Badax covered his ears and waited for the wailing to stop. When it did, he looked over at Urt, who was staring at him with a deeply concerned expression.

“You…feeling okay, big guy? What happened?”

The minotaur thought for a moment, pondering the question. His memories before falling over were a little foggy, but so far as he could tell, he didn’t feel any different.

“I got a notification about a personality devi-something,” Badax said. “Then I got shocked and that’s the last bit I remember. Any ideas?”

“You probably broke one of the Mistress’ rules,” Urt replied. “I’m guessing the shock was a disciplinary thing. Pretty nasty stuff. But none of that matters now. I don’t know if you’ve heard what the mouths are saying, but –“

He was interrupted by the mouths in question, which screamed, “The Mistress has been slain! All minions, seek vengeance! The murderer is currently outside the lair!”

After their message was finished, the mouths screamed wordlessly for a few more minutes before falling silent once again.

“That. What are we going to do?” Urt asked. “Should we try to avenge the Mistress?”

His lips quivered, and Badax saw that the goblin had turned purple and was shaking like crazy. “I don’t want to die,” Urt said quietly. “There are still so many things I want to do.”

Badax patted him on the head. This was another way Urt differed from most of his kind. Typically, goblins didn’t bother thinking about the future. They were crude and simple monsters, looking only as far forward as was necessary to satisfy their next physical desire.

Staring down at the pieces of the broken guitar on the ground, Badax listened to the whisper in the back of his mind as he considered his next steps. Your duty hasn’t changed. Reclaim your axe and make the one responsible pay!

“Fuck that,” muttered Badax as he shook his head. Horns and hooves! Even if not for the fact that anything capable of killing the Mistress was way out of his league, the minotaur couldn’t find a single bit of bloodlust anywhere in his body. I did plenty of killing for her over the years. What did it get me?

The voice didn’t have an answer and vanished.

“Get your bag, Urt,” Badax said. “We’re leaving.”

Crouching down, Badax picked up as many of the guitar pieces as he could. The biggest of them was a bit of the neck, which was only half as long as his forearm. He doubted the guitar could be repaired, but he didn’t care. Carrying the shards felt right.

“Where will we go?”

“I don’t know,” the minotaur admitted. “But we’ll figure it out along the way. I know that I want to find another one of these, and learn how to make sounds like that Bard did. That’s good enough for me.”

The words were barely out of his mouth when a popup appeared in front of Badax’ eyes, but the minotaur hadn’t ever seen one like it before. The colors of the screen were different, as were the colors and size of the font. His heart quickened as he read the notification’s text.

[CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE UNLOCKED BARD, A NEW CLASS! WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE IT?]

He pressed the yes button beneath the popup, and warmth filled his skin. It dominated his senses the way his bloodlust once had, but instead of an urge to kill and destroy, Badax felt nothing but an urge to travel and explore.

Wanderlust.

[Tailoring skills to stats and personality.]

[New Skill Learned! Power Chord!]

[New Skill Learned! Ballad of Bloodlust!]

[Warning! The following skills cannot currently be used: Power Chord, Ballad of Bloodlust. Reason: No functional instrument currently equipped!]

The walls started screaming again, and so Badax dismissed the notifications and hurried to pack as many supplies as he could for his journey with Urt. The inability to use his new skills was something he’d fix later. Once he could actually hear himself think, he’d try to figure out what to do.

They were jostled in all directions as they walked. Goblins, gnolls, batlings, zombies…every type of minion that could be found in the lair charged past with their weapons raised, bellowing for vengeance in their many tongues.

Badax pitied them as he watched them turn down the hallway up ahead, but he didn’t try to stop them. If they believed it was their purpose to throw their lives away in a misguided display of loyalty to a dead woman, it wasn’t his place to make them change their minds.

Another new sensation danced around his thoughts. It was an urge to create, to write down a few verses that would crystalize this moment and memorialize it forevermore, but though the general shape of the idea was there, Badax couldn’t decide on what specific words to choose. He abandoned the thought a few steps later.

When they passed the mini-boss station, Badax looked inside. Just as he’d expected, his axe was on the floor. For a moment, he considered taking it with them. Surely there were dangers outside the lair, right? Wouldn’t it be good to be armed, even if only for protection?

He took a step toward it, but couldn’t make himself lift the dull, bloodstained, weapon off the ground. Staring at the nicks and dents along the blade, Badax thought about all the lives he’d ended with it. It was a grim string of recollections, made worse by the fact that the minotaur was certain there were plenty he’d forgotten over the years.

The axe seemed like it was staring at him. We had lots of good times together, didn’t we?

No. Badax shook his head and tore his gaze away. He would not take the axe with him. Though he wasn’t so naïve as to believe that he could live a peaceful life from now on, he wouldn’t carry a weapon like that one ever again.

The wall mouths started screaming again, but their voices were deeper now. Slower, too. Whatever powered them was running out of juice, Badax supposed.

They continued on, stopping near the potion and elixir lab at the sight of Pansy crying on the floor. The pixie was shaking, her orange glow flickering with every sob.

“I was next,” she kept saying over and over. “All those years of scrubbing cauldrons and waiting to be chosen, and I was next!”

“Hey Pansy,” Badax said as he knelt down next to her. “Are you alright?”

Looking up at him with tear-stained eyes, the pixie sniffled and wiped her nose.

“Badax? What are you doing here? Aren’t you going to try and fight the Mistress’ killer?”

The minotaur shook his head. “No.”

Pansy’s tiny fists flailed as she flew up and peppered him with angry blows. “Why not? Isn’t it your job to fight for the Mistress? To protect her? You failed! All of your strength, all your power, what good was any of it? If I’d had even a shred of your strength I could have…damn it, I was next!”

“Next for what?” Urt asked.

“Next for the experiment! The Mistress was testing a serum that would have turned minions into bigger, stronger versions of themselves. I waited for years for my chance to join the ranks of the battlepixies, scrubbing fucking cauldrons day in and day out and now it’s all ruined!”

She kept wailing on Badax while repeating that last bit – it’s all ruined – over and over again. Eventually though, the pace of Pansy’s blows slowed to a stop and the pixie collapsed on Badax’ shoulder. “What am I supposed to do now?” she sniffled.

Mindful of his strength, Badax reached up and gently tapped her back with his index finger.

“You’re welcome to come along with us,” he said. “We’re not sure where we’re going, but we’d be happy to have another companion along the way.”

Pansy looked up and wiped her eyes. Her glow was pale, but steadily grew stronger as she regained her composure. “Go…with you? I…suppose I could do that…”

“It’s not like there’s anything left for you here,” said Urt. “As soon as word of the Mistress’ death spreads, there will be all sorts of bandits and raiders coming to pillage whatever they can.”

“That’s…true,” Pansy said, hiccupping a little bit. “Okay, I’ll come with you then. Thanks.”

A popup appeared in front of them.

[Minimum party size met! Would you like to form a party?]

Badax looked over at Urt, who shrugged.

“What’s the harm, right?”

“Pansy?”

“Fine with me.”

Grunting, Badax reached out and pressed ‘Yes’. Lines of yellow light appeared in the air, binding the three of them to each other. The bonds were like sunlight, warm and comforting, and from time to time Badax felt flickers of emotion coming from his companions. It was nice.

The popup faded and was replaced by three more.

[You are now a party, Level 1!]

[All members have Ally-Sense, Level 1!]

[Next party level in 100 experience!]

With Pansy still on his shoulder and Urt behind him, Badax continued climbing up toward the world above.