Previously: In the aftermath of the Tiqr war, Kevin began to help with what he could. He made an Extractor to remove Zehia's blood class. He flew with Sibby to Roshal and started an automated Crafting process. He spoke with Remi Canada, who told him about A'ctelios Salash. Kevin and Sibby visited the Carven City. The Siberian used her powers to first make a fire to drive people out, and then to unleash the saliva that Kevin had stored from Crawler.

I stood with the group of people who'd escaped A'ctelios Salash.

There were fewer than I would've expected.

"Why didn't they escape?" I asked out loud.

"It was their home." A dark-skinned man answered me. "It was part of them. In truth, I am only surprised at what has happened, not with their decision to stay."

"What did just happen?" Another asked.

"A fire."

"But a fire could not destroy A'ctelios Salash! If that was the case then..."

"Then what?"

"Weren't the people of it descendants of those who killed the beast? Weren't they trying to... finish the job?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Finish what job? They clearly stayed because it was shelter and food in the middle of the desert!"

"You can't be serious about that. Tomehold might be shelter, but food? You lived there. You know the warnings."

"The warnings?" I asked.

"Yes. The flesh of A'ctelios Salash can heal the sick, and grant strength and toughness, but only to some. To others... the gift is less kind." The dark-skinned man answered me as the rest of the group continued to express disbelief at what had just happened.

"How 'less kind'?" I asked with narrowed eyes.

"You do not know?" He shook his head. "You must have just arrived. All newcomers are to be told about the dangers of eating the meat of A'ctelios Salash. It is always to be a choice."

I hadn't been given a choice. Nor had Remi's group. "Why do you say that?" I didn't want to confront the man. Even though the act was done, and I didn't regret it, I still could use more perspectives.

"My father told me." He slapped his chest. "And his father told him. My family has been [Merchants] that do business with A'ctelios Salash for generations. Some of my aunts and uncles have even accepted the gift when they were too old to continue on for long."

"Did they... survive?"

He shook his head. "Yes, but not how you mean. It was a gamble and they understood that."

"I see."

I could tell him. I could play the video for him from the camera. The people here would recognize it as an artifact, and have no reason to doubt what it showed. It would probably be even more effective than showing them the image with Tongue of Babel.

But... what would I gain?

I had no need to justify my actions. Whatever guilt I felt had been dulled by Gamer's Mind. I'd stopped them from breaking their own rules and... horribly mutating people on the off-chance they might forcibly recruit them instead.

It was just that I'd expected survivors. Not all of them, certainly, but most. Some. At least a few.

The man looked at my expression and patted me on the back. "It is a tragedy... but I believe they chose to stay behind. In truth, I do not think they could live without the meat from their home. It's probably better this way."

"The real danger is what if part of A'ctelios Salash survived." Someone else spoke up.

"I'd say the real danger is whatever burned it." A woman came up to us. "What could have caused such a thing?"

"Dragons." A young man said with confidence. "What else would want to destroy it AND have such flames. It's dragons I tell you!"

'I have information about something you lost.'

The [Message] Spell was sucked into the information black hole that my magi-tech created. Finally, whomever it was trying to get in contact with me had done so at a time when I had Ears of Babel active and wasn't distracted by something I couldn't put on hold for a moment.

I left the connection open as I moved backwards. I kept my motions slow and smooth, while I hunched my shoulders to blend into the background. As soon as Threat Sense let me know no one was looking, I teleported away.

I didn't know who precisely had sent the message, but it's someone from Wistram. I need to find out what they want. 'Sibby, is everything okay down there?'

'Yeah, everything's fine. Lots of stuff in the air from the acid melting. There's, like, a puddle of it down here. Or an ocean? No, no. A lake. A lake of acid that's still eating through the ground. Whew. It's big. I wonder how long it will take for it to actually get used up?'

Right. I couldn't let Crawler's acid lay around where someone might be able to get a sample of it. That stuff's dangerous, and it's easy to make more - if you don't mind acifying someone.

'We'll handle it in a minute. Can you come up here and guard my body? I need to talk to someone far away.'

'Sure!'

My connection with Sibby vanished as she un-summoned herself, then it came back a moment later as Sibby appeared at my side. She smiled widely at me.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before pushing mana into both Ears and Tongue of Babel. The wound of my soul? magic? mana pool? ached and grew slightly worse. Not enough for another Oversaturated debuff, but I was getting better at judging the damage I'd suffered. This conversation had set back my healing by an hour at least already.

'May I ask who this is?'

'Teura.'

Teura?

...Oh, right! She was the half-elf that was Feor's assistant or something. I wasn't sure of her exact position, but she was a member of the Centrists, and a talented [Mage]. She also had bright red hair and was seemingly oblivious of the crush that Aaron had on her.

'And what was it I lost?'

'One of your creations. A small rodent.'

I blinked. Boo? She knew where Boo was?

'I did. We were separated when I first arrived. I take it you know where he is?'

'Yes I do, Archmage. I take it the information is valuable to you?'

I closed my eyes and sighed. Wistram and its currency of 'secrets'. Or, rather, information.

'It is, indeed, Teura. What do you want in exchange for this information?' There was little point in lying or in trying to barter - at least until I knew what she wanted. Even then, I'd rather pay full price than try to haggle people down.

'I want to learn from you.'

I froze. 'What?'

'I want to be your apprentice.'

'Teura...' I tried to find the right words. 'I will speak frankly, as this conversation is encrypted. You know I am no [Mage]. Nor do I cast Spells like you do. I do not even use technology from Earth that can be replicated. People cannot learn how to become a Parahuman.'

Which wasn't to say such a thing was impossible. If it wasn't for Dragon, there was a good chance that parahumans, or parahalfelves, or paragoblins, or whatever would've started popping up already. Or, it might be that only Optimize and Projection had access. And possibly Surgery.

If I died, Optimize would probably look for a new host, but, to be honest, my Shard had plenty of time to observe the world before experimenting on it.

'I am well aware of that, Pixel. But I feel there is a great deal of knowledge that can be gained from simply watching the manner in which you manipulate magic. It is not uncommon for apprentice [Mages] to be left to their own devices as they try and glean insights from being close to their Masters.'

'Let me think about it.'

'That is all I ask in exchange. Just consideration. As for your rodent... is it safe for me to relay that information with a [Message]?'

'No. Probably not. I will seek you out with my projection in Wistram.'

'I look forward to it, Archmage of Cubes.'

I innerly cringed. She'd used the title completely unironically despite knowing I wasn't a [Mage], much less an [Archmage]. She was serious.

One more thing on the list. It would be great to have Boo back again. Not as great as Sibby, but I enjoyed the little guy's company.

...And if I hadn't used all my spare suits in Crafting the seed that would take down Roshal, I could've used him to field a proper army.

*Annoyance negated by Gamer's Mind.

Well, there was nothing for it now. What's done is done. I will, however, take the lesson in actively searching for people who send me important [Messages] to heart.

I opened my eyes to Sibby peering at my face. 'So? How did it go? Who did you talk to? What did they want? Was it Riley? No, it couldn't have been Riley, could it? Tell me if it was Riley!'

"Easy, Sibby, easy." I put a hand on her shoulder. "It was a [Mage] from Wistram. She knows where Boo is, but there's still no word on Riley."

'Aww...' Sibby slumped for a moment before perking up. 'Well, we'll find her! Yep! Riley's a tough little girl. I can't even remember the last time I had to comfort her when she had nightmares. She was always so little and cute when-'

"Sibby." I held up a hand. "We can reminisce on the way back to Tiqr. Right now we have a lake of acid to deal with."

'Hm?'

"I'll pass you Inventory. You go back into the chasm and Inventory as much acid as you can. Then I take it back and dump it somewhere in the desert. We keep doing that until the acid has lost its potency." I shrugged. "It's going to be long and boring, but... someone could realize what a potent weapon it is and..."

'Okay.' Sibby nodded with a serious expression. 'I'll do it!'

She vanished from sight and I felt her moving towards the... hole didn't describe it well enough. I'd never seen the Grand Canyon, but I have to imagine the gap left by the dissolving corpse of A'ctelios Salash had to be comparable.

What was it that Athal had said? 'A true wonder of the world on any list.'

I got the impression that this site would remain famous even after the twisted city was nothing but a puddle.

I started teleporting away, pausing every jump to dump the acid that Sibby had accumulated around me. I've said it before, but Crawler's saliva is nasty stuff. Even if you disregard its horrifying ability to self-propagate, it was incredibly potent.

Impossibly potent.

I'd read about acids to Riley as bedtime stories. Normal acids break apart molecules by being so attractive that the atoms will try to join up with them instead. Things like glass and sand are normally resistant due to being made of silicon dioxide - a very sturdy molecule that doesn't come apart easily.

It takes something like hydrofluoric to dissolve sand, and even then, it's a slow process.

Crawler's acid, like Crawler himself, was adaptive.

How? I had no idea. It was clearly what his Shard had been focused on, but either the stuff didn't need its help to work. Or it was pressing its finger on the physics scales even in this world. Or Optimize was picking up the slack. Or something.

The end result was the soup of acid and digestive enzymes that could 'eat' organic material to make more acid. The acid, in turn, was surprisingly weak against organic substances, but even normally resilient things like sand or glass couldn't stop it.

A one-two punch that was hard to top.

And that, honestly, made no sense to me. A substance that works well on molecules with a particular atom, sure, but one that worked well on everything EXCEPT something? Acid shouldn't be so particular in what it worked on... but that was just a primitive human's opinion. Entities clearly knew more about how the world really worked than I did.

Once I was far enough away that I feared my bond with Sibby with thin, I stopped and sat down. I continued to dump the acid in a circle around me, but with Expansion activating, the circle was much, much bigger.

Good thing too, because the acid had a reddish sheen to it. I trusted it even less than I trusted the regular acid. Hours passed, and we were eventually done. I wondered how long it would take the desert to bury the sludge I'd just disposed of.

A wind was blowing from the east, and sand was already covering the crud.

I teleported out of the circle and began making my way back to where A'ctelios Salash had been. Sibby met me halfway.

'So what now?'

"I think... I'm going to use a drone to take a look at the hole myself.'

'I GOT all the acid, Kevin.' She frowned at me.

I took Sibby's hand. "I know you did, but I still want to see it for myself."

"Okay." She smiled at me as she spoke out loud. "I'll watch over you as you investigate."

"Thanks."

I un-Inventoried a drone, and piloted it back to the crater.

The first thing I noticed were the people milling around. They'd constructed a shanty town to protect them from the sun. I wondered what would happen to them. They had some animals, but not nearly enough to form a caravan. In fact... there were fewer animals than when I'd left.

I guess some of them had already set out towards civilization.

I could help the rest, but that would mean staying with them for an unspecified amount of time. I felt a little bad because I was ultimately the cause of their current strife, but not bad enough to spend days or weeks trudging through the desert without Sibby.

She could hardly show her face without being recognized and causing all sorts of trouble.

No. Better to leave anonymously.

The 'hole' itself was more like a valley. Sand had already spilt into it, and the sheer walls of the chasm had smoothed somewhat into a more gentle slope. It was still far too steep for most people to navigate, but I'm sure a [Climber] or [Explorer] could manage it.

Inside, it was pretty much what I expected.

The sun had already reached its zenith a few hours ago and was now dipping towards the horizon. So now almost the entire floor was covered in shadow. More surprising, was that the bottom had a thin layer of water that had accumulated as it seeped out of the surrounding soil.

If you dig deep enough, you can make a well even in the desert, and this hole was a lot deeper than any well.

At least it wasn't too far down to, I don't know, hit magma or something like that.

The ground beneath the shallow layer of water looked surprisingly normal. Sibby had gotten all of the residue along with all of the acid. All that was left was bedrock in a smooth bowl. All the remains were scattered towards the east - and Nerrhavia's Fallen.

There wasn't much of a reason for that aside from that I didn't want to leave the waste to the north, where someone might associate it with Tiqr - no matter how unlikely that was. Plus, I had a small grudge against Nerrhavia's Fallen for their part in the war.

All the countries that had invaded were on my shit-list, but Nerrhavia's Fallen was at the top for how callously they'd spent the lives of their soldiers. I shook my head. I guessed it was too much to ask them to give up without a fight.

"Good job, Sibby." I opened my eyes as I started having the drone fly back. "I think this is a real improvement."

"Yeah! No more of them tricking people!"

"True." I stood up. "But I also meant that the huge pit can become a Caravan City instead of the Carven one." I continued to explain myself as Sibby gave me a puzzled look. "I don't know if it will become an oasis, but being so deep will mean that the sun won't evaporate the water that's seeping from the ground. All it really needs is a wall around it to keep the sand from blowing in and filling things up."

"So... we're building a wall next?" Sibby's eyes glowed.

"Perhaps later, if no one else does it." It wouldn't be too hard to do, but it would be blatantly obvious that I'd built it. The Archmage of Cubes showing up to help would be great for my reputation, even if 'solving' a problem I'd made left a bitter taste in my mouth. The main thing was that I didn't want to be anywhere near what was left of A'ctelios Salash. It would be simpler to claim ignorance than to explain why I'd felt it was necessary to slaughter an entire kingdom.

That was one of the reasons Roshal would fall at the hands of something else: plausible deniability.

"Let's head back." I Inventoried the drone and un-Inventoried the plane. "I want to make sure Laila and Zehia are doing okay."

"Me too!"

"No, no, that's not going to work." Laila was getting better at taking precise control of Zehia's mouth and vocal chords. It was easier to talk without disrupting what their body was doing. It also felt less... invasive. She could sense Zehia's thoughts if she wrapped herself around the brain and used her Skill. Laila knew that privacy was a precious thing, and she didn't want to rob Zehia of it any more than their circumstances already had.

"Sure it will. A body without a Life Thread shouldn't be that hard to come by, even here." The downside was that she had to look like a crazy person to anyone overhearing their conversation. She was quite literally talking to herself.

They did have different voices... so people might assume she was a [Performer] of some sort.

"I'm not big enough."

"How do you know?"

"Because I can see your Life Thread." Laila moved part of herself up and down the central core of Zehia. She didn't know how she was 'seeing' it, or how she navigated inside of her friend.

Friend?

Laila paused at the thought. Did she consider Zehia a friend? Maybe? It was hard to stay mad at someone who you could read their thoughts and understand them so... intimately. Besides, anger was never a luxury Laila had been able to afford.

"-do that?"

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"I SAID," Laila could feel Zehia rolling her eyes. "You can? How can you do that?"

"Magic?"

"Magic." The former [Assassin] said with a flat voice.

"I mean, all Stitchfolk are magic, aren't we? And that magic comes from our Life Thread. So... wouldn't it make sense that the same magic could, I don't know, react with itself? It's not like I have any other sensory organs."

"Yeah... that's right." And now Zehia felt bad. It wasn't just in her voice, but an emotion that was strong enough to pass over their light connection. "It must be awful... falling in darkness without anything to latch onto."

Laila imagined what it would be like outside of Zehia's body - assuming she could actually survive... "Yeah, it's terrifying, but I can't stay inside of you forever."

Zehia sighed and their eyes looked down at their clawed hands. "I wish I could get a new body. I've poked and scratched myself so many times already. Not to mention biting my tongue!"

"Your body is great! I know I don't have any to compare it to, but I can tell how resilient it is!"

"Because we're a monster-"

"No! Because we're a survivor! Neither of us may have that class, but that's what we are! We survived, and so we're going to keep on living. And I'll eventually have my own body too!"

"You JUST said that you're too small for a body."

"I mean, yeah, but... I could grow! That's possible!"

"Uh, huh. And what if you can't animate cloth on your own now? Did you think of that? Your very nature has changed."

"I... hadn't considered that."

"Well, you should. Changing bodies is risking your life. It's when Selphids are most vulnerable." Laila got the distinct impression that Zehia was speaking from first-hand experience.

"Mister Pixel will be able to help us."

"[Archmage] Pixel is too important to waste his time on us." There was an edge to Zehia's voice, but Laila didn't sense any disappointment or resentment from her friend. "And he already did enough. I don't know what it cost him, but I can tell that his aid for us wasn't cheap."

"It wasn't?"

"His relic shattered into nothing. I know you saw that, because I was looking at it when it did."

"Oh... yeah."

Zehia's voice became more upbeat. "Besides, he isn't a Stitchfolk, he doesn't know about our magic. Nobody alive today can match the Threadmakers. So him not helping isn't a big deal!" It FELT like Zehia was trying to cheer her up. If so, she was bad at it. "Now, let's stop moping and go and buy some thread."

"Thread?"

"Yes. I am considering what Classes to take. I might pick up [Painter] again... but for something more useful, [Seamstress] will do." Zehia played with her fingers. "Lots of Stitchfolk take it, and I could use the practice in getting used to my new hands."

"I understand." Laila couldn't help but fidget, which Zehia somehow picked up on.

"But?"

"But, we don't have any money."

"Really? Didn't you and Sibby steal anything from Riqre when you killed him?"

"There, uh, there wasn't anything left we could take. Plus, we were traveling light."

"What did you eat?"

Laila paused for a second. "Sibby brought me food." Meat. She'd eaten a lot of meat. She still remembered the bloody remains of [Slavers] that her friend had offered her. She hadn't partaken, but it brought back memories of when the Blood Class had been in control.

"And there's not much of an economy here, huh?" Zehia strolled out of the tent and looked around. The crowds of refugees had thinned, but there were still a lot of people and less food to go around. "We'll get taken care of for now. We could even go to the palace, but I don't want to beg."

"I suppose, I could get paid for being a [Runner] now that the war's over?"

"A [Runner], huh? That doesn't sound so bad, but we shouldn't split our Classes..." A smile spread across their face. "Actually, we SHOULD split our classes. We can be both a [Runner] and a [Seamstress]. Two classes in one body!" Her voice dropped to a whisper and her eyes darted back and forth for anyone that might've overheard them. "Or we can both try to get it and see if our Skills overlap."

"That sounds good, but we should ask Sibby what she thinks."

Zehia shook her head. "I know this is rich, considering our situation, but you need to be more independent Laila."

"I... just want her opinion! The Siberian is really smart! She doesn't act like it all the time, but she knows things. She comes up with these intricate plans, and they work!"

"The one we came up with didn't work too well." Zehia grumbled as the two of them set off through the slums and towards the city proper. "But I do admit that most of that was my fault."

The [Guard] at the gate waved them through as they approached. "Good evening, Miss Laila." He smiled at them. "Going into the city?"

"Yes." Laila took over, and immediately folded her hands in front of herself. "I'm going to the Runner's Guild."

"Looking for something this late in the day?"

"No, no." Laila shook her head as Zehia's consciousness backed away for the interaction. "I'm actually going to see about... becoming an official Runner."

"I thought you were one already."

"I have a token they gave me." Laila patted her pocket where the badge was stowed away. "But, that was just an emergency thing. "What with... everything." She gestured with her hands before quickly clasping them behind her back.

"True." The [Guard] smiled as he leaned on his spear. "A lot of people leveled in classes they never would have without the war. Still, that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. I'm sure you'll make a great [Runner]."

"If they'll have me."

"If?" The man barked a quick 'Ha'. "That's a good one, Miss Laila."

She gave him a confused look. "A good what?"

"A good joke."

"I wasn't joking..."

"Even if you just started, you know the different levels of [Runners], right?"

"Uhm, city, and, uh..."

"Street, city, and courier."

She nodded. "That's right."

"And..."

"And?"

The [Guard] rolled his eyes. "You've already been running things to different cities, right? That makes you a city runner."

"That not- I mean..." Laila pulled her hands from behind her back and began to run her claws over her palms. "I just did what I had to."

"What you had to?" He smiled down at her. "Miss Laila, I might not be a [Runner]. In fact, I'm almost positive I'm not. However, I DO know a thing or two about [Runners]. It comes with being a [Gate Guard]. City [Runners], or any [Runners] really, don't go places that are dangerous."

"What?"

"You heard me. A [Runner]'s job is to run, not to get themselves killed by running into dangerous places, like a war zone."

"All the other [Runners] were doing the same."

"That's because they're citizens of Tiqr. Of course they'd risk their lives, but that's an exceptional situation. You just came here, Miss Laila. No one would say anything if you didn't want to risk your life."

"No, I mean, there wasn't... I just did what I had to."

"You still did it in the end." He jerked his head towards the city. "Go on. You can ask the Guildmaster, but I'm sure you'll get the same exact response."

"I, er, really?" Laila felt her cheeks flush. It was a stupid reaction, but she was a lot closer with Zehia's body, even with the former [Assassin] awake and aware in the back of her mind. It would be nice if she could have finer control over things like blushing, but getting 'close' enough to use all of Zehia's muscles and stuff precisely also made her connection relay subconscious behaviors too.

"Yes. Really." The [Guard] gestured with his spear. "Run along now."

Laila nodded weakly and walked through the gate an into Oliphant proper. "I don't think I could ask for something like that..."

"What?" Zehia replied in a mumble so that no one else on the street could hear them.

"To be a City Runner. Doesn't that seem... I don't know... presumptive?"

"Laila, what are you talking about?"

"How can I go up to the Guild Master and ask to be a City Runner? I'm only level four! That's like a child asking!"

Laila felt her body's eyes roll as Zehia took control of them while she spoke. "Please. A child couldn't do what you did during the war. Like what's-his-name said back there, you're already a City Runner in practice if not in title."

"No, I'm not."

"Why are you being so difficult?"

"Because... I would've died. If it wasn't for you. If it wasn't for your Blood Class. If it wasn't for that [Wizard]."

"Gandalf?"

"Yeah." Laila sighed and slowed down. "I wonder what happened to him? He was nice, and he gave us an artifact."

"Really?" Zehia's voice was flat.

"Huh?"

"You really haven't connected the dots?"

"What? No." Laila frowned slightly. "What dots?"

"Gandalf is clearly another friend of Pixel's. Old monsters like that know each other. He's fine, otherwise Archmage Pixel would have wiped out some armies instead of just bloodying them."

"What are you talking about?"

"We still have that artifact he gave us. The same exact sort of artifact that Pixel makes."

"Oh." Laila stopped completely as everything fell into place. "Gandalf is Pixel."

"Possibly. Archmages probably do go undercover to avoid recognition, but you shouldn't bring it up."

"Why?"

"If Archmage Pixel is just Gandalf's acquaintance, then you're wrong. If you're right, you'll be bringing up something the [Archmage] wants hidden. Either way, you lose."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Good, now go to the Runner's Guild and ask for what you deserve."

"I don't think I can..."

"Fine." Zehia shook her head as she took control of their body and marched down the street. "I'll do it."

The line at the Runner's Guild was pretty long, with people coming to make requests. Most of them just held simple letters in their hands - undoubtedly eager to get word on friends and family elsewhere in Tiqr. Zehia marched past them.

People got out of her way and gave her wary looks.

Even in Tiqr, where Beast-kin and Garudas were more common-place, her fanged maw and long, clawed arms drew attention. To their credit, nobody screamed or ran, but Laila could sense Zehia's shoulders tense at the focus. It wasn't out of fear or nervousness... more like it was preparing for a fight.

"I'd like to speak with the Guildmaster." Zehia said in a strong voice as she approached the [Runner]-only [Receptionist]."

"Of course, Laila." The teenager smiled at her before leaning back and glancing through a side door. "He's in his office. Go right on in."

Zehia nodded and walked around the desk and into the back. The Garuda in charge of Tiqr's Runner's Guild was leaning back in a chair as he read a letter. He looked up as they entered. "Laila." He nodded. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to ask you something important." Zehia said before retreating into her mind and leaving Laila to continue the conversation alone.

Bios:

Sibby - The Siberian. Happy to be back with Kevin and doing things, even if she's a little confused as to why? Also thinks that the meat of A'ctelios Salash was just 'okay' and doesn't see what the fuss was about.

Teura - A Half-Elf and one of the better mages of Wistram. A Centerist with Feor's implicit trust. Taking the initiative to learn what she can under Pixel.

Zahia - OC. Was a high-level 'problem solver' for Roshal. Now, an ex-[Carrion Eater] who's contemplating what to do with her life.

Laila - OC. An ex-[Slave] who's getting along much better with her previous owner than she'd thought possible. Still adapting to being a [Stitch Selphid], and to sharing a body. Was secretly happy to have Zehia awake to handle things, and is now feeling profoundly betrayed.