“How man is that now? Six, seven?”

“Eight.” I sighed. “And still counting.”

I slashed out with my machete, cleaving through a deformed isopod that looked like it had just clawed its way out of a rather violent primordial soup.

“Seriously though, where do they come from? Aren’t these normally sea life?” Scyla wondered aloud as she exploded one of the vicious skittering things with a concussive blast of pure conjured force.

“Actually, isopods aren’t strictly the sea life you are likely thinking of. They can range from sea life to pill bugs you’ve likely seen indoors.” Veronika said, transitioning into lecture mode.

“Bleh,” Scyla said, announcing her thought on the lecture. “That’s why I have people who take care of pest control. Can’t stand bugs.”

“Really?” I took my turn to ask, bewildered. “Bugs? That’s what bothers you?”

“Do I look like I spend time exploring the great outdoors? I’m a city gal.”

“Fair enough,” I responded as my machete slashed through what was something like the fifteenth of the skittering creatures to come dropping out from a crack in the ceiling above us. “Little guys like these were everywhere where I grew up, though, not quite so bloodthirsty.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Veronika frowning at me, a curious expression on her face.

“What?” I asked.

“Well, I was just thinking that’s a little strange.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I distinctly remember when we met, you told a story of how you came from a nearby village, closer to the northern border but not from the north.”

“Uhhh, and?” I raised my own eyebrow, confused at where she was taking this.

“While pill bugs can be found in the desert regions, they definitely aren’t everywhere. In fact, that sounds more like the forest regions of the north.”

My frown deepened as I realized that the white lie from years ago, which I’d effectively forgotten entirely about, had suddenly resurfaced with holes in it.

“Well, um.” My brain raced as I continued slashing through the bug things as they attacked from nearby crevices, astonishing territorial.

The frown on Veronika’s face finally cracked, revealing the amused smile she’d been suppressing.

“Relax. Come on, Rook, what do you take me for? Do you really think I bought that lie all those years ago? Please, I’d been the guardian figure for two moody teenagers for some time by the time I met you; I could tell a lie the instant you said it.”

“So why didn’t you say anything?”

“Well, originally, I was planning to ask more questions on our way to Enudtstrif, and worst case scenario, I was going to turn you in with the local authorities. Then you went and diced a bunch of ants the size of a horse in under a second, and I had a rather quick change of heart. Clearly, you had an extraordinary amount of talent, and I wanted to foster that growth.”

“Huh,” I mumbled, glancing upward, a sudden reprieve from the constant assault by mutant pill bugs. “I, uh… thanks.”

“Well, in repayment for my generosity, how about you finally tell me the truth after all these years? Where did you come from?”

I glanced at Scyla before shrugging. If there were anybody I’d share such things with, it was the two women accompanying me.

“I wasn’t lying about coming from a small village. In fact, I came from one of the northmost villages, a tiny place called Junaper.”

“Junaper?” Scyla perked up, recognition across her face. “You weren’t joking when you said you came from nowhere, then. Not long before I left Theronhold to come to Akadia, I heard mention of them.”

“You did?”

“Mhmm. It was old news, but the thing with those smaller villages is it can take years for significant news to make its way out of them. Apparently, years ago, it was all but burnt to the ground after a rather gung-ho subjugation force assaulted them. They were pursuing a lead on a figure of interest. I think I’m beginning to see how these threads tie together.”

“Yeah.” I sighed again, for a moment reliving the experience of watching the village I called home burn before me. “That would be me. Or, well, not me, but rather I was part of it. They were after-” I froze up for a moment, realizing I was about to mention the Sage Above All. While I trusted both Scyla and Veronika, that information would be better left unsaid, for their safety. “-after my mother.”

“Makes sense.” Scyla nodded empathetically as Veronika looked between us, confused.

“Makes sense?” She finally spoke up after neither Scyla nor myself made any further mentions. “Care to tell, how exactly does that make sense?”

Scyla looked at me before shrugging, silently reminding me it was my story to share.

“About that,” I said after a moment of silence. “Er, I never told you much about my family, did I?”

“No, you did not,” Veronika said with her arms crossed.

“Baster. My full name is Rook Baster.”

“Baster…” Veronika frowned again, pursing her lips as if desperately trying to retrieve a fleeting memory. “Baster…wait, I know that name! It’s referenced very occasionally in some more recent historical texts. Baster, as in the clan of for-hire terrorists and anarchists?”

“Revolutionaries.” I sighed. “But yes, the same family.”

“How did you end up here in Haerasong? The Baster’s come from Varana, and any mention of them anywhere outside of Varana is often reason enough for execution.”

Groaning, I palmed my forehead in disbelief, too stunned for words.

“Rook? Are you okay?”

“I’m… I’m fine.” I said, shaking my head. “Just was a lot to take in.”

“Take what in?”

“That the answers I sought over the last eight or so years, I could have found them within the first two months of my journey away from home.”

“Wait, you mean you didn’t know?”

“No,” I said with a heavy sigh. “I did not. I spent years trying to learn where my mother could have gone. Turns out, I could have just asked you.”

“There were some who probably knew but didn’t tell you,” Scyla said, speaking up. “But even mention of the Baster family can be… problematic. They were probably afraid you were somehow connected to the crown, working with them to snuff out any signs of unrest.”

“And where there is unrest, there are the Basters.”

“Bingo,” Scyla said, pointing at me.

“I guess that’s fair. Never know who might be a Heron.”

“Heron.” Scyla stopped, turning to face me. “Didn’t expect you to know that slang. Where’d you hear it?”

“My master.” I offered the answer instantly. “That’s what they call it, don’t they? Informants and such for the crown.”

“Yes and no.” Scyla laughed. “I can really understand why people didn’t offer you information. They either thought you were a Heron yourself, or they thought you were part of Nochesuki. Heron is code used most often by Nochesuki members. You were ticking all the boxes of red flags without realizing it. I’m surprised you never got any subjugators called on you.”

“This master,” Veronika spoke as we stopped before a stone door leading into another picked-apart room. “Is this the same master that taught you or that you said taught you?”

“One and the same.” I chuckled. “He could be a real ass, let me tell you that. An elevated shadow mane, a Void mane, and a ranking member of Nochesuki.”

Veronika’s eyes widened, taken by surprise.

“After my village was ransacked, he took me under his wing, he was in the area and took an interest in me, or rather, my bloodline, given he saw what my mother managed.”

A white lie, but it was the best I could think of on the spot that didn’t involve mention of the Sage Above All.

“Taught me as we made our way to Theronhold, where I first met Scyla here.”

As if for emphasis, Scyla did a quick wave of her hand.

“From there, we were forced to flee, a subjugation squad having caught wind of us. Eventually, we went our separate ways when the Ring Gate we had escaped to sent us to different places. I was dropped in the middle of a desert, and he… well, I have no idea.”

Another lie, but I wasn’t in the mood to explain how a magical mountain filled with the shades of Sages' past managed to teleport me via peering through space and time.

“And now it finally makes sense.” Veronika laughed. “That also explains why you suspected you could get the Ring Gate to work. You’d already used one before.”

“Yeahhhh….” I nodded before Veronika frowned at me.

“You did know how to use it, right?”

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“Well… no.” I shrugged. “The Ring Gate I went through before was already active.”

“So you just… had a hunch?”

“Basically.” I laughed.

“Kids, I swear.” Veronika shook her head as she watched me push the stone doorway open.

Or at least attempted to. Trying to drag the door open, I was surprised to find that, unlike the prior doors, which could be pulled open with only a bit of effort, the door I was currently struggling with felt as if it weighed as much as a small mountain.

“Oh, didn’t expect we’d find our way here so quickly,” Veronika spoke up as she noticed my obvious struggle.

“And what exactly does that mean?” Scyla questioned.

“The underground portion of these ruins have several branching paths, and one such path leads to a door known as the Door of Absolution.”

“That sounds foreboding.”

“Relax.” Veronika laughed. “It’s only called that because no one has managed to get past it for whatever reason. It’s the absolute last room you can potentially search before you must turn around, hence the name. Come on, let’s search other areas.”

“No, wait.” I shook my head. “If I just put in a bit more-”

I braced myself, preparing to draw upon Flow's full strength, when Veronika shouted.

“Stop!”

I spun around, hand on the pommel of my machete, expecting to see some monstrous abomination approaching, but all I was met with was Veronika’s panicked expression.

“What? What’s wrong?” I questioned, still on edge from her sudden outburst.

“You may be a professor at an esteemed academy, but it’s obvious you’ve never spent much time working on archaeological sites or the like.”

I crossed my arms, frowning. “I spent quite a bit of time in a dungeon filled with ancient stuff.”

“Yeah, a dungeon that can be maintained in almost perfect stasis through the raw volume of mana permeating the place. This is a natural ruin with no such benefit. Imagine what might happen if you force a door open that doesn’t want to open in a ruin that is at least two thousand years old. Actually, I'll tell you. The whole place might come down on our damn heads.”

“Alright, you’ve got a point.” I winced at the thought of the place coming down on us. “But that doesn’t change the fact that something feels off about this. If it were just stuck in place because of age or degradation, that would be one thing, but this feels like something is fighting me.”

“Fighting you? Like there is something on the other side of the door?” Scyla questioned.

“No, not literally. It’s uhm…” I frowned, thinking for a moment before snapping. “Veronika, you remember the Ring Gate, right?”

“Yes?”

“Do you remember how I had said it felt like I was being drawn toward it?”

“Er, maybe? Been a few years.”

“Well, it’s sort of like that. Except, rather than drawing me forward, it’s the same sort of feeling resisting me, or rather, resisting the door.”

“So, why don’t you just do what you did last time?” Veronika poised the obvious question.

“Last time, I think that’s why our Ring Gate got a little… waylaid,” I said with a frown, remembering the strange dimension we’d been sucked into.

That place is still a mystery. I haven’t found a single lead about what that was.

“So, are we stuck?” Scyla asked.

“No, because I can do better.” I grinned as Veronika let out a huff of exasperation.

“Did you say all that just to be dramatic?” Veronika questioned.

“Maybe a little,” I admitted. “Now, give me a second.”

Closing my eyes, I pressed my hand against the door. Years ago, the way I’d managed to kickstart the Ring Gate had been drawing a speck of mana out from deep within me, praying that my body, partially cultivated through Sage magic, would somehow resonate with the gate.

It had, but as mentioned, it hadn’t done so perfectly, sending us into the strange offshoot dimension.

This time though, I had no such problem. Now I had proper Sage rings, allowing me to draw pure, untainted Sage mana into the door. As if on command, the door lit up, suddenly covered in hundreds of interconnected rings imbued with light gold light, spiraling across the door like countless tiny river channels cutting through the land.

“Fancy.” Scyla whistled.

“Can’t say I’m surprised,” Veronika added, a thinly veiled excitement radiating from her eyes.

“Give it a moment,” I said, feeling the mana flow as I opened my mana sense wide. “It’s… outstanding.”

“What is?”

“The complexity.” I pointed at the door. “A mana network that feels like it permeates not just this door but the entirety of these ruins. Most of the channels seem to stop, not far out, but there is like… a light warmth if I were to describe it. So while the channels far off are effectively defunct, I can still feel that this is some vast labyrinth of magical constructs laid within the walls surrounding us.”

“Wow.” Scyla stared out, eyes wide. “And I thought my ship was impressive.”

“I’ve seen something along these lines once before. In the dungeon.”

“Makes sense,” Veronika said. “From what I’ve heard, the dungeon you went through dates from the Lost Era. These ruins are from effectively the same period or shortly after. The mages of the time must have had some vast network if that were the case, a collaboration of sorts that stretched across the continent and then some.”

I stayed silent, already aware of the fact. The Sages had been everywhere, could go anywhere, and they apparently worked with one another. Unsurprisingly, ruins or creations from the time period all had a similar basis for their magical constructs.”

“It’s just strange.” Veronika tapped a finger to her chin, thinking deeply. “This island, as far as historians have uncovered, couldn’t have been much more than an outpost. It would be a stretch even to call it a full-on city. So how, or why, would they warrant such complex mana systems or constructs built into their very foundation?”

“Question,” Scyla said, raising a hand as we waited on the door.

“Yes?”

“It’s not like these ruins are exactly new, but it seems like there really isn’t much known about them.”

“That’s not a question, sweety.” Veronika laughed, though it was only half-hearted. “The answer is simple. Historians, archaeologists, and even adventurers have a sort of… gray area. It’s not outright forbidden to do research, but anyone who gets too curious usually finds themselves receiving a visit from the crown. So, what we can do is often limited in scope.”

“Interesting.” Scyla leaned against a nearby wall. “That explains several things I’ve pondered for some time now.”

“I’m surprised you weren’t already aware of that,” I added.

“It’s not that I wasn’t. Rather, I just had never heard of it spoken much from those with first-hand accounts.”

“You mean, it was never a priority to look into.” I amended, earning me a scowl.

“Sure, yeah. I’ve said it before, but it’s not like I have infinite amounts of time. I must choose what things warrant the time to investigate or follow up on. Oftentimes, that means people, specifically prominent people. Such as, say, the reagent-to-be.”

“Still not sharing anything.” I shook my head.

“Worth the try.” She shrugged.

“In other news.” Veronika cut in. “Look.”

Busy in conversation, I hadn’t even noticed that the door had silently begun sliding open as if it were brand new, rolling on oiled hinges and not some several thousand-year-old mechanisms.

The doorway sliding wide open, the three of us stared out, silent as we took in what lay before us.

“I, uh, can’t say I expected that.” Veronika was the first to speak, eyes wide like the rest of us.

“Same.” Scyla whistled.

“No kidding.”

I’d expected another dusty room filled with old pots and maybe cracked masonry.

Not a shiny steel lab filled with vats of bubbling liquids and strange meters reading unknown symbols I could make neither head nor tails of.

“What the hell?” Scyla, before I could stop her, stepped into the lab, and a second later, red lights began to flash about.

“Don’t.” The word withered to a silent murmur, Scyla stepping through before I could even voice protest.

“Well, that’s probably not great,” Veronika said, glancing at me from the corner of her eye.

“You don’t say.” I sighed. With a sudden titanic crash, two giant figures dropped from the ceiling of the lab, roaring in unison.

“Should we probably leave?” Veronika asked, looking at me for final judgment.

“You wanted to explore this lab, right?”

“Of course.”

“Right.” I nodded, already weary. “Scyla?”

“Yes?” She looked back at me sheepishly, likely feeling guilty for triggering the guard's response.

“Stay back with Veronika. Those two aren’t likely to fit through the doorway, so it should be fine if you two aren’t in the line of fire.”

“Are you insinuating-”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “I’ll take care of them.”

“You don’t seem very excited about it.”

“No, duh.” I rolled my eyes. “But I figure it could be worse. We could’ve been trapped in poison gas or something, or lightning could have rained down upon us as soon as we entered. Two monsters, though? That’s not the worst thing I’ve dealt with.”

“Are you sure?” Veronika eyed the creatures, unease in her expression. “No offense, but generally, two oversized gorilla-looking lizards that look like they could bench press a house are generally signs it’s time to make a tactical retreat.”

“Not ‘gorilla-sized lizards,’ rather, two Izheruk.” I corrected.

“Izheruk?”

“Those guys.” I gestured at the beasts who were currently lumbering around the lab, surprisingly careful of bumping into anything.

“Yeah, and what are they?” Veronika questioned again.

“Rare monsters. You don’t hear of them here in Haerasong. They’re native to Varana, after all.”

“And how do you know about them?”

“Encountered one once.”

“You did? On a commission?”

“No,” I admitted. “I was at an exhibit. And it was stuffed."

“Oh, that’s.. less exciting,” Scyla said. “So, then, they’re special because…?”

“Big, strong, nigh insurmountable resistance to fire and electricity as they’re covered in a film that protects them, this same film helps redirect attacks from blunt and edged weaponry. They’re also surprisingly smart and quite territorial.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound great,” Veronika said. “And you expect to beat them how then?”

“Simple.” I sheathed my machete before raising my hand. “Rainsplitter.”

Instantly a sword appeared in my hand.

“That’s new,” Veronika said.

“There it is again, the magical sword you refuse to elaborate upon.”

Ignoring her comment, I took a deep breath before entering the lab. Instantly the monsters turned to face me, lumbering toward me with aggression in their dark beady eyes. For a moment, I considered seeing if I could get them to turn docile with a display of Sage mana, but after a moment of consideration, I binned the idea. Perhaps it would have worked if I were the first to enter the lab, but given the defensive response had been triggered, I didn’t want to try my luck.

I paced my way toward the most open space of the lab, and as if recognizing my intention, the Izheruk followed along without attacking, waiting until we were safe from destroying any parts of the lab.

Strange. If you wanted a defense system that didn’t endanger the lab, why go through the trouble of training two Izheruk instead of just opting for something else?

Coming to a standstill, I faced the creatures, which watched me for a moment before finally roaring out again, the sound reminding me of a hawk, if a hawk could go through puberty, that is.

“Pleasant.” I sighed. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

The Izheruk charged at me, their great meaty arms covered in thick purple scales and a sheen of thick film cracking the steel floor like fragile ice.

I was already moving, dodging the Izheruk as if I’d never been in the way to start with. I thrust forward mid-dodge, Rainsplitter piercing its thick, scaly hide like softened butter. The Izheruk screeched in pain before arcs of purple electricity bounced between its dorsal fins. A heartbeat later, the purple electricity began firing randomly, zapping around as if probing for me.

Electricity? I didn’t know these things could use electricity.

I felt for surges of mana, but there were none, surprising me.

So it’s not magical in origin. Meaning these things are basically oversized ‘roided electrical eels.

A blast of electricity arced toward me, locked onto my sword, but the electricity fizzled out, my sword drinking it up.

Well, I guess it doesn’t matter.

I leapt back and out of the way, once more facing the two mutant eels. Taking a deep breath, I raised my sword overhead, drawing energy from my rings and some of the electricity Rainsplitter had managed to siphon away.

“Rook?” I heard Veronika shout out in worry as I stood still, the Izheruk ready to crush me beneath their large flippered fists.

“Rainsplitter!” I shouted, using the rest of what mana remained within Rainsplitter’s ring as I swung down with all my strength. Like a star falling, a wave of light crashed down from the blade, slashing through the Izheruk in one fatal ray. The ray of light didn’t end there, though; it continued slashing through the steel floor past them, splitting the ground before coming up just short of the farthest wall.

The good news: The Izheruk were dead, the magical ray of light nearly evaporating the creatures.

The bad news: So intense was the heat that upon reacting with the electrical charge contained within the beasts as well as their slimy film, the monsters quite literally popped like a balloon, showering me in guts, slime, and viscera.

Rainsplitter vanished a moment later, out of mana to maintain it. Looking down at my hands in disgust, I flicked the gunk covering me head to toe off from my hands, but it barely helped.

“Wonderful.” I spat before literally spitting out a glob of the gunk film that had managed to find its way into my mouth.

“Rook?”

Shuffling around slowly, I saw both Scyla and Veronika approaching me slowly.

“Are you… okay?”

“Do I look okay?” I sighed after a moment, trying to flick more of the gunk off me.

The two women glanced at each other before, in near unison, they burst out laughing.

“What, what’s so funny?” I asked, quite annoyed.

“You look like a slime monster that crawled its ass out of a swamp.” Veronika was bent over at the waist, gasping for breath in between laughs.

“Yeah, well, I feel like one.”

Several minutes passed before the two calmed themselves, taking stock of the situation. The entire time, I stood there feeling like an idiot, covered in gunk.

To be fair, I was an idiot covered in gunk, but I digress.

“So, given that nothing else has attacked us, we’re fine to look around?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Go ahead, search to your heart's content. If you need me, I’ll be doing my best to scrub myself off this filth.”

“What, you aren’t going to do any searching?”

“No, not right now.” I sighed.

“What, is there nothing you want right now to do down here then?”

“Again, no,” I said with a sigh. “Actually, scratch that.”

“Oh?” Veronika said, her curiosity piqued. “So, what is it?”

“A bath, please.”