When the Corpse Hunter was finished with his questions he looked over the body. He examined the teeth and fingernails for any abnormalities, checked the neck for bite marks, and ran his silver dagger along the wrist of the corpse. After that he began applying the various herbs, ointments, and holy symbols that he always carried with him.

The final step was to lay the corpse in a tub of holy water to soak overnight. With the older man’s body taken care of he worked on the youngest corpse next, the twelve year old who thought he could take on the Dungeon alone and free the world by himself. The Corpse Hunter already knew what had killed him, pride. Though the pack of feral dogs had torn out the boy’s throat on the ninth floor of the Dungeon it was his arrogance that had led him down this fateful path.

Despite knowing what happened Aiden still asked the corpse a few questions, their name and a list of surviving family members. This was standard procedure in cases where he needed to provide the Council of Plinth with enough information to reach out to the family so they could claim their lost loved ones. When the boy was in the holy water the man in gray turned his attention to the group of four that had died on floor seventeen.

This was the group that he found dead in a field of long grass, slain by the same creatures that the Corpse Hunter had burned alive when he set the field on fire. The first body was a young woman with short hair that hung at ear level. The Corpse Hunter went through the same routine of checking the body for anything that might cause it to rise from the dead.

When the body was purified he placed a hand on the chest and pumped the Corpse with magical energy. The body gasped as the dead woman's lungs filled with air to answer the questions of the man in gray. Aiden then pulled out the small notepad he used to write down the child’s information a moment ago.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Vivian Fulbright," the Corpse said in a hoarse voice, as though it barely had enough air to speak.

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"Who are your next of kin?"

"Michael and Prudence Fulbright."

With each answer the Corpse Hunter waited just long enough to write down the response before moving to the next question. His postmortem interrogation was just one of many gifts that came with having the Fate of the Corpse Hunter.

"What is the last thing you remember before dying?"

"Walking through a field with my friends. I felt a pain in the back of my head and that is the last thing I recall," the dead woman said.

"Another case of Soul Fatigue," the man in gray said to the vulture who was perched atop a nearby bookshelf.

After the questions were all answered the Corpse Hunter placed the body into a tub of holy water to soak overnight like the one beside it. He then performed the same procedure for the three dead Ascenders who had accompanied the woman he just tended to. Just like their short haired companion they had a series of lacerations that ran up and down their backs and calves. They had been ambushed in a field of tall grass by that floor's occupants and had perished together.

Each of them offered the same short recollection just before death. A pain in the back of their head then nothing. This was a classic symptom of Soul Fatigue which happened when Fate Holders used their magical abilities too often causing them to pass out. When the last body was resting in a tub of holy water the Corpse Hunter grabbed the mason jars filled with mead and headed to his favorite drinking spot.

Something was bothering him, a thought that hadn't clearly formed itself. He was out of the Dungeon and yet his intuition told him there was still an unresolved threat somewhere. Aiden held the door to the greenhouse open for his feathered friend to walk in.

"After you, Vagrant," he said to the vulture.

The bird tilted its head to the side and squeaked at the man.

"I'm fine. There's just a thought in the back of my head that won't make itself clear to me. Wait….that's it. Vagrant, you're the smartest friend I have."

The Corpse Hunter went back to his workshop and pulled the body of the young woman out of the water. After it was laid out on the table he examined the back of her head. She and her companions had been ambushed in the Dungeon, killed before they had a chance to defend themselves. The only way that could happen would be for her group to willingly explore their current level immediately after exhausting all of their resources on the previous floor.

That was possible, but it seemed unlikely for a group of young adults to make such a rookie mistake. Even children were taught to rest on a floor that you had cleared before venturing through the marble door and into the level above. The Corpse Hunter pulled back the woman's short hair to examine her scalp.

Just at the base of the skull where it met the spine he found a small cylindrical hole. He checked the bodies of her companions and found identical wounds on their corpses as well. Even the veteran Ascender who had perished on the twenty fifth floor bore the same mark on the back of his head.

After drawing a vial of blood from the five cadavers the man in gray rushed out of the garage. He hastily opened the gate to the cemetery, locked it behind him, and sprinted down the street. When he saw a carriage approaching he waved the driver down.

"Corpse Hunter," the young driver said nervously, recognizing the gray clad man that was blocking his path.

"I need you to take me to the Ascension Academy immediately," the man replied.

"Well, I-I've already g-got passengers…" the driver stammered.

Aiden walked up to the carriage and tore the door open. Inside were an older man and woman. When the woman locked eyes with the Corpse Hunter her face went pale and she turned to her husband who was leaning up against the opposite door with his eyes shut. The woman shook him which prompted the older man to sit up right as he was awoken from his nap.

"Oh thank the gods," the man's wife said, thinking for a moment that her husband had died and the Corpse was here to claim him.

"I need this carriage, I have business with the Academy," the man in gray said.

Neither the old man nor his wife offered any resistance as they quickly exited the vehicle. With the cart now empty the Corpse Hunter turned back to the driver.

"Get me to the Academy, now."

The sound of hooves beating against the cobblestone street filled the late afternoon air. There was a certain level of convenience that came with the fear associated with a Fate like Aiden's. He still would've preferred something else but at least he could commandeer a horse and carriage when the need arose.

To the young driver's credit he managed to reach the Ascension Academy in half the normal time. When the carriage came to a stop the man in gray quickly made his way up the steps towards the front entrance of the large six story building.

"You can bill the Academy for the ride," the Corpse Hunter said as he ran.

There was no response from the driver, just the sound of beating horse hooves as the young man put as much distance between himself and the Corpse Hunter as he could. Once inside the lobby the man in gray made his way to the reception desk. Behind it was a young woman who was currently pulling several letters out of a desk.

"Tell Martinet Edevane that I need to speak with her," Aiden said.

"Who should I say is asking to speak with her?" the young woman asked before looking up at the tall man with black hair. "Corpse Hunter…" she remarked in surprise.

"That is correct," he said dryly. "Do mention that this is a time sensitive matter."

"I will do that right away." The young woman finished her sentence and began a new one that contained no sounds.

When her silent lips finished moving she looked back to the man in front of her. She was another Wind Talker, a Fate Holder capable of delivering messages across far distances. It made sense that someone like herself would be a receptionist.

"Your message has been delivered. You may wait in our lobby if you wish," the Wind Talker said, trying to remain professional in the face of someone so intimidating.

"Right here is fine," Aiden replied.

A few awkward minutes passed before a nearby door opened and a red haired, green eyed woman walked out. She strode right up to the man in gray as if he were a common messenger here to deliver a letter and then leave her be. When she was within arms reach of the Corpse Hunter she stopped, crossing her arms as a show of her authority.

"So, what is so important that you'd risk putting a Martinet in a poor mood just to tell me in person."

"We should speak in private," Aiden said, glancing at the receptionist who had a Fate that allowed her to share sensitive information with almost anyone in the city in seconds.

"First you need to prove that this matter is as important as you think it is. A Martinet's time is very valuable and we both know you're not a wealthy man by any stretch of that word's meaning," Lady Edevane said.

She was speaking the truth, she did have a considerable amount of responsibility on her shoulders. But her words came out almost like a challenge, as if she wanted the man in front of her to give her a reason to set aside her current work. Plainly put, she seemed bored and her few interactions with the Corpse Hunter were somewhat entertaining. She almost hoped what he was about to say would be a good excuse to do something fun for the first time in ages.

"It's happened again," Aiden said with a stern expression.

The faint smile that had begun to form on the woman's lips faded immediately.

"Where?" she asked, uncrossing her arms. Neither her voice nor her mannerisms betrayed the concern she now felt in the pit of her stomach.

"In the Dungeon," the man in gray replied.

"Are you certain?"

"No, but with your help I can be."

The Martinet turned to the young woman behind the counter. "If anyone else asks me, tell them I'm occupied."

"Yes, my lady," the woman said with a nod.

"Come with me," Lady Edevane said to the Corpse Hunter.

When she was finished speaking the woman led her guest to the door she had just come out of. Beyond the door was the same five foot by five foot room that Aiden had seen the last time he was at the Academy. In the center of the room was the same man dressed in formal attire.

"Please state the floor you wish to reach and present your Medallion for inspection," the man said politely.

"Floor three," Lady Edevane said as she removed the Medallion from her neck and held it out for the man to inspect. He pressed the small indent on the bottom which caused the Medallion to glow with a dim purple light.

"Permission granted," the man said.

The red haired woman shut the door, when she reopened it the small room and man were gone just as before. In their place was a long hallway with a series of doors every ten to fifteen feet. Aiden followed her, looking about the area as they went. There were chairs in front of some rooms which made the hallways feel like one big waiting room. The walls were adorned with oil lanterns that illuminated the hallway but other than that were bare.

"I assumed a Martinet got an office on the top floor," the Corpse Hunter commented as they walked swiftly.

"As if I'd let you on the sixth floor," the woman retorted.

Were the current situation not so serious they may have continued the conversation sending witty remarks back and forth like a game of chess. But the situation was dire and there was little room for humor under these current circumstances. Lady Edevane pushed open the door to a room on her right and motioned for the Corpse Hunter to join her.

A table and chairs sat in the middle of the small room along with little else. Lady Edevane took one chair and the Corpse Hunter sat opposite her. She placed her hands on the table and looked at her guest.

"This room is warded to prevent anyone else from listening in. Anything you say will be heard by my ears alone. Now, tell me about the murders you believe took place in the Dungeon."

"The death of a veteran Ascender was the first one that seemed off to me. A man close to ten years my senior who managed to drown on the twenty fifth floor," the Corpse Hunter said.

"That low of a level?" the woman asked.

"My thoughts were the same. He had two young teens with him, his children. I had assumed he died protecting them, I was only partially correct."

"The children survived?"

"Yes," the man in gray said.

When the red haired woman had no further questions he continued.

"The next concern arose over the bodies of a four person team. They had been ambushed on the seventeenth floor in a field of long grass. By all accounts they had simply been taken by surprise which is known to happen. They were in their late teens so it was plausible that they had made a poor judgment call that cost their lives.

However, their bodies showed signs of Soul Fatigue. I find it very unlikely that four young adults would walk into the middle of a Dungeon floor without the means to defend themselves. The father also had signs of Soul Fatigue which makes it even harder to believe that someone with his experience would make that miscalculation on a level he'd traversed hundreds of times."

"That's why you suspected foul play. Five bodies all showing symptoms of a common cause of death in situations where they should've known better?"

"I realize how it sounds when you word it like that but we both know things didn’t play out how they should have."

"I agree, but what proof do you have that the victims were murdered?"

"I found a wound on the back of their heads just above the spine. I believe they were poisoned by someone who to paralyzed these Ascenders and let the Dungeon kill them off. Whatever the poison was, it mimics the after effects of Soul Fatigue. This person knew I'd be looking for a cause of death. That means they're a hell of a lot smarter than the last murderer we had to deal with."

The Martinet listened to every word that the man I gray had to share. It was a lot to take in and she had to make a quick decision that could impact the quality of life for the entire Column. Lady Edevane considered the information quietly before speaking.

"You've convinced me, I've spent just enough time in your company to know you aren't stupid enough to try and deceive me. The Ascension Academy and the Council of Plinth will need more convincing though. Did you find any proof of the poison you suggested?” she asked.

"No," the Corpse Hunter admitted. "Aside from their similar wounds there wasn’t any evidence left behind. Though I do know how we could figure out what was in the poison, that might give us a lead."

He set five small vials of blood onto the table. Lady Edevane looked down at the bottles then back up to the man who had presented them.

"The victims' blood?" the Martinet asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Correct. You're an Organic Alchemist are you not? I thought maybe you could purify the toxins in the blood and assess what they were."

"My powers only work on flesh and blood that are still attached to a living body. I can't do anything with a vial of a dead man or woman's blood."

Aiden nodded as he reached into his pocket. "I thought you might say that, so I had a backup plan." He pulled the syringe out and placed the tip through the cork stopper and drew the blood of the veteran Ascender from the vial. "If the blood is still tainted with the poison then it should take effect on me when I inject it into my body. Then you can cure me and we'll know what the contents were."

"Do you have any idea how recklessly stupid that idea is?," Lady Edevane asked.

"I'm aware of the risk and I'm open to an alternative of action if you have another idea in mind. Do you have any other ideas Martinet?" Aiden asked. Despite how his words might have been interpreted he sounded sincere in asking.

“Wouldn’t it be wiser to test the blood on an animal?”

“It would, but unlike my own life I actually care about the welfare of animals. So I won’t entertain that notion.”

"Fine," she relented, placing her hand on the man's wrist. "If the poison kills you instantly are there any final words you’d like me to pass on?”

"Tell my replacement I said I was sorry. And to avoid injecting themselves with contaminated blood, no matter how noble the cause."

"Let's get this over with," Lady Edevane said, rolling her eyes.