A familiar sound, which I had missed more than I realized.

  Cahl’s voice was distant, with a tinny resonance that made it challenging to hear, but he spoke with careful enunciation that cut through it all.

  “Chanter. I know you can’t hear me yet. I’m just talking into my lute, same as I have been for days, but I know you’ve received and opened the package, which means you’ve cleared the mountain pass. I hope to catch you one of these days, before you get to the city. A danger approaches. One that may be worse than Verdantbrook.”

  He paused for a breath and I spoke into the lute, a grin cutting through the melancholy I had felt moments ago. “Hey Cahl, good to hear your voice.”

  There was a long second of silence, which stretched on to two that felt like an eternity. Everyone had gathered around my lute, silently awaiting Cahl’s response.

  “Chanter?!” He asked, his voice terse with shock and worry. “You should only be a third of the way around the Deadlands by now. At most. That is far beyond the range of our communication. Please don’t tell me you crossed the Deadlands.”

  “Ah. About that.” I copied Cahl’s three-second-long dramatic pause. “Yeah, we are more than half way through the Deadlands. Should be to Bornholdt Keep later tonight, if we keep up a steady pace.”

  “By the gods.” He breathed heavily into the lute, which had an almost comical sound due to the distortion. “Didn’t you hear me? Something’s coming from the Deadlands. A horror the likes of which Bornholdt Keep hasn’t seen. You must delay your travels by a day at least, while I deal with the problem. And how are you crossing the Deadlands? There’s a field of lingering death.”

  I explained what had happened, giving a light overview of the giant, the Arid Spur Adventure Guild, our promotions, and the Pearl. Cahl was silent throughout the retelling, until I mentioned the Pearl.

  “They had a Pearl of Purification in the gold vault? They were always half-brained idiots at the Arid Spur’s branch of the guild. You made the right choice, that item is of Electrum rank at least, I would put it at a Platinum level. It explains how you were able to cross the Deadlands, but you must not continue. Something comes. I don’t know what, but my sources, which monitor the aura of death that radiates from the Deadlands warned of a dramatic drop, then spike. The spike approaches Bornholdt Keep. I am leaving within the hour to face it.”

  I laughed, Katarina joining me. Abernathy cracked a smile and Sebastian shook his head. Encore chirped a laugh as well. “Hey Cahl, how long would it take you to check with your sources on that disturbance?”

  “Why do you ask? There is no time. If something has happened, if someone has somehow claimed the mantle of death as their own, they must be stopped right away. Why do I hear laughter in your voice? This is a dire… wait.” He broke off, then a facsimile of hearty laughter, the best that the weak connection could provide, came through. “You already handled it! Gods, Chanter. How strong have you gotten in the last week? That was a city level threat. The Pearl is insufficient against such condensed death as that.”

  “Uh, well,” I hesitated, remembering the fight, or as much of it as I could. It was mostly a red haze, especially towards the end. “I had help from friends.”

  Katarina squeezed my shoulder, smiling. I smiled back.

  “By his blinded eye. This is incredible news. Incredible! I can resume my investigation in the Keep. By late night, you said? Seek out the Shattered Anvil, in the lower ward. I have a room there. I will reserve three more, for you and your friends. The Eastern Gate will be locked tightly at night, but knock twice at the small side door and say ‘the delver’s regards’ when prompted. I’ll bribe the guard. I’d greet you, but I must look into something. I’ll be back by dawn.”

  “Holy shit,” Katarina whispered. “That was so much information. What the hell? How are we supposed to remember all that?”

  “Shattered Anvil in the lower ward. ‘The delver’s regards’ at the Eastern Gate.” Abernathy replied. “Wrote it down in my notebook. Easy enough to do.”

  “Wow.” Katarina gaped. “Real life saver.”

  “Yeah, no kidding. Thanks Abe.” I said, turning my attention back to the lute. “Copy that, Cahl. Be careful. See you in the morning.”

  He just laughed through the lute before severing the connection.

  “So… who is Cahl?” Sebastian asked.

  “Let’s get going. I don’t want any of those Deadlands abominations finding us. I’ll explain on the way over text.” I replied.

  “The abominations did not survive the abrupt drop in radiation,” Encore stretched, yawning widely. “I scouted the area briefly as you initiated in the pre-mating ritual with Katarina. They are all slain.”

  “Pre-mating…” Katarina paused for a second. Sebastian snickered and she turned to face him, her cheeks turning red. “Shut it.”

  He nodded, his eyes widening.

  “Wow, well that’s great news, but we should still be off.” I pulled up the mini-map. We were about two-thirds of the way between Arid Spur and Bornholdt Keep. I saw several quest notifications blinking within the Keep and pulled them up. Two were for the Sunshard Relic quest, but the third I hadn’t thought about in what felt like ages.

  A forgotten weight settled on my shoulders as I remembered a desperate fight in an alley. My first encounter. Death. A worn note. I took a deep breath as Abernathy and Sebastian made their way to the utes.

  “I forgot I had another quest for Bornholdt Keep,” I said to Katarina. I looked for the share button, wanting to share it with the group, but it wasn’t there. I read through the quest again, hoping the button would appear.

  Return the note to the deceased man’s daughter. Years have passed since this drawing was gifted to the dead man at your feet. Innocence has been lost, but not forgotten. Return this note to the artist. Reward: Starmetal Familial Closure Chest. Gold Coins x50. Increased faction reputation with Bornholdt Keep.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  No share button appeared. I eyed the reward, feeling anticipation and worry at the reward. Starmetal chest? That was nearly as good as it got. There was more to this mission than met the eye.

  “I don’t think I can share it. I don’t see the option.” I read the quest to her, and the rewards.

  “Maybe you can’t share them all?” Katarina made a thoughtful sound. “Some might be solo. Just for one? Sucks though. Those sound like amazing rewards. Starmetal?? Holy shit.”

  “Right? I was really hoping everyone could get one. It has to be helpful.”

  “Yeah, gonna be super badass. I’m a little jealous, but it’s alright. Hope you get something good.”

  Abernathy: Ready to go?

  Katarina: Ready!

  We set off at a light jog. Encore flew up into the sky and did a quick loop before returning and confirming that there were no monsters in the area. He landed atop Abe’s ute and assisted me in an enhanced Radiant Winds, which I stored in the lute’s song cache.

  He then switched to the non-magical music and I was able to circulate my chi as we ran. It was difficult at first. Attuning to the rhythm while running was like learning to play the lute while running all over again. Maintaining that perfect balance felt like grasping at pouring sand, but an hour into the trip I managed to find a tentative balance and began circulating and charging my spiritual energy.

  I explained Cahl to Sebastian over chat while Encore did the initial scouting. Sebastian was surprised to learn we had mentors. It seemed to be a regional thing, for he had no mentor. He had been accepted into the Adventure’s Guild in his starting town after a display of strength, no recommendation required. This also meant he had started without someone to explain basic things to him, which made for a more difficult start.

  We were about two hours into the trip and the temperature had shifted dramatically with the setting sun. My chi core had been fully invested and I had increased my Meditation skill to 6/50. It seemed to level faster when I practiced it while running, which I attributed to the increased challenge.

  I decided to voice an idea I had been thinking on in the back of my mind since arriving to the desert, curious about how Katarina would respond.

  “So Bornholdt Keep is a Dwarven stronghold, right?” I asked, performing Radiant Winds and restoring our stamina, not that either of us needed it. A core full of chi felt almost like cheating after the exhaustion I had grown used to healing with the song. It was really no more strain than a fast walk on a pleasant day, despite the environment shifting from blazing heat to frigid cold.

  Sebastian complained about a lack of heat in the utes over chat and Abernathy apologized for the oversight, promising to correct it when we arrived.

  “Riiight?” Katarina responded, drawing out the word and making it into a question. “Wait. Are you thinking what I am thinking?”

  “It might help with the locals?”

  “Think you’ll get a beard?”

  “I really hope so. Even the woman have beards. Hell the children probably have beards.” I laughed as I said it, then realized something. “But I don’t think I have any clothes small enough.”

  Katarina: Abe, you got some extra clothes that Chanter can borrow?

  Abernathy: Yeah, sure, what’s going on?

  Katarina: He’ll show you, lol. Let’s stop for a moment so you can give them to him.

  We stopped and Abe crawled out of the ute, hopping over to me.

  “So what’s goin on, mate?”

  “I’m going to transform, so no one sees before we get to the Keep.”

  “Oh, good thinking, mate! I can make you something to fit, go ahead and transform and I’ll get your measurements.”

  “Wow, I didn’t think of that. You can make armor?” I shouldn’t have been shocked at this point, the quokka could make just about anything.

  “Nothing too fancy on short notice, but yeah. Better than what I wear for sure.” He gestured at his attire, basic cloth with a thick leather apron. The same outfit he had worn since I met him.

  I laughed, enacting Transform. I shifted down into a Mountain Dwarf. The lute shrank down slightly with me, fitting comfortably in my hands. I felt studier, tougher, stronger. My breathing grew easier and I could feel subtle tremors in the earth as Sebastian crawled out of his ute.

  Racial Trait Tremor Sense activated. Through their close affinity with earth and stone, Mountain Dwarves are able to sense the gentlest of vibrations in the earth. This is muffled as the vibrations amplify, protecting them from over-stimulation.

  “Oh wow, this form comes with a racial trait.” I said as Abernathy took quick measurements of me. My clothing was oversized and awkward, except for the cloak. It always shifted and fit me perfectly, just like the lute and my jewelry. I needed to get more attuned gear so I wouldn’t have to do the equipment shuffle transformation sizes.

  “Really? Did other races do that?” Katarina asked, then smiled. “I like your beard. Very luscious and black.”

  I looked down. Sure enough, a thick, black beard hung down my face. I expected it to be itchy, but it was warm and comfortable in the cool desert air. I ran my fingers through the course hair.

  “No,” I replied, looking through my skills. “Oh. It looks like I unlocked a hidden skill under transform. Racial Synchronization.”

  I read through the skill, reading it aloud as I did.

  Racial Synchronization. Delve deeper into the races you become, acquiring their natural talents. Both negative and positive. Be careful that you do not lose yourself in your new forms.

  “I wonder if you unlocked it after going beast mode as the kobold,” Abernathy pondered, moving his hands around as he manipulated some unseen interface.

  “Probably, that makes sense. But skills are usually obtained through practice. Gaining levels, things like that.” I replied.

  “Who knows how this game really works?” Katarina asked. “Could be any number of ways to gain skills and such.”

  “I also got a new skill from doing something, not leveling it up,” Sebastian intoned as he approached. “Although I guess I could already do it? Maybe now I can do it better? When I shocked Katarina back to life. The skill is called Bolt of Defibrillation.”

  “No way. You really are Sebastian the Defibru-whatever!” Katarina laughed.

  Sebastian grunted before continuing. “Anyways, it does lend credence to your theory of skills being obtained both through levels and actions. I’m glad, because I can’t exactly practice throwing lightning around.”

  “Sure you can!” Katarina quipped.

  “Not if everyone around wants to remain at full health.”

  “Who wants to do that? Sounds boring.”

  “Here you go,” Abernathy initiated a trade and sent me over a set of Moderate Small Leather Equipment.

  I thanked him and equipped them. They appeared below my oversized attire, which I sent to my inventory. I stretched a few times. It felt much better to be wearing attire that fit my body.

  I took in a deep breath and focused on my chi core. It responded to my attention, lashing out, twisting my insides and muscles. I fell to the ground, writhing in pain.