was found, but he couldn''t say what it was. "I do not like floors that any little mistake anyone makes will kill everyone in-" Nyx coughed. "Will kill most of the party. Also, don''t fire that thing yet."


    Nyx also got what he was thinking and arranged the group so his shield would protect them from both anything forward and the back-blast from the weapon, six stairs down which seemed to negate most of the airflow.


    Bell waited until Corvayne gave her a thumbs up, then fired, aiming for a mine that was just over the railing on the last platform or boat. The shot hit, creating dent on the soon incandesent mine. Even inside Nyx''s shields there was a sort of deep WUMP that Corvayne felt in every bone in his body, and a noise something like a thousand weapons breaking. Even in shields and steps the heat and light were enough to instantly start Corvayne sweating. Stepping closer to the entrance to the stairs, Corvayne could see twisted glowing parts of the ship raining down in alarmingly large chunks, leaving trails of steam and smoke as they plunged into boiling water, all while more distant retorts suggested a chain reaction still going.


    Instead of looking at all the chaos she had caused, Bell locked eyes with him, even with an arm around her happily cheering daughter. It was the same sort of look he associated with a Watcher who once obsessed over a ''White wolf'' he had spent years hunting across the dunes. Why was she suddenly looking at him like prey? And when would Bearer get that damn smirk off her face?


    He turned away and started down the steps, the only other noise besides their footfalls and hissing water Hylal humming happily.

 Chapter 180: The Both Literal and Non Literal Minefield

    Corvayne passed across the threshold into a cool dark chamber. A bit of cold water flowed along the floor, not deeper then his ankle. No lobby, no inn. He can feel hostility coming from somewhere nearby, but there was also a faint blue ring around the arched stone they had walked out of. He wasn''t surprised orange lines barred his way back. The rest of the group started filling in after him.


    Looking around, he could it was something like a grid of dark purple and blue halls. What he did not see was the boss or bosses. There would be two, given they had a large enough group. The water outside of where they were stepping was still, and with the light of the spell Lady Blood Claw summoned he could see the water remained shallow even further from the circle. The glowing blue circle didn''t move as everyone was in.


    "I don''t see the monster, and it''s a large area, but it feels like the end floor challenge."


    Lady Blood Claw drew her blazing sword. "We should be able to kill anything it throws at us, but expect two." He could see in addition to her shifting skin color there were some faint fields around her. Sometime he''d need to sit down with her and talk about magic.


    He was already thinking about getting disemboweled by an acid dragon. Still, it was the last hurdle before they could start making their way up and out. Corvayne did a full circle of the ring containing the entrance, but didn''t see hostiles.


    Bearer looked relaxed, though Corvayne for a moment saw her dislocate her arm, rotate it in a full circle with a lot more cracking than sounded healthy, then put it back in place with a snap, then give a thumbs up.


    Brines still had Spears holding Bell on his back, blue slime forming a harness that the bird was using to ride piggyback. Brines himself sneezed and sniffed. Hopefully once they were out of the dungeon, and the other dungeon, he could try using mend to fix allergies.


    Bell had her sword, a shield, and looked with trepidation around the arena. Perhaps she had better instincts than Corvayne had assumed.


    Finally, Nyxion floated past the band of light, which made a faint snapping noise. Corvayne fell in beside him, water sloshing as they moved deeper into rows of dark halls. The others followed behind, tentatively.


    There was no attack and no sign of movement as they left the initial open area and stepped to an intersection. Faint lights shaped like twisted vines illuminated brass details on the walls, with lines of crowned figures etched onto the walls, all facing the same way. Corvayne stopped a moment to look as he saw what looked like the Magus pointing. There was a line on the wall at the Magus''s back, and he could see there were tiny figures, stumbling and flailing.


    He heard movement then, something like tapping and whirring, and had his spear ready. He looked at Nyx, and after sharing a nod he sprinted forward, water pattering as he jumped to the next intersection and turned, seeing something gleaming in the dark and skittering away.


    "Another robot spider?"


    He moved around the corner and his danger sense flared for a moment as hit foot hit something. His armor created a sphere of water a moment before he was flung backwards and upwards into a wall, slamming into it and going further up before spinning in a dizzy spiral down. He dropped gravity but still slammed into the floor, and heard another chime. This time his shadow limbs shot out and punted something away from him as gravity also kicked in. A moment later there was a blast and he was rolling through water, steam rising from where he just was.


    "Fuck. More mines?" His hearing was coming back from a high whine, and while he was sore his armor had saved him from the initial impact.


    Getting to his feet, he saw one of the creatures. It looked robotic, catching the glint of the dim lights on a chrome shell. It looked like detached metal hands holding and strangling something like an animal, metal carved eyes bulging, mouth open with rodent like incisors, steel tounge gently wiggling then falling out of it''s mouth, falling still in the water as the limp limbs gently sloshed water.


    He was willing to bet the little metal presents it was also leaving from it''s backside were also mines.


    He considered then Nyxion. Nearly immune to explosions, floating...


    "I think you should find the other one. If you don''t float near the walls or floor they can''t hurt you."


    Nyxion grinned. "Hah, content not to be the star of the show?"


    Corvayne shrugged. "I just want to get us out. Glory can wait for when we don''t have soft party members. Besides, if Spears was up to it, she''d be the other top pick."


    He double backed to where the rest of the party had stopped. "Mines from a large robot. Hold your ground. Me and Nyxion will hunt them."


    Bearer grabbed Spears off of Brines back while also letting Hylal down. The little bird girl waved to Corvayne''s favorite blob before Bearer lobbed Spears-Like-Water at him, a small shriek punctuating the toss. He dropped his spear to catch her, shadow hand stopping it from hitting the ground. He gave the blueish orb a quick squeeze.


    "Whats the big idea?" He felt himself glaring at Bearer.


    "Robots and finding things in water. She''s better at this than you. Just be her legs."


    Spears wiggled into his Jam Jammies, which made him clench a little and fire off the meteor-berries that he had got from slamming into a wall. "Spears, this isn''t the time or place or company to start poking around down there..."


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    A muffled voice from his pants called back up. "This is just to fight the monster!"


    He almost believed her before she giggled a little bit and gave a non-combat related part of him a squeeze. He clenched his jaw shut. A single eye extended from the top of the jammies while two feelers were trailing his boots out the bottom. "All right, with this I can feel the water."


    He looked back. "Lady Blood Claw..."


    The tall alien woman rolled her eyes. "We get it. We''ll keep the others safe. Good hunting."


    Bell stepped forward, looking slightly irate. "You don''t need to do everything yourself."


    "I''m not going to do anything besides support Spears here." And maybe throw a supersonic staff through a robot. Maybe.


    He started stalking the waterways. He heard one explosion distantly in the direction Nyxion had been going, but guessed that one burst wasn''t enough to break the shield.


    The arena was not small. It was, by his estimate, something like a floor itself. There were different variations on the drawing he saw. People standing in front of an arch, or people in front of the royal palace, or stars crossing the sky. The sort of drawings he expected on tombs, and ones that aside from the Magus didn''t seem to strike any chords. There was a small tug on his leg and he stopped.


    "Trail of mines ahead." Spears said, generating a psudopod out of his pants and gesturing a curve.


    "Maybe it started here?" Corvayne thought about it. They could try to follow a trail to find the monsters, even if they ran away.


    "Hold still, I''ll see if I can tell where things are moving."


    Corvayne stopped, just breathing and waiting. Spears hummed for a little bit, and he saw blue lines spreading out from his pants leg.


    "Do you think your going to recover soon?" Potions didn''t work for regenerating her, apparently.


    "It''s going to be a few weeks. Sorry, I hadn''t fought something made of electricity before." She stopped putting more feelers out and instead went back to poking him inside his pants, which he rapped on.


    "As long as you are getting better... really though please focus on the area outside my pants."


    "The water will wash away any evidence Corvayne." She start wiggling inside his pants.


    "I''m not in the mood." He tried to state, while his own body started betraying him. Spears laughed a little.


    "We are all alone in a dark place, we can make as much noise as we want..."


    He pulled the hem of the strawberry pants open and looked Spears in the eye, doing everything in his power to ignore when she made a blue semi-clear breast instead of an eye.


    "We want to find these things and get out. The longer we wait, the more mines." Keeping his voice steady to get her to stop. All the while he was thinking on if he would be self reliant... for a few weeks. He DID have a warm and willing blob he loved in his pants.


    "Oh right, you''re going to take Bell too."


    He sighed. "That''s not the direction I was going with this."


    She created a thin line of glowing blue that floated above the dark water, circling where explosives were. "I didn''t think you stop with me. I mean, Hari and Wick couldn''t keep up."


    If mentioning Bell had taken some of the wind from his sails, that stopped him outright. "Hari definitely kept up."


    "Well, I can''t give you the full attention you need right now, and you and Lady Blood Claw are playing some sort of waiting game, but Bell? She is waiting for you to ravish her. And it would secure your place as local royalty."


    "She has a daughter."


    Spears laughed. "They are both exiles. Where you go, they will follow. It will be good dad practice."


    Corvayne could only think there were minefields everywhere. "Spears, I don''t think I''m ready for a family, and I''m not sure I want to date multiple people again."


    "Oh, so I''m enough for the rest of your life?"


    While there was a taunt in the question, she also didn''t sound displeased. He was then struck by how odd it was to talk to his slime girlfriend in his pants about other women. He had to stop himself from following the glowing line into a silver mine that had burrowed into the wall.


    "I don''t know yet. I feel like I''m a novice in these things, and everyone else is an expert trying to beat into me that I need to do better or that I''m doing things wrong."


    "I''m not saying that! But I also always expected to share a husband. It''s how the Watchers did things before. I heard before we were pulled to here the ratio of women to men was 1 to 8."


    Corvayne tried to think about how many woman there were around the Village. "Do you know what here and there means? I know the refugee thing..."


    "Aliens! A more advanced society with lots of races, and tons of women in case they needed to bolster our numbers quickly..."


    "We are very different species. Basic biology..."


    She tugged him to stop him from getting too close to a wall. He could see now little holes where silver mines waited. They must be able to move a little, or to drill into the ground.


    "I was told that if I wanted kids, we''d have to ''go home'' first."


    Corvayne took a deep breath. "To the Watchers village, or the place before?"


    "The place before."


    "Well, to do that, we need to find the watchers, so let''s find some more landmines then you can convince me that you really do want me dating other girls. I''m not opposed to it," Which he hadn''t fully admitted until his mouth said it, "But I''m not going to put you through what I went through."


    "Okay. Fine. I''ll admit it. Me, Diamonds, Suns..."


    He felt faint danger. "Do you sense movement?"


    "Wait, this is important! I gotta tell you... oh yeah, the boss is ahead burying mines into the walls, but listen, I wasn''t the only girl in the village who was going to marry you."


    Could this wait? Until after they engaged a monster in a battle to the death? "... so when one of those other girls shows up..."


    "Make up for lost time, and really, you need to see if you like us. Wick and Hari... you did make a good team with those two, but Wick was too advanced and Hari too inexperenced."


    "And you?"


    "Oh, I''ve been trying to date you for years. I''m a pro." She proudly proclaimed. "Okay, let''s kill this thing."


    She bubbled and a psudopod pushed something hard into his hands. Two pink bullets.


    "Stop using your blood, I can kill it with dust storm." He muttered, then followed the glowing blue line around two corners, catching the monster making out with the wall. He didn''t hesitate, running at the creature and starting [Sundering Strike]. At first he assumed it dodged, then he saw the hands had split off from the main body, revealing writhing silver mines.


    Thinking fast he pivoted into [Storm Thrust] then yelled out "[Flows Like Water]!" while switching to [[Agility]].


    Spears understood exactly and at nearly the same time they fell into the second skill, two jets of water hurtling around a corner as the creature detonated. Corvayne saw a hand picking one of the silver wriggling mines from the wall and pulled out the indestructible staff and hurled it with [Expert Toss] right at the mine-head. With a thump the hand was blasted into the opposite wall. There were three or four left.


    "Where are they?"


    "Left!" Spears called. She held up a hand and he passed her the spear, calling Argyle''s staff back to his hand and then spinning as he saw something moving above them. Thinking fast, he used Gravity to slow the monster''s fall then [Grand Slam], angling the attack to be more like golf than baseball, hitting the metal monstrosity clutching a clutch of mines and popping it into the air a few moments before it went off in a cluster of explosions. At the same time, Spears swung his weapon in a wide arc, water whipping behind it before she directed three spears to slam into the mechanical hand, each watery limb tipped with explosives.


    Corvanye and Spears both saw the last hand trying to get away and she drew his rifle and he loaded the pink slime bullets, together aiming and firing two shots that connected. A moment later the metallic monster started spasmming, and the entire floor then groaned. He heard a thud, and Corvayne turned to see the walls were smashing together. He couldn''t react as the thuds sped up until it was a cacophony and it felt like he was being whipped along the floor... to the area they had come into, stairway down and chest waiting.


    Of course, Bearer was teaching Hylal and Bell some sort of card game. She looked up at him, a look so perfectly innocent on her face that Corvayne was once again completely convinced the woman was pure evil. "How''d your little chat with Spears go?"

 Another Im not dead post. (Not a chapter)

    Greetings!


    As you may have noticed, I''ve been gone for something like a month or two. I just finished another 12 hour stint of staring at computer screens for work, and I''ve hardly played games let alone actually sat down to type more then 4 pages for a Mosh PoV in that time. I''ve not forgotten you gentle readers, but as it turns out buying a house then working every day for something like a month straight does not lend itself to belting out a chapter. I got a few more weeks then I get to deal with all this work hitting the ''Go'' stage and getting calls day and night about how decisions I made now were terrible.


    Can''t wait.


    That being said, the next chapter is a fun Mosh PoV which will certainly raise some questions (hopefully not about how well either I or Grunt counts) after which I''ll get back to Corvayne and his splinter group working on the Harem. Yeah, you all already know who''s next. Anyway, the time I''ve spent idle (Usually hauling boxes full of papers I''m sending to clients) has been partially thinking about how exactly to make the next few beats of the story happen, and sometimes reading other things on RR since I don''t have to type when I''m doing that and I want to know what the Sexy Sect Babes are up to. That and will Mr. Best kick the ball good? I think so.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    When busy season dies down, I''m going to take a day or two or five off work before I jump into write-a-thon. I plan to hit the 55k word mark there, which isn''t too hard as long as I''m not trying to do a lot of drama chapters. I''ve thought about how if I could re-do this series, I''d do a few things:


    a) More time in Cascadia with monster and mystery of the week stuff.


    b) Corvayne taking a little longer to fuck everyone.


    c) Keep the melodrama to about 2 paragraphs per chapter max.


    I also am keeping my eye on what sort of other stories I want to tell, in the distant future when this is done, the choices being either a sequel focused on building a city inside a dungeon, or a sequel where a group of unrelated characters deal with the fallout of this story. There will def be some weird shit in anything I do. For some, the choices would be girl who wants to be kidnapped by a dragon vs a girl with eels for legs. I also might just sit down and re-write one of my completed books with my current level of writing, stories where I might inject a little more of my narration. Not enough to be as annoying as my author comments.


    TL:DR - When I have a full 2 day weekend (or even a full day) off to re-focus, I''ll get back on weekly updates for you guys. Thanks for keeping me in your update tab!

 Chapter 181: Ringer Club Meeting

    Mosh started to scratch his burns and stopped as his plastic tipped nails touched his arm. He forced his arm out like it was possessed. He berated himself for a moment for lacking focus, and just let himself breath as the burns crawled like some sort of horrible rash. He forced himself to work, taking some of the scrap he kept in his crafter pocket, fingers playing with twine and sticks, his mind forcing it into a tiny ballista, then shifting the wood to a violin he plucked once before crushing it back into parts.


    The goblin crafter was sitting at the desk in the belly of the huge truck, the huge human sized drafting table cranked down to it''s lowest setting. Even then, it wasn''t actually all that comfortable to work at. Still, it was large enough to hold everything he was working on and a big-folk sized mug of coffee. He noticed a chip and carefully ran his finger along it, moving some of the material like a liquid to fill in the gaps.


    He took a deep breath, then tapped the drafting screen and started looking at the math involved with building a shield glove. He grabbed the wires and plastic chips from a pile he had rolled and carved and once again started visualizing the object he wanted, pulling the reacting mass of wires and rubber into a glove shape before using his other hand to pick up a finely made mitten, then as they started to mesh and form the shape he had on the screen he guided the wires in his mind, the bits of plastic into the guard, smelling the faint smell of new plastics as Lythandies let his fingers turn into it''s first mold and last solder, snapping everything into place. No time to account for sweat making his scars itch: The next part was pulling an energy source in, so he did a quick run through with his mind of the ongoing reaction of glove and machinery, threading the wire tighter in his mind then willing it so in his hands.


    As the glove shifted back and forth from a hazy image one moment to a real object the next before going back, Mosh waited until it felt right then slammed the blue gem into the mix, aiming for a gap he had made like a little nest.


    For a moment he had it, a perfect mental image of the glove, power source, and nearly mile of wire he had wrapped around everything, holding it all in his head...


    Then he felt an itch on his side, like his scar had been dragged over a carpet made out of a cat''s tongue, and he tried to push the gem in before he lost the image but it was too late, some of the wire blurred together in his mind into a wad of something, and when that clump went he tried to re visualize it but the gem had fused with part of the glove and a moment later searing pain flashed in his hands and he flung the little pile of melting junk into his sand bucket before it ignited, and frustrated Mosh pulled the plastic tips off his claws and started scratching his face, trying to get some relief from both the peeling feeling and the fact that he had wasted another four hours of prep work. He needed better tools!


    The hot line of blood on his chin stopped his frantic scratching, his little black claws too sharp for the scars. At least, he was pretty sure it was blood. He looked at his hand, and saw the dark lines. No tears this time, but only barely. Even after mending himself, the skin grew back scarred and burnt still. The itching crept back in as well. It made him just want to sleep. Mosh was the worst thing he could be: Stuck.


    He had no idea how to refine anything better. He didn''t know enough about shields to shape them. He didn''t know how to engineer nanobots with Lythandies'' skills. He was brute forcing his way through enchanting everything to keep up with the stuff coming out of the dungeon, and he was starting to run out of tricks and patches on his work to keep adding anything onto the truck.


    He watched the wisp of smoke drifting from the wrecked lump of crud, then reached under his desk and tapped a button to start a vent up. The whine of the fan made the air a little less hazy and removed the burnt metal smell. He was back to where he started, again, the third time today. Tonight. Grunt had left open the cargo hatch to bring in more magic items and high tech crap for him to break, and he could hear crickets.


    He had hit the cap on the simple stuff he understood in and out long ago, undermining his confidence. He couldn''t remember the little details for controlling or building nanites. Forget other things, he couldn''t fix himself. had taken a green fireball for the team that the Goddess Lythandies''s powers weren''t able to fix, the necrotic energy infused in the wounds resisting the workman like powers when he requested her healing, and that left him unable to sleep anything more than a few hours. He itched all the time, and the feeling of his ugly burns made it stuffy everywhere. To get any rest he had to push the air temp down to near freezing. Poor June had to sleep wrapped up in blankets to be in his bunk with him.


    "I dunno why I''m here Boss." he said, as if Corvayne was still there to bounce ideas off of. "I''m just a shmuck that makes stupid crap for coffee tables."


    Mosh hopped off his chair and started moving towards the open hatch to grab some mundane metal. The electric bearing red stuff they were pulling out of the source was miserable to try to craft electronics out of, basically shorting itself and any chips out.


    Once again, hands on metal, he thought about how every garage on his Ark had a set of green crystal class tools, and how if he had payed any freaking attention to history of crafters class he''d have an idea how you could go from gathering pebbles to turning yourself into a crystal cyborg that could eat a dozen hellfire fireballs, all in the space of two weeks.


    He sighed and grabbed a kitchen mixer on his work bench, threw in the metal he was going to make wires out of, and then started maxing them to get something with consistent properties. After the third attempt he wasn''t even trying to optimize his wires into high quality high purity metals. At this point, he was ready to brute force craft a working shield glove then go back and fix it.


    Something like a summer sausage tapped his back, and he spun, thinking it was even odds between Grunt needing something or Mister I actually offering him sausages. His first guess was correct, the titan was looming behind him, somehow fitting into the cramped space behind his desk. Mosh had a theory that Grunt was partially some sort of projection, as he only seemed to act with his apparent size when Corvayne was around. Over the last few weeks, he seemed to be a lot less... careful... with whatever persona he was playing at.


    Not that it mattered. Mosh liked Grunt, and everyone had things they wanted to hide. Mosh smiled and adopted his normal sleazy voice. "Ya scared the crap outta me Grunt! Whatcha want? I''m working here."


    Grunt gave him a look, then handed him a scrap of paper. Written in very fancy handwriting that took Mosh a minute to decipher, was a message.


    -I am waityng byhynd the wagon for yow to come. This meetyng ys for ''Tiger-Lambs'' only-


    "We going to a ren fair or something big guy?" That might be fun. He could make everyone costumes. He''d go with a fools get up. A bitter thought, as it felt like everyone was less fun since Corvayne split. Mosh kicked himself mentally for being a coward, as he could have gone with. Then his skin crawled and started to furiously itch, and he had to grab the counter so hard he snapped one of his little black nails.


    Grunt pretended he didn''t notice Mosh silently screaming, waiting for the pain to subside then shaking his and then putting a finger to his lips. Somehow he turned fluidly and gestured with his chin for Mosh to follow.


    One of the assassins around the camp was waiting as they left. Grunt did what looked like a series of ninja hand seals, and the assassin responded in kind then ran off. He vanished into the dark night.... two new moons and the jeweled moon was a sliver of almost sinister shimmering light under red scattered rays. The entire moon must have been made of a giant clear jewel. Think of how many fancy coffee tables one could buy and decorate for that wad of cash.


    Instead of pulling off a moon heist, he tried to be the fun he was sorely missing. "Hey Big Buddy! It''s a dark night for dark deeds right?"


    He turned a corner to the other side of the truck and saw the spider thing waiting in front of a fire. He had a moment of absolute panic at the horrific insect outline before he remembered it was on their side. It didn''t help it always was changing forms, with at the moment the creature sprouting long jagged spines from it''s shoulders. They were barbed and rigged in a pearlescent edge. The thing looked like a bio-lab reject but acted sort of like a very smart cat who got bored of people quickly. Mosh mentally reminded himself this was an intelligent being who might be psychic. He had seen the creature training Corvayne so she was better at things that even Boss was. It only seemed fickle because they didn''t understand what it wanted, and since it couldn''t communicate it probably didn''t think much of them, either.


    Varia was there too, wrapped in a shawl against the chill of the High Plains. She looked up at him, and smiled. Mosh smiled back. She was lovely and kind as ever, but he had to think about June too. He just wasn''t sure she would tell him if she was comfortable or not with him dating Varia. He felt bad just playing stupid, he should give the girl some sort of answer soon. It would be great if he could just not give a shit like Boss did.


    Mister I was there too. The lovable jerk had his hands folded, looking at the fire. "Is that everyone?"


    Grunt pointed at himself, raised a finger, then pointed a few more times and held up six fingers, then sat down.


    The Spider hissed something, and Grunt flashed hand signals at her first, then turned to Mosh and held out a handful of what looked like coal. Grunt mimed a pancake motion, and Mosh opened his hands to accept the pile of slate, then willed them together to form a smooth edged foot by foot chalkboard. He handed it back to Grunt.


    "That all you needed me for?"


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Grunt shook his head. He passed the slate to Varia, then at her confused look pointed to the claw being held out next to her. The spider took the chalk board and one of those horrible looking spines, then started tapping it. Morse code? Just seeing if she can break it? About to make a terrible scratching sound as a practical joke?


    The spider flipped the tablet around.


    In neat, if over-ornate HAF script, he read aloud, "Doon ye understand me?" He recoiled. "What the hell? Does she understand us?"


    Grunt made hand gestures. More tapping. It passed the tablet back and pointed at Mosh and Varia.


    "I doon not speak youre tongue. Or perhaps, I understand a word yn five. Ye short byrde manie of the words and it ys confusyng, but of the ones here ye and hire speak byst."


    Mister I leaned in, looking over at Mosh. "You can communicate with her?"


    "She understands me, and Varia." He was already thinking about the most annoyed Corvayne had ever been, which was when he had to act as a go-between for translating.


    Grunt made gestures to the spider, and it quivered for a moment. It tapped a few broad strokes on the chalkboard.


    "I am Gylwin Imauk Demeris."


    Huh. Someone''s else parents were a HAF history buff. Mosh puffed up his chest. "Mosh''Po Tricyklax of Ark Verardis. Excuse me," He cleared his throat. "Mosh''Po Trickyclax of Ark Verardis, Fourth Section, Born in Bellbrook City to Gullyclax and Trickyfur, crafter of fine wood things to place on coffee tables."


    He hadn''t thought of his dad Trickyfur in years, and he briefly felt intensely homesick at the thought of his mom being told Mosh had vanished for... however long had passed back home. Would he go back when this adventure was finished? He hadn''t met any otherworlders, though with a name like that the spider... Gylwin, he corrected himself, yes, Gylwin popped to the top of the list. It was one thing to have a historic name, as he was, for example, named after Mosh''Po the prime, the first Goblin Adept and almost certainly the reason goblins had made a place within the Hundred Ark Fleet. It was another to just give your kid the same three names in the same order as the most pivotal women in HAF history.


    "Well, given you''ve been training Corvayne in stealth, I''d say your living up to the name!"


    The spider wiggled again, hissing a few times, then took the tablet back.


    "I am who I am." She wrote.


    He laughed "I love the attitude on this broad! Check out what she wrote!"


    Mister I coughed. "I can''t read it..."


    Varia took the tablet, then looked over at the Spider. "She''s claiming to be my grandmother."


    The spider took the tablet out of her hands. Mosh was offered it to translate. "Ye are the blood of my blood. I knowe my brood. Of an oother historie perhaps. Where hath youre sister gone to? Youre Twyn? The oother you of my brood."


    The spider was looking around, but Mosh''s mind was racing. She called Vaira brood? And Varia offered that the spider was her grandmother. How? Was her crush because she thought she could eat him? No, she had been a sheltered college student from Cascadia before they met. Whole different universe. Didn''t have a single dust clone following her around. And what if it WAS Glywin? Did that mean he was dead too? He should have paid better attention in history class. "So let me get this straight. We got a spider claiming to be a long dead figure in history, and given how long folks live in the HAF... I mean millions of years from where I stand... Varia you keep telling me your twenty one... How freaking old is your mom?"


    Varia looked a little guilty. "I''m... nineteen."


    "Hey... you mean every time we went to the Inn together and got drinks, I''ve been breaking the law? Tch. Don''t tell all the cops camped around us."


    Mister I cleared his throat. "We have a rather large communication barrier right now, but I take it there''s some sort of revelation?"


    The spider took back the tablet and clacked a few times. Mosh took it back and cleared his throat.


    "Please request honorable great grandfather to speak yn oure native voice, as my gaijyn ys rusty."


    Mister I raised an eyebrow. Uncle I was Great Grandfather? Maybe the spider was a hell of a black sheep. Mister I then started talking in a language his translator couldn''t pick up. The Spider then looked excited, writing on the chalk board in lines that was a language his machine hadn''t been loaded in. Hey! He had seen a few of those in pictures of Babel! Usually written in neon signs, for some reason.


    After trading the chalkboard back and forth, Mister I cleared his throat.


    "I think I can summarize. Miss Spider is holding a meeting to try to get all of the ''ringers'' in this team on the same page. Though she says one of ''us'' is missing, and she is embarrassed she didn''t notice because she thought Varia was the same person."


    "Doppelganger?" Fuck! He wasn''t in the mood to be depressed, itchy, AND paranoid.


    Varia put a hand on his arm. "No... it''s Bearer-of-Burdens isn''t it?"


    Mosh didn''t see it. Maybe Corvayne couldn''t tell the difference, but anyone else would say they were two different people. "For spotting eight eyes she sure is blind, calling you sisters or twins? You guys don''t look anything like each other. Different hair and eye colors. Heck, just look at the way she moves..."


    Grunt snapped his fingers, then signed to Gylwin, then made some more signs and nodded. Gylwin tried bobbing her head, then started writing again.


    "They are the same person, not twyns nor copies. I have eight eyes to see closer to the sooth. She ys garbed yn the vestments of the adept, body suit weaved with elder gold and dragon oil polymares and the hides of byast great and smale ynjected with magic weaved with a nano thimble. It makes oon sweaty."


    Mosh folded his arms. "I get it, the clothes make the woman, but Varia, do you know why you''d have a clone running around?"


    Varia looked very nervous, and Mosh nudged her. "Nevermind sweetheart, just because everyone else here is blabbing state secrets don''t mean you gotta pony it up."


    Someone in the truck cabin gave the horn a little honk, with perfect timing as if they were listening. Mosh could guess why someone had honked the horn for a little beep. He thought they should make a rule that you can''t have sex in the front compartment, even if it often was the most private place left on the truck.


    His pep talk also seemed to have the opposite effect, because Varia stood up rod straight. "I think I have a problem with assuming I''m Bearer or the opposite. I''ve never been able to manifest an Adept power. I''m a Seeker, and a lowly one at that."


    Grunt made a gesture that to Mosh looked like putting a crown on his head, then twirling. Like a dress? Princess. Then a series of hand gestures ninja style.


    Mosh took a deep breath. "Mister I, can you tell me what he''s saying? Grunts showing off to his new girlfriend."


    The big man actually started blushing. Gylwin grew two psudopods and ruffled both Grunt and Moshes hair.


    Mister I rubbed his chin. "He''s ''talking'' in hand sign slang so not entirely, but I catch timeline."


    The spider took the tablet, then handed it to him so he could read much smaller font. Mosh had to squint. Even with nightvision, it was hard to see with so little moonlight.


    "The flowe of tyme ys as broken yn this universe. The boss floors yn the upper reaches have shown me alternate forms of foe, friend, family. It may be pullyng the what was and what was never from oure own tyme, liketh a thrashyng byast stemmyng a wound. We are it''s scars."


    Everyone was quiet a moment as he finished saying what Gylwin had written.


    Mosh started thinking about it. "Or... it''s crafting, pulling in both the perfect fit and sometimes whatever''s at hand. Like how I mess up now and then, it knows what it wants the parts to do, and is trying to get them to come together."


    Grunt was nodding, tapping his head. He produced the mangled mess Mosh had made before, and pushed his thumb into the melted gem attached to the glove. For a moment, the stationary shield appeared before fizzling out. Mosh felt his eyes nearly pop out.


    He had missed a few words from Varia. "... but I don''t see how I fit in."


    Grunt made a fist, then circled his other fist around it. Orbit? Or everything revolves around a core?


    Mosh was thinking. "Varia has a talent for earth magic. I make tools. Grunt is muscle. Mister I acts as a spiritual teacher, father figure. Gylwin is a combat tutor to end all combat tutors."


    Mister I gestured then, to the statue of Lythandies taking shape, and how the camp was starting to form buildings, and then to where well worn paths leading to and from the heart of camp were.


    "Was our eight legged ally some sort of hero queen?"


    Mosh and Grunt both nodded.


    "And you are a walking advertisement for Lythandies. You converted me, partially, after all. We have an army and a fading empire with two of it''s heirs traveling with our second most prodigious lover, after myself of course. I am willing to bet that Seru''s status has been shooting up because she posted a video on how to directly enter a pact with her god that has tangible results. The goat-herder we hired to guide us to the ruins suddenly is a major economic player in the region and is fueling Mosh raw materials for developing weapons and vehicles."


    Mister I leaned in. "The System woke up months ago. Pulled itself from a state of being dead, threw open doors long sealed. It''s open for business. I bet if we turned around and went through the portal we came from, Cascadia would be nearly a ghost town, everyone having moved into the Tower. It would be the wild west for a while, but an era where healers can cure the sick with wishes? Where every person lives longer and is stronger and smarter than before? Where if you don''t like where you are, you can just hop up a stairway and you are on an entirely new world?"


    Mosh got the feeling Mister I had thought about this more than a little. Grunt was nodding.


    "We were given the tools to build an empire, at the moment when either our civilization falls apart, or thrusts itself forward into a golden age." Mister I then looked up, staring directly into Mosh''s eyes like the old man was going to drill a laser into him.


    Mosh did his best not to waver. The old monk was about to laugh if he didn''t look away first. Bring it on. "Why are you looking at me like that Icarriii? We all know it''s Boss or Glasses girl who''s the real ringer."


    He felt a hand on his shoulder, which made him feel itchy but somehow transmitting warmth. Varia was smiling at him. "We were still at war in my era."


    Gylwin put one of her weird long fingers on his shoulder. She handed him the tablet, with a ship bearing the Black Tower of Babel, the citadel of the Adepts oversized on what must be the original Ark, then pointed at the huge black crystal bearing Lythandies face, lit up against the night by blue light as June worked on it.


    Grunt pointed at Mosh, then pointed at his own head and closed his eyes, tapping his forehead.


    What the hell? Mosh was a nobody.


    Then he thought about growing up on an Arks. Vast super ships, with untold trillions on each, connected in a teleport web across the universe. An unstoppable empire that had already reached a state of content immortality. Yelling at the princess. She didn''t understand.


    She didn''t understand. Gylwin wouldn''t either. She died sometime when the Ark was it''s namesake, a lone ship carrying survivors of some long forgotten galaxy. Died a hero saving the ship, no less.


    "You carry karma with the Dao of Ultimate Prosperity. The vision of a golden age drives you forward. It is one thing to fix limbs and make toys. A good thing, but when you are frustrated, you speak of paradise, and what we ask is that you keep doing that, show us what we don''t understand."


    He looked at his scarred flesh. Visions of green crystal, the stuff every entry level adventurer was made of until they proved their stuff. They gave the grunts immortal bodies. He looked at the batteries he had made, powered by grinding up no doubt priceless black crystal. Everything in the HAF was running on zero point energy.


    He took a black crystal, and ignored the pain as he pressed it into one of his burns on his arm. Blood welled from it, and he felt Varia grabbing his arm, but he ignored her. Corvayne could do it, so could he.


    A sliver of the crystal shard vanished, and he saw three tiny hexagons on his skin where he had forced it, just a few pennies of black crystal over his scar. He couldn''t help feel his mouth twist upwards. Not because he had opened up the next set of tools for the group. Not because he felt the warmth of more divine attention on him. Not because Varia was pushing her chest into his arm.


    Instead it was burnt green now gleaming black.


    It no longer itched.


    He looked back up at his allies. "Okay. Let''s see if we can''t start a golden age before Boss gets back."

 Chapter 182: Dive Bar

    Corvayne expected to be falling when everything went black. That was typically what happened after a five floor guardian. Instead, Corvayne saw a moment of everything flipping, caves and tidal pools from the dungeon playing like a flip book, then there was a moment of pressure before he stumbled through the dark into a dim space, back into the real from what he felt. He got a sense that he was in a bar or restaurant. Dark slabs of wood with crude stools were arrayed in the space he could see, with a lot of disreputable looking men clustered around them. Corvayne did his best not to meet any eyes as he looked around.


    He felt, rather then saw, that Spears-Like-Water was stuck to his back, and saw Brines and Bearer stagger a little as they came out of the fold. Princess Bell and her daughter Hylal were looking about, the Princess glaring at any men looking at her. Nyx had his chin pointed up instead, pointedly ignoring them. Lady Blood Claw was in the rear, hand resting on the hilt of her red-hot magic blade as her skin turned to a short of beige cameo pattern to match the walls.


    Her voice came out as a low growl. "Watch yourself, the bouncer down here is... much more permissive."


    Corvayne nodded, checking to make sure there wasn''t anyone already marking them as prey. At least in the tables near them, it looked like everyone had gone back to drinking or muttering. Aside from rough customers, the place looked like it had been hewn out of a ocean cove, with driftwood tables under a low ceiling connected by arching stone walls to a floor that looked like it had been smoothed by running water. Smoke hung in the air matched with distant coughing and hacking sounds that carried across the stuffy space. Corvayne could see hints of the same space bending, but aside from that it was as far from the inviting space the other inn had been. The smell of cheap booze, unwashed bodies, and a hint of blood. Moving to the plank of stained driftwood that served as a bar, Corvayne grabbed a wobbly stool and sat by what looked like a skull candlestick spilling wax onto the table.


    Bell looked around, still carrying her daughter on her back. "What is the point of this place?" She sounded annoyed.


    Nyxion gestured. "It''s a place to find scoundrels. Though, what I want to know is where our chest is."


    A barkeep that looked like a human crossed with a bear then painted in scars put his thick hands on the bar. "It''s out the door when your done. One way or another."


    Corvayne reached for his money but Bearer grabbed his hand. He saw Bell stiffen, but he put his own hand on Bearers wrist before his own party drew weapons. He met her gaze, saying nothing.


    Bearer schooled her face into a steely look of her own. "Anything you eat here, anything you drink... will trap you in the underworld."


    Corvayne looked around. "Like that one flower girl who loved fruits?"


    Lady Blood Claw chimed in. ¡°Pursephone.¡±


    Bearer pointed over at a wall, and Corvayne saw she was gesturing to a pair of doors. Bathrooms. She spoke again. "You put anything in your mouth, and it will be a month in there."


    This caused the Barkeep to glare at her, but Corvayne caught his attention as he stood. "The way out?"


    He followed the pointed sausage to a door lit with a standard glowing red exit sign that did not fit the grungy bar at all.


    "Thanks."


    The gruff voice called to him. "Wait." There was some shuffling of things in a drawer, and the man slapped a letter on the bar. "Someone left you a note."


    ¡°You sure it''s for me?¡±


    ¡°I aint one for chit chat. Take it or leave it.¡±


    Corvayne took from the barkeeper a surprisingly clean white envelope, only marred by black finger prints from it''s keeper''s grubby hands. It was so out of place in the setting that it practically glowed. Opening the crisp paper, Corvayne pulled out a letter with a single line written on it, in nearly perfect penmanship.


    Spears trickled up his back, growing an pretty eye from her pseudopod to look over his shoulder. She read from a mouth she grew.


    "Corvayne. Come to Infinitus. - Half Claimed Crown."


    Corvayne felt his hand crush the letter before he knew it was happening. Concern pressed through his back.


    Nyx also looked over his shoulder. "Someone taunting you?"


    Corvayne shouldered past him. "Lets go. There''s a treasure chest to open."


    Brines hurried to join him. "Corvayne, you know, you can talk to us..."


    He stopped and sighed, getting a whole bunch of concern through [[Unity]], and one blot of amusement which was certainly Bearer-of-Burdens.


    "Letter from my dear old dad, bossing me around." Corvayne explained, giving them what he hoped was a stormy look to quell any other questions.


    Bell gave him a confused look. "I can''t imagine someone bossing you around."


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Corvayne laughed a little at that, even though he was still angry. "Trust me. I had enough for a few lifetimes."


    He turned and for a moment thought he had run into Grunt, as there was a sort of bulky torso in front of him. He looked up at a bull-faced man, glaring down at him.


    "New to the bar. You pay our welcome Fee."


    Corvayne blinked. A bandit? It had been a while!


    He could see a few of them, crowding around their group. Lady Blood Claw looked at them, and Corvayne felt excitement trickling in from her. "You made a mistake. This aint a normal party. Sit down, go back to your booze."


    Brines was looking between everyone. "We should just give them a little gold, there''s no reason to fight."


    ¡°Not just gold.¡± A few were leering at the women, a few were leering at Brines, which he picked up on and started to pale.


    Bearer laughed. Corvayne''s ear caught her whispering to Brines, "We can take some of their stuff if they lose." Then she raised her voice. "Corvayne, your not going to let them take Bell and Hylal from us, are you?"


    Bell puffed her chest out and put a hand on her blade. "The curs have their eyes on my girl?!"


    Nyx rolled his eyes. "We should slay them and move on..."


    LBC interjected. ¡°Try to not kill, if possible. Bouncer.¡±


    Corvayne was half listening, really watching one bandit to his side drawing his fist back. Corvayne moved first, scooping a mug up and using [Cross Skill: One-Two] to slam it into the would-be attacker''s jaw as he might a mace, flinging the man into the bar. The murmur stopped as there was a clatter of bottles and the sound of broken wood.


    Then the would-be thug roared and grabbed Corvayne. He had a moment to be impressed at the speed the second man moved to actually grab him before he was fling across a table, knocking glass over and rolling on the floor. He ended up getting some of the vile sawdust on the floor in his mouth and spat it out, rubbing his face. If that''s how they want to play...


    Corvayne waded into the rapidly developing barfight, cold clocking the original Minotaur after dodging two punches. A chair came flying and Corvayne caught it and sent it back with [Expert Toss]. He saw Bearer laughing as she kneed a thug in the groin. Nyx took up a boxing stance and did some surprisingly solid work on a man who was thwarted from shanking him by his shield.


    Bell was just using her sword, keeping thugs away from her and Hylal, who was hiding under a table with Brines. Corvayne saw a big man head for the table and pull Brines out, who rolled out of the way of the fellows ugly hair foot coming down. "Help!"


    Hylal cast an ice spell and the thug threw a leg up and fell on the back of his head. That didn''t save Brines from getting slugged in the face by a thug. He responded by snapping a fist out and knocking the man over a table, then staring at his hands before someone hit him with a thrown bottle and got him running for cover again.


    Spears jumped in by swiping a plate and throwing it into a thug like a discus, breaking the plate and possible the man''s nose, sending him sprawling on the ground. Her watery limb also jabbed another man in the groin. She had his back again, so he kept an eye on the rest of the fight.


    Corvayne saw one of the thugs moving up to Lady Blood Claw with a broken bottle, and so he grabbed a table and hurled it at the man, perhaps with a little too much heft as it created a line that knocked another table over, and suddenly more men were streaming over, grabbing whatever improvised weapons they could find. [[Unity]] generally didn''t just pick up on emotions, but there was a weird mix of anger and joy in the room as they gleefully started hitting people over the head with pool cues, including Bell. A moment later, Corvayne was over the princess and using [Cross-Skill: Reap] with Argyle''s staff to knock men over.


    "Exit!" He called, using the link from [[Unity]] to get everyone on the same page. A moment later they formed the dungeon wedge they had used when exploring, Corvayne driving them out of the bar fight. They got to an alleyway that looked like Cascadia. Corvayne flipped to cover the door, but after a few minutes it seemed no-one cared they had left the melee, and once the party was accounted for, he looked around.


    Not a tough choice: There was a chest lit by a street light. Otherwise there were only two ways out: A red neon sign with [EXIT] hung on an arch with a stairway up to what looked like street level. The other way was a smoking staircase, with [MORE] on it. No thanks.


    He walked over to the chest, and that was when his mindscape triggered, ripping the colors from everything back to black.


    The next moment he was falling to the familiar place that he was now sure was in his mind, though the storm felt slightly more real now, with bits of rain splashing his face before he broke through the charged clouds and landed on the now rain slick island.


    "Huh, that''s different..." He held his hand out and caught some of the water. It was


    He spun then and saw the lightning wraith towering over him. It''s blue and white energy reminded him a little of the golem he had fought.


    "Ready yet?" He asked it, a small smile on his face. At this point having it blast off felt like an old friend.


    It looked down at him. Usually, it answered right away. Instead, it was silent for a good ten seconds. It''s blue mask gave nothing away as Corvayne stared back. There was a low rumble from the storm above, then it spoke. It''s voice was a bolt of lightning, crafted from lead.


    "SOON."


    There was a pop then a deafening boom as it blasted up through the clouds. Corvayne tried not to worry. This was his head. He was in charge here, more or less. It was just some figment of his imagination. Besides, he had choices again.


    He didn''t think he wanted any sort of throne sitting ability, and so far aside from maybe boosting his shadows, it felt like the pacts were by far the best investment of whatever the Tower was tracking.


    In the stony circle in his mindscape, he stepped up to the pact making pillar. The fragment or projection of Growl-Whine was there, hood cloaking glowing red clusters of eyes.


    "The pacts have been useful." He said, thinking about what to do. He wanted to keep bumping Understanding and Unity for sure. Growth may have had a hand in defeating the golem. Yet, other concepts beckoned too.


    "I think I want to keep diversifying..."


    "You have the essence to boost the three you have one each then add two new pacts." He thought she sounded a lot more clear then last time.


    "That''s what I''ll do then. I decided on the words I want... [[Tower]]. We depend on the Tower to give us an edge on everyone outside of it. I want anything that will help with that."


    The figure mused, a clawed hand touching the cape. "Intent matters, or I''d advise you to beware of picking tarot cards."


    Corvayne nodded. "I also thought about my own goals. So I''d like to see what [[Love]] does."


    The figure stilled, and her voice was a tad colder then before. "That is what I would consider a dangerous pact. [[Unity]] builds on inclinations people already have. [[Love]] is a pact that, even given that it moves people to a ''positive'' emotion..."


    Corvayne held a hand up. "It''s because I need more of it myself, and... I got dumped because of a supernatural power, I''m going to start looking at supernatural solutions."


    "Maybe it will help you figure out why some pacts are dangerous. Hmm. I cannot stop you. Perhaps its better you take a few levels now, so later you don''t put your weight into something that badly damages the world. Like throwing your weight into [[Chaos]]."


    "How else would I make friends of my enemies?"


    The figure started laughing, and Corvayne felt his power flowing into the words before he was pushed back into reality, where the group had finished looting the chest. He saw that Hylal was wearing a likely enchanted black baseball cap on her feathered head, a purple eye on it glowing faintly. There were piles of materials already set out: Green shimmering fish scales, rolls of fabric embroidered with waves, and more ingots of red metal.


    "We tried to stop her, but she wanted to wear the hat before we ID''d it. We can take it off so it''s probably not cursed."


    Hylal chirped. "You fell asleep! Mom got worried and Nyx laughed at her!"


    Bell went red faced. "He worked really hard to get us out!"


    Lady Blood Claw folded her arms. "Nyx also passed out, Just he woke up right away."


    Corvayne took a deep breath then collected all the loot off the pavement. Nyx tapped his shoulder and showed off a ring made of brass shaped like sea serpents. "I think it''s another ring of holding. We''ll do lots for it once we get it ID''d."


    Corvayne tapped his chin. He wasn''t ready to go back to the truck yet, not even close. "That and see if anything new happens with my powers, but First things first... We still gotta climb back out of this dungeon." He was not looking forward to trying to Shepard them through the electric deathtrap once again.


    Bearer gave them a thumbs up. "How hard could that be?"

 Chapter 183: Undersea Tomb

    Corvayne stepped through the exit arch of the Dungeon into the huge vault in the undersea ruins. He could feel the magic he had spent taking hold, the sensation somewhat like scraping old paint away in his brain. He wasn''t sure when he had scraped paint off a house, but it was what came to mind as he felt a new level of clarity. He snapped his fingers and pulled out a little pad of paper.


    [[Understanding: 10]]


    [[Growth: 5]]


    [[Unity: 5]]


    [[Love: 1]]


    [[Tower: 1]]


    He tossed it back into his ring and confirmed that they had come out in the same spot. The dark forms of slain adventurers around the gateway confirmed it.


    Nyxion strode next to Corvayne, then motioned subtly behind him. "You think we''ll get a reward?"


    Corvayne smirked. "Greedy."


    He felt an elbow. Nyx was looking back at Bell. "Practical. You probably can get a chunk of land." There was a raised eyebrow. Or more.


    That wasn''t why he did it. "That wasn''t why I did it." Nyxion and one of Spears'' blue psudopods made the universal sex sign. Corvayne sighed at them. "Nor that."


    Lady Blood Claw was looking all around while speaking, eyes faintly glowing orange in the dark from some enchantment. "You make friends too easily Corvayne." Her skin also glowed faintly pink for a half second, which he was pretty sure was intense happiness, but clamped down on both her [[Unity]] link and her skin. She got him at least. It was hard to say no to Bell now that he knew her.


    Bearer dusted her hands. "We are pretty much scott-free. Just blaze a trail back up the way we came, or heck we can probably get up to that hole you made out to the surface."


    Bell handed Hylal over to Brines, to whom the bird girl chirped. "Thank you, Mr. Mount!" which was punctuated by a hearty sneeze from Brines. The princess then checked her gear and nodded, ignoring that Brines was once again itching.


    Bell then cleared her throat and pointed her chin up, sounding more then a little annoyed. "While I may not be as exceptional as you all, I have working ears! There will be a reward, even if I have to sell all my baubles to pay you."


    Bearer gave Brines a nudge. "See? They are so rich they can pay the horses."


    Corvayne didn''t want to comment that they pulled enough material out of the Source that they could probably all retire as-is. Or perhaps not, he might be alive a lot longer then a hundred years. He was musing on the price of bread in gold coins when a bright light in the darkness ahead took his attention. In a motion his spear was ready, and he heard the click of Spear''s rifle as well. However, the glimmering shape resolved itself to be the UFO that had lead them to the dungeon in the first place.


    Bearer-of-Burdens looked to the rest of the group. "Do you think it''s like a metal slime and gives us a lot of EXP?"


    Corvayne saw his shadow hands slither out and start pointing at it, emphasizing as if it was important.


    "Oh. I get it." Corvayne bowed. "Thank you UFO, we saved her thanks to you."


    [[Understanding]] somehow gave him the impression the UFO was annoyed, which was backed up by the giant spinning crystal disk slamming into the ground once, then sort of tilting a different direction. Corvayne got the it was tipping with... urgency.


    His shadow arms snapped soundlessly then pointed the direction the disc was now moving. The thought crossed his mind. Maybe... the disk had not been trying to guide him to the girl. This dungeon was doing something that spewed thousands and thousands of monsters out of it an hour. Was it trying to stop the thing from spewing an endless wall of flesh into the oceans?


    Lady Blood Claw looked at it. "Do we trust it?"


    "It lead us to the Spider, and we saved Bell''s daughter. So I''m going to say yes." Corvayne rushed after it, boots not even close to keeping up with the instant accelleration or how it could turn 90 degrees at full speed. Still, the tomb was only so big, and it couldn''t fit past the exit it was lighting up, something like a arch carved into the wall at the top of a short stairway.


    Bell called out behind him. "Corvayne, I command you to slow down! Corvayne!"


    He slowed a little, but just enough to see her light as she huffed her way up the stairs. He called back "Just catch up when you can!" then dashed ahead, eyes adjusting to the gloom as he pushed past a half open door into what looked like a ruined control room, arranged around a curved window looking into another massive chamber. There was a pillar of silver light bathing everything in a sort of stark black and white glow, lighting rows of what looked like old boxy computer terminals. Some of the rows of desks had shards of broken equipment, and there were signs of damage. The room itself was something like a city block in size, but the chamber it viewed out into was titanic.


    "What were they trying to do?" He muttered as he stepped up to the window. Looking out, Corvayne couldn''t tell if the silver line was a reactor core of some sort, or a portal, or a drill. He didn''t sense danger from it, so it likely wasn''t cooking him to stand in the room gawking at it, but there was a sort of tension here that made him slow down. The silver line for a moment flickered, then with a click righted itself into a solid line.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Something was failing. He stepped up to the window, and could see there was apparatus all arranged around the domed shaped mega chamber, large enough that he guessed it was a few miles across. It seemed to have several projectors on the ceiling, but only one was bathing the bottom of the chamber in the light.... his eyes widened. At the bottom of the huge room, the shimmering light was hitting a diamond. Given the size of the chamber, it was a small mountain. Something like the mirror of the moon above. He didn''t really think he was that greedy, but he felt himself fixating on the titanic jewel. He could see something in it, some sort of pattern that was just on the edge of figuring out.


    He heard Spears humm to herself, as if she was thinking.


    He forced himself to keep looking at the chamber. There were other windows, and while most of them were dark he could see that they were generally spread around the chamber like a ring. The light in the center of the room faltered again, and he could spot one control room one was lit up. There was a crashing sound behind him, and he saw the UFO had pushed Bell and Lady Blood Claw through the tunnel. It made a beeline for him and Corvayne had to duck as the glittering disk smashed through the window and zipped over to the lit window, drawing glowing circles in the air.


    "You two okay?"


    Lady Blood Claw snarled, skin red. "That damn disco ball nearly crushed us!" She was mad, but had enough awareness to help Bell stand.


    The princess said in Cascadian. "Thank you." Then looked about. "I''ve seen this before! There was a picture of it at the palace! This might hold the answer as to why the imperial powers are weakening!"


    Lady Blood Claw drew her sword. "I''m more worried as to why that UFO is having a seizure over there."


    Corvayne was thinking about it. "Because if there''s a light on, someone''s there, doing something to this place."


    Spears suddenly tapped his shoulder. "Whatever we do, we gotta keep that beam on! I think I know what this place is!"


    Corvayne felt her using [[Unity]] to urge him forward, and he ran, using [Flow-Like-Water] to blast through a broken door. The beam flickered again. Corvayne''s shadow hands seemed to understand why Spears was so nervous as they reached ahead and ripped the next door off it''s hinge, a feat he didn''t think they had in them. Lady Blood Claw was somehow keeping up, and he could hear Bell yelling at him.


    He reached the lit room and saw a huge woman with purple skin and silver hair in the process of slashing through a terminal, spraying computer parts across the room. She stopped destroying things to start laughing.


    "You are too late! You can''t stop it anymore! The master''s work is done!"


    Corvayne held a hand up. "What work? I don''t know what your doing here." He suspected letting whatever was under the beam of light out, but perhaps she''s do what they did in the books and tell him everything he needed to know.


    "Our perfect guardian will stop anyone from touching the black circle! The Magus''s will be done! She will be your undoing!" She started laughing, then turned and ran out a door that Corvayne guessed lead back into the dungeon. He considered chasing, but turned instead to the remaining computers. Maybe he could fix it? He felt a pull on his back.


    "Corvayne we need to run! NOW!" Spears was yelling in his ear. It was rare to hear her upset. Even when she was wounded, she was calm.


    "What is it?" Corvayne could see the UFO was now spinning near one of the segments he had already run through, and his compass was now urging him to follow, as were his shadow hands pointing and gesturing and waving around in a panic.


    "It''s Diamonds!"


    Corvayne started running, but had to look back at Spears. "It''s a giant gem, yes."


    "No, Diamonds-In-Passing!"


    "Oh she''s buried under that huge rock? If we fight her, can I grab her curse and wake her up?"


    Spears watery face blushed. "Stop thinking about coping a feel! She''s not buried under that rock! She IS that rock!"


    He thought about the diamond''s shape. The lines he had seen in that mountain... the form of arms curled around a diamond body.


    Corvayne nearly ran face first into Lady Blood Claw, but didn''t wait for her to say anything, just picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.


    "Corvayne!? What are you doing!? PUT ME DOWN. NOW!"


    "That mountain is going to come alive in a moment and start doing weaponskills at us."


    She stopped struggling a moment. "Corvayne... What are you doing!? RUN FASTER!"


    He grabbed Bell too. "Nyxion! RUN!" He kicked his friend''s shield ball hard enough to get it rolling down the side hall, the would-be royal yelling as he was flung in a direction Corvayne was pretty sure were stairs up.


    He looked back and saw Bearer gave Brines a push into the room, but she slowed down to turn to the silver light bathing the control room, which had started to flicker for longer periods of darkness.


    Brines saw her slow and stopped himself, looking between her, the pillar of light that was starting to fail, and Corvayne.


    Bearer held up a finger. "I''ll take the rear. It will buy you some time. If something weird happens, meet where we came to the planet in a month so I can get my stuff back." Bearer didn''t seem worried, but she also started taking off her clothes.


    Bell was struggling. "What are you doing! Corvayne! Stop looking at her! Also stop her! I did NOT give you permission to make a last stand! I didn''t give YOU permission to touch my rear either!"


    Lady Blood Claw shouted back. "Tell Bell whatever she said, if you drop either of us we''re dead!"


    He slowed down as Bearer bundled her clothes in her bag and tossed it to him, requiring him to catch and ring it mid air. He tried not to look at her.


    "Brines, take care of the bird girl. Corvayne, take care of Brines."


    "Bearer, it''s not like you to make a last stand..."


    "Just run. I''ll take care of -" There was a hissing static. "Or whatever you guys call her." She looked back and met his eyes. He noticed her head spun the entire way around without her shoulders moving, then she kept spinning it until it was facing forward.


    Brines was ahead of him down the tunnel they picked, with Nyxion already bashing his way through a pair of monsters as they entered what looked like a dead garden. The formed the same formation as before, minus their rearguard. A third creature took a bolt of lightning from Brines and Hylal combining fire, neither slowing. Brines face looked determined, moreso then usual.


    Corvayne let his compass and the UFO both lead the way through a city made of what looked like fountains to a metal pillar with an empty room in it. Corvayne didn''t need to be told it was an elevator or teleporter. He just waited until everyone was in then hit the topmost button the moment Brines made it.


    As the elevator surged up, something like shrill bells started going off in his head.


    [[[[EMERGENCY QUEST AUTO ACCEPTED: DIMENTIONAL INVADER DETECTED]]]]


    [[[[INVADER HAS ATTEMPTED TO CAPUTRE THE RUINS. DEFEAT ALL ENEMIES 0/1]]]]


    Lady Blood Claw turned burning red. ¡°Stop the elevator! Kill it!¡±


    Corvayne put out an arm and stopped her. Bell was trying to stop her daughter, who was straining for the button to turn the elevator around. "Kaaaw! Cmon friends! Let''s tear that monster apart with our bare hands! Yay us! Booo them!!"


    Nyxion grabbed Lady Blood Claw''s other arm. ¡°LBC! Chill!¡±


    "I will NOT chill it NEEDS to die! Abomonation! KILL IT!" Her eyes had turned black and red, even as her skin was steaming. Nyx was gritting his teeth and Corvayne could see steam rising from where he was grabbing her wrist.


    Brines shook his head. ¡°She said it varies in how strong the effect is.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t feel anything, but he could see Bell was straining to hold her half starved daughter back, and was biting her lip until it was bleeding. Nyx''s eyes kept darting to the button as well. Corvayne forced himself to calm down, to take everything he had and bottle it tight inside, to become empty then draw further with [[Unity]]. He didn''t stop until everyone was sitting down and the only sound the droning of the elevator and their breathing in sync.


    The power was drawing on... something, but Corvayne was sure it would last until they got to the top. Then there was a rumble and the elevator died as they were cast into darkness.

 Chapter 184: Titans

    Corvayne gritted his teeth and put everything into Adept Strength, muscles straining as he broke the stone door open into a dungeon now dark except for emergency lights. He turned and gave the rope a tug, then braced himself with Gravity as the others started climbing out of the elevator. The rumbling from below was getting more frequent. Corvayne forced himself to stay calm, and tried to push the same feeling through [[Unity]]. He could feel his allies feelings too as they climbed the rope.


    Nyxion was annoyed at the delay, with a hint of fear. He had floated up rather then bother with the rope. What was he afraid of. The Golem? Of the dark? Getting buried alive when whatever was happening shook the ruins apart? Seeing Nyxion''s face pale when Corvayne thought about it, he guessed improved [[Unity]] might also start sharing ideas.


    Spears seemed scared, but had tight control over her emotions and a hint of confidence in him, a sense of satisfaction they were together. Also a hint of frustration, directed at him. For what Gylwin had said about [[Love]] being a dangerous pact, [[Unity]] was certainly violating some basic privacy just by contact.


    On the other hand, he spent a moment too long looking down at Bell''s cleavage, as she had shed her armor down to functionally underwear to climb the rope, and he could feel embarrassment well up in her. He had to reign the power in, and she coughed before she turned and helped her daughter up to the top before she started hastily dressing in her cloth armor.


    Brines was next, and Corvayne could feel that there was a lot going on in the athletic man. Worry for Bearer, but also pride in his lover standing her ground.


    Finally, Lady Blood Claw took his hand to steady herself as she pulled herself out of the elevator. There was a lot going on, but for the first time since using [[Unity]] he also felt there wasn''t a whole picture. Something, probably the curse, left a curiously sharp edge in the emotions that Corvayne gently shied away from.


    Touchy feely stuff could wait. They were now adrift in the seemingly endless ruins, this time near what looked like an abandoned road. The gentle curve of the large tunnel suggested a massive ring. Perhaps another part of the super structure that was supposed to keep it''s diamond prisoner suppressed. Everyone else stiffened as Corvayne let his own concerns leak through their link. Then they picked up the pace. Corvayne and Nyx formed a wedge, with Spear''s weapons slaying things like albino cyclopic orcs, more shadow spikes from the earlier floors, acid spitters, four legged battering rams that bounced around on elastic legs.


    He and Spears were one, both because he was acting as the legs, but also because with her own weapons she acted as another pair of hands, bringing his total to something like eight including his shadows.


    Bell had taken up a spot in defending Brines and her daughter, and did well enough with a red metal blade she had been given, blasting sparks as she warded monsters off until someone else could kill it. Hylal supported her mother with shards of ice that she was pretty good at aiming, rarely taking shots that could hit anyone else. Brines just focused on keeping them out of harms way, twin daggers burning his stamina to ward off larger monsters or kill a few too aggressive to bother dodging lines of lightning and fire.


    The fighting started to taper off as the rumbling was happening every few seconds, and after about ten minutes of walking the tunnel they were stopped by a huge metal door. A few [Sundering Strikes] rusted away a gap and let them squeeze through to an extremely dusty section of tunnel. Corvayne could see in the dark skeletons sitting near a wall, but didn''t point them out, instead guiding his group to a side passage leading to one of the spiral stairs. Corvayne took the steps two at a time, letting his friends catch up when he inevitably had to start slaughtering werewolves with bee eyes that amounted to a messy chore.


    At some point he smelled ocean, and like that he was strolling out of a cave into the humid tropical night, cloud swirling above the dungeon starting to condense. The rumbling was disturbing the ocean, the waves choppy and white with just the diamond moon to shine on them. Corvayne felt it looked disturbingly close. The group was thankfully only a few minutes walk on the beach from where they had left their hoverbikes.


    "Should we leave one for Bearer?" Corvayne asked.


    Brines shook his head, setting Hylal down so that Bell could help her get strapped in. "No, she told me if something like this happened, NOT to invite her in any way to follow us. She specifically refused to look at any maps."


    "Why?"


    "Invaders basically have to keep fighting and killing to claim territory. She was worried how the system would use her knowing where we were and might influence her to fight our way."


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "It also does things to your mind?"


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. "The system itself is at the very least always pulling from your intent. Someone once told me, to master the system, you need to master your own desires."


    Corvayne wished it had been easier to pry answers from the woman, as it seemed he had not the slightest what the hell she was. "Noted. Then let''s leave and give her time to work."


    They had barely cruised out from the island when the sea started boiling, rays of silver light erupting from the water. The UFO flew out ahead of them, kicking a wake up as it flew low and fast, and Corvayne followed. Looking back, he saw an eruption of dirt and sand as a single jewelled hand burst from the ground, fingers larger then buildings flexing. He focused on driving then, as parts of the dungeon were now falling behind them like a stone rain, further churning up the ocean. There was a loud boom and Corvayne saw something propel itself into Diamonds monsterous arm. The limb shattered and Corvayne heard a titanic roar, but moments later the shards flew back into place, and a beam of white swept out over the water, water exploding into steam far from where the beam cut and giving Corvayne instant sunburn just from the light.


    He stopped gawking and kicked the speed up to maximum, aiming for the nearby adventurers guild. The bikes shields flickered as a shockwave blasted across the beach and tore the shingles off houses, with a few trees already knocked over. He glanced back again to see that Diamonds was up, a four legged centaur form missing it''s head but rapidly regrowing it. Something small was clipping parts out of it, shards flying off into orbit then diving back into place flaming hot, so that the whole monster glittered red and white with arcs of fire against the night sky as it thrashed its way out of the island. All he could think was that the ruins had birthed a horror, even as part of him was mesmerized by her diamond curves, like the rest of her body glowing a soft white where she was not bleeding black ooze.


    "Two titans..." He muttered.


    The moment was shattered when one of her diamond breasts was broken into a hundred shards and she and a shrill cry of rage belted out, silenced as Bearer once again demolished her.


    After that Corvayne let the lanterns still hanging in town guide him, only slowing as they cruised onto the beach. He was trying to think of if he could help evacuate, but he had also picked the town as a place with flat ground to see what would happen next. Suprisingly, his teammates didn''t just keep driving, instead setting down to watch with him.


    Bell was staring at it. "What is that thing?"


    Spears spoke up. "The other girl who has a serious crush on Corvayne."


    Corvayne opened his mouth in shock as he beheld the undying titan.


    "She liked me?" She was the size of a city. How would that work?


    Nyx was staring open mouth at it. He shut it, opened his mouth to tried to say something, then stalled as he gawked at another blinding beam before turning to Corvayne, floated his bike over, then reached out and shook his hand.


    "You''re winning on the weird girlfriends."


    Lady Blood Claw snapped her fingers. "Binoculars!"


    Nyxion reached into a saddlebag on his bike and pulled a pair out. "You''ll go blind you know."


    "If it points the light at us, we are all dead." She muttered, skin deep green. "... Bearer is fighting it, right? I can''t see her but shes winning."


    Brines sighed. "She is trying to stall it. Once it leaves the ruins, Bearer is stuck there until she gives up the claim."


    Lady Blood Claw put the Binoculars down. "Claim?"


    Brines nodded. "She triggered an invasion by claiming the ground, and manifesting her true body."


    Corvayne turned to him. "What''s her real body?"


    "She said she''s an array of artifacts." He looked over at Corvayne. "I sorta thought it could be bullshit. Bearer doesn''t exactly tell the truth as a habit."


    Another blast pinged their shield, causing the cluster of their bikes to glow green a moment as they buffered the wave of force slamming across the water.


    Hylal asked. "Can we leave? Please? I don''t think even Corvayne-dad can beat it."


    "Not a dad."


    Spears added. "...Yet!"


    He turned his neck as far as it would go. "Are you okay? That thing is terrifying."


    "It''s also not your problem." Spears said. Lady Blood Claw groaned at this.


    Bell huffed. "I can say, with all due respect and appreciation for Corvayne who fought a war for me, saved my daughter and... perhaps is saving me... that''s a foolish way to pry him from a hopeless quest."


    Corvayne was only half listening, seeing the creature turning away from both the ruins and them, and taking it''s first ponderous step forward before the miniscule enemy it was fighting blew apart a few more limbs, only for them to reform and the creature to stand back up.


    Corvayne heard someone behind him, somehow against the din of low grade shock waves blasting through the land every other minute, and saw Corky climbing up the hill.


    The guildmaster stumbled his way to the summit and adjusted his hat, which Corvayne noted had somehow not flown off his head despite the thunderous waves of force buffeting the town. "Well, that''s not good... oh you found the bird? Well I suppose you can''t make an omelett without releasing a world-class threat."


    Hylal was the only one who had a short sharp laugh at that. "Because mom laid an egg! I get it."


    Corvayne turned to Bell who was beet red. The princess turned on her daughter. "That''s NOT something to talk about in polite company!"


    Corvayne battled the urge to ask questions. How big was the egg? Did Bell sit on it? Can you warm an egg wearing pants, or...?


    Corky pulled out a bottle of rum, which was almost immediately shattered by force. He looked at the broken handle he was holding, then shrugged and tossed it away.


    The huge figure was straining but stomped another foot into the shallow waters, it''s weight and the attacks making it move incredibly slow. Corvayne on a whim tried to use Compass to guess where it was headed. The power didn''t mind being used for something appropriate to it''s name, and gave him the monster''s bearing, spiking alarm in him.


    "We gotta go. Now!" He snapped.


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. "What''s up?"


    "She''s going right to The Source, and she''s going to crush the capital on the way."

 Chapter 185: "My Bad!"

    They pulled into the Imperial Capital in a morning downpour. It colored the town in blue and gray with rust red wet stone. Corvayne could see a few early risers in their windows, looking out at the weather and clearly deciding if they wanted to be out. A pair of young lovers or siblings laughed as they raced between awnings then leaned on each other. A grumbling Merchant marched past their bikes, wet clothes held over his wares. Off the side of the road, a few children dressed in roughspun robes splashed in a puddle. They pointed at the bikes and waved, obviously looking for adventurers to throw some candy, and while Corvayne waved and forced a smile, they were a reminder that behind them was a lumbering monster able to level the town.


    Princess Bell pulled ahead, clearly struggling to not just fly overhead to the palace. Hylal was asleep on her back, tied to her back with a spare sweater Corvayne had from when he was trying to be fashionable. He could not only see her frustration with being forced to stick to the ground, but feel it through [[Unity]]. She had been upset since Corvayne had figured the titanic monster''s path, and had forced them to watch and make sure that the creature was on a line for the Capital.


    So after getting away from the collapsing dungeon and watching Diamond tore her way up from the ground, they moved to a vantage point up in the hills behind the Adventurer''s guild. Corvayne spent about an hour alternating between watching the town empty out onto boats and watching the light show as Diamond got blasted into shards then came flickering back together no worse for the wear. The only time they moved back was when a beam came close to town, blasting a line across the other side of the mountain, but otherwise the creature mostly fired at the ground near it until it finally got out of whatever area Bearer had marked.


    Then it started almost gingerly plodding in a perfect line, over about an hour walking up a moon-lit mountain and then down into the water up to her neck, glowing enough that he could see her form vanishing into the glassy black sea. No more beams flew out ¨C she seemed to completely ignore everything else, just slowly stumbling it''s way towards the capital.


    Corvayne and Spears and Lady Blood Claw had a quick discussion and estimated it was moving at about seven miles per hour. The days were longer on the world then Cascadia, so he guessed they had about three full days before the monster would be in sight of the Capital.


    While they didn''t want to waste time, they didn''t want Bell''s dad to fry them if they flew right to the palace. So they were cruising the streets again. He felt a pang of homesickness mixed with frustration and helplessness, and he wasn''t sure if it was him or his liquid girlfriend riding on his back, or maybe Bell. Not Lady Blood Claw, who had shown impressive skill at keeping her feelings bottled up. Or at least, to [[Unity]] she was a black body. Her skin was made up of blotchy white and blue square patterns that flicked across her skin, and her faced made him think she was focusing really hard on keeping walls up.


    Nyx was the first to break the silence. ¡°You know, now''s about the time to move on. This isn''t our fight.¡±


    Bell turned on him, temper flaring as she spoke in more fluent Cascadian then Corvayne had expected. ¡°How can you say that? You would let it crush my home? The homes of everyone?¡±


    He waved a hand. ¡°Some day you''ll see where we come from, this is pretty but hardly impressive, save that it used to fire lasers.¡±


    Bell''s voice lowered to a growl. ¡°As it will again.¡±


    Hylal snored extra loud just then, making bird song noises when she exhaled. Corvayne was pretty sure she was awake and just doing it to try to stop a fight, but Nyxion was clearly not having it.


    ¡°Fine. You will bear a new emperor, who''s loins are the real super cannon, and you''ll blast the enemies no doubt waiting for your father to die, and a thousand years of prosperity to your house. I HATE to the voice of reason here, but we got nothing that can fight that thing. Stop pissing and moaning about your town. It''s just rock.¡±


    ¡°It stands for more.¡± She twitched. Nyxion sensed blood and raised his head.


    ¡°You saying you couldn''t just build it all over again even if you lost it all?¡±


    Corvayne had enough. ¡°Peace Nyxion. Bell... I don''t know if we can fight Diamond. Or I should say, I know we can''t fight her.¡±


    She slumped a little on her bike. ¡°The army will try. Father will too.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shook her head. ¡°He should pick a successor then. If he''s wise, he''ll get out of the way and hope it stays content to just march in a line.¡±


    They parked their bikes just inside the grand hall. Members of court were already up, taking breakfast as servants moved throughout the huge atrium. Having more time to view everything, Corvayne had to admit the palace was inspiring in it''s scope, showing off both tremendous labor and hints of magical assistance to hold it together. That it was given over as a sort of public space felt forward thinking. Bell lead them across the path to a large open door where guards were posted, leading to something like a large bank lobby split in two by a stairway. Petitioners were already lined up waiting for clerks setting things up behind an ornate partition, something like the worlds fanciest cage. Bell just kept walking up the steps, briefly drawing the guards eyes then just as quickly shedding attention.


    Corvayne wondered if Bell had cleared them as with her before, or she just rolled up to the palace with random adventurers before on a weekly basis. The next chamber was clearly more exclusive then the previous two, being a high domed hall that connected what looked like a chamber for holding council on one side, and a wing where people wearing actual robes with stars stitched on were entering and exiting. The faint smell of chemicals and that some of the robes had burns in them suggested alchemy.


    Mosh or Wick probably would have gotten a kick out of it, but Corvayne just glanced and followed Bell forward to a guard who took a step in front of her with a hand held up.


    She stuck her chin up and glared at the man. ¡°I''ve come to report to Father directly about a threat to the Capital. Step aside.¡±


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°You can go, but unless someone vouches for them-¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± Corvayne spun to see Undine striding up. The older woman was limping slightly but using a solid brass staff to help her walk.


    ¡°What happened?¡± He asked.


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°Not all of us can walk off diving too deep into a dungeon. I was going to report to my old drinking buddy exactly how important locking down places like the source will be.¡±


    Corvayne looked over and saw Bell was hesitating, looking a little lost, and Hylal on her back was making puppy dog eyes at him. He looked over at Undine.


    ¡°Trying to get ahead of every town having it''s own magic endless economy?¡±


    ¡°And stopping outworlders from just waltzing in. A dozen Ravens... they''d be fighting over the last village to pillage in a year. What''s got you and her so upset? I said it before, learn to control your damn magic!¡±


    She lifted the staff as it to hit him on the head, and Corvayne rushed to help keep her up when she put too much weight on her injured side.


    ¡°Bah, I hate that about you. Too soft, it''s why Hari''s been having trouble.¡±


    Corvayne tried to rise above the bait as the guards let them in but blocked his friends. He was about to turn and say something but he saw LBC snap her fingers and point sternly forward. Even Brines was nodding.


    ¡°What''s got you and princess all upset? Wait, is she carrying her kid? When did she stop being a deadbeat?¡±


    Corvayne helped her up another small flight of stairs to the top of the palace, a grand throne room. Seating with enough room to fit thousands was arrayed to face a dias. Red, orange, white, and gold stones in the bricks depicted historical figures, solemly standing before a ring made of absurdly dark rock the gleamed as light started to creep through tall windows. Corvayne''s attention moved from the scenery to the dias. It was half filled with doctors, priests, and alchemists giving a gaunt man sitting in the twenty foot tall throne his fill of medicine. Bulky machines that looked to Corvayne like artificial lungs huffed and wheezed. On one side a doctor was poking the figure waiting on the throne''s arm, drawing blood. On the other side, a woman was painting his skin a peach color, crushing a bright crimson pigment.


    It was a halo of activity around the man who must be the Emperor. His withered form was covered in light robes trimmed with gold and a circlet instead of a crown. While he looked tired, he was not asleep. His eyes moved, watching everything around him as if he was about to start belting out orders. Corvayne could almost see the strength of the will in those eyes latching onto him, contrasting the body that was in the process of failing him. Corvayne felt a certain instinctive fear as they met each other''s gaze. Not because he wasn''t confident in fighting everyone in the room all at once... he was. No, it''s because there was a weight to the man''s attention, a little slight arch of the eyebrow while staring that constantly asked the question ''Well? What of it?''


    Or perhaps he was looking at Undine, or at Bell.


    Even from far away, he could hear in the quite din of men working the man sigh, and as if they understood exactly what that meant, everyone made a path for them to step up to the guards standing at the base of the throne.


    The Emperor rested his elbow on the side of his throne to support his chin, then motioned with a bony hand for them to come closer. He waited for everyone to line up, with Bell between Corvayne and Undine.


    ¡°Daughter, somehow you''ve managed to surprise me three times in a row. First I hear of you crushing the north with almost no forces to note. Then you decide to go after your pariah daughter, and what''s more is you come back alive with my wayward sage in tow. And supposedly, the Wanderer himself.¡±


    Corvayne glanced over at Bell to see if there was a reaction. She didn''t note it, stepping forward. ¡°Father, while our mission was successful, we encountered a threat to the Capital. A monster the size of a mountain is-¡±


    His voice was lead as he interrupted. ¡°I know.¡±


    He reached over to a tiny pearl. ¡°The wizards at Kton isle told me. Guildmaster Corky beat you by teleporting back here. I got the story out of him.¡±


    He cleared his throat. ¡°He tells me that the monster came out of the ruins after you were barreling away from it.¡± Corvayne could see the steel in him. ¡°You had me, Daughter. For a moment there, I thought we had hope. That you''d get your shit together and give us an empress ready to usher in a new era. One of war, but also perhaps one of glory. Instead, you''ve awoken some sort of weapon that''s marching directly to our home.¡±


    ¡°We did not waken it, it was a-¡±


    He waved his hand. ¡°Waste of time.¡±


    ¡°We must evacuate!¡± Bell stood straight. ¡°In the beast is the spirit of a warrior my general once knew. It is armed with light weapons as well.¡±


    The Emperor closed his eyes and sat back, taking a deep breath. ¡°You have failed, Bell. Not me, as I don''t expect to make the end of the Month no matter how far we go.¡±


    ¡°Father, they have a technique that might fix it, the goddess Lythandies...¡±


    ¡°I know what this creature is, Daughter. The avatar of our pact. When we formed this empire, it was to protect the ring of black under us. To keep it sealed, and to never let anything in, nor anything out. Our duty that we failed, hundreds of years before you were born.¡±


    Bell gasped a little, and a few of the people working to tend to the Emperor also stopped stunned for a moment before being prodded by their fellows to ignore the conversation and keep pumping blood or air or whatever.


    ¡°The records say this fortress was never breached!¡± She insisted.


    ¡°Yes. But we were soundly thrashed when something decided to come OUT of the portal.¡± He paused to drink an offered cup of something that smelled strongly of Aloe.


    Undine folded her arms around her staff. ¡°Well, before you croak you old bastard, tell me what it was?¡± Corvayne wondered with the way she spoke to him if she and the emperor were an item at one point.


    The Emperor leaned back and smiled. ¡°You want to know?¡±


    Bell leaned forward, voice enough loud enough that it woke Hylal back up with a squawk. ¡°Father, if we could find the person who breached the portal... it might be possible to restore the pact! What is broken may be mended!¡±


    The Emperor''s smile grew. ¡°What do you mean, dear daughter. Find?!¡± He sat up, putting a hand over his eyes searching high and low.


    ¡°We search for the thing that entered our world. Do you know what it is? Do the records say?¡±


    Corvayne saw the Emperor''s eyes dart his way a moment. Is he really worried about state secrets? His capital was on the chopping block, and it looked and sounded like the man should be in a bed as it was. Heck, he had been thinking of offering the Emperor mending to see if it worked.


    ¡°You accuse me of wasting my time, in this crisis you jest Father!¡±


    ¡°You may have found HEART daughter but you just barely can rule yourself!¡± He snapped back. ¡°Do not presume to tell me time is of the essence. I''ve been trying fix our dying empire for years. Don''t get testy just because you nor your bird are the answer.¡±


    Bell had her teeth grit. ¡°Tell me.¡±


    ¡°I would never spoil a moment of watching one of my children pinching a few grains of wisdom into their otherwise empty head.¡±


    Undine seemed to get the joke, as Corvayne felt shock pass and faint amusement pass through her link in [[Unity]].


    Bell was getting angrier, and Corvayne reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. She took a deep breath, and reset herself.


    ¡°Father. One last chance. Let me seek this interloper. If we can find him in three days and force them into the portal, there''s a chance we''ll mend the pact and can call off or fight off the beast bearing down on us.¡±


    ¡°Her name is Diamonds-in-Passing, she used to boss me around.¡±


    Spears poked his back and he wiggled a little bit.


    The man on the throne ignored Corvayne. ¡°You really need three days? Hah. Amusing.¡±


    He held up a finger, waved it in a circle, then pointed at Corvayne. ¡°The man who doomed our empire was none other then The Wanderer.¡±


    Corvayne felt intense stress as suddenly all the helpers and all the guards in earshot turned their attention on him. The old man on the throne''s face was grim but his eyes shone with amusement. He could see Bell looking at him horrified. He could feel Spears laughing on his back, and while he was sweating he tried to come up with something he could say. To Bell, especially, who''s miserable past he was now in some way responsible for.


    ¡°Oh. Oops.¡±

 Chapter 186: Three Days Before the Fall of the Empire

    Corvayne had actually wanted to stay in the chamber longer to try to pry information about his status as The Wanderer and the gateway out of the emperor, but the old man waved him away after a fit of coughing.


    What''s more, Bell had been upset, giving him a look of anguish or contempt or horror that he wasn''t able to fully pin down. It didn''t take [[Unity]] to see that her feelings were a mess. Corvayne would have gone off to find her, but the moment he left the throne room he was swept up by chancellors. One behind him was urging him to not say a word about the truth of the pact that had bound the empire, another was trying to get details on the speed of the beast, one very large woman was barring him from following where Bell went while a smaller one directed him down a side hall, still flocked with people half shouting for his attention before Nyxion somehow scattered them just by glaring at them, save the small woman who was frozen in place.


    Nyx had started floating again, surveying the scattered crowed. He settled back on the small woman and snapped his fingers. "I''ll show him to the guest quarters. Bring lots of wine, a pitcher of oil, and a lot of fruit."


    Corvayne could tell that Nyx was exuding something like an artificial feeling. [[Unity]] also gave him a muted sense that spikes of fear were blaring all around, Impressive given he didn''t even have strong connection with anyone in the room feeling it. Nyxion must have evolved the skill that let him scare things. He shrugged, stretching Spears-Like-Water who was still clinging to his back in her reduced form. As often seemed to happen to him recently, the moment one thing was dealt with he found another looming problem they needed to deal with. He also needed sleep.


    The short assistant woman (Corvayne guessed mid thought that she was more likely some sort of royal steward given how other servants and guards responded to her presence) showed them to the quarters they were given in a set of guest rooms. The rooms were dug into the base of the cliff, half carved stone and half brick. The rooms had small slit windows that suggested when they were built as part of a fortress, though someone else had come through and broken walls to make a doors out to a balcony. Flowers in aged stone planters suggested the change had happened long ago for guests to look out over the city.


    He found he rather liked the utilitarian walls and floors, reminding him a bit of his room back in the Watcher village. This one had thick carpets and a much larger soft looking bed. He stepped back out and closed the doors behind him, then backtracked to the shared space in the quarters. From some feathers he saw swept into a corner, he guessed that this is where they had put Hylal''s father at some point.


    The meeting space was set up like a den, with a few steps down to a spot where a long wood table was set up. Two pairs of armor flanked a hearth lit with a steady fire going. Perhaps the emperor''s spys told him that his guests would be damp.


    Nyxion was sitting with his back to the fire, with Lady Blood Claw a few chairs distant and Brines, who was sneezing, at the other end of the table. No sign of Princess Bell or Undine, and he suspected that Hylal was getting fixed up as-is, but Princess Tutu was sitting at the table, feet up, arms behind her back while wearing a formal looking full body dress that Corvayne would expect to find on a proper princess... Which was very out of character for someone who was also a devoted adherent of an insane sex goddess.


    Tutu saw him and was about to say something but went beet red, feet snapping off the table then burying her face in her hands. Corvayne stopped and checked to make sure his pants hadn''t fallen to the floor then behind him.


    ¡°Is there a problem?¡± He asked in the table''s general directions.


    Brines was wiping his nose with parchment, clearly unaware of how expensive it was in a per-industrial society. ¡°When you got mad and uncursed her, she got her shame back.¡±


    ¡°Of course he can''t just get my NAME back, but for the random floozy?¡± Lady Blood Claw muttered. Corvayne shot her a look to let her know he heard her and was sorry he couldn''t fix her. Lady Blood Claw shot him a look back that said she knew he knew what she had said and she meant it. Classic Stalemate.


    Nyxion nodded. ¡°It will take hard work to bring her shamelessness back. I sense a great epic quest to do while we RIDE AWAY FROM THIS CITY AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.¡± He was looking right at Corvayne when his voice lost all volume control.


    ¡°Bell isn''t going to like that.¡± Corvayne countered with. Nyx took a deep breath then stood up, took a few steps behind LBC, and put his hands on Tutu''s shoulders.


    ¡°See that''s okay, we have discount Bell.¡±


    Tutu looked up, face still strained red. ¡°I can TELL what you meant!¡±


    Nyxion looked down at her. ¡°Me too. I guess I''m just a language prodigy.¡±


    She stood up. ¡°I''m here to make sure he takes responsibility for my sister!¡±


    ¡°I was going to ask if she''s okay.¡± He meant it, too. It was weird that he kept worrying about what she thought.


    ¡°I was going to say, you think you can just slide into the royal family like a burr under our saddle...¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I think even if I was some sort of gold digger, I''d have hit the hills rather then come here. This is the path of an danger we cannot underestimate.¡±


    Tutu growled and pointed at him, actually showing off she had a pair of fangs. ¡°You say that like it''s not your fault, you stirred up something in... those ruins!¡±


    ¡°I also feel responsible for the state of the empire, as well.¡± He put his hand to his mouth to stifle a yawn. He was only a little guilty, he hadn''t been awake when he shattered their oath to protect the portal. ¡°So maybe if I went back through, it will fix your bloodline?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw quirked her lips. ¡°If they thought it would work, they would have pushed you in. And It''s too late unless they can rally around a new capital that has super magic defenses.¡±


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Nyxion tapped the table. ¡°And restoring the potency of this empire DOES NOT fix the elephant in the room, that Corvayne''s big crystal sister is slowly stomping her way here and can fire death beams. We have nothing in our arsenal that can take it out. I see you thinking and thinking. Think, fuck, drink, all good! Cheers! Have fun the next two days, but dammit, this isn''t the same as the last hopeless quest because by all rights it was someone else who would end up dead if the worst happened. You''re going to get the whole group killed!¡±


    He looked up after he was sure Nyxion was done to see him sipping wine. Corvayne nodded to show that he had listened and was, in fact, tempted to just walk away. ¡°Why do you think I''d try to have us fight or stop her?¡±


    Nyxion rolled his eyes. ¡°Because you bend over backwards for Bell, and I can get that, but you also just saw a giant pair of tits of your possibly-in-love-with-you-big-sister, it''s wormed your way into her brain that we can stop her somehow, and you''ve been distracted from the reality that we don''t need to. We can''t do it, no matter how amazingly you can toss a staff. Let me repeat that, for everyone listening through whatever means of spying they do on this room. We CANNOT kill it, and we by all rights SHOULDN''T try.¡±


    Spears piped up with a mouth sticking out of his shirt. ¡°If we can fix her, think of how much stronger we get! Corvayne needs a whole bevy of loyal girls!¡±


    ¡°I don''t care about the shape of my allies... much. She also might know more then Spears about what happened to The Watchers.¡± He gazed over at LBC seeing if he drummed up some agreement, but she shook her head.


    ¡°Corvayne, you still have patches of seared skin where just being a mile away from it''s beam cooked you, and we can''t fight something that big that can keep restoring itself. It did not shatter itself plowing through untold tons of stone. Whatever Bearer is could maybe find out a way to put her down, but I doubt she just missed Diamond''s core.¡±


    Corvayne wasn''t sure why they were dead certain he was going to try to fight her. He opened his mouth to say they''d leave in a day, but something felt like it was tugging at his heart. ¡°Okay. Can we call our friends and get backup?¡±


    Nyx pulled out a radio and set it down. ¡°We can, but part of this whole venture is that you needed time away. Still need it.¡±


    A fair point, Corvayne conceded. ¡°When I was in the reactor, before Diamond activated, I saw someone who looked like Lady Blood Claw. She mentioned a master...¡±


    Spears piped up, groggily. ¡°Did she have a third eye like the other cultists? It feels odd we were there right there when it happened...¡±


    Corvayne agreed. ¡°They were working probably doing something in the dungeon to burn the containment out, but maybe something about me being there made it possible for the last bit to happen?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw picked a turquoise fruit that looked a little like a peach and took a bite, making the ''not bad'' face before setting her skin to match the color on a whim. She finished the fruit and wiped her hands on Nyxion''s cape before continuing.. ¡°If we take another jab at it, then we should see if we can prevent her awakening.¡±


    Corvayne frowned. ¡°I''m not going to rely on that. Once was enough. But yes, if that happens, we could try to get close to her while she''s asleep and pull the curse out. If she''s unable to blast us with magic miles away.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw was thinking. ¡°What about imperial weapons? Might the light beam stop her long enough to tap her?¡±


    Tutu looked around the table. ¡°Why do you insist that the monster is a she?¡±


    Corvayne helpfully simulated Diamond''s chest. ¡°Diamonds is not wearing a shirt. If not for how terrifyingly destructive she is, I''d say I''d be more embarrassed then anything.¡±


    LBC snorted. ¡°You mean horny?¡±


    The princess thought about this, then reached out for the wine. ¡°So you knew her? Or you know it''s name?¡±


    Careful, he thought to himself. Corvayne trusted Bell, and in poor lighting her sister resembled her. But unlike Bell, her sister was more a force of nature. He watched her lean in. ¡°We can make it a trade... I''m willing to part with the empires secrets while they matter.¡±


    ¡°I want to know about me... as the Wanderer.¡±


    ¡°Well! Every child knows you were a ''good guy'' who had a habit of decimating the bandit population and killing corrupt nobles. Many warriors have taken up black spears as a tribute.¡±


    ¡°I want to know if I really came from the portal. If so, that''s my next-¡±


    ¡°Our next stop.¡± Lady Blood Claw''s skin flashed orange a second, then she turned to Tutu. ¡°We spent a lot of time here, but that''s off course from what we are really looking to do.¡±


    Nyxion was thinking. ¡°Well, not entirely. Part of this is Corvayne rebounding.¡±


    Tutu rolled her eyes. ¡°If you want, I will actually court him like a proper lady.¡±


    Corvayne stared at her. ¡°You exposed yourself numerous times to me while we ran that dungeon.¡± He did not bother adding that he got more out of watching Lady Blood Claw towel her hair off after a workout then when Tutu had been trying to give him an anatomy lesson. For as funny as it would be to piss Tutu off, it didn''t take [[Understanding]] to know LBC would clobber him for it.


    ¡°Okay, to start with, you know we are off-worlders.¡± Corvayne said. Spears poked him, and he took a deep breath. ¡°My lovely girlfriend points out, we might be from this world a long long time in the past, as we are not 100 percent sure which worlds we come from, with the exception of Nyx whom was born on Tripic... right?¡±


    He stuck his nose up a little. ¡°Yes. I hail from the greatest city in the universe... Though I spent more of my childhood on other worlds or the orbitals...¡±


    Tutu looked confused, so Corvayne kept going. ¡°We are trying to get back home to solve a bunch of mysteries about ourselves, and of course remove our curses. So if I came from a portal somewhere in the palace, I''d like to see it.¡±


    Tutu frowned. ¡°The entire complex under the palace is sealed, and it''s a maze that burrows deep into the ground.¡±


    Brines sniffed. ¡°It''s another big dungeon? Maybe more pilgrim ruins, then.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw groaned. ¡°We should go down there then. Right now.¡±


    Nyxion grinned. ¡°Escape! Exactly!¡±


    Tutu shook her head. ¡°Part of why it''s sealed is because of something down there for strengthening the Royal family''s bloodline power to use the many artifacts we were left as guardians of this portal.¡±


    Corvayne grit his teeth. ¡°Then that should have been the first place the royal family went, rather then pushing breeding experiments.¡±


    Tutu stood up straight as a rod, biting her lip and grabbing the table. Corvayne held up a hand. ¡°Sorry for startling you. I mean, I think Hylal is a sweet girl, and good on Bell for trying to fix a mistake she made, but... if there''s a way to preserve your empire under your feet.¡±


    Tutu took a deep breath. ¡°After a certain point passed, everyone who tried to go into the Eye... never came out. Heroes, Wizards, Warriors, Parties, squadrons, whole armies and their followers, emperors and peasants... gone.¡±


    Brines looked thoughtful. ¡°So in other words, we are going to run?¡±


    Corvayne didn''t like where they were going. ¡°I''m not going to even think about going into some artifact that''s been eating people for untold ages at anything less then full strength, and only if the situation changes. I''d like to save the town, and Diamonds, but... we have three days to evacuate. Whatever we are going to do, I''d like to be at full strength.¡±


    Tutu smiled and turned her nose up. ¡°There''s a chance though... Father is going to try to hit it at the third defense line tomorrow afternoon!¡±


    Spears-Like-Water bobbed up and down. He reached over to one of the platters of fruit and offered her one. She spoke and ate at the same time by growing extra mouths. ¡°We can try to get the curse out then, right?¡±


    ¡°It''s possible, but... I tried once to clear Lady Blood Claw''s curse, and it was impossible. Either way, I think we need rest. I''m dead tired.¡± He also found himself worrying about Bell. She had not taken his part in dooming her empire very well, accidental as it was, and it seemed like her father had been informed about them going into the dungeon and might be blaming her for awakening the monster.


    He went to his room and pulled the curtains over the door to the balcony and the window. Spears wrapped herself around his neck, her gentle snoring and warmth helping stave off how cool the stone work in the room was. It was still rainy and overcast, and the gentle patter of rain on the glass helped him calm down. He was just about to lay down when he heard a knock at the door.


    He got up and opened the door to see Bell, eyes red with tears but determined, clearly upset and he could feel through [[Unity]] anger, fear, frustration, determination, and a hint of something else, and before he knew what he was doing he pulled her into the room, shut the door and then pushed his lips against hers, and after a moment of her nails digging into his arms she loosened and opened her mouth to greedily kiss him back.


    He had been sure Spears was asleep, but when catching his breath he heard her drowsily mutter ¡°About damn time.¡±

 Chapter 187: In the face of very large problems.

    Corvayne did not think he was impulsive for a very long time, and now was becoming aware that this blind spot concealed a dangerous facuet of himself. On some level he knew he was, he begrudgingly admitted to himself, very prone to self-endangering action when presented with the right circumstances, usually related to heroics and now, he was beginning to understand, always in the presence of women he found attractive.


    He had also thought of himself as a perpetual passive party in relationships... because he was. The reason might be external still: His quest was to undo the magic that had totally dissolved parts of himself was ongoing and he still had only a few measures of how much was lost in memory, possibly all of whoever he was or was meant to be. He could remember at least being angry and surly and how he channeled that energy to try to act better... no act like he was above it to people around him, like he was immune to every avenue of pain. Being lonely, he had also spent a lot of time carefully locking away lust before, and while he certainly had fixed some of that, he had up to this point only really let the girls come to him.


    So some of why he had impulsively kissed Princess Bell last night was an attempt to do away with the endless waiting, to embrace what everyone around him had been pushing him towards, and to test the waters with someone who he had grown closer to over a few months but hadn''t really defined his relationship with after they moved past the initial angry hostage and unflappable jailer dynamic.


    He had thought she was pretty, her fiery and haughty demeanor switching to moments of extreme need... he wanted to feel needed. He needed it, and she gave it to him. Maybe that''s what everyone was seeing: that Bell kept asking of him and he would keep delivering because his own desires and quests were abstract. He should be finding his people and undoing his curses and unraveling his past, but it all was off on the horizon. Bell was a woman who had immediate problems and she struggled, sweated, cursed, swore, cried... it was the opposite of how Corvayne had tried to conduct himself.


    He hadn''t really had time for these thoughts in the morning when he had pulled her into a kiss, then another, and then took turns pushing and pulling to the bed. Her top had come off almost instantly from his memory, but where his armor was discarded was harder to trace. What followed was something like a wrestling match puctuated by bouts of equally furious lovemaking. The kind where she snarled and raked at him when he tried to skip any steps Bell must have thought important, then bit him when he was going too slow.


    He had expected she''d be furious once they had worked everything out, but instead of anger she had pushed herself into him and locked one of his arms around her, still stinging and burning hot even with the cold damp air that was coming in from the door. He could not remember which party had opened the balcony to pattering rain, nor lit a fire that was now embers.


    Possibly Spears, who had fallen asleep on a platter of fruit in the far corner of the room and was snoring.


    Bell sensed in shallow sleep that he had lessened his grip around her and tugged his arm to cover her shoulder, clearly using him as a blanket. She was much smaller then he had tagged her in his mind once she was out of armor (and clothes) and curled up with him.


    She was also smaller when she wasn''t trying to draw blood out of his arms. Vitality had mostly fixed it, but he could still see teeth marks his ability seemed to just ignore. Curious.


    He heard knocking at the door and felt the princess stir, and so he carefully began to extract himself and this time her wakefulness was not in question as teeth found his thumb. With a hiss Corvayne used his other hand to reach behind his back and in, what may not have been his most impressive display of dexterity, found blankets to cover his ass before calling out, ¡°Who is it?¡±


    Nyx barged in, fully suited up with some newly fitted armor, trailing his cape as he was walking rather then floating. ¡°Sorry to bother you, but I have need of your little-¡±


    ¡°Out!¡± Bell searched for something to throw at him and her hands found Corvayne''s wood-stone chain mail, hurling it like a lump at Nyxion who rolled his eyes as it thunked against his shield then squirted a single stream of water.


    ¡°Oh what a shocking scene!¡± He put a set of lockpicks away and placed a hand on his forehead, pulling his face down as if in great shock. ¡°I had NO idea you two were an item!¡± His voice instantly dropped to be completely level. ¡°Corvayne, be a dear, where did you place your other girlfriend? I wanted to ask Spears something that might help us with Diamond.¡±


    Corvayne grabbed Bell and pulled her into a bear hug and got an extremely satisfied squeal of outrage from her as he did. ¡°She''s on the tray of fruit.¡±


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡°Ah, I should have known...¡± He swooped in and put the tray on his hand with perfect balance. ¡°As much as I hate to wake her after you two no doubt tired her out... I''ll let you two know what I find out.¡±


    Bell took a deep breath in and out right near his ear as the door slammed. ¡°You had better not get up to go immediately run off for work.¡± [[Unity]] alerted him to danger and passion. She must have subconsciously put points into strength too, as her grip on his arm was impressive. He tried pushing it off, and as he started overpowering her he saw a flash of a smile before she schooled herself into simmering anger and started biting his arm.


    Before he could decide if it was a battle or an invitation to continue where they had left off, another intruder threw the door open.


    ¡°Mom! Corvayne Dad! Get dressed, some more of your friends are here!¡±


    Bell grabbed the blanket and shot up. ¡°Hylal! I was-¡±


    ¡°Working on a little brother or sister. I know! Anyway, Uncle Brines told me to go wake you guys up!¡±


    That made Corvayne worry that Bearer was rubbing off on the man. That or his allergies were going to kill him.


    ¡°Wait outside, we''ll get dressed in a few minutes.¡±


    As the door shut, Bell took a deep breath and crossed her arms. ¡°I thought that Brines was just your manservant.¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°No, he''s just like the rest of us trying to find his place in the world. That being said I''m worried that Bearer might be influencing him.¡±


    ¡°Where''s her dad?¡± She got up and started dressing. Corvayne helped her into her gear and let her tighten a few straps on his own chainmail. She gave him a little kiss, and Corvayne took a deep breath and stepped with her from a cozy bed to a world dealing with a rampaging monster.


    In the common room, he saw that Undine was sitting with Brines, writing down details that Brines was reporting about the ruins. Seru was there, and instantly locked gazes with Bell, who responded by wrapping her arm around Corvayne''s tighter. Seru for a moment glared, then looked defeated.


    Lady Blood Claw was there too... showing Hylal her spells by making butterflies. Nyx came in and set another plate of fruit by Spears-Like-Water. She was a slightly larger blob now, with more color after eating. Perhaps a real feast was in order to get her back to fighting strength. She didn''t seem too bothered as she leapt onto his shoulder and settled in, giving Bell a friendly poke. It seemed like Bell didn''t mind Spears, which was odd because he had been certain they had a fight at one point. He didn''t understand women, so he focused back on Nyx, whom continued.


    ¡°So Spears was semi-awake during her long stint as a dungeon boss. She had feelings, many of which you spurred into high gear.¡±


    Corvayne nodded, and what Nyxion was after clicked in his head. ¡°You think you can lock her down and want me to try to uncurse her?¡±


    Spears spoke up. ¡°When she was moving, she rarely would strike back at Bearer even under a full assault, and she never attacks scouts. All the random beams were misses.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw took a deep breath. ¡°I know you want to save her, but if this city is her goal, told to us by a paragon of reliable info, as in the mysterious woman you saw in the ruins who was awakening this natural disaster... we are still risking our lives for bricks. The emperor might have his pride, but people who have the news are leaving, and tomorrow Kirae is warning the people, Emperor or not.¡±


    Corvayne hadn''t thought much of their budding merchant since he started the journey. ¡°I would ask if Mosh or Wick could help with evacuation... there''s going to be a run on beasts of burden and wagons.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw was thinking. ¡°We don''t know what''s going to happen in the next few days. I still say if you are serious about your quest, we go into the dungeon under this place and see if we can get through the portal.¡±


    ¡°We can''t leave Diamond Behind!¡± Spears said. Nyx started nodding.


    ¡°Corvayne, just like I helped you when you were at your absolute worst, I would be flabbergasted if you didn''t rise to at least the pitiful standards I set.¡±


    Corvayne felt [[Unity]] telling him Nyx was trying to butter up Spears as much as he was also fishing for compliments or admiration. On the other hand, even if his motivation wasn''t entirely genuine, Nyx didn''t steer them wrong, and he was there when Corvayne needed him, and had risked his life fighting Argyle.


    ¡°I will not leave the empire.¡± Bell stated stiffly, meeting Corvayne''s eyes.


    Lady Blood Claw looked at the wine, and poured herself a small glass of bright purple liquid. ¡°If we can''t save her, can we kill her? With Shatterstorm?¡±


    Spears nearly knocked Corvayne over. ¡°We can''t!¡±


    ¡°If you have to choose between innocent lives and Diamond who''s a berserk monster...¡± LBC said, sipping her wine.


    Corvayne finished. ¡°... Diamond broke someone''s legs once when they tried to say the hunters who patrolled the desert were worth more then the people they were protecting.¡±


    Spears wiggled on his shoulder. ¡°That wasn''t your curse talking that time, I think.¡±


    Undine seemed to be waiting for a moment to speak. ¡°I think all your talking is moot. If you want to see how the creature reacts to mere mortals, the Emperor, the fool, is going to try to stop it at the inner defensive line.¡±


    Bell went rigid. ¡°Father is not such a fool. It''s own power against it... it won''t work!¡±


    Corvayne looked at the room. ¡°I think we go as witnesses. Lady Blood Claw, we will not join up with the Emperor or whatever guards he takes. If the weapon works... well that''s that.¡±


    He looked to Spears. ¡°If it weakens Diamonds-in-Passing, then we will try to get to her before she recovers and see if removing the curse fixes her behavior.¡±


    He looked over to Bell. ¡°If neither happens, then we must rethink our plans elsewhere. On some level, the Watchers are responsible for Diamond''s actions, and between me and Spears, I will not see us ruin this empire. If I once protected it while asleep, I will do so awake.¡±


    Undine snorted. ¡°You say that after already ruining it once... if you go by what the empire says. I have my own doubts... but we can speak of that en route.¡±


    On that, everyone finally agreed.

 Chapter 188: Blast Radius

    The southern defense line was built around a section of wall that Corvayne though looked like a rough draft of some baroque dream of a wall, with layers of brass or gold filigree layered on curved bricks with red and purple hues that gave one an impression of a wave, all flanking and housing large white jewels that made him think of unblinking eyes. The bulging jewels covering most of the structure at random angles, dark optical centers a black hole that no doubt housed some sort of laser system. The whole thing seemed to rise a hundred feet out of the pastures around it. Corvayne could see the road to the southern coast passing through one of the very few circular passages through the wall. A flock of sheep passing briefly overpowered the faint hum that he had heard and felt for miles, and when the mid-day sun flashed light off one of the lenses it made Corvayne''s face itch.


    He didn''t want to retreat down the grassy hill they had set the bikes down on, so he instead tried to use his shadow hand to block it. The light turned his black liquid limb into swiss cheese and moments later he resumed getting badly sun burnt by the imperial defenses when they were turned off.


    Lady Blood Claw put her binoculars away and produced a half full bottle of "IP 50 ''Creme Solaire ¨C Noix de Coco''. No lies there - it definitely smelled like coconut sunscreen and helped alleviate the itchy feeling, if not his eyes getting dry after being hit with another flash of light, this time some mirror in the system being adjusted. He pulled his cape over him after handing LBC her bottle back.


    "You''ll never get a tan like mine doing that." She said in a dry tone. She had bright banded colors which he had flagged as amused. He was pretty sure [[Understanding]] and [[Unity]] were teaching him to read her even better.


    He felt a tug on his cloak, and saw Bell touching it. "It shimmers with so many colors..." She said. Unlike him, who was sporting scabs from where her nails (claws) had found him, the only sign of their exertions was a slight flush when he met her eyes. This prompted some tittering from Spears, who was now wrapped around Bell''s shoulders. He reached out and gave her a little squeeze, taking a moment to distract himself from the incoming monster with thoughts of going on a hunting date with her.


    Speaking of distractions, Seru was there, geared up with a lot of red metal accessories. Corvayne could see she was still wearing the jacket they had found in the house, but was decked out in black and red. She turned away from Corvayne, no doubt to bother Nyxion who was scanning the horizon.


    In the back, Brines was nearly halfway down the hill. Corvayne glanced back. ¡°You sure you don''t want to get a better view?¡±


    ¡°It blew up a mountain. No!¡± Brines held his hands up.


    Corvayne felt his eyebrow rising. ¡°So what difference is the hill going to make?¡±


    Brines gestured. ¡°It''s... uh, it''s better then nothing!¡±


    Nyx whistled, and everyone quieted and looked at the horizon, seeing now something starting to appear. It started as shimmering, something like a distant body of water catching the sun. Everyone tensed....


    Then a few minutes passed... Spears broke a quiet of the group watching a glittering mountain lumbering into view. ¡°Diamond is slow as hell.¡±


    Nyx turned around. ¡°You going to try to catch her after the attack?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Corvayne stepped back and got on his bike. It was more likely he was going to watch a section of wall get counter-blasted into smithereens, but he wanted to try to get to Diamond if the attack worked.


    Bell jumped on behind him before he could take off, accidentally kicking him with the side of her boot as she wobbled into place. ¡°I demand a front seat view.¡±


    Spears added, ¡°And I''ll drive!¡±


    There was some fussing behind him as the girls decided between living (having Spears operate the goblin-made non standard hovercraft) and dying (having Bell drive), settled with some whispering and jostling that Corvayne heard clearly ''Missile Launcher'' and did not interject himself between his now pair of girlfriends. It was odd that he could see men working on the wall off to one side, some of them standing grimly at the horizon, and beside the wall, birds were singing and it was bright and sunny, if a little cold.


    He flicked the shield on and darted off to a spot near a large valley that Diamond was entering. This close he could see flocks of birds erupting away from the tremendous thump when one of her feet came down and she started raising the next. The noise was loud enough to be audible through the bikes shielding.


    The monster left titanic footprints in it''s wake, and Corvayne saw evidence that at least one cottage had taken a direct hit from her glittering clawed legs. In sunlight every part of her gleamed and glittered. He was pretty sure she was a solid thousand feet tall. Corvayne put his vehicle in a holding pattern, keeping a mile between him and the titanic form, but taking a binocular to see if there were hints of thorns in in her chest.


    Of course, Spears started prodding him. ¡°My clear boobs not enough?¡± She started forming a breast, but Corvayne could hear a waver in her voice.


    ¡°I love your body, and don''t worry. If not today, then some day soon we will save her.¡±


    Bell poked him. ¡°What about the city it''s going to crush?¡±


    ¡°I think most of them can outrun her.¡±


    He had been briefed by Bell on the ride over that the emperor himself would not stay for longer then needed to quickly aim and activate the wall, a feat of teleportation from high level wizards. Royal Guards were scouring the building for both magic items and for signs of mundane tampering, someone having done their homework over how the Raven had taken a prince out with mundane explosives.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°How accurate is your dad, Bell?¡±


    ¡°He is not my dad, he is the emperor.¡±


    ¡°Okay. How accurate is he?¡±


    ¡°He''s still a high level warrior, and I''ve heard our family gets abilities to help us use the weapons as long as the spark is there.¡± A hint of bitterness crept into her voice.


    ¡°Right....¡± Corvayne reversed a few hundred feet.


    ¡°You need not do that! The wall helps them aim!¡±


    Spears took a deep breath. ¡°So what''s the chance we get fried by a laser when he misses?¡±


    ¡°It''s larger then a barn. He can probably hit it.¡± Corvayne offered.


    ¡°We''ve shot dragons out of the air with it!¡± Bell shouted, then took a deep breath. ¡°He will hit it. It will work.¡±


    Corvayne saw something like a shimmering meteor come flying at him and on instinct he grabbed Bell and Spears and threw them down off the bike to cover. He expected something to cleave the mountain but instead something solid started bumping into him, rolling him back.


    He got to his feet and saw the flashing disk that had guided him a few times. The UFO was again pushing him to go somewhere, this time trying to bump him back around the rise they were on. It moved forward and motioned for them to follow as it quickly dashed behind a hill, then came back.


    His shadow hands started to pick Spears up as soon as he saw and understood what the UFO was doing, so he grabbed Bell with his real hand.


    She shot to her feet, hurrying ahead of him. ¡°Not this time! I refuse the potato sack carry!¡±


    The disk had spun around to keep bumping him, acting like an aggressive dog. Spears cried out. ¡°Why are we running now?¡±


    ¡°It tried to get us to prevent this weapon from reviving, so it probably knows something bad is about to happen. Disk! Do you hear me? Go warn my friends!¡±


    It paused, and Corvayne''s shadow hands slithered into view, all four making Grunt-esque signs. The disk then turned and blasted through a tree, making a skipping motion for a moment before vanishing. [[Understanding]] connected the kinship his ability with a mind of it''s own had...


    Corvayne tugged Bells hand and wrapped Spears around his neck, her warm goo wiggling. ¡°Wait, you don''t think that beam of light is going to...¡±


    Bell was huffing. ¡°There''s no way! Mirrors and glass don''t bounce the beam...¡±


    Corvayne had his teeth clenched, more concerned with trying to get as much rock between him and glittering form of Diamonds then actually explaining himself. ¡°It''s her, she''s trying to warn us!¡±


    Corvayne could feel the energy in the air being pulled into something. Perhaps it was one of those things like how he felt mana. His skin got goosebumps as the air temperature dropped, and he could see the clouds starting to swirl as energy started rushing into something distant. Even Bell looked a little pale. There was a low hum and every inch of Corvayne felt terror overwhelming him, the wrongness of the energy goading him forward. Whatever the weapon that the Raven had been using did, it was like a child''s toy before what the Emperor was going to unleash.


    He focused and used [[Agility]] and his Gravity power, pulling Bell into a princess carry then moving as fast as his mind could keep his legs landing on flat spots, moving into a ravine he hoped would block what was happening. The energy kept building, the sky noticeably darkening as something bright caught the tops of the ridge.


    He pushed them into a crevice and pulled out a bunch of random junk to try to plug the hole, then weaved shadow around it and switched to [[Vitality]] and reversed Gravity, giving him and Bell weight. A second later something like a ten ton Sand Titan hit him in the gut. He felt his eardrums rupture and mend themselves, the sound of nearby hills and mountains getting vaporized and leveled cutting out when they burst again. Then the same force attacked his eyes, with no force but heat that felt like being kicked, the light so strong he could see for a moment Diamond''s form through rock, as impossible as it should be, every inch of him blistering and popping. Through the pain, he could see Bell pushing something at his face, aided by Spears who had wrapped herself around the princess.


    He tasted chocolate and fire and broken glass and blood, then the light from Diamond dimmed, and everything was black a moment, but he didn''t dare relax, instead he dug into his ring, looking for potions, downing them and pushing some to Bell. He found one scroll that might help, warding, and cast it deaf, causing a faint gold light to surround them. The next moment there was light slicing through parts of the rock, elemental lasers leaving trails of white rock as they lanced everything, a million needles. He moved as fast as he could putting his back and as much shadow material between him and the wall.


    It did nothing, as his darkness was weak and the light was some ultra powerful distillation of the element. His armor blasted a sphere of water which only helped for a moment. Through his eyelids he could see white flickers of fire where light energy was erupting, leaving white lines of salt in the rocks. He was pretty sure he could see Bell screaming and trying to cover her face. He just wanted to stop, to scream, but he saw Spears was trying to form a full wrap of the woman. He had to be better. Corvayne pushed through the pain and willed himself to link [[Vitality]] and [[Unity]].


    There was a click as his back ejected black spines, more and more black crystal flowing out of him and forming a wall as the rays kept sweeping past, their gentle motion betrayed as he watched them carve out chunks of rock then whittling them down to pile of dust the next beam would blast away.


    He saw salt creeping up Bell''s body where part of her shoulder had been cut off, and one of her hands was missing. [[Understanding]] kept pushing that if he did nothing, she would die. He grabbed a black crystal from his own body and jammed it into her wound, and the blood flowed into it then drew it in. She writhed in pain, but he could see it was repelling the effect turning her into salt. Why not? He tried to find small needles, ignoring the energy rays blasting around him, and the itchy feeling he got breathing in light aspected dust.


    He pushed potions into her mouth, trying to make sure her head was close to him. When she started to slow down he shook her. ¡°Drink! Drink!¡±


    [[Unity]] pushed her. Don''t die. His own thoughts were of his friends, twisted and dead around Argyle''s staff. Seeing him go after Wick.


    Rocks fell on her legs, but there was enough of a black crystal shell that Corvayne could just ignore them. He could fix her legs later, he needed to keep her core alive.


    He felt his own strength waning, and he desperately gripped spike after spike, feeding them into her wounds.


    ¡°Corvayne! Stop! She can''t take anymore... You need to fix yourself!¡± Spears cried out.


    He looked and saw that white and black veins were warring in Bell''s body. His own body looked like Lady Blood Claw doing a zebra impression smeared with blood, bright red. [[Unity]] told him that Bell''s spark was fading.


    He gently pushed Spear''s psudopod away. ¡°Help... keep pushing... potions...¡±


    He pulled out one of the original energy drink potions the Tower had given him. He needed more tools. Tools?


    He pulled out a chunk of wood, and reached into his arm to pull a black shard out. He could see Bell twitching, breathing in shuddering gasps with too long between them. He started carving her. ¡°Lythandies, please make us whole. I''m not ready to lose my friends again.¡±


    He must have blanked out, because it felt like a figure of him carrying Bell over his shoulder sprung from the wood in a moment. The carved figurine somehow capturing her glare, an effect Corvayne had been sure he wasn''t able to do on his own. As he set it down, he felt it. Just a little hint of power, and instinct. No, he had read it. The summoning book. He took his bloody fingers, and drew on the ground. Around the statue, little runes.


    He placed a bit of the black crystal in the circle too. Another offering. A moment later, there was a sort of clicking feeling in his soul, and the circle expanded. Roots crept out of the ground, their touch bringing life to the circle in plush patches of grass and creeping ferns and moss. The life sprouting from within the circle withered outside it''s lines, but a tree slithered it''s way out of the ground then produced a single teal fruit, white splotches forming a crude Hammer of Lythandies.


    He reached for it, then hesitated. [[Understanding]] pulled from half remembered conversations between Mosh and Icariii. Words about expectations, borrowed power, the investment of faith in deities who revealed themselves in miracles. Prices for everything. He didn''t know if his friends had made bargains to her.


    [[Unity]] on the other hand made him feel that this was... a trade he could take. The tree, the smallest fragment of a much larger being, was accepting something or paying him for something.


    Two conflicting ideas, but Bell''s shuddering breaths falling still a little too long before she gasped again decided for him. Lythandies wanted to build things up, not tear people down.


    He took it, pulled Bell''s mouth open, and crushed the fruit, it''s juice glowing teal as it flowed into her throat. Color returned to parts of her immediately, but she didn''t move, and all he could do was wait in gently falling ash.

 Chapter 189: Ultimate Sandwhich.

    Corvayne was nearly out of the scarred land before Lady Blood Claw jet past him then circled back to land. He was carrying Bell before him, concerned that she''d go into cardiac arrest if he wasn''t watching her. He had been blinking a moment before LBC arrived, startled after getting used to stark whites how vibrant the green of living grass was, as well as the sudden smell of life instead of the sort of odd bleach smell that the elementally overloaded landscape had.


    He hadn''t really been thinking of if his friends had made it, his mind consumed with Bell white colored burns, watching his footing while balancing her, and the sting of every glimmering flake of salt or ash or whatever was fluttering down, eating his skin and turning his battle scars from bedding the princess into boiling sores.


    Lady Blood Claw rushed over to help him, rather then the princess, which confused him but probably meant he looked like he felt.


    "Is everyone okay?" he croaked out.


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. "Aside from the empire''s wall... the hill we were on was spared aside from a single glancing ray."


    Corvayne helped her load Bell onto the bike, then turned back. Lady Blood Claw made a questioning noise, but Corvayne gestured at the towering form of Diamond. The mountain sized construct had stopped, slumped forward, arms hanging limply.


    "It can''t be hurt, but she can get tired."


    He lifted what remained of his shirt under the chain mail to look Spears in her current singluar eye. "Hey Spears... this is our chance. We can try to get to her chest to extract the curse."


    Lady Blood Claw gave him a disapproving look, her skin flipping to a dark pink color. He needed [[Unity]] to pick up this was disappointment.


    "It''s not because she''s topless." He protested.


    "You haven''t extracted my curse yet." She said, though her skin flashed white with red criss-crosses for a moment. He wasn''t fast enough with [[Unity]] to pick up what emotion she had before her skin changed and she shut down their link, but the burnt orange she changed to made him guess it was a flavor of annoyed.


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I''ll try again, but it''s one thing to have someone willingly let me try and I won''t get a shot at Diamond again.¡± He wasn''t sure he wasn''t about to die, but seeing Bell broken had him thinking about the need he felt to help.


    ¡°Really, I can''t get it through your thick skull. Don''t die.¡± She gave him a little salute, then sped back towards the hill they had camped on.


    Corvayne downed a homemade healing potion and stretched. ¡°I have to go fast, I suspect even being near her is going to be like being on Lava.


    Spears spread herself out, creeping over Corvayne''s body in a ticklish and warm wave. She gave somewhere inappropriate a squeeze. ¡°Whatever she did didn''t hurt really, so I''ll act as your armor this time!¡±


    ¡°Please keep your hands off my dick until we finish the job here.¡±


    ¡°Who said that was my hand just now?¡± Spears whispered into his ear. ¡°I want to make sure that if we go, it was doing something you love.¡±


    ¡°I assume you mean yourself, having sex, or running into impossible odds.¡±


    ¡°And all for a good cause!¡±


    He wished he had her confidence that this was going to work. It was entirely possible that being so huge he wouldn''t even be able to pull anything out of her, or would die touching a titanic curse vine. Or just burn to death despite wearing his girlfriend as a suit. Not a phrase often used by the sane sane, but he was about to charge his big-sister childhood friend the size of a mountain, which he had flat out never read in any of countless novels.


    That and he already had pants that were made out of jelly inside. He felt something wet near his thigh. ¡°It''s sweet in here!¡±


    ¡°Keep your mouth near my face. Focus... I''m going to run at her.¡±


    Corvayne switched to [[Agility]] and lightened his weight a few dozen pounds, then started sprinting at Diamonds, using what remained of the hills nearby as ramps to leap to the next span of flat ground. Soon enough she filled his vision. He thought about how much damage a kick or slap from her hands would do, then banished it. If she was even a little awake, she could probably reproduce the beam that the empire had used. A part of him suspected she made some of the tools they were using.


    He veered to a hill and lowered his gravity as he ran up it and launched himself at her shimmering chest, the curved diamonds studded with points that were both alluring and probably lethal. There were edges that would slice him to bits if he tried to cop a feel. Which he couldn''t do without hands a few times the size of his anyway. It was hard to think of her as someone he knew, and up close she stopped being attractive and got filed into a superstructure.


    He didn''t have a good way to slow himself so instead he pushed himself into [[Vitality]] then used [Flow Like Water] to buffer running into her, aiming for where her assets tucked into her chest and bracing himself in the man sized gap. Thankfully, despite the curved parts of her looking life-like, her pendulous chest was not, in fact, able to sway, or he''d likely have been unable to brace himself like a rock climber. Or he''d die a very embarrassing death crushed under her breasts. Instead, he caught himself using gravity to help stick to her. Once he felt stable, he extended a slime covered hand to his side, touched the surface of her sternum and felt Spears stick him to Diamond.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    He tested the weight of his hand, then without needing to tell her, had her stick a boot, then slowly twisted so he was facing her. The energy radiating off her was intense, and he felt his face started to warm up.


    ¡°Is she super hot?¡± He asked.


    Spears made a cute little grunting noise. ¡°No, but you''re heavy Corvayne.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I don''t have the fine control to make my hands stick and my body to be super light yet... bear with it a little more.¡± He swapped to [[Strength]] to help him try to find a grip, though Diamond''s skin wasn''t life-like enough for there to be enough creases to climb.


    He started climbing up the side of Diamond, ignoring that if Spears was not acting as a living shield he''d likely be getting cooked by the magical radiation that was warming his hands. Spears might have to live with them leaving Diamond behind on this world, as it looked unlikely she would fit through the portal and also because it''s possible she would cook him the first time she went in for a hug. Which would also kill him given the mass of her arms.


    He picked a spot that felt right, and bracing with one hand pressed his other against her, thinking about vines and curses. He pressed and... nothing.


    ¡°Try opening up, for just a bit on my hand.¡±


    She did and instantly he felt fire on it, so he pushed and after twenty seconds had to pull it away. ¡°Cover it please. Please.¡± As she re-enveloped his hand he switched to [[Vitality]]. The searing faded as it fixed the ravaged skin.


    He held himself still so he wouldn''t have to think about Gravity and tried using Compass to point to where the curse was. It shot upwards, way past her chin, towards the faint outline of the diamond moon overhead.


    ¡°Oh come on.. this isn''t her real body Spears.¡± He sighed. ¡°It''s a golem or dummy or something... she''s up on that moon.¡±


    Spears quivered which was like sitting in a massage chair all over. ¡°Compass is pointing at it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that or she''s in the air. Maybe the UFO is the body? No, it seems off. It''s like... my shadow hands I think.¡±


    ¡°Then what the hell is this?¡±


    ¡°Probably her main ''weapon'' or something like a pet. Crap. I don''t think we can get to her at all. Starting a space program... even with Mosh that''s a few months.¡±


    ¡°What about Nyx? He told me he crashed a ship... we can go pick that up.¡±


    He was wary about going back to Cascadia. ¡°If we go back, it''s very likely we create a trail for them to follow to us. Part of setting up that absurd camp is to make sure Wick stays safe.¡±


    Spears sounded a little crestfallen. ¡°It''s all about her, huh?¡±


    ¡°The solution is to send people who don''t attract attention and are not associated with us back. Or I go with acceptable stealth, as determined by our resident spider.¡±


    As he spoke he felt a small jolt. Something started humming. ¡°We have a bigger immediate problem.¡±


    As soon as he spoke he saw Diamond''s arms start curling up. He felt the hostile intent and pushed himself off her, watching as the huge glittering hand-claws moved. Was it going to slap him?


    No, Diamond cupped her chest and it was like two buildings were flying at him. Corvayne pumped gravity and felt the air snap as the glittering breasts slammed into each-other, the sound both sounding at the same time like god slamming two planets together and also somehow making a slight bouncing sound.


    ¡°She just tried to give us a death paz-¡±


    ¡°Spears, not now!¡± He had to figure out how he was going to land, as if she was fully awake he was landing right where she could stomp him or slap him. He spun in midair to look behind him and saw a palm the size of several city blocks coming for him.


    He spun around to see the ground was also coming. ¡°Spears, use one of your water moves! Like a rocket!¡±


    She drew her spear and pointed it backwards, while Corvayne activated [Leap Strike] and aimed for a patch of ground forward. He first felt his back get pushed as a tremendous hiss rang out, then his ability kicked in and his spear started tugging his hands down like a hungry dog on a leash to the point on the ground. They picked up speed that looked like it was going to be leathal even as a glittering shadow covered him. Diamond''s hand blocked out the sun, and looking forward he could see her fingers pressed together above and ahead of him.


    He slammed into the ground then used [Flows-Like-Water], Spears still using her version of [Storm Thrust] to jet them forward in a great rolling cloud of dirt, just snaking out of the shadow of the huge falling hand before it slapped the ground, blasting them out of control in a spiral away as it shattered the ground.


    Corvayne saw the ruins of the ornate wall as he tumbled and did his best to aim for the gate in the broken structure, somehow getting them inside, slamming against stone but making it out as a wave of earthen debris washed over him. Shards of rock, some glowing with light energy rained down.


    He scrambled to his feet, expecting a beam or further attack, but it took the statue a large amount of time to pull it''s hand back, almost like it was a spring that it was now recoiling. He switched to [[Agility]] and ignored his leg''s protesting as he blasted down the dirt path.


    ¡°We got away!¡±


    Corvayne knew the old rule about asking the universe to prove one wrong, and used [Flows-Like-Water] to juke sideways as a small beam of death raked the road. He aimed for trees and hills, zig-zagging as the giant avatar started burning blazing white energy into the ground. Thank god it''s aim was as terrible as it''s speed... perhaps it had terrible reaction time because it was being piloted from the moon?


    As he got one of the rolling hills behind him, it seemed like her attacks couldn''t punch through rock as well as they had before.


    ¡°We got lucky... getting that close to her. If she had just tried to slap us against her chest it might have been an instant loss.¡± He stopped to take a few breaths, then continued jogging, trying to pace himself even though he was going faster then most cars. His lungs were burning as were his legs, but he didn''t dare switch to [[Vitality]] until he had put about ten miles between where he landed and the source of a footstep he felt.


    ¡°Lucky? If she''s up there, we have no good way of getting to her!¡±


    ¡°If our friends are okay, we got in and got out without losing anything. We''ll come up with something. There''s got to be a weak point. We learned what didn''t work, so call it a draw.¡±


    ¡°... Are you okay Corvayne?¡±


    He gave into his body requesting a break and slowed down while using [[Vitality]]. He dug in his ring as well and popped a white potion that Hari had labelled in her messy elvish ''stamina''. It tasted like oatmeal. He had to walk while drinking it, as it was what he''d call ''gluggy'' as a potion.


    That meant he needed water too to wash it down, so he drank and walked for a half beat, then started running again.


    ¡°I''m trying to focus on the good, but I''m guessing the empire lost a lot of people. I fell in love with Bell but I can''t protect her, and we''ve failed. The town is doomed, unless there''s some sort of super weapon we are forgetting in the ruins under the castle.¡±


    Spears stilled, which felt like wearing something that shrunk two sizes. She loosened back up, but quivered with excitement. ¡°There''s more then one Diamond!¡±


    ¡°Yes. The problem is the other is up on the moon.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well... no that''s not the point, also she''s probably the moon itself to be honest.¡±


    Corvayne bit his lip. ¡°That''s a rather bold guess.¡±


    ¡°No, it explains why the moon seems closer.¡±


    Corvayne stopped running and took a deep breath, then looked up. Yes, it looked a little larger. He did not fare well against the mountain sized monster, and he certainly wasn''t going to parry or an entire moon.


    ¡°Spears, really, sometimes I''d like you to lead with something that''s going to destroy the planet.¡±


    ¡°It''s fine! We can fix everything. When we fought, I was in two places at once. Then I woke up. We go into the dungeon, find her, beat her until you can pull her curse out, and it will fix her outside.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think we can win, even in a dungeon.¡±


    ¡°You were able to beat me! It probably gives you a handicap.¡± Spears wiggled. ¡°We''ll go right to the palace, I bet there''s a tower entrance inside the dungeon under it.¡±


    Corvayne considered his other options. ¡°We need to hook back up with them... see if we can find the entrance and get as many people inside the dungeon as possible.¡±


    ¡°In case we fail?¡±


    ¡°Yes. In case we fail.¡±


    He looked forward as he ran, but in his mind he saw glittering doom in the sky, looming closer every moment.

 Chapter 190: The Sky is Falling!

    Corvayne hopped off Lady Blood Claw''s bike as she skidded to a stop before the stone doors at the base of the Palace''s cliff, splashing a small puddle as he turned to get Bell from Brines. They unbundled her gently, Brines keeping his healing aura on the entire ride back. Corvayne looked at her body, creased with scars where the blow back from Diamond being attached had seared her, then up at the moon, having shifted from a glittering ball the size of a quarter to larger then his fist, visible and gleaming in the sun. When Corvayne squinted, he could see faint whisps of thorny black, wreathed around the incoming celestial body like squirming worms.


    Corvayne was betting on the dungeon under the palace being the best place to try to get at Diamond and stop her. The guards were trying to get in his way the moment he turned around, weapons crossed. Corvayne was considering exactly how to deal with them when Brines stepped forward.


    "Let me try."


    Nyx snorted. "Jimmy you don''t speak the language."


    "Greetings. Currently, the moon is falling and may doom your world. There''s a secret portal behind you, we''re going to open it up. I suggest you tell your friends then get your family."


    The guard sneered. "A pathetic attempt by a-"


    Nyxion strode up and punched one, then shrunk and expanded his energy shield to hammer the other into the side of the archway, knocking him out. There was a single laugh from Seru, who clapped twice.


    "We don''t have time to convince them." Nyx said, shaking his hand. "Also, tell Bell to hire guards with softer chins."


    ¡°I could have lured them away,¡± Seru said, ¡°Or helped you knock them out.¡± She crouched by them and used [Sleeper Hold] on both.


    Corvayne thought about the party. "We need someone to get this empire''s ass in gear, and get Undine and Hylal down here, and Seru... wasn''t Kirae in town?... and I guess Tutu."


    Seru took a deep breath. ¡°I''ll get Kirae to rally whatever contacts she''s made, supposedly there''s a trading company that some relative of hers worked for.¡±


    ¡°Do you need me to-¡±


    Seru laughed and pulled out a silver 20 sided die, then cast it on the ground. It evaporated, and she pointed. ¡°Gygax himself will railroad me to her, then back to you. Keep Nyx safe.¡±


    Spears wiggled and dismounted from Corvayne''s shoulder. "Let me find Undine, and have her help gather everyone left in town and convince them to follow you. I''ll need a general location."


    Corvayne nodded, then with Compass pointed as best he could. ¡°You might have to ask around for her, but I think she''s by the rooms we were in.¡±


    He grabbed the squirming protoplasm with a shadow-limb before she could run away, and pulled her to his head then pressed his lips to her. Spears as always was warm and soft, and the surface turned to a pair of lips for a moment before she shifted into the form of a foot tall girl standing in his shadow hand. ¡°Aww, Corvayne.¡±


    ¡°Don''t linger.¡± He took her into two shadowy hands and she understood, forming a literal basketball. He hurled her up at the balcony, using a bit of gravity to get her to the right spot. Or close enough. She splatted somewhere on a wall above one of the guest rooms but reformed into what he thought looked like a thumbs up before flowing down and vanishing from sight.


    He turned to his remaining allies. ¡°I need someone to go to Wick and crew and get them into the Source.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw slapped his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. ¡°I''ll go.¡± Her skin turned white a moment, and Corvayne saw her eyes shift to wine colored as she gave him a lopsided smile. ¡°Don''t give me that dumb look. You have your compass, even if we fuck up you''ll find your way back to us.¡± A moment later, she flipped herself gray and hopped back on her Bike. ¡°Nyx, you are in charge of making sure he doesn''t do anything stupid.¡±


    Nyx saluted. ¡°Got it. Make sure he doesn''t do anything stupid, alone.¡±


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°You know what I mean.¡± She got back on her bike, and looked back at Corvayne once before turning and zipping off into the air, faint hum of the engines cutting off as her bike''s air shield reformed.


    ¡°Nyx, Brines. You guys ready?¡±


    Brines gulped and nodded. ¡°It can''t be worse then the last place.¡±


    ¡°If I''m going to get distracted by a wild goose chase away from claiming my rightful place on the throne of our galactic empire, I''d damn well be ready for it. What''s going to top doing a dungeon run racing ahead of a moon?¡±


    Corvayne took Bell''s hand, warm compared to the spring air but limp. He pressed it to the cold stone seal that bound both halves of the entrance together, and there was the faintest glow in the stone before a grinding noise alerted anyone with ears in a mile that the door was opening. Reams of dust clattered to the ground and revealed a cavern with faintly glowing lights, at least fifty feet tall and sloped slightly downwards.


    Brines cleared his throat. ¡°I can carry her, and we need both your hands open if you have to fight.¡±


    Corvayne nodded, and helped prop her back on Brine''s back. He used rope to help tie her to him. ¡°You know, honestly? You feel a lot more solid since you left with me. I know Bearer dragged you into this...¡±


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Brines smiled. ¡°Thanks, but I mean, it''s because I''m scared of trying to cut it on my own, even with Grunt, and if I seem confident it''s because I''m getting better at hiding I''m scared shitless. Why are we fighting giant robots? Why is the moon coming for us? Are we going to have to hurt more guards?¡±


    Nyxion rolled his eyes. ¡°All of it because we broke something or did something in the ruins that set her off. Or our timing was just terrible. We don''t know. We''ll have to ask Diamond herself when we kick her ass and uncurse her.¡±


    The large ramp ended in another large door, this one sealed with what looked like bands of glowing white crystal. The hewn stone had more hints of bricks added afterwards, though the door itself felt like it had been a feature before. The brickwork formed passages off to the side, and his compass was pointing him through the right one into a dusty stone passage. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a can of obnoxiously yellow spray paint, then drew an arrow the direction he was going.


    He wasn''t four steps into the hall before the first trap. He heard a click and used [[Agility]] to move as fast as he could back to Brines. Nyxion stepped forward and there were flashes of silver as waves of arrows slammed into him.


    ¡°The damn thing is trapped.¡± Nyx said, his barrier shimmering after nearly a hundred projectiles hit it.


    Brines switched to a magic restoring aura, and after a few seconds Nyx''s shield was back to a solid color, in this case a faint blue aura around him that gently intersected the walls.


    ¡°Don''t leave healing off too long, I''m worred about Bell.¡±


    ¡°Me too, since she''s the key to this place. How did you get out?¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°It must let folks out, and it''s possible the traps can tell if your coming or going.¡±


    Brines thought about it. ¡°Maybe it was added later?¡±


    ¡°They sealed this off, so it''s possible. I guess look for places where the stone work isn''t quite the same.¡±


    Corvayne spotted the next trap in a floorless room where there was a bridge over another bridge, and this time had the group shuffle back out of the room then launch with [Expert Throw] Argyle''s staff at it, triggering the trap with the heavy hunk of indestructible metal. A huge weight fell, destroying the bridge before falling down into the dark below. Nyx floated, and Corvayne used Gravity to let Brines make the jump.


    ¡°I''ll say Corvayne, the mom weighs more, but at least she''s not stuffed with down.¡±


    Nyxion rolled his eyes. ¡°Right. Must be rough.¡±


    Corvayne made a motion for silence. He turned and looked behind them, but the sense of something wrong was gone.


    ¡°We might have someone following us.¡±


    Nyxion slid to the back. ¡°Sure it''s not Spider?¡±


    ¡°No. It also might just be a warriors instinct thing going off.¡±


    Brines gulped. ¡°So it might be someone started following us? Because in general Corvayne when you get a gut feeling, it tends to be important.¡±


    They moved carefully then. ¡°You sure you don''t want me in front?¡± Nyxion asked.


    ¡°I''m worried one of these is going to be a deadfall. If that happens, your shield won''t stop you from getting crushed.¡± He didn''t need to say that an ambush usually was one very strong attack, and if anything that was what shields were really made for.


    The stonework changed from the sort of redish brick he associated with the city''s architecture to gray, interlaced with what looked like faded lights, flickering in the dark. He didn''t dare touch them, knowing he was likely to get either a shock or rash or burn. He glanced back at Bell, thinking about how if she was getting her inherent power back, it might hurt him to touch her.


    Like that, he was thinking about Wick, and his gut twisted. He couldn''t get distracted, and start second guessing what it had meant. He wouldn''t give up on Bell. He wanted to be... better then Wick and Hari had been.


    ¡°Nyx, sometimes I envy you.¡± Corvayne said as he tried to set off a trap with his staff again and found that the device has broken, two rusted axe blades sort of stumbling out of the wall as the spring had broken a long time ago.


    ¡°That''s not right Corvayne. You should envy me all the time.¡± He was floating backwards, only occasionally looking back to make sure that he was on course.


    The traps let up not long after that, with the remainder of the trip being through what looked and smelled like tombs. The latent lights left the many alcoves on the sides dark, but Corvayne was pretty sure he saw still forms. Probably where royalty was interred, as he caught the faint glimmer of treasures on the wrapped forms. He wasn''t going to distract either of his allies. Not that he thought Brines might get sidetracked, as the man was trying to stay exactly in the center of the room to not get any nearer to the dead.


    The tombs were silent, and it seemed none of the three wanted to talk. There was one stone door that Corvayne had to shuffle Brines to the front to have Bell''s hand open for them, then they were into what Corvayne was sure was the holding area for the dungeon. It was a circular maze, with the compass drawing him through turns and backtracking until he reached the center.


    The chamber in the center was large enough for a sort of dias where two gold pillars supported a gold dream catcher, in which a gateway formed. It was glowing with soft white light around a pitch black center, rippling a little as they disturbed the air. Withered husks of flowers and signs of melted candles suggested that at some point, those who had tried to overcome the challenge and failed were mourned.


    ¡°Are we still being followed?¡± Corvayne asked, knowing that from the get-go the only option was to do something stupid.


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°If we are, they are either really good or lost track of us. Spider is that good, but even then I can feel them.¡±


    ¡°There''s someone who triggered Diamond waking up... would they be after us?¡± Brines asked, glancing back over his shoulder.


    Nyx snorted. ¡°They''d have to be watching JUST this dungeon.¡±


    ¡°It''s possible they were, there''s something about the basement of this place that''s important. Bells family was asked to guard it, and I don''t think it''s just because there''s a dungeon here. They mentioned a portal. Well, I want to fix Diamond so she doesn''t smash this planet flat, then we are going through that gateway to see whats past it.¡±


    ¡°Did you know we needed Bell?¡±


    ¡°I needed someone who needed me. I''d have just blasted my way through the stone if my guess was n''t right.¡±


    ¡°What made you think she could open it?¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I suspect that completing the dungeon that we did to rescue Hylal, she would get something that let her fulfill her dream.¡±


    ¡°Well, you realize you''re in an impossible situation? If she walks out of here and can restore the empire, either your adventure ends or you split.¡±


    Brines groaned. ¡°Please, we can sit down an analyze how BAD our decisions in relationships are AFTER we are in the portal and out of the way of a MOON sized ex girlfriend!¡±


    ¡°I never dated Diamond.¡±


    ¡°That''s because a moon sized girl was aiming for a planet sized case of self denial and a black hole of self doubt. She probably loves you as much as Spears or Hari does.¡± Brines snapped, his voice sounding clipped as he spoke rapidly, and his hair getting a little messed up. ¡°And wipe that smirk off your face Nyx. Everything you do is a deflection or imitation of something. I can only imagine what you''d be like if you weren''t friends with Corvayne.¡±


    Nyx snorted. ¡°Attaboy Nyxion!¡± He slapped the man''s shoulder. ¡°Where didja you learn to get a backbone? You could tell your dad off like that.¡±


    ¡°Uh, that''s what my dad sounds like when he gets mad.¡± Brines said, adjusting Bell.


    Corvayne bit his lip. ¡°Sorry, I''ll get working on fixing the whole impending destruction of this planet.¡±


    Before Brines could drag him into worrying about himself, he stepped through the gate. He stepped out into a sort of ornate tiled room, the walls made of either metal or very dark wood, wrapped with baroque over detailed filigree. The top of the room was open, and looked out into the new environment. To Corvayne, it looked like a huge brass and gold machines on titanic brass shelves, decked out in gears with parts and shelves shifting. It looked like a complicated puzzle box, something fit for an emperor in dazzling arrays of gold gears, orange tiles, red-brown wood cases for lanterns, all glowing reds and white, and all of it catching rainbows as mirrors shifted, directing and re-directing beams of what looked to be solid white light, concentrated to the point where it formed white lines in the controlled chaos.


    One of those beams landed near him and bounced off a mirror into the dungeon, splitting what looked like a bridge into two seperate paths. Corvayne''s skin started to itch and he was not even in the direct beam. He glanced back to see that it was a one-way door on top of everything. All he could do was sigh.


    ¡°Lasers. Why did it have to be lasers?¡±

 Chapter 191: Babylons Chimera

    Corvayne was, at the moment, not thinking too deeply about a drop of at least ten miles under the tips of his boots. He was thinking a bit about Bell, currently tied to his front in a not-so-flattering but balanced manner. It was the only way he could sidestep across the ledge around a room that was a light house death trap. Behind him was an ornate brass wall, and next to him was a window blasting out light so powerful he could see it''s radiance through some of the window frame itself. It looking to him like a blast furnace, but left no damage on the mundane materials in the dungeon. As the light faded to nothing he moved, trying to be fast and careful as he had three seconds.


    One second, as he used Gravity to help his grip and lighten bell, stepping halfway into the window.


    Two seconds, as he was bringing his feet together and kicking one out, pulling his back away from the wood so he didn''t catch a rope on it.


    Three seconds, as he was hurrying to pull his torso out of the way, using a hand and Gravity to force himself to stop when he used too much force, nearly his other hand as he pulled it away from the window as the beam of light once more blasted everything in the chamber, scouring it.


    Brines was following Corvayne, clearly trying to not hyperventilate as he clutched on a corner of the building. "I can''t make it over there!"


    "Brines, we NEED to keep going, and if I leave you behind, your stuck in this dungeon until you clear it. Stand up!" Corvayne took a deep breath. They could do this. "Stand up. Chin up. Look over at me. There''s enough room for your feet. Together, apart, together."


    He watched Brines pull himself upright and pull himself to the window blasting radiant death out of it, then start to shy away.


    "Stop!"


    Brines Froze. Corvayne watched him start to look down.


    Corvayne cleared his throat. "Look at me. Back flat. Chin up. On the count of three, your going to take five more steps like you just took together, real quick."


    "One," the light blasted out of the window.


    "Two," it started to dim.


    "Three." Brines moved, sashaying across the beam but didn''t account for the frame of the window, hitting it with his shoulder as he moved. Corvayne used Gravity and slammed him into the space next to him, managing to keep either from falling but feeling every bit of Bell''s form trying to pull him forward, as well as the texture of the brass he was using his power to slam his fingers into.


    "That''s the worst thing we''ll have to deal with. If you can do that, we can skip those death traps."


    Corvayne then made his way around the corner of the eight sided room, and there was another window. "Fuck." he muttered, quiet enough that Brines hopefully couldn''t hear it.


    A haughty voice called out. "Stop lollygagging!" Which made Corvayne take a deep breath. Nyxion was using his boots ability to float to keep an eye on the paths they were taking, so while flying gave him an extra responsibility, it wasn''t a free pass. There were dangers with flying on the floor as the dungeon floor had mirrors everywhere, directing the beams of light into the large open spaces, and every so often the clockwork would shift and swing parts of the ''shelves'' or drag them up and down, making flight a hazard.


    Yet, it was much safer then the number of hazardous rooms the dungeon kept forcing them through. At least the monsters were not a problem. The hostiles on the floor were all empty white cloth ''ghosts'' armed with staves. They had some numbers in chambers, and were immune to the light, but were slow, clumsy, and weak. They fell to a single strike from Corvayne.


    On the last side, there was a piece of decoration that blocked the way, and Corvayne had to resort to launching himself to safety, setting Bell down, then jumping back and hurling Brines to Nyxion.


    "Can''t you just carry me?"


    "She weighs a lot less then you."


    Brines looked down. "Is... she going to wake up Corvayne? I''ve been using healing on her."


    Corvayne didn''t know. "She will be okay. A spear moves forward. Her breathing has been more steady." What if she wasn''t? He couldn''t keep thinking that. He took a deep breath and pushed it all aside. "We can fix her after we get to Diamond."


    Nyxion nodded. "Ice cold but keep it like that. She''d be prodding us to hurry too."


    "It''s still taking too long." Corvayne said. If they kept having to go around the death trap rooms where mirrors bounced thousands of beams in erratic patterns, they would never reach the exit before Diamond crashed into Nel''Ferral, and that would be the end of Bell''s world and most of the people on it.


    Nyxion folded his arms. "You are not going solo, again."


    What choices did they have? Nyxion was fast, but if he didn''t have to carry anyone, he was faster. "You and Brines can protect her, then start going sideways. This place is a Tower, not a Dungeon, so there''s probably a way to get back to Cascadia."


    "I made a promise."


    Corvayne felt hot for the first time in a long time, pulling the collar of his shirt to let air inside his chainmail. His rubber pants suddenly felt sweaty. "To Spears?"


    "I made a promise to Lady Blood Claw." Nyxion said, an edge to his voice.


    "Nyxion, what would you tell me right now, if you were the same as when we met?"


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    He was quiet as he looked down as his feet. "Same as now, you''re being an idiot."


    What he needed was to be told to go for the juggular. His instructors would be ashamed of him, holding back for the girl who was just supposed to be their white elephant hostage. He was debating keeping bell safe against the weight of a world. He had read the same stupid situation so many times and now it wasn''t his world, and it wasn''t clear what the danger he was putting them in was. He wished he could just go for the win. But he was never a good warrior. Maybe the curse was right. A spear moves forward, and his feet were stuck on the kelidascope ground.


    Brines stood up. "I''ll protect her, by myself."


    Corvayne hadn''t forgotten that something had felt like it was shadowing them. "If we have an enemy behind us..."


    "If there''s someone after us, I''m not the goal."


    Nyx ran his hand thorough his hair. "But Bell might also be, if there''s more doors." Bad planning on his part. Too many mistakes. He had got Bell hurt. They needed more people.


    Nyxion gestured around him. "Corvayne, damn it, we should have waited for more people. What if it''s a six on one fight?"


    "If we don''t get a humanized version, or If I have to fight a moon, I don''t think it would matter."


    Nyx nodded. "If it''s a moon, you won''t win before you run out of juice. You need Brines."


    "Corvayne." Brines said, stepping in front of him and looking him in the eye. "Leave me with Bell. Trust me. I might be a coward, but that''s why she''ll be safe with me."


    Nyx was pacing. "You''re really going to try to go alone? In a dungeon that''s making you break out into hives just from the energy in the air. Stop fucking around Corvayne. We are a team. Even if it''s slow."


    Corvayne thought about using Gravity, and leaping ahead. Flinging himself to high points, he''d find stairs. "We need to change what we are doing then."


    As they were talking, four of the hooded figures had turned a corner and started walking then running down Lapis Lazuli stairs. Nyxion flicked his whip and something caused them to scatter, flinging three off the edge to start tumbling forever. Another flick of his serpent whip and the last cloth monster dissolved into a pile of tarry ash as the venom from the artifact consumed it.


    "It''s too bad we can''t just throw buckets of paint on the mirrors or something." Brines said. Corvayne''s mind flashed back to the gateway with a paint can on it. No time for regret now.


    "Next time we see a pack of those things... take one alive." Corvayne said, and with that missive they started moving, hitting a trap room where mirrors moving above a grated floor and mirrors in the ceiling would illuminate tiles in sets of patterns. There wasn''t a good way to walk around or over the room, and Corvayne was worried if they went hand over hand they might fall to the ornate structure below and lose height. He pulled his pistol out and tried to break one of the mirrors, but as he suspected they were beyond physical harm, as were the machines moving them about.


    He was not used to feeling so frustrated. He''d been helpless before, but the times in the village where he was just... not able to do whatever it was he needed to do, and didn''t know what whatever person training him really wanted him to do or fix... he was the wrong man for the job and the only one who could drag a curse out of Diamond, who likely would be fighting him with a full array of light powers as Spears had used Water. People he loved may or may not make it to safety before the moon hit. He found himself thinking about Hari, about Spears, about Wick, and about Lady Blood Claw.


    He created a ball of shadow stuff in his hand and then shot out a bouncing shadow hand at a mirror ahead. He regretted it as he did, it was a waste of mana as his hands inevitably were trumped by light powers.


    There was a great crack, and the mirrors he hit screamed and started quivering, leaking glowing goop that created radiant smoke as it went from welding bright to a dull grey on the floor.


    Corvayne looked at Nyx, then Brines, then back at the mirror, now wounded.


    "Brines. Mana."


    As the refreshing feeling of a jog through cold on the high plains washed over him, Corvayne started flinging, his scything hands no use against the beams of light, but completely able to shred the mirrors and turn them into piles of glowing crap. They strode across the room avoiding the one lit mirror his shadows could not get close to.


    "Pick up the pace." Was all he said, but he could feel through [[Unity]] that some sort of tide had turned, that the frustration they had felt was washing away to determination.


    The stairs for the first floor was behind a few more set piece trap rooms, neutered by his ability to fling shadows.


    Brines wiped his brow as they reached an ornate stairway, a chimera construct of brass with glowing orange stairs. "How the heck did the imperials ever get through that?"


    Nyxion smirked. "What if the power they had over the artifacts is like a radiance version of Corvayne''s hands. I bet they hardly take damage from the light in here."


    Brines nodded as they stepped up the stairs. "Do you think they rule from a chicken or egg situation? Did they get power over the artifacts because they can make it through the dungeon, or was the dungeon made for them?"


    "Tower. They are different." Lady Blood Claw had drilled him that the ones that went down were nasty, and he didn''t want to think about what a descending light dungeon would be like.


    The floors fell quickly with the change to an aggressive push. Corvayne aimed for mirrors, and other monsters less subtle about their nature. His shadows clawed fireballs made of light and popped them with little squealing puffs of protest. The dug into gaps between plates of brass dogs, spraying the stonework paths and halls with showers of gears. A small dragon made of light forced Corvayne to charge recklessly after it pushed them back six turns as they were exploring a cube on the third floor where gravity changed every hallway. He bounced off the floor which was a wall, dodging a searing beam to use [Shadow Stealer] then turn and blast the monster with spearing hands as well as his weapon.


    There was a floor with pipes spewing flowers that acted like liquid moving puddles of light, attempting to force them to solve some sort of plumbing puzzle that Corvayne instead flung them over, walking on the pipes that fed the room below then hopping off. He tried his best to think of how Wick might cheat it, because the world was counting on him to find the stairs as fast as he could. When shadows couldn''t cut it, he''d apply [Sundering Strikes] to anything that looked like it might let him skip a room or make the solution easier.


    He might have made it alone, but he would have run out of steam or magic over and over. Nyx sometimes could turn his shield opaque and get at a part of the room Corvayne just couldn''t.


    Floor Five was nauseating, the floor having devices that teleported them based on mirrors, with his vision being jerked around when he was turned into energy to pivot every time it hit a reflective surface.


    He expected a lobby, but instead the trial just moved him to floor Six. There were rules that this dungeon broke, but what were his choices? They rampaged through floor six, which is what Corvayne dubbed a ''fighting floor'' that had all sorts of light enemies rather then obnoxious light traps. His hands would form long strings between monsters charging them in giant brass and gold courtyards, darting out in black webs before snapping back, killing untold numbers and numbing Corvayne''s sense of the world until Brines pumped him full of Mana for the next room.


    Nyxion chipped in as well, whip helping take out pesky dragons and walking cauldrons with orbs of light who would try to hit Corvayne as if they were artillery. If he was close, they''d stretch on their hind legs to fire directly at him.


    Floor seven the light beam was slowed down but the entire floor was made of mirrors, and it curved to try to catch them, requiring a scramble and Corvayne to use some tricks to make sense of something like a massive hall of mirrors and a few corridors that were just that.


    Floor Eight was broken glass flowing in orbits around what looked to Corvayne like many harem rooms, covered in hazy smoke. He wasn''t where the Towers got their ideas from, but he did appreciate a floor that Nyxion could just cheat them through by extending his shield and deflecting the endless streams of glass. It took no more then ten minutes in which they never stopped after deciding their course of action.


    Floor Nine was similar to the first floor, and it was there, after besting a room with mirrors on twisting gears that they cheated their way though, that Corvayne felt his neck start to tickle again.


    ¡°It''s somewhere here.¡± He tried to use compass on ''whatever is tracking us'', but his power didn''t like that, and for a moment he felt dizzy. Even on a stairway high up, there were just too many little moving things and insane details that trying to pick out what it was gave him a headache after a minute.


    Brines bit his lip. ¡°If I had just stayed behind, you could have left more traps in it''s way.¡±


    ¡°Any chance it''s Bearer of Burdens?¡± Nyx asked.


    Corvayne closes his eyes and rubbed the side of his head. ¡°No... it feels hostile.¡±


    Brines nodded. ¡°She''s stuck on that island until her claim wears off.¡±


    Nyxion drifted back. ¡°I''ll cover our back. Move. If it''s an assassin, it''s not going to do hot against my shields.¡±


    ¡°Trying to look for her gives me a headache. This place is...¡± He looked at the orange/red/blue/brown/gold colors, hammered into geometric shapes and rigid lines and circles.


    ¡°Trying too hard.¡± Nyxion finished.


    It slowed them down, as Corvayne refused to ignore his back. He didn''t see anything behind them, but he could feel it. It was following them, and it was gaining on them. But was it a mile back, or a hundred feet, and able to blend into the millions of gears and pillars and geometric shapes he saw? He looked at Bell''s face, twitching as if she was in a nightmare, and Corvayne turned around, wiping sweat from his face. Too many problems. Sloppy execution. He was going to have to hope. Hope that they''d find Diamond at the end of the floor, hope that they could fight her, hope he could pull the curse out, and hope that she could actually stop herself from bowling into the empire, and do it well before whatever was after them caught up.

 Chapter 192: The Bride Strikes

    The tenth floor had a feeling of finality to it as Corvayne crossed the glowing orange stairway. The blinding whites and huge array of colors instead was replaced by a black sky, bits of red clouds washing over it. Corvayne could see in a sea of something dark other pyramidal structures, shooting huge pillars of light into the clouds. White lines against dark browns, reds, blacks. The smell of blood assaulted him as a faint wind stirred. He nearly gagged from the smell, and he could hear the thick lapping of waves at the base of the structure.


    He sent his compass out, and it directed him down a flight of steps to a causeway out through the blood. The dark bricks were stained with the fluid and had encrustment that formed scab-spikes, like hands reaching up to claim the walkways that intruded on the blood sea.


    ¡°What is wrong with this place?¡± Nyx asked.


    Brines moved next to Corvayne. ¡°Are you sure we can handle this?¡±


    Corvayne glanced over at him. ¡°You went deeper... further up before, didn''t you?¡±


    Brines nodded. ¡°It felt like cheating.¡±


    ¡°Worlds on the line.¡±


    Nyxion nodded. ¡°As are our lives, and Bells. Are you sure we can''t just take what''s following us?¡±


    Corvayne felt his instincts were on that something dangerous was on it''s way. ¡°I don''t think we''d make it unscathed if we fought.¡±


    ¡°Is it a light golem or something? Fuck. We haven''t seen anything.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I could be going mad from some sort of light poisoning, it''s clearly not good for me.¡±


    He lead the way down the stairs, motioning for Brines and Nyx to go ahead and dragging his spear over the walkway. He infused a [Reap] with shadows, creating a pool behind him. It would only last a few minutes, but it might help find whatever kept him feeling watched.


    He turned back and jogged to catch up, eyes now facing forward for some sign of the monsters on the floor. He didn''t see anything lurking in the blood, nor did he see anything moving in front of them or behind him, nor any signs of the clouds being disturbed by anything but wind. Two feelings were mingling, the second one certain that this floor was dead, burned out, the result or imprint of something terrible that happened a long time ago... that he was somewhere huge, empty, and sad.


    He kept looking back, and saw that his shadow wave had triggered and snapped, not strong enough to hold whatever had passed through it, but he couldn''t see anything.


    ¡°We need to RUN. Now! Endurance!¡±


    He started sprinting, and felt his movement buoyed by Brines. Nyx touched down to get his boots on the ground. ¡°Corvayne what the hell is it?¡±


    ¡°We can''t see it.¡±


    Brines tried to look back while running and nearly stumbled. ¡°It''s invisible?¡±


    Corvayne didn''t wait, using his spear to lay down another line of shadows while running backwards. The line of black he left boiled out with no sign of being breached, nor did Corvayne see signs of footprints besides their own on the blood that had spilled onto the walkway. He pulled out a shadow hand, and slowed his backwards walk.


    ¡°Where is it?¡±


    The hand swayed and pointed to a spot that couldn''t have been twenty feet away. Corvayne activated [Storm Thrust] and saw for a moment the slightest hint of something sliding on top of the bloody walkway.


    A moment later he felt something huge pass by his face, the whistling telling him it was a heavy weapon.


    Corvayne used [Cross Skill: Light Cut] to leave behind afterimages, trying to stop whatever it was from passing. He had the faintest sense of something walking on the crust of blood near the platform, and he switched plans and threw everything into gravity in that direction. A moment later something fell into the crust with a hiss, then a hand thrust out of the blood, covered in dark crimson.


    Nyxion didn''t wait, snapping his whip out but not even seeming to slow the monster. Brines thrust his daggers out, flame and lightning bathing the form of a woman at least twelve feet tall, but doing little besides boiling blood on it''s surface. Corvayne sent shadow hands at her, hoping to drive it, her back. There were places the hand disrupted the blood, but even plunging into her they didn''t stop the woman, blood revealing her as nude save for a veil dripping blood. No signs of any damage on her. It was hard to see with her veil, but Corvayne felt overwhelming contempt.


    ¡°We see you.¡± Corvayne said, while backing up, spear ready for the blood covered scythe she was dragging behind her.


    ¡°Do you?¡± She said in a rough growl, then was gone again, blood vanishing.


    Corvayne once again thrust out with [ Storm Thrust ] to buy them space, then activated [[Agility]] and [[Unity]]. He turned and saw Nyxion and Brines didn''t need additional prompting to run. Corvayne could feel that his compass was not trained on the next island, but he called out. ¡°See if there''s a door or choke point!¡±


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    They made it into the structure, and there was no place to try to juke out, though they could run on through. Corvayne left a trail of [ Cross Skill: Light-Cut ] Clones, and saw a few of them burst as whatever it was just strode through.


    He forced his compass to find them any exit. It was still locked on the spot they were going.


    ¡°Left!¡± he called, directing them down another causeway over the blood. He felt rather then saw that something was flying at him and used [Cross Skill: Shield Wall] to deflect what must have been the scythe. It still somehow gave him feedback, blasting him with energy that felt hot and dry, but didn''t burn. He didn''t feel wounded, but instead kept throwing out [ Storm Thrust ], only slowing when he felt like he was flagging in stamina. Brines was further back now, but the aura was still helping him catch his breath even as he would run, pivot, and try to knock the unseen assailant back.


    Corvayne heard a shrill scream and turned, seeing Brines fall over as one of his legs was missing.


    What happened next felt like slow motion, Corvanye rooted in place. Brines fell onto his face. Nyx moved to cover him, blasting his auras to try to repel the attacker. There was a single sharp note and his shield flared, then the Scythe cut part of his torso away. Nyx spun with the hit, teeth gritted as he smashed a potion into his face and whipped out, snake head catching the woman and causing her to glitch back in, but not stopping her from slashing again, this time taking an arm. Corvayne was running, but he was just too slow, using [Storm Thrust] in a way that crawled forward, hitting the woman from the side, where she stumbled on the edge.


    Corvayne heard her splash but pulled Brines to his good foot, putting an arm under him to help him hobble. The added weight from Bell being strapped to him didn. ¡°Healing aura! Brines!¡±


    Corvanye could feel Brines healing start pulsing. It wasn''t going to grow a leg back, but he needed to keep himself alive losing blood. ¡°Go! Go! We are almost there!¡±


    They were at the base of the stairs, and Corvayne felt Brines sagging. He grabbed his friends collar and pulled a healing potion out, and forced Brines to down it as he dragged him up the stairs, working Bell free and pulling the unconscious Princess along.


    Nyx was breathing heavily. Brines was in shock. Bell was out too. He could see behind him the woman emerging from the blood again, looking up at Corvayne with yellow glowing eyes past her blood soaked veil. Corvayne turned back, trying to get every foot he could and knowing it wasn''t enough.


    Nyxion stopped climbing. He didn''t turn. ¡°See you next time Corvayne.¡±


    Corvayne looked back as he dragged Brines up the steps. Nyxion was blocking the center of the stairs, and this time the huge woman didn''t bother hiding, running at Nyxion and swinging the scythe around, this time taking one of his legs and hitting him in the shoulder again on the backswing, so fast that it didn''t trip him. Nyx used his one arm to swing his whip at her neck, then pulled what was left of himself at her by shortening it.


    ¡°Fall!¡± Nyxion''s perhaps last act was to hit her like a human bowling ball in the face, toppling the woman as she was on the back swing from her huge scythe. She tumbled down the stairs and Corvayne kept pulling, trying to get Brines to safety.


    There was a snarl as she pulled herself up, pulling Nyxion off herself and tossing him aside. ¡°Come BACK whelps!¡± Her voice cracked, madness evident.


    Corvayne could hear Brines gasping for breath as they reached the doorway into the pyramid above the blood. They stumbled down the stairs to a central square area, lit by light streaming in from above.


    Corvayne set Bell down and did his best to try to focus. He pulled [[Vitality]] and focused on letting his ears try to catch where the woman would attack from next. He moved before he knew what he was doing, his spear getting hit by something that almost jerked it from his hand. A moment later he felt screaming pain in his side. His hand moved and felt hot blood gushing from his side where the invisible scythe had got past his chain armor.


    The next hit landed on his armor and he stumbled over Bell, falling to the ground. Corvayne saw the scythe a moment before he felt it bite into the Jam-Jammies, triggering three meteors as he felt it break his leg as the artifact did it''s best to protect him.


    Corvayne hissed and started elbowing his way up the stair to turn around, and saw the woman appear again, covered in so much blood and clearly amused that he was on the ground.


    ¡°I had assumed someone gunning to restart the pilgrimage after this long would be... more formidable.¡±


    Corvayne kept his hand on his spear, watching her as she squatted near him, giving him a view of her blood soaked unmentionables. He waited for her to keep talking, as Brines auras were still going even if it looked like he was passed out.


    She smiled, blood soaked veil hiding most of the rest of herself. ¡°I will take you back to the master. I want to know who put you up to this, and why you forced me to hasten my plans.¡±


    It was likely the same woman who had been at the dungeon, with less clothes. Did that factor into her invisibility? He could feel a flash of boredom, and so he laughed before she decided to start using her scythe again.


    Corvayne forced himself to talk like how he imagined villains sounded when they should be beaten. Buy time, for healing, for backup, or to just get a plan together. Or an opening to strike. ¡°You think you''ve won, don''t you? That you''ve accounted for everything, and with Diamond you''ll be able to destroy the gateway once and for all.¡±


    The woman stood up, hands outstretched. ¡°I could have done it myself, but I want the Watchers to serve the master. Do you know how long they chained him up? Me up? Eons, hunting empty corridors. Eons, with... not... a... whisper of my BELOVED. I''ve been waiting for EONS in the in-between. Then, the doors opened again! I can continue his work! I can feel his power again! I''ll return to my place at his side, his most beloved bride!¡±


    ¡°Did whoever your master is get you a ring?¡± He asked.


    This was not perhaps a question she wanted to hear, as for a moment he felt rage. ¡°A FOOLISH question! The Magus promised me! When I completed... the task... I''d be first of his women! The Bride of Brides!!! Our wedding is soon... I can HEAR the bells!¡±


    The scythe dug into the ground a few times as the huge woman ground her teeth. Ring was a touchy point. No need to ask the naked woman if she had a dress yet then either. Still, the mad woman was giving him info and time. Corvayne could see the work of the Magus at the very least included not disposing of dangerous loose ends, if her state wasn''t intentional.


    ¡°And of course, you''ve taken all the people Diamond is going to flatten as necessary sacrifices for your white wedding... correct?¡± Corvayne was slowly bringing Argyle''s staff into his hand. He would have one chance to try to hit her with [Mass Driver] in the neck. He was pretty sure if she did have several hundred levels then aside from decapitation he couldn''t reliably disable her. Even then, it might not kill her.


    ¡°I hardly care which name they gave to which Watchers, but the main body will replace the pitiful empire that has forgotten their work of ages keeping this gate closed.¡± The woman made a dismissive gesture. ¡°The last use of this one was tracking you down. Using the princess as my guide, I found you before you could do... before you could...¡±


    Her eyes got hazy. Her hand started scratching her head. ¡°What are you trying to do?¡±


    Corvayne snapped his voice to go cold. He smiled. ¡°It''s too late. Diamond is already breaking control. You have delivered to us the perfect agent to open the gates forever. Hail Watchers.¡±


    ¡°No! Lies! The Magus''s works are PERFECT!!!¡± Her scythe darted out and Corvayne felt the tip go through his ankle.


    He howled, pain threatening to overwhelm him. He didn''t move his hand that had a death grip on Argyle''s staff. Yet the woman didn''t follow through to finish him off or chop the foot all the way off, instead pulling her scythe back. Corvayne forced himself to grit his teeth, to sit back up. What was the story? What could make the woman go away?


    ¡°She''s... Diamond was going to use the portals to...¡± He wasn''t good at this. He wished he had spent more time practicing acting. ¡°... to try to woo the Magus.¡±


    As it turned out, the insane woman clearly didn''t notice. He reaction was to stand and start pacing. ¡°He would NEVER consort with a filthy Watcher...¡±


    Corvayne just laughed. ¡°You... are... too late. We were a decoy.¡±


    ¡°LIES!¡± She roared, swinging her scythe in random patterns, getting dangerously close to hitting Bell or Brines.


    Corvayne had no more time left. He drew Argyle''s staff and hefted it light a lightning bolt, throwing everything he had into [[Strength]].


    He aimed for her neck and launched a [Mass Driver], the staff spinning and blasting off as it left his hand, but missing her neck and instead clipping her shoulder.


    Her eyes narrowed in rage and she swapped the scythe from her damaged side to her offhand. Corvayne did his best to give her a middle finger as he saw her lift the scythe, aiming no doubt for his head this time.

 Chapter 193: Unlikely Allies

    Corvayne watched as the insane bride pulled the scythe up, her mouth a sneer under her bloody veil before she brought it down, and in the moment before the blade hit him, there was a waver and it landed next to him, clattering out of the Brides hands.


    There was a moment of silence, as Corvayne looked at the huge silver weapon now laying next to him, then at the huge blood soaked woman looking between him and the scythe.


    He recovered a moment before she did, and rolled over and tagged the Scythe, it folding and vanishing into his ring before she could grab it. The woman let out a scream of frustration and made a fist then jumped onto Corvayne, straddling him with her too hot and heavy body before bringing her fist down and hitting the stone next to him, rather then him. Corvayne saw confusion on her face and could see what looked like a geometric figure appear, a ghostly twenty sided die with a orange "1" stamped on it.


    Corvayne used [Juxtapose], then tried to hit her with a [Sleeper Hold] but she elbowed him before he could knock her out, and he went flying this time. As he crashed against one of the far slopped walls on the interior of the pyramid, causing him to roll back down to where Bell and Brines were. His mangled foot caught a bit of stair and he cried out in pain.


    The Bride whirled. "Give it BACK! It was a GIFT! I''ll KILL YOU!"


    As she moved to use her good hand to bludgeon him to death, a red missile slammed into her, flinging the huge woman into the stairway.


    "[Springwind]!" Corvayne heard Seru call out, and she launched herself forward and got the huge naked woman in the gut then popped back to where she was as the woman was flung to a doorway and then fell backwards out of sight, not quite getting her hand up to stop her from rolling out of the Pyramid.


    Seru was fully geared, cracking her fists, and with Nyxion tied to her back, covered in blood but with his severed limbs bandaged.


    "Can you stand?"


    "She''s hundreds of levels and can turn invisible. We need to go."


    Seru gulped but planted her feet and closed her eyes. A ghostly "20" appeared over her head, and her eyes snapped open. At the same time Corvayne felt her sharpen as she once again used [Springwind], this time aiming the wind step at a different empty door and hitting something with a noise that sounded like a punching bag full of steak getting hit by a train. Part of the doorframe vanished.


    She then reached down to help Corvayne up. "I don''t CARE if she has a billion levels, I''m going to fuck her up for messing with Nyx and You!"


    Seru looked a little scared to Corvayne, and he could feel it through [[Unity]] as she dragged him out of the Pyramid.


    "Bell, and Brines..."


    "Are more likely to live if we can beat her. So use your power and fix your leg already!"


    "Who else... is..."


    "It''s me and Kirae. We''ll get her."


    Corvayne did not like those odds. Maybe with Spears, but Seru and a Merchant vs an invisible giant...


    From the causeway he saw Kirae, also clad in a lot of red metal gear mixed with leather, riding what looked like a camel.


    Seru called. "Gimme a true sight and some firefly juice!"


    Corvayne saw Kirae pull her reigns up and toss two bottles at Seru, who caught them and downed one, then handed the other to Corvayne.


    She hissed at him before he could unstop it. "Don''t drink that one. I need you to use [Expert Toss] and hit the invisible woman so we can take her down. I know you can hit her as long as I get you pointed the right direction."


    Corvayne winced as her putting a hand over the potion made him put weight on the leg that she had sliced open, and he glared at Seru. "Listen to me, you''re going to die."


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "Toss it at the top of the pyramid! Now!" She held Corvayne up enough he could lob the potion and he used [Expert Toss] as he did, though she maybe didn''t get that aiming it at air meant he was more likely to hit air even if she was there. Or would be, if he didn''t feel something rolling in his head for a second and felt something telling him he''d score a critical hit. There was an effortlessness as the potion left his hand, bluish green fluid swirling and starting to glow a little as it spun end over end then hit something, splashing the woman in glowing liquid, then causing her to glow like a sun perched on the Pyramid.


    The bride laughed at them. "Foolish."


    She faded, but Seru just set Corvayne down and started stalking around the Pyramid. Corvayne used his spear to hobble with his shadow hands and drew his cleaver. He might be able to follow up if the woman couldn''t take Seru out with an unarmed hit.


    What instead happened is Seru squared up to something Corvayne couldn''t see and used [Springwind] again, and again, and again, sometimes using knees and sometimes her head as she bounced forward like a missile, hit something, then darted back to either the same spot or sometimes adjusted. She was panting, but a moment later Kirae had thrown her a stamina potion.


    Corvayne was wondering how they could tell where the monster was when he figured it out. The creature was glowing, very, very brightly. It was invisible and was removing just about every trace of itself now, including it''s bloody footprints. But Corvayne felt his eyes narrowing a little when he looked at a certain spot nothing was. He could feel a bit of itching on his skin, warm from essentially a psychic trying to hide the sun. When Seru looked like she was flagging a moment, Corvayne fired off a [Cross Skill: Whirling Axe], likely hitting the Brides leg.


    He was at a higher point on the Pyramid and with some help from the shadows could track the Bride as the woman jumped into the blood.


    "Kirae! She''s going to switch targets to you!" Corvayne''s guts told him that unless the giant woman was retreating, she had figured out the support that was letting Seru batter her without getting close. So Kirae nodded and turned her camel around and just ran. The giant lady shed her shroud, glowing like a road flare in bright greens and pinks as she got on all fours to start running Kirae down. He could see the big bright form catching up to the small dot then there was a pop as Kirae and her mount appeared next to Corvavyne, scroll in her hand falling apart.


    "Hey Corvayne. Those are expensive. Can you loan me some money to help pay for this battle?"


    "If she catches you, she''ll kill you." He watched as the glowing form turned around and shrouded again.


    Kirae thought about this. "As would many people I''ve met in life. Had you asked me a few months ago if I''d considered fighting a demi-god, I''d have said no."


    The glowing form was coming right down the causeway. "She''s going to run out of stamina long before I run out of consumables or Seru stops being angry."


    As to emphasis this, Seru reached over and took what looked like a thick potion, downed it, used her red metal kote to wipe her mouth, then snarled and pointed. A ghostly 1 appeared over what must have been the invisible woman.


    Seru snapped forward, and this time the woman was ready, stepping back and scoring a kick. The giant woman sent Seru flying, but even as she turned away there was another glass breaking at her feet and black powder swirled around the giant. Kirae looked disappointed when the figure seemed to ignore it.


    "That was very expensive, was it a dud?"


    Corvayne didn''t think so. "If she''s in the level 200s, then she is likely several times more resilient and resistant even without armor."


    The huge woman turned then and started running at Corvayne, ignoring Kirae and Seru even as she landed what looked like a telling blow. She got down on all fours and Corvayne started hobbling up the steps to give him some room.


    "YOU! Have weapons! Give me that SPEAR!"


    Corvayne used [Storm Thrust] to buy some space, but she scrambled up the stairs and grabbed onto his spear then tried to wrest it away, in the process slaming Corvayne into the ground a few times before he activated Gravity to lighten her, causing her to be unable to use her footing to push him back. She punched him twice, once in the face and one time hitting his armor. Corvayne stumbled, trying to plant his good foot when she jumped up with both hands on his spear and tried to kick him away from it.


    His hands were like steel around his weapon. "No." His shadow hands barraged her, and finally Seru connected with a sideways [Springwind] that sent the woman flying off into the blood and Corvayne accepted her help. "We need to get Bell and Brines and start moving to the exit. There''s just no good way to kill her."


    "I''m doing a TON of damage!" Seru argued. "I think I broke her leg."


    "She''s going to find a weapon and start eviscerating us." Corvayne pointed where his compass was directing them. "We move to that pyramid, get off the floor, hope it puts us at the bar where that thing can''t pick a fight."


    Corvayne hobbled back and got Brines up. The man was pale, having lost a lot of blood, but stumbled along with Corvayne''s prompting even though he was in shock. Bell was still out, her eyes shut tight and wincing as if she was in a bad dream, so Corvayne did his best to get her on his back and hobble with his shadow limbs acting as extra legs.


    Kirae took Brines from him once they had managed to stumble to the base of the Pyramid. She was pulling double duty keeping Seru topped off with potions as the woman used empowered attacks to knock the giant into the blood sea. Every time the woman switched targets, Seru would do something to mark her with a ''1'' dice over her head, which would result in some sort of catastrophic failure on the next attack. At the same time, Seru was stacking an effect with her Impetus skill that made her able to punch through the woman''s defenses. Corvayne did his best to add to the Giant woman''s momentum with [Storm Thrust] any time Seru sent her flying.


    The group reached the stairway in the next Pyramid and Corvayne felt intense relief as they managed to step foot into the bar. The endless green wood structure was full of people watching them, and the moment Corvayne felt like he could relax he felt a fist hit his back, sending him sprawling forward. The titanic woman laughed as a bouncer clothes-lined her, then threw the construct off her.


    ¡°You are NOT Safe here! The weakling guards don''t stand a-¡±


    A woman with brilliant floral adornments to her rainbow colored hair and armor that gleamed opal hit her with the flat of her two handed blade, sending the giant off into the murky depths of the bar. She dusted her hands.


    ¡°Hey honey! Go cool your heels!¡±


    Corvayne started getting up, letting both Seru and the stranger woman help.


    ¡°My thanks, miss...¡±


    ¡°Sugar. What''s your name buddy?¡± She seemed entirely too happy to have just sent a blood soaked giant flying.


    Corvayne shook the hand that helped him up. ¡°Corvayne.¡±


    Don''t worry a thing about it, there''s lots of folks like me who will step in if there''s a bully in here. Now get a drink and relax, maybe see if someone can look at that leg.¡±


    ¡°No time. We have to save the world.¡±


    The woman nodded. ¡°Oh, well then don''t let me stop you. Good luck!¡±


    Corvayne ambled through the door to the boss fight, friends in tow. He faintly heard the frustrated and insane screams of their adversary from deeper in the bar.

 Chapter 194: Sugar Double Diamond Duel

    Corvayne stepped through the doorway in the bar, one of his feet still shredded from the giant woman''s scythe. Kirae was next, with Brines and Bell riding on her camel with her. She also had a ton of gear strapped to the animal, to the point where Corvayne wasn''t sure how it was moving.


    Seru was last through, with Nyxion tied to her. He had lost an arm and a leg with wounds that Corvayne wasn''t sure how he had survived. The only hint he had was that fine light blue crystals had formed around his injuries. Something like Corvayne''s own adept powers, working to keep his friend alive. That and Seru stuffing a healing potion down his throat.


    The boss arena in this case was sunset atop a plateau. Corvayne was fairly sure with the two forks of a river coming together that this was the imperial palace sometime in the past. Other hints were stonework being assembled above them, tools left scattered as if the workers were going to pick them up in the morning.


    Standing on a raised dias that might one day hold the throne, Diamonds-in-Passing stood ten feet tall, her quadraped form similar to the monster that the empire had failed to stop on the outside. On her back was a large orb of diamond. No doubt the prototype of the moon. Corvayne guessed then that his goal for the fight was to tag the orb, and pull out the corrupted thorns he was sure were there. Given the gleaming form of the boss, that was easier said then done no doubt.


    A voice he did not recognize called out. "Okay team! This one looks tough!"


    He turned around and noted that Sugar, the would-be bar enforcer that had ejected the bride, had also snuck in with them. The armored woman was stretching and whistling. Around her vibrant flowers appeared out of light then vanished. As they did, Corvayne felt himself relaxing.


    He shook his head and narrowed his eyes. He tried to keep himself level. "Miss Sugar, I don''t know the rules of the bar but I am afraid we don''t have anything to offer you for your help."


    "No need to worry! Freebie! I love helping folks!" Her stomach grumbled, and she put an armored hand over it. "Ahah ha, but if you can buy me something to eat, I''d appreciate it!"


    While Sugar spoke, Corvayne saw a second Diamond split off from the first, though the second did not have a moon on it''s back. Corvayne took a deep breath. "I mean, we have just multiplied the number of extremely elite swordswomen we will be facing. We were not sure how we were going to fight one."


    Seru sat down and held her head. "What do we know about Diamond Weapon?"


    Kirae was fishing in her bags. "Light attacks, obviously has a two handed sword so probably can sunder our gear like Corvayne would... what else Corvayne?"


    "Diamonds-in-Passing will likely also have powerful ice attacks, she was sort of a winter queen. If for some reason she doesn''t just target me with light attacks. They might nova eachother. She''s a very smart tactician. I suspect with two, they''ll do something like hit each other with light and double up on that counter move that nearly killed me and Bell."


    Seru walked over to Brines and helped sew up his missing leg''s pants leg. "Bell has white lines now, do you think she might wake up and help us?" She kept one eye on her work, the other on the bosses waiting for them across the arena.


    Corvayne shook his head. "I get a feeling that the royal family stopped coming out of this because they are not terribly useful. So... maybe I try to just dash for the orb, see if I can suprise the boss and pull the curse out?"


    Sugar looked between the group. "Ice and Light element? Okay. I''ll nullify both of them. Miss monk, do you have buffs?"


    Seru looked upwards. "I can make anything you do critical. As in, you''ll do it really, really well. But it has to be something that has a variable."


    "Great! Use that on me please."


    "I was planning to see if Corvayne could fix his foot and go for an alpha strike." Seru said. Corvayne sort of agreed, but the person who had slipped in with them had thrown the insane woman almost effortlessly. So it was possible they had a high level ringer who just wanted to join them.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Try her." Corvayne nodded. "What should we do different with your skills?"


    "Oh, just try to destroy or disarm one of them, I''ll take the other one and negate their magic. I''m basically the ultimate wall! Sugar.... spin!"


    The 20 vanished as thousands of colors exploded out of Sugar. "Okay, Let me know when your ready for me to pull!"


    "Is this usual that you just jump into groups?"


    "I have a good feeling about you, like, maybe.... it''s destiny?" Sugar started looking down at her armored fingers, her face blushing.


    Seru groaned. "We''ve known you a minute! Hands off Corvayne!"


    Nyx groaned something that Corvayne didn''t catch, but Seru nodded and gave Corvayne a look that he was sure wasn''t entirely flattery. She could do that, as Seru had saved his bacon pretty damn hard a moment ago. "Okay Sugar. We don''t know for sure how the levels work in here, but-"


    "These guys are going to be level 40 something tops. Even if the real target is higher. Just keep yours busy, don''t bother doding magic or energy. If you can disable her, do that. I''m level 60 something but I''m a Tier 8 and punch way above my raw level. I''ll go ahead and start us up!"


    "Tier... Eight!?!?"


    "[Floral Nova Blade!]" Sugar fast-drew her blade, flying across the rooftop trailing dust and glowing flowers, then on impact Corvayne saw a dozen rose shaped auras flying out. He felt his doubt melt away. Courage bolstered him. His foot clamped itself to his bones, pain forgotten.


    He couldn''t use his leg fully, but without pain he charged with Seru forward, using his spear to help him close the distance. Both Diamonds turned and fired rays of light at each-other, turning themselves into light bombs. Corvayne was sure, seeing both glowing like fire, they were doomed. The same moment, he heard Sugar cry out again.


    "[Flag Blade! White!]" and a white flower spun appeared between them and moments later the glow between the monsters was gone, turning into a glowing white blade stuck in the ground. Sugar parried and slid over, picking the spare weapon up then slamming it into her own weapon. She used her blade and stopped an overhead strike, then spun and perfectly slashed at her diamond.


    Corvayne and Seru both had to stop and gawk, but rather then let her get double-teamed Corvayne steadied his spear. "[Cross Skill: Shadow Stealer!]". He dove forward, blade running across Diamond''s shadow. Seru, on the other hand, used her Impetus skill to perfectly dodge an attack, then activated [Springwind] to bounce forward and instantly spring back out of the counter attack.


    "Aim for her leg, our goal is to stop her from moving then flank and get the orb!"


    Sugar caught a sword flat and went flying but somehow used her two handed blade to arrest her momentum and go flying right back in, also catching and drinking a potion from Kirae.


    Corvayne saw Diamond sweeping her weapon forward and pushed with [Unity] to Seru. A moment later, Seru used [Cross Skill: Flows Like Water] to move through Diamond''s blade, and Corvayne used his own [Flows Like Water] to follow, throwing attacks and shadow limbs into her legs. The huge Diamond centaur stomped, and Corvayne was forced to roll away. Still, he could see faint cracks forming in one of her legs.


    Kirae tossed them potions as he and Seru squared up with the monster. He felt Brines aura kicking in too.


    Seru ran back in, and Diamond pefectly timed her attack to hit the [Springwind], except a shield popped up and deflected the blade, letting her nail the leg again. Corvayne flung his hand forward, throwing shadow at it then focusing Gravity on the Diamond above it. There was a crack and the leg shattered.


    Nxy flared his fear intent, and for a moment his target was off balance. Corvayne leapt at the orb on Diamond''s back, but Sugar''s target snapped a hand out to grab it. Or would have, if [Sword Bash] didn''t interrupt.


    Corvayne landed on the orb, hitting his knee and summoning another jelly meteor, but gritted his way through the pain and plunged his hands into Diamond''s real body. He felt his hands close around spined thorns and he pulled, using his foot to brace himself as he lifted something like a huge clog from her. A sword came whistling in at him, but Seru used Impetus to deflect it. Corvayne focused on what he was doing.


    It was him. Diamond. He had his hands around a hot curse, fighting his every pull. He looked over at Bell''s prone form, then grit his teeth and with a tug pulled the curse free.


    Sadly, it didn''t stop the boss fight, and a moment later he was hit with one of those swords, flung off of one Diamond. The one he had been on was trying to curl up, head in it''s arms as it fell to the ground.


    Sugar seemed to get the hint, and started to grow extra hands. "[Asuran Rainbow Blade!]" Sixteen swords started chipping diamond chunks off her adversary, and a moment later the other fell to her knees. Everyone was still a moment, then Seru cheered and ran over and hugged Sugar.


    "I take back everything bad I was going to say about you!"


    "Okay sorry for getting ya folks mad!"


    Kirae was more focused, flipping open a chest and just adding everything to her bags. "It''s how we pay for potions, but also camel feed. He doesn''t eat the cheap stuff."


    Corvayne could care less about the loot. Sugar''s auras wore off and now his foot was killing him. He walked over and picked up Bell, once more tying her to him. He caught Nyxion winking at him while wincing, still tied to Seru''s back. Well, that was one way for the girl to keep his attention.


    He shook Sugar''s hand, partially because he was pretty sure she had given him a bunch of ideas for new attacks, and because Corvayne had an inkling that Nyxion could someday have a set of skills like she did. They both seemed to have some sort of emotional basis in their moveset.


    Corvayne stepped out of the dungeon and had only a moment to see that the Bride was waiting for him outside the Tower exit, armed with a polearm. He felt rather then saw the hit as suddenly everything from the neck down was numb.


    Well shi-


    [You died]


    [Timeline Integrity at 6%]


    [3.5 Left]

 Chapter 195: When WORLDS Collide!

    Corvayne stepped onto dirt by the edge of the badlands, far to the east of Cascadia. He sighed as he looked himself over. Old clothes with lots of brown and black. Backpack, spear, no strawberry pants. Death had claimed him, and now he was back to square one. Or not entirely... he flexed [[Agility]] and felt himself picking up speed. He flung a shadow hand at the railing behind him and watched it bounce inside the metal.


    Looking around, he saw endless flat sands behind him, and the dry hills ahead. It had been a few months, and he noticed little changes that he had forgotten, including some of the stones he had associated with the high plains wandering off into the sands. In his mind it had been flat, but he shrugged.


    First question: should he dip into the portal and start working on Nel''Ferral tasks? The Raven was back alive, and Bell depending on her memories might or might not be healed. Her daughter would start near the dungeon, as might the bride...


    Without a bike, he''d take forever to re-do everything he had done before. He wanted to see Bell again, but also Spears. He also wasn''t sure if Diamond being fixed would carry over. One thing at a time. It was frustrating to have to start over, but with the Pacts and Adept powers, not to mention chain shadows, he would be that much harder a fight for Argyle.


    He wouldn''t NEED to fight Argyle, possibly, or he could do it with Spears backing him up. That made him smile. He frowned as he thought of the Bride. Cheap shot! He''d have to recruit the spider and try to have Growl-Whine fight her.


    Corvayne started the walk back. Over the dusty hills with mining trails on them, the four lane road reminding him of his last two walks. First, the joy he felt seeing plants, and running in the grass. Then, the second time, shrouded in doubts and fears. Now, well, it was his third time around. He had some idea of what was in store for him. Yes, there were monsters out there that could take him out, but he could have Diamond''s fixed if needed before the Bride even made her move.


    He let the line of trucks pass as he always did once he got to the foggy downhill. The line felt longer knowing he was waiting for the last truck. He jumped on and then hitched a ride down the mountain to the ore station.


    He was faster on his feet once he lept off the truck, and made it to the pair of gas stations by a stop light before he saw Mister I''s truck come puttering up the road. The jovial monk, hunter, and doctor had a truck that looked like it was moments from dying, but had proven to be a reliable way of getting around the city.


    Corvayne saw that Wick wasn''t inside, but it made sense. They''d have to figure out some way of keeping separate, assuming that the split was still happening. Corvayne admitted that he missed her, but did not miss the headgames involved with her fractured personality.


    Mister I himself looked troubled when Corvayne opened the front door, which dampened his own smile. "Hi Mister I, I got my head chopped off... what''s up? Did everyone else wake up okay?"


    Icariii tapped the wheel. "Wick is sleeping and has not woken up in several hours since the time loop started again. I can''t wake her up, at least. Also, before anyone else blurts it out, our group made it a few more months before Wick was shot by an Illuresi hooligan using a high powered bow build."


    "Is she doing any better? More stable?" Maybe they wouldn''t have to split the group, and he could get some of his friends to help him gang up on that ''Bride''. He didn''t think of himself as vengeful, but he did want to chop her head off as a way of evening the score.


    Mister I shrugged as he drove them over the six lane bridge into Cascadia, switching lanes to avoid a backed up right lane. "She has been okay since you left. Hari was unhappy and missed you, especially since she blamed herself for your death."


    Corvayne thought about it. Mister I''s wording suggested they must have persisted for more then just a few months after he fell. "I don''t think I''ll die like that twice. Not unless the Bride I fought is a time traveller too. Did the warehouse guards remember going on an adventure?"


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    "Steel, Bearer, and Reaper?" Corvayne didn''t correct that Bearer-of-Burdens was not an employee, as it was a minor quible. "Yes. Bearer said she has to talk to her ''mother'' and ran off. But we''ll probably be ready to do a dungeon run or go pull Spears out when we get back."


    Mister I got them onto the freeway and had them gliding over the city. Corvayne felt like the months away gave him a fresh set of eyes. Cranes dotted the docks in arrays he had forgotten, some of them unloading much newer looking boats. The skyline seemed fuller, with at least three or four layers of train tracks looping high into the air, and it felt like more of those train tracks were hemming the roads in. He spotted the icon of the Cascadia skyline from the road as they passed by a large park. The Silver Corndog towered over the gleaming city. He couldn''t recall it''s real name, just that it wasn''t Corndog and everyone called it the Cascadia Corndog. Looking forward, he saw Mare island and two bridges connecting it to Dolphin island. The black tower jutting from by the bank screamed to Corvayne ''literal Tower entrance''.


    "Did Nyxion and LBC show up?"


    "Grunt was going to pick them up on his scooter." Mister I smiled as he took them over three market streets for Koban, then drove them through the train station and into Old Town. Corvayne saw home, again, and smiled. He could see the apartment towers from here, thought it looked more crowded then he remembered. Looking down Copper Mill Road he could spot the warehouse peeking over surrounding buildings. That made him smile.


    "If I didn''t have a date with Raven, Bell, and Hylal, not to mention Diamond..."


    Mister I nodded. "Ah! What fun. Instead of regrets, you''ve harvested this time a few months of pleasing tasks, ones you will surely triumph at!"


    Mister I pulled the truck up to the building and rolled down his window and swiped a card, which made the gate and garage open with a start. Corvayne had his window down and took a big whiff of the smell of engines and old parts.


    "It''s good to see you though, old friend, it felt like we hadn''t met in a long time."


    Mister I laughed. "You must be eager to start building your bike, no need to hold back!"


    Like a kid in a candy shop, Corvayne got out and started picking up tools.


    Grunt was the first back in a few hours, with Nyxion and LBC in tow. Nyxion waved with both hands and wiggled his fingers. Lady Blood Claw just ran up to Corvayne and hugged him, then set about making herself useful in spooling A-gravs.


    Corvayne was just getting comfortable spooling things when Bearer-of-Burdens came in, Brines being half dragged behind her. Bearer looked around, then moved up to Corvayne. "What actually got you?"


    "That Bride was camping the exit."


    "By the time the rest of us got out, she was gone as were you."


    Nyxion raised a hand. "Cultists with the three burning eye masks, but mostly mis-healed wounds."


    Lady Blood Claw shrugged. "Made it until Wick died, or I died so fast I didn''t know what got me."


    Bearer nodded. "Me and Brines made it until Wick died. So we need to fill Corvayne in on what happened after the loop finished. Still, that can wait."


    She dragged him to standing, then grabbed his hand and started striding out the door. Brines looked confused but followed them, activating an aura that made them move much much faster down the street.


    "Bearer I''m not sure what your trying to show me but I don''t see the hurry."


    "I have a theory that as the first person who died you''re going to notice it."


    She stopped in front of the warehouse. Corvayne thought it looked taller, maybe because the wall looked bigger when he wasn''t up on a walkway, but besides that it was the same slightly rusted building with ''BRINES BROS'' on it.


    "I don''t see it." Corvayne admitted.


    "Look around. Take your time." Bearer said.


    Corvayne looked over at the bay and parking lot, and stopped. There was a gas station now between the empty lot and the view of the orange lit factories across the water.


    He started walking to the gas station. "Did I forget this was here?"


    Brines looked over. "It''s always been there. I think Grunt''s keeping the place running."


    Bearer looked serious. "What else have you noticed Corvayne?"


    He thought about it. Some of the roads were wider. There wasn''t a freeway he could see the Corndog from before, was there? You could see it over buildings but not framed in it''s own complex. Mister I had a key card for opening a garage he had manually helped the man open and close. The apartment had a third prong starting to grow across the street.


    "Brines... how old is Cascadia? The Colony, city, whatever."


    "Two hundred years. Well, maybe a few short of that. Like, one ninety?"


    Corvayne looked at Bearer, who was nodding. "I think I''m immune and you are less effected because you bit the dust early or are cursed... but that''s just the surface."


    She pulled out a phone and showed Corvayne a picture of the Nel''Ferral Imperial Palace.


    "Yeah, okay, how did you get a photo of it to save going back in time?"


    "I didn''t. Look at it again."


    Corvayne glanced at the screen and felt his eyes widen. He could see the Cascadia skyline beyond it. He turned to Bearer.


    "What the hell is going on?"


    She shrugged, her usual impish demeanor gone as she punched in directions to the Palace. "I don''t know, but I got some ideas where we should ask."

 Chapter 196: Catching up

    Before going off on some half-brained adventure to try to figure out how and why the history of Cascadia got broken, Corvayne did his due diligence and applied some of Lythandies'' powers to finishing a hoverbike. He was noticing now a lot of things that might have been his memory messing with him but were more likely changes since he woke up. It was still April 9<sup>th</sup>, the first day he had stepped onto Cascadia. It was the same year as well, but the more he started comparing his memories with what he saw, everything else had been shaken up like a salad in a bag.


    As Corvayne floated his new ride out to the street, he saw there was at least one elf and one dwarf kid running down the street to head into the community center. The mall across the way where Ayame''s noodle shop was now was an enclosed building rather then a half open shopping street. Her name was now in bright red lettering at an enclosed corner store. He was relieved to see that there was a seating area like before that meant he could still sit and dine outside.


    Bearer handed him a phone, with her number and Mister I''s already punched in. "I figure you''ll come back with at least Bell, maybe Hylal and Diamonds, so just keep me informed about what you find. I''m going to go bother Dawn-after-Night."


    Corvayne paused. Images of carrot peelers danced in his head, and he felt his balls shrivel up a little. "The Mafia boss? Wick''s adopted mom?"


    "She''s weird, and she might also notice that her station got bigger."


    Corvayne drew a quick line between Bearer, who was an invader, and Dawn, who likely also was. "Be careful around her. My instincts say she''s way more dangerous..."


    Bearer slapped his back. "I got it, MOM. Go get your imperial side piece!"


    Corvayne shook his head and took off, following a route on the outside of the key chain islands to the south. There was an extra island, he noticed: it seemed like it was small and just had a few apartments, but it was certainly new.


    The route to the palace took him near the spaceport, and he could see more ships then before were lined up at the terminals. Whatever had changed had seemingly vitalized the city more. He thought about the ruins under the flood tunnels, and at that moment found his thoughts betraying him as he wished he could talk to Wick about it. Maybe when she woke up they could text or do face time.


    Corvayne followed the rules of the road with his bike, even though he could have flown directly at the palace. He was still worried about fighting Argyle before he had enough toys and allies to even the odds.


    He glided across a bridge that lead to a pine studded version of the same palace he had just died under a few hours back. There were some modern looking windows added, and wires and street lights, but as he pulled around he found a curious mix of modern Cascadian north woods features and the red stone of the town. There were parked cars, yes, but people dressed in flannel versions of the robes they had been wearing at the capital. There were banners on the lamps ''Celebrate Imperial Cascadia!'' all over and ''Friends across the divide!'' showing the Nel''Ferral Imperial logo next to The Collective''s own sign.


    It was afternoon, and some of the lights were coming on, but he glided his bike across the plaza and gently skipped the steel pillars meant to block most traffic. There were a few people on foot and on regular bikes coming down the palace ramp, and a few people in suits and nice dresses heading up.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Corvayne found a place to park his hoverbike and walked through rotating doors into the atrium of the palace, now complete with a few corporate eateries and one invasive coffee shop that he had seen all over Cascadia, but also the mix of courtiers he expected in a palace. He made his way to an info desk that''s burnished steel looked very out of place with the warm stone making up the rest of the garden in the atrium. A woman behind the counter was wearing the imperial red in the form of a windbreaker with the imperial logo on her breast pocket.


    "Hi, name''s Corvayne. I was looking for Miss Bellithca or Hylal. Did she put my name down as expected?"


    Worse case, he would walk out then use Gravity to sneak in to find her, but the receptionist blinked.


    "Why yes! She has been asking about you all afternoon. I''ll call her right away." The receptionist happily picked up the phone, then gestured back to the doors that would lead to what had been the throne room and wizard area.


    Corvayne passed through them into what looked more like a museum rather then a place of government. A half beat later, he was tackled by a bird-girl wearing a sailor uniform.


    "Corvayne-Dad!!!"


    He hugged Hylal back. Then looked up and saw a sharply dressed Bell come over. He swept her up and she started kissing him to the point where he was worried about her ability to breath, then drew back with a gasp.


    "Corvayne, there''s something really confusing going on... we have to talk!" She spoke in perfect Cascadian now, though he heard a slight accent that probably marked her to someone who grew up in the city.


    "As long as you let me breath, then yes. I''m glad to see you remember me." He smiled, and she pounced again. After a little bit of tongue and a little bit of nails, she stepped back again.


    "You died!" She called out, clearly a little mad that he had. It wasn''t like he was trying to.


    "Sorry. Won''t happen again. Can we find somewhere better to chat?"


    He saw a tourist group snapping a picture of him and Bell. Her response was to growl and lift a hand threateningly, causing them to power walk away. Hylal tugged both of there arms. "I know a great place to eat! Mom! Corvayne-Dad!"


    Corvayne''s stomach started growling, so he let Hylal drag them to one of the eateries in the entrance way and order for them. Sitting down with Bell and Hylal and taking a moment to inhale some very good spicy noodles, Corvayne finally got to asking questions.


    "Okay, so part of Nel''Ferral is merged with Cascadia? Or just this palace?" Corvayne wanted to know if he had to worry about an extra moon crushing them, or if he had to go put a few new spear holes in the Raven now. He would put that near the top of his list.


    "It''s like part of the empire merged with a new civilization I''ve never heard of that took over what was a bunch of pasture. I have two sets of memories, one knowing for sure that I lived on Nel''Ferral my whole life as a fail-daughter, and the other that I''m part of a constitutional monarchy with rights to huge swaths of the high plains near Cascadia City. That and I''m one of the more responsible ones here." She puffed her chest out a little bit, and Corvayne was pleased that with the strange split she had come out better.


    "So your empire''s always been here?" He really wanted to see a map now, one that would let him figure out how exactly the universe was now cramming two worlds together, and how much of both worlds had been combined.


    "Yes. Then the Collective landed, and after some negotiation we gave up land near the coast, and they made us the effective rulers of the world."


    Corvayne tapped the table. "So, what of the dungeons? Is there going to be a dungeon break somewhere south of here? That, and the Raven''s assault on the plains, not to mention the moon."


    Bell put a hand on Corvayne''s. "I''m not sure yet. I''m trying to balance two memories. But we need to look into that. Diamond went dormant after our adventure. I was told, when I woke, that I owed you my life."


    Bell gently pulled her sleeve back, and showed off a white scar on her arm. Corvayne gave her arm a squeeze. She smiled at him, and Corvayne was happy to say that make up and, perhaps, a few months of growing on her own seemed to have helped her mature.


    At least, he thought that before she dug her claws into his hand. "Before any adventures, you need to see our quarters."


    Corvayne looked to Hylal, who traitorously had retreated to the restaurant entrance waving.


    "Bye Corvayne! See you tomorrow morning!"


    He looked back at Bell, whom was looking at him something like how Grunt might consider an XXL burrito. He thought love did come in all sorts of forms as she slapped a wad of credits down to pay for the meal and started dragging him to the private section of the palace.

 Chapter 197: Moons, Monks, and Missions

    Thankfully for his skin, Bell was more gentle their second time consummating their relationship. The princess did scratch and bite, but also was just genuinely happy to see him again and actually hugged and kissed him and made him promise, with some very serious puppy dog eyes, he was not going to get himself decapitated in surprise attacks again.


    He agreed, though his main thought was that generally nobody was trying to get their head cut off, and there wasn''t much one can do about surprise decapitation unless he found a neck-guard artifact, and even then if someone hit him with a scythe the way the Bride did it would break his neck rather then protect him, and he''d still be mincemeat.


    Still, he spent part of the night with Bell before the phone he had brought started buzzing, Bearer guessing correctly that he was ''getting some'' and that ''after he messed the princess up'' to call.


    He did, feeling Bell warm up his back as he tapped the contact.


    "Bearer. This is Corvayne."


    "Oh no kidding? How many other dead-pan warriors do you think I know? What did you find out?"


    Corvayne had to admit, he had less then he had hoped. "The empire seems to have merged into the Collective as Cascadia''s rulers. I still don''t know the extent of how they mesh geographically, or where a bunch of wildcards are. Argyle, Spears, Raven, Diamond, and the Bride. My own goal is still to see about investigating the portal under the palace once we find Diamond and can confirm all these other possible time bombs are dealt with."


    Bearer hummed. "Use your... royal connection... to probe those details."


    "Did Dawn have anything useful?"


    "Mafia boss lady clearly knows more then she let on, but I didn''t want to pick a fight in her territory and knock myself out for another month. She knows I''m an ally to Wick but doesn''t trust me."


    Corvayne thought about it. "I don''t entirely trust you either."


    "I''m hurt! But you are right, I''m still my own side in this. Trust nobody. Not even yourself."


    Corvayne thought a bit. "I''m going to hang up soon, but I want to check out the source and see if the Spider is around, then verify we don''t need to worry about the Raven."


    "Check out your portal too, see if we can get to the rest of Nel''Feral. Do you remember offhand how big Cascadia''s radius was? The Planet. Not the city. But also the city."


    Corvayne didn''t. Annoying. "I think it was close to ''Mud'' which was the one they always had as the standard. I might purchase an atlas and see if I can remember..."


    "You don''t have any money, do you?"


    Corvayne felt something warm and soft on his back and smelled the rose perfume that Bell was using. She drawled near his ear. "He''s rich enough now."


    Corvayne nodded. "It seems I have a sugar momma. I will work hard to get funds sufficient for upgrading my bike and doing a survey of Nel''Feral. Can you work on getting Spears up?"


    "Yeah, but if she''s hostile get your ass back over here." Bearer hung up, and Corvayne looked at the time. Too late to go out riding, so he turned around to give Bell more attention.


    The next morning a bird-human missile hit him and Bell, forcing Corvayne to scramble to put clothes back on and causing Bell to yell at her daughter to give them time to get put together. Her suite in the palace faced out at the imperial township and over the pine woods that had replaced it''s dusty fields. Bell was all too happy for the changes to her comforts, letting Corvayne know that if she was ever thrust back into her medieval society she was certainly inventing the shower as her first and perhaps only contribution to bettering her world.


    Corvayne enjoyed breakfast in a private and very clean dining room that gave him a lovely view of a clear Cascadian morning. He counted the moons and saw that there were three, including a glittering orb. Not a great sign, as it didn''t rule out Diamond dropping out of orbit on them. Corvayne would have to see if there was any activity from the moon that suggested she was reacting to him stepping on world. Actually they had a spaceport if he needed a way to remove Diamond''s curse if it didn''t take in the dungeons.


    Hylal seemed very happy. "Let''s get all your friends back and go play Corvayne!"


    "I need to go see if we can find the Spider." And Undine was probably around. Wait, wouldn''t that mean Hari was not restricted to finding a portal? Well, she knew enough about Cascadia that they could gather there. "Also, I want to go over the main threat on this world. Argyle."


    There was a knock on the door right as he said it. Corvayne rolled his eyes, somehow sure that he was about to get face time with the murderous time monk.


    Bell, not knowing that Corvayne had received the thought from on high, snapped her fingers and an attendant opened the door, letting the haughty monk in.


    "Princess Bellithica... Princess Hylal. My apologies for bothering you this early but there is a situation in the high plains."


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Corvayne locked eyes with him, and Argyle met his gaze and raised an eyebrow a little. He still felt the man''s predator instincts, but there was in his eyes now a waiver of hesitation, and Corvayne swore he saw the man shiver before straightening up.


    "Hmm. I did not know you had taken a consort." Argyle said, rubbing his chin and looking at Corvayne. A bit of defensiveness overtook him. Had he been aiming for Bell? Keep your eyes and hands off my girl!


    "Corvayne. And you must be Argyle, in charge of Cascadia''s security. The Baron picks his men well." Corvayne considered how fast he could pop this clone with his shadow hands now. It wouldn''t be easy without any gear. Argyle, likewise, was almost assuredly also gauging how to best kill Corvayne. Likely he did that for every stranger.


    "I wouldn''t say I''m in charge. I am a liaison for the Baron. Princess, is he cleared to...?"


    Bell nodded. "Yes."


    "Fine. Across the breach there''s a rogue agent stirring up trouble. A group of his ruffians went and crossed the portal line into my no-mans-land. From the survivors, they work for a man who calls himself The Raven. I would appreciate you using your imperial agents to pinpoint where he is." Argyle tapped his staff and Corvayne suppressed the urge to try to bolt and store it.


    Bell looked over at Corvayne. Corvayne looked over between her and Argyle. Unlike the police, there was an element of diplomacy here. Argyle respected Bell on some level, and maybe feared her?


    "I''ll see if we need to call my brother out. More likely my consort here will consider hunting him a good warmup." Bell scratched her white energy scars. Corvayne felt a foot rub his under the table. He guessed it was part of her way of showing she was eager to fight. Or that she liked watching Corvayne fight. Well, if he had to take on Argyle right now, it would certainly be a fight.


    "Warmup? Hmm." Argyle sized him up. "Might be interesting to spar with you. Don''t get many good fights out this way." The monk''s voice was low and his eyes narrowed. Jealousy or perhaps just instinct kept Argyle trained on him. Corvayne felt a hint of murderous intent and it was almost a relief.


    "If you are not busy the next few days, I think we will find time to fight." Corvayne said noncommittally. Not before he grabbed a boat load of treasures, and maybe after he had Growl-Whine backing him up.


    Bell stood up. "Either way, I don''t want you to say we don''t keep the area around your claim clear. We''ll take care of it. After all, he was on our radar as well. It should be simple to find him."


    Argyle smiled. "Then you don''t mind if I tag along with you? I''ve been wondering if I would have a chance to see those light weapons your empire uses in action."


    A little later, Hylal was on her way to class for the day and Corvayne and Bell were riding with goggles over the high plains. Wind whipped Corvayne, as he hadn''t put a shield on his bike. Bell had stopped trying to talk after spitting dust out a few times. She pointed to help guide him, though Corvayne had Compass active and trained on the Raven.


    Argyle, meanwhile, was following in his black helicopter. It irked Corvayne to have someone so lethal following behind him. He was well aware how fast a bag of seeds would shred their ride and them with it. However, through the ride there was no attack, letting Corvayne position himself right above a large camp.


    Corvayne could see rows of black tents on the scrub plains, set up in arrays that suggested they were planning to march on the wall that Corvayne could see over his shoulder. He then tipped the nose of his hovercycle down and aimed for a controlled drop into camp. He saw Argyle swerve his chopper and follow in.


    Bell hissed an intake of breath, but Corvayne activated [[Unity]] and pushed confidence through the link, calming Bell down. Oddly enough, curiosity and caution came from further behind him. With the same mission of finding and taking out The Raven, it seemed that the pact treated his would-be enemy as an ally. It might give him a few seconds to evade if their ''ally'' turned on them.


    Diving into the line of tents and ignoring the screeching of the sky-knights, Corvayne slid the bike next to the huge black tent that his compass power was pointing to. He rushed into the tent, spotting the wiry frame of the Raven sitting on a bed. Next to him was a badly injured but alive victim. Corvayne didn''t waste time, throwing shadow hands into The Raven and activating [Cross Skill: Shadow Stealer]. The Raven''s shield flared up, and his shoulder cannon fired at Corvayne, forcing him to roll out of the tent. A moment later, the Raven rolled out of the tent. Bell was behind him, clearly having kicked the orb.


    ¡°You got stronger Bell.¡± Corvayne said, impressed. He dodged the carbon knives the Raven was packing, using his spear to gently parry the mans poor knife work. His shadow hands were digging into The Raven but the shield kept Corvayne from scoring a serious hit.


    A stern voice behind him said. ¡°Step back.¡±


    Corvayne dashed back and Argyle stopped time to move to the Raven''s flank, with a wave of his aging skill destroying the shield belt and most of The Raven''s weapons with a sweep of his hand.


    Corvayne followed it up with a spear in the Raven''s throat, interrupting whatever protest the man had with a swift death. He took a moment to wipe it off on the bandit lords cape. Screeching from all around told him there were already packs of Sky Knights converging on them, and Corvayne directed his shadow hand to clip their wings rather then go for kills.


    He turned back to see Argyle give the body a little kick, then nodded. ¡°No hesitation.¡±


    Corvayne righted his bike and pulled Bell back on. ¡°Never when I''m killing monsters.¡±


    The monk smiled. ¡°Ever consider working for the Baron?¡±


    ¡°Probably did, in a different life.¡± Corvayne revved his engine as Bell strapped herself in behind him. Argyle swept a hand and shards of his chopper formed around him.


    They flew low out of camp, Bell turning and using a handgun to try to plink fliers. With the wind whipping them and the speed Corvayne was gunning for the wall, there was no chance she scored any hits.


    Argyle slowed a little once they were on the other side of the Imperial border. Corvayne took a moment to look around, seeing two moons and a faint hint three others, including Diamond''s moon, as if they were transitioning between worlds. The monk lifted his cockpit.


    ¡°Impressive skill at finding the leader immediately. If you tire of serving The Empire, my offer stands.¡±


    Corvayne felt it likely by the end of the week one of them was definitely going to kill the other, but the Dust-Man''s suggestion bubbled to the surface, as did a shard of black crystal. Corvayne dug the knife shard out, switched to [[Strength]], and thought about diplomacy. If he could operate without Argyle bothering him, all the better. ¡°There''s going to be a surge of Portals opening this week, everywhere.¡± He wasn''t 100 percent sure that was true, but he suspected that''s why the Baron ended up cutting Argyle loose in the previous loop.


    ¡°Enough that even with all your copies, there''s going to be more then you can survey. My counter offer is to split the ones in Cascadia up so we are not stepping on each other''s toes.¡±


    Argyle sneered a little, laughing. ¡°If you know what portals are, you know that there''s generally not enough space that sharing works.¡± The monk thought a little bit. ¡°You seemed to track where The Raven was, however, without any visible means. All right, what''s in it for me with a truce?¡±


    ¡°Access to a nest of portals that''s going to open on the High Plains, without interference from it''s guardian.¡±


    ¡°I can bash it''s face in and enter at my leisure.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I suspect if you become The Spider''s enemy, you will start losing clones long before you ever see it''s face.¡±


    ¡°And what of Goule''s men?¡±


    Corvayne knew that both Wick and Nyx considered the man an enemy. Not a hard one. ¡°We work together if they try to interfere.¡± Corvayne held up his phone and networked Argyle''s. It shot to the top of the list, with Bearer next and Mister I third. He really needed a better contact list then one friend, one person who screwed with him non stop, and a guy who actually killed him.


    ¡°Fine. The Baron had stated I should learn a little... diplomacy. Stay out of my way, I''ll stay out of yours. You better not have wasted my time with this little story.¡±


    Corvayne smiled. ¡°If you feel that way, well, there''s always a bit of friendly sparring.¡±


    For some reason, Corvayne''s attempt to be nice drained some of the color from Argyle''s face. The monk slammed the cockpit closed and turned to fly off. When he was gone Corvayne relaxed a little bit. That was one less life and death fight on the list if it stuck.


    Bell rubbed Corvayne''s back. ¡°For all you were talking him up this morning, he folded pretty quick.¡±


    Corvayne wondered about that too, but instead revved his bike to buzz them on out to his next stop: The Source.

 Chapter 198: Contestants

    Corvayne''s hoverbike gave a little whine of protest as he guided it to a parking spot. He had accrued four other passengers. Bell rode at his back, obviously, but Shaelle and Kirae had attached a cart so that they and Growl-Whine could hitch a ride. Of course, Hylal had demanded to take a half day at school, and was riding Growl-Whine like a horse, to which the giant spider assassin seemed totally fine with.


    Speaking of horses, there was one tied up inside the gate, nibbling at the dried grass growing up through the concrete. Corvayne guessed that that meant someone had told Undine where to find them. Likely her (former?) pupil Hari.


    The spider busied herself with helping Hylal off her back, with the villagers from near the source in turn helping the spider down, even though she probably did not need human help to do anything aside from possibly hitting orbit. He had earmarked raising his pact of [[Understanding]] to help actually talk to the Spider. Maybe [[Unity]] would also aid him as well.


    Kirae, the merchant, looked frustrated. From her grumbling, it was because she was back to square one with the reset. Some of her annoyance was offset by gawking at Cascadia. Her fellow villager, Shaelle, was unsurprisingly more quiet, only asking once if Corvayne knew were Gary was. Both had a few moments of culture shock as they flew into a city vastly larger then anything they had seen before, but aside from that it seemed they had assembled most of their team.


    Lady Blood Claw and Mister I met with him in the gymnasium. Bell insisted that she had to inspect where he was staying, which Mister I gave her a key to poke around in. The other girls also asked about renting rooms and the monk tossed a few more room keys out. Corvayne had some questions about how many rooms they had just sitting around, but Mister I moved on to the main business he had on hand.


    "Wick hasn''t woken up yet. We will need to figure out what''s wrong with her. Dawn-After-Night doesn''t know."


    Corvayne thought about their options. "There''s a woman under the library in Ko-ban. She might have an idea."


    Lady Blood Claw frowned. "Or we trade a question with the Dust man... I have reservations about both."


    "We also have to make time for the nukes at the mines." Corvayne guessed they had about a week to handle that.


    Mister I lit a cigarette. "I think your focus should be on getting Spears and Diamond, then working on your curse. Curses, many apologies Miss Blood Claw."


    "None taken, though I''ve not forgotten that I have a mess of quills inside me that are affecting my name."


    The monk walked over to an ashtray that had been shoved by the water fountains at the side of the gym and tapped his cigarette on it. "It is unfortunate that my eyes cannot pierce whatever obscures them. It would bring me joy to learn how the affliction works and see if I could harvest the plant matter that manifests."


    Corvayne thought about that. "I don''t think they are made of anything, just shadow-stuff. They fall apart whenever I touch them, of course after hurting me intensely."


    Lady Blood Claw nudged Corvayne. "Library? I want to see if I can go in."


    Taking LBC as his second and Mister I''s card to pick up a pizza at a place the monk liked in Ko-Ban, Corvayne hopped on his bike and broke a few rules by just riding right over the water then through the park along the inlet''s water to the entrance he and Wick had used. As he sort of guessed, there were additional old buildings and the park was larger, being nearly two blocks and having some overgrown gardens that were not there before.


    Of course, with everything bigger, Corvayne and Lady Blood Claw took a few wrong turns navigating to the library. The extra subway tunnels had three stories, and there were several false starts where passages would lead to sections that didn''t feel right. His compass power also wasn''t much help, as something about the Library made it slippery.


    "Are you sure pulling in a new curse didn''t screw with your head?"


    "There''s a lot more tunnel and buried city then last time. Don''t ask me how you have buildings that are sunk into the ground in just 200 years."


    He felt his compass pointing at the entrance to the Librarian''s lair moving. So they spent about twenty minutes clearing out a section of the monster infested Library until the entrance came close, then moved fast for a set of double doors that looked suspiciously new.


    Corvayne was able to enter, but LBC seemed unable to breach the doorway or didn''t follow him into the same space, as he waited a minute next to and made his way around the stacks of books. BOOK-BINDER, as her name suggested, laired in something like an extra dimentional library. Everything in the space was lit by a blue glow that showed off towering stacks of books, extending up into the haze above, and plumetting into darkness where the ledge he was on ended.


    The large masked woman sorting through books waved. "Welcome back. Or is this the first time? The flow of time is convoluted these days. I remember speaking to you."


    Corvayne would have to try to find people who didn''t remember him, just to track if everyone retained their memories. "It''s the second meeting we''ve had if you remember it, though time reset. I had a question about a friend."


    The figure thought about it. "The one who won''t wake, correct?"


    Corvayne nodded.


    "Well, the condition will not worsen. I want to use your talents to find me a book."


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "The 10,000 Paths?" Corvayne asked, recalling she had brought that title up last time.


    "Oh yes!" BOOK-BINDER clapped. "Well, that one too, but I would be happy to trade for a copy of ''The Last Symphony of Amerhost.''


    "I can handle that, but I want to be sure I don''t have a deadline with Wick."


    The binder raised a hand. "Her condition will not worsen. It''s also likely she won''t expire even if you leave her to sleep."


    "Right. I''ll do what I can to get you the book." Corvayne stopped. ¡°I might ask for you to give me those books again when I have a storage ring.¡± He should have spent more time finishing both books, but he set a pace that kept running him into deadlines.


    ¡°Since I''m going to be out, is there anything else you want?¡± Corvayne felt like he owed BOOK-BINDER for free information.


    ¡°Chocolate Milkshake.¡±


    ¡°And that won''t turn your insides into chocolate?¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry about me dear. A little real chocolate is worth some pain.¡±


    Corvayne nodded and stepped out. Lady Blood Claw was waiting, arms folded. He thought that she was probably one of the most reliable people he worked with.


    ¡°Did she have the info?¡±


    ¡°Wants to trade it for a book. The Last Symphony of Amerhost. We are not on a time table according to her. Whatever''s wrong with Wick, it won''t progress.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. ¡°That''s good, I need a vacation. After we are sure the moon isn''t falling.¡±


    Corvayne thought about that. ¡°Where would you go?¡±


    She thought about it, and gave Corvayne a side-eye as she responded. ¡°Somewhere with culture, but sadly I think the best place is out of my budget.¡±


    ¡°I have to admit, I don''t know how much money you make working for Nyx.¡±


    The tall woman''s skin changed colors a few times, orange only flashing a moment before she went to gray. ¡°Less then I''d like. I think this time we risk selling some of our more expensive or desired items and we spend some time living.¡±


    Corvayne stopped. ¡°Lady Blood Claw, that''s the first time you haven''t been pushing to figure out where the Watchers and the Magus is.¡±


    ¡°While you were dead, I was working hard to try to get levels AND try to pick up the slack. I went through the portal under the Imperial Palace. One of the steps of the pilgrimage. The next world has toxic air, is falling apart to zombie attacks, and the infrastructure is a mess. I didn''t make much progress at all and I. Hated. Every. Minute. On. That. World.¡±


    Corvayne held up a hand and they took a moment to fight some large horror that was shambling after them through the library. Lady Blood Claw now was moving faster then he had seen her go before. She was hampered because she had to use a steel beam instead of an actual sword, but she plowed through the large monster like it was made of gravy. She wiggled a finger and a white light swept away the gore from her.


    ¡°You''ve learned new spells.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Was her only response, but Corvayne saw her skin turn gold and silver, reflecting the light she had summoned, and [[Unity]] told him there was more then a little pride.


    ¡°Vacation aside, I had a fight where we teamed up with someone who was Tier 8.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw stopped. ¡°Why did they help you?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, but I think she was an evolution of how Nyx fought. She seemed to create emotion auras like he does, but they were powerful buffs and absorbed magic.¡±


    He let Lady Blood Claw think about it, as they had plenty of walking to do. Especially since one of the last tunnels they were going to use was gushing water from a downpour.


    ¡°You are thinking about goals for our builds?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I wanted to bring up that I died to a ''Bride'' who seemed to be talking about her master. I assume the Magus.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw stopped. ¡°They didn''t mention it to me, I guess I was upset when they told me you died.¡±


    That made him feel a little better, he had to admit. ¡°It was a 12 foot tall woman with four arms and who used a Scythe and could turn invisible.¡±


    ¡°Sheolbeth. Maybe. Could have been Beoreth or Oria.¡±


    ¡°Didn''t get her name. Any of them run around naked except a wedding veil?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shrugged. ¡°There were a lot of them through the years, and more then a few I could see doing that. If she took you out, I expect they are inner circle.¡±


    ¡°I think she was lost in the Towers... I was thinking about that too. It seems like on April 9<sup>th</sup> a lot more of them opened, and it might be the connections that let us move between them were closed before hand.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. ¡°I didn''t know if that was just the Luck that Hari constantly complained about, but the places we were exploring did seem more open.¡±


    ¡°Well, I brought her up because even with more levels then us, she had trouble once we had the right people fighting her. I feel if we had a full group that wasn''t injured, we could have defeated her.¡±


    LBC rolled her eyes, then started kicking at a rusted steel door until it fell off it''s hinges. She shone her magical light up and down the stairwell it revealed. ¡°You are definitely going to get yourself killed again if you assume that.¡±


    The stairway didn''t take them to the right parking garage, but it did take them to an abandoned auto shop. There was a steady percussion of rain on the roof, the sound of a leak somewhere, and outside Corvayne could see through a window that it was pouring. They broke a lock from the inside and took one look at the torrential downpour.


    ¡°Wanna give it five minutes?¡± Lady Blood Claw took a deep breath. ¡°Unless you have an umbrella.¡±


    Corvayne for a moment really wondered if Lady Blood Claw was interested in him, as he found the setting sort of intimate, at least until she turned the light onto the floor and Corvayne saw all the garbage and broken furniture mixed with more then a few dead bugs. The faint smell of mildew also helped him back to reality.


    Still, it was quiet, and she was quiet, and Corvayne thought about builds and vacations and what sort of things they''d need to do with the time before another crisis came up. It sounded like the group got unlucky with Wick''s death.


    ¡°I wanted to ask you... what did you say to Spears before she started dating me?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw waved her hand. ¡°I don''t wanna get into it. Ask her when you wake her up.¡± She turned deep blue which Corvayne figured was embarrassment.


    ¡°Sorry, if it''s personal, I won''t pry.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw took a deep breath and walked into the rain, instantly getting soaked. Corvayne followed and offered his cloak to cover both them.


    ¡°That thing is better then a rain coat! I forgot it was water proof.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Corvayne said, as she lifted a corner and they moved as fast as they could out of the alley and into one of the Market streets. There were awnings covering parts of the road. It took some maneuvering to get closer to where their bike was parked, then some more moving together under the cloak. Being close to Lady Blood Claw, now and then he felt embarrassment through [[Unity]] but pretended he didn''t notice.


    He also pretended he didn''t notice how close they were. They reached the bike and Lady Blood Claw blinked.


    ¡°I just realized we will have to ride this through the rain.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I don''t know how to make shields.¡± Corvayne offered up his cloak to LBC, and put on googles.


    It didn''t actually matter that much, because they both got blasted with cold rain. It turns out a cloak doesn''t do all that much for flying through a downpour. By the time Corvayne got back to the community center he was shivering and he was pretty sure he heard LBC''s teeth clattering. Part of him thought about inviting her to shower together, but he stopped himself. There was a hint of something through [[Unity]] that was an emotion that felt like perhaps she was scared of something, or nervous, and while he generally thought of her as solid, he thought now she might be like him, where she might doubt herself and cover over it by moving forward.


    He took his cloak back and nodded at her. ¡°We''ll go into the dungeon and get ourselves set up tomorrow.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded and closed her door a little too hard. Corvayne rubbed his face and walked into the faded tile bathroom to start the shower.


    ¡°Two girlfriends is enough.¡± He said aloud before his mind went to how exactly one would court a moon.

 Chapter 199: Preparing for a Serious Dungeon run

    Corvayne was somehow the last person to his meeting at Ayame''s noodle restaurant. The interior was nice and had cozy booths and lighting, but it wasn''t quite as nice as sitting outside. Still, it was rainy and cold outside, and it was easier to talk to his friends across the table.


    Spears was sitting there, wearing her Watcher clothes and attracting attention from at least a few people at a nearby table who kept looking at her. Corvayne had pulled her out of the containment facility yesterday, and was happy to see she hadn''t carried over the loss of mass from before. She had expressed what was a few months of missing him her own way, which after sleeping with Bell a few times was very nice.


    Bell sat across from her, itching her skin at the white patterns. Lythandies had done something to fix her, but it seemed it wasn''t entirely comfortable. The princess had gotten better at not acting irritated, but Corvayne could see that she was annoyed at how itchy she was. She was packing a sidearm and carried a pack with her that likely had the rest of her gear and her sword.


    He heard her grumble about ¡°Fucking rain.¡± and guessed moisture set her scars to itch.


    Grunt was sitting in the next booth over, two bowls already in front of him but not touched. The proprietor of the noodle shop, Ayame, was sitting on the other side chatting at him. Grunt seemed happy enough to sign her something that made the woman laugh, but he did glance back to nod at Corvayne. The large man of course had excellent senses. Part of why Corvayne wanted him as their point man.


    Lady Blood Claw sat at the girl''s table next to Bell, pouring herself a soda. She looked a little tired, likely from doing runs of some of the various Towers to help make money and to recover gear they had been using. She saw Corvayne and twisted a ring, letting a single strawberry pants leg dangle from nothing at all. Corvayne knew he must have groaned or let it show on his face because she grinned at him, then rolled the pants back up.


    The last team member was Mister I, who was coming back from the bathroom and grabbed a chair so that he could cap the end of the table off. He was wearing his camo outfit, and Corvayne saw that the truck was parked outside with tarps over the back.


    Corvayne slid into the booth next to Spears so he could look at everyone. ¡°Sorry I''m late, I had to finish up one of our trades.¡±


    There were groups who had gone into the Towers already at this point, and Corvayne had used funds from some of the Mine haul to get items he felt the group would need to go deep into the Tower. His source had potions, scrolls, and rings that would help with them falling. Aside from that, he bought a large amount of guns and ammo for them. Bell, Spears, Mister I, and himself all were proficient in guns and they would help cover early floors until they found better ranged weapons.


    ¡°Okay, I asked you guys to come because I want to go on a long tour of the Tower. We don''t have anything pressing in town to worry about. Part of my goal for the run is to get the book we need to help Wick, but I also want to expand my own powers. We have adversaries out there who fought us and killed us, and we need to start working on advantages with our classes, pacts, and powers so when we engage them, they are the ones who are overwhelmed and die not knowing what hit them.¡±


    Grunt gave him a thumbs up. Corvayne looked at the rest of the group and saw interest.


    ¡°To do what we need to do, we need to make contact with civilizations that have know-how on what we might be aiming for. The info from the bar implied that intent matters, and for too long I think me and the rest of us have been just sort of winging it with powers. Sorry if for anyone that''s not true.¡±


    Bell pointed at herself. ¡°Pardon me for dealing with my Imperial Legacy as well as magical scars and Lythandies'' pact-¡±


    Corvayne let [[Unity]] project calm. ¡°Bell, it was more directed at myself. I think we are all fine at doing a Tower run and knocking bosses out, especially under floor ten. But I want us to know what steps we can take to have exceptional powers. There''s too much we don''t know, and I want to find someone we can buy the info from in a way that isn''t just hearsay at the bar.¡±


    Mister I smiled at that. ¡°I would also like to find places deeper in the tower we can shop at. We may even find something like a cultivator shopping district, full of natural treasures!¡±


    Grunt looked at everyone and mimed a magnifying glass. Corvayne nodded. ¡°I have enough scrolls to get us through a few floors of treasure, then the rest we hire folks at the bar.¡±


    Bell cleared her throat. ¡°How long are we planning to be in, real time?¡±


    ¡°I want to be in for two months relative time, and aim for floor thirty. I want to also take some time and solve floors when we can. Bell and Spears might not have seen it, but on some of the early floors there sometimes were secrets that had more treasure. I want to find a town where we can get everyone fully set with equipment and tools to explore more dangerous levels.¡±


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Lady Blood Claw leaned forward. ¡°We mostly have seen safer floors... what were you thinking?¡±


    ¡°Places like the train station with the walls of fire rolling through... or underwater areas, or floors where large portions of the landscape demands climbing or flying... The tower generally seems to exist to give out rewards for seeking challenges. Spears, you had something to add?¡±


    She cleared her throat, which Corvayne was pretty sure was theatrical, then looked at everyone. ¡°We were sort of doing that during the war with The Raven, and there were some higher risk floors where we got better things, but we don''t understand the leveling system 100 percent. You''ve been stuck at a particular level for a long time, and the rest of us already shot past that point.¡±


    Corvayne had a sense that they had bumped up past him. ¡°What are you guys generally?¡±


    ¡°High 40s and 50s.¡± Lady Blood Claw said. ¡°Depending on if someone had an accident before Wick did or if they had other projects besides dungeons. I think Bell here is our lowest level at 20 something.¡±


    Bell cleared her throat. ¡°I''m 27 but I''m still just a Warrior.¡±


    Spears nodded. ¡°We spent a lot of time talking with Gary... I think what I''m getting at is we should make an effort to get that information. A place where they sell info would also be the best place to get a book for the information about Wick.¡±


    Bell slapped the table. ¡°I don''t get why she gets so much attention. You saw how she treated Corvayne!¡±


    Corvayne felt a little surprised that she''d bring it up, but it felt nice to see Bell get mad on his behalf.


    Mister I stepped in. ¡°Wick is both a founder and leader of whatever our organization is and is ultimately trapped in a sort of deal with herself.¡± He held up a hand. ¡°Please dispel any heart demons you might have Corvayne, I agree that I did not like how the relationship she had and Hari had with Corvayne ended. I also think that you would do yourself a disservice to cut them both out of your life. If not to honor the Karma that brought us together around her, but from the standpoint that she is the trigger for our loop ending.¡±


    Spears looked over. ¡°Even if we wake her up, she''s still got a whole slew of problems that were occupying the ''other camp'' until Corvayne fell. But right now it feels like we are in a state where we will wake her, then once again split up based on our goals.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw tapped the table. ¡°Wick''s goal dovetails with what Corvayne and I want to do, as the whole point is to build a faction with enough power to protect her.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I''m still interested in fixing myself, but I have goals like finding the village and discovering what is going on with the Magus. That Bell had been cursed at some point means he was alive sometime in her lifetime. We have the question of Bell''s empire, and her line of succession, which might be something solved in the Tower.¡±


    Mister I cracked his knuckles. ¡°Well, I''m going to need to set someone up to run the place while I''m gone, but I''m interested in continuing to develop my powers.¡±


    ¡°Who were you thinking?¡± Corvayne asked, mostly because Mister I paused after speaking.


    Grunt grunted and put his hand low to the floor.


    ¡°Why yes, our resident crafter no longer has his truck to work on. Remarkably, the shrine he built went with us in time too, so he would fit right in mending and working on our wonderful apartment.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw pulled a pair of keys out of her pocket and spun it. ¡°And our other home.¡±


    Corvayne raised an eyebrow. ¡°You had enough money to buy that place?¡±


    She leaned forward. ¡°Argyle this time period has given us room. I went ahead and cashed out some of the money that Nyxion had owed me all these years.¡±


    He actually guessed that Nyxion would have paid for it if she asked. While he referred to Lady Blood Claw as his minion, Corvayne could feel the man through [[Unity]] and their feelings were somewhere between friends and siblings.


    Mister I shot up. ¡°We could craft it into the ultimate Qi gathering home, and find rare treasures that would enhance cultivation!¡±


    Spears leaned over to Corvayne and whispered. ¡°Not to offend your uncle, but is that at all a real thing?¡±


    Corvayne whispered back. ¡°Probably not, but if enough people buy into it, it could change. And I''d like to have a home to come back to.¡±


    Spears took this as a queue to blush intensely, which was fine. The entire conversation had started to derail as Ayame came back out with steaming noodles.


    Dinner settled into them making plans that materialized as a two day buffer before the group went in. Hari showed up, and gave a report on how Wick was doing and while maneuvering around speaking to Corvayne directly, asked if he had any need of her skills.


    He hated to admit that he would have thought about it if she didn''t distract him, but it was okay. He was growing up, and was finding his family and friends as he went. There were going to be stumbles. So he finished his noodles and sought out the table a little further away where Hari was sitting and let her know he appreciated her asking. She in turn smiled sadly, and Corvayne ended up feeling a little bit like the bad guy, which wasn''t his fault.


    He had been planning to go back to the apartment, but Spears and Bell both wanted to see the factory they had rented the first time before a police raid ended their residency. So he took a detour, but drew the line at sleeping there before it got fixed. He had enough money that he could get Mosh some helpers from around town. A good job for Brines to maybe take some of Corvayne''s money and work as a fixer.


    It was dark, dingy, and Corvayne smiled at Lady Blood Claw producing a bottle of champagne.


    ¡°I didn''t think you were the type.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw popped the cork. ¡°We are alive, and for some reason, I''ve been feeling better about the future. So shut up and toast to another adventure.¡±


    It was two days later, on a foggy and drizzle soaked morning, that they arrived at the original portal in the parkland. The floors they explored already had been re-cleared for treasure, so Corvayne spent the ride going over how he planned to change up how they progressed. Grunt sat in the back with Spears, who didn''t mind the rain, halfway in the truck and half outside, switching her head around to share what Grunt thought.


    They parked, and offloaded gear. Grunt was carrying a lot of it and a whole pack of bats. Bell was wearing what looked like a flannel trench coat with armor pads sewn on. Spears took a large backpack, perhaps to show off how much raw power and endurance she had. Corvayne had an enchanted pack they had found that wasn''t quite as good as his ring, but at least had extra storage and reduced weight. He took a lot of water and two tents.


    Lady Blood Claw had her jumpsuit on but had put rougher miner clothes over it, and had opted to bring lots of rope. Contrasting that with Mister I, who looked like he was preparing for a war on meat, with a grill and spatulas tucked away wherever he didn''t have a gun or ammo sticking out.


    The most important thing to Corvayne was he felt this group was excited to get into the reeds, go camping, and get treasure and powers.


    ¡°Let''s move out team.¡± Corvayne said, taking a breath of fresh air then leading them down the path to the Tower.

 Chapter 200: Its a Great Big World Out There

    Corvayne sat down with his journal. It had been two weeks in the dungeon, much of it spent exploring the great Cube Valley floor.


    The little electronic roll up computer ran off a solar charger, and with a stylus Corvayne was able to draw on the screen. The map on it covered several floors. They entered into "Floating Cube F1 of Cascadia Forest" though Corvayne suspected if he had system access he''d be able to pull names off them. He had taken notes as they went and started organizing it, drawing the most recent section of maps of the floor they were on, in case he needed to backtrack.


    They started in the floor 1 Floating Cubes, up to the starlit floor where they had a barbecue, then back down at a different stairway to a floor where he could see miles of cubes forming valleys. "Cube Valley F1 Cascadia Forest."


    All that out of the way, the goals on the early floors had been to find treasure chests and try to ''solve'' the floor. So from the entrance, this one in a stone tower on a grassy windswept hill, They spent a good five minutes looking at the terrain, huge cube shaped mountains with valleys between them, some open spaces like they were on, but hints in the yellow sky that the walls were also mountain sized cubes, just barely visible in the haze.


    Corvayne''s gut instinct told him they wanted to try to get to the ''wall'' and see if there was a way up. Lady Blood Claw suggested they do anything else and was overridden. The color of grass on the floor was green, which to Corvayne suggested that it was a different ''path''.


    The valleys had roads in them made of stones that looked like petrified tree trunks, and despite the even appearance of the mountains the valleys had streams, hills and dips, and swaths of forest in them. The main animal life outside of monsters seemed more like normal forest creatures: Rodents that looked like squirrels, birds of all sorts of muted colors, the little armadillos they had seen on other floors, and grazing animals with six legs that skittishly ran when they heard the party approaching.


    Monsters on the floor included aggressive salamanders that had smoking jaws, beetles that had lots of thorns on them that imitated fruits and tried to drop on them, and small packs of furry slugs which Corvayne strongly considered capturing, as at this point he found them cute and they would offset that LBC had somehow found what she said was definitely Mr. Squiggleworth.


    They found three chests the first day, two trapped but easily defeated by Corvayne using [[Vitality]] and his spear. Lady Blood Claw turned out to have enough faith with Gygax to at least tell them if they were cursed or not, though she warned with her low faith it was not 100 percent correct. Corvayne found a pair of bracers that seemed to help climbing, a trowel that let one stick stones together as some sort of building tool, a set of Scissors that when attempting to cut something mended it, a knife that started itself on fire but couldn''t fire-breath, a set of dice they decided to have LBC hold onto, a pendant with two dragons intertwined that made the wearer start to develop scales, pants with lightning bolts all over them that built up a static charge (Grunt took them, thank goodness they were stretchy), a pack of gum that implied it gave the user some sort of resistance, six potions that were definitely healing, three mana, and two that he suspected were stamina potions. There were also scrolls, which he couldn''t identify by looking. There was probably a trick to figuring out what spell was on them without unfurling them to read it, but at the moment they were set aside.


    More pictures too, though the group documented them rather then carry them around. Some of them were for the house dungeon they knew about, so the others were likely hints for other entrances.


    The first night they camped on a rise, the sounds of distant night birds or other weird animal calls not stopping Corvayne from sleeping well. Bell and Spears were sharing a tent with him. They were not quite like Hari and Wick had been with regards to sleeping with him at the same time, but it was nice to have the women along, and it kept him in a cheery mood.


    The next day they charted a path up one of the cube mountains, using a path made up of worked yellow ''petrified'' stone, natural gray-blue rock, and wood that twisted between the others to make a sort of tangled stairway up the mountain. At the top was rolling countryside, dotted with trees and lakes and flocks of birds that scattered at the group coming up. Over the trees on the cube they saw a church steeple, and naturally wandered into a ghost town light on monsters and heavy on moss. Corvayne found another one of the large guide stones and touched it, once again feeling weirdly connected to somewhere else.


    They made their first major discovery a moment later when he popped over to the stone totem on the third floor, the scene whirling for a moment. He felt a little tired, but quickly started tapping the totem and willing himself to go where he felt he came from, and with a pop he was back in the ruins with worried party members around him.


    They quickly figured out it worked for anyone who had touched another guide stone, mostly the one on the third floor by the haunted castle island. Corvayne hadn''t forgotten about that enticing area (which more then a few of the friends had started calling a ''Raid'' in honor of something in video games) but he wanted to be equipped to handle anything before his team tried to tackle it.


    They found that the ruined town had a bridge miles above the valley floor that lead to a functioning town that was half on the flat top of the next cube mountain, and partially built into the wall with mining complexes and platforms that collected water forming large bowl shaped ponds stocked with fish.


    The Tower folk they spoke with on the flat part of town didn''t seem to mind strangers at all, and it was agreed that the group would return to take advantage of the Inn in town after seeking more chests.


    They didn''t have any luck that afternoon, and so were back at town when the yellow glow of day faded to orange. There were simple stone walls and a wood gate that Corvayne guessed were sturdy enough for the mostly harmless monsters on the floor.


    The inn itself was built into the cliff side and had a tavern on top with rooms built into the stone, letting Corvayne get a room that looked out on waterfalls coming out of the side of the opposite cliff, lit by an invisible moon in silver and black shadows. Below the rooms there were ponds lit by lanterns, and Corvayne saw a couple of young Tower folk swimming together sans clothes.


    He shared it with Bell and got her to hide under the Covers, while Spears laughed and asked if Corvayne wanted to watch her skinny dip.


    ¡°Under your clothes, aren''t you always skinny dipping?¡±


    She tossed a pillow at him for his suggestion.


    The next morning, they took some time to see the cliff side mine part of the village, where townsfolk would go in to extract cart fulls of blue Cascadian metal. A helpful foreman told them about how a trader would come once a month with a great big caravan to haul the ore away and trade it for things they needed. The group didn''t want to wait that long, but the man had a map of the route he was willing to sell for a pittance of gold coin.


    Lady Blood Claw, perhaps because she had participated in Dungeons and Dragons rituals, wandered off for five minutes then returned saying she had a quest.


    ¡°Go into the mines and slay 20 dust bunnies.¡± She said, monotone.


    Grunt rolled his eyes then mimed gaming on a keyboard and wiping sweat from his brow. Mister I asked ¡°Can we eat them?¡± then without waiting set off into the mine to find out. It turned out: Not well. The dust bunnies were in fact some sort of elemental animal, and tasted like a mouthful of dust. Corvayne wondered if the Dust Man would appreciate one as a pet, and secretly used a dented iron lantern to catch one, using his share of the reward money after they turned in 20 left ears to also purchase some ore for it to eat.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    They also got a mining pick that was enchanted to help dig into rock, which Grunt turned down and Bell took instead.


    They took a path back down, skirting around the rock on a side path to see if there were any caves to the interior of the cube-mountain, but all they found was a small cave with a chest that required Corvayne to swim in one of the half bowl shaped pools stuck to the wall, diving under the wall to a hidden air pocket. Corvayne found a blue metal bow that he gave to Mister I and a pair of soft leather gloves that they were not sure the function of. Bell took them as well, trusting the assessment they were not cursed.


    Corvayne kept them looking out for caves, but they reached the line before the entire floor flipped to vertical in another day of walking. Corvayne had them walk over a few miles to line up with what looked like a hole in the wall, a square that gleamed the color of the sky, then they started working their way up. The path to the hole in the wall involved some actual mountain climbing, with Corvayne using the bracers to help bring rope across gaps or sometimes using Bell''s pickaxe to carve a trail into the rock.


    They found a brass accented treasure chest that spit up magma as a trap but had a lava knife that Corvayne recognized as the same type he had used to dispatch the whale. It also had a flaming sword which LBC happily took to replace her mundane and somewhat flimsy steel sword.


    ¡°Where did you find a steel sword so fast in Cascadia anyway?¡± Spears asked, and LBC instantly responded. ¡°Gary.¡±


    Corvayne heard a few ¡°Ahhs¡± at that. He didn''t get it himself entirely but went along with everyone else thinking it made sense. It also helped lift LBC''s mood, as she was not happy climbing several miles up a wall on a make shift path of narrow stone walkways, trees that they had to climb, or water rusted metal pathways that someone had nailed to the rock face long ago and often creaked under Grunt''s weight.


    All that, and they pulled themselves up a broken stone stairway to the titanic glowing opening... which lead to what looked like another large chamber made up of cube mountains. However, the very smooth square passage they were in did have what looked like a platform in the exact center. There was a passage with a stairway down, a door on another side, and two ways to get atop the small platform to reach a chest banded with silver and blue gems.


    Corvayne wasn''t sure they solved the floor but it seemed like the Tower knew getting to where they were took a long time, and so after a little bit of basic trap-checking Corvayne opened up the chest and pulled out a gold spear, dripping a clear fluid. Corvayne offered it to Spears, who happily took it and pointed it into the distance, then blasted a huge wave of water from it.


    Corvayne also found a ring that looked the same as his old storage ring and winged brown boots that floated, and a moment later he stored all his things and Lady Blood Claw had new boots that let her leap into the air and fall slowly.


    Some very fancy looking energy-drink health potions were there as well, and Corvayne put one on his belt, sensing somehow that it felt full of life. He passed one to Grunt and another to Bell, which hopefully would be the three people most likely to be injured. With that all out of the way, he scooped up some scrolls.


    They scouted the doorway and found it lead to a place with steel plants and giant stone bricks that Corvayne felt for sure was related to the source, especially given the sandy ground with streams running through them. They decided they would stay on Cascadia unless they found something that might be relevant to their goals, such as a city that looked well developed.


    Back in Cube Valley, they had a quick meeting where Mister I convinced them to do a little bit of backtracking to go find the Caravan Path. Given the way they went, they just needed to go down to one of the Wall cubes and trek across it to a wide and fully intact petrified wood ramp leading down to a door in the wall. It kept going down all the way to the floor two wall cubes down, nearly four miles.


    They passed through the door to a moon lit realm of white hills and spooky black trees that was nearly empty. Two Skeletons wandered into the clear path through the floor and were just as quickly dispatched with gunfire, falling apart the moment something hit their skulls. The map suggested a camp site in an area fenced off with graveyard fence and with a small shelter if the weather turned, but aside from Bell seeming a little too into the floor nobody wanted to actually rest there, figuring if there were some undead on the floor there were more undead on the floor.


    Corvayne dubbed the floor ¡°Creepy Moon Plains Floor 1¡± and wasn''t too sad to move onto what the map had said was the jeweled forest. The gimmick on the floor was that there were bubbles that formed from the ground that contained breathable air. The gas between the bubbles was inert with a slightly blue tinge to it, but the plants seemed to love it as Corvayne couldn''t see much besides the road and tremendous flower clad branches spiraling up to blue-white light above, with some air bubbles that had gone loose floating up through the air.


    They harvested a few bubbles for everyone to put on their heads, then ventured through the gas along the road. There were air pockets every few minutes, and if Corvayne had something to augment his breathing he suspected there was some difficult path they could find away from the safety of the ground covered in bubbles for treasure. But, they didn''t have something to generate safe air yet, and so they followed the map and soon reached the next doorway, again wide enough for a wagon to move through. Not before Grunt kept miming that he couldn''t break out of the bubbles a few dozen times, which went from sort of funny to not funny then through to cracking Corvayne up for some reason he couldn''t figure out.


    The map told them they''d be going up on the floor they reached, something like a set of rusty airships floating in a fields protecting the huge structures from even an larger endless storm of colorful gas. The rust turned out to be some sort of shelled creature that clustered on the huge steel girders, scattering from the group then reforming as they passed huge steel plated bridges between metal decks decorated with brass and steel beams and colorful balloons, some of them miles wide and connected by ropes laden with fluttering banners. The sun shown from above, bright white as if to contrast all the colors. The route they followed quickly lead them across two bridges to stairs up. The second floor was also sky themed, but looked like the Cascadia forest again but with bright red trees. Small floating gardens formed the floor, with ornate liquid bridges that extended between and through clouds to let them travel. The floor was mostly open air and the afternoon colored clouds felt sort of lonely, as many of the islands had no bridges and were just a few broken columns, suggesting some sort of lost glory. The stairway was set into the base of a statue of a man with a pair of thunderbolts.


    The third floor, which was short, seemed to turn everything into an oil painting, including the group. Equally notable was that the landscape was very pornographic, dominated by giant painted statues of women and men seemingly captured still enacting numerous hedonistic scenes. Grunt moved to cover Lady Blood Claw''s eyes with his own impressionist oil paint shifting hands, and she slapped him away, turning a flurry of angry oranges and reds and becoming slightly more abstract until she calmed down. They moved quickly through the floor, especially when everyone kept tugging their clothes and saying it was hot. The third floor of lust didn''t have enemies, or perhaps they would be obscene.


    The next floor they reached was the endpoint of the map, and like many floor entrances they came out able to see a winding road leading down to what looked like endless yellow grass plains, only punctuated by titanic medieval towers perched on black rocks dotted with buildings. The trading city was at the base of one of those huge towers, and it took them two days to reach the foot of the massive castle reaching up into the clouds. There were farms and villages dotting the road, one of them a proper large town where the group stayed at an Inn and Corvayne had to fend off Tower Folk bar maids who seemed to find excuses to put their hands on him.


    Grunt and Mister I stepped in, of course, and took one for the team. Lady Blood Claw grabbed the one male server''s hand that started to try to give her a shoulder rub and stared daggers at them, putting the fear of LBC in the rest of them. The inn didn''t have thick walls or large beds so Corvayne, Bell, and Spears were all crammed into one small bed hearing noises of at least two bar maids having a very good time as well as rowdy singing all night from below.


    Lady Blood Claw looked ready to kill someone as they finished the walk to the tower, and got her wish when poorly equipped bandits jumped them. Corvayne suspected they were ''Monster'' people as the last one that Corvayne captured didn''t respond to questions and just snarled. ¡°I''ll kill ye!¡± over and over in the exact same cadence.


    The base town, where the map ended, was just as massive as the tower, and possibly was an extension of the massive castle. No wall around the town, though there were so many terraces as the terrain shifted from grassy plains to rock supporting the tower. Unlike a similar setup they had seen in Nel''Feral, the town here was covered in flowers and gardens and had a complex water system where a giant lion face a mile up the structure poured water that was funneled over roofs and around smaller towers to water gardens and pour out of smaller fountains. Every street had merchants with wares laid out, fruits and veggies giving way to crafted jewelry giving way to exotic looking arms, racks of scrolls and trinkets made from bones and twine that to Corvayne had a feeling of being magic.


    More importantly, they found a square with several inns around a fountain. Grunt and Mister I went to the rowdy looking one with way too many laughing Towerfolk girls, where Corvayne and the girls went to a quiet establishment that had a harp player thrumming in the common room. It also had rooms with large comfy beds and thick walls, which meant that Lady Blood Claw got some sleep, and Corvayne had the girls take turns between some alone time with him and the very luxurious bath in the next room over.


    Bell and Spears fell asleep on both sides of him and Corvayne wrote, leading him up to the point they were at. Corvayne filled in the notes and smiled. No horrific wounds, or ticking clock, or insane monk stalking them. Just a few days of hiking, seeing fantastic sights, and finding treasure with a little bit of danger to keep it interesting.


    Corvayne looked over at Spears, gleaming with a thin layer of dish soap she used to ''make herself look younger'' as if she wasn''t a pretty young woman. Her warm liquid hand was currently clutching his night shirt. On the other side, Bell''s red hair rubbed at his chin as she pressed her back into him while gently snoring. Friends, girls, adventure.


    Corvayne was happy. This was what he really wanted to do, more then even seeking out his destiny.


    Still, they did have some goals, and tomorrow morning the group would gather after breakfast and would seek a library attached to the town and see if they could strike up a deal for information about the System. Corvayne used a shadow arm to close the drapes a little, the breeze coming in making the room a little cool, then pulled the covers over his lovers and himself and closed his eyes, untroubled sleep finding him.

 Chapter 201: Study Hall and Homework

    Tower Town Library was not, in Corvayne''s humble opinion, the pinnacle of creative naming, but it was somewhere up there in efficiency. The white clay brick building looked to be an outgrowth of the alarmingly large structure that gave the city its name, bulging like a man-made tree root from the titanic vertical castle that loomed over them. It was notable not only in it''s length but that it was covered in giant arched windows. The entrance was off of a backstreet, wide enough for two cars but in the shadow of large apartments that looked to Corvayne like keeps.


    Spears paid the guide who had lead them to the Library a few silver coins, ruffling the urchin''s hair as he scampered off with his prize. Grunt stepped forward and opened the door by placing the normal sized handle between three fingers and his thumb, then pulling with pinky sticking out sort of like one sipping a teacup. Mister I actually was the first one in, vanishing into the somehow even gloomier entrance.


    Bell took his arm at the crook, which made Corvayne have to sort of slide around the half of the door Grunt wasn''t holding, but he stepped into a surprisingly cold room, his breath steaming. Corvayne quickly adjusted to the gloomy lighting in the reception area and a large square counter manned by what looked like an ancient man who, from the way his lip was set, had just swallowed something sour, a woman with similar sharp features Corvayne guessed was his older adult daughter, and her in turn young daughter who pulled down her spectacles to look at them. All of them wore long sleeved robes over what looked like wool clothes, and heavy hats that covered their ears. There were wooden turnstiles and a price for entry, so he stepped forward to act as the purse for the group.


    The two ladies were attentive from the get-go, but the older man startled a little and set aside a book, then sat up straighter and looked at Corvayne then beyond to where Lady Blood Claw was entering.


    ¡°Shut the doors!¡± The old man barked out, loud enough that Corvayne was concerned he''d hurt something. A moment later his expression changed as the extra light from the street went dark. No doubt because he was seeing Grunt for the first time. There was a solid thump as the big man urged the doors back into place.


    ¡°Price for six is six gold for the day. Special archives are more. Renting a lich-light is more.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged and produced six gold. They had looted something like seven hundred pieces from chests over the last two weeks. ¡°We are interested in books about Classes and Leveling.¡±


    ¡°Hmmf. Books on adventure for rookies is in the Q wing. Anything not there we have in special archives.


    Bell tugged Corvayne''s arm and gave the youngest Librarian who was looking at them a dirty look, pulling him through the turnstile. He did see Grunt standing before device and give a critical look at the Librarian before just stepping over, but the six of them got in and Corvayne lead them to the Q area. The sub sections of the library seemed to line up with places lit by windows: The alcoves of wood book shelves boxed in tables catching light spilling in from above. Corvayne pulled a jacket out of his storage ring and


    ¡°Can everyone read these books?¡± Corvayne asked, pulling out ''Basics of Classes''.


    Spears nodded. Bell raised an eyebrow and opened one called ''ABCs of Support Jobs''.


    Mister I and Grunt ended up wandering away. Mister I settled into a section packed with scrolls, and Corvayne lost track of Grunt but trusted his friend had some independent research he wanted to do.


    Corvayne instead dipped into ''Basics of Classes'' while everyone else made efforts to get into warmer clothes and then settle around the table in padded chairs.


    The book in question was a leather bound tome but worn from brown to a tan color in places where it had been handled for untold years, the pages yellowed and curled with age. There was the scrape of wood on wood as Bell moved her chair closer to him. He also felt Spears place her foot next to his, and for a moment do a little footsie before settling into ''Tiers and You'' which was bound with bright yellow glossy paper, clearly taped and repaired in places where someone had damaged the cover.


    Corvayne began to read.


    Classes and Levels are the basis of the most pervasive arm of the three known in the System. They form the blueprint for most powers the tower dwellers are offered and are almost universally the method used to grow. Unlike Artifact progression or Domain, the mechanics are far easier to study and better understood. It is this researchers theory that the other two are incomplete to a degree Class is not. Class as a system does have some issues where things cannot be quantified, mostly related to how they change, are assigned, and upgrade. That being said, much of what follows is what generally works for most people.


    He frowned at this. No mention of Pacts, which seemed to also be a sort of progression system. Or was that Domain? He looked over and saw that Lady Blood Claw was rubbing her eyes and had changed to an off white color that [[Unity]] told him was her color for boredom. She unpacked a rather classy looking jacket, put it on, pulled out a stocking cap and put it over her silver hair, was unhappy with the cap, checked her pockets, moved the gloves between them, scuffed her chair on the ground, then wiggled to sit right, then tried to move her book so she was holding it up rather then laying on the table.


    ¡°Lady.¡± Corvayne said, wondering how nobody else was distracted by LBC. ¡°If you don''t mind looking for a book, can you find something about Domains and Artifacts? If you can''t find it here, maybe ask about it in the special collection. You could also help by asking them about '' The Last Symphony of Amerhost'' or ''10,000 paths to power''.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw stood, then paused. As usual, once she realized that Corvayne had read her skin color she jumped back to gray almost immediately. ¡°Wouldn''t someone else do better with talking?¡±


    He smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up. ¡°It would help me handle the reading and you could stretch your legs.¡±


    She didn''t need much more prompting, heading back to the desk. Bell, on the other hand, elbowed him. ¡°Asking for help... she''s going to have that Librarian tart who was staring at you in tow I bet!¡±


    Corvayne looked at her. It didn''t take [[Unity]] to see she was acting a little jealous. ¡°I didn''t notice, and I''m happy with you and Spears. As long as she doesn''t interfere with our goals here. I am not going to respond to any provocations.¡±


    Bell looked away from him at Spears and pointed at Corvayne. ¡°Say something too!¡±


    Spears put her book down and fished in her pockets with one hand while using another to reach into her forehead and start changing slime-stuff up. A moment later she looked like a librarian as rendered in some of the more mature publications he had found shoved between books back in the Watcher library. She leaned forward to show off her exposed watery cleavage, finger moving to her lips. ¡°Shhh.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think you are helping to allay her fears.¡±


    Bell sat back in her chair, clearly embarrassed or perhaps worried that Spears-Like-Water was showing off. Corvayne put a hand on her shoulder and felt her relax as she put her ear to his hand. He felt through [[Unity]] Bell''s worries and he tried to send her reassurance. Spears was radiating something like amusement and a faint trace of arousal, which made Corvayne clear his throat and pick up his book again lest he lead himself and his two girlfriends on a path that lead to getting thrown out of the library.


    The first class one gets usually involves some sort of agreement between what the System thinks a person is and what they think, though for less flattering tier 1 jobs it might be also based on what others think of a target.


    That might explain why Bell had been a ''Spoiled Princess'' and ''Squire'' when they met, and had shed them to just be a ''Warrior''.


    Classes or Jobs change when the person''s skills and goals change from those initial settings. There is a barrier to change that intent plays a large role in, as does training, methods one uses to solve problems, skill levels, powers, views others have about the person''s role, certain artifacts, powers, scrolls, and job tomes, and sometimes the whim of the system all adding to the chance of a job change. While classes are the technical term, often times when someone thinks of something as their job the system moves to switch their class to match. One who hauls garbage eventually becomes a garbage-man. There is a high chance this happens during a period of extended rest, or during some sort of personal catharsis, or during a period of extreme duress.


    Changing Classes does not generally (a word I must add to: everything I write has exceptions, sadly) remove the previous classes with the exception being tier up. Instead, there tends to be a folding effect on skills and powers the system previously gave to a person. This is why sometimes there are ''folded'' dual classes, where one person is able to be multiple things as their ''true calling'' or where the system just gave up, throwing it''s invisible hands into the air as if to say ''I do not know what to do with a warrior that fights with weapons he baked should be. Warrior///Baker it is'' [See Dunsing''s book of oddities for more details on this example]


    Subjobs are obtained in several ways and differ from a dual class. They are easier to change, and one may shift them between several roles one has obtained significant skills in. Often they are a profession that one seeks excellence in. If there are two professions, it may be that when one works with one duty, they are that subjob. The moment the Warrior hangs up their apron to go hunt monsters, that subjob moves from ''Line Cook'' to ''Archer''. Some people are able to switch jobs more fluidly then others, which is why there is a hidden stat in many tomes for this flexibility. Depending on author, this might be ''Job Flexibility'' or ''Class shiftatude'' or ''Plasticity'' and so on. It''s not known to this writer if there''s an official stat that governs this ability, or which stats do and their actual system granted names.


    Corvayne was wondering if the book could give some more concrete examples if not rules, and then it did. It went into details about some of the very well known Classes that had specific conditions for change. An example was how anyone who picked up the class [Slave] had tremendous stat growth and would gain powers that specifically were designed to free themselves and kill whomever had enslaved them. Once the parties responsible died, they''d almost instantly switch back to a Class that was based on the skills they had used. A side note suggested that the class had changed at some point in the past to basically outlaw slavery in the Tower by giving people who qualified incredible stats, then again to stop nobles with some level of system knowledge from throwing their kids into slavery for a few years to level them up.


    Other examples were people getting warrior, the most common class, by fighting and beating an opponent as a non combatant, then ''dropping'' the class back to a profession as they finished an apprenticeship.


    Corvayne skimmed a section about first jobs that was written for parents, as everyone had developed a class and that wasn''t what they needed to know. It seemed intuitive to him: you wanted your kid to be a caster, them wanting it and trying to wave a wand around made it more likely. If they had a particular type of mage they fancied, they''d do that. If they had a secret affinity for an element in the family or because they stuck an elemental essence crystal in their mouth as a kid, that would influence what sort of mage they became.


    Dual Jobs seemed to be some sort of low tier way of accepting a split focus of one particular thing. Reading along, it seemed that it didn''t exist at higher tiers, with only a handful of tier 3s having a dual class.


    The book sidetracked into a sub chapter about that there was some sort of pool for stats that even with a billion job changes, it wouldn''t give someone who leveled warrior to 15 stats they already ''got'' from that job, and the same with the number of class related powers would fade if they were not used or push to a dual class or subjob. It made sense to Corvayne, as even with a useful talent like his ability to cross weapon skills would be outshone by someone flipping through 100 variants of ''Warrior'' to become extremely fast.


    The next section was finally about the subjob, which boosted effectiveness but also tended to change readily.


    It is a supporting role, and usually varies between one tactical option that''s the ''true'' or ''key'' support job and then between all the other things a person might be secondary at. This can change rapidly depending on what the person''s outlook is, as rapidly as every hour in some cases. Once more, the same hidden stat or a similar one to the one depending on class changes could be present.


    Unlocking the ability to have a Subjob is usually done through one of four methods.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    1: Have a clear subfocus to your entire being. Usually this prompt is a racial subjob or an aspirational subjob that guides someone to a power or advanced class. Like Squire to Knight.


    2: Overcoming a rite of passage as recognized by the system. Traditional trials with ritualized starts, challenges, and a conclusion tend to make it more likely. The hunt of a notorious monster by tribal youth is a frequent one, as are quests given by elders to hunt monsters for trophies that mark mastery of the environments they live in and the monsters who dwell there. The Kuplian ritual involving an insect larva, an unbroken portion of a giant crab, and the intact skull of a restless undead is a standard for Tower based groups.


    3: Reaching a checkpoint in a personal goal. The longer the goal is held and more relevant to the system the more likely that reaching the first threshold will trigger said transformation.


    4: Finding one of the climber break rooms on a floor multiplied by 5 where an expert on jobs waits, then requesting a subjob. This uses up that person''s offer.


    The advantage of an extra job cannot be overstated. Even at a reduced max level (again, controlled by a stat that we theorize to exist, some calling it ''Balance'' or ''Multitalent'' and some theorizing it''s the function of Quintessence.


    There are claims that some experienced adventurers have two or three subjobs. The one this author inquired after could not give them details, as they were not sure which tasks they performed lead to the system rewarding them with their third job. What was mentioned was dragon slaying, participating in large group battles to clear sub-tower dungeons, forming an empire, and reaching the 50<sup>th</sup> floor of the Tower. All of which seem to be beyond the scope of the lower floors this author can safely traverse.


    Corvayne flipped through the book after that section and found some details about what Tier one classes had obtained in the past, further suggesting that there was an element of extreme randomness in the system. Someone who only wanted to fight with spears have been documented getting abilities that push them to the shield. There were also reports of people having the system line up exactly what they wanted. The author was obsessed with ''hidden stats'' which was a subject that Corvayne had to consider. Either way, he moved forward to tiers, seeing as the light from the window had started to shift to yellow.


    What we know of high tiers comes from competitive groups, keen to keep an advantage over their rivals and furthermore from people who have walked the path far beyond what most people are willing to dedicate their lives to, both considering risks and the toll fighting for years to advance. There is also supposedly paths where the broad entry jobs and variety of ways they are expressed lead to broad combinations, then supposedly as one moves to high tiers the eventual end path is one unique to the person. Such information tends to be restricted as the few self announced Tier 7s are notoriously difficult for scholars to access and do not often speak of their classes.


    That said, there are more then a few Tier 2s and Tier 3s who had clear ideas of how they advanced their class. The Knight Tier 3 class is a result of reaching squire 25 while under the training of an honorable ally of a higher level, with variations based on what focus of martial combat they have. Interestingly there is also a Knight Tier 2, which is the result of a person being ''knighted'' by someone the system recognizes in a social system.


    The standard mage example and the one the reader probably is aware of just offhand is that a Mage or Fire Mage advances to Pyromancer by killing a certain number of monsters only using fire. The number varies but is around 200 for the average magician. They then can access the class by burning some sort of meaningful mark into themselves after meditating while looking at a fire. It is theorized that the number of kills is related to the skill level of their fire magic.


    Advancing crafting classes can be reached by having an ''enlightenment'' where the crafter makes a self-discovered breakthrough on a previously impossible crafting task or one that is related to a personal problem. Often instructors of crafting looking to nurture apprentices will block them from having all the information about how to overcome a challenge so they can use pre-set difficult crafting benchmarks to push novices to a tier 3 class comfortably.


    Corvayne saw basics for advancing Warriors to several classes, and how to push priest and Monk further, but only a handful of concrete examples for tier 3 and only a sprinkling of support classes, mages, and a paltry list of tier 4s and the suspected path to upgrade them.


    Known paths for Tier 4: Warrior 15 and one significant high level kill ¡ú Battle Squire to 25 under a level 40 Knight ¡ú Knight ¡ú Guardian (For thwarting 3 assassination attempts on their liege)


    Mage ¡ú Pyromancer ¡ú Ashen Pyromancer (Using frequent spells focused on large scale destruction of flammable objects over two years) ¡ú Ashen Mage (Reaching level 50 skill in Ash magic, defeating a tier 4 monster using only ash based magic)


    Wood Carver ¡ú Create 20 pieces of furniture that are sold to be used or a breakthrough to Carpenter ¡ú Create 20 mid sized structures made mostly of wood requested by others, or a breakthrough to become a Wood Carpenter ¡ú Design three major wood structures and construct them with a system quality of ''Acceptable'' or Green-Yellow or 3/10 ¡ú Woodscaper


    Pickpocket, Thief, Rouge ¡ú Steal 100 gold worth of objects from unsuspecting and potentially hostile targets to become a Sneak Thief ¡ú Infiltrate a location and steal an object with a market price of 1000 from a combined potentially hostile group of at least level 1000 ¡ú Apprentice Cat Burgler ¡ú Complete 3 Teir 3 quests from ''The Fixer'' in the bar ¡ú Infiltrator.


    As with much of the book, the stat theorists say they have found hundreds and hundreds of hidden stats with odd names they are unsure of that might adjust the numbers needed or if one can take the route. It''s theorized that some of the stats determine how someone is able to tier up. Or that the system ''notices'' people. It is a sad truth that while the above are reported to work for 95% of the Tier 4s who have these relatively well known evolutions, there will be 5% that must pursue a different path. Furthermore, as one goes higher in Tiers, these high benchmarks become less uniform.


    With the afternoon light starting to fade, Corvayne looked over and found the youngest Librarian waiting half hidden behind a pillar, with Bell asleep with her cheek against a book and Spears using a little glowing ball of water to read what looked like her third book, but she was clearly sometimes flipping a few pages.


    The young woman cleared her throat, a slight flush as she looked at Corvayne and turned her head down. ¡°We are going to close for the night, Do you wish to leave your readings here and resume tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°We''ll be back. Are the others still here?¡±


    ¡°The fellow who was interested in martial scrolls is leaving soon, your other two companions left and stated they''d be at the Inns you stayed at last night. They didn''t specify which... if you remember the name I can give you directions.¡±


    Bell startled awake and shot to her feet. ¡°That won''t be needed. Sir Corvayne recalls perfectly the way, and will need no further help.¡±


    Corvayne smiled and nodded. ¡°I appreciate the help. You can put my book away if you like.¡±


    The Librarian girl pushed what looked more like a table on wheels forward, and gestured for them to put the books they did not need on it. Corvayne obliged and tugged at Bell, who sheepishly left her books where they were. Spears put two of the three she had pulled out and placed them on the cart.


    Corvayne considered if he could just palm a book with his ring and walk out, but decided not to antagonize the library if there wasn''t anything mission critical that required him to. After all, he had at least a better idea of what the class system was.


    Mister I was practically bouncing as Corvayne watched him placing his scrolls for reading tomorrow, while Grunt was waiting in the exit past the desk looking subdued. Corvayne stepped away from Bell and Spears to walk with his large buddy through the streets. The warm air felt great, and Grunt himself smiled and gave Corvayne a friendly fist to the shoulder, gentle enough it didn''t break anything. The setting sun made the tower loom over the town, which prompted a surprisingly cozy set of lights to be lit, more then matching Old Town with it''s spotty coverage often blocked by girders.


    ¡°Did you find anything out?¡± Corvayne asked.


    Grunt nodded. He motioned with his hands first a pair of walking fingers, then mimed surveying, then flashed his fingers 3 times to indicate 30, then held up a pair for 2, then gestured to the city around him before throwing his hands wide, and tapping his head.


    ¡°There''s a really big city on floor 32?¡±


    Grunt nodded, he gestured back at the library and made a pinched fingers, then threw his arms wide. He narrowed his eyes then and made finger rubbing motions with both fingers.


    ¡°It''s very expensive. How much?¡±


    Grunt mimed a 0, then flashed 6 fingers.


    ¡°A million gold?¡±


    He fished out his bus card, but Corvayne made the connection.


    ¡°Oh it''s one time for a pass? That''s still a lot more then we have.¡±


    Grunt raised an eyebrow: Oh really?


    He produced a fist sized piece of black crystal, possibly one that Corvayne had shed when he forgot to flip forms while camping. It looked like the big man had cleaned off the blood and somehow shaped it into a hexagonal form. He held up his hand and made a 0 then held up 8 fingers.


    Corvayne stopped dead. ¡°That''s not something I spit out, was it?¡±


    Grunt smiled and nodded.


    ¡°Am I... rich?¡± He paused. ¡°What about that shrine to Lythandies? Won''t people desecrate it?¡±


    Grunt let out a single gutteral laugh. He shook his head and did some finger signs that suggested lots of armed people, an army, surrounding it, and a bird motion that suggested sky knights, and a sneaky hood using his hands, suggesting assassins.


    ¡°I thought that was last time, is there really an army.¡±


    Grunt plucked a leaf and pointed to it, and Corvayne was confused. ¡°Leafy? Plant army? Green?¡±


    A thumbs up. ¡°Okay. Well, me and Bell owe Lythandies, and I''m not sure I can ever survive throwing out another hill of black gems.¡±


    Corvayne glanced back at his girlfriends. He spotted they were discussing something, Spears holding up fingers and at one point touching one of the stark white scars on Bell''s arms, and the Princess nodding. He wondered why Bell was worried about a librarian girl who looked too much like a judgmental Watcher, but then spotted the girl wearing a coat peeking around a corner a block back. Ah. Maybe the princess''s instincts were sharper then Corvayne gave her credit.


    Mister I walked by the girl, looking at her sideways but otherwise looking tremendously amused as he rushed to catch up. He waggled his eyebrows at Corvayne, who got that Mister I thought he going to put the moves on the young Librarian. She did look cute in the sense that she was terrible at following someone, throwing a book up to prevent Corvayne from seeing her face after they made eye contact, but he also got the feeling that she was a Tower-Folk and he wasn''t as cavalier about them as Mister I and Grunt seemed to be.


    They reached the plaza where their hotels were, and Lady Blood Claw waved from a table under an awning that extended from the rowdy hotel where Grunt and Mister I were staying.


    There was a flush of blueberry from LBC''s skin. Embarrassment! She flashed to gray almost as soon as she clamped down on [[Unity]]. ¡°Sorry, I did what you asked Corvayne but trying to read anything I found, it was like pulling teeth. I instead went and bought us a map to a place where we might find that book... The Last Symphony of Amerhost.''¡±


    She laid out a map that was part drawing part text. Some of the drawings were traditional map fare, showing sections of what looked like tower portions, others were first person showing what a floor SHOULD look like, and the text had information on potential threats as well as what doors they should look for if the route changed.


    ¡°I did learn from the Librarian the cost of the first layer of their special archives, which is rather steep. A hundred gold for a person for a day. I put down 10 gold for the map from a dealer.¡±


    Corvayne pulled chairs out for Bell and Spears, then sat himself so they could sit around him. Spears surprised him by taking a chair between Bell and LBC, letting Grunt pull two up and sit next to Corvayne. Spears gave Bell a playful shoulder, and Corvayne could see Bell smile back. He recalled the two having a fight then making up, and he guessed that''s why Bell wasn''t jealous of her. He shifted back to looking at the map, which was long and looked like it covered twelve floors.


    ¡°That''s from here to floor 17?¡±


    ¡°There''s an adventurer''s outpost near a ruined library that produces books as treasure, and the one we want is not an infrequent result. There''s people there that we can trade with, though I suspect it''s expensive because the Librarian guessed the dungeon produces the book itself maybe four times a year.¡±


    ¡°They have years?¡± Spears asked.


    Lady Blood Claw shrugged. ¡°It might just be a word we are translated into understanding rather then ''four every 300 days'' or whatever.¡±


    Corvayne rolled the map back up and handed it to Lady Blood Claw. ¡°It may be faster after the changes that took the tower...¡±


    LBC smiled. ¡°I bribed some fellow adventurers to drinks to discuss that. In the last few weeks, they noticed more doors, more stairs, more monsters, and more chests. They also think the regeneration rate of all of those increased.


    Corvayne thought about this. ¡°So we might try a few times and see if this dungeon makes it, otherwise we have to pay whatever price someone at the site asks if they have it.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded, then caught a glance behind Corvayne. Probably the librarian again. ¡°There was another option that the head librarian mentioned. He could get us the book, but...¡±


    Mister I at this point had set his coat around a chair and was going into the restaurant to order.


    ¡°But?¡± Corvayne said as he turned back to Lady Blood Claw.


    ¡°But we have to do him two favors.¡±


    Corvayne leaned back. ¡°That you didn''t just tell me suggests this isn''t something I''m going to like.¡±


    ¡°He wants us to help his granddaughter get a certain class and set up her subjob...¡±


    He heard the delay in her voice. ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°And help her awaken. I don''t think you are going to like the suggestions he had for that.¡±


    Bell leaned past Spears, rattling the silverware on a plate in front of LBC. ¡°What exactly did you agree to, Lad- Miss Blood?¡±


    She put a hand on her half finished croissant. ¡°I didn''t agree to anything but to have Corvayne hear him out, but he hinted it involves Corvayne sleeping with her.¡±


    Spears put a hand on Bell to stop her from lunging, quickly glancing back to confirm to Corvayne she knew the girl in question had been following them. ¡°I do not mind other women, but I don''t want them to be trivial!¡± Spears finished more heated then she started, then her blue cheeks flushed with pink spots when she cleared her throat.


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°We can help with a subjob quest, especially since I''m under the impression that some of us don''t have them...¡±


    Spears met his eyes and nodded but everyone else at the table suddenly looked the other directions, with Mister I even whistling. Corvayne wasn''t sure why they were all doing that, but he had become used to sometimes people doing things that didn''t make sense to him, and he''d probably figure it out later if he watched more movies and TV shows or asked LBC about it, though she was looking away with her skin a very uniform gray.


    Corvayne cleared his throat. ¡°Well, where was I... the goal is to awaken her, right? Let''s look into that tomorrow and see what other methods we can go with, because I''m not doing to Bellithca or Spears-Like-Water something like that, and we can get the book even if the other options require some dungeon diving... which was on the list of things to do anyway.¡± He thought about Hari and Wick again, and a little part of his heart ached that he pushed down as he looked between Bell and Spears. ¡°Let''s order dinner, and talk about what we all learned, then tomorrow I''ll talk to the librarian and we can see about figuring out more about awakening.¡±


    Corvayne took a glance back, and couldn''t see the girl, but it was an extra wrinkle and he already could feel that both Bell and Spears were not entirely happy, nor was Lady Blood Claw oddly. [[Unity]] had some weird moments it picked things up.


    He shrugged. It probably was much ado about nothing.

 Chapter 202: Dinner and a Little Dessert.

    Corvayne watched as the sky not dominated by the tower slowly faded to a burnished blue from the comfort of his spot at a table lit by lanterns strung along an awning. There were only a few clouds in the sky forming navy blue smudges on the sky, and stars were appearing though they would soon be overwhelmed by this floor''s main feature. The castle-tower the town had formed around would light up once the sun had fully set with it''s own magic lighting. For now, Corvayne could look far up and see bright orange spots miles up slowly going dark. He on a whim asked their waiter about it, and the man had told them that the shape of the floor was flat even though the ''sunset'' suggested a curve like a planet.


    Corvayne earmarked some extra silver for the tip, given that a brisk lesson in Tower floor cosmology was above and beyond expected.


    He was seated with the whole party, and as the waiter left with his drink and dinner order, Mister I was discussing how the scrolls had a real path to cultivation as a system for him and how excited he was to meditate tonight.


    Grunt made some motions with his hands, something about kicking someone out of bed, and Mister I nodded. "The nights on this Floor are pretty long, and after a day at the library I of course will need a warm bed!"


    Grunt picked up a stone, pointed to a candle flame on a table for two behind them, pinched his fingers and made a questioning look by lifting his eyebrows and fluttering his eyelids: Oh so your going to get a hot stone for your bed... by paying for it."


    Mister I scoffed. "Unlike you, who needs to pay for a sturdy enough bed and a warm... stone to boot, I will make do with my own powers. I am after all a monk, and have forsworn most forms of excess."


    A pair of waiters put down four different steaming meat dishes in front of Mister I. "Most appreciated my good sirs." He pulled out a camo bib and looked between his dishes, then coughed and schooled his face to look innocent and wise. "What was I saying? Ah! Enlightenment. I believe I can form a core with what I know, and would like to see if I can bridge a new system on top of my current one. Much like Corvayne has his black crystal powers and the ability to manifest words as pacts."


    Spears accepted a fruity looking drink in a simple glass cup with a tiny paper umbrella in it. Corvayne noticed the glass had initals engraved on it. Maybe something to consider when crafting, the aspect of others recognizing their work. He''d talk to Mosh about it. Either way, he could watch the teal fluid filter into Spears, and she saw him looking and winked.


    The rest of the drinks and food started filtering in, and besides Mister I polishing off two of his dishes and Grunt destroying armadillo meat nachos, they spent a few minutes just eating with a bit of small talk about how nice the warm evening was after being in the library.


    Spears finished her soup, something like miso chili from what Corvayne guessed, and after a satisfied sigh sat up and looked around. "Shall I wait until everyone else finishes?"


    Corvayne shook his head, using a spoon to mix gravy and crust from the shepherds pie with mystery meat. "I think you can go ahead, we''re listening. Right?"


    Bell Hmmed then set her utensils down and wiped her mouth before saying "Of course, I will listen as I finish my meal."


    Lady Blood Claw was sipping coffee, having gone with a sort of flatbread burger she was three fourths done with that smelled really good to Corvayne, and was probably what he should have ordered. She glanced to him then Spears and gave a thumbs up, then went back to clearly looking up at the titanic tower while listening. Corvayne followed her glance and saw lights starting to paint the white brick structure and it''s dark windows with shadows, catching other colors for ivy and red tile further up.


    Grunt grunted approval, then cut another large slab of the steak he had.


    Spears smiled and jumped right into it. "So I wanted to look at powers, floors, the structure of the tower, and what they know about the Magus. Not much luck on the last one, as the Librarian had only a history book where there were ''refugees from the Magus'' who settled in a low level floor."


    Something they might actually want to look into. Spears didn''t need prompting. "It''s a long ways across the tower from here, and would be something to consider for another longer trip. The librarian said that the book was a history of a region far from us. That''s something too, the travel accounts talk about floors. The basics are that floors ''size'' is usually based on how large compartments of the floor are or sometimes by how far apart stairs and capital D Doors are."


    Bell finished her bite and once more put her utensils down. "As in, the world crossing doors, and the span of that first floor that was a giant cube?"


    "Yes. We''ve seen floors where there are suspended, marketplaces?"


    Bell nodded. "I have modern memories mixed in, I know about malls first hand now."


    "Okay, the strawberry pants came from a Mall floor where there was a huge grid of malls, and each mall was probably the ''instance size''. The book says that there are floors where the objects that make up each section are millions of miles with vast bridges and stairs through wide open space between them. It was very interesting! They talked about expeditions to try to see if floors like that had a point where they repeated. Some explorer guild used powers that would paint beacons they could use to mark a direction to home and let them move across open air very quickly, and tried to see if going multiple cubes over they could find a limit. The answer is sort of: if you go many many many millions of miles, sometimes a floor shifts what tags it has, but a beacon that cuts off going through a door or up or down stairs won''t change. One of the images both books had was a map drawn by explorers of a massive ''heat map'' so to speak of a floor, where they found huge ''dead areas'' with lower magic, and a few spikes of different spots that were far more dangerous."


    Corvayne swallowed and started stirring the remains of his dinner pie. "So they are really infinite, or close enough?"


    "The explorers mentioned to the author plans to see if the same worked for a million million miles, but as far as the librarian knew, he never found a book about that quest and the one I read was something like two thousand years old."


    Corvayne was pretty sure then that Librarians had a skill to preserve books. Or possibly made sure they got a subjob based on preserving things, which might explain why they needed an adventurer to help with some classes and jobs. He imagined getting a high tier butcher and woodworking class to combine might intersect to aim for a skill that preserved books as one would aim to preserve meat. Pure fantasy on his part, but he was starting to understand the system better even after a day.


    "Five floors up. Also five floors down, but books had less info about the Dungeon or underworld as my tome called it." Spears tapped the table. "The theory is that there are two forces, one that wants to uplift Tower climbers, and one trying to stop anyone from getting deeper into the Dungeon."


    Bell nodded at this, looking away from Corvayne to Spears. "That seems like what we saw rescuing Hylal. My daughter''s prison was a sort of ocean hellscape."


    "There is a religious bent to it, the idea that virtuous people climb the tower, and eventually the forces there drive out criminals and devils to dwell in unclean places of suffering."


    Mister I stopped eating what looked like most of a cooked duck to raise a fork, and spoke with his mouth half full. ¡°I would wager good jade the food is worse!¡±


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


    Grunt made the universal sex symbol then yawned: ''as I bet the company is as well''.


    ¡°Actually, supposedly one of the reasons to go into the Dungeon is because there is a succubus trainer past floor 10 bosses and lower who can improve ones performance. Possibly raise their charisma to the opposite sex forever.¡±


    Grunt made a rainbow his hands and Spears shrugged. ¡°I''m talking about the text. I guess assume the author means ''Target sex''.¡±


    Grunt made a rainbow with his hands again. Spears sighed. ¡°I guess you could min max like that, it sounds like the Tower permits it if you really want it. Either way, there are lots of possible ''pre boss'' or ''post boss'' special floors. Tower lets you get to them without a boss, Dungeon puts them after the fight. We visited the bad boys version of The Inn, and the Tower version is where we found all sorts of services and info. The fixer for thieves shows up in the Dungeon more frequently, so there''s a whole thing about finding guides to cross ''Floor 0'' which I guess to tower residents is a pain in the butt, probably because they know access to the ''Middle Floor'' are usually heavily defended by the residents.¡±


    Corvayne thought of a question. ¡°What happens when they finish a set of 5 floors and exit if they don''t have a real world... or I should say floor 0 destination?¡±


    ¡°It sends them to their ''home floor'' in that case. User intent and property deeds and spells all influencing it, as does levels. Sometimes low levels need to find help climbing straight up when they have high level relatives power them through a boss they shouldn''t be reasonably fighting and the Tower spits them out five levels under where they live. Anyway, Mister I will like this, supposedly there''s a place that is a sort of meat exchange where they trade for perfect monster meat with the intent of improving stats.¡±


    Mister I clapped his hands. ¡°Today has been non stop treasures for my heart! I knew I was going to have good fortune! We should set off at once for this meat paradise.¡±


    ¡°It''s like every other midpoint. There''s usually a quest or request for whatever they have. The meat place needs lots of regular quality meat or ''Soul Fluid'' of the creature you are bargaining for prime cuts of. On the flip side, if you have such perfect meat and are willing to part with it-¡±


    ¡°Never!¡± Mister I cried out. ¡°Only a fool would do that!¡±


    Grunt stood up and hugged Mister Icariii, both of them acting like Spears had just told a child that Hunter Claws wasn''t real. Corvayne remembered he was pretty young when he learned it was just his dad leaving extra jerky under the claw totem.


    Corvayne paused and blinked. His father, being nice? When did they live in a tent? He was younger...


    He tried to think about some other detail of growing up, but it resumed being a swirling blank. He sighed, then tuned back into Spears laying out her learnings.


    ¡°But if this subjob thing the Librarian wants us to do doesn''t work, we can find a specialist as low as floor 5 by willing it. We should also try to get to the Bazaar if we want to outfit ourselves for particular floors, though there''s a passive tax on the floor that makes it generally more expensive even if it offers merchants essence in exchange for the funds it taxes.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw scooted away from where Mister I was continuing to act upset about giving up meat. ¡°That might be a good place to have Kirae go then. Though I suspect on the previous run she found it, as there was a point where she jumped a bunch of levels all at once.¡±


    Corvayne reached for the dessert menu and found that Lady Blood Claw had already claimed it herself. He listened as Spears continued.


    ¡°There was also one for ''tuning'' weapons, one that lets you discard your powers or levels, a temple with nearly endless altars, and several rooms that the author had no clue as to the function of.¡±


    Bell tapped her cheek. ¡°There''s other things mentioned that the authors fail to explain after mentioning. Artifacts and Domain. They might be related to that.


    Lady Blood Claw slid the Dessert menu to Corvayne. ¡°There''s almost certainly a function if the rooms appear frequently. Someone, somewhere, knows and won''t share.¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°I suspect there are groups who developed investigators to high tiers and know far more then people trying to put together guides for low floors do.¡±


    Spears nodded. ¡°Per the book, there''s more towns on lower floors, mostly isolated. In mid floors you have big cities that tend to be connected in fairly developed roads across a few floors and doors. There are rumors of high level cities far far far up, places where champions aim to attack the final floors, but few people advance beyond floor 50 and very few people have come back from floor 70.¡±


    ¡°Does it talk about the difficulty?¡± Corvayne asked. He''d like to know the risks.


    ¡°As you climb the Tower, floors are permitted to be more hostile and difficult to traverse, and monsters become smarter. It''s also possible that groups get up high and have less reason to ever go down... or something happens at the top of the tower.¡±


    Corvayne thought about the messages from the person who went into the source. ¡°Or they change... somehow.¡±


    Spears had a little laugh. ¡°That was the last thing I wanted to talk about... the tower can do things like change the race of someone who dives into it.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. ¡°Items, classes, actions, quests, monsters you fight, the usual hundred different things that determine everything that happens.¡±


    Mister I pointed with his fork. ¡°Hidden stats.¡±


    ¡°The blurb said that, which is often what they say whenever they don''t understand why something is the way it is.¡± Spears agreed. ¡°That and ''the system favors XYZ''.¡±


    Mister I put his fingers together. ¡°Wick... or perhaps Anastasia I suppose, said she talked to the personification of the system itself.¡±


    Corvayne ordered a slice of brownie pie and reviewed what he had learned about classes and tiers. It ended up frustrating Spears. ¡°We need more info about what the paths are.¡±


    ¡°Shoulda brought an ID person with us.¡± Lady Blood claw sighed.


    ¡°I like our party.¡± Corvayne retorted. ¡°We are not to the phase where we are experimenting on our own. There''s still lots of info out there, and I suspect that there''s a city on floor 35 or 40 where they know more about tier 4 then this place does tier 2.¡±


    Grunt nodded while grunting, then got the waitress to get him two cakes, and with a wink probably lined up his plans for the evening.


    ¡°The solution is that we need to move upwards. Better info, and places we can spend the money we are making.¡± As if to back him up, a shard of black crystal formed in his hand which he picked out, using a towel he carried in his ring to clean it off. He was bleeding money.


    Spears tapped the table. ¡°Okay, I say we try to buy our way into the archives and get a copy of the book we need by seeing if there''s another way to awaken the girl.¡±


    Corvayne was full after desert and they split up again between hotels. Spending all day sitting in the library, he made an executive decision to take the girls out for a walk around town, visiting a night market set up to trade oddities. Bell picked up a mask with feathers, and Spears gave herself glass gems she placed in her hair. Corvayne didn''t see anything he wanted but Bell bought him a collar with skulls on it, and Spears purchased a fang necklace that she placed under the collar. Corvayne made sure he could take them both off to ensure they were not cursed, then got into it and they spent some time finding masks for him and Spears, then a few cheesy accessories such as a pearl necklace for Spears and a frilly band that Corvayne put around Bell''s leg. Spears got Bell a silly hat, and Bell bought a carved fishing bobber and put it on the crown of Spear''s head, the two giggling. Corvayne figured out why they seemed especially free when he saw a bottle they had bought when he wasn''t looking getting passed around. It smelled like engine de-greaser and tasted about as strong as he imagined the substance would.


    The nice part about a compass power is that it worked equally well with a little booze in him.


    He guessed they all slept like logs, as he woke refreshed in the dark. A mechanical clock in the room ticked away towards hour 32 of 44. He debated going down to have an early breakfast and chose instead to spent some time soaking in the attached bath. After letting a heating stone leech a little mana from him, he lowered himself into the tub and staring out the window at the physical tower of the floor. He could only see about 10 floors of windows, stark white from lights on it compared to the black sky, but he guessed the tower was at least fifty miles tall given how far away he saw it.


    He must have dozed off, because he blinked and saw eyes full of stars on skin that was deep blue and glittered with a million diamonds, somehow vast and looking up at him.


    ¡°Have you grown tired?¡± The voice asked. ¡°Do not fret. Rest. Find what is driving you forward. I''ve waited for you a long time. I will keep waiting.¡±


    The woman pulled her arms around him, both fitting under his head and somehow at the same time titanic, dwarfing him. He saw a young girl, missing a tooth and smiling at him.


    Then he inhaled water through his nose and shot out of the tub, coughing. Bell came to the bathroom door, only wearing the boa he had bought for her near the end of their stroll through the market.


    ¡°You shouldn''t bathe if your that tired! Or at least make sure your head is outside the water!¡± She chided him, helping him from the bath mostly because he was thinking about stars like eyes, and the feeling he needed to be somewhere.


    He accepted her help with a towel to clean him off and let her lead him back to bed. Spears was awake too, blanket pulled over her chest and watery hair going from perfect to disorderly with a touch of her hand. ¡°If it happens again you''re going to have to bathe in me from now on.¡±


    Bell shot her a look, but Spears used a toe to get a robe then just slipped through the foot to reform inside it, then got one for Bell from her pack. ¡°You look cold.¡±


    Bell took the offered robe but didn''t close it before she walked to the windows and shut them. She then realized Spears was looking at her and pulled the robe tight. ¡°What were you thinking Corvayne?¡±


    ¡°I get odd dreams, some sort of oracle thing? A woman made of stars told me... to rest and she was waiting.¡±


    Bell groaned. ¡°As your lover made of normal living matter, I request you immediately list off any potential fiancees, childhood friends, star-crossed lovers you may share destiny with, tragic figures you lost, and so on.¡±


    ¡°I got dumped by Wick and Hari. Then mysterious star girl.¡±


    There was a quiet knock on the door. Bell groaned but Spears shrugged and sashayed, over, moving her butt while shooting an eye back at them, straightening up in the last few steps to crack the door, then opening it to catch the person who had knocked. She pulled the Librarian girl in, and Bell started stomping forward.


    ¡°This is exactly what I was talking about.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± The girl cried. ¡°I am here with a request.¡±


    Corvayne mouthed to himself ''take me with you.'' He looked up and saw Spears grin and mouth the same thing. No [[Unity]] required. Bell followed up. ¡°If you request we take you away-¡±


    ¡°Yes! That''s exactly it!¡±

 Chapter 203: Chimera Knight Tower

    Corvayne was starting to get a sense that Tower folk, for all that he considered them people, were also sort of written in a certain way. Awakening might be a key to breaking them out, but the girl from the library, a Miss Dot Inkwell, seemed to have triggered a pretty standard story of longing to see the outside world, and spotting adventurers that looked as skilled as they did, now wanted them to go to a spot where she was sure her father had left a memento for her.


    "I would have waited for morning, but heard my Grandfather, who as of late has become very material, speaking with my mother about trading my virginity to a brute in exchange for a rare book he had and undergoing a ''secret ritual'' for a subjob. I worried that if I waited for morning, he''d force the subjob of Pleasure Mistress on me and I''d be stuck at his whims. I had once snuck to the romance section and read a tome regarding it, and I can tell you the exact steps and materials used so if you wished you could pinpoint and thwart the brute should he still have designs on me."


    What Corvayne felt through [[Unity]] was that the girl was not, in fact, clumsily trying to tell him what to do to convert her into a besotted lover through the system. She really thought that the three of them, Corvayne especially, would protect her and prevent that from happening. Perhaps by watching over her every moment.


    Bell was incandescent. She looked ready to throw something, probably a hapless maiden book tender, out a window. Spears at this point was clearly just amused, both at the girl being completely clueless to how she was in fact throwing herself at the very brute she had misunderstood was coming for her, and more likely that Bell was relapsing to spoiled princess.


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°We will protect you from any brutes, preserve your chastity as our highest priority, and help you with your goals, but we are after a book from your grandfather''s collection. I would appreciate you helping us get it if we can help you complete your quest to enter the tower and find the room your looking for.¡±


    She stumbled forward and clasped his hands. Corvayne used [Juxtapose] to move her to clasping Spears, then ruffled the young woman''s hair.


    ¡°We will need to assemble our team, but we accept.¡± Spears stepped forward while giving a thumbs up.


    ¡°I don''t have combat experience, so please don''t hesitate to tell me what to do to stay safe on our journey.¡±


    ¡°We have lots of experience with getting folks up to speed.¡± He glanced at Bell, who got slightly less angry. ¡°I think we should try to do a subjob ritual, but instead of saucy mistress get you a class that will help you either work as a librarian, or help defend yourself if some sort of Brute comes along later.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I''m embarrassed, I left with just my coat and underclothes... can I use your bath?¡±


    Spears rolled her eyes. ¡°I''ll loan you some clothes too, c''mon kiddo. Bell, stop glaring, this one is harmless. Corvayne has to be goaded to attack.¡±


    Corvayne gave her a slight frown, which only made Spears twist her grin into an inhuman shape for a moment while making the rest of her face silly.


    ¡°Don''t do that Spears. You''re too pretty to do so.¡±


    Miss Inkwell gushed. ¡°Wow, I think he likes you!¡±


    Spears acted like this was something to think about as she closed the door.


    Corvayne looked at Bell. ¡°She is an obstacle the tower is throwing at us, and like most of them I suspect we will get our goals if she reaches hers.¡±


    ¡°Or you end up with a peasant wrapped around you.¡± Bell folded her arms. ¡°How would you feel about some boy being thrown at me?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn''t be happy, but given the way the Tower operates it''s possible that will happen sooner rather then later. It''s design is clearly meant to entice people to explore, and stay in long periods of time while meeting their needs. Some of the towns clearly have an economic reason for existing, and a few don''t.¡±


    Bell sat on the bed and folded her arms, jutting her chin up. Corvayne tried to think about what Bell wanted. He sat next to her and pulled her into a hug.


    ¡°You and Spears are important to me. I wouldn''t make Hylal sad either. At the same time, I also worry that letting her go will put her in harms way for someone with less scruples. I will ask Spears to take the lead on dealing with the girl. Do you trust her?¡±


    Bell sighed and relaxed. ¡°I''m still mad you made a decision without talking it over. With me or Spears or the rest of the party.¡±


    Corvayne sat back. He hadn''t thought anyone would say no to helping, but he hadn''t though about Bell''s anxiety about their still new relationship.


    ¡°Right. I made a mistake. This isn''t an emergency.¡±


    ¡°Say you are sorry and kiss me.¡± Corvayne felt like most of her anger was gone, [[Unity]] hinting that Bell was mostly over being angry, and also a hint of her own embarrassment. Corvayne matched it with his feelings.


    ¡°Right. Sorry.¡±


    Their timing was poor because it did not take long for the two to bathe and Corvayne had to extract himself from a very involved kiss with Bell when Spears cleared her throat.


    ¡°Lets wake the others up and get hunting. No reason to wait for daylight.¡±


    Mister I was meditating and Grunt was reading the paper in the lobby of their hotel on couches. Two girls in what looked like wool dresses were sitting with them, the waitress with Grunt and someone Corvanye didn''t recognize with Mister I. The waitress gave Grunt a peck on the cheek which made the big guy rub it embarrassed, then skipped off for home. The girl by Mister I walked over to the desk of the hotel to replace an annoyed looking friend. Even at what was likely an ungodly hour, lanterns were lit and the business was ready for adventurers to show up, as Corvayne saw a group of four fighters come in covered in monster blood.


    They were far lower level, from what Corvayne''s instincts told them. Spears was herding Dot Inkwell around, trying to explain to the librarian girl that no, Grunt was not in fact the brute and was a different brute.


    Corvayne knocked on Lady Blood Claw''s door and found she had snuck up on him from behind, taping him on the shoulder holding a steaming cider and breakfast pastry. He forgot sometimes she wore anything other then her jumpsuit. It never looked right to see the stern warrior in a sweatshirt and sweatpants, and her flushing blue when he looked her up and down meant that she probably thought so as well. A little later they were all in their armor and geared up, and were standing before a tower entrance.


    Corvayne stepped into a gatehouse under a raised portcullis into a large room built from gray stones. Features in the room looked added later, the masonry using smaller stone to add what looked like a make shift barracks. There were guards both taking breaks at tables and rapt at tasks he associated with being a man at arms. Some were doing field repairs on their weapons, others were doing basic first aid for wounds or helping a magic healer with a more serious fracture. The guards with weapons in hand were facing inwards.


    Corvayne saw as they moved past the first chamber to a second that more town guard and perhaps a few craftsmen in armor were repairing a wood and metal barrier, turning the octagonal entrance hall into a sort of gauntlet anyone or anything had to pass through to go in or out, with guards holding spears standing on elevated platforms behind the wall laden with spikes.


    He addressed someone who was surveying the T shaped exit to the structure.


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡°Sorry to bother you, as a newcomer do we need to do anything to get back in the barricade?¡±


    ¡°Call out to us and show your not a mindless monster.¡± The guard said. ¡°I appreciate it if you could also cull their numbers as you go rather then try to sneak or run by.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. ¡°We aim to give you a nice quiet day.¡±


    The guard smirked. ¡°Adventurers tend to do that, right up until the point they come running down the stairs with something they can''t handle on their tail.¡±


    ¡°Before we leave, Dot I want you to stay near the back. Spears and Mister I will handle keeping you safe, but I want you to not panic if monsters are coming. We have a basic stave for you. If we don''t have a monster tied down, don''t try to help.¡±


    The librarian Tower-Folk nodded. ¡°Monsters tend to seek out heroes first before they ravage less worthy targets. I entrust my body to your hands.¡±


    Spears jumped in with ¡°Safety. You entrust your safety. Why don''t you tell us about the subjob ritual?¡±


    ¡°Yes. There are monsters who roam the halls in the first basement. Knights that carry their skulls with them in one hand and fence with the other. Scoring an intact skull is part of it. One for each person doing the ritual. Second, there is a court of bugs in heraldry that reside on the third floor. A clean bib marked with a dragonfly is our goal, by stealth or by careful application of blunt force.¡±


    Grunt cracked his knuckles, then straightened up and mimed sneaking with his fingers. Corvayne couldn''t help but smile. As if he''d pass up batting bugs.


    ¡°Finally, the last object is a shield made of shell carried by Crab Knights on the fifth floor. Wisdom tells me that you might find an armory to handle the task, or simply defeat them. The shield need not be in excellent condition, but not every knight is issued one.¡±


    Mister I rubbed his chin. ¡°You also had your room... where would that be?¡±


    ¡°Twenty floors up, in a room where a white tree grows, it will be hanging off a branch, a simple loop made of steel.¡±


    Corvayne nodded and started looking for the basement, but they had barely crossed the first door to the next circular room before the clank of metal feet announced monsters had found them.


    The monsters were pale beings, armored in partial blue metal plates with hide straps, marching in pairs through a doorway. Corvayne didn''t wait, dashing forward and hitting the throat of the leading guard then activating [Storm Thrust] to blast the body back, creating a tremendous clatter as he knocked half the row of monsters down.


    Grunt was right next to him, flattening the knights with each swing of his bundle of bats. His huge hands easily fit five into them and he didn''t even break a sweat as he worked a tempo with both hands, finishing with some sort of shockwave that knocked the last of the monster soldiers into the air. Lady Blood Claw jumped forward and cut them into burning pieces, her blade sometimes multiplying with each swing to catch extra monsters. A moment later the smell of burnt flesh and metal filled the room.


    Corvayne used his cloak to cover his face and then pressed forward, looking at the entrances and exits and seeing that this floor at least seemed to be a series of octagon rooms with doors between them, forming a lattice. Corvayne held up a hand to wait and picked up a piece of metal that wasn''t half melted and banged it on the ground. The sound of monster roars came from two directions, and Lady Blood Claw moved to take one tunnel, Grunt the other. Corvayne drew his gun, and he saw Bell do the same. Mister I reloaded, and moments later the monsters came from two directions, marching into Lady''s merciless blade and Grunt''s relentless maces. He couldn''t just pop the line, but instead swung the bundles to knock monsters aside, taking measured steps back as he flung them this way and that.


    Crunching sounds and slick noises as the guards rushing up stepped in puddles of blood were joined with odd discordant sounds as Lady Blood Claw unleashed a barrage of spells, summoning hands from the ground to grab at the monster''s legs, heating a pair of their armors up and cooking the monsters before they could even reach her blazing blade.


    Corvayne focused on hitting anything that looked like it was going to get past the two, and sometimes swinging to check their flanks and make sure Dot was standing still, which the librarian did perfectly by crouching and putting her hands over her ears. Corvayne moved to cover three doors, and spotted what looked like an archer and used [Drill Shot] to punch a large hole in the monster''s chest. Corvayne lined up another shot and clipped a monster''s leg, dropping it to a crawl then fired the last bullet into his clip into another archer''s hand, causing his bow to snap back and knock him over. Bell followed up on the downed monsters to finish them off, and for a moment had a grenade out, but put it back.


    He reloaded then used a hand to throw out a bouncing shadow claw. A black line raced from him to a group of monsters coming through a third door and bounced through six of them, causing them to stiffen and slump over dead as the dark magic hit their hearts. He admitted he wanted to see what the next step of the power was.


    His area was clear, and Mister I was unmolested in taking pot shots, so he shifted a bit to help them pick off stragglers before the wave of monsters stopped.


    Corvayne strode over to one of the bodies and used his foot to bring a spare spear up, then turned to Dot and strode over to present it to her. The Librarian took a gentle prod with his boot.


    ¡°Here. Do you know if there''s some sort of special thing for killing a higher level monster as your first kill, or did you do that already?¡±


    Dot took the spear and used it to stand. ¡°It is a boon. The system likes it. It may raise stats.¡±


    ¡°Okay, then let''s go up to floor 20, then work our way down.¡± Corvayne looked at the team and got agreement, so he moved to the central chamber, only stopping to pick up a sword.


    Bell got what he was doing and picked up a spear. ¡°Any tips?¡±


    ¡°Let them come to you. Move back and thrust to hit them.¡±


    In the central chamber he found the stairs up. The second floor felt more like a normal castle floor, with square rooms placed between seemingly random hallways. Corvayne opened a door then gave Princess Bell room to stab as he used the blade he had picked up to fend off deformed hornet knights with human hands, half buzzing and half screaming as Corvayne hacked at them, blade deflecting their heavier arms to score cuts on their arms and sometimes torso. Bell ended up using her spear more to push whoever he was slicing up back. By the time they cleared the first room he had chipped his sword into being more or less useless, but there were two more blades, one of them a dull yellow blade that left a bubbly film when it was swung.


    The room itself looked to be a hive made of stone, with hexagonal patterns for weapon storage and a ladder the wasp men could climb to reach their bunks. Corvayne scrambled up the ladder using gravity and found a hexagonal chest. It was made of Balsa wood, and contained mostly money in hexagonal leather bags. Corvayne took everything, figuring that the cases looked pretty neat and were well made. The only other items were flasks of colored honey and a coin made of burnished bronze with an array of weapons on it. It felt different, so he put it in it''s own spot in his mental map of his storage.


    Corvayne didn''t force more fights but got them anyway, with brown lizard guards tromping at them in a group of ten. Grunt formed a wedge and split their line as they ran down the hall, using his bare hands to push their polearms aside then barrelled into them, knocking every soldier into the wall. Corvayne used his sword to push aside any that were still armed and cut throats. Bell followed as best she could, jabbing and stepping, careful to avoid the ones that had managed to hold onto their polearms. She still got a cut on her collarbone when a parry didn''t push the weapon off course enough, but it was shallow.


    It was about fifteen minutes of work to push through the monsters and reach the stairs up. Corvayne picked out a quarterstaff just as something to give to Dot, perhaps if she decided to sub a magic class. Also for his own use. It made him miss having a returning nearly invincible missile. It probably wasn''t worth kicking a hornets nest to kill Argyle for his staff. When did he become so blood thirsty? Granted, he just killed scores of monsters, but it was just a nice weapon. He''d have to find another.


    The insect floor was a banquet hall, as promised. They could skip it, but Corvayne decided to try to harvest the items they needed for rituals. He used his shadow hands as they didn''t leave a mark on targets they killed. Mister I took out a mage at the start of the fight with a well placed shot, then was content to hit the two archers that mixed into the bugs. The monsters were a little hardier then ones on previous floors, sometimes taking a punch to the face after being hit with chain shadows. Corvayne shook his hand after hitting a grasshopper knight in the mouth. The satisfying cracking noise wasn''t worth breaking his hand.


    Corvayne stored seven of the tabards with a stitched green dragonfly on them. If some of them were considered dirty or damaged he was pretty sure there was another wing with another banquet hall they could raid. He checked the silverware and found two pieces that were dull yellow and stored them, as well as one wine cup that looked to be made of crystal and red wine. Pouring it on the ground, it filled up fairly quickly to the same level it had been before he dumped it. Neat! Into the ring.


    Grunt lead the way through the fourth floor, which looked to be a sort of chapel floor with spell casters. He stayed back, letting Spears instead charge through the light blasts the animal priests were casting. She cringed every time she killed one that was a cute.


    ¡°Sorry Bunny!¡±


    ¡°Sorry Guinea Pig!¡±


    ¡°Sorry Snake!¡±


    Bell started pulling the robes off the serpent, as they had resisted Spear''s attacks once before she crumpled the mage. ¡°It''s a snake, they are not cute.¡±


    ¡°Are too! It''s a shame they are insane. We could have been friends. Lizards can be very cute!¡±


    Corvayne went over to a body and took their boots which seemed to be glowing. ¡°They were snarling. Rabbits don''t snarl.¡±


    Mister I shrugged. ¡°They do snarl. It''s just precious to see.¡±


    They pushed to floor 5, a sort of large pantry with wide halls encircling it. Corvayne picked off a few wandering crab guards, then turned a corner where most of the floor''s Crab knights were waiting in formation, shields up and huge claw hands ready to snap. A commander in the back slammed a standard into the ground.


    ¡°Crab Knights! Pinch!¡±


    The crabs cried out ¡°OOO RAAH!¡± and surged forward, then were totally crushed by Grunt and Lady Blood Claw, who slammed and sliced their way though the armored figures. Seven shields in whatever condition they happened to be in went into Corvayne''s ring, and that was that.


    With those objectives complete, the group tightened it''s focus on climbing. Some of the floors were taller then others, including a double height prison floor with big windows looking down on circular cells holding various monsters. They decided to kill a huge Minotaur locked into a cell with a chest, using [Cross Skill: Thresh] to draw lines of shadows on the ground and [Crescent Blade] to leave afterimages for the monster to charge through.


    Corvayne hit the switch to open the cage and the Minotaur roared and charged for him, blazing through the shadows and twitching as the light images exploded. The monster''s blood started bubbling, and Corvayne was worried it was some sort of regen ability. At least until Grunt caught the monster. Even though it was a head and shoulder taller then him, he locked his hands on it''s horn and dug into the ground, cracking a stone but stopping it dead. Then the huge man twisted the horns. A moment later the monster was on the ground in an choke hold, Grunt grinning grimly. It bucked and he forced it''s face into the ground with a crunch. The monster smelled awful up close and was flailing and screaming, but Grunt had it pinned.


    ¡°Dot, hit it''s eye. Both hands, try to get the kill.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw moved by the librarian, and cast something that made her movements seem more sure. The tower-folk gulped and gripped the spear, then thrust out, hitting the minotaur''s cheek but missing the eye. She stumbled a little with the force, but Lady Blood Claw caught her before she could get too close to the monster, and the girl reset her stance and tried again, this time scoring a hit that jammed her weapon into the beast''s skull. It took hitting the other eye before it bled out.


    ¡°I did it!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw gave the girl a pat on the back. ¡°Good job. That thing was probably a level 30. Possibly a special monster.¡±


    Grunt stood up, took a whiff of his clothes, and made a face.


    ¡°We''ll get you a bath tonight after we wrap this up. Let''s head up to 20 and find her father''s memento.¡±

 Chapter 204: Quests in the Tower

    Corvayne bound his way over an anvil, the giant hot on his heels slamming a burning hammer down where he just stood.


    He pivoted, kicking up straw on the floor as he used [Cross Skill: Flow-Like-Water] to blast across the smithy and land two solid slices into the ashen giant''s leg. The monster roared, then hit a patch of soap Corvayne''s blade left behind and flailed, off balance. As it hit the ground with a thump that knocked some of his tools loose, Bell leapt onto the monster''s chest and jammed her spear down into it''s neck. It wasn''t enough to score a kill and Bell had to abandon her most recent spear, darting across the smithy and grabbing a hammer to fend off the giant''s grasping arm.


    Corvayne grabbed a hot poker and turned, using [Expert Throw] to aim at the giant trying to chop Lady Blood Claw in half. He nearly got the monster''s eye, which gave LBC an opening strike a seared wound she had started in it''s chest. He then turned back to the giant he and Bell were on. It''s hand was coming down to slam him into the stone floor, so Corvayne got creative and used [Juxtapose] to slide right past. The huge hand slamming the ground let him use Gravity to nearly reach the rafters. His shadow hands passed him his spear, and he activated [Leap Strike] and reversed his lighter gravity to slam into the Giant before it could get back on it''s feet. He hit it''s shoulder and created a hole that finally set the roaring monster to teeter and fall.


    Checking on his friends, he heard gunfire as Mister I supported LBC with bullets and throwing out a blessing of Lythandies when the titanic blade her opponent was using clipped through her stoneskin and got the tall warrior bleeding. The giant had burnt guts hanging out, so it wasn''t surprising that LBC just stepped back to let him fall over.


    Looking over at Grunt and Spears, it looked like they had bleed the giant dry, Grunt somehow able to effortlessly take direct hit from the 15 foot tall monster''s fists and give back just as well with his clumps of bats.


    Spears called out. "Lady! Bind it. We''ll give our charge another freebie!"


    Lady Blood Claw instead threw out a scented cloud that darted for the giant, who a moment later fell asleep despite his massive wounds.


    With this done it was time for the librarian they were escorting to claim another high level kill. Corvayne handed Dot a runed dagger they had found on floor 17 that seemed to work extra well on dying foes. "Try to manifest [Backstab] again."


    The woman needed some help to actually climb on the sleeping giant''s back, with Spears pushing the girls robed butt up to get her standing on the giant. Dot took a deep breath, then used both hands to slam the dagger down, shouting "Backstab!"


    Corvayne felt it was tacky, but it seemed to work as the sharp tell-tale sound of the skill going off then was met with Dot being covered in gore. The tower folk was suprisingly blase about it, perhaps not having quite the experience with being completely covered in gore to recognize it was uncomfortable and gross. Instead she handed the dagger back and took up the current staff she was using.


    Grunt dusted his hands, and like that the group got to looting. They had reached the 19<sup>th</sup> floor and decided to try to clear it. The smithy didn''t have an obvious chest, but clearly had a bunch of magic in it, including an anvil with a jeweled surface and faint glow he was sure either Mosh could use or melt down. Adding to the anvil were two over sized smithing hammers. Grunt claiming both as he had nearly run down his baseball bats to being scrap metal.


    Two of the giants had magic rings, their size making them work as bangles with a little grease to get Bell''s arm in it.


    "This ring stinks of giant sweat. We should have cleaned it before I put it on." That said she was able to lift one of the anvils, confirming it was a ring of strength.


    The other ring made it''s wearer lighter, so Corvayne slipped it on the anvil to store it. They looted a few ingots of metal that were locked in a drawer, then left the trashed room to make their way up the stairs to floor 20. Glancing out a window in the spiral stairway, Corvayne could see miles and miles. A few low clouds were at eye level too.


    Corvayne called for a rest before they finished the stairway. First because they were going to leave Dot on the stairs while they established a foot hold: The monsters on the higher floors were more likely to have archers, javelin throwers, mages, priests, and sometimes assassins. The librarian wasn''t totally defenseless but had gotten hit by an arrow on floor 12 and fainted. Mister I fixed it and confirmed that she had enough vitality that it would take ten times as much blood loss to actually take her out.


    Still, he didn''t want Mister I to overstep if the last floor they were on proved a step up. He suspected that the tree in question would be guarded by something nasty. So they would go slow and steady, and have the monk and Bell in back to keep Dot close but out of the action.


    He took the last quarter of the staircase in the lead, Grunt not far behind. The floor seemed to have a garden theme, with stained glass windows shedding light on flowers and trees that grew and twisted to follow the walls and doorways. There were also places where the windows were open, letting a breeze drift in and birds as well.


    He caught sight of the monster of the floor, a red skinned horned woman in a medieval maiden''s garb. The overdressed woman spotted him as well, tittered, then pointed and aimed a beam of hellfire at him, blasting stone as Corvayne slid back.


    He threw his cloak around himself and leaped around the corner high, aiming for the opposite wall to throw off the woman''s aim. She snapped a second beam of fire, missing low, and he managed to close the distance and ram his spear into her guts before she could fire again. The woman snarled and tried to claw him before she burst into fire and vanished with a puff of ash. Corvayne was certain she was dead as bits of seared bone fell out of the dress, but he guessed there were more and fell back as another beam came screaming out of a door to blast a window panel open behind him.


    Spears tapped his shoulder and Lady Blood Claw stepped up as well, casting a flame ward to absorb the damage. Spears barely bothered dodging, her watery nature making the fire do only glancing damage. The howls and feral demonic screams of maidens echoed through the garden. Grunt, for his part, used a wood door as a shield when he had to deal with fire maidens, using it as a ram and just crushing them. Bell collected their outfits, suspecting that they were fireproof and worth something even just as impressive clothing. Spears, on the other hand, found a thong that she told Corvayne to assume was cursed. It was certainly magic, practically glowing with disco light as he held it.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    He did not comment that it was warm, as he knew the monsters on the floor were unrelentingly hostile and he didn''t want to link attraction to something that just wanted to turn him into a pile of slag. Probably fire enchanted. He''ll go with that.


    Monster underwear aside, they completed clearing a ring around a central room, finding the stairs up to 21.


    "It''s likely something akin to the giants guarding a central tree."


    Lady Blood Claw nodded and drank a blue potion down, then cast Haste on him, Spears, and Grunt. Not wanting to waste the spell, Corvayne pushed the double doors open and strode into the room with the tree. It was a vast circular chamber, with high ceilings letting windows shine light from above the outer ring of rooms down onto a tree with no leaves but strange gold berries. The room reeked of ginger to Corvayne, and he sneezed once before controlling his breathing. At the base of it''s gnarled roots he saw the guardians of the room. Corvayne sighed.


    Four green dragons, the size of dogs, lifted their heads, each of them screeching.


    "High armor, uses fire and can fill the whole room likely."


    Lady Blood Claw pointed and started painting them with fairy fire, while Grunt took his hammers and strode in. Spears pointed and shot from her spear a beam of water, punching a dragon in the face but not simply blasting a hole into it.


    He guessed Mister I and Bell were going to hang back and help whoever needed it, but he didn''t have time to watch. Two dragons came rushing at him, immediately belching lines of fire as they ran. Corvayne''s body armor threw out a bubble of water, throwing most of the flames off as steam. He leaned into it, using [Cross Skill: Flows-Like-Water] with his bubble blade to hit one of the dragons in the mouth and hind leg. Of course, he leapt as soon as the attack finished, with both dragons trying to smack him with their heavy tails. There was a crack where the creature''s hit each other''s tail.


    Corvayne landed on one of the monster''s back and then leapt off as the other shot fire. He used [Cross Skill: Juxtapose] with his blade to slap the dragon forward and land right at it''s back. The monster''s tail was in position to hit him but the dragon wasn''t ready yet, and Corvayne used both hands to drive the blade into the monster''s leg with [Backstab]. Once again, the blood from the wound frothed, and the dragon''s leg was crippled as a chunk of flesh was blasted out. The tail limply smacked him away, and a moment later he was fending off the other dragons claws.


    Spears summoned a wall of water that lit up from the other side as one of the dragons used it''s fan of fire, trying to cover the room in searing flames and only steaming the chamber up as the water vanished.


    Corvayne saw one of his dragons breathing in and used [Cross Skill: Storm Thrust] to hit it''s jaw, sending it''s fire into the wall. It forced Bell and Mister I back, with Mister I batting fire out on his robe and looking a little cooked himself. Bell pulled off a segment of her burning armor, then drew a pistol and fired a few shots at the vicious beast who was on their own.


    Corvayne decided to hit it before it could engage Bell. He used [Cross Skill: Thresh] as a trip, his blade hitting the dragon trying to bite him and leaving a slimy film on it''s front leg. The synergy of that attack with the weapon he had made the creature start scrambling as it lost friction on it''s feet, and Corvayne turned and switched to [[Agility]] then ran like a rocket into the side of the dragon running at Bell, sword breaking into it''s scales and pinning it to the stone wall. It hissed in pain then latched onto Corvayne''s shoulder, or tried to. His armor foiled it''s teeth and Corvayne used [Flow-Like-Water] to avoid getting cooked.


    Bell followed up with a strength enhanced thrust to the monster''s neck, her metal spear bending but managing to jam itself through the monster''s tough hide. It started choking, and Bell let her ruined weapon fall and pulled out her pistol to start shooting it in the head.


    Corvayne heard three bangs but was turning to parry the dragon he had thrown a slippery patch under. It had recovered and managed to claw him on the arm. Corvayne saw the other claw coming in, no doubt to set up a bite and fireball, and so he used [Judo Throw] to twist the claw on him and get under the dragon and throw it on it''s back, knocking it''s breath out of it and exposing it''s underbelly. Corvayne stepped back as Lady Blood Claw landed an overhead two handed weapon skill on the dragon from stealth, nearly bisecting the monster. The last dragons were also in trouble. Spears had a bubble around one''s head, and it was frantically clawing at it''s face while Spears let it''s tail hit her and pass through harmlessly.


    Grunt... was trying to also choke his dragon, perhaps to make sure they had intact hides. After one pitiful rattle his died, and Spears dragon was limp, eyes rolled up.


    Still, they made sure each was really, really dead before letting Dot enter the room. Corvayne spotted what looked like a silvery loop on a high branch, and offered to get it for the Librarian. Instead, she rolled up her sleeves and arduously climbed up, only slipping and hitting a lower branch once despite her likely low strength.


    "I have to do this myself at least."


    Corvayne suspected the determination she was showing was because the group had helped move closer to awake, but he wasn''t sure of the mechanics of it. What he was certain of was that he liked helping people more then performing some sort of love-them-and-leave-em operation. He thought about how hurt he had been with Wick and Hari, and didn''t want to do that to some girl.


    She managed to take the loop, and placed it in her pack. It looked like she noticed and pulled a note out from the top of the tree as well, which probably meant if they wanted there would be an additional step to helping her. Maybe they''d talk about it later, once they were out of the tower. They still had to dip down to the basement now and find some skulls. Grunt had communicated they probably only needed, say, 4 skulls, rather then 7. At that point, Corvayne had cast an eye on the party to see if anyone who had known the secret to obtaining a subjob would look guilty, but everyone aside from Spears and Dot looked away.


    Whatever. He caught Dot when she fell out of the tree on the way down, ignored her blushing and Bell glaring, and lead the way downstairs.


    Some of the monsters had returned to floors he was sure they cleared, but they were few and sometimes still getting their bearings, banging into walls rather then bee-line for the group.


    They had a discussion, while making their way down, about how they planned to use their loot. Corvayne''s ring was starting to hit it''s weight limit, and while they had enough black crystal on hand to buy a cheap one, they could also just try selling some of their excess at the market.


    Lady Blood Claw turned that idea down. ¡°I want to ID everything. You have the devil''s luck with magic gear, and I am not passing some artifact on for a handful of gold.¡±


    Dot stepped in. ¡°There are rituals to help uncover items basic properties, names, rarity, but you would have to hire an expert and they take a few days to work.¡±


    Bell groaned. ¡°We have experts at home.¡±


    Spears put an arm around her, and Bell glared but didn''t move it. ¡°Bell, honey, we took you rather then Hari. Wouldn''t you say that was a good idea?¡±


    The princess flushed and Spears patted her back, work done. Though, Corvayne noted, they hadn''t figured out how they were going to handle the excess they had picked up in this tower.


    Mister I offered his suggestion. ¡°Instead of very expensive storage rings, we should look at magic bags. They are not as convenient and mostly reduce rather then remove the weight, but I had seen evidence of affordable ones we could haggle down.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw raised an eyebrow. ¡°When did you go shopping?¡±


    ¡°Oh! I was looking for protection at the night market.¡±


    With a jolly smile, he showed off a ring. ¡°A ring of defense! It protects against attacks and some minor maladies.¡±


    Spears put a finger to her mouth. ¡°Does it also ward off children out of wedlock?¡±


    Mister I shrugged. ¡°I dare say that''s not a problem Monks need worry about.¡±


    Corvayne wondered if that was a deflection that no one would believe or a real statement about something his class could do in bed to prevent having progeny. He decided he didn''t really want to know for sure.


    After sharpening their skills on harder fights in the upper floors, the sluggish undead in the dark basement were no match. The floor itself looked to have bottomless pits off to the sides, though Corvayne dropped a light and saw that it was simply a quick way to find additional horrors in deeper floors of the basement.


    Instead, they collected 4 skulls with nary a scratch, mostly due to Spears using water to pull the skeletons apart.


    They had entered when it was dark, and strolled past the barricade and out into the streets to see the sun setting. The tower-folk librarian started insinuating she needed a place to stay, so Corvayne bought her a room at the hotel. They''d do the ritual tomorrow then figure out how to get the book. He found he was tired after an extremely long day of fighting, and so they ordered room service, took a bath after polishing the food off, and Corvayne barely had time to put on simple night clothes before he fell onto the bed and passed out, satisfied at a job well done for the day.

 Chapter 205: It Just Fell into my Lap

    Doing the ritual needed an expert, so after a restful night at the inn and Corvayne getting some private time with Spears-Like-Water and Bell, it was breakfast and off to the other side of the tower town.


    "Dot, what is the name of the town anyway?" Corvayne asked.


    The librarian blinked. "Staffos."


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. "Good to know, if we need to come back."


    Grunt and Mister I had waved them to go do the ritual, choosing instead to sleep in and eat an extra breakfast. Mister I claimed there was some planning for getting the book, but Corvayne guessed that it was more likely the two were hung over.


    Corvayne supposed that Lady could have waited back at the hotel too, but she waved the thought away.


    "If you only have you and the girls together, something will happen."


    The ritualist had a store in the part of town that was always hidden in shadow. Old lanterns didn''t fully push back the looming dark in windowsills, doorways, and the side streets. Corvayne guessed there was probably some sort of sub-dungeon if he wanted to wander through streets risking tower folk trying to mug him, but there was plenty of dungeon if they wanted it staring them in the face, and Corvayne besides that didn''t need to leave the central street around the town.


    The ritualist''s home had skulls with candles augmenting the poor lighting of the shadowy part of town. His house looked a lot like a face or skull, with three bars on a big lit window making teet from two windows arranged to look like eyes.


    Lady Blood Claw looked at it and smirked. "Good setup to make you look serious."


    Bell, on the other hand, stiffened like a board. "Ill omens. I will not go into that place, we will be cursed."


    "Half of us are cursed, which is part of why we are risking our lives to explore dungeons."


    Spears nodded at Corvayne. "It''s also because you''d get bored without something to fight. Or something to F-"


    Bell interrupted Spears to point as the house''s lights flared. "Look!"


    Deep laughter boomed from the house. Dot, seemingly totally oblivious, went up to the door and knocked, using the sinister brass lion. As she did, a gust of wind pushed dried leaves that Corvayne swore were not there before. The door creaked open, and a hunched and hooded figure stepped away from the door, beckoning.


    Dot curtsied. "Why thank you for inviting me in!"


    Lady Blood Claw sighed. "We didn''t actually awaken her I think."


    Corvayne followed them in, with Spears dragging Bell behind them. The robed figure moved around piles of extremely cursed looking things dripping candle wax, and settled into a chair.


    A suprisingly smooth male voice called out. "What brings you to this dark corner of Staffos? Do you wish your enemies to bleed out? Or perhaps an ally? Or perhaps are you looking to conceive, and willing to submit to a dark deal for an heir?"


    Lady Blood Claw pointed to Corvayne, Spears, and Dot. "No to all that. Subjobs. Three of them."


    "Oh. Boring." The man got off his stool. "Do you have Skulls, Aprons, and Shield-shells?"


    Corvayne nodded. The man gestured for them to follow and made his way through a room with lots of blood drawings, candles, skulls, and whispering shadows to a pretty boring looking stock room with metal shelves and concrete. It even had a flourecent light.


    Spears pointed at it. "That''s an anacronism!"


    "It''s a non magic light, I''d go blind if I had to work by candle light."


    Bell was shivering. "What about that other room? This person has blood everywhere, they are a warlock!"


    "That''s for customers expecting a lot. I keep a subjob circle in this room."


    He pointed to a wide part of the floor where a spray-painted circle on the ground was partially obscured by a box labled ''Mummified chicken parts''. The ritualist had to stand straight a moment to move it with his boot. He turned and crouched again, shadowy hood just letting the whites of his eyes through.


    "Produce the materials for the first celebrant."


    Corvayne handed him a flawless skull, a pristine apron, and a shield. Then he stepped in the circle, careful not to bump into a workbench where the ritualist was gluing a skull together.


    The robed man took the materials and set them around the circle. He clapped his hands twice, then touched the sigil.


    "Repeat after me: For the system, by the system, in the system, of the system."


    Corvayne did so. A bit of energy entered the air.


    "Find me the items three. A Crab Apron, A Magick Skull, the Worm from a Damselfly."


    As Corvayne repeated the words, he heard Bell say "Doesn''t that mean we have the wrong items?"


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    The ritualist waved his hand. "Doesn''t matter Gov''ner. You thought they were the right three and they are close enough. You got what, 4 of the 6 words?"


    Bell squeaked out. "In the wrong order!"


    The man turned back to Corvayne and adjusted the position of the hump on his back. "All right, last line..."


    "I will survive, I will thrive, I will strive to make long forgotten wrongs right."


    As Corvayne said the words he felt something tighten in his chest then snap loose, and the circle glowed a moment, the shield and apron turning to dust. The robed man took the slightly burnt skull and tossed it in a large basket half full of them.


    "You might feel strong as heck now, but it''s something nearly every adventurer gets one way or another. You have to fight to keep the playing field even. Who''s next?"


    Dot Inkwell stepped forward and cheerfully did the ritual herself. Spears was next. Corvayne saw something glow from inside her a moment as she finished the ritual.


    "All right, anything else that actually makes me coin?"


    Lady Blood Claw paused at that. "If this is the ritual you do the most, to the point you have a permenant circle... why don''t you charge for it?"


    "Lord of the city pays me to do these free. Also, it doesn''t cost skulls. I need skulls for just about all the real rituals."


    Bell shied back. "Can we get out of here?"


    LBC scoffed at that. "We didn''t ask him about what his other rituals are. Also, I think you need to see what he really looks like so you can stop bothering Corvayne about Dot."


    The shopkeeper turned to her. "I don''t dare with so many women who might be faint of heart."


    Lady Blood Claw flicked a gold coin and the man pulled his hood back and straightened. Corvayne was pretty sure the person before him should be modelling somewhere. He also wasn''t wearing a shirt under the robe, so with the hood off Corvayne could see he probably had a similar balanced workout routine. Did the ritualist maybe also train people in quarterstaff?


    LBC pointed at the man, who had started to look away from the attention. "This man looks like any given ad model pretty boy, and is a perfect hit for a gothy girl adventurer passing through. Just like Dot naturally shaped herself to be a companion for someone who really likes bookworms."


    The shopkeeper was blushing. "Calling me pretty boy, are you mocking how ugly I am?"


    Corvayne paused. "Lady I think you are absolutely correct."


    "Out! Out!" The keeper said. Corvayne looked at Bell and Spears and noted he might want to ask the Ritualist where he got his hair styled. Lady Blood Claw dragged his girlfriends out before they could embarass themselves.


    Spears was flabbergasted. "What do they put into the water in town?!"


    Bell pointed back. "I didn''t understand why men leered until now!"


    Corvanye looked around. Blood splattered butcher? Wiped his face and looked like a body builder. That thief, watching them? Perfect jawline under his mask, also clearly had a signet ring. Secret prince. The guy pulling the waste cart, with greasy looking hair over his face? When it parted a moment, perfect features.


    "This is the part of town for lonely women?"


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. "I had FOUR of them try to give me quests yesterday."


    Spears nudged her. "Any takers?"


    LBC''s voice, normally sort of rough, become positively frigid. "Absolutely not."


    Bell looked conflicted. "So then, back on the light side?"


    Stepping out of the towers shadow into the morning, Corvayne looked with bell and saw signs that there were women who clearly dressed more colorfully and distinctly that fit into archtypes. Big sister. Huntress who looked clueless about the big city. Suspiciously well poised girl dressed as a waitress with blond curls and a signet ring they had on a neckless. A beggar catgirl who had a faintly glowing crystal in her clevage. A proud looking knight with silvery hair, a broken sword and several wound, clearly ready to refuse any help even though she probably needed money after likely being betrayed and left for dead by her old party.


    Lady Blood Claw in fact went up to her and gave her some gold. "I don''t want Corvayne to run into her on accident."


    Spears nodded. "She seems very dangerous."


    Bell huffed. "I''m a beautiful knight."


    Corvayne was confused. "If I was at all attracted to proud tough warrior women with silver hair, wouldn''t-"


    Spears stuffed his mouth with a warm slimey hand. "Don''t say it."


    Lady Blood Claw was suspiciously gray and facing away. Corvayne removed the psudopod from his mouth, then sighed at Spears and Bell. "You guys. Have some faith. I know who my real sparring partner is, even if my training weapon were to stray."


    He caught Lady Blood Claw turn some atomic shade of pink from head to toe, [[Unity]] leaking appreciation. Someone giggled. Dot elbowed Corvayne.


    "I envy the friends you made... do you think I could find an adventuring party?"


    "Of course. But it''s hard work. Books are a good start, but it was when I stepped into the world that I could even start to know that I didn''t entirely know myself."


    The Tower-Folk looked confused. "I thought all wanderers and adventurers were sure of who they were, not like us simple folk."


    "You faced a challenge, and are going to face more. In the process of doing that, you''ll become sure of who you are, rather then what others tell you that you should be."


    Spears put an arm around Corvayne. "He says that, but he still likes being the hero everything told him he should be."


    Dot paused. "So... what should I be?"


    Lady Blood Claw stopped and looked at her. "If you are happy at the Library, you need not be anything else. But if you wish to learn more about the world you''ve read about, you should persue what interest you. If it''s books, if it''s plants, if it''s learning to swing a sword. Find friends to support you. Don''t feel trapped somewhere that you don''t want to be."


    Spears nodded. "When your heart tells you to go somewhere, follow it! It might take fifty thousand years, but you can get there!"


    Corvayne had to remember she was talking about him, and not just being horribly lost. Though, thinking about it, he had no room to talk having possibly wandered for that length of time.


    Bell straightend up and put a hand on Dot''s shoulder. "And don''t listen to people that don''t understand you."


    Dot tilted her head. "I don''t really get why you are all telling me this, but I will take it to heart. Now, I need to steal a book for you!"


    Lady Blood Claw caught her before she could march to the Library. "First, I want to hear your plan."


    "Plan? Miss Blood Claw, I will go into the archives, take it, walk out, hand it to you."


    Lady Blood Claw quickly assembled a plan with a stealth robe, a distraction that Grunt would provide, and made Dot promise not to act before she got assistance from Mister I to waylay her grandfather and mother, who had unknown levels and powers related to libaries and might bring in guards, knights, wizards and so on all the way up to the lord of the town who was pulling the strings on some vast conspiricy that ended with helpeless adventurers being married to townsfolk after they were tempted by quests involving teaching them romance.


    She did a lot of talking, more then he expected, and she seemed nervous which was out of character for LBC. His first instinct was that he should talk to her tonight at the hotel, which he stopped and examined, instead choosing to follow her. This proved fruitless as by the time he caught up with her, she had found Mister I and they instead went to find Grunt, having left Spears and Bell to help Dot if the girl needed anything for the heist. Corvayne was self reflecting, trying to pin down why Lady Blood Claw felt like a tooth that wasn''t sitting quite right after a fight. [[Understanding]] suggested his curses were acting on him in a way that he wasn''t used to, but the thought was slippery as he kept thinking about unity feeling a hole or edge inside LBC.


    They found Grunt in the market, looking at maps, and dragged him to where Spears and Bell and Dot were, but by the time they got there the girls had gone on some errand and were walking back.


    Lady Blood Claw looked impatient. "Okay, so, we have Corvayne''s stealth cape. That''s an object we can use to help her."


    Mister I raised a finger. "We might need to find a stairway up quickly. Is there one in town we can use to proceed to the boss?"


    Corvayne greeted his girlfriends and Dot, who pulled The Last Symphony of Amerhost from her bag and handed it to Corvayne. It looked like, despite the name, it was a book of love poems. Corvayne flipped through it, shrugged, and put the book away. He watched as Dot let Lady Blood Claw go through another few minutes of the plan with Mister I and Grunt before he pulled the book back out and showed it off.


    LBC turned red. ¡°Why DIDN''T you say anything when you got it?¡±


    Corvayne blurted out the first thing that came to mind. ¡°I like hearing you talk.¡±


    There were a lot of angry noises from the girls at that moment, Mister I nodded knowingly, and Grunt actually had a full on hearty laugh, which stopped Spears from berating Corvayne to turn and stare at his large friend, all while Dot looked on, pleased as a pickle. His shadow hands gave him four thumbs up, a rare expression of total agreement. Lady Blood Claw herself switched from vibrant red and blue and orange and eventually clamped down gray. Bell was exasperated, but he didn''t feel jealousy through unity, instead some complex vector of frustration. Corvayne felt like he was back on that first week in Cascadia, where he was sure he was missing something important.


    Of course, with the confusion that his simple statement caused, it took a few moments for the clatter to die down. Corvayne heard Dot cleared her throat.


    ¡°I''ve decided to join your Party!¡±

 Chapter 206: Twelve is better then Seven

    Dot Inkwell said ¡°I''ve decided to join your party!¡±


    Corvayne watched as the librarian tower-folk they had helped with her personal quest declared she was joining them. She had thrust her chin up, and her hair had become a little disheveled in the process. Arms back, her stance yelling defiance.


    Corvayne of course was sure that statement was going to have detractors. He suspected that Spears would shift towards Bell in saying no to Dot joining them, both for breaking the party size of 6 and dooming them to double bosses, but more because Bell was over protective of Corvayne and Spears and her had a real friendship that had developed before either started dating him. Maybe they would also agree because he kept ending up with more then one lover. Mister I, sometime in the past, had made sure Corvayne understood that two was a lot more then one. Grunt, later, had made sure Corvayne knew that three wasn''t a lot more then two.


    He wasn''t interested in Dot. He had been with a more interesting girl who read a lot, two of them in fact, and his experience with librarians was, outside of fiction that tried to tell them they were hot because they were repressed, entirely comprised of dealing with one who hated his guts.


    Maybe Mister I would object because he was cut off from his scrolls on cultivating. A book might be missing just from being misplaced, but it was much harder to explain away a missing daughter. Maybe not. It depended if he thought Corvayne was going to say yes for healthy reasons.


    He looked at Spears and saw she was thinking about something, so maybe that was a maybe. Grunt was rubbing his chin and seemed to be looking at everyone carefully. Maybe he was on the fence as well?


    Bell spoke first. "Fine. I trust Corvayne, and I think we shouldn''t close ourselves off from getting more experts. The Tower is open, it should be us who pioneer and profit from it!¡±


    Mister I rubbed his chin. ¡°Then, we should make for the bar. I want a cultivator who is looking to train me!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. ¡°If she isn''t an information providing class, we should look at recruiting one. But I think what we should do is look at townsfolk before we go for mercenaries in the bar.¡±


    Corvayne sort of understood. ¡°It''s both a matter of trust and that it''s harder to get someone doing mercenary work to commit to coming to a new world...¡±


    Spears looked at them. ¡°Isn''t this outside the scope of what we were doing?¡±


    Grunt nodded, but held up a bunch of fingers. Seven? Thumbs down. Twelve? Thumbs up.


    ¡°The only thing I would say doesn''t favor spending time recruiting is that we have the book the Book-Binder wanted to tell us what''s wrong with Wick.¡±


    Bell scoffed. ¡°I was warned about that.¡±


    Corvayne was confused at Bell''s statement, but Spears gave her a gentle elbow and spoke up while Bell rubbed her side. ¡°I also think we should ask Dot if the memento she found from her father means anything. The Tower seems to push us to dig deeper for the best rewards.¡±


    Corvayne looked upwards. ¡°If he put it on floor 20, and mentioned it to her parents, he wanted her to go up the tower. Maybe see if there is a stairway on floor 21? Or something on those floors we cleared?¡±


    Mister I nodded. ¡°We go then. I took pictures of the scrolls so I can read them at my leisure.¡±


    Corvayne pulled out his current phone. ¡°I should have thought of that... Before we go does anyone need anything from town?¡±


    Grunt ran off and came back with his stubble cleanly shaven. Dot composed a letter to her mother and paid someone to send it. She also bought a backpack and bought some food, water, and other things such as rope and a fire starting kit that an adventurer might need. Corvayne suggested a wand as well, in case she wanted to see if she could manifest some sort of magic.


    ¡°I don''t know if Librarian is just a professional class or if it can identify, but if there''s a magic component we should help your subjob support that.¡±


    Dot thought about it. ¡°I''m mostly good at organizing information. I was told that''s a good way to help protect myself, but that I''m more useful with books. I''ll try to encourage a mage job for now, I trust you won''t lead me astray.¡±


    It struck Corvayne that she was pretty easy to direct. He thought back to that innkeeper from the third floor and how defensive he was of Tower-Folk as a whole and once again found himself appreciating he had run into him before they started dealing with them.


    Mister I pointed at Corvayne then at Spears. ¡°We also should figure out what your secondary jobs are right now and what you want them to be! Leave not a crumb of power on the table uneaten!¡±


    Bell stared at Mister I. ¡°You lick the table?¡±


    ¡°Never...¡± A pause, then much lower. ¡°... for grains.¡±


    Corvayne suspected he should have brought Hari to help figure out the extra class that supposedly was shifting to help him do whatever, but he also needed more time. He couldn''t help but sometimes think about her and Wick, even if he loved the girls he was with. Spear moves forward, just like adults move on. Right?


    While he was rolling back to old cicular thinking, the party restocked. Given they had rested enough, they walked back into the tower looming over the town and made their way up the floors. There were only a handful of monster knights in the way to floor 20. The guards at the bottom had been happy to see them again, but Corvayne warned them that it wasn''t going to be as thorough a cleaning. True to what he said, their group spent only a handful of minutes between stairs, with usually two or three monsters each floor. Without formations, they were easy prey, even up to 20. Corvayne took some burns from priests blasting him with light, but they were otherwise unscathed as they entered the garden full of Fire hurling succubi.


    ¡°Modest Pyromancers¡± was what LBC called them, which was an okay name. There were five on the floor and Spears took point, drinking water after each fight to replace what she lost as steam. Dot collected the dresses and some of the bones.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Look around, see if there''s anything that strikes you as a hint or sign.¡±


    She nodded, looking at the stain glass windows and statues that had been covered by roots. They entered the central chamber too, thankfully devoid of dragons. Dot looked around the room, then started climbing the tree. ¡°The glass up there!¡±


    She was looking at one of the windows. She pointed at a glass window where Corvayne saw what looked like a man in worn clothes, and broken buildings, mixed with what looked like cypress trees. Lady Blood Claw saw it and grumbled. Corvayne remembered to get a picture, then afterwards turned to LBC.


    ¡°What''s wrong?¡±


    ¡°That''s the third world past the imperial gate. Poisoned air, zombies, society breaking down.¡±


    Bell folded her arms. ¡°Well then, we need magical protection from poison air, zombies, and wonderful hover bikes to ferry us over land.¡±


    Spears tousled her hair. ¡°You really love high tech toys!¡±


    Mister I added. ¡°Wait until you see what accessories they have for massaging your sore muscles!¡±


    Grunt gave him a high five for some reason. Whatever. Spears gave him a dirty look, which meant he probably missed a joke. Bell got it after Spears and looked furious, but Corvayne lead them back down to the stairs up to the Boss of the capital T Tower floor.


    Despite being tempted by many different sub floors, they got the Inn again. The wood this time was a more natural warm brown color with green highlights, and someone had put nice knitted tablecloths on everything. Perhaps the Tower itself was happy he was doing quests in it?


    ¡°We are not stressed on time. Who wants to recruit, and who wants to eat or rest or look for info?¡±


    Grunt held up 1 finger. He was going to get one person. He mimed casting a spell. Corvayne guessed that their team might hit something like Spears sometime that was resistant to hitting it, and while they had magic weapons he had seen how Spears got nearly killed and spent weeks recovering from one strong elemental attack.


    Mister I beamed and held up 1 finger as well. ¡°I''ll find someone who can cultivate with me!¡±


    Corvayne thought about that. ¡°I didn''t ready many Scanjo.. zan yeah? I didn''t read many of those stories but isn''t that usually a euphemism for-¡±


    ¡°Teamwork.¡± Mister I nodded, putting a hand on Corvayne''s shoulder. ¡°I need someone who will work together well with my core. Someone I can put my hands on their huge... reserves of wisdom.¡±


    Bell thought for a bit. ¡°We should keep 1 space open, I''m going to pass and sample the food.¡± She walked over to the bar, then shot a look back at Corvayne. ¡°Don''t you dare recruit some sexed up elf or catgirl or whatever!¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I am plenty happy with what I have.¡± He briefly thought about nearly getting crushed by huge diamond tits. He forced himself to think normal thoughts about how he might develop his weapon skills and learn more.


    Spears put a cup on a table to mark it as the meeting point, then turned. ¡°I''m going to go find a cute girl for Corvayne.¡± Dot seemed to follow her, but stopped. ¡°Can you please tell me your preferences?¡±


    ¡°No but thank you for asking Dot.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw motioned for Corvayne to go to the bar. He turned from Spears and Dot and followed her as she spoke. ¡°First, I want to ask the barkeeper about the duration people expect to work and prices, and so on.¡±


    The barkeeper this time was a short girl with pink hair and fairy wings. Corvayne looked away then back and she had become a robot with an impeccable suit on. In a posh voice it asked. ¡°What can I do for you sir and madame?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw thought for a moment. ¡°Can I get a french press latte and some pointers on finding Mercenaries?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± It whirred and stared fixing the drink, while it spoke. ¡°Most of the fellows you see are offering their service for a boss or set of floors. If they are cast out of the party they are in, it will pop them back here if they don''t reach the boss of the next floor. Otherwise it puts them in the Inn before that challenge.¡±


    ¡°So this isn''t a set of everyone who ever was on floor 5 or something, but people who are on some Floor 5?¡±


    ¡°These spaces reach beyond many of the things you think of as boundaries for the universe. So while it''s who''s on a floor 5 inn somewhere, some beings are able to be on every floor if they choose, and even ones less far on the path to full dimensionality will be on a few floors at once. That''s not counting versions of people who merc at different times, nor people in the bar for other reasons that you might try to pitch recruiting. The system will guide you to what you want, and sometimes what you don''t know that you need.¡±


    Corvayne supposed the barkeep was gently telling them that as usual, the Tower cheated reality and that yes, it might as well be everyone who was ever in the bar. He decided to move on to the likely more rigid social expectations. ¡°How does it normally go?¡±


    The bar keeper had shifted when he blinked or looked at LBC into a gorilla, also impeccably dressed in a suit. A pretty expressive one too and well spoken with a baratone voice. ¡°Well, you think of what you need and you''ll see tables. If you have a budget, keeping it in mind will reduce the chances of getting someone who only will help with floor 5 for ten gold artifact tokens. Most Mercenaries are there to either assist with the Boss fight or Boss then next set of floors, with pay daily. If you can''t afford a day, they drop. The system knows.¡±


    The barkeeper shrugs, then thinks. ¡°There''s some that have share contracts, where they get a portion of the spoils. These tend to be unfair, so to speak, to their part in the group. So expect double shares and almost always a first pick clause. Rarely, someone asks for a class of items or materials, that''s a sign they are a crafter trying to push through levels or tiers. Or are double mercing for a crafter who hired them to get raw mats.¡±


    ¡°You can get people who are looking for tit for tat. Some groups get stuck on a floor without funds to hire a full party, so members will work with the reciprocation that you find the ''third option'' and return to the Inn.¡±


    Corvayne held up a hand. ¡°I''ve never seen a third option.¡±


    ¡°They don''t always show up. But the quick fix is you go across to a different stairway, go down a floor from say, six, then walk back up either the original stairway or a new one. You have a very high chance of getting my humble Inn if you owe someone there a quest.¡±


    ¡°But not just going back and forth?¡±


    ¡°Tower made the rules. Don''t ask me. It''s good karma to finish those quests, but the person who offers to merc for a trade should be ready to find that people will take advantage of them.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw took her coffee and sipped it. ¡°Ahhh.¡± She paused to collect her thoughts. ¡°But you talked about karma, which means that the Tower probably doesn''t like people who lie.¡±


    ¡°The System is aware of the deals being made. There are plenty of villains. It''s trying to make heroes.¡± The barkeep said, now a former adventurer wearing part armor part casual clothing while cleaning a glass.


    ¡°There''s one more type of merc. They take their pay, but they have a quest or goal behind them that they are really looking for help with.¡±


    Corvayne got it. That was the sort of person they could recruit past just a few days, provided they could help them with the task they wanted. ¡°Like how if someone was able to remove my curses, I''d probably be all-in with helping them with their problem.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. ¡°Okay. I think for now, we spend some money on killing a double boss, but also as a means to see what classes do. Knowing that will hint at how they finished their build.¡±


    ¡°We also can start laying down the building blocks of relationships we''ll use in the future.¡±


    Corvayne thought about their organization. ¡°We have some magical talent, but at some point we need to know what experts know about how to optimize, if there''s ways to get more spells, which spells would be worth getting. You sort of, intuit them, the same way I sometimes figure out weapon skills, right?¡±


    Lady Blood claw thought about it. ¡°I sometimes figure them out on my own, but we did find some magic books that I learned spells from. I suspect there''s spells that are on every enchanter list like fairy fire, and ones that I only ever saw on the training books I used when I was an apprentice to the Magus, such as the spell ''Somulant Cloud.''¡±


    Corvayne didn''t admit that he thought it was just one of her powers. ¡°So there''s probably a market for rare spells, and we know from the library that there are requirements for classes that probably hinge on knowing and using certain spells or classes of spells.¡±


    LBC Nodded. ¡°Then we have... Spears with some asinine pick to try to get a cute girl, and Mister I looking to try to learn a brand new system... so we should hire two. One an interesting higher tier, and someone who has a quest who in turn can help us with a goal or something we don''t have.¡±


    Corvayne looked at her, seeing her eyes shifting color from yellow to green. ¡°And what is it we are missing?¡±


    ¡°I want someone who understands the Tower systems and knows what we should be doing. We spent a lot of time under floor 15. If we are doing something stupid, I don''t want to have to trade shoveling shit for 10 years to the dust man to find out.¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°Okay. We''ll look for a high tier we can copy, and a... coach with a quest. Easy enough we can complete it, hard enough he''ll come with us and point out our next step. Aside from me learning [Springwind].¡±


    Lady Blood Claw smiled. ¡°Level those pacts, they seem to be helping you remember.¡±


    With their plans set, Corvayne and LBC started walking into the bar, wading past the first tables into a rainbow of figures waiting to sell their services.

 Chapter 207: A Tale of Three Armsmasters

    Tables started to shift a little as Corvayne walked with Lady Blood Claw, thinking about mercenaries. He was pretty sure they had two picks, maybe three given Mister I was looking for one and Spears the other, with Bell and Grunt not interested.


    Corvayne thought about their goals. Truth be told, He was fairly sure that any level 5 fight would be well in hand for the group. They were spending money to get information, and he thought there might be a way to capitalize on it. Could they identify strangers while they sifted through who to pick? It might help them figure out if they wanted to pursue a quest with someone, and if it was worth seeing a high tier in action for the price.


    "Let''s say we have three picks. For our first pick, I want to pay alot, a few black shards, for a system expert who can tell us about the people we see. We can even let them know if the others would put us at 13, they get paid to just drop before the boss."


    Lady Blood Claw smiled, lemony yellow skin not prompting something that [[Unity]] gave away. "We can use that and see if there''s evolutions for our classes, correct?"


    "And maybe also see if I can get a better character sheet."


    Corvayne focused on finding an Investigator.


    Stepping up to the first table, it looked to be an elvish woman blonde hair wearing a green top and daisy dukes showing off creamy thighs, facing away from them reading a book. A blue rapier was at her side...


    Hari turned around, saw Corvayne and clearly was embarrassed. "Corvayne?! Why are you looking for elf girls here?!?"


    "That is not what I''m doing Hari."


    [[Unity]] had traces of disbelief. Corvayne was ready to walk away, but Lady Blood Claw hooked his elbow with her hand. "Are you Mercing for money instead of watching Wick?"


    "She''s with Dawn and as safe as she can get so, I mean, what''s wrong with making money? People pay a lot of money for [Investigate]!" She put her head down on the table in her arms. "You guys are looking at me like I''m some sort of lady of the night!"


    Lady Blood Claw tapped her boot with hers. "You acted guilty. Also, I''ve never seen your underwear showing."


    Hari put her hands over the bottom of her pants. Lady Blood Claw gave her a bored look. "I mean, I didn''t think you wore underwear. You exposed yourself the couple of weeks we lived together enough that I think I have a pretty good grip on that."


    Corvayne didn''t think Hari really wandered around naked...


    Sudden memories of the first loop where his elvish ex and him thought they were alone in the warehouse and how she egged him on to christen rooms flooded into his mind. He kept his poker face forward, not daring to look at Lady Blood Claw but felt sweat starting to form on his brow. He was almost certain if he looked at her, she''d be looking at him sideways. He mentally appologized. Sorry Lady. I really thought we were alone or everyone else was asleep!


    "We won''t bother your business any longer." Corvayne said stiffly, turning away to see if there was a hole to crawl into.


    Hari grabbed his shirt. "Wait, are you guys looking for someone to [Investigate]?"


    Corvayne''s first instinct was to say no, but he stopped and considered it. She probably wouldn''t charge them, but he also wanted an in depth look at himself. "We were going to try to find someone with a very high tier job and pay them to give us extra info on the people we were looking at. Also to maybe get us some info we can''t get with specialists we have."


    Hari started to stand then stopped, lowered herself into her seat, and frowned. "Would it be too painful to ask me?"


    Corvayne did not look directly at her puppy dog eyes. "Sorry Hari."


    "It''s okay, I earned it... wait!" She took her book and started flipping through it. "Try to hire a ''Path Investigator''. They are a class that specializes in figuring out how something got to the state they are in."


    Corvayne found he didn''t have to force a smile. "You know what? That''s EXACTLY what we need."


    Lady Blood Claw was quiet as they waded deeper into the bar. They had to pass lots of tables that gave him Hari and very slight alternate versions of the elf that, after a second and third try, clearly had some sort of history with some Corvayne.


    The first person they approached afterwards was also a female elf but with grey hair and glowing red eyes with faint glowing orange veins. It took Corvayne introductions and a discussion about what they were looking for before he realized that it was another Hari as well, but one that did not seem to recognize him. They spoke for a few moments, but she wasn''t a Path Investigator and seemed to pick up some sort of reluctance on Corvayne''s part.


    "Did I offend you, sir?"


    Lady Blood Claw held up a hand. "Alternate version of you dumped him."


    Not-Hari frowned. "I would not be adverse to helping him work those feelings out for free if they involve lingering physical attachment." Definitely some form of Hari, Corvayne thought.


    She continued, "Though after... THE INCIDENT people have told me the lack of strong emotions had made me rather undesirable."


    Lady Blood Claw thought about it. "Did the system give you a quest to try to bring your feelings back?"


    Corvayne was struck how LBC generally had a laser focus on their own goals and quest, so he couldn''t see her angle in doing anything but standing up and finding someone who would give them exactly what they wanted. That wasn''t entirely true. She did have a kind side.


    The woman nodded. "I have been told that some people who are aware of quests get it. But I''m not very assertive about trying to get them back. Strong emotions are uncomfortable. I faintly miss the highs but do not miss the lows at all."


    Lady Blood Claw looked at Not-Hari and Corvayne found himself convinced there was something going on under her placid gray poker face, even with the [[Unity]] door between them firmly closed on her side. It was a faint gleam in her eyes. Was it pity? Or perhaps self pity? [[Unity]] told him there was an edge or hole, and Lady was prickly when she felt her skin was giving herself away.


    When she spoke, it was very measured. "If we meet again, perhaps we can help you."


    They thanked Not-Hari for speaking with them, and she asked their names and told them her name was Haauri, which Corvayne mentally decided was close enough to Hari to keep thinking of her as Not-Hari.


    Walking away, he felt a little crappy. "Is it buried feelings?"


    Lady Blood Claw took a deep breath, and Corvayne waited. She was more talkative these days, but also would stop and think about what she wanted to say. He appreciated she was careful. "The first was because we have a connection, the next two were all you dwelling on Hari. I tried to get Hari but as stranger when I realized it could get different versions."


    "Why?"


    "I thought about a Hari that would get you to not focus on Hari anymore."


    Corvayne thought about it. "It kind of worked? I think I found incident Hari... more mature. So Hari herself will get there, even if she might not."


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "Right. Path Investigator with a high tier."


    They turned the corner and Corvayne saw someone who looked VERY much like him, in a barett, and black clothes with an small red scarf smoking a cigarette. In lue of a spear, a baugette was slung over his back.


    "Bonjour-"


    Lady Blood Claw tugged his arm a few tables down. Once again, she was stained some deep color of blueberry. "LBC what was that?"


    "Keep going."


    "That looked like me-"


    "Keep. GOING." She hissed through clenched teeth.


    The tables became booths along a wall of indeterminate length. A few tables in they found an elf man with dark glasses smoking a cigarette, considering a small jewellery box. He had a five o''clock shadow, drab olive clothes that suggested to Corvayne an army. On the table was bottle of dark wine, an circular glass ashtray, a notebook with a pencil tucked into the wire spiral, a pack of cigarettes with ''Gaulish'' written on it, and a small sign in a floursh filled script that said ''Path Confidant for hire''.


    The man looked up at them and then back down at his task. He did not directly acknowlage them, but he did move the bottle and ashtray as Lady Blood Claw sat down. Corvayne could see the man had small knife pockets in his clothes, and some small things that did not match his attire. Probably also a caster, given what he knew of Hari. The man shifted to square up with LBC and Corvayne was secretly glad that he saw Lady lean away from the informant to meet Corvaynes eyes and communicate to be patient. When he sat she moved on the seat to put her legs and arms in contact with his, and he saw the man shrug.


    LBC let up [[Unity]] to send him reassurance, and a hint of amusement and annoyance that he, if he didn''t know better, would think she was saying with her feelings ''Silly boys''. He could not imagine her actually saying that.


    "Leigue." The man stated, offering his hand more to Lady''s side. She shook it. "Lady Blood Claw. This is Corvayne. We are looking to book your services."


    Leigue nodded. He then placed the object he was examining away, then stood still smoking. With his glasses Corvayne couldn''t follow his eyes to see if he was staring or looking up in thought or had them closed and had fallen asleep. All he could see is the slowly retreating line of orange around the man''s cigarette, it''s hazy smoke swirling around the light. He was struck that they had found either some naturally pure form of ''cool shady informant'' who effortlessly embodied that he was at ease in the bar, smoking and drinking forever and jotting down some important information, or someone who knew exactly what sort of aura he wanted to put out and was meticulously and flawlessly presenting that image in an effort to find clients who wanted whatever exactly he was offering in it''s perfect form.


    Probably the second. [[Unity]] suggested he was more interested in seeing how Lady Blood Claw''s shifting colors handled mucous membranes then money. His next words confirmed it. "You cannot afford me. I do not dabble in gold."


    He touched his glasses to adjust them then folded his arms, leaning back and mirroring LBC''s pose.


    "We don''t either." Lady Blood Claw did a little bit of slight of hand to pretend the black shard she had pulled from her ring had been hidden in the front of her jumpsuit. She tossed it on the table one would throw an ante, then put her thumb against her lips and leaned back. Corvayne felt something small enter his inventory from hers, which he didn''t think worked except that [[Unity]] flared a little when she did, and he watched her pull a cigarette from her hair.


    "A light please, Corvy." She said bored as she put it in her mouth, and Corvayne palmed the item she had given him and found it was a silver lighter. He flicked it, and she leaned over while holding her hair, then slid back to leaning back and took a drag from it. He secretly was impressed that LBC didn''t start coughing because she sure as heck didn''t smoke. More likely it was some Tower boss chest oddity reskinned potion.


    The man saw the shard and froze a moment, then leaned in and picked it up, putting a hand on his glasses to lift them. His eyes were a vibrant gold and Corvayne watched as multiple irises moved and shifted while he examined it.


    "You realize that I do not give change, and I will not go past floor 15. My goals down here are not glory or riches."


    "But we all have to eat, don''t we?" Lady Blood Claw gave him a little smile. Corvayne looked at what she was doing and thought about the movie where the cop, who on his off time was also a galactic smuggler and archeologist, was trying to murder all the short lived dopplegangers with a huge gun. Blade Gunner? Yeah. She was pretending to be the sex bot from Blade Gunner. Same half lidded expression, same poise.


    "What exactly is this payment for then?"


    "We are looking for connections. Long term prospects. I want a scout to make sure they didn''t take incorrect paths. You need not lift a finger, and are free to leave after the boss or if our allies finds tally 13."


    "That''s it?"


    "I need my companion''s status looked at as a final favor. I want to see if he has the hidden stats I think he does."


    "Unless it takes you three days to find the other mercs, all that is covered."


    "And ID on our items.¡±


    Leigue nodded. ¡°No more then 100.¡±


    ¡°We are taking turns on picking. Look through Corvayne''s things.¡±


    Corvayne heard the man mutter ¡°Rich kids.¡± under his breath, but Lady Blood Claw was already moving. The man briskly walked to catch up to Corvayne.


    ¡°Interesting woman.¡± He said.


    He had probably ID''d them already, so Corvayne just nodded.


    ¡°There is a lack of passion in here that is refreshing at least from the other young masters I see. Or are you the master and she your helper?¡±


    Corvayne changed his bearing to suggest quiet wisdom by just looking forward, straightening his back a little more, and wearing a faint smile.


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    The first person that Lady Blood Claw wanted to look at was a eight foot tall furry warrior, maces, swords, and daggers all over what looked like fishnet. Their pants had smaller maces, and Corvayne wasn''t sure how they would use them aside from maybe holding them between his big furry fingers.


    Leigue did a quick invocation and windows appeared before him and Lady Blood Claw.


    Vosh Grosh the Bloodfist. Level 27 Blurred Armsmaster (5)/Level 16 Relentless tracker (3)


    Cons: Yellow ¨C Close to level and tier. Even match. Good synergies, poor equipment. Is self improving for more finesse and utility. Good luck little guy! Violent, but developed code of honor means doesn''t generally kill people who were not (sort of) asking for it.


    Self applied status message: Boss price: 150 Gold (Less than 5 minutes or your money back)


    Warrior - > Strength Warrior ¡ú Man At Arms ¡ú Armsmaster ¡ú Blurred Armsmaster.


    Core Traits: Weapon Proficiency, Multi-strike, Cross Skill, Hybridize Weapon Skill, Double Chain Weapon Skills.


    Core Powers: Blood Taker, Brutal Recovery, Con+


    Notes: 43 unspent stat points.


    Notes: 43 unspent skill points.


    High skills: Mace 35, Sword 32 (+3 Armsmaster), Dagger 25 (+10 Armsmaster), Dodge 25, Fortitude 30, Survival 15, Weapon Care 31.


    Lady Blood Claw waved them on. Corvayne found the window wasn''t fading.


    ¡°How long does the info stay up?¡±


    ¡°Until you choose to erase it or if you get hit with a dispel.¡± The high level investigator was smoking.


    He tried to slide it over and found thinking about it could minimize it and bring it back up.


    Moving on, they found a man who was also shirt-impaired. He seemed to have no hair aside from eyebrows, with a leather harness showing off a fit body and black leather pants. Scars covered him. He was pumping iron while sitting facing away from the table he was at. The main feature was a huge sword on his back, which gleamed almost chrome where bands of black like night didn''t run up and down it.


    Tee Zaksaa the Ceaseless Level 41 Focused Armsmaster (5)/Level 21 Aesthetic(2)


    Cons: Orange ¨C Challenging. Higher level and tier. Overperforms compared to similar class/levels. Careful disposition may be holding them back. They miss their hometown and the sweetheart they left behind, but are afraid to go back and face that they''ve outlived most of the people they knew.


    Self Appointed Message: 250 Green Crystals ¨C Solo Clear Chest Guard 5 ++++. 500 Green Crystals, next five floors Solo Clear Chest Guard 10 +++. Same price ++++ 10 for skilled groups. Looking for: Floor 15-20 20 person+ High Danger Zones.


    No sex offers, no harem offers. Romance ¨C Okay. Be nice to Dungeon people or else.


    Soldier ¡ú Swordsman ¡ú Blade Master ¡ú Armsmaster ¡ú Focused Armsmaster.


    Core Traits: Sword Mastery, Improved Sword Attacks, Weapon Defense, Cross Focus: Swords, Sword Skill Efficency.


    Core Powers: Improved Critical, Improved Reach, Second Wind


    Artifacts: 1/3 Milk Blood. 3/3 Terminal Mercury Blade


    Notes: 62 unspent stat points.


    Notes: 62 unspent skill points.


    High Skills: Sword 85, Dodge 43, Fortitude 56, Smithing 33, Awarness 31


    Lady Blood Claw sat down and asked what he was looking for in skilled parties. He glanced at her and Corvayne and then spoke very eloquently for someone who looked like they spent a few years getting chewed on by bears.


    ¡°You look like you would fit the bill. Both yellow green, with the elf there a solid yellow. I''d have to see your support.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. We might be back.¡± Lady Blood Claw bowed and left him to weight lifting.


    She didn''t waste time, moving across tables to one with a woman in a gold dress, gold earrings, a gold tiara, Silver tattoos of what looked like lines running up and down her arms, gold blonde hair, and silver eyes. She didn''t have an obvious weapon, but Corvayne suspected it would be colored gold. Looking carefully, the gold was something rolling over her skin.


    Buh''Bo Truegold - Level 20 Arms Caller(5) (+5 from 25 Armsmaster)/Level 10 Summoner (2)/// Spoiled Princess (1)


    Cons: Deep Green ¨C Higher Tier but fights under their expected efficiency. System rates use of extremely powerful advantages, survival rate, and likely hood of finding a mate that meets their standards all very low. Might be interesting to try to fix?


    Self applied status message: Submit to my will and assist me in recovering my kingdom, and you will be rewarded as my loyal vassal.


    Caller ¡ú Summoner ¡ú Imbuer ¡ú Weapon Summoner ¡ú Arms Caller


    Core Traits: Enhanced Summoning, Caller''s Bond, Summoning: Animate Weapons Focus, Shared Skill: Summoned weapons, Weapon Pact.


    Core Powers: Status Resistance+, Bloodline: Auric form, Second Chance (Spent)


    Artifacts: Blood Line: Ribbon 3/3. Blood Line: Gold Mail 3/3. Blood Line: Neutronium Blade 0/3.


    Notes: 45 unspent stat points.


    Notes: 45 unspent skill points.


    High Skills: Diplomacy 24, Intrigue 20, Summoning 17, Rapier 10, Parry 7.


    Lady Blood Claw curved away from the glaring woman. ¡°Is it known who writes their summary?¡±


    Leigue shook his head, but went from looking bored between spell casts to suddenly using his hands to speak at them. ¡°Hmm? You see them too? A few people see it at my Tier of investigate, most do not. You would think the System either knows it''s synergies 100 percent or would have no comment, so one theory is that there''s an observer who is like the Inn Keeper, or The Assassin, where there''s some role that just gets fed highlights and summarizes them.¡±


    Corvayne knew it was another tangent, but he had already figured out what Lady Blood Claw had done with her first three examples and could tell her such. ¡°Is the unspent stat and skill points a trade secret? It looked like all of them had close to their levels untouched.¡±


    Leigue pulled his glasses up. ¡°Unspent what?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nearly knocked Corvayne over putting her hand over his mouth. ¡°It seems you are not privy to this particular secret.¡±


    ¡°I can pull up Stats. It''s just a longer ritual. What do you see on a window?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw smiled and Corvayne suspected no acting was present to make it look shark-like. ¡°If you can help us get what I want, Mister Leigue, we will give you a secret worth far more then a pitiful shard of black essence.¡±

 Chapter 208: A Spear Moves Forward to the Inevitable Conclusion.

    ''Mister, not Mister'' Leigue was leading Corvayne and Lady Blood Claw deep into the Inn''s mercenaries. The elf they had hired was now going to be doing some extra work in exchange for a secret that would likely spread far and wide sooner or later regarding stat points. Corvayne also had to consider he had some ''Skill Points'' banked, something he didn''t know existed. That the system quantified skills one had in different things shouldn''t have surprised him: He had watched videos of experts using weapons they were good with to perform weapon skills, but there had been no videos of some kid with a broom handle using some incredible high level staff skill.


    He really wanted to have their elf give him his own stat screen, but the man had said that pulling more then he did was exhaustive, and Corvayne wanted it to be the last thing they worked on. The elf was perfectly willing to work with them now that he was able to see unspent points. From what Corvayne figured, the man was moving his finger through a pile of his profiles, flipping them down, then seeing again and again they had not touched their stat points.


    Corvayne and Lady Blood Claw, he was pretty sure, were likely the only profiles sitting on zero.


    Leigue stopped. ¡°I found one other person who spent them. He was a prince from a kingdom on floor 65, getting fed essence from his Tier 7 parents.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw looked pleased. ¡°And would they share their secret or kill you for knowing it?¡±


    The man put a cigarette to his mouth. ¡°I have 162 unspent stat points. I would kill me. Is your backer going to find me and kill me for knowing?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw stopped and thought about it. ¡°We can ask him if your concerned. It''s a walk. Maybe give us some highlights as we go.¡±


    She pivoted and they went deep into the bar, the wood changing color to include gray purple iridescence. Their hired help slowed as they neared the first ring of tables to where they were going, which last time Corvayne had pegged as temptation. Some of the tables were certainly different. He tried not to stare at unfamiliar faces in alluring costumes sizing him up. On table had a woman at least thirty feet long lounging sideways, assets just barely in her dress.


    Corvayne fully averted his eyes when he saw familiar faces. As often as he saw aquatic forms writhing and beckoning, he too saw women who looked like the Spears he had hunted with. There were tables where other versions of Bell were regal, and others where she looked like a street walker, oddly with the former meek and the later defiant.


    Now and then he''d see twins of Wick or Hari, even a Seru with curled horns, lounging topless while playing with her phone. In another booth he saw a glittering female golem, not quite Diamond but perhaps tugging from what he thought she might look like if she was carved out of her glittering moon.


    As those doppelgangers faded out, he passed a single table where a tall woman in a breezy white dress with silver hair and shifting skin looked up at him, and just smiled softly at him while turning pink with pure joy, then he was past temptation. Lady Blood Claw wavered between dark yellow and a blue with teal spots that Corvayne didn''t think was embarrassment. Leigue''s hands were shaking. Corvayne saw a sheen of sweat on his forehead and that he was smoking two cigarettes at once.


    ¡°Mister and Misses, what the hell was that?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw shook her head. ¡°The first layer of the deep bar.¡±


    He opened his mouth a little, cigarette dangling, then closed it. ¡°There is no such thing as the deep bar. You think of who you want to find, walk, you find them.¡±


    ¡°The Dust Man operates past the second layer. I think there''s more...¡±


    Corvayne kept going. The wood became a dull green, warped and forgotten. Around them where tables with shadowy figures. Corvayne had wondered last time if they were ghosts. He had an urge to ask Leigue about what his powers were telling him, but turning around he saw that the elf informant had gone white as a sheet.


    ¡°First the erotic, then the macabre. Are we going through the layers of hell? I saw faces I knew, ones who were long gone.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. ¡°You won''t die if you sit down, but... they have nothing to say. I also tried once to see if the alternate versions extended to people I knew passed, but it slowly diverted me here.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t ask LBC what she saw in the previous section, or this one. It was odd to him that they saw people they knew, and most of what he was was vapor, wisps that didn''t look like anyone or anything. Maybe because his memory was poor. Or because the people he cared for were in the present, and rarely in the past.


    They then went through a space where the bar was empty. The wood of the floor became gray, and while Corvayne saw walls it felt like they were hazy in the distance, with tables flowing by devoid of anything.


    Then the warmth returned. They entered a place where Corvayne felt was fit with great warriors. He saw rippling muscles but also well put together men and women decked in artifacts. Many of them wore black jumpsuits that reminded him of Bearer-of-Burdens or the one Lady wore. Leigue slowed by a table that looked to be a woman with green feather wings and an worn green naval officers coat over her shoulder. Perhaps because she didn''t seem to be quite as fancily dressed.


    ((System not compatible. Pulling closest information.))


    Maiser Elsdragon, Queen of the Hornet Galaxy


    Threat assessment: Delta Obsidian++++ ¨C This being has several godslayer titles.


    Self applied message: What did I get myself into this time?


    Tier 10 ¨C Warrior -> Warrior -> Warrior -> Warrior -> Warrior -> Divine Being -> Warrior ¡ú Empress ¡ú Warrior ¡ú Closest match (((Divine Power Star Goddess Blade Avenger)))


    Notes: 9999+ unspent stat points.


    Notes: 243 unspent skill points.


    The woman looked over, almost lazily, and they all Froze. She was about the same height as him or Lady but it was like being under the gaze of a mountain, a thousand thousand miles of black obsidian behind her. Her red eyes looked at each of them, then smiled.


    ¡°Don''t be rude Leigue Del'' Coran.¡± She smiled at him, and Corvayne threw an arm out to help their hired man not crumple under what he suspected was focused intent.


    The woman turned to face LBC then said. ¡°((Her-Real-Name))¡± and Corvayne heard screeching like metal on metal with static. It felt like something clicking in his head, but the spoken name caused Lady Blood Claw to crumple to the floor, black thorns erupting from her. Corvayne rushed to put himself in front of LBC, but the woman stood and did something that felt almost like [Juxtapose] did but was as far apart from that as a match was to a star. As she did, the bouncer came screaming at her, but the woman did something and the manifestation stopped, for a moment looking something like a hundred foot black cloud with arms and steaming red eyes, then backed away, a faint bow before it faded.


    The woman then bent over and gently helped the twitching Lady Blood Claw stand, gently pushing the thrashing black thorns off her.


    ¡°Hmm. Might have damaged this girl. Didn''t know she had some true name issue... let me fix that real quick.¡±


    She pulled out a leather purse that was the same brand as what Seru wore, an odd detail to notice while Lady Blood Claw was twitching, but she pulled out a gold potion and with a click on the bottom shot it into her mouth.


    ¡°Sorry about that kiddo. You guys can carry her for a while? She''ll be right as rain in about five minutes.¡±


    She turned to Corvayne and then paused. Her face was cloudy. ¡°Oh of course I''d meet you here. It''s the right one too. Nameless one, your mother is looking for you. What are you doing over here?¡±


    Corvayne spoke up. ¡°Who is she?¡±


    She started to speak and paused, then put her hands on Corvayne''s head. It was like being touched by a star, her hands ten billion degrees, but somehow the unimaginable heat didn''t hurt. He was just aware that if whatever she did to hold back was broken, it would ignite everything in the Inn for miles.


    ¡°Shit. Kid, you are rigged like a bomb in there. You need to untangle that.¡±


    Corvayne felt her scrutiny and it was distinctly uncomfortable. He had never had the feeling of being watched register in his colon before, but now he could. Even through all that, he felt a hint of annoyance at that statement.


    His mouth, of course, was not frozen like a mouse, and he heard himself say. ¡°Miss Goddess Maiser, I do not want to be rude given you are some form of divinity, but that is information I''m well aware of.¡±


    ¡°Yeah how couldn''t you be? Listen, I SHOULD kidnap you right now and pack you back to... your mom, but this is your moment, and I''m not going to ruin it. You kids run along, and don''t go scanning strangers, all right? Oh, and if she asks...¡±


    The being, possibly packed with the power of a galaxy of stars all pumping energy through her, looked almost a little scared. ¡°I never saw you, we never talked, and I didn''t know you were here.¡±


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    Corvayne took Lady Blood Claw and put one of her arms around his shoulder. Her skin was locked in a sort of peach yellow and purple mix.


    ¡°Leigue take her other arm.¡±


    The elf looked shaken as he complied. Corvayne was trying not to let himself get angry. The man probably had never even seen anything on that level. It was a mistake. This might be the universes equivalent of Mt. Olympus.


    ¡°No more scanning until we are out of these weird sections. We are alive because that woman is merciful.¡±


    ¡°She knew your mother, are you from...¡± His voice lowered in reverence. ¡°Floor 100?¡±


    ¡°Probably not.¡± Corvayne said. ¡°Keep her steady. We are almost there.¡±


    Though [[Unity]] he could feel the other man was agitated, perhaps knowing he was close to death. He also felt respect and a little bit of calculation.


    The wall that looked nearest veered into booths, and between what looked like a phoenix the size of a starship having tea with a spider made of fruit and a booth where two beings both made of screaming souls wrapped into black jagged forms were playing checkers, the Dust Man sat, waving as if he just looked up and found expected guests.


    ¡°Well Nameless One! A surprise. Is your friend perhaps drunk?¡±


    Corvayne looked over to Leigue and saw that he was frozen in time. Meanwhile, Lady Blood Claw was breathing softly while leaning on him. [[Unity]] told him she was dreaming, perhaps a good one from the soft feelings that drifted from her.


    ¡°Our hired ally had a request to scan people, and he tried to do so in this part of the bar.¡± Corvayne said.


    ¡°Oh, well then your all lucky to be alive. Whom did you upset?¡± He started to drink his lemonade, which was an odd gesture because Corvayne would think anything wet would destroy the dust that formed him, but he was also halfway sure given the last experience that this was, in fact, a god, and likely Falenti himself avoiding putting his name out. A little sugar, lemon, and water was unlikely to harm him.


    ¡°Maiser Elsdragon?¡±


    The dusty figure stopped drinking for a second and gave him a look. ¡°Mom''s here? Huh. I should let her know I''m alive again. Do you mind waiting a bit? My friends can chit chat.¡±


    He vanished, but didn''t animate Leigue so Corvayne was stuck in the booth with Lady Blood Claw leaning on him, and the shadowy figures across the booth sort of, well, he couldn''t tell where they were looking.


    ¡°Hello. My name is Corvayne. Sorry to impose.¡±


    All of the shades whispered, all at once. He felt there might have been five of them? Corvayne heard.


    Hey bro/No need to be so formal/Hello Corvayne. It is a pleasure to meet you./(Away)/Hmmf. Another cocky adept.


    He got a sense then of the size of the shadows. They felt bigger then him, but more like three story houses instead of looking up to a mountain.


    ¡°Did F- Did the Dustman freeze my hired help?¡±


    Yep! He wont keep them that way./He has an annoying habit of doing things like that/Yes, sorry for our rude host./(Away)/Of course he did. The jerk thinks it''s funny to show off!


    Corvayne started to sort the voices out. The first made him think of a girl. Hylals age? The second sounded a little more world weary, a man. The third was a woman, and reserved. Perhaps a noble lady? Nothing from the fourth shade aside from it being away. The last seemed to be... what did Gary call them? Angry and Lovey-Dovey? No, it was snappier.


    ¡°Oh. Well, I''m mostly just here to ask if I can share how to apply stat points.¡±


    I bet he wouldn''t be mad if you just did./The guy is like an illusionist who keeps pulling out ways to get stronger./You are right to ask. He might have told you to give you an advantage./(Away)/Hah! Just applying stat points? Here I''d think you''d be on our level, I bet you don''t even have feats or talent points assigned!


    Corvayne felt something in his skull tighten, as if it was a suitcase that had already been full that someone had stuffed a few extra pairs of socks into.


    ¡°It''s my fault, but be really careful about telling me anything more about systems. It seems like there''s information that''s literally dangerous to me.¡±


    Well, everyone in your universe is infected with Class/Subjob, so we can talk about that! Our classes might be different though/That''s her dumb ass fault./I am sorry about our foolish companion/(Away)/It''s not my fault you didn''t know about them, Idiot! Stupid!


    What a pain in the ass she must be. Corvayne thought as a waitress came with a refill for the absent god, and three fresh lemonades for them. She had some trouble getting around the frozen Leigue, so Corvayne leaned over to help her.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± The woman bowed, stepped away, then re-appeared a moment later with three plates of spaghetti and meatballs.


    Corvayne helped pass the plates over, and was about to say thanks but the waitress vanished. She probably was another fixture of the space. More and more Corvayne was sure that it was all sort of a skin over something like the collective unconscious, but he had Spaces-Torn-Asunder tell him that there were lots of things where it was better to just accept you knew that A lead to C and not worry about B. Of course, given how Spaces-Torn-Asunder operated, it was never about science and always about his wives.


    The Dust Man slid back into the booth. ¡°Sorry. Back. Hope my party wasn''t too unruly. So, what can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°I was going to ask for your permission to reveal to someone how to assign stat points.¡±


    The Dust Man nodded. ¡°It''s not supposed to be a secret, but all the same I hope you traded it for something worthwhile.¡±


    ¡°I trust Lady Blood Claw.¡±


    ¡°I suppose the party member glued to his seat is the information person you hired. Very well.¡±


    The Dust Man snapped his fingers and Leigue started to move, looking surprised. The elf didn''t have much time to react as the being made of dust snapped his fingers, this time for attention rather then as part of some other effect.


    ¡°I am the Dust Man. A humble go-betweener. Might I know your name?¡±


    ¡°Leigue.¡± He started to reach for his lighter, fumbling for the first time that Corvayne had seen him. The gray man across the table held out a finger with a fire on it and sent it to the cigarette tip, lighting it. Corvayne was pretty sure that there was something profound in how the Dust Man was moving and creating fire, but it also might have been seeing a god perform a cantrip.


    ¡°Well, my helpers here are going to entrust you with a secret. I take it as a system explorer, you probably enjoy learning about these little side tricks. I''m looking for help. Perhaps you are interested in helping me find outstanding talents?¡±


    The man shrank a little in his seat. ¡°I... ¡°


    The Dust Man snapped his fingers and sighed. ¡°Nameless One, I can''t tell you how much I appreciate you and your friends. On the other hand, this guy is a free lancer. Any thoughts?¡±


    Corvayne wished that Lady Blood Claw was awake. Both for advice and because she had gone from some sort of shock-coma to drooling on him.


    ¡°Getting stronger has a lot of moving parts that I possibly never saw or understood when I was training as a Watcher.¡±


    The Dust Man nodded. ¡°Take your time. It''s relative out here anyway.¡±


    ¡°The system is sort of like a very complex vehicle. Almost anyone can sit down and flick on, push the pedal, and get somewhere. But it has thousands of things that you can do to pilot it better it seems. Or perhaps, there''s ways to change it from a land vehicle to something that flies. But it needs infrastructure. You need to have the parts to build something that is exceptional. So, I need an organization. All my friends have different skills and strengths and weakness, but most of us are just fighters. We need... I guess things like a person who can dismantle creatures and get us meat, because that helps stats somehow. We need people who can identify items and people to sell them and buy more powerful stuff. Crafters to get us vehicles and homes and eventually new weapons. We should have done this entire run with hovercycles.¡±


    The Dust Man Smiled and nodded. ¡°Keep going.¡±


    ¡°I have a curse that''s blocking experience, don''t I? Then there''s got to be ways that boost experience. Every time I go into my mindspace, there''s different doors. Which ones do I need? How do I get a door I don''t have to show up? Growl-Whine did it, she needed a mind control power and somehow got it the same run. I need a way to talk to her. I should see if there''s a stat that improves what we find in chests. Or a class that just boosts how fast I can get more powers and pacts. Me and Wick got killed in ambushes. We need detection skills...¡±


    Corvayne stopped. Where was it coming from? He wasn''t a leader.


    Snapping fingers. ¡°Don''t stop. Keep going. You have time.¡±


    ¡°We need to explore a planet that''s extremely hostile. Lady Blood Claw tried and failed... we need more Classes, or people who can teach us and the ability to switch. All this stuff exists, doesn''t it? I know that''s a question you might charge me for, but I''ll put some of that on Leigue in exchange for telling him how stats work. I could probably ditch all that and try to force my way though the pilgrimage to remove my curse but that Bride, who probably is attached to The Magus, she was trying to stop that from happening. I need this guy to recruit for me.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw started to stir and put her head on his shoulder.


    The Dust Man laughed, his voice having an element of electric tin to it. ¡°Very good. So... what do you need?¡±


    Corvayne found a pad and piece of paper, and ate while writing.


    They needed specialists to get information. He needed someone he really trusted, which likely meant Hari and Undine. Leigue was better at the same job, but was an unknown and clearly had gotten his ''path'' class to reverse engineer builds.


    Better to hire the man to find them talent. Corvayne and their group had gotten good at training and protecting newbies. [[Unity]] was earmarked by the Dust-Man as important. Corvayne was starting to feel it might be the most powerful pact he had. He had a feeling it would help when he needed to form new bonds with quests, and to smooth the risks out.


    Every person needed Essence. It was what raised levels. He was sure it had something to do with the god before him had told him they were doing a poor job of harvesting it from monsters. He also suspected that he could be helping with new pacts. [[Growth]] possibly helped with it, but he made a decision.


    Recruits: Essence Specialist. Pacts: [[Essence]] 10, [[Organization]] 5.


    Levels gave them raw health. More stats. A naked high level fighter tied the entire group up.


    They could base themselves out of Cascadia, and there were some advantages to that. They had Nel''Ferral close by and Bell made them a good ally. They could base it out of the Imperial capital, but he suspected it would find the same drawbacks that he thought being inside Cascadia might have: Too much interference from the powers that actually owned the area. The source was his second pick. It just was removed from modern convenience.


    The third option he though of was the ruined manor above the containment facility that Spears was in. That was owned by Wick or Anastasia, depending on the day, but would give them access to potentially study the curse.


    He would need to consult his friends on that. He did want to make sure they could get into the Tower, and ideally they''d be close to one of those waypoint totems that let them move.


    He added ''Can we buy a waypoint totem?'' to a list he marked as ''dumb questions.''


    The next thing they needed were people who could get them treasures and raw materials for things like potions and the meat exchange that Mister I had been salivating about. They would need equipment to possibly get into places in the tower that were difficult or impossible for most people to reach, and to be able to escape trouble or survive long enough to get back to where a support party was that could kill anything trying to eat them.


    [Treasure hunter/finder]


    [Gatherer?]


    [Butcher]


    [Additional assistants for Mosh]


    Back to pacts and powers. He had heard the Dust Man encouraging them to do quests. The system was pushing these tasks too. A lot of the tasks he was given involved finding things. Sooner or later too he and his allies would be looking for The Watchers. If not just for answers about his past, then because his experience with Spears and Diamond suggested that sooner or later they would find him.


    He added an arrow up to the top of the paper and wrote Quest: Find Diamond.


    He then backed down and wrote after the two pacts: [Upgrade Compass twice]. [Upgrade Gravity twice]. [Upgrade shadows twice.]


    By the time he got to that, he suspected they might have someone or a few people who were able to boost their essence gains. He wanted to start driving [[Growth]] and [[Understanding]] and [[Unity]] up, but given that to raise them he needed to deal with the Tower itself... it might be time to dip into [[Tower]]. He wasn''t sure he''d touch [[Love]].


    Wick. The enterprises he was spinning still revolved around her, and whatever the feelings in his heart, she was friends with most of his friends. He had to trust Hari to handle whatever was going on with her soul. But he also needed to be sure that Tripic didn''t send a group of assassins after them on Cascadia or in the tower. Or at least had time to actually escape.


    [Shield specialist/Ship builder]


    [Spy Master/Hacker]


    Some of that could also possibly come into play for exploring the Tower itself. Leigue clearly had thought they were a part of some high powered group higher in the Tower. Corvayne didn''t think that was just speculation at all. There were groups he had heard of. Wick was killed by Illuresi, and the inn keeper from floor 3 had named them as well. He wanted to be strong enough that nobody messed with them, but that meant he''d have to kill the big-big-big brother of bandits sooner or later.


    [An expert who has fought and overcome other Tower groups trying to kill them]


    [A group specialized in killing people who kill other tower explorers]


    The Bride came to mind. Argyle had been one too. Gary and Seru had a term for what had happened based on the tabletop games they had in common. Threats that could kill an entire group on their own.


    [A group specialized in neutralizing a TPK].


    He scratched that out. Was he willing to lose a couple of friends to take out The Bride? The organization he wanted to make was going to abuse his pact power to make monsters. He looked up at the Dust Man, who had folded hands and was considering Corvayne. His eyes were electric slits, blurring and buzzing. No one could sit across from him and mistake the shifting particles as human. What would Corvayne be willing to become to keep his friends safe? When something on the level of the man across the table came for them? When a being like the Magus, who was able to twist Diamond into a becoming a moon aimed at an entire planet, decided it was time to destroy Cascadia? Or... that he wanted Lady Blood Claw dead?


    A bit of black crystal formed from his leg, and he reached down to yank it out of the Jam Jammies. Looking down at the absolutely idiotic looking strawberry pants he was wearing, he started to laugh at himself. He did laugh as he pocketed what was a knife made of money. The answer was obvious wasn''t it?


    He would do whatever it took.


    He wrote down [Become the TPK].

 Chapter 209: Princes, Paupers, and Muddy Waters

    Corvayne was determined as they left the Dust Man''s table. This was time to prepare. Lady Blood Claw had recovered enough to wake with a start, eat and look over his notes. Leigue, the elf they had hired to scout talent, was unfrozen and spent most of the meal quiet before agreeing to assist the dust formed man with something similar. The details were vague. It also seemed like the expected vector of having Leigue do a lot of extra work to make up for eventually reselling their secret had twisted somewhat.


    [[Unity]] and his own eyes now had told him that the higher tier Investigator was acting different then his too cool attitude before, one only damaged by the fact he clearly thought Lady Blood Claw was attractive. That all changed, and Leigue had explained he had figured out Corvayne was some sort of ''Young Master'' that would possibly either elevate him to rejoin a powerful group higher in the tower (Corvayne did not miss that Leigue hadn''t said join, and noted they needed to get that story squared away) or possibly doom him to death should he betray their trust.


    ¡°Mister Leigue...¡±


    The man was practically tripping over himself. ¡°You need not be so formal. You might even call me Lee.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Lee.... Mister Leigue. We are not high floor masters. We are clueless newbies who got lucky. I have some sort of weird connections but it''s possible they are to people who are all long dead. You are probably imagining I have some golden palace on a higher floor but my dad kicked me out and I have never met my mother and I''m told she''s far away-¡±


    ¡°You are a secret heir. A common tactic of those too powerful... you probably have a suppressed bloodline! There''s an easy way to help you. Watch.¡±


    Magic washed over him, and for a second Corvayne felt the curse reacting, vines starting to coil around his arms. They scraped him as they appeared to grow out of him, and he felt them go rigid as they tracked Leigue.


    He put his own hands and shadow hands onto the thorns, using what strength he could to try to keep them from impaling the elf. While his hands were bleeding and it felt like he was ripping his arms off, he managed to slow them enough for the nimble man to roll away as the struck. The magic faded before the next set growing out of Corvayne could form, and he saw the bouncer''s looming form recede. It was a close thing and he didn''t want to find out what happened if he got booted.


    Corvayne Level 31 Armsmaster (4)/Level 1 Alienist


    (((((Do not Identify with high tier ID spells until ''Curse of System Breaker'' is completely cleared.)))))


    Cons: Perfect Yellow ¨C Even Match (You are evenly matched against yourself). Level does not properly represent the abilities that this warrior has, just as their poker face rarely breaks and most people don''t get his dry jokes. (((((Extremely dangerous in an entirely different set of ways then most Tower dwellers expect. Consider this your warning.))))


    Self Applied Message: Remember to level ''Shadows'' - Shadows.


    ((((error, please see System initialization notes)))) ¡ú Armsmaster


    Core Traits ¨C Cross Train, Strength of Arms, Cross Execute, Arsenal


    Core Powers ¨C Non Class Powers (((Does not trigger Invader Status post Incursion C.)))(((((to-do: Integrate if possible))))). Shadows++, Gravity+, Adept (((((Pact System and Adept abilities Permitted inheritance. Do not trigger Invader Status))))), Compass+


    Artifacts: 1/3 Destiny''s Scourge


    Notes: 31 Unspent Skill points.


    Notes: 5 Unspent Feats ((error, need initialization data, pending admin review))


    Notes: 31 Unspent Talent points. ((error, need initialization data, poor connection to ????))


    Notes: 12 Active Curses. 3 Cleared. (((((Intrusive System. Not generated by user. Do not trigger Invader status.)))))


    Notes: [Curse Integrity 31% - Next Broken ????] [Timeline Integrity at 6.2%] [3.6 Left]


    High skills: Spear 372*, Fortitude 123, Dodge 85, Stealth 60, Survival 48.


    System Notes: (((((Personal Project.)))))


    Leigue backed away from Corvayne, totally reasonable given that it looked like something akin to his shadow limbs had just tried to strike out. He was surprised the man hadn''t run away entirely. Lady Blood Claw on the other hand, seemed to be focused on the little screen in front of her.


    She frowned. ¡°12 Curses active.... You dealt with 3, and you have... 372 skill in spears? That completely overshadows others we looked at. Someone defaced your status with notes. Hmm. The curses are all hidden save the one it names. Tch.¡±


    Leigue on the other hand had shot to his feet. ¡°What is going on with you? I want to know. I''ll pay half what you paid me back, no, two thirds! I want to know how you have a personal System 5 note!¡±


    He realized he was shouting between five tables that held gods who were looking at him, and lowered his voice.


    ¡°Personal project. That''s a system note. I''ve never seen a system note.¡±


    Corvayne looked around. Some of the tables had looked over, but most seemed busy with whatever company they had. ¡°What else stands out to you, having seen lots of profiles.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn''t have over 350 in a weapon skill unless you''ve just been going around fighting for thousands of years with that weapon and only that weapon.¡±


    ¡°That might be the case.¡± Was he that good? He didn''t think so. ¡°What''s that number really mean?¡±


    ¡°It means you''ve fought real battles with a spear to the point that you should always connect wherever you want it to hit, or you have a good shot at hitting supersonic targets. It also implies that you have bottle-neck training completed, as there are break points where you need a deeper understanding of a weapon to pass those numbers. The number improves damage and makes your attacks more fluid, which means faster attacks. On top of that you are an Armsmaster which is known for letting you apply that number to any weapon you pick up.¡±


    ¡°I''m not that good with the spear, and I trained with a bunch of weapons.¡± Maybe wandering around for untold years he never bothered with a different weapon. But he wasn''t particularly fast with his spear. Sparring, Lady Blood Claw was able to keep up with his speed now without Haste.


    ¡°Who trained you?¡± Leigue asked while pinching the bridge of his nose. Corvayne realized they were still in the deep bar and gestured for them to walk back, taking about three steps before they were back to the table where Grunt, Bell, and Spears were sitting with 3 dirty plates and a pie they were dividing up.


    ¡°Oh. I''m an exile from The Watchers.¡± Corvayne said, pulling a seat out for Lady Blood Claw who gave him a look that said ''you really did that?'' with what felt like a comical level of expressiveness. She also was doing a poor job clamping down on [[Unity]], leaking a kaleidoscope of feelings. It was as if her currently malfunctioning skin took on some of the burden of feelings for her and now she was running everything all at once.


    ¡°You are a System marked person, exiled from one of the three most overused secret societies, you have the attention of deities, one of whom respects and possibly is worried about your mom, whom you''ve never met, putting some form of retribution on you. The system marks imply you are being given some sort of special permission to use skills that flag one as an Invader, which is a system function I''ve never heard of, and I''ve spent a lot of time learning about the system Mister.¡±


    Corvayne had, at times, considered parts of what he had just heard, but now he felt himself sweating as he considered the arsenal of oddities packed into the last hour alone. A little hint of paranoia surfaced as. The system was watching him. A huge hand with a tiny plate holding a slice of pie thrust itself in front of him then wiggled.


    ¡°Thanks Grunt.¡± He took the plate. ¡°Maybe it''s a different the Watchers? It wasn''t an impressive set up. They had a village in a desert full of experts at weapons and maybe a few handy with technology. But they threw me out because I was a failure.¡± Even as he said it, Corvayne suddenly was sure he no longer believed it. He was wrong about Spears, and Diamond had a curse in her too.


    ¡°That matches half the stories, with the other half saying that they have a billion space ships and are waiting for some sort of D-Day to rise up. I am still not sure you are deflecting me by naming a mythical organization that everyone throws in when they are buttering up stories about The Pilgrims and The Pilgrimage.¡±


    Grunt snorted. Spears scooted her chair to be closer to where Corvayne had sat. ¡°I''m a Watcher too.¡±


    Leigue looked at her, and raised an eyebrow. ¡°If I try to ID you, will you kill me?¡±


    ¡°It''s nice to ask but rude to ID people who don''t want it.¡± Spears countered.


    Corvayne tapped the table. ¡°It''s not relevant to this conversation if we are ''THE'' Watchers. We are talking about my status. I didn''t think my training was that exceptional, I lost every fight pretty much when I sparred with the Masters. I can''t always hit what I want to, and I don''t think I do much more damage with the weapon then most people. We did tests and I hit a little harder if I say, drop my spear into a piece of foam.¡±


    Corvayne watched the elf pat down his olive vest for a backup cigarette. He found the box and with a finger flicked it open, then sighed and tossed his pack onto the table in frustration. Grunt, gracious as he was, produced a pack of ''BIG PINE FLAVOR'' brand that was about 50 percent larger then the feeble box on the table and daintily handed it to Leigue. The man took one out and looked at the extra large cigarette like it was a turd, then shrugged and lit it. He stopped, pulled it out of his mouth to look at it, then shrugged and resumed smoking, blowing a ring after a moment.


    ¡°I agree. Let''s stop right there. Most of the time, any Watchers are hoaxes or a cover for some organization. It should be a fairy tale. But whomever is mistaken, your skills speak. The number that my spell returned means the system is sure you are better then almost anyone with your weapon. It might be you''ve literally forgotten more then most people know regarding the weapon. What sort of Weaponskills can you do?¡±


    ¡°I think my high end ones are [Flows-Like-Water] and [Storm Thrust]. One lets me turn to water and move and strike, the other has a strong push associated with it.¡±


    ¡°I''m guessing those are alternate forms of what, [Charging Thrust] or maybe a high form of [Spear Slide]? And [Full Thrust]. Do you have [Penta Thrust] or some other barrage that does five or more hits?¡±


    ¡°No. I have 5 moves.¡±


    ¡°Young master should-¡±


    Corvayne interrupted him. ¡°I''m not a young master.¡±


    ¡°Okay, young prince should-¡±


    Bell looked at Corvayne expectantly. ¡°Prince?¡±


    Spears put a hand around Corvayne''s shoulder. ¡°His father was in charge of the Watchers.¡±


    Corvayne wasn''t sure he liked watching Bell staring at him so hard. ¡°Royalty?¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°Does anyone listen to me? The village had maybe a couple of thousand people. Only a handful of buildings above two stories. Leigue please continue.¡±


    ¡°Fine, young prince. You should have twenty or so skills. At the point you are at, I would expect a few signature skills. Well, you did say you had normal training... Even if they just told you where the pointy end is, that level should have let you stumble into twelve just from trying to do something like attacking fast, or driving your spear into the ground to change directions quickly, or stabbing out and trying to ignite something with the spearhead. [Penta Thrust], [Earth Spear], [Ignition Drive].¡±


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Grunt looked at Corvayne''s spear, then the elf, then pulled out his lighter, miming what Corvayne was pretty sure was the twisting motion one used to trigger [Storm Thrust].


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    The Path Confidant sighed. ¡°Fine. What are the Curses then, do you know that?¡±


    ¡°They interfere with certain things. They can turn your view of the world hostile, and do things like change your name, steal your memories...¡±


    Bell chimed in. ¡°Mine was aggression.¡±


    ¡°It might be why your skill is high but it''s impact is low. How did you remove them?¡±


    ¡°Don''t remember. Supposedly having lots of experiences weakens them.¡± He looked over at Lady Blood Claw, but showed Bell the list he had made. ¡°I''m going to work on special skills that let me counter act it, but first I wanted to talk about the recruits I want. We are going to spend a lot of time in the Tower, and I would like to try to get an essence specialist on board. Ideally, one who we can assist with their goals. Basically, accelerate everything.¡±


    Grunt nodded. Good idea. Bell added. ¡°Oh, so more exp, more powers?¡±


    Dot returned with octopus balls. The librarian sat quietly and listened.


    Leigue looked around and Grunt pushed an empty cup towards him. The elf tapped his cigarette clear of ash. ¡°There''s one problem with that my friends. There''s no such thing as an essence specialist. Non. Nil. Zilp. Researchers have tried just about everything and the problem is that you can''t easily manipulate essence, and there''s no way to adjust the gains. Even if you see the field we don''t know how to interact with it. I''ve never seen any passives related to it.¡±


    Corvayne looked at Bell, then back at Leigue. ¡°Okay. If I was able endow someone with a talent that boosted how much essence was collected from a monster...¡±


    ¡°It''s a fixed amount, you can only lower it.¡± He looked worried. ¡°And I will say if you can somehow do that, you are going to get yourself and the person you imbue kidnapped and probably killed. The top groups in the Tower are willing to kill people for leaking their secrets. Even ones that should be minor.¡±


    Corvayne thought about why Leigue had a skill to see steps in classes, and guessed it would mostly be used to copy or steal someone elses work. ID a potion, figure out where the ingredients are. Heck, if he had compass he might be able to look at a component and figure out where someone got it.


    Grunt cleared his throat, then reached into his pouch, pulling out a pink piece of chalk. He mimed a magnifying glass.


    Leigue nodded, took a puff of his extra large cigarette, then with a hand cast a spell.


    Endless Chalk +1.


    Magic Item.


    Green.


    This piece of magic chalk has no finite limit to the amount of dusty pink lines it can scrawl. The bonus allows drawing on surfaces one normally would not consider amendable to chalk.


    ¡°This is a pretty common Magic item. Common and nearly worthless, a good trinket to buy for a child. I assume you found it?¡±


    Grunt smiled and shook his head, then rubbed his fingers together. He then produced a handful of them, but picked a pure white one out. He tapped a finger on it.


    ¡°Fine. I''m guessing +5.¡±


    Endless Chalk +5.


    Magic Item.


    Purple.


    This piece of chalk has no finite limit to the amount of startling white lines it can draw. The bonus improves writing and drawing speed and allows one to write and draw on surfaces that one normally would not consider amendable to chalk, as well as erase words written on said surface.


    Leigue laughed a little in triumph. ¡°An epic item that I could buy off an adventurer for 10 essence.¡±


    Grunt sneered, and with a wave of his hand displayed his status screen in the open.


    Grunt Slabthrust ¨C Level 15 Heavy (2) (+12)/ Level 10 Basher (3) (+25)


    Cons: Deep Green ¨C A brute unable to leverage his considerable strength to his advantage, anyone with a touch of agility and the endurance to whittle him down will have no issues what so ever. His history is about what you would expect looking at him.


    Thug ¡ú Heavy


    Core Traits: Big Guy, Knuckle Dusting


    Core Powers: Size ++, Con++


    High Skills: Intimidate 32, Clubs 25, Fortitude 24, Dodge 5, Reading 2


    ¡°That''s abysmal.¡± The elf said, then stopped. ¡°An embarrassing... Wait. Reading isn''t a skill.¡±


    Grunt was grinning like crazy. ¡°No, it''s not. Speed Reading is. Literacy is. But Reading isn''t a skill.¡±


    Grunt took the Plus Five Chalk in one hand, using a damp paper towel in the other to wipe Reading off his list and then draw in the same pristine lettering ''Literacy 2''.


    ¡°Okay, and your levels are fake? It should put Basher first as your highest tier. Well shit, that makes me feel a lot less confident about my profiles.¡±


    Grunt shrugged, then pointed at his eye, and pushed the screen right up in the elf''s face. He tapped Core Powers, then pointed at the ++s.


    ¡°Oh! I see. You didn''t draw them perfectly. It''s also not a perfect match for the color.¡±


    Spears picked up a blue piece of chalk and looked at it, then looked at Grunt. Corvayne saw and felt something like suspicion through [[Unity]], a flavor he linked with the face of a man on TV. She was feeling ''My wife didn''t crash my car'' very strongly in Grunt''s direction. Then there was a sharp spike of ''You son of a bitch!'' which was also the next face the man had.


    She started to stand up and point, crying out ¡°Oh my god, you!!!¡± and Grunt grabbed her watery hand put a finger to her mouth, and gestured with a sharp side toss of his head. They stepped away from the table. Corvayne gathered his chalk back into a bag and stored it.


    Bell nudged Corvayne. ¡°Do we need to check in?¡±


    ¡°I don''t think it''s that much of a deal to hide your stats. I''ll talk to her later about it.¡± He got that he was missing something, but he didn''t sense hostility. ¡°Anyway, if I could get someone to get that sort of sight, what would be the type of base class best suited for it?¡±


    ¡°Bard or Researcher, maybe Arcane Engraver as your Tier 1 job if you need to get Mana Sight as a trait and evolve it to see essence. Again, the problem is that essence doesn''t interact with anything. People have tried. Large groups will sometimes dust off the research they did a long time ago with a new item and set of ideals and powers to aim for, and gave up. The tools for seeing it are cheap.¡±


    So was the chalk. At least, it was before Grunt showed the elf how it was supposed to be used. Corvayne looked around for Mister I. ¡°Okay. Find me an Engraver. Can you barter for a tool that will let her see it here?¡±


    The elf smirked and produced a monocle. ¡°I tried to do what you are doing, and it might be satisfying to see if your plan to do the impossible.¡±


    ¡°We level someone up while watching differences in essence flowing with normal kills. Then I''ll show them a way to get slightly more essence. If possible, find someone who''s not squeamish.¡±


    Leigue stood up. ¡°Squeamish? Are you going to operate on them?¡±


    ¡°No, but I might need to show them something gruesome.¡± Corvayne tapped the table. ¡°Can you find me an Arms Caller, but uh, not the golden princess if at all possible.¡±


    ¡°Planning to become a magician?¡±


    ¡°Lady Blood Claw I think was showing me evolutions of my class. The system thinks I can go that way, and I can anticipate what the other two she showed were doing, but I want to ask them about that class.¡±


    ¡°It is your choice, prince Watcher. But the pickings may be slim.¡± He stood up and in a few steps faded into the seemingly normal sized tavern around them. Corvayne got the next round of drinks for Spears and Bell, picking something fruity for his absent girlfriend and getting Bell an expensive wine.


    Bell and Spears pick showed up to the table not long after Corvayne returned. She looked to be packing a lot of cybernetic enhancements, with some obvious engineering tricks to pull energy from vibrant blue jewels she had exposed where she didn''t have chrome armor. She looked like a soldier and gave Bell a smart salute. Given the large rifle on her back, it suggested to Corvanye that Bell wanted to see what a fully all-in gun build might look like.


    Lady Blood Claw looked up and smiled. ¡°At ease. Sit and take a drink while we ready up. How long is your tour?¡±


    ¡°Five Floors Two bosses. Just like nature intended.¡±


    Spears returned next, sitting next to Corvayne. She had a far-away look on her face, watery eyes looking up at the rafters holding the ceiling up. Not that Corvayne could follow them to a wall half the time, so perhaps they were just decorative rafters.


    Mister I showed up with a robed older man who was tugging his beard. He gave them all an eyebrow, but said nothing. Corvayne guessed that it was either a master cultivator or Mister I had gotten scammed. Only one way to find out.


    The soldier woman broke out a deck of cards and Corvanye joined in. The catch was that Lady Blood Claw told everyone to use whatever means they could to cheat without getting caught, so Corvayne abused compass to check hands, Lady Blood Claw seemed to also be marking cards with fairy fire based on her eyes, Mister I seemed to just have excellent luck, and the soldier had a cybernetic eye and was counting cards, possibly marking them with her fingers as Corvayne was pretty sure they smelled a little like vinegar when he handled them.


    Leigue came back. He had two figures and they cut quite the difference. First was the rune carver. A skinny girl wearing what looked like torn clothes. Her skin was a bright red, and her eyes were black with glowing blue irises. The red skin had white spots were scars had happened, and Corvayne suspected it wasn''t because she was in a bar fight. She was missing an arm, the stump bloody and wrapped up in cloth. Her demonic features included a thin tail, it''s end clipped off.  Corvanye couldn''t imagine her being older then 15.


    Peshe ¨C Level 1 Rune Carver (1) / Level 5 Slave (0) (Free, Cannot level this class)


    Cons: Extremely Green ¨C Low levels, limited skills, and no powers combine to make her incredibly weak. As part of a slave caravan that wandered into an unknown portal, Peshe was meant to be sold to a mages guild. Her escape left her stuck on floor 5 with no money.


    Core Traits: Mana Sight, Call of Freedom.


    Core Powers: None


    Artifacts: Steelheart Bloodline 0/3, Fortunes Fool 0/3.


    Notes: 5 Unspent stat points.


    Notes: 5 Unspent skill points.


    Notes: 1 Unspent Feat ((error, need initialization data, pending admin review))


    Notes: 5 Unspent Talent points. ((error, need initialization data, poor connection to ????))


    Condition: Starving, Poisoned, Bleeding, Mana Sickness


    High Skills: Fortitude 10, Stealth 7, Daggers 6, Survival 4, Dodge 3.


    ¡°Leigue, a word.¡± Corvayne gestured the elf to come over, and internally winced when the girl cringed.


    ¡°Young prince, I am sorry! There were no other choices.¡±


    ¡°No, I don''t care you brought the gold princess. I knew as soon as I saw her she''d become my problem in some way. I want to ask you, and please be honest, how long has an escaped slave girl been sitting at a table slowly dying?¡±


    ¡°As long as you sit down, it will keep you alive. Someone gave her good advice. She is useless however, and most people looking for mercs will not pull useless people, and REALLY wont pull someone who is a level 1 crafter on deaths door.¡± He took a cigarette out. ¡°The answer of course is five minutes. If you cannot help her, I will risk Falenti''s wrath and drop my contract.¡±


    Corvayne felt a spike of feral fear coming from the girl as Mister I approached, and so he used [[Unity]] to help offload some of that fear until Mend kicked in. Mister I guided the girl to the table, his eyes stern. He strode to the bar, and returned with soup.


    A shrill voice asked ¡°You dare address her before me?¡±


    Corvayne shifted his attention to Buh''Bo Truegold, the Arms Caller. He gestured for an open chair with Bell as a buffer between her and the crying girl nearly trying to swallow a bowl of soup whole. Despite the difference in attitude, Corvayne felt more fear and anxiety from Babs. He saw that yes, for as impressive as her tier was he got the distinct feeling she was young. Kind of reminded him of Nyxion and Bell rolled together. He liked Bell, and so at least would throw the woman before him a rope.


    She stared at Corvayne, and he opened [[Unity]] passively to feel horror and embarrassment as she realized that he wasn''t going to stand, bow, scrape, or do anything but placidly wait for her to sit at his command.


    ¡°I want to greet both of you. My name is Corvayne. I am looking to hire assistance on the boss and next five floors, as well as the floor 10 boss. I don''t need the help to actually slay two bosses, but because I have questions about classes and you two are going to be compensated well to answer them. After we are done... we can discuss what you want to do.¡±


    He looked at the wounded girl first, and he tried not to smile or frown. Neutral. Boring. Dependable. He could feel distrust. ¡°I''m going to be developing what might be a new class. New, as in the system requirements may never have been met. A class we suspect exists.¡±


    The starving girl shrank in her chair. He kept going, steady. Dependable. ¡°This will not require you to do anything painful, but you might have to watch something violent with a magic item on to try and upgrade your current trait. If we fail or even if we succeed, you are free to hitch a ride with us back to our home, or return to your world with payment for your assistance. 20 gold even if you say no, right now. 400 green essence crystals no matter if you pass or fail to manifest what we are looking for after the next few floors.¡±


    He turned to Babs. ¡°I wanted to know more about your class, as it may be an evolution and I don''t have access to fancy books covering Tier 5. I''m going to offer you 200 green essence crystals after the first boss provided you show off your class skills, and this if during the next 5 floors you give me a run down of how your class is intended to work.¡± He produced a black shard, and clamped an arm on it when she nearly jumped across the table at it.


    ¡°Oh! YES! My fortune is coming back! Hmm. I will accept your offer. But be warned, crossing me is an affront to the heavens, and I bear the seal of one of the great floor 80 clans.¡± For all her bluster, there was denial and fear. Frustration too. She was angry at him, herself, and the bar. Probably the universe.


    Bell squeezed Corvayne''s leg under the table, pushing a little bit of mental support through the link.


    ¡°I suspect, Buh''Bo, that you are currently having difficulties. Perhaps dwindling funds and frustrating encounters with people who are unaware of your potential? Let me be clear. I am employing you. If you need the money I am offering, of which my down payment will be generous, then all you need to do is give me information on your class. I don''t care about if you think you are better then anyone, nor your secret bloodlines, nor anything past tier 5. If anything about Arms Caller itself is a trade secret not worth the black shard, then stand up and walk away. I can try again on floor 10.¡±


    He sat back, and saw that just about all the girls at the table were focused on him like a hawk. He pushed embarrassment down.


    ¡°This will require some meandering. We will compensate you for each day spent with 100 green crystals. This rate seems fair for experts on this floor. If it not sufficient, we will go looking for allies again.¡±


    The old man Mister I had found raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Corvayne really wasn''t sure if the guy could talk. Maybe playing dumb to avoid giving away he was clueless? It did at least make him seem mysterious and wise. He then coughed. ¡°A suitable sum for drinking while working incognito. I will instruct your uncle then. If I need to step in to save you all, it will be a days wages per blow.¡±


    ¡°Fine, but that''s only if we call for your help Mr. Oseem. Start trying to rack up free money by claiming we are threatened by goblins and the deal is off.¡± Corvayne had a window telling him the guy''s name as he started to speak and manged to make it seem smooth.


    The cyborg saluted. ¡°Yes sir Corvayne.¡±


    Preshe nodded. ¡°I... I accept. But-¡±


    Corvayne held up a hand. ¡°I am aware of your classes, levels, and skills. I trust my agent who found you of your potential.¡±


    He inwardly made a note that he would have to see about running the tower a few times just to help people stuck on floor 5 out. He recalled Grunt helping the miners out, and shot a small smile at his friend, then turned to the last member of the table.


    The gold mage started speaking. ¡°If you expect me to submit to your humiliating terms-¡±


    Corvayne waited her out. He had read her tirade before, and heard parts of it from Bell. A lot of it was how powerful a Tier 5 was on this floor. He waited for her to say ''If you knew who I was'' which was close enough.


    ¡°Do you have a lot of money right now? Do you have any allies? Do you have more allies then enemies?¡±


    She was silent, staring daggers at him. The fear in her was now boiling rage. Corvayne folded his hands, and suddenly he knew who he was emulating. Wasn''t this what was across from him at the dinner table every night as a Watcher? Or even the council meetings. But he wouldn''t be cruel. [[Understanding]] and his own experience wouldn''t let him.


    ¡°I''m offering you something too. Someday, you intend to retake your kingdom, correct? You need help. To get that help, you need to decide, in the next minute, if you are going to continue be the princess that lost it, or the queen who can take it back.¡±


    She covered her face. ¡°You fiend! You know I have no choice but to accept. Know this, even as you take me as your third wife, I will not passively-¡±


    Corvayne bolted out of his chair. ¡°Stop right now. That was not a proposal.¡±


    She sniffed, but Corvayne was getting alarming feelings from [[Unity]]. ¡°You are a prince. There''s only one way princes make queens. And I will resist you every step of the way.¡±


    Fuck fuck fuck abort abort. Bell! Corvayne looked over at his backup. She wasn''t paying attention? How? Spears, on the other hand, looked amused.


    ¡°Okay. Resist away. I''m not actually royalty. I will make you a leader, then break our engagement when you fall in love with my handsome right hand man.¡±


    Grunt started acting bashful. Corvayne cleared his throat. ¡°Other right hand man.¡±


    Grunt nodded, and mimed floating and sticking his chin up.


    Buh''Bo wasn''t paying attention to Grunt and jutted her gold chin up. ¡°I doubt you-¡±


    ¡°He is the heir to an empire that was taken by a man who killed his grandfather and father and has sworn revenge.¡±


    Her hands broke splinters off the table, one of them shooting out to shake his. ¡°Don''t get angry when you fall for me and lose me and him at the same time!¡±


    Mister I''s eyes were twinkling. He felt through unity pride in him, which was as embarrassing as nearly getting engaged. What was with princesses and him?


    Corvayne shrugged. Nyx was either going to love him or kill him for this.

 Chapter 210: I Will Just Go Ahead and Make My Own Class.

    Stepping up to the Boss Floor, Corvayne walked out ahead of the group onto what looked like a large grassy arena under bright blue skies. It was a vast plain ahead of him as he stepped up stone steps. There were pillars scattered on the flat surface, and he saw that the plateu was about a mile wide. There were pits in the grassy surface, so possibly a monster that could burrow, or something arial given the size of the arena.


    Corvayne was sticking back with Bell to guard Dot and Preshe. That put Spears on point with Grunt, and of course whatever their other team mates were going to do. Ayame, the cyborg with a sharpshooter class, had her gun out and ready. It was an impressive looking weapon, with some clear arcane enhancements and a high tech scope that was plugged into her arm.


    Buh''Bo on the other hand had touched a tattoo and summoned a silver blade, using it to stand while everyone was filing into place. Far in the distance, Corvayne saw two birds flapping in place. Probably about sixty feet across.


    Leigue put a hand over his shades, clearly not enjoying the wide open space and bright light. The elf informant used his other hand to produce a cross bow. Likely a just in case weapon. ¡°Do you want to give them a plus bump or two? Or three. Three our set up is still overkill.¡±


    ¡°That makes it harder? How do I do that.¡±


    He gestured back to the orange door locking them in. In the symbols on the door Corvayne spotted what looked like a plus and minus in the floating spinning patterns, and touching it caused bars to appear.


    ¡°What exactly are the effects?¡±


    ¡°They level the boss up and at three sometimes introduce new complications.¡±


    Corvayne popped them up one. ¡°I don''t want to lose our recruit by overestimating ourselves.¡±


    Bell tapped Corvayne''s shoulder. Buh''Bo started casting a spell, opening a gateway that a jewelled staff came out of. She touched the staff, then seemed to suck it into her hand.


    Corvayne strode over as she started casting another spell, this time summoning a shield. Once complete, he cleared his throat.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I want to know what you are doing.¡±


    ¡°All right. My previous class summoned animated weapons made out of magic items. Pay attention now, the bound history of me and the weapon brings out it''s spirit, letting me manifest it as a power I can add to my own. My jeweled staff is imbued with thunder, so I will blast anything I strike or what strikes me with terrible thunder. My shield makes me tough enough that on top of other talents I am nearly completely safe from low level enemies.¡±


    ¡°Okay. How well does it absorb falls?¡± Asked both as a question he was curious about and because he did not want to dive and try to lift what might be a very heavy young woman up a cliff in the middle of battle.


    ¡°I am not, that will not come up. I am an avatar of poise and grace. Also, I can do this!¡± She summoned what looked like a chandelier and applied something that made Corvayne''s skin itch without burning it.


    ¡°You can give other people the effects then?¡±


    ¡°Well, I have one that is able to form one an aura via [Weapon Pact II]. I use its light to further enhance my rapier on impact.¡± She pulled on the sword handle and it shifted to be a silver Airfoil Rapier. She then cast one more summon, and a dagger popped out that she touched with her rapier then dismissed it.


    ¡°That lets me call a weapon and let it work as a dagger when I need to strike from behind or increase it''s weakness to light and lightning with [Backstab] and [Light Stealer].¡±


    Corvayne''s mind quickly tagged that as an almost 100 percent combo with [Shadow Stealer] but stilled himself. He might not be able to do the variant without badly hurting himself.


    ¡°With higher summoning power I can, of course, pull stronger artifacts I don''t own or enhance the ones I do, which is of course why I become so incredibly powerful using these tools.¡±


    The Cyborg meanwhile had set up a tripod. ¡°Let me know when we are going to pull.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Countdown to five then open fire.¡±


    He quickly used [[Agility]] to dash back to the area near the entrance where the non combatants were. The elder was parked in the back, stroking his beard.


    Preshe was watching him, clearly concerned about what she was supposed to do, and Corvayne handed her the monocle he had gotten from Leigue. ¡°Just watch the enemy, try to use mana sight and essence sight together, but just observe.¡±


    Corvanye was watching as the sniper they hired activated a weapon skill that summoned what looked like four red hot streaks of crackling light around her gun, then drew them in and fired them in a spiraling burst at the bird. They connected and hit a wing, though the monster somehow managed to start spiraling down towards the platform. At the same time, Buh''Bo moved forward, casting a spell that called forth a spirit of air.


    Ayame used a skill that made her glow green when reloading, then turned and aimed at the second bird''s wings, blowing a hole in it with a weapon skill that blasted ice out in shards after hitting it. She used a power that made her glow blue.


    ¡°She''s making more mana.¡± Preshe reported from beside them. Corvayne had his own gun out, but with the birds impacting the ground far away and wounded, He wouldn''t shoot from the backline into his allies.


    Buh''Bo basically ran at the bird, just taking a hit to connect with the Airfoil Rapier. The blade seemed to be a possible upgrade because it caused her to blur into multiple images as well. Two barrages of attacks with barely a scratch on her, and the bird fell in a heap. Corvayne saw why the System had tagged her. She had incredible defense and obviously had arms that would make wearing them down tough, but he was sure she''d lose if they fought. Poor footwork, didn''t try to evade... well maybe she was showing off. Still, bad habits.


    Ayame fired once more, this time with a shot that left what look like curling particles at the start and end of the shot. She started packing up her gun as Corvayne blinked and was falling through his Mindscape.


    ¡°Oh neat.¡±


    It had been a while since he was here, though he didn''t think it was a lack of power to spend. Like many things in the tower it felt fickle. Perhaps it was because he had been hemming and hawing about what to spend his next set of power on.


    Hitting the stonework feet first for once, he stood and saw the towering lightning spirit rather then it sneaking up on him.


    ¡°SOON¡± it bellowed. What it was, or why it was in his mind was anyone''s guess. He did check what the gateway that changed was, and saw it was magnifying glass again. Identify would have helped him out so much in the past, but he had his plan and was sticking to it.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Strolling up to Growl-Whine he waved. The hooded figure of the spider, somewhat humanoid but still marked by glowing red eyes under the hood waved back.


    ¡°Death did not stop you. I would say it was a stupid death, but the foolish woman you fought should have died a dozen times. Now, what do you seek?¡±


    ¡°How far can I create and raise [Essence]?¡±


    The figure thought about it. ¡°Twenty levels.¡±


    ¡°Give me 10. Can I make an Organization pact, then boost Unity to 10 and Growth to 7 then?¡±


    It did what looked like Corvayne some counting on it''s fingers. ¡°You would be able to push growth to 9. The system likes round numbers more, but it is something.¡±


    He stepped up the pillar that controlled his pacts, and touched it. The connection he felt seemed to strengthen, strands of something flinging out like a web for a moment, visible as a faint glow that brightened as the rest of his mindscape fell away.


    He woke up aware of where everyone else in the party was and stood back up. Grunt had opened the chest for them and doled out items. Corvayne thought about clothes and fished in his ring for one of the maiden dresses, then did some quick tricks with Lythandies powers to shorten it a little before handing it to Preshe. Bell helped her put it on, as they hadn''t been able to heal her arm.


    There was a blue item, a slingshot that let the user fling ice balls. Corvayne collected some potions and money, then handed out crystals for the first leg of their trip.


    ¡°Anyone out?¡± He asked, and Dot shook her head, which was about how much feedback he actually wanted. He walked towards the end of the arena and saw a twisting stairway heading up into the clouds and one that started down to the ground. He started up to the next floor.


    Floor six was a bustling city, full of people that seemed to almost be a lesser version of the Tower Folk. Corvayne tried to ask about stairs but just got a canned line from them about ''Welcome to floor 6''. Lady Blood Claw looked the man he was talking to up and down, and tried a different woman in a pink dress who stopped, turned mechanically, and said ''Greetings Hero!''. Most of the people said that, then continued walking the same walk following almost paths through the city.


    The geometry of the buildings that lined twisting roads didn''t make sense either, with almost everything being built out of stark reddish concrete. Curved shapes on some buildings contrasted almost brutalist sharp angles on others. Now and then vast walls of windows revealed clean white interiors full of abstract art. Getting around meant they sometimes had to zig zag back and forth on terraces and ramps and bridges. That looked like buildings but were just walls fooled Corvayne a few times before he started to see the signs of these false intruders on the stony skyline. Sometimes nonsense pillars of concrete formed bridges connecting to structures above that they couldn''t possibly support. No obvious stairs or method to climb up presented itself, so perhaps there was an elevator. It was stark and the whistling of wind passing through buildings was not diminished by the quiet marching of the oblivious population.


    There were fountains but no stores nor monsters on the outside. Dot tugged his sleeve at one point. ¡°What''s wrong with them?¡± She asked. Corvayne was sure he felt through [[Unity]] new emotions coming forward. A worry that she was like them.


    ¡°They are asleep. Someday, someone will wake them up.¡± He said while looking over the landscape he thought might lead them to a stairway, and nearly fell over from comfort flowing from her. He didn''t think it was profound, but then caught himself. To a tower folk who spent most of their time in a library, it might have been the most vivid moment of being given wisdom they''d ever had.


    Mister I walked over, silent master in tow. ¡°You said there was a plan to get essence?¡±


    ¡°Yes. But we need a monster to eat.¡±


    Corvayne was very proud of the monk that he didn''t look innocently at the blank slate humans just wandering around. Eventually he gave in, using his compass to try to find the up stairs and finding a tall building with glass doors in the otherwise featureless concrete. The interior was full of armored crab-rhinos, slow beasts that tried to ignore attacks and corner and crush him. Aside from a close call of nearly getting pushed out of a building, they found a loose formation with Corvayne at the front let them kite and kill any number of the monsters. Likely the danger with them would be if a party didn''t meticulously kill and clear them out, as he could imagine them crushing people like shambling moving walls.


    Their purple blood meant that the party inadvertently trailed gore everywhere as they climbed the floors, entering fake offices that were empty carpet and triangular structures with glass. A few people were standing there, staring at nothing, alive and breathing but totally empty of anything but the most passive definition of life. The monsters in these twisting offices were something like razor toothed vacuum drones. Leigue informed them they were actually some form of mutated spider, and at a mere level 7 more startling then dangerous for the group. These were stealth predators too, able to find little inlets and shadowy corners to hide and try to strike.


    Buh''Bo summoned weird glowing lights that lived to hit the monsters with a super bright spotlight, washing everything out and blinding the hissing creature so that someone else could stab them or shoot them.


    Corvayne didn''t think they looked edible without a crowbar, which would ruin what he was thinking. The chests on the floor were anemic, mostly containing credits and materials. Corvayne suspected that they had to probably find a way up to get better challenges and rewards, but he wanted a new set of monsters and sent them hiking upstairs, passing out crystals for his hired help. Leigue was the only one who refused it, though Preshe asked him how the crystals compared to copper. Bell stepped in and gave her some pocket change, letting her know the crystals went for more then a gold piece each. That worried the girl a moment but Bell used [[Unity]] and projected protective feelings, and the girl relaxed.


    ¡°Have you ever done that to me?¡±


    Corvayne thought about the question. ¡°In bed? Perhaps.¡±


    Bell gave him a smile that she''d expect a demonstration, but Corvayne was thinking about people like Preshe trapped in one way Towers, or trapped because they didn''t want to go home. Perhaps he''d start running with five and trying to take some of them up and out. That might explain what the Tier 8 who had helped them in Nel''Ferral''s palace had been thinking.


    The next floor was sunny and had red concrete, but instead of a huge infinite city, instead there were vertical tower towns between vast farms, bridged by huge monorails on concrete stilts that seemed to go off into infinity when they were not directed at the capstones of this floor 7: Large industrial and perhaps cultural buildings, marked by ornate windows near the top that must be miles tall that caught light going through the building.


    The soldier used her gun as a binoculars on request, looking into the neat rows of tilled fields for signs of monsters.


    ¡°Found what looks like six legged cat-cows.¡±


    ¡°Are they monsters?¡± He asked, not that he was worried they couldn''t give a farmer fair compensation.


    ¡°They are trampling rows of planted crops and one of them is eyeing the regular cows, so yes.¡±


    ¡°Beef. Perfect. Okay, lets see if we can get her essence sight or manipulation.¡±


    Corvayne readied his spear and dagger, leading the group to a tram service tower along the dirt road to the field.


    ¡°Preshe, you saw essence move from the bird, right?¡±


    She nodded. ¡°It looks like little specs flying over.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Wait here, see if you can spot the difference in essence transferred. Try to ignore any sounds.¡±


    He pulled his pistol and crouched to use the short stone wall to steady his aim, then plinked two shots at the Cat-Cows. The creatures were sleek and fat at the same time, black and white fur covering muscles but contrasting with round faces and utters under them. The pair he had shot came running for him, hissing and mooing.


    Corvayne moved away from the fence, and prepared his kill, using his spear to brain the first monster as it pounced. He had long learned to sidestep and hit heads when fighting cat or wolf like monsters. The second one... he used [Cross Skill: Thresh] to trip it, then steeled himself. It was trying to eat him. Fair was fair. He wasn''t the Raven.


    Corvayne removed the fur from a part of the monster''s leg, using his boot to keep it from scratching him with it''s hoof-claws. He pulled the fire breathing dagger and blasted one of the monster''s legs. He drank a potion he hoped was actually fire resistance and not just COOL MINT HEAT GUARD energy drink, then grabbed the steaming leg and bit into the living creature.


    Corvayne was glad that it was gross and painful, but forced himself to chew the only partially cooked monster and swallow. He checked to make sure Preshe was watching, then did it one more time before killing the creature. Mister I rushed over to him to treat his burns. Then past him, because of course with two dead cows, one already started, it was time to barbecue.


    Preshe came up to him. ¡°I saw a difference. The little chunks you took was brighter then the rest of the monster. It glowed stronger.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Wait here, I''m going to get one more and want you to try something.¡±


    He had to spend a few minutes to find a beast that hadn''t been spooked by the shots. He clipped a leg, but the five others let it quickly move to try to catch him. This time he used [Cross Skill: Nerve Pinch] to knock it out. He grabbed some rope and tied it up, then motioned for Preshe to come over.


    He leaned over it, and putting a hand on it''s flank tried [[Essence]]. The glow she had been talking about overlapped his vision. He gently tugged at some of the cow-cat''s essence, pulling from it''s leg. He swore a few motes drifted into his hand as he willed them in, but they were sticky. Even concentrating he wouldn''t be able to just drain the monster dry.


    He thought about activating [[Essence]] and [[Unity]] together.


    ¡°I want you to try touching the monster and drawing that light in. If it wakes up, I''ll pin it and finish it off.¡±


    The girl nodded. When she neared, still trying to keep her balance while using her hand to pull the hem of the too large dress above the uneven gravel road, Corvayne felt through the bond she felt somewhat safe because so far his requests had been very reasonable. He felt a little guilty, as Mend and [[Unity]] probably were doing a lot of work. She was under mend and that tended to take the edge off negative emotions.


    She slowed near the monster, and Corvayne put his spear over the monster''s head. ¡°Touch it''s trussed legs. Try to draw them in.¡±


    When she touched it, she actually first tried to pull her hand away. Corvayne knew that broke the connection, but she tried again while pressed on the monster''s leg.


    ¡°Do it a few times, tell me when you get tired or draw in some motes.¡±


    She was diligent, though she looked longingly at the cooking monsters just down the road once. ¡°We''ll be done by the time we are ready to eat.¡±


    He felt his control of [[Unity]] and [[Essence]] straining a minute after that, and said. ¡°Enough.¡± before dropping them. He wondered if they ran off mana, since he wasn''t tired. ¡°Were you able to move them?¡±


    She nodded, eyes seeking approval. He wasn''t sure if he could force the system to give her a skill in essence manipulation, but on the other hand he had done something that a system specialist had said was impossible by touching the strands in the first place. He owed the Dust-Man some lemonade it seemed. Sour Sprig? Sour Springs.


    He smiled at his charge. ¡°Great! Cmon. You need that beef more then Mister I does. Those big monsters taste like caramel steaks.¡±


    She ran off and he killed the monster and started dragging it to the fire. Three might be too much, but Grunt could probably eat two on his own.

 Chapter 211: Wrong Place, Wrong Time

    Corvayne did his best to be patient, holding a mountain of bags, boxes, and a few folded coats that blocked his view of the mall. His shadow hands had helped him hold the bundle, but Bell had insisted he not store it as punishment. It wasn''t that he cared about being used as a mule, nor did he mind the sore muscles with [[Vitality]] ready to swoop in.


    No, what bothered him was that he could start the process of scouring the market for magic items while the girls helped Preshe get actual clothes and gear. That and how Babs kept trying to extract more money from him. She was sitting on a bench that lined the indoor road through the mall. He could tell she was fidgeting from seeing gold light shifting on the shiny tiled floor. Last he looked, she was on the same bench that Leigue was smoking on.


    Corvayne responded to the huff with his best adult voice. "You have 300 green crystals on you. That''s far more then we are spending to fully equip a girl with rags. You can buy whatever you want."


    "It''s barely enough for good food, let alone replacements for all the important ceremonial robes I lost, not to mention dresses for social situations, and I need to eat a certain amount of gold to maintain this armor. You proposed then cast me into poverty?"


    "Again. When I said turn you into a Queen, I was speaking of personality not geneology. Also, I am not a prince nor some secret young master."


    A laugh from Leigue, whom had become his other shadow. "If you say so, prince."


    "I''ve told you, when you switch languages I hear the same word said a little differently. I know exactly what ''prince'' means in... elf."


    "It is not elvish. Elvish is a language for people with no life. Self huffed up termites who bore into trees. Elvish(1), on the other hand, is a language for people of zest, character. People who want to experience food, experience wine, experience women!"


    Babs sighed again. "We (royal) would prefer you talk about your gross habits to suitably gross people elsewhere."


    Corvayne felt that was weird because aside from not being able to [Investigate] how to get a clean shave, the elf''s faux ''world weary traveler'' outfit was actually impeccably clean and maintained. He would not mention that he could see that his new annoying princess was wearing the same clothes for the last three days and that some of the threads on her ornate robes were frayed. He suspected that someone who lived in her society would identify her clothes as pajamas. He did not ask Leigue to do so, as he worried the elf would take it as interest and push them together.


    Finally, Spears hefted the bags out of his arms, revealing the glass tube the quaint downtown street had been built in. They were still on floor 7, deciding a floor with lots of towns was a chance to take Preshe to an expert who might re-grow her arm. No luck there, but Leigue had stated there was a staff ability that he could learn that had a healing effect. He and Bell were going to try to learn it, at the urging of the elf that Bell was radiating life energy and that the stave was a better combat weapon for someone who could use the wide variety of life channeling weapons and skills in the category.


    "Can''t I get a life gun?"


    "Silly. What would that be? A rifle that shoots healing potions? You''d do more damage then aid."


    Corvayne didn''t say anything, but an intrusive thought of an older woman with one came into his head. Since upping [[Unity]] and [[Essence]] a couple of days ago, he sometimes had odd thoughts bubble up.


    They followed pedestrian walkways to get a better view of a glass and sleek steel city, something that in real life would likely be left on the drafting table, but could exist in the Tower because as far as everyone understood the floors came into being and regrew as a sort of infinate organic space. He wasn''t sure he wanted to know everything about the nuts and bolts like Wick had, but he did enjoy leaving a tube and looking over railing at a vast shining city with clean lines for roads and oranges and reds and yellows on buildings mixed blues and chrome for the structures supporting them, with green patches here and there. A place to explore.


    Or shop, as he saw Mister I and Grunt carrying extra fishing poles, a bunch of basic weapons, and some spare art and crafting supplies, as well as a few weapons and magic items.


    Spears turned him around to see Bell letting Preshe show off a haircut, and new well made cloth clothes with a leather vest and padding on her pants, as well as new boots. They had bought her a pair of gloves and tied the current spare to her belt, a sort of promise. She looked embarassed, but Corvayne tried to be supportive. "I think you look like a very dilligent apprentice. Don''t be embarrassed, we''ll find you appealing banana pants soon enough."


    She groaned and buried her face with her arm and stump, while spears laughed and elbowed him. Dad jokes delivered, they were ready to head to the meet up point.


    Dot found them on the cross street through the mall. She had also been shopping, and was slightly more embarassed to be wearing pants. "Do I have to?"


    "The robes you had were not meant for running or climbing." He said simply. "And I need clothes that will help protect you a little bit before we get proper armor."


    The Cyborg Ayame, no relation to the noodle vendor on Cascadia, saluted, and Corvayne saluted back as they walked into the train station. He did a quick check:


    Grunt, looming over a soda machine that ate his change? Check


    Mister I, currently chewing on a kebob and sporting a camo pattern robe? Check.


    Oseem, looking mysterious as he stood rubbing his beard where he could get good dramatic lighting contrasting the shadowed bushes behind him? Check.


    Spears, wearing for some reason a pink bikini under her leather coat and currently accessorizing with an extra large straw stuck into her head surrounded by fruit she put into her hair? Check.


    Bell, who seemed to be looking fondly at Corvayne and glaring at the next person on the list? Check.


    Buh''Bo, still clad in gold and trying to get his attention to ask for more money? Check.


    Leigue, sporting a new baret and cigarette case he was trying to show off? Check.


    Lady Blood Claw, still peachy in some of her extremities, trying to ignore him while studying a station map? Check.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    Preshe, using her one hand to feel her new haircut and horn polish? Check.


    Dot, reading a book with LBC using one hand to make sure she didn''t walk in front of the train coming? Check.


    Corvayne himself? Yep. More present then ever. He stepped onto the tram, aimed at a distant mountain.


    A few of them napped on the monorail. The nice part of an inhabited planet was they knew were stairs were, and were happy to help adventurers passing through find them. Especially since they had taken and completed a quest to help thin the Cow-Cats by ten. Mister I had at some point picked up an enchanted cooler and was therefor carrying a ton of monster meat with him.


    They reached the mountain well after nightfall, but there were bright lights and concrete pavement to get them from the station to the nearby town on the slope or up to a cave that was marked with glowing orange signs that were a clear homage to the systems own warnings.


    Grunt and Lady Blood Claw were up at the front, letting Corvayne take the middle and most of the mercs the rear.


    The next floor was in it''s day cycle, looking to be a more natural floor, appearing to be broad mountains flanking a plain split in two by a vast crevice that had strange plants growing out of it, ones that looked tropical or had odd slime shapes. It looked like some of the trees in that crack were-


    Corvayne felt his danger sense go off like a hot knife on his back, [[Unity]] giving him a direction some sort of attack was coming from, and he turned and grabbed Preshe and Dot, flattening them under his cloak and activating [[Vitality]]. A moment later three bolts the size of his arm slammed into his back, one slamming into the stone going all the way through his arm. The one in his lung made his next breath jarringly painful, but he used his good arm and crouched, then grabbed the two weakest party members with extra limbs and charged past Bu''Boh, who had a patch of missing gold, and Ayame, who taken a body hit but had some sort of reactive skin that stopped it besides a little blood out of her mouth.


    Dot had frozen and Preshe was screaming, but he set them down around a corner in the stairs, then turned and started running up. Leigue was alive, as info scrolled by.


    Bounty Hunter (4) Lv 50 (Archer build)


    Bounty Hunter (4) Lv 50 (Archer build)


    Manslayer (5) Lv 50 (Stalker build)


    Blood ''Priest'' (3) Lv 23 (Blood, Xokai %%%%%)


    Battle Beast (4) Lv 42 (Engager)


    Anti Mage (5) Lv 30 (Disruption)


    ??? (6) Lv 6? (???)


    Health warnings: Bell 45%, Mister I: 56%, Corvayne 78%.


    He could see that Bell was pinned to the ground, bolt going through her armor and certainly spearing her guts. Corvayne pulled the bolt out and gave her a healing potion while pushing some of his [[Vitality]] with [[Unity]], then had to pull her into a roll as another bolt came flying in.


    Bell got up, guts not entirely in her but looking for the enemy. Another bolt aimed at her head, from one of the mountains. There was something like a dust cloud then, and he saw


    Bounty Hunter (4) Lv 50 (Archer Build) Defeated.


    A wall of water rose and then turned to fog. Spears laughed as a bolt flew right through her.


    Corvayne called out. "Spears find the stalker. I''ll handle the Anti Mage." [[Unity]] kicked in. Bell moved back and pulled out a shield, then rushed to Mister I who had taken another bolt in his leg.


    Babs was buffing herself still. Corvayne watched another arrow hit her, creating a fleshy spot. "Buff us and get to cover!"


    He didn''t get pushback, instead she swiftly changed the cast to be a group shield. Corvayne moved then, Compass pointing him to where the anti-mage was hidden.


    Battle Beast (4) Lv 42 (Engager) Defeated.


    Another mushroom cloud of dust, a meteor strike perhaps. Through the fog, Corvayne saw the invisible shape of the man and his stalker pal, moving to pincer him. Corvayne acted like he was going to cut between them, running down a rocky path that was pointed in the direction the sniper had been firing, then as they readied to collide with him he stepped to the one his compass wasn''t pointing at, and used [Juxtapose] to switch places. He felt mana blast off in layers as the mist and whatever buffs the Stalker had were erased by a mace hitting him in the arm.


    Corvayne smiled grimly at the friendly fire, then nearly got his jaw knocked off as the higher level fighter counter attacked. Corvayne landed on his feet as the Stalker faded, the man sneering at him as his black gear faded. The Anti-mage was still invisible, running to get behind and above Corvayne. He spit blood and tracked the Stalker with his eyes while moving his head back and forth, body language trying to sell he was looking for them. The stalker shrank, a crouch, and Corvayne used [Flow-Like-Water] through where the man was jumping at him. He took a knife to the gut but with [[Vitality]] still running he pushed a black crystal out there. The area went numb for a moment then shadows pushed a wad of crystal-blood mush out.


    He had to spin, as the Stalker had landed and drew a wand. He used [Flow-Like-Water] backwards and switched to [[Agility]], flying downhill in an arc of water while a storm of meteors turned the hill into slag.


    Blood Priest (3) Lv 23 Defeated. TRIPLE KILL GRUNT


    The Anti Mage used a power to turn half the hill into mud, so Corvayne lowered his gravity and floated out of his watery retreat upwards for a few extra feet before landing at the edge. He twirled his spear, and made a ''Come to me'' motion.


    They must not have been aware that Grunt had already killed half their team, because the Stalker vanished and Corvayne felt the man moving through his shadow. He flexed his power, and learned something very important about his enemy and himself.


    If he ever got shadow teleport, he must never ever try it on a being who controlled shadows in any way.


    Corvayne turned his shadow into an arm, and somehow warped the space the man was stepping through. The end effect was twisting the would-be killer like a tissue into a croussant. There was a gargled scream then something broke, and the man reformed and dropped to the ground, perfectly fine and striking with knives. Corvayne knew the anti-mage was behind him, and knew the careful attacks were to distract him so his partner could finish him off. He sneered, and used [Cross Skill: Draw], stepping back from the seeking knife and bearing his fangs. [[Unity]] let him know that Bell howled for him, and Mister I was biting raw meat and snarling. He felt extra power pushing into him.


    The Antimage was a step behind him, but he did not dodge. Spears, who had been airborne for the last five seconds landed right on him, [Leap Strike] acting like a water missile. He heard the man she landed on cry in dismay.


    Corvayne was focused only on the prey in front of him as he copied what Growl-Whine had done so many times, activating [Cross Skill: Sway With A Hunters Touch], turning him into a swirling feral serpent as he leapt. Knives barely touched him as he passed his enemy, fang scoring a hit that drew red. He used [Cross Skill: Light Cut] to wheel and nip at his enemy like a wolf sensing his prey was slowing and catching the man''s heel, then turning into a raging bear, using [Cross Skill: One-Two] to batter a knife hand with the crack of bones breaking, then a follow slash up at the man, throwing him into the air like a little rabbit. With stamina he shouldn''t have, he forced himself to rear up to his full height, spear above his head. [Cross Skill: Grand Slam] brought it down like the jaws of a dragon, driving his enemy into the ground. The man started to get up, and Corvayne met his eyes as he used [Cross Skill: Sheath the Life] and put his spear into the ground.


    Before he could touch another knife every hit connected at once into the man, jerking him around. Dark red blood splashed on the grass, rocks, and Corvayne. To the assassin''s credit, he somehow lived past it, getting to his feet before the click of [Sheath the Life] activated, and the man looked down to see his top half sliding off his bottom.


    He met Corvaynes eyes and manged to grunt out. ¡°Level 31 my ass-¡± before the top half toppled over.


    Manslayer (5) Lv 50 Defeated.


    Illuresi Hunt Master (7) Lv 70 Defeated. QUAD KILL GRUNT. ONE MORE!!!!


    Corvayne turned, and saw that Spears had wounded the man but not gone for the kill. [[Unity]] told him to hold off as well. He was confused for a moment, then got what she was thinking. He shook off his bloodlust, and parried a half-hearted warding attack from the man''s mace as he stood. Of course Corvayne would wait. He saw with the invisibility gone that the man was wearing likely several artifacts, and with one he tried to blast Spears with a giant spinal cord out of his back. She dodged it.


    Something appeared over the man. It looked like a little timer counting down. The fellow unrolled a scroll and like that teleport ed 100 feet away, pulling out a trinket he broke. He vanished just before the timer ended, Corvayne''s Compass dropping the target due to range.


    ¡°He got away.¡± Corvayne said, sighing.


    Spears amusement made him look at her. ¡°No. He did not.¡±


    A moment later the fellow appeared where he vanished, then swung back to where he had teleported. The antimage''s last words were ¡°Huh?¡± before Grunt appeared like a bolt of darkness, swinging a huge femur to pound the man into the ground.


    The man exploded in blood, and something tiny made of flesh started trying to crawl into the ground, then a moment later Grunt burst from the earth, punching it into the air with a perfect spiral uppercut that popped whatever the little creature was like a balloon.


    Anti Mage (5) Lv 30 Defeated. GRUNT is on a R R R R RAMPAGE!


    Corvayne felt the tang of danger drop off. [[Unity]] told him everyone was alive, no injuries they couldn''t deal with, and there were only a few tepid spots of killing intent from whatever level 10 monsters they had awakened in blowing up parts of a whole mountain range.


    Spears clapped as Grunt landed and had to skid to a halt from some sort of dreadful momentum. He looked like a hateful blue mirror of the gentle giant wrapped in something like ghosts and stars trailing him as he sort of slid back and forth to bleed off speed before he stopped fully, shrinking and returned to normal colors... if not removing a bunch of assuredly human gore from himself and his weapon.


    Grunt looked at him in a way that asked if he had broken some sort of unspoken rule, perhaps worried that Corvayne would be mad that for a lot of these outings he had been fighting at less then full power. Corvayne thought about it for maybe as long as it took him to jab a spear, the pulled out a gore-only towel and a case of cold beers from his storage ring. He offered the towel then a bottle to Grunt.


    The big man gave him a knowing grin after cleaning his hands and face, and they tapped bottles.


    Corvayne said what Grunt almost assuredly wanted to say. ¡°Good shit brother!¡±

 Chapter 212: Getting What One Needed.

    The amount of stuff they pulled from their would be ambushers would have made the run a resounding success on it''s own. Four storage rings, full of ill gotten gains. Grunt took a few things as the man of the hour, but with the windfall Corvayne was able to give Dot and Preshe defensive enchanted rings, two dumb looking but sturdy magic leather helmets, and boots that improved grace and walking speed, giving grace to Dot and the boost to pace to Preshe, whom sometimes tired at the pace they took. Mister I took one of the blood robes, and Lady Blood Claw took the bone mail, clicking and tightening black ropes.


    "Decent."


    Corvayne collected as many knives as he could, adding poisoned enchanted knives to his collections.


    They went quick through the next few floors, with Corvayne occasionally asking summoning questions to Babs about her weapons, or asking Leigue something regarding armsmasters. He had a feeling that the summoning was important in some way, but the fight with strong enemies showed how important it was to be able to finish fights off one mistake or opening.


    He was pretty sure he wouldn''t get Bab''s class but he felt there was something in having summoning as an option. He might be able to work on his skills, but he''d never be able to level up a seperate class to a respectable level. Lady Blood Claw had leveled up again, and was closing in on 50, while he was still at 31. It meant that he couldn''t expect to get the core traits he needed to use summons directly, as they required support if you were not just summoning decoys. On the other hand, he had saved Bell and possibly given her some sort of life power.


    The group took their time on the floor to heal from crossbow bolts punching through them. Oseem didn''t seem to have any wounds but had been near the back, so he might not have even been in the portal. Corvayne was almost certain he was a fraud but Mister I seemed even more sure he wasn''t, so it was a sort of harmless crystal expense.


    The only question for floor 8 was if they wanted to go through the plant filled crevice. Corvayne voted no for the alien jungle ¨C He didn''t want to accidentally kill his crafters when it was some sort of poison hell.


    They found a stairway near where Grunt had created a crater, and also saw that the Tower was trying to repair a path to get to it. Little flecks of stone were forming a stairway to the square cave on the far high wall of the crater. Corvayne used gravity to climb up and drop a rope, then aided their weaker members by hauling them up with rope.


    Floor nine was a vast and beautiful beach. Corvayne remembered this one. "Every step summons crabs or golems."


    Lady Blood Claw started walking and killing, with Spears following her and Grunt just stomping crabs and exploding golems alike, forming a 20 foot wide path along the beach as sand and shells went flying. Leigue was grabbing blue cores from the golems left and right.


    Corvayne took over for Lady Blood Claw after 15 minutes of non stop swinging of her sword. They ended up blazing a trail of a mile, with what Leigue estimated was 600 golem cores. A small fortune in raw crafting materials and useful for all sorts of animation projects or creating his own golems. He needed to hand those over to Mosh for sure.


    They arrived at a floor 10 full of strange glowing plants in a dark forest. They looked like sea creatures, curved and sprouting little bumps and ridges. The monsters in the floor were glowing goblins, biolumicent orbs that rolled around on the ground and shot lightning, undead that were lit with neon pink, blue, and green fires as they rolled towards the party leaving trails of blazing light, and finally something like a toad that spit up caustic chemicals that erupted into strange colors before exploding in sparks. Mister I had excess ammo he wanted to get rid of and Corvayne as well as Spears were not keen to fight so many monsters that hit weaknesses of theirs. There was a dark spot where the only way to see, even with Corvayne''s near perfect night vision, was to use monster parts to light the way.


    He didn''t bother with those shadowy paths that likely held more treasure, as he had a different goal before they finished the boss and he dispersed most of the mercenaries.


    "Preshe, we''re going to practice again."


    Corvayne used [Cross Skill: Nerve Pinch] on one of the non poisoned throwing knives he had. He noted her interest in how he had put the monster to sleep at range... he did remember she had some skill with knives and that might be what weapon he would start with, if she decided she did want to stick around. He knelt next to her.


    He took a deep breath, then activated [[Unity]] and [[Essence]], putting a hand on her shoulder. She pushed the monocle into place and started working.


    He could see the strands of stars with his eyes, pulling like webs where her fingers touched them. Unlike him, she was able to take a little bit of it as she tugged, holding a bright mote with her hand and somehow sustaining it, then putting it back.


    She pulled another, and this time squeezed after it was away. He saw it flow into her, changing color subtly to match her own as it did.


    "Try to harvest the loose ones now." He drew a dagger and with a spin slammed it into the sleeping goblin''s head. Almost instantly the web of stars broke, a few flinging themselves to him. Preshe tried to grab them with her hand and stuff them under the upper part of her missing arm. A lot of them seemed to float away when she grabbed them.


    Corvayne let his power drop, and saw that Preshe looked worried. He nodded at her. "Don''t get frustrated. We are making progress. Are you okay with trying to learn to do this?"


    He relaxed as he spoke, letting [[Unity]] be open for hints that she was telling him what she thought he wanted to hear. There was a desire to be useful, and a worry that she would be left behind.


    "I will learn it."


    "Do you want to? Is there something you dreamed of doing?"


    She looked down at her hands. "I was born to be a slave sir Corvayne. I envied the free. I... I don''t know what to do. I am happy that you don''t-"


    "Preshe. More then food, or clothes, or a safe place... I''m looking to make sure that you have all that and choices."


    "Sir, forgive me for presuming to know better, but you wished to mold me into your ideal class."


    Corvayne opened [[Unity]] up as he rolled his eyes. "Find the lie: I do not want you to feel you need to become an Essence Master."


    When he looked over he could see she was using the monocle on him. "Sir, it''s faint but I don''t think I see it. What should I look for?"


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Corvayne wondered if this was what Wick and Grunt were dealing with when they picked him up. It suddenly clicked that he was, in some way, constantly trying to do that. He would have to have some serious Mister I time. That, and remind Grunt that he loved the big guy as a brother. Granted, a brother with some pretty big secrets.


    Corvayne pointed to the cavern around them. "I know we are power marching through here-"


    He was interrupted by the retort of a few different rifles going off, and waiting until it was quiet.


    "I know we are in a dangerous place, but do you feel like you are in danger?"


    She shook her head.


    Corvayne nodded. "We are strong, but even with that strength we need more. I have goals I can''t accomplish the way I am. I have to keep improving. But that is separate from Preshe. You are free to ask us to train you in whatever you like, or keep with trying to get a new class, or don''t do anything like that and live a comfortable life, staying with us as long or short as you like."


    "What about Princess Bell and Spears? They didn''t like when Miss Babs asked to join you."


    Corvayne smirked at that. "It''s because she''s annoying and you are not."


    "Sir Corvayne, if I become annoying, please tell me?"


    He considered trying to keep being reassuring, but instead ruffled her hair. "Will do. Now, do you want to try to catch raw power in your hands again?"


    She thought about it and nodded.


    The 10<sup>th</sup> floor didn''t give them an Inn, instead presenting an endless temple. Ayame, the cyborg, sighed. "Not this bullshit again. I''ll be in the boss room."


    She strode out of the quiet gray hallway. Corvayne nudged Bell. "Cmon, I''m going to make offerings to Lythandies, Gygax, and Falenti."


    She sighed and took his elbow. "What about my Sister''s goddess?"


    Corvayne tensed and she laughed and lead him to Lythandies. "I am kidding. Besides, Lythandies should be fine for what I was thinking."


    Lady Blood Claw followed and gave a token bit of black crystal essence, which vanished as it landed on the altar. Corvayne gave them a knife of black crystal each. The larger portions sank into the altar. Bell donated to Lythandies, both a bit of black essence she had not gotten change for, and a handful of seeds made of gold. The offering glowed brightly. Corvayne looked at her.


    "It is not always the value of a gift, but what it signifies in the relationship." She thrust her chin up and smiled, enjoying showing off clearly.


    "Good. I owe a lot to Lythandies."


    Lady Blood Claw was waiting at the dusty shrine to Falenti. Corvayne nodded after making his offering, and LBC nodded back. Spears had wandered off to find a particular altar, as did Babs of all people. Probably a solid gold one.


    Preshe tugged Corvayne''s sleeve.


    "Who shall I worship sir Corvayne? I was not permitted near shrines before." She left unsaid because gods tended to free their worshipers, but with [[Unity]] he got all that.


    "Lythandies is the Goddess who''s helped us a lot. She is about crafting, life, building things, and healing. She saved Bell''s life once, and her gifts helped heal you. We hope she can help you grow a new arm. Gygax is a god who is deeply interested in information and the system. It has been noted that is associated with a game that may have some influence "


    "What about this one?" She pointed at Falenti.


    Corvayne thought about it. "Secrets I think? He hinted at a lot of the things we''re trying to do. It is, I suppose, sort of his meddling that made me ask for a person with mana sight to help me."


    She thought for a moment, then used some of the crystals Corvayne had already given her to donate to the three gods, with a little more to Falenti.


    They moved into the boss room and were greeted with what looked like two giant robotic hands, larger then cars, tapping their huge fingers gently on a battlefield made of some sort of high tech foam. He expected they were loaded with weapons, also the square cubes that were cover made him suspect they would be ranged.


    Leigue pointed to the door. "Go ahead and put this up to the full plus 3."


    "It will add additional powers to the boss?" Corvayne asked.


    "It won''t matter." Leigue said with full confidence. And he was right, wasn''t he?


    "Lady Blood Claw." Corvayne said. "[Sundering Blade]. Left then Right."


    She nodded, casting haste on them. Corvayne turned to Buh''Bo. He paused, realizing that she had it worse then he did regarding names. Scratch that, she could probably change hers. He had some weird connection to his that made him hate it, its nicknames, and somehow picking a different name all together.


    That aside, he cleared his throat and addressed ehr. "Buh''Bo, do you have something you can buff us with to further increase our speed? We just need to get to the monsters and hit twice each."


    She nodded and used her own Airfoil Blade to cast the area buff. "Well then, try to impress me. It won''t work."


    Corvayne looked at Ayame. "If you can use a skill that holds them in a spot for a few seconds, we should be able to kill them both in no time."


    Mister I had pulled his bow out. "I''ll pin them down too!"


    Grunt gave Corvayne a thumbs up, and Spears moved back to where their two or three non combat set up members were.


    Corvayne switched to [[Agility]] and then [[Unity]] to let Lady Blood Claw dip into his speed, before boosting off through the halfway mark of the arena like a rocket. The moment the hands started to move Mister I and Ayame fired, causing them to stop. Good thing too, as they were splitting.


    Corvayne used [Cross Skill: Sundering Strike] as he looped by one hand then hit the other with the same attack, blade shining with red energy as it left rusty gashes in the monsters armor. Lady Blood Claw followed up with an overhand [Sundering Blade], leaving a deep red after trail as her first hit connected, then bouncing off the armor of one hand to land another [Sundering Blade] on the other. A moment later, there were two furious clouds of dust, enveloping both bosses. Corvayne saw the hand split up into fresh groups of five smaller robot fingers but the tornado burned away the metal like a fire slashing through a single sheet of paper. In a moment, both arms were dead.


    He dropped, landed, and bee-lined for his Compass door in his mindscape, waving at Growl-Whine''s fragment and the lightning wraith.


    He woke up before he fell over, and walked over to the treasure chest while fishing up the last crystal payments, including Leigue''s black crystal. The elf offered him a cigarette with a smile. "I have not had this interesting of a job in a long time."


    Grunt just picked up the chest and dumped it into a spare storage ring. Corvayne turned to everyone.


    ¡°Thank you for your assistance. Oseem, I appreciate letting Mister I learn your secrets.¡±


    ¡°Of which, I have many.¡± The elderly man said. Corvayne might have gotten scammed, but Mister I was beaming with excitement to try to harness mystic energy.


    ¡°Ayame. Nice shooting. Thanks for showing me and Bell some new tricks with the rifle.¡±


    She saluted and spun to exit.


    ¡°Babs.¡± He said.


    ¡°You shall address me-¡±


    ¡°Thank you for working with us. I am sure we will meet again.¡±


    He turned to Dot Inkwell. The librarian. ¡°We are going to floor 0, so to speak. We are perfectly happy to have you join us as we prepare to go to the world where we might find your father.¡±


    She nodded. Corvayne got a sense she was a little bit... overloaded with the nuance she would have as an awakened.


    Ah, well. They''d help her a day at a time. On the other side, Preshe looked nervous. ¡°I just follow you?¡±


    ¡°If you trust us, sure. Otherwise, everything you have is yours, money and the items we gifted you. I would like to show you Cascadia and help you with your arm.¡±


    She nodded, and he stepped into the exit and returned to the parking lot of the forest parkland. He turned around and saw, of course, every single ''mercenary'' had followed him out. Even Ayame who had left before him.


    She saluted. ¡°Sir, permission to join up.¡±


    Corvayne waved away the salute. ¡°I''m glad but, why?¡±


    ¡°Payout around you is insane.¡± She said, tapping her cybernetic eye. ¡°These are not cheap.¡±


    ¡°All right. You''ll have to dive to find experts I''m pretty sure, we don''t have too many Cyborgs. We can fix your parts though. Divine power.¡± Maybe Mosh could whip upgrades together for her, but the magical component made Corvayne suspect they would beat home made gear.


    Babs, meanwhile, had rushed a nice looking car that was not theirs. ¡°Ha! Shotgun!¡±


    He pointed at the beat up truck that Mister I drove. She shrieked. ¡°That THING? You ride that?¡±


    Leigue was pulling out a folding bike scrawled with runes with one hand, smoking with the other. ¡°If you don''t always pack transportation, I pity you.¡±


    Note to self: Make packable transportation going forward. ¡°There''s room on the back with Grunt.¡± Corvayne said, which was completely true if they tied a few party members to the roof.


    Oseem stepped out. Corvayne decided to error on the side of caution, bowing. ¡°My respects elder, but our contract is over. Do you wish me to direct you to the nearest portal, or are you going to continue to train Mister I pro bono?¡±


    The man laughed. ¡°Icarriii is a shining star talent. Once in a hundred years of looking. But no, I can see karma is drawing me here. This is the place I should go to find something... interesting to me.¡±


    Still no evidence he was for real. But if he was a fraud? He was an exceptional liar to himself as well.


    Dot looked overwhelmed. Perhaps some sort of jet-lag living at sped up time and dropping back down to the real world.


    Preshe moved to stand next to Corvayne, looking at the tree covered hills and sun rays peeking through the rain clouds. It made him feel like he had done something right.


    ¡°Let''s get you home.¡±

 Chapter 213: Turning Leaves

    Corvayne breathed in, steam filling his nose and mouth both with blessed heat and the smell of cooked meat, simmering gravy, and the wine he had put into it. The kitchen window looked back on a few trees that had changed from green to a cheery mix of yellows, oranges, and reds as the temperature had begun dipping. From what Mister I told him, July is when you started to get cold days, and August would likely bring the first snows, even if it didn''t stick around. Corvayne was glad that he had picked cooking as a hobby to try to force downtime on himself, given the kitchen was the warmest room in the house. Even so, he still had on a thick black sweater and was wearing the Jam Jammies, the jelly filled pants generating it''s own warmth. He and the artifact had come to an agreement that let him shift them to something that looked like normal black pants when he wasn''t fighting. He of course wore his spear behind his brown apron''s straps. Even if it was weird, he was a warrior, and it felt like... a part of him.


    A warrior who was almost done with a titanic engineering project. The Bourguignon was almost done, thanks to the instructions of a long fallen cooking master. He gave a little warrior''s salute to Julia before turning the heat down. Movement behind him proved to be a flash of silver hair as Lady Blood Claw was looking in to see if the meal was ready.


    "It''s almost ready." He said, looking back to see brown and white dots flickering across gray skin. He wasn''t sure if hunger was really an emotion but it was on the list of skin colors he knew. "Can you ask Preshe to help set the table?"


    Lady Blood Claw gave a curt nod, then turned and like a weapon master asking him to strike a dummy 100 times, bellowed. "Prii! Help set the table. They are your friends." Corvayne kept a firm lid on his own thoughts about who was more excited.


    Corvayne could hear the girl coming down the stairs and she came into the kitchen and opened the non magical silverware drawer, for a moment looking then picking up the entire tray of silverware. "Sorry. Was picking my outfit out."


    Corvayne couldn''t really tell what was ''cool'' regarding fashion, but to him they just looked like her normal clothes. She did seem to favor black and brown colors for some reason. "Are you going to be cold with short sleeves?"


    She smiled shyly as she balanced the drawer against her while holding up her wood prosthetic, wiggling the fingers. "Half and half. Also we were going to go in after dinner to study."


    Corvayne turned. "Hmm. Just studying?"


    She spun away with a bounce. Corvayne nodded at Lady Blood Claw who was grabbing a stack of the fall placemats that Bell had picked out. She stopped. "You could ask Spears to bump the temperature up."


    "She likes it cooler, and Bell keeps buying me sweaters and scarves." He felt two tugs in [[Unity]] as he thought about them. One upstairs, the other distant but coming closer as Bell no doubt was riding back from her duties in Nel''Ferral''s capital.


    Corvayne could somewhat gauge how close they were with his developing domain over the house, and also felt three somewhat familiar and two familiar blips stepping onto the lawn. Corvayne reached behind himself and used [Cross Skill: Shadow Step] (with not a drop of snarling beast energy to avoid damaging the hardwood floors) to reach the door, then decided to step over to the picture window.


    He opened it to see a view of the suburban street, houses and gutters alike clad in wet leaves from trees that were just saplings the last time he had visited. The street lights and driveway lights outside hadn''t started coming on yet even though it looked dark out because of the clouds. He only took in the gray sky for a moment before looking down at four teenage girls and one ''thing'' that looked like a teenage elf with red eyes getting out of a bright red minivan. He waved to the mom driving, Grace? Grace, Beth''s mom, spotted him and waved and gave a thumbs up. Big difference from the first time Preshe had tried to invite the girls over for Tower time. He guessed from the happy chattering the game they had watched went well for their school.


    Beth herself had the tennis bag she stored her mace in slung over her shoulder, which made Corvayne smile inwardly. ''Just studying'' indeed. He was always happy to see Preshe trying to sneak anything past him. He saw that Gee and Bree, two girls whom he suspected had longer names he had never heard spoken, were also packing equipment for delving. Or maybe one was going to help him chop vegetables and the other was just a casual fan of the child wizard movies.


    Hylal hopped out of the car and thanked Grace for the ride or was just waving her arms around. She was still dressed for summer with vibrant colors, likely due to the elemental spirits she kept as company. [[Understanding]] hitting 20 had a prounced effect that humanized her, so she looked less like like an upright bird and more like a girl who had a little parrot on her grandfather''s side.


    The last girl slid out of the car and looked bored and slightly under dressed as well, pale bare arms exposed to the air. Many of the students at the school assumed she was some sort of elven cosplayer and mocked her, which she dutifly ignored for the the one week it lasted. As the so-called ''System Apocolypse'' started to happen there was a shift, as did the company she kept.


    Levels mattered, and while Hylal was the highest level person they could scan, Gylwin''s status was a whole lot of question marks. Corvayne, knowing what to look for, caught little red eyes opening on the sides of her bare arms, scanning for trouble. The spider had offered to become Preshe''s bodyguard and, Corvayne suspected, secretly was enjoying going to school under the guise of being a normal girl. She said it was for ''cover'' and ''to protect Hylal'' that she went to the game... but she was also finishing a paper plate of nachos off. He felt his eyes narrow: he had worked on dinner for about four hours. She had better be hungry.


    Still, Bell appreciated her extending protection to her daughter. Argyle was the only person who might be a match for Hylal that he knew of, but Baron L''Tideru would eventually stop being busy with the unrest and changes the portals opening had caused. Not to mention Goule. Both Wick and Gylwin were fairly sure the man had agents on Cascadia. Wick had isolated herself in Old Town and had Grunt with her to ensure that anyone who recognized the wayward princess didn''t report anything, but Corvayne was worried that someone would figure out that something was up with a group of high school girls who were leveling way too fast, even with chalk''d statuses. There was a chance someone on floor 90 in a golden palace was scrying with compass level 10 for an essence class to develop and would try to swoop in with elites.


    He opened the door, banishing his worries and producing six signed black and white pictures of Seru giving a thumbs up. Hylal lead the way in, ignore the pictures. "Hi Corvayne-Dad!" She chirped, tossing her gym bag into her storage ring by hurling it at the coat rack.


    Beth gave him a nod as she walked in, faint limp only barely registering to Corvayne. "Hello Mr. Corvayne." He handed her the signed picture. "Oh, tell Seru I love her videos! You are cool in them too."


    [[Unity]] and [[Understanding]] added the teenagers unspoken ''Cool for a dad'' for him. Which confused him, because he wasn''t a dad. It might have been the sweater and apron.


    "I reported to her that she had fans. If you want, I could ask her to go on a run with you girls." He did not mention that Seru would have had them in videos already if Corvayne hadn''t requested that they play it cool with her newfound celebrity status. Corvayne himself was not used to people he didn''t know calling his name out. Preshe stood out enough without being linked to Seru''s rising star.


    "Oh that would be sooooo cool! You''re the best!" [[Understanding]] was doing work to translate a piece of slang he did not get, as the Cascadian was something like ''that''s a sopping wet deal'' and ''you are the cheese on the burger''. He appreciated that due to the pact, it made a lot of the heavy lifting for Preshe catching up in school work and learning the language trivial.


    Corvayne nodded. "Thank you Bree. If you want to pick a seat at the table, dinner will be ready soon."


    He handed one of Seru''s signed pictures to Gee, who just nodded. She looked back to look at Gylwin, probably unaware that the elf friend she had a secret crush on was a shape-shifting psychic spider and almost certainly knew even if she didn''t tap into her own [[Unity]] powers. To be fair to Gee, her feelings were positively wholesome compared to the time that Corvayne went to a game and [[Unity]] picked up on what the boys looking at the high level spider felt.


    Gylwin hadn''t commented on Gee trying to figure out how to build the system-visible piety with Falenti. Seru had mentioned her deal offhand in a video, and since then Gee had a few times asked him or Lady Blood Claw about the Inn. Gylwin, thankfully, seemed to push them away from going to where they could accidentally talk to gods. For now.


    The third of the ''regular'' girls, Bree, had d20 earrings and was wearing a jean jacket over black, traditional Gygaxian clothes. He had picked up from her own thoughts on the outfit that it had marked her as a former social exile. Seru had, without actually knowing it, helped flip her to being suddenly trendy as ''DnD core'' became a popular style, with lots of black clothes, torn jean jackets, felt capes, and black eye shadow. Not to mention the sudden upsurge of everyday folks using medieval weapons. Bree wore absolutely the least goofy outfit she could that still announced to everyone that she lived in a house where dice came first.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    He handed her three of the signed pictures, knowing two would go to her parents and one would be reluctantly hung up in her room. The smile she gave him was genuine, as he had introduced her to Mosh and Mister I.


    She looked to see that Beth''s mom had pulled away before taking out her wooden seed necklace and made a little shield out of a paperclip, a small prayer gesture to a goddess of creation. While he was almost dead certain that Gygax cosmically was in some sort of alliance with the other god, her parents were dead certain that it was taboo. He had a feeling that Bree was getting closer to sitting her parents down and facing their wrath, especially since sooner or later the trick with chalk on status would leak. Not from Seru at least. When she thought something was better not said, she could be as tight lipped as Grunt.


    He did not mention to her that through the short status screens everyone who stepped onto his lawng go, he saw she somehow was earning triple favor with Lythandies, Gygax, and Falenti all at once. Nor did he state his thoughts that her parents would likely support her finding her own way in life. That was her journey to go on.


    Gylwin was last in line, the titanically powerful Astral Stalker nodding at Corvayne as she stepped into the house. The way she navigated to the dining room and turned to line up with the door was a hint that she might have extra limbs that [[Understanding]] had smoothed over. The moment a real threat showed up, she''d have to drop the illusion she was just Preshe''s... pal? Cousin? The spider liked to flex sometimes with it''s combined psionic powers, [[Unity]] and [[Understanding]] to combine to what Corvayne dubbed [[[Total Bullshit]]] which made everyone just nod along when she changed her cover story.


    That and people were finding you had a sort of twitchy feeling when you were close to someone who had a level vastly beyond yours, which possibly meant the few people suspicious of her quickly stopped asking questions.


    With everyone settling in for dinner, Corvayne dished out bowls of the stew and a slice of homemade bread, also pulling out mashed potatoes and rice. Spears came down to the kitchen in a sweater and jeans and gave Corvayne an unusually chaste kiss before sitting down. She was wearing a silver necklace they had found on a ten floor ''date night'' run.


    Bell walked in the door as Corvayne put her bowl down, and he moved from the dining room to give her a big hug. He was struck by how chilly her rainproof jacket was. The princess returned a kiss then hung her things up on physical pegs next to the Tower entrance door to let them dry.


    "Did the shields not work?"


    "Had to run to the store." She smiled then sniffed the air. A hint of her old haughtiness in her voice came back. "A meal fit for a queen?"


    "Or Lady Blood Claw requesting something difficult and me figuring we had guests." Corvayne said, walking with her to sit. He did stop to put a chunk of cooked meat in Mr. Squigglesworth''s bowl, drawing the floating squid away from the kitchen where he had been begging scraps for the last two hours. He had noted that the monster seemed to be getting bigger and had command of more then a few words. On the other hand, he was a good boy.


    The girls talked about the game while they ate, and how happy they were the school had cut back hours and days temporarily while they started trying to figure out how to deal with the rapid changes to society Tower portals opening up all over brought. Corvayne didn''t mention he had a request from the principal to become a Tower PE teacher two days a week to try to give kids who wanted to Delve a practical skill set. Any reservations he had about giving teenagers the tools to fire off magical attacks would be hypocritical.


    He had work to do on the curses. The last month was progress, with his percentage now down to single digits, and he wanted to have a breakthrough. While scouting Pine Bay West High for a genius might help the organization, they were more likely in the Tower. It was time to look ahead at a longer excursion to bump levels, upgrade his pacts, and push for new unlocked way stones so they could delve deeper. So they had places they could run, if need be.


    Corvayne didn''t make it much of a secret that he was working on building a home inside the Tower so he could spend a seventh of the time sleeping and speed up his time spent crafting. Some of the portals that were easy to get to and had more normal level 1 monsters and terrain had folks who had started creating hotels and study cafes to let people compress their time in the ''real world'' or ''floor 0''.


    His almost laughably easy slime Tower was something he''d probably one day give over to the public, as the slimes inside could be safely fought and defeated by a healthy five year old bare-handed. He knew this because his neighbors had asked him if they could get their kid levels for the safety hp gave them. After the third kid under 10 was able to kick the slime once to kill it, he figured he might as well prep the fourth kid for having pugilist or monk.


    He was pretty sure that Lady Blood Claw was going to have the girls do a little studying then hit a 15 or 20<sup>th</sup> floor for more combat practice and to keep working on their levels. Their real levels, not the Warrior 13s or Rouge 10s their status said.


    Beth ¨C Level 52 Mace Warrior (2)/Level 30 Former Cheerleader (1)


    Gee ¨C Level 51 Rouge (2)/Level 5 Initiate of Secrets (2)


    Bree - Level 51 Acolyte of Lythandies (2)/ Level 15 Healer (1)


    Corvayne had been told by Leigue that Argyle had gained a few levels to hit 56 while not running around trying to build his own organization. Months ago learning the time monks level had still seemed so impressive. That number nearly doubled Corvayne''s own level 31 and level 1 to 3 subjobs, which advanced at a glacial pace even when they dipped their toes into hunting on level 30. He wasn''t sure what Alienist was or wanted him to do to level either, but it wasn''t killing dinosaurs that spit lava. He was having to shift sideways to keep growing, and he really needed to figure out how to undo whatever essence removing curse he was under.


    Preshe followed him into the Kitchen as he went to pull desert out of the fridge. Nothing fancy, just store bought pudding mixed in with the raisin sized fruits from a monster plant that was like butter made of chocolate. He handed her the dish and went to get bowls and clean spoons. Hobbies like his cooking had become more important to him because they were a few more easy points to wear away at his curse integrity score, and because Preshe''s missing arm had made it hard to find active things to do to include her in his daily training. At her request he had worked with her for an hour then an hour and a half in the morning learning to fight and move, from the get-go giving her a carved wooden prosthetic weight to make sure she learned proper balance for when they had a real one grafted. The arm she had now she had carved herself.


    Corvayne had felt proud of her, a new feeling, a weird sort of giddy joy seeing her carve her own articulated wood arm and ask Lady Blood Claw to help enchant it. It couldn''t hold much weight, but it put some of the skills she had picked up when she was forced into rune carving and applied them to something that didn''t trigger memories of her past life. Seeing her make friends and talk about founding what looked like the beginnings of a club for their school, perhaps her own guild.


    The only problem he saw was that while Beth, Gee, and Bree all had passed his tests to trust them with part of Preshe''s secrets, using misdirection to give Gylwin credit as well, he was also sure the moment that more people knew what her real class was and what it could do, the quiet days they were having now would be over. Wick had plans for the girl and for Corvayne to get and train them a second essence specialist, as well as figure out how to craft essence manipulation into an item.


    Corvayne had argued against the itemization, firmly, on the basis that his [Pacts] gave them a monopoly and an advantage. They both had the same information that their new high level allies had brought with them about the high tower, and additional questions about groups who had worked with powerful beings slumming it on the low floors to level their toddlers. The numbers told him that while they advanced quickly because of having incredible gear and the money to hire exceptional mercenaries, some of whom drank potions to drop back down to level 1 to avoid splitting essence too much... the accelerated time table for three months was something like level 1 to level 40, with most of the groups settling into a super monster dense floor 11 and camping on the stairway.


    Three months in the Tower killing nearly non stop. No breaks to go on a jog around the block. No breaks to play Frisbee with the pet squid. No breaks for Spears to show the girl how to hunt. To go to school with a spider bodyguard. To make friends with a cheerleader who badly broke her leg, a girl who had trouble talking, and a girl shunned for dressing old fashioned. They were not taking a break exploring or looking at treasure with Bell and Hylal in the tower. They didn''t spend time fishing with Mister I on weekends. They didn''t go shopping for gifts with Seru. They didn''t get ''the Talk'' with Hylal from a trio of embarrassed adults. They didn''t go out to the garage and ask if they could help with wood working, or help get the rooms in the Tower itself set up. They didn''t take a break to wake up crying in the middle of the night and have Corvayne make them hot coco and they didn''t sit by the space heater with a blanket wrapped around them just listening to old stories about him and Spears, newer ones about Bell, nor exhaust themselves to get carried upstairs by LBC after they had both calmed her down. They didn''t talk to Wick about what she did when the bad times came. They didn''t go on a long hike with Hari gently filling in the silence with nature. They didn''t stop after their first kill to cheer and maybe throw up because it was gross killing a furry slug. Nor did they have to get Brines to help convince their friends parents to let them go into the Tower together. They didn''t make their own arm, go to the desert to have Mosh fit a new one, have Gary try to get them into anime, or have movie night with Grunt, or beg Corvayne to ride the trains all around Cascadia, looking at the lights. None of them had those ''delays'' stopping them. The best they could do was level 40, maybe twenty in a subjob if they had a hunting ground that made questing for it trivial.


    Oh, and three months without a multi-hundredth level bodyguard in the party dividing their gains.


    Corvayne rubbed some dust out of his eyes, then looked at the most recent Identification, one not hidden in chalk marks to make it seem she was a shield fighter. He still didn''t get why it threw his name after hers either. But the numbers he saw both gave him pride in how she had embraced her class, and also cold fear.


    Preshe Corvayne Level 134 Essence Mage (4)/Level 98 Paladin of Lythandies (3) %%%%


    Cons: Yellow. A high level crafter with a solid all rounder subjob and lots of levels and stats, her youth and lack of skills means most foes would find themselves in draw against her. A former slave who''s family passed away, Preshe is adjusting to her new family and trying to find her place in the world, while worried her new happiness might not last.


    Self appointed status message: Remind dad friends are coming over. Study for finals before winter break. Start brainstorming tier 5.


    Essence apprentice ¡ú Essence Shaper ¡ú Essence Foci ¡ú Essence Mage


    Core Traits: Call of Freedom, Essence Vision*, Essence manipulation, Atmosphere Draw, Essence crafting.


    Core Powers: Fate Resistance, Obfuscation+++, Essence Share +


    Artifacts: Steelhart Bloodline 1/3, Fortunes Fool 1/3.


    Notes: 4 Unspent stat points.


    Notes: 4 Unspent skill points.


    Notes: 232 unspent talent points (((((Adjustments needed. Please do not spend more then 51 talent points until further notice ¨C admin))))


    Notes: 48 Unspent feats


    Condition: Well Fed.


    High Skills: Essence Shaping 58, Shield 45, One handed swords 35, Dodge 32, Wood Working 25


    She didn''t notice he was staring off into space and had started to help clear the dishes without being asked. Good kid. Corvayne stood up and told her and her friends to let him and Spears and Bell take care of cleanup. They had Gylwin and Lady Blood Claw with them, so he was sure they''d be safe. They had gone in without him a few times before.


    A thought, not one he was proud of, came to mind. If he trained other essence users, then it reduced the chance that eventually, when the other shoe fell, they would go for the easy one.


    He didn''t like that. He wanted to say it was a Nyx thought, but he had been thinking about his father for some reason a lot lately. His father. Curses. Spears before and after. Diamond, possibly sitting above his house on the glittering new moon over Cascadia. No healer, not Mosh nor one he found with Tier 8 classes, could touch the curses. The Magus had demolished the Pilgrim''s society. What other monsters were out there, willing to do whatever it took to gain a few more levels?


    He looked at his home, a little cold but warm where it counted. He looked at the fuzzy slippers he had been wearing all day. Thought about things worth fighting for.


    A spear moves forward. Corvayne picked up his phone and made a call he had been avoiding for... months. A call he more or less fought a war to avoid.


    ¡°Wick? I''m ready to talk.¡±

 Chapter 214: The Bigger Man

    Corvayne parked in Mister I''s garage, not wanted to get soaked by near freezing rain. Spears had thought that funny he called it freezing out, given it was high 40s. As if that was a temperature that didn''t cause hypothermia.


    The rec center hadn''t changed much, though Corvayne noted that it looked like a fresh coat of paint had went onto everything on the ground floor. One of Mister I''s fishing buddies waved at Corvayne as he passed, and Corvayne gave the older man a friendly wave.


    The smiling monk wasn''t far behind and wrapped Corvayne in a hug.


    "How are you? How''s Preshe and your three wives doing?"


    Corvayne laughed a little. "Bell''s trying to get her sister, I mean, getting Tutu to pick up more of the slack... with the emperor and her brother bumping up their constitutions she wants to stop spending the Teru empire''s budget on us. Which is fine, because Spears is sick of the two of them."


    Mister I rubbed his chin. "It''s likely harder then you think. Any emperor blessed with a sharp mind would see that even without their bloodline''s magic power, Bell has excelled in the new world we find ourselves in. If I sat on that throne I would read the winds and tie her up to someone who will ensure the empire snatches the treasures of the world awakening."


    Corvayne met his gaze and frowned, and the Monk chuckled while holding his hands up. "Banish your thoughts of betrayal! I and him likely are both thinking of you, of course."


    "Bell doesn''t bring it up much, I think she is worried about changing the dynamic we have..." He had thought about trying to talk to her and Spears about the next steps, including kids, and even if Bell was okay with a future where he was with both them.


    Mister I hummed. "I worry not if she would take you. She would. However, you live the life of an adventurer, and her goal is to save her homeland. Would you be able to settle down? Not simply finding a good home and making it yours. Taking on the duties of an emperor means you cannot wake and decide what you wish to do for the day. I am usually careful to not give unasked for advice but do not put your foot into the swamp of politics until you are forced to."


    "I love Bell." Which was pushing the clock back.


    "Then if you don''t want to be an emperor, you need to find some way to help Princess Bellithica replace her faded empire''s old claim to power. The trouble on Tripic means they have some time."


    Mister I gestured towards a second gymnasium that he had never been in. He had thought there was only one, but Mister I explained the other was mostly used for storage. He was pretty sure there had only been one. Just like he had been sure there were not gargoyles all over Old Town before.


    "What''s going on in Tripic? That''s the collective and Wick''s homeworld, right?" He did not follow the news outside of local events, and even then it was mostly to pick up if something changed so he could react quicker.


    "Capital, but yes. The one that is split up into strips of city. They are calling this the great emptying. What''s a little danger when you can find a place where you are not a cog in the machine? A lot of people relied on money and fear keeping those cogs going forever. That isn''t including the danger of a population who suddenly has magic they were keeping for themselves."


    He could agree with that. The girls came back from their field trip just shy of level 60. Theoretically, they were as strong as Argyle was. Or stronger... they had 0 unspent stat points. Or weaker, because they were not fighers and killers. Not if he could help it.


    Corvayne opened the door to the second gym and saw that the stage was lit up. "If I had the option to walk into the Tower and vanish when everyone in my village hated me? I would have left and burned every bridge." He felt his mouth curl into a frown. "I''d probably never have heard Spear''s perspective if I did that."


    "You must find the good in the bad, and turn misfortune into fortune, even if sometimes those are hard lessons! I am proud of you Corvayne, the man you are today is better then before."


    "I''m stronger but Icarriii, it feels like I''m spending a lot more time worrying-"


    The monk slapped him on the back and laughed. "You know why." Then stepped back and closed the doors, leaving him in the darkened gym. Corvayne walked over to the chair located near the back wall, and sat, facing the orange-brown wood stage. Once he was settled, Wick came out of a side wing with a folding chair and sat down.


    There was a moment of quiet. With his sharp eyes, Corvayne could see she looked the same as always, though clearly wearing a shield belt and subtle padding that suggested armor under her clothes. [[Unity]] was nearly barren at this distance, but Wick''s strong emotions under her block gave him the faint scent of fear and paranoia, yet a tendril of appreciation and affection threaded to him. He sent guarded good will back, knowing she was uncomfortable with anything more.


    He picked up his phone and dialed her, then let a shadow hand hold it for him so he could let his hands sit. He saw Wick smirked at the casual use of his power.


    "Good to see you again." She said. He scratchy voice had a hint of regal delivery to it as well. His absence had been good for their Gestalt even if had been terrible for him.


    "Wick. Ana." Corvayne said, giving her a nod. "Sorry for bothering you, but I''ve been thinking about your request for more essence specialists." Ones who were not Preshe.


    "We will talk business. We need to talk business to someone who isn''t dealing with that golden brat. We want to know how you are doing."


    He was pretty sure she knew, because he had asked Bell and Spears to fill her in. Lady Blood Claw, oddly, was prickly about Wick in a way his girlfriends were not. He figured though that of the women he lived with, the two openly talking to her would fill her in.


    "Well, Preshe''s friends came over last night and are advancing faster then I thought possible. We also are going to push to have a habitat inside the Tower door... Spears is really excited for winter and Bell is trying to get her sister to take over more of the work she does. Winter break is coming up and Mosh thinks we can fit her hand maybe in two weeks."


    Wick''s eyes had less bags under them from this far away, he noted. She sounded less... insane then she had. "Hah. We asked about YOU and it''s all about your family."


    "I would say my girlfriends and my right hand woman and Preshe."


    "We missed listening to you reject reality. No. We are asking, are you doing better? After us... we put you through hell."


    Corvayne felt his eyes start to narrow and stopped himself from going down that road. He might not like Ana, but he had loved Wick. No, he still loved her, even if it was tainted by hurt.


    "You did what you have to do to survive, and after retreating for a while I''ve managed to find a good place. That''s why I''m here. I want to make sure we have a few folks that can boost essence."


    Wick nodded. "I know you are trying not to say it, but... yes. Ones who are not your daughter."


    Corvayne felt himself stiffen a little at that. "You mean Preshe. I don''t want to make her feel obligated-"


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Corvayne, I''m going to record this and play this for you when she gets her first boyfriend and you are spitting mad so you can remind yourself it''s just some-"


    Corvayne felt himself get mad at the thought. "I would not be upset she found companionship! I just don''t... I... I don''t want her to feel trapped!"


    Wick leaned back and Corvayne could hear ''trapped'' bounce around the empty space. Wick pretended not to hear the last part. "I can imagine it now! You would be sitting in your recliner with some poor level 10 kid sitting on the sofa, giving him your usual easter island face and your shadow hands would be sharpening a knife while you ask him how school is going. You know what? Let''s look at this a different way. You''ve spent a lot of time helping people since we split."


    She stopped whatever smart ass comment she was about to add, and looked at him, lifting her glasses. It was weird now to see her without them.


    Wick took a deep breath. "Wick/I doesn''t regret loving you." Her posture shifts a little, straighter. It''s not easy to see all the way across the gym, even with his sharp eyes. "Ana/She understands better now." "How we treated you poorly when you were with us, and how we ended up leaving you alone... We are sorry."


    [[Understanding]] and [[Growth]] and [[Unity]] combine, and looking at this woman, once his lover, and her posture, he starts drawing lines between him and her and everyone in his mind. It felt to Corvayne like something is going to burst as he finally gets it.


    He had been helping people because Wick had taken him in. She had known him in her past lives, often as her jailer. She told him that he had killed her before yet still helped him. Yes, he was always going to be hurt by her rejection. However, he also thought about how Wick hadn''t held their cold war against Preshe when the girl needed someone who could share some of the pain of having broken parts that needed fixing.


    "Apology accepted. I forgive you." He felt he meant it, and maybe he hadn''t been ready to in the past, he wouldn''t have meant it three months ago. But he did. He had moved on, and if not family ever again, Wick was his friend and ally.


    [0%]


    He felt like air all the sudden. Weight fell away as if he had opened his eyes for the first time.


    "Wick, I just hit Zero percent-"


    The good feeling of floating suddenly felt like he was in free fall as something else started to give.


    "Wick? I need you to rewind me onto my bike, two minutes before I sat down or so. I think I''m about to nova again."


    She was about to make a comment, and [[Unity]] was sure the comment would be bathroom related, but she somehow understood he was afraid of blowing something up and she stood and gestured at him, casting a spell in a flash. A second later he felt time magic jerk him, and the dark brown auditorium was replaced by gray and rainy Old Town a few steps from his ride. Corvayne felt the sloshing inside of his soul growing, and shifted to [[Vitality]] then [[Agility]] then [[Strength]] as he got onto the bike and kicked it into high speed, not bothering to get fully airborne. He skimmed the top of a parked car shooting sparks and breaking the back window as he half rolled into the turn around a drab brown building for the bay. He could feel chains inside of him snapping, then Adept power surging into his triangle, a wall of power that was tipping him back and forth internally.


    [You have overcome the trial of: System Breaker!][This trial was completed by weakening it''s structure.]


    [Reward: Improved Adept powers, including Pacts.]


    [Next Trial: Blunted Edge][Integrety 35%][Learn 5 new weapon skills].


    Corvayne would have thought that was neat but he was pushing the bike over the ocean and starting to sprout black crystals. His shadow hand, still holding his phone, reminded him to keep talking. "Wick, I''m going to have a crystal blowout. I''m aiming for the sandbar north of Crater Bay. Tell Spears and Bell and LBC. See if Mosh can get going now to keep me alive."


    "Shit! You fucking serious? You had better fucking call them and tell them it''s not our fault, or we are going to have three women trying to kill us."


    Why three again? Spikes of black material thrust out of his arm and he stored the phone before it could get destroyed, then started cycling again as he aimed his bike for the mess of sandbars. He dropped it onto the sand with a skid. Nobody else was out in the driving rain and choppy seas thankfully. He still ran as fast as he could, boots pounding on wet sand as he aimed for a rock jutting from the sandy extension of land.


    A moment later he exploded and forced himself into [[Vitality]] as spikes started flying out of him like bullets, faster and faster. He forced the triangle despite not wanting to switch off [[Vitality]]. A spear moves forward. [[Agility]] brought white hot pain and barely pushed the ocean of power back. [[Strength]]. It wasn''t fast enough.


    [[Vitality]]. [[Agility]]. [[Strength]]. [[Growth]].


    [[Vitality]]. [[Agility]]. [[Strength]]. [[Understanding]]. He felt the adept power starting to fill into his pacts even as shards erupted from every part of his body, searing twisting pain causing him to writhe and cry out. [[Growth]]. He could feel the blockages in his soul, knives unable to cut and going around the vines. [[Unity]]. He saw connections and had to force knives to not follow them, instead swirling back to erupt in the opposite directions.


    [[Tower]] showed him, for a moment, the great rifts as black spires leading up into the sky. Some of them contained glowing orange lights, little torches in the distance that were friends. Some of them he had never met before.


    He cycled pacts, then hit [[Love]] and saw starry eyes. He saw lightning, burning and destroying as it endlessly hunted. He saw his friends, then a stern face not far from his own, reflected as a ghost in glass looking out at rainbow clouds swirling under pink moons. A flash of silver and...


    He managed to push back to [[Vitality]] before everything went black.


    <hr>


    Meanwhile:


    A black hand, almost rubbery and brimming with green energy, wiggles it''s fingers then reveals a teacup, filled with steaming chocolate milk.


    The Magus took a sip then surveyed the edge of a crater he was perched on . Reality around him had been told that it''s air and has normal gravity, so... the cup is steaming rather then floating away in little blobs. Besides that, the normally gray moons dust is a nice pinkish color. To the Magus''s mind, pink is a cute color so that''s a good state for it to be in! It''s contrasting with the black of space off to the sides.


    He feels something give as he''s sipping his tea, sort of like a string just got cut. One of his curses breaking, not the first time he''s felt that. Usually it means someone died.


    Instead of a sharp tug as it brought a little, currently useless, essence back, the string kept giving though, sort of like a cartoon where someone throws a weight attached to a rope off a building and the rope keeps going! He checked his feet, no rope! Very good. It would be embarrassing if he fell off his perch. A big curse going down at first fills him with satisfaction, not that anyone would ever see his smile. The flickering pink moon was empty after all, and his mask''s upturned face was always smiling.


    The satisfaction turns sour when he realizes, first, that the thread of power had little side thorns... this was someone with lots of curses, and the fact only one snapped...


    "Uh oh! Oopsie!" The Magus said, letting his teacup float as he examined the curse that had broken, unseen hands and his useless real ones playing with the thread. What was this one? Why was it so long? It was... System something or other...


    The curse of making up new curses every other year was that he sometimes forgot what ones he had already placed, especially if they were his enemies.


    Perhaps curses breaking was what woke him a few months ago from a sound sleep! Little ones were just a blip, but this had felt like something big emptying out... and this matched the taste of his other curse so maybe this little thread had been a big tree at one point. When did he curse a tree? No. Tree sized. A thread the width of a planet! Attention time! The Magus pulled out a little flute and played it to signal a few minutes of focus, then paid attention to the System. The dust around him had faded to crimson, which made a nice contrast to the bright blue screens the System let him have.


    Lots of exp notices for killing monsters and a few sentient beings! Bye! Doesn''t matter. No level ups.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 99.0385%">[74 messages deleted]</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Hmm. Here it is. Curse of the system? Restored functions? Repairing connections?


    Wait. When he was imprisoned... he had carved several thousand boosters and burned them on a curse that bound the system, crippling the Watchers and the Pilgrims who depended on the functions he had sealed to advance. The thing was overkill, because it had hit everything in the universe. He had expected from burning untold monuments that it would last millions of years, yet looking now, he sees that it had started falling apart rapidly a few months ago.


    His enemies would be strong again? In the past he had rightfully worried, but... now? He had a foe somewhere that had overcome his curse. There was someone out there who could possibly face him! He grabbed his floating teacup which was spraying chocolate ice over the moon and refilled it with plasma chocolate, mixed the ice back in, and downed it in one gulp. Who DID he curse again? He managed to slip quite a few out of the containment as practice. Lots of little ones that did boring things like attempt to give the immortal it was on cancer over and over. Well, he''d just have to look.


    Attention time was running out, and he shivered at the boredom he was about to subject himself to before he kept going.


    The system coming back on line certainly meant the Watchers might actually attack for once. GOOD. It possibly meant he''d have to take a break from testing potential super cities to see if they were Babel material. FINE. He could have sniffed out whatever dark hole they were hiding in, if he WANTED to. If he FELT like it. He didn''t. He didn''t want to follow the boring threads that had been there for tens of thousands of years. There was the one that was drying up... going, going gone!


    No matter! He could make the boring search fun! He had plenty of time, after all. He tossed his teacup onto the lunar surface, kicking up a little dust that was shimmering yellow and white it was bathed in light that normally signified a sunrise.


    "You hear THAT? World? There''s finally a real challenge! Woo hoo! Adventure!"


    He looked up a the city-world opposite his perch on the moon, currently blooming with explosions as his meteors landed on the brightest clusters of lights that had wrapped around the planet. Each EXPERTLY placed meteor would turn thousands of miles of surface and miles deep stacked city into miles deep piles of magma and rubble that would wash over the rest of the world like magma. He waited a few moments for shields, or a counter attack, or am escape fleet. Hmm. Nada.


    Once more, he told the system to do away with all his new notifications that stated ''1 experience point awarded''.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 99.0385%">


    [1.6 Trillion messages deleted]


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    He had a feeling, the sort of weird passing ones he had where he thought about what other people thought, that given how the world was leaking magma into space, whomever was down there might not be watching the moon, but he waved anyway. "Sorry to half-ass it, I have to go now. I have a new friend to seek out. We are going to have so much FUN!!!"

 Chapter 215: So Thats What They Do.

    There''s a golden girl crying, and Corvayne sees himself as a boy sitting with her. She just keeps saying ''Mom...'' and crying.


    From his perspective, he sees Spears-Like-Water peeking in, her form shifting as if she''s not used to holding herself together. A solid hand takes her, gleaming in the light from the torches around camp.


    ''Come on.'' Diamonds-in-Passing says. ''I''ll come back and get them dinner.'' The glass-like woman looks back, then leads her liquid charge over to where a Mantis is tending the fire.


    Corvayne sees the starry eyed girl then at the fire, and she motions for him to join her. He can feel it''s a dream, but even being aware of it his mind fills in sensations like the night being cool, the sound of streams, the still intact structures on the high plains. The bark on the log is rough, there''s the scent of smoke with a bit of the onion in the stew, and he can see the stars and two moons overhead.


    "Was this real? Or am I mixing up where I was on Nel''Ferral with the past?"


    The girl sighs, shifting her red and orange and yellow dress and shimmering gray hair as she blinks. Her skin is green, the texture reminding him of something like a billion pine needles. She smells like pine and clean air, asserting itself over other scents of camp in a moment. Is the smell fresh rain?


    She speaks quietly, as if not to disturb the scene they are in. "It is real, but its the past. As his hold over you lessens, it shakes things loose."


    "I''ve been doing a poor job trying to find you, but I remembered you asked. Sorry. Are you with the Watchers?"


    She leans over and whispers, and it''s the flapping wings of ten million fireflies. "There is no simple answer. The parts are together but apart. The long road has made us all weary. If you want to rest on my lap, do so. I have waited ages for you, and I will wait more. When you are ready, when you are free... find me."


    He lets her hand, cold, guide him to her dress, and he starts falling, falling through leaves, and through branches and bays and into endless clouds.


    Corvayne drops through the gray into deepening dark, where thunder lights up all around him as he drifts into his mindscape, trailing black shards as pain for a moment intrudes then vanishes. Colors start to seep into his endless fall as clouds made of red and blue and purple streak past. The storm is bigger then before, winds carrying shards of broken thorns.


    The space in his mind is still islands divided by black thorns, with stone-henge like gates in formations around the islands, some of them wrapped in thorns and closed, though there''s a disconnect in his head because they also look like empty arches sometimes too. There''s a bridge to a massive gate in the middle, choked in thorns that he suspects would kill him. He falls to the same island he always drops onto, stonework bathed in the tri-colored light of the storm.


    He lands on his feet and sees the lightning wraith before him. It stands nearly twenty feet tall now, forcing him to look up at the creature to even see hints of it''s metallic face plate.


    It looks down on him. "VERY GOOD."


    He waits a little for it to fly off, but instead it stares. Probably. There''s no face, just patterns of metal and lightning. "I AM COMING, BUT CAN AID YOU UNTIL THEN."


    It is still generating heat in his mindscape that makes him uncomfortable to stand near, but he''s not picky.


    "What sort of aid?" He glances over to the massive gate that was past the adept gate, still covered in reams of thorns.


    "THE CURSES CAN BE WEAKENED. AWAKENING HELPS. BECOME THE SUBJECT OF OR CREATE A GREAT WORK OF ART. OR DO NOT. THERE ARE MANY PATHS."


    That''s when it flies off, leaving Corvayne''s mindscape quiet as the noise of energy fades to the low rumble of a storm. He decides to walk to Gylwin, now a robed elf. She looks like her real life disguise but a little taller and older. For some reason, he recognizes that she is beautiful but he doesn''t feel anything looking at her.


    She bows slightly, her voice fuller then her teenage form. "Greetings, Adept Corvayne. It seems turmoil has brought you here again."


    "I see bridges, but I''m confused why I''m here. I shouldn''t have much spare essence."


    "It''s already soaked in. I am starting to think we don''t understand exactly what happened to you when those curses bound you."


    "Book Binder after Wick." Corvayne was calm now but knew he''d probably be out of commission for a while. Mister I had, after all, shown him video of shards of black crystal erupting from his skull. It made him feel less bad for how terribly torn up his memory was.


    Gylwin, whom he still wanted to call ''Growl-Whine'' sometimes, summoned a blue box and flipped it to him.


    "This should help somewhat, at least."


    TRIALS / CURSES:


    [Nameless] [100%]


    [Exiled One] [100%]


    [Past Lock] [66%]


    [Essence Suppression] [80%]


    [Twisted Race] [7 Left]


    [Wanderer] [0% Portals left, Extra Condition not met]


    [Trial Giver I: Nameless] [324 Names]


    [Trial Giver II: Exiled One] [3/5 Left]


    [Dust Midas II] [52W] [604800]


    [Blunted Edge] [5 More]


    [System Breaker: Complete. You survived despite weakening the system around you (Range modifier: Infinite). With all the power you bound released, you have been pushed to have increased affinity with both the Universes systems and the alien ones you''ve grasped from would-be invaders.]


    [Mind Lock: Complete. You have survived and thrived for the duration of the curse while ''unawakened'' This trial awards you enhanced extra senses and a bonus to your overall luck.]


    [Night Blind: Complete. You have spent a significant time in dangerous dark places, despite seeing extra poorly in them. Adds resistance to darkness and night vision.]


    [Dust Midas I: Complete. You survived despite reduced effectiveness in skills, classes, and powers while not using them. This trial awards you enhanced essence gains, skill gains, and higher Tower affinity.]


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    "That at least is... something." Corvayne could see on the screen she provided that the large number by Dust Midas II was constantly dropping to 604799 for a second then popping back up. Hmm. 52W? And the first one was completed by not using any of his skills, so it was possibly a timer. Was it because he had an Adept power on? Or were his shadow hands pulling potions out of his ring and popping them in his mouth?


    He took a deep breath. "Can I see my health numbers?"


    It was bouncing all around, but notable was that it had moved up to a 1158. Last he checked it was half that number, maybe five thirty something? Though he was pretty sure a few points went into CON which was related to it. It was possible he was getting stats from his pacts, or from things he had on, though most of his armor was in his ring.


    It kept moving to max and there was nothing he could do inside his mindscape to change it. At least, he was pretty sure.


    "What about the pacts?"


    Understanding: 25. [Environments change to have increased pictograph information. May induce into reality additional Libraries, Book Stores, and Data Havens. Small contributor to ''Vaulting'' behavior. Civs will carve and paint eyes on things a lot more.]


    [Pact Dangers: Extremely Low. Creates and counters chances of [OUT OF CONTEXT SUMMON/ OOC RIFT/OOC ISOLATION BREACH CONTACT]. Increases chances of rouge AI but also increases chances that an AI will develop an appreciation of non AI lifeforms. At 120 a Civ will turn into pure energy and ascend. Leaves many things undone, and sunders them from their old ties. (((((That sounds like a flat out win condition to me....)))))]


    All: Improves Reasoning.


    5: Vastly improves language acquisition.


    10: Radar, Accentuates humanity for ''others''.


    15: Insight into ''Unknown'' events. Improves System outcomes for Info gathering.


    20: Improves Magic/Mana/Chi/Energy/Computer System Mastery. Gives Pact Hints.


    25: Vastly improves skill gains. +.2 Dimentional awareness.


    +Unity: 5: Improves Emotional Bonds.


    10 Improves joint skill training. Improves chance at finding friendly/compatible Civs.


    15 Gestalt size scales mana pool


    20 Improved Diplomacy. Allows Civ Merging. Improves Mercenary finding Range/Price/Search Accuracy.


    +Growth: 5: Hints at Next level of power''s function. Hints at next core pact bonus when considering pacts.


    10: Helps clarify Pact Break Points.


    15: User has improved power selection for a build.


    20: User is given three descriptions of tier evolution from their current class and how often the requirements are met. [+]


    +Essence: 5: Gives improved chance to gain essence sight. User gets hunches about ''Exp'' buffs and penalties. (You are currently under approx .000001% modifier for exp)


    +Tower: 5: Improves ''finding'' entrances, exits, stairs, and doors.


    Unity: 24 [Environment of Unity boosted people grow closer. Creates smaller, more efficient and intimate spaces with all meanings of the word considered. Slightly increases chance of conceiving twins in domain. More likely for random chance to produce pairs or things in order.]


    [Pact Danger Self Inflicted/Mild: Pact has functions that can influence self control and personal choices of entities that choose to enter the Civ with Pact Holder. Level 25 has some influence on Party members and/or organizations the Pact holder is in. Level 50 Pact introduces increasing breakdown of barriers between minds, breakdown of the ability to leave a party or Civ outside of a consensus, and almost no ability to reject gestalt generated orders when participating ''Gestalts'' and ''Pack Parties''. 120 - Entire territory and all Civ members become a Gestalt that is a tremendous threat to dimensional stability.]


    All levels: Improves Emotional and Thought Linkage.


    5: Linked Civ can share health, mana, stamina, chi, quintessence pools. When full, shares some regeneration stats with other civ members.


    10: Linked Civ vastly improved conflict resolution. Improved Diplomacy and Negotiation.


    15: Linked Civ parties have improved sense of other members. Shares some regeneration stats with Party or Familial members at all times.


    20: Previously linked members will come together when parted. Improved formations and timing with others.


    +Growth: 5: Improves joint training effects. Users have higher chance of triggering a jointly trained Trait, Skill, Weapon Skill, Spell, Cultivation skill, or Domain effect. Artifacts and Powers more likely to appear if a unity link has it.


    10: Party members take the best HP/MP/STAM/QNC/KI growth on level of any class they are partied with. Improves hidden stat detection for high stats in Civ''s Party.


    15: Party members share some of their positive growth modifiers. Growth''s ''Level up'' recovery shared between unity links.


    20: Chance on improving powers to accumulate partial racial bonuses of Civ members in Party. Human racial bonus improves stats, including hidden ones, currently under 10.


    +Essence: 5: Improves Party Essence/Exp splitting. Reduces hostility in creatures that share essence gains.


    10: Consuming Essence laced consumables or crafting with essence shards improves EXP granted, or refunds part of the essence used as EXP to the crafter and consumer of the crafted item.


    15: Improves chances of gaining essence based powers, essence based traits, and improves Subjob progression. Passive essence cultivation.


    +Tower: 5: Increases chance of generating Essence shards in chests. Improves odds of ''[High Essence]'' tags on swap/generation.


    Growth: 25 [Environments under Growth are larger. Plants and animals have a higher upper limit on size. Planets, continents, and atmospheric range increase at a rate that outpaces the other effects. Life more likely to adapt to environments and fill them. At 50, starts generating in territory super large ''ascendants'' randomly from affected living things.]


    [Pact Danger: Mild. Large Creatures may pose threats to low level civilizations in territory. Pact level 50 has pronounced effect on territories without access to combat classes. Pact 120: Every being in territory becomes super ascended, with pact members become hyper ascended. Increased irrationality eventually leads to highlander situation with implications for all other life in the universe.]


    All Levels: Reduces thresholds for system marked advancement. Improves height. Marginal boost to reproductive rate.


    5: All essence gains related to self improvement is increased. Stacks and boosts effects that boost essence gains and efficiency.


    10: Skills improve faster. Allows some focusing on forcing a skill, power, or another pact to develop.


    15: Training, Power leveling, Natural Selection, and Forced Evolution are all improved.


    20: Improved Physical attributes. Increased likelihood of non-standard system development triggering.


    25: All pact holders are bigger and have improved durability and regeneration. Increase in dimentionality [+.2]


    +Tower: 5: Tower is BIGGER.


    +Essence: 5: Essence gains can Critical.


    10: Increases efficiency in harvesting essence.


    15: Essence more likely to trigger Skill/Power/Race Evolution. Improves Mutation outcomes and reduces essence needed to ''fix'' trade off powers/mutations/traits.


    Love: 3 [Environments under the effect of Love become more pleasing to the eye. Environment has more love themed decorations and buildings or locations. Weather may attempt to push people together. Pink, Sweet, Velvet, Warm and Moist are more frequent swapped tags on Tower floors and influenced pact territory.]


    [Pact Danger Extreme: Pact influences self control and personal choice of anything near the civ holding the pact. Every break point compounds this effect. At 120 there is a total breakdown in activities not related to LOVE and may represent a universal extinction event by locking anything possibly able to feel LOVE in non-sustaining behavioral patterns barring counter-pacts.]


    Tower 5 [Environments in Tower are more likely to produce ''Up'' entrances. Verticality and Spires more common in nature and buildings. Environments more likely to be dark at the bottom and lit near the top, creating imposing landscapes. High level Tower Environment make local Towers visible in the sky.]


    [Pact Dangers Mild: Pact manifests more towers at level 20, creating a mild danger of ''Dungeon Break'' incidents. At 30 the Pact can remove an increasing number Modifiers while holder is on a floor which can create sudden catastrophic shifts in habitability. At 70 barriers for Tower entrances expand around ''safe'' areas. At 100 the Pact represents a soft ''System Apocolypse'' when local Tower conditions are inimical to low level life outside safe zones.120: The entire baseline universe is fractured into the Tower to move every floor up and a new Floor 0 is generated.]


    All levels: Improves Tower outcomes.


    5: Reveal Modifiers of Current Level [+]. Alerts when a modifier is changed.


    +Essence: 5: Improved EXP based on current Tower Floor.


    Essence 15 [Environment show higher chances of stars, lights, and crystals. Tower and non tower areas are far more likely to produce slimes. Produces invariably glowing Focii spots in remote areas. Higher chance of level spiked monsters appearing outside the tower.]


    [Pact Dangers: Mild: Environmental effects at high levels usually overshadowed by Pact Civ out-leveling even the level spiked monsters. Pact can create ''EXP'' sickness in low levels pushed up too fast. At level 50 areas that were Focii in early levels become environmental hazards.


    At level 120 start converting everything in the universe into EXP while also creating an ultra low level stable space bubble. Outcomes vary with certain hidden stats the primary pact holder has, but generally results are not favorable to life outside either the pact holder or the highest level person in the universe, whom can be expected to gain an estimated (Func=TREE(3)) levels. This then destroys the system and the user itself. Or makes them the new system. (((((They didn''t apply the fix here nameless one FFS don''t level this to 120)))) ((((((This creates an overflow and might crash the samsura. We have forced 119 and all levels thereafter in comparable universes to pre generate a single level/next level of the pact [[(EXPx0)]] which prevents the 120 from activating. We are also flagging anyone at 115 now as MAX HOSTILE.)))))) ((((((((YOU WILL REGRET FINDING A WAY AROUND THIS TRUST ME))))))))]


    All levels: Improves Essence gain. Enables Essence classes and powers.


    5: Allows better vision of and manipulation of essence. Reduces unintended essence mixing.


    10: Improves non hostile essence generation.


    15: Essence stores or EXP banked for next level can be spent in place of other resources, up to a certain percentage of the cost.


    Corvayne blinked.


    "Gylwin, the system giving me a run down of this pact stuff... It doesn''t sound even remotely safe."


    The elf tilted her head. "One can also eat too much food and choke on it. I also advised you that some pacts are very dangerous. It is why some of the words that seem like good ideas are self destructive. It is why I recommend safer pacts like Understanding, Growth, and Unity."


    "It seems like [[Unity]] in the wrong hands is not safe. Is it affecting my friends minds? Or Preshe''s?"


    Gylwin snorted at that. "It is harder to misuse then you think. Pacts tend to also have counter-effects. You cannot mind control someone under [[Unity]] unless there was a firm consensus that it would not harm the group, which means if the person objected to your intended use, they would know it because you can''t project without opening up. They would not have a firm consensus unless they wanted you to hurt them or control them, thus break the group. It is why you have not rejected this shard of my mind, even as you''ve grown more powerful in this realm."


    "You don''t think the loss of freedom is disturbing? Or privacy from it."


    "I am a being that can cross minds. I am a gestalt between a nearly mindless bug monster that wanted to just eat everything and a woman who administered a galaxy sized population. You are a collection of cells, ruled by a few at the top. [[Unity]] is the same as how your arm does not attempt to rip off your foot despite them being different, because they are part of the same."


    Corvayne looked at her. "So what you are saying is that asking you was a bad idea."


    She thought about it and nodded. "Terrible idea. Wick or Mister I would be better versed in the morals of it. Nyx, myself, and I suspect Grunt would tell you to just go for it."


    "Lots to think about, if I ever wake up." Corvayne said, then thought about it and then laid down on the cobblestone island in his mind scape to go to sleep.

 Chapter 216: Waking Up After a Bad Power Up Hangover

    Corvayne woke to the expected spikes of pain and blipping of a heart rate monitor. It was a nice white room, thought most of the air was cool. He felt a bit of warmth hitting him from a space heater someone had set up near the bed. The bed he was stained red and he could feel a few small knife shards poking his back. The top cover was pretty clean but his hands had dried blood on them, so he tried his best to work on getting them pulled back without making a mess. There was a window letting light in, and he could see a tree with vibrant orange leaves out of it. There were a few milk crates in the room full of black shining shards, and he could see that the back of the bed had been blasted with a layer of black crystal as well.


    He saw a woman sitting in a chair by his side, and it took him a moment to recognize June. If only because she was better dressed then before and was wearing the magic headband that gave her horns. Moshes lover and right hand woman and former resident of the third floor of the Tower had a green robe that had crystalline green colors, and he noticed that what he thought were black gloves were actually some sort of hexagonal subdermal implant.


    "Hey." he croaked out.


    She stopped what she was reading and looked up, then smiled a little. "Hello Corvayne. I''ll let the others know you came to."


    He looked about the room, which now he was fairly sure was in a hospital somewhere in River Run. There was a bit of dust on the window sill and there was a deep quiet in the room save for June unbuttoning her purse. His extra senses could feel his little patch of house and his friends and family in various directions. "How long was I out this time?"


    She spoke at the same time as pulling out a phone and tapping with one finger at a speed that suggested she had been putting lots of points into her dexterity. "Four weeks, but it was much less violent fault in your power. At no point where you spawning tubs of extra organs. You did have some sub tremors after you stabilized, so you''ve been resting at this mostly empty ward for the last three and a half weeks. We took turns watching you, with Sky Knights, Assassins, Royal Mages and the Order of Lythandies providing assistance to prevent snooping."


    He could feel a bit of anger which told him that there had been snooping of some sort. "Empire for the last two?"


    "Mosh has had fortune favor him with allies." She said, her inflection still not quite as varied as Corvayne was used to. He did feel [[Unity]] signaling warm feelings from the Tower Folk turned crafter even if her voice was subdued. "I sent the message to everyone, but some people are off on missions. Preshe, Spears, and Lady Blood Claw should be here soon with Gylwin."


    "His allies wouldn''t happen to be high school girls who knew Preshe?"


    She thinks. "I am not sure of their ages. They tend to wear heavy armor. I am sorry."


    "No. I''m sorry for taking up your time. A month." He would owe Bell and Spears and Preshe for worrying them. Maybe LBC as well since she''d likely have to keep the others together. Well, two of them. Spears-Like-Water was tough and had seen him injured before far worse on hunts, even stoically dragging him back when he was on the brink of death with nary an emotion passing her face, so he expected that she probably stepped up and helped keep Bell and Preshe from worrying.


    He was about to ask June for water when he heard sobbing and registered the door to his room bursting open before something blue hit the bed like a blubbering cruise missile.


    Spears knocked a few of the knives he had been expunged under him into his back, but he was in [[Vitality]] so he was more concerned with how he was currently winded rather then little things like bleeding more.


    "You got hurt and kept exploding and didn''t wake up and me and Bell and Preshe and Hylal and Lady were all worried!"


    It was word salad as his slime girlfriend kept talking while Corvayne tried to hit himself with a Mend to get his lungs to fill again.


    "Spears, It''s okay,¡± He weezed, ¡°I''ll be up and at em in no time."


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    He looked up and saw Preshe looking timidly in, then rushing to the bed and hugging him and Spears. Bell joined the dog pile a moment later, growling at him, "You ignorant pig farmer with a spear, I can''t let you go on a simple errand without you dying or nearly dying!"


    "Sorry honey. Can you ease up? There''s crystal shards under my back."


    Some of the weight was removed from Corvayne before Hylal did a flawless double knee impact into him, sending him back to lying flat on the sharp crystals that coated the bedding under him.


    "CORVAYNE DAD!"


    He was happy to see her too.


    There was a little bit of administrative business for extracting him from the hospital, some of it Leigue and Mister I clearing him with the System''s version of a clean bill of health.


    The elf had switched up his army gear for a black and white long sleeved shirt under a winter vest. It showed off that the elf appeared to have no muscle, despite Corvayne knowing that the man had a hybrid info/combat class that almost assuredly meant he could lift a car. Mister I, on the other hand, was wearing ornate red robes with a camo pattern on the hems and a gold thread embroidered piece of cartoon meat on his back.


    Leigue did an ID on Corvayne and did not summon any death spikes out of him. The information he learned from his mindscape was there.


    ¡°We can have a meeting to discuss what you''ve revealed, but it seems the common theme is to not push pacts up too far.¡±


    Corvayne sighed. ¡°I may also stop on [[Unity]]. As useful as it is, I''m worried about any sort of ability that influences people''s minds.¡±


    June looked at her window. ¡°I feel you should keep putting points into it up to forty five. It is remarkable much it improves teamwork, skill sharing, and bonding time.¡±


    Corvayne got a spike of lust from June that suggested she had very much taken advantage of the last one, but he shook his head. ¡°If I get better information about pacts, I''ll consider it. Understanding and Growth seem like they are going to help me undo all the damage these curses did. I will not risk raising the high danger pacts any more.¡±


    Spears tapped her foot on the ground. ¡°If you are going to fight the Magus, you should at least consider getting tools that operate on his level. He turned half of the Watchers against the other half. That''s part of why we haven''t seen more then... one of our own.¡±


    Bell sat down on the bed. ¡°I trust your decision. However, if you get into a situation with an additional curse that does something like force betrayal, it would be more then foolish to not counter it with [[Unity]].¡±


    Corvayne did not want to think what would happen after he removed said curse in the situation she described. ¡°I think it''s less relevant then we are making it. The curse information suggests to me I can remove one of the effects on me by simply not using any power of mine for a certain number of weeks.¡±


    Spears looked unhappy at that, her slime body darkening. ¡°We were supposed to go hunting together before the explosion.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I will do that. I need to determine what resets the timer before I try to completely stop using my abilities. I honestly would not be surprised if I started moving to a supporting role for a while. With everyone else shooting up in levels and me being stuck at 31...¡±


    Preshe put her hand on his arm. ¡°I''ll keep getting better at essence. I''ll help fix you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, but you three...¡± He gestured to Hylal, Bell, and Spears. ¡°Don''t look at me like I''m crippled. I''m perfectly able to write off a week if I need to use my abilities, it just throws the timer off. It might be good for me, even. A spear moves forward, but it knows when it''s arrived.¡±


    Bell sighed. ¡°How are you going to deal with getting antsy when you are not fighting or training?¡±


    ¡°Who said I''d stop? I''d change my focus to exploring. We are missing info from the bar. We don''t know much about Domain aside from when I got it from mowing the lawn the first time. I have a theory on artifacts but it''s [[Understanding]] pushing what I suspect are hints at me. I''m going to wrangle everyone to help me on that front.¡±


    Leigue started to pull out a cigarette and June plucked it from him just as smoothly. He gave her an unhappy look which she returned with a cold one.


    ¡°You cannot smoke in here sir.¡± She said simply.


    The elf bit his lip then turned to Corvayne, fishing in his pocket for a piece of pocky that he dangled from his lips. ¡°What''s your theory?¡±


    ¡°That we''ve found silver chests before, and Artifacts are loot based. I think the 1/3 on my Status might have been that orb Hari couldn''t identify that merged into me. The Tower works on lots of axis, but there''s been copper chests and silver ones. I want to see if these floors have Gold Chests and if those are the primary way to build artifacts.¡±


    The man smirked. ¡°I would say those chests existing are not much of a secret. If one wanted to know, eh, what a floors conditions are, or perhaps where you can find them after meeting said conditions, and when they were last touched? Those are often touchier. Wick had your librarian give your merchant a whole milk crate of black crystals and orders to head to the market and get tools that might help explore hostile areas, so you may have more luck then most.¡±


    Bell cleared her throat. ¡°You are going to try to go into dangerous places while not having your slow falling power as a backup? Or trying NOT to use it? Are you so foolish to think you can fight without any powers?¡±


    He tried switching to [[Agility]] and saw [602328] jump back up to [604800]. It did not change [48w] next to it.


    He tried Gravity. [604800]


    He did a very light [Cross Skill: Thrust] using his toe on the end of the bed. There was a thump and [604800] popped up.


    Corvayne tried to use [Nerve Pinch] on the same spot and saw the number jump to [604800].


    Using his storage ring to store then return a pillow left the timer ticking down. [604794]. Reaching over to his spear didn''t cause the timer to reset either, even though he could feel something in it connect with his skills.


    ¡°Bell, I''m sure I can, I just need to get Mosh''s help with a few things.¡±

 Chapter 217: Gym Class

    Corvayne whistled to bring the class to attention. He was glad to see a large number of students forming up for an elective, but he had expected, given he was standing in River Run High School, that his class would be mostly high school students.


    He would not be surprised if the smallest kid was five and he saw a few gray haired folks in the lineup, wearing workout clothes that reminded him of what Seru had scrounged up from the antiquated clothes on the 6<sup>th</sup> floor.


    The principal was watching in on the lessons, having supplied him with an excuse about how the great emptying had left the school looking for alternate income sources. Corvayne was only annoyed a moment, then brought Leigue in to go ahead and properly figure out if there were some geniuses mixed in they could use.


    "Good afternoon class." He spoke while pacing. "Today we are going to do some light PE training then get into reps with practice weapons. I''ll help with form just to make sure you don''t hurt anything, but getting used to it your weapon the first step to becoming good enough with your weapon to fight. We are starting with holding it and attacking as no matter how much power you get from the rifts, you still need to be able to handle your arms to use that power.


    He started everyone off with a few laps around the gym. He was still sorting through who would need a few extra rounds to get their heart rate up and who he wasn''t going to push until they had levels. He picked out two fit boys who had finished three laps before most people had finished one and a half, then also pulled a few people who were clearly already winded, then had both groups get their wood weapons. He had put down colored mats for rows that hopefully would prevent anyone from hitting another person with their poor form and had finished assigning the first movements to each group when he spotted a robed figure with a stern face stepping into the gym.


    Argyle looked about then saw him and had his eyes narrow, so Corvayne moved towards the monk rather then letting the man step into a group of bystanders.


    "I think you would be beyond the level that you needed pointers." Corvayne offered, noting the mans eyes stayed on him. Corvayne hoped his focus meant Argyle hadn''t been told by Baron L''Tideru to try to find Preshe.


    "I came here to speak to you, because somehow you were pointed out as the leader of the organization." Argyle sniffed at he said that. "I am not sure why they are following a Level 31..."


    An older woman in the crowd said "Rude!" but Corvayne saw Argyle was ignoring everyone else.


    "But you are the person to speak with. Enemy of my Enemy. A new set of Goule''s men are in town and starting to poke around."


    "I''m confident we could dismantle them." Corvayne said, turning and blowing his whistle. "Two minute break. Move around, stretch if you need to!" He was pretty sure being in the room with [[Growth]] on acted like a weaker Brines aura. That or Cascadia was more fit then he had thought from when he had worked with Wick and Seru.


    Argyle raised an eyebrow. "Dismantle? Oh yes. I know you have associates near or beyond level one hundred. Tch. Why do you think I''ve kept away? I wouldn''t have come to poke the hornets nest if I wasn''t worried about myself."


    Corvayne felt himself sighing and put his clipboard at his side. "We know you are not with Goule and, heck, I suspect you''ve been telling the Baron to throw an alliance offer our way."


    "You are not the muscle head you... One moment." Argyle''s eyes had drifted to the students and he reached over and took Corvayne''s whistle and blew it. "In the back! Red sweatshirt! Two laps!" He handed the whistle back without looking at Corvayne, then resumed a pose with his arms behind his back. "What was I saying? Oh. Not a muscle head, despite your appearance. Indeed, I''ve been trying to get the Baron to at least send both Senior Brines here, as you have been running about with their grandson. I also should remind you that no matter how well you handle a few goons, the threat is that Goule can bomb you and this city from orbit, and I''ve seen no hints you can counter that."


    Corvayne had considered, and his idea how they could gain a possible counter to it was possible, but Mosh had been working on Preshe''s hand rather then a moon trip. "The Baron has ships he wants to put into orbit, and is willing to help us in exchange for.... what? Or is it just so he can bomb us first? Our goal is to stay out of fights. If we stick to our strategy, we might not antagonize anyone in Cascadia since we have no fingers into crime.¡± He paused, considering Dawn. ¡°Excusing a connection to one particular peeler-prone gangster whom, as far as I was aware, hasn''t hired us for anything. You know me only because we work with the Nel''Ferralian Empire. The Collective is still dealing with the great emptying."


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "You believe that you are invisible?" Argyle said with a sneer. He held up a hand then stopped time, Corvayne somehow tracked him with his eyes as he appeared next to someone who was swinging a weapon. "Your elbow is all wrong, here, and shift your knee in! Is your trainer even trying? GOOD. Better. Do that for your reps. You! Don''t keep your arms stiff. You''ll sprain something. Tch."


    He popped back next to Corvayne with another time walk. "The emptying is just everyone else realizing the noble houses had a head start. It''s accelerated their growth too.¡± Corvayne had to clamp down on the urge to start laughing aloud at that. Argyle didn''t notice his struggle and kept going. ¡°It is inevitable they will find a way to stop commoners from simply leaving.¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°The system is bigger then that. You''re going to lose more then a few nobles after they try to enslave their populations.¡±


    ¡°What you think of as adventure, most people think of as terror. When the novelty wears off, people will choose a path that does not involve risk or bloodshed. People are sheep, Corvayne.¡±


    Corvayne looked at the people who were swinging swords. Some of them grandparents, sure, with less life ahead of them then behind and every reason to start gambling them. Word of mouth had spread that levels pushed age back. ¡°A lot of adults already disagree. Do you have the numbers? I''d guess there''s flat out half as many people in town these days.¡±


    ¡°They will come back. Could you abandon your friends and family forever if you had to?¡±


    ¡°I''ve done it once before.¡± He spoke the truth, but in his heart he found the idea uncomfortable. Even setting off with a few friends, he couldn''t have imagined not returning.


    Argyle sighed. ¡°Then you are rare, Spear Bearer.¡±


    Shit. This guy is the only person to come up with a good nickname? ¡°It''s Corvayne. My name is Corvayne.¡±


    ¡°No need to lie. I did not call myself ''Socks'' to throw you off.¡±


    ¡°That''s my real name.¡±


    ¡°Are you a vampire?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± He considered he had some sort of bloodline curse. ¡°Probably not. I also think you are wrong. This system wants freedom... or at least to give people enough freedom to explore it. If your masters want to trap everyone, the Tower will keep boring holes in reality to let them out.¡± He wasn''t sure why he was sure of it, but he was.


    ¡°A future where everyone is tied down? It''s not what I hope, but reality. They will be back. For comfort. Safety. We all bend a knee to someone, and sometimes it comes down to the less worse option... one moment.¡±


    Argyle grabbed the whistle again. ¡°That''s enough! Rest and reflect on your training today while stretching your legs! Anyone who does not have sore arms, push-ups until you do!¡±


    Argyle handed the whistle back. ¡°They are rank amateurs. You cannot work them too long. As I was saying, consider my offer. Being the only noble house on a planet without protection is inviting disaster.¡±


    Corvayne looked at the class, who were looking at him. He shrugged and snapped his fingers. ¡°If you can''t do a full push up, use your knees and just lift half your body. Otherwise uhh... do what he said.¡± Then he turned back to Argyle as the sounds of people huffing replaced the whiffing sound of weapons being swung. ¡°I''ll try it my way, but I appreciate the warning with Goule''s forces. We''ll build some star ships too.¡±


    ¡°It''s not that simple to build warships.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps. But if they can''t catch us, they can''t fight us. We might be the next in the great departure if not being able to deal with space is that big a problem.¡± The trade off being that if they got tagged by Stabby people inside the tower could track them. Nel''Ferral merging into Cascadia was great for Bell''s commute but it took a layer of protection from operating out of a different floor 0.


    Or... he could execute his original plan B... and add warp drives to all their hover cycles.


    The bell rang and people started standing up to walk out. Argyle nodded at people waving at him and Corvayne. ¡°Good hustle. Good effort. Don''t let me see you swinging your weapon at another student unless you are sparring, punk. Good hustle.¡±


    Corvayne looked over at the monk. They were not friends, especially since he could still remember watching his friends get killed by the monk in a previous loop, but they might be enemies of the same enemy.


    ¡°Argyle, I found today informative. I understand you need magical cloth to form your clones?¡±


    Corvayne ignored that Argyle was giving him a death stare and summoned one of the fire proof dresses and handed it to the monk who''s sour expression froze for a moment before he accidentally let a pleased expression slip onto his face. ¡°Very fine... yes let us continue to share information.¡±


    ¡°Hmmf. If only other noble houses were so reasonable, I''d not be here. I will stay in touch Spear Bearer Corvayne.¡±


    He vanished via time magic, which Corvayne could somehow register where he had moved. Maybe [[Understanding]] doing something?


    He took a few minutes to pick up a few weapons from sloppy pupils who didn''t think to replace them on the racks he and Preshe had carved. The second class he would teach was going to have more students from this school or other high schools. He was putting forward a plan to have Leigue scout for talent worth trying to develop. He had to stress to his allies and family that he would be fine if they didn''t look at anyone in the class. Corvayne was enjoying giving people tools to forge their own fate. He liked watching people train and get stronger. Or seeing generations come together. There was something wholesome about seeing three generations learning to fight with a spear. So what if a weekend warrior grandmother wasn''t going to push their current goal to gain power nor help them when Wick''s foes organized?


    Training others made him happy. He placed the last errant wood mace in it''s place, then looked at rows of hand crafted training weapons. The grips on them were almost totally white, and they had yet to get the dings and little chips the wood would have soon enough when he organized sparring. Corvayne finally felt like he had found something he could do after he removed the lingering curses, and maybe sorted out what was going on with the Watchers. Something like this felt like the end.


    His second class started to filter in, and he reached for the whistle then realized that Argyle had been using it, and tossed it to pull out a fresh one from his storage ring. He forced himself to look a little sterner. It seemed to work for Argyle.


    He whistled and clapped, and tried to sound a little sterner. ¡°Laps first! We are doing light PE then more basics today. I noticed some rolling eyes, but we''ll have you throwing out weapon skills before the weekend if you all hustle!¡±

 Chapter 218: Grunt and The Very Bad News

    Grunt''s eyes opened and he yawned, then pulled the covers off his beds and planted his feet on the floor of the warehouse loft. He cracked his neck, knuckles, and jaw, then stood up and made his bed, huge hands abusing his absurdly high dexterity to do it neatly in moments.


    A shower and change of clothes later, Grunt was ready to face the day, except that his stomach was growling. He went over to the break room fridge and opened it, saw he hadn''t stocked anything he could cook, and shrugged and checked his wallet. It was telling him that it had about 1.5 million credits left in it. He''d let someone else cook today, after all, he had been working pretty hard the last few loops.


    He grabbed his coat off the hook, the bright orange miners jacket making him look like an inmate. Maybe he''d paint parts of it black so it made him look like a poison dart frog? Well, most people who looked at him knew he was a threat.


    He passed two new guards he was training to actually watch the warehouse. They were watching TV and talking about what classes they were going to get. Grunt didn''t interrupt, they needed to plan. Corvayne''s pacts were just barely affecting them but that was enough to level twice as fast as they should. He didn''t really need them to be anything more then present during the day, so that was fine.


    The Cascadian Jasper was next to worthless to anyone who couldn''t ship it off planet and totally worthless if they didn''t have a business installing counter tops, but people STILL broke in. People who did not have all the information. He recalled back in the good old days when all you needed to let folks know crime was not welcome was to stick a few orc heads on pikes around the place.


    He could have used the assassins or sky knights, but it was lazy when they were following more important orders, which was stay vigilant for anyone trying to mess with Wick or Corvayne and to zero anything they could take.


    The boy was doing well, and it warmed Grunt''s heart to see him living a normal life. Poor kid had never been happy with The Watchers. That he and Spears were an item was nice. It was a little worrying that a Magus apprentice was in the house, but she didn''t seem to have her brain burned out so it was probably okay that they would probably start dating. She might be the Magus''s daughter, though it probably would have marked her as a Pilgrim Hybrid on her status sheet if that was the case.


    He made his way down Copper Mill Road to Ayame''s place. He was not surprised to see both Ayames there, the cook and cyborg hitting it off after learning about each-other. The smell of eggs were nice, but Grunt needed carbs. He was already losing weight since the last loop.


    He took a menu and sat up at the counter rather then a booth. He pointed at pancakes, then took out some dice Gary had left at the warehouse from the last DnD session. He flipped up a six and a nine.


    Cook Ayame narrowed her eyes. "Fifteen Pancakes?"


    Grunt laughed silently and shook his head. He pointed at the six and the nine.


    "Your record is only fifty eight! You will be useless all day if you eat that many!"


    Grunt let his stomach rumble.


    "Your funeral."


    Grunt could probably eat everyone''s breakfast on the entire planet and still have room for seconds, but he didn''t need to give away exactly how much mass he actually had. It had been a touchy point before everyone got dragged into this universe. Newer Adepts were made of hyper compressed crystal, but he had been trained by the Kirogami and had opted for the space magic approach to forming a formidable warrior body.


    Cyborg Ayame nodded at him, and Grunt nodded at her, then slipped her the note with his next few requests for Smoke-Theres-Fire. He was threading the line that the Curse would consider triggering for Corvayne, but Spears realizing who he was hadn''t set it off. Fingers crossed he could get information on anything coming their way before they hit another reset. That and finding Waves-Within. He had a pretty good idea where One-Last-Note and Whispers-In-Dark were, and would certainly make sure he displayed his displeasure once he found them. Spaces-Torn-Asunder was anyone''s guess, he had been hoping the lab they found in Cascadia would have him, but all signs pointed to him not being home. It was possible he had a method of moving past ''The Dome'', given he probably built it.


    The rumors of ''Infinitus'' of course lead to a bunch of dead ends. He had been pissed at Half-Claimed-Crown for doubting they would find the boy, and now he was pissed that the man''s only footprint was as elusive as the monsters Wick wanted to chase.


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Most of the Watchers he had found were damaged in some way, sometimes to the point where they barely remembered anything. The Magus liked ''puppies'' so had left Smoke-Theres-Fire alone, even though the hell hound was in many ways more dangerous then anyone outside the arms masters.


    He glanced up at the ceiling for a moment. He had some more questions for Diamond regarding exactly what she remembered, as it would determine if she could reform her avatar or if she was stuck in orbit, but he was still scrubbing the stink of space off after the last trip up to her.


    Pancakes started appearing before him, and Grunt started seeing how many he could eat with just his primary stomach. He would cheat after it was full, but he had once packed away nineteen before switching organs, and he was pretty sure he could hit twenty given how hungry he was.


    He didn''t hurry as he sliced the pancakes into quarters so he wasn''t stuffing his mouth. The stack of five that Ayame had handed him had some syrup on them, but he started lifting and applying more to the interior, turning them into a sweet mess.


    Ayame brought him an ice cold milk, which made him smile at her. He had come to really like Old Town, even with how grungy it was. The people who were nice? Great.


    The bells attached to the door rung as a blast of cold air swept into the restaurant, which was a nice way for Grim to announce he would be reasonable and to the point today. Sometimes the assassin tried to sneak up on him and he''d have to direct the man to get his ass out of the ceiling panels/HVAC/plumbing and go clean up.


    Grim sat down and ordered the waffles with strawberries, also choosing not to speak. Grunt had done his due diligence and warned him of the dangers of processed food for anyone under 30 CON, but the man had spent a lifetime drinking actual ''trying to kill you'' poison and living off scorpions in the wastes, so Grunt guessed a few months of greasy spoon before he hit super human constitution wasn''t going to put a dent in him. Looking again, it seemed being able to order out had actually helped remove the impression Grunt had that he was a twig.


    To be fair... compared to himself? Just about everyone that wasn''t Diamond was a twig.


    He was still hungry as he traded his first plate for the next set of five. The assassin next to him spoke. "No changes at Wick''s. No threats at Corvayne''s besides teens and one group of burglars comprised of violent felons. The teens were relieved of their toilet paper and their parents were contacted. The burglars will never be found again. The walls are doing their job, though there are more Cult of the Damned masks flowing in through smugglers. The Western empire has seen redeployment of troops to just outside the range of the wall. A few signs of high tech observers, now that we know what to look for, but no signs of black crystal weapons outside of the Lythandies Order."


    Grim didn''t say the order was making that last request hard, but he didn''t need to. He signed ''Any odd names showing up?''


    "There are many youth who look up to the priestess of the rolled die. It has made our job difficult to monitor everyone with a three-fold-name."


    Grunt nodded, chewing pancake. His second biggest worry was, at the moment, ambush by a rouge Watcher who might be able to take Corvayne or Wick out before they knew they were under attack. Mostly Wick. If Falenti had trusted Gylwin to watch his back in the old world, then Corvayne couldn''t be in better hands.


    He signed a bowling ball motion that meant ''three holes'' then put a hand to his face. ''mask.''


    "Besides the cult of the damned, we have not seen a leader that fell outside the standard insanity that the masks cause. Nor have we heard word of this Magus from those who are hidden in the host of the Cult, somewhere far north of the high plains."


    He nodded and made a gesture to let the assassin be ''at ease'' so he could enjoy his waffles. Nothing new.


    He signed Grim a few recommendations for movies, mostly action films as the man did not like romance in his stories. The assassin thanked him.


    Grunt took his third set of pancakes to the window outside and opened it. Someone in a booth behind him started to complain, but saw it was Grunt and shut his mouth. Smart man. Not that he''d start a fight in Ayame''s restaurant, but he was not above giving mortals wedgies the next time he saw them.


    By the window was a draconian face, sky blue scales forming a jagged maw. Grunt didn''t bother addressing the human rider, as they were one and the same. A true gestalt. He instead snapped his fingers and ordered them a half dozen plates of bacon.


    The creature whistled and clicked, then remembered it was talking to a ''human''.


    "Ser Grunt who DANGERSMELL DANGERFEEL, we report BLACK SKY WASP movement has been down..."


    Grunt held up a hand. He signed that Argyle was to be monitored but he didn''t need to report unless they bunched up.


    "Very well. We also saw the Adventurer''s guild leader in Cascadia."


    Grunt smiled. That was a good out of place person. Corky was on his way!


    "Patrol over the High Plains saw man floating by with DANGERSMELL DANGERFEEL MOUNTAINCLOUD. Wearing rubber ducky swim suit over his robe-"


    SHIT. Grunt surged to his feet. The Sky knight kept talking. -We declined his cookies. Wanted to know about gate rode. Broke into the palace and walked through the portal."


    Grunt eased himself down. He gestured for three holed mask. "Yes." No fire. "Yes." Trailed black thorns while flying? The Sky Knight nodded. Grunt looked at his pancakes, then sighed and pushed them aside and made the symbol for spread the word.


    Grunt then signed. ''Every flier is to stay near portals, no more then five minutes from them. Make sure your squad leaders have their scroll of ''OhShit'' on them. Break it if you see a meteor then hightail it to a portal. We are pulling out of Cascadia.''


    He was using his other hand to send out a text to Corvayne, Wick, Gylwin, Dawn, Mosh, and Mister I. He then sent one to Grim. Why not? He liked the assassin. He wasn''t worried about Corky. He would need to get a radio transmitter to tell Diamond to not try to help if the Magus showed up.


    He turned to Ayame, then took and wrote a note, weighing it down with a storage ring full of everything he deemed a civilian would need to survive and thrive through a portal. He tipped her in platinum coins and black essence crystals. Hopefully she''d take the advice and get the hell out of there.


    He thought about Bearer-Of-Burdens then, and sent her a text as well. Would Cascadia Public planning come through? No time to worry about everyone else when the Magus was around. It was likely that anywhere from a minute to a day from now, the entire planet would be nothing but a smoking ruin.

 Chapter 219: Arrival

    Corvayne glided through what looked to him like stone buildings laced with light, hover bike following a raised strip of marked stone that guided hover traffic through the developing city. Ahead, a black statue of Lythandies nurturing a sapling against her bosom acted as his main navigation landmark and his eventual goal. The sun was still low in the sky, just starting to crest the wastes.


    Source Town was something new, so he wanted to see it first hand. It was clear that some magic was going into the structures, with large blue channels threaded like glowing blue veins from the central stone. Mosh had rebuilt the juggernaut and was using it as his home outside the impressive cathedral to Lythandies they had built from the black crystals. It''s obsidian gleam caught the edge of the rising sun like a burning knife.


    Even this early, there were figures moving about town. It seemed Mosh had recruited from high planes tribes, the empire, and more then a few of what looked like races from the tower itself, though given their clothes and large packs or beasts of burden Corvayne suspected some were in fact traders.


    Preshe was in the seat behind him, with Gylwin and Spears riding the next bike back. Bell and Lady Blood Claw took up the rear, gliding at a relaxed pace over the streets. A few of the shops had clatter as they prepared breakfast, and Corvayne was tempted by the smell of cooked meats to stop and savor, but he also knew Mosh had been keeping busy. Thus he with great resolve glided past the sounds and smells of sizzling grills to float to the ''parkland'' around the great spire of black rock.


    It was still a mystery how he had created crystals that had persisted through a time change. As far as he understood, everything should have been wiped clean when they reset after his unfortunate decapitation. He also doubted that even with Varia helping with earth magic they would have developed the town so quickly. Only a small part of him, perhaps nurtured from hanging around with Wick for so long, wanted to know exactly what was going on that made this spot persist. Most of him guessed that it would be a long explanation that wouldn''t enlighten him on principals he could apply to anything else. After all, he felt like he was benefiting from the loop pulling him back from death.


    The giant truck, Juggernaut (2?) was parked near a few other dwellings made for ''staff'' of the cathedral. Corvanye set the bike down in a spot nearby, close enough to see the arches that had been shaped into the black stone, but not in a position to go in or disrupt the figures following the road from town to go pray to Lythandies.


    Mosh opened the cargo hatch on the truck as they dismounted and waved them over. Corvayne had seen the now jet-black scales that covered most of his skin, but it still struck him that his friend was no longer green. ¡°Boss! Finally you came out! How do you like the place?¡±


    ¡°I hope Lythandies likes obsidian as a color.¡±


    ¡°Eh, I think getting her toes onto a new universe has her pretty dang happy with me. Also, there''s a floor with white pearl coral that grows slowly in air we''re excavating and using to add contrast and detailing. It''s a long project, probably going to take twenty years or so.¡±


    He gestured to a pair of railways someone had laid to the source. Varia no doubt smoothed the ground and made shallow bridges over the water. A group of white clad figures were pushing a cart, armed with obvious high tech guns as well as red and blue metal spears. He could see heat distortion around the blue spear heads.


    He turned back to the work in progress that had turned a jagged porcupine of black crystal into a statue of the goddess. ¡°You don''t think resets are going to mess it up?¡±


    ¡°You know the domain system? Like how ya lawn now tells you people are on it? I think this place is yours too, or somebodies. The weather is more mild close to it now, and look, the rivers are starting to grow plants again... in nearly a perfect circle around this joint.¡±


    Bell sniffed. ¡°You could take some lessons from the fake monk about appearing to be a real holy man.¡±


    ¡°Whatever toots. Cmon in I finished Preshe''s hand.¡±


    The truck was more of a workshop, Mosh having cut back on the cargo area as he was able to made rudimentary storage objects. Everything now was organized with cubbies that had backpacks in them, each of them holding about the size of a large crate in perhaps 1/64<sup>th</sup> the space. The bags and slots had labels. Mosh''s workshop now resembled a small factory, with rollers and stations that looked like a spot to refine, a spot to shape, and a paint splattered area that he supposed was finishing. The smell of some sort of oil mixed with burnt copper lingered in the air, mixed with a sharp lemon smell he suspected was the green liquid barrels set up at each station. [[Understanding]] pointed him to the burnt rims around them, and splatters of green around the spots they were at. Probably some sort of fire or explosion protocol.


    The hand itself was sitting on the center table, put on a small wood box and under a light to make sure that it''s nearly serpentine scales showed up. Preshe gasped at it.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°It looks so nice Uncle Mosh... I don''t think I''ve earned it.¡±


    ¡°Kid, if life gives you lemons, take them.¡± Mosh pulled it off the table and gestured for her to come over.


    Preshe looked to Corvayne, and he nodded. She had been working hard, and while she was sneaking off once in a while (whenever she could) to go on adventures, she was as bright and responsible a charge as anyone could ask for. She reached over to her wood arm and twisted then pulled on it, the magic appendage coming off with a small pop. She hid her faded salmon colored stump for a moment, then saw that Mosh was gesturing for her to put her arm on the table.


    ¡°Put it so your hand will be facing up.¡± He said, then guided the black artifact to her. A black and green hand with well clipped nails rubbed something on the wrist, and little black shards snaked out. Preshe gasped, then there was a click.


    Mosh held up a finger, then twisted the hand a little. He put a screwdriver on the table. ¡°Pick it up.¡±


    She did, then frowned and looked at the hand. ¡°Twist it, uh, what''s the word? With the clock.¡±


    Mosh made two other little adjustments before she nodded and he tapped something on it. She hissed a little, but then made the hand flex and wiggled the fingers.


    Preshe looked up. ¡°I owe you-¡±


    Mosh stood up. ¡°Nope! Corvayne is a literal money machine. And he''d never ask you to pay a cent back, even if he wasn''t.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°You are a good kid even after having a bad hand.¡±


    Spears clapped, and soon everyone was. Preshe looked bewildered, but hugged Mosh then Corvayne and wiggled her new fingers more, then crushed a soda can.


    Spears cleared her throat. ¡°Also, since we are at Mosh''s....¡± She reached under the table and pulled out a cardboard box, then opened it, rustling plastic as she pulled out a plastic wrapped green piece of cloth and handed it to Corvayne.


    He accepted it, and saw it was a shirt with something in yellow on it. Unwrapping it, he held it out.


    ¡°Spear Bearers?¡±


    ¡°We need a name for our group, and me and someone else-¡±


    Lady Blood Claw rolled her eyes while saying, ¡°I wonder who.¡±


    ¡°Decided they liked the name. Wick agreed too since we''re pushing forward.¡±


    ¡°I like the colors at least, though it would be better with black and brown.¡± Corvayne said as he looked it over. ¡°I won''t be able to wear it with armor though...¡±


    Preshe was already carefully getting her horns through the neck of the shirt and pulled it on over her heavily enchanted plain t-shirt. Spears gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up. Bell took the shirt and made a neck scarf out of it to avoid messing up her business dress.


    ¡°I''m guessing you want him to hand out a bunch to his class?¡±


    ¡°Of course! We passed out a bunch to old town too.¡±


    Corvayne had a weird feeling Spears had set something into motion far larger then just handing out shirts, especially since he saw there were lots and lots of boxes of them. ¡°You ordered them?¡±


    Spears laughed. ¡°Cost less then a thousand gold pieces. Though the next order is probably going to be much much more expensive, though we''ll be able to probably barter for magic items instead.¡±


    Bell was less amused. ¡°That''s part of why I''ve been working late! We need to be ready with something else so that we don''t end up with overgrown ruins.¡±


    Mosh gestured to Corvayne. ¡°You haven''t paid any attention to what our man has shown!¡±


    Corvayne felt confused. ¡°What did I show?¡±


    Mosh nudged him in the ribs. ¡°You know! Getting strong as hell off low floors! We''ve basically cracked that there''s got to be something down here on big ol'' zero! Think of it like a game-¡±


    ¡°I never play games.¡±


    ¡°You need to. Anyway, there''s got to be a reason for floor zero aside from just the starting point. You know, that the starting point is also the end point?¡±


    Corvayne didn''t get it. ¡°I don''t play games, but I see it sometimes in stories that things go in a loop. We are stuck in a loop, or I should say we are marching through one. There''s been progress.¡± He looked at his make-shift family and smiled.


    Lady Blood Claw was thinking about it. ¡°The Magus never went into Towers from what I saw. So perhaps there''s something to that idea.¡±


    Mosh picked up a box of shirts. ¡°Of course there is! At the very least, to go to the top of the Tower, I bet you also need to have somewhere to go back to. See, that''s why I''m here, and it''s why you are teaching gym class. We got places we gotta go, I mean, my story is eventually I''ll find my way back to the HAF, and you, well, you''re going to your village someday to confront your father-¡±


    Mosh''s words reminded him to pick up the jerk a black mask with raspy breathing noises.


    ¡°But also that you are meeting people from your past, you know. You told me that thing, right Boss?¡±


    Preshe stood straight. ¡°A spear moves forward!¡± She proudly proclaimed, louder and more confidently then Corvayne was used to the girl being.


    ¡°Attagirl! Well, it''s likely going to be a fight, because nothing in life is easy. So is stepping back, right, and doing good rather then just climbing and trying to grasp every power.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw snorted a little. ¡°But we are doing that in a different way. The curses are battled by expanding. We still need to eventually go upwards and get better at swinging our swords. Sooner or later, we run into problems we must face.¡±


    As she spoke, Corvayne felt his phone buzz but let it go. He''d see what it was five minutes from now. ¡°We are training for the battles of tomorrow, but also training for the peace that will come after.¡± He found himself looking at Lady Blood Claw and knew he hoped she was a part of that time after, then saw a second sun rise in the wrong direction through a view panel behind her.


    Ignoring that it had overloaded the camera, he slammed all the Adept power he could muster into [[Agility]] and bolted for the front of the truck, shredding every muscle in his legs as he took twenty steps in less then a tenth of a second, shards of black glass erupting as he broke two doors down to get at the cabin of the truck and slamming down the shield button as he saw the approaching shockwave crest the hill like a wave of blurred energy.


    All he could think, locked into hyper fast thought that was rapidly being overtaken by pain, was ''Here I go Again''


    Then he crashed, and time caught up, and he tumbled and there was darkness.

 Chapter 220: A Long Time Coming

    Corvayne got up, swapping to [[Vitality]] as soon as he felt hot pains lancing through his muscles. He had likely strained most of his legs and arms, but the fact that he wasn''t cooked at the moment meant that he had gotten to and correctly hit the shield button. He also didn''t feel itchy, so it wasn''t likely another nuke.


    Getting his bearings and his night vision back, he found the truck had rolled onto it''s wheels. He pushed himself through the doorframe he had broken apart. The sky had turned red, never a good sign.


    "Everyone okay?" He called into the back.


    Preshe''s head popped out of the twisted doorframe. "I was coming to check on you. Regroup?"


    "Regroup, retreat." He smiled that she was thinking straight, then climbed up onto the top of the truck to try to see what had caused a nuclear or psudo-nuclear blast. The town was in shambles, and there were fires on some of the stone buildings and signs that all sorts of defensive skills and charms had activated, including mirrored bubbles and circles cut out of the area where emergency teleports kicked in.


    Lady Blood Claw and Spears were up on the truck next to him as he looked further on the high plains and saw a figure riding out of the heat distortion. Four other riders were around them, though the one in the lead had no horse. Corvayne''s eyes narrowed as the rippling heat revealed a figure riding a staff.


    Green robes trailed behind the masked figure, and Corvayne felt anger flare in him. His shadow hands snaked out of him and did as close to an impression of a hissing cat as a hand could get. Along side the mage, four women on various mounts with white dresses rode, trailing bits of cloth that were singed from riding through the fire.


    He was about to turn back to start sprinting the source and get the hell out of there, but Lady Blood Claw surged forward, leaping off the truck and running forward under the effects of haste and swiftness. Her skin had started flashing hundreds of colors, like a splatter painting.


    "Shit." Corvayne leapt off the truck and hit the ground running, pushing back into [[Agility]] and instantly felt his muscles rebel at the abuse he had been putting them through in the last minute. Lady Blood Claw had some sort of haste effect going and thus outpaced him, skidding to a stop before she ran into The Magus, who pulled up short with his staff, which whinnied like a horse. A moment later the four figures that had flanked him were surrounding him and Lady Blood Claw.


    The masked figure stopped and looked down at her, staff floating and bobbing and making clomping noises.


    ¡°Well? What?¡±


    Lady Blood Claw looked up at him. ¡°Why?! I want to know why you abandoned me!¡±


    The Magus looked at her, head tilting this way and that. He looked upwards, and Corvayne could see green glowing energy in three eye sockets looking up.


    ¡°Don''t remember who you are.¡±


    ¡°I was supposedly your apprentice! You tossed me in a tube and left me for dead! I want to know... WHY?!¡±


    The Magus held a hand up as the Brides around him for a moment moved in. Corvayne watched them rather then the wizard on the staff. One on a mechanical horse. Elemental weapons with hints of fire, earth, water, and wind enchantments on all the ones strapped to her ride. Another had three wands and was covered in scars where she wasn''t wrapped in alabaster. She sat on what looked like a fuming blue shooting star, the meteorite making a slight hissing noise like a pilot light left on. One rode what looked like a tiny giraffe, sitting sideways. The third woman was nearly naked, but he saw hints of little artifacts rearranging themselves over her skimpy clothes. The fourth rode a horse, both with silver hair running wild and cyclopian masks. Single eye faces adorned her armor covering everything else. Her weapon was clearly a huge blade slung across her back.


    The Magus finally spoke. ¡°Oh YOU. I dumped you because your incomplete. Broken. I can teach you MAGIC, but you would be boring with it. You are BORING. Half made. Like so many oddballs. Don''t you feel it? That you are something less then whole? You would just latch onto me. Boring.¡±


    Corvayne stepped forward. ¡°That''s a load of bullshit.¡±


    ¡°Oh ho ho! I remember you! Nameless one! You broke a curse of mine, didn''t you? Hmm Hmm Hmm. You were, uh huh, the umm... child of that annoying person who imprisoned me! Tch. You are weak. Not even worth the whole ride out here! I was ready for a fight! OR something. Something interesting. Something that would amuse me. Let''s see... Curses!¡±


    He point a finger at Lady Blood Claw, and she doubled over, hissing as she clenched her guts. ¡°That''s a good one! Bad Root. It makes plants grow inside her. How do you feel now, want to get strong and get revenge? We''ll have an epic fight, on a tree! That would make it all line up.¡±


    Corvayne drew his weapon. ¡°Undo it. Now.¡±


    The Magus snorted. ¡°What? My work? No! You swine, you have no idea the struggle I went to get the powers I have. Nor the CARE I take in it! I am an artist! I think of... great new curses all the time! Like you, so proud of your weapons. But what if you were... BAD at them?¡±


    He flung a hand at Corvayne.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    [Same curse already in effect, no change.]


    ¡°How does it feel? Your muscles limply trying to guide your heavy, slow, pathetic weapon. Hope you know a few spells! Oh ho ho ho!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw had stopped shifting colors and was in a camo pattern, [[Unity]] radiating pain that Corvayne could feel himself at a remove. Under it all was something raw, a feeling from LBC of being utterly worthless.


    Corvayne burst forward, using [Storm Thrust] and aiming for the Magus''s neck. A glowing blade made of silver blocked his spearhead, then swept him back onto his feed.


    He slid away as the one he tagged as Cyclopian Bride moved to block him from The Magus, who''s staff was now bucking and whinneying. The wizard reached a hand up and there was a hat he hadn''t been wearing that he was steadying.


    ¡°WOAH Staffy! Easy girl!¡±


    The Cyclops took a step closer, ¡°You are unworthy to touch him.¡±


    Corvayne took a step back. [[Understanding]] emphasized how dead the woman''s voice was. There was something mechanical and... linked... in how they moved as they started circling him, but it didn''t feel like the bonds of [[Unity]]. At best the Cyclops was smothered obsession.


    A dagger started ablaze from the Elemental Bride. ¡°This is his world. He is the strongest being that has ever been.¡± Resignation.


    There was a flick as the clothes Skimpy Bride was wearing formed a whip, nearly tagging Corvayne ''s own neck. The fact that she was nude when she attacked would have distracted him, but Corvayne was fully aware that he was angry, and every moment they circled and spoke he was building something.


    Her voice was teasing. ¡°You don''t stand a chance, little boy.¡± He caught the hysteria of someone desperate for attention.


    Wandslinger Bride ran a finger along a deep gouge in her arm, rigid in her saddle. ¡°No one stands a chance. He is The Magus. The true champion of the system. [The Hero].¡± She was calm like an icy lake when she spoke, but there was incredible rage under it all. It was like a paper bag over a volcano to [[Unity]], but her exterior might as well have been a cold dead moon...


    The Elementalist made the first move behind him, and Corvayne responded with [Juxtapose] flinging her into Wandslinger, who at the same time drew and blasted with some sort of wand-skill barrage. Corvayne didn''t bother seeing if the screaming from Elementalist was surprise or real pain, instead swooping to grab Lady Blood Claw and then toss her onto Elementalist''s mount. He hopped up on it and reached into the neck, hot wiring it. How the hell did he know how to do that? Who cares. He pulled the Reign for max throttle and the machine hit a hundred miles an hour before he knew it, blasting through a hill before he pushed himself down in the saddle and let his Shadow arms tie LBC behind him.


    He glanced back once he had guided the horse to not blow through a brick wall, and saw three brides in pursuit. He could probably just run for the portal. Another chase, like any number he had had before... no. Fuck these harpies, and fuck the Magus''s apathy for Lady Blood Claw. He reached into his bag and pulled out one of the emergency potions he had requested Kirae shop for. Gold liquid swirled inside, and even with the stopper on it reeked of chemicals and whatever vile ingredients were needed to brew it. It was the worst thing he had ever tasted, but it was a potion that promised pure potential for two minutes.


    Corvayne veered to a brick wall, then did a hard stop instead of just using it as cover for the wand. He started remembering things. Martial arts training.


    He stepped out and used [Cross Skill: Giga Clothes Liner] and felt his spear perfectly pull him forward to the spot he wanted to hit: Wandslinger''s solar plexus. The faster she went, the more it would hurt, and she was doing two hundred miles an hour on her mount, the flaming star screaming as it went into an out of control spiral and turned part of the ground into magma.


    He ran to the fallen bride and picked her up while switching to [[Strength]] then used [Cannonball] to fling her at the Cyclops, who coldly used the flat of her blade to deflect, but not enough to stop her from getting her mount''s feet tangled up. She pushed herself off the horse and threw her blade. Corvayne couldn''t see where Elementalist or Nudist were, so he forced his shadow hands out and felt one catch on a rock, and he used [Juxtapose] on it right away, putting a surprised mostly naked woman holding two blades right in the line of fire from her ally.


    There was a low sound of something blowing up across the way and Corvayne spotted a circular globe of mud that let him know Spears had entered the fight. He leapt over the wall where he left LBC and jumped right at the Cyclops, who had recalled her blade and put it up in a parry. Corvayne saw from a faint blue glow she was in a greatsword counter stance, probably [Dragon''s Tail], so he took his own spear and activated his own [Dragon''s Tail] at the same time as using [Cross Skill: Death From Above] into his foot, the upgraded version of [Leap Strike] covering it with shadow, his foot vibrating between black and blue auras as it struck, she absorbed the attack and doubled it, then Corvanye used his spear to absorb the attack, double it again, and add some interest which slammed Cyclops into the ground like a black meteorite, so hard that she started skipping like a stone, rolling and trailing an increasingly brown bridal veil behind her.


    Lady Blood Claw was getting to her feet behind him. Which was good, because he wasn''t sure how long he had before The Magus himself jumped into the fray or even how he (or it, really) would actually fight. The Elementalist was pulling out an electric whip, so Corvayne pulled a steel rod out of his storage ring and then threw gravity into it while honing his focus on the woman charging her whip, then threw what felt like an entire world with [Mass Driver].


    He wasn''t sure if he killed the woman or not, only that she vanished. The Cyclops was charging him again, and Corvayne knew he was dropping off on his potion in a few seconds so he met her charge with his shadow limbs slamming into her face as he dove around her blade, then planted his spear into her back with [Cross-Skill: Backstab] and with a pop sent the armored foe flying once more. Lady Blood Claw was fighting off the nude nanite user so Corvayne used his last bit of energy to slam a rock with [Sundering Blade] [Sundering Strike] right where she was jumping back to, shredding her gear.


    There was, what he felt, was a genuine [[Unity]] bridge of outrage then Lady Blood Claw hit her with something that turned her blade into a lava dragon that sent the woman flying head over heels off into the distance.


    From above, Corvayne saw the moon looking at them then firing a pinpoint laser nearby. The potion ended and he felt Spears grabbing his cloak and dragging him into a sprint towards what looked like the truck running on six legs towards him. He stumbled for a moment then used [[Agility]] and ignored that everything was aching.


    He turned to Lady Blood Claw, then to Spears. ¡°Is that ours actually?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Lady Blood Claw said, less clear minded then Corvayne had ever seen her.


    ¡°YES¡± Spears said.


    The thing the truck had changed into scooped them up in sinewy arms flaked with melted metal truck parts, clearly some sort of camouflage and started running on five legs for the Source, and Corvayne could look back and see that The Magus was pointing at them with his staff. His eyes traced what looked like a white light from above as the moon fired something at the wizard and once more he felt itchy radiation before the living Juggernaut blew through the temporary structures around the largest tower entrance and wiggled into it like a worm.


    Gylwin was waiting by the tower entrance and did something that sliced it off the rock it was on and sent the structure hurtling off into the blank sky of the floor they entered.


    Corvayne saw that Bell and Preshe were okay and wrapped them in a hug, but was rudely interrupted by Gylwin tugging on his shirt.


    ¡°We need to keep moving. Get aboard Juggy.¡± She looked and radiated frustration. Corvayne guessed she was hoping to ambush the wizard and perform some monster version of a backstab.


    Corvayne looked back at the reptilian eye of the flat thing with a bunch of metal stuck to it that he had assumed was a vehicle up to a minute ago. ¡°What about Diamond? The moon? Everyone else?¡±


    ¡°She is going to hit and run. We go deep into the tower. Hide, then regroup. Write Cascadia off as dead.¡±


    Corvayne got into the cab above the monster''s head and helped his family in. Mosh hopped on the hood and pulled a reign out. June pulled out what looked like part of a cow and fed it, it said ¡°Thank you¡± in a low voice, then moments later they were zooming along on a winding road to nowhere in particular under a bleak black sky.


    It was the first retreat that Corvayne somehow felt like a win.

 Chapter 221: Saved, Savior, Seru

    Seru woke up to her phone chirping. She took a deep breath and pulled the covers off herself. Her room was nice and toasty, despite a coating of frost on the window. The cold floor betrayed that it was winter, and her feet had to quest for pink fuzzy slippers. She took a moment to put on a robe and then looked outside, frigid air filling her nose as she put it near the glass. She could see there had been a dusting of snow, coating both the pine trees and piles of leaves. It was still dark out, but she could make out light in the sky past the trees and over the hills. She went to one of the stacked boxes that still held her clothes and pulled out workout leggings, a red bra, and a black t-shirt. She held them on her arm and opened her portable hole.


    She specifically picked it for most storage over her ring because it was easier to build a wardrobe in the hole. The faint smell of cedar mixed with a bit of perfume she had sprayed inside. Gygax would probably prefer if she had a proper bag of holding, but he was mighty pleased with how she had catapulted his faith to sit with the big boys. She pulled out baggy looking red pants and a vest that would fit over her shirt. Not too modest, but not too flashy. She was planning on doing a video on tower features, mostly cribbed from research Dot had done and from buttering up her gold spray-painted rival for Nyxion.


    She turned the shower on and once again noticed that while her viewers called her young and hip, her face looked more like an adult these days. When she wasn''t ''on'' for the camera, she thought a lot about Nyx and Corvayne. Combined, she suspected they didn''t think about her half as much as she did. It was hard to compete with princesses and super slimes and whatever Nyxion got up to in the Tower. Two ''casual'' relationships and she fell for both them, and had neither.


    At least she was rich now. Not Tripic noble rich, but she was dealing in billions and billions of hits on her quick and dirty run through of the system and basically just doing pulling lessons from Corvayne and Nyxion and Mister I and LBC and filtering it through online video lingo.


    If she had a half a million views after a month for one of her stupid previous videos it was solid success. She was several thousand times bigger. All because she had tried to screw Corvayne and Wick in a previous lifetime. She had enough money to buy a couple houses on her own, and her parents were proud of boosting Gygax, but there was a weird feeling of being hollow as she watched her count go up. Maybe she''d see if one of the engineers could figure out a way to stream a dungeon run. The trick being they''d need to slow everything down because she''d be creating video at 7x the speed. You couldn''t just run a network cable across dimensions, could you? She would also need a radio or something. It was probably hard to keep a signal since she''d have to drop relays every stairway. Since leveling up she got a sense she was getting smarter, and that might be why she got less and less happy.


    She washed her hair and watched soap spiral the drain. Her fans would be happy with a long dungeon run, maybe she''d tap Hari to do a duo and use the waypoint to cut to a floor 20 town they had been considering as their public staging ground. Wick was paranoid about appearing on any of them and was pushing Hari to scout out a smaller, more quiet place that had a waypoint.


    Record the lesson she had, then do a deep dive with Hari. That would take care of content for a month if it was interesting. The viewers she had also liked when she talked to Tower Folk or Babs or Dot about ''lore'' which she was starting to warm up on. It was more interesting then tabletop games.


    Before she noticed she had finished her shower she was getting breakfast ready in her bra.


    ¡°Shit!¡± She stepped back from the pan, and checked to make sure she didn''t get oil on it. It was still newish! Safe.


    She had five eggs and six pieces of bacon because, as far as she could tell, high level bodies saved calories in ways that made it fiendishly hard to gain weight, and per Lady Blood Claw higher level bodies also were better at storing vitamins. Her high school level understanding of chemistry and biology was enough to tell her there was something very wrong with it, but there was also something wrong with the physics of [Springwind] letting her phase through a monster charging her.


    In no time at all she was fed, had finished dressing in her standard public appearance gear, and was hopping into her new jeep. Video today. Traps, getting new classes, and tier up advice. Gary had been telling her he had been theory crafting with the ''boys'' about how what powers to gun for if people were specializing or rounding out their class. That the formerly pudgy kid was starting to buff up into a shorter Corvayne with a bad haircut made her kick herself for writing him off before.


    She could drive and text due to her improved dexterity, perception, attention span, and general reaction time, so she sent off a message to Shallee. ''I want to do a makeover stream for you two.''


    It was an idea she had brewing, since there was a side to adventuring that everyone else seemed to ignore: making and modding your armor to actually look good. It was something Nyxion got, and she noticed that the serpent whip, for example, now was keyed to match gold trim on his outfits, that matched his hair. All his armor was tailored to look flashy and ceremonial, but he ALSO had built into this emotion-tank build that could seamlessly turn into a pure control build at whim. He had a pair of earrings that converted spent mana to passive regeneration and one that let him use pain to restore mana, and specifically passed over ones until he had a pair that looked nearly identical that Mosh could change to red. Mana he spent went into his shield too, then when it broke it empowered all his other items. He also had charisma and vitality boosting gear, which improved all the debuffs he had. Most importantly, he had found things with close enough shades to his red black and gold color themes that he could tweak them to match.


    At a stop light Seru looked down at her monk outfit, which looked great but was really some greens that were sewn together. Her real gear sadly was pretty ''strawberry'' when not covered in clothing. The most outstanding case was her radioactive green glowing bikini bottom that made her bare tummy and legs nearly indestructible (she drew the line at asking Corvayne to use [Mass Driver] on it) but without pants over it, that gear would require her to wax and would likely be a strike against her channel if she fought in it. Her vest was gray and had glowing ''lava'' tubes in it, her head piece was a colorful jade circlet with greens and reds, and she wished she had more gear like it. It was why she got the gear she was wearing as it matched the kung-fu outfit. Instead of a cool looking frozen weapon like Bearer, the loot gods had rolled her what looked like brown foam novelty fists.


    They looked stupid.


    They made her hands sweat if it was anything but freezing.


    They smelled like burnt coffee when she wore them.


    They made squeeky sounds when she hit things.


    Whatever got hit would then have something like an earthquake hit them, and thus she had the most lethal weapon they had pulled from a dungeon.


    She was looking between her phone and the currently red light when the sun came up way too fast.


    A moment later, it was like someone pushed the car over, and all the windows burst. Instinct kicked in and the drills that Corvayne suggested kicked in, her armor swapping into her ring for her real gear. She tucked her head into her legs as the car went flying into a building and started to crumple like a can, then stopped after a moment of sharp pain in her shoulder. It was dark all the sudden.


    [Sanctuary: 99% damage mitigated]


    She felt her phone start buzzing in her hand, cracked she could feel. Her hand sadly was currently trapped by part of the warped frame of her car and what looked like brick. She used her free hand to twist and pull metal, giant novelty fists somehow able to do gentle dexterous tasks then reverting to what looked like a static foam toy when she wasn''t thinking about them.


    They had saved her phone at least. She looked at the buzzing. It was a number she didn''t know, just ''Cascadia Caller''


    ¡°Hello? Did you just fire a fucking rocket launcher at me?¡± She asked. Though what didn''t make sense is there wasn''t a follow up.


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    [Ritual of the Craftsman: Sharing Dex. Total: +17,458,623]


    A womans voice came from the phone. She didn''t know who it was, but even through her phone she guessed the woman could do voice work. She sounded divine. ¡°Seru. I need you to get out of the car and throw one of Gygax''s blessings at the ground.¡±


    ¡°Who is this?¡± She gave up and tucked her ear, head, and phone close to her glowing green undies then punched upwards until her fist had pulverized what was left of her new car, the store it had been rammed into, the roof of the next building, some traffic lights thrown on her, ect.


    ¡°The city is in danger. Throw a natural 20 at the street. Quickly.¡±


    [Ritual of the Ritualist: Sharing Int. Total: +20,684,435]


    ¡°If I throw it at the ground, it''s a waste.¡±


    ¡°You have 20 seconds or everyone in Cascadia is going to die.¡±


    [Ritual of the Dancer: Sharing Perception, Reaction, Poise. Average: 10,015,453]


    [Ritual of the Cuffed Duet: Unarmed skill pooled]


    There was a lurching feeling, and even as a level 60 Seru felt ill, like she had been going really fast the braked really hard. A weird feeling of fear and worry passed over her. Like she had felt the moment the spines from that monster had burst through her guts. She looked at the DM screen. As a Gygaxian high priestess or whatever she was, she could look over the screen. It was never a sure thing, but she felt the shapeless form nod at her. Or wiggle it''s eyebrows. She wasn''t sure if it was Gygax himself, or the god of everything, or the system. It was the smallest hint of approval.


    ¡°10 Seconds!! Seru PLEASE!¡±


    She drew her gift into a d20 and forced a crit, then slammed it into the street where it dissipated. For good measure she threw a charge of Impetus in the mix, to give the manhole cover a perfected motion.


    ¡°There, happy? Wasted.¡±


    [Custom Unarmed Skill: People Mover] [CRITCAL SUCCESS][PERFECTED]


    The phone call ended. A moment later the ground heaved, and Seru was picked up by what looked like little fingers formed from concrete, rock, debris. They had colors that suggested something turning them liquid. More formed a line, what to seru looked like a racetrack of gentle curves over the wreckage from whatever the blast was. She also saw that there was something dark on the horizon, and as it grew she saw it catch the sun. Water, forming a wall.


    There was only a moment of mounting horror, seeing a multi mile high wave, then she was flying at something like a few hundred miles an hour along a finger conveyor, screaming as she met up with other screaming people and flew down streets and around bends and sometimes flipped her around as more people joined something like a conveyor, freezing air and suburbs passing by. She had a second on a hill to see veins converging on, places, then her own line rammed her down Corvayne''s street as well as hundreds of other people as well as what looked like foam, and started shoving them into his dungeon, the portal''s door widening to accept a spigot of people. Seru was one of the last, all of it happening within twenty seconds, and she could see as the sun rose and feel the rumble for a moment as the wave began drowning Cascadia, then she was shoved into the Tower entrance with a blast of the foam those fingers wove into a sort of hose.


    Seru recovered in a tangle of people and covered in whatever the foam was, a slimy substance that had helped slide people out of the way. There was coughing, moaning, people yelling they had broken bones... Seru stood up.


    The Tower in Corvayne''s home was a sort of slime-water park made of bone. Dark ceilings and bleached white walls had rivers of sort of squishy orbs. There was actual water too, but the orbs didn''t need water to flow or carry things off. It had very little in the way of dangerous monsters, with non-corrosive slimes being less likely to injure someone then they were to suicide into a person''s knee. The biggest issues would be food and getting them to water that wouldn''t be tainted by the overwhelming flavor of lime. People could drink it in a pinch but it tended to make people feel like they were going to be sick.


    The exit door, usually open, had an orange barrier with a skull over it, and what looked like a carwash spinner made of mud. Going near it, she felt dampness in the air and increasing movement, so she stepped back and took a natural 20 on... intuition? Intuition.


    Twenty seconds of thinking and she felt the info slot into place.


    <ol>


    <li>


    A powerful force had tried to save a lot of people. It was likely doing something that resulted in those buff messages and those buffs probably helped it to trigger [People Mover]


    </li>


    <li>


    She had seen a wall of water, likely a few miles tall which was the disaster. Given that the portal, which through the arch should be showing Corvayne''s living room in slow motion, instead was showing her a dark rapid moving swirl of debris in water, the big wave was probably moving very, very fast.


    </li>


    <li>


    It was connected to the blast that had taken her truck out, as she had seen people who looked burnt or dazed.


    </li>


    <li>


    She saw people from all walks of life and guessed some were too young for levels, so it likely tried to get everyone.


    </li>


    </ol>


    This left some important questions, that intution summed up.


    <ol>


    <ol>


    <ol>


    <li>


    What she had seen was a god-like display of using a skill. Something that knew her name used it, and needed her help, but tried to save thousands if not more people. She didn''t know the exact scope of the finger array.


    </li>


    <li>


    The thing that used it knew her ability would help it. But only Gygax''s skill, it didn''t know what Impetus did or didn''t know she could bestow it.


    </li>


    <li>


    What exactly caused the wave?


    </li>


    <li>


    What was her next step?


    </li>


    </ol>


    </ol>


    </ol>


    First, secure the landing area. She used some more divine favor and rule bending to Crit her passive detection roll. No hostiles in the room, though there was she guessed a slime in the next room. Nothing to worry about.


    Second, triage.


    Seru saw someone who looked like a nurse and tapped her on the shoulder, then thrust a high grade healing potion into her hands with a dress she didn''t like.


    ¡°That will help triage anyone who has injuries. Ration it out.¡±


    She grabbed her own potion. ¡°Look around you! Anyone who''s near someone in critical condition or unconscious that you can''t wake, raise your hand!¡±


    She found someone else who was a doctor (or could play one on TV) which was good enough to hand over another potion.


    She felt a tug on her sleeve and saw a girl she recognized. One of Preshe''s friends, the one who was actually an apostate of Gygax. Seru nodded at her and abused a fragment of her divine power to peek at the name. ¡°Bree, right? I need you to help mend people who are unconscious or have internal injuries. Anyone we can''t wake up or who is too hurt to move.¡±


    ¡°Auntie Seru!¡± A squaking voice called out. She saw Hylal run up to her. ¡°Oh Bree is safe too! Beth! Gee!¡±


    The girls in question looked fine if shaken and hugged each other. Experience killing things she guessed, since they all were all at near her level.


    ¡°I need you guys to help me. We will eventually need to move. You are familiar with this Tower, right? Hylal?¡±


    The bird girl jumped up and down. ¡°We have some good helpers! Mr Squidgglesworth too! ¡­ do you think mom and dad are okay?¡±


    Seru looked around for someone to take charge as she answered. ¡°Corvayne is the most likely to survive, and he''s always protected your mom before.¡±


    Bree started healing, and Seru saw her parents coming her way and decided to run interference. She''d happily knock them both out if they tried to stop her only magical healer from fixing people.


    ¡°What should we do?¡±


    ¡°Here''s another potion, look for people who are badly injured, burned... apply a little. Do you know first aid?¡±


    The adults looked at each other and Seru had to not roll her eyes. ¡°Request Gygax spend a proficiency point on it. Take these, and try to make some splints for anyone with broken legs. Anything with bones sticking out, get your daughter.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because she''s a cleric and can heal. DOCTORS! I''m going to make wrist bands, call out, pass these to them. Everyone who''s not injured and has a weapon on them and a fighting class, I want you to start forming groups. Grab people who don''t have combat classes, especially parents with kids.


    ¡°Seru, what else do you need?¡± A stranger asked.


    She stopped and saw recognition, and... fuck. She was just a stupid kid. Was this what Corvayne felt every time she and a bunch of newbies looked at her?


    ¡°I have some food and water saved up. Hylal, Gee, Beth. You know this tower entrance pretty well, right?¡±


    Hylal nodded and Seru nodded back, handing her a bright blue and pink piece of chalk. ¡°Good. Blaze a trail for us to follow to the nearest Tower Folk settlement, or is there a waypoint closer?¡±


    ¡°We already painted the way to the nearest town in magic paint Seru! I''ll clear it and come back! Cmon guys!¡±


    They pushed through the mass of people, and Seru had more people coming up to ask her what to do or do next, only interrupted when a figure put a hand on her shoulder. She spun pulled Argyle into an arm bar. He tried to stop time and found he was still stuck.


    ¡°Ow! Let go!¡±


    ¡°What the fuck do you think you are doing Time-boy?¡±


    ¡°I was going to try to help you bitch!¡±


    Seru didn''t need a dice roll to see that Argyle was plotting how to turn this disaster into opportunity, nor did Gygax need to tell her that she couldn''t trust him to not try test her.


    She let go and smiled. ¡°Well then pal, I guess we are a team.¡± She noticed there was at least one cloth clone of the monk with them, hood not hiding the same robe type. She hoped her stupid fucking underwear could take a staff to the guts while protecting her feet from bamboo. It was a game of who hit who first, as she certainly would kill him with one quake punch. His power could let him dog pile her, she didn''t have a good way to deal with a helicopter, he had potentially thousands of hostages...


    Trying to spot other Argyles, she saw a pair of alien looking eyes gazing up at her. Mr Squidgglesworth, LBC''s pet who had recently begun clinging to Preshe. The creature raised a tentacle in a question mark shape, then drew another under it''s neck. She decided to shake her head no. She didn''t want to explain to Preshe how she let her dog die. She didn''t want to explain that the LBC even more.


    At the same time, more people were asking her what the plan was, and she handed out cloth to get people splinted up so they could start marching, people asking her what they could eat, could they eat a slime, was now a bad time for an autograph or selfie, help my baby was in the river, nevermind someone pulled them out, what was going on? Who was in charge? You are in charge, right? Right? RIGHT?


    She saw a thousand people starting to turn to her, more of them spilling into the room from the halls... What the FUCK had she gotten herself into?

 Chapter 222: Thorny

    Having a walking truck, Corvayne discovered, had it''s ups and downs. Literally, as the entire carriage strapped to Juggernaut''s frame now swayed and dipped a little as the monster moved to the next door.


    It had been four days since they had fled into the Tower. Corvayne was in the back, helping Preshe Mend Lady Blood Claw. His warrior friend was laid out on a bed with a slight gyroscope so that she stayed somewhat still but her skin kept spiking deep camo patterns with shades of lime green, red, magenta, and other colors that suggested constant pain and negative emotions. Oddly, when Corvayne and Preshe were sitting with her and holding her hand she sometimes turned plum for a few moments of relief.


    "Water." She called out, and before Corvayne could get up Spears was there, water in hand.


    They helped her sit up to drink, sometimes hearing the snapping of wood inside her as old roots broke. Through [[Unity]] Corvayne sometimes would draw some of the pain and turmoil she felt, but could do little to break the feelings that were bleeding out from the hole he had felt through his power. Worthless. Helpless. Abandoned.


    Preshe looked tired, "Mo- Lady please, we will be okay. We haven''t seen them in a few days." The girl had gone out with Corvayne to gather herbs every time they stopped to let the Juggernaut take a break. Even in an urban theme Corvayne and her sometimes could find medical ingredients growing through cracks in concrete or hidden in lockers during one segment that resembled a high school with halls sized for giants.


    They then would take turns brewing potions and using whatever piety they gained to keep healing her. It was hard to find other things that worked for piety worthy creation when they had to gather quickly and keep moving.


    Corvayne could see LBC''s hair was matted with sweat, and he took a cloth that June had given and dabbed her forehead. It didn''t stop Lady Blood Claw from glaring at them. "We can''t assume they will give up even if they don''t see us for a few months. If the Magus tells them to look for us, they will never stop. We also need to stay away from Cascadia towers. He can''t come in but he can pull things out."


    Corvayne nodded and quietly drew off the top of the feeling of something impaling her gut, while also calling for Mending. He wished Mosh was able to help, but the goblin was in charge of keeping the Juggernaut running and running fast. Even now they were bounding across a titanic rope strung between floating rocks near an endless waterfall. There shouldn''t be a roar given they could not see a bottom, but the sound of churning rapids followed them as they climbed. Corvayne was pretty sure they were on the 8<sup>th</sup> floor of some Tower, but the repeated movement through huge doors over the last few days had pushed them from Nel''Ferral environments he knew.


    There was a ding as he was called up to the front and he could feel the Juggernaut slow and level. They had reached another island, and Corvayne moved out of the body of the truck, across the armored neck of Juggernaut into his helmet/cockpit.


    Mosh was there, clearly having slept while Juggernaut kept Corvayne''s directions to keep going up and what he had dubbed ''Rightwards'' since the only thing to orient in the mist shrouded world was the always visible waterfall.


    "Hey Boss. All the ropes go other directions. What''s Compass saying?"


    Corvayne did a pair of quick requests, which included nearest world-door, second nearest world-door, and third nearest world-door. It helped make sure they were not backtracking, and he didn''t want to be one hundred percent predictable by running through the closest sideways portals, hence why they had started going up.


    On the fifth floor, they discovered Juggernaut could enter a boss fight and more then pulled it''s own weight when it came to clawing things apart, even with their home on the road strapped to it''s back. He suspected that there was more to it then just a monster with a truck harness, but Mosh had told him that they would go over what was going on when they were safe, and until LBC felt it, Corvayne would go with her gut instinct.


    Anyway, staggered compass power uses pointed him to a door likely on the island, given it didn''t have an up or down tug to any real degree. The floating island they had driven/crawled up to at least was close to a real piece of land: Some of them were football shaped rope wrapped rocks and required lots of careful climbing by their dragon-vehicle to not wobble off into the abyss.


    "Looks like we are level with the gate. It''s going to be off to the left side of the island we are on."


    There was some shifting as they crawled over the knot that bound the rope to the island, tilting the entire vehicle up before it flopped downhill to land on a stringy grass platform. The islands were crawling with monsters, mostly lanky apes and ultra thin and tall birds. Neither had resistance to teeth or dragon fire, so they more or less threw themselves into the truck''s front. Corvayne did not ask Mosh if they came out the back, as some things are better left not asked.


    Old wood temples dotted the forest landscape of the landmass, also marked by ropes with wards that the Juggernaut was surprisingly careful not to break or disturb as he put on his wheels (or turned his legs into them) then glided along the ground. A wide open temple with double doors acted as their passage to the next ''type'' of tower, with hints of purple and orange colored bricks around the portal. It was a sort of hint to where the doors went, with Nel''Ferral''s steely gardens as an example having a doorway made of wrought iron roses.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    The doorway between worlds felt like the longest tunnel ever and at the same time felt like it was over in a blink. The landscape was sun draped and resembled a sort of video game to Corvayne''s mind, abet one with lots of color and attention to detail. Everything seemed to be moving in a gentle loop, with a few moving actors like dragonflies. In the sky single yellow and blue dots acted as stars, which he shouldn''t be able to see with the sun setting in another direction.


    The cockpit of the Juggernaut had all it''s buttons, but some of the panels seemed to be an odd set of navy and marine blue that didn''t actually conform to the lights on them. Mosh looked to have been given ''mean'' white eyes like a cartoon. June had a bounce and was given extra big eyes.


    "I don''t even want to know what I look like."


    "It made your hair really spiky boss!" A little ! appeared above his head.


    "Does it hurt?" June asked as she tilted her head. A ? appeared above hers.


    He touched one, and it felt soft despite retaining it''s spikes. "Odd. Anyway, the compass for the closest two other doors is... hmm. One in the direction of that mountain... how far is it? Hard to tell. The other close one is down." He checked the readings for atmosphere and the letters just looked like lines and squares, but somehow he could read them despite not being able to get more detail when he focused on it.


    It said that it was safe, so he went out of the truck and climbed the stylized ladder, colored like he would paint it but simplifying so many details down to a hint of scratch here, a dent there, then flat orange for the color of the setting sun. He felt a little sick, to be honest, as his brain kept trying to get his eyes to focus more. He could make out details much much further away but the pixels of things close to him didn''t change.


    "Gary would probably like this." He noted as he surveyed the land around them. Grassy plains with rivers of sand and water crisscrossing on rocky trails. There was a crystal spire on a lower island that had little flat white stars appear as if it was glowing, but not actually giving off more light then everything else.


    Gylwin popped her head out of the truck, looking more happy then she had in a long time as her game-y purple hair swayed in the wind, parts of it blue or red depending on lighting in a way Corvayne knew didn''t really work in reality. "Isn''t this great? It''s like an old point and click adventure."


    Corvayne covered his eyes a moment, thankful that total darkness was the same no matter what. "I don''t like it. Do floors like this have lasting effects?"


    "Nothing I''ve seen, but I also have excellent control over my genes." The elf-spider woman pulled a flute from her robe and started playing. The sun had set enough that it was no longer simply an orange ball but now a circle with purple lines crossing as it neared a sort of endless line of mountains that Corvayne couldn''t peg the distance of.


    Gylwin was looking as well. "I think we should camp here."


    Corvayne crossed his arms. "I hate it."


    Preshe loved it, as did Spears. Bell didn''t care, and [[Unity]] let him see a trio of curved red lines that he somehow knew meant she was angry. "I don''t care, I want to know if Hylal is safe. Can you lock onto her?"


    He gave it another check. Then tried to find a pillar. Both were uncertain, but not a complete blank. "It''s still giving me... something. I need more levels in the power or we need to get closer. No pillars either."


    For Bell''s sake he planned to risk hitting that level 20 town they had marked as a meet up spot. Worst case, they could teleport back out and try to meet at the backup gathering spot, a two day trek from a different waypoint they had all tagged on floor 15 of a tower sideways a few doors from Corvayne''s house.


    Preshe and Lady Blood Claw and Spears all looked way too colorful, with Spears rendered with really cute button eyes, Preshe''s tail developing a non stop bob that he had never seen before, and Lady Blood Claw being given extra long ears above her normally sharp ones, weirdly flowing silver hair and a sort of distressed look on her face. She also didn''t shift colors while he was looking at her. Weirdly, the ''world'' decided to give her more detail then some of the other people. Bell, for example, had a sort of weird line for a mouth and wasn''t given a nose, even though Corvayne (after asking!) could FEEL it when he touched her face.


    "I don''t like this digital world."


    LBC opened an eye, face blushing and somehow looking embarrassed. "I don''t feel that bad..."


    There was a flash of black and white and a sort of crunchy sound. She suddenly was touching her stomach.


    "Ahh, I can feel it digging inside me... was this what your knives feel like when you..."


    Corvayne shook his head. "I''m sure yours is worse. They are very sharp compared to a root."


    Preshe looked between them. "What can we do to make her better d... Corvayne?"


    He needed to give her a better nickname. "We can try to figure out what a plant based curse would need for her to do, but it''s hard if we can''t see what the system takes points off for, and we don''t have an expert like Hari or Leigue."


    "You said you could... pull it out?"


    "It works on some people but Lady Blood Claw... I can try again, if she''s willing."


    Her eyes closed and faint red lines appeared over her face. Why did the world render claw marks on her cheeks? Oh. He could feel through [[Unity]] that she was embarassed, in pain, and excited for something. He could also feel Bell was annoyed, Spears was excited, and Preshe was just worried for LBC.


    Bell was looking between them. "You''ve tried this before? Of course."


    He felt a hint of jealousy. "I also did it to you before we started dating." Corvayne said coolly, but strangely it felt like an excuse.


    "And her sister!" Spears added.


    Preshe was looking at him. Judging in some way. She then nodded as if it matched what she thought of him. Somehow, it felt really embarrassing that she felt confident in whatever she was thinking, and pleased by it.


    "You have a giant sweat drop coming from your head Corvayne."


    He pulled open her shirt and tried to ignore the pixelated sweat drop, that she was extremely hot, and that he could feel sharp things trying to pull out of her. He pushed against her skin, the flesh for some reason parting as he gripped something that felt like writhing razor blades. He pulled, and sinister red vines came out of LBC, for a moment resisting then snapping. She wheezed and bucked.


    "I didn''t get it all..." Corvayne felt weak himself. It wasn''t like the other curses he had pulled out and he could feel it surging into him like a torrent of filth crawling up his arm.


    A moment later he felt a few splinters in his guts and took a deep breath while he waited to be nearly torn apart... but in a moment Preshe was helping Lady Blood Claw button up her shirt and he could feel relief from her, even though there were still jolts of pain.


    "I can... feel it still but... it''s better. Thank you for going deep-"


    Spears threw a blanket over her. He really couldn''t get used to seeing her eyes as little buttons. That''s not what they looked like! "You rest, we''ll work on getting out of here. Corvayne, you okay? Don''t give me that look. You should have hearts for eyes when you look at me, like this!"


    She somehow DID have pink hearts grow over her face. Corvayne looked at everyone who was grinning at him. A few of them had little lines in place of their eyes. Lady Blood Claw had her face buried in a pillow. Bell had a little cloud over her head and was glaring. Enough was enough.


    "I''m going to get us through the nearest portal. Now."

 Chapter 223: Painting a Pretty Clear Picture

    From the Collection: Tower Party: The Spear Bearers and One Nameless one


    Paintings by simulation of: Esmeralla Diamond, Iglesi Diatanti, Ron Spencer, Mixer-of-Oils, Oda Echiiro.


    [[[[[Painting notes: This collection of art, found in the back of the Juggernaut after the group left the floor, is an eclectic mix of tastes and simulated artists, some with personal relationships with the subjects, others not at all related. Of the pieces, many are ''everyday'' scenes, curated to cover a period of several days spent on the floor. Commentary has been provided by a quest given to Iglesi Diatanti III, an experienced art critic, in exchange for a copy of any paintings his grandfather would have made, should he have been observing the team as they had dinner and/or relations. He was awarded all paintings as thanks for his help. This selection omits some paintings that were very similar involving using [Flow-Like-Water] against monsters over and over in a variety of styles and a few very detailed illustrations of mating we decided would be more appealing inside the imagination that the commentator did not bother to comment on.]]]]]


    Painting 1: Arrival


    A wide composition showing the group arriving on floor [Paintings][Altered Reality][Altered Time movement][Possible output: Oil, Ink, Crayon, Digital, Crystal Print, Plasma Gas arrays][Large Land mass][Large Objective spread][Many Doors][Mountain Landscape][Cliffs and Waterfalls][Forests and plains][Interesting weather][Focused Lighting][Bridges][Outlooks][Monsters: Hydrawls, Feather Fencers, Stoper Chymes, Mold Mimics, Minor Dragons, Painted Chimeras, Furslugs, Cloud Wolves][Pastoral Painting Fauna][Notorious Monster][Some Towns][Some Dungeons]. I don''t know what most of that means but I can guess.


    The painting shows the party, lead by Corvayne... whom the system informed me is not a vampire despite his name, emerging from a glowing orange stairway into a vast wilderness. The central figure is Corvayne, standing with his spear and a pose on a bluff that represents his pride, direction, and likely his phallus given that the painter has three of the five female subjects gazing subtly at it''s tip.


    Corvayne is the center and focus the eye is drawn to, dressed in swirling white cloth and centurion armor that has been peeled off to reveal his muscles, with a kingly red velvet set of trousers, the kind of wear one would have in court rather then in the field where it would be impractical and likely mudcaked. He is stoically looking forward, but has a single foxglove tucked into his belt.


    Behind him is Spears-Like Water, rendered as a slime for some reason. The painter expertly captures the rays of light from the sun above diffusing through her liquid form, possibly representing the glorious system (Thank you for this quest!) or some less important god. Her breasts are bare from the diaphanous veil around her. The painter suggests via shadowing that she is cold. Her pose suggests support and devotion, and lines up both with Corvayne''s face and the tip of the spear. We can assume from the Carnation in her hair that she feels love. The color of the slime is a sort of bright turquoise,


    Princess Bellithica is behind them, red hair flowing with the wind. She also has a bare chest, one hand covering it or trying to marshal her diaphanous strip of cloth, the other framed by her hair pointing at a peak in the distance. The painter, despite having her topless, has painted a pair of metal greaves and a blade by her side, as well as an overlarge musket. The painter has placed a Marigold in her hair to suggest her jealous nature she is trying to overcome.


    Lady Blood Claw, is that really her name? Please scrape that off the parchment. As I was saying, the Illustrious Lady Blood Claw, also certainly not a vampire as I was told to say by my patron, lingers behind them. Her gaze is directed at Corvayne with a glare, as if she blames him. The way she is clutching her rippling white cloth to her bare chest suggests she is not happy to be rendered topless in this first painting, as does the red tone the artist picked for her skin, suggesting anger at her shirt missing. Her drow features otherwise speak to wisdom and restraint with her tall frame suggesting martial prowess, as does the large weapon she carries marked by a trinity knot. In her hair is a single Daffodil, but the hand covering her chest is clutching a few more.


    On the other side of Corvayne is Preshe, a fully armored figure with pink skin and clear purple eyes. She has been given a white cape that flutters behind her, but is clutched in one hand to suggest innocence. She is looking at Corvayne''s face. A Celtic knot on her own sword suggests the role of a daughter. The painter also has etched into her armor Lythandies holding a Gladiolus. The goddess, if one looks at the painting carefully, does not have a shirt on.


    Mosh''po, the Goblin, stands off to the side of Preshe, also gazing forth in excitement at some unseen wonder. Rendered in all black, the figure perhaps representing darkness that they bring along. He''s their friend? Goodness. Don''t goblins usually... Please scrape that. I was speaking to our patron. Anyway, Goblins are figures of rapid growth and rapid change, perhaps attached to our hero to represent a fast rise and equally fast fall? The scars on the figure might be past adversity that is now growth, or may be the painter trying to capture the possible danger that the figure most excited to go forward represents.


    He is not wearing a shirt, instead having a rich green scarf, perhaps another nod to Lythandies, as is the small wood shield at his belt.


    June is looking towards the Goblin, holding roses. She has also failed to find her shirt before venturing into the wilderness. Many symbols of Lythandies and artifice adorn her, including a seed pendant placed around her neck, the black lotus clamping the diaphanous white cloth she wore as pants to her navel, the wood sword and shield resting at her side. The way she is looking back means that the viewer will also look back to Corvayne''s foot, a nice trick of the painter to keep the eye on the main subject.


    The Juggernaut, a character itself, is halfway out of it''s Truck shell, showing off a scaly belly. The noble beast is strong, his gaze lining up with Corvayne''s face in the painting, as if to suggest the steed was ready to press on another thousand miles. The painter perhaps got distracted because they added some hunting dogs that would be as large as a wagon if the perspective and my own notes hold. Perhaps they just like hunting dogs.


    The last figure is on the other flank the triangle of main subjects. Gylwin is rendered as an elf with many limbs wreathed in silk, on a tree. A green orchid is tucked into her hair, and the single eye pointed at the viewer as well as the exaggerated blade might suggest the painter was afraid of what would happen if she was topless.


    Painting 2: We are in a (Fornicating Painting?)


    In this, the figures from the previous work are gathered around the side of the Juggernaut. All of them are arrayed so that the center of the piece is the painting, which is a smaller reproduction of painting 1, Arrival. There is a forest scene and blue sky framing the center of the work.


    Corvayne as always is considering the painting, stoic and tall. He has fully removed his shirt, and is rendered with a layer of sweat.


    Conversly, Lady Blood Claw is pointing at the cloth she has tied around her chest then the painting. Again, we see Red as the primary color. Her body language leaps off the painting, as if to say, ''Why did they drew ME topless?'' She has perhaps not noticed the clam shell a cloth is suspending on her being the only thing keeping the viewer from seeing everything.


    Bell and Spears stand behind her and Corvayne respectively, the princess showing anger while also keeping one hand firmly over her chest, the other over her crotch. Spears is leaning on Corvayne and showing us her back and surprisingly well rendered posterior, the faint smile we can see from her profile face suggesting that the painting is pleasing and hinting of a teasing nature.


    Preshe is covering her face, embarrassment at the content of the painting or perhaps of how she is displayed. Once more, she is fully armored with a black lotus in her hair, suggesting Lythandies''s favor and her own purity.


    The Juggernaut itself is rolling it''s titanic eyes. Some hounds are bothering a chicken at the other side of the painting, and there is a table full of cheeses and meats and fruits, with Mosh dressed as a Franciscan monk toasting the proceedings. The other side has what seem to be a few horses grazing on loads of flowers. If one guessed that the system is simulating a painter, perhaps the store of flowers is what the models for the group will need for the next few paintings.


    Panting 3: Oh no!


    One of the hounds has knocked over Moshes wine cup, and now the girls are chasing after it! Corvayne is calling them to stop.


    The other hound and chicken are seemingly shouting at the fleeing dog. The disaster is taking a nap, and Gylwin can be spotted eyeing the remaining feast on the table.


    Painting 4: Time me.


    Rendered in black in white with tone paper and ink. Corvaynes stern face is looking with a clothed but hour glass figured Lady Blood Claw at a stopwatch.


    Spears has a big grin on her face, and is fully clothed with goggles. The disaster has googly eyes, and the animals from previously are lined up as if the preceedings are a race. Everything is rendered in linework, dots, and many hatching effects that suggest textures despite the lively exaggeration of features.


    Painting 5: NO WAY?!


    Similar to the previous work, Corvayne''s face is stern and he''s looking at the stopwatch. Lady Blood Claw''s mouth has fallen to the floor, her eyes are shaped as if popping out of her skull in a grotesque exaggeration of surprise. Lightning is drawn around her. We see the watch has moved an hour. In the background, Spears has a trophy and is being tossed in the air by the horse, two dogs, a chicken the size of a horse, and Juggernaut, all somehow having opposable thumbs even if they did not before.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Painting 6: The Group Rides with Cloud Wolves Down a Waterfall


    Similar in design to the previous works, but in vivid blocks of color. There is no reason why this painting should be in the sequence, as the Cloud Wolves are clearly monsters, do not appear in any of the battle paintings, nor is there a waterfall or river, nor were the cast wearing gear for camping or rafting, nor did we see anything that suggested they had rafts with wolf faces on them.


    They are all having fun however, and while rendered in ink the author accounted for every piece of food in the previous feast and has someone in the image, human or animal, snacking on it.


    Painting 7: Setting up camp.


    A pastoral scene, the group each taking tasks. Corvayne has lost his shirt still, but Spears, Lady Blood Claw, and Bell seem to be wearing extra layers. A hint of flowing white cloth can be seen under the clothes they have piled on. June is comfortably washing clothes in a nearby stream, and Mosh is fishing near her.


    The warm color of the fire that Gylwin has started and the glow of lanterns on Juggernaut suggest the point the sun has just gone down, as does the cascade of colors the sky is painted in. The hounds, the chicken, and the horse have settled down next to the Juggernaut, whom is smoking a pipe that mingles with the gentle smoke rising from the fire.


    The tasks and methodology and style of both worn and excess clothes June has washed and strung out to dry suggest this is meant to evoke the Archibald Romantacist painters of floor 20 who often would go out on patrol with the Dukes guards and paint their camping and patrols of the floor. The eye is drawn the warm places in this painting and thus the subjects who are arrayed around bright spots as if to stay warm.


    Painting 8: Dancing around the fire.


    Bright, exaggerated colors contrast with darkness. Painted as if through the eyes of someone sitting at the campfire, we can see Corvayne faintly smiling, and Preshe next to him laughing. Where the canvas is not the dark of night, the colors pop out, as if one was in a daytime market on a tropical floor rather then sitting at a fire at a camp.


    Before the bonfire itself, we see Spears dancing with the chicken, the animal standing on her hind legs with wings out as Spears crouches to hold it''s ''hands''. She is dressed in red and yellow bands of cloth, leaving parts of her alluringly open. The warm glow of the fire lines her body where it''s not covered, and we can see her laughing, one hand extended to Corvayne as if to invite him to dance. Lady Blood Claw sits to the side, wine bottle next to her, clapping along. Bell is facing outwards, hands crossed but gazing back, as if torn between staying vigilant and watching the fire. We can see Mosh crafting an instrument out of the fire itself.


    The other figure who looks either tense or pensive is Gylwin, locked in a staring contest with the fire and perhaps cradling the simple meal she has. The only hint of danger in the painting is her sword, positioned so she can draw it at a moments notice.


    The animals from the previous paintings can be seen as shadows in the foreground on the left side, sipping drinks perhaps.


    Painting 9: Teeth Cleaning


    Framed in a green border. The painting (Drawing, as I am told this is colored pencils, a novel idea) shows Corvayne, rendered with bulging and gleaming muscles but sleepy, brushing his teeth. Preshe is nearby, also rendered athletic, brushing her teeth. The last figure is a sleepy Gylwin, spins rippling from her form, also half awake and brushing her teeth.


    Painting 10: Hence the tags!


    Corvayne with two girls tugging him as he reclines in bed. Spears at one side, teasing, covered in diaphanous white cloth, again, and Bell at his other side. He is clearly holding Spears hand, showing they are on the same page, while looking at Bell and tensing his arm as if he''s about to pull them both together. The space looks to be an enlarged bedroom, which is artist fancy as what I know of the truck there are no spaces to sleep that are the size of sprawling nobles quarters, nor enough room for a circular bed that size. The dark background accentuates the girls and Corvayne and the white of the bed.


    Despite the flowing cloth, the viewer is given a pretty good view of both girls. Yes, I already suspect this is my grandfather''s simulacrum. Scrape that whole line.


    There are hints of warmth in the ''black'' interior of this painting, with browns and hints of red suggesting that while Bell seems annoyed, she is also flush with enjoyment, and the hint of her turning slightly towards Corvayne before he pulls is masterful painting of the female form and capturing a moment where we can guess, from the red trousers crumpled on the floor and scattered wine cups on the table, what came before and what will happen afterwards.


    Painting 11: To arms!


    A typical ''military slice of life'' painting, it shows the entire group presumably the next morning, geared up for combat. Ornate full plate armor on Corvayne, Bell, and Spears, who are on horses whom have multiplied thrice from the original we saw in the painting, are marching past Gylwin, Preshe, and Lady Blood Claw.


    Gylwin is standing straight and stern, as if telling Corvayne what he must do in the coming fight. The warrior on his steed seems thoughtful, hand poised to his helmeted head. Besides his armor he is given strawberry finery, to perhaps suggests his vitality or sweetness under the steely top half.


    Beside them, Preshe adjusts Spears''s saddle while the woman pats her steed. The easy confidence in Spears and the loving gaze Preshe has is matched by how their colors are mirrored in Preshe''s aquamarine dress to Spears watery flesh. A lavender rose suggests admiration from Preshe.


    The last two are Bell, reaching out from her mount to Lady Blood Claw. The posing reminds one of ''The Knights Depart'' where one of the heroes in the painting reaches for a pregnant lady, presumably his wife, but sometimes suggested to be a tryst captured in art from how the woman in question hides her face with a hand as she sneaks a kiss from her lover, as if afraid of identification from the theoretical viewer. In this work, instead, Lady Blood Claw is sprouting the hint of a tree from her abdomen, a bit of blood staining her white dress. Bell is reaching down to ensure she is okay, but it feels like the subject of those attention, while one hand is holding the tree and wound, is also urging the warrior princess to go forward and fight.


    The juggernaut and June look on from the foreground, both wearing crowns of flowers.


    Painting 12: The Warriors Fight On!


    An action scene, with mounts and monsters and the combatants all snarling and straining as dust flies. One can practically hear the winnowing of horses and clash of arms, the shouting of the two women and Corvayne and the snarl of beasts.


    Presented in a clearing in a thicket, several birds with razor sharp beaks and presumably razor feathers they can fling are engaged with the trio circling them. One of the feathers has damaged the straps on Corvayne''s armor and shirt, causing him to fight bare chested. His spear is gleaming as five copies of it race forward, suggesting multiple thrusts (or perhaps a form of arms that I am not familiar with) and Corvayne looks very pleased while also some how aloof, the faintest hint of a smirk. The few wounds we see are marked by black knives coming from him, and one can see shadowy hands swirling too, perhaps a hint of how death follows the warrior one way or another.


    At the same time, Spears armor is flying away from a near miss by a creature that seems to be a multi-headed owlbear, trio of squawking heads about to face a scythe of water from her spear even as they lay her chest bare, again, the spray of water also hinting at a wound taken for one about to be given. Her expression is one of battle lust, ecstasy over fighting and hunting perhaps pushing through pain.


    Bell, on the other hand, is firing a gun into a beast that resembles a blob with eyes. In the heat of swinging her sword at a bird, she had caught her armor on a branch, as the painter seems to enjoy rendering her half naked. Her embarassment is evident from her flush face, as is perhaps a hint of annoyance at the moment captured as one might think she is looking at the viewer and about to have her gun follow.


    Painting 13: Lunch time by the river.


    Another camp scene, painted from far enough away that if anyone''s shirt fell apart or was dissolved by slime or pulled off by dogs running around camp, it would be too small to really see anything and thus none of those things happen, or it''s by a different painter. Who knows. I am sure that watery and pale breasts will appear as phantasms of the wrong color should I close my eyes-


    Do not transcribe that. Go back. Scrape! Good. This painter takes a long view of camp by the river. The heroes are walking their mounts into camp, laden with monsters. They all have heads held high, Bell even gesturing to her kill as Preshe holds a basket and acts awed. Spears marches with her weapon straight up, feathers from her kills placed in her hair to give her both a wild amazonian look or perhaps the stature of a centurion from rome, still at attention despite her victory.


    The colors and distance suggest a more muted and everyday scene, one that even with a monster in the shell of a carriage you might imagine was happening every day a group of adventurers strode out, while still having hints of romanticism mixed in via subject if not medium.


    Mosh is helping Gylwin cook a stew, while June is hanging hides up near the fire to smoke. Juggernaut rests with a chicken acting as look out. The hounds are running behind the group, once again adding a few newcomers as if they could smell the stewpot.


    Corvayne''s mount and him are surveying something that none of the other characters are looking at and his position suggests vision, scouting, heroics. As before, the clouds are shining down on him and the camp.


    The vision of majestic mountains and the faint rendering of a black tower in the upper left might symbolize change, danger, or may simply be a manifestation of some aspect of the Tower itself, as many paintings have.


    Painting 14: Tending to the sick


    Lady Blood Claw, sitting up in bed and chest wrapped in silken gauze, holds Corvayne''s hand. The warrior is dressed as a knight. The scene is lit in a light that suggests intimacy and gentleness, the warm light and how Lady Blood Claw has a pink camo coloration, suggesting pain moving to joy. One need not know the secret painted language of LBCS (I do not have a clue how I know this, either) to see that they look apon each other with love. Her mouth is about to open a little to tell him, and the tenderness and concern in Corvayne''s gaze is a contrast to the steely visage he has in most other works. The hand they share looks both comfortable and tenative, as if they are both afraid to touch one another yet seek it.


    One might think her other hand, holding her wounded stomach and the plant growing from it, is instead reaching for the flower on said cursed plant, as if imagining it was a gift from her would-be lover.


    Whatever the artist has against shirts, one must appreciate that this feels both a moment that may have happened many times, and one pivotal to two people. I must wonder why the composition includes Spears and Bell and Preshe looking in with a variety of emotions from an ajar door as a detail almost overlooked in the gloom to the side of the pivotal scene. They are not noticed on first glance of the painting, an odd detail in a masterpiece of things likely unspoken. Perhaps if I receive this, a frame to crop out the unwanted onlookers will elevate it to masterpiece.


    Painting 15: Masterpiece? Masterpiece!


    A black and white drawing of a shocked Corvayne standing up with a bubble saying ''Masterpiece!?!'' on it.


    Other subjects are in boxes to the side, reacting to this.


    Painting 16: Preparing the play.


    The group is busy sewing diaphanous white cloth, flags, a funeral shroud, and making torches and building a castle wall. The animals featured in other works are trying to help, comically handing Preshe materials while taking them from a confused Mosh.


    June is stifling a laugh while mixing a pot, leaning towards Mosh to touch his shoulder with hers.


    The one connection in this image to the striking scene two before is that Gylwin is sitting with Lady Blood Claw, gently directing her hand to Corvayne at the opposite end of the frame, whom is helping his daughter craft while also beaming at the quality of what she is carving.


    Painting 17: The Masterpiece


    Corvayne is laying broken, spear still clutched in his hand as blood drips from him onto a stone altar. Three weeping ladies, with extra diaphanous white cloth wrapped around their chests just in case, are positioned around the cairn, while a dour Mosh and Gylwin carry wood and a torch.


    The lighting and poses of the girls are an almost comical hysteria in Bell, dignified despair in Spears, and Preshe burying her face in her hands next to her father figure.


    The lighting, and darkening skies, as well as the thrashing of beasts flanking the scene suggests both the disharmony around death, while contrasted with Corvayne''s form being almost at rest, his eyes closed and his muscled form slack.


    The arrangement of the path leading to the weeping figures, the animals swirling about, storm about to break above, and the faintest hint of light behind the figures, with June the lone figure looking back, all suggest as one moves the eye from left to right a movement from the violence and chaos of dying, to the bitter rest of death, to the hope of those who will walk away from the departed to find new hope.


    Painting 18: On their way.


    Corvayne is embraced by cheering women, who are getting fake blood all over themselves. The painter of the previous piece has cheekily given everyone shirts with faux bodies in underwear on them. There is an awareness in the series that is enjoyable.


    Lady Blood Claw looks on, now holding sunflowers, lavender, and a white lotus.


    The piece is moving away from the props and altar they had made, back to a camp where the animals are waiting for a feast. Further on, we can spot the doorway off the floor, which we can see the Juggernaut is pointed towards.

 Chapter 224: In Which Corvayne Goes Over New Powers in a Convience Store

    The door to the store jingled as Corvayne walked in. He did a quick scan of the convenience store to make sure none of the weird totems that infested the roadway had taken up a spot that had previously been safe.


    The towerfolk clerk looked up for a moment then went back to staring at some sort of magical device that probably had a movie on it or something. It looked a lot like a Cascadia gas station but with multiple floors he could see from the entrance and a ceiling about a hundred feet up.


    He pulled out a list of snacks everyone wanted, mostly codified by what prominent ingredients to look for or a general shape. He hoped LBC would be okay with a croissant that had a horseshoe shaped hotdog inside.


    While he could just shoplift everything, he instead grabbed a hand basket and started browsing for snacks.


    As the last two stops, the variety of junk food provided was a few things he had seen at the last stop, and entirely new candies that often had components he couldn''t name aside from the obvious that ''Borol Fruit'' was probably a fruit and that ''Green chocolate'' probably wasn''t too different from chocolate. The presence of peanut butter and chocolate as sort of universal ingredients was interesting, and made it slightly easier to get something for Preshe who had yet to tire of the ''basic'' combo.


    He wandered over to the actual pantry section and picked up some flour, baking soda, zebra striped eggs, milk with a picture of a cartoon veloceraptor on it, and a blue produce that smelled like romaine lettuce with a hint of mint.


    His basket was nearly full after he raided some of the medicine isles for anything that had basic components from the herbalist book. Note to self, compass to a greenhouse after they get out of the store. The safe zone was a couple of miles around the towns, so there probably was one that they wouldn''t be fighting and de-toteming. Compass had started letting him track minor things near him, and ''useful medicine'' was a prompt that urged him towards brands that used herbs he knew as active ingredients.


    Quick check again for Varia, Wick, Hylal, Mr. Squidglesworth, and Preshe''s friends. Faint hints of something, but not the spinning compass that asking the skill to find his mom got him. He had upgraded the ability twice, while also throwing some extra points into [[Essence]], [[Tower]], and [[Unity]] pact. 25 Unity influenced thoughts, but he wanted to try to urge the universe to bring the group together. No luck, but he hoped the something meant they were alive. Wick definitely was, as time was still flowing.


    He had buffed his pacts which lead to some new powers. He wrote down what he saw during the last visit to the mindscape, which was reaching a floor 21 with this lovely stretch of road.


    [[Unity]] itself at 25 stated it pushed ''Faction standing'' up while partying for all members. It also made it easier to recruit for his ''Civ'' which he wasn''t sure was on the table if they were on the run.


    Unity and Understanding 25: Emotional bonds improved on non bonded targets. Can get some empathy from total strangers. He had been training with it to try to read emotions without giving his own away, and could usually do so on guys but often would get caught by any girls he tried it on. Gylwin cited that women generally had better emotional intelligence, and it could be a stat.


    Mosh had to tell him that a lot of women wanted to form a very physical connection with him. It would explain the one dude who caught him and started hitting on him.


    Growth and Unity 25 seemed to tie into the Unity base ability: Partying with all Civ members improves power outcomes. Long term friends also trigger this effect. Effect drops off quickly down to no bonus at 3 members.


    They figured that everyone on the truck and Juggernaut himself all counted, though the chicken and two hounds that had snuck aboard from the painting floor were at best ''party members''. He could feel Sniffy, Clucker, and Sleepy from inside the store, as well as his friends.


    [[Essence]] had also been boosted, which was another minor boost to essence gains in parties. He understood that more people split the essence pouring out of monsters, but Preshe was telling him now that with the bonus at 20 the same creatures with the same levels were creating more overall essence. It wasn''t just the efficiency they captured it at. Corvayne sort of got why that was odd, and Gylwin of all people started prodding Preshe for more info.


    To Corvayne it was just another bonus at the end of the day, but not one that would help him with the massive chasm raising his level was. He hoped the Pacts at higher levels would have some better direct powers.


    Understanding 10 gave the users a better feel for levels. Improves assessment of relative level to target. Less useful for him, as his low level wouldn''t help him assess as well as if he was still gaining levels.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    15 was more useful: When user is seeking essence gaining activities, it gave them insights into activities that will boost them. Less for him, more so for helping everyone round out subjobs to keep the truck rolling. Mosh wanted to try to get them self sufficient for when time came that they find a floor that they couldn''t go outside on.


    Essence 20 with Unity supposedly also had a party effect, recreating essence out of experience lost to ''level split'' which was a mechanic they had guessed from Babs talking about high level scions being power leveled by low level specialists. This would have helped Corvayne a lot as the lowest level member of the team, but, well, two times a millionth of an experience point might as well be a millionth of an experience point. It would be nice when he started hunting for a Treasure Hunter and the Gatherer/Butcher. They would be able to train up a low level at dizzying speeds.


    On the other hand, Essence 20 with Growth was a game changer. It gave him a small refund for the essence he was spending. There was a faint but noticeable increase in cost as he leveled any pact that applied to the rest of them, but it hopefully meant LOVE wouldn''t raise the next time he lost control of his powers.


    [[Tower]] 15 brought better detection for beacons. A mild improvement since they were so far apart. It seemed like it boosted his compass at least, which was tempting him to try to hit Unity 30 to lock onto party members easier.


    The Unity and Tower 10 power improved recruitment and would make Mercs cheaper. He was more interested in the second part of the ability that made him more likely to get long term deals or get ''join quests''. There were some lingering questions if a predetermined task would create real friendship, but beggars couldn''t be choosers, and the Magus''s brides were strong enough to match him when he was doping. He would take whatever he could get.


    Unity and Tower 15: Some Chests will give reproductive tokens. Makes it easier to find the advanced geneticist... he wasn''t ready to add to his family yet by any measure, despite Spears prodding him to try to date (emphatically) Lady Blood Claw. Her feverishly admitting she liked... no, that she loved him while drugged out of her mind on painting world... he was pretty sure she remembered it too, as she had become a blueberry ghost when not getting torn up by the stupid plant curse.


    Either way, he was trying not to sow wild oats, and [[Understanding]] told him that the 15 pact was likely a set of powers for letting two different species mingle. Hopefully the tokens would have a high market value.


    Spears had pried the contents of the Pact out of him, and gotten a little weird around him before getting over it. Bell at some point had been told and let Corvayne know he had damn well better tell them whenever something like that dropped. He assured her that he would and that he was not the type of person to use such an item, which for some reason made her more upset.


    Lady Blood Claw had to explain to him, with much swearing while he was doing impromptu surgery on her to dig a palm bush stuck in her stomach out, that Bell might be looking to secure their relationship via true shared family.


    The thought made him spin back to the medicine isle and found something that would work as anesthesia to Lady Blood Claw.


    He went up to the checkout and reviewed the last few combinations.


    Growth and Tower 10 gave him benefits on larger floors like this, but didn''t specify what that bonus was. The 15 implied he could find more Notorious Monsters, and they would get buffed based on ones near them and what they had fought during a run. He hoped that wasn''t what caused the stupid totems on the floor to keep showing up and forcing them to detour or the absolutely arduous process of trying to kill one. It did explain why nobody else was cold on the snow floor except for him.


    Tower and Understanding helped with ''Flags'' for floors and with finding Libraries and other info sources.


    It was nice, actually, seeing floor information at will!


    Ebon Flats Floor 21c. [Long Roads and Crossroad Towns][Desert and Coastal Forest][Extremely Huge]


    The tower''s location he guessed, the floor he was on, the ''rarity'' or ''order'' of the floor, with ''A'' being the standard and lower numbers diverging. The first flag was general structure of the chunks of the floor and what they resembled. All the floors were infinite, but ''Size'' had to do with how big the chunks were and often the distance between key features such as doorways, stairs, beacons, and so on.


    [Notorious Monsters][Hidden Dungeons][Raids][Frequent developed Towns][Multiple Mono Floor Civs][Beacons][Doors][Up and Down Stairs][Medium Connectivity]


    The next flags tended to show up in every floor. Notorious Monsters was a tag every floor had, and he suspected was nearly if not totally universal. Every floor save 1 they had seen had Dungeons or Hidden dungeons, and quite a few had Raids. Not every floor had settlements. Tower Civs was a tag that let him know that there was a government on the floor but it didn''t cross floors and he suspected they didn''t cross doors. He was pretty sure every floor had Beacons, and that the stairs flag meant sometimes one could end up in a one-way tower that didn''t let you go down at all.


    [[Understanding]] and [[Tower]] had suggested that the system didn''t trap people and there was always a way forward, even if sometimes the path was knotted. Like the route compass had urged them through, going up and down and sometimes doubling back to higher variant levels of towers they had seen before.


    The line for checking out was just two other people, so Corvayne was done musing about powers when he got to the front of the line and dropped a sliver of black crystal on the counter and told the clerk to keep the change.


    There was a jingle as the door near him opened, and a fellow in cowboy boots and ornate robes walked in, carrying a very obvious artifact sword at his side. High level, awakened.


    Corvayne was turning to leave and met the mans eyes to nod and pass, but [[Unity]] warned him of hostile and possessive intent before the man''s arm snapped out and wrapped like iron around Corvayne''s wrist.


    ¡°Ah! I finally found you, Mr. Piggy bank.¡±


    Corvayne held his other hand up. ¡°Sorry, that''s not my name.¡± He stored his groceries, then dropped the basket. The man, for all his training, looked down when it hit the ground, and Corvayne spun, forcing the man to bend his wrist backwards or let go, and Corvayne pushed down on the sword, pulling the man''s belt down and his robe open.


    [Juxtapose] spun them, and Corvayne adapted [Agility] and started sprinting for the truck.


    He saw a whole flock of guys in ornate robes with cowboy boots and cowboy hats, three of them filling up flying swords at the pump. Six of them, all higher level by a large margin.


    Shit.


    Cow-tivator one, as Corvayne dubbed him, came waddling out of the store with one hand trying to pull his pants and robe back on. The man''s other hand couldn''t decide if it was pulling his sword out or pointing, so it did both.


    ¡°Get HIM!¡±

 Chapter 225: Wrangling the Cow-tivators

    Corvayne saw the cowboy hat and booted cultivators all looking at him, then at their boss. Corvayne wasted no time, sprinting across the dusty parking lot, around a mana-gas pump, then jumped onto the ladder behind the cab and hit the side hard.


    "Go GO GO!"


    Behind him, he could see the outraged Cultivator he had swapped away from was shaking his fist and pointing, screaming to his allies.


    "Did you NOT hear ME?!? GET HIM!"


    Juggernaut let out a sharp burst of noise that gave Corvayne a headache as whatever it was that let him get languages translated for him:


    "I got everyone and will move, as there is a risk of massive explosion if I bathe these guys in fire, but be careful they look to be low 100s in level and I suspect they will catch up if I don''t put some muscle into it, I am going to fill my body with liquid to prevent any accidents. Please grip something immediately."


    Corvayne doubled up his grip as the truck blasted out of the station, wind and dust whipping behind it before it bolted down the desert road, eight legs slapping the ground and blowing out of town at something like two hundred miles an hour, leaping over the retaining wall and hitting the road without missing a beat. Corvayne''s arms kept a steely grip on the ladder, wind whipping past him.


    A moment later the truck-beast jerked to the side and Corvayne saw a glowing patch of ground that exploded into a pillar of smoke and fire behind them.


    He felt and heard a ''twang'' and pulled his head and the snacks back before something sliced into the metal of the cab. He stored the bag in his ring and climbed up to the lip of the truck, pulling himself over and belly crawling to the machine gun turret.


    He tapped the com pad. ¡°We got hostiles. 7 or 8. On flying swords. They were looking for me because of the money we spent.¡±


    There were wet sounds, and the hatch opened and Spears flowed out, orange liquid clinging to her. ¡°Bleh. Who makes a truck that floods itself?¡±


    Something hit the lid but her arm held it from closing. Corvayne glanced at the fluttering formation of robes behind them, holding steady as the truck dodged something like a glacier.


    Corvayne was thinking. ¡°If they tracked me down because of money, that also means that Kirae might have been captured by their faction too.¡± He hadn''t thought to use his ability on the merchant, but using Compass he got a sort of hand wave feeling from the way they had come. It was like the ability felt the key to finding her was using one of the Cow-tivators. ¡°My ability thinks so as well. If they know about me, they might know about Preshe.¡±


    ¡°You know, you can worry about yourself sometimes! You are the lowest level here! It''s like your the king piece in chess!¡±


    Corvayne started unloading steel rods, locking them into little hooks built on the roof for that very purpose. ¡°Yes. But Lady Blood Claw is limited with her tree parasite curse, and I suspect that Gylwin will not step in unless she thinks we are going to really die.¡±


    ¡°What makes you say- oh she probably would have done something by now.¡±


    ¡°Mosh is needed to drive and repair Juggernaut. I''d rather Preshe help them. Bellithica will help when they get close to the sides.¡±


    ¡°So... we need to take one alive?¡±


    ¡°The leader, who''s in the back. The others might not know as much.¡± Corvayne was thinking now, how to solve the problem of winning the fight. The truck jumped into the air, pushing Corvayne''s face into the metal roof and turning Spears into a puddle for a moment.


    ¡°Man the machine gun, I''m going to try to pick them off with [Mass Driver].¡±


    ¡°No way it will stick, they are high level.¡± Spears was looking at her own weapon.


    ¡°They don''t know that.¡± Corvayne smiled back. ¡°If we pressure them, we might get some of them to try to land on the truck.¡±


    There was another chirp which hurt his head. Even Spears winced.


    ¡°We can also slow, turn, and burn them if they give me room, but there''s not enough time to stop and turn as is as they are very close to overtaking us, and I''m pretty sure anyone with a flying sword is going to be more dangerous to me up close then just harrying me with high cool down elemental attacks.¡±


    Corvayne cleaned his ear, watching as what looked like a glob of lava went over their head. Spears raised a hand and hit it with a ball of water, knocking it off to the side. ¡°You don''t want me to use a Tsunami?¡±


    ¡°.... Can you? I haven''t seen you do one as well as when you were a Boss. It''s also dry out here.¡±


    ¡°... It might kill the guy we need.¡±


    She jumped into the gun without more discussion. She opened fire, the gun''s rapid fire overtaking rushing wind with an angry growl. Corvayne tapped into [[Unity]] and requested some Stamina from Bell, LBC, and Preshe. Links formed, their own large reserves of energy flowing into him, and he switched to [[Strength]] to pick up the first steel rod, something like eight hundred pounds feeling hefty as he slowly brought it to throwing position, ignoring a spear tossed at him that hadn''t fully taken into account the wind.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Corvayne saw the spear thrower wobble a little on their blade and drew his arm back, summoning intense focus on his target then pushing power into his weapon like a swirling black hole, [Mass Driver] taking over as the bar got heavier and heavier in the lead up to the moment it left his fingers. He was aiming it like a javelin, but the moment it left his fingers he felt it become weightless as it ''fell'' to it''s target in an instant. The man''s flying sword and his legs vanished, and there was a small shock wave that scattered the rest of him and his allies for a moment.


    Corvayne dropped to the deck and used [Vitality] as air-blades slammed into him and the truck''s armor. He used [Cross-Skill: Flow-Like-Water] with the rod, burning the truck crews stamina to take another shot before he should be ready in theory. One of the riders started turning a lasso into fire, so Corvayne adjusted his hold and used Gravity to help rush the weight he needed to pump into the rod to get it to activate the weapon skill. Logically, he should remove weight to throw it and add it mid flight, but the ability knew what it wanted, and Corvayne cheated to pop off a slightly weaker shot, but one good enough to take most of the lasso holder with it.


    He didn''t have time to enjoy it, as he felt the charge of a lightning bolt and rolled off the side of the truck, grabbing the ladder as the energy of the attack melted part of the armor and nearly knocked him off, save that his arm was stuck grabbing the rail while the rest of him flopped in the air. He felt muscles tearing and snapped [Vitality] into place, stopping his muscles from getting pulled apart.


    He saw one man spinning an blade made of air and used his non-shocked hand to force himself to let go of the ladder as the blade chopped the entire section of armor off. There was a roar from Juggernaut but he had other problems as he hit the concrete of the road hard, road rash burning skin off him as he hit the dust getting kicked up by the truck.


    The speed the riders were going both doomed him to get caught but saved him in that perhaps they were not able to slow down. Corvayne saw one aimed aright at him, caught the glint of greed behind the man''s goggles.


    Duck and he was dead from the other 5 riders or the boss. He tensed as if to dodge, then jumped into the air, spinning and his spear held in both hands as he used [Juxtapose], the ability and his weapon working to pull the man off and place him on the blade, then drop the former rider in front of his own weapon. There was a spurt of blood and then the wounded or dead man fell away into the grit behind them. Corvayne used his spear butt to flip the hat into his mouth, thought he had to switch to [[Agility]] to pull it off.


    The sword for a moment wobbled, and Corvayne with a few tilts intuited how it worked. It was basically just a hoverboard you could use to kill people who got in front of it. No problems there. He had done a few short patrols on them, and the magic item hadn''t been keyed to it''s former owner at all.


    Corvayne took the hat out of his mouth and put it on, and with his own cape fluttering he was sure he looked like them. Enough so two of his enemies signaled HIM to keep chasing before they broke off to capture what they assumed was him. Corvayne had to slow down anyway because for a moment Spears was trying to hit him before [[Unity]] shared what he was doing. A sharp spike of ''ARE YOU SERIOUS?'' and ''GET BACK UP HERE'' came from either Spears or one of the other ladies in the truck sharing through the bond.


    He decided to try flexing his power a different way, sending out an aura of being on the same team as he moved his blade to intercept the two that were moving to where the original sword rider was rolling to a stop.


    He wasn''t sure if it helped, but it worked as they were not looking as Corvayne sped back up and impaled another rider off his own blade on a curving route back into the dust being kicked up by the truck.


    Corvayne was looking for his next target when he felt danger and saw the man as his fist hit Corvayne''s knee like an artillery shell. There was a horrible crack and he fell to a crouch on the blade, sending it careening back and forth as he tried to steady himself and his very angry passenger started un-impaling himself from the front of the sword.


    Corvayne grit his teeth, getting a mouth full of dirt, and pushed the blade forward and down, the back of the sword driving the front just above the ground, which made the sword buck and kick as the man on the front was dragged across the desert and sometimes the gravel on the road.


    Corvayne switched to [[Vitality]] and used his shadow arms to punch and impale the man as he took a fist to the face, possibly breaking his nose as he felt hot blood stream down his face. He responded by using [Cross-Skill: Shield Bash] with his forehead into the man''s face. The man shrieked as his own nose was broken, but then tried to get his boots flat to push the sword up. Corvayne veered and forced the man to hold onto the edge, both of them now bleeding and covered in dust.


    He sensed bullshit as the man looked at him and opened his mouth. Dragon breath? He didn''t know what element it would be, so he used [Cross-Skill: Shadow Step], burning a bunch of stamina but phasing through the man and dropping him off to unleash some sort of atomic fireball into the air rather then into Corvayne.


    He used Compass to double check he was still going towards the truck, then felt hostile intent and flattened himself on the wide blade he was riding as another rider flew over him. Corvayne drew his pistol and fired a [Cross Skill: Drill Shot], but the slugs missed or just didn''t affect the man and he vanished into the billowing dust.


    Corvayne felt something on his wrist and saw the rope losing slack and there was a moment where he was just not quite able to pull the board up to brace against it, and with a tug he went flying off and was once again getting freeway in his face. He forced himself up on his elbows as they flew off into the desert, then was blind as he felt the ground grinding against him. He had his spear, somehow, even as the Cow-tivator dragged him through a cactus, driving thorns into his face.


    He spit out dirt and shook his head, seeing his enemy trying to angle him into a rock. He twisted and managed to roll out of the way, then grabbed the rope and snarled, pulling himself up and trying to ignore how much blood was leaking out of him. His muscles were protesting, having been pulled and shredded and strained over the course of the fight, but he kept pulling himself closer as his enemy dragged him across the pavement. This time, he used his knees to keep the rest of him off the ground, and while his broken kneecap caused him intense pain, the jammies protected his flesh and started sprouting meteors off, each second of grinding acting as an attack.


    He saw another rider moving to try and decapitate him or just skewer him with a wicked blade, and he abused Gravity to make one of his little bounces a bounding leap, and he realized he could have just made the rope into a kite string in the first place and nearly slapped his own forehead in the second he was airborne. (Or slapped what was left of it).


    He was hurting, covered in grit, and likely couldn''t walk for a few days. But he could see his enemies, three riders left. He squeezed his legs, the jam in his pants reacting to his will, then he focused on the cord connecting him to the wrangler.


    The strawberry meteorites from his leggings fired like a burning sugar coated shotgun from god, hundreds of projectiles being the largest use of the counter attack from the pants by probably fifty fold. At the same time, Corvayne aimed his spear and twisted gravity, using [Leap Attack] and his power to aim right down the cord. He went from kite to missile, letting the line tug him for just a moment before going slack, the desert rushing up and past as his vision was directly on his spear tip and the face of the man turning, still smiling as he didn''t have time to process that Corvayne was coming. Corvayne, for what it was worth, made sure to smile back.


    He hit the man at ten times Gravity, the Weapon Skill the only reason he didn''t break every bone in his body. He was shocked that his spear could take the hit too, as trusty as the black crystal weapon was. What gave was Cow-tivator and flying sword, turned into a bloody mess and crumpled pile of shards that followed Corvayne as he slid on his boots across the desert, for a moment feeling cool before he hit a fucking rock and the entire world spun in a painful and sickening tangle of sensations until he tumbled to a stop.


    He got to sitting up, if to at least see where the next death was coming from. Yep, the leader was lining up with him...


    A streak of light hit the man, and there was a whump as something like a cruise missile... no, an actual cruise missile from the truck went off point blank into the torso of the lead Cow-tivator flaring blue energy after the actual explosion in a sort of airborne supernova. Corvayne felt a weapon skill had influenced the shot, and it begged the question how many times Bell had been firing rockets off when he wasn''t there with her. He''d at least have to ask her what the hell the skill was called.


    [[Unity]] sensed that it didn''t kill the target, but it knocked his nice looking ivory sword to fall blade first into the dirt, blasted his hat off, and certainly left his boots stuck to the sword as it skimmed and spun into a stop near Corvayne own feet.


    Corvayne pulled two potions out and took his time using his mangled fingers to uncap them then down them, getting more dirt into his mouth and baking a little into his wounds as they started closing. Black crystal surged out as [[Vitality]] helped him start to mend, helpfully cleaning some of the dirt out as he picked them from his armor and deposited them into his ring.


    The self-brewed potions went a long way to getting him back to fighting form, but he still accepted Spears arm when she came up next to him to help him reach where their would be assailant had landed in a cactus grove.


    ¡°You okay?¡±


    Corvayne had a few snappy replies that he rejected. He appreciated Spears helping him, always had, always would. He needed to praise Bell too, as her singular attack took out the biggest threat.


    ¡°Thanks. I made it. Let''s go see if this guys got anything to say or needs another few missiles in him.¡±

 Chapter 226: Interrogation in the Greenhouse

    Corvayne expected to find a corpse or half dead man at the end of the furrow that the Cowboy Cultivator had carved into the desert. Bell''s rocket had formed enough of a crater that the road had taken some damage.


    He had a moment of warning before a blade of air parted the dust. Corvayne used [Flow-Like-Water] as he felt the second one blow through his watery form. The cowtivator aimed a blow at where his head should have come out of the watery slide, clearly having fought people with the skill before. Corvayne used [Cross-Skill: Shadow Step] to move through his enemy and land a slash that only did superficial damage.


    The man seemed frustrated as they exchanged attacks, Corvayne somehow too fast for the man''s lightning quick boots and spurs to land anything. He flowed from [[Agility]] to [[Strength]] as he landed a hit on the man''s ankle.


    It didn''t penetrate as much as it should, but the man wasn''t able to follow when Corvayne rolled away to make room for a rain of water spears centered on the cowtivator. The ten foot long sapphire bullets splatted mud everywhere as they pounded the ground with deep whumps, flashing as elemental water wore away whatever defenses the man had. When he tried to move, Corvayne used [Storm Thrust] to push him right back into ground zero, and a few second later the second part of the fight was over and they had their battered and bruised assailant.


    Corvayne dragged him over to Juggernaut, who was chewing on an armor plate that was crumpled, pulling it off and spitting it out. Corvayne would have thought that there would be scales under it like the rest of the creatures body, but the wounded part was some sort of glowing red tentacles, stretched and Corvayne took a moment to use a spare hand and mend the plate, then usiug [[Strength]] to heft it into place. The weird fire tentacles latched onto it and with a wet sound it setttled into place.


    Corvayne grabbed the cowtivators robe again and dragged him around to the side door into the truck. He decided if they were going to hold a potentially dangerous enemy, they''d do so in a room they could keep really closed. Hence, he opened the door they had added that should lead into dirt.


    Instead Corvayne dragged the man into a small chamber with a glass ceiling filled with simple metal shelves and rows of plants. Corvayne moved the wood chair out of the way and turned back to Spears.


    "Can you get Mosh to whip up some enchanted chains?"


    A few minutes later they had the cultivator tied up at the back of Lady Blood Claw''s garden.


    Preshe was waiting outside. "Corvayne are you okay? I saw them grab you."


    He could feel new skin itch, and all the broken bones he had been forcing to hold together were starting to shred muscle, as was his Adept fragments. It all hurt. "I''m fine."


    He pulled the bag out of the dimensional space and shook it. He smiled. "I got the snacks."


    Resplendent Jade-Fire Rawhide spit. "Tch. Your attempts at questioning me are pathetic!"


    There was a lot of spit on the floor of the greenhouse. Corvayne was going to see if perhaps their unwilling guest could at least spit into the plants and not waste the water.


    Spears had her arms folded. "This isn''t working." Her watery face nor tone gave away frustration or being tired of two hours of asking questions over and over, in different ways. Just stating a fact.


    Bell turned away and pulled Corvayne to her, as if their prisoner couldn''t hear anything they said three feet away. She jerked her thumb back. "I watched royal inquisitors work. I can certainly do it too."


    Corvayne sighed. "We are not torturing our prisoner."


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


    Bell glared. "He''s practically ASKING for it!"


    Corvayne sighed. "If we were going to do that... I''d let Lady Blood Claw handle it."


    "And wake her up?!" Bell actually added a hint of worry into her voice. When she was acting, she was good. Corvayne didn''t really need her to act, though, because over two hours of asking questions and mostly getting snorts and snarls and spits, he HAD been doing something.


    [[Unity]] might be immoral as a tool for violating privacy and influencing minds, but Corvayne drew the line at letting someone kidnap and maybe kill their friend for no good reason. He had done two things.


    First, he had made Resplendent Jade-Fire Rawhide a party member. [[Unity]] might have let him cheat that, or just a flaw in the party system, since the only requirement for Corvayne was to not attack the man, and he had even given him his cowboy hat back despite Bell looking at it covetously.


    ¡°If we wake LBC up... it will bring only pain. She''s not going to get more out of him.¡± Corvayne added. Which was all true, just mostly LBC''s pain. She would also be cranky if the sleeping potions were working.


    Meanwhile, [[Unity]] was telling him things. Lying took creativity, and there was a slight hint of control when Corvayne asked a question that the man knew the answer to. He had been careful to not ask his questions in tandem, letting everyone else demand answers or ask variations. Corvayne was trying to play a game Grunt had insisted he play, even though the large man had to use paper. Battleship, as it was, involved lots of throwing out guesses, and carefully mapping what worked and what didn''t.


    They had started looking near Cascadia based on what Kirae had told them when she was captured. A picture of Kirae had faint familiarity and smugness. Talking about tracking, Corvayne was sure the group had some methods like his compass, but the term didn''t trigger anything so it was a different power. Corvayne had made Juggernaut turn around, and Mosh had raced ahead to ask if the store they had been at before had been visited.


    The man had not spoken much, which showed he at least understood that even bragging would get him into trouble. He did react to numbers. 43 was a big one.


    Corvayne sighed. ¡°I don''t know if he knows anything.¡± Smug pleasure radiated off the man. ¡°I don''t like the idea of finishing him off, but I don''t want to drag him up to floor 43 just to ransom him.¡±


    Panic. Disbelief. Corvayne looked at the man, forcing himself to keep his face blank. Somehow, that made the man scared. ¡°I only care about finding my friend, and he didn''t really help us at all, not even confirmed what we already knew.¡±


    Spears put a hand on Corvayne''s shoulder. ¡°We can''t keep doing this, we don''t need anyone else''s vengeance!¡±


    Agreement. Panic, agreement! The man even nodded a little. Corvayne thought about The Raven and his mask broke a moment before he schooled himself. ¡°Will they even know? They are far away from their territory.¡± The link told him this was sort of true. ¡°Too far for us to take him.¡±


    The man spoke up. ¡°Hah, our clan has it''s claws across the tower! You will not find us so easy to evade!¡±


    Gylwin, whom Corvayne had not realized was in the room, traced a claw down the man''s face.


    ¡°Haply we never seek to flee, yet we cleve to carnage.¡± Her voice sounded joyful yet somehow empty. As if she was talking to a child.


    He guessed he just tried to use an appraisal skill on Gylwin. He started trying to move his chair away. Corvayne frowned and crossed his arms.


    ¡°I thought you were going to leave this to us.¡±


    ¡°And let you wake Lady Blood Claw?¡± She tittered. Her hand started to shift as her language moved to modern Cascadian. ¡°Your methods are slow or will be too crude.¡± She shot a glance over to Bell, who rolled her eyes a little and broke character, not that their prisoner was looking anywhere but at the spider herself. ¡°As long as one acts quickly to preserve it, a dead brain is nearly defenseless. I have methods of preparing it within that time for consumption. If you enjoy fatty meat such as liver, brain can be a pleasure beyond the secrets you pull by eating it.¡±


    Corvayne knew she was riding shotgun in the [[Unity]] link he had forged. Gylwin was the being who had urged him to get it, and she operated in it like a fish in water, breaching and vanishing into the rising emotions of the man.


    He seemed calm, in control, contemptuous of them. But inside he was scared. Corvayne didn''t like what they had to do, but the manipulation work would give Gylwin pretty much free reign.


    ¡°I''m going to say we need him alive to get to where they have her, and trade for Kirae. Keep it simple.¡± He would say that later, but he was not thinking it. The chance of getting dragged into a trap was too high, and telling your enemy what you wanted was a good way to make it that much dearer.


    ¡°We don''t need to fucking drive him home.¡± Spears spat.


    ¡°We take him to where Kirae is.¡±


    ¡°Hmmf. And shame myself to my clan? To even hold me hostage, you''d need to convince me I''d get anything out of helping you worthless wretches!¡±


    ¡°Besides going home?¡± Corvayne created homesickness and slid it into the mix of emotions. [[Unity]] let him know that Gylwin was gorging. ¡°Or back to where you stashed our friend?¡±


    It was his bond with Gylwin that let him finally relax. He could stop forcing the guy to remember things with questions, and finally cut the link to the greedy little asshole. Not once had the man felt anything but inconvenience regarding his dead allies.


    Gylwin ruffled the man''s hair, then replaced his cowboy hat. ¡°I have everything. Unless Corvayne you need to torture him to get curse completion.¡±


    ¡°I don''t need to cross that line yet.¡± He had lost more then a few points since they fled into the Towers.


    Corvayne hadn''t ever tortured anyone or killed someone they had taken prisoner, and the thought of starting to do so made him sick. He also had no desire to babysit the jerk all the way up to floor 43. So they settled for stealing everything besides Resplendent cow-print silk underwear and cowboy hat (Corvayne wasn''t cruel) then leaving him tied up in the back of a truck heading the other way.

 Chapter 227: At the Inn in Greencarpet

    Corvayne looked out of his balcony at green rolling waves. Flowers curled around the steel railing out his window, but only was a footnote in the ever present scent of mint the winds coming off the sea carried. The green color of the water was a sort of duckweed that had mixed with a mint plant monster. He could see wood boats out on the water, skirting the ruins of massive bright-red rusted oil rigs that clashed with the otherwise clean greens of land and water as well as the vibrant blue of the sky. They were skimming the weed to jar and export to lower floors. Having someone drop a jar of the weeds could raise their level to 5 at zero risk.


    Hence, some enterprising folks years ago had taken over a small tower-folk safe zone and renamed it Greencarpet.


    They were parked at the city for the time being because of four reasons. First, they needed to send a message to the other party, and after dropping some hard earned blue essence shards at library they determined it required constantly running up and down between 20 and 21 to get the courier guild as the ''interim floor''. (Fighting the ''Fire Fighter'' robot the first time not knowing what it could do was thrilling. The tenth time with the full fire, electric, and poison resist gear sets? Not so much.)


    Second and more importantly was that the needed to get info about the Cow-Tivators sprawling complex, ideally without letting anyone see that Corvayne output something like a hundred million gold worth of high end crafting materials every hour at rest and more when he was working out. Which meant they had to make actual money the hard way to pay an information broker.


    Third was that Corvayne needed to break the weapon curse he had so that if he did have to fight a lightning fast kung-fu cowboy he wasn''t ''shooting blanks''. It was unknown how much the curse interfered with his ability to fight, but he could see he and Lady Blood Claw were falling behind. Mostly because the curse of plants had continued to progress, even with him skimming some of it''s power off.


    They were doing their best to mitigate the risks of staying in one spot. First: the city was in the territory of a force known as ''The Three Kings'' who supposedly were at war with ''Fistful of Dao.'' Not an important city, and it was fairly deep in the territory.


    Second, every member of the group now had anti-scrying gear on. Soul resist necklaces, passive stealth socks and gloves, and silver rings of serenity. Supposedly, the soul resist boosted the steath passives and all combined with silver rings reducing the chances ''trouble'' would find them.


    Third was staying low key. Different clothes and letting June act as the face of the group. The hotel they were at was letting them stay for fixing things up. Mend meant they could do a days work in about ten minutes. It was Corvayne''s job today to hammer things occasionally so that the two or three actual staff members in the building heard them and didn''t tear away the scaffolding in the halls to see that most of the work was done already.


    Preshe was doing some actual work, setting up hooks into the stone walls around the balcony and getting planters into position. Lady Blood Claw was in charge of planting the various containers with seeds that Bell had infused with life. Corvayne had been given wood to carve and was working Lythandies, Gygax, and Falenti symbols into the wood, then using mend to smooth it out. It couldn''t hurt to thank the three who had been helping them on their journey, and the tangible benefit to the group was refilling the favor they had spent keeping Lady Blood Claw from bleeding out on the long drive.


    Lady Blood Claw was being stubborn, forcing herself to get out of bed and water and feed the planters already out on the balcony. She had even strapped on her burning two-handed sword while tending to plants, trimming and feeding them mulch. The theory that Corvayne and Spears came up with was that her curse might have something to do with saving plants. Or if it was the opposite, they could rent a boat and just have her drop her blade into the water and kill thousands of plants. They''d know if nurturing plants worked once they found a specialist.


    "Sorry Preshe, we''ve been stuck doing chores."


    She produced a water stone and set it to spray a thin line of water above the window. "I miss my friends a little, but it''s not very bad, I mean, I expected to work my entire life. This is more like, hmm. Art." She sounded cheerful as she spoke. "I also came from a place where it was cold most of the time, and even summer was drab and rainy..."


    "Oh. Sorry about Cascadia then."


    Preshe groaned. "You make jokes at the weirdest times. Cmon, let''s make sure LBC is doing well." She tugged his arm to the hallway. Usually she was very reserved, but since the painted world something had been lit in her and if Corvayne didn''t know better he''d think she was try-


    He did know better, didn''t he? She was trying to get him together with Lady Blood Claw. A bit of anger soured his mood. Not at her, of course. They were a nebulous family unit, and she wanted the heads of the household to be closer. No, he was angry that he had worked for untold years, trying to learn and improve his self control, and now he felt like a fool when he noticed something else was jerking the wheel of his thoughts and feelings. Perhaps it was [[Understanding]] or maybe [[Unity]] letting him pick up on other people''s thoughts that let him see himself.


    That didn''t change that Lady Blood Claw had her own problems, and the question of if there was something beyond the love of a friend and partner who just clicked, or something more... well, perhaps they had missed the timing.


    Preshe knocked and entered the room before him. Lady Blood Claw was ostensibly working on cleaning and restoring an old ballroom. They had dragged an old velvet couch to an area near tarps they had set up to hide the fresh paint. A hole in the ceiling let in sunlight from above. The particular floor they were on didn''t have nights per say, just an extended dusky glowing sky and slow sunrise that lasted eleven hours.


    To synergize with their goal of breaking or weakening her curse, they tried to use plants for as much of the renovation as possible. Lythandies had a major theme of wood and growth in her portfolio, and so they intended to use her ability to ''mend'' plants to help them grow as much as possible to restore the hotel and get LBC on her feet.


    Lady Blood Claw herself didn''t have much of a talent for mend, or wood shaping which was tedious bending, pulling, applying weights, and removing weights while trying to guide living wood into a certain shape. Her enchanting skills could help a little with someone else to guide the growth, but she needed help to walk and couldn''t do the work alone. It had been difficult for Corvayne to be near her, because she was ashamed of her own state. Even now, she was breathing heavily on a coach they had pulled near the circle of light streaming in, laying on a velvet couch surrounded by potted trees and more then a few clay containers of duckweed. The substance seemed to contain some type of life essence that, combined with black crystals, was the key to turning the hotel into a living building.


    They really could have just built a nice place, but once June came up with the idea everyone jumped on it.


    "Finally." Lady Blood Claw sat up. "You ready to spar?"


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Instantly Preshe was upset, hands on hips. "You are NOT going to do that! Mosh said nothing more strenuous then walking and casting."


    Lady Blood Claw gave her a stern look back. "You are decades too young to be scolding me." She coughed, and grabbed a lily white cloth (literally woven from Lilys) and coughed red fluid up. Blood mixed with the berries in her lungs, causing her to be short of breath. Under the loose red shirt she was wearing, Lady Blood Claw had been getting scars at an alarming rate from Bell and Spears and Mosh cutting her open, pulling weeds from her lungs, then using healing potions to patch her back up.


    Preshe hesitated, and looked at Corvayne. He nodded at her, but stepped forward anyway and put a hand on Lady Blood Claw''s shoulder.


    "I miss our fights." He meant it. He missed her too. Not that he''d let it slip. Both because Preshe looked too eager, like Spears-Like-Water looked, and because Lady Blood Claw herself had been sour on it. Perhaps because she didn''t want just a third of his attention.


    The camo pattern grew a little, but she stubbornly stood rather then admit she was in pain. Even though Corvayne could both feel it on her bond and see it written in the texture of her skin.


    ¡°I will remedy that. Spar with me.¡±


    ¡°We can do forms, but you are not fit to fight.¡±


    Her eyes watered. A bit of red camo flared around her. ¡°I DONT want your PITY!¡±


    Shouting brought a fit of coughing, the smell of strawberries a sweet contrast to the smell of pain and fear.


    ¡°She''ll be ready, and if everything goes well, there will not be any fighting.¡± They were trying to see if the Fistful of Dao sect did their ransom dealing fairly. They would lose a large chunk of black crystals, but if they could resolve the kidnapping without risk...


    Lady Blood Claw put a hand on the couch to steady herself, and gave him a look through her too-long hair. ¡°You don''t fucking believe that. She''s too green for something like this.¡±


    Corvayne folded his arms. ¡°She''s red and she''s probably two hundred levels over me.¡±


    Preshe couldn''t help it and snorted at that. [[Unity]] told him LBC thought it was halfway funny, but it made her mad after that.


    ¡°You know what I mean.¡± More coughing, this time bad enough that Preshe caught her. ¡°Fight me.¡±


    Corvayne sighed. ¡°Fine.¡±


    Preshe pretty much dropped Lady Blood Claw on the couch. ¡°You can''t!¡±


    ¡°I have to respect her. As a warrior with pride. When she gets better, and out levels me, she''ll beat me back.¡±


    It was stupid as hell, but also it made sense. She needed a break from being coddled.


    She had her blade, and he had his fists.


    ¡°No projectiles, explosions, or anything that would mess up the work we are doing.¡±


    They expected some banging, and Corvayne didn''t expect it to take long. That said, he was going to try to end it with a single punch to Lady Blood Claws face.


    In the stories he read, something would happen where the supposedly helpless wounded warrior would show off something the hero needed to learn. In this case, Lady Blood Claw buffed herself up, held her sword in a stance where she could drop it on his head if he approached, then started moving towards him. Corvayne made to dash in and Lady Blood Claw was too tired or out of it to note it, her sword slamming down and demolishing a few tiles and knocking dust loose. A bird that had been roosting in the scaffolding flapped it''s wings.


    Corvayne moved forward and landed a solid right hook on her jaw, sending the wounded Lady Blood Claw flying.


    Preshe sounded upset. ¡°You hit her!¡± but he held a hand up to still her protest. He walked over to LBC and offered his hand. Teal sadness, brown with orange circles telling him she was hurt, wavering to camo for physical pain. Orange washing over everything. Annoyance at herself, the state she was in, how she had fucked up trying to confront the Magus. What her skin didn''t say, [[Unity]] told him.


    ¡°We''ll fight again tomorrow.¡± He did not want to fight her. He wanted her to be better. He stamped down feelings that she didn''t want him to burden her with. ¡°We''ll keep going until you win again, then keep going after that. As many times as it takes.¡±


    Ignoring the warm star of Preshe internally saying ''DAWWWWW'' while keeping a somber expression, Corvayne helped Lady to her feet. She used his shoulder to steady themselves as he walked her to the circle of plants. Laying her down, he helped her take the stopper off a potion that they had made with the mint duckweed and that Preshe had flavored with chocolate syrup to make less minty. It was overpowering in smell but Lady downed it.


    ¡°Tell me the plan so far.¡± She insisted, taking her own water stone with a hand even while huffing to water her plants.


    ¡°Fine. When we find the couriers guild, it will be easier to reach. We send a message to... Zin Dusty Spur Sparkling Blur Barrel.¡± He gave Preshe a look when that elicited a giggle. ¡°He''s a diplomat and has arranged prisoner exchanges in the past. We negotiate with him at neutral ground.¡±


    ¡°Where?¡± Lady coughed, and Preshe heard a wet sound and rushed to turn her over to help her cough up a wad of fruit.


    ¡°That''s something that we want to look into, as well as if any of these deals mysteriously go sour because the cultivators decide to strike.¡±


    Preshe puffed herself up. ¡°Between me and Gylwin, they will get more than we-¡±


    LCB corrected her. ¡°Than they.¡±


    ¡°Than they bargained for.¡±


    Corvayne wasn''t that confident. ¡°Our growth has been rapid, but on floor 40 the expected level of monsters is, per library notes, between sixty to a hundred. They also are better organized then the groups we see on this floor.¡±


    ¡°If they send an elder we are fucked.¡± Lady Blood Claw muses.


    ¡°Perhaps we should have traded hostages.¡± Corvayne shrugged. ¡°I think in my gut he would have gotten away, and harmed one of us in the process. We took his toys away, so if he can somehow keep tracking us, he''ll have to find new gear and catch up to the truck.¡±


    Right now the truck was taking a back in duckweed when it wasn''t time to work on something in the workshop. It really needed a compact mode.


    Lady took a deep breath. ¡°What if they do send an elder?¡±


    ¡°That''s where we hit a snag. A potential potion on Gylwin is what I''d use to counter it anything up to a level one thousand, but we can''t buy a big ticket item like that without attracting attention.¡±


    Preshe looked between them. ¡°Can''t we just out level them?¡±


    Corvayne went with what Gylwin had told him, paraphrased. ¡°It''s like when we spar I can beat you despite levels. Supposedly, leveling up makes you live longer. Someone living on the 20th floor for a few thousand years is going to be difficult to catch up with in a reasonable time frame, and you are an inexperienced level 200 something and they have been fighting at that level for untold ages.¡±


    ¡°Other ideas.¡± Lady Blood Claw snapped.


    ¡°Stealth or Trickery. We extract Kirae. But that is risky, as we assume she''s on Fistful mountain somewhere in the Ranch of Heavens.¡±


    ¡°Defenses?¡±


    ¡°Depending on the time of year, Snowfall where we leave tracks. Low cover to the walls. Tall walls, patrolled by both numerous weaker sect members and the big shots in ten gallon hats. They also will have a Ki barrier.¡±


    Preshe started taking notes. Lady Blood Claw just circled her finger. ¡°Outer defenses then. What are the options?¡±


    ¡°Walk backwards to the wall to make them look for someone who escaped. Burrow under. The shield we can crack in an unusual manner, just a matter of seeing if doing so triggers an alarm.¡±


    ¡°Bomb in one place, breach on the opposite side.¡± Preshe offered.


    ¡°No, because once they are on alert, you make it harder.¡± Lady Blood Claw tisked her, and Preshe frowned. ¡°If you want to do that, it''s as a last resort to make an escape.¡±


    ¡°I think if we attempt to rely on running after tripping an alarm, we lose. Those flying swords were fast and I bet they are not the best models the sect has.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw nodded. ¡°Expect any territory near theirs to either be completely under their thumb or under something else so strong it keeps them in check.¡±


    ¡°We heard it''s a big plain around a mountain range, with huge lodges as sub-families.¡±


    ¡°Sub families... trickery or diplomacy?¡± Lady Blood Claw looked like she wanted to close her eyes.


    ¡°We need more info, but if we can divide and conquer? I''m all about that.¡±


    ¡°One other idea. Pacts.¡± LBC waved a finger and tried to fend Preshe putting a pillow under her silvery hair.


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°If push comes to shove... I''ll explore less savory options.¡±


    ¡°They started it.¡± She said, half asleep.


    Preshe looked at Corvayne. ¡°Can you keep her company? I was going to work some more.¡±


    It was obvious what the girl was up to, but Corvayne sat by his tall alien friend anyway as she fell into fitful sleep. It would give him time to think and plan, anyway.

 Chapter 228: All Carrots to make it Stick

    Corvayne followed June into the third back room of the bar, each a classier smaller bar then the one before. This one had a bar but only one table with a single comfortable chair and three for facing the boss. Perhaps of the bar, or the city, or the floor itself. Corvayne definitely felt that his levels were dwarfed by the being before him, but that told him little: nearly everyone in the city besides kids playing in the streets doubled his own level.


    The man had dragonfly features but wore a suit with a dragon pin on it. Per June, he was a member of the ''Inner Aeiry'' which he guessed related to one of the Kings. He wasn''t expecting trouble, but for the big meeting they wanted their big guns. Gylwin was the real brawn here. He was playing a bag man, with glasses and a suitcase, though really his job was to also help June determine what he wanted via [[Unity]] and to detect early if this was a trap.


    Which it wasn''t. In fact, Corvayne by the end of the discussion, one that he expected to have been a tense game of cat and mouse, white knuckle negotiations, was instead getting everything he wanted to know handed to him. He was convinced that it was too damn easy.


    Files on most of the high level members of the ''Fistful of Dao''. The way to the meeting site, then three paths to bypass it and reach their headquarters, one considered by the Kings agent to be ''Unknown'' to the sect. [[Unity]] telling him that there was no feeling of deception, instead an eagerness.


    Through [[Unity]] he fed June the question he wanted to ask the entire meeting. "Why give us all this so cheaply?"


    "Our agents can read statuses. We are pointing your ''Level 31," A glance and nod at Corvayne "...at a thorn in our side to see why a multi-bracket being saw fit to note you. That the clan of immortals is a cats paw for a different organization as well. We look forward to seeing the ''Extremely Dangerous in a way most tower dwellers are not prepared for''."


    They were out a moment later. Gylwin looked bored even though Corvayne could see freshly made bone weapons stocked. "Had thought there would be a fight."


    June sighed in relief. "I get the sense we''d be in trouble if it did come to that."


    Corvayne actually had a different assessment. "It would be to test us rather then a real engagement. Which they might still be doing. Are still doing, per their own words."


    He used compass, first to check the Cowtivator they had left behind, who was still on their trail but far enough back that it would be a few weeks before he made it to Greencarpet. Using compass he could feel that Kirae and the Cowtivator''s fortress were aligned.


    Gylwin sniffed. ¡°They''d find we more then passed what I sensed there.¡±


    ¡°Do you think they see past the chalk?¡± Corvayne asked.


    ¡°A few who I got close to sensed something was wrong. It was the same as when I didn''t have a system spelling the ''levels'' out. This doth... this reminds me of the old days. Cloak and dagger. Kidnapping. Psychos who printed everything on paper. Very novel that your going to try to negotiate.¡±


    ¡°I hope this is an exception rather then the rule for anyone that went missing after The Magus attacked. So... we send a message to our friends why we got delayed, and one to the clan to get them to show up and trade for our trader.¡±


    Corvayne half expected some spy novel trail, or a drone, or anything, but it made sense that the reps already knew where they were staying. Instead, Preshe was helping Lady Blood Claw walk around the gardens they had set up. The building now looked like it had been carved out of a few very large trees, and smelled of sawdust and pine and fresh paint. Browns and rich greens with hints of gold and banners made it look cozy, compared to the tarps that had previously been draped over the exterior.


    Preshe gave Corvayne a hug, and he waved at Gylwin and June to go ahead as he went to stroll with LBC around the grounds. The wounded warrior was using a one-handed training sword as a cane. Corvayne could smell some of the minty healing potions they had been brewing on her.


    ¡°It looks nice, doesn''t it?¡± Preshe said.


    Corvayne nodded, taking in the excessive flower beds. ¡°We should do something similar when we find the next spot to crash for a while.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw looked like she was twitching in pain, and Corvayne almost rushed to help her when he realized she was laughing. ¡°You dolt.¡± She reached into her satchel and pulled something out. A piece of paper.


    He looked it over. It wasn''t a secret technique nor a spell scroll. ¡°A deed?¡±


    He felt a click and the inn snapped into place. Lady Blood Claw coughed, and made a hurry up gesture to Preshe.


    ¡°While you were busy, mo- I mean, Lady Blood Claw-¡±


    LBC wheezed. ¡°Just fucking call me mom if you want to.¡± A camo pink pattern meant she was in intense pain and very happy. Corvayne ticked that one off as a pretty rare combination. ¡°Before you two cut me open again to get the berries out-¡±


    ¡°You could wear my pants and just breath them I''m pretty sure.¡±


    Preshe looked sideways at Corvayne. ¡°That''s what Mosh borrowing them was.¡±


    LBC looked daggers at her. ¡°You swore not to say it! I wouldn''t be caught dead in them!¡±


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Anyway, you two schemed and bought this inn? To try to force the same thing as our house?¡±


    ¡°That and a safe house the others don''t know about.¡± Lady Blood Claw leaned against a wall. ¡°You can''t just kidnap someone from the Bazaar. Nor is it simple to track payments.¡± She huffed and made a hand gesture for Corvayne to continue. He had to think about it as they lead LBC upstairs and Preshe moved a table they had carved for LBC to lay on. Lady took a swig of ¡°Nightmares Embrace¡± which, according to Mosh, was actually illegal on some of the tower floors they had visited.


    Her breathing slowed and Preshe pulled her shirt up and tucked a blood stained and ratty looking enchanted sports bra out of the way where they had to cut. Her skin in sleep darkened, and he could see spots where plants were pushing through, dark bloody roots unfurling into green leaves.


    He had helped with this a few times, but slicing into an ally felt wrong every time, and [[Unity]] fought him for a moment in the action until he reminded himself he was helping her.


    He used a scalpel that Mosh had made, and followed scars of where they had cut before. Preshe and LBC had worked together to carve runes into the table that kept Lady Blood Claw alive, and Corvayne had to try not to think about the Raven doing this to his victims. He sometimes saw dark green before Lady steeled herself to drink the potion, her color for fear.


    He tried not to think about how fragile any of the real lives he had ended with a spear were as he sliced the flesh of... no bullshit. He cut the lung open and brush practically leapt out at him, tree branches full of berries. They had tried eating them to see if that was part of the curse, but it didn''t change a thing. Some blood clung to the plant from where it had arced through her. He did his best to be gentle when freeing the foliage and when he couldn''t he mended afterwards.


    It took half an hour of pulling nearly six wheel barrels of plants out of lungs that should only hold a handful of plant matter before the curse relented and they cleared Lady''s lungs. The runes on the wood were starting to get warm, so Corvayne started mending and stitching layers of her back together. Most of the excess plants were used as compost, though some of them were planted separate from the rest of their garden in Juggernaut. Nothing suggested that once it was pulled from the curse that it was anything other then just a plant.


    Corvayne felt himself getting mad. The Magus was torturing her for... what? Asking why he had dumped her in a tube? He had tortured Corvayne too. Was that why he had his own knives digging out of him constantly?


    Preshe grabbed his hand, which he had been clenching. ¡°It''s okay. We''ll find a way to beat it.¡±


    Corvayne took a deep breath. She didn''t understand, but he squeezed back. ¡°Yeah.¡±


    The next two days Corvayne did a little fixing up of... his hotel, and spent time working on his other projects. Training, two spars with Lady Blood Claw where she kept forcing herself to fight longer, and a night where Spears and Bell took him out for a nice meal. He hadn''t realized that he had been working non-stop until he took a moment to sit down and nearly fell asleep in the booth.


    He had plans though. For the Fistful of Dao, and for the Magus. Plans that his Curses were not willing to let him just act on.


    He set the bucket down. ¡°Nothing. Swinging, splashing, slapping... no weapon skills.¡±


    Gylwin was helping him train, eating and extruding weapons both exotic and too mundane to really be weapons in Corvayne''s mind.


    ¡°You should have learned either [Razor Confetti] or [Splash Slash] by now. Hmm.¡±


    He didn''t ask if she had been pulling her info out of other people''s minds. As far as he knew, she had been going off to the library for a few hours or perhaps delving the tower.


    They were using the ballroom as their personal training ground. Partially because it was close enough to a kitchen with a freezer for Corvayne to mosey over and attempt to learn [Ripper] or [Gattling Hook]. Given he had [Butchery] and learned it fast, he had hoped once Gylwin told him what each of the moves were he''d get them fast. Instead, he spent hours hacking a frozen slab of cow into shredded beef.


    The thought of cheese steak soothed some of his frustration. It beat training for hours to just get bruises. ¡°Is it a lack of danger?¡±


    ¡°I suspect it''s a lack of danger, but skill wise? You are clearly also getting better at fighting spars against me with a bucket.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I need a magic bucket...¡± Corvayne considered the pail he was using, then walked it over to the janitors closet and put it back.


    ¡°We could try to find some ''Third'' spear skills.¡± She said. ¡°Or you can try to learn [Backbiter].¡±


    Corvayne frowned. ¡°I suspect given that skill, you have to kill something or many things by [Backstabbing] them with your teeth.¡±


    He paused. Gylwin was smiling. He frowned. She smiled more, her perfect elfin face showing off rows of teeth.


    ¡°I... you can''t be serious.¡±


    ¡°It explains why I know it and nobody else does.¡± She coughed and resumed her stoic pose. ¡°So, you''re going to kill some monsters with your mouth.¡±


    ¡°We don''t have time with how-¡±


    ¡°They find the messengers guild, send the message, we book even if you don''t have it. You have a backup plan, don''t you?¡±


    Corvayne frowned. He didn''t like plan B. But he''d have it ready. ¡°I don''t know if I can''t just fight it out if plan A falls through.¡±


    ¡°Thankfully, there are edible monsters on this floor.¡±


    What followed was hours of Corvayne sneaking up to carrots and using [Backstab] with his teeth.


    What Gylwin did not tell him is that some of the extra force it applied to the very dead carrot-knights he was exterminating went back into his teeth. So after sneaking around a dirty tunnel system for a few minutes they had to stop while he fixed chiped and cracked teeth.


    ¡°Imfh nevpher etting id off ffhis curfth¡± he said, spitting out chunks of teeth and trying to taste anything other then carrot. He was never eating carrot again, even if the monster tasted good.


    ¡°A few more then we''ll call it a day. You are an exceptional pupil. As fitting as someone carrying my bloodline.¡±


    Corvayne shifted to [[Vitality]] to assist him in regrowing my teeth. ¡°Buff youff... bah.. but you canth-¡± He stopped talking and just drank a potion.


    ¡°But you can''t talk about it besides to say you think we are related?¡±


    ¡°Vines shot out of you when I started talking about it. We need to weaken your bloodline curse before I can lay out what I''m guessing or it will rip you apart..¡± She seemed annoyed about it, then brightened. ¡°It should mean you have a little bit of bio-horror DNA in you, geneticist meddling or not, so let''s keep going.¡±


    Corvayne wrapped his cape around him and switched to [[Agility]] and lightened himself, gliding in the dark towards sounds of aimless bipedal carrots wandering in the open areas of the burrow. He could not see any other activities besides patrolling. There were sometimes torches in the large room, but no signs of how they stayed lit. Probably magic.


    Picking one of the four in the open room that had wandered too close to his tunnel entrance, Corvayne waited for it to turn then darted out and, without using his hands, landed a [Backstab] on the little monster. Except, something shifted in him and his face turned into a maw with rows of steel teeth. The entire carrot was gone before he stumbled back into the tunnel, then drew a regular knife and darted forward.


    [Backbiter] turned his knife into a cruel jaw, something bigger then the blade by a few times over, and then blasted and ripped the carrot into chunks. When the dust settled Corvayne saw a crater carved into the wall ten feet past it. He felt some of his teeth straighten too. It felt... great... learning that move. He could tell it blew [Backstab] out of the water, and he had often won fights based on getting to something''s back and blowing it apart. Did it eat some of the enemies life force?


    He stood up straight. ¡°We need to get to a merchant floor.¡± What would happen if he did it with an airfoil blade?


    ¡°We''ll keep looking for tier three skills or weapon skills that we can determine how to unlock. Namely, you should be looking for ways to improve your signature moves. [Juxtapose], [Flows-Like-Water]-¡±


    ¡°That''s Spears-Like-Water''s move. I wouldn''t take that from my girlfriend.¡±


    ¡°Fine. But [Storm Thrust] and [Leap Strike] both likely have something that could improve them that you could figure out. Maybe she wont mind if you tinkered with the Flow line too.¡±


    She KNEW something. ¡°There''s a genetic component to the moves? No. It has to be... elemental or power based.¡±


    Gylwin smiled. ¡°We''ll just have to push you to see if we can get another one out.¡±


    They finally delivered the messages after three of the longest days of Corvayne''s life. Spears and Bell helped him get into the truck and basically stuffed him in a bed. He had burned through something with pushing [[Growth]] to keep generating steps forward, but had earned three new weapon skills in three days. All of them what Gylwin thought were ''third evolution'' skills that would no doubt be crucial if the negotiations-


    He fell asleep before he could finish the thought.

 Chapter 229: Traps

    Floor 36 was called the salt flats in the ''map'' they were given, and to Corvayne the stark beauty of the floor was quickly eroded by every bit of his being becoming salt. White plains to white mountains to a pink white sky with a white sun. Grit on his skin, stinging and drying. His mouth and nose were worse, overwhelmed when he opened his mouth. A faint wind made sure there was salt in the air, and even in sections where there was a thin layer of water enough of it was blowing off the hills to catch his eyes.


    They had decided to leave Juggernaut behind and let him, Spears, Bell, and Gylwin act as negotiators. Ideally, they dumped a pile of black crystals, got Kirae returned to them, and cut their losses. Corvayne checked compass, finding Kirae was close, and the Cowtivator they had ditched felt somewhere far ''down'', off floor and out of mind. He had been worried that they had convenient portals they could use to get word back, but he had backup plans for escape. Gravity and Shadows had upgrades that would make chasing him a nightmare.


    Having Gylwin as backup made him pretty sure nothing was going to take him by suprise, and she claimed to have ''more eyes then what''s on me''.


    "Did we have to park so far away?" Bell asked through a face mask. Her red hair looked pink from all the salt in it.


    Spears had poured herself into a what Corvayne thought was a blow-up doll. "Mmfff mf fmmmff."


    Corvayne signed to say he didn''t get what she was saying, and in sign language she popped back that she was just there to act as muscle anyway. Ideally, they find Zin Dusty Spur Sparkling Blur Barrel there, with Kirae and a few guards, they spend an hour tops pretending to hem and haw over a handful of essence crystals, then walk away with their friend and perhaps Corvayne jots down a new grudge in the book, Fistful of Dao somewhere way under ''The Magus'' and his dad.


    Gylwin whispered ¡°Zip it.¡± into all their ears at once as they saw a dark spot on the white plains. Corvayne picked up the pace as what they were seeing resolved. A pavilion had been set up. It looked like a sturdy tent with a table and chairs, as well as a clear shield around it warding off the endless salt.


    A few pickup trucks were parked to drive away. Some of them had campers hitched to the back, all of them worn and with dust caking them. Corvayne felt through [[unity]] a rough count of numbers, something like 8 or 9, with six visible as five guards and Zin himself at the table. Corvayne could pinpoint where Kirae was, as [[Unity]] told him. Zin wore a suit with long silk sleeves, and slacks with jade slippers. His tie had lotuses on it. No cowboy hat, and he was dabbing at sweat as he looked at Corvayne.


    Corvayne extended a shadow hand into the sphere and felt the air was cool. [[Unity]] told him that Zin was nervous, a little apologetic, and his guards were ready for something, a sign. He opened his mouth to say it was a trap.


    At the same time a door flew open on a trailer and Kirae flopped out, tied up. ¡°It''s a trap!¡±


    ¡°Trap.¡± Corvayne said and fell back, drawing his spear. Zin was standing up. ¡°Wait yall! We can still-¡±


    A moment later a woman shoved him out of the way, appearing out of nowhere. ¡°Silence idiot! They don''t have the big one! Take them!¡±


    Corvayne moved to dodge as the woman flew at him and landed a three hit barrage. There was a delay then pain and the sensation of being pushed into gritty wind was the precursor to rolling back in the salt. She was faster then him by a large margin. Too large.


    Corvayne got his legs up, but the woman was on top of him, black sclera and red pupils shining as she expertly pushed his guard up and slammed her fists into him. He responded by sapping her gravity, sending her flying away even as she broke his collarbone. [[Vitality]] started mending it. He had hoped to not hit plan B, but [[Unity]] gave him a rough outline that they were not winning. Gylwin was engaging the guards to try to free Kirae, and avoiding casualties.


    Spears and Bell got bodied by the cowtivator woman, who had popped Spears containment with her spur and winded Bell, sending a rocket off course.


    Corvayne moved to fight with them, but with so many levels on them and most of them clearly in speed, he found himself once again eating salt as he rolled across the ground.


    [[Unity]] was telling him that something was happening to Juggernaut. He took a moment to link to the Cowtivator that had broken Bell''s arm but not punched through her. No malice, just a desire to disable them.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    He sent Plan C. There was a screech as ichor flew up where Gylwin had been, Bell and Spears stayed down, somewhat of their own violition. Both were livid that they lost.


    Corvayne saw the woman moving to wind up and rolled with the punch. Not that it did him much good.


    Corvayne woke in the back of one of the trucks. It wasn''t too far off from what Mister I had: a bevelled bed with a simple cover over the back. Enough room for him to sit up without bowing his head. There was a window with black glass, closed but possibly see through, except it was dark enough that he had a better view of his captors outlines then they should of him. Smelled like sweat, hay, and combustion. He was sure there was some other trick built into either the roof or bed of the truck, as he felt a minor drain on his stats. Bell was there, head down, as was a puddle of Spears. Both were sleeping, looking drained from whatever the spell array was. Corvayne could tell they were struggling, basically redlining their stamina. He pushed a little through [[Unity]] and felt them become relaxed.


    Reaching out, he could feel Gylwin was in the carriage with him. Preshe and Lady Blood Claw were in a different truck, heading the same place. They were not losing stamina fast. The Juggernaut was somewhere too, but upside down and clearly not happy. Mosh and June were fine, though both sapped.


    ¡°How long?¡± Corvayne said. No water, throat was dry. So probably a set up to brain wash them.


    ¡°About two hours.¡± Gylwin responded. Full health. Full Mana. Full stamina.


    ¡°What''s your thoughts?¡±


    Gylwin looked thoughtful. ¡°They don''t notice me. I''m guessing the leader is mid five hundreds, but specialized into raw speed. Not enough perception skills to keep up with me. We might get plan C go off without them noticing it until it''s too late.¡±


    Corvayne took a deep breath. ¡°A big risk. I had hoped Preshe was far enough away she and LBC could have gotten out.¡±


    Gylwin shrugged, producing a blade from her hands then chewing it into dust. After a pause. ¡°We discussed this. The safer option would be to have tried to get everyone together.¡±


    Corvayne could imagine it. ¡°They''d take that much longer to kick all our asses, you and Grunt aside.¡±


    ¡°You have yet to see me fight for real.¡± She countered, smiling.


    ¡°Hari told me about the... spikes?¡±


    Gylwin nodded. ¡°The sum of the parts is greater then the whole.¡±


    ¡°How many do you think you could cover?¡±


    ¡°From that woman? Three. If it''s just me, no hostages, it would take two mintues.¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°You think Plan C will work.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn''t be talking to you if it wasn''t. But they said ''Big guy''. They know about Grunt.¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°Kirae could have spoken, but...¡±


    ¡°You think she got captured because they knew something.¡±


    ¡°I was warned by Falenti''s agent-¡±


    There was a hint of something from Gylwin, not surprising given she had been his wife while alive, but she put it aside.


    ¡°It''s almost assuredly Falenti himself.¡±


    ¡°Fine. The Dustman, Falenti, told me that there was some sort of traitor I had to watch for.¡±


    Gylwin groaned. ¡°It would take ten seconds for [[Unity]] to out that someone is an outgroup.¡±


    He watched her. She had a good poker face, and she had a tight reign on [[Unity]]. The rocking of the truck didn''t influence her. She was immutable.


    He did the same sort of thing pretty often. ¡°What would you do, if you had to hide from someone who had a [[Unity]] link?


    ¡°They would have to be totally convinced they were doing something for the good of the group. That leaking information or harming particular members was good for the whole.¡±


    ¡°Could they fool themselves into thinking they were the whole of the group?¡±


    ¡°Not forever. Or they would be obviously insane. The other option, is that they have a split personality.¡±


    That sounded like overt insanity, and he didn''t think Wick would foil her own operations. ¡°Or they are partied up, but not actually connected?¡±


    ¡°Dangerous. [[Unity]] stems from you. It might work, but they''d have to be totally in control of their emotions.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they flood me out?¡± Corvayne was thinking about his allies now.


    ¡°No. That''s like throwing bleach into a blood test. Guilt by avoidance.¡±


    ¡°Parasite or curse.¡± Corvayne said and it clicked for him. ¡°Maybe a split like hers... like Wick''s but less symmetrical.¡±


    ¡°[[Unity]] will limit it, but it means we have a job here. We need to sniff out how they know about us.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°So, Plan C.¡±


    Gylwin looked him in the eyes. ¡°You are crossing a line.¡±


    ¡°I know. But... I can''t beat a level 600-¡±


    ¡°Five fifty nine tops.¡±


    ¡°I can''t beat her as I was. My spear was good enough, but it''s not the right tool this time. If I''m going to lead my family into danger, I have to prepare and counter it.¡±


    Gylwin nodded. ¡°Then begin.¡±


    Corvayne focused on [[Unity]] and dug deep in himself, easing restrictions that had bound the ability. He had raised his combat skills, but he took a far more dangerous tool too. The level 40 ability let him throw a link through the stained glass to settle on one of the soldiers. He pushed good will in, a little needle of it, and felt it starting to expand in little roots.


    Plan A was to negotiate. It wasn''t what he was good at, but they tried to come in good faith.


    Plan B was to Fight or Run. They couldn''t win, and they didn''t get away.


    Plan C was infiltration. The sect would take them prisoner, and the prisoners?


    They''d take the sect.


    ¡°We''re in.¡±

 Chapter 230: Jailed

    Corvayne heard birds chirping before he saw the sun rising over the huge hills on Floor 43. Of course, his view of the mountains, sky, and any birds was ruined by bars between him and the outside.


    His cell was, all things considered, a very spacious stucco and stone affair. Larger then his room had been back at the Watcher''s village. There was little privacy, just a pair of reused saloon doors nailed to either wall to hide his torso when he showered or used the bathroom. Both guards were almost always female, for some reason, and seemed to enjoy leering at him. At least, after they had a small security freak out when he started exercising.


    He was, from looking around, supposed to be collapsed on the floor most of the time. Perhaps it was the single piece of gear they didn''t take. The sub leader whom had captured them had for some reason thought it was amusing to have him walking around with just Jam Jammies on. Hence the guards kept calling him ''Strawberry'' which, if not for the mocking tone, he''d take over his real name.


    No, all his gear and clothes besides his fruit pants and his storage ring had been exchanged for a light teal collar that increased it''s weight as he moved away from the center of the cell. On top of that, there was an array of some sort trying to disrupt his powers and sapping his stats. Perhaps they had undertuned it? As a contrast: the cell across from him had a werewolf whom man was nearly always on the ground by the bars, struggling to roll closer as the collar choked him before giving up or having a guard kick him back into the center of the cell where he could sit up and breath.


    Corvayne''s gravity power didn''t seem affected by the collar or formation, so after some practice he got used to fine tuning the control to keep it floating around his neck. As such, he walked up to the bars to get a closer look.


    "Do you guys worry he''s going to hurt himself?"


    The guards must not have been briefed by the last shift as they shrieked and both ladies pulled six shooters. Corvayne didn''t move nor pay them mind, watching the struggling wolfman.


    After about fifteen seconds, one guard (Blonde Cowgirl 6 in his head) holstered her weapon and sighed. "Step back from the bars kid."


    Corvayne took a step back. "Right. Is he going to hurt himself?"


    The rookie (Dirty Blonde Cowgirl number 3) tried to look imposing. "Shouldn''t you worry more about yourself and your friends?"


    "No? They are fine." [[Unity]] let him track everyone''s position and status, plus a little bleed-through of their thoughts. Even the worried members of their party, Bell and Preshe, were tinged with boredom, not pain nor fear. He sent reassurance to them, invisible threads from his power also letting him feel Gylwin as she engaged in some sort of rapid teleportation pattern, her spirit jumping between six points in the blink of an eye before she moved at high speeds place to place, then spasming again to seven locations.


    He was pretty sure if she decided she wanted them gone, there was little that guards or bars could do to stop her. She felt there was a point to this. Corvayne''s own plan involved taking over the entire Sect, or at least robbing it on their way out. It could have a curse benefit as well, or perhaps they had techniques the group could learn, or the shape shifting woman thought there was something else important here.


    Before he could do that, he needed to get more freedom. [[Unity]] was already feeding him info. The intent of the leader had been greed. The information had noted they had a habit of gradually working people over to get them to join the sect.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    He thought about this then snapped back to the moment. It seems a more experienced guard had arrived and motioned for the two women to put their irons away. "Don''t bother. He''s behaving. So far." She blew a lock of hair out of her face and adjusted her pancho while giving him a blank look that was either annoyance or smoldering lust. [[Unity]] confirmed a little of both, but not enough to unlock him or undo his weird neck disk.


    Watching the three guards he wondered, again, why they insisted on something like a denim bikini and hot pants as the standard female guard outfit. Especially since his understand was that most of the leadership of this sect were women. There was probably a point to it. Or the entire thing was the work of some horny ranch hand who had ascended to godhood. The info packet had more been more focused on the practical recent (3000 years) history.


    Normally he wouldn''t entertain thoughts like that, but it was the third or fourth day of their imprisonment, and there was very little for him to do as a prisoner kept in some weird cultivator jail, so once again he fell into exercises and planning. He tried not to feel guilty that he was like he wasn''t seducing guards or trying to find something to crack curses. He was hitting every guard with [[Unity]] links so maybe he was on his way with the first one, not that he was keen to upset Bell more. He hadn''t thought it was working, honestly, but the food got better last night: Pork with his beans. In a few days maybe they''d bring him lemonade and something more then a horse blanket to sleep on.


    Once again, the sour thought that he was still treated better as a prisoner then he had been at his village came up. He pushed it away and started doing the spear dance, which for some reason had the guards suddenly standing up straighter. Moving through his forms helped stave off the cold morning air in his cell, and kept him focused on what he could be doing to break his curses.


    His train of thought was interrupted by the black eyed woman appearing in front of his cell, startling him a little but the two guards a lot, both the rookie and vet making squeaking sounds. Corvayne stopped his workout and waiting for the woman to talk.


    He had not had much of a chance to see her while she was kicking his ass, but now he could take in her ornate denim robe, well made dragon-scale cowboy hat, and belt with a pair of revolvers, matched with tall boots with spurs and what looked like they had knives tucked into them. Her black eyes and red scelera seemed intimidating at first but there was at least one rookie he had seen who had them, so it might not be what Gary had called a ''Sif'' thing where someone who was evil looked evil.


    ¡°Where did you get that?¡±


    Corvayne looked down at his pants. ¡°You let me keep them. I appreciate it.¡± He had yet to resort to eating jam from the jammies, but if they gave him bread he''d consider it.


    ¡°No. The spear.¡±


    Corvayne looked. He did, in fact, seem to have his spear in hand.


    ¡°I''ll be honest, I have no idea? I assume you just put it into my hand.¡±


    Her eyes widened at the statement, then narrowed. ¡°Interestin.¡±


    He had a [Unity] link to her too, of course. Even if she was too fast to fight, the pact worked faster then thought. Corvayne offered his trusty weapon to her, shaft first. ¡°If I''m not supposed to have it, please put it somewhere safe, it might not be fancy but it''s like an old friend at this point.¡±


    She took it slowly so that he didn''t slice his fingers on the tip. ¡°You really don''t know how it got here?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I do appreciate keeping the pants, unless that''s an oversight as well.¡±


    ¡°Do not take those off.¡± He could feel a little hint of emotion leak through the link. He expected annoyance and felt a hint of embarrassment that snapped back to greed, pride, and rigid control.


    Corvayne wasn''t thinking about it. He instead waited. If the boss was here, she had a reason. He waited while she looked at his spear and hefted it a few ways.


    ¡°Do you think you are wasting your time in jail?¡±


    ¡°I''d rather be doing something else, Mrs...¡±


    ¡°Acting Sect leader Rio Blackfist Cumberland.¡±


    ¡°Corvayne.¡±


    ¡°Just Corvayne?¡±


    ¡°Just Corvayne. Though your guards call me Strawberry.¡±


    The woman frowned a little. ¡°Very well. You have shown you have some ability to escape but have not tested your cell. Perhaps you can be trusted to work for your meals.¡±


    ¡°I don''t mind hard work.¡±


    ¡°Oh really Corvayne? Well, We shall see if you don''t regret that after a few days.¡± She smirked. He gave a friendly smile back.


    The acting sect leader snapped her fingers and one of the guards vanished then came back with a shovel.


    ¡°Horses? Or cows?¡±


    The lady smiled, pleased that Corvayne had stepped into what seemed to him an obvious plan to start breaking him down so she could build him up. She practically glowed through the link.


    ¡°Oh, you''ll wish it was something as small as a cow.¡±

 Chapter 231: The Dao of Shoveling Crap

    Corvayne had thought the barn was some sort of massive cathedral when he first saw it a few days ago. A towering mountain of wood, breaking the flat horizon of the endless flat plane to the south. It had open shutters that he had guessed were waiting be filled with stained glass, and a titanic footprint that could fit a few small towns. He wasn''t entirely wrong in retrospect; it was a sort of temple centered around the reverent production and transfer of monster shit.


    He could not figure out what else the sect got out of it. After nine long days of moving a stupifying amount of crap, he was pretty sure the entire sect had to have some sort of quest to turn as much foodstuff as possible into monster poop, and then to bathe their would be aspirants in as much shit as possible by finding every type of creature the size of blimp they could coax into a cage and hooking them up with the crazy amount and variety of dry grass.


    The good news was that it was a hell of a good workout, and he found being spurred by Big-Red-Bramble every morning to run with the rest of the shovel initiates was a good warm up for what was essentially a series of spear drills. The shovel was his weapon and his impossible goal was to duel ''Big Bessie'' and try to clean her enclosure. He wasn''t even close to winning with just a shovel and grit.


    Of course, Corvayne was a clever warrior and assumed that the best way to increase the speed that he moved the pile (It was ''the'' pile because he had yet to even make a dent in one pile, his pile, the first pile, hence THE pile) into a wagon, which was wagon sixteen and was the sized of a small truck and pulled by a monster that also pooped creating a weird sort of Faustian loop of poop, something like the old spaceship problem when you had to burn fuel to carry fuel and burn fuel to carry the fuel that carried the fuel and so on... one of those loops that quickly makes one thankful for antigravity... anyway the fastest way to move THE pile into A wagon would be to utilize some sort of weapon skill. He had this very clever thought about two hours into his first shift.


    Since using [Cross-Skill: Storm Thrust] on the first day and accidentally splattering a whole bevy of level 50 youths who were also assigned to shoveling the pile of poop, Corvayne had mostly been working alone and now it was his pile.


    Of course, he wasn''t just hefting crap. The entire time his body was falling into the rhythm of using his arms and legs to thrust, lift, heft manure into the cart, he was watching people come and go, and subtly trying to get the hang of using his upgraded pacts, mostly [[Unity]] by forming links.


    He had a lot of new pact synergies in general to try out, though some of them as always sounded... sort of dangerous while also interesting. They were hinting at switching species, and things like diverting essence to buff or evolve his weapon skills, or something called ''Essence Mania'' as well as that he could spend the stuff to raise his stats or skills. [[Understanding]] and [[Growth]] were feeding him little hints about his class evolution, something about learning to blur into a second skill, another about swinging the same weapon a thousand times, another about summoning a weapon, and something confusing about finding 100 links. It was disappointing he couldn''t do much with it as he was stuck on shovel duty.


    A cheerful voice pulled him from attempting to fill the truck. ¡°Hey there Sticky!¡±


    Corvayne always tagged her as Bombshell, as the blondes name was supposedly Bombay Hill, and who was he to judge fake sounding names? She had doe eyes and a bit of fae linage, something like a magic deer giving her little horns and a white tail that wiggled whenever she was talking to him. Maybe, given the floor, part jackalope? Anyway, she had a little too much enthusiasm and too little clothes for the job. Corvayne gave her a polite nod but kept putting his shovel into crap. He could see, out of the eye not perilously close to her swaying cleavage, that Big Red was looking at him.


    Never her, which he suspected was either because she hit her weeks quota before she came over to say hi or that she was some sort of secret princess in the sect. She possibly had something that either kept her clean or changed perception of herself, as even after a day of mucking stalls she looked perfect.


    More importantly, she seemed to have latched onto Corvayne as her buddy to hang out with. Corvayne had slapped her with a [[Unity]] link as well, but had not been juicing it too much lest she get handsy. The problem being that after nine days with no sex and constant supervision, he was starting to get prone to distraction.


    ¡°So you going to the bar with the boys tonight?¡± She asked, twirling a little bit of her hair as she spoke.


    ¡°I would but I have a date with Guard A and Guard B. Rather then one bar, they intend to put me behind a series of them.¡±


    She laughed like it was the funniest thing she had ever heard, even slapping him on the shoulder. He did not stop working, as Big Red was surprisingly fast on his feet, closing fifty feet from by a watering trough to being well within hollering range. Corvayne saw some of the less motivated disciples start furiously flinging feces into their carts.


    He had learned to keep an eye on them at all times, as there had been several ''accidents'' with flying cow-pies in the last week. Moreso since Bombshell had started doing everything she could to get at the pile next to his.


    In fact, his danger sense made him take a step back and pull his chin in, dodging a brown projectile. He briefly thought about using [Cross-Skill: Expert Throw] to land a cowpie at one of the likely suspects, three initiates that had been nicknamed ''Three Horsespits'' by everyone. Corvayne wasn''t sure of their real name but he knew they had been fighting with eachother until Bombshell started clinging to him, and now that ire was all directed at him.


    ¡°Now SEE here...¡± Big-Red-Bramble came waddling over, pretending that his large belly was slowing him down. He coughed and adjusted his tone. ¡°See here Miss Hill, yall are talking to a prisoner! Apple Core Vine-¡±


    ¡°Corvayne.¡± He didn''t stop shoveling.


    ¡°Despite putting in more sweat that the rest of you lot, present company excluded Miss Hill, see, this varmint is a trespasser on clan territory, and was part of a conspiracy to try to kidnap one of our negotiators!¡±


    ¡°Huh, I know he''s a prisoner, but yall know, it''s not like he''s tried to escape!¡± She curled a strand of hair and it might as well been a well-lobbed acid ball, as Red got even redder and start fiddling with his little tie.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Corvayne meanwhile spared a glance where most of the boys, Horsespit or not, were giving him the death look. A few girls were giving him glares, and a few girls were giving other guys glares. If he had time to look away from the brown mountain that Bessie was adding to, he might trace exactly who liked who. [[Understanding]] and [[Unity]] saw that a girl glaring at the Horse-boys trio liked the one who didn''t look like a thug, Verdant Blade?


    If they all went drinking, he could remove himself from those glares and hopefully the oblivious golden double D apple would become someone elses problem. ¡°Bombsh- Miss Hill, go with your fellow initiates. If I went, someone would have to shadow me to make sure I didn''t leave. My guards can''t approve of that-¡±


    Big Red slapped Corvayne''s back, with probably enough force to break something if Corvayne actually had been properly depowered. ¡°Well you don''t have to worry, I''ll keep him out of trouble! If you don''t mind me tagging along, of course.¡±


    Bombay beamed. ¡°Why not? We all worked together today, right?¡±


    Corvayne started to protest but a cedar scented plaid arm wrapped itself around him, Big Red stopping his shoveling and protests. ¡°Now don''t you fuss, Corn Hay!!! You ain''t going to be a prisoner forever, and when your a proper sect member after working off your debt, well, you''ll look back at this as a night to remember!¡±


    ¡°I think that Blackhand-¡±


    ¡°LADY Cumberland!¡±


    ¡°Right. Acting sect leader Rio-Black-Fist-Cumberlin probably does not want me, in fact, in a bar drinking when ostensibly this is a punishment or trial of some sort.¡±


    Bombshell jerked her head. ¡°Well silly, if Big Red can go-¡±


    The burly man efficently disarmed Corvayne and was now dragging him to the exit. ¡°Crow Wayne you ain''t got dang a leg to stand on! Get in my truck yall!¡±


    The truck in question was something like Mister I''s beat up old pickup but sized up about ten times in every way, huge tires something like 5 stories tall and the cab closer in size to something Corvayne would expect on a spaceship bridge, with two floors of bench seating. Even with all that, Corvayne could see out the back window some of the disciples were climbing the back ladder into the cab, where a giant rabbit was curled up.


    Not him. He was the first of about twenty people sitting on the lower front bench next to Big-Red-Bramble himself and Bombshell, who was talking excitedly with a sullen looking girl next to her. Besides Bombshell and Boss Bramble, every one of the deciples had at least some manure on them, and so Corvayne wondered why they''d want to go out smelling like stables, but Big Red reached up to a dinner plate sized air freshner hanging from a huge video screen/rear view mirror, tugged it, and a wave of white light shot out, removing most of the dirt and leaving Corvayne cleaner then he''d been in days.


    ¡°This is going to be fun! I wanted to go out with yall!¡±


    The sullen girl said ¡°I''ve been at the sect two years and this is the first time I was invited to anything other then shoveling shit.¡±


    She was giving Bombshell a rather flat look, but the bubbly girl simply hugged her. ¡°Yall are going to have fun!¡±


    She nudged Corvayne, who nodded. ¡°Yeah, lots of fun.¡± He was watching how Big-Red-Bramble started the truck. If it was faithful to the types of trucks that he had seen, he might be able to steal it later... if needed.


    No, more important was that it probably was a chance. Big Red wanted to get to know Bombshell better, and while he was doing that at the bar Corvayne might find some freedom to chat with Gylwin and have her teleport him to see Preshe, Spears, Bell, Lady Blood Claw, June and Mosh. Heck, the Juggernaut too. [[Unity]] was telling him that Gylwin herself had attached to the bottom of the truck they were in. Or was for a few moments, then she was gone, leaving something like a faint image there. Probably some weird bug-clone thing.


    Big Red finished starting the truck and fixing the radio to blast some sort of old sad cowboy song, and into the dusk they raced.


    Most of floor 43 that he had seen was flat, and the stables was one of the buildings near the endless grazing plains. Behind him, Corvayne could see the black shape of the mountains the sect was built around against the setting sun. The path ahead was a huge paved line cutting through dark woods, though the truck itself made them look like bushes given how far up they were. He could see something move out of the way of the floodlights the truck used in place of headlights, probably one of the giant aggressive livestock that one of his guards assured him would love to eat a helpless level 30 if he was to stray from the safety of the sect. Given that the grounds were ''the size of Texas'' which after some confusion on his part eventually was clarified to ''It would take you a day to ride across here any which way'' he didn''t think he bother risking it.


    His compass was hinting at a door fifty miles north of himself, with the height difference he was thinking it was in one of the high sect peaks off to the side. His gazing in the way his invisible compass was pointing lead him to meet Bombshell''s eyes and he could feel something like hunger wafting off the woman through [[Unity]]. Something Grunt had said (signed) about a desperate dude being a turn off surfaced as he looked away, not having to entirely fake boredom.


    He had considered at least some half-hearted flirting with Bombshell to get Big Red to step in and ''win'', then go off on his own. He wouldn''t have minded her getting drunk and showing off her sect peak, but as magnificent as they were he was reminded of his girlfriends. Perhaps the sect put him there to draw him into trouble? Or forget his friends?


    He saw that their overseer and driver was starting to drift to the right, the same way his gaze was over on Bombshell''s bombshells so Corvayne reached up and slightly righted the wheel to the left, stopping them from plowing through a bunch of old growth forest.


    ¡°Damnit ya didn''t need to do that!¡±


    An impulse, perhaps frustration, made him reply dryly ¡°Don''t want us to get to the bar, then have them look at the car and say we''ve had enough.¡±


    He thought Boss Bramble was about to slug him; He''d seen a sort of pause before the man laid out a cheeky trainee before, but then he exploded into laughter.


    ¡°Not to mention it''s hard to fix a giant bumper AFTER I''m drunk! Hah! Good one Crowbar!¡±


    Twenty or so minutes into the drive was a section of the road that took them up into the foothills of the towering sect peak, and many moons showed off just how much woods and plains there were to a line of distant watch towers, lights shining out into the grit. It helped Corvayne match where he thought they might be compared to the map, they were south central or possibly but not likely on the north east side of the sect. The lights ahead confirmed it, they were going to the city that the sect kept. Huge skyscrapers with neon cowboys and screens showing cowtivators in rugged leather robes smoking cigarettes, with the digital face of a cowgirl winking on a loop... Corvayne suspected they sequestered all the industry in one place, as the giant car they were in probably had to be made in a giant car factory.


    They stopped short of downtown, as the truck was not fit to get under the more sane sized bridges in the city. Instead they were in an industrial district, lit up by florescent lights with subtle shades of green blue and red. The extra wide streets were clearly designed for huge trucks like Big Red''s, but reminded him of Old Town a little. A faint hint of homesickness reared it''s head, it had been a long while since they ran from the Magus and home.


    He was pulled back to reality when the truck lurched to a stop at the start of a well lit row of bars and 24 hour stores, slicing a line of light and activity through the quiet rows of factories. The crowds he were seeing looked to be folks in jeans, girls in dresses with big fancy hats and glittery boots, stern looking fellows in robes with huge surfboard sized swords strapped to their backs, old cowpokes sitting and smoking, just watching the truck. Big Red opened the window, and the stuffy hot night air came in, carrying with sounds of laughing and overloud music from the bar, and the scent of cigarette and gasoline smells, mixed in with spilled booze and spilled guts, a wiff of hot butter and pretzels from a food place, as well as a swirl of perfumes and cologne and a hint of piss.


    To Corvayne it could have been roses because it finally replaced the smell of giant monster-cow shit.


    Big Red, his ostensible temporary warden, didn''t even look back before opening the huge door and leaping down five stories to point at a neon monstrosity. ¡°Here we are! My old watering hole, New Kansas Bar!¡±

 Chapter 232: New Kansas Bar and a Dead Man

    Corvayne strode into New Kansas bar, moving seamlessly from a bright exterior thrumming with music into a dark place where the vibrations became twangy beats. He wasn''t sure where it was was between electronic and country music, but it sure wasn''t dancing music as all of the patrons of the bar or club were seated in dim booths, lit by a variety of neon beer signs. Corvayne was second in, Big Red having told him to stay close, but it felt like every eye in the bar was on them. Corvayne guessed forty people, a mix of ''mortals'' or and a few that his senses picked up as dangerous in some way. Not that he needed to find new enemies: He could feel the Horsespit trio''s eyes on him as he settled into a stool one down from Big Red.


    He gestured for Bombshell to take a seat between them. The barkeeper looked over at him, and it was a little odd to look away and back and see the same middle aged man there rather then an entirely different gender and species. Corvayne did his best to keep his poker face.


    "Water. I''m the designated detainee."


    Bombshell laughed too loud at the joke, bending over at the bar. [[Unity]] had a small spike of displeasure followed by the man seeing a whole conga line of brown robed disciples filing in, then interest at the titanic truck now blocking the street in front of the bar. A mug of water slid his way, as did the Horsespit trio.


    Corvayne met their rather displeased eyes, but they filed past him without comment or action. Still, he kept his eyes on them, and they all had their eyes on him. It was just like old times. The whole world vs Corvayne. He''d just do what he did before in the village; Keep his head down. That meant getting the attractive woman paying him too much attention to latch onto someone else and slipping out of the bar for a few minutes before one of the three sect goons picked a fight with him. Or any number of people at the bar who had tiny pinpricks of... what? Jealousy? A few hints of interest. No danger sense, yet, but he was going to have try something risky to get some time to actually communicate with Gylwin. Even if it was as simple as sneaking out of a bathroom.


    The problem was he''d be going past the trio to get there. So he planned his route as he sipped water and watched the other acolytes start spending the little savings the sect gave them on cheap booze. One of the shovel pushers had a guitar he stored in his hat, which Corvayne guessed was a storage device, and started strumming along with the piped in music. He wasn''t bad, but he wasn''t great. Maybe Corvayne didn''t like country music? Oh, there was a girl with a positive feeling that the boy on stage was connected strongly with, she was clapping and whistling to him. They probably were a couple.


    One of the Horsespit boys, the spindly one, grabbed a handful of unopened peanuts and tossed them at the stage, hard enough to disrupt the song and nearly knock the musician off his stool. Corvayne, trained on books and movies, expected everyone to start swinging, but the guy and his girl just laughed and he hopped off the stage to sit across from her. Corvayne focused on the link for a few minutes and caught nervousness. They were NOT a couple yet, but should be?


    Bombshell was asking him something and Corvayne had to mentally rewind the conversation. Something about what floor he was from.


    "Zero."


    "You are pulling my leg handsome!" She said with a laugh, leaning into his shoulder.


    "No Ma''am." He turned back to his water, as if he was lost in deep thoughts. She kinda reminded him a little of Seru before she had started growing. Not as crude, but still coming on too strong. Big Red took a sip, and Corvayne turned a little to meet his gaze.


    "I came from Minus five all the way up. Grew up in a dungeon town, you know. Sect founder Dusky Creekwood himself passed through town, and I had the gall to ask him to train. Well, he handed me a shovel and told me ''Show me you won''t hurt yourself with this and then we''ll think about an unloaded flying sword.'' and here I am, a few hundred years later, handing you young firehides a bunch of shovels."


    Bombshell started telling a yarn about hitchhiking up from floor 20 trying to make it as a singer or dancer, and she was down on her luck before she joined up a few years back.


    "I probably would have quit shoveling and gone home, but I wasn''t raised to be no quitter." She flashed her eyelashes at Corvayne, but he just nodded and turned around to put his back to the bar.


    "It''s not quitting if your homesick."


    "Are you homesick? Miss your folks?" She leaned in and put a hand on his arm, which caused Big Red to clear his throat. The old Walrus was annoyed at Corvayne. He''d have to flip that link, he needed them distracted.


    "Well, Boss Bramble here reminds me of my pop. Man of few words, but said them loud and meant em, and you listened and tried to do right by him, and sometimes he was hard...¡± Corvayne mentally tried to remember the sort of cowboy novel speeches dusty guys gave about dads they hated. For some reason it was not very hard. ¡°... but he was a man who thought if you can keep your chin above water when it''s hard, well, I figure you can keep your chin above water the rest of the time too. Isn''t that what he taught you too, Miss Bombsh-Miss Hill?"


    He was so used to throwing links that he did a little flip, moving some of the hunger and attention that was his way, both by concentration and his own words, causing the blonde to look back at the old geezer who had a crush on her.


    "Ya know? It''s kinda funny, I''ve worked in the stables a long time but I hardly talked to you... can I call you Red?"


    Big Red Bramble''s smile could split a log, and he puffed his chest out while taking a drink, probably trying to remember a few good lines that didn''t involve telling someone to shovel faster or they''d be pulling the tool out of their ass, which was his go-to it seemed. Instead, the man rallied, perhaps taking Corvayne''s queue to go quiet and mysterious. Corvayne was sort of copying Grunt when he was at a bar, who probably learned it from someone else. Not that it mattered, it was starting to work.


    "I don''t mind. But you know, talking about home... lotta hard memories... friends we buried with their hats and boots."


    Corvayne pretended to pay rapt attention, mostly to make sure every time Bombshell looked back he was sufficiently boring that she''d keep looking at Red who was talking about his moms monster soup, and how his father got injured one season of migration in the dungeon when a Goataxe pushed him into a trap that had spawned in the searing area, and that he was forced to leave the safe area-


    He felt a tug on his work shirt and saw one of the girls, one of Big Bessie''s brushers, the quiet one, make a little gesture off to a table. Corvayne shrugged and gave Big Red a nod, which the man barely noticed as he stared off into space while giving Bombshell the side eye.


    He was tempted to speak like a Fistful of Daoer and say ''What can I do ya for?'' but he was not a cowboy, no matter how much time he spent in the desert.


    "Can I help you? Corvayne." He stopped a little short to keep her from taking him too far from the bar. She moved over to a table then looked around nervously before gesturing for him to sit. Corvayne did not.


    "Bi-You." She stated her name. "Don''t get involved with Bombay. She''s trouble."


    No crush, or hunger, or hint of lies. Just concern. He was surprised to realize he saw it in her face and tone, and that [[Unity]] was more checking his work then just giving him answers.


    "No worries. I know exactly what sort of trouble she is going to bring, and I''m trying to pass it off to Red, to be honest." Corvayne''s eyes saw two of the three Horsespit cousins drinking and talking hunched into each other, but not the third. He moved to put his back to a support by the booth.


    "No, I mean... bad things seem to happen when she''s around."


    Corvayne shrugged. "I don''t plan on being around her, unless she moves up to guard duty. You know I''m due back in my cell after this little adventure."


    "You are a prisoner? ... ah, so that''s why they gave you strawberry pants."


    Corvayne forgot he was wearing them. "Correction, that''s why they let me keep them. But you said bad things?"


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "Some guy she was interested in and fooled around with her? Got kicked by the Spool spider the next day."


    Corvayne nodded. "There''s lots of warnings around the pens for the reason."


    "You don''t get it, they didn''t need them! All our animals are intelligent and have been tamed for years or even decades."


    "Okay. What happened to him?"


    "He got sick, couldn''t keep up with recruitment, killed himself. At least that''s the story."


    "I''m guessing there''s more?" He looked at her then kept his eyes moving. Third Cousin... came back from the bathroom. He relaxed a little.


    "Yeah, another boyfriend got run over by a shit cart that somehow got out of control. They blamed one of the monsters kicking it..."


    "But Bombay was also there. Let me guess, he vanished or died?"


    "They said he washed out, but I-" There was a hesitation. Oh. She liked guy number 2. "He would have wrote. I''m looking for him, because he''s from Neo Nashville. I don''t think there''s another place he would go."


    "Anything else?"


    "A stage-hand turned cultivator drowned while skinny dipping.¡± Guess that''s what they called Tower-Folk. ¡°Two years ago, a one-in-a-billion named monster tore a guy apart. There''s other people who just... go away... when she''s around."


    "Maybe Big Red is taking out his competition?" Corvayne tried to sense malus but the man was distracted from him. A possible way to beat unity? If you''re not really thinking about it, you can''t emote towards it.


    "No. Senior Bramble is only on the floor... I mean he''s only present at the bottom run of the stables because of something Master Cumberland asked him to do. He usually only walks our area once a month."


    His fault probably that he was more hands on then before. "Okay. I have never been interested in dating Bombay, I already got two girlfriends and an ''it''s complicated'' I''m juggling. Also, since you were kind enough to warn me, I can try to find your friend. Assuming that we don''t have Boss Bramble drag me back the moment I step out of the bar. How attentive is he?"


    She looked over at the bar, and Corvayne saw him drinking booze out of a glass boot the size of a bazooka.


    So at least for a while he had some room, it looked like. And he did sort of want to solve a little mystery about Bombshell, or at least help a lovesick girl get over it. Maybe meet her old flame?


    ¡°Looks like he''ll give us an opening. If he''s near, we can find him.¡±


    She blinked, then her eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to trick me into becoming a hostage?"


    "Every single cultivator in this bar, you included, and even a few of the ''mortals'' are higher level then me." He did not mention that he spent a lot of time training against a level 200 plus super spider assassin. He was going to reveal how well he fought when he was strolling out the door, so to speak.


    Bi-You looked over to the bar and pointed at one of the other shovel jockeys, one of the nicer ones who didn''t give Corvayne too much shit for accidentally hitting them with a fine spray of cow-pie. Dilligent too, as the guy always came in with bleached white robes, even if they didn''t last long.


    Sensing the attention almost, the young man looked over and stood up, taking another sip of his water. Corvayne gave him a few more points. There was more then a 0 percent chance this entire operation was some sort of trap to get disciples drunk then punish them the next day for indulging. Water was the right choice for the first outing.


    Looking at the boy, he figured the kid was probably in his teens, not at the point where stats locked aging, yet also looked much older. Some of it was how carefully he got off his stool, and how he walked with a slight limp in a leg, or the faint sense of loss that [[Unity]] hinted at. Corvayne shifted his visison, and essence sight instantly pointed out points of energy flowing through the boy that looked like they had been chewed on by a squid (Mr Squidgglesworth had a certain amount of destruction that, from a guide he picked up on a tower run, was just something young squids had when bored). The same way a bored pet might rip up loose cords, something worked the kid over internally and snapped a few lines.


    As if reading his mind, Bi-you spoke. "Little Spur had his cultivation crushed by his rival after his fiancee betrayed him and they left him for dead, but even though his old master kicked him out, he was welcome in our sect. He HAD been called a young genius in the Red Line Blade Sect, but now he''s stuck down on this floor."


    "This is as high a floor as I''ve ever been on."


    "Oh right, sorry. I forgot your a mortal."


    "We are all mortal in one way or another." Corvayne mused as the boy joined them.


    "Greetings Corvayne-of-the-Stables." Up close, Corvayne noticed the was a little area where essence sight was blocked on his finger. Probably some artifact ring... for a faint moment Corvayne was sure there was an extra person at the table, but his hackles fell. Clearly the kid was probably also using some weird non-standard system that essence didn''t like.


    Bi-you had a small flash of attraction towards the boy, but smothered it under worry for her original boyfriend. Spur was a little wary of them, to which Corvayne formed a link and soothed a little bit with honest intentions. There was also something else, a sideways attention. Maybe something like the Gylwin fragment in his own head?


    The girl looked between them. "Corvayne thinks he can find Knot-Loop-Lace."


    "I have a talent that lets me find things. Meet me out front." He refined his compass to Knot-Loop-Lace''s name and got a pretty good bearing about two miles off, somewhat back the way they came. The upgrade also offered some help with navigation and was pointing to the bathroom. Corvayne started striding very quickly towards the men''s room.


    The heavy oak door, opened to a dingy white tile floored bathroom with all sorts of barn wood and rusted signs decorating the walls. It kinda reminded him of his prison cell, given the stalls had longer saloon doors. If he had his storage ring, he''d have stolen one to get slightly more privacy. He paused a moment and took a leak, then washed his hands.


    He was moving towards the wall to see if he could squeeze through the window when the bathroom door slammed against the wall.


    The Three Horsespit cousins strolled in, spurs clicking against the tile, and at least one of them cracking his knuckles.


    "Well, well, well, if it ain''t the shit slinger himself, Corn-pain."


    That stopped Corvayne a moment from just diving through the window. "Yes? Why would you act like it''s a surprise? You saw me go into the bathroom and followed me. You also could have just talked to me in the bar."


    The looked at each other.


    "Well, we noticed you''ve been paying a lot of attention to Miss Hill... if you know whats good-"


    "She is all yours."


    "Huh?" Corvanye thought it was the thin one that blurted it out, as he was looking at his cousins for backup. Unity was telling him this wasn''t how it was supposed to go in the three''s minds.


    "I''m literally trying to run away from her. I don''t want to fight you. You can go tell the bar you kicked my ass, I don''t care." He was confident he''d win for some reason, even though he knew they had a speed and strength advantage. Something about them felt small.


    "Listen, little level 30. A fight? With US? You''d be dead in two seconds flat. Us boys didn''t get carried up to this floor. We-"


    Corvayne was bored. He spun and jumped, using Gravity to hang for a moment as flipped the latch on the window, then used [Cross Skill: Flows-Like-Water] to slip out the small space it occupied. He landed with a thud on the wet concrete outside the bar, the cooling night air a shock after all day in warm places. He looked both ways in the dingy alleyway, then jogged towards the lights and huge back wheel of the truck, meeting up with Bi-You and Little Spur.


    Bi-you grabbed the sleeve of his work shirt. "Corvayne, be careful, the Horsespit cousins are-"


    "Are probably on their way." He simply walked around a tire under the truck, and heard scrambling footsteps back towards the alley. Did one of them say ''He musta gone that a-way?''. Maybe. He stepped out from the truck tire and lead Little Spur and Bi-you over to the crowd out front of the next bar, all at the same casual speed of everyone else moving between bars on the street.


    Once the bars and crowd vanished he switched to [[Agility]] to run, ramping up as Little Spur showed he could move quickly for at least a short burst of a few blocks.


    They were now away from the bright lights of the bars. Near them was a dark office for a plant of some sort, lit blue-green by artificial lights and with red glowing lights. The sound of music had faded as he guided them to a place they could slow for a moment on a walking path near a nearly dry drainage river.


    He let his compass point to where the trio was, and they seemed to be going the wrong way. Snapping back to his target, it was pointing to a fenced off area on the other side of the stream. There were lights coming from facilities inside the fenced area, scattering through the fall woods forming lines of white and black.


    "Sorry, you had to slow down because of me." Little Spur bowed and Corvanye waved it away. He was looking for what his pathing was trying to get him to, aside from the bridge.


    "Don''t sweat it. You seem like a decent guy." He switched back to [[Vitality]] and strolled across the bridge, taking a moment to glance behind them and make sure he didn''t see a trio of angry cowboy cultivators three blocks down, or Big Red. He compass checked his would-be parole officer and the man was almost dead straight in the direction of the bar, and there only the tiniest change moving it to Bombshell.


    How nice was it to be able to use it to track potential enemies!


    Over the bridge, across a street running along the fence and into patchy grass, Corvanye found a hole that had been ripped into the fence. The crunching under his feet of dry leaves bothered him from a stealth perspective. On a hunch, he looked upwards and saw Gylwin''s red eyes roll before she vanished.


    Bi-You pointed to a sign. "Najamura Heavy Mana Chemical Co? He''s in the plant?"


    It would explain why it smelled a little like gunpowder. Corvayne gingerly stooped his head and stepped through the gap in the chain link fence, waiting for the others while he paced back and forth and breathed onto his hands to warm them up, his mind using the few steps to guess how far the quarry was.


    "It''s not pointing at the building." Corvayne felt his stomach drop. The marker wasn''t moving. Hopefully they''d find him sleeping in the woods.


    Bi-You was practically pushing at his back, while Little Spur was clearly distracted by something, to the point that he drew a thin blade, no hostile intent leaking. "Corvayne, there is something here."


    Should he bother trying to lie? No point. "You should be able to sense the thing hanging near us isn''t hostile."


    The boy mumbled something, then slowly lowered his weapon. "If it sneaks, it has something to hide."


    He could feel irritation from Bi-You that he wasn''t moving faster, so Corvayne crunched through the leaves, moving around trees and only slowing to make sure that Little Spur wasn''t pushing himself to hurt his leg more.


    He stopped when he spotted overturned dirt with a withered hand sticking out of, as if to just drive the point home that their quarry was dead. Before he could try to prepare Bi-you, she stepped impatiently around him, and in what felt like a half second she went from grumbling about slow mortals to falling to her knees and gasping as she put a hand on the dirt.


    Corvayne looked at Little Spur. "That hand looks like it was mummified. It could be my power has the wrong...."


    "Is it ever wrong?" The cultivator said quietly, giving him perhaps the first real look eye to eye. The clarity in his gaze made Corvayne respond in kind.


    "No." Corvayne said firmly as the girl they were with started wailing upon finding a dirt encrusted copper necklace, one she produced a match of from around her own neck. The smell of the shallow grave was a strange sort of mix of blood and something savory that reminded him of Grunt''s take out.


    He took a step back to avoid having his stomach growl, and cast a glance back and up into a tree to which he raised an eyebrow. Gylwin''s face appeared with her extra spider eyes a moment later, but they closed and she shook her head before she blurred back into invisibility. Not her work. No easy answers.


    Little Spur, looking at the weeping girl and the dead body, matched Corvayne''s thoughts at the moment. "Well... shit."

 Chapter 233: Corvanye Doesnt Join the Tournament and Will not go to Cowboy Cultivator Magic School

    Corvayne was debating on if he should mend Bi-You to help her stay sane when the woman sprang to her feet.


    "How did you know?!" She asked, having produced a shovel from her storage ring and brandished it as a spear. Well, her form was sloppy but Corvayne respected the grit.


    "I told you. I literally have a power for finding things. A compass."


    "Find her killer!" She shouted. Corvayne looked around slowly, one eye on her in case she took a swing. Besides her breathing, a distant owl, and a faint wind, it was quiet. No response to them making a ruckus in the woods.


    He went ahead and applied his compass to looking for Knot-Loop-Lace''s killer and found it was hazy sort of blur, a failure. "The level of the power I''m using doesn''t cut it. That or there is no killer but one does not bury themselves in the woods."


    "What subclass do you have that has such a useful class power? You haven''t changed to a level 2 subjob since you arrived."


    "It''s not a class power.¡±


    Bi-You looked confused, her red tear-streaked eyes blinking. "So it''s a bloodline?"


    "Don''t think so." Corvayne started looking for a handkerchief to offer her, but given what was on the one he had in his back pocket, it was not fit for a lady at all, less one in mourning


    "A secret artifact?" Little Spur asked.


    "No, thought the pants are an artifact." Corvayne responded, looking for what was around the site they were at. Why did they pick this spot to leave him? Maybe because it was as close to the line of bars as one could go to make sure it was never found?


    "Is that how you are not crippled by your gravity choker?"


    "It works for me now." Corvayne obviously had been working around it, but he didn''t want to let them know exactly what his plans for it were nor how little it really did after a few days of applying essence skills to it.


    "Junior greets Senior cheater." The boy bowed and Corvayne waved him away. He suspected they were equals in some way he couldn''t put his finger on.


    Bi-You, meanwhile, felt like a turbulent cloud of rage and sorrow. Corvayne put a hand on her shoulder and pushed a few Mends through in a moment, somewhat smoothing her feelings out. She didn''t know what the effect did, as she pushed his hand away.


    "We need to kill Bombay. Now."


    Corvayne looked at the body, and on a hunch did a compass check. He pulled a dirt covered and smashed jade tablet phone out of the boys pocket.


    Little spur frowned. "Of course, a dead end."


    Corvayne placed both his hands on the slip and called on Lythandies. With a single motion he smoothed out the cracked surface and felt the device come alive. She even charged the drained battery to full; that''s a goddesses power for you!


    He touched the stone screen, but ran into a problem. "Bi-You."


    "It''s Bayou, you are saying it wrong." Little Spur added, helpfully.


    "Sorry. Bayou. His tablet had been smashed, and I fixed it.... however it''s locked."


    He handed it to the girl. "If we can unlock it, you can probably figure out who lured him out to his death, or at least buried him here if not killed him."


    She had revealed the body''s face, twisted into a silent scream, as well as that parts of the body were missing. Black veins growing out of a gaping hole suggested magic violence against his heart. Corvayne looked away to see Little Spur still trying to find Gylwin. Good luck. He started walking towards the boy to guide them away from Bayou, to give her some time to calm down or at least process her friends death... then he heard clicking, then a groan. "It locked me out for five minutes. I''ll keep trying."


    Corvayne nodded. It would act as an outlet for the frustration and might keep her from getting near Bombshell, who seemed to be connected to a bunch of sketchy events.


    Little Wing was looking nervous. "We must get back to the bar then... I worry you will get into trouble!"


    Corvayne smiled a little. "If I do, I do." He needed to get with Gylwin and actually have five minutes to catch up and see if they were any closer to figuring out how the sect knew to target Kirae.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Little Wing, can I trust you to keep her safe? I''ll start making my way back to the bar."


    He nodded. "I still have enough tricks in this broken body to handle mortals or beasts, but this is still safe ground."


    Danger was the direction he was walking anyway, it seemed. Gylwin appeared to walk next to him after he was back out of the fence.


    "Thou art... I mean you''re a pain in the thorax to get alone."


    Corvayne nodded. "We''ll keep buttering up Big Red Bramble to try to keep it going, maybe make it easier." He suspected that whatever Bombay''s game was, it would be harder to put a dent in the old stable master vs the new blood that had previously fallen victim to whatever was around her.


    Gylwin looked back. "Not going to add the quiet widow to your stable?"


    He shot her an annoyed look. "I have Bell and Spears. How are-"


    She jerked her head under the bridge and Corvayne followed. The sound of a car rolling by slowly echoed.


    "Spears is currently in a monster holding area. They seem to think she''s a familiar and she''s downplaying her intelligence. I''m sneaking her fruit to keep all the slime food they are feeding her from hurting her. So that''s as close to ''saving'' anyone I''ve needed to do."


    Corvayne rubbed his chin. "We knew they are recruiting people they capture... which is why everything seems so scattershot I suppose.¡±


    "Rio Blackfist, whom you got trounced by..." Gylwin''s ears witched a little and her tiny extra spider eyes blinked, a sign she was laughing. Corvayne didn''t bother correcting her that everyone lost that fight. "... probably kidnapped Kirae for that very same reason. We are still not 100 percent sure it''s enemy action, the information they knew when they ambushed us might have been provided by Kirae."


    "Did they mis-treat her?"


    "I don''t mean directly. They MIGHT have a mind gleaner. A low chance, it''s hard to hide from me. But no, shes been stuck under one of the quartermasters as the Omega Resplendent Roadhouse."


    "I''d say that''s a stupid name but I am very aware of my own appellation."


    "You mean Strawberry?"


    Corvayne made a hurry up motion. It smelled like rotting plants and damp leaves under the bridge even with the cold.


    ¡°Fine. Kirae is counting turnips and they are occasionally having her buy supplies they use to produce the arcane hay they stuff into those monsters. With us captured, they''ve given her a looser leash but she''s still doing drudge work.¡±


    He hadn''t thought to delve into the essence view of the mountains of crap he was shoveling, but given they were growing specific types of plants to make hay, perhaps it was some sort of mana refinement? It might be a secret he could unravel if he had more mobility.


    ¡°Mosh is working in the motor pool fixing the trucks. They know he''s some kind of crafter so they are treating him well. Including keeping June nearby, but of our scattered friends I''m the most worried that his boss is going to do something shifty. She has a thing for him.¡±


    What was a third woman at this point? ¡­. hmm. Was Varia and Mosh a thing officially yet?


    ¡°Empress in waiting Bellithca Terushi is actually set as an outer sect disciple learning martial arts, riding swords, and gun slinging. Though...¡± Gylwin scratched her cheek. ¡°I think she''s going to drop out at some point.¡±


    ¡°She doesn''t have aptitude for their training style.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn''t say that. Honestly, it''s more pearls before swine. It''s something I''m not talking about, you need to go see her and maybe figure it out.¡±


    ¡°She''s safe, right?¡±


    ¡°Very. I suspect acting Sect Leader Cumberlin will eventually step in and take her out of the tournament...¡±


    ¡°Some sort of once a year thing or less formal?¡±


    ¡°Big one. One thousand and twenty four participants after the preliminaries. All sorts of people coming to the sect with colorful backgrounds and fighting styles...¡± She waved a hand that was also a scythe-like claw at the same time dismissively.


    Corvayne nodded. It was a lot of work and you had to basically show everyone under the sun all your best moves and you had people who didn''t actually fight droning on about your moves, to say nothing of all sorts of intrigue that generally cropped up as you got closer to the finals. Not an ideal situation. That and in books those sort of things dragged on.


    ¡°Preshe is masquerading as a novice rune mage, not far from the truth, and thus they put her at the teen magic school.¡± Another wave of the claw dismissively.


    ¡°Never really got why everyone in the village wanted a magic school. Or to go to one?¡± Of them, Whispers-In-Darkness was the most ardent, calling himself the villages ''Defense against the dark arts'' specialist. Up there with him was the Librarian. Keeper-of-Silence might have acted cool but Corvayne knew he liked the wizard school books and kept a few in a stack near his desk.


    ¡°Having seen, infiltrated, and founded more then a few scholomances... a lot of it is essentially wish fulfillment. You are better training under a well studied generalist for the first few years of magic instruction.¡±


    ¡°How cutthroat are we talking?¡±


    ¡°More Hogwarts then Sorcere, but not entirely.¡± Corvayne nodded. He was pretty sure that Preshe would be fine. Totally safe. At least until he thought about how many magical mishaps happened in every story with a wizard school, planting a scowl on his face. Probably fine. He frowned. Maybe okay. He felt a small growl. ''Totally'' safe.


    Gylwin cleared her throat. ¡°Juggernaut is, as you might guess, stabled somewhere for angry beasts. He''s acting less smart then he is and pretending to get ''broken in''. He might show up at the stables soon, but rumor has it Night Rider wants to try to make it into a proper dragon mount and de-truck it. It''s not a dragon, it''s a living ship.¡±


    Corvayne was thinking it was a dragon, because it could grow wings, there were scales on it, and it could breath plasma. ¡°Would you fight it standing on it''s front leg?¡±


    ¡°Yes but that''s not the point. Let''s see... who else-¡±


    ¡°Lady Blood Claw.¡±


    ¡°You don''t want to know about the painted animals?¡±


    ¡°I suspect they are hiding in paintings, which is what they do when they get startled.¡± The painted horse could also change size. He kind of wanted to feed it magic hay... she was distracting him.


    ¡°You know. She''s being kept alive by the herbalist sub sect. They have been grafting healing herbs onto the plants growing out of her and keeping her asleep. If Rio ever needs a stick, all she would have to do is stop pumping healing into her.¡±


    ¡°Which would reveal [[Unity]] letting us pool resources to keep her alive.¡± He also didn''t like her being forced to sleep and used as a botany experiment. He didn''t think of LBC as a damsel in distress so to speak but part of him wanted to get geared up and get her out asap. ¡°I wish we knew what we could do to break that curse.¡±


    ¡°Keep getting her levels until it''s an inconvenience rather then a lethal crippling malady.¡±


    They did share essence with all the synergies between Unity, Growth, and the Essence Pact itself.


    ¡°I think I''ve found people that can help cover me leaving my post. But also, I seem to have attracted bad luck.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. So you think the accidents are related but unrelated?¡±


    ¡°If you see Bombshell trying to get near one of our friends... near our family? Do what you can to redirect her.¡±


    The woman shrugged. ¡°Okay. Hurry back to the bar, your minder is going to sober up a little in a moment.¡±


    He nodded but paused. ¡°Gylwin, is there an address for Preshe?¡±


    ¡°They won''t let you communicate until you scramble, I mean, delicately re-align their interests with [[Unity]].¡±


    He wasn''t thinking of himself, but instead Little Spur''s shredded essence pathways. Something that could be fixed by the right sort of healer, a one of a kind opportunity. ¡°No no. Fake allies will come in time. I want to make a few real ones.¡±

 Chapter 234: I Dont Need to Hold Back, Either

    Corvayne felt like the walk back to the bar was much shorter then the walk back, possibly because he wasn''t as nervous about if Bayou or Little Spur would flip on him. Neo Nashville''s larger buildings were visible over the industrial skyline of the district they were in. Buildings and the top of Big Red Brambles huge pickup cut black shapes out of the glowing buildings. It made him a little homesick for Cascadia.


    His stomach growled then and his hands were getting cold, so he ran full out until he was a block away then slowed and walked to the front of the bar. The street was still crowded with people hanging around trying to get a cab home or get laid, only a few bar hoppers still arriving to file into places playing slower less boisterous music. He was about to walk into New Kansas when one of the Horsespit boys came flying out the door, back first.


    Corvayne was caught flat footed because it wasn''t an attack aimed at him, but he managed to catch the man and stumble back. It looked like someone had broken the poor guy''s nose. A few teeth missing too. [[Unity]] and [[Understanding]] did a weird thing suggesting the man''s ribs were a weak spot.


    ¡°Get... help.¡± The man groaned while spitting up blood.


    Corvayne thought about it, then put the Horsespit goon down more gently then he deserved on the sidewalk and cracked his knuckles. Looking into the open door he saw three distinct groups and two half-dead Horsespit brothers on the floor.


    The cowtivators and any mortals in the bar were arranged in a semi-circle away from the central fighters, a sort of prey response he intuited. Big Red Bramble looked lost, holding his hat in his hand and trying to stay in front of the two battered Horsespit boys. Then there was the third group. Three monks with red lines painted on bare heads, all of them wearing red robes with enough black to clearly state they were bad boys. No boots, cowboy hats, or jeans. One sneering, one glaring, and one thin looking one at the bar examining a drink.


    The music had stopped at some point, the only ambient noise coming from the next bar playing a mopey country tune. There was the faint crunch of glass and a groan as one of the brothers shifted. Corvayne dismissed them and looked at the would-be attackers. All sorts of energy surrounded the trio, and had what books either called killing intent, or a bad attitude. That was what he got without his pact powers stepping in.


    The only way Corvayne could describe channeling [[Unity]] on their emotions would be, as Big Red himself had said, doing a belly flop into a pool of liquid cow shit with ones mouth wide open. Malice, lust, greed, jealousy... all surrounded a core of absolute arrogance, the kind that made Nyxion''s look positively bashful and tinged with a sadistic streak that marked all three in Corvayne''s mind as killers for fun.


    Big Red was holding up a hand. "Now listen fellas, we''re allies and all-"


    Oddly, Bramble was scared of the cultivators despite Corvayne assessing him as able to throw down with them. Maybe he just didn''t have a warriors mentality?


    Drinker, as Corvayne tagged him, was swirling scotch. He bobbed his head back and forth as if heming and hawing about what Big Red said. "Fine. We will spare them for all the booze and all the women."


    Big Red Bramble stood up straighter. "Now wait a minute-"


    The barkeeper slammed a hand down on the bar. "Wait a minute indeed, this est-"


    A moment later the barkeeper was on the ground, bleeding from a broken nose. None of the cultvators were within striking range aside from Drinker, who hadn''t moved. Corvayne did see one punch air, the one with an ugly expression. Disgust projected outwards. That and confidence, of course. No specks of doubt they were doing anything but the order of the world.


    The glaring one put his other hand in front of Big Red''s face "Silence. Fist Full of Dao still exists because of our sect''s whims."


    The sneering one smiled, and Corvayne could track his eyes to where two girls were slipping into the restroom. "We have a lot of VIT to survive on the higher floors. Need more booze since it takes longer to get drunk. And more women since it takes us longer to get tired. Ha ha ha."


    At that, he saw some of the girls still trapped in the bar go pale. Most of the guys who were shovelers were not fighters, and the one who was... He could feel Big Red''s frustration through [[Unity]] radiating like a white hot sun. But there was a deep seated fear, uncertainty? Maybe he was too old, too used to picking on initiates to take on three warriors who seemed in their prime. Corvayne roughly guessed they were level one fifty to two hundred for all three. It felt like... a good match. None of them had the raw power of Blackhand. He suspected that if more of the sect''s real fighters were here, these three would have made themselves scarce.


    "Hmm, if that''s the case, why don''t any of you three have a high level woman?" Corvayne asked, stepping up to the bar and leaning on it, keeping them in view of his side eye.


    The angry one glared at him, and then recoiled. "Are you serious? A little mortal weakling is talking back to us? The irony that this one shows some spine!"


    "I am always serious." He looked each of the three in the eyes, then strolled to the bar and took a random bottle and took a sip. It tasted terrible, but not strong. He felt only a little buzz in himself as he knew he was about to have a real fight. He set it down carefully.


    "Okay, Mister Level 30." Drinker put his cup down. "Outside?" The man was clearly secretly giddy, bubbly hostility refrained from a desire to be cool.


    "As fitting for civilized men having a... little friendly disagreement." Corvayne nodded and lead the way out, moving over to the center of the extra wide road and stretching a little.


    Of course, one of them tried to throw a mug at the back of his head with enough speed to make a small shockwave. Corvayne just dodged it by moving his head, [[Unity]] giving him plenty of information that an attack was coming and that it''s owner expected that to kill him.


    He turned and saw the first two coming at him fast out the door, and the drinker following behind, hands behind his back as if content to just watc. The two started with a aimed at his gut and a foot aimed at his face, so Corvayne grabbed the leg and gave it a push into his other assailant, causing them to stumble, and he felt they were shocked he could track them. Corvayne took a few steps back, and they came again, this time circling then darting in to pepper him with sharp jabs. Corvayne took a grazing hit to the chin while swapping to [[Vitality]] so he could grab the mans fist and hurl him into the other sect member punching his back. Again, complete shock that someone was manhandling them.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    They rolled and hopped back to their feet, so Corvayne switched to [[Agility]], aiming to wear them down. He threw a weak [[Unity]] link on the third one, just so he was ready when intent went hostile. The one who had been sneering wiped his mouth then formed a claw, and Corvayne could see essence mingling with some other energy on it. Probably some sort of custom weapon skill?


    He dodged when the man punched nowhere near him with a grunt, and of course it summoned a blade of air that gouged the concrete and rattled a fence when it shredded the steel links, as well as chop a parked car in half. The other man had electricity gathered on a leg and tried to kick him, the attack missing but causing a searing arc of lighting to hit him... it stung but he strangely felt ambivilent about the attack.


    He turned to the man making his fingers into a claw and rolled out of the way as more blades of pink light flew out, shredding the road. Corvayne snapped his fingers to start his own counter attack, then worked on dancing away from air blades and pink slashes, which kept going to cause a lot of damage to a factory behind them. He let himself fall into a trance, just moving and keeping distance from the two.


    Corvayne slowly moved towards the air-blade fighter, who instantly guessed he was trying to create a cross fire with his ally and leapt back. Corvayne danced away, letting a few spots he could get closer pass. A few blades managed to graze him because he had to pay attention to NOT closing.


    His feint paid off as two black clouds formed and slowly drifting to follow his enemies. They didn''t even sense the black discs until twin hammers made of shadow energy blasted them from above, knocking them off their feet a moment. They stood up and the shadow clouds attacked again, hitting one and causing the other to dodge awkwardly, recovering only because high stats let him catch himself.


    With red robes flapping they came to an unspoken consensus and closed in, assuming that Corvayne wouldn''t blast himself as they once more started trying to melt him with lava fists and lightning headbutts.


    Corvayne used [Cross Skill: Flows-Like-Water] and simply left them behind to deal with two blasts on the ground, doing less then a direct hit but still blasting them with punishing shadow energy and leaving behind oily shadows on the ground. His own shadow limbs struck out too, having been boosted by essence to let him pummel the two with eight limbs. Most of the damage from his shadows was superficial, but their attempts to evade meant the attacks focused on body shots.


    Of course, that was when the third member did something and dispelled most of the effects in the area, banishing his arms and shadow clouds. Corvayne pretended to be slack-jawed and then rolled with a punch to get down the street and away from the people gawking. They knew he was hitting way above what a level 30 could do, but he didn''t want them to know all his tricks just yet (Nor get decapitated by a stray air blade), so he rolled to his feet and sprinted, using a gravity assisted jump to simply glide over one of the florescent lit empty lots. Behind him he heard the sounds of vegetation being shredded and a car alarm going off.


    He slowed a little to keep them chasing, choosing a path down by the river he had crossed earlier in the evening. Besides the occasional half-hearted ranged slash, they had to keep using something like movement weapon skills with their feet to keep up with Corvayne''s speed. He swapped to [[Vitality]] so they could catch up and he could recover stamina. By the time they arrived at the parking lot for a run down building, Corvayne was sure he had lost everyone else.


    "Finally he''s done running." The surly one said, face bruised from where shadow energy had hammered him.


    "We''re going to tear you limb from limb for the disrespect you showed us." The one who had been sneering had disheveled clothes and was panting a little.


    "Blast him from afar, don''t give him time to cast. He''s not even with the sect, just some prisoner who snuck out with a work crew. We don''t have to hold back at all." Drinker seemed the most composed, the boss of the group.


    Corvaye fired a bouncing shadow bolt at them, the stringy black lightning doing enough damage to disrupt whatever attacks they were charging up and forcing them to move. It only bought him a half second, but it was enough that he was able to leap straight up and avoid an attack that summoned a hundred swords to obliterate where had been was standing. A second attack was a huge spear that missed his feet by a few inches, and another fired waves of fire snakes, and the thinker put down a nullification area where he would have to land. He could see the smart one tracking him, smile on the cultivators face growing as he no doubt was assuming Corvayne had made a rookie mistake by taking his feet off the ground.


    Corvayne pulled his spear from somewhere. Not the storage ring he had slipped around one of his lower ribs to funnel all the black crystals into. No, just... somewhere. The fluke in the prison wasn''t a fluke. He had been fine with having a shovel, but it didn''t beat the real thing.


    He could see one of them creating a phoenix as he kept flying up, gravity letting him reach the low clouds and for a moment break up through them to see there were three moons tonight as well as a mess of bright stars. Was that a good omen or bad one, given what happened with Diamond? He shrugged as fairy fire tagged him, from the one he had linked. He could tell through the link the man was literally rubbing his hands together at the imagined joy of blasting him out of the sky. Corvayne kept his game face on as he pointed his spear downwards and called forth his second Advanced Weapon Skill.


    Where to aim? The glowing phoenix one of them was creating could be seen even through the clouds like a giant bullseye. He could also feel the link to the third one pointing him that way, which he decided was a better guide for what he was about to do to them.


    It was a very, very picky weapon skill. It required very specific conditions to learn and only slightly less annoying ones be usable. It also had a fundamental problem, being you couldn''t practice it without absolutely destroying whatever it was used on. He thought about the three men below him, what things they might have done in their lives, what they might go onto do, the kind of people that considered them friends.


    Corvayne felt a small tinge of regret for whomever owned the parking lot.


    He oriented himself to his link, and focused energy into his spear, the image being of a meteor gathering energy and intent for millions and millions of years, millions and millions and millions of miles across the stars. He felt his black spear get heavier, much like how [Leap Attack] worked. It was, after all, the evolved form of that skill, in the same way a thrown rock might claim some distant linage to a nuclear weapon.


    His weapon took on tremendous weight, turning his stamina into potential energy, but rather then simply falling or throwing his spear, instead Corvayne shaped and focused on the feeling again and again, looping back around galaxies in his mind as he pushed stamina into his weapon until he felt it align, then pointed.


    [Orbital Bombardment] was a spear skill that threw a single bolt of energy downwards. It wasn''t a flashy colored bolt like those three goofballs used. The moment before it launched was the only time he could see it, and Corvayne would guess was a dull gray wedge. The only tell that someone had before it landed was that if they were looking very carefully they could see clouds distort around the projectile. Perhaps if they have emergency teleports or the ability to phase out, they''d be able to save themselves.


    The first wedge formed and flew down almost instantaneously, and landed on the cultivators. Maybe it killed them all in one shot, probably not. From up in the sky, Corvayne heard a neat crack. Then in the blink of an eye thirty more fell as the skill rained a wall of hell through the clouds. Below he could see what looked like a cloud of dust where the lot was, some of it glowing as the attack had turned some of the metal caught in the radius into liquids and gas. Corvayne had felt his [[Unity]] link snap after the second bolt landed and didn''t feel any hostility, so he allowed himself to float down with the warm wind pushing him to land on a street corner near where Little Spur and Bayou were walking back towards the bar.


    "Excuse me." He said, politely, then slammed his face into the wall a few times then shredded his work clothes by rolling on his spear.


    Bayou stepped back. "What madness has come over you?!"


    "If anyone asks, could say there was a out of level spawn a few blocks over, an Evolved Kinetic Bomb Cactus, and that three heroes died saving the city?" None of it was a lie. She could say whatever she wished.


    "Why did you fall from the sky?"


    "Please tell them I was knocked away by the blast after they stopped beating me up to combat the real menace."


    Little Spur understood, on some level. Corvayne could almost hear the man''s eyes gleaming form how he spoke. "One mans madness is another''s genius. Martial Uncle Corvayne, are you near passing out from your wounds? Let this small disciple help you."


    Corvayne pretended to stumble over to the young man. "I lasted long enough to bear witness to the glory of our Red Stripe benefactors. I hope many others follow their footsteps."


    "Fistful of Dao sect will let their allies know we owe them a debt that cannot be repaid. Yet."


    Corvayne couldn''t help but smirk. Bayou lifted up his other arm. "You two are going to tell me what this nonsense is about and you will spill every detail, or so help me I''ll make sure Bessie shits all over both of you for a week!"


    Corvayne felt a real stab of cold fear in his gut, imagining that cow-printed monster''s backside, it''s baleful center following him like a burning eye of Sauron from those movies. He''d gotten clipped by the monster cow going what he thought was all out. What if it had been holding back? He looked Bayou in the eye.


    ¡°I won''t hold anything back.¡±

 Chapter 235: Level Up, Sideways.

    Corvayne pretended to need help to get back to the bar, and Bayou and Little Spur worked to basically pretend to fuss over him including ice on his head and so on. The Horsespit boys were already loaded up into the truck, and Big Red Bramble was rubbing his forehead over the death of the three monks.


    "The boss aint going to be too pleased with them blowing their fool selves up." He muttered, having collected a few scraps of red robe from the blast site. Lots of arm folding and shaking his head. The other Fistful of Dao stablehands didn''t seem very broken up at all, with at least one helping the bartender with his nose.


    Corvayne himself acted like he was nursing a few broken bones and muttered loud enough to be overheard. "I wish they had blown up before picking a fight with me." He noted that Bombshell had returned to the bar and now was pointedly ignoring him to latch onto Bramble. Which was probably a good thing, as he could feel at best a few stabs of pity aside from Little Wing and Bayou, whom were sort of confused.


    Corvayne pretended to need Little Spur and Bayou''s help to get into the cab of the big truck, opting for the backseat where he smoothed over the damage he had done to himself with a moment of letting [[Vitality]] return, then made himself comfy on the worn seat.


    Bayou tried to punch in codes to unlock her dead crushes jade tablet twice before others started getting into the cab of the huge truck. The smell of drinks and a bit of cigarette smoke filled the cab. The three Horsespit cousins came in and one of them gave Corvayne a glance, and there were a lot of different emotions there that made it hard to sort out what it meant. He was pretty sure there wasn''t hostile intent in it, so he pretended to sleep while considering what to do.


    First, he needed to leverage more freedom. If it meant ''signing up'' more, it seemed there was a path to do that for outsiders to the sect. His [[Unity]] links would hopefully speed that up.


    More freedom meant he might be able to link up with his friends aside from just Gylwin. Until then, he needed allies, and he felt like Bayou and Little Wing, for the faults they had, would both be good candidates.


    The ride was subdued. Traffic and the number of lights quickly fell off, the sect not a part of a spiderweb of lights running off in the distance. Perhaps connected to the roadways all the way down on floor 20. He had a pretty good view of the landscape, as the huge cab was cruising above the trees. The lights were harder to see once the clouds part and let the silvery light of a bunch of moons in. The celestial features, including a gas giant with a ring, were sort of drifting across the sky like clouds might on a windy day. He was starting to get a sense of which mountains marked where the Sect was, even without his compass latching onto friends and family. Gylwin had parked something on the bottom of the truck that was her but not her. She tended to have little backup plans and likely had a copy somewhere in Neo Nashville.


    When he got back he was ''greeted'' stepping out of the truck by two irate guards. He just strode towards his cell without giving them time to try to grab his arm or anything.


    ¡°You aren''t supposed to wander off, you dung head!¡±


    Corvayne looked back. ¡°I have to follow Big Red Brambles orders, don''t I?¡±


    One of the guards lagged behind, as if she needed to stop walking to think up a counter-argument. The jail had both a light outside that was swarming with bugs trying to run into, and warmer light from the cells. He went to his cell and sat, one guard giving him a dirty look, and the other giving him a different kind of dirty look as he found the warmest spot on the inhibitor to settle in. The guards shut the lights off aside from a few red lights that followed him and kept the place from being completely freezing.


    He had sort of an itchy feeling, but couldn''t feel any shards that he needed to guide to his ring. He tossed and turned a little before the system wormed it''s way into his vision.


    [Evolution Frenzy!]


    It was always jarring when the thing talked to him directly. He felt [[Understanding]] was doing something to fish the notices up.


    [Please direct your Frenzy: Skill, Weapon Skill, Power, Class, Race, Pact (Level and Stats disabled)]


    He sat up a little bit. A choice! He considered just throwing it into [[Unity]]. It would help his current plans. But, he also didn''t want to accidentally push it up 20 levels and start a cult.


    [Pact Evolution acts as an additional multiplier for Pact effects by adding a second word.]


    He wasn''t sure he would be smart enough to modify a Pact with a word that wouldn''t screw everything up. He was worried also he''d start brainstorming words and end up linking everyone''s colons - spiritually.


    [Evolution energy is not that volatile.]


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Sure it wasn''t. Corvayne guessed that throwing two words together could probably make a Pact that was something like how two Pacts combined for strung together effects. Or perhaps focus a concept. But he had done most of his selection of Pacts under Gylwin, and he wasn''t sure if, for example, adding ''Self'' to [[Growth]] wouldn''t cripple the benefits of [[Unity]] by cutting party benefits. He had hints that some pacts worked against others.


    Next was Race, which was sort of tricky as well. He guessed since the system liked it, he could somehow move ''up'', but there was a chance moving away from humanity would change who he was too. There was a common theme in the tales he read about people who gained power losing touch with the real world, and he wanted to have a sort of anchor to his friends and family. It would be hard to live in a human city if he had giant tentacles with spines that shot acid, or if he left a trail of slime everywhere. It felt more like a monster pick, and there was a bit of resistance to it.


    [Are you sure? There are echos of striving for self improvement in your form.]


    Class sounded like he could tier up?


    [Class Frenzy improves your options and may give rarer classes, or increase the rarity of your current Tier Class.]


    Lots of things that probably were critically important for getting strong fast.


    [Evolutions for available Tier 5 Classes:]


    [Blurred Armsmaster ¨C Activate Multiple Skills at once, and create hybrid skills to make your enemies totally unable to keep up. Evolves to Spectral Armsmaster ¨C Increases hybrid weaponskills to include a third weapon skill.]


    He had seen that, and it felt like a sort of natural evolution of his current class. Doing the same thing, but doing it more often every moment. It might be a good idea just on the basis that he might soon be fighting Cowtivators, all whom seemed to have tremendous vitality. Orbital Bombardment wasn''t the kind of tool he could use more then a few times before someone figured out to not let him jump a mile into the air.


    The werewolf in the other cell started growling and banged on the bars, he heard one of the guards push him back towards the center of his cell. Corvayne looked back up at the dim red light trained on him and closed his eyes again.


    [Focused Armsmaster ¨C Deepen your understanding with a single weapon type, trading the ability to pick up any arm for far more efficient use of your chosen weapon. Evolves to Bonded Armsmaster ¨C Increases Weapon Skill advancement for the chosen weapon. Increases likelyhood of developing a signature move.]


    Greater focus: Giving up some of the flexibility he had with switching up gear to instead improve his spear-work. There was no question in his mind that that focus was best applied to his favorite type of weapon. If ''advancement'' and ''signature moves'' were things like [Orbital Bombardment] or [Back Biter]... he wanted more of those. However, it felt like this class was better picked in conjunction with a stellar artifact weapon. Something like his Jam-Jammies in weapon form. The guy at the bar who had the class had a fully leveled up sword artifact.


    [Arms Caller ¨C Lean into latent Summoning talent and a wide breadth of weapon skills in the ability to call living weapons to assist in battle and to effortlessly summon and dismiss weapons as the situation requires, increasing efficiency with Cross-Skills. Evolves to Caller to Arms: lets the summoned weapon use Cross-Skill from the weapon the user has.]


    Babs class, he had seen it in action and wasn''t sure why it was in the list, but she favored buffing either the group or herself rather then having a flying sword cover her back. The gold covered woman had gone over her class both with him and had Wick grill her over a few months of dungeon diving. Corvayne could certainly roll with buffs into a leadership role, or try to build his library of combos with weapons, or look at the line that gradually moved to ranged attacker.


    [Combofiend ¨C Deepen your understanding of using weaponskills to trigger explosive effects by targeting weaknesses. Improves understanding of what attacks to pair with allies and ones own weaponskills, and what timing to use them in. Evolves into Combofriend: Increases chance of instinctive weapon skills off of allied attacks.]


    A new class. The power of those combinations tended to sweep fights, and he only knew a scant handful. Some of them he couldn''t do alone, the most basic being X-whatever which triggered based on timing and position on basic weaponskills. He could do X-Thrust with Lady Blood Claw about 20 percent of the time on a large enough target, but it was harder then it looked even cheating with [[Unity]]. Certain monsters resisted the combined energies turning into a storm, so to speak. He didn''t like how uneven Combos were compared to having hard to use but universally effective attacks like [Mass Driver] or [Backbiter].


    There was also something about not advancing tiers.


    He decided to look at the other options.


    [Weapon Skills can be pushed to Evolve, becoming Master, Advanced, or Signature]


    He could feel that Master was something like [Flows-Like-Water] and that Signature was something else, but also that the fourth level was something that would take much longer then a few lucky essence frenzies. The most tempting option was to see what [Flows-Like-Water] or [Storm Thrust] could evolve to.


    [Powers and Skills can be expanded. Many skills evolved have unusual benefits. Evolving and changing Powers can give off class-powers unique to the person using them and turn them from incidental benefits to the core of ones arsenal.]


    [All weapon related Skills are currently unable to evolve.]


    [Shadow and Gravity powers cannot evolve.]


    Well, nevermind! He could try to boost the entire Pact system by pushing Adept up, and Compass was something that paired well with know-it-alls like Wick and Gylwin and even the elf super-investigator Leigue. If he had one who knew what object that would solve his problems, then a fully powered Compass probably had aspects that would help him get to it.


    He got a sense from [[Understanding]] and [[Growth]] that the former was too broad a target to show massive benefits, and the later wasn''t what he needed. He guessed Gylwin could swoop in and rescue everyone, but something told him that despite laying on a warm floor in a cold room alone, he was actually where he needed to be.


    Powers didn''t feel like the right way if he couldn''t just put it into two that really helped him the most, and it would be marginal on the third. Non weapon skills like evolving evasion might be worth it, but why was he in jail, shoveling poop, and trying to slowly become the guy in charge through system trickery?


    It was because he needed to grow to fight his curses. He had to push at the boundaries he had made for himself.


    He went back into Classes, but instead of trying to push into a new Tier 5 class, he instead went into Armsmaster itself.


    It was a weird class. It broke rules about what a weapon should do, even as much as weapon-skills broke rules about what weapons did. It was flexible, required creativity in battle, and had a few out of combat benefits for moving around. However, he was in a situation where combat was usually the worst option. In his head, for a moment, he saw a future where he was really good at fighting and that was it, and how every time there was a problem it''d be a binary yes or no if he could fight his way out of it.


    For a moment, there was a girl, racing ahead of him, and he felt like he couldn''t catch up to her the way he was going.


    There was a reason too he was offered Arms Caller too. The Librarian, or the Magus''s mom as Corvayne sometimes reminded himself, had given him a book of summoning that he had been forced to read and transcribe. [[Understanding]] had planted the basics into his head. She had known he was good at it.


    [Evolutionary Frenzy activated on Class Armsmaster!]


    Of course, as soon as he thought he had the answer, the system suddenly sucked a huge amount of energy out of him and knocked him right out.

 Chapter 236: Grasping Armsmaster

    Corvayne had to ask himself what he wanted. That in some ways was the core of his journey. He wanted to be free of curses and he suspected that whatever else he wanted he needed to deal with the Magus at some point. That didn''t get the core of what he wanted.


    Did he want to be the best with a spear? To protect and heal his friends? To crush his enemies?


    For sure, he wanted love. While Spears was enthusiastic about it, and Bell put up with it... he liked having lots of women who wanted him. He could have said no. But it felt like... he was making up for lost time.


    That was also what he wanted. A memory. A hint to all the strange things he was missing. When he stepped out of the portal onto Cascadia, his life in some way had begun, as everything before was missing or changed. He wanted it back.


    Even then, he had memories of training with everyone on just about every weapon, hadn''t he? And engineering, and driving just about everything he could get his hands on... he could have dropped those lessons, but even in his twisted memories of his village and the time he spent with the Watchers masters of weapons there was a sort of madness in him that made him stick with it. And that had lead him to Armsmaster. He had sensed a hole in Lady Blood Claw through [[Unity]], but what of him?


    He felt it. The edge of something in him that was empty and needed to be filled. A desire to have everything.


    Something in him clicked.


    [Pretty-Solidly Uncommon Class - Armsmaster has evolved to the Tier 4 Ultra-Rare-Not-Quite-There But-Near-Unique Class: Grasping Arms Master: From being able to cross weapon skills to using summoning magic to blasting foes with the unbound system powers of an alienist and also having support for divine healing powers and crafting, there''s a certain madness in trying to do everything that you''ve embraced. Yet there''s a basis for all that, a foundation that few can claim as well as you.]


    [Acquired Cross Ability: You can apply your Class skills across disciplines to a limited degree. Tiering up will improve this.]


    [Class Skills: Cross Train (Similar Skills get bonuses to learning), Strength of Arms (Improves all actions based on your highest skill - Spear Skill), Cross Execute (Can use known weapon skills, divine powers, crafting abilities, and powers to some degree with another category), Arsenal (Can use Cross Execute on ''impossible'' categories)]


    Corvayne opened his eyes to the wood beams that made the ceiling of his jail cell. He could feel the gentle tug of the inhibitor trying to fight against whatever crazy alchemy he was undergoing, his essence pacts telling him that he was shuffling himself into a weird arrangement. [[Understanding]] in particular was telling him that once more he was going to punch further above his weight class, and his own history told him he''d be needing it soon. Especially since looking past his feet he could see on the other side of the bars the acting sect leader Rio, sitting on a folding chair with her chin on her fist. A half eaten breakfast burrito and two coffee cups suggested she had been waiting a while.


    Corvayne was pretty sure under the gold embroidered robes he could see a bit of pink pajama pants tucked into her black spurred boots.


    "Um... good morning?"


    Her pure black eyes with red rings narrowed. She motioned for the guards to leave, then thought against it and said. "Hold."


    The women looked confused but returned to their posts. Corvayne saw they were wearing robes, which usually they didn''t. Was the daisy duke thing only when he was awake? It was a little cold.


    "I am very curious... what exactly happened that you left the main grounds of the sect... let alone that you were not here or at the stables. Explain."


    "Of course Acting Sect Leader Lady Rio-Blackfist-Cumberlin."


    She rolled her eyes in annoyance but Corvayne felt something like an extreme spike in joy and a sort of surprise from her. What the hell? Was [[Unity]] failing?


    "The other initiates were going drinking and I was invited. I declined as I expected that to go would require a security detail to ensure I was a proper prisoner. Big-Red-Bramble felt that he would be sufficient to prevent me from escaping or getting into trouble, and I followed his order to have fun for a night, at least as much as could be had without access to my scattered friends and family."


    "What exactly happened?"


    He felt something through [[Unity]], something like it''s link snake out from her to him. A truth detection skill perhaps? He dulled his channel of information so if she had some sort of emotion detection she wouldn''t figure out he was reading her. It felt a little like sparring, which would be fun if he wasn''t pretty sure if she found out what he was doing she''d crush him like a bug.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    "There were a trio of other shovel initiates that were not happy with attention I got from Bombsh- Miss Hill, whom is also as far as I know one of the stable staff. They let their ire be known by throwing me out of a bathroom window. Given the state I was in, it took me a while to get back to the bar and I admit I was hesitant to go right back. When I arrived I saw three fellows whom seemed to be bullying my allies. While I am a prisoner, I understand you also are considering us as initiates as well..."


    He didn''t need his link to see a slight nod and that Rio was pleased that he understood that.


    "So I decided that given my talent for taking abuse, I might as well try to get the three out of the bar by taunting them."


    He was going to have to lie by omission in a moment, but he kept his poker face on.


    "Needless to say, that did not go well for me." As he was currently in trouble because he turned the three monsters into a smoking crater. "The only reason I''m still here is that they were toying with me." He wasn''t sure it was true but he suspected it. "I heard a blast, and saw that where they had been standing had turned to a crater, so I told Miss Bayou what I thought could have happened."


    At this point Corvayne felt the cold link she sent tighten and start to send something, and instincts pushed him to try something.


    He used [Cross-Skill: Flows-Like-Water] with [[Unity]], somehow smoothing himself out in a way that made the little jolt of omissions taper off from the link she had sent to him.


    "So you didn''t see the monster you reported to Bayou?" She said, and he met her eyes and saw that she looked... a little bored? Maybe disappointed.


    "It fits what we have on the floor, but I also admit that while I suggested those three would be heroes if they destroyed said monster, my assessment of their personality and demeanor towards the initiates suggest at best the motive for their demise was not a sense of duty nor desire to protect innocents."


    Once again he used [Flows-Like-Water] with [[Unity]] and Rio raise an eyebrow but nodded as the bullshit detecting link went still.


    She looked at the guards again. "I''m taking the prisoner for a walk."


    With that she stood, grabbing both coffees and her breakfast as well. The guards opened the door and he walked out to follow Rio outside. He watched her and noticed she was holding both coffee cups and the breakfast burrito each in a hand, but she only had two hands every time he looked. Fair enough, everyone had their own reality bending powers he guessed at high levels. They walked a direction towards where Corvayne had seen parked trucks, not quite as big as Brambles. The morning mist meandered around scrub grass and numerous rustic structures. He could see the central mountain of the sect catching light around a swirl of clouds.


    Rio was quiet. Corvayne assumed she was taking time out of her day for a reason, as given the size of the sect she was busy.


    ¡°So... I don''t know how you took out the cameras, or if it was you or an agent or your boss or whatever, but if it wasn''t related to you I''m an armadillo''s uncle.¡±


    She hissed a little as she spoke, which made Corvayne almost laugh at the last bit.


    ¡°On the flip side, I know exactly why those three were here, and it certainly wasn''t about saving anyone. So I''m stuck sticking to your obvious lie. Thankfully, you cheated, and cheated for us.¡±


    Corvayne felt the pause.


    ¡°But... I need to be pissed about it. So you''ve got some hard work ahead of you. Real punishment duty. You and most of the shit slingers who were there.¡±


    [[Unity]] was telling him there was more. Why not? He was tempted to use [Juxtapose] with it, but he figured it might swap bodies or something. He needed a practice partner. How could he get Rio to let him reach one of his allies?


    ¡°... My question is, why not kill those three yourself if you knew what they were planning to do to your sect members.¡±


    Anger, a little at him, a little at herself, and some at the world.


    ¡° Look, I know you sure as shit ain''t really level 30, so you can''t be that stupid. There''s an order to the world. You get too big, someone bigger takes you down. We give the Red Liners a few promising students, and whatever else they want, and they keep us from getting smashed by the Three Kings.¡±


    As she spoke she looked to the mountain, and Corvayne followed her gaze. Sadness, longing, duty, hope, and a stirring of puppy love. He''d bet a thousand black crystal shards that''s where the sect leader was.


    ¡°You''re carrying weight.¡± Corvayne said, turning away so she didn''t see he had been watching her. He was starting to see how people got into the Cowboy spirit. He focused on something on the horizon. Weird complicated emotions pressed into the link. What was certain... was she wanted something.


    Another flare of negative emotions, buffeted by calm.


    ¡°I can smell your planning something, Corvayne. The system put a warning label on you. A rattle on a snake. But... I don''t drag people into this sect to just let them rot. The Red Line sect are looking for someone like you.¡±


    ¡°Like me, or me?¡± This was not what he wanted to hear.


    ¡°They are looking for someone like you. Under leveled but over skilled. People the System put odd flags on. I doubt for any good reason.¡±


    ¡°Yet I''m here.¡±


    ¡°Fistful of Dao seeks to ride into the sunset of heaven forever, to become immortals. To better become perfectly free. Yet we sit on floor 40, stuck to the past.¡±


    Corvayne tried not to let [[Unity]] simply tell her what she wanted to hear. It didn''t seem right. He had to grow.


    ¡°You''re stuck waiting on the Sect Leader, and everyone else is stuck too. You can''t kick yourself over it. You''re not him. Or her.¡±


    ¡°Him.¡± She said with a point, looking daggers at him. Projecting danger, unpredictability.


    ¡°Okay. And you have a problem. Well, you have lots of problems, and I don''t think you want me to try to deal with the Red Line sect as I''m miles under your level.¡±


    Rio looked at him. Something she did let her stand taller so she was looking down. ¡°I know you have a talent for finding things. Your friends keep their mouths shut, but your enemies spoke volumes of it. So... I want you to find out what''s killing my sect. Literally, figuratively. Yes, I suspect the Red Line are involved, but I need proof, or to uncover whom is doing it.¡±


    ¡°You don''t think I''m an agent?¡±


    ¡°Not of either them or the kings. You met with the kings, but I do not think they control you. Not the way they operate.¡±


    [[Unity]] and [[Understanding]] was trying to tell him he could accept, have her set up terms to come and go freely, then used that to orchestrate his escape. The easy way out. However... he wanted more. Grasp at more. He had a slight urge to grab her ass, that he shut down. Too many girls with daisy dukes. Stay in the moment. Don''t get your neck ripped out.


    ¡°So why do you trust me to do it? We''re still enemies. I want something different then what you want. Give me something more.¡±


    ¡°I have lead this sect for hundreds of years. I have cultivated the image of a distant and kind leader to some, a ruthless task master for others, and a cold calculated killer to those who threaten my Sect. I could bribe you, I could crush you, I could lie to you, I could hold your friends hostage.¡±


    She started walking on a path towards a pond with ducks that moved over to greet her. Corvayne waited as she flicked a bit of uneaten tortilla at one. A rooster somewhere announced it was morning, and was answered by some monster likely a hundred times its size.


    ¡°You look like him.¡± She pointed at the mountain. ¡°You are the spitting image of our Sect Master, Dusky-Creekwood-Tables, and like you he carries a jet black crystal weapon.¡±

 Chapter 237: Digging Ourselves Deeper

    Corvayne returned to his cell at the Sect, the guards looking askance at him as he walked in without Rio there to escort him.


    ¡°You can close it or not, I''m going to get dragged out on a punishment duty soon.¡±


    ¡°More then shoveling shit?¡± One of the guards asked. He noticed they had put on clothes more fitting for guard duty rather then cheer-leading.


    ¡°I guess.¡± Corvayne had a lot to digest.


    Rio had briskly gone over the Sects woes, balanced with twin carrots of seeing his family and more information on the sect leader dangling. Going up to the central mountain was forbidden, as both they did not want a foolish person interrupting the sect leaders seclusion, and the palace of meditation was locked down with fiendish traps and spiritual guardians.


    Corvayne put it nearly the top of his list of places he wanted to jab at, but he wasn''t ready to cash in the effects of his [[Unity]] link.


    Anyway, Acting Sect leader Rio had dumped a lot of problems out all at once. Something like what Bayou had seen in the stables around Bombshell ¨C Unusual accidents that harmed or killed people who were far too high level for it to make sense, out of depth monsters appearing in areas that should be impossible to spawn in, and a sharp uptick in murders that often had no connecting rhyme or reason, but more importantly no witnesses.


    He had a good three minutes to ponder how he was going to investigate while he was jailed or shoveling shit when what he considered a capital C Cowboy walked in. Spurs, hat, six shooter, thousand yard stare.


    His name was ''Night Rider'' which had sent a waver of spiderly amusement through [[Unity]] from Gylwin, but Corvayne could feel the mistrust and dislike coming out of every pore of the man that wasn''t covered in five-o-clock shadow.


    There was a single flick of the head and the man watched Corvayne walk back out of the cell.


    ¡°The neck ring doesn''t work, or the suppressor.¡± It''s possible the man was asking him a question, but Corvayne couldn''t be sure.


    He took a step around Night Rider, who had eyes following him like a hawk, a curled lip, and his hand rock steady in a position to draw the six shooter strapped to his hip. ¡°They don''t work, yet I''m still in my cell every night.¡±


    Two more sect members, bald guys in robes with six shooters, herded him into a truck clearly used to move normal sized cattle both from it''s wood-box setup and from the cowpies that covered the bed.. There were a few other shit shovelers clinging to the cleanest parts of the truck desperately, which as it lurched to a start Corvayne found himself joining.


    Bayou had failed to find a good spot to stand and was staring glumly at the jade tablet in her hand. Little Spur looked like someone had socked him in the face.


    ¡°Junior greets senior cheater.¡± He gave a little bow as best he good while trying not to get slammed into the side of the truck. ¡°We are being punished without blame for the death of those Red Line disciples. If there was justice, it would be the opposite.¡±


    ¡°The guy in charge of us has a chip on his shoulder... and I''m antsy to start getting my folks back together.¡±


    Little Spur nodded. ¡°If your ability holds true, you can overcome the biggest obstacle, which is that you know where they are.¡±


    Bayou looked up. ¡°At least the people you care about can still be reached.¡±


    ¡°Sorry miss.¡± Corvayne said. ¡°Maybe we can find you closure.¡± He wasn''t sure he was a ''revenge'' guy, which prompted him to think about killing the Raven. Huh. Maybe he was a revenge guy. He certainly was planning to kill the Magus because of what he did to Lady Blood Claw.


    He missed Lady Blood Claw. And Spears. And Bell. Preshe... and everyone.


    Little Spur put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°And after that, your friend would wish you to live on.¡±


    Corvayne nodded, then watched the buildings fly by. The majority of the sect looked flat, aside from the central mountain, but out of nowhere it felt like vibrant forests would pop up out of the dusty plains before vanishing in a moment, or they''d be rolling uphill then on flat ground again. Corvayne was pretty sure there was a skill or that the truck was enchanted, a subtle sense of space blurring.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    The destination was on the far side of mountains, a hilly stretch with yellow grass and dark green spots for the rare plant. The cold air here was shimmering in spots where the sun seemed to catch every gleaming shovel and spade that shirtless men and nearly shirtless women were using to dig what looked to be a massive ditch. The tools gleamed in places where the brown earth met deep gray clouds heralding a distant storm.


    The truck kept going past scattered groups, the ditch itself branching into what looked like a network of multi-mile gouges in the ground. Perhaps they were digging a canal or irrigation system, but the lack of heavy equipment as well as the lack of an obvious goal had him guessing.


    There were camps and wood bridges and trucks that looked like they had generators... but no signs of anything more substantial. making him think instead that they were some sort of fortification, one that didn''t make sense.


    The truck stopped and a moment later the bald ''enforcer'' cowtivators were practically hurling them out of the truck. Corvayne managed to stay on his feet, only to find a canvas sack flying into his face. He caught it and the metal contents threw enough force into him that he stumbled. The single second the entire exchange took and the truck was gone, leaving him with a few other would-be stablehands standing at the end of what he''d have assumed was a dry creek bed.


    It was odd that no enforcers were left behind, but he guessed the truck wouldn''t come back until they hit some critical threshold of dirt moved.


    Corvayne pulled a shovel out of the sack and started digging.


    He guessed that somewhere they were being watched, but after a while even the potential fear of enforcers was dulled by the monotony of the work.


    One man, who had been in charge of driving tractors of hay around, paused and rested on his shovel.


    ¡°What are we doing?¡±


    Little Spur was huffing. ¡°I suspect we are digging a ditch.¡±


    Bayou huffed. ¡°Geomancy.¡± The girl had taken off her outer robes revealing work pants and a tank top. Corvayne turned back to focusing on moving dirt.


    Another man snorted. ¡°What do you know brush girl?¡±


    Bayou gave him the finger. ¡°You are trying to join this sect and you don''t know how it functions? What are you hoping to do?¡±


    Him and his friend looked at each other. ¡°Fire some guns. Ride swords. Lasso a wife.¡±


    ¡°Tch. You won''t catch a horsefly with that load of shit.¡± She snapped back, then turned away to try unlocking the jade tablet again. Corvayne had a thought that maybe Mosh could help her with it.


    Little Spur looked at his shovel thoughtfully. ¡°So it''s a ritual?¡±


    Bayou spit in annoyance and put the still locked jade tablet away. ¡°Potential and intent. They put effort into the earth just like pushing a boulder up a hill makes it ready to roll back down.¡±


    Another woman, tall and reedy, had a sour look. ¡°So it''s not just a pointless punishment?¡±


    ¡°Only insomuch as us, without shovel skills, can''t infuse much power into the earth, and we are not moving much ground either. The ditch needs to be wider as well.¡±


    Little Spur rubbed his chin. ¡°You should explain it. Perhaps it will help our work progress faster.¡±


    Bayou looked annoyed. ¡°Right. Most of you are sort of... new. The Sect''s grounds are blessed by the heavens with great vitality. The earth under our feet has mineral and elemental ores that are ideal for creating magic firearms. There''s some set of modifiers on the floor that lets us refine elements even further with the beasts we have.¡±


    Corvayne thought about what Gylwin had told him. ¡°So the shit job we had... we are using Big Bessie, for example, as a refiner for elemental crops?¡±


    ¡°You feed impure elemental hay and she craps out fertilizer that''s has a better chance of infusing that hay with elements. You eventually feed them to cattle and butcher them for horns and meat with high grade elemental properties, the kind you can''t find under high floors usually. The essence leftovers are basically a volatile explosive.¡±


    Corvayne could see it. ¡°I bet there''s something else they can get locally that makes it act like gunpowder, and basically turns the slug into an elemental delivery system.¡±


    Little Spur nodded. ¡°Perhaps there is a psudo-elemental that pervades the area. Something like ''Riding'' that means they produce mounts such as the swords that are a cut above.¡±


    Some of this sounded familiar from the files he had read from the Three Kings faction. ¡°But I don''t get the point of the ditch.¡±


    ¡°Every fifty years, there''s a stampede. Untold numbers of huge beasts roll across the floor. The direction changes, so the idea is they raise a literal mountain to block and divert the monsters.¡±


    At this point, even Corvayne had stopped digging. He looked down at the ditch. ¡°So... there''s some sort of bucket we are filling to set up the stampede being blocked by a mountain.¡±


    ¡°If you tell me we are 49.9 years past the last one I''m going to be very cross.¡±


    Little Spur bowed. ¡°Please spare humble disciple, elder martial brother!¡±


    Corvayne saw that Bayou didn''t look disturbed or worried.


    The woman in fact snorted and leaned on her shovel. ¡°Twenty three years. Trust me, this is about as useful as having us spend all day with nets trying to strain a river clean.¡±


    The two guys, who were listening looked thoughtful. ¡°But it''s not a punishment unless we are directly impacted for NOT working. Otherwise it''s just a waste of time.¡±


    Corvayne glanced around but didn''t spot Gylwin. He''d have liked some indication that he was making any progress at all.


    There was a distant rumble of thunder. Corvayne could see now the imposing wall of gray he had thought was hundreds of miles out was closer to 15. The next crack of thunder was closer, perhaps within a pair of miles. The sun had gone away and the temperature dropped.


    ¡°I guess this is the real punishment.¡±


    Little Spur groaned. ¡°A storm snuck up on us?!¡±


    Others were running back along the tire tracks the truck had left, probably looking to see if they could find a tent or at least one of the bridges. Corvayne didn''t like their odds in a flash flood.


    Bayou was incredulous. ¡°They just left us out here! Like a fucking teenage prank!¡±


    Corvayne felt there was something off about it. Night Rider didn''t seem like he had much of a sense of humor. Almost as soon as he thought that, the distant sound of thunder were punctuated by a scream. Turning, he saw most of the workers who had been running away were now on their way back, scrambling away from a body falling to the ground, trailing blood. Something had killed the man in a moment.


    Little Spur brandished his shovel like a spear. ¡°Rather than a prank, it seems this is a murder.¡±

 Chapter 238: Dirt, Dig, Die

    Corvayne''s spear was out before the body finished it''s arc, trailing blood. He took a glance at the battlefield.


    "It''s in the ground! Move to the bridge! GO!"


    He switched weapons in his mind, spear vanishing as he shuffled his collar into storage off his neck then back into his hand. He activated [Cross Skill: Grand Slam] downwards while the rest of the extra gravity out of the weapon as he could then on the downswing adding as much as possible, turning it into a handheld meteor. The ground broke and there was a pop as the wave of force kicked up dust as it ran up hills.


    He could see something struggling underground a moment and so ran backwards towards the bridge, switching weapons and placing the collar in his hidden storage ring as he moved to the foot of the wood bridge over the ditch.


    As he guessed, the monster had some sort of unburrowing attack, in an instant unfurling multiple black and white claws and taking a bit of boot before Corvayne sprang into the air, then forced a [Leap Strike] back down, only hitting loose dirt it had churned.


    That was fine, Corvayne had also thrown a link.


    ¡°Bayou or anyone else, do you have something that can tell us how many there are?¡± He planted his feet on solid ground and felt the thing jerking like a fish on a string, darting in and out as it swam through the ground. Every now and then it would skim the surface, toppling one of the dusty shrubs. There was also wind picking up as the storm rolled in. Corvayne felt a vibration from a second monster and sensed it''s hostile intent before it burst out of the ground.


    He pivoted and used Juxtapose to pull the thing out of the ground, drawing a wiggling array of dirty fur and claws out of it''s burrow. It smelled musty like a sock left in the rain, and the air around Corvayne was steamy. The monster looked like a cow stretched out and given weasel like features. It''s hind legs were thrashing as it started burying itself. Corvayne strode forward and used [Cross Skill: Back Biter] causing his spear to expand into a black crystal mouth with jagged serrated teeth before he plunged it into the monster.


    A huge hole opened on one of it''s legs, but it''s other leg pushed it into a new hole and it dove as the boss he had linked to rushed at Corvayne, leaping out of the ground with a razor sharp array of jaws and claws all spinning and snapping.


    [[Understanding]] told him this thing was ''Big Ouch'' and was a named Prairie Dire Wolf. Corvayne stopped himself from rolling forward and instead leapt back with gravity. He could see shredding claws rotating around the thing like some sort of impossible spring. It hit part of the wood bridge with a crunch and the structure wilted but didn''t drop the people on it.


    Bayou spoke up. ¡°I can''t charm it! But the rain could help, most burrowing monsters can''t breath mud!¡±


    Little Spur jumped off the bridge. ¡°Brother, I can sense there are at least four of these, not including the big one who evades my senses.¡± His voice lowered. ¡°Is your helper not here?¡±


    [[Unity]] gave him a bunch of responses that suggested trouble. Someone else had made a move while he was away. ¡°We are not the only ones getting attacked. She''s doing what I''d want, which is to focus on keeping my family safe.¡± He sent the concept into his bond then focused on what his unity links told him about his enemies. The main one, he felt, had some aspect of sport about attacking them, though it wanted to eat them too.


    One of the monsters made a move for Little Spur, who used his shovel to create a huge hole with a technique Corvayne thought of as [Dig]. The mole burst into a patch of open air and tried to dive, and Little Spur thrust his shovel down and drew blood, then was flicked the other direction as the monster basically used the shovel like a lever.


    Corvayne used [Flows Like Water] to position himself between his ally and Big Ouch to once again slam the ground with his gravity enhanced collar, giving Little Spur a chance to get to his feet.


    The shovel had not broken, which was a testament to how seriously the sect took things Corvayne had thought was just busywork like digging holes or shoveling shit. Still, Spur looked annoyed.


    ¡°I need a better tool!¡±


    ¡°Just aim to bleed and deal with the small fry and protect the bridge, I''m going to try to get the big one.¡±


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    One of the other Cowtivators had a hammer and had moved to the other side of the bridge, and was producing ghostly spikes and hammering them into the ground. Bayou responded by creating a lasso and using it to reinforce the bridge itself. One of the Prairie Dire Wolves jumped, it''s bucktooth going supersonic as it tried to hit the stake-driver. Little Spur flew into it, shovel making a wonderful metallic clang as it sent the creature flying into the ditch instead of mulching the bridge and everyone on it.


    Corvayne felt danger and the boss on either side, so he stepped forward then used Juxtapose to throw Big Ouch in the way of his minion, crunching and clanging noises like when a stray bolt fell into a bandsaw and started bouncing around, than a snarl as the the bigger monster ripped the other apart, the heat from the brief clash of metallic claws causing parts of the meat to get cooked as the bigger monster dove back into the ground.


    It smelled life beef. He hadn''t had anything besides spiritual grits since getting captured. He used his spear to skewer a piece of cooked rodent and it tasted excellent. Mister I would have been proud, and he could feel the big monster was pissed.


    Spur shouted and Corvayne lept as one of the monsters he wasn''t tracking tried to take his legs off, then he used gravity control and his spear to try to hit the ground where he thought the monster was with [Leap Strike].


    ¡°Stop doing that your shaking the damn bridge!¡± Bayou called out. She stumbled a little and Corvayne saw her jade tablet tumble out of her pack. She bent over and the plate start to fall between planks on the bridge. She dove for it, and Corvayne could see the ground bulging under the bridge.


    Corvayne''s other moves would be too slow. He used [Juxtapose] to swap with Bayou. He tucked himself into a ball and used [[Vitality]] and lowered his gravity as much as possible. A moment later he was rocketed into the sky, one of his legs mangled into uselessness just from a moment of touching the monsters deadly claws. He fell back down to the ground and could feel tremors of his enemies honing in on him now that he was far from the bridge and alone.


    ¡°Shit.¡± He slammed his spear into the ground, feeling the drain as he kept himself at low gravity as well as a painful jolt from his mangled leg. The spear did what he wanted, shoot him away from a spot where the monsters convened, their claws churning a bus-sized chunk of dirt where he had just been. The boss, on the other hand, was moving to try to guess where he was going to land.


    It was a few feet off, but it managed to clip him with a spinning claw and pull part of his ribcage open for a moment and send him flying, blood leaking for a moment before [[Vitality]] started pulling him back together. He used his spear to bounce once more, avoiding another furious drill dive.


    It was fast enough to keep guessing where he was going to land, this time overshooting a little. Corvayne thought about going closer to the bridge, then changed his mind. He pushed himself towards a small hill.


    His next bounce the monster threw a rock at him, clipping him in the head. He slapped his spear on the ground as soon as he hit, barely getting out of the way from the drill. He used [[Cross Skill: Back Biter]] but the monster made it impossible to hit what the system considered its back, and instead he was flung upwards. He used gravity to get back to the ground a little quicker, then angled himself towards the mound before pulling out his neck piece and pulling every bit of weight into it before storing it again and leaping.


    Instead of a fifty or a hundred feet, he went flying into the sky.


    ¡°Lets see if I can use the same trick twice.¡±


    Using unity as his guide, he switched to his neck and activated [Cross Skill: Orbital Bombardment], throwing ten copies of the collar down at the mound as the monster surfaced. There was an explosion of dirt as each one hit weighing as much as a mountain, but Corvayne could feel the monster recoil after the first strike, take some damage from two more, then go deep. However, it was still waiting right where Corvayne was falling.


    ¡°It knows where I am huh?¡±


    His weapon was starting to drag him downwards, it''s upwards momentum while being pulled out of his ring now turning into gravity''s rainbow.


    He equalized his gravity with the blue loop, and dropped with it, turning and giving his collar a gentle nudge to get them a few feet apart. The boss was starting to surface, no doubt to strike a final blow against him. Corvayne''s idea was going to hurt, but it was the best way to be sure he really got ''Big Ouch'' or whatever the overgrown cow-rodent-drill was called.


    As the ground rushed up and he felt the boss surge at him, Corvayne at the last moment pulled his spear out and used [Cross Skill: Juxtapose] while dumping all his gravity into the collar. He tapped it with the tip of his spear as what looked like a thousand claws and maws opened up, the monster under him using some sort of monster weapon skill.


    Corvayne hit the dirt and bounced, which was still like getting clubbed by a planet given the speed he was going, but he could feel the link with the monster shatter as his prison collar fell through it like a bowling ball through jello, splattering Corvayne with bits of monster and claws and fur as the thing was spinning at thousands of RPMs, flinging itself out like something pulled from the worst sort of shop safety videos that Spaces-Torn-Asunder watched during breaks.


    The things death embedded a few parts that were either teeth or claws into him, but at the same time Corvayne felt a rush of power from the monster. He had to drop gravity as he bounced into the ground again, the strain from staying in [[Vitality]] the entire time starting to cause sloshing and hinting that he was near another blowout. He rolled downhill and felt tremors as the two remaining monsters honed in on him.


    He tried to stand and was reminded not only had he mangled his leg, but his other foot had broken at some point from landing at terminal velocity. He could stand, but there was nothing left in the tank to help him jump as piles of dirt came flying at him. He landed on his butt and braced his spear as best he could to hopefully impale one. He could hear the whirl of claws as the moved to the surface, twin blenders a few seconds from turning him into pieces of meat just like he had done to their fellows.


    He couldn''t quite process what happened as a bright yellow line slammed into the ground, dimming his vision as the bar outshone everything. There was a clap like thunder, then the ground erupted into lava, a wall of liquid rock flinging two spinning burning monsters against the dark sky, screaming as they were flung over Corvayne and landed in a cloud of dust and embers.


    Looking back, he saw a tall alien woman, skin a throbbing glowing green camo pattern from both leaves growing out of her then dying and her own pigment announcing that she was in extreme pain, threaded with hints of gold suggested triumph. Instead of clothes, she was trailing bloody vines and what looked like bed sheets and part of a medical tent. Instead of titillated, Corvayne had a feeling of Deja Vu looking at her. That and appreciation for her coming through for him, admiration for seeing a move she hadn''t used before, and pure joy to see one of his family again, probably to an embarrassing degree through [[Unity]].


    Lady Blood Claw smiled for a moment, no doubt feeling what he was as she lifted her chin. ¡°Saved your ass.¡±


    Then she fell over from blood loss.

 Chapter 239: The Good, the Bad, and the Jelly

    Corvayne summoned a Lythandies seed and tucked it into the shredded garment Lady Blood Claw was wearing, then threw LBC on his back. He took a deep breath, then started marching into the wall of rain that had overtaken the formerly dry plains. Visibility was down to feet rather then the miles it had been before. He hadn''t realized how hot he was until the rain hit him, skin steaming as it furiously regenerated and was washed clean of grit and blood.


    "Gylwin, what''s our status?" He spoke aloud, not even bothering trying to bury it in [[Unity]] as he was trying to split his regeneration to keep Lady Blood Claw going. She was practically pouring a trail of blood after them.


    A worm wiggled it''s way off one of Lady Blood Claw''s vibrant branches. "I''ve got everyone safe. Four targets down. I suspect they were Red Stripe cultivators with bio-weapon builds. Mosh and June moved to a safe spot, the enemy is a monster or person who is negative 2 dimensional stalker. Sect is fighting it now. Juggernaut ate the assassin they sent."


    "Did they go after the sect too?"


    "They probably have a method of spawning named monsters. [[Growth]] might have made it worse. Are you worried about Miss Acting Sect Leader Most Glorious Rio?"


    "I''d like to know if she knew." It might be time to go completely off-grid if they wouldn''t let him out of jail to actually get work done.


    The rain should have made it hard to navigate, but he just compass pointed his way towards the nearest truck. The ditches they had been expanded quickly flooded with raging water.


    The first camp they came upon looked hastily abandoned. Corvayne looked around for any signs of life aside from the workers who had followed him. He guessed a few died, and from signs of battle the rest struck a fighting retreat the wrong way for help. There were broken parts of walls, scattered tools, and a few vehicles that had been turned into scrap. Corvayne stored some of it, knowing that he might need materials to fix a truck in better condition.


    Bayou sounded upset. "No survivors?"


    Little Spur kicked the ground. "Churned dirt. Same sort of monster. Also signs of detonation near the pit. It was actual bomb monsters. Of course, just like the ones that killed the Red Strip sect."


    "If they want revenge, the monsters are going to be the first part of an attack."


    The young cultivator looked over, probably at some invisible figure feeding him info. "The real threat will be that second part. If we face a three-knot cultivator, we will be swiftly destroyed."


    Corvayne had sort of picked up some of the terms. "Is that Whiskey Refinement stage?"


    "No. I think we have even odds even against a Whiskey Refiner up to fifth saddle. I''m referring to Nace-¡± He coughed. ¡°I''m of course referring to Smoked Mesquite Soul.¡±


    Bayou trembled a little. ¡°If we run into a Smoked Mesquite, we won''t even know we are dead before it happens.¡±


    ¡°What''s Rio?¡±


    ¡°She is Ranch Domain, a step up.¡±


    Was she holding back? ¡°I guess those guys that started shit at the bar were two knot or whiskey..?¡±


    ¡°Hard to say. Definitely... Cowpoke Core?¡±


    Bayou noticed something but Corvayne wasn''t keen on what, just there was an ''ah-ha'' moment. ¡°Cattle-Qi Gathering.¡±


    Corvayne looked back. ¡°I''m guessing most of us are considered whatever the lowest level is. Saddle-Sore-Strengthing?¡±


    ¡°I dislike that name.¡± Little Spur cultivated a wad of spit, and bent over to pull a bloody cowboy hat and fit it on his head. Corvayne missed his cloak immensely.


    Bayou pulled her tablet out and Corvayne could see her hand shaking as she spoke to herself then typed 2216 into the device, which buzzed. ¡°You not used to fighting?¡±


    ¡°I can fight!¡± She asserted.


    Little Spur nodded. ¡°If it seems like we have no fear, it''s because we''ve mastered it.¡±


    Corvayne smirked. ¡°Or seen fates worse then death, such as living a life not worth living.¡± He shifted how he was standing. ¡°...That and learning what rain and jelly mixing in my drawers feels like.¡±


    The next camp had bodies, both monster and cultivator. Robes and cowboy hats were flung about, some of them suggesting the inhabitants were ripped out of them. But some of the human bodies had holes in them, and not the type a pissed off Six-Horn got up to.


    Corvayne felt hostile intent and pulled Bayou to the ground, Little Spur already diving into the mud as the anticlimactic ping of a single bullet hitting metal sounded. [[Understanding]] told him there was some sort of force multiplier going on, as most cultivators would not die even with a dozen holes in them.


    Looking a bit above where his heart would have been had he not dropped behind a muddy tire, he looked at the hole. It looked like a normal bullet hole, but there was a weird clarity to the hole. It was a line, but also a plane? If he got hit, it would be like someone swinging an executioner''s axe through him. He felt Bayou shifting to cover her ears. He rolled off her, then tapped her shoulder and started crawling to the wreckage of a truck. It was half the size of Big Red Bramble''s monstrosity, so it was basically enough cover to hide a football team.


    ¡°Be careful, whatever is shooting us is stronger then a regular gun.¡±


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Little Spur and Bayou both looked at him with enough disbelief that it practically shone through the mud on their faces. Bayou actually stuttered. ¡°Y-y-you mean, like the GUNS this sect is known for?¡±


    Corvayne felt a little sheepish. ¡°I suppose you two would know better then me.¡±


    Little Spur nudged her. ¡°To enlighten our current strongest team member: They do dimensional damage. It''s difficult to explain why, but it only takes a little to kill even seasoned cultivators.¡±


    Gylwin was speaking through her worm. ¡°Because it''s essentially like a paperdoll of timelines, it folds you, then drives a pencil through all the dolls. If ten cowboys do that to ten spots on the doll, it turns the person into Swiss cheese. The gun is hundreds of guns slightly mis-aligned in essence.¡±


    Corvayne thought about what she said. ¡°Swiss cheese... the one with the holes?¡±


    ¡°The very same, Corvayne.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t like the sound of that. ¡°So... is there a counter?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Leave everyone else here, advance on his position, and try not to get shot. Use something that locks timelines together also means it becomes a regular gun.¡±


    Someone cleared her throat. It was the tiny worm, and it was certainly loud enough that everyone was looking at Corvayne''s shoulder.


    Gylwin spoke slowly to try to keep herself heard over the occasional gunfire ¡°Or let me take care of it. The idea was to get stronger here, but isn''t your real goal to protect your family?¡±


    Corvayne stopped. ¡°I can''t do that if I''m cursed. The Magus tracked me down and tried to kill me.¡± And hurt LBC. Bad. Maybe forever if they couldn''t find a way to break the tree curse.


    Little Spur nodded. ¡°In the end, you need to be strong to not be forced into such situations.¡±


    Bayou on the other hand tugged Corvayne''s sleeve, looking him in the eyes when he turned. ¡°Don''t take it for granted.¡±


    He thought about it a little, ignoring a probing shot that broke a truck''s rear-view mirror a few feet above where he was crouched. There were probably billions of other groups just like this one he could try to infiltrate and pilfer, and some would not have a weird antagonistic patron sect from higher floors trying to blow his brains all over the mud.


    In the end, Lady Blood Claw groaning made up his mind. He tried to think if he had ever been pinned down and had to charge a sniper. Possibly. It might be a new experience.


    ¡°I''m going to summon shadows and move to the next bit of cover. Throw something the other way.¡±


    He didn''t wait too long, throwing shadow hands all directions and using chain hands to fire them off in weird directions, then he picked one at random to [Flows-Like-Water] along, rain possibly tripling the normal length of the move as he dove into mud, moving through it like it was water... he had forgotten the pants had that trait!


    A bullet narrowly missed him but also somehow got him six spots in his arm as he rolled behind a tipped over trailer. A dead cowtivator was laying face down in the mud, but shockingly a live one had a gun pointed at his head. She radiated fear, so Corvayne held his hands up, meeting the mud stained woman''s eyes.


    ¡°I''m trying to kill that guy, do you know where he''s firing from?¡±


    A bullet tore through the trailer but missed them. There was just the sound of rain as the gun wavered a little. Finally she spoke. ¡°There''s a few trees near a stream, I think that''s it.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Great. I''m going to go kill them now.¡± He used a shadow hand to drag three objects from the tipped over trailer ¨C a set of boots, a frying pan, and a pretty nice gun rack. A shame Corvayne did not have a gun on him, it would probably look nice on the rack. He switched to [[Strength]] and hurled the objects above the trailer, then dove into the mud and cut across the ground like a shark. On a whim he spun, emulating the mole until he was in the water. There was no gunfire, so hopefully he had snuck into the water unseen. He started pulling himself against a torrent of muddy water.


    He felt his lungs start to protest and so he decided to have a moment of truth to his plan, throwing his head into the mud and taking a big breath. The feeling was incredibly disgusting, but just as the pants said he was able to fill his lungs with sludge then exhale it into the water.


    It spurred him on, pulling himself against the current as he pulled his way through the stream. There was enough mud on the bottom to keep triggering the pants free movement until he felt the stream level out, and emerged from a pond on top of a hill that was being filled by waterfall sputtering in the wind and rain. It must be runoff from another layer.


    He saw a man in a poncho by a tree barely outlined in by the faintest line of gray, and Corvayne with a bit of thunder could make out the gun in his hand, gleaming before it was dark, then a crack as he shot back at the ruined camp, rolling it open to reload with casual perfection borne from practice. Corvayne moved at the same time the last bullet entered the chamber, spear flying into his hands as he activated [Cross Skill: Backbiter] and slammed a black crystal maw into the mans back.


    For a moment he was looking at a hole in the attacker, dripping thick gore, then a metal blacksmith plate dropped and the damage was gone. Corvayne only hesitated a moment as the man swung around, falling into the mud then rolling on his side to get behind the man and grab his leg.


    A mistake, as the man kicked him into the air in a moment and fanned the hammer, five bullets missing and one hitting Corvayne right in the chest. In a moment he felt hundreds of wounds open inside him, the single bullet chewing out a tree of damage while only making a tiny hole. [[Vitality]] saved him as he flopped back into the mud face down.


    He tried to get up but the man slammed a boot into Corvayne''s head and forced his head under the mud.


    Corvayne switched to confusion and panic, pretending that he was suffocating and trying to knock the iron leg off him, then let his grip go weaker even as he felt the wounds mending and took a sly breath of mud.


    ¡°Pathetic.¡± Corvayne heard and he used that to twitch and still. The boot lessened, and Corvayne sank into the mud, again, then surged as he caught the click of the man reloading.


    [Cross Skill: Backbiter] tore chunks out of the man, undoing some of the damage Corvayne had taken. As quick as a snake and trailing water as almost a quantum engine, the man reloaded as another blacksmith''s plate fell from his poncho. Corvayne used [Juxtapose] as the man fanned the hammer again, then spun a step back as the man pulled a curved sheep gutting knife and twisted to try to catch Corvayne with it. Corvayne threw a line of shadows right at the gunfighters eyes, then called shadows down onto him.


    A direct hit sent mud flying everywhere, but the fellow shook it off and pulled out another six shooter as the first one wound backwards in time to reload. Corvayne imagined Seru throwing a dice with arrows on it and lunged the direction the arrow told him to go, crossing forward and into the mans gun. Yet, for some reason, the bullet that hit him just knicked a rib rather then blasting his side like a ripe watermelon, as he had been sure it would. He imagined Gygax rolling a huge dice, all sorts of sides, and he followed the random arrows it kept giving him, sometimes getting hit by barrages of bullets but never taking a serious hit.


    The man looked stunned and threw a flashbomb, but Corvayne could feel his annoyance and did a low leap as he shed gravity, then pulled it back in as his knee clipped the back of the man''s head like a bowling ball, sending them both tumbling down the muddy hill. Corvayne switched to [[Agility]] and while his wounds were suddenly throbbing in pain, he used the moment to reach under the mans poncho and undo the furnace plate.


    The man landed on his feet, clearly some form of superior cultivator, and produced another loaded gun and unloaded a full clip into Corvayne, but barely did any damage. Gygax had somehow helped him desync. The man seemed to realize something too and clicked something, a light coming to life in the rain further down the next hill.


    Corvayne guessed he had desynced by adding variables into his movement, and if the man went to a point where every Corvayne had to follow, the gun would start shredding him again as timelines overlapped.


    The man realized this, aiming for Corvayne''s legs even as Corvayne used [Flows-Like-Water] to fly up and over, then used [Leap Strike] to cause part of the slope they were on to melt and splattering grit everywhere, but not catching him.


    If the man got away, he''d have to go back to where LBC was, then they''d be fully lined up and-


    Corvayne felt like his pants were full for some reason, and saw the jelly from it rising in liquid circles, forming little spheres that formed something like a pink glowing ring around him. Did getting hit in another timeline count? He had better get rid of it.


    The jam swirled and grew, a torrent of pink, purple, and red forming orbs before thousands shot out at the light.


    The man turned and smirked as Corvayne used a boot to tip up the life-saving metal door. Corvayne couldn''t tell if the man went from cocky to frowning by sight, but that''s what he felt through [[Unity]] before hundreds of projectiles slammed into him and the light, breaking it and practically burying him in mud and jelly. Lightning lit up a single hand reaching up, fingers curled in rigor mortis. Corvayne took his time walking over, using [[Vitality]] to start closing holes other Corvayne had taken and failed to heal. Weirdly, he thought he could feel a little bit of himself in a line for a moment. All of them were working on patching holes in themselves.


    Corvayne snapped back into one as he reached down and pulled out a gun belt and poncho from the gore, molten strawberries, and mud. He thought about it, and dug and took the man''s hat.


    Corvayne looked around to make sure no one was there. It was for the curse, after all. There was no evidence it would be habit forming, and he''d never do it when someone else was around.


    He tipped his hat to the man''s makeshift grave. ¡°Looks like you really got yourself... in a jam.¡±

 Chapter 240: Adrift

    Corvayne pulled himself out from under the vehicle and stood up, getting a face full of rain. Not that it mattered, he was already fully soaked and caked in sapping cold mud.


    "Punch it!"


    Lepin Lizzy twisted the key and after some groaning the engine purred to life on the pickup. Corvayne helped Bayou and Little Spur heft the last crates of supplies into the bed of the truck, then got into the back door of the cab, next to where they had wrapped Lady Blood Claw in most of the remaining dry blankets. The cab was steamy as opposed to soaked and cold, so a massive improvement. Less thanks to his mechanical skills and more to placing the heated blade in the third seat in the back. He leaned over and shifted it both to avoid setting the seat on fire (it was a little melted, oops) and to wrap his clammy fingers around it''s refreshingly searing metal handle.


    Bayou got in and Little spur was last. He had taken a cut from a pair of monsters that had attacked right as Corvayne had been fighting the sniper. Corvayne was trying to think of a way to offer mending to the young man, but Bayou instead was fussing over him as Lepin took over driving. He instead took the time to try to figure out how his wounds were lingering, Mend was struggling to worm it''s way into what felt like rabbit holes in him despite there being very little physical damage.


    He eventually gave up. His progress was limited, and LBC needed attention in the form of clipping branches and healing wounds when the plants coming out of her got too close or went through something important. She was shivering, so Corvayne took his pancho and put it over her, at least until her branches knocked it off and he needed to clip them again.


    They kept driving through camps, most of them packed with various monster and cultivator corpses. Giant moles, fanged things that looked like tumble weeds, giant jackalopes with flaming antlers that created billowing clouds of steam in the rain. He didn''t think there were survivors, much of the camps looking like tatters littered with parts of trucks and sometimes the foundation of a knocked over cabin sinking into the mud.


    "Do you know where we are going?" Corvayne asked the cowtivator driving and currently only other living person he had seen or felt through [[Unity]].


    "I know I''m going towards home, so well enough." She had to slow the truck down as they came to another broken bridge with water pouring past it. "We look for a shallow point and ford it."


    "Let me know if you want directions. I have a skill."


    The girl barked a laugh. "Okay. Safest route back to the sect."


    "Hard Left."


    She started to turn the wheel and stopped. "That''s into the river!"


    "It doesn''t lie." Corvayne shrugged.


    Lepin stared at him, then without looking away hit the gas and jerked the wheel, sending the truck barreling down the ditch into the rushing water. Bayou started yelling and Little Spur looked about halfway between laughing and crying, but the huge wheels caused the truck to stay above the raging water, with a little help from Gravity.


    "Looks like I fitted the doors perfectly. No leaks."


    Lepin raised an eyebrow. "I have to see how you look without mud all over you." She said, enunciating every word before she turned back in her seat to look forward. "Let me know when to turn." She then flipped a cowboy hat over her face.


    The compass was telling him to do nothing, so rather then nap like their driver, or huddle together like Bayou was now with Little Spur, Corvayne instead worked on mending Lady Blood Claw, a sort of weird dance between snipping branches using [Cross Skill: Reap] with his fingers as a pair of scissors and closing the wounds that they left. He saved the wood in his holdout ring because, well, it had a nice cherry color to it likely from sucking up blood.


    It was a few hours of drifting before Corvayne gave Lizzy a bump on the shoulder. "Steer Right."


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    She looked at him like he was crazy but turned the wheels, which in turn pushed the truck left and caused it to bump into a sandbar.


    "Floor it." Corvayne said, applying gravity to help lift the car up the bank and out of the river... in the middle of nowhere.


    "Why?"


    "It''s telling me the safest route. Straighten the wheels out and then slight left."


    The Cowtivator shrugged and did so, following matted down grass that started to sound like gravel as the truck rolled into the dark, headlights showing rain and more rain and then the slope of two hills. There was not enough lightning nearby to catch more then hints of the terrain, but as they drove suddenly the rain stopped as they ended up in a cavern, the rocky expanse slick with water and almost immediately too small to keep driving.


    In a gap in the rocks, Corvayne could see a swirling purple portal lined by a door made of green hands interlinked. On the wall next to it was a plaque ¨C ''Hop on one foot for three of the five floors, and gain a power that will put a spring in your step! - Sage of Skills.''


    ¡°Forward is the safe way.¡±


    Lepin paused, turning the truck off. ¡°You found an instance. There''s no way that''s the safest way.¡±


    ¡°Huh, you mean a door? They lead to other versions of the floor-¡±


    Little Spur coughed. ¡°Oh no, it''s a hidden realm not a.... heavenly cow path.¡±


    ¡°It''s telling me it''s both the safest place and safest path back to the Sect.¡±


    ¡°Not home?¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°I feel one home got trashed, the other is... well, yes all of it.¡±


    He gingerly trimmed LBC''s branches and mended enough of her jumpsuit that she wasn''t flashing anyone, and placed her on his back.


    Lepin got out of the truck and he could see she was still shaky on her legs, even after he had helped patch them up. The jeans she was wearing were much harder to mend, being some sort of magic item. Corvayne tried not to stare too much at her thighs as everyone got out.


    ¡°I don''t think the Sect knows about this, we would have built a structure to keep people out.¡±


    Gylwin''s worm piped up with [[Unity]]. ''If it''s telling you to go in, you should move. Chances are, that means someone on the floor has a way of tracking you.''


    ''Was anything else as bad as this?''


    ''The inverse 2 dimensional monster did a ton of damage, but now that I''ve looked at the number of camps... there must have been more then ten agents who can control or lure monsters in.''


    Corvayne tried not to look at Bayou. She did have some sort of monster affinity built into her build, one that let her groom even the more cranky stable monsters. He dismissed it: She was trying to put up a brave front, but he could feel fear from her. Little Spur was much more composed but with hints of pain. Part of Little Spur was worried but there was also a feeling of anticipation as he looked at the portal ahead.


    ¡°It''s telling me inside.¡± Corvayne said, breath misting even as he pulled Lady Blood Claws lava sword closer. The wind outside was blowing cold wet air into the cave. Once more he missed both the desert and Cascadia''s more temperate climate. That and floor 3''s perfect weather.


    ¡°Can you be steered wrong?¡±


    Corvayne thought about it then on a whim turned and asked the compass to find Lepin, behind him, then both Little Spur to his right ahead (it spun a few times before pointing at him, oddly) and Bayou to the left, then Lady Blood Claw on his back. All correct. He pointed the compass at ''what was hunting them'' and it wavered about fifty degrees in a random direction out in the rain, but when he turned it kept the same general bearing.


    ¡°Maybe but it also thinks there''s something hunting for us.¡± He could track Gylwin through [[Unity]] and double checked with Compass, both of them jerking this way and that in unison. ¡°I don''t know what is after us nor why. It may be my fault. I suspect a super wizard is sending his girlfriends to try to cut my head off.¡±


    Lepin snorted. ¡°Delusional.¡±


    Corvayne gave her an even look. ¡°They successfully did so, once.¡±


    Her waning attention re-affirmed itself. ¡°Need to hear that one over drinks.¡±


    Little Spur took a deep breath. ¡°Portal, or unknown threat. Do you know for sure if your Compass assesses it correctly?¡±


    Gylwin laughed in his mind. ''This tower is pretty much built on exceptions and it''s infinite. That said something managed to badly damage one of my spare bodies.''


    Corvayne didn''t respond but then remembered the original question and shook his head at Spur.


    ¡°Can we make it through? These are elite challenges. I was warned if I saw one they were certain death.¡± Bayou took Little Spur''s sleeve with a hand and he wrapped an arm around her. Corvayne guessed from [[Understanding]] that if they were not in mortal peril they''d be hooking up right now. And maybe despite that they would anyway.


    Corvayne cleared his mind about images of robes flying off and concentrated instead on applying [[Unity]] to formalize a party. Lepin Lizzy was level 93, with both his other allies in the fifties, which was low. Plenty of time to bring it up to LBC''s 298, though that big number was in a coma and would be dead if not for him shunting off regeneration her way. ¡°If we can kill one thing? I''m pretty sure we''ll manage.¡±


    Little Spur was looking off to the side, but his likely invisible mentor had no advice that the man passed on.


    Corvayne gave him at least a minute of clearly nodding at someone who wasn''t there before he decided to get it over with. He stepped forward to stand before the purple portal framed by green jade hands, seeing an orange lock on it. No turning around. He heard Bayou''s teeth chattering, and Lizzy was now next to him, pressing her side into Lady Blood Claws sheathed blade.


    ¡°Do we know anything about these subspaces? Are there patterns for ones on this floor?¡± He flexed his wet socks inside his boots.


    Gylwin gave him something that felt like a mental shrug. ''I say hop in there, worse case you bunker down and I come in after your family and friends are safe.''


    Lepin answered his question, not aware of his invisible council. ¡°Totally unknown. It can have any number of sub floors, any size, some have monsters and a boss, some don''t. We could walk into empty air and fall forever, or step onto the surface of a star and be instantly cooked.¡±


    ¡°Sold.¡± Corvayne stepped through.

 Chapter 241: Acid

    Corvayne stepped into the portal and had a moment where he felt hot before stinging pain assaulted him. It was like every part of him was boiling. He stomped and created a dome of shadows, in moments his regeneration started struggling to fix what felt like fire all over him. He had been blinded for a moment, eyes watering and bleeding before the shadows started pushing out chemical pain. Water streamed down his arms as the stinging faded. Lady Blood Claw''s tree branches started forming a dome to match the shadows as Lepin came in through the orange locked doorway and instantly started screaming and clutching her eyes.


    A few moments later, Bayou and Little Spur followed, and both collapsed writhing and screaming until Corvayne flared [[Vitality]] and [[Unity]] to help un-melt them, his own body seeming to normalize the damage caused by breathing acid. The other three who were awake started coughing up blood, and Corvayne took a moment to lay Lady Blood Claw down and make sure she was breathing. Interestingly, through the link she felt better than the others, perhaps because she had been pumped full of regeneration.


    Corvayne looked through the supplies they had dragged with them and found a few healing potions, and forced some down everyone''s mouth, waiting a few minutes. He could feel the slight drain as an unseen breeze blew against the outside of his protective shell. At the same time, Lady Blood Claw''s tree was filling in, creating what seemed like a complete extra layer around the entrance. Corvayne could smell again as his nose regenerated, and the smell of lime nearly bowled him over, irritating his nose worse then the itching feeling of it trying to heal through an acid attack.


    Corvayne opened the shadowy curtain a moment and felt his nose and eyes start to burn so he quickly closed the gap.


    ¡°Not good. This might explain why nobody had found this portal before.¡± Corvayne said, though his audience were all either groaning or crying.


    Gylwin''s worm had perished after being bathed in acid, so Corvayne was pretty sure he was on his own. The real body might come through, but so too was there the risk of whatever was hunting them finding them as well.


    ¡°I''m going to move us.¡± He went over and picked up LBC, careful to keep his shadows tied to her framework branches.


    ¡°How are you going to be sure you don''t fall down a cliff?¡±


    Corvayne pushed his shadow hands out and started feeling the ground around them. The floor didn''t give him any hints, looking like pitted metal, but his hands could feel walls, floor, and places there was a drop-off. He took a step along the path, and at that Bayou, Lepin, and Little Spur picked up the crates they had pulled off the truck and started following.


    Corvanye''s compass didn''t seem to like the dungeon, as his first attempt to find a ''safe spot from the acid'' just sent it spinning. ''Another safe spot'' was similarly rebuffed.


    Moments later something bashed into the wood sphere, sending LBC jerking back and knocking Corvayne back a step. He responded by pulling his spear out and thrusting out. Something shrilly screamed then he heard it splashing off. Burning vapor filled the sphere as he pulled his spear back, once more smelling like burnt lime before he was awash in hot pain as acidic mist turned to inert green liquid after melting him. He felt his skin pull back taut as regeneration once again fixed him.


    ¡°We need to find a way to resist the air here, we''re sitting ducks otherwise.¡±


    Lepin gave him a look, parts of her skin still crawling as it attempted to mend and slough off acid damaged flesh. ¡°We should have taken our chances out in the storm.¡±


    Little Spur adjusted his ring, the gold untouched by acid unlike just about all their clothes, which had black areas and were all soaked. ¡°In the old tongue, disaster and opportunity are written the same.¡±


    Bayou cocked her head. ¡°That would be the old script, you speak a tongue.¡±


    He fiddled with his ring a little. Corvayne nodded and held up the expired Gylwin worm. ¡°Any advice you might pull out of thin air?¡±


    ¡°A secret realm like this one... it''s likely that the entire thing, however big the floors are and however many there are, are all going to be either acid air or lakes of acid or whatever else.¡±


    ¡°We are fucked then, unless you can keep the shadow shield up forever.¡±


    Corvayne actually might be able to do that, as he was pretty sure [[Unity]] was feeding him mana from people outside the instance. ¡°I''m more concerned that we''ve already encountered a monster. Two or three at once and we''re going to be exposed to the air. I have some ideas, but I''d like to figure out what we each can do.¡±


    Little Spur raised a hand. ¡°I have some basic formations and can brew potions, but there''s almost nothing I can make with what we brought. It requires special ink.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a storage ring stocked with emergency supplies?¡±


    ¡°Left it in my other robes.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Unfortunate. Bayou, you have the power to communicate with monsters, do you have any ability to make deals?¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Only with very weak creatures.¡±


    ¡°Can you call out to them, or do I gotta drive us to one?¡±


    Lepin sneered. ¡°You realize she means like, level five? Anyone working in the barn can''t do the heavy lifting for actually taming a monster, they are focused on basically doing the house work for higher level tamers.¡±


    Bayou started to speak then put her head down. Corvayne cleared his throat, which caused it to burn so he spit to the side. ¡°What about you then? Anything that might help?¡±


    Lepin spun her gun. ¡°I''m a crack shot and I''m good at lassoing.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I''m going to see if we can find something like a acid squirrel or rabbit for Bayou to charm.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Eyes, ears, and ideally she can drag a bigger acid beast to us in the direction of our choosing.¡±


    As if to punctuate his point, something rammed into the sphere, knocking it over and causing a gap to leak in vapor. Corvayne stabbed out, hitting an eye and driving the monster back. He was pretty sure it had way too many features on its face, and a few of them were now dripping from his spear.


    He took a deep breath and then grabbed a chunk of meat and stuffed it in his mouth. Almost instantly there was mind boggling pain but also incredible flavor, his jaw nearly locking as he chewed, caught between hunger for the meat and terrible pain as its citric flavored juices burned him all the way down and left him somehow hungry for more.


    ¡°We need to find a helper to lure monsters to us, and eat those monsters. Over and over, until we either die or get enough resistance to acid that we can navigate this floor.¡±


    ¡°If I tried to do that I''d die.¡± Bayou said, looking pale at Corvayne. He felt something warm and realized that part of his lip had melted. He wiped his face, removing some of the grime and old flesh away.


    ¡°If you don''t, we''ll die.¡±


    Little Spur nodded. ¡°The path of cowtivation is to ride into the sunset in defiance of heaven.¡±


    Bayou sighed. ¡°I fell off that horse.¡±


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°We have some help. You won''t die as long as you guys eat one at a time. We need your help.¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Bayou nodded. Lepin snorted. ¡°Okay, I want to see how you operate, spear man. I heard a whole lot of things from Night Rider.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you were supposed to watch me?¡±


    ¡°There was a theory you were behind the disappearances.¡±


    Corvayne raised an eyebrow. ¡°I''ve been here for two weeks. Bad theory.¡±


    Little Spur had to pipe up. ¡°You seem to pull new powers out every time you have a problem. The jail cannot hold you. The sect leader might have a crush on you.¡±


    ¡°You don''t have to make up the last one.¡± Corvayne said, aligning his compass for a weak animal they could befriend.


    ¡°It''s part of why Night Rider is nervous.¡±


    Corvayne walked up stairs, which was very disorienting and difficult with keeping the shadows in place and keeping Lady Blood Claw mostly lined up with the steps, and by nessecity getting acid vapor into the space they had and burning their legs and ankles. His boots were starting to show wear and tear, and he was pretty sure it would only be a few hours before they started losing all their non magical gear.


    It was roughly five minutes before they parked the sphere over a hole, only being attacked once more by something else that ran away, an entirely different monster with red hot burning tentacles that seared its way into the sphere then just as quickly withdrew with a tremendous scream. The little creature that came out looked something like an amber larva with little feathery rabbit ears, four black bead eyes and soft feeler-limbs giving the impression of a timid creature sniffing the changed air.


    Bayou sat and started whispering and talking, offering some of the meat they had packed in the crates to the creature. Corvayne started coaching her on what he was trying to do, with Little Spur helping and Lepin looking on in doubt. Even so, the little critter demanded a lot of meat and Bayou had to keep repeating what she said for nearly half an hour before it moved to the edge of the wood and scratched it, prompting Corvayne to use his shadows to open a hole.


    ¡°He will find us a Nepller.¡± Bayou looked much more tired, gripping her jade tablet in both hands while sitting down, not even bothering to try and input the next code.


    ¡°What''s a Nepller?¡± Corvayne asked her.


    She shrugged as the little critter she had contracted with ran back in, trailing green vapor that''s tart flavor preceded both burning chemical pain and a creature that looked like a spider-warthog snapping at it, knocking branches aside before Corvayne almost mechanically drove his spear into one of its eyes, once, twice, three times in a blink before the creature fell, unable to remove its head from the branches before his spear cracked through its skull. He dragged the corpse in and shut the ''door'' in his shadows, the wood creeping back to cover his space.


    He checked to see if LBC was awake, but her steady shuddering breaths suggested dreams. He instead focused on butchering the seven legged creature. Little Spur built a small fire, which was a mistake in some ways as burning the meat caused the dome to fill with acrid smoke.


    One piece of the meat was given to Bayou''s pet, then they took eating the cooked legs one at a time. Corvayne gently guided [[Unity]] to help them stay whole as they swallowed the meat. Bayou in particular had to take tiny bites, gripping Little Spurs hand as tears welled in her eyes, wiping the blood from her ravaged mouth using a rapidly diminishing towel.


    Again, another spider boar, this one almost getting free before Corvayne tripped it with [Cross Skill: Reap], black hands holding it down for him to hit the neck.


    Again, two boars, one taking a spear hit, the other taking a bullet and spraying them in its dying moments, staining their clothes dark brown colors where the material wasn''t immune to the acid.


    Again, another boar. They water they drank from the few bottles they took mixed the vapors burning them, tasting of iron but enough to sustain them.


    Again, two boars, this time Lepin fanning the hammer to hit its skull and a leg, forcing Corvayne to reach into the swirling burning mists to pull his prey out.


    At this point Lepin was just wearing her boots, a poncho that covered only her top half, and her gun. Bayou wasn''t much better, only more modest because she had fashioned a leather skirt. Little Spur had golden underwear on that didn''t seem to mind the acid at all. Of course, his jam-jammies were fine. And LBC, well, he was getting used to seeing her naked.


    Again. A new monster sort of like a weasel with gill-like eyes that seemed to breath, its three horns scraping Corvayne before died when he wrestled it to the ground and Lepin cut it''s neck, losing the knife but gaining different meat, still tart and painful.


    But a little less. The others slept in shifts, the little rabbit wiggling as it feasted on leftovers, dragging parts back into it''s burrow, waiting for Bayou to awaken.


    Again. The meat tasted great, and they were not running short on wood. It was day outside, he could feel light pressing against his shadows. The little pet spoke to Bayou when she woke, and they moved the sphere to a spot that he suspected was better shaded and out of the way. Sometimes they''d hear giants moving, the pitted coral-like ground rumbling as huge beasts moved past their little dot of non-acidic air.


    Again, a snake like creature, not big but long enough to give them each a ration.


    The rabbit slept for an hour then was back awake, earning meat. Three monsters, forcing Corvayne to fence outside the wood dome while Lepin took four more shots to kill two, the third making a mistake that let him use [Cross Skill: Backbiter] on it, his spear''s teeth tearing into the meat and filling him up.


    It was dark again, and he slept, and woke, and the rabbit would bring another monster. The wood dome had expanded enough that they could fight within, the acid no longer strong enough to hamper them from standard dungeon tactics. Him in front, then Little Spur


    Again, something made of hands that sacrificed a few and ran. The group gave most of it to the rabbit, as the meat was deeply unappealing.


    It was a week before he finally noticed a change, the food no longer triggering irritation.


    Lepin noticed too. ¡°It should take us years of eating cursed food to develop resistance.¡±


    Corvanye suspected that [[Growth]] had something to do with it, probably in combination with all his [[Essence]] pact levels. He was also pretty sure that everyone was getting levels from the non stop barrage of monsters, but he didn''t pry as to what exact levels they were. It certainly seemed that Bayou''s rabbit was getting more and more bold and evasive. It probably was gaining the others lots of levels too, given they were all considered a party.


    Corvayne stepped outside the dome and for the first time didn''t feel his eyeballs melting. He was somewhat familiar now with the pitted green metal and stone that formed a sort of cup, though he hadn''t realized the pillars that formed a valley were so tall. Green and yellow mists hid the tops, probably at the same height that one would see regular clouds. The gap they had stumbled through blindly looked to be from a plaza with holes in the material leading to what looked like a many mile fall into boiling green clouds. Above, the sky was purple like wine with yellow and green underlit clouds drifting across, the only other feature dark towers with chains connecting them, floating with tortured stone visages adorning the sides, as well as metal green hands, dripping fluid as the winds splashed acid against them.


    Looking around, it looked like this floor was nearly all floating towers, connected by chains and whispy looking strands of matter. Every feature, up close, looked like it had moved from geometric shapes to more organic ones, all suggesting untold agony and horror. Great visages with empty moaning mouths, no doubt the size of Cascadia''s skyscrapers, seemed to float through the space. Under the stone visage was another mask, slowly being revealed as the old one was weathered away, the one he was looking at a rictus of terror emerging from a melting face of madness. From miles away he could see stones falling like dust. From above, chains fell like loops of loose string, only shattering the illusion as it raised a distant booming cloud landing on another tower.


    He returned to their little hide out and looked at the next path. They must have been atop one of those massive structures or a link, as he could see paths towards other floating spires. Some of them were made from grime hardened atop massive chains. The view on this floor was extra long, he had to look far to see the hints of pillars fading into purple, and even then only as the acidic clouds parted for a moment. Looking at the biological design of nearby towers, he suspected that the ribs would be mazes, no doubt dripping with stronger acid as he could see streams of something occasional leaking out of a patchwork of rib-cage like holes in the structures.


    He decided to aim them at the tallest tower, figuring that if it was like his previous dungeons, they''d want to go up.


    His vision started to waiver and he felt the burn coming on, so he retreated back to the dome to heal.


    The rabbit came back a little later, two big spider-boars and a dragonfly shaped flier that rained knives down and could teleport. He infused his shadow hands with gravity and pulled the monster from the air right to his feet, and then grabbed its neck and slammed it on the ground until it stopped moving. Lepin was running low on bullets but he had fashioned her a laso from corrosive leather and she used it to bind one and drag it off balance.


    Little Spur killed the other boar with a sword strike, the effort seeming to wind the boy even as his blade expertly parted the beasts neck.


    Another week of no help, but no hunters either. They were running low on water, forcing Corvayne to plug it into his compass. The magical gear he had stolen from the bandit was now worn over a rough shirt made of boarskin. It was time to move camp, both because prey was started to get sparse on the crossroads they were on, and because it seemed like they had attained some large factor of acid resistance.


    Bayou didn''t dismiss the amber acid-rabbit, instead letting the grubby creature perch on her shoulder. Corvayne suspected it had evolved, as he saw little silver streaks and its face had changed to be more mammalian, though it still had four beady eyes. The little thing skitter-hopped ahead, lined up with Corvayne''s compass towards water.


    He hefted LBC and started walking.


    ¡°You know, I keep having to carry people through dungeons...¡± Every word he spoke made him taste the sort of lime flavored air. The green-brown sludge crunched under his boots, forcing him to re-assess what it was. Some sort of crust from the rain?


    Looking ahead, he could see a huge red storm on it''s way. They probably wouldn''t want to be on the chain when it struck.


    Corvayne turned to ask if they wanted to turn back already and, in doing so, got grazed by a small glowing green cloud. He felt it nearly reach bone on his exposed arms, and he hissed and forced [[Vitality]] to regrow the arm and push the sizzling mess off before it got into his veins.


    ¡°You all right?¡± Little Spur said, having moved closer but now watching what they had assumed were just colorful patches of vapor.


    Corvayne took a deep breath, ever present citrus smell mixing with the chemical smell of his melted flesh. They needed to cross when the air was clear, and hunker down against the wind when a small cloud of extra strong vapor blew over.


    While he was planning, he heard a high pitched yelp.


    ¡°It still burns?¡± Bayou cried out, and Little Spur had to pull her to pull her closer to Corvayne as a yellowish cloud started billowing over the only way off the chain. They were trapped now, with the red storm overtaking the tower they were heading to. The first clouds splashing as they whipped into the huge green pillar.


    Lepin made a strangled noise of annoyance. ¡°You are going to get us killed stupid crow!¡±


    ¡°Me? We''re fine. There''s caves where the chains meet.¡± They had better hurry, as Corvayne could see the end of the chain vanishing in a billowing red cloud. That was only a few miles away.


    He ran ahead, only stopping to make sure that Little Spur and Bayou were keeping up. Lepin had flown ahead, superior Cowtivator abilities letting her blow past him even as Corvayne had [[Agility]] going. Ahead she lassoed and choked a large beetle that was trying to get into a cave.


    He reached the intersection of links as the cloud swallowed the next junction. Corvayne faced the slimy looking cave and rather than trying to kill the armored wasp-thing that was hissing at him, he used [Juxtapose] and then [Storm Thrust] to swap it out of its home then belt it off into the void. Shadowy hands made short work of the things little biting larva before he squeezed Lady Blood Claw''s leg and the limp woman twitched, plants growing rapidly where his shadow hands guided them until they had formed a dome around their group. Moments later the clouds hit, the sound something like sand being sprayed onto everything. He could see sap dripping as whatever the cloud was seemed to be trying to sand everything down. It was no match for the endless plant growing out of LBC, so they settled down and Corvayne focused on using mend to keep her lungs and heart clear of vines.


    He was pretty sure [[Unity]] was the only thing keeping her alive, as he got a sense of health coming into LBC to make up for the near constant damage being done.


    It was very dark in the wood structure, but he could see well enough that Little Spur had a hand around Bayou, who he was pretty sure was trying to find his lips. Ah, he''d not told them he could see in the dark. He politely closed his eyes, then opening one to see that Lepin was looking at him, clearly also able to see. He tossed a spare hide at her head, then tipped his hat down and fell asleep to the endlessly wailing acid storm.

 Chapter 242: Baby Steps (to Immortality)

    Corvayne carefully moved around a puddle, pooling in a spot where marble tiles had melted like swiss cheese. Every bit of liquid in the acid drenched sub-dungeon or ''hidden realm'' or ''treasure realm'' was hostile to his stolen cowboy boots, which were desperately regrowing but often leaving his toes to burn.


    The scenery inside the towers was a mix of opulence, medieval torture chamber, horrific corpse-like body, and airy gardens. One of the creatures the dungeon spawned just seemed to roam around fixing the terrain after it melted too far, ignoring the interlopers as they moved through breezy corridors that were often open to the horrible colored clouds that floated through the floor''s purple sky.


    Other lifeforms were not nearly as benign. Corvayne clicked his cheek once and everyone stopped. He gestured with his spear at what looked like a metallic zit on the wall, easily mistaken for one of the melted lumps he guessed were once iron sconces. They looked around, as usually there were ''packs'' of the monsters. Sure enough, in one of the arches above he could see two more. He suspected if he was foolish enough to keep walking, there would be one on a pillar supporting the hallway between two wings of the tower.


    They backed up a good fifty feet, as they didn''t want to stand near the open windows and get blown off the floor. There was what looked like a patio and pool about thirty feet down before a melted iron fence, but Corvayne knew the pool was full of acid. The other side was a garden path, also 30 feet lower, rimmed by reddish trees whom had insanely corrosive bark, strong enough to harm creatures that lived and breathed the acidic vapor that surrounded them.


    They retreated to the previous hexagon of the tower, back into the shadows, then moved to get behind cover as Corvayne readied [Cross Skill: Whirling Axe] then yanked his spear back, sending a spinning green projectile shooting off at the zit. He moved to cover, making sure that Lady Blood Claw wouldn''t be hit. There was a short whine then an ear-shattering chain of noises as each of the metal zits triggered each-other, shaking the floor and sending metal shards into the floor, forming more little holes.


    Corvayne waited a few seconds, as sometimes the zits took a while to trigger. ¡°Clear!¡±


    He went first, of course. Lady Blood Claw was mostly encased in vines and he was by far the best at recovering from traps and ambushes from monsters. Some of the pillars were missing, which he would think should collapse the covered walkway, but there were chunks of material also floating. It might weigh a lot less then he''d assume. The blasts extended into the next room, which hadn''t been in great shape before. Melted skull-like faces in the green marble were drooling smoking goop that had eroded almost half the chamber, blocking off one of the doors to a covered stairway up.


    Corvayne took a step near the cave-like crater, the bottom melting through part of the hall under this one. Little Spur was looking at each of the doors, clearly considering them. Corvayne could see they all had sunlight sections. Despite a lot of penile alien-faces, the entire dungeon was well lit, and what he would consider ''airy'' most of the time.


    Corvayne leaned over. ¡°Figure something out?¡±


    ¡°No, I was wondering if these buildings really count as being inside, since they have so many holes in them.¡±


    ¡°Mostly to let fliers attack us.¡± Or risk them falling off or getting blown into the air out a window. Some of those metal mines pretended to be tiles. If not for gravity powers, he might still be on his way to finding out what was at the bottom of the floor.


    Of course, some of those faces would vomit acid on them, so there was spear poking at the doorway before they determined it was just an ugly design. They passed a room that looked like an art gallery that had started to melt; warped gold frames had just fragments of the paintings in the upper corners, everything else warped by chemicals, turning what Corvayne guessed were beloved aristocrats into garish stains on canvas turning a thousand metallic poisonous colors. Some works had been placed on granite stands some time ago and now were just streaks on the floor, pooling in low spots.


    No traps, only a few standard monsters, ones that in another dungeon would represent a grave threat to their gear. At this point, everything they had was either immune or could repair itself through the damage. Bayou, for example, had been given a robe that didn''t dissolve in the vapor. Little Spur had an odd combo going with his stitched boarskin shirt. He had grabbed red silk shorts that had some incredible ability to completely repair even when submerged in acid. Lady Blood Claw had enough brush coming out of her that she was probably better clothed then any of them, her pale purple flesh barely showing through the endless brush pushing out of her.


    Corvayne would never tell her that he had ''baby birded'' her boar meat to boost her acid resistance. Nor that he suspected Little Spur sometimes was staring at her butt, mostly that Bayou would elbow the young cowtivator now and then.


    There were other rooms, all of them somehow connected to a view of the outside even though Corvayne was pretty sure the rooms were in spots that had been open air. Nobody else commented, though he was sure they looked confused after six right turns in a row from compass put them at the foot of a bridge they hadn''t scouted the last chain they had been on. A few boars tried to stop their progress, but Bayou''s rabbit could take a group of three on it''s own, let alone with everyone pitching in using the few weapons they had found in a chest.


    Bayou had grown leaps and bounds with a crook made of the horrible burning wood, even though some of the oil leaked through it''s wrapped handle, moving forward to use [Shepard Strike] which seemed to teleport the insect-bunny onto the enemy for an attack that resulted in the monster skidding to a stop dead.


    Little Spur found a pair of knives. They looked to be too short to use in combat, but seemed to have some sort of high powered air blades attached to them, each attack making a cracking noises before they severed enemy limbs.


    Lepin had found a rusted blade that shed flakes of rust but would heal itself. It had some horrific blood-seeking property that made it fall apart when it got into a monster then snap back together, carrying lots of blood and gore that melted into it a moment later. Corvayne thought it looked like the blade was getting healthier. Well, it didn''t feel hostile and neither did Lepin. He guessed it was just an edgy blade rather than being cursed. Corvayne did instruct her how to use some of the sword forms he knew, with [Crescent Blade] and [Light Cut] coming fast but [Sundering Strike] not working, which he thought was odd. He would assume the blade would have an affinity for half of [Combo: Rust Storm] given it''s form.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Boars dead, Corvayne skinned them and stored the meat and bones, leaving pretty much offal and a few random organs that were useless to anything he or Little Spur could craft or brew. He kept an eye open for ''bullseye'' moss, which was the limiting factor in turning the boars corrosive bones into a potion that burned all the way down but at the same time gave them incredible regeneration to survive drinking it and for a few minutes afterwards.


    At least all the crafting of clothes and tools and cooking made Lythandies happy. His mends seemed to be getting better too. Maybe there was a skill attached to it?


    There was buzzing, and the group crouched, Lady Blood Claw somehow making a shield of wood even though she was asleep. Corvayne peered through a crack, tracing sixty smaller fliers around a big one. He wouldn''t bet it wasn''t looking for them: they had to abandon camp one night when danger sense warned him of something like a mega boar, a seemingly normal sized boar that bled drops that turned into copies of itself... and was hunting them.


    Lepin had given her theory, many rooms later: ¡°This is shaped like an expedition dungeon. There''s areas that are ''outskirts'' and then places and monsters you need a group to dispatch. That boar... to kill it probably requires bleeding it out and keeping it in place while whole packs of cowboys unload into it''s children before damaging it a little. A big bug with sixty flies? It''s meant to have several people who can distract the little swarms until they can be whittled down.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I''m keeping us on ''the safest path home.'' We''ll try to stay between the hotspots.¡±


    She had taken his arm. ¡°We keep our eyes out for places where we can take treasure without risking the big dens. We need to get stronger, and it''s known to the brave and foolish that dungeons like this, especially ones noone knows about, can grant us great treasures, things we would not lay hands on in a thousand thousand years otherwise.¡±


    They had found a few chests, and while he suspected a few of the new tools would be ''blue'' or ''purple'' on the Hari scale, he didn''t think any of them seemed like they were worth the trouble. He considered if he should try to sniff out easy pickings rather than just stay on the safest path. The buzzing had died down, but the wind was picking up. He sliced part of the wood open and stored the blood logs. He had made enough wooden javelins to cover the dwindling supply of bullets, but it wasn''t a great counter to monsters who could spit acid from hundreds of feet away.


    They stuck to the middle of the bridge, detonating a huge colony of metal bombs he was sure would send the bridge plummeting. Again, despite cracks, the huge bridge held, letting them move into the shadow of the largest tower they''d seen.


    Corvayne had them slow and he crept forward, once more missing his cloak as he moved around the pillars on the bridge into a gently sloped hallway divided by a stream of neon green acid hurtling down it''s white and blue bricks. There were open sections of wall letting in light, a shade of yellow that the sky didn''t match. He spotted something holding what looked like a squirt gun with red bulbs attached, in a dark corner further up the exterior hall.


    Lizardlike, but with a sort of combined eye-bar and various holes that looked like they could be mouths. [[Unity]] and [[Understanding]] gave him the same baseline hostility that everything in a dungeon had, while also hinting at directives to -Find, Shoot, Alarm- in that order.


    He moved back to his allies.


    ¡°You say your ally is asleep, but her unseen hand colors you both.¡±


    He was so used to LBC on his back it was like second nature to climb, leap, and sneak with her. ¡°I''m changing colors?¡±


    Bayou nodded. ¡°The tree she''s growing was. It matched the walls.¡±


    ¡°I may be testing that in a moment. I''m going to slit a monster scout''s throat. Be right back.¡±


    He retraced his steps and used gravity to climb up the wall to a place he hoped was less conspicuous , than creeped along a ledge decorated with statues with empty eyes in melted faces, holding up scrolls with alien language on them. His translation would be ''Matter'' ''Justice'' and ''Obedience'', with a few odd ones like ''Sandwhichatude'' which suggested it was just nonsense.


    He moved above the squirt-gun snipers alcove, dropped, and pulled a sharpened boar-tusk dagger across the monsters throat, activating [Back Biter] as he did. The effect was both a torrent of gore that looked and smelled like toothpaste, and a refreshing torrent of life.


    That actually worried Corvayne, as it suggested the monster he killed was actually a high level threat. Still, it had an intact raincoat and the squirt-gun, which he looted along with red bulbs that looked like a reload.


    ¡°Well, if I can do it to one...¡±


    A few minute later, Corvayne returned and dumped about twenty squirt-guns of various shapes at the groups feet, as well as numerous pieces of ceramic looking armors and acid-immune clothing.


    ¡°What did you DO?¡± Lepin grabbed him and pulled him up. ¡°What the FUCK is going on?¡±


    Corvayne blinked. ¡°I just took a few stragglers out.¡±


    ¡°I just hit FOUR KNOTS. They gained fifty levels just now!¡±


    Uh oh. He forgot that he was still in a party with Prishe on top of all his [[Growth]] modifiers. ¡°Uh, is this on a game on your jade tablet?¡±


    She looked graven. ¡°I advanced two full levels of Cultivation! I''ve got to meditate, SHIT, this is going to burn out my spirit deer trails!¡± She started shedding her crude clothes, tossing them into a pile before sitting down on the floor and revealing that at some point she had tanned just wearing a bikini, probably. There was a sizzle and she cried out. ¡°Fuck!¡±


    Corvayne took one of the hides they had cleaned and set it down, and Lepin moved over. ¡°I''m having an inspiration and the floor is burning my pussy. What did you do?!?!¡±


    ¡°Why not leave your clothes on-¡±


    A moment later something like gray goop sprayed out of her skin, the liquid smelling fouler than anything he had encountered since back in the Watchers village cleaning a latrine out. It leaked from her closed eyes, her nostrils, her nipples, and probably a whole bunch of other places. It started giving off terrible pearls of black oily smoke as the corrosive environment hit it.


    Bayou called out. ¡°What happened?¡±


    Corvayne looked back and saw she had covered Little Spurs eyes as well as the rabbit-insect on her shoulder. Little Spur, for what it was worth seemed to be amused. ¡°When you have one enlightenment, let alone two, it surges your tier. Cultivation in general is about raising your tier and cracking your class, race, and other refinements without ticking every box. It is a defiance of heaven-¡±


    Corvayne scratched his head. ¡°I thought that if you built a solid base, you could create a tower that reaches the heavens or however they say it-¡±


    Little Spur cast off Bayous hand and started throwing his clothes off, causing her to cover her own face as he dropped into a lotus position and also hissed.


    ¡°Corvayne, could you do a martial brother a favor-¡±


    Corvayne winced and put a hide down as Little Spur shifted, a little wisp of smoke coming from his folded legs.


    Corvayne collected their discarded clothes. ¡°You would think he''d learn from her example-¡±


    Bayou was bent over, holding her stomach. ¡°I think I gotta do it too... oh god my skin smells terrible. Help me take it off!¡±


    She started ripping her hides off, and Corvayne dropped a hide down as she also started leaking gray fluid everywhere. Lepin, meanwhile, had a lotus with a horse shoe above it materialize above her head. At the same time, it looked like Little Spur was immolating, fires erupting from his pores as the gray fluid spurted and veins on him went black for a moment, energies pulsing under his skin.


    Corvayne considered asking if they were awake, but they were all breathing and twitching in a way that suggested he shouldn''t bother them (not to mention the stench of gray goop they were exuding).


    Corvayne looked around. No clouds coming, but he started building little igloos around them with Lady Blood Claw''s help. Mostly so he wouldn''t stare at Lepin or Bayou''s breasts. That and it helped keep the smell from overpowering him: There wasn''t much ventilation in the little arched ceilings between the pillars.


    The little insect-bunny hopped on his shoulder. ¡°You going to start spewing goop and fall asleep too?¡±


    It mimed thinking, a little claw paw against it''s mouth. All six of it''s eyes squinted as if it was thinking. Then it shook it''s head.


    ¡°Suit yourself.¡± Corvayne started seeing how well the squirt-guns worked, and if he could make new clothes out of the stuff he looted off the bodies. He figured it was going to be a while.

 Chapter 243: Save it for an Acid Rainy Day

    Corvayne spun around the lizard thing, using [Back Biter] to turn his bone knife into a jagged jaw. It didn''t have time to react and as such lost most of it''s neck, acid blood spaying out as Corvayne moved to his partner, using [Shadow Steal] then his shadow limbs to quickly dispatch the monster as it turned. He was getting very used to using [[Unity]] to direct Lady Blood Claw''s vines in place of his cloak.


    His ambush left the creature pale, save for where it leaked black goo from the dozens of holes. His hand, and they assisted him by grabbing the other body and dragging it into an acid worn tunnel. He had a few minutes before the next burst of rain, so he quickly started searching the bodies. He found what he had been looking for, a green metal knife. As much as the bone knives worked for backbiter, they had a tendency to break. If he had a grip, he''d try to use black crystal to make a blade, but it seemed like the material kept slicing everything he found, even with Lythandies fudging the process of bonding it to something he could hold.


    Some more lime flavored rations. He was getting pretty sick of lime. Still, they were wrapped and slightly less acidic than the meat and everything else. No boots, but they had feet wraps that were acid resistant. As well as the material their suits were made of. No rings but one of them had enchanted dog-tags and of course, more waterguns. He discarded the guns and just stored the ammo. He had started to get a sense for which ones were enchanted, and while not terribly useful against the acid resistant enemies in this sub dungeon, he was sure at some point he''d find something to try melting with them. He had refrained from taking a hit to see how powerful they were: he had seen it further erode the already melted structure of the dungeon.


    The most important items were consumable. Grenades, sadly once again acid water balloons. He guessed from the fleshy bumps they might be acid monster eggs but they exploded when thrown. Again, not useful here. More importantly, a wealth of potions. It seemed like each of the lizards had two to three on them, a few of them healing potions in syringes, the other potions in clear egg-shaped containers. They couldn''t be opened but were edible. They tasted like snot but potions were potions. Granted, finding out the deep green was a potion of extremely acid had somewhat soured him on biting into one.


    Done looting, he pulled the bodies up the rounded tunnel, finding a small pipe half encrusted in brown grime. Clearing the green metal off and giving the grate a kick, he stuffed the bodies in, then replaced it and used mend to seal the metal off. The next rain would dissolve even the lizards.


    He thought for a little bit, then turned and cleared the crust from the next pipe, then turned to his helper.


    "Want to check it?"


    The little yellow rabbit-slime-bug clicked it''s pincers and blinked it''s beady black eyes, then it pulled it''s ears back and wiggled through the grate. They had seven hours or so before the next rain, so he was confident, even given the ever increasing patrols, they''d make it back to where he had hidden his cultivator charges.


    Little Spur was awake at this point at least, so they were not completely defenseless, but... he didn''t want to tarry too long.


    While he waited for the rabbit to scout, he started the process of breaking down and knitting back together the rubber suits for humans to wear. Granted, he was pretty sure his "backpack" would just tear hers apart again, but he needed to keep building things to keep Lythandies happy. Especially since he had pulled a few seeds out of... where ever he summoned them from to keep his allies cultivation bushes.


    "Anything?" He asked a while later, using a black crystal gingerly held to sharpen his bone knife and turn the rib into a crude needle, then worked on using sinew to bind the pieces together. It helped for some reason with using the goddess-granted crafting skills to do as many steps as possible. It made him miss having Mosh helping him. The little goblin skipped a lot of steps.


    He missed a lot of people.


    There was a rustle from the pipe, dropping an amulet. Corvayne used a shadow hand to snake in and grab it. It was covered in the same brown gunk that much of the acid left, but it''s emerald surface was untouched once he rubbed it off, gleaming even as the corrosive gunk burned his thumb.


    "Nice work." He wiped his hand on one of his furs, the sulfurous smell quickly overwhelmed again by the citrus scent that enveloped the floor they were on. It might just be some side effect from burning and regrowing his nose a few times, but he also guessed there was a [Lime] tag. His [[Tower]] ability was just giving him the floor 43 descriptors: (Scrubland)(Geographic clusters)(Mountains)(Monster Stampede)(Titanic)(Rare resources)(Changing sky)(Domestic monsters).


    He heard some scraping, then the clatter of something falling. A bronze rimmed chest.


    ¡°Excellent job.¡± Did it have more eyes than last time he counted? Six?


    It hummed happily, pushing the chest to the entrance to the pipe, then scurrying back. Corvayne used his shadow hands to pull it out, then used them to check for traps, pushing it away and flipping it open.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    No traps, but what looked like orange socks made from snot, boots made of blue viper scales, and a black rod that seemed to absorb light. Picking it up, it felt especially solid while being freezing cold to the touch.


    Also, a selection of standard glass potions, and what looked like a few bags of rice. He stored it faster than anything else, worried if he left it in the air for a second more the mundane packaging would fall apart. There were coins of a green material, showing a weeping queen. He tried dipping one in acid, and pulling it out saw it didn''t lose it''s gleam.


    Might be handy, and he had lots of room in his holdout ring. The rabbit returned with one more object, a jar with what looked like leeches swirling in it. Corvayne was pretty sure he did NOT want to open it until he got a reading on it. He kept thinking back to a movie involving a parasitic penis creature that gestated in rib cages.


    Storing it, he saw the rabbit come back with lunch squirming in it''s cute jaws. There was some squeaking, from either it or it''s prey, then quiet by the time he was cloaked back up. Lady Blood Claw stirred a little on his back as [[Unity]] coaxed her skill out. Corvayne hoped she woke up again soon, but as long as she was asleep he didn''t feel as much pain through the link.


    The shell of wood changed colors, blurring him into the greens of the dungeon as he used Gravity to move up the wall and back into the main screw shaped tower. Below him, lizard guards moved in patrols, some alone some in groups of five. None of them looked, but Corvayne moved slow anyway, keeping the mass of the vines as a dome against the ceiling, gently folding the mass when they needed to navigate around support arches or chandlers caked with grime. Most of the light came from outside, where he could look down into swelling masses of acid clouds.


    His ''exit'' bridge had a number of statues nearby looming over the arch that marked the covered bridge, so he had spots to wait for the patrols to wander away. Once the coast was clear he dropped, landing softly thanks to gravity, then stalked into the hall. He rubbed a spot that was slowing healing on his jaw as he looked for regrowing silver mines: The living traps could leak through tiny cracks in the walls, and possibly was something that coalesced in the air. Satisfied, he moved towards the makeshift garden he had grown. Both sides of the bridge''s arches were now lined with rows of red spheres of vine, as well as a few between the center pillars. No lizards came to investigate the change, and wandering monsters seemed to now ignore the bushes as well. Something alone in a corner stood out, a hundred things in a row out in the open seemed perfectly normal.


    He strolled up to one of the ones on the left and knocked. Little Spur peered through a small gap then opened the sphere up. He looked badly burnt, hair missing, eyes lined with dark circles, and much of his mass gone. It didn''t look like the inspiration he claimed powered him up. Given the blotches of color on him not getting fixed, it seemed like the broken lines of his essence ended up doing more damage to him when he was forced to refine them.


    ¡°Ah, do not pity this poor child of the shovel. I''ll still be able to scoop poop with these accursed arms.¡±


    Corvayne had tried to help him with essence sight and mend, but he had butterfingers and caused the man tremendous pain just trying to gather the shards of his essence paths. In placing and gluing two fragments together he had pushed more apart. So much for trying to not have to send him to Prishe.


    He was cooking boar, the smoke barely visible given all the acid hazes drifting through the structure.


    ¡°Anything good?¡±


    Corvayne nodded, setting Lady Blood Claw off to the side and draping a jumpsuit knit blanket over her.


    ¡°Potions, more stuff I can use to make better gear than the hides... maybe some weapons. Gotta sit on them to check they are not cursed.¡±


    ¡°Sorry I cannot lend my fists. I had hoped that not directly cultivating might let me claw back... might help me overcome my constitution and begin climbing to the heavens.¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°There was a request someone had for a book called... ten thousand paths to power. Given the many systems I''ve seen, perhaps when one door closes, another opens.¡±


    Little Spur pushed the spoon into the pot with a clatter. ¡°Until a door opens, I am stuck.¡±


    ¡°When we are out of here, I''ll try to open a door. That''s all I can promise.¡± Corvayne was pretty sure Prishe could fix him, but could see the young man was hurting. He made a mental note to himself be careful about accidentally saying anything profound and forcing another inspiration. That said, he offered Little Spur a lime flavored ration, which he took.


    ¡°What about your own blockage?¡±


    ¡°Time, and effort. Doing things I don''t normally do, but...¡±


    ¡°I''ve seen plenty of cultivators flip to demonic as they used any means to prolong their lives... or for raw power.¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°I''m sure you meant Cowtivators, and yes. I want to be better than the people who put me where I am.¡±


    The rabbit nudged Corvayne and he tightened the vines, holding up a finger. Little Spur made a single motion that extinguished the fire, then put the top on the pot as the vines reinforced, pluging the interior into darkness. Corvayne heard shuffling, pairs of clawed feet marching to the point he guessed hundreds were passing them away from the huge tower-screw, then quiet.


    A minute passed and Corvayne risked opening a small slit to look out. It was quiet again.


    ¡°Danger, or an opportunity?¡±


    ¡°With the rains coming in about two hours, there''s not enough time to capitalize on the main tower having less guards. I have confidence that the others will keep gaining power.¡±


    ¡°I''m more worried about your time frame. That and the hunter finding us. That and this dungeon possibly having other time mechanics that could kill us for dallying too long. That and just being discovered by the guards and triggering some sort of battle we cannot win.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t disagree, as he didn''t want to find out how well the lizards fought in a fair fight. He checked the compass for the safest rout. It spun slowly, in a way he understood was ''stay put''. Well, he was going to do some scouting during the rain, mostly to try to see if he could move them to a safe place inside the screw. Some of that was why he was borrowing the rabbit and looking into the pipes: There were secrets in the marble and metal walls.


    ¡°How long do you think they will sleep for?¡±


    ¡°A few more days, and they are not asleep, they are furiously meditating.¡±


    ¡°I think that''s an Oxymoron, Spur.¡± Corvayne resumed cooking, glancing over to Lady Blood Claw. His [[Unity]] bond hadn''t reported any drastic changes in his friends, but it also seemed sluggish. He sent along hope they were okay, and love to Spears and Bell, as well as Prishe.


    The rains came soon after dinner was done, torrents of acid pouring down. Soon, the screw would go from being a ramp with a stream of acid to a river with few islands. The guards and monsters in the screw-tower would hole up, waiting for it to pass. Somewhere in that screw were higher tier treasures. Ones they would need to outfit themselves and stand a chance at getting back to the Sect alive.


    Corvayne grabbed the rubber he had been working into gear and started layering it, and then took a deep breath.


    He asked his compass for the other word, opportunity, and felt it shift forward as he left the safety of the vines.

 Chapter 244: Backrooms of the Backrooms of the Backrooms

    Dark corners. Acid dripping overhangs. Grime drenched stained glass windows, faintly showing scenes of people around a grand circle. When it rained everything became blue, even the acid pouring out of the clouds taking on a deep turquoise. The patter of rain sounded normal enough, even if the downpour was of some sort of extra strong elemental acid that even the monsters in the tower had to avoid... though he did see in one courtyard heavily dressed lizards collecting it in containers then transferring it to enchanted balloons that hardened into the ammo packs and grenades they carried.


    "It might work on them after all..." he mused quietly, watching from atop a stone gargoyle vomiting a stream of corrosion into the dull colored mist below. He was not generally a fan of rubbery skin-suits, but he also didn''t want to get melted alive if he failed to perfectly navigate ''off the beaten path''. Currently he was working his way across what he might call a baroque style ribcage. It was actually some horrifically shaped blinds on a porch, ruined couches and fabric suggesting some queen might have used it to view a garden across the way.


    He did stop and look back, and could see there likely had been a plaza on the building across the way before a stream had worn away layers, like some sort of canyon hollowing out the rooms into flooded cubes.


    Resuming his climb, he carefully watched for smaller holes and places Gargoyles were connected. Every so often, some sort of system would change where water above was being diverted, and he did not want to see how well his armor took a direct blast: it was already steaming in places he had stuck out a little too far, and he had to pause to mend in more material.


    He kept moving, finding a spinal route under a balcony that covered him from rain before he found another marble section under what sounded like an aqueduct above, but more likely was a stairway that had been inundated with acid. With his feet planted on the marble under the stairway, he crept along to where a leak had sprung, and used mend without pushing his hand against the crack. The acid stopped for a moment and he kept going. This repeated a few times, and was capped off by finding a crack where one of the fliers on the floor was nesting. It seemed to be coiling to attack before Corvayne gave it a look and held up one of the ''water balloons'' from the guard, which caused the creature to slink back into it''s acid-stained hole.


    Corvayne moved around the building, taking him to a vantage point where he could barely make out the bridge where LBC, Little Spur, and Bayou were, as well of course Lepin and the rabbit. The top of the screw was some sort of bulbous chamber, made of marble and what looked like melted fingers cupping the room, framed in metal. Corvayne was pretty sure there was a tiny chest in one corner of the metal struts outside of the room, but even if he was on the beam under it he didn''t dare collect. That he had not been burnt by the rain was a miracle: Here and there weaker pieces of the tower were sagging.


    He decided not to cross the bridge. It looked like the underside was infested by the explosive silvery mines, and he wasn''t in the mood to try attacking such a small check point solo. Instead he looked up to the top of the tower he was on, still what looked like a mile above him. He would have to venture inside, as the wind was changing. Corvayne slipped into a balcony draped in acidic flowers, two skeletons fossilized in stone-like growth giving Corvayne incentive to avoid puddles where the pink flowers were dripping.


    The interior brought the pattering of rain down to a distant hum, and for a moment he was homesick for Cascadia. He stopped while his eyes adjusted to the dark. The halls here were the same green marble interlaced with white, nearly untouched by the ebb and flow of acid. Corvayne didn''t relax, as it meant he likely was sharing the dimly lit space with monsters. The brown crud everywhere didn''t help the few working crystal lamps ahead banish the dark corners... which was fine. Corvayne stuck to them, shadow hands helping him fit into nooks he shouldn''t. The first pack of guards was just... standing in a row. They seemed to be asleep, placid emotions basically sending nothing through the link. Corvayne just avoided them: the weird tall ceilings and rooms that opened into each-other in odd ways, including walls made of metal ribs he could squeeze through, gave him freedom to move through the gloom.


    As with many of the other towers, there was always a window out into a courtyard that should not have fit into the tower itself. Space was odd here. Moving over to it, rain coming down the center was falling into a whirlpool. Most of it was concentrated in the center of the square courtyard, with a hodge-podge of additions jutting out from the walls like tumors clogging a faint view of clouds above. A gutter above broke and he saw a new line of water dropping into the hall directly across from where Corvayne had contorted to match the tortured figures that filled spaces between the arch. A moment later, a lizard guard stepped into the line of water, and then there was a shrill scream that sounded like an air raid siren, the lizard flailing then going still as half it''s body melted.


    Corvayne kept still, not just to avoid being noticed by three other lizards who came to investigate: the rain horribly strong, and he hadn''t realized he was just relying on rubber to keep it out.


    No wonder they kept squirt guns of the stuff. Corvayne waited for the others to leave then crawled along the ceiling in shadows to observe where water had melted the guard, mostly to gather more grenades. He noticed something odd: The body hadn''t melted in a normal fashion, with sizzling smoke and bones remaining. Instead, it looked like an oil painter had taken a brush to a wet canvas and mixed the puddle with the guard.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Corvayne heard heavy footsteps and moved back outside, curling into a dry part of the brickwork with other huddled figures impaled on lightning bolts. He heard some grunting, and something that radiated danger was there, barking an order then walking away. He could feel more complex thoughts that were no less aggressive and hostile, but he had come to recognize his danger sense was worth considering.


    He moved into a spot unlikely to be seen, in metalwork arches supporting a balcony, and invoked his compass power, this time seeing if it could be used to find a ''rare'' treasure chest. It moved slowly for a little bit, then pointed to a large pipe with extreme corrosion on the bottom, pouring rainwater into the center of the culvert.


    He almost laughed. It was like asking him to stick his hand into lava. He moved down the wall, and the compass changed direction to keep pointing at the pipe.


    He actually muttered a little to himself, then positioned himself above the metal circle, marble and rib like metals of the room above just above his head. He started looking at the pipe. He might be able to get into it, but if there was a surge of water he''d no doubt get splashed and likely end up as a mashed up puddle. Standing on the pipe, he got a sense it was made of lead or some magical material that still had signs of damage from the rain, bits of it hanging off the bottom like icicles. There was enough room that he could belly crawl along the ceiling of the pipe.


    It was a stupid idea, but they also needed gear, however they could get it. They needed to know places in these towers they could run to that monsters were not able to get to or didn''t know about.


    He psyched himself up then used Gravity to reduce his weight to nearly weightless. Hugging the pipe to avoid floating off, he decided to go feet first. Head wet, dead. The flow had been consistent for a couple minutes. His shadow limbs touched the water, then gave him a thumbs up to say they didn''t dissolve in it. Good news.


    He curled into a ball then bonded his gravity, helping him slide along the top of the pipe. His shadow hands exploded into the space behind him, letting him feel what the shape of it was. He could feel the liquid was dissolving the bottom of the pipe and at some point would leak into the rooms below, and that there was a dry pipe coming up. He kept his breathing steady when something that looked like a branch with leaves on it floated by. He felt a bit of cold on his knee, suggesting that part of his suit had been splashed. He channeled mend, closing the hole and did his best to keep sliding along the top of the pipe as the light of the end of the pipe got smaller. It was better then looking down and seeing the dim gleam of water inches from his face.


    Finally, he started to fall up the pipe, which was blessedly dry. He took it slow, as he was still using Gravity to slide. He considered using [Flows-Like-Water] to switch directions, but he wasn''t sure if using it in a closed space might cause him to flow right into the acid he was climbing away from. So he let his shadow hands both feel for and help drag him up. It felt like both of them had gotten a good workout so far on these excursions.


    After what felt like an hour but was more likely five minutes, Corvayne felt air with his shadow limbs and pulled himself into what looked like a forgotten janitors closet, shadow hands taking a grate off and replacing it. He crept to the door and listened. No noise but hints of rain on glass. Opening it as quietly as possible, he stepped into what looked like a hall of Bell''s palace. The usually ruined d¨¦cor was intact, marble floors draped with carpets, statues on dark wood tables, trophies and paintings on the wall depicting a woman in clouds holding thunder, probably a goddess, all lit by glass windows lit the carpet from a sky that looked... mundane. He took three steps then stopped himself and looked out the window again.


    There was ground outside, though there were holes that showed the floor as they had seen in the exterior. It was raining outside down into those rips in reality.


    He proceeded down the hall, using [[Unity]] to try to check for living things. He opened a few doors that lead to bedrooms, richly appointed but not where his compass was urging him. He took a few minutes to check them anyway, finding some nice clothes if he ever wanted to go ball dancing or if one of his girlfriends wanted to wear lacy underwear that may have been sitting in a drawer for thousand of years. He did find some potions in a bathroom drawer and took them. Why not?


    The hallway lead to a stair up and down, and a pair of double doors. There was an odd glow from upstairs, and while the compass told him to go into the double doors, he carefully made his way up the stairs, spear ready as he crept in the shadows. He peeked his head above the lip and saw another hall with what looked like a tear into space.


    A rip from the ceiling stopping mid-air, edges lined with static and the bulk of the tear glowing from gray energy forming nets. A containment field. Beyond it he could see tiny figures, perhaps distant, checking the gray net.


    He looked down and saw that the rubber gear he was wearing was melting.


    ¡°Shit!¡±


    He backed away from the gap, his armor glowing then fading as he dropped back from the stairs. Oddly enough, his face was fine. He doubled checked, just to make sure he wasn''t missing his skin.


    Moving back down the stairs, he cracked the double doors. If the stairs was a rip, what he saw beyond was chaos. There was an expanse of the dungeon, tower-world, whatever, sticking out, carpet becoming bare floor becoming a sort of white concrete that fettered away into little bits. Beyond was a kaleidoscope of colored strings, tangled and woven together in a vast web. There was a chest literally made of sapphire sitting at the edge of reality, just past where the upper floor gave way to a void. There was static at the edges of the dungeon where it went into nothing. Corvayne stepped out, aware that something in this space was wrong.


    He glanced to the side and saw what looked like a sheer cliff face, millions and millions of rooms and halls all fading to white, like a billion roads all being built then the money ran out, leaving bridges to nowhere. The other direction the strings had faded into a sort of dark blue, the same way boring carpet in an office might be every color but none when viewed from afar.


    He shrugged and stepped forward to let his shadow hands open the chest, ready to snap back to the door with Gravity. Thankfully, nothing was set off. He reached in and picked up the first item, a pinkish orb.


    There was a sharp snap and everything went black.

 Chapter 245: Popcorn anyone?

    Corvayne was in a theater. He had not gone to a movie in a theater, but somehow he knew he was in one.


    He took a seat near the middle, where he had been told was the best place to see a movie, a place where the screen was in the center of his vision.


    He felt lonely, for a moment, there was no one to share it with, but he also knew this was his movie.


    The screen flickered, and he saw the cruft of a film reel and projector appear on the blank screen before a little countdown came on. Corvayne had popcorn, but placed it next to himself, somehow feeling like the movie he was about to see was important.


    3, 2, 1, blip. The whir of the film was cut by a view of a snowy field. People dressed for the cold were camped out by frozen spires of stone jutting up from the arctic plains. It was gray, cloudy, with swirling snow parting for a moment to reveal just outside the camp a huge ship.


    Closer, he saw his own tent, lit with a little portable light. He was... must have been 18? It was hard to see himself so scrawny. There was a bit of grease on him, and the other bunk in the tent had tools and bits of projects strewn on it. Watching from third person, Corvayne saw what looked like wood scraps on the much abused carpet in the tent. He pulled his hands away from a little warmer on a table, shut it off, and put his gloves on, then head outside.


    A bit of text on the screen helped him: 18 years after arrival, invader ruins, Jocoal 6. He remembered it now. Cold mornings. The smell of engines and welds mingling with an odd smell the ships had as you warmed their insides.


    A series of co-ordinates came up on the movie screen, and Corvayne couldn''t help but laugh at it being the same as his old library card: 23.3 64.22


    The camp had rows of tents peppered with prefab buildings, some in skeletal forms that looked like they were being built or torn down. More attention was on the ship, which from this low angle the screen displayed he could see welding pop up like little fireflies.


    The perspective snapped back to him: A girl with a thick jacket was running his way, spear and a greatsword on her back balanced with twin shortswords, a couple daggers, and a gun all jostling over her coat as she moved.


    Elfin ears and golden skin appeared as she pulled her hood back.


    "Come on Corvayne!"


    In the theater, he felt like a lightning bolt had surged through him.


    "I know that girl." He said to the empty theater. Which wasn''t empty anymore. Gylwin sat next to him, taking some of the popcorn. Her face looked more elf save for six little red eyes on her forehead.


    "Who is she?"


    "She was one of my childhood friends. Her... and Spears of course. I had friends?"


    They watched as a third figure came up, coat glowing with sewn in heating elements keeping it''s occupant from turning into a popsicle. Spears huffed. "Do you think they started? I had to sneak out after practice."


    They rushed down a packed lane of snow.


    The golden girl turned, not as winded as Corvayne already was. "No. Mom just left a minute ago. I think we have a plan now, to strike back at the Magus and rescue dad!"


    Corvayne nodded. "I told you, my dad would never give up. We''re going to beat him and find a way back."


    Unease started to fill Corvayne''s heart. Something happened that day.


    They came to the work part of the camp, snow melted down to rock in places as heavy machines were being built to help restore the ship. The camera moves from showing Corvayne and Spears and the golden girl to viewing the ship, and a vast void with other ships poking out.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Corvayne remembered it. They thought from the start the ships they were seeing were outsider ships. The pilgrims couldn''t use them, as spending too long in them they got sick. As such, when they were found they were marked to be avoided.


    "The Watchers were fine... so we were working both to restore them and to figure out why our allies got sick. At this point... we had picked up several tribes of what remained of the pilgrims."


    Corvayne hadn''t seen Glywin eat popcorn, nor heard her fetch a soda, but instead saw her staring at the screen.


    "Can the movie give me some exposition? I want to make sure I understand it."


    It cut to the trio moving to sit near a well lit tent. One of the guards saw them, but winked. Was that Knocks-Off-Shelves? She tipped a cowboy hat at Corvayne. He must have been around her a lot, the hat looked familiar.


    Inside the tent, he saw his father. Not the broken bitter man he had in his minds eye. A younger looking version, even though Corvayne was pretty sure the only reason he looked older in his own memories was... wasn''t the Watcher population immortal?


    His father looked unshaven and serious, but greeted the people coming into the tent with warmth. An older woman with gold skin.


    The girl outside nudged Corvayne and whispered. "Mom''s here too, and look she completed her Artifact!"


    It looked like a stained glass blade strapped to the woman''s back. She pulled a fold out chair away from the table and sat. Other Pilgrims came in, a man with a brown beard with a ferret wrapped around his neck, a pilgrim in riding leathers with a wand in a holster, a young looking girl with silver hair and eyes, after them a slew of familiar faces. Mugs-Already-Empty the bearded axe trainer took two seats, and Corvayne was confident at this point he was a tall dwarf given the mug of beer he held up to no complains. Waves-Within followed him, and while Corvayne knew it was his spear master it was both odd and completely correct that it was a six foot tall mantis with hardened thin limbs that folded himself into a cube at the other end of the table. One-Last-Note was less shocking, something that Wick and Gary had called ''Star Trek aliens'' given it was only small bumps and a weird bullseye on his forehead that marked him as non human. Keeper-of-Silence seemed human enough, but his own memory of a brooding dark man that towered over the library desk did not change when put to film.


    Spaces-Torn-Asunder, Corvayne''s engineering mentor, came in and was also unchanged. Perhaps a hint of sharpness at his ear. "I may duck out early, I have a few people looking at the engines who may not wait."


    Corvayne''s father nodded. "Let''s begin. As you know, the Magus is currently dismantling what''s left of the Pilgrims great road. It''s almost certain that if he doesn''t target Heartworld, their capital and last stand, it''s not far down the list."


    One of the Pilgrims stood up. "The main city has refused our help, as they say Diolypius is there. They are confident the Magus won''t attack his own summoner..."


    Keeper snorted. "Or they know they can kill him and thus end the summon."


    The golden woman stood up, chair clattering. "I''ll wipe that amusement off your face..."


    Corvayne''s father held a hand up. "Peace Europa. They would have already done that if he was really in their custody."


    Europa paled, skin going from gold to silvery as someone elses might drain of blood. "Then, where-"


    "It''s almost certain that since the Magus is still here, as we are still here. It follows your husband is alive, and probably a captive of the Magus himself."


    "Our plan is straight-forward. We have a strike force that are all specialized at taking high-level threats down. Europa and I will lead the attack. If we cannot take him out in the first strike... we can hopefully buy the city a little time before he drops a rock on them."


    Mugs-Already-Empty grumbled. "Keep in mind we haven''t heard from the rest of the Hero''s party. We should be ready if a few of them turned on the Pilgrims."


    The scene fades to black, and white subtitles appear: Two weeks later, the alliance met the Magus outside of the capital. It was a crushing defeat. It was the end of the Pilgrims as a whole people.


    Corvayne is sitting on a bunk, with the golden girl crying next to him. His father is sitting opposite them, hands folded. His head is down. Looking at it from a third parties perspective, he sees his own father was injured too.


    "I''m sorry girl. Whatever the Magus did... we have to accept both your parents are gone."


    She looked up. "No! As long as they are alive..." She put a hand on the sword sitting next to her.


    "You can''t call that alive. They wanted me to keep you safe, just like I asked Europa to take care of Corvayne if I fell there. You saw what happened to our best warriors... I''m sorry. There''s nobody that can stop him. We are going to retreat, regroup, and come up with a new plan."


    She stood up. "If you won''t fight, I..." She sniffled as her resolve wavered, and then stood up and ran out of the tent. Corvayne''s father sighed as the flap fluttered.


    "Son, can you keep her from charging to the nearest gate road? I know if she wanted to she''d flatten you... but she''ll listen to you."


    Younger Corvayne nodded. He stood up and ran into the lightly falling snow, following tracks to a place near the edge of the ravine where she sat, wrapped in a cloak, looking back her eyes reflected the falling snow and they caught in her hair. Like stars.


    She wrapped her arms around him and cried.


    He whispered something to the girl he was holding.


    He leaned forward and felt himself point at the screen "The starry eyed girl!" Something snapped into place in his head. It was a sense of clarity. About himself. He had been a quiet boy, he liked to work with his hands. He hadn''t... he wasn''t very good at fighting, because he didn''t like it. He didn''t need to, other people would protect him.


    The lights started to turn on as the screen turned off. Gylwin was looking at him. "Do you remember? What did they do against the Magus that failed? How did they beat him?"


    He stood up. "I don''t remember that." He wanted to wave her thought form away. It was there.


    "Wasn''t that woman wearing the same hat as that Rio Sect-leader girl was?"


    "Yes." In any other situation he knew he''d be jumping out of his seat. "Give me a moment."


    The name kept coming up. It meant something.


    "She keeps appearing in my memories. In my dreams. The city changed it''s name in loops... She was someone who challenged the tower." Next loop, he had digging to do. Or he might go back now.


    Gylwin sighed. "Fine. We will find her. What''s the girls name?"


    [0%] [Curse of Blunted Arms has been removed.]


    He opened his eyes, letting the spent memory orb fall back into the chest. He stared out into the cosmos.


    "Her name is... Cascadia."

 Chapter 246: Come Back to Lime, Corvayne.

    Corvayne looked around, a faint circle of black crystal forming a halo around him and the chest. Dropping the now colorless orb back into the chest, he pulled out a red sphere that did not take him on a wild ride through his past.


    Honestly, at this point he really wanted to head back and just curl up in one of the trees like the others had done for their breakthroughs and just process what he had dredged out of his brain. She had asked him to find her, and way back when they had found a place she had used as a base.


    "Top of the tower." Corvayne said and added that to the list. The red sphere in his hand slipped into his palm. "Oh yeah, they did that last time."


    A moment later, he felt the Jam Jammies quiver then absorb some of the rubber fabric over them. A moment later it turned a black color, then returned to it''s normal and slightly embarrassing strawberry texture. All the damage from acid and regrowing had vanished. Perhaps that finally triggered the growth aspect of the gear. He replaced the rubber fabric over them.


    He dug into the chest. A pouch of what looked like hexagonal metal plates. Currency? Bars of greenish metal that faintly whispered of death and madness. A tan cube that looked to be a low-space storage item with a button on the top. Finally, a knife that looked sort of like the vista before him.


    "Stargift." He dubbed it, afraid of having the same problem as his pants and someone calling it Twinkle Twinkle Shank.


    [Starshank registered]


    Better than nothing, and it was very likely something Glywin could put to good use even if he couldn''t.


    As he stepped away from the chest, he felt hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Something far out there was observing him. It was an overwhelming feeling, and he nearly stumbled as he moved for the door, feeling suddenly exposed at the edge of forever. A green point had formed behind him, and he closed the doors and kept moving, using his compass to start moving through doors and through halls that gradually lessened the pressure until he turned and was once more in the rib-like ruins of the tower, standing in what looked like a meeting room with high backed spiked metal chairs, a table that looked out to the ruined spires below, and the council itself: Acid drenched skeletons on the floor, violence told in all the poses, save one sitting in a throne, their skull resting on their arms and all calcified together.


    "Guide me back to the bridge."


    Corvayne then moved quickly. The feeling of being watched subsided but he still felt hairs on the back of his neck standing up, the air heavy with danger. Whatever the thing''s interest was, it was overwhelming, focused, and unwavering. Only distance seemed to dilute it.


    He stepped into the next room, forgoing stealth as he moved through a large oval courtyard, covered with a roof that formed an arch over the main walkway. On both sides of the dusty path there was splashing as rain fell into basins that looked like wishing wells, if those wells had started melting, distorting the grid of tiles around cancerous looking holes.


    Corvayne heard creaking and a slam as the door behind him, and looking ahead he saw a portcullis slam down and glow orange. At the same time, he heard rusted gears clacking as part of the floor opened, grit falling as a platform rose where had just been. A throne topped with a huge lizard man rose, and he was holding chains attached to two beasts with many mouths but no faces. He''d call them hounds if only because they sat like dogs. Thick runic metal with glowing runes collared their necks.


    Corvayne didn''t have options. Aside from those doors, the area the roof covered had no exits, and he was not going to go into the rain. He drew his spear and watched as the Lizard man sneered and pointed at him, crying out in a guttural tongue "Sic him!"


    Corvayne switched to [[Agility]] and used [Flows-Like-Water] as soon as he saw the dogs crouch, and with good reason: they were as fast or faster than the hardest foes he had fought, crashing into the door, no rebounding at him. He touched one boot to the ground then used [Flows-Like-Water] again to the side of the lizard man''s throne, to which he had to dodge an axe swung lazily at his head. The dogs skittered to a stop just before the throne and took each side, jaws open and trailing drool. Corvane turned to liquid for a moment and landed as many spear strikes as he could, but the monsters just absorbed the attacks and countered with swipes. Even in water form, he was hurt just from how much force they were throwing into his wave-form, and when he exited he was bruised and saw two dark strawberry meteors form.


    The Lizard called them to heel and pulled out a chaingun, hooked up to a huge pouch of liquid. A moment later a stream of death came screaming at Corvayne. There was something about the monster that made him delay a moment before jumping up and latching to the ceiling, gravity and shadow limbs moving to protect him as he used call shadows where the lizard was.


    Dark clouds formed over the monster whom hadn''t gotten out of his chair, but the monster kicked the ground and slid back, adjusting his aim and blowing holes in the roof as the acid chewed into it. Corvayne used [Cross Skill: Shadow Step] to get over him then used [Leap Strike] to try to skewer the lizard. He connected, but just like the dogs the monster must have had some ungodly vitality. A wound opend and closed in a moment, and with a swing of it''s meaty fist, the monster knocked Corvayne into the locked door that had closed behind him.


    He could taste blood and was sure he lost a tooth, but he didn''t dare switch to [[Vitality]], both hounds moving in to try ripping him apart. Corvayne used Juxtapose but it didn''t matter if one mauled the other for a few seconds, they were hale and hearty a moment later, only the thinest of wounds remaining.


    He wasn''t going to win this with brute force. He jumped and kicked off the roof, landing on the throne and using [[Cross Skill: Backbite]] to blow part of the throne up and take a chunk out of the monster''s arm. Of course, it grew back, nearly closing up save a small gash, but it also transfered some of the monster''s life to Corvayne.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    He aimed his spear at the minigun''s ammo, but had to roll away as the monster turned the weapon into a flyswatter and smashed it into its own shoulder. The beast stood, kicking the throne at Corvayne. He rode it for a moment then had to once again jump up as it flew under some of the holes in the roof and was turned to wooden slime in moments. The whir of the gun let Corvayne know he was going to run out of space. The monster laughed as he jumped back down on the ground, then commanded the dogs to attack again.


    Corvayne crouched to jump then just dashed forward, using [Flows-Like-Water] and this time going under the dogs, who guessed high. Corvayne managed to get right in front of the gun as it started to spin up again, but was fast enough to step into the monster''s guard and use [Cross Skill: Sundering Strike].


    He was prepping the follow up to try to blow the gun apart, but the lizard-man sneered at him, and slammed the gun barrel into his face, sending him tumbling off to the very edge of the covering and the pond. Just next to his head, rain was pouring from the awning into the pool.


    He started to get back up to see the Lizard sock him in the jaw with the chain gun, sending him flying out into the water.


    He started flailing, trying to use gravity to prevent him from landing, but he wasn''t fast enough and with a splash he hit the bottom of the pond, flailing to try to get his footing and launch himself out before...


    The rubber pants he had been wearing over his jammies fell apart, as did his Pancho. The Jammies were turning weird colors from the rain but seemed to resist the effect. The life saving oven door didn''t break, his cowboy hat was fine, and most importantly, he was just wet.


    The Lizard looked at him incredulously, then aimed his chain gun.


    The rounds hurt, yes, but that''s because it was shooting essentially tiny paintballs full of water. It barked something, and both hounds started struggling, one putting a claw out, having it melt in the rain, then pulling back and getting shocked. [[Understanding]] told him it was for disobeying.


    Corvayne smiled, and leap onto the roof. He was shirtless and barefoot, but the rain was fine. It didn''t touch his spear or the knife, though it had eaten his gun.


    He took a moment to swap to [[Vitality]], and considered. He could just sunder the roof until the whole arena was open, but he could hear the whirl of an elevator. He threw [[Unity]] at one of the dogs, the monsters unable to do much more then act as a shield for their boss whom was standing next to where his platform had been. The beasts felt a mix of rage and humiliation. Corvayne started using his spear to punch holes in the roof then kicked rain through the hole at them, causing the lizard to bark "Protect me! Be my shields!"


    The dogs stood their ground as the lizard used his huge gun as a shield, and Corvayne smirked then used [Flows-Like-Water] to land on one of the dogs, grab it''s collar with one hand and his spear in the other, then plant his foot at the base of it''s splitting neck. Before the Lizard could command anything else, he used [Cross Skill: Sundering Strike] and [Cross Skill: Sundering Blade] on the collar of the beast he was on.


    Instead of a small cloud of red, rust flew out in every direction, eating away at the chaingun and removing the covering from the collars.


    "Tear him apart!"


    Corvayne pushed essence through the collar he held as the other beast turned and moved to snap at him, and the collar snapped as the other dog stuck it''s head in the rust cloud.


    Corvayne used a short [Flows-Like-Water] to reduce the damage, the monster strong enough to draw blood once he reformed as it had sliced the water away. That was fine, because a moment later it''s collar fell off.


    As one the dogs stopped, multiple jaws opening for a moment as they both shook the last remnants of collar off. The turned as one and jumped onto their former master before Corvayne could even offer the idea, and to the lizards credit he did get a hit with his rusted chain gun before they fell onto him. Blood flowed as the snarling dogs payed back however many years of being used as pawns.


    Corvayne actually was a little worried as the snarling and screaming went on for a while before the monster died. The doors opened and the two monsters looked back and gave him twin bows of their many serrated heads before padding away.


    Meanwhile, the platform the boss had tried to pull up had a chest, this one gleaming gold with ruby crafted to look like wood. It''s lid was cracked a little, so Corvayne just had to give it a little push to open it.


    He pulled out what looked like a pair of gloves with a bulging honeycomb guard on the back. Little things could be seen bobbing in the weapon, which for a moment triggered intense revulsion. However, his instincts were screaming this was worth a lot.


    The very same instincts didn''t stop when he pulled a great sword that ALSO had a honeycomb design aside from a honed edge, the interior housing a hundred little green gems that floated between the gold hexagons. There was also a ring, looking like a sort of gold object with blue glassy orbs.


    He stored them in his ring, then pulled out a luscious hide that felt like rubbing his fingers through clouds, storing it. Digging deeper, he found more oddities. A potion of Quintessence, exactly the same as the object he had needed to find for Wick, a bottle marked with an eye, a coin with a die on it, a coin with a slot machine on it, and two books.


    One looked to be a pretty mundane book that Gary had once shown him. Monstrous Manual. The only hint that it was more was it''s glossy cover showing two dogs being held by the lizard boss he had just killed, a sinister looking woman with ornate armor that showed her chest off, and a lizard guard.


    Flipping it open, he started reading.


    It had an artist''s rendering of the monster he just fought that wouldn''t look out of place on the side of a van, starry background and tiny figures vastly over representing the actual scale of the monster.


    <<<<Kothek Beast Slaver>>>>


    Lv 740 Raid Boss (40 man, Enc lvl 800, rec lv 250)


    Unique ¨C Enc #683 of the House of Corrosion. (The Fallen Council Chamber Tower, Boss 2 of 3, Courtyard under The Ascent of Kings)


    Est Respawn: 6 Months


    Encountered with 2 <<<Living Weapon>>> (Lvl 700 ea)


    The left hand man to Melt-Tounge, despite being third in command has taken a sedentary posting to stop anyone trying to rouse the old council. Kothek relies on his pets to engage while he sits down, rarely showing enemies enough respect to get out of his throne. Fond of destroying his roof to slowly force invaders into the hungry jaws of his dogs or into the stream of eldritch water he fires from his minigun, he is durable to the extreme and likes to knock his enemies into the pools full of warping water.


    (Common drops: Waterstorm MkIII chaingun, Corrosion-Proof Crocs, Twitching Lizard Tail, Twitching Lizard Hand, Sloven Battle Axe)


    (Notable Rare drops: Melted Floating Stone XI, Dragon Stone Pouch, Jackpot Mid-Level Raid sets, Living Weapon Egg, Lizard Squadron Standard)


    He flipped back a page.


    The paper started to writhe.


    INVADER ERROR. LIME LIME LIME LIME LIME.


    The drawing was a note against a black background in pencil: ''Come back home. Come back to the rift. Come home.''


    Behind the note, in the drawing, he pretty sure he saw something blink.


    Lv: LIME HAS FOUND YOU (static, it hurt Corvayne''s eyes). COME HOME. COME BACK TO THE RIFT. SHE MISSES YOU. WE NEED YOU.


    Lime is searching for you. What luck she saw you! Come back so she can find you again. Or stay put, she is looking. Lime will find you. Lime will take you home.


    He felt the attention like something hot breathing down his neck and shut the book, cutting it down to a faint sense of unease as he stuffed everything else into his ring, losing some efficiency as he took the last item and started running for the door. He was trying not to think about lime. He was going to get back to his friends, drag them if needed to whatever the closest exit was, and hopefully get far away from whatever the hell LIME was.


    While making his way through a rainstorm that would kill everything else in the dungeon, he had one questions: If this was the ''safe'' path, what the hell had been looking for him outside?

 Chapter 247: Upset Victories

    "So." Lepin had her arms folded, looking radiant even wearing crudely stitched together skins.


    Corvanye started scratching his neck. "Hey."


    "I need you to explain. NOW." She moved to adjust her cowboy hat and grabbed some of her cowtivator perfected hair instead.


    "There were lots of traps on the way back." Corvayne offered her a golden cowboy hat and she slapped it on the ground, then bent over and picked it up and put in on her head, then gave him a shove.


    "A trap? A trap? A trap is when a spear fires off at you! We are in a party, I saw the notifications. Explain! NOW!"


    All three of the cowtivators were staring at him. Bayou seemed the less upset, petting her bunny and mostly watching while sometimes slapping part of her skin trying to erupt into golden light. Little Spur had a bunch of hastily made seals on him, steam and bits of fire leaking from trying to suppress a breakthrough.


    Or maybe a few tiers of breakthroughs. It had been a longer walk back than he had expected.


    One of the ''loot dogs'' dropped the last bag and Corvayne started a bonfire.


    ¡°So, I found what looked like the boundary of the tower, and got sucked into a memory, then on the way back I had to hurry and pick a different way because I attracted the attention of... something. By the way we should really pack up camp once I feed Fred.¡±


    ¡°Fred... is that the supreme ultra-elite carrying a broken throne of gear?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but it is a-¡± he correct himself ¡°It is The High Council Chair.¡± Corvayne corrected. ¡°Usually sat on by Iselvex Coldhand.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Is that it?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°High Counciler Iselvex Coldhand.¡±


    Lepin was mad, and given the effects of her breakthrough it was an attractive mad. He was going to really need to get some alone time with Bell and Spears before Lepin decided to pump him full of quantum lead. ¡°Why. Why did you kill him to steal his chair?¡±


    ¡°So, I was trying to avoid entity I will not name and wandered into a boss room.¡±


    ¡°I saw you defeated something nearly twenty times your level! What were you thinking?!¡±


    ¡°I didn''t realize there was a trap? Danger sense usually gives me a heads up. Also, I think the level system does not really do as great a job telling you how hard something is-¡±


    ¡°Yes it DOES. Especially when we are in a FOURTY MAN HIDDEN REALM.¡± She grabbed her hat and spun in a circle, swearing in a different language then turning around. ¡°So what did you do?¡±


    ¡°I told my compass to get here as fast as possible.¡± Corvayne said.


    ¡°Through The Council''s room. I noticed when I LEVELED UP. Ten times.¡±


    Corvayne stood up straight. ¡°I had to backtrack, then Fred tipped over one of the chairs, and there was another fight. I had freed Fred and he had helped me fight the lizard, so I wanted to help him and Betty...¡±


    As if she heard her name, Betty came dragging another chair strapped with loot.


    ¡°As it turns out, the Council all built their acidic phylacteries into the supports, floor, table, even the chandelier... I can see the essence moving between them so I sundering-¡±


    ¡°You can''t see essence without a magic-¡±


    She stopped and took a deep breath. ¡°Corvayne. Corvayne. Corvayne.¡±


    She seemed stuck and Corvayne had to get the boar ready, so he pulled out a Jade Draconic Dagger, a very nice upgrade to his old fire-breathing weapon. Boar cooked in one strike, he turned back to Lepin and saw she was ashen faced. Behind him, the smell of roast pork was undercut by vicious ripping. Next boar he''d have a little.


    ¡°Corvayne, do... do you have some way of manipulating essence?¡±


    ¡°It''s a little crude.¡±


    ¡°Do you have something that multiplies gains?¡±


    ¡°I would rather not answer that question.¡±


    Little Spur stepped forward, looking guilty. ¡°He is not alone, I also have a bloodline-¡±


    ¡°How much?¡± Lepin looked between them.


    Little Spur put his chin up. ¡°You must swear to never tell a soul.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡±


    ¡°Twenty Percent.¡±


    Lepin thrust her finger out. ¡°YOU''RE LITTLE WING! FUCK!¡±


    At this, Bayou stepped forward and grabbed his hand. ¡°Little Wing was left for dead. He''s Little Spur now!¡± Corvayne felt her being protective of him. He was slightly nervous and a little embarrassed.


    ¡°Who''s Little Wing?¡± Corvayne asked.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°He was a princeling in the Red Stripe alliance. He got crippled and his engagement broken off-¡±


    ¡°Oh okay that tells me enough.¡± Corvayne had read books like ''I Shall Steal the Heavens'' and ''The Dao of Verbosity'' and could probably line up Little Spur''s story just on that.


    The young man opened his eyes and looked directly at Lepin, as if in challenge. ¡°Are you going to try to drag me back like so many before you?¡±


    ¡°No you nitwit! I know you are loaded with magic items the Red Stripes were looking for! Corvayne, is that how you beat those monsters?¡±


    ¡°No, honestly after the first one I sort of had momentum.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Corvayne, are you boosting our cultivation as well? Don''t give me that look I mean essence absorption. Exp. Flavorless Qi. Whatever you call it.¡±


    Corvayne had to think about it. ¡°I think our groups estimate was around two thousand percent for people partied with me, but that was a while ago.¡±


    ¡°We are dead. Corvayne, do you realize wars are fought in higher realms over items that boost essence five percent?! Those Red Stripes killed an entire kingdom to get one. Anyone with value sense sees you-¡±


    ¡°Why are you worried?¡± Corvayne had to ask.


    ¡°Because they are going to torture me to ask me your secret. They have special classes that can rip people apart to oracle their past.¡±


    He thought about Prishe. ¡°Shit. We have to hurry back. If there''s people who can sniff out value my team is in grave danger. Bayou, can you please offer Betty and Fred a pact to let them stay at the stable? They would like to not be re-enslaved in acid world.¡±


    Little Wing, bless his heart, was already working on getting the loot secure. ¡°Hmm. Corvayne, do you have some sort of lucky aspect? Like, a trait that says ''Auspicious son of the heavens?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Corvayne picked up Lady Blood Claw and used [[Unity]] to shape and move the vines. It felt like it was getting easier.


    ¡°Did you get these items all at once?¡± He was really focused on the honeycomb marked gloves and sword, as well as the ring from that first chest.


    ¡°Yeah, first boss.¡±


    ¡°Can I borrow them for this dungeon?¡±


    Corvayne felt, for the first time he could remember, a burning desire to say ''duh''. He was not a duh person. But really, did Little Wing not think he dragged a literal ton of magic treasure down to not share? From his pleading look, Corvayne then assumed that yes, there was a chance.


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Little Spur put the gloves on one hand, the ring on the other, then lifted the sword and swung it with an ominous hum.


    ¡°... Is there a robe or chest plate with crossed stitched daggers, facing down, sewn or embossed on it?¡±


    Corvayne jerked his head upright. How did he know? He pulled out a red robe with gold crossed daggers and offered it to Little Spur.


    ¡°... You do not know what these are.¡± He stated.


    ¡°No I don''t generally try things on until I am sure they are not cursed.¡±


    ¡°So you did not defeat the four other raid bosses simply using these tools?¡±


    ¡°The gauntlets are Swarm Gauntlets. They are a legendary rarity weapon/armor and fire swarms of bees. They also improve pet accuracy and speed, as well as remove the ability for pets to harm their owners and increase their intelligence based on the number of pets. Usually, this caps at 30 bees whom die after stinging once. This Blade is a Hive Greatsword. It is also legendary rarity. When you had an enemy and attack them, the little beads will fly off the sword and fly into an enemy, shattering. It also improves pet accuracy and speed as well, and a small percentage of pet damage. Usually, because they shatter, one can only have about thirty if one swings the blade to dislodge all orbs. The robe is the general''s revenge. All units that report to you get a flat bonus to how much damage they do. It does not matter if they hit something with a battle axe or a rubber band, it does a flat amount of extra damage. It also improves those unit''s durability, accuracy, and slightly improves their ability to perform what the user imagines they should.¡±


    Corvayne was starting to get it. ¡°The items have synergy.¡±


    ¡°With these three, even with crippled stats and cultivation, I pose a threat to people hundreds of levels over me.¡±


    He holds up the ring. ¡°This is the Fleet Beacon. Legendary rarity. It turns all pets into tiny ships that blast foes with lasers. This overrides their attacks. It also takes each pet and splits them into eight. This reduces their damage down to a fourth, but this is the first thing it does. There was a person who had these four items nearly 30 thousand years ago and used them to forge an empire on the 70<sup>th</sup> floor that still stands. He almost certainly ascended after reaching the 100<sup>th</sup> floor. It is one of the most widely known soft sets in the entire Tower. You could not buy these items with a flying ship full of black essence crystals. You found all of them in the span of a few hours.¡±


    Now he was looking at Corvayne like Lepin had been.


    ¡°Oh. Well, I handled the other fights without it. I sense you are eager to show us how well it works then, Little Spur.¡± Corvayne gave him a thumbs up, and felt pure joy from the boy.


    ¡°Of course. Please point your compass in the direction that gets out out as fast as possible while not being rained on.¡±


    ¡°The rain is harmless.¡± Corvayne was confused.


    Lepin slapped his shoulder. ¡°Not to us. I stepped in a puddle and had to regrow my foot.¡± She gestured to what looked like part of a sliced off foot spray painted onto the floor.


    ¡°Okay. Well, that''s another mystery.¡±


    Little Wing placed the blade in his swarm gauntlet hand, and swung. What looked like a hundred gold little ships, all trailing blue exhaust, teleported to the group of lizard men and blasted them into fine red mist, then kept flying and blasting through the building, regrouping on Little Wing as he strode through the carnage.


    Corvayne, for what it was worth, just was giving directions and explaining how he beat the other ''Raid Bosses'' as Lepin called them. It was the least he''d ever had to do while in a dungeon. Bayou was looking through the magic items and sorting them into 30 fresh storage rings that Corvayne had assumed was just one magical neck-piece from how they were presented on a hoop.


    ¡°So at this point, those ghost servants owed me a favor for melting Dreadwing...¡±


    ¡°Which you did by somehow using spear-shift to move a dragon, then tripping him.¡±


    ¡°I had been practicing with my gravity powers. Making his tail too light and his head too heavy.¡±


    ¡°You are a level 30 warrior type.¡±


    ¡°33 now.¡±


    Lepin somehow looked vibrantly alive and haunted, her eyes both full of life and color but staring out at nothing, her expression reminding him of a fish, lips just open.


    ¡°You are a level 30 warrior somehow tripping a dragon that''s level 900 and meant to be fought with a squadron.¡±


    ¡°I think those numbers are for fighting safely without losing anyone while not knowing what a monster can do.¡±


    ¡°Regardless, you tripped a creature with wings to kill it. Something you shouldn''t be able to harm.¡±


    ¡°I have exceptionally high skill levels, from what I understand. But I do agree, the degree that each fight and arena let me leverage strengths I did not know I had-¡±


    ¡°The top assassins of the Lizard faction exclusively use water attacks... water that cannot harm you.¡±


    ¡°They could fire a laser that cut me, and once they realized all their attacks were failing they clubbed me pretty good because of how fast they were, I had to use a trick to track them.¡± [[Unity]] had been really pulling it''s weight, but he guessed that so was [[Growth]] given Lepin''s reaction to how much essence his allies got.


    Lepin laughed. ¡°Of course, we can''t forget the Slime Lord.¡±


    ¡°These pants let me move through goop flawlessly and breath it. I just broke the roof and swam around killing his cores while the rain worked from above.¡±


    ¡°Seeing a high level slime core is only possible when you''ve dealt MASSIVE damage to the point they can''t change it''s color to just blend into their body.¡±


    If he talked about essence again she would just get mad. ¡°They sometime show it off when they are horny.¡±


    Lepin became incredulously angry at that comment, at least until Bayou explained on his behalf he had told her he was dating a slime.


    ¡°I am sorry, that was a little personal to share Lepin.¡± He gave her a little bow.


    ¡°I am very concerned why the universe, who seemed to give you everything you needed in this accursed torture chamber, saw fit to place me next to you.¡± Lepin said. ¡°Did you at least find a legendary pack of smokes in the pile of dead bosses?¡±


    Corvayne went over to Lepin and handed her a consumable magic pack of smokes.


    She took the package and looked at it, shoving it in his face. ¡°Read THIS!¡±


    ¡°Dungeon general''s warning: Smoking may improve the users long term affinity for fire elemental techniques and their absorption rate by 1% per cigarette.¡± Corvayne thought about it. ¡°It seems I found something else that''s very good.¡±


    ¡°I decided to cultivate towards riding a fire creature. Do you understand?! The heavens is favoring you, and this means it''s fucking told me I''m part of that!¡±


    Corvayne thought about that. ¡°It''s very possible. The system wrote things on my expanded profile.¡±


    ¡°If the universe is throwing so much at you, it wants something from you! That''s how strings of karma work!¡±


    She was sweating, which again did not diminish that she had refined her appearance to be captivating... he really needed to double time it out of the gate and find where Bell and Spears were. He focused back on what she said.


    ¡°I think you are right, Lepin, because it lines up with the system basically pointing me at an adversary.¡±


    The woman took a deep breath, then looked back. Corvayne saw Bayou forming a pact with the two bio-weapons, little rabbit sitting on the other. Behind them was a pile of gear, who knows how much of it just as potent as the weapons that were letting Little Spur clear entire buildings in a single swing of a blade.


    Lepin took a deep breath, then lit her first cigarette and moaned a little bit. ¡°Fuck!¡± She looked at the pack, then Corvayne with an expression that had a whole lot of conflicting feelings behind it, then back at the pack before staring at the light show ahead.


    ¡°I almost feel bad for whoever it is.¡±

 Chapter 248: Breath of Fresh Air

    The compass started guiding them upwards on day four of their journey across the House of Corrosion. While Little Wing was able to kill vast swathes of monsters, everyone else stepped up to assist with their own relics pulled from both Corvayne''s haul and wandering monsters.


    The towers became more sparse before they found a stairway to the next floor or layer of the dungeon. The dominant feature was a serene looking ocean of pine green acid, punctuated by waterfalls from a green sky so dark it was nearly black. Rusted structures stuck out of the goop, remains of what looked like a huge military base or factory.


    Unlike most of the ruins they had explored before this one was very functional once they were far enough above the calm sea to enter the large flat buildings. The interiors had pumps moving fluid around, conveyors carrying parts, and a host of robotic protectors fighting with sawblades, pistons, high pressure water lasers, regular lasers, and slug throwers.


    By the time the group passed an area, it tended to just be pitted with laser fire, the insane swarms of monsters around Little Wing clearing entire rooms until they hit snipers, which required Corvayne to instead take point. Lady Blood Claw''s trees seemed to have some of the elements of the Watcher''s capes, which let him infiltrate across open industrial yards, acid deltas, and vast tilted bridges over what had became a viscous flow of corrosive goo. As they got closer to the stairway the terrain became a more stark divide between impossibly beautiful buildings turning from chrome to rust as they sank into the green mucus flow.


    There was only one ''boss'' whom took up the only platform Corvayne could find approtching the tower that his compass seemed to finally consider their destination, a forty foot tall single eye''d squid who started emitting intense psychic pressure in the ten seconds before the swarm of tiny ships from Little Wing turned it into swiss cheese.


    The next stair up put them in an emerald spire, green crystallized acid burning anything that touched the walls or floor, the air more acrid than before. Had they not been eating a variety of acicid monsters and gaining resistance, it probably would have killed them on the first step in, regeneration or not. Instead, they had enough time to dig and find a lantern that cast shadows, nullifying the effect but also blinding the group aside from Corvayne.


    Which turned out to be fine. He coaxed Lady Blood Claw to form a sphere of wood through [[Unity]]. He guessed that she was in a state like the one that had taken Wick before, in some kind of stupor from perhaps low Quitesence. Or perhaps putting herself to sleep to try to evade the pain of so many roots and branches constantly growing from her.


    Corvayne wasn''t going completely blind on this, as he sometimes would leave the shadows to scout, but the compass gave them a path through the incredible tall hallways that avoided the dense clusters of monsters that infested rooms between the winding emerald halls. Corvayne saw that there were lifts that looked like they required some substance to power, given a metered tank next ot each sitting at empty, but his compass guided them to stairway up after rolling their wood ball up two long corkscrew ramps between floors.


    He expected another two floors, but was pleasantly surprised when they arrived at hall of emerald statues, on stands in a vast dark cathedral filled with dark water or acid. The only path was a broad central bridge with a treasure chest standing on a raised podium, then the room terminated in a singular door with ''Exit'' over it. The chest, the focus of the main light shining in, was like a ruby with strands of bright pink gum in it.


    There was a delay as they tried to find a boss, guessing the statues would come alive. They did not, nor was the chest a mimic. It almost upset Corvayne, it flew in the face of everything he knew about the Tower.


    Stepping onto the bridge, twenty statues lit up, then all but three faded. One was very bright, the rest were just dimly lit.


    Corvayne opened the chest and found another red orb that just fell into his hand as soon as he even thought about trying to drop it, as well as a starry sewing needle and piles of materials that looked to be slightly higher quality version of butchered monster parts. A pair of cowboy boots made of black liquid that could change forms was very popular with the girls, them deciding to paper-rock-scissors for it, and there were also snacks for the monsters ¨C huge bones made of a blue metal that Fred and Betty happily started fighting over with themselves, hydra-like eyeless heads snapping and trying to pull the bone away, while the rabbit started going insane trying to get at a banana. Corvayne tried to stop her but at both the rabbit and Bayou looking at him, he gave it to the creature. It wolfed it down to nothing in no time flat. Thankfully, no fruit-dubbed horrors appeared after that, and they got ready to move back out into the tower.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "We may be on floor 45." He said as he started to step through the door and stopped.


    "If I pass out, I''m just selecting powers."


    He heard Lepin cry out "Did you just say select-" and he fell like a meteor into his mindspace.


    The drop this time was massive, clouds swirling out of the way to reveal the stone gates sitting on blue-purple-red dirt islands, surrounded by thorns. Standing up, he saw the Lightning Wraith look at him, electric armored form radiating energy. "SOON. THE CHAINS LESSEN. DON''T NEGLECT YOUR QUESTS."


    It popped off into the air, leaving Corvayne looking around. The plaza looked... way too large at the moment. It felt like it took three minutes of walking to cross the island to where Gylwin was sitting, reading something. She snapped the book closed and turned her red eyes to him.


    "It seems you were busy. You have gathered a commendable amount of essence."


    "Do I have enough to improve my Compass, Gravity and Shadow powers? All at once?"


    She coughed into her hand/claw. "You can do that multiple times."


    He considered it. "I''ll Raise them all twice, then... How far can I push [[Growth]] and [[Understanding]] with what''s left?"


    "Even split of essence, eleven levels in [[Understanding]], six in [[Growth]].


    "Can I go with five and five then, a new pact [[Organized]]?"


    "Yes. You have enough for a new pact at five. Keep in mind the more spread out you are, the bigger the thresholds are for new pacts to combine with old ones. A web spun too large falls apart."


    He figured that was to stop someone from pacting six hundred words all at level 5 to try to combine them all in an ability salad. Or it was just as Gylwin''s image in his mind said ¨C the ability needed essence to grow.


    He felt the abilities slotting in, his improved [[Understanding]] giving him some hints that he was going to get a boost to finally learning more weapon abilities. His shadowy hands locked in his shielding as a real move rather than something he had been cobbling together as a off the fly way to save himself, well as added more power to his limbs. He handed one the starry knife and it took a few jabs experimentally.


    Gravity in the same way solidified using the ability to walk on walls while also giving him fine tuning. There was something else too, as he looked around his mindscape it felt like he had... momentum? It might be something to try with [Leap Strike] or [Orbital Bombardment].


    His compass was more of the same, improving he guessed range and refining it''s path... hopefully not dragging him into acid clouds.


    Organization was still tickling his head as he woke in a leafless wood, looking downhill at a creek valley, dried leaves crinkling as he sat up. His compass was pointing pretty much straight ahead.


    A moment later his families feelings rushed at him, the languid connections snapping into place. Preshe asking where he was, Gylwin reporting everything was okay and glad he was, Spears and Bell both irate they didn''t hear from him, and Mosh and June sending assurances they were okay but clearly dealing with some injuries. Even Kirae could be felt, a faint pulse of annoyance. Probably that they had all gotten captured trying to save one person. A real ''Slug Gangster Fortress'' situation.


    Organization gave him the film name but he waved it away. He turned back and looked over his party. Little Wing stepped forward and started removing the gear, handing Corvayne the set of extremely overpowered equipment.


    "It was fun, but I do not feel Karma towards it." He said, wincing. Everything with what he was saying felt off.


    Lepin was looking at him. "Cultivating with a broken set of spirit roots, figures you are going mad. We should get him to a spirits healer right away."


    "I cannot submit myself to a doctor without revealing everything. Lepin, can you please overlook this lowly cultivator? For... a week."


    Bayou heard this and Corvayne didn''t need unity to see her stiffen, then surge into action, asking Fred to help him onto the beast''s back. "Don''t be stubborn! I see burn marks like bruises under your skin."


    Corvayne guessed that was something like Mister I but with more booze.


    Her command wasn''t a bad idea, Corvayne could see the young man was steaming in places under his simple robes, and he was pretty sure the gray fabric had blood that had seeped through from aberrations going on internally. Corvayne was pretty sure Little Wing was holding back on another advancement to his cowtivation. There was a sense of resignation. It sort of set his first destination.


    "Before I get roped into jail, I''m going to go see Preshe. She is... my adopted daughter." Might as well admit it. "Little... Spur. Come with me."


    Lepin hopped on Betty, giving the beast''s twisting branching necks a gentle pat.


    Corvayne looked up at her. "Don''t you have to... report in or something?" Unspoken was ''report us'' as besides Bayou, whom probably now could be promoted out of the stables, both him and Little Spur were likely in trouble for running off. The woman lifted her hat a bit and then offered a hand to help him up. He settled in behind her, Lady Blood Claw pulling her vines in at [[Unity]] requesting it, the same as it was now feeding Corvayne''s potential directions to the monsters.


    Bayou herself was on Betty, holding the jade tablet her dead ex had. It looked to Corvayne that she was tapping in a number starting with 4, sitting behind Little Spur and holding the rabbit in her lap.


    Lepin turned back. "I went up two full ascensions to well into Whisky Soul Realm now. My old boss is buried somewhere in that muddy creek, and technically our job was to catch you and bring you back to the sect if you ran. Which I did. Way I reckon it, I can stroll in and get my promotion any time today."


    There was something else there, but Corvayne let it slide. Instead, he sent his compass to show him the way to Preshe.

 Chapter 249: Do they study the Dao of Bass Pro there?

    The thumping of the beast under him paired with the clacking of claws as it moved from woodlands onto a paved path, moving through parklands where grazing animals milled between fences and little copses of trees.


    Over streams, then Corvayne felt his compass subtly shift their path away from having the dogs run along a raised railroad bridge over a muddy river. Instead they careened down a path that took them next to the massive red-brick supports of the train-line and through a smaller town set up along the rivers edge, oriental designs. Bamboo poles helped support unlit neon signs, and someone was using something like Lythandies'' crafting powers and a wok to stir fry new pairs of boots.


    The row of little shops and larger restaurants and a hotel included apothecaries selling snake oil, and honky-tonks open to the street, where a duo with a guitar and a guqin were playing a song about someone''s wife leaving with the dog and the truck.


    Perhaps it was the truck in their way, being pulled to the repair shop by an oxen whom was colorblind or did not have his license. Corvayne found he really wanted to ask Bayou to spur the beasts to bound over the vehicle straddling both lanes, but given the number of shops spilling out into the sidewalk, he was worried they''d end up crashing into a stall. At the moment, they only had a few ''spirit quarters'' which were the lowest denomination of funds. He did not press Lepin or Bayou as to where they kept their money when acid had eaten their clothes.


    After an eternity of slow traffic, there was another bridge and a looping path from the river road up to it. A sign identified it as ''Heavenly Auspicious Path 41 ¨C turn Right.''


    Back up high, he saw what was certainly their destination, looming over the bright green landscape and wide river. It was a strange building, it''s base looking like a sprawling mountain cabin, one that made him want to go back to the third floor forest of Cascadia. It must have been a mile at it''s base and ten stories of alpine lumber and glass and balconies. The building then flattened on top to support a massive glass pyramid, an image of a celestial dragon, mouth open as it curved to roar at some unseen foe embossed above a phoenix, gracefully looking back. Between them was scrawled in ornate calligraphy ''Bagua Pro Workshops''.


    For some reason, the three cowtivators looked embarrassed rather then emboldened by the titanic building, even as Corvayne watched a few flying stagecoaches and a covered wagon train come in for a landing. They came up to the front door as a gaggle of kids in robes, cowboy hats, and wearing wooden flying swords or calligraphy brushes were herded into the front door.


    The compass told him to hold up, and Corvayne barely needed to think about essence vision to see that the place was glowing in wards. The mana was nearly invisible but the essence leaking was blinding to Corvayne. It was very clear some array was in place to detect intruders. However, his compass power was also not liking going into the front door.


    Of course, his recent experience with pipes let him guess where it was going to swivel. He took a deep breath and did not start directing the beasts to go find the sewer enterance.


    ¡°Lepin, can you arrange for us to get day passes?¡±


    She thought about it. ¡°I think so, I''ll get us the cowtivator fast pass.¡±


    She had the beast stroll in the huge main doors, bypassing kids who were pointing at the massive monsters now prowling into a room with a fully stocked fish tank behind the reception desk. A woman who looked to Corvayne like a librarian, her bearing evoking memories of Watcher weapon-masters stomping across the training grounds because they did NOT like what they just saw.


    ¡°Excuse me, you cannot just barge in here-¡± The lady started when Lepin looked at her, Looked at her. Corvayne saw Bayou sink into her saddle a little, and everyone but the children also looked like they were wilting suddenly.


    Lepin tilted her nose up. ¡°YOU DARE question the inheritor House Lizzy?¡±


    The woman and the clerks now were bowing and scraping. ¡°Young Mistress! Mercy!¡±


    Lepin hopped off the mount and strode up to the woman. Corvayne felt an urge to follow and Lepin looked back to make eye contact, and [[Unity]] had Corvayne step in between them. ¡°Please Mistress Lizzy, forgive them. They were not informed your magnificence was arriving, but I''m sure now they know there will be no need for bloodshed.¡±


    ¡°Tch. If they Kotow three times I will forgive them!¡±


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    A more senior cowboy wizard appeared at a spot overlooking the hall. His nose wrinkled up.


    ¡°A pup dares bark in my house?¡± With a leap he landed in front of Lepin. Waves of power radiated off him.


    Lepin slapped his face, and the slight pressure Corvayne had felt from the man crumpled. ¡°You DARE call ME a DOG?! I will not tolerate this loss of pace!¡±


    Another look, and Corvayne understood and physically started trying to drag her away from a fight. She took a moment, one he was pretty sure everyone else was too stunned to see, to move one of his hands from her waist up onto her bust. He shrugged and grabbed them.


    ¡°There''s no need to kill anyone today! Remember the last time you struck a minister down! I''m sure they can make it up in spirit stones!¡±


    ¡°Tch, Drop to your knees and beg or I will have your head!¡±


    The old man dropped. Lepin was breathing heavily, and Corvayne started to take his hand off her chest but she grabbed it and put it back on, then three seconds later made an act of tugging herself free.


    ¡°You oaf! Feh. You are fortunate my retainer has a honeyed tongue. I demand a pass to view the grounds.¡±


    ¡°Mistress we cannot-¡± He sputtered as the air became thick and sort of tangy.


    The woman was on the ground face down, raising a hand. ¡°Please call back your grilling intent! We will prepare a pass at once!¡±


    Corvayne could taste something bold and tangy for a moment before the air returned to normal.


    ¡°Boring! Get me the pass, this sort of reaction, spineless!¡±


    Corvayne arranged getting passes as Lepin strode over, grabbed some fish food off the front desk, then strode up the stairs.


    ¡°Five and three beasts. Yes. It''s not a backpack, there''s a woman on my back that''s my uh- It''s complicated.¡±


    A little later, after Lepin had fed the fish while looking sourly at anyone who wasn''t a child who a approached, they were strolling through the halls of the school, Corvayne acting as both guide and wedge showing off the badge and announcing everyone must move. The lower floor of the school was a vast series of buildings that catered to student needs, set on what looked like a swamp with wood buildings marked with things like mission hall, orientation, herb and material exchange, fishing supplies, pill refinery, Crawpapa''s Cajun Cafe... and so on. The pyramid itself was a shell around an imposing stone building that connected with rooms and walkways around it.


    They tromped into the student dorms, moving past calligraphy enchanted to speak and move and follow them. A pair of lions clearly able to leap out of the paper stalked them in long bamboo forest made of ink, at least until they saw Lepin glare at them, to which they turned tail and bounded deeper into the painting, going so fast part of the paper wrinkled before it smoothed itself.


    ¡°Is Whiskey Soul that big a deal?¡±


    ¡°I suspect it''s also the high level. As I said, anyone who knew what you can do, they''d put you in a box to use your abilities-¡±


    He looked over at her, and forced himself to calm down when she flinched a little. ¡°Sorry. What your are saying is why I''m worried about Preshe.¡±


    The hallways started to turn and the compass was directing them past doors and up stairs and over a bridge above a different part of the main campus into what looked like a parlor. Dark wood panels, paintings of wilderness and cattle, rifles and flying swords mounted over a blazing fireplace.


    Bayou whispered ¡°I''m really here...¡±


    Little Wing was less impressed. Possibly because there was a faint trail of smoke coming out of his ear.


    They padded right through the room. On either side, young Cowtivators were playing cards, sitting at a bar drinking whiskey, watching a screen where a pair of disciples was fighting in a cage with fists and talismans. Bets were being made on sword riders careening around a racetrack, one young woman taking her hat off and stomping on it while another boy whooped and collected talsmins. Some students were working, mixing pills and potions in clear cauldrons and decanters behind the bar while an older student watched. Others were playing pranks. Two boys were arm wrestling, more attention on the girl who was clearly eyeing someone else. Someone else was playing a violin to give it all an air of class.


    A young man in the best fitting suit Corvayne had seen nudged a friend. A trio moved to get in Lepin''s way.


    ¡°Mistress, coming to Demonbreun Dorm, you should have a fitting escort. I would behead whomever gave you these three, I saw them at the stables. A trio of dung shovelers. As the future head of the Brentwood House, It would be my pleasure to show you around.¡±


    He saw disgust aimed at him, and greed with a pinch of lust at Lepin. She glanced back at Corvayne, and he turned and gave him a poker face. How best to handle this?


    A moment later the boy had fallen over, then stood up incensed. ¡°How dare you look at me like that!¡±


    Corvayne made his tone even. ¡°Take your hand off your piece. It won''t be a fight.¡±


    The boy looked terrified, and before he could sputter some more young master nonsense Corvayne had the beasts keep strolling.


    ¡°Jealous?¡± Lepin asked.


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I didn''t want you to have to break his spine or whatever.¡±


    ¡°I would lose pace if I did that. With you, not him. If you were totally helpless, I''d step in, but you are not helpless.¡±


    The hallway here was designed to look like cabins, with the pyramid windows far above blocked by a tangle of trees, instead lit by red lanterns between porches. A few students were on rocking chairs, but it was much less busy than the lounge. His compass had the cabin marked now.


    Corvayne hopped off Fred and walked up the steps to knock at the wooden door. He heard running and Preshe leaped out, wrapping him in a hug.


    He was trying to think of how to greet her, and felt the same from her. He was trying to think of how to put it when there was a popping noise and he turned to see that part of Little Wing''s shoulder was burning and there was blood leaking from his mouth. Bayou cried out as the boy slumped, signs of his repressed advancement now trying to shatter what was left of his essence pathways.


    There was a moment were he considered the comment from before about being put in a box. Did he pick risking his family or dooming his friend? He shook his head. Little Wing, Little Spur... he was practically in the same boat as Preshe. He wasn''t worried about Bayou, and Lepin... he had to hope that [[Unity]] would help convince her cover up what was about to happen. Or cover up everything that had happened before.


    ¡°Preshe, he needs your help.¡±

 Chapter 250: A Delicate Operation

    Preshe helped Corvayne with Little Wing, clearing off a sturdy coffee table, much to the annoyance of her bespectacled roommate.


    "Hey!"


    She then dumped the bloody and on fire boy onto the table.


    ¡°Hey AGAIN!¡±


    Her roomate looked around, then quickly got on her hands and knees facing Lepin. ¡°Senior, this disciple begs forgive-¡±


    Preshe snapped her fingers. ¡°She''s with Corvayne, get me some towels and sharpen a kitchen knife...¡± She looked behind Corvayne at the.


    ¡°Is that blood root?! I could... Is that mo- Lady?¡±


    Corvayne promised himself once they unscrewed this they would sit down and formally form a family with Preshe. ¡°Yes to both.¡±


    Preshe opened Little Wing''s robes and spent a moment looking at his chest. ¡°He works out...¡±


    Bayou looked daggers at her, while Little Wing wheezed. ¡°Thaaaanks.¡±


    ¡°Don''t encourage her Little Spur.¡± Corvayne said while using mend to address hemmoraging. Her roommate came back with the knife and Preshe enchanted it for sharpness, then started cutting into Little Wing''s abdomen.


    ¡°Preshe your getting blood all over my homework! You better not kill that stud in here!¡±


    ¡°Get me clean bandages!¡± She rolled up her sleeves and with her fingers dipping into his meat she started moving essence. There was a hiss and Bayou sit by Little Wing and held his hand.


    ¡°It''s going to be okay. Pain is fleeting. There will be bull to shovel tomorrow. Pain is fleeting. The sun will yet rise and fall. Pain is fleeting.¡±


    On the other hand, Corvayne was following Preshe now, sometimes washing his fingers with healing potion. His shadow hands too reached out, leaving bits of black goo that acted as stitches, soaking into the wounds that Preshe was making to heal them. To Corvayne''s vision, she was working frantically, trying to create pipes to contain and direct what looked like a fireball of essence in Little Spurs body.


    Corvayne was seeing that it was a losing battle, even though Preshe was doing an incredible job repairing those pathways. There was just too much energy, and Little Wing was getting hotter. Lepin took out a scythe that dripped frost to help keep the room cool. Preshe''s roommate brought bandages and Corvayne used them to aid his mending...


    ¡°There''s too much power.¡± Lepin said, shaking her head. ¡°He should have given up on cultivating. You can keep his body alive but even with a rare treasure to recover his roots, with the energy in him he''s going to explode.¡±


    ¡°What if we had something physical to bind it?¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°Like, what? A pound of high purity crystal?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°If you had a pound of that, I''d say pay someone to put him in stasis and hire an expert to keep him alive while he burns himself out. Hopefully he has enough Vitality his mind isn''t stored in his brain cells.¡±


    Preshe was breathing heavily, focused on trying to create a sort of pipe in his guts to keep the energy looping, but a moment after it was made it failed, rupturing his guts for a moment before Corvayne used greater mend.


    ¡°I got an idea. Keep her alive... Bayou I want you to pour these potions down his throat.¡±


    Little Spur tried to protest, his mouth steaming as the potion drowned his plea to give up.


    Corvayne meanwhile took a deep breath and reached out to Lady Blood Claw, and her cursed vines. It was a power he had been helping her use without her knowing it and now he took a vine from her back, and aimed it at a spot where he concentrated Vitality in his own arm. He saw essence start to flock there as her urged the vine to grow hair thin, and thread through him. As he did, he visualized the crystals wrapping around the branch, soaking into it.


    ¡°Use this to start threading his essence channels.¡± Corvayne said, and Preshe only looked horrified at him before starting to tug it and once again cut. She used her tail to hold the knife while she carefully used her fingers and started wrapping and fine tuning as she directed a flow then connected the vine to it, the plant digging deep into Little Wing''s flesh and forming a stable pipe.


    ¡°We can do this!¡± Preshe said, excited, then forced herself to look away and back to her work. Corvayne tried not to notice Preshe pause when she had to take off Little Wings damaged pants, instead pushing through [[Unity]] to keep focus on saving him.


    ¡°We can worry about who embarrassed who at breakfast.¡± Corvayne said as he reached into his pack and pulled out the Quintessence potion and downed it. Lepin gave him a look. ¡°Gut feeling. Take this and get us more healing potions.¡± He paused a moment and maneuvered a black crystal knife-sized shard out of his neck.


    ¡°Oh. You print essence and money and have the devil''s own luck with items. Not to mention a good looking wife and daughter! Pah. No wonder you have a monk''s temperament.¡±


    ¡°Lady and Corvayne are not married, but we don''t know the future either.¡± Preshe said, then paused, and suddenly started working a little faster. Corvayne painfully had to start a second line as she was picking up pace, both hands working while her tail started to do cuts on it''s own, opening places where she laid down lines. There was a snap as the his legs formed a complete loop, essence no longer burning.


    Corvayne saw her working and though about his own teachers. Did Waves-Within feel the same pride when he did the spear dance? Maybe more how Spaces-Torn-Asunder did watching him put together an engine. Or perhaps his father... there was something missing in his mind and he suspected it had to do with the memory orb revealing parts of his past. He shook it away from his mind. Little Wing was starting to recover, but his broken essence paths were still frying parts of him.


    They flipped Little Wing over, Bayou helping and pleading with her eyes at Corvayne, even as the back of the man''s head was smoking. They were down to one spool, Preshe''s blood covered hands gently easing the line into an incision in the neck as she fixed pathways. The plant and crystal meshed, bonded, and suddenly the room stilled as tranquility filled the space. Corvayne saw the pathways shift and push and grow and break and reform now, with Preshe using her hands to correct and aid and unblock.


    Someone turned on a light, Corvayne had to blink as he''d been looking at essence so long, and then the energy compressed into the black crystal orb at the center of Little Wing''s chest, then exploded in red essence that flooded his veins and rebuilt him, mixing with teal essence that Corvayne suspected was Lythandies hand in this.


    Preshe stepped back, sweating, her robe covered in blood. She kicked a leg of the table and an array started, cleaning up the blood and burnt gore. Corvayne guessed there was about thirty pounds they had used mend to replace, but Little Wing looked now restored and pristine. Bayou put her outer robe over him for decency, while Preshe used her tail to take a pitcher of ice water and start gulping it down.


    It had felt like minutes in the flow of moment to moment, watching and reacting and close calls trying to keep energy from popping Little Wing''s head, but as it ended Corvayne realized he had been standing for hours, and even sleeping beauty on his back was radiating exhaustion. The only person who seemed perfectly rested and composed was Little Wing himself, whom had went from pain to passed out to now peacefully snoring on the coffee table.


    On the other hand, Preshe was looking down at her hand, and with a hmm did something....


    Corvayne didn''t know for sure what it looked like when someone else spontaneously advanced their class, but given that Preshe seemed to grow an inch and her essence was now torpedoing through her at hundreds of miles an hour, forming runic patterns... he was fairly sure that was a class evolution.


    ¡°I ordered dinner.¡± her roommate offered, hanging up the phone. A moment later, there was a knock on the door.


    ¡°That was fast.¡± Bayou said.


    Preshe nodded. ¡°Too fast...¡± She walked to the door and opened it. Rio Blackfist Cumberlin, Acting Sect Leader of the Fistful of Dao was waiting there, three pizzas balanced on one hand.


    ¡°Just the people I wanted to talk to.¡± She mused as she strolled in.

 Chapter 251: Somebody Elses Story

    A nice normal meal, everyone around the table, just a group of friends, Preshe''s new roomates, and so on.


    So why was the sect leader sitting there, black and red eyes locked onto Little Wing? He corrected himself: Until she gave the game away, it was Little Spur. He wasn''t going to give his friends secret up, but for whatever Unity was doing he didn''t trust the sect leader yet. There was no way she was just hear to say ''good job surviving.''


    "Disciple Lizzy, I want a report of what happened to camp G-11 and G-12."


    "Of course honorable Sect Leader. This deciple reports thier superiors and peers were wiped out by quantum guns. I was preparing to break for the river to try to get back to the sect and report the attack and the punishment assigned initiates from the G-12 camp arrived. They defeated an enemy I estimated to be three knots ascended."


    "Do we know where he was from?" Rio said, staring at Lepin, face a mask until she shoved a peice of pizza into her mouth. Her clothes changed breifly to something red as she did, then returned to the black and gold robes she was wearing. Corvayne noted that.


    "No he was entirely in gear from our sect. Pancho with high durability, and a steel square that has a repeating life-saving effect."


    "Produce the square."


    Lepin looked to Corvayne, who took it off from under his pancho and handed it over. No assumption such an item was left behind, rightly so. He didn''t think it was wise, if Lepin was going to fib about anything, to start with what seemed to be an incredibly powerful item.


    Surprisingly, she handed it back. "Hmm. Belonged to Dontiz. He will not need it back, as he was found dead a month ago." She wiped a bit of sauce off of her mouth. Corvayne saw her rings flicker, and a bead necklace changed into a gold torque. There wasn''t a morph, unless it happened so fast that Corvayne couldn''t catch it. It was much more obvious a moment later when the robe became a blue leather piece of gear with gold writing, her cowboy hat switched to white snakeskin, and a staff appeared on her back as she started casting a spell. She brought both hands together, then for a moment Corvayne saw a gray tunic before she switched back to her black robe.


    Corvayne couldn''t guess the function of all that, but he was pretty sure the spell she cast was some sort of ward, given it dampened the essence glow of all the wards outside.


    "Wake the little prince."


    There were some glances being exchanged which amounted to Preshe using mend then grabbing a packet of red pepper flakes and putting some on Little Spur''s tounge. He woke with a sputter and did a check of the exits, then of his hand.


    ¡°Looking for this?¡± Rio said, holding a gold ring up.


    Little Wing schooled his face pretty well. ¡°Of course, it has sentimental value. My dear old mother gave it to me before the sickness took her.¡±


    ¡°Your mother is alive.¡± Rio said blandly.


    ¡°A shame.¡± Little Wing said, eyeing everyone around him. ¡°This does not look like a cell under the inner sect peak.¡±


    ¡°If I needed crude tools, I have them in my inventory. No Little ''Spur'', I already got the story. I''d rather save torture for my enemies.¡± She gestured to one of the boxes of pizza.


    Corvayne watched the play between the two, his own thoughts trying to catch all the emotions Rio was feeling. No, he could see the thread between her and Little Wing. He might not be aware he had a lie detector attached.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ¡°I will take it as a good will gesture, unless this is Hawaiian.¡± He opened a box and took a slice. ¡°So, I will say you have me pretty much right where you want me.¡±


    ¡°How did you restore your cultivation? Is that the phoenix rising scroll''s secret?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn''t know. Reading something like that while crippled...¡± Little Spur was sweating. ¡°I do not know how I got my cultivation back, but I have guesses.¡±


    ¡°Educate me.¡±


    ¡°Give me my ring back and I''ll tell you everything.¡±


    The sect master rolled it between her fingers. ¡°I can undo the dome and see who turns up to kill you. The attacks were Red Line cultivators, looking for you. I heard rumors of a ''mortal grade'' killing a trio of three knot cultivators.¡±


    ¡°Wasn''t me.¡±


    Rio nodded. ¡°Whomever was at fault, they took a leap of faith for the wrong reasons that came to the conclusion a ''Little Wing'' was hiding in our sect. Hence they went after mortal grades who might fit a broken cultivation base and a helper who could guide them through some sort of crafting line. The deal: I''ll help you make copies of the scroll, but I need the original.¡±


    ¡°I don''t have it.¡±


    Rio laughed a little. ¡°Tell me where it is. You don''t stand a chance of getting off this floor. You''ve restored your body, but you need time to actually extend those ugly grafts-¡±


    Preshe said quietly. ¡°You mean impossible grafts.¡±


    Corvayne urged her not to talk to Rio but the sect leader just waved her hand. ¡°My goal is to get the Red Line Blade sect off our property. These agents who attacked are not the last of them, and sooner or later they''ll figure you out. We have the same goal, but you need to bury your pride and give up the scroll.¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°Foolish. They will simply take it then turn and kill me. My bloodline is what they are after.¡±


    Corvayne got up and took his plate into the kitchen. Preshe was there too.


    ¡°What''s his story?¡± She asked, looking back. Corvayne took the cups from her.


    ¡°He hasn''t told me the full deal, but I expect it involves being crippled, his engagement broken, and being left for dead.¡±


    Preshe nodded. ¡°I''ve heard a few stories like that too from classmates. Being a cowtivator is hard.¡±


    They walked back into Rio glaring at Little Wing, who sighed. ¡°I''ll make a deal. Copy and distribute the scroll, while acting as my protector until I''ve recovered enough I can deal with whomever they are sending.¡±


    ¡°Fine. But I need you hidden. I''m going to limit you to this academy while I sort out it out. The wards here will make it harder for them to find you. I''ll have to prepare a body. Don''t argue.¡±


    She looked over at Bayou and Lepin. ¡°Staying dead will keep you safe.¡±


    ¡°I need to see my friends and family.¡± Corvayne said. As well as keep up their deal from before the dungeon. Though in some ways, he was pretty sure he solved it. Or this was unrelated to the problems they''d been having.


    ¡°If you go out, they are going to target you. Do you think you can survive out in the sect?¡± She had her arms folded.


    ¡°Give me my ring so I have my stuff.¡± Corvayne said. ¡°And I''ll defeat anyone who''s weaker than you who tries it. If I''m going to be bait, I need gear.¡±


    He was pretty sure he had things that could compare in his haul. He also got the sense this is what she had been going for with their earlier plan. Use him as bait.


    ¡°Deal. With the red liners around, I need you to report to me. We still don''t know if they''ve been sabotaging us this entire time or this is just related to Little Wing.¡± She flicked his ring to him. ¡°I want to root out these traitors. They will be looking for you as long as the scroll takes to copy. Could be a few months. Don''t even think about leaving. Once a week at least.¡±


    She flicked the ring to him, and he noticed an essence string she had attached to it. To track him, obviously. On the other hand, once he put that string somewhere, he''d be off her leash. So collect information, work on his [[Unity]] bond with the sect, and root out the mole. He also wanted to find out about the Sect Leader.


    ¡°I of course need to sneak in, don''t I?¡±


    ¡°If you get spotted, punishment duty again. Not digging ditches. Something else.¡± She was clearly thinking of something amusing.


    Everything she asked was something he''d have to do anyway, as he still wanted to know about why they had targeted Kirae, as well as find out why the sect leader looked like him. He took his pancho off and swung his Watcher cloak back on, as well as his chain mail and a black shirt. He took Lady Blood Claw and had her grow herself a bed of vines.


    ¡°Prishe, please look after her. Love you.¡± He stood up, and nodded to Little Wing and Bayou. Lepin looked away for a moment, and he felt whatever she was conflicted about, she wasn''t going to say in front of Lepin. So he headed out.


    A moment later Rio was walking with him, pushing a jade slip into his hands. ¡°Hold up, I wasn''t done. I''m putting you in the motor pool. Show up at least a few hours a day, pretend to fix something. Find me the traitors.¡±


    She looked like she was going to say something more but then she vanished, moving fast enough that Corvayne could barely see it.


    He looked at the slip.


    First things first.


    It had been a few weeks.


    Corvayne tuned his compass to Spears and set out from the academy to go get laid.

 Chapter 252: A Tale of Two Girlfriends

    He put his running boots on, and felt compass start to find the best route to Spears. It was evening, and for a moment it considered the train station, but was somehow calculating a route through hills in the distance. He stretched his legs, then took off.


    The path it wanted him to take had him veer off into what looked like a dirt path up to a cliff, but he tilted his head and saw a path. Tilting just a little bit, and the path was solid stone. A shortcut... and [[Understanding]] clicked it together. His pacts were slowly letting him see slightly more dimensions, including paths that normally were closed. Sort of like narrow eyes could see a little band, and as he opened them more and more came into view vertically. In this case, he guessed that just standing there and spinning in a circle there was a little bit more circle then just one rotation.


    He set his compass to safest route, and it wavered a little, meaning either all of them were safe, or none of them.


    He walked into the path, expecting the terrain to get weird, but instead it felt like another mountain road, a deer path that just barely had enough room for a person with a few places he felt like he was missing things as it twisted and turned through woods. In a few minutes he emerged from a passage between rocks that, glancing back, was just a forested ravine rather than a trail or even a cliff, shadowed from the pink setting sun.


    These hidden paths were something he might use to keep Sect Master Rio busy if he found nothing else: Very likely most people could never see them, even if they knew they were there.


    It wasn''t just the mountains either. Walking down into the flat-lands, he found himself sometimes turning via compass to walk by posts that he hadn''t seen, bridging two roads. He could see the mountains blur a little as he moved across condensed spaces. He slowed down a little as he moved through the areas, aware that if there was anyone else who used these spaces, they''d likely consider him a trespasser.


    The goal seemed to be a large complex of lakes and buildings with pumps and other mechanical devices, laid out on a plateau. He was pretty sure he had ran fifty miles, but [[Unity]] also had made his stamina recover much faster, possibly because it was sharing and subtly multiplying everyone''s regeneration. That or [[Growth]] meant his stats had gone up because of training. The pacts were weird, but he was happy for the help they had offered.


    There were five moons lighting up the landscape, and he saw one tower with lights on that was his goal. Up close, he could see it was metal riveted together, with pipes everywher and what looked like a dozen different filtration systems.


    A woman in blue robes with sapphire everything all over and wet hair opened the door, looked him up and down, sneered, and started to shut said door. Corvayne put his foot in the door and using gravity rooted it in place. Even when the woman tried slamming it again, [[Vitality]] made it immovable.


    "Don''t mind me, I''m here to see Spears. Mind if I come in? Thank you." He kept most of the amusement out of his voice. The woman tried to block him with arms outstretched, but he used [[Juxtapose]] to glide right past into what looked like a weird combination of house and workshop. All over were clothes, notes, and jars full of slimes and what looked like water elementals.


    Corvayne followed the jars, going around a pass through into a kitchen, and down a hall lined and lit by shelves with glowing slimes. Most of them teal or blue, a few looking to be made of pink or red liquids. A stairway to a basement that smelled like musty books seemed to be the right pick, he could see a light on behind a door framed by shelves full of notes.


    "Halt! You dare enter the mistress of aquatic-"


    Corvayne just walked down the steps, opened the door and walked into a lab set up in what looked like an old pump facility, converted to something that looked like a slime zoo. Spears was there, of course, in one of the larger jars. She brightened up and waved, so Corvayne strode over and turned a pretty standard reinforcement array off. In a hot moment the jar shattered and Spears flowed out, coughing out some pretty gross looking slime that had given her a sickly lime coloration before throwing her arms around him.


    "Rescue complete." He said, then winced as he felt attention from somewhere distant settle on him. He may need to remove a certain green fruit from his vocabulary. Behind him, he heard the tromping of someone coming down the stairs into the basement.


    ¡°You dare trespass-¡±


    She started summoning water magic, so Corvayne threw a shadow at her, slapping her face and disrupting the spell, then moving to close in and put her in a headlock. The woman started struggling, spell form collapsing entirely as she paniced.


    ¡°Spears, what should I do with her?¡±


    ¡°I''d say put her in a jar... but she''s not the problem. Her... boss is obsessed with me being ''made of pure water qi'' or something.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Right, well, let''s ditch here and find you some fresh fruit and actual clean water.¡± He found himself angry. Gylwin had said that they were not taking care of her, but seeing how she looked tired and was looking away from him.


    He moved from a headlock to an armlock. ¡°I am very angry. Please give me a reason not to hurt you further. Or give me a reason to hurt you further.¡±


    ¡°You... huff... will... regret-¡±


    He considered just breaking her neck, but instead used [Nerve Pinch] and dropped the woman like a sack of potatoes. He resisted the urge to kick her, though Spears took the opportunity.


    ¡°Are we finally leaving?¡±


    ¡°Had I been aware of exactly the conditions you were in, I''d have come sooner.¡± He kicked himself. What Bayou had been talking about was coming back around.


    ¡°Wait, before we go... steal all their notes. Some of it is actually useful. I might be able to abuse what they figured out on other slimes.¡±


    Corvayne went on a looting spree then, taking notes and anything that seemed useful or valuable. He even opened the freezer and took all their steaks and sausages. Then, thinking about it, he smashed the slime jars, letting them loose. Might as well leave the door open too, right?


    ¡°Did she take your stuff?¡± Corvayne asked, and Spears shook her head. Compass gave him a direction, but he instead handed her his own spear for the moment, as well as a rubber suit.


    ¡°It smells like limes.¡±


    ¡°Do not say that word, please.¡± The hairs on his neck stood up. ¡°It''s a banned word now. Lemons is as close as we get.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    He started to think about it, and pressed down with [[Organization]], switching over to plans to get Spears-Like-Water into a hotel after liberating Bell. ¡°I can''t think about it.¡±


    He stopped, and used compass to point to keys and a vehicle. He had to walk back inside and pull them off a board, then go out to a shack and open it. A flying sword with handlebars like a hog.


    ¡°Close enough to a hovercycle.¡± He thought and put the key into the handle and turned it, the sword popping into the air with the throaty purr of a non-existent diesel engine.


    Spears wrapped her arms around him then went blob mode, leaving behind a lot of green crap that looked and smelled like mold before she settled around his neck.


    ¡°You okay?¡±


    Spears wiggled, a nod. ¡°I knew you''d come, they didn''t really hurt me, just prodded for experiments and kept me locked up.¡±


    Corvayne checked the sword and saw something that had a small essence link that he crushed, then glided over the water and straight for the direction his compass was pointing. There was an effect that blocked the wind on the sword, turning a few hundred miles an hour into a light breeze.


    ¡°I know Gylwin had the option of springing you, but I figure we''d better keep it in our pocket, I''ve got a deal with the sect leader. Acting Sect Leader Rio Blackfist. She said that I bear a striking resemblance to the Sect Leader in seclusion.¡±


    ¡°You think it''s your father?¡± She asked.


    ¡°If we have another situation like the attacks, we fold and leave.¡±


    ¡°I get the feeling everyone is actually powering up here.¡± Spears added. ¡°But once again I''m reduced to mini-blob form.¡±


    ¡°I''m going to find a bushel of apples and stuff them into you until you can''t walk strai- until your back to top form.¡± He left unsaid then he was going to fuck her. She got it from how she was blushing.


    The majority of the sect was barren grazing grounds. The path took them close enough to the cathedral that he could see lights on. He might go back and let Bessie know Bayou was okay ¨C the titanic cow seemed to like her, a lot.


    He could tell Gylwin had a clone following him on the ground, blinking around. It made him feel a little safer.


    ¡°I need to get us a new place to stay. I might see if Bell''s had better luck.¡± Otherwise, he was going to dump some money on a place in the sect itself, or Neo Nashville. Or free Juggernaut.


    ¡°Is Preshe alright?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°She''s going to have some complications, basically her and some of my new friends from the stables are grounded there.¡±


    ¡°Your link felt weird... what happened?¡±


    Corvayne did his best to fill her in on the events on the punishment duty and the acid dimension. Of course, getting to the memory orb she gasped.


    ¡°You remember!!! Me, you, and... uh... I need one of those.¡±


    ¡°Waves Within basically treated you as a daughter. I guess I kinda learned something from him after all.¡±


    She nudged him. ¡°Like, the pointy end goes in your enemies?¡±


    ¡°No I mean with Preshe.... Also do you remember Cascadia?¡±


    ¡°FUCK!¡± She cried out, a wiggling psudopod reaching up to what he assumed was her forehead, as it was rubbing above where her eyes were.


    ¡°I take that as a ''sort of''.¡± Corvayne said, guiding the sword down at what looked like a stadium nestled in the foothills of the main mountain. He took a glance up at the misty peaks, then turned his focus back to the barracks as he collected the sword and flipped it onto his back.


    Despite having a huge structure made of stone with banners and wood, it had a paved parking lot with lamps that wouldn''t look out of place in Cascadia. Trailers were parked near the back, and he could see grills and cooking fires glowing and wafting smoke up, with robed folks in foam cowboy hats drinking beers.


    The barracks had lights on, warm glow inviting. Compared to every other day, he had no issues getting directed to Bell''s room by someone at the front desk. The stone building had very cold air in the halls. It felt more like a castle than anywhere else he had been in the sect. He suspected these were older buildings or possibly reused from the dungeon''s own ruins, as they had a lot less of the parts he associated with more up to date builds.


    Bell''s door was on the second floor. Wood with metal, and a little wood peep hole like a knocked. A minute passed, and he felt her moving, then moving faster. Annoyance, connection, surprise, hunger. Well, not hunger: Corvayne felt himself smiling a little.


    Bell opened the door in a robe. The air in the room was hot from a fire going, and he could see it was richly appointed, with bowls of fruit, hanging tapestries, plush furniture, bottles of wine, even a tray with meat on it. He only had a moment to take it all in before Bell grabbed him and pushed her lips into his.


    He didn''t have a chance to say he missed her, or anything else as she started pulling him along, mouth locked on his while one one of her legs kept hitting his side until he got the picture and picked her up. Spears grumbled as she slipped off his neck, but she gamely shut the door after them and then bounced over to the bathroom with a bowl of fruit as Corvayne guided Bell to a huge bed covered in furs.

 Chapter 253: Motorpool

    Corvayne had long ago accepted that adventure often, after lengthy bouts of spear-work, lead people to odd jobs and circumstances. Including waking up early to get ready to go to a car-fixing job that was a cover for spying. Including pulling himself out of a bed that looked like a war zone while prying his princess lover''s arms off his. Including opening the door wrapped in a cheetah blanket to let a series of servants deliver rather excessive breakfast with four different types of meat and fruit and grains and some lunch food sneaking it at the end.


    Bell glared at him, sensing the unasked question. "I burn a LOT of energy cultivating!"


    He was pretty sure her chest got bigger, but let it slide as she curled up in a blanket and started gnawing on eggs mixed with gyro meat. He grimaced that she had them bring pine needle tea, then went and showered up. Spears tagged along, squeezing out more grime and crud that tainted the water a sort of olive color he associated with mixing every paint together. He sprayed the tiles of the shower off before he exited, sure that it would piss Bell off if he left uncapital slime from his capital Slime.


    "... Spears, I have a weird question." He said while drying off.


    "Hmm?" She was wrapped around his shoulders, helping absorb water.


    ¡°Where do we go from here? Me, you, and Bell.¡± If she wants it.


    ¡°I mean, we can probably sort of keep going? We''re going to live a long time. Especially given...¡± She made a little circle.


    ¡°Okay. I know you''re game for anything, but at some point I have to sit down with you and Bell... and maybe Lady.¡±


    Spears jiggled laughing. ¡°Well, it might be tough. Bell is prickly about the whole thing. But yeah, I kinda got used to us being a family.¡±


    ¡°I also had one of the cultivators bothering me in the acid dungeon.¡±


    ¡°We''ll sit down and hash it out.¡± Spears said, wiggling. ¡°Remember, we have time!¡±


    ¡°Okay. I feel like sometimes I''m being greedy...¡± Corvayne said before brushing his teeth. There wasn''t enough room in the bathroom to do a full set of stretches, but he did a few.


    ¡°I was just thinking when we are back home, or at least, when we have a base of operations, I might ask you to consider... renewing our engagement.¡±


    She turned some ultra pink shade and radiated joy, before her face became stormy. ¡°You idiot! Never say something like ''when I get back home, I''m going to propose!¡±


    He laughed at that, and just did the little spiral motion for time loop. After that, she helped him putting on his thin waterproof underwear then the Jam Jammies, which flashed black for a moment before turning to the usual strawberry texture and color. His chain mail was next, followed by the life-saving treasure and his cloak. He then put the swarm gauntlet on, and the fleet beacon on the other hand. He crossed the greatsword with his own spear, then put a revolver on his hip, trusty fire-breathing dagger on the other. He put his running boots on, and felt ready to take on the world.


    Bell was laying in bed and gave a little wave. ¡°Can you be back for my match tonight?¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Assuming there isn''t a stupid chase, yes.¡±


    ¡°It''s just the qualifying matches still. But I want you to watch me crush them!¡±


    He leaned over and kissed her, not responding to a little tongue she slipped in, nor her nails digging into his arm. Instead, he exited the barracks, flipped his sword up to turn the key, then set it down and used his compass to ride out to the motorpool.


    What he ended up at was something like the spaceport parking lot writ large, then covered in dust and left to rot in the weather for about 50 years. Some of the trucks looked beat up but functional, however he could see more than a few that were just wrecks. It was odd that the sect had areas that seemed as lush as anything else, then he''d fly a few miles and be in a desert. He looked around, dipping into the ''extra'' direction that he had noticed on the way to the arena. For a moment he startled when he saw something out of place in a row of completely rusted cars that shouldn''t exist, but it was just a bulky bug that waved at him. Gylwin, of course.


    He changed the broom to glide down the row, which caused Spears to puke out orange juice. He found it adorable, possibly because it was the same as just pouring juice on the ground.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Gylwin''s clone shifted to grow a red eye to look at them. ¡°I defeated most of the invaders, but they were not looking for you. At least, the ones I caught.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Little Spur was their target. I figure you have a body near Preshe at all times.¡±


    The bug folded it''s scythe like arms, eye slipping back into the folds of armor on it''s featureless head before it jutted what might be it''s chin upwards, as if it needed to project cockiness.


    ¡°I''ve been doing this since before you were old enough to hold a spear. Here''s what I think. We got more then one group doing things for more then one reason. There''s us, whom may or may not be the only group sent here by the Three Kings.¡±


    Corvayne was about to protest then stop. He could see that if one looked at it a certain way (or most ways) what they were doing would look like infiltration of the sect with help from the Three Kings. On the other hand, they got kidnapped into becoming members.


    ¡°There were the Red Line Sect members who were trying to find and kill Little Spur. I don''t think they were plants. When they acted, there were two other killings. Drained dry.¡±


    ¡°Is Big Red okay?¡±


    ¡°He''s fine, and I didn''t see that blond bombshell you call Bombshell leave the stables. There''s something going on with tremendously bad luck too, three other deaths, and that''s almost certainly foul play, but if she''s really ''killing'' people it''s a method that leaves different results every time, I don''t think she''s doing it right under my antenna. However... it''s possible she has something connected to her able to do it. Just like I have split bodies... we have to catch them in the act. I think you and Preshe are the two most likely to see something up with essence.¡±


    ¡°Once I''m done here, can you lead me to a body?¡±


    Glywin nodded, and Corvayne took them out of the dimentional shortcut back into the junkyard dubbed a motorpool. His destination was a garage with a lot of welding going on. Grungy looking engineers in oil stained clothes watched as he flew in.


    ¡°Hey newbie, over here!¡± Corvayne spotted a big man waving. He sort of looked like grunt if he had been shrunk in the wash to slightly less impressive proportions and a more obvious neck. The welding goggles reminded him of Spaces-Torn-Asunder. This was going to be fun.


    ¡°I was told by Rio your going to fuck things up for a few hours and leave. Stick to the hopeless wrecks in that corner and try not to damage any tools too bad.¡±


    That was, in Corvayne''s mind, a challenge. ¡°You want trucks, tractors, hoverbikes, spaceships?¡± Corvayne asked as he strolled up to a tool kit and picked out a wrench and screwdriver.


    The guy laughed, and for as little as the man thought of him, Corvayne got that he was used to following orders with a ''who-gives-a-shit'' attitude. He smiled. ¡°Sure, all that and a birthday cake. Won''t even charge ya for eggs.¡±


    ¡°Hey boss! The sect does charge us for eggs.¡±


    ¡°Nevermind that last offer newbie.¡±


    Corvayne nodded and went over to the wrecks in the corner. Some of them were just badly rusted.


    ¡°Spears can you reverse your rusting slimes?¡±


    ¡°Never tried.¡± She said as she concentrated, shivered, squeezed, and with a pop... produced a nipple.


    He snorted, then used a thumb to push it back into her body. ¡°Try again, and keep it work safe.¡±


    She squeezed out a little dark blue blob that darted at the rust and sat on it, bubbling then forming a coating of ice it broke through to keep eating rust. What was left wasn''t in great shape, but it was raw materials. He certainly wasn''t going to take dungeon materials out to fix someone else''s car. Spears directed the slime and collected the large flakes of material left over. She wasn''t very strong with Lythandies powers, so Corvayne took them and started using his hands to bind and shape the metal. Soon enough he had flexible plates and a pile of broken glass, four leftover tires, and a bunch of other metal parts that were once something important but now might as well have been scrap. He guessed they were parts of a broken transmission or something from the engine block, but it didn''t matter.


    He moved through the pile of cars taking raw materials and saving some of the mechanical parts that looked like they could be salvaged with a little bit of spit and shine. He was going to need his own hovercraft at some point, as the sword just didn''t have space on it for a personal shield, nor did the wind effect entirely remove the chance a bug would fly into one''s teeth. There was enough copper in three wrecks and an old radio he could make a nice agrav unit and put it into a smaller bike. It wouldn''t fly as well as his old one, but he was reworking the engine for maximum electricity, amping up the alternator to output enough juice to carry a truck and bed, then set up landing wheels before grabbing a few stacks of metal to make a propulsion unit. He needed some insulated wiring to make sure the coiled wire on startup didn''t fry the controls, so he got up and walked over to the boss.


    ¡°Do you have something to apply Neoprene PVC or Dull Crima sleeves for wires?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know what the fuck Dull Crima is, but we got PVC and Neoprene wires.¡± He motioned at a spool. ¡°What are you even going to hook it up to?¡±


    Corvayne took about a quarter of the spool. ¡°Standard Gasoline... hmm do you guys use lead? Well, a gasoline engine and an Alternator that I''d say is... three? Alternator Mk III.¡±


    ¡°What the hell does ''mic three'' mean?¡± The boss said, now following along. Weirdly, his hostile tone hid amusement and curiosity.


    ¡°It means numbers went up.¡± Corvayne took the wire and started hooking everything up to the alternator, guessing he had more then enough voltage with a III or II.5 at the end. He started mending, hands melding metal together.


    ¡°Ohly shit it''s a metal bender! Why didn''t you say so kid?¡±


    Suddenly everyone wanted to be his friend.


    ¡°Can you melt the weld-lines? I got a request to make it as shiny as possible.¡±


    ¡°Can you shape gold? It needs to look like a cow with a human pair of tits. No joke!¡±


    ¡°I got a nut that''s stripped I could use a hand with!¡±


    ¡°Hey everyone, this guy needs help with his nuts! Don''t we all!¡±


    Corvayne got distracted and did some work. First the chrome work was easy, barely taking a thought to smooth everything out. Someone else actually needed help with an engine and Corvayne split it open with a careful use of [Cross Skill-Sundering Blade] via his screwdriver, then mended the engine''s interior and cleaned out some corn grit before undoing the precise slice through the engine block. The stripped nut he just fixed. The cow with tits he opted to make a woman with horns, using Lythandies'' power to let him carve it like wood. He paled as he realized he had just etched the acting sect leader''s face into a huge truck''s topless figurehead.


    Everyone else agreed they liked it a lot, asking him to stay longer than just two short hours, to which Corvayne checked the clock and realized he had only been there fifty minutes.


    ¡°Took me hours to do all this last time...¡± He shrugged and got a hover truck up and running over the next hour, using the last few minutes he was on the hook to make them a few parts that they could mess around with to make their own hover-whatevers, as well as whip up a bike for himself.


    That out of the way, he shook the bosses hand and tossed the stolen flying sword in his holdout ring before pointing his compass at the main storehouse of the sect. Before he did any snooping, he wanted to talk to Kirae.

 Chapter 254: Storeroom

    The storehouse was opposite the Colosseum on the mountain, located in a valley that marked the bottom of vastly wide set of stairs up into the mountain. At first glance it was a peak, a light brown sharp line dwindling as it moved upwards into the fog. Only when he was closer and could see trees hanging over it did Corvayne realize what he was looking at. As they made their way up the gentle slope into the foothills they reached the storehouse. Some of the dune-like mounds on closer inspection looked like crushed bulwarks. He weaved on his hoverbike through the talus to the storehouse. His compass was sure Kirae was there. It made sense given she had some sort of merchant class.


    Whereas many of the buildings he had seen showed a sort of tasteful refinement of the ''Daoboy'' aesthetic, the storehouse was made to look much like a desert fortress, like one might see in a historical painting featuring cowboys fending off goblin cattle rustlers with six shooters. Adobe walls had wood logs jutting out from the six tiered fortress. There was an orange wooden arch into the fortress with heavy oaken doors, iron rings and rivets and all, as well as what looked like a later addition of a clay tile roof above... but the rest of it was pure cowboy with cannons, gun slits, and desert pigments used to draw arrays on it.


    Corvayne was worried he was going to be blocked from entering. Instead, he found the doors opened for him automatically, creaking and leaving the scent of wood chips baking in the sun. Perhaps Rio was finally holding up her end of the bargain(s) they had made and actually helping him. The interior looked less dusty and dry. Greens with stone paths and koi ponds contrasted with the tan walls, where they hadn''t be replaced with moss colored stones. There was a more traditional stables with actual regular horses in them as well as a stack of cannonballs but those were the only signs the interior may have been a functional fort. It made sense to Corvayne: he strongly suspected they had built the fortress when the Sect was new, and expanded to include the more impressive monstrously over sized buildings.


    The interior of the fortress was wood, with woven straw floors. There were hanging scrolls with calligraphy horseshoes drawn in explosive singular brush strokes. Not his thing, but he could see why they were there. The first floor just contained rows of what looked like Confucian scholars hunched over laptops, sometimes with piles of objects they weighed before throwing it into one of three to five bins near each desk.


    Because he had been ruthlessly teased by his party in the dungeon for not knowing the basics of the sect, he had Spears drive for part of the trip while he re-read the summary of the building the Three-Kings syndicate had put together. At one time the main stampede bulwark, the building had been reworked into Dusky X Creekwood''s home, then the main trading and vault for everything the sect leader had decided was ''tradeworthy''... but nothing so precious the sect would be willing to part with. So, he wasn''t going to find some goofy 50,000 year old flower that would magically lift his curse.


    The first floor was all business, sorting and assembling payments and salaries for the folks that couldn''t be paid in contribution chits or were cashing out. In addition there were currency rooms in the first basement to store all that money. He had no interest in those as he would never need to collect another crystal as long as he drew breath. Also he would instantly alert half the sect if he stepped into the basement with the vault. The building also held things the sect had deemed worth selling outside their normal exports. These were housed on the second floor and included anything besides guns and the ammo (Ie: their unique built ones that turned you into swiss cheese), domesticated beasts for riding or farming, and flying swords that ran off mana but could also use petrol.


    He didn''t stop on floor two or the third, climbing wooden steps and only glancing at a hallway with armed guards beside every door. Aside from more powerful and unique items in the second basement, this was where magic items were stockpiled for trade. Again, heavily guarded and his notes said the selection was usually very eclectic: The sect preferred to give anything useful to people who could use it, aside from a few greedy elders who had extensive collections. Rumors of deeper floors were mentioned, but Corvayne suspected he''d have better gains going and climbing the tower to find chests rather than gambling on something even the report said was doubtful. The writer had speculated that all the really good stuff would be in the heart of the mountain where the sect leader had carved an imposing fortress deep into the stone.


    What he was here for, as well as to see Kirae, was the fourth floor, which was oddities. Things like art they were considering selling (Overpriced per the report), stacks of enchanted chairs (for an auction hall that had been replaced by leather seating when it moved to Neo Nashville), cages with living tumbleweeds in them (Per the report: once a pillar of their monster sales but outclassed by the named monster duckweed from Greencarpet), a room full of cursed gear (he did a furtive check with compass for living clothes passing the room and sadly found none), and finally the place Kirae was: the ¡°We Have No Fucking Idea Storehouse¡±.


    The rooms on this floor were not true vaults. The ''WHNFI'' Storehouse actually had windows out to the inner courtyard to let fresh air in. Someone had swept dust out of the isles between containers, but Corvayne got a sense from cobwebs higher up that the stacks of fifteen foot tall bundles, piles of chests, and rolls of odd fabrics had been sitting there hundreds of years. It was labeled, some by marking on the floor, others by wood signs tied into the rope keeping containers together, and some just with slips of lined paper in pen. He recognized Kirae''s handwriting, frequently followed by question marks.


    The report he had read included some of the contents of the room. Three Kings didn''t know any more than the sect did what much of it could be used for. Examples included: Ghostfire Cloth. Sounds really powerful, the dungeon drops high level gear made of it. The raw material was totally useless. You cannot handle it once you unroll a roll, the material becoming etheral except when you roll it back up. The only use is to collect enough of it, buy out someone you know has been infested by a rival merchant''s spies, then sell your stock through a different dummy front after said rival assumes the guy buying has a way to process it. Corvayne passed three log-cabin sized stacked pallets of the material, it''s dull teal glow mingling with the light from the windows. It looked like it was finely woven from essence.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    There was a very, very, very rare drop from monsters on this floor that were ''Impervium'' chips. The material was too strong, to the point it couldn''t be smithed. Aside from being used to make a really bad macuahuitl it was worthless, but again it could be priceless. The Sect had been operating for thousands of years and decided they would keep those rocks in case that changed. They were bundled into chickenwire bales and stacked two tall. They radiated gravity to Corvayne.


    There was also moneystone. The report states it''s well known that the little green metallic rocks trigger every sort of merchant sense as being priceless, but have no functional use besides trying to scam people. The practice fell out of favor as merchants who had value-smelling skills wised up. It was sometimes used as a decoy for thieves with sense value. Someone had made a giant clear piggybank for them, and it was half full.


    Paper that ate everything written on it with no apparent function, Stacks of metal that made enchanted items no-one could figure out the benefit of, eggs that nobody knew how to break open or hatch... useless things that might be precious. Corvayne followed his compass and found Kirae sunbathing face down in a clear square where the sun shone down.


    She looked up at him, then reached over and pulled her discarded initiate robe over her ass.


    He coughed and looked away. "Bad timing?"


    "I spend a lot of time here either sunning or having trysts with two different accountants and a few other staff."


    Corvayne saw someone scramble into a darker part of the room while putting their own robe on. Ah. "Sorry, I can go catch that guy..."


    "Guy or girl." She corrected, then got on her hands and knees and pulled her robe around her, standing while using her foot to collect undergarments she tucked into a pocket. "Are we leaving?"


    "Not yet. I have some goals I''ve picked up since getting picked up. Is it safe to talk here?"


    She ran fingers through her hair, straightening it. "Yes. This isn''t the real vault for anything but currency they are desprately trying to convert. Everything below is a massive collection of scamstone. It''s a deterrent for scrying and searching skills for treasure."


    "So there''s another place they stock crystals?"


    "I''ve been to site B. C is spirit stonybrooks, which are functionally useless to us because we don''t cowtivate. D is spirit stones, also functionally useless to us because we don''t cultivate."


    "There''s a difference?" Corvayne couldn''t keep the shock out of his voice.


    Kirae shruged. "They tell me there is, I don''t have talent in regular or cowboy cultivating. Which means I''m the only person with a mercantile class they let anywhere near them now. Makes for a very boring Monday."


    "Are you happy here?"


    She made a so-so gesture. "I''ve gotten extremely good level ups and there are skills I''m developing very quickly, but the other merchants hog the expensive and wide trades since they think they can''t get good essence gains doing other things. So I''m going to get a weird quartermaster class if I don''t rip someone off soon. Also... I miss Shaelle, I like living in a city, and I kinda miss you idiots."


    Easy levels... "Are you selling anything in this room?"


    "There''s nobody to buy it-"


    "I can afford it." Corvayne said. "And I''m willing to bet solid money we have a sort-of theif class who can then steal everything the sect was paid on my behalf from you when you got to site B with a boatload of black crystals."


    Corvayne walked over to laundry bins full of metal hexagons, and picked one up. "Nobody knows what these plates are used for?"


    "The Eagle-Eye''d Trader they have thinks a lot of things here are tower currencies for rooms that don''t exist yet or no longer exist." Kirae went over to a clay jar labeled ''Dragon Stones'' and held up a gem. When she pressed it, it changed form, Corvayne recognizing a web, a hammer, a rock, and eventually back to a blue stone. ¡°Worth 6,000 yellow crystals as what my skill calls the ''mean'', but you might pay at most 1,000 blue from curio vendors at the marketplaces. You often can just buy them for a 10 gold from initiates who find them. Less than a billionth of the price it should be.¡±


    He held a hand out, and she dropped it into his. Corvanye used compass, asking it for someone who could use it. It pointed at him and Kirae. Oh right, he could squeeze it and change shape. He tried again, for someone who could show him it''s real value. It gave him a direction. That was enough.


    Now, he could probably just pop things into his storage ring and walk out, but Kirae had been lamenting not gaining levels acting as a merchant. ¡°You here all day?¡±


    ¡°I sleep here sometimes in exchange for the night shift doing me favors. My actual room is tiny and I have a mattress on top of the softstone slabs in the corner.¡±


    Corvayne looked about. ¡°How''s currency scale again? Roughly a hundred gold for a green, hundred green crystals for a blue, so on?¡±


    Kirae jerked her head back and forth following where Corvayne was looking. Her voice sounded a little confused by the question. ¡°It drops to ten times for orange and up. But yes, green, then blue, yellow, purple, orange, red, violet, then black, then white to radiant white, which might have grades, supposedly there was a merchant who saw a white that gave them a tan at the marketplace on floor 50.¡±


    Corvayne made eye contact and nodded. ¡°Thanks. Standard size is about a knife blade, right?¡±


    ¡°Most of the shards you bleed are two to three crystals.¡± She said, frowning. ¡°That''s why you want to keep them in a storage ring, it''s too easy to hone in on them for thieves. I am wondering why you are not bleeding them... I figured they had been harvesting yours in jail.¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°I suspected our original plan might go south. I will need to talk to you about information regarding the sect... but to be clear, you are responsible for this room and it''s stock? If you had a merchant come here, would you have the authority to deal with it?¡±


    ¡°Yes. They gave me authority to sell from the room, but there''s a demand I get at least one hundredth my skill''s market price unless the head merchant approves. It''s woven into the formations of this building, somehow. Just the other day I had a gentleman who wanted some of the Impervium for the bottom of his fish tank...¡± Her eyes narrowed as she trailed off, then she got a predatory look. ¡°Corvayne, my good friend, are you perhaps storing a few pounds of black crystal in your body?¡± Greed and ambition flowed through the [[Unity]] link. ¡°That can''t be healthy.¡±


    He summoned one of many, many piles of slightly bloody black crystals from the holdout ring on his clavicle onto the wood floor. Then another pile. He picked up one that after rubbing some of the dried blood off had a hint of white on the tip. ¡°What are you asking for everything in this room?¡±

 Chapter 255: True Water

    Spears was woken from a nice nap around Corvayne''s neck by the feeling of leveling up quite a few times, which was odd because when she awoke and created her eyes, she saw a empty lantern lit storeroom and no signs of battle. In fact, it looked like someone had just meticulously cleaned random squares of the floor in a grid, vibrant red wood turning to rough gray that looked like it belonged on the side of a barn. Kirae was there, of course, shaking Corvayne''s hand. She thumbed through [[Unity]] and didn''t feel anyone was in combat at the moment.


    She switched her digestion back over to some of the fruit she had compressed near her core and returned to regenerating, converting mana to water and binding it with fruit to absorb it, also taking in wisps of hydrogen and oxygen from the environment and forming bubbles of them to bond. It felt good, much like how Corvayne radiated satisfaction through [[Unity]] when it was a cold day and he had a warm blanket (or warm slime!) around him. Waves-Within had told her that she was closer to a hybrid Hydrogen and Oxygen elemental rather than water (isn''t that what water IS?), and her slime form was an adaption to what she wanted and the ''environment''. There was more, but it brushed into the parts where her memory had been changed or stolen.


    Looking up at the side of his jawline from Corvayne''s neck, he looked stoic as ever, while Kirae was practically cackling, hefting an orange bucket full of Adept-Class crystal. They both looked like they had just rolled around on the floor for a few hours, and Corvayne felt tired while she was tired and triumphant. Spears was nearly certain they hadn''t slept together, despite her trying to politely get him to keep chipping away at the curse by getting into trouble. If she told him ''You need to get into trouble, go kiss some strangers or steal something!'' he would consider it being not-trouble.


    Some of that was Bellithca. The princess was off training, getting ready for her matches. Corvayne loved her, when he wasn''t distracted by a dozen different things. Spears had gotten used to him being a sort of lighthouse. When he thought of her, or Bell, it was intense. That and Lady. But Bell roiled in jealousy, sometimes conflicted with shame because she had inserted herself into what she thought of as ''Spear''s'' relationship. If Bell spent more time practicing with [[Unity]] and did the math, she''d figure out their spearman wanted to use his spear more than he probably admitted. She had tried to explain that the Watchers origins were a society that was mostly women, and that if Corvayne remembered everything correctly she was pretty sure he''d have more girls around.


    Spears tried not to be upset about how many gaps in her own memory she''d felt. She knew she had been alive a few years before the summoning, and sometimes she tried to pull what she thought was a memory of childhood, playing at a park, but it was fluid like she was and the details had blurred to time spent at the Watchers, the fountain becoming the oasis and the buildings metal versions of her hometown.


    She felt a little itchy, which meant her regrowing process was complaining she needed more materials faster then just converting mana. It was very annoying how much things like lightning or mold hurt her. She formed her mouth. ¡°Corvayne is there water or fruit here?¡±


    Kirae startled. ¡°I thought you were alone!¡± A point for possibly him working on a third member of the harem. No, he was too nonchalant about her waking.


    Being a liquid scarf, his voice made his throat vibrate in a way that was deeply pleasing. Her core was right near it. ¡°We''ll get something. Is there a place to eat nearby?¡± He was fiddling with new storage rings. Ah, that might explain the level ups. Kirae getting experience, then a pact sharing it.


    Corvayne started digging in a ring. She had enough dimentionality to see his hand fade to blue as it moved away from the main 3D plane. He pulled out what looked like an orb of water.


    ¡°This was un-id''d, it can''t be broken down or absorbed by most people, but has an aspect of water according to Kirae... I set it aside for you.¡±


    How thoughtful! She slithered down his warm arm, specifically being ticklish and warm herself so he''d feel her flirting, then rolled the orb up as she retracted with it. Pulling it in, she got a weird feeling of Deja Vu before suddenly she was diving into her mindscape.


    ¡°God damnit, what did you just hand me!¡± She shouted to dark blue gas. Her fall accelerated then slowed just a moment before dropping into an metallic ocean of unmixed gas. Bubbles of chemicals formed loops, but she kept falling instead of finding buoyancy, past the usual floor of icy black cursed spikes. Into the black depths... suddenly lit up.


    At the same time, her mind shot upwards blasting out of her mindscape into orbit around the hazy blue gas giant.


    Her past, deep below, she saw her parents. They were bonded together, a film of a Hydrogen based life form around an Oxygen based one, pacts bridging what should be impossible into a flow like water. When at ease or rest, they were both at the same time.


    A city of impossible black crystal spires melding with metal and trees. The park she was at, her parents joined form twisting to show her a leaf, part solid part liquid. She felt the little ridges of the plant on her psudopods, how it''s waxy surface had bumps where the plant had grown. How it was colored like an explosion. Her parents saying something, maybe explaining that leaves fall but come back. She was fussing as some grass had gotten into her first attempt at a leg.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    The future, far above: She saw a sigil form in the air, a vast vault open, and from it a torrent of horror pour into a world, an ocean of dirt dissolving a city. Billions drowning and merging, becoming mud or dissolving as they met oxygen halfway.


    Back to the past, her parents were a perfect bond as they tried to take her ice skating, not around each-other but one. Water was a liquid but also a solid and gas, all present. She was barely able to hold herself together, but watched in awe as her parents, clad in shimmering garments able to flow with them, went from humanoid to twisting lines like glass, gliding across the rink as they spun and flowed, abstract but twined.


    The future, an entire world unable to bond to things being poured onto it, dying. The rift between universes, growing. On the other side, a matching sigil, drawn in cruel red lines, pumped alien air back into a world that evaporated, dirt becoming gas, people bubbling into red clouds and trails of liquid on the ground, running like paint across the ground as they died.


    There was a sense of urgency as she switched back to being ripped out of her parent''s hands, the feeling they were too anchored in the world but she was a piece of debris, floating around a powerful grab for something else, pulled into a different universe that made her skin boil off as magic patched it together, becoming something alien to survive as dark roots curled around her and through her, keeping her together but binding her.


    Her screams were a pathetic warbling as alien air drilled at her core at the same time green magic dug it''s spines into her forcing her to bond and change. Channeled through someone else, a form floating curled up that had speared her with links of sickly green fire. The curled up form having wings of green fire trailing people as they all fell through the void, the only path lit up green as a grasping force pulled them out of one reality and into another.


    There were people who could not adapt as they changed states, their eyes becoming one with trees that fell into the soup of matter, an explosive mingling...


    Detached from her memories and the future, while also feeling agony and rebirth from them, Spears did her best to apply the warrior training she had mastered, in the present. What Corvayne had done so often when he needed to persevere. Water aspected, but that might be because it was meant for her.


    ¡°Is this just to teach me a power? To warn me? It''s a tower treasure, it''s an opportunity.¡±


    She looked closer and figured it out. Nothing shown was a beginning or end, just a change.


    ¡°This must be what happens to Corvayne every time he passes out.¡±


    A third view, of the present, had her in perfect orbit just above her mindscape rolling gas giant. A pair of lightning eyes opened in the stars. Her mind rippled as lightning just barely touched her.


    ¡°TYAKO. YOU MUST-¡±


    She didn''t hear anything else as every single curse vine in her blasted up out of her mindscape, trying to claw her back down. She resisted, teeth she felt were her own clenched. She tried to dive into the sensation of being boiled alive in the past or present, searing pain wrapping every liquid drop of her as the thorns touched her and froze her, death creeping over her body.


    ¡°I''m Spears! Spears-Like-Water! It isn''t real!¡±


    Tyako... Spears woke to a heaping plate of baked apples and orange juice settling into her as everything screamed in pain... then it faded for a moment and she felt like she had drank too much water all over, like needing to vent a billion gallons (it was venting, not peeing, there was no waste products at all, it was water cleaner then filtered water, and if Corvayne didn''t want to remove some of his curse by drinking it, he had some growing up to do). The portion near her core, which she sometimes though of her head when it wasn''t her heart, throbbed as the pain faded. Her vision was split between a slightly Concerned Bell looking down at her, also a view of the bottom of the tub.


    She tasted whatever orange scented lotion Bell was using as a feminine hand rudely blasted through her to flip the nascent eyeball she was forming around.


    ¡°Spears what happened?¡±


    She formed a mouth to reply then started vomiting up black vines, the byproduct hitting the ground and burning. It shredded and froze her and hurt, until she remembered water was fine whatever form it was in, and she rippled around it, ejecting vines over at the toilet so the green fire wouldn''t harm the bathmat nor Bellithca, who had drawn a sword and revolver and was pointing at the vines.


    ¡°Immmfiine¡± Spears tried to speak around disgorging what must have been a mile of black thorns, turning into green fire and acrid smoke as Corvayne clearly was trying to figure out how to dive into the tub to save her.


    ¡°Ooommffen a Winnoow¡± She projected the unpleasant smell and that she was fine, dampening the pain she probably had been sending through [[Unity]].


    Corvayne slammed open the window and then grabbed the vines she had been aiming for the toilet (and missing) and instead directing them to the window, which she somehow felt both because they were still connected to her, sort of like hair growing out and exploding into greasy soot.


    Corvayne was bleeding as he handled, no... he was dragging it out of her, the last bits of her curse.


    ¡°Hey the pain''s gone.¡± She said, started to stand up, trying to tell Corvayne what she had seen, then blacked out as she was dumped back into her mindscape. She had trouble keeping her eyes open as she started to fall through the darkening blue into the now warm depths of black liquid metal. She fell asleep without straining against her curse for the first time in a long time.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 98.996%">


    [You have survived learning your True Name!!!]


    [Trial of the Sleepless complete.]


    [Trial of Memory Drain complete.]


    [Trial of the Twisted Bloodline complete.]


    [Race Adjusted from self designated ''Cute Slime'' to ''True Water'']


    [New Quests generating...]


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>

 Chapter 256: Turning your Slaughterhouse into a Slaughterhome

    Corvayne walked out of the barracks, got on his hoverbike, and sighed.


    "Fuck."


    He put his head in his hands. That was two allies knocked out from curses, and Kirae didn''t have much to go on for the attacks. The storehouse had a few things that were not claimed including the jade slip ''phones'' that some of the people who were killed, both the unlucky ones who had died from mysterious circumstances, and the corpses that had been sucked dry.


    He possibly broke a whole bunch of social conventions just telling the first person he saw at the fort to round everything up, but a single black crystal got him a storage ring full of personal affects from intiates who died and had no next of kin. Not surprising was there weren''t many more than a few rings up the power ladder, but he figured he''d have a good idea what the next step was once he got the jade slips opened up.


    Compass set to Mosh, he blasted across the sect, heading across the flats and around the mountain to the norther forest and headwaters of the big rivers that ran through the area, stemming from a huge rip in the blue starry sky that revealed a red starry sky beyond the water splashing down. Corvayne had studied maps and guessed that it was similar to some of the lower Cascadia floors where the landmasses took up enough room that there were only little holes and cracks like this one.


    The result of the huge gap with water pouring off of it were hills formed of grit and calcite deposits, odd trees growing alongside mushrooms and a sickly rainbow of crystal blooms, all big enough that some of the roads passed under wood constructs that kept the crystal from impeding traffic. The weathered stone had water that shimmered flowing over it, vibrant plants swaying in water that covered everything. His hovercycle thankfully didn''t lose traction, though he got soaked riding in it through what was essentially a rainstorm.


    Getting closer to the crafting center, more and more his views of the crystal studded forest were obscured by mist until he arrived at the steaming heart of forging operations. The blast furnace looked like a power plant, two stone towers bellowing out heat and turning much of the water into vapor.


    The complex was much larger than it appeared, having been built and rebuilt as layers had formed over it. He could see a nearby hill where workers in protective gear were braving the steam to keep a vent open. The rain had over the ages formed a hill around it, though he could see glowing red tumors on some of the trees where leaking fire mana had concentrated in the sap. He wondered if it made good syrup.


    Stepping into the main entrance hot air was pouring out, almost instantly drying out his skin and starting to evaporate the water on his clothes. There were formations to blast cool air into spots in the hall and up to the stone desk, but even with magic it was a losing battle to hot dry air bellowing out of the ramps that lead deeper in. He didn''t bother asking the desk where to go, just letting his compass and the appearance he was supposed to be there keep him out of trouble.


    The hall he was in was open to the outside with dozens of doors dug out through the thick stone, rainwater helping cool some of the area. The room itself looked to be a lunchroom, with people sitting down and eating. Many of them were covered in soot and wood dust. Corvayne''s path lead him around a shipping area with trucks lined up to be loaded with crates. Passing each door he was blasted with hot air and the smell of burnt metal.


    Corvayne''s actual goal was a wing that had far less activity. First was a series of cages built into the mountain, crystal poured over gates to keep powerful monsters secure. There was an area for butchering high powered monsters with all sorts tools, chains and huge wooden slabs being cleaned off by initiates likely one some sort of punishment duty. These chambers were laid out so they could be restocked from a broad wide road, suggesting some of the monsters they had to deal with were probably as big as Big Bessie had been. One of the larger ones reeked, and Corvayne held his breath as he stalked past. He entered the last area, which had been converted from a bio weapon butchery to a rather cozy workshop.


    Juggernaut was the first thing he noticed - curled up on one of the huge wooden tables, signs of destruction visible where snapped metal chains still hung from the ceiling and links were embedded in walls. Someone had carved those chains into fanciful depictions of monsters on the floor: Cute mandragora bombs holding lanterns, metal links shaped to look like moles using claws and back paws to stick together, the wood holding the table changed to resemble chargers, rammers, skewersteeds, and a creature that looked like a cat with a shovel for a head which Corvayne wasn''t familiar with... but would wager liked to hit things with its head given the theme of everything else holding the table up.


    All over, the slaughterhouse had every surface cleaned and covered in quilted tapestries, book cases, and gentle lights and plants. Corvayne could smell wood shavings and flowers. From behind a partition, there was the rising whine of a kettle boiling. June appeared in a moment with a teapot.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Oh Corvayne! It''s good to see you.¡± She smiled and bowed. [[Unity]] picked up a moment of her thumbing through what she should do next before she called out for Mosh.


    The goblin had been asleep up in a corner work area that Corvayne had assumed was stonework. He shimmied down a ladder and jumped off halfway, using a sofa to soften his landing and sending pillows flying.


    ¡°Boss! God DAMN I had worried when they told me you vanished!¡±


    Corvayne accepted a goblin hug and appraised the too-big robe Mosh was wearing. ¡°I take it they didn''t have much luck trying to open Juggernaut up.¡±


    ¡°I do good work! He TRASHED the place! They had to beg me to come calm him down.¡±


    Corvayne saw the things eye open, blink, then close. There was an approving snort.


    ¡°I also heard there was a monster that attacked.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, it was a moving hole in the universe. Gylwin got it! You''d be proud, I enclosed it in glass and disrupted the ground it was trying to hide on.¡±


    June poured tea, and produced a third cup. ¡°He took a hit for me.¡± She said, blushing slightly.


    The goblin rubbed his head, bashfully looking away. ¡°Aww shucks honey.¡±


    Corvayne took a moment to fill them in, though aside from his dungeon run he did note Mosh nodding a lot. Perhaps Gylwin had already filled him in on some of it.


    ¡°With LBC and Spears both out... huh I guess your calling the ol Mosh out of retirement!¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°I''m worried that our humanoid enemies are going to be a step up from the monsters we beat to get here.¡± He paused and wondered for a moment how the sect moved goods between floors without triggering boss fights, but he guessed there was likely a way to keep a corridor between floors open once a boss was defeated... he personally had hit a switch to open up the one-way floor.


    June nodded. ¡°Mosh can''t match the speed of most cultivators, unless Juggernaut is protecting him.¡± She put an hand on his arm, as if to stop him from running off with Corvayne.


    ¡°I''m not confident with the top brass of the sect either. But that''s not what help I need right now... I want to see if there''s a pattern for the last contact with the Jade Tablets people had on them when they died.¡±


    ¡°Eh, you asking me to HACK these? I ain''t a hacker!¡±


    Corvayne smiled. ¡°You are a crafter though, so I got a new one that has a per-programmed code.¡± He tossed the stone device to Mosh, who sighed and took a scroll with instructions in his hands while holding the phone in the same hand. He kept his other arm free to gesture.


    ¡°You want me to just futz with this and magically I''m going to see how to trick every one of these to open up and get you into whatever and whoever''s cultivator phone so you can help these idiots out? We should be booking it.¡±


    ¡°There''s a good chance that this sect founder has a connection to me. Rio mentioned I''m their spitting image, and they use a black crystal weapon. If I can get access there...¡±


    Mosh shook his head. ¡°No way, they don''t want anyone messing with the leaders when they try to get a breakthrough. You know how you flopped out like a dead fish for a few weeks whenever you broke a curse?¡±


    ¡°Recently I didn''t...¡± Actually he might have, he hadn''t thought to ask Bayou, Lepin, or Little Wing how long he had been passed out. ¡°Anyway, yes. They stay under for a long time.¡±


    ¡°If they don''t know you for certain, there''s no way in hell they will let you in there. Believe me, that''s almost 100 percent where they put all their best treasures and likely the place has got some insane traps and guardians. You know they got a guy trying to Frankenstein up some bio weapons.¡±


    Corvayne got that reference. ¡°Uh, do you mean make them run away from town like the monster, or patch them together like the doctor?¡±


    Mosh sighed. ¡°Well, if in a few months I can figure out how to skip the code for these slips, we can-¡±


    He finished registering his new one then paused. ¡°Woah woah woah hold up boss. I can see right where the essence goes! Hah! Okay and... zap. Did I tellya I''m a Master Omnicrafter now?¡±


    Corvayne held up one of the locked tablets. ¡°Why don''t you call me and tell me all about it?¡±


    One sensible chuckle later they were busy switching each phone''s code to 1111. Corvayne had taken notes about which jade belonged to who. Reading through the last few calls and the history of what they looked at, the ones sucked dry had three numbers come up frequently. The ones with bad luck, he looked through their searches and maps. The older jade phones had monochrome or even rippling surfaces that made them hard to read, made worse by the screen sometimes getting hijacked by pop ups.


    ¡°Bleh, all those phones have malware on them! Bigger dick and bigger cultivation core!¡±


    June showed an add. ¡°This phone has a quest to have sex with an esteemed elder sister in cultivation, no questions asked, click here.¡±


    ¡°Unclog your meridians...¡± Corvayne snickered, then frowned. He checked the texts.


    ¡°There''s an address in Neo Nashville that these keep referring to. Same one that this number sent them.¡±


    Mosh laughed. ¡°Holy crap, these cowboys got phished to death?!¡±


    Corvayne shook his head. ¡°There''s a lot of pressure to push upwards so you don''t end up like the guys shoveling dirt or poop for two thousand years...¡±


    He stood up. ¡°I''m going to check this out...¡±


    ¡°Boss, maybe get backup?¡±


    He smirked. ¡°Of course, do you think I''d just run in alone.¡± He frowned as Mosh and June both looked away. ¡°Well, I guess I walked into that one. Alone.¡±

 Chapter 257: Strangers with Rio, I mean Acting Sect Leader Rio-Blackhand-Cumberlin

    Corvayne had made sure to report his findings to Belle and to Preshe. He rightly assumed Gylwin heard him, given she now had a clone attached to the bottom of his hovercycle, compressed in a way that reminded him of a bomb waiting to go off. He highly suspected she had been leveling up like crazy on wildlife outside the sect, but without a gauge on levels he just had to go off that she was using powers he hadn''t seen to create clones. He guessed he was going to go in with her as backup, scope out the suspicious spots in the city, get into some sort of trouble, then root out whatever it was that had been attacking the sect''s members. Easy.


    Except after he reported to Rio at the headquarters, right before leaving, he got on his bike, turned the key, and found the assistant sect leader sitting sideways behind him on the Hoverbike.


    "Uhh... Miss?"


    "You will address me as Acting Sect Leader Rio, or Miss Cumberlin." Her gaze seemed to say that he was less than garbage. But [[Unity]] was feeding him excitement from her.


    "Oh. I''m surprised there''s not a Mr. Cumberlin. Acting Sect Leader Rio, are you looking for a ride?"


    "You are going to investigate the locations associated with the numbers and messages you uncovered. I''m interested that your outsider''s view of the problem has come up with novel solutions."


    Corvayne handed her one of the Jade Tablets. "Can you tell me, Miss Cumberlin, where the fetching creature on that sex ad was telling me to go?"


    He was glancing back and caught her nose wrinkle. "Tch, this proves those young bucks have no concept of romance... that pose... is she asking for a medical exam?"


    Corvayne started guiding the bike towards Neo Nashville, going slow enough to handle the turns to get him on the right road without hitting one of a few twenty foot tall pickup trucks puttering around. "Acting Sect Leader Rio... you''ve never asked a buddy if they thought it was just saddle sores?"


    "Cheeky. You are aware I could end your life in a mere moment."


    Corvayne felt it was an empty threat. If anything, the banter amused her. "If Miss Cumberlin you are in fact aiming to end these murders, committing one will not help."


    "I could rip your tongue out." She cracked a knuckle.


    "Acting Sect Leader Rio, please forgive me. According to this ad, I might need my tongue to loosen up our quarry."


    She created a barrier around them as they hit the woods and Corvayne bumped up the speed and sent them upwards. He felt her hand tighten a moment on his cloak.


    ¡°I can take us lower.¡±


    ¡°Do as you wish.¡± She said, acting blas¨¦. Corvayne deftly moved them to follow the road, switching to the highest speed lane which had them blowing past traffic merely going a hundred miles an hour.


    Neo Nashville came a little faster than when they had been rolling along on the two story truck. It was still noon and during the day, Corvayne could see some of the nicer buildings that had been drowned out by glowing lights, though there were still plenty of neon and moving screens promising cowgirls and gunfights and good whiskey for whomever bought their products.


    The city was a little taller compared to Cascadia, and there was a different vibe on the streets as they slowed down to glide off the highway and into town proper. The buildings were mostly concrete or some floor 43 equivalent that gave everything tan and gray colors, every so often propped up by a sign or interesting designed building curved like a saddle, or a park with two great bronze revolvers crossed. There was a statue in one park that Corvayne thought looked like himself if he was prone to staring off into the distance under a cowboy hat. Rio motioned for him to detour, and sure enough it was an iron statue of Dusky Creekwood, the Sect Leader. His shins showed signs of many hands touching them, discoloring his boots especially the spurs.


    They were the only people near the statue, the urban park mostly used as a way to cut from one block to another. There was beeping of traffic and the sounds of birds fluttering.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Corvayne felt a little bad for the woman riding behind him, as he could feel bittersweet longing radiate from her. He avoided looking back, instead trying to see if he could see all the way down the street to the outside of town. Nope, it was misaligned past the river. They did have some nice green spaces built between the huge concrete buildings.


    ¡°Go.¡± She said after a while, and he tipped the cowboy hat he hand on and went forward, moving out of downtown and moving towards one of the bridges over the river to long lines of commercial buildings. Clearly a more upscale setting compared to the grimy side of the city he had been on before.


    He was thankful for the shield around them keeping things quiet. ¡°Are they going to recognize you?¡±


    ¡°Tch.¡± She did something, and Corvayne could see in his rearview mirror her unnatural jade skin color and dark eyes morphing colors, softening a little as her robes changed to more drab colors. Her hair shifted from the black widow pattern she had been wearing that morning to a strawberry blonde. It was odd, she looked just like anyone else. A brown eye caught his, and she practically radiated embarrassment.


    ¡°Eyes on the road.¡± She said, with a small pulse of annoyance.


    The highway dipped between huge malls and suburban apartments, then they got into smaller streets where smaller office parks gave way to a district of vacant strip malls, theaters and empty parking lots. Much of it was placed against a growing wall.


    ¡°This is the end of the sects expanded safe zone.¡± Rio explained, her voice having a little bit of a squeak she hadn''t had before.


    Large towers and barbed wire and glowing red lights loomed above the concrete barrier. There were a few restaurants and stores open as they crept towards their final goal, a non-descript two story mini-mall, tucked away between a dilapidated gas station and a take-out place that proudly announced it served ''Floor 35 Cuisine'' with a picture of a walking hotdog with horns wrapped in noodles.


    The storefront, just called ''Heavens Palace - Cultivators Club'' didn''t announce if it was a strip club, or a bar, or a massage joint, but it radiated seedy promise the way the closed piano lesson place next to it did not.


    It was also very clearly marked with a ''CLOSED'' sign. Corvayne tapped into his compass. It spun slowly, very slowly, around clockwise. Comms received.


    ¡°I have a feeling we need to wait. This isn''t a daytime place.¡±


    ¡°When''s the darn thing open?¡± Corvayne had very strong feelings at that moment about how Acting Sect Leader Rio would look with a piece of wheat in her mouth and overalls stomping through a rice field barefoot. He suspected it was conjured up from being immersed in the culture... or [[Unity]] was influencing him back, which is something he suspected it would do if he hooked up to too many people thinking the same way. He centered himself on the stronger links to his friends and family. Some of the ones he had not touched in a while had moved a little bit, which he guessed may have been the link connecting through the closest portal.


    ¡°Grab a bite to eat? A drink? Go to the mall? I mean, any of those Acting Sect Leader Rio?¡±


    ¡°Just call me Rio when I''m incognito!¡± She fumed, gave him an elbow. ¡°Steer us to that restaurant yonder.¡±


    She gestured to a family diner style place with a friendly cow serving a steak, which Corvayne thought was rather bleak, but he supposed the cow had aspects of a Lesser Bessie, and the steak was probably from a cow that was related to the floor 43 version the same way a gecko might claim kinship with a dragon.


    He parked his bike in one of the empty spots next to a handicapped space and got off, then offered a hand to Rio, who got off and took it, then lead him into the restaurant. ¡°I ain''t been to one of these in ages.¡± She said, and picked a table by the window. The waitress looked at Corvayne and smiled.


    ¡°Sit anywhere you want sweetheart!¡± Clearly unaware of the ruler of this city and probably the entire floor for thousands of miles around was glaring at her. He slid into the booth opposite of Rio.


    ¡°Sheesh. You stand out to much, you need to stow your gear. You look like a dang bounty hunter.¡±


    ¡°I''m a young master whom is watching my younger sist-¡± Danger, radiating from her. ¡°Young master with a same-age lovely fiancee I''m taking on a date, but I am a wastrel whom has cast his straying gaze at cultivating outside his perfectly reasonable relationship with his soon to be father-in-laws tutelage.¡±


    Some of this pleased her. She turned an eye from the window to him, then turned and told the waitress to bring two coffees.


    ¡°Non-fat creamer, I gotta watch my figure.¡± She drawled and the waitress laughed and came back with two cups.


    Corvayne did a quick scan and saw what looked like a trucker reading a paper, positioned to keep an eye on his truck parked sideways through five spaces, and what looked like two men doing a deal. Unity had all three radiating boredom, though the waitress was very interested in them.


    As was Rio. ¡°We have time, cowboy. I wanna hear your story.¡±


    ¡°I''m sure you''ve heard it from everyone in my group, as well as the source that lead you to Kirae.¡±


    ¡°Kirae kept her cards pretty close, and she doesn''t know much about you. I thought she was lying when she said you''re the leader.¡±


    ¡°Wick''s the leader, main character, hero of the story. I''m just a guy with a spear.¡± He took his coffee and drank it. Bitter.


    Rio added a packet of sweetener. ¡°We can trade. You tell me a story, make up as much as you want, and I''ll tell you what I know about the sect leader.¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°You want to see if I knew him. But I gotta tell you, my memory is spotty.¡±


    ¡°Who do you think he is?¡± She was leaning in a little, which let Corvayne see down her robe if he dared not keep his eyes on hers. Warrior training helped here. Mind over matter. Also she was several times stronger than him and had crushed him like an ant when they had fought.


    ¡°Might be my father. Keep in mind, most of my tribe had those three part names. I don''t know if Dusty-X-Creekwood was Dusty-Cross-Creekwood and is a rename of Half-Claimed-Crown, which is his name.¡±


    ¡°Corvayne Claim Crown? CCC.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think they have a family angle. They are probably not the ''real'' name they were born with. Someone with a lot of insight kept calling me Nameless One.¡±


    He felt a spike of amusement from Gylwin at that, whom had sat down dressed as a elf cowgirl and started working on a crossword while waiting to order. Must be a reference he didn''t get.


    Ignoring his backup, he cleared his throat and mentally started planning how to gloss over time travel. ¡°My first solid memory was sitting on a tower, in the desert. It looked over my village, a place I had come to loath...¡±


    He refilled his coffee and kept talking, putting Rio''s rapt attention out of his mind as he focused on telling his story so far.

 Chapter 258: An Adult Club for Lonely Dao-Pokes

    Corvayne put a solid chunk of gold on the table, tipping something like two hundred percent of the coffee, steak, and salad he ordered. Close to a hundred percent, actually, since Rio didn''t put anything down for the coffee, bbq pulled pork bun, and sweet and sour beef noodle plate.


    "Hmm. You sure you don''t want to hear my story?"


    "After we bust these guys, we''ll have time. I want to scope the place out more before too many people show up." He felt pretty happy about giving her the important details without giving away his game with [[Unity]] or the time looping.


    The club in the nearby strip mall, ''Heavens Palace - Cultivators Club'', wasn''t open yet. Corvayne did a lap. A few people were parking out back, some burly guys and a few girls wearing loose clothes that hinted at more risque things underneath.


    They did a longer loop around the block and Corvayne found a building a block away to park and spy on the building.


    Corvayne hadn''t thrown out any [[Unity]] links to start converting enemies. He had been pretty sure they were a branch of Red Liners looking for Little Wing, but it didn''t fit with attacks that had happened before he arrived. The two types of death suggested to him instead that there were two actors doing the killing. This place wasn''t the actual killing grounds, he was pretty sure. There wasn''t any blood lust leaking out. Mostly boredom, a few hints of nervousness or confidence, but he didn''t know if that was just the usual emotions of girls about to strip.


    ¡°Rio do you recognize anyone?¡±


    She was looking at the building, glasses doing some work for Corvayne''s tastes that he needed to quash. No matter the dangers in the building, it would be nothing compared to pissing her off.


    Corvayne threw his senses wide. There was bored vigilance from the concrete city wall. He didn''t sense anyone paying attention to this side. He scanned the rooftops, looking with essence vision for a sign of someone otherwise hidden. A few bright blue spots suggested people hiding on the roof.


    ¡°Do you have electronic and visual stealth?¡± He asked as he activated his cloak. She switched from her denim outer robe to her own cloak, fading slightly as she looked up.


    ¡°What do you see?¡±


    ¡°A few places where enchanted items are just sitting on the roof. I assume they have their own watchers looking for trouble.¡±


    ¡°This is a criminal operation. We should crush them.¡±


    Corvayne thought about it. ¡°They might not even be the main branch. We can either try to figure out who''s in charge here and follow their movements, or we follow a victim and counter-ambush them. You can also pull sect resources to try to do everything.¡±


    ¡°We ambush the killer.¡±


    More waiting as the club opened and a few Cowtivators came up to visit the club. Some of them clearly knew the names of people, joking with the bouncers as they came in. No hostility, no blood lust. He also tried to find hunger, but it was hard to pull it out of the lust that was growing from the men going in.


    ¡°Eyes on the inside?¡±


    Corvayne sighed. He was being volunteered. ¡°I know you don''t want to loose anyone, but if we grab too fast, this will slip away.¡± He also was worried a hypothetical luck drain or bad luck effect happened in the building, and he wasn''t confident he''d have a proper defense.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    So they waited. Eventually the people coming in moved to a trickle. A stakeout wasn''t very exciting, but Corvayne was playing with [[Unity]] and his class. Was there a way to send out something hostile with his link?


    He got a feeling from Gylwin. She''d help mark everyone. Corvayne flipped to working on logging faces. ¡°I wish we could just get access to the buildings security systems.¡±


    ¡°The cameras have a cover on them.¡± Rio responded. ¡°You''d be wasting your time.¡±


    She had nice eyesight. He couldn''t make it out. ¡°I''m going to use a sneaky skill to get bugs on the cars that came.¡±


    ¡°Did you count everyone who went in?¡±


    ¡°No. I''m sure I''ll notice if there''s action.¡± he tapped his eyes.


    The sky was turning dark as moons started to rise. He saw a few men leave, but looking with essence he didn''t see anything wrong with them, though at this distance if there was something smaller scale than the main channels he may have missed it. He suspected that the color of the essence would be wrong.


    An hour passed, and there was very little movement out of the club. Night had fallen and the city was now blaring light as the numerous neon lights and screens flared to life. The clubs pink sign mixed with blue lights from other stores... there!


    A cowtivator, looking drunk, coming out with his arm around one of the girls. Corvayne saw a blond girl, dressed at the very edge of being exposed with a pink leather bunny suit.


    ¡°Bombshell. Hmm. She was someone I was suspicious of. She works at the stables.¡±


    ¡°I want to see what happens.¡± Rio said. Corvayne nodded. Hopefully it wasn''t just sex.


    They followed their marks as they slipped into an alley next to the building they were waiting on and entered a parked car and, well, it was just sex.


    On the other hand, Corvayne felt a spike of sudden fear from the club. He gave Rio a small nudge. More alarm.


    ¡°Main club, something''s going on.¡±


    Rio smiled and cracked her knuckles. Corvayne saw the big guys outside put bar on the door to lock everyone in. He responded by using Grasping Shadows, throwing an arm and pulling the bar off the door, hitting both thugs in the head. Of course, they stood back up, and a moment later Rio was there. Corvayne saw her gear switch a dozen times in a second, flashing between her clothes, robes that glowed red, and a set that looked like diamonds. It was the same pattern... for each punch. She didn''t need to do much more, laying both of the enemies out.


    Corvayne was making his way across the parking lot, they rushed into the door and came into a hallway with a lot of brass posing as gold and velvet. Some of the girls were running for the door, looking terrified, but others were pinning running men down and baring fangs, faces turning horrific and dog-like as they latched onto their victims both male and female. Something of their essence was being sucked away.


    Corvayne couldn''t really do anything, as Rio was so fast that she turned the first four targets into piles of meat before he could swing his sword once.


    He looked at part of a monster woman''s face. ¡°Chupacabara...¡±


    Moving into the main showroom, there were Cowtivators trying to fend off topless women with dog features and failing, mostly. One man had managed to decapitate his attacker, but another woman grabbed him from the wall and started pulling him by the ears up to her maw. Corvayne marked all the targets, then swung his blade.


    One moment, the club was full of monsters and screaming cultivators and new girls whom were part of the menu. The next, a wave of gold orbs flew out, tiny ion trails leaving blue lines as they unleashed hundreds of laser attacks, searing and cooking the monsters in the club. Two of the more durable ones howled and issued a challenge to him, wading through the cloud of laser blasts until Rio appeared and unleashed [Hummingbird Strikes] a few hundred times in the blink of an eye. It looked like something had sanded the monster''s shoulder neck and face away.


    The second one backhanded Rio, but she switched to what looked like a gold osode and heavy armguards, absorbing the damage, then countered with [Springwind], delivering a brutal punch that created a hurricane in the dog-monsters body then popping back into vision next to the door to backstage. They passed a dressing room where a topless woman was sobbing while a monster was eating her friend, Rio just shot it once with a gold revolver that blew the monster into a red mist.


    Two Cultivators, wearing red robes, broke through the walls to flank with two other charging with spears. Corvayne used his shadow hands to switch weapons as he pulsed his shadow shield and gravity, knocking them back. Rio used what Corvayne suspected was the third tier of sweep on them, chopping their legs off with a glowing dragon and causing them to start rolling forward, spears clattering. Corvayne leaped onto the ceiling and then used [Leap Strike] to cannonball one. At the same time he was turning one thug into a crater he used [Juxtapose] with the back of his spear, then [Cross-Skill: Hummingbird Strikes] over and over, not nearly as fast as Rio but with the benefit of his black crystal spear leaving a few dozen holes in the man. He finished the attack off on the reeling warrior with [Cross-Skill: One Inch Punch] to gory results as he fired his spear in a very small motion forward that carried some sort of stored charge up, resulting in the man flying through a wall.


    ¡°All four dead.¡± Rio confirmed, as two more figures appeared. One of them had a third burning green eye in his bald head, wearing robes that suggested he was a higher up in the Red Stripes. He had a curved blade that looked to have been carved from a single huge bone. The other...


    She didn''t recognize him, but Corvayne knew the woman in black armor. Her blood-soaked veil gave it away. The naked blood-soaked bride who had caused his last death by decapitation. Corvayne''s shadow hands put the hive greatsword into his hands as he switched from his armor to the general robe. A grim smile crept onto his face as he got ready for payback.


    He said ¡°She''s mine.¡± at the same time Rio called out ¡°I got baldy.¡±


    A moment later they all charged.

 Chapter 259: Crossing the Red Line

    There was a moment Corvayne and Rio charged the man and woman, with Rio and the man trading attacks in a lightning fast barrage before either Corvayne or the woman with the Scythe had taken more than a few steps.


    Corvayne used [Cross-Skill: Flows-Like-Water] to cancel his charge and fly back as the woman swung her scythe, magical energ at the rim likely a skill that would let her slice through water.


    Corvayne heard a crack and saw the attack had blasted a jagged line through the walls, ceiling, and floor.


    "What''s wrong, boy?" The woman sneered. "Come here, I''ll make a man out of you. Half a man! Hahahahah!"


    She swung and Corvayne dropped under a wave of force, backing up, eyes tracking both her and the fight between Rio and the man. His shadow hands helped him make sure not to stumble.


    "All those impressive looking weapons and you''re too big a coward to fight me? Daddy not give you a ring of courage?"


    Corvayne thought carefully about how the Brides had acted before. He tried to think about Nyx''s delivery of barbs. "Sorry, I was just wondering what puffed up idiot would be stupid enough to marry you."


    That did the trick. She charged and swung, keeping perfect balance as she sent barrages of force at Corvayne, energy from the Scythe essentially blunt as he rolled and used gravity to change directions, doing a dizzying backflip through the gap she tried to used [Reap] to trip him.


    He picked a dark corner and merged into it. At this point the show room was empty besides the mangled bodies of cowtivators and mutate form of the shapeshifter strippers.


    When she appeared in the hole in the wall. manic grin visible under her bridal veil, Corvayne smiled as well. Gotcha.


    Corvayne swung the hive greatsword at the gap, then on the downswing, flung the arm with the swarm gauntlet up, firing off it''s payload of humming monsters. Just as he had seen in the dungeon, the ring turned the weird gems in the sword and the bees into tiny golden machines, trailing blue fire as they flew at the Bride. She swung her scythe in annoyance, a dark aura trailing it. Probably an area of effect Scythe attack like [Gargoyle Wing] or [Sonic Scythe].


    Some of the little ships fell, but at least twenty of them hit her with twin lasers, most of the hits coming from above and driving the woman into the ground. In a single attack, she was covered in burns and the sneering expression had been replaced with shock.


    So, Corvayne swung again while she wasted time saying "What?!"


    Once again, she used a wide swing special ability, this time certainly [Gargoyle Wing] as it batted the ships back. They had cut off her path back into the ruined hallway, so she dove for the doors out to the lobby. Not that it did her any good, as all the bonuses to minion intelligence and accuracy caused them to hit her path with enough shots to land a few more.


    The first wave of attackers came back to the sword and merged back into the current green gems, which Corvayne felt made the sword slightly heavier. He used compass on her, and while it was slippery, he could feel she was waiting around the wall. Corvayne had a weird desire to call out ''Useless!'' which he resisted, instead just flinging his sword while willing the little ships to blast through the wall to hit his target.


    The wave of buzzing gold did an organic looking school formation that dive bombed the wall in question, scattering as they unloaded blue bolts and pulverized the wall, sending smoking bits of wallpaper and brick flying before a woman said "Fuck!"


    There was a counter attack, causing the rising dust to distort as a wave of force moved through it. Some of the ships he sent died, but it didn''t matter. His sword had half replaced it''s green gems. He pointed the swarm gauntlet towards the open door. He willed his ships to just scout, [[Unity]] and [[Understanding]] combining to imbue his will into the little craft.


    He fired off his eight wasps from the gauntlet, each of them splitting into two craft that dashed into the door. At the same time, he pulled his spear out and used [Cross-Skill: Sundering Blade] to blow a hole through the ceiling, then again to punch through the roof, sending gravel flying as he followed, adjusting his gravity to make a smooth landing to run across the roof, then hop down to the parking lot already swinging into the lobby as his ships flew back to him through the glass, more then a few damaged but feeding him information.


    He resisted another urge to scoff and say ''too easy'' as, from his point of view, it was perfectly fine to let someone else have to scramble and figure out a way to deal with his bullshit rather than the other way around... for once.


    Subtly changing the way he swung, he flung a swarm off into the dark alley where the fire exit would lead. A few seconds later, he saw blue lights flare up as the hovering ships unloaded their attacks. He shot off two more wasps from the four that were in his gauntlet, once again pushing them to scout for him. Did she close the door or was she going to run?


    The scouts returned. There was another lady fighting the one with the scythe. They had some weird desire to ''shoot the bug lady'' which he noted might be a quirk of the item having trouble telling the scythe Bride apart from Gylwin.


    He crouched then lept into the air, giving himself a little twist so he was gliding through the air facing downwards. In the ally he saw Gylwin parrying a quick trio of scythe attacks with a pair of bone blades.


    "Kill the woman with the scythe. Do not harm the bug lady she''s an ally."


    In the gauntlet the wasps agreed, but once they fired he felt [[Unity]] the faintest sub sentient grumbling, something about a ''lurker''. He wondered if they would complain once they saw how much hiding he did. He swung his blade, throwing a wave of ships down from above. His arc took him over the last building before the wall, the spin of swinging the sword helping him get his feet to hit the wall and let him use gravity to ''stick'' for a moment before dropping back to the ground and running.


    At this point, he could hear police sirens. More importantly, danger sense suddenly went from a three out of five to zero. Corvayne ducked as a high pitched keening noise passed through where his neck had been. He used shadow hands to stab out at the invisible enemy.


    "You slippery bastard!" The woman cried out, once more blending into the surroundings. Corvayne used essence sight to track her, everything else having massive trouble with finding her, even [[Unity]]. She had feelings, but it felt like a light across a dark lake rather than an open book. She was trying to move to flank him again.


    "Come out. Maybe I can fix whatever the Magus did to you if you surrender."


    She made a little hand gesture and extended a bit of essence that formed a mouth in the wrong direction.


    "Never! I''m his wife! He LOVES me!"


    He sidestepped the next attack, feeling the edge of what he assumed was a weaponskill called [Decapitate] or [Headless horseman] or whatever. He needed to do some mundane practice with weapons and start filling out his techniques. She tried to do the same trick, moving her voice a few feet off of where she really was.


    "Every moment you waste here, your little cowgirl is getting mangled by Iron-Jeng."


    Pretty smart to direct him nearer to where she was, after attacking from behind. Corvayne pretended to hone in on it.


    She took a step to the side and attacked. Corvayne used [Cross-Skill: Juxtapose], which triggered a swarm of machines. He mentally asked them to blast where he was just standing, and there was a scream as the Bride faded back into view, her veil smoking and backpedaling. Corvayne saw her footwork, and this time stepped right next to her as she overextended her arms into a two handed scythe attack. Corvayne let her forearm push him to the side and got her into a choke hold.


    She dropped her weapon and dug her claws into Corvayne''s arm, trying to apply the same energy to her fingers nails to maybe, cut his arm off? He clenched his other hand and four interceptors came out and blasted her face, the smell of burnt fabric and ozone mixing as she panicked and desperately tried to claw his arm off.


    He channeled [Cross-Skill: Grand Slam] into his swarm gauntlet. It froze his hand in place as energy built in the weapon. A moment later, a single huge bee flew out, becoming what looked like a pair of floating gold lawnmowers. Corvayne was blinded and knocked off his feet as the things blasted the woman he was pinning. He tossed her burnt body off him, stowing her gear.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    He didn''t bother holding back. "Decapitate me once, shame on you. Decapitate me twice, shame on me."


    He confirmed that Gylwin was tracking all the runners AND the mundane victims who had ran away, then moved in to see how Rio was doing. He wasn''t surprised to find she had won by filling her enemy with lead, but it was alarming that she was bruised and cradling an arm. He put his hands on her back and used one of his Grasping Armsmaster techniques: [Back Staunch] which was mend that did more healing when flanking. She moved her arm and winced a little but flipped clothes, ending up in a mismatched set of pants, shirt, and gauntlets with a phoenix feather cap.


    ¡°Let''s leave. I assume you can evade the police?¡±


    They left out the back then scaled up to where he had left the Hoverbike. Hopping on, he aimed for a different section of town where Gylwin had reported one of the scouts going. Below them, low flying swords with lights and sirens were honing in on the trashed strip mall.


    ¡°We unfortunately killed the people we needed to talk to.¡± Rio said, with her tone and emotions suggesting it was his fault even though they had both killed their respective targets.


    Corvayne shrugged. ¡°We solved some of the disappearances. Namely the sucked off bodies. We are following the scouts, whom I suspect we can disable.¡± The hive greatsword combo was, as Gary would put it, pretty broken. He''d have to have Mosh take a look at all the parts.


    Rio elbowed him. ¡°That''s NOT how you should say it!¡±


    ¡°Sorry Assistant Acting Sect Overlord.¡±


    He tried not to laugh as she huffed audibly.


    ¡°We can guess that it''s the Red Line Sect, and a faction that has ties to the Magus in it, if not the main branch.¡±


    ¡°I got from your story that the Magus is a wizard, but what makes you so sure?¡±


    ¡°That scythe user was the naked woman I barely beat in the tomb...¡± He had not lied while telling his story, but he had basically side-stepped the time loop by just not mentioning events. The story hadn''t made perfect sense without the loops but he had learned from watching movies you could just sort of keep going through absolute nonsense and sometimes people wouldn''t even ask basic questions like ''Why doesn''t everyone just crash their ship into other ships then? Or build a torpedo that does that?''


    ¡°If they were hunting you... why did they end up here?¡±


    ¡°No, she was after Diamonds-In-Passing. I suspect that means whatever she was trying to do with Diamonds, possibly causing them to go nuts, she was going to try to do to the Sect Leader.¡±


    ¡°Then why is she at a Cultivator themed strip club?¡±


    Corvayne didn''t have an answer to that. ¡°Maybe there''s something in the life-force of these cultivators they felt they needed to break into the tomb? Or she was helping them infiltrate, weaken, and destroy your sect so that she could sneak in and take out the leader while things are in chaos.¡±


    They headed downtown and turned to a street where nightlife was booming. Every building looked like it was a bar, open to the public and spilling out music. Regular folks and Cowtivators were everywhere, with flannel robes and leather boots and all sorts of cowboy hats.


    ¡°They are trying to lose themselves in the crowd...¡± Corvayne said, though [[Understanding]] had some additional ideas. ¡°Or they have a fortified safe house... something about the operation suggested an alliance of convenience.¡± He hoped the hunch was correct, as if the Magus''s minions were entwined with the enemy sect it was more likely he would run into the wizard himself.


    They parked in an alley. Gylwin''s parasites had tracked them to a bar on the second floor. He suspected there was a safe house in the building, given the number of dark windows on the apartments above.


    Corvayne looked over to Rio. ¡°Do we need to call backup? If these are Red Line Sect members... How many of them can beat you in a fight?¡±


    ¡°At least thirty of them. But the entire point is that if they took us out, the recruits would dry up. Our style resonates with some people that cannot cultivate, and vice vs.¡±


    ¡°Do they send anyone down?¡± Corvayne said as he walked around the building, taking note of the buildings around it and any walkways or obvious escape routes. There was what he assumed was a shopping area that someone could leap out of a window and fall through a skylight.


    ¡°Not often. There''s very rarely anyone who can survive the path down if they don''t have a talent for cultivation.


    Corvayne could see that there were things in the building that had essence leaking from them, a pretty clear sign of enchantments. From the way they were strung through the building, he suspected it was an alarm: that or much weaker wards than what he had seen at the academy.


    ¡°We check out the bar, I see someone on that floor that''s leaking magic like the scout was.¡±


    Corvayne made his way up the metal steps to a neon tombstone and cactus. ¡°End of the line.¡±


    He opened the door into a bar with a bunch of people that radiated hostility as danger sense suddenly woke up and started screaming at him to freeze in place. Corvayne kept his face steady, tipped his hat, then closed the door and grabbed Rio''s hand and started pulling her down the stairs.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± She hissed. ¡°We need to find the scout.¡±


    He sent through [[Unity]], stressed as he was, his assessment of the patrons of the bar. A moment later, the door to the bar shot off, and Corvayne jumped off the metal stairway as it halfway wrenched off the building. He felt someone start to suplex him then realized that Rio had picked him up.


    Dangling on her shoulder, he could see two red robed figures leaping at them. ¡°Hovercycle!¡±


    A moment later one of them tossed a staff and blew a hole in the concrete where the vehicle had been. Rio jumped, shoulder driving itself into his gut. Corvayne noted he''d practice princess carrying people. Seeing the cultivators aiming a jump, he summoned a shadow shield and stuck it on a lamppost. It bought them a few moments as Rio juked away from the street.


    Running into the crowd would just doom innocent people, and with the boom of the hovercycle dying they were starting to run. Corvayne lifted an arm and used [Cross-Skill: Reap] while firing off bees. They morphed into dark vehicles, and when the two cultivators appeared they fired the beams at the ground before them, perfectly causing both high level warriors to pretty much vanish as they tripped. Corvayne saw two streaks of dust, one hitting the corner of a building and leaving a trail of dust, the other crashing through a parked car and knocking over a street light.


    ¡°Rio, get us somewhere away from people!¡±


    ¡°That''s the idea you idiot! And don''t say my name! What''s the point of the disguise!?¡±


    She jumped as the dust clouds reversed. Corvayne drew gravity in and got them flying, then weighed them down as both Cultivators flew into the air at them, robes fluttering as they flew by. Corvayne used [Cross-Skill: Shadow Stealer] and fired off another four bees, his machines struggling to reach the Cultivators as they produced weights from their rings and threw them to change their midair direction.


    Rio moved serpentine and dodged both of them using what looked like some sort of drilling fist.


    Corvayne swung his sword using [Cross-Skill: Reap] to again trip them up, little shadowy robots firing patches of shadow onto the street.


    One of them pivoted through the patches and came at them flying, and clipped Corvayne with a flying kick that left green light after it. They bounced from wall to wall in an alley and Corvayne instinctively used [Juxtapose] to avoid the followup [Thunderbolt Dive Kick] which demolished a dumpster full of garbage.


    Rio stumbled to her feet, and Corvayne activated [[Agility]] and tried to send a little into Rio. She nearly tripped over her feet but then course corrected for the highway. Behind them, one of the cultivators was on a flying sword and sped ahead. Rio slapped a bracer clad hand on the ground and turned 90 degrees in a manner that should have caused even a super human whiplash. She switched as she hit the ground, and Corvayne had an idea. He used Gravity to lighten everything else and link himself to her back, then threw out [Cross-Skill: Sundering Strike] with his gauntlet and [Sundering Blade] with the hive greatsword. Red vehicles flew out and blasted the road into a dense red cloud. A moment later, the cultivator flew through it and his sword sparked, sending it and him wildly out of control and through a billboard then into a river.


    Rio wasn''t stopping, pivoting then switching gear into stealth, ripping a manhole cover off and more or less throwing Corvayne down. She put the cover back on loosely over them and then they started crawling through a grimy pipe. She turned to him and whispered. ¡°Follow me. No magic.¡±


    They spent about an hour crawling, then another hour walking. Every so often she''d stop near a source of light and listen, and Corvayne could hear her breathing heavily. It may have been a long time since she was in danger.


    They had moved, what, twenty blocks?


    ¡°Stop.¡±


    She froze. Corvayne sat down.


    ¡°You''re... something like six hundred some years old, right?¡± Corvayne said, barely above a whisper.


    ¡°It''s very rude to guess a woman''s age.¡± She was quiet.


    ¡°You were handed this sect when the old leader basically vanished, a few hundred years ago. He picked you because you were the strongest. He also trusted you.¡± Corvayne said, reciting what he had read in the report.


    He thought about what he had seen, her methodology, the economy of what they sold, vs the weapons he had strapped to his back. ¡°The Sect was falling apart for a long time. Everything accelerated though a few months ago. The Red Line Sect muscled in when he left, and you''ve been trying to run things close to how he had, and it stopped working because you weren''t ready.¡±


    He could see, even in the near total darkness, her face scrunch. He held a hand up.


    ¡°The sect leader was trying to create something, and you were trying to preserve it, alone. Any time you try to advance, you have to wake up and put out fires. You know that an operation like this, it should be done with backup, but you don''t trust your second or third in command.¡±


    At this point she had pushed herself to sit up, leaning away from him. He kept going. ¡°They need more recruits, and given what I''ve seen, at least some of them end up dead. You knew the two cultivators chasing us.¡± He was certain of this. She would have fought the suggestion to run, otherwise.


    Why kidnap them and do nothing with them? Because that was how she could throw people away to the Red Line sect and keep her numbers up. ¡°I''m guessing some of those attackers we killed were recruiters?¡±


    ¡°No! It''s not like that.¡±


    A miss. ¡°But some of the missing people it''s certain now were getting siphoned off, and the two Red Line officers that just tried to kill us suggests to me that they are moving operations to this floor.¡± He had a theory about that too. Lady Blood Claw had long ago said that the Tower regenerated super slow, and it took people much longer to advance. If the Tower recovered quicker, it followed that some floors where a group could cull enough monsters to carve out a safe space were no longer safe.


    ¡°Heh. Clueless. Why would they need to move, they have treasures you cannot imagine on floor 60 and up. There''s an outpost on floor 80...¡±


    ¡°It''s gone. I would bet you a literal ton of black crystals that when the monster count went up, they couldn''t keep up. Everything about how they operate maps to how I understand cultivation works. There''s not enough resources to do anything but make a broad pyramid. Even the cowboy version you guys have made into a thing only supports a few really strong fighters. What''s Lepin now? Third rung from the bottom? Now scale that to floor 80. I don''t even know what the numbers are, what... a level 1000 T-Rex goes from showing up once a month to spawning packs of five every night and eats all your level 200 servants and guards suddenly... well you don''t live on level 80. You can visit, but you can''t live there. You also lose a few level 400 disciples. You''re starting to fall behind here in the same way... I''m betting you''ve never had a digging team attacked by monsters before. Some of those stable kids hadn''t been in a real fight with a monster before.¡±


    ¡°I told you, the digging area has maybe one or two monsters a year!¡± She huffed and then lowered her voice. ¡°I lost people out there. It had nearly been everyone if not for you.¡±


    Corvayne did have questions about why they had been digging, and suspected it was a paragraph that he didn''t read in the report, something so hidden or new they didn''t know about it, or so obvious that the report glazed over it, perhaps like not stepping back to say ''oh yeah they make the guns. Everyone knows about the guns!''


    ¡°Do you think you can keep this up, another... two hundred years?¡±


    She shook her head.


    ¡°Can you keep it up another twenty? Two years? What are the chances that in two months, you have a bunch of floor 60 bullies stroll in and say, ''nice place I think we''ll take it?''¡±


    ¡°The leader could stop it!¡± Rio cried out, and Corvayne felt it. Heartache. ¡°Tell me your him! Please! I failed your test, I couldn''t do it on my own, it''s falling apart! I''m not a leader! Tell me your Dusky!¡± She grabbed his robe, tugging him.


    Corvayne sighed and shook his head. ¡°You know I''m just a random outsider. I only came here to get Kirae back. Plan A wasn''t get kidnapped.¡± He put his hands on hers. ¡°Let''s wake him up. Either he can push back these guys trying to steal your home, or he can''t.¡±


    ¡°He locked himself in.¡±


    Corvayne looked her in the eyes. A girl playing at being a tyrant. He sighed. This was supposed to be a quick rescue. A fun little in an out heist.


    ¡°Okay. I''ll get him out.¡±

 Chapter 260: Emergency Meeting at the Dorm

    Corvayne rubbed his head. He was sitting in the dorm room where Preshe was living, drinking a lemonade and basically getting stressful news dumped on him, as if he had positioned himself under a waterfall made of garbage dumping on him. Bell sat on one side, arms folded. Spears was still in a coma and had been wrapped around Bell''s neck.


    He had called a meeting, well, Gylwin had also called one and had extracted Kirae. They could, if they so chose, get into the Juggernaut and race their way out of the Sect, leaving Rio in the lurch. That is, if Acting Sect Leader Rio-Blackhand-Cumberlin wasn''t sitting right next to him, slumped over, head in her hands. [[Unity]] flowed both ways, and he was pretty sure it had it''s thumb on the scales of all of them leaving as he felt both a desire to leave and tremendous guilt over said feeling.


    He still might go, that is, if they didn''t have to deal with a surprise coup. One of the other sect leaders who had some sort of high level cowboy cultivation levels was telling everyone that Rio had been hiding the life stealers. Night Rider had been beaten within an inch of his life and had retreated to a place off map. Quite a few of the daisy duke guards were now enjoying the prison from the other side of the bars.


    Gylwin had moved as soon as she realized what was happening and at the moment Kirae and Mosh and June were waiting for them to figure out the next step. LBC was sitting by the window.. Gylwin could cheat them in and out of the ward, and maybe if they just left they''d be rid of the entire sect.


    ¡°Once we wake the leader up, I''ll give you everything I know about the info that lead us to you and Kirae.¡±


    If he died, he still wouldn''t solve the problem with the sect. The leak got the information to someone who got it to them, and they''d come after the group. Yes, Gylwin could probably fight Rio to a standstill, with Grunt it was no contest, and they could possibly set a trap knowing where she was taken. But if the info was coming FROM the Red-Line Sect, that was a problem they didn''t have tools to deal with. Corvayne was betting he could badly wound one of their leaders with his current bee-interceptor combo by using [Cross-Skill: Orbital Bombardment], save that he''d also be killing millions of innocent people unless he could get them out into the middle of nowhere.


    That was still a soft problem. He could push it back for Future Loop Past Corvayne. Problem two was more likely to follow them and had everything to do with two dead Red-Line guards currently floating down the river. It was why Corvayne every so often looked over to glare at Little Wing.


    As it turned out, Little Wing''s former fiancee was now engaged to his friend turned rival turned betrayer. The future dead boy was a well-equipped and power-leveled brat who claimed he could rate people''s bloodlines or karma or value, whatever the little shit''s compass skill''s version pointed to, and he saw Preshe in a crowd and decided right there at the Colosseum match that she was going to be wife number 3. He did not believe in old fashioned things such as getting Preshe''s opinion.


    It explained why Gylwin hadn''t attempted to fillet either of the cultivators: her main body was waiting for Preshe to be escorted somewhere quiet, where the two of them turned a pair of level 500 Cultivators into level 500 corpses. Sadly, not the actual problem, something to do with a level 1000 plus daddy sticking to the kid. Little Wing mentioned Karma brought people together and it might be his fault that this guy was interested in Preshe.


    Corvayne had been white hot furious at this cultivator. He was very interested if he could focus [Orbital Bombardment] enough to take out the young master, but after a little thinking and observation, about two minutes of it, some of his irritation was now also directed at Little Wing. He might not have taken that line, but Preshe had preemptively started defending Little Wing which summoned an entirely new set of red flags in his head.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    They were interested in each other. He didn''t need [[Unity]], but Gylwin''s amusement made him grimace.


    Corvayne saw, in the next fifteen seconds, that Little Wing and Preshe were both stealing glances at each other but also not making eye contact. His own eyes narrowed at this. Did Bayou know? She was pointedly looking sheepishly away from Corvayne. She wasn''t opposed to it?


    The last piece of bad news was something like the ''Don''t you know about the guns?'' level of every daoboy in the room all agreeing that everyone knows about the stampede.


    ¡°Every hundred years a titanic group of cow-like monsters forms a herd that stampedes across the plane. Well, it might be we get a herd every hundred years, and they''ve been running since the floor existed. Either way, you have a gap of 95 to 100 years. We should have another twenty five years to prepare, but our early alert just went off. We basically do all that digging to help charge the rock with geomatic potential, so we can have our earth mages raise a mountain.¡±


    Corvayne took a deep breath.


    ¡°So in a few weeks, instead of a few years, everything that''s not shielded by a literal mountain is going to be flattened?¡±


    Rio pulled up a map on her jade tablet. ¡°We can move people onto the mountain, but if we can''t raise a mountain we''re basically dooming the city, and likely that''s the end of the sect. Even if we harvest the materials it''d be hundreds of years to build up to the production of all the non high level parts we''ve pushed off to the city. Let alone our craftsmen sitting in caves trying to make a gun with wood.¡±


    Little Wing frowned. ¡°I worry about a convergence of Karma here. It makes it much more likely more important things will all come together on that date. Events happening in series, leading up to a major change.¡±


    Corvayne thought back to how things seemed to be going great then just suddenly flipped around. ¡°Tell me about it.¡±


    Preshe stood up straight and looked at Little Wing, even putting a hand on his. ¡°Don''t worry. I''ll protect you.¡± She said it in a sort of flat, matter of fact way that Corvayne realized was her doing an impression of him. She actually looked over at Corvayne, as if to say, ''I learned this from you!''. Little Wing smiled, then met Corvayne''s gaze and frowned.


    What other pieces were still missing? Oh yes, there was something out there that had made his danger sense go crazy.


    ¡°Here''s the plan. We go to the tomb first thing tomorrow night. Under the cover of dark, Preshe and Mosh help us get the door open, then they keep moving so that when the prince figures out she''s not where she''s supposed to be... where is that?¡±


    ¡°On his Sect''s airship.¡± Gylwin added. A hint of greed leaked through, her thought clearly being ''It could be OUR airship!''.


    ¡°I think that means she goes to the city then doubles back once he''s flying that way. We wake the Sect Leader up, and either he moves a mountain, literally, or asks everyone to evacuate, or summons the Watchers and they save the day.¡±


    Rio looked at him. ¡°You were a member of his old Sect? I want to hear-¡±


    Bell now was looking at them like he had looked at Little Wing. Hmm. She needed to cool it, there was nothing going on between him and the Sect Leader.


    He admitted he thought she looked good in jeans. But she had some sort of misplaced crush, and the first thing he was doing once they dragged his look-alike out of self imposed nap-time was to tell Sect Leader Dusky to give the poor girl closure.


    A stray though from [[Understanding]] had taken root. A critical observation about Rio that suddenly lined everything up. She was like if Gary had been told he needed to be a ruthless sect leader. She''d do a lot of things to make sure her allies and enemies thought of her as cold, she made herself look scary, but it was role play. At the end of the day, Corvayne was pretty sure she was cut from the same stock as Bayou or Lepin or any number of cowgirls whom could cowtivate enough to sling a gun and ride a sword but were more about living life day to day in a pastoral version of a magical kingdom, then go into town to drink and dance on the weekend.


    She could kill, and Corvayne saw tremendous potential in switching gear every fraction of a second to optimize her movement and special effects. It was an avenue he might have looked into more if he hadn''t lost all of his stuff every reset or been at their mercy when unarmed. In the end though, she wasn''t punching above her weight, she was probably an able administrator, but she wasn''t a hero and she didn''t seem like the kind of weirdo loner that would stick the landing on being a Daoboy.


    He shook his head. He was going to spend the night with Bell, whom was radiating worry on everything, and leave the messed up sect leader to her own devices.


    What were the chances he was going to see more of her after this week, anyway?

 Chapter 261: Subject: Strategies to develop FULL BREACH and TARGET

    From: Falenti, God of Secrets, Dust, Power Gaming


    ([email protected]</a>)


    To: [email protected]</a>1 ¨C [email protected]</a>1 ¨C [email protected]</a> ¨C [email protected]</a>


    CC: [email protected]</a> ¨C [email protected]</a> ¨C [email protected]</a>


    It''s come to my attention that your people are crying out for information on the universe that TARGET is in. Namely, how the invasive system meshing works, how to abuse it, if we can use pacts there, ect. Maybe some moaning and groaning about being liquefied in rifts to obtain an Alienist class because we were finalizing our strategy.


    Please edit and distribute to your agents.


    The native systems for this universe are known, though I think the ''Job System'' including subjobs is invasive, it shows up everywhere and it was brought into our home universe during FAILED INTEGRATION.


    I think it''s overwriting a pilgrimage system based on what I''ve gathered from my agents. The before times in this system seem to have been produced to facilitate contact to their version of the OCCULUS, interchangeably called towers/dungeons based on up and down orientation as well as the markedly hostile nature of dungeon spaces.


    We will need contact with MOUSE to determine if there''s a point where we can replace ''Jobs'' with ''Pilgrimage'' and if that is desirable to what drove MOUSE to act as she did. I know that some of you have less faith in MOUSE but I have faith that someday she will return to us as an equal.


    There''s also Artifacts and Domain. Domain is base-building related, and usually the least used and understood, likely a malnourished system with poor returns - with of course one notable exception (which we all have discussed to death being WIZARD1). We would trigger an invasion immune system response plugging into that system. I''m going to recommend we do not use Domain. We must not cause NEMESIS, MASK, EXILE, FLOWERY, PALS, EVOLVER, BIRD, EXPLODE, UNCLE to notice our actions before we decide if we want to intervene and how we are going to go forward with them.


    If need be, I would put forth our resident citrusmancer as a good ''face'' for our invasion if we do trigger a full INVADER response.


    Artifacts is basically a bloodline but enshrines a physical object as inheritable then has a variable dungeon drop that buffs it. You can pick up more, but there''s inheritable. There is evidence of a target forming an off-brand backup to DS WEAPON.


    I''ll get into opportunities later.


    Jobs ¨C Invasive. Has a tier system that functions as unlocks, advance classes, or class refinement/evolution.


    I''ve worked with Gygax on this one, the secret sauce is that jobs have usually ten or more requirements that as you meet them eases evolution. Evolution is almost always a completely better package, or it sheds what are vestigial abilities to change course.


    Powers - There''s a nascent power system that''s supposed to be class-linked but can be broken easily with a Mindscape. Everyone should be using Mindscapes anyway so no surprises. It may be worth getting a mortal agent from THE SEEKERS who has my bloodline to attempt to get Int+ and Dust Clones. That and look at giving an alienist full leveled ''compass'' which is absurdly broken and would let an agent reach TARGET within 10 months estimated time.


    Trials - We have some information that there''s traces of a system that seems to be debuffs that turn into buffs. Locals call them Curses, but there''s likely a better system-only term. Once we can connect with the mouse, she might have more insight.


    The information relates that it''s commonly used as a debuff by MASK, which is baffling. Any sane person would make hitting an enemy with a potential buff part of a final blow or desperation attack and exclusively use the system for training and buffing allies. It''s like shooting yourself in the foot as you make enemies, and you make them both strong and remind them that their suffering is because of you. (Mother: please don''t compare it to the bad guy from that annoying wizard school book you grew up with.)


    Astrid, during operations RETURNING THUNDER please return any useful trials and clear conditions that are well documented. We suspect TARGET is under these effects.


    Cultivation: System that has some stats and power options, but has been glued into the job system. I suspect they breached this universe at the same time and got tangled up. It seems like it lets people vastly reduce the needed reqs to tier up. We are aware of UNCLE as the vector. We have not normalized relation with UNCLE-verse yet as we do not know if NEMESIS exists and has subverted them.


    Pacts/Adept/Power: Our systems breached at the same time TARGET did. Current explorers are working on trying to take our PACT benefits through the rift during BREACH. Results have been... sour so far. We are going to try another BREACH to recreate The Seekers or see if CHAINS has done so.


    New pacts work, and we are interested in asking CONTACT to try reaching out to others and planting allied pacts. If we can contact MOUSE it may help our attempt to BREACH by creating Breach or Alienist pacts, recruiting natives, and having them spread domain without triggering invasion status.


    Let me move to individual and eventually group strategy.


    (I will not include anything that requires a full reading of ''The Mind Path'' or a ''Mindflipper'', we don''t need to flood a new universe with a bunch of Tempest clones.) I still recommend that any mortals cc''d on this message chain please learn to the basics like Talent Tree/Achievement/True Calling if TARGET(A) (and hopefully TARGET) is pulled to Job Restrictive side universe during EXTRACTION ACTION(A). I have noted my reservations on EA(A) in the previous email.


    Please just purchase my book! You can almost always find used copies wherever powerful HOF forces are in stasis.


    (MOM, RAXEN: Please review all sixteen .1 and higher flux paths so you can identify all 64 universes we might have to BREACH to extract either TARGET (A) or TARGET or the entire alphabet of sub targets we are trying to rescue after we strand them and need to start a whole new BREACH.)


    Floor 0 focus stratagem:


    Overview: Avoid entering the Occulus (at all or stay low level) but gain power in either job levels or Mindscape/Pacts on ''Floor 0'' or the real layer.


    Methods: All system quests relating to floor 0 societies, dungeon break quests, pk invaders, ''babysitter'' economics, trade with elemental towers/dungeons or floors that have a lacking modifier in the dungeon.


    Advantages: Floor 0 has a lot of maintenance quests and very low risks especially as user reaches Adept baseline.


    Quests can be done by Lv0 10stats if they studied the infrastructure of the area they are in, and have basic tools and technical know-how, as well as how to BLUESCREEN themselves without injecting the system.


    Exp rate after five level ups and getting relevant skills can crush just about any killing strat that is not fed gear and does not have a specialized AOE farming build.


    Dungeon breaks can be solved with diligent organization and auto-turrets for 99%. The other 1% is easily handled with purify wards.


    Do not need to infect yourself with the job system if you do not want to use it. Can also avoid Occulus based seekers such as STABBY, NAMESNIFFER, BARTENDER adding your name. Also seems to make essence funneling more efficient to evolve everything else.


    Disadvantages: Needs enough people in a group to eventually do space travel to keep gains reasonable.


    Some limit to resources ¨C places eventually run out of buildings that can be built or maintained.


    Worse gear ¨C Floor 0 you need to craft everything magical or trade.


    Floor 0 attracts worst type of criminals looking for mortals.


    Limit to inherited powers: Occulus floors have a freebie slot.


    Suggestions: Good for engineers, omnicrafters, easier to get alienist levels in space.


    Floor 1-5: Adventurer


    Quest focus ¨C Single or group with high shared mobility and some sort of safe-zone or town finding ability aims for a floor they can move extremely quickly through and complete Occuloid* quests.


    *we are trying to find a better term that''s not NPC.


    It is estimated that a level 5 can complete three quests a day with a mobility item or talent on floor 1. This means every other day there''s potentially 3 long-term benefits to a build they can earn. Most quests are very, very simple for trained HOF operatives.


    One in every five towns has some sort of relevant-forever boost on floor 1, known as ''capstones''. These include stats, combat and non combat secondary stat buffs, item rarity and modifier boosts, access to additional 5x rooms such as HMP crafter, Dragon Stone Morpher, Hardtooth, ect.


    On floor five there''s evidence that every twenty quests completed raises the ''effective floor'' of the reward chest after a boss by ~.6 levels.


    Advantages: Creates an extremely strong base for an agent to pursue any sort of class.


    Quests reward pure essence, many times can get key low level versions of build-relevant gear that will eventually pick up ''Growth'' from capstone.


    Floor modifer to Occuloid reactions can sometimes yield aid such as help evading PK, locations of chests up to low ruby rarity, locations of monsters up to (((NAMED))), Occuliod followers whom have a high rate of awakening, land, titles, system boosted reproduction (97% success rate).


    Low risk: Floor 1 monsters rarely can keep up with a mobility build after 25 kills. Floor 5 Bosses are trivial after completing the expected 1000 quests to force a level 600 chest.


    Can veer into every other strategy here.


    Disadvantages: Requires extreme patience.


    Low level versions of gear might not be obvious. Such as ''grape producing cape'' being the low magic version of the supreme artifact ''Hivemind shawl''.


    Redundant rewards in a town may trigger domain, which may trigger invader status. Agents need to track rewards and not end up with too much real estate.


    Build often spends a lot of time just getting the right level of speed/endurance to outpace other methods in raw power.


    Pkers prowl the low level floors looking for ''fat chickens''.


    Does not generate much money outside of LV600 drops. Some do not have an appreciable market on floor 5''s inn.


    Agents sometimes get ''Halfhill'' syndrome and settle down on a farm with their attractive Occuloid husband/wife/werewolf.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    Level 600 chests need to be ID''d to check for traps. Items from them need to be ID''d. Trapped chests are wasted. Do not open a trapped level 600 chest.


    Floor 1-20: Slaughter Floors


    Opposite to the above - Some floors have bugged modifiers for creating monsters. These often have walls of flesh mashed against the floor filter.


    Any AOE build with self-sustain, especially Vamperic/Mana Steal/''Sweat Suit'' modifiers can kill thousands and thousands of monsters every hour.


    Advantages: With all three modifers and something simple like an aura or quick cast PBAOE an agent can quickly reach several hundred levels and certain tier 4 or 5 classes.


    Might be the best way to ''power level'' a pact horse without a high level merc.


    Extremely good increases for offensive linked skills.


    Disadvantages: Very dangerous at the start.


    Very little material gain unless you have auto-looting rings.


    Even with the above, essence is linked to the modifiers and gear that directly acts with the AOE. Can be very difficult for certain growth items to advance.


    Requires high mental fortitude to wade/swim through lakes of blood.


    Requires items with all three siphons, or extremely rare ''off stat'' siphons to line up (Warmage/Blood Mage, Mana Muscle/Lifetap, Bloodsweat / Arcaneworkout)


    Mind numbing after a few hours.


    All Floors:


    Explorer focus. System has classes that reward really exploring, trying to find hard to get sights and document and link objects in the DEEP STRATA such as ''Weeping Lady'' ''Lake of Bones'' ''Endless Ladder'' ''Vault Door'' and ''Piano of the End''.


    The system rewards finding dungeons, towns, raids, and Gold+ chests with non-trivial experience. There are also ''secrets'' on each floor. There is a theory at best information node these secrets are a way to get the system''s attention. This could be important for objective MOUSE.


    Explorer focused agents can be given tools for navigating ''impossible'' objects and long term goals to add to our network of ''travel totems''.


    Advantages: Having a proper teleport network will benefit us a whole.


    We need to have a route to TARGET.


    Explorers sometimes get unique benefits, see ''Timmy Steel''.


    May relate to Pilgrimage.


    Fun.


    Disadvantages:


    Unfocused: Other activities do not aid our goal of developing our network enough to push our other strategies forward.


    Unreliable: We only have a small corner of the Deep tower that gives us excellent explorer benefits.


    Floor 10: Marketplace crafter/merchant.


    Any person who has a crafting skill and has taken the steps to gain ''Market Third Eye'' as a skill or ''Invisible Hand of the Market'' as a power. (See my book for details and titles that can help force the skill.)


    Abusing the titles ''Wasteful apprentice'' and ''Thrifty Crafter'' is important to doing this strategy.


    Train their skill or power to focus on the craft they have.


    Pools resources from either one of the above or another agent, and uses an ''easy'' floor 10 to switch between Inn, Market, Crafters Workshop. Include the posting board and check to make sure any requests are above market rate.


    KEEP A LOG OF ALL CUSTOMERS and ALL MERCHANTS USED.


    They keep market sense on, check people looking to buy at the Inn, go to the market and buy materials for that item above rate, craft at the workshop for maximum benefits, come back and sell. The crafter must sell everything they make at market price or above.


    The first 100+ hours of making requests is a huge financial loss for anyone that is not an omnicrafter. Several million blue crystals depending on profession.


    Once they waste enough money and once they''ve sold 100 items in a row at or above market price, that gives them both titles. They combine to basically gain near 100 percent essence returns on money spent buying crafting mats.


    Repeat for five crafts. The titles stack. The sixth class generally takes three finished items. Pay a Merc to clear a floor 10 boss. (Or use your own combat class from the above).


    Mindscape the crafting classes together and the titles together.


    Advantages: Creates a world-class production specialist.


    Overpaying for materials and filling quest requests creates a network of merchants and adventurers.


    Can complete builds with relevant items.


    Can obtain extremely high base level to use for combat strategies.


    Disadvantages: Very expensive.


    First steps are repetitive. Can be a lot of walking and waiting for demand to go back up if supply gets too high.


    A level 1000 Tier 7 or 8 crafter is the perfect target for high level groups to rob or kidnap.


    Floors 1-100: Chest Farming


    Involves finding remote tower floors and creating a loop of about a month between known chests.


    Advantages: Quick non-crafting based way to gather lots of items to use or sell.


    Great for Gambling addicts.


    Traveller classes get Essence from plotting these courses out. A LOT of essence.


    Disadvantages: On higher level floors, can be difficult to create a good route. Often requires a party to be safe.


    Set up for finding a route is long.


    Diminishing returns on useful gear as the same chests often produce similar items.


    Floors 1: Power hunting.


    Uses travel skills and a set of catch-all environmental gear (examples: ''All Terrain, Breath All, Temperate, Elemental Adaptation + Ring of Habitate, Lantern of Darkness + Rings of Shadow Breathing. Scarf of elemental adaptation, Myrnid''s 60 minute stopwatch, rings of water breathing + the Fishbowl).


    Requires Tower 10 pact to sniff out modifiers.


    Aims to get a broken life saving utility by hitting floor 5 bosses that may grant ''Phoenix'' ''Time Loop'' ''Chrono-naught'' ''BubbleHearth'' ''Auto-rewind''.


    Aims to get a powerful rare passive in the next slot. (Examples: Compounding Damage, Kinetic Absorption, Afterimage, Multicast, Nullify Magic, Gelatinous Body, Shimmering retort, Quickcast, Blood Kindred, Psudolich)


    Finally, aims to get powerful actives. (Blink, Gravity control, Time Stop, Triple Air Slash, Auras, Light Strike, Any Clone ability, Meteor, Giga Impact, Absorb Attribute, Giga Bash, Disjoint, Combine Ability, True Teleport, Titanbuster, Shadow Jaunt, Astral Stream, Plasma Breath, Rust Blast, Glass Bubble, Compass, Identify, Alliance, Implode, Black Hole, Form Shift, Furious Regeneration... ect)


    Advantages: Sets our agents up for safe execution of dungeons or ''killing our way to the top'' by having a life-saving ability.


    Can be somewhat executed while doing quest strategy.


    Disadvantages: Requires a method of finding doors.


    Guesswork is just a guess. Same tower floor with modifiers can award 100s of unique specific skills.


    May be more work than just careful casual delving.


    Floor 5-30: Boss Mercenaries.


    Post at the inn, and repeatedly run bosses and five-floors with rich clients.


    Advantages: Good way to use our many single ladies to gain contacts with rich scions.


    Boss runs on floor very good way to roll skills.


    Good for our supply of consumables.


    Disadvantage: Crowded market. Everyone wants to do this.


    Our female agents sometimes have to educate rich clients and their guards about respect and boundaries.


    Agents complain they are sick of hanging out in bars.


    Same bosses over and over tends to produce redundant skills and treasure.


    Floor 1-100: Bounty hunting, PK, Duels, Arena Fights, Robbery, Banditry.


    We are going to recommend all agents avoid these activities mostly for fear of triggering Invader status and because killing should be a scalpel, not a hammer. If we need to go to war, we will wage war and win.


    On a provisional basis, we will use STABBY bounties to collect certain achievements, titles, and class requirements while disposing of ''trash'' on our floors after we have our current or a future ''Karmic Guide'' look at the request and assess the blowback.


    Floors 1-20: Rift and Raid hunting.


    There''s Subdungeons in the dungeon. These are areas under the influence of a Dungeon Core or Dungeon Cluster and appear as any form of door or doorway on a floor, though something is ''off''. Explorers on low floors can see clearly the level and intended group size to relatively safely clear an instance.


    Using a group that''s used some combination of the above methods, start using the Inn to complete quest chains and get dungeon locations linked to System requests. These requests are extremely lucrative.


    Dungeons have hotspots around powerful foes, but also ''cold spots'' away from the high intensity fights. These cold spots have less chests but are still often multiple times as valued as other chests.


    Large enough dungeons can be ''skimmed'' for chests that are much much higher level than the challenge of the enemies.


    Raids are much like ''the monster belt'' or Wall Diving in our universe.


    Right now we recommend swinging low, as even a floor 20 Raid can include targets that are far above their expected threat level, and anything that requests fifty level 20s is likely dangerous for a lone level 300.


    Advantages: Incredible gains both essence and material.


    Disadvantage: It''s dangerous.


    Floor 1-100: Hyper Specialization.


    Based on cultivators - Basically, aim to understand the ''Dao'' of something. Go all in on a skill. Become the greatest Banana Mage. Focus on ability and hone it into one solution for everything.


    Advantages: This can work. Evolving race and gaining level and stats but funneling growth and attention to one spell, ability, weapon skill, or crafting hyper specialization works with the system.


    Disadvantages: Hyper Specialization is not great for soloing.


    Examples: One of our agents is all-in on tea and tea ceremony. They can produce astounding buffs with week long duration from an hour of pouring tea in the right setting.


    There is a painter who can influence growth and breakthroughs of subjects he paints if he is given pigments by his partner who explores to seek out the purest colors.


    A non agent whom fought bandits for 50,000 years with their level effectively stalled out is nearly impossible to hit at mere level 30 by combatants quadruple his speed.


    Floor 1-100: Just Go Up, Stupid!


    Essentially climb up a tower, only stopping to assess the route and prepare gear to handle the route. Eschews most other activities, relying on incidental gains to keep going.


    Advantages: Fun.


    May produce a living god.


    Disadvantages: Higher Floors are much, much meaner. Monsters, Floor Layouts and Hazards, reduction of power for movement options, and rival climbers all scale with floors.


    We know there''s bottlenecks above floor 80, where floors tend to be similar across towers. Our current scouting team has reported that floor 90s have Galaxy sized ''portions''. Many floor 92s are giant open skies that reduce the power of flight requiring multiple artifacts or the development of aircraft, which then need to be armored against flying monsters AND able to land on small platforms with stairs on them.


    Floor 94 supposedly has no exit.


    Looking at rival groups, it is a mistake to try to rush to 100. Evidence suggests that organizations that cannot effectively act as an elevator are doomed to find a bottleneck they cannot pass.


    However... we know one solo climber succeeded for sure. I suspect MOUSE is what she is now because she also did so.


    Floor 1-100 ¨C Macro approach ¨C Some of the above with pacts.


    This is my plan for the HOF.


    We have processes for creating new alienists who can BREACH near the rifts. We also have higher level alienists in place including our high level Occulus scouts. Three compass users. Several agents are all ready to start as level 1 alienists and DEEP BREACH.


    Deep Breach starts off with quest basis for 6 weeks.


    We will have 10 percent personnel perform a LOW BREACH and move to an empty system to begin lv0 preparation and create Occulus spaces, as well as prepare a rapid developing urban area to possibly enable INSTANT FULL BREACH in as little as 15 minutes, with an expected time-frame of 20 years if everything else in this document fails.


    If our plans meet or exceed our marks: we will complete FULL BREACH in 5 or less years.


    If we contact MOUSE, WIZARD ect... we may be able to FULL BREACH in 1 year.


    We secure 10 sites on floors 1-20 and 60 sets of three drain gear for AOE Slaughter and use this to develop classes with a single AOE skill into travel skills, then take a hybrid explorer approach.


    Our commander for the mission is ready to BREACH and will start The Seekers in this universe, hit AUGURY 25 to communicate with me and Lythandies, then aim for GROWTH, UNITY, UNDERSTANDING to 90, hitting WIDESPREAD 10, TOWER 25, DUNGEON 25, INVESTIGATION 25, EXPLORATION 25, and 5 or 10s in MODERATION, CONTROL, JUDGEMENT. We may add SUBTLE up to 50 depending on evidence of NEMESIS.


    Time frame for the above pacts is five years, with 90% target hit around year 1 at minimum success.


    If appropriate floor 21-30 area is found for Slaughter, we will use that to reduce the above time.


    We have 10 crafters set up market abuse, and most of our other units will be focused on quests to develop their baseline.


    We will have groups of 210 hand-picked elites from the AOE squads who will develop 30 parties once growth entangles two extra spots. Ranged/Melee/Mage + Support/Healer/Tank and one commander who will handle face/support/trade and keep exploration powers outside of those three sub specializations.


    Their goal will be to reach level 800 and act as protectors, heavies, and scouts for high floor activities.


    Every other alienist is going to be trained on a questing tangent for 6 months after AOE boot camp, then most will switch to full explorer outfit.


    We will reserve some units who excel in Questing as ''long term'' projects.


    Our top explorers will shift to finding paths to key passives. Namely, death resetting powers.


    With that, we can wind down 1-30 AOE operations and begin phase 2, power leveling all our explorers in a large scale dungeon suited for slaughter tactics, dominating the marketplace, and buying out floor 30 and 40 factions who have information networks.


    GROWTH 100. EXPLORATION will increase to 90. We expect once phase 2 starts this process will take 2 weeks of power leveling via our level 800 elites.


    We will take 3 weeks of vacation. See HOF HR for details on moral. We may put 5 levels in VACATION. Work hard, play hard.


    Week 5, we will start a second Pact group and ally with unity. SHADOW. SPY. SUBVERT. ALLIANCE. UNITY. CONSPIRACY. SUBTLE. All 50. The subcommander will be ''Squidhead''. They will apply non-conventional force to high floor (50+) groups whom organize against us. This process with the changes above will take 2 months before we deploy.


    Our goal for the remainder of the phase is GROWTH 119, balanced with SMOL 25 before 110. The point is to reach multi-thousand levels ahead of current residents using Pacts, then create a full control area on floor 90.


    Phase 3: Assess floor 90. Create a small sub pact and ally with our other pact. UNITY. HUNTER. SHADOW. ASSASSIN. We will use this group to remove any groups that are NEMESIS related.


    We will aim to have our main pact holder 119 UNITY and UNDERSTANDING. Before this, they will take CAREFREE 25 and INDEPENDENT 25 to ensure we don''t hivemind on accident.


    At this point, I expect to have a marker on floor 100 and we will level FINDING pact until TARGET is home. The outer bound of this plan is 5 years. We also will breach floor 100 and reach MOUSE.


    We will be able to have a level 800 summoner and attain FULL BREACH.


    Our main goal: Find TARGET. Secure TARGET. Determine what factors are causing TARGET to persist. Recall TARGET and all sub-targets.


    Sub Objective: Determine why there are OFF-TARGETs. Including a BESTGIRL whom died at wrong date, TAINTED SAVIOR from a suspected Occulus(A) timeline, two versions of Carrot, and so on.


    This is essential to making sure TARGET is our TARGET.


    TARGET(A) counter-summoning may get TARGET in the same way subtargets were hit. I advise we do NOT proceed with this plan however until we have a summoner on site. MASK complicates this process.


    Secondary Goal: Find evidence of NEMESIS. Remove NEMESIS''s influence after getting as much information as possible. MASK is, via [[Understanding]] 119, has elements in his history that suggest NEMESIS is real. MOUSE may have evidence. We may create a new subgoal of a team to go to dungeon -100.


    Third Goal: FULL BREACH. Create a suitable area to inject Babel loaded up with HOF elites. Actions of MASK suggest he understands criteria for reverse summoning Babel and is trying to prevent FULL BREACH. It is important we not near FULL BREACH until we can go from 5% to 100% and complete FULL BREACH in the 5 seconds that MASK takes to raze a planet.


    To be safe, we will aim for 600% in .5 seconds with seeded nanomatter and omnicrafters with a summoning time of 1 second.


    Once FULL BREACH occurs, we will deploy 90% of our sleepers who specified they would like to be woken up to wage inter-universal war on the system.


    Fourth Goal: Total Control of subject universe.


    Estimated completion time after FULL BREACH: 15 days.

 Chapter 262: The Dusky Creekwood Hermitage

    Corvayne pulled a tooth out and threw it aside onto the dusty platform. Around him, scorched stones and packed dirt showed signs of him and Rio''s fight against a set of elite Daoboys and a few Red-Line Sect goons mixed in. Corvayne took a stave and a better gun off their adversaries.


    He was glad he had asked everyone else to stay home. If not for Rio being there he would have lost, but he was tough enough to keep plugging away with shadow abilities while she showed off her prowess in martial arts, gun-play, an enchanted lasso, and the ability to instantly switch to riding a flying sword both as defensive and offensive measures.


    She had switched back to her main persona, the black-eyed and dark robed former leader of the sect, hair now the color of dried blood. She had pulled her punches with the Daoboys but not the Red-Line Sect members, their already crimson robes even darker where she had punched them full of holes.


    She had taken some damage, and Corvayne had used ''Back Mend'' to help fix her up, then followed her into the huge stone door, shaped like a guitar and showing signs of being forced open.


    ¡°If either of those two Red-Line sect members we ran into are in there, we are in for a fight.¡±


    Corvanye nodded. [[Unity]] let him feel a Gylwin-worm thing latch onto his boot. If they needed backup, she''d be there. But he was more concerned with the agitation his [[Unity]] link was feeding him from his friends and family at the academy.


    Someone sent him that they were on the move and to stop worrying, so he focused on entering the structure. The stone he had assumed the door had been made of was actually petrified wood, shaped into what was likely a functional giant guitar.


    ¡°Everyone knows the song to enter, but it''s beyond here that the dangers of this hermitage become clear. We must get to Master Dusty if we are to have any chance of salvaging our Sect.¡±


    Corvayne adjusted his latest cowboy hat. ¡°I''m still a prisoner of the Sect.¡±


    ¡°Don''t be silly. At this point I''d put you in charge of training our initiates. I''ve heard how well your disciple Bell fights.¡±


    ¡°Girlfriend.¡± He corrected, getting a knot in his guts despite assurances that everything would be fine. Cool air rushed out of the doorway as they finally strolled through the threshold, quickly plunging into a blue glowing corridor that reminded him of the Magus''s prison. In fact, the carvings looked suspiciously like the ones he had seen before, something like a king asking his minions to seek a warrior above warriors.


    Rio ran a finger along the mural. ¡°The goal of the sect was to train or find the ''chosen one''. Dusky copied much of this from memories of the lost village, where he and his master hailed from.¡±


    Corvayne nodded, and caught what looked like a carving of Spears-Like-Water and Diamonds-in-Passing, in their ''real'' forms of water and diamond centaur.


    ¡°Likely my village, given I''m seeing people I know in these things.¡±


    Rio stopped. ¡°Another sign fate brought you here.¡±


    They walked down a broad set of steps into what looked like a large circular arena. Dozens of floors connected by a few steps formed rings, forming a depressed ''bullseye'' shape. Each ring had dark stone passages leading down, and before each was a model of a town carved from stone.


    ¡°Only Master knows the true way here.¡±


    Corvayne frowned at that. ¡°He didn''t trust you?¡±


    Rio looked bitter. ¡°Not enough to walk into his inner sanctum unless he invited me in.¡± She gestured to a door where signs of impotent violence had been waged. Corvayne saw piles of bullets, broken drills, and a few broken weapons. Looking at essence flowing through the room wasn''t as much of a cheat as he hoped. The door had a complex and well layered pattern.


    Corvayne looked at the models. They were unfamiliar, cities and camps that varied from clifftop fortress towns, to shantytowns built around a harbor to a megacity with arcing bridge like buildings that erupted from the stone like a thousand needles. Each one was placed in front of a doorway, and Corvayne could see the hallways did something, though any given one looked identical.


    ¡°I take it the wrong path chops you into cubes?¡±


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°The wrong paths are all different fake hermitages, full of traps and danger.¡± Rio added, rubbing her nose. Corvayne almost instantly got the sense she had tried more than a few times to sneak in. He moved from city to city, just trying to see if there was a pattern.


    ¡°With fifty doors, there''s probably a right answer...¡±


    Corvayne stopped as he recognized his village, the oasis and Magus''s prison catching his eye. ¡°If I''m meant to go in here, this is the right one for me. This is where I''m from.¡±


    He moved to the archway it was placed before and stepped down a few steps, air becoming colder. He heard Rio''s footsteps following him and then there was a weird sucking sensation before he popped into place in what looked like a moss floored sauna. A moment later Rio appeared, bumping into him and pushing him towards the only visible door.


    Corvayne''s time raiding dungeons had made him wary of just one exit to a space. He looked around the room and saw the door was practically glowing. He let his shadow hands out, gently running his fingers along the wood walls and benches that encircled the room, checking the stone ceiling which looked like it was, indeed, enchanted with what he recognized from the Juggernaut as hot and cold water. There was something off about the light, even though it had a simple loop that would give off radiance.


    He gently put a hand on Rio to stop her from opening the door, then with a shadow hand reached up and screwed the light firmly into place. With a click the door shut and the mossy floor started to grind its way downwards.


    ¡°How did you know?¡±


    ¡°Lucky guess.¡± Corvayne admitted. The elevator stopped at a wood door that opened on its own. Corvayne lead the way into a softly lit two story chamber, resembling an atrium. Water mixed with natural light from the ceiling, falling on a garden with a curling tree at the center. Vibrant moss formed the carpet and clung to bright red wood posts. It looked peaceful, but Corvayne could see once again many doors, all lined with essence hinting at trouble once they had to start searching for the way forward.


    Wordlessly, Rio lead the way, padding across the mossy floor and looking at each door, marked with a simple number. Up the stairs, they continued into the teens with 19 doors in all. Corvayne went back down the stairs and didn''t see anything that triggered [[Understanding]] or any other sort of senses. His compass spun, the ''right path'' to the Sect Leader too difficult for it to assess.


    ¡°I don''t see an obvious path.¡±


    Rio rubbed her forehead. ¡°Let me think.¡±


    ¡°What do you know about the Sect Leader that might help you guess? Number of disciples? Siblings?¡±


    Rio moved through a gap in the water to sit on the lip of the tree''s planter. Corvayne had a brief irrational fear of a steel-whip tree coming to life before he relaxed. [[Unity]] gave him a sense that aside from Rio, there was nobody around. From her, conflicting emotions. Pain, regret, joy, humiliation, pride, love, and terrible loneliness.


    ¡°He found me at my lowest, took me in, made something of me, and never let me cross the line of disciple and master. Then he left me to try to carry on his work while he went in here.¡±


    Corvayne waited for her to elaborate, to maybe tell him a secret code he always used for everything else, but she just looked down at her black robes and boots. He took a deep breath and felt the emotions drifting from her. Frustration and shame and embarrassment. Probably for the state of the sect and that she couldn''t pull a number out.


    He did a lap of the doors again, tapping his spear as he walked and looked at the doors and walls and carvings. No clues, as they looked identical to his eyes. Just the numbers. No hints of essence through the walls, making him suspect the entire mountain was dotted with thousands and thousands of chambers. He circled back to where Rio was sitting and sat near her.


    With [[Unity]] he prodded Gylwin''s worm. It teleported onto his shoulder with no noise or disturbance of air.


    He thought about the doors, then asked if she had any ideas through the link.


    She suggested the door directly opposite where the elevator took them. In this case, door 6. No reason, just that when one was designing a space they''d have to go into and out of, it made sense to have a straight path.


    Corvayne disagreed, because there was a path, which was the door that had been heavily blasted... No he didn''t have any better ideas.


    He stood up, did a few more laps and spent some time looking at six. Like all the others, a simple wood door, no difference in the enchantments around it. [[Understanding]] didn''t trigger any warnings or urge him to go in. He tried to ask Compass for wrong doors and got the spinning.


    ¡°Rio, let''s start trying these doors. They clearly are also going to try to brute force it. If it recognizes you, it might ease up to let you protect your master.¡±


    She stood and came up next to him. ¡°Fine.¡±


    He opened door six, and stepped through...


    Into a huge wood and stone hall. The design was striped, as if there were two rooms and someone took slices of the wood room and mixed it with stone. Corvayne stopped Rio by holding an arm out, and ended up feeling her chest a moment before she took a half step back.


    The entire place was glowing with energy that screamed ''traps'' to Corvayne. He could see a path through to the other side. Annoyingly, there was essence strings in the air that would trigger whatever the rooms traps were if someone just flew to the other end.


    ¡°Walk where I walk. Everything else is glowing with danger.¡±


    He paced along the stone end of the room, opposite the wood on the other side. Stepping onto the first wood segment, he felt it wobble. Looking at the path, he realized it had spots on the walls and ceiling. He stepped back. The segments of the room spun, which would be difficult to navigate alone, let alone leading Rio blind.


    ¡°I''m going to pick you up.¡±


    Much like a cat dumped in water, this sent off alarm in her, so Corvayne lowered her gravity and swept her off her feet. She wrapped her arms around him, which seemed odd because her agitation made him think of a boar about to charge or something. Maybe this place messed with people''s heads.


    Using gravity he lowered their weight to almost nothing, then with his spear guided them onto the wood segment and started drifting them to the wall, staying under strings set up to prevent him from flying to the ceiling. He used Gravity to move the next segment 90 degrees, the stone floor pivoting through the essence without setting it off.


    The path required them to backtrack sometimes. Corvayne wondered how someone was supposed to do this without seeing flat out it was a trap. He wasn''t interested in finding out what it did.


    At the end of the room, the doorway was at the center of a wood wall, four ladders built in to let someone who made it past crawl into a square center hole. Inside, there was a room with potions that screamed danger. All of them were locked with chains wrapped around crystal containers attached to the wall. The lighting reminded Corvayne of department store displays.


    ¡°I would not take any of those.¡± Rio said, and Corvayne was inclined to agree. One of them clearly had three burning eyes in it, and [[Unity]] made him aware most of the potions had feelings that were a mix of anger, madness, hunger, and darker mixes of them.


    Instead of going anywhere near the crystal prisons, they stepped on a mossy platform and were back to the atrium.


    Corvayne sighed. ¡°One down, eighteen to go.¡±

 Chapter 263: Racing to the Heart of the Mountain

    Corvayne stepped out of door 9, huffing for air. Icy water poured off him and he was very tempted to shake like a dog. Another bust. So far they had done half of the doors, most of them leading to various traps and a scattered few fights against automated defenses. The most recent was essentially a maze that filled with water. Corvayne had enough sense to fill his ring with air once he saw what was happening and used it to create bubbles in dead ends. Even then it had been close due to the maze shifting, which caused his compass to wobble before they figured out what it was doing and that every six changes brought it back to the original form.


    Rio was close behind him out of the door, soaking wet and wearing a hangdog expression on her face. Every step her cowboy boots squelched with water, and there was a fish that had somehow got tangled in her hair, along with seaweed. He was pretty sure the teleporter out had done that. She took the wiggling fish and tossed it into the pond around the tree.


    Wordlessly, they both walked around the atrium to door 1, which was the lone exception to tricks and traps that had been eating up the better part of a day. It was an array of guest rooms, perhaps even the master''s own quarters. It had comfortable beds and functional bathrooms, but most importantly it had showers with hot water.


    Rio almost followed him into the room he went into, but veered at the last second. Corvayne took a deep breath. Whatever was going on with her, she likely needed to redirect it to the sect leader.


    He showered and put his clothes in a basket that worked like a drier, save his berry pants which didn''t ever really get dry and would just glop jelly over everything if he tried to apply a hairdrier to it. They were absorbing the water anyway, patches turning red for a moment before becoming black.


    Cleaned up and ready for the next challenge, he waited about ten minutes for Rio to step out.


    ¡°Door 10.¡± She snapped, adjusting armor that looked like something a samurai might wear, with a forehead protector.


    Corvayne adjusted his hive greatsword and checked that the swarm gauntlet hadn''t died from being drowned. A faint hum on the back of his knuckles confirmed the wasps inside were just fine, even if they had just gone swimming for a few hours.


    They moved upstairs and opened the wood door, stepping out into what looked like a version of an old desert fort. Corvayne thought it resembled the building he had met Kirae in: adobe walls with wood logs sticking out, but nearing a half wall he could see the shaped clay was actually shaped wood, and the wood posts sticking out was carved stone.


    They took a moment to look around before moving. There were lots of buildings something could attack them from, and there were joints and lines in the floor that suggested it could morph. Almost every room in the place was able to shift, be it to spring traps or enemies or just to plain confuse them. He could see what looked like a pair of dense essence strings under the center of the fort, and the door out looked like it would require crossing the middle to get up to the other side. He could make out strings that blocked the door itself but none limiting flight.


    ¡°It doesn''t think flying will break the trap.¡± He said, and gestured to the center of the fort. At that, the stone platform opened. Corvayne didn''t wait to see what was opening up before he swung his sword, a swarm of ships flying. He readied them to attack and a moment later he got hit with a quantum bullet. He threw down a shadow shield as Rio returned fire.


    He floated to the top of the sphere and pulled a potion out, stemming the burning hole in his chest. Whoever it was had been aiming for his heart, but the chain mail shirt had ''just'' caused the force of however many thousands of bullets to break a few ribs. His buzzing ships blasted the gunslinger, who fired off a dozen shots that took the interceptors out before they could disable him.


    Rio called out ¡°I''m pinned down!¡± as more shots fired. Corvayne could see one attacker was sweeping back and forth while the other had a shooters stance with two guns, while also using two extra hands to reload. He got a sense they were golems from the way they moved. Gunslinger shifted a gun to track him as he dropped his shield and tethered to a place with cover. Corvayne could tell it was cheating it''s aim so he forced gravity onto the chamber of the weapon. It fired, but whizzed by him as he landed in a safe spot, then threw up another shadow shield while also using call shadows.


    Two clouds appeared above the robot, who was forced to move. Corvayne fired off all his interceptors the moment he caught sight of the chrome cowboy, who in turn spun and shot at Corvayne''s face. This time he compensated with lowered gravity to go with the robot trying to aim up, giving him just enough time to dive for cover and only taking a few quantum scattered shots into his arm.


    ¡°Even when they miss those guns hit.¡± He grumbled just as the entire fortress was blasted by the noise of his attack; a hundred tiny starships unleashing miniature Armageddon. At the same time, He saw Rio had disarmed the cultivator robot at the cost of some nasty slices, and was charging with it in a bearhug while the thing slammed stone fists onto her back. The other robot coolly turned and fired through his partner to try to fill Rio with lead, but she switched armor into something covered in spikes, and combined with ship fire both cowboy and cultivator golems were blasted into bits.


    Corvayne took a deep breath and then ran over to make sure she was alive. She had switched to red armor that seemed to be helping her wounds close, and Corvayne used mend from behind to activate Back-Staunch, which helped push out all the bullets (from other dimensions) that had been winding it''s way through her. She looked away and blushed after his healing left some of her abdomen exposed, but Corvayne politely ignored it. She has a crush on another guy that looked like him, he reminded himself. Loot called, so he strolled over to the golem which, sadly, was totally scrapped guns and all.


    On the other hand, there were a pair of thin dueling swords Rio had knocked off the other golem. He used his foot to kick them into his hand. Rio held a hand out for one but let him keep the other. He hadn''t seen what the enchantment was, but he was pretty sure it was powerful if it could harm the incredibly durable assistant guild leader.


    ¡°Good thing we are above and beyond most of these combat rooms.¡± She said as they walked over to the now unlocked door out. Corvayne looked at his hands before following. He was pretty sure.


    Door 11 was next. In this room there was a slightly see through figure on a flying sword, resting in what looked like a brightly lit open wooden box facing pure darkness. There was also a flying sword laying on the ground. The perfect black was only broken because out there in the gloom Corvayne saw another vibrant frame of wood, the bright tan square hinting at a path in the shadows.


    When Rio arrived the image started to rise, and then jet off on it''s sword. Rio grabbed him and jumped on, swearing. ¡°It''s a race! Shit!¡±


    In a moment he had his arms wrapped around her as they flew off, wind whipping by as they passed the first ring about fifteen seconds behind the shimmering blue illusion. More boxes appeared, as did what were clearly the sides of the huge open space ¨C jagged stone walls.


    Rio was an expert driver and was aiming for angles that gave them the closest possible curve to hit the next box. At least, until she had to swerve as one of the walls had pushed a huge stone spike into her path. The illusion had done a little bob there and Corvayne had wondered about why. He used Gravity to drop the sword a few feet, the stone spike still whipping past their heads.


    ¡°The fucking walls are closing! I gotta go faster!¡± Rio shouted and she leaned forward, forcing Corvayne to basically grind on her as she forced the sword to go faster. He dropped their gravity a little bit and she elbowed him as the sword nearly smashed them into the top part of the wood box.


    ¡°Stop fucking around with the weight of the sword!!!¡±


    As she said this she had to pull up to a near stop as there was a portal in a stone wall that required the sword to slow down or hit wooden spikes. They did in fact slam into the spikes and Rio got impaled through her arms and legs. Corvayne kicked them off and used Back-Staunch and Shadow Mend while also willing the sword to go up as there were grinding noises and he strongly suspected losing the race would result in death. The sword''s response to his lackluster cowtivation was to go half speed, wobbling as it floated up.


    Rio started to recover as he felt something else inside him slowing down. Switching to regular mending was fine, he had enough piety to turn a pound of hamburger into a tiny cow. There was something that his grasping class abilities was using that wasn''t mana, stamina, or health. Very interesting but Rio jabbed him with an elbow as she started trying to get the sword back to her control. He let go, then forced his [[Unity]] link open and mentally said ''I invite Rio to my party.''Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ''Party invite target''


    ''Rio is in my party''


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± She asked, then there was a click as the link opened fully both ways. He essentially shoved gravity control over to her, and in a moment the sword shot up to the ceiling then they slowed down just enough to slip out rather than brain themselves on the ceiling.


    ¡°Y-y-your dual cowtivating! You can''t just- I wasn''t ready for us- FUCK I''m going to kill you after this!¡±


    Corvayne urged her to stop being horny for him and just drive, helping her natural lower the weight of the sword until they were nearly weightless. In a moment they were flying for the next wood frame, the shaft they had just left compressing with a dull thud of finality. Ahead, spikes were closing in.


    The sword moved fast enough there was a shattering blast as they broke the sound barrier, but Corvayne could see a wood shaft that would force them to stop and drop or hit spikes. This time, he used a gravity tether with Rio''s reflexes to swing the blade down then another turn to send them flying upside down on the blade, legs glued via gravity as they entered what looked like a stone snake with wood hoops. Corvayne let them glide in a spiral as spikes were chomping behind them and jutting from the walls, forcing him to whip gravity tethers every half second until they could get back to the center of the ring right side up. Almost five seconds after that the glowing wood rings started to form fake splits. Corvayne could just see were dead ends sent the correct direction to Rio just fast enough to force a gravity tether to, yanking them at blurring speed into the right tunnel.


    The momentum as they entered a tightly packed tunnel of wood rings was enough he had to keep repulsing the walls and forcing them to spiral up and around while gluing them to the sword, meanwhile he could feel Rio''s heart beating and her laser focus, shifting her gear to something that was basically pumping stamina, mana, and chi into her, all of which was being shunted to either Corvayne or the sword, all while keeping rings on that improved her reflexes.


    They caught a flash of blue ahead as they entered the final stretch, a vast open space which looked like it was between rooms, with huge stone pillars of mixed stone and wood looming from the floors and ceilings, forming rows of paths between them. Huge wood hands loomed between titanic wood and stone gears, everything either a bright brown that looked gold with gleaming light from unseen sources, or the deep green of grime or moss stained stone. Those palms started to move, thousands of them emerging from the sides of the walls, from the floor, and ceiling, all of them converging to try to crush them.


    Rio pulled Corvaynes arms around her tighter, and he was REALLY sure that between terror and excitement she was turned on as they leaned forward like a pair of wolves and pushed both their energies into the sword, sending it flying after the spec of blue between thousands of obstacles, Corvaye using compass to push Rio the right direction, at the same time her reflexes and superior stamina and mana fueling swaps of Gravity while also adding gear that stopped them from blacking out, their super human bodies needing reinforcement as they made insanely sharp turns before blasting forward between the last two hands into a home stretch straightway. The blue ghostly figure never changed course as they blew past it into a closing stone door flew into black and white leaves that covered a moss that was more air than plant, like a huge balloon that slowly reduced them to non lethal speeds before it gently pushed them back to a wood box with a doorway in it.


    The prize was just a bunch of gold, which was pretty much worthless to them. Rio did take a simple sash though, and they were still linked and he could feel her greed. She turned to him and pressed her lips to his and he had to break the link as he felt her need, loneliness, everything try to flood him.


    ¡°No! Bring it back!¡± She begged him, pushing him to the ground of the treasure chamber.


    ¡°Control!¡± He barked back, putting a palm in front of her face which just got her to shove his hand out of the way. For a moment her eyes were wild, sitting on him, her imposing Sect leader face and black and red eyes contrasting with her snow white nightee in turn contrasting with her trembling hands that were holding him down with the last whispers of his own gravity power.


    ¡°Control yourself. I''m not him.¡± He said, his own blood up. Linking to someone so fast had been... too much. She was like a starved wolf, and he had forced her to reach the kind of understanding that took years and years to really develop in a moment, and at the same time she had leaked back everything to him.


    She fell on him, but just rested her head against him, taking shuddering breaths.


    He saw his own gear was missing besides his pants, perhaps her forcing her own ability to store his gear. He left it in his ring and pulled out his spear.


    ¡°Deep breath.¡±


    She took the flying sword and started to copy him. Did she steal it? Or did he give it to her? Or was his dad somewhere in this mountain, and every pupil studied something that was the legacy of the watchers?


    He quashed the last bit of her wants, ignoring that the fabric didn''t hide enough. Instead he sent calm her way. Control. Patience.


    ¡°We are warriors. You are moments from seeing the one you love. You shouldn''t throw it away.¡±


    She did the motions, eyes closed. ¡°You''ve been looking at my ass the entire time you were in the sect.¡±


    Corvayne spun his spear, turning his back to her as he worked through motions both useful and pure art, stretching and tensing and flowing. ¡°Trusting me because I look like someone else could have been a mistake too.¡±


    ¡°You have abilities that let you play with my emotions, so it''s your fault I''m this way.¡±


    ¡°You see how I think. I had to decide between being powerless and letting my friend be taken away, and giving myself a tool to fight upwards.¡±


    He turned and saw her turn back to face him, blade doing the same motion as it caught the gleam of gold all around them. ¡°You want more. Inside you, you want more love. I want it too.¡±


    He sighed. ¡°What once drove you to perfect your path of Cowtivation would drive you off the path if you let it.¡±


    She took a step closer, dance slowing. ¡°What if I changed my mind? Said I wanted you?¡±


    Corvayne tried not to look at obvious signs of her excitement, instead focusing on her eyes. ¡°You doubt that. I know you, you know me.¡±


    She stopped, putting the flying blade down point-first into the treasure pile at her feet. ¡°We can be broken together.¡±


    Corvayne held out a hand. ¡°I have a better idea. Come with us. We can help you find yourself, then when you come back to Dusky, you will be your own person, rather then trying to catch up to him. The race... was a pretty good metaphor for what you''re doing. Chasing who you imagine he is, with his head start making it nearly impossible. All the traps... trying to be the fastest gunslinger, the most skilled bladesmith. Trying to reach the next level before you run out of time, navigating an invisible maze of shifting alliances like webs...¡±


    Rio waved a hand, annoyance finally getting a foothold from that terrible desire to push away emptiness. ¡°What''s the golems that we demolished? Or the spinning axe room? I get the tightrope.¡±


    ¡°The golems represent you need to get a vibrator.¡± Corvayne said, watching as a previously hidden door in the room started to open. ¡°Was the point of this entire dungeon just to try to get you to deal with your problems?¡±


    She looked away and morphed from nearly naked to fully armed. Corvayne put his own armor on. She rubbed her nose and then removed her fake eye and hair color, then shifted her armor to look like a denim robe with jeans. The Daogirl radiated embarassment. ¡°No, I think it''s something else.¡±


    ¡°How does it quantify personal growth? Or he''s awake and listening.¡± Corvayne said, stepping to the side door and entering the weird clockwork space between rooms. Compass came to life, though it wasn''t even needed. Golden arrows had manifested, pointing them the right way down the wooden scaffolding around the titanic rooms that formed the hermitage, some of them still moving and likely fighting off Red-Line sect invaders.


    Corvayne could see parts of the course they had raced resetting, hands drifting back into different spots. ¡°I wonder if it turns into a giant ten-thousand handed robot or something.¡±


    Rio was behind him. ¡°I doubt that. I want to ask you... why do you push back so hard on meeting your desires? You want more women, more love.¡±


    Corvayne sighed. ¡°You saw a lot of my mind, right?¡±


    ¡°It''s jumbled.¡±


    ¡°It''s fractured. I am missing memories. I''m under curses that gave me false memories, and may influence how I think. And so... what''s the point of a dozen girls if I don''t know what I want from them? I want love. I want to be loved, but also, I want to spar with Lady Blood Claw. I want to hunt again with Spears. I want Bell to ask me to try out new rocket launchers. I want...¡±


    He stopped. He wanted to carve wood with Hari. He wanted to go back to watching Wick go completely off the rails. There was something wrong with them, but something wrong with him. He needed to figure out what had happened to the girl Cascadia.


    Rio gently took his hand. ¡°I''d want to go riding a sword again, just like that.¡± She smiled at him.


    Corvayne didn''t shake it off. She wasn''t digging for more, she had calmed down.


    That made one of them. They were getting closer, Corvayne''s compass directed him to keep looking up. The wood and stone cubes they threaded between had strands of gold running through them, all of them shining with essence. They had been climbing a spiral and as they kept going up, more and more of the twisted sub-layers of the mountain fell away to set them on a stairway up to an orb made of gold, suspended by wood above and stone below, radiating essence and other energies so strongly that some of them dipped into vision.


    It took nearly half an hour from the base of the steps to climb up, the weight of the sphere''s spiritual power slowing them as unseen forces blew against them.


    It was nearly silent and still, but it felt like a whipping storm around them, and now and then sparks of gold would form on the stone as energies intersected. Rio called out ¡°The arrays that are forcing him to the next breakthrough... they are warping the QI here.¡±


    ¡°Will you be okay?¡± He half shouted, the hurricane of energy distorting his senses even if the dull gold glow only pushed the air in gentle breezes.


    Finally, he bounded up the last few stone steps. A circular hatch, something like he''d expect out of a space ship, formed the way into the central chamber where Dusky was. His compass turned off, having guided him to the sect leader. Rio had to pause on the second to last step and switch to finer robes, and fuss with her hair.


    ¡°Once the sect is saved, you have to talk to him.¡±


    She nodded. He used Juxtapose to switch their positions, as he wouldn''t dream of denying her seeing her master first after hundreds of years, nor did he really want to have some grandmaster god-cowboy punch his face because they lead with the stranger.


    As she fussed with the runes and with a click started unsealing the door, he took a deep breath. There''d be a fight, but if they could win he might be back to low floors inside of a week. Actually, he might stop for a few days at the hotel they had basically made back in Greencarpet...


    The energy inside the chamber.... was oddly still. It was dark inside.


    Rio stepped in, and every surface started to glow dimly. ¡°Master?¡±


    A moment later, she slumped to her knees, and Corvayne moved in behind her. He spotted first the hole up on the ceiling, like something had seemingly burnt into the wall. From the ugly melted wound in the sphere, strings of essence were hanging like a broken spiderweb.


    Then he looked down and saw, on a platinum horse blanket, the withered corpse of the sect leader right as Rio started to wail.

 Chapter 264: The Lifestealer Bride

    Corvayne quickly double checked that the withered husk of the sect leader was in fact dead, then moved to look at the hole in the golden sphere. The bubbling blackened gold had signs that someone had sheared the essence or enchantments under the surface. Bits of it on the floor of the sphere were still together, frayed ends blowing in the unseen energies the orb was still drawing in.


    He turned to Rio, whom he had moments before encouraged to confess to the sect leader. He had felt conviction respect and love and devotion mixed up with six hundred years of longing and six hundred years of hope. She had walked into the chamber gambling he''d see her at this moment with fresh eyes... all of that dashed onto the floor. Just minutes ago she had been a demon eyed imposing figure. The disguise fell as she was weeping.


    Corvayne was tempted to try to explain to her the time loop and give her hope by telling her they might yet step back and fix things, but for all he knew the man, laying there as a dried up skeleton in country music digs, had been murdered hundreds of years ago.


    Corvayne put a hand on the gold wall and felt that it had a hint of warmth. Even if he couldn''t get his answers and she couldn''t get her confession... they might be able to get revenge. After all, if they didn''t know who killed him, they couldn''t stop them in the next loop.


    ¡°It''s still warm from being melted...¡±


    ¡°What''s the point?!¡± Rio cried out. ¡°It was a waste! Six hundred years, my whole life...¡±


    He considered slapping her, as that''s what they often did in stories when the hero needed someone to get their act together, but instead he hugged her, and then mended her back while she cried.


    ¡°Whatever was here stole his life. If it was using an artifact or ability to bottle it, his life force might not be impossible to steal it back. Either way, you would avenge your master right?¡±


    He felt her nod, and they seperated. She took her flying sword off and dropped it to the ground. Corvayne got his own gear and potions ready as she composed herself. His compass resisted ''the Sect leaders killer'' but he could see a straight line of holes extending from the gold sphere, like a bullet shot through dozens of sheets of paper.


    He stepped behind her on the flying blade, and Rio turned. ¡°I want the full link again.¡±


    ¡°You tried to pin me down and...¡± He paused as he did not want to confirm or deny he would let her go further. ¡°You pinned me down to make out with me last time.¡±


    She completely missed his point. ¡°I don''t care what I do, if I have to face fuck you with my tongue to make this sword go that fast-¡±


    Corvayne rolled his eyes and pushed the link forward, his own disinterest in kissing while in the same room with a murder victim mostly dousing her physical reaction to unifying... mostly.


    The took off, blazing out of the mountain. The line out was, compared to the moving stones they had barreled through, trivial to navigate. The path cleaved through traps, rooms, and empty space. There were cobwebs of damaged essence along the way, as well as one other dried up body he saw in an otherwise dark and empty chamber. Leaving the mountain, they shot out past snow and into thin air, so far up that the illusion of stars and moons above was in places pierced by the bottom of the next layer. He could see through the glittering stars and colorful moons hints of reversed mountains.


    That is, save for a very bright moon that was almost certainly floating over the sect. One that he felt a unity link to.


    ¡°Did you see which way they went?¡± He asked the moon.


    Rio looked at him like he was crazy for a half beat before the moon shone a gentle beam towards the stables.


    ¡°Fuck, thought so. We''ll talk later, thanks!¡±


    Rio didn''t need any further motivation to punch it. As they dropped, Corvayne could see the river bends and make out the academy, with an airship lit up from below floating above it. His connection to Gylwin''s worm came alive. She projected she was busy with the Red Line Sect leader actually showing up, with the others fleeing while she stalled or killed him. A faint boom in the distance punctuated that the fight was on.


    ¡°Bad news, in addition to our killer-¡±


    Rio got what he was thinking through the link. ¡°Do... do we run?¡±


    It was a good thought. If they ran... No. Compass wasn''t some unique ability. He was pretty sure Kirae had mentioned two different variants that merchants and thieves had. The airship could carry several thousand cultivators, and through Rio he got images of hounds they had bred in the stables that could sniff out mana ores to help keep the fields producing mutant wheat. [Organization] summed it up: There was no way the Red Line sect didn''t have ways to hunt them, nor would they leave Preshe alone if the prince wanted her.


    ¡°We got to at least kill the prince. If we do that without getting seen, great. If not, his dad will probably put multi-billion crystal bounties on all of us. I don''t honestly know if I can keep up with a floor 80 rulers cashflow, even though I bleed money.¡±


    Her funk lifted for a moment. ¡°You BLEED those crystals?!¡±


    He let one get all the way out and pulled it from his shoulder. Rio took it and looked at it. ¡°It''s turning gray!¡±


    ¡°Is that bad?¡±


    ¡°It''s nearly priceless! Wait, do they come out EVERY-where? All over?¡± She looked down at her own crotch then back at his eyes.


    Corvayne frowned and projected a memory that basically said ''yes, and it hurts'' to her.


    ¡°Has it ever happened when you-¡±


    ¡°No because I can store them before they break the skin.¡±


    He let her keep the crystal and tried to push forward his own cold desire for justice to her. ¡°If this thing could beat your master, even using a sneak attack to get him when he was at his most vulnerable... we need to be ready to fight it with all our might. Basically, hit it before it knows what happened.¡±


    He already guessed that seeing Bombshell at the club on top of Bayou''s suspicions, that he''d find out that she had somehow hidden everything that should have confirmed her as the leader of the vampire cultivators. Landing near the stables, he walked into the massive open barn structure. In the gloom most of the creatures were sleeping or placidly chewing hay, but there were no people were moving about. Which was wrong, there were people here twenty four hours, and they never turned off the overhead lights. Eyes adjusting to moonlight sneaking in from the rafters he let his senses expand as he crept down hay strewn isles.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    They found Big Red''s body not far from the offices, drained into being near unrecognizable save his mustache. The man''s gun was still in hand. Corvayne''s view of essence made him sure it was recent, thin strands leading to a dark corner. He channeled [[Growth]] into his eyes and the dark essence swirling around the woman became clear after a momentary spike of pain. So much for ambushing.


    ¡°Come out Bombay, or whatever your name is.¡±


    Rio glanced at him, then pulled our her revolver as Bombshell appeared, wearing a white dress soaked with blood.


    She licked her finger clean of a speck of essence. ¡°Lucky guess?¡±


    Corvayne had his hive greatsword ready to swing. ¡°Sort of. I get the sense that you were waiting for a distraction to aim for the sect leader. Are you a part of Red Line? Or are they pawns of one of the brides?¡±


    She reared up, gaining height to tower over them, clothes stretching to fit her distended form. Corvayne''s essence sight suggested her form was bulging, squirming, disgusting.


    ¡°I need to thank you two... you killed Sheolbeth and left the body for me. I have been trying to claw my way up to being strong enough to take her out. The rest of these demonic cultivators can''t tell the difference between what they do and what I do.¡±


    Corvayne snapped a thread of essence trying to get at Rio. ¡°They just steal people''s life force. You can somehow take their luck or fate as well. I just assumed you were another twisted vampire under your facade. You acting on your own then?¡±


    They started circling. Corvayne was watching her movements, ignoring the feeling of power the woman was giving off lest he cower. How had she hidden that much power?


    ¡°Why should I tell you?¡± She asked, looking down at them, stepping around so that they kept the light between them and avoiding hitting her head on protruding parts of the stalls.


    ¡°Because if not us, who else?¡± Corvayne said.


    ¡°The Magus. I need to make him remember me. If I can be his equal, if I can show him how to break the level cap... he won''t need the others! I''ll make him remember me! ME! MEEEE!!!¡±


    She laughed, cried, then lunged, and only because he had links to both his enemy and Rio''s speed was Corvayne able to avoid her. She spun, legs not finding traction as she sent hay and dried bullshit clouds flying.


    Rio was pissed. ¡°It''s just... you killed him for essence?! You''ve destroyed our sect!¡±


    Bombshell laughed, drawing a gun and perfectly sighting Rio before using a weapon skill that caused the gun to blur. Rio screamed as dozens of rounds that became thousands of bullets blowing through her. Corvayne felt half the pain, dropping him to his knees. The huge woman knocked Corvayne''s attempt to block her aside with a dismissive backhand. He crashed through a stable.


    Big Bombshell spoke up, curling a blond hair as one eye watched him attempting to get out of a pile of wood. ¡°It''s not the essence my little cowgirl. I steal full levels. I''ve got a thousand from consuming Dusty? Dotsy? A fat pig fit for a feast. I''ll make him remember!¡±


    Rio tried to pull her gun up, and the woman kicked her. Rio cried out, switching her gear on what felt like instinct to something that would defend her and help her heal. That is, if Bombshell wasn''t kicking her so hard it was cracking the floor.


    Corvayne started pushing himself back. If he could get far enough away, he might hit her with an orbital bombardment. Scratch that, he needed to buy time. He swung his blade and clenched his fists, combining his hive weapons with [Cross Skill: Shield Bash].


    What flew out where chrome single jet ships, shaped like gleaming knuckles and trailing gray plasma as they slammed into Bombshell like a wave of pure force. He heard things cracking, and he moved to Rio before he swung again, this time using [Cross Skill: Storm Thrust]. The shield ships came barreling back to him as a fresh wave of what looked like horns with jets on them flew out, dive boombing her with explosive force that sent her flying away from the ground and away from the stables.


    Corvayne grabbed Rio and hopped on her flying sword. She was alive, barely, and Corvayne borrowed only her expertise in flying. He tried to share [[Vitality]] with her, but she didn''t ''get it'' and he stopped before he screwed up her healing.


    He flew outside, eyes trained on a dust cloud as he tried to prepare orbital bombardment. The skill resisted... she was too close.


    He realized she was moving at him just soon enough to swerve as something like a line of dust flew at him, the huge woman turning and flinging another twin strands of black essence his way. Corvayne cut through them, and she looked smug as he flew backwards, then after ten seconds her expression turned confused.


    Corvayne spit on the ground. ¡°Screw you and the sword you rode in on, lady.¡± He took a swing and activated [Cross-Skill: Orbital Bombardment]. Both his items glowed blue and instead of wasps he saw what looked like canisters shoot straight up.


    Bombshell held her hands up to block the attack, glowing shields forming then breaking. She chuckled. ¡°Your little tricks not working right?¡±


    Her shadow caught on a moonbeam. The faint blue light jerked her back to it, and the bride snarled and ripped herself free, but too late. Red holographs appeared all over her as something above bathed her in hundreds of lights. A moment later thousands of gray missiles rained down, shattering the ground and quickly kicking up too much dust to see.


    Corvayne wasn''t fooled, his [[Unity]] link picking up the woman''s hunger and anger even though it was as faint as a whisper. He could see she had left the leg the moonbeam had caught behind, and was now coming at him hopping on one leg, still faster than he was on the sword.


    She reached out, and Corvayne could see black essence gathered. [[Agility]] let him throw Rio up and spin low to avoid the soul-eating claw, and then he used [Cross-Skill: Reap] to lay down lines of black goop while his shadow hands caught the wounded cowgirl and leaned back to get out of range of a backswipe.


    With her pinned, he felt the world vibrate. The name [Moonlight Greatsword] popped into his mind. Above, Diamonds-In-Passing was glowing brightly, and something like a comet came flying at the monster woman who was shredding the grasping patches of shadow. The bright projectile pierced her, and then exploded in thousands of blue novas that clung to her. A moment later Corvayne felt it mix with energy already on the woman. He slammed the sword into the ground and put everything into a shadow shield.


    [Combo: Moon Bomb]


    The shield of swirling shadow buckled, only able to stay up because part of his own energy was flowing back into him. Rio''s sword was turned to slag, and looking around he could see what looked like a lifeless moonscape, craters and dust, centered around a figure like a frozen blue wraith, reaching out with clawed hands.


    Some of the crust started to break.


    ¡°She''s still alive?¡±


    Corvayne pulled the original Cowtivator sword he had won from the original pack that ambushed him, and pointed himself at the academy as the thing he was fleeing shed a layer of bodies or souls or something. No, the blue was a thin tissue paper layer of silvery essence. It''s presence unveiled a moment while it created a new layer. It must have had thousands of levels.


    Screw that. ¡°Rio, I''m sorry, we failed, there''s no way we can take that damn thing. We dropped a moon on it.¡±


    ¡°It... was... level... 3000.¡±


    He looked back, and it was still reforming. Though, he thought he saw something odd in its woven essence.


    ¡°Yeah, I don''t know how we both are not dead. She must have burned most of her ammo-¡±


    The rule about jinxing one''s self screamed at him and he used gravity to drive them into the dirt as his cowboy hat was nearly ripped off by the wind of hundreds of quantum bullets flying over his head. A part of him begrudgingly wanted to figure out how to do that move. Meanwhile, another moonbeam came flying down, which prompted the bride to stop for a moment and start shooting at the moon. Corvayne saw Diamonds-In-Passing shed some of her outer layer, thin dusty rocks revealing the hardened surface.


    He sent the danger present from essence strings through [[Unity]] at the moon, and a moment later it compressed into a trio of glowing lights and spun away. He could see them now in the air, trying to follow Diamonds.


    With a few hills now between the source and those strings, they had lost her. Corvayne didn''t trust that for a moment would keep them safe. Especially since he was seeing now a three way fight between vampires, Red Line cultivators, and Fistful of Dao members. Make that five way: over the next hill monsters were being destroyed by a group he didn''t recognize at first. The Three Kings had shown up too.


    He spotted the prison he had stayed at, and recalling his neck ring he changed directions.


    He flew in the open door and saw his cowgirl guards, Night Rider, the mechanics, and even the Horsespit brothers behind bars. He started with Rio''s right hand man, whom radiated protective fury. [[Unity]] wasn''t perfect, but it told him enough that he was the perfect problem to keep Rio safe. It was funny, she had dragged him into this mess yet he was worried about her.


    ¡°Night Rider, I''m going to spring you first. Sect Leader Rio''s been betrayed five different ways. Dusky is dead, the Red Lines are taking over. I need you all to keep her safe.¡±


    He used essence to open and disable his neckring, which he stored, but oddly the man shook his head and spit, annoyance welling in him. ¡°I can''t do that. She chose you hombre.¡±


    Corvayne felt his jaw open a little, then shut as he accepted it. He dug into [[Unity]] to pick Rio''s brain. What did she care about? ¡°Fine. Then saddle up and try to get everyone you can off this floor. Neo Nashville too. Oh, after I free you put all the collars in a pile, I need em.¡±


    He went up and down the row, getting more then a few busty girls hugging him and calling him sugar. Maybe those girls guarding him really WOULD have done something between the bars. It was moot, he wasn''t available and there wouldn''t be a sect left if he ever was in the future.


    In the last cell was the werewolf. He deactivated the neckring, and the thing for the first time he had seen calmed down. Standing up, it looked much, much, much bigger than when he had been contained in the cell.


    ¡°Hey buddy, if I set you free can you do me a solid and get the guys in red robes?¡±


    It thought. It took a while, like a car that hadn''t been started in a few months whining before it growled to life. ¡°Grondoff. Kick. Ass.¡±


    That was a yes, he was nearly sure. Breaking the collar off to store with the rest of them, he opened the door. The things excitement at being let loose was palatable.


    ¡°Grondoff... SPIN!¡± It cried happily as it crashed through a wall, using what looked like the greataxe technique [Whirlwind] with it''s claws.


    He looked back to the linked suppression formations in the prison, then pulled his hive greatsword out and turned it sideways, like a giant spade. He wouldn''t fight if he could avoid it, but if he HAD to, well, sometimes a spear moves sideways to go forward. There''s no cheating in war.


    ¡°[Cross-Skill: Dig]¡±

 Chapter 265: Stumbling into Someone Elses Climax

    Reply fr: [email protected]</a>


    Cut the crap Falenti. I don''t have the patience for your word games anymore, nor your attempt to stall this out or try to create a committee. Given everyone considers you our biggest brain you should know exactly what happens to every god who''s tried to get in my way in the past.


    Poll: 1 in favor, 0 other votes cast (9+ abstaining votes//admin override of deferral).


    There''s only one vote that matters and I just cast it. We extract Target A to pull (((((Static))))) in with her as soon as the ritual is ready.


    Sent from Flagship O-Ark ¨C ¡°Herald of Storms¡±


    Mana Code Verified.


    ******************************************************************************


    Corvayne flew past hundreds of battles happening on the ground. It had taken him less than five minutes to get everything he needed, though his storage ring was now very, very full.


    He saw flies dive bombing red cultivators with acid, then get picked off by horrific fanged creatures that sucked them dry, in turn turned to swiss cheese by Daoboys. Monsters attacked everyone, rarely enough on their own but causing distractions and picking off anyone who wasn''t paying attention. He saw on his ascent something flinging cultivators about, possibly the werewolf he had set free, and even Bessie was in the mix, the giant cow clearing the way for what looked like Dao members trying to flee the carnage.


    He put it aside. His family came first, and so his first stop was the Juggernaut, in motion on it''s way away from the sect. The lumbering beast was in a running fight with Red Line sect members on flying swords, whom may or may not have been vampires. Corvayne used his quantum gun and well placed [Cross Skill: Backbiter] shots to the head to quickly decimate the attackers. Even though he was pretty sure they out leveled him by ten to twenty times, the amount of damage each boosted shot did more than made up for it.


    He landed on the vehicle and hurried Rio down into the hull. Bell helped grab her then stopped. "What the fuck? You brought their assistant leader who kidnapped us?"


    "Her crush looked like me and got his soul sucked out. I''m either going to avenge him or get it back. She also might have a crush on me. As does the moon."


    Bell put a hand on her face. "Fuck. I knew you were going to pick up more eventually. I''m mad at you. Don''t think you''ll just turn into water and get out of this. The moon? Are you going to try to fuck a rock?"


    [[Unity]] told him both to not answer and that she was as resigned as she was angry. It also suggested what he needed to do. He kissed her. "Not my idea at all. I''ll bring ice cream back."


    A little of her rage subsided. "We have LBC and Spears, Mosh is helping drive and June too... but Preshe had to divert their elites. She picked up your worst habits."


    "They won''t kill her if they don''t need to. Pragmatic." He guessed Bayou was with them, as was Little Wing.


    He flew up the hatch and pointed his sword in Preshe''s direction, pulling out goggles to protect his eyes as he aimed the flying sword.


    Surfing in a gentle arc, he could see the ship was starting to lift off. He got the sense Gylwin was alive but tired. At the attention, the worm crawled up to his shoulder and grew a mouth.


    "I''m still too weak, it was a draw between me and the sect master. He''s wounded, but I had to run. Little Wing is fighting the son, with Bayou and Preshe trying to evade Red Line sect leaders."


    "Can you get me aboard?" Corvayne asked, and a moment later there was a sick lurch as he landed on the ship. He could feel vibrations of a titanic fight happening, and he used Compass to track Preshe. Find her, kill the prince, get out before batshit lifestealer finds them.


    The overwhelming color of the ship was gray, with even the wood a faded color. The airship had arcane propellers the size of football stadiums keeping the fortress afloat. Giant spotlights shined on the clouds above. Floating in formations, Red Line sect members on swords fought what looked like dragons and giant dragonflies. He was glad he asked for a skip: the mid-air battle looked far beyond what he could handle with just a sword and gravity.


    There were signs of fighting on the ship, the blood stains and slashes suggesting Gylwin had softened them up. His compass urged him to go down stairs off the open deck. Inside there was more decoration, with the steel beams adorned with red banners and the sect''s sigil. Bodies sliced in half, and some drained dry or twisted with vampire features. He was pretty sure that it just meant everything he ran into was hostile, possibly even his ''allies'' from the Fistful of Dao or Three Kings.


    Fast and quiet, using his cloak and shadowy hands to hide, move along walls and sometimes crawl on ceilings. He silently thanked whomever had designed the ship to have titanic imposing hallways full of hiding spots rather than sticking to a more reasonable submarine design where he''d have nowhere to hide.


    The first fight he was forced into was a sharp eyed Cultivator who nearly skewered him with a spear. It was by far the hardest fight, as the man was accurate enough to keep Corvayne dodging for a good thirty seconds and durable enough to take two swings of the Hive Greatsword in the five seconds afterwards. The third barrage of ships ended him, and Corvayne from then on just assassinated any Red Liners who were above whatever Whiskey Compression had been for Cowtivators. The various levels were already leaking out of his brain.


    Preshe was moving towards the bridge, and he could feel the strain of fighting a hard opponent. A spear moves forward, a dozen slow steps to avoid a single trip might save your life, and so on. He could feel powerful being moving about the ship, and he was relived to find a path that was clearly Preshe''s doing, shield bashed minions slammed into walls marking the right way as clearly as his compass.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    He saw a pair of men battering her with energy attacks from afar, the girl hunkered down behind a shield and bleeding. Bayou was dealing with her own issue, her rabbit and two dogs trying to keep a huge man from getting to Bayou herself. Corvayne took only a moment to charge [Cross Skill: Dismember] with his sword, flinging a huge wave of crescent ships that rammed into both men and exploded in energy that felt sharp, one dying outright and the other stopping his barrage long enough for Preshe to charge and use her shield to bash him into the ground. One of his arms fell off as his life was crushed out of him.


    They turned and Corvayne used his shadow limbs on the man''s neck and eyes, careful not to hit the hydra dogs keeping him pinned. Eventually he did enough damage the man was on the ground, then it was a minute of them beating on him to actually finish him off, to which the body sprouted another body and they needed to catch and kill it, and again a third and final time with a smaller form.


    Corvayne was about to tell Preshe it was time to go when she cried out ¡°We need to get to Little Wing!¡± and he felt her worry in a way that annoyed him.


    He could put his foot down, but... she rarely asked for things. He took a deep breath. He thought about how much he hated his father just then, and it cleared his head. Little Wing was his friend.


    ¡°Of course.¡± He lead the way, through damaged corridors full of slashes, burnt sections, people diced into cubes or turned inside out. Quite a few had spines sticking them to the walls. The halls went up, towards the flight tower and what he guessed was the bridge of the ship. On the stairs, mangled golems suggested something with great huge teeth had ripped them apart. Corvayne pushed through double doors to what he could only call a huge throne room. That probably meant the flying was done on the front of the ship instead. In the center of the space, a Bloody Little Wing was panting, his opponent a sneering youth. The Sect leader of the Red Line was there, watching, one hand holding a wound that still bled. He was overwhelmingly powerful, and his gaze nearly pinned Corvayne.


    There were other spectators, including a pair of women who looked to be mother and daughter and a girl in a mask with a dozen swords who was bleeding while leaning against a wall. The rest were all Red Line Men who pretty much were a dime a dozen, if not some of the ones here looking older than the ones he had fought before.


    The two duelists whom had everyone''s attention clashed, and there was a shockwave, Little Wing''s blade chipping as whatever glowing pearl sword the prince had ground it down.


    Corvayne rolled his eyes, and used [[Unity]] right as the sword broke, willing his spear into Wing''s hands to parry the next strike. It was odd, the old wooden spear didn''t even get chipped by having an artifact sword swung overhead into it.


    Now armed with an equal weapon, Wing started to fight back, his own style much flashier then Corvayne''s but also including some footwork that was distinctly his own efficient workman-like boxing of the enemy, forcing every attack to ask ''how do I get around the longer point?'' and at one point doing a non-supernatural Juxtapose, leveraging the boys attack to flip positions and land a hit on the enemy''s leg despite being inside the spears range.


    He saw the boy palm and swallow a pill, which of course made him glow and pumped power into him, but Corvayne saw Little Wing fingering the ring he always wore, and a moment later he batted aside a titanic blow and landed his blade into the boy''s neck.


    Before he could finish the prince off the Sect leader stood. ¡°Enough.¡±


    Everyone aside from Corvayne bowed down, folded by pressure. Well, Fred and Betty also didn''t seem too concerned. He watched the sect leader look at him, then stride to his son and apply a life-saving potion to the neck. The man, rather then being really angry, was looking forward to something. Corvayne started charging [Cross Skill: Grand Slam].


    ¡°My son lost, but so have all of you the moment you dared defy me! Kneel, join the Red Line Sect, and I will show mercy!¡±


    Corvayne could see he had an eye on Preshe. He let the skill go and the blade in his hand practically flew as it unloaded huge interceptors at the sect leader. He nearly destroyed most of them in a barrage of punches, but Corvayne''s real goal was to give him time to drop a huge formation plate on the ground, just in time for the leader to move to kill him.


    It slowed the man enough that Corvayne got a neck brace around his leg. The sect leader snarled and snapped his foot down, breaking the formation but not the bracer. Corvayne applied his magic, turning it into an ultra heavy leg weight. The sect leader could still move it, but his first step pushed his other foot through the nice wood floor.


    A girl whom he suspected was the former fiancee tried to get a knife on Preshe''s neck but she just headbutted backwards, her hand locking the girls wrist before she spun and did an armlock.


    Corvayne swung his blade again and fired off his bees, the ships aiming to hammer the sect leader before he could free his leg. Sadly, he concentrated and formed something like a gel of essence or qi around him, basically crushing the ships if they got too close. Some of the blows hit, but even wounded as he was it was only slowing his floor-destroying advance.


    So Corvayne threw another formation down, and in that moment got a neckband around his other arm. This time, with two bracelets on, it wasn''t as easy to crack the plate, so Corvayne just threw another out. He took the sword and pulled it back, binding gravity into it as he took a batters stance. [Cross Skill: Mass Driver] executed as he felt kinetic potential build then explode out, the little beads becoming pitch black meteors trailing shadows as they plowed right through the man''s domain and sent him tumbling into his throne.


    He stood, drawing a blade that looked like a tree... then a thread of black essence pierced his heart. Corvayne could see it latch onto a bundle of energy as the Sect leader felt it too, but had no defenses for whatever the bride was doing. Corvayne aimed for the middle of the man''s bundle, figuring he could deny her the meal and possibly kill the man who dared look at Preshe like he did.


    Anyone who looked at her like a tool? Like a slave? He would kill them. He was finally getting what those stories talked about.


    ¡°Yall dare?¡± he said, and smiled. This one''s for you Dusky.


    The sect leader fell over, drained but sadly, just barely alive. Corvayne didn''t wait for anyone else to get ideas. The bride was above them and going to throw more strings through the floor and finishing off the now aged and level-less man was pointless. There was enough ambition in the room to leave it to them.


    He grabbed Preshe and used [[Unity]] to pulse out a retreat. They linked and moved backwards smoothly as the spectators erupted into panic after another string killed a bystander, swishing through them and ripping their energy out as they collapsed into a heap. Before the panicing cultivators could react further Corvayne was kicking open the door.


    ¡°We have to kill the prince!¡± Little Wing cried out.


    ¡°If he lives you''ll just beat him again. Have faith in yourself.¡± Corvayne was now sure there was another duel somewhere in the near future, possibly aboard this ship whenever it decided to crash. He really hoped he was totally wrong and the stories were wrong and that he could score a fantastic flying ship, one that might be able to move between floors... but he detected a slight tilt that [[Understanding]] was sure to be a sign the entire vessel would hit a mountain in a few minutes.


    Corvayne did a double swing above him, throwing [Sundering Blade] and [Cross Skill: Sundering Strike] together to create a huge vortex of red dust, chewing away the floor and ceiling and ideally stopping any cultivators from the room following them.


    They burst onto the deck of the ship, and Corvayne was about to put his sword down when Bombshell landed before them, grinning. Her dress was completely red with blood, and her mood was all over the place. Corvayne could see past her figure to her essence. It was dark, dirty, with ugly bulges that writhed. Her energy was both overwhelming and gross, like a giant snake who had tried to eat ten too many dire rats.


    His allies stood still, waiting for him to silently and instantly relay his plans to overcome the titan before them, strength even a hundred feet away obvious to Corvayne. His danger sense had been on the moment he left the mountain but had gone from a buzz to a full on blaring alarm. He saw death before him. A spear holds. A spear moves forward.


    ¡°No need to hurry, no one will interrupt us now.¡± The woman said, clearly pleased with themselves. He idly considered her, wondering if they had to hire someone to make a wedding dress for a 13 foot tall woman with huge breasts.


    Corvayne squared up. He had an idea, and either he would be right and it would work or the towering woman before them would kill them all.


    He wordlessly squared up with her, hand hovering on his hive weapon, as her fingers twitched with writhing strings, their eyes locked on each-other before clouds billowed across the deck, breaking the spell.


    Then, with a snap, the tension burst and they both moved.

 Chapter 266: Battle On the Airship

    As a cloud rolled over the airship deck, Corvayne was moving forward, using [Flows-Like-Water] to attack while turning liquid, trailing droplet shaped ships as he plowed through a barrage of quantum bullets in wave form. It hurt far less than it would have if he had been solid.


    The titanic woman in a bridal dress followed up with a barrage of strings, each black essence thread nearly invisible but able to deliver near-instant death should he be caught. The sect leader had thousands of levels and just barely escaped a single moment with his life.


    It was using them as whips, buying time to reload the revolvers she had emptied. Corvayne''s own bullet shaped minions launched twin water lasers while he fired off his swarm gauntlet. If he had all day to whittle her down he was pretty sure he could kill her this way. The problem was she was faster than him, already charging forward while covered in strings. If Corvayne didn''t see them he might have thought the lethal charge clumsy.


    He sidestepped, using the sword as a blade rather than it''s optimal use as a two handed aircraft carrier. His own essence filled the attack and severed more black strings, the essence threads turning into brown sludge that fell out of the air leaving a foul smell.


    The swarm gauntlet bees turned ships harried her, but she was moving towards Bayou and Little Wing and Preshe. Corvayne had no hope of getting over there, but Preshe stepped forward and slammed her huge shield down, knocking the titanic woman back and repelling the strings as a barrier formed.


    The bride didn''t slow, crashing into the blue film and slamming it over and over until Corvayne got behind her and used [Cross Skill: Backbiter] on her, summoning jawed ships that drilled through the woman''s back.


    Corvayne didn''t even see her fist move as he went flying. He was shocked to not be dead. He rolled across the deck and had to use Gravity to clamp a hand to the railing to not be flung overboard. He grabbed himself and started to pull himself up. The woman was charging for him, lines reaching, so he let go and let his shadow hands work with gravity to climb under the ship. Wind whipping him he didn''t so much as blink, his eyes watering as he scrambled back up. As long as the monster was near Preshe and he wasn''t, her life was at risk.


    He pulled himself back up to see the twin dogs trying to wrestle her down. A stray string clipped one and it''s leg turned gray, causing it to stumble and roll with a whine. Fred latched numerous mouths on the woman but only tore away a thin layer of essence, then was hit in the gut by a string that caused the dog-like monster to start to wither. Corvayne used [Cross Skill: Whirling Axe] to save the bio-weapons life by severing the string before it''s essence could reach Bombshell.


    He felt there was something about his view of her essence, the way it was bulging and misshapen, something he could do, but as she charged nearly instantly he was back on the defensive, taking a physical hit that nearly broke his neck while dodging a string. This time her arm caught his boot, so he stored it and slipped out before landing and tossing out a suppression array. The giant chunk of prison floor caused the strings to sag for a moment, so Corvayne threw as many prison neck-rings as he could at her, applying [Cross-Skill: Expert Throw] and wasting twenty to land two that latched onto one of her arms and another leg.


    She didn''t bother breaking the array, just shuffled out of it then attacked only a fraction slower. Corvayne used [Cross-Skill: Flow-Like-Water] then had to burn an ungodly amount of stamina to [Cross-Skill: Shadow Step] immediately after as Bombshell fanned the hammer on her quantum pistols. He still took a serious hit to his arm, the effect carving flesh out and making his gauntlet hand totally useless.


    The only silver lining was that Little Wing had managed to land a slash on one pistol, breaking it and halving the woman''s ability to turn them all into swiss cheese. She of course turned and fired one bullet into the shield, shattering it.


    Bayou''s bunny saved them, spitting a lougie that cleaved through the strings and landed on Bombshell''s face. It clearly had the consistency of chewed gum as the woman started snarling to try and claw it off. Corvayne threw down another array, huffing and fishing a healing potion out. He wished he had another potential potion... he could feel his ribs were cracked from getting hit. Before he was finished Bombshell moved again, hitting him with a string he severed before smashing the potion he was drinking into his face with a punch.


    Pain flourished as he hit a wall, blind and hearing whipping wind before horror bloomed as he realized he was in freefall. He summoned a flying sword and started pushing glass out of his face, switching back to [[Vitality]] to try to get his vision back as he used [[Unity]] to navigate. Something clobbered Bayou, then Little Wing. They were losing, and he couldn''t make space to help Preshe disengage or to try to act on what he saw. His head was dizzy too, and he wasn''t sure which way was up as Preshe took a hit that dimmed her light a little.


    It was one thing to face death, his soul ripped from his body. But the thought of that thing touching her sent him into a fury, pulling on something he had not felt since... well... since Wick.


    He took a single breath to focus, but not to banish the feelings he had. A spear moves forward. A spear moving forward, is lethal.


    He put the greatsword onto his back as he flew upwards. It wasn''t helping him win this fight. He drew his spear and aimed for his enemy, one that had cornered his friends... his family.


    He felt the tip of his spear heating up and he poured his anger into it, the ship''s bottom flying at him as he drove his spear as a white hot lance before him, parting metal like a balloon popping, shattering layers of airship with no more resistance than a matchstick, everything in him burning to stop Bombshell.


    He was a spear, and he moved forward through the ship and out from under the woman battering Preshe''s shield.


    The burning tip was wrapped in essence as Bombshell shed another of her thousands of layers, but Corvayne wasn''t done. He kept going forward, the white hot tip growing heavy as it started to draw air into it, hardening and punching through a second and third layer of essence before all the rage he had poured into it, all other feelings that he had stored or discarded or had been denied from him because of what was taken... it was like slow motion.


    He saw his spear tip start to shine. He saw chunks of deck and molten metal from the walls he had punched through, spreading like a halo around him. He saw Bombshell''s legs and her chin, just the hint of her looking down where he was erupting from the deck, expression changing from cruel satisfaction in tormenting someone to surprise. The black sky, broken up by silver clouds and broken again by those strings, all trying to converge on him.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    The brilliant point of light at the end of his spear, draining the heat that had made the crystal glow a pinkish white, the weight focused on the tip before he pushed it, further, more forward then his own crazy velocity.


    Corvayne used [Starbreaker], thrusting a spear made of plasma into Bombshell, birthing then detonating a star in her gut as the tip snaked through layers of essence and blood soaked linen to deliver a searing sun into her.


    A moment later there was light, then he was rolling across the deck and a hideous shriek rang out, the bride now trying desperately to put out fires consuming her. The noise of everything, a cacaphony of protesting metal and debris hitting the propellers and roaring detonation of his weapon skill, it washed over him as he got back onto his feet and ran to where Preshe and Little Wing and Bayou were, still alive if not battered.


    Preshe looked up, a horn broken, her blue skin purple with untold damage, her armor pockmarked by bullets hitting her, shield nothing more then scrap.


    She hugged him, but he gently tapped her and pointed to where a burning figure shed dozens of layers of essence, the black cocoons trailing fire.


    Corvayne''s own voice sounded dry to his ears. ¡°She isn''t dead yet.¡± He said, as much for himself as for her.


    Bombshell at first looked like she was sobbing as she emerged from the charred remains of her dress, but instead she was laughing, naked, covered in soot. Her fingers elongated, and a moment later she attacked again, too fast for Corvayne to do anything but block. A moment later, she punched her fingers straight through him, ripping vicera out as she kicked him off her hand. Corvayne forced himself to stand, even as the pain caused his vision to turn red.


    She charged him again, laughing, and he dropped a suppression field again, then used his spear like a great cape thrown out, using [Cross-Skill: Gargoyle''s Wing] for the first time to knock her off the ship. But only for a moment, as he could hear something tinking on the metal coming right back up. He aimed at the part of the ship she was coming up on and used [Cross-Skill: Dig] with his greatsword, little ships cutting out the chunk of ship she was connected to like diseased flesh.


    Instead of falling, Bombshell launched herself from the chunk of metal and just clawed her way up, strands going on offence as they appeared above the hole he had cut and snaked at him. He parried and dodged, trying to move his arm again so he could fire off some wasps with a cross-skill, he wasn''t sure witch. He managed to clench his fist and use [Cross-Skill: Gargoyle''s Wing] again, ships like little stone birds flying in formation over the edge. He was stumbling, and he felt the connection with his enemy moving away, perhaps finally getting her to at least hit the ground and have to find a way up.


    The airship, of course, chose that moment to start to tilt dangerously, metal screeching and buckling clearly audible. He moved to go to where Bayou, Little Wing, Fred, Betty, the rabbit, and Preshe were wedged between the deck, now tilted a full 45 degrees, and one of the coverings for a stairway. He jostled Little Wing awake with a mend. Preshe was busy trying to fix her own problems, namely what looked like a place her armor had crumpled into her.


    ¡°Little Wing, do you have your sword? Flying Sword.¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°The prince stole it.¡±


    Corvayne sighed. He was tired, but he pulled his own sword out and handed it to Little Wing. ¡°You cover the pets and Bayou, I''ll get Preshe down.¡± He looked over at her, in pain, struggling. It was the first time since leaving the village that he had felt, deep down, that he was a fuck-up. It wasn''t how they would put it, but in the chaos of everything, he had chosen to try to get power rather than just rescuing everyone.


    ¡°I''m sorry Preshe. I was supposed to keep you safe, and... ¡°


    She hugged him. He hugged her back and kept going. ¡°I''m not a good example. This isn''t... this isn''t our fight. I should have walked away from this. I put my need to know... my past over everyone else''s safety.¡±


    Preshe squeezed him harder, and they both winced. She looked at him. ¡°I don''t blame you. I''m only alive because you can''t look away from someone who needs help.¡±


    It made him feel a little better. ¡°Piggy back ride?¡±


    She hopped up on his back after his shadow hands took his greatsword. Spear in hand, he stepped onto his flying sword and followed Little Wing to the ground.


    ¡°Is she going to come after us?¡± She asked. ¡°And, what''s going to happen to the sect now?¡±


    Corvayne took a deep breath, focused on rotating energy through the sword while trying to track where the bride had went. In shedding layers she had also somehow taken most of his [[Unity]] hooks out of her. She wasn''t getting closer. His compass said she was maybe tracking the airship. Or she was going to pick up a fresh set of gear and blow all their brains out. He was stumped as to why she didn''t just do to them what she did to Rio. It was likely she wanted something that she needed to extract from them alive. He shuddered.


    ¡°Corvayne?¡±


    ¡°Sorry hon. Plan B is to lose her via rapid floor shifts and set up a trap on another floor we have more control over. We would help Mosh copy the arrays I was using to slow her down and create a kill zone for me and Gylwin. Maybe get her out in the open somewhere with enough room overhead she can''t deal with Diamonds blasting her from orbit.¡±


    He reached the ground before landing roughly, most of his energy spent. They were not far from the truck, but it was flat scrub land. He pushed [[Growth]] into [[Vitality]], hoping to spark faster recovery. If they couldn''t get on a sword and Bombshell was tracking them, they were dead meat.


    ¡°Plan A?¡±


    He paused as he felt a hint of corrupted essence. The tireless bride was moving in their direction.


    ¡°I think that''s right out. I feel her coming for us. Take the sword, get to the truck.¡±


    He was doing math. Could he force a black crystal detonation and kill himself before she ate his soul? Would that even stop her from scavenging his essence?


    He didn''t know if he was facing his final and total death here, but it didn''t change much from getting killed at the airport all that time ago. He decided to go down fighting to buy his family time.


    ¡°I''m staying.¡± Preshe said. Corvayne handed her the flying sword as a weapon. He took a few deep breaths.


    ¡°She''s some ungodly high level. But it doesn''t feel solid.¡±


    Preshe nodded. ¡°There''s something wrong with her.¡±


    ¡°Do you have that big needle I gave you?¡± Corvayne asked. There were a few moonbeams shooting at something in the desert, but they either missed or just didn''t stop Bombshell.


    ¡°Yes. Corvayne, is it okay if I call you dad?¡±


    He turned and looked her in the eye, and smiled. How would a cowboy respond? ¡°Course you can kid.¡±


    He took his hat off and gave it to her, then looked back at the dust cloud. ¡°We got one shot, because if we miss or don''t kill her, there''s no way to fight her.¡±


    He felt she was scared but also determined. A little angry... that she had hurt him? If he was going to die... it was kind of fitting to do it in the desert. Or better yet, on floor 3 surrounded by loved ones in his cabin.


    ¡°I''m going to try to use [[Unity]] to get you to use [Cross-Skill: Shadow Stealer] with that needle, and I want you to try to hook whatever''s keeping her together, like you were crafting essence or doing what you practiced on monsters. I''m going to buy you a half second tops to do it before she tramples me. Even if I die, you gotta hit her with it and try to rip her apart.¡±


    He took the Hive Greatsword and charged up [Cross-Skill: Shield Bash], then threw it before concentrating on the feeling of pinning something that wasn''t even physical, and ripping away shadows.


    Peshe took the needle like a javalin, and as Bombshell came barreling in, little ships only slowing her with concussive force, Preshe launched the needle with a string of essence, and it flew true at Bombshell''s heart as well as if Corvayne had launched it... but Bombshell moved just enough for it to glance on the horrible green and black bundles that squirmed in her essence, and in a moment Corvayne could see a claw coming for him...


    Lady Blood Claw uncloaked and pivoted, her burning sword lighting up the desert as she used it like a giant flyswatter to drive Bombshell into the ground.


    She turned back, skin shifting to golden triumph without a hint of pain marring her. She smiled at him, and Corvayne saw a rose blossom in her silver hair before she put her game face on and turned back to the monster reforming.


    ¡°Enough slacking off Corvayne. We got a fight to win.¡±

 Chapter 267: Threads Unwoven

    Corvayne moved forward to stand with Lady Blood Claw, not taking his eyes off the twisted form of the monstrous Bombshell as she... or it... flailed to get back up. With a gesture the creature was surrounded in pink light, though a moment later that skin was shed, one of thousands of layers of essence protecting the monster.


    "Glad to have you back." He said as he watched Bombshell get back up, preparing his next attack. He huffed, feeling numbness roiling in his arms. He was trying to figure out how to ask LBC to set him up to kill Bombshell when both them moved - Lady Blood Claw whipped her hand forward and dozens of vines wrapped around the strings that had shot out from the misshapen form. A single graze was enough to kill them. Desert plants bloomed and fired vines around Bombshell''s feet. Even as they were drained they regrew, roots forming as they fired off living missiles to ward off the essence sucking strings. Even so, Bombshell surged forward and punched Lady Blood Claw.


    She took the hit, right to her face, and turned and grinned, giant flaming sword punishing the attack by cleaving through layer after layer of essence to hack one of the giant woman''s legs off.


    Corvayne saw that Lady hadn''t dodged, evaded, or used some other trick to reduce how hard she had gotten hit.


    The naked woman used one hand in place of her destroyed leg, slapping the ground to stay upright as she using the other to summon a blade made of sickly green energy and flung it. Corvayne recognized it as a standard Red Line Sect ability, trailing essence.


    Lady Blood Claw and his own shadows worked in tandem to drag them sideways, dirt swirling as they moved. Lady Blood Claw took the moment the towering monster needed to re-orient itself to cast spells. The language was nonsense to his ears but he understood as she cast while using vines to slide them around, her link binding the roots coming from her with Corvayne''s shadow hands.


    Liquidskin. Magmatic Blood. Haste. Phantom Strikes. Protect. Eagle Eye. Second Wind.


    Lady Blood Claw had to slow as more threads of essence snaked out from Bombshell, countering with more plants. Desert flowers bloomed and tumbleweeds sprang into the lines, snagging the essence stealing limbs. Corvayne felt those effects as a greasy layer of something covered him, he felt himself warm, and the world slowed down. At the same time, Bombshell was now facing them.


    Using a hand in place of the missing a leg she charged again. When she closed she threw her leg out as she spun on her hand, the limb growing in a way that suggested she was drawing on some monster power. It never even made it to Lady Blood Claw, bone skewers shooting through the ground and locking it in place. Lady Blood Claw tore through the limb, though Corvayne could see the woman was shrinking and moving to regrow her limbs. He felt his eyes getting heavy and focused. He was almost there.


    The now ten foot woman with sickly green skin charged at Lady Blood Claw, who took a barrage of punches then kneed the high-level monster in the gut. Vines tangled with essence strings and were pulled taunt as Lady Blood Claw stepped back and used some sort of new weapon skill to flash her weapon in an upwards, her sword positioned for a decapitating blow. Of course, it was just another layer that slid off to absorb the attack, Bombshell barely slowing as she tried to move around to get at Corvayne.


    Lady Blood Claw moved fast, throwing up vines as she saw strings along Bombshell''s fists. It threw her off balance, thankfully not grazing her as she managed to stand back up.


    Bombshell however now had Corvayne as her target and flung out strands as she rushed forward. Through [[Unity]] Corvayne felt a connection and pushed what it was pulling, [Cross-Skill: Shadow Stealer] over to Preshe. She yelled as she launched the needed, and for a moment Bombshell turned and started to dodge, only for Gylwin in cricket form to slam into her ribs from the side, knocking the monster right back in the way of the glowing blue projectile. It wrapped the threads together as it moved through her, then stuck them into the ground.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Corvayne moved forward and grabbed Preshe''s weapon, and every bit of strength he had he pulled. It felt like grabbing a mountain but he kept pulling and felt Preshe and Lady Blood Claw put their arms on him and help, and Bombshell fought like a fish to get away, to try to untangle her own lines stuck to the needle. Then... something gave.


    There was a horrible sound, wet tearing mixed with shrill screams, then a low moan as the threads started ripping through her layers, flakes of sickly essence splattering the desert and dissolving in oily smoke. Corvayne watched as the pods that made up Bombshell burst, taking with it parts of her flesh as they errupted into silvery clumps of essence, swirling as they escaped and flew off. He didn''t stop though, sure of what he was doing as he grabbed the now dull strings and kept pulling hand over hand as Bombshell screamed and shrank...


    Finally with one tug, the last silver line and small wisp was pulled into him, and the husk of what had been Bombshell fell to the desert, not much more then skin and bones.


    Corvayne took a deep breath. "Got... got her." Then, bucking his normal track record, he just slumped and let Lady Blood Claw catch him.


    "Yeah yeah." She said as she transferred him to a vine backpack. "I owe you for dragging my ass around."


    "You''re pretty light." he said, settling in. He heard a buzz and saw Spears and Rio were riding to them on a hoverbike. He waved.


    Rio stopped the bike short. Spears frowned. "I was late, wasn''t I?"


    "By a couple minutes." Corvayne offered, finding something to smile about despite being exhausted. "Good to have you back."


    Juggernaut came to pick them up, hull showing scars where Red Line Sect members had hit with their various blade techniques. Rio split off, citing she had to try to get the sect together. Corvayne guessed that also meant seeing if Dusky was dead for good. Lepin went with her, and both girls feelings were a jumble. Corvayne didn''t pry more then needed with [[Unity]].


    The rest of them drove through the desert, with airships still battling on the horizon, harassed by swarms of Three-Kings fliers. Dragons, Dragonflies, and even a large purple wolf thing with horns and wings traded blows with flying cultivators and grand ships.


    Corvayne sometimes took pot shots at things that got too close, including swarming monsters from the floor, but after a while of driving it was just a lot of random bodies flashing by in spotlights or getting trampled by Juggernauts legs.. When he spotted a Dao Boy survivor they''d slow enough to help them on, which amounted to five people before they reached Neo Nashville and a traffic jam of people passing through the gate down to floors 42 and lower. It looked like the city had been trashed but the Three Kings monsters were moving in the other lane without bothering people trying to flee, and that was as close to order as the floor was going to get. Their passengers left to try to find friends and family in the snarl of traffic, or perhaps to just walk through the ramp to the previous floor on their own two feet.


    Corvayne eventually got bored of looking at monsters, street lights, and the same billboard rotating through four ads as they crept by it at about twenty feet an hour. He took his queue from a hoverbike drawing near and slipped from the front gunner nest into the truck, waving at both Juggernaut''s reptillian eye and Mosh who had an arm out of the window to better flip off the guy behind them honking.


    Inside, Preshe was asleep next to Lady Blood Claw, blanket over them on the couch while LBC flicked through TV channels, many of them muted static. He met her eyes for a moment, and saw contentment. Some of which he wished he felt.


    Bayou and her pets were in the cargo area doing a makeshift clinic to help Betty and Fred and her bunny heal their wounds. The bio-weapons thankfully could compress themselves to fit in the truck, though Juggernaut had balked for a bit at letting them on. Something about bio-weapon pride, perhaps. Bayou, somehow in tune with the truck, had given it scratches in a point under one of it''s legs that made the thing purr. Or it could have been a rockslide, it sounded about the same.


    He went around them to the kitchen, sitting down with Bell and Spears. Someone had been decorating with items from the sect that Corvayne eventually placed as Mosh''s belongings. The ornate carved wood furnishings sort of clashed with the clean and basic lines of the kitchen, but he figured that was a project they could work on once they were out of an active warzone.


    Speaking of warzones, Rio came in from the back, taking goggles off. Behind her, using a cane, was a Daoboy who could have been Corvayne''s clone, dusty clothes, cloak, and a black crystal mace with a wood haft.


    It wasn''t Corvayne''s father, unless he had aged backwards then swallowed an entire bottle of Wicks anxiety pills. Even if he couldn''t trust his memories he had confirmed with Spears that other people called his father ''intense'' or ''scary''. Corvanye could feel, looking through his essence lense, that his double had been strong but was just slowly knitting himself back together. His shadow hands waved, usually a good sign.


    Still, he felt a connection with [[Unity]] that formed like a steel wire, solid and real as the figure smiled. "Brother, we meet at long last."

 Chapter 268: Brotherhood

    Dusky sat down. ¡°I''m sure your aching to shake me down for answers, Tower knows I am for you, but first I wanted to thank you. I was dead in the time it takes to spit or blink, and you... were able to haul me back from the pale. Though it does make me interested in your kids talents.¡±


    Corvayne folded his arms. While Dusky was his brother, he was first and foremost the leader of the Daoboys. ¡°It was a happy accident that we could save you. And lucky that I don''t just base my judgment on first impressions.¡± He eyed Rio, who was biting her lip. She was leaning on the counter as if she wasn''t a part of the conversation. It both made sense that with the master back she''d step down, but also irked him that she had to basically run the show for six hundred years for... what?


    Dusky cleared his throat. ¡°We couldn''t have predicted those leeches infiltrating our group. And... in the end our faith in Rio worked out. Thank you darlin.¡±


    Corvayne kept his mouth shut about how much dumb luck had been involved. That and how... lackluster he felt kidnapping was as a cornerstone of building a sect. Though, on the flip side, he did end up helping them. Touche. He realized he was thirsty and moved to stand to make tea, though at the same time Rio perked up and switched to a chefs hat and apron. He was pretty sure [[Unity]] had transmitted the idea from him to her... or from her to him. In the same way he gave her a sense of where to find the kettle and where the tea was.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± His brother said, then putting his hands in his lap. ¡°I wanted to ask if you found a way to the Watchers... I saw miss Spears with you and the moon floating along with us is no doubt big sister looking after you.¡± Dusky looked Corvayne in the eye.


    ¡°I didn''t think I''m related to Diamond...¡± Corvayne said, aware there was something above him now clocked as a party member. A big ball of relaxed vigilance.


    Dusky coughed, which Corvayne was pretty sure was a cover for him laughing. ¡°Her term of endearment for you. Though, I reckon, she was quite a stern lady, so it was harder then hell to tell if she was serious. No, it''s been a long, long time since I spoke to him and turned my back on the war... last I heard the blockade hadn''t moved.¡±


    Corvayne felt his first real stab of sympathy for his brother. ¡°That our father had any sort of expectations to fail... that means he held you in much higher regard than me.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think that''s true. I left home a long long time ago, but he wanted to meet you again. There were quite a few first and second generation Watchers who took that and ran with it... you might have people who think you''re some sort of chosen one. Some of them thought I was too, but... Hell I would have rather explored the tower over pushing for more war. Also... with what happened to Mother...¡± He got an complicated look. ¡°Me and dear old dad didn''t part on good terms.¡±


    Corvayne had a pretty good guess who he was referring to given the mace. ¡°Father ended up with Knocks-Off-Tables, right?¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Mom had been missing for a long time when I left. It''s possible she''s alive, but going after the Magus is a fools errand.¡± Corvayne felt the faintest whisper of guilt leak through the bond.


    There was the whistle of tea, and Rio served them then sat next to Dusky. The man gave her a polite nod but Corvayne could see the emotions were less romantic and more pride. Like how he felt about Preshe.


    ¡°There''s only two things stopping him from cutting us all down. One, he cannot enter the tower. Someone... not the most reliable source, but someone once said there''s something even he fears in here.¡±


    Dusky held up two fingers. ¡°Second, he fears being trapped once again. The Magus was sealed for a long time by the Watchers, and I''m almost certain if he tried to pop in to finish the job they''d have a trap ready.¡±


    Corvayne thought about the broken pipes around the Magus''s prison. ¡°He got outta the last one.¡±


    Dusky''s expression darkened. ¡°Dad fucked up. Or maybe the Magus tricked him. He let the wizard go. It''s his fault that mother is gone.¡±


    Spears leaned forward. ¡°I would say many things of Half-Claimed-Crown, but calling him gullible...¡±


    ¡°If the council had been whole, they would have kicked him out. But One-Last-Note had been planning to defect or had fallen under the Magus''s spell and killed two of the others. Most Watchers don''t know what father did did. The assumption was either One-Last-Note or Keeper-of-Silence let him loose.¡±


    Corvayne leaned forward. ¡°The Magus messed with my mind and made me think he was in charge. He had some way of infecting people through containment.¡± He thought back the mural he had saw ages ago back on Nel''Ferral. ¡°Someone once predicted he was going to tear through us, that we didn''t stand a chance because... we couldn''t complete the pilgrimage.¡±


    Dusky nodded, then sighed. ¡°I hate to burst your bubble, but that''s what the blockade is. The last gate needed to complete the pilgrimage is on a world that has every portal guarded by the Magus''s witches. There''s some sort of impossible fortress guarding the back way in, and the other direction to get there... One Last Note has built his empire around it. One of blood, slavery, and combat.¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Corvayne took a deep breath. ¡°You have a map, right?¡±


    Dusky laughed and pulled a large laminated poster out of his storage space. ¡°As does most of the late era Watchers.¡±


    Corvayne could see in the huge ring of black ink white strands of paths, describing either planets or tower paths between them. There was the Black Circle on Nel''Ferral. The next was a pair of green hands, on a satellite called ''The garden'' over ''Tripic''.


    ¡°Hmm... I guess I know where we are going next.¡± Corvayne muttered to himself. There was a forested world but he knew it was now a massive city, the capital of the empire Cascadia formed the tail end of. He guessed that the ''garden'' in orbit would require a ship, which he could make, but might also need some sort of access to not get shot down trying to get there. Or find some other method to get to there from the planet... there was an image of a temple beaming people up.


    After that, a trail ran through what looked like tower floors, moving from orbital gardens to shadowed forests drawn with stylized things lurking, eventually leading to paths of gold and blood right up to a blue lock floating above what looked like an endless series of bridges and gothic castles ''Illureshi Prime''. There was a jagged red line on the map, drawn in later, that bisected a road through snow to what looked like a massive city and an even bigger dome, and inside of it red faces with tears formed a loop leading to a tangle of paths that came together at what looked like a pair of golden eagles in a cloudy sky. The gold eagles lead back to ''Watcherhome'' which had a string of lines spraying off, one of them to a globe that matched what he remembered of the village. Then a series of portals from there looped back to Nel''Ferral.


    ¡°I suppose this is wildly out of date?¡±


    Dusky takes a moment to breath. ¡°The paths are older than the mountains, older than the trees. It can be obstructed but never fully closed. If it''s destroyed, it will reform. There''s an idea that Watchers have that there''s things that are fighting back against the Magus... that he''s some sort of sickness that the pilgrimage is trying to eject from the universe. Or one of a hundred things that don''t belong, only notable because he''s ''ours'', linked somehow with our corner of this universe.¡±


    Corvayne thought about that. ¡°But you turned away from the fight...¡±


    ¡°It was a waste of lives. I don''t believe we can win, or are supposed to. If we were, the path would not be to rush at him, endlessly sacrificing our people to try to match him in might!¡± His voice raised then just as suddenly he was silent, breathing in and out a few times before coughing.


    ¡°We are so busy wasting our lives trying to be heroes, we throw away what we have! You see this line of people, my people, leaving their homes? Because the sect is not a building, a mountain, a resource rich corner of the universe. It isn''t me or Rio. It''s the people, people who resonate with a way of life. And yes, we seek power, but it''s to the end of living a life on the ranch, a life where we are the master of our monsters, a life where we live simple and CAN leave, where what we cannot ride, cannot lasso, we cannot kill, we can outride into the sunset and live to fight another day. That''s my Dao.¡±


    The table was quiet. Rio looked like she wanted to speak for a moment, but shut her mouth when she met Dusky''s eyes.


    Corvayne thought about it. He didn''t think Dusky was a coward, as he had found a goal and pursued it to the best of his ability. Had Corvayne tried using his compass to find his own mom? Well, maybe, it just spun in circles as if he was asking the wrong question. But he set that aside. He wanted to be in the same place, to settle down and let the problems of the world wash over him. He had, in fact done that.


    ¡°I understand it, Dusky, but... the Magus hunted me down. He hunted you too, or at least, one of his brides nearly destroyed everything you had made, and nearly took your sect with it. I think your right, that if you want a life where you don''t fight, you need to keep moving...¡±


    Spears leaned forward, her hand touching his. ¡°Corvayne, don''t give up. If not us, who will ever stand up to him? We need to be heroes.¡±


    Rio took a deep breath. ¡°I''ve seen too many fools die for nothing. It''s not enough to want it.¡±


    Dusky looked apologetically at Corvayne as Spears let out what may have been a wet growl.


    She turned to Rio, liquid features turning stern. ¡°Did you get as strong as you are to be a petty tyrant? Or a bully? No, you''ve even said it, you wanted to protect your sect. You stepped up to call them family then fight for them. You nearly died fighting a monster that was also ''too powerful'' for you until it wasn''t.¡±


    Rio stood up. ¡°I had nothing left!!¡±


    Dusky put a palm over his eyes. ¡°Cease, my student.¡±


    Rio took a deep breath, and bowed to him then stiffly sat back down.


    Spears leaned back. ¡°That''s why I love Corvayne. He barely knew you, but stepped up. He''s an example, a hero.¡±


    ¡°Spears, I''m more like a solider who just knows how to do one thing.¡±


    ¡°If you could see yourself at all, if you could see what you look like to me, no curse could stop you.¡± Spears said, and he saw raw love and felt it through the bond. He smiled at her.


    ¡°We''ll do it together. Climb to the top of the tower if we need to, or to the depths of the dungeon, break your curse and...¡±


    Corvayne finished for her. ¡°Take down the Magus.¡±


    Dusky sneered. ¡°Easy to say you will climb to the heavens and take the stars, but what will that do? Do you know what challenges you face to climb? How the Magus fights? Do you even know your own path, what skills your Dao truly wishes for you to find? Will killing the Magus find you peace, brother? Will it bring back those Watchers who already died? You could be a hero by forever running from him, forcing him to chase you instead of his mad ploys. You are a spear, but you face a creature of magic, pulled from the depths of darkness and wiped out a civilization that spanned the stars by himself, and only because it was necessary to erase whatever method they used to call him from the dark. No... Corvayne, Brother, A Spear Moves Forward, until it breaks. Forget your hatred, or courage, or whatever greater forces goad you into thinking you have a destiny. Live a good life, with your family.¡±


    Rio looked torn, and Corvayne understood why. Her master, his brother, was giving up. Or at least, was taking another step back. He was a spear. He would move forward, even if it broke him, until he reached his goal.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Corvayne noticed that most of them had finished their tea and took a sip of his own, wincing a little that it was cold.


    Dusky looked down. ¡°I aspired to many of the things you did, to climb the tower and learn what was at the top. But in climbing I lost people I held dear. For less reason than what I blasted our father for... not for a just cause or family but pride, hubris.¡±


    Corvayne opened his mouth then shut it as he thought. Yes, he needed to move forward, but... there was not a time limit. Or if there was, it was better to learn the limits. More and more there was a feeling that even as well as he fought, the war he was waging was sloppy and... directionless. More to the point, while he had a drive to fight, isn''t what Dusky lost what he was fighting to have? He had risked his family, and looking back he could see many places where he could have backed off, as many as places his hastily thrown together plans could have ended in disaster.


    ¡°I want to dismiss what you say, but... I have a curse that can be removed by a year of living without powers, weapon skills, or spells. You will need help rebuilding your sect, right? Each of the Curses I overcome will make me stronger. I need to know what you can tell me about the tower, and as for learning about the Magus... I may have captured a far better source.¡±

 Chapter 269: Living Rent Free in your Head

    Corvayne took a few steps to the right, and a few to the left, then pulled the hive great sword back and swung it.


    "[Cross-Skill: Star Breaker]!" He called aloud, mostly because it gave the skill enough of a discount to work with his cracked items.


    Across from him, on the other end of what looked like windswept bluff, the titanic griffon screeched as pink glowing ships crossed the invisible line, then vanished in a thousand purple and pink novas, leaving only four burnt bird legs behind after Corvayne''s vision recovered. He huffed and let Bell offer him a hand to stand.


    He would be winded for a few minutes, but with the grass was already parting to reveal a trio of chests signifying there wasn''t some other phase that would require his allies to step in. He gave LBC, Spears, and Bell a nod before he plunged into his mindscape.


    It had changed a little, with corridors of starry gas mingling with the ever-present storm. The wind inside the space had picked up, fluttering as he fell for longer than before.


    He landed without impact, popping straight to standing as if he had fallen feet first. The titanic wraith looked at him.


    ¡°SOON.¡±


    It then vanished.


    He saw gates, and Gylwin''s shadow, and of course there were new bridges and a new gate with wings that he could check out, but his focus right now was on a huddled figure, staked to the ground with what looked like strings, wearing a faded white dress. It''s form wavered, clearly not the concrete body of bombshell.


    ¡°I was trying to take you down, for what it''s worth.¡±


    The figure looked up. He had perfect understand of it, as it was something that remained alive at his whim. It was not angry, just... terribly sad. Bitter, lonely, and filled with guilt. He could feel her core memories, the idea she had trained hard to serve the Magus, had been selected, then... left to rot. He got the image of a broken capsule and a dried up body, curled up in some dusty well on Floor 43.


    ¡°I was unworthy... no... I was used...¡± She started to speak, then stopped, her voice breaking as she started to sob.


    The feeling... of a compulsion. The Magus with a great many women, his brides, following him. Forced, charmed, controlled... thankfully at least Corvayne didn''t get any indignities beyond just a complete disregard for the woman''s well being.


    ¡°The Magus used you and betrayed you. He is my enemy. To fight him, I need to know what you do... I''m looking to find a weakness.¡±


    ¡°He was hunting the ones that could split into three. They are carriers of some sort of challenge to his power.¡± The shade was looking at him now.


    ¡°More than one? Did you have details?¡±


    ¡°They had code names, the one I was looking for was ''Animal'' and was a man with chimeric powers. I don''t know if it was something the Magus summoned... he had called forth many things to try to either aid him or challenge himself. I''m sorry, I don''t know more about him. I was paired with another bride.¡±


    Corvayne felt and saw the thing was unbalanced. Still, since he was asking. ¡°Do you know of the blockade? Is there a way through?¡±


    ¡°I... I...¡±


    He stepped back as it trailed off and was quiet. The shade of bombshell, the bride, was not dead, but burnt out, tired.


    Gylwin had moved over, her hood doing little to hide her spidery form, though it merged into an elf as it moved. ¡°I''ll take care of nurturing it.¡±


    The blockade sounded like a problem, but on the other hand the Tower seemed like it was a sieve rather than something like a river with a few bridges. If there was a will, there was probably a way.


    ¡°I might not be back for a while, I''m going to try to clear the curse that requires not using my powers.¡±


    ¡°Oh? A year isn''t it?¡± The form laughed, red eyes blinking. ¡°Without your tricks, won''t you get bored?¡±


    ¡°I''ve done some testing.¡± He wondered if this counted as talking to himself. Well, he wouldn''t place anyone with tampered memories as extremely sane, so what did it matter? ¡°I can let my shadow arms act on their own, the Adept cycling doesn''t trigger it, I can craft with Lythandies'' blessing as long as I don''t invoke a prayer, and if something is stopping me from using an ability or weaponskill, that doesn''t count. I have one more test, summoning without a black crystal catalyst or my own mana, which I hope works.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    His grasping class seemed to include it as the ''magic'' part of Grasping Arms Master, and the seeds of Lythandies alone were a resource that had saved people close to him.


    Gylwin seemed pleased. ¡°And of pacts?¡±


    ¡°If I ''strain'' them or focus them to do something... so no new [[Unity]] links, but the ones that form on their own won''t count as long as I don''t try to shove something through. Emotions, regeneration, class abilities.¡± He had tested with a house plant.


    Gylwin gestured to the shadow gateway, then the pact panel. ¡°I would recommend then you invest your essence in something that might let you avoid needing to trigger your powers in the first place.¡±


    ¡°I''m going to think about it a moment.¡±


    His original plan was to boost shadow. It seemed making the limbs stronger would eventually make them actual extra limbs, at least from what [[Understanding]] implied. However, the conversation with the bride had given him another angle. The benefit to finding stairs and doors he had gotten from level 10 of the pact, as well as the warning that at 20 it manifested more towers... as far as he understood it the Barricade was a total defense of a place in the real world that covered all entrances. If he could force an exit into that spot, he might be able to skip trying to deal with the Magus''s fortified cult.


    The bride and the ones he had seen implied that the Magus probably had forces that included a number of women Watchers. Walking out of a portal and having, say, thirty clones of Spears, LBC, and Diamond all gang up on him... he wouldn''t walk away from that, let alone if Coming-In-Hot or Knocks-Off-Tables was included and had continued to hone their skills.


    ¡°I think I''m going to push [[Tower]] up. Can I get to the 30 break point?¡±


    ¡°Yes, 32.¡± Gylwin gestured to the controls and Corvayne placed his hands on it, the cool surface a sudden jolt of tactile reality against the general feel of a dream he had in the storm.


    He had saved up a lot of energy, but the number of extra abilities that formed between his bonds was taxing.


    [[Understanding]] seemed to be more ''luck'' or ''instinct'' bending abilities:


    25: Tower Guidance ¨C Better ability to find doors to biomes or areas that are sub-biomes.


    30: Loot Intelligence ¨C Helps understand what loot is used for, and where to look for more of items that do something.


    [[Unity]] seemed very handy, given how he was advancing in levels glacially and hadn''t stepped outside the tower in what may have been months:


    Tower 25: Slightly improves stats of allies on the same floor.


    Tower 30: Slightly improves stats of allies in the same base tower.


    [[Growth]] actually would likely work well with his current plans: To use the time not applying powers to focus on rounding himself out...


    Tower 25: Improves stat gains in the Tower. More likely to find permanent benefits.


    Tower 30: Bosses can be overloaded additional times, scaling with Tower levels. Vastly improves rewards for overloading three or more times.


    ¡­ As well as an ability he was going to test WAY LATER on a level 5 boss before he even dreamed of applying it to anything more dangerous. Perhaps something that he already had a strategy for beating? Like the robot spiders that were critically weak to his Ruststorm combo... or any fight where he could throw out one Cross-Skill: Starbreaker on a single enemy with his hive great sword.


    [[Tower]] itself gave him information that he probably could have found out from asking Dot, the Tower-Folk librarian whom he hadn''t seen in a while.


    Tower 25: Reduces suppression effects from higher tower floors. On floors with weak or no suppression, improves movement costs and/or speed.


    Tower 30: User may remove one flag on a floor while they are on it. Tower level influences if this is successful and varies with tower level and how powerful the modifier removed is.


    He was aiming for pushing the passive effects of [[Tower]] to make more holes in the universe, but the ability to ''attack'' a tag might also let him explore floors that otherwise would be impossible or extremely taxing. Or totally demolish an entire universe, he wasn''t sure if stepping onto a floor and removing ''Floating Islands'' would cause the entire floor to detonate. [[Understanding]] suggested it wasn''t quite so easy to destroy a floor, but not impossible. Maybe with a different [[Tower]] power that inserted a tag.


    Finally, [[Essence]] and [[Tower]] being at 25 gave a new benefit that generated more essence if the floor they were on synergised with an activity, or there was a faction on the floor notable enough to engage in the activity. So, the obvious example, he''d get more out of cultivating his tier on the same floor as Fistful of Dao. Perhaps more essence for using fire magic on a fire floor?


    He wondered if his brother had an expert at builds on hand, though he also might be the only person with the particular powers he had in the entire Tower... still he felt like there had to be ways to combine his abilities in the same way his current gear created a powerful synergy. Swinging the sword and watching it amplify his own powers was becoming a wake-up call.


    Corvayne opened his eyes then followed the group to the ''Exit'', a feather lined slide, which lead back to the entrance to floor 21*. They turned around, leaving the clean mountain air and windswept crags for the minty seas of floor 20.


    *(His defense for not fighting the robotic Fire Fighter again despite knowing that particular floor 20 boss and it''s attack patterns inside and out: They were sick of fighting Fire Fighter, they had done it dozens of times to get the courier guild interim floor, and any random level 20 floor boss, especially the one the locals dubbed ''big bird'' was no longer a daunting prospect. That and the Mr. I argument to end all arguments: you couldn''t eat Fire Fighter.)


    Greencarpet was a few miles from the staircase they were dumped off at, and there was a gravel road between farmers fields that did the work of navigating and let them enjoy a cool evening walk as the floor switched into dusk for a few hours. Level 34 bright-green dire-crickets came up to them checking to see if they had any treats, to which Spears produced fruit and Bell begged her to drive them off. The monsters happily took some mangoes she had stowed away to work on being able to get tan skin tone, and then hopped along after their meal singing to repay the favor. The well behaved monsters even waved as they crossed into the safe zone that marked the town.


    The Juggernaut opened a single eye under the hood of the truck on it''s back, then snorted and returned to snoring.


    ¡°Home sweet home.¡± Spears announced as they entered the side hall of their hotel turned base, going up the back stairs to quarters molded out of wood.


    Corvayne had planning to do, both for the reunion with the rest of their party and discussions about how the Fistful of Dao and the Three Kings organization would handle sharing this corner of floor 20. Not to mention what his role would be for a year or possibly longer of undoing another curse.


    Still, as he went into his own room, shaped to look like a log cabin, he settled onto his bed. He didn''t rule out that a year ''off'' from using powers would be a little boring, nor did he expect it to go without incident. But it was a chance to expand in other areas, and to connect with the people in his life.


    He yawned and let himself fall asleep, feeling the warmth of his links to friends and family.

 Chapter 270: Dangerous New Hybrid

    He woke with less than a start. A bird had landed on his hat, then fluttered off after two little hops. The rhythmic clomping of hooves and the sounds of swaying of grass had lulled Corvayne into napping in the saddle. His painted horse hadn''t been bothered it seemed, as he was trotting along at a steady pace, following Spears'' horse that was a floor 43 hybrid. It was larger and had cow spots, suggesting that it was in some way related to Bessie. Spears had taken a cowboy hat but otherwise was dressed as he was in her Watchers cloak with black and brown clothes. Behind her on the saddle was one of ten beasts they had downed. Spears herself had been looking back, and with a giggled turned back to leading them home.


    "Good horse. I''ll paint you an apple later."


    It whinnied in delight. It could eat normal food but a canvas of fresh hay and apples was it''s favorite.


    Off to the side, Corvayne could see the grass give way to reeds then Greencarpet Lake. Hulking ruins of what looked like metal buildings, ships, and giant robots broke up the monotony of green: The lake''s crystal clear waters were hidden under a ''Named Monster'' that was a piece of duckweed that could clone itself. The scent of mint mingled on the breeze with grass and rust. The sunlight felt nice as he was a little damp: Spears had wanted to wash the blood off from the hunt and used it as an excuse to go skinny dipping.


    Clearly she had pulled some of his thoughts through the bond because she turned and wiggled her eyebrows at him. The idea of having a ''spear date'' turned out nice. It was as close to going back and changing his own past as they could get.


    She slowed her mount down. "When I''m climbing, I want you to be nice to Bell."


    "I''m always nice to her. I try at least." She had been volatile since they left the sect, even though she had spent more time with Rio than he did over the last two months. Since he had insisted they hit the range and practice shooting together, she had been much sweeter. They even had a little getaway planned, just a couple days riding in [Rusty Outback F20] which was a door over and was blessed by upside down canyons as water fell upwards on the floor. Crystal formations in the winding rivers on the ceiling created beautiful patterns at night, and watching sunset cross from floor to ceiling was breathtaking.


    He couldn''t take all the credit: Bell''s mood had lifted because her daughter was on the way, along with the rest of their missing friends.


    The sound of hammering on wood came before the new sect grounds came into view. Numerous new trucks could be seen, Mosh having worked to replace a huge number of vehicles left behind with floating devices able to carry trees from far off forests on the floor. Some long haul versions were parked, having made three trips to other cities on floor. Corvayne passed the flattened corridor that had been trimmed to make the trip smoother. In the distance, he could see one of the low mountains had a line cut halfway into the brush.


    [[Organization]] (or his own restlessness at not going out on expeditions) had helped him retain some of the plans that Dusky had made to connect with tower roads. Critical for their plans to trade without pulling more concessions from the Three Kings. The sect had been given parts of the floor as an agreement for relinquishing their 43<sup>rd</sup> floor home. While many of the Cowtivators knew he had done something to bring their sect leader back, many also glared at Corvayne for pushing Rio and Dusky to give up their homes. As if there wasn''t a ground war being fought over their home by two forces already.


    That said, he saw shrines to Lythandies, molded out of wood by Dusky himself. With the aid of the goddesses blessings, a city of wood and stone was growing near Greencarpet. The center of which was a tree that had already reached twenty feet.


    It would likely be a twin of the one the hotel had been built around, as Corvayne had helped summon a set of Lythandies''s seeds. Just as they had once made Bell whole when she would have perished, they seemed to be able to mend the lumber placed onto them, regrowing it to shape it into a living building. Already Corvayne could see the foundation of a large clan hall being laid down at it''s roots, and the buildings were being connected via boards to have the roots spread far.


    Corvayne sort of wanted to keep going but Spears slowed her mount and Corvayne could see Dusky stop what he was doing to walk over. A three foot tall tree floating on a rock followed him: Corvayne had some inkling that it was an elemental summoned by some of his spells that would expend itself to boost life and earth magic.


    ¡°Well met brother. Did your hunt go well?¡±


    He wondered if they had spies trailing him, or perhaps Spears just told him. She didn''t give away anything through their [[Unity]] bond and he wasn''t going to ask.


    ¡°We culled the blinking boar population by the white fountain. It''s not as exciting as going out on the dunes was... but a lot safer.¡± Not that he was ever excited to fight quill horrors and bomblet beetles. He was guessing that stepping outside the wall of their village would have been like wandering out onto floor 35 of the tower.


    ¡°Well, I had heard your other friends are on their way here. If they are as impressive as the ones you are traveling with, I think soon you will have your own sect to manage.¡±


    Corvayne knew just how much paperwork that would entail. A week ago he had brought dinner to Rio and was roped into sitting on her bed watching her try to sort out how they were going to split what few resources they had brought with them between the survivors of the sect, including ones trickling in, as well as Neo Nashville civilians settling in nearby cities on the floor, and especially ones who couldn''t or wouldn''t show up in person to help rebuild the sect.


    It was interesting that she didn''t have armor that helped with paperwork aside from gloves, shoes, and a fancy tall bureaucrat hat... which meant she had been sitting at her desk in a nightgown with gear swapping around it. Spears did helpfully suggest that she had asked him to stay because she wanted him to make a move and ''distract her'' from it, but she had seemed happy to just talk and gripe to him and sometimes ask him what he thought.


    ¡°Ah, well, perhaps once I''m feeling better and you''ve completed your trial, we can spar.¡± He smiled. ¡°No bond brings family together more then shared arms.¡±


    ¡°True, though I''d rather fight together than compete.¡± Even if fighting a more magic oriented build might help him understand the tactics better than ''get close'', Spears had recently had some sort of boost to her mastery of water and, once he had unlocked his powers, would likely be a good place to match his own abilities against someone who can fight like a magic user.


    ¡°It is interesting to me that our paths, while both upwards in power, diverge in what we want.¡±


    Corvayne suspected that his brother''s whims with the Fistful of Dao sect was made out of a love for the Watchers that he didn''t have. Corvayne suspected too that Spears was wistful for the dunes. She had something she wanted to talk about, but was distracting herself or was worried. He stopped himself from touching [[Unity]] and adding a few months on not using powers. She''d tell him when she was ready.


    Their walk over to the inn passed Juggernaut, laying on the side of the road near where the fence that marked the safe zone was. The cargo door was down, and two dogs were laying near it in the grass. Both their mounts preferred the inn''s stable, so they waved to June and Mosh whom looked to be setting up for a party. He was sure they missed Varia, whom was coming with the group.


    Given he could still craft, he had spent a lot of time helping Mosh with making tools needed to remodel the floor. He suspected that he''d also be negotiating with the Three Kings once some of the more radical devices started up. Ones that would bore holes into the mountains and flatten sections of land for roads and homes, or that could pierce the layer of the floor they were on to collect resources. Corvayne was interested to learn it was ''lasagna shaped'' with five miles between layers average and that the Three Kings had outposts in ten different layers.


    They passed the fence and trotted over to the hotel, only stopping once to let a rare car pass them towards houses on the slope to the lake. The paved road out of town only lead deeper into the Three Kings territory, and the nebulous group had asked them to expand the other way. A few Tower Folk commented they liked the horses and that got them into the stables and parking garage.


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    The hotel itself now was growing, with the stables located under an extension that was growing over the last road before the safe zone fence. The garage was under the extension and was made up of branches shaped into arches, forming a vaulted area. Dim orange light from moss mingled with spots where sunlight streamed in between nets of branches. Corvayne felt satisfaction from the creatures as they smelled piles of fresh hay that had been delivered during the walk.


    Of course, for their help there would also be treats and brushing. In Corvayne''s case, an actual brush with horse brown paint. He didn''t know the calories of a painting of apples, but the horse looked like he was in line with the ones he had seen working in the Sect''s stables and that was good enough for him. Spears, on the other hand, was going to have a fat horse if she kept feeding it extra apples, but then again it was some sort of monster variant and might one day grow to be Bessie''s size.


    He made a note they needed to make the wooden stables bigger, as easy as getting the pillar to grow. Stepping away from the hay filled area and past a line of hover bikes resting on wooden charging stations, he slowed to replace a blue essence crystal with a fresh one. One blue a week would have been a steep price to keep the bikes charged, but the energy also helped the tree grow and heated the pool. He had some other colors he could plug into the tree, but black crystals were still a little too strong for the young plant.


    The hall out of the garage smelled like sage and chlorine solution, as they still needed mechanical filters to keep the pool clean. Later, the tree might be coaxed to purify the water itself, but as of now they were still on city water and that meant keeping the pool water clean. Floor two was where they had put the kitchen, entangled in roots that became the pillars in the garage below. Local clay had been used in place of white that Corvayne had seen in Cascadia, making the space feel smaller and darker than it really was. A stainless steel freezer door was enshrined in branches. He unloaded the monster bodies into a pile to be butchered later. Lythandies gift also seemed to help with prepping something for cooking, even if it should be frozen solid. He placed them away from the compressor anyway as it would mean they didn''t freeze solid before they reunited with their friends.


    Climbing upstairs, floor three had broad windows that let them look out at the growing pool deck. On the other side, the door to the ballroom showed light playing on the ornate room. Tables had been set up in there, a more ornate feast planned when the Three Kings representatives arrived to trade books for fists fulls of crystals. No ''10,000 Paths'' which was an unknown book, but a lot of other things that he planned to pool with everything Dot, the librarian, had uncovered to try to build a better idea of how they could use the resources of the Tower.


    Corvayne had some things he had put together from the local library related to his own build, and they were laid out on the fourth floor meeting room, which had become his office. Spears wanted to tug him towards a hot shower and maybe the bedroom for a quick break before dinner, but he slowed down to see if Bell or Gylwin was in. Nope, which meant they were probably out and about either training or, in Gylwin''s case, doing ultra fast runs of the tower to collect more items and to shuffle her powers.


    They had climbed to their rooms on the sixth floor, surrounding the central tree that was now the heart of the hotel. There was more space on the fifth floor, but Corvayne had worked to grow new sections that let them climb to the roof and look out over the vast green lake, it''s rusted ruins, and the hills and forests. Today he just walked out of the stairs and around the covered courtyard. He was still planning to make a fountain that flowed around the tree and then off the side, but it was half made, piles of bricks and gloves suggesting what he was going to be doing if the main group didn''t show up tomorrow, or the day after for the matter.


    It was quiet and Corvayne could feel that aside from Bell whom had come into the building, it was just him and Spears. Entering their shared rooms, he stored his equipment and then head into the bathroom, which Spears had designed to resemble a mossy alcove. As a counterpoint to the faint smell of mint everywhere on the floor, she had gotten a hold of some sort of variant that had a different floral smell that she associated with ''the tropics''.


    Bell had helped shape it too, so there were different chambers opposite sinks and closets and mirrors, some large and some nothing more than a closet for the toilet, each with wood doors and some sort of enchantment that fought moss and regulated temperature coming in and out. Mosh had to do that part, as Corvayne didn''t have the means to practice enchanting. The big shower was where Corvayne pushed for extra space, having grown a little tired of washing in claustrophobic stalls in the Juggernaut. Even the largest one was too small for when Spears wanted to join him. He didn''t think of himself as claustrophobic but growing up in a huge open desert, he wanted enough room the flop on the ground if he wanted to just have water hit his back.


    The second chamber was a smaller shower, which Bell apparently liked because it was like the juggernaut''s cramped chambers, though with a chair so that someone could sit and soak.


    The third was a big bath, with a window that looked out to where the sect was building. They probably wouldn''t be able to soak in the day once the sect had more flying traffic, but for now they could have a sort of open air bath, which was what Spears wanted.


    Belle walked in as the water was heating up in the shower, and while she was well into the level 200''s, whatever had happen to Spears had made her fast and able to grab the girl.


    ¡°Cmon, we''ll wash your back!¡±


    Bell tried to fend Spears off. ¡°You know I prefer to take baths alone!¡±


    ¡°Yes but it also makes you sad for some reason.¡± Corvayne said, taking his shirt off. He was pretty happy that the princess still stopped to admire him. He blanked his face, summoning an expression he knew everyone though of as ''dead fish'' or ''npc'' then wiggled his eyebrows without any sort of smile and his eyes staring at a point over her shoulder to avoid blinking or looking away.


    She grabbed a towel and threw it in his face, which gave Spears a gap to yank her armored skirt down.


    ¡°Fine! I yield, you stupid slime!¡±


    ¡°You can call me big sis!¡± Spears offered, using her signature spear move to turn into liquid. During her dash from the door to the bathroom to the shower itself, she landed her weapon on a rack in the bathroom and arced her clothes neatly in the hamper. Corvayne tried to bury jealousy that she could use it so well.


    Bell grumbled but let Corvayne take her hand and what followed was cleaning and chatting about their day, with Spears leaving the trip to the lake out. The princess''s day was spent getting ready for the last match of the tournament that had been interrupted. She was a natural with guns, and guns liked her. They did better in her hands, which was odd because she was still advancing on a ''Princess'' line that had made her a ''Royal Rustler'', which sounded better than the tier 4 class she had for a week, which was ''Crowned Cowpoke''.


    Corvayne could feel something odd with her, maybe just discomfort from sharing him with Spears, or perhaps that while they were friends, she didn''t want to see him and Spears together. Hence he was more focused on using a second shower head to wash dirt and the smell of horse and acrylic paint off him, despite a soaped up princess and... Spears gargling water.


    Corvayne just mentioned that he was going to spend some more time looking into what history the Three Kings made public about the towers and their origins, as well as system materials. The public records he could access didn''t have extra information on the Pilgrims, and only a few lines about the Watchers. The Magus wasn''t mentioned, but the author also seemed to think there was no good reason to ever hang out on ''floor 0''.


    He didn''t think that Dusky''s origins were in the files he had gotten, so it was likely they wouldn''t add anything onto his current goals to find his people and complete the pilgrimage. He hoped he could get some of the training manuals for weapon skills. His mind was still trying to slip away from the Dustman''s imperatives, but he recalled he had been told to learn ''Springwind''.


    Spears had started trying to help Bell finish rinsing, so he stepped in and rescued her by acting as a physical wall, which caused her to blush and Spears to shoot ice cold water down his back.


    They got dressed quickly as LBC was coming back from training with Gylwin. Preshe came home a little later, usually choosing to do some shopping to help restock the smaller kitchen located on their floor. She had started crafting Essence gathering rings, with the goal to finance permanent boosts to their core members. Such trade had to be done carefully lest someone who thought like Rio decide to kidnap the entire sect.


    Spears pulled [[Unity]] then let a beat of hunger and curiosity go out.


    Bell held up her phone. ¡°We have service on this floor.¡±


    They got a few different ideas back: Qualia of pizza, chefs salad, spirit rice, a painting of ribs, french onion soup, black crystals, and an armored space marine flowed back through the link.


    Corvayne started working on a few small paintings of ribs and dog food for the painted hounds. There was a sort of war that happened over unity that eventually moved to the phone, with Gylwin eventually pointing out a restaurant on the far side of town that could handle the majority of their requests.


    He felt a few of the links move a little faster to get home, though Preshe diverted to going straight for the restaurant with Bayou and Little Wing, aiming to get a table. Juggernaut of course refrained from moving. Corvayne for a moment was tempted to leap off the building and let gravity glide him down to the truck, but his desire NOT to use powers tempered it. Patience. It would be worth it.


    There was a ''!'' from Gylwin, and he tensed for a moment fearing it was an attack, but instead he saw the image of a procession coming from the down stairway. There were hundreds of people pouring from the nearest floor 19, carrying camping gear and equipment as they found the road and followed an elf leading them.


    Corvayne didn''t think he''d be excited, but feeling Nyx and Mister I pop into his awareness as near, as well as Hylal, he saw Bell rush outside. She was clearly thinking about doing a flying leap off the building, so Corvayne pulled out a feather fall potion (musing as he did that a once dear emergency item was now something they had brewed dozens of) and shared half with Bell, letting her drop and roll without breaking the sidewalk.


    He let his shadow arms skitter down a large root that snaked downwards, dark hands pulling him along once they were clear of branches. Some of the townsfolk waved, must just sort of got out of the way: tower folk and Three Kings members alike seemed to intuit this was a good excitement.


    Circling the edge of town, Corvayne made it a mile down the paved road before he saw Hari and Wick out in front, hiking towards him. Wick put a hand up to look at him and Hari stretched up and waved. Oddly, he didn''t feel the aversion that he expected from Wick, nor any warnings through unity as he came closer. Hari had a wide brimmed hat on, and oddly enough looked like she was wearing glasses. Wick on the other hand had let her hair go fully blonde, with just some green left a the tips. There was something bothering him between what he was looking at and [[Unity]] but he wanted to continue to be cordial towards his exes.


    Hari and Wick started running towards him, and he stopped walking because his two main senses told him Wick both was and wasn''t moving. There was a surge of LOVE from both, which didn''t make sense because he was pretty sure Wick was in princess mode. His eyes confirmed she was just watching with a placid yet almost apologetic expression.


    ¡°What did-¡±


    It clicked as Corvayne saw dark circles under Hari''s eyes behind the thick glasses, saw dark green hair hidden behind her hat come lose, saw a manic expression as she crouched, ready to pounce. Princess Anastaisa, a thin link, stood where she had stopped to send the distinct feeling of ''she''s your problem now'' as Hari-Wick tackled him.

 Chapter 271: The Madness of the Magus

    Corvayne had only a moment to keep his balance before Hari''s body pressed her mouth to his and kissed him, and he started kissing back a moment before he pulled his head away and pried a confused Hari-Wick off him to hold her at arms length. She, for what it was worth, was beaming and blushing.


    ¡°We did it! Nearly perfectly stable!¡± She flexed an arm and gave him a happy yet predatory look, and Corvayne indeed felt only a faint speck of discord in her. Something he couldn''t say about his own feelings, as he felt conflicted by a barrage of thoughts and feelings, the primary one being intense frustration at her suddenly return and the idea she could just drop in and say ''I fixed the problem alright lets just pretend nothing happened!'' after dragging him through relationship hell.


    On the other hand, she was the reason he had progressed through anything that had happened to him. She was his first love... well, aside from Cascadia, whom might as well be dead she was so far in the past. Asking where she was, the compass started to spin slowly. Lost? Dead?


    He snapped back to the present. ¡°It''s good to see you, though... I think we have things to discuss.¡±


    She nodded, elf ears flapping a little. ¡°Of course, lead me on to Bell and Spears! I''ll handle this negotiation.¡±


    Princess Bellithca would, by Corvayne''s estimation of how annoyed she was at the slow insertion of a third woman into his life, would likely start a fight. Probably firing a rocket at her. Spears was gung ho about him having lots of suitors, but she also had seen him reeling after what had happened.


    Hari and Wick picked up on his hesitation and there was discord that snapped back into place when she grinned. ¡°Cmon, you know I have momentum! Let''s just plow through this, like old times sake.¡± She dragged him along the road, and Corvayne could only look back and wave with his free hand to Nyxion whom watched him go with a smirk.


    Corvayne used his legs to get standing, finding that Hari-Wick probably had three or four times as much strength. Moving to hold hands rather then be pulled, he guided her down the right branch of the road into town.


    ¡°We have a lot to catch up on.¡± He started with, trying to sort out his own feelings. Too late.


    ¡°Plenty of time later.¡± She said. ¡°I have TONS of new mysteries and cryptids I''ve seen! Ufos! Mysterious beings! Places that should not exist!¡± She squeezed his hand.


    Corvayne''s heart dropped as he looked at a face that seemed to combine both his first girlfriends, and the reverse of what had been the status quo for Wick, in which he had loved her far more than she loved him. The old him would have tried to see what was going to happen, let hope take root they could get back together, and then let it blossom into a fight.


    ¡°Hari, Wick, stop.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°We have got to stop. This...¡± A spear moves forward. Even if it''s hard. ¡°I am glad to see you, but this isn''t right. I can''t just pretend I didn''t spend months getting better after we split. I have concerns about Spears and Bell and our future. I''m starting to think I have a family, a sort of stable one, and I know your-¡±


    She laughed. ¡°Corvayne, it''s okay, I''m practically a different person.¡±


    He pushed his hand away from hers. ¡°I can''t do this to them. I keep doing it, and I feel it. Spears never was anything but supportive but how many times do I need to add someone else? I have a lot of people I love but in different ways. And Belle, she DOES take it personally. Not to mention Rio, who I don''t even know how to handle, I''m like a rebound or something with her. And Lady Blood Claw. There''s something going on between us, and I owe her and Prishe something too.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she''s your baby momma.¡± Hari disagreed and he felt a pull in her.


    ¡°Fine. Call it that. Hari, Wick ¨C I would have done anything when I was alone to just have a bunch of girlfriends who love me and go on adventures and switch girls every night. But I''m already stressed by Rio-¡±


    ¡°Who the fuck is Rio?¡±


    ¡°She''s an evil looking woman cowboy cultivator ex-sect leader with black and red demonic looking eyes. She kidnapped us but is actually a sort of nice shy country girl who had a crush on my brother that he doesn''t return because she''s his pupil and he thinks of her more as a daughter.¡±


    Hari looks at him, thought he feels like Wick''s doing the talking. ¡°Why would you even consider dating her?¡±


    ¡°I think [[Unity]] has a backflow, I also work well with her and she''s a good sparring partner.¡± He found himself thinking of Rio''s rear end and tried to not let it show on his face or through the [[Unity]] bond which actually wasn''t that hard.


    ¡°Any girl who can wave a stick, eh?¡±


    ¡°I have a type. Also there''s a girl named Cascadia who shows up in my memories.¡±


    Corvayne started walking, not wanting to let Nyx catch up.


    ¡°Isn''t that the person who went crazy in the tower? We saw graffiti from her.¡± Wick asked, now distracted from trying to get him to kiss her back.


    ¡°That the city we met at is named after her... If the city has parts intact like the underground library I really want to know who picked that name. It''s not the original name, right?¡±


    ¡°Cascade Landing. Might just be a co-incidence.¡±


    ¡°Two leads ¨C one we have a map of the pilgrimage. Two is going back to try and find who named the city.¡±


    ¡°It really might be named after the location on mud. So two would be getting back to that tower instance we were at and trying to find more places she scrawled stuff. Maybe we can pull it out if we loop again.¡± She didn''t sound enthusiastic about dying again, at least.


    ¡°I''m not going anywhere until I fix another curse.¡± He felt he was getting pulled along into her flow.


    ¡°Of course of course. We''ll figure it out!¡±


    ¡°There''s no we, you dumped me. Both of you. We can be team mates, party members, fellow Spear Bearers, but... you deeply hurt me and I''m not ready to throw away the good things I have for you. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°Sure. Yeah.¡±


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Corvayne felt his temper rise. ¡°I need you to be serious. Look me in the eyes!¡± He turned and faced her, and he could feel defiance. ¡°You hurt me really badly, and I can''t do it again. You pushed me away, and I had to get better and get over you. I did.¡± Mostly.


    Hari gave him a thumbs up. ¡°Okay.¡±


    He turned and walked away, but Hari-Wick''s stats were enough that she could keep pace with him easily, boots and all. He stormed into the hotel a few minutes later and she followed him to the ballroom, where Bell and Spears were setting tables. The smell of roasting meat filled the room but Corvayne''s focus was on how the two girls moved together to form a wall between him and Hari.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Spears halfway shouted, more heat in her voice than Corvayne could remember since her words had been untwisted.


    ¡°I''m back! You guys did a great job taking care of him, he looks better than he did before.¡±


    Bell took a step forward. ¡°Absolutely no thanks to you. I know that look, Corvayne you KNOW better!¡±


    She turned on him for a moment but Spears-Like-Water elbowed her and the princess turned back to Hari, who kept up a smile like it was okay. Bell grabbed her wrist when she tried to walk around.


    ¡°I need you to say your going to leave him alone.¡±


    Wick flicked her hand free. ¡°I''ll do what I want!¡± Corvayne felt her bond starting to fray, Hari desiring harmony and Wick ready to start a fight. ¡°What about you? One of you hated his guts, fought him, the other trash talked him for most of his life-¡±


    Spears looked outraged. ¡°The Magus twisted things!¡±


    Corvayne took a deep breath. In a moment he''d have to break his two month streak of not using powers, but before he made that choice a fourth (fifth?) woman stepped into the conversation. Corvayne felt his mouth moving.


    ¡°This is, indeed, the Madness of the Magus.¡±


    Covayne bit his lip. The Bride in his mindscape had wiggled up to speak. He felt her presence blossom then wane, like someone who could do one jumping jack before collapsing on a gym mat.


    Spears grabbed Corvayne''s arm. ¡°What did you say?¡±


    The Bride couldn''t speak through him, but he collected the thoughts she was floating up.


    ¡°We need a meeting. You, Rio, Diamond, even Lady Blood Claw.¡±


    Hari blinked. ¡°The whole Harem? Is Seru included?¡±


    Corvayne wasn''t sure. ¡°I thought she liked Nyxion?¡±


    ¡°She has a thing for you still.¡± Wick answered. Hari elbowed herself. ¡°Not now!¡±


    Corvayne nodded. ¡°Fine. Her too. Upstairs ballroom.¡±


    Hari clapped. ¡°Impressive. Two ball rooms!¡±


    Corvayne lead the way up, letting the other girls figure out how to contact anyone that wasn''t tied into unity. Rio he had a close bond with and started coming as soon as he thought about asking her, and Diamonds-in-Passing sent a small probe that Corvayne opened a window for. The tables were in a U shape already, so he took a seat, his thoughts swirling. He stood back up and started doing his spear exercises in the far corner, needing a moment to center himself.


    He thought about exile.


    Spears came in with Lepin, whom he didn''t expect to be on the list as he had thought she was trying to insert herself into Little-Wing''s relationship, as well as one of the blonde haired prison guards from the sect. She, respectfully, took a seat down near the end of the table. Spears sat next to where Corvayne''s seat was, and Lady Blood Claw took the other seat besides him. Bell oddly put herself further down the table, putting Rio and another seat between her and LBC. There was a message there, and Corvayne hoped he could fix it.


    A random girl from the sect whom he guessed was also a stable hand took a seat, and a Three Kings operative he worked with on some volunteer work for local parks sat down near the end of the table. There were a few girls he didn''t know, one he suspected was a hotel front desk girl out of uniform.


    Seru was one of the last to arrive, and looked annoyed and tired. She took a seat as distant as she could get, pulling a chair to the end of a prong of the U arrangement of tables, but Hari-Wick picked her up and moved her closer, then took the chair left behind and moved it to the inside of the U facing him. Corvayne tried not to glare at her. This was, in some way, noone here''s fault. If anyone, it was his own.


    ¡°I''m being told that everyone in this room, myself included, may be under the effect of a mind-altering ability. I have some sort of connection to the Magus. In addition to the curses he dumped on me.¡±


    Corvayne looked at the women in his life. Some of them, ones who self sorted to the far end, looked very concerned. Rio tugged [[Unity]] and gave him a little nod, beaming a little support and reassurance to him.


    ¡°The Magus has a compulsive aura about him. Women near him are bent to fall in love with him, even without any action for him. I think... he applied the same effect to me.¡±


    Some of the women looked incredulous. Bell looked furious. Seru was just nodding. Lady Blood Claw, he could see, was thinking deeply, skin a gray color that suggested she was clamping down on what she was thinking. Hari-Wick scoffed.


    ¡°You are crazy, a whole room full of girls who like you and you jump to mind control.¡±


    Corvayne wanted really badly for her to just stop talking. ¡°First...¡± he was an inch from ''active'' [[Unity]] use with the emphasis he put on cutting the conversation off.


    ¡°I''m going to look at how to block it-¡±


    ¡°You''re just hot bro.¡± The dragon lady offered. ¡°Don''t overthink it.¡±


    ¡°And I''m going to keep working on my own... problems... that I think have been feeding this compulsion.¡±


    Spears looked concerned, tugging his sleeve. ¡°Corvayne, it''s good to be selfless, but you have to consider that some of these people like you because you are inherently like able. I love you because of who you are, that you strive to be a hero, and I loved you before the Magus messed with you.¡±


    Seru pointed at Corvayne. ¡°Hah! I knew there was a reason I kept looking for your approval!¡±


    Wick turned around. ¡°That''s your own insecurity there, Seru.¡±


    ¡°Tch, you''re still holding it against me that I was the third.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw cleared her throat. ¡°Whom are you getting this information from? That you are doing the same thing.¡±


    ¡°A former bride named Bombay Hill whom I absorbed. Or is her name Bombshell? Anyway, when I destroyed her soul imprisonment I ended up reversing it.¡±


    Seru started snapping her fingers. ¡°So your like, an astral devourer!¡±


    Everyone was quiet.


    Seru looked around. ¡°The DnD monster! With a little guy in it''s chest, high level undead?¡±


    Gylwin, whom had been leaning unseen at the back of the room, raised one of her four hands. ¡°I got the reference. It''s just that''s pretty much what she was.¡±


    Wick pointed. ¡°I didn''t invite her, is she-¡±


    Corvayne tried to recall. ¡°I think she''s my great-great-grandmother or something, Father''s side. Anyway, what I''m saying is I will look for a way to break off the compulsion and-¡±


    Lepin slapped the table. ¡°You had better!¡±


    On the other side, Spears glared. ¡°Don''t call it a compulsion! You are not the same as him.¡±


    Lady Blood Claw snapped her fingers and silence blanketed the room. She stood up, her own noises unaffected. She spoke quietly.


    ¡°On a pure physical level, ignoring how he makes you feel, do you find Corvayne attractive? Raise your hands.¡±


    Corvayne didn''t dare look back to see if Lady Blood Claw also raised her own hand, not until he felt a mental tug to look. Everyone in the room had their hand up, except Seru and Gylwin. Gylwin kicked Seru, and Seru raised her hand.


    ¡°Whom in this room, without taking their feelings into account, consider Corvayne''s actions to be consistent with ''goodness'', ''selfless'', ''chivalry'', ''justice'', or ''family''.¡±


    Most hands went up. Seru waved her hand a little. ¡°I kinda thought it was hot that he was mean to me.¡± Corvayne felt a little bit warmer towards her. She was a familiar flavor in a room that he felt increasingly uncomfortable in. He felt lots of eyes were on him.


    ¡°Whom here thinks Corvanye is strong and given his high power at low levels, would produce strong kids?¡±


    Bell''s hand was the first up, Corvayne was pretty sure. Spears sheepishly raised her hand too. Could they even have kids? She wasn''t a humanoid. She would make a good mother, probably better than Bell, which was a rude thing to think as he liked Bell''s kid.


    Haru and Wick were laughing, both hands up for everything. Lady Blood Claw was waiting for Corvayne to turn around and look at her, so he kept his gaze forward. They were friends. Good friends. Family.


    ¡°Whom here thinks Corvayne is rich?¡±


    Everyone hands went up. ¡°He bleeds money!¡± one of the sect girls cried out. A Three Kings member who was a low level enforcer and whom had joined late whistled. ¡°I''d date a guy who only bled blue crystals.¡±


    Seru put her hand down. ¡°I wonder if you could suck one out of-¡±


    Lady Blood Claw cleared her throat. ¡°Who here thinks Corvayne is too hard on himself, and that he''d be worth it even if there''s no an addictive reinforcement effect that is thousands of times less potent than the Magus''s?¡±


    The women who didn''t know him very well abstained, but Lady Blood Claw had her hand up. Spears, Bell, Hari and Wick of course, but aside from Seru who had her arms folded and was pouting, more than a few women agreed. Diamond outside had grown a hand out, forming a moon-sized vote. Rio laughed with her hand up. ¡°He is so moody, it is wonderful!¡±


    Lady Blood Claw clapped. ¡°Corvayne, some of us are now your family, due to joint custody. Some are friends, some acquaintances who want to be friends, some of us are ex''s whom need to sort their own feelings out. Some of us are family via joint custody.¡±


    Corvayne closed his eyes. ¡°I''m going to try to sort things out, with everyone. Figure out what you want, what I want, and to fix it if you are stuck. I don''t want to take away anyone''s freedom the way mine was pulled from me.¡±


    Gylwin stepped forward. ¡°Alright if you''ve had enough fueling young Corvayne''s ego, dinner is almost ready, so we''ll feast. But, my last thought: In the curses the Magus has accidentally, it seems, given Corvayne a tool that makes him stronger. In the same way, I think those of you who have common cause to fight this wizard should consider carefully if you should break out from his harem.¡±


    Corvayne held up a finger. ¡°I don''t think my relationship is a harem.¡±


    Spears and Seru and Bell spoke as one but with different emotions. ¡°It''s definitely a harem!¡±