“And that concludes our first Outapis turn, I think,” Jonas announced, as they reached the bottom of the mesa.

“You weren’t kidding when you said we might have to throw away stuff,” Jonathan replied.

“Eleven lairs out of sixteen. The rest are on the other side.”

“Those two are nice, though,” Ira added.

The two lairs in question were the Northern Ascent and Southern Ascent respectively. Two very identical lairs, basically mirror images of each other. Unlike the spire lair they’d seen at the Badlands in Zilbarn, these ones were an ascent in a winding path, with scattered flightless birds on the path, and packs at each turning. Only three guardians overall on each side, easy ones at level 65. And basically, they were an hour, maybe an hour and a half each from the Plaza in the middle of the badlands ring that surrounded it.

“So, Gatepost.”

“That, or a day trekking to a level 75 lair.”

“I say Gatepost.” “Aye.” “Me too.”

Light surrounded them nearly simultaneously before the ochre dust settled back in the empty rocky desert. There were no birds left to see that happen.

“What brings you so early?” the innkeeper said as the team entered the Frozen Boar.

“Early?”

“Yes, it’s not even noon.”

“I thought it was much later,” Jonas replied, as the others acquiesced.

“Time-shifted zone?” the innkeeper enquired.

“I think. Didn’t evening fall very early when we entered Outapis?” Jonas asked his companions.

“Yes. We weren’t tired or anything, but the sun was setting.”

“Happens all the time,” the innkeeper added. “Sometimes, a zone’s morning is noon in the next one. And don’t get me started on the zones where the day lasts more or less than twenty-four hours. You’re never sure on when it’s going to be when you leave, be it by Gate or Recall.”

“Or even the day doesn’t end,” Jonas added, thinking of Donerkal.

“Those are rare. I’ve heard of them, but never saw any even in my tier fours. Not that I did a lot of these anyway,” the innkeeper replied. “So, usual rooms?”

“Yes, please. By the way, do we have messages? We are supposed to get a notification when something we’re involved in is ready.”

“No, nothing.”

“What do we do then?” Ira asked.

“It’s Friday. Friday morning, even. Faire’s tomorrow, then we should wait until the office on Sunday. If we haven’t got a notification by then, we’ll head back to Outapis for a short while?”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll be back later, then. Going to see the family in London,” Guss said.

“Same. Being back, I mean, not family,” Ira added.

One by one, the team dispersed, to find things to do on this unexpected free day.

Jonas thought for a while and decided to head toward the Archives. He hadn’t heard from Babbage since the new year experiment; it was time to see what the Labyrinth scholar had to say about the recent developments.

“No, I haven’t seen him in weeks,” said the Archivist on station at the building.

Howard, who had been around nearly every time Jonas had visited wasn’t there. Instead, there was a woman that Jonas did not remember seeing before. A Calculating Mauler, tier five melee with Intellect as a secondary. Well, not every Archivist was some form of spellcaster primary. Intellect score helped, but was not the primary requirement for the job – interest in the scholarship was.

“Labyrinth or London?” Jonas asked.

Jonas could see it going either way. Not everyone stayed put, most Professionals still headed regularly into the Labyrinth to advance at their own rhythm.

“No idea. I think he may be in the Labyrinth somewhere. Or he’s staying in his private workshop north of London. The man has been working on designing a way to make builds a lot more easily or detailed than the guides we store. Something about multivariable optimization, and high math stuff. He’s always been good at maths, even before he entered the Labyrinth.”

“How do you people at the Archives even go into the Labyrinth, by the way? Do you have all-Archivist teams or something?” Jonas asked.

“What? Oh no. We do the mercenary route. There are regular postings from four or even five-people teams in established companies that want to tackle a slightly bigger lair and need more people in their teams.”

“That happens?”

“Quite frequently, yes. Of course, since those teams have established compositions, it’s much easier if you are a support that complements them, or even just a straight damage fighter. If you were a defender or healer, it’s much harder to find groups. But a spell slinger like you or Babbage? Easy.”

“So, a Calculating Mauler…”

“No biggie. Okay, I don’t snap my fingers and get a team, but I rarely have to search for long.”

“Okay. If you see him, let him know that I got plenty of new things for his attention.”

“Will do, Sir Sims.”

“Thanks.”

Jonas found himself at a slight loss. His life had been revolving around the Labyrinth, or Labyrinth-oriented activities for months, ever since the six had been shanghaied in Ovildian and adapted to the Labyrinth. Even before, his leisure was mostly about seeing what Professionals were about. Or trying to find whatever new Powered device was brought to London. But now, he was living in the Labyrinth. His “town” was probably more modern than London, with lighting, modern and prosperous housing.

He blinked, suddenly filled with an idea. He’d never been there, but now that he was a Professional and a respected Knight Commander of the Bath, maybe there was a marvel to see, one that he wouldn’t have stood a chance to visit before.

Maybe he could see the docks where the Skyships of the British Empire were built and launched. Now, that was a marvel, made from the Labyrinth, but not of the Labyrinth. The giant leviathans of the skies, with their tiny fortress under, lifted by heat and motion.

Even in the Labyrinth, no one flew.

Everyone else had adjourned back into their rooms. The problem with being back from Outapis was that it felt like the evening in the afternoon, and late-night in the early evening. But, as usual, Jonas found the sleepiness easy to ignore and settled in to write.

Dear Miss Underwood, Sylvia,

Been meaning to write to you, as I said I would. I hope your sojourn in southern states went well, and your aunt liked seeing you.

Life has been busy for me back in England. Or rather, the Labyrinth, as you might expect. I haven’t managed to try to see if I can allow someone else to learn a skill the way I do. At least not yet. I doubt it, there are now strong indications I may not be able to do so for a long time, if ever.

We found out what let you see the descriptor. It is actually the fifth step of the Adjustment, specifically. Alas, the sixth is different and not very useful either, since you can see in advance what type of equipment quality you have in a treasure chest, before opening it. Not as exciting as seeing what cannot be seen otherwise. And it will be a long time until any of us attains the seventh. We shall see that in time, I guess.

So, alas, it will not be time for you to cross the Atlantic. But we may meet in the Labyrinth yet. It is easier to cross than to swim across an ocean.

If you want to write back, please address your replies to Jonas Sims, c/o The Frozen Boar, Gatepost-by-London.

Yours sincerely,

Jonas Sims.

“Balls? What is all that stuff?” O’Hogan said, seeing the packs carried by the Adapted.

There was enough that every pack the team had was still crammed with materials. Laura was carrying all she could hold onto, Guss had pitched in, even Ira had come, for once.

“Didn’t you notice that we skipped two faires?” Jonas replied.

“Yea. New robes, I see too,” he said, looking at the ochre burlap coverings from Outapis.

“Common, but good stats compared to my old blue.”

“Meaning it’s up for trade, then? I remember one of the scots looking at it.”

“Yes, it’s in somewhere, I think. It’s starting to be huge, nowadays,” Jonas replied, looking at the Four Elementals main room.

Unlike the prior outings in the largest side room of the tavern, this time, the faire had spread to the main room. There were a couple tables to the side reserved for mere drinkers, but the rest was cleared, bags on it, and small groups talking.

“Oh, yes. We are even starting to see people from real companies coming. Small ones, sure, but not just independent on-paper teams. Mostly recent and small ones, so they have very little in the way of stores for their staff, but everyone is starting to realize that, if you have optimized gear from the start, you can go faster, and gain experience faster.”

“Everyone benefits? I’d have thought everyone would do it already,” Jonas remarked.

“Many are still working for the old Royal Company in their minds. All that stuff about multiple companies and the like is a bit new. I mean, after they dissolved and split it, everyone was ‘no way I’m working with these guys ever again’, apparently.”

“But now we are. Oh Guss… isn’t that your cousin’s wife over there?”

“Oh! Didn’t spot her. I’ll be back.”

“See, even middle-range names are starting to show up.”

“Yes. So, where do we set up shop?”

O’Hogan eyed the bags.

“I think the main table. No, make that the two main tables. Help me get them together.”

“You got loads of treasure. I mean, you even have level 71 required quality gear…”

“Not on our builds.”

“I don’t know how anyone around can offer you anything good in trade. Maybe the big names, but for us small guys? We can’t compete.”

“That’s where you are wrong, Irish lad,” Laura said, wiggling her fingers.

“See this? Genuine gear from the very first lair we even went into.”

Badger-Hide Grips

Hands

Quality equipment

Requires: Level 9

Provides: +2 defence rating, STR+1, +19 endurance

“Uh?

“Never found any upgrade. Nothing with Strength on it. In, what, six months? And not even on the faire yet. It is almost a collector item, now that you think about it. Gear from the Adapted Team’s first chests.”

She contemplated her glove descriptor.

“At this point, I think I might even settle for a… I don’t know, even a Focus glove. Or a mind vitals common. It’s almost an affection, rather than real gear.”

“Mrs Fullmore.”

“Call me Ada. Didn’t I tell you when we were driving you back in tier two?”

“You might. You might,” Jonas acknowledged.

“Your team is the star of the show. So much stuff.”

“We have an entire tier-two zone for us. Two, actually, but we’ve yet to step into the second one. Not sure anymore we need it.”

“Zachariah’s pestering us to try to get Guss at least in the company. With your Adaptation, he thinks you’re the ticket to future riches.”

“It’s going to be a long time before we can hunt Artefacts,” Jonas replied, alluding to the Fullmore’s employer name.

“He’s playing for the long run. Our sponsor is happy he hasn’t to spend any pound on the endeavour and anything is a bonus, so he can indulge in power building the slow and steady way.”

“Sounds like a smart. We met him back after the Gate opening, he was very pleasant.”

“He is. Catches more flies with honey than vinegar, I think.”

Jonas looked as Laura was engaging some Professional he’d never seen before – a low level, given how plain his gear looked. Probably, she’d finally found some gloves. Jonas trusted her not to offer the highest exceptional gear for a common strength 40-ish glove, anyway.

“So, no company hopping?” Ada Fullmore said.

“Not so far. Although, we haven’t heard much of the Duke. Or her Highness, which is supposed to be in the same company. Last time I saw him, that was before I went to the Colonies.”

“Guss talked about it. Some kind of reconnaissance mission? Or did I misunderstood?”

“Fact-checking, more like. There’s some… anomalies with the Gate descriptors, that we needed to check against the Great Gate in the Colonies.”

Ada smiled.

“Heard about that New Year’s celebration. Do you think you’ll be able to do it again next year?”

Jonas groaned.

“Roaring success?” Jonas asked Laura, as they were repacking all the gear.

“Most popular showing, I’d say,” she answered.

“Found gloves?”

“I bit the loss. Got a quality health/endurance one in the upper thirties. It’s just one Strength point lost, after all.”

“Wouldn’t that be related to the fact that you went to 101 recently?”

Laura made a quick face, showing what she thought of the taunting.

O’Hogan approached them, as they were finishing.

“Warn me next time. I swear everyone made a deal with you, even if you didn’t need one.”

“Blame the brokers – they don’t care below 100. It’s all about quality and type, the rest, they don’t care. Or maybe praise them?” Jonas offered.

“Me and the barkeep, we’re starting to plan for a bigger meeting. We might move at one point to an outdoor setting. Like a real marketplace, you know.”

“Going into business?”

“No. Well, maybe I get a split from the drink tab. A little bit,” the Irishman confessed.

“Sims? That note you told me about, it arrived.”

“Oh?”

The note was actually dated from two days before. Delivered by the post office, probably, even though it had probably been written less than a mile from there.

Solid Aethershaper Jonas Sims,

We’re at the Vuneras-Markandon Gate. Estimated time to cross to Othary, about two to three days. Then two days across your mountain paths to Plaza.

See you there,

Augusta Cowen.

“So, they are there already?”

“Maybe. But now, we have a confirmation, so tomorrow, after the office and checkout, we can head straight to Othary,” Jonas replied.

“It still feels weird to sit there and wait for people to walk for weeks.”

“If it was the reverse and we needed to head to wherever they have a Gate to…”

“Well, there’s that.”

Calculating Mauler

(tier 5)

Required: 145 STR, 116 INT

Provides:

+13 health/+27 endurance/+9 mind/+11 aether per level

+1 Milestone/11 levels

Calculating Mauler Milestone: +12 STR, +7 WIS, +5 INT, +4 FOC, 1/3 endurance per INT

Skill set: Equipment / Offfence