Sorin paused outside the girls’ room. There was a rather intense conversation taking place inside, conducted entirely in whispered voices that it seemed both sides were struggling to keep low. He recognized both Nemari and Rue there, but didn’t hear Odric at all. Just from guessing the topic, he assumed it had something to do with whatever secret Rue was keeping from her brother and that he likely wasn’t in the room with them.

  That works out perfect for me. I don’t want to step into whatever pile of shit this is, so I’ll just drop some stuff off in my room, let Odric know I’ll be back tomorrow, and he can pass it on.

  Stepping past the door and its harshly whispered conversation, Sorin went down the hall to his own room instead. Odric was there, slumped on the bed and slowly picking at a piece of bread while a crumb-covered plate took up space next to him.

  “Hey,” Odric said around a mouthful of food. “How was shopping?”

  “Nemari sold the loot. I used my cut to buy some stuff—new sword, see?” Sorin turned to present the blade.

  “Looks like the old one.”

  “No, trust me, this one is much better made. I can really put my full strength into it without worrying about it bending or snapping now. Got it at a good price, less than I paid for the one I used on Floor 1. I’m hoping to find an enchanter to do some work on it, too.”

  “Can we afford that?” Odric asked.

  Sorin shrugged. “Eh. Not today, but soon. A few good farming trips should leave us flush with cash. But hey, I’ve got an errand to run, just a few hours away. I should be back by morning.”

  He started unloading his pack, dropping everything but some survival gear just in case. He doubted he’d need more than a waterskin and a cold meal in addition to his harvesting tools, and he wasn’t planning on sleeping.

  Nightmare bats were easiest to kill during the daylight hours, but they were damn near impossible to find. Once it was dark, they’d find Sorin instead. All he had to do was survive the ambush, take the bat down, and skin it before another one found him. Going to sleep in nightmare bat territory was a terrible idea, especially since he was going by himself, but he was young again. He could pull an all-nighter.

  “Is it a safe errand?” Odric asked.

  “It’s fine. Quick monster hunt for some specialty leather to make some better armor for me. I’ve killed these monsters before. I know what to expect.”

  “Maybe we should go with you.”

  Sorin shook his head. “Rue’s finally getting some down time. You’re needed here to speed up her recovery. Nemari could be spared, but at the same time, someone who’s primary method of killing monsters involves setting them on fire isn’t really who you want with you when your goal is to skin those same monsters.”

  Plus I just plain don’t want her with me. I need a break from that woman, and a nice, quick, easy monster hunt is exactly the way to do it.

  “I’ll be fine. Just let the others know to expect me back in the morning, please. No need to bother them right now, though. I passed by the room and there seems to be some intense girl talk going on in there.”

  Odric blinked at that. “Uh… Yeah. I’ll give them some space.”

  Sorin left Odric to his thoughts in the room. He took the long way around to avoid walking back by the girls’ room, just in case one of them decided they wanted to talk to him, too. There was no way he was sneaking past Rue, not with how small those rooms were and how wide the range on her Aura Sense soulprint was now.

  Once he was safely away from his teammate’s drama, he started considering his next move. Ideally, he’d find someplace semi-permanent and close to the portal hub to carve a new seven-tower sign, just far enough away that it was unlikely to be discovered but not so far off as to be inconvenient. Then he’d hike for several hours until he reached a stretch of forest that was riddled with old, tall trees and a cave network that housed all the bats.

  After that, all that would remain was the actual killing and skinning of the monsters. The portal hub would be a little bit safer—at least the traffic coming in from the north would be—for a few days before the tower shaped new bats to replace whatever Sorin killed, and he’d take the raw materials back with him to serve as the basis for his new armor.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  He estimated he had four or five hours left before the sun started to set, a distinction he’d taken for granted early in his life but which he’d grown to appreciate once he’d gotten to the higher floors and stopped being guaranteed things like light to see by or air to breathe. In some ways, being back down on the single-digit floors was like being on a vacation. The monsters were deadly, but the floor itself was decidedly benign. There was barely even bad weather, let alone anything worse.

  Sorin detoured half a mile off the trail to carve the sign into a wide old tree that stood alone over a glade full of wildflowers and insect nests. Once he’d accomplished that, he connected Liminal Gateway to it, but the ability didn’t function like normal. It strained to link to the tower, then failed. Frowning, Sorin glanced around for threats, then retreated into his soulspace to see what was wrong.

  Too many nodes, maybe? he speculated as he examined the soulprint. It was as simple as willing the link to break to erase the ones he’d made while he was experimenting, bringing him down to just his Floor 0 location and the cave back on Floor 1. Even that cave probably wasn’t something he’d ever visit, but until he had a better use for the node, he didn’t see any harm in keeping it.

  With the space freed up, he linked Liminal Gateway to the tree-carved sign he’d just made, confirmed everything was now working as intended, and got back on his way. The road was mostly empty, with only a single group coming south toward the portal hub. They passed by him with nothing more than a wary glance and no words exchanged.

  Sorin jogged along, making good time and letting his mind drift. Other than keeping an eye out for trouble, there wasn’t much to do with his time at the moment. It was kind of relaxing, in a way. For basically the first time since he’d woken up in the red tower, he wasn’t responsible for anyone else’s safety, nor was he teaching or training or coaching anyone through any new techniques.

  It was just placing one foot in front of another and keeping his breathing steady. And for just a few hours, he allowed himself to fall into that rhythm, to not think about anything. He made no plans, pondered no deep mysteries, and advanced no agendas. It was refreshing, and Sorin really hadn’t realized just how much he’d needed a real break.

  “All good things must come to an end,” he muttered out loud when the sun began to set. It had been an enjoyable run, but he’d arrived at his destination, and now there was work to do.

  * * *

  Rue was filled with a sort of nervous energy that had her wanting to pace back and forth. That was impractical for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that it was barely five steps from one end of the room to the other. There was also the fact that Od was still working on helping her piece her ribs together. She was supposed to be resting.

  Why the absolute fuck is that asshole here? Is it a coincidence, or is he looking for me specifically? If I just sit tight for a few days and say I’m trying to heal, Od would probably buy that. Maybe I could say I’m feeling a bit sick to avoid leaving the room.

  She wasn’t sure what she’d do if Jorn was still out there once she ran out of excuses. It was always possible he was just passing through, but she couldn’t think of any good reason the Hellions would be at the Floor 2 portal hub except to find her. She hadn’t exactly gotten permission to leave Floor 0, and her brief check in once they’d found the Floor 1 hub hadn’t really satisfied her handler.

  She winced at that memory. Raf had expressed his displeasure in the typical manner, which involved a number of bruises that he was careful to leave in places where her clothes would cover them. It could have been a lot worse, but the beating was mostly for not keeping him in the loop and disappearing for a few days. Raf hadn’t actually been displeased with her progress.

  Still, she had another three days before she had to report in. There was no reason to think Jorn was looking for her, except for the coincidence of them both being in the portal hub. For all she knew, he might regularly go through all the ones he had access to. It wasn’t like Rue was the only informant he helped Raf handle.

  No reason at all to think they’re after me, not unless they figured out I lied to them.

  Raf had asked an awful lot of questions about the team’s newest member when she’d gone to check in, and Rue had gotten the sense it wasn’t in Sorin’s best interest to be so well known to the Black Hellions. He was her meal ticket, not that gang’s.

  Someone entered the range of her aura sense, causing Rue to tense up for a second before she recognized the person as Nemari. The team leader had gone back out on a scouting mission over Rue’s objections. Raf and his crew knew who Nemari was and what she looked like, after all, and spotting her on Floor 2 was as good as confirming that Rue was also here.

  “No sign of them,” Nemari said. “Jorn’s apparently gone, and I don’t know if the others were ever here at all. I didn’t ask around too closely, just did a lap around the hub.”

  “That’s… good news, I think.”

  “Doesn’t mean they’re not here. For all I know, they could be a few rooms down the hall,” Nemari told her. “We should be careful, but I think we’re safe for now. This does bring up an issue, though. Have you considered telling your brother about this yet?”

  “No!” Rue’s eyes widened in sudden panic, and she started to jump off the bed, only to fall back as pain spiked across her chest. “Fuck, that hurts. No, don’t tell Od.”

  “You know you can’t keep this from him forever.”

  “Yes, I can,” Rue insisted.

  Nemari just shook her head and sighed. “Remember what I told you. If this endangers the team, I’m not going to keep it a secret from them.”

  “It won’t,” Rue said. As long as I’m part of the team, you’re still safe. So we just need to grow strong enough that the Hellions can’t touch any of us.

  It was getting harder and harder to make herself believe that.