Getting a gold quest on the thirteenth floor was so astronomically unlikely that the Corpse Hunter hadn’t even bothered to bring it up. Hell, getting any quests at all on such a low level was unheard of. There literally weren't any records of something like this happening and Aiden had a fairly extensive library built on the experience of generations of his predecessors.

Which probably meant that anyone else who had the misfortune of such a unique stroke of luck probably hadn’t survived. And neither would the Corpse Hunter and Rift Caller if they didn't act quickly.

"What's wrong?" Maria asked.

Even if he hadn't cursed aloud, which he just had, the look on the face of the man in gray gave away his immediate concern. His eyes stared into the box with a mixture of awe and resentment for the scroll.

"There's no time to explain," he said. "Follow me and do exactly what I say or we're not getting off this level alive."

Aiden ran out of the captain's quarters with Maria hot on his heels. The breeze that had been pulling the ship along had turned into a gale force wind. It stung Maria's eyes causing tears to form as she chased after her newfound mentor.

When they reached the bow of the ship the Corpse Hunter prepared to untie a rope at the base of the frontmost sail. The rope ran through a series of riggings that connected the sail to the mast of the ship. Aiden pointed to the rope as he spoke.

"I'm going to pull this rope to raise the sails. I need you to take the slack and tie it around those wooden pegs near the railing. Each time I give you some slack you make another loop. Got it?"

"Ok," Maria said, nodding.

Aiden reached into his pack and pulled out the rusty gauntlets. A ship this size usually needed a crew of no less than twenty just to function. Though it could easily carry twice that number and would benefit greatly from the extra hands. There was no way the man in gray and a child could get the boat storm ready in time. Not without a little help.

When the Corpse Hunter smashed the gauntlets together they began to glow. The rust that had coated every inch of the metal gloves was replaced with freshly polished steel. Gripping the rope tightly Aiden began to pull.

The wind pulled back, like a game of tug-of-war. It was the epitome of man vs nature, or more accurately, man vs Dungeon. Despite the fact that the Corpse Hunter was in his prime he alone wouldn't have been able to win this endurance test on his own. Fortunately he had magical gauntlets which drastically enhanced his strength.

With the help of the 'Hands of the Hill Giant' Aiden slowly began to raise the sail. Maria took the excess rope, quickly looping it around the wooden pegs just as she’d been instructed. It felt like a painfully slow process for Aiden but it was far better than not being able to do anything at all.

Once the sail was completely rolled up the Corpse Hunter tied the rope off to ensure it wouldn't come loose. Then he tucked his hair under his hat to keep it from whipping in the face. He wished he had done that sooner.

"One down two to go," Aiden said to Maria.

She gave him a nod and they sprinted back towards the middle of the ship. The young Ascender grabbed the end of the rope before the older Ascender had a chance to remind her what to do. She was learning fast and Aiden might have taken a moment to comment on it if they weren't literally racing for their lives at the moment.

Just like before he grabbed the rope with his gauntlets and began to pull. As he did Maria took in the slack and looped the rope around the railing. Aiden had been careful to not to move faster than the eleven year old could keep up with. If he moved too quickly she could end up tangled in the rope which would take up time they didn’t have just to get her untangled.

When he realized she was actually waiting on him he picked up the pace. Maria was showing a greater level of adaptability than Aiden had expected from an eleven year old. Off in the distance a water spout had begun to form but at the pace they were moving the Corpse Hunter felt they might be ready in time before it reached them.

"Two down, one to go," he said aloud as he tied off the second rope.

The last sail was up on the same platform as the ship's helm, right at the back of the boat above the captain's quarters. Maria had started running for it the moment Aiden took the rope from her. She wasn't strong enough to begin pulling the sails up on her own but he still appreciated her readiness.

That was when the Corpse Hunter noticed something had changed about Maria, well several things actually. The girl wasn't arguing or asking needless questions like she had when they first met. She listened when he spoke and followed his instructions. Not to mention she was doing quite well under pressure all things considered.

That wasn't all though. Since the bilge room incident she had started to act more confident. And not the fake confidence that she and her former party members had all been showing off back on the eighth floor. Aiden wasn't entirely sure why, but in a remarkably short period of time Maria had improved in almost every category.

The wind continued to whip across the main deck as the Corpse Hunter pulled on the rope that raised the sail. That particular rope was referred to as a halyard. He knew all of the nautical terms from the books he'd read growing up but using them now would only confuse his fellow would-be sailor and waste valuable time.

Behind him the Rift Caller looped the rope around the wooden pegs with even greater speed and dexterity than before. She didn't need to know the proper nomenclature to act the part of a proper sailor. That was starting to come together on its own. She was starting to come together on her own.

When was the last time that had happened? Something was actually working out better than he had hoped. Aiden struggled to think of the last time that had happened. Things always seemed to go to hell right at the worst possible moment in his experience.

The rope broke in his hands. Aiden fell to the ground slamming his head on the wooden deck. Vagrant went toppling off his shoulder and tumbled into the railing as the sail unfurled itself. The man in gray groaned in pain as Maria rushed to his side.

"I'm fine," he said before she could say anything.

"That's what you said when you got stabbed," Maria said skeptically.

"Because I was fine and I still am."

"The back of your head is bleeding."

"Don't worry about that. We have much bigger problems on our hands right now." He pointed towards the water spout.

It was fully formed now and even in the distance it looked wider than the ship they were on. And it was coming right for them at an alarming speed.

"If the sail is still down when that thing reaches us it could flip the boat over or rip it in half," Aiden said. He wanted to use the word 'capsize' but that would’ve required him to explain the word's meaning to the girl.

Maria looked to the storm, then to the sail, then back to the man in gray. "So what do we do?"

"If we can't raise the sail then we need to cut it down. But there's not enough time to climb up there."

"You need me to call a rift up to the sail, don't you?"

"Can you do it?"

"Do you think I can do it?" Maria asked.

"I know you can do it," Aiden said.

For a brief moment it looked like a smile had formed in the corners of her mouth. Though she vanished far too quickly for Aiden to be sure he wasn’t seeing things. Smiling wasn’t something that Maria had done much since he’d met her and it was very likely he had concussion from smashing his head on the ground.

The Corpse Hunter turned to look up at the sails. The young Ascender had reappeared on the crossbeam that ran parallel to the mast. Knife in hand she began cutting the ropes that connected the cloth to the beam while doing her best to steady herself.

Rain poured down from above as the storm drew closer. The light blue sky that had once filled the Dungeon was now menacingly dark purple. Which was reminiscent of the color the Mauve Sprouts had been from the twelfth floor. Aiden could feel the wind picking up and tucked his hat into his backpack to keep it from blowing away. It would’ve felt wrong to lose something that wasn’t originally his, something that belonged to Reginald.

As Aiden watched the kid work he counted the times she’d used her Fate since she had last rested. The first time had been when they fought against the first group of skeletons so she could teleport behind them to flank the monsters. Then just a few minutes ago when she teleported up to the sails. That meant she could only do it once more without any serious repercussions. Though she'd need that last rift to get back down from the top of the mast.

Even knowing that she still had the use of her Fate left, it was hard for Aiden to watch the child get ripped from the sails by a heavy gust of wind. His instinct was to move to catch her, which he did without thinking. But midway into her free fall the Rift Caller vanished from view. The Corpse Hunter looked about the space around him to see where she'd gone.

He saw nothing in his immediate area. There hadn’t been a splash but he ran to the railing nonetheless. Seeing nothing in the water, Aiden looked back up towards the sail. Maria had teleported back up onto the crossbeam, clearly determined to finish what she had started.

Vagrant squawked loudly.

"You took the words right out of my mouth," the Corpse Hunter said.

They watched as the child carefully shimmied her way along the beam cutting the ropes as she went. The sail whipped about violently in the wind as its bonds were severed. When the last rope holding it in place was cut the huge chunk of cloth fell to the ground.

All around the ship waves began to swell, causing the boat to rock hard from side to side. Aiden braced himself to keep from falling over as he watched Maria vanish from view again. A wave broke over the side of the ship sending a wall of water cascading over the man and his bird.

Aiden turned to shield himself from the wave but movement caught his eye. Something had abruptly come into view and he needed to know what it was. In that moment time felt like it had come to standstill while his brain tried to process what he was seeing. Maria hung in the air, eyes closed, blood running down her face. The bleeding and loss of consciousness were both side effects of soul fatigue incurred from overusing her Fate.

That hadn't come as a shock to the Corpse Hunter though. It was something he was well aware could happen and had partially expected. The real problem came from the fact that the girl had reappeared on the wrong side of the railing. When the wave struck the ship it had pushed it slightly off course and away from where the child had called her rift.

Aiden watched helplessly as the unconscious eleven year old plummeted off the side of the boat headfirst. When the realization of what was happening hit the man gray he didn’t stop to weigh his options. He didn’t try to think of the best course of action or stop to look, listen, and wait. He immediately dove after the girl, leaping off the ship and into the dark waters below.

If the Corpse Hunter had hesitated for even a moment he would have lost the Rift Caller. Between the unmerciful waves and unrelenting wind there wouldn't have been an ounce of hope of finding her in the pitch black sea. But he hadn't hesitated, he had acted out of instinct and for that reason alone he landed right beside Maria moments after her body broke the surface of the water.

Aiden pulled the unmoving child into his arms as he struggled to keep both of their heads above the water line. He wasn't sure how he'd get them back on the boat. That wasn’t factored into his rescue plan as there hadn’t been a plan. Just the need to do something.

As the Corpse Hunter contemplated the gravity of his situation a line of rope fell across his shoulder. Vagrant squawked overhead, struggling to stay airborne amid the strong headwinds.

"You're a lifesaver my friend!" Aiden called out to the vulture who squawked in response before heading back to the boat.

Aiden wrapped the end of the rope around Maria's waist and tied the loop over his shoulder. In this manner he could keep her head out of the water and still use both of his arms. With the help of the Hands of the Hill Giant Aiden dragged himself through the water back towards the ship.

Now more than ever he was thankful for the gauntlets. The man in gray made a mental note to thank whichever Corpse Hunter had found the magical relic when their paths crossed in the afterlife. Not only for himself but for the young girl tied to his back.

Hand over hand Aiden pulled himself up the side of the ship. It was the starboard side, he thought to himself, not that it mattered. Remembering maritime terminology calmed his mind though which helped him focus and ignore how close they’d come to death.

It was inevitable Aiden would die someday. And when he did some other poor soul would have to take up his mantle which he often tried not to think about. That was a burden he didn’t wish on anyone, least of all a child.

Vagrant sat on the edge of the railing, moving out of the way of a large metal gauntlet as it reached up over the side of the boat. When the Corpse Hunter popped his head into view the vulture grabbed onto his overcoat with its beak and pulled. The bird, the man in gray, and the young girl all fell into a wet heap on the deck of the ship.

Sitting upright Aiden wrapped the rope that still connected him to Maria around his feathered friend. Then he looped some of the slack around the wooden pegs that lined the railing. The pegs were called belaying pins, Aiden thought to himself as the hurricane slammed into the ship.