Zeke’s chest heaved as the head of his hammer thudded against the ground, resulting in a sizable divot in the Rainbow Forest’s soft, mossy turf. Raking his hand through his sweaty hair, he looked around at the devastation he’d wrought. Behind him, a path of fallen trees stretched for miles, while he stood at the epicenter of destruction that stretched for almost a hundred yards in every direction. Fallen trees, crushed kobolds, and churned, bloody turf surrounded him.

As it turned out, the miners avoided the Rainbow Forest for good reason. It was absolutely infested with kobolds, and not just the smaller, weaker versions, either. Over the past few days, Zeke had fought over a dozen of Legionnaires as he crossed the multi-hued forest. His journey had culminated with a fight against a level fifty-five Kobold Centurion. Thankfully, none of them had actual names; otherwise, Zeke might have had to flee. Even fighting those mundane creatures had stretched his abilities to the limit, and the last battle had been a truly titanic clash that he was lucky to have survived.

Looking down, he saw that his entire body was covered in shallow wounds. He’d long since run out of mana, so he couldn’t even activate [Metallurgical Repair]. His only option – for now – was to simply endure until he had enough mana to heal himself. Not a pleasant prospect, but it wasn’t as onerous as it might’ve been if he hadn’t been equipped with the racial ability to ignore pain.

“Are you well, my friend?” came Jasper’s voice.

Zeke looked back at his companion. Jasper didn’t look much better off, with his slave’s rags having been ripped to shreds by the horde of lesser kobolds. At first, he’d tried to hang back and hide, but the vicious, little creatures were having none of that. Still, armed only with his pickaxe, he’d held his own, hinting that the slender dark elf was more powerful than Zeke had assumed at first glance. If he had decent skills, he could prove a staunch ally – or a dangerous enemy. Either way, Jasper bore dozens of wounds of his own. None were life-threatening – at least as far as Zeke could see – but if they weren’t treated soon, they might become more troublesome.

“I’m fine,” Zeke said. “In an hour or so, I’ll have enough mana to heal myself. Until then, I’ll just deal with it. I’m more worried about you.”

“Your concern is unnecessary,” said Jasper. “So long as I am underground, my body heals rapidly. A perk of my ancestry.”

“Oh.”

“I guess we should probably find some shelter, then,” Zeke said. He hadn’t eaten in a couple of days, and though he felt that he could keep going if necessary, he would prefer not to. “Preferably where we don’t have to deal with a bunch of little monsters.”

“Indeed,” Jasper agreed. “Shall we go back, or should we forge ahead?”

Zeke lifted his hammer and pointed in the direction they’d been headed when they were attacked by the Centurion. “We’ve come this far,” he said, looking above the trees. He had no way to be certain, but he felt that the cavern would soon come to an end. Was that basic intuition? Or a perk of his class? The description had mentioned a connection to earth and metals, so {Arcane Colossus} might have come with some sort of extrasensory perception when it came to those categories.

Whatever the case, it wasn’t as if Zeke would ever consider turning back – not until he got what he wanted. So, he shook his head and said, “Let’s keep pushing. I’m sure there will be somewhere to rest up ahead.”

With that, Zeke dismissed his hammer and started forward. As he went, he had to climb over fallen trees, but the process wasn’t too arduous. Jasper had a harder time, but the dark elf never complained. After they cleared the devastated battlefield, the pair reentered the forest. It was as overgrown as any tropical rainforest, but Zeke summoned a sword he’d looted back in Jariq and arduously cut a path through the brush. Like that, they traveled for hours; it seemed that they’d finally finished off the last of the kobolds – a good thing, because even after he'd gathered enough mana to activate [Metallurgical Repair], Zeke knew it would take some time before he was completely whole.

And the lack of sleep was beginning to get to him. He could push through it easily enough, but not without consequences. Finally, Zeke had had enough, so he decided to trust Jasper with yet another of his secrets.

Stopping, he said, “Hold back. We can’t keep going like this.”

“Resting here is a bad idea, my friend,” was Jasper’s immediate response. His words were slurred, and when Zeke looked back, he saw that the dark elf swayed on his feet. “We must soldier on.”

Zeke put his hand on the elf’s chest, stopping him. Then, he said, “I’ve got this. Don’t worry.”

Then, without further ado, Zeke embraced the runes behind the tattoo on his chest and summoned the Crimson Tower. Immediately, the domineering structure manifested, toppling trees as it settled into a spot about thirty yards ahead of them. The tower was unchanged from the last time Zeke had summoned it – a tall spire topped with a crown of aggressive flanges and constructed of crimson metal. Fortunately, the cavern’s ceiling was high enough to accommodate the tower’s height. Its aura swept over him, and Zeke felt his shoulders sag in relaxation.

“W-what is that…”

Zeke looked back to see his companion staring at the tower, fear and awe etched upon his face. But Zeke was used to it; everyone seemed to have that reaction the first time they saw the tower, and he suspected it would be even more pronounced now that it looked so domineering.

“This is my home,” Zeke said. “Come on.”

He stepped forward and quickly covered the ground to the tower’s gate. The portcullis was up, but Zeke knew that he could lower it with only a thought. In addition, the huge double doors that were the tower’s entrance had changed a little since last time he’d summoned the tower. They were the same size as they h ad been right after his ascension; however, instead of the mundane wood he was used to seeing, they were constructed of stark, white metal. The entire surface was etched with intricate, blood-red runes. It only took one glance for Zeke to realize that they were as unfathomable as the tower’s underlying enchantment.

Upon his approach, the doors opened of their own accord, and, after climbing the steps, Zeke wasted no time before entering his home. The interior was unchanged, with the first floor acting as a lobby. With white tiles carved with the same runes that were etched into the doors, the space was mostly open. In the center was a spiraling staircase, the base of which was a statue depicting Zeke and his companions. To his surprise, Abby was no longer there.

Ringing the first floor were a series of statues meant to commemorate Zeke’s accomplishments. Every major event was represented – from his battle against the troll warlord to his fight against Zila, the demoness who’d guarded the Portal of Ascension. It was a reminder of the odds he’d overcome as well as a not-so-subtle hint of the escalating nature of the threats arrayed against his climb to power. Each fight had been difficult, but he knew that if he let himself stagnate, he’d soon be overwhelmed by the next enemy. It was a sobering reminder that he couldn’t stop moving forward.

Jasper’s shuffling steps announced that the elf had overcome his fear and had entered the tower. Zeke glanced back to see his companion studying the tower’s décor in awe.

“What is this place?” Jasper asked.

“It’s called the Crimson Tower,” Zeke answered. “It’s an ability. Sort of. It’s difficult to explain. But we should be safe in here. Plus, there’s plenty of food, soft beds, and, most importantly, showers.”

“Showers…”

Jasper didn’t seem capable of saying anything else, he was so dumbstruck. Instead, he followed Zeke up the spiraling stairs, his eyes lingering on the statue-like carving of Zeke’s friends. As they went, Zeke explained the tower’s layout, showing him the kitchen and where he could rest. Once that was done, he headed to his own quarters, took a shower, and dressed in something other than rags.

Then, he headed down to the kitchen, where he started cooking with the ingredients he had stored in the tower’s cellar. Before long, he had a rudimentary meal prepared, and it was ready just in time for Jasper to reappear.

For the first time since they’d met, the elf was clean, which let Zeke get a good look at his newest companion. Jasper was handsome – painfully so – but in a slightly alien way that Zeke might have found a little off-putting if he didn’t already know the dark elf. It was just too perfect to feel completely genuine.

Jasper grinned, saying, “My friend, this tower is an amazing work of art! I have never seen its like!”

“Me neither,” Zeke admitted, setting a plate of monster meat, potatoes, and some local vegetables he’d bought back in Jariq. Thoughts of the desert city brought with them a pang of guilt and regret; had the city already been overrun by the undead? Zeke was certain that he’d made the right choice. The Radiant Isles had been doomed. But knowing that he couldn’t have made any other decision didn’t mean he had to like it. “It should dissuade any monsters from attacking, though. So, rest easy.”

After that, the pair of them eagerly tore into their meal. Neither spoke, too intent on sating the hunger that had been building for days. Judging by Jasper’s thin frame and sunken cheeks, Zeke suspected that the dwarves didn’t always feed their charges very well. Likely, they only gave them enough to keep them mining. Anything more would have to be earned.

Once they’d finished, Zeke finally asked a question that had been on his mind since he’d met the dark elf. “So,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “How did you end up as a slave?”

“Ah,” answered Jasper, running a hand through his white hair. “That is a true tale of woe, my friend. In the beginning, when I was but a child of fortune and status, I felt the keening call of adventure. But alas, my family had other plans. I was to be a jeweler, just like everyone else in the clan. Everyone except my uncle, of course. Ah, but he was a true swashbuckler. When he died, I was truly distraught.”

Jasper shook his head, then continued, “But even though he was gone, his memory lived on in my imagination. I idolized him, even going so far as to adopt his preferred style as my own. Initially, my parents thought it a passing fancy of youth, but as I grew older, they realized it was much more than that. The life of a jeweler – even a well-regarded one – was no life for me! So, when I came of age, I…ah…procured my uncle’s old weapons and fled the life of privilege in favor of adventure.

“Alas, that life is an unforgiving one, and over time, I grew desperate,” he said. “In the end, I ran afoul of the stone dwarves and was captured. Thus, I ended up here. A truly tragic tale, if I say so myself.”

Zeke knew that the dark elf wasn’t telling the whole story, but in the end, it didn’t really matter. He knew enough. Jasper hadn’t wanted to go into the family business, so he’d set off on his own, hoping to emulate his adventuring uncle. But at some point, he’d been captured and enslaved by the stone dwarves. There were obviously a lot of details left unsaid, but right now, they were inconsequential.

“What of you, my friend?” Jasper asked. “How did you get here? Surely, with your power, you could have evaded capture.”

“I’ve already told you,” Zeke said. “There are things I need to do in these mines.”

“The quest you mentioned.”

Zeke nodded, answering, “Yeah.”

But Zeke also suspected that there was something else he was supposed to do. Oberon could have put him anywhere, and Zeke was almost certain that he could have found the materials for his quest elsewhere. But Oberon had put him right in the dwarves’ path, which meant that there was like more to it than he knew. He just needed to figure it all out.

After a few seconds, he asked, “What else do you think we’ll find down here? More kobolds? Or worse?”

“Worse, most assuredly,” Jasper said. “The legionnaires and centurions are fearsome opponents, but they are the least powerful creatures we will see. Hopefully, we will find your blood mithril before we encounter anything truly foul.”

“Yeah,” Zeke said. The kobolds had already started pushing against his limits; individually, they weren’t too overbearing, but as a group, they were dangerous. If the fight had lasted much longer, his exhaustion would have driven him into making mistakes. And while they weren’t the strongest creatures Zeke had ever fault, the kobolds were powerful enough to make him pay dearly for his errors. His still healing body was a testament to that.

In any case, he needed to at least find the blood mithril. Only then could he turn back and figure out how to achieve his other goals.

But that would have to wait. For now, he needed to take things one step at a time. Otherwise, it would be too easy to get overwhelmed. To that end, he’d focus on getting the blood mithril first, then figure out the rest once he had more information. It wasn’t the best plan in the world, but it was the best he could come up with his limited information.

So, after they’d finished eating, Zeke led Jasper to one of the bedrooms before retreating to his own bed. Lying there, though, he couldn’t stop thinking of his other companions. He was most worried about Pudge. After all, the infernal bear was little more than an adolescent. He could take care of himself well enough, but what would happen if he met other people? Would they attack him, thinking he was just another monster? Or would he be captured because of his unique nature? Zeke didn’t know, and that lack of knowledge filled him with worry.

Hope you’re okay, buddy, he thought, knowing that Pudge wouldn’t be able to hear him from so far away.