I walked down the dirt road with Grayson and Lenore as the three of us were getting soaked from the rain. Well, they were already soaked but I was slowly getting there myself.

My ‘Armor of the Enchantress’ was keeping me surprisingly warm and dry. The built-in protection enchantment was resisting the cold and rain, but enough was getting in that my hair was now wet, as was the fabric part of my armor. If this continued, then by the time we reached the lodge, the water might even have soaked through the main part of my armor.

We were currently making the walk from Moose Tow proper back to the remote post, specifically, to the lodge where we all had rooms to stay in. It would have been a lot more convenient and comfortable to stay back in town, but our current lodgings were a lot more affordable.

“I feel like we’re back in the Labyrinth,” I complained. “The only thing we’re missing are the damn monsters.”

“We have those around here too,” Grayson reminded me in a cheerful tone. “Some of them always manage to slip out of the Labyrinth.”

“That’s why you should always have a weapon in the Labyrinth zones,” Lenore added. “You never know when you’re gonna run into those little bastards.”

She pointed off to the side where I saw one of those little turtle rat monsters that were so common in this area. Without missing a beat, Lenore raised her bow, conjured an arrow, and shot the thing.

“Better than running into some of the more dangerous ones that make it through,” Grayson said. “Some of the things that escape the Labyrinth are pretty nasty.”

I nodded at that as I brushed my wet hair out of my face. Then I glanced down at the bags I was holding, hoping that the rain didn’t ruin any of my purchases. I hadn’t bought a lot, but I didn’t want to lose any of what I did have.

When we reached the lodge, I left the others and went straight to my room. Once I was locked inside, I deactivated my armor and I was instantly naked. Out of curiosity, I reactivated it again, only to find that it was once again clean and dry.

“Instant laundry and dry cleaning,” I mused, once again appreciating all the benefits of my armor.

A few seconds later, my armor was gone again. After that walk in the rain, I really wanted a nice warm shower, then a hot fire to dry off in. However, it seemed that Lenore had the same thought and had beat me to it because the shower turned on in our shared bathroom.

It didn’t take too long before I had my own turn. I hurried into the bathroom, took a quick shower, and then began the process of drying off. This time, I even had a new brush that I bought, and I made sure to use it on my hair. Not only did this make my hair look nicer, but brushing it also felt oddly relaxing.

When I was finally ready to get dressed again, I found myself feeling uncertain. My armor was clean, comfortable, and convenient, but I wanted to wear something else for awhile. However, the only other clothes I really had were the ones that Riel had given me. They would work, but they didn’t look like a great fit, and they certainly wouldn’t look all that good on me.

In the end, I reactivated my armor again. It appeared around my body, giving me comfort, support, and style. I smiled as I looked myself over in the mirror, realizing that I would probably end up wearing my armor a lot of the time, even when I didn’t need the protection.

“Not bad,” I mused as I ran a brush through my hair one more time. “Not bad at all.”

Of course, I could have done with a little jewelry. Not much. Maybe some earrings and a pendant, nothing that would get in the way of my armor or look too gaudy. And since my armor didn’t cover my hands, I could probably get away with a ring or two as well.

Then I shook my head, still a little unsettled by the direction that my thoughts were taking. That kind of thing had been occurring quite often since my respawn, but it was still strange. The strangest thing about it was just how comfortable and normal those new thoughts felt.

“At least I’m presentable for dinner,” I mused aloud before leaving my room.

When I reached the area of the lodge that served as restaurant and cafeteria, nearly everyone turned to look at me. I bit back a smile and pretended that I didn’t notice the attention, though I most certainly did. I wasn’t sure how much of the attention was due to my being a hot chick with nice tits and how much was from my presence, but I guessed it didn’t really matter.

I looked around and recognized a couple of the faces. Giles was back, though he was now dressed in a grey uniform rather than the grey armor than I was used to seeing him in. At that moment, he was sitting at a table with the other Warden, Riel. The two of them were deep in conversation though my perception score wasn’t nearly high enough for me to hear what they were saying.

Grayson was sitting at a table by himself with a plate of food in front of him. I immediately went over and joined him.

“Lenore should probably be out here soon,” I told him. She’d already had her shower and I heard a bit of shuffling from her room before I left.

As I expected, Lenore joined us a short time later. She was dressed mostly in black, as expected, though her clothes weren’t quite as distinctly ‘goth’ as I would have imagined. Then again, clothing options were limited, so she’d probably done the best with what she could find at short notice.

“I’m thinking we probably should have just stayed the night back at Moose Tow proper,” Lenore said as she took her seat. “Then we wouldn’t have had to deal with that fucking rain.”

“There were a few more food options too,” Grayson responded with a shrug. “But we’ve already paid to stay here, and I don’t feel like wasting more money just for a little AC.”

I nodded at that, then looked over at the food in front of Grayson. “Hey, Lenore,” I asked. “Can conjurers make food?”

“Some can,” she responded with a shrug. “I’ve even met one who specializes in it.” Then she smirked. “It’s not really any different from when the Laybrinth makes food for us.”

“Conjurers who can make good food are pretty popular for delve teams,” Grayson told me. “For obvious reasons.”

“Conjurers are fucking awesome,” Lenore insisted. “One conjurer can supply a whole team. I mean, if I focused more on powering my abilities and less on doing my own fighting, I could have done the whole quartermaster thing, giving weapons and armor to everyone on a team.”

“It is a flexible class,” Grayson agreed pleasantly. “Some conjurers, like Lenore, focus on creating equipment for themselves, while others focus more on their abilities and take a support role.”

“Sort of like enchanters,” I said, looking at Grayson and thinking about the very different ways that we both use the same class.

“Exactly,” the other enchanter agreed. “Same class, different paths.”

A short time later, Lenore and I had our own food and were busy eating when Giles finally came over to join us. He took a seat and just sat there with a serious expression on his face, waiting for us to finish before he started talking.

“I reported our findings,” Giles said. “And I learned a few things in return.”

“What kind of things?” Grayson asked, leaning forward as he did so.

“Two of the other teams have also returned,” Giles explained. “And they found the same thing that we did. The Labyrinth zones that vanished are now part of the Labyrinth itself.”

“Damn,” I exclaimed. “So, what? The Labyrinth is eating these zones?” I looked around, remembering that we were currently inside a Labyrinth zone. “Are we safe staying here?”

Lenore grimaced. “I don’t want to end up back inside the Labyrinth without any fucking warning.”

Giles paused for a couple seconds, though whether it was to let us vent or because he was deciding what to tell us, I didn’t know. Then he took a deep breath and nodded faintly.

“There are things that we know about the Labyrinth,” he said carefully. “It exists outside of our normal space and reality, though what the really means, we can’t be sure. There are lots of theories. However, about a year ago, we received a credible report that seems to relate to what is happening now.”

“A lot of words just to say ‘I don’t know’,” Lenore said with a snort.

“The report was from someone who found information inside the Labyrinth,” Giles continued, seemingly ignoring Lenore. “She found evidence that the Labyrinth actually connects to other worlds, and that it sometimes expands to even more worlds.”

“Like ours,” I said in understanding.

Giles nodded at that. “This report also claimed that the Labyrinth absorbed parts of those other worlds in order to grow and expand.”

“Which is what seems to be happening here,” Grayson mused. “Did that report say anything about how to stop it?”

“No, Mister Grayson,” Giles answered. “But we do know that each of the entrances that vanished…or were absorbed…had several things in common. The most important is that these were all in remote locations, ones without a real human presence and which had been overrun by monsters. Other entrances have been present and stable for far longer, but still remain without any changes.”

“Interesting,” Grayson mused. “Go on.”

Giles hesitated for a few seconds before adding, “There is other information in this report, information about respawned players.” He paused again, looking back and forth between the three of us. “About why you were respawned.”

“Really?” Lenore asked, looking a little skeptical. “Isn’t that the kind of thing that every single respawned has been asking since the first one stepped out of the Labyrinth? And you’re saying that the Wardens already have the answer?”

“Yes, Miss Lenore,” Giles responded. “The Wardens to have an answer. Or more accurately, we have a report from a very credible person. A report that is supported with only circumstantial evidence.”

“And what else does this report say?” I asked curiously.

“The report suggested,” Giles continued carefully, “that players exist in these other worlds, and that when they die, their souls are sometimes reincarnated on Earth. As normal people who have no memories of these previous lives.”

“That’s convenient,” Lenore responded with a snort. “But what the fuck does that have to do with the Labyrinth?”

I just stared at Giles, already putting the pieces together. Between what he’d just told us and some of my own experiences, I had a good idea of what he was about to tell us next.

“Please be patient, Miss Lenore,” Giles told her. “I am about to get to that. Now, remember, this is what I was told, but it may not actually be fully accurate. I was told that the system that gives players their powers, exists both in symbiosis to the Labyrinth and in opposition to it. According to that report, when the Labyrinth first opened up into this world, the system created players who could resist it. It created these players by simply taking the souls of deceased players who had previously been connected to it…and respawning them. Bringing them back in the same forms they had when they first connected to the system.”

“So,” Grayson said carefully. “You’re saying that we were reincarnated? That we were respawned as our own previous incarnations?”

“Preincarnated,” I joked weakly, not sure what else I could say.

In a way, that actually made a lot of sense. It explained why I felt so comfortable and normal in my new body. It explained why I felt like I’ve been using a mage staff for years. None of that really felt new. Instead, it felt more like I was simply remembering things that I’d previously forgotten.

“So, the Labyrinth is invading our world,” Grayson thought aloud. “The Labyrinth zones are where it has a foothold. And monsters are its soldiers…how it expands its influence.”

“The system creates its own soldiers to fight it off,” I continued for him. “Respawned players. And later, its able to add other players too.”

“So, the Labyrinth tries to claim our territory,” Grayson took over again. “If it is able to seize territory and hold it without opposition for long enough… Then, it gets to keep it permanently?”

“Yes, Mister Grayson,” Giles responded with a grim expression. “That seems to be the current theory.”

“And you guys have known about this for a fucking year?” Lenore demanded.

Giles just rubbed his temples, looking tired. “The report was submitted a year ago,” Giles explained again. “But as I said before, there was only circumstantial evidence and no solid proof. I don’t think that anyone took it too seriously until the Labyrinth zones started being absorbed.”

“This,” Grayson said slowly, “isn’t just openings to the Labyrinth anymore. This is an active incursion.”

“We’re being invaded by the fucking Labyrinth,” Lenore groaned.

“What’s the plan?” Grayson asked Giles. “I mean, it’s obvious that we can’t just ignore ANY Labyrinth zones anymore, even the ones in extremely remote and awkward places. We’re gonna have to clear the monsters out of ALL of them.”

“I don’t know, Mister Grayson,” Giles admitted. “But I do know that at least one new entrance has opened since this happened, which means that the Labyrinth is still expanding on Earth.”

“Crap,” I said, echoing our shared sentiment.