It was the first time Phoenix had woken up from death already feeling victorious. She had actually managed to help her mentor. Sure she had died but for once it had felt worth it. The sense of pride and accomplishment filled her with a joy that she rarely got to experience and she just lay there naked on the bed basking in the feeling.

  On a whim, she pulled out Sky from her collection to tell the blue stuffed kitsune doll about her victory. When one of the nine tails brushed against the pages of her still-open [Guide Book] new writing caught her attention as it gave more details about the trinket.

  “Who makes an Emerald Caste Plushie?!” the Wayfarer asked the doll incredulously, though still proceeded to hold Sky closer and pet the soft creation; for the first time, truly believing that the voxen twins really were born into some kind of nobility despite their often casual demeanor.

  After taking a few minutes to calm down from the victory high, mostly likely due to the plushie influence, she slowly sat up and conjured a fresh dress and hung her legs off the side of the bed as she mentally went over the new items in her collection.

  There was an influx of Fire, Earth, and Light Shards as well as the usual [Mana Bits]. A small dimensional belt pouch was also included and she assumed it had originally been holding the stack of Emerald Caste [Mana Potions] that now lived in her collection. There was a [Fire Aspect] and [Purifier Spirit Gem] that she had no use for along with a plethora of various Emerald Caste jewelry that mostly boosted Light, Fire, and Radiant damage. She idly wondered if Paul would want to wear it since she wasn’t high enough Caste but he definitely was, and he actually had abilities that would benefit from it.

  The most notable items however were the [Robes of the Purifier], [Wings of Zeal], and [Pure Wrap], which she assumed came from the Emerald Caster, along with her new quest rewards.

  She checked out the description for the wrap first which turned out to be a cloth sash that would wrap around her waist as a more decorative style of belt followed by the matching pure-white robes.

  Phoenix was excited about the useful items but regretted having to wait for Emerald Caste before she could use any of them. She wondered if maybe it would be better to trade them for a couple of things she could use now instead.

  The Wayfarer was slightly confused about the incongruity of the size of the next item compared to the name she read and wondered if trying to test it out would cause some sort of backlash from not being the appropriate Caste.

  Phoenix gaped at the item which appeared like a small silver pin about the size of her palm in the shape of a pair of tiny angel wings. Now she really wished she was Emerald Caste already cause flying around with these sounded awesome. She even contemplated hoarding them until she could put them on but the fact that she was still a long way off and they could be removed meant that she would likely give them to her mentor. She had seen how he had struggled with that aerial combatant and these would have made the battle much easier for him and likely saved lives because of it.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  The next and last item to inspect for now was the upgraded quest reward that she hoped was another result of her [Guide Book] providing her with something she actually needed and would help her die less often.

  Phoenix was amazed by the item and eagerly donned it, making her way to the bathroom to look at herself in the standing mirror she had discovered there. It fit her form like a second skin and easily flexed with her, the small smooth slate scales sliding to accommodate the movement.

  In the soft glow of the glowstones embedded in the ceiling and the bit of diffused sunlight entering through a frosted tinted window, the armor was currently a soft matte grey color covering every inch of her body up to the top of her neck. Her red hair, green eyes, and pale glowing face stood out in stark contrast to the rest of the wyvern skin.

  The Astromancer not only felt the increase in her Strength and Agility but she also felt lighter without the thick clothing she normally wore constricting her movements. She suddenly wanted to go out and test the new item in combat then remembered she had left her friends in the Reality Rift and they would get suspicious about her not returning with Paul. It had only been about fifteen minutes since she awoke, though, so they were likely still there waiting.

  Phoenix only made it about halfway across her bedroom when the door opened and she came face to face with Dazien who stared at her blankly for the briefest of moments before his expression transformed with anger and he conjured [Excalibur], leveling it directly at her chest.

  Paul was between them in an instant as he held his hands up defensively and said in a low and steady voice, “Calm yourself.”

  “What manner of illusion or shape-changing is this, Lord Wayland?” the Defender spat out in obvious rage and disgust, “What vile trick are you attempting to deceive us with? You plan to get away with murder by having an imposter assume her form?”

  Phoenix was shocked by the gemite’s behavior towards her mentor and was immediately consumed by curiosity about what exactly Paul had told them about her absence. Then confusion hit as she wondered how and why they had arrived here so quickly. It should have taken them a good hour to walk back here from the base within the Rift but it had only been a quarter of that since she had awoken. The thought left her feeling suddenly uneasy.

  “This is not a trick,” Paul said calmly as he tried to reassure the party. The others had entered behind Dazien but hadn’t seen what had caused their leader to suddenly turn on the paladin. At least, until she peeked her head around the larger man to look at all of them and give a small wave.

  The others gasped, Saiya covering her mouth in shock while Uriel let his hang open and Rayna practically lunged toward her in an attempt to embrace her but Dazien grabbed the bard's arm to forestall the voxen, saying harshly, “I saw her in the center of that explosion. I saw her get impaled on Lord Wayland’s sword. Then my own ability confirmed her death when she was suddenly no longer part of my communication network. She is dead.”

  “Um… Yes and no,” Phoenix said, staying behind Paul just in case Dazien made to end the perceived threat, “It was the other secret I was planning to tell you about after my quest but then the whole expedition thing kind of interrupted…”

  Dazien’s eyes narrowed in suspicion as he muttered, “More secrets.”

  “You knew about this one too,” Phoenix pointed out, “My last natural talent.”

  Her leader's eyes widened slightly but then hardened as he said bluntly, “Prove it.”

  “I’m not killing myself again to prove anything,” Phoenix replied, stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest which she just realized was no longer being left to the imagination with her new armor and she internally groaned as she conjured her dress over the second skin.

  “I didn’t say to prove you could die,” the Defender growled in annoyance, “Prove that you are who you claim to be.”

  She quirked an eyebrow, “Really? That’s like from every cliche movie involving magic out there. We never even came up with a secret passcode or call sign.”

  At their confused expressions, she sighed and summoned her [Guide Book] to slowly float in front of them and display her [Waypoint] information for them to read.

  Phoenix waited patiently as she gave them time to process then the holy sword vanished and she was wrapped up in strong arms, the warrior threatening to crack ribs as he held onto her as though letting go would be her dying all over again. She awkwardly tried to pat his back with her pinned arms to try and comfort her friend when another set of large arms wrapped around the pair of them. Then another smaller pair, followed by a twin set.

  Suddenly the whole party was entangled in a group hug, tears mixed with laughter as the swirl of emotions swept through them; the friends relieved to be reunited once more.

  As they all started to calm down and managed to extricate themselves from one another, they took to the plush seats to talk about the details Phoenix had left out before.

  Saiya was the first to ask a question as the Healer casually placed the plushie Sky into Dazien’s lap. The Defender raised a brow at the gentle voxen but Saiya just moved his hand in a petting motion for him until he took over himself to idly pet the plushie as their Healer inquired, “That night when the sirens raided. Was that the first time you died? It seemed odd the way you vanished on us.”

  The redhead chuckled at the sight of the warrior petting a blue kitsune doll and shook her wild locks that she hadn’t bothered to tie back into a braid yet as she explained, “No, that was the third time. The first and second were before you had joined the party.”

  Dazien paused in his idle petting as events started clicking into place for him and he muttered angrily, “Are you saying that Arktis actually murdered you?!”

  Saiya moved his hand again for him, forcing the Defender to calm down unbeknownst to him. Dazien didn’t even look at the voxen that time as he resumed the petting as though subconsciously seeking the pleasant fuzzy feeling she remembered gaining herself earlier.

  “She was the one during the raid,” she stated grimly, “And while she was there during the fourth time when Murinah's dad kidnapped me, she wasn't actually the one who killed me.”

  “How many times have you died?” Uriel asked in quiet horror, mirroring the looks that everyone else gave her. Then joined his partner the next moment in petting the small nine-tailed fox plush after doing a double-take of the gemite beside him and eyeing the plushie with curiosity. The Wayfarer wondered what prompted the response and made a mental note to ask sometime.

  Phoenix actually had to pause, though, to mentally count as she answered, “Six now.”

  “Eight,” Paul spoke up from his place leaning against the back of her room door, “I checked with the Church of the Undertaker and they have two other confirmed deaths listed… so far.”

  “What? How is that possible? I’ve only died six times since coming here. My book tells me each time it happens,” she said in confusion.

  “Well, are you counting when you arrived here?” Saiya asked as though that one was obvious.

  “What do you mean? I didn’t die on arrival.”

  “You’re a Wayfarer though,” Saiya continued, “You mentioned your body being remade when you arrived in this world. My guess would be that your soul was what got transferred to this reality, leaving your old, now dead, body behind, while a new one was formed on this side.”

  “How would something like that even work?” she asked curiously.

  The Healer shrugged, “No idea. I don’t think anyone has seen a Wayfarer arrive before.”

  “That would still only be one more,” Phoenix pointed out, trying to get the discussion back to the original topic and pointedly ignoring the questions surrounding her arrival, “There wasn’t any magic in my world and I didn’t have this [Waypoint] talent. How could I have been resurrected?” Most of them gave a shrug, likely not having enough information about her world to speculate properly.

  Dazien was reading over her ability once more then asked inquisitively, “What’s the cost for this? Mana? If you don’t have any left when you die will it fail?”

  Phoenix’s brow furrowed as she stated, “No, I was pretty tapped out when I used [Supernova] before that last death. I don’t think it costs anything to use.”

  “Everything has a price, Phoenix. Nothing is free, even when it comes to magic. We talked about that before with your storage talent,” he gestured toward the book, “Even when your book says an ability doesn’t cost something it just means it’s either negligible or utilizes something more inherent to your nature but you don’t just get something out of nothing.”

  She shrugged, “Maybe it’s one of those things then?”

  He frowned, seeming displeased with the answer, asking, “You’re sure the book doesn’t inform you about any cost after you die?”

  The book suddenly displayed the last death message she got for him as she answered, “No, that’s all it tells me.”

  Dazien’s frown deepened as he asked, “What does it mean by a ‘state of full integrity’?”

  “I just assume it means a ‘not dead’ state,” she said with yet another shrug. She pondered the words for a bit though, thinking through the implications, then asked her own question that had been gnawing at the back of her mind as she glanced over to Paul, “How long did it take you to get here after I died?”

  The question seemed to catch him off guard as he answered, “About a quarter past an hour. I tried to make them hurry a bit so we could discuss things privately,” he gave a side glance towards Dazien, “Your companions were beginning to make a scene thinking I had murdered you.” Then his eyes narrowed towards her, “Why do you ask?”

  She frowned and stared at her lap before admitting, “When I resurrect it feels instantaneous for me… but I was only awake for about fifteen minutes before you arrived.”

  Rayna pointed at the text she had been reading over Dazien’s shoulder, “It says here that your soul was guided back here. Maybe there’s some travel time involved as the soul progresses back?”

  “Maybe,” the Wayfarer said with uncertainty and wasn't sure she wanted to test the theory. Then another tangent thought crossed her mind at the mention of ‘progress’ as she made her book float over towards her and pulled up her profile to double check Tala’s growth after the difference in fighting Arktis compared to the other Sapphire Caster. Plus, she was also curious about how her newest cataclysmic ability might have grown.

  Her jaw dropped in shock as she looked over the numbers. Her [Cosmic Phoenix] ability read Crystal 4 (6%) while [Supernova] still showed 0%. Her Familiar ability percentage had gone down. She didn’t even know losing progress in an ability was possible.

  As her mind whirled, she said in a horrified whisper, “I think I figured out what resurrecting costs me…” When they all turned to look at her with a questioning gaze she said, “It’s the worst game mechanic of all… Dying costs experience.”

  End of Book 2 of Wayward: Fighting

  Phoenix and friends will return in Book 3 of Wayward: Falling