My wide eyes followed the floating speck of red valoa, watching as Kynari snapped it out of the air. When she touched it, the valoa disappeared through her skin, re-absorbed without issue.

“It went back to me. We swapped. Or maybe. This feels like it’s still bonded to me.”

Kynari’s musings were cut short when I slammed into her and swept her into a hug, letting out a roar of joy and disbelief.

“Valoa, I absorbed valoa,” I rejoiced “Kynari, valoa! I’m so happy I could kiss you!”

Her playful eyes looked into mine and she traced a finger across her lips, “you did kiss me.”

I paused, dropping Kynari in shock. She landed gracefully on the floor, her hands clapping together in excitement.

“I’m going to tell dad. He was going to check in for your birthday anyway, so he's already in the Crossroads.”

“Your dad…wait, are you trying to get me killed?” I replied immediately.

“Relax, I’ll be super subtle about how we found out. He won’t even know unless he reads between the lines,” Kynari smiled. “Don’t worry.”

Kynari. Subtle. Hmm. Subtle. Kynari. No, something doesn’t sound right.

I had a bad feeling about this.

****

“He kissed me on the lips riiiight here. It hurt.”

Oh no! I held back a scream.

Kynari tapped her lips, highlighting a tiny red mark from the contact. On the other side of the mirror was her father. Forza crossed his arms, and his hands curled into fists. The same hands that could crush stone into dust.

He listened intently to every word, deathly quiet as his frown deepened. Then he shifted to face me, his eyes glowing red like a volcano.

“I’ll be there soon.”

The mirror shimmered with blue light as our connection to the Crossroads was cut off.

“I’m going to pack up the picnic,” Kynari declared, rushing off without a care in the world.

I watched her go and then glanced back at the mirror.

Yeah, I’m going to die. I sighed. I always knew Kynari would kill me, but I thought it would be in a sparring accident.

I made my way across the dungeon, consigned to my fate, stopping at the trial of Enigma, aka the puzzle room. Eight tables had been set up and each had several boardgames layered atop each other like a stack of cards.

Sitting on a stool in the middle, Cuebracabezas waved his four arms happily as I walked toward him.

“Happy birthday Suna,” Cuebracabezas’ four hands clapped together. “I’ve prepared a special puzzle for you- Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Cuebracabezas, my old friend, mark your calendar. Today is the day I die,” I groaned.

“I thought the anniversary of your death was tomorrow,” the green-skinned creature tilted his bald head curiously. “Are my puzzles getting too hard for you? No, you’re not the kind of person to give up. Come and sit. Let Cuebracabezas hear your tale.”

I took a seat on a nearby chair and the creature leaned on the table, resting two of his elbows on the wood. His earless bald head was slanted toward me so that he could hear me better.

“I’m here to listen. Clearly this other issue that’s bothering you is a big one.”

“Kynari and I may have kissed. Accidentally,” I admitted. “She immediately connected to Forza from my room, telling him every vivid detail. On top of that, he said he’d be coming over right now. Not later. Not in a week or a month. Right now.”

“Ah, I see.”

Cuebracabezas stared into my eyes, his lime pupils and radiant green valoa skin twinkling like a rift of stars traveling along space. He smiled, a gentle, warm gesture, and for a moment I thought he would have a solution to all my problems.

“You’ve lived a good life,” His words dashed my hopes immediately. “I’ll miss you.”

“Gee, thanks,” my response was dry enough to heat a desert. “I thought you were a Minister of Enigma, you told me that meant that your whole life’s purpose was helping people grow more intelligent and developing strategies to solve their problems.”

“There are no strategies to beat a paragon,” Cuebracabezas placed a board in front of me. “So, have a taste of your first -and potentially last- tier 4 puzzle. I know it’s a little early, but if there’s no tomorrow you might as well take a swing at the tough stuff today.”

Cuebracabezas reached under his stool and pulled out a new type of board I’d never seen before. It was multi-layered, composed of seven levels stacked atop each other. Each piece on the board could move like normal, but the added challenge of being able to move up or down and having to keep track of both vertical and horizontal tactics was new.

I stared at it in wonder. Out of all the trials in the dungeon, the Enigma ones were my favorite. They could be played even when I was bedridden because of my pain, or they could be used to strike terror in Kyari.

This one looked like it was more suited to the latter.

“What do you call it?” I asked.

“Five-dimensional path ascension. The fifth dimension is time,” Cuebracabezas placed a tiny hourglass filled with green valoa next to the board. “Bring out your dungeon note, I’ll mark it off for you.”

“Ha, you know me too well,” I said.

I pulled out a piece of paper from my pocket, tiny in comparison to the reports I often sent Laakari. On it I’d scribbled a few lines about Teshima’s dungeon.

Dungeon trial rankings:

Insight trial: level ???.

Enigma trial: level 4.

Violence trial: level 2.

Challenges trial: level 2.

The four trials each corresponded with one of the four paths, and now that I could use the fighting room for an activity other than cleaning, I had finally been able to test myself in the trials of Violence and Challenges.

Cuebracabezas changed the Enigma trial’s level to 4, and I nodded in gratitude.

Thanks to the pain of unlocking my passageways, holding a pencil was difficult at the best of times, especially after a day of fighting. In fact, pinching in general was tough. I could write, but that didn’t mean it was easy.

I’ll add this to my report later. I noted the ranks carefully. I’ve got so many loose pages of notes that I could make an entire book out of them now.

“I see you’ve decided to extend your life another month,” a proud and weathered voice graced my ears.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Cuebracabezas glanced to the side, and I followed his lead.

My eyes widened in shock as I spotted Laakari.

“Greetings young Suna, and you too, dungeon simulacrum,” Laakari’s voice carried a hint of smugness.

The elderly man had slipped into the seat beside me without a sound, and neither Cuebracabezas nor I had noticed. My teacher’s chest puffed out proudly, lifting his crinkled grey robes, showing off a mischievous streak that was more suited to a younger man.

I refused to feed his ego.

“Laakari, you’ve got new eye-shards, they look great. Maybe you’ll be able to find the valoa I lost.”

“They’re called glasses, Suna,” Laakari tapped the rims of his glasses proudly. “The paths can only do so much to prevent aging. Especially once you reach your hundreds. So, what’s this I hear about valoa?”

“Isn’t that why you're here?” I asked.

“No, I came to see you for your birthday. Here,” Laakari reached into his robe and withdrew a long and thin package wrapped in crinkled brown paper. “Now that you’ve finally reached an age where I can trust you not to get lost and die of starvation, I can finally give you this. Use it to go out and have some fun above ground. Just try not to use your real name. People still think you’re dead.”

I took the package and carefully tore the paper, letting the item drop into my hand. It was white and made out of a smooth porcelain material that was simultaneously shiny and tough, and rubbery and soft. The symbols of the four paths were carved into its cheeks, jaw, and forehead, giving it a prestigious feel.

“A mask!” I examined it carefully. “Wow, Laakari, this is a surprise. I love it. And to think, I thought you were here to ask me about the valoa I absorbed.”

“THE WHAT?”

Laakari’s shout bounced off the dungeon walls and Teshima rumbled.

“Uh, yeah,” I hid my smile.

I finally startled the old man.

“You absorbed valoa?” Cuebracabezas asked. “And you forgot to mention that first?”

My hands rose in surrender. These two had taught me since I was a child, and facing their glares at the same time was too much for me.

“Okay, let me start from the beginning.”

I gave them both an overview of the situation, though there wasn’t much to go over.

“And now I’m worried Forza is going to kill me,” I finished. "He's going to make it look like a sparring accident. I just know it."

“Forza sneezed on a viewer once. It exploded from the inside out,” Cuebracabezas said. “I imagine your fate will be much worse.”

Laakari nodded gravely in agreement, “don’t worry, I’m the best healer I know. Which means whatever the paragon does to you will only be excruciatingly painful and scar you for life. In other words, stuff you’re already familiar with.”

“You two are the worst teachers I've ever had,” I replied.

Laakari waved his hand dismissively, “bah, enough chit chat, let me get a good look at you.”

Without waiting for my response, Laakari pried my lips open, his eyes examining every gum as though I were a prized treasure. He tapped at my teeth, and pricked at my skin, humming and hawing for five minutes straight.

When he finally pulled his fingers out of my mouth, he rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, peering at the tip of his fingers.

There were tiny black dots on his nails.

“Yep, these are impurities,” Laakari’s careful tone was mismatched with the wide grin spreading over his face. “Expelled by valoa, I’d say. But I can’t find the valoa itself. Whatever was inside you is gone now.”

“So, there’s a chance I’m cured?” I asked.

I tried not to get my hopes up. It made no sense for my body to suddenly allow valoa to enter it. And yet, I wanted it to be true.

Laakari’s eyes narrowed, “we need more tests. Wheres- Ah, Kynari, just the girl I was looking for.”

I turned toward the entrance to the trial of Violence and gulped as Kynari walked through, humming a playful tune with a picnic basket in her hand. Her eyes widened as she spotted Laakari, and her heels dug into the rocky ground, using it as a foothold to leap up to the puzzle tables.

She stopped in front of the healer, bowing low, “Mr. Laakari, it’s been a long time.”

“Kynari, I see that you’ve unlocked twenty-six passageways,” Laakari nodded. “Good. Now then, tell me everything about what happened between you and Suna.”

Oh paths, is everyone going to have to hear this story? I hid my head in my hands, my cheeks flushing in embarrassment. I’d rather unlock a new passageway. This couldn’t get any worse.

“I’d also like to hear the details. All of them.”

I turned gradually, moving my head inch by inch, and gulped as I came face to face with Forza.

Kynari’s father was wearing a ceremonial crimson garb, and his red eyes glowed brightly as he looked down at me, looming over my seat like a giant made of muscles. With each flex of his arms the air crackled, fleeing the space he occupied as quickly as it could.

Why did I tempt fate? I wondered.

“Forza, my favorite paragon,” I smiled. “Did you know it's my birthday? A wonderful day that celebrates life, and not dying. Also, your clothes look wonderful.”

“Hello Suna, happy birthday,” Forza said. “I hear it's been a busy one.”

Forza’s hand clamped onto my shoulder, and he smiled at me. I shuddered, trying to gauge his emotions. On his good days the paragon was known to tear through steel with his bare hands like it was made of paper. Those same hands lingered dangerously close to my flimsy neck.

I squirmed fruitlessly, but once it became clear that I wouldn’t be escaping his death grip I gave him a wobbly grin and chuckled nervously.

“Let’s go straight to the valoa part,” I tried to sound calm, but my voice came out as a strangled yelp.

Once again, we explained the story, and the atmosphere grew serious.

When she was done, Laakari was the first to act.

“Kynari, could you release your free valoa for me, please?” Laakari nodded at me. “Suna, try to absorb it.”

Kynari expelled her free valoa and it washed over the room, dancing across my vision like a cascade of stars. Several motes bounded toward me, but they bounced off my skin, scattering in all directions.

I stared at the specks of light in disappointment.

Come on. Come here and be absorbed. I know you can. I saw you do it before.

My good mood plummeted, and I wondered if I’d even seen valoa being absorbed in the first place, or if that was an illusion my hope-filled mind had conjured for me.

“Good. Good. Hmm, maybe if…no, Forza and I would be too powerful,” Laakari’s eyes twinkled with interest. “You, dungeon simulacrum. Give Suna some of your valoa.”

Cuebracabezas jolted in surprise, “my valoa is all bonded, so it won’t work old man.”

“He’s right,” I nodded.

Free valoa was what people absorbed. Bonded valoa belonged to the individual and couldn’t be touched or severed by others. That was why it had been given the name bonded in the first place.

Cuebracabezas was made of the stuff, his skin, muscles, and bones were composed of pure green bonded valoa.

“Try it,” Laakari’s voice left no room for argument.

I shrugged, and held my hand out toward Cuebracabezas, and the creature did the same. The moment our hands touched part of his finger collapsed into a thin green stream that flew directly toward a target.

That target was me.

“Woah!”

My surprise reverberated across the dungeon as green valoa flowed into my hand, melding into my palm, and flooding my valoa passageways.

The sensation resembled a cool breeze washing through me.

My skin was quickly dotted with slide-like impurities that the valoa ejected from my body. The black dots were miniscule in comparison to what I expelled when I unlocked a passageway, but all that mattered was that they weren’t inside me.

Every single piece that’s taken out could extend my life by days. I blinked, a tear forming in my eye. This could be it. The cure to my illness. No more passageways. No more agony.

Seventy-one. That was how many valoa passageways I had unlocked, and each one was more painful to open than the last. Years of my life had been stolen from me, all because my body was defective.

Finally, I could see the end in sight.

Then, as quickly as they arrived, the valoa started to leave my body. Green lights fled my skin through the passageways, drifting into the air and shooting toward Cuebracabezas. He stepped back in surprise as his valoa flooded him, the missing section of his finger re-attaching on its own.

“I see. The valoa is still bonded, so it has to return to the being it is tied to.”

Laakari gripped my hand tight, plucking motes of green valoa out of the air as they emerged from my skin. “Suna, this is extraordinary. You are absorbing bonded valoa. I've never seen anything like it- oh, oh my.”

The elderly man’s voice trailed off as he stared at something behind me. Kynari's gaze shifted as well, her eyes widening in surprise. Even Forza reacted, his shoulders stiffening in shock.

“I’m not one to spin tales, but I believe something extraordinarily strange is happening,” Cuebracabezas said from behind me. “Suna, you should take a look at this.”

I turned around to face the Minister of Enigma.

“Oh paths, that's…What is that?” I asked.

Part of Cuebracabezas’ finger was radiating brilliant waves of light. The difference was faint, but among the sea of their counterparts, the illuminated valoa stuck out like shining gems in a dull cave.

That could only mean one thing.

Cuebracabezas’ valoa had increased in rank.

“I see,” Forza’s powerful voice tore me out of my stupor. “This changes everything.”