It was nighttime at the resting area when we got back. Dot and Lefty made a very quick dinner. And after we ate, we washed up. My limbs had grown back at that point which was nice. Dodger was already passed out though, so we didn’t get the chance to spar. I took the chance to feed Mezu one time before bed.

I wasn’t tired just yet, so I left him in bed and went downstairs to the sparring room. I lay down on it and checked out my pathways.

With all this fighting I must have opened up a few more, and I was right. The majority of the points in my limbs were opened. There were a few still closed right at my shoulders and hips, and my entire torso but otherwise it was a good change. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t so tired, well aside from the fact that I didn’t even use it on the last floor.

The ants were too easy to cut through. It must’ve been a challenge about numbers, and not difficulty, well until you got to the guards, but the others handled that easily.

“So, you know egalthi too?”

It was Alcoroth, the actual Alcoroth this time. Now that I was hearing his voice, I could tell there was a difference from the man I met yesterday.

“Where’ve you been?”

“You ask as if you aren’t able to figure it out, I’ll give you a second.”

Yup, this was Alcoroth for sure. The guy yesterday was much nicer. Well, if that guy was someone above Alcoroth then maybe there was a delay of sorts for Alcoroth to be able to come back. I didn’t know for sure though, so his response was a bit annoying. He probably wouldn’t confirm my thought though, so I didn’t ask. And anyway, my question could’ve just been something you’d normally ask someone that you see all the time when they come back.

“Yeah, well I don’t care too much anyway. But the page must have updated then?”

“Yeah, only the language section, in order of fluentness its dwarvish, common, elvish and egalthi. I guess since you’ve spoken Common more than elvish recently it outranks it even if your vocabulary isn’t very great.”

“Yeah, Lefty and Dot were talking to each other, and I got the gist of what they said but I don’t know why I know it.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know so I’m not surprised. How was the last floor? I see that the young master is asleep already.”

“Yeah, it was an ant hill, so he really went all out.”

“Ahhh, I see. And I see you’ve let Paeris tie your hair up.”

“Yeah, well it was more annoying than I’d thought. And it still feels weird feeling the air on my ears all the time but hopefully I’ll get used to it.”

He closed the panel and noticed my bandage.

“When did you get that?”

“On the twentieth-floor. Yesterday he explained what they were, so I’ve been using them. It’s been helping out quite a bit.”

“Yes, a very useful reward indeed.”

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“I haven’t been getting many rewards since though. I got new clothes again on the last one and this time I just got some throwing daggers. I don’t even know how to use them well.”

“Don’t think too much about it and you’ll do fine. Any opinions on your party mates?”

I thought about it for a bit.

“Dot and Lefty make really good food. Dot’s good at magic and Lefty is decent in a fight and tracking, but I don’t know if that’s all he can do. I haven’t seen Brick and Dodger fight too much, but they must be good. Sailhin too. Paeris is nice, he helps me wrap my limbs up even if he’s not used to me cutting them off so casually. Mezu really seems to like Brick which is nice, and they’re all nice to him.”

“Anything else?”

“We just met. We don’t know a lot about each other. I can’t say much.”

“Do you think they’re hiding as much as Kayden hid?”

I thought about it. Instinctively I didn’t trust him all that much. At first it was probably just because he was part of the party that killed mine, but then since I noticed he was hiding his appearance from me, it changed. It wasn’t like it was a bad type of not trusting. It was more that I knew there was more he probably could tell me, but he wasn’t for whatever reason.

With these guys, the only person I felt that way about was Sailhin. I didn’t know what it was though. With Dodger, Brick, Dot, and Lefty, they just felt like new people. I didn’t know their history; I just knew bits of who they were and there was nothing more.

With Paeris I was more confused about why I could describe him as a mom, than anything else. I didn’t think too much about it anymore. Sure, it was weird that he was an elf, climbing the tower and wasn’t with Winged Mercy, but it was Sailhin’s situation that confused me the most.

I think Paeris was either a valley Elf or a forest elf, they interacted with high elves but not too much. He was elegant and poised like most elves I’d met or just pictured, but he also wasn’t reserved. He was expressive (even if I couldn’t read them) and seemed to say whatever he wanted.

Sailhin on the other hand… she led everyone with ease. They were a party that spent maybe a month at most together and yet she was given the leading position so easily. Dodger seemed like she wouldn’t easily listen to people. She listened to Paeris, but I think that’s just the whole mom vibe we got from him. And she listened to Sailhin.

Maybe it was because how Dodger described Sailhin as the dad. I didn’t remember my dad just about the same amount that I didn’t remember my mom. I couldn’t describe the way she acted and treated us as a dad, despite being able to call Paeris a mom. Maybe her being called the dad was just because of the way she interacted with Paeris and not how she was as our almost self-appointed leader?

Sailhin otherwise was much more controlled in her speech and expressions than Paeris. Her friendly nature felt fine at times but there were others where it felt a bit more calculated. I hadn’t ever met a high elf, but she felt like one. With her appearance though, I don’t know if she could be, I always heard that high elves were pale skinned and had a light hair color.

I had pale skin, but if I was half goliath, it could’ve been from that. But with how my hair was split I guess if my dad was darker skinned it might have split in a similar way. So, what if she was half also, half high elf at least.

“Sailhin is probably hiding the most, and the most that would affect us.”

There was a small smirk on Alcoroth’s face.

“Well done, she probably knows you’re half high elf. Whether or not she told Paeris, I can’t say for sure. We won’t know until we know if she gets picked but do your best to be a bit more careful around her. A high elf might know about the blessing you have. Until she reveals all her cards, you shouldn’t reveal your own.”

“Do you think she’ll try to ruin things?”

“No, but the more we don’t know, the more we should be wary. If she knows, or has an inkling about your healing, it won’t be confirmed for her until she becomes an avatar, and the quest is revealed. At that point they’ll all know, but they’ll also be bound to the quest like you are, so she won’t be able to do anything.

“Once its confirmed though, I wonder what she’d reveal. What is the most… confusing thing you find about her?”

“Well, Paeris and Sailhin are both elves climbing but nit with Winged Mercy…. but if Sailhin is a high elf, its especially confusing that she’s not climbing with Winged Mercy and that she claims to not care that I’m half, well she’s half too, but it’s just that she’s a mixed elf.”

“You’re answering faster than you had been, I see the meeting yesterday was useful?”

“Yeah, it was.”