Nash and Tom came lugging Perienka just as Greta's voice rose over the houses. She watched the sky and sang a melody in an unknown language, languid and with more than a fair dose of melancholy. A fireball the size of a boulder struck the roof of a building, collapsing the entire structure. Even from a distance, the heat coming off the attack was enough to feel like they'd just stepped out into sunlight on a hot day. More attacks rained down, striking at random in a large area around them, demolishing everything they hit. After the initial explosions, even the rubble and debris burned.

  The sound was deafening, but through it all, Greta's song still rang clear in Luke's head as he eyed the massive attack. Only when one of the devastating attacks flew in a straight shot down into the middle of the group surrounding Greta did they get to witness the reason for her song. It was a barrier, one invisible to the naked eye. Weaver's Perception showed the spellweave forming over the caster's throat as she sang, an intricate pattern of symbols representing air and earth, if Luke wasn't mistaken. He'd been getting better at reading the intent in the spellweaves, but was still very much a novice at the craft.

  Fire struck Greta's barrier and spread over and around the group in a dome before fizzling out. As soon as the first one dissipated, another followed, then another. Greta let out a groan, which prompted Luke to check her mana stores. If she'd been low before, she was just about empty now. Reaching out with Threads of Mana, Luke saw to it that she had all the mana she needed to keep her singing up, transferring from his meta-heart to hers.

  Her eyes widened a little, and the song stumbled, but Greta found the melody and kept going, giving Luke a grateful look.

  They spent the better part of an hour like that, with fire raining down on them and destroying everything in a wide area. Henry kept saying he was in deep shit and that they'd force him to rebuild The Gauntlet with his bare hands. Once the spell ceased, he bid them adieu and set off toward the tower in the distance. By the look on his face, he was not going to use kind words when speaking with Michelle. How she'd been able to unleash a spell like that for so long without running out of mana was a mystery, but Luke felt too drained to care.

  With Perienka and Darius healed, and the wound in Nash's side patched up, their little sparring session came to an end. The opposing team stayed behind to wait for Henry and Michelle to return, while The Band made their way to the exit.

  Predictably, Nash threw up horns. "Aw yeah! Told you we'd win! Dungeons, here we come!"

  Priyah was even quieter than usual on the walk back. Her face was pale, and she kept moving a hand to the rip in her shirt, as if wanting to check the wound wasn't there.

  "You OK?" Luke asked.

  "Fine."

  "Any pain?"

  She shook her head. "No."

  It didn't look like she wanted to talk, so he left her to it. With her level so low, this was the first time she got injured outside the Tutorial Dungeon, he thought, and that didn't count. Mas and Sam conversed as they walked, their heads close together in a way that didn't invite others to join in. With Nash and Tom walking side by side up front, Luke considered his team.

  They'd done well enough in the challenge, or at least about as well as he'd expected. With a little more practice and experience, The Band might very well turn into a party to be reckoned with, as long as they kept their cool heads about them and didn't rush into danger that was too much to handle.

  Since they'd won, they'd be excused from the otherwise forced training sessions. As it was now, though, with no portals open, Luke wondered what the guild had in store for them.

  Trevor, the steward of The Gauntlet, just waved them on, his face showing a thunderous rage with all the emotion poured into it, directed at the tower in the distance. Henry was not the only one who would give Michelle a stern talking to.

  Viola waited for them by the elevators. If she'd expected the group to fail, she didn't show it as she handed out communication gems to everyone who didn't have one.

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  Nash: "Wooo!"

  That part done with, Viola went into a brief explanation of what the next couple of days would entail for the group. All in all, that wasn't much. They were still expected in the office building in the morning, but that was about it. If their lieutenant didn't have a task for them, they were all able to select from different classes to attend, or to just leave and do individual training. This suited Luke just fine. Getting paid to do whatever he wanted? That was the dream, wasn't it? Well, he didn't need money in the short term, since he got more than he needed from healing Alan and his friend, but the freedom was worth a lot.

  Just as they were about to leave the building and head their separate ways, a familiar feeling nudged Luke, and he turned to the others.

  "How about we do this for real? There is a dungeon opening up soon."

  Nash raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

  "Intuition."

  "How soon?" Tom asked.

  Considering the question, Luke prodded at the sensation, trying to glean more information than just a general direction.

  "Later today. Maybe around 6 PM. It'll open somewhere southeast of here. Not far. I think I'll be able to get a more precise location later."

  "We're not supposed to," Priyah said.

  "Doing only what we're supposed to is a good way to grow stale and boring!" Nash proclaimed. "I say we go!"

  Tom shook his head. "I'm not going."

  "What?" Nash asked. "Why not?"

  "Prison. Remember? If the guild kicks me out, I'll go right back in."

  "Rrriiiight," Nash said, obviously having forgotten. "I remember."

  He turned to the twins. "Sam? Mas?"

  "Yes," Sam said.

  Mas nodded.

  "No," Priyah said.

  Exasperation oozing off Nash's shoulders, he looked up into the gray sky. "Why not?"

  "It's against the rules in the guild handbook."

  "There's a handbook?" Luke asked.

  She glared at him. "It was in the welcome packet we received yesterday."

  "No hard feelings," Nash said, turning to Tom and Priyah. "But we're not breaking up the band already. Either all of us go, or we don't go."

  "I'm not going," Tom said in a voice that brooked no argument.

  "Sorry, Luke, but The Band will sit this one out," Nash said, a resigned look on his face that soon turned into a mischievous grin. "Unless the guild assigns us to it, that is!"

  Tom nodded. "I'd be fine with that. Got nothing better to do tonight. Was just going to return some videotapes."

  "Video... Tapes?" Nash asked, shaking his head. He took a few steps backwards, waving. "I'll get on the horn with Viola and see if there's anything she can do to get us assigned to Luke's mystery dungeon. I'll let you all know! See you later!"

  The group drifted apart out there on the curb, and Luke made as if to walk toward home in the light drizzle that had just started. Before he made it more than a few steps, Viola called him back inside.

  "Luke!"

  He turned and stepped out of the rain. "Yeah?"

  "We have apprehended an individual trying to break into your apartment."

  Luke stood there for a moment, trying to parse what she'd just said.

  "...What? I have so many questions right now."

  "We've kept a close watch on you and your apartment to make sure you were safe."

  "Why? How? Since yesterday? And you already caught someone?"

  Viola shook her head. "Well, no. The guild has watched you for some time on orders from the top."

  "Alan," Luke grunted.

  "I wouldn't know," Viola admitted. "The person we apprehended, and this was perhaps 30 minutes ago, didn't make it into your apartment before we stopped him. Our initial assessment points to this individual being part of a prominent gang in Chicago."

  "A gang?" Luke asked, reeling a little. "Must've been a random break-in, then?"

  "We don't think so."

  "You keep saying we. Who are we?"

  That comment earned him a thin smile from Viola. "My boss and his bosses, their advisors, and representatives from different sub-organizations in the guild."

  "So, a shadow-cabal of mysterious, powerful individuals. Got it."

  This time, she didn't smile. "We think you were targeted. Other affiliated individuals waited nearby with a van."

  "Great. A gang is trying to kidnap me."

  "They're not alone with intentions like that."

  "Why?" Luke asked.

  Viola raised an eyebrow. "You really have to ask?"

  "Healing."

  "Healing," she confirmed. "The social media posts got a lot of attention, then the news segment. Some of the video stream from your recent struggle with The Fallen Shepherd has unfortunately leaked, too. We've been getting calls from some powerful people. Politicians, movie and TV stars, and even royalty from other countries. These inquiries have been polite so far, but we can't expect them to remain so. We must be vigilant. The Lifeweaver, located somewhere in the Nordics, has been taken, according to our source there."

  "Dot," Luke said, the horror of the situation dawning on him. He turned and readied himself for a sprint.

  Viola stepped forward and pulled him back. "Dorothy is safe. We have offered her an apartment right here, and she accepted. Your friend will be joining you in Integrated Solutions Group. Also, we have Integrated patrolling near your parents' house. No one will reach them."

  "They could've just asked," Luke muttered, feeling the sudden rush of tension drain out of him.

  "What was that?"

  "Nothing," he said. "So you caught a gang member. I'll forgive the intrusion into my private life for now. That's a discussion for later. But what will you do with that guy? I want to see him."

  "Why?"

  Luke raised an eyebrow, matching Viola's previous expression. "Why do you think?"