Corminar did not like that I didn’t remember how to navigate Aptleed’s sewer system. Not that the others took the news much better, either, though at least Lore seemed to keep his mouth shut about it—unlike the other two. I’d protested that it’d been the best part of a decade since I was last here, so how was I to retain all that? This explanation was met with deaf ears and grimacing mouths.

The liquid contents of the sewer system hadn’t been the only issue, either, though Corminar was much more preoccupied with this—and its effect on his posh shoes—than the other, which had been giant rats. An not a basic variant either. No, these were variant: poison.

Of course the sewers contained giants rats, Val pointed out, after all, that was where giant rats go. It’s a tradition, almost; you go into a sewer, you ruin your shoes, you fight a big rodent.

They were hardly the most difficult enemies, none of them past level 6, but it was enough to make an already slightly sour mood… well, very sour indeed. At least the team made me do most of the work, which netted me enough experience points to get Knifework up to level 14. This meant both that I could put more free points into Strength, to boost my knife skills, and that I was only one level off another ability.

So this meant that when we finally found our way out of the sewers, through a gate into a stable yard, I was near enough smiling, while the rest of the team were grumbling about bathing. Not that I didn’t fancy one of them myself; I might be pleased about my rapid progression, but I still had a sense of smell.

I’d recommended a local tavern to the team, but was perturbed to find that it had changed owners in the years since I’d last been here—and it had lost all its character. Val, Corminar and Lore didn’t seem to notice or care, however; they were just happy to be getting cleaned up.

As I pulled on a fresh set of clothes, I stared out of the window at the town beyond. It wasn’t just this tavern that had changed, I noticed; the whole of Aptleed had. If this was once a place I’d thought of as “home”, then it wasn’t any more.

Behind me, I heard the thunderous snores of Lore, who I’d been assigned a room with on this particular evening. Only now did I understand why I’d been such a popular roommate amongst the other two; neither Val nor Corminar could handle such loud noises.

‘It’s not bedtime yet, Lore,’ I said, and the barbarian class suddenly sat bolt upright.

‘Just resting my eyelids!’ he replied, and then hopped back up as though he’d been awake for hours.

We waited patiently outside the room of the other two, before I gave in first and knocked loudly on the door.

‘Just a minute!’ Val replied.

‘It’s getting late…’ I said.

The door swung open, and a huffy Val stood with a towel wrapped around her hair. ‘My hair is drying. It was your idea to go through some sewers, if you’ll remember, so you’re gonna have to forgive me if I take a little while to get ready.’

‘What about Corminar? Bet he’s itching to get moving too, isn’t he?’

The elf appeared at the doorway, his hair also wrapped up in a towel. ‘I do not air dry,’ he said.

I pursed my lips. ‘How long are you gonna—’ I started, and then realised I probably wasn’t emotionally prepared for the answer. ‘Me and Lore will be downstairs. You drink, Lore?’ I asked him.

‘Often!’ came the reply.

Even the beer served at this tavern had changed, it turned out. No longer was it the heavy, ruby red ale that I’d been looking forward to since stepping foot back in Aptleed, but instead it was a light, yellow affair—barely worth the label of “ale”.

‘Nice beer!’ Lore said, and out of social obligation I was forced to cheerily agree with him.

‘Can I ask you something?’ I said to Lore, with the tone of a question that its answerer would not like.

‘Yeah, of course.’ One good eye and one blinded one looked back at me, though there was a smile in both.

‘Do you know you look how intimidating you look?’

Lore smiled a big, goofy smile. ‘It throws people off, doesn’t it?’

‘It doesn’t “throw people off”, Lore, it makes them run and hide.’

‘Yeah!’ Lore replied, clearly taking this as a massive compliment. ‘Better that than having to fight them. I don’t like fighting people. Not really.’

‘The giant sword begs to differ.’

‘Ah, you mean this?’ Lore asked, pulling over his shoulder his only sword.

‘Yes… that’s the one.’

The barbarian shrugged. ‘It was my father’s. The Bane Sword.’

‘What was he? A soldier? A mercenary?’

‘A blacksmith. He made it. Never once used it though, I don’t think.’

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‘What was it the bane of, then?’

‘Vines, mostly,’ Lore said. ‘But it’s a good sword. I always thought about maybe unlocking Smithing one day, but… I dunno, I guess the day hasn’t yet come.’

Before we’d finished our first pints, Val and Corminar came downstairs to join us. Judging by Val’s still quite wet hair, she’d rushed the drying job in order to get involved with the beer, perhaps feeling like she was missing out. Corminar’s hair, on the other hand, was its typical lucious, perfect self.

‘Alright,’ I said after downing the last of my beer and rising from the table. ‘Shall we?’

‘Oh,’ Val said, raising an index finger as though to make a point. ‘I thought we’d…’ Her eyes lingered on the beer.

I sighed. ‘We’ll get you one for the road.’

Val’s eyes lit up.

* * *

Alongside three new friends and one rapidly diminishing flagon of beer, I made my way through Aptleed’s streets, taking us to the location that we’d been given for Tokas, the healer of the Slayers.

It was a small home on the edge of town, one that shared its space with a flower shop. When we asked the proprietor—an older orc gentleman wearing an apron with a surprisingly garish design—he pointed upwards. ‘Live above,’ he said.

So we went through to the back of the shop, climbed the stairs, and spilled out into the apartment above. The tiefling—Tokas, presumably—sat facing a desk, surrounded by paperwork, trash and children’s toys littering the floor around her, her head in her hands.

‘I told you, I don’t have it,’ the tiefling said.

‘Toke?’ Val asked.

Suddenly, Tokas pulled her hands away from her face, and spun around to face the four of us—though I couldn’t see much because Lore had made the decision to put his wide, bulky frame in front of both me and Corminar.

‘Tokas!’ the great barbarian said, and though I couldn’t see his face, I could tell from his tone that he was smiling.

‘You…’ Tokas started, and then her pose softened. ‘Hi, everyone. Where’s Arzak?’

‘We haven’t found her yet,’ Val said. ‘She’s next on the list.’

‘So I’m assuming…’ Tokas began, and then her eyes fell to me, trying to poke my head over Lore’s shoulder and mostly failing. Upon seeing me, the tiefling’s eyebrows raised slightly in likely surprise that the Slayers were travelling with someone new. If I wasn’t mistaken, there was a brief flash of red light that accompanied her realising it wasn’t just old friends in her apartment. If it was me, that flash of illusion magic would have been to hide some of the mess, though admittedly there was quite a lot in this house to hide.

Two young half-tiefling half-human children ran, screaming, through the middle of us, and both Lore and I jumped aside to allow them to pass. Corminar, on the other hand, made no effort, and one of the two children ran straight into his leg. They stopped their joyful screaming for a moment, bounced to the floor, then picked themselves back up again and continued the whole screaming-running thing they’d been doing so effectively before.

‘What’s with the boots?’ Val asked, staring where the children had disappeared off to. ‘They’re magic.’

Tokas paused before answering. ‘Boots of Slowing.’

‘They don’t seem to be working,’ Corminar offered.

‘They did. At first,’ Tokas replied. ‘It turns out that weighing your childrens’ feet down is a great way to get them to farm strength skills.’

‘You’re saying they have super strong legs now?’ Val asked.

The tiefling mother nodded.

I couldn’t help but notice Val trying to suppress a smirk. Fortunately, Tokas seemed distracted by the rest of us, and didn’t notice.

I stepped forward, offering a hand in greeting. ‘Styk. Have we met before? You seem familiar.’

‘Tokas,’ came the reply and the responding handshake. ‘And I don’t think so. You’re… a new member of the team?’

‘He’s assisting us,’ Val said. ‘For now.’

It was a bit of a surprise to me that our time together was limited, but I supposed it was. Once we killed the Player—if we killed the Player—our job would be done. There would be no reason for me to hang around with these people. And them, me.

At this answer, Tokas nodded.

‘Toke, there’s a new—’ Val started, her voice taking on that serious tone that seemed to come so unnaturally to her.

‘I’m in,’ Tokas replied.

Val blinked. ‘Excuse me?’

‘You’re saying there’s a new Player, right? I’m in.’

‘But—’

‘Let me take the kids around to my father’s, and then… I’m in.’

Val blinked again, her mouth hanging open.

‘The others took more convincing,’ I explained.

‘The others aren’t single mothers,’ Tokas snapped. After a breath, she realised she’d spoken a bit harshly. ‘I love my children. I do. But they can be a handful.’

‘Especially once they have super-strong legs, I imagine,’ Val added.

‘Yes. I’m in. Just one quick quest: kill a Player. It’ll be the break I need.’

It was my turn to blink at the tiefling. ‘That’s supposed to be a quick quest? Who are you people?’

"Styk"

Level 7 Novice Bladespinner

Base Stats:

Vitality — 14

Intelligence — 37

Dexterity — 17

Strength — 33

Wisdom — 15

Charisma — 0

Skills:

Knifework — Level 14

Worldbending — Level 9

Identification — Level 7

Stealth — Level 2

Abilities:

Slice — Slice the enemy for physical damage worth weapon’s base damage and additional damage scaling on [STR].

Stab — Put your weight behind your wielded blade and force the tip through tougher hides and armour. Damage scales on [STR].

Closed Reach — Bend reality to narrow the gap between blade and target by up to 8 inches. Uses mana.

Local Portal II — Create a portal to another location within current range of sight or within a ten yard radius. Uses mana/second.

Basic Stealth Attack — Passive. 10% boost to damage when unnoticed by enemy.

Basic Identification — Discover basic attributes for a particular object or person. Ability scales with [WIS] + [INT].

Active Effects:

Legacy of Sisyphus:

XP gain increased by +400%