Once Tahpa finally respawned, everyone started up the stairs toward the dungeon entrance. Maya walked between Nalana and Vey, but paused to glance back at the boss chamber, unaccountably fond of the place now.

She didn't exactly dislike the idea of returning to the mage academy, but she hoped that the teamwork and camaraderie she'd experienced here would continue. It would be too sad if this was a one-time thing.

She'd never really been part of a community before, not the same way she was now. Groups of people online with similar interests came and went, they cycled through and she cycled through, no one staying more than a few years in any one place. But this group felt different. She'd never been as integral, always more remote.

Perhaps this game could be different. Or perhaps five years from now everyone in this group would've moved on to a different server and none of them would even know each other anymore.

She deliberately avoided thinking about the fact that five years now she would probably be on World 01 with Drew. She wondered how much authority she would have. Could she invite everyone from this group to join her there? Or was it like Rominian had said, that not every server suited every player, and they might be happier here on 9352?

No. She wasn't thinking about it.

"What are your plans for the future?" Vey asked as they walked.

Maya looked around. "Me? You mean in the game? Or. . .?"

"Whichever matters more to you. Just you as a person, what you care about?"

"I want to learn,” Maya answered at once. “I want to learn and create. I want to research new spells, create new combinations, and explore the world. You?"

"You know. The usual. I want to get rich, get married, hang out with my buddies, just live happily. You know?"

"Is there any such thing?" Maya asked, then immediately regretted it. She was sounding morose again, and she didn't want to mar their victory with her emotional problems.

"I've heard that it's out there," Vey said. He turned to face her, gesturing extravagantly with his hands as he spoke, though it required him to walk backwards up the steps. "It's a mythical thing, like a fairy, but if you look in just the right place under just the right circumstances I've heard that it's possible to find it."

It was absurd and childish, and unaccountably made her feel a hundred times better. Maya's laughter was only a little bit forced.

"What's your family like?"

And there it went. Her emotion must've been obvious on her face, because Veyanto quickly backtracked. "We don't have to talk about if you want to. I know it can be a sore subject for some. I'm so insensitive." He laughed.

"I don't remember them."

"Are they dead? I'm so sorry."

"Not exactly. Well yes." Maya laughed, entirely without humor. "I mean, everyone I ever knew is dead, since I was born in 2003, but that's not what I mean. I don't know, maybe it's because I died so long ago or the transfer was flawed, but I just don't have access to most of my memories when I was alive."

Vey looked stunned. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize… that's not normal. And wait, did you say two thousand three? As in millennial?"

Maya sighed. "Yes, I know, 300 years ago, blah blah blah. It doesn't feel like that long ago, it feels like last week.

"Awesome," he breathed. Then shook himself. "I mean, that's terrible. I'm so sorry for you."

"It's okay. You don't have to feel bad about it. There's nothing you or I can do. It's probably just a faulty upload, and I have to live with it."

"What was it like? Before? Is it true that everyone lived on Earth?"

"Of course. Where else would they live? People talked about going to other planets, they were working on figuring out Mars, but that would've been super impractical."

Vey fell silent a long moment before speaking, his voice hushed. "That's so weird to imagine. Everyone? How did they all fit?"

"Cities mostly. But I imagine you also have several times as many people now than we did back then.”

“But what was it like?”

Maya shrugged. “I don’t remember it very clearly. Bits and pieces, a few very clear, but most are vague. I know things, but I usually can’t remember why.”

“But your life had to be more interesting than mine,” Vey pressed, still walking backward up the steps. “You were living in the technological golden age!”

“It didn’t feel like that, it just felt normal. I grew up with computers and internet and new attempts at VR every few years or so. It was popular, but nothing like this. I assume you are in a VR setup right now?”

Vey nodded. “Yeah, nothing fancy, just a link. Stupid parental controls won’t let me go anywhere interesting.”

Maya revised her estimation of his age downward yet again. “Does it feel as real to you as it does for me?”

“Probably more so, actually. Permanent players have the disadvantage of not having an actual body, so everything is simulated rather than being actual stimulus. Or something like that.”

“I’m not sure how it could feel any more real,” Maya said. She should ask Desi about it when they got back to the academy, assuming she could find her. As the only other permanent Maya knew, Desi was the most likely person to know about the difference between log-in and permanent immersion levels.

Vey shrugged, then almost fell over as he tried to step up onto a stair that wasn’t there. He stumbled backwards and caught himself against the wall, laughing. “Looks like it’s time!” He hurried forward as they all stepped out of the dark stairway and into the mud-filled entryway.

Or where the mud had been, at least. The giant crystals lining the ceiling had fallen to the ground, and the mud around them was dry and solid, making an easy crossing to the outer door.

They crossed single-file. Tahpa exited first, and as soon as he stepped foot outside the dungeon entrance an alert popped into Maya’s vision.

Instance: Crimson Flame Dungeon will close in 1 minute.

There was a bit of a slowdown as each person stopped and looked at their menus upon exiting, but a few shoulder taps and nudges were sufficient to clear space.

You have completed the Crimson Flame Dungeon!

Your level has increased!

Your level has increased!

You have 6 attribute points to allocate.

Items gained:

Firebound War-Axe

Juggernaut’s Collar

Boots of Fluidity

Deceitful Sickle

Crimson Flame Token

Crimson Flame Charm

Crimson Flame Bracelet

Ring of Concentration

Necklace of Acuity

Circlet of Acuity

Phoenix Feather x8

Perk gained: Quick Strike!

Maya stared. She wasn’t sure what to think or where to begin. Was this a normal amount loot from a single dungeon run? It couldn’t be, or the market would be overrun. This had to be from her luck.

Forgetting items for the moment, she put two of her stat points into intelligence and two into attunement, then hesitated before assigning the last two. She really ought to re-examine her plan, now that she knew stats weren’t the end-all of character building. She saved the changes, determined to give it some serious consideration as soon as she had free time.

Nalana was shaking her head. “Level 30. So it did scale.”

Vey grinned. “I won’t even be able to equip most of this for months. This is awesome!”

“How many Phoenix feathers did we get? I have seven.”

“Eight.”

“Four.”

“Eight!”

“Six.”

“Four.”

Maya checked, and grinned. “Eight here too.”

“Wow. That’s incredible. Here I thought we’d be lucky to get four or five each. This is going to be a big help.” Tahpa went around collecting the feathers, and Maya handed hers over when he got to her.

“What do you need the feathers for?”

“Magic can absorb other types of energy into itself, shift its alignment a little bit. It evens itself out over time, but when trying to create a specific type of spell it helps to keep the magic focused on what we want it to do rather than going off in every direction. Phoenix feathers are one of the most powerful elemental fire catalysts.”

“They won’t be required to cast the spell?”

Tahpa shrugged. “They might be. We’ve never made something quite like this before. Our goal is always to create abilities that require only energy as a power source, but we’re also on a deadline. It’s entirely possible we’ll end up cutting corners to make this happen. So, don’t be surprised if we end up killing this Phoenix more than once.”

“I’m not sure we’d be this lucky another day,” Maya said. “How long until the instance resets?”

“Midnight. Everything resets at midnight.”

Of course it did. Maya was not looking forward to midnight. She’d rerolled enough times now that she had a hefty penalty carrying over from day to day. She already had -30 for twelve hours into the following day, and unless she rolled very well the first try, that would end up compounding into the day after as well.

She had to get as much out of her luck today as she could. She had a feeling the next several days wouldn’t be nearly as fortunate.

She wished she could reset everything, take a break, get rid of the build-up of misfortune that kept compiling, but she had too much to do. She’d just have to deal with the consequences as they came.

“I’ve never seen Crimson Flame equipment at this level,” Fridget said. She equipped an ornate bronze earcuff adorned with rubies, the metal gleaming with reflected firelight even though there was no firelight to be reflected. “This is way better than anything I already own.”

Maya turned over the matching bracelet she’d earned. It wasn’t quite as ornate, the shifting light in its depths not the same vibrancy, but it still gleamed with flickers of crimson fire.

She was level 8 now. Only 22 more levels to go and she could equip it for herself.

“Anyone want any of this?” Maya asked. “I can’t use it yet.”

She pulled all the items she’d received from her inventory, laying them out on the ground.

Vey grinned and stared, his expression shifting from greed to disbelief as she kept going.

“I got the same bracelet,” he said, somewhat reluctantly setting it beside hers, along with another armband not from the set. “Since we’re all in this together, if anyone wants to borrow it. . .”

Eleona shrugged and set out four items of her own. A pair of red-gleaming gloves and a helm obviously belonged to the same Crimson Flame set as Maya’s bracelet, while the other two items were random like the rest of Maya's loot.

Nalana shook her head. “I only got one thing, and I’m keeping it. It’s perfect for my build, even if I need a few more levels to equip it.”

“Anyone wants these they can have ‘em,” Ranon said, tossing a pair of heavy boots onto the growing pile of items. “It’s my only drop, but I’ve got better.”

Maya looked at Fridget and Tahpa. They were the only ones high enough level to use any of this.

Fridget looked at Tahpa, who shrugged.

“I’ve got on-level mage gear, so most of this would be a step sideways.” He glanced at Maya. “I’d take the axe, if you don’t mind. One bracelet each?”

Tahpa picked up the axe and two bracelets, offering one to Fridget. She nodded and equipped it.

“Anything else?”

“The gloves,” Fridget said. “If you’re sure, Eleona?”

Eleona nodded. “Won’t be doing me much good any time soon. You definitely earned them. If it weren’t for you, we’d all have died.”

“If it weren’t for you, I could say the same.” But Fridget took the gloves and didn’t argue.

"Technically, we did all die," Vey said.

Tahpa gestured for everyone to take back their items. “None of the rest of this is especially mage-friendly. You could probably sell it.”

“I’m keeping mine,” Vey said, picking up the less glowing bracelet he’d set down so reluctantly. “And you, whichever of you has it, I’m expecting the other one back as soon as I hit level 30.”

Eleona collected her three remaining items, while Maya set about gathering up all of hers.

“You can take the boots too,” Ranon said. “Sell ‘em, whatever. I don’t need them.”

Maya looked around, and saw he was staring at her. “Me?”

“Yeah. You need equipment more than the rest of us. I can tell you're missing at least half your item slots, if not more. Also, that. . . er, outfit? Not doing you any favors.”

Maya had managed to forget the horrible dancer items she’d gotten from Kittykitty. “It has better stats than the noob shirt,” she said defensively.

“And worse stats than anything a level 5 should be wearing, much less. . . what are you now, six? Seven?”

“Eight, actually. I got two levels from the dungeon.”

“Two? I didn’t even get one,” Nalana said.

“Next time,” Ranon said decisively.

Maya picked up the boots, but hesitated before stashing them into her inventory. “You sure?”

“Yes, take them, sell them. Or wear them. Whatever. I don’t want them or need them.”

Maya looked them over. [Normal] Boots of Strength (lv29, +20 str). Her new Boots of Fluidity had the same level requirement, better stats overall, and looked nicer too, so she’d definitely be selling these ones. “Thanks.”

“Now, we ready to head back?” Tahpa asked. “I’m anxious to get back to the shield project.”

“And I need to log out,” Vey said. “I’ve probably stayed too long as it is.”

“What do you have to hurry for?” Fridget asked.

“Not everyone can afford unlimited access passes,” Vey said. “But I couldn’t leave in the middle of a dungeon. I’ll be back tomorrow morning.”

They walked back to the leypillar, then parted ways as they entered the city. Maya, Tahpa, Fridget, and Eleona headed back to the mage academy, while Ranon and Vey logged out and Nalana transited off somewhere else for some solo questing.

“That was awesome,” Maya said. “I’ve never understood the appeal of raid dungeons, but that was crazy fun.”

“I still don’t believe it actually scaled.” Fridget said. “It’s never done that before.”

“Yeah,” Tahpa said, holding up his arm. "This bracelet, I’ve never seen one this level before."

“What do you think happened?” Fridget asked. “I’m glad, it all worked out and we got the materials we needed, but this sort of thing just isn’t possible.”

“Clearly possible, since it happened. The question is how, and why.”

Maya walked a bit behind them, listening as they speculated, and didn’t interrupt.

She had a pretty good idea of the answer to both. The dungeon scaled up to exactly the highest level the group could defeat, giving them the absolute maximum quality and quantity of rewards for completing it.

There was no other word for it.

They’d been incredibly lucky.

Maya Starborn Average Androgynous Harpy Level: 8 Affinities: Magical Physical Tier: 1 Class: Trickster Specialization: Path of Life Base Equipment Modifiers Total Strength: 8 0 0 8 Momentum: 11 2 3 16 Agility: 8 2 1 11 Control: 8 19 0 27 Attunement: 17 0 1 18 Focus: 8 0 1 9 Intelligence: 15 0 2 17 Flexibility: 8 0 1 9 Luck: 89 - -10 79 Unassigned: 2 Health: 144 of 144 Will: 18 of 18 Stamina: 108 of 108 Energy: 88 of 88 Speed: 1.31 Switch penalty: -33%, 8.3 secs Stealth: 0.71 Chain bonus: +5% Awareness: 0.9 Cooldown: 95.5% Max abilities: 4 Abilities Abilities: [5 of 4] Wind Whisper

[5 energy] Blow into cupped hands, then push the air toward the target.

Creates a light breeze, a quick gust, or a damaging slash.

[Overcharge: +5 energy, +0.2 sec cast time, +50% force/duration/dmg] 1.9 sec

5 dmg

(wind) Throw Knife

[5 stamina] Throw a knife at a target with high accuracy. Requires a knife. 0.8 sec

3 dmg

(physical) Windborne Blade

[45 energy, 5 stamina] Cast Wind Whisper in a loop up and behind, aligning with throwing arm.

Throw knife straight at target with wind as augment. 4.3 sec

33 dmg

{physical} Spark

[5 energy] Draw magic into palm and snap fingers to ignite into a spark of fire.

Can be used as a light or thrown at a target. 1.1 sec

3 dmg

(fire) Sense Balance Discern if an area is lacking in or has an excess of any materials, creatures, etc. Perks: Quick Strike Decrease one ability’s activation time by 30%.

Lasts 3.5 minutes.

1-hour cooldown.

Inventory Item Name Slot Str Mom Agi Con Att Foc Int Flx Minor Chestpiece of the Dancer Body 1 1 Ordinary Gloves of Control Hands 13 Minor Waistwrap of the Dancer Legs 1 1 Footwraps of the Acrobat Feet 2 Lesser Bracelet of Control Arm 1 4 Trickster's Mask (Mage) Special Money: 70 Gold, 6 Silver, 12 Copper Quality Item name Details Flimsy Newcomer Tunic Flimsy Newcomer Leggings Soulbound Trickster's Dice Soulbound Trickster's Orb 2/5 uses remaining Flimsy Orchard Map Normal Apple x2 Unknown Unidentified Orb Normal Throwing Knife x9 3 damage (physical) Special Key - Arrival Plaza Apartment Expires in 27 days Special Key - Room 6, Sapphire Hall Special Arena Equipment Token Registered to Maya Starborn Uncommon Juggernaut’s Collar Level 29, +12 mom, +11 str Uncommon Boots of Fluidity Level 29, +6 mom, +6 con, +6 flx, +5 foc Uncommon Deceitful Sickle Level 29, +8 str +8 agi +4 con +3 foc Rare Crimson Flame Token Level 30, +12 agi, +12 foc, +6 mom Rare Crimson Flame Charm Level 30, +12 att, +12 foc, +6 int Legendary Ring of Concentration Level 29, +24 Int, +12 Con Legendary Necklace of Acuity Level 29, +18 Flx, +18 Foc Legendary Circlet of Acuity Level 29, +18 Flx, +18 Foc Missions Mission Description

Time Reward A Private Grudge Claim Standalone's house in Conquest and hold it for at least 10 hours. Personal House Trickster Day 4 Claim in Conquest the home of the next player you see.

Once claimed, hold it for 24 hours. 6d 8h 22m Trickster's Reward

??? Arena (Shadow) Spend at least one day every week fighting in the Arena Ongoing Variable Trickster Day 3 Lose a fight to another player in the Arena DONE Ordinary Gloves of Control

+5 reputation with The Trickster Gazebo Construction Construct a new gazebo for Maylon the Poet

[Optional] Also varnish the entire structure once built DONE 3 silver 50 copper

+5 reputation with Maylon the Poet Trickster Day 2 Lose a fight to another player in PVP DONE Lesser Bracelet of Control

+5 reputation with The Trickster Windy Creek reconstruction Locate the missing workers' tools

Construct a new dam by Windy Creek

Help clear the wreckage of the old Windy Creek Dam

Help construct a new bridge over Windy Creek DONE 5 silver, 80 copper

+25 reputation with Windy Creek village Trickster Day 1 Side with a person who is losing an argument or disagreement. FAILED -5 reputation with The Trickster Help Shary the Produce Merchant Find the missing apple delivery boy. Ensure his safety and the successful delivery of apples to Shary's Produce Stand. DONE 5 copper

3 apples

+10 reputation with Shary and Elaph