Excited talking erupted from the crowd around Orion as he dismissed the notifications. He was completely dumbfounded by the title and the thirty-percent modifier it granted him.

Some were clearly not wasting any time in trialing their new abilities, with at least a dozen unique effects—mostly utility, but some offense—were used.

Shadow laughed uproariously, then shouted to the sky at the top of his lungs. The sound was almost deafening, and alongside the sound, a series of expanding shapes that resembled arcing blades shot from his mouth. The sound caused everyone else in the square to freeze and look in their direction.

Shadow looked after the attack with pure glee in his eyes—it quickly evaporated when he dropped his gaze to the people surrounding him.

“O-oh, s-sorry, I didn’t mean—”

Scores more abilities shot off into the sky, other adventurers clearly encouraged by Shadow. Some tried to outdo him, screaming their own shouts of triumph as they unleashed attacks of fire, ice, earth, black lightning, and even what appeared to be a pinata that exploded in colorful flames. With the action now normalized, a second wave of abilities shot off into the air.

Even in the daylight, the multitude of colorful abilities reminded Orion of the fireworks from his childhood.

The surrounding adventurers all started equipping back pieces, all of varying color and decoration—it appeared the cape as a reward was universal.

Honeypot equipped the one they’d looted, and a sleek, pitch-black cape that draped almost to the ground appeared on his back. Orion equipped his, and he felt the +10 to speed even as he moved his body a little.

With a smile, he used his token.

New ability: Ripple of Altered Time

Tier 1 Level 1

Cooldown: 2 minutes

Range: 5 meters

Using this ability creates a ripple of altered time that persists for two seconds. You control the strength of the ripple and can adjust from 50% to 150% regular time. Anything or anyone that passes through this wall will experience the time dilation for 5 seconds.

You’re an idiot, so let me slow this down for you (pun intended, by the way):

Traveling through a ripple of 150% time dilation will cause an object, person, projectile, etc, to travel 50% faster for five of their perceived seconds—they will experience 5 seconds of anything else unaffected by the ripple moving at 67% speed—yes I rounded up to 67%. Shut up, nerd. Traveling through a ripple of 50% time dilation will cause an object, person, projectile, etc, to travel at half-speed for five of their perceived seconds—they will experience 5-seconds of anything else unaffected by the ripple moving at 200% speed.

Ability: Ripple of Altered Time has been augmented. Congratulations!

Augment: The ripple may now alter time in two different strengths depending on which side of the ripple the being or object enters from.

This means you can shoot stuff that goes faster, but an enemy projectile that passes from the other side of the wall and towards you will go slower. Comprende, dumbass?

He did, in fact, comprende.

It took all of Orion’s willpower to not place the ability down immediately and have something shot through it, but he knew it may get out of hand in the crowd.

There was a mental tug from Gizmo’s direction, so he turned to look at his familiar just in time to see the beginning of a transformation.

The plates on his metal body shifted, and his limbs retracted. His head pulled into his body, leaving only his face poking out the front of a torso. Plates slid into place in other directions, leaving Gizmo staring out proudly from a new form.

“Gaze upon my evolved visage, friends. I have transcended the limits of robot-kind.”

Honeypot rapped his knuckles on a metal fin. “Uh, are you supposed to be a fish?”

Gizmo flopped uselessly on the ground, looking like a black, metallic fish with a front facing head. It was… quite disturbing, to be honest.

“Yes. I have received an aquatic upgrade, a form in which I can not only survive the great horror of moisture, but thrive inside of it.”

“Didn’t you just receive an upgrade that made you waterproof?” Orion asked.

“One cannot have too many defenses against the great nemesis of all technology, Daddy. One too many times have I felt the erosion of my components, a feeling I will now never experience again. It is truly a glorious day.”

A small bolt of fire shot into Gizmo, sending him back a meter but not appearing to do damage. Orion glanced at Femera, whose mouth was smoking.

Arika beamed a smile as she petted her familiar. “Femera got a ranged offensive ability.”

“Thank you.” Gizmo hummed. “May I have another?”

Honeypot bent down and looked at Gizmo, who was still flopping about uselessly on land. “How do you, uh, move?”

The plates moved again, and within seconds, Gizmo was in his bipedal form once more.

“Oh, thank god.” Arika sighed in relief. “I couldn’t look at that creepy face any longer. There’s something seriously unnerving about a human-like face on a fish's body.”

Orion agreed wholeheartedly.

Gizmo hummed in satisfaction. “Thank you. That is kind of you to say.”

“That,” Honeypot said, “was a lot of things, but kind is not one of them.”

Gizmo tilted his head in confusion. “She called my face human-like. I find that most pleasing.”

Orion interrupted before the conversation could devolve any further by telling them about his new ability. When he finished, Arika smiled and launched into her ability, seeing as though it was so similar to his.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

She had received an ability that also placed a wall down. Any abilities or attacks traveling through it would gain a fire aspect and increased damage.

Before the augment, it had been a double-edged sword, causing the other way to acquire the aspect and damage as well. After the augment, incoming attacks not only didn’t gain the boosted damage, they were actively weakened by the wall of flame—if not outright disintegrated.

Orion and Arika immediately started gushing about how well their abilities worked together, planning possible combinations with fervent glee.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough, you two,” Honeypot said. “What about you, Shadow? What was that shout ability you used?”

Shadow flew into a barely understandable series of sentences that described his new ability.

“It’s a shout attack called Booming Blades! It’s so cool! It does more damage if I’m louder. Oh, oh! I can say what I want, too, so I can use it as an actual finishing move! Did I say it does more damage if I’m louder?”

Honeypot’s eyes crinkled in amusement.

“You did, yes.”

“Oh, I did? Oh, yeah, the augment! The augment makes it have even more blades! I can’t wait to use it on an actual enemy!”

Orion squinted at Honeypot as he saw him step up just beside Arika. His troublesome friend was trying to conceal a smile, but was failing miserably.

“Wow!” Honeypot said from beside her, causing her to jump. “That can certainly lead to some cool-rogue-shit. Oh, by the way, Arika.” He looked at her as if just remembering something. “That booty is looking particularly fat today. With a ‘p-h’, if you catch my meaning. Have you been squat—”

Arika slapped Honeypot, causing the image of him to disappear with a flash of light. She stood stunned, possibly thinking her wish to slap him from existence had manifested.

“Violence is never the answer, Arika,” the real Honeypot said from her other side. “Also, there’s nothing wrong with having a thick bod. And yes, just to clarify, I do mean thiccc with three C—”

She slapped him again, only to reveal the body as another image that burst into light.

She spun around, scanning the crowd.

“Where is he?”

What might have been the real form of Honeypot couldn’t hold in a giggle as he ran off into the crowd.

Arika extended an arm and Femera shot from it at a preposterous speed.

Alert! Your Mark of the Ascended has become active. You may now activate it at will to open a portal to the next floor.

Just as Femera left Arika’s body, Honeypot opened the portal and dove through, his uncontrollable giggle cutting off abruptly.

“Wait for me, boss!” Treyu dove through the portal behind him.

All around them, portals opened up as teams had been ready for the moment. In seconds, hundreds of the people had disappeared.

Arika stared blankly at the portal left in his wake.

“He timed that, didn’t he?”

“Definitely,” Orion agreed.

“Cheeky bastard...”

The square continued to empty as even those that weren’t counting down realized they were being left behind. Small, opaque-blue portals replaced entire groups of adventurers as they stepped through them.

Arika looked around.

“All these people know there’s no point in rushing, right? We were quite literally told that we will arrive at the same place and time.”

Orion shrugged.

“I guess they’re just making sure. The Creator is hardly the most trustworthy, but I don’t think he was lying.”

A rattling sound grabbed Orion’s attention, and he turned to see Shadow shaking.

“Shadow…”

“Yeah?”

“You, uh, feeling alright?”

“Yep,” he forced out, clearly not alright. “Perfectly fine.”

“You know… we don’t care if you run through the portal after Honeypot, right?”

Shadow shot a glance at him and said in a rush, “You wouldn’t see me as immature if I sprint through that open portal like my salvation lay on the other side? As if death itself was chasing me?”

Orion shook his head and smiled.

“Not at all, buddy. Not at a—”

Before Orion could finish his sentence, Shadow was gone, his silent form sprinting and diving headfirst through the portal Honeypot had left behind.

A keen observer may have noticed a soft, high-pitched squeal coming from the airborne adventurer, and the small automaton latched onto his leg that was omitting the abrasive sound.

Orion laughed, and Arika shook her head, unable to stifle her own amusement.

“Those three,” she said, “I swear…”

“Mind if we use that idiot’s portal, too?” the voice of Frida asked from behind him.

Orion turned to see her and the rest of Monte Cristo’s Hand. Beside them, the somewhat despondent forms of Fener and the Bomb Squad also stood, along with Tash, Dave, and Carl off to the side.

“Of course not, the more the merrier.” Orion smiled at them all. “You’re all welcome. Did you lot want to come through our portal, too?”

“Aye,” Dave and Carl said in unison, then looked at each other suspiciously.

“Yes,” Fener said, “I was going to ask the same. As long as you’re okay with it…”

“Of course we are.” He gestured at the portal. “After you guys.”

“You don’t want to go first?” Truth asked. “It’s your portal, after all.”

Frida shot a sly look at Truth.

“I’d have thought you’d want to chase after your prince as soon as possible.”

Truth snorted.

“If anything, I’m the prince, and he’s a frog.”

“I don’t think that’s how the tale goes,” Angus rumbled.

“It is now. He’s the frog, and if he’s lucky, he might one day turn into a princess.”

Orion laughed.

“I wouldn’t want to keep your frog waiting, your highness.” He bowed in a very Honeypot-esque manner and gestured for them to proceed. “Besides, I want to hang out here for a little while longer. I’ll follow you guys.”

Frida and the rest of Monte Cristo’s Hand passed while bickering good-naturedly, followed by Fener and the Bomb Squad, who still seemed rather morose. Tash and the not-so-good-naturedly arguing brothers brought up the rear.

Orion and Arika were left in a mostly empty square, only pockets of adventurers remaining within vision. He took a deep breath, slowly exhaling through pursed lips in order to calm his racing heart. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation too, despite his outward show of composure.

“You’re just as bad as the rest of them,” she accused. “I can see that look in your eye. You’re just as excited to go through as they were. Did you even want to really stay back, or were you perhaps just trying to get me alone?”

Orion smirked.

“Are my devious machinations so easy to see through?”

“Hmm. Let me channel my inner Honeypot for a second.” She cleared her throat and put on an obtusely exaggerated smile, saying with a nasal voice, “To someone of such unbridled intellect as myself, the plans of mice and men alike are trivial puzzles to solve.”

Orion laughed at her approximation.

“Alright, the wording was spot on, but I’m not so sure about the voice…”

“Cool-rogue-shit! Cool-rogue-shit! Sexual innuendo!” she said with the same nasally voice, causing Orion to choke with laughter.

When he recovered, he looked up at the sky and breathed deeply.

“I really did want to hang out here for a bit longer.”

“Why?” She rested her head lightly on his shoulder, causing his heart to flutter.

“I wanted to take a moment to appreciate everything that’s happened. We’ve had some truly miserable moments, but we’ve also had some pretty amazing adventures and experiences.”

“That’s one way of putting it…”

“I know, I know, I’m getting all grandiose, but I really do think a lot of stuff in life is a matter of perspective and contrast. I have a lot to be thankful for, even if I wasn’t consulted in being brought back to life and placed inside of a world that granted me friends—only to then turn around and try to murder my new friends and I in truly, truly horrific ways.”

“Now that last part…” she said. “Is how I would have put it.”

“I know.” He rested his head lightly on hers. “But I wouldn’t have found you, and those goons we call teammates, if we hadn’t been resurrected here. For that, I’m truly grateful.”

“Arika, I swear to god, if you don’t kiss him I will. That was the sweetest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.” Honeypot was standing next to the portal with a… cow? “Poor Olive here is barely a year old. She’s too young to see you two smooching out in the open like degenerates.”

Arika screeched, and Femera shot at Honeypot, but he was already diving for the portal—again. He made it through safely, but the small fox followed him. The cow—named Olive, apparently—walked through after him with a complete disregard for anything that had just happened.

Orion’s face went red with embarrassment, and he shook his head, having absolutely no idea how Honeypot had done that.

Was it a clone that ran through the portal? Did he come back through? When did he—

Arika grabbed his chin and pulled him down for a kiss, stopping his thoughts in their tracks. The flush of embarrassment was replaced with something entirely different. As soon as it had begun, it was over, and she pulled away with a playful smile.

“We can’t leave our goons waiting for us now, can we?”

Orion offered his hand, and she allowed her fingers to intertwine with his.

As they approached the doorway, Orion’s heart raced. He was glad there wasn’t anyone around to see the redness in his cheeks, and the stupid smile no doubt plastered on his face.

They stepped through the portal together, into the unknown.