“Well, you wondered where the human staff was,” Jenna said to Bob as she surveyed the devastation. “Looks like we’ve found them.” The remains of at least twenty humans were scattered across the large hall, leading to a pair of gigantic metallic double doors.

  “Cause of death?” Jenna asked sarcastically.

  “I don’t know. Maybe the ghouls banging against the metallic grill have something to do with it?” Bob replied dryly. A chaotic mix of feral creatures, dressed in everyday, bloodstained clothes, howled about their right to be first to feast on the remains.

  “I am an old lady who walks with a cane, and I am pregnant too. If you were gentlemen, you would let me go first,” a ghoul exclaimed.

  “I am not going home this Black Friday with an empty stomach. I also claim dibs on that portable barbecue!” shouted a second.

  Jenna noticed Bob’s face had suddenly gone pale.

  “Relax, Bob. None of those corpses are Billy. Do you think I would be so flippant otherwise?”

  Jenna increased her Spirit, Perception, and sense of smell, in that order. Then she closed her eyes and focused on her sensations.

  It was strange to perceive the world through smell. She was amazed at how discerning it could be; it felt like contemplating a rainbow made of a million colors, each with its own distinct hue, capable of mixing with any of the others to create an infinite number of new variations.

  The tangy aftertaste of drawn steel and the musky aroma of ghoul saliva mixed with human blood, all blended with the fear, pain, and anguish contained in the floating microdrops of human sweat—a symphony of sensations that lingered long after it had been played, like the echoes of an outstanding performance.

  Among the thousand instruments playing that symphony, there was a specific one, one she had smelled before.

  It had changed, as it often did each time he spawned in a new shape. This particular version had an elegant bouquet of forest notes and legend, a stout, full-bodied taste of restrained power and honor, with a subtle aftertaste of resilience and determination. The last component was pure, unadulterated Billy.

  She followed that particular smell as it mingled with others along its path through the dungeon, the leading player in the orchestra, as more instruments joined and left, each playing their part in the song before departing.

  Jenna tried to convey all this to Bob.

  “He went that way,” she said curtly to him, pointing East. And that was that.

  They reached the pet store twenty minutes later. Billy’s handiwork was also evident here. Human-animal hybrids armed as samurai littered the floor. In the center of the room, one fallen figure stood apart from the rest. He was human, and his face was covered by a Zorro-style half mask, with no apertures for the eyes: a powerful Avatar, a blind warrior who had turned his blindness into a weapon.

  Jenna recognized him from the children’s hidden memorial to the fallen Avatar: Bel, the Veiled Swordsman.

  A precise spear thrust to the heart had killed him. This was the work of Billy. What the hell was happening here? Avatars seemed to be killing each other instead of fighting the bosses.

  “He fought here and killed this guy, plus all the animal army. Then he went East. Let’s hurry, perhaps we can catch him,” she told Bob.

  She was pretty sure they were close to him.

  Billy had been using his Elven powers to affect the dungeon itself. Vegetation had run rampant in the direction they were facing. There were even trees growing in the middle of the Mall.

  For some reason, he was using his Avatar powers to turn the Mall into a forest.

  There was only one form in his Akashic Library mighty enough to perform such a feat.

  “I think he has come back as the Elven War Hero, Belegrin’s form,” she told Bob.

  Suddenly, she stopped walking.

  “Bob, why do you not smell?”

  “I used Tastecraft to suppress my own smell, Jenna. I thought it might distract you,” he answered.

  “No. It won't make the slightest difference. Stop using the perk, please.”

  “Why?” he asked mockingly. “Do you miss my cologne?”

  “I don’t think you are who you claim to be,” she answered.

  “What a clever girl you are!” Bob’s smile widened unnaturally, revealing rows of pointy teeth.

  “Who are you?” Jenna asked, drawing her sword from its back sheath.

  “I am nothing—an illusion created to draw you both apart. I may die now, knowing I fulfilled my purpose,” it said while slowly vanishing into the air.

  Five minutes before:

  “He fought here and killed this guy, plus all the animal army. Then he went West. Let’s hurry, perhaps we can catch him,” Bob listened to Jenna’s explanations while surveying the carnage.

  Then they both went West, away from the strange forest growing inside the Mall.

  “Jenna, are you sure we are heading in the right direction?” Bob asked her. “I think that forest is Billy’s doing. Should we not seek him there?”

  “He is heading this way, I am sure. Maybe he created the forest before coming this way,” Jenna answered, without stopping.

  Then, something flashed in Bob’s eyes.

  Truth Reveals Itself (Truthfinding 3)

  The user notices one crucial fact he had missed, despite available evidence. The Perk activates passively, no more than once per hour.

  They were Jenna’s shoe soles. They were immaculate. He looked at his own soles. They were covered in blood. Some of it had trickled out of the Black Friday hall, and both Jenna and he had to step on it while they followed Billy’s trail. He stopped moving.

  “What is the matter, Bob?” said Jenna, stopping in her tracks, but not bothering to look back. “Are you getting cold feet?”

  Bob did not answer. He quietly got a medicine pill he kept hidden in one of his pockets and swallowed it. Its taste was bitter, but he felt it take place immediately. Now was as good an occasion to test it as any.

  Bob’s Medicinal Power Pill (Tastecraft 3)

  This perk will only activate while under the effects of a Medicinal Power Pill crafted by Bob.

  At least twenty spirit cores must have been used as ingredients to create the Pill.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  The effects of the pill last for a maximum of three minutes.

  While under its effects, Bob learns new perks as if they were two ranks lower.

  This is a crafting perk. It will self-erase once the pill’s effects are over.

  At that moment, Jenna’s voice screamed through their blood link, “Bob, we have been separated! Someone is using illusion powers against us. You are not with me right now.”

  “I know, Jenna. Don’t worry; I’ve got this,” he thought back, even though he wasn't sure he was actually in control of the situation. He wanted Jenna to focus on her own survival.

  “Turn around slowly,” he cautioned the false Jenna as he conjured a Palooga ball.

  He decided to test the effects of the Pill by quickly designing a new Truthfinding perk. Just as he had expected, it activated within seconds, thanks to both the pill’s effects and the fact that he was inside a dungeon in an extreme danger situation.

  Inquisitor’s Eyes (Truthfinding 3): Triple your Spirit for thirty seconds, but only for resisting illusions. Three-minute cooldown.

  There was no Jenna present; he could see straight through the illusion. He noticed movement overhead and saw a giant, semi-transparent spider hanging from the ceiling like a glass chandelier, spinning thousands of crystalline threads towards him. Instinctively, he jumped forward, rolling onto his back and landing in a combat stance, narrowly avoiding the filaments by a fraction of a second.

  A young woman’s voice echoed across the hall. “You got lucky with that one. How long do you think you can avoid the Fleshweaver’s embrace? And while playing with my illusions at the same time, your odds aren't great, I’d say.”

  The voice didn’t come from a specific location; it seemed to float all around him.

  The other boss was relying on her illusion magic to conceal her presence while she taunted Bob.

  Little did she know that he was effectively resisting her magic at that moment. She was posing as a mannequin, standing among a group of them. She appeared as an emaciated figure with too many eyes on her face, and arms that stretched far beyond her knees—something resembling a bad acid trip. There was nothing female about her except for her voice.

  “Got you! Wind Kisses the Ball!” Bob screamed, throwing the ball in the wrong direction. He saw the Boss smile her inhuman, shark-like smile, and then get hit on the back of the head by the boomerang effect Bob had imprinted on the ball before throwing it.

  He jumped on the creature while it was still stunned, drawing his elven dagger to finish the job. The monster's face split open, as if someone had unzipped a fly, revealing the face of a frightened young girl inside. “Please, don’t kill me! I’m trapped inside this thing. It’s controlling me and using my powers!” she screamed, just as her face zipped back up.

  Suddenly, she struck Bob with inhuman strength, sending him flying over a shelf. Only his ability to roll upon impact, gained through his Pugilism skill, saved him from a broken shoulder.

  Bob checked to see that the perk was still active. There was no trick; inside that creature, there was an innocent woman—possibly an Avatar with illusion powers. And the bloody, almost invisible spider was still stalking him from the ceiling, waiting for him to make a mistake.

  He staggered back on his feet, but the creature was no more. His perk had run its duration, and illusions worked on him again.

  Gaze of the Eternal Warrior (Truthfinding 3): The Fleshweaver’s surprise attack is the real danger. The Illusionist is only a distraction (One out of three combat patterns detected)

  Bob used Shadowjump to become a shadow on the wall and reappear 100 feet down the hall, escaping again by inches from the touch of the crystal filaments. The Fleshweaver had managed to position itself again on him, without Bob noticing anything. It moved across the ceiling with the grace and stealth of a predator about to jump on its prey. It would eventually catch up to him if he didn't change his game.

  Gaze of the Eternal Warrior triggered again, after having another chance at analyzing the Fleshweaver’s combat style.

  The Fleshweaver relies on opportunity attacks and uses stealth and agility for defense.

  It is almost impossible to land a direct hit on him. (Two out of three combat patterns detected)

  Weakness detected: He is still vulnerable to area-of-effect attacks.

  Shadowjump was now on cooldown for three minutes, but two could play at illusions.

  Unseen (Shadowcraft 3): Become invisible for thirty seconds. It can only be used if no one is looking directly at you. Five minutes cooldown, which does not apply if no one sees you reappear. It sets off all invisibility cooldowns.

  He moved stealthily among the shelves, glancing now and then at the ceiling, trying to catch a glimpse of the invisible menace above. Then an idea suddenly struck him.

  He conjured another Palooga ball and used Ball Ricochet on the ceiling-mounted fire sprinklers. He managed to destroy eight with one single throw. Suddenly, it started raining inside the store.

  Bob could clearly see now the translucent form of the Fleshweaver, as water drops fell on him.

  Time to give the Medicinal Pill another chance to shine. This time, he went for a divergent skill perk.

  Steam (Watercraft 3): Heat any liquid you can see to the boiling point. Scales with Mind. Requires Flamethrower (Flamecraft 3)

  Suddenly, the water falling on the Fleshweaver became a cloud of incredibly hot steam.

  The Core uttered a shrill scream and vanished through an air duct, its body compressing to fit through the narrow entrance as if it were smoke.

  Bob was not elated at seeing it run away. It was the way it fought. It would be back when least expected. It was a creature that fled to fight another day.

  “Found you,” screamed the remaining boss, now appearing as a small kid, no more than eight years old, trying to disconcert Bob.

  “You are not going to harm a kid, are you? Or would you prefer to fight her?” the monster asked, turning again into the young redhead woman Bob knew was still inside her.

  “The big question here is, how are you going to kill me without killing her too? the girl said while her smile widened into one of those impossible shark grins. Then she started casting spells.

  The illusionist throws three illusory attacks for each real spell she casts. (Three out of three combat patterns detected)

  Weakness detected: Illusions cast this way are limited to one sense.

  The girl pointed a wand at him, and purplish energy projectiles emerged from its point. They did not move excessively fast, but she shot an awful number of them.

  Bob hastily sought cover between the shelves; he knew most of the projectiles were not real, but one single impact would probably take him down.

  He had only about twenty seconds left of the pill. He detected a faint ozone smell in the air, which sparked an idea.

  Synesthetic Smell(Tastecraft 3): You can passively see the smell of anything trailing after it like a colour band.

  Lasts for five minutes, with a ten-minute cooldown.

  He charged at the monster, now clearly being able to detect the real projectile by the trail it left. The beast roared in fury as Bob approached him, moving just the right way to avoid being hit. Five seconds of Medicinal Pill left.

  Hammer Strikes the Anvil (Pugilism 3): Any blow that would cause significant damage to an adversary instead turns his skin rigid, encasing the opponent in his own body. Requires a rank three Fleshshaping perk.

  He hit the girl with a palm blow in the middle of her solar plexus. Suddenly, the parasite smothering her stiffened, as if it had turned into leather armor. The girl fell like a statue on the floor.

  Bob drew her elven dagger and made four precise cuts in different parts of the Smotherer’s anatomy, receiving the last benefit from the pill as its effects disappeared.

  You have unlocked a new Pantean skill: Disassembling

  100% completed Basic Disassembling

  Basic Disassembling (Disassembling 0) grants maximum proficiency when quartering and skinning once-living remains.

  The user may create new perks based on Disassembling.

  The user may upgrade perks based on Disassembling.

  He dragged the girl out of her flesh prison and set the still-paralyzed Smotherer on fire with his Flamethrower perk.

  Then he sat down and breathed. He felt the tangy aftertaste of the medicinal pill fade.

  The girl was weeping at his side. “Oh, god, the things it made me do…”

  A few minutes later, Sandy, the illusionist, had calmed down and given Bob the whole story. His father was a powerful Avatar somewhere in the north. He had commissioned a high-ranking adventurer party to escort Sandy through the Labyrinth for a few easy levels and had paid heavily for it.

  Sandy was afraid of how he would react when he found out it was all a scam.

  “He is perfectly capable of razing Madison, killing everyone, innocent or not.”

  Bob decided that was a problem for another day.

  “I am only a 22nd-rank Combat Illusionist. The other three guys with me were past level 50. If the Fleshweaver has turned them into Bosses, they will be powerful ones,” she explained. “Your friends are in danger.”

  Bob instructed Sandy to use her illusion powers to exit the dungeon safely and try to calm the mob outside.

  He then tried to contact Jenna through the blood link to tell her the whole story.

  “Busy now, Bob, call later, when I am not wrestling a rhino,” she curtly answered through the link