Rylan was grazing with his herd under the big dome of fog, next to a large pile of rocks. Though the air was a bit dry here, it was still a good place, for there were plenty of juicy greens to chew on, and no large hungry floating things trying to eat him.

  The herd spent a lot of time here, near the big inedible green thing—he’d checked, it was hard as rock—as the area was like a safe haven. Or at the very least, it had been.

  Suddenly, the peace and tranquillity were disrupted by a loud, reverberating call. One of his herd-mates had blown its horn.

  Frightened, Rylan looked up, only to spot two odd, gangly, two-legged creatures running over, metal glinting from their upper limbs. He wasted not a moment, half-chewed greens falling from his mouth as he turned and started hopping up onto the steep mound of rubble, his hooves securing grip on the rocky surface in a way he instinctively knew the two-leggers wouldn’t be able to manage.

  Alas, they didn’t need to. A twang rang out, and an instant later, burning pain erupted from his hind leg. He let out a terrified, pained bleat, but managed to keep his grip, even as whatever had lodged into his flesh started to pull.

  In a complete panic, he resisted, despite the pain, until finally, with a horrible tearing sensation, the thing in his hind leg came loose. The moment he was free, he started hopping up the rubble again as fast as he could, trying to catch up to his fleeing herd.

  As the odd noises from the two-leggers faded into the distance, however, hot liquid continued to drip down his dragging leg. As he crested a nearby ridge, the world became fuzzy, and his head started to spin.

  Finally, he slipped.

  The next thing he knew, he was falling, then tumbling, down into a dark hole, until he landed with a terrible smack.

  Everything hurt. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t move. Then, Rylan’s consciousness started to drift... out, seeping from of the body of the rapidly dying foghorn along with its blood. His vision blurred as he passed through stone and earth and suddenly he was at the top of a straight, dark staircase.

  Except, it wasn’t entirely dark. At the very bottom, there was a hypnotic blue glow, that seemed to beckon him.

  Finally, a familiar voice spoke to him, saying, ‘Please... Come... Help!’

  Rylan opened his eyes with a start. Wincing, he sat up, gingerly touching the back of his head, where a small bump was forming.

  [You all right there, Boss?] Arphin spoke in his head from where he lay next to Rylan on the glittering blue stone.

  “Yeah, I think so...”

  [Oh, thank the forge! Wow, I gotta say, you are bad at lying down; you should really work on that!]

  “I’ll take that under advisement,” Rylan replied dryly. “Would you mind being quiet for a moment? I need to think.”

  [Sure thing, Boss! I’ll be so quiet, it’ll be like I’m not even here! You know, one time—]

  “Arphin...”

  [Oh! Right, shutting up now!]

  This time, to Rylan’s relief, the chatty blade actually did stay quiet. Well, that was... an experience.

  It seemed Maris had indeed directed Rylan to this dungeon just to pass a message—and possibly to help out Arphin, who might otherwise have remained stuck in the mysterious space the Hermeans stored their Dungeon rewards in for a long time. Though he had to wonder why the mysterious ‘sad lady’ hadn’t just passed the message through a dream vision like last time...

  It must be for the same reason I’m not getting tingles within the bubble; something is blocking her influence there!

  Though she had still been able to witness and collect the memories of the foghorn somehow. Hold on, those two-leggers—I mean... people—were those Nazyr and Yuel?

  Thinking back to the vision, he seemed to distinctly recall one of the hunters having long, tasty-looking, straw-like material on his head. It was interesting that he hadn’t recognised them before, but then, the foghorn whose memories he’d just inhabited hadn’t exactly known the two former pirates.

  This must’ve happened before we got here then, because Nazyr hasn’t joined any hunts since...

  Either way, the message was clear: Maris wanted him to find that hole in the pile of rubble the foghorn had fallen into, and make his way down those stairs.

  The problem was that Rylan still didn’t know exactly where it was...

  He could ask Yuel or Nazyr about where they’d hunted a foghorn that had gotten away, of course, but how would he explain that question?

  Before he could come up with any plans to that regard, his thoughts were once more interrupted by a voice in his head.

  《Please vacate the Dungeon in a timely manner,》Ethereon kindly requested.

  Rylan quickly grabbed and sheathed Arphin, then strode towards the exit. Making plans could wait for when he wasn’t in a Dungeon that could theoretically lose its integrity at any moment.

  Holding on tight to his new friend, he stepped into the shimmering silver surface, and got pulled through.

  Rylan stumbled out on the other side, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room. When he glanced down, he found that Arphin was still securely in his grasp, but the silver bandoliers and remaining knives had disappeared.

  At the same time, Tamina stopped in the middle of a stride, and spun towards him, her face lighting up. “You’re back! Fog, you had us worried for a second there, Ry. What took you so long?”

  “Yeah, sorry,” Rylan replied, his eyes flicking over to Yuel, who’d risen up from a seated position with a smile. “I got... distracted by my reward.”

  He wasn’t about to tell the former pirate what exactly he’d acquired. A C-grade runegear which suited specifically his Skill was one thing, but a fogging spiritgear? You couldn’t put a price on that.

  Now I’ve got another secret to keep from the Black Sheep. Great.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Yuel said, a teasing glint in his eyes. “Show us already!”

  [Woah, Boss, are these your friends?] Arphin suddenly spoke.

  For a split second, Rylan froze, taking in their reactions.

  Tamina just raises a brow. “Well? Are you going to show us or what?”

  They can’t hear him. Of course they can’t, he’s speaking through the node in my spirit...

  Shaking his head, Rylan started moving towards them. “Sorry. Of course you can see him.”

  “Him?” Tamina repeated, her lip quirking up. “What, did you give him a name, too?”

  Rylan laughed awkwardly. “No, ehm... not yet, anyway.”

  [Yes you did; it’s Arphin, remember? Short for Arphineas? Wow, you really ought to be more careful lying down, Boss, I think you may have hit your head!]

  “Good,” Tamina replied with a glint in her eyes. “I’m not much of a fan of guys who name their... tool.”

  “Very funny,” Rylan replied dryly.

  [I don’t get it. What is she talking about, Boss?]

  Yuel snickered, but quickly moved on to oohing and aahing as Rylan unsheathed the chatty blade.

  “Beautiful craftsmanship,” Tamina mumbled, leaning in a little closer to squint at the glowing silvery lines along the steel. “Not too many runes... C-grade, right?”

  “Eh, yes,” Rylan replied. Technically that was true, even if Arphin’s grade was perhaps one of the least interesting things about him.

  [C-grade?] Arphin asked. [Is that—is that good, Boss?]

  “Absolutely gorgeous,” Yuel praised. “Wait, is that Aetherium?”

  Rylan’s eyes widened, and Tamina stiffened.

  Yuel laughed. “Oh, don’t worry; the professor would never wish to melt down such a piece of art. He needs way more skymetal than that anyway.”

  [What’s this about melting me down? Boss?!]

  “Still,” Yuel continued in the meantime, thoughtfully scratching his chin. “If we’re lucky enough to get a bigger piece of gear made of Aetherium, like a hammer... well, it could be a back-up option, I suppose.”

  [Hey Boss, why aren’t you responding? Actually, you haven’t said anything to me in a while now... Oh no, did hitting your head make you deaf? CAN YOU HEAR ME, BOSS?!]

  Growing rather frustrated, Rylan shut his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, and tried to push his thoughts back through the node.

  ‘I can hear you!’

  [What’s that? You’re speaking so softly, Boss, I can’t really hear you.]

  ‘I. CAN. HEAR. YOU!’

  [Yeah but I can’t hear you, that’s what I’m—no wait, I can hear you! Oh, and you can hear me, that’s great! Phew.]

  “Ehm, you all right, Ry?” Tamina asked.

  Rylan blinked open his eyes. “Yeah, sorry. Just... trying to see if I could sense anything.”

  The moment he mentioned it, he realised that the tingles were back, though they were once again hard to notice over the spiritual buzz coming off the Dungeons.

  As expected, they were back to pointing off into the distance, to where he presumed lay the bubble.

  “So are we going back yet?” Yuel asked hopefully. “Oh, and can I be the one to tell the captain about this? Don’t worry, I’ll give Rylan the credit for this incredible discovery; I’m just too excited!”

  “I’m done here for now, at least,” Tamina said with a shrug, still eyeing Rylan speculatively.

  “Yeah, let’s go,” he said. “Oh, but I do want to make a stop in one of the rooms; we haven’t caught anything for dinner yet, and I spotted some mussels earlier.”

  Yuel pulled a face. “Well, I guess it’s better than nothing...”

  Rylan tried to pay attention as they walked back through the fog, but it was hard to focus with Arphin chattering his ear off about all the ‘interesting’ things they were coming across.

  [What’s that?!]

  ‘That is also a rock,’ Rylan sent back through the node. At least replying internally was getting easier.

  [Wow, they have so many shapes! I can’t believe you managed to memorise all of them, Boss; that’s so impressive!]

  Rylan just shook his head amusedly. Apparently, the dreams Maris had shown Arphin hadn’t included a lot of rocks. Either that, or Arphin was simply reacting to actually seeing them directly for the first time.

  Though Rylan wasn’t sure Arphin saw the world at all, to be honest. After all, the blade didn’t exactly have eyes. And he didn’t seem to be relying on Rylan’s eyes either.

  [What’s that?!] Arphin asked once more.

  Rylan glanced over his shoulder, somehow able to tell what Arphin meant, even though there were plenty of things around them. Perhaps it had something to do with their spiritual connection.

  ‘An anemone. It’s like a plant, but not really. I think they eat stuff like frogs, mice, fish, and even small crabs.’

  [Ooh... and what’s that?]

  ‘That, is another rock.’

  [Amazing!]

  Despite the fact that they were still in the fog, and had to be wary of danger, Rylan didn’t have the heart to ask Arphin to be quiet. The spiritgear’s child-like enthusiasm was strangely endearing, so he resolved to keep his eyes firmly on the fog and answer questions as best he could.

  Thankfully, his distraction went unpunished, and they made it to the bubble of air beneath the fog unscathed. Of course, the sudden absence of fog just elicited a new round of questions from Arphin.

  Now that he could relax, however, Rylan could afford to pay the enthusiastic spiritgear a little more attention. He still had to act natural and at the very least pretend to listen to Yuel’s excited monologue about an inane fashion trend starting among nobles involving hats that featured small-scale furniture models or something like that. But despite that, he soon noticed something interesting: even now that the fog was gone, Arphin only ever asked about things that were relatively nearby.

  He still didn’t think too much of it—or rather, was still too preoccupied—until Arphin once more asked, [What’s that?!]

  Rylan glanced in the direction Arphin’s question had indicated, and frowned. Somehow, he could tell that whatever Arphin had asked about was soft and fuzzy, but all he could see was a boulder. Only after walking a few more steps, did Rylan actually spot the mushroom behind it.

  His eyes widened as he considered the implications. ‘Arphin... how exactly did you know that mushroom was there?’

  [A mushroom! Awesome. And what do you mean, ‘how,’ Boss? It’s right there!]

  Getting Arphin to explain how he witnessed the world around him turned out to be an exercise in frustration, but Rylan eventually managed to understand that the spiritgear had a ‘sense’ for the world around him that didn’t include colour, instead relying heavily on textures. This seemed to give the blade a precise understanding of his surroundings up to about sixty feet away, after which the detail he could make out started to fade, before his surroundings lost all meaning after about three hundred feet or so.

  However, while Arphin’s ability to perceive things across a long distance was limited, his senses apparently were not obscured by interposed materials. Not only did this mean he could sense things through the fog, he could actually sense what was behind a wall or beneath a pile of rubble! Only deeper than a few feet underground did his senses seem to taper off, for some reason.

  Of course, Rylan had to explain how his own eyes worked in turn, which proved an equally complicated endeavour, especially as he wasn’t entirely sure himself.

  Before he knew it, they had already made it back to camp, where Rylan did finally ask Arphin for silence, as Yuel was speaking with increasing excitement and he found it quite hard to understand the stylish former pirate with a voice in his head prattling on about the many different shapes and sizes of rocks.

  As they turned the corner around the partially rebuilt ship, Rylan unexpectedly spotted nearly the entire crew—and Soren—hanging about. Even the professor was outside for some reason; a rare sight this early in the day.

  Yuel immediately perked up and rushed towards them, before making a dramatic bow before his captain. “I bring joyful tidings, milady!”

  Captain Hammermore glanced over, her brows drawing up, but Isai was faster.

  “What,” the white-haired man started with a snort, “did you finally manage to grow some whiskers on those boyish cheeks of yours?”

  “Let’s not get into our personal grooming habits, professor,” Yuel replied airily. “You won’t come out looking good; just ask any mirror.”

  There were some chuckles, and Nazyr let out a bark of laughter, but all in all, the reaction was milder than Rylan had expected. Judging by his frown, Yuel seemed to think the same.

  “What’s your news, Yuel?” the captain asked bluntly.

  Yuel cleared his throat. “Well, milady, it pleases me to announce that during our hunt, the excellent instincts of Thar Rylan led us to discover... three Dungeons!”

  All eyes turned to Rylan at that, and he could feel himself growing flush. “Ehm, yeah. We were taking shelter in a building, and I felt a kind of buzzing from downstairs...”

  He looked to Tamina for help, and she thankfully took over. “Three Dungeons, one of each type,” she stated simply. “Rylan and I went ahead and delved the Equipment Dungeon. Got ourselves these.”

  Tamina pulled the shield off her back. Rylan quickly followed suit and pulled out Arphin.

  Isai’s eyes went wide. “Ancient Hermean runegear? Oh my! I haven’t seen such pristine pieces in quite some time...”

  At last, the captain’s lips drew up, the white light coming off the glowing runes etched into their new gear glinting off her shark-like grin. “Joyful tidings indeed. Well done, Thar Rylan. I assume you know how to find them again?”

  Rylan froze. Fog!

  “Of course,” Tamina replied smoothly. “I placed markings along the path, and left a pile of rocks at the point of entry from the bubble.”

  Rylan blinked at her. I guess Arphin had me more distracted than I thought...

  “Milady,” Yuel started hesitantly. “Is something the matter? Not to sound ungrateful, but you are not as exuberant as I had expected. Also, I can’t help but notice that you’re all crowding around this tent...”

  He trailed off as the expressions of the gathered crewmembers turned sombre.

  The captain let out a sigh, running a hand through her dark curls. “It’s Ezra. He’s... not doing well.”

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  : Unnatural Laws

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