Robert Blaze was a denizen of the void.

There was no denying this simple fact. The affinities his Prime Vestige granted made complete sense. Time, to act freely in the void. Life, to thrive in the void as an organic being. And the most important of all, Void. When Robert stared at the Void, the Void waved back. Perhaps that's why he managed to channel and use the powers of the void, when he used the unfinished Void Punch on his bed.

And now he knew he could bring guests into the void. Share his talent. But only if these guests behaved themselves. Bereft of his blessing, they would be consumed by the all-devouring void, their souls consigned to nothingness. Maybe, someone with the Time affinity could also move and act in the liminal void but they wouldn't be immune from losing their essence and finally their soul while in here.

The events of this afternoon also revealed why this place was called the liminal void. It was an in-between dimension, the threshold between the real world and the true void. Robert likened it to the backstage of reality. He also knew that he couldn't go to the true void. When Mickey took him to that particular corner of the Netherecho, the cartoon had commented that it was as close to the true void as living creatures could go. Robert remembered what he sensed back then. That under a flimsy curtain of reality, horrors beyond comprehension lurked.

Things that mankind were not meant to know.

The guilt of his actions still weighed heavily on his mind. He didn't believe in the fallacy of having no other choice. He had and he made the choice that felt better for him. At least he wasn't the instigator. It was in self-defense. He had dozens of justifications for what he did and yet none of them soothed the pain.

He knew a reckoning was in the cards. The Robert of the future would need to deal with the consequences of what happened today. The only thing the Robert of the present could do was to guarantee his future self had the tools to use against his tribulations.

Robert's resolve didn't waver as he pondered on the path that led him to risk it all for the sake of power. Going back to the real world, he went back to the Samson passage.

*

*

The guards just nodded as he entered. Everything was the same. Groups waiting for clearance to delve, groups dropping Mollusk corpses for processing, and others coming, going, and just hanging out with their fellow Archhumans. The youngsters in the LFG area sent some hopeful gazes toward Robert. Few of those waiting there delved for the money. Most of them needed to draft reports for school or just get some combat experience. But all of them would be glad to have a healer in their party.

But if they could buy a machine that could mend flesh instead of a person, they would go for the former. The thought disgusted Robert. Not because a hypothetical machine could take over his job but those hopeful gazes were diminishing his existence to exactly that. Perhaps it was just the dark thoughts from his benighted mind.

He approached the front desk.

"Hi, how may we help you, sir?" The man on the other side greeted.

"I want to register for a delving slot."

"Sure, I'll need your ID. Thank you, Mr. Blaze. Where are the others in your party?"

"They went home already. I'm delving solo."

"Sir, we strongly advise against delving without a party." "But you can find a party easily with our LFG feature.

"Solo" was, apparently, a curse word in the Samson Corporation's dictionary. Robert frowned. To him, that meant, we won't allow it but let's put a ribbon on the "no".

"Is there any way I can go alone?"

"I'm sorry, sir. Company policy. Here at Samson, we value the continued survival of our delvers."

Because they were all the children of wealthy families and clans who would give Samson tons of shit if they got more than a few scratches in the passage.

Robert thought about entering with a party and getting "lost" in the passage but then he would place those young adults and teens in danger. There was a reason they were wasting time in the LFG area and not queued for delving.

"Fine, I'll get a party."

"Thank you for understanding, sir. As a compliment from Samson, the party you join will be fast-tracked for a delving slot."

He nodded and went back to the LFG. As he crossed under the three glowing letters, three young ladies approached him. It made sense to send the girls to catch the lone guy you wanted to join your party.

"Good afternoon, Robert!" One of them said first. The other two glanced askew at her. She overheard his name in one of his prior visits. "Are you looking for a group?"

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On the back foot for losing the initiative, the second girl moved a bit too closer. "We can offer you one and a half share if—"

"Two shares!" The third said with a hint of desperation.

The other groups who didn't send bait just watched. They seemed amused. Robert had no doubt he'd become the target of gossip and rumors if he didn't act with extreme caution. He took a step back as he raised both hands. Too late he realized what his gesture could look like. Robert only hoped the fact he was moving away could keep people misreading his intentions.

"Not an auction, sorry. I appreciate your offers, but I won't take more than an equal share."

The two who raised the bid looked dismayed, while the first one seemed to capitalize on her... allure? Yes, let's go with allure.

"I will pick one of your groups, I promise that. But first, let me hear your party composition."

He sat with the three on a table and they started to talk about their parties, roles they could fill in a combat group, their advantages, and so on. Robert heard them, tried to mediate, and keep the animosity between the three in check, and finally, made his decision.

"Your group has three, your group also has three, and you have four. Here's what I suggest, then. Let's join everyone together and have a raid party."

"But my assignment is for a delve group of up to five people!" The second one complained.

"Is it due tomorrow?" He asked.

"Next week." She replied in almost a croak as she expressed her displeasure with tons of vocal fry.

"We delve in a raid group of eleven today, spend two nights in the Mollusk Realm, come back stronger and with more cash in our pockets. If the issue is a delve with five people, we can do it later. Once we get to know each other's fighting styles and abilities better, we can schedule a delve so you can get your credits. I mean, look at me. I will delve with Chris' party later but I don't have an exclusivity contract with them."

Besides, if they had ten people among three groups, why the hell they don't make two five people groups and delve already?

"Is it okay with you and your groups?" Robert asked.

"Yes, but we have conflicting affinities in their groups," the third girl pointed out.

Oh. So that was the reason. Getting into a party with people of the same affinity as you meant you had to share the wisps with the other person, cutting your essence recovery to half of what it could be. Even if Archhumans recovered essence on their own, the speed of natural regeneration paled in comparison to gathering.

"We will outnumber the Mollusks. People can dial back their essence usage, right?"

But they wouldn't like that. Robert attributed a good chunk of the rivalry between these groups to their need to show off and impress their peers. He considered that foolish and childish.

"I guess?" Third girl said.

"We can fight with an arm tied to our backs, too." Second one derided.

That was a discussion he knew he couldn't win. He could make his call and go with the first one, who had been polite all the time.

"To be honest, I tried delving alone but they won't let me. But I need to delve today," Robert said.

The only benefit he gained from talking to them was to clear his mind of the horrors from earlier in the day. He didn't mind their company and attention but knew it would stop at that. While their ages weren't incompatible, they were still on the younger side of the age range he'd consider. No. Robert wasn't about mixing business with the faint promise of pleasure.

"Our only problem is with the Water affinity," the first girl pointed. "If they aren't willing to join the raid party, we could ask them to draw straws. The winner comes, the loser will be scheduled for a later delve."

"We also have two Metal affinities," the second girl pointed.

"There are so little Metal wisps behind that passage that half of them and nothing is the same thing," the third retorted.

"Then it is settled. Let's go."

*

*

And thus, Robert was back in the Mollusk Realm. One of the Metal and two of the Water Archs were asked to stay behind with vague promises of priority next time. The eight-man raid was a thing now.

Robert felt like the chaperone of a summer camp. So much young energy, so much... wealth. These kids were barely adults and Robert didn't doubt the poorest of them was carrying more than a hundred thousand dollars in equipment. Their gear was better than Chris and company.

But now he could take a backseat and watch them in action. He made a mental note to get some ranged healing magic. It didn't even need to be high-quality healing. A first-aid quality at range, in the heat of battle, could turn the tides.

"Enemies ahead!" Their scout, a Nature affinity, shouted. The young man could sense the disturbance creatures caused when moving over the undergrowth.

The overeager warriors readied their weapons and almost rushed into a thick bush that blocked the way the scout pointed at.

"Hey! Don't shoot!" Someone shouted from the other side.

Now they could hear the people run on the other side. They were running toward the raid party.

"I got a bad feeling about this," someone near Robert said.

Robert closed his eyes and used Life Sense. He tuned it to one star and above, to keep the information from overwhelming him. He sensed the other seven in his party, three Archs running around the bush in front of them, and a strong presence coming after the fleeing Archs. Why would three Archhumans be running from one creature?

"What are you running from?" Robert shouted.

The Archs flashed past them on the sides, between gaps in the dense jungle vegetation. They didn't answer but as one of them stared at the raid party, he seemed... relieved. Robert remembered one old joke. When a monster is chasing two people, one of them told the other, "I don't need to run more than the monster, I only need to run faster than you." Whatever was coming their way, was threatening enough to make these guys run. In blatant violation of the rules.

"Retreat!" Robert called. "There's an enemy incoming!"

"We are eight, they were three." One of the vanguard warriors said.

"Guys," girl number one called, "Samson doesn't let a party of three delve!"

Which meant these three were part of a bigger party but not anymore.

"Let's fight!"

"Yeah!"

"For the horde!"

Weird battle shout, Robert thought. He had to see what they were running from. He waited for a moment where nobody was looking at him and ducked into the liminal void. Walking around the massive bush wall, Robert traced back the steps of the other group. He walked through the jungle for a few minutes, climbing and going around the now-immobile vegetation.

Then he saw it. Swimming in the air, tentacles feeling the air forward, and a two-meter body with fins on its side. A massive squid. Robert gasped. Differently from every other creature in the real world he's ever seen, this squid still held onto its colors. And it was slowly moving forward, even in the liminal void. This could only mean one thing.

"It's a deviant," Robert mumbled.

Deviants were mutant versions of normal creatures that were way stronger and had strange powers.

One of the deviant squid's eyes turned and focused on Robert. Then he screamed.