Ethan’s three eyes snapped open and stared around him at the new organic chamber pulsing with life. He was alive. Once again, cheating death along with his three companions, who seemed to be just coming around from their shared blackout.

Just another day for a demon hat…

Delve Challenge [HORDE]

Complete!

* Rewards:

* 300 Spirit Cores

* 2x Antidote

* 1x Festering Quiver (DMG +10 vs. Arachnae)

* 1x Venabane Staff (POIS spell DMG +10)

[SAFE ZONE ENTERED]

You seeing this shit, Sys? Ethan grinned in the small grey chamber that served as the final safe zone before the Festering Den’s final floor. Three hundred smackers. All for lil’ ol’ me.

And you only had to almost die for them. Congratulations.

I know, right!? The payoff’s totally worth it. Klax even tells me that we all get the same individually, too. Proper fair Delve system, right here. This shit wouldn’t fly in WoW. The Raid Leader would grab the goods, citing ‘ethics’ or some bullshit like that. Well, that ain’t gonna fly in Argwyll, baby! The land of the fair and equal!

A rather ironic sentiment coming from the Archon.

But I can't fault you in principle.

Ethan could tell Sys was finally starting to warm up to him. He focused his attention on his skillsets, greedily eyeing his [Hat] skills and realizing that he had enough—more than enough, actually—to improve another one from Grade F to E.

Skill check: Ethan Hawke

* Object: Hat {Legendary}

* Skills:

* Possession (Rank F)

* Skill Siphon (Rank E)

* Appraisal (Rank F)

* Transmogrification (Rank F)

* Spirit Cores: 340

Wait, killing all those spiders didn’t give me like five hundred more cores? Lame. Don’t go limiting me like that, Sys! You know you wanna see just how OP this monster hat can get.

When Sys didn’t even dignify his quip with an answer, he concentrated on improving the Possession skill, reasoning that the memories of his newly possessed hosts might give him an edge in terms of not only his knowledge of the world but also the things these monsters could do. It might even afford him some extra knowledge of hidden secrets known only to the monsters that dwelled within these walls. After all, the Grumlets above had markings and murals that told him they at least had a concept of religion down here. That was more than he was expecting.

Possession (Rank E)

You can now view the memories of your new [Hosts]

Spirit Core Cost to upgrade: 250

Confirm Upgrade?

You got it, Ethan snapped. And that still leaves me with 90 Cores to help me on my way to possessing whatever big bastard’s waiting for us down below. If it’s gonna be another multi-phase boss like that troll before, I’m gonna need a good surplus before I hop on its head.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

In the meantime, though, I should probably check out just what my current birdy boi’s been up to his entire life. Whaddya say, Sys? Wanna take a delve into this dark menace’s past?

Your excitement is unfortunately infectious. It is only a shame your new comrades don’t seem to share in your glee…

Only then did Ethan’s eyes snap to the reality that was unfolding before him. Raised voices, arched backs, and crossed arms greeted him, as well as a flurry of raised fur…

“What the FUCK was that?” Tara was shouting. “You almost let the Archon die!”

“T-Tara!” Fauna shouted back. “I said I was sorry! The spell just took too long and I—”

“‘And I can’t help it,’” the blustering Minxit finished, spitting on the organic ground beneath her paws. “It’s always the fucking same with you.”

“Tara,” Klax cautioned, “Fauna’s magic saved us in the end. That is all that matters here.”

“Is it?!” the Minxit retorted. “This happens every fucking time, Klax! We lost the Lightborn because of her! We almost just lost the Archon because of her! Her family fucking died because of he—”

“That’s a lie!” The Hopla screamed, rising up, pale hands shaking with fright at her own exclamation. “Y-you’re just jealous because I’ve done more to help Ethan than you have!”

Tara’s face blushed a shade of red that should have been impossible, her eyes glancing towards Ethan’s blinking pupils.

“Oho!” she then grimaced, rolling up her leather sleeves to reveal her auburn skin, rough and ready for action. “The rabbit’s got claws, does she? Come on then, Faun. Show me what you can do. You n’ me, right now. One on one. Come on.”

You aren’t going to intervene, oh great and powerful Archon?

Let me think about it.

Ethan thought about it.

…I probably should. Even though—well—everyone loves a catfight, right?

Truly you are a paragon of diplomacy.

“Tara!” Fauna was screeching. “Tara—I said I was sorry!”

The catgirl had marched right up to her face, her hand itching towards the blades in her shorts.

“‘Sorry’ ain’t gonna cut it no more, kid. We’re having it out, right here, right now. Show me just how useful you a—”

“ENOUGH!”

Both girls looked towards Klax, who had risen to his full height and was currently looking down on them with murderous intent.

“Both of you—this nonsense serves no purpose! Tara, enough is enough. We have barely 12 hours to recuperate and only two Antidotes left. I realize things are tense for us all right now, but if we’re going to beat this Delve, we have to—”

“You always side with her!” Tara screeched. “Why the fuck do you keep her around on the off-chance that she’ll be useful? We don’t need her anymore. We’ve got the Archon!”

All fell silent for a time. The only thing that interrupted this awkward moment was the scurrying bodies of the spiders that must have been living inside the very walls that lined this ancient safe zone between floors.

And unbelievably, it was Fauna who sniffled and spoke at last:

“Is that how you both really feel… about me?”

Nobody could look at each other. Not even Klax, in the few seconds between Fauna's sniffling statement and his reply.

“No, Fauna,” Klax said calmly. “Tara is speaking with spite because she is afraid of dying here and failing our people. She is looking for someone to blame besides herself for her own feelings of inadequacy.”

“You don’t know everything, Klax,” the Minxit growled up at the wolfman. “Stop pretending you’ve got a good handle on all this. You were shaking through that entire fight. Try and tell me you weren’t.”

“I’d be a bloody fool if I wasn’t afraid of what’s to come, Tara,” the Lycae replied with calm, collected candor. “There’s nothing wrong with admitting what you’re afraid of instead of taking your despair out on others.”

The wolfman held her gaze for a time before retiring to try and comfort Fauna, offering her his paw and a smile. But she refused. She walked to her own little section of the chamber and lay down to rest.

“You always talk like you’re all high and mighty,” Tara spat at his back as she went to her own corner of the chamber. “But you’re just as pissed off as I am, Klax. That’s your problem. You never admit that you’re a fucking normal person just like the rest of us. Why don’t you take a leaf out of Ethan’s book and shut the fuck up instead of talking about shit you know nothing about.”

I feel like there was an insult buried in that, somewhere…

Once the catgirl then lay down to rest, Klax simply stood and heaved a heavy, world-weary sigh.

“Hey, Klax,” Ethan offered. “Lemme take first watch, man. I’ve got stats to boost and I think some of the smoke I huffed from that flame spell got me buzzing. I’m gonna be up for a while.”

Klax nodded down at him but held up a firm paw in response.

“No, Ethan,” he said. “I would prefer to take the watch. Get some rest. You’ll need it for the final floor.”

With that, he turned away to slump down by the far wall of the safe zone chamber, his eyes firmly fixed on the dim light of their meager campfire—a fire that threw three opposing shadows across the chamber floor.

In the meantime, Fauna closed her eyes and sighed, too, catching Ethan with a tiny shrug that said she was used to this kind of thing.

Lovely, Ethan thought. Now we’ve got ourselves a nice awkward party that’s way too much like real life to be fun.

And let me guess, you’re going to be the one who fixes this tense relationship dynamic?

Ethan smiled as he hovered over to Klax’s position, gently perching beside the wolfman with an air far more jovial than the Festering Den deserved.

Hey, that’s the whole reason I’m here, right? Ethan replied with a jovial wink. I’m a fixer.

He'd fix this like he fixed everything else in his old life. As it turned out, some things never changed.