In the busy town of Smithson, known for its blacksmiths and fine jewelry, Emmet strolled the streets in search of a weapon.

  Emmet thought to himself, "Ah, with my current abilities, this place is perfectly suited for me. I should buy as many rings and amulets as I can to experiment with my rend crafting."

  So, Emmet entered one of the jewelry stores and purchased several rings and amulets. He tried to place the items inside the space of his dimensional ring. "Okay, let's make use of this storage device," he muttered. To Emmet’s surprise, the items couldn't be placed inside. Emmet wondered, "What's happening? Isn't this a storage space? Why won't you go inside?" He quickly found a quiet, empty corner of the town to ensure no one would see him. He pondered for a moment, then attempted to put the items inside again, but still nothing happened.

  He stared at the unyielding amulet in his palm, then at the ring on his finger, and a moment of clarity—or rather, a moment of self-scorn—washed over him. "The rending," he whispered, shaking his head. "Of course, the rending. I was so caught up in buying them, I almost forgot the necessary step." He tested this by forging one of the amulets with his Rend. The rended amulet instantly changed its color to a dark, metallic purple. "Always the way," he sighed. "Okay, let's give it a try," he said, and he put it inside his dimensional ring storage. It worked.

  Emmet realized, "Ah, so I need to rend these items in order for me to store them inside the space." He decided to take his time rending the rest of the items later. "There, that should do it," he sighed. "I spent too many Rend crystals just for that. Well, I should get back to the reason I came here. Let's find a good weapon."

  On a busy street, Emmet noticed people stopping to watch some heavily-geared men who looked like mercenaries. One man was wounded, his eye covered in a bandage, and another man's body was on a cart being pulled by one of his comrades.

  "Oh, another one of those mercenaries, back without any treasure, only injuries and dead bodies," one spectator gossiped. "I wonder if there really are treasures to be found there," another man said.

  Emmet overheard this and couldn't help but ask the man, "Treasure? Did you say treasure? Sir, may I ask what this is about?"

  The man replied, "Ah, young man, you seem to be not from around here. You see, there are dungeons appearing near the Darklord’s domain. They say anyone who conquers the dungeons will gain treasure, power, and weapons. It's not just one dungeon, but a lot of them that have appeared randomly. It appears these dungeons are a blessing from the gods to humanity, providing weapons to slay the Darklord Himself." A woman who seemed to be his wife interjected, "Oh, what nonsense! You know there are no more gods in the world."

  Emmet asked again, "So, has anyone managed to retrieve any treasure or conquer the dungeons?"

  "Well," the man replied, "there were a few who returned with weapons, and they said those weapons grant powers to their owners."

  "I see, thank you, sir." Emmet decided to investigate this further. He thought, "Maybe I should let Cliff investigate this, as he’s good at this kind of thing."

  He found a secluded spot and entered his Inner World, accessing his Rend Network where Cliff’s Rend icon was connected. This was an ability he had discovered previously—the power to communicate with Cliff using the network—but it didn't work with others, and he wasn't sure why.

  He contacted Cliff: "Cliff!"

  Meanwhile, Cliff was practicing his breathing and air control when he was suddenly disrupted by a mental message: "Cliff!"

  "Master? Is that you?" Cliff responded.

  Emmet said, "Come to Smithson town, there's something I need you to investigate."

  Cliff replied, "What is it about?"

  Emmet answered, "Apparently, dungeons are appearing everywhere. They say they have treasures, weapons, and other things to be found. Investigate it, ask if there are demons, just find out anything you can."

  The Rend communication cut off. Cliff mused, "Hmm, dungeons? Master seems interested in the demons or the artifacts there. Oh well, this could be something good." He immediately left and began his investigation.

  Meanwhile, Emmet went back to looking for a good weapon. He asked around and found the so-called best weapon shop in town: the GlassGonshop. He went inside.

  A shopkeeper noticed the foreign-looking man. He looked shabby and poor, but looks can be deceiving, so the shopkeeper greeted Emmet in his best manner. "Good day, sir! Welcome to the GlassGonshop, the home of the finest and the best weapons and armors in Smithson—you will find many weapons here, from the cheapest to the most expensive ones."

  Emmet greeted him back, saying, "Good day to you too. I'm here to buy a weapon; I need something really big and heavy."

  A tall but fragile-looking guy looking for a big weapon? the shopkeeper thought to himself. Well, it's none of my business. He told Emmet, "Ah, follow me, sir. We have assorted kinds: axes, two-handed swords, bows and arrows, maces, hammers, polearms, and much more."

  The shop was much bigger than Emmet had thought it would be from the outside. "I'll look around for a bit," Emmet said, and with a wink, he gave the keeper a golden coin as a tip. The shopkeeper didn't know why he was given a coin but gladly accepted it, thinking, Ah, today is a lucky day. This guy must be opulent.

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  Emmet browsed around, wondering what kind of weapon he should get. He already knew what he wanted: a big, two-handed weapon, just like the totem club he had before. But, a club? he thought.

  Suddenly, right in front of him, bracketed to a wall, was a massive polearm. It had a simple wooden shaft and a monstrous, dark, heavily-forged spearhead, giving it a raw, powerful, and ominous presence.

  The shopkeeper noticed that Emmet had locked onto the battle spear and thought, Is that the weapon he was looking for? Isn't that too big and heavy for him? He's probably buying it for his father or uncle. He approached Emmet and said, "Ahh, that is one of our heaviest weapons here. It’s made of an unknown metal—not even the one who sold it knows what it's made of—but it is said that it was a weapon owned by one of the strongest warriors during the battle with the Darklord's army."

  Emmet took it and held it. The shopkeeper couldn't believe Emmet was able to lift it with such ease; it had taken five men to place it on the bracket for display. The shopkeeper exclaimed, "A Divinant? I should have known!"

  A Divinant, Emmet thought, briefly dismissing the title. Whatever they call people with strength, it doesn't matter.

  Emmet took an instant liking to the weapon. It fit his grasp perfectly, the length was ideal, and while the weight felt heavy, he could tell the metal was tough enough to endure the impact of his strength. The dark metal felt cold and dense, humming faintly with restrained potential. "I like this. I’m buying one." He didn't stop there; he bought several weapons of the same type, and the shopkeeper readily assisted him.

  Emmet paid for everything, including a generous tip. The shopkeeper said, "Thank you, sir. We'll cover all the delivery—just give us the address."

  Emmet paused, realizing he couldn't explain his dimensional ring's Rend requirements without revealing everything. He needed a lie powerful enough to enforce absolute secrecy and explain the sudden vanishing of his purchases. A secret identity is better than a lengthy, dangerous explanation, he decided.

  Emmet replied, "Oh, don't worry about delivery. I just need an empty room so I can use my Shadow Magic." He leaned in conspiratorially. "And please, never tell anyone I am an Eclipseborne," Emmet said, his voice dropping low. "My family doesn't like our secrets being known, especially by local merchants."

  The shopkeeper swallowed his saliva in fear. Eclipseborne? he thought. They are known to be secretive, and some are known as assassins. He quickly told Emmet, "Oh, sir, don't worry, I will keep this secret to my grave. Follow me, sir, I’ll take you to an empty room."

  So, Emmet began enchanting all the weapons with his Rend and storing them in his dimensional ring. He named the massive battle spear Behemoth. "Yes, Behemoth, that's what I'll call you. I hope we can be good partners," he murmured before storing it in his dimensional ring as well.

  He bought some food and other items, intending them as gifts for the Unwovens when he returned to their hideout. "Okay, I think I'm done shopping today. I wonder if Cliff has any info about the dungeons now. I hope Jasper and the others like sweets too." Emmet, a lover of meat, also packed a big bag filled with cuts for dinner.

  Back at the hideout, Emmet presented all the sweets and announced to Jasper, "We're having meat for dinner."

  That night, Cliff came back after his investigation, and they discussed his findings over dinner.

  "Okay, Cliff, spill the beans," Emmet said.

  "Master, you were right to be curious about the dungeons. Here’s what I found out," Cliff began. "These dungeons appeared on the same day, along with gossip spreading everywhere. And yes, you're right, there are indeed treasures, weapons, and even scrolls of martial arts for warriors. There are demonic creatures, big and small, in different forms."

  Jasper, chewing slowly, asked, "Demonic creatures? How powerful are they reported to be?"

  "The deeper you go, the stronger the monsters are. The dungeon has different floor levels, and I haven't heard of anyone who has reached the last floor level. A famous soldier came out with a powerful blade said to have bound itself to its owner and granted them super strength, as well as some artifacts with different magical uses," Cliff continued.

  Emmet nodded. "Artifacts and abilities. Excellent."

  "Now, the ruling kingdom nearest the dungeon is regulating it, allowing only strong and powerful groups to enter, as long as they pass an assessment—with a fee for the maintenance cost."

  "We are going to explore those dungeons," Emmet declared.

  "I'm in," Jasper affirmed.

  Tierra added, "I'll go anywhere you want me to, Master." Emmet noted that Tierra had become somewhat too submissive and loyal, even calling him "Master." Was this the effect of the Rend Network? Even Cliff no longer complained.

  Cliff then said, "If we are going, it's better if we register as a group of mercenaries. I found out they favor those who are mercenaries and those strong-looking groups. We must come in with a strong presence."

  "I will leave the registration to you," Emmet said.

  "I already went ahead and registered us as 'The Unwoven'," Cliff said.

  "That's great. Now we have to prepare for a dungeon raid," Emmet responded. "Now, I'll tell you about my dimensional ring. It's an item I call a Rended Artifact. I can forge artifacts, imbue them with Rend, and even infuse demon abilities into them. So my goal is to find demons with abilities and rare artifacts."

  Cliff said, "Well, I have a feeling this dungeon is not what it seems to be, but I'm interested in finding out what it is." Cliff then said, "As The Unwoven group, we shouldn't use our real names, so I propose we use codenames."

  Emmet thought, Cliff really is reliable at this kind of thing. Codenames... I like that.

  "Okay, so..." Emmet started, but Cliff had already assigned names, starting with Jasper:

  "Jasper, you will be Skull. Lenka, you will be Seeri. Tierra, you're Locks. I’m Gale, and Master... you're Mr. Craft."

  "Mr. Craft?" Emmet was shocked.

  Cliff continued, "We should all look strong and mystical. Skull, you should wear some kind of animal skull, preferably with a horn."

  "Seeri, you cover your face with this symbol of an eye—here, I bought one from one of the fortune tellers. And Locks, you be you; you look creepy enough."

  Tierra acted cutely and said, "I'm not that creepy... Do you think I'm creepy, Master?"

  Emmet didn't want to tell Tierra that she could be intimidating, with her personality shifting immediately between cute and strong. Instead, he smiled and said, "Oh, come to think of it, I bought a long hair fork. I bought this from Smithson town, and I got other items for all of you." All of them received their items, and Tierra loved the hair fork so much she immediately used it.

  Tierra asked Emmet with her cutesy face, "So how do I look?"

  "You look great, Tierra. Oh, and as a healer, I want you to stay by my side when we are in the dungeon. Lenka will stay in Jasper's shadow, as always, and Jasper will be our main vanguard."

  "I'll act as a scout and main damage dealer. And Master, you won't do anything," Cliff stated.

  "Huh? Why not?" Emmet protested.

  "Hello, it seems you've forgotten your own strength," Cliff countered. "If you join any battle, the rest of us won't have a role to play. So, you act mysterious, and here... wear this mask."

  A mask? Emmet remembered the mysterious smiley-faced masked man and "Mr. Black."

  "You and Seeri will be our mysterious members," Cliff concluded.

  Emmet thought, 'Mr. Craft.' He’s disguising the greatest power under the most unassuming title. Cliff has this planned out perfectly. I will gladly play the part.