I can’t even lift my arms. Relief swirls with guilt, only to meld into something worse—self-disgust. I’m so happy to see her, but I’m also the reason we broke apart.

  I owed her an explanation, and I intended to give her one… but then the expedition came up, and it was another easy excuse to just not. So I took it. Now she’s here, and I’m just so… lost.

  I want to hug her, but I’m frozen with indecision. My tail flicks with glee, only to be aborted halfway through. Even with Charisma pulling double duty, my smile is fractured and wrong.

  But when she wraps my arms around her all by herself, the choice is made for me. I squeeze her close and try to say ‘I’m sorry’, but all that escapes is a shuddering breath as I try not to cry in front of everyone. A couple tears escape anyways.

  She’s still the cutest girl I’ve ever seen. I only caught a glimpse of her—just a heartbeat, right before she crashed into me—but it was enough. She’s still a little taller than me, after my System induced growth spurt. Shoulder-length wavy red hair, adorable spectacles, and that splash of freckles across her pale cheeks and button nose.

  She always had the brightest green eyes…

  I catch Scruffy looking at me with amusement, but he doesn’t interfere.

  It only takes a couple of seconds to find my voice again, and I get to work. “Hey, Cari. It’s okay. I’m back. For good this time,” I say, my voice as quiet and soothing as I can make it. “Come on, lets get you back to your chair. I’m apparently a problem you need to deal with right now.”

  She lets out a strangled laugh, then sobs some more and just squeezes me tighter.

  Progress.

  With a shake of my head, I return the squeeze and lift her, walking us both behind the counter and up to her chair. Nobody stops me, thankfully, and I lean forward, gently placing her within the chair.

  When she still doesn’t let go, with a disgruntled sigh, I end up sitting awkwardly next to her, her head still buried in my shoulder. Thankfully, the chair is more than big enough for the two of us, given how small we are. Still, she’s twisting at what is probably a really uncomfortable angle just to keep hold of me, and it’s blatantly obvious.

  “Cari, this is embarrassing. Please calm down,” I murmur into her ear, glancing between her and my entourage.

  After nearly a full thirty seconds, she finally settles down enough to loosen her grip on me and sit straighter. The moment I move to stand though, she grabs my arm like a vise, and she glares at me with swollen, unblinking eyes.

  They’re still beautiful, but they’re not as beautiful as they should be. Their previous bright green luster seems somehow diminished, duller than I remember. Something happened.

  The update? The damage to the city? My disappearance?

  No matter what conclusion I come to, I just know it’s somehow my fault, and the guilt nearly consumes me. But I need to get this all done first, then I can talk to her. I’m only partially successful in shrugging off her gaze.

  “This is Captain Scruffy,” I say, pointing at Scruffy.

  This works as planned, eliciting a quirked brow from him and a tremulous giggle from Cari. Scruffy had taken his helmet off at some point between me moving from him to the chair, and he looks about as severe as a giant of a man can.

  It makes the smirk and unexpected gentleness in his gaze especially visible.

  Finally, Cari speaks, her voice still shaky. “Hello, Captain Torsted. What can I—”

  A pleasant breeze that shifts our hair swats the rest of her words from the air, interrupting her and making my ears twitch about with confusion. When I turn the direction the breeze came from, Guild Master Folly himself steps around the chair on Cari’s side. His gaze locks with mine and I see a hint of surprise, recognition, and then confusion.

  Mage

  ??

  Then it’s gone as quickly as it came, and he places a hand on Cari’s shoulder comfortingly, jolting her out of her one-sided staring contest with me.

  “I’ll handle this, Cari. Would you prepare the meeting room for me?” he asks, voice low and gentle.

  He’s much taller than me, but still shorter than Scruffy, with short black hair and a well kept stubble on his face below a nose that’s probably been broken a few times too many. I’ve never met him personally, just saw him across the room from time to time.

  All I knew about him personally is that he handles rank-ups for Delvers. Other than that, he's a mystery to me. The fact that he's Tier One is especially a shock, because I figure that’s something I would have at least heard about beforehand.

  Maybe it's a new thing?

  Looking around, I find the entire guild hall quiet. Even Scruffy straightens up, more alert. He doesn’t put his helmet back on, but his gaze is locked on Guild Master Folly.

  Cari’s gaze flits back to me, and a torrent of indecipherable emotions flit through them in an instant before she looks back to the Guild Master.

  “Y-yeah, okay…” she mumbles, finally releasing me.

  The hand she used to hold me in place lingers a bit longer than the rest, but she eventually lets go and starts to wipe at her face. Before she gets even two steps away, she looks back to me with a small frown, as if double checking I’m still there.

  Her eyes hold countless questions. Knowing I can’t answer them yet, I just nod my head with a small smile of my own. That seems to be enough, and her eyes turn severe as she returns the nod with a deeper frown.

  Oh, boy. That won’t be fun.

  She’s going to be hunting for a moment alone, and when she finds one she's not going to go easy on me. So before she can turn away, I speak, trying to give her something.

  “We’ll talk later. Promise,” I say.

  My voice is barely a whisper, but when her shoulders slump with relief and the tiniest fraction of a smile crosses her lips, I know she’s heard me. She nods before moving off to complete her task.

  Minutes pass in tense silence after Folly asks to speak once the room is ready, but then she's back. She quickly guides everyone to a large room with a long table, at the head of which Folly takes a seat. I decide to sit at the opposite end, and when Cari settles in right next to me instead of stepping out, the Guild Master raises a brow at her.

  She meets his gaze with a stubborn glare, daring him to tell her to leave. With a chuckle, he looks back to Scruffy. I see Cari visibly relax after that, though she tries hard to hide the sigh of relief.

  Damn, Cari, you go girl.

  The guards that were escorting me position themselves strategically, their professionalism as on point as ever. Two stand at the door, blocking it off, and the other two, one of which being the Mage, stand just behind my chair. Scruffy takes a seat to the left of the Guild Master, and Gerald opposite him, to the Guild Master’s right. When everyone is settled, Gerald finally begins.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Though it clearly seems her claims are true, I still have to go through the formalities. Please bear with me, Guild Master Folly. This woman,” he says, indicating me, “claims to be Emilia, a D-Rank Carrier lost in a delve with the Strikers over nine months ago. Records indicate that what she claims is true, however there is the obvious concern of her being some form of shape-shifter, as she has no ID and her appearance does not quite match the description I have on file,” he says, voice smooth and professional.

  “I see. Though I trust Cari’s judgment here, and even I believe I recognize her, we still need to have a paper trail… hmm… it’ll have to be someone she’s worked with before…” he say, starting to mumble towards the end.

  “Ah, sorry to interrupt. Could I also get a new badge? I lost mine… actually, if I could upgrade to a C-rank Delver badge that would be, uh, great,” I say, unable to hide my sheepishness.

  “Is that so?” he asks. “Oh… yes, that will do. I have just the person to both verify your identity and handle your rank testing. Let me summon him now, and once he verifies who you are we’ll get a test set up.”

  He smiles warmly at me towards the end, and I can’t help but feel relieved that this is going so smoothly. With a twist of mana, he speaks. His words are taken by the wind, just as Cari’s were earlier, and sent beneath the door to be heard elsewhere. It’s an impressive bit of magic, and with my ability to manipulate wind it has my curiosity piqued.

  If I can do that, nobody will be able to ignore me again… I'm totally going to abuse that. Wait, could I cancel a verbally cast spell? How far can it go?

  I’m lost in thought, working through all the possibilities when the door opens behind me and the guards let someone in. Heavy footsteps echo across the wood, confident and strangely familiar.

  The moment he speaks, recognition hits and a flash of white hot rage floods my mind.

  “What could possibly be so urgent that I had to come up here now, Folly? Couldn’t this have waited for me to—” Darius says, stopping only when he walks far enough into the room to see me glaring.

  “Wait, Emilia? How the fuck—what—how are you—what?!” he says, stumbling over his own confusion.

  I only notice Cari’s hands on my face when she gently turns me away, like I’m a loaded crossbow she’s trying to disarm. When I’m no longer looking at the treacherous piece of shit, I notice that I’m growling. Literally.

  A low, threatening rumble is bubbling up from my chest, filling the room with a thrumming vibration. I only stop when Cari speaks and I can’t hear her.

  “—air please. Let go, Emilia. Can you do that for me? Just let go of the chair, that’s it…” she says, almost cooing as I follow her instructions.

  My claws tear free from the wood of the armrests, splinters and fragments falling from my hands to rattle against the floor. I shakily reach my hands up to hers, cradling them against my cheeks. I hear talking in the background, but I ignore it, focusing entirely on not losing my mind.

  It doesn’t take long. My rage transforms into something more potent the moment I focus on regaining control. Instead of uncontrollable anger, all I feel now is wrath. The burning in my chest is calculated. Directed. It boils, demanding just one thing: vengeance.

  Fae Ferocity activates.

  Trick.

  I pull Cari’s hands away from my face and open my eyes. She looks worried, so I just shake my head and smile. It doesn’t help alleviate her concerns much, but that’s fine for now. Instead, I turn back to the Guild Master who’s mid argument with Darius.

  Human Fighter

  Level ??

  Darius looks… off. Disheveled, unclean, exhausted. All that and more. He’s even got bags under his eyes, and his armor isn’t polished to its famous shiny finish either. It looks like he’s fallen on hard times, or drank himself stupid. Maybe even both.

  The last thing I saw him do was eat a fragment of arcanite before running. So that he is alive at all is a mystery. At the same time, I can't bring myself to truly care.

  What matters is that he's alive when he doesn't deserve to be.

  “—just confirmed who she is. Stop pretending, it’s done. Now go, we’ll discuss this later—” he says, but I interrupt him.

  “That won’t be necessary Guild Master. If he can still perform my test, I would appreciate getting it over with. I’m sure he wouldn’t run away from lil’ old me a second time,” I say.

  I plaster a mocking smirk on my face. I know full well that Folly won’t like my obvious taunt, but I don’t care. I care about getting Darius onto that sparring ring.

  And it works like a fucking charm. He looks at me as if I’d slapped him, before his features quickly transform into rage.

  “How dare you! Fine! Yes, this is Emilia. Lets get to this fucking test so I can put her in her place once and for all,” he says, then storms out.

  The door slams violently behind him, and I swear I hear the wood crack despite the metal bands holding it together. The moment of quiet is interrupted when the Guild Master heaves out a massive sigh.

  “Are you sure about this, Emilia? He may attempt to kill you. You know, ‘accidentally’,” he says dryly.

  I nod and give him a savage grin. “He’ll fail,” I say.

  I don’t even know if that’s true, but I feel like it is. I can feel it inside me. The need. Fae Ferocity won’t let this go until it’s done, regardless of how long it takes. And with it… well, I don’t know how strong Darius really is.

  He just blows out a breath and shrugs. “As you wish. Cari, would you mind helping her get presentable? I wouldn’t want her to appear before a crowd looking like… this,” he says, gesturing to me with a flat look that makes Cari snort quietly before nodding.

  “Yes sir,” she says before grabbing my arm and dragging me to the door. I let her.

  “Hold, Cari,” he says. She freezes in place, turning back to him. “It will take a couple of hours to gather the necessary witnesses for your test, Emilia. There will also likely be a crowd. It’s not often we have C-rank tests, after all. So, take your time,” he finishes, giving her a knowing smile.

  She gives him a grateful look before tugging me along in a rush. She guides me through the maze-like hallways of the guild with expert familiarity and not even five minutes later, we’re tucked away into her apartment. It’s a small place, but has everything an independent woman could ever need.

  The entire space is basically her bedroom, with an attached kitchen, bathroom, and closet—and it’s exactly as I remember it. The sight sends a pang of guilt-laced nostalgia through my heart. When she ushers me in and closes the door behind me, she practically blurs with how fast she moves, grabbing me by my shoulders and shaking me vigorously.

  “Tell. Me. Everything,” she says, voice low and demanding.