Whenever Luke landed a critical strike, a lich would be mowed down. After each fight, the man and crow team covered each other with less communication.

The cold black soil writhed wherever he pressed his weight down.

Xera or Wayfinder would make an occasional quip or observation. But lately, the two became more silent, letting the Reaver do as he wished. Bisecting another lich, the first group was taken down.

Without other liches in the way, the four remaining groups had free reign to volley plenty of frost and fire blasts. Taking out Whispering Edge, Luke let Wraith Wail do its job on the group furthest from him.

Enough distance would likely make that group’s magic ineffective. Trusting the slow would be enough, Luke sprinted to the lich group opposite them.

“Two blasts to on your right side, lad,” Wayfinder warned.

Grinding to a halt, the intermixed flame and frost passed right by him, searing the tip of his hair.

Treating Whispering Edge more like a throwing knife, Luke tomahawked the sword at the lich group he was pursuing. Lady Luck must’ve had a sense of irony as the sword proc'd its silence passive. Shutting down the lich Whispering Edge managed to pierce.

“Throwing compasses and swords is too satisfying,” Luke said.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that lad.”

Taking the saving grace from Wayfinder, Luke was upon the group of liches. Taking his free hand, he detonated an Essence Lance. Being near the epicenter of Luke’s most damaging ability put the liches all back in the grave.

Two down, three more to go.

Gripping the pommel of Whispering Edge, the black sword slid right out the lich’s gullet. Various magical blasts were lashing his body. Xera’s whims were getting dangerous to listen to. An internal snap ignited within Luke, coming almost without warning. Another hated face with disgusting words spat in Luke’s memories.

What? Cover you? Give you the proper weapon? You’re only here for my entertainment, private Luke.

This weapon and compass would do as he wanted, or they wouldn’t be needed anymore.

“Enough of this shit.”

Luke let his essence flow into Xera, changing her into a wand.

“Hey, I said-”

“Shut your mouth.” Luke didn’t bother to look at Xera as he said, “I’ve had enough of you two talking objects and your incessant demands. You can't even bother to be a wand when I need it. If either of you want to be treated as a partner, then act like one.”

The damage Luke experienced in his last three years on earth reared its ugly head. Wayfinder remained silent, as did Xera. The two realized they’d been walking all over a man who had enough of being treated as a doormat. Luke activated Temporal North.

“Cover me, Sooty. At least I can count on you to get the job done properly,” Luke said.

His crow sped off, tackling a group on her own. Sooty cast Shadow Wing, leaving in a hurry.

A shade appeared, guarding Luke closely. Its Iron Feather already hovering around him. Using its cover, Luke got a clear shot. Essence Lance punched through the air, a frosty path remaining in its wake.

Perhaps responding to a man done keeping his emotions pent up, the lance turned each lich of the unfortunate group into pure ice. The shade let out its screech, turning them into ice shards.

He flicked Xera outward, and the sword wand switched forms, returning to a glistening sword.

With Sooty terrorizing the other group, Luke only had to contend with a final party of liches. A vivid image of Luke furiously stepping toward the undead took place. The shade absorbed each flame and frost blast.

Whispering Edge occupied his other hand. Luke kept to a dual-wield style this time, not caring about defense. More akin to a crazed maniac, the two blades annihilated the enemies before them. Despite the use of only one hand, Xera cut bodies like paper. Whispering Edge was swung so quickly half of the caster-type liches remained silenced.

Infusion was cast on instinct, prioritizing Whispering Edge and Sooty.

“Hey! I-”

“Lad, you should-”

“I said shut up. For the rest of this tomb, speak only when spoken to.”

The air was cold around Luke. And it was no longer just the environment. His essence turned increasingly icy. Bits of frost remained whenever he took a step.

Dropping Xera, Luke came into a two-handed grip. Rearing the silent blade behind him, he cleaved the remaining monsters in half. Not caring about the three frost blasts they managed to land in his rush.

The damage only seemed to invigorate Luke.

Leaving the ice pile of undead behind, he slowly walked to the last group. Sooty had frost and burn marks over her feathers, but otherwise, she looked fine. Two of the undead had already perished, leaving a mere three behind.

“Angry or not, lad, you should at least bring the lassie.”

Luke didn’t hear the rest as he took the compass off his neck and threw it at a lich. The monster looked over, about to cast on the young Reaver. Only to have its head severed by an icy Whispering Edge.

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Shifting his weight, he kicked the compass, striking another lich and gaining its attention. The undead raised its hand, about to cast a fireball.

“What a stupid mistake,” Luke said as he cut off the hand about to cast. Keeping one hand pushing while the other was relegated to pulling, Whispering Edge swung in a blazingly quick arc.

The momentum of the blade nearly decimated the caster. In a fit of impatience, Luke used his stat strength as more than just a number. One hand ripped at the lich, tearing it into pieces.

The Reaver didn’t stop, even after all the liches were dead. Luke became almost as much a beast as a man, ripping things around him without reason or care. Releasing stress, a few minutes later, he finally began to calm down.

Sooty merely watched, not wanting to agitate Luke. Some words of a compass or sword wand entered Luke’s ear, but he didn’t register any of it. Only the persistent worry and feeling of calm being communicated by Sooty over Reaver’s Link made the young man stop completely.

Luke eventually sat down. A compass was chattering, and a sword wand’s words could considered indecipherable by now. The two were questioning Luke, a mix of apology and confusion surrounded them.

“Looks like even after telling them plainly, they still don’t understand.” Then, looking at Sooty, he said, “Take those two out of here, put them in the Infernal Mirror Realm. I’ll wait here, pal. I need to calm down for a while.”

He stabbed Whispering Edge into the loose black dirt before him and stared.

Sooty let out a caw and picked up Wayfinder, managing to get the chain around her head. She gripped Xera in her sword form using her talons, then flew out of the mirror realm. The bird flew above the mirror’s height, making the chances of a mishap near zero.

Checking his surroundings and seeing nothing, Luke exhaled. Then, a glint entered his eye.

“You can come out now, Veronica.”

“Amusing, what gave it away?” A swirling vortex of green fire appeared, and a deathly pale lady came out.

“Vampires never seem to leave me alone,” Luke answered.

“Figure that out too then, did you? You're certainly more curt than last time, Luke.”

“Done calling me Reaver this or that?”

“Coming this far? Yes, you’ve earned the right.” Veronica said.

“You never answered my question, Luke.”

“A set of eyes have been on me ever since you ‘left.’ When I used Polar South, your burning gaze was so obvious it was painful. What are you? Just a guardian?”

"That numbered artifact keeps leaving surprises,” Veronica said.

Time dragged on, but Luke wouldn’t say anything else if she refused to answer. Losing in a battle of wills once more, the vampire guardian began to answer him. “Along with that statue, you know which one, I’m one of the ‘hands’ of the first Reaver.”

“The left or the right?”

“Does it matter?”

“It does,” Luke said.

“Seeing as the statue came after me, the right hand, I suppose. Now, let’s stop beating around the bush. Why call me out here?”

“You already know why. Tell me the real way to beat the Spectral Lord. Just clearing these mirrors won’t be enough. Unless that hidden piece makes Xera look like a piece of trash, that is.” Luke also wasn’t in the mood to needlessly prolong the conversation anymore.

“You’ve uncovered part of the problem then?” A smile appeared on her face, although the emotion didn’t match, “You’ll have to reach the limits of what stats you can gain. Your companion will need to evolve their baseline ability. Lastly, well, maybe you’ll figure it out when a sword is no longer buried in your heart. No fun if I tell you everything, after all.”

Veronica sat next to Luke and whispered into his ear, “I’ll be rooting for you, Luke.”

Luke took in a breath, not moving his eyes. Soil shifted, and then the vampire vanished. Leaving no trace or fanfare of fire this time. He didn’t bother to move from his spot, only deciding to stay in this position until Sooty returned.

The conversation did clear a few doubts. The primary piece of information gained was he’d need Sooty to dump her skill points into Reaver Beak once they cleared the quest granting the needed skill points. Reminding himself to tell Sooty, Luke moved on to other thoughts.

His habit of talking out loud came back. “The talking duo can stay in that blazing realm until it’s time to clear the last mirror. Or the hidden piece, if that nagging feeling in the back of my head goes away by then.”

A man breathed for a while, discovering more about himself alone than he ever did with others. Doubt at this course of action crept up within him. Not letting his conscious mind run free, Luke shut it down.

“Other Reavers made it to the Spectral Lord without Wayfinder. As for the other rude little shit, well, everyone else died using her, so clearly, she isn’t the full answer.”

Refusing to wallow, he sat there, enjoying silence. Sometime later, a flap of wings came up behind him. And a cheery crow kept trying to play with his hair.

“Ha, thanks buddy, we haven’t played since we got in here,” A smile finally cracked open on Luke, “let’s forget about everything for a little while.”

Poking at Sooty, the two began to play fight and relieve stress. Things were simpler before this cave of horrors. A few laughs and excited caws were let out. Soon, Luke was running around, and Sooty was chasing. Although, his bird was still too fast to make it much of a chase.

Flopping down, Luke felt much better. Saying what you really felt and wanted could make you feel alive. Getting up, he brushed off any soil and took Whispering Edge back out of its spot. This time, Whispering Edge remained in his right hand, not going back into a sheath.

“Oh, before I forget, pal, do you remember the lady from earlier who could use a tan?” Luke said.

Sooty looked at him, turning her head momentarily, before taking on a neutral expression.

“So you forgot or aren’t sure? Well, it doesn’t matter. Either way, could you focus on your beak skill?”

The crow was slightly confused but assented anyway as long as her Reaver was happy again.

“I moped around long enough. Let’s get these gray crystals over with.”

The essence around Luke calmed, and his steps no longer let out the frost. Something had changed, as when he enchanted Whispering Edge with Infusion, a frost continued to waft from the blade.

Checking the interface about Infusion, the description didn’t adapt. Used to the interface being unreliable, he just went with the flow.

“Shut your eyes Sooty, we’re going back.”

Placing the wraith cloth back over his eyes, Luke stepped back into the main mirror hall. Going off his memory, which had been strengthening lately, likely a side effect of intellect, Luke managed to walk back to the beginning of the row.

He took off the wraith cloth blindfold and sent Sooty off to charge the gray crystal. Sooty flew high, dropping down from above directly onto the crystal floating above the mirror realm they just cleared.

The gray crystal reacted the same way, and a misty beam left, striking the last similar muted crystal on the left side, with this one in the third row. Luke had remnants of worry, but he would stand by his decision.

Overrelying on his two artifacts now would only seal his fate later. No, he’d have to wrench out more of the potential he and Sooty had without them. Once Sooty landed on her rightful place on Luke’s shoulder, the two headed to the last mirror they needed to clear on the left side.

Before passing the initial set of mirrors on the last row to the left, Luke reviewed his log. As expected, he gained no stats, not even hit points. Now, he was sure only normal creatures at least level sixteen or seventeen and above could make him grow further. Or steal further, whatever floats your boat.

Letting Infusion flow over both him and Sooty, as Whispering Edge was already primed, Luke internally counted. With an empty mind, a new thought entered his stressed brain. He hadn’t slowed down to drink anything in hours.

Pushing his back against the shattered mirror behind him, Luke took his trusty wooden cup out. Sooty released water. Once Luke had his fill after several cups, Sooty began to fill the cup again. This time, to satisfy her own thirst.

With his throat and insides no longer feeling like scorched desert, another flash of insight burst out of his idle mind.

“You know, Sooty, we never tried having you look at a mirror with Essence Bond on.”

If his hunch was right, gaining intel before bursting into a mirror might still be possible.