The people crowding around the dance performance didn't stand out in particular. So ordinary they weren't worth studying, weren't worth a second glance. Even with my enhanced senses, nothing stood out about a single person--their clothes nondescript, expressions indistinct, features so average they blended together.

Notice

Mastery of [Demeot Eyes] has increased by 1%. N

One more percent shouldn't make much of a difference, but something finally caught my attention as I registered what word the letters at the end of the notices spelled out.

The people in this crowd had the same faces. Not all of them, but enough that it was uncanny once you noticed. Two brown-haired women with the same face were watching a dance performance with their arms linked. The five dancers were the same lithe man with brown skin and black hair. Three green-eyed teenagers that were exact copies of each other, from the scar on their eyebrow to the shoes they were wearing, were huddled together near the back of the crowd counting money they probably stole.

RUN? What the fuck was that supposed to mean? If he wanted me to run, why not just tell me? He had never had any trouble speaking his mind before now. If he didn't want me to run, spelling it out with crossed-out letters over three System notices was asinine. All it communicated was that he was a useless asshole of a god.

But how he had communicated his uselessness was different. That was fact. Di'at tended to cross-out words that the System preferred, like Quest. Or sometimes he seemed to do it to draw my attention to a certain aspect of his message, like an insult. He probably did want me to run, and he was using the crossed-out letters to indicate how stupid I was for taking this long to notice that the people here had the same faces... or something else was forcing him to use that method to communicate with me.

[Notice]

Mastery of [Demeot Eyes] has increased by 1%.

I'd have to save that for another time because there was something else about these people that I was just noticing.

[Notice]

With [Demeot Eyes], you have successfully identified [Nhaved], a demon of the 10th Dominion of the Underworld.

[Notice]

With [Demeot Eyes], you have successfully identified [Thelgomon], a demon of the 10th Dominion of the Underworld.

[Notice]

With [Demeot Eyes], you have successfully identified [Sorzimoth], a demon of the 10th Dominion of the Underworld.

[Notice]

With [Demeot Eyes], you have successfully identified [Kanath], a demon of the 10th Dominion of the Underworld.

My chest tightened but I forced myself to remain calm because the dungeon wasn't registering this as an encounter. Or, at the very least, the demons didn't seem interested in encountering us. There was no pause to my step, no hesitation in my gait as I crossed the courtyard with Garta, Rose, Rila, Kadhi, and Professor Widhia.

As we passed, none of the others had noticed that there were demons embedded within the crowd, part of it as much as any other person gathered there. We were just another group of people moving through the courtyard, no different than any of the others. This was their home. Of course there were demons here.

Four demons were in the crowd, and I'd only found three sets of the same face. That either meant this demon was the only one with their face here or that I'd only mastered [Demeot Eyes] enough to see through some of possessions. In the past, I'd only been able to tell someone had demon blood or if someone was a demon if they'd transformed into one. Now I'd mastered it enough to tell some of them were demons even though they were disguised as humans.

More than there being only four demons in the crowd, it made sense that they were all demons and I hadn't mastered [Demeot Eyes] enough to tell. Of course everyone here would be demons. Being caught off guard by there being demons in hell was my mistake.

[Notice]

Mastery of [Demeot Eyes] has increased by 1%.

[Notice]

With [Demeot Eyes], you have successfully identified [Ozramaz], a demon of the 10th Dominion of the Underworld.

I couldn't fight four demons, let alone the actual number of demons that were probably hiding in this city. While they were playing nice, our best bet was to act none the wiser. Easy for everyone who hadn't noticed. Easy enough for me.

My eyes had slipped off people before, and so I let them roam without pausing on any one person as we made our way toward the tower. This was probably why Di'at had wanted me to run. He might still want me to run since he hadn't said anything else yet. Running now would only draw too much attention, though, and the path was under fire because of the high tide. By low tide, I'd have to decide what to do next.

By the time we twisted our way to the tower at the top of the island, it was somehow sunset. I'd identified twice as many demons in each subsequent crowd. They were both everywhere and completely uninterested in us. Part of me wanted to believe that the tower really was our only obstacle, but Di'at wouldn't have told me to run if that was the case.

"Well, I have good news," Professor Widhia said after making a circle around the tower with Kadhi at his side. "The tower is the exact dimension of the dungeon, which I think is quite encouraging. There are a few spells I can set up to measure a few more aspects of the tower that we can map onto what we know of [Silvernight] just to be certain, but they will take a few hours even with an extra set of hands."

"What about two extra sets?" Rose asked. "Or even four? I'm sure the first-years could be helpful here."

"That is the whole point," Garta said, looking as bored as ever. His arms were crossed and he looked like he'd snap at anyone who made the wrong expression at him. "The point being practice. Is it not?"

"You're quite right," the professor said with a chuckle. "But in this case, I think it's best to let us do the work, as Kadhi is already familiar with my spellwork methods. These types of measurement spells are tricky, and one small miscalculation and we won't have usable information."

Rila blinked and glanced at Rose. Not a single one of us were convinced, it seemed.

"We need to find a place to stay," Garta said. "At least."

"Oh right again!" The professor put a hand on his hip, tapped his foot, and rubbed his jaw for a lengthy moment. "I think I can entrust this to you four. Not too close to the tower, as it might be dangerous. Not too far away, or my spells won't work as well. Not on the first floor. Not on the top floor either or it'll be too hard to escape. Do you think you can find us something suitable?"

"Yes," Garta said flatly. He sighed, though it sounded more like a grunt, and turned away from the professor to walk back the way we came. The professor looked like he was about to call him back, but Rose caught his attention with a smile.

"Thank you for your hard work, Professor Widhia," she said, all cheery and cheeks a soft pink like her hair. Was that a type of glamor magic? Or a skill? "We'll find the perfect place for all of us. Should we meet back here in... say... an hour? Great."

Rose didn't wait for the professor to answer, putting an arm around Rila's shoulder and another around mine. She steered us in Garta's direction. Rila didn't look pleased but she didn't shrug Rose's arm off this time, either.

"If you're wondering what's wrong with Professor Widhia," Rose whispered once we were far enough away that probably the man couldn't hear us. Probably. "The answer is nothing. He's always that insufferable."

"He has that right," Rila said. She glanced at me, narrowed her eyes, and looked away. "He is a professor at Caemor. He's allowed favorites. Isn't Kadhi his assistant?"

"Yeah, yeah," Rose said with a sigh. "Every professor has their favorite, but Professor Widhia is just stupid when it comes to everyone who's not his. I've done spellwork with him before and he knows I'm perfectly capable. That said, I don't mind babysitting you."

"You are not babysitting us," Rila said. Now she shrugged Rose's arm off her. She walked quicker, finding a pocket between Garta in front and Rose, who only laughed and moved to hug me instead. She gave me an unnecessary squeeze then chased after Rila, and Rila did not look too mad about it.

Garta ended up finding a building for us to stay in overnight in the neighborhood we encountered before we reached the tower. It wasn't on the main street, but it was a slightly taller building with a view of the central courtyard, the tower, and the portal. We spent our hour clearing the building from top to bottom.

The apartment we'd decided was ours for the night had beds for everyone minus one person on the couch. One bed in the largest room, where Rose and Rila had decided to sleep. Then a bed each in three other rooms. I chose the couch so it'd be easy to sneak out and check on the path to the portal overnight.

I was almost convinced Di'at had been sarcastic when he'd spelled out RUN, but then I noticed my reflection on the glass top of the coffee table. That was my face--well, Gerard's face--but that was not me.

[Notice]

With [Demeot Eyes], you have successfully identified [Milrozig], a pride demon of the 10th Dominion of the Underworld. Pride demons are a type of lesser demon that manifests as your reflection in the mirror.