Ethan presses against the rock to shift his weight; his wrist sparks with a pain that shoots up his forearm. He lifts his hand and looks at it. 'I abused Strengthening. Not only is there a backlash to do so, but I also wounded myself,' he thinks.

He summons his painkillers and swallows a pill, even if he knows it's more than he needs for this light pain. With a glance towards Anders, Ethan opens his status.

Ethan Reed

Lv.16 (Harbinger) High-Human

Lv.17/20 (Arsenal)

Strength: 30 + Charisma: 15 +

Dexterity: 23 + Perception: 21 +

Constitution: 26 + Willpower: 26 (24) +

Intelligence: 25 +

Available characteristic points: 4

Talents

Oracle

Pastseer

Rapid martial growth

???

Titles

Dungeon conqueror (D)

First dungeon conqueror (D)

Dungeon conqueror (E)

Dungeon conqueror (F)

First dungeon conqueror (F)

First hunter

Goblin hunter

Hobgoblin hunter

Human hunter

Kin slayer

Kobold hunter

Skeleton hunter

Slayer of the first incursion

Warg hunter

Abilities

Anonymity (E)

Identification (F)

Inventory (F)

Insight (F)

Martial skill echo (F)

Piercing shot (E)

Predator's sight (E)

Prescience (F)

Silent steps (F)

Spell casting (E)

Strengthening (E)

'Level seventeen already? Wasn't there a cap related to my skills?' Ethan ponders. He improves his Constitution to twenty-eight as he glances at Russ' status, now level nineteen. 'What did Tombstone say when she opened the skill menu? Skills?'

A secondary gray window appears, listing every skill he has and their level. He scans the many melee and ranged weapon skills until he lands on his long sword's skill at eighty-five. 'It's the easiest one to raise in this place. I have to get it to a hundred before leaving, otherwise I might get stuck for some time. I wonder if I could learn in a school. This feels so natural to me now; I would but heads with a teacher when he tries to remove my 'bad' habits."

Ethan's eyes grow heavy, and he closes his status. He shakes his head to cast the sudden exhaustion away. A figure appears in his peripheral vision; he spins to see a woman behind him. Ethan summons Dark Fate in the shadow of his forearm.

Her eyes, pools of darkness amongst pale skin, stare at Ethan with softness. She passes a hand in her long, silvery hair that blends black along its length.

"I thought it was you," she whispers. With a speed that belies the fluidity and calmness of her graceful movements, she sits down beside him. His body, usually so fast to react on its own, doesn't even flinch. "You may call me Rest; I am a servant of Kaliathra."

Ethan glances at Anders, making sure he's asleep, and dismisses his blade. "I met your associate, Decay, earlier. What do you want from me? I have no soul for you."

"Is it pride that makes you think I would come for you?" Rest quips. She raises a hand to her breasts and puffs, caricaturing offense. "I came because this place insults me. People shouldn't come back to life; it is… unnatural."

"Where are we?" Ethan asks.

She grabs his forearm and slides her hand into his, pressing her shoulder against his side. Despite Ethan's inhumane perception, he doesn't process the gesture before it ends. His instincts have never been so quiet as in this moment, making him ponder if it isn't a ruse. The touch quiets Ethan's aches and mind. "It appeared with the labyrinth and shall vanish with it. It is a part of it, close to her domain yet far from her influence. A place of death, where you cannot die."

"Did you come to take away those who died tonight?" Ethan asks. Rowan's corpse flashes before his mind's eye; Russ did kill him after all; Ethan killed Rowan, a man who did nothing wrong, an innocent.

"I can't," Rest says. She rests her head on his shoulder, making his guilt vanish. "I can only take away those who give up on life. I will find those I can; I sense them below, resting for the night."

"Why is time flowing differently here?" Ethan asks.

She smiles. "The worlds you walked are close to each other for now, but this place has to be far from them to ignore my mistress' influence."

"I don't understand," Ethan comments.

"It will make sense someday," Rest says, like a parent denying a child the full explanation. "If you survive, that is."

Ethan's mind drifts to his conversation with Decay. He glances at Russ, who is sleeping deeply. "She gave me gifts, and you and Decay answered my questions and even helped me. What does she want from me?"

"She wants nothing you won't freely give. Gods and their servants cannot walk amongst men, for it would…" Her voice dries, and slivers of aura escape her. Like Decay, something is censoring her answer, and Ethan has no life force to spare. Besides, he doesn't want to wake up Anders. Rest's gaze falls to the ground, making her look troubled. "My mistress needs help; something terribly wrong is about to happen again."

Ethan moves free from her, escaping the peace of mind that dulls his senses. Is she speaking of what he saw, his vision of the world's end? Wouldn't that be a good thing for the goddess of death? Billions of souls leaving for her domain. "I had a vision. Of my world swallowed by light and of a glowing shard of Ether, a shard I then saw Aranthor Elarion fight to stop the summoning of. Please, if it is what you refer to, help me understand."

"I cannot," Rest laments. She places her hand over his, once again calming his mind. "I cannot speak of the gods' secrets; I cannot betray her trust."

"Your worlds are shards of the Elder God. Shards that didn't take the form of a god," Ethan mutters as he recalls Elowen's words. His mind drifts to a vision, and he continues with another quote. "All this power turned into specks of dust. Ho, how wrathful would you be seeing yourself? Now, shall we return you home?"

Rest's dark eyes bud with tears.

"I understand," Ethan begins. Rest hurls both hands at his mouth, shutting him up.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Please, I beg you, do not speak it," she pleads. "Promise me you won't, not for anything. And I… I will… I will ensure you can climb the tower and escape this place."

Ethan moves her silk-touch hands away from his face. He must tell Tombstone, One, Kate, Four… Maelor's voice pierces through his mind. 'You have to tell everyone, or you will let innocents perish again.'

'Shush,' Ethan thinks. 'Why would it be a danger to Kaliathra? It doesn't threaten her unless the process can be reversed. Besides, I could tell them, but what would they do?'

He waits, expecting an answer that never comes. Still, hearing Maelor's voice when he's awake is new and a sign that his condition is worsening again.

"When?" Ethan asks. "When and where will this happen again?"

"I don't know. All I am aware of is that it consumes souls, a lot of them," Rest answers.

'When I saw it happen, their capital was under attack; hundreds of thousands died, humans and orcs alike. Does this mean they have to engineer a new war? Perhaps in a specific place,' Ethan thinks. 'There is no way besides the Waystones to move people to the other world. No, I'm wrong; Sylas mentioned that after the first sightings of Orcs, permanent portals opened. But when will it happen? Is their plan to throw our armies, still new to the system and under-leveled, against Valeria's capital? In four hundred years they would have had the time to infest governments in some way.'

"I said too much," Rest says before sighing. She looks up. "Our followers are few, and none have the strength and courage to help."

"Why not call upon adventurers from the other world? There must be people stronger than me," Ethan comments. "I'm sure you can find a selfless hero."

"Not one Kaliathra can call to her domain. Not one with your potential," Rest answers. "The people who dabble in death are rarely sane. And we cannot call upon a power-hungry madman."

"I wouldn't call myself sane," Ethan quips.

She puffs. "No matter how hated the path you took may be, it's reason that holds the helm of your mind. Besides, the will of the world chose you, that alone –" Her voice cuts, snuffed out by the power silencing her.

Ethan resists the urge to command her to speak her mind. Covering up the situation with Anders would be complex, especially considering Rest's loose lips.

"I'm sorry, I speak too much," Rests laments, her gaze still to the clouded sky. She looks down and turns back to Ethan. "You would have known one way or the other. But I have a feeling it was the reason she sent me here now."

The situation, being watched by a goddess who sees him as a pawn, fills Ethan with frustration. The feeling vanishes in a heartbeat, snuffed out by Rest's influence. If she isn't deceiving him, Kaliathra's goal may be altruistic. 'Save the world.' The ridiculous idea makes him puff. In the end, it isn't different from his current allegiance; like N.E.S.T., she's pointing at a monster whose death would benefit everyone.

"I can help her if you share what you know, but I'll need to tell one person. I guarantee you she will keep it a secret," Ethan says. If he's right, it could lead him to his father's assassin. The thought births a wrath Rest's ability struggles to suppress, tensing Ethan's arms and neck.

She holds Ethan's cold gaze. His anger vanishes as he reclaims control of himself, silencing the emotion. The speed with which he calmed his mind surprises him. Emotions never take hold of his mind for long, but with her influence, it lasted a mere second.

She sighs, and a window appears in front of Ethan.

Pact of silence

??? offers you a pact of silence. Should you accept it, you will be unable to speak of the shards of divinity to anyone but ???, until ??? releases you of this pact.

You may spread this pact to 1 person by speaking its name. You'll be able to speak of the shards of divinity with anyone you spread this pact to.

Accept Deny

"How did you do that?" Ethan asks. The pact of non-aggression wasn't the most interesting of contracts, but this one sparks his interest.

"It's an ability," Rest says. "One called Pact of silence. The pact abilities are rare amongst your realms and horded by some. But they are not unfindable."

'What would happen if I recorded myself revealing what I know to Tombstone?' Ethan ponders. He looks down at the window and asks, "You will tell me everything you can and help me pass that tower?"

"Mm-hmm," she mutters.

Ethan holds her gaze for a moment, reading her emotions, and finds no trace of deceit. He presses 'Accept' and she exhales before shifting to a friendly smile.

"I've told you much of what I know," Rest begins. "But there is one more thing. When the orcs invaded, Caelum Cindralis vanished into their world, and it was soon after he came back that the shard was formed."

'If it is linked to the medallion, he might already have it. I will only be sure of that when meeting Hayes,' Ethan thinks. 'And if it is something else, it is safe to assume he already did what was needed in his four hundred years among us. Which means I don't have any time left. Whatever happens, I need to go to Kingsreach as soon as possible, or I might miss him.'

Deep in his thoughts, Ethan notices too late that Rest's moves to kiss him. The touch of her lips sends a shiver through his brain, dulling his emotions even further. As she lets go of his hand and lips, her influence on his mind doesn't recede, leaving him calm and without worry.

'I guess that's the part that helps me climb the tower; at least I hope it is,' Ethan thinks.

"I leave you to it," Rest says. She stands up and dusts her dress before turning to a ribbon of light and vanishing below the island's edge. The swirls at the bottom of this world return to their blood-red color, illuminating the islands.

Anders' eyes flutter upon as the temperature shifts a few degrees. "Were you talking with someone?" he asks.

"My dog," Ethan lies. "Sorry if I woke you up."

"You didn't. I thought I heard someone speaking Eldorian, weird," Anders comments. He stands and stretches his back, emitting a series of cracks and pops.

Imitating the man, Ethan stretches before moving to Russ. He ties him back up, double-checking the knots, and summons a bottle of water for himself. Ethan glances at Anders, expecting the man to demand water, but finds him drinking from a waterskin. A satchel rests open on his belt; Ethan cannot see its contents and assumes it to be a haversack.

Anders moves to the final bridge and leaps on its first rock; Ethan follows suit. Much like Ethan, Anders moves with ease despite his heavy armor. His glaive, a large double-edged blade held by a metal shaft, looks light in his hand. Before the system, wielding such a hunk of steel would have proven infeasible, if not dangerous.

A crystal shimmers at the base of the blade, held in the center of an engraved circle. Its cold, blue light intensifies as Ethan perceives Anders directing Ether to the shaft. He seems adept at absorbing the surrounding Ether.

They leap to the final island and break into a run towards the central, golden tower. Running at Olympic speed, they cross the barren place in minutes.

Anders paces next to Ethan and asks, "You are strong. What level are you?"

"Seventeen," Ethan lies.

The surrounding air thickens with the stench of rotting corpses. 'Prescience,' Ethan thinks. Dust rises from the distant ground, moved by an unknown wind.

"Be ready," Anders commands. He hefts his Glaive and consumes Ether; his inner threads move to his muscles and skin.

The Ether shakes, and Ethan perceives its threads splitting as something flies towards them. He kicks Anders in the backplate, propelling them both away.

Thunder crashes where they stood, bellowing an ochre cloud. A shirtless figure appears from the vanishing dust, tall and imposing, wings stretching wide. There stands a creature of beauty, with shimmering skin framed by platinum hair. His physique is flawless, sculpted to perfection; he bears a glance of melancholia, one found in religious paintings.

What Ethan first saw as pants and gauntlets reveal themselves as blackened, chard, overgrown organic armor. His wings hold singed and contorted feathers, veins of fire running along the quills.

'The devil himself, nothing less,' Ethan mulls over. His feet grind against the dusty ground as he lands. He summons Phantom Reaver and triggers Strengthening, readying himself for a charge.

The winged creature extends his palm towards Ethan. The latter summons a shield, expecting the monster to cast a spell. But it is from Ethan himself that dark threads of Ether escape; they rush into the devil's hand and seep into his palm. The monster's red eyes shift to a bright gold.