Four iron plates were placed on the counter in front of Apexus. A moment later, a note was added – the official license that the humanoid chimera could show in other outposts around the Omniverse to prove they were entitled to this level of authentication.

“Why?” Apexus asked, looking at the objects. His surprise put him back in the bad habit of not fully formulating understandable thoughts. “Why are we receiving these?”

The receptionist, an older man, double-checked the notebook before answering. “You attempted to take a Quest from the Sleeping Empire, correct?” he asked, then continued after the Monk nodded. “They were pleased with your performance and sent us an official letter of recommendation. We don’t get many of those, so the top brass must have thought that was good enough.” He closed the book and looked up at the party leader. “The Guild is not in the habit of holding back capable adventurers. Between the Gargant, Atlas’ recommendation, and now that of the ambassador's wife, we have enough reason to skip on the usual procedure.” He gestured at the metal plates on the table. “Therefore, you go straight to the iron, congratulations. Would you like to create your cards right now?”

Apexus just nodded. Each member of the party pricked their thumb with a sharp needle and bled onto their individual sheet of metal. The receptionist raised an eyebrow at the reddish gold of Aclysia’s blood and the water-like consistency of the thinned slime that oozed from Apexus’ wound. He commented on neither. It was unusual, but on par with other weird stuff he had seen in his time.

The magical feather of the Scribe moved over the metal, using the life essence of the four adventurers as the ink to etch into the iron. A minute later, each of them held their new cards. Levels had not changed since the last update. They had only fought the Incursion and a Gargant since, not enough to bring about the kind of change they needed.

To level effectively, adventurers had to truly risk their necks. It was no wonder, then, that most adventurers plateaued at one point or another. Only a few kinds of people were happy to keep risking their lives in exchange for more power. Most got to a level at which living was good and then stagnated there.

Iron in their pockets and the note stored away in Aclysia’s second bag, the party addressed the receptionist with their actual question. “We requested to be notified if a certain kind of job came in. Has there been a development?”

“Oh, right,” the receptionist had forgotten they had led with that. He opened the registry back up, checked for their request, and then opened another book. “Now that you have the iron, this is much easier,” he told them. “You can work for us.”

“The Guild?” Apexus asked.

The receptionist nodded. “We got the word this morning that our outpost in Summerdawn is running low on ink. The special ink that the Distance Feather uses – you know what a Distance Feather is?”

“One of the devices used so Guild outposts are in contact in and between Leaves,” Apexus answered.

“Exactly. They don’t produce the ink locally yet, so we have to send it across. Normally we’d do it with a caravan, but the last one got ripped apart by a Scorpiopede.”

“A what now?” Korith squeaked.

“Imagine a millipede.”

“I’d rather not…”

“Then imagine it’s twenty metres long.”

“Ew! Ew! Ew, ew, ew!”

“Then imagine every other segment got mantis arms sticking off to the side.”

“What terrible, terrible god would make that!” Korith’s eyes flew open. “That’s awful.”

“To this day, we do not have a precise answer to that. This Leaf was the sum of collaborative efforts. The scholars are pretty sure Chimerion is by a relatively young god though. Apparently young gods like slapping common creatures together.” The receptionist shrugged. “To the point, the reward would be 25 platin, paid immediately upon delivery. You could set out right now, we have the package in the back.”

Apexus looked to the rest of the party. Korith nodded thrice, Aclysia once, and Reysha gave a thumbs-up. They had been waiting two days for a job and they were tired of sitting around. “Very well. We accept.”

The package was a stack of flasks contained in a wooden cylinder filled with wood shavings for cushioning. It was slim enough to go into an adventurer’s bag and not particularly tall either. Distance Feathers did not use up much ink.

Rather than keep it in their bags, the party decided to store it in their Mobile Estate. It was safer there. “Alright, now that we have a payload, let’s go!” Reysha urged everyone. “Come on, I haven’t eaten anything good in several weeks!”

“I will miss you, cooked food,” Korith sniffed.

“We have new cooking utensils and spices, you will eat well on the road,” Aclysia promised.

“Ah, right, cool.” Happily, Korith waddled next to Aclysia, the two of them and Apexus following Reysha on swift foot.

The streets thinned, the busy movement of the city gradually decreasing until it was not even a distant murmur. Left was the whisper of the wind over the tamed fields that surrounded the city. All of them breathed easier out there. Even the half of the party that liked civilization preferred the clear air of the farms to the layered stenches and aromatic scents of a city.

Suddenly, Reysha stopped.

“Alright, this as far as I know what the best route is!” Turning around on her heels, she pointed at Aclysia. “Swing your bubble butt to the front, bubble butt! I want something nice to look at.”

“Would you also be interested in marching in the correct direction?” Aclysia suggested.

“Ya know me, ‘Clysia, that’s the second priority at best.”

“Perhaps you should make it your first priority?”

“Nah, each of your cheeks is more important than finding the quickest way – so it’s third at best, actually.”

“It is advisable that you get your mind out of the gutter.”

“I don’t think ya want that.”

“Why not?” The metal fairy was genuinely confused.

“Remember all those times I had to make shady deals with people living in the canalisation to get ya what ya wanted? Yeah, that’s why.”

“I… mhm…” Aclysia went quiet for three seconds, then let out a frustrated groan. “You win this one.”

“Didn’t ya learn by now, bubble butt?” Reysha gave the white-haired angel a smack to the same as she passed by her. Jumping in surprise, the metal fairy tried to give a poisonous glare. She did not quite succeed, their relationship was too deep for that. “When it comes to banter, Reysha doesn’t lose.”

Aclysia pulled out a compass to properly orient them. Once the group was back in motion, the fairy at the helm, Apexus raised his voice. “I never understood why people sometimes talk of themselves in the third person.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“It’s cauwse Weyshwa does whatevaw she wvant, uwu,” the tiger girl slurred her words with sickening sweetness. She burst out laughing a moment later. Their faces would never not be priceless.

“I think people just do it for… uhm… emphasis?” Korith suggested, then nodded to herself. “Yeah, that’s the right word. When you want things to sound a certain way, you use it.”

“When is that?”

“Uhm… you’ll just know?”

“Apexus does not know,” the Monk answered. “Apexus too stupid. Apexus has no brain.”

“Yeah, like that!” Reysha laughed, slapping her lover’s back a couple of times. “Really emphasizing your empty skull there, big guy.”

“This manner of speaking confuses me. It is like a river that curves away from the ocean when the beach is in sight.”

“River… curve… ocean…” Korith mumbled, then scratched the base of her ponytail. “Do we file that under Apexus-isms or Monk-isms?”

“That’s a clear Monk-ism,” Reysha answered. “Apexus-isms usually have weird animal analogies.”

“Are my metaphors like snails and slugs to you?”

“See, that is an Apexus-ism!”

“In my humble opinion, that was a standard simile,” Aclysia chimed back in. “The similarities and differences between snails and slugs are widely known.”

“The fuck is a simile?”

Aclysia let out a deep sigh. “The proper word to describe what all ascribe the label metaphor to.” Sorting her words for a moment, she then continued, dramatically. “A great storm is about to descend on you, cracking lightning in your head, causing aches of great pain!”

Reysha applauded the performance. “Impressive, I can really see your daddy’s influence coming through.”

“That was a metaphor.”

“For what? How?”

“For a headache, to put it so bluntly that even one of lowly intellect, you who are like a gaping fish, can understand.”

“Now that was a metaphor!”

“No, that was a simile!” Aclysia stomped once in frustration. “The difference is quite simple. A simile relies on words such as ‘as’ or ‘like’ to make the connection. A metaphor exists without such binding agents.”

“So, one is glue and the other is like a boiled horse?” Reysha suggested.

“I… uhm… what?”

“Yeah, exactly!” Reysha laughed, at which point everyone was confused about what the entire talk was even about. Korith joined in the laughter because she didn’t know what else to do. The general joviality of the banter spread to the other two.

In that good mood, the party went northwards, stopping only to reorient themselves, deal with the stray, weak monsters that still popped up in this neck of the woods, and refill their waterskins in public wells. The latter was only necessary because the water from within the Mobile Estate could not be brought out.

They followed the same route as they had taken the first time around. It meant that they primarily stuck to the wide river that parted the land of Drowse in an eastern and western half.

After six days, they were back at the salt lake. “If I take one more step, it’ll be the furthest from Drowse I have ever gone,” Korith said dramatically.

That earned her weird glances from everyone else. “And?” Apexus asked.

“It was just… just a joke… Why am I always the unfunny one?!”

“You are really funny, I love laughing at you,” Reysha answered.

“Well, thank you- Hey!” Korith grabbed some clean-picked bone off of the ground and charged with it at Reysha. The slow swings were easily dodged. Mischief in her eyes, the redhead deliberately backed into Apexus. Following the mischief, Korith kept swinging her impromptu weapon.

Aclysia let out a quiet sigh when the predictable happened. The bone got blocked by the Monk, the Monk elbow-jabbed in the stomach by Reysha, and suddenly all three of them were tumbling in the grass. Their usual playfight for dominance was taking its course.

A smile on her lips, the Guardian Angel kept a look at their surroundings. The crocodile-gorilla hybrids could have hidden in the murky channels that marked these salt marshes. ‘I can’t even tell them to mind their clothes now that we got spares,’ Aclysia lamented to herself, her smile growing wider. ‘What a horrid luxury.’

Korith tapped out first, getting pinned down by a combination of Reysha’s thighs and Apexus’s hands. The redhead immediately lunged at the much larger black-haired man afterwards. As per usual, she avoided the physical struggle, instead trying to confuse him with a flurry of motions. It did not work on her darling, not anymore. Deeply controlled, he caught her by the wrists and then pinned her down. A kiss between them sealed the fight.

Covered in mud and grass, the trio rose back to their feet. Aclysia still kept a watchful eye on the surroundings. “Shall we stop for the day?” she suggested. “We will not make it to dry land before nightfall no matter how hard we march.”

Reysha ran a hand through her hair, realizing too late she was staining her red strands with mud. “Sounds good to me, for some reason I got dirty.”

“What do you mean ‘got’ dirty? Dirty is your base state,” Korith jabbed.

“HAH!” Reysha laughed out loud. “See, ya got some humour, squishy.”

Apexus put up the Mobile Estate. Once inside, they stripped out of their dirty clothes. Aclysia took it upon herself to clean them as best she could with what she had on hand. The limitless supply of water helped, but she lacked the proper utensils and space. The other three gave themselves a thorough scrubbing. Afterwards, they entered their resting hours.

It was that time of day between them entering the Mobile Estate and dinner being ready. After dinner, they usually played games until libido took over, after which it was sex and sleep. Before dinner was the hour in which they went after their individual tasks – as best they could in the space they had.

Apexus sat cross-legged on the bed, blending out the other noises. There was the soft vibration of magic. Aclysia was channelling her magic into harmless light, exercising her magical circuitry. A little bit removed, sounds of exhaustion could be heard from Korith. The kobold was pushing her body to the limits using weights she had bought with her own money. Reysha snapped her fingers. She did it again. Several minutes later, she did it again.

Korith looked up suddenly. Aclysia stopped focusing on her spell. Reysha grinned. “Distracted?” she asked.

“Yes – what was that?”

“One of the things Mai didn’t get to teaching me, so I’m trying to figure it out for myself – it’s called Misdirect.” She snapped her fingers again, the sound coming across slightly louder than it should have been. “Basically I’m inverting all of the effects of Stealth to create something that seems way more important than it is.” She snapped her fingers again and made a sour expression. “Long shot from being able to use it in combat though.” Reysha did not need to ask what the other two were working on, their training was of the endurance kind. Important, fundamental even, yet not much to talk about. “And what are you doing, Apexus?”

The Monk was in the calm of his mind and needed to stir his thinking again before he could answer. Eyes still closed, he answered. “I am trying to achieve the Ego Death.”

“Why the fuck would you want that?” Reysha remarked, her tone flat and serious. “I like you.”

“You mistake ego for character. It is fundamental that I achieve a state in which I am governed not by what I desire but by what I ought to do. My instincts must be grounded in my discipline, so that my virtues may be at the wheel.”

Shaking her head, the redhead mumbled, “That sounds like it’s for people that have virtues.”

Apexus opened his eyes and fixed his stoic gaze on her. “You are being too harsh on yourself. It has been two years. You’re no longer that same person.”

“Funny, I still feel like that cunt.”

“You are and you are not – my point is that you have tried to be virtuous and you have succeeded. Not in all ways, no, and I do not think you will ever be a paragon… but maybe you should try to let there be distance between you and what you did.”

“I’d rather snap my fingers, I’m good at that.” Reysha demonstrated with a loud click.

Apexus stared blankly at her for a few seconds. “I love you. I would not love a villain.”

Blushing, Reysha averted her gaze. “Thanks…” she muttered, her tail flopping on the floorboards. “What’s it like… Ego Death?”

The humanoid chimera closed his eyes and tried the impossible task of entering the state while holding a deliberate conversation. He failed at the former. He remembered enough and had read enough to relay. “It is a state of true clarity and freedom. All desires and functions of the body are laid out before the mind and thus all actions are taken by the mind, the stoic reason, and the instincts honed by a good life.”

“That sounds… pretty great?”

“It is torture,” Apexus clarified quickly. “I can feel my hunger gnawing at the edges of my mind. My muscles twitch in response to my thought. The pulsing of heat through my body. The production of acid in my stomach. The eyes in my head. The ears on my skull. The plates on the roof of my mouth. My skin. I can feel it all individually like the day I have acquired it. All the subconscious processes of my body are rubbing up against my active mind, like the tongue of a cat peeling off fur.”

“Now that’s an Apexus-ism,” Reysha tried to introduce some levity into the talk. Korith giggled, then cleared her throat.

“Please, do laugh,” Aclysia encouraged. “This need not be a dire conversation, I believe.”

“Dire is not my goal,” Apexus assured, his voice even and relaxed.

“If it sucks so much, why do it?”

“Because it’s better than the alternative – to be guided by whims. If pain is the price for self-control, then I will gladly suffer.” That was the final word on the matter. Aclysia stirred the boiling stew. Korith went back to lifting.

Reysha silently watched him meditate.