They sat and stood around a mound of items and multiple little piles like a bunch of kids forced to clean their rooms. But instead of stuffed animals and toys, and reluctant behavior, they picked out magic items, hungrily turned them over, and tried to discover their use.

Here and there, magic sparked. On accident or purpose. Jean jerked back when smoke shot at him from a ring he held, and Micah blew it toward the ceiling where it could drift as a cloud.

A ring that made smoke. That could be useful. Others asked questions, told him to try again, and memorized its appearance—glossy, black material made to look like a bundle of charred twigs—while Jean noted the same. Then they tried to find their own useful items. There was so much stuff, not all of it was going to be a winner. But still, there was so much stuff.

Geodes and summoning crystals, treasure chests, pouches full of marbles, wands, scroll cases, knives and daggers, jewelry, kids’ boots, bundles of dried herbs and food they didn’t trust to be edible anymore, enough Kobold staffs to stack like firewood, a mage staff with a winter cherry lantern, pitons that treated stone like clay, potions, a crossbow, even a real spellbook.

Most of it had already been sorted into interconnected piles thanks to Lea, but there was always more as they searched through the dregs.

Ryan picked out a purple geode the size of his fist and found a cast iron bell stuck on the crystal spikes inside. It rang ineffectually when he picked it up and nothing happened. Running a loose mana cloud over it didn’t reveal any places where it could slip inside, either.

“Lisa?”

“Hm?” She moved from pile to pile to sort the magic from mundane since she could ‘hear’ the difference with her Skill, apparently. She wouldn’t immediately know what the items did, but that was up to all of them to discover.

He held it up and asked, “Are these two an item or did the bell just fall inside?” He wouldn’t want to break something if he yanked it out. There were all sorts of weird items out there.

“Gimme’,” she said, so he handed it to Micah, who handed it to Bluth, down the line like food at the dinner table.

Rather than wait for her verdict, he pulled the next item from the rubble and dusted it off: a dark leather-bound scroll case. He held it away from himself when he popped the lid off and, when no insects shot out, peeked inside. His face fell.

“Jason? Sorry.”

“Again?”

The guy accepted the case with resignation and withdrew the scroll. Or what was left of it. A giant chunk had been torn off along multiple angles. Only a patch of green had survived in one corner. It could have been a map or painting—they would never know.

Jason still inspected it as if he could see the missing pieces. “Suddenly,” he mumbled as he added it to the pile with the others, “I’m very glad we exterminated this camp.”

Harsh words from him, but almost all of the other scroll cases were the same. Two had been empty. Only a moving picture and the spellbook had survived—things with signs of magic.

The Kobolds must not have seen any reason to keep the others intact and used them for fires, or as crafting materials, or …

He frowned and thought of the tuft of wool the Summoner had caught its potion with, and the pouch it had pulled that from.

It was a long shot, but Jason should have been happier right now, so Ryan sat up and looked until he found the pouch, then crawled over to peek inside.

He jerked his hand back before the scorpion could sting him—Kyle still had his glove—and dropped it, spotted the smoke leaking out, and slammed a fist down. A rush of colors shot out of the pouch. Of course, the Summoner would tame a scorpion to keep on its person. Unmade. It must have gotten hurt in the fighting.

When the smoke cleared, he peeked inside and smiled. “Hey, Jason? There’s some paper scraps in here.” It was full of other knicks-knacks and lint, too.

He perked up. “Really?”

“Not many,” he warned him and tossed it.

The guy caught it with both hands and immediately started pulling the crumpled-up shreds out like puzzle pieces. “Thank you!”

Ryan smiled. “You’re welcome.” He turned and froze when Micah’s giant face stared back at him, eyes focused and distorted through the dark blue liquid he inspected.

He had surrounded himself with monster corpses and bottles, some of which were made of glass, and some whose contents glowed. They lit up his skin in the dim cavern with a myriad of colors like some kind of a mysterious vendor out of a story.

Ryan didn’t know if he was the good kind, who gave an unassuming gift in return for kindness, or the bad kind who tricked people into selling their souls. At least, his skin was furthest from the ageless, argent Vats.

He chuckled to himself and went back to his spot.

Across the hoard, Parker sighed and mumbled, “Now is as good a time as any.” He raised his voice to announce, “Listen up. We’ve changed our minds. We want to divide the loot after the exam, as if we were one large team, under the guidance of our schools or the Guild if need be.”

His teammates stopped what they were doing, but the scouts were already paying attention. They must have discussed this and chosen Parker as their messenger. Slowly, the good mood threatened to slip.

Lea lowered her water and wiped her mouth before asking with a frown, “Can we ask why?”

The Guild was the option they had wanted to avoid. If negotiations broke down, both sides would walk away with money and nothing else when they could be ‘buying’ items at a discount of the provider’s cost. It would also cost them time and effort this close to summer break.

“It has become clear to us that we are in over our heads,” Parker said. “You’re higher level than us and much more suited to evaluating magic items. We’re worried you’ll have an unfair advantage if we chose to divide them here. We can’t trust you.”

Oh. So this was how they had chosen to express their suspicions—the mature way. Instead of pointing fingers and accusing them, they would let the professionals handle things and if they found any discrepancies in their reports …

Ryan was screwed, one way or another. He had gotten away with his stunt for now but in a few days, there would be consequences.

Somehow, he found it hard to care. So what if he got in trouble for doing something wrong, or didn’t get any new loot from the exam? He doubted the school would act the same as his parents would, lying to him that there was always next time, and he’d wanted items without any emotional baggage attached. Any of these would be constant reminders of his mistakes.

An hour ago, he would have torn himself apart over this. It was amazing what a hug and thirty minutes to clear his head could do. He hadn’t even had to break his knuckles on a wall.

He managed a small smile at the thought.

But even if he accepted the consequences for himself, the hoard was like a present or a fresh story: there was a wonder there, but … one step to the side, because he didn’t feel that wonder for himself, but for his teammates, and he wanted them to have that. He couldn’t let his mistake ruin things for them.

Micah got there first, “I thought we worked well together? I mean, there were some hiccoughs along the way but …”

“Those were mostly internal?” Silas asked with a smile, a small dig at what they’d witnessed earlier.

“Yeah.”

“For what it’s worth, I think things worked out better than I had expected it to. We did well.”

“Yeah! Thanks. I was going to say: we did well on time, even after taking a break to touch base—thank you for that again. From what we know, we managed to secure the entire hoard, we found the Guardians’ crystals, so they must have died somehow, and if we hurry with our cataloging, we can still keep our promise to finish on time.”

He was trying the diplomatic approach before he let them move on with their decision. It was almost endearing how much he tried.

The looks on the others’ faces were harder to read, and Ryan wondered what they thought.

“We’re definitely going to have to finish cataloging,” Parker said, “but I was going to say, we had another idea. A compromise.” He turned to Lea. “You said you could appraise items? How often could you do that?”

“Right now, in quick succession? Five times. Maybe six depending on how long we take.”

“Right. Then, if you were willing, we were thinking you could lend us half of those to use as we choose and share your other insights with us beforehand. Then, each of our members could pick one item at a time, back and forth with us to start, so we can secure something we absolutely want no matter how things turn out.”

In other words, they wanted their cake and to eat it, too: the threat of dealing with the guild without threatening themselves that they might not get an item they wanted.

But … those same benefits would apply to them as well, to a lesser degree.

“But we’re six and you’re five,” Micah said, focusing on a whole other issue, “would one of you pick twice, or …?”

He shook his head. “We were thinking we’d pick five items on each side. That’s safer for us. For you, too.”

“But then one of us—” Micah started.

“That’s fine,” Ryan spoke up. “Assuming we go through with it, I would end up picking an item for a teammate anyway. I’m willing to give up my pick.”

“What? No, you deserve an item, too,” Micah said and rushed to add, ”Ifwedothis.”

Ryan shook his head. “I already have great items. It’s fine.”

“But—”

“It’s fine. Really.”

Rather than listen to him, Micah turned the scouts and said, “If he sees something he likes after all, would you consider picking two?”

What was he, some kid?

Parker checked with his teammates and said, “Maybe. It depends on the particulars. You would still need to choose in which order you pick items, for example. And if Ryan went last …”

Somebody would get the worst pick. That alone could be a hassle with people like Kyle, but Ryan still didn’t speak up. If he said he’d broken their agreement now, emotions would run high and negotiations turn hostile. He didn’t have it in him to get through another shouting match. There had to be a way to make this a middle ground with benefits on both sides.

“Why do you want to do it this way at all, though?” Lea asked. “You know this means all of us will have to schedule a date where we can meet up? And while I’m sure our schools will be overjoyed we cooperated, I’m not sure they would look kindly on us forcing them to do the same.”

Parker nodded. “We know that. It means more work once we get back, but it saves us time and effort that we can put to other things here. We’re saving strength.”

Exactly, Ryan thought.

“Can you give us something, at least?” Lea asked. “From where I’m standing, you’ve consistently gotten the better end of this deal. You’re getting most of the regular loot and we gave you the final say, and I respect that, but if you want a compromise, it has to be on both sides.”

“What do you want?”

Lea looked to them, and Micah spoke up, “The pitons!”

“Huh?” She seemed surprised.

“There are eight of them in total, that we found,” Micah said, “and you already have one—”

“Micah, no,” she interrupted, “those—”

“Are bad, I know.”

Ryan frowned. Bad? They were pitons of stone shaping. It was a miracle they’d found any on this low a floor, let alone eight.

But the obvious answer came as Micah went on, “The Kobolds have been using them for weeks or months on end, likely, and they’re only from the sixth floor tops, so they’re worn.”

Ah.

“That’s putting it lightly,” Lea said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they broke on their own in a few days or weeks. Some magic items can crack in a way that means they decay over time.”

“That’s still valuable,” Silas said. “They’re almost a guaranteed win against a few Golems on higher floors, if used right, and the people who know how to use them would pay handsomely for that.”

“Like eight good strength potions,” Jean spoke up. His voice rose, then fell when he looked at the earthy pitons laying side by side.

Ryan understood the sentiment: they were good, but they could have been so much more, the type of item that carried you to higher floors or defined your Class for a few levels. It was a shame the Kobolds had gotten to them first.

Still, Lisa had fought the Kobolds with her summons alone to scrape them out of corners deep in their tunnels, and they’d been worth every second of the effort. The [Scouts] probably would have invested that time if they’d been forced to work with Max.

“But there are seven of them,” Micah picked it back up, “and there’s the question of how we’re going to count them, as one item, seven, somewhere in-between? I know at least two people in our group would want them, and all of you are scouts so I imagine you would, too …?”

He eyed them, testing the waters, but when they didn’t give him a clear reaction, he went on, “I’m comfortable saying I would only need one. Two, if I could get away with it. Because why would you need seven, unless you’re too lazy to use normal ones or you’re greedy?”

Parker rolled his eyes. “What’s your point?”

Micah smiled. “We could split them up. Half divided among each team. This is only about the claim, though, so we would still have to ‘pay’ for them among ourselves.”

“When you say ‘half’, you mean four would go to your team and three to us, because we already own one.”

“And when you say two people,” Kyle spoke up, “you mean you and Jason because the rest of us sure don’t want that crap.”

“It’s not crap. Can you fight a stone Golem on your own? No.” He went on before Kyle could respond. “But the other part of that would be, even if only get only one, I would be happy to pick my item last. So we could save ourselves that headache.”

“Are you sure?” Lisa asked. “I trust Bluth when she says those are going to break any day.”

“Do you want to hunt golems during the summer or something?” Silas asked.

“Maybe? Mostly, I want to study one. It might help me learn, along with researching the subject through books.” He took a large step over his fortress of potions and glanced at her. “Then you won’t have to teach me as much?” Lisa seemed conflicted. Before she could say anything, Micah went on. To the scouts, he explained, “I’m trying to learn how to shape stone.”

Silas’ eyebrows went up. “Oh.”

High hopes. If Micah thought the pitons could help him learn, Ryan was going to get him one.

Luckily, Adrian seemed to accept his suggestion. “So splitting the pitons up, giving you four and us three, would that be enough to make you feel good about this?”

Lea shook her head. “I want three of my five appraisals.”

“Two. We let you pick up crystals while chasing the Kobolds and we gave you some of their ju— uh, crafting supplies.”

A lot of which had been damaged. Micah had managed to salvage an intact blowpipe and some darts he seemed excited about.

“Three,” she said. “They’re my appraisals and I’m sharing all of my insights from my Path with you as well.”

“Two,” Adrian said, “we won’t be asking you to tell us about every single item we find, only the good stuff. And we can find out enough on our own.”

Bluth opened her mouth, and Micah spoke up, “Or!” They looked, and he sheepishly ducked his head down.

“What now?”

“Sorry. Just, maybe we could use one of the appraisals to benefit both of us, for our reports?” He seemed hesitant to drop the pitons, but leaned back and pulled a potion from the cluster of bottles. A few centimeters of blue liquid swished at the bottom with nothing else.

Ryan recognized it immediately and kept his mouth shut. How had Micah noticed it?

“We found this near the Summoner’s crystal,” he explained. “It was closed and there were barely any traces of its contents nearby, so I doubt much of it was spilled, but it’s nearly empty while the rest of these are mostly full.”

‘Mostly’ because apparently, the Summoner had sampled a few.

“So why did it use this one so much?”

Jean nodded. “We saw that in our scrying. It drank from it sometimes, mostly before rituals. We were thinking it’s a mana potion.”

“Yeah, I thought so, too, but—”

“It’s not a mana potion,” Lisa said. “That much, I could tell. I don’t know what else it could be, though. Something like a stat or spell boost?”

Micah pointed. “It’s probably important to know what the Summoner in charge of this whole anomaly of a camp drank, don’t you think? Especially when monsters on lower floors didn’t use to drink. And like, wouldn’t it look good on a report if we could figure it out on our own?”

In the context of negotiating with another team, where everything had to be phrased as an argument, Ryan realized Micah wasn’t acting much differently than normal. He was a naturally persuading person, if not necessarily persuasive.

Ryan usually liked that about him, until he overdid it or he remembered, he probably got it from his parents.

Still, it was nice to point his smile at their ‘enemies’. So it was even more surprising when the push-back came from their allies.

“I don’t know,” Jason said. “It seems like a waste? We could just ask the school to appraise it for us afterward. They do it anyway.”

“I would rather know what I’m picking,” Kyle said. “Especially since I want something that doesn’t use mana and it’s harder to figure those out.”

His face fell. “But—”

“No offense,” Bluth said, “I think you may be biased because you are an [Alchemist]? I mean, just look at where you’re sitting.”

Micah glanced at his personal hoard and subtly took a step back as if he could shield it with his body.

Ryan was surprised the scouts weren’t joining in but of course, they would have had the importance of gathering information drilled into them, and it was clear Micah’s own team wasn’t happy with the idea.

It was probably the combination that decided it for them. “No, we agree with the kid,” Parker said. “That would be a great compromise. You said it yourself, it has to work on both sides, right?”

Lea froze, caught off-guard, then shot Micah a scowl.

“You’re fine with his other suggestion, though?” Ryan asked to make sure he would get his piton. He glanced at Lisa and wondered what she would want from the pile, but she was looking over all of it like she could have leaned forward to scoop it up in giant arms. So much for her not being interested in loot.

Adrian sighed. “Sure.”

“Then do we have a deal?”

“Yes.”

They looked to Bluth, and it took her a moment to catch on that she had the final say. Somewhere along the line, it had become her. She was the most qualified and didn’t have issues, unlike the rest of them. Except Jason, but he wasn’t as qualified and the scouts had seen him punch and get into a shouting match with Kyle. So who knew what they thought of him?

“Yes, we have a deal.”

Micah immediately jumped back to his pitons before Bluth could stop him. The rest stopped searching the dregs and sat up.

What to pick?

Not all of them had seen it all. Of course, they had shown things off, seen the sparks, and eavesdropped, but there was so much more. Ryan was out of the running, but he could still advise his teammates.

“Potion, Micah!” Lea called. “And next time, talk to us before you run off on your own?”

“What, would you have had a better idea?”

“I might have. It doesn’t matter now because we went with your ideas without hearing anyone else out.”

He stuck his tongue out at her and returned to his prize. Lisa seemed to have come around to her presence, but Micah still didn’t like her. He wasn’t good at letting things go.

“This was good, though,” Jason said, “we took the quick and simple option everyone can be happy with.”

“Says the guy who got what he wanted,” Kyle grumbled. “Don’t forget you got two of those pitons, so you’re going second-to-last.”

“Huh?”

“[Appraise Object],” Lea said and they quieted down. They’d staked one of their five appraisals on it, they might as well listen.

“It’s a potion of [Lesser Intelligence],” she said. “You said the Summoner drank this regularly?”

“Sips,” Jean answered. His team looked genuinely surprised at the revelation. Some even disappointed.

Ryan wondered why, but it put things into perspective, didn’t it? This was an anomaly. The Summoner, the pitons, the potion … everything had been perfectly aligned to create a camp that was far more dangerous than it’d had any right to be.

“Ms. Carr is going to be so disappointed.”

Jason shoved Kyle and the guy shoved him back, rougher.

“No?” Jean spoke up. “I mean, we know Kobolds can build fortified camps on lower floors and the potion is proof the Summoner experimented with loot beforehand.”

“But without the right items,” Parker said, “their expansion will be slower. It won’t be nearly as relevant.”

“On this floor, maybe.”

“At the very least, it’s good to know?”

That seemed like something for them to discuss. Their team wouldn’t put as much emphasis on the topic in their reports.

“Does anyone else hate it when Stranya is right?” Kyle asked. They looked. He was trying and failing to hide an idiot’s smile.

“He has good instincts,” Silas said. “I said it before. How about it, do you want to join your friend at the scout retreat this summer?”

Micah immediately lost the smile. “Huh?” He glanced at Ryan and seemed flustered. “Oh, uhm—”

“What, do you need his permission?”

“No.” He shook his head. “No, no, but uhm … I already have plans for the summer? I have to earn a lot of money and I’m eager to climb as much as possible before the next year, and so …”

“Are you sure?”

“Silas,” Parker said, and it sounded less like he was warning him not to invite Micah and more like he was tired of his antics.

“What? I’m just trying to spread the good word. Being a [Scout] is great. Everyone should be one. And if not, learning a little self-sufficiency can never hurt.”

He rolled his eyes. “True, but at this rate, you’re going to become a [Recruiter] or [Scout Master].”

Silas shrugged, and Ryan suspected he was hiding a fair bit of interest there. “I also feel bad about almost putting an arrow in him,” he deflected.

“Don’t,” Micah insisted. “It was an accident. Besides, the scout camp is more Ryan’s thing anyway.”

He didn’t disagree or agree with him. He was just happy nobody had asked him to comment.

His teammates were already trying to argue about who got to go first. Bluth wanted them to do it by the value of their picks to secure the best stuff first.

Kyle brushed her off. “Mhm, but just in case, who goes first?”

“Let me guess,” Lea said, “you want it to be you?”

He shrugged. “Why not?”

“So you’re going again this summer?” Parker asked, and Ryan was grateful for an excuse not to engage.

“Definitely. I’m looking forward to it, actually. I got [Scout] from the trip last time so I’m hoping for [Ranger] this time. You?”

“[Ranger], huh? I’m going. I didn’t get anything out of it when I broke my arm. I want a repeat and to level up. Besides, it’s tradition.”

“Yeah. It’s been a while for me, too. Somehow, I doubt I’ll level anytime soon. Something is missing. Maybe the others can help, or the camp experience itself. I’ll ask Marcus or one of the leaders. He helped me get the Class in the first place.”

“What, why?” Micah cut in. “You’ve been working so hard! I bet you’ll level just from this exam.”

Ryan shrugged with a tired smile. He was a screw-up. It was no wonder he couldn’t keep up with him, but he’d always known he couldn’t live up to their expectations. Someday, he would get stuck. And that was fine. Right now, he just enjoyed seeing his friends be their best.

“Hey, if you really want to level,” Nick broke away.

“Oh, no,” Parker said.

“What?”

“Don’t listen to him. He’s crazy.”

“I’m just saying, if you’re desperate to level,” Nick said, and more paid attention, “you should try an air drop.”

“A what?”

“An air drop. You hire a mage—”

Parker leaned in. “It’s super expensive.”

“—and they enchant you with [Fly] and [Feather Fall], tie a rope to you, blindfold you, and fling you into the wilderness where you have to find your way back to camp over a few days.”

Ryan opened his mouth to say something and no words came out. He considered for a moment, saw the twinkle in Nick’s eye, and didn’t know if he was pulling his leg. “Is this a real thing?”

“Oh, yeah.”

He’d barely interacted with him, so he couldn’t know if that was a lie, too. Ryan turned to Parker.

“It is,” he said, “but it’s really fucking expensive, unless you have some people to do it with together. And pants-shitting insane. Literally, if you’re unlucky.”

“Gross.”

“That—sounds—awesome,” Micah beamed. Even Lisa looked interested, further down the line.

“You’ve never heard of it?” Jason asked. “It’s cool. I wanted to do it someday, but it’s more of a [Survivalist] thing. I’m not sure it would help me level.”

“It’s still worth it,” Nick said, “even just for fun.”

“How high up do you go?” Lisa asked. Micah glanced at her, then back, waiting for the answer.

“Really high,” Silas offered. “I don’t know the number. Not high enough to reach the clouds, unless it’s foggy or you’re in the right place, but high enough to make trees look like ants. And like Parker said, it’s pretty insane.”

Nick raised a finger. “But, it’s guaranteed to work. I’ve never heard of a [Scout] who didn’t level from it.”

That was tempting.

“I was thinking of doing it someday,” Adrian joined in. “It would help me especially, getting away to spend a few weeks in the wilderness.”

“Because of your Class?”

He shrugged.

“As cool as that is,” Lea interrupted, “can we get back to deciding who picks first and talk at the same time?”

“Please,” Kyle joined her. “The sooner we get this over with, the better.”

It was an unfriendly reminder, but true. It was barely noon after they had gotten up so early.

And as they went back to work and considering their options, the conversation mostly died with the one complaint.

“Spoilsports,” Micah mumbled.

“What happened to your no insults rule, you idiot?”

“Oh, uh … whoops.”

“We don’t really need to consider that much before we decide what we want,” Silas said and, when none of his teammates objected, stood up. “We’re going to fight over this in our group anyway, so I’m going to go ahead and take it so you guys can decide who goes next.”

He lifted the Summoner’s crossbow from the weapons pile and hefted it. A Crossbow of exploding [Shadowbolts]. With the pitons’ in their poor state, it was easily one of the best in the bunch.

Even Ryan felt a twinge of envy when he saw it go. He had seen what it could do to a shield first-hand and no matter how much he practiced, he had no special gift for archery. A crossbow could be easier to aim and carry. Compact weight was better for him with his Skills and on the others’ insistence, he didn’t carry much when he went scouting.

But it was too late, either way. They immediately squabbled over who should have it and most of his team watched it go with looks that mirrored his own.

Except Kyle, who said, “Hey, Bluth? What do I pick?”

“Huh?”

“What do I pick?”

“I don’t— Uh, I don’t know?” She seemed genuinely confused he was asking her for advice.

He got up and walked over. Lea jerked back and he had to try twice before he could ‘whisper’—grunt—in her ear, I have five mana.

Oh, she mouthed with a pained expression. “Hey, Micah? Do you still have some of your perfume with you? Soap?”

Thankfully, Kyle backed off with an embarrassed shuffle.

“Huh? Oh, yeah—”

“I got it.” Ryan groaned and headed for his pack.

The glove Kyle had cupped to her ear was filthy and he smelled like burnt flesh. He didn’t have to like either of them to empathize with their discomfort.

He got some supplies and Lea searched the hoard for something to recommend him.

“There’s a pair of Growing Boots over there?” She pointed. They looked like kids’ boots ungrown.

“Why would I want those?”

“They’re rare. Expensive. They adjust to fit you perfectly and can repair general wear and tear and light damage. If you had them, you wouldn’t have to buy another pair for half a decade or so, even if you go climbing.”

He frowned and looked like he was actually thinking about something for once before he asked, “Then why the fuck does Payne have one lying around in his closet?”

“None of your business,” he snapped. So much for empathy. Ryan shoved the stuff at him and headed back.

“It is if I’m supposed to pick without having to worry about her screwing me over.” He jerked a thumb at her.

Lea kicked his leg, surprising all of them, and Kyle jumped. “Screw you. Don’t ask for my advice if you don’t want it.”

“No, I just want to make an informed decision. So, Payne? Why haven’t you gotten another one?”

He shrugged. He could buy another boot in the Bazaar and wear mismatched ones, because what did it matter? Practically was more important than looks, and he didn’t want to care about looks like some pansy.

Although, even mismatched equipment could have a certain charm to it—a hero couldn’t always make sure their armor was tailored to them perfectly. But then he would be even more patchwork and … that wasn’t even getting into other stuff, like sentiments. Micah had given it to him.

Too many thoughts wrapped around too simple a topic. Thinking about the boot gave him a headache so he left it where it was to collect dust.

“Don’t tell me you don’t wear it because you’d rather wear those dancer’s slippers,” Kyle said.

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Ryan tried not to give him a reaction. “What do you want?”

“Dude, just tell me. Don’t drag it out so much. Where’s the other one? Is something wrong with them?”

“I lost it.”

“What, did you forget it in the lockers or what?”

“I was in a forest. It was dark and raining. A titanic glowing centipede with the head of a woman rushed at me, legs like steel that could break trees by leaning on them, three times my height. It was chasing Micah. He screams at me to take my shoes off, so what do I do? I take my shoe off, and he rubs some salve on it to make the shoe mutate like mold or some mushroom, shooting out strings of foam-like leather, and lets her catch him while I stood by and watched so he can shove it down her throat, where it keeps on growing and hopefully would have choked her to death but—”

“So you lost it, right.”

“Right.”

The others stared. Ryan’s heart pounded for another reason. Kyle had insulted him twice, calling him … that. He would have thought the second time was because he’d given him such a strong reaction the first time around, but he was still using that vein of insults and …

Did he know?

How would he? It wasn’t like Ryan would ever look at him in the lockers, not that he did that at all if he could help it. He wasn’t a creep.

Maybe because of the salve he’d asked Micah to make? Lots of guys used that kind of stuff. Better that than to have acne if he could get rid of it.

He had to be poking at insecurities, trying to get a rise out of him. Ryan had fed him reaction after reaction. He had to stop.

For now, Kyle looked a little spooked himself, and he allowed himself a small smile at the victory.

“So you don’t want the other one anymore, or what?”

“I want to find the right boots to have custom-tailored for me,” he explained in a more confident voice, “to offer protection while being thin enough to make the most of my Skill. My current boots are a cheap version of that. It’s better than the other.”

“Are you going to sell it?”

He frowned. “To you?”

Kyle shrugged. “Why not?”

“Take a guess.”

“I won’t expect a discount. I’ll pay whatever the normal price for a single magic boot is, I guess, but it’ll save me the trouble of having to find a seller.”

In the corner of his eye, he could see Micah watching. He subtly nudged his head at Kyle with a hopeful look as if to say, Peace offering.

Why did he have to be the one to make the offering, though? And shouldn’t Micah care that the boots had been a gift?

“Maybe,” Ryan said. “If it saves me the trouble of having to find a buyer.”

“Right. Thanks,” Kyle added at the last moment before he turned and, to Lea, he said, “I don’t want those. Something else?”

She rolled her eyes and moved on to the next suggestion.

There were single fire-proof gloves and boots that might have saved him from the breath attack, had he been wearing them, but they also had a feature that required mana to ‘pull’ the resistance up like sleeves.

Actually, they were the exact type of clothing as the glove they’d found last time, which Kyle had rejected to buy when Micah had offered …

Ryan glanced at him and could see the ‘I told you so’ on his face, but he was too kind to actually say it, and it didn’t have quite the same sting when it came from someone else.

Either way, Kyle shot those down. He was interested but apparently, they were too common.

“Well, what do you want?”

“I don’t know. Something good. Something rare.”

He didn’t even know what he wanted, but insisted on going first? Most of the good things they had found were better suited to mages anyway.

So to the unknown pile they went and Kyle picked a knife with red flame patterns folded into the blade.

“No,” Bluth told him.

“Why not?”

Ryan would have told him to pass the baton if he couldn’t decide but … he eyed the necklace the Summoner had worn around its wrist, which lay next to them.

Kyle had few ranged fighting options. He had his tattoo to heal him, but he could still be slowed down and distracted by harm. A ward could help him get close.

No, he thought as well. How would he even work it into the conversation without revealing information he shouldn’t have, and more importantly, why would he recommend it to Kyle instead of someone who deserved it more?

No.

“Because I only have two appraisals and I’m not just handing one to you. Especially not on a blind pick because you think the knife looks cool, or something.”

He scoffed, “I don’t care about that.”

“Yeah, right!” Micah called over. “Tell that to your New Year’s outfit, Mister Mysterious In All Black!”

“Screw you. Your party sucked! It was full of kids and had chaperones.”

“Ryan’s parents aren’t chaperones, they’re cool.”

“Have we even finished testing those?” Ryan spoke up. He really needed them to change topics.

“Obviously not.”

“Nope,” Lisa said.

“Right, so … how about we do that first? What are the most common effects we can find, here? Warding, fire resistance, warmth, affinities and spell boosts, maybe some light effects or something to do with divination …

“How about we go down the list? We could have one mage carry all of the unknown stuff and shoot a [Firebolt] past another. Not at, but just past? Or at, if they have good fire resistance and the other knows how to pull their punches. Back and forth. Something might react.”

“Sure. It can’t hurt.” Lisa seemed happy to have an excuse to pile all the items in her arms. “And thank you for the advice, Sir Mage.”

He sighed.

Jean could manage a weak [Firebolt], though he didn’t have the Skill, which was perfect.

Lisa stood with a pile of junk in her arms and from a few meters away, he flung the spell at her. A dome of force shot up that broke the flames like water. It elicited a shout, jump, and smile from the [Witch] as he pointed for his teammates to see, and smiles and questions all around.

Ryan got caught up in the cheer. Which item was it? Lisa put some away because ‘they were too quiet’ and the others made their own guesses.

He itched to point out the necklace hanging from her thumb, but he was also morbidly curious to see how long it would take her to find it. She was smart.

“This is always loud,” Lisa said, holding a brooch of an Ember Beetle. It almost seemed to shift wherever he didn’t look.

Bluth took it with a thoughtful hum. “It’s probably enchanted with warmth. I can’t feel any difference in here, though.”

“Like Ryan’s Skill?” Micah asked.

“You can wear it on a nice shirt or dress during a night out, or [Scouts] could wear it to stay warm overnight in the wilderness …?” It was a nice try but sadly, there were no takers.

They kept it up and she continued to put items away until eventually, no dome shot up and she slapped the bolt aside. They retread their steps.

The only problem was: she still had the necklace. Ryan began to sweat as he watched. Had it run out of magic or something?

Another try and still no dome. “Told you so!” Lisa insisted and sorted through some of the items. She narrowed it down to three and, seemingly on a whim, chose the right necklace over the pipe and wristband.

“It was loud all the other times but now, nothing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Worst case,” he tentatively spoke up, “it’s still a magic item with an unknown effect, right?”

She sighed and mumbled, “I was going to suggest we make the scouts waste their appraisals first but … Okay. [Appraise Object].”

It was only then that Ryan realized his mistake; how stupid it was that he was having her waste an appraisal to confirm something he already knew. But as always, it was too late.

“It wards against projectiles,” she confirmed and her eyebrows shot up. “Automatic reaction, limited uses on a recharge … indiscriminate?”

“Indiscriminate?”

“If you wore it through the dart traps, it could deplete itself after just one tunnel as it activates on every single dart.”

Oh, Ryan mouthed. Valuable but crude. And of course, every time it activated would bring it one step closer toward the permanent end of its lifetime.

“It’s not that strong of a ward besides, from what we’ve seen. I imagine you could break it through brute force alone so it might not even block an arrow so much as slow it down.”

“So useless to me,” Kyle said with absolute zero interest. He wandered around the items and lifted the pickaxe seemingly at random. “What’s this do?”

Lea groaned in exasperation. “I already gave you an appraisal.”

“It muffles,” Lisa said, ignoring her.

“Muffles? What, sound?”

She shrugged. “Maybe. Not sure. It’s very … muffling. It probably weakens magic or some other phenomenon. I’m not sure what.”

“Who would need an anti-magic pickaxe?”

Micah looked up like a dog that heard its name. He seemed to consider, shook his head, and went back to his pitons.

Ryan tried to wrap his head around that one. Had he thought … the pickaxe could be useful against Golems, too, but decided against the redundancy?

“You could always pass the baton,” Lisa suggested, “wait until we find out what more of these do and know what you want.”

Kyle scowled. “Isn’t there anything like your equipment? That axe of yours doesn’t need mana, does it?”

“My axe?” Lea asked. “My dad bought it for me. Going by the rough rule of thumb, it came from somewhere above the now twenty-fifth floor. It works on its own and can cut through solid stone.”

He set his jaw.

“You won’t find anything like it down here.”

“Fine,” he said. “Someone else go first, then.”

Apparently, Bluth took that to mean her, and Lisa didn’t complain. She headed for the known pile and lifted the guitar case by its handle.

Immediately, Jean spoke up, “You’re taking the guitar?”

“Yep.”

“But— Do you even know how to use it?”

“Not yet. But I can play, if that’s what you’re asking.” She set it down and opened the clasps to reveal a cushioned interior and dark brown wood, polished to a sheen halfway between the scrap wood of classroom instruments and the rich gloss of decorations stuck on walls.

The perfect balance, Ryan had thought, if you were going to invest in an instrument beyond the first. Not too fancy to fear touching but still special. Especially enchanted.

Of course, actual musicians probably had something else to say, like it was the music that counted. Which was why he kept his mouth shut.

Bluth tested the strings one by one.

“How do you mean?” Micah asked.

She played a chord and frowned, shifted her fingers, and played another, striking a line of sparks off with the motion like holding iron to a wheel. They bounced off the ground and winked out.

“It’s a bard’s guitar?!” he asked. “How does it work?”

“Magic?”

He scowled and sat back down, and Lea relented.

“It’s carved from spellwood and enchanted with effects tied to different sounds. Proper [Bards] can do this with any music, spellwood or no, to shape their magic. This is just a tool like any other.” She held it up by its neck to underline the statement but even so, tried a few more notes, the sound strange and out of place in the stone halls around them.

When nothing happened, she frowned and Micah slowly lost his excitement. “Of course, you have to discover all of the effects through trial and error first.”

“Oh. Right.” He probably understood that better than anyone.

Ryan looked to her fingers as she shifted her grip on its neck, but after just two more tries she moved to put it back away.

“Don’t you want to figure the rest out?” Some music could be nice for a change, if she could play.

“Huh? Oh, no. I’m not a [Bard]. This isn’t for me, it’s for my older sister. She dabbles, and without the proper levels or time to practice, she likes to collect magic instruments as both a crutch and fun puzzle to pass the time. I wouldn’t want to rob the answers from her.”

“Ah?”

“I thought we were securing items for us,” Kyle said. “You can buy a magic guitar whenever you want.”

“Yeah, but not this cheap.”

“You’re rich?”

“That does not mean I can buy whatever I want. This has special value because I earned it.”

“You could still be a little more considerate. Maybe offer to pick something for your team like that guy did.” He gestured.

“Silas,” Ryan said, feeling a smug kind of satisfaction as for once, he had remembered a name when someone else hadn’t.

“What if they picked it in the meantime?”

Still, Ryan hated how much he agreed with Kyle. He was grateful Lisa spoke up so he wouldn’t have to, “He’s kind of right, Lea. But it’s fine. None of us really know what we want yet. Right, Kyle?”

Both of them rolled their eyes.

“The deal was to appraise and evaluate all the items first, I’ll remind you,” Adrian said.

There was a twinkle in her eye when Lea responded, “Yes, and you went ahead and picked despite that, first. We already appraised something. If you want me to appraise anything else, go ahead.” She gestured over the hoard, including the more valuable items they had already found out.

If they did, there was a chance they would find something good and have to use their pick to secure it instead of something they already knew about. Either way, the other team could snatch the other option away.

That part of the deal could have given them the upper hand, if they had given in first. So far, they hadn’t, and Ryan didn’t know if they had gotten lucky with their appraisal of the necklace or not.

Adrian sighed and mumbled, “I don’t really care.” He headed for the ‘firewood’ and reached down for a staff. “I’m taking this.”

The winter cherry dangled when he lifted it up, attached by something that looked almost like a living vine. Their colors were so vibrant, Ryan didn’t know if they were the same non-material as some magic items were made of or painted wood. It had to be the former, he imagined, or else enchanted because the fruit was hollow and thin enough for light to shine through.

Or maybe its wielder would have to learn an enhancement spell to fight with it, depending on how good it was. Considering the floor they were on, it wouldn’t do everything.

In the hubbub of the others commenting on his choice, and one of the scouts calling the staff girly, Lisa shifted, which was weird because she could be as still as a corpse when she thought nobody was looking.

Ryan leaned over. “What? Did you want that?”

“Nope.”

Too curt.

“But …? Is it better than your current staff?”

“In some ways. It’s better for traditional magic and larger spells, because of the flail on top? It’s like a container. But I’ve never been one for traditional magic, you know?”

“Yeah,” he humored her and still added a, “Sorry.” Now, he was having less trouble agreeing with Kyle about Lea, and showing that agreement.

But Lisa shook her head. “I didn’t know if I would have wanted it anyway. I chose my current staff for a reason.”

“You barely use it?”

“I do, all the time. It’s just subtle.” She must have seen the doubt on his face because she elaborated, “The plan was to herd Sam around with it, when I inevitably make Sam into a living being, but the more I research and work on its design, the higher my standards grow and …”

She sighed.

“Maybe you should just do it?” Ryan asked. “Stop pushing things back and improving endlessly? You have to start somewhere.”

“No. Any mistakes would be harder to fix, or improvements harder to implement after the fact, without harming its developing body and spirit. I’m trying to make Sam … flexible, in a way that will remedy that. I do have an endpoint in sight, but it will take time.

And there’s no point in buying a new staff now when I’ll inevitably switch back.”

“You could carry both?”

“Ha! No. Too lazy.”

That, he could understand. Still, Ryan lingered a moment and watched her. He didn’t really have anything to say, no way of convincing her, nor did he see the need. Lisa knew what she was doing. He just wanted to make sure she was fine.

“Alright. I believe you.”

She smiled. “You’re right about one thing, though. I am impatient.” Her hand shifted at her side and from color and light, Sam crawled halfway onto her leg to rest its head in her lap.

Ryan was getting marginally better at seeing the process.

“What are you summoning that thing for?” Kyle said. “You’re up.”

“Huh?”

“We haven’t figured anything else out yet, have we? You two stopped with your tests because you’re waiting on them?”

“We could—”

He shook his head.

“I wanted to do the same thing Bluth did, though, picking a gift for my cousin and not myself.”

Her cousin? Ryan frowned. Hadn’t she said she was two years old?

Different cousin?

Kyle looked away and shrugged. “I don’t care. Go on then, before I change my mind. Like you said, I don’t know what I want yet.”

Ryan frowned at that, too. His tone was off, but Lisa took it in stride and lifted Sam up. She held him out and said, “Take this for a moment. And thank you, Kyle!”

Ryan held the little lizard-newt-flame chimera by his armpits while she headed for the loot. He stared at him with soulless eyes and, when Ryan leaned to the side to look past him, mirrored him. So he kept on going until the Salamander couldn’t keep up with his pudgy neck.

Ha! Chubster.

Rather than try to look at him, it bent its head back to join him and its entire body slithered with the movement, forcing Ryan to adjust.

She chose the spellbook and the conversations died.

It had an earthy brown cover, with angular, golden lines rising from the bottom that could have suggested crystals, fire, or roots at the same time. An amber circle hung among decorations near the top. A string could tie it shut.

Ryan only knew the basics about spellbooks to understand the loot he found, but he knew there were six kinds:

The first was the journal, as individual as the one who wrote it. It was usually found in the form of scrolls from people like the Shepherd, its value depending on its contents and finding the right buyer.

The thought made him glance at Jason again, but he put it aside.

The second was the textbook, nothing but paper and ink to teach the basics. Anyone could write one. Reliable, cheap, almost never found, or only on the lower floors, but still the most common type outside.

The third was an extension of the first, enchanted textbooks that had moving pictures, phantom sounds, smells, or other things. They didn’t actually do anything but look nice to get students’ imagination going, but were the most common type found, usually as scrolls with a single spellscript depicted in moving ink.

Micah had found one, once, he thought. He had it in his closet with the Golem’s hand he’d pilfered. His mementos.

Ryan knew there were constructs that did similar things for practical training: lattices carved from spellwood that were physical depictions of simple spellscripts, or single steps of more complex ones. Mages could run their mana through them to feel the right way of doing it, like training with a guided exercise machine.

Both seemed a little frivolous to him, especially since they helped the most during the easiest stage in training. Not that he was one to talk, stuck after learning a single spell, but he couldn’t imagine wasting his parents’ money to fix his failure.

The fourth type was different: magic items that let you cast spells through them. They were rare, especially the single-use ones due to their nature, but practically no different than the scouts’ crossbow or Jason’s wand, just shaped like a book. And yet, people treated them like something special, probably because they were one of the few items they had learned to replicate. [Mages] could study them for training or build their Class around them as part of their equipment, where that kind of dependency could be a handicap for anyone else.

There were some spellbooks that were between three and four, because they were enchanted with effects other than spells. The rule of thumb between them was: if the enchantment was for the book and its contents, it was type three, and if it was for something else, it was type four. If both, then both, like affinities. They could help both with learning and combat.

But there were enchantments that stood out from even those. Five and six were the real treasures and what most people thought of when they heard ‘spellbook’. They helped the reader learn, either reactively by adjusting their material—size, color, script, and even explanations—or proactively by shoving information into their head like a Skill or divination spell, but they could work on top of those, too, as well as Paths or Skills like [Lesser Intelligence]. Someone with all four of them working together might learn a new spell in a day.

In that case, spellbooks were an investment. You spent money to get a few weeks or months headstart and the book could then be passed on or sold. It was why everyone fought over them. Sometimes literally, like during the revolution, among team members, or as prizes in tournaments.

They were pretty sure they had found a pure type five spellbook, and it was exactly the question of value that made Ryan frown when she picked it.

“Are you sure you want that?”

Sam squirmed in his grip. He didn’t need Ryan to hold him, did he? He set him down and the Salamander ran off.

“As a reminder,” Adrian said, “we’re picking items to use, not for our teams. We’ll sell everything else we can’t agree on after the exam. Not that I’m complaining, I know half of the spells in there already, but just so you know.”

“I do,” Lisa said, eyes tracking her summon as it circled them to check behind each pillar. “Again, this is for my cousin, not me.”

Ryan whistled. “Expensive gift.”

It contained six beginner spells painted over a hundred and sixty-two pages, but even if it was as durable as any other book, and the paper thin and cheap, it would still fetch a hefty sum.

“If I visit home and don’t bring her something, she’ll throw a fit. Maybe this can teach her to be more careful with her belongings.”

Ryan frowned. “She throws tantrums?”

“She’s … lively, and tends to break stuff. Not on purpose, mind you. She’s just thoughtless.”

So she was buying priceless spellbook that didn’t have a durability enchantment for a thoughtless child?

Luckily, Micah spoke up, “That’s cruel! You’re setting her up to fail.”

She raised a finger. “No. I am going to warn her, and she’s going to break it anyway, and feel extra guilty because it was a gift and she won’t get another one anytime soon. And then maybe she’ll learn by the time I visit again and bring an even more expensive gift. One I actually put thought into, instead of choosing the next-best thing I saw after I decided.”

Ryan could manage a smile at the humor in her voice.

“Rich people,” Kyle mumbled.

He nodded before he knew who he was agreeing with, but frowned either way. Was Lisa rich?

Aside from her mana rings, her equipment wasn’t great, and Garen made her save up for things. But, she had only been friends with nobles before he’d met her … Maybe he was just strict? Or her parents were and sent her a limited stipend.

Right, because Garen wouldn’t be paying for her. She was his guest, not his charge.

When she sat, he asked, “What spells are in there anyway?” Bluth had already noted it when he’d gotten back and Ryan hadn’t asked. He didn’t like to consider things he couldn’t have. It never ended well.

She held it out. “Want to take a look?”

He hesitated. “My hands are filthy. Maybe later?”

“You could wash them?”

He could, but he wouldn’t. It was weird. A few years ago, Ryan would have been bouncing on his feet if he had caught a glimpse of a genuine spellbook, hoping to catch another. Now … there was a glimmer of that same excitement in him, but it was buried deep. Numb.

“It’s alright,” he said. “Really.”

“Alright.”

Something bumped into his hip and he glanced down to see Sam there, sitting press against his body as he eyed the cavern. He glanced at Lisa, but she was distracted, gently flipping through the book with a cantrip rather than her bare hands.

So then why …? Oh. Without meaning to, he had set his [Hot Skin] to that sweet spot Teacup Salamanders loved, though it was barely any different than the temperature around them.

Idly, he scratched his neck beside him.

“In that case,” Jean said, “I will choose …” He drew the word out as he looked over the hoard and swiveled around to point far behind them. “That!” He pointed toward the center of the ritual circle.

Guessing by the theatrics, he must have planned that. They craned their heads back and needed a few seconds to catch on.

“Oh, the slime crystal?” Micah said, sounding anxious. Because he would have chosen it if he could?

“Yeah,” Jean said. He sounded vaguely disappointed they weren’t more surprised, like they should have forgotten about it or something.

“You would have to dig it out first— Hey! There might be loot in the strongbox. We should check that out first,” Micah said and rushed to get his tools.

“Won’t your familiar get jealous?” Ryan spoke up.

He smiled. “Nah. It’s not like a [Witch] can only have one familiar and besides, I wouldn’t want to send Max into danger like I did today. Not until we’re stronger.”

“Ah.”

It had been worth a shot. Jean had been one of the people to look at too many items to pick, Bluth’s guitar and the spellbook among them. Maybe he could have chosen something else last minute in his indecision, given the right push.

There was another summoning crystal for an Ember Beetle. Maybe Micah could choose that?

But now, they were back to Kyle and he still wouldn’t know what he wanted.

“Let’s dig up the strongbox first before we go on,” Ryan addressed the entire group and began to lead by example with the boring task of counting how many rocks he put into each treasure chest. “We need to finish cataloging anyway.”

Not that he expected anything good to be in there. And, after Jason tapped Micah out on mining duty so he could go back to managing the corpses, they didn’t even find a chest beneath the floor. Just the summoning crystal and the component crystals hidden around the ritual circle.

“You know,” Lisa said, “if you really struggle with your mana so much, it might be wise to invest in a mana ring?”

Kyle gave her a look that said exactly what he thought of that, but weirdly didn’t add to the judgment in expletives as he usually would. Instead, he sighed and turned to the other two.

“Do you guys already know what you will pick?”

“I have some ideas,” Jason said. “Why?”

“Me, too.”

“Because, I would ask Bluth to appraise something for me.”

They’d continued testing the unknown pile while the others had been digging, but only found out a few more items.

Jason frowned but said, “Alright. You can have it.”

“Are you sur—”

“Yeah. I have three different items I can pick. It’s fine, really.”

“Thanks, man.”

“Really, he’s getting both of our appraisals?” Bluth asked.

Kyle scowled and gestured. “That brooch. You said it gave warmth. Can you confirm that for me?”

She frowned. “That? Really?”

He headed to Lisa, who handed it over. “You people made it sound cheap, but I know how invaluable having something to keep you warm at night can be. Besides, one of the scouts is probably going to want it after the exam. Too good for them to let slip away, am I right?”

The few scouts paying attention when he raised his voice didn’t give him an answer or simply shrugged, though that could be seen as an answer of its own.

Ryan found it hard to argue with him. Yes, his [Hot Skin] was a blessing and a curse, but if he’d had the choice of a brooch that offered control simply by taking it off instead of having to train for years …

“[Appraise Object],” Bluth said and froze a moment later. “Oh.”

“What?”

“It’s not enchanted with warmth, per se. I recognize it now. Pretty sure it has the item equivalent of the [Cloak of the Ember Beetle] spell.”

Fitting, Ryan thought.

“Which means what?” Kyle asked.

“It’s blue magic,” he spoke up. He recognized the spell from researching options to copy or spells to learn. “It wraps you in a cloak that converts kinetic energy to heat and stores it. Then, if you move with enough force or get agitated enough, it can ignite that storage.”

He still frowned like he didn’t get it—Ryan hadn't either, the first time he had read the description—until Micah asked, “It sets you on fire?”

“Wraps you in heat and fire. Like a combination of [Hot Skin] and [Searing Strikes].” It was why he had looked at twice, because maybe there could have been an interaction there, between the spell and his Skills. But wrapping his entire body in a long-lasting enchantment was beyond him—he struggled with a short-lived strength enchantment on just his legs—and besides, the spell was somewhat useless to him. He didn’t need any more warmth or a little extra fire. He had more than enough.

“This is still good,” Bluth said, holding up the brooch, “definitely a treasure we nearly missed, but if you’re looking for something to keep you warm through the night, this isn’t it.”

“Fuck.”

He turned back to the hoard as if he genuinely didn’t know what to pick anymore, but gave the brooch a second look after all. “Fine, I’ll pick that.”

“Are you sure? I know Ryan said the spell can store heat, but this is an enchantment, so there’s bound to be differences. You have to move around enough for it to work and the storage will last a few hours at best at night, if at all.”

“It’s good enough. I have [Lesser Weather Resistance].”

“If you insist.”

Kyle snatched the brooch out of her hands and ran a thumb over it. It still seemed to shift around the edges as Ryan watched from a distance. He put it away.

Parker chose the Growing Boots. No big surprise there. “If you’re not going to pick them,” he said to Kyle, “I will. They’re by far too good to let slip away.”

Ryan only regretted that because Jason and Micah could have used them just as well, Micah especially, but they didn’t seem too bothered.

“If you want, we could always look for another pair in the Bazaar?” he offered.

Micah looked momentarily surprised by the offer but shook his head. “I didn’t. I doubt they would have fit me.”

“They’re Growing Boots. They fit anyone.”

He shrugged. “Just saying.”

“So which one of you is picking last?” Jason asked the other team.

“Me,” Nick said and smiled. “The kid has the right idea. Hunting stone golems sounds like fun.”

So he would be getting more of the pitons and letting Silas have the crossbow? Good on Silas.

“Are you going to need both of the appraisals your team haggled for?”

“Mm … maybe. Why?”

Jason smiled. “Cause I want one.”

“To appraise …?”

Surprisingly, Jason walked over and showed him, picking up the same dagger Kyle had picked up earlier with the red flame patterns forged into the blade.

“Why that?” Ryan asked.

“It’s just an idea. I could barely contribute to the fight earlier, damage-wise. Maybe I should pick something that would let me harm more enemies. This could be that.”

A surprisingly practical thought. Ryan would have expected him to pick whatever looked coolest, but maybe that was being unfair.

For one thing, most of the other ‘great’ items had been picked away already.

“Go for it,” Nick said, “but if it’s surprisingly too good, like that brooch turned out to be, I might steal it away from you, even if I have my sights on something else.”

Jason seemed willing to risk it. He twisted the dagger around and held it out to Bluth.

Two words, and she shook her head with a sigh. “I doubt this will be what you’re looking for, either.” She reached back, pulled another knife from her belt, and scraped its back along the side of the blade. Sparks shot off. “It’s a striker. Reliable. Easy to use. I bet you could find some way to weaponize it, but not much better than any mundane dagger.”

Jason sighed, thanked her, and wandered away. “I guess I’ll pick the warding necklace after all, if that’s fine with you, Micah?”

“Of course!”

He smiled. “Combined with [Protection] and some better armor, it should be a good replacement for the rain jacket so I don’t have to worry about defense anytime soon. I can find another weapon elsewhere.”

‘Another’, because he was still going to keep his sword? It was like the basic version of Lea’s axe, after all, but not much better than a well-crafted sword. Did it have sentimental value?

“Apropos rain jacket,” Jean said, “that monster you mentioned earlier, was it one of the tenth-floor guardians?”

“Maria,” Micah supplied.

“The dead sister,” he said back and looked intense all of a sudden. “Did the boot trick work? How did you get away from her?”

Of course, he would know of her. It was a little surprising he had linked it to the rain jacket, though.

Maria’s kin, the Guardians of the tenth floor, were famous because of their misplaced strength on that floor, because of how they stonewalled climbers from reaching the eleventh, and how many had died trying to get past them anyway.

There was iconography of them all over the lower floors, almost like a warning if you clawed your way up from the bottom, and many people had pointed out that one of the beasts was missing.

From how little he paid attention to the topic, the Hermit had confirmed he had killed it, to his praise, and the valley they had left behind was one of the safest pathways to the eleventh floor for now.

“We didn’t,” Ryan said, “we were there when the Rat Hermit killed her. That coat he’s wearing fell from her corpse.”

They turned to Jason and more than one person whistled. “No wonder you’re happy not to pick,” Parker said. “What could compare to that?”

“Have you considered sell—”

Bluth didn’t get any further before Ryan cut her off with a final, “No.”

She hesitated but let it drop. He just hoped she wouldn’t turn the rumor mill about it. Even poor relics attracted thieves and buyers’ offers like flies; Conner had told him horrifying stories of his … lightning twig …

He sighed.

“Well, now I feel kind of inadequate picking this,” Nick said and lifted a red boot by its lining with two fingers.

“You’re going with the boot over the glove?” Micah asked.

“Of course?” He smiled as he dropped and began to take his current one off to make the switch. “Statistically speaking, most monsters I’ll encounter in the next few years will be shorter than me, so their threat will come from the bottom-up. Better to have a boot whose resistance I can pull up like a sleeve, right?

Besides, shield and glove won’t work at the same time, will they? And it’s harder to protect your legs with one, so it’s better to armor them.”

“Unless the glove is your shield.”

“Against a fire-breath attack?”

“Against general hazards. Like maneuvering a burning object, creature, terrain. An average boot is more likely to defend against flames than an average glove.”

“Against average flames, maybe,” Nick pointed out, “but last and most importantly, I heard that if you collect two of these”—he held the boot up, sole toward them, before he put it on—”you can run across lava.”

That was a convincing argument if Ryan ever heard one. They watched Nick walk around on it and test the fit.

“A little too much wiggle room. Guess I’ll have to grow,” he said.

“What about you?” Ryan asked, turning to Micah. “What will you pick? Bluth still has an appraisal left since the scouts didn’t use theirs.” Which meant they hadn’t had to use their safety net. They really were getting the better end of this deal.

“I’m not entirely sure. I do already have what I want—I do! So … I might not pick anything?”

“What?”

“‘Cause like, I need the money, and—”

“This is an opportunity to save money. What about this summoning crystal?” He held it up for him. “Haven’t you wanted one for a while?”

“I don’t know. The most basic use of patterned crystals is to give alchemicals a longer shelf life, because something inside the crystals lasts, unlike basic patterns and essences—”

“Patterns last,” Lisa spoke up.

“They’re easily reborn. There’s a difference. But while I want to study that, the most basic use of Ember Beetles and most other monsters from these floors is as accelerants, as we’ve seen, and …” he trailed off.

“Oh, right.” Ryan put the crystal back down. “I’m sorry.”

“What’s wrong with accelerants?” Jean asked.

He shrugged. “Fire’s not my thing.”

Instead, Ryan headed over to his fortress of alchemy and picked up one of the bottles at random. The potion inside glowed an amber gold and was viscous. “How about a good potion, then? What’s this one do?”

“That’s maple syrup.”

He frowned and glanced down at it. “It’s glowing.”

“I know, right? It’s that cool?” He must have sensed Ryan’s impatience, because he said, “Yeah, yeah, I know. I was thinking maybe I should do as Kyle planned and pick something simple yet reliable but … I don’t see anything that’s a perfect fit. We don’t know for sure what everything does, even with appraisals, and I don’t want to spend money on an imperfect fit when I might need it for something else later, once we do know what all of this does …”

It turned into a bit of a ramble as he looked over the hoard, but he knew that. He took a deep breath and walked away. “So maybe I’ll just pick this, for now.” He snatched up the Summoner’s crystal. “I can use it, for sure.”

He looked at him the same way they’d looked to Bluth earlier, as if Ryan somehow had the final say.

“I trust your judgment,” Ryan told him and hoped he heard what he was saying, that he could choose for himself.

All he got in return was an awkward shuffle, like Micah didn’t know what to do with himself, and then a smile.

Good enough?

“So where are you headed after this?” Silas asked them as they packed up the rest of their belongings.

The piles that had decorated the chamber slowly thinned out until the place looked abandoned. Meanwhile, their luggage doubled in size. It would slow them down, but that could be a good thing, if the others believed in Jason so much.

“West”, was their answer, toward the river their ‘glorified compass’ had sensed and down the Wood Road the Kobolds has established.

Ryan’s heart thumped louder just thinking about it, the departure. Just a few more minutes …

Think of it as a test run.

“And you?” Micah asked.

“We’re staying close. We’ll climb for today and hopefully fight another Guardian, and tomorrow, we’ll return to survey the camp and see how quickly new Kobolds move in, where they come from, and how they behave.”

“Oh, you’re devoting your entire exam to this study?”

“Yeah. We have to do it properly, or as well as we can in what little time we have. We’re [Scouts], collecting information is what we do.”

“Right.” He smiled.

Their own team had made fun of them for grouping a bunch of people with the same Class together, but looking at it that way, it made more sense.

They weren’t just [Scouts], and they were also both better at being scouts and other things than he was one thing alone.

Micah powdered the contents of another sack with a preservative so their quality wouldn’t suffer like they had after the last exam—Brent had only managed to get as good of a deal as he had because of their bulk—and Parker reached over to wrench it shut and tie a complex knot.

Micah stepped away and pulled the first strap of his overloaded pack on, then the second with a little hop to shift its weight, and started fitting them.

That was everything then, Ryan guessed. The other finished sacks of loot lay next to him. A glue-sealed chest sat next to Lisa.

“You guys remember the agreement,” Parker stressed, looking up at them as his hands worked. “You better not make some solvent for those before the exam—”

“Yes,” Micah said with a roll of his eyes. “We have our lists, right?”

Each team had a copy of the lists detailing the contents of every sack and chest with them. The loot would remain untouched until after the exam, even if they needed space to store other stuff.

Luggage was the price they would pay for all of it.

“And if you lose any of the sacks or let a Treant stomp on one, you have to pay for it, get it?”

“Yes. We won’t let that happen.”

“We won’t,” Bluth assured him.

“Ignore him,” Silas said. “He’s just grumpy. For no good reason.” He raised his voice and Parker scowled as he slunked away.

His heartbeat raised another notch in volume. If someone else had his hearing, Ryan swore they could have known.

“It was great working with you. We … technically made time,” Silas said, checking his watch, “even if it’s a little late. But I honestly thought you were boasting yesterday, so this is great.”

“Is everyone at your school so overleveled?” Adrian asked.

Lea smiled painfully.

“Just the good teams,” Micah beamed. “And that’s, uhh, uhh …” He fumbled and just before the conversation could move on, blurted out, “correlation, not causation!”

Where had he picked that up?

“Sure.”

It was a weird way to compliment his teammates and guessing by their looks, Bluth was the only one who appreciated it when it had most definitely not been directed at her.

“I guess this is goodbye, then,” Silas said as he picked up his things. “See you in a week or so for the rest of the loot?”

“Yeah.”

“Good luck,” Jason told them.

“You, too,” Jean echoed and they began to walk in nearly opposite directions.

Now or never.

It took Ryan a few moments to make up his mind and by then, the distance between the two groups had grown. He caught up to his team and asked, “Hey, can you go on ahead for a moment? There’s something I want to discuss with the scouts.”

They turned, one by one, and Micah was closest to him with his luggage. “What? Did you forget something?”

“No. Something else.”

“Couldn’t you have done this earlier?” Kyle asked.

“Uh, no. It needs to be one-on-one and—”

“Fuck no. If it’s something personal, you can tell them later. Let’s get a move on. We should have left half an hour ago.”

“They’re still here,” Lea said and started to raise an arm. “We can just—”

“No. You’ll find out sooner or later, but it needs to be now for them, and it’ll be quicker if I can do this alone. Five minutes, tops.”

“Are you serious?”

“Let him,” Lisa said. “The sooner the better, right?”

He met her eye. “Right.”

“Hell, no—” Kyle started to say, but Lisa grabbed his one arm, and Micah pushed him with his shoulder until Jason took over his other arm, and he sputtered as they dragged him off.

“Hey. Wait. What the hell, Chandler? Stop touching me.”

Ryan shot them a look in relief and thanks, noticed Lea watching, and jogged the other way.

His team was mostly out of sight when he caught up to the others, and they were close to one of the exits leading up into the gallery. One of them noticed him, and tapped the others.

“What up?” Parker asked. “Did we forget something?”

He glanced back to be sure, and said, “No, I just needed to talk to you. And it needs to be now before you get any wrong ideas for your reports.”

“Our reports?”

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and found his words. “I know you think we pulled something because the camp was in a panic when you got there, and the Summoner was missing without knowing how he died. And I know you think Lisa caused it. But she didn’t. I did.”

“You what?” Parker took a step forward, Silas beside him to back him, and Nick glanced over Ryan’s shoulder while the other two fanned out with small steps.

It looked unconscious on their part, and Ryan fought the urge to consciously grip his spear in turn.

“That was me. I snuck in, assassinated the Summoner, and broke the podium as I ran back out again. That’s it. I didn’t have time to take anything or fight. Not even a minute went by when the first [Fireball] hit behind me.”

“Are you being serious right now?”

“Why?” Silas asked.

“Because—”

“Wait, no,” Parker interrupted. “Answer my question first. Are you serious? You’re not covering for that Lisa girl because you’ve got the hots for her or something?”

“What? No. I did it because I wanted to level. Like I told you. I’m sorry. I know it was a mistake and—”

He started to explain. Parker nodded to himself as if he were barely listening and then snapped, “You piece of shit—”