Potilia never wanted company, but at times, it was good. Miya was too scared to work in Myrsvai’s room, which Potilia understood. Who wouldn’t be scared of the demon-infested place? Myrsvai didn’t even bathe most days when he was all rabid and raving about his projects. Not only did everyone want to avoid his wrath, they also wanted to avoid whatever smells might linger. She wasn’t sure how Suta dealt with it, but she was also unsure if Suta actually had a nose.

He did, didn’t he?

She looked up from her book to see Miya hunched over her own, muttering something to herself as she poured a powder into a vial, causing the mixture to spark briefly. The alchemist flinched, and looked up, catching Potilia’s eyes.

“I swear this one won’t explode.”

“Does Suta have a nose?”

Miya lifted her goggles. “What?”

“I can’t remember if Suta has a nose.”

“Uh.” Miya squinted. “Uh.”

Sanem threw the front door open, yawning as she stepped inside. She was in casual clothes, but still had her spear in a holder on her back. She lazily gestured behind her, where a fairly bruised man appeared.

“Raif!” Potilia fell off her stool.

The man was quickly at her side, gently helping her up. He was dressed in a red jacket that would have looked lovely if it wasn’t the same color as the scars on his hands and across the back of his shaved head.

“I’m happy to see you too, Po.” He leaned on the counter as Potilia climbed back onto her stool. “What are you doing up here, Miya?”

“I, uh.” Miya put her goggles back on and hunched over the vial.

“She blew up the basement,” Potilia said quickly.

“You did what?” Sanem was suddenly very alert. She sprinted up the stairs and burst right into Chorsay’s office. “What?”

“It’s fine,” Potilia heard him say calmly.

“What are you reading today?” Raif lifted the cover of the book. “A History of Witches in Sakaebia. Really?”

“Well, they thought witches were escaped mobs born in the dungeon, so . . .” Potilia slammed the book shut and covered the title with her hands. “Don’t ask me about it!”

“Yeah, okay. Do you know if Chorsay has any jobs ready to go?”

“Already? It feels like you just got back. And with Myrsvai, Owin, Cixilo, and Lera out, it’s quiet and lonely here.” Potilia leaned more heavily on her book. “The old man could use more company.”

“We, uh . . .” Raif looked up to the next floor. “We could use the money.”

Potilia’s eyes widened. “Are you in financial distress?”

Miya took off her goggles. “Raif?”

He laughed. “No. Nothing like that.”

“Pregnant?” Chorsay’s voice boomed, making it sound like he was directly beside Potilia. She almost fell off her stool again.

Raif looked back and forth awkwardly. Potilia squealed and jumped on him. Luckily, the knight was strong and probably expected something from Potilia.

“Congrats,” Miya said as she immediately resumed work.

Potilia patted Raif on the head as he set her back on the stool. “You are going to be such a good father.”

“Thank you. Now, I—”

The railing above cracked loudly as Chorsay leaned on it and looked down. “No jobs. I’m not letting either of you in a dungeon.”

“Chorsay,” Raif said.

“Not going to happen. You tell me what you need and I will get it.”

“Chorsay,” Sanem said.

“We can’t accept that.”

“I don’t remember asking,” Chorsay said. He disappeared back over the railing. Sanem followed after, scolding the old man as they walked toward the back of the building.

“You had to expect that,” Potilia said.

“I thought he would just find vanity escorts,” Raif said as he shrugged. “Something easy.”

“Oh, that’s not going to happen, I—”

Purple smoke appeared beside them. Potilia had already picked up her kanabo and Raif clenched his hands into fists. Miya hadn’t reacted at all.

Cixilo stood, sweating, right in front of the counter. “Where’s Chorsay?”

“Cix, what’s wrong?”

Blood ran from her nose and dripped from her chin, staining her purple cloak. “Where is he?”

A firm knock pounded on the front door.

“I’ll get him.” Raif bolted up the stairs.

“He can hear us,” Potilia said. “Who’s at the door?” She lifted her weapon above the counter.

“Hide it,” Cixilo said quickly. She turned, accidentally throwing some blood onto the counter. “Miya, get out. Now.”

The alchemist dropped everything and stood. “Where?”

“To the back. The arena.”

Miya touched Cixilo’s shoulder gently but walked right by without another word.

Potilia lowered the kanabo. There was no way she was going to drop the weapon all the way. “Who’s at the door, Cix?”

“The Bull. He’s going to kill us.”

Chorsay’s heavy footsteps pounded on the floor above just as the front door opened.

Just as Cixilo had said, the Golden Bull stood in the doorway. He wore his flawless golden armor with his helmet lowered. His dark rock arms looked so unnatural even as he moved. If it had only been the golden armor, Potilia would mistake him for any other Golden Bull, but the earth elemental and his emerald bow were impossible to mistake.

“Where’s the old man?” Andres asked.

“Here.” The air hummed as both of Chorsay’s shards lifted. Potilia knew that sound well. That ominous, horrible sound. Wood cracked above her. Just the emergence of his shards were enough to nearly destroy the walls around him.

Cixilo was wrong. It wasn’t just Miya. They all needed to run.

Andres chuckled.

“You lay a finger on my family?” Chorsay’s voice was a growl.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“She tried to flee. I only reminded her of her place. What heroes do the Hogs employ that can’t take a slap?” Andres took a step into the lobby.

The balcony railing exploded as Chorsay walked by. Each stair cracked and nearly collapsed as the giant took each calm step. He was composed other than his right hand clenched into a fist, causing the veins on his arm to rise.

“Quite the introduction,” Andres said. “I learned much about you on the way here. We met once, when you were Void Nexus.”

Chorsay stopped right in front of Andres Orben. The giant had to look almost straight down to even see the Golden Bull’s leader. With Chorsay wearing a simple cloth tunic and old, worn pants, he looked like a commoner beside a king, if one ignored the size difference.

The two silver shards hung over Chorsay’s right shoulder, still humming their ominous song.

“Do you know what the other leaders say about you?” Andres asked.

Chorsay clenched his other hand into a fist.

“They call you a coward. The hero company leader who abandoned danger and power only to lead the worst hero company in Verdantallis.”

“If you had come by to talk, I would have entertained you over a whiskey.” Chorsay’s voice had somehow gotten deeper. His words alone felt like they would shatter the walls.

Cixilo nearly collapsed, but caught herself on the counter. Potilia scrambled over and took the umbra’s arm. Only then did she notice the broken bones on the Cixilo’s face. Her hood had been hiding the full extent of her injuries.

Chorsay was watching and nodded to Potilia.

“We talked about remodeling,” she said quickly.

Chorsay’s face went from pure anger to stone stoicism. “We could have talked, but you hurt my family.”

“Ha!” Andres brought his stone fingers to his bowstring. “A 2 Shard Hero threatens me! What a day! I came to give you a warning out of respect, Chorsay. I thought I’d test your heroes. Give them a little shock. See if they were strong enough to handle real obstacles. I hoped something would spur you back into action, to help you see the danger in that goblin.” Andres shook his head. “You are as foolish as they sa—”

Potilia didn’t see Chorsay move. She only felt the impact of the punch, which caused the walls to the sides of Chorsay to explode, flying out into Atrevaar. The shockwave of the punch cracked the entire floor through the lobby and even made her stool collapse.

Andres was nowhere to be seen.

Chorsay strode right through the new opening with his shards still raised. That punch would have turned Potilia to dust, but Andres was no normal hero.

The familiar, horrifying sound of shards clicked three times. Chorsay didn’t flinch at the noise. He only set his feet, cracking the sidewalk outside headquarters. Security Regime members were already on sight, rushing civilians to safety. The portal guards, she realized, had all abandoned posts to guide people away.

The military was in charge until Shard Heroes were fighting. There was nobody in the military that could stop Chorsay or Andres.

An arrow flew from the side faster than Potilia could follow. Chorsay slapped it away. When the arrow hit the road, the stone shot into the air as if a volcano had erupted below. A flurry of arrows struck Chorsay, who had raised both forearms like a shield in front of him. They tore into his skin before they were blown away as Chorsay walked straight at Andres. The old soldier suddenly vanished. Potilia leaned to the side, catching the moment Chorsay dodged a bow swing from the Golden Bull. A quick palm strike caused the hunter to drop his bow.

Chorsay’s use of Disarm was unmatched. He had shown her long ago how easily even the strongest heroes in the world could be disarmed with a nonlethal attack. She wished she had something like that.

Andres drew the sword from his hip and swung, but stopped short as Chorsay took the blade to the arm without damage and countered with another punch straight to the hunter’s bucket helmet.

Chorsay calmly grabbed the emerald bow and walked it over to the new, wide opening to headquarters. He had blood flowing freely from his forearms. “Cix.”

“Please be careful,” Cixilo said quietly.

Chorsay moved his head to the side as a dart flew from behind him. It broke straight through the wall behind where Miya had been sitting. “Stay safe.”

The man fighting tells them to be safe. Potilia wanted to roll her eyes, but she was too worried for something so childish.

Chorsay carelessly tossed the legendary bow into the room. He turned back just as Andres neared. The Golden Bull walked with confidence, like nothing was wrong. He was missing his helmet, which had already been horribly dented after the first punch. After the second, Potilia guessed Andres felt lucky to still have a head.

The one shard made a difference in the fight. Without it, Andres would have been dead after the first hit. Even a two shard hero wasn’t going to come close in a fight against someone as seasoned as Chorsay.

The Golden Bull made a horrible mistake underestimating Chorsay.

No, he had made a horrible mistake underestimating the Nimble Hogs.

“You’re not hiding a third shard,” Andres said as blood leaked onto his lips. He spat a gob onto the street. His index flashed in front of his eyes. “What did you fuse with?”

“Nothing.” Chorsay clenched his fists, squeezing his own blood between his fingers. “Apologize and vow to never return to Stelsodo, and I will let you go.”

“Vow to never return?” Andres chuckled. It was the most fake, most arrogant thing Potilia had ever heard. And she had heard a lot of arrogant laughs. “You don’t own Atrevaar, let alone all of Stelsodo! You’re lucky Veph even lets you rent this dump!”

A third shard multiplied Andres Orben’s attributes by 2.5, meaning his 570 dexterity was actually 1425 at the moment, while Chorsay’s 710 strength with two shards was doubled, making it 1420.

With most people, a shard would be all the difference in the world.

For Andres, it was the only thing keeping him on his feet. They were nearly even in their highest stats, and Potilia could guarantee Chorsay had more experience in every aspect, even if he was a “coward” for abandoning the dungeons like Andres claimed.

Andres glanced at his bow.

“I’ll break it if you touch it again,” Chorsay said.

“Fine. I can beat you like this.” Andres positioned himself into a haughty stance with his sword at the ready. It was the way Potilia imagined rich snobs held swords. It was fitting.

Chorsay wasn’t completely unarmed. He had his little knife sheathed at his belt, but Potilia couldn’t imagine a situation in which that came into play. He had kept that away forever, and would likely never use it.

“Cix, can I take you to the back?” Potilia whispered.

Cixilo, despite her injuries, was just as enthralled. “No.”

Secretly, Potilia had hoped for that answer.

More of the Security Regime had arrived. All of their Shard Heroes were present, but that was only to minimize damage. None would intervene in a Shard Hero fight. If anything, it would only end up with more destruction or more death. The military had formed a ring around the front of the building, protecting the portals, and likely, giving Chorsay and Andres a sign that they needed to contain the fight.

“This is your last opportunity to surrender, Hog.”

Chorsay took a deep breath as blood dripped from his fists. The ominous hum of the shards filled the air. The old soldier couldn’t be goaded into anger, into reacting without thought. He didn’t even shift into a fighting stance. He was calm. He was ready.

He was at his most dangerous.

***

Ocean Dungeon

Seventh Floor

Owin stepped out of the void nexus and immediately felt a blow to the side of his helmet. He flailed and tumbled down the stairs, flipping over the creature. He could have slammed it into the ground, but instead he turned himself, letting the chitin breastplate take the slight impact.

Suta’s glowing yellow eyes were an inch from Owin’s. “Twin.”

“Suta.” Owin wrapped his arms around him and effortlessly stood with the demon.

“He insisted we wait,” Myrsvai said. The magus bumped Shade with his staff. “Good to see you are both safe.”

“I thought we said we weren’t going to wait,” Owin said. He let the familiar go, but Suta stayed close.

“With the timer, I thought we would end up close together. It took you longer than I expected.” Myrsvai’s index appeared.

“We had a delay,” Shade said. Owin was glad the skeleton didn’t expand on that. There was no reason Myrsvai needed to know about the Void Nexus heroes.

“Owin.”

“The Vile Fiend insisted I eat him.” Owin couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across his face.

“Insisted?”

Shade leaned his elbow on Myrsvai. “It was the single most horrible thing I have ever seen. And you would not believe the things I have seen. I wouldn’t even believe it, really. I don’t even know what I’ve seen.”

“What about your intelligence? That’s not from a demon.”

“A cathkabel war beast was one of the battery guardians.”

Myrsvai gave Suta a look. “You were right. We should have explored.”

“You didn’t even explore?”

“Eight hours of sleep in a dungeon is a difficult thing to pass by. I feel truly refreshed. Did you find anything useful?”

Summon the Withered Shade

Summon the Withered Shade

Shade reappeared and immediately leaned on Myrsvai again. “All there!”

Owin’s eyes widened. “All of it?”

Shade nodded enthusiastically. “Every drop!”

“Not drops, Shade.” Owin sighed. “We kept the big mana batteries they were guarding and kept them in Shade’s . . . box.”

“You can call it a prison if you prefer,” Shade said.

“Nobody prefers that.” Owin waved everyone forward, away from the stairs. The floor was darker than the last, with the surface so incredibly far above. The same type of glowing crystals dotted the floor, though their glow was either weaker or the darkness was simply stronger.

“That is incredibly valuable. Well done, Owin.” Myrsvai looked out at the seventh floor with a smile. “What do you say? Into the unknown together?”

“Together,” Suta said.

“Yes.” Owin put his arm around Suta’s shoulders. “Together.”

Shade put his skull against Myrsvai’s head. “What a happy family.”

“Now you’re too close.” The magus pushed Shade away with his staff.

“Ah, a divorce so early? But our children,” Shade said, gesturing to Owin and Suta.

“Punch fish,” Suta said, dragging Owin forward. “New strength.”

“I also want to see how strong I am. First fish is mine,” Owin said.