Just as Rosh had promised, it only took a couple of minutes after Asher removed the Bracelet of Observation from Brian's wrist for the twelve-year-old to come to. Groaning, he rubbed at his head as Samantha held him.

"What happened?" he asked, squinting up at them. "And why does my… inner chest hurt?"

"You strained your soul trying to use two different enchanted items at the same time," Asher explained, holding up the bracelet. "So long as you're wearing this, you can't ride the boards as well."

Good to know that my own artifact limit I figured out while hunting down Eight is actually something that will grow in time. Based on what Draken said, because I'm currently in the Stage of Honing as I work to improve all my skills to the second tier, my current limit of three artifacts should go up to four as soon as I hit the next stage of elemental advancement.

At the moment, however, that wasn't even close to an issue. Asher had lost both his Ring of the Gourmet and his Bracelet of Observation when he lost his hands during his battle with Eight and subsequent fight with the greater demon. Currently, the only enchanted item he had on him at all was his flaming dagger, and he obviously didn't go around using that one all too frequently.

"How do you feel?" Samantha asked her brother, handing him a waterskin to drink from. "Other than your chest, I mean. You took a pretty nasty spill off that board."

"Fine, I guess," Brian said, looking more embarrassed than anything by his accident. "...You're not going to take away the bracelet, are you?"

"No, even with Eight gone, I prefer you and Samantha each have an early warning if anyone is watching you," Asher said, barely managing to contain his chuckle at the relief of Brian's face. "Maybe just make sure you take it off before hopping on the boards in the future, okay?"

"Okay!" Brian grinned, happily taking the bracelet back and putting it back on his wrist. "Ugh," he groaned, rubbing his chest. "...That doesn't feel great."

"No artifacts until your soul is better." Samantha frowned, holding out her hand and taking the bracelet Brian begrudgingly handed her. Once it was tucked safely away within her bag, she looked at Asher. "So what's the plan?"

"For now, let's head up to the third level and find someplace to stay," he said, helping the two of them to their feet. Brian wobbled a little bit, showing he probably felt worse than he was letting on, but Samantha helped support him. "After that, I've got some stuff I need to take care of on my own."

Naturally, he'd already run Samantha through what he needed to do regarding finding a way to stop Leighann from being resurrected, but Brian had no idea of his ulterior motives for coming to this city. As far as he knew, they'd all come here to get even further away from the demons that had attacked them.

Which wasn't wrong, of course. But it was far from the full truth.

"That's fine by me. Brian probably needs some rest, and I'd prefer to stick with him while he's recovering," Samantha said, nodding for Asher to start moving.

Without the use of the enchanted boards, travel through the fourth level of the city was far slower. They had plenty of time to take in the sights and sounds of the busiest level of the city as they made their way over to one of the elevators.

Like Brant had informed them, the fourth level seemed to consist almost exclusively of taverns and shops. None of which looked all that high in quality. There were merchants trying to sell fragments of an ancient hero's sword, claiming that they'd been left behind to be reforged, but none of the smiths within Dormaul had been up to the challenge. Miners attempting to sell chunks of what they swore was unrefined mithral, claiming anyone would be an idiot for missing out on such a steal. Even one or two back-alley merchants quietly advertising their services for forging papers required to reach the other levels of the city for a fraction of the shards.

"The fourth level is like a tourist trap," Asher muttered, turning around just in time to spot Samantha eyeing up a shop selling 'mithral-tipped arrows' for laughably low prices. "Samantha, they're not real! It's a scam," he hurried to explain.

"I kinda figured." She frowned, still reading over the prices. "But they're so cheap… I was thinking it wouldn't hurt to grab a few just in the off chance that it was legit."

"That's how they get you!" He sighed, gently tugging her and Brian away from the grinning merchant. "I promise you, the shops in the third level will be more respectable than this."

Samantha looked like she wasn't fully convinced, but Asher couldn't hold that against her. Prior to last week, she'd only ever shopped at the merchant caravan that stopped by her village once a month. And while she'd had a few days of recent experience perusing the main market in Whikoga's second ring, Whikoga seemed to do a pretty good job of cracking down on things such as scams.

Dormaul, on the other hand, didn't even seem to bother with their fourth level.

Finally, after having to tug Brian away from a woman selling potions that would guarantee a person the origin element they wanted, they made it to one of the elevators. There were two guards, one manning the actual controls, and one checking papers of any who wanted to use the elevators.

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"Papers?" the guard asked, barely even looking at them as he held out his hand. Once Asher had shown him their three sets of papers, the guard nodded and took another ten shards from each of them as a fee to use the elevator. Asher was beginning to get a little annoyed at how much Dormaul nickel and dimed its visitors, but he wasn't exactly hurting for shards, and it was either pay up or head over to the nearest staircase and start climbing up what looked like at least ten stories to the next level.

Brian was still shaky on his feet, and Asher was technically rich, so it was an easy choice.

The three of them climbed into the elevator, which was little more than crisscrossing metal beams connected to a solid floor for them to stand on. As the guard pulled a gate closed, Samantha gave the entire contraption a nervous look.

"Is this thing actually sa-"

All three of them screamed as the elevator jerked upwards far faster than it had any right moving. The series of chains connecting them to the third and fourth levels of the city whipped by, literally whizzing as they were yanked up to the next level of the city. They had all of two seconds to take in the fourth level in its entirety, seen from above, before they reached the top and suddenly found themselves jerked to a stop once more.

"Welcome to the third level," a tired guard droned, motioning for them to get out of the elevator and make way for one of the groups waiting to head down.

Bewildered by the less-than-magical method of transportation, Asher helped both Samantha and Brian off the elevator, taking them to the side to sit down for a moment. He'd had plenty of experience riding roller coasters and the like growing up, but he doubted either of them had ever experienced such sudden g-forces like that before.

"I think I'm gonna be sick..." Brian groaned, now clutching both his chest and his stomach. The poor kid was having one hell of a day.

And frankly, based on her pale face, Samantha wasn't faring much better after that elevator ride.

"Why don't you guys wait here for a few minutes while I find us some lodging?" he offered, getting two shaky nods in return. Samantha conjured up some water with her skill, drinking directly from her hand and returning a bit of color to her face as her Soothing Spring went into effect. Leaving them to it, Asher began hunting around for a place to stay.

As he'd expected, the third level of Dormaul was a massive improvement over the fourth.

From what he could tell, the third level was the actual beating heart of the mountain city. Rather than roving groups of tourists or shady merchants hawking their wares, the third level seemed to primarily be home to actual citizens of the city. The taverns and inns were fewer in number but far nicer, the rows of shops carefully maintained and freshly painted, and there were even frequent guard patrols to ensure everything remained calm and orderly. This level also had those enchanted boards for people to zip around on, but it was far more regulated and controlled. There were marked paths for people to ride within, almost like bike paths back on Earth.

It didn't take long for Asher to find a nearby tavern for them to stay, and in only a few short minutes, he returned to Samantha and Brian with good news.

"We'll be staying at the Gleaming Gem for at least a couple of days," he said, happy to see they were both looking much better than when he'd left. "It's run by a sweet older woman who was more than happy to put us up. Not only that, but her late husband was a miner in the city for over thirty years, and she said she'd love to teach Brian all his tips and tricks if he was interested."

"Really?" Brian asked, his pained face finally looking a bit more excited. "Thanks, Asher!"

"Seriously, thank you." Samantha smiled, giving him a quick kiss and taking both their hands. "Lead the way!"

The tavern wasn't far, and while Gertrude fussed over Brian's thin frame and tried to drown the boy in something that looked like a thick gumbo, Asher took Samantha to their room and went over the plan one more time.

"According to the High Prince's letter, Leighann should be resurrected sometime tomorrow," Asher said, pacing around the room. "It's lunchtime now, so I only have a few hours to figure out a way up into the first level and find out where Leighann's finger is being stored and destroy it. The only other option is to take out the Healer doing the resurrecting, but I'm not about to kill anyone who doesn't deserve it."

"The resurrection might not be until tomorrow evening, so you may have more time than you think," Samantha pointed out, watching him pace around the large room. Asher had rented a rather large room after having been cooped up within the tiny caravan wagon for the past few days, which also gave him ample pacing space. "Obviously, it would be best if you got it done today, but don't take any unnecessary risks. These are nobles, Asher."

"I know. Before I even make the attempt, I might swing by the second level and see about picking up some new artifacts to replace the ones I lost," he admitted. He still didn't really know how much a standard artifact even cost, but hopefully he had enough shards for at least one or two. He'd have to get those shards back for his upcoming skill evolutions, of course, but one problem at a time.

"Brian and I will probably spend the rest of today resting up here, or maybe hitting the less shady markets of the third level," she said, smiling sheepishly at him. "Maybe I can find some stuff actually worth buying."

"Try and find a shop that sells arrows you like," he reminded her. "I still think stocking up while we're here is a good idea."

"Sounds good." She nodded. "Tomorrow, I'll take Brian down into the mines and let him try digging around to his heart's content. That puts about as much distance between us and the first level as physically possible while you're doing whatever you're planning to do, and who knows, maybe he'll actually find something!"

"Probably for the best," he agreed. "I'm not planning on doing anything flashy, but you never know how these things will turn out…"

Getting to her feet, Samantha pulled him into one of her famous tight hugs and kissed him. The two of them stood there for a few seconds, lost in the other's embrace as all the troubles of the world simply fell to the wayside for a moment. Asher let himself stop worrying about his secrets being revealed by Leighann and The Council of Death potentially hunting him down, and simply enjoyed the feeling of Samantha pressed against him and her hungry lips against his own.

Far too soon, she pulled back, pressing her forehead against his own as she looked up at him. "Promise me you'll be careful, alright?"

"Of course!" He smiled, kissing her one more time before pulling her head close to his chest and breathing in her familiar scent. Even now, deep within the heart of the mountain city, she smelled like the forest she loved so much.

"I'll be back before you know it."

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