Vivi stood frozen for half a second before dashing after the demon. Hoss absolutely couldn't escape. He'd seen Vivi. He knew she'd killed a guard. If even a slight investigation was launched, they'd know she was hunting in the main dungeon as well. She still needed to earn over seventy thousand ether. It was too early for her to get caught.

She burned Lucius's reserves at a rapid pace, ascension skill active, running as fast as her legs took her.

Hoss disappeared behind the next corner, slowly gaining space from Vivi. She gritted her teeth. Can't I keep up with an old man?

After thirty seconds, Vivi couldn't see Hoss at all. She followed the trail of ether left behind by his insane run, but the man himself was multiple corners ahead. Vivi's heart started to fill with dread, already thinking of escape plans. The moment Hoss made it back to the hub, the news would make it to the Stewards. Vivi would become the most wanted person in all of Zand.

Hiding was still likely possible. But hunting and progressing would become impossible, and Zand would become exponentially more dangerous.

What could she do? She wasn't fast enough to chase. She wasn't strong enough to defeat the Stewards. And she didn't have the tools to escape Zand.

Suddenly, a large wave of ether erupted from ahead, as if a small surge had spawned inside the dungeon. Vivi heard a sharp slash, followed by a thump. Hoss's footsteps stopped.

"That aura feels familiar," Lucius said.

Yes, I think that's Andre, Vivi thought. The surge of ether ahead gave the exact feeling Andre's spirit blade gave. And from the sound of it, Andre had killed Hoss.

Change of plans, Vivi thought. The witnesses are dead. Hide my aura. We need to get out of here.

Lucius drew back all of the active wisps in Vivi's body. She hid her swords into spatial storage. With her presence hopefully hidden, Vivi tossed Eem into one of the smaller crawl spaces poking out from the wall. Vivi barely fit, but she guessed that Andre wouldn't fit at all. Vivi just hoped the crawl space grew wider further up.

She crawled as quietly as she could. Without ether in her eyes, the space was pitch black.

What's Andre doing here? Vivi thought. Was this a coincidence?

"The guard pushed out his full aura," Lucius said. "Anyone in the vicinity would easily sense a fight is going on. We can consider ourselves lucky."

Vivi wanted to sigh. This whole situation was a mess. Hoss and Jeli were strong, and they're just regular guards. We won't stand a chance against the Stewards.

"We're getting there," Lucius said. "If we clear the main boss and steal a rare skill or higher, I'm certain you can duel any Steward in Zand."

A sour taste filled Vivi's mouth. Was the main dungeon even safe anymore? Guards had been killed in the hidden dungeon. An investigation would be launched after them.

I guess we have no choice, Vivi thought. I'm still in debt. We need to clear the amalgamations.

Lucius frowned. "Ugh. It would be nice to skip the second level…"

The amalgamations must have weaknesses, Vivi thought. If a sword can't cut them, I'm guessing they're weak against bludgeoning attacks. A mace or something could crack the heads.

"The goo will eat any bludgeoning attack," Lucius said. "Your weapon will get stuck"

Vivi thought for a second. What about fire?

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"The goo is weak to fire, yes," Lucius said. "But it's not good to spark flames in dungeons."

Vivi kept thinking while crawling after Eem. What if we just use heat instead of fire?

"What do you mean?" Lucius asked.

Imagine hitting them with molten magma that's as hot as fire but without causing flames and smoke.

Lucius gave it some thought. "Might work."

An idea for a weapon was forming in Vivi's head. A bludgeoning weapon with a hot magma-like impact area. The amalgamations were scary, but the right equipment would probably trivialize them.

As long as Vivi got out of here alive…

The crawl space eventually led Vivi to the quiet black flower area of the hidden dungeon. Vivi didn't recognize the exact room, but the area was familiar. She was close to Zand's hub.

Let's survive today's collection day as normal, Vivi thought. We shouldn't be suspects yet. Then we'll quickly craft a weapon and get back to earning ether.

*

Vivi returned to the hub through the storehouse exit.

She wasn't proud to still be using the same risky hole in the wall. Out of the options that allowed her to move alone, this one was the safest. Vivi didn't particularly care if the black masks saw her moving about. As long as Zand's guards didn't see her, she was safe.

Before entering the hub, Vivi placed both of her skills into the container that Ven had given her. She hid the container in spatial storage. The skills were no longer in her core. The method seemed too easy to work, but Lucius assured her that etherprint scanners wouldn't feel a thing.

The hub's central fountain had been rebuilt, and the broken paths had been repaired with fresh bricks. The hub looked a lot prettier. Although, renovations did nothing to hide the chaos of collection day. Nimrods were fighting each other for their last wisps of ether. The whipping platforms were being set up.

With Vivi's improved perceptions, she had an easier time traversing the streets. She heard arguments before she could see who the occupants were. Hostile gazes were obvious, as easy to feel as spikes pressing against her neck.

Vivi avoided each conflict, moving through safer paths even if it meant taking detours. She wasn't afraid of being mugged anymore—Vivi was more than strong enough to deal with any nimrods that would try something with her—but killing a mugger would require ether, which would reveal her strength. Vivi was only stronger than the nimrods because of her weapons and Lucius. Without ether, Vivi was just a regular human girl.

She discreetly walked to the ether orb store and bought two orbs for Eem and herself. After buying the orbs, she made it to the line. All ten Stewards stood on their platforms. Vivi was twenty or so nimrods behind in line.

Nimrods around her frowned. People were uncomfortable if not outright hateful around them. Vivi's bounty was still active, and most nimrods saw her as a mindless killer. Bwern's men especially seemed to hate her. His red-skinned demons glared at her every chance they got.

Vivi could only sigh. The lines were protected by guards. Nobody could attack her here.

"We're lucky that both of us are assigned to the same Steward, aren't we?" Vivi said while rubbing Eem's foot. The fiend smiled.

The lines moved. Nimrods paid their share, and the first nimrods were entering the whipping platforms. Vivi spotted two red-skinned demons being escorted to be whipped. She recognized a few of their faces. They were from Lars's group, the same demons that joined Zand alongside Vivi. Lars was nowhere to be seen.

Standing in line felt like an eternity. Vivi was surrounded by disapproving looks, listening to the screams of dying demons, just so that she could pay a hundred ether to her oppressors. She shut off her ears and waited.

Clearing the main boss will shut down this place, Vivi reminded herself. Nobody will have to die in this stupid prison ever again.

Finally, Vivi's turn came. Eem on her shoulders, she entered the platform and walked up to Uundref.

The bony Stewards grinned, seeing her. "Ah, welcome, dear human."

Vivi didn't respond. She placed her hand on the etherprint scanner, then offered Uundref two of Zand's ether orbs, both worth a hundred. "One to pay my share, and the other is Eem's."

Uundref stared at the scanner. He didn't accept payment. Then he lifted his head and frowned at Vivi.

"73,792 ether in the negative," Uundref said. "You've gained over twenty thousand ether?"

"I haven't collected a single wisp."

A hint of concerned curiosity was visible in Uundref's eyes. The look made Vivi uncomfortable.

She shrugged. "The curse must be lifting, I guess. I don't know what's happening."

"Peculiar," Uundref said. "Though a lifting of your curse does sound like the most likely outcome."

"I'm not going to get over three hundred ether any time soon," Vivi said. "I'm just trying to survive."

Uundref studied her expression. Then he smiled, accepting the two orbs. "You are a smart one indeed. The fiend needs to be scanned as well."

Eem offered her hand to the scanner, and she was cleared, this time having stayed within her limits. Vivi stepped off of the platforms.

"Uundref looked suspicious," Lucius said. "He thinks something is off."

He can think all he wants, Vivi thought. He has no proof. He'll be a lot more surprised when my debts are fully cleared. Let's get to work. We'll gain at least another twenty thousand ether this week. I have an idea on how we're going to defeat the amalgamations.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.