One of the lookouts called it first. Supporting Observer Zhou Fu could not see beyond the horizon, of course, but the high Focus implicit in his class choices meant anything noticeable across the waters was spotted within instants of becoming visible. The word was shouted across the mast.

“Ship ahead. British flag.”

Teaching Spellbender Zhuangjing reached the ship’s deck within seconds. She might not have the same amount of Potential a dedicated build had, but she quickly noticed the ship in the distance.

The Zulu “helper” joined her a few moments later, squinting in the distance.

“That’s an unfortunate encounter, I think. For him, that is,” he said.

“That ship is turning toward us,” she noticed.

“Yes. He’s probably going to check who we are. I don’t think he’s going to know what that flag means,” he said, pointing upward.

The emblem atop the mast was simple. As no one wanted to use any one of the Eight Banner’s emblems, lest that gave offence to the rest, Zhuangjing had simply suggested the Great Gate on a field of Imperial yellow. Others had tried to suggest variations, but she’d pointed out that more details meant time wasted on making those flags for the fleet. So, a single black circle and a matching trapezoid “ramp” were the symbols on it. That allowed all the ships belonging to the small armada bearing across the Atlantic to recognize each other. But the odds of the British figuring what exactly the flag meant were close to zero.

“What’s going to be his reaction?” Zhuangjing asked.

“I have no idea how the British will think. But it’s high time we prepare.”

“Can’t figure out the exact flag. It’s all yellow with a central emblem, but we need to get closer,” the lookout said to Captain Christian Hill.

The man shrugged as Hill grabbed the telescope before checking for himself. Finding a ship on your way back from Brazil, along the coast of Africa, was not unheard of. But the lookout had spotted at least two others further away, and he’d said they looked a bit strange as well.

“Pirates?”

“They usually fly black flags, not yellow. If they fly anything,” his second said as he joined him on the upper deck of the HMS Longwave.

“Well, we’re going to check anyway. Worst case, we turn back. The wind is not too strong and will be in their disfavour and we have modern Crystal engines capable of pushing up to 25 knots if need be,” Hill replied.

“Should we man the cannons?” the second asked.

“No. We’re merchantmen, not a warship. Our hold of cacao isn’t worth risking in pitched battle. If that’s pirates, the patrol ships at Cape Verde will hunt and deal with them.”

“Ship turning toward us,” the shout came from above.

“Pirates it is. Let’s get a few more details, and run to report,” Hill immediately concluded.

Zhuangjing contemplated the contraptions being unpacked by the Zulu. She could recognize the similarity with the Gate Closer the Frenchman had brought earlier that year.

“That is the original device our master craftsmen made from Meshindi’s suggestions,” Phesheya said.

“How does it work?”

“How does the Labyrinth work? I don’t know. But I can guarantee you that the results will not be to the English’s tastes. For a short time.”

The three Great Heroes standing at her side all started strapping the devices on their arms, as Phesheya was making sure the Power Crystals were aligned properly.

“With this, skills can easily reach nearly over forty li,” he said once the three were fully prepared.

The three joined the Greatest Hero at her post on the front deck of the ship, looking toward the approaching British ship.

“Let’s make sure no British will give warning of our coming,” the Zulu said as he joined them. “Simple Flame Bolts should work best on ships. Area effects do not have quite the range nor the effect.”

Zhuangjing gave a curt nod, and the three aimed their arms in the direction of the incoming ship.

Three compact balls of bright light shot out, striking across the distance in a second.

One second, Hill had spotted the front of the weird ship he was approaching bursting into light. The next second, hell struck. Globes of fire erupted across the Longwave, rather than the cannonball explosion he would have expected.

Hill felt a brief burst of heat as the balls of fire dissipated, leaving actual fires starting to catch in the planking of the ship. He noticed in an abstract way smoking shapes of men, instantly burned to a crisp by the fires. There were no holes like cannonballs would leave… just hot fires starting to burn, and slightly warped wood.

“What the…” the second said, as he stood up from where he’d fallen from the shock.

Hill paled as he realized what this had looked like.

“Labyrinth. That looks like… a Professional’s arcane spell.”

Three more flashes appeared in the distance, and a fraction of a second later, additional fire erupted as the two officers fell on the deck in reflexes. Rising back, Hill spotted the mast burning already, flames catching the furled reserve sails.

“How… pirates Professionals?” he asked as the ship shuddered.

His second paled.

“Yellow… I know from when I shipped with East India a decade ago. It’s the imperial colour. For China.”

Hill watched him incredulously.

“That’s not pirates. Those are Chinese ships with Professionals on board.”

Zhuangjing watched as the British ship listed to the side, mast falling to the sea already.

“I’m almost out,” Opposing Spellthrower Xiong Shun said.

“With just five Flame Bolts?” she asked.

“Those devices extend the range of spells, but the aether drain is more than commensurately higher,” the Zulu explained.

Zhuangjing winced.

“That’s why you need high-tiers with a build that includes a good long-range spell. At tier-six, it’s not that much more efficient than a cannonball, but you don’t ever miss and can strike further than any cannon would. So you don’t need many shots. It was a bit overkill using three casters, but we can’t let one of their fast ships escape with news of our presence,” Phesheya added.

She contemplated the burning wreckage floating near their trajectory, before turning to the ship’s captain.

“Keep ahead. No time to deal with any survivors. If they survive, they shouldn’t have time to warn anyone.”

Jonas woke up with a start. For a few seconds, he wondered if there’d been a flicker of something in the diffuse yellow light that filled the entire cave.

At this point, he couldn’t see the top of the underground lair anymore. The circular shaft rose until the vapour hid all the details, filling the space above him with a pale yellowed mist. And when he looked over the platform’s lip, he still didn’t see a bottom.

It was as if the world had been replaced by an endless cave, crystalline rock platforms linked by corkscrewing pathways. Those were large enough that they were never really at risk of falling, and they were always careful when fighting the small groups on each platform.

They had fought their eighth guardian just the “night” before, only to stop before tiredness and the general confinement caused them to take a break since mistakes could be costly as the levels of the creatures increased the further they went down. The lair was already the largest they’d ever seen. No, the largest he’d ever heard of. Jonas knew you sometimes found weird places in odd corners of the Labyrinth, but The Depths were truly unique.

The loot hadn’t been exceptional, as all the guardians so far had been rated as elite encounters. Also, unlike what they’d feared initially from the first guardian, the chests had a relatively standard distribution of basic, common and quality gear for the treasure type. The one surprise had been the fourth guardian, whose chest didn’t include gear, but nine packed meals. Cold spiced meat pies, wrapped in leaves like the ones from palm trees in the oases above ground. That kind of thing was a potential bonus as it could be sold outside of the company store.

And now, they were readying themselves to keep the descent. A cursory breakfast, then start across the braided pathways going deeper and deeper. The first few platforms were empty, they’d fought the veteran packs before retreating. No sense risking a surprise attack.

The levels of the creatures had been climbing steadily, and the interval between guardian platforms increased, but this ninth promised something different from the previous eight.

Dwerg Surveyor

Level 134 elder

Health: 6406

Mind: 4253

End: 1049

Aether: 10835

“Aether user. A heavy one,” Jonathan warned.

“We fight the Dwerg between him and the cave wall. I don’t want to risk using Air Burst or something like that on anyone,” Jonas said.

None of the spellcasting Dwergs they’d fought so far had used it, but an elder had a larger variety of spells available for him.

“Okay. I’ll be moving sideways,” Jonathan confirmed.

The surveyor’s weird head turned as the Calculating Guardian thundered on the passageway. His short arm rose and he pointed to him.

Dwerg Surveyor uses Earthen Grasp. 94 (134-40) earth damage, -57.5% AGI.

Looks like a normal rank 3 spell, Jonas thought. Sometimes, critters used abilities that looked like skills available to Professionals but behaved slightly differently. Not this time, at least for that.

Jonathan, despite the slow-down effect inflicted by dropping his Agility to a mere 35, reached the molerat and slashed at the snout. The chittering reply sounded pained.

Dwerg Surveyor chitters: -72 mind.

A staff appeared in the elder’s paw, almost as tall as the diminutive humanoid, and Jonas boggled. This critter was going to be full of surprises because he’d never seen such a thing. Vaguely humanoid creatures wearing some items, sure. Using weapons… well, there had been Kuminos in the trunk. Thankfully then, the staff was irrelevant.

Ira had reached the Dwerg and tried to shunt away the staff, and almost managed it. But the Surveyor kept its grip on the dark wood staff, and a bolt of fire sprung from its end, striking the second defender in his face.

Flame Bolt strikes for 163 (205-42) fire damage.

While the critter was distracted, though, both Laura and Alton slipped in, taking a position to the side, and slightly behind. Both fighters started whaling on the molerat figure while both Guss and Jonas emplaced themselves next to the cave wall, and started launching their own spells.

The colour change in the general ambience was the only warning Jonas got. Up until then, the light from the various Power Crystal was yellow, diffused by the cave fog. But the yellow was now leached, leaving a more normal whiteish/greyish tint.

He hadn’t seen a notification for it, but there was a new status shown on his descriptor… and now that he was aware, on the rest of the team.

Cave Vapours: -1 health/endurance per second.

“Guss. Beware, there’s a general effect in place.”

“Thought so. Nobody’s getting clawed aside from Jonathan, but health seems to be dropping… spotted it.”

He grimaced.

“Can’t affect it. Patch Wounds won’t hold. Dratted, it’s now at -2.”

The Dwerg caster, meanwhile, was starting to lob Flame Bolts at other targets besides Jonathan. While Guss was trying to balance regenerative spells and some quick patch healing on their main defender, Jonas checked the health of the guardian.

So far, so good. Won’t take long, he thought.

Dwerg Surveyor: 4266 XP/6 contributors = 688XP.

“The good thing about magical casters is that they don’t have too much health,” Alton noted, as he started to clean the blood splatter.

Jonas bent over the corpse and checked the staff, but there was no descriptor, as expected. The grip wasn’t made for a human hand anyway. Another oddity was the little wood figure clasped on the belt each Dwerg wore. But like the staff, it wasn’t a functional Puppet, merely a molerat-shaped copy.

Meanwhile, Laura had already opened the inset wall safe. She started but then grimaced when she checked the descriptor.

Runed Mace

One-Handed

Exceptional equipment

Requires: Level 121

Provides: 29 base earth damage (+10% FOC), +15 WIS, +10 STR, +10 FOC

“Guss?” Laura called.

“Yay! I’ve been carrying this book for a long time,” he answered.

The oak staff he’d been holding vanished, deposited into his Puppet. Guss fished into his side bag, not having encumbered the limited capacity of the equipment-holding Puppet for something as easy to carry as a book. He brought out a tome bound in blue leather and grabbed the proffered mace from Laura. A few shakes to get the balance, and he acknowledged the upgrade for Jonas.

“The good stuff is starting,” Laura noted drily.

“We may yet complete the trade note and start on the second if this goes a bit deeper,” Jonas replied.

“Just one more level 125-plus exceptional, and that’s one done,” she confirmed.

A Dwerg Inspector

Level 146 ancient

Health: 16343

Mind: 7891

End: 1845

Aether: 10527

“Okay. That’s as far as we go, I think,” Jonas said.

Jonathan and Ira exchanged looks, before the former acquiesced.

“Not worth risking, not with those platforms,” he said.

Jonas peered down, into the yellowed mist. There was still no bottom visible. For a moment, he thought that the cave would go on endlessly. More guardians, more…

And, of course, nobody got completion yet. Sixteen guardians and nothing. Not that they needed it to go further, but still…

“We can still bypass it, and go down,” Ira offered.

Jonas pointed further down. About three turns of the paths below, barely visible in the water fog, there was another platform with a single Dwerg, and while nobody could see the descriptor from there, he suspected it to be probably a level 147 or 148 guardian.

“It’s no use. If we can’t tackle this guardian, we won’t be able to do any of the ones further down. Sometimes you can skip one guardian and complete the lair, but that’s at least two. If not more, given that we’re not close to the end.”

“So, we go back?”

Jonas looked up. Of course, the top of the gigantic cave shaft was still not visible, but he thought they might be down almost two miles into the ground of the zone.

“We’ve spent enough time in this zone. We haven’t acquired the next Gate, but it’s not too far from the Mirolon-Wrapelst one. So… let’s Recall.”

“Already?” Laura asked.

“Yes. I know I’m close to a Milestone, but we’ve been down there for almost two days – I think, it’s hard to know. I want to know what the Archives say about this lair. And besides, Ira and I have a meeting soon.”

The rainbow colours were muted in the yellow ambience of the cave shaft, but once they vanished, the faint chittering of the Dwergs could still be heard, coming from the depths.