The group made their way down the mountain searching for a cave to hide in. It wasn’t long after Cawthorn left that the group noticed creatures nesting below. Wyverns roosted below them. They couldn’t easily get down so they climbed back up to the top and searched the large rocky area above. The group eventually found a small crevice which lead deeper. Emilie volunteered. “I’ll go first.” Emilie made her way down. It was tight at the middle but she had plenty of space before the end. She tapped her golden thread on her dress. They glowed revealing a wide open area deeper than she could see and farther than her light spread. “Come down it is clear!” She shouted up.

  The group slowly made their way down to what was effectively a ledge with a carve out that they could rest on. It had plenty of space for them to spread out but no easy way to get down. “How will Cawthorn find us?” Victor asked.

  “I’ll go up.” Emilie volunteered. “I’ll stay at the top it’s covered and shouldn’t be easily visible.”

  “Don’t let her go alone.” Jenora protested.

  “I’ll go with her.” Victor agreed.

  The two of them crawled up and watched the sky lying down on their chests. “So want to talk about it?” Victor asked.

  “No.” Emilie stared at the sky.

  “Think we’ll make it out of hell? We kind of only made it out of the Green Garden by pure luck.” Victor noted.

  “Your skill will definitely be required when we exit this place.” Emilie noted.

  “Yeah you didn’t have to tell me that on this one. We’re in far deeper than we were before.” Victor noted before going quiet watching the sky and the occasional blast of lightning.

  “Alright I do want to talk about it.” Emilie sighed. “Be honest with me can she control it?”

  “No, she’s effectively a different person. The demon form didn’t seem all that bad when she changed and we fed it. It was starved and was effectively born at the moment it changed. It had never seen the light of day and was starving. Can’t say I’d feel much different since I couldn’t distinguish between friend or food in that state.” Victor explained.

  “I knew most of that, I meant will she ever be able to control it?” Emilie looked down at the rocks they laid down on.

  “Oh definitely. Her demon didn’t even bite Serena when she pet her face. I think that demons are just entirely separate people or maybe just an alter ego. It’s a lot like multiple personality disorder but the other personality was literally born yesterday.” Victor explained.

  “I had another nightmare last night it was similar to the first one. I was helpless and about to die to Jenora but instead of swallowing me whole she pinned me down with her massive paw and tore me limb from limb.” She paused panting. “I felt so weak and insignificant. No one showed up that time to save me. I know you and Serena saved me last time but in my dreams the only thing I can remember are those teeth and that empty black mouth.”

  Victor rubbed her back. “I’m here to listen. I’ve not had nightmares since I was a little kid and I read a scary story so I know how much nightmares terrify you but I had a trick. One trick I used was trying to realize it’s a dream. Once you know it’s a dream you can try and control it.”

  “Do you think that will work?” Emilie asked.

  “Not sure. It worked for me so I hope it works for you.” Victor explained.

  “Is there anything else I can do?” Emilie desperately asked.

  “Make up with Jenora, let her transform in front of you and see that her demon form is just a hellhound that wants food, love, and affection like any puppy wants.” Victor just laid it out in front of her without any sense of tact.

  “There’s no way I can do that.” Emilie shook her head.

  “Well even if you never make up with her she still loves you. It is your fear that’s ending the relationship. If you asked me if me being afraid of Serena was ending my relationship with her I’d do literally everything in my power to find my bravery.” Victor explained as a wyvern passed overhead.

  “You’re an angelic knight. It’s easy for you to be brave.” Emilie sighed slumping down.

  Swordie laughed audibly. “No. His stupidity is mistaken for bravery. He’s not a coward but he is foolish.”

  “I’m not stupid. Why does everyone think that? I’m not familiar with this land and the world around me. I make mistakes all the time but I’m doing my best here Swordie.” Victor protested.

  Emilie chuckled. “Well that makes me feel a little bit better. Every now and then I forget you’re a goofball. Your title makes me forget.”

  Victor narrowed his eyes looking out to the gloomy sky. “Just try what I said. If you can’t forgive Jenora that’s tragic but if you don’t try that is dumber than anything I’ve ever done.”

  Emilie nudged him with her elbow. “Nah I’d never do something dumber than you.”

  “You should tell Jenora that you want to be with her you’re just afraid.” Victor looked at her.

  “I refuse to get her hopes up. It hurt too much to do it in the first place.” Emilie shook her head. “I don’t want to get my hopes up either. She scares me more than Forala scares Cawthorn. I can’t be with her as long as that remains.”

  “I don’t want to force you to tell her but if when we get back you don’t at least communicate with her what is going on I can do it for you unless you do not want me to.” Victor noted.

  “You?” She seemed angry before following with. “Would you?”

  “Yes. I’ll tell her you want to be with her but you’re afraid of her.” Victor smiled.

  “You know I stood close enough the other day for her to lick my hand. Outside of the reach of her jaws but close enough to touch her. It made me strangely happy but that night the nightmare still came. If you tell her, don’t let her know I asked you to tell her.” Emilie reminisced sadly.

  “I’ll let her know when we get out of here.” Victor acknowledged her. “Hopefully someday you’ll be able to overcome it.”

  Cawthorn came into view and noticed them hiding. He swooped down and they crawled back down. “Alright Cawthorn what did you find. Keep in mind we have no idea what there is out in that darkness beyond the dim glow of Jenora’s armor and Emilie’s clothes.”

  Cawthorn put his wing to his beak coughing quietly. “We’re doomed.”

  “A resounding vote of confidence from the most confident bird to ever live.” Victor nodded.

  “The tower south of here has the green portal. It’s guarded by an archdevil and an entire legion of highly trained devils wielding magic weapons. The tower is tall and well guarded.” Cawthorn explained. “There is no cover on the way to the tower and sentries stand atop it watching for any intruder.”

  “We’re going to use my skill to approach it. Given what the skill does I think it will work.” Victor noted.

  “Understood!” Cawthorn saluted him with his wing. “We’re fine. The greatest mage in Verdan will save us.”

  “I don’t see him anywhere.” Serena smirked.

  “The greatest mage in hell will save us!” Cawthorn threw his wings up.

  Serena smiled. “I’ll stay on guard. There may be something out in the darkness.”

  Jenora nodded. “I’m really glad this time we’re using Victor’s skill to get us out instead of holding off on it.”

  Gargrim grumbled. “We need to eat but cooking here is suicide. They packed us some bananas we should just eat those first.” He took a bite. “Worthless mush.”

  The rest of them pulled out their bananas. “Swordie is there anything about hell and its effects on magic that we should know?”

  “There are a huge number of modifications to magic in hell but one that stands out more than any other is its effect on two core stats. Flow is massively reduced in efficiency and willpower is 3 times higher here. This makes magic that isn’t amplified less effective against anyone here since willpower increases magic resistance. Your sustained spells are also likely to be significantly less sustainable here.” Swordie explained.

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  Victor was only sustaining vitality boost out of habit at rank 2. He activated speed boost and waited as it slowly began to edge down. “He’s right I can’t even sustain 2 spells here. This is going to be rough.”

  “Is my ring modified?” Brice asked.

  “Your ring doesn’t modify flow. It modifies mana regeneration rate. You’ll be unaffected by this.” Swordie noted.

  Victor pondered for a moment thinking about what Cawthorn had said. “How powerful is an archdevil? How rare? If that’s a better question.”

  Jenora answered before Swordie could. “Archdevils are those at least tier 7 and up. There are a lot of them but they are always spread out because they don’t tend to cooperate. Vazgal is the most powerful one I’ve ever seen. He’s managed to subjugate hundreds of archdevils throughout hell and created a portal that has been maintained on a different level of hell than this one. They seized the southernmost edge of the Eastern Continent of Lotvale and have been fought by the elves ever since. Luckily for us that’s where most of the archdevils end up. Unfortunately there’s still one here.”

  Brice seemed skeptical. “Are you sure that skill of his can actually help us here? Any level 60 creature should be able to flatten us within a few seconds.”

  Emilie simply said. “Oh yeah, it’ll work.”

  Serena nodded. “The way it works is hilariously unfair. If it’s possible at all his goal will come true. The main reason we don’t use it is due to the limited nature.”

  “I can only use it 4 more times my entire life. 3 more times after I use it tomorrow morning.” Victor noted. “It’s extremely concerning that I’ve not even been doing this for even a year and I’m at less than half of my uses.”

  Gargrim looked him straight in his eyes. “You don’t have to be a hero if you don’t want to be. Given your judgment, it might be best.”

  Victor disagreed. “If I don’t why am I here?”

  “Well when a mom and a dad love each other…” Gargrim mused.

  “That’s not what I mean. Swordie can you help me here?” Victor asked.

  Swordie cheerfully noted his very voice almost forming a smile. “No.”

  “You know sometimes I wish you were more helpful.” Victor groaned.

  “I could inform them about a certain skill. That may be considered helpful.” Swordie helpfully noted.

  “No! Thank you Swordie.” Victor understood.

  Brice leaned forward. “I’d love to learn that.”

  “Trust me, you don’t want to know how I got it and you don’t want to be cursed with that knowledge.” Victor insisted.

  Serena nodded almost to a beat. “You’ve no idea.”

  Brice shrugged. “Maybe one day we’ll learn his secret.”

  Jenora laughed. “It can’t be as bad as mine right?”

  Swordie let the pause from the group hang in the air. “Somehow someway this group is cursed to tempt fate. I know not who is cursed but someone is.”

  Jenora shook her head. “It can’t be worse than mine.”

  Serena disagreed. “It is way worse I’m just willing to put up with a lot more than Emilie.”

  Emilie scoffed. “How could it be worse than being a demon huh?”

  Serena smirked at Victor. “Do you want to tell them?”

  “Uh…” Victor paused.

  Swordie interjected. “Oh Goddess this will be entertaining.”

  Luzuzal appeared in his vision with a sun for his single eye and planets for a mouth. Cawthorn could see him too and bristled up saying nothing. “I strongly recommend you do not say anything about that to them. Doing so results in the deaths of at a minimum 1 party member and the dwarf. He kills some or all of you seconds after you reveal it.” Luzuzal disappeared shortly after explaining the stakes.

  “No. I don’t want to create more drama especially since some of the group are already on edge.” Victor explained.

  Jenora nodded almost disappointed and upset. “Yeah I can see why you wouldn’t want to tell people your secret. People aren’t typically accepting of big secrets that fundamentally alter how they see you forever.”

  Emilie protested. “Jenora that isn’t fair. You tried to kill me.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I’ll never have more regret for anything in the rest of my entire life but that doesn’t change what happened and I can’t change what happened.” Jenora pulled her legs close and wrapped her arms around them hiding half her face behind her knees.

  Emilie went quiet and turned away from the group. Brice perked up. “Well! I had 2 questions that I wanted to know the answer to Swordie. Is fire magic effective in hell? Is fire magic effective against demons and devils?”

  “Highly effective!” Swordie noted. “Frost magic is weaker here but fire magic is improved by 3 ranks and its mana cost is decreased, though you cannot select an additional customization unfortunately. As for devils some devils take the resist fire skill since it costs fewer points for devils but others do not take it because many assume all devils have it, thus making it useless to take. In hell heightened fire magic will still be effective even against those which keep their fire resistance skill equal to their tier, unless they just massively over level you. The fire resistance skill scales based on your willpower.”

  “Wait there’s no fire resistance spell?” Victor asked disappointed.

  “There is, it’s a sustained spell and resists a larger amount of damage and when the skill absorbs damage it deals damage to your mana instead of acting like a traditional sustained spell which a moderate to high mana cost. When it absorbs too much it disables for some length of time based on your skill level.” Swordie explained.

  Brice cheered up. “I bet very few demons take the spell. That’s good for us. I can blast things here effectively.”

  “Indeed in hell at least fire is an effective element for all but the highest level devils.” Swordie agreed.

  “Swordie by the way I noticed I have the redeemer title. What does it do?” Victor asked and opened Swordie to the title.

  Redeemer – When attempting to free creatures from transformations, control, or attempting to spare them your magic, skills, and stats are improved temporarily. To activate this title your intent fighting the target must be benevolent and the target must have malevolent intent, murderous intent, or ill will toward you.

  “I don’t think that will be very useful to me in hell.” Victor noted.

  Serena held her hand out and Victor handed over Swordie. “Hey I got it too. Can I set that as my active title Swordie?”

  “Of course!” Swordie assigned her the title. She passed it to Brice. “Oh how delightful! I never completed the teachings for bookworm so this is a nice surprise.”

  Jenora held up here hand no. “I doubt I’ve got anything worthy of looking.” Brice handed it to her anyway. “What is this? Split Personality ?”

  Split Personality – Your mind is split into two or more pieces, each far different than the other. If your mind is effected by a spell or ability you may choose to swap retaining the status or mental effect on the original mind. The second mind will not be effected. You may not swap back while still effected by it. You may attune both personalities to each other. If all of your personalities are in agreement you may utilize all of their abilities in harmony. This title is secret.

  “I guess I didn’t have to tell all of you but there’s no reason to keep it secret from all of you at this point.” Jenora shrugged. “Can you make that my title?”

  “It is done.” Swordie insisted.

  Victor had a nagging question. “Why don’t devils intentionally improve their relationship with their demon form? Wouldn’t that be a valuable asset even if they were evil?”

  Swordie asked almost confused. “Why would an evil creature actively set out to perform such an action and who would actively feed a creature such as that for a long time? Even if they knew for sure they’d be fed there is no compelling reason or way to communicate with their demon form who probably wouldn’t be willing to just hand control back. Your persistence was due to absolute refusal to accept well known facts and violated the rules of logic and reason established for thousands of years. You also had an entire society of powerful creatures who followed a quirky leader who wasn’t pragmatic and spared her after putting her in a cage. Even over 20,000 years that happened ONCE I’d be shocked. Even if it happened 20 times to 20 good devils if they’d transformed one day earlier and were kept fed for 1 day they’d STILL be dead.”

  Victor pondered for a moment. “Why did it hand control back to Jenora?”

  Jenora scratched her head. “I don’t know. I was full and I woke up full. I woke up happier too, especially the second time. So maybe it gave back control because it wanted to take a nap and was happy enough, and felt safe enough to do so.”

  Serena gushed. “That’s adorable.”

  Emilie said nothing but Gargrim did. “I can’t believe you’re encouraging this. That hellhound is a literal demon.”

  “And what about it?” Victor glared at him sternly. “What do you have to say about it huh?”

  “Demons kill people. They murdered my homeland. The only good part about demons is that they tend to live near elves and they kill them. Some offense long ears.” Gargrim nodded to Brice.

  “Some taken.” Brice noted.

  Victor sighed. “Let’s just get some sleep. We shouldn’t antagonize each other in such a serious situation.” The group went to sleep and Serena alternated watches with Gargrim. Nothing interrupted their long sleep waiting for Victor’s skill to provide them with an incredible day.