Since Alexander was still eight units from reaching the adept rank, Professor Wolfhammer refused to give the party an official pass. The city and university recognized the party’s prowess. They had proven themselves against opponents of the appropriate rank, completed adept rifts, and saved the City of Ygg. Technically, the party didn’t need to attend Advanced Dungeon Combat at all but continued to do so at the professor’s insistence. Nox theorized it was because the man held his apprentice, Alexander, and, by extension, the rest of the party to a higher standard.

After recovering from the mana burns he suffered in Terrastalia and absorbing the latest gift he received from Dean Woodson, Alexander’s growth had accelerated. Nox hoped the younger Woodson would soon ascend. He didn’t care as much about Professor Wolfhammer’s standards. However, it had now become a matter of pride. Nox guessed the professor expected as much and used it to push them harder. The dungeon studies department’s staff had high expectations of the party after everything that happened in Terrastalia.

Everyone already refused to accept anything short of extraordinary of Caitlin and Alexander. They were Woodsons, after all, and the dean spent a good deal of time and resources on them. A good deal of the staff didn’t like Kris while she was still alive, but she had left a grand legacy behind, and everyone demanded her apprentices lived up to the name. Not everyone knew of their hand in the Plagebringer’s death, but those who did cut Nox and Joey no slack.

The party celebrated with a feast in Nox and Aria’s shared suite after their victory against Hogg’s Avatar.

“I made your favorite, Sir Ratra,” Leanna Taylor, the top floor’s head chef, told them. She often helped in the brasserie’s kitchen and used the opportunity to refine her cheffing skills. “Beef Sirloin cooked rare, and the fat left untrimmed.” She looked proud as she sliced the preparation and served Nox first. “I roasted the potatoes in tallow with fresh green chillis just the way you like.”

“Careful, Leanna,” Aria said. “I might just worry you’re trying to steal him from me.”

“If she keeps cooking like this, you seriously might be in trouble,” Nox joked, excitedly loading potatoes onto his plate. He got a laugh out of Leana, but his fiance glared, smacking his arm. Meanwhile, Caitlin thought throwing a bread roll at his face was appropriate.

“Did you forget the rest of us?” Alexander asked, batting his long and pretty eyelashes. “I thought I was the most important stomach in your life.”

“You’re certainly near the top of the list, Mister Woodson. You’ll see if you wait until dessert.” Leanna unwrapped river carp steamed with mustard and coconut for Joey. Most of the vegetable dishes were Pudge and Caitlin’s favorite. At the end of the meal, they all received tarts filled with peaches from Aria’s home. Both she and Alexander were pleased with the offering.

Fifthday night dinner had become the party’s evening of good eating and revelry. Everyone but Nox and Caitlin indulged in wine or their preferred intoxicant. They didn’t group up and get together every week but tried to at least a couple of times a month unless they had prior commitments or functions. They especially tried to get together if anyone had other plans the coming Seventhday morning and couldn’t get together for brunch. Coordinating was difficult, but they did their best to make time for one another.

Like most Sixthday mornings, Nox and Aria had a long list of duties related to the Galleria and Edelweiss Brasserie, respectively. The latter of the pair got out of bed first. By the time Nox was washed and ready for the day, she had already departed. Jenny Tanner, Leanna’s mother and Alex Tanner’s wife, surprised Nox just as he was about to leave his quarters. As the head of housekeeping, her presence on the floor didn’t catch him off guard, but the dishevelled-looking man behind her did.

“I’m sorry, Sir Ratra,” Jenny said. “I know you don’t want strangers up here, but I didn’t think you’d want to see him around the public.”

“What makes you say that?”

First, Jenny showed him a badge carrying the now famous black-tortoise seal. Then, the man pulled his shirt open, displaying skin covered with scars and a glass sphere over where his heart should’ve been. A black maelstrom of energy spun within. Nox recognized the magic. “Lillin Grey, the Lady of Terrastalia, sent me to meet with Sir Nox Ratra.”

Nox had always expected something of the sort to happen. So, he instructed the staff to bring anyone carrying the dungeon’s emblem to him immediately. He had spent months waiting for correspondence from Lillin but had given up after half a year. When Nox saw the sphere, he immediately manifested Ratra’s Bow.

“Please.” The man said, sounding weak. “I don’t mean you any harm. These are my shackles, and the only thing still keeping me alive. Let me complete my duties so I may see my family one last time before I die.”

“You may leave, Jenny,” Nox said. His employee obeyed without hesitation, walking away briskly. Meanwhile, several armored guards waited at the top of the stairs. They were right to worry. Nox signaled them to stay where they were before gesturing the man into the suite. He poured the man a glass of water after having him sit down. “What do you mean before you die?”

“All servants of the Plaguebringer left in Terrastalia have perished except me. Lady Grey took all our cores and replaced them with this.” The man stroked the glass sphere in his chest. “It slowly feeds on us, nourishing the dungeon. My colleagues fought back, burning away their life force. I didn’t. So, Lady Grey rewarded me with a chance to see my family before the fuel runs out. But first, I had to meet you. Any deviation from her instructions will make the sphere implode.”

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“Fine. Speak.”

The man nodded. He touched the sphere again and then ran his fingers from it to his throat and then down his sternum. Purple and gold runes shone through his skin. He winced before curling into a tight ball and falling on his side. Nox leaped away from him and charged a mana blast, not sure what to expect. When the man relaxed and looked at him, his eyes had changed. They were familiar, and so was the smile on his lips.

“You fixed your arm,” he spoke in Lillin’s voice. “Isn’t that nice?”

Nox’s first instincts urged him to hug his oldest friend, but then he got another look at the body she was wearing. “How in Ygg’s name did you do… whatever this is?”

“Plaguebringer left behind a lot of interesting literature, and Bi Xi’s memories are a wellspring of interesting knowledge,” Lillin replied, stroking the black sphere. “It's just something he helped me cook up for prisoners with life sentences. It's a bomb for execution when they misbehave and also a conduit if I want to use them for something else. Neat bit of magic, isn’t it?”

“I don’t think ‘neat’ is how I’d describe it,” Nox replied. “Grotesque and terrifying would be more accurate. It's effective, though, and intimidating. Are you using these to communicate with the superpowers and allied states?”

Lillin—rather the body she currently possessed—nodded. “Another little murderer like Percy here will meet with the Council of Ygg on Firstday. But that’s not important. I wanted to see how you are and how everything is going.” Her eyes wandered around the suite. “I like what you’ve done with the place. Ratra’s Galleria. I imagine everything is going well?”

“Brilliantly. However, there has been a recent uptick in ritual murders from before the Terrastalia incident, and the number of young civilian abductions has increased.”

“What are you doing about it?” Lillin asked.

“Nothing,” Nox answered, feeling embarrassed. “I’ve been busy with the business. That’s all Joey’s department.”

“That doesn’t sound like you at all. Did you stop caring because you don’t have to feed me anymore?”

“No. That’s Joey’s department. I should be helping him, though.” Nox sighed. “I should’ve started helping him quite some time ago. I’ll be setting aside resources and time for his investigations. Perhaps it's foolish of me to ignore these things. For all I know, the Cabal might be involved.”

“Don’t be hard on yourself. It looks and sounds like, for the first time in a long time, things are going well for you. You have a flourishing business, a fiance, and a family. It's okay to focus on yourself. But don’t forget who you are. Alright?”

The urge to hug his friend reared its head again. “How’s everything going with you?” Nox asked. “Where are you now?”

“The Arctic Wastes,” Lillin answered. “I have been handing out warlock contracts and bounties to talented mages. One party just brought in the last of the All-Father’s cult. I have dealt with several city-states, including a few along the Endless Dunes edge. The Imperium is proving resident, but I have a few of them on my side. They’re helping me fill my prisons.”

“And is that enough to keep you fed?”

“Let's put it this way. If mana were biomass, my mimic body would struggle to contain it without spatial magic. The mana gems that grow in the dungeon’s depths are incredible bargaining chips. Everyone wants a share.”

“Do you have the same deal with Arctic nomads? Dean Oleg says they’re not particularly hospitable or keen on trading with outsiders.”

“Bi Xi helped me with that. He restored several geothermal oases. The nomads might not care much about mana gems, but they treasure their fertile bastions.” Lillin paused, studying Nox’s face. “I’ve also been collecting information on the Cabal. It's part of the reason why I’m here.”

“And here I thought you missed me,” Nox said.

Lillin rolled her eyes. “Pay attention. I interrogated my prisoners, and they gave me a fair bit of information on the Cabal. You killed Plaguebringer, and unless they have already replaced her, there are four more: Warmonger, Deathwalker, Famine, and Calamity.”

“With names like those, they never had a chance. What were their parents thinking?”

“Why won’t you take this seriously?”

“I just missed you. Alright?” Nox sighed. “Aria doesn’t get my stupid jokes. I love her, but she’s not the best person for such humor.”

“Then find someone else. You’re sad company without an outlet for the idiocy.” Lillin laughed. “Anyway. Nihon and Han are currently plagued by floods and droughts. The nomads and merchants in the endless dunes tell me it's a weather wizard. I bet that’s famine. Meanwhile, Deathwalker is a confirmed necromancer. Apparently, he has settled in the ruins on a floating island, which was last seen off the coast of Daksinsthan. The bastard is raining undead in his wake.

“Unfortunately, I have very little information on Calamity or Warmonger. My prisoner tells me the former is the most beautiful and sultry woman they’ve ever seen, and she despises the current status quo. The case is the same for the latter, but she’s on a mission to make the Imperium fight its smaller neighbors and even spur civil war. I hope a rough idea of their members might help you look out for signs of them.”

“Their magic sounds related to their names.” Nox fetched a notebook from his deck and took quick notes. “Plaguebringer had insect summons and the Well of Pestilence. Fa—”

“Clementine Wagner was a disease mage,” Lillin corrected. “She used flies and pests to transmit them. The rest came because of the Well of Pestilence. The well wasn’t her primary spell, but its ownership is what made her the Plaguebringer. It appears as if these five signature spells are passed down from each generation of the Cabal to the next. Just because Famine’s key spell involves altering the weather doesn’t mean it's indicative of the rest of their magic. From what I understand, they’re usually related.”

“Fine. So, I need to look out for excess rains or droughts, necromancy, and unnatural wars. What would Calamity’s focus be? Natural disasters?”

Lillin shrugged. “It’s impossible to tell. But the more you know, the better you can prepare.”