Their trek took on more ominous tones as they continued, though their Aide-de-Camp was immune to the shifting attitudes as she continued to pepper the Butler with questions about running such an estate. Through which they learned that Butler was indeed a Class, along with an entire family of servant Classes that were considered necessary for working in such a prestigious locale. Noborov was an Underbutler, but hoping for the Class evolution in another few years.

  After a bit of pressing from the relentlessly upbeat Jenny Mae, their guide revealed there was an entire series of training schools, dedicated to giving people the correct life experiences, so that if they naturally formed a Class it would be one they could then use in the Althalas’ family’s vast holdings. The very best from such programs were presented with wounded monsters to kill, courtesy of those same nobles, in order to skip the System’s slow buildup of argo and get their Class early. It was a fiercely competitive world, if Noborov could be believed, one in which most never got the Class they trained for, or at least not until a couple of decades into their service.

  An entire economy dedicated to keeping the estate spotless. Heath wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Classes were great, but he was privately quite pleased his didn’t exist only to work for others. Though that was unfair. Servants could find work doing plenty of things, but Captains needed a ship.

  Finally, finally, they reached their destination. It was a lounge of some sort, plenty of places to sit, some instruments in a corner, and not much else, besides knickknacks on the wall Heath was sure were expensive enough to buy the building where he grew up, and which he would consequently be keeping a wide distance from.

  Noborov had grown quiet as they approached, his perfect posture becoming even straighter, every movement more crisp. Along the same lines, Ekaterina’s expression closed off, becoming the ice princess they had all known and hated when she was a passenger aboard the Loon.

  “My lady, your parents are out, supervising the rank-two training, but they gave instructions for the event of your return,” the Underbutler had turned on his heel and executed a textbook bow.

  Heath was vaguely aware from adventure stories that the angle was probably important, but otherwise had no idea how the dynamics were supposed to work. Correct methods of obeisance was not a class in his frontier schooling.

  “I understand.” Ekaterina said.

  “You are too gracious my lady. They have asked that you wait here until they return.”

  She nodded, dismissing their guide.

  The door to their waiting room snicked closed, and Heath released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He waited for the receding sounds of sharp footsteps to fade into nothing before he spoke. “So, when you said estate, you meant, my family lives in a crazy mountain range/rich-person maze.”

  Ekaterina gave another curt nod, unable or unwilling to elaborate while she was in full noble mode.

  “I like it.” Jenny Mae went right up to a shelf of spindly metal sculptures, her face getting as close as possible without actually touching it. “Did you hear about how they keep the air from going stale? It’s all engineering, not Skills.”

  “There are enchantments and Skills involved as well,” Ekaterina shook herself, returning to the real world, though Heath could still see plenty of tension across her shoulders. “But the original Althalas that carved these mountains wanted them to be able to defend against any attacks. Air flow that could be threatened by individual sabotage was considered a security risk.”

  “And the staff!” Jenny Mae continued in her rhapsodies. “Do you think I could learn from some of them while we’re here? Noborov there had an organizational Skill I want. I could tell in the way it made my Class buzz.”

  “We won’t be here for long. Not if we’re heading to the other side of the Rim.” Heath looked to Ekaterina for confirmation. Who very carefully did not meet his eyes. “Right?” he prompted.

  “I am unsure,” she said after a long pause. “My parents are high level. Mortal time scales lose meaning after a while.”

  “Is that it?” Copperfield asked. He lacked Heath’s concern about accidentally breaking anything, and was poking around at each shelf, shifting things a few inches or picking them up and putting them back but rotated around. “I can’t say I’ll complain if we get to hang out in the lap of luxury while we wait. The Loon is great but real food and a giant bed might be fun.”

  “Giant bed?” Jenny Mae asked.

  “It’s a rich person thing,” Copperfield confirmed, finishing his rearrangement by giving a pinwheel a confident twirl.

  Ekaterina did not look quite as confident as Copperfield. Which was sending Heath down a doom spiral as he tried to figure out why. “They’ll help us, right?”

  “With what we have to offer, I believe so.”

  Heath picked up on the subterfuge before he prompted her to continue. “But?”

  Their Wizard shifted from side to side, betraying her nerves. “But my parents might be somewhat upset with me. You heard Aunt Marina, I’m late in returning. And I left the group they sent me with when they were substandard. There is a chance they will want to enact some sort of punishment.”

  “What kind of punishments do immortal nobles hand out?” Emerald had tucked into the sideboard hidden in a model of the local solar system. They swirled crimson liquid in a tiny glass before tossing it back, with far too little alarm, in Heath’s opinion. He doubted very much that the Althalas family grounded their errant youths with no holovids for the weekend when they misbehaved.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Nothing untoward,” Ekaterina assured the rest of them. “They just might take a while to agree to meet with us.”

  “That’s it?” Copperfield asked.

  “They might attempt to negotiate some sort of reparations as well. A favor or some such.”

  “You need to negotiate with your parents?” Jenny Mae was more horrified by that than anything else they’d seen on the Althalas estate.

  “With my parents? No. With the leaders of my House? Yes.”

  “Yikes.” Copperfield sidled up next to Emerald, reaching for his own glass..

  And that about summed it up. Heath was grateful for many reasons this wasn’t his milieu, but not having to negotiate with his mother when he didn’t meet her expectations wasn’t something he had known was an option. He would never have come out ahead, for one thing.

  “Ha!” Copperfield cried out.

  Heath looked up to see their Corsair holding a book in triumph, as part of the wall swung away to reveal another hallway. Like the rest of the residence, it was well lit and not at all claustrophobic, despite being carved into a mountain. Unlike what they had seen so far, it was undecorated. No artwork or seating or anything else to break up the smooth grey granite.

  As one, the rest of them turned to look at Ekaterina, who was in turn gaping at Copperfield.

  “How?” She sputtered, waving wildly at the revealed doorway.

  Their former pirate shrugged. “Figured no one would carve a whole palace into a mountain and not add some secret tunnels.”

  “Did you know that was there?” Jenny Mae asked.

  The five of them were now huddled around the tunnel entrance, peering as far as they could see until the first turn.

  “I knew there were hidden passages,” Ekaterina answered. “But not that there was one in this room. The family has certain philosophies which reward individual prerogative and effort.”

  “Which means…” Heath prompted.

  “Which means there are plenty of secrets we must figure it out on our own.” Ekaterina set off down the corridor before continuing. “You have to understand, there are hundreds or thousands of family members, depending on how you count.”

  The group paused as Emerald crossed the threshold, and the stone door sealed behind them. Alarming if not for the very obvious lever that would let them return.

  “Big families are the best!” Jenny Mae said as they started off.

  “I’m not even really related to most of them,” Ekaterina squashed the dream of a planet size ranch, staffed by Burtells. “But because of that, resources aren’t just handed out. You have to earn them.”

  “But your parents are the actual Lords, right?” Copperfield was periodically pausing and pressing his ear against the wall, or tracing his finger over the stone. Given that most of what he’d done so far appeared to be pulled from adventure vids, Heath assumed he was looking for spyholes.

  “Yes. Which does come with certain advantages. And even more expectations. My Journey, for example, was not something I would have been given had I not outperformed my peers.”

  “The Journey you left partway through.” Heath was beginning to realize that his crewmember might have undersold just how much of a problem that was.

  “Yes.”

  The crew walked in silence for a while after that. They passed two more hidden doors, Ekaterina showing them where the information about the room on the other side was etched into the stone. It was like the fun exploration parts of a dungeon without any rabid monsters jumping out to kill them. Heath tensed at the thought. If they made the family members compete for everything else, there very well might be some crazed dungeon monster lurking in the shadows.

  “Oh, I can sort of see it.” Jenny Mae broke the silence. “It’s like a tiger-spider net, around the regular hallways.”

  “Definitely don’t want to know what a tiger-spider is,” Copperfield said.

  “It’s just how the hidden tunnels are interacting with everything else. I’ve had [Navigation] running just to keep myself oriented. The pattern is becoming clearer.”

  “Walking around with someone mapping the estate. Should we be surprised, little cousin, or just disappointed?” The voice was attached to a face Heath refused to admit was handsome, and which he instead classified internally as ‘punchable’. Ekaterina might not be blood-related to every Althalas, but this one had the same jet-black hair and grey eyes as their Wizard. And the same air of superiority, billowing around him like a cloak.

  “Viktor. How good to see you.” Ekaterina’s words were polite enough, but the tone clearly told this Viktor to go rot in the burning hell.

  “Really cousin? No comment on your little pet mapping the inner workings of the estate?”

  “If Mother and Father did not wish us to have access, we would not have it. If they are not concerned, I fail to see why you should be.”

  Heath was far more interested in the pet comment. He pushed his way to the front, standing shoulder to shoulder with Ekaterina. No one would talk about his crew like that. This place was intimidating, but some things couldn’t stand.

  “We aren’t pets, we’re crew. And who the hells are you?” he asked. Ekaterina stiffened next to him, but he wasn’t about to take the words back.

  “Crew? Adorable. Baby Kat, did you find yourself a team that would actually have you?”

  “What do you want, Viktor?”

  “Me? Nothing at all. I was just passing by and noticed your shocking lack of concern for security. I’m sure your parents will be thrilled your delay in returning has made you strong enough to disregard such petty matters.”

  Heath felt him then. He hadn’t really thought any of the Althalas would be unClassed, but this one kept their aura well hidden. Until now. It rippled out from the man, brushing against all of their class instincts. Mid rank two, level 70 at least. And a combat Classer for sure.

  The display might have been intimidating to another group of fresh level 50s. Heath had seen better. The Shaman had been stronger, and insane besides. A Journey had been described to him as a way to get experience for sheltered Core nobles. He was starting to understand why people with every opportunity at their fingertips would need to come out to the Rim and find even more.

  “I’m sure you will be glad to inform them then,” Ekaterina countered. “In the meantime, we’ll see you later, Viktor.”

  With that breathtaking dismissal, Ekaterina stalked off, the others joining her in solidarity. Heath looked over his shoulder once as Viktor continued in the opposite direction. Just in time to see an ethereal hand manifest on the floor level, and yank on the hem of Viktor’s pants, causing the man to stumble.

  Heath whipped back around before he could be caught watching, and knocked his shoulder into Emerald’s in recognition.

  It was another three turns and two long corridors later that anyone spoke.

  “So. Kat?” Copperfield risked.

  “No.”

  Heath wouldn’t be challenging Ekateirna when she used a tone like that, and Copperfield chose wisdom and let it lie. For now.

  Soon enough they shook off the unpleasant run-in, just in time for something much better. Emerald noticed it first, pointing out the soft tinkling of water to the others. The group rounded a corner and found not just a waterfall, but an entire fairytale grotto tucked away within the tunnels.

  Benches carved from single pieces of wood, cunningly crafted to look like nature had just happened to put them there, dotted the space around a crystal-clear pool, the short waterfall keeping the water in a gentle churn. Light sconces were recessed to continue the illusion, a layer of soft moss carpeting the floor. It would look to anyone but a dedicated observer like they had stumbled into a forest glade. Complete with a wise old man, reading a mysterious book.

  The strength of a rank three classer emanated from the white-beard currently enjoying the space, but aside from a quick glance and distracted smile, their presence was summarily ignored in favor of whatever he was reading. Taking it as tacit permission, they spread out to explore.

  Heath found himself at the water’s edge. Shockingly deep, he could see some sort of plants swaying in the subtle current on the bottom, at least twenty feet below. And it was far from empty. Gold and purple fish flitted between the plants and rocky outcroppings, flashing in the low light, while shadowy motion hinted at the rest of the ecology. It comforted Heath to know that as insane as Ekaterina’s family seemed, at least they enjoyed being charmed, just like everyone else.

  They spent an hour exploring the area, then just lazing about, chatting about what they’d seen so far, and peppering Ekaterina with question after question about what it was like growing up in such a place.

  Eventually, they had to leave, returning to their assigned lounge. When they arrived, the room was still empty, but someone had obviously been there. Whether Noborov or another servant they couldn’t tell, but the central table was now sporting a gleaming silver tray. Atop which was a single card.

  The five of them had been invited to dinner.