"Is he okay? Is he okay? Is he okay?" Poe's voice buzzed loudly above and Gi cracked open one eye to look at him. "He's okay!"

Gi felt tired but as though he'd run a marathon the day before and then gotten an excellent night's sleep. His limbs felt good but weak. From the flat rock he laid on, he pushed himself in a sitting position to take in the room.

He was in a stone brick building similar to the Ferrous clan's estate but not destroyed. A host of people blocked Gi from seeing any more details of the room. Poe hovered above while Jalx and Elizabeth stood stoically near the door. A humanoid rock sat idly in a chair with a book in his hands and at the foot of the bed was a humanoid mouse. An Angelic Mouse.

"What's the damage?," Gi said, more to the system than anyone in the room. A prompt answered him.

Angelic Mouse Skill [Services Rendered] has been used.

Itemized List of Services

Health Scan - 1

Severe Wound - 50 + 10 Unique Constitution modifier

Minor Wounds x10 - 10 + 50 Unique Constitution modifier

Severe Mind Damage (Arm) - Inoperable

Total Cost: 120 Soul Orbs

Current Soul Orbs: 116

"Shit...," Gi said, partially because that had cost him his level ten, but also at the realization that he'd almost died. There was something about seeing the cost required to fix you that really helped bring home just how screwed you'd been. Gi gave a little bow to the Angelic Mouse. "Thank you."

They placed the back of their paw on their forehead in recognition and then left. It was a strange gesture that might have had some importance to them, but Gi truly didn't know what it meant. He put the Angelic Mouse out of his mind and turned to Jalx and Elizabeth.

"What happened? Wait. Where is Tiria? And Krayli?"

"Tiria's fine," Jalx grumbled.

"Her Constitution change saved her life. She didn't even need healing as the item she absorbed had incredible latent energies," Elizabeth added.

A low grumbling drew eyes to the rock golem in his chair. After a moment, he added in a gruff tone. "She did need a bath though. Coming into my shop with all that filth."

"Awww sorry about that Rocky. We were all just big stressed."

Another low grumble emanated from the rock golem, but he didn't say anything else. Gi turned his attention back to Elizabeth. "Did you kill her then?"

"Of course. I always complete my jobs."

Gi sighed in relief, but then realized he'd written a blank check to get Elizabeth's help. "What's the damage?," he asked for the second time since waking up.

"Expensive but affordable."

Jalx who had his arms crossed and was leaning against the bed frame. "You might want to be more concerned with the politics of what you just did. You just cut off one of the thirteen Ground clans' peak."

Gi stared at the stout Coastal Goblin. "What I did? All I did was plan out a rescue operation for you. Not to mention that Elizabeth is the one who killed their Progenitor."

"And I took their Encampment Crystal," Elizabeth said dully. "It was part of your payment."

Frustrated, Gi just gestured at her emphatically as if to say, "See? Why me?!" Jalx either got the message or just had the eyes needed to see his obvious frustration.

"Doesn't matter. Elizabeth is an independent monster and a mercenary to boot. My clan is broken. To the rest of Igna, we aren't even on the radar."

Gi rubbed one paw on his cheek to calm himself. It wasn't working well. "That would have been great information to know before I got involved."

Jalx just shrugged. "I could have let Krayli kill you in instead. If the plan hadn't gone haywire, you could have simply gotten in and out with Hazz. instead. This is on you."

Gi sighed, but he supposed what was done was done. He definitely needed to deal with Krayli though hopefully not in combat. After taking down Yom, he was confident he could win now, but not enough to bet his life on it. He'd have to talk to her.

He hopped out of bed and his legs felt a little wobbly at first, but they managed to hold his weight. Before he could decide what to handle first, Rocky grumbled in his way that indicated he was about to speak.

"It's not all bad though. Being one of the Thirteen Ground Clans affords certain privileges if you can protect it from lesser clans."

"I only have three people in my clan!" Gi yelled. That lid he'd placed on his temper clearly hadn't been on well. "How am I supposed to protect it from even the remnants of the Ferrous Clan? I sincerely doubt they will let this go if everyone is blaming me for it."

Both Elizabeth and Jalx shared a look. As the two least social monsters that Gi had met, the glance was obviously important. Probably something else to pin me to the wall with. "What?" Gi demanded.

"The Dungeon," Jalx said, "the way it works in the Adolescent Stage is that you populate an entire level of the dungeon with your monsters. Whoever survives returns with you."

That calmed Gi down a little. "So... You're saying that if we do really well, I can have a full clan at my back to protect us? What's the catch?"

It was Elizabeth's turn to speak up. "I'm coming with you. That's the rest of my payment." From all his experience with her, that just sounded like it would make the Dungeon a cinch. That made him even more suspicious. Thankfully, Jalx didn't even make him ask the question.

"You get five Elite slots. When Elizabeth and I go, you lose out on two of those. We will also be restricted to peak jobbie levels."

"So you cost me two potential Elites to protect my clan from the danger that you put me in, and on top of that, the dungeon's not any safer since you'll both be weakened. Why the hell would I agree to that? Just kill me now."

Rocky laughed and it sounded like two stones grinding together. Everybody looked at him as though just remembering he was there. "Don't mind me. I'm the newest branch clan of the Otter clan or whatever you call yourselves."

"What the hell? Since when?" Gi asked.

"Since you all murdered the last Progenitor who protected my business."

Gi immediately went back to rubbing his cheek. Despite having been recently healed, he was very confident that he had a headache coming on. In his mind, he imagined building his clan to be a very solo affair. Maybe grinding independent monsters or something.

Clearly, that wasn't going to be the case. "Fine whatever," Gi said. "Any good news for me?"

Elizabeth's monotone voice answered. "We will make you strong. Mostly to protect our investment."

"And to pay for my slot," Jalx added. "We will also ensure your clan's safety until the Dungeon run... within reason."

"That's... not a terrible deal," Gi said. Losing out on two Elites would hurt, but he assumed he could raise more eventually. And yet, he'd somehow secured his clan a position within Igna as well as protection until he was strong enough to keep it. Maybe even keep Krayli off until killing her would be easy. Well, if it came to that.

This was definitely good for his clan if it worked out, but he also needed to think more about what was best for his goddess. More Gang Otters to worship her was nice, but he felt he could do more.

"Okay, I'm in, but why would you two even want to join a jobbie Dungeon run?"

"To restore my clan," Jalx said. "It's risky, but if it works, my clan can be whole again."

Elizabeth was less forthcoming. "None of your business."

He supposed it didn't really matter why. Elizabeth wasn't really giving him a choice from her perspective, but it sounded worth the price to him.

After all that information though, he had to figure out what his direct next step was. He needed to run the Dungeon and he needed to get stronger for that. Level thirty would increase his deadliness a ton with five extra skill upgrades, but that would cost... 2100 Soul Orbs. That was a lot of monsters especially with the battle already over.

That didn't even count whatever being a Ground Clan meant or how he'd even handle having a lot more Gang Otters or even what the next stage would entail. He had a lot of questions about that last one in particular after seeing Elizabeth and Ferra fight firsthand. That was well beyond his expectations for the next stage unless he'd missed something critical.

"Nothing else to do but start I suppose. Where's Krayli?"

Jalx kicked off from the door. "Down by the docks. I'm keeping her from killing you until after the Dungeon, but I also won't abide you killing her before then either."

"I just need to talk for now, but good to know." Gi took a deep breath. What he needed now was to be confident and to be in control. He didn't have any room for acting like the dopey follower anymore. "Poe, have Tiria meet us there. Elizabeth, guard the Ferrous Clan's Estate. You claimed the crystal anyways. Rocky, I'll catch up with you later. I need to understand what protecting you entails and what the benefits are. Jalx, you're with me."

After he gave his commands, he looked for any dissent from those gathered but there was none. Elizabeth had only given him a flat stare, but he'd basically told her to do what she wanted to anyways. Without any complaints, Gi stepped out of the shop and took a moment to get his bearings.

He was standing in the Bazaar though it wasn't a section he was familiar with. Either way, it didn't matter. Down always led to the Underbridge. He was just about to start down when an Iron Ferret popped out of the crowd. The Ferret didn't have armor so was only a jobbie and his eyes went wide when he saw Gi.

"Jalx, grab him."

A blue blur followed and Jalx had snatched the poor ferret up by his neck. For a moment, Gi hesitated. His initial response was to be ruthless as Danna had demonstrated through the Father, but part of him was still that young otter who'd thrown up after killing a goblin. If he wanted to protect his clan, he couldn't be that same naïve monster anymore.

Gi steeled himself and stepped up to the squirming and blubbering Iron Ferret. "Your Progenitor is dead. You're scared. You're angry. You want revenge. I understand. I really do." He took the Iron Ferret's paw in his own and looked into his wide, hopeful eyes. "But you need to understand that we're in charge now. Any attack against mine is an attack against me. I need you to send that message for me. Can you do that?"

The Iron Ferret nodded emphatically.

"Good." Gi glanced over to Jalx as he considered something. For how his clan was starting, there was really only one name for it. "The Underbridge Clan is strong but we can be merciful. Remember that at least you have your life."

"Wha-?"

Gi squeezed, crushing the ferret's fingers. Blood squished between his digits as the bone snapped. The Iron Ferret screamed, trying to snatch his hand back, but Gi held on and leaned close to the still screaming monster. "Make sure the remnants of your clan knows the cost of attacking us."

He let go of the ferret's hand and Jalx followed his lead. The whimpering jobbie cradled his destroyed paw to his chest, eyes wet with tears as he stared fearfully between Gi and Jalx. Gi swept his hand and the jobbie took off, disappearing into the crowd.

While murder was common in the streets of Igna, displays like Gi's was not. Several of the nearby shop owners and monsters in the crowd looked at him with disgust, but ultimately, none of them interfered. They were monsters after all and monsters were inherently selfish.

Gi and Jalx had only walked a small distance when Jalx spoke up. "I don't like that."

"This is what I have to do to protect my clan now. I don't have an army behind me so I have to make sure that any monster thinks twice before they deal with us."

"I still don't like it."

"The only reason I'm even doing this is because you couldn't protect your own clan." Jalx winced as Gi said the words and he immediately regretted it. Jalx had saved him from one of the Myshkin Leaf Elementals. He'd shown him where to get food and even practically adopted him into the Underbridge. "I'm sorry that was uncalled for."

Jalx's expression could have been carved from stone. "No, you're right. I couldn't."

The two of them lapsed into silence as they made their way down the mountain and back towards Underbridge. Right outside of the house he'd claimed, Krayli and Tiria both sat waiting. Like his own fur, Tiria now had silver tufts at various parts and she also seemed sturdier to him though there was nothing visual to indicate so. Perhaps he simply was projecting how his own Unique Constitution had helped him.

Jalx sat crosslegged down on the rocky shore as Gi stepped up to Krayli. Overwhelming anger no longer painted her face, but a smoldering hatred still marred her features. She scratched at the scar on her neck before speaking.

"The classers continue to protect you from me."

Gi ignored the statement as continuing that line of conversation helped neither of them. "In the Forest just before you were frozen, Hillin was barely alive. He asked me to help him pass on."

Krayli sneered, a rictus of both pain and derision. "Convenient for you. You must think I'm so stupid to try and throw out such lies."

Gi hadn't expected this to be easy. "No, he truly-"

Krayli rounded on him. A teal light growing in her hand. "He'd already completed his tasks. He could have just ascended to the next stage and any wounds he'd have had would be healed. Why would he ask you to kill him?"

"I..." That stumped Gi. All of his wounds other than his arm had been healed when he'd arrived in Igna. Did Hillin know that? If he did, then why ask Gi to end his life?

"That's it? You just believed that I would eat whatever goblin shit you fed me?" She activated her skill and a teal bow thrummed to life, an arrow suddenly growing against the pulled string. Gi took a glance back towards Jalx, but the goblin just watched. Perhaps, he expected Krayli to stop. Perhaps after Gi's comment, he didn't care.

"Stop," Gi said. "That's not all he told me. At least hear me out fully before you attempt to kill me." Krayli didn't drop her bow, but she also didn't fire which Gi supposed was the best permission he'd have gotten. "He told me the price for his life was to keep you alive... and to kill his god, Noctua Dominus."

The absurdity of that statement caused her to drop her bow, but when he looked into her eyes, he didn't see disbelief so much as shock. "What?"

"Yes, that was his request. Before that he'd talk about, seeing the peaks and finding himself lacking or something like that." Gi found it hard to remember the exact details despite it not being that long ago.

"And when he asked you to protect me and to kill his god, what did you say?"

Gi took a deep breath. He'd accepted at the time, but would he actually try and kill a god? How did that help his clan? How did that help Danna? Would it expand her realms or harm them? There was just too many unknowns so Gi decided to be honest. "I told him I would. Though I have no idea how to kill a god and even if I did, I have reservations about the attempt. To protect you though? That's within my power. I would prefer to resolve our differences without bloodshed."

"Why? Are you afraid that I will kill you?"

"No. You're a very skilled ranged fighter, but that's not the reason. I'd prefer to keep my word to the monster that helped me ascend from the Child Stage. That's all."

Krayli's bow winked out and the Scout Orc stared dully at the disappearing sheen of Aether from them. Her expression was unreadable, but after a long moment, she dropped her hands. "I can't kill you now anyways."

Then she walked off.

Jalx stepped up beside Gi, but didn't comment on the exchange. "Come with me," he said instead. "There's a crab I want you to meet."