“I woke up in the character creation room and, until that moment, I had never even heard of a Delve before. Where I’m from we don’t have a System that shows us status screens or updates, we don’t get missions, we don’t have an inventory, there’s no magic or any of that.”

Xim drummed fingers along her cheek as she digested the information.

“You said your slot in the Delve was a gift from your lord.”

“A generous stretching of the truth. Someone or something put me here, but I don’t really know what it was.”

“Coming from a place without System notifications isn’t that strange. That’s a Delver thing, and some isolated regions don’t have a treaty with Hiward to enter the Creation Delve. But, not knowing about Delves at all is very odd. You’d have to be living somewhere totally cut off from the world. Like one of the primitive tribes near the Less-Than-Habitable Forest. Magic is rare enough that some people never run into it, but most major cities have casters. Delves aren’t the only way to get access, but they’re the easiest.”

“That’s an oddly-named forest,” I commented.

“No, the Oddly-Named Forest is on the other side of the continent.”

I think Xim might have been messing with me, so I ignored the bait.

“Where I come from is probably very cut off from wherever ‘here’ is,” I said.

I noticed Varrin glancing back at us. He was listening in on the conversation, but keeping his thoughts to himself.

[This revelation is not germane to our current course of action,] Grotto uttered into our minds. [I recommend that your allies consider this knowledge and adjust accordingly, but we must decide how we are going to reclaim the obelisk and repair the Delve.]

“I still don’t understand,” I said. “You were helping Hognay because he was threatening the Delve, but didn’t helping him put the Delve in even greater danger?”

[It was not an easy choice. When Hognay arrived, he decimated my defenses and began harvesting the mana for himself with the c’thon creature. He promised that he would leave once he had gathered sufficient mana reserves, but I did not believe him. I queried the System to have the Delve listed for early distribution and the System approved my request, but failed to list the Delve at the level I had suggested, using the measure of mana accumulation to determine difficulty rather than the power of the intruders.

[When your party entered, Hognay was furious as your presence risked disrupting his machinations. He threatened to destroy the obelisk and the Delve if I did not assist him in eliminating your group before you were able to find the obelisk room. I did not believe you were powerful enough to stop him, even if you did reach the obelisk, so I agreed. It is unfortunate that your party members perished and I regret that I was forced to play such an active role in their demise, but as the Delve’s core I am often responsible for the deaths of Delvers as part of my duties. I will not claim that it truly bothers me that I had to take such action.]

“Why do you think we can help you now?” I said.

[You, Arlo. Not only were you able to break my invasion of your mind, but you possess an ability that can harm Hognay despite the fact that he is a level two Delver. Such feats are very difficult for a level zero Delver to achieve. If we work together, we may have a chance to put an end to his meddling and rid Arzia of the scourge that is his existence! Join me and deliver profound justice to Hognay and his beast through judicious application of torment and suffering!]

“He’s level two?” said Xim. “If so, he has double the stat points of me or Varrin, and who knows how advanced his skills are. We haven’t even unlocked intrinsic skills yet, but he could have been developing his for years.” She looked up at me. “I know you didn’t want to tell us earlier, but how many bonus stats did you start with? We need to know if we plan on confronting Hognay.”

“Fourteen,” I said reluctantly. It still felt uncomfortable divulging the information without knowing how vulnerable it made me. “But they were split among the different stats, so none of them were super high to start.”

“What are the scores of your three highest stats?”

I bit my lip and considered how to respond, but didn’t think about it for long. Xim had been nothing but helpful to me the entire Delve. Besides that, I liked her. She seemed honest, enduring, and smart as hell. I decided to take the risk and tell her whatever she needed to know.

“Fortitude is my highest. It’s at thirteen. Intelligence is my second at five, and Wisdom is my third at four.”

“That’s incredible,” she said.

[I don’t understand. How is that possible? There is no mechanic for starting with any stats above one or getting more than ten points to allocate during Creation.]

“Why is it even called Creation?” I said. “It seems like you all already had lives before coming in here. You just spent stat points, right?”

[A Delver’s body is not the same as the one they entered with. It is reforged and made anew to accommodate the power that is granted by the Delves, among other things.]

“So you all got to customize your appearance too?”

There was a moment of silence.

“No,” said Xim. “I look mostly the same as I did before, but there are some changes. I’m more trim, for starters. I have more muscular definition and my appearance has been refined. Scars are gone, no more blemishes, that sort of thing. I didn’t get to make any active changes. Did you?”

“Ah. Yeah. I got the opportunity to change anything I wanted. But, I kept it mostly the same. Just a few cosmetic changes that I liked.”

Xim looked me up and down, making me very self-aware that I was still shirtless, then met my eyes.

“Just a few cosmetic changes?” she said.

“Yeah.”

She nodded, then shrugged. I wasn’t sure what to make of that.

“Hognay still has more stats than you, but you’re closer. The intrinsic skills will make a huge difference, though. You’re still outclassed. We all are. Plus, there’s the creature he summoned. He may be a summoner, or he could have used an item or a ritual prepared by someone else. C’thons come from a different dimension, so if he’s a summoner his attunement is either mystical, dimensional, or physical. If he used an item or ritual that means he is well equipped, even compared to another level two. Then again, even if he has the most rudimentary gear he’d be considered well-equipped against us. We don’t have any mana weaves or augmented items.”

I had no idea what half of that meant, but it seemed like Xim was partially talking to herself so I let her continue without interrupting.

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“Our numbers aren’t a huge advantage. A level two will have techniques that could kill me or Varrin with a single good strike. If we’re going in then you, Arlo, will need to take the brunt of his attacks. If you could tank him and the c’thon, that would be ideal, but I doubt you’ll be able to hold the attention of both of them. If so, not for long.”

[You know quite a lot for someone at your level.]

“This is my ambition,” said Xim. “I want to Delve. I’m not here to grab a few stats and lord over people with my power like many of the nobles that come through Delves. I planned on running gold through level twenty. Even higher if I can keep up with the difficulty. I want to know more about Delves–why they exist, how they function, and who created them.” She smiled at Grotto. “Maybe you can help me get a head start on that.”

[It is not my place to give a Delver any advantages. The rewards you reap are obtained through your own power.]

“Even that is a hint,” said Xim, smiling. You’d have no idea she was facing near certain death. She looked more excited, if anything. “You said that you can help if we get you re-seated in the obelisk.”

[Yes. If I can access the Delve’s functions then I can provide significant support. I could not oust Hognay on my own but, with the three of you, it may be possible given Arlo’s… advantages.]

“We get to the obelisk chamber,” I said, “I distract Muscles and C’thon, one of you slaps Grotto into the obelisk and bam, we win. Sounds good to me.”

Varrin clomped back to the group.

“I’d prefer more specifics,” he said. He looked at Grotto and his hand tightened around his sword hilt. I began to think it was a sort of tick he had when agitated. He inhaled deeply through his nose and closed his eyes as he exhaled. When he opened them he seemed to have mastered whatever emotions he was grappling with. “What kind of support can you provide, Grotto?”

[I cannot know until I see the full state of the Delve. Hognay entered three months ago, and I have been disconnected for much of that time. If I am able to access the normal functions of the Delve then I can redirect mana flows away from the c’thon and perhaps reclaim a portion of the power it has stolen. I can also direct entities within the Delve to the obelisk chamber, though it will take time for them to make their way down here.]

“Entities?” I said. “Like more Gekkogs and Atrocidiles?”

[Yes, though there is only one Atrocidile.]

“Oh, we killed that one.”

[I know.]

“Would this backup be on our side?” I asked. “So far, the creatures here have uniformly tried to eat us.”

[They would be on my side.]

“And you can tell them not to attack us.”

[That… is not in their nature.]

“Then how about some other type of ‘entity’?”

Grotto’s runes flickered.

[Sure.] His tone was suspicious.

“Very well, let’s talk about other advantages,” said Varrin. “I don’t think any of us have been able to pull out every tool we have in a fight. Personally, I’ve yet to use my spiritual swordsmanship. This is a situation where we want to hit the enemy with everything we have all at once. Put the pressure on and get them on the defensive.”

“I’ve got one big card I haven’t played,” said Xim, a smile spreading across her face, “but it’s costly to use.”

We spent an hour discussing everyone’s abilities in detail, asking Grotto for guidance on the enemy as we did. The orb didn’t know everything Hognay could do, but had seen him in action enough to provide some good intel.

The biggest unknown factor was the c’thon. Grotto had only ever seen it feed, and the monster didn’t only eat mana from the Delve. Most of what Hognay gathered with his nightmare melon-scoop was given to the c’thon to keep it happy and docile. He hadn’t only been harvesting organs from our fallen allies, but also from monsters throughout the Delve. Monsters that had proven challenging to us, even when fighting them as a group.

“Arlo,” Varrin said toward the end of our discussion, “Xim probably knows this already, but I doubt you do given your circumstances. Chips can be consumed to restore mana quickly, but there are two major reasons why no one does this. First, it’s an act of extreme opulence. Ruby chips are the least valuable kind, and just one of them is worth enough to feed an entire peasant family for several years. There are alchemists that can dilute chips into potions that are much cheaper to use, and one chip can produce a dozen lower level potions.

“Second, chips are concentrated mana and consuming one puts a huge strain on your mana veins. It’s possible to seriously injure, or even kill yourself if you use them irresponsibly. If it comes down to life or death and you’re out of mana, it should be safe to use a single ruby chip to get your mana back, but it will be extremely painful. There are many documented cases of Delvers who consumed a chip and died after getting distracted by the discomfort. If you end up in that situation, be prepared. In no case should you consume a second within twenty-four hours of the first. At our level, the first chip will cause serious damage, but a second will be fatal.”

I nodded. I didn’t know what mana veins were, but I imagined what it would feel like for blood vessels all over my body to suddenly begin rupturing. I couldn’t imagine it was pleasant. Was that what Chilla meant when she told me not to eat one?

“Don’t suppose you have any of those potions?” I said.

“No. For whatever reason, the Creation Delve suppresses most magically imbued items. The chips are a workaround because they’re acquired in the Delve and are raw and unrefined. Because of that, they flood your entire body with mana. That’s why they’re dangerous.”

“And how do I use one?”

“Chew it up and swallow.”

“I hear they taste awful,” said Xim. “And it feels like eating shards of glass. My mom had to do it once and she told me that there was just so much blood coming out of her mouth afterward.”

“Great,” I said. “Thanks for the info.”

After finishing our preparations to our satisfaction, we had Grotto show us the way to the obelisk chamber. It was, to my delight, in the northerly direction I had suggested we go. Mostly.

Varrin traded his kite shield to me in exchange for Sayil’s sword, allowing him to dual wield. He said he preferred greatswords, but having a second sword was still more in line with the way he liked to fight as opposed to a sword-and-board approach. He assured me that I would not find the sword useful, given that I knew nothing about sword fighting. I made sure that my pair of daggers pilfered from Chilla was in easy reach and got my left arm through the shield’s straps.

The obelisk room wasn’t far. Turns out we’d gotten pretty close, which is one reason why Hognay had risked luring away another member of the group even though there hadn’t been a good distraction. We figured he knew we were coming so, while we didn’t try to broadcast our approach, we favored speed over stealth.

Our plan heavily relied on the nebulous support Grotto was offering, and I couldn’t help but worry that the murder-ball would backstab us somehow. He didn’t give off the sense of being a kind and caring sort of fellow. More of a ‘revels in the pain and suffering of their enemies’ type of dude. We didn’t have much of a choice, though. We had to solve the Delve’s problems or else we’d be killed when our timer ran out. A timer that was currently sitting with a little under six hours left.

Hopefully, killing or chasing away the c’thon settled things and there wasn’t some other bullshit we had to do for Grotto before we could leave. I’d already been awake for twelve hours when I was killed and had pulled another eighteen plus in the Delve. I felt like the process of dying and being resurrected had given me something equivalent to a night of sleep for my body, but the mental fatigue was starting to grow thick. I was ready for a bath and a bed, not a high-stakes brawl with Hognay and whatever a c’thon was.

Grotto had given us a simple description of the creature, but it became obvious that he wasn’t very good at communicating visual concepts: it was big, had a lot of legs, and was very strong. We also had no idea of its combat capabilities. Our plan had so many holes that if it had been a bucket, well, it wouldn’t have been a bucket. It would have been a piece of scrap that used to be a bucket. And here we were trying to scoop up a deep drink of victory juice with it.

The entrance to the obelisk room was a fifteen-foot tall arch in which two heavy wooden doors had once been set. Now the doors were piles of splintered timber on either side of the archway. As we grew close I could see soft light emanating from inside the room and I drank the antidote Xim had given me after our fight with the Gekkogs. My toxicity dropped from eighty-eight all the way back down to zero. Then, after a few breaths, it popped back up to three. The poison fog was thinner down here and that lessened its potency, which was nice. Hopefully an extra point of health regen every minute would make a difference in the fight, but I doubted it.

We did a final check of our equipment and statuses, then walked through the large archway and into the obelisk chamber.