As it happened, the very first node they found after leaving the quadrant with the toad boss was close enough to a Labyrinth shop to display it on their map. Jade grunted in satisfaction as she engaged the crystaline sphere, this one set in a forested valley in what the system called the 'Enduring Woodland' quadrant.

  "Finally, a bit of luck." She said, showing everyone else the updated interface.

  "It's pretty much on the way inward, too." Fenrin said, shifting his pack on his shoulders. He surveyed the light forest ahead of them, glancing up at the setting sun. "We can make it before nightfall."

  Naomi and Luis expressed their agreement, while Tara remained silent. Jade found that unusual, as she had quickly learned that the tek'kalla mage was not one to withhold her opinions. They let Fenrin lead the way, leveraging his skill in woodcraft to speed their journey through the forested environment. As they hiked up an incline steep enough to almost be considered climbing, Siora fell in beside Jade.

  "So…" The elf began, impressing Jade by not being the slightest bit out of breath despite the challenging path. "I've searching everywhere I can, these past few days, but I haven't found anything."

  "Anything?" Jade asked, a little confused. She used a tree root to haul herself to an area with a gentler slope, extending a hand to help her friend. "I've seen you picking all sorts of plants for your alchemy."

  "Those are just for healing potions and some experiments." The elf shook her head, accepting Jade's help and joining her. Together, they began hiking out of the valley, following Fenrin and Mimi. "I meant for your brother, and his illness."

  "Oh…" Jade's heart sank. Despite the conflicts of the past few days, and the potential urgency of their current mission, her mind kept shifting back to Alan. Her brother was alone in their house, while she was out here seeing the wonders of the Universe. Rationally, Jade knew that he was in a much safer position than she. One battle that turned bad could be the end of her, and she didn't wish that upon him. But she knew that he would want to experience this too. To discover the world of magic that existed beyond their world.

  Realizing that she'd let the silence grow to an awkward length, Jade coughed and continued her thought.

  "…Is there anywhere else you can look?"

  "The markets in Illysport, up on the third floor, will definitely have the ingredients I'd need to make a curative elixir." Siora nodded. "But… they'll probably be expensive."

  "I'll pay whatever the price is." Jade said immediately. "Just tell me what to get."

  "Okay. And… I was thinking…" Siora wound a strand of hair around her finger, a nervous habit that she'd been doing more and more lately.

  "Yes?" Jade prompted, when she didn't continue.

  "When we get to the third floor, I was thinking I'd head to Illysport right away." She said, eyes downcast. "I'm not a warrior. If you're going up against demons, I'd only hold the team back."

  Jade opened her mouth to disagree, to insist that the elf should stay with them, and that her assistance was vital. For once, she paused to consider what she was about to say. Siora's tranquil presence was a stabilizing element that Jade had grown used to, and her supply of potions were the only reason they'd been able to push so hard so quickly the past few days. But it was true that she wasn't keeping up in the fights, and it wouldn't be fair to ask her to follow them into even greater danger.

  "That's a good idea." she said, touching the elf's arm. Siora looked up, a relieved expression on her face. "Think you could look for some of what my brother needs while we're dealing with this? If it goes well, we could be coming back with some valuable loot. Maybe it'll be enough to buy what we need."

  "I will!" Siora nodded her head enthusiastically. "You can count on me."

  "Thanks, Siora." Jade said with a sigh, relaxing slightly. "And thanks for doing this for me."

  "You helped me, and my home." The elf gave her a radiant smile. "And you're even taking me up to the third floor to get my node access back! Anything you and your friends need that I can help with, I will."

  They found the shop without incident, arriving just before nightfall. The cluttered shelves and worn interior of the Labyrinth Store were just as Jade remembered, as was the scaly, blue kobold that trundled out of a back room to greet them.

  "Skraag!" Luis said, grinning at the reptilian shopkeeper. "It's been a while! How's business."

  "Booming." The kobold grunted, waving a cloud of smoke that had followed him into the room out of his face.

  "I bet." Tara said, giving Skraag an appraising once-over. "A new integration must mean lots of business."

  "Not that." Skraag said, holding up a hand- well, claw. On closer inspection, Jade saw it was merely part of a claw. "Still working on my explosives experiments."

  "Oh…" Tara said, staring dumbly at the blackened stump of two missing claws at the end of his hand. The rest of them were doing the same, and an awkward silence filled the room.

  "I'm… sorry." Naomi said gingerly.

  "Wha- for?" The kobold asked, cocking his head at her. "Dey work great."

  "I… I can see that." Jade nodded her head, exchanging a concerned look with Naomi.

  "Das right. Do ya want some?"

  A part of Jade really was interested… but she could feel Naomi's glare boring a hole in the side of her skull. She dutifully shook her head.

  "No… we're… we're okay on explosives for now." She assured him, thinking of the crate of plastic explosives she'd loaded into her bag during their stop on Earth. Probably best to stick with something reliable.

  "Suit yerself." Skraag shrugged, pulling himself up onto the stool behind the counter, the large tools hanging from his loose belt swinging wildly as he did. "What are ya lookin' for?"

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  Jade took some time to explore the updated inventory of the store, which had some new contents. Thanks to Siora's efforts they had no shortage of potions, so they focused on upgrade runes and new gear. There were some interesting looking new pieces of armor, but none that were anywhere near their price range. Most of the new options wouldn't have been a good fit for Jade anyway, who needed to maintain what she was starting to think of as an anime level of skin-to-coverage ratio to best utilize her racial features.

  The collection of upgrade runes was more promising. While not as extensive as Ashar's, nor as affordable, the loot they'd acquired from the recent boss was enough to allow each of them to purchase at least one. Of the runes that could be applied to weapons, most were simple damage boosts. If the enhancement were replaceable, Jade would have been tempted to go with the cheapest option and return to the question when they had more funds. Unfortunately, the system interface explained that upgrade applications were permanent. Her dagger, Phantom, had three upgrade slots and, once they were filled, they stayed that way.

  With that in mind, she gave the options a good deal of thought. There were three promising candidates that suited her weapon: A rune that increased thrown-weapon accuracy, one that added frost damage with the potential to slow enemies, and a fire-based damage upgrade. The fire enhancement added the most damage but had no secondary effect. Jade discarded that idea first, reminding herself of Serrethis's lessons. Her role on the team was to be a disrupter, sometimes even a finisher, but not as a primary source of damage. With that in mind, she chose the frost damage rune. The damage increase was mild, but the slow effect would stack with the 'C' rank version of the 'Vital Strike' talent. Between stacking slows and her rune traps, she was starting to build up an arsenal of movement impairing effects.

  When they were finished handing over the distressingly large pile of crescent coins to Skraag, Jade took stock of their purchases. Fenrin had also opted for a damage upgrade, adding a lightning rune to his elemental bow that would enhance his special attacks. Luis's upgradable item, the one he'd gotten from conquering the stronghold, was his shield, and he'd chosen a simple but effective bonus to defensive strength. Naomi's purchase was the most expensive of them all, a rune that reduced spell mana cost, but the entire party agreed that no expense was too great when it came to supporting the healer.

  "I could get used to this." Naomi said with a grin, sliding a giant pile of coins to the kobold and retrieving the upgrade rune from the counter. It took the form of a circular stone engraved with a golden, shimmering pair of crossed lightning bolts.

  "Please don't." Jade groaned, digging through her dimensional pouch and pulling out a small purse. She opened it, revealing it to be mostly empty. "This is all we have left."

  "You didn't have to get something for me." Tara said, glancing away. Jade thought the tek'kalla looked embarassed, although she reminded herself that body language cues weren't reliable across species. But still… was that a blush? It was hard to tell on her lavender complexion, but it certainly seemed like one.

  How did so many different species end up so… similar? Jade mused. It was a recurring thought that she couldn't shake from her mind.

  "Of course we did!" Luis announced, slinging his newly enhanced shield over his back. "You're part of the team now."

  "Anything that helps you, helps us." Naomi added.

  Tara didn't have an upgradeable item, she hadn't been present at the stronghold battle, but the team had pitched in to purchase an enchanted ring for her. The simple item reduced the mana cost of elemental spells. It wasn't quite as potent as the all-encompassing spell cost reduction upgrade Naomi had acquired but, given Tara's role as a blaster, it was still a considerable improvement.

  "I only just joined up." The tek'kalla protested, although Jade noticed that she hadn't hesitated in slipping the ring onto her finger.

  "We're chasing down demons together." Jade reminded her, gathering up her gear. Phantom's blade, newly improved, now shimmered with a sheen of white-blue frost. "We'll need all the help we can get."

  "You're not filling me with confidence, Jade." Naomi muttered.

  "Hey, Skraag." Fenrin called over to the kobold. Apparently, he was the same shopkeeper that manned the store near Fenrin's village of Rimestead. Jade didn't understand how that could work, but she'd long since given up trying to make sense of the Labyrinth's absurdities. "Have anything that works well on demons?"

  "Huh." Luis said thoughtfully. "Maybe we should have asked that before we spent all of our money."

  "Demons, haa…" Skraag said, his stubby tail whipping back and forth behind him. "Some o' my bigger bomba bombs would work well against demon hide. Wanna to try one out?"

  Before any of them could reply, the kobold hopped off his short stool and reached under the counter. A moment later he presented a large, bulbous metal sphere about the size of a grapefruit, complete with a long wick that Jade could only assume was a fuse. Skraag fumbled the device, dropping it onto the counter with an alarming 'thump'. Jade darted forward, narrowly catching the explosive before it rolled off the table and smashed against the floor.

  "Woah!" She said, gently setting the 'bomba bomb' back on the counter. Grateful that it hadn't given her fingers to match Skraag's, and silently admonishing herself for leaping towards a potentially unstable explosive, she took advantage of the fact she was already holding it to examine the item. As usual, the voice of the Labyrinth read aloud the description, although in a more amused tone than usual.

  -Bomba bomb!

  -This device is the latest innovation in improvised explosives! After lighting the fuse, you have five seconds until the fireworks start. Erupts in a burst of fire and shrapnel in a highly variable radius with inconsistent intensity. To catch enemies off-guard, and for added user excitement, the 'bomba bomb!' detonates a second time, five seconds after the first explosion. Premature detonation chance: Moderate.

  Her eyes lingering on the words 'premature detonation', Jade took several steps away and closed the window. She gave the kobold shopkeeper her best smile.

  "Maybe next time, once it's gone through a few… more iterations."

  Although…

  But no. Naomi would never be okay with her carrying one of these around.

  "I only hab so many fingers." The kobold grumbled, to Jade's mild horror. He shooed them off, telling them to get on with their day if they weren't going to buy anything else. Siora purchased a few last-second alchemy supplies and, a few minutes later, they were back in the night time forest of the Labyrinth depths.

  "Forget something?" Luis asked as Jade rejoined the group, having lingered a moment in the store.

  "Yeah." She hefted her pack. "But we're all good now."

  "Is everything in the Labyrinth so…" Naomi started, giving Fenrin and Tara a strained look.

  "Bizarre?" Fenrin asked, starting to set up camp. "You don't know the half of it."

  "Didn't you grow up here?" Luis asked, dropping his pack. "Thought you'd be used to it."

  "It may be normal to me, but you never get used to it."

  "Oh, good." Naomi smiled wanly. "It's not just me."

  The group continued chatting as they prepared their camp for the night, joking and laughing together. There was an air of tension, as there always was. The Labyrinth was a dangerous place. But it was also one filled with wonder. As Jade discovered more of it, she was finally beginning to understand Siora's perspective, and the perspectives of everyone who lived within this strange world. Maybe once they fixed the current crisis, she'd be able to enjoy more of it.

  Maybe.

  It took three days of travel to reach the stairway to the third floor. The forested quadrants quickly melded into open plains, followed by two uncomfortable days of hiking through rugged, dusty badlands. They encountered various groups of monsters, none of which posed a serious threat to their battle-hardened group. Tara continued to integrate herself into the group's tactics, and they adjusted a few more of their set moves to incorporate her wide area spells. Everything was progressing well and, when Jade finally caught sight of the pillar of radiant light that marked the stairway portal, she was surprised to find herself feeling optimistic.

  In just a short hike they'd be on to the third floor. With Malice's notes, they knew the rough location of the Labyrinth node they were manipulating and were hot on their trail. They'd find out what was really going on and, hopefully, destroy the node in the process, bringing Earth one step closer to being safe. Things were finally starting to come together.

  Looking back on those thoughts later, Jade kicked herself for so blatantly tempting fate.