Back at the stone door they’d been interrupted in the process of contemplating busting through, Joshua—still not having gotten an answer to his very important question—opened his inventory and pulled out the claw he’d looted from the slave overseer.

It was made of four, hand-length blades connected by something like a strand of energy.

“How did a White get a weapon like that?” Xylsie asked.

Joshua considered not answering, but didn’t want to seem petulant. He was, he just didn’t want to seem that way to her.

He gestured at the covered body. “Looted it from her. Also got an affinity stone and that ring that swapped our appearances.”

After several moments of silence, Joshua stopped trying to figure out how he was supposed to equip the claw and looked at Xylsie, only to find her gaping at him. “You okay?” he asked.

“You… you looted it from her? She was wearing it?”

“Uh, not exactly.”

“Are you saying you have a looting talent?” she asked incredulously.

“Um, spell. But… yes?”

“Yes? Yes!” She threw up her hands. “How are you so casual? Do you know how rare that is?”

“By your reaction, I’m guessing pretty rare.”

“That’s divine intervention levels of rare.”

“Huh.” He shrugged. “That lines up. Guess I’m just lucky.”

“You said it’s a spell? How did you find it? Or did you make it?” She shook her head. “No, you’re too uneducated for that.”

“Hey. I’ve been through, like… at least a decade of school.”

“Really? You hide it well.”

“I try not to make others feel inferior.”

“You certainly excel at not demonstrating your intelligence.”

“Thank you.”

“You looted an affinity stone as well?”

Joshua nodded, pulling out the stone from his inventory.

She shook her head. “Only a White, and already conjuring things from nowhere.”

“You can’t see this?”

“The stone?”

“The cubes I pulled it from.”

“What cubes? All I see is an affinity stone and a claw of some sort.”

“Guess not. Good to know.” Joshua realized he hadn’t yet Identified the stone, and did so now.

[Affinity Stone of Wraith]

(affinity stone)

An affinity stone of incorporeal retribution.

Effect: Attune to an Aspect to gain a new Talent.

“So that’s what an affinity stone is. Sweet, finally something that might give me an attack.” He looked at Sin. “Are you an affinity stone?”

The bird squawked twice.

“A talisman then? You don’t look like a talisman.” He shrugged. “Well, at least this one’s good. It’s the kind Randall had. I think his was divine though. I guess that makes sense.”

Xylsie wasn’t listening, intensely focused on the stone. “It’s amazing you were able to loot a stone from her. Was it the only one she had?”

Joshua shrugged. “No idea. Only one I got though. Why?”

“Sages don’t usually use them,” she answered absently. “I wonder what affinity it has.”

“Wrath.”

“How do you know?”

“I have a spell that lets me inspect it.”

She looked up at him with a frown. “Like you did to me.”

“That didn’t give me any information. Maybe because you’re not an object or a corpse? Or maybe it has to do with that rank thing you keep insulting me with. Is it like military rank? What’s the order? What comes after White?”

She stared at him. “You don’t know the order of the ranks? What’s wrong with you?”

“How much time do you have?”

“What? Why?”

“Because that’s a very long list.”

“You’re not doing much to help me trust you.”

“I know. That’s the point. If you can trust me at my worst, you deserve me at my best.”

“I can’t tell if that’s a threat.”

“Good.”

She shook her head. “Why have you not used it?”

“My threat?”

“The stone.”

“Oh. I haven’t exactly had the time. You ambushed me right after I looted it from her. Which reminds me, you don’t seem all that interested in catching the guy who killed her.”

“I’m not.” She frowned at him. “Did you not believe me when I said I wasn’t with her? You still think I’m evil?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“I mean, you are a cute girl dressed in all black with a giant axe that I found in a dungeon and the first thing you did was threaten to kill me.” He shrugged.

“I’m not with her. The exact opposite. In fact, if I ran into the one you say killed her, I’d congratulate him. I don’t know why he was here or why he killed her, but what the group she was a part of are doing is wrong. Using slaves, forcing them to produce for them.” She scowled. “Kidnapping children.”

Joshua motioned at the covered body on the stone bed. “My spell identified her as a slave overseer, so you’re right about her being part of it. But she didn’t have any markings…” He frowned. “Or clothes. How could you tell she was one of them?”

“I didn’t know she was an overseer, but I assumed everyone who was not a slave in here would be part of it. It appears I was wrong, if you’re to be believed.”

“Oh I’m definitely not. But in this case I’m telling the truth. I kind of just fell into it. Like I literally fell into it, actually. What about you and your brother? I’m guessing he was kidnapped?”

She clenched her jaw.

“You don’t have to answer. I was just… curious.” He held up his hands. “Don’t go on a murder rampage or anything. Well, go ahead, just don’t include me in it.”

Sin squawked.

“Or him.”

She snorted something that was almost a laugh and shook her head. “Veld, my brother, went into the Alderdark on a bet.” She shook her head and sighed. “Stupid bets. They’re his weakness. It’s far from the worst bet he’s made. Going into the Alderdark is something children do. It’s usually safe. The west side anyway. But this time it wasn’t. He’d gone in with one of his friends. He was kidnapped, but his friend has a talent that allowed her to evade capture. She’s only a White, and the kidnappers were all Sages, and they had a Red with them, so she couldn’t stop them. All she could do was follow.”

“What’s a Sage? My interface said something about them being spotted in East Alderdark, but no specifics.”

“Em, hard to explain. They use aura control instead of talents.” She glanced at the corpse of the overseer. “Well, usually.”

“So his friend told you he was kidnapped?”

Xylsie nodded. “She saw them enter into a strange cave and, even though she knew she wouldn’t be able to rescue him on her own, followed them in and tried anyway. Stupid kid.” Xylsie shook her head, but was smiling slightly as she said this, like she was proud of the girl. “She was almost caught, but managed to escape, though not without serious injury. Veld had been missing for days, so I had gone out looking for him and instead I found her near death at the edge of the Alderdark, and she told me what happened. I took her to the nearest town and had her transported to Titanrest, where she’s recovering, then came to find my brother.”

“How did you expect to take on Sages and a Red? I’m assuming Red’s higher than Gray?”

“Yes. It’s a rank above me.”

“Only one rank doesn’t seem like a big deal.”

She grimaced. “It’s a very big deal in this case. A Red is…” she shook her head, “powerful. Very powerful.”

“So if I ever see a Red, I should run in the opposite direction. Got it.”

“As a White, it wouldn’t matter what you did, you'd die regardless if a Red decided to risk the shame to attack you. Even I wouldn’t have a chance. Not unless I got very lucky.”

Joshua grinned. “You’ve been lucky so far.”

She raised an eyebrow. “What makes you say that?”

He held out his hands, his grin turning into a beaming smile. “You found me.”

She only half-succeeded in keeping a smile from appearing before fixing her face into a scowl. “In any case, my plan has never been to fight any of them, but to free those they captured, and avoid the Red. The fact that these rogue Sages are working with a Red indicates they’re weaker, likely no higher than Adept. And I could sneak undetected past them.”

“What about getting out?”

“That’s a problem to figure out after I’ve found Veld.”

“Seems risky. You said Adept. Is that a rank too?”

“Sage ranks. It’s not simple to compare power to shard users, but an Adept would normally be evenly matched with a Gray when it comes to defense, and weaker with respect to offense.”

“That… still seems risky.”

“I’m willing to take any risk to save my brother.”

“No one else came with you?”

She looked at him suspiciously for several moments, then slowly shook her head. “No. There was no one. Not anyone who could help.”

“Your parents?”

“There was no one,” she repeated.

Joshua let it be. “That reminds me, I have a quest for this place: Mysterious Dungeon.”

“Dungeon? This is a dungeon?”

“That’s what my interface says.”

“That’s impossible. There are no dungeons in the Alderdark.”

“Well, I don’t know about that, but my guide says it’s a dungeon.” He brought up the message again.

Ongoing Quest: [Mysterious Dungeon]

You’ve explored the dungeon and discovered that kidnapped slaves are being exploited for nefarious purposes somewhere inside. Find out where, and to what end.

Reward: Shards

“Hm. I think the kidnapped part is new. Not sure. Maybe it didn’t think that was worthy of a notification. I wonder if there’s a setting for that.”

“What?”

He shook his head. “Nothing.” He tapped his chin. “Or is it because you just told me? Can I not trust this thing?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“And you’re perfect just the way you are.”

She frowned at him.

“Then again it also told me this was a dungeon and that those things were a goblin and a kobold. That’s what they were, right?”

“Obviously.”

“Obviously,” he mimicked. “Not all of us are know-it-alls.”

“That’s plain to see.”

“Anyway, the quest actually aligns with the quest to help you find your brother. That one mentioned the Sages, though didn’t say how many there were.”

“Quest? Who gave you a quest to help me?”

“You?” He shrugged. “It’s from a spell.”

“How many spells do you have exactly?” She sounded both surprised and impressed.

“Uh, five? I think.”

“And you’ve been in our world how long?”

“Not sure actually, lost track of time. Few hours maybe. Several at most.”

“Did you already have the spells when you arrived here?”

“We don’t have real spells where I’m from.”

“Then you should thank the man who kidnapped you.”

“He’s dead, like I mentioned. So that won’t be happening. Unless he can come back to life. Is that a thing here? It seems like it’s a thing here.”

“Not usually.” She motioned at the claw. “Can you identify that with your spell?”

“Actually I can.” He smiled. “And I would have done it already if it hadn’t been for your pesky questions.”

“You don’t have to be rude.”

“Sorry,” he said sincerely, feeling bad. She sounded actually hurt, though like she was trying to hide it. “It was a joke. There’s this cartoon with this dog and…” Joshua trailed off at the look on her face. “You know what, it’s not important.” He cast Identify on the claw.

[Claw of Vorn]

(weapon)

A spectral weapon of legendary origin.

Effect: Summonable

“Oooh, legendary artifact. That sounds good. And summonable. Handy. Does that mean it won’t take up space in my inventory if I equip and unsummon it?”

“Are you talking to yourself again?”

Now that he’d identified it, he could instinctually feel how to use the weapon. As soon as he’d cast Identify on it, he’d known both how to equip and use it.

“I can trust it after all. Thanks Guide.”

The claw was legendary, so he wasn’t sure he’d be able to use it. But it was also an artifact, which was apparently an exception.

Sometimes.

He decided to risk it. He could pull it off if he started getting dizzy.

Besides, he really wanted an actual weapon.

With a thought, the strand of blades shrunk down and encircled his wrist, not touching his skin, but floating slightly above it. The four curved blades were now small, only a few inches each, like an oversized bracelet made of miniature scimitars.

“Sweet, it worked. I’m not dizzy at all.”

If he made a fist, the blades grew, long enough that they protruded past his knuckles. If he tightened the fist, the blades grew even longer. If he kept his fist tightened and focused, the blades would angle themselves somewhat and start to spin like a portable blender.

Having a blender attached to your wrist would normally be dangerous, but there was some sort of shielding that protected his fist from being cut by the blades even if he bent his wrist so the blades touched his skin, which itself was nearly impossible as the whole contraption moved to prevent it. It didn’t even catch on the Ring of Deception, which he wore on the same wrist.

In addition to growing and shrinking, he could also feel the claw had some kind of projectile attack.

As he wondered how to unsummon the weapon, it vanished.

It didn’t appear in his inventory, but he could still summon it again with a thought.

“Nice. It doesn’t take up any slots.” He frowned. “That does leave the question of where it’s stored when I’m not wearing it. Is it inside me? That’d be weird.”

“Talking to yourself and ignoring me,” Xylsie complained.

“I’m not ignoring you,” he replied cheerily. “I’m building—”

He was interrupted by the stone door suddenly sliding open.

“…suspense,” he finished lamely.