Eem led Vivi west, to the opposite direction of the fangling lair. The clusters of web turned back to black flowers and crystals. The scenery was a nice change of pace, and the air tasted fresher away from the fangling lair. Compared to the fangling lair, the flower area was like nature’s calm resting spot.

The monsters of the flower level, it turned out, no longer posed any threat at all. Vivi cut a stone-leaf’s vine-attack in half with Lucius’s charged claws. Then, she crushed the rocky monster with her runesword. The blade cut through stone cleanly and without issues. Stone-leafs had turned to fodder enemies.

After the kill, Vivi felt Lucius sulking within her. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

“No,” Lucius said. “I’m just wondering when my claws will overpower your sword again. I believe that will be after reaching seven or eight thousand ether when I unlock my scarlet powers.”

“Your claws aren’t supposed to overpower my swords,” Vivi said. “Your light claws are fundamentally less destructive compared to a heavy runesword. The strength of your claws comes from the claws’ speed. I’m clumsy and slow at swinging a sword. But I can attack nearly instantly with your claws. Your claws are essential for the fighting style I’m planning on using.”

“Fighting style?” Lucius asked.

“I have some ideas on how we’ll deal with agility-type fighters,” Vivi said. “Uundref and the Stewards are our true enemies. They’re too fast for me to hit with my runeswords. Your claws are the only option.”

“Mm,” Lucius said with a nervous laugh. “You might be smarter than I thought. But fighting Uundref is still a long way off. He is insane. He has skills, he has power, and he has speed. He is insane.”

“Is he stronger than Serena Goldbridge?” Vivi asked.

“Easily,” Lucius said. “Out of the hunters I’ve clashed with, only Veronica Lifeweaver had a scarier presence than Uundref. He’s on par with elite ether hunters.”

“Great…” Vivi said. “Maybe we should just plan an escape. We already found one hole in the wall. A more powerful runesword could probably cut another hole.”

“That could work,” Lucius said. “But escaping is inefficient. We’ll grow far stronger by clearing this dungeon. If we do escape, we should do it after clearing the dungeon.”

“At which point, we’ll make ourselves the biggest criminals on the fourth level,” Vivi said.

Lucius fell silent, considering.

Eem hopped off of Vivi’s shoulders, running ahead. Vivi called after her, but Eem continued running around the corner.

Turning the corner, Vivi found herself at the bottom of a small waterfall. The cavern had a tall crystal-covered ceiling. The stone ground was clean and smooth, almost slippery. The waterfall rustled calmly; the water wasn’t violent. Vivi could have stood in the river without much issue.

Beside the water, something caught Vivi’s attention. Stone vines were clumped on the ground. The exact types of vines she’d seen on a stone-leaf. “Did a stone-leaf die here?” Vivi asked.

“Looks like so,” Lucius said. “It hasn’t disintegrated to ether for some reason.”

Immediately, a question came to Vivi’s head. “Are there people here?”

“It probably died of natural causes,” Lucius said. “Monsters fight each other occasionally. Or it just otherwise ran out of ether. Monsters aren’t infinite.”

Vivi stared at it in concern. She hadn’t seen signs of life in the hidden dungeon yet. A dead monster could have meant something.

Eem was waving her hands, jumping up and down near the river. Vivi sighed, turning away from the corpse. She joined Eem.

Fishes swam down the river, from sardines to small piranhas. None of the fishes were larger than Vivi’s arm, but they were bigger here compared to Vivi’s previous fishing spot.

The river also moved far faster. Catching fishes would be good practice. Vivi took off her boots and stepped onto a rock poking out from the river. She called Lucius’s claws and took aim.

She spent another hour there, catching all kinds of fishes and tossing them to the ground. Eem, too, attempted to catch fishes. She jumped into the water, grabbing onto a small sardine. She managed to catch the fish, but got herself caught in the river flow. Vivi had to catch Eem before she fell into the next waterfall ahead.

From there on, Eem stayed on the ground, munching on Vivi’s catches. The fiend devoured the first five quickly, the next three slowly and stubbornly. She ate half of the ninth before falling asleep, completely full.

Vivi smiled at the sight but focused back on fishing. She was starting to get hungry and tired as well. She’d been fighting, then runesmithing, then fighting again. Throughout the streak, she hadn’t felt hungry or tired. This was all thanks to ether. Lucius’s powers gave her far more energy than a normal human was supposed to carry.

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Still, even his powers were reaching the limit of how long Vivi could be kept awake. She caught a good batch of fishes for herself, quickly cleaned and cooked them with emberstones.

She watched Eem’s sleeping figure while she ate. I’d like to keep hunting and exploring. If Uundref is as strong as you say he is, we don’t have time to waste. I still have energy to spare. We need to find stronger monsters to try out my fighting style. But I don’t want to leave Eem alone.

“You should sleep,” Lucius said. “I know a good practice spot. We finally have enough ether to enter that place.”

Vivi raised her eyebrows. What place?

“Ever heard of Ythar’s Paradise?” Lucius asked.

Vivi thought for a second, recalling old rumors from Fellwater. The ether hunters’ private island? Fellwater’s boys said it was a place that the best of ether hunters were invited to. Apparently, retired hunters can spend their lives there.

“Paradise is a private island, but those rumors are entirely wrong,” Lucius said. “Paradise has nothing to do with retirement. It’s more like a meeting hub for ether hunters. Me and my old wielder commonly used the place for practice. It’ll cost some to enter, but it’s well worth it. We can enter it right now.”

Right now?

“Yes,” Lucius said. “You just need to head to sleep. It’ll be easier to show you.”

Vivi made a weird look, but she didn’t know what else to ask. She ate her remaining fishes and lay down on the ground. She had no pillow or mattress, but with some ether protecting her head, the sleeping position was tolerable enough. The emberstones smoldered weakly, offering warmth.

This better not kill me, Lucius… She closed her eyes and trusted Lucius with his trick.

***

Vivi woke up on clean grass. Something bright shone through her eyelids. The musty air of the underground was gone, and the temperature was pleasantly hot. Above her was a blue, cloudless sky. A bright sun shone overhead. The grass was green. Truly green. She was on the surface, yet she couldn’t spot one rain cloud.

“Lucius?” she asked out loud. “Where did you teleport us?”

“We haven’t gone anywhere,” Lucius said. “You’re currently asleep in the dungeon.”

“What? I’m dreaming?” Vivi asked. She moved her fingers, then touched the grass underneath. Everything felt so real. She’d woken up on a flat field. Vibrant flowers grew all around her. Vivi wondered what alchemical properties such colors could hold. She’d never seen plants so beautiful.

“Not conventionally,” Lucius said. “You’re currently awake in Ythar’s dream dimension. I am the link allowing you in.”

Vivi continued watching her surroundings in awe. “You mean, Ythar created a whole different dimension?”

“Well, Ythar is a god,” Lucius said. He floated beside Vivi with a grin. “This is the truth behind Ythar’s Paradise. None of it truly exists.”

“How does it feel so real, then?” Vivi asked.

“That’s the fun part,” Lucius said. “Ythar’s dream realm works exactly like the real world. Our powers work exactly like they do on the fourth level. Anything that happens here won’t make it to the real world. You could get your head cut off, and you’d simply wake up where you fell asleep. Any memories made here will make it to the real world.

“Ether hunters use Paradise to duel each other to the death for practice, as well as to hold meetings with ether hunters who are on different levels. Everyone can simply go to sleep and speak in Paradise without having to meet for real.”

“So this is how Andre knew my identity,” Vivi said. “He spoke to hunters in the dream realm.”

“Yes,” Lucius said. “News spread quickly with the hunters. As creepy as this place is, Ythar is a genius for setting it up.”

An island floated in the distant sky, visible above the treetops. A pyramid-like palace stood atop, radiating a beacon of light into the air. Vivi had to squint to see details, but the beacon was hard to miss. “That’s his island?” Vivi asked.

Lucius nodded. “It’ll cost us fifty ether to enter. A lot of hunters will be present. If all goes well, we can challenge someone to a duel and practice fighting. Otherwise, we can take swings in the fields here. That’s free, and nobody will bother us.”

“Are we really allowed to join?” Vivi asked. “Fifty ether seems cheap.”

“The hunters won’t be happy to see us,” Lucius said. “But they also can’t harm us. Dying means we’ll be sent back to the fourth level. Nobody will invite us to meetings, of course, but those are a waste of time anyway. Meetings usually consist of hunting companies arguing about which surges whoever has a right to hunt. The duels are what truly make Paradise worth visiting.”

Vivi stared at the island. The idea of meeting more examiners and ether hunters didn’t excite her. The hunters were likely still looking to kill her to gain Lucius back. She hadn’t expected to meet any ether hunters besides Andre for a long time.

Yet, this was a chance to gain information from the surface. Vivi needed to know whether Grandpa was alive or not. If he was…

No, perhaps Vivi shouldn’t ask about him. Whether Grandpa was alive or not, knowing his whereabouts would only distract her from her task. Her true goal was to survive from Zand, and to grow stronger.

Still, some news from the higher levels wouldn’t hurt. “We’re going,” Vivi decided. “Fifty ether is not too much to pay. Let’s see what the hunters are up to.”

“Very well,” Lucius said. “Brace yourself. We’re teleporting.”