To hide her skill from etherprint scanners without skipping collection day, Vivi could only think of one risky solution. She took Eem behind the shadowed storehouse and said, "Wait here, okay?"

Eem tilted her head.

"I'm going to give you my skill," Vivi said. "I need you to keep it safe for me. Don't activate it, and don't get yourself caught. I will be back in fifteen minutes. Then you'll give it back to me. Okay?"

Eem thought about it for a minute. She gave a half-hearted nod. Then another more confident one.

"This will backfire…" Lucius said.

It's the only idea we have, Vivi thought. Eem understands what I say. She knows what to do.

"She'll get curious and activate the skill," Lucius said.

She might. But she doesn't have a weapon to try it out on if she starts playing with it. The skill should just do nothing.

Lucius sighed. "Well, this is better than letting Uundref examine the skill…"

Vivi agreed. She transferred the skill to Eem. The wisp flowed from her core, into Eem's. The fiend's eyes opened wide; she flinched, as if she'd been punched.

"Take good care of it," Vivi said. "Don't try to play around with it."

Eem pouted at her.

"Yes, yes," Vivi said. "You're capable. I don't need to tell you what to do. I'll be back in fifteen minutes. Wait here."

Vivi headed back to the crowd. By now, the lines to the collection platform were getting shorter. There were ten lines, each leading to one of the Stewards. The line to Uundref was double the length of the others. It seemed the skeletal Steward had a lot more nimrods under his caretaking.

The sounds of whipping echoed across the hub. Demons screamed with each hit, filling the air with a desperate mood. Nimrods in line didn't seem to mind. Everyone outside the whipping platforms almost looked bored as they waited for their turn to pay their share.

Except for those that didn't have enough to pay, of course. The unfortunate ones were busy begging, or biting their nails, having accepted that a whipping was inevitable.

Vivi shut off her ears and waited. She received disapproving looks from fellow nimrods in line. Screams resounded ahead. Vivi sighed, trying her best to ignore all the cruelty. Standing there, she didn't feel like an ether hunter who just survived a deadly dungeon, escaping with thousands of ether. She felt like a lone human trapped in a hopeless prison.

We aren't strong enough to defy the Stewards, she thought. Not yet.

Eventually, Vivi stepped to the examination platform. Uundref received her with his usual all-knowing grin.

She placed her hand on the scanner. She handed over the ether orb silently.

Uundref studied the ether orb's results for a second. Vivi's body filled with pressure. Lucius had said the scanner shouldn't be able to read his core, but Lucius wasn't always the most reliable when it came to little details.

Uundref wrote something on a parchment and said, "Vivian Runeblessed, marked as paid. See you next week!"

Vivi nodded. Then she walked off the platform. When she was fully out of the platforms, she let out a sigh of relief.

"You're nervous," Lucius said.

She wanted to roll her eyes. Oh, really?

"You're not?"

It feels like anything could kill me at any moment. As if everyone's eyes are on me. This whole place makes me skittish.

"Well, we are breaking the rules big time," Lucius said. "And the black masks are probably on our trail. I think this type of thing makes humans nervous, right?"

Vivi sighed again. Let's get Eem paid as well.

Her throat felt heavy as she made it back behind the storehouse. She half-expected Eem to have disappeared—kidnapped or killed, or just plain gone. Vivi already regretted leaving Eem alone. Lately, they had been seen together a lot. Vivi had a lot of enemies, all of which were now also Eem's enemies. The black masks knew that Vivi was fond of Eem. They could very well attempt to kidnap Eem to get back at Vivi. The risks of leaving Eem with the skill were growing more and more apparent.

Her fear proved to be just a fear. Eem was still there, sitting on the hole in the wall, legs dangling and her horns pushing the curtain over her head. She smiled wide and hopped down.

Idiot fiend, you can't just sit in the hole… What if someone sees you?

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Vivi didn't scold Eem out loud. The storehouse was quiet enough that nimrods wouldn't know even if a fight broke out here. Vivi grabbed the fiend and gave her a hug. Eem flinched, surprised for a second. She grabbed Vivi's face and pulled her cheek.

"What, you don't like hugs anymore?" Vivi asked with a funny smile.

Eem made weird noises and poked Vivi in the face. Vivi laughed. She couldn't tell if Eem was trying to tell her something.

"Say, Eem, what do you think about escaping?"

Eem paused.

"We could cut a hole in the wall and leave the prison," Vivi said. "How would that sound?"

"Mm, mm," Eem said.

"You aren't planning on taking this fiend on hunts with us, are you?" Lucius asked. "She's not a fighter. She won't find a good life with us."

At the very least, I want to find a good home for her, Vivi thought. Eem deserves better than this prison. She has saved our lives once already. Let's get her portion paid.

With the skill transferred back to Vivi's core, she took Eem to the collection platforms. On the way there, Vivi examined the walls again. Lucius's claws were probably strong enough to latch onto the wall, letting Vivi climb up it. But as Andre mentioned, Zand's black hardstone walls reached all the way to the sky. Climbing would be useless unless Vivi could find another hole.

She joined the line, Eem on her shoulders, and thought of ideas. She could try to defeat a guard, steal their keys, perhaps disguising herself before walking straight out of the front gates. But with the amount of doorkeepers and locks on the way out, that option was unrealistic.

Andre mentioned humans couldn't join outside raids either. From what Vivi knew, outside raids were usually directed by Zand's guardsmen. Vivi, with Lucius's hidden ether reserves, could probably slip away from guards during one, but being invited was the hard part.

The easiest escape route would probably be to cut a hole through a wall. A three-runed sword with sharpness, mass, and strength runes could have a chance of cutting one. Vivi just needed a smithy to craft more runeswords in peace. She would probably need at least a week or two to successfully craft a three-runed sword.

Vivi was lost in thoughts when her turn came. She offered the orb to Uundref and said it was for Eem's portion. Eem got herself scanned, and Vivi waited for her to be dismissed.

"Ah, very interesting," Uundref said. "962 ether."

Vivi paused. "What do you mean?"

"The fiend carries 962 ether," Uundref said. "A bad one indeed. That's a serious violation."

Vivi's mouth hung open. A wave of helpless panic washed over her. Was this real? Out of all the mistakes she could make, this was what she forgot to check. Why did Eem have nearly a thousand ether!

"Uhm," Vivi stuttered, "Eem is harmless. You don't need to whip her. Please. I didn't know she had so much ether."

Uundref giggled. The laugh gave Vivi chills.

"Eem, please give your ether to him," Vivi said. "All of it. You're not supposed to have that much ether."

Please let us off with a warning… Vivi thought. Eem didn't do anything wrong. You can't whip her!

Eem pouted, not giving the ether. Vivi's body was about to explode from the inside.

"Fiend, which solution will we use this time?" Uundref asked. "Would you prefer a whipping, or would you prefer to offer me all of your ether?"

Eem showed her tongue. Vivi's head was about to explode.

Thankfully, Eem gave in. Wisps flowed in the air, into Uundref's core.

"Wise fiend," Uundref said. "You're free to go." He frowned at Vivi. "Next time, make sure she stays under three hundred. If you use her as an ether container, I will skip whippings and kill you both."

What? Vivi thought. "Are we not being punished?"

"The fiend's species can't channel ether," Uundref said. "This is not the first time she has arrived with ridiculous amounts of ether. It was more profitable to let her keep bringing it in. From now on, she will have to follow the rules. You might use her as a living ether container otherwise."

Vivi stood still in disbelief for a moment. She lowered her head. "Thanks."

Then she quickly stepped off of the platform, head racing with thoughts. What had just happened?

"Eem, you idiot," Vivi whispered. "You're the biggest breaker of all…"

The fiend laughed, as if she hadn't nearly just gotten both of them killed.

This day is a disaster, Vivi thought. Is anyone following us? It might be risky to use the storehouse entrance.

"A few demons watched us walk in this direction," Lucius said, "but that's normal. I didn't sense anyone directly following us. You should be aware enough now to feel someone on your trail. Unless we're being spied on by someone on Uundref's level."

Vivi thought about her options. There were three entrances to the hidden dungeon that she knew of. The lake entrance, which was probably occupied by fishermen. The apartment entrance, which Vivi didn't have a key to. And the storehouse hole in the wall.

Repeatedly using the storehouse was risky. The black masks probably knew that Vivi was using this entrance. It could be trapped.

But it was still the most secure entrance Vivi could use. If the black masks were the only ones to see Vivi enter the hidden dungeon, that meant her whereabouts wouldn't get known to the guards and Stewards. With the other entrances, if she was spotted by fishers or nimrods in the apartments, Vivi risked rumors spreading.

"Eem, we're going to need more ether roots," Vivi said. "The egg-looking things. A lot more of them. Could you lead me to where you find them?"

Eem nodded three times, looking determined.

"Let's do this quickly," Vivi said. "I don't want to spend any more time than necessary in the hidden dungeon before we have a three-runed sword. Let's grab as many ether roots as we can, then we'll come back to find a smithy."

Eem was already climbing up into the wall. Vivi followed, slipping past the black curtain. She checked her sixth sense again to make sure nobody was watching. The area seemed clear. She entered the trap door and crawled.

At the end of the crawl-space, just before entering the hidden dungeon, Vivi felt something off. There was ether in the dungeon. A monster? Or was that something serious?

"Vivi, there's something behind us," Lucius said.

Vivi gritted her teeth. She felt it too. Someone had entered the wall behind them. A breaker, judging by the amount of ether. They didn't even try to hide their aura.

Go forward! Vivi thought. She could sense ether ahead as well, but not as much as behind. If she got trapped in the crawl space, she'd be dead.

Eem entered the hidden dungeon carelessly. The fiend didn't feel any alarm. Vivi rushed after Eem. They entered the tunnel.

The hostile ether around her only grew worse. Something was waiting for her. She looked around herself, trying to identify the best exit.

"Vivi, wait," a voice called from the crawl space behind. Vivi recognized the voice. "You can't use this entrance. There's an ambush."

A few seconds later, a demon emerged.

Vivi immediately readied for battle. Claws grew on her hands, ether fueling her senses.

The demon entered calmly. His lower body was covered with a black cloak. Exactly the same one that Vivi's captors had used. His mask was missing, revealing a black-eyed face Vivi recognized.

It was Ven. "You're in danger," he said. "We need to go. Follow me if you want to live."

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