Dave and Cedez set out from the snail-shell apartment, leaving a concerned-looking Murdoc behind. As they made their way through the bustling streets of Shandria, Dave couldn't help but still be amazed by the whimsical beings around them - from scaly lizardfolk haggling over exotic fruits to a group of maidens with liquid-like floating hair.

The morning sun danced in the rain puddles between the cobblestones, and the air was filled with the chatter of merchants and the clinking of steel armor.

"Hey," Dave began, glancing sideways at his foxy companion, "do you think we'll run into any trouble at the pub?"

Cedez's tail swished playfully as she walked. "With your luck? Maybe! Trouble follows you around like a bonded Kitlix, doesn't it?”

“Only on this death-trap of a world,” Dave complained. “Worst trouble I got into back at the office… was accidentally setting off the fire alarm by microwaving a burrito for too long.”

Cedez snickered.

He eyed his companion. “You know, I initially thought that you’d be bound to the cafe or something. Like a cute, coffee-making genie. Seriously though, how does this whole… shadow-existence work for you? Are there rules?”

"Rules? Hmm... well, there's the 'don't eat the customers' rule, but that's more of a cafe policy than a supernatural constraint."

Dave squinted at the dark fox.

"Okay, okay. I can leave the cafe, obviously. But I can't go that far from Shandria.”

"That sounds... annoying," Dave mused.

"You have no idea," Cedez sighed. "Do you know how many cute shoes I've seen in catalogues from other cities? It's torture, I tell you!"

Dave raised an eyebrow. "Shoes? Really? That's your biggest concern? Could you not order a delivery or something?”

"Hey, a girl's gotta have priorities," she quipped. "Delivery? A shoe must be comfortable, I’m not gonna order a shoe that looks pretty but feels like I’m wearing a wooden bowl.”

Dave arched an eyebrow.

“It's easier to focus on shoes than on the existential dread of being an immortal shadow abomination bound to Shandria for all eternity,” she complained playfully.

“What about your Shadow-blades?”

“Average Shadowmancy at best,” Cedez waved a hand. “Around level twenty seven. Stelly was in high thirties. Murdering people is more effective than running a cafe for level gains.”

"So… what exactly do you do for fun around here? Besides serving lattes,” he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, the usual. Terrorizing the local wildlife, practicing my evil laugh in the mirror, knitting sweaters for orphaned Kitlix..."

"Sweaters… for Kitlix?"

"Nah, you goof," Cedez giggled. "But it’s a good retirement plan if I ever get bored of running the cafe! Think of all the cute Kitlix outfits one could design! It's an untapped market!”

"But seriously, what do you do when you're not working?"

"Well, I do enjoy a good book on the balcony terrace. There's this series about a young wizard who goes to a magical school... oh right, that one’s from your world."

Dave's eyes widened. "You've read Harry Potter?"

“Yepperoni,” she nodded.

“How?”

“Just one of many books published in Illatius by Lord Chadwick,” Cedez shrugged.

“Chadwick?” Dave asked. “Pretty sure J. K. Rowling wrote that one.”

“I read everything he’s written,” Cedez nodded. “Listened to the musicals too... via Murdoc's Musix Kitlix.”

“Musicals via... what?”

“It's a Voicecast receiver Kitlix,” Cedez explained. “It plays news and receives music from Illatius... sort of like a radio from your world.”

“What's your favorite musical?”

“Lord of the Rings by Steve Chadwick,” Cedez replied, making Dave sputter. “It’s how I know so much about Earth. He’s a summoned, like you. Lord Chadwick brought tons of cultural stuff from Earth and propagated it across the Shadow Empire. He invented lattes too.”

“Dang,” Dave said. “Well, there goes my backup career as a famous writer.”

“Chadwick is quite the celebrity in Illatius,” Cedez nodded as they arrived at the front of the pub. “He'd probably hire an assassin if you try to compete with his entertainment business.”

The building loomed before them, its weathered sign depicting a dark shadow beast with far too many eyes creaking gently in the morning breeze coming from the glaciers.

"So, what's the plan?" Dave asked, eyeing the tavern warily. "We just waltz in?"

"We could always try the direct approach. Burst in, wave your bone knife around, and demand all the shiny things in the name of... what was it again? Oh right, princess slayin’ and bad life choices." Cedez winked at him.

“I slay one princess and… you’re never going to let this go are you?” Dave shot her a withering look.

“Nopers,” Cedes grinned. “The teasing will continue until morale improves.”

“My morale will improve when I’m not carrying a pair of metal twins,” Dave snapped back.

The foxgirl tutted and slid into a dark alcove and snapped her fingers. Her face rearranged itself with dancing shadows to resemble that of Stellaris, now featuring four elongated, sharp ears.

“Wow… you look just like her now,” Dave commented with a small shudder. “Can you copy anyone like that?”

“No,” Cedez shook her new dark-elf head. “Just her, on the account that I ate her Shadowmancy. And this pretty face won’t stay on forever, so let’s hurry.”

"You won't become more like her from absorbing her shadow?" Dave asked.

"Nah," Cedez shook her head. "The Shadow is just a magic sub-type, it's the gemstone dress that contains it that makes us who we are as individuals."

Dave followed Cedez, into the dimly lit pub. The smell of eggs and bacon filled the air, mingling with the soft murmur of conversation. A few early patrons sat scattered around the room, picking at breakfast-filled plates.

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As they approached the stairs, a burly bartender looked up from wiping down the counter.

"Morning, m'lady," he mumbled, not meeting their eyes.

Cedez nodded regally, her stolen features set in a haughty expression. Dave tried his best to look intimidating, though he suspected he came across more as constipated than menacing.

They ascended the creaking wooden stairs, their footsteps muffled by the worn red carpet runner. At the top, Cedez led them down a narrow hallway to a familiar door. She held out her hand, shadows coalescing around her fingers until they formed a key-like shape.

"Neat trick," Dave whispered.

Cedez nodded. The shadow key slid into the lock, and with a soft click, the door swung open. They stepped inside, closing it behind them.

Dave scanned the room, his eyes landing on the spot where he remembered the hexagram was hidden by the dark elf. He pointed. "There."

Cedez nodded and knelt beside the spot. Again, shadows gathered around her hand, this time forming a thin, blade-like appendage. She worked it into the seam between the floorboards, and with a soft grunt, pried them up.

Beneath the boards lay a hexagram burned into a wooden panel, its lines filled with an array of shimmering, blue gemstones.

Dave reached down and ran his fingers across the gems, devouring the bits of soul from them, watching as they danced as silver sparks up into his hand. The total amount of usable soul in his stats ticked up to [36.0432].

More memories of being Stellaris filled his head.

. . .

He saw himself as the dark elf girl stalking through the gloomy streets of Undertown. Shadowy tendrils writhed around her as she approached a group of cloaked figures huddled in an alcove.

"The price of the ingredients has gone up," one of the figures rasped. "The Watch is cracking down on Topaz dust. It's getting harder to..."

Stellaris's lips curled into a cruel smile. "Perhaps you need a reminder of who you're dealing with." Her hand shot out, shadows coalescing into razor-sharp claws that plunged into the speaker's chest. The man's scream was cut short as Stellaris ripped out a pulsing, crystalline heart core.

"Anyone else care to renegotiate the price?" she purred. The remaining figures shook their heads frantically.

The scene shifted, and Dave found himself as Stellaris standing in a dimly lit chamber, surrounded by cages filled with half-dead people. An old man in tattered, grimy robes approached her, wringing his shaking, blue-tinted hands nervously.

"The experiments are progressing, my lady," he wheezed. "But we need more subjects. The... infusion is unstable, the crystalline heart insertion is… impermanent. After twenty-one days, the subject’s soul shatters.”

Stellaris waved a hand dismissively. "Take what you need from Undertown. The Watch won't notice a few more missing vagrants and adventurer idiots. I want a permanent solution. Do we understand each other, Alchemist?”

“Yes, my lady,” the Alchemist nodded.

. . .

Dave shook his head and quickly shoved the board into his bag.

“Learn something new?” Cedez asked.

“She was selling some kind of drug… and experimenting on people,” he said with a shudder. “I think that she was trying to gain… greater permanence, a way to avoid melting into the shadows at night?”

“Come on,” Cedez said. “You can contemplate all the terrible things she did after we’re out of here.”

They quickly went over drawers and closet, finding nothing else of value.

“You’d think that a drug dealer would keep some cash on hand,” Dave complained.

“Only low level adventurers deal with carrying cash around on their wrists like simpletons,” Cedez pointed out. “Mid-tier mages deal only in mana transfers, keep it in a ‘Mana Wallet’ skill.

“Were you able to absorb any of her mana?” Dave asked with a hopeful look.

“Only a bit. She blew through all of her excess mana while trying to murder you,” Cedez said.

“Just my luck,” Dave sighed.

The pair hastily exited the pub. The city's cacophony gradually faded behind them as they left through Adventurers Gate and reached the outskirts, moving past Agromancer-maintained farm fields.

Cedez led the way, her dark tail swishing back and forth as she navigated the rough terrain. Dave followed, his eyes constantly darting around for more Felislices. After about half an hour of trekking, they arrived at the edge of a vast chasm, its depths shrouded in mist.

Dave spotted what looked like pure white dragons gliding in the breeze. “Are those dangerous?” He asked.

“Eh?” Cedez looked up. “Nah. Those are dragonettes. They don't grow bigger than a few feet and mostly eat insects, fish and smaller beasts. They don't attack people, just think of them as... seagulls."

Without warning, Cedez suddenly sprinted towards a towering tree that clung to the cliff-side. Shadow-claws materialized around her hands, and she began scaling the gnarled bark with vulpine grace.

“Follow me!” She announced from the tree.

Dave watched for a moment before remembering his own abilities.

He blinked, feeling the familiar sensation of his soul points shifting. All of his points flowed into Agility and Dexterity, and suddenly his body felt light as a feather. With a grin, he leaped after Cedez, his movements fluid and precise as he bounded from branch to branch.

At the top of the tree, they found a natural alcove formed by intertwining branches. Cedez settled herself on a thick bough, her legs dangling over the edge. She gestured towards the makeshift platform. "Alright, Earth boy. Show me if you can convert a bottled shadow into magical amplification without my aid.”

Dave nodded, taking a deep breath as he shifted his points once again, this time into Intelligence and Wisdom focusing. The memories of Stellaris flooded back, crystal clear and unsettling. He pulled out the vial of dark fluid, the hexagram board and the ruined dress, setting them in front of himself.

As he began to rearrange the large, undamaged gems from the dress, adding them to the hexagram burned into the wood, a thought struck him. "Hey, Cedez," he asked as he worked, "hypothetically speaking, would it be safe for me to sleep out here? Like, for example, in this tree?"

Cedez snorted, her eyes scanning the landscape where massive, crab-like, tentacled Agrilopod beasts tilled orange fields in the distance. "Only if you've got a death wish. Night brings out all sorts of flying nasties. Why do you think we have Leviathan Nightingale and her flock diligently patrolling the streets, farms and walls at night? The things that come out to hunt at night are far stronger and faster than people. Stay too close to Shandria at night, and you'll be a shadow snack. Wander too far, and you'll absolutely end up as wyvern chow."

"Right. No camping trips then.”

“Why are you considering camping anyway?” Cedez asked.

“Kind of feels like the Shandrian economy is out to get me,” he sighed. “Plus, I feel like I'm constantly one step away from being exposed as a necromancer.”

"You're looking at it all wrong, Dave. Shandria isn't out to get you - it's a city of opportunity!"

Dave raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Opportunity? For what, exactly? Getting myself indebted or killed in increasingly creative ways?"

“You just have to figure out how to make cash,” Cedez smiled with sharp chompers. “Just use that Earth-brain of yours to introduce something that doesn’t exist yet to Shandria like Lord Chadwick.”

“Yeah, right,” Dave said. “Like that’ll work. I’m not a businessman, nor do I have sales skills.”

“I… could sell stuff for you,” Cedez suggested. “I know… people.”

"You'd really help me sell stuff?"

Cedez's tail swished. "Of course! What are friends for?”

“We’re friends now?”

“We were always friends, you just didn’t know it yet,” Cedez turned away, looking at the distant rising city walls and mage towers.

“What?”

“Even before I met Murdoc,” she said. “Before I could speak properly, waking up on a new rooftop every morning. Before I was… defined as Cedez Astra. I’ve had this dream where we met each other when you stumbled out of the wilds soaked in blood. I’ve been waiting ten years for you at that gate..."

“Gee, that’s not creepy at all,” Dave muttered.

“See, this is why I didn’t tell you any of this earlier,” Cedez said. “Thanks for judging me, you butt.”

Dave quietly stared at Cedez. The wind rustled through the leaves of the tree, swaying her curly dark hair, and for a moment, he saw past the playful exterior to something more vulnerable underneath.

"Ten years?" he asked, filling in the silence. "That's... a long time to wait for someone you've never met."

“Might have been longer,” Cedez shrugged. "Time has little meaning when you're a semi-sentient shadow blob and you’ve no idea who or what the hell you even are…" She paused. "It was nice to have a single, persistent dream. I know it sounds crazy to someone from a world without Foresight magic. Heck, sometimes I think I am crazy. But that dream... it felt so real. Like a promise of something better. Like something that I could hold onto when I had nothing at all, something to look forward to.”

Dave blinked.

“I feel the shadows hanging over

They're waiting to come closer

To come and take me away…”

She sang softly.

“And I can feel my heart skip

Every time that I slip

I wanna run away…”