Aspen bustled in not long after they got to the source of Jake’s unease, bearing plates of breakfast sandwiches for them all.

Gargan was drawn into the room by the delicious scents, and they quickly devoured it all before Jake shared the conclusion they’d come to.

Unfortunately, Gargan had no more an idea of what their enemies were trying to prevent than the rest of them.

“Alright, let’s leave that for now,” Jake said, moving them on from talking in circles. “We’ve got a week or two until Gordon gets back. How are we going to put it to use?”

“The only thing we can do that will make a difference is push to the third tier,” Nepthys said with a slight frown. “I can’t break into it myself without hunting a few more Corrupters. I’m not far off though, only two and I can break through.”

“As much as I’d like you to make it to the third tier, I hope that we don’t encounter any of them here. This is a good position, and I’m loathe to give it up.” Jake paused and ran his gaze over the others before nodding. “The rest of you, though. I think I have some ideas. Remind me what you need for your Deeds?”

“I need to exploit weaknesses,” Alan said with a slight frown. “I’ve made progress, but I’m only halfway there since we reached this tier. It’s started slowing down as well.”

“Does it say they need to be Worthy?” Aspen asked, patting Alan on the shoulder as he nodded. “It will only get harder the closer to the end you get. That’s why Gargan and I are still this tier.”

“Yes, but what exactly do you need?” Jake asked, leaning forward intently.

“I need to defeat Worthy enemies with a flaming weapon.”

“And you, Gargan?”

“The same, but with fire, not a weapon.”

“So, is it the enemy that has to be Worthy, or the challenge that they represent?” Jake asked eagerly.

“I’m not sure,” Aspen said, rubbing his jaw before looking at Gargan. “Do you know?”

“It depends on what you’re trying to do,” Gargan said thoughtfully. “I’ve not given too much thought to the rules behind it beyond what’s common knowledge. I suppose I was just too focused on fighting stronger monsters.”

“I fully understand that. It just occurred to me to question what stronger means,” Jake said, grinning as he saw the growing interest in Gargan’s posture. “If I fight a zombie is it the same as if I fight it again when it has armour and a weapon? What about my armour or weapons?”

“There’s only one way to really know,” Nepthys said, shrugging as they all turned to her. “We’ve got to go test it.”

“Well, I’m all in favour,” Aspen said, getting to his feet and clapping his hands together. “Where are we heading, then?”

“Back to the undead Dungeon,” Jake said, heading to his room to grab his pack. He had some ideas for how to mix things up, and he couldn’t wait to see what worked.

-**-

Jake could barely contain his enthusiasm by the time they got to the undead Dungeon and he quickly hustled them inside and onto the first floor.

“Alright, so what’s the plan?” Aspen asked as he peered off at the distant shambling zombies.

“Okay, first test is to change equipment. How much are you willing to risk for this?” Jake asked seriously, making sure that Aspen knew he wasn’t joking. “Are you ready to risk death?”

“I doubt it would count if I wasn’t,” Aspen said with a grin. “This is exciting, what do you have in mind?”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Take your armour off and give Alan your spear,” Jake said, taking off his pack as Aspen did as he asked. “Alright, here you go.”

Aspen looked down at Jake’s hand with a bemused expression before reaching out to take his new weapon. “Jake, this is a butter knife.”

“Are you saying that you can’t kill a zombie with a butter knife?” Jake asked, folding his arms.

Aspen considered the question for a moment before shrugging as flames erupted along the knife, concentrating along the edge. “You know, I think I want to get the answer to that myself.”

“Good, just don’t use anything else, only the knife. I want to see if that works.”

Absently nodding, Aspen chuckled to himself as he sauntered off toward the zombies, the small flaming knife at the ready.

The undead saw Aspen’s approach easily enough and shambled in his direction, only for Aspen to use his movement Skill to get in amongst them.

It was somewhat surreal watching Aspen slaughter the zombies with his butter knife, but what mattered was that it was difficult. Aspen had to get in close to really hurt them, and with how outnumbered he was, that meant he had to move quickly and not stop for anything.

The concentrated fiery edge of the knife cut through the flesh of the zombies without issue and one by one they fell. A few lucky strikes left Aspen with some scratch marks, but from the grin on his face, Aspen had enjoyed himself.

“Now that was a challenge!” Aspen called out as he drew out the Wyrdgeld from the bodies. “Difficult, but manageable.”

“Did you get credit for a Worthy kill?” Gargan asked quickly, smiling broadly as Aspen nodded.

“I got one credited to my total for the fight. Honestly, that’s the first one I’ve had in a while, and it felt good.”

“Well then, same again?” Jake asked, motioning to the entrance to the second floor.

“I do believe I shall,” Aspen said, twirling his knife before tucking it into his belt.

“So, what do you have in mind for me?” Alan asked as they made their way to the end of the short floor. “I can’t exactly do this.”

“No, but once we’ve tried a few things I’ll understand more,” Jake said, giving Alan an encouraging pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out. You’ll have to work for it, but I doubt that will be a problem.”

Alan nodded with a serious expression. “I’m not going to be the one holding us back. I’ll put the work in, you just tell me what I need to do.”

Jake nodded before following Aspen through to the second floor. Thankfully, the short format of the Dungeon meant that the next set of zombies were nearby.

Drawing his butter knife, which still amused Jake to watch, Aspen used his Skill to cover it in flames before dashing in to fight the zombies.

Between Aspen’s movement Skill, his experience and his higher tier, the second batch of zombie’s had no chance. It took a little time, but eventually Aspen finished the last one by all but removing its head with a vicious cut.

All in all, the second group had actually taken less time now that Aspen had found his feet with the butter knife.

Jake hurried forward to see if their plan had worked again, but after a few moments of waiting, Aspen shook his head. “Nothing changed this time.”

“Damn,” Gargan muttered with a grimace. “I was hoping we’d found a way forward.”

“You and me both,” Aspen said, cleaning his knife before stowing it in his belt. “I was just starting to get the hang of it as well.”

“Wait,” Jake said abruptly, his mind racing. “Perhaps that’s the problem?”

“What is?”

“That you got the hang of it. It was a novelty at first, and so you had to push yourself, but then you got used to it.”

“Maybe, but how does that help?” Aspen asked, looking unconvinced.

“Well, if it’s about difficulty and challenge, then why don’t we set some ground rules. If you go in and aim to just reduce how much you use your Skills, that’s one thing, but if we set a rule that you can only use your flaming weapon Skill…” Jake trailed off as he saw their thoughtful expressions.

“Alright, let’s head to the third floor and try it again,” Aspen said with a shrug. “This time I’ll set the rules that the only active Skill I can use is my Flame Infusion and I’ll only use the blunt side of the knife.”

“Will that be enough to truly challenge you?” Jake asked, trying to think of what else they could do. “What about only killing them by decapitation?”

Aspen exhaled heavily and was about to shake his head before he paused and shrugged. “That sounds horrible, but that’s kind of the point, so let’s do it.”

Hurrying onward, they moved on to the third floor and sent Aspen forward to once again take on the zombies alone.

Without his movement Skill, Aspen had to work a lot harder to fight the zombies, and took a few more scrapes and cuts from them in the process. Despite it all, though, he stuck to the rules he’d set.

Eventually, the final zombie had its head removed by the slight edge that Aspen had on the blunt side of his knife, and the fight was over.

“So, did it work?” Jake called out as they rushed over to join him.

Aspen turned with a broad grin, ignoring the blood trickling down his arm from a close call. “It did. I got another one from that fight.”

“Looks like we’re on to something, after all,” Alan said excitedly. “Nicely done, Jake.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Jake said, flashing the Scholar a malicious smile. “You haven’t heard what I have in mind for your Deeds. First, though, let’s see if we can get Aspen a few more Deeds of his own.”