“Al?” Hiral asked. By the looks on the others’ faces, he wasn’t the only one surprised to see the Triclops there. Or, to see him only standing about five-feet tall. “What’s… going on?”

“Now that you’ve defeated me,” Al said, tucking one hand by his stomach and making a formal bow. “I am to be your guide. I look forward to working with you.”

With those words, the notification window updated one final time.

Dynamic Quest Completed

Three Eyes Aren’t Better Than One

Arborean Uniclops Defeated: 3/3

Arborean Uniclops Treasure Obtained: 3/3

Guide Obtained: 1/1

They didn’t seem to get achievements – or the associated rewards – from the Call of the Wild quests, but looking at the weapons in his doubles’ hands, or the Triclops in front of him, those had to be the gains. Before the weapons, though, they needed to confirm if…

“You aren’t going to attack us again, are you?” Wule asked.

“I am not,” Al said. “As you can see, much of my power has been sealed in this form. Now, I can act as little more than a guiding hand to the rules found within the Cradle of Tomorrow.

“I thought you said you were going to die,” Yanily pointed out.

“I did,” Al responded. “In a sense. The me that was is dead. My old role completed, and my new one before me.”

“That doesn’t really sound like dying.”

“A benefit to a powerful and benevolent master such a the Custodian of Tomorrow, along with my Arborean heritage.”

“If we killed you again…”

“Please don’t,” Al said quickly.

“Hrm… okay,” Yanily replied with a shrug.

“Can you tell us more about the valley?” Hiral asked, after ignoring Yan’s antics.

“Soon,” Al said. “The door to the outside has opened now that you’ve overcome the challenge, and the others will be coming along soon, most likely. It would be best to explain the rules once, so you can all get started as quickly as possible.” Turning and looking across the valley like his gaze could pierce the veil of hanging mist, he nodded as if to himself. “My colleague has likewise been defeated, meaning the spoils of this place are to be contested. Time has become a premium commodity, and it would be best if you all got started together. In six hours, the final locks will open, allowing access to the Cradle proper. Before that point, there are things you need to do.”

“Was it Vorinal?” Seeyela asked, daggers in her hands… even as she sat on the ground to recover from her buffs. “The one who defeated your colleague? Was it the Fallen?”

“I can’t say for sure,” Al said. “But, like you, since they’ve completed their trial, they too will have a guide to the valley. To unearthing its secrets and gaining the power and knowledge hidden here.”

“Do you know what power and knowledge are hidden here?” Yanily asked.

“Only in the broadest strokes,” Al said, a small nod of apology. “I was told you would come looking, and that I should guide you as best I could to lead you to the trials. Should you be found worthy, you’ll get the answers you seek.

“Or, so I was told.” Another bow of apology.

“You knew we would come?” Igwanda asked, doubt clear on her face.

“Not you specifically,” Al said. “Just that somebody fitting your overall descriptions would come. People with PIMs.”

“You know what a PIM is?” Hiral asked. “How?”

“Tomorrow told me,” Al said. “As to how she knew… well…” he turned and slowly waved his arm at the shrouded valley. “The answers are out there.”

“Then, for now,” Seena said. “I guess we can’t do anything but wait for the others to get here. Actually, Sis, you want to go back and make sure they’re coming through? Maybe we can hurry them up a bit.”

“There is one other thing we can do,” Yanily quickly interrupted. “Loot!”

All eyes went to the three weapons being held by the doubles.

“Nothing I want there,” Seeyela said. “I’ll go get the others.”

“A Maker should go with you,” Hiral said.

“Then I guess that means me,” Ilrolik said, and took a step in Seeyela’s direction.

“No,” Hiral quickly interrupted. “Sera should go with Seeyela.”

“Why?” Ilrolik asked after a quick look at Hiral’s mother.

“Trying to get rid of me?” Sera asked.

“Did you use View on the axe yet?” Hiral asked Ilrolik, and she shook her head. “I did, and I’ve got opinions on who should get the loot. Sera isn’t one of those people. You are. You should stay.”

Ilrolik looked again from Hiral to his mother. Finally, she spoke. “Sera, your husband can get the Makers moving. Would you mind going in my place?”

Sera nodded at Ilrolik. “Of course.” That done – her eyes only lingering on Hiral a second longer – she turned to Seeyela. “Shall we go?”

Seeyela stared at the woman for several long heartbeats, and there wasn’t any friendliness in her eyes. “You can walk by yourself,” she finally said, turned, and Bamf’d. Just like that, she was gone, leaving Sera standing and looking at a poof of quickly fading purple fire.

“Did I do something to offend your sister?” Sera asked Seena.

The party leader looked at the older woman like she was crazy. “Ten years of something,” Seena said. “We’ll work with you. Even let you in our raid group. Just don’t expect us to get friendly with you.”

Sera’s face went through a quick range of emotions at the blunt words. Much like Ilrolik, the woman wouldn’t be used to being talked to like that. She’d earned a place of respect up on Fallen Reach through her own skills and actions. From the expression that finally settled on her, though, she realized those same actions were what had also earned her the sisters’ ire.

“I understand,” Sera said plainly. “I hope to some day change your mind. All your minds.” Her words were clearly aimed at more than just Seena.

“Maybe,” Seena said, then looked over to Hiral to see if he wanted to say something.

He still hadn’t confronted his mother on everything that had happened. He’d had time to think about doing it, like Seena had suggested, and he was even starting to agree with her. There’d been so many years of being angry, Hiral had almost consigned himself to staying that way. Would talking to her – yelling at her, if he was being honest with himself – change things?

Definitely wouldn’t affect the past. What was done was done, and he didn’t think he’d be able to forgive her for that. His future though? Yeah, telling her how he felt might make him feel better. Might help him move on. Not to forgiving her, but maybe at least forgetting her. Or at least how she’d treated him.

When he was being neutral about the whole situation, Sera hadn’t been a bad mother to Nat or Milly, and he didn’t want to do anything to change that. No, he’d say his piece, then he’d move on from that toxic relationship, while maintaining the good ones with his father and sisters.

Just, not right now. Not in front of these people.

Hiral shook his head at Seena’s unspoken question, and Sera seemed to get the hint too. Another quick nod to Ilrolik, and then Hiral’s mother started jogging toward and into the tunnel.

The big Shaper looked after the woman, then turned to Hiral. She wanted to say something about the relationship, but seemed to wisely let it go with a small sigh. “What is it about these weapons that makes you think I should get one?”

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Before that,” Hiral said. “Why doesn’t everybody take a second to View them? Better we’re all on the same page so we can agree on handing things out.”

Nobody else seemed to have an objection to the idea, so Hiral himself took the extra second to review the item windows one more time before the discussion began. He started with the axe.

Shaleclaw Grudge – A-Rank

Forged from the claw of a beast so ancient it grew from the planet itself, and the tree it guarded until their tragic deaths, this axe bears untold resentment.

Effects: Grants user access to Ability – Rend, and Ability (Passive) – Odium

Ability – Rend: Shaleclaw Grudge does not, can not, will not inflict clean wounds. When Ability: Rend is activated, the next successful attack will tear at the target, ripping it open to inflict Grotesque Wounds.

Note: Grotesque Wounds reduces healing effectiveness on the injury by 75%, causes intense bleeding damage (even if the target does not possess blood), and has a chance based on user’s Rank to reduce target’s combat effectiveness due to shock.

Note (2): Cooldown – 1 minute.

Ability (Passive) – Odium: All attacks made by Shaleclaw Grudge carry the taint of its eternal hatred, spreading to anything it strikes to increase the likelihood the target will attack the user.

That last ability, specifically, would be very useful, but that was a discussion to be had in a moment, so Hiral moved on to the hammer next.

Fist of the First – A-Rank

Crafted from the first elemental born of this world, this hammer is forever connected to the earth it emerged from. That it was stolen from.

Effects: Grants user access to Ability – Crushing Shockwave, and Ability (Passive) – Earthen Might

Ability – Crushing Shockwave: Strike the earth to emit a powerful shockwave along the ground. Any targets without an earth affinity struck by this attack suffer damage based on user’s Rank, have a chance to be knocked prone, and see earthbound movement reduced by 50%.

Note: Crushing Shockwave will not damage those with an earth affinity, but instead has a chance to convince the target to join the user’s side.

Note (2): Cooldown – 1 minute.

Ability (Passive) – Earthen Might: When standing on the ground, and for 6 seconds after, see Str increased by 30%. Additionally, bearer of Fist of the First is immune to ground-based effects and debuffs that use the earth as a weapon.

Note: If user does not touch the ground at least once every minute, Str while using Fist of the First is instead reduced by 30%.

Another weapon with potentially a very powerful passive ability. As Seena’s party constantly employed Path of Butterflies, it didn’t make a lot of sense for one of them to use it. Then again, since it was a hammer focused on Str, the choice seemed pretty obvious. Again, though, a discussion for later.

That just left one more weapon, and Hiral looked at the staff in Left’s hands.

Shard of the Lost Epoch – A-Rank

Built around a fragment of a time before time, this staff was once the symbol of power for an Archwizard so great and mighty, neither history nor reality could contain him. Now, only his staff remains.

Effects: Grants user access to Ability – Disjoined, and Ability (Passive) – Infusion of Forgotten Truths

Ability – Disjoined: Temporarily sever a target’s connection with the current time, locking them in place but out of sync for a limited period.

Note: Duration of Disjoined and chance to resist the effect are based off user’s Rank.

Note (2): Target can perform no actions, nor be affected by any outside actions while under the effect of Disjoined.

Note (3): Cooldown – 5 minutes.

Ability (Passive) – Infusion of Forgotten Truths: All abilities used gain a trace of power of the Shard’s distant origin, making them harder to resist, while increasing their effectiveness by an amount based on user’s age.

Note: Older users benefit more from Infusion of Forgotten Truths

Hiral had a hard time not chuckling to himself at the staff. There was one person amongst the three groups that clearly stood out as the frontrunner for the staff. Even better, it didn’t need to be used as a weapon directly, if how the Uniclops wielded it was any indication.

“You think I need an angry weapon?” Ilrolik said.

“She is an angry weapon,” Loan said from beside her. “Especially in the morning.”

The glare Ilrolik turned on the bigger Shaper was enough to make him wilt. The next time they sparred, things didn’t look promising for the man.

“While Ilrolik is a very talented Shaper,” Hiral said from where he still sat on the ground. “Her tattoos were primarily chosen with the Amphitheatre of the Sun in mind. Or one-on-one duels with other Shapers.”

“Which makes them excellent for turning other opponents to mush,” Ilrolik said. “I have more weapons on my body than your whole party has.”

Yanily looked at Hiral, specifically at the horns on his head that led to his Arsenal of Amin Thett. “Not likely.”

“Why do I need one more?” Ilrolik asked, clearly not sure what to make of the spearman.

“Because you had a very hard time keeping the Uniclops’s attention,” Hiral explained. “Focused Rage won’t work against groups, and even against a single target, it wasn’t enough. You were lucky Loan was durable enough to take a hit – or dodge one. If the Wild-Boss had gotten a clean hit on Devison or Yully, though?”

“And you think this Shaleclaw Grudge will help with that?” Ilrolik said, nodding like she was coming around. “We… did have a hard time in the dungeons we ran keeping things focused on me.”

“I lost a foot because of it!” Devison said, pointing at the Shaper.

“You lost a foot,” Yully said flatly. “Because you tried to tickle a giant lizard’s tonsils.”

“Looked like a weak spot,” Devison said, and his party’s healer just groaned.

“Does anybody have any objections to Ilrolik taking the axe?” Hiral asked the rest of the people around him, though his eyes settled on Nivian. It was a tank weapon, after all.

“Fine by me,” Nivian said. “I have my own means of Infuriate.”

“Thanks, Nivian,” Hiral said. A quick look at Romin confirmed that Bonder had no interest in the axe, and Hiral finished with his gaze on Ilrolik. “Hopefully you’ll get some abilities outside of tattoos that will help with… what did you call it Romin?”

“Threat generation,” Romin said.

“With that,” Hiral said. “Until then, the axe will help. You’ll have to test to see how it works with some of your other abilities, but I’m sure we’ll get plenty of chances.”

“It’s a little limiting relying on one weapon,” Ilrolik said at the same time she took the Shaleclaw Grudge from Right. “Probably worth it though. I’ll need to practice with it.” I few test swings cut through the air, and Hiral’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the weapon.

When Right had been holding the axe, it seemed the perfect size for him – which would’ve made it small for a seven-foot-tall Shaper. Except, that wasn’t the case. The axe looked to be the perfect size for her. Just like it’d been the perfect size for a forty-foot Uniclops.

Magic-sizing shenanigans?

“About the hammer,” Nivian said, since they’d clearly finished the discussion about the axe. “While my party didn’t kill the Wild-Boss, it was our target. I’d like to request the hammer.”

“Hammer?” Bash asked, instantly sitting up.

“For yourself?” Devison asked, and Nivian immediately shook his head.

“Bash,” the Death Knight said. “He is – by far – the best choice for it.”

“I agree,” Hiral said. “He was the first Troblin I thought of for it too.”

“Bash? Hammer?” the undead Troblin said, looking over to the weapon in Right’s hand. “Smash with hammer?”

“Last chance for objections,” Hiral said, and nobody had one. “Bash smash with hammer.”

“Smash!” Bash yipped, hopping up to his feet and running over to Right. “My hammer!”

“Only if you behave,” Right said calmly, not handing the hammer over immediately.

“Give hammer or Bash smash you!” the Troblin said.

“Oh? Really?” Right asked, his Meridian Lines flaring as he leaned forward to look into Bash’s eyes. “You want to try that?”

Bash looked Right up and down, the purple and red of the Infernal and Entropic energies glowing on the undead’s skin.

“No,” Bash finally said. “You friend. Good smasher. Bash sorry.”

“Apology accepted,” Right said, plopping his free hand down on the top of the Troblin’s head and giving it a playful rub. Then he handed over the hammer, and the little guy sprinted off to the side to begin playing with it.

“Smash!” Bash shouted, slamming the weapon into the ground and causing a shockwave to roll out towards the edge of the small clearing. “Hehehehehehe”

“We’re going to need to set some ground rules for him,” Wule said. Then he stopped. And groaned. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean that pun.”

“Need some rules for you too,” Nivian said flatly.

“What about the last weapon?” Seena asked. Given the description of it, she wouldn’t be a bad choice for it, with it adding an extra energy type to all her attacks. Except, she was young.

“Gran,” Hiral answered. “Seems like the perfect fit for her.”

“How old are you, anyway?” Yanily asked, then immediately seemed to realize what he’d just said. “Never mind. Pretend I didn’t even ask.”

Gran cackled. “I’d say that was smart of you, but you already rung that bell. And I ain’t answering. A lady has to have some secrets.”

“Pretty sure you have a lot of secrets,” Seena pointed out.

“Then what’s a few more going to hurt?”

“I don’t think it works like that…” Yanily said.

“Back to the weapon,” Hiral said. “It doesn’t say Infusion of Forgotten Truths only effects attacks. It actually states ‘all abilities’, which means it might work on healing. Plus, uh, the age thing.”

“I’m still a spring chicken,” Gran said.

“What’s spring?” Yanily asked.

“Something I miss,” Gran said. “Can we move on before I get all weepy about better times?”

Even imagining Gran getting weepy was so foreign to Hiral’s brain, he couldn’t even start thinking about it, so he pushed himself back to his feet. He’d recovered enough from his… well, whatever the hell it was he’d done with the Annihilation of Amin Thett. There was definitely something there he’d need to explore later.

“So, staff to Gran, unless anybody has a different opinion?” Hiral asked.

“Each other group got one of the weapons,” Ilrolik said. “Seems fair to me.”

“And we’ve all got this achievement to turn in from a raid interface,” Yanily said.

“Right after we get some answers from Al here,” Seena said. “And that looks like Seeyela and Sera are already coming back with the others.”

The three parties all turned to face the approaching crowd, Sera at the front beside Elezad. Next to them, Seeyela and Grandmother led the Growers, with Burs – and his Bonders – not far off. But, even with the impressive crowd, Seena, Yanily, Hiral, Wule, and Nivian all focused on one other person between Seeyela and Grandmother.

A person – a woman – Seeyela had her arm around, while tears ran down her cheeks.

Caleon.

The healer from Seeyela’s original party they’d been forced to leave behind in their very first Asylum. She was there.