Dear Diary,

Avi got a crossbow, and is doing pretty good with it. As in, he's actually used it. Unlike how he was with the spear.

He'll never be a stone-cold killer, but he's ok with shooting freeze marbles at people. With that and a list of spells he got from Lily, we have a plan for next cycle. Not a super detailed plan, but one that should work.

Basically, he’s going to make illusions to distract enemies, then shoot them with marbles or arrows. If they’re still moving after that, he’ll cast a spell that makes them move slower. We’re going to be with Kimi and Y again, so they can do the actual killing. And I’ll… be there too.

I’ll be doing my part as a healer. I know that. It just feels a little unfair that I don’t have to actually fight when Avi is being forced to.

But it’s ok. Kinda.

We didn't get to finish all of Aya's quests. One was "give a kobold a high-five", so that was easy. And we found out Y officially isn't a kobold any more. I did wonder about that.

Oh, we sent Lex and Tim home. They got to Floor 93 with us, but there are too many people around. Plus the players were just about right on our heels. We only had half a day before they showed up and we had to do our jobs.

Avi isn’t upset with me any more. Mostly. I know he spent a while talking to Samantha, and after that he wasn’t as reserved around me. So that’s good. I kinda want to go thank Samantha, but that would be weird. Plus he might think I’m talking to her to ask what they talked about, which… Honestly, yeah, I would do that. It’s best if I don’t talk to her until the cycle resets.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

In private, I mean. It’d be rude to avoid talking to her completely. Especially since she’s the only one of the Sams who knows how to order real food. Samuel and Samurai either just say random words, or point to the menu with waving fingers and ask for “that thing”. Which was fun the first half dozen times they did it. After several cycles? Not so much.

So yeah, not avoiding Samantha.

...

I have nothing more to write.

Goodnight, Dungeon.

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* * * * *

Emmy smiled, moving her hair so Calvin could clasp a thin chain around her neck. She lifted the gold locket pendant, admiring the E engraved on it.

"It's beautiful, thank you," she said, turning it over. "What's inside?"

Calvin sat down next to her, oddly serious. "Memories."

She watched him for a few seconds. "Whose memories?"

"Ours. Well, yours and mine, they are separate things," he said. "From the start of Cycle 1 till now. I don't have access to anything before that, sorry. I'll update it just before Cycle 60 ends."

"You're really that afraid?" she asked softly.

Calvin nodded, not meeting her eye.

She looked at the locket again. “How does it work?”

“Open it, and it’ll ask if you want a memory restore,” he said. “I’ve listed it as a non-magical item, so when you’re transported from here to the next world, it should stay with you. Just never take it off.”

“I won’t,” she promised. “I’ll guard it with my life.”

He smiled faintly. “And I’ll guard you with mine.”