When consciousness returned to Bunty, a thick black cloud bordered his field of vision. It faded after a minute of blinking and rubbing his eyes, but he continued to see double. A dull ache dominated his skull, reminding Bunty of the blow he had suffered. There were still bits of stone and dust raining down from the ceiling, so he guessed not long had passed since the injury. The monstrous leopard lay next to him. Bunty guessed the corpse had cushioned his fall.

Even though he was dazed, Bunty’s eyes struggled to focus on the corpses littering the ground around him. Their presence didn’t alarm him as much as the crest marking the armour and clothes. It was the crescent moon. Bunty scrambled onto his hands and knees, ignoring his body’s protests, and crawled towards the closest corpse. He tugged on the armour’s shoulder plate, and it came away with little resistance. Bunty blinked again, trying to focus his eyes, but the blurred double vision persisted. It was unmistakable, though. It was the same crescent moon Pari’s friends had worn.

“Bunty!” Gwyneth called. He couldn’t see her through the dust and rubble, but the volume suggested she was close. “Where are you?”

“I’m here.” The words came out much too quiet. Bunty’s voice sounded alien to him too. He patted around his waist, found his flask, and took a long sip from it. “Over here, Gwyn!”

After a couple of minutes of loud scrambling, Oss picked his way through the stones, and Gwyneth followed him. She rushed past the man and fell to her knees in front of Bunty. “You’re bleeding!” She exclaimed, pulling out a roll of bandages from the pouch at her waist. Gwyneth wetted the fabric with a brow-glassed vial before dabbing his temple. “Don’t be a baby,” she said when Bunty winced. Her spirit drifted closer as she studied the wound. “It’s not deep. I can’t tell whether anything’s broken, though.” She checked Bunty’s eyes, and he winced again as the lamplight assaulted his eyes. “You’re not concussed either.”

Oss pressed a hand to Bunty’s forehead and focused. He pulled back five seconds later, sighing. “He’s lucky nothing’s broken.”

“It still feels like I fell down a cliff with a giant leopard,” Bunty said, pushing their hands away. “I lost consciousness for a moment, and my vision is hazy, but I’ll be okay.”

“I have no medical training, but neither of those symptoms are worth celebrating.”

“Gwyneth’s right,” Oss told him. “You’re skilled and have good instincts, but don’t let that grow into overconfidence. I like you, Bunty Sen, and Explorer will make my life a living…hell if I let you die.”

Oss’s pause as he searched for the word ‘hell’ reminded Bunty of the difference and distance between them. The more time he spent with the tower resident, the clearer it became to Bunty how alien and different he was. Growls and chuffs echoed through the passage above them. The remaining leopards were still above them.

“We can’t stay here,” Gwyneth stated, directing her lamp to float higher. It illuminated the dark cavern’s walls but didn’t reach the ceilings. “I don’t think we’re in any shape to fight more leopards.”

Bunty didn’t disagree. He wasn’t too proud to admit when he had bitten off more than he could chew. The plan hadn’t failed. They had successfully defeated the monstrous leopard, and Gaia had gifted them a gate for it. He considered the collapse a turn of luck. There was no way for them to stress test the passageway, and if the smaller felines hadn’t piled up on their dead comrade, the net wouldn’t have snapped. The beast would’ve stayed in place, and they would’ve made it to the gate without issue.

When Oss helped him up, Bunty’s left leg struggled to support his weight. The bones were broken, but his ankle appeared to have suffered a terrible sprain. Bunty wrapped the joint with a Slimeskin sheet and commanded it to stiffen. The quick fix kept the joint steady and made walking bearable. Gwyneth claimed the beast’s Core, and then the trio headed into the unknown.

Corpses lined the tunnel. They hadn’t fallen into the midst of a dead party but an entire expedition. The almost two-dozen bodies were in the late stages of decomposition. It was then Bunty realised the subterranean tunnel network was much warmer than the levels above. The surface temperatures would’ve perfectly preserved the corpses.

“What do you have there?” Gwyneth asked, peeking at the armour piece in Bunty’s hand.

“Evidence,” he answered, holding up. “It’s got the crescent moon crest. If I show this to Baba and Victoria, they might help me figure out who attacked us­—”

“Crescent moon? What are you on about?” Gwyneth took the shoulder plate from Bunty and studied it closely. She held it close to Bunty’s face. “Look again.”

Bunty’s vision was still hazy but had improved considerably since he picked up the piece. He tried focusing on the red crescent moon, but two circles danced around one another. The metal had suffered several scratches, but one was red and the other black. The latter overlapped the first, making it look like a moon. Bunty’s heart fell into his stomach as the realisation hit. It wasn’t a moon. The crest showed twin-shields but in a slightly different shade. Bunty was drunk and struggling with a head injury when he last saw the moon. Now, he had reencountered it while struggling with his vision.

“It’s the DeLawney crest.” Bunty gasped. “It was them all along. The DeLawneys want the Boleyns crippled.”

Gwyneth exhaled loudly, looking at the floor. “I’m so sorry, Bunty,” she said. “I should’ve guessed when you told me the story. The DeLawney are at the bottom of the totem pole among the powerful houses but are at the top of the weak ones. They have spies all over the city, keeping tabs on important figures in every family. I guess this Pari woman was one such agent. She was hired to watch Alexander and you, gather information and feed it back to the DeLawneys. Alexander’s spirit threatened to shift the power balance, and it’s likely they ordered him crippled.”

“Why wouldn’t they just kill us?” Bunty threw the shoulder plate aside in disgust. The evidence had been in front of him all along. His inebriation and foolishness had left him blind.

“The DeLawneys tell their agents to avoid murder in the city. Due to their methods, it happens from time to time, but they try their best to avoid it. A dead nobleman causes serious investigations, and their family pushes the council into chaos. On the other hand, a crippled or injured heir demands attention and care. The focus becomes fixing injuries and returning the individual to normal. Investigation becomes an afterthought.”

“I want to burn the house to the ground.” Bunty’s head throbbed with pain, and his growing anger made it worse.

“We will someday, Bunty,” Gwyneth assured him. “For now, let’s look for a way up. I’d like to get to the gate before it disappears.”

“You might as well give up on that dream,” Oss said, running his fingers along the ancient brick-lined tunnel. “We’re in ruins of some sort. Settlers always build their homes around gates. Heading in deeper is our best route out.”

The carvings lining the walls suggested Oss was correct. They showed people carrying a large flower to and from large arches. Bunty was sure they were gates. The headache and sore ankle forced him out of his dazing. As his vision sharpened, Bunty found himself tempted to stop and make copies of the art and the inscriptions. They were in a language Bunty had never encountered before. He desperately wanted to learn what the people in the art were up to. The beings carried plants and objects unlike anything Bunty had seen before, and he was sure the ruins carried secrets that would benefit him and humankind as a whole.

It wasn’t long before the chuffing and growls got louder. Bunty had hoped the descent and their dead leader would discourage the leopards from following. Unfortunately, they now had a vendetta against Bunty and his friends. He kept an ear out for them, but the beasts were slow on their approach. Bunty guessed they were now wary of traps and didn’t want to make the same mistake a third time.

“The new leader wants the Core,” Oss told them. “It will exponentially grow in power by devouring the sphere.”

“That’s terrifying.”

“It’s how beasts with strong family units hold onto power and ensure the younglings are always protected. Aged Cores extend an entity’s life expectancy, but it doesn’t make the creature immortal. The leader will eventually die in a fight or old age. Then the new generation will continue where they left off.”

Gwyneth’s brows furrowed on learning the information. It built on her latter theory of Gaia’s quoted age relating to a Core and not the beast in question. There was still a lot for them to learn, and despite their current state, Bunty felt hopeful for the future.

Before long, Oss noticed a pattern in the wall carvings. It turned out that he partially understood the inscriptions and some of the artwork functioned as directions in what was likely an underground city. Oss often pointed down corridors, explaining where they probably led. If they had more time, Bunty would’ve loved to explore the level more and study what the ruins had to offer. Unfortunately, the pursuing leopards kept the party on their toes.

The temperature continued to increase, forcing Bunty and Gwyneth to peel off clothing layers. The party encountered bioluminescent plants growing out of the ceiling. They illuminated the surprisingly blue foliage below. Shrubs occasionally grew out of patches of moss, reaching for the natural light. Ankle-high fauna peaked out of the bushes, watching the party as they passed. Oss approached a wide-headed mammal, trying to make a friend. The creature turned and ran.

Occasionally, more corpses appeared on their path. It wasn’t just DeLawneys. The team occasionally spotted other house symbols among them. Bunty wondered whether a coalition of families had tried to find gates and build forward bases on the tenth floor. Then starvation or a local monster had ended them. Bunty hypothesised it wasn’t the latter. The corpses were mostly whole, after all. All dismemberment they spotted appeared to have taken place after death.

In some instances, the flora appeared to grow out of the bodies too. Bunty guessed the rough environments made the blue plants so desperate for minerals that they didn’t wait for bodies to decompose before feeding on them.

“Hold on a moment,” he said, speaking more to himself than his companions.

“What is it?” Gwyneth asked.

“Can you tell whether these bodies have any broken bones in them, Oss?”

“Not without touching them,” he answered, helping Bunty down onto the ground. When Oss spotted Gwyneth’s raised eyebrow look, he provided clarification. “My powers work best against creatures born within the tower. Climbers are mostly outsiders, and I need to be touching them for best results.” He pressed his hands to a couple of the bodies before giving his verdict. “There are, but they appeared to have mostly broken after death.”

“I don’t like this,” Bunty commented. “I’ve encountered a couple of plant monsters before now and very much looks like the work of one.”

“You’re right.” Oss nodded, backing away from the long skinny leaves hanging over the bodies. “It’s best if we avoid eating or sniffing, we find down here.”

“I second that,” Gwyneth said before the trio continued their journey, following the carvings on the wall. Bunty made a point of marking the location in the guidebook and the directions going forward. He wasn’t sure whether the site was of any interest or not but believed the FTF could make use of its riches.

When Bunty encountered a large pink flower with fluorescent blue stigma, he paused to collect it. He used a Slimeskin mask to avoid breathing in any pollen. Gwyneth provided a glass vial for its storage. They stored it safely for inspection and hurried to catch up with Oss. Bunty’s ankle still hurt but was a lot better than before. So, he insisted on hobbling behind his companions instead of slowing them down. Bunty thanked Uzeth’s Core for the swift recovery. The Slime Lord’s essence must’ve increased his flexibility and recovery.

Almost an hour passed before the trio reached their destination. Unlike the passageways, the gate room was more or less intact, and the local flora hadn’t infiltrated it. The pristine condition left Bunty wondering whether there was some magical presence in the room keeping nature away. The yowls and chuffs in the distance hadn’t ceased, though, and Bunty still didn’t feel comfortable enough to face the leopards.

The trio approached the gate, excited to move on. Much to their surprise, the door didn’t open. “What the hell?” Bunty wondered out loud. He pressed his hand to the stone structure, but it didn’t budge. The runes surrounding the gate didn’t look any different from usual either.

“Why isn’t it working?” Gwyneth asked, running the same inspections as him.

Oss came to the rescue with his knowledge of the tower. He ran his hands over the structure until his fingers grazed a hidden panel. A circular indent opened up where the two sides of the gate met. “It’s an artificial gate,” he said. “Rather, someone smarter than all of us figured a way to move a gate or make a temporary one permanent.”

“I didn’t know that’s possible.” Bunty inspected the socket closely. “Please tell me it doesn’t need a Core to function.”

“I’d be lying if I did,” Oss replied.

Bunty groaned, slumping down on the floor. The only Core they had on them had come from the giant leopard, and he was looking forward to discovering what it would offer the pen. Bunty hoped it would give him a hook summon or a spell similar to the Frost Blade. The leopards chasing them were smaller than the first one the party had killed. Bunty didn’t have high hopes of getting Cores from them. Returning to the surface wasn’t an option either.

Gwyneth didn’t ask for permission. She pressed the leopard’s Core into the slot. Light blossomed from the surrounding runes and slowly spread around the structure.

“It’ll take a while,” Oss said, looking between the gate and the tunnel behind them. The yowls and chuffs were closer now. The leopards had found their confidence and were closing in on them.

Bunty sighed and pulled himself onto his feet. Tiredness had taken hold after he stopped, and the dull pain in his skull had intensified. Bunty wanted to lie down and go to sleep. Instead, he busied himself plastering Slimeskin across the room’s exit. Gwyneth supplied a half dozen metal spikes and stuck them through the barricade before electrifying them. Bunty hoped the deterrent would keep them safe from the leopards, but the beasts had proven them as tenacious creatures. He was confident they’d survive them but knew they’d have a tough time doing so. He was more concerned about his companions getting hurt than difficulty, though.

“Can you decipher the carvings on the wall?” Bunty asked on spotting Oss’s grim expression. His knuckles had whitened around the bone staff. Bunty hoped the conversation would keep him distracted and calm. He guessed Oss wasn’t used to failing or getting things wrong and was still beating himself up about it.

“Barely,” Oss answered. “The text is much too old and not my field of interest. Explorer and his disciples would make easy work of it, though.” Oss furrowed his brow, looking around the room. “Each panel talks about a different artifact, rare animal, or plant—most of them look like legends.”

One of them had caught Bunty’s eye. It was the odd flower he had spotted before. He wasn’t sure how he knew it, but the carving in the centre looked like a dial. It didn’t have any standard units around it, though, but strange inscriptions which carried on into the petals. “What does this one say?” Bunty asked.

Oss looked nervously between the exit and inscription. Only a quarter of the runes on the door had lit up, and the process looked like it had slowed. “I’m not sure, Bunty. I’d need time to figure it all out.” His back stiffened as a sudden yowl interrupted a long stretch of silence. Bunty was starting to think Oss had issues with cats. He didn’t press the matter but nodded at Oss, trying to encourage more talk of the drawings. “I recognise the flower, though. It’s from the legend of the Chronos Bloom—the flower that can reverse time.”

Bunty’s brow furrowed. “Have you read of anything like that, Gwyn?” Bunty looked over to her. She had taken up position by the exit and was peeking through the Slimeskin tentacles.

“No,” she answered, glancing at the carving. “I’ve never heard of it.”

The conversation had started as a means to keep Oss distracted, but now he was genuinely interested. “Can you tell me more about this flower?” Oss’s tone suggested it was nothing more than an existence out of fables, but the same could be said for Omrito. There was no telling what Gaia’s Ark kept hidden from Climbers. If such a flower existed, it wouldn’t just help save Alexander but also bring Neer back.

“Not now,” Oss answered curtly. “It’s not the time for this, Bunty.” He got up and walked over to the gateway. Half the runes were illuminated now. “The cats will be here before the gate reopens. That’s what we need to focus on. You’re in no position to fight. No offence, Gwyneth, but you have no martial prowess, and your spells are too slow, and I’m in no shape to fight multiple leopards alone.” He looked back at Bunty. “I don’t like small cats. They’re fine alone, but the groups are vicious.”

“We’re going to be okay,” Gwyneth said, but her words didn’t appear to reassure Oss.

Bunty sympathised with Oss, but the thought of a treasure like the Chronos Bloom, all of a sudden, had his mind racing. The possibilities sent shivers down his spine and he felt goose pimples rising on his arm. “What’s your problem with cats, Oss?” He asked, trying to buy time and keep him distracted. Bunty whipped out his notebook and pen, planning on getting it translated once Oss was in a better place. He worried for his new friend’s plight, of course, but the thought of saving Alexander and getting his brother back in one swoop had him excited.

“I grew up in a hamlet on the forty-second floor,” he replied after a deep exhale. “It sat surrounded by steep cliffs that none of the local beasts could scale. The only way out was a narrow pass which we guarded around the clock.” Oss flinched as a growl sounded nearby. Given the volume, Bunty guessed the beasts were now in the underground forest. “My people were physiological your world’s elephants: slow, but strong, and resilient. We weren’t violent people and lived in close families. Our combat prowess was enough to hold the bottleneck and nothing more.”

“You were bipedal elephants?” Gwyneth asked, her academic tone leaking in.

Oss shook his head. “Hextapedal. We had six legs, two four-fingered arms, and trunks. Somehow, a claw of Shadow Panthers found a way through our defence. They were less than half our size, but my village couldn’t handle their speed or shadow-bending ways. Thanks to Explorer, a handful of us survived.”

Bunty felt horrid for bringing up the topic. He wanted to buy time to finish copying the artwork and inscriptions, not bring back anyone’s trauma. That didn’t mean he stopped scribbling in his notebook, though. Almost all the runes on the door were illuminated, and Oss had retreated to it, his eyes darting between the slowly spreading lights and the room’s exit.

By the time the door opened, the metal spikes planted in the Slimeskin had started buzzing. The leopards were on the other side, testing the defences. Bunty was forced to rush the final parts of the inscription before passing through the door into the next floor. Guilt squeezed his stomach and rib cage. They wouldn’t have ended up in the situation if he didn’t get overeager with the giant leopard, but at the same time, he was glad for the discovery. If the legends were true, he wouldn’t just get Alexander back but Neer too.