“I won’t let that happen,” Hiral finally said. “I won’t let everything we’ve done – that we’re going to do – be forgotten.”

“Your Rune of Eclipse?” Seena asked.

“If I have to,” Hiral said.

“So, what, do we rush to complete the Cradle then?” Wule asked. “Then, what? That quest you shared with us talks about three Black Gates we need to close. We don’t even know where they are.”

“We know one is in Tomorrow’s Vigil,” Left pointed out. “And, if I had to guess, it’s somewhere near that mountain with the crescent peak we saw in the other dungeons from Ascender’s Tower.”

“Can you figure out where that is, Left?” Seena asked the double.

“Probably,” Left said. “If we find another Asylum with a working map. It shouldn’t be that difficult, though it may be time consuming to scour different areas for that particular mountain.”

“It’s got to be near a coast,” Seeyela said. “We had that boat dungeon, after all.”

“As well as the farmland,” Nivian added.

“Should we go do that… now?” Seeyela asked. “Skip the rest of the Cradle and focus on that?”

“Gauto?” Ilrolik cut in. “What do the other Academics think of your theory?”

“I’ve only shared it with Melitor,” Gauto said, referring to his mentor-slash-supervisor. “He believes it has merit, but we need to discuss it with others. Given the… implications of it, we haven’t shared it widely yet.”

“So, you could be incorrect,” Ilrolik said slowly. “Or, be missing a key piece of information…”

“Oh, I could be missing all kinds of key pieces of information,” Gauto admitted. “This is all a theory. One almost as wild as anything Hiral comes up with. And I’d love to be wrong.”

“It explains too much for you to be wrong,” Hiral said. “Or, for you to be very wrong. If you’re not completely correct, I’m sure there’s at least some truth in what you’re saying.”

“Then you’ll leave?” Ilrolik asked.

“You wouldn’t come with us?” Seena asked right back. There wasn’t anger in her voice, more a touch of disappointment and resignation. Then, her head turned to Nivian and Wule.

“We’ll go with you,” Nivian said without missing a beat. Wule, right next to him, nodded his agreement.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Hiral finally said. “We need to finish things here. For our sakes, and for theirs.” He gestured to the small groups still chatting around them. “They aren’t prepared to deal with Vorinal.”

“Then they’re definitely not prepared to deal with the Raze,” Seeyela said. As soon as she did, though, she shook her head. “Neither are we, I don’t think. We need trial rewards as much as they do.”

“There’s that,” Hiral said. “And, really, even if Gauto is completely right, we don’t know how long we have until our behaviors change. We could have minutes, or we could have years.”

“More likely somewhere in between,” Gauto said.

“What’s the plan, Mr. Raid Leader?” Seena asked him.

Hiral blew out a breath before he answered. “First, I want each of you to know, I will find a way to stop this memory thing from happening. Even if I have to rewrite what Amin Thett did to set up the PIM – I will find a way.”

“You think you can replicate – or change – what one of the greatest of our kind did?” Li’l Ur asked. “Something he sacrificed his immortal like to accomplish.”

“If I have to,” Hiral said. “Yes.”

Li’l Ur crossed his little, lich arms across his tiny chest. “That’s the kind of confidence and ambition I like to see in my would-be apprentices. Godlike power, as if it’s any normal day of the week. World-shaping desire, like it’s putty in your hands. Planetary domination in my Mistress’s name. I’m sorry, hungry one,” he looked at Gauto. “Apprenticeship applications are closed.”

“Not sure I was talking about planetary domination,” Hiral said, at the same time Gauto mouthed, ‘Hungry one? Really?’.

“You get used to it,” Seena said.

“It kind of worries me if that’s true,” her older sister said from beside her.

“You still didn’t tell us the plan,” Loan pointed out. “If we’re staying here, you must have a reason why.”

“You sound like you would’ve gone with him…” Ilrolik said, turning her head to look at the Shaper beside her.

“I wasn’t there when Hiral needed me before,” Loan said. “I won’t make that mistake again.”

“Ugh, he was a bad influence on you,” Ilrolik said. “You didn’t used to be so stubborn. Or put points into dexterity!”

“Times change,” Loan said. “We need to change with them. Or, considering the topic, maybe that’s not as true as I believed…”

“It will be,” Hiral said. “This time. We’ll make it true. As for the plan,” he continued before anybody asked about it again. “It hasn’t really changed. We still need to get our hands on Vorinal to see if he can give us any information about the Raze, or tell us where the other Black Gates are. That means we need to clear the Cradle. It also means we need all of us to be A-Rank, and soon.”

“Trial running?” Seena asked.

“Trial running,” Hiral agreed. “We’ll stick around for the next beast wave, like Dad asked, but we’ll also tell him about Gauto’s theory at the same time. I hate to be selfish about this, but we need to be out there getting experience and trial rewards.”

“When push comes to shove,” Seeyela said. “The PIMP’s plan – as much as I don’t trust that thing – does seem to revolve around you and your runes, Hiral. If you’re going to be the center of attention, the rest of us need to be strong enough to keep you safe. Sure, having D-Rankers get more powerful will be great for later…”

“If we have a later,” Wule said. “Sounds like we could all lose our memories – sort of – or stop caring about the Raze long before some of these other people are capable of helping us.”

“It’s true,” Hiral admitted. “And they can keep running trials at the same time we are. We need them for the Cradle, after all. It’s when we finish the Cradle we have to think about too.”

“So, we get out there and run trials until the rest of us have enough experience to Rank-up,” Seena said.

“Mechanized?” Ilrolik asked.

“Not yet,” Hiral said. “I think we need to speed up, but be careful not to rush. Us dying to dumb mistakes because we were taking unneeded risks won’t be any better than losing our memories. We’ll ask Dad what B-Rank trials are out there, even if Burs and his team has already cleared them and gotten the schematic reward. If it’s good experience – and fast – we’ll check it off our own list quickly. It would be great if we could find the teleportation network schematic, but, since we can’t guarantee it, we won’t focus on it.”

“How long do you think before we go out again?” Nivian asked.

“Dad estimates we’ll see a beast wave in the next twenty hours, at the most,” Hiral said. “I’m hoping a lot sooner than that. In the meantime, I’ll use my clones to do some additional scouting, especially in those B-Rank zones. Maybe even in the very limited A-Rank territories as well. The more trials we have to choose from, the better.”

“What about the rest of us?” Ilrolik asked.

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“Be ready,” Hiral said. “That’s the big thing. Maybe also check out the crafting building, see if any of what they offer there speaks to you. Ideally, we get you all advanced classes before we evolve to A-Rank, but…”

“But we can’t hold off on the hopes of it maybe happening,” Ilrolik said. “We already understand that. It’s too bad, but we understand.”

“At least we made out like bandits from The Playhouse,” Seeyela said. “As far as advanced classes. Nivian, your party got what… three? Ilrolik, was it two or three? We got Romin’s – his True-Bonded Onslaught – and Seena’s (Lost) Gloriosa of Rebirth.”

“Which is both impressive and terrifying,” Wule said. “I’ll never look at lilies the same way again.”

“I haven’t even had to go all-out yet,” Seena said, winking at Wule.

That, of course, made her sister sitting beside her give her a slap on the shoulder. She liked winking about as much as she liked the PIMP’s plans for them. Which just made everybody around her more inclined to do it to annoy her.

“As for your question,” Nivian said. “We got three advanced classes from the trial in The Playhouse.”

“Probably because Seena was right,” Wule added. “About doing the A-Rank trial while we were B-Rank. At least from the way Igwanda described the feeling.”

“I’m glad the risk turned out to be worth it,” Seena said. “Like me, in those two trials we did, I don’t think anybody really had to give it their all. How are the advanced classes you got?”

Nivian gave Wule a small nod to start.

“Igwanda got a class called One True Shot,” Wule said. “And, as you can expect from her usual bow-fetish, it revolves around the weapon. It’s kind of like Balyo’s original fighting style, with a focus on bigger, individual shots. I’m a little worried it makes our party a little too focused on single-target damage, but we’ll have to find a way to work around it.”

“We will,” Nivian said. “Finotol hasn’t gotten her advanced class yet, but she’s been actively working on how she can hit multiple targets at once. She knows it’s her weakness. As for Bash…”

Wule barked out a laugh at the same time the Troblin looked up from where he seemed to be shining his hammer. Since the Fist of the First looked like it was made from raw stone, the undead wasn’t making much progress. Didn’t seem to bother him, though.

“Bash’s new advanced class is Wrath of the Land,” Wule explained. “Seems like his new hammer is part of the inspiration, and he has a few abilities that make him an absolute terror as long as he stays on the ground most of the time.”

“And doesn’t wear any boots,” Nivian added. “Not that he ever has anyway.”

“Huh,” Seeyela said. “Won’t that be a problem if you run into another dungeon like The Plateau of Four Valleys?”

“Not with Dole in the party now,” Nivian said. “He’s also why I’m not too worried about our single-target damage. One of his abilities is called Chains of the Uninvited, and it…”

The tank trailed off as a slap echoed around the stew pot from Hiral’s hand hitting his own forehead.

“Of course,” he said, shaking his head. “How did I never see that before?”

“See… what?” Seena asked him, clearly worried about his sanity as she watched his free hand.

“That tattoo – Chains of the Uninvited – creates chains that magically double as they chase down their targets. They almost never give up, and with a strong enough Shaper, there could be dozens of them at any one time. Maybe more than a hundred.”

“So?” Seena asked.

“And, the uninvited. As in a guest who wasn’t supposed to be here…” Hiral said.

“The old goat!” Seeyela said, pointing at Hiral. “The same ability he used to toss you into the portal.”

“Exactly!” Hiral said. “Like Tomorrow said, our tattoos are based off old stories. That damn goat was the source of this one. It’s not exactly the same, but close enough I should’ve seen it. Either way, it’s a great tattoo.”

“It is,” Nivian agreed. “Dole can use it to bring targets down to the ground for Bash to…”

“SMASH!” the Troblin shouted.

“Yes, to smash,” Nivian agreed. “They can also be used to hold targets in place while the others cut down one target at a time if they need to.”

“Then there’s your advanced class,” Wule said. “And since the cat – your Aspect – is out of the bag, you don’t have to keep holding it in reserve.”

“True,” Nivian said. “Without Politet around anymore, we can finally trust our entire party.”

Despite Nivian’s words, there was some sadness in his voice. He’d really tried to give the other undead the benefit of the doubt. To give him a place to be welcome. Politet had never taken it. Worse, he’d tried to kill Hiral. That’d been the last straw, sending Nivian into a terrifying rage.

And unlocking his second advanced class – Ascendent of Death’s Door – which tapped into both his connection with his sponsor, Landbreaker, and his desire to protect. As he explained, his class decided who passed through that door, and who didn’t. By his own hand, if need be. After seeing how he’d dealt with Politet, Hiral had no doubt at all Nivian had the power to back up the claim.

“And your group, Ilrolik?” Seena asked. “It was Yully and Drahn who got advanced classes, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” the big Shaper said, though she and Loan were both chuckling and shaking their heads. “Yully’s new class is really quite good. Grove Keeper, it’s called.”

“Then why are you laughing?” Seeyela asked.

“Because it excels at regrowth and regeneration, especially of limbs,” Ilrolik explained. “In fact, her ability even gets bonuses specifically when she’s regrowing feet.”

“Oh, you’re kidding?” Seeyela groaned. “Because of Devison?”

“Exactly that,” Ilrolik said. “You should’ve seen her face when she got it. I’m still not sure if she was thankful or furious at Devison for it.”

“Knowing her, a little bit of both,” Seena said. “And Drahn’s has something to do with his Pollen Poison?”

“Yes, Wind of the South,” Ilrolik said. “The main thing is that most of his abilities naturally have the same effect as his Pollen Poison, so he doesn’t have to pick and choose as much. Also a few other abilities for direct damage against anything afflicted with the poison.”

“Why the weird name?” Seeyela asked, and everybody looked at her.

“Says the Malice of Greed,” Seena said.

“Yeah, but that one makes…” she cut herself off before she could completely admit the advanced class perfectly fit her tendency to take things that caught her fancy.

“It’s not so surprising, if you know the old story,” Loan said. “We have a tattoo, Breath of the Four Winds. An S-Rank tattoo, so most people can’t use it fully, but each of the cardinal directions has a wind with a different effect.”

“The south wind,” Hiral picked up. “It carries poison.”

“Huh, more connections between stories,” Seena said.

“I feel like we’re just getting started, and we’ll keep seeing more and more as we unlock advanced classes and new abilities,” Hiral said.

“It’s interesting only Growers got advanced classes in your group,” Seeyela pointed out.

“We think it’s because they’d spent more time on the surface,” Ilrolik said.

“And, Hiral, you believe one of the crafting professions…” Loan said. “I think that’s what they’re calling them now – professions. Anyway, you think one of them might lead to an advanced class for us?”

“My base class as a Builder was Runic Artificer,” Hiral said. “Sure sounds like it was meant to be a crafting class.”

“Then you became an adrenaline junkie,” Seena said.

“He always was,” Loan said. “Had to be to live on the edge like he was with a dexterity build.”

“That was mainly my sister challenging Shapers on my behalf,” Hiral deadpanned. “Which, since you’re sitting right here and I’m not quite as afraid of you as I used to be… you never did anything about that!”

“Meh, built character,” Loan shrugged.

“It could’ve split my character in two,” Hiral pointed out.

“So? You split yourself into three, and it seems to have worked out pretty well for you. You should practically be thanking me. And, speaking of duels, you still owe me a practice spar.”

“You can play with Right,” Hiral said, thumbing towards his punchy-double. “I’ve got too much on my plate right now.”

“We can invite Yanily along,” Right said. “You’ll love it.”

“Hrm,” Loan said, rubbing his chin. “Not quite the same, but we’ll give it a try.”

“Good,” Hiral said. “Then, fill your parties in on what the plan is. Get some rest while you can, cause once we go out, we’re going to go hard. Soon as that beast wave is taken care of.”

“We have any idea what the reward is for completing three beast waves?” Wule asked. “Anybody gotten it yet?”

“Maybe after this next wave,” Hiral said. “I don’t think anybody has it yet. Or… you know what, I’m not sure. I’ll ask Dad when I got talk to him.”

“You think he’ll let us go?” Seena said.

“Hate to say it, but he won’t have a choice,” Hiral said.

“Going rogue doesn’t set a good example,” Nivian said quietly.

“Then I really hope we get his permission,” Hiral said. The ‘good son’ in him didn’t want to go against his father’s wishes, regardless of his status as a member of the Trust or not. But, waiting, with the potential risk of the behavior wipe – or whatever they were going to call it – really trumped that feeling.

There was the question of ‘What makes my judgement better than Grandmother and her council or experienced advisors?’. Did he and the others ‘know better’? They just might, and his gut was telling him that taking his time wasn’t the right call.

Well, again, I hope Dad and the others agree with us when we tell them. They should, right? It makes sense.

“I’m getting a pair of new tattoos within the hour,” he continued after the inner dialogue. From the looks on the faces of the others, he wasn’t the only one considering the implications of their decision. “I’ll talk to Dad then.”

“I’d ask if you’ll recover quickly enough,” Loan started. “But, I’ve seen how that regeneration of yours works. Not to mention your solar attributes.”

“They’re almost as crazy as his theories,” Gauto said, somehow with another full bowl of stew in his hands since he wasn’t the center of attention any longer.

“Don’t think you aren’t coming with me,” Hiral said to his friend. “Need to lay it out for them like you did for us.”

“What about the rest of the Trust?” Seena asked. “Might save time if we try to get them all to listen at the same time.”

“Not a bad idea,” Hiral said.

“We’ll get Grandmother,” Seeyela said. “She’ll make Aunt and Uncle join when we tell her its important.”

“We can probably ask Romin to talk to Fyre and Ceelia,” Seena added.

“Then we should probably get to it,” Hiral said. “The more warning they have, the more likely they are to be able to attend. Why don’t we go find Romin,” Hiral said to Seena.

“I’ll go find Grandmother, then,” Seeyela said.

“I’ll go with you,” Wule said, slipping the rain-rejecting ‘bookmark’ between the pages of his book. The next second, it had vanished into his Interspatial Ring, and he stood, dusting himself off. “Why don’t you stay here and keep handing out lunch?” he told his brother.

“Makes me think you’re planning to get up to no good while I’m busy,” Nivian replied.

“Don’t be silly,” Wule replied. “Besides, I’ll have Seeyela keeping me out of trouble.”

“Now I’m doubly worried,” the twin said.