Seeing into the distance on the seventh floor was difficult even with the magical crystals illuminating the ground. Even when Owin was able to see further than a few feet in front of him, his vision was blocked by a tower with smoke coming out of the top. Every tower had a cluster of tubeworms at the bottom.

Myrsvai took the time to kill one cluster with a series of spells, but quickly decided it wasn’t worth the effort. The amount of experience gained was too low for the amount of mana expended.

The magus and Shade continued their conversation, which Owin barely followed even when he was actively listening. Myrsvai listed off names and ideas that Shade either knew or acted like he knew. Owin had never heard of any of them.

“Do you think there are cetanthro or girhuma on this floor?” Owin asked.

Suta shrugged.

Owin expected that kind of answer. He didn’t know either. They walked along the boundary wall, seeing if there was a place to cross deeper into the floor without having to pass so many tubeworms.

There didn’t appear to be any safe passages. It was all dark, all stacks of rocks with smoke, and all tubeworms the whole way across. They would have to pick a route and stick to it to avoid fighting too many clusters of worms.

“Let’s go past the first one we found and just keep going that way,” Owin said.

“Through the middle?” Myrsvai asked.

Owin shrugged.

“We will follow you.”

“The middle makes it sound like we did something brave and unique when really Owin just wants to go past the only mob we have really killed on this floor,” Shade said.

“We?”

“I’m part of this team whether you like it or not. I did sit and watch you eat a cathkabel and a Lord of the Abyss on the last floor. I’ve seen enough. I’m implicated. If you go down, I go down.”

“What?”

Shade pointed toward the middle. “That way, commander!”

Owin rolled his eyes. It was impossible not to. He led the way through the dark floor, trying to stay as far away from the stone smoke stacks as possible. All of them had tubeworms clustered at the base, and while he could handle the mob, there wasn’t any clear benefit to fighting them.

Suta lifted his hands at each cluster, but the familiar didn’t dive in, which Owin was thankful for. Suta had been so jumpy when Owin had first met him on the way to get Chorsay from the Unity Force.

“Hydrothermal vents,” Myrsvai said.

“What?” Owin barely looked back at the magus who was still walking beside Shade. The skeleton had picked up one of the glowing crystals at some point and jabbed his bony finger against it.

“I am realizing these are hydrothermal vents, though an extreme version. These exist in the ocean outside the dungeon. Some heroes have been to the real ocean floor with their high attributes and some specific potions and skills to explore. It’s said to be nearly impossible to see and so cold that one’s skin can freeze. Most would die long before they reached the bottom, even if they could breathe in the water.” Myrsvai smiled and gestured to a hydrothermal vent with his staff. “Unlike other gods, Sloswen has used many real features from the ocean.”

“What about these?” Shade held the green crystal out. “Any shiny things in the bottom of the real ocean?”

“Not that I have ever read about. Maybe in a few years when I am stronger, I’ll be able to make my own journey below.”

Suta stopped and grabbed Owin’s arm. The familiar lifted a fist and chittered. Ahead, the path split with hydrothermal vents acting as barriers, all too close to avoid any fight. They could go more left, more right, or even further right, but at that point it was basically heading toward the right boundary wall.

They had to pass between two different stacks in any of the three directions. Giant tubeworms clustered together dense enough to almost form a wall between each of the stacks.

“Left,” Owin said. He took a step, but Suta pulled him back.

“I fight.”

A slew of protests flew through Owin’s mind. He was stronger than Suta, which was the easiest answer, but the bigger issue was Suta’s style of fighting. Punching the tubeworms didn’t seem effective, and going against so many would put the little familiar into a dangerous situation.

“Suta, stay back,” Myrsvai said as abyssal fire gathered at the end of his staff.

“No.” The familiar stalked forward, hands raised.

Owin could have jumped over Suta or ran ahead and grabbed him before he entered danger, but Suta was so confident that Owin wanted to see what he could do. Myrsvai protested and hurried up, already covering Suta with armor and another buff.

The tubeworms reacted immediately upon Suta’s arrival, turning to spit molten rock. Suta moved fast enough to dodge. He ran part way up the stalk, leapt off, and executed a perfect punch on the red plume of a tubeworm. The strike knocked it aside, but did no visible damage. The whole wall-like cluster let out a wall of lava at once.

Suta vanished in a flash of abyssal flames.

Myrsvai let out a sigh. “He’s frustrated.” The magus waited a moment, then pointed his staff and let out a barrage, killing a handful of the tubeworms. “And so am I.”

Shade put his arm around Myrsvai’s shoulder. “You’re not strong enough to finish this dungeon.”

“Shade.”

The skeleton dropped the green crystal and reached over, tapping his finger on Myrsvai’s head. “He knows. That big brain of his is currently thinking of ways he can finish the isolated floors without the true hero and his goblin sidekick.”

Myrsvai narrowed his eyes. “Are you the ‘true hero’ instead of Owin?”

Shade nodded slowly. “I knew you would all catch on at some point. It took a while, I admit. Longer than I had hoped. For as goblin-brained as you are, you caught on faster than I anticipated.”

“I’m goblin-brained?” Myrsvai asked.

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The two went back and forth for a minute with all sorts of meaningless insults that caused Myrsvai to smile. He seemed to be surprisingly calm despite what Shade had just said. Owin just watched the exchange with his hands on his hips until they both noticed him.

“Goblin-brained?” Owin asked.

“Ugh.” Shade pushed Myrsvai away. “So insensitive, Myrsvai. I can’t believe you would use Owin’s goblin . . . ness? Why not? I can’t believe you would use Owin’s goblinness against him to make such a rude insult.”

Owin turned his back to Shade, who drew the Incandescent Blade. With the longsword in hand, Owin walked up to the wall of tubeworms and gave it three quick slashes, cutting the mobs down before they could gather more lava to spit.

“Is it true?” Owin asked.

“In my current state, yes.” Myrsvai crouched beside the mob corpses, leaned his staff on the stone, and pulled a few dungeon coins and a gem out. He held them out, offering, but Owin didn’t move. After a second, Myrsvai dropped it all into his own bag. “It’s not as simple as strong or weak. Many of my spells are focused on buffing and sustaining my summons. Even when I funnel my spells into Suta, his refusal to cast his own offensive magic makes him considerably weaker than he otherwise would be. I’ll bring Thalgodin back soon. He should be recovered, and with my increased level, he should be able to manifest in his full power.” The magus stood up, stretched his back, and grabbed his staff.

“If Suta uses magic, can you get the shard?” Owin asked.

“Yes.”

Ahead, the smoke rising from the hydrothermal vents was black, making the rest of the floor look significantly darker. It was like a heavy cloud sat over the ocean floor, muting even the bright colors of the crystals.

It remained a maze of sorts with hydrothermal vent stacks blocking paths and spreading haphazardly out in front of them. Based on what Owin could see in his map from the first part of the floor, it didn’t seem like there was a right or wrong way to go. He just needed to continue forward. It was far more narrow than other floors with the boundary walls visible as soon as he walked too far to either side. They just had to choose to be more left or right focused, as the center was frequently blocked by the biggest vents.

“We can spread out. There is a wandering boss, a chest guardian, and a secret out there somewhere. I already missed the last couple secrets, and if I want to get Shade stronger or more clothes, I guess, I need to find more of his bones.” Owin pointed to the right. “When you summon Suta, I’ll take him this way. You and Shade go to the left. If something dangerous happens, we can each unsummon the other and it can be like a warning that the other person needs help.”

Myrsvai pressed his lips together as he examined the floor, looking as far to the left path as he could. It only went on for a bit before the black smoke obscured most of the area. “I can’t imagine Suta will go for this plan.”

“If you tell him it’s safe, he will. If you’re at all unsure, he won’t do it.” Owin handed the sword back to Shade, who slid it into the sheath on Owin’s back. “Sorry, Shade.”

“Sorry for what?”

Summon the Withered Shade

Myrsvai raised an eyebrow.

“We didn’t need him making any jokes.” Owin wished he could be a bit taller to speak face to face with Myrsvai, though that wasn’t going to happen. There was no way for him to suddenly grow. “I can get Suta to use magic, but you have to believe it’s possible. You share thoughts. Every time you’re unsure or worried, so is he. Suta only cares about you.”

“I don’t believe that’s true anymore. He was more worried about you than me on the last floor.”

Owin ignored Myrsvai’s words. There was a lot he could say and a lot he had thought about, but being blunt was going to be the most helpful.

If the Nimble Hogs were different, Owin was willing to give them a chance.

If they couldn’t accept him, nobody would.

The thought from way back in the Great Forest, back when he had first met Artivan never fully left his mind. And now, after so long, he could confidently say the Nimble Hogs were different. They accepted him, and he was going to always make sure to represent Artivan the best he could.

“You act like you don’t think about the past, about what turned you into the Maimed Magus, but all of your fears and worries go right into Suta. Every thought you have becomes one of his thoughts. He thinks about crushing your arm every time he uses magic, or if he even thinks about using it. He doesn’t want to hurt you, but not using it will get you both hurt. Be confident. Stop holding yourself back. Stop holding him back.”

Myrsvai stared blankly.

Owin stared back. His heart thumped in his chest.

Myrsvai sat down and rested his staff across his lap. He motioned for Owin to sit, which he did right away. Was it going to be a lecture? Was Myrsvai going to smack him with the staff?

“When I was part of Magna Regum, I thought I would be the next Althowin. The next Zezog. I thought I would be a world famous 7 Shard Hero and everyone would be in awe of my talent. Suta was especially quiet back then. He only talked to me. At first, I thought he just grew quieter as we got older, but I started catching his thoughts about how much he disliked everyone around me. He would never say it to me.” Myrsvai smiled. “He won’t lie to me, but it doesn’t mean he’ll tell me things.”

“What did you think about the heroes?”

“I was amazed by just about everything Egnatia did. She taught me a lot and really treated me like her right hand for a time. I obviously realized that was just for her own gain, and that Suta was right all along. She didn’t care about me or my success. She cared about the attention I had already garnered on my own and tried to take advantage of it. As soon as I was crippled, she was gone. I would say I was left completely alone, but Suta was there.

“Familiars can’t truly die until their master is dead. They are either alone after their master dies, or they aren’t summoned at the time of death and die with their master. I am fully aware that Suta dying isn’t possible, but I can’t stop myself from trying to keep him safe. We’re going to go with your idea. I trust you, Owin. I trust you to keep him safe and to help him find his confidence again. I will find mine as well.” Myrsvai’s eyes glowed with abyssal energy. “I’m not leaving without a shard.”

Owin nodded. “See if you can get some history out of Shade. The Vile Fiend called him some words I haven’t heard before.”

“I believe there are many words you haven’t heard. What are they?” Myrsvai stood and readied his staff with abyssal fire.

“Troubadour and Saboator.”

“Interesting.”

Summon the Withered Shade

“We’re talking about a history of heroes,” Myrsvai said as soon as the skeleton appeared beside him.

“I believe it all began with a man named Genry, or something like that.”

Myrsvai tapped his staff on the ground, summoning Suta in a circle of abyssal flames. “Genry?”

“It doesn’t sound real, does it? If I’m going to lie, I should really try harder. Give me a moment to think about it and I will give you a riveting tale.” Shade brushed some white dust from himself. “Oh, I crushed some of those demon bones. If alchemists like bone powder, they’re in for a treat.”

“I guess that’s what we get for filling the box,” Owin said.

Shade pointed to one of the hands still attached to his arm. “Do you think we should do anything about this?”

“Crouch down.” Owin grabbed one of the hands and pulled. Suta did the same on the other side. Nothing moved. Owin even tried peeling up the fingers, but they were firmly locked in place.

“It appears to be a new accessory for now,” Myrsvai said.

“Genry will love it.”

Myrsvai crouched in front of Suta. “We’re splitting up until we find the floor boss. I’ll be with Shade and you’re going with Owin.”

“No.”

“Yes. I need one more level to summon Thalgodin at full power. If we split, we can get more experience.”

Suta pointed at Shade. “Not safe.”

“Excuse me?” Shade put his gloved hand on his sternum and gasped. “Not safe?”

“Quiet,” Myrsvai said. “He’s a good distraction and he knows a lot. If I’m in danger, I’ll bring you back to me as fast as possible.”

“No.”

“We split up or I keep you away.”

Suta chittered and very gently punched Shade’s leg. “Protect.”

“Yes, yes. I will.” Shade put his arm over Myrsvai’s shoulder. “We’re the best of friends, after all.”

“Don’t make me regret this,” Myrsvai whispered.

Owin waved and set off toward the right side, currently avoiding diving into the black smoke. It moved slowly through the water, and the chill when away from the vents was enough that Owin felt stiff. He needed to move more or get closer to the vents. It was too cold to continue sitting around and talking.

“Twin,” Suta said, running after Owin.

“We’re going to get you two leveled up.”

Suta nodded and punched his fists together. “Murder.”

“Uh, yeah. Kind of.”