When we got close enough to the end of the tunnel to see what was on the other end, it wasn’t a secret exit or some other chamber.

  Nope, it was the same damned chamber stuffed with Reavers like sardines.

  For whatever reason, they refused to enter the tunnel, opting to just stand there, staring at us. Maybe the Trial would trigger if they did. That bought us a few moments to figure out our options.

  I looked back to find only a brick wall, sealing the way we’d come. Whether the Reavers were allowed through, we clearly weren’t. We’d have to deal with them head-on.

  I pulled up my status menu to see what my new Gift had given me.

  Name: Gregory Samuel Wills

  Blessing: Soulweaver [Legendary] (Convergence - 0)

  Stats: Total: 843

  — Vigor: 82 (Max: 93)

  — Order: 460 (Max: 649)

  — Wisdom: 41 (Max Earned: 44)

  — Passion: 18 (Max Earned: 33)

  — Grace: 130 (Max Earned: 245)

  — Cunning: 130 (Max: 152)

  — Dominion: 83 (Max: 152)

  Blessing: Soulweaver [Legendary]

  The Ferrari to your old Corolla. It might only have one more power, but don't knock it 'till you try it. Your enemies are gonna piss their pants, trust me!

  Essence Utilization: 577/850

  Abilities:

  — Weapon Bestowal: Initialize weapons. Weapons can level up to current Blessing level

  — Armor Bestowal: Initialize armor. Armor can level up to current Blessing level

  — Evolvable (Evolutions: 1)

  — Spatial Inventory: 10 ft x 10 ft x 10 ft. Weight Capacity: Unlimited.

  — Remote Launch: Aim and fire objects from your Spatial Inventory. Speed is inversely proportional to mass. Launched objects cannot be intercepted or stopped until they have fully exited the Spatial Inventory. Objects can now be Launched at a distance of 100 ft from the user.

  — Armor Sets: Combine five unique armor pieces into a Set. Sets consume as much Essence as the item with the highest Essence cost. Capacity: [4]

  — Soulweaving: Imbue the full power of an intact soul into any weapons or armor you craft. Soulbound items gain awareness based on the quality of their soul crystal.

  — All Initialized gear may now be Uninitialized at any time. Covenant Override: Due to your prior agreement with the [God of Order], living, sapient equipment may not be reclaimed.

  A quick skim confirmed what I already suspected, with one massive exception.

  My inventory. Its weight capacity hadn't doubled, as I'd expected, or even quadrupled, as I'd hoped.

  It was un-fucking-limited!

  My head spun with the possibilities. That was beyond powerful. That was absurd! Broken!

  All of my other abilities had been upgraded significantly, too, not to mention the 99% chance of successfully Initializing [Epic] gear and a 33% chance to Initialize [Legendary] items. I didn’t doubt this would drastically upgrade our combat ability in the future, and I was honestly salivating over the opportunities.

  The description for [Soulweaving], while pretty nebulous as to what soulbound items would actually do for me, just begged for experimentation. And if that bit about awareness did what I thought it did?Yeah, that Blessing description was absolutely on point.

  Unfortunately, none of that helped all that much right this instant. I didn’t have a forge or the bevy of tools I needed to smith on the fly—although with that limitless weight and huge size inventory size, such a thing was absolutely possible now.

  Tantalizing, to be sure. Still, I didn’t have anything that would instantly turn the tide against a horde of hundreds of Reavers.

  I honestly didn’t know if any single Blessing in this world could even do that, barring something at A rank. Then again, I wasn’t alone, was I?

  I pulled up Aerion’s status. “Well, shit,” I muttered after reading over her status. “Looks like you really did rank up.”

  Aerion frowned. “It does not feel like I earned it.”

  “Yeah, well, don’t go looking a gift horse in the mouth,” I said. “If I could jump through ranks without grinding, I’d do it in a heartbeat. Playing fair is for losers.”

  Which, technically, was precisely what I was doing—jumping ranks by exploiting the huge difference between earned and max stats thanks to the unique way my Blessing could shift between builds on the fly.

  It was, after all, why I’d picked the class in the first place. I’d bet big that versatility was king, and I’d won the jackpot several times over.

  Aerion scowled at my comments but didn’t argue. Why would she? She’d won almost as big as I had.

  My elven friend’s [Sylvan Reaver] Blessing had evolved into [Reaver of Origin].

  At first glance, most things looked similar—she still had [Reave] and all her other abilities, which had all ranked up and thus grown more powerful, with [Reave] in particular now granting her an insane 200-point Dominion bonus, but the Blessing’s description told another story.

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  She now gained far more stats per level than before, and she’d gained a heinously powerful ability to boot.

  Not only did she retain more awareness in her [Reave] state, but if she maintained both [Fading Fury] and [Reave] for a full five minutes—admittedly an eternity in the middle of a fight—she could trigger [Origin Reave]. One full minute of complete and total invulnerability to all forms of damage, while also doubling her Dominion and Grace. That was on top of what [Reave] already did, which meant that with her 153 points of base Dominion, she’d temporarily have over 700 points in that stat.

  That was broken. Beyond broken. She could use that to go toe-to-toe with enemies a whole rank higher than her or more—if only she managed to reach that state without dying, first. That was the big drawback. [Origin Reave] would be nearly useless against small fry, unless we were up against an army, and fighting that long against a powerful opponent meant our situation was probably dire.

  Which was exactly when we’d need an ability like this. Like now, for example.

  A plan formed in my head. Not a good plan, but better than nothing.

  If we could hold the Reavers off just long enough to trigger her [Origin Reave], Aerion could pile-drive anything in our way with her Dominion and Grace, clearing a path out.

  Would it be enough to get us up the long stairway and out of the ziggurat? To be honest, I didn’t hold out much hope.

  Aerion’s invulnerability would last just a minute, and after that, she was guaranteed to fall unconscious. Not to mention Aurora had been destroyed—so I’d have to hand her Light of the Fearless, leaving me with basic weapons nowhere near that blade’s quality.

  Well, that and the few hundred stones I’d banked. No lava, though. Or anything else I had gathered during the Trial.

  Yeah… this was not looking good.

  “Uh, Aerion?” I said, trying and failing to meet her gaze. “I’m gonna be honest with you. We’ve been through a lot together. Defied the odds more times than I can count. This time might really be different. I genuinely don’t know if we’re going to make it. If we do, it’s going to be all on you and that new ability of yours.”

  Aerion nodded. She’d clearly come to the same conclusion.

  We had a plan. Maybe the only plan that had a one in a million chance of getting us out of here. That had to be enough.

  Then a tiny cry reminded us we weren’t alone. Galia cooed and fluttered her wings, demanding attention. I reached to scoop her up, then froze.

  “Hey, Aerion? If I ranked up, and you ranked up…”

  Aerion’s eyes bulged. “You can’t mean…”

  The phoenix was the same size as before and didn’t seem any different.

  With bated breath, I pulled up her Status… and almost breathed a sigh of relief when it still showed her as Foundation Rank.

  That would’ve been too cheap, right? Ranking up to Convergence?

  Then I froze. There was something there that definitely hadn’t been there before.

  [Divine Talent] For surviving an Ascension Trial three ranks higher than your current rank, your rate of growth has been amplified by: 500%.

  Okay, maybe it could be that cheap. That was absolutely ridiculous.

  “How is this fair!?” Aerion cried, having read the phoenix’s new Status.

  Galia, for her part, seemed to understand she was being talked about, and lit herself on fire before strutting around like a queen.

  “Hey, you got a freebie, too. I wouldn’t complain overly much, freeloader.”

  “I am not a freeloader!” Aerion shouted, mouth open in shock, before she saw my smirk. “I swear, I will never understand how you manage to joke around in a situation like this. It’s insufferable.”

  “Or maybe it’s exactly what we need before rushing into near-certain death,” I said, letting the smile slip.

  Aerion closed the distance between us and held my hands in hers. “Whatever happens, I want you to know that I love you. And I want you to have this.”

  She removed her Soulkeeper necklace and put it on me, leaving me at a complete loss for what to say.

  “No need to say anything,” Aerion said, as if reading my mind. “Now, I can die happy.”

  “Then I better be damned sure I do everything to keep you alive,” I said. “Ready?”

  Aerion nodded.

  “Then let’s do this.”

  We neared the entrance with Aerion wielding Light of the Fearless and me trailing behind with Galia. This would be a blitz. Fast, brutal, and completely reliant on the element of surprise. The faster we caught them off guard, the better our chances of living through this mess.

  I raised my hand and held out three fingers.

  Three. Two. One.

  We burst from the tunnel, guns blazing, so to speak. I didn’t have magma in my inventory this run, but I had stones—lots of them—ready to rain hell on the Reavers the moment Aerion was clear. Aerion’s blade blurred, Light of the Fearless and Shadow of the Fearless activating as she slashed at the nearest Reaver, and I followed a moment later, aiming my barrage.

  Then we both froze in our tracks.

  Despite the two dozen odd Reavers in the small chamber, not one of them made a move… or even bothered to look in our direction. All eyes were fixated on the mural carved into the wall above the tunnel opening.

  The intricate painting was vastly different from when I’d seen it, right before entering the Trial. Where a figure had once appeared to ascend, its arms to the sky, the image had shifted. The persons arms were now outstretched, addressing a crowd of worshippers below. That wasn’t all—a golden halo wreathed the head, and a divine aura seemed to radiate from the person’s body. Above it, the depiction of the god of Order smiled down, and the whole thing pulsed with light.

  “Uh, does that mean what I think it means?” I muttered.

  One by one, the Reavers sank to their knees, staring at none other than Aerion.

  They were utterly silent but clearly not in their Reave state, which confirmed at least one part of a theory I had. That no society could function without properly working minds. Not much of a theory, but there it was.

  “Greg?” Aerion asked with more than a little fear. “I’m afraid they’re—”

  “They know, Aerion,” I said. “They know you’re Order’s Champion. No use hiding it now.”

  My words earned a confused frown, but when I jerked my head at the Reavers, she got the hint.

  Her confusion was replaced by indecision, followed by concern, before finally settling on resolve.

  If Aerion passing as Orders’ Champion got us out of this mess, I was more than happy to let her have the limelight. The Reavers would probably treat her better than they would treat me, too, on account of her being an elf.

  Aerion took a deep breath before addressing the room. “Reavers of the Sylvanglade,” she said in a voice that could’ve fooled me into believing she was a Champion. “It is true, I am indeed the summoned Champion of Order, and I have now successfully completed my Convergence Ascension. I hope to avoid violence with your people, but by the Reaver of Origin Blessing that Order himself bestowed upon me, I assure you, I am more than capable of defending myself.”

  An impressive little bluff, given the hopelessness of our current situation.

  Too bad the assembled Reavers didn’t react at all. Tough crowd.

  Then, without saying a single word, one woman walked straight toward Aerion, ignoring me like I didn’t exist.

  Both of us jumped to attention, ready to fight at the first sign of provocation. She was empty-handed, though.

  The woman stopped before Aerion, raised both arms, gripped Aerion’s head in her hands, and gently placed her forehead to Aerion’s before closing her eyes.

  A second later, Aerion gasped and jerked back.

  “What? What did she do?”

  “She showed me a… a vision,” Aerion said, frowning. “A city. It was… confusing.”

  “Wait, you mean she used telepathy!?” I asked. Aerion frowned, not really understanding.

  “She communicated stuff without talking to you.”

  “Yes,” she said slowly. “Though she did not use words, it is clear she is trying to tell me something.”

  The woman gestured to herself, then to the entrance.

  “Well,” I muttered, “this is more than a little weird. Do they all use telepathy?”

  If so, they were by far the most fascinating race I’d ever encountered on Axius. Did anyone even know this was possible?

  I somehow doubted it. If they did, I doubted anyone would have left these people alone. Maybe that was the reason the Reavers had hidden themselves for so long.

  Regardless, we now had a way out. “We should do what they say,” I said. Anything that got us out of this chamber increased our odds of survival. Once in the forest, breaking away from these people would be much easier.

  Aerion nodded and motioned for the woman to lead the way, and so, under the scrutinizing eyes of dozens upon dozens of Reavers, we followed.

  I didn’t have a clue what they wanted with us, or whether we were even being led into safety or into the den of religious fanatics, but for the moment we were safe. That was enough. For now.