Aki

‘What the fuck did you do?’ Caei screamed at Lilyth.

‘Nothing!’ she protested. ‘Just touched the Life letters!

‘Why the fuck did you do that then?’

‘Nothing happened the last time!’

‘Didn’t you recently get a lesson about…’ Caei began but caught herself. ‘Uhh… sorry.’

‘No problem,’ Lilyth said. ‘Yeah. Assuming things is bad. Tell me though… would you have assumed touching glowing letters on a wall would yeet you outside the fucking reality?’

That stopped Caei.

‘Yeah,’ I agreed. ‘It’s like saying we shouldn't enter ruins because we don’t know if we will be able to l… oh.’

‘G-guys…’ Ren whimpered, but got ignored.

‘Bad example,’ Caei agreed. ‘But I see your point. Sorry, Lilyth… it’s just you know…’

‘Don’t touch strange glowing letters,’ Lilyth conceded. ‘Lesson learned.’

‘Guys!’ Ren repeated more forcefully.

‘Yes?’ Lilyth asked.

‘Can’t this wait?’ she asked.

‘I’m not sure I follow,’ Lilyth said. ‘Wait for what?’

‘Until we leave this godsforsaken place!’ there was now panic in her voice.

‘That would be the sane thing to do, yes.,’ Caei agreed. ‘But if you haven't noticed, we don’t do sane much.

‘Better to get it out of the system now,’ Lilyth added. ‘Rather than have it erupt when something is trying to eat your face.’

‘At least that's what we’ve always done,’ I said. ‘Especially when the issue at hand is someone, usually Lilyth, doing something… unreasonable.’

‘Who’s idea was it to enter Akh'ret's Mercy again?’ Lilyth replied with venom in her voice.

‘Let’s not rehash the past,’ I waved my hand dismissively.

Seeing we didn't calm down Ren, Lilyth quickly added:

‘This one shouldn't be this bad, Rennie. We might get lucky and end up on the medium difficulty paths.’

‘What medium difficulty?’ I asked, genuinely confused.

I pulled up the notification again to make sure I didn't miss anything.

Entering: The Extrinsic Corridors

Type: Dungeon(Legendary)

Difficulty: Very Hard - Impossible (depending on the path taken)

Description: You find yourself in a place that only exists in the dark cracks in the fabric of reality.

Objectives:

* Find an exit

* Survive

Rewards:

* 5000 experience points.

Yeah. Just says Very Hard.

‘The notification I got gave me the difficulty range as “Medium to Deadly”,’ Lilyth explained.

I told them what mine said.

‘Hard to Deadly,’ Caei said.

‘’Impossible,’ Ren said with a pale face.

‘Huh,’ Lilyth said. ‘So it doesn't count us as a party but as individuals? Weird.’

‘It still averages at Deadly,’ Caei said. ‘And we should treat it as such.’

‘Small comfort,’ Ren whimpered.

‘Can’t promise we will be fine but we’ve faced worse odds,’ Lilyth reassured her. ‘We survived a fight against a god after all.’

‘Because another god saved us,’ Caei pointed out dryly. ‘Don’t oversell our meeting with the Sun. We got lucky. Same in Akh'ret's Mercy. ‘

‘The Tower of Trials was all us,’ Lilyth retorted. ‘On the battlefield luck is half the equation. And hey… now that I know I can hurt gods I am not gonna hesitate push comes to sh… fuck.’

Ren stared at Lilyth wide-eyed.

‘You can WHAT?’

Lilyth summoned her daggers.

‘Those puppies ended up saving my life when the Sun was about to behead me.’

We gave her the full account of our misadventures in the Abyss.

‘That explains what Irmen said about the fight going either way. And why did you feel “comfortable” threatening her.’

‘Was less a threat and more… “Not gonna let you hurt us without me at least trying to defend us” thing. Listen, Ren. I will do my best to get you… get us through this. The same can be said about Aki and Caei. We might not be exactly a functional bunch… but we don't fuck around.’

We nodded in agreement and I noticed that determination returned to Ren's eyes.

Caei looked at Lilyth:

‘Now that I think of it… you getting your notification means your interface is back?’

‘Yes,’ Lilyth said happily. ‘One positive about this whole mess.’

‘Does it say why you can't use magic?’

Lilyth's gaze lost focus as she reviewed it.

‘It says I have just minor elemental contamination. Nothing… wait… my race shifted to Shadow Kitsune? The fuck?’

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

‘Does this mean you can't stand in the sun in your Kitsune form?’ I asked, seriously worried.

‘No? At least, I think it doesn't? I felt no discomfort while walking around outside. The description just says that my power boost applies only to the Umbral Arcana, but it is stronger due to this.’

That does feel like a fair trade.

‘Can you try transforming?’ Caei asked, a bit uncertain.

Lilyth pondered the question for a moment.

‘I am not sure whether that is a good idea,’ she finally said. ‘On one hand, I might get my magic back. On the other hand… I might get ano… an attack, which may knock me out for a good while. And even if I do get my powers back… not sure how well they will work. If I end up having a… seizure during battle… could be bad. I don't really trust my judgment lately, though. Still, if you think it’s worth a shot…’

Lilyth looked at me for a decision.

She wanted to say “another”, didn't she? So she tried. How much is this genuine concern on her end and how much it is fear of more pain? Her arguments do make sense… but… what if push her and it ends up like in Mer-Cas? Her going there was my idea…

As Lilyth pointed out, both ideas had risks to them… if I chose the wrong one again… no…

Caeileera

I watched Aki’s growing panic with despair in my heart. She looked at me pleadingly. I didn't particularly blame Lilyth for not making the call. It’s what we wanted. What I just screamed at her for doing. And like it or not… this was a strategic decision.

So it is either me taking the reins or passing the buck back to Lilyth. I am as shit a leader as she is.

I looked at Ren. She was too terrified to be of use.

Maybe it’s just that call that I make?

That line of thought caused me to realise there was a compromise solution. One that still likely involved inflicting pointless suffering on Lilyth…

None of us wants this one on their conscience.

‘I think you should try, Lilyth,’ Ren finally said. ‘I guess we are safe enough here that if you have another attack… we can wait it out.’

‘Even if this works,’ I picked up the thread,’ you don’t have to use any of your magic if you don't want to.’

‘Unless the situation calls for it, then she will feel obliged to try,’ said that nagging voice at the back of my head.

‘Very well,’ Lilyth said and sat on her knees by one of the walls.

She closed her eyes, and by the way she clenched them moments later, I could tell she was bracing herself for pain. Then… the top of her head turned to slime and started reforming as her fox ears. Her tail also started sprouting out too. She grimaced in pain, but when I rushed to her side she waved me away. Shortly afterwards, her kitsune form solidified, but her fur was dark grey rather than orange.

Still adorable though.

‘Fucking… hell…’ she muttered. ‘That was not pleasant…’

‘What… what h-happened?’ Aki asked.

Lilyth waited a moment to collect herself and said:

‘The transformation was working well enough until whatever part of my Kitsune form began connecting with magic. Then… difficulties occurred, but I managed to push through them.’

She tried to get up, but lost her balance and had to use the wall as support. Aki rushed to her side and helped her rise.

‘Thank the gods…’ Ren muttered.

‘No, thank you,’ I whispered to her. ‘For…’

‘... Being a cold bitch?’ Rennie finished for me. ‘Don’t mention it. I wished I would never have to resort to that particular trait of mine again, but sometimes ruthlessness is the only way you can progress.’

I looked at Aki who was with Lilyth and still looked close to tears.

Yeah. She's in no shape to be in charge right now. Or maybe ever again. That leaves me… and Lilyth.

I eyed Ren.

There is a difference between leading an organisation and a party in combat.

I sighed and approached Lilyth.

‘I will need your help to get us through this.’

‘Not the best idea to put a person who doubts their judgment in charge,’ she said.

‘I just need your brain,’ I said. ‘Back at Lin-Vyme, I found myself thinking “What would Lilyth have done in this situation”. So your advice will be invaluable, I think.’

Lilyth nodded.

‘You have it then.’

I turned to Aki.

‘You don’t mind?’

She shook her head with verve.

‘Thank you,’ she whimpered.

‘Lilyth, are you feeling up to go?’

She straightened and said:

‘Just a moment, need to check something.’

Lilyth

When I tried transforming I felt as if… I turned on my internal Wi-Fi, but the network connection kept dropping. Since it finally worked eventually, the issue most likely was with the device. I rechecked my character and found a new status on it.

Status: Arcane Instability

Type: Magical - Malus

Level: N/A

Effects:

* Moderate chance of failure whenever you cast a spell or use a mana-based ability (The chance of failure will decrease in time to the base level)

* Moderate chance of spell and mana-based ability effects being unpredictable (The chance of failure will decrease in time to the base level)

Ah. That explains it.

I took Caei aside and sent her the status.

‘Fuck,’ she muttered.

‘So you have my brain and my sword,’ I said. ‘But my magic is… less of a given.’

My Dark Sorceress pondered this for a moment and nodded.

‘Better than nothing, so it will have to do.’

Caeileera

After Lilyth finished putting on her armour we moved to inspect the only door leading out of the room.

‘Can you try listening whether there is anything on the other side? I asked my jelly.

She nodded and put her ear on the door. When after a minute of her not moving I got impatient and wanted to ask if something was wrong she silenced me with a hand gesture. So another minute passed. And then another. Finally, Lilyth stepped away from the door and drew her sword.

‘Can’t be sure,’ she said quietly, ‘but I think I heard some distant movement. Hard to tell.’

‘How far was it?’ Ren asked.

‘At the edge of my hearing, which is about… I don’t know I am not a sonar.’

A sonar?

‘A device used to detect objects underwater,’ Lilyth quickly explained. ‘You can use it to measure distances by sending sound signals. Something I cannot do.’

Ah. Terran technology will never cease to amaze me.

I nodded to others and we all readied our weapons. At my signal Lilyth slowly pushed the door open, revealing what looked to be a maze of disjointed wall segments. Like with the room we were in, the floor was covered in ugly covering and the place looked heavily water-damaged.

‘I don’t like that,’ Lilyth muttered.

She carefully pointed at how the walls were positioned, making sure her arms wouldn't pass through the threshold.

Being paranoid, eh?

‘See, it is hard to get a clear line of sight anywhere.’

Meaning something could be hiding ten metres away from us and we wouldn't know it.

‘Stay quiet, all,’ I said. ‘We’ll need to rely on Lilyth's hearing.’

Ren and Aki nodded. Lilyth simply gave me a thumbs-up.

I pointed to her to proceed, but the moment she stepped through the doorway I felt some force push me outside. Judging by their surprised yelps, so did Aki and Ren, and we all ended up stumbling out into the other room.

Another message popped up in front of my eyes.

Leaving: Safe Room

Entering Zone: The Hunting Grounds

Difficulty: Very Hard

Description: As you’ve noticed you found yourself in a place where you will be hunted.

Objectives:

* Find the exit

* (Optional) Eliminate all threats

Rewards:

* 2000 experience points

* Extra rewards if the optional objective is completed

The door shut behind us with a loud thunk.

Fuuuuck.