Winter had come. Fresh snowfall began coating the land of mis-eastern Liberté in a blanket of frost. The animals of the forests took to their dens and caves for a three-month rest, and folks all around started preparations for the upcoming day of Flameshearth. A holiday dedicated to Obsidian, the Forgemaster, god of heat. A day of gratitude for family and for the god that so warms this world of Titania.

Some had also taken to preparing for the festival that marks the end of the year and the end of spring. The Cycle’s Turn, off-season holly, and tinsel decoration were being stocked on the shelves well in advance.

In Noir, one man’s mind was not on any festivities or merriment. Instead, one Xhao Li meditated on the band of adventurers that invaded his sect. The presence of one Timothy Howard, holding a relic his teacher said was of the utmost importance to restoring her master’s teachings. The thought of it gave him no end of irritable rage.

“He’s not even born in Jiang-hu!” the man’s thoughts lingered on Tim and his request. He knew that his master didn’t trust him fully, but that she even considered it made his skin crawl.

Fen-hai Mei arrived at the hidden dojo, surprised to see him there. “Xhao Li?” she said sternly.

The student opened his eyes. “Ah, lady elder. You have arrived before the roosters had crowed. What brings you here at this hour?”

Mei looked at her student. “He’s clearly trying to butter me up,” She turned to her meditating student. “I’ve heard you have expressed concerns about my test for our recent visitors.”

“‘Visitors,’ is a misnomer,” Xhao Li muttered.

Mei caught that whispered barb.

“Forgive me, master,” Xhao Li said. “But are you sure he is worthy of our allyship? This man has no ties to the scholars of Ne-Zha, and no roots in Nu-Wa. Is this wise?”

“And so you still think heritage alone determines worth?” Mei said. Her brow furrowed in an annoyed expression. “Has I failed you as a teacher that much?”

“Lady Elder,” Li said. “I mean no offense, but—”

“If you want to test him or his fellows’ worth yourself,” Mei said. “You’re welcome to try.”

Xhao Li came from a privileged background, the youngest scion of the Xhao clan of Ne-Zha. He looked at his master’s eye with fire in his. “You would condone it?”

“If I cannot teach you that you need to learn, then mayhap another guide is warranted. If you feel it so, then go, and test the man for yourself, are you like a tiger pouncing on a rabbit, or a you like a man partaking in a dove’s poisoned blood.”

Xhao Li grimaced at the latter idiom. “I will assure you I will be careful here.” He stood up. “Thank you for this opportunity.” Li left the room to prepare for his quest.

Mei sighed to herself. “An arrow for the gilded eagles,” she mused to herself, knowing that this would allow her to learn Tim’s strength in advance. Arrogant as Li was, he was among her well-trained students. His trial would make a good barometer for her.

✦✦✦

Today at The Black Box was as average as possible. Emily and Heathcliff accessed the guests they would be seeing this week, The Coloraturas and the other children attended their classes, Minerva assisted the Sprites, Dromarches, and other Arachne with their tasks, The Smiths talked with Cassie about armor designs and drones, Atsuko and her shinobi tinkered with the Kaguya Parallel Mirror, Tim meditated on the jade slip from the other group of Alkahestics, Esteban, and Julia tested the layout of Emily’s body for the day, and Elizabeth helped to maintain Emily’s dungeon body.

Carla and Charlotte were the exception. They sat out the Monsoonfall to instead visit a Dungeon they heard had an item to undo curses. With the help of Minerva and Julia, as well as the Tazelwurms they have tamed, they ventured towards the Catacombs of Hexenflutch. A tomb that is said to house items that could break the darkest of cursed. Over that night they obtained several rusted weapons and shields as well as a mirror from the crypt’s keepers.

Anemone was looking at the mirror, with Charlotte, Lily, Euryale, and Stheno besides them. The artifact had remnants of black sludge that had the lycanthrope and centaur wonder if the name was more indicative of something than they thought.

“Are you sure this will work?” Stheno said in her usual polite tone.

“Yeah,” Anemone said. “Rumors of objects like that happen all the time, and the guilds rarely verify them.”

“Do you even know how to operate this thing, Lotte?” Euryale said.

Charlotte hesitated to answer. While she had obtained the relic, she knew now how it worked. She observed the reflective pane for any clues on how to operate it. She searched the frame of the object for scripted language, but she could not find any discernible writing.

“Maybe we can ask Pauline about this?” Lily asked. “She might know someone who could help us figure out how to use it.”

One of the mouse-eared Cells arrived. “You said you wanted me for something?” It was Nancy Najera, she was a shy girl in Hamlin, a trait that persisted even when the Piper Pruflas altered her mind. She timidly approached the group.

Charlotte looked at the Nezumi-like child. She wondered if now was the time to attempt the mirror, but fear had gripped her. What-ifs of all the things that could go wrong flooded her mind as she wondered about the ramifications of its misuse.

“We have a new mirror!” Lily said with a chipper tone. “Can you look at it, maybe tell me what you see?”

“Lily!” Anemone said.

“Straight to the point,” Stheno said.

Nancy was surprised to hear that. “You want me to look into a mirror?” She stammered.

“Um, yes?” Charlotte said hesitantly. “Um, it’s okay if you don’t look, though.”

“I’ll do it!” She said. “I mean if that alright with you.”

“Go ahead,” Stheno said.

Charlotte shot her friend a look of hesitancy. “But—”

“I’ll be fine!” Euryale whispered. “Besides you got the thing to remember?”

Nancy approached the mirror. She saw her reflection on the silver surface. Her dimpled mouth, her brown hair tied with red ribbons. The greyish pallor that comes from being a Cell of the Black Box. A metallic dress. She saw herself as she always has.

Her gaze lingered on the mirror, suddenly the surface showed not her reflection, but instead a village and a girl that resembled her but wasn’t. Her head began to turn.

“What’s happening,” Nancy said. She felt like her stomach was convulsing. Dreamlike thoughts entered her mind. Accompanied by the thoughts of the Piper’s siren call. She felt like someone was trying to keep her away. She tried to look away from the mirror, but for some reason it kept her head transfixed on it.

“My head…make it stop!” Nancy said.

Lily and Anemone began removing the mirror while Charlotte tried to move Nancy away from it. They separated the girl from the reflective panel.

“Are you okay?” Stheno said with concern.

Nancy’s head throbbed for a while longer. She breathed heavily as sweat dripped from her forehead. “I’m…what the heck was that?”

Lily apologized. “I’m sorry, I thought that was a normal mirror,” she lied.

Nancy looked at Charlotte with confusion. She always knew the young alraune. Though she remained friendly with her the Cell didn’t knew why. Nor did she parse why she saw the things she did.

Euryale shied away from Charlotte, her earlier claim of things being fine proved false.

“Did you see anything…strange?” Anemone said with a little hesitancy.

Nancy turned her head to the violet-haired girl. Her eyes showed fear and confusion. She struggled to describe what she saw. “I saw me…but…” the visage frightened her. She pulled at her ears and tail, things she was certain she was born with. “Did I always have those?”

A breakthrough, finally. Charlotte turned to the girl and shook her head. “Was there anything else?”

Nancy trembled. “Y-yeah, there was a fir—” She grabbed her head in pain. Lily and the Arion twins tried to soothe it through all known available means, but Nancy ran away from them and stumbled in a random direction. A moment later she stood still. Her neck was taut, her expression blank. Her eyes were cloudy and glazed over.

“Nancy?” Stheno said.

The girl did not respond. She remained still, she remained fixed to the floor, despite an attempt from Lily to move her to a more convenient location. It was like she was petrified, turning into a metallic statue. Nancy was in this state for ten minutes.

After those minutes had passed, Nancy’s arms moved. The rotund appendage rubbed her head. “Ugh, what happened? I feel dizzy.” She turned around and saw Charlotte. “Oh! Charlotte.” She said with a quivering tone.

“Are you okay Nancy?” the indigo-petaled alraune said.

“I’m fine…I think,” Nancy said. Her speech dripped with hesitancy. She made a confused look. “Why am I here?”

“You don’t remember?” Lily said.

“Remember what?” Nancy asked quizzically

“The mirro—“ Stheno covered Euryale’s mouth before she could finish.

The little girl saw a strange mirror nearby. The silver pane gleamed in the ambient light of the Black Box. “Where did you guys get this?”

The girls tried to think up a plausible excuse. “We found it at the theater!” Lily said. “Right?”

“Y-yeah!” Euryale lied. “The theater.”

Charlotte looked at Nancy. Nancy behaved as if she had just woken up, having forgotten the last fifteen minutes.

“Well…” she timidly said. “I’ll go…bye!” she rushed off in her usual anxious self. The breakthrough didn’t last, to Charlotte’s mix of disappointment… and relief.

✦✦✦

After Tim had finished meditating on the slip of jade. He asked Atsuko to help him enter Spearhead’s Peak again, with the microdugneon of his Qiang he talked with his former teacher and mentor again.

“I was wondering why the trees sang lately,” Jingyu said. “You have already found more of the students?”

“That is correct, master,” Tim said. He presented the slip to him. “But gaining their allyship is another matter entirely. I was wondering if you could help me decipher this slip of jade?”

Jingyu looks at the green parchment. “I’m afraid I cannot help you this time, Langqiong,” the man said. “This is an adversary you must face with your own power. The trials said to be written on this slip are to test your worth for their allegiance. I cannot be the one who enters the tiger’s den for your cubs.”

“…I understand,” Tim bowed politely.

Tim talked about his recent achievement with his master, from helping Emily conquer the Vallis Pyrus, to fending off a party of a dozen men at once, to mastering his wind and earth magics to the point where he felt like he could move fifty tons of stone.” Jingyu noticed the tone of a braggart in the young man. If not for the obstacle that is the jade slip, he would be certain that Tim would think himself invincible.

“Remarkable progress,” Jingyu said. “But do try to keep that pride of yours in check. You are neither immortal nor invincible yet. True challenges will come soon enough, for there are people beyond people and realms beyond realms.”

Tim kept his eyes closes, the usual tell of his cockiness. And given how well he fared protecting Emily’s core from guests since Monsoonfall, it would be natural to him to think himself on top prematurely. “Understood,” he bid farewell to Jingyu.

Tim left the building on the top of the mountain with his weapon and approached the Takurabune. There Atsuko and Emily were looking for changes in the microdungeon.

“All done?” Emily’s avatara said.

Tim nodded with a smirk. “And you?”

“So far,” Atsuko said. “There haven’t been any changes.” The teal-haired nekomata led the two into the microcosmic craft and they departed the spear and returned to normal-sized space.

✦✦✦

Over at the Atelier, Sarah and Richard are working on dress designs. With them are Raine, Aika, Kei, Cassie, Makoto and Fuuka. The dwarven siblings checked various parts of the dress, draped over a mannequin.

The older Kitsune Dormarch observed the dress with disgust. “Did you really need to use that silk?” she said.

Richard didn’t look at the belligerent woman. “The Arachne were kind enough to lend us their silk and I am not one to let such a gift go to waste.” He checked the hemline on the black dress.

Aika looked at the dwarves. “Um, thank you for making this dress for me,” the aspiring songstress said.

“It’s no big deal,” Sarah said as she checked the metallic embellishment. “This is rather easy compared to the more recent orders.” She turned to the Phoenix-winged girl.

Raine was lost in thought over Makenzie and the confirmation that there were more people like her, but the answer begot more questions. Just who was she? What was she? Her mind lingered on questions about the origins and nature of the beings now known to her as “Kinnari”

“Raine?” Sarah said.

The red-ponytailed girl’s trance was broken. “Yes?”

“Can you help me check the brass threads?” the silver-haired blacksmith said.

“Oh! Right,” the apprentice helped the artisans appraise their work. For Aika’s dress, she had requested bronze wire decorations sewed into the black fabric in patterns of birds, the wind, and flowers, with a crescent moon prominent on the side of the tubular skirt. Sarah and Raine created the wire with bronze sourced from the local marketplace. The three saw nothing with the scintillant orange threads of the dress.

Kei meanwhile took to asking Cassie about her travels. “So what places have you gone on the way here?” the aspiring author asked, parchment in hand.

“We Dormarches went all over Liberté, that much is obvious. We’ve seen the potato farms of Belladonna, the frontiersmen of the Cartwright region, and the crimsons and of Rubicon.”

Kei was intrigued by the mention of farmland. He had considered setting a story there several times, away from the busy cities. “Can you tell me more about these potato farms?”

Before Cassie could continue, One of her drones activated and jumped out of her pocket. “What is it Neptune?” the Dormarch said. The mechanical purple ladybug fluttered around the dress, flaying with a desire for something similar.

“You want to wear a dress, girl?” Cassie said.

“That is going to be a tall order,” Sarah said.

Neptune bobbed in affirmation of the request.

“Neptune,” Cassie said. “You know you can’t wear something like that!”

Makoto had a similar desire. “Maybe you can make one for them instead?” the impish Kitsune said. “I can certainly wear it.

“Absolutely not!” Fuuka said. “You do not know where those threads had come from!”

Richard is indignant at Fuuka’s insulation that his materials are dirty.

“Oh boy,” Cassie said in a drawn-out tone as if she was expecting an argument to begin. She turned to Sarah and Raine. “Maybe you can lead me to your other project. My expertise as an artificer might come in handy!” she said.

“That fabric came from the behind of the jorogumo! It was already tainted!” Fuuka said.

“And here it comes,” Cassie thought. Her face was awash with disappointment.

“I understand this is a common misconception,” Richard said with a bit of defiance. “But their spinnerets are not located there. Their silk does not intersect with the digestive process in any way!”

Makoto sighed. Neptune floated in shame as the drone realized it had caused yet another argument.

“It wasn’t your fault,” the younger kitsune said to the ladybug drone. “She’s always like this.”

Cassie, Sarah, and Raine left for the forge, away from where Richard and Fuuka had their argument. Aika tried to quell the tension while Kei left the workshop to get some calm tranquility.

Sarah led Cassie towards the forge, where they found pieces for a smaller version of the Athené. Intended for a certain tiny client. As well as various weapons and mechanical gadgets on display.

Cassie looked at the mechanical spider leg. “What’s this for?”

“Long story,” Raine said. “Trying to figure out how to fit those parts together.”

Cassie is confused. The image of the Athené from her two encounters with it lingered on her mind.

Sarah noticed the befuddled expression on Cassie’s face. “Upgrading a Construct was pretty simple. Replicating it, not so much. Not even Emily knows how her memory of the thing created it.”

“I see,” Cassie said. Her experience was vastly different, having designed several Sentinel from scratch for a few dungeons, including Silvervale Crags during her travels there. She observed the pieces and noticed several failed chassis. “I take it the issue is with the cockpit then?”

Sarah nodded. “That’s the more difficult part. I spent the last week forging some designs, but they all fell apart.”

Cassie looked at the various pieces. “It seems like you’re trying to design them as mechanical suits.”

“Rather astute,” Sarah said. “Thought it would be safer that way.”

Cassie looked at the two. “Alright. I’m in!” she said. She knew her talents would be put to great use here and this will be the project that proved it.

“Are you sure?” Raine said. Her feathers were stiffed by the dog-eared girl’s insistent.

“Positive!” Cassie said. “With my help, we can get this thing finished lickity-split!” Her confident tone spoke to her experience.

“Alright then, “Sarah said nonchalantly. “Glad to have you…again.”

With that, the trio began to work with the replica of the Arachné.

✦✦✦

Meanwhile, Xhao Li, searched the Underground, beneath the district of Nectaris, for signs on where the interloper came from. He walked down the streets of the district. His black leather attire betraying his roots as a prestigious prodigy from Nu-Wa. He searched for clues to his rival’s whereabouts.

Amidst his quest, he heard a cry from behind an old building. The young man saw a portly man being attacked by thieves.

“I-I told you!” the man stammered in fright. His rotund body either said he ate well or had indulged in a gluttonous appetite many times. “I don’t have the money right now. I -j-j-just need a few more days!”

A lamia thug slithered towards the man. “You know the rules,” he said. “If you want our aegis you have to pay, pony up!”

The hapless man was intimidated by the serpentine gangster’s visage. He never really wanted the “protection” the Syndicate was offering, but he and his family had no choice but to accept. Lest the Dollkeepers claimed them for their “collection.” Xhao Li looked at the display in abject disgust. “Foolish man,” he said. “Better to face death now than to become another lapdog.” He walked away, nonchalant to the man’s impending suffering.

“Please,” the fat man said. “Leave me alone! I promise I can pay. I just need more time!”

“Time’s up!” the lamia man said. He lifted the victim by the next and threw him overhead in a frighting feat of strength. The land landed just a hair’s breadth away from Xhao Li. A small bolt of lightning used the scant moment Li’s arm hair touched that of the portly man to travel to Li’s body. Li looked at the man as an inconvenience as he groaned in pain.

“Pitiful man,” Li said. He began to lead but he saw the man stand up. Li noticed a look of desperation in his eyes as he ran past the seeker of intruders and into the gangsters.

“Fine,” the lamia said. “Your blood and your children will be our fee! Boys, storm the house, take them away!”

The single father clashed with the Lamia. A futile effort, the gangster was proved stronger than him, and his lackeys would surely overpower small children. Xhao Li wanted to ignore the conflict and move on with his search, yet something kept his feet rooted to the ground. His eyes were left transfixed on the fight as the poor innocent man had everything handed to him by the Lamia. Several screams were heard from the shack that the fat man and his family called home.

The Lamia had coiled around the opponent, aiming to strangle him to death with his fail. “Tell The Pathfinder that you were no good for nothing, fatso!” he said as he began squeezing the air from his victim’s lungs. The gangster was suddenly met by a shoulder tackle. Xhao Li had pushed the man with the serpentine tail away from the victim.

“He was pitiful, but you are a disgrace!” the martial artist said. Annoyed that he had wasted time on what he thinks is nonsense. The portly man looked at his savior with gratitude and he tried to recaptured escaped breath.

The Lamia was irked at the sign of the interloper. “Scram!” the gangster said. “This is between me and that walking tub of lard!”

Li assumed a horse stance in response. “Make me, you barbarian.”

The Lamia tried to attack, but Li had dodged his crude blows and countered with a hook from the other side. He used his hips and palms to disorient the opponent as he tried to slither around. With the force of the tide, Li struck with a fist from one arm, then a palm strike with another, and then a knee strike into a kick. The gangster lacked time to react between the blows. Before long, the man was left on the ground unable to get up.

The two henchmen, each carrying a small child underarm had dropped the infants in shock. “Boss!” they called as they rushed to aid their snake-tailed leader. The children ran towards their father.

“You idiots!” the lamia said as they helped him up. He glared at the leader-clad man. “This isn’t over. I’ll—” He suddenly began choking on his own blood. “What the—” His vision began to grow blurry.

“Tell the Pathfinder that you were good for nothing,” Li retorted.

“Damn…you!” were the last words of the gangster. The two henchmen looked at his murderer with fearful eyes before running away with his corpse, screaming.

“Th-thank you,” the father said to his savior. “You really saved us back there.” His two children clung to his legs.

Li sighed. He’d rather search for the man with the Qiang, but it seems he had embroiled himself in a distraction. “Follow me, this place is not safe here.” He had decided to bring them to the dojo for safety, to his own chagrin. The family of three followed him.

✦✦✦

Xhao Li led the family to their dojo. The other monks saw the belligerent member lead the obese man and his two children to the back of the hidden dojo, placed within the district of Nectaris beneath the veneer of a nondescript storefront.

One of the monks looked at Li with a mundane look on his face. Li was clearly agitated by the sight of his peer. “This family needs shelter,” he said with an annoyed tone.

“O-oh course,” the monk said. He asked the family to follow him. With that, Li left to resume his search.

Outside the dojo he found its leader, Mai, leaning against the wall. “Another encounter with those intruders?” she said.

“They weren’t the intruders I was seeking,” Li said, aware that she already knew that.

“And yet you intervened to save them,” Mei said.

“They were in the way,” Li lied.

“Oh Li,” Mei said. “Are you certain you can prevail with such obstructions in your heart?”

Li turned and gave a respectful look to his master. “These people mean little to me. If I reach my goals and surpass the mountain then—”

“When what?” Mei asked. “Why do you pursue Alkahestry?”

Li stayed silent. Mei sighed as the man began to leave the dojo again.

“The subway,” Mei said with a tired tone in her voice.

Li turned around confused.

“There was an unusual change in part of the subways recently. The managers claimed that it was co-opted by a dungeon and incorporated into it. For their part, the facility remained functional, but they have yet to find or contact the Dugneon’s core. Maybe that would lead you to what you seek?”

“The subway,” Xhao Li said. He bowed to Mei. “Thank you, Lady Elder.” He left the dojo again this time searching the subway.

Later, In the dead of night, the man snuck into the subterranean tracks of Noir, a layer that separates much of the underground from the surface, rarely connecting the two. It was there that he discovered an unusual sight within the metal and concrete tunnels. Glossy black walls with blue light illuminating the gaps. The surface felt smooth, like polished tile, and reflected light like an ebon mirror. Li sensed a perturbing amount of mana here. He was certain it might be of use, but would it lead him to his goal? With that in mind, he ventured into the Dungeon.

✦✦✦

In the dead of night, Xhao Li arrived in a strange room. Connected to various tubes. He assessed his supplies.

“Let’s see,” the man said as he took out several phials. Each one contained concoctions made from his alchemical practices. The poisons, potions, and arcane fluids in these vials serve to complement Li’s blows.

He returned the phials to their placement in his pocket and took out his weapon. A dagger with a hollow channel throughout its blade, leading into gaps in its edges. The monk looked at its gunmetal blade and turned his attention to its pommel. He made sure the hole in it was unobstructed for when it was time to use it.

The leather-clad man looked at the various tubes. His black hair billowed in the exhaust from the subway’s vents. He then noticed a terminal in the corner of his eye and observed the associated panels.

“I see,” Li said. He had visited Dungeons before. He knew that there must be a way for visitors to challenge them. On the screen, he saw a map that led to the rest of the Black Box, deep in Nova Virginia. “So that intruder hailed from afar,” Li pondered. He placed his hand over the terminal, using a spell to activate it. One of the tubes glowed as a pod traveled down towards its end. “As easy as turning my hand,” he said.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Li entered the pod and closed it, preparing to take him to his destination. The Geosphere had transformed him into a temporary statue as the pod ascends ready to return from wench it came.

In the dead of the night, the azure walls of the subways turned crimson…

✦✦✦

Emily began feeling something in her dungeon body. A sensation alien yet familiar to her.

“Emily!” Elizabeth said as she fluttered around the core room. “Something’s wrong!”

The eyes of the Black Box gazed upon her fairy guide. She felt some of the walls convulsing as a foreign entity traveled through her.

At the same time, The Coloraturas were suddenly awoken, broken from their nightly bardsong-induced trance by the searing vermilion and scarlet hues where indigo and cerulean should have been.

“What’s going on?” Rose said as she rubbed her eyes. She slithers out from the hole in which she rested and helped the other seven up.

The Arachne were now on high alert. Minerva already set off for the Athené and several others woke up to intercept the intruder. Lydia noticed the eight witches had woken up. “Girls!” the broodmother said.

“Morning, Lydia,” Clover said wearily. The green-haired girl turned to Hydrangea. “It is morning, right?”

The cyan-bobbed girl responded as she cleaned her glasses. “No, it’s twelve o’five.”

“What?” Raine said. “That’s right after midnight!”

Meanwhile, Tim had also woken up and left his bed with his Qiang in hand. He sensed someone approaching the Black Box. He ran past Heathcliff and nearly bumped into him.

“Whoa there!” Heathcliff said.

“Apologies,” Tim yelled from afar. He had no time to stop, and they both knew it.

“Let me guess,” Heathcliff said to Emily. “Someone wants to pay an unauthorized visit?”

“Huh?” Emily’s voice echoed to the knight in confusion.

Heathcliff laughed. “Don’t sweat it, cher. These things happen quite often. Guess someone just can’t wait for daybreak!”

Emily began to realize what was going on. Her sickness stemmed from a trespasser. A contaminant that is to her dungeon body like a bacteria or virus is to a human one. Her attention turned back to Elizabeth.

“Lizzie,” she said to the fairy. “Someone’s inside me!”

Elizabeth was confused by the statement before she realized what it meant. With a nod, she set off to alert those woken up by the clarions and the crimsons of the trespasser. An illegal raid had begun and the Sentinels must be the one to repel the invader.

✦✦✦

Xhao Li arrived in the Bleumaw. The petrifying power of the Geosphere faded and the leather-clad man emerged from the pod and saw a vast forest. Wooden bark leading to leaves green with cellulose and silver and red with metal alike.

Li noticed that he was already watched. The man chuckled a little before assuming a horse stance. He shifted his leg and stomped the ground. The foliage around him lifted from the ground and revealed several Arachne forces, with three Tatzelwurms beside them.

One of the spider-like people stepped forward. “Cease your advance at once!” they said to the trespasser. “Only those appointed by the guild may challenge the Black B—” The Arachne was interrupted by the intruder charging forward and slapping both of their sides simultaneously, and followed with an elbow strike and a backhand punch from the same arm. The Arachne was knocked into a nearby tree and knocked out.

The rest of the battalion rushed forward. But their blows were dodged by the leather-wearing man. Li countered with a mix of punches, kicks, knee and elbow strikes and dispatched the horse of spiders. The feline serpents were all that remained. Those three coiled around the trespasser, aiming to strangle them.

Li was not perturbed by this attempt to squeeze the life out of him. He breathed calmly and ritualistically. With a mighty yell, power welled from inside him and his body rose to where the Tatzelwurms were unable to comfortably wrap him without being singed. As they loosened their coils, Xhao Li erupted with Pyrospheric energy. The blasts forced the three serpents away. The cat-headed snakes hissed in fury as they tried to lay their fans into Li’s flesh. One of them slithered forward, but Li immediately moved to the left and struck the serpent. Another attempted to bite him, but he turned to avoid the strike and riposted with a downward elbow strike. Such was their battle, the Tatzelwurms trying to defend their home from the invader and the invader deftly dodging their fangs and venom and counterattacking them shortly afterward.

The arrogant man smirked as he took out a phial. The liquid contained was light brown and translucent. Made from the leaves of the Manchineel tree, the petals of the Blindwort, and grounded Pyrope.

He took out his dagger and poured the potion into the hole in the pommel. The brown liquid dripped from the steel blade as Xhao Li dodged the serpent’s attacks and countered with elbow strikes to disorient the snakes. With the dagger imbued, he channeled his mana into the sword and then fought the enemies with his weapon.

Li wounded one of the Tatzelwurms, he can see the serpentine eyes of the feline turn to stone, blinding the snake. The other two slither forward to avenge their blinded comrade but the man’s imbued blade petrified their eyes as well. The Alkahestist had defeated all the nearby enemies.

Xhao Li walked forward into the Black Box. Towards the eponymous structure in the distance. He looked at the empty phial in his hand. “That’s going to take a month’s ingredients to restock.”

✦✦✦

Carla saw the battle from afar, her trained Tatzelwrums defeated by the invader. The Alraune mother does now know why he came. Thoughts swirled in her head as she wondered about his motives. Still the Black Box, Emily is her new home, her friend and ally in trying to undo that which the Piper had done to her and Hamlin. And she will keep them safe.

Swans fly from the Bleumaw sensing the invading Xhao Li. The waterfowl attacked the leather-wearing alkahest with their bills and wings. They were reinforced by a pack of Dire Wolves. Xhao Li was surprised to see the swans in a place like this. He dodged one of the swans and countered with a shoulder strike. Another swooped in to ram its head, but he put the bird in a neck hold and used it to bludgeon seven others of the flock. White feathers were displaced by the attack, each reflected an iridescent sheen in the now crimson light.

“Pathetic!” Xhao Li said. “The spearman, bring me to him!” he yelled as he confronted the birds and the dire wolves. One of the lupines charged forward at Xhao Li. He took his dagger out alongside a potion. The phial was purple from the ground Sugilite and Gladiolus extract. He poured it into the dagger and its dark grey blade became encompassed in an aura of dark mist. The mist that extended further than the blade itself, and more importantly, the mist that was solid enough to cleave.

The mist blade clashed with the claws of one of the wolves. A piece of fur was cut from the wolf’s body revealing a usually glossy flesh. Xhao Li observed this quality. “Another of the Dugneon’s tricks?” he thought.

The swans had dispersed, and the flock was unable to fight the intruder. In their place, dire Rats swarmed over them. Their tails were ablaze with Pyrospheric energy. Their thick hair adust. But Xhao Li was well acquainted with the methods of quelling fire. He channeled fire mana into his arms and made rapid movements, taking the heat from the rodents and adding it to his own as he struck the nearest Dire Wolf with his lift.

Singed fur fell off the body of the wolf. Xhao Li could see what seemed like armor overlaying its flesh, yet he could not tell if it was a carapace or a note. The rats tried to climb onto him, but Li simply swung his sword and coated them with the dark mist, the large rodents were bundled, but that was not enough to deter the beast.

“By the power of Obsidian,” Li said. “Ignite these fools.” Flame merged from his fists and ignored those marked by the black mist. The roded ignited and the wolves were forced to flee. Xhao Li smirked as he gazed upon the scrambling foes. Except he noticed something was not right.

The rats remained steadfast in their march, and the wolves doubled to an unburned patch of land near a large tree. Xhao Li was knocked back by the sneak attack.

“What?” the man said with a breath of cold air as she saw that these animals and monsters had retreated. He noticed there was another presence as the fires quelled, save those from the Dire Rats.

“Why have you come?”

An alraune approached Xhao Li. He observed her green skin, her chartreuse petals, and her verdant hair, contrasting with a suit of glossy black and silver. “What is a jade beauty like her doing in such a place like this?” he wondered.

Carla Truce in turn sized up the man who dared invade Emily’s body and harmed the creatures in her care. She observed his black leather attire, his tied hair of similar color, and the lone strip of white at his waste.

“Tell me,” Carla said. “What would cause you to launch an illegal raid in this Dungeon by yourself.”

Xhao Li glared at the woman, as pretty as she was, he wouldn't let her obstruct him. “So you command these beasts?” he said as the wolves and rats circled him.

“Answer my question,” Carla said sternly. “And I’ll answer yours.”

Li humphed. “I’m merely rendering unto the Ceasar what has been rendered upon me and others,” he said figuratively. “My dojo was invaded by a cretinous spearman and his entourage. If you let me pass, I will not bring you harm.”

“And if I don’t?” Clara said. She sensed something untrustworthy from the man.

“My business, and enmity, are with the invader alone,” Li said. “But if you choose to remain in my way I will have no choice. If Heaven and Earth would stand in my way, then I will kill them.” He took out his dagger out and charged at Clara.

Clara anticipated it and dodged. She reacted with thorned vines from beneath her petals as she fought the Alkahestist. Carla’s vines struck the leg of the invader as a Dire Wolf pounced on him. Li crouched below before lifting the beast and smirked. “You’re a tamer aren’t you?”

Dire Rats climbed on the cultivator, but he simply channeled fire mana through his legs. Plumes of fire emerged from beneath the leather and repelled the rats. The fire also reduced the snare to ash. Carla recoiled in pain as the vine was incinerated. Li struck Carla in the stomach with an elbow strike. Carla retaliated with a quick lash, but Li repelled the vine with a scoring forearm strike.

Carla’s beasts attempted to help, but Li simply channeled more fire mana. His skin glowed with an incandescent shimmer as his body heat rose to the point where touching him would scorch the skin, his raven tresses turned red as they were raised into the air. His body returned to its normal temperature shortly after.

Xhao Li made a charging step before Carla could react. The two were face to face. Li attempted to Punch Carla, but she deflected it with both her arms and attempted to push him back. Li sidestepped to the right and countered with a knee strike. Carla tried to move away from Xhao Li, but the monk moved in front of her as she turned.

“Forgive me, but you had it coming,” the whisper of a man before he thrust his palms on the alraune. Fire blasted from the palms and jetted out, forcing Carla to collide with a tree. She was seized by certain memories, recollections of a similar happenstance as she saw her torso was scorched. She knew that as a Sentinel, she would return to life soon, yet that did little to quell the pain of the scorched green flesh, singed petals, and ashed vines. She looked at her black Cyberworks outfit, unable to discern the scorch marks from the metallic black.

Her body again turned to golden dust as she looked at the leatherbound intruder. Her beasts dispersed in anguish. If there was any solace, at least her daughter was still asleep, and thus not able to witness her die by immolation again.

Xhao Li saw gold dust swirl in the air where once sat an Alraune, the dust spiraled around the tree before returning to Emily’s core to be recreated. Xhao Li knew enough of Sentinels to know that the gold dust would lead him to his quarry. And so he followed its trail.

✦✦✦

Cassie rubbed her eyes as she, the other older Dormarches, Atsuko, and some of her Shinobi stood guard. The two-toned-haired Dormarch yawned. Her tail dropped with tiredness. “Do people always attempt runs this late at night?” she said.

“Hardly,” Saizo said. “The last time anyone attempted this was in the day.” Cassie missed the allusion to the Baron Roberts.

The group stood on the edge of the Bleumaw. The boundary between the building that is Emily’s true body and the forest that she assimilated.

“What happened then?” Cassie said curiously.

“Last I checked,” Atsuko said as she aimed her bow. “It’s the reason that forest is the Bleumaw now.”

“What the—” Syd’s strumming turned into an off-tone chord in shock. “How?”

“You ever hear of a dungeon called ‘The Engines’?” The nekomata said with a cheeky smile.

“Hold it,” Suzume said. She sensed someone else with them.

Xhao Li had the foresight to use a cloaking potion to obscure his movement as he followed Carla’s golden ash and approached the stricture at the center of the Dungeon. He gazed at the building with a mix of awe and contempt. “Like a tiger, I must crouch,” he thought as he maneuvered towards the building.

As he took each step, Li noticed something amiss. “Fog,” he whispered. “Here?”

He sensed an incoming attack and blocked it. He repulsed the attacker and turned to see a teenage kunoichi, baubles glistering in the mist being easily discernible from her dark blue attire. Not that it matters with the red glow on everything now.

“Drat!” Kasumi thought as she was pushed back by the invisible intruder. She lobbed a bauble in the direction she was repelled from. The cloaked Li dodged the attack and snuck around.

The Alkahestist remained unsurprised, he had expected such resistance the moment he saw the Dungeon turn red. And the encounter with a Sentinel had cemented it.

“I must move fast,” Li said. “To spill blood needlessly is beneath disciples of Madame Mei.” He heard the roar of thunder and leaped away from the attacks. There he saw a Kitsune woman casting lightning spells where he was.

Syd used Bardsong to try to uncloak the intruder. Her chords channeled the light and made a faint outline of Li’s body. Fuuka directed her staff at the emerging figure and more lightning struck the ground. Li dodged it and Atsuko’s subsequent arrow.

The cultivator was at a disadvantage. The Dormarches, the Nekomata, and her ninja were all able to see him. He took out a potion from his coat, its characteristic shimmering magenta marked it as the one he needed. Made from Garnet and the extract of several herds. He ingested the potion and leaped away before one of three Beetle-shaped drones could ram into him.

As Li leaped, time around him began to slow down. From his perspective everyone else was rendered as still as statues. To the eyes of his current opponents, he would no longer be there. With this quickening potion. Li rushed away from the ninja and dog-eared warriors.

A minute later, Atsuko looked at the fog. “Something’s wrong.”

“Where did he go!” Kasumi said.

“Seems he gave us the slip!” Hoshikage said.

“But how?” Fuuka said.

At the same time, Li had entered the building behind them. His rare potion had expired as was his cloaking potion.

He walked deeper into the Black Box, attempting to find the spearman that dared breach his dojo for aid. “How dare he defile that Qiang with his grubby hands,” he thought. “That whelp knew not of our ways. I will west it from that thief and ensure it returns right where it belongs.” He thought.

After an encounter with the dungeon’s Cells, Li stumbled a little. “Damn,” he thought. The potion’ effects are taking its toll. His perception of time was warped by the after-effects of the concoction. His body and mind were at odds. Li had to assume a meditative stance.

“Focus,” the man said to himself. He performed breathing exercises in a bid to synchronize his mind. “Heaven and Earth, they will not bar my way.” With determination, he moved forward, trying to avoid tripping on the way to the depths of the Black Box.

✦✦✦

Xhao Li, still reeling from the potions’ after-effects, arrived at a strange room. The monk noticed an eerily calm in the searing crimson. He had already encountered one Sentinel and some of the other defenders of the Dungeon. Even outside he could hear or see patrolling Cells, yet here it is eerily quiet.

A thunderbolt struck the ground in front of him. “What?” Li thought. He asked if the group he just avoided had found him. The scarlet room dimmed and a spotlight shined on someone in front of Li.

It was a child, a lamia child carrying a wand a rapier, but a child nonetheless. Li furrowed her brow.

The girl with the coral-pink tail and hair glared at her opponent. Her tired expression gave it away that she was just woken up. A boon for the alkahestist, still under the drawbacks of his potions.

“Lo, vile intruder,” the lamia yawned. “You have set foot in solemn ground. Turn back, or you will face justice!”

Li was as confused as he was unimpressed. He noticed another spotlight lit behind him and a small clionid mermaid swimming past him.

“You’ll have to forget Rosie,” the mermaid said. “She gets extra theatrical when she’s sleepy.” She said with a giggle.

“Azalea!” Rose said crankily.

“She’s right,” the next child that appeared surprised Li. Her red wings and feathers denoted a Kinnari.

“What is something as rare as that doing here,” Li thought with surprise. He then noticed a green-haired and also winged, fawn emerging from the next spotlight. “You will…” She stumbled as she tried to keep herself on two legs. “You will regret coming here at this hour.”

A minotaur emerged next. She wordlessly brandished her axe. She is then followed by a purple-haired werewolf with a bow in hand. The last child to “greet” the trespasser carried an aura that chilled the air around him.

Li sensed a large amount of mana emanating from the eight girls. He noticed that some of them secreted a black liquid as they walked.

“Are those impurities?” Li thought. “No, that can’t be right.” He had one other possibility in his head, one that dreaded him more than the alternative.

“For this illicit ingress,” Rose said tiredly but defiantly of the trespasser. “We will eject you from this land. The Coloraturas will make sure you step no further.”

Li sighed. “Heaven and Earth will not impede my path. Neither will a bunch of brats.” He assumed a horse stance. He cannot consume the potions here, for he fears what would happen in his current state. He cannot use the dagger, for he is unsure how it would be effective against this group of eight and in such a darkened room. He only has his techniques to rely on here. To his consolation, the eight opponents seemed as addled as he was. The witches from sleep deprivation, him from the side effects from the potion’s effects. “This will be done in the time it takes to consume a meal,” Li said. “Heaven and Earth still these tremors,” he prayed as the battle began.

✦✦✦

Streltizia made the first attack. She charged into Xhao Li with her labrys in hand. Xhao Li moved to the side the minotauride swung from and struck her exposed side with his palm. Strelizia attempted to counter him by swinging her heaven weapon, but she struggled to move it before Li maneuvered to her back and tripped her with a sweeping kick.

Raine swooped in from above and struck him in the chest. Her talons ripped his leather vest but failed to scratch his body as he moved around. The two matched each other’s blazing attacks, Raine fought with her rings and Li fought with his body.

Strelitzia assisted the phoenixian Kinarri with heavy swings, but Li ducked and flanked her.

“Not this time!” Strelitzia yelled as she blocked his incoming strike.

Clover ran around the three combatants, Azalea swam in the deerlet’s wake. The two used their powers to create a riptide around them, a whirl of wind and water that drenched Li and doused his attempts to use flame.

“Dammit,” the man thought. “Those brats are stronger than I thought.”

Rose and Hydrangea seized the opportunity that came from the while and acted in tandem. Hydrangea lugged her spellbook to a specific page and chanted the inscribed words to free Xhao Li’s legs. Rose simultaneously took her wand and summoned a bolt of lightning to crash down on him.

Li was wounded by the bolt and the other attacks. Rose attempted to follow up with another strike, but Li Broke free from the ice in time. “At this rate, my blood would surely reverse,” he thought. He observed that his young opponents were struggling to stay awake, their sluggish movements hindered their attacks and speed, and that two of them hadn’t launched an attack yet.

Anemone kept her bow aimed at Li’s shadow. Her arm struggled to hold onto the drawn bowstring as she looked for the opportune moment to launch when she was certain that her attack would pin the shadow down. Lily meanwhile attempted to find the right moment to cast a shadow for Anemone, cantering around the battle to find the right angle.

Li saw the glint from Anemone’s bow and wondered what the young wifwolf was planning. He saw Strelitizia attack him with a horizontal swing and duck, and counter with a knee strike.

Rose dozed off a little before she shook off her head. She slithered around Xhao Li and unsheathed her rapier. She attempted to strike him with thrusts from her sword, but Li dodged the attempts and countered with strikes to her opposite shoulder.

Lily saw the moment to strike and galloped forward with a Lumiere Avant, the three girls pinned Li down with earth, lightning, and light attacks that cast a large shadow from Li.

“Anemone! Now!” Lily cried out. Anemone was barely awake when she saw Lily’s radiant powers and quickly and haphazardly nocked the arrow. The purple-haired witched collapsed into unconsciousness shortly after, unable to keep herself awake any longer.

Li attempted to ward off attacks from seven girls, while Rose, Streltizia, and Lily engaged him in melee, Clover, Hydrangea, Azalea, and Raine pelted him with spells from afar. It was at that point when Lily tried to finish it with her spear in hand.

“Lumiere Adva—huh?” The centaur couldn’t move and Li dodged her aborted attack. He countered with a strike to her flank that sapped her energy. Before she knew it she fell into a tired rest, her shadow pierced by an errant arrow, fired from a girl whose aim was compromised by lack of sleep.

Raine, Azelia, and Stretlizia were unable to keep themselves awake for longer. Rose tried to channel all her energy into an attack that would defeat the trespasser, but channeling it left her exposed to a palm strike that sent the lamia hurtling into the wall. The collision finished the job and knocked her out cold.

Clover and Hydrangea were the last ones. The fawn landed some blows with her fan but Li ultimately prevailed in knocking her out, Hydrangea attempted to freeze him, but her casts were unfocused by her tiredness and she instead fell asleep.

Xhao Li found himself among eight sleeping little girls. With them unable to fight and a sense of discomfort, he walked away from them.

His strides were more rested than before. The monk noticed that the side effects of the potion had worn off. Li ventured deeper into the Black Box, in search of the spearman. He walked down the scarlet halls until it gave way to magenta.

✦✦✦

As Xhao Li’s unauthorized trek through the Black Box continues, Emily has trouble focusing.

“Lizzie,” her groggy voice echoed to Elizabeth as the fairy tried to assess the extent of the infection. “What’s happening?”

“The intruder’s presence had caused a [Mana infection],” Elizabeth said.

“Mana… infection?”Elizabeth said.

“Basically, you’re sick, cher,” Heathcliff said as he arrived with a grimace.

“Did you find Tim?” Elizabeth asked.

The knight shook his head. “He gave me the slip,” he said.

“It isn’t like him to just leave like this,” Elizabeth said. “Do you know why he would leave?”

“If I had to guess,” the red-armored damn said. “He’s likely trying to find our ‘guest’,”

Emily tried to look around her body, both for Tim and the infectious intruder, but the mana sickness had hindered her sight. She tried to conjure an avatara, but the proxy body stumbled before disintegrating. For the first time in a while, Emily was at a loss for what to do.

At the same time, Tim arrived at Rosenkreuz’s Guildhall. The slam of the doors started the few patrons present at this hour.

“Tim?” Marialica said.

“What brings you here so late?” Benoit said.

The young alkahest panted heavily. “Emily…she’s sick…need antidotes.”

The two receptionists looked at the other with concern. Marialicia left to wake up Pauline.

Five minutes later, the elf emerged from her office. “I heard Emily had a Mana infection?”

Tim nodded and managed to recapture enough energy to better explain. “There is an illegal raid happening as we speak.”

“An illegal raid?” Marialicia said.

Tim nodded. He presented a glass phial. “I ask for Echenelia leaves and Feverfew, please.”

Benoit left to retrieve the herbs. Tim took Sapphire and Citrine stones from his pocket. “These are commonly used for salves, yes?”

Pauline is surprised to learn Tim knows about alchemical potions. The blue-haired elf nodded. “The elementals of earth and water were commonly used in treating diseases.”

Tim took out some other reagents as Benoir returned with the requested herbs.

“Something is not right,” Marialicia said. “It is rare for illegal raids to cause mana infections.”

Tim took the leaves and began to craft the potion. He ground up the rare minerals and mixed the reagents together in the phial, using pure water as the medium for the brew. As he made his mixture, he wondered how the invader’s presence caused Emily to get sick. He also recalled the day he encountered her when he and Heathcliff made their offer.

Pauline, Benoit, and Marialicia observed Tim’s mixture. The potion blended into a grayish liquid that glowed with a slight incandescence. A promising sign. Tim then engraved runes and hanzi onto the phial. A spell to further increase its potency.

“It’s done,” Tim said.

“Are you sure this medicine will work?” Marialicia said. “The infection could take multiple forms, each that needs their own cures.”

“I’m sure,” Tim said. “I have seen symptoms like this before,” he lied. In truth, he didn’t know how he knew the specific contaminants.

“I’ll drive you back,” Benoit said. “Seems like things are dire.”

“They aren’t dire,” Tim said. “Not yet.” He only had but suspicions and ideas for why an intruder would invade the Black Box in this manner. One thought is that he is connected to the Syndicate, another recalled the Project Stronghold rumors, a third thought suspected that another Divine Dungeon decided to strike with cloak and dagger.

With these uncertainties and with the cure in hand Time followed Benoit to his car, and the two set off to return to the Black Box.

Meanwhile, Several Arachne had transported the slumbering bodies of the Coloraturas to the core room.

“We found them like this,” one of the Archane said. “They’re unconscious but it seems like they had encountered something.”

“Thank you,” Elizabeth said. “Can you return them to the nursery?”

The Arachne nodded. He signaled his group to bring the sleeping girls back to their beds.

Emily groaned. She felt a sensation similar to a headache along with a clouded mind. She had barely sensed they were in battle but the illness had prevented her from seeing within the arena.

Heathcliff saw someone enter and turned his head. “Carla?” he said with surprise.

The alraune tamer, fresh off her body becoming reconstructed, walked into the room. “That intruder,” she said. “He’s looking for someone.” She almost collapsed.

The knight walked to the woman’s side. “There there, take it easy,” he said. “Seems like she’d been through a lot tonight,” he thought.

“Elizabeth,” Emily said, trying to keep her mind clear. “Where’s Minerva?”

“She boarded the [Athené] and set off to find the intruder,” the fairy said.

A loud boom was heard in the distance, beyond the confines of the core room, but still within Emily’s boundaries. Emily felt a large amount of energy from another of her rooms. Her thoughts were hazed by the ailment, but there could be no mistake. Another battle had started. Another Sentinel had found the intruder.

✦✦✦

Xhao Li had been discovered and attacked by a gigantic arachnid mech. Its eight legs pulsed with elemental energy. Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, Earth, Ice, Light, Darkness. All eight assaulted the alkahestst as he tried to battle the titanic machine.

“What in heaven is that Sentinel?” Xhao Li said as he avoided a blade of air from the green pillar. He looked around the behemoth for weaknesses.

From within the cockpit, the pilot for the machine in turn locked her gaze on the trespasser. Her objective is simple, eject the invader from the Dungeon. She pushed a button on the Athené’s cockpit.

The magenta pillar poured mana into the cockpit. Lightning arched from the machine’s maw, attempting to strike Li down.

The cultivator was unimpressed. “Thrice now had the guardians attempted to use Levin against me. Thrice now I will surpass those that aim to bar my path.” As Xhao Li boasted, he saw a fog roll in and saw the silhouettes of three large beetles enter the battle.

“Miss us?” A certain nekomata said as she fired arrows at the cultivator. Li sidestepped these attacks. Once again he was outnumbered.

The man furrowed his brow in annoyance. He was here for one mana and one man alone, no more, no less. He had no desire to harm or fight anyone else.

Meanwhile, Tim and Benoit had made it to the perimeter of the Black Box. The guild’s aide was shocked to see the crimson hues emanating from Emily’s Dungeon body.

“That bad,” Benoit thought. He turned to Tim. “Are you certain that remedy would work?”

Tim nodded. “Call it a hunch. Thank you.” He set off into the Black Box to administer the cure.

He rushed into the Dungeon’s now crimson halls as quickly as he could. He witnessed few signs of struggle and signs of sickness. The walls deformed as the nanomachines comprising them reacted to the ailment. The Cells acted strange and unusual, their mechanical bodies looked like they were undergoing lysis. Tim knew he had to hurry. She rushed until scarlet became fuchsia, then magenta, then until he saw the violet of the core room.

Elizabeth was surprised by Tim’s sudden appearance. “Tim? Where had you been?”

“He’s back?” Emily said deliriously, her thoughts were heard by the two in the core room, slurred by her disorientating condition. Tim approached the core of the Dungeon.

“Drunk this,” he said as he took out the remedy. “It will help.” He poured the potion over the core. The vicious fluid dripped from the potion like honey until it landed onto the core. Steam emerged from the intersection of fluid and the hot haloed cones. Emily’s thoughts began to clear up. Her senses were gradually focused.

“Her vitals,” Elizabeth said in shock. “They’re returning to normal.”

With the illness receding, Emily’s awareness of the infection’s source grew and grew. She now had the clarity to learn where exactly the trespasser was.

“Where’s Heathcliff?” Tim said.

“He went to try to find…” Emily tried to say before she realized that she discovered the location of the intruder. “There! The intruder is there.”

Tim immediately ran off to face the man who had harmed Emily with his presence. Elizabeth followed suit.

✦✦✦

The fight against the intruding Xhao Li was left at a standstill as Heathcliff, Julia, and Esteban joined the fray. The Alkahestist held his own against the outnumbering combatants as the room slowly changed from vermilion to violet.

Julia’s shadow guardian grappled with Li before swinging with a right hook, Li dodged and flanked the entity’s left side with a knee strike. Atsuko’s arrows tore the black leather trousers Li wore as he stomped the ground. Esteban and Heathcliff cornered him and attempted to subdue him, but Li had instead used his mastery over fire to repel them with incandescent heat.

Li was getting annoyed with the fight, he saw one man and one man alone, and she bore no ill will towards the people that confronted him thus far. “Had I miscalculated? Did I misinterpret Lady Elder’s hint?” Li pondered.

Eventually, the battle was joined by one more. A slender boy landed in the middle of the arena his brown hair and orange streaks were unmistakable, as was the Qiang in his hands.

The lad turned to his ally. “Leave him to me, I’ll handle this.”

The other combatants stepped away from the two fighters.

Li grinned, his objective was in reach. His eyes met the boy’s hateful stare.

“Tell me,” Timothy said to the trespasser. “What purpose do you have for this?”

Li assumed a horse stance. “I am here to relieve you of your burden, child.” The leather-clad man said. “That weapon of yours is beyond your ken. The secrets of the Alkahestics is a poor fit for a pirate’s son.”

Tim was unimpressed. He assumed a horse stance in turn. “You think me unworthy then?”

The man’s brow furrowed as he made a charging step. Answer enough for Tim. The invader’s eyes glowed with malice and adrenaline. In a few hour’s time his short journey was at a close he just needed to defeat Tim and take the polearm from him.

The two’s glare made it clear they will fight with no weapons, only techniques.

With a palm strike, Li struck first, Tim dodged too late and was pushed back a few feet. Tim leaped forward and pushed the exposed side, but Li countered with a double palm strike. Tim tried to use his elbows, but Li swatted them away from his arm and followed by a sweeping kick.

The onlookers were surprised at the intruder’s prowess. Esteban considered intervening, but Heathcliff stopped him. “This is his fight now,” he said.

Tim managed to counter Li’s subsequent blows with knee and hip strikes, but Xhao Li was undeterred and undaunted. The two fought with equal ferocity, but for how much Tim was able to hold his own, it was clear that Li was the better fighter.

Red gave way to purple and purple gave way to blue as the two martial artists fought. Emily’s response sensed had bestowed her enough clarity to sense that Li was not the only one that walked into the Black Box tonight. An observation that she relayed to Elizabeth, Heathcliff, and Minerva. The latter still piloting the Athené, left the arena to search for the other intruder. Atsuko and the shinobi followed her, leaving lesser spectators to the battle between Tim and Li.

Li continued to flank Tim, as the Sentinel struggled to keep up with his blows. The long night had its toll on both fighters. Tim tried to analyze his opponent’s weaknesses, his movements, but Li rapid strikes were too much for him to analyze at the moment. He tried to counter Li’s blows but for every success he had, the rival Alkahestist riposted with three more blows. Xhao Li soon wore Tim down.

With a double palm strike, Li had knocked Tim back into the wall. The remaining spectators were worried for Tim’s safety, as was Emily who watched the battle within her body with horror.

As Tim was knocked back the Qiang was removed from his back and landed in between the warriors. Li took the opportunity to retrieve the weapon. “Heh,” the intruder smirked. “You have shown some skill, I’ll admit but your worth for this legacy was still inadequate.” His satisfied grin turned into a scowl when he saw the Qiang vanish from his hands.

Tim rose to his feet, battled and bruised, but still willing to fight. The spear manifested in his arm, to the shock of Xaho Li.

“What!” Li said. “That is impossible! I prevailed in this battle! Why would…” The man flew in a blind rage and charged toward Tim, the others were too far away to intercept the attack, Tim parried the blow with his spear and his wind barrier. Li responded by flanking to his right and attempting an uppercut. Tim dodged as he observed Li’s techniques grew more brutal and more slower. He used his spear to tip him in the leg.

Li was now filled with a murderous bloodlust. “You absolute fool!” he bellowed. “You couldn't even decipher a simple jade slip! How dare you besmirch the Golden Spear with your presence?” lifted Tim by the neck and threw him to the side, aiming to several the Qiang from its wielder once more, when the attempt failed he slowly approached him and attempted to land a heavy blow with his fist, but the attack was intercepted.

Tim saw Emily’s avatara in front of him, blocking the intruder’s attack just in time. “Emily?”

“So,” Li sneered. “You dare intrude in my quest, Dungeon?”

“Leave him alone!” Emily said, her two swords repelled the trespasser with a bluster of wind. “Actually, just leave! And never return!”

Li was incensed, but he saw that several of the spectators were reading their weapons. He was outnumbered, he was outmatched, and more importantly. He failed. “Fine,” he said. He turned around and walked away. Only looking back with a hateful glance and words of caution. “You know not the hell you just walked into. There will be a day when the Qiang and all the treasures of the Golden Spear will see you for the trash you are.”

Tim didn’t dignify that with a response instead he looked on in solemn silence.

Xhao Li continued leaving the dungeon, as a further indignity he was left at the main entrance near Rosenkreuz and far away from Noir. It will be a long return home…

If not for a surprise encounter midway on the path. “Lady Elder!” Li said in surprise.

Fen-hai Mei approached him just outside the dungeon. Her face showed the hallmarks of slight satisfaction. “We have much to discuss back in Noir, pray come with me.” She summoned her Dao, and it assumed a length longer than she was tall. The sword floated in the air as Mei climbed up and stood upon it. She beckoned her student onward.

“My apologies, Master Mei” Li said as she and Mei flew on the Dao’s blade. “I have failed to retrieve the Qiang.”

“You have so much to learn,” the leader of the sect said. “As does Tim. But the night was not a total loss.”

Li stood confused.

“I had snuck into the dungeon and witnessed your battle. The son of a disgraced pirate and a foreign noble, the survivor of the attack that fell our land and saw our relics scattered. It is clear Master Wu saw great promise in the young boy.”

“Master Wu?” Li said. “I thought he was dead!”

“As I said,” Mei said with a calculating smirk. “You have so much to learn.”

The two returned to Noir, their legs standing on the thin blade of the enchanted saber as it flew through the border and states between Nova Virginia and Noir.

✦✦✦

A few days later. Tim meditated on the fight with Xhao Li. The intruder who had infected Emily with a disease and wreaked havoc, and for what? For a chance to fight him, because he held the Qiang. And the battle had enlightened him to much.

Heathcliff approached him. He knew where he preferred to meditate. Tim was aware of the knight and mentor’s presence. “Hello,” the squire said.

“Howdy, cher,” Heathcliff said in a slightly friendly than usual tone.

Tim sighed. “You were right, and so was Master Wu.” He calmly stood up and looked at the weapon. In practice, the fight was a draw, but to Tim, he had decisively lost. Had Emily not intervened he feared what would’ve happened. “There were people beyond people, mountains beyond mountains. It was made clear to me that I am still as a knave.”

The red-headed knight looked at his apprentice with an empathetic look. “Last I checked knaves don’t become Sentinels.”

“Even so—”

Heathcliff interrupted. “Ah ah ah. No buts, Tim. You are more skilled than you are, and by the looks of things, the old monsieur in that spear thinks so too. And I know a few others that have faith in you too.”

Tim stood silent as he understood the knight’s words.

“There will always be a bigger fish,” Heathcliff said. “What matters is not if you can reel it in, but what you can learn from it. Now come see.”

Tim approached Heathcliff with a little trepidation. The knight leads him to the boundary between the Dungeon’s areas. There he saw Emily’s avarata.

“Hello, Tim!” the purple-haired girl greeted.

Tim hesitated to respond. “I took it the diagnostics fared well?”

Emily nodded. Elizabeth few in. “I had made sure no trace of the [Mana Infection] remained. Emily is one hundred percent healthy!”

“Glad to hear it!” Heathcliff said. “Flameshearth would been lousy if we had to deal with melting walls and rouge Cells all month.”

“Flameshearth?” Emily said. She had vaguely recalled hearing of it.

“That’s right! It’s in two weeks!” the fairy said.

The snow began to fall again as the foursome went inside the Black Box to talk about the upcoming holiday. Tim was left with questions and Emily even more so. The latter wondered how the infection happened and who was that second presence she noticed within her that night.