Nar came slowly to a blurry chaos of darting figures and moans of pain.

  “Jul?” he rasped. “Jul!”

  “Nar!” someone shouted nearby, and small, warm hands wrapped around his left hand. From his other arm, agony lanced up his shoulder and into his core, yanking him fully into wakefulness, and he gripped on tightly to the hands holding his.

  “Cen?” Nar asked, turning his face.

  His sight was blurry, and every time he blinked, he could still see lightning streaks carved behind his eyelids, and dark skies filled with roiling clouds and ravenous beasts.

  “Yeah… It’s me,” the caster said, a hand rising to stroke the side of his head, her bright, neon yellow eyes frowned in concern. “You’re okay. Everything’s okay, alright?”

  “Jul?” he asked again.

  “They took her to the sick bay proper,” Cen told him. “She needs intensive healing but she’s going to be ok. You hear me? So rest. You’re pretty hurt yourself…”

  Nar sighed and nodded stiffly against the pain radiating up his arm and into his core.

  “And the others?” Nar asked. “You?”

  Cen managed a small smile for him.

  “Everyone’s fine,” she said, and motioned to Nar’s right side. “Rel’s asleep right there. A raimel whacked her pretty hard across the head just as you guys jumped to deal with the fish. And Mul’s snoring right here. The others have just gone for some food and to get cleaned up. And I’m… I’m alright.”

  Nar tried to look at Rel, but pain shot up his arm and he quickly gave up with a groan.

  “Don’t move!” Cen told him, between worried and scolding. “Your arm was almost destroyed, Nar! What happened?”

  He took a deep and steadying breath as the radiating pain subsided to a dull ache.

  “Not sure…” he panted. “I think I went past my [Mastery]...”

  “What? How?”

  Nar grimaced. “My sword…”

  “Your sword?” Cen asked, frowning at him. “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, eyes glazing as he tried to remember. “I needed more, and something reached into me… Into my core, and pulled…”

  “That’s… I-I don’t know, Nar,” Cen whispered. “Can-Can weapons do that?”

  I think mine can… he thought. I remember… Hunger. So much hunger… Again.

  Just like at the den, his sword had… What? Acted on its own to reach through his pathways and shatter the shackle that his [Mastery] held over his massive aura?

  But… How? He wondered. There was no doubt in him that the sword had broken through his [Mastery], but how had it actually achieved to do so? And if he were to consider the how, then he needed to contend with the why as well… And that led to some serious questions about the nature of his sword.

  Near the end of their battle at the den, when the sword's hunger had manifested itself for the first time, tempting him to abandon Mul to go finish off the Den Boss, he had decided that it was simply the sword’s affinity amplifying his own feelings, and his own desire for gains and victory.

  But after what had just happened on the promenades, he was now forced to reconsider. One thing was to amplify his own hunger and need to grow stronger and faster, and another one entirely was to take action on its own to disable the limits imposed by a skill! And that… That sounded like utter insanity. Swords couldn’t do that, now could they?

  Crystal… I need to talk with my master.

  He had no answers to what had just happened, and his quickly rising headache was not conducive for any sort of mental effort either.

  “Nar?” Cen asked, uncertain.

  He startled out of his reverie and grimaced at her. “Don’t worry about it. It’s just something else to figure out, but not today. Today’s… Today’s been enough already.”

  She nodded at that with a weary jerk of her head, and let the matter rest. Beyond her, he caught sight of Mul sleeping with his mouth slightly ajar, and couldn’t help but smile at the sight. As far as he could see, the brawler looked remarkably injury free, given what they had just gone through, and it made him jealous all over again about his still blocked [Toughness].

  “It was rough down there, wasn’t it?” Cen asked, in a small voice. “When you guys jumped?”

  Nar made a face. “It wasn’t great…”

  Now that he was more awake, he felt sores and bruises across the rest of his body, the worst of it, besides his right arm, was across his ribs on the right side, and on his left knee, where he had almost dislocated the whole thing in between fighting a fish and avoiding a ball of lightning shooting zappers. And his neck wasn’t feeling too happy either, likely as a result from keeping the two beasts off of Jul.

  Still, not too bad for jumping in between two of those things, Nar thought, as he reached his left hand to his throbbing side.

  “Your ribs are cracked,” Cen said, her tone low in the chaos of running people and shouting.

  “Feels like it, I guess,” Nar said. “How long was I down?”

  “Not that long. Half an hour maybe,” Cen said. “And someone already gave you a bit of healing, especially to stabilize your aura leaking arm, but you’re going to need to head down to sickbay at some point… It’s just that they’re already at capacity.”

  Nar nodded curtly, then he regarded the caster before him. Her neon yellow iris were downcast, and half healed wounds dotted her bald gray scalp, hinting at further fighting up on the promenades, but even with his blurry sight, he immediately noticed the telltale darker streaks on her dark gray cheeks that told him she had been crying.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked her, gripping her hands again. They had all survived, shouldn’t she be celebrating?

  The caster pursed her lips.

  “Did something happen?” Nar asked her. “Are you hurt? Is it your head?”

  “What? Oh, no! I’m fine!” she said, shaking her head. “Just some scratches… Some bruises. It’s nothing really.”

  “Things must have been bad up on the promenades too,” Nar said, grimacing at the bleeding wounds on her scalp. “I’m sorry… I got so focused on those damned fish I forgot to go back up to check up on...”

  Cen rested gripped his hand so tightly it hurt, his bones grinding against each other. “Nar, come on! That’s nothing to be sorry about! The squad leaders ordered all the melee to jump down!”

  “Still…”

  “Still nothing!” Cen said, her tone firm. “Things on the promenades were… Messy. But it was nothing like what you guys went through down there…”

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  And Nar didn’t really have a counter to that.

  Things down on the jump safety belts had not been nice. He had lost count of how many times he, or someone else, had been surprised by a swarm of pullies, or forced to flee before the devastating stray lightning from the clusters of zappers. The raimels too, had hounded them constantly, and Nar counted himself lucky that he hadn’t been grabbed by one of them, but he had rescued plenty of apprentices from their wrapping coils, and all of them had earned a trip straight to the healers.

  Not to mention those damned fish! And all that aether…

  “It’s just… It was rough out there today,” Cen said. “It was… Eye opening.”

  “Yeah…” Nar said. “That it was.”

  A chime sounded above their heads.

  “All hands, all hands, this is your captain speaking,” the captain’s voice said, through the usual hidden speakers. “We have now fully cleared the confluence, and all remaining enemies have been terminated. The ship is safe, and damage assessment and repairs are on-going. Regardless, initial reports show all systems green. The Scimitar is an old bitch and it will take a lot more than this to bring her down.”

  “That’s a relief,” Cen breathed.

  “Unfortunately, during the confluence, we were surprised by a herd of Great Ax-Head Parnais. Those were the nasty fish that rammed into the ship,” the captain revealed. “Fortunately, we survived with what appears to be minor damage to the ship’s hull, and also very fortunately it was a small herd that surprised us.”

  “That was small?” someone muttered in disbelief, and Nar couldn’t agree more.

  “These beasts are, frankly, some of the worst things you can encounter in the early zones of the Outer Reaches, and everyone, from the storm gliders to the apprentices, performed admirably in ensuring the resupply of the aetherbanks and the ship’s survival…”

  But? Nar thought, feeling a sinking sensation in his stomach, nausea rising within him as he anticipated the captain’s next words.

  “However, and very unfortunately, despite everyone’s great work in looking after each other, we have suffered casualties,” the captain announced.

  Nar’s breath froze on his throat, and at his side, Cen gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

  “The parnais were a very nasty surprise, and the Scimitar was very badly targeted by their herd,” the captain continued, her voice hollow in the silence that had taken the makeshift sick bay in the corridors of the ship. “And as such, I regret to inform you that we have suffered four casualties. Three apprentices, and one storm glider.”

  Four? Nar thought, his mind going blank. I thought they were supposed to protect us!

  However, Lieutenant Dov had, indeed, warned them of the dangers despite the crew watching over them.

  “The storm gliders division did an admirable job in keeping the apprentices protected during the comms blackout inside the confluence, and it is thanks to their efforts, and sacrifice, that our casualties were as low as this,” the captain said. “A truly, truly fantastic job, everyone. It could've been a lot worse. The parnais are extremely efficient ship killers, and visual accounts indicate sightings of at least six ships going down from their surprise attack.”

  Nar had no trouble believing that, and his mind flickered to the crewmember that had checked in on him, ready to intervene if the other apprentice hadn’t come to his rescue.

  I hope he’s alright, he thought, with a heavy heart.

  “Despite these events, the Scimitar continues on schedule,” the captain said, eliciting a surprised frown from Nar. “We will resume our jumps once the ship’s been cleared as jump worthy, and in two weeks’ time, we will carry out the last assessment.”

  “Seriously?” Mul muttered from his cot, having been awoken by the captain’s announcements. His voice was muted, and devoid of his usual anger, but Nar couldn’t tell if that was due to the suppressor kicking back in, or just simple tiredness and shock.

  “This time, you will have plenty of time to prepare and make arrangements for your final assessment,” the captain continued over the hubbub of conversations. “You will know exactly what your assessment is, what enemies you will face, and will be taught how to prepare for it. However, I can tell you this much… For the last assessment, as most of you should have already guessed by now, you will all be delving into your first dungeon.”

  “A dungeon!” Cen gasped.

  “My Crystal…” Rel whispered, also awake. “Of course. It had to be!”

  A dungeon delve, Nar thought, stunned. Already?

  “Yes, you will all delve into a dungeon, and emerge as true delvers,” the captain said. “For tomorrow, though, you will rest, apprentices. And the funeral for the fallen will be carried out tomorrow night.”

  “A funeral…” Cen whispered.

  “Mark my words, apprentices, this will not be your last funeral,” the captain said, her tone heavy and low. “Death stalks the delvers. Whether it be in a dungeon, in a storm, or in an accident, it matters not. Death is always ready… Waiting to claim those who so blatantly defy it.”

  Nar clenched his jaw, relishing in the pain he felt from his arm and neck. Pain was a reminder, a privilege, of those who lived to see another day, and at that exact moment, there were people mourning the losses they had just suffered, and his heart swelled with the blessed privilege of knowing that they had all made it through once more.

  But is that always going to be the case? He wondered.

  “Remember today, apprentices, when the time comes to make the choice,” the captain said. “The Labyrinth, or the Nexus, Tsurmirel will support you either way. Captain, out.”

  *********

  Nar lay awake in his bed that night, listening to the droning, low conversation of the others through the door. Row’s party had shown up at some point after dinner, and looking beaten and defeated, they were a sorry looking bunch, bandaged up, scratched and bruised.

  “Row got hit hard,” Jaz had informed them. “She’ll be down for a while.”

  “You’re welcome to come around,” Kur had said, squeezing his shoulder. “And stay for as long as you want. Anytime.”

  And with slow, gentle prodding, they had gotten the story out of them. Row had a nasty encounter with an unusually strong raimel, and the green beast had her wrapped in a death chokehold before any of them had even noticed it had snuck down on them. Luckily, Lim’s quick reaction had prevented the beast from flying off with Row, and what followed was a desperate brawl to set her free, resulting in broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken arm and leg, and one of the storm gliders having to step in to rescue Row and carry her straight to sick bay, where she now underwent intensive healing alongside Jul.

  Tun had remained quiet for the whole retelling, and at some point, Gad had stepped out of the room with him, to take him for a walk.

  Speaking of injuries, Jul had been in much worse shape than Nar had first feared.

  Cracked ribs, a broken leg, a severe concussion, and her left arm had barely been hanging onto her by the time she had been rescued. The healer’s description had been enough to make Kur sick, and he had refused to pass the details on to the party. Jul would be alright however, though Nar would never forget the sight of her small body trapped and crushed in between those two massive beasts…

  Nown, he clenched his good fist, staring hard at the darkness above his head.

  His ravaged right arm had been patched up as good as it needed to be, and just enough to last until the next day. The parnais’ surprise attack had wreaked havoc amongst the apprentices, and even with the higher leveled and veteran storm gliders watching over them, things had turned grim. With hundreds of thousands of beasts assailing the Scimitar and nearly a thousand apprentices to watch over without any comms, it was a testament to their strength and experience that their casualties had remained so low. But the number of critically wounded had been much, much higher than anticipated, and the healers had been forced to triage and prioritize.

  Nar’s arm had been bad, but not dying bad, and his pathway, albeit damaged, should return to normal on its own. As for his actual, physical arm, it had been shredded by the influx of aura leaking from his pathway, but it was mostly put together for the night.

  In the morning, he would receive a time slot to go and get the rest of it healed, but for now, he had to put up with having his arm bandaged in some kind of soft, but compressing material, and using a sling. It was barely an inconvenience, especially considering there were people fighting for their lives at that exact moment, even with the healer’s powers… Which was a sobering fact.

  Not everything could be put back together so easily or quickly. Some things, like Jul’s nearly severed arm, had to be fixed slowly and carefully, to ensure a proper and full recovery, and required constant monitoring and stabilizing healing and aura in order for a full recovery to be achieved.

  Nar sighed and closed his eyes. He had retired early, saying that he was tired, and at some point, Lim had walked in, and taken one of the beds in their unused, spare bunk bed. Nar wasn’t sure if he had heard sniffling at some point, and he hadn’t reached for his [Hearing] to confirm it either. From the archer’s face, he knew how shocked Lim had been by Row’s injuries and near death, and Nar wondered if he blamed himself, despite probably having saved her life with his quick reactions and alert to the others. Or at least spared the party leader even worse injuries…

  However, Nar had felt too drained, sore, and unsure of his own feelings to be able to offer the guy any sort of comfort. Besides, sometimes people just needed to cry, and that was okay.

  And so, he had let Lim be, and soon enough, the archer had passed out into what Nar hoped was a deep and dreamless sleep. As for himself, every time he closed his eyes he saw lightning, beasts, and Jul’s battered body, and it filled him with such rage… And fear.

  What would’ve happened if he didn’t happen to spot her go under? Probably nothing. One of the crew would’ve definitely saved her. However… Just the thought of it… The possibility that maybe no one would’ve noticed it…

  He closed his eyes.

  Death stalks the delvers, the captain had said. And that day, it had claimed four of them, and it could’ve been worse…

  He could only hope that despite the discrimination he and his dad would likely face in the O-Nex as ex-Climbers, that their lives there would prove to be good enough. Happy. Free.

  As there was no way in a million years that he was going to bring his dad into the Labyrinth… Not after the den. Not after the confluence. And most likely, not after the dungeon he would soon delve into.

  It was no wonder that only about 7% of the Nexus decided to go for a combat class, and disregarding the nobles and their duty, Nar had to wonder at the mental state of those that did, or at the life that had pushed them into such a choice, for the Endless Labyrinth was not a place for life, and he found himself wishing the others hadn’t been forced to come with him into it.