“Right, let’s see what we can do about this.”

Touching the door, Myles immediately regretted the action as he fell back into the snow as the air flashed to life, taking on a sharp scent of mint that added to the frosty air in his lungs as his body fell from its feet and back onto the cold ground with the force of a gravity spike.

“Myles!” Mitchel and Squishy said in a near unison as his wake ruffled hair and clothing alike.

With the frantic hands of only a near death experience could prompt, they got him back to his feet before the snow could get too much of a hold on him.

Apparently, the door had a magical treatment done since his last trip into the land of the living.

“Why didn’t you warn me the door was warded?” Myles asked as the two released him from their support. “That hurt.”

Mitchel reached out and touched the door cautiously. There was no reaction as he held it there for a few moments before pulling it away, no worse for wear. “Enchanted?”

Squishy did the same with a similar reaction, nothing.

Myles starred in annoyance. “What in the Mists?”

“Got me, Boss,” Mitchel said, touching it again without effect. “It seems to be okay now, though.”

“We’ll see.”

Myles reached out again, slower this time, and he could feel the mana starting to push back, warning him not to touch the door as the ward gathered energy to repel him. “It’s still there.”

“Hmm, weird.”

“Weird,” Squishy agreed, running her hand along the door.

As he held his hand raised, Myles noticed what the cause might have been.

What in the Mists?

On the back of his hand, a broken brand glimmered weakly. With none of the power it had before, the symbol of the Dungeon of the Purifying Wake shone weakly as it sputtered when it should have shown.

As Myles studied it, he noticed entire parts of the symbol were gone while the rest looked like poor, dried leather dyed a washed-out red sitting on the back of his hand. In fact, the longer he looked, the more it looked like a scar.

Studying the broken brand, he noticed there was something more. Something hidden just below the surface of his skin. The longer he looked, the more he saw the lines, the interconnected circles of something that hadn’t been there before.

Was it another consequence of the battle in Somniums?

Whatever it was, Myles could feel it if he really focused. The lines were raw power lingering just out of reach. Power that was wide as the sky and deep as the ocean. No, the ocean had a bottom. The power here was deeper than anything he’d fathomed as he focused on the endless, interlocking circles before something happened.

His lore triggered.

Rune Identified!

Brand of the Challenged

Origin - Eventide, God of Trials

A brand given to one who has willingly communed with a god or goddess, giving the status of God Touched. Brands cannot be erased or seen by others except for those blessed or branded by the same god.

The Brand of Eventide, God of Trials, is an asshole’s brand that is done by an asshole god.

The Brand of Eventide, God of Trials, shows that a divine challenge has been put forth for you to complete. Upon finding and completing your divine challenge, you will be granted a boon.

Myles felt his stomach sink as his body threatened to falter once more.

“Take me back,” he said with an urgency he could barely keep in check. “I need to sit down before I check my notifications.”

No one questioned that as he nearly fell again.

***

Back in his home, the rest of his team was busy taking care of the plates and cleaning from breakfast… or lunch? He wasn’t sure which meal it was, let alone the day, but they gave him a wide berth as he finally gave the blinking notification a mental nudge, and messages flooded his vision, starting with the oldest.

You’ve taken a critical wound!

Team Rising Star’s leadership has changed.

Current Party Leader: Myles Chase [Critical]

Because of previous interactions between the party, the Leader title has been automatically set for Team Rising Star’s Party to Kendra Kessa!

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

Current Party: Kendra Kessa (Leader), Tallia Mistwalker, Lyna Hugea, Mitchel Hedgelore

Well, that made sense. He hadn’t been able to lead, so Kendra was given leadership due to her previous experience. The rest… well, there was a reason they weren’t trusting him with a warm drink again after he dropped the first on his lap.

Eventide, God of Trials has chosen you as one of its champion within the Grand Dungeon of Kess.

Accept or Decline?

You have accepted the status of champion!

You have been granted a divine boon.

You have been granted the Trait - God Touched.

I don’t know when this happened or how, so no other information is available on what or how the bastard did this.

No words made their way to his lips.

How in the Mists had he accepted the status of champion? He’d been on his deathbed! Could you even become a champion by accident?

Then there was that comment from the dungeon.

Was that even possible?

Why bother to tell him?

Then…

Then the hits kept on coming.

Warning!

Silpha, The Purifying Wake’s core integrity has reached critical levels.

Warning!

Silpha, the Purifying Wake’s core has shattered.

And coming….

Due to divine intervention, Sipha’s essence is being contained within her magical influence until a new vessel can contain her.

And coming…

A compatible vessel has been found!

And coming…

A new dungeon has been born within your influence!

The Dungeon has chosen a name.

The Warren’s Descent has been born!

And coming…

Ashra Snowpelt has taken on the role of guardian of The Warren’s Descent.

And coming.

Reach the heart to claim ownership of The Warren’s Descent and reestablish your position as Dungeon Keeper.

Well, at least the last message made sense.

New Paths await your decision, please open your interface to choose the path of your development through the Journeymen rank and beyond.

With a groan, Myles reviewed what he could of the messages again.

Just like when he’d fallen into the mana vent, some of the messages made no sense. What worried him was the fact the interface itself seemed upset about it. Usually, the comments were more snide or thought they were funny, not outright hostile.

Soon, he noticed the sounds of clinking plates and cups that he hadn’t been heard for quite a while now and felt the eyes of the group on him.

Taking a breath, he was about to speak when a new notification appeared. The difference was this notification was brand new:

You have been offered Team Rising Star’s leadership by Kendra Kessa.

Current Party Leader: Kendra Kessa

Due to your previous position in the party, if you accept, your title will automatically be set from Runner to Leader.

Current Party: Kendra Kessa (Leader), Tallia Mistwalker, Lyna Hugea, Mitchel Hedgelore

Accept? Y/N

“Before anything else,” Kendra began, “You need to take this back.”

Myles looked at her and the others, concerned for a moment about taking back the position. His thoughts were so quiet with no one else truly connected to him, and in a way, that was almost alien now.

“You sure?” he asked, letting his thoughts linger a moment longer.

Kendra nodded. “I didn’t earn it back. Not yet, anyway. When I can fully control my Class, I’ll gladly take it back if you don’t want it, but you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. We might as well use it while we can.”

Myles snorted. He wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or an insult, but he took it for what it was and confirmed his feelings on the offer.

Kendra Kessa has transferred leadership of the party.

Leadership Role has been updated.

Myles Chase is now the Leader of Team Rising Star.

Would you like to update the party dynamic? Y/N

Once the system confirmed his role, it was as if four missing pieces of himself reconnected. All at once, he felt a rush of foreign emotions as concerns, sorrow, anger, and joy tried to overwhelm his own sense.

It took him longer than he’d liked to clamp down the links and properly order his thoughts, but when he did, things began feeling much more familiar, and a smile crossed his face.

Then he remembered what he had to say, and it vanished as quickly as it’d come.

“The reason Ashra hasn’t come out is because the barn’s not a barn anymore. Silpha converted it into her new dungeon, and Ashra’s taken up the role of her guardian.”

The curse was louder than he expected as Lyna nearly popped his ears with the intensity, and color, of her curses. Kendra wasn’t far behind, and Mitchel came in a close third as Tail said nothing.

The only one that seemed happy was his adopted daughter.

As soon as Myles spoke the status of his oldest monster, Squishy radiated an intense pride in Ashra, and Myles felt he’d have to ask about that later.

“What’s worse is that it’s currently locked down, and I can’t do anything until I reconnected with Silpha and Ashra.”

There was silence for a long while before Tail spoke. “When will it open?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Will she be the same?”

“I don’t know.”

“Will they both want to work with us again?”

“I don’t know!”

The last words came out exactly how he felt, confused and hurt, and with more force than he thought he could manage. There, Tail backed off, slightly surprised with the strength behind it.

Anger and annoyance rose in him like rising sourdough starter, but then again how else should he feel?

As he began calming himself, Myles counted himself lucky.

Right now, his contracts weren’t broken. Bent to the extreme more than likely by the feel of Ashra and Silpha’s link, but not broken yet. Still, the sooner Myles could get them back, the better off he felt that he’d be.

“I’ll get them back,” he said, more to himself than the others. “I’m not losing anyone else on this team.”

A hand rested on his shoulder, then another, and another, before Lyna sat on his lap and hugged him. He appreciated the gesture, but Myles nearly fell over when Squishy did the same, sliming between the two to get more of his arms around her.

“You need to slow down,” Tail said in their usual soft tones.

“One day at a time,” Mitchel said, joining the hug to stabilize the three.

“Yeah,” Kendra added, squeezing his shoulder. “We almost lost you once. It’s just a dungeon. We can do it right when you recover, and we get the team back to full strength.”

“You just want to hit things again,” Lyna said under her breath.

“Among other things,” she admitted, kissing Myles’s cheek. “Though you need a bath first.”

“A sponge bath?” Lyna asked, waggling her eyebrows.

“Like he can handle a sponge.”

Myles doubted he could, but the last thing he wanted was for someone to come at him with a sponge when he had no way to defend himself. As dangerous a situation as that may be, even that found its way to the back of his mind as he realized just how much he had to do before their team would be whole again.

Enter the new dungeon.

Save Ashra.

Reconnect with SIlpha.

Find Will.

Enter the next floor.

Meet a dragon!

Yes, there was so much to do, but as always, there was so little time as he let his gaze wander to the far wall and imagined what lay beyond it.

I’m coming, Ashra. Wait for me.