Meera eyed the box the rat stood on. She had half a mind to leave it. But then, even if Meera couldn't use it, she could use it as a bargaining chip with the witch—maybe to free the men of Cliffmere or get her to answer some of her questions.

Meera moved to grab the box. Shade flew down to land beside her hand. "Are you going to just let it slide?"

Meera frowned with a tilt of her head. "Let it slide?"

"Are you not even going to try to see what this necklace does?" he asked.

"I can't even use it. He made it specifically for someone who can do mirror magic like the witch."

Shade tilted his head. "I've seen you do mirror magic."

"That's different," Meera replied.

"How so?" Shade asked. "Mirror magic is mirror magic."

Cinders wrinkled her nose. "It makes sense logically. Though, bending the necklace to your will might be a little harder than whatever mirror-related skills you might have."

"T-They could be right," Onyx whimpered from the door. "I hope he doesn't get mad at you for wearing it."

Meera shrugged. "Here goes nothing." She opened the box and picked up the necklace, a gift for the witch. The necklace was beautiful. It had a thick gold chain with a gold crystal in the middle. The gold gem almost shone brightly enough to lighten up the room.

Meera put on the necklace, and nothing happened, but when she ran her Mana through the necklace, more than a few things happened. First, the gem shone so brightly that she had to look away. Second, the world was rocked by another earthquake. The ghosts were okay, but in the rocking, Meera ended up slamming her hand down on the pedestal with Edwyn's diary, and all three—Meera, pedestal and Edwyn's diary took a hard fall.

*ding!*

[Please supply more Mana to complete the transformation.]

Meera frowned. What transformation? I hope it's not turning me into some strange creature.

She looked down at herself and found nothing had changed, though the gold gem still shone brightly.

"Uh, Meera, do you mind turning the brightness down a little?" Shade said.

"Yes, okay." She gulped and, against her best judgment, did as the necklace asked and gave it more Mana.

She felt a warmth spreading all over her body. She frowned at first, but a bright gold light was spreading all over her body, and wherever it spread, it left behind a black and gold armor. Once it slowly died down, Meera cried out in excitement.

She was wearing black assassin armor with studded gold gems.

Meera jumped to her feet. She quickly patted herself, and it was real. She couldn't believe it, but there was only one problem. The armor had a massive hole in the chest, showing off too much cleavage.

She yelped, covered her chest with her hand, and turned from the ghosts. "Oh no, no, no. Cover it up!"

She threw more Mana into the necklace, and to her amazement, the armor covered up her cleavage with more gold jewels. She had jewels on her shoulders that went around her back—even the black hood had a line of these gold gems. There were lines all across the armor, giving it an exquisite look. Now, it wasn't something you would see on an assassin trying to keep a low profile, but by all the gods of this land, it was pretty.

*ding!*

[Thanks to your Mirror Affinity, you were able to create the Armor of Mirrors. Armor of Mirrors – Level 1. It is an enchanted set of armor that can will its shape to its master's desires. Each piece of this armor, from the hood to the boots, is adorned with magically imbued mirrors that serve both protective and tactical purposes. This armor will also enhance all your Mirror element skills by 50%.]

*ding!*

[The Mirror Step skill detected.]

*ding!*

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

[Armor of Mirrors effect unlocked. Stage 1 – Mirror Step Enhancement. Thanks to the enchanted mirrors of this armor, you can create a mirror chain by using the mirrors from the armor, shooting them out, and using them as focal points for your jumps.]

Meera could do nothing but gawk at the notifications, just when she thought this cave couldn't have given any more. It ended up doing this. The grin on her nearly threatened to cause a stitch in her face, if that were even possible.

"YES!" Meera jumped in excitement. "Oh, my god…yes! Thank you, you stupid, ghost-infested cave."

"Anyone else feels like they should be offended by this?" Shade asked the others.

Meera straightened. "Sorry, I didn't mean you guys."

Cinders snorted. "It's okay. We know what you meant. Meera, what are these new robes?"

"This…" Meera gave them a twirl. "Is the Armor of mirrors."

"This is what he meant to give the witch as a gift," Shade exclaimed. "You should be thanking me for giving you some sense to use it."

Meera chuckled and shook her head. "Yes, thank you very much, Shade."

"I-I think you should take it off," Onyx practically quivered from the door.

The fact that he was almost entirely inside the room said more than words ever would about the seriousness of his words.

"Why, Onyx?" Meera asked. "This armor is fantastic. It's even giving my mirror skills a boost."

"Because he's awake. I'm sure of it. Did none of you feel that earthquake? That was no normal earthquake. That was his dong."

His words had merit. There was another earthquake before when Onyx had said Edwyn's name for the first time. Meera shared a glance with the other two animals.

"I say, you keep it," Shade said. "After all, you need an armor. Those rags you had before won't protect you from a chill breeze."

"He's right," Cinders said. "I agree with Onyx that the earthquake was foul play, but we plan on killing that monster, don't we?"

"We are," Meera confirmed. "So, why not use his things against him?"

Cinders' nose twitched, and from where Meera stood, it looked like she was smiling. "You got that right."

Meera walked to Onyx. "Don't worry, friend. I'm fully healed and have a few new gifts. That Edwyn will not know what hit him."

She winced and looked for another earthquake. When there was none, she mouthed sorry to Cinders.

"It's okay," the rat replied. "We'll be getting to him soon, now."

Meera smiled. "That's right. Just need to open six more locked rooms before that."

"Pray we get lucky enough to open his room last," Shade said. "Ready to head out?"

Meera nodded. "You and Cinders can decide on which room to hit first. I have something I need to try out first."

"Sure." Shade flew out of the room, and Cinders followed behind. They bickered about which direction to head in first.

It brought a smile to her lips. She had stopped behind to do two things. She reached for her Lunar Hoard Belt, nicely secured underneath her new armor. As she reached for the belt, the armor slithered back and exposed the belt. Meera raised her eyebrows, impressed it could do that. She untied the belt, removed it, and pulled off her chakram. She tied her belt along her waist, and her armor slithered back to cover the belt, securing it.

I must try out different apparel with this armor.

Next, she removed another chakram from her arm and held one in each hand. Now, how do I do this?

"What are you trying to do?" Onyx asked.

She would have jumped if she hadn't heard his footsteps already, thanks to the Gem of Echoes.

"I unlocked a new effect for these chakrams. I can fuse two into one powerful one, but the only problem is. I don't know how to do that."

"Why don't you just touch the two of them together?"

Meera stared at him. "That…is a good idea. One I would have thought of if I had any common sense."

Onyx chuckled, which gave Meera pause as he had never done that before. Maybe he's picking up a thing or two from me.

She focused on the two chakrams and touched them together, but nothing happened. It deflated the mood, but then Meera had an idea. "Seeing as they are mythical weapons, maybe all they need is a little Mana."

She ran her Mana into both chakrams and just like that, the two chakrams fused into one big one. It was twice the size in diameter as her other chakrams, and even its metal ring was twice as thick.

*ding!

[Congratulations. You have successfully forged Chakram of Echoes - level 2]

"I can't wait to try you out." She looked to Onyx with a wide grin. "Thank you, Onyx."

"My pleasure."

She set the chakram on the pedestal and took off the rest of them as well. She closed her eyes and activated Mirror Eagle's Perceptivity, and she could see everything. The Armor of Mirrors truly lived up to its name. She picked up her chakrams from the pedestal and put them back on.

For the last big chakram, she tried something new. She reached around, put it on her back, and mentally commanded the armor to hold it. To her surprise, the armor again did as commanded and held her chakram and place.

"Say, Onyx, there is one thing that's been in the back of my mind," Meera walked to her horse friend. "How could I ride you when you came to my rescue? As a matter of fact, how were you glowing so much?"

Onyx neighed. "I have skills, too, you know."

"You have a skill that lets humans, well, alive ones, touch you?"

"No, not that one. I think that depends on who we permit to touch us. As for the glowing, I have a skill called Light of the Dead, which lets me emit a powerful light that pushes back any evil."

"I wonder if the others have it, as well."

"You're going to have to ask them that," Onyx replied.

"About time we see if they picked a good tunnel for us." Meera led the way out of the room with Onyx right behind him.

At the end of the tunnel, the wall of wraiths waited for them. Just as they reached the end, Cinders appeared out of the wall on the right.

"Picked a tunnel for us?" Meera asked, a smile on her lips.

Cinders nodded. "Shade's hovering right on top of it. Just do your thing, and we'll meet you there."

Meera activated her Shroud. The wraiths stilled, and she saw Shade hovering a little to the right of the opposite side of the cavern. She took off a chakram and launched it towards the bat, over the heads of the dead.

Shade shrieked and got out of the way of the chakram. Meera smiled and activated Mirror Step for the first time. One moment, she was in the tunnel, and the next, she caught her chakram mid-air.

She cried out in excitement. Oh, I'm so going to like this skill.

"Hey, watch it!" Shade yelled. "I'm not target practice."

"I'm sorry. I'll make sure I don't miss next time." Meera winked.

"What do you mean by that!"

Meera let him stew in that as she entered the tunnel and went straight for the door. She dropped the Shroud as she unlocked the door. She had just taken a step into the room when a giant fist, almost the size of Meera, crashed into her, sending her flying into the cavern.

"TAKE IT OFF!"