They found the epherwing’s nest a little after midday. Cass wasn’t sure when she’d realized she could sense the position of the sun through Atmospheric Sense, but she wasn’t complaining.

The nest—a narrow, oblong bowl worn into the stone by time and weather—was tucked into a crevasse in the ridge. It had been padded with the soft, black down of the epherwing. The feathers had a translucent sheen to them in the daylight, almost like light was refracted through or around them.

In the center of the nest were two objects. The first was a familiar orb, this one a hazy green. The second was an egg, the size of a coconut and the same black color as the nest.

Orb of Transience

[The treasure entrusted to the Herald of the Pass.

Last retrieved: 6 years, 9 months, 26 days ago.

Last manifested as: Epherboots]

Epherwing Egg

[The egg of one of the apex predators of the Fractured Skies.]

Alyx dropped down into the nest and picked up the orb first. It shimmered in her hand a moment before exploding into light and smoke. It coalesced into a chest plate and a pair of marbles. Alyx tossed the marbles at Cass before turning her attention back to the chest plate before her.

The two marbles were unequal in size. The first was a little less than half the size of the original ball, the second a little bigger than Cass’s pinky.

Beginning Treasure Manifestation

[Calculating Need…

Calculating Trial Difficulty…

Modifying based on Participant Level…

Modifying based on Contribution…

Achievement Calculated.

Applying Achievement and Need Modifiers to Reward Pool…

Manifesting Ethereal Robe]

The smaller of the two marbles exploded leaving a bundle of light fabric behind.

“I guess this one’s for you,” Cass said holding the remaining marble up for Salos.

He tapped it with his paw and a dagger manifested in Cass’s hand.

“Hmp,” Salos grunted, staring wistfully at the curved blade. “The need and contribution calculations must be off.”

It was a short, gently curving blade, the metal as dark as the Epherwing’s down. Black leather wrapped the handle, ending in a pommel made of the same dark metal.

Erizen’s Blade

[Class: Dagger (Bladed)

The dagger made for Erizen, for his acceptance into the Arcanum Custodia. May he stand at his mistress’s side ever bolder.

Reduced perception of blade.

Minor reduced perception of wielder.]

“Can you use this?” Cass asked.

“If I had thumbs,” Salos said with a shrug. “Maybe poorly if I held the handle in my mouth. Maybe I’ll develop telekinesis?”

“I thought these rewards were supposed to pick something you could use?” Cass said.

“They are supposed to,” Salos agreed. His words hung between them as they both stared at his dagger for a minute longer.

“Should I hold onto it for you?” Cass asked.

“Just use it,” Salos said.

“I don’t think I’m going to be any good with it,” Cass warned. “I don’t have a skill for it or any previous experience with knives. Except cooking knives.”

“Well, don’t say that out loud again,” Salos said with a sigh and a pointed look at Alyx. If she was listening, she didn’t give any indication. Instead, she seemed focused on putting on her new chest plate.

“Right, sure.”

“Anyway, hold onto it,” Salos said. “Maybe you’ll pick up a skill for it. At worst, you can always bluff.”

Cass nodded and slipped it into her Bag, lacking a belt to strap it to.

Finally, she shook out the pile of fabric her orb had given her. She cried when she saw it.

Ethereal Robe

[Class: Clothing (Cosmetic)

Light and airy robes. Enchanted to be undamageable and unstainable. Color changes to reflect wearer’s tastes.]

They were tears of joy.

She had been completely wrong earlier when she said that getting clothing from a monster reward would be undesirable. This was exactly what she needed.

She didn’t waste any time stripping off what remained of her PJs and rainjacket and slipping on the light fabric.

It was a long dress, cinched at the waist with a simple cord. As she put it on, the color shifted from the initial creme to a deep green, then a light purple, before settling on a soft blue, the color of clear skies.

Cass pinned her cloak broach to the breast and delighted at the flowing fabric around her body. Clean clothes! She had clean clothes at last. Now, if only she could swing a shower.

“Is that enchanted for protection?” Alyx asked, eyeing the new robe/dress suspiciously.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Cass shook her head. “Clean clothes!”

Alyx redirected her confused look at Salos, who just yawned and shook his head.

It was really bad armor. It was probably worse than her sweatshirt and PJs had been before they’d been torn up. But it wasn’t falling off her body in strips and that was all she cared about.

Before Cass could explain any of that to Alyx, a window appeared before her.

Beginner Sub-quest Full Completion Bonus: Defeat the Lords’ Heralds

[For defeating all three Heralds of Uvana and collecting their treasures, you are rewarded.

Reward: 1 Choice of 3 options.

1. Trait, Increased Skill Gain, Dex skills

2. Trait, Increased Skill Gain, Ala skills

3. Trait, Increased Skill Gain, Per skills]

Cass’s eyes widened again. Increased skill gain? That was the same bonus she had for her Will skills and was probably the reason Elemental Manipulation had hit level 9 twice while most of her skills still languished at level 6 or lower.

This was a chance for some of those to catch up, the question was which ones?

She flipped through her skills, categorizing them based on their primary stat:

Ala:

* Mana Blade (lvl 4)

Dex:

* Stealth (lvl 9)

* Dodge (lvl 7)

* Wind Step (lvl 6)

* Sprint (lvl 2)

Per:

* Atmospheric Sense (lvl 10)

* Foraging (lvl 7)

* Identify (lvl 6)

* Mana Sense (lvl 5)

* Trap Detection (lvl 2)

With that in mind, what did she want? Based on this list, she should discard option 2, the bonus to Alacrity skills. She might have more in the future, but it was also possible she never would. Taking this bonus just for Mana Blade seemed like a bad choice.

What about the other two?

There was one more Perception skill than Dexterity, but the Dexterity ones were more immediately combat-related. In Perception’s favor, though, Perception’s skills were all things that would, in theory, help keep her out of combat.

Then again, what was the difference between level 6 Identify and level 9? These skills were invaluable, but how much did their utility increase with additional levels?

There was no question that Atmospheric Sense now was infinitely more detailed than it had been when she’d first awakened it. The air was alive around her, whispering its movement and the movement of the things around her, where initially it had told her little more than the immediate weather.

But would Foraging provide similar benefits? Mana Sense? Identify?

Would those bonuses be better than another level of Dodge? There was a lot more value in being marginally better at getting out of the way of an attack than there was in being slightly more sensitive to mana.

It wasn’t an easy choice.

What do you think? Cass asked Salos, sharing the details of her quandary with him.

Oh, tricky. Dex is the best, but Perception is no worse, he muttered. Given your specific skills… And the trouble you get into even with them… Dexterity. I would pick Dexterity if I were you.

Your reasoning? Cass asked.

Wind Step, he said. The better that is, the better chance you have of getting out of any situation you find yourself in. Dodge and Stealth benefiting as well are a large plus as well. But neither option is a bad choice.

That more or less lined up with her thoughts on the subject.

Reward Selected: Trait, Increased Skill Gain, Dex skills

Trait Gained: Spoils of the Heralds

[You have defeated all the Heralds of Uvana and taken their treasures. This is a feat to remember.

- Bonus Dex Skill Growth]

“That just leaves this thing,” Alyx said, nudging the egg in the center of the nest with her foot. “Think we’d get experience for destroying it?”

“Why would you destroy it?” Cass asked, her eyes going wide.

“Experience,” Alyx said. “Weren’t you listening?”

“But, it's an egg!”

“Didn’t you lead me into a spawning chamber to kill baby Lords earlier?” Alyx asked incredulously.

“Well, yeah. I guess.” Cass shifted uncomfortably under the swordswoman’s gaze. Alyx didn’t need to know Cass hadn’t been entirely happy with that plan either.

“What’s different?” Alyx asked.

“Everything!” They had needed to kill a Lord to get out of the Deep. They couldn’t kill the actual Lord at her level. They didn’t need to destroy an egg for their survival. The egg's existence had no bearing on their ability to leave the valley alive.

Alyx rolled her eyes. “You want to leave an opportunity here for someone else?”

“Why not? It's not like we can get credit for killing the epherwing again, can we?” Cass said, looking to Salos for confirmation.

He nodded slowly. “It would still be worth a tidy bit of experience though.”

“How much could it possibly be?” Cass asked. “It's an egg, it can’t fight back.”

“Still better than someone else getting the chance for a free Herald of the Pass kill,” Salos said.

Cass grit her teeth. She wanted to complain that it was unnecessarily cutthroat, but it was difficult to pretend he was wrong. Taking a minute to think it through, she could think of at least two reasons why simply leaving the egg here was a bad idea.

The first was the issue Salos and Alyx cared about. This egg represented an easy opportunity. Anyone who wandered through this pass before the egg hatched would be able to kill the Herald of the Pass without any effort. They’d get the rewards and bonuses for it. In a world where stats were power, letting others gain stats was giving them a chance to overtake them. It went against Salos’s maxims.

Cass still felt this was a massive overreaction, but this was what they were worried about, for better or for worse.

Cass had a separate worry. The egg, assuming no other party stumbled onto it too soon, would hatch and grow to be another terror of the skies like its mother. There was no telling how many it would kill.

True, most who found themselves here had chosen to risk their lives pursuing power, and such people didn’t need to be protected by someone like her. But, some small fraction might be lost souls like her. People with no interest in killing. People dragged into this place against their will.

For their sake, the egg could not be allowed to hatch and become a people-killing monster.

But, did that mean they had to destroy it?

“We should let Cass break it,” Salos was arguing with Alyx. “You have a higher level. It will not be worth much to you.”

“I had the greatest contribution to killing the Epherwing,” Alyx countered. “This is my treasure.”

“How much is it worth?” Cass asked.

“How much experience would you get?” Salos asked. “I think you would probably get most of a level off it. Epherwing are high-tier beasts. That should be worth something.”

“No, I mean if we sold it,” Cass said, looking at Alyx. “There have to be markets back at Velillia, right? And,” Cass looked back at Salos, “We don’t have any cash. Levels are good, but we have no supplies or resources.

“This is a rare egg, isn’t it? Aren’t there monster tamers or something that would love to raise something like this? Maybe a lord with a gladiatorial arena they need stocked? Maybe even a rich man who’ll raise it in captivity to kill himself once it's worth more experience?”

Salos and Alyx frowned at one another.

“You sure you aren’t from this world?” Alyx asked, her eyes narrowing.

“Then there is?” Cass asked.

Alyx nodded. “But I don’t know how we’ll transport it.”

“I’ve got it,” Cass said, slipping the egg into her Bag easily. Alyx’s eyes glazed over as Cass shoved the egg into her Bag—no one commented that the egg was obviously larger than the Bag in question.

This was the right thing to do. Killing it here was a waste.

Did she feel better about selling it off for someone else to do the same? No, not really. But there was any amount of time between now and then. Plenty enough time to think of another reasonable way to handle the egg.

“That’s fine,” Alyx said. “But, I want seventy percent share from the sale.”

“Hey!” Salos started to argue.

“I killed the epherwing,” Alyx reiterated.

“Only with the help of my skills. You wouldn’t have hit the wide side of an Island if not for me.”

“And which market do you plan on selling it at?” Alyx asked.

Salos’s lips pursed as his arguments dried up in his mouth.

“Be happy I’m not asking for more.”

“Fine.” Salos settled back on Cass’s shoulder.