“Vivian Runeblessed?” the man asked. “The Cursed Runesmith, are you?”

That wasn’t a question. The man’s tone wasn’t curious. It was threatening. He knew Vivi’s identity without a doubt. Vivi felt a chill. Eem hissed on her shoulders.

She turned her head to see him smirking. The man wore a clean jacket with a suit underneath, all black. He was a head taller than Vivi, standing with his hands in his pockets. His hair was messy—the attractive type of messy—and his skin was perfectly smooth. There were no horns poking out of his hair.

“Andre,” Vivi said.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Andre said. “No need to give me that look.”

How does he know my name? Vivi asked. He has been stuck in Zand. That’s the same nickname I have on the surface!

“Ether hunters have a way of sharing information,” Lucius said. “Don’t worry, he can’t read your mind. He’s just a human.”

If he knows my name, he must know I’m being hunted by ether hunters, Vivi thought.

“Yes,” Lucius said. “But he can’t earn bounties by killing you here. In Zand, he could technically be an ally.”

Andre’s aura wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. His skin didn’t shine like Serena’s. Vivi felt his presence next to her, but he didn’t wield any more ether than other nimrods around her. Andre certainly didn’t feel like a breaker.

But he had a spirit. He could hide his ether, just like Vivi could.

“I came for a quick chat, that’s all,” Andre said. “We can talk in the hub if you’re afraid. Nobody here understands our speech. Translation magic is unique to Ythar. Tell your spirit to stop translating to passersby.”

“Already done,” Lucius said in Vivi’s head. It didn’t seem like Andre could hear him. “I’m not stupid.”

“I’m not joining your gang if that’s why you’re here,” Vivi said.

“Shame,” Andre said. He began walking in a random direction, expecting Vivi to follow. “The demons are a pain to control. They follow me thanks to my spirit, but they’re quick to grow arrogant. Another ether hunter amongst my ranks wouldn’t hurt.”

Vivi followed him with Eem on her back, though she was anything but happy.

“I’m not here to recruit you,” Andre said. “I’m here to discuss weapons. You’re a runesmith. A joke on the surface, perhaps. The demons, however, don’t have access to spirit blades. To them, runeswords are amongst the most valuable weapons that exist. Runeswords are incredibly powerful in the facility. Get caught owning one, and the Stewards will skip whippings.”

“I’ve learned as much,” Vivi said.

“We’re lucky that our spirits can hide just about anything,” Andre said. “The Stewards are still completely clueless. They’ve tried to examine me five times now, trying to catch me as a breaker. They’ve failed each time.”

“Yes,” Vivi said dismissively. “What do you want from me?”

Andre sighed. “I’m hoping to get out of here. To escape. And I can tell you are as well. Greenwitch’s locium stashes are still waiting not far from here. A few more preparations, and I’m ready to snatch everything back to the third level. Life is wasted in Zand. We share a mutual goal. To get out of here. We could both make use of each other to escape.”

Vivi continued walking. The proposal was a sensible one. If an escape appeared, Vivi wasn’t opposed to taking it. Escape was a goal she would gladly work for. But to team up with Andre…

“Your gang has made my life difficult,” Vivi said. “Honestly, I don’t trust you.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I don’t blame you,” Andre said. “The demons are unpredictable. I did not send Raghnall after you, and I did not know your identity by the time Carla launched her attack. I don’t have time to manage every little detail of the blue cloaks’ actions. Carla is largely in charge of hunting for new members.”

But you let Carla do what she’s doing, Vivi thought. You’re not opposed to your members assaulting others. You force others to grovel under you.

“I have not arrived with empty requests, of course,” Andre said. “We share far more goals than the hope to escape. Runeswords being one of them. My lair has smitheries. I have metals, and I have equipment. With me, you can carve runeswords in peace.”

Vivi breathed in. “I could consider working together for a mutual goal. But I will not join your gang. I will not kneel under orders. I won’t allow you to walk over me.”

Andre smiled, hearing Vivi’s tone. “I have ordered my followers to stop hunting you. I have no reason to kill you.”

“The ether hunters are after me,” Vivi said. “You will kill me the moment we exit Zand.”

“Perhaps,” Andre said. “Or perhaps I will let you escape, feigning ignorance. The bounty on your head is worth far less than the locium we’ve mined.”

Useless metals… Vivi thought. Locium was a soft ore, kind of like gold. It was a sought-after metal by nobles and jewellers for its beautiful colors and rarity. For anything practical, however, it was utterly useless. Locium had no properties other than a profitable price tag. To mine it was merely greedy. Vivi wasn’t surprised the ether hunters were after Locium. Andre wasn’t any different from Serena Goldbridge, or from any of the other rich idiots.

However, Andre had promised an alliance. He had a smithy for Vivi to use. By playing along and making herself useful, Vivi could get rid of a large chunk of her enemies. Even if she was disgusted by their morals.

“I’ll visit your smithy,” Vivi said. “If your tools are good, we can discuss deals. But I’m doing this purely for my own profit as a neutral craftsman.”

“That works for me,” Andre said with a smile. “I’ll take you to the lair, then.”

The walk had slowly gotten them closer to the dungeon entrance. Andre took Vivi into the dungeon. She followed hesitantly. “Your smithy is in the dungeon?”

“The whole operation is in the dungeon,” Andre said. “It gets annoying to rent warehouses. Easier to just clear a path in the dungeon and protect it. This way, we get passive income through monsters.”

Vivi paused. She lifted Eem off of her back. “Eem, I’m going to see this man’s lair. I will be gone for a day. I will be back, okay?”

Eem looked worried and sad, clearly wanting to join. But Vivi wasn’t about to risk Eem’s life in Andre’s lair. It was best to meet up with Eem later. “I’ll give you loads of fishes,” Vivi said, placing Eem down.

She waved a quick goodbye, then followed Andre. He descended into one of the larger tunnels—a private section of the dungeon. Andre walked a bit faster than Vivi would have liked. She followed hesitantly a few steps behind.

The layout of the cavern was similar to the free dungeon, but the floor wasn’t cluttered by bones. Instead, spike walls and light fortifications had been built. The back wall had cover for archers, and spiked fences forced new arrivals to enter through a narrow choke. Guardsmen were standing in place. Not blue-cloaked hunters, but regular demons with scorched skin and tunics. One of the bulky men wielded a mithril longsword, and the other one stood tall with an asmite-tipped spear. They didn’t appear too strong, staying within the three hundred ether limit. Behind them, more guardsmen were gathered around a table, playing cards.

Everyone bowed as Andre passed. They looked at Vivi curiously, but nobody said a thing. Vivi followed Andre down.

“Bwern tried to raid our lair a few times in our first few months of opening,” Andre said. “The downside of living in the dungeon is the lack of safety. Nimrods are allowed to fight us for our turf whenever they wish. Killing for territory wars is discouraged, but it’s not prohibited. Still, most demons value their lives. We haven’t been attacked ever since we got properly established.”

“You must have fought for this turf, too,” Vivi said.

“I did,” Andre said. “And I’m quite proud of our progress.”

A few rooms deeper, defenses and fortifications became less common. Instead, tents and accommodations had been set up. There was furniture too. Carpets covered cold floors. Barrels provided water, and dining tables were in place. Nothing was placed purely for decoration, but the place still looked a lot prettier than the free dungeon.

The grounds had been separated into hunting grounds and living areas. The hunting grounds had been closed off to brew. The living areas continued on down. Demons were hanging out, doing everyday chores. The demons wore their regular clothes, though Vivi spotted a few blue cloaks on hangers, waiting to be put on.

“Do the demons sleep while monsters respawn?” Vivi asked out of genuine curiosity.

“They do,” Andre said. “Although, with so much life around, monsters rarely spawn in the living quarters. There’s always a brewing room near every sleeping ground. Additionally, everything valuable has been coated with ivory lacquer. The coating dissuades active ether from reanimating the object. Still, monsters do occasionally spawn.”

To their left, an old demon was fixing a snapped wooden chair. The blue-cloaks’ lair was far more mundane than Vivi would have assumed. She still received glares, of course, but nobody had attacked her yet.

Andre led Vivi to a door in the wall. The door was grey, camouflage in the wall. Opening it, a wave of heat and the scent of metals hit Vivi’s nose.

An old horned man with a scraggly beard peeked out. “This is the smith?”