---Maddy---

🙈 Achievement get: What you can't see can't hurt you (Rare)

Description: Died to a Deleamouson. Perhaps you caught a glimpse of hypnotic patterns in the water. Perhaps you went swimming deep into an illusionary lake. Whatever the case, you were caught and eaten alive by the alluring sights of an aquatic predator.

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Stat: +18 Mental visual defense

Stat: +3 Mental defense

👻 Achievement get: A Ghostly existence (Unique)

Description: Spent considerable time, aware and fully unshielded in the spiritual layer then returned to the physical.

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Stat: +9 Soul defense

👻 Achievement get: Vision from beyond the veil (Rare)

Description: Viewed the physical layer while wholly located in a spiritual layer. Through some form or variant of astral projection or similar, you found yourself as nothing more than a spirit. Not content with your lacking senses, you managed to view a shadow of reality through magical means.

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Stat: +9 soul power

Stat: +4 mental power

👻 Achievement get: A mobile mind (Unique)

Description: Consciously moved about as a spirit and then returned to a physical form – however aided you might have been.

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Stat: +4 soul speed

Stat: +2 soul defense

🧟 Achievement get: Possessive aren't you (Unique)

Description: Consciously claimed a new body as your own. Not content to simply take control, you’ve squashed whatever ego the body might have had and bound your soul tightly to a new shell. Considering how easy that was, the previous host must have been too weak to fight back. Are you possessing sick children? That’s generally frowned upon in polite company but everyone needs a hobby.

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Stat: +10 mental power

Stat: +5 soul power

Maddy stumbled sideways as her body dragged itself into focus. This is wrong. This isn’t my body. These aren’t my hands.

Maddison collapsed by the wall and retched. Weird bile ran up then out and fell onto the transparent crystal floor below as she dealt with the disorienting continuous full body transplant. Within seconds the bile sunk through the material and fell down into the lake below.

Don’t stare down.

Maddy had the presence of mind to twist her head slightly towards the wall as she heaved and shook. Through blurry tears she read the achievements before dry heaving a second time.

This was worse than she had heard. Was this new body rejecting her? Was it just because she had been conscious continuously from before, during, and after the transplant? Was she just weaker than others?

Maddy reached for her life pool and panicked slightly as it wasn’t exactly where she was used to. It was shifting when I was incorporeal. Calm down, it’s over here.

Directing some towards her mind instantly made her feel more in control and with a shaking hand she wrote on the red brick beside her. The bile made a great finger paint even if it was disgusting and a quick ‘heal me’ written and activated later and Maddy was fine enough to stand up.

It felt like infusing her body in life mana claimed it somehow. It was more hers now.

This isn’t my body.

She felt slightly weak – likely due to her small number of physical stats not having transferred to this –not my– body yet…and yet surpisingly it felt like most of her mental stats survived the journey.

Maybe because she had kept them in her soul? Dragged them with her?

Either way she had to find their room. What section of the town am I in?

Spinning about Maddy tried to spy any familiar landmarks. All the roads looked the same…she was currently in a low traffic street and a couple of the citizens walking past had glanced at her in curiosity. One or two looked concerned but didn’t want to get involved. Maddy wiped her mouth as she spun slowly then stepped out into the center of the street to get a better look. The town didn’t seem to have any massive towers or anything she could link to…

Guess I’ll walk for now.

Wiping her hand as best as she could on the wall, Maddy slowly made her way along the street. As she walked, Maddy began splitting her attention into separate components. One part focused entirely on the surroundings and walking. It took a surprising amount of concentration to do those two things but Maddy left enough of her attention in this compartment to panic about her traumatic experience.

Dying had wiped the compulsion to stay looking upwards and now this section of Maddy also had the intrusive desire to look down.

She knew what was down there. Even if she wasn’t able to confirm the properties of the floor she could guess.

It seemed like the ground was solid but let through waste. The streets were surprisingly clean for somewhere people couldn’t stare…garbage was just dumped to the lake below. Similarly you could technically look down but if you found yourself hypnotized or something along those lines the floor would drop you?

…Maybe the jellyfish siren could control those it hypnotized and the city decided it was better to jettsion a compromised individual instead of dealing with them walking around doing a monsters bidding?

That felt right but opened up an incredibly important line of thought.

Why.

Why would a city decide to build itself on top of what was probably an underwater monster nest? If there was such a danger of looking down…why was the floor see through? Couldn’t they paint over so you couldn’t see the water below? It didn’t make sense.

While a portion of Maddy’s thoughts focused on walking and a portion of her thoughts focused on the cities infrastructure decisions, the majority went to planning.

* Find a safe place and regain as much of my kit as possible.

* NO! My scythe is under water…I should abandon it but I really want that back. I don’t want another focus I want that one.

* For safe space ideally it would be find our rented room.

* Meet up with my friends again.

* Process what just happened because I know I’m suppressing the experience right now.

* My staff!

Maddy felt…surprisingly great as she sorted the list of priorities and started populating a much longer list of long term goals adding countless bucket list style spells into it as she walked. A way to speak underwater. A way of casting spells while unconscious. If she did get her staff back, a way of not losing it again.

Most of these bucket spells were vague enough she didn’t even know how to start working on them but it helped calm her down more than anything else did.

For the longest time she had been dealing with the pervasive effect of having the soul exposing spell active. It wasn’t a complete personality change, but that spell was a constant negative hit to her sanity – one obvious in hindsight as soon as it was gone. It felt like that had been weighing on her decision making skills. Forcing her towards the safest courses of action. Making her more frightened of certain scenarios. Blunting her willingness to take risks.

Not removing it completely – if that was the case she probably wouldn’t even have followed Troy to their shared death – but there all the same.

It was almost an oxymoron. She had been safer having it there and letting the necromancer revive her than she had been without it and yet had acted as if she didn’t have that safety.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Excuse me?” A voice called from Maddy’s side and she turned to find herself staring at a floating woman.

She looked incredibly similar to the gatekeeper – a telescope like staff, a similar outfit and face. The eyes were a different colour – Maddy couldn’t remember the colour of the gatekeeper’s eyes, but this woman had bright almost glowing aquamarine irises and she would have noted that if the gatekeeper had such a defining feature.

And of course the woman was floating. She sat cross legged on an incredibly thin pane of floating glass that looked similar to the crystal floor.

“Yes?” Maddy asked trying to guess what the woman might want. She does want something from me. There’s a relaxed posture and cheerful exposed outlook but a hard look in her eyes as if she could switch immediately depending on how I react. I am not being given a break am I?

“Do you have a moment to step inside and answer some questions?” The woman with connections to the city asked, gesturing towards an open door.

She…probably knows I fell? What will she do with that information. Should I answer her questions? I can’t afford to get in trouble right now – I don’t have easy to cast magic and I’m still recovering.

“Sure” Maddy answered easily, pushing every ounce of cooperation into her voice that she could. She then stepped into the café she had just been walking past a slight rush of wind flipping her hair up as she crossed the threshold.

Moving into the building, Maddy was lightly directed towards a small booth with comfortable looking but slightly too high up set of benches.

They almost looked and felt like they were sculpted from clouds and Maddy felt strange as she found herself sliding in and looking across at the woman – the officer?

This is a strange way of interrogating someone. Maddy noted as the woman called down a waiter. She found herself fidgeting as the waiter stood and took her order – the employee’s standing up position was directly at eye level for both of them.

She felt even more off center because of how high she was. Her legs dangled below and reminded her of a child in a booster seat or something. After focusing on the why of things and dismissing it Maddy calmed those senses taking complete control over her mental state.

Her legs stilled and the fidgeting stopped.

“Do you want a drink?” The officer asked glancing across at Maddy.

This…felt like a loaded question. Was it a move to place her off balance? An offer to try and open her up? A way of subtly introducing a debt so Maddy would feel like she had to respond? Was this more than just a random café and the drink was going to be a truth serum or something? – Maddy didn’t trust that didn’t exist after the gold letters and existence of mental defense.

Or of course was it just a polite offer with no hidden meaning? Without knowing the officers personality, the exact answer would be hard to guess…the real question was how Maddy wanted to react. Did she want to refuse it to snip those potential ties and dangers? Or did she want to knowingly accept it to build goodwill?

Maddy purposefully hesitated longer than needed to show she was deliberating then responded. She tried to strike a balance between different options her mind kept tossing to her.

“Sure, I’ll go with whatever you recommend.”

“Wonderful!” The officer laughed raising her hand in the universal symbol for ‘two’ and letting the waiter leave. Less than a minute later the waiter came back and slid two fluffy drinks towards the two of them.

The drinks were unique enough to warrant a second take. They were held in crude cone-shaped glass mugs. Like a mason jar had been moulded into a martini glass by a child. The drinks themselves looked almost violently sugary – if Maddy had to describe the drink in front of her she’d say it was like someone had half-liquified white cotton candy and drizzled a blue syrup throughout it.

Maddy would have hesitated over drinking first but the officer had already brought her own to her lips for a quick sip.

Maddy drank as well – it was much less sweet than she had imagined. Still sugary but not sickly so. The drink rolled down her throat easily while tasting of melons and something soft.

The concept of clouds? Not what an actual cloud would taste like but the idea of it?

“So what do you think of my city?” The woman asked, smiling slightly as she watched Maddy sip and try and place the taste.

Okay. Not an officer. Mayor? No…following the pattern other cities have followed, she’s probably a mage queen…that means she is above any laws and probably incredibly powerful. Considering how strong the leaders of cities in the previous zone have been she’s potentially even stronger.

Maddy sipped once more, slipping into a role she had been distancing herself from and then answered honestly.

“I haven’t had much time to explore it yet…but so far I like it. Its clean and the colors are nice.”

“That’s good.” The woman happily responded then took a deep drink. “I’ve built most of it myself…we haven’t passed the 27 year mark yet which is usually the sign of a city that will stand the test of time but I’m pleased with the results so far.” The queen finished swirling her cloudy drink and taking another long swig.

Maddy felt like she was good with people – and yet in this moment she couldn’t predict what was happening. Every instinct was telling her the woman was interrogating her with intent to kill if she answered incorrectly…and yet she wasn't coming at the interrogation in a way someone who fit her profile would.

Did she treat her like a generic police officer? A fantasy view of a queen? The glimpse of high level people she’d seen so far? It didn’t help the queen's words and actions didn’t mesh, confusing Maddy more.

Maddy didn’t know what to answer. There was a pause that felt drawn out enough someone else might start babbling in. Asking why they were stopped or explaining what had happened to them. Maddy kept her mouth shut and sipped more of her drink. Finally the woman continued her questioning as if realizing Maddy wouldn’t start speaking on her own.

“I’m sorry for dragging you off the street but I’m still in the stage where I like to get involved. It’s hard not to see this city as the small group of settlers it once was you understand.” The queen placed her glass to the side and leaned forward.

She’s finally getting serious.

“I’m hoping you can answer a few simple questions for me – there’s no need to be that tense.” The queen laughed then lifted a hand to the side.

A blue pane extended quickly and began playing a recording of their entrance to the town.

Maddy would have winced as Troy spoke of resurrection even as she outwardly watched the scene.

A second pane appeared providing an upwards view of their room roughly as soon as Troy looked down and ending a minute after Maddy followed. Jess paced back and forth alone in the room and then faded away as the view ended.

“First off, I’m hoping you can satisfy my curiosity. I’m hoping to figure out how some humans have managed to leave the bounds of the city and then return without me noticing. It’s a security issue you understand – you aren’t the first adventurer to break the rules but you are some of the first to do so and then not come back through the front gate…now how might you have managed that I wonder?” The queen spoke.

Maddy mentally screamed into a pillow while schooling her face as naturally as she could.

What do I even tell her?

…

Maddy compared lying with telling the truth and finally settled on a limited version of the truth. She wasn’t responsible for the resurrection – nor did she know how it worked. She had fallen and been eaten by the monsters below before finding herself back in the town. She was simply a traveler from far away with a life saving set of magic upon her – one she didn’t want to use frequently.

The queen asked some questions and seemed disappointed but accepting of her explanation. Maddy really wanted to turn around and ask her own questions but every instinct screamed at her that that was a bad idea.

Finally the interrogation seemed to end and like a drop of cold water running down her back the queen changed. She no longer gave off a dangerous aura – no deadly vibe hid in her eyes or body language.

She just looked tired.

Maddy got the courage to ask her own question.

“If that’s all…can I ask you why you created the city like this? Why have such a dangerous nest right below the city? Why allow people to break the rules at all?”

The queen laughed even as she moved out of the seat and gestured for them to leave. “Darling you betray how little you know of magic. True magic needs costs and it takes a true mage to decide what she wants those costs to be. I’m not a teacher nor willing to mentor every little adventurer who passes through this town for free.”

Despite rejecting the majority of an explanation, the woman didn’t seem to mind her asking the question. After exiting the café, she paused before flying away.

“How about this, a quest – you adventurers like quests do you not? This town has three dungeons. One main one that’s used by plenty, one walled off that’s built into the infrastructure and linked to the nest below and one that’s open but never used. Ignoring the walled off dungeon, we have one that’s delved often and by many for while it is on the upper end of the second major realm it is variable in its danger. A perfect 9 floors each slightly stronger than the last with no hard completion requirement – you can leave easily at any time though rewards are greater the deeper you descend.”

The queen spent a few seconds getting comfortable on her floating disk before continuing.

“The second open dungeon is the bottom of the third major realm and almost abandoned. In this city I am the only individual who has cleared it for one simple reason. The dungeon introduces partial absolutes, if you don’t know of those either…well all you have to know is it has concepts strong enough to kill even your defensive guardian with barely an effort. Most…most adventurers love to boast of danger but shy away from how lethal this dungeon is. If you are truly as free to die and resurrect as you claim…try putting that shield to the test. I solemnly promise upon my position as owner of this city that should you or your friends clear this little used dungeon…you can ask a righteous boon or as many questions as you like.” With that final challenge the queen floated up off the street and over a roof.

Nearby a child pointed at her passage and their father picked them up to wave from on top of his shoulders.

Huh.

Maddy stood for a moment near the entrance to the café relieved the queen appeared benevolent. Maddy had briefly imagined herself being thrown in a dungeon or studied just for having been found out…it was reliving to find out that the leader was benevolent.

…

Gathering her composure, Maddy resumed her semi-lost walk down the street attempting to juggle her previous ideas as well as split off another compartment to consider the queen’s words and challenge. A small part of her considered trying to cast her eye spell again…but lack of resources and the risk of an eye looking down again and feedbacking to her made her put it off for now.

If she pushed for the variant that told her what they saw instead of showed her the risk was probably nothing but…it still felt dumb to experiment in the street right now. Maybe if it began to grow dark before she found her way…

Maddy found the the subtle change from a side street to a main road. It was kind of hard to tell but she now knew the street made it's way towards the center of town. Following it for a bit she noticed the change to the adventurer’s district and a bit longer put her by the place she had exchanged money at.

Backtracking a bit, she found their shared rental and as soon as she opened the door Maddy found herself in her friend’s arms.

"You're safe!" Jess cheered, picking Maddy up and spinning her about the room. Jess laughed in an almost manic amount of relief, only pausing when she noticed Maddy's state.

"Death penalty, no spinning" Maddy choked out and instantly Jess stopped. An incredibly guilty expression flickered across Jess's face as she slowly held Maddy out and looked at her.

She's feeling bad she didn't join us.

"I didn't know you could hold me," Maddy said smiling and kicking her dangling feet slightly.

It didn't fix Jess's guilty demeanour, but it did make her smile slightly as she lowered her to the ground.

“I haven't been ignoring strength stats like both of you,” Jess spoke looking over Maddy’s head. Maddy twisted her body and looked to the side noticing Troy had just gotten back as well.

Suspiciously good timing – or it would be if they hadn't probably died around the same time and been revived as well.

Troy looked up at her – he had glanced down briefly the idiot – and then looked to the side.

Both of her teammates were acting guilty. Guilty and frustrated and almost tearful.

If Maddy were just trying to get something out of strangers she might have liked this setup. Some pressure and they'd be even more willing to agree with her.

But they were her friends, and this atmosphere wasn't a healthy one for keeping their teamwork going.

More importantly, she hated the part of herself that had even thought that for a second.

Maddy looked up at the ceiling for a moment. She sighed, then looked slowly and deliberately at both of them. Maddy made sure to catch both of their eyes before she pointed over towards the room’s couch.

"Let's talk."