The priest looked at his brother with a kind of stare only kin could decipher, then turned to me with a softer, more curious gaze.
“What are you? What can you do? Why are you here?”
He asked the three questions on everyone’s minds, all at once.

I gave him the same answer I’d given the engineer earlier, which earned a silent nod before he went back to his work. Even so, I kept talking—whether or not he seemed all that interested.

“I’m a summoner—my frog companion holds an internal dimensional space. I have affinities for lightning and metal, which I’ve learned to merge with my body. I specialize in guns and chain blades. You could call me a jack-of-all-trades in combat—mostly mid-range to close-quarters. I can also combine materials into myself. Before all this, I was a private investigator in the city, until I came through the fog with friends to fight against the inevitable but originally I had had the assumption I would have time to investigate what was going on. In terms of days, I’ve only been here a few weeks... but when you count time spent in the portals, I’ve been in this hell for years.”

That’s why some claimed they’d been here for years—because they’d survived time-warped portals. It’s a strange concept, but fascinating. A friend could vanish young and spry, return an old man days later, and die of old age within the week. How humanity would adapt to that... who knows? Maybe most would choose to stay in long-duration dimensions. Maybe one day, the portals would sync up 1:1. Anything’s possible.

“I see…” the priest muttered, going back to painting his symbols onto the hemp rope.

Not much of a talker, that one. Neither of them, it seemed.

The abjurationist girl gave me a once-over, her eyes lingering a bit longer than necessary on my midsection. It felt like a tiger sizing me up as a snack—but in a strange, unreadable way. I shrugged and turned away. Alexandria could be watching, and besides, I doubted I was her type. I’m a particular kind of weird—good weird, I think. She’d figure that out soon enough.

We all needed some kind of release, sure. But not here. Not now. Hell, not me.

The engineer stood staring at the generator like it was a gravestone.
“Why… fuck… what are we supposed to do without the protection of this fortress? This is the only break we get from the horrors outside…”

I looked at him calmly—client-calming expression locked in. The same one I used back when I dealt with paranoid employers and victims too scared to speak about witnessing some happenstance or two.

“How do you feel knowing the real horror is already inside?” I said. “Outside, at least we can fight. Even if the undead get stronger, so do we. But in here? This isn’t safe. I didn’t hide in the fort… I lived in the cabin in the woods.”

All eyes snapped to me. The terramancer sat up fast.
“You what?”

“I stayed in the cabin—the one where you find the generator parts. Except unlike you, I didn’t leave. There are plenty of places to hole up. And from what I’ve learned… this place, the so-called safest one, has the darkest presence of all. Everyday it was from this direction I felt her. I think it was here. She wasn’t coming closer, she was growing stronger.”

The swordsman narrowed his eyes. “I’m Ito. Call me that. My brother’s Tao. What happened when you stayed at the cabin?”

I shrugged. “Wasn’t what I expected. Going solo changed something. The undead didn’t come after me—they were all drawn here, to the fort. The longer I stayed away, the more I could stockpile and scout the area. It took time, but I cleared it. The strange thing? There was something else… a presence. Faint, distant, like a sleeping god. And it started to wake up. The closer I came to this place, the more alive it felt. When I entered the portal and stepped in here—that’s when I knew it had fully awakened.”

“So… it began when we started fighting the seven bosses…” the engineer murmured, more to himself than anyone. He looked pale, stunned, like someone had just told him he was breathing poison.

Frog leapt to my side, our soul-link already responding. He spat out the small handheld generator I’d been given back at the Mage Tower—whatever the hell it’s actually called. Mental note: ask later.

The engineer darted over, eyes wide with curiosity.
“How’d they get this so small? I couldn’t even carry mine in here—I had to rely on charged crystals.”

I placed a hand on the crystal.

“Hey—don’t—” he started, but Ito laid a hand on his shoulder.
“You remember what he said. Affinity for lightning. I have a hunch.”

I nodded, then started cranking the handle. Sparks flickered to life inside the device, dancing toward my hand in blue-white arcs. Two bolts lit up across the back of my right palm—then vanished beneath my glove.

The engineer’s jaw went slack. “Well, I’ll be damned…”

He snatched the generator and kept cranking it, watching the crystal glow a deep blue.
“This’ll hold a charge for days… this thing had to cost a fortune. Why would they—” He paused, then let out a bitter laugh. “Right. We are the reason.”

Funny thing was, it was mostly for me. But I wasn’t gonna say that.

Ito looked to Tao. “So… do you think you can do it?”

Tao shrugged. “I can’t bless vibrating molecules—fire, I mean. But I can lock this place down with help from the abjurationist. Whatever’s burned inside... it won’t be leaving. There is indeed a ritual blessing that involves fire we can set up. Meant mostly for Ghouls, Haunts, spirits…if you’re right, this should work.”

He held up the ropes he’d been working on—long strands of hemp, each wide enough to span a doorway. Every inch was covered in gold-painted mantras and protective sigils. No decorations—pure functionality. Spellwork.

I tilted my head. “And if she tries to leave?”

Tao looked at the rope, then at all of us—then locked eyes with me.
“Someone has to stay behind. Draw her in.”

I raised a hand. “I’ll do it.”

Everyone turned to me like I’d lost my mind.

“Why would you want to get burned alive? What if it gets you?” the cryomancer asked, baffled.

I gave a tired, wry smile.

They didn’t get it. I’d given up my affinity for fire—but that didn’t mean I couldn’t draw it in. Heat exists in everything. What I gave up was the ability to channel it like a mage—to wield it, to walk that path of flame in a way through my ability. It meant I would never get boons, skills, anything related to that element. I think. I don’t think it cut me off from Spiritual Fire if I ever cultivated that but Spiritualists were their own breed of caster. I think it was to sever what paths the power had, or possibly unlike a power, give it structure like magic? That was what I’d severed. But fire’s presence? Its danger? I could still touch it. Still manipulate it—just not own it.

“I have my ways,” I said softly. “I’ll survive the spirit. One way or another.”

I lit the eternal Vannilgirette and took a long, steady drag. The smoke curled from my lips and drifted up to the ceiling before breaking upon the edges of the cut stone of the Fort. Hiding away amongst the dangling wires and rusted pipes.

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“No!” A woman was screaming at the fountain, “You idiot! Why are you always so calm!” Alexandria was being held back from leaping into the fountain by those around. Solomon had finally arrived back; merely 45 or so minutes after Jaeger had left, but had stood by the fountain watching his friend within.

Spear was the weapon he had used to gain Master of one. His skills, like Jaeger with his chain blade, were now exceptionally potent with the spear. He too had succeeded in gaining the hundred percent, and to a truth that only Jaeger could understand, he had too slept with the Princess. It was strange, like Jaeger he wasn’t willing as he was with Ana but for some reason he was drawn into it without emotion. He was beginning to suspect the princess knew of a technique to do so, and the massage was a part of that motion. Slept together though, no sex.

He hoped that wasn’t a way of thanks, Solomon shook his head.

Honor among men, a conversation they had silently had before he left. He would have to ask Jaeger’s take on the situation in there, but it wasn’t important.

“Alex!” He yelled fiercely causing her to stall and turn to him, “If you want to help him…go to the school, make the contract and become stronger!” It wasn’t intended, but after killing as much as Jaeger had and with a preexisting aura of his own, unintentionally some of it leaked from his words.

She swayed, but nodded before turning to the fountain, “If you die…I will burn this place to the ground in your memory…” She moved off towards the mage tower, and stopped one last time to look at Solomon who stood guard with a spear next to the fountain. He nodded, and she sighed before moving through the towers front gates.

Solomon turned to Ana, “Where did Jack and Malcolm go”

Ana looked at him, grateful that he wasn’t the one within the fountain currently. A lot of things went through her mind, but she still answered “They left on their own path to go figure out things about the city…they didn’t plan on staying to work or learn…so they went off to a different sanctuary to see if they could gain other skills and abilities and then come back.”

In response, Solomon smiled and yet felt a little estranged. At the least, he hoped to see his old friends again and wished them well in their choice. The real question however, was what choice was he to make himself now? At this moment there were countless options.

Ana looked at the mage school, “I have a power…so I can’t study there, I already went in earlier with Alex…they make you sign a contract to stay within for four years, within…like the portals, time is different and so it passes much faster than out here. We learned the reason why the people say they have been here a while…is because they have been within there. After the 4 years of safety and learning, you are tasked by the school to go on missions and so all these people around us are in fact people about to depart. I can’t learn there though…because I have a power like I said, and not specifically an affinity. Malcom didn’t want to take his chances gaining something….so he left, should we?”

Solomon sighed, but nodded, “Yes…we have to become stronger too. I learned a lot in there about myself, my power, how I can manipulate it and utilize it in battle…but I need more than that, I have merely mastered my past self.”

Ana slumped against his arm, holding it tight as she layed her head against him. The cold armor under his clothing didn’t deter her, and reminded her more specifically that her knight in shining armor was right here before her.

Solomon used his free hand to rub her head, caressing her hair for a while before flipping the screen on his watch open to watch Jaeger.

“You’re my only princess” Solomon muttered.

“What?” Ana looked up to him. 

“Oh uh nothing"

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I was currently looking at the back of my hand. Two metal symbols glowed with a matte silver light, and the third—flickering softly—was a flame.

It wouldn’t feel great, I knew that. But the flame emblem would at least help deter the worst of the heat, and the metal sigils meant my flesh and skin were reinforced steel. I had chosen the kind of metal that could withstand high temperatures. Countless golden symbols flickered along the surface of my metal skin—etched directly into me by Tao. They didn’t itch, but I knew that if I shifted back into my natural body right now, it would feel itchy as all hell.

My bones, which any normal person would worry about in a transformation like this, didn’t bother me. Whatever Enigma had done to them… it worked. I had an intuitive sense that I didn’t need to worry. A confidence born of ignorance.

Looking around, I saw that each door within the fort was strung with thick rope. When they were laid down, the calligraphy on each one had spread outward like ink dropped in water, covering the doorframes in warm, holy glows.

Whoosh.

I didn’t flinch. I couldn’t—and I wouldn’t—at the sound suddenly chewing into my ears. If I gave away even a hint that I knew she was here, that I could feel her watching, she’d strike immediately. I had to fight the boiling fear rising in my blood and stop myself from glancing at the mirrors that circled me. I was dead center in the fort, and through sheer will had lured her inside.

After confirming her presence—making sure she was watching—I had pretended to casually decorate the room. Only once the final rope was placed would the enchantments activate, their wards expanding in secret. To her, the ropes probably looked like some crude golden prayer charms—cheap and useless.

The others had pretended to argue with me before storming out, leaving me behind to "keep watch." Gods willing, that little pantomime had sold it. I’d had to mime subtly, cue them to the right moves without tipping her off. She hadn’t been paying attention earlier, when I’d said to burn the place to the ground. But something had changed after I arrived. Now she was watching me. Keenly.

Clingy ghost bitch. Creepy as hell. Never thought I’d say that.

But she watched now—with a death glare that chilled me to my marrow. I could feel it. She was trying to decipher what we’d done. Why she couldn’t leave. Why I hadn’t panicked yet. Killing me might trap her here permanently. And what kind of humans would just kill one of their own? And on top of that—where had they gone, really? These imagining of her thoughts eased a bit of my tension.

Trickery. It was the one thing none of the other groups had used. The one thing she would never expect. Humans have this insane ability to be unpredictable—to be wild, emotional, inconsistent. But until now, every group had fought fire with fire. That’s what this group had planned to do too. And that’s why they had almost failed.

I paced back and forth, dragging on my eternal vanilla cigarette like it was the last good thing in the world. I was wearing regular clothes—my armor, gun holsters, and other gear long since tucked away inside Frog. Why burn the good gear if things went sideways? Especially if sideways meant fire.

Frog danced around my shoulders, ribbited twice, and vanished into a lazy swirl of mist.

I exhaled a slow plume of smoke.

A wide puddle of unknown liquid spread across the floor. From it, several sticky tendrils crept into air ducts and out through other corners of the fort—mixed with compounds from around the base to make it thick enough to cling to walls. Fire-ready.

I summoned Frog again and flicked the used cig into his mouth like some mystical ashtray. Before it even disappeared, another had formed between my fingers, freshly lit. I wasn’t about to ash on that handsome little bastard.

If she follows me in… I’d be handing her an escape route.
So I can’t hide inside Frog. Not this time. Fuck me.

Frog vanished again into the mist—and didn’t come back.

I looked down at the puddle and feigned a shiver. I was actually cold. The aura she gave off had a bone-deep chill, like frost creeping through my chest. I knelt beside the liquid, slowly assembling pieces of dry wood into a small, tight tipi and lit a match.

She stepped out of the mirror with a sound like ancient bones twisting in protest. No words. Just the creak of time.

I didn’t stop building the fire. Just kept moving, deliberate and calm, like it was nothing more than a campfire on a rainy day. When the wood was stacked, I stood up and pulled a cheap pistol from my belt—a throwaway 9mm I’d kept around for reasons just like this.

She crept forward, silent. Her face was obscured by long black hair, her skin pale as death. Her hand reached toward my neck—hovered there—then stopped. Crimson eyes gleamed from behind the veil of hair as the air turned heavy. Still.

I didn’t hesitate.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

I shot out every mirror in the room without looking. Sparks flew as glass shattered and rained down like falling stars. I dropped the gun and pulled out a lighter.

“Can you talk?” I asked.

My hand hovered above the fuel-soaked tipi. The engineer had left me gallons of the stuff—volatile, high-burn, fast spread.

She didn’t answer. Her hand remained raised, her eyes scanning through me like I wasn’t even real.

“Can’t? Or won’t?” I whispered. “I wish we could talk. If you understand me, then… I’m sorry. I always respect the dead. I promise.”

She lowered her hand. Quietly. Slowly. Then reached out—touched my hand, the one holding the lighter.

Behind her hair, I saw her face. She was beautiful, but weathered. Worn. Tired in a way that went beyond death. She didn’t speak—but the gesture was enough.

A chill surged down into my metal fingers, and with it came something heavier than the air. A feeling of sadness so intense it stole the breath from my lungs.

“I…” My throat clenched. That feeling—gods, it crushed me. It twisted my stomach and made me want to collapse on the floor and cry until time stopped. What kind of pain had this woman endured in her life… or her death?

She pulled her hand back.

The weight vanished.

I inhaled deeply, the pressure in my chest slowly unwinding. Like an invisible chain had slipped off my ribs.

“You won’t kill me now…” I said banking on simply being partially right. “Not now that you’re trapped. There’s no point fighting anymore—not when release is so close. No one can stop you now… from finally being free.”

The lighter flicked, its flame casting dancing shadows across my face. Shards of broken mirror reflected my metallic skin—my reflection staring back at me beside her ghostly frame. The firelight slid down my fingers as I let the lighter drop.

Clink.

It landed on the edge of the tipi. The flame kissed the fuel.

A wave of fire surged outward from the puddle, racing through every duct and crevice like a spiderweb catching flame.

Two figures—one metal, one ghost—danced in the flickering blaze reflected in broken glass

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ito and Tao were at the forefront watching from outside the fort as flame burst out air ducts at wicked velocities, before smoke clouded the sky in dark grey and ash.

The 5 watched as stone cracked and lesser material melted, even the doors collapsed. A red hot burning figure slowly walked out from one of the doors clutching something in his hands. Rain began to fall heavily, and slowly the red hot figure turned grey in color as sizzling sounds danced off their body. Jaeger collapsed on the ground, and let his body slowly cool down. After a while, metal slowly sank from his body as if the rain was washing it away. The earth and plants around him slowly absorbed what his body let off and turned to steel. Ito picked up a flower, and rolled it in his hands with a pondering look.

“What a strange power…hmm…” Ito was very fascinated, his brother Tao pocketing several casually as he looked over Jaeger.

Tao looked at the cracked lines he had carved into Jaeger’s once metal skin, “They will heal… I didn’t go too deep on purpose."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had passed out. When my metal skin and muscle reverted back to flesh, the lingering heat had caused my very blood to tremble. If it hadn’t been for the cryomancer lacing the weather with cold rain, I might’ve gone up in flames right then and there—unable to control my ability in that state.

When I finally came to, a string of soft chimes rang out—only I could hear them. That oh-so-familiar ring. God bless, I got something out of this.

Somewhere, somehow, I’d have to ask someone if it was possible to change the notification sound. It wasn’t bad—just a simple ding—but I needed something with more character. Something casual. Like a bird whistle. Or maybe… a frog croak.

Lazily swiping a finger across my watch, I waved that same hand through the air to summon Frog. Morning fog curled through the swamp like ghosts rising from the earth, and that was when I realized—I had been moved.

I wasn’t stiff. Wasn’t sore. Too comfortable. No way I was still lying on the damp ground where I had passed out.

Looking around, I recognized the cabin almost immediately. The same one I’d lived in for a good while during the trials.

“We brought you here,” Ito said from beside me, his blade resting across his lap and angled toward the door. I hadn’t even noticed he was there. “You said this was where you stayed most of the time during the trials.”

I rubbed my eyes, taking one short breath in—and then a long one out. Slowly, I rolled off the bed and stood, bones creaking but whole.

Opening the cabin door, I stepped into the cool mist and lay Frog about five feet ahead. He hit the ground with a soft plop, opened his mouth, and the fog began to swirl. A vortex formed, twisting the morning haze into a concentrated cloud that spiraled upward. It wrapped around me like breath, like memory. Like home.

I was naked. The clothes I’d worn before had burned away. Why they hadn’t bothered to put anything on me didn’t really matter. That was a conversation for some distant time—probably with more alcohol and less haunted fire.

The recycled mist washed over me—fresh, pure, with the exact scent I needed to break the last haze from my mind. It whispered across my skin like a lover's caress. Look at me getting all poetic and shit.

After fifteen minutes and one more short breath, then long, I motioned to Frog and from his inner space he coughed up my cigarette and left it to dangle on his mouth. I snatched it up with a laugh, “Those are bad for you” Lit it with my custom lighter he coughed up a second later. Then I wrapped a blanket around my waist, took the closest chair in front of the cabin, and sat. Balls out, cigarette in my mouth without a care in the world.

Hell, if this place wasn’t such a nightmare, it might actually be… peaceful.

Ito came out and sat in the chair next to me. His gaze was curious, but steady.

“What did you gain?” he asked, voice low, almost casual—but the glint in his eye gave him away.

I waved him off with my free hand, puffing once on the cigarette before answering.

“First… bring the engineer to me. With the device. Do we have any coffee? And Frog get me some damn pants before with a glance people think I’m small or something from the cold air”

Ito smirked.

“Hey it’s not small okay, it’s genuinely cold out and I’m naked”

Puff.

“I got it!” Ito turned and shouted toward the cabin. “Come out front, Jax!”

The engineer came shambling from around the side of the building, eyes sunken but alert, rings beneath them etched in fatigue. Still, there was a spark—like he’d been up all night turning over some new discovery.

Ito gestured toward me, and Jax nodded with understanding. He hurried over, dropped to one knee, and began cranking the generator. Blue sparks crackled out like miniature bolts of lightning, leaping toward my hand before vanishing into the sigils embedded in my skin.

When two of them glowed fully. Jax scurried back off into the mist with intent.

“Better?” Ito asked, watching me closely now.

Frog materialized a pair of ninja pants and I gave an accepting nod. With my ass not out for the fountain folk to see, well, “Better. Not great.”

With another drag of the cigarette, I lifted my wrist and swiped my finger across the watch display. The screen lit up, glowing faintly in the fog.

Ito leaned in slightly, not close enough to crowd me, but just enough to signal interest. He always did seem more intrigued by items, artifacts, and strange tools than anything else. Tao, on the other hand, liked books and knowledge, dissecting everything with that calm priest’s mind of his. If he even was a priest. Supposedly people of the same vessel type could be aware of eachother with practice, I didn’t sense any ‘holy aura’ off the guy, but it’s not like I had a teacher to learn from. Spiritual sense, that was a good name for sensing that spirit.

Now that I was fully awake, I figured it was time to see just what the hell I’d earned.

‘You have been the first to kill a boss of this level.’

‘You have been rewarded a choice of 7 different items, the choice will not affect the other rewards.’

‘Choose from the following:

Sword of the Abyss.

Volcanic Obsidian Great Axe.

Wind Wand.

Cloak of the wraith.

Reality Marble.

Cloud Lyre.

Combination wrench.

You can proceed to the next reward only after the choice from the previous list.’

“Will you ever use anything else then that sword?” I asked lightly as I took another hit of my smoke in contemplation.

“No…I made this blade and this blade alone is my choice in weapon. No other…” Ito sounded fierce as he said this, like he had no semblance of doubt in himself.

I nodded, casting him a look as well as the smoke in my hand. Ito caught it and smelled the cigarette “is that…is that sugar?”

“Where the fuck did you get sugar from, its vanilla yeesh. Smoking sugar would just hurt” I smirked. It felt almost like a gimmick now to mention the flavor, but well, a man needed hobbies in hell.

“Sounds nice…I usually smoke clover, but this is good too…” Ito lit up the cigarette that had turned back into its full form now that I had finished it, I probably would have caught his surprise if it wasn’t for the fact I looked back to the display before me. 

He wasn’t the only one curious here. I tapped each of the items to see what they did,

‘Sword of the abyss: This blade can draw a spirit into itself. The spirit can then be manifested with strikes, or controlled with the blade itself to fight. The limit depends on the user.

Volcanic Obsidian Great axe: A great axe forged from the obsidian of one of the greatest mountains and volcanoes. Tempered by the heat, this Axe is best for those of fire and Earth affinity, great strength, or will.

Wind wand: this wand is in the shape of a fan, and can boost certain aspects of a person as well as send gusts of wind and storms.

Cloak of the wraith: This cloak can conceal its user while in darkness.

Reality Marble: This small marble in fact contains mystical illusions, and can change the way senses interact in the world. To a point, it can cast a great illusion that changes the way reality is perceived around you.

Cloud Lyre: A lyre of unknown origin, with the power to change clouds. It can manipulate; clouds, mists, and fog. It has the hidden potential, if a user is learned enough, to also buff its user and those around them with its sounds.

Combination wrench: merely a title, this item is only given to those first to defeat a boss of this level. By choosing this item, you can combine two of any of the previous items listed’

I felt something in my gut, excitement? ‘That’s…actually real funny, I used to play a lyre in that orphanage before I left…did it know that?’ Reminiscing memories flooded my mind of my muddled childhood without parents, the man he had been left to and looked after in the city after his parents perished to bring him here. I tapped the combination wrench. It didn’t matter what he choose, he would get two things with this choice.

‘Sword of the Abyss + Wraith cloak’

‘Volcanic Obsidian Great Axe + Wind wand’

‘Cloud Lyre + Reality Marble’

‘Hmm…there are skills or abilities that do what the wraith cloak does, and the sword isn’t my style. Cool ability…but eh…I don’t do axes, nor wind things so…cloud lyre and reality marble huh.’

I tapped these two and soon the listing disappeared leaving an item in my lap.

“Eh? IS that it?” Ito looked at the instrument that fell into my lap, I shook my head.

‘Dream cloud Lyre: This lyre can control mists and fog. Its secondary ability is to control the reality marble attached to it; this marble can change the perceived environment and surroundings. When the fog that is controlled and the marble are combined, the fog that is breathed in can solicit certain feelings of those affected or be used as medium for other skills.’

‘Poison? Buffs? So the marble can make the fog controlled have an application to it…hmm…’ I looked down at the lyre, it had a total of 9 strings. Two long arms came up from the sides of the lyre and curved like an Apollo Lyre and yet the base in which the string fell over was wide and long like a Pluto lyre. This base had carvings, so intricate that it looked like mist and clouds were spiraling around it at all times.

‘it isn’t crazy, but my frog just happens to be able to make fog…I’ll have to remember how to play though, or maybe I can go beat 10,000 ninja to death with it hahaha’ Ito looked at my mischievous smile and laughed.

It seemed the lyre was made of some unknown material, and with only godly powers would it break now that the reality marble had combined with it.

A strap went from the top of the left arm to the bottom right side of the base. I set it leaning on the chair I was on before looking back at my watch. Though it wasn’t said before, the light up function was extremely useful in pitch black for not fumbling around.

“What did you get?” I asked Ito.

“Oh uh…” He fumbled in his pockets and brought out a small flask, “If I drink this it will double my speed and strength for ten minutes. Afterwards I fall asleep.”

“Well that’s…that’s actually not bad, as long as a fight doesn’t go past ten minutes”

‘By being the one in the presence of the boss, and with the thought in mind to self-sacrifice you have earned greater reward. Choose amongst the following list of 6 skills’

‘Hmm’s this was another reason why I had chose to stay behind and not just because I had the greatest chance of survival. I wanted to monopolize the rewards! Evil? No, greedy? Possibly. I knew that the risk had to be taken, amongst us I was the weakest. It wasn’t a scheme actually this was a great surprise. To me it had simply been the best option with the highest survival rate in that moment.  

‘Swift Movement: 30% increase in speed and endurance while moving. Lowered 30% speed and endurance for the same duration used, afterwards.

Torrent: whenever you use an ability, or skill, related to magic. Using this skill will push a greater amount of energy from you into your attack. Overdrawing and cause exhaustion.

Summon object: summon an item from a distant place, depends on that in which you can carry personally. The stronger you are, the larger the thing you can summon. Must be marked beforehand.

Mirror manipulator: Travel into an identical mirror image world, where things cannot be affected. To leave, you must find a mirror and go through it. Spirits roam this plane, it is not as safe as you think it is.

Material augment: Enhance a certain material to become stronger or sharper.

Buff other: Apply a buff that would be on yourself to another individual, at the cost of losing your buff for yourself to them for the duration used’

‘Well…I guess things don’t come without a cost if they are just given to you’ my brain feverishly processed quite a few things before I settled on choosing Material augment. If I could absorb material and quite closely become it, if it was enhanced beforehand would this not be better?

Summon object was useful, but not with a spatial frog. He could just carry what he needed, it was very niche. A simple tap with my finger, and a light suffused from the watch onto my right hand. A small dot appeared above where the sigils sat.

‘Skill acquired, Material Augment: Enhance a material or an aspect thereof. Steel will become stronger, and rubber more elastic.  Enhance progress 1%’

“So it is like the master of one skill…hmm…” I was pleased with this; the material augment didn’t say it had a draw back. Of course that would be it would begin at 1% but this wasn’t a drawback, he absorbed materials like metal all the time. Hell, he just lived recently because he did that very thing.

‘You have acquired the ghost heart: A heart of a distraught spirit, forced within limbo to continually guard against those seeking power. When the spirit has been captured, and those that have captured it have no ill will… The spirit will give itself up.’

“That’s why…fuck…”

Ito heard my strange muttering, but shook his head and continued to enjoy the strange flavored smoke I had let him taste.

‘Use the Ghost Heart: Apply this to an item, weapon, or object and it will have a random chance of acquiring a skill, trait, or aspect.

Uses: one time, cannot be combined with duplication skills or otherwise double trigger effect abilities or skills.

Bases: The aspect, skill, or trait is based on you as a person. The heart weighs that in which you want, but most importantly what you need. Think wisely on that in which you use the heart on…the next time you acquire a heart, it will have been on the edge of life and death.’

“Hmm…fuck…” I looked up at Ito a couple times before catching his eye.

“Well…” after explaining what my watch had told me, Ito nodded that it made sense. Sometimes you could get a reward based on the creature, or not. In this case, it was a versatile reward that anyone could use. It was much rarer than getting some random wand that shoots fireballs or controls twigs and mountains.

“What are you thinking about using it on?” Ito put out the cigarette only to find it brand new in his hands, as his eyebrows were rising again I snatched it out of his hand.

As if I hadn’t done it, I lit the smoke and took a deep breathe before speaking, “I am a user of guns…of course applying it to my gun would be great, its already as I would want it to be. However, the gun is versatile and already has several runes on it. I also…use a chain blade…I could apply it to that, but to use the heart on it would mean I am dedicating myself to such a weapon…which honestly, I think I might, because I love it a lot.”

“If you apply it to a support item that would help you just as much, people always think far too much about the weapon in hand then the shield on the back…or so the saying goes.” Ito only gave him ideas; he didn’t want to directly tell me the paths to take and I appreciated that. 

More so in his following words as I looked at the Lyre in my lap.

“You know, a Magician bard is also a type of magic user…known for support roles, diverse skills and buffs. If that Lyre is as good as it feels, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep it as is. You are right about your gun…you can always add to it later, or even get other skills to buff it up…if you dedicate yourself to the chain blade…truly, dedicate yourself, Jaeger.”

“Mmm…” I picked up the Lyre and began to strum it. Soft melodies were broken by a random cord, but soon I remembered some of the things I was taught and the sounds that came forth were beautiful at least to my ears.

“Damn you picked that up fast…” Ito closed his eyes to listen.

“Well I have an advantage with my brain right now…haha…” Truly, to be able to accelerate a mind was an unheard of skill.

Slowly I began to stop strumming, and took out the chain blade, my curiosity overcoming my mood to play again. After a while of hesitation I finally gathered some resolve and decided this would be the right choice. I could always find a replacement weapon later on if I didn’t like it, for now it would serve me well as a mid-range and close range melee weapon. In other words, I didn’t have the choice for anything else right now and it was simply the best at hand.

‘Are you sure you would like to apply the Heart of the Ghost to the Chain blade?’ His watch asked this several times to verify. I nodded subconsciously and pressed yes once more. The watch dimmed out, and the heart of the ghost disappeared amongst the list of choices. The chain blade glimmered and floated up as my watch surged with energy. It released a wisp of cool air that surrounded the chain blade and after over an hour the cool air disappeared, landing the chain blade in my hands.

‘Damn that took a long time’ I opened up my watch to see what effect I had been given, or rather the chain blade.

‘You now have a new effect on a weapon you carry. Chain blade proficiency is still at 100%.’

Below this notification was a strange name, ‘Chain blade trait: Eldritch Bane: Has an aura that radiates neutrality, when used it takes on the nature of the user wielding it.’

‘That means…if I have lightning in me, it does lightning damage…fire…well fire…rubber would also mean elasticity? Interesting.’ this meant my weapon was equivalent to my own body.

A second title was under this however, ‘Summon: You are now interlinked with your weapon, and can stow it in an alternate space, or summon it for use.’

“Not all that useful I guess…at least for now. The other one is what is most useful…seems interlinked to what runes I have on my hand.” Looking at the chain blade, I then cast it into the air. It plopped onto the ground and didn’t disappear as I thought it would.

I sighed, “Touch activated…” I picked it up and gave it the thought to disappear and it vanished from my hands. At least that was simple. Just for kicks I held my hand against the wall, it was summoned in an unoccupied space. So I couldn’t just press my hand against someone. I sighed but agreed that would be broken. 

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After a while of relaxing, I joined the others in the small clearing behind the cabin. The earth had been shaped into a functional space: a fire pit, stacked resources like firewood, and a few scattered tools for maintenance. The cabin itself was only a couple hundred square feet with four main rooms, but no indoor bathrooms. So amenities like this—especially with seven people crammed in—had to be improvised.

Ito clapped his hands lightly a couple of times to get everyone’s attention.

“We’ve only got several days to prepare for whatever the hell comes next. Jaeger…” He said my name with a tone that made it sound like I was a fool for being the only one who had bothered exploring. But he continued, “You’ve seen more of this place than any of us. Could you tell us where you think would be the best place to fight?”

I nodded. “In fact, there are several options. I haven’t reached every edge of the map, but I have reached the nearest one to here. It’s about 50 miles west of this spot. 55 from the fort bunker... 35 from the hermit shack... 20 from the caves... and 10 from the lake. As I’m saying these out loud, I hope you’re catching the hint—that direction leads to all of those.”

The priest, Tao, looked at me with a thoughtful expression. “What is ‘the limit’ of this dimension?”

“Well... it’s a sheer drop into nothing. We’re surrounded by fog in this space. I climbed down quite a bit, but never once touched bottom. It’s like an abyss—a vast, grey nothing. There’s no wind. No sound. Just fog and the fall.”

Tao twitched slightly at that, though he quickly recomposed himself. “I see...” He turned to look west, toward that unknowable edge.

The cryomancer—Drek, I’d come to learn—was the first to voice a tactical idea. “Why don’t we lure the next one to the cliff and bombard it from behind? Knock it straight off.”

I nodded, acknowledging the thought. “A fair idea. But let’s consider the consequences. What if the creature doesn’t die from the fall? Say it doesn’t need to eat—what then? It could fall forever. We'd never reach it again, not even if we leapt off after it—and that’d be a one-way ticket. We’d starve before we even saw the thing again.

“Worse, what if it doesn’t fall? What if the bombardment fails, or it’s another massive beast like before? The person luring it to the cliff would die, guaranteed. And even if we succeeded, we’d be left fighting with an abyss taking up half the battlefield.”

Drek opened his mouth to argue but thought better of it. He nodded and kept quiet.

Kito, the abjurationist, spoke next. “Should we select multiple locations? In case the next thing we face is a giant, a ghost, or... whatever?”

Ito nodded. “That’s probably the best option. But scouting each site thoroughly will take time—and time’s the one thing we’re short on.”

Jax glanced back toward the cabin. “For what it’s worth, this place has a lighting system—batteries. They last about a day, then someone has to crank the handheld generator for a while to recharge them. The walls are thick—nine inches, surprisingly, because of the type of wood used. And the windows are sturdier than you'd think. It’s not the worst place to hole up.”

He paused, rubbing his arms. “There’s a basement too. Made entirely of concrete. Two entrances—one on each side of the cabin.”

I shrugged. “I never used it. Didn’t want to trap myself in there. If something got in from both sides, that place would turn into a slaughterhouse.”

Jax visibly shivered at the thought, but Ito gave him a firm nod. “Thanks, Jax. That’s good to know.”

The engineer wrung his hands a little, clearly unsettled. I couldn’t blame him. The fully fortified bunker we’d all counted on was now a ruin. And no matter how hard he tried to seem useful... the fear was written all over him.

Hell, I didn’t want to die either.

But the way things were going... we just might in the coming days.