There was just shy of three weeks before the stormchasers arrived to Aezrith, and Nate redoubled his efforts. Because of the uniform nature of many of the buildings in the Artisian, the rooftops had proven a great location to practice his Athletics and Acrobatics skills. He took breaks between training to work during mealtimes at the various food stands, inns, and restaurants that dotted the floating city, learning new recipes. One day he returned to speak with Larch while the Shenanigans were off working on a minor quest about a sand elemental infestation.

  While he picked various foods from the shelves and snacked, Larch told him more about his existence. During a storm in the Sand Seas, a sigil stone spawned into the clouds and fell to the Floating City. This Soul Sigil Stone struck Larch upon landing, and fused within it. Over the next week or so after that, Larch had changed significantly, his face having appeared on the side of the tree. He was able to absorb other sigil stones as well, and was given the Water, Garden, and Growth stones. The result was as they had seen. Larch was able to spread his roots throughout the Vapor Gardens, using his other sigil stones to further establish and maintain the plant growth.

  “And you are contained within this one area?” Nate asked.

  “This is the limit of how far I can reach at my current rank.”

  “And there are skills in which you are unable to train, like the ones that involve movement.”

  “Yes. Only my racial traits, perception, and some of the arcane skills, am I able to train.”

  Nate walked over to Larch and placed a hand on the bark. “Do you need help training? How close are you from ranking up?”

  “At my current rate of growth, it will be another several years before I reach Expert Rank.”

  Nate whistled, “You must be pretty close then!”

  Larch laughed, “I am.”

  Quest: Citybreaker Objective Update!

  Objective: Fulfill the Prophecy! And not just because seeing a floating city crash is kind of awesome! Helping Larch reach Expert Rank may be just the ticket to dropping the city, but how to do it?

  Reward: 1 Magic Item Upgrade Token

  This quest cannot be denied.

  Nate thought about his quest update as he maneuvered through the city. An hour of climbing later and he found himself standing in front of the Silver Vault, squinting as he looked up at the silvered, glittering walls. He took a deep breath and stepped inside. The inside was somehow even more opulent than the outside. Dark blue plush carpet lined the floor, a magical platform cleaning his feet as he walked through. Not a speck of sand was visible in the foyer. Paintings of swirling colors that magically continued to move made him stand staring for long enough that a well dressed Phoenixfolk woman had stepped up beside him.

  “Do you like Zeppel paintings?” her voice crackled like a gentle fireplace. Nate startled from his focus.

  “I love the magical nature of the painting! It’s nearly hypnotic.”

  “I agree entirely. You are an adventurer, yes? Do you wish to open an account today?”

  Nate plucked the key from his inventory, “Actually, I have a key to a lockbox here that I would like to access.”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  She gently plucked the key from his hand and examined it, her eyes widening the longer she looked it over.

  “It cannot be,” she whispered.

  Nate only just noticed that her name tag read ‘Flicker’ when she turned and walked quickly to the front desk. He followed as quickly, given that she still had his key.

  “Have Torch meet us at the vault door,” Flicker told the clerk before motioning for Nate to follow her around to a hallway covered in lockboxes that reminded Nate of a post office.

  “Who's Torch?” Nate asked.

  “The Silver Vault's administrator for as long as many here can remember.”

  After several moments of silence had passed, an old, molted looking Phoenixfolk moved slowly into the room, assisted by his ruby capped walking stick. He barely had any feathers left and looked like a humanoid plucked chicken.

  “Flicker! I told you not to bother me unless…” his voice faltered as he noticed Nate. “The key?”

  Flicker nodded excitedly.

  “Thank the gods!” Torch said, relief flooding his old features as suddenly he burst into flames, his stick clattering to the floor.

  Nate pushed back against the far wall, “I had nothing to do with that!” Thinking he was about to be in more trouble.

  “It’s okay!” Flicker said with reverence, “He is merely returning to the ash. He had to wait for so long. Waiting for you. For the key.”

  As fast as it had begun, the flames snuffed out, leaving a large pile of ash. After as many beats, the ash pile stirred. Three small shapes emerged from the piles. Flicker, without concern for her cleanliness, pulled out a bizarre looking harness that had leather wrapped rods extending out from each shoulder and two out front near her abdomen. She scooped up the three shapes and set each one on a separate rod. As they gripped the rods, each began to glow. A slight vibration shook the ashes off the figures.

  “Are those baby Phoenixfolk?” Nate asked.

  “Of course! As we grow older, our souls burn brighter. When we return to the ash, our souls are reborn. The stronger the soul, the greater the chance it splits to produce more of our kind.”

  “Is Torch one of the newborns? As in, keeping memories?”

  Flicker shook her head, “Some believe it’s possible, but there has been no proof of such a thing happening. One of the reborn may grow to look exactly like Torch, but will have none of his memories.”

  “Fascinating!” Nate said.

  One of the reborn made a small cooing noise. Flicker patted it on the head and smiled. “You ready?”

  “Absolutely!”

  She pulled a separate key out and inserted it into one of the lockboxes, opening that, she placed her hand inside of the box and a glow flared out from it. A ten-foot section of the wall of boxes slid back and to the right, revealing a small room with a chair and a small table upon which sat a lockbox covered in glowing runes.

  “No luck trying to get it open before me?”

  “No one tried. Zeppel, the one who made those paintings we looked at before, left this box with strict instructions.”

  “How long ago?”

  “Fifty years or so.”

  Nate sat in the chair and pulled the box closer to him. The runes lit up and glowed a bit brighter. His voice dropped to a whisper, “I love magic.”

  He held out his hand and Flicker handed the key back. Without any fanfare he inserted the key and turned it.

  A flash of light nearly blinded him as it popped open.

  Inside were three fist sized orbs and a compass engraved with the moon’s phases. To Nate’s surprise, the moon looked like the one from Earth. Quilly analyzed the orbs first.

  Growth Orb (Adept). Type: Consumable. Weight: 1 lb. Value: 25,000,000 gold pieces. Effect: Add 10 points to a skill of your choice. Not usable for skills above or below Adept Rank.

  Nate whistled as he read the entry. There was 75 million gold in growth orbs at his fingertips. In an instant he became a millionaire. Sort of. Then the compass entry came up.

  Eclipse Compass. Type: Wondrous Item. Weight: 1 lb. Value: Unique. Effect: Simone Beaumont, renowned monster hunter, started a monastery to train individuals to fight monsters, but then a cataclysm rendered the island a null zone, and the monastery was abandoned to the monsters that now dwell there. She created this compass originally, and it was blessed by the god Hunting. This compass points the way to the nearest monster.

  Interface Update: The Eclipse Compass can be absorbed by the Interface Sigil Stone to pinpoint the location of legendary wondrous items required to complete the Versal Bridge.

  WARNING! Monsters hate the compass and anyone who wields the Eclipse Compass will draw their ire.