Jade frowned, shuffling through the loose collection of pages she'd managed to steal from Malice during their running battle. She must not have grabbed everything, there were clearly missing pages and details. The information she did have, though, was enough to shed some light on the demons' plans.
"Like I said when we left the city." Jade began, nodding to Tara. Their newest party member returned the gesture, she'd gone over the information with Jade while they travelled, using her knowledge of the arcane to explain some of the more technical aspects of the plans she'd recovered. "This group of demons is planning on doing something to at least one of the Labyrinth Core's connected to Earth, on the third floor. One that's close to where we are now, only up one level."
"Something?" Naomi asked. Their group was camped in a lush gully between a cluster of hills a good distance from Estelhelm, although still in the same quadrant. Since monster density was famously low in this region it was safe enough to camp in the open, as long as they kept a lookout. "Do we know what they actually want?"
"This doesn't say." Jade sighed, setting the parchment down on the grass and lying back. Despite the warmth of the fire, she couldn’t shake the cold feeling that had settled deep in her core. Anxiety over what the demons were planning, how it could affect her home, and the destruction the blood demon had caused in the city still weighed heavily on her. "The notes reference 'reinforcements', Earth, and detail some kind of magic ritual centered on the core."
"The ritual uses the dimension effusion they stole." Tara added. The tek'kalla was still paging through some of the captured notes, studying them intently. "Dimensional magic isn't my area of expertise, I can't tell exactly what it's supposed to do. Whatever they're doing, it involves a dangerous amount of power."
"If that core is connected to what the Labyrinth is doing to Earth, could their ritual affect our home somehow?" Luis asked, concerned.
"Anything is possible." Tara shrugged. "I don't think the ritual is targeted at your home world. But now that it’s active, all the cores in this region of the Labyrinth are connected to your world. It's impossible to say what other effects manipulating them like this could have."
"I thought only Earth wayfarers would be able to get to the cores." Naomi said, looking between Jade and Luis. "Isn't that why we can't just pay a lot of high-level wayfarers from the upper floors to shut down all the cores for us?"
"When I first encountered her, Malice did something to my wayfarer mark. She said she 'copied' information from it." Jade said with a grimace, turning her hand over to inspect the glowing sigil on the back of her hand. "Maybe that was to solve that problem."
Tara and Fenrin had explained that Labyrinth cores were kept in dimensional spaces that were generally only accessible to wayfarers from the planet they were linked to. But there were no absolutes when it came to magic.
"Should we go to Aylin for help?" Fenrin asked, striding out of the gloom and into the firelight. The half-elf made a habit of circling camp sites once they were established, checking for any signs of danger. With his familiar keeping watch from above, they were safe to converse as a group. "She might be able to learn more about the ritual from those notes you recovered."
"I don't think they'll let us back in the city." Jade sighed. "Besides, the demons got away with a lot of what they stole. They might already be on their way to the core."
"Then we need to stop them." Luis said, as if that were the easiest thing in the world. He stood up, like he intended to march off to do just that. "That's our next stop!"
"We barely survived against a fight with one blood demon, Luis." Naomi said, grabbing his arm and gently tugging him back down. "I'm not sure we're ready for that kind of confrontation."
"Is there anyone else who can do it?" Jade asked. "No one else knows about it. If we take time to find people, convince them of this, and recruit them to help, it might be too late."
"She's right." Luis said. "And it'd be hard to convince anyone to help us if we don't even know what they're trying to do. This is up to us."
"At the very least, we have to follow them and learn what this ritual is for." Jade nodded in agreement. "If it turns out to be dangerous, we can try and put a stop to it."
"They're demons." Tara said absently, still paging through notes. "Of course it'll be dangerous."
"You're right, though, Naomi." Jade said. She slid herself over to her friend, putting a hand on her shoulder. She could sense her anxiety, clinging to her like a hazy cloud. "This won't be safe, and it might be a stupid idea to try and do it ourselves. I'm not going to ask anyone to come with me who doesn't want to."
"I'm going." Fenrin said immediately, his shoulder set. "Those demons killed at least a dozen people this morning. I can't walk away knowing they're planning something bigger."
"Me too." Luis nodded.
"The Expeditionary Taskforce lists an unmonitored demon as a tier-2 threat." Tara said, finally putting down the pages and turning her full attention to Jade. "A group of several demons working together is tier-1 priority. These are the kinds of missions I've spent my life training for, I'm not going to back down."
Jade was struck by the resolve evident in the tek'kalla's gaze. Her initial impression of Tara had been colored by the amusing way in which they'd met, but this wasn't a woman to underestimate. There was steel in those light eyes of hers. Jade gave her a nod and turned her attention to the bard.
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
"Naomi?"
"I…" Naomi paused to close her eyes and take a deep breath. When she opened them again, they were steady. "I'll do it. We've gotten this far together, we can do this too."
The words weren't exactly filled with confidence, but Jade felt a sense of pride and admiration at how far her friend had come. Less than two months ago simply confronting a monster had been enough to make her freeze. Now, she was willing to join them in a quest to track down powerful demons, just to protect others.
After that, the group settled down for the night. It had been a long day, and they could discuss next steps in the morning. Now, it was time to rest. The night was calm and clear, perfect for camping out. As her companions laid out their bedrolls and prepared to turn in, Jade finally turned her attention to her interface. Defeating the demons hadn't caused her to progress in any quests, fighting non-Labyrinth generated monsters never did, but they did still grant experience. This most recent battle had pushed her across the next threshold.
-
Level Up!
-
You have reached Level 18.
-
Reward: New class feature.
-
Reward: +2 stat points.
Level 18. Just two more until she reached 'C' rank and unlocked her advanced class. Jade still wasn't sure how impactful having an advanced class would be, but any additional abilities could only be a good thing, especially if they'd soon be confronting Malice again. She had to find a way to gain at least two more levels before they caught up to the demons. For now, she focused on the three new options.
-
Spell: Invisibility (C Rank)
-
Talent: Thread the Needle (D rank)
-
Spell: Siphon Strength (D rank)
As with prior level ups, all her previous unselected options were still available to be chosen. The 'C rank' next to invisibility immediately stood out to Jade, and she asked Fenrin about it. He replied that, even though she wasn't level 20 yet, the system sometimes elected to offer 'C' rank spells and talents to people that were close to that threshold, usually for abilities that had no lower-level equivalent. Indeed, when Jade examined the 'Invisibility' spell, there was no 'D' rank version.
-
Spell: Invisibility
-
C Rank Spell
-
Cost: Low mana (ongoing very low mana cost for duration)
-
Duration: Until dropped
-
Cooldown: 2 minutes
-
Effect: Cloak yourself in a veil of shadows that render you invisible for an ongoing mana cost. Casting spells, attacking, or making sudden movements temporarily disrupts the illusion, requiring an additional infusion of mana to stabilize.
-
Indefinite invisibility? That was a potent power indeed. The gulf in power between 'C' rank and 'D' rank was growing more evident as Jade discovered what more of her powers did as they reached that level. From the very beginning her ability to enhance the 'Allure' spell to 'C' or even 'B' rank had proved invaluable, but the ability to learn spells at this higher tier from the start was a massive boon. Jade suspected that the mana costs associated with ongoing invisibility would force her to be judicious in its use, but it sounded too useful to pass up on.
Before deciding, she made sure to read over the other new options. 'Thread the Needle' was a short duration, short cooldown talent that greatly enhanced her accuracy with ranged attacks. It looked useful, but her only attack of that type was a thrown dagger. 'Siphon Strength' was more interesting. It was another debuff spell that weakened a creature she afflicted with it, draining its strength stat and temporarily boosting her own. If the effect compounded with the boost to strength her succubus race gave her, that could be a formidable tool to have in her arsenal.
Despite the obvious appeal, Jade decided to pass on that one as well. More strength would be nice, but her fighting style relied more on agility and intelligence. She had teammates that brought power to the table, and her recent experience reliving memories in the grove at Lysara had reminded Jade of the need to trust and rely on her friends. She didn't have to be the best at everything.
After a brief discussion with her friends, she decided to select 'Invisibility'. As the only 'C' rank option, it was the obvious choice. Once she reached level 20, she could begin leveling it up to 'B' right away. That done, she assigned her two stat points. One went into willpower, and the other into intelligence. With this new spell, Jade had the feeling that she'd need all the mana she could get. Her summary page updated:
-
Base Stat Scores (Human)-(Succubus) (Level 18)
-
Strength: 9-11
-
Agility: 20-24
-
Fortitude: 13-16
-
Intelligence: 17-20
-
Willpower: 14-8
A list of her spells and talents followed, most of them closing in on 'C' rank through constant use. Jade still had a pair of upgrade points banked from previous titles that she could use to get them there immediately, but both Aylin and Serrethis had advised her to save them for 'C' rank. Advancement from 'C' to 'B' was a far more arduous process, and the shortcut would be more worthwhile there.
Finally done, she lay down with the rest of her companions. Exhaustion overtook her and, despite the many worries filling her thoughts, she quickly slipped into a deep sleep.
The next morning arrived in what felt like the blink of an eye. Jade roused herself at first light despite a bone deep desire to just lie there and remain huddled under her blanket. But she was a wayfarer now, and there was too much to do. She groggily accepted a cup of stew from Luis, letting its warmth fill her and restore her focus. The large man had taken to cooking for them each day, displaying an uncanny ability to mix the bland sanctuary granted Earth food and local Labyrinth ingredients that he and Siora foraged for daily. Jade wasn't sure how he managed it, but the result was good enough that she didn't question it.
"What's our next step?" Luis asked, handing out more cups as everyone gathered around. "If we're chasing the demons to the core we need to get to the third floor, yeah?"
"We'll need another floor key." Jade said. She pulled out the fragment she had looted from the giant undead they'd defeated at the stronghold. To move on from floor 2, they'd need two key fragments. That meant…
"So, another boss." Naomi sighed. "Great."
"And another few levels." Fenrin added. "The third floor is where the monsters start getting really dangerous. Even if we don't end up fighting a group of demons, we'll want to be ready."
"Wait, these monsters haven't been dangerous?" Naomi asked with an incredulous expression. She clutched her guitar close to her chest, as if the instrument were a protective charm.
"Of course not." Tara said. She was using a wrist mounted device to scan the contents of the soup cup. Apparently satisfied, she took a tentative sip. "Hardly any of the Labyrinth-born monsters on the second floor even cast spells. That's why I came down here to train."
Naomi gave Jade a look that said, 'if anything happens, remember that this was your idea.'
"The three of us can't even get to the third floor without a key." Jade reminded them. "So, before anything else, we need to find a boss."