Taking a second to examine the bits and pieces [Safe Extraction] had harvested out of the salamander, Miles hummed as he held up the enchanted lantern a little closer to his loot.

  “This is good stuff,” he mumbled, examining the rolled, still glistening skin before moving on to the eyes and tails. “I got plenty for the tier-1 core elixir, and enough base for the tier-2.”

  Aside from the physical organs, two stasis-boxes hung in the air, one surrounding a golf-sized, flesh-colored glowing bead, and one around a puff of gold-colored smoke.

  “The Overflow and the core would do great,” he nodded, stuffing all of them in his storage before turning his attention to the pool out of which the salamander had crawled out. Stepping near its edge, he peered down and noted how the pond extended deeply below the surface and most likely, it connected to some other area. But the network itself didn’t interest him. Instead, it was the little circle-shaped tear that hovered an inch above the still, clear water, gushing out mana from the floor below. The haze of energies and dimensional light coated its surface and surroundings, altering between golds, blue, and purples in a kaleidoscope of hypnotizing lights.

  Miles didn’t know whether shortcuts were happy little accidents or whether the Dungeon created them on purpose, but almost always, a powerful creature would be sitting on top of them, jealously hoarding the high quality mana to itself so it’d progress faster.

  Well, powerful for its floor, he thought, sparing the dissected remains a sidelong glance. Taking another look around to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, Miles hopped forward and disappeared into the passage that closed after him.

  ***

  Lott’s POV

  The Shadows’ guild was a mansion-like building with red tiles and gray stones, standing in the heart of Rivergate. It had plenty of windows, letting in the bright afternoon light, and there were no guards posted on the outside. Facing the street, a wide doorway was open, leading into a cold and quiet hall. There was no sign to advertise the building’s function, and it fit seamlessly along with its neighbors.

  To its right, a much larger structure, easily twice if not thrice as wide and tall. It made the Shadows’s guild look like an afterthought of an annex. The Registry’s building, belonging to the Great Guild that administrated this city and many others, as well as managed all the registered guilds and kept an eye on the Houses’ activities. It was the highest authority on all populated land and of course, this building was for the local branch, and it only took care of Rivergate’s business. It wasn’t the only building they had in the city. But even then, the traffic of comings and goings made the Shadows’ HQ seem practically deserted.

  Lott looked away from the Registry’s building. That was fine. That was exactly how they liked it.

  Entering the hall, a few heads turned his way and while not all were wearing the usual dark clothing, he could pick up a few here and there, especially in the lines waiting after the job placement tellers.

  This was where Shadows went when they weren’t on contract with a House or another guild. Where they went to find those contract and jobs and in the case of Lott, this was where he went when he needed to get some things done. When he needed the reach only a network of Shadows could provide, though that service wasn’t accessible to all members. And it wouldn’t be here.

  Turning right, he went down the hall, took a couple of turns, and right next to a flickering lantern, he climbed down the stairs and ignoring the ‘out of service’ sign, entered the communal restroom. A high-tier Shadow look up at him from a book they’ve been reading, a pale mask covering their features, and they gave him a nod before turning their attention back to their reading. Lott moved past them, opened the broom cupboard, and stepped through the wall.

  The illusion of a wall let him through, and he arrived in a smaller hall than the one above, though it was no less busy.

  The hall was divided into basically three sections. The section at the end of it was cubicles. Often inaccessible to clients and customers, and were reserved for administrative work and basically, running the guild’s day-to-day operations. In the center, a wide row of desks, arranged by the categories of services they offered. Jobs, requests, fixers, information. It was all available. For a price.

  It was possible to find jobs here. To hire a few people if you had a particularly difficult contract to get through, or, in Lott’s case, you could find yourself a fixer. There were usually three of them, at the end of the row. One was specialized in local matters. One had some reach in the lower floors, and the third was the one he needed. The one who could help him setup a job across the continent. So Lott headed to the receptionist’s desk, told the suited young man what he needed, and was told to take a seat.

  This would be the third section of the hall. Where the Shadows had to sit down and wait until a teller was available to them.

  Lott loved how… efficient this system was.

  Doing as he was told, he found himself a seat and leaned back as he took a quick look around. All in all, there were around twenty people down here waiting for service. He recognized a couple of faces here and there, thought before he could really get a good look, the receptionist was back.

  “Shadow Lott? Miss K is ready for you.”

  Lott gave the receptionist a nod, then headed toward the specific desk in question. At the very end of the row.

  Miss K was a bronze-skinned woman in a striking black, sleeveless button down shirt. She wore a black pantsuit, had her curly hair tied back in a loose ponytail, and her jeweled hands were clasped in front of her, resting on the spotless wood of her desk as she waited for him. Her brown eyes followed him as he sat down, and she gave a small nod when he looked up at her as she tapped the desk, and the privacy enchantments lit up, isolating their view and voice from the exterior.

  “Lott.”

  “Miss K.”

  “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  While she seemed pleasant and friendly, Lott knew that she’d start up-charging if he wasted her time with pleasantries, so he immediately got to business. “I need a high-profile individual extracted out of Skygate. Goes by Caspian. Torchbearer cook.”

  Miss K leaned back, face neutral, which Lott interpreted as time to make his offer. Reaching into his dimensional ring, he pulled three black coins with his name engraved and piled them on the table. Three reasonable favors he’d owe the guild, which, for someone of his tier, was not a negligible payment.

  Miss K didn’t even react, and Lott’s stomach churned a little. While Miles had said money won’t be an issue, Lott really hoped he wasn’t exaggerating. Though considering the Grade-10 core set sitting in storage that he was to deliver later, he was most likely good for it. That set would be worth at least five of Lott’s tokens, so hopefully, Miles could afford the mission he was requesting.

  Calmly, Lott added two more Shadow tokens, and his eye twitched when the woman only tapped her fingers on her elbows.

  Clearing his throat, Lott considered that maybe he was wearing too many layers.

  The fixer wasn’t even reacting. Which meant the task was… consequential.

  Letting out a slow breath, Lott leaned back against his chair, hands clasped under the desk. “Miss K. Can you give me a starting price so I can save us both the time?”

  The corner of her lip quirked up, but she never reached for the little pile of coins. “The Torchbearer you speak of. What do you know about him? Why do you think extracting him might be… challenging?”

  Ah. Right, Lott thought. He knew it was a possibility, but he didn’t know it was going to inflate the prices so quickly. “The Wanderer’s bounty,” he said, tapping his fingers on his knees.

  Miss K nodded. “Exactly. There are already competing assignments on the cook. Not all from our side, but plenty. You’d need to outbid them. If not in scales,” she said, nodding to the black coins, “then in gold.”

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  Lott bit his lip. He didn’t know if he had enough scales on him, and Miles was going to be unreachable for a couple of days. Should he go all in and hope for the best?

  Lott stared down at his ring and as he pictured the little case within, his shoulders relaxed. From everything he’d seen from the man so far, he didn’t expect Miles of all people to try and rip him off. Hell, he already agreed to train Lott in improving his Veil. Plus, this was all at his request, and Lott would be able to buy back his scales from the guild. They just needed to get the ball rolling on the mission. The rest could come later.

  Pulling all the scales he had left, Lott created a second 7-coin tall pile, totaling his offering to 12 scales, and he silenced the doubtful voice in the back of his head.

  Miss K raised a brow at him, then reached forward, pulling the Shadow’s tokens toward her. “Must be important,” she remarked, picking up a coin from the taller pile with a black manicured hand and placing it on the second, equalizing both towers. “This would cover our initial setup. Though you’ll owe the bill of what the extraction costs. We could start moving in the hour. But—”

  She let the silence hang, then with a hand, she dragged one of the pile to her, the soft sound of metal sliding on wood almost grating to his ears, while with the other hand, she pushed the second pile by half an inch. “—I could reduce the contract’s cost if you told me a little about the interesting company you’ve been keeping today.”

  Lott stilled, eyes flicking away from her hands and up to the sharp gaze studying him. It made his heart quicken a little, and though part of his mind considered for half a second the offer, especially if, for some reason, Miles didn’t payout, Lott dismissed it. He had already decided to commit. It was too late to start half-assing things now.

  With a shake of his head, he politely refused. “That’s not on the table,” he said.

  Miss K leaned back, brow raised. “Is this the business kind of ‘not on the table’ or is it a personal thing? Because if it’s the latter, I can sweeten the deal,” she added, a new coin appearing between her fingers before it began rolling on her knuckles. She wasn’t giving him back his own, she was offering hers.

  Lott swallowed, but he neither nodded nor shook his head. “Where is this coming from?”

  His question had a price, he was sure. But she was the one asking for a favor, so he had some leeway. Miss K eyed him silently for a few seconds, her own scale continuously rolling against her knuckles before she dipped her chin. “One Watcher reported the entrance. A nobody near tier-10, coming in with you and two Watch trainees. One of which with baggage. Another Watcher reported the same stranger chatting with you and the two trainees. They seemed awfully familiar with the city. But they don’t exist in our files. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not tailing you of course. He’s the one that’s out of place. And yesterday, you had a fake ID commissioned. Something’s going on. Clearly. If this is business,” she raised her hands, “then I apologize for overstepping. If not, then I would like to make an offer. You understand that we,” she said, nodding toward the other two fixer desks beyond them, “have to look into these sort of variables. Otherwise we wouldn't be doing our job.”

  Lott tapped his knee under the desk. While he owed her nothing, maintaining a good relationship with fixers was one of the pillars a Shadow career was built upon. So while he had no intent on giving her anything, he felt he had to do something.

  “It’s not business,” Lott said after a couple of seconds. “But word of advice? Don’t poke the bear. The guild shouldn’t poke that bear.”

  Miss K was completely still for a moment, her eyes not even blinking, then a smile crept on her lips and she nodded as she relaxed. Her own coin clicked on the soft wood, then she flicked it toward him before pulling the rest of his coins to her. “Good. I appreciate it.”

  Lott frowned at the coin. “It wasn’t my intention to—”

  Miss K raised a hand, cutting him off as his coins disappeared with a wave of her hand. “I know. But the warning itself has value. So we’ll keep it in mind. As for the extraction, we’ll make our bid and we’ll let you know if we need to up the price. Stay around, just in case we need proofs of funds. Otherwise, we’re done on that front for now. Would that be all?” she asked, her hand hovering over the trigger of the secrecy enchantment of the desk.

  Lott was still reeling from his life savings disappearing in the span of 3 minutes, but her question reminded him of another matter he promised he’d look into. “Yes, another thing. Brie Ironvault. I want a report on the current situation and whether anyone filed a contract for her.”

  Miss K raised a brow at him, and her smile was almost incredulous. “Alright? This isn’t as bad as the other contract, but it’s not gonna free either.”

  Lott suppressed a grimace. He was out of scales, though he had the one he’d just earned. Lott stared longingly at the coin, engraved with K, when he heard the woman sigh. “Alright. Here’s freebie. It’s too late to do anything about the Ironvault. So don’t waste your time.”

  Lott blinked at the woman, mind going through the possible scenarios as the cold coin pressed on his palm. What did that mean? Did someone make a move already? He’d just seen here, so it’s not as if she was just kidnapped.

  He would have asked more, but he was out of time and before he could say much else, the enchantment was disabled and Miss K had gone up and left.

  Lott sighed, shoving the black coin into his ring as he got up.

  Well, shit. I guess I’ll go tell her to get ready. Maybe if she hides she could delay whatever’s coming, Lott thought as he stepped out of the cupboard and started climbing up the stairs.

  ***

  Miles was spat out twenty feet above the dank, moss-covered stone. He landed with a splash of water and mud, and took a look around. The cave was alight with glowing stalactites, bathing the ruins and overgrowth in a blue, calming light that rippled on the ceiling, reflected by the numerous connected ponds.

  He had arrived at the 2nd floor. The Flooded Ruins.

  There had been a chance for the rift to send him to the third, but that rarely happened. Glancing about, he wondered in which part of the continent this was.

  The Flooded Ruins were the remains of a far spreading civilization that had once lived below the surface of this world. In these caves that they may or may not have dug out. And while it might have seemed connected to the floor above, Miles knew that this was a different world. Every floor was. It was just that the Dungeon usually liked to order the floors in some consistent, progressive narrative. That was why the last floor would have ended with an underground lake, and this one began with water-logged, half-drowned ruins and would end in open-pit mine that’d lead to the Shattered Depths.

  Right now, he couldn’t tell where exactly he was in relation to the center of the floor, where the way down to the third floor would be. If he was lucky, it’d be only days away. If this chamber was at the extremities of the territory? It could take the average party weeks, if not months to cross.

  “Unless I find… a shortcut,” he spoke as his brows furrowed for a second, sensing something happening within his soul. Then his eyes widened as he realized what was happening. Summoning the Custodial key in his hand, he watched as it shone with golden light, and little bits of the thick iron that coated the item were flaking off its surface. Only for a couple of seconds. Then it went inert.

  There was no other phenomenon. No text popped in vision. But Miles couldn’t help but feel that that was a good sign.

  It’d be game-changer if we could get high-levels of mana on the surface, he thought as he twirled the key in his hand for a second. He glanced about for a door he might test it on, but there was none. He tried shoving it inside of a stone-arch or against the cave wall, but the key refused to do its thing, and Miles wondered if he should have tried bringing a door with him.

  Could I convince it that a flat wall’s a door?

  Over the course of the next couple of minutes, Miles tried, but the key just refused to cooperate. It had to be a door.

  Can it just be any unmounted door? Or this is a limitation and the key only works on the surface?

  Miles clicked his tongue. He should have thought of bringing a door with him. He had so much random crap in his storage, from spare sets of equipment, weapons, materials, and all sorts of junk. But he didn’t have a spare, disassembled door.

  “I guess I’ll keep an eye out for one and test it when I find it. If I don’t jump through another shortcut, I’d find one at the settlement near the exit.”

  That would be huge as well, if he could keep his access to the Custodial room within the Dungeon. But would that interact weirdly with the loop? Actually, how would the room interact with the loop? Would it act as an extension of his own storage Skill and be unaffected, or would it reset back with every loop like the rest of the world did?

  Miles crossed his arms and paced near the cave’s wall, frown deep.

  Both my Vault and the summons are persisting through the loops, so good odds that the Custodial room itself will persist. Which means if someone like Thalia or Lott’s in there when it loops, then the pruning will happen.

  The Dungeon didn’t like having copies of people around. When Miles pulled a person out of his storage from a previous loop, the Dungeon immediately took action, correcting the mishap so only the “oldest” of the two individuals persisted. Considering the loop was tied to him and the Dungeon kept track of his looping, the copies he had with him would persist, while the Thalia walking outside in the world would suddenly disappear.

  It was a delicate mechanic he often had to work around and be wary of. But if the Custodial room carried such a risk, he had to be sure.

  Miles clapped. “Alright. Two new more points on the docket. Find a door and test the key. And if that works, test if the Custodial room is looping. I’ll leave that one for last. A short loop should be enough. If I have access to it from the Dungeon. If not, then it’s a non-issue.”

  With that settled, Miles activated his Skill and shot out of the room. The next time he came to a stop in a few hours, he would have his first meeting with Ashirruk, and he would finally say hi to George. If they had had enough time to recover, that is.

  Miles smiled. He was looking forward to that.

  should be on Friday, but if it ends up being delayed, it won't be later than Sunday. Doing bonus chapters is stretching my bandwidth, and the schedule should be easier to maintain once the hype of the new launch dies down.