The canyon in front of the group certainly looked awe-inspiring to most. Unfortunately, Siegfried felt nothing but dread as he observed the steep cliff. Descending the mountain after fleeing the City of Nemeah with Haylee was a bad enough experience. Climbing down into this canyon seemed pure suicide in comparison.

"Breathtaking," Haylee said, peering down into the chasm. The bottom where the river snaked along was filled with lush grass and green bushes.

"Uh, yeah, maybe," Sieg intoned, looking up and down the length of the canyon. "But we need to find a way to get down there. They must have some kind of easy access— maybe a rope ladder or —"

"Siegfried," Ryden interrupted with a curious expression on his face. "Are you by any chance afraid of heights?"

"W-what? No, I'm not afraid of heights."

"That's true," Haylee nodded eagerly. "Sieg isn't afraid of anything!"

"Oh, that's great! Would be a real handicap considering that we have to climb down here without a rope and all," Ryden said while making a show of glancing down the cliffside.

Siegfried stared at his companions. His mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound left his lips. Until he realised that he ran right into their trap once again. "Could you two stop ganging up on me, please?" he grumbled, much to Haylee's continued amusement.

"We could," Ryden smirked while turning around. "Cmon now, there should be a hidden path near the waterfall."

Sieg let his shoulders drop in defeat and followed.

Enormous masses of water were crashing against a field of worn boulders before rushing down into the canyon. Standing right next to it, they couldn't hear each other shouting out, but with a few practised gestures, Sieg was able to assign everyone a separate area to search. The waterfall was so broad and torrential that it took half an hour before they finally found the entrance.

It was a narrow hole between two boulders, right at the stream's edge where the water broke into the depths. The hole opened up into a corridor which led them out again directly behind the falling torrents. An endless stairway was hewn into the rock, hidden behind the waterfall. The steps were smoothed and rounded down over time by the water. As he couldn't see anything to hold on for his companions, Sieg held out his arm, signalling them to stop.

He tried to mimic binding something around his waist, looking questioningly at Haylee, who still had their backpack. He knew they had left their rope when binding the enforcer inside the city gates. But fortunately, Haylee and Rak had used some of their time to braid some vines into a dense string. Sieg nodded approvingly and held out his palms.

The skin around the balm of his hand parted, and a thick bone spike protruded from it. Siegfried concentrated on the growth like practised with Ryden and slowly began to alter the bone into the form he envisioned. After a minute, a large hook sprouted from his left hand, the inner side coated with hard enamel. He explained his plan by jutting the curved bone into the wall and tugging on the vein.

Rak shoved Ryden and Sally between him and Sieg and buried his own claws into the wall to show Sieg that he could anchor himself too and split the load with Sieg if anyone fell.

Descending the canyon took far longer than any of them had anticipated. As both Sieg and Rak had to stop constantly to ram their hook and claws into the stone to make sure they did not just slip over a step and fall to their death, they needed the whole day to descend. It wasn't uncalled, though, as both Ryden and Sally slipped several times and would have sliddered into their death if they were not bound to their bulky companions.

It took quite a way to walk before they left the waterfall behind long enough to hear each other again. But Sieg could not deny that the riverbank was beautiful. The water let all kinds of greens and flowers bloom along its shores. The green paradise was an almost ridiculous contrast to the deadly, steep walls of stone that surrounded them.

As they neared the entrance of Victor's Bounty, Sieg recognised dozens of small slits sitting around the massive steel slab that served as the fortress door. Thin sticks with triangular stone heads poked out of the slits, aiming at their group.

"What are those stone things poking out of the slits?" Sieg whispered to Ryden.

"You don't even know bow and arrow? Ryden replied, honestly surprised.

Sally caught up to them, whispering even lower, "The Brigade never allowed any citizen create something other than the standard sword of a guard."

Sieg wanted to ask for more information, but they had already reached the door.

To his astonishment, a yellow-green head squeezed itself out of one of the arrow slits. Two bulbous black eyes regarded him shortly before the creature forced the rest of his apparently liquid body through the tiny slit in the cliff.

A heinous thin, and slimy being rose to its feet before Siegfried. Its arms and legs skinny as sticks, but it was grinning at him with utmost confidence.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Welcome," the slimy reptile-human said with a mock-bow," to Victor's Bounty! My name is Zschrish, guardsman and guide for newcomers."

Ryden coughed, positioning him between the slimy thing and his companions. "Thank you for seeing us, Zschrish," he intoned with a more profound bow. "We would ask for shelter in Victor's domain as none of us is bound to a tribe," Ryden explained.

Zschrish The Guardsman nodded twice while scraping his chin. "Ya know the drill?"

"Of course," Ryden answered, pointing to his companions, "we are all ready to prove ourselves as superior."

Siegfried tried to keep down his own anxiousness as Ryden bid him come forth. He had no idea how they would determine if he was a changeling or something else. Rydens plan was to sell him for a regular regenerator. But what if they asked for details?

"Are you deaf or what?" the slimy reptile man asked. "Show me what you are, or fuck off!"

Sieg quickly pulled the sword from his sheath and cut his underarm. He did not flinch when his vein broke open, and blood spurted out like a fountain. The wound closed faster than ever before.

"Satisfied?" Sieg growled at Zschrish. "I'm a regenerator, and I'm more resilient than most," he added with a frown.

"Zschhaha, hahaha," the reptile man laughed out loud. "A redhead killed by a regenerator, how sad is that?" the reptile wheezed. "Okay, okay, you're fine. Just don't let anyone see that sword before you are ascending the third," he intoned.

Before Sieg could ask what he meant, the sickly looking lizard-thing asked the next one to prove himself.

Ryden shoved Sally in front of him.

"I— I'm just a regenerator too," Sally stuttered. She instantly cut her wrist with a dagger that Sieg had never seen before. Where had she even hidden that blade?

No matter— Ryden just held a hand atop Sally's back, and her wound closed quickly.

"Strong," Zschish called out as he saw how quickly the wound closed. "You are fine too, go."

The next was Ryden, quickly going through the test while closing his own wound far slower, posing as a weaker regenerator type.

Rak and Haylee did not need a test as their outer appearance spoke for itself.

"Guys, open up!" the reptile man cried out. The massive block of steel before them started to move slowly. "Cmon in before they drop it again. Thing's heavy, ya know?"

Sieg and his party rushed through, and the metal slab crushed down right behind them with a thump that vibrated through the ground.

"Security is all," Zschish said as he walked on. "This corridor is full of traps and can be flooded if anything stronger comes through," he explained proudly.

No matter where Siegfried looked, he could not find a single flaw in the walls. They were smoothed down like the outer walls of newly built houses in the City of Nemeah. But instead of stone and mortar, this was pure stone, endlessly stretching in all directions. No one could just dig himself into this undiscovered. It was indeed a perfect defensive position.

When they reached the end of the corridor, a second slab of metal blocked their way.

"Kel', open up, it's me!" Zschish cried louder than before.

"He's fuckin deaf, I tell ya!" the lizard whispered to Sieg.

"Kel'!" he cried again. But nothing happened. The black metal slab stood still.

The lizard called out several times until Rak suddenly shoved him aside and took a deep breath.

"KEL!" the drakish clansman roared with a vengeance, and even Sieg had to shield his ears

"Huh? Who's there," a deep rumble answered through a slit in the wall.

"It's me," Zschish answered. "We're waiting for half an hour, you deaf oaf!"

With a screeching noise, the metal door opened up.

"Let's go, gentleman," Zschish offered and went through.

A few steps into the next corridor, a broad room with a front view into the cave opened up. Siegfried walked up to the big window, which was closed up by several interlocking steel bars. Sieg was never one to appreciate architecture but what he saw left him speechless for a while.

The cave below was vast. There was a giant pool of blue water in the midst and greenery around it— an oasis in the mountain. Beautiful houses of stone, metal and wood surrounded the sea— each more adventurous in their architecture than the next.

Siegfried had nothing to compare to it. The very thought that those cave dwellers were more profound at architecture than the humans in the city…

"We have the same and more in the first district," Sally whispered, clearly taking up on Sieg's expression. "The fourth district would be full of things like that if the Brigade didn't regulate the knowledge of everything."

"Why?" Siegfried growled, trying to keep his voice down as far as possible.

"Because knowledge is power, and the citizens would be able to overpower the brigade by numbers if they could advance their technology. At least that what I personally think," Sally admitted.

"As you can see," Zschish' voice cut through the silence. "Victor's Bounty can fulfil your biggest dreams. If you are worthy," he sniggered. "But to get access to the top floor that you see, you have to prove yourself."

Sieg stifled a groan. He could see where this would go. A first, second and third class society as it was everywhere.

"Follow me to the entrance for all newcomers!" the lizard intoned while waving his hand like a flag for them to follow.

They entered a massive construction of wood and iron. Broad enough to hold thirty men. Zschish worked on a giant lever when everyone was in, and Sieg nearly lost his balance as the ground suddenly sunk down.

"No worries! All normal— this is the 'Elevator' as we call it!" Zschish declared proudly.

Sieg tried to punish him with a severe glare but found that the little lizard did not respond to intimidation at all.

As they descended with the Elevator, a new cavern system appeared at the front side.

It was as large as the top layer cave, but the difference between them was evident at first glance. There were no fancy baths or vegetation except for moss along the rough boulders that dominated the landscape. There were crude houses hewn out of massive stone that looked more like fancy cave entrances than anything else. Some places were full of small stands built from hides— a market.

But even that was quickly gone from their sight as the Elevator dropped even deeper.

"And here we are!" Zschish exclaimed. "The lowest level where everyone has to start. If you want to live, keep that sword hidden and try to ascend," he chuckled. "I'll be happy to assist you again if you make it to the higher levels! Just ask for Zschish! Hehe."

And with that, the strange, gangly lizard left the group, ascending with the elevator.

Unfortunately, Sieg found that the Elevator was a one-way thing, and there was no way to get it down after it went up from below. He turned into the only direction that was still open and walked through the low-ceiling corridor.

The tunnel opened up into another cave quickly. One word promptly came to Siegfried's mind at the sight. Slum.

Instead of houses, several tents and other makeshift shelters were propped up randomly. Torches and stone braziers created a murky gloom, the smoke vanishing through small holes in the ceiling. Malnourished people of several species were sleeping on the hard ground or sometimes a wooden pallet.

"Well, isn't that beautiful. Reminds me of home," Sieg joked sarcastically.