Myrsvai stepped out the portal and just paused.

Back in Vraxridge. It had been so long. The quiet, calmness of the city compared to that of anywhere else in Verdantallis was unmatched. It was both unnatural and the most welcoming, relaxing thing he could imagine. It had to be entirely because of Althowin's eternal presence and the absolute monstrous compound inhabiting the center of the city.

A massive hand smacked onto his shoulder, gripping tightly.

Every instinct in Myrsvai flared. Abyssal fire raged around his left hand, but Suta was completely calm. The familiar hadn't said a thing or reacted to defend.

"Look at us," Arkasti said in his deep, unnaturally happy voice.

Myrsvai relaxed and let the magic fade from his fresh, somewhat numb hand. "Arkasti, it's good to see you."

The big man put his arm over Myrsvai's shoulder and nearly pulled him off his feet. "A joy, as always! Shard Heroes. Both of us. Me and the Maimed Magus, who is looking a lot less maimed!"

Suta, walking behind, bristled with annoyance at that comment.

Myrsvai projected calmness. Arkasti meant it as a compliment.

"And the little one!" Arkasti let Myrsvai go and rounded on Suta. "You are looking mighty indeed!"

That immediately made Suta feel happier. Myrsvai rolled his eyes.

"Mighty." Suta lifted his hands to fight.

Arkasti lifted his own.

Suta grew three more arms on each side.

"Whoa!" Arkasti put his hands up. "I surrender!"

"You have three shards now?" Myrsvai asked while looking at his index. "Did you conquer the Tundra and not fuse?"

Arkasti's smile was broad. "It is complicated. I did fuse with the ninth floor boss. We will need to discuss it with the lady of the house. I believe I may have made a mistake in my fusion."

"A mistake? If you fused, there is no mistake."

Arkasti held out his arms. "Do I look fused to you?"

Myrsvai pondered it for a moment. A ninth floor boss was always strong, and as far as he could tell, there was nothing different about Arkasti. His hair was still fiery red, his skin pale, and his smile as wide and ridiculous as always. "No, you don't."

"I am hoping Ze—" Arkasti stopped himself and looked about. "I'm hoping Althowin or a friend has an answer for me."

Suta, apparently uninterested in the conversation, had already walked by and was heading toward the compound. He looked back and waved them on.

"It appears we should follow Suta and find some answers." Myrsvai set off and started answering a torrent of questions. Arkasti wanted to know every detail of everything. Myrsvai didn't intend to share all that much, but the man was an ally and his questions were harmless. If nothing else, Arkasti enjoyed a good story, and Myrsvai had those.

Indulf was leaning on his elbows at the window, talking to a few heroes who were hoping to see Althowin. The line was much shorter than usual. Upon seeing them, Indulf gestured toward the main door.

Myrsvai opened it, allowing Arkasti and Suta to enter first.

Althowin was sitting in the lobby with a young man across from her. She was idly tweaking a prosthetic foot while the hero talked. He had a bow that looked like something looted from a goblin and a ragged tunic that also looked like something taken from the goblin caves.

Myrsvai stood by Indulf's desk and watched silently. Arkasti, who had trouble being silent, sat himself in the circle of seats around a coffee table that had been neatly placed in the office. Althowin cast him a glance, rolled her eyes, and continued without missing a beat.

Suta climbed onto Indulf's desk and got near the window. He sat down and nodded along to whatever conversation was happening.

The compound already felt different with Althowin so cheerful and helping strangers. Especially weak strangers. Myrsvai had often wondered why so many heroes gathered everyday if she never saw anyone, but apparently they gathered because sometimes she did see people.

Part of him wanted to simply leave and find his friends in another building, but Althowin would want an update, and he wanted to gather any information he could about Owin and anyone else not currently nearby.

Althowin finished the foot, apologized, and attached it with quick precision. The young man yelped with pain. She talked about care for the prosthetic as he adjusted and carefully put weight onto the metal foot. While she spoke, Basolia appeared and lifted a hunting bow out of the shadows. The bow was about the same size as the one he carried, but instead of a cheap apprentice level goblin bow, the one Althowin presented to him was a novice weapon made of some monster bone.

"I can't afford that," he said as he was already counting the few pieces of dungeon gold in his bag.

"I'm not asking for a single coin," she said. "Take the bow. Pay me back when you're stronger, or pay me for a commissioned piece of equipment when you can afford it."

The hunter grabbed the bow in shaking hands. "Are you—"

"Don't ask me if I'm sure. I don't make mistakes." She smiled in a warm, genuine way that made Myrsvai realize he had rarely, if ever, seen her smile in such a way. Her eyes flicked to his, and her smile immediately dropped.

"Thank you. Thank you!"

"This way, lad," Arkasti said. He clapped the young hunter on the back, which Myrsvai thought might just kill the kid. Arkasti guided him out and wished him luck. From others, Myrsvai would assume it was just a respectful way to say goodbye, but Arkasti was too serious and definitely thought his words would actually impart better luck.

"Myrsvia," Althowin said. Her eyes flicked to Suta, then to Myrsvai's arm and leg. "It went well?"

"Well enough." He walked to the seat across from her and sat himself down. Suta looked over before deciding to stay at the window with Indulf.

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

"The prosthetic?"

Myrsvai rapt his knuckles against his knee. "Still underneath."

"I should've warned you. That can happen. There isn't necessarily anything wrong with it. That leg is likely stronger than your other now since it has a mix of muscle, metal, and mana threads. Be careful and alert me to any discomfort or visual changes that don't seem to match expectations."

He nodded. "May I ask a question?"

Arkasti reentered. "I—" He saw Myrsvai sitting and stopped. "I will check in with you later. Do you know where I could find the elf?"

Basolia appeared at the edge of the desk. "I will guide you."

"Thank you!"

Althowin watched until Arkasti was down the hall and out of ear shot. "He is an odd one, but the talent is clearly there."

"He said something went wrong with his fusion."

She waved her hand dismissively. "It's simple, I'm sure. I already have plenty of guesses without knowing the problem."

"Just like that?"

"When you're around other classes enough, you start to see the same issues arise." Althowin leaned forward, digging her elbows into her knees. "Your question?"

"How is Owin?"

Althowin's expression soured. "Healthy, I hope. You were gone, so I have to assume you didn't hear about the battle."

Suta was already standing on the desk. He ran across, jumped down, and stopped at Myrsvai's side.

"Battle?"

"As soon as Owin returned from the Fortress, I asked him to bring Miya on an errand to Atrevaar. Veph and I had talked about a plan to test Owin. To see if he would be evil, in a sense. I wanted to see how he would react under stress without any real danger. Veph saw it differently. She took it as an opportunity to kill Owin without any blame falling on herself, and I wasn't aware of her plans." Althowin gestured and Basolia deposited a glass of water into her hand. She took a drink and passed the glass into the shadow. "I just told that kid that I don't make mistakes. I've made many recently. Veph had a hero named Nikoletta there."

Myrsvai's eyes widened and anger gripped his heart. The same heightened emotions roiled inside Suta.

"I know," Althowin said. "Owin and Shade brought Miya to Atrevaar. Nikoletta attacked Miya and Owin retaliated to defend her. The battle destroyed what remained of the Nimble Hogs' building and much of the city center. Owin thought he had killed Nikoletta, but she managed to live long enough to fuse with her cathkabel summon and heal."

"What about Miya?"

"Nothing some healing potions and time couldn't fix. They were both fine." Althowin took a breath. "When the fight was done, Veph tried to make a move to kill him. Sofia Halaby defended Owin and fought Veph while Owin escaped."

Myrsvai opened his index.

"Yes," Althowin said. "Veph is a shard higher."

"Veph is two shards higher."

"Fuck." Althowin opened her own index. "She just finished another."

"Sofia is alive," Myrsvai said.

"She is. And currently, she can't leave the compound. To survive, she used a Power 7 spell during the fight. Ethereal Ignition Wave. It destroyed the entire center of Atrevaar."

Myrsvai felt his head spinning with the story. Thalgodin's calming presence in the back of his mind assured him Owin would still be at the compound if he hadn't been ready to adventure again.

"Where is Owin now?" Myrsvai asked.

"The Desert with Chorsay."

Myrsvai simply stood, unable to control his surprise. "Chorsay is in a dungeon?"

"He insisted. Are you surprised?"

"Entirely, yes."

Althowin stood and gestured something to Basolia. "You aren't going to be rushing off the Desert. You need proper rest and sustenance. Food will be ready whenever you head to the kitchen, and your bed has fresh sheets. Give it a full day so I can analyze your leg and you can feel prepared before you run off."

"I—"

"I," she interrupted, "am not asking." Althowin gestured toward Basolia, who was already creating a line of shadow for him to follow.

***

The creatures were, in fact, not lehboa. A bunch of scraggly rodent mobs without intelligence scrambled around the corner, crawling over each other like an avalanche. Shade squealed and ran.

Owin dashed forward, ignited the sword, and chopped horizontally through the wave.

0 Experience

A stream of notifications moved up and faded away as he swung back and forth. Chorsay's imposing form appeared at his side. The Winged Blade chopped through rodents in thundering swings. Even without activating the sword's ability, it easily crushed the creatures before chopping through, and killed dozens.

Owin moved back to allow room as corpses fell over corpses and more rodents appeared. After about a minute of attacking, the wave stopped. Bodies smoldered and a smell of cooked meat filled the hall. Owin picked up one of the smaller rodent creatures. It wasn't quite a rat, but it didn't share much in common with the lehboa. It was big and ugly with rounded ears and protruding teeth. Owin took half of one and took a bite.

Chorsay watched with a frown.

"No stats," Owin said after swallowing all the charred meat.

"How was the taste?"

"Better than most things I've eaten." He held out part of a cooked rodent.

Chorsay plucked a piece of cooked meat that fell right off the bone with a little force. He popped it in his mouth, chewed, and nodded slowly. "With some seasoning, it could be good. Palatable."

Shade crunched on a dead mob that wasn't cooked at all, meaning it was likely one of Chorsay's kills. He had to work his jaw to crunch through the hairy skin and all the bones. Any pieces he did manage to tear off just fell from his jaw. By the time he was done, gray hairs stuck out from between teeth.

"How was it?" Chorsay asked.

"Thoroughly crunchy," Shade said. The skeleton stumbled over the piles of dead mobs and made it to the corner. "So, there's a door right here. How do you think the rats got through?"

"Not rats," Owin said.

"They are definitely rat-like enough that I want to call them rats. Did you Examine them to get a name? Because I certainly did not."

Owin climbed over the corpses. "Fine." The door was just a few feet from the corner, and it looked perfectly normal. It was far too narrow for the avalanche of rats to fit through. He walked up and shook the handle. "It's locked."

Shade grabbed the handle and yanked.

"Has a locked door stopped you before?" Chorsay asked.

Owin lifted a foot.

"I suppose that is a solution."

Owin kicked and shattered the door. Hinges, the handle, and a thousand woodchips flew into the hallway beyond and bounced before settling on the ceiling. Owin stayed still and watched, waiting for something in the next hall to change. It looked like a perfect continuation of the hallway with identical framed pictures and odd stick-like knickknacks mounted on the walls, but all the debris from the broken door had gone up.

"Shade?" Owin pointed. "Can you walk in and see if you fall to the ceiling?"

"I would be honored to die for your glory." He stepped through and immediately fell upward. Shade put no effort into landing properly or catching himself, so he splatted against the wooden ceiling and stayed there.

"You didn't die," Owin said.

"I'm aware," Shade said.

Chorsay didn't look the least bit surprised at any of the recent events. The old man had been through the Desert at least once before, if not multiple times.

"I'm figuring this out," Owin said.

"You are. I am enjoying watching you work it out." Chorsay stepped through and flipped, landing on his feet with surprising ease. "Things will get far more odd before they will start to make sense."

"What do you mean?" Owin stepped in and flipped, landing easily on his feet.

Shade finally sat up. "We're upside down, right?"

"We are." Chorsay still had his sword drawn. "Are you ready to lead on?"

Shade bounced to his feet. "Always." He strode on until a saw blade popped out of the wall and cut him in half. Gray dust hung suspended in the air for a moment before dropping to the actual ground.

Owin pointed. "Shouldn't that be pulled by whatever made us go up here too?"

Chorsay gave a subtle, helpless shrug. "If we tried to make this little stronghold make sense, we will lose our minds."

Owin nodded and crept forward. He knew where one trap was. He just had to be fast and smart enough to avoid any others.

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