Kai fumbled with his soul ring; he had it off and was rolling it between his fingers until he would inevitably drop it and wait for it to return to his ring finger so he could pull it off and start over again.

  He had a lot to think about, an important decision to make.

  Things like this were supposed to be easy, natural, uncomplicated, right?

  But he felt pressured, like he really didn’t have a choice.

  He knew what Syl needed to complete her physical projection. They had had it since the moment they stepped into the dungeon, the moment they arrived on Alea.

  The problems were the implications of giving the item to Syl.

  He wanted to do it.

  It was just a matter of how he would do it.

  Was he making a simple thing unnecessarily complicated?

  “What’s on your mind?” Syl asked from where she was snuggled into his side.

  He sighed, “Long day, things to think about.”

  Syl just sank deeper into him.

  They all had had a long day, Alicia coming out the worst of them as a sweaty mess; she was off having a long soak.

  That meant he was alone with Syl.

  “I can’t decide if you’re okay.” Syl asked him.

  "I'm okay; Kain was actually kind of nice…”

  He was waiting for Syl to react; she just squeezed him.

  “She gave me a lot to think about.”

  “Such as?”

  He hesitated for a moment, only finding the courage to say what needed to be said when she looked up at him.

  “A lot of things, the two of us especially.”

  She gave him a look that asked him to continue.

  “How I treat you… how I barely know you.”

  She smiled at him, “That is hardly your fault.”

  “I know, but that isn't the point, is it? I mean, think about it. We were together for what, a good month while we passed through the void… All we did was mess about in the void and train.”

  “And I loved it.”

  Kai groaned, "But Syl, I never really learnt anything about you."

  She looked at him like he was talking nonsense.

  “What are your hobbies? Your favourite food? Are you a cat or dog person?”

  She got up and crawled into his lap, looking at him as she tapped her lips. "This is what has you so distracted?"

  “I know nothing about you, and you know everything about me. Don’t you think that is a little off?”

  Now she looked uneasy.

  He sighed, ”When we left Earth, I barely knew you, and yet it felt like I should. Now, now I'm uncertain; I feel like I'm taking everything for granted, but still I know I don’t deserve you. And yet I still want you, need you and if it's not too soon, love you. But everything, everything’s wrong; it’s out of order, out of place and out of time.”

  He summoned the ring box he had forgotten about into shaking hands.

  “I know I'm foolish; I'm clueless. I used to second-guess everything I said or did around others. And this, this feels all too soon and all too late at once. A meal, maybe a walk, a romantic getaway. Flowers, oh god, what flowers do you like?” He rambled.

  He lifted the ring box, holding it between them, “Everything’s wrong, and yet somehow this feels right at the same time. I know now what this means to you, what it means to me, and were things different, I would plan everything out, desperate to make everything perfect for you. But it’s what you need; it’s your focus. I can’t keep that from you just because nothing is as it should be, as you deserve.”

  Syl leaned in, her lips pressing him back as her hand pressed the ring box down only for it to vanish from their grip altogether.

  He was breathless when she finally pulled him away. “Take your time; I'll always be here.”

  “But your physical projection, you-“

  Syl tapped him on the lips as she got up.

  “I think it’s more important we get to know each other all over again.” She bit her lip and gave him a look even he couldn’t mistake. “I know exactly where we should start. I like dressing up…”

  She took him by the hand and led him upstairs.

  Alicia slept outside of the domain for the first time since they entered the dungeon.

  The next day they gathered in the dungeon room with all the arches, seven stones all lit up green and one dimly growing amber one.

  “All I am saying, Syl, is the next time you want to try something, don’t start with ‘I watched this couple once.' It’s a little bit of a mood killer.”

  Syl pouted, “You would be surprised what people get up to when they think no one is watching and their world is ending. Because I no longer am.”

  “Please tell me being a voyeur is not actually a hobby of yours.”

  She snorted, “No, even before I became self-aware, robot me had set up protocols to ignore the vast majority of what was going on within each tutorial. Despite my attention being drawn to anything the system deemed problematic, I spent most of my time watching anime, playing games or reading books.”

  "Can I tell you two what I want?” Alicia interjected, “My own room for whenever the two of you decide to get intimate again. A room with some kind of sound-blocking charm; better yet, put that charm on the main room too.”

  “Oh hush, you aren't exactly quiet yourself.”

  Alicia turned a deep shade of red as she buried her face in her hands.

  While he agreed Syl had been unabashedly loud once they both got warmed up. She had piqued his interest by mentioning how she kept herself busy during the tutorials, “What books did you read?”

  “Oh, stuff you recommended…” Syl said, avoiding eye contact with him.

  The way Syl replied made him suspicious. “You had to read something else. I know of a few series I might recommend, but those recommendations would last, what, a year or two maybe, but definitely not into a decade or beyond.”

  Syl turned a similar shade of red poor Alicia had turned just moments ago.

  “Even a metaphysical being has needs. And BookTok made some good recommendations.”

  “What's BookTok?” Alicia asked wearily.

  “Social media.” Kai answered as he watched Alicia to see if she had any understanding of what social media was.

  Alicia just looked more confused as she mulled over his answer.

  Kai guessed Alea had not yet conceptualised such a thing as social media, which was probably for the best; he moved onto their plans for the day.

  “Kain told me we should be able to get through the maze, village and the dungeon master’s arch today. Did your mentors happen to say anything, or was it just Kain just being pushy again?"

  “No, Fedric was pretty tight-lipped; if it wasn’t some pointer on how I could improve my archery, he didn’t say much.” Thrim-thrim-thrum, “Gift was asked not to do anything fancy, just pretend he was a simple bow, to watch and observe.” Trill, “No Gift, it was not an affront to all bow kind.”

  “Eunice was pretty focused on teaching me more advanced spell work; we’ve been brute-forcing everything. We’re lucky you have a talent for mana manipulation because from what Eunice showed me, it’s actually surprising we haven’t blown ourselves up yet.”

  Kai rubbed his chin as he thought about how all of their mentors had been so task-orientated this time around.

  Curious, he asked, “No mention of the dungeon master?”

  Syl tapped her lips. “I had to ask, but with the way Eunice’s mouth clamped shut, I think there was some kind of restriction put in place.”

  “Yeah, the same thing happened with Kain; each time I asked, she just changed the subject.”

  “You never actually said how things went with Kain.”

  Kai sighed; he hated to admit it so openly in front of Syl, but “She was… she was actually nice…” he said carefully. “Almost motherly…”

  Syl huffed and sat back to fold one arm across her chest and tap her lips.

  “Are you going to help her with her little experiment?”

  “I think I will wait to see how things go with the dungeon master, which if we want to get to today, we better stop gossiping about dungeon ghosts we will hopefully never see again.”

  The maze was the same as the last time they entered it, only they had one extra thing pushing them onwards, racing to get their shards before escaping alive.

  When they arrived, they proceeded through all the same checks Syl had performed the last time they had entered the maze. The layout was different, the time was different, and the storm clouds loomed closer than before.

  They had mistakenly assumed the shorter deadline to find everything and escape was the best way of elevating the difficulty.

  They were very wrong.

  The moment they progressed past the threshold of the room they had been placed in, bestial mewling called out around them. A short time later, Kai met his first minotaur.

  Being in a maze and finding a minotaur, Kai was tempted to say something clever about preconceived notions to Syl, but as Tim, the big, brown, shaggy level thirty-five named dungeon spawn, was busy chasing him down with a palpable blood lust, he just couldn’t find the right time to slip the pithy remark into their frantic communications.

  Luckily, the twelve-foot-tall, six-foot-wide bull of a man had difficulty navigating the narrow corridors, and despite what would be a glaring stat difference, remained well behind them, and they were eventually able to slip Tim altogether using a secret passage that was just too small for the big guy to get through, not that it stopped him from trying.

  They, of course, played with the idea of taking Tim down for all his essence; they were in the middle of discussing whether or not they could take off a leg or two and whittle the monster down from a safe distance when they encountered Bill.

  Bill, the level forty black, slick-coated minotaur, only for him to bellow in rage upon seeing Kai and his challenge stone.

  The rapid call and response from the other monster roaming the maze immediately dismissed any and all plans of taking the named dungeon spawns down.

  It would just take too long, and they had no way of silencing their intended prey; they just couldn't kill a level thirty-five named minotaur who was all physical stats before they called all the other minotaurs in the maze down on top of them.

  So they ran.

  When Syl took them straight past the first chest, Kai didn't think much of it; they had a minotaur on their tail, and stopping to check it would have been problematic.

  When she took them past a second and then a third chest, he asked.

  Turns out Syl could now feel a distinguishable difference in the chests and was pointedly avoiding the ones that lacked any significant mana signature.

  And she was right; the first chest she directed the too, she opened to reveal what was her ninth mysterious shard; just one more, and she would have the full set.

  The second chest she led them to, Alicia opened, getting her her ninth shard.

  The third chest, however, turned out to be a nasty little mimic that Kai had to blow off his hand by constructing a hasty mana bolt inside its toothy maw, his dragon scale gauntlets absorbing the brunt of the blast like it was nothing, the mimic blown all over the room, blood, teeth and fleshy bits everywhere.

  Lucky, once they lost another Holstein-patterned minotaur named Charlie, the fourth chest contained Kai's shard.

  They, of course, discussed looking for chests with a unique item feeling, but that discussion was quashed when Grim, a level fifty minotaur, used his maul to bring down a wall to get to them.

  With the way the difficulty was starting to spike, they unanimously decided their lives were more valuable than any unique treasure and made for a quick exit from the maze before it even started to get a little bit dark.

  Having been harried for almost the entire time they were in the maze, they escaped the test in record time, of just an hour and a half.

  Wanting to make sure they got through everything, they ate an early lunch and dove straight into the arch they had come to call the village.

  This arch, as far as the dungeon master would have them believe, was their last test.

  And while they unanimously agreed something was going to happen with the dungeon master when they next entered his chamber, they were all but certain this was where they would each complete their set of mysterious shards.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  When they appeared in the test, they found themselves sitting within a poorly lit underground cavern, the same crooked old goblin lady staring them down.

  “Did Fatcher happen to say how long ago he submitted his request to the guild?” She asked them over a pile of hot, glowing stones before Kai had even begun to get a complete idea of their surroundings.

  Syl, to her credit, picked up the conversation right away, “No, but he seemed impatient, as if we were overdue.”

  “So, I could be any day, or worse, any moment now.” She crumbled.

  Realising this little old goblin lady was a key character, he examined her.

  Gretchin Cremmbockle, Lv. 33

  Goblin age: 367

  Dispossessed Elder of the former township of Greckle.

  “How long ago were you forced out? When did you get holed up in this cave? I only ask because that seems to be Fatcher’s focus. It may be an assumption, but I am guessing when he couldn’t force you out of the cave system with his people to open his mine, that was when he sent someone off to the guild.”

  Gretchin’s gnarled lips worked as she deliberated, “We've been stuck in this cave like common wretchlings for a week now, only going out to hunt for food and forage for supplies. I told the others we should send for help immediately, but nooo,” she looked over her shoulder at three other elderly goblins that were currently doing their best to look invisible. “We had to discuss, deliberate and sleep on it… Bah, we should have never let that man set up his shop in town.” Gretchen said her face distorted in disgust.

  “And how far away is the local guild?”

  “A day away the way the wyvern travels, two if you take the road…”

  “The person you sent, did you send them by the road? And when exactly did you send them?” Syl asked as she continued to build a picture of events.

  Gretchin scoffed, “Over a day and a half ago now. And no, I picked Thad for the task myself; he’s our best hunter; he will make his way through the wilderness; he was the only one I trusted to get there in time. Not one to get lost in the trees, that one… he was out hunting when things turned, lost his whole family.”

  “So assuming Thatcher sent someone out about a week ago using the road, and his request is picked up as soon as it's posted, the adventurers should have arrived at the town by now. Which explains why Fatcher thought we were his adventurers.” Syl tapped her lips as she worked it all out. “Also, if your man gets to the guild hall okay, we should also expect someone to reach us hopefully within the next day or so. Sooner if they send a high-level investigator to figure out the conflicting requests.”

  “Aye, that sounds about right,” Gretchin smacked her lips. “I don’t like it. Had we sent Thad when I wanted to, we might have actually beaten the shit stain of a gnomel to it.” She turned and glowered at the goblins hiding behind her; they tried to shrink further back into the shadows, their large eyes shining in the darkness as they caught the light from the glowing stones.

  “If you do not mind, may I ask, what actually happened?” Alicia asked.

  “Bah, it’s a long story.” Gretchin dismissed.

  “We have time; knowing what's going on might help should things turn sour before the guild answers your request.”

  “Fatcher came to town about three or four years ago; I don’t remember exactly; minds are not what they used to be. What I do remember is he was a pain in my wrinkly old ass from day one. Always causing trouble. Trying to make a quick coin, never really caring for the consequence.” She shook her head in disgust. “First it was setting up a lumber mill, then a fur trade, one ill-thought-out scheme after another. It all came to a head about three weeks ago when some idiot brought him some stones they found in this very cave, three stupid, worthless stones. Just like the ones I gave you.”

  Kai could see where this was going; the turd clearly had the remaining three shards on him or tucked away somewhere.

  “Fatcher went mad, insisting we turn the caves into a mine of all things,” she spat onto the stones in front of her, the spit sizzling away into nothing with the heat. “We may not be wretches, but these caves are sacred; it’s where we return the dead to the mother. For a week, the town council denied him. We thanked the mother when he packed up his shop and left. Only he came back with his goons. Sold everything he had and promised a load of idiots a new life and riches. Things turned ugly…” Gretchen sighed, “They forced us out, killed anyone who resisted, and we don’t even know what he did with the dead. I think he expected us to flee off into the forest. But we happened to put ourselves right inside the one place he truly wanted.”

  “All that over some stones from a cave.” Kai said, his disgust for the turd only growing.

  “That’s the dumb part. They aren't even from this flaming cave.” Gretchen said as she smacked the butt of her stick into the ground in frustration.

  “Where did you get the stones?" Alicia asked.

  "No one remembers where they came from. But they are pretty, and we use them when we send them off. Sadly, no one told Thidbitten he couldn’t go pinching shinies from the sacred cave… He’s dead now, the poor fool. Good thing too; I would probably wring his scrawny neck if he were still ali-”

  Suddenly there was the sound of bare feet slapping against stone echoing in from one of the side passages.

  Kai got up ready to fight. But a moment later, little Oola ran into the chamber.

  Gretchin raised an eyebrow at him and then turned to Oola and asked, “What is it, child?”

  “People at entrance, fat Fatcher is there and- and-“ Oola paused to catch her breath.

  “Child, we don’t have time for you to asphyxiate, suck in a breath, and spit it out.”

  “Four strong-looking pale people, Gichit said, said they were adventurers, and I needed to go get you.”

  “Bah, if only I were only five decades younger, I would have been able to handle all this myself. Why no goblin takes up adventuring and gains some decent levels these days, I will never know.” Gretchin said as she gave the three of them a long, hard look. “So you’ve heard it, still going to help us out?”

  Kai readied a spectral blade in reply; it was time for him to show off the new tricks Kain had taught him.

  Oola gawked at him for a moment before her head flopped to the side. “What happened to your eyes? They’re all purple now; they were way, way, way more blue before?”

  Kai shrugged; he was actively infusing his eyes with mana now; maybe that was affecting things.

  After telling a rather annoyed, strong-willed little orphan girl she could not help and insisting she stay back to look after her family.

  Gretchin led them to the entrance of the cave system with surprising ease; with her small stature, big eyes and large ears, she seemed adapted to the cramped conditions. So much so, he wondered if a goblin's large head-to-body ratio had to do with some extrasensory racial trait he wasn’t aware of.

  Partway through their short trip out of the cave, Kai realised Alicia had a death grip on the back of his armour.

  Kai sent Syl a silent message, ‘I think it’s a little too dark for Alicia.’

  Syl didn’t reply, but her cyan flames lit up the dim channel they were passing through a moment later.

  Once again marvelling at his newly discovered ability to see in the dark, he kept quiet about the concern he had for Alicia's clear fear of the dark; he was just glad they could do something to mitigate the problem when Syl was around.

  It didn’t take long for them to find the light at the end of the tunnel. Hearing murmurs as they passed a terrified goblin with a makeshift spear, Kai tapped Gretchin on the shoulder and gestured for her to wait here as they moved by to handle things.

  “No body said anything about killing pinkies,” came a familiar voice as they got near the cave mouth.

  “Goblins are goblins! They’ve killed good people of mine; now they‘re poaching these woods and raiding our stores. I have a dozen creditable men back in Fatcher willing to testify. That these pinkies have gone feral. They need culling lest their corruption spread to a wider population.” Fatcher Turdle whined.

  “As long as I get paid.” Someone unfamiliar mumbled.

  “The guild doesn’t take killing pinkies lightly. I would rather not draw the ire of the guild master down on me right now; I’m getting close to convincing her I’m worth a second date. That and it's just wrong.” The first familiar voice said.

  “The request was posted by the guild; it is safe for us to assume they did the legwork and deemed this necessary,” a third, more feminine voice. “The only issue was the name of the village; no one recognised it.”

  ‘I recognise that voice; let me scout them out. I can examine and mark the info…’ Syl's voice came through the party system as an orange wisp, zipped past him and out into the open. ‘Yeah, I think we might have a problem.’

  Five marks appeared outside the cave, each one with a name hovering just above them.

  The first name to pop up was what he expected.

  Fatcher Turdle Lv. 9

  The second confirmed why he heard someone familiar.

  Inego Monteyo Lv. 12

  The final three names he only partly recognised from Alicia and Syl mentioning them.

  Eunice Thallamire Lv. 11

  Fedric Caster, Lv. 11

  Glados Atheolin Lv. 14

  ‘It appears the dungeons are throwing our past mentors at us.’ Alicia commented,

  ‘Shit…”

  ‘That’s not the worst part… I can't detect Kain anywhere,’ Syl said.

  ‘Do we have a plan? They seem hesitant; we might be able to negotiate,” Kai suggested.

  ‘That’s unlikely; they won’t be the same people we met, scaled down approximations of what they were like when they were our level. Odds are no matter what we do, the scenario will push us into a fight.’

  ‘The first time we ran this test, we managed to find an alternative path to the one we first faced. I'm willing to bet that if we use our heads, we can avoid combat. Kain said we could get this done today, so there has to be a fast, positive outcome.’

  ‘Just remember if they turn hostile, they will focus on you. And Kai, act like you don’t know them.’

  Kai sighed as he stepped out into the light, trying to look both confident and yet harmless at the same time. “Excuse me, but can we talk?”

  Alicia followed right behind him with Gift at the ready.

  The turd spun on his heel from where he stood in the middle; he looked surprised. “Y-you, you left the village. I had someone watching the path to the cave. How are you here?”

  “I don’t know what he has told you, but if it was anything like the story he spun for you fine fellows, it was a pack of lies.” Kai said, ignoring Fatcher, to address Inego and his party.

  “Don’t listen to him!” Fatcher griped, “Any of them, they’re charlatans; they led me to believe they were from the guild. Which, if I am not mistaken, is an offence the guild does not take lightly.” Fetcher finished as he gave Kai a vicious grin.

  For their part, the mentors turned guild adventurers gave each other questioning looks.

  “Fatcher-“ Kai started.

  “It’s Mayor Turdle!”

  “Mr. Fatcher told us-“ Kai tried again.

  “Mayor!” Fatcher practically squealed, stamping his foot, his mass wobbling with the impact.

  ‘Careful, Kai, if the turd turns hostile, it could cause the others to join in his attack.’ Syl warned him.

  ‘I’m actually surprised he hasn’t been triggered already… Syl, I'm going to do something to that turd; you may want to meditate in the domain to compensate for the mana drain. And have some of the better mana potions ready in case things go sour.’ Kai replied.

  ‘I’m always ready in the domain,’ Syl said in an offended tone Kai knew wasn't entirely serious.

  Concentrating on Fatcher, he gripped the pocket of space surrounding the annoying gnomel man and twisted time.

  The fat gnomel’s movements slowed to a crawl, his foot floating in the air as Kai’s mana began to tick down at a rapid pace. He had just barely managed to learn this little trick with Kain’s guidance.

  With no time to waste, Kai turned to the party of adventurers, “Forgive me, but there are some things that need to be said, and he keeps interrupting.” Kai eyed a much younger Inego, who was busy stroking a sharp black goatee in thought. “You look like a sharp man. What’s the guild’s stance on making false, misleading or intentionally deceptive requests?”

  “I- er… I’m not actually sure. Glados? You know the guild’s bylaws better than anyone.” Inego said as he turned to a bespectacled woman who had been standing in the back, more interested in her book than anything that was going on.

  The woman looked up from a book she had been reading and sighed, “It’s complicated; individuals would be criminally charged, but this request was technically on the part of a community. When a community submits a fraudulent request, it gets thoroughly investigated to determine the extent of the fraud. At the minimum, the community may be fined and lose their right to submit common and below requests with the guild.”

  Kai stepped forward, “The problem is this Fatcher’s community doesn't exist; the village of Fatcher is just that guy's fantasy. Did you see his so-called village? Were they still tearing down goblin homes? The homes of the very same goblins he insists are infesting his mines? The mines behind me that are clearly not mines but a natural cave system, sacred to the former townspeople he wishes to wipe out.”

  “What did you do to him?” asked Eunice as she picked up a pebble and tossed it into the field around Fatcher to watch it slow to a crawl, floating in space next to the fat man, his foot still caught on its way to the ground.

  “Oh, I adjusted the flow of time around him; it should cause him no harm. It’s just to keep him quiet for a bit.”

  “But you used no spell, no artefact, no focus. You just reached out and locked down the space around him?.”

  “It’s free-form mana control, nothing special,” Kai dismissed.

  Eunice blinked at him like he had just said something insane before he spun and gave the rest of her group a look that Kai read as ‘Do not aggravate this man.’

  Kai found that curious, and seeing that his little time trick had gained him some advantage, he moved forward with his explanation of what was going on as his mana continued to evaporate while maintaining the effect.

  “That village of his used to be the town of Grackle until he sold everything he had to hire a bunch of goons to come push the goblins out. Things turned ugly, and they killed any who resisted. All because their council refused to turn the caves into a mining operation. All because one of the goblins sold him some pretty stones they found within.”

  The archer, Fedric, walked up to Inego and whispered something in his ear.

  “Yes, he did call this place a mine…” Inego sighed, “If what you say is true, I expect the guild master will be able to clear things up. Kyrilics are uniquely qualified for getting to the bottom of problems like these. The only issue is we’re out here and she’s back at the guild. We can’t exactly leave such a volatile situation alone; it won't look good on our party's record.”

  ‘I think we just figured out what role Kain is playing…’ Syl mumbled.

  It was then that Gretchin decided to come out of the cave. She was showing a toothy grin as she asked, “Is little Merribell the guild leader now? As soon as she is notified of the conflicting requests, I'm sure she will come here herself.”

  Inego looked at the little old goblin, his jaw slack; he asked, “You know guild master Merribellium?”

  Gretchin cackled, “met her when she was just starting out. Yes… She will sort this mess out. That girl just can’t tolerate nonsense; she will bring the full force of the law down on Fatcher for what he has done.” She lifted her cane and pointed it at the man in question. “Can you undo that? I have some things I want to say to him, and I doubt you can maintain an effect like that forever.”

  Kai was glad for the opportunity to let the man go. He had emptied his mana pool and seen Syl's own mana jump back up as she consumed mana potions to keep his manipulation of time and space going. He really needed to figure out how to lock the effect off so he didn’t have to constantly maintain it, Kain, like Inego had told him he needed to practice.

  Fatcher's foot slammed into the ground.

  Blinking, the fat man looked around in confusion, first at everyone and their shifted positions around him, then at Gretchin, who, from his perspective, had appeared out of nowhere.

  Collecting himself, he pointed to the little old goblin and turned to the party of adventurers, “Kill it, quick!”

  Inego and his party didn’t move.

  “What is the meaning of this? It’s corrupted; kill it!” he whined.

  “Oh, give it up; your scheme, like all your schemes, failed,” Gretchin said as she closed her eyes for a bit, a smile curling on her gnarled face. “It seems Little got through, and the guild master is on her way.” Opening her eyes again, Gretchin stumbled, Alicia stepping forward to support her.

  A silver medallion on Inego’s chest flashed; he reached up and held it for a moment as he looked off into the sky. “Confirmed, I just got the signal to halt all activity.

  Fedric the archer lifted his bow to point it at the fat man, who seemed to be looking around frantically. “Mr. Fatcher Turdle, we are holding you on suspicion of submitting a fraudulent request to the guild.”

  “No…” Fatcher said through gritted teeth as he turned a deep shade of red, his desperation growing by the second as he processed what was happening.

  He locked eyes on Kai, and his demeanour changed. “You, this is all your fault.” Fatcher hissed as he leapt towards Kai faster than he thought the man capable, a roaring ball of flame appearing in each of his sweaty palms.

  Before Kai could react, Fatcher slammed face down into the mud; a small, slick mana bolt shot clean into the back of the man's skull as Syl appeared in a flurry of cyan flames. Her hands on her hips, she tsked, “He finally went hostile.”

  Inego’s whole team looked about, ready to fight with their weapons drawn.

  Syl held up her hands. “Everyone relax, my friend has that effect on people; he has a trinket that makes anyone with intent to kill target him first. I was waiting in hiding in case things went south.”

  Inego’s eyes flashed about, alert; his hand on his sword, he asked, “Where did the body go?”

  Kai looked down to see the fat, detestable man had, in fact, disappeared; he looked about at all the confused faces.

  ‘Kai, you looted him… and everything he had on him, you got the shards.’ Alicia explained through the party chat.

  Kai checked his storage and smiled internally as he dropped the body back out in front of him. “Yeah, that was my bad. I'm the front of my team. I draw the hostiles in, and I have something that loots.”

  “Auto loot, a whole body? Just how big is your spatial storage? What level are you exactly? My attempts to examine you just slip off.” Eunice asked as she looked at him in a mix of confusion and discernible interest.

  He looked at Syl across the clearing, and she nodded.

  "I'm level eight; is that a problem?”

  Eunice's jaw dropped. “Level eight, and you’re casually touching time and space.”

  There was a thump, and they all turned to see a young woman in combat leathers landing a short way down the path behind Inego.

  Her crystalline eyes looked about, landing for a moment on each of them and the body between them.

  “He speaks the truth, Eunice, about everything,” Kain looked over to Inego and smiled, “Maybe you aren't a complete fool. Things here could have gone very differently for your team had you not used your heads and gone through with that man's request. Kai and his team could have taken you.”

  She turned to Kai, “Impressive work locking down space and time like that. If you didn’t try to stop him completely, you would have used less of your mana and been able to hold the effect for longer. Keep practicing, and I’m sure you’ll figure out how to lock it off naturally.”

  Then Kain turned to Syl and bowed, “You proved me wrong; I knew you would. Keep him in line; he still has a long way to go, but I think he will get there one day; just don't expect him to be the same person you once knew.”

  Kai watched Syl's jaw drop as everything went white, and they found themselves back in the room in the arches.

  Alicia spun to face Kai the moment they had their bearings.

  "When did you learn to manipulate time and space? Outside the use of complicated rituals, arrays or artefacts that can maybe nudge one of the two. Nobody's been able to do it. The houses are struggling to figure out spatial storage enchantments; it's one of the reasons storage items are so expensive! And you can just reach out and manipulate it?”

  “Kain obviously taught him how… I did tell you about his time in the void, in the between, the abyss; that place is a mess of time, space and gravity. She didn’t teach you how to manipulate gravity, did she?”

  “We didn’t get around to it, and please, don’t remind me of my time in that place.” Remembering all the eyes, tentacles and a writhing mass of teeth, Kai shivered.

  “But we had so much fun together; if it helps, just think of all the times you pulled yourself back into the domain to catch me indisposed. That reminds me, there are a few outfits I would like to revisit… Ooh, some cosplays you will definitely enjoy, others that will blow Kai’s sheltered little mind.”

  Alicia blew a breath out through her nose. “What is cosplay?”

  “Oh, you’ll love it…” Hmm, Syl tapped her lips. “You won't get it, but you’ll still love it. When we get out of this dungeon, we will have to explore Alean media to see if there is anything we can put together. I know the multiverse is full of good stuff, games and anime both, but it will be some time before we can see any of that.”

  “The multiverse has anime?” Kai asked a little too eagerly.

  “Why wouldn’t it? The depth and scope of culture within the multiverse will astound you.”