Phoenix looked up from the book she was reading on Conversion Cultivations just as Dazien reentered the Royal Library of Night with Uriel trailing behind him. It had been a week since she had feared Uriel might try to end his life, but he seemed to be doing a bit better now after learning about the new gloves they had ordered.

  Dazien had been doing a fair job of keeping all of their minds preoccupied with other things, and being able to sense his mood was actually a relief to her, even if that mood turned somber every now and then. Today, he and Uriel had gone to look into accessing the Labyrinth that Emrys had mentioned earlier. He didn’t look or feel enthused as he fell into the chair beside her and gave a heavy sigh.

  “Do we not qualify?” she prompted.

  “Oh, we do. Just like Emrys said we would, we definitely meet the requirements for the outer entrance—”

  “I gather there are two separate Rifts into this particular pocket reality,” she interjected, “but why do they have different requirements?”

  He chuckled at her, his fond amusement echoing through the ring. “I was getting to that. This particular Labyrinth has its Caste strength concentrated at its center point, which is high Emerald. It quickly tapers down though the further away you get from that point to the edges of that reality. The outer entrance will drop people into a mid Sapphire area, but the inner entrance is mid Emerald.”

  “What’s to stop people from just going into the outer entrance they qualify for and just walking to the middle?”

  “Well—and I know this is a completely foreign concept to you at this point—but most people don’t want to die,” Dazien teased, playfully nudging her arm as she rolled her eyes at him.

  “I just meant why put a different restriction on it at all?”

  Dazien shrugged. “An attempt at curbing foolish and arrogant Casters from biting off more than they can chew? It’s similar to how the AOA handles mission distribution and requirements. Nobody’s going to physically stop someone from pursuing a mission they’re underqualified for, but they’re not going to encourage or reward the overly risky behavior.”

  “The Hunters do,” Uriel pointed out as he sat down in a seat across the small table from them. “As long as you manage to kill it, they’ll reward you for it.”

  Phoenix glanced at Dazien to notice him frowning but not arguing, the emotions sending a pulse of sorrow and steady hesitation. “What are the Hunters?”

  “They’re a separate organization from the AOA and structured quite a bit differently,” Daze explained, crossing his arms over his chest. “They trust people to accurately measure their own skills and simply give rankings based on their proven accomplishments. They also don’t accept mission requests. They’ll have an open notice board about monster sightings and give those monsters a difficulty rating that roughly aligns with their ranking system, but they only pay based on kills and the reward is a flat amount based on the monster’s rating.”

  “So why weren’t we doing that the whole time and getting paid double for all the monsters we killed?” she asked curiously, but Uriel was the one to answer.

  “They won’t pay for monsters listed as missions with the AOA,” he explained. “The government and public donations are what fund the Hunter’s Guild. Oftentimes the government is also the one creating the missions for the AOA. They don’t want to pay twice, so it was the agreement they put in place to allow both to run within the city.”

  “Those agreements are different everywhere you go, though,” Dazien pointed out. “Here the Hunter’s Guild only pays for monsters killed within five kilometers of the city, and they don’t pay for anything killed within the Labyrinth. However, they will acknowledge those kills and increase your rank with them. It’s more about the prestige than anything else here in Serenydi.”

  “How do we even get credit for killing those if we’ve got nothing but ash after looting?”

  “They have a magic item you wear that keeps track. It’s just a little brooch you pin somewhere onto your clothing, but it’ll record everything you helped defeat. Even Saiya will get credit if she takes action and heals close enough. The range isn’t very close, so she doesn’t need to be in melee at all, but you can’t really snipe them from too far away either,” Dazien explained, and she mulled over the whole setup.

  “Should we join before we go into the Labyrinth then? It might just be fun to be able to measure our ranking that way. You sound like you’ve at least looked into it before with how much you know already.”

  Phoenix noticed immediately this time when Dazien fell silent, melancholy she recognized as grief flooding her through the ring, and his gaze seemed to go far away like it had when talking about his past the other day. Surprisingly, Uriel was the one to answer for him again. “We’ve both been members before… with Xera. She died on one of those hunts to a Frost Lurker.”

  “What?” she asked breathlessly. They hadn’t gotten that far in their conversation for her to learn why Xera hadn’t been around anymore.

  “The biggest problem with being a professional Hunter,” Dazien quietly interjected, the sorrow being cut with frustration, “is that you’re often going in blind. No mission often means no details. You wander in the wilds, or in places where people have gone missing or been found dead, and hope you’re strong enough to take on whatever it is you find and pray it doesn’t find you first.”

  “The lurker ambushed her?” she clarified, remembering how she had almost been caught by that the first time she had run into one and they ended up trading killing blows.

  Dazien nodded. “Right in front of us… Our group of Crystals managed to take it down in the end, but Xera didn’t survive that initial attack… Uriel and I stopped hunting after that and focused more on preparing for our AOA Trials.”

  He seemed to shake himself out of his melancholy and offered her a tentative smile, though she could still feel it gently simmering under the surface. “We can go get you a Hunter’s badge later today if you want, but the real reason I wasn’t too thrilled about what I discovered about the Labyrinth is their current wait times. Even if we did qualify for the more dangerous entrance, they have people scheduled to enter for the next five months.”

  Phoenix’s eyes went wide at that. “Five months?! Are they insane? Who in their right mind would wait—”

  Dazien raised a hand to calm her potential rant. “It's mainly because Serenydi will close access to the Labyrinth while a blood moon is going on. The people who are here specifically to cultivate will normally go back home during that time to take advantage of the blood moon elsewhere. Serenydi is a rather small nation and doesn’t get many monsters outside of the Labyrinth. Many crafters will also leave due to the drop in combatants in the city buying from them and knowing that their wares will be in high-demand for other nations fighting more monsters during that time. The large waitlist is likely from all of those people returning at once.”

  “I’m sure it helps the city prosper too by keeping all those Casters waiting,” Uriel pointed out. “They’re paying for rent, food, and entertainment the whole time.”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Dazien nodded. “I’m sure that’s really where Serenydi’s wealth actually comes from rather than any loot procured from the Labyrinth itself.”

  Phoenix nodded her agreement and noticed Uriel giving her an odd look, so she prompted, “Is something wrong?”

  “Not really. I was just curious if you’ve thought about making a deal with the Hunter. The goddess that is. You seem to enjoy monster hunting enough that I would think it would be a good fit for your Celestial Pantheon.”

  She raised a brow at him. “Since when do you suggest any of us seek out gods?”

  “It’s just been on my mind a lot more lately,” he muttered, looking away from both her and Daze. At their stunned silence, he hesitantly glanced back and added, “I figured maybe it was time we tried taking advantage of the benefits they offer rather than always being the ones getting taken advantage of.”

  Phoenix pondered that for a long while as they all fell silent. Her gaze fell back to the book she had been reading, going through the known instances of past Conversion Cultivations. In every single case so far, it required the intervention of a deity to forcefully change an Aspect ability. Many had offered trades, some had been given mercy, others had even been tricked into it, but all of them had needed a god to guide and shape the change for the person.

  Perhaps it was time she tried to deal with a deity on her own terms…

  Uriel was quietly following behind Dazien as they left Phoenix and Camilla in the library to keep researching. They had planned to do some training together for a bit and simply spend some time alone together in an effort to mend the bond between them.

  It caught them both by surprise, however, when a young felion pounced from the shadows of a doorway and crashed into Uriel.

  Dazien reacted instantly by conjuring his armor and weapons but the laughter escaping what must have been a teenage girl held him back from stabbing her.

  “I finally got you!” she proudly announced with a giggle. “Do you know how hard it was to get you all alone?!”

  Uriel felt momentarily dazed as he looked up from his back in confusion and into steely blue eyes surrounded by silvery fur. He had never actually spoken to a felion before and had no idea who this strange girl was. She practically sat on his chest and peered down at him.

  Dazien audibly cleared his throat and corrected her, “He’s not alone and if you hadn’t noticed, he’s wearing a white torc, so if you would please remove yourself from mauling him…”

  “Oh! Right! Sorry,” the girl replied, backing up quickly to stand a couple feet away. “I keep forgetting about those silly necklaces,” she added, shyly placing her large paws behind her back and wrapping her long tail around a leg.

  Uriel sat up and took in her appearance better. She was small, even for a felion, and was covered in black spots that stood out from her silver fur. Her ears and tail were long and fluffier than the rest of her and she vaguely reminded him of a frostprowler.

  “Um, who are you and why did you, uh… get me?” he finally managed to ask as he picked himself up.

  She seemed to bounce with excitement as she happily chirped, “I’m Dahlia! Oh! I’m just so excited to finally meet you in person! I’ve heard so many stories!”

  Uriel glanced towards Dazien in confusion and asked over their mental communication, “Is she mistaking me for someone else?”

  “I have no idea. Usually people don’t maul someone like that unless they’re positive about who it is.”

  “I think you might have the wrong person,” Uriel told her. “I’m not—”

  “I can feel it though!” she interjected, closing the small distance between him, and shocking both of them when she grabbed his left arm. “You’re my god’s Chosen! Uriel Karislian, the Annihilator of the Destroyer!”

  He felt his blood run cold at her proclamation and the realization that this teenage girl was actually a follower of the Destroyer. If she knew that moniker, though, he had to ask, “You’re with the DOD?”

  She grinned up at him. “I’ve seen all your battles. We managed to get a spy into the AOA in Tulimeir after you were captured by them and retrieved copies of everything they took. The High Priest said we couldn’t extract you at that point because of the Silencer they put you in, but look! You escaped!”

  “Oh my gods, Senesh,” Dazien’s mental voice said in awe. “She believes you were a willing member of the DOD, too.”

  Looking at the small cat-girl, he simply needed to know, “How old are you? I don’t remember you being on the island.”

  “Oh, I joined after you were captured. I’m only sixteen, but they trained me up good to get to Sapphire last month!” she announced proudly, puffing out her chest for a moment. “I don’t have as good a record as you, though. I’ve still got a hundred or so kills to go in the Rings to reach your record.”

  Uriel felt his mouth dry as he asked, “Record?”

  She snorted a laugh. “Well, yeah. Even though you were only there for like a year, you still hold the record for most kills in the Rings by a single person. They don’t usually allow people to fight more than once a week, and you were fighting multiple times a day! It was incredible!”

  That was news to him and it made his stomach churn. Even among monsters, he was a whole other level of destruction.

  “Um, I’m glad you already know how incredible Uriel is, but can I ask why you’re here exactly?” Dazien said when he took too long to respond.

  The felion flicked her gaze over at Daze for only a moment before refocusing back on Uriel and asking, “Is he your Shiny slave? I heard Priest Castoris talking about how he wanted a new one after his last one broke, but they are very rare and expensive.”

  Both of their mouths fell open in shock at the statement before morphing into anger as Uriel answered vehemently, “He’s not a slave. Don’t ever call him that again.”

  Her feline eyes went wide in surprise at their reaction before tilting her head in confusion and cautiously saying, “Sorry? A lot of the clergy talk about how the only purpose gemites and faeforged have is to be slaves for others.”

  Dahlia grinned brightly again as she added, “But you have the greatest purpose of us all, Chosen Destroyer. It only makes sense that someone as important as you has such a nice slave to serve you.”

  Uriel didn’t know how to respond. Everything that was coming out of this kid’s mouth seemed utterly nonsensical to him at first. Why would the DOD let her—and possibly other clergy—think of him as some kind of… idol? Or worse yet, let them think that he was actually on their side and not desperately trying to escape them and the trauma they inflicted upon him?

  Before he could think of an answer or even another question, Dahlia spoke again. “I’m still seeking my purpose, but a lot of the other acolytes say I should stick to the Rings. I think High Priest Puera is trying to make me choose the Cleaners, though.” She scrunched her large feline nose as she added that last part.

  Uriel thought his heart had actually stopped when he heard that name and he didn’t need to look at Daze to feel his partner’s gaze land directly on him, watching his every minute expression. They both knew that name very well.

  He tried swallowing the lump in his throat as he finally managed a question. “Puera’s still alive? Is he here in the city with you?”

  “Oh, right!” Dahlia said, gently smacking her paw against her other one to emphasize the sudden recollection. “That’s why I wanted to catch you while you were alone with your slave boy. I wanted to let you know that you can come rejoin us in the Labyrinth! We’ve all been awaiting your grand return, and I was so excited to feel your Soul Mark here in the city!”

  “The DOD is in the Labyrinth?” Dazien asked, furrowing his brow at the information.

  Dahlia nodded vigorously. “Yep! I told Puera about you and your companions—plus the slave boy here,” she said, gesturing at Dazien. “Are those other girls also part of your harem?”

  Uriel’s eyes went wide at the idea and was immediately glad those girls were not here to listen to this crazy girl’s ideas. He rubbed a hand over his suddenly very tired face and said, “No. I definitely don’t have a harem. What exactly did you tell Puera, and what did he tell you to do about it?”

  “Well, I told him about what all of you looked like and the Castes and Attunements I could sense. I also told him where your infamous ice fort was located currently. Do you think I could see inside of it? The Sense Stone recordings never really showed the inside when you’d stand atop it and annihilate people from afar.”

  Uriel hesitated and was glad Dazien was quicker on his feet at the moment. “I’m sure he’d love to give you a tour if you can tell us how he might reunite with the DOD inside the Labyrinth.”

  He stared at Daze for only a moment before nodding in agreement and gave this obviously manipulated girl a tight smile. “I’d love to know more about what everyone has been doing here while I’ve been… trapped in Tulimeir.”

  She grinned and happily clapped her paws before wrapping them around him again in a hug. “I’m so happy you’ve come back!”

  Uriel probably should have responded properly, trying to keep up the charade to get more information, but there wasn’t a god on this planet that could make him feel happy about the idea of reuniting with the man who had ruined his life and turned him into a monster.