The time left before the delivery seemed to disappear fast between training and spending time with Livia, Eivor, and others around town. Envoys and their guards from the Elven lands arrived just before dawn the morning of their departure, and after introductions, it was time to leave. Yngvarr's gate opened to Ternòx outside the Grotto’s range, so once the rest of the party was through, Julia followed. With another goodbye wave to Livia and Farhad, Yngvarr closed the gate behind them. Julia used Yngvarr's scrying globe to show them the pit lined tunnel near the Grotto. A single spell from Yngvarr shifted the entire party into new positions along its course. As the Song rang around them, most of the Elves in the party showed a complete lack of sense with their echoing excitement. Though it relieved Julia to see Alfarr and Yngvarr were on guard, clearly ready for trouble. When one of the wood Elf envoys suddenly sprang towards Julia, only a glimpse of their joyful gaze prevented a punch.

“That's the Song,” said Siphanien, gesturing wildly with excitement.

Julia gazed flatly at the dusky-skinned Wood Elf and fought to restrain her tongue. Their sun gold eyes shone with excitement as their laughter began and showed off their pearly teeth. Teeth Julia could imagine scattered over the stone from the punch she'd almost received.

“We’re in the Abyss. Don’t jump at someone,” Julia said, words snapping in clear frustration.

“How dare… no, you’re right, my apologies Succubus,”

Yeah, don’t say my name.

As soon as Siphanien finished speaking, she turned away to another excited Elf, clearly dismissing Julia. The Song from the Grotto was shivering painfully over Julia’s skin, obviously igniting excitement within them. When Siphanien spun away, the mass of their dark green hair slapped against her, forcing Julia to stop a reflex grab and instead flipped her the bird. Though she’d met the wood Elf less than a bell before, even the pitch of her beautiful voice now seemed to dig under Julia’s skin.

{{Pin the butterfly down and spread her out. }}

This lot doesn’t have an ounce of caution between them.

“You all need to close your mouths. This isn’t the time or place to celebrate. Get into the Grotto and see if they’ll talk to you,” Julia said, her tone low and cold with ice.

“Succubus. Don’t speak to us in such a fashion,” Siphanien said, their joyful tone turning to annoyance and anger.

“Demons can come this close, and there may be some in earshot. In this tunnel, every hole you see was a Nox womb, and they aren’t sunshine and rainbows. So everyone needs to be quiet, stay alert, move your feet and not your mouths,” said Julia, keeping a low tone.

Celair, who during the earlier introductions had seemed to be Siphanien’s superior, stepped towards them as Julia spoke. The motion interrupted her and others that looked ready with heated words. Their gaze roamed over the entire group before finally landing on Julia. It weighed on her for a moment in cautious warning before it softened in sympathy. With her deep brown hair and skin, she almost seemed to blend into the sullen light within the tunnel. Her long locks were a far more normal shade than so many Julia had seen among the elves. Yet green, brightly tinted lips turned down mournfully as she considered Julia before speaking.

The green tint looks natural on her. I wonder if they're part Dryad or just within whatever range, Wood Elves consider normal.

{{She looks lush, like a sweet apple. Want a nibble? She might spill juice for us. }}

“Julia is right; we should get within the Grotto. We should give them thanks, not anger.” Celair said. Their silver eyes turned and landed hard on Siphanien. The lady’s fine features stayed resolute as she looked over the other distracted Elves again.

“I would remind everyone we’ll be free to leave in time and not have to endure here. Julia, take care of yourself."

"You too Celair, I hope things go well,"

“I’ll send you a message to let you know what we find within the Grotto,” Yngvarr said. As he spoke, his words attracted the attention of the others to himself and Alfarr. The way they'd kept their weapons ready and looked poised to act, adding weight to Celair’s words.

Scolded, Siphanien moved off, leading the way within with quick paces and only added to Julia's desire to smack her. While the Night Elf Song was present, Julia didn’t know how far along the tunnel it would be before the Grotto’s effect would burn any Demon present. For all Siphanien knew, she might walk straight into an ambush, yet she’d forged ahead at speed. Fortunately, no screams of alarm or sounds of dying echoed along the tunnel by the time Yngvarr was standing beside her. Alfarr kept moving, not even pausing as he patted the top of Julia's head and carried onwards with a grin.

When Yngvarr turned towards Julia to speak, she changed into her Succubus form but kept the wings removed. The Dominator's leather clothing far tighter than the fake armour appearance affected in her mortal form. When the long hair brushed across the gap allowed for wings, Julia mentally shortened it back into a pixie cut.

“Is this the form you normally use in the Abyss?” asked Yngvarr.

“When about others, I leave the wings out to blend in,”

“A heart-shaped face, I guess that matches the one you wear on your sleeve with Livia,”

“Shoo Yngvarr, take care of your hubby and have fun teaching your apprentices,”

“Take care of yourself, Eakcï. Don't keep yourself away too long,” Yngvarr said before following the others.

If I was always going back, I'd never want to return and would never be truly free.

It must have been close to a bell before Yngvarr’s message reached her.

"There are living Night Elves here. They're arranging talks with their elders,” Yngvarr said, his voice whispering in Julia’s ear.

After acknowledging his message, Julia rose and reappeared just outside the Necropolis entry that Lêdhins had shown her months earlier. When she crossed its threshold, Teleport shifted her again, this time to the rooftop of Set’s Temple. Crouched there, Julia used Dark Sight to check the vicinity and found no extra forces within the courtyard or around the Temple. With one of the inscribed runes, a quick check on the air quality returned what she'd hoped and expected, Yngvarr's rune revealing breathable but tainted air.

With Dark Sight and Soul Sight combined, she studied the start of the path downwards used on the last trip. As she did so, Julia could still detect the black lines touching the previously injured forces. Lines tightening with the same behaviour as before pointed towards her position on the rooftop. Besides the continuation of their eternal rotting cycle, the Dedicated seemed recovered from their past injuries. Whoever was in charge had replaced none of those previously destroyed since her departure.

It’s been days, well cycles now. I wonder how long the links remain. The links seem as clear as the last time I saw them.

Julia had possessed no interest in what was above on her last trip. This time a glance upwards showed an overcast sullen sky with no ceiling in sight nor explanation for the plane’s light. It was enough to set Julia to wondering where in the Necropolis' layers this Pyramid was located. Teleport repeatedly carried her upwards, and after the third jump with no obstruction in sight, Julia looked down. Her gaze took in the bleak scenery below, looking for a staging point. As Julia spotted a suitable area far away from the Pyramid, something became apparent.

Below Julia wasn't a vast plain but the top of a wide ridge. To her left, it ended within sight but first rose to a higher mountain peak via a sharp cliff. While to the right, it continued onwards far further than Julia could see with eagle sharp vision. The dry river bed that she'd assume was cutting its way across a plain had instead climbed from both sides of the mountain range and added a sculptured texture to its form. Its path from the ridge's centre where the Pyramid sat cut a mirrored course across the rocky yellow ridge.

The river's path and other patterns in the rock surface made Julia see the ridge as a giant's breastplate. In her mind's eye, the terrain now far beneath her became a stone sarcophagus. The course of the river bed and glacier alike curving down around the chest of the massive form. From what would have been the lower sternum, the rivers traced down along under its pecs and ended far below near the figure’s armpits. The contours towards the closest end appeared like a sarcophagus's neck, shoulders and head. As she studied the mountain peak that formed that end, contours of cheekbones, the hollows of eye sockets, the sharp ridgeline of its nose, and the cliff that shaped its jawline became clear.

What the fuck! Is this a colossus' corpse?

After altering her form to a pebble-like shape, visualising the shaft's last section changed her location into the depths. After appearing within it, she found the pillars where the Setites had secured the prisoners no longer present. Fortunately, it wasn't enough to stop Greater Teleport from providing a safe arrival to the shadowed spot Julia had imagined. While looking over the bare stone floor beneath, another Soul hurtled downwards, its impact causing a dull light when it struck within the chewed stone hole. A glance over the pit floor with Mana Sight showed it covered with runes that hadn’t been there previously. The warding traps' varied nature made it clear someone had at least partly prepared for anyone’s return.

No wards blocking Teleport In. Can I get out using it? But why are they digging here?

((It is my brother, please stop what they are doing to his remains. ))

What?

{{What?? }}

((It is hard to sense him through your mind. But he is close beneath you. ))

((He must have perished, his energy is so faint. It appears they're cutting into his sternum. ))

Well, that explains why they're digging. But what do they hope to gain? Will my plan hurt his remains?

((His form, even in this state, should be immune to all mundane forces and the alchemical fire. ))

((Why did I not know he had perished?))

The usual calm voice that echoed to Julia through the Ki resonated with sorrow held barely under control.

There was someone monitoring things last time. Let’s see if I can discover how much time I have available.

Don’t suppose you’ll tell me who he was?

..

Thanks for nothing.

((I cannot. Please stop this desecration. ))

A quick shift of position brought the deeper section of the pit within range of Dark Sight, and Julia looked out from the shadows within it. The lack of progress was comforting; considering the massive form, it appeared as if their efforts had barely breached its skin. A metre down, the pit's chewed edge changed from dull yellow stone to an ivory material, leaking the faintest of golden fluids. Yet the outer edge of that lower section of the pit barely descended another metre before it ended. When the next Soul arrived and struck the liquid in the pit's bottom, Julia ignored the wash of pain it sent forth and examined the result. As the rippling fluid settled, the hole looked different by only the smallest divot where the Soul had struck.

If the Ivory is their flesh, that pit is barely a metre deep.

((Thank the Titan. From what I could sense before, the Ankh is an artifact, and the blessing holding it in position seems over a decade old. ))

It's going to take time even to hit bone.

((Indeed, my apologies for my alarm. Continue with your plan.))

Thanks for your vote of confidence V.

{{I want a vote too? }}

No sex.

{{There goes my vote. Never mind me, I’ll just be here playing with myself. }}

Don't you mean by yourself?

{{I meant what I said. Memories are the bathtub of your mind.}}

A carefully planned Teleport at a time, Julia returned towards the top of the shaft in case she'd come through wards that would interfere with her departure. With each movement towards the top, her impatience beckoned, especially when no warding energy came into sight. When at last position that was in sight of the dome, Julia examined it again. Measuring the blocks forming the dome, Julia calculated the shaft's radius a few times before moving on.

Flight wafted her towards the dome's peak and the passage the Souls used to approach the Ankh. After ensuring there were no wards, Julia landed inside it. Reverted to the wingless form of her initial climb even as another Soul floated past towards the Ankh. Though its presence tempted Julia to interfere, resisting the urge to tweak their collective noses, she continued. With measured steps, she paced out the distance, then double and triple-checked her measurements. Once she was sure it was correct, Julia put her hand on either side of the passage's wall and absorbed a rectangle of stone from matching locations on the walls. Hands inside the depression, she imaged out a circuit of stone looping around the dome between them. Shifting to a metallic mouse, Julia scurried through the length of the narrow course and smiled to herself after the tight trek exited without issue on the other side of the passage.

Cut after cut resulted in a still narrow but expanded circuit above the dome's cap, concealed by a thickness of stone beneath and well within the radius of the pit. Teleport carried her between the selected staging point to drop off stone sections broken into jagged chunks to disguise their origin. Once it cut out to the size desired, Julia reset the stone rectangles to serve as plugs, where the circuit joined the passage towards the Ankh.

Just add some great escape theme music, and we’re set.

With step length restricted by the tunnel’s height, Julia followed the circuit she’d cut again, the narrow passage barely enough to let her walk straight ahead. Even the tiny form she was currently using was having difficulty walking quickly within the angled corridor. She had cut the circuit only barely high enough to let an impossible newborn walk upright through it. To both maximise the distance, she’d covered with each use of inventory’s storage capacity. Also, to reduce the potential risk of it being spotted if something investigated the passage to which it connected.

The pitch-black tunnel was lit only by the Light mana radiating from the cloak wrapped around her form. The notification of the spell’s effective level increasing again prompted Julia with at least one item missing from her planning. As she moved past the seam between stones, Julia cut the next number into its surface in Abyssal script. Though using familiar numbers would have been far easier, leaving something unique felt like bad news.

Next time I need to learn some actual Light orb spells or something.

Fuck next time.

{{I should be so lucky in love. I should be so lucky }}

B, I’m sure we both dislike earworm music.

{{By Kylie’s great bum, you’re one to me.}}

Play in that bathtub memory.

{{Fine! Be That Way! }}

Julia completed the circuit in one direction as B grumbled in the back of her mind, and hitting the end, etched its number into the last block.

If I don't get this right, it will be a big mess.

Decision made, Julia retraced the circuit steps and confirmed she had correctly numbered the stones before starting the next stage. With the passage to the Ankh as a subjective north. Julia cut a shaft the circuit's width upwards at each major and minor point of the compass, with 'north' the only exception. Carefully measuring how far she’d climbed had her extending it twice more before cutting inwards to join the shafts at the middle of the circle. A half kilometre of stone was sitting between the dome's top and the chamber in the circle's centre when completed. Julia formed the room in honeycombed sections, with each only large enough to store a still sealed metre tall jar of the Dwarven Nisnohe. Though for now, she left them inside the dimensional bags within Inventory.

Phase one complete.

{{Thank fuck now it’s time for my favourite fun. Chaos! }}

The Dedicated of Set were intelligent for Undead, but that intelligence didn’t help them make sense of what happened next. Placed to protect against foes of their Deity seeking to get inside, they weren’t able to adapt to the strange occurrence above their heads. A hundred tiny ball bearings rained down and scattered across the remaining Dedicated in ranks below the top of the stairs. The ping of metal on the stone had them snapping their gazes about as the ball bearings started bouncing their way downwards, annoying more than anything else. Though Dedicated lashed out to slap towards a ball bearing that struck with blackening force against their skin, even that painful annoyance vanished quickly. Each time it bounced away, a cloud of powder and more ball bearings scattered in its wake. Every hundred meters, a spinning zephyr appeared nearby, drawing their attention as it swirled the powder and air alike about.

Undead left at the top of the stairs, standing within the glistening cloud of powder, resumed their positions. Though the guards could hear the chaos continuing far below, it had faded beyond their concern when a strange matt black figure appeared ahead. Though it certainly wasn’t like anything they had seen before, they still set out to attack as per their orders. However, a wall of wind interrupted forward movements, knocking them and those following, mostly uninjured, into the ranks even further down the stairs. While they were trying to regain their footing amid their fallen numbers, a ball of fire exploded overhead. The glistening powder and the air about them went up in flames, and the world around them burnt white-hot. Yet it was when a column blast of water hit that everything ripped apart. As the trail of devastation raced down the stairs below, Julia teleported away from the Pyramid. Even as Julia reappeared, the explosion rang the Pyramid’s solid stonework, and the backblast ripped the structure above ground apart.

[Combat Summary:

Dedicated of Set: x3,121

Total-experience to distribute: 5,617,800

Wizard: +1,872,600

Succubus: +1,872,600

Asssassin: +1,872,600

Additional experience awarded for contract(s) completion x31 & x3000

Assassin: +31,000

Assassin: +3,000,000

Wizard Level Up! x7

Succubus Level Up! x5

Assassin Level Up! x29

Inventory [Ap] (3->4)

Current Soul capacity exceeded.

Excess Souls released to Judgement.

Traces of Divine essence retained from 121 Souls. (Dark Power)

Energy Drain [Ad] (45)-> [M] (1)

Flight [Ad] (17->19)

Greater Teleport (Self) [Ad] (1->7)

Zephyr [B](10) -> Zephyr[Ap](5)

Agile [Ad] (4->6)

Criteria met for one or more Prestige Classes within the following combinations:

Monk / Assassin

Monk / Wizard

Wizard / Succubus

Wizard / Assassin

Succubus / Assassin]

Fuck!

A quick check of her profile showed instead of the sixteen hundred Souls that she’d kept last time, it was showing a flat three thousand.

Guess I should have kept count. I wasn’t expecting to keep even that many. Though either way, I’ve got a bloody mess.

{{We have got ourselves a hot mud pool. Well done! }}

Flight and Teleport had let Julia work rapidly between the Dedicated and inflicted Energy Drain with every impact achieved. The chaos magnified with each contact as more ejected ball bearings and magnesium added to the mix before moving onwards. An occasional low powered zephyr she’d learnt from Yngvarr, in the days waiting for the Nisnohe intended to keep the magnesium from settling, seemed to have done the trick. Within the wide stairwell, she’d only travelled maybe four hundred metres along the kilometres-long staircase.

After taking in the devastation on the Pyramid cap, with no sign of the Pit’s covering collapsing, Julia changed to a shrunk Xenomorph and Teleported back down. Smoke and rock dust were thick within the shaft, and in the dim lighting, Julia could make out bits of Dedicated littering the floor and pulverised into the ledge’s stonework. She hadn’t gotten this far down the stairs, seeding it with magnesium, but from the destruction, none of the Undead would be intact along its path. Destruction of their forms having unravelled the magics holding them together, the Souls no longer appeared constrained to the flesh.

I wish I knew engineering. Would the stairs' shape have focused the explosion?

The legions that had occupied the stair’s passage on her first trip numbered far more than the combat summary showed. As Julia looked over the pulverised, mostly unburnt remains sprayed against the stonework, it was clear the blast reaching downwards had left little intact. At the sound of hurried movement from below, Julia Teleported into her carved passage.

Though dust was thick in the air, the hidden passageway was secure, and the honeycomb chamber had stood up to the shaking. With her Soul limit reached Julia didn't see any point in remaining at present, and Teleport carried her away. Once clear of the crevice that connected the Necropolis to Hrz’Styrm, Julia sat down on a rock ledge nearby, and embracing Harmony, turned attention inwards to see what B had been commenting about. When she reached inside, while the Ki's Pool was untouched, she felt a black pool of light eating power within her. The Abyssal Heat of her form seemed eager to drink it up, but the Ki drifting through her to keep the Souls calm kept the two apart. After long minutes studying the stalemate and feeling no give between them, Julia let Harmony go. Though she didn’t teleport to the City, instead, she looked to tend to the notification about Prestige Classes.

V, are there more path tiers like Yngvarr’s uncle believes?

((There are five tiers of Prestige Classes or Paths as they see them.))

So when Yngvarr thought things were slowing before getting the third prestige path?

((He had yet to reach the foothills. ))

Various attempts at using Analysis for information on the Prestige Classes she'd unlocked gained her nothing new. Finally, when focusing on her profile, using Analysis on the class section's header caused a long burst of options to spill into her awareness. When she spotted Blood Monk among the ones offered, Julia reviewed it and started laughing; a harsh sound that went bouncing off the surrounding rocks.

Analysis: Blood Monk

[Blood Monk

Primary Criteria:

Assassin Level 40

Succubus Level 40

Completed Martial Training of the Sisterhood.

Completed a Task for their Sisterhood trainer.

Cleanly assassinated a target nominated by the Sisterhood trainer.

Progressions:

+2 Melee Attack Power / Level

+1 Defence / Two Levels

+1 Quickness and +1 Endurance / Level

+1 Magic / Level

+6 Bonus Attributes every four levels

Power Unlocked

Unerring Tracking: After having injured any opponent, a Blood Monk can attempt to tie a mental link to their opponent. The target must have a mind that Telepathy can read. Golems, Undead, and other entities whose mind they cannot read are immune to this ability. If they succeed, the Blood Monk will know how where to find the foe and its relative distance. If the target shifts planes, the Blood Monk will know the new plane, but not their precise location. Once present on the same plane, contact will reestablish providing direction and distance, this tracking ability lasts 1 cycle per level.

Enhanced Strike: Death strike has an increased chance of delivering critical damage

The class provides increased improvement speed for combat, stealth, and infiltration skills.

]

So that sounds like Unerring Tracking would have no chance of working on me. It's only a 2nd tier offering. What's a first tier look like?

Analysis

[Tainted Temptress

Primary Criteria:

Assassin Level 30

Succubus Level 30

Progressions:

+1 Melee Attack Power / Level

+1 Defence / Two Levels

+1 Quickness and +1 Charisma / Level

+1 Magic / Level

+4 Bonus Attributes every four levels

The class provided increased improvement speed for seduction and infiltration skills.

]

Oh yeah, so bad arse a 2nd tier Prestige Class.

V, I don’t suppose you can tell me what level I’ll need to reach the tier 5 ones?

((I do not see my profile as you do. The Titan always has fairly rewarded those that complete the most demanding tasks.))

Thanks for that dose of vagueness; I was getting worried. Though I appreciate you confirming that you see a profile, and that tells me something else.

((I guess I confirmed that.))

Did the boss leave you high and dry? I know of only a few entities that big, and only four could speak about the Titan with such certainty.

{{What’s half a million years to an immortal? Just a nap. Are you feeling rested yet, Mr One-of-Four? Over your war?}}

((Well rested. My choices put me where I am. Just as yours will take you where ever you go.))

Once Julia allocated the extra levels' points, Teleport placed her in the air intentionally some distance from Ùeqräkas's gates. Her gaze took in the wagons delivering the never-ending cargo of the drowned damned as she drifted towards the entrance. The Guards' previous disarray was nowhere apparent. Instead, garbed in fresh livery, they checked travellers and wagons entering the city, a Succubus overseer's aura keeping them on full alert. Livery and pennants arrayed about the gate had changed in colours, those of the Sisterhood noticeably absent. Instead, their garb was the purple, orange and black that matched the colours from around the Treasury's sign.

Power plays afoot.

{{Grandma, what no teeth you have. All the better to suck the life from you, my dear. }}