“Call me Ishmael,” I read aloud as I started on a new book.

I was currently sitting on the edge of an uncomfortable cot as I began on the new book. Lately, I’d gotten into reading ‘the classics’, though most of them were boring as hell. I had to admit though, I got a real kick out of the Count of Monte Cristo.

“Too bad there aren’t any books here on lockpicking,” I mused aloud. Unfortunately, the warden wouldn’t allow that.

With that, I looked up and quickly glanced over the small cell that had been my home for the last couple years. I didn’t have a cellmate at the moment, which meant that I had my pick of the two bunks. But of course, that situation wouldn’t last for long, and within a couple days, I’d probably be sharing space with someone else again.

I didn’t have much hope for my new cellmate, whoever it turned out to be. Most of my previous cellmates had been assholes, which was to be expected in a prison. Of course, the fact that I tended to rub people the wrong way didn’t help any either.

With that, I turned my attention back to the book, though I only made it a couple pages in before a guard came by and smacked the bars on my cell with his baton, nearly making me jump.

“Yard time, Donovan,” the guard said with a smirk. “Time to go for walkies in the dog park.”

“Woof woof,” I responded flatly.

I stood up and stretched, carefully setting the book aside as I did so. If you fucked up any of the library books, they wouldn’t let you borrow any others. And since there wasn’t much else to do in my cell, I did NOT want to lose library privileges.

A short time later, I stepped into the yard, the playground of the prison. However, this place was far more dangerous than any playground, in spite of all the prison guards keeping watch. In fact, part of the reason it was so dangerous was because of the guards.

There were multiple gangs spread out around the yard, each of them mostly keeping to their own members while being hostile to the others. Each gang seemed to have at least one other gang that they seemed to hate with a passion, which made the yard a roiling cauldron of hostility that was on the verge of bubbling over at any moment.

The Aryan Brotherhood, who were generally hated by most of the inmates who weren’t members, had the north corner. They’d invited me to join once or twice, suggesting that it would be for my protection, but I usually avoided those bastards. In fact, I tended to avoid all the gangs as much as I could, which kept me out of a lot of their politics but also left me lacking any protection they could provide.

There were two main black gangs, both of whom had someone watching the Aryan Brotherhood as well as each other. Several smaller gangs and cliques were scattered about the yard, leaving me and other unaffiliated inmates to slip around between them.

I looked around at the various gangs, then at the weight benches that were set up for people who wanted to lift. Some of those guys were pretty ripped, making me feel a bit self-conscious about my slender build and lack of visible muscle.

“I should probably start working out,” I mused, though I knew that I certainly wasn’t going to do it there. If I really wanted to get in better shape, my only real option would be to just do push-ups and stuff in my cell, and there was no way I’d actually bother with that.

“Hey, Mike,” someone called out to me.

I looked over to the man who was casually walking over to me. Dave Geitz was probably the closest thing that I had to a friend in this place, though I wouldn’t trust him any further than I could throw him. Still, he was friendly enough.

“Dave,” I responded with a brief nod.

Dave came to a stop near me and looked around. After a few seconds, he said, “I heard that Macon was talking about kicking your ass again. Said he wants to teach you another lesson.”

“Great,” I said with a shrug. “With as many lessons as I’ve gotten, you’d think I’d have my degree already.”

“A degree in getting your ass kicked?” Dave asked with a snort. “Fuck that shit. You need to fight back so they stop fucking with you.”

“Unfortunately, I’m not much good at fighting back,” I admitted. Normally, you shouldn’t admit that kind of thing, but I’d had my ass kicked enough times that I was simply stating the obvious. “I’m a lover, not a fighter.”

Dave snorted at that. “Well, I suppose that would be one way to earn some protection, but I wouldn’t say it too loud or someone might take you up on that.”

“Good point,” I told him with a shrug.

He was about to say something else when he abruptly tensed up. “Fuck.”

I followed his gaze and saw a large figure heading towards me. Macon. It looked like he wanted to teach me another lesson, right here in the yard.

“Good luck,” Dave told me before he quickly hurried off, leaving me to face Macon on my own.

Macon was a big man, six-foot-three and heavily muscled. His head was shaved completely bald, though he had a couple tattoos down the middle of his scalp as though he was going for a tattoo mohawk. He was one of the guys who liked to hang around the weight bench, and the kind who liked to throw his own weight around whenever possible.

As Macon approached, he clenched his fists and gave me a menacing look, the kind that spoke loud and clear about what he was about to do. I quickly looked around for a way out, but a couple of his buddies had come up nearby and were guarding any ways out. Then Macon reached me and grabbed my shoulder in a painful grip.

“Donovan,” Macon said with a snarl, spittle flying at me as he spoke.

Since I was about to get my ass kicked anyway, I figured that I didn’t have anything to lose.

“Did anyone ever tell you,” I pointed out, “that with those tats running down the middle of your head, you kind of look like a giant dick.”

Macon didn’t waste time on a snappy comeback, assuming he could string two words together. His fist slammed into my gut, making me double over with a grunt of pain. I knew from past experience that this was just the warm-up. There was a pretty good chance that I’d end up in the infirmary again.

Before Macon could get serious about messing me up, one of the guards called out, “BREAK IT UP.”

I was a little surprised at that since the guards usually look the other way when it came to things like this. Macon glared at me and I could see the wheels turning…very slowly. I could almost hear the hamster trying its hardest but not really going anywhere. But after a few seconds, Macon let me go.

“We’ll finish this later, Donovan,” Macon told me before he abruptly turned and walked away.

“Make an appointment,” I responded with a grunt, still hurting from his punch. “Have your people contact my people.”

Dave was suddenly by my side again, musing, “You got off pretty light this time.”

“Until he catches me later,” I reminded Dave.

Dave just shrugged. “You shouldn’t keep pissing him off.”
“Probably not the smartest thing I could do,” I admitted with a sigh.

Unfortunately, I had a long history of my mouth getting me into trouble, and it was too late to change my ways now. I mean, if I hadn’t learned my lesson after mouthing off in court…

With that, I turned and started to walk away, only to suddenly feel a sharp pain in my side. I let out a gasp of pain, only to feel it again and again.

“Fuck,” I exclaimed as I dropped to the ground, realizing that I’d just been shanked.

“I’m sorry,” Dave told me with a guilty expression. “They didn’t give me any choice…”

“Fuck,” I repeated, not bothering to ask who ‘they’ were. It could have been Macon and his friends, or one of the many other people I’d pissed off. “You bastard…”

“Sorry,” Dave told me again before he hurried away, probably trying to clear the area before the guards realized what had just happened.

I lay on the ground, grimacing in pain and silently cursing myself for turning my back on Dave. I’d known that I couldn’t trust him, that he’d turn on me if the price was right. However, I’d thought that I’d see it coming, that I’d see some clue before he tried anything.

People surrounded me, saying things though I couldn’t make out who they were or what they were saying. Probably guards and medics. Everything was fading too much to tell.

Then, my thoughts went back over my past, to the events that led to my being there. My entire life flashed before my eyes.

I remembered my dad leaving when I was a kid, just picking up and taking off without a word to either me or my mom. That was the last time I’d ever seen him. I remembered when I turned sixteen and my mom’s boyfriend had thrown me out of the house while she’d looked the other way. I remembered my first burglary and the rush of fear and excitement that had come with it. And then, I remembered my last burglary.

The house was supposed to have been empty. The plan had been the same as always, with me busting in, swiping a few things I could easily sell, and then slipping back out. I would have earned some easy money, insurance would have covered the costs, and nobody would have really gotten hurt.

But someone had been home and he’d come at me with a gun. In desperation, I fought back, and during the struggle, the gun had gone off.

I still remembered the sound of the gunshot, the look on his face as the light faded from his eyes, and the feel of his warm blood splattered across my own face. The very memory made me sick to my stomach and filled me with guilt.

I’d never wanted to hurt anyone. There was a reason that I’d been a burglar rather than a mugger or armed robber, not that the end result had been any different. A man was dead because of me.

Now, my own life was over. I could feel it. I wasn’t going to wake up in the infirmary this time. This was the end of Mike Donovan, and I knew that there wasn’t a single person alive who would mourn me.

Everything faded away, even the pain from where I’d been stabbed. Then, as my last spark of consciousness was being claimed by the cold darkness, letters suddenly appeared in front of me, even if they only existed in my mind.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESPAWN?

Interlude:

Stine scowled as a group of men approached him and the door he was guarding. They were all wearing military style fatigues, or at least, what they seemed to think were military style clothes. He doubted that any of them had actually served.

“Another militia group,” Stine muttered in annoyance. There were five of them in this particular group, all of them showing a swagger that they hadn’t earned.

“Fucking NPCs,” Jag said from beside Stine.

Jag was a petite black woman with short black hair and glowing tribal style tattoos scattered across her body. He had no idea what any of them meant, and he was pretty sure that Jag didn’t either since they’d been there when she respawned.

“Look at them,” Jag muttered. “Thinking they’re all that when I could kick all their asses by myself.”

Stine grunted without commitment. He didn’t disagree, though he knew that Jag’s attitude was about more than the fact that this group looked a bit cocky.

Some people who respawned as players developed a bit of an attitude about it, thinking that coming back from the dead and having magic power made them special. Of course it did, but some players, like Jag, took it too far and let it go to their heads. They sometimes developed a contempt for anyone who wasn’t a player too.

“You guard the door,” Stine told Jag. “I’ll take them inside for the meeting.”

“Got it,” Jag agreed.

“You’re expected,” Stine told the men as they approached. “Right this way.”

“You think those two are players?” one of the men whispered to his friends. Stine had slotted a couple points into perception, so he had no problem hearing them.

“She’s got to be,” the other man responded in an equally quiet voice. “Did you see those glowing tattoos?”

Stine continued to listen to their speculation but didn’t actually respond. Instead, he led them inside the building and to the back room where Frank was waiting, sitting behind a desk with a patient expression.

The visitors stopped and stared at Frank, obviously confused. One of them said, “I thought we were meeting someone named Frank.”

“I’m Frank,” Frank responded, obviously amused by their reactions, especially since most people reacted the same way.

Frank was a slender woman with light brown skin and reddish brown hair that was pulled back into a professional bun. She was dressed up in a professional looking suit, though a nasty looking two-handed axe was leaning up against the wall beside her.

“I was Frank before I died,” Frank explained pleasantly, “and I saw no reason to change my name just because I came back with a new body.”

“Makes sense,” one of the men responded.

Stine stood back by the door, playing the role of bodyguard for Frank, though Frank most certainly didn’t need one. His presence was more for the benefit of those men, to make them think twice about even trying anything stupid.

One of the men stepped forward, and from the way his friends nodded and let him do so, he seemed to be their leader. He glanced at Stine, then back at Frank.

“I was told that you could turn us into players,” the apparent leader said, his tone showing a note of suspicion.

“Yes,” Frank answered with an almost predatory smile. “For a fee.”

“So, you just snap your fingers or something?” one of the other men asked. “Then BAM…we’re players?”

Stine snorted at that. Most of their customers seemed a bit better informed than these particular ones. However, he carefully schooled his expression.

Frank just continued to smile. “No, it doesn’t work like that. The fact is, almost anyone can become a player…if they have the balls to try.”

That got their attention and they all puffed up, making noises about how they all had the balls to try it. Stine had heard it all before, so he didn’t pay attention to the specifics.

“All you have to do,” Frank explained, “is go deep into the Labyrinth, fight some monsters, and earn the right to become players. The Wardens have been doing that for years.”

“That’s it?” their leader asked in surprise. “Just go into the Labyrinth?”

“Simple,” Frank agreed. “But very dangerous.”

“And that is where we come in,” Stine said, speaking up for the first time since the meeting started. “We’ll escort you in and keep you from being outright slaughtered, but there are no guarantees. The Labyrinth is dangerous, even for experienced players, and there’s a good chance you might still die. But that’s the risk you have to take if you want to become players yourselves.”

“Now then,” Frank said, leaning forward in her chair. “Let’s talk price.”

----------

Alexey Volkov perched atop the watch tower where he was stationed, shifting position as he got comfortable. Then, he reached for his rifle and began to carefully survey his assigned area through the scope. At the moment, the scope was the most important part of the weapon, but that could change in an instant.

The Russian soldier took a sweeping look at the overall area, clear and natural steppes almost as far as his eyes could see. However, the area was not entirely unspoiled, which was one of the main reasons he had been assigned to that location.

After Alexey quickly scanned the area, his attention went to the flags, to the markings that indicated where the edges of the Labyrinth zone ended. On the other side of those flags, the laws of the Labyrinth held sway and monsters ruled the land. He shuddered at the thought of what was on the other side of that marker.

When the Labyrinth entrance had first appeared in the middle of nowhere, that had seemed quite the good fortune. It was so isolated that it and the monsters it spawned were too far away to quickly threaten any human population. However, it soon became apparent that this isolation was also a great problem.

Monsters emerged from the Labyrinth, but that didn’t mean that they were satisfied to remain in the Labyrinth zone. As the number of monsters grew, so too did the threat they presented, and since this entrance was so far away from anything else, no players were interested in traveling there just to cull the monster population.

The Labyrinth zone was now completely infested with monsters, and there was no way that normal humans could possibly clear them out, not when modern weaponry simply didn’t work in that area. But fortunately, weaponry could still work right outside the Labyrinth zone. That was why the entire area had been quarantined, surrounded by landmines and watch towers, all meant to contain the monsters where they were.

Alexey carefully looked over the border, checking the mine field and then the area outside of it. There had been no recent explosions nor any indications that another monster had escaped. Once he was satisfied with that, he shifted his attention to the other side of the boundary, to the area inside the Labyrinth zone.

He couldn’t see the Labyrinth entrance from where he was, but that wasn’t what he was looking for. Instead, Alexey quickly spotted a monster, one that vaguely resembled a deer or gazelle, but with glossy purple hide and razor sharp spines all down its back. This was the type of monster that the Labyrinth had been releasing there for the last few months, so Alexey was quite familiar with it.

The soldier took aim and fired, then immediately followed up with several more rounds. The monster staggered and then dropped to the ground.

“It is too bad that normal people can’t get superpowers from killing monsters the way players can,” Alexey mused to himself. “That is quite unfair, but such is life.”

Alexy let out a sigh, then turned his attention to the next monster he found. No, the next three monsters. They were traveling a group and heading straight for the boundary. For a moment, Alexey was tempted to simply let them cross, just so he could watch them enter the mine field. That would be entertaining, though letting them get that far could be considered a failure on his part. He sighed again, then took aim for the next round of shots.

Once Alexey was finished, he set his rifle aside and pulled a small flask out of his pocket. All he needed was a sip, at least for the moment, enough to help keep him warm. Of course, vodka would have been nice, but he actually preferred American bourbon. Not that he would ever admit such a thing to any of his friends, of course.

Just then, Alexey noticed something strange. The boundary to the Labyrinth zone… It was shimmering. He’d caught glimpses of that shimmer before, a visual indication of where Earth physics ended and the Labyrinth’s rules began, but not like this. It was much brighter and more visible than he’d ever seen it before.

Alexey grabbed his radio but hesitated to call this in. If this was real, then every other tower should be able to see it as well. However, if he was the only one seeing this, then it might raise some questions about what he’d been drinking…and how well he could hold it.

The shimmering along the border only grew brighter, with swirls of various colors appearing. It suddenly reminded Alexy of the aurora borealis, as if it had come down from the heavens and had then been spread out before him like a curtain. Seconds later, it all abruptly vanished.

Alexey blinked, then looked at the scene in front of him. His eyes went wide in stunned disbelief at what he saw. He quickly grabbed his rifle and used the scope to get a better look, but that only confirmed what he’d already seen with his naked eye.

“Pizdets,” Alexey swore.

The Labyrinth zone was…gone. The monsters. The ground. EVERYTHING. The only thing that remained there was a massive and very deep crater, which had to be kilometers across.

Confusion. Surprise. These were my reactions to waking up and realizing that I was still alive.

Someone must have gotten to me in time, though it must have been pretty damn close. Was I in the infirmary? A real hospital? I felt like I was floating in water which only made me even more confused.

I opened my eyes and sat up, finding that I was in a tub… No, I was in a pool that was about two feet deep and fifteen feet wide. However, what was even more surprising was the fact that the pool didn’t seem to be full of water. Instead, it was full of a silvery liquid metal, which immediately reminded me of that weird robot from Terminator 2.

When I brought my hand up, the silver liquid ran right through my fingers, leaving nothing behind. My hand was completely dry. Then I realized that there was something wrong with my hand. It was smaller than it should have been as well as a couple shades lighter.

“What the fuck?” I started, only to pause when I realized that my hand wasn’t the only thing that was wrong. My entire body felt strange.

I slowly stood up, my eyes scanning my surroundings. I was in the middle of a room, one where all the walls and ceiling looked to be made of trees that had grown ridiculously close together. All of the branches and leaves were woven together so tightly that I couldn’t see through them at all. Glowing fruit grew from some of these branches and seemed to be the main source of light.

Then I looked down and was surprised to realize that I couldn’t see past two large mounds of flesh that were sticking out of my chest. They felt kind of heavy too. My eyes shot wide at the sight, though I only became even more confused than before.

After taking a few long seconds to try processing this…and failing…I stepped out of the pool. All of the liquid ran off me, leaving me completely dry. Then as I looked back at the pool, I realized that the liquid had already settled down and didn’t have so much as a single ripple. That left the surface of the pool looking almost like a giant mirror.

I stared down at the reflective surface, my mouth dropping open in stunned disbelief. A chick was staring back at me from the mirror. She looked to be in her early-twenties and was pretty hot, with big tits.

“Oh,” I gasped as I looked down at those very tits, which stuck out from my chest. They had to be DD’s at least, though admittedly, I was making a wild guess because I never really understood bra sizes and ‘DD’ was simply the default size I assigned to nice sized tits. “What the hell?”

I looked back at the mirror, then at myself, alternating my gaze back and forth as I tried to take everything in. She…I…had vibrant red hair that went down to the middle of my back. My skin was a little on the pale side, a little lighter than I was used to. And I used to have a few tattoos, but there wasn’t any sign of them or any other ink on my skin.

I probably gaped at my reflection for about ten minutes before my mind finally reset and began working again. This made absolutely no sense at all, until I suddenly realized what must have happened.

“I’ve respawned,” I blurted out, now remembering the writing that had popped up in front of me as I was dying. It had asked me if I wanted to respawn and I’d said ‘yes’ without really understanding what that meant. “That means, I must be one of those players now.”

Everyone knew about players and how they all claimed to have died and then come back as other people. I’d always thought that was complete bullshit, because once you were dead, you were gone. Period. That was one of the inescapable facts of life. Or, it had been.

“No way,” I said as I tried wrapping my head around that idea. I’d died and had then come back as someone else, which meant that the stories had to be real.

What else did I know about players, besides the fact that they’d all come back from the dead? I knew that they all had superpowers, and they claimed that they were players in some kind of real-world video game. I’d always thought that part sounded like bullshit as well.

“Okay,” I told myself as I tried reasoning through this. “If I’m a player, I must have some kind of powers too.”

Unfortunately, I had no idea of how those supposed powers actually worked. I knew guys who fanboyed over all that player stuff, and they could probably recite all the facts about how it all worked just as easily as other guys could call out football stats. However, I wasn’t one of those. I’d never paid much attention to players. They just hadn’t been a part of my life.

I stood there for another minute, trying to figure out the whole power thing while intentionally not looking at the reflecting pool. I was a bit freaked out about turning into some kind of hot chick and was trying not to think about that for the moment.

Then, it came to me. It was almost like an instinct that bubbled up, leading me to click on a mental switch that I hadn’t even known was there. As soon as I did, a bunch of words suddenly popped up in front of me.

CLASS: ENCHANTER
LEVEL: 1
FREE STAT POINTS: 3

FOCUS: 6
PERCEPTION: 6
PRESENCE: 7
STRENGTH: 5
VITALITY: 6
DEXTERITY: 7
AGILITY: 6

TALENTS AND AFFINITIES:
-ENCHANTMENT

ABILITIES:

SOULBOUND ITEMS:
-ARMOR OF THE ENCHANTRESS

I stared at the writing in front of me, a bit surprised and curious. I cautiously reached out and my hands went right through it as though there was nothing there. And as I turned, the writing remained right in front of me, moving along with my eyes.

“Weird,” I muttered, trying to touch the writing one more time.

I was clearly seeing something that wasn’t there, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t real at the same time. Now, I just had to figure out what it all meant. Some of it was pretty obvious, especially when I realized that this had to be what players meant about being in some kind of real-life game.

“First off,” I mused aloud. “What the hell is an enchanter?”

The words in front of me suddenly changed and new ones appeared.

ENCHANTER – A CLASS WITH THE ABILITY ENCHANT TARGETS WITH BOONS AND BANES

I read this explanation, though it didn’t really explain anything. What the hell were boons and banes? There were no additional answers.

After snorting in annoyance, I mentally closed this message and brought back the previous page. It listed various traits with numbers beside them. Clearly, this was some way to measure things like my strength and agility. Not that I knew what those measurements really meant, only that some of them seemed to be stronger than others.

While I was trying to make sense of this, I noticed that there was a faint blinking at the top of the page. I hesitated for a moment, then mentally clicked it. Suddenly, another new message appeared in front of me.

YOU MAY UNLOCK A NEW ABILITY. SELECT ONE OF THE CHOICES BELOW

-BOON OF GRACE
-REVITALIZE
-HEX

Once again, I stared at the writing, trying to make sense of it. For the first time in my life, I wished that I’d been into video games so I’d have a better idea of what this writing was talking about. However, I was able to figure out a couple things. The other page mentioned abilities, but it didn’t have any listed, and now this page was offering me an ability.

“This has to be talking about those powers that players get,” I thought aloud. “But what the hell do these ones do?” None of these gave any kind of explanation about what they did. “Makes it hard to choose…”

But as I read over the names of the abilities, I had a vague sense of what they did. I wasn’t sure if this was just my imagination or not, but I suspected that it wasn’t.

From ‘Boon of Grace’, I had the feeling that it could make other people more graceful. How did that work? Maybe it had something to do with that agility score that I’d seen before. The more I thought about it, the more confident I was that this did do something with agility.

‘Revitalize’ gave the impression that it made other people healthier. Heal injuries? Maybe this one had something to do with that vitality score, but I wasn’t as confident about that part as I was with the ‘Boon of Grace.’

And then there was the ‘Hex’ option. That one felt like it was almost the exact opposite of ‘Revitalize’, that it would hurt other people.

I considered my options for several minutes, trying to get a better sense of what each ability could do. However, it didn’t take long for me to actually make my decision. “Boon of Grace’ and “Revitalize’ would both help other people but wouldn’t do anything for me. ‘Hex’, on the other hand, was something I could use to defend myself with. That one definitely appealed to me the most.

After I selected my option by mentally clicking on it, I brought back the previous status page, though I immediately noticed a few changes.

CLASS: ENCHANTER
LEVEL: 1
FREE STAT POINTS: 3

FOCUS: 6
PERCEPTION: 6
PRESENCE: 7
STRENGTH: 5
VITALITY: 6
DEXTERITY: 7
AGILITY: 6

TALENTS AND AFFINITIES:
-ENCHANTMENT
--BANES

ABILITIES:
-HEX

SOULBOUND ITEMS:
-ARMOR OF THE ENCHANTRESS

“Okay,” I mused aloud. “I have an ability now. Too bad I don’t know how to use it.”

However, that wasn’t quite true. I suddenly realized that I did know how to use ‘Hex’, and I had an even better idea of what it did. It was just too bad that I didn’t have anything to test it out on.

I closed the status page and then reluctantly looked down at my new body again. I shuddered at the sight. This was NOT me, though admittedly, the evidence seemed to suggest otherwise.

At that moment, I wasn’t sure what to do next. Should I check myself out in more detail? Maybe feel myself up a bit? However, I was a bit too creeped out by the situation to do anything like that. Hell, I’d prefer not to even think about my new body.

“I need to get out of here,” I grumbled, deciding to focus on that instead of on my changes. The longer I could ignore those, the better. Denial was not just a river in Egypt.

With that, I looked around the enclosed space again, looking for the doorway. I’d spotted it earlier, a round opening in the trees and branches that I could easily leave through.

Clothes were hung up beside the doorway, though when I went for a better look, I saw that it was just a robe, the kind you slip over your head and which covered everything. It was a plain brown color, made of some sturdy fabric, and it happened to be just the right size for my new body. And then, on the floor right beneath the robes, I found a pair of sandals. They fit my feet perfectly.

Now that I was dressed, there was one other thing that I’d noticed inside the room but hadn’t checked out yet. On the other side of the doorway, there was a table with some weapons sitting on it. A knife, an axe, a mace, and a sword.

I immediately grabbed the sword, in spite of the fact that I had absolutely no idea how to use one. Cool factor won out over such trivial problems. Besides, how hard could it be?

With that, I slashed the weapon through the air, feeling like a total badass. Superpowers and a cool sword. This was like something straight out of a movie. Or a video game, I silently corrected myself. After all, players were called that for a reason.

My eyes went to the doorway but my feet remained where they were. I slowly turned and looked around the odd chamber, trying to see if there were any other details I should note. There didn’t seem to be anything besides the clothes and weapons.

“Now,” I said, turning my attention back to the doorway. “Time to figure out where the hell I am… Wherever this is, it can’t be any worse than prison.”

I took a deep breath, clutched the sword a little more tightly, then stepped out through the doorway.

There were trees all around me, in every direction that I looked. As soon as I’d stepped outside of that weird room with the pool, I found myself in the middle of a forest.

I’d never been one of those outdoors people who liked to do camping, hiking, and other weird stuff in nature. The closest that I’d ever come had been the brief time that I’d lived in the streets. After that, I just didn’t see the appeal of sleeping in a tent.

“Just great,” I grumbled as I looked around. “Trees.” I shook my head. “At least I won’t have any problems finding a place to take a piss.”

Then I paused, suddenly remembering that my bathroom situation was a bit more complicated than it used to be. I couldn’t just find a convenient tree or alley to pee behind anymore, at least not without the risk of a mess.

“Great,” I repeated bitterly. “Just fucking great.”

I looked around again and let out a long sigh. I had absolutely no idea of where I was or how I’d arrived there. However, something tickled my memory and I realized that I did have an idea of where I was.

“The Labyrinth,” I said in a whisper. A chill ran down my spine.

Everyone had heard of the Labyrinth, just like they’d heard of players. It was some kind of weird place that spat out monsters and fucked with the laws of physics. And from what I’d heard, it was also where players came from.

One of my old neighbors used to go on about how the Labyrinth was really hell, and that players were either demons or damned souls. Maybe both. His opinion on what players were seemed to change from day to day.

“Looks like his paranoid rants are starting to look more likely,” I said.

I’d died, then I ended up in this strange place, which I could only assume was inside the Labyrinth. That meant I really was a damned soul. Where else would I go after death but Hell?

I muttered a few choice profanities, then looked around again. I could get out of here. Players got out of the Labyrinth all the time, which meant that I should be able to find my way out too. I just needed to look around to find it.

“Well, I’m not seeing any exit signs,” I said with a sigh and a shake of my head.

Since I had absolutely no idea where I was going, I just picked a direction and began walking. However, I quickly realized that this was going to be a very long and annoying walk. The weight on my chest and the swaying with each step was a bit distracting, but I bit my lip and did my best to ignore it.

My sword was a bit of a problem too. I didn’t have any sheath for it, so I was forced to just keep carrying it as I walked. It was a bit heavy, which only became more noticeable the longer I had it. That made me wonder if I’d really be able to use the thing if I ever actually needed to.

At first, I’d just thought that this was a generic forest, but it didn’t take long before I began noticing the weirdness. There were glowing fruits in some of the trees, similar to the ones inside that room. And then, I saw some giant mushrooms, about three feet tall. They had glowing spots on the surface, which really helped to reinforce how weird this place was.

It didn’t take too long before I heard the growling, coming from somewhere out of sight. I snapped around and held up the sword. It was a one-handed sword, but I used both hands to keep it up and steady. The growling grew louder…coming a shorter distance away. I took a step back and readied myself for whatever was coming.

A few seconds later, a strange creature emerged from the brush, stepping out from behind a tree. It was about the size of a large dog, but it looked more like a rat with six legs. It opened its mouth, which was way too large, and which was full of LOTs of sharp teeth. Two rows of them. A tongue snapped out and stretched nearly two feet from its mouth.

“A monster,” I gasped in realization. This was proof that I was actually inside the Labyrinth, as if the weird plants hadn’t been clue enough. “Shit.”

The weird rat dog lunged at me and I responded by swinging the sword. The blade hit the monster in the side before the impact tore the weapon out of my hands. It now had a nice slice along its side where black blood was leaking out. However, it didn’t appear to be too serious and I was now unarmed.

I took a step back while my heart raced in my chest. I’d never been good at fighting, and usually ended up getting my ass kicked…or worse. A memory flashed through my mind, of the fight during my last job and the disaster that had come out of it. I was sure that an even bigger disaster was about to happen now.

The monster growled and began to approach me again, this time going slower and being more cautious. I’d hurt it, even if not badly, so it was being a little more careful this time.

I took another step back, wanting to turn and run, but I knew that would be a bad idea. If I tried that, the thing would just jump me from behind. My best chance might be doing the same thing you did with bullies. Puff yourself up, try to look more threatening, and hope that they decided you weren’t worth the risk.

“Come on, you ugly little purse dog,” I exclaimed, holding my hands up and trying to look bigger. “I dare you…”

Of course, it was probably too late to act tough and scary when it had already seen me all but pissing myself. It looked angry and vicious, so I was pretty sure that my bluff wasn’t going to work. But what else did I have?

Then, I suddenly remembered what I had. My superpower. My ability.

I held out my hand and activated ‘Hex,’ instinctively knowing how to use it even though I’d never done so before. A strange pressure build up inside my body and then fired out my hand as a beam of black and purple energy. It hit the rat dog, which staggered back with a yelp of surprise.

For a moment, I just stood there, staring at the rat dog and trying to make sense of what I was seeing. There was a faint purple and black glow around the monster that didn’t seem to be going anywhere. My ‘Hex’ hadn’t just blasted the monster, it had clung to it. And then, I instinctively understood what the ‘Hex’ was doing to it. My ‘Hex’ was like a magical poison that was making the monster sick and slowly hurting it more with each passing second.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to take down the monster. The rat dog seemed to be feeling a bit weak, but it was still a threat. It turned its attention back to me, staggering slightly and growling. A dark malevolence gleamed in its eyes as it clearly intended to tear me to pieces.

“Great,” I growled to myself. “I get a magic ability, and all it does is annoy the thing.”

I dove for the sword and got it in my hands again right as the monster lunged. I held the sword up and the rat dog ran straight into it, impaling itself so far that half the blade was in its body. I released the sword and scrambled back, leaving the weapon inside the monster.

“Shit,” I gasped, shaking from the adrenaline.

The monster wasn’t dead yet, though it wasn’t in any shape to threaten me anymore either. Instead, it remained on the ground, twitching a bit as it bled out and finally died. It was only then that I pulled the sword out of the body.

“I should have grabbed that knife instead,” I told myself. “It would have been easier to use.”

Of course, the knife also would have been a lot shorter, which meant that I would have had to get even closer to the monster to use it. Why couldn’t I have found a gun instead? Now, that would have been a good weapon to have against monsters like this.

I sat down on the ground a good distance from the monster’s body and all the blood it had spilled. My heart was racing from the excitement and I was still breathing hard. I’d fought a monster and won. A real monster. It didn’t seem possible.

“Fighting monsters is exhausting,” I said. I was pretty sure that I’d have a few nice bruises from that as well, which was a LOT better than what I’d been expecting.

I took a few minutes to rest, but then I heard another growl coming through the trees. I cursed and got back to my feet, readying my sword. I did NOT want to do that again, but it looked like I wasn’t going to have much choice.

Another monster emerged a minute later, one that looked almost identical to the first one. I grimaced and then fired a ‘Hex’ at the monster, hoping that this would at least slow it down enough for me to have a better chance. The faint purple and black glow spread over the creature, which then staggered a little before slowly coming at me again.

“Ugly rat dog,” I spat out. “You might as well just be a giant chihuahua. Yip yip yip.”

The monster lunged, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with the insult. I swung the sword and caught the monster alongside its head. Unfortunately, the angle was bad at the blade bounced off rather than doing any real damage. It snapped at me and I kicked in in the head, only to let out a yelp while wishing that I had steel toed boots. Still, the kick bought me enough time to swing the sword again. This time, I was able to hit the monster in the neck enough to draw blood.

The monster snapped at me, hitting my arm and causing me to drop the sword again. It bit down on my robe and began shaking its head, knocking me around as it did so until the fabric abruptly tore and released me. I immediately ran as fast as I could, then scrambled up a nearby tree.

“Fuck,” I snarled, cursing my bouncing tits and just how much they’d gotten in the way while I was climbing. Those things might be fun to look at, but so far, I wasn’t impressed by actually having them.

I clung to the tree, then shifted over to sit on one of the branches. I was only about eight feet off the ground, but that seemed to be high enough to keep the monster from reaching me. That also gave me a chance to catch my breath a little.

“You can’t get me up here, you flea bitten chihuahua,” I taunted the thing. Of course, it wasn’t exactly safe for me to climb down either. “You might as well give up and leave.”

Unfortunately, the monster didn’t just give up and leave. It circled below me, growling and snarling. A couple minutes later, ‘Hex’ wore off and faded away. I immediately blasted it with another one, more out of spite than for any other reason.

I remained where I was for the next fifteen minutes, both entertaining and distracting myself by mocking the monster. And every time ‘Hex’ wore off, I blasted the monster with a new one. This cycle repeated about four times before the rat dog staggered and fell over dead.

“Holy shit,” I gasped in surprise, my eyes going wide. “I killed it.”

I waited another couple minutes then climbed down from the tree to check on the monster’s body. It was definitely dead. My ‘Hex’ hadn’t seemed all that powerful, but given enough time to work…

“Not bad at all,” I said with a nod of approval.

I picked up the sword from where I’d left it, then looked around the area. The body of the first monster was right where I’d left it, but oddly enough, it was starting to melt a bit, as if it was made of wax and had been left out in the sun on a hot day. That was strange, but no stranger than anything else that had happened to me since waking up.

I sat on the tree branch, looking down at the monster that circled below me. The ‘Hex’ on it was running low and would fade away soon, and then I’d have to repeat the process. I knew that it should only take one more ‘Hex’ after this to finish it off.

For the last hour, I’d been sitting in that uncomfortable position, killing one monster after another. Killing them with nothing but ‘Hex’ was slow, but this was also a lot safer than trying to use a sword. In fact, I’d pretty much given up on the sword entirely.

I hoped that if I killed enough of these rat dog monsters, then I wouldn’t have to worry about running into more of them while I made my way through the forest. Unfortunately, the monsters didn’t seem to run out. I would just barely kill one when another would show up.

By this point, I was completely exhausted and ready for a good sleep. It felt like it had been a full day since I’d woken up in that weird pool, but the sun had never set. In fact, the light had never changed at all. I was tempted to just find a good spot to curl up and take a nap, but there wasn’t anywhere safe enough for that. If I was on the ground, the monsters would get me, and if I tried to sleep while up in tree, I was likely to fall out and then break my neck. And then the monsters would get me.

I was also getting pretty hungry and thirsty, but I hadn’t found anything to eat or drink either. Well, there were those weird glowing fruit, but I had a bad feeling about those. When I’d picked one out of curiosity, it had smelled wrong. Pungent and sour, with a hint of something that reminded me of vomit. After that, there was no way I was going to try to actually eat one.

“I NEED to get out of here,” I grumbled.

The ‘Hex’ was still active on the monster below me, though it would wear off soon enough. I didn’t feel like waiting so I fired another one at the creature. It staggered as a second aura went on top of it. Then, as I watched, it staggered again, suddenly seeming even sicker and weaker than before.

“I can have two Hexes on them at the same time,” I said in realization.

I mentally ran the numbers, not that there were many to run. When I put a ‘Hex’ on a monster, it lasted for about two minutes before it went away. However, after I used a ‘Hex’, it only took me about one minute before I could use it again. If I was careful about it, I could double up on my attacks and kill the monsters a bit faster.

“Now, if I only had the energy to keep doing this,” I muttered.

The monster died shortly after this and a popup suddenly appeared in front of me.

YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 3

This was the second time that I’d gotten a popup like this, telling me that I’d leveled, but I didn’t really notice any changes other than some minor updates on my status page. I knew that leveling was one of those video game references, but I wasn’t sure what it meant for my actual situation.

After this, I looked around and listened for any more monsters, then carefully climbed out of the tree. Once I was on the ground again, I stretched and cursed how uncomfortable that had been. But better uncomfortable than dead. Again.

I picked up the sword from where I’d left it at the base of the tree, then left the area, wanting to get away from the monster bodies. Once I was far enough away, I checked for danger again, then began hiking up my robes. I really had to take a piss, and as I’d already found, doing so as a chick was a bit messier than it had been before. Especially when I was out in the forest rather than in a nice bathroom.

A short time later, I was carefully making my way through the forest again, straining all my senses as far as I could. I was on high alert, not only looking for more monsters, but also for food, water, and a safe place to rest. I was in a bad situation and it was only getting worse with every hour.

Then I found something, though not one of the things that I’d been hoping for. However, it gave me a surge of hope anyway. It was a trail. A trail through the forest.

“It has to go somewhere,” I mused aloud, knowing that trails didn’t just make themselves. Trails meant people who used them. They went places. Places that might have other people.

I looked back and forth, trying to decide which direction I should go. I didn’t see any signs, so this was pretty much a flip of the coin. After I picked one of the directions at random, I began following the trail, feeling a little lighter and more energetic than before.

Of course, I’d just gotten comfortable with the idea of having a way out when I heard the growl of another monster. I immediately went back up the nearest tree that I could climb, just barely making it before the monster appeared.

“Here we go again,” I grumbled as I blasted the monster with a ‘Hex’.

This time, I was able to really test out my idea of doubling up on my attacks. As soon as my ability was ready to go, I put a second ‘Hex’ on the monster while the first one was still going strong. The monster immediately became weaker, stumbling around as it slowly took even more damage. Just one more blast after that one, right after the first one wore off, and the rat dog quickly fell down dead.

“I can kill them faster than before,” I said with a sigh of relief. “But it still takes time.”

With that, I slowly climbed out of the tree, nearly slipping and hurting myself. At that point, I was so tired that I didn’t think I’d have the energy to climb another tree the next time a monster showed up. And if I couldn’t do that, then my chances of surviving were pretty slim.

I staggered along the trail in the direction that I’d been going, still carrying my sword and becoming even more tempted to just drop the thing with every passing minute. At this point, the weapon had become little more than extra weight to haul around. I certainly wasn’t using it to fight the monsters anymore. However, the main reason that I didn’t abandon it was that I didn’t want to be unarmed and without a tree the next time a monster appeared.

Each step became harder to make. Each foot became hard earned distance traveled. At this point, I was going so slow that my tits didn’t even have a chance to really bounce around. That might be the only good thing about moving at such a slow pace.

Eventually, I saw something ahead of me. An opening in the trees. I blinked and continued moving towards it, not sure what I would find, only that it might be something different.

When I reached the edge of the trees, I just stopped and stared at an open field full of grass. A few hundred feet away, right in the middle of the field and where the trail continued to pass through, there was a stone arch. That was interesting, but not nearly as much as what I saw off to the side.

“Water,” I gasped, my eyes going wide.

There was a small pond, one that was only about thirty feet across. But it was water. I would have drooled at the sight of it if my mouth hadn’t been a bit dry. I didn’t even hesitate before heading straight for it.

I was about halfway to the pond when I heard the growling behind me. I looked back, my heart jumping in my chest as I did so. It was one of the monsters. No, there were two rat dog monsters, but both of them had stopped at the edge of the trees. Neither of them made a single move to step into the field itself, in spite of the fact that I was now out in the open and an easy target.

“Damn chihuahuas,” I muttered, not taking my eyes off the monsters.

The monsters remained where they were, growling and looking menacing, but not making any further moves towards me. After a bit, I began to relax a little. For some reason, they didn’t seem to like this open area, which meant that there could be something even worse in here waiting. Either way, I was thirsty, and there was water.

As soon as I reached the edge of the pond, I looked back towards the monsters. They were gone, having moved back into the trees and out of sight. I just nodded at that, dropped to my knees, and used my hands to cup the water so I could drink. I had a brief worry that it might be poisonous, but it tasted fresh and clean. The best water I’d ever had in my life.

Once I had my fill of water, I looked around and noticed that there was a wooden box sitting beside the pond. It was about a foot tall and a couple feet wide. I just stared at it for several seconds, because other than the trail itself, this was the first sign that I’d seen of other people.

“At least I have something to sit on,” I mused.

I expected the box to be empty, but when I opened the lid to look inside, I was surprised to find food. There were a few pieces of fruit, ones that looked a lot more familiar than those weird glowing ones I’d run into earlier. These ones were just apples and pears. And even more impressive was the fact that there was a whole loaf of bread.

For several seconds, I just stared at the food suspiciously. A clearing where the monsters wouldn’t go? With clean drinking water and now food? This was too good to be true, and in my experience, if something looked too good to be true it probably was.

“HELLO?” I called out, wondering who’d left the food there. It looked pretty fresh, so it couldn’t have been there long. “IS THERE SOMEONE OUT THERE?”

There were no answers. Nobody responded and I didn’t see any other indications that someone else was nearby. I waited for about half an hour, then I just gave in and ate.

“I just hope this isn’t poisoned,” I muttered.

I sat on top of the box and continued waiting to see if anyone would show up. I was no longer hungry or thirsty, but I was still tired and needed to distract myself. Because of that, I brought up my status page and looked it over again.

CLASS: ENCHANTER
LEVEL: 3
FREE STAT POINTS: 5

FOCUS: 6
PERCEPTION: 7
PRESENCE: 7
STRENGTH: 5
VITALITY: 6
DEXTERITY: 7
AGILITY: 6

TALENTS AND AFFINITIES:
-ENCHANTMENT
--BANES

ABILITIES:
-HEX

SOULBOUND ITEMS:
-ARMOR OF THE ENCHANTRESS

I still wasn’t sure what this all meant. What I did notice was that my free points had increased again. They’d gone up by one after I’d hit level two, then again after level three. And my perception score had gone up by one point too.

And then, there was that bit about soulbound items. It listed some kind of armor, but I had absolutely no idea of what to make of that. I could sort of feel it…a bit like how I felt my ‘Hex’ ability, but it also felt like it was just out of reach.

“I’ll figure it out later,” I muttered before letting out a loud yawn. “I’m too tired to think right now.”

I looked back towards the trees, noting that there were no signs of the monsters. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that they weren’t even there. Then again, maybe they weren’t. Maybe they’d given up on waiting for me and had gone back into the forest.

For the first time since encountering the first monster, I actually felt relatively safe. Safe enough that I could afford to rest my eyes. Just for a minute.

I stared down into the box, feeling both surprised and worried. Then my eyes narrowed and I looked around, searching for any signs of monsters or other people. I didn’t see anything.

I’d fallen asleep, and I had absolutely no idea how long I was out. What I did know was that the box of food had been refilled. Someone had come up while I was asleep and had replaced all the food I’d eaten. I did NOT like the idea of someone being able to sneak up on me while I was helpless like that. Even if they did just bring me more food.

“How long was I out?” I muttered.

There were no clocks and the sunlight hadn’t changed at all. I could have been out for an hour or for twelve hours. However, since I felt fairly well rested, I had a feeling that it would have been closer to the latter.

“Whomever it was,” I mused, “they could have killed me but didn’t. That’s good at least.”

With that, I helped myself to an apple and a chunk of bread. It wasn’t the best breakfast that I’d ever had, but it still beat prison food.

Once I was done eating, I stood up and stretched, feeling all the aches and pains as I did so. Most of those were scrapes and bruises from fighting monsters or climbing trees. I brushed the long hair out of my face, thinking that I should probably cut it short, or at least tie it back and out of the way.

Now that I’d eaten and rested, I was able to think a bit more clearly. That meant that I was in a much better position to consider my options and what I wanted to do next.

“Okay,” I thought aloud. “I’ve got food, water, and a relatively safe place.” And of course, there was someone else around providing the food, but I didn’t know who. That meant there might be other people nearby too.

Three options came to mind. I could keep following the trail that I had been, through that arch and to wherever it led me. That might be to people. I could go back into the forest and follow the trail back the other direction, to see where that led me. Or, I could stay where I was and try to meet up with whoever had been bringing the food.

The third option was kind of appealing because I didn’t actually have to do anything but wait. However, there was no guarantee that this mysterious person would continue to bring me food, or that they’d ever show their faces.

My eyes went to the trees, though I wasn’t thinking about the path through them. I was thinking about the monsters, and about how killing them had made me level up. I still didn’t understand what that really meant, but I was sure that it was a good thing.

“I know how to deal with them now,” I mused. “It wouldn’t hurt to find a nice tree and kill a few more monsters.”

I wasn’t hard to make a decision, though it took me a good hour to gather my courage enough to actually do it. Once I was ready though, I took my sword and marched right back into the trees, finding a nice one a short distance inside the tree line. Then, once I was positioned on a branch, all I had to do was wait.

For the next couple hours, I remained on my perch, slowly killing any monsters that came by. Eventually though, the position just got to be too uncomfortable so I finally came back down and hurried back to the field. When I returned to the pond, I discovered that the box had been refilled yet again.

“Now they’re just fucking with me,” I growled in frustration. I looked around, then called out, “I KNOW YOU’RE WATCHING ME. COME ON OUT.”

There was no response, not that I’d really expected one. Whoever was doing this, they seemed to enjoy messing with me, and I couldn’t think of why they’d want to end that just yet.

I hung around the pond for awhile, until I got bored. Then, I made my way to the tree line and stepped back into the forest. However, I didn’t go far. Instead, I just leaned back against a tree and watched the pond. Hopefully, someone would show up to check on the food again, and once they did, I’d have them.

This lasted for maybe an hour at most before the monsters arrived. I quickly scrambled up another tree, cursing the branches that scraped me in passing. Then, I went back to killing monsters.

I repeated this cycle for the rest of the day, eating and resting at the pond, then going back into the forest to kill monsters and watch for the person who was messing with me. However, at one point, I was able to keep my eye on the box for a couple hours straight, but when I went to check on it, it had filled up again. On its own.

“How the hell is that even possible?” I asked myself in frustration.

Of course, the answer was simply ‘magic’. At this point, I couldn’t deny that magic existed. Not after what had happened to me, and certainly not when I could actually use some of it myself.

Now, it was around dinner time and I was sitting at the pond, munching on a pear and staring off into the woods. Technically, I had absolutely no idea of what time it was, or if such a thing really even mattered inside the Labyrinth. However, I’d mentally labeled the time I woke up as ‘morning’, and it had been a long day since then.

Then I suddenly heard a loud noise coming from the forest, and it didn’t sound like the typical monster growls. I jumped to my feet and grabbed my sword, not taking my eyes off the tree line. More noise came and it seemed to be getting closer. It sounded like…fighting?

“GOT THAT UGLY BASTARD,” a voice called out from the trees.

My eyes widened at that. It was another person. Finally.

A few seconds later, a figure emerged from the trees, following the trail. No, there were four people following that trail, and they all stopped and looked towards me.

“Ah, shit,” I muttered, suddenly realizing that I was outnumbered and out in the open.

The group continued down the trail, though I didn’t know if they intended to follow it or to take the brief side detour to the pond, where I was waiting. As they approached, I got a better look at them and their weapons. They didn’t just outnumber me, they were all a lot better armed as well.

The person in the lead was a large black man with a bald head. He wore armor that appeared to be a mix of leather and chain mail, with a few more solid pieces added in. He held a one-handed sword that was similar to mine, while a round shield hung from his other arm.

Behind him came a woman, who wore what appeared to be black leather armor. She had shoulder-length black hair, and she wore black lipstick and eye shadow, giving her a definitive goth look. A short sword hung from her belt, though she held a compound bow in her hand.

Third came a lean Asian man with a goatee, who wore some kind of grey lightweight armor, that looked a lot more modern than what the first two people had been wearing. He also carried some kind of metal walking stick or staff.

And last, there was an athletic looking man with light brown hair. He wore grey armor that looked identical to what the Asian guy was wearing, and he was carrying a weapon that looked like a spear but with an axe head on the end.

As they came closer, none of them showed any signs of being actively hostile. The chick with the bow didn’t even have an arrow ready, though I quickly realized, I didn’t see any arrows on her at all. But in spite of their lack of obvious aggression, I still felt like I was back in prison, being approached by one of the gangs.

“Howdy,” the man with the shield greeted me with an easy smile.

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. What was he after? Instead of just wondering, I asked, “Is this some kind of shakedown?”

He looked surprised at that while the Asian man burst out laughing. The woman smirked and said, “I don’t think you have anything we want, Red.”

“Red?” I started to ask before realizing that she was referring to my hair color.

“Not used to being a redhead?” she asked with a smirk.

“I only just sold my soul,” I responded wryly, which seemed to amuse her.

The man with the weird spear-axe stepped forward and held out a hand to show he wasn’t threatening me. “Hello. You’re obviously newly respawned.” He gestured towards me. “Your robe is a pretty clear indication.”

“Kind of far in for that,” the man with the shield said, giving me another look. “But yeah, you’re right. She’s clearly a noob.”

I bristled a little at that, though I knew he was right. I was a rookie as far as this whole player business went, and I had almost no idea of what I was doing.

“I’m Agent Dan Giles,” the man with the spear-axe introduced himself. “With the Wardens.” Then he gestured to the Asian man. “This is Agent Nathan Pham, also with the Wardens.”

I blinked at that. I’d heard of the Wardens, the Men in Grey. They were sort of like the police for Players. That would explain their matching suits of grey armor.

“Hello,” Pham said with a nod.

“I’m Grayson,” the man with the shield told me.

Finally, the woman just said, “Lenore.”

There was a pause as they clearly waited for me to introduce myself. “Dono…” I started to give my last name, only to pause as I realized that might not be a good idea. Mike Donovan was a convict.

“Donna,” Giles said, apparently misunderstanding. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Donna.”

“But what are you doing out here?” Pham asked. “We’re still in a shallow area of the Labyrinth, but we are a bit far from the nearest entrance.”

“I have no fucking idea,” I answered honestly. “All I know is that I woke up here a couple days ago.” I gestured towards the forest.

“A couple days?” Grayson exclaimed in surprise. “How did you survive all the monsters by yourself?”

“She obviously found this safe zone and hid out here,” Lenore said, giving me a curious look.

I frowned at that. “Safe zone?”

Grayson gave me an incredulous look, then gestured to the area around us. “This place. The Labyrinth has safe zones scattered about so you can rest and relax. Monsters won’t come near them and a lot of them even have food and water.”

I nodded in understanding, then gestured to the box. “Well, there is food and water, and the monsters do avoid this place…”

“A nice place to hang out while you waited for rescue,” Lenore commented with a note of dismissal in her voice.

“I wish I could have found this place a lot sooner,” I responded. “It would have saved me a lot of trouble.”

“So, how did you deal with all the monsters by yourself?” Pham asked curiously. “I mean, before you found the safe zone.”

“I fought a couple of them with my sword,” I answered. “Then I figured out that it was a hell of a lot easier to get just up in a tree and blast them with ‘Hex’ until they died.

“Hex?” Grayson asked, his attention suddenly sharpening. He stared at me for several seconds before asking, “You’re an enchanter?”

I narrowed my eyes, realizing that I may have just fucked up by giving them too much information. I didn’t know these people so I sure as hell couldn’t trust them. However, the cat was out of the bag, at least as far as that went.

“Yeah,” I responded carefully, wondering just how much I should tell them.

Grayson brightened up at that and flashed me a broad grin. “Awesome. I’m an enchanter too. If you’d like, I can give you some tips and advice on the class.”

I blinked at that since this was not the direction that I’d expected that line of questions to go. I hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“That sounds good.” I paused again before admitting, “I have a LOT of questions about this whole player thing.”

“That makes sense,” Giles mused. “It isn’t like this comes with an instruction book.”

“Like you’d know,” Lenore told him with a roll of her eyes. “You and wizard boy both got the full classroom experience before you ever became players.”

“That is true,” Pham agreed pleasantly. “We weren’t dropped off the deep end the way you respawned are.”

I looked back and forth between them, trying to figure out what they were talking about. Lenore smirked as though she’d scored some kind of point while Grayson rolled his eyes.

“Anyway,” Grayson told me. “Do you mind if we all sit down and get comfortable? I want to grab a bite to eat, then we can explain a few things and answer some questions.”

“Sure,” I responded, though I didn’t knower my guard. I was still a bit suspicious of these guys, but this was an opportunity I couldn’t ignore.

My new ‘friends’ and I were sitting on the ground beside the pond, relaxing and having a bite to eat. At least, they were relaxing while I was just pretending to. I didn’t know these people and it would have been stupid to trust them just yet.

“My halberd can be kind of annoying,” Giles said as he shifted his spear-axe thing out of the way. “I might have to switch over to a shorter poleaxe just so it won’t get in the way as much.”

“That would be easier for the tight spaces,” Grayson told him.

I looked at the spear-axe that was lying on the ground beside Giles. The halberd. It was about seven feet long from tip to tip, with the head of it being an axe. I imagined that it would be useful for keeping your distance from monsters while killing them, but it did seem a bit awkward at the same time.

Lenore’s bow was on the ground beside her, and that looked a little awkward to carry around too, but not nearly as much as that halberd. I still didn’t see a single arrow for that thing on her, which made me a bit curious.

“So,” I said, turning my attention to Grayson. “Tell me about enchanters.”

Grayson finished chewing a bite of apple, then responded, “Sure.”

“They’re one of the weakest classes,” Lenore offered with a smirk. “Everyone says so.”

“And everyone also says that conjurers are one of the weakest classes,” Grayson responded to her with a knowing look. Then he looked back and me and explained, “That is kind of true, depending on how you look at it, but enchanters can be pretty useful too.”

“True,” Pham agreed with a nod.

I’d already figured out, or at least, suspected a few things about enchanters and how they worked. However, it was all guesswork based off my very limited experience. I wanted to know how it all really worked.

“Basically,” Grayson explained, “enchanters are all about buffs and debuffs, or boons and banes as the system calls them.” He paused for a moment to let me absorb that, then continued, “Enchantments are a type of aura that you can put on things, which temporarily changes how they work. If it improves things, it’s called a boon. If it weakens or hurts them, it’s a bane.”

“That makes sense,” I responded thoughtfully. “And is that why it says ‘bane’ under my talents and affinities? Because Hex is a bane?”

Grayson grinned at that. “It means that you have an affinity for banes…”

“If you have an affinity for something,” Giles added, “it means that type of magic works a lot better for you.”

“Like you have an affinity for stupidity?” Lenore asked him with a smirk.

Giles ignored Lenore as he told me, “Any abilities that you get which are banes, will be stronger because of that.”

“Congratulations, Red,” Lenore told me. “You’re a black enchanter.”

“Black enchanter?” I asked, trying to figure out how that was an insult.

“Black enchanter just means that you specialize in banes,” Grayson quickly explained. “It’s just a nickname for the path you’re on. A white enchanter is one that specializes in boons, and a grey doesn’t specialize at all. They use both, which can be less powerful but more versatile.”

“White enchanters can make their whole team stronger,” Pham added. “Black ones can make their enemies a lot weaker and easier to kill.”

“And what kind are you?” I asked Grayson.

“I’m a gold enchanter,” Grayson answered proudly. “Basically, it just means that I’m a specialized white type. I specialize in boons that I can put on myself.”

“Kind of useless as an enchanter if you ask me,” Lenore teased him, though in spite of her words, the tone was almost friendly. “He can’t boost anyone else. Might as well just be a warrior.”

“True,” Grayson agreed cheerfully.

I chuckled faintly. “With your name, I would have assumed you were the grey type.”

“Nope,” Grayson responded with a grin. “I named myself after one of my favorite comic characters. The first ability I got was Dancer’s Step, which jacks up my agility until I’m like an acrobat.”

I nodded politely, though I didn’t see how that related. Still, he was being nice and answering my questions, so I didn’t want to fuck with him just yet.

“Knowing your path affinity this soon is great,” Pham told me. “It will really help with your build.”

“My build?” I asked. I was really feeling like a broken record, constantly repeating things that they said. I hated feeling completely lost with this stuff.

“How you build your power,” Grayson told me. “What abilities you choose and how you slot your stats. How you do that is entirely up to you, but most people stick to abilities that match their affinity. That way, you get the most bang for your buck.”

“Don’t neglect your stats,” Lenore told me, apparently deciding to be serious instead of snarky. “They’re critical.”

“True,” Grayson agreed. “All of them are useful, so you’ll need to decide what you want to prioritize. As an enchanter, focus and presence are the ones that will help your abilities the most. Focus is all about your mental power and will give you more control over your enchantments. Presence lets you put more of your personal energy into your enchantments, making them stronger.”

“But you can’t rely only on those, Miss Donna,” Giles added. “Your abilities will be strong, but you’ll have a lot of weaknesses.”

“Exactly,” Lenore agreed emphatically.

Grayson nodded his own agreement. “Perception deals with your senses and awareness, so it will let you spot threats and see what other people’s enchantments do. Vitality is all about health and stamina.”

“Super critical in the Labyrinth,” Lenore said.

“I would recommend slotting at least ten into vitality,” Giles said. “At least, if you’re going to do Labyrinth runs. That will keep you from getting tired too easily.”

“Dexterity is about fine control and accuracy,” Grayson continued. “Great if you want to hit what you’re aiming for.” He grinned at that and added, “And you don’t have to slot much before you become ambidextrous.”

“Agility does the same kind of thing,” Lenore said, “but for your whole body. Balance. Reflexes. Your ability to move.” Then she smirked and added, “And that one can really save your ass in here.”

Grayson nodded at that again. “True.” Then he said, “And then there’s strength, which is probably the least useful for your abilities, but is really important if you want to fight without them. Besides, being strong is just good in general.”

I just nodded at that, having already figured out most of what those things did. However, I hadn’t known about focus and presence affecting my ability.

“And what do the free stat points do?” I asked. “That number keeps going up, but…” I shrugged at that.

Everyone just stared at me while Lenore actually made a show of face-palming.

“You haven’t been slotting your points?” Lenore asked in disbelief. “You really are a noob.”

“At least I don’t look like a trash panda,” I responded, referencing her heavy eyeshadow.

Lenore paused at that, blinked, then laughed. “Trash panda…” She looked at Grayson and said, “You know, we’re either going to be good friends or I’m gonna kill her.”

“There is no in-between,” Grayson responded evenly, though he held back a look of amusement.

I was getting annoyed by their reactions, as well as self-conscious. Had I really missed something that they all seemed to think was obvious?

“And we just got done telling you about how important this was too,” Lenore said with a sigh. “Total noob.”

“She is new to being a player,” Pham reminded her gently. “Were you an expert when you first respawned?”

Lenore grumbled at that, then just sat there with a defiant look on her face. Pham had a slightly smug expression.

“Miss Donna,” Giles told me. “As Miss Lenore has said, your free stats are very important to your build. You can move them to any of your stats in order to improve them.”

Grayson nodded. “If you put free points into your strength, you actually get stronger. When we were talking about slotting points into your stats, this is what we meant.”

“Okay,” I responded awkwardly. “Thanks.”

I was about to ask how I slotted my free points, but decided that I didn’t want to sound any stupider than I already did. Besides, it couldn’t be very difficult. Everything else seemed to work just by concentrating on it, so this couldn’t be any different. I just hadn’t thought to try that before.

“I guess I’ll need to think about what I want, then,” I said.

After this, I decided that I didn’t want to ask them any more ‘stupid questions’. Sure, I still had a lot of questions to ask, but it might be better to hold off on anything else for a bit.

I leaned back and considered just how I wanted to slot those free points. The idea of actually getting stronger, faster, or healthier just by slotting a few points… Being able to do something like that really emphasized the kind of power that players had.

At the moment, I had five free stat points, which seemed like quite a bit. After all, my total score in strength was five. Could I double my strength by putting them all in that? I wasn’t sure how much a single point improved thing, but this fell into one of the questions that I’d have to ask later.

After thinking about it for a minute, I decided that this wasn’t something I should probably think about too much. Grayson and the others had already just given me a crash course in what those stats did, and they’d given their recommendations.

First, I dropped three points into vitality, bringing it up to nine. Running around in the trees and fighting monsters had been exhausting. If I could give myself a bit more stamina and energy, I was all for it. Then I dropped my last two points into presence to help with my ability. Once I was done with that, I brought up my stats to look them over again.

CLASS: ENCHANTER
LEVEL: 3
FREE STAT POINTS: 0

FOCUS: 6
PERCEPTION: 7
PRESENCE: 9
STRENGTH: 5
VITALITY: 9
DEXTERITY: 7
AGILITY: 6

TALENTS AND AFFINITIES:
-ENCHANTMENT
--BANES

ABILITIES:
-HEX

SOULBOUND ITEMS:
-ARMOR OF THE ENCHANTRESS

I nodded, satisfied with how easy that had been and a bit embarrassed that I hadn’t figured it out on my own. I also realized that I felt a little different. A little more energetic for one.

“Nice,” I said, more to myself than to anyone else. “I wish I’d known to do that sooner.”

“I bet it would have made things a lot easier,” Grayson told me.

Giles shifted position and said, “As much as I have enjoyed this break and our conversation with Miss Donna, we do have a mission to get back to.” He looked at me with an apologetic look. “I’m afraid that we don’t have the time to turn around and escort you back to the nearest entrance, so you’ll have to decide what you want to do. As I see it, you have three options.”

“Okay,” I said, keeping my voice neutral. I hadn’t even thought about having them escort me out of the Labyrinth, though I probably should have. “What do you think my options are?”

“You can try to make your way to the exit on your own,” Giles said, gesturing down the trail back towards the forest, back the way I’d originally come. “But you’d have to deal with all the monsters by yourself, and not just the ones from this area that you’re already familiar with.”

“The next area doesn’t have trees to hide in,” Lenore said.

“You can wait here until we come back this way,” Giles continued, “which might possibly be a couple weeks. Or until someone else comes by who can escort you to an exit.”

I scowled at the thought of waiting here. Sitting out in the open with nothing to eat but fruit and bread? No thank you.

“Or?” I asked.

“Or, Miss Donna,” Giles answered, “you can come with us. We are on a Warden mission, which means going through a more dangerous section of the Labyrinth, but we can help protect you until we reach an exit.”

“Waiting here might be the safest option,” Grayson pointed out. “You already know the local monsters.”

“Yeah,” Lenore added with a snort. “But you know the Labyrinth sometimes gets annoyed at people hanging around the safe zones for too long. It’s been known to make those safe zones disappear.”

“True,” Grayson admitted with a sigh.

“I’m not staying here anyway,” I told them, looking back towards the forest.

For a few seconds, I was tempted to just head back in that direction so I could follow the trail and see where it led. I’d already faced those monsters, so I could at least handle the forest part. But whatever was after that…? Well, I’d have to face that by myself.

I took a deep breath, then gave a casual shrug. “I’ll go with you guys, if you don’t mind. I’d like to learn a bit more about this whole player thing.”

“Are you sure?” Pham asked.

“No,” I answered honestly, standing up and stretching as I did so. “But that has never stopped me before.”

I clutched my sword tightly as I looked around, definitely not liking the look of this place. I was in the middle of what appeared to be a desert, with lots of dull stone and sand, but absolutely no trees.

Just a short time ago, I’d left the safe zone with my new companions and had gone with them through the stone arch that I’d seen. To my surprise, I almost immediately found myself in an entirely different environment than where I’d been before. It immediately made me think of one of those transporters from that old Star Trek show.

“Be careful, Miss Donna,” Giles warned me. “There is a different type of monster here than what you’ve been fighting.”

“Every area has their own ecosystem,” Grayson added. “Including their own wildlife and monsters.”

Giles stared at the pages of a book, then he carefully closed it and put it into his pack. From what I understood, those were the map directions that they were using to find their way through the Laybinth and to wherever it was that they wanted to go. And according to what they’d said, the route could change without notice, so we couldn’t count on the directions completely.

“I feel so confident in this,” I muttered sarcastically, wondering if it was too late to go back and hang out at the pond. The fact that everyone else had decent armor while all I wore were rags didn’t help with my mood.

“Mister Grayson, if you would,” Giles said.

Grayson nodded and continued moving ahead, taking the lead like he had when I’d first seen them. Lenore followed right behind, her bow ready. She still didn’t have any arrows for the thing.

“What is it with calling everyone mister or miss?” I asked Giles.

I was a little annoyed at the way he kept calling me ‘Miss Donna’ since every time was a reminder of what I now looked like. However, I didn’t correct him on either the name or the ‘miss’ bit because that would only create even more awkward questions. Still, I was definitely curious.

Grayson chuckled from the front while Lenore snickered. Giles just let out a sigh. “I’m an invoker, and two of my bargains are with celestial type primals.”

“Okay,” I said, though I had absolutely no idea what that had to do with anything. I assumed that ‘invoker’ was his class, but I had no clue as to what a primal was.

“Celestials are all about law and order,” Giles explained. “At least in theory. In practice, they just love their rules and they want everyone else to follow whatever rules they come up with. As part of my deal with them, I have to follow certain rules that they gave me. One of my deals requires me to use formal language when addressing people by name, and the other one prevents me from telling lies.”

“You can’t lie?” I asked, more than a little skeptically. In my experience, people who claimed that they never lied were usually just trying to cover up their lies.

“Technically, I can still lie,” Giles admitted with a wry smile. “But there are consequences if I do. If I break my deals, then I’ll probably lose the abilities that come with them.”

“And that would suck for all of us,” Lenore said. “At least while we’re still in the Labyrinth.”

“Those abilities are useful,” Grayson agreed cheerfully.

I was about to ask more when Lenore suddenly looked up into the sky with a scowl and a muttered profanity. “Looks like we’ve got some flying assholes.”

My eyes went up and I quickly spotted what she meant. There were monsters flying through the air, coming straight for us, but they looked absolutely nothing like the rat dogs that I’d faced before. These ones seemed to be round spheres, each about the size of a beach ball, with scaley bat wings. The big balls that made up their main bodies, also had large mouths with lots of sharp looking teeth. And the worst thing was the fact that there were almost a dozen of the freaky things.

“What the fuck are those?” I demanded.

“Monsters,” Lenore answered with a smirk before commenting, “Noobs.”

Lenore held up her bow and an arrow suddenly appeared in her hand. She shot the arrow at one of the monsters, hitting it dead on in the middle of its body. It dropped and spiraled as it fell, but it clearly wasn’t dead since it caught itself and kept coming towards us.

“Shit,” I spat out, realizing that I couldn’t just climb a tree and blast these monsters from a safe distance, even if there had been any trees around.

I blasted a ‘Hex’ at the nearest monster and missed it completely. I cursed at that, especially since it would take a full minute before I could try again.

“Your aim sucks, Red,” Lenore called out, right before she fired another arrow right into the open mouth of the same monster.

“No shit, Captain Obvious,” I snapped back.

While this was going on, a faint glimmering white and gold aura formed around Grayson, followed by a second one that was only slightly different in color. These had to be his enchantments, those boons that he’d told me about.

Grayson lunged forward at a surprising speed, using his shield to smack one of the monsters that dove town towards Lenore, then he spun around and sliced the wing off of another one. That monster hit the ground where Grayson’s sword promptly went right through its main body.

One of the monsters swooped down near me and I swung at it with my sword, but I was clumsy and barely grazed the creature. Suddenly, Giles’ halberd swung down and tore into the thing, right before it could bite me.

“You’ll want to increase your strength and dexterity of you want to use that weapon, Miss Donna,” Giles said.

I scowled at that, kind of pissed at failing at both the sword and my ability. I hated feeling so damn helpless.

Giles held up his hand and the air suddenly shimmered. A moment later, a shimmering dome formed over the area, so it looked like we were standing inside a giant soap bubble. As soon as this dome appeared, several of the monsters dove down and smacked right into it before bouncing off.

“This is well worth a little formality,” Giles said.

“It won’t last long,” Pham explained, “so we have to make use of it while we can.”

“Already working on it,” Grayson responded.

With that, Grayson rushed forward and attacked one of the monsters that had been caught inside the dome with us. He sliced through that one with ease and then quickly turned to the next one.

Pham held up his staff with one hand while gesturing outward with the other. There was a shimmering in the air, though one that was quite different from when Giles had used his ability. Suddenly, a burst of wind shot forward, went right through the bubble dome as though it wasn’t there, and hit two of the monsters. The monsters split in half, as though cut by a giant invisible knife.

“What the hell was THAT?” I blurted out.

“Wind blade,” Pham answered. “I can reshape the air into a giant blade.” Then, he had a look of concentration on his face before he repeated the attack, this time hitting only one of the monsters.

Then, Pham reached to his belt and grabbed a scepter that hung there. I knew that some players used scepters as weapons, and it seemed that Pham was one of them. A moment later, he held the scepter out and a bolt of electricity shot out, missing the monster he was aiming at.

For several seconds, I just stood there, silently watching the group fight. It was obvious that they all had experience fighting like this, and that they had some very effective abilities. That made me feel even worse about my own lack of contribution.

When my own ability was recharged and ready for use, I didn’t waste any time before blasting one of the monsters. This time, I hit the winged beach ball and the ‘Hex’ aura snapped into place around it. The thing immediately staggered in the air, smacking into one of the other monsters before awkwardly attempting to regain control.

“About time you hit something, Red,” Lenore said as she shot another arrow.

“Bite me, Trash Panda Barbie,” I snapped back.

Pham burst out laughing. “It looks like we have two of them now.”

I looked around, noticing that Grayson had successfully cleared out all of the monsters from within the dome, and between Lenore and Pham, more than half of the ones outside the dome had been taken care of as well.

Giles moved towards the edge of the dome and swung his halberd out, hitting one of the monsters that was flying around on the outside. The monster dropped to the ground and he immediately hit it again, finishing it off.

It was at this point that the dome abruptly vanished and the remaining monsters all came swooping in at once. I got another chance with the sword, to a bit more success than before, though not much. I hit a monster and lopped off one of it’s wings, though I’d been trying to hit its main body instead. Either way, it dropped to the ground where Giles promptly finished it off.

“I hate this part,” Lenore complained.

As the goth archer said this, a suit of armor formed around her body, including a helmet that covered most of her head. This wasn’t like the black leather armor she had been wearing, but a full suit silver metal armor with gold trim, closer to what I’d expect of a medieval knight. She immediately grabbed her short sword and began swinging that at the onrushing monsters.

When my ‘Hex’ was ready to go again, only a couple of the monsters were left. One of them was the same monster that I’d blasted before. It didn’t look like nearly as much of a threat as the others, which may be why nobody had bothered finishing it off yet. I just blasted it a second time, doubling down on the enchantment.

A few seconds later, the rest of the monsters were finished off. The only one that remained was the one that I’d hit. That one was still fluttering around, barely able to even get off the ground. Everyone else just stood back and watched it, apparently waiting to see what I would do. So, I waited until ‘Hex’ was recharged, then blasted it again. Then, since I didn’t want to keep waiting, I simply walked up to the monster and stabbed it with the sword.

“When do I get my next ability?” I asked in annoyance. My ‘Hex’ hadn’t been much use during this fight.

“It isn’t consistent,” Grayson told me with an apologetic shrug. “Some people get their second ability at five, others at seven.”

“There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason,” Pham added with an amused look. “And you usually get to choose between several abilities…but not always. Sometimes you just get assigned one, with no options.”

“I think the system is just fucking with us,” Lenore suggested. Her metal armor had already vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.

“It certainly seems like it,” Grayson agreed.

This was not the answer I wanted to hear, but complaining would have been pointless. Instead, I looked back and forth at the others, remembering what they’d done during the fight.

“So,” I asked Lenore. “You summon arrows?”

“I CONJURE arrows,” she corrected. “Summoners create living beings and conjurers create inanimate objects.”

“You both use the same creation magic,” Grayson pointed out. “You’re basically just variations on the same class.”

“Is that kind of thing common?” I asked curiously. “Different classes using the same kind of magic?”

“Pretty much,” Grayson told me. “I mean, stalkers, shadowmancers, and darklings all use the same darkness magic. Enchanters, animators, and shapers are pretty similar too.”

“And don’t even ask about the fucking warrior types,” Lenore exclaimed with a very obvious roll of her eyes. “Now, those guys should all be the same class.”

“What is that about warrior types?” I asked.

“That, Miss Donna, is a common debate,” Giles told me with an amused look. “Warriors use physical magic, but so do a few other similar classes. Warriors. Bulwarks. Brawlers. Lancers. They all seem to be the same basic class, just with different focuses and specializations.”

“The debate,” Pham added, “is that a lot of people think that they started off as one class, and that some of the specializations were split off into their own separate classes. Others disagree.”

“Welcome to player theory crafting and debate,” Grayson told me wryly. “I’m sure you’ll find it quite fascinating.”

I shifted position on the uncomfortable rock I was sitting on, letting out a yawn and trying hard not to fall asleep. From my perspective, it was early morning and I’d been up all night, marching and fighting with very little rest. From everyone else’s perspective, it was only late afternoon.

“Welcome to Labyrinth lag,” Grayson told me. “Since there’s no way to tell time in this place, it’s really easy for your schedule to get messed up.”

“It’s even worse when you go back into the real world,” Pham added. “Especially after spending a long time inside.”

“Agent Pham is right,” Giles agreed. “Labyrinth lag can be even worse than jet lag.”

“You know,” Lenore said, giving me a thoughtful look. “I just realized that Red is a complete and total noob…”

“You JUST realized that?” Grayson asked. “And not the last dozen times you mentioned it?”

Lenore rolled her eyes. “What I mean, is that no one has given Red the talk yet.”

“The talk?” he started to ask, only to pause as a look of realization formed.

I gave Lenore a suspicious look. “What talk?” I asked.

I remembered some of the talks I’d been given when first arrived in prison, mostly about how things worked around there. Some of those talks had been less than friendly.

“Usually,” Grayson explained slowly, “when a respawned player gets out of the Labyrinth for the first time, the local Wardens and the other players explain how things work for us now.” He nodded to Lenore, carefully not looking at Pham or Giles, who seemed to be exceptions to this since they’d never been respawned. “Since you skipped the leaving part…”

“We get to fill you in on the birds and bees,” Lenore added with a smirk.

Grayson rolled his eyes while Pham chuckled. Then the shaper said, “I suppose that we can do the Warden part of the talk ourselves. The paperwork part will have to wait.”

“Miss Donna,” Giles said, his expression serious. “According to law, the person that you were before your death is dead and gone. Legally, you are a separate and unconnected entity, and as such, you have absolutely no claim on any property that you may have left behind.”

“True,” Grayson added with a sigh. “If you had a bank account…owned property…or had a spouse… They’re gone. Officially, you are a complete and separate person from who you used to be.”

“But that means all your debts are gone too,” Lenore added almost cheerfully. “All those crushing student loans and medical debts. POOF. Fucking gone.”

My eyes widened as I absorbed what I’d just been told. “Everything…”

“Everything,” Grayson repeated. “Gone. You have a completely new start now.”

I just sat there motionless, realizing exactly what this meant for me. Up until that moment, I’d been worried that if anyone found out who I really was…who I used to be, that they’d grab me and throw me back in prison. And considering what I looked like now, that would be BAD. But now… I felt like a heavy weight had just been lifted off my shoulders.

“A new start,” I said with a self-conscious smile. “Yeah, I could use one of those.”

“That is pretty much the Warden part of the talk,” Pham said.

Giles nodded. “As Agent Pham said.”

“The rest of it is more about player culture,” Grayson told me.

“And it’s important,” Lenore added. “Unless you want people to kick your fucking ass.”

Grayson hesitated a moment before nodding agreement. “First off, asking players about their class is fine. It’s kind of the player equivalent of ‘what do you do for a living?’ Asking about their specific builds isn’t. Its considered nosey and rude. If they want you to know, they’ll tell you.”

“There are exceptions, of course,” Pham added. “If you’re working with a team, you need to know a bit about what everyone can do.”

Grayson nodded. “But asking someone about their lives BEFORE…”

“That’s a good way to get your ass kicked,” Lenore told me. “A lot of players really don’t want to talk about their old lives.”

“Very true,” Grayson agreed.

I considered this for a few seconds, realizing that none of them had asked me where I’d slotted my free points, and they certainly hadn’t asked me anything about my life before I’d respawned. I would have expected at least a little curiosity about that and how I’d died.

“Sounds good to me,” I said with a nod of approval. I could really get behind this policy because I sure as hell didn’t want anyone poking around in my past. “Privacy is good.”

Lenore suddenly tensed up and looked up into the air. “We have more of those flying assholes.”

“I hate those things,” I grumbled as I got to my feet and grabbed my sword.

We’d already fought multiple swarms of those things, and with as many as we’d killed, I would have thought that they’d have run out by now. But they were like those nasty rat dogs in that more of them just kept showing up.

“My shield isn’t ready for another use,” Giles announced with a grim expression.

Grayson banged his sword against the edge of his shield and said, “Then we’ll just have to deal with them the hard way.”

A moment later, Lenore was covered in her silver metal armor, which I’d already seen a couple times. From what she’d said, it was pretty clear that she didn’t really like using this armor. Apparently, it was uncomfortable and slow to move in, but it also gave her pretty good protection. I suspected that another reason she didn’t like using it was that it was all bright and shiny, which went against her whole goth vibe.

Lenore opened fire with her conjured arrows, though I noticed that her speed and accuracy seemed to have taken a hit while she was wearing the armor. However, when one monster dove down and bit her shoulder, I imagined she was probably happy to be wearing the armor anyway.

I waited until one monster was in range, then hit it with a ‘Hex’. Then I turned my focus to using the sword, at least until my ability was ready to go again.

By this point, everyone was used to fighting these monsters, so we were able to handle them fairly quickly, even without Gile’s shield. One by one, the monsters went down. I was able to hit three of them with my ‘Hex’ blasts, and I even finished one of them off with my sword. But overall, my contribution had still been pretty weak.

“Damn,” I grumbled when we were done.

“Not bad, noob,” Lenore told me as her metal armor vaded away, leaving just her leather armor. “You didn’t cut yourself.”

“I’ll give you some pointers for the sword,” Grayson said as he cleaned the monster gore from the blade. “Once we get to the next safe zone.”

“A safe zone would be nice,” Pham agreed pleasantly.

“I agree completely with Agent Pham,” Giles added. “But we won’t find one by staying here.”

I groaned at that, even though I knew he was right. At that moment, I just wanted to find a good spot to go to sleep, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen while monsters were still around. Then I noticed that I had a popup.

YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 4

I nodded at that, then slotted the new point into vitality, just to give me a little extra energy. This put my vitality at ten, where Giles had recommended I get it if I was going to spend any time in the Labyrinth. Now, I’d need to focus on raising my other stats.

As I considered my stats and what I needed to improve next, something else occurred to me. I still had a number of questions that I’ve held off on asking because I didn’t want to look stupid. However, by this point, that ship had sailed. As Lenore kept pointing out, I was a noob, so they all expected me to be ignorant.

“Hey,” I asked. “Just curious, but what’s a soulbound item?”

They all turned to stare at me in surprise. I was a little startled by this sharp attention, which made me wonder if I should have kept quiet about it for longer. I’d tried keeping quiet and listening, but they hadn’t said a single word about soulbound items, so I figured that if I wanted to find out about that part of my status sheet, I needed to ask.

“Miss Donna,” Giles started carefully. “Do you happen to possess a soulbound item?”

“Obviously,” Lenore told him with a roll of her eyes. “Otherwise, Red wouldn’t have asked.”

Giles gave her a look of annoyance, then answered, “Soulbound items are a rare type of artifact that you can sometimes find deeper in the Labyrinth. What makes them special is that they can permanently bond to a person and then they act almost like additional abilities.”

“Occasionally, people are respawned with one,” Grayson added, giving me a knowing look.

“So, Red,” Lenore asked, leaning in closer. “What kind do you have?”

I remained silent, giving the conjurer a suspicious look as I considered how to answer. That kind of interest was a bit worrying, making me regret that I’d ever said a word about my souldbound item, in spite of the fact that I was starting to get answers about it.

“You don’t need to worry about anyone stealing your artifact, Miss Donna,” Giles told me patiently. “Soulbound items can’t be stolen any more than your abilities can be. And if someone with a soulbound item dies, the item vanishes, so it would be pointless trying to kill someone for it.”

I stared at Giles for a moment, remembering the bit about him not being able to lie, or at least, about him facing serious consequences if he did. Of course, that could all be a lie, but I had a feeling that he was being straight up about that part.

“It’s called the Armor of the Enchantress,” I finally answered. “I can see it in my status sheet, and I can sort of feel it like I can my ‘Hex’, but not quite. It’s like, it’s just out of reach.”

“It may have a prerequisite,” Pham suggested. “A lot of the more powerful artifacts do. They may require a specific type of magic or that you be strong enough to handle them.”

“The Armor of the Enchantress,” Grayson mused. “That sounds like an enchanter specific item, so it probably requires you to be an enchanter to use.”

“No shit,” Lenore said with a roll of her eyes.

“Even I figured that much out,” I added wryly.

Lenore grinned at me, then held her fist out for a fist bump. I responded to the gesture with the expected fist bump, feeling amused by this small bit of camaraderie with the conjurer.

“Then,” Grayson continued, not seeming bothered in the least by our comments, “it probably needs you to be stronger. I mean, not literally stronger. It might need you to be at a certain level, or have certain stats. Probably focus and presence, since those are the most important ones for our class.”

I nodded slowly at that. “I guess that makes sense.” I hesitated a moment, then asked, “Is there any way to tell for sure what it needs? Or what fuck it even does?”

“Not until you’re able to activate it, Miss Donna,” Giles said with a faint smile. “But once you do, please let us know. This might be pushing the limits a little, but you have all of us curious.”

“Damn right,” Lenore agreed.

Interlude:

The train car creaked and shook as it moved along the rail, making for a noisy and uncomfortable ride. However, Stine knew that it would have been far worse if there had been an actual engine on the train. Of course, the train would have been moving a lot faster if there had been an engine as well.

Stine glanced out the window as the New Mexico landscape slowly rolled past. It was a short but scenic ride, even if it was also uncomfortable. They were almost to their destination, Huevo Frito, a small town that had developed around a Labyrinth entrance. The area used to have another name before the Labyrinth had arrived, but Stine hadn’t bothered to remember it.

After taking a few seconds to admire the scenery, Stine looked around the inside of the small train car. His companions shared the space with him, along with all of their luggage, which mostly consisted of arms, armor, and supplies.

Frank was wearing a nice suit and had her hair up in a professional looking bun, looking more like some kind of office worker than a player. This was the look that she seemed to prefer whenever she was outside the Labyrinth.

Jag, on the other hand, was dressed in casual clothing which included a black leather jacket with motorcycle patches. He knew that she would have preferred riding into town on her bike, and would have done exactly that if it hadn’t been for the Labyrinth zone.

Stine himself wore jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and a cowboy hat, the kind of outfit that wouldn’t stand out too much in this area. He liked to blend in and avoid notice, until it was time to get loud. He smiled faintly, looking forward to cutting loose and doing just that.

“The clients are still meeting us in town?” Stine asked.

“Three of them,” Frank answered evenly. “Two from this batch have backed out.”

“Chicken shit NPCs,” Jag grumbled dismissively. “Don’t even have the balls to try improving themselves.”

Stine merely nodded at that, not at all surprised. A lot of their clients backed out, even after paying the non-refundable fee. Once the reality of the situation hit them and they stared down the idea of actually going into the Labyrinth themselves… Well, a lot of people had second thoughts.

“NPCs are all the same,” Jag spat out. “At least we made them pay up front.”

“The pay is very nice,” Frank admitted with a pleasant smile. “But you know that this is only a side business, something to help pay the bills while we collect resources.”

“I know,” Jag agreed. “If this was only about babysitting NPCs, I wouldn’t be here”

“Well, you can also think of it this way,” Frank told her with an amused look. “We are reducing the number of NPCs in the world and increasing the number of players.”

“We’re almost there,” Stine announced as he felt the speed of the train car start to decrease.

“Why, so we are,” Frank agreed pleasantly.

The car continued to slow down until it came to a complete stop just a short time later. Stine grabbed his luggage and climbed out, stepping into the town of Huevo Frito. He paused to look around, taking note of what had changed since the last time he’d been through there.

Most of the buildings were short, being only one or two stories tall with white adobe walls and red tiled roofs. There were a couple buildings that were taller and built of more modern materials, but those were older buildings, ones that had been there before the Labyrinth entrance had appeared.

Stine turned and looked back at the train, which was pretty small as far as trains went and it only had three cars. The passenger car that they’d just emerged from was in the middle, while the car at the end was for hauling general supplies to and from the town. And then, at the front of the train, there was the handcar, where two players pumped a crank to move the whole thing along the tracks.

“When are we supposed to meet the clients?” Stine asked, turning his attention back to Frank. “You said that we’re supposed to start our delve tomorrow morning.”

“They should already be here,” Frank answered, only to pause and gesture off to the side. “In fact, I see them now.”

Stine looked up and saw three of the men that he’d previously met. They were dressed in similar military style fatigues as the last time, though one of them had a gun strapped to his hip. The player chuckled faintly at that since the weapon would be completely useless there much less inside the Labyrinth itself.

“Hey,” the leader of the group greeted them as he approached. “I was a little worried you might not show.”

“We have an agreement,” Frank responded, taking the man’s hand and shaking it. “And I take that seriously.”

“Good to know,” the man responded with a nod of approval.

“You’ve already met Mitch, Jack, and Antony,” Frank said to Stine and Jag, gesturing at the three men.

Mitch was the leader of their little group, not that this meant much to Stine and his companions. He was a white guy in his mid-thirties, with well-tanned skin and rough stubble on his jaw.

Beside him, Jack was an athletic guy with a short military-style haircut, a couple years younger than Mitch. He was the one with the gun, though Stine could also see three separate knives on his body.

The last of this group was Antony, a stocky man with dark skin and a short black beard. He was giving Jag an appreciative look, though he hadn’t bothered flirting with her. Fortunately for him, he was wise enough to read her body language.

“This is Stine and Jag,” Frank told the clients. “They’re very good at what they do.”

“I should hope so, for what we’re paying,” Antony muttered.

“We’re going to find our room and unpack,” Frank continued pleasantly, ignoring Antony’s comment. “Afterwards, we’ll meet up for dinner and then discuss the plan. We will be leaving first thing in the morning.”

---------

Stine stood in front of the Labyrinth entrance, staring at the shimmering tear in space itself. Even after five years, he still wasn’t used to the sight, and he doubted that he ever would be.

“There’s something seriously creepy about that thing,” Mitch commented from the side.

“It’s a doorway to another dimension,” Antony reminded him. “Of courses its weird. This is literally as alien as it gets.”

“You’ll find weirder on the other side,” Frank said.

Stine looked around at the group, each of whom was armed, armored, and ready to go. Well, he and his crew were ready to go, but he was less confident about the clients. The clients were never as prepared as they seemed to think they were.

At the moment, Stine was dressed to fight. He wore leather armor over most his body, though he had no sleeves. Instead, he wore metal bracers on each of his wrists. His only weapon was a knife, though he rarely ever used that to fight. No, he was a brawler, one of the warrior variant classes. His class was all about punching things…hard, fast, and repeatedly.

Jag wore similar armor, though she also wore her leather jacket over the top. A pair of large knives hung from her hips, ones that could almost be considered short swords.

And then there was Frank, who wore a suit of leather armor that had been dyed red. Her armor had chain mail and metal pieces mixed in to give additional protection, and her hair had been pulled back into a braid to keep it out of the way. A large axe was held I one hand with a casual ease.

The clients, Mitch and Anton, were both dressed in more of their wannabe military garb, with the kind of gear that soldiers might wear into combat. At least, the kind that soldiers on Earth might wear. However, their weapons were a little more reasonable. Mitch had a compound bow with a quiver of arrows on his back while Anton had a crossbow. Both of them carried katana style swords, though Stine wasn’t confident in their skills with the weapons.

As far as Stine was concerned, neither of them was properly trained or equipped. Not for the Labyrinth. Then he reminded himself that the Labyrinth was sink or swim and always had been. Their preparation…or lack thereof, was not his responsibility.

“So,” Antony asked, looking directly at Jag. “What exactly do you guys do?”

“I kick ass,” Jag snapped back, her eyes narrowing dangerously, “and I don’t bother taking names.”

Mitch and Antony stepped back, a little surprised by Jag’s vehemence.

“That was how your friend Jack ended up in the infirmary last night,” Stine told them. “Asking questions he shouldn’t have…of someone he shouldn’t have.”

“Players are very protective of their privacy,” Frank explained with an almost predatory smile. “Especially respawned players. If…when you become players yourself, you may appreciate that a little better.”

“Sorry,” Antony apologized, holding his hands out as he tried to calm things down. “I didn’t know I was crossing any lines.”

“Just something to remember for the future,” Frank told him. “Especially when you’re talking with players you don’t know.”

“Cool,” Antony responded with a serious expression and a nod. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Now, before we go in,” Frank said pleasantly.

With that, Frank pulled out a pair of bronze colored metal rods, each about a foot in length and with crystals embedded on the ends. These were scepters, simple in design and identical to each other. Stine had been offered one of those as well, but he’d turned it down. He didn’t like to use scepters.

“You may use these while in the Labyrinth,” Frank said as he handed the scepters to Mitch and Antony. “Consider them a loan from our supplier.”

“Are we ready now?” Jag asked impatiently.

“Yes we are,” Frank responded, swinging her axe through the air once before she turned and marched through the Labyrinth entrance. Everyone else followed right behind her.

The sky was dark and heavy, looking as though a powerful storm was about to explode at any moment. The clouds were so thick that barely any light was able to pass through, making the entire world look dim and eerie.

Just a short time ago, we’d come down some long stairs and had emerged into this new world. Everything felt just a little more tense, a little more dangerous. It made me even more aware of the fact that all I was wearing was a ragged robe and a pair of sandals.

“Where the hell are we?” I asked as I looked around, growing more apprehensive with every moment. I’d already felt like I was in over my head before, but now it was even worse. “Where are we even going, anyway?”

All I knew was that the group was on some kind of mission for the Wardens, but I still didn’t know what that mission was or why they were going deeper into the Labyrinth. I was just along for the ride, and it was far too late for me to turn around and try to find my own way out.

The others shared a look before Giles said, “Miss Donna has a right to know what she’s involved in.”

“No argument from me,” Pham agreed.

Lenore and Grayson merely nodded, apparently deciding that since the Wardens were willing to share, that was all there was to it. I was just happy that I was about to get some answers.

But before anyone could start to explain, there was an echoing thud off in the distance. It came again and again. The ground shook as something large and heavy seemed to be coming in our direction.

“Shit,” Lenore cursed. “It’s the fucking welcome party.”

Everyone turned to face the approaching threat, weapons drawn and ready. It took a few more seconds before the large figure was close enough to make out its shape in the dim light.

There was a single monster and it was massive, the size of a full-grown elephant, one of those big African ones. It looked a bit like a giant rhinoceros, but it’s body was covered with a glossy black shell that also made it resemble a beetle.

The monster let out a deep grunt before lowering its head so that the massive, four-foot-long horn was pointed forward, then it continued coming towards us.

“I don’t think my shield is going to stop that thing,” Grayson said.

“I might be able to do something about it,” Pham offered as he stepped forward and held out his hand.

A couple of Pham’s wind blades shot through the air, one after the other in rapid succession. They both hit the monster, but it didn’t even slow down, in spite of the fact that it now had deep gouges in its armored body.

“Well, that didn’t work,” Pham said with a grimace. He then fired his scepter, sending a blast of electricity towards the monster, but that didn’t seem to do much more than the wind blades had.

“MOVE,” Grayson ordered as the monster came at us.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me back and out of the way, then he lunged forward and slashed at the monster. His sword hit the shell and left a deep scratch, though it was shallower than what Pham’s attack had done.

The monster continued moving forward for a bit before it finally slowed and then began to turn around for another charge. It grunted again, somehow sounding annoyed.

“Ugly bastard,” I spat out. “Looks like a rhino must have fucked a bug to make this thing.”

“That’s quite the mental image,” Pham commented.

“But so fucking true,” Lenore added with a sharp laugh.

Giles activated his shield ability, creating a large shimmering dome around us all. The monster hit the dome and charged right through it, causing the bubble to shatter and vanish as it passed through.

The monster wasn’t coming at me directly, so I fired a ‘Hex’ at it as it charged passed again. This time, it nearly hit Grayson, though he leapt out of the way at the last second.

“No holding back this time, Miss Lenore,” Giles told the archer.

Lenore just scowled but nodded agreement. A moment later, she took aim and fired her arrow, though as soon as it left her bow, it seemed to split apart. Suddenly, six arrows flew through the air at the same time. Four of them struck the side the monster, though only one of them didn’t bounce right off.

“Quantity isn’t doing shit,” Lenore spat out. “I guess I’ll try quality.”

She concentrated for a moment and a new arrow formed in her hand, one that looked a little different than the previous ones that I’d seen. This arrow seemed to be made of a silver and golden metal. That arrow was quickly shot through the air until it struck the monster and sank in nearly halfway.

The monster let out a shrieking roar, now sounding pissed. It turned for another charge, though this time it came even faster. It looked like it was starting to take this whole thing seriously.

“Everyone, scatter,” Pham called out. “We’ll be less of a target of we’re spread out.”

“Or there are just more targets for that big rhino bug to come after,” I added.

Lenore fired another of her special arrows at the monster and it went in deep, just like the first one had. And though it seemed to hurt the monster a little, it didn’t hurt it nearly enough to make it stop.

“Maybe it’s time that YOU stop holding back,” Lenore snapped at Giles.

Giles nodded at that. “You’re right, Miss Lenore. It is about time for me to bring out my heavy gun.”

That got my attention since I hadn’t really seen Giles do anything other than that shield, at least not with his abilities. He stood back and held up his hands

My ‘Hex’ was nearly ready to be used again, so I prepared to do that while keeping an eye on Giles. The invoker stood there with his halberd slung over his shoulder while holding out one of his hands.

Suddenly, a massive column of flames erupted right where the monster was positioned. It went up at least thirty feet into the air, where it spun around like a flaming tornado for five long seconds before it abruptly vanished.

“Holy shit,” I blurted out in surprise. I stared at Giles and asked, “Is that what you got for not being able to lie?”

“No, Miss Donna,” he responded with a faint smile. “This is from a different contract, and the fire elemental I got it from doesn’t care about such rules.” Then he shook his head. “Unfortunately, I can only use this ability a limited number of times before I lose it.”

I stared at the rhino bug, which was still alive, though no longer charging forward. It was on the ground, it’s entire shell badly charred and cracking, but it was still trying to get up and move. I hit the thing with another ‘Hex’, just for good measure.

“Thanks for doing the heavy lifting this time,” Grayson called out, right before he rushed towards the monster and drove his sword into its eye, almost all the way up to the cross guard.

Lenore added another one of her golden arrows, right through the other eye. “Bullseye,” she called out smugly. “Right through the fucking eye.”

After this, the monster finally stopped moving and simply collapsed. We all stood back and watched it for a few a few seconds with Giles even poking at it with his halberd before we all agreed that it was indeed dead.

“Hey,” Pham called out. “I see a treasure box.”

I looked over and saw a wooden box off to the side, one which looked a lot like the box where I’d found all the food. However, when Pham opened this box, I saw that there was no food inside. Instead, there was a bracelet and a lump of glowing metal.

“We can get an artificer to look at this when we get back,” Pham said as he gestured to the bracelet. “And some unobtainium.”

“That will make a nice bonus,” Grayson commented.

I stared at the metal before Pham slipped it into his pack. Unobtainium. I’d heard of the stuff. It was one of the rare materials that could only be found inside the Labyrinth. Because it was so hard to get, it was pretty damn valuable.

I wanted that metal. Or more accurately, I wanted the payday that it would provide. I needed that money, especially since I didn’t have a single damn penny to my name. Once I got out of the Labyrinth, I’d need that money to help me start over.

For several long seconds, I just stood there, caught between the question of how I could get my hands on that unobtainium and the guilt I felt for even considering this. These guys had been good to me, and here I was, thinking of robbing them. I felt disgusted with myself.

“Hey, Donna,” Pham said, knocking me out of those thoughts.

It took me a moment to remember that he was talking to me. I was Donna now. I hadn’t really chosen that name, but I’d been stuck with it nonetheless.

“Yeah?” I asked a little sharply, feeling a little defensive after what I’d been considering. Did he know what I was thinking about?

“I was thinking about your sword,” Pham said.

He gestured to the sword in my hand. I hadn’t really even used it during that fight. It had just been dead weight, the same way it usually was. But admittedly, it was comforting dead weight.

“What about it?” I asked, a little confused.

“I don’t know if you’ve decided on how you want to approach your build,” Pham told me. “But I’ve seen the way you keep carrying that sword around.”

“It didn’t exactly come with a sheath,” I pointed out.

The shaper nodded at that. “I was thinking more along the lines of whether or not you really want to use it. If you want to really use that sword… If you wanted to become a well-rounded fighter, you’ll probably want to start slotting points into all of your physical stats. Strength, dexterity, agility, and vitality will all be useful for that. Your abilities will be just another weapon you can use.”

“Okay,” I responded thoughtfully. “But I think I heard an ‘or’ in there.”

Pham grinned. “OR,” he said, putting a little emphasis on the word, “you can lean into your abilities more and go the mage route.” He paused for a moment before adding, “And if you want to do that, you’ll probably want to get a staff.” He held up his staff for emphasis.

“And what does a staff do?” I asked curiously. Pham always had that staff with him, but I’d never seen him do anything obvious with it.

“That can depend a little on the staff and the player’s class,” Pham explained. “But for the most part, they’re batteries. You can store some of your energy during slow periods, then tap into it again when you’re in a fight. That could mean boosting the power of your ability, or just being able to use them more frequently. And a lot of staffs have other bonuses, like being able to increase your range or accuracy.”

“That sounds…promising,” I told him.

I’d never been very good at fighting up close and personal, and I didn’t see that really improving much just because I added a few stat points. And then, there was the fact that I kept remembering one particular fight where someone else had died. That memory was one that I’d never forget, no matter how much I wished I could.

I nodded thoughtfully since I’d already been leaning in that direction. Sure, being able to fight better would be useful, but what was the point of having magic if you couldn’t make the most of it?

“Thanks,” I told Pham, appreciating the advice. He’d definitely given me a bit more to think about when it came to my build.

“We should probably get going,” Grayson announced. “I don’t want to wait around until another of those monsters shows up.”

“Wow, Grayson has a good idea for once,” Lenore teased him.

Everyone quickly checked to make sure that they had their gear, then we began to move on. However, we hadn’t gone far at all before I heard another rumbling in the distance, one which sounded very much like the rhino bug.

“Shit,” I grumbled. “That does NOT sound good.”

“No shit,” Lenore responded, nervously looking towards the sound. “I recommend we pick up the pace immediately.”

“And I second that,” Grayson said, already picking up his own pace.

Pastel. Everything around me was in shades of pastel, from the ground, to the bushes, and even to the sky itself. This looked less like the real world and more like the chalk landscape drawings that one guy in prison used to draw.

Even the monsters were pastel. They were giant balls of fluff, about four or five feet across, and they bounced across the landscape towards us like a swarm of soft and colorful tumbleweeds. But in spite of their cute and harmless appearance, I knew better than to fall for it. I’d already seen these things in action.

Giles positioned his halberd, not bothering to call up his shield since it was probably still recharging from our last encounter. Lenore just raised her bow and fired a single arrow, one which split into half a dozen arrows which drove into the group and through several of the monsters without appearing to hit anything.

“I can’t believe we’re fighting balls of fucking cotton candy,” Lenore spat out, annoyed that none of her arrows had found a good target. “And that I can’t even hit the damned things.”

“Maybe you need glasses,” I suggested.

Lenore shot me a glare and then flipped me off. That brought a faint smile to my face, which I still had in place as I fired a ‘Hex’ at one of the fluff balls. My attack hit.

“These things are annoying,” Grayson agreed.

The other enchanter rushed forward with a speed that still surprised me, using his shield to stop one of the monsters. He snapped around and then drove his blade through it, though there was no indication that he actually hit anything.

One of the monsters came near me and I slashed my sword at it, slicing into the fluff but apparently missing anything more substantial. There was so much fluff that you couldn’t see where their actual bodies were inside of it.

A long and whiplike tongue suddenly shot out from the fluff and lashed out at me. It hit my arm and sliced right through my robe and the skin beneath. I yelped in pain and dropped my sword, only to realize at the same time that I’d made a bad decision.

One of Pham’s wind blades suddenly flew right through the monster, slicing it in half, or at least, cutting off half the fur. With that, I got my clearest look at the monster’s real body. Beneath all that fluff, it resembled some kind of weasel or furry snake. It lashed it’s tongue out me again, but Grayson was suddenly there, blocking the tongue with his shield.

“You may want to keep hold of that,” Grayson suggested, indicating my dropped sword.

“You think?” I spat back angrily.

“Frequently,” Grayson responded with a grin as he brought his sword down through the monster’s exposed body.

More fluffball monsters bounced towards us, their sharp tongues lashing out and slicing through armor. Pham cursed as he took an injury, though he immediately responded by blasting the monster with his scepter.

“Fuck these things,” Lenore swore as she conjured her armor and drew her short sword.

A tongue bounced off Lenore’s armor without penetrating, which let her get close enough to start chopping away at the monster. It took two swings before she connected with the body inside the fluff.

It took a couple more minutes to finish off the latest swarm, and by the time that was done, I’d been injured a second time. My robes were torn up and coated with blood, while my arm and side both had deep and painful gashes. I wasn’t the only one in this condition either.

“Hold still for a moment, Miss Donna,” Giles told me.

The invoker gently placed his hand on my arm, right near where I’d been slashed. A moment later, I felt a pleasant warmth fill the area. The pain vanished at the same time. It took a couple more seconds to realize that my second wound was feeling better as well.

“What was that?” I gasped, pulling my torn sleeve back to look at my arm. My eyes widened as I saw smooth, undamaged skin. There was no sign of the injury that I’d just taken. A look at my side confirmed that my second wound had healed as well. “Holy shit.”

“This, Miss Donna,” Giles answered just a little smugly, “is what I gained from being honest.”

“Invokers start off as pretty fucking useless,” Lenore commented as her armor faded away, “but they can pick up a lot of fancy tricks.”

“Like this healer impression,” Pham added cheerfully.

“Invokers are the most versatile of classes,” Giles announced a bit defensively. “Anything that another class can do, we are able to do as well. With the right patron, that is.” Then he turned his attention to Pham. “Now, Agent Pham, I can take care of your injury too.”

“I’d appreciate it,” Pham responded.

Once Giles had patched everyone up, we continued on our way. However, we hadn’t gone far before we found a new safe area. I immediately perked up at the sight, especially since it reminded me so much of the pond where I’d found food and safety before.

The safe area was surrounded by pastel-colored bushes, and it had a small stream running right through the middle. And then, reinforcing the similarity, there was also a wooden box containing food. But instead of only fruit and bread, this one contained nuts, sausages, and some kind of thick crackers.

“Nice,” Grayson cheerfully announced as he dug into the box. He flashed me a grin and explained, “Safe zones like this are why we don’t have to carry nearly as many supplies. Its almost like the Labyrinth wants people to delve it.”

“Convenient,” I said as I helped myself to some of the food. “Lure people into the Labyrinth with the promise of wealth and power, hand out food and water to make it easier. Then what? What does the Labyrinth get out of it?”

“Entertainment,” Lenore answered with a snort. “It gets to watch players fight and die.”

“And maybe food,” Pham added with a shrug. “With players as the food.”

“Dark thoughts,” Grayson said. “But nothing that people haven’t been asking about since the Labyrinth first appeared.”

I nodded at that as I found a comfortable spot to sit and eat. Then I began to stretch, working out a few of the kinks that had built up from all the walking and fighting.

It was about this point that I noticed Pham watching me, though he was trying to look as though he wasn’t. In fact, this wasn’t the first time that noticed him doing this. And strangely enough, I found that I kind of liked the attention.

I also felt self-conscious about it too. I was a guy…or had been. I wasn’t used to guys looking at me like that. But even more importantly, there was no doubt that I looked like crap. My hair was a mess, I was filthy, and I was dressed in little more than dirty rags by this point.

But in spite of all of that, I knew that I still looked good. I had a nice body with big tits, the kind of thing most guys would drool over. I felt oddly proud of that idea too. It was no wonder that Pham was giving me looks of appreciation.

Then I looked over at Lenore, who was sitting off to the side. She was brushing her hair and cleaning off her makeup. But just as I thought that was it, she pulled out a small compact and some fresh makeup, then began to reapply it. The idea of worrying about makeup in the Labyrinth was absolutely ridiculous, but at the same time, it also felt like it might not be that bad of an idea.

“What the hell is wrong with me?” I muttered to myself.

Ever since I’d respawned in this new body, I’d been changing. It had been slow enough that I hadn’t really noticed at first, but now, it was becoming obvious. My body, which had felt strange at first, now felt surprisingly normal. My tits no longer felt like odd globs of flesh that had been stuck on my chest. They simply felt like part of me. I was getting used to this far sooner than I would have expected.

And then, there were the things that I was starting to think and feel. Those were out of place, or at least, they would have been out of place to Mike Donovan. However, I didn’t really want to think about what this all meant.

I’d reached level five during that last fight, though I’d been too distracted to slot my extra point at the time. Now, that seemed like the perfect distraction. I slotted it into focus then brought up my stats.

CLASS: ENCHANTER
LEVEL: 5
FREE STAT POINTS: 0

FOCUS: 7
PERCEPTION: 7
PRESENCE: 9
STRENGTH: 6
VITALITY: 10
DEXTERITY: 7
AGILITY: 6

TALENTS AND AFFINITIES:
-ENCHANTMENT
--BANES

ABILITIES:
-HEX

SOULBOUND ITEMS:
-ARMOR OF THE ENCHANTRESS

I felt a sense of satisfaction as I looked over the numbers. The slowly increasing stats were proof that I was getting stronger. Getting more powerful.

My strength had even gone up by one point without my having slotted anything there. The same thing had previously happened with my perception. According to Grayson, that kind of thing was actually pretty common. He’d told me that when you’re at low levels, exercise and training can actually increase your stats, but the higher they became, the harder it was to improve them that way.

I looked at my soulbound item, the ‘Armor of the Enchantress’ which was listed at the bottom of the page. It was still there, unchanged, almost taunting me with its presence. When I mentally reached for it, it was still just out of reach. But it was close. Very close.

“Maybe one or two points away,” I thought aloud.

Then I finally turned my attention to the faint blinking at the top of the page, the one that told me that I still had a message that I needed to look at.

YOU MAY UNLOCK A NEW ABILITY. SELECT ONE OF THE CHOICES BELOW

-TOUCH OF FINESS
-CURSED GROUND
-BANE OF SILENCE

I sat up straight and grinned in excitement. Everyone else seemed to notice my sudden shift in body language.

“What is it?” Grayson asked.

“My second ability,” I answered with an eager grin. “I just got offered my second ability.”

Lenore leaned forward and demanded, “So, what did you get, Red?”

“Miss Lenore,” Giles cautioned her.

I ignored them and focused on the abilities that had been offered. The names weren’t very descriptive, but as with my first ability, I had an instinctive sense of what they were about.

‘Touch of Finess’ was a boon, and I had the impression that it was one that I could use on myself as well as other people. But as for what it did, I was a little less certain. Accuracy? Precision? Then it dawned on me. This boosted dexterity, the same way that Grayson’s ‘Dancer’s Grace’ increased his agility.

I liked the idea of getting an ability that increased my own stats, but I immediately saw two problems with this one. First was the fact that it was a boon, not a bane, so it wouldn’t get any benefit from my specialization. And second, I didn’t really have a lot of use for extra dexterity, at least, not enough to use a whole ability on it.

“That one is a pass,” I muttered to myself.

‘Cursed Ground’ was a bane, one that targeted the ground instead of a single monster. I only had a vague idea of what I did, but it still looked like it might be useful.

And then there was the final option, ‘Bane of Silence’. I had the feeling that this one was a lot more like ‘Hex,’ and that it could mess with the target’s senses. Perception? Did it only mess with hearing, like the name suggested, or did it weaken the other senses as well?

I considered these options for a good five minutes, trying to get a better idea of each one did. Then I made my decision.

Rain poured down on me, soaking me to the bone. My robes did almost nothing to protect me from the never ending downpour that we’d been caught in ever since stepping into this area.

I shuffled my feet, feeling mud squeeze between my toes. Several inches of mud covered the path, and I had no way to keep my feet clean or dry.

We all stood in the middle of a crossroads, a spot where two large paths intersected. Off to the sides, there were the ruins of old buildings, cottages and houses that had clearly been abandoned for decades. The roofs were gone entirely and so were half the walls, otherwise I would have suggested going inside one to get out of the rain for a bit.

Giles was looking at his book of directions, trying to read it while keeping it dry. He looked tired and frustrated, the same as everyone else.

“Where are we going, anyway?” I asked.

This subject had come up a couple times, but things had always been too busy for me to actually get an answer. At the moment, I didn’t think that anyone was in the mood to humor the rookie. But to my surprise, Giles answered.

“Did you know, Miss Donna,” Giles started as he carefully put his book away, “that all the Labyrinth entrances are connected? If you know the route, you can use the Labyrinth to walk from the North Dakota entrance to the one outside Madrid.”

“Is that what you’re doing?” I asked. “Just taking a shortcut?”

“Labyrinth entrances have been around for decades,” Giles continued. “And new ones keep appearing. But until recently, not a single entrance has closed.

“Recently,“ Pham explained, “several Labyrinth entrances have disappeared. And they didn’t just close either. They vanished…along with their entire zone. All that’s left are giant holes that looks like someone just scooped them out with a giant ice cream scoop.”

“The holes are miles across,” Giles said. “And they cover the entire area that used to be the Labyrinth zone. So far, the ones that have vanished have all been in isolated areas…places where the monsters haven’t been culled and have managed to completely overrun the area.”

“Siberia,” Pham said with a grim expression. “The Australian outback. Northern Canada.”

“Our mission, Miss Donna,” Giles explained, “is to investigate these events. Specifically, this team was contracted to head to where the Canadian Northwest Territories entrance had been, and see what things look like from this side.”

Pham nodded and added, “Other teams are doing the same thing for the other missing entrances.”

“Wow,” I said, not sure what else I could say to that. “That is really fucked up.”

“Just imagine how bad it could be if the more populated entrances vanish,” Grayson said. “Some of those Labyrinth towns have thousands of people living there.”

“So, what do you expect to find there?” I asked.

“No idea,” Pham told me. “That’s why we’re going to take a look.”

I was about to ask something else when I noticed movement from the corner of my eye. I looked and saw the local monsters climbing all over one of the ruined buildings. These monsters resembled human children, at least in general shape and size. They were humanoid, about four feet tall and skinny to the point of looking half-starved. However, they also had slimy green skin, and bald heads with large pointed ears and bulging eyes.

“Those goblins are back,” Grayson said, looking almost excited.

I gave the other enchanter a curious look then shook my head. I was pretty sure that in his past life, Grayson had been one of those nerds who spent all day playing video games or Dungeons and Dragons. Being a player and wandering around inside the Labyrinth had to be like a dream come true for him.

The goblins, as Grayson was calling them, were all armed with either clubs or simple spears. They’d been following us since we entered this area of the Labyrinth, but unlike previous monsters we’d met, they were smart enough to keep their distance. Until now.

The little monsters were on the short side while the doors to the building were a little taller than what would be needed for the average human. Those things clearly hadn’t built this place. If anything, they might be responsible for the place being in ruins.

“Damn, those things looked pissed off,” Pham commented.

“And hungry,” I added. “They look like they plan to gnaw on our fucking bones or something.”

“Nasty little shits,” Lenore said as she took aim with her bow.

But while we’d been focusing on the group of goblins that covered the buildings, another group was sneaking up behind us. I only noticed because I saw movement from the corner of my eye. As soon as the group of approaching goblins realized that they’d been spotted, they all screamed and charged right at us.

I responded by unleashing my new ability, the one that I’d been looking for a chance to test. I pushed the powerful bane towards them, though I was targeting the ground beneath their feet. Suddenly, purple and black mist seemed to form to form and soak into the ground, leaving a glowing circle around twenty feet across.

Five goblins were caught within my ‘Cursed Ground’, and they immediately began to slow down. Two of them promptly tripped and fell over while another one dropped his club. From what I could tell, ‘Cursed Ground’ not only slowing them down, it was also fucking with their agility and dexterity.

“That’s one hell of a bane,” Grayson said with a nod of approval. “You’ve really nerfed their movement.”

I nodded in appreciation of the effect before admitting, “I was hoping for an ability to do more damage.”

“Enchanters don’t get much direct damage,” Grayson told him. “The most you’re likely to get are a few banes like ‘Hex’ that deal a bit of damage over time.”

“Speaking of ‘Hex’,” I said as I fired a ‘Hex’ at one of the goblins.

The goblin had had already been in the process of tripping over himself, but as soon as I hit him, it got even worse. The glow from my ‘Hex’ flared a bit stronger than usual, then the goblin fall flat on his face. He was moving at an absolute crawl, even slower than the other goblins around him, but now he was sick and taking damage as well.

“What the hell is that?” I asked, noticing that my ‘Hex’ seemed to be hitting this goblin even harder than usual.

“Enchantments can stack,” Grayson told me. “Some of them can reinforce each other and make both of them a little stronger. Banes on banes or boons on boons.” He flashed me a grin. “It’s why white and black enchanters tend to be more powerful than the grey kind.”

I grinned at that and raised my sword. I’d been worried that ‘Cursed Ground’ wouldn’t be all that useful, but one look showed just how powerful it could be. Five goblins had all been seriously weakened with one attack, and as a bonus, my ‘Hex’ was even stronger than usual against them.

Lenore fired a bunch of arrows at my trapped goblins, hitting three of them while two of the goblins got multiple arrows. Then she snapped around and began shooting at the other goblins, ones who’d been distracting us so that their friends could try sneaking up from behind.

“Don’t step into this,” Grayson warned the others as he indicated the glowing patch of ground. “You’ll get caught in that too.”

“If you increase your focus enough,” Pham told me as he held up his staff, “you’ll probably be able to make it so that it only affects your enemies.”

And with those words, Pham fired off one of his wind blades. It shot through the goblins that I had trapped and sliced through all of them but one. That one had been laying flat on his face in the mud, sick from my ‘Hex’, so the wind blade had simply flown right over him.

I stared at the remaining trapped goblin. He looked to be in pretty bad shape at the moment. By this point, I was sure that part of what ‘Hex’ did was to fuck with a person’s vitality, leaving them with less health and energy to fight off the damage. As soon as I was able to do so, I hit him with a second ‘Hex’, just to see how powerful it would be. That one also stacked with the previous ‘Hex’ and the ‘Cursed Ground’, effectively doubling down on just how screws that little bastard was.

While I was experimenting, everyone else was focused on the remaining goblins. Grayson shot forward, seemingly unbothered by the muddy ground, with clubs and spears bouncing off his shield as he cut through one monster after another. Giles held back, keeping his own position for the most part and dealing with any goblins that came for the rest of us.

Lenore didn’t bother forming her armor this time. She simply took her time to aim and fire an arrow, then she conjured another one and repeated this. One goblin fell to an arrow through his heart, then another. Then they began to run away, leaping for cover behind the ruined buildings.

One of the goblins came rushing at me, screaming while charging forward with his spear. I raised my sword to face him, only to watch as Giles hit him with his halberd. The monster dropped to the ground dead before I’d ever even had a chance to deal with him.

I saw another pair of goblins sneaking around, trying to come up on Grayson from behind. I fired a ‘Hex’ at that one but missed. One of the goblins dove for cover while the other one decided to abandon all stealth and just charged at Grayson. Grayson snapped around and caught him a moment later.

It didn’t take much longer to finish dealing with the goblins. Most of them were dead, but not all. I’d seen a couple of them sneak away during the fighting, so they were still out there. Watching. Waiting. And they’d probably come after us again when they thought they had an opening, maybe even with reinforcements.

“Goblins,” Grayson said as he cleaned off his sword. He still seemed oddly cheerful about that. “Next on my bucket list, a dragon. No, a mimic. I need to work up to a dragon.”

“What a nerd,” Lenore said from beside me. She was watching Grayson with a look of amusement.

“No kidding,” I agreed with a chuckle, before adding, “Just don’t call him that to his face.”

She gave me a disbelieving look before responding, “But it’s a lot more fun when I do it to his face.”

“That was a pretty nice AOE,” Grayson called over to me. “That should make fights a lot easier.”

“Thanks,” I responded, though I had no idea what AOE actually meant.

“See,” Lenore told me with a smirk. “Nerd.”

I nodded at that and considered the patch of ‘Cursed Ground’. The enchantment was finally fading away, having lasted about five minutes. That was a lot longer than ‘Hex’, but my second ability was also stronger in several other ways, in spite of not doing any damage at all. However, I could already see the downside. ‘Cursed Ground’ was not ready to be used again, and I could tell that it would take some time to recharge.

“Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink,” I mused aloud.

I’d heard the saying before but I’d also found it in an old book that I’d checked out of the prison library. At the moment, it seemed pretty relevant.

I stared across the surface of a lake, one which was dotted with dozens of small islands. There was movement in the water, though I couldn’t quite make out what was causing it. Considering the fact that we were inside the Labyrinth, I was pretty sure that it wasn’t anything good.

“It’s a platforming challenge,” Grayson said, gesturing to the trail ahead of us which ended at the edge of the lake. “I think we’re supposed to get across by hopping from rock to rock.”

“Some of those are pretty far apart,” Pham said thoughtfully. “And a lot of them look pretty slippery or unstable.”

“You could make it if you have good enough agility,” Grayson pointed out. “But I might be the only one of us who can.”

“I believe you are right, Mister Grayson,” Giles told him with a nod. “But I also believe that we have another option.” He looked to Pham. “Agent Pham.”

Pham stared at the water for a few seconds, then he began to grin. “Yeah… Yeah, I think I have a shortcut.”

With that, Pham stepped up to the edge of the lake and then stared down into the water. He held out his staff and gestured with it, right before using his other hand to point.

A faint shimmer spread out from his hand and into the water, much like what happened when he used his wind blade to reshape the air. A couple seconds later, the ripples in the water in front of us ceased entirely, at least in the area.

“I don’t get to use this ability very often,” Pham said as he stepped out into the water, though he didn’t sink into it at all. Instead, he was actually standing on top of the water. “Its very situational.”

Lenore didn’t hesitate before she stepped out into the water as well, though like Pham, she remained standing on the surface. “Fucking awesome. You froze the water.”

“Technically, its still liquid,” the shaper corrected her. “But I’m keeping it held in place so it won’t displace around us.”

“Why would you even pick an ability like this?” Grayson asked him. “It seems a bit TOO specialized.”

Pham looked a little self-conscious at that. “I picked this ability when I was working in another water area. The whole place was flooded up to our knees, so I used this to lock the monsters in place.” He nodded towards me. “Sort of like what Donna does.”

“I just slow things down a bit,” I pointed out. “I don’t freeze them in place.”

“At the time,” Pham admitted, “I’d hoped that I’d eventually be able to hold the water inside of a monster’s body in place. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out that way yet.”

“Good work, Agent Pham,” Giles told him. “Now we can walk across.”

“Not the whole way,” Pham corrected him. “At least, not in one go. We can hit that island over there…” He gestured to one island that looked larger and more stable than most of the others. Then we can rest up while my power recharges.”

I hesitated for a moment, then stepped out onto the water. It felt solid beneath my feet, which was a little weird. When I looked down, I could see into the water below us. There was movement several feet down, but I still couldn’t make out quite what it was.

“Careful of the monsters,” Lenore warned us. “The fuckers will probably come at us from below.”

We carefully began walking towards the water, though Pham urged us to go a little faster so that we could get there before his ability wore off. I kept glancing down, as did everyone else. Then, I began humming the theme to Jaws, which earned me a couple glares.

When we were about halfway across, the monsters beneath us came close enough to the surface that I could actually see them. There were eels. Hundreds...thousands of eels swimming around beneath us, each with abnormally large mouths that were filled with lots of sharp teeth.

“Let’s hurry up a bit,” Lenore urged us impatiently. “Those things look nasty.”

As soon as we reached the small island, I realized that it wasn’t a second too soon. Pham’s ability was already wearing off and the water suddenly became liquid again, right as I was stepping onto the land. I dropped, with one leg going into the water before I could catch myself. A moment later, there were sharp pains all over my leg.

I howled in pain but Grayson was already pulling me out. I hit the ground and stared at my leg, which was bleeding from half a dozen small bites. Those eels were nasty.

“It’s okay, Miss Donna,” Giles assured me as he bent down to touch me. “I’ll fix you right up.”

“Thanks,” I responded with a sigh of relief. The pain vanished, and when I looked at my leg, I confirmed that all the wounds were gone. “That is one hell of a nice ability.”

“I think so,” Giles responded with a grin.

For a moment, I almost wished that I’d taken ‘Revitalize’ when it had been offered to me, but then I quickly pushed that aside. If I’d done that, I might not have figured out that I had a specialization in banes, and more importantly, I wouldn’t have survived against those rat dogs long enough to meet up with these guys.

I slowly got back to my feet and glared into the water. The eels were splashing around beneath the water, apparently having been driven into a bit of a feeding frenzy after getting a taste of my blood.

“Let’s see how you like it,” I snarled as I held out my hands a pushed out a ‘Cursed Ground’.

A couple seconds later, I saw confirmation that my ‘Cursed Ground’ didn’t actually need the ground itself to work. It seemed to work perfectly fine on the surface of the water as well, though the effects didn’t go down very deep. Still, it was enough to catch a few dozen eels in it which made me feel better.

“After this,” Lenore told Pham with a sharp look, “I think we need to make shorter trips.”

“Agreed,” Giles responded with a scowl and a worried look at me.

“Yeah,” Pham agreed with a sigh. “Probably a good idea.”

“Does anyone else want to do a little fishing?” Grayson abruptly asked as he poked his sword into one of the trapped eels. “This should be like stabbing fish in a barrel.”

----------

I walked beneath the waterfall, wincing as the cold water soaked me to the bone. I was tired of getting wet, though admittedly, this time wasn’t so bad. If nothing else, I really needed a shower.

The entire area seemed to be made of gray stone and water, with steep cliffs, long waterfalls, and lots of winding streams. It would have been beautiful if not for the fact that several of the waterfalls came down right in the middle of the trail, forcing us to get soaked if we wanted to get through.

Then, as if to prove me wrong, Grayson raised his shield and used it as an umbrella so that he could pass through the waterfall without getting wet. I glared at him for several seconds before I brushed my wet hair out of the way.

“Can you control the water?” Lenore asked the shaper. “To keep from getting your ass soaked?”

Pham hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. “I could probably block off some of the water, but that won’t stop more from pouring down on top anyway.”

“So, no,” Lenore grumbled.

“Let’s stop here,” Giles suggested, pointing to an open spot beside the trail. “This should be a good spot to rest and dry up.”

“Unless more of those ugly ass troll things show up,” I muttered, thinking of a recent fight with the local monsters. They reminded me of the goblins we’d faced before, just bigger and slower.

“Don’t worry, Miss Donna,” Giles told me. “We’ll keep a look out.”

I sat down on a large rock and stretched, intentionally pushing my chest out a bit more to draw attention. Pham immediately started to watch me, much to my amusement.

Then I looked down at myself, at the torn and filthy rags I was wearing. The robe had never been all that good, and it had really taken a beating inside the Labyrinth. What little there was left of it, wouldn’t last for much longer.

I looked around for several seconds to make sure that the area was safe, then I brought up my status page.

CLASS: ENCHANTER
LEVEL: 6
FREE STAT POINTS: 1

FOCUS: 7
PERCEPTION: 7
PRESENCE: 9
STRENGTH: 6
VITALITY: 10
DEXTERITY: 7
AGILITY: 6

TALENTS AND AFFINITIES:
-ENCHANTMENT
--BANES

ABILITIES:
-HEX
-CURSED GROUND

SOULBOUND ITEMS:
-ARMOR OF THE ENCHANTRESS

I glanced over my stats before my attention went to the soulbound item section at the bottom. That ‘Armor of the Enchantress’ has been taunting me since I respawned, and it had been stubbornly remaining out of reach. Now, I could use it more than ever.

I’d leveled up again after fighting those trolls, which meant that I’d earned one more free stat point. My plan had been to slot that into focus, but I hesitated to do that.

The armor just sat there, so close that I could almost touch it. It seemed to be waiting for me to meet the prerequisites, though I wasn’t quite sure if that meant levels or stats. However, I had my suspicions and they’d been growing. With that, I took a deep breath and assigned my free point into presence, raising it to ten. I just had a feeling that this was what it needed.

“I hope this works,” I muttered under my breath.

There was no sudden flash of light. No popup or indication that anything had changed at all. However, when I mentally reached for the armor, it was no longer out of reach. I could finally touch it.

I activated my ‘Armor of the Enchantress’ with the same ease that I used ‘Hex’ and ‘Cursed Ground’. A moment later, the new clothing appeared on my body, shredding what was left of my robes.

“RED?” Lenore blurted out, jumping to her feet and drawing her short sword.

“I’m fine,” I quickly assured her and the others. “This is that soulbound armor I told you about.”

I looked down at myself, examining my new armor and wishing that I had a mirror for a better look. The main armor seemed to be made from a very light and flexible leather that covered most of my body from the neck down. It was light grey in color and had multiple straps and connections so that I could adjust or remove it without having to rely on making it magically appear or disappear.

On top of this main armor, there was another layer, one that appeared to be more for style than for anything else. It was a fairly loose white fabric that covered much of the leather armor and which resembled a dress, including a knee length skirt of sorts. The skirt seemed rather unnecessary since the main armor completely covered both of my legs, but I had to admit, it did look nice.

I ran my hands over the leather and fabric, taking in the different textures. There were no gloves for the hands, leaving them completely exposed. That seemed like a bit of a failure as far as armor went, but this obviously wasn’t intended to be heavy-duty armor.

“Very nice,” Grayson said appreciatively.

“Very stylish,” Pham agreed. “But I have to wonder about how well it will protect you.”

“Better than a fucking chainmail bikini,” Lenore said with a roll of her eyes.

From the goofy grin on Pham’s face, I suspected that he would have preferred it if it had been a chain mail bikini, though he wisely kept from saying this aloud.

Giles stood back and carefully looked me over. “The armor is soulbound, which means that it probably has some useful effects.”

“Can you tell what it does?” Grayson asked me.

I considered that for a moment, then shook my head. “Other than covering my ass and looking nice while doing so… No.”

“Once we are finished with the mission and leave the Labyrinth,” Giles said, “we can ask an artificer to take a look at it for you.”

I nodded at that, wondering how I could pay for an artificer to do that. I doubt that any would work for free. And with that, my thought went back to the chunk of unobtainium that Pham had tucked away in his pack.

“We’ll see when we get out,” I said a few seconds later, feeling a little guilty over where my thoughts went. “That will have to wait for later.”

Interlude:

Stine stared at the onrushing horde of monsters with a sense of anticipation. They looked like they were some kind of scaly lizards, but shaped like frogs with large powerful legs meant for leaping. And most importantly, they had oversized mouths that were full of sharp teeth.

When the first monster reached them, Stine took a moment to notice further details. The thing was four feet tall and had a mouth big enough to swallow a human head in a single bite. And it was coming straight for him.

The brawler tapped into the physical magic that powered his abilities and activated ‘Reinforce’. His entire body tensed up and hardened, becoming more resistant to damage. Then he lunged forward and punished the monster, sending it back with half its body caved in from the blow.

“And I didn’t even have to use anything serious,” Stine said, a little disappointed by how easy these monsters were to kill. However, what they lacked in quality, they made up for in quantity. Dozens more were already heading his way.

Jag appeared to be standing out in the open, waiting for the monsters to simply swoop in and eat her. One of the monsters attempted to do just that, only to pass through the illusion of Jag. The real illusionist leapt out from behind the rock she’d been using as cover and tore into the monster with both of her knives, killing it with only a couple strikes. Then, with an almost blinding speed, she tore into the next monster, cutting it into ribbons.

Five monsters all came at Jag at once, surrounding her. She stopped and stood in place, looking almost identical to the illusion that she’d previously created. A moment later, she created a new illusion around herself, one that made her look like a giant version of the monsters that surrounded her. They all froze, obviously confused by this change, and she used that distraction to lunge forward and slice into the next one.

Frank merely stood in the open, much like the illusion of Jag had been doing. She waited for the monsters to come to her, then she tore through them with her axe. One swing and a monster was dead. A second swing and another monster was gone.

Stine had been working with Frank for months, and he still had no idea of what her class was. Most of the time, he thought that she was probably one of the warrior classes like him, but other times… Well, Frank never talked about her abilities, and they were either subtle enough that he couldn’t tell when she was using them, or she never actually used them around him. That second possibility was what intrigued him the most.

He snapped around and quickly killed two more monsters before looking at the two newcomers, the clients. Mitch and Antony had both managed surprisingly well in the Labyrinth, especially for neither of them having any abilities or specialized training. At least, neither of them had any abilities until recently.

Just a couple hours ago, Antony had unlocked his class and was now a newly minted arcanist. Instead of being jealous that Antony had become a player before him, Mitch actually seemed happy for his friend.

Antony stood back with his scepter in one hand while his other hand was held out. A bolt of electricity shot out of his palm and hit one of the monsters, right before rebounding and hitting a second one that had been nearby. He immediately followed that up by firing a blast of green energy from scepter, grazing the side of another monster.

“Good shot,” Mitch exclaimed with a grin. “You fried their asses.”

Mitch then lashed out with his sword, slicing deep into the side of one of the monsters, though not enough to kill it. He kicked at the monster to knock it back before slashing at it again and again.

Once Mitch’s monster was dead, he said, “But once I get my class, I hope it’s not something pansy ass like shooting sparks from my fingers.”

“Fuck you,” Antony responded in the same cheerful tone that Mitch had used. “You’ll probably get something useless, like invoker.”

Stine smiled faintly at that, remembering similar friendly insults from his old friends back before… Well, he tried not to think about those days. There had been a lot of good times back then, but now, it all felt like a waste.

He continued to watch as Antony went after a monster with his sword. He’d run out of bolts for his crossbow some time ago, just like Mitch had run out of arrows for his bow. Both men had abandoned their old ranged weapons as just being extra weight to carry and now relied on their scepters for that.

Antony’s new ability more than made up for the missing weapon, or would when he was properly equipped. Once Antony got a staff, his powers as an arcanist could really come into their own. But of course, he could focus his attention on his physical power instead, much the way that Jag did, but Antony seemed the sort who would enjoy being a mage type.

One of the monsters shot towards Mitch and was about to hit him from behind, but Jag was suddenly there, slicing into the monster. It fell down dead by her feet. She glared at Mitch, muttered something about NPCs, then moved on to the next monster.

Once all the monsters were gone, Frank announced, “Everyone, look around for a treasure box.” This was mostly for the benefit of the clients. “They sometimes appear after good monster fights.”

“It’s the Labyrinth’s way of tipping us for being entertaining,” Jag offered with a smirk.

Stine grunted then looked around for any sign of a treasure box. After all, that was what they were really there for. They were in the Labyrinth to collect materials…and possibly new recruits. Mitch and Antony were free labor. No, they were labor who actually paid for the privilege of working. If things worked out, then they might end up becoming more.

“Nothing this time,” Jag spat out in annoyance.

“Disappointing,” Frank said. “We need to find more unobtainium and hopefully some gems.”

Mitch just collapsed to the ground, exhausted and trying to catch his breath. Antony had already slotted at least a couple of his points into vitality, so was doing much better.

“Perhaps the next fight will be enough to unlock your potential,” Frank told Mitch, not bothering to point that that some people simply couldn’t become players, no matter how long they stayed in the Labyrinth. They had no idea if Mitch was one of those people or not.

“I’ll get there,” Mitch responded with a note of frustration in his voice.

“I’m sure you’ll get a good class,” Antony assured him. “Unless you become an invoker.”

Mitch flipped Antony off, then slowly got to his feet. He took a deep breath, then announced, “Okay, I’m ready to keep going.”

“Good,” Frank said, not sparing another look before she began leading the way down the path. However, they hadn’t gone far before she announced, “Wait. There’s something off to the side…”

Frank paused and pointed in a direction that was well away from the road that they’d been following. Stine strained his eyes for a moment before he realized what he was seeing. The ground was badly torn up and charred in that direction, as though there had been a large battle.

“Must have been recent,” Stine pointed out. “Otherwise the Labyrinth would have cleaned it up already.”

“Other players?” Jag asked.

“I don’t know,” Frank answered, already walking in that direction. “But I do intend to get a better look.”

When they reached the area, the battle damage became even more obvious. The ground was charred and cracked, with all vegetation completely seared away. However, what was even more interesting was the fact that something was still there.

At the far end of the wreckage, in what appeared to be a small crater, there was a…creature. It was large, several times larger than the biggest elephant that Stine had ever seen, though it was hard to be sure of exact size because it was sprawled out on the ground. The creature had the general shape and appearance of a wolf, but it’s body was pitch black with swirls of black smoke swirling all around it.

“This isn’t one of the local monsters,” Frank stated grimly. “Not at all.”

“Then what is it?” Antony asked, giving the creature a wary look.

“Maybe a primal,” she answered. “Or something along those lines.”

“You find all sorts of weird shit in the Labyrinth,” Jag said.

“Well, whatever it is,” Mitch said with a smirk. He pointed his scepter at the creature and fired a blast of green energy at it. “It’s dead.”

The giant creature suddenly rippled and shifted position. Stine froze, feeling a sense of power swelling up from in front of him.

“Not dead,” Jag spat out. “Definitely not dead.”

Frank shifted position and raised her axe. “Unfortunately.”

Stine looked at the creature, which began to slowly get to its feet. He liked a good challenge, but he had a feeling that this thing might be more than he could handle. It might be more than all of them could handle.

“I think we need to leave this one alone,” Stine cautioned the others.

Jag gave him a look of surprise while Frank nodded and said, “Agreed.”

They started to back up but the creature was already on its feet and turning to look at them. It stared down at them with glowing red eyes that burned with an intense power.

“That is one big dog,” Mitch started to say, raising his scepter as he did so.

A moment later, Mitch was in the creature’s mouth, being swallowed whole. Then there was a crunch and a spurt of blood before Mitch disappeared entirely.

“MITCH!” Antony yelled, firing a blast of electricity right at the creature’s face. The electricity seemed to pass right through the wolf.

The wolf snapped at Antony but Stine was already in motion. He punched the wolf in the head, activating ‘Explosive Punch’ and unleashing a massive burst of power. The explosion knocked the wolf’s head back but didn’t seem to really hurt it.

“It ate Mitch,” Antony snarled as he raised his sword.

Frank leapt at the wolf, swinging her axe. It came down on the wolf’s head, but it merely shook her off. Stine would have expected a growl or something, but the giant wolf didn’t make a single sound. Instead, it lunged at Stine, who jumped out of the way. Antony jumped forward instead, swinging his sword right at the creature’s eye.

“LOOK OUT!” Jag yelled, but she was too late.

Antony’s sword went into the creature’s eye, but it barely seemed to notice. Instead, it snapped its head around and bit into Antony. There was a loud scream and a crunch, then their second client was gone like the first.

“And I was just starting to like him too,” Jag spat out, clearly pissed off.

Five copies of Jag suddenly appeared and began running towards the wolf. It bit at one of the copies, which then vanished a moment later. Then it snapped at the second. By the time it got to the third, the real Jag was already close enough to begin slicing at its leg with her daggers.

Stine saw what Jag was trying to do, taking its legs out from under it. He nodded and rushed in to help. But then, a pair of jaws suddenly closed on his shoulder and bit down. Flesh and bone were torn and crushed. The only reason the arm hadn’t been torn off completely was that ‘Reinforce’ was still active.

Frank and Jag rushed the monster, who dropped Stine to the ground, apparently forgotten for the moment. He landed on his ruined arm, which made him let out a yelp of pain, but he refused to let that stop him.

By the time Stine got back to his feet, he saw that Frank and Jag were both sprawled out on the ground. The giant wolf stood over them, looking as though it was about to finish them off. Then, it suddenly tilted its head and listened for something. Stine didn’t hear anything.

“Come on,” Stine urged himself as he struggled to get back to his feet. “I still have one usable arm…”

Without any warning, the giant wolf abruptly turned and walked away, apparently deciding that it was done with them. Stine just watched it go with a sense of relief. Then he turned his attention to his two teammates, both of whom were still alive.

“Damn, I’m bruised,” Jag grumbled. “And I think I sprained my ankle.”

“But you’re still alive,” Frank pointed out. “I’m not sure any of us would have been if that thing was at full health.”

“What do you mean?” Stine asked.

“Did you notice the wounds in its side?” Frank asked. “It was bleeding smoke…”

“Something hurt it,” Stine said in realization, remembering that this whole area had been the scene of a previous battle. “Anything that could hurt that…”

“Is not something I want to face,” Frank agreed. “And with the way that smoke wolf ran off, I’m worried that whatever hurt it might still be around.”

“Shit,” Jag grumbled. “Whatever it is, I don’t want to run into it.”

“Me either,” Frank agreed with a grimace. “At the moment, neither of you is in any condition for a serious fight. In fact, It’s going to be hard enough just making it through the Labyrinth.”

“It’s not like we have much choice in the matter,” Jag pointed out. “We’re already inside.”

“True,” Frank agreed. “But I think we’re fairly close to one of the entrances, so we should probably make for that and get out of the Labyrinth for awhile.”

“That sounds good to me,” Stine said.

He carefully avoided looking at the spots where Mitch and Antony had died. They’d known the danger of making a Labyrinth run, but he still felt guilty for not being able to keep them alive. Instead, he focused on what they should do next.

“Where does it go to?” Stine asked.

“Canada,” Frank answered simply as she began to slowly move down the trail again, leaving Stine and Jag to follow at their own pace. “We’re going to Canada.”

The wind was cold and sharp which made me thankful for my new armor. The armor was warm and comfortable, and came with boots that were much better than those cheap sandals had been. And it even had built in support for my tits, which kept them from bouncing around so much and helped my back as well

According to Grayson, my new armor was classified as ‘light’ armor, or ‘light to medium’ armor, meant more for a mage than for a frontline fighter. That made sense because it was called ‘Armor of the Enchantress’, not ‘Armor of the Bulwark’. Because of that, my new armor was limited in just how much it could protect me.

My new armor did have a few interesting features though, ones that I’d only discovered after that last fight with a group of monsters. During that fight, the fabric parts of my armor had been torn up a bit and I’d gotten splattered with monster blood. However, half an hour afterwards, all the damage had vanished, as had all the blood and stains. It seemed that my armor was self-cleaning and self-repairing, both of which would be useful in the Labyrinth.

I was a little disappointed though that my armor couldn’t do more. After all, I’d been forced to wait to meet the prerequisites before I could even activate it, so I would have thought that it would have been more impressive.

“Soulbound items tend to be fairly powerful,” Grayson had told me after my complaints. “So, it probably has more features you just haven’t discovered yet. Maybe locked behind more prerequisites.”

I looked down at myself, taking in my armor. It was completely clean and in perfect condition, looking as though it was brand new. That was quite the contrast to everyone else, since their armor was all banged up and dirty. But unfortunately, looking nice wouldn’t do anything to protect me from monsters.

After taking a few long seconds to simultaneously appreciate my armor and be disappointed that it didn’t do more, I looked up and examined my surroundings again. They hadn’t changed since the last time I’d looked around.

We were passing through a mountainous and very rocky area, with large chunks of ice scattered about. A short distance away, there was a very large chunk of ice, one that appeared to actually be part of a glacier. We were avoiding that and the cracks and crevices that ran through the ground.

Giles had abruptly stopped about a minute ago and was looking around with a grim expression. Whatever he was looking for, I hadn’t seen any sign of it.

“What’s going on?” I finally asked. “You look like you just took it up the ass and are trying to decide if you like it or not.”

Grayson burst out laughing, Pham snickered, and Lenore said, “Good one, Red.” She held out her hand for a fist bump, so I obliged.

Giles looked at me with a sour expression. “It’s a primal,” he finally responded. “There’s a primal nearby, and I was trying to figure out what kind it is.”

“That’s good news,” Pham said. “You might get a new ability.”

Giles shook his head. “No, Agent Pham, it isn’t.” He gestured towards the glacier. “It feels like an infernal…and also an elemental at the same time.”

“And why is it not good news?” I asked. “I thought any chance to get a new ability would be good.”

Giles had previously told me that primals were a kind of magic spirit that could give abilities to invokers like him. However, I didn’t really know what he meant by ‘infernal’ or ‘elemental’.

“This particular primal, Miss Donna, is an infernal,” Giles explained patiently. “And there are two major reasons why it would be a bad idea to try bargaining with it.” He held up a single finger, and not even the middle one. “Two of my current patrons are celestials, and if I even tried to make a deal with an infernal, they’d end our deals immediately and I’d lose their abilities.”

“Shit,” Lenore said. “It sounds like they’re territorial little fucks.”

“Yes, Miss Lenore,” Giles agreed. “Celestials are very territorial where infernals are concerned. But the second reason…” He held up a second finger. “Infernals can’t be trusted. They love to make trouble. Specifically, they hate rules and usually want to make people break any that are important to them. “

“I’ve heard about them,” Grayson offered. “One invoker I knew, told me about how an infernal tried getting him to give a human sacrifice.”

“Yes, Mister Grayson,” Giles agreed, “that is exactly the kind of thing an infernal asks for in exchange for power. They’re quick to make deals, but the price they ask…” He shook his head before adding, “And if their deal sounds reasonable, then you should be even more careful because it usually means that there is some other catch.”

“Well, fuck,” Lenore said. “So, what’s the plan here then, if you’re not going to ask it for a new ability?”

“We avoid it, Miss Lenore,” Giles answered evenly. “We simply continue on our way.”

“That sounds good to me,” Pham agreed, giving a wary look towards the glacier. “That looks way too cold to go there anyway.”

“Sounds good to me too,” Grayson agreed. Then, he adjusted his shield and continued walking down the trail.

We only made it about twenty yards before Giles abruptly stopped again. He snapped around and began looking around with a look of surprise.

“What is it this time?” Lenore snapped impatiently.

Before Giles could answer, I saw it for myself. A cloud of black smoke had appeared in the distance and was racing across the ground, heading straight for the glacier. It took me a few seconds to realize that it wasn’t just a cloud of smoke. There was a shape within the cloud, a shape that looked like a large black dog of some kind.

“What the hell is that?” I blurted out.

“No fucking clue,” Lenore responded.

As soon as the smoke dog reached the glacier, the ice began to crack and shift. A figure slowly rose from the ice, one that seemed to be made of the ice itself. It was shaped somewhat like a gorilla, with an upper body that was much too large in proportion to the lower, and it had a pair of large horns emerging from its head and curving backwards.

“Holy shit,” I exclaimed. “That thing has to be thirty feet tall.”

“The infernal,” Giles answered grimly. “And whatever that wolf is.”

Pham gave Giles a curious look. “Are you sure it isn’t a primal too?”

“It might be, Agent Pham,” Giles responded, not taking his eyes off the two creatures. “It feels like a primal, but not a type I’ve ever seen before.”

A moment later, the two primal creatures threw themselves at each other. The smoke wolf leapt at the ice infernal, who was already in the process of charging forwards. Black fangs bit into an icy arm even as ice claws tore into the smokey body. Shards of ice and wisps of smoke exploded outward.

“Are you sure that thing is an infernal?” Grayson asked. “It looks like some kind of ice elemental.”

“I believe it is both, Mister Grayson,” Giles answered almost absently.

The two primals continued to tear into each other, and at first, I thought that they were evenly matched. Then, I noticed the black smoke that was starting to move around the infernal. It slithered around its limbs, moving more like tentacles than real smoke. Then, the smoke seemed to constrict and the infernal dropped to the ground, barely able to move.

Once the ice primal was trapped and helpless, the smoke wolf became even more vicious. It’s massive jaws tore into the icy body, ripping through it with ease. At the same time, black smoke began pouring into the newly opened wounds, tearing them apart even more. In less than fifteen seconds after being captured, the infernal’s body was completely destroyed.

“It’s…eating the infernal,” Giles whispered in stunned disbelief.

The giant smoke wolf did seem to be eating something, though it wasn’t any of the ice that had been left behind. When it was finished, it leaned back and howled, though it didn’t sound like any kind of howl I’d ever heard before. A deep and eerie sound filled the air, something that sounded more like the wind from a powerful storm than anything that could have come from a living creature.

“It’s like the Fenris wolf,” Grayson whispered, his voice shaking a little. “Fenrir.”

The smoke wolf, Fenrir as Grayson had just called it, finished eating its meal. Then, it abruptly turned and looked in our direction. It’s glowing red eyes burned bright, even from that distance.

“Oh shit,” I gasped, taking an involuntary step back.

Fenrir started running straight towards us, the menace and hunger clearly visible in those glowing red eyes. Giles threw up his shield right before the smoke wolf slammed into it. The whole shield immediately shuddered, but it didn’t collapse.

“It wants me,” Giles said. “And not to make a deal…”

I stared at the creature through the shield, thinking about the way it had just eaten that other primal. Then, I looked at Giles and shuddered as I imagined it doing the same thing to him.

Lenore conjured and arrow and readied her bow to fire. “I say we put this fucker down.”

“Bad dog,” I snarled as I brought up both of my abilities, throwing ‘Cursed Ground’ on the ground beneath the creature before placing a ‘Hex’ directly on it.

“I don’t think it liked that,” Pham said, even as he held out his hand and fired a wind blade right at the wolf.

My banes seemed to slow the creature down, but not nearly as much as I’d hoped. It was simply too powerful for my abilities to do much to it. But still, what little I was doing seemed to get its attention. It glared at me with the same intensity that it had previously focused on Giles.

The shield suddenly popped and smoke came rushing in. Grayson yanked me out of the way a moment before a giant pair of jaws snapped shut on the spot where I’d been standing. My sword slipped out of my grip and fell to the ground in the process.

Lenore was suddenly wearing her heavy armor. She shot her arrow at the primal, then conjured a new one, one of those heavy duty arrows that had a bit more power behind them. That one immediately followed the first and hit the creature in the neck. It staggered back and shook it’s head.

Pham used his scepter to blast Fenrir, and it winced a little at the impact. A second shot was fired, though that seemed to do little more than sting the creature. In fact, all of our attacks seemed more annoying than threatening to it.

Giles and Grayson charged forward, attacking with sword and halberd, though they were careful not to step into my ‘Cursed Ground’. Blades hit the primal’s chest and seemed to just pass through without doing any damage at all.

“Very annoying,” Pham said as he turned his attention to my lost sword.

Pham grinned for a moment and gestured to my dropped sword. A moment later, my sword actually melted down into a puddle of metal goo. I gaped at that, then even more as the metal pulled back together and took a new shape, that of a metal spider.

“I don’t get to use this one often,” Pham announced.

The metal spider skittered towards Fenrir and then began to climb its leg. That seemed to be distracting because the smoke wolf shook its leg to try knocking the spider off, and when that didn’t work, it bit at it. There was a crunch and then the spider was gone.

“There goes my sword,” I grumbled. “Not that I got much use out damn thing.”

I took a deep breath and then shot Fenrir with a second ‘Hex’, which added to the stack and increased the strength of all the banes. It was moving even slower and taking even more damage over time. Still not enough of either.

Fenrir’s burning red eyes locked on me again and it growled, a low rumble that almost sounded like thunder in the distance. It lunged straight at me.

“LOOK OUT!” Pham shouted as he shoved me out of the way.

Suddenly, there was a sickening crunch and a brief scream that abruptly cut off. When I looked behind me, I saw Pham…or what little was left of him. He’d been bitten clean in two with his bottom half having been left behind.

“No,” I gasped, my eyes going wide with horror and shock. “Pham…”

“Move it,” Grayson ordered as he pulled me away.

“You fucking leg humping piece of shit,” Lenore spat out furiously. “I’ll neuter you with a rusty spoon.”

Giles rushed forward and slammed his halberd into Fenrir’s nose, getting the creature’s attention. “It’s me you want. Remember?”

Fenrir turned its attention back to Giles who moved back. The creature stepped forward, though my banes slowed its movements enough to give Giles a chance. He braced with his halberd.

“His eyes,” Giles said. “If you would, Miss Lenore.”

“Gotcha,” Lenore responded, firing an arrow right into one of Fenrir’s eyes.

Fenrir stepped back and shook its head, trying to get the arrow loose. Lenore simply took the opportunity to aim for the next shot, which she struck right in the other eye.

“Now,” Giles snarled. “For Nathan…”

With that, the invoker activated his emergency ability and a column of flame suddenly erupted right where Fenrir was standing. The smoke wolf howled in pain, taking obvious damage for the first time. It tried getting away, but my ‘Cursed Ground’ made it’s movements too slow, keeping it trapped in the middle of the flames.

“BURN,” I exclaimed as tears ran down my cheeks. I desperately wished that I could hit the damn thing with another ‘Hex’. Instead, I had to make due with the fact that my existing banes were contributing to its current pain.

The burning column faded away before Fenrir could fully escape from it. Once the flames were gone, I got a good look at the creature. It looked…weaker somehow. It was still surrounded by smoke, but more wisps of smoke were leaking out in a way that made me think it was bleeding.

‘Hex’ was ready again, so I immediately blasted the primal with another one. It staggered from the bane, apparently weak enough now that my additional damage was really starting to add up.

Fenrir turned its burning eyes on me again, though they quickly shifted to Giles. The anger and malevolence in that gaze intensified, and I was sure that it was about to pounce once more. But then, it paused and tilted its head. It raised its head and sniffed the air.

“What is it doing?” Grayson asked quietly.

“No fucking clue,” Lenore responded grimly. She was already taking aim with another arrow.

A second later, the primal turned away from us and stared into the distance. Then, it turned again and began walking away…in the other direction. It’s movements were slow and awkward, partly due to my bane and partly due to its injuries. But once it was away from my ‘Cursed Ground’, it began moving faster. Not at a full run, but definitely in a hurry. Soon, it was gone entirely.

I was on my knees, completely exhausted, though more emotionally than physically.

Pham’s body was a short distance away, or at least, what was left of it. There wasn’t much, but what there was… It was enough to make me sick to my stomach.

“Pham,” I whispered with tears running down my cheeks. “He saved me…”

“He…was a good man,” Giles said, though his voice cracked as he said it, revealing the emotions that his words didn’t fully convey.

“He was,” Grayson quietly agreed.

For once, Lenore didn’t say anything. Instead, she merely stood beside me, putting her hand on my shoulder to offer what comfort she could.

“I barely knew him,” I whispered. I’d liked him. He’d been nice to me in ways that few people ever had. “Why would he do this for ME? I don’t deserve it.”

“He thought you did,” Grayson told me in a gentle voice. “He thought you were worth it.”

“But…” I started.

“Don’t insult him by arguing with his last fucking act,” Lenore told me. She was angry, but not at me. “Fucking mutt…”

“We should get out of here,” Grayson said. “Before that thing changes its mind and comes back.”

I blinked at that. “We can’t leave him…”

“The Labyrinth will clean this up,” Giles said with a heavy tone. “It always does.”

“That doesn’t mean we have to leave him out in the open until then,” Grayson pointed out.

I nodded and slowly got to my feet. It was harder than I expected. I felt like crap. Pham had died because of me. Because I’d pissed that thing off. Because I hadn’t been fast enough to avoid it on my own. Because…

“We can bury him,” I said. “I know the Labyrinth will probably just absorb that too, but we can do that much for him.”

“Yes, Miss Donna,” Giles agreed sadly. “We can do that for him.”

The ground was hard, solid rock with a layer of crushed rock on top of it. We couldn’t really dig down, so instead, we gathered up a lot of rocks and used them to bury what was left of Pham. Grayson called it a cairn. I just called it a tragedy.

No one spoke over the grave, not as a group. Instead, we each took turns standing beside it, quietly saying our last words to Pham.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered with tears still in my eyes. “Thank you for saving me, but…” I hung my head. “I’m not worth it. All I do is hurt people. Even my power is all about hurting people. You shouldn’t have sacrificed your life for me, but… But thank you anyway. I won’t forget you. Ever.”

We stayed there a lot longer than we should have, building the grave and saying our goodbyes. Each minute we remained was another opportunity for Fenrir to return. But in spite of that, Pham deserved better than for us to just abandon his body and run away. He deserved this much at the very least.

“We should get going,” Giles finally said, looking and sounding tired. “The sooner we finish the mission, the sooner we can get out of the Labyrinth.”

“I second that,” Lenore said.

I just nodded at that. This wasn’t even my mission. I was just along for the ride. But in spite of that, after everything that I’d gone through with this group, I felt invested in the mission anyway.

“Let’s finish it,” I agreed.

“But before we go,” Giles said. He bent over and picked up Pham’s staff, then turned and handed it to me. “Miss Donna,” he said in an almost formal tone. “I believe that Agent Pham would want you to have this.”

I accepted the staff, feeling my hand shake a little as I did so. I felt guilty for taking the staff, but at the same time, it also felt like an appropriate reminder of what had happened…and of what he’d sacrificed for me.

The staff felt oddly comfortable in my hands. It felt…familiar…as though I’d held staffs like this countless times before, in spite of the fact that this was the first time I’d ever actually touched one. Then I reached for the mental connection I had with the tool. I had no idea of how I knew how to do this, only that I did.

A brief connection was all I needed to see that the staff was still half-charged with Pham’s power. Another shaper might be able to use that stored energy, but I couldn’t. In fact, I couldn’t really do anything with the staff as long as the battery still had that charge. I would need to drain the power first. And for some reason, I knew exactly how to do that. All I had to do was push a mental button and the staff slowly began to disperse that stored power. Once it was fully drained, I’d be able to start storing my own energy instead.

“Red?” Lenore asked me with a worried look. “Are you okay?”

I blinked, realizing that I’d been completely absorbed in examining the staff. “Not really,” I answered honestly, my eyes darting to Pham’s grave. “But I’ll manage.”

“That’s the most anyone can do,” Grayson agreed.

I took a deep breath, then straightened my back. In spite of what had just happened and how crappy I felt, I also felt a strange new confidence from holding the staff. I felt like a marksman who finally got his hands on a gun, or a swordsman who had just picked up a blade. For the first time since waking up in the respawning pool, I actually felt armed and dangerous.

“Okay,” I announced. “Let’s go and finish this.”

----------

Bubblegum. I’d never been a big fan of the stuff, but at that moment, I really hated it.

I was currently standing in a large cavern, one where the walls, floor, and ceiling were all made of some white stone that glittered from tiny specks of quartz. The whole cavern made me think of the inside of a salt mine, not that I’d ever actually been inside of one.

My attention was currently locked on the monster that occupied the middle of the cavern, a giant glob of pink goo that looked like a wad of bubblegum that had been chewed up and spat out. It was about ten feet tall, and it moved. It bubbled and oozed, sending slimy pink tentacles out as limbs.

I glared at the monster, even though it hadn’t really done anything other than exist and be in our way. I was still in a bad mood over what had happened with Pham, bursting with grief, frustration, and an anger that demanded to be released. Fortunately for me, this bubblegum monster had just volunteered.

“That looks like something that got stuck on the bottom of my shoe,” Grayson mused. “Or the underside of my desk, back in high school.”

“It smells like crap,” Lenore offered, even as she conjured an arrow. “Like formaldehyde or something.”

I nodded at that, even as I clutched Pham’s staff and held out my hand. The staff was now fully charged with my power, and I was eager to try it out. This was a test as much a chance to lash out at something that deserved it.

The giant pink blob was moving towards us, with long tendrils stretching out ahead of it’s body. It was trying to grab us before it even got close.

I tapped into the power that I’d stored inside the staff, then used that to create a ‘Cursed Ground’. The bane was a little stronger than it would normally be, maybe twenty-five percent more, but just as important was the fact that I would be able use ‘Cursed Ground’ again a lot sooner than normal. This boosted both my power and my recharge speed.

Then I tapped into the stored power again and channeled it into ‘Hex’. My second bane hit the monster, which had already stopped moving. It shuddered and shook with bubbles of goo forming on its side.

It was at this point that everyone else finally joined the fight. Lenore shot an arrow directly into the bubblegum monster, though it didn’t seem to do any good. The arrow went in almost all the way, though the blob didn’t even react. She immediately followed this up by conjuring one of her special arrows and shooting that, with the exact same reaction.

“I doubt our weapons can do much against this thing,” Grayson said.

The other enchanter rushed forward, easily dodging a tendril that reached out for him. He stopped just outside the area of my ‘Cursed Ground’ and slashed out with his sword. The blade went through the side of the pink goo, but the material merely closed up a moment later.

“I believe you are correct, Mister Grayson,” Giles responded.

In spite of what he’d just said, Giles had to test it for himself. He approached the bubblegum monster and swung his halberd, tearing a deep slice into the ping goo which immediately sealed back up.

“How the fuck do we kill this thing?” Lenore demanded.

“I can use my flaming column,” Giles reluctantly admitted. “Or…” He looked at me. “Miss Donna’s abilities seem to be hurting it.”

“Which reminds me,” I said, blasting the monster with another ‘Hex’.

The bane stacked with the two others that were already on the monster, increasing the strength of each a little. I smiled grimly at that, knowing that since my ‘Hex’ was now recharging faster than normal, I’d be able to stack three of them into a target now.

A long ping tentacle began stretching out towards me but Grayson was suddenly there, slicing through it with his sword. As soon as it was cut free from the main body, the end collapsed to the ground into a disgusting pink splatter.

“We might be able to cut it apart,” Giles announced. “Piece. By. Piece.”

I nodded at that but didn’t take my eyes off the monster. As soon as my ‘Hex’ had recharged, I blasted the blob with another one. Now I had three layers of ‘Hex’ on the creature, though that wouldn’t last for long. Soon, the first ‘Hex’ would wear off and it would be only double stacked again.

“For now,” I said with a predatory grin.

The pink blob continued to advance forward, though slowly. Very slowly. It kept reaching out with its gooey tentacles, only to have them be quickly sliced off. Soon, the outer edge of its body had moved out of ther ‘Cursed Ground’, but most of it remained inside and would for some time.

The fight continued in this fashion, with the monster slowly becoming sicker and weaker. The damage from my banes continued to add up, eating away at its life in a slow but steady manner. Before long, the monster began to melt, looking more like a puddle of half-melted ice-cream than a glob of bubblegum.

“It’s almost there,” I said, hitting it with one more ‘Hex’.

At this point, my ‘Cursed Ground’ faded away, though it was no longer necessary. The monster was no longer in any condition to move around much. Less than a minute later, it collapsed into a motionless puddle of pink sludge. It bubbled up several times then went completely still.

“Shit,” Lenore cursed, making a show of plugging her nose. “Now it smells even worse.”

I just stood back and stared at the monster, agreeing with Lenore. That nasty pink glob really did smell like shit. Technically, it smelled like formaldehyde, chemicals, and death, but the point still stood.

I felt a sense of pride as I looked over the dead monster. I did that. I was the one who’d killed this bastard. For the first time, I really felt like a player, not just some noob who was well out of her depth.

Then I looked over at the others, seeing that they were all in a much better mood as well. We needed this. We needed this win after what had happened with Fenrir.

“Hey,” Grayson abruptly called out. He had a faint grin on his face as he gestured off to the side. “I think I see a treasure box.”

Snakes. Snakes slithered around nearly everywhere I looked, from the moist jungle floor to the brick walls of the old Aztek or Mayan style ruins. The snakes were easy to see, being neon green and around two to three feet long.

Giles was reading through his book, nodding every once in awhile. Then he closed it and looked around with an almost satisfied expression on his face.

“We’re close to the exit,” Giles announced. “This location and the monsters match what was reported just inside the Northwest Territories entrance a couple months ago.”

“Snakes,” Grayson said with a smirk. “Why did it have to be snakes?”

“The question is,” Lenore asked. “Are they poisonous?”

“This is an important question,” I agreed.

Giles nodded at that. “Miss Lenore. Miss Donna. We are in a shallow area of the Labyrinth, so the monsters should be relatively weak. The last reports confirm this, though they also note that the snakes are venomous.”

“So,” I commented flatly, “we have to walk through a bunch of poisonous snakes. What are the odds of one biting us?”

“A single bite won’t kill,” Giles continued before admitting, “But four or five of them probably will.”

We all stared at the path ahead of us, nobody saying a word. We were probably all thinking the same thing though, that this would have been a great spot for Pham to shine. His wind blades would have been great for clearing out the snakes.

“Easy to kill but a lot of them,” Grayson mused. “We can manage.”

“Way too many to just fucking shoot,” Lenore grumbled. “Even when I conjure extra arrows.”

Then Lenore let out a stream of muttered curses, though I couldn’t make out everything she said. She grimaced, then conjured her armor. As soon as she was covered head to toe with that shiny metal armor, she drew her short sword and then took the lead.

As soon as Lenore stepped into the middle of the path, multiple snakes slithered towards her at once. She remained still long enough for several of them to try biting her, then she bent over and began to swing her short sword. It didn’t take long before the area around her was clear of snakes.

“Not bad,” Grayson said. “Between my boots, armor, and the boons that boost my health and reflexes, I should be able to handle this too. We can take turns.”

I nodded at that, not wanting to be completely outdone. My ‘Hex’ could easily kill one snake at a time, but if I was going to go after a lot of them, it would take forever. Still, I did have a couple tricks up my sleeve.

With that, I stepped forward and placed a ‘Cursed Ground’ to the side of the path, right in a spot where a hundred or more snakes were trying to pass through to come at us. In an instant, every snake that was caught in my bane slowed down, giving us plenty of time to simply walk past if we didn’t want to bother killing them.

“Very good, Miss Donna,” Giles told me with a faint smile. “Like fish in a barrel.”

“Better than being like snakes on a plane,” Grayson added with a self-satisfied chuckle.

Giles swung his halberd and sliced through several snakes at once. However, he was careful to stay back and out of my ‘Cursed Ground’. Grayson, however, took a deep breath then marched right into it.

“Wow,” Grayson announced with a grimace. “This sucks.” He swung his sword down and cut up a couple snakes. “It feels like my agility and dexterity both took a big hit. I’m barely able to keep hold of my sword. It’s like I’ve suddenly developed a case of butter fingers.”

“What about your agility?” I asked curiously. This was the first time that a person had gone into my ‘Cursed Ground’, so I wanted to see his perspective on the effects.

“Definitely weaker,” Grayson responded. “I’ve lost about half of what my ‘Dancer’s Grace’ gives me, so I’m still above my baseline.” Then he took a cautious step and added, “And it sort of feels like I’m walking through mud too. I’m just…slow.”

“Well, fuck,” Lenore grumbled. “Now I have to see for myself.”

With that, Lenore carefully stepped into my ‘Cursed Ground’ as well. Her movements immediately slowed and her sword slipped right out of her armored hands. She muttered a curse while Grayson chuckled, then she made do by simply stepping on a snake.

I stood back and watch, not bothering to waste a ‘Hex’ on the snakes. As it was, their attempts to kill all the snakes was a bit like watching a fight in slow motion.

Once the large group of snakes had been dealt with, Grayson said, “I am NOT doing that again. That is one hell of an annoying debuff.”

“No fucking way,” Lenore agreed emphatically.

I just chuckled at that and pointed out, “I can probably make it a little more selective with more points in focus.”

As it was, I was starting to see what a few points in focus could do for my abilities. It didn’t really make them any more powerful, at least not directly, but it did make them easier to control and modify. I could make my banes weaker, but a little quicker to recharge in the process. Or, I could concentrate the power of my ‘Cursed Ground’, making it smaller but a little stronger.

I quickly brought up my stats and looked them over, trying to decide where I wanted to focus my attention as I grew stronger.

CLASS: ENCHANTER
LEVEL: 8
FREE STAT POINTS: 0

FOCUS: 9
PERCEPTION: 7
PRESENCE: 10
STRENGTH: 6
VITALITY: 10
DEXTERITY: 7
AGILITY: 6

TALENTS AND AFFINITIES:
-ENCHANTMENT
--BANES
-MAGE STAFF

ABILITIES:
-HEX
-CURSED GROUND

SOULBOUND ITEMS:
-ARMOR OF THE ENCHANTRESS

I definitely wanted at least one more point in focus, just so I could get it to ten. That would make it the same level as presence and vitality. And for all I knew, it might also unlock more features for my soulbound armor.

And of course, I also had Pham’s staff…my new staff. It added to my power as well, even if I hadn’t needed it against the snakes. Still, I felt a lot stronger for having it in my hand. With that staff, I could finally hold my own.

After this, we continued marching along the jungle trail, occasionally stopping to deal with the snakes. Grayson and Lenore made quick work of them, especially without my ‘Cursed Ground’ slowing them down. Eventually, we came to a large stone arch.

“This should be it,” Giles announced as he looked over the stone arch with a suspicious expression. “This should be the exit we’re looking for.”

Giles hesitated for a moment before stepping through the arch. Everyone else quickly followed after him. A moment later, we were out of the jungle and in a new place entirely.

I looked around and saw that we were standing on a rocky outcropping, surrounded in all directions by forest and mountains. A powerful river roared as it passed by only a couple hundred yards away.

“This place looks pretty nice,” Grayson mused. “Maybe a good spot for fishing.”

“This…,” Giles said slowly as he looked around. His expression was grim. “This place fits the description of the area outside the Northwest Territories entrance. It fits the description exactly.”

“So, we’re out?” I asked with relief. This was the first time that I’d stepped out of the Labyrinth since waking up in my new body, and I’d begun to think that I’d never leave. “We’re out of the Labyrinth…”

“No, Miss Donna,” Giles responded with a grim expression. He pointed to the stone arch that we’d just gone through. “That was NOT a Labyrinth exit, nor even one of the echoes…”

“Oh shit,” Lenore exclaimed.

“That was just the same kind of portal we’ve been using,” Grayson said as he stared at the stone arch. Then he snapped around and looked out at our surroundings again. “The kind that goes from one area in the Labyrinth to another.”

“We are still inside the Labyrinth,” Giles stated with a grim expression. “I think… I think the Labyrinth swallowed up the entire zone.”

----------

I crouched down and stared at a large skeleton that had been picked clean. I was pretty sure that it had once been a bear, though the bones were a little too broken and scattered for me to be sure. It wasn’t like I was any kind of expert on animal bones.

“Do you think the monsters got it?” I asked.

“Probably,” Grayson responded. “But the question is, which monsters?”

I nodded at that and looked around. It looked like we were in northern Canada, and the chill wind in the air seemed to support that. However, the normal wildlife was strangely absent. Or, that was what Giles insisted. We saw a few birds and rodents, but this was the first sign we’d seen of anything larger.

There were monsters though. Lots of them. There were some of those neon green snakes that we’d seen before, but not nearly as many as there had been in the jungle. Instead, we were faced with rabbits. Giant rabbits that were each the size of a large dog, with glowing red eyes and spikes growing out of their backs.

“Fuck,” Lenore exclaimed.

I looked over and saw that she was already in the process of firing another arrow. It hit one of the giant rabbits, which fell down dead, right beside the body of another one.

“These damn things just don’t stop coming,” Lenore grumbled. She was already conjuring another arrow in preparation for the next rabbit.

“What a hare raising problem,” Grayson said with a faint smile.

“This is just like any other area of the Labyrinth,” Giles said with a deep scowl.

We’d spent the last couple hours walking around the area, trying to figure out what had happened to the Labyrinth zone. And from what we’d seen, Giles was right. If I didn’t know that we were supposed to be in Canada, right outside of a Labyrinth entrance, I never would have known. There were monsters. There were trails leading through the area, trails that Giles said shouldn’t be there. And most importantly, we couldn’t simply step over an imaginary line and be back in the real world.

“We have five more of the furry little bastards,” Lenore said as she fired another shot.

I looked up and saw more of the rabbit emerging from behind trees and rocks. I readied myself to fire off a ‘Hex’, though I knew that ‘Cursed Ground’ would be even more useful. At the moment, the rabbits were hopping around, being deceptively slow. However, I wasn’t fooled. I’d seen how fast they could run once they decided to charge at you.

“Can you slow them, Miss Donna?” Giles asked me.

I shook my head. “My ‘Cursed Ground’ hasn’t recharged yet.”

A moment later, three of the rabbits suddenly charged towards us, moving at an almost blinding speed. Lenore’s shot missed as her target was no longer there. Giles threw up his shield and one of the rabbits slammed right into, breaking its own neck in the process. The other two rabbits got in before she shield went up.

Grayson swung his arm, knocking one of the rabbits aside just as it was about to hit Giles. Then he snapped around and drove his sword right through another rabbit that had been coming for me. That wasn’t enough to kill the rabbit, but the next swing of the blade was.

I was amazed by Grayson’s speed and made a mental note to add a point or two to my agility, when I had points to spare. For now, I still had other priorities.

My attention went to the rabbit that Grayson had knocked aside with the shield. That had slowed the rabbit down and it looked like it was taking a moment to reassess it’s next target. I took the opportunity to hit it with a ‘Hex’. It immediately staggered which left it open for Giles.

There were still a few more rabbits outside the shield, including new additions that had appeared during our little fight. Lenore kept her focus on them, shooting at one rabbit and then another. Several times, she even conjured multiple arrows to really rain the damage down on them.

The rabbits were fast and vicious, but they were also relatively weak. They were easy to kill…if we could hit them. Fortunately, they were only fast in short bursts, which gave us plenty of chances to catch them.

Once the rabbits were dead, Giles looked around and sighed. “I don’t see much benefit in hanging around here for much longer. I think we should finish sweeping the area, then head back to report what we found.”

“We found two things,” I pointed out wryly. “Jack and shit.”

Lenore smirked at that, then held out her hand for a fist bump. A few seconds later, she added, “We did find out that the Labyrinth fucking ate the whole area.”

“I’ve never heard of that happening before,” Grayson said. “Hell, I’ve never heard of any Labyrinth entrances even closing before recently.”

“You’re right, Mister Grayson,” Giles responded grimly. “Something may have changed, but I haven’t seen any indication here of what it might be. Hopefully, the other teams will have found something.”

We continued searching the area for a couple more hours, but we didn’t find anything besides more monsters. Eventually, we began heading back to where we’d entered this area from.

“Wait,” Lenore abruptly exclaimed, holding out a hand for everyone to stop. “Listen to that…”

I turned my head to listen, not sure what I should actually be listening for. Then I heard it, the sound of fighting in the distance. It didn’t sound like it was too far away. And then, I heard some voices, though I couldn’t make out what they were saying.

“People,” Grayson said in surprise. “Do you think it’s other players?”

“Perhaps, Mister Grayson,” Giles answered with a thoughtful expression. “Why don’t we go find out.”

Three players stood out in the open, surrounded by a dozen dead rabbits and a couple neon green snakes. We arrived too late to see the actual fight but soon enough to catch up with the players before they moved on.

The first one was a statuesque woman with light brown skin and reddish-brown hair that was pulled back into a braid. She wore red and grey armor that seemed to be a mix of leather and metal pieces, and in her hand, she held a large double-bladed axe that was still dripping with monster blood.

Standing a short distance away from her, with a pair of knives in hand, was an almost petite black woman with short black hair and armor that seemed to be mostly black leather. She snapped around as we arrived and glared at us with suspicion and a clear readiness to fight.

And last, there was the only guy in the group. He had tanned skin, dark hair, and enough stubble to give him a look somewhere between ruggedly handsome and scruffy looking. What really surprised me though, was the fact that he was not only unarmed, but he also had one arm in a sling.

“The lady with the axe looks like a warrior type,” Grayson told us quietly. “Maybe a berzerker or straight warrior.”

“And that chick with the daggers is probably a stalker,” Lenore added. “Either that or a warrior type who focuses on speed. You don’t usually fight with knives unless you’ve got a lot of speed, accuracy, or stealth.”

Grayson nodded. “And no clue about the guy.”

“Are you done talking about us?” the petite woman demanded with a snarl.

The woman with the axe stepped forward and asked, “What do you want?” The axe was held casually in her hand, but the black blood that was still dripping from it was a clear warning.

“We mean no trouble, ma’am,” Giles said as he stepped forward. His halberd was in his hand, but he was holding it more like a staff, something to lean on rather than threaten with. But as with that woman’s axe, he would be more than ready to use it. “We merely heard the fighting and came over to see who was out here with us.”

“My name is Frank,” the woman with the axe said.

“Frank?” I blurted out in surprise.

The woman…Frank gave me an even look. “That was my name before I died, and I saw no reason to change it now.”

My eyes widened at that. I had questions. Lots of questions. Frank was clearly like me, so there was a lot I wanted to talk to her about. However, I remembered the warnings about digging into player’s pasts and bit my tongue instead.

“This is Jag and Stine,” Frank said, introducing her companions. “Now, who are you?”

“Wait,” Lenore blurted out. “Your fucking names are Frank and Stine.” She snickered at that.

Stine snorted. “Just coincidence.”

“Thank you, Miss Frank,” Giles said, somehow keeping a straight face. “I am Agent Dan Giles of the Wardens.”

“The Men in Grey,” Jag said, looking even more suspicious than before.

“The grey armor is pretty obvious,” Stine told her in a wry tone.

Giles gestured to us. “My companions are…”

“Grayson,” Grayson introduced himself before Giles could do it for him.

“Lenore,” she added.

I hesitated a moment before saying, “Donna.”

This was the first time that I’d intentionally given that as my name. By this point, it was probably too late for me to change it to something that sounded cooler.

“And what are the Men in Grey doing way out here?” Frank asked with an almost deceptive calmness.

Giles hesitated for a moment, clearly trying to decide how he should answer. His contract with the celestial meant that he couldn’t lie, but it didn’t mean that he actually had to answer, or that he had to tell everything he knew.

“I’m here to investigate what happened at the entrance,” Giles finally answered.

“I knew that something was fucked up about this place,” Jag hissed. “We haven’t been able to find that exit anywhere.”

“What is going on?” Stine asked. “We came here to try leaving the Labyrinth, but we couldn’t find the gate.”

“Then, you haven’t heard?” Giles asked.

The three of them looked at each other and all either shook their heads or just had blank looks. “Heard what?” Frank asked.

“This entrance disappeared,” Grayson announced, earning a couple looks of surprise and disbelief. “The entire Labyrinth zone disappeared. All that’s left is a huge crater.”

“My mission is to investigate the disappearance from this side,” Giles answered.

Frank had a deep scowl on her face. “And do you mind saying what you found?”

“What should be the Labyrinth zone is now part of the Labyrinth,” Giles answered. “From what I can tell, the Labyrinth seems to have absorbed it.”

“This does look like Canada,” Stine commented, gesturing around us.

“I shouldn’t be surprised,” Frank admitted with a thoughtful expression. “Labyrinth zones are already more Labyrinth than real world anyway.”

“No kidding,” Jag added.

“Are you injured, Mister Stine?” Giles asked, looking at the other man.

Stine looked down at his shoulder and the arm that was in a sling, then he shrugged. “I’ll heal…eventually.”

“We ran into a particularly nasty creature,” Frank explained. “One that killed two of our…companions.”

I nodded at that, suddenly understanding why they were trying to get out of the Labyrinth. It had been hard enough losing Pham, so I couldn’t imagine what losing two people would have been like. And to have someone injured as well… That would definitely make it even harder to survive the Labyrinth.

“That creature wouldn’t happen to have been a giant wolf, would it?” Grayson asked.

All three of the other players suddenly tensed up. “Shit,” I growled. “That smokey bastard gets around.”

“It killed one of us, too,” Grayson told them.

“I can help with your injury, Mister Stine,” Giles offered.

That got a look of sharp interest from Stine. “You’re a healer?”

“I have a healing ability,” Giles answered.

Stine considered this for a moment, glanced to his companions, then nodded. Giles moved closer and held out his hand to touch Stine’s arm. There was bit of a glow where they made contact, then Giles pulled his hand away.

“That feels odd,” Stine said. “But better.” He slowly pulled his arm out of the sling and then began to rotate the whole thing. “Definitely better.” With that, Stile tore off some bandages that covered his shoulder, then he examined it before nodding in satisfaction. “Thank you.”

Jag stared at Stine for a moment, then reluctantly asked Giles, “Hey. Do you think you could fix my ankle too?”

I looked at her, finally noticing that she was keeping her weight off the one foot. She hadn’t moved much since I’d first seen her, but during those few steps, she seemed to have been limping a bit.

“That will be no problem, Miss Jag,” Giles said as he bent down to touch her leg.

Frank turned and shifted her axe, looking off to the side. Several more rabbits were starting to arrive. Lenore turned and shot an arrow at one of them, hitting it in the head and killing it. The other rabbit charged, rushing straight at us. Grayson intercepted it and sliced it’s head off before it could hit anyone.

“I recommend that we move our discussion to a more secure area,” Frank suggested. “So that we won’t have to deal with as many of the annoyances.”

“That sounds like a great idea, Miss Frank,” Giles told her with a nod.

“What’s with all that miss and mister shit?” Jag grumbled.

After this, we moved locations to a different spot a short distance away. The river ran along one side while a steep stone wall blocked another. It created a space where there was only one route to get to us, which made it easier to watch for oncoming monsters. Once we were sure it was clear, most of us settled down for lunch and conversation.

I sat on a rock, eating some jerky and leftover bread from the last safe zone we’d found. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any nearby, so we might not be replacing it anytime soon.

“So,” Frank said, looking at Giles. “You have a healing ability but don’t seem to be a dedicated healer.” She left the rest of the question unsaid.

“Invoker,” Giles answered. That earned a couple nods of understanding.;

“You never quite know what invokers might have in their bag of tricks,” Frank responded with a nod. “And the rest of you?” She looked over at us.

“My companions, Miss Frank,” Giles answered, gesturing from one of us to another, “are enchanter, enchanter, and conjurer.”

“Two enchanters?” Stine asked in surprise. “That is…uncommon.”

“Real surprising,” Jag agreed.

“And my companions,” Frank said, “Are an illusionist and brawler.” I noticed that she didn’t say what class she was.

“You’re an illusionist?” Grayson asked Jag. “I would have guessed stalker or a warrior type.”

“I never would have pegged you for being an enchanter,” she responded. “How the hell does a team with an invoker and two enchanters make it through the dungeon?”

Just then, I heard movement from the opening to our little rest area. When I turned, I saw three rabbits moving towards us, slowly at first. However, I also saw them tensing up for a burst of speed. With a faint smile, I activated ‘Cursed Ground’ beneath them, keeping them from moving too fast.

Lenore raised her bow and shot an arrow, one that immediately split into six arrows. They slammed into the rabbits, killing one immediately while a second one was badly injured. She shot one more arrow, killing the rabbit she’d previously missed and leaving only the one that had two arrows sticking out of its side.

“Too bad they’re really monsters,” Stine commented. “Because that would be a lot of fresh rabbit meat.”

“True,” Grayson agreed.

Giles merely nodded, then swung his halberd, bringing the head down onto the remaining monster and finishing it off. Then he casually set the weapon down beside him, within easy reach.

“Unfortunately,” Grayson commented. “We lost one our ranged damage specialists, but we still manage all right.”

“Mister Grayson does bring up a point though,” Giles said, looking at the other team. “Both of our teams have recently lost people, so it might be a good idea for us to travel together until we’re able to reach the next exit.”

“The three of us can handle things just fine on our own,” Jag responded. “Especially now that we aren’t hurt anymore.”

“Jag is right,” Frank said. “We are quite capable of taking care of ourselves. However…” She paused at that, her eyes locking on Giles, “that shadow wolf…”

“We call it Fenrir,” Grayson offered.

She nodded. “Fenrir...is still out there, and I would prefer to have more players if we happen to run into it again.”

“We’ll do it,” Stine said with. “It looks like we’re gonna be travel companions for a bit.”

Interlude:

A figure in a worn and tattered cloak gracefully slipped across the landscape, easily avoiding the small hazards that threatened to twist an ankle or could announce his presence. His attention swept over everything, missing not a single detail as he searched for signs of his quarry.

He was a hunter, by nature if not by class. And at that moment, he was hunting the most dangerous prey of his life. He was hunting something that was every bit as determined to take him down.

The cloaked figure suddenly noticed something. He paused and crouched down, examining the ground and carefully sniffing, though he wouldn’t expect much scent. After a few seconds, a faint smile formed on his scaled lips.

“It was here,” he whispered.

The target was more spiritual than physical, so it left few physical signs of its passing, and what few there were, were quickly erased by the Labyrinth. The discovery of even one footprint was evidence that the creature was getting tired and sloppy.

“Or,” the figure reminded himself, “it’s trying to lead me into a trap.”

That was a definite possibility, though the figure didn’t know how likely it actually was. Most primals were predictable. They fell into specific categories that defined their powers, desires, and very natures. If you knew what kind you were dealing with, then you also had a good idea of what you were dealing with. However, not all primals were so easy to define.

This primal was different. It seemed to be equal parts natural, elemental, and some other type that the figure had never encountered. That made it unpredictable, and therefor, more dangerous.

Of course, the figure had been chasing and fighting Big Bad for long enough that he had developed some understanding of the creature. In many ways, it behaved more like a natural primal than like any other kind. But unfortunately, the figure was not sure how much of that was the primal’s true nature, and how much could be an act to manipulate him. To make him assume…incorrectly…that he knew what it was going to do.

“It’s a hunter,” the figure thought aloud. That much, he was sure of. “And it has its own preferred prey.”

He had seen that much with his own eyes, confirmed it with his own experience. Big Bad liked to hunt other primals. It liked to consume primal energy. This much, he knew for a fact.

While the figure crouched beside the footprint, he considered the other clues he’d seen. That he’d smelled. And perhaps most importantly, what he’d felt in the air. Big Bad was still evading him for the moment, but it wasn’t simply running away. No, it had another goal. Then, he realized what it was.

A moment later, the figure stood up and slowly turned around to face the monster that had been trying to sneak up on him. He’d been aware of it the entire time but had been too busy to deal with it until then.

The monster was about nine-feet-long and looked like a cross between a salamander and a ferret. It’s slimy skin was changing colors to blend into the surroundings, though that did little to hide it from the cloaked figure. As soon as the monster realized that it had been noticed, it let out a warning growl as it prepared to launch an attack.

The cloaked figure growled back, making a noise that was deep and menacing. Black smoke began to swirl around his body, with tendrils of it reaching out towards the monster. The monster tensed up, then abruptly turned and ran.

Once the monster was gone, the figure turned his attention back to what he’d been working on. Big Bad. From what he’d seen and the traces of primal magic in the air, it was clear that his target had found new prey of its own. It was on the hunt again, and this time, it was after an invoker.

----------

Michaelangelo had been a brilliant artist. He’d been a painter, sculptor, poet, and architect, a true master of his craft. The stocky man at the work bench aspired to be such a master of his own craft, which was why he chose to use the same name.

The man who now called himself Michaelangelo hunched over his latest piece, one that was a far cry from the masterpiece he wanted to create. However, he didn’t yet have the skill or resources he needed for such an undertaking, but until then, this would pay the bills and help to gather those resources.

A loud knock shook the door. Michaelangelo stood up straight and glared at the door, annoyed at the interruption. Before he could say anything, the door opened and a man stepped into the workshop.

The newcomer was tall and muscular, with dark brown skin, a shaved head, and a perfectly trimmed white beard. With that physique, Michaelangelo would have expected the man to be dressed in barbarian garb and wielding an oversized weapon. Instead, he wore an expensive suit and held a staff in one hand.

“Maestro,” Michaelangelo greeted the man, carefully keeping the annoyance out of his voice.

He and Maestro had a professional relationship, a business relationship which served both parties quite well. It was Maestro and his people who supplied Michaelangelo with the resources he so desperately needed.

“I bring a delivery,” Maestro announced as he set a shoe box onto the bench.

Michaelangelo opened the box and silently examined the contents. There was a piece of white metal that shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow. He immediately recognized the material as ‘unicorn bone’, a unique metal which could only be found deep inside the Labyrinth. Beside the unicorn bone was a small chunk of unobtainium and a couple gemstones.

“One of our teams just returned from the Labyrinth,” Maestro told him. “And I expect Frank’s team to be back in another week or two.”

“Good,” Michaelangelo said with a nod of approval. “I can use this.”

He looked over the new resources and almost smiled. Most of this would be processed and used to make new artifacts, then given back to Maestro. However, Michaelangelo would be able to use some of it for his personal projects. He was especially interested in the unicorn bone for that.

“Did they bring back any interesting artifacts?” Michaelangelo asked.

“Nothing that you haven’t already seen before,” Maestro answered with a faint smile.

“Too bad,” Michaelangelo responded with a grunt. It was hard to improve his craft if he didn’t have new examples to study. “One of these days, I hope that your people will bring me a soulbound item to study.” Then he grinned as a touch of manic excitement lit his eyes. “Imagine what I can make for you if I learn how to make soulbound items.”

“That would be quite impressive,” Maestro agreed, absently stroking his beard as he did so. “But you know how rare soulbound items are...especially ones that are unbonded.”

“Yes, I do,” Michaelangelo agreed with a grunt of frustration. He’d spent years inside the Labyrinth, and he’d never come across an unbonded soulbound artifact. “If you at least let me study Frank’s axe…”

Maestro shook his head. “While I would have no problem letting you study her axe, Frank has made her refusal perfectly clear, and I value her too much to press the issue.”

“Understood,” Michaelangelo responded, keeping his frustration tightly controlled. He hadn’t expected anything different, but it had seemed like a good opportunity to bring up the subject again. “Then, I have something for you.”

With that, Michaelangelo picked up a small box from the other end of his work bench, one which had three recently completed scepters laying inside. These were not his best work. In fact, these were the equivalent of some early level scepters that could be found inside the Labyrinth, but they were ones that he’d made himself.

“This is all I have for now,” Michaelangelo told Maestro. “I’ll have another one finished by tomorrow.” He looked at the scepter that he’d been working on before Maestro interrupted him. Then, his eyes went to the unicorn bone and he smiled again. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”

“Of course, Mike,” Maestro responded. “I’ll leave you to it.”

I felt like I was taking a nice leisurely walk through the countryside. We were all walking down a dirt road with green grassy hills on both sides. There were scatterings of trees and boulders, but not a single monster in sight.

Admittedly, that last part was a relief while also making me a bit nervous at the same time. Sure, it was nice not to be fighting monsters, but the fact that I didn’t see them only made me worry about where they were…and WHAT they were. It was hard to relax when I had no idea what we might end up facing.

While I looked around for monsters, I noticed that Stine kept sneaking glances at me. At first, I was suspicious, remembering how that kind of thing was usually a bad sign in prison. Then, it dawned on me. He was looking at me for the same reason that Pham had. Because I was a hot chick with big tits. It was funny how easily I could forget something that important.

I didn’t mind Stine’s attention. In fact, I kind of enjoyed it. After having spent most of my life either being ignored or looked down on, it was kind of nice to have someone noticing me in a positive manner. Besides, Stine was easy on the eyes.

“You know,” I said, mostly to distract myself from the direction that my thoughts were going. “I’m looking forward to seeing what that Labyrinth gate looks like.”

“Why?” Jag asked with a derisive snort. “All the entrances look about the same. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.”

“Well, I’ve never seen one,” I told her. “I haven’t been outside the Labyrinth since I respawned.”

That got some looks of surprise from our new traveling companions, along with a bit of skepticism.

“It’s true,” Lenore said with a smirk. “Red here is a genuine noob…”

“A recently former noob,” Grayson corrected her cheerfully. “Donna has fought enough monsters that I don’t think she qualifies as a noob anymore.”

“We picked her up on our way inside,” Lenore added to the explanation. “Just like a stray puppy.”

“Woof woof,” I responded flatly, which earned a snicker from the conjurer.

“If you’re a recent respawn,” Stine asked, looking me over with an expression that was more studious than appreciative, “then how did you get such good gear already?”

I hesitated for a moment, looking at my staff before answering, “The staff belonged to the person who got killed, and the armor…” I gestured down at myself. “It’s soulbound.”

That suddenly got their full attention. Frank stared at me for a moment before asking, “Your clothes are soulbound?”

I nodded at that, already realizing that I might have said too much. I already knew that if you had something valuable, you didn’t brag about it unless you were capable of protecting it. Otherwise, you were just begging someone to steal it from you. Sure, I’d been told that soulbound items couldn’t be stolen, but did they know that?

“It looks fancier than it really is,” I quickly added, even giving an exaggerated sigh. “It doesn’t really do anything except clean itself and repair some damage.” I shrugged at that. “It doesn’t even really protect me much.”

“The self-cleaning and repair makes it pretty fucking nice to have,” Lenore told me, apparently not picking up on the fact that I was trying to downplay it. “I mean, this thing is already starting to get pretty ripe.” She gestured down at her own black leather armor.

Giles chuckled at that. “Miss Lenore is right about that.” He looked down at his own armor then scrunched up his nose as though smelling something foul. Then again, he probably did. “Most players have to do some serious cleaning after every long delve, or even replace their armor completely.”

“It does need a lot of repair,” Grayson added.

Stine nodded along. “I get that. I wouldn’t mind some armor that cleans and fixes itself too…”

“As long as it still offers protection,” Frank pointed out. “If it doesn’t protect you, it doesn’t matter how clean and pretty it looks.”

I felt an urge to argue with Frank and defend my armor, but I bit my lip instead. After all, she was just echoing what I myself had just said a minute earlier, and she was reinforcing my own efforts to downplay my armor.

“Hey,” Grayson abruptly called out. “Is it me or do those clouds look seriously off.”

Grayson was pointing to some clouds and I had to blink and take another look. They did look off. They were pure white balls of cottony fluff, but they were all around the same size and shape…and way too close to the ground. I had never really been into video games, but I had played a couple of those Mario games, and these clouds reminded me of ones from those games. They reminded me of those small clouds that some characters rode on top of.

“They’re all around us,” Stine stated.

“I think we may have just found our monsters,” Frank commented.

Some of the clouds slowly drifted towards us, and as they got closer, I became even more suspicious of them. Now that they were closer, it became increasingly obvious that those were not natural clouds. No, those things were something else.

One of the clouds was overhead, and it was slowly lowering towards us. When it was around fifty feet up, it suddenly released dozens of silvery strands that just dangled from it like hanging threads.

Lenore yelped in pain as one of the threads brushed her cheek. She jumped back and grabbed her cheek, then grabbed her short sword and sliced through the thread.

“They’re burning my armor where they touch,” Grayson exclaimed, staring at some very thin marks that were burned into his armor. “I think they’re like acid.”

“Fuck,” Lenore snarled.

She swung her sword through several more strands as she backed away, then she sheathed it and drew her bow. Several arrows flew right up into the cloud above.

“It’s deflating,” Grayson blurted out.

“Shit,” Jag snarled as she stood there with a knife in each hand. “They’re like flying jellyfish.”

“Jellyclouds,” I spat out. “Get down here you fluffy pieces of shit.”

The cloud didn’t accommodate my command, though other clouds had come close enough to become threats as well. Each of them released masses of silvery threads that dangled down to where we were. One of them brushed against my armor and immediately left a char mark across the arm.

“Damn it,” Grayson snarled as he swung his sword and sliced through a couple of the threads. “The main body is too high up for me to reach.” And then he chuckled. “And me, without a fire flower.”

Giles activated his shield, and as the bubble formed around us, it seemed to cut off the threads got in the way. We suddenly had severed threads falling onto our heads, but the jellyclouds themselves were trapped on the other side.

I activated ‘Cursed Ground’ beneath another cloud on the outside of the shield, but it simply floated over without being affected. I glared at that, annoyed at having wasted the ability.

“Cursed Ground doesn’t do anything if they’re not touching the ground,” I complained.

However, ‘Cursed Ground’ wasn’t my only ability. I blasted the jellycloud with a ‘Hex’ and smiled in satisfaction as it took hold. The thing was far enough away that I was worried it would be out of my range.

“It looks like its my time to shine,” Lenore said as she fired an arrow.

Multiple arrows tore through the jellycloud and it started to deflate and sink lower. As soon as its hanging threads got within a foot above my ‘Cursed Ground’, my bane took effect. The monster was already slow on its own, but it became even slower once caught in my enchantment.

Lenore immediately turned her attention to another jellycloud, filling it with small holes that caused it to deflate. She repeated this, going from one floating monster to another, causing them each to slowly drop towards the ground so that they were within reach of everyone else.

At first, everyone else was focusing on the threads, slicing through them so that we could move without being burned. However, once the jellyclouds were within range, everyone shifted focus to their main bodies instead.

Stine rushed in and actually punched one of the fluffy clouds. His fist went in all the way to his elbow, then when he pulled out out, a hole had been left behind. The monster deflated even faster.

“It’s like punching a balloon filled with cotton candy,” Stine mused aloud.

I just stood back and focused on using ‘Hex’ to layer as many banes on the monsters as I could. By this point, I could actually dish out a decent amount of damage, just not all at once. The fact that it took my abilities so long to kill a monster was still rather frustrating, especially when I compared that to everyone else.

When the fight ended with the last of the jellyclouds now looking like a torn and shredded balloon on the ground, I just stood there and took several deep breaths. I had a burn on the back of my hand from one of the threads, and my armor had several burn marks scattered across it, but I was otherwise unharmed.

“Yes,” Grayson exclaimed, grinning with excitement. “I just unlocked my fourth ability.”

“Congratulations,” I told him, wondering what he was going to get.

“After your third one, they come a lot slower,” Grayson explained.

I nodded at that, understanding his excitement. I was looking forward to my third ability, whatever it would end up being. I did notice though, that he didn’t say what his new ability was. Since he’d been pretty open with me about his abilities before, I suspected that he was just playing things close to the vest when it came to our traveling companions. We barely knew them, so I wasn’t about to share everything with them either.

Then I turned my attention to my own new popup.

YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 9

I immediately slotted the free point into focus, bringing it up to ten. As soon as I did so, I felt something ‘click’, though I wasn’t quite sure what it was. Then, I realized that it had come from my armor.

Grayson stared at me with a look of surprise, then asked, “Did you just unlock your third ability?”

“No,” I answered, feeling a little confused by his reaction.

“Your armor has an enchantment on it,” Grayson told me, looking me over with a careful expression. “A boon.”

“It does?” I asked, looking down at myself.

Now that I was looking, I could see a faint white and gold glow from my armor, though I wasn’t sure if anyone besides another enchanter would notice it. According to Grayson, enchanters were inherently sensitive to enchantments, so we could see them when other people couldn’t. Of course, he’d also told me that increasing perception would let other people see enchantments too, just not as well.

I quickly glanced around to see if anyone was close enough to listen in. When we seemed to be clear, I lowered my voice and explained, “I think my armor just unlocked a new feature.”

“Congratulations,” Grayson told me in the same quiet tone. “How does it work?”

I just stared down at my arms, taking in the faint glow that was so easy to miss. Then I shrugged and answered, “Not a damn clue.”

A monster slammed into my chest, hitting me hard enough to knock me back into the mud. It remained on top of me, opening it’s mouth the wrong way so that it’s head seemed to split in half vertically, revealing row after row of tiny sharp teeth.

“Damn hairy ball sack,” I snarled as I struggled to push the monster off me.

The monster was only about the size of a basketball and nearly as round, though it was dense and very heavy. It’s entire body seemed to consist of a main part that was both torso and head, with a pair of powerful leaping legs, and a small tail. And of course, the whole thing was hairy.

Stine kicked the monster like it was a soccer ball, sending it flying through the air until Frank’s axe came down and sliced the thing completely in half. Then, he held out a hand and helped me to my feet.

“Thanks,” I told him, feeling self-conscious at having needed the help.

“It was nothing,” Stine responded before turning to deal with another monster.

I watched him for a moment, admiring the way his muscles shifted and moved. Then I shook my head, bent down to retrieve my dropped staff, and then began looking around to see where I could help.

At the moment, I was covered in mud because of that monster, but I wasn’t hurt. In fact, that monster hadn’t left so much as a bruise on me, in spite of how hard it hit.

As I’d already discovered, my ‘Armor of the Enchantress’ had unlocked a great new feature. It had a force field. It didn’t seem to be especially strong and it could only block a limited amount of damage before it went down and needed to recharge, but it was there, and it was a lot better than just the armor itself.

Ever since I’d unlocked this new feature, I’d been mentally poking and prodding at the armor, trying to figure out how it worked. Between that and a few monster encounters, I now had a pretty good idea.

My armor seemed to work a bit like a staff, storing some of my power and using it to charge this built-in boon. However, unlike the staff, my armor seemed to charge on its own rather than requiring me to intentionally store power. Grayson thought that it was doing this by tapping into my aura, which meant that if I increased my presence, I could probably make this shield stronger too.

“I definitely need to slot more presence to see if that works,” I quietly mused to myself. But after being hit by that monster, I also wanted to add a few points to my agility. Being fast enough to avoid being hit was probably even better than just shrugging off the blow. “Too many things I want to increase, not enough free points.”

I didn’t have time to dwell on my build and future points at the moment. Instead, I needed to focus on the fight.

There were dozens of monsters around us, all of them like that big hairy testicle I’d already had the displeasure of meeting, though they varied in size between softball and beach ball. Seven of them were currently caught in my ‘Cursed Ground’ while the rest were leaping around like coked up frogs.

Stine punched a monster and it splattered on his fist. Frank swung her axe and cleaved another in half. Jag appeared to be in six different places at once while the real illusionist moved around and stabbed at monsters with her knives.

Giles swung his halberd, not even bothering to use any of his abilities. We’d been overrun by the hairy testicles before he could get his shield up, and it was pointless to activate it now that so many would be trapped inside with us.

Lenore had conjured her fancy armor and was just standing there, taking careful aim with her bow and shooting at the monsters. One shot. Then another. She was being careful not to hit any of us, for which I was grateful.

Grayson was moving about the area as gracefully as a dancer trying to perform in a muddy field. He was fast and graceful, but there was only so much he could do on that slippery ground.

“Hairy little meatballs, aren’t they?” Grayson asked as he slammed one of the monsters with his shield, then swung around and sliced through another with his sword.

“I am a bit surprised that their hair isn’t matted through with the mud,” Frank commented in a casual tone.

“They keep leaping between rocks,” Giles pointed out, swinging his halberd and missing. “They’re avoiding the muddy parts as much as possible.”

“And why aren’t we doing that?” Lenore asked.

“Do you have enough agility to do that?” I asked.

Then I fired a ‘Hex’ at one of the monsters that was caught in my ‘Cursed Ground’. Nobody else was bothering with those ones since I’d effectively removed them from the immediate fight, but I liked stacking my enchantments to boost the damage, so this was like shooting fish in a barrel.

“Or shooting testicles in a mud pit,” I muttered.

But in spite of the fact that my ‘Cursed Ground’ made the ‘Hex’ stronger, this didn’t have any effect on the rest of the fight. Those particular monsters were already out of the real fight, so I was wasting my time by picking them off. When ‘Hex’ was ready again, I blasted one of the larger monsters that was trying to charge at Giles. My bane caused it to abruptly go off course and miss the invoker, giving him a chance to finish it off.

Once the rest of the monsters had been dealt with, everyone turned their attention to the ones that were still inside the ‘Cursed Ground’. By this point, my bane was about to wear off, so nobody wasted any time in killing them.

A minute later, I looked around the area, taking note of all the hairy little testicle monsters that we’d left scattered about. This was quite a disgusting mess, and I was thankful that I didn’t have to clean it up. Instead, the Labyrinth would take care of that for us. Soon, the bodies would melt away until there was nothing left.

“This place has some of the weirdest monsters,” I said with a shake of my head.

“No kidding,” Lenore agreed. She spat at one of the bodies. “Fucking disgusting.”

“We’ve seen worse, Miss Donna,” Giles told me with a sigh.

I nodded at that, thinking about all the strange creatures that we’d seen inside the Labyrinth…and all the odd landscapes. There were so many and they were all different.

“You know,” I thought aloud. “I was just thinking about that area that used to be in Canada…”

“We’ll report that as soon as we’re back,” Grayson assured me. “I don’t think we’re too far away from an entrance.”

“We aren’t,” Frank and Giles both answered.

I nodded at that. “And I was thinking of the monsters there. Those giant rabbits.”

“A waste of good fur and meat,” Stine said with a shake of his head.

“Anyway,” I continued. “It makes me think…”

“Does it hurt?” Lenore teased me.

“Looking at your face does enough of that,” I shot back, earning a chuckle. “Anyway, it made me think about all these other places in the Labyrinth. I mean, as weird and fucked up as all these monsters are, I can’t help but wonder if they’re based off real animals…like those rabbits were. You know…like twisted and roided up copies.”

“I doubt it,” Grayson told me, though he had a thoughtful look on his face. “But that area used to be part of the outside world, so maybe these other areas and monsters originally came from somewhere else too.”

“That’s a stupid ass idea,” Jag spat out. “I think we would have heard if there were places with metal trees…” She gestured off to the side where a small cluster of twisted metal trees grew from the ground. “This shit doesn’t exist in the real world.”

“No,” Grayson agreed pleasantly. “Not in OUR world.”

No one really said anything to that. Instead, everyone just turned away from the monsters and began checking their gear, making sure that it was clean of monster blood and still usable.

I looked down at myself, at my armor which was now covered with mud. I gave it a look of disgust, wishing that I could just go and find a hot shower to clean up in. However, that wasn’t meant to be.

“My clothes will be clean soon enough,” I reminded myself. I’d already seen that much on several occasions, and had no doubt that my armor would be able to clean off even this layer of mud. “In an hour or so, it will look brand new.”

Unfortunately, clean clothes would only help so much. And my hair… I had to look like a mess about now. I was suddenly self-conscious about that, though I tried not to show it.

Just then, everyone else started marching down the trail again. I let out a sigh, adjusted my grip on my staff, and began following after. I just hoped that we didn’t run into any more monsters again for awhile, because my armor needed to recharge a bit before it could protect me again.

I was surrounded by monsters. That was nothing new since I’ve been surrounded by monsters ever since I was respawned inside the Labyrinth.

The new monsters were small and looked something like naked mole rats with turtle shells on their backs. There were probably a couple hundred of them scattered about the rocky dessert terrain, but they were slow. In fact, they were so slow that their normal movement was about the same speed as if they’d been trapped inside my ‘Cursed Ground’. The dozen or so monsters who actually were in my ‘Cursed Ground’ might as well have been glued there.

“At least we don’t have to worry about those ones escaping,” I mused as I looked at the patch of ‘Cursed Ground’ and all the monsters that were trapped in it. Normally, monsters could escape my bane, but they moved slowly enough that we could usually kill them before that happened. This time, that wasn’t even a concern.

What I was worried about, was their big brother. While we were in the middle of dealing with this swarm turtle rats, a MUCH larger one had arrived to join the fight. This one was the size of an elephant and looked more like an angry rhino with a turtle shell.

“It seems the alpha has arrived,” Frank commented as she stretched out her shoulders and then raised her axe.

“Damn,” Grayson exclaimed. “I didn’t think we’d see a boss this close to the exit.”

“Unfortunately, Mister Grayson,” Giles said with a grim expression, “the Labyrinth does like its little surprises.”

“Fucking great,” Lenore snarled as she backed up and conjured another arrow, one of her special golden ones that were armor piercing. “And Red has already used her ability.”

I nodded at that, wishing that I’d saved my ‘Cursed Ground’ for big brother here. However, I wasn’t completely out of the game. I hit the big one with a ‘Hex’, then moved back. It snorted and shook it’s head, even staggering slightly, but it was too big to be taken out that easily.

Everyone else used that as the signal to actually attack. Lenore shot her arrow right at the monster’s eye, only to miss and hit it’s shell instead. The arrow went in a couple inches at most and then stuck there.

Stine and Grayson charged forward, almost side by side. They reached the monster at the same time and hit it with their attacks. A sword blade slid off the shell, leaving a deep scratch but little more. However, the brawler’s punch actually caused some spiderweb cracking on the shell.

Giles and Frank held back a little, examining the monster and looking for a better way to take it down. A few seconds later, both of them moved towards it’s head, deciding to target that rather than the heavy shell.

The monster suddenly stomped the ground and everything shook. I was knocked back from the shockwave, landing right in the middle of my own ‘Cursed Ground’ where I was surrounded by the little turtle rats.

“Crap,” I snarled as I got to my feet.

I quickly started to move back, only to realize that I could move quickly. I looked around the area, which was still glowing from my bane.

“It…isn’t working on me,” I said in realization.

I was the one who’d created this enchantment, and I seemed to be immune from it too. Then I looked at the small monsters and grinned, suddenly wishing that I still had that sword. If I could move around freely in there while my opponents couldn’t… Well, this just made my ‘Cursed Ground’ even more useful.

“Hey, Red,” Jag called out, using Lenore’s nickname for me. “Get out of there so I can use it…”

“Use it?” I asked blankly.

Then I saw what Jag had in mind. She’d created an illusion of herself, and it was standing right in front of big brother, trying to get its attention. A few seconds later, it moved forward, looking like it was going to try stomping on her. The illusion stepped back and the monster advanced again.

I quickly scrambled back and out of the ‘Cursed Ground’, leaving it relatively open for Jag to lure the monster into. Everyone else stood back while she worked, letting her do this. Then, as soon as the monster’s foot hit the enchantment, it suddenly slowed down even more.

“NOW!” Frank ordered.

Everyone attacked the large monster at once. I hit it with another ‘Hex’, which stacked with both the previous ‘Hex’ and with ‘Cursed Ground’, amplifying the effects of all three. However, I wasn’t even sure that the monster noticed this since a sword, an axe, and a halberd blade all hit its head just seconds apart.

Big Brother dropped to the ground, though it wasn’t dead yet. It’s head was badly damaged and it tried pulling back into its shell, but that was when Lenore fired another armor piercing arrow, right into it’s eye. This time, she hit.

There was a shriek of pain as the monster successfully managed to retreat into its own shell. This protected the head from any more direct attacks, but it left it unable to actually defend itself. And at this point, it’s increased defense no longer even mattered. My banes were still stacked up and working on it. It died shortly after, still inside its own shell.

“Now for all the little ones,” Grayson announced, turning to look at the relatively harmless monsters that were still scattered everywhere.

Lenore let out a sharp laugh, then fired one of her arrows, one that split into multiple arrows before striking three of the small monsters. “I almost feel bad for this.” She smirked at that and added, “Almost.”

Killing the rest of the monsters was slow but relatively easy work. But as soon as the last of them was dead, another popup appeared in front of me.

YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 10

I was a little startled to have leveled up again so soon, but we had just gone through several large groups of monsters. I just smiled at that and added the free point to presence. Then, there was another popup.

YOU MAY UNLOCK A NEW ABILITY. SELECT ONE OF THE CHOICES BELOW

-DANCER’S GRACE
-CURSED OBJECT
-CONFUSION

I stared at the options in excitement, nearly drooling at the thought of adding another ability. Getting more powerful like this was sort of addictive.

After reading over those three options a couple times, guessing at what they might do, I focused on them one at a time and tried to feel what they actually did. After having done this a couple times already, I was able to get a sense of the abilities a little more quickly.

Dancer’s Grace was the same ability that Grayson had, the boon that gave him a temporary boost to his agility. A smile formed on my lips as I thought of how effortlessly he was able to move around the battlefield and just how useful that could be for me.

“Nice,” I quietly mused to myself.

With that extra agility, I’d be able to run away from threats. I’d be able to dodge monsters and avoid attacks entirely. And when I added in the recent upgrade from my armor, I would have a great defense. This would improve my ability to survive a LOT.

My first impulse was to select ‘Dancer’s Grace’ without even examining the other options. It was that good. But then, I considered the downsides. It was a boon, not a bane, so it wouldn’t get any benefit from my specialization. It would help my defense, but it wouldn’t do anything for either my offense or my debuffing power. And then, there was the fact that it was a temporary boost to agility. I could get the same effect permanently just by assigning a few extra points.

“And free points are easier to earn than new abilities,” I thought aloud.

‘Cursed Object’ was another bane, one that felt very powerful but also extremely limited. I’d be able to cast it on a single inanimate object, and then, the ability would have an even longer recharge time than ‘Cursed Ground’. Those were some pretty big limits.

Then I considered the ablity and how I might be able to use it. If I put a ‘Cursed Object’ onto someone’s armor or weapons, then I could turn their own gear from assets to threats. I liked the idea, until I remembered that most monsters never used any equipment at all. This was an ability that could be devastating against a single player, but which would be useless against most monsters. Another limitation.

“Probably a bit too specialized,” I thought aloud. “How often would I actually be able to use it?”

And then there was ‘Confusion’, the last of the three options. This bane immediately reminded me of ‘Cursed Ground,’ though it wasn’t quite the same. I had the feeling that this one would really fuck with focus and perception, which could be useful. I also sensed that this was an ability that I projected outward in some kind of wave or cone, so I could catch multiple targets at once.

“And I think it recharges faster than Cursed Ground,” I mused.

‘Confusion’ wouldn’t really give me anything new, but it would let me do what I already did a lot better. Instead of just dropping down a ‘Cursed Ground’ in one spot, I could actually mess with several areas at once, and it gave me something I could use while waiting for ‘Cursed Ground’ to recharge. No, this ability wasn’t really new or exciting, but it would be useful.

Then my thoughts shifted to Pham and Grayson, or at least, to several conversations we’d had about ‘build’ and ‘role’. By this point, I was already leaning heavily into a mage type build, and that felt right to me. As for my specific role… Well, I was a black enchantress, which meant that my job was to fuck with my opponents. My job was to make it harder for enemies to hurt me and my friends. It was to weaken enemies so that they were easier to deal with.

“And which ability helps with that the most?” I asked myself.

I could improve my own mobility and survivability, both of which were important to me, and this would keep others from having to risk themselves for me. I thought of Pham and winced at the memory. If I’d been able to react faster…

Then I shook my head and refocused. My other options were just as important. Just as vital.

I could get a powerful new ability, one that would be extremely useful in just the right circumstances. Or, I could double down on my role as a black enchantress by grabbing an ability that could use to fuck with enemies the most often.

“Decisions, decisions,” I mused.

“Hey, Red,” Lenore asked, knocking me out of my thoughts. “What the hell are you doing just standing there? We’re gonna leave you behind.”

I looked around and realized that everyone else was already starting to move back down the trail again. I shook my head at that, annoyed at myself for getting so caught up in my own thoughts that I hadn’t been paying attention to my surroundings. That was a great way to get a shank in the back.

With that, I began following after the others, deciding to give my new ability a little more consideration before choosing. After all, this would be important to my build going forward, and I didn’t want to fuck it up by not thinking things through. I’d already done too much of that during my life, and it was about time I started taking a different approach.

“This is it,” Grayson told me. “The Labyrinth exit.”

I stared at the strange sight, a tear in reality itself. It was like a rip in space that shimmered and gleamed. I’d seen several similar tears nearby, smaller ones that Grayson called ‘echoes’, but this… The real exit was definitely more impressive.

“Is it all you hoped it would be?” Lenore asked me.

“It’s…different,” I answered, not sure what else I could say.

“At least we’re out of here,” Jag said, glancing to her own friends. “Or at least, we will be in a few seconds.”

“Yes,” Frank said, pausing to stare at me for a few seconds. She had a thoughtful look on her face, one that made me just a little nervous. “It will be nice to get back to civilization.”

And with that, Frank turned and stepped through the tear in space, vanishing as she did so. Jag followed right behind her, not even bothering to look at us. Stine, however, looked at us, gave me a faint smile and nod, then went through as well.

“They didn’t even say goodbye,” Grayson said in an annoyed tone.

“They are right on the other side, Mister Grayson,” Giles reminded him. “We’ll see them again as soon as we step through, and we’ll probably all be staying in the same hotel.”

“He’s got a point,” Lenore said.

Giles nodded at that, then stepped through the exit himself. He vanished as soon as he did, just like our traveling companions had. Lenore gave me a gentle push, so I stepped forward and through the gate. It was like stepping through a doorway from one room to the next. One second, I was standing in what looked like a rocky desert, and the next, I was in a small town.

Grayson and Lenore emerged just a couple seconds after I had, then stopped behind me as I looked around. Neither of them said a word, nor did Giles, at least not at first.

“Welcome to Moose Tow Canada, Miss Donna,” Giles told me.

“Moose toe?” I asked blankly. “I didn’t think those things had toes.”

“Tow,” Grayson corrected me. “As in pulling something. I think they named it that because when the entrance first appeared here, some people tried training moose to pull carts through the Labyrinth zone.”

“That sounds fucking stupid,” Lenore said with a snort.

“Yep,” Grayson cheerfully agreed. “It didn’t work, but the name kind of stuck anyway.”

“So, we’re still in Canada,” I said, thinking about that area we’d explored.

“This is the second closest entrance from where we were at,” Giles said. “The only exit that would have gotten us out of the Labyrinth faster, would have led us to Africa.”

“What?” I asked. “That makes no damn sense.”

“Distance doesn’t always work the same way in the Labyrinth,” Grayson pointed out.

“No shit,” Lenore agreed. “I mean, you can spend a couple days walking through that place, then come out in a completely different continent.”

“Miss Donna,” Giles said, turning to look at me. “Now that we’re out of the Labyrinth, you should report to the local Warden office. They can arrange for some basic identification, as well as temporary room and board.”

“Take em up on that,” Grayson told me. “It isn’t much, but it really helps.”

“I need to go there myself,” Giles told me, “so I can lead the way.”

Grayson nodded at that. “Yeah. I guess you’ve got a report to turn in.”

“Yes, Mister Grayson,” Giles responded with a grim expression. “I do. And unfortunately, also need to tell them about Agent Pham.” He paused at that and shook his head sadly. “I dread having to tell his family.”

I winced as I thought about Pham, realizing that I knew absolutely nothing about his family. I’d never even thought about the possibility of him having one.

“I’ll take you up on the escort,” I said, hoping that having Giles along would make things go a little easier for me.

“While you two take care of that,” Lenore announced with a broad grin. “I’m gonna go get myself a room and a shower.”

“Don’t expect too much of the accommodations,” Grayson reminded us. “We’re in a Labyrinth zone, so there’s no power here.”

“No shit,” Lenore responded with a roll of her eyes. “I’d head to the hotel just outside the zone, but I’m too fucking lazy to walk the extra distance right now, and too broke to spend the extra money before we’ve been paid.”

Grayson chuckled at that while Giles merely nodded to them. He adjusted his grip on the halberd, then began walking away. I hesitated for a second, then shrugged and followed after him.

I looked around as we walked, seeing that there were probably only a dozen buildings in Moose Tow. Most of them were one or two stories tall, and more than half of them were log cabins. The one that really caught my attention though was a large cabin in the middle of ‘town’, one that was three times the size of the second largest building, and which looked like some kind of hunting lodge. And that was where Giles led me.

“The local Warden office is in here,” Giles explained as we went into the building. “This also doubles as the local hotel and cafeteria for people who are passing through.”

A minute later, we stepped into an office with wood panel walls. There were two desks, a couple filing cabinets, and not a single computer or electrical device inside. Instead, there were actual typewriters for each of the desks.

One desk was empty at the moment, but the other one had a man in a grey uniform sitting behind it. He was middle-aged, probably in his late forties to early fifties, with dark hair and a beard that were greying. His features and naturally tanned skin tone indicated that he was probably indigenous.

As soon as we stepped into the office, the man behind the desk looked up, his eyes locking on Giles. He glanced briefly at me before turning his attention right back to the invoker.

“I am Agent Dan Giles,” Giles introduced himself. “I just got out of the Labyrinth for a mission, and I need to log my return.”

“David Riel,” the man answered. “Head Warden for the Moose Tow entrance.” He stepped out from the desk and shook Giles’ hand. “I can log your return.” He then gestured to the other desk and added, “And give you a spot to fill out your report.”

“Thank you, Agent Riel,” Giles told him. “I appreciate the offer, but I need to call some people right away.”

“Ah,” Riel said, nodding in understanding. “Then you’ll need to visit our other office in Moose Tow proper, just outside the Labyrinth zone. My trainee is currently working there, so she can help set you up with whatever you need.”

“Good,” Giles told him with a nod of approval. “But before I make that walk…” He paused for a moment then sighed, “I would appreciate it if I could get a shower and a clean uniform. I’ve been in the Labyrinth for too long without a shower, and I’d prefer to be presentable when I head into civilization.”

Riel chuckled at that. “I understand completely.” He went back to the desk, grabbed a key from a drawer and handed it to Giles. “Room two. I’ll bring up a spare uniform from storage.”

“Good,” Giles said again, looking relieved. “And this,” he said, finally gesturing to me, “is Miss Donna. She’s a recent respawn that my team encountered, and she’s been working with us ever since. She’ll need the official introduction and some assistance getting set up.”

“Understood,” Riel told him before turning his attention to me.

The Warden had given me several looks before, and it was obvious that he was trying hard not to look at my chest. This time, he took his time as he looked me over, obviously forcing himself not to stare at my obvious assets.

“First, some paperwork,” Riel told me. “Then I’ll get you get up with a place to stay for a few weeks.” He quicky pointed out. “It’s temporary but should give you time to figure something out.”

“Thank you,” I told him, feeling just a little apprehensive.

“I’ll leave you in Agent Riel’s hands,” Giles told me. “I hope to see you later, Miss Donna.”

Once Giles was gone, Riel went back to his seat behind the desk and gestured for me to take a seat in front of it. He began by giving me the same spiel that Pham and Giles had already given me, the one about my new position as being a legally different person from who I used to be. I just nodded along, having already gotten all that before.

When Riel was finished with the lecture, he opened a thick notebook and then put a sheet of paper into the typewriter. He asked me a few questions and began filling out my paperwork.

“Your chosen name is Donna,” Riel said as he read off the form that he’d just filled out. “You are an enchanter that emerged from the Labyrinth at the Moose Tow entrance, on this date.”

I nodded at that. “Yes.”

Riel set the completed form aside, then typed up something else. It took a few more minutes, then he handed me a card. “This is your temporary ID as a player. You’ll need to go to our main station outside the Labyrinth Zone to get your picture taken and to update to a permanent ID. You should do that within the next week or so.”

“All right,” I said, accepting the ID and being a little surprised that he hadn’t asked a single question about who I’d been in my past life. I was definitely relieved at that, though I’d also been prepared to lie my ass off if he had asked. “Sounds good to me.”

“Now then,” Riel told me. “Here is a key to room four.” He handed over a key that looked identical to the one he’d given Giles. “You will be added to the list for complimentary meals in the cafeteria for the next month. We will also provide some basic clothes and a one-time stipend.”

I just stared at him in disbelief and a bit of suspicion. “That seems…pretty generous.” This sounded too damn good to be true, which made me wonder what the catch was.

“We like to help new players,” Riel told me. “At least, enough to let you get your feet under you. It’s a lot cheaper and easier than having to deal with hungry and desperate players causing trouble.”

I considered that for a few seconds before nodding. “Yeah, I can see that.”

Ten minutes later, I stepped into room four, the one that had been assigned to me. Most people would have said that it was a small room, but it was more than twice the size of my old cell, and from the single bed, it looked like I wouldn’t even have to share the space with anyone else.

There were no light fixtures or power outlets, but the room was relatively light anyway. There were some nice sized windows and even a sunlight above. Several candles were placed around the room, along with a couple lighters.

There was a small bathroom that the room shared with the room beside it, but again, this was way better than what I’d become used to. I quickly looked it over, made sure that there were no surprises in my temporary living space, and then I locked the door.

“Imagine that,” I joked as I set down the clothes that Riel had given me and leaned my staff against the wall. “The lock is on the inside.”

I returned to the bathroom and made sure the door to the other room was locked as well so that nobody accidentally walked in on me. And then, I finally turned my attention to the bathroom mirror.

This was the first time that I’d seen my reflection since I’d looked into the respawning pool right after waking up like this. That meant, this was also only the second time that I’d seen what I looked like.

A beautiful and busty young woman stared back at me from the mirror, though her face and red hair were dirty and matted. That was what happened when you fought a bunch of monsters without being able to take a shower afterwards. This also stood out all the more because my armor was perfectly clean and spotless.

I felt self-conscious about looking so dirty and messy, so quickly turned away from the mirror. It wasn’t until then that I realized, I was a lot more uncomfortable about looking dirty than I was about looking like a woman.

Then I clicked the mental switch on my armor and it suddenly vanished, going back to wherever it was when it wasn’t active. I felt vaguely amused by how easy it was to dress and undress from the armor, as well as how convenient it was to store when I wasn’t using it.

“Lenore’s armor is about the same,” I thought aloud.

Of course, her armor was conjured, just like her arrows, and wasn’t a real artifact the way mine was. When she got rid of her armor, it stopped existing and she had to create it all over again each and every time.

I turned on the shower and stepped inside, pleased to discover that the water was actually hot. I didn’t know how they were warming it up, but I was grateful that they had. This was the first hot shower I’ve had since… Well, since before I got locked up.

When I stepped out of the shower, I felt a lot better. I felt cleaner, and somehow…lighter. It was as though some of my past sins had washed away with the grime. I knew that wasn’t true, but it was nice to feel that way at least for a little while.

I turned back to the mirror, nodding in approval. I definitely looked a lot better. Then I ran my hands through my hair, trying to brush it as well as I could without an actual brush. I needed to get one of those, and maybe even some makeup. After all, I wanted to look my best.

As I stared at the mirror, at the hot chick who stared back, I was struck by the realization of just how strange this really was. What felt strange wasn’t the fact that I was now a woman, but that it felt so…comfortable. So…normal.

“This is who I am now,” I said. And for some reason, that just felt right.

I woke up to the sound of knocking on the door. Not from the main door to my room, but from the door to the bathroom that I shared with my neighbor.

“What the hell?” I grumbled in confusion.

A moment later, I was out of bed and wide awake. This was a bit different from how things used to be, but it seemed that adding a few points into vitality had made me a bit more of a morning person. Or at least, it made it easier to function in the mornings.

“What is it?” I asked, though there was no answer, just more knocking.

I grumbled and activated my armor, mostly because it was a lot quicker and easier than getting dressed in real clothes. Then I went and opened the door.

“About damn time,” Lenore said as she stepped out of my bathroom.

Lenore was dressed in normal clothes, if ‘goth chic’ could be considered normal. Black pants, black shirt, and a pair of black fingerless gloves. She had clearly showered and cleaned up as well, and now wore fresh eye-shadow and black lipstick.

“You’re my neighbor?” I asked in realization.

“Pretty much,” she responded, only to pause and look me over. “What the fuck are you wearing that for?”

I looked down at myself and my ‘Armor of the Enchantress’. “It’s clean. It’s fresh. And I can put it on fast when someone is knocking at my door.”

She smirked at that. “Fair point.” Then she shrugged. “It makes me wish I could just conjure my own clothes whenever I wanted.”

“Is that the kind of ability you could get?” I asked curiously.

Lenore nodded. “Yeah, but my specialization is in arms and armor. I might be able to get something for clothes, but it would probably be kind of a fucking waste when any weapons or armor I conjure would be a lot more powerful…and a hell of a lot more useful in the Labyrinth.”

“What other kinds of things can conjurers make?” I asked curiously. This was the first time she’d really mentioned her specialization.

“It could be just about anything,” Lenore told me. “I mean, I’ve been offered an ability to conjure furniture, and I know another conjurer whose specialization is all about making tools. I mean, things like hammers and fucking screwdrivers.”

“Arms and armor sounds pretty useful in comparison,” I pointed out.

Lenore nodded agreement. “Yeah. But I wish my shit didn’t come out looking so fancy… I mean, between that and the fact that I keep being offered things like swords, shields, and axes for abilities…” She paused at that and shook her head. “It’s almost like my class is trying to turn me into some kind of knight in shining fucking armor or something.”

“I have a hard time seeing that,” I admitted.

“Maybe a stalker,” Lenore mused. “Or a shadowmancer…”

“Good goth appropriate classes,” I observed.

“Exactly,” she responded with a smirk. Then she gestured to my armor and said, “You can get away with wearing that here in the Labyrinth zone, and even nearby, but not so much away from it. People will stare at you and might even freak the fuck out.”

“Good to know,” I said, not sure what else to say. I imagined that people would be more likely to freak out over players carrying weapons around.

“Anyway,” Lenore told me, “Grayson and I were going to head into town…just outside the Labyrinth zone, and we figured you might want to come with. Better food, lodgings, and shopping than what they’ve got here. It’s only a couple miles, so we can get there well before lunch.”

I considered for a few seconds before nodding my agreement. “Riel said that I needed to get my picture taken and get my permanent ID.” Then I let out a sigh and added, “But I don’t think I’ll be doing any shopping. You know, the whole broke thing.”

Lenore hesitated, then said, “You know, Red, Grayson and I were talking last night…” She gave me an amused look. “I was gonna wait to tell you until lunch, but…”

“But?” I asked when she left it hanging.

“We decided to give you a share of our loot from that delve,” she explained with a smirk. “I mean, you did fight monsters and helped us earn it.”

My eyes widened at that. “What?”

“We still have to sell it of course,” Lenore continued. “We planned on doing that while we were over there.”

“But…,” I started, trying to make sense of what she’d just said.

Not that long ago, I’d been thinking about how I could steal the unobtainium that we’d found. But after Pham died, I hadn’t even thought about it again. After that, a shiny rock just didn’t seem all that important anymore.

“Now, lets get going,” Lenore urged me. “And bring your staff. Just in case we run into any loose monsters on the way there.”

----------

I stepped into the restaurant and was immediately aware of multiple pairs of eyes turning to look at me. Some were just curious since I was wearing my ‘Armor of the Enchantress’ and I had my staff with me. None of those looks were of surprise since that kind of thing was apparently common in this area.

However, most of the attention that was directed at me was that of obvious attraction…or simply jealousy because of all the attention I was getting. I bit back a smile, but stood up a little straighter and added just a little more sway into my step as I walked to my table.

Lenore, Grayson, and I had walked a couple miles from the Moose Tow remote post into Moose Tow proper, as they called it. Apparently, the town on the outside of the Labyrinth zone was considered to be the main town, while parts that were inside were treated more like a suburb or something.

The walk had only been a couple miles, which after all the walking I’d done inside the Labyrinth, no longer seemed very far at all. It had been a relatively easy walk, with only a couple monsters showing up. These were some of those turtle rat things that had slipped out of the Labyrinth, but there weren’t many of them and they had been easy to deal with.

Now, we were in Moose Tow proper, taking care of a few errands and getting lunch. I took my seat at the table, then glanced down at the new ID that I’d just been given in the Warden’s office. This one, unlike the one that Riel had given me yesterday, had a plastic coating and my picture on it.

“I guess this makes it official,” I said, my eyes going to the name ‘Donna’ which were printed out at the top. There was no last name.

“A new life,” Grayson told me. “And a new identity.”

“It can be tough to adjust,” Lenore told me. “For some people more than others.”

“True,” Grayson agreed. “But as players, we have a lot of power and opportunity that we never would have had in our old lives.”

Lenore nodded at that. “Yeah, some things are way better off…” She hesitated for a couple seconds, then spat out, “Fuck cancer.”

From the vehemence in her voice, it was obvious that this was very personal to her. From the context, I assumed that this was how she’d died.

“Fuck cancer,” Grayson agreed, though his tone lacked the venom of Lenore’s. His voice lowered and he admitted, “I don’t even know how I went. I went to bed, just like normal, and then woke up in a respawn pool. Could have been a heart attack. Could have been murdered in my sleep.” He shrugged. “No idea.”

I nodded at that, a little surprised that they were both opening up a little about their past lives. Then again, we were out of the Labyrinth and in a good place to relax. If there was any place to let your guard down, it was a nice little diner like this one.

“I trusted someone I shouldn’t have,” I admitted, a little surprised at myself for saying as much. “He stabbed me in the back. Literally.”

“Ouch,” Lenore said with a since. “That fucking sucks.”

“Not as bad as cancer,” I responded with a shrug. “At least mine was over fast.”

“Giles,” Grayson said carefully. “He’s a good guy, but he doesn’t understand. He never died and then had to start over as someone else.”

“Maybe Pham will come back,” I offered, though I didn’t have much hope of it.

“I’ve never heard of any player coming back a second time,” Grayson told me. “Not even the ones who didn’t have to respawn to become players.” There was a sad note in his voice, one that matched my own.

“There’s always hope,” Lenore said, which sounded a bit odd when coming from a goth.

I looked over at the wall beside our table and chuckled. There were several art pieces depicting a cart being pulled by a moose or two. In fact, there was even a photograph of the same thing.

“I heard last night that some player actually did tame the moose,” Grayson told me. “At least until he left, but I don’t know if he used some ability or just had high presence.”

The mention of ‘presence’ made me think of the way that everyone kept staring at me, especially since I came into Moose Tow proper. Apparently, my high presence made me into a natural attention magnet, drawing people’s attention whether I wanted to or not. But since I kind of liked the attention, I didn’t really see that as a problem.

“Is moose tamer a class?” I asked curiously.

“Tamer is,” Lenore told me. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some kind of specialization for moose.” Then she snorted. “But I imagine that would be pretty fucking limiting.”

We chuckled at that as we all began looking over the menus. It was the typical diner food that I’d been expecting, a lot of breakfast items that leaned heavily into eggs, hash, and pancakes. After having spent so much time eating prison food or the stuff I’d foraged from Labyrinth safe zones, all of this looked absolutely delicious.

“Real food,” I quietly moaned. It had been so long.

Lenore laughed at that. “Yeah, I always enjoy the first meal after getting out of the Labyrinth.”

“So, do we have anywhere else we need to go when we’re done with lunch?” Grayson asked.

I hesitated a moment before admitting, “Yeah. I need to pick up some stuff.”

I blushed a little as I thought about the fact that I really wanted to get a brush and maybe some makeup. And since I was a chick now, that meant I’d probably need that other chick stuff…the stuff for that time of the month. I shuddered at the thought. I’d never gone through that, but I was already dreading it.

“At least you don’t have to buy armor,” Grayson offered. “Buying gear is usually one of our biggest expenses.”

“You could probably use a side weapon though,” Lenore offered. “Maybe a short sword or scepter.”

“The last sword was a bit much for me,” I admitted.

If I wanted to use a weapon like that, I’d need to slot more points into strength and dexterity. Probably agility too. And while those points would be useful, they wouldn’t help much with the mage build I was already working on.

Just then, I noticed someone else stepping into the restaurant. It was Stine, wearing a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt. He looked casual, and was dressed like a number of other people that I’d seen since arriving in Moose Tow. If I didn’t know better, I never would have guessed that he was a player.

My eyes locked on Stine as he strolled in, though I was sure it wasn’t because of high presence. In fact, I would have been surprised if he’d slotted even a single point into presence. No, I was watching him because of his chorded muscles and the confident way that he strolled through the room. There was a grace to his movements, one that reminded me of a cat that was about to strike.

“Nice on the eyes,” Lenore told me with a smirk. “Are you thinking of fucking him?”

I nearly choked at that, especially because I actually had been, at least a little bit. I turned bright red, wanting to deny it but knowing that this would only encourage Lenore to tease me more.

“Red is really living up to her nickname,” Lenore told Grayson with a chuckle.

I glared at her but didn’t say a thing. This whole situation was more than a little awkward. Ever since I’d been respawned as a chick, I’ve noticed that my perspective has been changing. I now enjoyed attention and wanted to look good. And of course, I was now attracted to men while women seemed to do absolutely nothing for me anymore. I’d been trying hard not to think about this, and to embrace denial for as long as I could, but Lenore had just thrown it in my face and made it impossible to ignore.

“Hey, Stine,” Lenore called out, waving to him. “Come on over and join us.”

Stine nodded, then started heading straight towards us. I leaned over and whispered to Lenore, “I’m gonna kill you.”

She just smirked. “Not if you die of embarrassment first.”

Interlude:

Frank stood at the counter of her hotel room in Moose Tow proper, pouring herself a stiff drink. At the moment, she was dressed in a nice suit, one that didn’t quite fit her as well as her own custom-made suits did, but it would have to do for now. She always preferred wearing nice suits when possible as they always helped her feel more focused and professional.

Many Labyrinth zone towns had shops to buy, sell, or trade clothing and similar items for players who travelled between entrances, and Moose Tow was no different. The local shop had a much better clothing collection than she’d expected.

A minute later, Frank sat down and took sip of her whiskey before she began preparing one of the cigars she’d bought. She’d always been an aficionado in her old life, but these days, she rarely had time to savor a fine cigar.

Once her cigar was lit and going, Frank leaned back and closed her eyes. At that moment, she almost felt like her old self. Almost. Her current career was a lot more violent, at least physically, but there was also a certain satisfaction that came with getting so hands-on.

“From raiding corporations to raiding the Labyrinth,” Frank chuckled to herself. “Quite a change indeed.”

Her new life had quite a few differences from her old one, her new body and the power that came with it being the most notable. In spite of what some people might assume, she considered her new appearance to be an asset rather than a liability. In fact, that body came with quite a few unexpected benefits, ones that she was quite happy to take advantage of.

Of course, her current situation also came with a number of complications, legal and financial ones that she found quite intolerable. That was why she was working with her current business partners. Together, they would rectify those complications, one way or another. Their growth was slow, but once they had enough resources and manpower, then they could begin making larger moves.

Just then, the hotel room door opened up and Jag stormed in, loudly complaining, “Fucking NPCs…”

“Oh?” Frank asked.

“Some fucking idiots on the street gawking at me,” Jag explained with a deep scowl. “They don’t even have the balls to go inside the zone, much less the Labyrinth, but for some damn reason, they think they can get away with staring at me.”

Frank chuckled at that, then took a sip of her drink. “I suspect that will change once we’re ready to begin…lobbying.”

“Lobbying?” Jag asked with a chuckle. “Is that what you call it?”

Frank just took a puff from her cigar. “What else?”

Jag held up her hand and began counting off on her fingers. “Bribery. Assault. Extortion. Racketeering.”

“Be careful about mentioning those words around Stine,” Frank reminded her. “He won’t admit it, but you know how touchy he is about that kind of thing.”

“Of course,” Jag responded dismissively. “For such a badass, he can be a bit of a pussy at times.”

“Remnants of his past life, I’m sure,” Frank agreed pleasantly.

She was about to say something else when the phone began to ring. She’d been waiting for this call back so immediately answered it.

“Hello, Maestro,” Frank said. “I hope your meeting went well.”

“As well as could be expected,” Maestro’s voice came from the other end. “I think that I was able to sway them to our way of thinking.”

“That’s good,” Frank responded, nodding along even though Maestro couldn’t see it. “And if we need to reinforce that, we can always exert more pressure later.”

“Precisely,” Maestro replied. “Now then, how was your delve?”

“It was a fucking disaster,” Jag answered, loud enough for Maestro to hear.

“A disaster?” Maestro asked.

“The original objectives were nearly a complete failure,” Frank admitted. “One of our clients was removed before we went into the Labyrinth, then we lost the remaining two to an unexpected monster.”

“It’s too bad,” Jag grumbled from beside Frank. “Antony was just starting to get interesting, too.”

“I had hoped that we might be able to get at least one recruit from this batch,” Frank explained. “We didn’t really lose any assets though, which is fortunate. The problem is that the threat forced us to end the delve early, before we were able to gather as many resources as we’d hoped.”

Maestro responded from the other end of the phone. “That is unfortunate but understandable. As you say, not every investment pays off.”

Frank chuckled faintly at that, then took a sip of her drink. “We may not have gathered the expected resources, but this investment may have paid off in other ways. It seems that we were able to gather some information instead.”

With that, Frank began to explain what they’d found at what should have been the Northern Territories exit, and what Giles had told him about the other entrances. Maestro listened intently, though he had some extra questions about the information they’d gotten from the Warden.

“Very interesting,” Maestro mused once Frank was finished. “Very interesting indeed.”

“Yes,” Frank agreed. “But there is one more thing.”

“Oh?” Maestro responded, sounding curious.

Frank asked, “You know how our supplier keeps asking to examine my axe?”

“Michaelangelo is annoyingly persistent,” Maestro responded, sounding a little tired. “But he does have a point. If he is able to learn how to make soulbound items the way he can make those scepters…”

“Well, I found someone else with a soulbound item,” Frank explained with an almost predatory smile. “A rookie player who should be easy to…coax into helping.”

There were several seconds of silence before Maestro responded. “Very good. Michaelangelo will be happy, and this will likely benefit the rest of us in the future.”

“That was my thinking as well,” Frank said.

They talked for another couple minutes before ending the call. By then, they had a plan for how to move forward.

Jag gave an evil chuckle. “I can’t wait to see the look on Mike’s face when he actually gets his hands on a soulbound artifact. That mad bastard will be over the fucking moon.”

----------

The figure in a tattered cloak stepped into a new area of the dungeon and cautiously looked around. When he didn’t see anything, he sniffed the air and then strained the rest of his senses as well. It didn’t take long for him to get a mental image of the area.

His target, Big Bad, had come through here recently. There had been a brief battle between Big Bad and some other primal, but the other primal had escaped. It was still alive and not far from there.

For a moment, the figure thought of tracking down the other primal, but to his surprise and delight, it had come to him. He could see it in the distance, a natural that looked like a hummingbird. Undoubtedly, it would be able to grant flight or short bursts of speed to any who managed to make a deal with it. Those would be an ideal abilities for him to possess.

“But what would it want?” the figure mused. Of course, it was a natural type primal, which meant that it would probably be interested in food. Maybe flowers and nectar.

A second later, the hummingbird primal sensed the figure. It flashed in terror and then flew off at a blinding speed that was too fast for the figure to follow. He stared after the primal, growling in annoyance and frustration.

“Lost another one,” he growled to himself.

Lately, every single primal he got near would either run in terror or attack him on sight. And then there was Big Bad, who kept alternating between the two, depending on whether it thought it had the advantage or not.

With the hummingbird gone, the figure turned his attention back to the trail that Big Bad had left behind. It had passed through recently and it appeared to still be tracking the same invoker that it had been, though it also seemed to be taking its time.

“It has a scent,” the figure mused aloud. “It’s tracking its prey at its own leisure.”

From the direction that Big Bad was moving, it was heading straight for one of the Labyrinth exits. It was taking its time about it, but it wouldn’t be long before it arrived.

The figure scratched at his scaled chin, trying to remember if he’d ever heard any stories about primals actually leaving the Labyrinth. He had never heard of that happening before, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t.

“If that thing gets out into the real world,” the figure muttered, shuddering at the thought of what Big Bad could do to normal people.

With that, the figure picked up his pace and began moving faster, determining to stop Big Bad before it could cross over onto Earth. Even as he did this, he was fully aware of the irony of being in a life or death struggle against a giant wolf primal. Of course, that was probably the entire point of this, even if it had been over a year since the last time anyone had called him Wolf.

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.

I stood in front of the small shop, reading the sign above the door which just said ‘MAK GUFFIN’S PLACE’. And to the side, there was a much smaller sign that said ‘ARTIFICER SHOP. ARTIFACTS BOUGHT, SOLD, AND IDENTIFIED’.

I was currently in Moose Tow proper, doing something that I’ve wanted to do since I arrived a couple days ago. Since I’d just been given my share from what we’d found in the Labyrinth, I could finally afford to do it.

When I stepped inside, I saw that the shop was even smaller than I expected. There were a tables and shelves with artifacts on them, but there couldn’t have been more than a couple dozen at most. The selection was obviously pretty limited, which I supposed was to be expected since supply from the Labyrinth was also limited.

Most of the artifacts present had paper tags tied to them with a piece of string. These were price tags of course, but to my surprise, there was more information on the tag than just how much was being asked. I looked at that tag that was tied to a small dagger and looked it over.

EVASIVE DAGGER:
-GIVES +1 TO AGILITY WHILE BEING USED

“Interesting,” I mused.

My attention then went to the staffs. There were three of them leaned up against the wall, each with one of these descriptive tags.

CREATION STAFF:
-INCREASES DURABILITY OF CONSTRUCTS AND SUMMONS BY 25%
-CAN ONLY BE USED WITH CREATION MAGIC

“Interesting,” I said again, wondering what Lenore could do with this. Of course, she preferred to focus on her archery and personal fighting than on increasing her abilities, so she wouldn’t bother using a staff in the first place.

The second staff didn’t seem to have any of the same limitations.

MAGE STAFF
-INCREASE DISTANCE OF RANGED ABILITIES BY 30%

And then there was the third staff.

LIFE STAFF
-INCREASE POTENCY AND RECHARGE OF LIFE MAGIC ABILITIES BY 20%
-CAN ONLY BE USED WITH LIFE MAGIC

Then I noticed a bracelet that looked exactly like the one that we’d found in the Labyrinth. In fact, it probably was the same bracelet. This was where Grayson must have sold it. Out of curiosity, I looked at the tag.

BRACELET OF LIGHTNING PROTECTION:
-REDUCES DAMAGE FROM ELECTRIC AND LIGHTNING TYPE ABILITIES BY 30%

I nodded at that, relieved that we hadn’t sold something that would have been more useful. If it had been a bracelet of monster protection, I would have been annoyed.

Then I turned my attention to the counter where a woman sat, quietly watching me. She was petite, with lightly-tanned skin and long blonde hair that was tied up in braids. She also looked to be in her late twenties, but with players, looks could be deceptive.

“Are you Mak?” I asked politely.

“Makenzie,” she answered with a faint smirk. She had the look of someone who was enjoying a joke that I was somehow missing. “Mak for short.”

“I have a couple artifacts that I’d like identified,” I told her, holding up my own staff.

Mak gestured to a sign on her wall which stated the fee for identifying artifacts. The price was a little higher than I would have expected since all she had to do was look at the artifacts. However, if she was the only artificer in the area, then she didn’t have any competition and could charge whatever she wanted.

I let out a sigh and then nodded. “Okay,” I said, holding out my staff so that she could get a better look.

Mak made a show of examining my staff, then she pulled out a tag just like the ones tied to all the other artifacts, and she began writing. However, she didn’t give me the tag right away. Instead, she just held onto it, waiting expectntly. Once I paid the fee, she handed it over.

MAGE STAFF
-INCREASES POWER BY 25%
-REDUCES RECHARGE BY 25%
-CAN ONLY BE USED WITH ARCANE, SHAPER, ENCHANTMENT, AND ANIMATION MAGICS

I stared at the tag for several seconds, making sure that I wasn’t missing any details. This was about what I’d expected. Powering my abilities from the staff rather than directly, put a lot less stress on my body, which allowed my abilities to recharge faster than normal. However, it seemed that the staff added an additional recharge bonus on top of that. And that wasn’t even counting the boost in power.

“Useful,” I mused aloud. This also explained why Pham had been able to use ‘Wind Blade’ so often. Then I looked at Mak and added, “I have one more artifact I need identified.” I patted the side of my armor as I handed over more cash.

Mak examined my armor, then suddenly became a lot more interested. “I don’t see many soulbound items,” she said, almost looking excited. “Too bad it’s already bound or I’d offer to buy it.”

“I doubt I’d sell it anyway,” I told her.

The artificer shrugged, looking a little disappointed as she handed me the tag. “Honestly, I couldn’t afford to pay what its really worth.”

I looked over the tag, my eyes widening a little as I did so.

ARMOR OF THE ENCHANTRESS
-RESTORAL-UNLOCKED
-PROTECTIVE SHIELD-UNLOCKED
-UNKNOWN-LOCKED
-CAN ONLY BE USED BY ENCHANTERS
-CRAFTED BY MAXIM THE MAKER
-SOULBOUND TO VERATTA BANE

I read over the tag several more times, noting that it had more information than the other artifacts, but at the same time, it also had less detail. In some ways, this was like looking at my status page which showed ability names but no descriptions of what they did.

Restoral. I assumed that this meant self-repair and cleaning features of the armor. It said that it was unlocked, which reinforced the idea. The protective shield was obviously referring to what I thought it was. However, there was another feature beneath that which just said ‘unknown’ and ‘locked’.

“Can you see any more details?” I asked Mak, wanting to know what this unknown feature was and what the prerequisites were to unlock it.

“I’m afraid not,” Mak told me with a shrug. “I mean, there are some artificers who could get more, but there aren’t many, and certainly not around here.”

I blinked at that. “How does that work?”

Mak considered for a moment before answering. “All artificers can read artifacts. We get popups that tell us about them. And this isn’t even an ability, just something that every artificer can do.”

I nodded at that since I’d been told that most classes have things like this, things that they can do as part of the class which don’t even show up on status screens as abilities. According to Grayson, enchanters can see enchantments that would normally be invisible and even tell what they do.

“The more we slot perception,” Mak continued, “the more information we get. However…” She paused, putting extra emphasis on the ‘however’. “Most artificers avoid going back into the Labyrinth like the plague…” Then she shrugged again. “Which means, no leveling and no extra points for slotting.”

“Got it,” I said in understanding.

Grayson told me that slotting points in perception would increase how much information we could sense from other people’s enchantments, so this was just the same thing. Of course, Grayson was the only other enchanter I knew, and I hadn’t slotted a single point into perception since then. That meant, I had to take his word for that since I hadn’t been able to test it myself.

“It says that it’s soulbound to someone named Veratta Bane?” I asked, feeling confused. “Who the hell is that?”

I was pretty sure that I’d never heard that name before, but it still sounded familiar. It sounded like a name that I SHOULD know.

“Soulbound items always name who they’re bound to,” the artificer explained, “but players who respawn with them always have other people’s names on them already.” She shrugged again.

I just stared at that paper, at that name. Veratta Bane. Then I remembered what Giles had told us the other day about respawned players having been reincarnated. Now, that name suddenly made sense. Back in some previous life that I no longer remembered, that had been MY name.

“Thank you,” I told Mak.

I was about to turn and leave the shop, but paused to look around once more. There were some interesting artifacts there, but nothing that would really help me. And even more importantly, I wouldn’t be able to afford any of them even if they did.

For a brief moment, my eyes darted to the windows and then to the corners which had cameras installed. Old habits bubbled up and I found myself considering how I could break in and simply take what I wanted. But then, I shook my head, reminding myself that I had a new life. There was no reason to repeat all the mistakes of my old one.

“No reason,” I muttered. “I’ll be better off making all new mistakes.”

With that decided, I pushed the old temptation aside, took a deep breath, and then stepped out of the shop. As I did so, it almost felt as though a tiny bit of weight had just slipped off my shoulders. It was with a lighter step that I continued on my way.

----------

I was eating my lunch at a table in a small restaurant, still in a good mood from earlier. Having a little money in my pocket and a few answers about my equipment definitely helped to elevate the mood. And of course, the company didn’t hurt either.

Stine sat across from me, eating his own lunch. He was dressed the same way that he’d been since we’d arrived in Moose Tow, with jeans and a flannel shirt. That made me a little self-conscious about the fact that I was still wearing my armor around town.

The two of us had run into each other while looking for a place to eat, and he’d offered to treat me to lunch. Of course, I’d immediately agreed. I wasn’t about to turn down free food, especially not when it came with such appealing company. With his rugged good looks and those firm muscles… Well, Stine did things to parts of me that I was still getting used to having.

I was pretty sure that Stine wanted to get into my pants, and I was becoming increasingly tempted to let him. The attraction was definitely mutual, though I still wasn’t sure how close I really wanted to get. I wanted to see what sex was like as a chick, but the idea of getting that intimate with anyone… The idea was exciting yet terrifying at the same time.

“Do you have any other clothes?” Stine asked me, giving me an amused look.

I looked down at my armor and shrugged. “It’s very comfortable, it looks good, and it’s always clean.”

Stine chuckled at that. “Most women seem to prefer changing outfits several times a day.”

“Well, most women don’t have magic clothes,” I pointed out. “

“That is true,” Stine agreed.

“I wouldn’t mind a little variety,” I admitted, feeling a little self-conscious as I did so, “but I haven’t found anything as nice as this yet.”

Stine nodded at that, looking thoughtful as he did so. “Keep an eye on stores around the Labyrinth, and I’m sure something will turn up.”

“IF I can afford it,” I muttered, thinking about the prices I’d seen on those artifacts earlier.

“I know what you mean,” he responded with a grimace. “As a respawn, you’re forced to start over. Everything you previously earned and saved… Gone.” He spat out that last word. There was clearly a story there.

“I take it that you’re not a fan of that law,” I said.

“Screw that law,” Stine said, his expression hardening. “Screw all the laws.”

I blinked at that. Back in prison…and well before, I’d known a lot of people with similar perspectives. Most of them ended up in prison, sooner or later.

“Not a big fan of laws?” I asked.

Stine hesitated for a moment, then said, “You know, I used to believe in the law. In fact, I spent a few decades enforcing it.”

“Enforcing?” I asked, my eyes narrowing as I realized what he had to mean.

“Protect and serve,” Stine said. “I honestly believed it too. I did my best to be a good cop, to follow the rules and do things the right way. I saw a few cops who took money to look the other way, and they always seemed to get nice cars and nice houses. I refused to do that. I saw people twist the hell out of the law to do more damage than any criminal and still walk away nice and clean.” He shook his head. “I spent a whole lifetime walking the straight and narrow…and it was damn waste.”

I just stared at Stine, interested in his story while also being surprised that he’d tell me this. This didn’t seem to be because he wanted to get into my pants, but because he simply wanted to vent to someone. Of course, my relatively high presence might have encouraged him to open up to me too. I’d been told that high presence could do that kind of thing.

“There I was, having worked a ton of overtime,” Stine continued. “I’d saved for decades to buy a nice retirement cottage on a lake and a small fishing boat so I could enjoy it. Then, six months before I retired, I had a heart attack. Boom. Gone. Everything I’d worked and saved for was gone. The government took it all, saying that I wasn’t legally myself anymore, so they were completely justified in taking everything.”

“That…sucks,” I said, a little surprised at myself for feeing sympathetic to a cop, or even a former cop.

“It is what it is,” Stine said, taking a deep breath and composing himself again. “But needless to say, I don’t have a lot of respect for the law anymore.”

“I wouldn’t either,” I assured him. Of course, I never had.

At this point, the good mood had been ruined by Stine’s rant. He quickly excused himself and left. I just let out a sigh, wishing that I’d never brought up the subject of laws. That had been interesting, but a complete waste of a nice afternoon.

A short time later, I finished my lunch and left the restaurant. I barely stepped out the door when I saw Lenore standing across the street, dressed in her black leather armor from the Labyrinth.

“What’s going on?” I called out, a little worried after seeing her dressed for a fight. However, she didn’t have her bow on her, which only made me more wary. Why would she take the time to get dressed in her armor but then leave her bow behind?

Lenore didn’t answer me, at least not verbally. Instead, she simply gestured for me to go over and join her. I scowled, sure that something was wrong, but I wasn’t sure what. Still, clenched my staff tighter for reassurance, then made my way across the street to join Lenore.

Once I was beside Lenore, I repeated, “What’s going on?”

Just then, I saw movement from the corner of my eye and snapped around. Three figures emerged from the nearby alley, and they were obviously not human.

“What the fuck?” I blurted out.

The three figures were all the same general size and shape as people, but they were made entirely of wood. In fact, they appeared to be wooden puppets or mannequins of some sort.

I immediately dropped a ‘Cursed Ground’ beneath the approaching figures, which caused them all to immediately slow down. I followed that up by firing a ‘Hex’ at another one, but my enchantment didn’t stick to it. Instead, it seemed to hit the mannequin and them vanish.

At that moment, I suddenly remembered Dave from back in the prison and just how big of a mistake it had been to turn my back on him. Lenore was now at my back and… I snapped around, but Lenore was no longer there. Instead, Jag stood there with both of her knives in hand. I was barely able to register this before she moved and I found one of those knives held to my throat.

“There’s someone who wants to talk to you,” Jag said with a sneer, using her second knife to poke me in the side, just to emphasize her words. “You’re coming with us.”

The chair was hard and uncomfortable. It was one of those chairs from a dining room table set, with a metal frame and some wooden pieces that were bolted to it. Why couldn’t I have been tied up to a nice recliner instead?

I was tied to the chair with my hands actually cuffed to the chair behind me. If this had been some action movie I would have been strong enough to break free of the chair and cuffs, but that wasn’t going to happen. Not unless I could somehow get some extra points to slot into strength.

At the moment, I was in a small hotel room, one with surprisingly thick walls between the rooms. I would have tried screaming for help anyway, but the gag in my mouth made that a little difficult.

There were three people in the room with me, and three…not people. The only person I recognized was Frank, who was currently dressed in a professional looking suit. However, the large axe that she casually held in one hand suggested that she was currently interested in a more violent kind of business.

A stocky man with dark hair and a short beard stood nearby, staring at me with an almost hungry expression that made me shudder. However, he didn’t actually seem interested in me, but in my armor.

And then there was the last person in the room, a man in a suit similar to what Frank wore, but instead of holding an axe, he had a staff. He was black man with a bald head and a nicely trimmed white beard. That gave the impression of him being old, but his muscular build and the lack of wrinkles or lines on his face indicated otherwise. From that, I guessed that he was probably in his mid-thirties at most. At least, that was what he looked like since real age could be hard to tell with respawned players.

Behind the man with the staff, stood the three wooden mannequins. Now that I had a chance to look at them, I thought that they looked a bit more like giant featureless puppets without any strings. However, each of them also had an aura around them, one that was very similar to an enchantment. This was very close to being enchantment magic, but not quite.

When I looked around the room, I didn’t see any signs of Jag. After they’d ambushed me and brought me here, she’d taken off. Or at least, she seemed to have taken off. For all I knew, she was still there, hiding behind one of her illusions.

“I appologize for this,” Frank told me. “But my associate, Michaelangelo…” She gestured to the stocky man, “has a deep interest in soulbound artifacts, and I would much rather him study yours than mine.” Her eyes went down to her axe.

I stared at her axe. I hadn’t known that it was soulbound until that moment. If I had, I probably would have asked her a few questions about soulbound artifacts in general.

“It pays to keep your allies happy,” Frank continued. “Especially when Iexpect to benefit from her research. This isn’t anything personal. You’re just…an investment opportunity.”

With that, Frank turned and stepped out the door. Her axe vanished as she did so, perhaps going to the same place that my armor did when it wasn’t activated.

“Interesting artifact,” the stocky man…Michaelangelo mused, still not taking his eyes off me.

“Will this suit your purposes?” the man with the staff asked.

“Definitely,” Michaelangelo responded with a satisfied chuckle. “Of course, I would have preferred an unbound one to study, but I can make this work. In fact, this might give me an opportunity to study HOW the whole souldbound thing works.”

“The downside,” the man with the staff mused, “is that we can’t have the artifact with the souldbound player attached.”

“True, Maestro,” Michaelangelo agreed. He looked up into my face, right into my eyes which were glaring right at him, and he chuckled. “Keeping her around will be inconvenient.”

For a moment, I was tempted to deactivate my armor, just to spite them. Let them see how well they could study my armor when it was gone. However, I wasn’t about to make myself butt-ass naked in front of two strange men.

My eyes darted to the corner of the room where my staff was leaning up against the wall. My kidnappers had taken it with when they’d captured me, probably because they hadn’t wanted to leave such obvious evidence behind. Too bad it was well out of my reach.

I strained against the handcuffs that held me, trying to keep my expression neutral so that they didn’t realize what I was up to. Damn, I really wished I could ‘Hex’ them both. Unfortunately, I needed to gesture at my target before I could hit them with an enchantment. That was probably the main reason that they’d tied my hands up behind me.

Michaelangelo came closer and removed my gag, giving me a curious look. “I have questions for you,” the man told me. “Questions about your armor. If you cooperate, this will go much easier for both of us.”

“Bite me,” I responded immediately. Then I looked to the other man, the one who Michaelangelo had called Maestro. “You’re an animator.”

Grayson had told me about animators, and about how they were very similar to enchanters. According to him, animators could place auras on inanimate objects in order to move them around and control them. He even thought that animators and enchanters might just be two variations on the same type of magic, and that the two classes might even share some kind of class ancestor.

“I am,” Maestro responded evenly.

I continued straining against my cuffs, thinking about a conversation that I’d once had with a few other guys in similar lines of work. We’d been talking about how we could get out of handcuffs in order to escape if the cops had ever caught us. Everyone had different ideas, and most of them were pretty stupid. Learn to pick the cuffs. Keep a spare key on you at all times. Dislocate your thumb so you could squeeze your hand out. And my favorite, the one that I was currently working with, was tense your wrists up as much as you could when they put on the cuffs, so that when you relaxed, the cuffs would be a little looser than could have been.

I was desperately trying to pull my hand out of the cuff, but it was too tight. Even with that tiny bit of extra space I might have gained, my hand was still too big. Still, I worked on pulling my hand through, no matter how badly it scraped the skin.

“So,” I asked the animator. “Do you have a Pinocchio fetish or something?”

“What?” he blurted out in surprise and disbelief.

“I mean, are you a puppet fucker?” I asked with a smirk. “Do you sit on their faces and say ‘lie to me puppet boy’?”

Maestro glared at me, clearly not amused. Michaelangelo snorted and had the faintest hint of a smile, though his expression remained otherwise blank.

“Put the gag back on,” Maestro ordered.

I grimaced, silently cursing the fact that my hand still wasn’t free. I couldn’t just blast them with a ‘Hex’. However, I did have other options. I blasted a ‘Cursed Ground’ directly beneath me.

Michaelangelo was suddenly moving slowly, but in spite of that, he still tripped and barely caught himself before he landed flat on his face. He immediately grabbed one of the four scepters that hung from his belt, but he fumbled with it and it slipped out of his hand and fell to the ground.

“What the hell is this?” Michaelangelo demanded.

“Frank warned me about this ability,” Maestro responded. He was right at the edge of my ‘Cursed Ground,’ but still caught in the effect. “It interferes with our movement but is otherwise harmless. It should wear off in several minutes.”

Michelangelo snarled as he reached for another of the scepters on his belt, this time being slow and methodical so as not to lose his grip on the weapon. This added to the existing slowing debuff and made it almost look like he was moving in slow motion. Then, once he had the other scepter in hand, he moved towards me again, still going in slow motion.

“Fuck,” I muttered, wishing that I could just blast him already, but that wasn’t an option yet.

Since I couldn’t unleash a ‘Hex’ on either of my kidnappers, I had to use the one option that I did have available. My latest ability, the one that I hadn’t been able to really test out just yet. And with that, I touched my own sleeve and activated ‘Cursed Object’. A moment later, my armor was covered with a faint black and purple glow. I would have preferred to hit Michelangelo’s scepter or Maestro’s staff, but this was about the only target I could hit.

Michaelangelo grabbed my shoulder, then froze for a moment. The black and purple aura that covered my armor spread out and covered him as well. He let out a gasp and slowly pulled away. The bane on my armor was still present, just weaker than before, but a part of it had been left on the kidnapper.

“I feel…dizzy,” Michaelangelo gasped, right before he stepped onto the scepter that he’d previously dropped. His foot came out from beneath him and he dropped to the floor with a thud.

The contagious bane now covered Michaelangelo and was stacking with the effects of my ‘Cursed Ground’. Then, the purple aura seemed to copy itself so that the kidnapper now had two stacks of that on him, in addition to the effect of ‘Cursed Ground’. He struggled to get back up but could barely seem to even move.

I just stared at Michaelangelo for several long seconds, trying to understand exactly what was happening. This was the first time that I’d used ‘Cursed Object’, and though I had an instinctive understanding of what it did, I still had to wrap my head around it.

‘Cursed Object’ could only be cast on an object, but it didn’t actually do anything to that object. Instead, the cursed object just acted as a carrier which could spread the bane on contact. That was what had happened to Michaelangelo. By touching my armor, the bane had spread to him. But ‘Cursed Object’ did more than just spread. Whenever it infected a new target, it took the form of a random bane, and if there was already a bane present, it spawned another copy of an existing bane.

“Holy shit,” I whispered.

One of the reasons that I’d chosen this ability over the other two that I’d been offered, was that I simply had a good feeling about it. There had been a strange certainty that it was a powerful ability, and one that I’d want to have. Now I understood why.

“It’s almost like I had it in a past life,” I mused wryly.

At this point, I was finally able to pull my hand free of the cuffs. It was scraped and sore, but that was a small price to pay for my freedom. As soon as my hands were free, I fired a ‘Hex’ at Maestro. Michaelangelo wasn’t currently a threat while the animator was already sending his three puppets towards me.

Maestro gasped in pain and then staggered where he stood. Since he was already caught in my ‘Cursed Ground’, the effects stacked and hit him harder than they would alone.

I quickly scrambled to free myself the rest of the way from the chair, being thankful as I did so that I was immune from my own enchantments. That meant, I could wear cursed armor without any problems while also moving around my ‘Cursed Ground’.

“Thank you for your invitation,” I told Michaelangelo as I stepped over him, “but I am going to have to politely decline.”

“Bitch,” he spat out, trying to raise his arm and one of his scepters towards me.

I kicked Michaelangelo’s hand, knocking the scepter out of it. At the same time, another dose of my ‘Cursed Object’ was transferred to him, adding yet another stack of bane to his situation.

“Get her,” Maestro ordered his puppets, even while he grimaced in pain.

Two of the puppets were already inside my ‘Cursed Ground’, and they were moving slowly as a result. However, I noticed that their agility and dexterity weren’t being affected. Probably because they were just puppets that were being magically controlled. That was probably why my ‘Hex’ hadn’t worked on them earlier too.

I shoved my way past the slow moving puppets, only to see another dose of my ‘Cursed Object’ transfer to one as I made contact. But to my surprise, the aura didn’t just cling to the puppet. Instead, it transferred down the magical connection that it had to its animator, and infected him instead.

Maestro yelped as another bane settled onto him, adding to the stack. I wasn’t even sure what this one did since it was random, but it couldn’t be good. But then, yet another one appeared, this one copying the effects of ‘Hex’.

“Damn,” I gasped, both horrified and impressed at the same time.

I was tempted to give the Maestro a swift kick and add even more to his stack of banes, but I held back. I once killed someone by accident, and I didn’t want to risk doing that again. Instead, I slipped around the second puppet, then grabbed my staff from where it rested in the corner.

“Come to mama,” I said to the remaining puppet, the one that had been outside the ‘Cursed Ground’ the entire time.

When this puppet came at me, I swung my staff but kept it low. I knocked the puppet’s feet out from under it, causing it to fall to the ground. Then, before it could get up, I simply walked out the door and left.

Now that I’d escaped that room and the immediate threat, I realized that I wasn’t safe yet. Frank and Jag had both been involved in this, and they were still running around nearby. Then my heart sank.

“And Stine,” I whispered.

If Stine’s teammates were involved, then he probably was too. Was that why he’d asked me to lunch? So he could set me up for an ambush?

“Fuck Stine,” I spat out, feeling betrayed.

I barely made it out of the hotel when I saw Jag, hanging around out in front. It looked like she was just sitting on a bench and taking in the fresh air. For a moment, I thought that I’d be able to slip past without her noticing me, but then she looked up and caught sight of me.

“What the fuck?” Jag exclaimed as she jumped to her feet.

Jag came at me fast, suggesting that she’d slotted a couple points into agility. She ran into me a couple seconds later, using her shoulder to try knocking me over. I stepped to the side fast enough to avoid taking a direct hit, but not enough to avoid it entirely.

I was spun around from the impact but managed to keep from falling to the ground. Somehow, I avoided dropping my staff too.

“Shit,” Jag snarled with a grimace. She now had a dose of ‘Cursed Object’ on her, though I didn’t know what the random debuff on her was. Her eyes narrowed and she squinted at me. “Why are you so damn blurry…” She quickly looked around and gasped, “Everything is…”

“Perception,” I mused. “Maybe just vision. I don’t know…”

Jag drew one of her knives and swung it in my general direction, though she wasn’t close enough to actually hit me. My heart jumped up into my throat at the attack, then I smiled faintly as I realized that she was now half-blind. That would make her a lot easier to deal with.

Before I could take advantage of this, Jag glowed and there were suddenly three of her standing there. Two of them were illusions, which was obviously intended to make it hard for me to target the real one. However, there was one thing she didn’t take into account… I blasted a ‘Hex’ at the Jag on the left, the only one of the three who actually had an enchantment on her. She yelped in pain and staggered as the bane took effect.

“I don’t know how you got out,” Jag said with a sneer. “But you’re not leaving until we’re done with you.”

“Well, I’m done with YOU,” I responded, swinging my staff at Jag. She didn’t see it coming in time to move out of the way, though she reacted fast once hit.

Jag lunged towards me again, though I backhanded her, catching her with the back of my arm. Another dose of ‘Cursed Object’ transferred to her and that spawned yet another bane, one which seemed to copy the first dose as she now staggered around as though completely blind. Then, she tripped and fell flat on her face.

I thought about kicking Jag while she was down, but I held off for the same reason that I hadn’t kicked Maestro. She was no longer an immediate threat to me and I was afraid of accidentally pushing my banes too far and killing her. Especially since I remembered fighting beside her back inside the Labyrinth.

At this point, enough of the ‘Cursed Object had been drained away from my armor that there was barely any glow left. I suspected that I would only be able to infect one more target before it ran out entirely.

“Better save it for now,” I muttered, remembering the fact that Franka and Stine were still out there and might show up at any moment.

With that, I turned and started running to where I’d left my friends, back at the lodge. I hoped that I could reach them before anyone else came after me.

Interlude:

Frank quickly made her way down the sidewalk, heading back to the hotel so that she could meet up with Maestro. They’d completed their earlier bit of business, but now, Frank needed to talk to him about what her team would be doing next. Their last mission hadn’t been as profitable as she’d hoped, and that last batch of clients had been a relatively poor investment. They needed to plan their next move and Frank had a few ideas that she wanted to discuss.

When Frank reached the hotel, she was surprised to see Jag standing out in front of it, using the wall for support. The illusionist, her sometimes lover, looked unstable and almost drunk.

“Jag,” Frank said, the disapproval clear in her sharp tone.

“Frank?” Jag asked, looking around for a moment before squinting at her.

“What is going on?” Frank demanded.

Jag had been completely sober the last time she’d seen the illusionist, and that hadn’t even been half an hour. There was something wrong here.

“What was that?” Jag asked.

Frank activated her soulbound axe and it suddenly appeared in her hand. The familiar weight was comforting, especially when she didn’t know what was going on.

Before Frank could repeat her demand, Jag spat out, “That fucking enchanter…”

“What about her?” Frank asked, her grip tightening around the handle of her axe.

“She escaped,” Jag snarled. “Hit me with some kind of enchantment that really fucked up all my senses.” She shook her head and added, “It’s only about half worn off.”

Frank stared at the other woman, then looked around. There were other people around, people who’d probably seen the entire thing. However, none of them were looking at them. In fact, everyone seemed to be intently looking away. That was to be expected though as most players liked to mind their own business.

“Which way did she go?” Frank demanded.

“No idea,” Jag responded with a growl. “I couldn’t see a damn thing.”

Frank took a deep breath to calm herself, then went into the hotel and straight to the room where she’d last seen Maestro and the enchanter. She grimaced, wondering what she was going to find. As soon as she opened the door, the question was answered.

Maestro and Michaelangelo were both present, though each leaned up against a wall and looked to be in a similar condition as Jag. Both also looked angry. Maestro’s wooden puppets were motionless on the floor, indicating that their magical strings had been cut for the moment.

Frank’s eyes narrowed as she considered what Jag had told her. As far as she knew, Donna didn’t have any banes that could do that kind of thing. So, either Donna learned a new trick, or she’d been keeping an older one up her sleeve just for such a situation.

“I can respect the latter possibility,” Frank mused.

“Frank,” Maestro said with a growl.

“I see that our asset escaped,” Frank said, her eyes darting to the now empty chair. “How long did it take? Fifteen minutes?”

“She wasn’t restrained properly,” Michaelangelo spat out angrily. “And she seems to have some abilities that you never warned us about.”

“She’s a player,” Frank reminded the man. “You should always expect surprises.”

“Frank is correct,” Maestro reluctantly agreed. “We underestimated the rookie enchanter and paid the price.”

Michaelangelo grunted as he picked a scepter up off the floor and examined it. “It was probably some feature of her soulbound artifact.” His expression shifted from angry to almost hungry. “Now, I want to examine it even more.”

Maestro scowled as he picked up the staff that he’d dropped and leaned on it, trying to recover some of his dignity. He took a deep breath to settle himself, then looked at Michaelangelo.

“If the enchanter was to be lobotomized,” he asked carefully, a sadistic smile forming on his lips, “would that interfere with your ability to research her equipment?”

Michaelangelo considered that for a moment before shaking his head. “I don’t see why not.”

Frank scowled, not sure that she liked the direction of that question. Capturing the enchanter had come with certain risks, but they’d also come with quite the potential payoff. Unfortunately, her escape had drastically increased those risks and added additional complications, without providing any increase in the final reward.

However, she could see from the expressions of her allies that they wouldn’t accept that option. Michaelangelo was famous for his obsession with artifacts, and this incident seemed to have solidified his resolve. And as for Maestro, this had just changed from business to personal.

“If we are going to continue with this mad venture,” Frank pointed out in resignation, “then we need to be quick about it.”

“Indeed,” Maestro agreed, his eyes narrowing. “We need to recover our lost asset before she’s able to either escape or mount a proper defense.”

----------

Stine scowled in annoyance and frustration, mostly directed at himself. He leaned up against a wall, silently watching people walk past as he thought about his situation and what had gone wrong.

He hated talking about his past life and didn’t even like to think about it. All the corruption that he’d seen and had been unable to do anything about… In the end, all that life had given him had been loneliness, frustration, and bitterness. So why had he brought up the subject?

Donna.

From the first moment that he’d seen Donna, he’d been smitten. She was beautiful, with the kind of looks that hit every one of his preferences. And then there was her attitude. She was sharp tongued and had a bit of an edge, but at the same time, there was also a bit of vulnerability, as though she was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. This dichotomy sparked Stine’s interest even further.

The two of them had been flirting with each other since they’d met, and now that they were out of the Labyrinth, Stine thought that they might be able to take it a bit further than that. That was why he’d invited Donna to lunch, so that they could get to know each other without anyone else around. But then he’d opened his mouth.

“Why the hell did I get on my damn soap box?” he grumbled, afraid that he’d scared Donna away. “Why?”

Of course, Donna was a beautiful woman, and there was a long history of men losing their judgement around beautiful women. And as if that wasn’t reason enough, her class relied on presence, which meant that hers was fairly high, even for a relative newcomer.

Presence was a strange stat in that it worked a little differently for everyone. That made sense since it was all about pushing your own presence out into the world, and everyone was different. Some players developed a natural aura of intimidation…or of challenge, which subtly encouraged anyone to attack. Some, like Maestro, seemed to become charismatic and worth listening to. And then there was Donna. She just seemed easy to talk to.

“Too easy,” Stine grumbled to himself. And he wasn’t even sure how much of that was her presence, and how much was just her.

Just then, Stine noticed two men walking past. They were both dressed in casual clothes that were similar to what he was currently wearing, and neither of them seemed to be players. He assumed that they were among the normal people who worked in town. What caught his attention was their conversation, which he couldn’t help but overhearing.

“So,” the first man said, “these three wooden puppets were just walking down the street… No strings or anything…” He gestured back the way they’d come. “There must be a new summoner in town.”

“Wooden puppets?” Stine asked.

The man who’d been talking paused and gave Stine a look of annoyance, though whether from the ‘eavesdropping’ or the interruption, Stine didn’t know. His friend stopped as well, giving Stine a suspicious look.

“Sorry,” Stine quickly apologized. “I couldn’t help but overhearing your conversation.” Then he carefully asked, “But did you happen to see a black man nearby. No hair and a white beard. Probably holding a staff.”

The man who’d been speaking blinked at that, then looked thoughtful for a moment. “You know, I think I did.”

“Do you know him?” the second man asked, now more curious than suspicious.

“Yes, I do,” Stine answered with a thoughtful frown. “But I had no idea he was in the area.”

“Well, he was down that way,” the first man said, gesturing back down the street again. “If you wanted to catch up.”

“Thank you,” Stine told the men before they continued on their way.

Stine frowned, wondering what Maestro was doing in Moose Tow. He knew that Frank had called Maestro a couple days earlier, almost as soon as they’d gotten out of the Labyrinth, but he saw no reason for the animator to have come to see them personally.

“Something is going on,” he mused as his old instincts stirred. “Something fishy.”

A couple seconds later, Stine started moving towards the hotel where he knew Frank was staying. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he knew how to find out.

When Stine reached the hotel, he saw that Jag and Frank were standing in front of it, having a conversation. Jag looked kind of messed up, the kind that usually happened after a night of hard drinking. Frank was clearly annoyed at her, at least until she explained what was happening.

Stine was about to join them, until Jag said the words ‘fucking enchanter’. He paused at that, then stood back and continued to listen in. His interest sharpened even further when Jag added, “she escaped.”

For a moment, Stine considered marching over and interrogating his teammates about what was going on, but he had a feeling that he already had an idea. Frank had been unusually interested in Donna since learning that she had a soulbound item. Stine was sure that this had something to do with that, though he was still missing the details. After all, it wasn’t like soulbound items could be stolen.

Once Frank went into the hotel, Stine turned and hurried away, being careful to not be seen by Jag. He didn’t know what his teammates were up to, but he was going to find out. But first, he had to go see if Donna was okay.

----------

The man in the ragged cloak, who had once been known as Wolf, stood back and stared at the approaching primal. It was an earth elemental, a being that resembled a ten-foot-tall stone statue. It came straight at him in a slow but steady charge that was obviously intended to crush him.

Wolf rolled his shoulders as he readied himself to deal with the threat. He wished that he still had his sword, but he’d lost that during his most recent battle with Big Bad, and he had yet to find a replacement.

He wasn’t worried about this primal, but he was frustrated. It had attacked him without apparent cause, though Wolf knew exactly why it was doing so. It couldn’t help itself. Ever since he’d made that deal… That stupid deal that he still cursed himself for, every primal he encountered either attacked him on sight or ran away. As an invoker, that effectively crippled his class. How could he bargain with a primal for new abilities when they never gave him the chance to do so?

“You don’t have to do this,” Wolf tried to reason with the elemental, though he already knew it was pointless. “I don’t have the time to waste with this nonsense…”

The elemental didn’t respond or even hesitate in any way. Instead, it punched at Wolf with its massive fist, though he quickly stepped aside. He grimaced, hating to waste his power this way, not when he would need every ounce he possessed to deal with Big Bad.

Wolf activated one of his abilities and a swirl of black smoke formed around his body. Black smoke tentacles reached out and wrapped around the elemental, pulling it off balance so that it fell to the ground.

The invoker leapt on top of the primal, knowing that he only had seconds to act. He held his hand against the entity and snarled, “Syphon,” as he activated the named ability.

This ability tore primal power straight out of the elemental and pulled it into Wolf’s body. He felt it joining the power that he’d stolen from several other primals, giving him power and abilities that he once would have had to bargain for.

Seconds later, the elemental tore free from Wolf’s grip and got back to it’s feet, knocking him off. It turned to stomp on him, but he flared one of his other abilities, one which surged around him. In an instant, the primal’s aggression changed to fear and it turned to flee. Wolf stood back and let it go.

“Damn infernal,” he spat out, thinking of the last primal that he’d actually been able to bargain with.

At the time, he’d known it was a bad idea. However, he’d been a fool. A power-hungry fool. Well, he got the power he craved, but it had come with a price. He was now stuck with an aura that he couldn’t turn off, an aura which that every primal in the area could sense.

It was this aura that had woken Big Bad from where it had been long asleep. It was this aura which drew the primal wolf to him over and over again. Every primal could sense his aura, but Big Bad seemed to be especially sensitive to it, and Wolf knew that this was no coincidence.

“That damn infernal,” Wolf snarled with even more vehemence.

The infernal had intentionally connected Wolf to the wolf, and had pushed them into a conflict that was kill or be killed. In the end, only one of them would be able to walk away. And the entire time, the infernal was probably laughing its ass off at the irony of the situation.

Wolf took a deep breath to steady himself, then he growled under his breath. This whole situation with the elemental had slowed him down and had allowed Big Bad to get even further ahead of him. With that in mind, Wolf continued following Big Bad’s trail while hoping that he wouldn’t be too late.

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,” I said, remembering something that I’d read while back in prison. “I took the one less traveled by.” I paused for a moment before adding, “And I hope to hell it makes a difference.”

The distance between Moose Tow proper and the remote post was a couple miles. At one time, not that long ago, that would have seemed like a long distance to travel on foot, but times have changed. Ever since I increased my vitality, I didn’t get tired very easily anymore. And of course, I’d walked MUCH further than that inside the Labyrinth. Now, two miles seemed like it might as well just be a walk to the mailbox.

No, the distance wasn’t a problem. However, the route was. There were people chasing after me, and I wanted to make it more difficult for them to find me. That was why I’d avoided the main road back to the remote post and had taken a side route instead. Hopefully, they wouldn’t even think about this possibility.

I hurried down the path, moving at a good speed while being careful not to go so fast that I risked falling or breaking an ankle. This reminded me that I still wanted to add some points to agility once I could. That would make this kind of thing a lot easier.

When I was about halfway back to the lodge, I saw a shimmering tear in reality off to the side of the path. It was the entrance to the Labyrinth… No, it was an echo of the entrance. It was much smaller and far more unstable, likely to randomly close or move without warning.

I paused for a moment, considering this possible shortcut. If I used this to go into the Labyrinth, then there was even less chance that those people would find me. All I’d have to do was make my way back to the main entrance from the other side, and I could pop out close to the lodge.

“And deal with all those monsters by myself,” I muttered as a reminder. The very idea made me shudder. “Definitely not.”

I began to turn away from the echo so that I continue on my way when I spotted the monster. It was one of those turtle rats that kept showing up in the area. Slow but tough. My first thought was that I should just leave it, but then I remembered what had happened to that northern entrance, and how it had been absorbed by the Labyrinth.

“Probably best not to leave any monsters wandering around,” I muttered. “Not even the slow ones.”

With that, I glanced down at myself and at the faint glow that still surrounded my armor. It had already lasted quite a bit longer than a ‘Cursed Ground’, and that was after I’d already transferred a lot of its power to other targets. Now that I thought about it, I suspected that if I cursed an object but didn’t transfer any of it’s power away, then it would probably last long enough for the ability to recharge.

As it was, the power that remained in my ‘Cursed Object’ was slowly fading away, and I suspected that the last of it would vanish within the next few minutes. My eyes darted to the monster and I smiled faintly. It would be a shame to waste that last little bit.

With that, I blasted the monster with a ‘Hex’, then moved closer and kicked it. As soon as I did so, the last remains of my ‘Cursed Object’ were transferred to the monster. It gave the monster a much weaker bane than it had my previous targets, but it had given one.

“Too bad I don’t have that sword anymore,” I mused as I backed away from the monster and waited for my ‘Hex’ to recharge. Thanks to my staff, I wouldn’t have to wait as long as I would otherwise. “Maybe I should get a scepter too.”

Once the monster was dead, I felt a moment of triumph over my solo kill. Then, I silently cursed at myself for wasting this much time when I had people after me. I gave the monster’s body one last glance, then hurried down the trail, hoping that I didn’t run into any more delays.

I reached the lodge a short time later and immediately rushed inside. I was relieved to see no sign of the people who’d been after me, but I wasn’t about to lower my guard just yet. Instead, I looked around, trying to find a friendly face. Then I spotted two.

Grayson and Lenore were in the cafeteria area, apparently eating a late lunch. I immediately headed straight for their table.

“What’s up, Red?” Lenore asked as I approached.

“Oh, not much,” I answered with a sarcastic snort. “I was kidnapped by some people who apparently want my armor, and I just escaped.”

Lenore jumped to her feet. “What the fuck?”

“Exactly,” I responded.

Grayson gave me a look of surprise, then of anger. “You’re serious?”

“As a heart attack,” I assured him with a grim expression. “I was a bit rough with getting my ass out of there, so I’m afraid that they might come after me.”

“Who was it?” Lenore demanded. “Did you see who grabbed you?”

I nodded at that, feeling a surge of anger and betrayal. “Frank and Jag were there…and two other people I’ve never seen before.”

“What the hell?” Grayson snarled. “We need to tell Giles.”

Lenore shook her head. “I think he and that Riel guy were out checking on some monsters that someone saw.”

Grayson absently patted his sword, which he had strapped to his side. He wasn’t currently wearing his armor or shield, but he never went around the Labyrinth zone unarmed. Lenore just had her short sword on her.

“If there’s going to be a fight,” Grayson announced. “I need my gear.”

“Me too,” Lenore agreed.

I let out a sigh of relief, thankful that they’d both believed me and that they had my back, even outside of the Labyrinth. I wasn’t used to that kind of thing, but I could definitely get used to it.

A few minutes later, Grayson and Lenore were both fully armed and armored. Their equipment had already been cleaned and repaired, which was one of the first things that both had done after leaving the Labyrinth. They’d also replaced a few pieces of armor that had been too badly damaged.

“Now, we find Giles,” Grayson announced as he rolled his shoulder and shifted his shield.

There were a couple other people present in the lodge, but none of them spared us a second look. They were used to people walking around with weapons and armor. From what I understood, this was perfectly normal in just about any Labyrinth zone.

When we stepped outside the lodge, I saw Giles and Riel walking towards us. Giles was wearing his grey armor and had his halberd with him, while Riel wore similar armor and carried a crossbow and a mace. Both looked ready to fight, except for the fact that their body language was casual.

“Out culling monsters?” Grayson asked them.

Giles nodded. “Yes. Agent Riel and I killed a couple that slipped through one of the echoes.”

Riel chuckled at that. “You make me regret that I was never able to go in and become a player myself.”

“There are definite advantages,” Giles responded with a smile. Then he paused and looked at our faces, finally realizing that something was wrong. He immediately turned serious. “What’s wrong?”

“Apparently,” Grayson said with a grim expression, “Frank and his people just tried to kidnap Donna.”

Riel’s expression turned just as serious. “Please explain.”

I took a deep breath, then began to tell them what happened. I told them about the human sized puppets I’d seen on the street, the way Jag had used an illusion to impersonate Lenore, and how they’d tied me up in the hotel room.

“The one guy,” I explained. “Michaelangelo… He was really interested in my armor.” I gestured down at my armor, adding, “Kept talking about studying soulbound artifacts.”

“Was he green?” Grayson asked me with a faint smirk. “And did he have nunchucks?”

I gave Grayson a flat look and flipped him off. I was tempted to say something else, but I didn’t want to lose my train of thought.

“Frank and the others,” I continued. “It seemed like they were mostly just trying to keep this Michaelangelo asshole happy, but they said a few things that made me think they wanted him to make them soulbound equipment once he learned how.”

Gile’s scowl deepened. “Make them…?” He and Riel shared a look, then he looked back at us. “There are only a couple artificers who know how to make any kind of artifacts at all, and they aren’t even close to figuring out soulbound ones.”

“So, we have rogue players to deal with,” Riel said with a grim look and a shake of his head. “If anyone else around here has soulbound equipment, they could be targeted too.”

“Do you know if anyone does?” Grayson asked him.

Riel hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. “Well, Skunk has something, but he went into the Labyrinth with his crew and I have no idea when they’ll be back. If anyone else around here has anything, I haven’t heard about it.”

“Agent Riel,” Giles said carefully. “We have what appears to be four or five potential rogue players. You might want to send a runner to the main office.”

“Good idea,” Riel agreed.

Just then, Lenore suddenly pointed up into the air. “What the fuck is that?”

I looked up and immediately saw what Lenore was referring to. There was some kind of white bird flying around overhead, but it looked seriously wrong. It seemed sharp and angular, not like a bird at all.

“Is that some kind of new monster?” Lenore asked.

A moment later, she conjured an arrow and shot at the flying creature. Her arrow hit it right on and tore a large hole right through the middle. However, the thing continued fluttering around for several more seconds before it abruptly stopped moving and then sort of spiraled down to the ground.

Lenore rushed to the fallen creature, then blurted, out, “What the fuck?”

I quickly joined her, though I had to pause and take a second look at what I saw. The ‘creature’ was nothing more than a sheet of intricately folded paper. It looked like it was supposed to be some kind of bird or bat, but it had a large hole right through the middle.

“Origami,” I said in recognition. I once had a cellmate who liked to kill time by playing around with origami. There were little paper figures all around our cell, at least until he got bored and moved on to something else.

“There are more of them,” Riel pointed out, gesturing up above.

The Warden was right. I saw another half dozen origami birds flying around. And as I watched, even more joined until there were at least a dozen of them.

“An animator,” Riel stated with narrowed eyes.

Giles looked to me and nodded. “Miss Donna did say that one of her kidnappers was an animator. Apparently, he animates more than wooden dolls.”

Grayson scowled and drew his sword. “And he’s obviously close by. Animators have a limited range.”

Suddenly, the entire flock of paper birds all dove down at us. Grayson raised his shield to block the attack, while Giles stood steady, not even activating his own shield ability. I held my staff more tightly, resisting the temptation to throw out a ‘Cursed Ground’. That bane was useless on anything flying more than a foot or two above it.

There was a flicker of motion from the corner of my eye. I started to snap around but Jag was already there, rushing in with both her knives drawn. Grayson reacted faster than I could and brought his shield down to block her, only to have her vanish. At the same time, Giles yelped as a blade from the real illusionist tore through his side.

“Gotcha,” Jag exclaimed as she danced back, avoiding a swipe of Grayson’s sword.

I raised my hand to hit Jag with a ‘Hex’, but she was suddenly a few feet away from where I was aiming. That made me hesitate for a couple seconds, long enough for her to get more distance.

Then I noticed the other arrivals. Three wooden puppets were approaching us, the same ones that I’d encountered earlier. However, unlike before, they were now armed. Each of the wooden puppets carried a mace and a round shield.

Maestro followed right behind them, holding his staff and gesturing towards us. And then there was Frank. She walked beside the animator, looking more annoyed than anything. And finally, Michaelangelo emerged with a determined look on his face and a scepter in his hand.

“Two Wardens,” Frank told Maestro with a grimace. “We can’t afford that escalation. We should leave.”

“Fuck that,” Jag spat out. “That bitch is gonna pay for zapping me with that fucking enchantment.”

“Jag is right,” Maestro agreed. “A measure of retaliation is due.”

Frank rolled her eyes so hard that I could see it from where I stood. “We attacked her. She had every right and expectation to try escaping. The fact that she succeeded does not mean that you have earned any right for revenge.”

“This is about more than revenge,” Maestro stated firmly. “As you would say, her armor represents an investment in our future.”

“This whole venture represents a major risk,” Frank responded grimly. “We can’t afford to draw the attention of the Wardens, or to be labeled rogues. Not yet.”

“Too late,” Michaelangelo stated. “We already have their attention.”

My eyes darted to Giles and Riel. Giles was watching them carefully, his halberd ready for use. Riel just stood there with his crossbow raised and aimed.

“You do have a point,” Frank admitted with a sigh. She shifted her axe, her expression hardening. “Then let’s get this over with.”

“And don’t kill the enchanter,” Michaelangelo added. “Her soulbound artifact is useless if she’s dead.”

The origami flock swooped at us again. I would have thought them to be completely harmless, but apparently, the power of an animator made them more dangerous. If nothing else, the paper birds had the power of weaponized paper cuts.

Giles activated his shield and most of the paper birds flew straight into the wall of magic and were smashed flat from the impact. Even as they started to fall, Grayson lashed out with his sword, slicing through as many of them as he could. One of the birds got inside and hit Lenore, leaving a thin line of blood along her cheek before she smacked it to the ground.

While this was going on, our enemies were trying to use the distraction to their advantage. Frank and Jag knew about Gile’s shield, so they didn’t charge straight in. Instead, they moved to surround us so that they were better positioned when the shield collapsed.

Jag and Frank marched straight towards us, and they were close enough together that I couldn’t resist dropping a ‘Cursed Ground’ right beneath them. I felt a surge of triumph for a moment, until Frank and Jag both vanished.

“An illusion,” I spat out bitterly, realizing that Jag had just tricked me into wasting that ability.

Jag was a tricky one, being both fast and good with illusions. I wanted to blast her with a ‘Hex’, but after what had just happened, I didn’t want to risk wasting it. Because of that, I turned my attention to Frank and hit her with a ‘Hex’ instead.

“Damn it,” Frank cursed, grimacing as she did so. She stood still and shook her head. “Annoying, but nothing I can’t deal with.”

Frank took a step forward and almost promptly staggered. Then she paused, took a deep breath, rolled her shoulders, and adjusted her axe. A moment later, she charged forward again, this time moving in a burst of speed. Her axe slammed into Gile’s shield and the whole thing popped.

“Shit,” Lenore snarled as the three puppets all rushed at us.

I hesitated for a moment. ‘Cursed Object’ was up and ready for use again, but I needed a target. My first thought was Frank’s axe, but then, I realized that she’d get rid of it right away. That meant she’d probably only get one dose of the bane and the rest would be wasted. Then I had a better idea.

I placed a ‘Cursed Object’ on my staff, then swung it at one of the puppets. I smacked the puppet in the side, not doing any damage at all. However, that contact was enough to release a dose of the bane, a dose which transferred to Maestro through his connection to the puppet.

Maestro yelped and dropped his staff, then glared at me before bending down to pick the artifact back up. He seemed to struggle a little with that, as though his staff had suddenly become very heavy.

Lenore and Riel opened fire, sending arrow and crossbow bolts at our enemies. However, they weren’t content to just stand back and take it. Michaelangelo shot back with his scepter, hitting Riel in the arm and causing him to drop his weapon.

Frank was suddenly in the middle of our group, swinging her axe at Lenore. Lenore scrambled back and avoided the axe blade, but her bow didn’t. The compound bow was sliced in half.

“MY BOW,” Lenore cried out angrily. “I liked that bow.”

Grayson was suddenly there in front of Frank, using his shield to ram her. Frank was only knocked back a single step, though the other enchanter had stopped her momentum.

I saw an opportunity and took it, swinging my staff at Frank while she was busy with Grayson. She shifted position and I only grazed her arm, but it was enough. She was hit with a random bane as well as a second copy of ‘Hex’, which threw her completely off balance.

“What did you do to her?” Grayson asked as he immediately took advantage of the distraction. “I see more enchantments…” His eyes quickly darted to my staff.

“A new trick,” I responded with a faint smirk.

“I don’t like having to fight former allies,” Giles said with a grimace.

Giles was using his halberd to keep Jag at a distance, and for a moment, they seemed to be at a stalemate. However, I suspected that it wouldn’t be long before one of Jag’s abilities recharged and she was able to use some illusion to slip past his guard.

A couple of the last remaining origami birds came at me, swooping in as if going for my eyes. I swung my staff at them, trying to take them out before they could hit me, but I missed. They kept darting around, staying just out of reach. Then I realized that Maestro was trying to distract me while one of his puppets rushed at me from behind.

“No fucking way,” I said, abruptly swinging at the puppet instead. If I could hit Maestro with another dose, then he’d really be in trouble.

But just then, the puppet suddenly leapt to the side, moving faster than I’d seen any of the puppets move before. An instant later, the puppet was gone and Jag was standing there instead. My eyes darted to where Jag had been fighting against Giles, and I saw a puppet there instead.

“Shit,” I spat out, realizing that Jag had been using another illusion to hide her real position.

“Drop the staff and come with us willingly,” Jag told me with a sneer. “That will make this whole fucking thing easier on everyone.”

“Fuck that,” I responded, taking a step back and then firing a ‘Hex’ at her.

Jag tried to avoid the ‘Hex’ but wasn’t able to do so. She staggered back, cursed, then glared at me with a hateful expression.

“That’s it,” Jag snarled, pausing to spit on the ground before raising her knives. “Mike needs you alive, but that still leaves a lot of room to work.”

Jag leapt at me, moving faster than I could react. But before she hit me, something else hit her. A figure rushed in from the side and slammed her while she was still in the air, knocking her to the ground.

“What the hell is going on here?” Stine demanded, glaring down at his own teammate whom he’d just hit. He made a show of cracking his knuckles.

“Stine?” I blurted out in surprise and a little confusion.

“What the fuck do you think YOU’RE doing?” Jag demanded of him as she quickly got back to her feet.

“I’m not too surprised to see you acting like some kind of cheap punk,” Stone told her. “But Frank…? That surprises me. And what the hell is Maestro doing here?”

“What’s the matter?” Jag mocked him. “Don’t like seeing us break the rules?” Then her eyes narrowed and she smirked. “Or maybe, you just don’t want us messing with your girl?”

Stine spared me a quick glance, looking self-conscious for a moment before covering it up. “I just don’t like seeing my own team doing stupid shit that effects me.” Then he gestured towards Frank, who was still busy with Grayson. “And the fact that you two were doing this without letting me know… Well, that makes me pretty damn suspicious about what you’re all up to.”

“We have a job to do,” Frank told him, even as she struggled to deal with Grayson. “I don’t like it either, but its an investment in the future.”

“Invest this,” Grayson snarled as he slashed his sword at Frank, moving at an almost blinding speed.

Suddenly, Frank was gone. One second, Frank was standing in front of Grayson, and the next… Frank reappeared beside Maestro, looking a little worn out from my banes and Grayson’s attack.

“She teleported,” Grayson blurted out.

I stared at Frank, who took this opportunity to catch her breath and recover a little. I had no idea if this trick had been one of her abilities or something that her axe allowed her to do, and it looked like her own teammates were just as surprised by this as we were.

“If you help us bring Donna in,” Frank told Stine, “then I promise that once Michaelangelo is finished studying her armor, we will release her alive and unharmed.”

Michelangelo scowled at that, not looking happy about Frank’s promise. Maestro looked even more annoyed while Jag sneered at the very idea. However, none of them contradicted Frank.

Stine hesitated for a moment, looking as though he was actually considering it. Then he shook his head. “Taking paying idiots into the Labyrinth is one thing. Grabbing other players off the street… Well, that’s going too far.”

“We need the resources for our goal,” Frank reminded him grimly. “And Michaelangelo’s skills are a valuable resource.”

“Well, fuck that,” Lenore exclaimed with a snarl.

A moment later, a new bow suddenly appeared in Lenore’s hand, though this wasn’t the compound bow that she’d been using. Instead, it looked like it was made of silver and gold metal, with a similar style as her conjured armor and arrows.

“Good thing I keep a backup,” Lenore said, right before she conjured an arrow and shot it right at Frank.

Jag dodged around Stine and came at me again, but I saw her moving and was already preparing to swing my staff. She must have suspected the danger because she abruptly shifted direction and avoided my swing. That move opened her up for Stine to catch up.

“This is one hell of a cluster fuck,” I snarled as I looked around.

It suddenly reminded me of a large prison brawl between two gangs that I’d once seen. I hadn’t wanted to get involved back then, and I sure as hell didn’t want to be in the middle of it now.

One of Maestro’s puppets was down, courtesy of Giles. He was chopping at it with his halberd, though there were two more of the damn things still attacking. A moment later, Grayson took on one of those, slamming his shield into it and knocking it to the ground.

Frank looked like she’d recovered enough to keep fighting, in spite of the fact that she still had a couple banes on her. The original ‘Hex’ had already worn off, but the two from my ‘Cursed Object’ were still on her.

“We need to keep Miss Donna safe,” Giles told the others.

“Damn right,” Lenore agreed with a grin. “She might be a stray dog who followed us home, but she’s still ours now.”

“I don’t know whether to appreciate the sentiment,” I responded wryly, “or tell you to fuck off.”

“Why not both?” Giles asked me cheerfully.

“While I appreciate your camaraderie,” Stine said. “Now isn’t the time to get distracted.”

“No, it isn’t, Mister Stine,” Giles agreed with a grim expression.

Then, Giles abruptly froze for a second before his head snapped around and he stared off to the side, in the same direction as the Labyrinth entrance. His eyes went wide and his expression was even more grim than before.

“Oh, shit,” Giles exclaimed. “Our situation just got a lot worse.”

“What do you mean?” Grayson asked.

I looked in the same direction as Giles, and it only took me a second to spot the black smoke that was rising into the sky. I blinked in confusion, only to gasp in realization a moment later. A large smokey figure in the shape of a wolf had appeared and was coming straight towards us.

“Fenrir,” I whispered, my whole body shaking as I remembered that thing killing Pham. “It’s here…”

A deep growl filled the air, one that sounded more like the rumble of distant thunder than anything that could have come from a living creature.

Fenrir slowly came towards us, giving me the impression that he was taking his time with whatever he was doing. In spite of the fact that Fenrir looked like a giant smoke wolf, I had the impression that it was behaving more like a cat who was playing with its prey.

“I can feel its attention on me,” Giles said with a grim expression. “I think that I might be its target.”

“Sucks to be you,” Jag said.

At this point, we’d all stopped fighting and were just staring at the approaching Fenrir. My heart raced in my chest and I clenched my staff even more tightly. I couldn’t help but remember the fact that it hadn’t been able to save its previous owner.

I felt a knot of dread in my stomach as I remembered Pham and what this thing had done to him. Then, a spark of rage grew within the fear. This thing had killed Pham.

“I’ve never seen a monster that big leave the Labyrinth,” Riel said in surprise.

“Not a monster, Agent Riel,” Giles absently corrected him. “It’s a primal of some sort.”

“I’ve never seen any primal leave the Labyrinth,” Riel corrected.

“That is the primal I told you about,” Giles continued. “The one that killed Agent Pham.”

Maestro scowled and turned to Frank. “What do you recommend?”

Frank considered for a moment, then let out a sigh. “We escaped that thing before, and I suspect that it won’t allow us to do so again.” Her eyes narrowed. “No, I’m sure it won’t. It’s a hunter and no hunter likes to let prey escape.”

“How much damage can it to?” Riel asked.

The local Warden looked around, probably trying to see how many people were around and in danger. A minute ago, several people had been hanging around to watch our fight, but as soon as Fenrir had appeared, they all disappeared.

“We don’t need this complication,” Michaelangelo said with a look of annoyance.

“No,” Frank agreed. “But we have it nonetheless.” Then she turned to Giles. “I suggest a truce until after this creature has been dealt with.”

“Agreed, Miss Frank,” Giles responded with a sharp nod.

Fenrir seemed to decide that it was done taking its time, because it suddenly charged forward. It’s jaws snapped down where Giles had just been, but Grayson had pulled him back at the last moment.

“Take it,” Giles ordered.

Grayson rushed in and sliced at the wolf’s front leg, though it didn’t seem to do much damage. However, Frank and Stine seemed to think that was a great idea because they each chose a leg to attack as well.

Fenrir’s jaws snapped down again, this time coming down on one of Maestro’s wooden puppets. There was a loud crunch and chunks of shattered wood fell from its massive jaws.

Black tendrils of smoke began to spread out from the large wolf, reaching out along the ground like tentacles. I remembered the bubblegum monster and the way it had attacked us with tentacles, and realized that this could be an opportunity.

I blasted Fenrir with ‘Hex’, then I used my staff to smack one of the smoke tentacles. A dose of ‘Cursed Object’ transferred to the smoke wolf, adding to the stack that I’d already started with ‘Hex’.

Fenrir snarled and turned to glare at me with a look of pure hatred. At that moment, I was sure that it remembered me from before and that it hadn’t forgiven me in the least.

“Shit,” I snarled.

A moment later, the primal lunged at me. Suddenly, Stine was there, punching the wolf on the side of its face while Giles swung his halberd down into the other side of its snout. I scrambled back, horrified at how close I’d just come to being dog chow.

Maestro stepped back, but he sent his last remaining wooden puppet at Fenrir, as well as the last couple origami birds. It completely ignored the paper birds, though it sent a tentacle of smoke out to surround the puppet. A moment later, it lifted the puppet up off the ground, then spiked it right into the ground.

“I hate having to replace those,” Maestro grumbled with a look of annoyance.

“Well, boo hoo,” Lenore said as she took aim and shot at Fenrir.

Lenore fired one of her more powerful arrows at Fenrir, hitting it in the shoulder. She muttered a few profanities, then took aim and fired again.

“Useful ability,” Riel commented as he watched the conjurer.

Then Riel took aim with his crossbow and fired a bolt. His aim was off and he missed entirely, probably because of the injury he’d previously taken. Still, that didn’t discourage him from loading another bolt and trying again.

I stood back and watched carefully, noting that half these attacks had no effect at all. Some of them actually seemed to pass right through Fenrir as though he was nothing more than smoke. However, my banes were definitely working.

“I just need more of them on him,” I thought aloud. “A LOT more.”

More of the smoke tendrils spread out from the primal and reached for the people nearby. One of them grabbed Frank, who immediately chopped at the tentacle with her axe. To my surprise, she actually cut the tentacle off and was freed.

When another tentacle reached for me, I seized the opportunity to hit it with my staff. Fenrir was hit with another random bane, as well as another copy of ‘Hex’.

Fenrir raised its head and let out a howl, though it sounded like wind blowing in a storm. A moment later, it turned its attention back to me.

“I think you pissed it off,” Grayson told me.

“You’re pretty good at that,” Lenore added with a smirk.

When Fenrir lunged at me again, Michaelangelo suddenly opened fire with a scepter and fired a blast of purple energy right into primal’s face. He followed that up by switching to a second scepter and firing a ball of golden energy at the creature as well. The ball exploded on impact.

“I need her alive,” Michaelangelo told the primal. “So, I can’t let you kill her just yet.”

“Thanks,” I responded with an uneasy feeling. “I think.”

“This isn’t working,” Giles said. “It’s too tough.”

“Death by a thousand cuts,” Grayson responded with a slash of his sword. “It seems to be our best bet.”

“I agree,” Frank said with a grimace.

“Even paper can kill,” Maestro agreed. “If you give enough paper cuts.”

With that, Maestro reached into a bag on his side and pulled out a stack of paper. It looked like the pages had already been folded before and then straightened back out. He threw the stack into the air and then each and every page folded itself along the existing folds, turning into a new flock of origami birds.

The paper birds flew around Fenrir’s head, trying to distract it for as long as they could. Maestro nodded to Frank, who merely nodded back, then charged at the creature.

Frank leapt up and landed right into Fenrir’s shoulders, them immediately brought down her axe and hit it as hard as she could. The primal seemed to feel it because it immediately began to leap around like some kind of rodeo horse, until it knocked Frank off.

“One paper cut down,” Frank commented as she got back to her feet. “Nine hundred and ninety-nine to go.”

“So far,” Grayson said, gesturing to me. “Donna’s banes seem to be doing the most damage.”

“Then, it seems like we have a strategy,” Giles said.

“Hit that bastard with as many enchantments as we can,” Lenore agreed. “Red fucks it up as much as possible while the rest of us finish it off.”

“That works for me,” Stine said, flashing me a grin and a thumbs up.

“Hey,” Lenore abruptly asked. “Where’s Jag?”

I looked around but didn’t see any sign of the illusionist. In fact, I hadn’t even noticed her since shortly after Fenrir had arrived.

“She’s probably around here somewhere,” Frank said, not looking concerned about it.

“She isn’t the type to run from a fight,” Stine agreed with a nod. “She’s probably just waiting for the right opportunity.”

I just grunted at that, not sure if I would have preferred it if Jag had run off or was just hiding. After all, it hadn’t been long at all since she and her friends had kidnapped me.

Then Giles abruptly looked towards the Labyrinth entrance again. “We have more company.”

A new figure emerged from the Labyrinth entrance, one that immediately made me tense up. He almost looked like a human man, except for the fact that he was covered with green scales. He even wore clothes, or at least, the torn and tattered remains of pants and a cloak.

“Great,” Grayson grimaced. “Another monster.”

“I’m no monster,” the lizard man called out, apparently having great hearing or high perception since he was a good distance away. “I’m a player…”

“Invoker?” Giles asked. “I feel the primal energy. A LOT of it.”

“Yeah,” the lizard man responded, gesturing down at himself. “The scales are a side effect of an ability.” Then he abruptly froze, his eyes locking on Michaelangelo. “Mad Mike,” he spat out with a deep and menacing growl.

Michaelangelo looked surprised as well as a little confused. Then his eyes widened in recognition. “Wolf?”

“Well, I’ll be,” the lizard man snarled, his eyes darting between Michaelangelo and Fenrir, who was still being distracted by the origami flock. “Two of my enemies in one place. This must be my lucky day.”

“Mad Mike,” Giles said with a dark expression as he looked at Michelangelo. “I recognize that name.”

“As do I,” Riel agreed, his eyes narrowed and wary. “Rogue player who escaped from prison a few months ago.”

My eyes shot to Michaelangelo. I barely knew the man, but from what little I did know, I wasn’t the least bit surprised that he would have ended up in prison. However, I was definitely curious about how he could have escaped. Conversations about theoretical prison escapes had been rather popular back when I’d been in.

“The name Wolf was on some of the same reports,” Riel added, staring at the lizard man…at Wolf. “They said you were believed dead.”

Wolf growled as if he was the very animal he was named after. “His buddy cut off my arm and left me for dead,” he said, glaring at Michaelangelo, then gestured back at the Labyrinth entrance. “Fortunately, I have an ability that lets me heal…” He tapped his scaled arm and scowled. “With side effects.”

“As interesting as that is,” Frank commented. “We don’t have time for grudges at the moment.”

“Not yet,” Wolf agreed, turning his attention to Fenrir.

The giant smoke wolf was now completely ignoring the origami birds that circled its head and was instead focused on us. No, on Wolf. The hairs on the back of my neck all stood on end as I could feel the attention, and the moment of indecision as the creature tried to decide whether to attack or run.

“You know this thing?” Grayson asked as he raised his shield and readied himself for the attack.

“Big Bad and I go back a ways,” Wolf admitted with a shake of his head. “We’ve been hunting each other for months.” He spat on the ground. “It won’t end until one of us is dead.”

“Why, Mister Wolf?” Giles asked. “I doubt that its just because you’re an invoker.”

“What the fuck did you do?” Lenore demanded. “Did you kick its puppies or something?”

Wolf let out a sharp laugh. “No… My mistake is that I made a deal with a damn infernal…”

“Foolish,” Giles stated.

“No argument there,” Wolf admitted with another growl.

He didn’t take his eyes off of Fenrir. The two of them continued staring at each other, as if each was waiting for the other to blink.

“I freed the damn infernal in exchange for power,” Wolf explained. “It gave it to me…but with a catch.”

“Of course,” Giles responded grimly. “With infernals, there usually is.”

Wolf merely nodded once. “It gave me power…but also stuck me with an aura that antagonizes every primal I run into. They all either run away or attack.” Then he gestured towards Fenrir. “It turns out, Big Bad was hibernating nearby, and my new aura woke him and drew him to me. We’ve been after each other since.”

“So, this infernal arranged for you to be hunted by a wolf spirit?” Riel asked. “That sounds ironic.”

“Just like an infernal,” Giles agreed. “And what happened to the infernal?”

Wolf snorted. “No clue. It ran off as soon as I freed it, before Big Bad showed up. I think it went deeper into the Labyrinth, but other than that…”

At this point, Fenrir growled, but it was that low rumbling growl that sounded like thunder. A moment later, the giant smoke wolf leapt at Wolf.

“LOOK OUT,” Grayson shouted, even as everyone was already jumping back and out of the way.

Wolf leapt back with a swirl of smoke forming around his body. Then, tendrils of smoke surged around him and stretched out towards Fenrir, catching the primal’s own smoke tendrils. A moment later, primal and invoker stood there, fighting each other only with the smoke.

“You made a deal with it?” Giles demanded.

“No,” Wolf responded with a snarl, not taking his eyes off his opponent. “I stole some of its power… An ability called siphon. It lets me take their power without having to make a deal.”

Wolf tried to step forward, a grimace of fierce determination on his face. Then his smokey tentacles seemed to fade and weaken. In an instant, his expression turned to one of worry, right before Fenrir lunged at him again. Suddenly, Wolf was sent flying through the air.

“As entertaining as this is to watch,” Frank said. “I’d rather join the fight.”

Frank charged forward, swinging her axe at one of Fenrir’s legs. Stine and Grayson both followed her example and charged forward as well. Each one took a different leg.

I took a deep breath, clenched my staff tightly, then fired off another ‘Hex’. A second later, I charged forward, aiming for the creature’s side. My heart raced with terror as I got close to the thing. Memories of Pham’s last moments kept flashing through my mind. However, I pushed those aside and focused on what I needed to do.

I smacked Fenrir in the side with my staff, then steadied myself to hit it again. However, the primal snapped around, growing with that eerie thunder sound. A pair of glowing red eyes were suddenly glaring down at me.

“Your banes are hurting it,” Grayson exclaimed.

Stine suddenly grabbed me and pulled me out of the way, right before Fenrir’s jaws snapped shut where I’d been. I gasped in surprise and relief.

“Thanks,” I said, feeling a bit uncertain after the way I’d thought he was part of the kidnapping attempt.

“Glad to help,” Stine told me before he turned back to the primal. “But be careful with this bastard.”

“Keep distance from that damn thing, Red,” Lenore called out as she fired an arrow at Fenrir.

“I need to get close to hit it with more banes,” I snapped back in annoyance and shame at having needed to be rescued again.

“Buy me another minute,” Maestro called out.

He was crouched down beside the remains of his puppets, which he’d piled all together. I couldn’t tell what he was doing with them, but he seemed focused.

Frank leapt on top of Fenrir, or tried to. She fell right through the wolf as though it really was made entirely of smoke. As soon as she hit the ground beneath it, she rolled to the side, right before a smokey tentacle reached for where she’d been.

“This thing is unpredictable,” Giles pointed out. “Sometimes its solid, other times it isn’t.”

“Then we just need to keep stacking up the damage,” I said. “Sooner or later, it will add up to enough.”

“Preferably sooner,” Grayson said.

Just then, Maestro’s puppet pile began to move. He’d connected the pieces together so that they now resembled a giant wooden spider. It took several awkward steps towards Fenrir.

“Now, go my minion,” Maestro ordered with a triumphant expression on his face.

Suddenly, a pair of smokey jaws snapped down on Maestro, leaving nothing behind but a pair of severed feet. The wooden spider immediately collapsed back into an inanimate pile of wood.

“No,” I gasped in horror at this repeat of what had happened to Pham.

“Damn,” Michaelangelo said with a look of annoyance. He fired one of his scepters at Fenrir. “I needed him.”

Michaelangelo looked around, clearly searching for a way out. His eyes locked onto Wolf for a moment and his expression hardened. Wolf wasn’t moving, but Michaelangelo still aimed his scepter at the fallen invoker.

“I don’t think so,” Wolf snarled as he slowly got to his feet. A blast of green energy hit him in the chest, but he didn’t go down. Instead, he was now covered with stone armor.

“What…?” Michaelangelo gasped in surprise.

“New ability,” Wolf responded as he slowly walked towards Michaelangelo. “Recently syphoned.”

Michaelangelo cursed, then he turned and ran. Wolf was about to follow after him, but Fenrir came at him again so he quickly turned to face the large primal.

“Here we go again,” Wolf spat out.

A pair of jaws snapped shut in Wolf, but the armor held. Fenrir lifted the lizard man up and tried chewing on him. I could hear the cracks from breaking stone, but the man wasn’t dead yet.

“Damn,” Lenore snapped as she fired several arrows into Fenrir’s face, trying to get it to release Wolf. Riel, standing beside her, only had an ordinary crossbow, but he added to the attack.

Wolf suddenly dropped from Fenrir’s mouth and hit the ground where he remained motionless for several seconds. Then, he slowly got back to his feet, the remains of his armor flaking away until it was gone entirely. His scaled body was torn up and bloody, but far more intact than it had any right to be after being chewed up by Fenrir.

Another blast of energy suddenly hit his body, knocking him back to the ground with a smoking wound in his stomach. Michaelangelo stood back with a scepter in his hand and a smirk on his lips.

“Nothing personal,” Michaelangelo commented. “But I’m not going to risk you coming after me.”

Riel fired a crossbow bolt at Michaelangelo, but he dove to the side. This sudden movement seemed to catch Fenrir’s attention because a moment later, a long tendril of smoke suddenly lashed out and wrapped around Michaelangelo’s leg.

“LET ME GO,” Michaelangelo ordered, even as the smoke tentacle began dragging him along the ground, pulling him right towards Fenrir.

Frank rushed forward and slammed her axe down through the smoke tentacle, but it didn’t seem to have any effect on the smoke. The primal continued dragging Michelangelo towards it. When that didn’t work, she snapped around and threw her axe as hard as she could, right into Fenrir’s face. She hit the primal in the snout, causing it to actually flinch for a moment.

Michaelangelo used this momentary distraction to pull out a different scepter, then he blasted the smoke tentacle. A blast of purple light hit the tentacle and seemed to disintegrate a part of it, freeing Michaelangelo.

“I hate to use this,” he grumbled as he reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a silver metal sphere. “I won’t be able to replace it.”

He turned to face Fenrir with a smirk on his face, even while he began doing something with the sphere. But a moment later, a thick cloud of black smoke spread out from the primal and washed over him. Michaelangelo bent over, coughing and gagging.

“We need to all hit Fenrir at once,” Giles called out. “Everyone.”

“Agreed,” Frank said. Somehow, she had already recovered her axe and was holding it in her hand again.

“Sounds good to me,” I agreed, glaring at the creature that had eaten Pham.

Fenrir suddenly lunged forward, his jaws snapping at Giles. Grayson was in motion already, grabbing the invoker and pulling him away just a second before he was killed. But in spite of that, I still heard a scream that was abruptly cut off with a squishy crunch.

For a moment, I just stood there in confusion, but then I realized where it had come from. My eyes went to Michaelangelo, or to the puddle of blood that oozed out from beneath Fenrir’s paw. A single leg stuck out from beneath the primal’s paw and seemed to be the only part of Michaelangelo that hadn’t been stepped on.

Michaelangelo was gone, crushed to death by Fenrir just a few seconds ago. And it had only been a minute since Maestro had been killed, chomped and gulped down with a single bite. Both deaths had been rather gruesome.

I wasn’t going to feel bad about either death since both of those men were assholes who’d kidnapped me, and they’d probably done far worse. No, I didn’t care about them. What I was concerned about was the fact that other people could die too, people who I actually cared about.

“Careful,” I called out, my heart racing.

I looked at Wolf, who I wasn’t going to count as dead quite yet, in spite of the beating he’d already taken. Between Fenrir and Michaelangelo, he was pretty fucked up, but he was still moving, if barely.

Giles ran for Wolf, clearly intending to heal his injuries. However, Fenrir immediately lunged for Wolf, trying to finish him off while he was still weak and injured.

“I don’t think so,” Grayson exclaimed as he threw himself between them, using his shield to block the massive jaws.

“No,” I cried out in horror.

A moment later, Grayson was inside Fenrir’s jaws and being lifted off the ground. I expected the crunch and spurt of blood, but instead, there was a flash of gold. Grayson was surrounded with a golden aura, a powerful boon that seemed to be working like a force field.

“His fourth ability,” I gasped in realization. It was like a smaller version of Gile’s shield ability, one that covered a single person rather than a group. “But it won’t last long…”

Giles hesitated for a moment, his eyes darting between Wolf and Grayson, probably trying to decide which needed his help more. Then he grimaced, apparently having made his decision.

“Get Wolf,” I called out to Giles as I ran towards Fenrir.

Fenrir’s mouth was currently full, so I didn’t have to worry about him biting me for the moment. Of course, there was still plenty of smoke and those weird smoke tentacles, two of which were already reaching for me.

“Come on, you smokey leg humper,” I snarled, using my staff to smack one of the tendrils before it reached me. Then I smacked another. Both hits dosed Fenrir with more banes from my ‘Cursed Object’. “Bad dog.”

“I’d appreciate it if you would hurry,” Grayson called out. “I can’t hold this much longer…”

Fenrir suddenly staggered from the additional banes, then he actually dropped Grayson. The other enchanter hit the ground with a thud, then he slowly stood up inside of his glowing golden ball and began to run. The aura faded away as he did so.

“What the hell did you do to that thing?” Stine asked. “It looks like its drunk.”

Stine was right in that Fenrir was now acting like it was drunk. It was staggering around, its sense of balance completely fucked up. I couldn’t even tell what all the random banes were doing, but the effects were really adding up.

“My banes are stacking up nicely,” I said as I fired another ‘Hex’ at the primal. “Each one makes all the others just a little stronger…”

“And you’ve got almost a dozen of them on that thing now,” Grayson said with a grimace. He shook himself and glared up at Fenrir. “That’s enough to mess with anything…”

“Even that fucker,” Lenore added as she shot an arrow right into Fenrir’s face.

Fenrir staggered to the side and bumped into a cabin, smashing in the side and causing most of it to collapse. Smoke was oozing out in all directions, though it didn’t seem concentrated into those tentacles the way it had before.

“We need to hit it with everything we have,” Giles called out.

Giles was crouched down beside Wolf, using his healing ability. He had a grim expression on his face as he glared up at the primal.

“Everyone, get away from it,” Giles added. “I’m hitting it first.”

Frank, who had been about to charge at Fenrir again, abruptly paused and backed off. Stine hesitated for a moment, then nodded and did the same.

A massive column of fire suddenly erupted right beneath Fenrir, engulfing the entire creature in flames. The primal howled in pain, though it sounded like a wind storm that was fully underway. It’s red eyes burned brighter and it radiated a sense of rage and hatred.

“That was my last one of those,” Giles said, still crouched down beside Wolf.

“You hurt it,” Frank said. “Just not enough to kill it.”

“Then we’ll just have to keep punching it until it dies,” Stine added with a grin.

“That works for me,” Lenore agreed, firing yet another arrow at the wolf.

Fenrir staggered out of the flames, even as the column faded away. The primal still had flames flickering across its body as well smoke oozing out from dozens of spots, as though it was bleeding smoke. Like Frank had just pointed out, we’d definitely hurt the creature.

The smoke wolf staggered, then snapped at Frank, who suddenly vanished. Frank reappeared on the other side of Fenrir and immediately slammed her axe into its leg.

Then I saw Wolf, standing out in the open, which confused me for a moment until I realized what was happening. Fenrir immediately took the bait and lunged at ‘Wolf’, passing right through the illusion and into the cabin on the other side.

“Why isn’t it slowing down?” Jag demanded. “I lured it right through that cursed ground shit.”

“Good idea,” I responded. “But you were too late. Cursed Ground already wore off.”

“FUCK!” Jag snarled as she began moving towards Fenrir, a large knife in each hand.

I nodded, agreeing completely with Jag. I would have loved to catch Fenrir in ‘Cursed Ground’ like I had in the Labyrinth. That would have made it a lot easier to deal with, and a lot safer.

Then I looked at my staff, which still had a faint glow. There was just enough power in my ‘Cursed Object’ for one more dose. And considering how many stacks Fenrir already had on it, this last one would be extremely effective.

“I need to get close enough for one more hit,” I announced.

“I’ll cover you,” Stine announced with a look of determination.

“And I’ll cover him,” Grayson added with a smirk.

Fenrir crawled out of the remains of the cabin that it had crashed into, then shook itselflike wet dog that was trying to dry itself off. It staggered forward, snapping it’s jaws at thin air, as though it was seeing something that nobody else was.

Stine, Grayson, and Frank all rushed the primal at once, each one attacking a different leg. Jag quickly joined them and went after the final leg.

I took advantage of the distraction to rush in as well. Just as I reached Fenrir, ‘Hex’ came off cooldown and was ready for another use. I immediately blasted Fenrir with that, then smacked his side with my staff, giving him the last bit of energy from ‘Cursed Object’.

“Yes,” I exclaimed as a new random bane appeared on Fenrir, as well as another copy of one of the existing banes. By this point, I had no idea of what all those banes were, only that they were slowly wearing down our enemy. “Take that, you leg humper.”

Fenrir staggered again, then abruptly leapt forward and smashed into the side of another wall. It snapped around and tried to bite something that wasn’t there.

“We’ve really fucked up that smokey bastard,” Jag said with a smirk.

“Yeah,” Lenore agreed. “Now we just need to finish off that fucker.”

“I agree,” Wolf said with a shaky voice.

Wolf slowly stood up, somehow looking even more reptilian than before. He still had a wound where Michaelangelo had blasted him, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been.

“I’ve done as much as I can for now, Mister Wolf,” Giles said. “But it isn’t enough.”

“It’s enough to keep me alive,” Wolf responded. “If we weren’t in the middle of a fight.”

Wolf took a step forward and staggered. He winced with a look of pain and I saw that his wound was bleeding again. Even after Giles had healed him.

“Unfortunately,” Wolf continued with a snarl, “I don’t have time to rest up and heal.”

Fenrir was glaring at Wolf, hunger and hatred practically radiating off of him. Wolf glared right back with an equal amount of determination.

“Looks like this is our last fight,” Wolf said. “And neither of us is at our best.”

Wolf staggered forward, gesturing for Giles to stay back. Then, he suddenly burst into flame. No, it was more like the air around him turned to flame and heat, which radiated outward with a shocking intensity. The ground beneath his feet immediately began to char and crack.

“I hate having to use this,” Wolf said as his burning aura spread out even further. “This is the real power I got from that damn infernal. The rest is just…side effect.”

“Keep your distance,” Giles warned us.

Fenrir abruptly lunged straight for Wolf, who leapt forward to meet him straight on. There was a sudden explosion of flames and smoke as the ground beneath them burned and crumbled away.

“Holy shit,” Lenore exclaimed.

“I’ve never seen an invoker ability that strong,” Giles said. He stood back, holding his halberd ready but not making any move to help Wolf.

Wolf and Fenrir grappled with each other, each one using smokey tentacles to grab at each other. Wolf’s burning aura surged, searing even the smokey primal.

“Wolf versus wolf,” Grayson said with a shake of his head. “I’m afraid of getting too close.”

“It would kill you,” Frank stated, gesturing to the ground around the two which continued to burn and crumble.

Stine nodded at that. “This is starting to look like that spot where we first found this smokey beast.”

“It was a crater,” Jag said for our benefit. “A big, charred, hole in the ground.”

I wasn’t sure how long this could continue when it was obvious that both of them were weakening. The smokey tentacles faded away, and then it was just Wolf, grabbing hold of Fenrir’s jaws as it struggled to bite him, even as his own aura burned at the primal, leaving its head as little more than a smokey skull.

Fenrir managed to push forward with one final snap, catching Wolf in his jaws. Wolf howled in pain but still managed to pull himself free. Blood poured from the wounds, though quickly blackened and flaked away.

There was a loud crack, right before both of them collapsed to the ground. Fenrir’s smokey aura faded away even as Wolf’s burning one did the same. Neither of them moved.

“It’s…not dead,” Giles warned, staring straight at Fenrir. “Not yet…”

“But…I…am,” Wolf whispered. He struggled to move, to get to his knees, but he couldn’t quite make it.

Giles rushed to his side, then winced. “I wish I could tell you that you’ll be fine, but…”

“But that would be a lie,” Wolf whispered. “I’m too hurt for any healing…” He coughed and spat up blood. “I’m surprised I lived this long.”

I hesitated, then carefully moved closer. My eyes were locked on Fenrir, which was starting to move again, though not much. A lot of the banes had already timed out and faded away, but half a dozen of them were still present.

“Finish it,” Wolf said. “Don’t let it get away.” Then he closed his eyes, making horrible sounds as he struggled to breath while blood continued to drip from his lips. “No more bad decisions,” he whispered. “No…more…regrets.”

And with that, Wolf went silent. The ragged breathing stopped entirely. Wolf was dead.

I didn’t know Wolf. I’d never had a real conversation with him. But we had fought together, and he’d died while fighting our common enemy.

Then I turned my attention to Fenrir, or what was left of it. It was little more than a charred skeleton made of smoke, but it was still moving. It was trying to get back up.

“For Pham,” I snarled as I blasted it with a ‘Hex’. “And for Wolf.”

Fenrir shuddered as the bane hit it and stacked with the remaining banes. Several of those were more layers of ‘Hex’, so it continued taking damage. I stood there and stared at the creature as it shuddered several more times and then went still for good.

I dropped to my knees in exhaustion. It was more emotional than physical, but it was still real nonetheless. Between being kidnapped, escaping, all the fighting, and then the deaths… Way too many deaths.

Then, I remembered what I’d been doing before Fenrir showed up. I grimaced and slowly stood back up, using my staff to help support me. Once I was on my feet again, my eyes went to Frank.

“This is a total clusterfuck,” Jag complained.

“Agreed,” Frank responded, looking to what was left of Michaelangelo’s body. “We lost both our main organizer and our primary supplier.” She shook her head in disgust. “This whole situation has been one bad investment after another.”

“Is that how you see this, Miss Frank?” Giles asked her. “A bad investment?”

“Everything is an investment,” Frank responded. “Time. Money. Attention. Effort. In the end, everything comes down to how much you want to invest those and what you want to get out of it.”

“We sure as hell didn’t get anything out of this,” Jag grumbled.

Frank nodded at that, then turned her attention to me. “For what its worth, I regret my part in what happened. If I’d known things would have turned out like this, I would have just let Michaelangelo examine my axe.”

“Would you really?” Jag asked, looking a little skeptical.

“No,” Frank admitted with a snort. “I didn’t trust Michaelangelo not to damage it. He might have destroyed it just to see how it worked.”

“Sounds like him,” Stine said with a nod. “But the question is, what happens next?” He looked between his friends and the Wardens.

Riel was leaning back against the wall of a destroyed cabin, trying to keep from falling down. He was out of crossbow bolts, and not in any condition to do anything even if he had a full load.

Giles scowled, then carefully said, “Kidnapping and then a second attempted kidnapping…” His eyes darted to me.

“I understand your responsibilities,” Frank said. “And I have had enough of fighting for today.” Then she casually slung her axe over her shoulder, adding, “But I must refuse to surrender.”

“Whether you fight not not,” Giles said. “I’m afraid that I have to take you in.”

Frank just smiled at that, not looking the least bit intimidated by the Warden. Then she looked at Stine and stared at him for a moment.

“I understand your sense of betrayal,” Frank admitted. “And I regret that our association is probably at an end.”

“You did cross a line,” Stine said, looking between Frank and Jag. “Both of you did.”

Jag just snorted. “For someone who says that he hates stupid rules, you sure seem to like following them.”

“Regardless, Miss Frank,” Giles said, stepping forward and putting a hand on Frank’s shoulder…and then through it.

Frank suddenly vanished, as did Jag. For a moment, I just stared at the spots where they’d just stood, then I realized what had just happened.

“Illusion,” I said, looking around for any signs of the real Frank and Jag.

Lenore pointed down the street. “There… I just saw them jumping through an echo…”

“They went into the Labyrinth,” Grayson snarled in frustration. “Should we go after them?”

Giles hesitated for a second, then shook his head. “I’m too tired to go rushing into the Labyrinth. We all are. That would be a good way to get killed.” He gave me an apologetic look.

I nodded in understanding. “Without Maestro and that Michaelangelo guy, I don’t think they’d be interested in me anymore.”

“Michaelangelo is…was obsessed with artifacts,” Stine agreed. “Without him, they wouldn’t have anyone else able to study them.”

“Mad Mike,” Giles mused aloud, then he shook his head. “It looks like we’ll have a few reports to fill out.”

“What is this WE?” Riel asked him with a look of innocence. “My arm is too hurt for me to be able to do that kind of thing.”

Giles just gave him a dirty look.

I just looked at Fenrir, noticing that most of its body was gone. It had been made of smoke, all the way down to its bones, and they were all blowing away in the wind. At the rate it was fading, I suspected that the last those remains would be gone within five minutes.

“We did it, Pham,” I whispered as I stared down at his staff. “We got him for you.”

----------

I let out a sigh as I stepped out of my room and into the lodge hallway. It had been a long day. A Very long day.

I had already taken a shower and had even changed into regular clothes, but I still had my staff with me. After everything that had gone on, I wasn’t about to go anywhere unarmed ever again.

Before I had gone very far, I found Stine leaning up against a wall. He’d washed up and changes clothes too, though he looked a bit…awkward. That wasn’t surprising though, considering the circumstances.

“How are you doing?” I asked Stine, not sure what to say.

Stine chuckled. “I should be asking you that. You were the one who was ambushed and tied up.”

“And you’re the one who just your whole team,” I responded.

The brawler snorted. “You make it sound like they died.”

“Well, they did go rogue,” I said, “so the Wardens will probably be looking for them.”

Stine hesitated for a moment, then he let out a long breath. “Yeah. They really screwed up this time.” He shook his head. “We’ve done a few things that are a little sketchy, but this time they really crossed the line.”

“What about Maestro and that Michaelangelo guy?” I asked. “Weren’t they part of your team?”

There was a brief pause before Stine responded. “Not part of my team, but they were…allies.”

“Allies?” I asked.

He stood up straight and looked back and forth down the hallway before he answered. “You know, we respawned players aren’t even second-class citizens. We exist in a legal gray area with no birth certificates, passports, or whatever…”

I nodded at that. “Yeah,” I responded thoughtfully. “I’m still trying to figure out how that all works.”

Stine smiled faintly. “It isn’t so bad around Labyrinth zones, but in other places… The world needs us, now more than ever, so there’s a limit to how much they can abuse us. But…”

“But?” I repeated with a raised eyebrow.

“I know a man,” Stine said carefully. “He’d been a college professor in his old life, but now… Well, nobody acknowledges any of his diplomas or achievements. He’s an expert, but can’t even get entry level work in his own field.”

“Ouch,” I said in sympathy.

Stine continued. “I know a woman who came back, only to find her husband doesn’t want anything to do with her anymore and that she isn’t allowed anywhere near her own children.”

“And,” he added with a deep scowl. “I know someone who spent his entire life building a successful business. After he died, the brother who’d disowned him…and who hadn’t spoken to him in twenty years, ended up in complete control of it and his fortune, leaving him without a single penny.”

“Wow,” I said, not sure what else I could say to that.

When I’d first learned that I was legally a new person, that I could no longer be held liable for Mike Donovan’s debts or crimes, all I’d been able to think about was that I wouldn’t have to go back to prison. That this was a new start for me. However, it was easy to forget that some people had left a lot behind.

“A lot of players got screwed over that way,” Stine told me with a grimace. “Even non-respawned players get screwed over by some of these new rules.” He shook his head. “Some of us aren’t happy about that and are trying to change things… There’s an alliance, a loose knit organization that’s working to improve things for players. For the most part, we’re still trying to organize and earn enough money to do something more. “

I nodded at that. “I can see that. But what the hell does kidnapping me have to do with that?”

“Nothing,” Stine stated with a grimace. “Maestro was one of our organizers, while Mike was… Well, he was our supplier. I don’t think he cared about our cause. He was only in it because we supplied him with the materials to make new artifacts. And since we got to keep those artifacts, it had seemed like a good deal for everyone.”

“Maestro and Frank were trying to keep Michaelangelo happy,” I said, remembering some of what they’d said. “And they thought he might be able to make soulbound items for you guys.”

Stine rolled his eyes at that. “Stupid idea. Soulbound items are nice, but they’re stuck to only one person. You can’t pass them around to anyone who needs them, and if their user dies…” He shook his head. “Stupid waste.”

I chuckled at that, amused by his reaction. “I guess they are kind of limited that way.”

“I wouldn’t mind having one of my own,” Stine quickly added. “At least, if it was something useful.”

“Having armor that cleans itself is very useful,” I responded with a smirk. “You won’t believe how much it saves me on laundry.”

Stine chuckled, then stared at me for several seconds, suddenly looking a bit awkward again. He straightened up a little more, then absently adjusted his shirt.

“So, I know that this probably isn’t a good time, considering how your day went,” Stine started, looking a bit nervous. “But I was wondering… Will you have dinner with me tonight?”

“Sure,” I responded, only to suddenly realize that he meant more than just eating. “You mean, like a date?”

Stine nodded, smiling self-consciously as he did so. “That was my intention.”

I stood frozen for a moment. My heart raced and I felt more than a little nervous myself. This was a little more serious than a casual lunch. But then, I took a deep breath, smiled, and answered, “I’d like that.”

I leaned back in my chair with my eyes closed, straining to hear the music that was playing in the background. It was a familiar tune, though I was vaguely annoyed by the fact that I couldn’t place the song.

At the moment, I was in a small café in Moose Tow proper, eating lunch with Lenore and trying to ignore all her probing questions about my developing relationship with Stine. That was one of the reasons that I was distracting myself by focusing on that song.

Once I remembered the song, I opened my eyes and absently looked around the café. There was a TV in the far corner that was playing a game, though I didn’t pay enough attention to know what teams were playing or even which sport. Considering that we were still in Canada, I suspected that there was a good chance it was hockey.

“Well?” Lenore asked me with a predatory grin, clearly not letting go of the topic. “Have you fucked him yet?”

“That is none of your business,” I told her with a bright blush.

Lenore laughed at that. “You did.” I blushed even brighter. “Well, he did leave his team for you…”

“It’s not like that,” I muttered self-consciously.

It had been three days since the fight with Stine’s old friends, and the fight with Fenrir. Stine and I had gotten to know each other a bit better since then, but I still wasn’t sure where we were going with it.

After a few more questions, Lenore finally took pity on me and changed the subject. “So,” she asked with a look of amusement. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do now?”

I gave her a suspicious look, wondering if she really had changed the topic. Then, I shook my head. “Still trying to figure it out.”

“Starting over again isn’t easy,” she responded with a sympathetic nod.

“No, it isn’t,” I agreed with a sigh before admitting. “On one hand, it’s a second chance, but…”

“But, you start over with nothing,” Lenore finished.

I shook my head at that. “But I probably don’t deserve it.”

Lenore stared at me for several seconds, looking a little surprised by that. “Donna…”

“I’m not a good person,” I quietly admitted. “I’ve done things… Do you know where I was when I died?”

“It doesn’t matter,” she insisted, giving me a look that almost dared me to argue. “None of us are who we used to be. I mean, I used to be a goody-two-shoes who was always worried about offending other people. But you know what I learned? Fuck them.”

I blinked at that. “You? Worried about offending people?”

Lenore smirked at that. “I know, right?”

“That is hard to imagine,” I told her.

“I was quiet, repressed, and always worried about what other people thought,” Lenore told me with a sigh. “Then I got cancer and realized that what other people thought didn’t matter. What mattered was whether or not I was happy with myself.” She paused at that, smirking faintly and adding. “One of the last things I did before dying, was to tell my overbearing mother to go fuck herself.” Then she laughed. “It was one of the only times I’d ever sworn in my life, and it felt so liberating.”

“Well, you don’t seem to hold back anymore,” I said.

Lenore smirked at that. “No, I don’t. Being respawned was the best thing that ever happened to me. It gave me a second chance to be the person I want to be.”

“Me too,” I admitted. “My last life wasn’t a very good one.”

“I don’t know who you used to be,” Lenore told me, “only who you are now. I like the person you are now.”

“Are you sure?” I asked with a chuckle. “I’ve been told that I have a bad case of foot in mouth disease.”

“Don’t we all?” she responded dismissively. Then she gave me a serious look. “Who we used to be doesn’t matter, only who we are now.”

I considered that for a moment before nodding. “I do want to be a better person…” I owed it to Pham, who sacrificed his life to give me this opportunity. And even more importantly, I owed it to myself.

“The reason I brought the subject up,” Lenore told me, “is that Grayson and I have been talking.”

“Oh?” I asked, curious but also a little suspicious.

“Grayson and I do a bit of light delving on our own,” Lenore explained. “We usually team up with a few other players when we want to get serious. And of course, we contracted with Giles and Pham fairly often too. Warden players like to work with non-Warden players, partly for numbers, and partly to build connections.”

“I can see that,” I said with a nod of understanding.

Lenore paused for a moment before continuing. “Well, Grayson and I agree that you’d make a great addition to our regular team. Hell, Giles would be happy to work with you again too.”

My eyes widened slightly in surprise. “You’re saying…”

“We want you to join our team,” Lenore told me. “Officially.”

I blinked several times as I absorbed this. They wanted me… I wasn’t really used to that, but I definitely liked the idea.

“I’m in,” I answered with a grin.

“Good,” Lenore responded.

Lenore was about to say something else when she paused and turned to look off to the side. I followed her gaze and saw that Giles and Grayson had just entered the café. Grayson was in normal clothes, though he still had his sword hanging from his belt while Giles was wearing one of those gray Warden uniforms.

As they reached our table, Lenore flashed Grayson a grin. “She said yes.”

Grayson blinked at that. “I thought we were going to ask her together.”

Lenore flipped him the bird and smirked. “Beat you to it.”

“What’s this?” Giles asked.

“Donna is going to officially join our team,” Lenore told him as she flashed Grayson a smug look.

“Congratulations, Miss Donna,” Giles told me with a smile.

“Thank you,” I responded, watching Giles carefully. He was tense. “What’s going on?”

“I received a new mission,” Giles answered as he looked around at each of us. “And I was hoping that all of you would agree to help.”

“What is it?” Grayson asked, his expression turning serious.

“I know this is short notice,” Giles said carefully. “None of us have had enough time to really recover after recent events, but circumstances being what they are…”

“What the fuck is it?” Lenore asked with a roll of her eyes.

Giles chuckled at that. “The mission, Miss Lenore…”

“Chase after Frank and Jag?” Grayson asked.

“Save Timmy from the well?” I added.

Lenore snickered at that and held out her fist for a fist bump. “Fuck up some monsters?”

Giles hesitated for a moment before chuckling. “Yes, to that last one.”

Grayson scratched his chin for a moment, then asked, “Does this have something to do with the Labyrinth swallowing up Labyrinth zones?”

“Yes, Mister Grayson, it does,” Giles answered. “Another remote zone has vanished, though they don’t know how long ago this happened. This one was in the Sahara.”

“In the middle of fucking nowhere,” Lenore said with a snort.

“Exactly,” Giles said, his expression grim. “Because of this, it has been decided that we need to take proactive measures. Teams are being sent to all the remote zones to cull the monster populations, and a lot of players are being contracted to help with this.”

“Warden contracts are usually good money,” Grayson agreed cheerfully.

“So, we head to the middle of nowhere,” Lenore said, “kill a shit ton of monsters, and make some nice money? I’m in.”

Lenore and Grayson both looked to me, a clear reminder that I was now part of their team. I smiled at that, pleased to feel so accepted.

Then, I pulled up my status page.

CLASS: ENCHANTER
LEVEL: 11
FREE STAT POINTS: 0

FOCUS: 11
PERCEPTION: 7
PRESENCE: 11
STRENGTH: 6
VITALITY: 10
DEXTERITY: 7
AGILITY: 7

TALENTS AND AFFINITIES:
-ENCHANTMENT
--BANES
-MAGE STAFF

ABILITIES:
-HEX
-CURSED GROUND
-CURSED OBJECT

SOULBOUND ITEMS:
-ARMOR OF THE ENCHANTRESS

I’d gained another level after that fight with Fenrir, and I’d assigned the extra point to focus. It all looked good, but I definitely wanted to continue improving and this mission offered an opportunity to do just that.

“I’m in too,” I said.

“Now that that’s decided,” Grayson said. “Where are we doing and when do we leave?”

“Brazil,” Grayson answered. “And we leave in two days.”

“Well, crap,” I mused with a sigh. What was I going to tell Stine?

Thunder rolled while lightning crashed overhead. The dark storm clouds were thick and heavy, with an eerie purple glow from within. But in spite of how impressive the sky looked, my attention was focused firmly on the ground in front of me.

More than a dozen monsters were rushing straight at me. These ones looked like a cross between monkeys and salamanders, with slimy pink skin and wide mouths that were full of sharp teeth. Each one stood about four feet tall.

“I don’t think so,” I said as I dropped a ‘Cursed Ground’ right in front of me, catching all of the monsters in this particular group.

Since all those monsters were now slowed to a virtual crawl, I took advantage of the opportunity to dish out more damage. I stood back, adjusted my grip on my staff, then fired a ‘Hex’ at one of the monsters. Then, I grinned.

“Now for the fun part,” I said.

I held my staff in one hand, but I had a leather whip in my other hand. I snapped the whip, cracking it in the air experimentally. I still wasn’t very good with this thing yet, but I was definitely getting better.

A moment later, I snapped the whip again, this time at the monster with my ‘Hex’ on it. The whip didn’t do much damage, but the ‘Cursed Object’ that I’d placed on it did a lot. A random bane appeared on the monster as well as a copy of the ‘Hex’. I snapped at the monster again and another random debuff appeared, though another copy of ‘Hex’ appeared on the monster beside it instead.

More monsters were rushing towards me, ones that weren’t caught inside of my ‘Cursed Ground’, so I turned my attention to those ones. I hit one of those with a ‘Hex’ and then snapped at it with my whip. Another random bane formed while another copy of ‘Hex’ formed on the monster beside it. I grinned and kept lashing at monsters with my whip, hitting them with doses of ‘Cursed Object’ that added to the stack of banes and spread them to nearby enemies.

It didn’t take long before I used up the last charge of ‘Cursed Object’ on my whip. When that happened, I backed up and took a moment to look around the battlefield.

Grayson rushed in and used his shield to slam one monster that was trying to sneak up on me, knocking it back and then finishing it off with his sword. Then he snapped around and gave the same attention to another monster that had tried to sneak up on him.

“Watch your back,” Grayson warned me.

Suddenly, an arrow shot through the head of yet another monster that had been trying to sneak up on Grayson.

“I can say the same thing to you,” Lenore called out.

Lenore stood back in her full armor, with her conjured bow in hand. She paused just long enough to conjure a massive shield that was too heavy for her to handle well with her current strength. However, instead of carrying that shield around, she dropped it to the ground and used it as a short wall to provide cover while she continued shooting at monsters.

Giles stood behind Lenore, watching her back side and using his halberd to keep the monsters away. Then, he held out a hand and fired a ball of silver energy which shot out and knocked several of the monsters back.

“You doing okay, Red?” Lenore called out.

“Doing just fine,” I called back.

Just then, there was a loud roar as a new monster appeared, a much larger and nastier version of the ones we’d been fighting. If the others looked like monkey salamanders, this one was like a silverback gorilla salamander.

“Another boss just showed up,” Grayson commented.

“I’ve got it,” another voice exclaimed.

Stine suddenly rushed forward, jumping over fifty feet and landing right beside the boss monster. He punched the monster as he landed, sending it flying back with a sickening crunch. The boss monster hit the ground and tumbled several times before coming to a stop.

“Show off,” I exclaimed.

“All for you,” Stine responded as he flashed me a grin.

I took a moment to appreciate his muscular body and the graceful way he moved, then turned my attention back to the monsters. There were a lot of them, but they were relatively weak. That wasn’t surprising since we were just barely inside the Labyrinth, almost right next to the exit that led to Brazil.

It had been nearly a month since the Wardens had flown our group down to Brazil, to help defend the Labyrinth zone down there. To my pleasant surprise, Stine had offered to come with, and he’d been part of our team since.

We spent weeks in the Labyrinth zone itself, killing off every monster that infested the place. From the sheer number of them, we assumed that the Labyrinth had been very close to claiming the zone for itself. Unfortunately, just killing the monsters wasn’t enough. New ones kept pouring of the Labyrinth in ridiculous numbers, until we decided to go inside and start culling here as well.

“It’s just disappointing that the Labyrinth is throwing a temper tantrum like this,” Grayson commented. “Just because we killed all its monsters out there and kept it from claiming the zone.”

“One last push,” Giles said. “I believe we’re nearly done.”

“About fucking time,” Lenore agreed as she fired another group of arrows at the monsters. “Brazil is nice, but I really want to get back to my own bed.”

I chuckled at that, knowing exactly what she meant. Since the Labyrinth zone was remote, it didn’t have a lot of luxury amenities. The local players and their equivalent to the Wardens, had provided some nice tents, but it wasn’t the same as having nice beds, air conditioning, and cold beer.

There were advantages to being here, to fighting monsters for several weeks straight. We’d all gained a few more levels and some of our group had even gained new abilities, though I wasn’t one of those. At least not directly. However, the abilities that I did have had become a bit more powerful.

Once of the things I’d discovered was that by increasing my focus, I also increase my control over which of the existing banes my ‘Cursed Object’ would copy. I usually preferred to copy ‘Hex’ when possible, just for the increased damage, but it was great having options. And to make this even more useful, I could also make the new copies appear on nearby monsters instead of just on the one that had been directly dosed with my ‘Cursed Object’.

And of course, when I’d reached level fifteen, I’d also unlocked the third ability of my ‘Armor of the Enchantress’, which gave me another powerful tool. This one simply allowed my armor to store one of my enchantments for later.

With that, I flipped the mental switch to activate the enchantment that was currently stored in my armor and transferred it to my whip. ‘Cursed Object’ settled into the weapon as though I had only just cast it, even though I’d saved it a couple hours ago.

I cracked the whip and hit another nearby monster, spreading even more banes. The monkey salamander abruptly attacked the monster beside it, even as I hit a third one with a ‘Hex’.

My banes spread over the monsters, fucking them up in one way or another, ensuring that they were less of a threat and much easier to deal with. This was my role. This was how I helped my team. It was something that I’d come to take great pride in.

Before long, the rest of the monsters dwindled away to nothing. We were surrounded by piles of dead monsters, many of them already starting to melt away. No new ones seemed to be coming, which I took to be a good sign.

“I think this may be it,” Giles said a bit hopefully. “I think we beat back the Labyrinth enough to keep the zone.”

“For now,” Grayson pointed out.

“We should be fine,” Lenore added. “As long as no one ignores this fucking zone again.”

“Player presence and regular culling should take care of that, Miss Lenore,” Giles told her with a tired smile. “But it looks like we’ve finished doing our part.”

In spite of the fact that Giles had already proclaimed victory, we continued walking around that area of the Labyrinth, the area near the exit. There were a couple more monsters remaining, but no large groups. It appeared that the current issue really had been resolved.

“You looked pretty good out there,” Stine said as he put an arm over my shoulders. “And you really look like you’re getting the hang of that whip.”

“Thanks,” I told him with a smile. “And thanks for suggesting I use one. It gives me almost twice the reach of my staff.”

Once we were done, we left the Labyrinth and returned to Earth, to the zone in Brazil. There, we met up with the other player team that we’d been working with, the one from the local area.

“Mister Silva,” Giles greeted the head of the other team.

Silva was the leader of the local team, a lean and muscular player with dark skin. He was a member of the local equivalent of the Wardens, a group that had asked for extra manpower to help out when they realized that they’d need to cull their remote zone. Since they also had another Labyrinth zone near a more populated area, they didn’t think that they had enough players to take care of both zones on their own.

“Mister Giles,” Silva responded with a smile. “It seems that we have successfully ended the invasion.”

“Indeed, it does,” Giles responded with a smile. “Your people should be able to keep the new monsters under control without any problems.”

Silva nodded at that and grinned even wider. “I am certain we can. Teams of players will take turns patrolling the area and killing all the monsters. But that is an issue for tomorrow. For now, we celebrate.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said.

The Brazilian player said something to one of his teammates, and they had a quick conversation. However, they talked in Portuguese, so I couldn’t understand a word of it.

“Pereira has offered to cook some picanha,” Silva announced, gesturing to the teammate he’d just been speaking to. “Now, we have a feast to prepare.”

“Now that sounds pretty damn tasty,” Stine said with a grin.

Stine and I shared a kiss, then I leaned on my staff and silently watched everyone else. My teammates. My friends. I smiled as I considered where I was and the people I now had by my side, and just how different it was from where I used to be.

Then, I remembered a quote from a book that I’d recently read, one that I’d bought to read on the flight down to Brazil. It was a quote that stuck with me.

‘Happiness is like one of those palaces on an enchanted island, its gates guarded by dragons. One must fight to gain it.’

Then I chuckled at the words of Edmond Dantes and mused, “So, it’s a good thing that I have a lot of practice fighting monsters. After the Labyrinth, a little dragon should be nothing.”

Epilogue:

Frank stared at the computer monitor in front of her, carefully reading the report. She nodded faintly as she finished, an old habit that she performed whenever she was trying to lock something down in her memory. Once she was done, she leaned back and stretched.

At the moment, Frank was in her office, sitting behind an oak desk and wearing a custom-tailored suit. She looked every inch the professional. However, the large axe that leaned up against the wall beside her gave a slightly different impression.

Frank absently reached out and ran her hand over the handle, even as she resisted the urge to pick up the axe. Having it close at hand was enough.

It would have been easy to send the axe away, making it vanish back to wherever it went when it wasn’t active. However, she preferred to have the axe there…right where she could touch it at any time. Right where she could grab it if she happened to need it. It’s presence was…reassuring. And of course, its presence also served as a reminder to anyone who saw her, that she was more than the businesswoman she appeared.

There was a brief knock on the door, then Jag came in, not waiting for a response. Jag looked impatient and annoyed, which was no surprise. Those were common emotions for the illusionist.

“I’m tired of sitting on my ass,” Jag blurted out. “Haven’t we been laying low long enough?”

Frank took a moment to adjust her tie before admitting, “Honestly, I was just thinking the same thing.”

“Really?” Jag asked in surprise.

“We’ve been keeping a low profile for long enough,” Frank said with a faint smile. “The Wardens seem to have lost what little interest they did have in us.”

Jag gave her a skeptical look. “What do you mean?”

“We didn’t kill anyone,” Frank pointed out. “At least, nobody that they know about, and the…incident…in Moose Tow didn’t involve any non-players. The Wardens aren’t usually too concerned about player on player conflict.”

“If that’s true,” Jag asked with narrowed eyes. “Then why have we been hiding out for so long?”

“Several reasons,” Frank answered with a faint smile. “The first of which is, out of sight, out of mind. I wanted to give the Wardens time to forget about us and to move on to more important matters.” She held up a second finger. “I needed to check on a few investments and organize a few things now that Maestro and Michaelangelo are no longer with us.” Then she held up a third finger. “And third is the simple fact that our team was down a member.”

“Stine,” Jag spat out. “Fucking traitor.”

“To be fair,” Frank pointed out, “we were the ones who made moves against his would-be girlfriend behind his back. From his perspective, we would be the ones who betrayed him.”

Jag hesitated for a moment before reluctantly nodding. “Yeah, that’s true.”

“It was only a matter of time before we lost Stine anyway,” Frank continued. “He was perfectly happy doing Labyrinth delves and helping build up our resources, but he would have balked at some of the things we will likely have to do in the future.”

“Yeah,” Jag agreed with a faint smirk. “He didn’t like getting his hands dirty.” She shook her head. “Does he think we’re going to fix all the fucking problems just by hiring lawyers and lobbyists?”

“Perhaps,” Frank responded with a chuckle. “But he has been keeping in contact with a few of our other associates, so he isn’t out completely. It’s possible that one day he may come back to our cause. We’ll just have to be careful not to antagonize him further.”

“Fine,” Jag responded with a look of annoyance. “But back to the Labyrinth…”

“I am just as eager to go delving again as you are,” Frank told her with a smile. She absently reached out and touched her axe, barely aware that she was doing so. “We still need the resources, not to mention, we need to get even stronger.”

Jag nodded at that, this time in complete agreement. “So, do you think our new team member will be ready?”

A moment later, someone cleared their throat from the doorway to the office. “Are you talking about me?”

The new addition to their team stepped into the room, immediately drawing Frank and Jag’s full attention. She was tall and slender, with shoulder-length white hair and some of the darkest skin that Frank had ever seen on a human. Her presence immediately filled the space, making it impossible to ignore her.

“Godiva,” Frank greeted the shaper who had only recently agreed to join them. “Jag and I were just discussing our next trip into the Labyrinth.”

Godiva’s eyes seemed to light up at those words. “Good. It has been far too long since I’ve been able to go delving.”

“Are we gonna bring more NPC’s with us?” Jag asked with annoyance.

“Perhaps,” Frank agreed. “If we can find any foolish enough to sign up on short notice.”

“Don’t delay for long,” Godiva warned. With that, she pulled out a silver metal ball and began rolling it around in her hand. She stared down at it with an almost hungry expression before adding, “There’s something I’m looking for in the Labyrinth, and I’ve waited too long to find it as it is.”

THE END