Achilles entered the blasted-open hole in the wall, descending down the stairway that had been hidden on the other side. The staircase was narrow, and it did not seem to have been built with the ease of travel in mind. Perhaps it had been intended as an alternate route to the vault.

He held Virgil in front of him, trying to keep his breaths as quiet as possible. It was a good thing the sword could hear his thoughts and that he didn't need to speak out loud.

asked Virgil.

"It just seems strange that all this happened on the night I came here. What a coincidence, right?"

Achilles nodded. That made sense. "And I suppose he must not be gone from his mansion very often, if they were waiting for him to be gone for just one night."

"Then why didn't he hire some guards tonight?"

Achilles stopped. The stairway ended only a few meters down, and there was no door in the doorway, and only darkness beyond. He strained to listen, but could not hear any noise.

"Hey, Virgil, I think it would be good idea to gain that Feat you were talking about. The one that makes it harder for me to be surprised."

The spectral book appeared in front of Achilles's face, and it flipped open to a page describing the Alert Feat.

>

"Yes."

Virgil's eldritch eyes, which had followed Achilles around wherever he went while Virgil was drawn, shifted as ten of them evaporated into black smoke.

The book snapped shut and turned into mist which swirled around Achilles and then absorbed into his skin. The world around him suddenly came a tiny bit more into focus, and Achilles felt an unfamiliar sense of calm, as though he knew for certain that there was nobody nearby waiting to attack him.

Achilles suppressed a laugh. "This is amazing! Even if it did cost 10 eyes. I can't wait to try more Feats!"

Virgil was right. Relying on his darkvision and his new Feat, Achilles walked through to the floor below. There was a small antechamber at the bottom, perhaps fifteen by fifteen meters. Achilles could only see about two-thirds of the way into the room with his darkvision, and after that it dissolved into blackness, for there was no light at all.

He cautiously stepped forward until the end of the room came into view. A set of intricate golden double doors had been thrown wide, and beyond was a small room which seemed to have shelves lining the left and right walls, with weapons lined up on racks on the back wall. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, but was not lit.

A single chest, not very large, sat in the very middle of this room, and a figure sat on top of it.

But before Achilles could make out the figure's details, it suddenly disappeared!

Virgil yelled at him to look out, but Achilles had already sensed the intended sneak attack.

He spun in place and swung in an upward slash with Virgil, parrying the two knuckle dusters which had come down like hammers to hit him in the back of the head.

The figure sprang back a few paces. He was a dwarf!

Achilles had never seen one, but he had heard descriptions of them.

He was a little shorter than Achilles, but his chest and arms and legs were very stocky, giving him an almost bull-like appearance. He wore trousers, but no shirt. His long, dark beard was braided down his chest.

On each hand, the dwarf wielded spiked knuckle dusters which seemed to be made of dark metal.

"Ho ho, what do we have here?" The dwarf asked in a rumbling voice. "When I received word that I was to accompany this job by myself, I was surprised. I wasn't given any details as to what complications might arise, but now here you are."

Achilles gritted his teeth. A sudden trickle of doubt came into his mind. Had a Sir Azarah set this whole thing up to make it appear that the platinum he was supposed to be guarding had been stolen? Had Sir Azarah set Achilles up?

No. Sir Azarah had been his father's ally and friend. He would never do something like that.

"I don't know what you're implying," Achilles growled. "Leave now, and you can live. I've already killed your men and your Rogue. As you can see, sneak attacks are useless against me."

said Virgil.

The dwarf nodded slowly. "Not only that, but you clearly have darkvision, despite being a human. That weapon you're holding—it looks intricate. Almost as fine craftsmanship as dwarvish weapons, though the design is clearly different. It must be an artifact weapon, hmmm? It gives you some extra senses, am I right? I wonder if it would even allow you to see spirits, or invisible enemies."

The dwarf's tone was not at all sinister. It sounded truly interested and a little excited. He also stood in a fairly casual stance and wasn't acting aggressively.

For the briefest moment, Achilles wondered if perhaps they could come to some kind of agreement.

Then the dwarf leaped forward without warning!

"I'll have to take my time to examine it once I pull it off your corpse!" the dwarf shouted. "Sneak attacks might not work, but I have other tricks!"

Achilles dodged out of the way of the dwarf's punches. He took a step back, then counterattacked, but missed.

To Achilles's astonishment, the dwarf reached into the pocket of his trousers and pulled out a silver and black beetle with wiggling legs. Then he opened the widest mouth Achilles had ever seen, threw the beetle into his mouth, and chewed thoroughly before swallowing!

said Virgil.

For the briefest moment, Achilles turned his attention to the dwarf's class. He was a 1st Level Dwarf and a 2nd Level Rogue.

Achilles's heart pounded. A creature with multiple classes?

said Virgil, urgently.

"No!" Achilles shouted. "If I run, then he'll kill Lanter for sure, and steal the platinum the emperor gave Sir Azarah to protect! My father was willing to give up all his glory and his old life to serve the empire. If I have to risk my life to do the same, then that's what I'll have to do!"

He lunged forward—

"Weapon Art: Disarm!" said the dwarf.

He swung both knuckle dusters toward Virgil, and in a few moments, the sword had spun out of Achilles's grip!

Virgil's voice vanished from Achilles's mind as he lost contact, and then the dwarf snatched Virgil out of the air.

"Now let's take a good look—ow!"

Long, thin spikes had sprouted out of Virgil's grip and pierced through the dwarf's hand!

The dwarf instinctively hurled Virgil away, and Achilles sprinted over to pick the sword up.

said Virgil.

It was very difficult for Achilles to focus on both what was really in front of him and the system information which swirled around other creatures as thoughts in his head when he looked at them.

But he tried to keep Virgil in a defensive position as he scanned the dwarf's system information. It did look like he had no more Weapon Arts remaining. But his stats seemed very high. Much higher than Achilles's.

"Yes," said Achilles. "This is a magical sword. It's very powerful. I don't want to have to use this power, but I could kill you here and now. This is your last chance. Run or die!"

The dwarf had finally regained control of himself. Blood dripped from his pierced hand, but he looked completely unconcerned. "If you had that power, you would've used it by now. I appreciate the bluffing, though. Come on, join my team! We work for some very powerful people. I could use someone with your bravado."

Well, that had been worth a shot.

With no other option, Achilles charged.

The dwarf let the blow land and deal 2 points of damage.

The dwarf still had 8 HP left—and calmly grabbed Achilles by the head.

Then he began slamming his fist repeatedly into Achilles's face.

Achilles pulled his sword free of the dwarf's body and slashed as fast as he could, dealing 1 or 2 points of damage each time that went completely undefended, but it was no use.

His few remaining HP vanished, and he had no healing left.

Virgil fell from his grasp.

The dwarf, still holding Achilles by the head, lifted his unconscious body a few centimeters off the ground. "Such a shame," he said.

Then he pulled back the fist he had used to knock Achilles out. It was the one the sword had pierced, and blood still dripped from it.

And he swung with every ounce of strength in his body, determined to land the blow that would outright kill this pathetic upstart.

Time stopped.

The dwarf's fist slowed down before it could touch Achilles's face, and the dwarf trembled at an unfamiliar voice that seemed to come from all around.

"Good sir, I am afraid I cannot allow you to terminate my master's guest."