Nobody exactly knew how the Tear, opening up the earth next to the Adamantine Bastion, had been formed.

  Most scholars debated whether the formation was natural or the result

  of a massive ancient mining operation. The oldest claims stated that

  the legendary miner Eron had dug the whole chasm himself while searching for small splinters of adamantine around the main vein.

  These claims were on a shaky

  foundation.

  Surely, Eron would have

  mined all the adamantine he would have found, not leaving the

  mythically large vein untouched. Closer investigations into the

  lowest parts of the adamantine revealed ancient toolmarks indicating

  somebody actually had been mining in the tear, but dating such marks

  had been futile as adamantine was impervious to erosion and didn’t

  bear any marks of time passing by.

  Even if Eron had found the

  vein in his youth and had been unable to mine it, surely he would

  have returned afterwards when his rank and Skills allowed him to do

  so? Alas, that hadn’t happened, and now the Bastion stood

  steadfastly on the greenish rock, overlooking the prosperous city.

  None of that mattered to the

  city's citizens and visitors. All the Tear in actuality did was to

  create a massive headache for the Dungeon Watch and precariously

  segregated city planning.

  Western Lip, as it was

  named, was largely built on an outward protruding lip on the stone,

  making it somedays looking like it floated in the air when thick fog

  coalesced in the dungeon opening.

  When the original city had

  been built and started to grow, most of the citizens were worried the

  rock would snap and the whole neighborhood would plummet down to the

  dungeon, causing most of the richer builders to choose the eastern

  side of the city to build on. The ground there was pleasingly sturdy

  and far away from the gaping maw of a dungeon.

  Hundreds of years later, the

  Lip was still there, happily supporting the grinding middle class and

  destitute adventurers, like Seventh Seven, who was following two

  women deeper into the western parts of the city.

  While following Viv and

  Jenn, Seventh noticed how the streets were gradually turning more and

  more patched and broken until wide potholes were left untouched,

  filled only with water and mud. The houses on both sides of the

  cracked streets weren’t any better. The wood used in their

  construction looked crooked and cheap, paint was seldom used, and

  none of the houses had an ounce of glass on their windows. Only

  narrow slits with simple shutters.

  Even the passersbys acted

  differently compared to the other side of the city. All of them had a

  peculiar mix of keen vigilance and selective forgetfulness. Stares

  and leers of the people slid off the trio like water from the duck’s

  back as they walked along. Almost as if they had been seen, but

  nobody really wanted to keep their attention on them, just not to see

  anything that could complicate their lives.

  Walking downhill, the walls

  of the city slowly rose up almost to an impossible degree, and

  Seventh had to take a double-take to see what was going on there.

  Nothing astoundingly unusual, it would seem. The walls were simply

  built on bare rock, and the houses on softer ground, sinking into the

  loose earth since almost none of them had a proper foundation.

  “So, uh, Jenn?” Seventh

  asked.

  The Ranger softly harrumphed

  as a reply.

  “You know where we’re

  going?” Seventh asked while they walked past a group of burly men

  with a collection of old and new scars running on their faces and

  arms, ragged clothes tightly wound up on their waists to act as

  belts. All of the men aggressively looked straight ahead, actively

  ignoring the trio.

  “Nope,” Jenn said while

  grinning merrily. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep you safe and sound,

  and won’t let the big, bad locals scare you.”

  “That’s... not really

  what I meant...”

  “Suuure it wasn’t. I can

  almost hear you clutching your coinpouch and looking for the nearest

  exits.”

  Seventh licked his lips and

  shifted his gaze from the nearest getaway route, a shady-looking

  alleyway he could easily block with one Bone Wall. At least he wasn’t

  clutching his coin since all of it was safely stored in his

  voidspace.

  “It’s just a reflex...”

  Seventh muttered.

  “You don’t need to

  worry,” Jenn said. “It might look like a tough neighborhood, but

  if you talk to us like we're people, we respond in kind.”

  “We?” Seventh asked

  while making a quick glance at Jenn walking next to him.

  She was walking forward

  without looking around, relaxed and poised. “Born and raised in the

  Slip.”

  Oh, that explains it.

  “Alright. Any pitfalls you see me falling into?”

  Seventh was well aware of

  his social shortcomings— like living in a tavern, but not going

  down for a drink to socialize once in a while— and general lack of

  common sense.

  “Well... you’re polite—

  that keeps most knives sheathed in here— but if someone tells you a

  price of something, it doesn't matter of its a copper, silver, or

  gold, pay that. No more, no less. no

  haggling. You can flaunt with your Skills and Classes all you want,

  but the moment you throw money at a problem...”

  She didn't finish the

  thought, and Seventh nodded in understanding. “Why not haggling?”

  “During business deals

  it's fine, but people here know their worth. It's just a waste of

  time.”

  “Got it.”

  Seventh tried to copy Jenn

  and Viv’s nonchalant stride, but he was constantly looking for the

  holes on the ground, carefully skipping over pools of mud, and at the

  same time carefully scanning his surroundings.

  It was inevitable he would

  make a mistake somewhere, and soon his leg sloshed in an almost

  impossibly deep puddle well past his shin-high boot.

  The mud was sticky with a

  greenish hue, slurping loudly when Seventh pulled his leg off. He

  almost lost a boot to the urban trap and shook his leg in a vain

  effort to get some of the mud off. A group of children close by

  started to laugh and point at his demise.

  “Chunker got chunks!”

  Seventh gave the kids a

  scandalized stare and stuck his tongue out at them. He was met with a

  wall of raspberrying little tongues and even more giggles.

  Choosing his battles wisely,

  Seventh just scraped the bottom of his shoe mostly clean and left the

  mud on elsewhere. With a friendly nod at the children, he returned to

  his journey.

  Viv had stopped when she had

  noticed Seventh was being left behind. Corners of her mouth twitched,

  probably suppressing a laugh. Jenn wasn’t as merciful and snorted a

  laugh when she heard Seventh’s sticky steps.

  Continuing the journey, Viv

  turned right into a narrow alleyway. Trying to keep a mental map,

  just in case, Seventh counted the turns, made note of recognizable

  buildings, and silently hoped his Cartography would help if he got

  lost in the labyrinthine collection of alleyways, backyards, and

  hidden streets.

  Trying to even see the sun

  above to get the general bearing, Seventh saw long poles with

  canvases stretched between them, mostly covering most of the streets

  with gentle shade. They didn’t plot out the sun entirely, and

  Seventh could see the city wall from the cracks. And the guards.

  “Watch covers,” Jenn

  explained when she saw Seventh’s craned neck and puzzled look.

  “Keeps the unwanted eyes off our streets.”

  Seventh raised an eyebrow.

  “Your streets?”

  “Yep. The Lords and Ladies

  of the Bastion might claim they own us and the streets, but I'd like

  to see them walk down here with demands. Every now and again, a

  huffed and puffed lord comes here with an escort demanding things

  like taxes, census data, proper city planning, and whatnot. We send

  them back with the only thing we have no shortage of. A tax return of

  kinds.”

  “Dare I ask what this

  thing is you have in abundance?”

  “The same stuff they float

  to us every day: chunky water. If you follow any flow in the sewers

  to its end, you’ll end up somewhere in here.” Jenn beamed at

  Seventh.

  “So, when a lordlings come

  in here, we bathe them in the stuff. If we're really generous, we

  give some feathers as a tip.” Jenn chuckled merrily, obviously

  thinking back at such joyous occasions.

  Seeing her more relaxed and

  not so doom-and-gloom like in the tavern made Seventh more at ease

  about the whole situation. He still shuddered at the thought of

  getting bathed in the stuff he had seen the whole of last week. Now

  he hoped the meeting would go smoothly.

  Viv suddenly stopped to

  inspect a nondescript wooden door. The only good thing it had going

  was that only one of its hinges was badly damaged, and the other one

  was just barely rusted through. Nodding approvingly, Viv knocked on

  the wood with a rapid sequence that ended in a hefty kick on the

  doorframe.

  A small peephole, so

  skillfully carved into the wood that you couldn't possibly notice it

  when it was closed, opened, and a pair of grey eyes stared out,

  slowly from Viv to Jenn, stopping at Seventh and lingering for a

  moment longer on him.

  The peephole closed,

  masquerading as a solid block of wood, and after a series of metallic

  clicks and clangs, the door opened silently outwards.

  Seventh noticed how the wood

  was noticeably thicker than he had expected, and the hinges on the

  outside were just decorative. The real hinges were hidden at the

  opposite side, deep in the wood. They were also thick pieces of

  steel, glimmering with a fresh coating of oil.

  Stepping inside, Seventh was

  met with a pleasantly warm, oil-lamp-lit room with sour faced, burly

  man on both of his sides. He half expected them to check his person

  for weapons and confiscate his knife, but they just waved a flat

  piece of rock in front of him and a wooden paddle with runic

  inscriptions.

  With only a cursory glance,

  Seventh couldn't say exactly what the paddle did, but the rune array

  had something to do with scrying, observing, or something like that.

  His vocabulary of magical symbols was heavily leaned into making

  light and basic shapes.

  While waiting for the guards

  to check whatever they were checking, Seventh inspected the room and

  realized he was actually standing in a foyer of a much bigger house

  than expected. It wasn’t “bigger in the inside” magic, just

  clever carpentry.

  Looking closely at the wall

  boards, Seventh could see where one hovel had ended, and another one

  started. Someone had just cut the walls off and boarded the windows

  to make the large house look like a row of smaller ones. Or maybe it

  had been custom-built for that precise purpose from the ground up.

  “That's cool,” Seventh

  muttered, and earned a sour stare from a guard. Bouncer?

  Seventh pointed around. “The

  walls, I mean.”

  All he got was a blank

  stare. These men could be sphinxes for all Seventh knew. They were

  guarding a passage and were weirdly expressionless. They also hadn't

  waved for Seventh to continue.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  ”Erh, you have a riddle

  for me? One of you speaks only the truth while the other only speaks

  lies?” Seventh said, trying to lighten the mood. He wasn't sure if

  it worked, but he could swear a microscopic ghost of a smile flashed

  on the man’s face on the right side.

  After an awkward silence,

  the man on the right gestured for Seventh to move. He earned an

  elbow-jab immediately when he was at Jenn's striking distance.

  He grimaced. ”What?”

  “Behave,” she said

  between closed lips, barely audible.

  “I am,” he whispered

  through his teeth.

  ”It's not my fault you're

  here. You could have just said no to Viv.”

  Seventh turned to look at

  Jenn incredulously. “I have a vivid memory of you being the reason

  for all of this. Care to remind me how she knew about my Skill

  again?”

  Jenn had the decency to

  squirm a little. “It wasn't anything like that. Just some girltalk

  among friends, nothing too serious.”

  “Nothing too serious? Were

  walking a rat maze of hallways and rooms to gods know where. We have

  gone past that painting twice!” Seventh pointed at a badly made

  painting that had a bundle of... bananas? Something long and yellow.

  He prayed to the gods that they were bananas.

  Jenn tried to dismiss

  Seventh's worries with a gesture. “That's just a trick to confuse

  the enemies. There’s like four or five different paintings with

  copies all around.”

  “That wasn’t reassuring.

  At all.”

  “Look,” Jenn said and

  patted Seventh's shoulder. “Just go with the flow, and nothing bad

  happens. The worst thing that can happen is that you walk back home

  without a deal and owe me like... a thousand drinks.”

  “And the best-case

  scenario?”

  “You owe me two thousand

  drinks!”

  “Jenn...”

  “Okay. You have a deal and

  a friend in the Family. Just relax, and all will be fine.”

  Belatedly, Seventh realized

  Jenn might not have been only talking to him. There wasn’t worry in

  her tone, but her shoulders were hunched a fraction, and she was

  gently rubbing her calloused fingers together as if she was hoping to

  find an arrow to pull.

  Seventh decided to be on his

  best behavior from here on out. He didn’t really worry about

  himself, but for Jenn. A sour deal here could reflect badly on the

  Ranger.

  And maybe at Viv, too. I

  don’t really know what to think about her, though. She seems to do

  fine in here.

  Viv had indeed continued her

  relaxed stride and was gently tapping on the wall as she walked by.

  Suddenly, she stopped. Took a backstep and tapped at the wall with

  mild interest.

  Something clicked behind the

  wall, and Viv was able to swing open a portion of the wall, gesturing

  for Seventh and Jenn to step in.

  After a quick jab to the

  ribs, Seventh stepped in first into a cozy study room with a

  crackling fireplace surrounded by two soft-looking couches. On his

  right, a large shape rose up behind his desk, quickly approaching.

  ”Viv! Jenn!” A merry

  voice boomed in the room, and a small, well-dressed mountain grabbed

  Jenn for a fierce hug.

  While Jenn’s ribs were

  rearranged, Seventh ogled the over seven feet tall man with

  stark-white hair. He wasn't that old, around thirty, just prematurely

  whitened hair and beard cut to a short hairstyle, bringing his grey

  three-piece suit nicely together.

  There was something familiar

  in the man’s facial structure and stature. Seventh could vaguely

  remember the two guards at the Guild that escorted— carried,

  really— him to the interrogation room. They had happily chatted

  about their other cousin— uncle?— the one that had ‘gone to the

  other side’.

  When Jenn had been safely

  returned to the floor, Seventh noticed a quick flash of crimson

  before her face contorted into mild disgust. As Jenn took a step

  closer to the liquor cabinet, a shovel-sized hand appeared for a

  shake in front of Seventh.

  “And this must be the

  famed Seventh Seven, the Sammy-boy, the Necromancer of the Sewers.

  You can call me—”

  “Bosco, right?” Seventh

  finally remembered the name and shook the man’s hand. Seventh’s

  whole hand disappeared into the man's mighty paw as it squeezed. A

  little bit too hard.

  “Oh?” The merryness

  cracked a little, and Bosco looked at the women. “I wasn't

  expecting my name to be distributed so... carelessly.”

  Jenn let out a loud gulp and

  looked wide-eyed at Seventh. Viv in the other hand, had a curious

  expression, an eyebrow raised and a rising smile on her lips.

  “They didn't,” Seventh

  hurried to clarify while his hand was slowly losing all feeling. “I

  have just heard about you before, you know?”

  ”Ahh, so that's how it is.

  I can’t blame my glory being known all over the Realm now, can I?”

  Bosco said and released Seventh's hand with a boisterous laugh. “Now,

  sit down, sit down! Care for a glass of something smooth before

  business?”

  “I wouldn't waste anything

  too fine on me, but I'll take a finger of anything you're having,”

  Seventh said as he sat down on one of the couches, gently flexing his

  hand, hoping to gain some blood flow back.

  Jenn sat on his left side

  while Viv took the right. Bosco placed a tray of drinks on a small

  sofa table between himself and the trio, giving Seventh a sly grin.

  “Comfortable?”

  “Can't really complain,

  can I?”

  Bosco's chuckle made

  Seventh's diaphragm vibrate as the mountainous man sat down across

  him. “So, I like to cut to the chase, we can leave the roses and

  thorns outside of these walls. You have something unique to offer for

  the Essence Stone business. A Skill, I heard?”

  “You heard correctly. If

  you don't mind?” Seventh raised his free hand and waited for

  permission. Receiving a nod, he collected all of his magical might

  for Mana Crystallization and created a small, barely a fraction of an

  inch-sized Entropy Essence Stone.

  Handing it to Bosco, Seventh

  made an apologetic smile while ignoring the slight queasiness he was

  feeling after emptying all of his mana. “I know it's not too much

  to look at.”

  The grain of magic

  disappeared in Bosco's palm while the man fished out a tiny monocle

  from his pocket and peered through it. “I see. Small indeed... I

  take it this is all you can do? No Skills lowering the casting cost

  or raising the quality?”

  “No, sir.”

  Bosco peeked at Seventh over

  the monocle’s rim. “Just Bosco is fine, Seventh. Do you mind if I

  call you Seventh? Anyways, you’re still Bronze rank?”

  “Full Bronze.”

  “Marvelous.” Bosco

  dropped the Stone on the table. Only a small glint of red betrayed

  its location. “With Iron Focus and Essence, we can safely assume

  almost forty percent bigger results. And who knows? Maybe the System

  gives something nice for spellcasting with your final push out of the

  Foundation.”

  All ranks below E rank, or

  Iron rank as it was known around the Kingdom of Iron, were called

  Foundation, the easiest ranks to raise, and with every Attribute

  raise you gained a new Skill.

  Ranking up to Iron with

  Attributes was the last rank-up when there was a guaranteed new

  Skill. After that, all one could hope for was Foundational Basic

  Skills like Seventh's Lesser Stamina to evolve into better variants

  or, in rare occurrences, other Skills evolving.

  “I can only wish,”

  Seventh said as he sipped the liquid in his glass. It was

  delightfully mellow and fruity with a spicy aftertaste. Good

  middle-quality rum or something like it.

  In all honesty, Seventh

  wasn’t hoping to gain such spellcasting Skills unless they also

  boosted his necromancy spells. He wasn’t going to spend his life as

  a glorified Essence Stone factory.

  “ can only wish,”

  Bosco corrected.

  “Oh? Already considering

  me one of you?”

  “Hardly.” Bosco’s

  predatory grin was full of teeth, and leaning heavily forward, he

  seemed to fill Seventh's entire view with menace.

  “You will be only a tool

  for us. Nothing more, nothing less... We’ll see if you are worthy

  of even considering becoming one of the Unseen Family after a,

  hopefully, fruitful and long partnership. I sincerely hope that

  doesn't wound your ego?”

  Seventh took a long sip,

  savoring the burning liquid before swallowing— staring unblinkingly

  at Bosco's challenging eyes. “I’d need an ego first to get it

  hurt. You have a spare one I can borrow?”

  Seventh had to put his drink

  down so as not to spill it during Bosco’s hollering guffaw. The

  whole room seemed to shake, and Seventh noticed the new icon on his

  HUD, a roaring golden lion.

  Keeping one's aura in check

  was basic manners, and Seventh didn't have his own active, but he

  seriously considered it. He waited for the man across from him to

  calm down from his merriment.

  It was a nice tactic.

  Drawing Seventh’s attention to the loud laughter while activating

  an aura that made him more at ease, making him more prone to accept

  whatever deal was on the table. If he didn’t have his HUD, Seventh

  might have missed the trick altogether.

  “I'd appreciate it if you

  kept your aura in check, Bosco,” he said dryly.

  Jenn's elbow once again

  found Seventh's ribs. Bosco raised an eyebrow in surprise before

  maneuvering around the fact that Seventh had noticed the Skill use.

  “Jenn...” he almost

  purred, word sweet with honey. “No need to steer the lad, he's

  doing fine. Some arrogance and rough edges, but I could shape him

  into something presentable... after he finds this missing ego of

  his.”

  “Just keeping my friends

  safe, Knuckles.” Jenn’s voice was equally filled with venom and

  ice, a stark contrast to her earlier mood.

  A loud crack echoed in the

  room when Bosco cracked his right hand's index finger with his thumb.

  He looked down, almost surprised, and shook his hand, a masking smile

  rising to his face.

  “Now, now. We’re all

  acquaintances here, no need to get spicy... no matter how much I

  liked that in you, Jennifer.”

  Jenn ground her teeth

  together while she spoke, steering the conversation forward, “So,

  the shipping and payment?”

  “Right!” Bosco turned

  back towards Seventh, ignoring Jenn for now. “Back to the business.

  Can you handle a thimbleful— the bartender one— of similar

  stones?” he asked while pointing at the stone on the table.

  Seventh looked left and

  right while thinking of an answer. Viv had been silent the entire

  time, her legs slightly brushing Sevenths shin. She seemed pleased

  when Seventh finally looked at her and sipped her drink.

  Jenn was clutching her own

  drink in both hands, not having taken a single sip. Seventh

  recognized the clutching as something Jenn needed to do with her

  hands, probably not to go and deck Bosco.

  “I honestly haven’t

  tried to do so many of them. We could do a practice run to see how

  long it takes, and if my performance is lacking, we can get back to

  the negotiations to see if the deal is worthwhile,” Seventh

  suggested, hoping he could back down on the deal with a verbal

  backdoor.

  Bosco tapped his finger on

  his lips, slightly displeased. “Hmhm. A little bit too nonchalant,

  don't you think? I prefer when our tools have more work ethic. 'Yes,

  boss, can do!', 'Of course, boss! I can have it done by tomorrow.

  What color do you want?' You get my drift?”

  I should have known he

  was this kind of guy. “I think I do... boss.”

  Bosco tsked, but smiled

  wryly. “I believe I can work with one without an ego blasting

  through... So, the price. I was told you want a book?”

  Bosch gestured towards the

  bookshelves surrounding his desk. “Care to elaborate? I might have

  it on the shelf.”

  Seventh felt both women

  shift slightly at his sides. “Not in such fair company. I’ll

  leave the book’s name with the first shipment, and we’ll work a

  deal from there. Sound good?”

  Bosco made a slightly

  displeased nod. “Very well. A thimbleful per week is eight gold, so

  you know. If the book is pricey, you’ll get it you

  have earned it.”

  “Eight gold per week?”

  Seventh asked blankly, focusing on not dropping his jaw. That was

  double what he was expecting. He had a sudden memory of hundreds of

  fist-sized Essence Stones in Oran's backpack.

  Making some quick

  calculations, Seventh slowly turned his head towards Jenn. She looked

  back at him, puzzled. “What?”

  “Hey, that's the price the

  Boss told me to give to you,” Bosco said and raised his hands up

  like he was surrendering. “Can't do anything about it.”

  Seventh felt Jenn flinch a

  fraction on his side at the mention of Boss. They must have been the

  ones she feared the trio would be meeting today. In Seventh’s

  opinion, the meeting had gone smoothly without any issues, he might

  even say it had been a delight. But that might also be the aura

  affecting his thoughts.

  Curious, Ashen Will

  hasn’t activated. Is it because the Lion’s Precedence is

  considered a positive effect?

  “Eight gold sounds

  reasonable. I'm sure it's leaps and bounds beyond what Prismatic

  Stone would give me,” Seventh said and rose up, offering his hand.

  “I believe we have a deal?”

  “That we have.” Bosco

  also rose up— mainly for manners' sake, since he would have been at

  eye level with Seventh even when sitting— and offered his enormous

  shovel of a hand.

  A knock on the door stopped

  the gesture.

  Bosco glanced at the door,

  masked as a wall when it opened a fraction. His smile slowly melted

  away as a gruff voice began to speak from the other side.

  “Sorry to disturb you,

  boss, but the Watch is coming.”

  “Oh,” the mountainous

  man said flatly. Coldness spread into his eyes, and his mouth froze

  to a gentle smile that didn’t quite rise to his eyes. “I thought

  this month's... assurances of peace were delivered in full to the

  City Watch?”

  “Eh, sorry, sir.” The

  voice gained a sniveling quality when it continued. “I meant the

  Dungeon Watch. Looks like captain Rowe's lot might be looking into

  the... the thing with the other thing close to the other,

  thing, you know?”

  “I see. And they are

  coming from where, exactly?”

  There was a dangerous timbre

  on the words. Seventh noticed Bosco's aura icon changing from gold to

  red, taking in more predatory design of a roaring lion looking down,

  and with the change came two differences to Seventh’s HUD.

  

  Seventh sipped his drink

  just to mask his gulp. Jenn and Viv didn’t seem to notice anything

  different in the situation, but Seventh had a bad feeling about this

  and he had activated his own aura. Just in case.

  The two men continued their

  conversation without noticing any changes in the invisible battle of

  magical effects.

  “Mudslip Gate. Probably

  walked the guards outside of the walls so we missed seeing ’em.”

  “Ah, I see. So they

  followed.

  That makes the rest of the meeting more... palatable,” Bosco’s

  cold eyes swept through the couch in front of him. “Thank

  you, Jasper. You can go now.”

  Seventh let his shoulders

  relax a bit. Hopefully, Bosco was seeing all this as it was: an

  unhappy little coincidence and nothing more.

  The door closed, and Bosco

  turned to his guests. “I'm sorry, but that seems to be all the time

  we have today. Viv, escort them out from the back. To the Kidneyrot,

  if you please?”

  “Sure thing, boss,” Viv

  said and rose up. She briefly took support from Seventh’s thigh as

  she rose, making a gentle squeeze.

  Walking towards the door,

  she turned around and flashed a smile while taking the last steps

  backwards. “You coming with me, or are you gonna just ogle?”

  A sharp jab made Seventh

  jerk up from the couch, almost spilling the leftovers of his drink.

  ”I-ah-yes. Lead the way.”