Benedict was trying.

He truly was. Throughout his time in the Trial, he’d done everything possible to mind his own business and leave everyone else alone. And for the most part, he’d succeeded. Certainly, he’d sacrificed a few people so he could summon another Malicious Guard, but they’d practically begged him to kill them. Not in so many words, but he’d seen the way they looked at him. He’d heard the way they spoke of him. And he could tell which way the wind was blowing. It was only a matter of time before they attacked him. So, in a sense, he’d acted in self-defense.

Of course, Benedict only partially believed the pretty, little lies he’d told himself. He knew he was a murderer, and the only true justification for his actions was that he’d needed a minion if he wanted to survive the Trial of Primacy. His experiences on the journey to Nexus Town had made that abundantly clear. So, he’d done what he had to do.

But once he’d had his Malicious Guard in tow, he’d resolved to pick his targets more judiciously. No more wanton murder. No more ritual sacrifices. There were plenty of monsters in the jungle, so he didn’t need to prey on humans.

And when he’d conquered the first challenge, he’d made the mistake of believing that everything would work out. After all, he no longer looked like a pallid and pockmarked shut-in. He was handsome and powerful, and it should have been easy for everyone to accept the person he’d become.

Yet, when he’d come to the so-called Citadel of Innovation – more like a Citadel of Trash – he’d only fought for a few hours before someone tried to kill him. Sure, they’d shouted something indignant, accusing him of consorting with abominable demons, but just like his own justifications, they were hollow. The reality was that those people had seen a single traveler, all alone and with his focus on the group of robotic insects he was fighting at the time.

That made him an easy target.

Or so they’d thought.

The Malicious Guard had another opinion on the subject, and it had slaughtered two of them before they’d even had a chance to recognize the danger they’d put themselves in. The others had fought for only a few moments before they saw what should have been obvious and fled.

For his part, Benedict had attempted to stop the Malicious Guard from pursuing, but his hold on such a newly summoned creature was tenuous. And as he’d discovered, Malicious Guards were particularly stubborn and difficult to control. As a result, the thing had gone out of range before Benedict had a chance to corral it.

It wasn’t a huge loss. Sure, he had expected it to kill the remainder of the group that had attacked him, but that wasn’t a big deal. Like all opportunistic bullies, they deserved what was coming to them. And eventually, the Malicious Guard would have come back. Benedict only had to retreat to the safe zone he’d found and wait for the creature to return.

But then, the connection had been severed, and the guard had died. Or perhaps it was the other way around. For a few minutes, Benedict had been stunned, his ethera drained down to nothing. More troublingly, he hadn’t recovered any of his reserved attributes, and for a while, he’d despaired that he never would.

It was an hour before his ethera had begun to return, and another twenty minutes before the reserved portion of his attributes recovered. A wave of relief had swept through him, then, but the meaning was clear. His summoned demonic creatures were powerful, but there were consequences if he let them die.

He hadn’t noticed that with the imps, but then again, they were much weaker than the Malicious Guard. So, losing one of them wasn’t nearly as impactful. The implication was that the more powerful a summoned creature, the more impactful the consequences if he allowed one to be slain.

In the wake of that, he’d been a little out of it, and so, when he’d ventured out to investigate, only to see the man who’d healed him fleeing from a horde of machine-like insects, he’d acted without thought, showing him and his companions to the safe zone he’d found.

That had been a mistake.

Certainly, he had nothing against the wild, shoeless healer. Nor did he have a problem with the other Healer in a sparkly robe. Similarly, he was ambivalent about the dwarf, though he did find the presence of other races fascinating.

Not that he was currently thinking about that.

Instead, the whole of his attention was on the other two members of the healers’ party. One man and one woman. They were both fighters, judging by their weapons and the woman’s armor. She was quite attractive, with pale skin and jet-black hair. The man was good-looking as well, though in a heavier set sort of way that suggested joviality.

But Benedict wasn’t concerned with their appearances so much as he was distressed by the way they made him feel. Every glance carried with it an accusation. A judgement. Even from the obviously good-natured man, he felt nothing but disdain. And what’s worse, he felt something similar for them.

It hadn’t taken long for him to recognize the culprit, especially when his Demon Core roiled angrily every second he found himself in their presence.

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Thankfully, he’d recently gained a new ability which he expected was the only reason he was still alive:

Demonic Shroud

Hide your power from enemies and allies alike. Effectiveness dependent on relative stage of Core cultivation.

When he’d gotten the ability, he hadn’t thought much of it. He’d hoped for something he could use in battle, so he hadn’t truly appreciated Demonic Shroud. However, that didn’t mean he hadn’t kept it active. After all, he wasn’t the sort of man to eschew anything that might give him an advantage.

And the moment he’d seen those two, he’d thanked his cautious nature because he had no illusions about how they would have reacted to his Demon Core. And given that he didn’t have a Malicious Guard to protect him, staying out of a fight was immensely important.

Especially with how powerful they obviously were.

“You’re looking at me funny, bro,” said the man in the wide-brimmed hat. He had a longsword at his hip and a brace of knives in a shoulder holster beneath his coat. There were two other blades on his back. “Do I have something on my face?”

“Ah…no. You don’t. I was just admiring your look. Very…Van Helsing.”

“Bro.”

“Oh, God,” said the woman. “Now you’ve done it.”

“That’s, like, my favorite movie!” the man said with a wide grin. “Hugh Jackman fighting vampires? What’s not to like? I watched it a thousand times when I was a kid.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Benedict admitted.

“You’re the one who brought it up,” the man said.

“Dat. You do know that Van Helsing didn’t originate with a crappy Hugh Jackman movie, right?” asked the woman. “That character predates cinema by –”

“Nobody cares about books, bro. Not when there’s an awesome movie where Wolverine hunts vampires.”

She shook her head wearily. Then, she focused on Benedict. “My name is Sadie Song, and we are in your debt. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have made it,” she said. “So, thank you. If you ever need my assistance, you only have to ask.”

“Same here,” grunted the dwarf, who’d plopped down to the ground the moment they’d entered the safe zone. “But not now. Too tired.”

After that, he lay back and let out a long-suffering sigh. Benedict turned his attention to the man in the sparkly dress, recognizing him as the Healer who ran the infirmary in Nexus Town. That was another mark in the group’s favor, though it was hard for him to think straight with those other two around. He had no idea why his Core had reacted so strongly to them, but he trusted it enough to interpret it as danger.

“Thank you,” he said. “But I’ll admit that the only reason I helped you was because of him.” He pointed at the unconscious man.

“You know each other?” asked Sadie Song.

Benedict shook his head. “Not really. He healed me when I first got to Nexus Town. Probably saved my life. That’s not something I intend to forget.”

“Fair enough,” she said. “Now, do you want to tell us what’s going on here? Do you know anything about that demon?”

“Demon?”

“Yeah, bro. Huge demon. It was chasing some people when –”

“They summoned it,” Benedict lied. “I saw them, and they attacked me. I think…I don’t really know much about this kind of thing, but I think the distraction might have allowed it to break free. I ran away before I could see what happened to it.”

“We took care of it,” Sadie stated. Then, with a shake of her head, she added, “This is bad news. We may have to hunt them down.”

“Why? They failed,” Benedict said.

“Demons are bad news, bro,” Dat said. “Really bad. We’ve been dealing with them for a while.”

“Oh. I didn’t know.”

“You look like Lestat,” came a groaning voice from the ground. Benedict looked down to see that the shoeless man was awake. His eyes were still closed, but his mouth was moving as he added, “And not like the movie version. I’m talking book Lestat.”

“You’re an Anne Rice fan?” Sadie asked incredulously.

He opened his eyes. “Fan is kind of a strong word. I read the books because my sister wouldn’t shut up about them. I’m more surprised that you even knew what I was talking about.”

The woman blushed. “It was a phase.”

“I’m not judging. Besides, we’re talking about our savior here. Thanks for the assist. I think we’d have been done for without your help,” the man said. Then, he narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think I actually introduced myself before. I’m Elijah. The blushing crusader for all that is good and holy is Sadie. Asian Van Helsing is Dat. The surly one is Kurik. And the man with the impeccable fashion sense is Ron.” He turned his head. “Did I miss anyone? No. Good. And just so we’re clear, I’m not passing out. I’m just resting my eyes. Deeply.”

Then, with that, he closed his eyes and in moments, was very much unconscious.

“Uh…”

“You get used to him,” Sadie said. “Sort of.”

“What’s your name, bro?” asked Dat.

“Benedict,” was the response.

“Emerson? You’re in the top ten of the power ladder, right? And the primacy rankings, too,” Sadie added. “Where’s your team?”

“No team. And don’t pay attention to those rankings. I just got lucky a few times,” he said. “I’m sure you’re all far more powerful than I am.”

Indeed, he’d recognized most of their names. The dwarf was a mystery, and he didn’t remember seeing the Healer’s name, but Benedict was certain that the others were all elites. Briefly, he wondered what sort of creature he could summon by sacrificing their power, but he pushed those thoughts aside. Two of the party had proven themselves to be good people, so he was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Besides, without his Malicious Guard, there was little chance of him surviving the current challenge.

So, he addressed Sadie, saying, “I know this might be a bit presumptuous, but perhaps we could team up. I think we could help one another.”

“Sure, bro,” Dat said.

“Dat.”

“What? It’s not like we’re going to leave him here all alone. That’s a dick move, bro, and you know it.”

Sadie rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t going to suggest that.”

“Then he’s with us, right?” Dat asked.

Sadie glanced at Ron, then Kurik. The Healer shrugged and said, “No objections here.”

“Don’t make a bit of difference to me. You’re all odder than a two-armed golem.”

“What’s that mean?” Dat asked.

“Golems are meant to have six arms. That’s common sense,” the dwarf muttered.

“Golems notwithstanding,” Sadie said, sighing before she continued. “I think we’re all fine with you sticking with us.”

“Oh. Good,” Benedict said. “Because I think I know where to find the Engineer.”