The so-called Spiral Cave had the right name, Jonas thought. A large tunnel on the edge of a small rise in the forest, slowly turning as it corkscrewed downward in a, well, spiral. The remaining four high-tier Professionals made a small camp at the entrance, preparing a lunch break, while Jonas’ team entered the cave under the guidance of Cowen.

Cowen pulled out a booklet and looked at it as they went down. There were small Power Crystal formations hanging down from the ceiling, lighting the way.

Jonas felt he needed to ask, “What are you reading?”

“Guide to zones. I got a compilation of the reports on zones and lairs we were going to cross. The Archives at Gatepost keep up to date information on all we have explored.”

“So you have all about what we went through in Ovildian and Othary?”

She shrugged.

“Probably. It’s pretty short on details since almost no team did those regularly. But I know it’s all about cats in here, for instance.”

She handed her booklet to Jonas.

“Check your old lairs. Who knows, maybe you’ll have missed one.”

Jonas opened the book, titled ‘Great Line & Under’. The first pages had weird diagrams until he realized they were representing the zone connections. He quickly found out the pages numbers for their three zones. Apparently, Zolferras had more lairs than Ovildian and slightly higher levels. On the topic of Othary, however, he spotted the entry for an ‘unknown potential outdoor lair’.

“Mrs Cowen? The book says nothing is known about the mountain pass box.”

“Means no guardian around. Probably a rare occurrence, and there wasn’t anything whenever teams came around. Which is probably two or three times tops.”

“Well, we had that one as our lairs for tier three. It was a triplet of crow elites. Rotating on trees around the pass…”

“Oh? Then write down your notes. That will be interesting for the Archives. Any information is appreciated.”

“Write on what?”

“The book. What else?” she replied, drily. She turned a few pages to show a handful of clean notes on the margin of the page on a zone called Vuneras.

“That’s how you do it. Don’t worry about your writing, they can decipher pretty much anything, as long as it’s in English. You’re not Welsh, are you? If they can’t, they’ll ask you to clarify.”

Every now and then, the tunnel widened, making it a larger cave, where dark-furred cats prowled. They almost didn’t see them, but Cowen simply slashed, ending their lives in seconds. She only paused at the first cave with a guardian.

Black Forest Cat

Level 145 elite

Health: 4199

Mind: 1334

Endurance: 4002

Aether: 510

“Be careful around it,” Cowen called out. “That kind of beast sometimes has nasty habits of attacking stuff. The fight will be short, but I’d hate to have one of you die because you got trashed. That means two days rest and one additional lair because you usually miss on completion.”

“I thought this was from the last creature of the lair?” Jonas asked.

“Nope. All guardians in the lair do count in some ways, and you need a minimum of them and then the last one. People even think you need a minimum of the critters in total, but that’s never been confirmed. Besides, if you are still at 50% Lingering Death, then you can’t be resurrected again. So if any of you die, I’m going to curse you a lot, then we’ll get out immediately and head to a different lair, leaving you time to recover some.”

Black Forest Cat: 3211XP/6 contributors = 292XP

Laura approached the black lacquered box behind the mangled cat corpse.

“May I?”

“Go ahead. You probably won’t be able to use it for a while, but if you can carry it with you to Grailburg, why not. You don’t have Puppets yet, I think.”

“Puppets?”

“You’ll see, hopefully,” Cowen replied mischievously.

Black Iron Breastplate

Torso

Quality equipment

Requires: Level 120

Provides: +96 defence rating, +12 CON, +1 Interpose skill rank

“Whoa!” Ira exclaimed upon seeing the descriptor.

“Good one, but you’ll have to wait months,” replied Cowen.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m in love with this lair,” Ira replied.

“I hope we get an Ancient,” Cowen said. “Just to see your face.”

Going down, the chests yielded more of the same. Even the common items elicited small gasps.

Sturdy Leather Glove

Hand

Common equipment

Requires: Level 116

Provides: +12 defence rating, +11 DEX

But the final cave was more dangerous.

Black Cat Patriarch

Level 129 elder

Health: 6009

Mind: 1972

Endurance: 5680

Aether: 763

Black Cat Prowler

Level 121 elite

Health: 3321

Mind: 1108

Endurance: 3124

Aether: 431

“Hmmm,” Cowen said.

“Problem?” Guss asked.

“Don’t go near me. Being close enough will make the lair count, even if you don’t actually fight. I’ll try to grab both cats, but one may jump you. Prowler usually means something sneakily attacking you instead of the obvious big Knight in front of him. I’ll dispatch the Prowler first, but he might do damage. You do get quite a lot of armour from me, but that only goes so far from your gear.”

Jonas looked at his descriptor and was surprised to see that his defence rating had climbed to 20. He knew cloth pieces didn’t give much, but the double amount was something interesting.

You have completed Markandon Spiral Cave Lair.

Cat-pommel Iron Blade

Two-handed

Exceptional equipment

Requires: Level 122

Provides: 54 base damage (+16% STR), +73 defence rating, +11 STA, +11 FOR, +67 health

“Okay. I want to do this again,” Ira said, smiling.

Cowen laughed.

“I’m not holding that sword for you. Find someone to carry it, because I may get you to grab some small critters once or twice, and you need your real sword for that.”

Jonas held his hand. As long as he did not try to pick it properly by the handle, the blade could be managed, he found. As he’d done before, he strapped it behind him.

Cowen surveyed the group.

“Did everyone get the completion? I did not, and we did not go through this lair on the way in, so everyone should have…”

Seeing all the six heads bobbing in answer, she sheathed her sword and started back toward the exit.

“Okay,” Cowen said, looking at her booklet. “The Six Stars lair is supposed to be hard when you’re at the appropriate level, but it will be easy with me.”

She pointed out the large clearing.

“There are six stone outcrops. The trick is apparently that you need to kill whatever is at each stone to bring in the final guardian… and if you’re not fast enough, you get some new critters coming in to check what’s happening, meaning that this particular outcrop is now occupied again.”

“Wow,” Jonas’s exclamation was his only remark.

“Of course, the critters that come back aren’t the same packs, but if you really take too long to fight, it’s hard to have all six rocks empty at the same time.”

Jonathan asked, “Does that mean you can get lots of XP instead?”

Cowen pulled again the guidebook, reading the lair’s description page.

“Hmmm… seems that after a while, nobody comes back, but the central creature doesn’t come either. So I assume you only have limited time.”

“You didn’t do it?”

“No. I’d rather not trek to a lair we did, just to find it’s not refilled yet. Better spend an extra day or half a day travel and be sure you do get something. That’s going to be different in the next zone, but we crossed this one not that long ago.”

As the last of the group of four veterans standing on the last rock was finally slaughtered, a gigantic and inhuman scream sounded. The entire team turned to watch the central rock, just in time to see a pillar of light plunging from the sky and splashing over the centre of the area. The light faded, leaving… a swirl of blackness and sparks.

A Star-filled Void

Level 147 ancient

Health: 9021

Mind: 6030

Endurance: 1399

Aether: 14436

Jonas and the rest of the team gawped at the apparition. Cowen made a grimace of distaste.

“Should have expected an Ancient. That’s the kind of setup that gives you one, even if the guide says the recorded lair clear had an elder instead. We will have to notify the Archives of that one.”

Jonas tentatively asked, “What’s happening with all the aether? It’s got nearly half of what Mrs Douglas has at tier-six.”

“Means it’s a primary spell user. Health is low for an Ancient as well. It’s going to use extremely powerful magical effects, probably both targeting someone or doing all-around an area. A huge one. And with all that aether, he’s not going to be out before he dies. Or you do.”

“We do?”

“I’m expecting attacks that probably shave over half your health or more in a single hit. And since that’s a magical enemy, he might decide to attack you at any time, without even having to move.”

Cowen sighed.

“We’ll try it anyway. I can do it without backup, but it is entirely possible that one of you will die. Or more than one. But we’re there, so hopefully, we don’t waste too much time. May God grants us a flawless victory.”

A Star-filled Void: 9312XP/6 contributors = 846XP

You have completed Markandon Six Stars Lair.

“You weren’t kidding when you said this did a lot of damage,” Jonas said, contemplating the 84 health remaining on his descriptor. And that was after Guss had thrown two healing spells on him. Both he and Ira had been the targets of something called Cold Starlight, and while Ira could endure that easily, Jonas had been certain he would die immediately. Even his sight had been blurry under the status effect that dropped his Focus by nearly a half.

“Ancients are particularly difficult. And you are way under-levelled and under-geared for the lairs around,” Cowen commented.

Midnight Trousers

Legs

Heroic equipment

Requires: Level 36

Provides: +105 defence rating, +8 STR, +6 FOC, +88 endurance, +79 mind, +1 Cripple skill rank

“What gives? Level… 36?” Laura said.

“Heroic equipment. Ancients guard those, and some heroic equipment has very little in levels requirement. Sometimes even none, meaning even a non-Professional could use one, just like your ‘starter’ gear. Of course, they also have much lower stats, but that’s usually good enough to sell to lower level Professionals if they can afford it. Though not in your case, I think,” Cowen said with a large smile.

“Can I use it?” Ira asked, contemplating his own 26-defence chainmail leggings against the massive value of the black leathers.

“Well, defence is the value that doesn’t drop much when it’s under-level. It’s a Breaker-type gear, however. Endurance, Strength, Focus and a rank for a physical offence skill. Sure, you can, but it’s a lot better for her.”

Emory Foale, who had approached the combat site now that the Ancient had been dispatched, added, “Even before you get the skill. I mean, it’s not one you will have yet. It’s a tier-three skill. You need at least Precise Grinder to learn it. Maybe Calculating Grinder works as well? Ah no, that’s a personal-offence Profession, I remember.”

“Oh?” Laura said, looking slightly disappointed.

“Don’t be disappointed. The rest will work fine. There are rumours having an item with a skill rank will let you learn it more easily once you qualify.”

Upon hearing that, the team looked among themselves, remembering when Guss and Jonathan had both gotten a skill straight from a new piece of equipment. That… did not seem to be quite the same thing as what the green swordsman was saying.

Laura wasted no time. She ran toward one of the side outcroppings and vanished behind. Cowen looked slightly surprised, then realized what she was doing and shrugged.

Fifteen seconds later, an exclamation of joy came from behind the stone as Laura’s head popped back up.

“It worked! It worked!”

Cowen smiled, “Of course, it worked. Level 36 only.”

“No. I got the skill!”

“What do you mean, you got the skill? You don’t get a skill bonus from gear until you learn the skill,” Foale countered.

“But the skill is Physical/Offense, as you said. So I got it.”

Laura did a small series of dance steps coming back. The new leggings were totally featureless black, as expected from the name. Cowen blinked, then grabbed Laura’s wrist to check her descriptor.

“What the? You did not have that skill before? You’re sure?”

Foale confirmed, “Not possible. It’s a skill you might get at tier-three, following the base Breaker build.”

“Well, she has a rank 1 Cripple skill now. See for yourself, Emory.”

Douglas let a burst of small laughter escape her lips.

“Let me guess. Adjustment?”

“Well, no. It’s just some feeling of stuff crawling under your skin… okay, it sounds like a mild Adjustment. Maybe,” Guss said.

“I’m starting to hate you all. Can you learn any skill like that?” Cowen asked.

“No. Just the ones in the exact sphere of your current profession. Jonathan tried to learn Dodge from Ira’s gear, but it didn’t work since it’s a different type of Defence skill. Or we’d all have learned Minor Healing from Guss’s gloves by now.”

“Whew. At least you do have limits and follow some rules. Even if you break them here and there.”

You have completed Markandon Wind Grove Lair.

“Everyone got it?” asked Cowen.

Satisfied, she announced, “And that’s all for Markandon. Congratulations, you’re enabled for both Vuneras and Mirolon. You would need another lair for Warsemial, but we’re not stepping in that zone. You’re not stepping in there for a long time, believe me.”

“That’s the tier-four?” Jonas asked for a confirmation.

“Yes. And you’ll need the level and gear high enough to do the lairs of this zone to survive into that one. It’s a general principle.”

Laura pulled out two items from the treasure box this time. A nice Dexterity-giving belt that would suit Alton someday and something weirder than the bag or pouch that sometimes came along with other loot.

Oak Puppet

Container

Common equipment

Requires: Level 50

Provides: 4 equipment slots

“Well, that’s a Puppet. Your first one. Congratulations to whoever gets it among yourselves.”

Laura turned out the object from the treasure box. It looked like a small, very stylized human figure carved from wood, with a small hook, presumably to put it somewhere. Everyone peered at it, wondering what the thing was.

Cowen smiled, holding for the inevitable question.

“Okay. What’s it for?” Ira finally asked.

“It holds some pieces of equipment. Let me show you.”

Cowen’s helm and sword suddenly blinked, vanishing. Jonas felt surprise and then wonder. He’d seen her without her sword a few times at camp, but he’d never seen where she stashed the sword.

She reached into her side bag and brought out a small figurine. It was similar to the wooden stick figure they had found, except it was slightly larger, and made of a kind of golden metal. Jonas noticed that the figure seemed to have a robe, a pair of shoes sticking out… and sported a tiny metal helmet and a sword. Both of which looked very much like the ones that Cowen had a moment ago.

The helmet vanished from the puppet figure and Cowen’s helmet appeared back on her head. Jonas blinked in surprise.

“That’s a Puppet. It can ‘wear’ any gear instead of you.”

Understanding blossomed in Jonas’ mind: “And you can move that gear onto and from the Puppet, but without having to pick it up.”

“Exactly. You can access its descriptor, or yours and choose a piece of gear. And it swaps those between you and the Puppet. Assuming you have the appropriate level for the piece of gear, that is.”

Laura turned the wooden puppet in hand, and suddenly, her Frog-Skin Coif and her hammers vanished. Jonas saw the wooden figure now holding the twin hammers along with the coif.

“Wow. That’s magic.”

“That’s the Labyrinth. It’s full of mundane-looking bits, and then just weird and completely magical things. Puppets are handy. Relatively rare, useless in a fight, but much appreciated.”

“Yours?”

“It’s a Heroic-type one, found in high tiers. You need level 500 to use one, and good luck finding one at that level. Very handy, it lets me hold almost two entire sets of gear. Nobody’s found an Artefact-type one. Yet. People are making bets on the look and how much it will hold.”

Suddenly, Cowen was sporting a robe, with a fancy leather jacket, shiny silk gloves, and an elaborate brimmed hat.

“Lets me wear ‘civilian’ clothing when I’m in London and not patrolling for French scum. People tend to look weird at you if you walk around with plate armour.”

“Is that normal clothing?”

“No. You can’t put normal clothes on a Puppet. So if you try to swap back gear from the Puppet, those clothes would simply drop on the ground instead of going on it. At least, they don’t get torn up. But I found some nice-looking pieces of basic equipment that I use as non-Professional apparel – even if it is, technically speaking.”

Laura’s equipment reappeared on her, lesson finished.

“So, who gets that?” she asked.

Jonas quickly improvised “Keep it for now. We’ll all get one someday anyway.”

As they filed away from the grove, Ira slipped back next to Jonas, before whispering: “Gifts for Laura? Do you fancy her now?”

Jonas smothered a laugh, before replying.

“No, but that gear swap from Cowen made me think. Laura finally accepted having to wear trousers, but that took a long time. I think she’ll be a lot happier if she can swap into girl apparel.”

“So, gift. But where is she going to find the low-level gear that’s wearable? All the stuff we get now is in the hundred-plus range.”

Jonas pursed his lips in mild disappointment. Then he found a possible solution.

“When we get to the British sector? Maybe they sell cheap cloth robes and stuff. I’m sure basic gear is easy to get there.”

They were making camp, about one day’s march from the Gate to Vuneras. Cowen had decided to relax a bit. The kids were tier-two after all. Even with their Adjustment Milestones, they still had Stamina close to non-Professional levels.

Looking at the haphazard camp in the small clearing she’d picked, she sighed. At the Gate, she’d burn two Fast Travel charges and go purchase some real bags and camp gear. Besides, it was a week, and her Highness had asked for intermediate reports. A week per zone or so, five more weeks to British heartland, if all went well.

Instinct honed by eighteen years spent together in the Labyrinth made her turn her head. Habborlain had drifted in utter silence to her side.

“They’re good kids. Maybe better at it than we were at the beginning, unnatural Adjustment aside.”

The rasping voice came out of the cowl, “Their strange fate cannot be compared, Cowen. It will be different.”

“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Augusta.”

“Every eleventh month or less.”

She shook her head. Trying to sway Habborlain was useless. She turned back toward the camp, then set herself against the tree she’d picked at the edge. She’d join the sleeping group later.