Experience poured into her. Just as she’d imagined, it was rich and powerful, but not quite enough to level up. She took a deep breath.

The world around her stabilized. The madness settled.

Pain reasserted itself.

Absolutely every inch of her body hurt. Cass lay on the floor amid the Caretaker’s corpse barely able to move.

She was drenched in blood. A lot of it was hers. More than a few wounds were actively bleeding.

How had she been moving like this?

Had Salos possessed her again? She hadn’t gotten a notification for breaking the possession. Did that mean she was still possessed or that this had been something different?

Whatever it was, it was more potent than adrenaline. More euphoric than drugs.

Her blood ran cold as she imagined how poorly things could have gone had she been wrong about her capabilities in that state.

Slowly, Cass pushed herself up to her knees. Before her, amid the corpse pieces, was a gem, about the size of Cass’s thumb. It had a dusty finish. Dark purple, with a cosmos of shadows swirling slowly within.

Salos’s madness whispered for her to snatch it up and stuff it down her throat immediately.

A sliver of rationality stayed her hand. She identified it first.

Caretaker’s Core

[The crystallized fragment of a soul used to power and control the Caretaker of the Deep. Is primarily Nyxdran in origin.]

Is this a piece of your soul, Cass asked Salos as she picked it up.

Devour. Devour. Devour.

Cass frowned. It was obvious he wanted it, but she wasn’t so sure about swallowing it. As she held it, her necklace warmed on her chest. She held it with her other hand, her frown deepening. What was this now? This was different than Salos’s emotions. This was a real physical warmth.

She inspected the necklace again.

Azorth Necklace

[The home of a once powerful Nyxdran Demon, now your humble servant.

As you have survived the demon’s attempts to possess you, you have been granted ownership of the demon, giving you some bonuses.

…

This item has Unbound Growth and may absorb compatible items to gain functionality.

This item is Soul Bound to the Initiate Cass and may only be removed on their death.]

Compatible items huh? On a hunch, she held the crystallized soul fragment up to the necklace. In a flash, the crystal was gone and the necklace was cold. Salos was silent.

Cass paused, was that good, or bad?

Necklace Evolving

Time until complete: ???

Salos? Cass said.

He didn’t respond.

Salos? You okay? She prodded at the necklace mentally. It felt inert. Not quite empty.

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

She took a deep breath. He’d wanted that core. He knew what he was doing. Probably.

He’d be okay. Probably.

Groaning, Cass tried to stand. It was a teetering stumbling affair, but somehow she found herself on her feet. She leaned heavily on her staff.

Her body was wrecked. Blood caked her clothing, her hair, her skin. The only places not caked in blood were the places where it still actively flowed.

She should probably do something to stop that.

The Caretaker lay in scattered pieces around her. Bits and pieces had exploded off in Alyx’s last attack. Its arms were strewn on opposite sides of the carnage. Its eyes were empty and dark, its bare trap jaws hanging open in a silent and perpetual scream.

Alyx stood beside the carnage, her body hanging like a puppet without a puppeteer. Besides the obvious exhaustion, she looked far better than Cass, which is to say she only looked dragged down the street rather than put through a blender. She was covered in wounds, but besides the head wound and her limp arm, they appeared to be just minor scrapes.

She looked drained though. That last attack must have been a costly finisher. It must have needed some charging up or preparation too, given she’d waited so long to use it.

“You okay?” Cass asked, before remembering that they didn’t speak the same language. And with Salos completely nonresponsive for the moment…

“Been better,” Alyx grunted back. Except, those weren’t the sounds coming out of her mouth even though those were the words Cass’s brain understood them as.

Cass blinked.

“You?” Alyx asked. Again, the sounds didn’t match the meaning.

“Everything hurts,” Cass answered experimentally. She caught it that time. The feel of a skill activating automatically as she spoke. Like a filter between her intent and her mouth. The sounds coming out of her mouth weren’t the English words she’d expected, but rather Alyx’s language.

Automatic and seamless translation. Useful. Terrifying.

Cass added that to her box of existential crisis building in the corner and moved on. At least she could talk to the natives now without Salos. That was good. Definitely good.

“Can you move?” Alyx asked.

Cass took a teetering step forward leaning heavily on her staff. “I think so.”

Jothi Language Comprehension has increased to level 2

“Good. You killed the Lord?” Alyx asked. “I got the quest (…) notification and a (… …) experience.”

Cass nodded, even though there were several words in the middle she didn’t understand. The meaning of the second half of Alyx’s statement was completely lost. “Sorry for leaving the Caretaker to you while I did that.”

A couple of the words Cass said came out in English and she could feel the skill struggling with the grammar. She had a long way to go still before she could be considered fluent.

Alyx frowned but shrugged with her good shoulder. “It worked (... …) end. We should get going.” Alyx pointed at the door the Caretaker had come from. She said something that the skill didn’t translate. All Cass caught was the phrase: “Safe Zone.”

Cass was pretty sure Salos had said something about the Lord's chamber and the Safe Zone beyond it being immobile in the labyrinth’s layout and very near one another. That was the only reason she nodded and staggered toward the door the Caretaker had come through.

There aren’t any more monsters through those doors are there, Salos? No additional Caretakers?

He did not respond. It felt more like talking to a rock than another sentient being.

Thankfully, there was no monster waiting for them. Instead, they found a simple study. The remains of books filled the ancient shelves lining the walls to either side, all covered in dust and cobwebs. Murals surrounded the door directly opposite them, though the images were faded to the point of being almost indistinguishable from the natural striations of stone.

Cass hobbled up to one of the bookshelves and sighed. She had hoped there would be information on the summoning circles that had dragged her here, but these books were degraded far beyond being usable. Cass wasn’t even sure she should touch what was left of them in her bedraggled bleeding state.

Alyx walked directly to the far doors, not sparing a second for the books. She glanced over her shoulder at Cass as she put a hand on the door. “Come on. We (… … …) look later.”

A heavy drop of blood dripped from Cass’s arm to the floor, an unsubtle reminder that she was still actively bleeding out. Alyx was right.

Cass hurried after her as quickly as her broken body would allow.

Beyond the doors was a wide cavern with a moss-covered hill in the center. Above, crystal stars twinkled down on them.

A wave of comfort washed over her as they entered and Cass felt the tension holding her body up release. She crumpled to the floor, a bloody, exhausted mess.

A Safe Zone.

We made it, Salos, Cass whispered. Now she just needed to not bleed out before magic healing saved her.

She could feel the air movement beside her of Alyx similarly collapsing, though she’d had the presence of mind or dignity to stagger out of the doorway first.

There was a tearing noise. Cass looked up at Alyx to see her pulling up the moss and pressing it against the worst of her wounds.

Cottongauze Moss

[An absorbent moss valued for its natural antiseptic properties. Common to Safe Zones, it has resisted attempts to cultivate it in mortal-made environments. ]

Cass didn’t waste any time, crawling forward into the moss. She started to pull up handfuls and press them into her many cuts. But there were so many. She didn’t have the hands to hold it all in place.

But there was a simpler solution. She flopped down into the pile face first. That’d cover most of it. She groaned and resolved to pass out until the worst of her injuries were healed.