I sat at the dining table in our home, surrounded by concerned faces. Roq and Arclight were safely stored to give us both some peace of mind.

  We’d just finished sneaking back into Dawnwatch. It hadn’t been too hard, considering the town had prioritised defending from Riftside attacks, not those from within Noros. Roq and Arclight had helped us avoid detection, even though they spent way too much time bickering.

  Knut, Nabeeh, Pa, and Ma all stared at Eryn and me.

  “Where have you been?" Ma asked. "We've been worried sick."

  "I'm a grown man, Ma. I've moved out, I kill monsters for a living,” I said, trying to make light of the situation. “You shouldn’t worry about me being out late with my girlfriend after dark. It’s not like we have a bedtime, right?”

  Ma's face darkened, and she scowled at me.

  "This isn't about bedtime or you being some fancy monster hunter, Ash Aldrich, and you know it. This is about you saying you were going for a walk to test a new experimental soul weapon—" she said and gestured at Eryn, “—only to stay out all day and evening before returning. And now you’re not even telling us how it went."

  I shifted uncomfortably in my chair.

  “I’m getting to it, Ma. We called you here to tell you how it went.”

  Pa crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing on me angrily.

  "Don't talk back to your mother," he said, raising his voice just enough to send the point across.

  I threw up my hands in exasperation.

  "If you'd just give me a second to actually speak, I’d I'll tell you what happened!"

  I exchanged a glance with Eryn. On our way back, we'd discussed whether we should tell the truth about the assassination attempt. If we hid what happened from them as well, it would be much easier to maintain the lie, which might put Serona and Benedict on their back foot. But keeping them in the dark could just as easily put them in extra danger. We hadn't landed on a clear answer, but that’s only because there wasn’t one.

  Nabeeh looked between us.

  “You’re not seriously going to start keeping secrets again, are you? You just told me I'm in on everything."

  Knut suddenly chuckled and smiled.

  "Maybe they were outside playing hide the sausage!”

  "Knut!" Eryn, Nabeeh, and Ma all shouted simultaneously, and I groaned.

  "Get your mind out of the gutter!" Eryn added, her cheeks flushing. “And if we were, that would be none of your business. We’re both grown adults. Right, Ash?”

  I surrendered with a sigh.

  "Yeah, totally. Alright, just…don’t freak out, okay?”

  "Not a chance," Ma said, crossing her arms.

  It took us a while to explain, but once we did, they all got even more annoyed.

  “…so after burying his body six-feet-under and very far out, we circled around, waited for the cover of darkness, and then headed into town. Arclight and Roq helped us,” I said, finishing our retelling of what had happened in detail.

  Eryn swiped the archer’s bow out on the table. We’d decided to take it after all, to have as a backup for Eryn, just in case, and also as a potential piece in case it became useful.

  Pa’s jaw clenched so hard I worried for his teeth, while Ma stood in the kitchen, stirring a stew she’d been halfway through making when we’d gotten back. She’d restarted it halfway through our story, likely needing to feel like she was doing something, anything, even though she knew we’d made it home safely.

  Knut sat with his arms crossed, face stone-like as usual, while Nabeeh played nervously with her bracelet.

  “Eryn did good," Knut said, breaking the silence after a long moment.

  "Knut's not wrong," Nabeeh said. “At least now it’s four against four if they decide to come at us for real.”

  “You really think the Guild would do nothing if you report this?” Pa asked. “It’s attempted murder!”

  "It's not about the Guild doing nothing," I said. "It's about whether the Guild will do what we want them to. Would they really help us against House Domitius? If Serona is truly clever, and we should assume she is, she’d have plans for either outcome. We are still too weak compared to a noble house to be considered worth it going to war over.”

  "Why send only one person to kill two, though?” Ma asked from the kitchen.

  Knut grunted.

  “Easy answer. They are five. One person sneak out to kill. If succeed, four to give cover."

  “And who would think a level ten fighter and a scavenger could survive against a level twenty-plus archer?" Nabeeh added. "Someone clearly comfortable with killing. From Serona’s view, this is a very unrealistic outcome. In any normal situation, you two would be very dead now.”

  “True,” Eryn said quietly. "If not for our soul weapons, we would be goners.”

  “By reporting it, we’d probably have to explain how the two of us managed to survive,” I said, my expression darkening. “That might lead House Domitius to escalate at once. This way buys us time. Maybe not much, but some.”

  “And what do we do with that time?" Nabeeh asked, looking around the table.

  “We pay down the loan as fast as possible, pretending nothing happened. Get house Domitius out of our backyard,” I said, my hand curling into a fist. “And then, we take our time to strike back when it best suits us.”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "And the backup plan?" Pa asked. "If your forging iron breaks, what will you do?"

  “We kill them,” I said, and Eryn groaned.

  I knew it wasn’t what she wanted to hear, even after taking someone’s life herself, but it was the truth. None of us wanted to commit murder, but if it was either them or us, I’d always choose us.

  “And we keep killing them until they stop coming and we are safe,” I said.

  "Are we strong enough?" Nabeeh asked.

  I smiled for the first time since sitting down.

  "You should've seen Arclight. Don't let Roq know I said so, but she’s pretty amazing."

  “And she reached level five,” Eryn said.

  “Wow!” Nabeeh said. “Congratulations!”

  Eryn winced. Even though there was no choice but to kill the archer, I understood how it went against what she wanted, aiming to be a healer of people. Someone who saved lives and gave people another chance, not being the one who took it all away from them.

  Knut leaned across the table and put a hand on her arm.

  “Is good,” he said solemnly. “One bad human gone, and he give you more power to care for good humans.” He grinned at that. “Save people like me!”

  She chuckled.

  “Yeah, I know, it’s just…”

  “Painful in soul,” Knut said, nodding. “Fades with time. And when you feel bad, look at Ash. Your pain is price of his life. Worth it, no?”

  She nodded.

  “Did Arclight get a new skill?” Pa asked.

  Arclight had let me inspect her while we were waiting outside Dawnwatch, as long as Eryn kept a hand on her at the same time, and I thought back to the skill, then relayed it to the rest.

  NAME: Prism shot

  TYPE: Active

  DESCRIPTION: The skill splits the projectile and strikes up to three targets within fifteen feet of the original target. Split shots will deal reduced damage, but may still apply negative status effects carried by the primary arrow.

  “I like,” Knut said. “Useful and powerful. Will save much healing.”

  “Thanks,” Eryn said and smiled. “I have to admit I’m quite excited for our next hunt Riftside, and seeing how much help I can be.”

  “About that,” Nabeeh said.

  “Ah, true,” Knut said. “We also have news.”

  Eryn and I exchanged a confused glance.

  "What news?" she asked.

  "We don't know," Knut said.

  “What? Are you joking?" Eryn asked.

  Knut shook his head.

  "No."

  I sighed.

  "How can there be news if you don't know what it is?"

  Knut got up and walked to the mantle. He picked up a letter and shook it at us.

  “Because letter is still closed.”

  "How do you know it's news then?” Eryn asked.

  Knut threw up his hands.

  "Karl deliver letter. Say it from Adventuring Guild. Must give to Ash. Important news. Man, you two dense sometime. Like when just start dating."

  "Oh," I said. Sometimes he was still a bit hard to understand, but yeah, we could be pretty dense, too. I took the letter and broke the seal.

  “Monster balls.”

  “Good news?” Pa joked.

  "It's a summons from the Adventuring Guild," I said after reading through it. "They want me to present myself tomorrow. With full gear. For an inspection."

  “Inspection?” Knut said.

  “Either of you ever had an inspection before?" Eryn asked, frowning at the two adventurers.

  Nabeeh shook her head.

  "Never in Guild," Knut said. “We have freedom to fight and hunt. Is why I like adventuring. Adventurers working at central Guild, directly under officials, must live with more discipline. Similar to army." He chuckled. “In army I have many inspections. Many many.”

  "Was it ever anything good?" I asked.

  Knut laughed, a deep rumbling sound.

  "No. Inspection never good. Inspection always trouble. Like thunder in a snowy mountain with clear sky.”

  “Great. An avalanche of bad news then,” I said.

  “Do you have to go?” Ma asked, coming in from the kitchen with loaded bowls, putting the first two in front of Eryn and me.

  “Thanks,” I said, before shrugging. “And I don’t have much of a choice. We need to know what they want and I’m sure they could make it hard to operate here, so yeah.”

  "What if they force you to share your stats?” Pa asked. “Or show them Roq?"

  "I've been thinking about that," I said, "And I do have an idea that might help. It’d require some help from you though, Pa.”

  “Anything for you, son.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  * * *

  After spending a night in the smithy with Pa, getting not a wink of sleep, but surviving on account of eating two mind gems, taking me all the way to six of fourteen mind gems towards level fourteen, I walked to the Adventuring Guild, fully armed.

  Madeleine waved happily from her desk as I entered.

  "Ash! Good morning!"

  I smiled and waved back, though my eyes were drawn to the Board of Heroes behind her and the new leaves that had been added after the latest attack.

  More names. More lives lost.

  "Ash?" a familiar voice called. Lydia, Richard's healer, sat on a sofa by the wall. She yawned and stretched. "What are you doing here all geared up? Did you even sleep last night?”

  "I'm here to speak with the Guild officials," I explained. "I've been asked to come for an inspection.”

  Lydia frowned, turning to look toward Harold's office.

  “Inspection? What exactly is that."

  “Riftrot if I know," I said. "How did your watch of the smithy go? Pa and I barely heard you.”

  “Easiest money I’ve ever earned," she said, fighting another yawn, "Uneventful, blessedly. I doubt anyone would be foolish enough to make a run at the smithy with the two of us there.”

  “That’s what I hope,” I said.

  “Anyway, I'm about to head to bed,” Lydia said. “Just wanted to see and chat with someone other than Richard for a while. That man has no interests outside his sword." She rolled her eyes. "And there are only so many sword jokes and sword facts a woman can take before they prefer the sound of adventurers quarreling over contracts. Though with the Guild officials in, it's rather quiet here, too."

  Harold poked his head out from his office and waved me over.

  "Ash! Come in. We’ve been waiting for you."

  I waved back.

  “You know if Edwin is here today?” I asked Lydia, keeping my voice low.

  “Nope. Haven’t seen him about,” she said, shaking her head.

  I nodded to her and walked to Harold's office, my stomach knotting with tension. As I approached, Harold gave me a quick once-over.

  “You know what this is about?” I whispered, my voice masked by the chatting going on inside.

  “No idea. They’ve asked questions about you," he murmured back. "About your progress, your breakthrough, your stats and gear. I’ve told them what I know, which isn't much."

  Great.

  "Thanks for the warning," I said quietly, and Harold smiled, opening the door wider.

  Inside and behind Harold’s desk, sat the three people I’d seen at the Timberline.

  Harold followed me in.

  “Ash, these are representatives from the Adventurer’s Guild main office. They’ve come to lend their knowledge and abilities to us here in Dawnwatch. I’m happy to introduce Tarn Vos, Mara Fen, and Corwin Rone,” Harold said, pointing to them one by one.

  Tarn Vos, the tall, thin man sitting in Harold’s chair sighed. “Let’s not pretty it up, Harold. We’re here because we’ve gotten… reports about the local guild. None of us want to interfere nor insert ourselves in your local affairs.”

  What in the three bells do you call this then?

  Tarn adjusted his monocle as he sized me up. His dark skin contrasted sharply with the silver streaks in his short beard, and his posture was so precise it reminded me of poured steel. His eyes did a slow pass from my boots to my shoulders.

  “Looks to be of good quality,” Tarn said. “Mara?”

  The broad-shouldered, head half-shaved, woman on his left might’ve been moulded from pure muscle. She leaned her hands and chin on a two-handed axe with black fur wrapped around its hilt. Mara ignored him, not saying a word, nor smiling. She just stared at me, blank as a drawn blade.

  “The armor and shield’s reinforcement work looks well tuned for monster combat,” Corwan said. He spilled out across the sides of the chair, and looked like a toad dressed for court. His smile was far too wide and despite missing none, his teeth seemed too few. All in all, the three were deeply unsettling.

  Tarn sighed and looked at me again, pointedly.

  “What I do not see is a weapon. I was led to believe you fought with a hammer?”

  I nodded.

  “That’s right.”

  “What kind of hammer?”

  “A blacksmith’s hammer,” I said casually.

  That earned me a brief pause and Mara’s head tilted slightly.

  “And may we see it?” Tarn asked. “This… blacksmith’s hammer you’ve been using so effectively to fight monsters?”

  I tilted my head just a little.

  “Would you like to see the legendary hammer I forged myself?”

  The woman grunted — maybe it was a laugh, or maybe even a cough, but it was hard to tell.

  The thin man sighed through his nose.

  “Yes. Obviously.”

  “Alright then,” I said, smiling, and reaching for my spatial storage. “Here it is.”