If it seems too good to be true, it usually is.

  An old saying, but one that applied in any world.

  It happened when Aerion and I were getting ready to leave Rogar’s forge. The moment I’d been waiting for. The explanation behind Rogar’s sudden persona shift.

  “Wait… Grug,” the blacksmith called as I finished packing my new projectile weapons into my pack.

  “Yeah?” I asked, looking up to find an expression I’d never see before on the smith’s face.

  Anguish. Consternation.

  I knew then that Rogar was about to heap something truly godawful upon us.

  Safely, my instincts rarely led me astray.

  “I need a favor,” he said.

  “Yeah?” I asked, my voice oozing of suspicion. “What are we talking about here?”

  “Well… You’re heroes, y’see? And… you’ve just conquered a Divergence class dungeon. Y’see? And… Well… That old Trial of Dominion’s must seem like child’s play to you now, eh?” he said with an awkward laugh.

  “Uh… Not really?” I said. “I doubt either Aerion and I could take out the Trial Guardian, even with our new advantages. The only reason we won last time was because we cheated.”

  “Will the same trick work twice?” Rogar asked, suddenly grabbing my wrist. “Will it work, Grug?”

  I looked down at his hand, and Rogar seemed to understand what he’d done. He let go and backed away a few steps. He was still searching my expression, though.

  “Maybe,” I said. “But we don’t even know if it’ll be the same monster again. They rotate, or so I hear. What do you want, Rogar?”

  I had a few guesses, but I really hoped I was wrong.

  “Take me with you. With the two of you together, we could clear the dungeon in a day. Maybe even less! Won’t take much at all. Allow me to fight the monster… I know it’s not my place to ask. Not to a hero, let alone a noble. Just… Let me gain a Blessing. No! Even just a boon! Anything!”

  “Why?” I asked, scratching my cheek. “You’re a blacksmith. What use will a Boon do you? The chances you’ll get anything even remotely related to forging are slim.”

  “Grug, I’ll never get anywhere as it is. Nobody will respect me until I delve a Trial.”

  I scoffed. “I find that a little disingenuous, Rogar. You forged Light of the Fearless… I’m willing to bet you have no end of customers. Who cares if you delved a Trial?”

  It was Philip who replied. “It actually matters a great deal. A Boon’s an incredible thing for a smith. Even if Rogar never uses it his whole life, he’ll be a Delver Forgemaster. His social status will be incomparable to what it is now. His forge will have no end of customers. Wealthy, noble customers.”

  “You’re telling me that no matter how good Rogar is, he won’t get that sort of business unless he has a Boon or a Blessing?” I asked incredulously.

  Philip nodded, looking a little confused that I didn’t know about this already. “Social barrier though it may be, it might as well be made of Voidsteel. It’s not one that can be crossed any other way.”

  “Skill only gets ya so far,” Rogar said. “Without status… yer nothin’ in this world. Besides… It’s the only way I’ll ever escape this place. I’m meant for better. I know it. Can feel it in my blood. Please, Grug.”

  I almost jerked back when he bowed his head. Rogar… Bowing to anyone short of a king? I looked out through the cloudy glass window. Was another Landing Castle about to fall on our heads?

  I took a breath.

  “This is quite the favor you’re asking, Rogar,” I said, running my fingers through my hair. “For one, we barely have any time at all. We have that procession Sinclair wants us to attend, and we’re due to head out of town with a convoy next week.”

  I glanced at Aerion, who frowned in thought.

  “What do we have to gain from this?” Aerion said. “I understand you have a working relationship with Greg, but the same is not true for myself. Why should I put myself in danger for you?”

  Aerion to the rescue, once again. If I’d asked, it might’ve come across as selfish. Rogar could have pulled the ‘I gave you a job!’ card. But with Aerion, he had no leg to stand on.

  “I’ll forge whatever you like while we’re in there,” Rogar said.

  I was about to ask him what the big deal about that was when I remembered something Aerion had said when I first got to Axius, way back in the Trial.

  That blacksmiths were considered esteemed members of society. Not only because they were among the few trades that could shape metal—apparently something that was considered a magic of its own—but because nothing found in Trials and Cataclysm dungeons could be taken outside. It was why I couldn’t bring the miracle sanctuary water with me, and why I couldn't use any of the exotic ores found in those pocket worlds.

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  Unfortunately, I’d learned the hard way that all the snow I’d stockpiled in my inventory had vanished upon exiting the Cataclysm Dungeon. Which meant my inventory wasn’t immune to that rule.

  There was just one exception to that rule. Any item forged or made inside could be taken out. It was why the makeshift waterskin I’d fashioned in the Trial didn’t vanish. Just the liquid within.

  I looked at Aerion. “Are there valuable ores in there we could use? Think we’ll find any mythril?”

  “There are,” Philip said. “Now, I’m not encouraging you to, mind you, but there absolutely are. Not mythril—you’ll only find that under the oldest elven forests—but there’s plenty of Voidsteel and Frostsilver. Even a bit of Aurorium, if you know where to look. The Trial’s one of the primary sources of income for Basecrest’s delving smiths, after all.”

  Well, those all sounded fancy to my ears, but I didn’t know the first thing about this world’s metals, other than Mythril. Gauging how Aerion’s eyes widened, though, I assumed they were quite desirable.

  “Aerion?”

  “It… would be worth considering,” she said, hastily adding, “if we have time, of course.”

  I mulled it over. The weapons we might acquire from this expedition would be useful… And my inventory was now large enough to fit even a small forge. If we could rope Richard into this, we’d steamroll the dungeon. I felt like my British friend would be up for another chance to flex his magic…

  But it wasn’t enough. We needed more from this foray. Something that would give us an absolute advantage in any future encounter.

  Was there anything in there that could…

  My thoughts stopped. There was. Of course, there was. We’d used it to kill the Obsidian Dragon, hadn’t we? We’d used it when we tried to save Emma.

  The Aural Siege Bolt.

  If we could somehow bring those outside the dungeon… I gulped.

  I thought what would happen if I launched those devastating things out of my inventory.

  They were far too destructive to be fired at point-blank range. It was like releasing a small bomb.

  But if I arced it? If I shot it like an arrow, high into the sky?

  Then it became something else altogether. It became artillery.

  I’d have an overwhelming advantage over the next few enemies. And when combined with my Basecrest Armor’s Grace stat… I could flit across the battlefield, lobbing these bombs from every angle.

  In two words—absolute devastation.

  At least until I ran out, but if memory served, there were hundreds of those things back there in that underwater castle. We’d been forced to leave the majority behind.

  The only problem was I didn’t have nearly enough Essence to Initialize them all. If I recalled correctly, they were 8 points a pop. Even if my pool was completely empty, I’d be able to Initialize less than 50.

  Still… We had Aerion and Rogar. I’d be shocked if the two of them couldn’t cook up something if they put their heads together. We’d have to make space in my inventory, which likely meant ditching whatever forge we brought down with us…

  The beginnings of a plan began to coalesce in my head. The favor I’d gain with Rogar, the potential benefits, the ability to stretch my new legs and test out all sorts of new tactics… It was tempting. It was quite tempting.

  And then Philip threw another wrench into the gears.

  “Take me, too!” he said, kneeling in front of me.

  “I know it’s not my place. I’m just a guard too scared to delve on my own. But still… I dare to ask this of you.”

  Well, this was new. I gave Aerion a look, and by her exasperated expression, I could tell she felt the same. We’d never had people bow to us before. And, to be honest? I fucking hated it.

  “Alright, that’s enough,” I said, physically picking Philip up—something that made him wide-eyed in fear and fright.

  “Never do that again,” I said, leveling my gaze at the city guard that moonlighted as a metal recycler. “You’re the reason Aerion and I survived that insane dungeon. I don’t give a shit if I become Emperor of the world, I never want you bowing to us. Got it?”

  “Er, alright?” Philip said, clearly confused. That was fine. I knew my Earth sensibilities were weird here, but I didn’t care.

  “We’ll take you along,” I said. “All you had to do was ask. That said… I can’t promise Boons and Blessings. For either of you,” I added, looking at Rogar. “If I determine that Trial Guardian’s too strong for us, we bail. We go back to floor four and take one of the exits. I’m guessing you’ll still get Boons, considering all the fights we’ll encounter along the way. But I’m only doing this if you agree to those conditions. Otherwise, the deal’s off.”

  “I agree,” Philip said. He was followed by Rogar a moment later, grumbling his agreement.

  “Well, then,” I said, cracking a smile. “Get ready. We leave in the morning. And in the meantime, I need you guys to repair all the damage to the armor and weapons we incurred in the Cataclysm Dungeon.”

  Finding Richard proved harder than I thought.

  “Why the fuck doesn’t this world have cell phones?”

  “Sell fones?” Aerion asked, cocking her head. “Another magic from your world, I take it?”

  “Not magic,” I muttered. For the first time in ages, I was out of my armor. I’d left it behind at Rogar’s for repair. Which meant I was just a normal human being right now, and that made me more than a little irritable. “Just a way to instantly talk to anyone across the world.”

  “And this isn’t magic, how?” Aerion asked, wide-eyed and incredulous. “My people have replacements for magic, but what you say is nothing short of a miracle.”

  “Look, we can chat about that later,” I said. “All that matters right now is finding Richard.”

  And convincing him to dive into another deathtrap. How we were going to convince the guy was beyond me. I just had to ensure we did.

  We found Richard at a blacksmith, trying to negotiate a discount on some new armor he was trying to buy. Trying and failing.

  Aerion solved his problem with ease.

  “Why’d you even bother to negotiate?” I asked. “I’m sure Passion’s got you loaded.”

  “Well, yes, but it’s the principle of the matter, you see?” Richard said. “It’s not right to overcharge, and I simply refuse to be fleeced.”

  I shrugged. “Fair enough. So, Richard. Buddy,” I said, throwing an arm around his shoulder. “How would you like to delve a Trial with us?”