Less than twenty minutes later, while the rest of us sat on the platform formerly containing the [Flame Golem] eating a snack, Arlian slipped from the floor without a sound just to my right and behind Ylsa. I managed to catch a glimpse of his head given my position, but she wasn’t so lucky.

The sound of his feet settling after flowing out of the rock was the first indication she had that something was there and, keyed up as she was, she took a swing at him with her bare fist.

He chuckled darkly as he swayed back to avoid the attack. “Is that any way to treat the person who just killed not only the rest of the [Flame Golems] on this floor, but the hordes of [Magmen] guarding most of them as well?”

“What are you–”

Ylsa’s flustered reply was interrupted by Jaegan’s weak cough. “Check the floor progress, he’s not lying.” Despite his weakened state, he still nodded appreciatively to the [Obsidian Knight]. “Nice work.”

“It was my pleasure.” The black glass knight lifted his visor to reveal a face of the same material, but with far more emotive options. He smiled. “It’s been quite a while since I had to fight three creatures like [Flame Golems] at once, so it was interesting, to say the least.”

After verifying his claim, I rose to my feet and turned to face him. “I trust you did what you said, but I’d like to have you run me through the floor once so I can look for hidden loot caches. Is that alright?”

He nodded. “I’m pretty savvy at that kind of thing, given my history, but I’m more than happy to play tour guide for a bit.” Turning, he made to walk toward the exit. “Well? Are you coming?”

With an apologetic look at my party, I hurried after Arlian’s departing form.

Over the next hour, I scoured that entire floor, minus the lava pits I had Arlian check, for secrets and was rewarded handsomely for my efforts. Despite the value of everything I found, I didn’t find what I was hoping for, healing for a soul wound.

Arlian assured me that we’d gone through everything, but I kept hunting for another hour to no avail, even after having the elemental knight phase through the wall of every cavern we hadn’t found secrets in already. It was to no avail, we’d already found everything on the floor.

As I sat, fuming, down the hall from my companions, I took a minute to check my notifications and wasn’t surprised to see I had a stack of them. With a surge of will, I condensed them into a single long notification.

[Skill Mastery Increases:

Air Step - 28→61%

Arcane Armor - 77→80%

Psyknife - 28→50%

Mana Slide - 24→31%

Backstab - 96→99%

Rapid Strike - 81→86%

Dual Chop - 65→71%

Haste - 28→48%

Light Arrow - 69→71%

New Skills Acquired with Skill Dominance:

Frost Blade

Wall of Force]

Not much in there I’d say was actually surprising, besides the rate my Skills are advancing, but Dominus told me that would happen. It’s weird not to see [Trap Finding] or [Trap Disarming], but…oh.

[Trap Finding and Trap Disarming have merged to become Trap Master upon their simultaneous evolution.

Note: As this is an amalgamation of all evolution options with the full functionality of each, it was automatically selected.]

I guess that’ll be interesting to figure out. I wonder if that’s why Dad always made me find the trap and disable it, instead of just finding it and resetting? Maybe he has something similar? I really miss them right now, they’d know how to help Jaegan–

“I’ve got it!” I sprang to my feet and started running down the hall toward the group. I burst into the room with a shout. “I know how to help Jaegan!”

Ylsa, Raiju, and the man himself all looked at me like I was crazy, which I guess isn’t insane, given my appearance. The last of the loot caches I’d found was in the chimney above a massive fire pit Arlian told me the [Magmen] were using to roast some sort of big bird whose carcass didn’t survive the battle. I was coated from head to toe in dark black soot and, despite my efforts, nothing had helped to remove it and I wasn’t going to change my slotted Skills out for [Hydrosphere] just to clean myself up.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Did you get in a fight with a chimney?” Jaegan chortled before breaking out into a series of coughs.

“Ironically, yes, I did.” I was too excited to let his usual antics get to me. “I know how to heal your spirit wound…or at least who can deal with it nearby.” My voice trailed off as I realized where we were and what we were doing. “As soon as we figure out what’s wrong with the Tower we can–”

“Bah, stow that.” The [Mage] fought his way to his feet. “It’s time to go to floor two, hopefully it’s a bit cooler than this, my old bones aren’t loving this extreme heat. Where’s the exit?”

I blushed. “I have an option in my Party Interface to move us all to the next floor, as long as you’re all within twenty feet of me. It stresses that part in bold.” I hurried over and stood next to my old friend. “You’re going to make it, alright? You’re going to survive. You aren’t Jaegan ‘Wallbreaker’ Toretto for nothing. We’ll find a way through these walls to get you sorted out.”

“Save it for someone who’s dying. I’m good.” He swayed on his feet before staring at me meaningfully. I surprised even myself by not commenting on it further.

From the edge of the pedestal, Arlian coughed. I looked over his way before blanching. I turned back to the group with a wry grin. “Hold on just a bit, I need to honor a promise.” Raiju practically pushed me off the stone to go to our savior.

He grinned with cheeks of rounded black glass. “Are you ready to honor that promise of yours?” He hefted his spear and made to go down on one knee with a questioning eyebrow raised.

I nodded. “I’m a man of my word. Give me a second to figure this out.” With a gesture, I pulled up the [Elemental Pactlord] menu, but nothing in there mentioned a permanent binding.

“Boss? It’s not done through your Skill, this is the System, pure and simple. Anyone could do it if they weren’t such assholes, had the permission of the Elemental Monarchs, and had Mana as delicious as yours.” He chuckled. “I, Arlian the [Obsidian Knight], swear allegiance to my lord and his dynasty, until the end of time.” A bright red System window appeared in front of me.

[Arlian the Obsidian Knight has requested to be your subject for as long as your dynasty remains. The offer stands until Arlian retracts it.

Warning! This will permanently consume 1.5% of your Mana regeneration rate.

Do you accept his offer of fealty? Y/N]

“I’m a man of my word. I accept.” I went to manually select the option, only to find it gone. The System took my vocal acknowledgement as enough.

I’m going to have to be careful with that, especially if I’m ever bluffing. Not that I’d ever do that to anyone who wasn’t an asshole, but still…gotta be careful with my words. It’s kind of nice that it gives the percentage of Mana I had allotted for him back when he gets here permanently. I wonder if that’s because he can pull some of his own in now that he’s a denizen…

Before I could open my mouth to congratulate him, the pair of us sagged toward each other as we doubled over in pain. He screamed and I howled as a bond was forged anew between us at the same time as another bond was severed. The pair of us stood there, panting together, for the better part of a minute before I helped him stand back up. I found his body surprisingly warm for a moment before remembering what he really was.

“That sucked.”

He spat out a few chunks of obsidian that looked suspiciously like teeth before flashing me a toothy grin. “You’re telling me. It felt like I was being ground down for some glassblower’s project as my connection to my former employer was severed. The new bond was pleasant by comparison but, you are correct, it did indeed suck.”

I padded over to the group of watching adventurers and companions, catching a brief look of jealousy from Volta before she hid it. “So, Arlian’s going to be with us for the foreseeable future, please be good to him.”

“It’s my pleasure.” He did a sweeping bow with his black spear planted firmly in its sheath on his back. Looking over to Jaegan, he spoke softly. “Tactical commander, please treat me as a bruiser DPS unless fire’s involved,” he grinned, “then I’m a mixed Tank/DPS.”

“Noted. You’ll float like the boss does then. Marching order-wise, you’re in the rear with Ylsa.” The old [Mage] turned to look at me. “Care to dish out the loot before we leave? The stuff here might be useful for the next floor, or at least that’s how it always was for my groups. Keep the valuables for the inn after the Tower though, no need to max out our storage with coins and gems when the System is being so kind as to hold it for us.”

“Can do…I think.” Pulling up the Party Interface, I flicked over to the Loot tab and soon found the option I was looking for. “There’s a lot here, but only two things look even remotely useful in the short term.” I tapped on the names of the items and they appeared in the space before me before Arlian caught them and held them out for all to see, turning them slowly so everyone could get a good look.

[Molten Mantle - Rare

Durability - 755/755

Description - This cloak is woven from the tough, heat-resistant fibers of a Magman’s hide. It provides the wearer with significant fire resistance and protection from heat-based attacks. Additionally, the mantle can be ignited, releasing a burst of flames that can damage enemies. Alternatively, the mantle can be ignited to provide ongoing cold damage resistance until extinguished.]

This is useful for literally everyone, minus my elementals of course. On second thought, I wonder if the System would let Raiju slot it? That’d be something to check out, even if she doesn’t want it, just to check.

[Inferno Gauntlets - Rare

Charges per Day - 15/15

Description - Gauntlets crafted from the remains of a Flame Golem. These gauntlets grant the wearer increased fire resistance and the ability to channel fire-based attacks through their fists.]

I didn’t even bother considering them, instead passing them off to Ylsa without a word. She slipped them on with a small smile.

“Thank you, Storm-Blessed. I didn’t want to impose.” She tried to hide a blush, but failed miserably considering her size. “I’ll put them to good use.”

“I know you will.” I turned to face the group. “I think we should let Raiju try on the mantle, just in case the System lets her slot it. If not? No big deal, Jaegan can have it. If she can, I think she should get it.” I did my best not to sound catty. “We all know her fur is very flammable.”

“It is n…yeah, it really is.” Raiju sounded defeated. “I’ll try on the stupid short cloak if everyone’s OK with it.” When no one objected, she put a paw on it and, half a second later, it appeared around her shoulders. She shivered happily. “It feels like I’m all curled up with my pack back when I was a pup. Thanks everyone!” She barked happily before turning to Jaegan. “Sorry, you can have it if you want it.”

Before she could try and get it off, he patted her head. “No, you need it. I’m plenty fire-proof for a caster.” He turned to me with bright eyes. “Let’s get going, I don’t want to die in this hotbox.”

“As you wish. Everyone, gather up.” I waited for Volta and Voltaire to float down near the group before selecting the option in the Party Interface to move us to the second floor. “Up we go!”