Serenity sat down and pulled up the notification he’d ignored.

[Path Choice Quest (Branching) Step 3: The Dungeon of Death]

[You have entered a Death and Undead-aligned dungeon while bearing the Heart of the Deathless. This has angered the Heart; it wishes to destroy or take over the dungeon. You must choose how to deal with both the Heart and the Dungeon]

[Take no Unnecessary Risks: You are here to help Katya, but there is no reason you have to take on this dungeon. Leave, either on your own or after convincing her to exit as well]

[Conditions: Exit the dungeon without engaging any enemies]

[Reward: The Heart will return to its previous state]

[Failure Condition: Engage an enemy or stay in the dungeon for longer than 12 hours]

[Failure Consequences: The Heart will be roused and additional measures will be required]

That was definitely an option; it reminded Serenity of the Safe option in the previous set of options. This set of choices certainly wouldn’t have happened if he’d taken the safe path.

[Fight for Dominance: Using Death magic in a Death/Undead Dungeon, even to control the Heart, may rouse the Heart of the Deathless to a fury]

[Conditions: Dominate the dungeon using Death magic to rouse the Heart, then fight the Heart for control]

[Reward: The Heart will be angered rather than clever when you fight. It may attack early, but these attacks will be inconclusive unless you lose. Your reward from the Dungeon will match your choice]

[Conditional Reward: Conquering the Dungeon will immediately trigger the dominance fight, even if your undead conversion is incomplete. You will transform into a creature that is partially living and partially undead, gaining the benefits and drawbacks of each, and the dungeon will be altered to match your transformation]

[Failure Condition: Fail to control the power and mind resident in the Heart of the Deathless]

[Conditional Failure Consequences: Return the Deathless to undeath; True Death of Serenity]

Ugh. This was essentially doubling down on A Lich Again. As far as Serenity was concerned, that was a failure consequence, not a quest.

[Threading the Needle: Avoid using any active Death magic in the dungeon to avoid angering the Heart more than necessary, then calm the Heart down by defeating the dungeon]

[Conditions: Use the least amount of Death magic possible. Eat Death must be kept to a minimum, allowing slow growth of the Heart. Complete the Dungeon before the undeath grows too far. Estimated time available: 30 days]

[Reward: The Heart’s anger will be soothed by the defeat of the dungeon, returning it to its previous state. Your reward from the Dungeon will match your choice]

[Failure Condition: Use Death Magic of any sort, including Deathstrike or Eat Death]

[Failure Consequences: Trigger the Fight for Dominance when the dungeon is defeated]

[Failure Condition: Conquer the Dungeon]

[Failure Consequences: Immediately trigger the Fight for Dominance]

Possible, but risky. The only reason to choose it over leaving the dungeon would be if there was a reason to not leave the dungeon.

There might be a good reason not to leave; if Hale had already left, they didn’t have transportation anymore. Serenity didn’t really want to walk however far it was if he didn’t have to. It could take weeks.

[Reinforcing the Path: You have chosen to take the path that leads to the destination you want, even though the way is uncomfortable and difficult. Will you make that choice again?]

[Conditions: Request that your Death affinity be blocked for the duration of the dungeon. You will be unable to Evolve until you exit the dungeon due to the blocked Affinity. You will be unable to lock the progression of undeath spread by the Heart until you leave the dungeon. The corruption of the Heart will spread much faster, as you will not be restraining it. This choice must be made within twelve hours of entering the dungeon, before the first combat]

[Reward: Your tie to Death magic and partially undead state will be hidden until you Evolve. For this Evolution, you may wait to Evolve even after your Core has reached 100% if you are not yet ready]

[Conditional Reward: If you conquer the dungeon instead of defeating it, your Core progression will be advanced to be ready to Evolve. You will be able to choose additional options for this dungeon, possibly including a base element other than Death. The Heart will be emboldened and attack, but defeating it will not immediately transform you while your Death affinity is blocked]

[Failure Condition: Fail to complete the dungeon before the undeath spreads too far. Approximate time available: Five days]

[Failure Consequences: Complete A Lich Again or suffer its failure consequences]

This one echoed The Way Out is Through strongly; as the quest said, it was making the same choice again. If only he knew how long the dungeon would take. It was risky, yet it removed the temptation to do something he shouldn’t, and the reward was an actual reward.

“Katya? How long should this dungeon take?” Serenity wanted to ask if they’d be done in five days, but he definitely didn’t want to push her into an answer by offering one.

“Depends on how deep the Catacombs are. If everything goes well, could be a few hours, but most likely it’ll be two or three days. Why?”

Serenity still wasn’t looking towards Katya, so he didn’t know what she was doing. “Path Choice Quest, I got the next branch when we came in here. The option I’d like to take has a time limit. Five days.”

“Haven’t had a dungeon take that long on Tzintkra yet, unless we dive deep into the Catacombs. I wasn’t planning to, I want to stay to the levels I can solo. Not sure how strong you two are.”

“It also locks out my strongest ability against undead but if you think you can solo this-” Serenity turned back to face the others. Katya had started a fire while he was looking through the quest screen, and seemed to be heating water. “Why a campfire? Wouldn’t it be easier to just carry a portable stove?”

“Can’t afford one. Not for use several times a day, anything I could both afford and carry would break in a month. Even on Tzintkra, wood’s cheaper than that. How do you not know that? I thought you’d been around a while?” Katya seemed puzzled.

“I was thinking of home and my childhood. When we went-” There wasn’t a word in Bridge that meant “camping”. “When we spent the night outside, we’d take along a gas stove.” There wasn’t a word for “propane”, either. At Katya’s puzzled look, Serenity elaborated. “It burns the gas for heat where you want it.”

Katya looked enlightened. “Oh, an alchemist’s burner! You must have been rich to use that for cooking.”

“No, they were cheap…” At least, he thought they were. He hadn’t been camping in years, but they’d certainly never treated the camp stove like it was anything special when he was a child.

It was such a little thing to bring home the difference between Earth and elsewhere, but - wasn’t it mass manufacturing that made things cheap?

I wonder if we can trade in camp stoves? For that matter, how can we set up trade at all?

It was going to be difficult. Until the invasions were over, there wasn’t supposed to be any way to get to Earth other than through an invasion, which meant trade would be difficult. They could probably set up something after they killed all the invasions; he should make that a priority once he made it back to Earth. Offplanet trade would-

“Did you want some tea?” Katya sounded impatient, as though she’d asked more than once.

“Hm? Oh, sure.” It wasn’t coffee or the soda he’d usually have in the evening, but tea was a common beverage, and most teas were at least drinkable. They were relatively safe, which made them a common alternative to the alcoholic beverages that were the other safe option. Serenity knew that was because the process of making them required boiling the water - which once again brought home just how far from home he was.

He started to think about all the things he missed, but Katya handed him an earthenware cup. It was large but didn’t have a handle; Serenity suspected that it served the same purpose as a mug but was probably easier to make. It looked fairly crude; the clay was a little uneven and even the glaze didn’t look consistent. It held the hot tea, though, so it was good enough.

“So what’s got you so distracted?” Katya tugged her seating pad closer to Serenity then sat down, facing him. “You seemed more present yesterday. I had to poke you three times before you answered about the tea.”

Serenity took a sip of the tea. It was little more than hot water with a hint of flavor, but the flavor reminded him of peppermint. It wasn’t peppermint, the smell was completely different, but it was similarly light and refreshing.

Tea would also be a good export, I bet. Herbal tea would definitely be popular, and I bet real tea would as well; the question is if we’d make money. Tea bags alone would help.

“I was thinking of home. I miss my family and I miss Rissa, and they need me. I need to be there, not here, but I don’t know how I can get there.” Serenity sipped some more of the not-mint tea. He wasn’t sure he was getting much more out of it than boiled water, but that was the point, after all. He wondered if it tasted different to a human, or if it was simply weak.

He’d have to try a tea he knew to find out, and he’d rather have coffee anyway.

Katya nodded and a slight smile touched the corners of her mouth. “I miss home, too. The people, mostly, but whenever a storm comes through it reminds me of the spirit falls we had. There used to be one near where I grew up, we’d go out and watch it some evenings. The spirits sing if you’re there at sunset. Or sunrise, but I never liked getting up that early.” The smile on Katya’s face disappeared. “But there’s no place for me there now. No place for any of us, really. I’m going to move my family to a better planet once I have enough Etherium. I’m thinking about somewhere on Ravel; there are supposed to be some really nice crafting enclaves there.”

“At least you have a home.” Raz’s voice rumbled with sorrow. “Mine is gone. Destroyed. Mother-” Raz reached up to touch the torc he wore around his neck. “Mother told me to run, and not come back. I want to go back someday. It won’t be soon.”

The three were silent as they drank the tea, each remembering a home they were not in. Eventually, Serenity decided he needed to break the quiet. “Perhaps - once I find a way home, if you want, you can come with me? It won’t be peaceful, but it’s a place, at least. We could use people who know what they’re doing. I’m sure we could find places for your family, too, Katya.” A family of craftsmen would be a boon to Earth. They didn’t even have to be very good to be extremely useful. Serenity wasn’t as sure about Raz, but there was no harm in offering the boy a place, as well.

“That explains your wealth. You’re a noble. I shouldn’t be surprised.” Katya shook her head. “It’s not like that for the rest of us. We can’t just decide to move. Moving everything will cost more than anyone can afford, that’s why I’m out here. We have to have enough left after the move to make a living with. Maybe you can handle the permits but everything else - it won’t be that fast.”

Permits? Serenity really wasn’t sure what permits they’d need after they got through customs.

Would there even be a customs setup for a portal? There probably should be if they were going to do regular trade.

Oh hell. Immigration.

Serenity had no idea how that would work. Yes, he could probably get them to Earth, but after that, what would happen? He still didn’t know how he was going to prove his own identity, never mind others’.

Katya laughed at Serenity’s expression. “Realized how hard it is now, hm? Good enough. You can tell me about why I should move to your home some time later. Not tonight, though. Tonight I want to sleep.”

“Shouldn’t we set watches?” Raz asked.

Katya shook her head. “No. Dungeons on Tzintkra - standard dungeons, at least - usually have a safe area at the entrance. It’s not very big, but we’re in it. I also put out some warding stones earlier; they’ll screech and wake us if a monster gets near. And now, I’m going to bed. Sleep well you two.”

Serenity was glad he didn’t register as a monster.

Serenity settled down for the night. He wasn’t sure how going to the Tutorial would interact with the timer on his Path Choice Quest. It would likely not matter for tonight, but he definitely wouldn’t be able to take the time later in the dungeon anyway.