After his fourth healing session on Nathan, Keith was exhausted. He'd managed to deal with all of Nathan's wounds except for the ones from the lance, and he had dedicated the entire fourth healing session to those. So far, he'd managed to repair Nathan's flesh on his front and back, and only part of his lungs, which he had focused on first.

The theory that Nathan's body would focus on the worst injuries first did prove true, as none of the other injuries were even healing without Keith's magic.

He sat back, wishing he had started at least attempting healing magics sooner. Then, this wouldn't have been an issue. The Isles of Darkness Dungeon was forcing him to use new magics repeatedly. Keith had wanted to hold off on learning new magics because of the amount of training required to actually use them properly. Even with his Mana Energy resting at more than thirty thousand points, using so much healing magic exhausted him.

As Keith rested, a message appeared in his vision. He frowned, immediately alert and fearful that another Dungeon had somehow been initiated or that the lack of a time limit on the third stage turned out to be false, but when he read the message, he found it… not at all what he was expecting.

Accelerated Offer: Ordinarily, after eight consecutive Dungeons in a row, it may be permitted for another player to join you in the Dungeon. The player would be selected by the Overseers and come from anywhere in the universe, but also be someone who would qualify for the Dungeon entered as a suitable member of their team. The Isles of Darkness have had over five hundred attempts without a single successful completed Dungeon, even side Dungeon. As such, the Overseers have granted permission to accelerate this requirement. If you accept the accelerated offer, the Overseers will then perform an offer to a suitable person. If they reject, it will be offered to someone else. This will repeat until someone accepts. If you decline the accelerated offer, then it will not be made again unless you complete eight consecutive Dungeons in a row, including current and past Dungeons. Sacrifices must be made in order to accept this offer due to the accelerated nature of it. As one member of the current party is in critical condition and unable to accept any offer, they will not be required to vote and the decision will be made by the sole remaining member. The Points penalty will be paid only by conscious members, the exit restriction by all. Requirements: 200,000 Points and inability for the party to exit the Isles of Darkness until a total of 10 consecutive Dungeons and Side Dungeons have been completed, including any current and past Dungeons. Accept Decline

Keith had barely finished reading the message before responding.

"Accept!" He said. "Accept!"

If the Overseers, who seemed to be above whoever was watching their play of the Dungeon, were accelerating the offer at that moment, then it was no doubt to bring a healer to them. He didn't think twice about sacrificing so many Points, nor about the fact that it meant they would be stuck in there for longer. All that mattered to him was that Nathan was healed.

Keith theorized that it would likely take several minutes unless time froze for them while the offer was being made. To do that, they would have to unfreeze each individual, make the offer, then freeze them back up once the decision was made. He doubted they would do that fully in the mortal realm and instead would generate an alternate specifically to make the offer in.

Since no one appeared immediately, he felt his theory had credibility.

Only half a minute passed before someone appeared before him, a girl who looked to be around his age, but with white hair, cat ears, and a white cat's tail, her yellowish-green eyes with slits for pupils. She possessed a pure-white aura, another demigod. Dressed in a rather skimpy outfit that showed off quite a lot of skin and her ample cleavage, Keith knew she was probably considered pretty or even hot by straight standards. Seductive, maybe.

Before he could react, she spun and faced Nathan, and a single step took her to him.

At least she has speed, he thought as he stood and walked over. The catgirl knelt beside Nathan and placed her left hand over his forehead and right over the ice. As she did, Keith noticed a white and silver mark resembling a horn on her back. Does she have a unicorn?

The catgirl began to weave together her magic, and the ice covering Nathan's wounds faded away as his body began to knit itself back together. She spent seven long minutes mending Nathan, whose eyes opened only moments after she finished.

Keith jumped back as Nathan's right hand shot up and grabbed her by the throat, and the catgirl yelped.

"Nathan! Nathan!" Keith said. "Stop! She healed you!"

"Only you and I entered this Dungeon," Nathan said. "Only one group of players are in the game at a time. She's obviously a-"

He cut off as he read something in his vision, then released her, and the catgirl stumbled back, massaging her throat.

"That's an interesting piece of news," he said. "We're stuck here for another eight consecutive Dungeons. Did you take a 200,000 Point hit?"

"I'd rather be forced to do eight more Dungeons in a row," Keith said as he realized the catgirl was healing her throat. "Than try to finish one without you, Nathan. Plus, Samantha would probably have my hide if I returned with you dead."

Nathan looked at the catgirl.

"I wonder if my tendency towards languages works on languages from other worlds," he said as the catgirl looked at him, her tail flicking to the side.

Nathan touched his lips several times and pointed at her.

"I don't understand that gesture," she said.

"It does," he told Keith, then looked at her and responded in her language. "I can understand any language, that motion was me telling you to speak so I knew what language was needed."

"I see no aura in you," she said. "Are you unawakend?"

"I learned to hide my aura quickly," he answered. "I am awakened, though not a magician. I am a warrior."

"I am a warrior and a healer," she held out her hand, and a six-foot-tall staff of pale wood formed, which she then gripped. The two men noticed it was heavily enchanted, and thus unlikely to be System-forged. "Though I am primarily a healer. So this is the Isles of Darkness. I was not aware it was a multi-quest Dungeon. You have already completed eight? You must be quite talented."

"We've only completed one," Nathan told her. "According to the System, no one has managed to complete a single one before. It accelerated the offer and granted us the extra team member early likely as a way of providing a healer for me, since I was probably going to die. I was unconscious, so it was all Keith who made the decision. We're stuck here for at least ten consecutive Dungeons, which means we have eight more after we finish this one."

"Which is the current one?" She asked, and Nathan read the notice in his vision.

You have slain the Siren King. Destroy all of the siren eggs. There are a total of 37 (thirty-seven) of them. There is no time limit.

"We're on the third stage of one," he answered. "After fighting a Grand Set monster. Now, we have to destroy the eggs."

He looked at the den, where the fourteen eggs were resting. The other twenty-three were underwater, he knew.

"Why are you dressed like that?" He asked her. "Is that normal for your people?"

"I was in the process of getting dressed," she answered. "What about you? Your inquiry makes it seem as if wearing little is abnormal, when combined with your friend's fully-clothed state. Or is it acceptable for males to dress with only their genitals covered?"

"My shirt was destroyed in the fight," Nathan said. "And Keith probably removed my pants since they were damaged and only in the way of healing me. I wasn't aware he could do healing, though I suppose it took him awhile, or the Overseers wouldn't have chosen to accelerate the offer. He probably only just figured out how to do it. He's a powerful magician with an innate talent for learning."

"I see," she said. "He is psychic as well, judging by his eyes. He is cute."

"He is also gay," Nathan told her. "He prefers the body of men over women. You seemed to know about the Isles of Darkness, yet the message said we were the first to complete any of its Dungeons."

Stolen story; please report.

"I have a Special Skill," she explained. "Called Death Read. You can see the type of Challenge or the name of the Dungeon someone was performing when they died. One of my brothers died in the Isles of Darkness."

"Was he attempting it on his own?" Nathan asked.

"He liked to do the game by himself," she nodded. "Why would you guess that, rather than as a team? How many others in your team are there?"

"It's just us," he answered. "And on the previous island – there are eight of them, each with a Main Dungeon and several with one or more Secondary Dungeons – we came across what we thought might be some form of cat beastkin. There was an item from the Dungeon nearby which had remnants of a demigod's magic in it, according to Keith."

"An item from the Dungeon with remnants of magic?" She asked, and Nathan explained about the Talismans of Light. "I see. So that is the Main Quest of each island?"

"Yes," he nodded. "The Lair of Sirens is a Secondary Dungeon, we stumbled upon it while traveling here from the previous island. We have to destroy the eggs, and most of them are underwater. Would you help me pull them out, unless you can destroy them beneath the surface? I doubt Keith is in any state to continue using magic, with how much he's used."

"You keep saying my name," Keith muttered. "I really wish I could understand you. The game's translation between players doesn't seem to apply between worlds."

"I explained that you were the one who took off my pants and had probably figured out how to use healing magics," Nathan explained. "Also that you were gay when she called you cute. Now, we're discussing the fact that you've exhausted your magic and are probably not in any state to be using it. There are a bunch of eggs underwater."

"Ah," Keith collapsed onto the ground. "Yeah, sorry. Even if my mana recovers fast, I'm still exhausted. If I had the energy, I could probably summon up lightning and just blast the water, but… I can't."

"And Splashy?"

"I'll get him to work on destroying the eggs," Keith said. "You told Breezy to not attack me, didn't you?"

"I knew the bomb card would make you realize the truth," Nathan said. "I'd already hit it with an attack and noticed it hadn't restored part of Ichtvar's mark. It was a small missing section, which you probably wouldn't have noticed since it could've simply been another part of the mark. It just took me too long to cast the damn thing.

"So," he looked at the catgirl. "Join me for a swim?"

"Yes," she removed her clothes and set them and her staff on the ground, then dove into the water.

"I guess her people don't like swimming while wearing even their underwear," Nathan muttered, before dropping his own underwear and diving into the water.

The two of them picked up the eggs and swam to the surface, only carrying one at a time, and after twelve trips for Nathan and thirteen for the catgirl, all of the eggs were on the surface. As soon as she set the final egg down, the heavenly storm elemental attacked it, destroying it and frying it with its lightning, leaving behind roasted goop, eggshell pieces, and unborn infant sirens. It had already destroyed the barrier to the others and destroyed those as well while they were retrieving the eggs from the lake.

Lair of the Sirens has been completed! Your reward bonus upon leaving the Isles of Darkness has increased from 0% to 50%.

"Are those a familiar's marks?" Nathan asked the catgirl.

"No," she answered. "My brother was contracted to a unicorn. The unicorn died as well, its corpse ejecting from his body. I had its natural brand marked upon my back to honor him. I know he would not have died without defending my brother to the end. Is that a phoenix's brand?"

Nathan wondered, then, why Madeline's familiar hadn't been ejected from her body. Was it not inside of her when they entered? If not, where was it ejected at when they left?

There was much about the situation with familiars that he wanted answers to, as with the game, but knew that all he could do was speculate based on what he did know. He also wanted to know how she had seen her brother's corpse if it was still in the Dungeon. It was another reason to question how they were in both their part of the realm and in the game simultaneously, and one he knew he might never find the answer to.

"Ichtvar, yes," Nathan told the catgirl, aware of a slight opening of her mouth and slight widening of her eyes, a subtle, yet sharp, inhale of breath. "He is my phoenix. If your brother was contracted to a unicorn that died in the Isles of Darkness, then it likely died to something we came close to encountering. Ichtvar expended an immense amount of magical power in order to drive it away before it reached us. You know of Ichtvar?"

"Yes," she responded. "The great phoenix appears in our world every winter for a festival, and has for nearly a thousand of them. He is worshiped almost as a god. To think that he would contract with someone… I never expected such a thing."

"I only awakened my magic a month ago," Nathan told her. "In real time of the world Keith and I are from. We had no information regarding demigods, and as soon as we left the Tutorial, went to find me a familiar. It wasn't until later that we learned demigods have no need of them. Ichtvar decided to accept my offer because he was bored. You worship him?"

"Every beastkin," she nodded, her tail flicking from side to side again as her face lit up. "Dreams of attending the Festival of Life. It takes place on the first day of winter, the solstice, and is an event held in the capital. That is the day when many matches are made and mates for life are found. It is also the one day a year that nobility can look for a new mate. During the festival, those whose illnesses are beyond what our magics could fix are granted a temporary reprieve from their sickness and a chance to try for child. Even though my mother didn't attend the true festival, she, like many of our people, still tried for child on that day. I was born as a result.

"A thousand years ago," she continued. "The great phoenix Ichtvar arrived in the capital, and he offered to actually heal all of the sick at the festival, not just grant temporary reprieve. All he demanded in exchange was tribute of gifts, the same gifts and foods we sold and gave away at the festival."

"Let me guess," Nathan rubbed his temples. "Most of it has chocolate in it?"

"How did you know?" She asked in surprise.

"Ichtvar has an addiction," Nathan answered. "He was probably just wanting chocolate and saw a way to get people to give it to him. When is the Festival of Life?"

"In two months," she answered, then paused. "In real time, not game time. You mentioned you only went through the Tutorial a month ago?"

"More like a few weeks ago," he nodded. "It's blurred together a little."

"But… how old are you?"

"Age of adulthood is eighteen where we are," he informed her. "According to someone we know who has been to several worlds with the System, the age you are when it happens depends on the age of adulthood for your world. How old is that for you?"

"Fourteen," she answered. "I have had access for five years, now."

"How long has your world been under the System's power?"

"For around three centuries," she answered. "Yours?"

"Less than a year," he answered. "So we're still in the beginning stages as well."

Nathan gasped, clutching his side, then stumbled over to the nearest cliff wall and leaned against it as he slid to the ground.

"I healed all of your wounds from severity," she walked over and ran her hand over his side. "But even I have my limits. As a demigod, your body will heal what I couldn't on its own. Exerting yourself to swim likely tore something open."

It had probably been from when he lashed out at her, then swimming shortly after that. That could have torn something back open for sure.

"I'll be fine in a day or two," he nodded. "Thank you. What's your name?"

"Evala," she answered as her hand glowed with healing magic, the beastkin mending the reopened wound inside of him. "Yours? I already know your gay friend is Keith. My brother would have enjoyed him."

"Nathan," Nathan answered, then looked at Keith, who was averting his eyes. "Her name is Evala, and she said her brother would have found you cute, had he not died in here. Maybe after we finish the gate enchantment and power orbs, we can try to find her world and see if we can't hook you up with a catboy?"

"Can you guys please put something on?" Keith asked. "I'm not all that comfortable with you two being naked, Nathan, and thanks for that thought. Also, where's Breezy? I don't see his mark on you and my magic vision isn't showing him anywhere."

"He said he found talisman fragments while returning after the Siren King shot him across the island," Nathan answered. "I told him to collect them if he could."

"Alright," Keith sighed, then decided to respond to a question Nathan had asked earlier and another he would have asked, had the warrior not gotten side-tracked by the demigoddess. "By the way, Nathan, the Points Penalty took out quite a lot of my Points, yes, but I still have around two hundred thousand left. I can't access the Points Shop again yet, though."

"Get your Level higher," Nathan told him.

Keith peeked at them, then turned back around and started fiddling with his backpack.

"Nathan, please put on some pants."

"You're the one who took them off."

Nathan didn't have to see the magician's face to know it was crimson.

"Are you teasing him?" Evala asked.

"Keith likes me," Nathan told her. "And seeing us naked is making him uncomfortable. Do you have clothes to put on that are not just underwear?"

"If you're asking if I have clothes in my Clothing Box, the answer is 'yes'," she answered. "Is nudity not an allowed thing in your world? It is the norm for mine outside of special occasions and formal events."

"It can make people uncomfortable," Nathan groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. "I need some sleep, and am in so much fucking pain. Keith!" He switched back to English. "Make some dinner, please? Don't worry about trying to please my tastes, I'm going to get some rest, but Evala's stomach is making hunger noises."

"Please put on some clothes before fal-" Keith cut off as he looked at Nathan, who looked like he had already dozed off.

The demigod was hiding his aura again which made it impossible to know for sure, but Keith was pretty sure that Nathan actually was out, based on everything that had been happening since they began the Isles of Darkness.

"Jeez," Keith muttered, then began pulling out cards, shifting uncomfortably when Evala came close to examine them. "Could you kindly put a shirt on him?"

Keith pulled one out of his backpack, and his familiar grabbed it and moved it over to Nathan, covering his crotch with the shirt.

"Thanks," he said, then looked at the catgirl and touched his shirt. "Clothes, please?"

She tilted her head to the side, but didn't seem to understand, so Keith sighed and got to work making something to eat. He was exhausted and starving, she was probably hungry, and he was definitely waking Nathan up once it finished.

The warrior hadn't been eating much because of all the sleeping he was doing, but he needed to eat to recover his energy and reserves better.

"Oh!" The catgirl exclaimed in surprise when Keith pulled the items out of the storage cards.

It wasn't until he had already started the fire and was boiling water that the magician realized she was probably fascinated by the strange magic he had displayed. If Master Torzin was right, then it was unlikely anyone else had such enchantments.