The city of Musharv was simple. Formed by mushroom farms and a poor population that sometimes were hired as farmhands. It was the only place where people could truly live on the island, after all, it was the only place the soldiers protected from the caves that ran through the whole place.

The holes that happened to be in the city had long been closed, and there was even a team that would check them from time to time to see if the monsters were burrowing toward the city.

The mushroom farms stood to the center, as the thing the soldiers truly had to protect, and the houses surrounded them, making the city a circular mess, where you had to go all around it if you had something to do on the other side as the farms were closed off properties. No farmer wanted a peasant to steal the rare delicacy that would be sold to the higher levels.

Josh was at his home, a mud shack on the edge of the city where no one would bother him. He was using the weeds his brother had instructed him to collect to weave a basket.

‘How can this be so difficult? How can those women even make ones that don’t let water spill through them?’ He threw the dismantling project of a basket to the other side of the room, laying on his back and saying. ‘I give up Johan! I can’t do that! I’d rather fight a Blackfire butterfly again and risk dying.’

‘Stop being a baby and do it! You just need some practice, and I’m even guiding you through it.’ Johan added. ‘Weaving a basket is much safer and easier than the madness you tried yesterday!’

‘Humph! Safer and easier will get me nowhere, Johan!’ He got up and picked the weeds, beginning to weave the basket once again. ‘I’m only doing this because I think it’s not a horrible choice, nothing more!

He began to once again focus on the basket, weaving it while his brother guided him through the process. The basket was just the first step in capturing their next target, the undying lizard.

The lizard had some amazing powers, first, it could take a lot of damage and keep going as if the injuries were not there, and it could also regenerate pretty fast while lying still.

Thankfully, Josh didn't have to weave a basket to hold water, having small holes in it would make no difference as long as it was sturdy enough. After a lot of effort, he was able to complete it just as the dim light of the day was ending.

'At least I didn't waste my time guiding you little bro! You got better. And just in time for the most important part, the bait.' Johan said, and Josh just nodded with a small smile on his face.

'This part will be much more to my liking, I love making a fool out of those pricks.' Josh got up and began to stretch. 'Describe it for me one more time.I want to make sure I don't get it wrong.'

'The mushroom we want is brown with blue spots. It's the size of your fist. The blue spotter is unmistakable.'

'Great.' Josh opened the door and left. 'I'll keep that in mind.'

The light coming through the clouds was now nonexistent, it was pitch black outside. Josh could only see a few sources of light coming from within houses, but aside from that, the mushroom fields were the most illuminated place. The soldiers made sure to keep it that way so that no one would think of stealing from them.

Josh had a trick up his sleeve to deal with the situation, his brother’s card.

He used a minuscule bit of power from the card and directed it to his eyes.

His vision changed, and beyond the spots already illuminated, he now could see something else, glowing spheres moving in the darkness. They were light blue, just like the color of his own soul, on the height of the head, because that was where souls were located.

This soul sight was what allowed him to find the butterfly, as it was impossibly hard to find even if one knew where to look for it.

Now, the same vision would help him in stealing the blue spotter mushroom, but it would be only a helper, he was well aware there were many things beyond guards around.

The main difficulty would be finding the mushroom itself. 'There are several farms here, but three main ones. Forget about the smaller ones, the blue spotter mushroom is hard to cultivate, so only the bigger farms would have the resources to grow it.' Johan continued. 'Just turn fifteen degrees to your right and keep walking.'

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'Understood.' Josh knew the severity of the situation and kept focusing on the mission while his brother did the thinking.

When Josh was using Johan's powers, his older brother could see what he was seeing, otherwise, he would have a basic field of vision of seven meters around him, it was where his soul could reach according to Johan. Due to that, his older brother was also the eyes behind his back.

He kept going and avoided all the guards he came across. Even without the concealing mist from Johan's card, Josh could move silently.

But the most important part, and where Johan was essential were the traps.

‘Move three meters to your right and keep walking.’ Johan guided him.

The farms were full of traps, pitfalls were the most common ones, but there were also triggers that could activate alarms and even spikes that would come out from the ground.

Josh was sure that if it was not for his brother, he would not be able to navigate through the mess that was those farms.

Even though he was close, he could not see the mushrooms properly. The light from the torches was so little that he could barely see anything, as he had to stay away from them to not be caught, closer and it would be too much of a risk.

'Johan, your genius plan is not working. Even if it's in front of me, I can't recognize it! What am I supposed to do? Pick one from every farm I pass by?' Josh's tone was dripping with sarcasm, and his brother answered promptly.

'Yup. Exactly that. Do it.' Johan said, but Josh stayed still, he waited for some time and spoke again when he was sure Josh would not move. 'Forget about the remark I made back there bro, I was just playing around. It was just a failure.'

Josh had really hoped the Blackfire butterfly plan would work and was mad it hadn't. Johan knew the main reason was that the failure would make the way to get his body harder. As if the mission wasn't impossible enough already.

Before Josh could say anything, Johan continued. 'See that big house over there? They probably have storage to keep the more expensive mushrooms.'

'I have to rest before going there. My eyes can't handle it anymore.' Josh said and picked a spot to hide and recover.

When Johan was alive, he could easily use his card powers, and even the passive effects were stronger. His brother had truly been a beast.

Josh, on the other hand, when using Reaper, could hardly use the card properly, its power was too overwhelming, both physically and mentally. When he used the full transformation, he was only able to use it for an instant. Using it partially had been the solution for longer usage, but even so, he couldn't use it that long.

He waited quietly as his body recovered, the burning sensation in his eyes slowly subsided, and after some time, completely vanished.

'I'm good to go.' Josh left his hideout behind and stalked toward the house.

The farms were well watched, but the houses even more. There were guards everywhere, walking around and inside the place.

'Johan, are you sure this is less dangerous than going after the Blackfire butterfly? I'm beginning to think you're the mad one here.' Josh pointed out, to which Johan promptly answered.

'This was not what I had planned…' After staying silent for a few seconds, Johan added. 'I agree with you, this is too dangerous, it's better to turn back.'

…

'You won't turn back, right?'

'No.'

'Sigh… At least listen when I give some advice. I'll be watching your surroundings.' Johan went back to being silent.

As Josh approached the house, he first noticed how beautiful it was. Unlike the mud shacks outside the farms, this house was entirely made of rock, sleek rock that looked to be without seams, and even the ground he could see on the inside through the large windows was polished.

There was even the occasional wooden decoration.

Wood didn't grow in islands this low, thus it had to be imported from upper levels, to bring wooden furniture would cost a fortune, and he couldn't even think how much those people were making.

The interior was lit, with people walking around.

Josh observed the place for a while, engraving in his mind the places where the soldiers walked by and when they did so. After some time, he was confident enough that he could enter the place from the second floor, where guard patrols were less frequent.

He made his way around the place, looking for a window, until he finally found the perfect one. Its surroundings were not lit that well, and he could reach it by scaling the walls, using the first-floor window as a foothold.

After waiting for a soldier to pass by, he ran through a lit spot - even though there was a chance of being discovered, he was sure that would not happen - and jumped, taking a few steps on the wall and grabbing the window on the second floor.

For a second, his thin limbs had no strength to pull his weight up, and he was stuck there, legs flailing in the air.

Josh made a mental effort, and sent a pulse of energy through his brother’s card, getting just enough strength to pull himself up. The window was thankfully open, and he went into the well-lit interior of the house.