Once Savri felt good enough we gathered our things and headed to the next room. It contained four curtain-covered stalls labelled with our names. On the other side of the room, there was another door with a balcony over it. I couldn't see any way for us to get there.

Maybe Caei’s Floating Disk?

I was sure the door I could see in the wall behind the balcony was locked though, as there was a sign in the middle of the room with “Go inside your stall and take items from there. You will receive further instructions afterwards.”

Seeing no other viable option, we followed the instructions. To my pleasant surprise inside the stall, I found a fresh set of clothes, a large satchel, a canteen and a bag with five hundred divines inside. I immediately took the opportunity to change. I was still using Lilyth's soulbound clothes she lent to me in the tower. The new set was pretty nice too. A black tunic with short sleeves, blue linen pants and some heavy-looking leather shoes. There was also a new brown wraparound cloak included and, funnily enough, a red sash. The satchel turned out to be a minor magical item and the canteen was one of those neverending ones.

Item: Satchel of Holding

Type: Magical - Bag

Rarity: Coven-made - Rare

Durability: 50/50

Traits:

* Holding (Average) - Triples the capacity (60 litres) of the item (Total Capacity - 60 litres)

* Soulbound - Cannot be stolen. If lost, can be resummoned by the owner at any time. If damaged, durability is restored at twice the owner’s natural healing rate.

Item: Neverending Canteen

Class: Utility - Magical

Rarity: Very Rare

Quality: Good

Durability: 40/40

Charges: 60/60

Contents: 2000/2000 ml

Effects:

* Can hold up to 2 litres of water

* Refills 200 millilitres of water per hour (this consumes 1 charge)

Traits:

* Rechargeable - You can channel mana through the object to restore its charge

Inside the satchel, there were some ration bars, a change of clothes and three potions - one of each of healing, mana and stamina. I quickly changed into the new set, sash included, and given how I had a moment of privacy I decided to allocate my perk points. I used them to learn Water Arcana as, given my new-found patronage, I figured it would become useful in the long term.

New Skill Acquired: Water Arcana - Current Level: 1 (0% total progress to level 2)

You have spent 4 Perk Points (Current Number of Perk Points: 0)

I quickly checked my character sheet and was satisfied with the progress.

Basic Details Name Aki Race Demonborn Gender Female Age 19 Level 8 (1372/4500) Class Duelist Rank Novice Perk Points 0

Skills

Lore - General Name Rank Level Progress Insight Novice 6 59%

Attributes Physical Progress Mental Progress Strength 10 56% Intelligence 13 12% Dexterity 17 12% Wisdom 10 45% Agility 14 90% Willpower 11 15% Endurance 11 65% Cunning 14 3% Vitality 11 2% Resilience 14 82% Perception 14 0% Faith 12 16% Appearance 11 0% Charisma 12 78%

Lore - Humanities Name Rank Level Progress Dwynveian Literature Novice 2 0% Dwynveian History Novice 3 75%

Social Name Rank Level Progress Acting Novice 15 31%

Survival - General Name Rank Level Progress Sense of Direction Apprentice 22 32% Stealth Novice 1 23% Acrobatics Novice 11 89% Climbing Novice 8 32%

Survival - Nature Name Rank Level Progress Woodsmanship Novice 6 13% Herbology Novice 1 4% Tracking Novice 4 41%

Martial - Swords Name Rank Level Progress Falchions - Dual Wield Novice 12 15% Falchions - Single Novice 2 4%

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Martial - Improvised Name Rank Level Progress Throwing Novice 7 34%

Martial - Magitek Name Rank Level Progress Pistol Novice 4 1%

Crafting - Cooking Name Rank Level Progress General Novice 9 54%

Arcana Name Rank Level Progress Flame Novice 2 56% Water Novice 1 0%

Spells Name Arcana Rank Level Progress Flaming Weapons Flame Novice 2 65%

Abilities Name Rank Level Progress Abyssal Spark Novice 6 18% Lesser Abyssal Bolt Novice 5 20%

Traits Name Level Progress Monophobia 4/10 Special Duelist's Flourish 4 59%

I still had some catching up to do. Thanks to her Sierra Squad stunt Lilyth was level twelve now and Caei was level ten, I think? And here I sat stuck at level eight. Later, I would learn Sav was level twenty-six, which dwarfed even Lilyth and sort of made me feel really well about my situation. We all had a lot to learn.

When I emerged from my cabin I saw that Sav was already out. I saw she was dressed in blue pants from some material I didn’t recognize, a black shirt, a brown leather jacket and black fingerless gloves. She had her gun holstered on one hip, a satchel on the other and wore the feather pendant on her neck. Lilyth was next. She got a replacement for her dark blue comfy greatcoat and black pants from the same material as Sav’s, and like the demon, she had her sword on one hip and a satchel on the other. Caei was the last to emerge. She wore a black frilly short-sleeved shirt, red pants and a blue cloak with pauldrons. She still had her choker and bracelets on.

‘I see they went with the sexy sorceress look for you, Caei,’ Lilyth laughed.

‘They knew my tastes to a tee’ she smiled briefly, but then frowned. ‘I’m not sure whether I am comfortable with that, though. I mean you guys got normal clothes.’

‘I think they just went with our preferences,’ Sav said. ‘This is what I wore in the other world when I wasn’t in combat gear.’

‘Ah,’ Lilyth said and briefly unbuttoned her coat, revealing a black sleeveless tunic underneath it. ‘That does explain that shirt then. Just need some bracers to complete the ensemble. And maybe bandages to hide the “tattoos”.’

‘We’ll figure something out when we get out of here,’ I reassured her.

Suddenly, we heard the sound of someone opening a door with a key and someone, or rather something entered the balcony. The figure looked human above the waist. It was quite handsome: brown eyes, neatly trimmed black hair and a five o’clock shadow. It wore a white shirt, a red tie and a black suit jacket. Below the waist, however, was a chitin-covered spider-like abdomen with four legs coming out of it. There was a pair of translucent bug wings on its back. The mere sight made my skin crawl.

‘Greetings mortals,’ the creature said, its voice deep with a buzzing quality. ‘I am the Steward of this Labyrinth and you can refer to me as such. In the name of my mistress The Madness That Dwells Outside allow me to once again welcome you to our home. I apologise for your abrupt arrival here, but it was a now-or-never situation, you must understand. If we didn't intercept you, the four of you would be taking a bath inside of a volcano.’

I had no idea what those were but judging by Lilyth's and Sav’s reaction it wasn't anything good.’

‘Ah, pardon my manners, Miss Aki and Miss Caeileera. I forgot you two may not be familiar with those. In terms you may understand volcanoes are hollow mountains filled with unbelievably hot molten rock. Mere contact with the air above the substance would be fatal, as you may be aware, Miss Aki.’

I remembered the Sanguine I accidentally cooked with my Abyssal Bolt. I still felt sick at the thought. The idea of a similar fate awaiting me felt both fitting and horrifying. Fire was a horrible way to kill. I had to use it out of necessity, but now that I thought about it I was very happy it was Lady Irmen who decided to be my patron and not Lord Gin’ig. Maybe I could ask Lilyth and Caeileera to teach me some of their spells until I get some water.

‘I hope my mistresses’ gifts were up to your liking,’ the Steward continued. ‘Those were as a reward for passing the challenges so far and doing so marvellously in the second challenge, Miss Aki. This room… contained your final reward as well as a certain recompense for the items that are forever outside your reach now. We couldn't retrieve them without raising suspicion, you understand. And we would be terrible hosts if we let you out of here without a divine to your name and, in the case of Master Sergeant Adzhenair, without even a proper pair of shoes.’

‘Thank you, Lord Steward,’ Savri replied and bowed.

‘You are welcome, dear. You should be at your best during the Main Event and given its nature, you may not be able to retrieve these items afterwards. Now, before we begin do you have any questions for me?’

‘What will be our objective, Lord Steward?’ Lilyth, silent up to this point, asked.

‘An excellent one, miss Lilyth. There is a portal here. Find out where it is. How to do that is up to you.’

‘Where exactly does this portal lead?’ Caeileera followed-up.

‘An island to the east of Tyr-Mel.You will be able to hire transport to the mainland there.’

‘What would have happened if we looked for the keys?’ I voiced the question bothering me.

‘Why, you would have found them. They would be completely useless, but that was an acceptable, if much harder, way to complete the challenge.’

I was going to say something but Lilyth interrupted. I thought she was going to say something stupid, but her question chilled me to the bone, though not as much as what followed.

‘Lord Steward, if I may, is this, all of this because of what happened… what I did in the Sun’s chamber?’

‘Ah,’ the creature laughed warmly. ‘I was wondering whether you would realise you can ask me about anything and not just the event. But, by the gods of Dwynveia and the Outer ones, why do you think I am the right person to answer this question? Or that I was even allowed to?’

‘Who would be the better person to ask this question then, Lord Steward?’ Lilyth responded with a question of her own, though I could hear certain apprehension in her voice.

‘Why… that would be me, Lilyth of Terra,’ we suddenly heard a cold female voice that could best be described as silence that took the shape of words.

A tall black-haired woman dressed in a long dark blue dress emerged on the balcony. There was something… off about how she looked. Her fingers were slightly too long, reminding me of spider legs and her yellow eyes looked human enough, but had this… reptilian quality to them and the more I looked at her the more it seemed her hair was moving on its own from time to time. Sometimes some of it parted revealing a glowing red eye, which then disappeared only to emerge somewhere else next. Other times a toothy maw would appear there instead. And sometimes it was just… a nothing. No… not skin, not air - just pure nothing. There was “an isn't” there. It’s hard to describe. Because how do you describe something that doesn't exist, and yet you somehow know that there is this hole in the very fabric of reality? It was hard to avoid looking at it too. Because even if you averted your sight from her hair, sometimes the woman would blink and when she once again opened her eyes, the same “nothing” was there.

So there was no mistaking it: before us stood a goddess: The Madness That Dwells Outside. And yet… it wasn't her that terrified me. No… it was the expression on Lilyth's face. As much as we complained with Caei about Lilyth's irresponsible behaviour she still came through for us and gave us strength. And yet now our girlfriend, a woman who a scant few hours before stared down another god out of sheer spite was showing one emotion I never expected her to. Defeat.