Abby rested her hand on the unconscious Zeke’s shoulder, desperately hoping he would survive the night. According to Hawthorne, he had a fifty-fifty chance, which was more than most people in Zeke’s situation could’ve hoped for.

“Who the hell is he?” the older man asked as he ran his hand through his wild hair. He was almost as pale as Zeke. Beneath his eyes were deep, dark circles, and Abby could tell that he was more than a little wobbly. “No – scratch that. What the hell is he? I’ve never seen someone with that much poison damage. Never mind that kind of poison. You do know what it was, right?”

“I do.”

With an exhausted sigh, Hawthorne collapsed onto a nearby chair. “What did you just get me into?” he asked. “That was Black Rot. There’s only one organization that would use it.”

“I’m aware,” Abby said.

“Crystal Spiders,” Hawthorne muttered, the words barely audible. He sighed again, this time more dramatically. “Guess I’ve lived long enough. Twice, too. Did I ever tell you about my old life? I was –”

“I don’t care,” Abby stated. “Is he really going to be okay?”

“Like I said – he’s got something like a fifty-percent chance,” the healer said, leaning back and massaging temples. “Give or take. It’s a miracle he survived as long as he did, honestly. The way he was using his mana…”

“What are you talking about?”

Hawthorne leaned up, his eyes looking slightly clearer. “Okay, so most people only use their mana for skills, right?” he said. Abby nodded, and he went on, “Well, your friend here was actively moving his mana around to fight the poison’s effects. He was pushing mana into his cells and helping them rebuild almost as fast as the poison could destroy them.”

As far as Abby knew, that kind of mana manipulation wasn’t possible. But then again, she’d already been forced to reevaluate the so-called truths she’d always been led to believe. What was one more? Still, being able to move mana like that was an impressive ability.

“It wouldn’t have been nearly as bad if mana wasn’t poisonous,” the man explained. “Or poisonous isn’t really the right word, I suppose. Think of it more like too much of a good thing. Kind of like adrenaline. Or growth hormone. You need it, sure, but when you get too much of it, bad things start to happen. In this case, the mana was draining his cells of life energy. Does he focus on vitality, maybe?”

Abby shrugged. “He heals pretty fast,” she said, not wanting to reveal Zeke’s secrets. “But I don’t know his stats.”

“He must,” Hawthorne reasoned, stroking his chin. “That’s the only thing that would explain why he wasn’t a lifeless husk. Given that, I think he’ll survive. I just can’t help but wonder what it’ll do to him.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, suddenly alarmed by the healer’s cryptic tone.

He threw up his hands, exclaiming, “I haven’t got a clue! That’s what I’m trying to tell you, girl! This is entirely new territory. He could turn into a mana lich. He could be braindead. He could end up with his stats halved. Or he could be perfectly fine! We won’t know until –”

The man’s rant was interrupted by a loud banging at the door, which was followed by the sound of claws raking against the wood. It took Abby a couple of seconds to realize what was going on, and in that time, the blood had completely drained from Hawthorne’s face.

“W-what is that…”

Abby grinned. “A friend,” she said, already moving toward the door. She opened it to reveal a grumpy-looking bear cub, who shouldered past her without a moment’s hesitation. Hawthorne’s reaction was predictable. The healer sprang up from the chair and with surprising agility, darted to his nightstand.

“Hold it off, girl!” he shouted, digging into one of the drawers. “I’ll save us!”

A second later, he’d retrieved a wand from the drawer and pointed it at Pudge, who was looking at him like he’d lost his mind. The healer’s eyes narrowed in concentration before a small ball of white light erupted from the end of the wand. It sped toward Pudge, who didn’t have time to dodge, and splashed against his snout.

He sneezed.

“Hawthorne, stop!” Abby spat before kneeling beside Pudge. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

Pudge snorted in derision.

“W-what…”

“Pudge is a friend,” Abby said, her arms wrapped around the cub’s neck. “Put that silly thing away.”

Confusion danced across the healer’s face. “That…that thing is a monster,” he breathed. “It’s a dire bear…”

“I’m aware,” Abby stated, annoyance flashing in her eyes. “He’s bonded to the man you just healed, and he’s completely under control. So, unless you want me to get really, really angry, you’ll put that stupid wand away. It obviously didn’t do much good anyway.”

For a second, she thought the healer might continue to argue, but he surprised her by tossing the weapon onto the bed. He mumbled something about second-rate weaponry and getting ripped off. A second later, he sat next to the discarded wand, burying his head in his hands as he said, “This has been such a weird night.”

Abby could sympathize; ever since she’d met Zeke, things had been anything but ordinary. So, she said, “Welcome to my world.”

Meanwhile, Pudge crept across the room and nuzzled against Zeke’s prone form. A slight whine escaped from the cub’s mouth, but Abby reassured him that Zeke was going to be fine. Pudge must’ve understood, because he perked up a little after that. Abby could only hope that she hadn’t told a lie.

“I’m going to get some rest,” she announced. “Can we stay here? Or are you going to insist that I drag an unconscious man to an inn?”

“Basement,” said a distracted Hawthorne, who seemed to have hit his limit for strange occurrences. A man afflicted with a poison that should’ve long since killed him, he could handle. Strange manipulation of mana, he could tolerate. But a tamed dire bear on top of that? It was obviously just too much.

Abby levered one arm beneath Zeke’s leg, then cradled his torso with the other, and with a princess carry, she toted him toward the door Hawthorne had indicated. It was a little awkward, but even though strength was one of her lowest stats, she was still far stronger than anyone in the old world. So, she managed to get him down the stairs, with Pudge following closely on her heels.

When she made it down to the bottom of the steps, a few magical lamps flared to life, bathing the basement in soft illumination. The light revealed a tidy apartment, complete with another bed, a sink, and a couch. She set Zeke on the bed, then took her place on the couch. Abby supposed that Hawthorne used the place for convalescing patients. Pudge positioned himself at the foot of the bed, facing the door at the top of the stairs.

During their mad dash to Beacon, necessitated by Zeke’s worsening condition, Abby hadn’t slept at all, and she was exhausted. So, it didn’t take long before she found herself dozing off and drifting into a dreamless sleep. It felt like only a few seconds later that her eyes were fluttering open to see a bear’s wet snout only inches from her face. Pudge’s tongue darted out, licking her cheek.

“Ugh,” she muttered, shoving him away before wiping at the slobber on her face. “Gross. Your breath is horrific.”

Pudge tilted his head sideways as if to say, “Duh. I’m a bear. Of course my breath stinks.”

Or maybe that was just Abby’s imagination. She still wasn’t entirely sure how intelligent the bear cub really was, so it was possible that she was simply anthropomorphizing the animal.

After grabbing a bar of precious soap from her enchanted satchel, Abby went to the sink and washed her face. Then, making sure Zeke was still asleep, she took her shirt off and gave herself a bird bath. It wasn’t a shower, but at least she wouldn’t smell like two days on the road, now. After donning a fresh set of clothing, she checked on Zeke. His breathing was better, but he was still pale and incredibly warm. It didn’t quite feel like a fever, though. Instead, it was more like how someone’s skin felt when they had a sunburn.

She looked at Pudge, saying, “Protect him, but don’t hurt Master Hawthorne. He’s a friend.”

Pudge dipped his head, which she took as consent. So, with that taken care of, she climbed the stairs to find Hawthorne still sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at nothing.

“Still up? How long was I asleep?” she asked, gently shutting the basement’s door behind her.

Hawthorne glanced back her way, saying, “It’s morning. I tried sleeping for a few hours, but my mind was racing. It’s not often that I see something new anymore, and your friend’s reaction to that poison certainly qualifies as such. Where did you find him?”

Abby answered, “I’d rather not say. Is it okay if I leave him here? I have some things I need to take care of with my guild.”

“Is the bear still down there?”

She nodded. “He has instructions not to hurt you,” she stated. “Think of him like a big puppy.”

“A puppy with four-inch teeth and claws that could eviscerate me with almost no effort,” the healer muttered. “I’ve seen the results of an angry dire bear.”

“So have I,” Abby said, remembering the goblins that had fallen before the adolescent bear. Eviscerated was a good word to describe what Pudge had done to them. “I promise – you’ll be fine.”

“Very well,” the healer said.

After that, Abby saw no reason to delay reporting back to the guild, so she quickly left the healer’s home. With the morning light casting the white-and-gold buildings in a warm glow, the city looked incredibly welcoming. However, Abby knew that beneath that inviting exterior lay significant corruption. As the hub of human activity for the main island, the city was home to its fair share of crime and corruption. Not only were there organizations like the Crystal Spiders, who specialized in espionage and assassination, but there were plenty of other unapologetically unsavory groups as well. And that wasn’t even considering the more respectable groups like the church or the guilds, whose only difference was that they kept their misdeeds hidden in the shadows.

Abby dismissed those thoughts as unimportant; wherever humanity settled, there would inevitably be corruption. She couldn’t change human nature, so she didn’t see the reason in thinking much about it. Instead, she focused on the story she would tell the guild when she turned in the proof of the mission’s success. Those thoughts occupied her mind as she climbed the ramp to the third level and made her way to the guildhall.

Though it wasn’t a part of the original city – most of the buildings weren’t – the guildhall was still impressive, its inspiration drawn from ancient Greek architecture. Fronted by a series of columns, with a triangular pediment that had been carved with a decorative frieze depicting proud warriors fighting against an army of monsters, the building was easily big enough to house the entirety of the guild – quite a feat, considering that the Champions of Light counted almost seven thousand adventurers among their members. Right now, Abby was barely above average, but soon, she’d be on her way into the upper echelon.

She couldn’t wait. Luckily, she didn’t have to, either. After climbing the steps and showing her identifying badge to the guards on duty, Abby found her way through the building. Decorated in reds and golds, with priceless paintings adorning the walls, the guild’s wealth was on full display. Abby appreciated art as much as the next girl, but she hardly noticed the décor. Instead, she focused on her story and the impending reward for a mission accomplished.

After a few minutes, she found her way to the office of the guild’s registrar. Once inside the opulent office, she approached one of the desks and greeted a clerk. He was a short man with a pointy nose and a long neck.

“Yes?” he asked in a self-important voice.

Abby set her badge on the desk, followed by the missive she’d taken from Julio. It proved that she had been given the mission to deal with the drachnids. The clerk picked it up between his thumb and forefinger, holding it as if he didn’t want to touch it more than absolutely necessary.

“Mission complete,” she said. “Would you like to see the evidence?”

“This mission was given to Julio Arata,” the man said. He glanced over the paper with obvious disdain. “You are not Julio Arata.”

“He was the mission leader,” she stated. “He died while we were fighting the drachnid queen. I’m the only one left.”

The man snorted. “Hid while others did the hard work, I suppose,” he muttered. Abby ground her teeth, wanting nothing more than to punch the pompous man in the face. But she restrained herself. “Your name is on the contract, though. Do you have their badges so we can confirm you’re the only one left?”

Abby retrieved the bundle of badges she’d collected from Julio and his group of thugs from her enchanted bag, slapping them on the desk. Some were still covered in dried blood.

The clerk picked them up, one by one, and channeled some skill through each of them in turn. It didn’t take long, and when he was finished, he said, “This is all in order.” He stamped the piece of paper, then handed it back to her before saying, “Take this to the quartermaster. He’ll collect the evidence. If you’ve satisfied the terms of the contract, he will give you your reward.”

It was obvious to Abby that the man didn’t expect her to have met the requirements of the contract, but she forced herself to smile anyway. She didn’t need to impress some nameless guild registrar. In fact, she didn’t need to impress anyone. She was secure in her own ability.

Still, it would’ve been nice to put him in his place.

Comforting herself with the knowledge that soon enough, she’d be a high enough level that no one would disrespect her, Abby found her way to the quartermaster’s office. Like most of the truly valuable parts of the guild headquarters, it was located in the lower, more defensible levels far beneath the ground, and she was forced to go through three separate checkpoints before she entered the internal warehouse that was the home to most of the guild’s wealth. Not that she’d ever seen any of it, because it was hidden in a sturdy vault that was guarded by a dozen high-level warriors and a plethora of wards.

When she entered the outer room, Abby saw a middle-aged man with black hair sitting behind a desk. She didn’t let herself be fooled by his mundane appearance, though. Everyone knew that the quartermaster was the real guardian of the guild’s wealth. At level twenty-five, it would take a truly monumental force to get past him.

“Young Abby!” the man said, grinning widely. “It’s been a while!”

Abby smiled back, saying, “Only a few months, Dirk. How have you been?”

“Bored,” the man said. “I’ll be glad when my term as quartermaster is up. Let someone else sit here and get fat for a couple of years.” To emphasize his point, he patted his stomach. The effect was ruined by the fact that it was entirely flat. “What’ve you got for me?”

Abby set the completed missive down and slid it across the desk. “Completed,” she said. “Where do you want the evidence?”

“Only survivor, huh?” he said, his face darkening a bit as he continued to read. “Can’t say I’m too broken up about it. Julio was…ah, well, I won’t speak ill of the dead. Which direction did you go? I assume you picked off the two-hundred lower level drachnids?”

“Not exactly,” Abby said, reaching into her enchanted satchel and retrieving a few sacks of drachnid teeth. “Should be around four-thousand teeth there. And then there’s this…”

She thumped the queen’s core down on the man’s desk. It was only the size of a golf ball, but it was dense enough to weigh a few pounds.

“That’s…that’s an elite core,” the man stated. “Where did you get that?”

“From the queen,” Abby stated.

Dirk focused on her for a long moment, then said, “You didn’t kill the queen by yourself. You had help.”

“Of course I did,” was her response. “But I swear to you, I struck the killing blow. Would you like her head, too? Or does the core suffice?”

The quartermaster adopted a pensive expression before saying, “The terms of the mission were to either kill the requisite number of drachnids or slay the queen. You’ve gone above and beyond. Regardless of how you did it, I suggest you keep the core for yourself and use the teeth to satisfy the parameters of the missive.”

“I was actually hoping we could make a deal, Dirk,” she said. “The reward for this mission were two Fruits of Nascent Zeal, right? Well, I only need the one to evolve my soul. How about I trade the second, plus this core, for something that will evolve my body as well? You know that’s a good deal for the guild.”

The man thought for a moment, obviously trying to find the catch. Body evolution was far more common than soul evolution, so the fruits were more valuable than their body-evolving counterparts. Add an elite beast core to the mix, and the guild stood to make a sizable profit in the exchange. For her part, Abby gained convenience; while materials to evolve one’s body weren’t as rare as their counterparts, it would still take time if she went through more normal channels. No – it was easier just to overpay to the guild and get everything out of the way as soon as possible.

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll do the paperwork.” Turning, he shouted, “Aziz!”

A slight boy came running from a side room. Dirk barked, “Get one vial of the Blood of the Ascended Phoenix. You’ll find it in section four, row nine. Then, get one of the Fruits of Nascent Zeal from section forty-two. One of the big ones.”

“Yes, sir,” the boy said before scurrying into the vault.

“My wife’s cousin’s boy,” Dirk said. “Good kid, but he’s kind of goofy.”

Abby smiled, and the two traded small talk for a few minutes as Aziz gathered Abby’s rewards. When the small boy returned carrying a pair of jade boxes, Dirk asked, “Do you want to evolve here? I think we’ve got some healers in the building. I could call up one of the guild’s alchemists as well.”

Abby shook her head. She didn’t trust the guild’s healers not to overcharge. Master Hawthorne might be a money-grubbing pervert, but at least he was honest. When he agreed to something, he stuck to both the letter and the spirit of the deal. The same couldn’t be said for the guild’s contracted healers.

“I’ve got someone,” she said, taking the boxes and slipping them into her satchel. She could feel the power radiating from the potent items, even inside the boxes. In there, they’d be safe enough. Unless she was dead, nobody else could access the items inside. The bag wasn’t as impressive as Zeke’s spatial storage, but it was still a very convenient item.

Dirk grinned. “Good luck, then,” he said. “Evolution is a pain in the ass, but it’s worth it.”

“Thanks,” Abby said before adding, “Take care, Dirk. And don’t get too bored down here.”

His smile broadened as he said, “I half hope someone makes a run at the vault, just so I can break up the monotony. Now, go on. I expect you to have evolved by the time I see you next!”

Abby waved as she left the room, then subsequently the building. It had been a long time coming, but she was finally going to make some real progress again. And she couldn’t wait.