“Yo Faun, find anything?”

“Nothing yet.”

“Heh. Rabbits weren’t made for spelunkin’, I guess. Hey Klax, got a new set of brass knuckles here for ya – how about it?”

As the party forged on towards the Nerve Tower, Tara and Fauna took point amongst the ruined buildings that characterized this part of the city - the remnants of the Greycloaks’ advance. It seemed they spared nothing in the wake of their goals.

And their goal was currently coming right to them.

Klax glowered at Tara as she rifled through the trash they’d left behind, his gruff demeanor telling her to simply fit the loot snugly into her inventory before carrying on down the wreckage of the street in front of them.

Above, the Dreamstriders soared peacefully through the indigo skies – stopping on the fragmented Memory towers and buildings the party moved through. Ethan watched as they secreted their spirit-projectiles onto the towers and miraculously began the painstaking process to knitting them right back together again.

“They don’t seem threatening now at all,” Ethan remarked, watching a squad of four stitch up the remains of a once tall spire’s crumbled foundations.

“They are creatures that obey the Delve’s challenges,” Fauna said as she scanned the surrounding area for magical anomalies. “But there’s a theory that they might have once simply been architects and builders in life – now reduced to just floating memories.”

“You mean these guys used to be – people?”

One of the manta’s nosed his way into the wreckage Ethan was looking at and, with barely a nod of acknowledgement of the strangers in its way, began aiding its brethren in rebuilding the tower.

“It’s just a theory. But it would explain their strange, silent obsession with this place. No one alive truly knows the truth of the Archon’s Delves or how they came to be. All we know is that since the time of Karfangg, these dungeons have existed. And they will continue to exist for as long as the cycle does.”

“Until it’s broken,” Klax growled. “Need I remind you all that we are on a time limit, here?”

“Ah, relax, Klaxxy. If Ethan can take on a whole horde of those beasts alone, he can take on the stuffy Lightborn and his bitch Comma-“

“That’s not all that’s at stake!” the Lycae yelped, before grimacing and grabbing his head as if he were in pain.

“Klax?”

The wolfman ignored Fauna’s reaching hand, insisting that they continue without pause. He would have done so if his commander didn’t at that moment phase through him and appear at his front, staring down at the dogman with knowing, silver eyes.

“You need rest,” he said.

“N-no. No, Ethan I’m –“

Before the dogman could even finish the sentence, he’d dropped to one knee, gritting his teeth as his head throbbed in agony.

“Woah – Klax!”

Fauna and Tara steadied him, though he tried in vain to protest.

“We’re taking five here,” Ethan said. “We need the time to heal up from the Gauntlet.”

“B-but-“

“You’re no good to us in your condition,” Ethan stated – assuming the same direct, no-nonsense tone he took with his coworkers when they tried overstepping their boundaries or skipping out on tasks. “We’re stopping here until we’re fully healed. And you’re gonna come back to your senses.”

“Ethan’s right, Klax,” Fauna whispered. “Maybe you should –“

The wolfman shrugged her off before dragging himself away to a nearby wall and slumping down. In his eyes there was pain – the kind of pain that cut someone off from reality.

But then, in this place, what was reality, anyway?

“Five minutes?” Klax asked.

“Ten,” Ethan replied with a somber smile and a nod to Tara and Fauna to secure their position with traps and magic. “That’s an order.”

The party complied without any more questions, and Ethan took the time to go about some new upgrades.

Spirit Cores: 1,150

Juicy, but not enough for everything he had planned yet. He wanted to take Hide to S class asap, but the upgrade would be pointless in a place like this, where there was no darkness to help him get the Sneak Attacks he needed.

So, his priorities had to be skills that would be immediately useful to him.

Dive (Grade D->C)

‘Homing Dive’ unlocked – Dive now homes in on the targeted enemy/structure

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Spirit Core Upgrade Cost: 250

Commence Upgrade?

For facing flying foes, and whatever else was probably skulking round these alleys, a homing ability would be essential. That one was first on the list.

Upgrade…complete!

Spirit Core Cost (Grade C->B): 400

Secondly, it was time to get serious with Possession – he had been pondering its newest upgrade long before they ever got here. Now, with his Spirit Core surplus, it was literally a no-brainer:

Possession (Grade E->D)

Cooldown time removed. Possession is now instantaneous.

Spirit Core Upgrade Cost: 600

Commence Upgrade?

The ability to possess instantly was something he couldn’t pass up. How much shit had these Delve Bosses given him because they didn’t let go of their mortal shells?

Upgrade…complete!

Spirit Core Cost (Grade D->C): 1000

Spirit Cores Remaining: 300

Now, he’d collect every skill he could. Valgraiva was a walking tank. In spite of how shit he smelled, with the right arsenal Ethan could turn this Undead flesh puppet into a walking nuclear bomb.

‘Course that wasn’t all he was packing, now. The fact that Twilight Edge synergized so well with his Poison and Paralysis Coating skills told him that multiple skills could be stacked to produce new effect. Giving his poison and paralysis a ranged component meant he was making up for a deficiency in his build already. He’d have to be on the look out for other ranged options.

But right now, he appraised the Moonlight Katana he’d gotten as a drop from the Gauntlet challenge:

Moonlight Katana (Rare) {Mithril}

DMG: 40-55

SPECIAL: {Fade Slice}

A weapon with this property can attack creatures through solid surfaces.

The weapon glowed with ethereal energy – icy to the touch and deathly sharp. Though its maximum damage output was clearly dwarfed by his scythe, Ethan couldn’t deny the possibilities that came with its special property. He was in a toss up between pure DPS and utility, here, as well as his own personal preferences. What young man doesn’t want a katana?

But as he labored over the choice between weapons, he was suddenly drawn to his next upgrade in the Transmogrification skill line. And his eyes started glinting like a magpie’s. He needed only 300 more Cores…

With this upgrade, the surface wouldn’t know what hit it.

And neither will you, he thought as he looked into the shadowed peak of the Nerve Tower in the distance, looming high over the walls of the building they were hunkered down in.

Artorious…

The journey had been long. It had been deadly. It had been filled with traps and surprises that even his knowledge of MMO mechanics hadn’t prepped him for. But he was finally feeling that he was at the turning point, here. He’d gone through shit and come out the other side as a warrior. More than that – a leader.

And that was exactly why he couldn’t leave one of his best troops in the dirt.

I know what you’re gonna say, Sys, he thought as he eyed Klax out the corner of his vision. Because I can tell how you feel about these guys.

Ethan…

Your predecessors had whole armies at their command. Legions of minions that obeyed their every order without question.

Why you slave over these hybrids is beyond me.

Stick around, Sys, he said as he knelt beside the fallen wolfman. You might just learn what real loyalty looks like.

Ethan slumped beside the groaning Lycae, fixing him not with the eyes of a prideful leader, but those of a concerned friend.

“Klax.”

The wolfman muffled the laughter that coughed from his throat.

“I suppose you wish to tell me I am being a burden. It would not surprise me. It’s what I would say.”

“You ain’t a burden, Klax. But you’re carrying one. And it’s gonna keep weighing you down unless you do something about it.”

Instinctively the wolfman’s trembling claw flew to his throat, clenching the talisman dangling there.

“I saw her, Ethan,” he said. “Back in the Twilight Sepulcher. Down there, in the darkness of that mirror.”

“Yeah. I know.”

And it’s been messing with you ever since, hasn’t it?

His face contorted in pain again, fangs flaring as they protruded from his snarling mouth.

“She was…violated,” he said. ‘Alive but tortured. The vision was hazy. Blurred. But it was her. Her eyes – they were still the same deep shade of lilac I remember.”

Ethan sat back, letting out a long sigh that echoed across the four walls of their hideout.

“You and she were lovers.”

It was not a question. Nor did Klax take it like one.

“A bond between Lycae mates is sacred,” he said. “If broken, the Lycae loses a piece of themselves. I promised her I’d be there for her, always. When she was captured, I didn’t know what else to do. Worse – it was my betrayal that led to this. If I’d have just listened to her…I tried looking for her, Ethan. I tried, but my last duty to her always called me back to Sanctum. I had to fulfil the last order she gave before she disappeared. I couldn’t just disobey her again.”

“What was her last order?”

The old wolf turned his head gently, making no move to wipe the tears that were scratching at the corners of his eyes.

“’Take care of them, Klax. And wait for the one who will break the chains that bind us.’”

Ethan didn’t move a muscle. He heard the words, and Klax simply turned his head away again, brows knit in consternation.

“Tara and Fauna – they’re good people,” he said. “Everyone in Sanctum is. What you all did for me back there – it meant a lot. Truly. But I have done my waiting. I have done as she asked. So…why don’t I feel any happier? Why does her face still torture me every time I close my eyes?”

Ethan breathed a deep sigh again. He wanted to tell the old dog to pull himself out of the past, even as he knew that it was his own past back home that kept him shackled – unable to move into a better future. Hell, it was his own burdens that had caused him, one day, to think that death might have been the answer…

Maybe you can’t teach an old dog new tricks after all.

Still, looking at the pained face of his friend, he’d try. It was the least he could do.

“Klax – listen, I –“

At that moment, the dog-man’s eyes widened in panic. At first, Ethan thought he might have witnessed an enemy come upon their little camp.

But no – those eyes were looking well past Ethan. Past everyone. It was as though they were looking into the fabric of time itself.

“…Jun’Ei?”

Fauna and Tara noticed the change in the air. Somewhere far off – a voice was singing. Calling. It was like a ghost that had been dredged up from the depths of the underworld.

And Klax was dancing to its tune.

“Jun’Ei!” he roared, leaping with all his strength through the window of the house and bounding down the dilapidated street before Ethan could stop him.

“Klax! Kla-shit!”

“What’s happening?” Tara asked. “Dogman finally lost his goddamn mind?”

“Nah, Tara – in fact, I think its his mind that’s the problem here.”

Around them, the air had begun to shimmer with small specks of sapphire. The atmosphere felt thick and musky. Humid – like the hot summer’s day in a tropical country before a deluge of rain.

“JUN’EI!”

The howl of the wolf was enough to wake up every monster hiding in the city.

“Shit!” Ethan spat again, commanding Fauna to summon another Haste spell as they gave chase. “Klax! Come back!”

But the wolfman had no ears for his companions, now.

He was in the clutches of something far more sinister.