Kaius sighed in relief as they turned another corner and were presented with a narrow side street that was undeniably part of the Delvers’ Quarter.

  It wasn’t the casual opulence of magic and the runic inscriptions baked into the fountain. It wasn’t the foundations of half the buildings, or the quality and size of the buildings themselves, which tended toward being twice as wide and half again as tall as those in the middle-class neighbourhoods they had walked through. Nor was it the general lack of crushing crowds — the quarter might have been busy, but it lacked some of the manic fiasco he’d seen elsewhere in the city.

  It was the simple fact that fewer people were staring at them.

  Oh, they still got looks. Even without anything else, Porkchop was of a size that was impossible to ignore. There was also their youth and blatant strength, which made them stand out even in an area well used to people comfortable with violence.

  Despite that, he didn’t have dozens of eyes on him every which way he turned.

  Here in the Delvers’ Quarter, people were a little more surreptitious with their ogling. Oh, there was still just as much curiosity as anywhere else, but there was also an unspoken creed among delvers and the communities that popped up around them and their free-flowing wealth: give people a little peace during their short stays in cities and settled lands.

  He wasn’t so lucky in the rest of the city. And it was him more than any of his teammates — excluding maybe Porkchop.

  He’d known it would happen the second he’d accepted Eirnith as a skill, but having glyphs branded on his temples — with splayed and looping lines stretching down his cheekbones and back behind his ears — was eye-catching. It drew a different kind of stare: one where people looked at his face but not at him.

  It was too obvious: their eyes always refocused when they noticed he’d caught their looks.

  Much nicer when people waited for them to pass before they started craning their necks.

  They weren’t far from the Dusty Stables, or the Guild Hall only a few short blocks from it.

  While the Delvers’ Quarter was nestled close to the walls of the city’s eastern gate — where the people it was named after could easily come and go — the Dusty Stables, and by extension the Guild Hall, sat at quarter’s very centre. It wasn’t the largest segment of the city, not by far, even if it often felt like it because of how densely it was built up.

  Ten more minutes of walking and they’d be back home.

  As they wound their way through the streets, Kaius took the quiet opportunity to consider his actions with the boy Niles. A small smile at the corner of his lips.

  It was nice to use his power and ability that way. While he had little interest in sacrificing all of his time to such ends, he’d had a few hours to spare and he considered them well spent.

  In many ways, it felt odd that just that little slice of whimsy would no doubt end up being a defining moment in that orphan’s life. When had he become the kind of lucky encounter that he’d once had: like meeting Porkchop, or finding that rare natural treasure in the Depths?

  He’d have to visit the Guild this evening and give Ro a heads-up to expect the boy. Plus, he needed to stow that blade he’d used to teach the boy where Niles could get access to it.

  As much as Niles had tried to hide it, Kaius had caught the veiled disappointment when he’d taken the blade back. It wasn’t that he didn’t consider it worth it to give it to him — an Uncommon artifact was a trifle to their current wealth.

  It was more that he knew Niles was living rough. He didn’t have the strength to defend a treasure like that.

  It would be interesting to see what the boy could make of himself. At sixteen, he still had years until his class, but with an Unusual longsword-mastery skill and a minimum of two highly useful legacy skills?

  After spending the afternoon with him, Kaius was certain that Niles had the drive. He might just make something of himself. Still, even if the boy’s steel softened as he grew older, it was no sweat off Kaius’s back.

  He meant what he’d said about sharing the blade skill. When he shared Lesser Regeneration and Uncanny Dodge with the Guild it would be trivial to get the boy to help them spread Vesryn Blade Drills alongside them. Someone, somewhere, would put it to good use.

  With the growing threat of beasts and future phase changes ahead, let alone unknown dangers such as Tyrants, the world needed as many power houses as it could get.

  It wasn’t long before they turned the corner and caught sight of the familiar rise of the Dusty Stables down the street.

  As soon as they had a dead shot to the building, Kenva tilted her head, interested.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “I think I can hear Ro in the Stables. It’s a little muffled by the buildings and the crowd — maybe some inscriptions in play — but it sounds like her tone of voice.”

  Kaius raised an eyebrow. What was she doing at the Stables? Did she need to meet them? He couldn’t think of any other reason she’d be there than something that required his team’s attention.

  Once they were within a couple of blocks, Kaius heard it too.

  With his senses honed and focused on the Dusty Stables, he caught the tail end of a laugh. It was definitely Ro’s.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “You’re right. Have you been able to make out what she’s talking about?”

  “No,” Kenva replied. “Hensch must have some sort of privacy formation built into the inn. I can hear the two of them talking, but everything’s garbled and muffled. I can’t make out a word beyond recognising the voices.”

  “Well then, I suppose we’d best find out for ourselves,” Porkchop said with a chuckle.

  Hurrying down the street, they bounded up the stairs and into Hensch’s common room. A team was there nursing light beers for an afternoon meal. One of them froze as they entered. He was dark-skinned with strong, robust features unfamiliar to Kaius.

  Beneath his coat, Kaius caught a flash of grey and orange that retracted into the shadows.

  Porkchop snorted beside him. “That’s the two we were telling you about.”

  Kaius gave the man a smile and a nod before a clap drew his attention — Ro standing by the bar, talking to Hensch.

  “Ah, just the group I was looking for. Had a nice day out on the town?”

  “We did. Did a little exploring,” Ianmus replied. “Kaius got a little sidetracked with an interesting diversion on the way home.”

  Ro raised an eyebrow at that but didn’t question it further. Instead, she walked over to them, reached into her pocket, and drew out a letter.

  “I came to give you this. I figured with the sun dipping low you’d be back for your evening meal soon. It seemed like a good time to catch up with Hensch.” She shot the man a grin.

  Kaius wasn’t surprised they knew each other, given Ro had all but insisted they stay with him when they first arrived in the city.

  He focused on the letter, wondering who it was from. Yan Mi immediately jumped to mind, as did Dawntown. Who else would reach out to contact him?

  “It’s from Dawntown, I presume?” he asked.

  “It is. I’m glad those settlements have banded together. The frontier has been rough, and I have no doubt they’ve had it worse than most — right on the edge of the forest as they are.” She shook her head. “I hope they’ve got it in them to survive.”

  As Ro handed him the letter, they slipped into a secluded booth where they wouldn’t be overheard.

  “They’ll be just fine, from what I’ve heard,” Kenva said.

  “Oh?” Ro said.

  Kaius nodded. “Porkchop and I shared a few skills with them and, from what we’ve heard, it was enough to encourage others in those communities with similar abilities to share as well. Plus, that town has a strong foundation — they’ve built it atop the entrance to a first layer delve. As far as I’m aware, they’re going to attempt to raise some of the more exceptional ones to gain a few Honours. We suggested they might try a more controlled variation of what Porkchop and I went through.”

  Ro raised her eyebrow. “Really? Well now, isn’t that a surprise. I’m surprised they took to that idea so easily.”

  Porkchop snorted. “I wouldn’t call it easy — some of them were rather ornery, even. But we left most of the work to the elders. They saw reason after we did everything we could to impress on them the coming dangers of the phase change and that further escalations were likely. As for an early delve? I guess we’ll find out shortly what they thought of the idea.”

  “I wish we could get some of that around here forethought,” the Guild administrator responded. “There’s zeal and fire — more people than I’ve ever seen are training to fight, especially among the younger generation — but for all the Guild’s resources and willingness to help some kids learn, few are willing to share secrets.”

  “Like we mentioned before, we’d be willing to help with that, at least partially,” Kaius replied. “Porkchop and I have a few choice skills that would benefit just about everyone, and the Guild has the infrastructure to spread them as widely as possible.”

  “You mentioned that,” Ro said. “But after what you went through, I wasn’t sure if it was a flight of fancy. Are you sure?”

  Of course he was sure.

  “What’s the point in sharing our knowledge about honours if nobody has the strength to pursue them?” he said, a determined frown on his face.

  She shrugged, smiling. “You can’t blame me for double checking when the two of you are flying in the face of every cultural tenet this continent has held for millennia. Regardless, we can talk more in depth before our meeting in a week or two. Let me know how Dawntown is getting settled. It would be good to have a stronghold on the edge of the frontier where I can direct delvers to stop by on their missions.”

  As Ro downed her drink, Kaius cleared his throat. “Before you go, there’s something I should probably tell you about.”

  Ro groaned. “Is this about your little afternoon ‘diversion’? What have you gotten yourself into this time?”

  “Nothing, nothing,” he said, holding up his hands.

  “‘Nothing’ he says,” Ianmus muttered, smiling.

  Kaius sighed. “We ran into a boy. He was flailing a stick like it was a blade — so badly I was worried he’d crack himself in the back of the head with it…I may have spent a few hours giving him pointers. Stripped of all the casting bits, of course.”

  Ro folded her hands on the table, giving him a complicated look. “What did he get?”

  “Vesryn Blade Drills, an Unusual. He’s an orphan, a ratty-looking one at that, and I'm pretty sure he’s sleeping rough. I told him he should stop by the Guild and say I sent him. I was hoping you could put him to work — some board and training, perhaps?”

  Ro gave him a wry look. “We can’t take in every stray in this city. But yes, I will.”

  It was obvious that the woman wasn’t happy about that fact — for all her flinty exterior, Ro had a soft streak to her a mile wide.

  Kaius nodded. “I told him he should spread the skill. Once he’s got a better handle on it and is capable of helping others gain it, perhaps you could have him help teach through the Guild — public classes for all those fired-up youngsters everywhere in the city, or maybe just sharing the style with a few guild trainers so its not so obvious he’s the source.”

  Ro grinned. “That would be fantastic. But like I said, we can talk more about it soon.”

  She nodded to them, pushing herself to her feet. “Enjoy the letter. Let me know if there’s anything I should pay attention to in there.”

  “Before you go, could you take this for that boy Niles? He looked like a kicked puppy when I took it back, but I was mostly worried he’d get mugged for it.” With a flick of his will, Kaius drew the longsword from his ring and set it flat on the table. Quick as a flash, one of Ro’s hands darted for it, vanishing it into her own storage artifact.

  “Of course,” she said. “But he’s not getting it until I’m sure he won’t cut himself on the damn thing.”

  Kenva chuckled. “That sounds fair enough.”

  “That it does,” Kaius agreed. He himself hadn’t been allowed his own blade until he proved he could handle it responsibly.

  Ro said her goodbyes and made her exit, leaving them around the table. Kaius drank the rest of his beer quickly. “Well, shall we go to our rooms and see what’s in this letter?”

  His teammates nodded.

  “I must admit, I’m rather curious how they’ve been going after their last update.”

  Kaius was too. In their last correspondence, Dawn Town had only just been founded. It had been three-quarters of a year since then—more than long enough for plenty to have changed. He couldn’t wait to see what.

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