A kraken loomed in the distance, just as big, ugly, and menacing as the last one. Massive white eyes almost glowed in the near perfect darkness of the ninth floor. Other white eyes were visible in the far distance, like little beads deep into the trench.

He had heard that the mobs got bigger as he climbed to the end of the dungeons, but he wasn’t expecting every mob on the floor to be just as strong as a boss.

“Just hit them as hard as you can, ideally with the sharp end of the sword.” Shade mimicked stabbing with a sword. “But I’m no expert. If I was, I don’t think we’d be having this conversation. I would have already killed everything.”

Shade rarely stopped talking, and about half of what he said involved his own inability or his lack of brains. But it didn’t make sense. There was a cooldown to summon him now, meaning something had changed from the beginning of their friendship.

“What’s the point?” Owin asked.

“Of? Life? Well.” Shade put his hands on Owin’s shoulders. “It starts when you’re young and you see something that makes you think. For me, it was a mandolin. I couldn’t stop thinking about how odd of a shape it had, and who would’ve guessed that I almost immediately learned about a ton of other instruments that were even more ridiculous shapes.”

Owin turned his head as far as he could. “What?”

“I feel as though I’ve failed to answer your question.”

“”I have more questions now, but . . .” He shrugged Shade’s hands off and faced the skeleton. “What’s the point of you? That sounded mean.”

“It certainly did.”

“I meant as a Cursed. What’s the point of collecting bones? What are you supposed to do? I don’t think you’re here just to be friends.”

Shade crouched until he was at Owin’s eye level. “It’s a nice benefit.”

“Yeah. But why are you actually getting summoned? Why is there a cooldown?”

Shade looked at his own hands. He still wore the olm skin glove on his right and the spiked gauntlet on his left. “I can fight, but when I don’t know my class, it can make it difficult. He clenched his hands into fists. “I don’t enjoy it. I never did. But when I see an opening to help, I will do my best to help.”

Owin tapped his finger on the spiked gauntlet. “Stunning the kraken was helpful.”

“It was. After a few more bones, I’ll know my class so we can try to equip me each time to actually help. For now, I would just have to try using abilities or spells until something worked, which can end disastrously.”

“Try to stun when you can. I can handle the rest.” Owin patted Shade’s cheek like the skeleton had done to him. “I just have to hit them as hard as I can.”

“It’s true. Want to go kill an octopus?”

“Yes.” Owin turned back toward the kraken. “What’s an octopus?”

“Anything with eight legs.”

“Anything?”

“I believe so. Or . . . Maybe not. I’m not an expert in a lot of things.”

“Me either.” Owin set off, forcing Shade to scramble to catch up. It only took a moment before the skeleton was jauntily walking beside him.

The nearest kraken was still a ways off, though its giant eyes made it appear much closer in the dark. There were some other lights flashing in the distance, sometimes changing from yellow to blue, but those were miles away. Somehow in the dark, it was almost like Owin could see deeper into the floor than he had ever been able to do on any floor before.

“What was that about instruments?” Owin asked.

“I was an entertainer in my life. The Troubadour, as the Vile Fiend said. It’s still fuzzy. More than fuzzy. I sometimes catch these fragments of playing, singing, dancing. The only real strong memory I have is of seeing that first mandolin, then seeing the horns and strings and percussion and . . . and being overwhelmed by all the possibilities. Then nothing until I was an adult, and even then, just half a fragment of a poster advertising the Troubadour and part of a performance. I have no idea where or when.” Shade rested his olm skin gloved hand on Owin’s shoulder as they walked, but said nothing else.

They continued on in silence, giving Owin plenty of time to imagine Shade as a human. He had only seen one entertainer in action, and that had been what felt like forever ago, back in Ligala Lepis when a party from Void Nexus had tried to kill him. Katalin’s pipe bombs had quickly killed the entertainer and the others. It wasn’t a class he had seen often, though from what he had heard, it was because they were rarely heroes. Most stayed citizens. So how had Shade ended up as a Cursed skeleton inside all seven dungeons? As much as he wanted to ask, Owin knew Shade didn’t know the answer and asking wouldn’t change anything.

“Wake up,” Shade said, gently squeezing Owin’s shoulder. “Destiny awaits.”

“Destiny?”

Ocean Mob

Kraken

Level 70

“That’s just another kraken.”

Shade gestured with both arms. “Go kill it.”

“Okay.”

The giant creature spotted Owin and immediately started slithering. All eight tentacles moved wildly, churning the water as they moved. It charged, moving far faster than Owin would have assumed a creature that big could move. He sprinted on his own, attempting to close the distance before a tentacle could snag him again.

Owin had no doubt he had a strength advantage, but speed was evenly matched, if not a bit in the kraken’s favor. Before getting close enough to hit the kraken’s head, Owin found himself blocking swings from the tree-size tentacles. If the Incandescent Blade wasn’t unique and could break, he would be in trouble. Red flesh struck the flat end of the blade, outstretched from Owin’s body. He dug his feet in, cracking the stone beneath him instead of letting himself get launched into the trench wall.

Another tentacle swung in behind. Owin didn’t notice until it hit the unbreakable shield. As the description said, the shield appeared to be unbreakable and actually held the tentacle back instead of letting Owin get completely smashed between the tentacles.

“You have a third coming in!” Shade shouted.

A third could only come from one direction. Both tentacles trying to squish him let up for the briefest moment, backing up to allow the overhead tentacle to smash down. Owin took the slight opening to leap straight up. He swung the Incandescent Blade with all his strength, chopping the overhead tentacle in half. His jump continued carrying him up as the kraken flailed in pain.

“Now for the head!” Shade shouted.

“I know!” Owin landed on the injured tentacle and immediately dove off, dodging another swing. He landed and bounced back up to the base of the kraken’s head. He swung as hard as he could, effortlessly chopping through a section of the creature. It obviously caused damage as blood poured out, but a small cut was hardly going to be enough.

The kraken swayed briefly, trying to recover from the sudden injury. Before it could regain itself, Owin wound up and swung the sword again, this time hitting with the flat of the blade. He had done it like that before, but in the past, it had been an accident, back when his dexterity was low enough that he couldn’t control which side of the blade he used.

A sonic boom caused Owin’s ears to ring as ripples passed through the kraken’s skin. Its white eyes faded, though the beast was clearly still alive. His swing had taken every point of his strength and the kraken still lived.

“Now what?” Owin shouted.

“Do it again on top of its head!”

Owin jumped off the kraken, pushing hard enough to tear the skin he had been standing on. He landed on top of its head just as it recovered. Tentacles all reached for him, but they were more sluggish than before. Owin jumped off the kraken’s head and lifted his sword with both hands. He rotated the blade, landed, and smashed the flat end onto the top of the kraken’s head.

It shuddered and went limp, but Owin never received an experience notification. There was no sign it was dead. Owin jumped and smashed the sword down two more times before the notification finally appeared in his vision.

0 Experience

“I don’t want to say that was inefficient, but I don’t know what else to call it,” Shade said as he tried to move the tentacles. “Is it even worth checking for loot? I don’t believe so. I feel as though Sloswen was pretty straightforward with his disdain for you.”

Owin jumped off the kraken’s head and landed roughly beside Shade. “Us.”

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“I suppose that’s true. His disdain for both of us. Or life in general? Maybe he is just hateful.” Shade looked up and flinched. “I think he’s bored of threatening me.”

“Let’s keep moving.”

Owin asked Shade about different instruments as they continued deeper into the trench. While the skeleton didn’t seem to know much about any of them, he shared random facts and tried to even recreate some of the noises. It was a nice distraction that caused Owin to laugh and not think about anything else.

Two more krakens blocked their path, but even with the creature’s close to each other, it felt like a one on one fight each time. They were too big to try to fight one small goblin at the same time. They both tried to attack, which caused collisions and slowed both krakens down. Meanwhile, Owin’s armor had partially grown back, giving him more protection through the fights, but they went about as well as the others had gone. He won without taking severe damage, but none of it went as smoothly as he wanted.

Hours and krakens passed before they reached the glowing lights. Owin had been forming ideas in his head the entire time, trying to guess at what could be causing such bright yellow and blue lights within the trench. None of his guesses had been close.

The ground for about a quarter mile was made of crystal. When it was yellow, it looked like it was trying to mimic the sun, but when it was blue, it looked exactly like a massive mana battery.

Shade crouched and tapped his armored hand on the edge of the crystal. “It seems sturdy.”

Owin took a step onto it and waited. Even as the color shifted from blue to yellow, nothing changed. “I thought it might light me on fire or something.”

“And you still stepped on?”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess.” Owin shrugged. “What do you think it’s for?”

Shade took a hesitant step onto the colorful ground. He waited silently, staring down at the yellow light. As soon as it turned blue, he flinched, but just like before, nothing happened. “I don’t understand.”

“It has to be a mana battery. It looks just like one.” Owin tapped the tip of sword against the ground. It felt strong, but he didn’t feel that inclined to test it. If he punctured the mana battery, he had a feeling it would be a lot like his wand exploding, but infinitely more powerful.

More kraken watched with their glowing eyes in the distance, but there was also something else. Something Owin couldn’t make out in the darkness. It didn’t have any glowing parts like the kraken’s eyes. He only caught brief glimpses of shapes passing in front of the krakens, shifting deeper in the trench.

“If krakens are the main mobs on this floor, what do you think will be the wandering boss and the floor boss?” Owin asked.

Shade looked back at the glowing ground beneath their feet. “You think this has something to do with the wandering boss?”

“I don’t know why else it would be here. Unless the secret is underneath it or something.”

Shade walked to the far edge and poked the trench wall a few times. “Might as well check. Nothing is over here at the moment. Why not poke things until a door opens?”

***

Siora stayed at the back of the group. It was nonsense having this many people in one party. Their experience split would be worthless and there would be fighting over loot. There always was.

Even worse, the Nimble Hogs kept looking at her like she was some kind of monster. All of them had done horrible things in their lives, she was sure of it. Everyone did something bad at some point. Nobody was good. Nobody was perfect.

Katalin stood beside her, making Siora that much more uncomfortable. The 7 Shard Hero’s apprentice. The one who had threatened Siora after Owin had been tossed off the ferry.

He survived. Who cared? She clenched her jaw.

They were slow moving through Ryh Thalor. The capital of Kriergow was a city in the mountains. One she had only visited once before. Its architecture was unique with the mountains rising on either side. Half the buildings were underground or built into the stone itself, while the rest were built on the slopes of the mountains.

Getting to the Subterranean Dungeon would involve hiking through mountains, climbing before they could descend to the void nexus at the base of a volcano. Reports of the volcano’s activity were plastered all over the city, claiming it was calm and currently safe for heroes.

Saying anything was safe seemed ironic, knowing how dangerous the Subterranean Dungeon was with all the lava, rats, and all the other disgusting mobs that roamed its corridors. She’d rather go back and fight some hobgoblins in the Great Forest.

The rest of the party, including Veph, were clumped together outside a restaurant. Everyone was starving because they were too foolish to pack food. The nervous Hog, the citizen, said it was because they didn’t have a chance to grab anything from the headquarters, but that just seemed like a lazy excuse.

“Did you figure life out yet?” Katalin asked.

“What?” Siora fought the urge to insult the cocky alchemist.

“Nobody can be angry all the time.” She flipped a pipe bomb in her glowing hand. “I was thinking you finally calmed down.”

Siora clenched her jaw and didn’t answer.

The alchemist smiled, staring with her brown eyes. “I think you’re accidentally answering my question.”

“Leave me alone.”

“We’re a party now. Not even that. We’re part of the same company.”

“This company is a fucking joke.” Siora opened her index and sneered as she read the words. Alegarra Alchemy Inc.

“Althowin is giving you a chance, despite what happened. Be grateful.”

“Fuck you and fuck your chance. I’m only here because Veph told me I had to.” Siora turned away and walked across the brick street.

Katalin followed directly behind. “Veph and Chorsay are working together again. You can’t act like the Hogs are the villains here.”

Siora turned on Katalin, grabbing her scarf and yanking the alchemist close. “Then who is? Me? Am I the villain in this whole fucking mess?” She pushed Katalin back. “I just did what I was told. Veph encouraged interfering with a Hog in the dungeons. It’s not my fault.”

Katalin fixed her scarf, but kept her eyes on Siora. “You killed a man. A good man.”

“And you haven’t? I’m not the only person in the world to fuck up, but nobody let’s me forget the old fucking Hog.” Siora tried walking away again, but Katalin stuck right with her. “Leave me alone,” Siora snapped.

“No. I brought enough food that I don’t need to sit at a restaurant with the world’s most awkward combination of people.”

“Your boyfriend is over there. Go talk to him instead.” Siora sat at a street-side table. She didn’t even know what was inside the building beside her. Walking further just meant she would have a longer trek back, and Katalin was obviously going to continue following her whether or not she ran away.

“Boyfriend? Sure.” Katalin sat in the chair across from her and immediately leaned her elbows on the table.

Siora rolled her eyes. She would’ve expected Althowin’s apprentices to have better manners than the average person, but after meeting the 7 Shard Hero, it seemed like even she had the manners of a child.

“I don’t think you’re close enough to anyone in all of Verdantallis to understand the connection Ernie and I have. I feel sorry for you. Anger all the time.”

A young man hesitantly approached, glancing back and forth between the two of them. “Can I get you two anything?”

“What is this place?” Siora asked.

“A coffee shop, moron,” Katalin said. “I’ll take a coffee with milk, please.”

The young man nodded and scribbled something down on a notepad. “And for you?”

Siora had never ordered coffee before. She tried looking through the window, but was unable to see anything that looked like a menu inside. “Same, please.”

He wrote down her order, smiled, and hurried off back inside.

“I’m not always angry,” Siora said, still looking through the window.

“Are you sure about that?”

“You should’ve seen what your little friend did to us in the Ocean.” Siora turned her attention back to Katalin, staring right at her as she pulled her collar aside. The scar from Owin’s lich bone was twisted and disgusting. That undead weapon had mottled her flesh and no healing would make it look normal again. “He was smiling.”

“And look at you now. Still alive.”

“Nikoletta had it worse.”

Katalin nodded as if she knew, as if she had been in that hallway when Owin nearly killed them both. “Nikoletta attacked him first. Hunted him before he ever met you.”

“But I killed Artivan,” Siora said plainly.

They stared silently at each other. The waiter brought out their coffee in wide mugs, setting each down gently on the table. He followed it up with little containers of milk, like miniature pitchers. Siora had never seen anything like it.

“Thank you,” Katalin said as soon as the waiter finished. She didn’t hesitate, pouring the milk right into the coffee before stirring it slowly with a spoon. “Would you do it again?”

“Which part?” Siora asked as she carefully poured milk into the dark coffee. Its color changed immediately like a cloud moved through the liquid.

“That’s a lot of milk,” Katalin said, watching Siora.

“I’ve never done this before.”

Katalin’s eyebrows shifted. “Don’t use all the milk next time. Half is usually good.”

Siora nodded and started stirring slowly, matching Katalin’s technique.

“Killing Artivan,” Katalin said plainly.

“No. I would never even challenge him if I could somehow redo it.” Siora set the spoon down. “He killed half my party without trying. I assumed because he was old, he was weak.”

“People assume the same with Chorsay.”

Siora looked across the street, down where the rest of the party had entered a restaurant. They were all there now because of Chorsay. The old giant had taken in Owin without question, and whatever had happened let him reconnect with Veph.

“Why did he leave Void Nexus?” Siora asked.

Katalin lifted the wide-mouthed mug with both hands and took a sip from the side as if it was a soup bowl. She cradled it in her hands and looked at Siora through the steam. “I don’t know the full story. I wish I did. All I know is that it had to do with Veph’s grandpa.”

“Romoalt Veriss?”

Katalin nodded carefully and took another sip of her coffee.

“He founded Void Nexus. He was considered one of the greatest new generation heroes.” Siora had read everything she could find about Romoalt. He had been unlike anyone else in his time. Magna Regum and the Three Headed Hero Company were two of the first companies ever founded, meaning Void Nexus was the only new company in the top three. He had created an empire from nothing.

“I never had the chance to meet him. Althowin spoke of him fondly.”

“Do you think that nervous woman knows?”

“Po? Uh, probably. I doubt she’d tell you. You’re better off asking Veph or Chorsay.”

Siora took a sip of her own coffee. It was way too sweet, but she controlled her face. “I don’t think they’ll say anything to me.”

“Maybe not now. Chorsay likes to tell stories. If he likes you, he’ll talk all day. Bring him a whiskey, ask him some questions. Listen to his stories. He’ll warm up fast.”

“I killed his friend. Remember?”

Katalin reached across the table and set her coffee down in front of Siora, then took Siora’s mug and took a sip.

“What are you doing?” Siora asked.

“You don’t like yours. Too sweet, I’m guessing. Take mine.”

Siora looked at the coffee. It was darker than her mug was, but . . . “Why would yours be better?”

“You don’t think an alchemist can make a good cup of coffee?”

Siora rolled her eyes and took a drink. It was better. Much better.

“We’re a team. At least for now. We already had our conflict back on that ferry. We’re done fighting. Got it?” Katalin asked.

Siora nodded. “What about your boyfriend?”

“Ernie and I agree on everything.”

“Impossible.”

Katalin grinned. “It’s not. Maybe someday you’ll understand.”

Siora took another drink to hide her eye roll. What was there to understand? The alchemist was insane.