“I can’t believe you thought we’d kill you,” Vyrania said.

“Sorry,” I said. “I just get… suspicious sometimes. I haven’t known you all that long. It’s not unreasonable.”

“We’re number two and three. Almost as much of a target as you are. Maybe more, since we’re lower and might seem easier to take out.”

“I said sorry.”

We were trudging through the thick, brackish mud of the swamp, alert for any danger, following the runes again to what we hoped would be the end of the event and the prize waiting for us.

Away from the open battlefield and deeper into the rotten forest as we were, the air was thick with a rank odor that seemed possessed of a physical weight, an oppressive mix of decay and stagnant water that threatened to choke at least me, though the two of them didn’t seem bothered, probably because they didn’t need to breathe like I did.

We were all covered in mud to our knees, and Vyrania’s mix of plate, chain, and leather armor was splattered with muck and grime. Having recently resurrected and possessing summoned armor, I was the cleanest for once.

“In any case,” Vyrania said, “we’re safe for now. No one else in the tower to kill us.”

“Unless Rilen gets back in somehow,” I said.

“Wouldn’t that be fun,” Koren said lightly.

“No,” Vyrania disagreed.

He shrugged.

“You think he’s eligible?” I asked.

“To get back in?” she asked. “No clue.”

“No, I mean the top ten thing.”

“I can’t see why he wouldn’t be,” Koren said.

“I mean, you two are on it, but he isn’t, even though he came with you. Did he not do enough to qualify?”

“I’m certain he’d be happy to test out whether killing you would get him a place on it,” Vyrania said.

“Yeah,” I agreed, “I guess he doesn’t need any extra motivation to want to kill me.”

“Quite so,” Koren said. “He has plenty of that already. I’m certain he’ll hate that he didn’t get a prize for the Hero Board.”

“Not that I’m complaining about getting a prize, but I’m still not sure I understand what Gambler’s Redoubt has to do with gambling.”

“Maybe it’s the cook time.”

I checked said ‘cook time’ again, even though I’d just done it a minute before.

Analysis 202% complete.

“Is no one else worried that the analysis is above a hundred percent? That’s not how percent-complete is supposed to work. How can something be more than a hundred percent complete?”

“It’s not for the likes of us mortals to know the vagaries of the eyes,” Vyrania said, sounding as though she were reciting a quote.

“What’s that from?” I asked.

“A very bad time.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“Not really.”

“What percent are you guys at?”

“Mine’s at a thousand,” Koren said. “Oh, wait, now it’s at eleven hundred.”

“Twenty-one,” Vyrania answered grumpily.

“Weird,” I said. “I wonder what we’ll get.”

“Knowing you,” she grumbled, “something amazing. I’ll probably get a single-use item that lets me summon an annoying parrot.”

“That seems highly unlikely,” I said. “It said it was perfectly tailored to you.”

I studied the item, trying to peer into it for a hint at what was going on within. I wasn’t sure that was possible, but it seemed like it should be. It was a crystalline rectangle lit internally by three separate sources of light, which aligned with the description:

Gambler’s Redoubt

Legendary prize of magnificent generosity

Grants three unique items to aid you in your endeavors.

Each item will be custom-tailored and perfectly suited to you.

Items are bound to you and cannot be given away, destroyed, or sold. You may relinquish ownership, however you will not gain access to them again.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Vyrania muttered.

“Look on the bright side,” Koren said. “We’re about to complete an event.”

She brightened somewhat. “That was a rather difficult one. If Noah hadn’t stolen Rilen’s body and become Gold rank, I don’t think we could have defeated them.”

“Or we were supposed to do just that,” Koren said. “Take it over, use it against them.”

“Perhaps. That would make sense. A little puzzle to solve that makes completing the event much easier. Sarixia did mention something about the synopsis.” She glanced at me. “I’m jealous. What was it like? Being Gold?”

I shook my head. “Insane. In a good way. Maybe. It altered how I thought. Nothing seemed like a threat. I don’t know what class those tree monsters were, but I could sense they were strong, yet, I had no fear. They were nothing compared to me.”

Koren nodded. “They were quite powerful. Especially Sarixia. No idea what class or level she was, but judging by her mana, it’s a good thing you didn’t have to fight her.”

“Did neither of you inspect them?” Vyrania asked.

Koren and I glanced at each other.

“I mean, I inspected Rilen,” I said.

“Seriously?” she asked.

“I was a little preoccupied after that,” I offered in my defense.

“As was I,” Koren agreed. “And drained of mana after that rune sucked it from me.”

“They were Behemoth class.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Koren stopped walking, gazing straight ahead.

Vyrania and I stopped, watching him.

“Kor?” she said after a moment.

“Hm?” he asked, raising an eyebrow but not looking at us.

“What is it?”

“I’m trying to remember how to calculate a tower’s class.”

“You know how to figure out the class of a tower?” I asked.

“Roughly. You can’t do it without being able to thoroughly examine the mana.”

“Which most people—even those with a Copper sense for mana—can’t do,” Vyrania said.

“But he can,” I pointed out.

Koren nodded slowly. “It’s not an ability I’ve had for all that long.” He shook his head. “It’s confusing. I lack a sufficient enough grasp on the mana to estimate the class. But them being Behemoth, plus an event on the first floor, and the general power of the mana…”

“What?” I prompted when he didn’t continue.

“This grew out of the back of your shop not long ago, yes?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, for it to open so soon after formation could imply that there aren’t very many floors. And if the power was concentrated enough…”

“Great,” Vyrania said. “You’re saying it’s a Behemoth-class tower.”

“Not necessarily. Remember, this was an event. Those weren’t normal monsters. Going by the mana, I think Colossus is right. But if it’s only, say, three floors…”

“Then each floor is still going to be incredibly difficult,” Vyrania finished. “Even the first one.”

Koren nodded.

“Yay,” I said, without enthusiasm. “Although speaking of that, I might have something that can help. I got a new ability out of that fight.”

“Oh?” Koren asked. “What is it?”

“Uh, well, you know how I became Gold-rank back there?”

Both of them stopped.

I turned to look at them.

“No,” Vyrania said in disbelief.

Koren was grinning.

It was infectious.

I nodded slowly. “Oh yeah.”

‌

∎ ∎ ∎

“Hardly seems fair,” Vyrania said after I showed her and Koren the ability’s description and gave a brief demonstration of what it looked like. “I’m even more jealous now. I think I’m actually angry. We participated too, where’s our prize?”

“We all received Gambler’s Redoubt,” Koren said.

“That was for being on the Hero Board. And it’s not immediately useful. And anyway it’s nothing compared to this.”

We had paused in the swamp for me to show them my new ability.

“Rewards will come in due course,” Koren said, striding ahead, calling back to us. “Noah was the one to do the fighting. And the one who died.”

“If I had known a Gold-rank ability was on offer, I would have helped more. He just seemed to have it in hand.”

“It’s not quite Gold rank anymore,” I pointed out.

“Still.” She shook her head, looking at me. “You are so lucky.”

“It may not be an entirely good thing.” Koren was more subdued than expected at my revelation.

It freaked me out.

“What do you mean?” I asked, jogging to catch up to him. Vyrania simply leapt the distance then walked normally as though she hadn’t just performed a superhuman feat. “Thought you’d be excited.”

He shook his head slowly. “It may not have been your rank that altered your thoughts.”

“That doesn’t sound ominous at all.”

“I’m putting a few things together now,” he went on, not looking at me. “The figure on the shrine I believe is supposed to be an Overlord’s Sentinel, or at least what the Revenants think they look like. And that ability you received is called Avatar of the Sentinel.”

“It’s just a name,” Vyrania said, laughing. Uneasily. “It’s not as though the system created real Sentinels. And it certainly wouldn’t let the Overlords have any role.”

“I don’t get it,” I said. “What is it? Overlord sounds familiar for some reason, but I can’t place it.”

“They’re why the system came to your world,” Koren answered.

I waited for him to continue. When he didn’t, I said, “And what are they?”

“I can’t say I know for certain. Nothing good.”

“You know they’re not good, but you don’t know what they are?”

“Exactly. The system came to your world to intervene, to prevent the Overlords from finding you. There’s a certain threshold that either allows the Overlords in, or allows them to locate a civ.”

“Oh, right. I think I remember now. They were in that first message. What kind of threshold?”

He shrugged. “All I know is that if a system doesn’t intervene before then, the Overlords cut off the civ and take it over.”

“Like what happened to Prime,” Vyrania put in.

Koren nodded.

“Is that another civ?”

“The first.”

“Now you mention it, I think Torath mentioned something about that.”

“Torath?” Vyrania asked.

“Guy from town. Or maybe it was Meredith. She’s also from town.”

“Sounds like they were unusually helpful.”

“I think they were just bored. If the system could find us before the Overlords, then it must be more powerful than them, so why can’t it intervene whenever it pleases?”

“The eagle hunts not the lion,” Koren said.

“Huh?”

“The most dangerous foe isn’t necessarily the one who sees the most.”

I considered this. “Well, my mood is suitably depressed.”

Koren forced a smile. “Nonsense. You should be happy. The system made it to you in time. You don’t have to worry about the Overlords.”

“You sure seemed worried about the Sentinel.”

“It is an odd choice,” he allowed, “as is the whole Revenant thing. Though it does fit, the Revenants use Sentinels, or their conception of them, after all. The good news is, those aren’t real Sentinels.”

“Which still leaves the question of how it got in here,” Vyrania said. “In an event, inside a tower. How could that even happen?”

“I imagine the system thought it would be entertaining. The legend of Nylasys,” he said spookily, wiggling his fingers.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“The legend of how the Revenant cult formed when Nylasys discovered a long-dormant Sentinel.”

“Nylasys? That their leader or something?”

“Yes.”

“What exactly are Sentinels?”

“Real ones? Unstoppable beings that feed on living matter of any kind, and perhaps even mana itself.”

“They can tear through an entire world in a day,” Vyrania added. “They’re often called world eaters.”

“Wow, you guys are great at cheering people up.”

“That’s only the real Sentinels,” Koren assured me, “not the Revenants’ pale imitations. Their versions are more controlled, and lack the central horror. And the ability you have isn’t even that. It’s simply a copy. Created for entertainment. It’s attached to Fodder, after all.”

Vyrania nodded. “Towers are purely organic creations of mana, nothing from the parent civ is actually used.”

“And events are even more curated,” Koren added. “Fully constructed by the system.”

“The people from my world were real.”

“They were only dreamers, not truly here.” Koren picked up his pace suspiciously. “Now come on. We have an event to complete.”

‌

∎ ∎ ∎

The runes eventually led us to another shrine in front of a towering stone hill that stretched to the ceiling high above.

It was slick with moss and lichen that seemed to absorb what little light managed to penetrate the gloom created by the giant trees surrounding us, casting strange shadows that danced and flickered in the dark despite the constant if weak source of light.

The trees themselves were the most diseased looking we’d encountered so far, blackened bark oozing with sickly looking sap, their gnarled branches forming a canopy that blocked out all but the most meager of light.

We stood on a narrow path leading up to the shrine, surrounded on all sides by a black, bubbling morass of stagnant water and twisted roots, its surface rippling with subtle movement hinting at the terrors lurking beneath.

The air was thick with the scent of decay and a heavy, oppressive atmosphere that felt as though it literally clung to me.

Koren motioned at the shrine, which had a very obvious egg-shaped indentation. “Go on. Let’s complete this event.” His earlier trepidation after seeing Avatar of the Sentinel had lifted and he now sounded excited despite the disturbing environs.

It was better than him sounding worried, but I was more nervous than excited. “You think this is the end?”

“I hope so,” Vyrania said.

I had to agree. The event had already killed me once. But, it had also given me access to a new, amazing ability.

I was eager to see what other rewards were forthcoming.

A description for the shrine appeared when I inspected it. This one popped up, much like the floating sign over the other one, for all three of us to see, the voice the most ominous I’d heard yet.

In this place, where darkness and decay hold sway, the line between life and death is blurred.

You’ve traversed not only this line, but The Swamp itself. You’ve faced its trials, and survived.

Now, in the heart of this dark and treacherous forest, beyond the ancient groves where the giant, twisting trees whisper secrets of bygone times, you’ve discovered an artifact shrouded in mystery. One spoken of only in whispers, and then only by the most daring of prospectors.

Deep beneath the surface, hidden from the light of day, lies this, the final edifice, that defies the passage of time, of fear and wonder, a testament to the enduring power of the mysteries that lurk just beyond the edge of your mortal understanding.

It stands empty now, but is rumored to be the birth place of a powerful artifact, an object of untold power that could grant its possessor control over the very nature of reality. This tantalizing promise has drawn countless prospectors to the depths of The Swamp, their eyes lit with the gleam of riches and glory.

Yet you are the only ones to have made it this far.

Do you dare continue?

“Uhhh…” I said, when I finished reading the message.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Koren said, unconvincingly.

I looked to Vyrania for guidance. “Should I?”

She sighed, shrugging. “Unless you have any better ideas.”

Reluctantly, I withdrew the egg from my artifact storage, hesitated, then placed it into the hollow of the shrine.

As soon as I let go, the egg began spinning slowly. The coating over it peeled off, pooling below it in the hollow. Then the shell itself, then some kind of inner shell. There was a flash of light as a final shell cracked to reveal…

“Are you kidding me?” I asked, staring at the new item.

“Well,” Koren said thoughtfully, “that is something.”

“Another egg?”

I reached down to try to pull it out, but it wouldn’t budge.

“What are we—” I began, but was interrupted by a message.

Congratulations, you have completed event: Chaos, the Lost

You have received [Wings of Salvation].

You have found this floor’s hidden key.