[Somewhere in the Offose Region]

The lands were open and bare, and the sky was gray, with clouds overhead.

There was thunder and a hint of rain.

The signs of a storm that was approaching.

On the lands without trees, rocks, or any sort of life, Deskar covered the area, different pools that munched away at what had been there before. It would devour this section until nothing remained. However, a few seconds later, something caused movement upon its surface.

Tendrils shot out from the Deskar as they wiggled and leaned to the vibrations in the air. This continued until they locked into a frequency that caused the tendrils to recede and the immense Deskar to shift. Immediately, it formed into a narrow lane that shot across the land at high speeds and held that form for a couple of moments.

Then, seconds later, something shot across the Deskar, just beneath the surface like a shark, blasting across the lane at unknown speeds that allowed it to travel across the world. Some Deskar sloshed and dripped to the sides as the thing passed—that which was behind it spreading out to how it had been before.

How could it have been you?

Underneath the Deskar was a black ocean that existed beneath the land, an expanse that didn't seem possible but one that didn't bother the bolting thing. Sila, transformed, flew without any conscious thought required. Around her were voices and whispers that she didn't listen to.

No power. No magic. No strength.

You weren't a threat.

Yet… I didn't want to kill you.

Why didn't I want to kill you?

Sila struggled with that train of thought as she kept in constant motion, the Deskar in the upcoming lands continuing to form the lane, another way she travelled the world. Her heart was struggling with something that she didn't understand.

And it was something she was struggling with even before meeting Rodent.

It would have been easy. Nobody would have known about it. You would have died, I would have reported that some human had come through and was killed, and then that would be the end to your story. There was nothing different or remarkable about you—so how is it that you've done so much in so little?

Her face concentrated on this sequence of thought.

You have nothing. You are nothing.

So how did you do it? How did someone so ordinary do so much and pull the Sword? What is it about you that causes things to just work out?

Sila struggled with herself.

I must kill you.

I'll have to take that Sword for myself and break it.

I've given too much for it all to be for naught now.

I must reach the top of those steps.

I must be the one that stands next to my father.

No more half-measures.

I'll kill everyone if I must.

With herself steadied, the woman continued to Dula Village.

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[Underneath Kularlro Forest]

The Ancient Sword hovered inside the empty cavern, bobbing and suspended inside the holy beams shining above, causing glints across its surface.

Seconds later, there was a twinkle, one that expanded and flashed the area.

A moment after that, a person swirled out of it, taking form as their boots touched the ground, spreading as if to catch themselves from falling.

Rodent touched down with a scrunched face and tucked-in lips, holding to see if anything else would happen. His eyes darted left and right, seeing the inside of the cavern again. He held a bit longer, waiting for something to happen… which never did.

"Lighten the fuck up," Delt said from his hand. "You're safe."

Rodent held for a few more seconds, daring to inhale. He could indeed breathe, touching a hand to his chest to feel that it was still there. This hand explored the rest of his form, in which he felt both sides of the contact, which allowed him to exhale.

"The fuck is this?" Delt asked. "Going to check if all your fingers and toes are there? How about your liver? Want to jam a finger through your skin to see if you still have two of them?"

Rodent, lowering his hand to his lower stomach, started pressing really hard to see if his internal organs were still there.

"Hey, IDIOT!" Delt buzzed the air around him. "I'm not going to show you how to hold a sword only to rob you somehow. You're whole." Rodent's mouth opened—but Delt spoke first. "And before you can ask, I didn't cast anything on you. No illness or sickness or anything."

Rodent blinked as he raised the sword to his face, seeing his reflection. "So what the hell was that?"

"Memories," Delt responded. "One that you should be glad you got to be a part of."

"Memories?" Rodent blinked. It did feel like something that had actually happened—that it occurred in a time before this. Still. It was too much to believe at first. "That's… how is all of that possible?"

"It's my Q." Delt relaxed inside Rodent's hand. "A Q4, to be exact."

"Q4?" Rodent winced. "What's the number for?"

"It's something more so invented by us than the power itself," Delt said. "Not all Qs are equal. In terms of scaling, it goes from one to five."

Rodent's mouth opened. "Wait. You're the so-called greatest hero of all time… and were only a number four?"

"How the fuck are you going to give me shit when you know fuck all about this world?" Despite always being in a state of aggression, Delt never felt hostile in Rodent's hand. "Fours are already the rarest of the rares. Few—if any—still have them. Fives are just a concept. A theory. Of what could exist above."

"Oh." Rodent's shoulders dropped. "My bad."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Yeah."

"So… what is your Q?"

"Are you going to listen like a good boy and save your questions for after the lecture?"

"Dude." Rodent's face peeled back. "Are you crusty because you're just getting out of your dungeon after however many years—or were you always this much of a dick?"

"I dunno," Delt replied. "If you want, I can trap you in my past, and you can endure endless agonies over and over until your mind finally breaks."

"Always a dick." Rodent nodded. "Roger."

The sword started to glint and twinkle.

"Okay, okay!" Rodent covered himself and nearly chucked the sword away. "I'll knock it off. Don't vortex me again."

The glinting stopped.

"Captured Reflections," Delt said. "It's my Q. I capture what I reflect—be it light, fire, and whatever else."

"Is that how you captured and used the sun's power on that monster a time ago?"

"That's how the story is told?" Delt asked without expecting a response. "Huh. Close to that, then."

"Wait… then… how are you capturing memories?"

"By reflecting them."

"How are you doing that?"

"Rather not say."

"They're… your memories, right?"

"I said I'd rather not say."

"Alright."

Rodent dropped it as he slashed his sword in front of him, finding that the motion was smooth and that his grip was strong, feeling like the blade wouldn't be knocked from his hand if struck. He'd never truly held a sword before in his life. Now, however, he felt basically trained in the ways of the blade.

"Feels like you're ready to stand before a castle door and look important now, eh?" Delt said. "Your hand position has improved. Still nowhere near where it needs to be—but at least you'll be able to handle yourself enough."

"Thanks for that," Rodent replied.

"Didn't do it for you," Delt responded. "Now… let's get the fuck out of this cave."

Rodent was going to contest that when he felt something on his back, something that wasn't there before. It was a sheath fastened there by a strap that he touched and tapped to ensure it was there. For just a second, he smiled, feeling like one of the adventures in his stories.

He was fully dressed for it, now with a sword and a sheath, on a quest like he had always dreamed about. A few days ago, he was just some guy making up stories in a hospital. Now, however, he lived the life he had always dreamt of as a kid.

"Are you going to put me the fuck away or just hold me the whole way?"

Rodent's shoulders lowered as he sighed and drew the sword over his head and shoulders, trying to store the blade's tip into the sheath's entrance. He tapped it a few times as Delt groaned.

"Stop," Delt said. "Okay. Bring it back to—no. Alright. Bring me closer to you, just a hair and… yeah. Like that." Rodent then lowered the sword into the sheath until it clicked into place. His arms lowered at feeling the comfortable weight upon his back.

Just for a moment.

He really felt like someone.

"We are going to go or what?" Delt asked.

Rodent looked over his shoulder. "I'm not bringing you to any parties."

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It didn't take them long to leave the cavern and enter the next one, where Rodent felt his heart in his chest upon entering the water room—the transparent steps still there. His wedding ring was spinning and hovering in the middle of the area.

"So," Delt began from Rodent's back. "That's how you made it through. Impressive."

Rodent blinked.

"Most have to destroy that which is most precious to them for the light to form," Delt continued. "But that ring. The person on the other side of it. Their care for you was immense."

Rodent glared at the handle of his sword.

"What? It's actually remarkable." Delt rested in his sheath. "This is the first time I've encountered something like this. Take that ring back. It'll be useful in your future travels."

Rodent was still glaring. "There's no world where I ever leave it."

"Oh? So you've got that side to you as well?" Delt laughed. "Ha! Am I annoying you? Come like all the rest for the Great Sword… only to not like the 'hero' behind it?" More irritating chuckles came after. "Don't forget that you're the one who requested I talk. You're not getting the Great Sword. You're just getting me."

Rodent nodded. "I know."

Rodent then went down those steps, past the small waterfalls and over the pond below, coming to the other side and turning around. There, he held out his hand, palm open, the ring starting to slow down. Then, Rodent felt a startling in his heart as the transparent steps faded from existence.

At once, without knowing what he was doing, he drew out his sword and stabbed it forward at once—catching the ring as it was falling. It rested on the blade's tip, which suddenly felt heavy in his hand before Rodent drew it back toward him.

"Huh," Delt began. "For a rookie—that was rather smooth."

Rodent didn't say anything as he took the ring from the sword and stared at it momentarily, then closed his eyes and brought the ring to his lips. Holding like that, there was a great expulsion from his soul, followed by an influx from the ring.

After paying his respects, Rodent drew the ring back to his finger, securing it before doing the same with his sword. He came to see that the path to the chamber was gone now.

"You're lucky you used me instead of reaching your arm out."

Rodent blinked at the sword but did not speak.

"The steps you used aren't to get you across," Delt said. "They're to block the light from the water from touching you."

Rodent heard those words but didn't say anything. Instead, he turned back to the entrance from whence he had come. Here… the ceiling of Deskar loomed… motion cast across its surface… tendrils not daring to reach for either of them.

The silver web from before was in the middle of the area, waiting for him as Rodent came to it. Delt was quiet for once. Grabbing the string, Rodent saw a white glow around his hand. At once, the charge shot across the web, ascending it into the ceiling—which opened a hole that went all the way to the top.

"Oh? Oh." Delt chuckled from Rodent's back. "So that's what you are."

Rodent glanced over his shoulder. "What?"

"I'm just a sword," Delt said. "You'll have to figure your shit yourself."

Rodent chuckled. "I already planned on that."

With that, he grabbed the web and, pulling himself upward, began the trek to the surface—stopping to hack out his lungs occasionally.

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It took a long time and no time at all. The passage of time felt different down there—until the two breached the top. Rodent saw the darkness of the forest above and the impression of the great foliage even higher. Soon enough, he had breached the surface, coming to the immense openness around him—one of the trees before him.

And though it took a while, he reached the top, right where the platform was…

…a Spider awaiting him.

Rodent, making it high enough to step onto the platform, did so and collapsed at once, resting his burning limbs as he rested there. Reaching around his side for his satchel, he drew out the flask of water—downing it at once. Afterward, he focused on his breathing.

"I… see that you have done it," the Spider said a safe distance from Rodent. It was easily three times his size. "Though not in the way that anyone could have guessed." It directed its many eyes to the sword on Rodent's back. "It has been a long time, old friend. I was starting to think you would never come to the surface again."

"Never planned on it," Delt said. "But idiot here made a good case for sightseeing."

The Spider blinked. "You wish to see how things have changed?"

"More like I'm interested to see how this idiot dies."

"I see not much has changed with you."

"Always told you all that you had the wrong guy." Delt paused for a moment. It was hard to tell what he was about since he was a thing without features. Yet it seemed like he was fully aware of everything. "The trees. How are they holding?"

"Most have gone dormant since that time," Spider said. "Their consciousness might be wrought out if one was to truly try… but this state of being allows them to last longer against the Deskar."

"I see."

"Was there anyone you'd like to speak with again?"

"No," Delt said. "Let's not give out false hope."