The following morning... or at least when I next woke up, I found May deep in her meditation while a small flame was floating over her open palm. The flame would hold steady for a second then fizzle out, only to appear again a moment later. Deciding to leave May to her training, I walked to the two iron-bound chests to see what was inside.

After double-checking for traps, something you only fail once before the habit is burned into your body. Literally, in my case, as one of the chests on the lizardmen floor had done just that despite May warning me to stop rushing. I peeled one lid up with the tip of my sword slowly while watching for a wire or the sound of a click. When nothing happened, I flung the lid back, and the chest vanished, leaving a weave basket full of fist-sized sweet bread rolls.

Underneath, instead of the usual copper disc, I found an iron disc. I scowled at it knowing it was going to be even heavier than the stupid copper discs. I idly flipped the coin-sized disc while staring at the basket, picturing Meera's shining eyes and huge grin when she saw sweet food. A hand flashed by my ear, catching the disc, and I felt May wrap her arms around me from behind. She, too, stared at the basket. She sighed. "I miss them, to hopefully, this stupid labyrinth won't last too much longer."

Then May snatched the basket of sweet rolls before dashing back to her original position, where she once more began playing with fire. I shook my head at her antics but was feeling far too lazy to chase after her. I instead turned my attention to the second chest. Inside were two satchels and a note written in the same loopy letters as the sign above the entrance to the labyrinth.

My dear Mr. and Mrs. Liu, I would like to inform you that children watch this show at times and would like to ask that you keep such antics as those of the previous video to a minimum from here on out. Luckily my dear Sheila distracted Meera with a litter of kittens saving the child from years of bad dreams and possible therapy.

Much thanks. Master. Jarl Stormbringer

I stared at the note, face turning a slight shade of red. "I should have known someone was watching, but what is a show? And for that matter, what is therapy? It doesn't sound beneficial." I slyly turned my head to peek at May, finding her eyes closed, not paying me any attention, so I wadded up the note before shoving deeply into the sand then covering the hole. "Some things are better left as a surprise, methinks." I mumbled with a mischievous smile that I quickly hid, not wanting May to notice anything.

Opening one of the satchels, I found an exact copy of my usual traveling clothes well, except for this set looked brand new and not full of holes and patches. Looking inside the other, it was the same, but for May, I tossed it over, letting it land beside her. She will notice it when she gets tired of catching the air on fire. Underneath it all is yet another iron disc, I really hope these things have a purpose, and we are not lugging them around for no reason.

Getting to my feet, I stretched before changing into my new set of clothes. I groaned in relief. How long had it been since I have worn clean clothes? I did a few more stretches to ensure the clothes fit properly before walking over to stand in front of May. I watched her remake the tiny fire a couple more times before I poked a finger into her forehead, knocking her onto the back. I chuckled while simultaneously jumping back, dodging her kick to my shins.

I held out my hand to help her up. Even as she glared daggers at me, I grinned as I gave her a quick kiss. "Well, my dear, are you going to sit here all day, or shall we see how many islands we can pass before we collapse from fatigue?" May rolled her eyes before they widened, having only now noticing my new clothes. I bent down to pick up the other satchel handing it over. May was so excited to get clean clothes I think she may have forgotten my earlier stunt.

While May changed, I grabbed a sweet roll and wandered to the edge of the island, waiting till I saw a familiar wake passing nearby. I threw the roll in its path and shuddered at the massive jaw that slammed shut over the roll with a sound like thunder. I felt May's hand in mine a moment later. "I think the monsters are getting stronger the further we go." She said while I could only nod in agreement.

We ran, but instead of the mad dash of the day before, May ran on her own while I did my best to keep pace with her. It was hard at first as I had to concentrate on slowing down and taking smaller strides, which, in turn, caused me to have to work twice as fast since there was less time in between bursts of qi. I discovered that my unaltered qi worked best for the smaller, more controlled bursts, while my air qi gave a massive burst of power that I could use to propel myself forward at greater speed.

We ran for what felt like days islands came and went, but we never stopped. May seemed to be working on her own technique and was using far less qi than I could hope to manage. She was even slowly gaining speed the longer we ran instead of slowing down. I was also watching the chests on each island, trying to understand how they work. I was surprised when we passed the first, and the plain wood box was all that awaited us. Then on the second, two similar wood chests. On the fifth, like the previous day, a wood chest banded with rusty iron waited. My theory was that the further we ran without taking the prize, the better the reward.

After dozens of islands, I stopped paying attention; the chest always stayed the same blue crystal material with swirling colors swirling inside. I was starting to think we could keep this pace forever when the first tentacle shot from the water at blinding speed. I barely grabbed May from its grasp before hundreds exploded from the surrounding waters.

May clamped her thigh's around my waist as tight as a vice and leaned out over where my left arm would be if I had one. She unslung her bow and notched an arrow, letting it fly in a smooth motion. I was a little shocked at how much strength that must have taken on her part. I couldn't even feel any shift in my balance as I continued to dodge the slimy tentacles trying to grab us. After she fires that single arrow, she dropped the bow and wrapped her arms around me before shouting into my ear. "Faster." Her voice was shrill, and I could hear the fear in her voice which was enough for me to push myself to the limits, never looking back to see what she saw.

I pushed more air qi through my feet than I had ever tried. The water beneath me exploded, and May and I were pushed forward with enough force that I almost blacked out. I shook off the disorientation as I saw the next island coming straight at me far faster than it should have. If we didn't slow ourselves down, we would skip over the island like a flat stone on still water. I cringed at what I was about to do; May will kill me if this doesn't do it first.

I used several small bursts of qi from the back of my foot enough to straighten myself out. When I was steady, I felt that I was slowing down a little more now that I had more of my body to catch the air in front but still not enough. I reached into my seed pouch grabbing all of my iron vine seeds and forced a small amount of earth qi inside that would not activate for a few moments. I tossed them toward the island using a burst of air qi. At the same time, I grabbed May using all my strength to tear her from her death grip. Without giving her time to think about what I was doing, I tossed her straight into the wake of the already sprouting seedlings.

The second I was over the sand, I pushed as much earth qi into the sand as I could, doing the same thing I did to that moronic sergeant and prince so long ago, but this time I didn't omit myself from the effect. Gravity increased several-fold, and I hit the ground hard enough I felt my left leg snap from the strain. I pitched forward, rolling end over end the sound of wet twigs snapping with every bounce.

This time I did pass out; when I was next aware enough to think beyond the pain, I found myself face down in the sand. I tried to move but couldn't move my arm. Rolling my head a scant inch made my vision swim, but I could see that my arm was bent and broken in several places. Panic set in as I remembered throwing May. I tried to yell but only managed to cough up blood. Not caring about how much it hurt, I looked around. I soon found May slumped over and tangled up in a mass of vines. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her chest rise and fall. Then I fell into blissful unconsciousness.