Milo arrives back at Corwen with a few humans who had been hanging out at Grubwick learning Goblin or whatever it was they were doing.

One of the visitors plays Leaves, that stupid card game Milo got into, and has promised him a rare card if the goblin can beat him. A card-playing goblin is too good an opportunity to pass up, apparently. Milo attempts to regale me with the details of the competition but I kind of tune him out.

“One of their kids tried to rob the workshop yesterday,” I tell him quietly.

“Really?” Milo says. “What were they after?”

“Sigil ink, he claimed,” I say. “I don’t know if that’s true or he was just making an excuse for what he was really after, but he seemed terrified of my mom.”

“What is sigil ink used for?” Milo asks. “Sigils, I assume?”

“So I would guess,” I say. “I’d have to ask my mom or read a book for specifics. I haven’t looked up more than the basics of the magic skills I can’t actually use yet. I have, however, discovered that there are some skills that might as well be magic that I can already use, and you very likely can use too.”

“Really?” Milo asks. “The Soul skills?”

I nod. “Out of curiosity, what’s your Soul attribute at?”

“37,” Milo replies.

“I was told that it depends on how many times you’ve been reincarnated,” I say. “Though both of us only seem to remember one life on Earth. I’ve been… getting flashbacks to weird things lately. In any case, I’d like to see if you can learn some of the skills I’ve unlocked.”

“Sounds great. Like what?”

I send to him, [Like this.]

“Whoa!” Milo exclaims. “What is that?”

“Clairvoyance (Telepathy). Every use of it costs some Inspiration, so I can’t quite use it entirely freely yet, but—”

“—but it’s still awesome,” Milo says.

I describe to him the various skills Clairvoyance and Recollection have given me since we last met.

“I don’t know how useful Recollection would be to me,” Milo says. “I already remember my life in perfect clarity. Probably even better than before old age set in. But if I’ve actually lived another 36 lives… no, I think I’d rather just be me. That’s enough.”

“I agree, really. The latter half of my first life—if that actually was my first life—feels so surreal that it might as well be another lifetime. I don’t know what sort of future we wound up in if humans somehow discovered psychic powers.”

Milo nods. “I would find it unbelievable but—”

He gestures to the guest house around us full of magitech appliances and fixtures, a jester telekinetically juggling colored balls, and a giant spider in a dress drinking a pink beverage through a straw.

“Yeah,” I say with a chuckle. “How did we even get this far? In any case, if the only requirement is having the Soul attribute, then you should be able to do these things. Did you ever get through those [Aura Sight] exercises I mentioned?”

“I still haven’t managed to see auras,” Milo says. “How did you even unlock it in the first place?”

“I just… opened my eyes,” I say. “It took months of really looking at different things, and now that I’ve been leveling it up, I can pick out more specifics, like species and gender. Being able to see people’s status screens might be a gamer changer, so to speak.”

Category Person Race Goblin Gender Male Rank Elite

I send him his own status, and add, “I think I’m starting to be able to determine where people are from, but I haven’t quite pinned it down yet.”

“That is really useful,” Milo says. “As soon as I hit Elite, I’ve been focusing on learning Incantation. Words of power, true names, voice magic, matter of that nature. Your Uncle Falcon has been teaching me. In between regaling me with tales of everyone he has bedded, women and men.”

“Right… Uncle Falcon,” I say with a chuckle.

“I have been… trying not to get embarrassed about it. Men didn’t speak of writing love sonnets for other men, in a place and time that is no longer relevant. Compared to the numbers in my head and the glowing crystal orbs in the sky, that’s nothing. No one even understands when I speak of my wife, or of raising my own children, or indeed of knowing who my own children even are.” He shakes his head. “But enough of this melancholy. I need to learn how to see those boxes.”

I take Milo around the village (aside from the Hearth, of course) to give him a chance to look at—or at least try to look at—the auras of different people, animals, and plants. As we circle around to behind the workshop, I spot a violet aura around an otherwise unremarkable shrub. Upon a closer examination of the aura, I quickly determine that it’s Dirk Kelso again.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

I have an Elite with me this time and I’m far less concerned about how dangerous Dirk might actually be. [That kid who tried to steal from the workshop is hiding in that bush over there,] I tell Milo. [Probably waiting until it’s clear to try to sneak in again. This is getting annoying. He’s Elite rank, but I don’t think he’s combat-oriented, or if he is, at least realizes that he’d get his butt handed to him in no time if he actually hurts anyone.]

Milo stares at the bush I indicate while trying not to look like he’s staring. The bush might be becoming increasingly nervous, and I have to wonder if emotional state is something else I should be able to pick up on.

“Aha!” Milo says quietly. “Got it!” He walks up toward the bush and says in a voice projecting more depth and authority than a tiny goblin would normally be capable of summoning, “Hold it right there! Don’t move! Turn off that invisibility right now, young man!”

Dirk fades into view and whimpers softly. He seems just as terrified of this tiny goblin as he was of my mom, and Milo is even tinier than goblins usually are.

Meanwhile, I send a message to Anise (after getting close enough to reach her this time instead of causing myself Sanity damage trying to stretch my skills) telling her, [We found Dirk Kelso trying to sneak into the workshop again. Could you come?]

I suppose I will next need to figure out how to get a reply out of people, but this is already super convenient.

“You’re still after the sigil ink?” I ask. “What do you even need it for?”

“A quest!” Dirk says. “It… alright, it doesn’t actually have to be stolen. But I want to complete this quest with stealth to make sure I get a Rogue-type class.”

As he’s speaking, Anise walks up. “You again? Really? Are you* trying* to get your uncle and everyone thrown out of here unpaid?”

“He seems a little single-minded,” I say. “Where do you even get sigil ink, anyway?”

“It’s made from the ichor of certain types of monsters,” Anise says. “I spend a lot of time collecting ichor because everyone always wants more of the stuff.”

“What’s ichor?” Dirk asks. “Sounds… icky.”

“Eh, you get used to it,” Anise says. “You ever do a dungeon before?”

Dirk shakes his head.

“Do you actually want to get that ink? I have an idea. Dirk, use your sneaky skills to sneak yourself outside and wait. We must gather our party before venturing forth.”

Dirk sneaks outside, and we collect Meadow and our packs before joining him.

“Congratulations on doing the one sensible thing I’ve seen you do since you got here,” Anise says. “And that includes the things I didn’t see you do because you were invisible.”

“Where are we going?” Dirk asks.

“There’s a dungeon near here called the Spooky Grove,” Anise says. “You can get ichor for sigil in there. That’s where we get most of our stores. You would know that if you thought to look at anything beyond doing the same thing over and over again even though it wasn’t working.”

“Why would you help me now, though?” Dirk wonders.

“You might not thank me when we arrive,” Anise says, and chuckles. “You know, Dirk, my old party leader would never have allowed you to be in the same party as Drake.”

“Why not?” Dirk wonders.

“Because your names both start with D,” Anise says. “That guy rejected perfectly good candidates because they were named Aisha and Alder, because he didn’t want more than one person in the party to have names starting with A.”

“That’s silly.”

“You will find adventurers are all a little eccentric.”

The Spooky Grove is in a different direction from the Hedge Maze, southeast of Corwen rather than north. I haven’t been down this way very far before and I’m interested in seeing what another dungeon might be like. It must not be too dangerous if my mom is willing to take me along.

Before we leave, she tells Grandma Laurel what we were doing and where we’re going, like a sensible adult. (Because I remind her to make sure Grandma Laurel isn’t surprised by us kidnapping a kid who isn’t even supposed to be in town. It’s on the kid whether he tells his uncle where he’s going. That bit’s not my problem.)

The road leading to the dungeon is an overgrown dirt path encroached with weeds, but Meadow has no trouble following it. Although the same green sky hangs above us, it seems somehow eerier in this part of the domain. Twisted, gnarled trees surround a hedge of brambles, and the shadows underneath the dense canopy certainly make this look as much like a dungeon as a forest might get.

A wrought iron fence marks the actual entrance to the dungeon, similar to the one to the Hedge Maze, but considerably spikier and more sinister-looking. There might be a correlation between spikiness and sinister perception, but it doesn’t stop at the gates.

You have discovered the Spooky Grove. Your Survival (Hiking) skill has increased to level 2.

Knots like eyes cover the crooked trees inside the grove. I can’t see any monsters from in here, but my imagination has been running wild with speculation for the entire time it took to walk here. If the dungeon core is reading my mind to find things that might spook me to spawn, it certainly has a lot of material to work with.

“Alright,” Anise says. “There’s a few monsters in here with fluids that can be used to make sigil ink. The most common one on the first floor here is a tree monster with magic black sap.”

“I thought you said it was icky,” Dirk says.

“It’s still pretty icky,” Anise says. “You want to complete your quest with stealth? Sneak in there and tap that sap without anything scaring you to death. If you don’t come out in an hour, we’ll go rescue you or retrieve your corpse, whichever.”

Dirk whimpers again as Anise casually starts setting up camp.

“Or if you’d rather go in with the whole party, go find some firewood and get a fire started,” Anise says.

“I don’t have any Survival skills,” Dirk says quietly.

“Pfft, what in the Heavens are they teaching you Crux kids?”

Dirk sighs. “I suppose if you brought the little kid with you, it can’t be too dangerous…”

“Overcome your fear, Dirk! You can do it!” Milo says, and I can practically feel the [Encouraging Speech] skill from over here.

Dirk nods. “Right. Right. I can totally do it. I’m just going to walk right in there and get that sap.”

He vanishes, and the gate opens and closes on its own.

“How actually likely is him getting eaten?” I ask.

“Eh, he might, but they don’t digest,” Anise says. “They just swallow you whole and make your party rescue you. Nothing in here actually hurts you.”

“You’re kind of spoiling this,” Meadow says with a smirk.

There’s a bloodcurdling scream in the distance. Anise ignores it and continues to work on the tent. She continues to ignore the voice as it cries for help and starts loudly wailing.

“Shouldn’t we go help him?” Milo asks.

“Nah,” Anise says. “I have more faith in the Spooky Grove’s desire to not hurt little kids than I do in Dirk’s ability to not scream like a little kid when something gets slightly spooky. Hey, Drake. Want to play with fire? See if you can unlock Survival (Fire Making) before Dirk stops crying.”

I’m just going to take my mom’s word for it that the idiot kid is perfectly safe. He was starting to annoy me anyway. I realize that Anise might not be the best role model, though.