The best advice that damn bug-bot had given Millie had been to invest in her mental Attributes. She was glad she’d listened, as while at first she’d assumed the pattern formed from the insects was a Tarot spread, she quickly realized the size was too large to fit any in her guide. Instead, she intuited the possibility of the pattern fitting on the oversized map they had of the Academy.

Excited, she’d rushed into the study after verifying with the System that Raj was present, ready to forgo sleep and healing from the Backlash to push onward. Sadly, that wasn’t exactly what happened.

No, instead she found herself sitting in the healing pool across from a scowling Raj, like two children put in the corner during timeout. It turned out he’d been injured while scouting in the Archive’s Collections and Katelyn had run out of Mana to heal him. Given that Millie obviously needed to heal up too—they’d both been banished to the green, steamy waters.

On the bright side, both Millie’s and Raj’s servitors were in the room with them, having borrowed a corkboard from CJ’s labs that they’d hung the map on. Millie’s robot had then pinned the little bug corpses on the map, replicating the pattern for her flawlessly, though they were technically making assumptions on the orientation. Now, the two stared at it in thought.

Clarity or not, thank goodness for robot memory, Millie thought. Replicating the pattern herself would have been a chore and a half. “So what do you think?” She asked Raj, turning back in the waters to look at him.

“Hmm,” Raj scratched at the stubble growing on his face. His five o’clock shadow was nearly a beard in its own right. “I like the theory, if just because it might give context to all the seemingly random murals and art pieces around the Academy. There are a bit too many to be purely aesthetic unless this place was a dictator’s palace.”

Millie nodded excitedly, before stretching out behind her to grab a nacho. They were getting unpleasantly damp in the humidity, but she was, of course, starving after her last reading. She felt awkward eating in a pool, but there was no helping it. At least I found the bathing robe, she thought.

While it wasn’t the most exciting of discoveries she’d had, it certainly was up there in her favorites. The large, fluffy white robes had been in her closet and were exceedingly comfortable. Best of all—they were magically hydrophobic; remaining dry and soft even while submerged. Another reminder of the small comforts magic could bring when Magincia wasn’t busy tormenting them.

“When do you think we can take a look?” Millie asked.

“Well,” Raj said, hesitating. “Katelyn isn’t wrong—we do need rest. Otherwise, I’d be tempted to start looking now.”

“Yeah…that’s fair, I suppose,” Millie agreed with a sigh. “I just hope this pans out, you know?”

Raj snuffled his mustache at her genially. “Agreed. What’s this about a crystal and a potion though?”

Millie rolled her eyes. She should have known he wouldn’t let her gloss over the details of what she’d been up to earlier. Though in her opinion, the story of his harrowing exploration of the Collections was far more interesting. Still, it only took her a few minutes to catch him up on the events of her evening. Or early night, if we’re going by Magincian time.

“Hmm. I’m not sure how I feel about Liam spying on us,” Raj commented. He sounded subdued, however, and Millie was getting the distinct impression that Raj was finally reaching the end of his rather prodigious endurance. “I’ll talk to CJ after our rest period, see what we can drum up. Probably borrow his phone too, we may be able to take snapshots of the locations you’ve marked so we don’t have to risk you going out.”

“How much danger do you think I’d be in?” Millie asked.

“Honestly?” He paused, rubbing one of his knees. “It’s hard to gauge, but I’m worried about how many students took Thomas’ accusations seriously. You and Isabella releasing your Podcasts give some credence to it, especially if you consider the fact that we are withholding information for our own gain. And while I haven’t taken the time to really look through it all, I’ve seen plenty of students discussing it on the Forums. I’ve no doubt everyone in the Academy knows you, for better or worse.”

Millie sighed. His opinion on the matter wasn’t surprising—and it matched what she expected. “Yeah, it doesn’t help with how many times the Headmaster has pointed me out either.” Or the stupid meme.

“It really doesn’t,” he agreed with a chuckle. “Don’t let it get to you though. We’re growing fast. We’re the first with Attainments, magic gear, and Spells. Also, I’m fairly sure Braylon’s training yard is going pull us ahead even more. One M-hour with Coach and I’m good enough with that ax that I downed two Tomb Guardians in a matter of seconds. If they hadn’t overwhelmed me, I could’ve taken their whole squad.”

“Maybe if you had a shield?” Millie suggested.

“I considered it,” Raj said, shrugging. “Braylon bought one, but it was prohibitively expensive in my opinion. The Force Shield Attainment you had in your vision was more tempting to me, but I think the ability to gather information is too crucial, so I stand by Prowling Stance as a first pick. I might go looking for scraps for something defensive soon though, see if I can buy it normally.”

Millie sighed. “I wish I could help more with it.” She winced after saying it. She hadn’t meant to whine, but it had slipped out. Raj isn’t the only one who’s tired.

“You’ll get there,” he assured her. “I think this new angle you’re looking into has a lot of potential. Who knows; maybe you’ll unlock your own nightclub too.” He let out a low, rumbling chuckle.

Millie laughed alongside him. “Somehow I don’t think mine would be as popular. He’s got a lot of sex demons.”

Raj’s mirth disappeared before he schooled his expression. Millie hadn’t missed it though.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

He raised a hand, about to dismiss her concerns, before he hesitated. With a sigh, he continued his thought. “In the myths I’m familiar with, Succubi and their kin target the souls of their victims. You said Liam had an easy way to separate a chunk of soul for you to use? I just…don’t like the possible implications.”

Millie furrowed her brow. Was he suggesting what she thought?

“Do you think it was someone else’s soul bits he offered me?” She said.

“I don’t know,” Raj admitted, “but I don’t exactly trust in his altruism. If I was him, and I had that option, that’s what I’d do to preserve my own power. It might just be my paranoia, but I’d wait on using it until CJ has had a thorough chance to look it over. Just in case.”

Pursing her lips, Millie nodded. It was an easy enough thing to agree with. “Alright, I will. But, ah, I think I’m going to head out for now. I’m getting all pruney.”

Raj laughed, before waving her off. “Given how many times you’ve used this pool already, I’m not surprised. Do you need me to have food sent to your room?”

“Nah, I’m good for now,” she assured him, before standing up and beginning to make her way out of the pool.

“Alright, rest well then. But try to eat as much as you can.”

She turned back briefly to look at him. “Oh?”

He sat in the waters, looking uncomfortable. “You, ah, look like you’ve lost a lot of weight. I don’t mean to judge or anything of the sort, but it's worrying.”

Millie frowned. Catherine had muttered something to the same effect. It was an uncomfortable thing to be told all around. Not to mention worrying if it was so obvious to the others.

“I will,” she said hesitantly. “And…thanks. For saying something.”

“Of course. Have a good night.”

“You too,” she said, leaving him behind.

That night, Millie woke up several times from heartburn. She’d taken Raj’s advice and done her best to gorge herself on food, but either the late-night binging or just pure pregnancy woes had their due. Thankfully, she’d gone to bed early enough that she managed to get a full night's rest by the time the seventh M-hour of the second night approached and it was time to start her next ‘day.’

Out in the commons, the others had created an impromptu potluck of sorts, bringing out a buffet of breakfast items that everyone got a chance at. Millie was munching on a third omelet by the time everyone was ready to start discussing the plans for the day.

“Are you sure we’re ready for something like this?” Katelyn asked. Several in the group mirrored the concern on her face.

Raj ran a hand through his hair as he hesitated. He’d clearly thought things through, however.

“At some point, we have to try,” he said. “While I don’t think we’re up for the Tomb Guardian’s quest yet, there were a few others we can have a go at.”

“And if we don’t do something we’re going to keep bleeding Resources until we’re dry,” Isabella added. “Which Collection’s quest are you thinking of?”

Raj hemmed and hawed a bit, before finally deciding. “Most involve conflict of one sort or another, but there was a quest for ‘The Disputed Heirloom.’ As far as I can tell from its description, it should be us settling the differences between two ghosts. We can handle that peacefully enough.”

“And what if the one that loses goes berserk?” CJ added. “That seems pretty likely from what we’ve seen here.”

Raj shrugged. “Then we fight a single ghost rather than a small army of skeletal warriors. The quest is worth ten RP, so it should, in theory, be easier.”

“Five RP less than the Tomb Guardians?” Millie noted through a full mouth. At the looks of admonishment from some of the others, she quickly swallowed. “Sorry. Ah, why is the skeletal extermination quest barely worth anymore?”

“Well, technically,” Catherine said, her hand itching towards her face before dropping. “It's a retrieval quest for a spellbook, not an extermination task. There's a good chance we might get hidden rewards such as scrap from the book.”

Oh, right, Millie thought. That really would be worth fighting a small horde of undead for, wouldn’t it?

“Right,” Raj said. “So how do people feel about that?”

“I’d like to finish some training with Coach,” Isabella said. “I paid for a second hour and used my competence potion on it, but I’m thinking of a third go.”

“Like you need it? You’re a fucking spear master now,” D’marco said with a chuckle. Braylon nodded in agreement, clearly impressed by her skills as well.

Isabella actually blushed, before sweeping her hair back showily. “You both bought extra training too, so it's not that big of a deal.”

“How much would you say you progressed?” Raj asked.

“Altogether, potion and training-wise?” Isabella said. “Probably a solid two to three years' worth of experience with the weapon. Which sounds great, but Coach can still kick my ass with a spear like it's nothing. Oh, I also got several Attribute points in the process, which was the real bonus.”

Raj nodded knowingly before looking to the other two, D’marco expressing similar gains. Braylon however admitted to fixing his physical Attributes to prevent losing them. He’d gained skill but little more.

“Why would you do that?” Catherine asked. “Now you’re missing out on free Attributes!”

Braylon looked uncomfortable at the challenge, but it was Raj who came to his defense.

“It was a smart choice for him, and I’ll probably do it as well.” The others looked at him questioningly, and Raj patted his meaty arm. “It takes a lot of work to maintain a physique like this. Braylon and I have been losing stats quickly just from the short time we’ve been here.”

“Also Coach told me his training wouldn’t help me with my stats much,” Braylon added. “I could get some dexterity or reaction, but the cost to my stamina and strength is too high.”

“What’s your strength at, anyway?” Isabella asked.

Braylon shrugged. “Eighty-five at the time I froze it.”

Millie nearly spat out her omelet. “Eighty-five? What are you a freaking…” she drifted off, a blush forming on her face.

“Bodybuilder?” Braylon offered, and Millie looked away, pretending she hadn’t said anything. The big guy laughed genially at her outburst, several others joining her.

“Damn, I really do need to set my Attributes,” Raj muttered, looking at Braylon with a friendly rivalry. “I’ve dropped below you now.”

Millie glared at Raj. He’s got that much strength too? For fuck’s sakes. Perhaps it was vanity or just jealousy, but damn did she wish she had a strength score that high. Preferably without becoming a pregnant muscle wizard though.

After that, the group decided to start their next ‘day’ with a brief period of personal projects before tackling the quest. Catherine, Katelyn, and Tanya wanted to get their training in with Coach—Millie also wanted to finish hers—and while they did that, Raj volunteered to walk others through the Archive strategy they’d developed. Isabella was a little sad to miss out on a third training session, but she yielded it to the others.

CJ was the only one left out as he forwent training to keep focusing on his Alchemy development—something he’d already used his competence potion on to speed up learning. The boy had a lot of experiments he was already in the middle of.

I just hope he doesn’t push himself too hard, she thought. But considering how she’d acted through the years they’d known each other she definitely didn’t have a leg to stand on in trying to stop him. Instead, she vowed to just do her best to make sure he remembered to eat and drink while he worked. In many ways, that was all she could do.

The group split and got to it. Millie started by finishing her training with Coach—she was good enough she hit almost every shot, even on moving targets, so long as she stayed rooted in one spot—but she was left with little actionable goals after that. It was too dangerous for her to explore the Academy alone, and she couldn’t read the First language yet.

She did find a workaround, however. D’marco, Braylon, and Isabella were less efficient than Raj and the girls at finding scraps, so Millie helped by enlisting her robot to read books out loud to her. She wasn’t able to earn scrap this way, but there were several books with hints for future trials or locations in the Archive to look into later, and she could take notes for others to look over later. So while it wasn’t much…she was at least doing something.

For Raj’s part, after he showed the more physically oriented group the Archive strategy, he went off into the Academy. Not just to continue his scouting—he was determined to find a way into the ‘Undercity’ of the Academy—he also stopped to look into the possible locations Millie had indicated with her patterns. To Millie’s relief, it yielded results, which he explained after returning with the dawn. The third Magincian day had begun.

“I’m pretty sure this is Tarot imagery, yes?” He said, offering the phone he’d borrowed from CJ with a picture of a man struggling to set up a group of ten staves in a pile. Their tips looked similar to the wands they’d earned from Shaggy Breeches.

Millie frowned when she saw it and pulled a card from her deck for reference. Her card was different: a man holding up a ladder whose rungs were ten wands hastily tied to them. Underneath him, the pavement cracked, as though the weight he held was pressing down absurdly. Meanwhile, the stars in the sky swirled and coalesced in some arcane ritual that he seemed determined to reach, but which was threatening to fall apart at any second.

The key bit of information, however, was in the Rune hidden in the image. In her card’s case, it was in the swirling of the stars—the Rune of the Ten of Wands. In the picture on the phone, it was separated, a piece of the Rune on each staff. But it was undeniably, the Ten of Wands.

“This is definitely a Tarot image,” Millie finally confirmed. “I don’t know why it's different than my cards, but I guess each deck might use its own style as long as the primary imagery is the same. The key is the fact they both have the same Rune on them.”

“Good,” Raj said, nodding with relief. “I’ll see if I can find the others when I have a chance then. Any idea what they’re used for?”

Millie pursed her lips. Looking over the phone’s picture, she was able to eventually pick out what looked like a number separate from the iconography. She had to have Raj read it to make sure, and surprisingly it seemed to be a letter and number combo. A grid pattern perhaps?

“I’m pretty sure these are coordinates for a spread,” she explained, zooming the picture in to scrutinize it more. “I have no idea if it's one from my guide or not, but I’m guessing this is probably a puzzle to get me to use the correct cards in the right order to get a spell to go off.”

“Hmm,” he rubbed at his now-clean chin. He’d shaved in the morning. “I guess we’ll have to see once we have all the pieces then. You ready to dive into Collections with us?”

Is he offering me a way to back out? She thought, or is he implying I should stay behind because it’s too dangerous? She stamped down on the bitter thoughts, however, reminding herself that he hadn’t actually suggested she stay behind. That was just her own anxiety nagging at her.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” she said. “How hard could it be?”

“The legacy of the Truants cannot be denied, curr. I demand that you relinquish your claim this instant!”

The ghost floated in the air, jabbing a translucent finger at the specter opposite it. He wore faded, puffy clothing fit for a noble; yet tarnished with time. His hair had probably been blond in life but appeared gray and wild in his undead state.

The one opposite him, however, was overweight and bored-looking. He also had a rather unfortunate bowl cut that did nothing for his appearance.

“Your nephew knowingly sold the…um, pottery of his own volition. I needn’t relinquish my claim, not when you…er. Died? What was up with that?”

The first ghost’s expression fell, twisting from anger into sheer embarrassment in an instant as he tried in vain to hide his face behind transparent hands. Millie couldn’t blame him, her classmates were having similar reactions as bowl-cut kept forgetting his lines.

Even worse—he kept trying to make them up as he went along! She felt like she was at a high school play run by stand-ins.

“This is the worst quest ever,” Millie muttered. The first ghost looked at her aghast, before rounding on his rotund rival.

“Why didn’t you study your lines you damn fool,” he hissed quietly. “We had decades! Literal decades!”

“You had decades maybe,” bowl-cut whined. “I’ve only been dead for a few months so don’t give me that shit!”

Millie was so ready to start bashing her head into a wall to make it stop before the voice of reason—a very angry reason—stepped up.

“Would you two please shut the fuck up!” Isabella shouted, standing between the ghosts. They hovered around her, glaring at the intrusion. “Seriously, how the hell are we supposed to do this stupid quest if you can’t even hold a proper argument? Well?” She directed her ire towards bowl cut in particular.

The pudgy ghost grimaced, looking back and forth as though ashamed. Then, an idea seemed to flash across its grey features. Glaring mischievously, it flitted over to the ‘heirloom’ (a rather ritzy piece of pottery) and picked it up suddenly.

“Your quest?” He said, holding the pottery above his head. “It can fucking suck it!” He screamed, smashing it to the ground, where its shards scattered across the floor.

Bowl-cut then took off, floating through a wall as the other ghost’s jaw dropped. With a curse and a scream about ‘amateurs’ he left as well, leaving Millie and her classmates alone in the small mausoleum they’d tracked the quest down to.

A small ding lit up Millie’s Soul Scroll informing her that the quest had failed. The others had similar messages.

“Are you fucking kidding me!?” Isabella shrieked. “How the fuck are we supposed to do this shit when ghosts can just screw us over like that?”

“It's like a glitched-out game…” CJ muttered.

“Maybe they left something behind we can use?” Katelyn offered. Isabella grumbled under her breath but joined Katelyn and the rest of them as they began to pillage the small room.

Millie wasn’t sure what they hoped to find. Outside of the (now broken) pottery and some memorial pieces, there was nothing. I guess we can at least note the topics in the memorials, Millie thought. It would indicate what the corresponding section in the Stack’s shelves would contain. So, after a few minutes with Catherine and several others copying the contents of the memorial, the group gathered back together, standing in the center of the small room.

“So this was a fucking waste of time,” D’marco complained.

“It would appear so,” Raj agreed, tossing a pottery shard down as he turned towards the rest of the group. “There’s something I want to bring up for consideration. Nearby is the territory of the Tomb Guardians.”

Instantly the group grew tense, but Tanya was first to speak up.

“Are you sure we’re ready for something like that?” She asked. “It seems…reckless.”

Raj chewed on a lip before shaking his head. “It depends. Catherine—how far are you on that sanctuary Spell?”

The curvy girl grimaced. “I suppose…I can probably manage it? It’s a tier-two Spell though, and it’ll eat up most of my Mana. Not to mention once it's planted, I can’t move it.”

“Wait, what’s this Spell?” Millie spoke up. She knew she was out of the loop with the others, but it hurt to know so was so far behind that Catherine was already experimenting with tier-two Spells and she was just now hearing it.

“Well, it’s…” Catherine hesitated, rubbing her arms anxiously. “Um, it's a circle of protecting energy designed to ward off negative energies, like that from the undead.”

“So…circle of protection, eh?” CJ said, giving her a toothy grin. “You determined to remake the D&D Spell list?”

“What? No!” Catherine protested. “I just—”

“Hey, it’s alright,” he assured her. “You know you don’t have to be ashamed of that, right? Especially not with me. I’m probably the biggest geek here,” he said with a sly smile.

The girl blushed slightly, before shaking her head. “I…I know. I just…it’s hard to talk about.”

“Is everything okay?” Millie asked her. She looked up to meet Catherine’s gaze, the girl’s eyes lingering around Millie’s thinning neck before turning away.

“My mother didn’t approve of such things. C-can we change the subject?”

Pursing her lips, Millie looked the girl over, scrutinizing her. It seemed like a deep-seated issue, however—not one to be broached inside a grave.

“You know, if you ever want to talk,” Millie told her, “my door’s open, okay? But yeah, let’s get out of here.”

Millie gave the curvy girl a supportive smile, which actually seemed to help. With a quiet nod, Catherine joined the rest of them as they made their way out of the mausoleum.

“Well?” Raj said as the group approached the nearby junction. “Do we want to test them out? Or head back?”

“I say we test it out,” Isabella replied. “We’ve got Mage Armor, weapons, Spells…I don’t think there's much more we can have ready.”

“Is it safe to bring…?” Katelyn said, before pausing as she glanced at Millie.

Fuck, I would just slow them down, wouldn’t I? They’d already been told by Eden that groups had to stick together in the Archives to share in quests, so she had to be present. She didn’t want to be a weak point the others had to risk themselves defending.

“She’s really good with her sling,” Tanya jumped in. “Also, if we have a safe place with Catherine’s Spell won’t that protect us while we attack?” The petite blond looked over at Millie anxiously. Is she afraid I’ll get upset over being a burden? Is she trying to defend me? That was honestly sweet of her.

“That won’t work,” Catherine warned. “The Spell requires peace to function properly. People could step in and out of it, but trying to attack from within it would break the effect.”

“Damn,” CJ said. “So much for cheesing it, eh?”

Catherine nodded sadly.

“How accurate are you, Millie?” Raj asked. “This could still work.”

He’s pushing this really hard, Millie noticed. Still, she wasn’t going to pass on an opportunity to show off her skills—they may not have been as impressive as Isabella’s but they were something.

Smiling, Millie whipped out her sling and seated a stone. She pointed at a nearby wall, which the others turned to look at, and aimed her stone at a familiar sigil on it. It was an Ankh, which Millie recognized as an Egyptian thing, but as she flipped her stone around her, letting it swing up and past her head in a figure eight, she released it with a lunge and a snap, slinging the stone dead center at the hoop of the symbol. The stone wall chipped noticeably from the hard impact.

“Hmm,” Raj grumbled. He then turned back towards Millie and nodded in respect. “Good aim. The Tomb Guardians wear heavy armor but their faces are exposed, so aim for that. How confident are you that Catherine’s magic won’t pressure you? Will you be able to take shelter in it between shots?”

Millie hesitated at the reminder, then turned to Catherine. “Does your Spell affect the people inside in any way or is it just a warded area?”

“Um, there are a few possible variations of the Spell, such as mobile ones, but the design I’ve been working on is an area ward. It shouldn’t affect any of us because we’re not Spirits. I can cast it now to test it out if you want?”

“But then won’t you be short on Mana in the fight?” Isabella warned.

“Y-yeah…” Catherine admitted.

“Raj, I don’t think we should rush this,” Katelyn said. “I know it's frustrating to have wasted our time, but we need to practice as a group before we take on something so dangerous. Especially with how coordinated you said they are. What if all thirty spawned in there and attack us? The dungeon gets more dangerous with more of us present.”

Raj stiffened at the gentle chastisement, almost bristling before he turned away. After several seconds, he finally spoke.

“You’re right. I…I think I am trying to push this too much. We need more training.” He let out a long sigh and nodded in agreement.

Isabella kicked a loose rock from nearby. “Fuck, why does this place have to be so frustrating? I hate how long everything is taking.”

Her brother scoffed in agreement, and the two siblings exchanged a tired glance. Is she that confident in her skills or just frustrated? Millie wasn’t sure, but she had to also consider how late it was. While the third Magincian day had only just begun, for them they’d been at it for seven earth hours full tilt. People were bound to be run down.

“How about we plan this for after our rest period?” Millie ventured. “We can go back now, rest a little, and then do group training exercises to prepare. And we don’t even have to do the skeletons first—we can aim for one of the easier combat challenges to test ourselves.”

After a few minutes of quick debate, the group ultimately agreed. Slowly, they began to make their way out, accepting the run as a failure but determined to do better next time. The only one who lingered was Raj—an uncharacteristic look of agitation on his face as he stared down the dark hallway. Millie hung back to join him as the others moved forward.

“You okay big guy?” She asked.

He turned back to her and tried to give her a reassuring smile. It didn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah, just tired. I shouldn’t need to be reminded to be careful.”

“Well, we’ve got a lot riding on us,” she said. “Come on, let’s get going.”

He sighed before nodding. “Alright,” he said, joining her side.

He paused a second later, his head turning sharply at a distant noise.

“What is it?” She asked before Raj suddenly shoved her behind him.

As she stumbled back she fell to the floor, but her armor activated to absorb the blow. It canceled a second later as she looked up to see half a dozen javelins impact Raj. They bounced off his Mage Armor, the arcane light flaring as it taxed itself saving his life.

“Ambush!” He shouted, before a follow-up speared him center mass, sinking into his chest as his Mage Armor ran out. Blood gushed out of his mouth as screams from her classmates erupted around them. Attacks were coming from the other end of the hallway as well.

From Millie’s position, she watched as a second later, two skeletal Tomb Guardians strode from the darkness, their plated armor silent in the gloom.

That isn’t even fair, she thought.

But then…when had Magincia ever been?

The hallway was narrow, enough for two abreast comfortably—three if you squeezed. As Raj staggered backward, a large shaft stuck out of his ribcage and blood flooded out. The far end managed to react in time to mitigate the damage, Isabella and D’marco deflecting several shots with their spear and tetsubō, though they still got tagged in the process. Their Mage Armor was held—for now.

“Katelyn, Raj needs healing!” Millie shouted. “Catherine get that circle up!” A few of her teammates were frozen in shock as her voice cut through, snapping them into action. She was surprised at how calm she was.

Instincts from a version of me that died, she mused darkly. She wasted no time scrambling to get towards the center of the group, crawling across the ground as quickly as possible, ignoring how much her body protested.

A shadow leaped over her, Millie freezing in animalistic fright briefly as Braylon sailed over top, nearly scraping the ceiling with his jump. He lowered a shield towards the darkness where pinpricks of light—the Skeleton’s eyes—showed, blocking the two that had come forward. Millie vaguely recalled that he’d purchased the large round shield from the shop, the damn thing costing nearly as much as most low-end magic items.

By this point, Raj had been dragged back by a desperate CJ and Tanya, to where Katelyn was already shining a soft green light from her rod on him. He kept coughing up blood, and Millie crawled forward to hold his hand. Nearby, Catherine was chanting softly, one hand holding her wand and the other her cross as she knelt on the ground. CJ’s face was pale at the sight of blood, and Tanya stood up, readying her bow to start providing covering fire for Braylon.

“Is he going to be okay?” Millie asked. She felt Raj’s hand squeeze her’s weakly.

“I’m focusing on the bleeding first, but I-I can do this,” Katelyn stammered. “We need to remove…remove the weapon.” Her forehead was already beading with sweat.

“Ugh, this is just peachy,” Raj muttered, raising a large hand towards the javelin before Katelyn hissed at him to not move.

“I-I guess I can do it?” CJ offered. He hesitated, reaching towards the shaft, before Millie put a hand on his shoulder.

“Together, okay?” She let go of Raj’s hand and grabbed the javelin. CJ joined her, and they exchanged a look. “On the count of three.” Thankfully, he knew her well enough to know her plan and nodded to her.

Millie looked towards Katelyn, awaiting the go-ahead. Another tense moment, and small phantom sensation of Mana coming from her, and she signaled she was ready. Raj grimaced; ready as he could be to have a weapon torn out of him.

“Alright, one—” they pulled the spear out “—two-three,” she added, as Raj’s teeth slammed together and a rumbling hiss of pain escaped his lips. She let CJ take the javelin from her, as Raj glared weakly at them both, but the blood pooling in his wound refused to leave his body, held in place by Katelyn’s magic. His skin slowly began to knit back together as well.

“Okay, now we just—”

A loud thumping of metal on metal caught Millie’s attention. Braylon staggered back as the two heavily armored skeletons attacked him, jabbing and swinging halberds down, a few managing to tag him as arcane energy flared from his Mage Armor and arrows came in from Tanya. She couldn’t get a good hit in, however, as they used Braylon as cover.

Expertly, the two skeletons coordinated their attack, one of them hooking onto Braylon’s shield, opening his guard, and the other one lunged forward to strike with rapid-fire thrusts. Once, twice, and then his Mage Armor expired with a popping sound. Braylon tried to get his shield back in place, tried to fall back, and then finally tried to parry the lancing strike with his hammer, but it was in vain. Millie could only watch as the final strike landed straight into Braylon’s unprotected chest as CJ screamed in terror at her side.

A dull thud rang out, like a slab of meat being smacked. Millie stared in horror, her mind expecting to see gore splatter. A friend, full of awkward smiles and gentle encouragement rent open, like a butcher’s fresh carcass.

She was confused then to see that hadn’t happened. If the widening lights in the skeleton’s eyes were anything to go off of, they’d also not expected this outcome.

Instead, center of Braylon’s chest, the halberd was pressed against him, but his flesh remained whole and unblemished despite his uniform being torn apart dramatically.

She blinked, but could feel the small, yet intense wave of pressure exuding from the big man. Mana, she realized. She also realized she hadn’t learned what Attainment he’d bought, but she had a pretty good idea of what it did now.

Braylon shoved his way forward pushing against the tip of the halberd before smacking it out of the way with his hammer. His uniform fell in shreds, but he spun in place using the other skeleton’s hook on his shield to stagger it forward, smashing into its partner. They stumbled and Braylon lunged forward smashing his hammer down.

Metal clanged in the hallway like thunder, as the skeleton’s helm dented, its neck snapping with a loud crack as its eye-lights went out and its body tumbled to the ground. With a quick spin, Braylon pinned the other skeleton to the wall with his shield and jabbed his hammer into its exposed face, pulverizing the skull. He looked down the hall, then turned towards the group.

“More on the way!” He shouted, his ripped shirt revealing the perfectly preserved ten-pack beneath. Hot fucking damn, Millie thought, hearing a small whimper from next to her.

She glanced back, meeting CJ’s eyes. He blushed, before narrowing his gaze.

“I called dibs,” he said defensively. She rolled her eyes.

Next to them, she heard Raj chuckle, before groaning in pain. Katelyn looked up at them.

“Can you do something for the Navarros?”

Aka, can you stop talking about stupid crap in the midst of a fight and help out? Millie grimaced at the admonishment.

“On it!” She said, pushing herself up with some effort, readying her sling as she took place next to Tanya, facing the opposite direction.

The siblings were holding their own, but barely. Thankfully, it seemed outside the opening volley the skeletons weren’t using any other ranged attacks, but the opponent's halberds had better range than the spear and tetsubō her teammates were using. It didn’t help that the two siblings kept crashing into each other, trying to dodge and parry in a messy melee. The encroaching skeletons, on the other hand, were a well-oiled machine.

“Shit,” Millie muttered. How the hell am I supposed to help?

“Hey, can I get a stone?” CJ asked. She raised an eyebrow at the sudden request, before digging into her pouch and handing one over.

“Thanks,” he said, before holding it tightly, eyes closed in concentrations. Millie ignored him for the moment, as she prepped and slung a stone past the siblings, barely missing Isabella. The beauty glanced back furiously before refocusing on her target. Millie’s stone, sadly, sailed over the enemies. The siblings were losing ground.

“Here!” CJ said, thrusting a now glowing stone into her hands.

“What?”

“Just use it!”

She didn’t ask questions and instead set the warm stone in her sling. Given the cramped area, she opted for a greek style toss this time, bringing the sling up parallel to the ground, watching the siblings, timing their movements. While they were erratic, they moved in response to the precise thrusts of the skeletons, so she matched their enemy's rhythm. Seeing the opening coming, she twirled the stone, twisting forward as she released the stone underhand and between the Navarros.

The skeleton leaned back, Millie registering the miss as it dodged—

“Magic Stone!” CJ called out. The rock glowed brightly, arcing through the air to meet the skeleton’s moving helmet. When it struck, the skeleton’s head snapped back and then clean off with a deafening clang, the bone chunks of its shattered skull spilling out as the dented helmet bounced on the ground behind it. Its body fell to the floor a second later without a sound, beginning to dissipate into wispy motes, armor, and all.

“The fuck!?” Millie said, turning towards CJ as she paused mid-reload. Also, why do the skeletons make noise when hit but not when falling?

CJ grinned like an idiot. “I modified Elemental Bolt! I’ll enchant, you fire.”

It wasn’t often she was tempted to kiss her best friend, but god damn did she want to now. Instead, she thrust the next stone into his hand. After a second thought, she untied her entire pouch and gave it to him.

“Get to it, stone boy!” She said. He nodded and prepared the next shot. Absently, she wondered if it wouldn’t just be better for him to use his wand before she realized an oversight. He’s barely practiced with his wand, hasn’t he? He’s been focusing on Alchemy nonstop. Is this a minor enchantment he cooked up? While she was grateful to be able to contribute to the fight with his help—she made a mental note to remind him not to ignore his magic and combat training any longer.

The fight continued for a few more interchanges, the skeletons trying to push forward as her class held them back. She continued to feel pulses of Mana coming from Braylon and worried he might be running low, and D’marco had to fall back, his arm bleeding from a nasty gash where they finally got him. Millie and CJ managed to nail a couple more enemies, only killing one sadly, as things started looking grim.

That was when Catherine’s Spell finally finished.

“Protection Against Evil!” She intoned as a warm, bright light filled the hallway alongside an incredible surge of Mana. It illuminated the corridors, showing the frankly absurd number of skeletons waiting for them, and seemed centered around the cross she held. She was breathing heavily, blood running down her ears and eyes as she wavered trying to stand.

“I got you,” Millie said, barely getting an arm around Catherine and keeping her upright. Sheesh, I know she said it would take a lot out of her, but she must have struggled more than I thought. Millie’s head rang like a bell had gone off, the sudden migraine unpleasant. While it didn’t seem Catherine’s Spell was affecting her, the amount of Mana flooding the area certainly was.

“We…we can…move…” She panted, gesturing down the hallway towards the stairwell that would lead back up to the fourth floor.

“I thought you said we’d be rooted to the spot?” CJ said.

The curvy girl shook her head, lifting her bright cross. “I…made it…work…go!”

Made it work? Then it dawned on her—Catherine had likely just pushed an obscene amount of Mana through the Spell, enough for even her to take backlash, to make it function. Millie wasn’t going to complain though, and neither did anyone else.

Braylon rejoined them, touting a ruined shield and covered in small cuts, to help carry Raj. The skeletons had forgone big hits he could shrug off and focused on bleeding him. Isabella took out a bandage for her brother, who was uncharacteristically stoic with grit teeth, and the group limped forward, the enemies moving out of their way. Those that strayed too close to the glowing edge were visibly repelled by it.

“Will this last the whole way out?” Millie asked.

“I’ll m-make it,” Catherine said, eyes unfocused as she held on tight to Millie, keeping her cross high. It was clear how much the poorly improvised Spell was taxing her.

“How the hell did they sneak up on us anyway?” Isabella said. “The fuckers are literally in plate mail.”

“They weren’t quiet before,” Raj said through grit teeth. “They also didn’t leave their territory. Something’s different.”

That doesn’t bode well, Millie thought.

In silence, the group continued, the skeletons grouping up behind them, slowly walking along like a macabre escort. Eventually, after several harrowing minutes, Millie’s group finally reached the landing chamber with the stairwell. Millie let out a sigh, glad the endeavor was—

As they rounded the corner facing the gate, three dozen Tomb Guardians stood in military formation. At their front, the real obstacle suddenly became clear. The true reason they’d been ambushed. The most unwelcome sight imaginable.

A lone skeleton stood front and center, bare for everything save a pair of shaggy breeches along its waist. The lights in its eyes were bright with malicious glee.

“Oh fuck me,” Millie hissed, similar curses echoing around her.