Walking across the frontier, Kaius enjoyed the warm summer air as he gathered his thoughts about how he wanted to continue their story. Glossing over his first delve and the missions of the Guild had been easy, but there was so much to cover about their most recent adventure that he didn't quite know where to start.

  Almost offhandedly, he wondered what any onlookers would think if they saw them — three Golds, eight Silvers. Practically an army in this part of the world. People might watch with curiosity, succumb to anxiety, and then flee.

  The conversation didn’t just stop because he was distracted.

  Ro was suspicious of his brief description of how they had made it into the Depths.

  “How did the lot of you even find an entrance when you were fleeing for your lives?”

  “It took a fair few hours,” Kenva replied. “Between Kaius’s ocular skill and mine, we kept an eye out for the glow of mana until we spotted one. It was off a cliff in the middle of a river, which I thought was a little... dangerous. Kaius was rather gung-ho about us jumping in.”

  Ro narrowed her eyes at him. “I bet he was. Tell me, Kaius, what layer was this delve?”

  Kaius gave her a weak smile. “Twenty-five.”

  She knew, and he knew, she wasn’t going to like that. No chance in all the hells. Her right eyebrow twitched.

  “And you were what level?”

  “A hundred, or thereabouts,” he answered.

  Ro took a deep breath, rubbing her brow. “In all the gods’ graces, what in the hells possessed you to think that was a good idea?”

  “We didn’t really have much other choice,” Ianmus insisted. “That beast swarm was immense. We had dozens on our tail, and we were pretty damn sure we’d been hit by a tracking curse when we’d broken into Old Yon’s vault. We needed to get down there fast. That was the only option we had.”

  Hearing Ianmus say it was necessary seemed to mollify her. She had always treated the mage as the responsible one of their group, at least in comparison to Kaius and Porkchop. She did, however, give Kenva a questioning look — as if to confirm the truth of the matter.

  She shrugged and nodded.

  “Hang on just a minute there, lad,” Rieker interjected. “What’s this here about a vault? Is that where you guys collected your gear from, Kaius?”

  He had forgotten to mention that. Not intentionally, but with how much there was to cover, it had slipped past him.

  “Ah, yes. I was able to track my blade after they confiscated our belongings. After we broke in and disabled its defenses, there was a flash of light and mana from something I missed. I suspected it was a tracking curse or something similar. Regardless, we made out with quite the haul. Most of it we’ll be looking to get back to its rightful owners, or sell if that is impossible.”

  “What did you find?” Ro asked.

  “Five storage rings filled with an assortment of tier-one artifacts — art, wine, and other random finery; toxins and drugs, and a fair amount of coinage, too.”

  He didn’t see the harm in sharing what they’d found. The Guild worked from the principle of ‘you keep what you kill’. No doubt the art, jewellery, and artifacts would be checked to see if they had been stolen, but what he truly valued — the rings themselves and the simple currency — was incredibly unlikely to be traceable. It would likely be the same for the artefacts too.

  Rieker presented a similar opinion when he was asked. Kaius shared some rough details about the artifacts, their rarities, and the like.

  “Mostly Rare, you say. Well... if we can’t find the owners, then the Guild will be happy to help you liquidate some of those artifacts. Toxins and drugs — even the nasty ones — can still find new use as reagents or tools for hunts and delves. Regardless, we can save the fine details for a later day. You were talking about your delve?”

  Nodding, he turned back to Ro. “You’re right that it was dangerous. It pushed us to our limits, even with all of our advantages. The first biome was desert-like, mostly populated by rare elite depthsborn — we grew quickly because of that danger, though. In the first biome we ignored all champions and guardians and pushed laterally, roughly heading towards Deadacre. Still, we ended up with a close call as we rushed through a transition zone — that was one of our first honours of the delve.”

  Excited, Bronwyn’s team perked up, but Ro raised her hands. “We can save a discussion of the details and specifics of honours for another day — we are still planning how best to spread it through the Guild.”

  The Silver team looked pained, but they nodded their agreement, holding their tongues — something Kaius was glad for.

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  Detailing their traversal through the Godsmaw Jungle, their second biome — and where they faced off against Kolnirs and Porkchop had been poisoned by root borers — Kaius held his audience in rapt attention. He described their surprise fight with the champion Old Thousand-Eyes, which had ambushed them as they crossed one of the underground jungle’s many waterways. From there, he brushed over their fight with the giant turtle Champion and hurried his tale to when they crossed into the final biome.

  He paused for a moment, slowing his steps as he thought back to his first moments on those snow capped peaks. That first tug towards the Crucible Guardian had been a surprising one.

  “One of mine and Porkchop’s honours allows us to sense the location of the biome’s guardian. It’s immensely helpful, but in this case it only led to confusion when we sensed two.”

  “Two?”

  “Two,” Kaius confirmed. “It didn’t take us long to find our answer. One of them — stronger even than a normal guardian — was blocking the entrance to a Crucible.”

  “A Crucible?” Yanira said, running a hand through her hair. “I wondered when one of those would show up. I’ve been half-suspicious that the whole issue with the beasts was because of one.”

  Ro just shook her head. “I really, really want to be surprised that it was you lot who found one first.”

  Porkchop chuffed at Ro’s resignation. “What can I say? We’re just lucky.”

  “Oh, stuff that,” Julis interjected, holding his staff in a white-knuckle grip. “What are they? You can’t just tell us they exist and then not explain what they are. That’s cruel!”

  The mage looked ready to leap out from behind Bronwyn and wring the answers out of him.

  Kaius grinned. “First and foremost, a test focused on what the system calls the Path. The one we found was level-locked to people in the first tier. It was designed around helping people improve their aspects over the course of five trials. The first three corresponded to each aspect, designed to assist people in igniting them and, if possible, embody them.”

  “Embodying? What on earth is that?” Bronwyn asked. “I’ve been curious about Aspects, considering that we missed out on them.”

  Kaius nodded. “It’s a process of becoming more in tune with each aspect. It doesn’t make them stronger, but it does develop what the system calls Authority — the source of the strength and control of our auras. Apparently, that’s not overly useful at our current step, but at later stages of the Path it’ll become increasingly important.”

  His audience looked thoughtful. He could see them considering the implications in furrowed brows and pensive looks.

  “Level locked to the first tier? And it's on the twenty-fifth layer? That’s a large risk for such a small benefit,” Rieker said. “I’m not sure if that is worth it.”

  “Oh, it is,” Porkchop insisted. “Every aspect you ignite brings its own benefits. One of which is an increase to the growth of base strength and capability that comes with crossing through the tiers. That is increased further by embodiment. Similarly, we have it on good authority that embodiment makes refining in the second tier far easier.”

  “That’s not all,” Ianmus said. “Our fourth trial was a test from the system. Once we passed it, the fifth was something we cannot share — but it improves the benefits even further, and continues to do so as we walk along our path.”

  “And under whose authority do you know this, this one wonders?” Arc asked, scratching at the base of his horns.

  “A god,” Kaius answered seriously. “The crucible is run by an Ascendant, known as Xenanra They are truly a god, one who has chosen to help those going through the integration.”

  Once again, they fell silent. Dross, in particular, looked stunned. He wasn’t sure if the man was particularly religious or not, but the prospect of them having met a god in person seemed to have inspired awe.

  “Truly? A god?” he whispered.

  Kaius nodded.

  “I’m more interested in the Path,” Rieker said, a position that was perhaps not all that unsurprising, considering that he had long since informed the guildmaster of the existence of Ascendants.

  “Have you learned more about it? Why it has come into existence?” the Guildmaster continued.

  “We did,” Porkchop answered, grunting as he bobbed his head. “It is a method through which someone can empower and refine themselves — one that is in some sense older than even the system itself. By walking it to the very end, climbing as high as one can, people can reach for ascension themselves. The crucible is important, the aspects are important — just as, if not more so, than honours themselves. Regardless, even if others do not aim so high, simply by completing the Crucible, they can still earn three Honours.”

  “Bloody fucking hell,” Ro said. “You guys run off for a few months and come back with even more world-shaking revelations. Always more paperwork for me, I see.”

  “Of course there is! It is our number one goal on any expedition.” Kaius shot back, laughing at Ro’s returned scowl.

  “What of Deadacre? These ruins and this beast problem — what do we plan to do about it?” Kenva asked, clearly curious about the mysteries of both.

  “Well, clearly, we would like your help,” Rieker answered, nodding to the ranger before he switched his focus back to Kaius. “I know it’s just about time for you to move on from this city, but I’d appreciate it if you could stick around for a few more months yet. However, the specifics can wait for a week or two. Right now, we need to get you back in town to enjoy a good beer, rest, and recover.”

  “I will admit, after all these two have done talking up the Dusty Stables, I’m more than a little curious about experiencing it for myself,” Kenva said with a smile.

  Kaius couldn’t help but agree. He couldn’t wait to get back to somewhere with a real bed — warm, dry, and inviting.

  So they kept walking, eating away at the leagues that separated them from their return to the city that he had called home for over a year. All the while, they filled in their would-be rescuers on the finer details of their delve, the crucible, and what it could mean for the future.

  Despite all that, it wasn’t what hung heaviest in Kaius’s mind. As much as he wanted to keep the others well informed, he found his thoughts often wandering to how they were going to explain Porkchop’s new form to Hensch. Or that he could talk.

  That conversation might prove a little tricky.

  As mentioned, tomorrow will be the last chapter of the week before a 2 day break.

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