12.

Jax was standing cross-armed over Lynne’s immobile body when he felt her stir. Her eyelids pulled open slowly.

‘And?’ Jax whispered, careful not to startle her, since her senses could still be fuzzy.

Lynne fully broke the connection with the avian. ‘It was..amazing! You should’ve seen them fight, Jax.‘

The way Lynne’s voice rose slightly warmed his chest. She was usually soft-spoken, so these sparse moments of cheer were precious to him. His lips snuck into the ghost of a smile.

‘He had a tiger companion,’ she continued, ‘can you believe it! He was so cute—’

‘Can you cut the crap? We don’t have all day.’

Lynne bit down on her next words. Immediately, the meekness in her soul crept out of her core and took hold of her shoulders, making them slump.

Jax pinched his upper arm to stop himself from glaring to the side, where Rafael was sitting on the floor beside their campfire. The bald boy was sharpening his greatsword with a whetstone. The scraping was rhythmic, sharp and slow, adding to the song of crackling fire. It was a promise of violence yet to come.

‘Yes…sorry,’ Lynne said, cringing at the sound every time it played.

‘I don’t care for your apologies,’ Rafael said cutthroat. ‘The fight. What happened? Injuries, abilities, tell me all of it.’

Lynne jumped to do as she was told. Jax closed his eyes. He missed the words. Instead, he listened to the cadence. To the mouse-like squeaking that betrayed Lynne’s nerves, her angst.

Don’t worry, Jax thought solemnly. He would make his move soon.

13.

Your team has earned extra rewards for putting Gwgon Black Flame to rest! Congratulations, keep up the good work!

Said extra rewards came in the form of two D rank fire cores. One for each group. It was quite a sum of money to receive and normally we’d be happy about it—but we hadn’t exactly received it for free. There was another item, too. A ring of some sort, and Kate picked it up from the pile, turning it over in her hand.

‘Who the fuck was that guy,’ May cried, drawing my attention. She dug a trembling hand into the pouch on her hip and removed an entirely grey pill that was big enough she had to really try to get it down her throat. Her face after she did showed it tasted disgusting to boot.

‘A talented man,’ Dale said with genuine respect. He was facing the disintegrating body of Gwgon and his beast companion, which turned into ash and embers, floating into the sky, when he glanced at me. For a moment, an ugly smirk was on his mouth.

My earlobes turned ablaze, but I kept my mouth shut. I would find a way to harm him during this test. That I swore.

‘Understatement,’ Kate said. ‘He had enough energy to fight all four of us…didn’t even look tired near the end. Just out of his element.’ There were a few chuckles at the pun. Kate turned to me. ‘Here, catch.’

I swiped the glinting object out of the air with the remnants of the rage I felt for Dale. ‘What’s this?’

‘Storage ring,’ she said.

Storage ring? Inspect.

[Name: Storage Ring — Grade: E — Capacity: Empty.]

I raised an eyebrow. ‘What does it store? Inspect doesn’t say.’

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Dale sighed loudly.

‘It’s a dimensional ring,’ Twin A said, his jaw muscles tightening to hold laughter. ‘Contains a pocket dimension you can use to store whatever you want to keep on you.’ He tapped his index finger. ‘Place it around one of your fingers and it binds to you.’

I held my breath during the entire explanation. ‘This was a reward for beating Gwgon, right?’ I asked Kate. ‘All four of us worked for it. Why give it to me?’

‘You dealt the killing blow.’ Kate removed a pill from her pouch. This one was green instead of grey. ‘All May and I did was get hurt, and I don’t think Dale particularly cares. He’s confident enough as is.’ Kate questioningly glanced towards Dale as she finished speaking. The man shrugged.

I whirled on May. She waved me away before I could speak. More than anything, she seemed stuck on the pill Kate was consuming. ‘You have tier two recovery pills?’ May asked through gritted teeth. I noticed that the wound on her eye had stopped bleeding. It hadn’t healed, though. We had three more days to go in this dungeon. If she was unlucky, that would be enough time for the wound to scar, even if Marcus took care of it afterwards.

‘Only got one more and I’m saving it,’ Kate said, motioning her apologies, which May waved away as well. ‘I bought a few instead of spending all my money on an art,’ Kate added.

‘Smart.’ May winced—Hero was seated on the floor next to May and was clearing her eye of blood with a wipe. Afterwards, he applied an herbal salve on her skin that “stung like getting hit with shrapnel,” if I had to believe May’s complaints, and bandaged her wound.

The entire subject of the ring had stopped being the subject of conversation. If I still kept asking, I’d look like a right idiot, so instead I looked the ring over again. It wasn’t anything special. No engraving or anything—just a plain, gold ring. The sole decoration was a tiny crystal at the top. I placed it around my right index finger, frowning when nothing happened.

Boris grunted as I continued to fiddle with the ring. Hero looked at his cousin, then nodded in agreement.

‘I think it’s best to keep moving,’ Hero translated. ‘The battle may have drawn monsters to our position.’

‘I need a nap,’ May said.

‘As deserved,’ Hero responded. ‘You four take it easy for now. The rest of us will do the remainder of the fighting until we find a place to rest,’ evidently not allowing May to nap.

‘Your concern is appreciated, Sir Jakrin,’ Dale said. ‘But don’t worry about me. I’ve got enough energy left.’ Dale side-eyed me. ‘What about you, Daughter of the Tidal?’

My fingers curled. ‘The name’s Djina. Marshall, for you.’

Dale’s smirk grew. He quietly waited for my response.

‘…I’m resting,’ I said, the admittance forced out of me. My spear had enough cursed energy remaining since I hadn’t used my final move, but my general maura levels had dipped too low. Gwgon was simply too skilled for me to spare my maura as I had been practising with May.

Dale didn’t come up with another snarky remark after I proclaimed my defeat, which only made it worse. He strode towards the front of the group, where Boris and the twins were sitting in a circle, and joined them, animatedly beginning to discuss their formations. I glared him down the entire way. From the sly glance he shot back, he knew I was doing it, too.

Careful steps approached me from the side.

‘He’s quite the character, isn’t he?’ Hero said. He tried to wipe his messy hands on a piece of cloth to no avail and glanced at the reflecting pool stained with blood, innards and cooled lava. It wouldn’t do him any good.

‘Quite,’ I agreed, not looking away from Dale. I swallowed the bitter taste in my mouth, then said: ‘But…’

‘He backs it up?’ Hero finished.

‘Yes…what was that?’

‘The golem?’ Hero rubbed his chin. ‘A bloodline ability, I think.’

I finally snatched my gaze away from Dale’s back and turned to Hero. ‘Bloodline ability?’

Hero thought for a moment. ‘There are powerful spirits in the world,’ he said. ‘Some malevolent, others benign. When hunters meet the right one, they sometimes strike a deal—a contract with the spirit.’

As I listened, my hand went to my neck.

‘The boon the spirit grants the hunter,’ Hero continued, ‘can sometimes be passed down through generations. This is a bloodline ability. Or, at least, one iteration of bloodline abilities since there are more forms.’

‘So that’s what this Garnax is?’ I said. ‘The boon of a lord spirit?’ Suddenly my own abilities didn’t appear that wonderful anymore.

‘Not necessarily a lord spirit, but a powerful one, nonetheless. The spirit must be strong if the boon is to be passed down to the soul of an offspring. For one as significant as this…probably A rank at least.’

I went quiet. Dale had access to the boon of an A rank spirit, which manifested as a golem that even Gwgon had trouble killing? I couldn’t beat that—couldn’t see myself penetrating its ice with my water.

‘His element is literally a more solid version of mine,’ I muttered, looking down at the floor.

Hero showed no sign that he’d heard me speak. ‘It’s powerful,’ he said instead. ‘However, that also means the price he paid would’ve been that much higher.’

‘Price?’ I asked.

Hero stared ahead of him into empty space. ‘No spirit gives its boons for free—even the most generous ones. There’s always a price. His must be quite steep if it allows him to summon a creature as powerful as that while a novice.’

That made me think…had the siren also taken something from me? It made sense, in a twisted sort of way. It also explained why she would allow me to live. Was she requesting payment from me every time I used the mark? If so, what was she taking?

Hero patted my shoulder, confusing my quiet for further frustration regarding Dale. ‘Rest. You’re tired. Also, that ring won’t work until you feed it your blood.’

I stumbled out of my thoughts. What?