Everything hurt.

More specifically, my left shoulder, adjoining rib cage, and adjacent half of my pelvis hurt. Any other time, I would’ve whipped out Sasha and used her Life Mana to fix myself up. However, the flesh golem had made enough noise already. Summoning the guitar and playing her while people fought up stairs felt silly.

I knew what I had to do. Dive in the water and swim to safety. Perhaps I could drag the chest of aetherite over the side with me, shape a makeshift raft, and paddle downriver towards inn with my intact limbs. If I stayed close enough to the docks, hopefully the current would fail to drag me away.

My heart still thumped from the experience. The golem clearly had considerable power. I imagined its strength lay in Strength and Vitality, and the fire elemental gave it access to large quantities of Arcana too. The concepts of dungeons felt too game like for my current reality, but Arena Disk no longer surprised me. It had an RPG system, a gnomish Cthulhu cult, and batch pig farming. I didn’t know what purpose dungeons served or what birthed them, but I could see them existing as a part of the world.

The fires had mostly died out, but the air was still thick with smoke. I knew standing up would result in inhaling a mouthful. So, using my right arm, I dragged myself to the chest, tucked my head into my stomach and used Updraft on the adjacent wall. It was the first time I had used the ability on a surface that wasn’t the ground below me.

Primordial Magic has progressed to Novice Rank 8!

A powerful blast of wind launched just overhead, it ruffled my cloak and hair while also helping cool my sweat-covered body. When I finally sat up, the smoke had thinned, but the air still tasted horrid.

Just as I tucked the wand into my pocket and rose to my feet, another explosion rocked the vessel. This one felt closer. The ceiling directly to my left cracked and groaned before giving way. Hruk fell through, landing on his feet. Two caped figures followed. They landed with grace, but the boat rocked once again, making the pair stumble into each other and fall.

Hruk raised his left arm high above his head, holding the stove's crimson core in his hand. Then, just before swinging it down on the pair, he paused. The caped figures didn't try to defend or lash out at him. Instead, they watched me with dazed eyes. Hruk glanced between them and me with a confused look in his eyes.

"Are we fighting or not?" Hruk asked, as the aether core pulsed and glowed in his hands.

"We bow before Lord of Shadows," one of them said.

"If he has appeared before us, we need not fight," the other added. "He will still your attacks."

"Who the hell are you?" I asked, incredibly confused.

"The Thieves' Guild, of course, my lord." The larger of the pair sat up, looking at me with furrowed brows. "Our branch has joined with the Temple of Shadows."

"Very well. Go back to whatever you were doing. My green friend and I are leaving."

"Please let us offer tribute! We steal and serve the people in your name."

I kicked the box at my feet. "I've already picked my prize. The rest is yours to do as you please."

The pair hesitantly rose to their feet, glancing around the scorched hold. They retreated to a far corner, bowing as they left.

"What the hell was that?" Hruk asked, watching them go. Then his eyes fell upon the open crate and all the damage the golem had done. "What happened here?"

"Let's leave the questions for later," I replied. "Where's Doctor Whoo?" Hruk pointed behind me. I turned around to find the shike’s upside down head watching me. "Let's get out of here, then."

"Do we have what we want?" He checked the box at my feet. His eyes widened when he saw the pulsing chunk of aetherite. "This has more than we set out to get, but it'll do."

Hruk closed and fastened the container before lifting it with ease with his stone-gauntlet hand. Eldar's River sloshed a couple of metres below us. I hopped into the water without hesitation and Doctor Whoo copied me. She paddled to my side, and I climbed onto her back, groaning with pain. Hruk, of course, appeared hesitant. He followed after some coaxing and, despite thrashing, failed to stay up.

In the end, Doctor Whoo half dove and threw him out of the water with a fling of her beak. He landed on her back, still holding the box. As Hruk sat next to me coughing and wheezing, my beloved shrike paddled along the bank back towards our inn.

Once Hruk had composed himself, we exchanged tales of what we'd just experienced. Apparently, a swarm of cloaked individuals had rushed the vessel. They had overwhelmed the guards with sneak attacks and noxious gases before pushing the fighting onto the top deck. They had alchemical creations akin to bombs. When Hruk retreated to the lower deck, two of the attackers had followed him, likely thinking he worked with the Seekers of Oth. Fortunately, Doctor Whoo had gone over the side, ensuring no one found out that someone had brought a shrike into the city.

We found it amusing that the Thieves' Guild had attacked the ship at the same time as us. Hruk claimed every city had a black market. We had looked for it hoping to source aetherite, but failed. The organisation likely wanted to cripple the Seekers and make a tidy profit while at it.

When I explained my clock's connection to the Lord of Shadows, he put the pieces together. Much like shades, thieves, spies, and assassins worshipped the deity, believing the night and subterfuge were his dominion. However, we hoped the Guild wouldn't come knocking at our door, as it would likely delegitimize our operation.

Shouts and the clanging of armour sounded down the waterfront as Doctor Whoo swam along it. The city guard was finally reacting to the chaos. We waited until most of them passed before climbing up the embankment just behind our inn. Updraft carried us to the roof and Hruk helped me off it into the building. I dispelled the shadow cloak straight away and used Satchel Monster, shrinking Doctor Whoo, to her miniature form. Then we sat still, listening out for the landlord, our neighbours.

Much to our relief, Doctor Whoo's landing on the roof hadn't made enough noise to alert anyone. Instead, the growing ruckus on the docks had drawn people out onto the streets.

"The Thieves' Guild is robbing a Seeker ship!" Someone called.

"Good! The arseholes deserve it!" A woman added.

Several others chimed in, celebrating the organisation's misfortune. Neither Hruk nor I stayed by the window listening. Instead, we closed it and padded the exits to the room with blankets and mattresses. Then, while Hruk investigated our loot, I played Sasha as well as my injured left shoulder would allow.

The radiating Life Mana washed over me, easing the dull ache. Fortunately, none of my ribs felt like they'd broken and pierced my lungs. Instead, it felt like minor fractures and bruising. The unsteady mana fixed it slowly, repairing the major damage. I didn't have it in me to keep going despite the fading pain. Fatigue washed over my body, and then slumber took me.