After descending down a series of winding tunnels following nondescript markings on walls, we emerged into a barely-lit cavern.

Another stairwell led us to a clearing and a balcony. I marched to its edge and then pulled on Lance's Dark-sight goggles onto my face.

"Dang," I whistled as my vision was amplified by the magic goggles, the view drawing my breath away. "This is much prettier than advertised."

A mindbogglingly massive, dark cavern stretched out into all directions from the stairwell-adjacent stony balcony that we were standing at. Fog rolled across the distant streets below. Ignix Kitlix occupying glass lanterns flickered far below like tiny red dots.

The ceiling shimmered with bioluminescent fungi, casting an eerie blue-green glow over cramped buildings that seemed to grow directly from the stone walls. Unlike the carefully planned streets above, Undertown was a maze of twisted alleys and precarious walkways, stone buildings carved atop of buildings in a messy jumble almost like a giant anthill rising up each gargantuan absurdly tall column. Waterfalls cascaded between buildings at random, joining into rushing, foaming rivers, heading lower into some unknown depths with a distant rumble.

A few grimy Mage Towers loomed over the stone maze of buildings and had star-like lights burning above them, flickering ever so slightly.

"This isn't the Adventurers Guild," Katherine growled from where she stood, a few steps below me, looking over the eerie underground vista. "Where the shit are we even?"

"Undertown," I replied, taking a photo of the gloomy city below me.

"Why in the Abyss are we in... Undertown of all the places?" Katherine demanded.

"We're going to the other Adventurers Guild!" I grinned, taking a few more photos of me and my companions, cranking the ISO all the way up.

Vespera walked towards me and hugged me and Cinder, taking a selfie with both of us with her phone and then looked annoyed at how blurry it turned out.

I took one with my camera.

"What other Guild?!" Cinder demanded.

"You'll see," I said.

The Quetzi-girl exhaled dramatically.

We departed from the balcony observation point and gradually descended some more worn stone stairs and then rickety wooden stairs into the fog-filled streets below.

"The Gloomy Horse tavern," I explained as we walked. "According to that friendly gargoyle chimney sweep I talked to, it's where all the best underground information brokers hang out."

"Information brokers?" Katherine repeated. "We're supposed to be registering at the Guild, not diving into the criminal underworld!"

"Who says?"

"The school's curriculum?" The Stollwurm growled.

"What's all this complaining about curriculums?" I asked her.

"I'm already failing this damn class," Kat hissed at me. "I thought that now that I'm in an actually tolerable delving team then maybe..."

"Relax and trust your Quartermaster," I said. "You're not going to fail any classes with me around."

Cinder chortled beside me.

"I'd love to trust you, but you're not explaining shit!" The Stollwurm stated. "Why are we here?! Are you going to hire even more assassins to go after Emerald or something?! Going to start a murder competition maybe?"

"Pff, no. We're simply... taking a different path," I grinned at her. "The dark gloomy path. Aren't you stronger underground? Pull those dark goggles off. This is your place. Embrace it. Become the predator you were meant to be."

Katherine realized how dark it was, stopped and pulled her goggles and hood off. "Happy?"

"See? You're practically glowing down here," I noted. "Much better than those bright, colorful, merry, whimsical streets above."

"That's not the point," she growled, but I noticed her tail was moving with more energy, her footsteps silent even as she had a huge wheelchair covered in shields on her back.

"The point is work to our strength," I said. "The point is that Omnithornia is a civilized 21st century society... while this place isn't in the slightest. This is a dark, dank cesspit. You clearly love it here. Admit it."

The Stollwurm huffed.

After about thirty minutes of walking between dilapidated stone buildings passing by some very sus cloaked figures that gave us space, we finally approached what appeared to be a very old, somewhat crumbling, windowless fort carved directly into another gargantuan black and gray slate column, a dark, Citadel-style tower looming overhead, decaying dark parapets barely visible in the gloom.

A weathered wooden sign at the front depicted a half-dead horse standing in the fog and looking at a crumbling old tower hung above the entrance. I could hear muffled conversations and the clinking of glasses from within.

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"This looks... sketchy as eff," Cinder commented, her feathers shifting through wary grays.

"Perfect," I grinned, pushing open the heavy, wooden, magisteel-reinforced door.

The interior was dimly lit by faintly glowing Kitlix inside hanging beer jugs.

The bartender was a tall, gaunt figure with dark gray skin and glowing brown-gray eyes, his hair and beard looking like it was made from dead, black roots. As I approached, he was polishing a glass with a rag that had seen better centuries.

"What's your poison?" he asked in a gravelly voice.

"Information," I replied, sliding onto a barstool. "I heard the Gloomy Horse serves the finest in town. I'm looking for an... Adventure!"

The bartender's eyes narrowed slightly. "Adventure is only for those who can prove themselves. Information's expensive. What kind are you looking for?"

"The kind that doesn't show uptown," I said, sliding a gold coin over to him.

The bartender's eyes gleamed as he took in our expensive delving gear and magisteel armor.

"Follow," he said.

We did, passing by a few gaunt, filthy, cloak wrapped figures nursing their alcohol jugs. The bar was mostly empty. Maybe it was too early to drink or something.

The man waved a hand and a wall of dark roots parted.

We ended up in another, even darker and grimier section of the bar that was carved from bedrock and covered in roots framing the walls. There were a few shadowy alcoves all around between the roots. A single Kitlix lantern flickered far in the back.

The bartender snapped his gnarled fingers, and several cloaked figures emerged from the shadows, surrounding our group.

"Fresh meat from upstairs," he grinned, revealing brown teeth that looked like broken tombstones. "Rich little delvers who wandered too far from the light. How... fortunate."

"Oh good," I said cheerfully. "You're going to try to rob us. Kat, would you kindly show these fine gentlemen what a Stollwurm can do in the dark?"

Katherine's emerald eyes flared in the gloom. The shadows around us suddenly deepened, becoming almost tangible. The temperature dropped sharply as her Stollwurm fear aura activated, amplified by the underground environment. The Kitlix winked out completely.

"With pleasure," she growled, and living darkness exploded outward. Thanks to the borrowed goggles, I could see quite well in near-absolute pitch black.

The cloaked figures recoiled, a few of their weapons clattering to the ground as primal terror gripped them. Even the bartender stepped back, his eyes widening.

The nearest hooded figure, seemingly resistant to Katherine's fear aura, lunged forward with a wicked-looking curved blade. The knife slashed across Katherine's camo jacket and skidded upon encountering magisteel plates, sending a few sparks flying. Before he could strike again, Katherine spun with inhuman speed, her tail whipping around like a steel cable. The impact sent the attacker flying across the room, crashing through a table and several chairs before slamming into the far wall with a sickening crunch.

"Anyone else?" Katherine growled, her emerald eyes blazing in the darkness she'd created. The remaining attackers backed away, trembling in fright and clearly reconsidering their life choices.

"Now then," I turned back to the bartender, who was looking considerably less confident. "About that information. I believe we were discussing prices?"

"What... what are you?" the bartender uttered, staring at Katherine with wide brown eyes.

"Who do you think we are?" I asked.

A cyan and black Kitlix emerged from the man's root-mane. It stared at me with crystalline, glowing eyes.

"You're a Level One Human-Thunderbird... hybrid," the bartender said. "Whatever that is. And your four companions are..."

He fell silent for a moment.

"Quetzalcoatl, Stollwurm, Deathskull Mothman and Thunderbird...." he said. "But... that's it. That can't be it."

"Oh?" I asked. "What's wrong with that?"

"I've never heard of such kin," the bartender said. "And I've had my share of… clients. Plus my Kitlix is struggling to define your levels."

"Ah, yes," I nodded. "That might be because we're from somewhere very, very far away. Somewhere beyond the Wheel."

The bartender's face paled.

"What?" He croaked.

"Can your mages open gateways to other worlds?" I asked him.

"No," The bartender shook his head.

"Io," I grinned. "Would you kindly demonstrate to our good man what you can do?"

The Mothman nodded, pulling out his harmonica. A haunting melody filled the closed section of the tavern, and reality began to ripple behind the bar, weaving a shadowy gate.

I picked up an empty mug and chucked it through the portal, tearing apart the black membrane. The mug flew into the desolate landscape and then it froze in time due to the time dilation, shuddered and exploded, glass shards hanging within the portal, slowly crawling through the air.

Through the gateway, we caught glimpses of a post-apocalyptic cityscape - broken skyscrapers, violet stars, and what appeared to be a massive fallen piece of something, perhaps a fallen megastructure. A titanic thing was looming between skyscrapers, a black figure covered in a shawl of what looked like human skins. A thousand silver eyes shone atop of its head.

The bartender stumbled backwards, his violet eyes wide with terror. "By her Shadow... what manner of magic is this?"

"That's a dimensional gate," I said. "To another world where time is running eighty times slower. That’s… Mr. Noodles. He collects skins, I guess. It would take a single word for one of my lovely Knights to throw you in there and close that gate forever. Or you can work with us. Tell me everything about Shandria's Underworld. Dungeon locations. Secret knowledge not meant for ears of simpletons above. Be extremely honest and cooperative and I will reward you with shiny currency." I jiggled my money bag.

The bartender swallowed hard, his violet eyes darting between the still-open gateway, Katherine's glowing emerald eyes, and my pleasant smile.

"I... see," he said carefully. "Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot. You have proven yourself as high-level mages and not mere children. Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am… Guild Master Motrdem, owner of the Gloomy Horse... Undertown's Adventurers Guild."

"Excellent!" I beamed, motioning for Io to close the gate. "Now we're getting somewhere. First round's on me. Something old and magically potent from your catacombs for my friends."

As Motrdem hurried to fetch drinks, I noticed the remaining cloaked figures had melted back into the shadows. The one Katherine had thrown was being dragged away by his companions.

I looked at Katherine and my heartbeat accelerated. She stood by me, panting slightly. Her bulky coat was ripped apart, revealing a very curvy, fit body covered in glittering silver and dark blue magisteel plates.

Gone was the crotchety, constantly drunk girl in a wheelchair. A tall, muscular Omnid night predator, a Knight of darkness stood in her place, emerald eyes glowing brightly from within like that of a cat, shadows warping and dancing around her in radial waves like inverted flames of an oxygen fire.

She looked like a completely different person here - dangerous, powerful... alive.