The musical area of the academy blew away all of my expectations. Notes drifted through the air, and I recognized several instruments.

  Most rooms were filled with children learning from a professor. Yet, a quiet space near the back drew my attention.

  A whisperer rested in the center, almost calling my name. The instrument stood as tall as my waist, with thin strings reaching from the wooden top to the bottom. Each string was made from a different material. I closed my eyes for a moment, but the image blazed on the back of my eyelids.

  Eventually, I walked into the room to examine the item.

  [Whisperer, Music for the Wind.]

  Instinctively, I ran a hand along the top wooden arch. Old. This instrument was ancient. Someone had recently dusted it off, but a few streaks remained.

  Even now I could faintly hear my grandfather's voice as I touched the top. His instructions on how to keep it in tune, to maintain its voice, allowing it to Whisper.

  The Whisperer wasn’t like a drum or some of the louder, more boistrous instruments; instead; it echoed with memories and emotion.

  “It’s pretty,” trilled a small voice near my foot, almost making me jump.

  A little tot just barely walking stared at the instrument, unable to look away.

  “Play?” she asked, before staring at me. She held up her hands, and her bottom two resembled claws, her fingers still connected.

  Sometimes that happened as our kind transitioned from walking on four legs to walking on two. It’d correct itself before we grew to adulthood, but it made it difficult to learn how to do certain tasks.

  Like playing an instrument.

  Rage bubbled up in me, and I pushed it away as her green eyes stared at me. Waiting.

  “I can show you how to play.” I knelt in front of the whisperer.

  She gasped when she caught sight of my damaged hand.

  I held a single string between four of my fingers and then plucked the lower section with my lower hand. Laughter spilled out from the string, made of the hair of an ancient creature.

  Then I plucked a string closer to it. Laughter faded into a melody about purple sunshine, the giggles of little tots, and the feeling of family being close.

  I didn’t dare try anything more complex, and even this stretched my ability without being able to hold a string steady with my crippled fingers.

  By the time I finished the memory, I found myself surrounded by children. All were quietly staring at me.

  The first little tot held up her hands.

  “Teach?”

  “I can show you the beginning, but it's an instrument that you must discover for yourself…” I didn’t know how to explain how to play. Runes covered the wooden arches near the string attachments. Each person received a unique sound when they plucked a string.

  When you held a string steady, mana mingled in your body and pulled out the emotion or the memory you were looking for, but it required solid contact.

  I didn’t dare use my lower hand. Those memories were not for a Whisperer, and definitely not for these children.

  The little tot plucked a string and the scent of baked bread filled my mind, along with a hug.

  “Mama,” cried the little tot, before she plucked it again.

  This time, it sent feelings of being tucked in at night.

  I stopped the little tot from doing it a third time, trying not to sound too stern.

  “You will run out of energy, because of your size. As you grow, you can learn more.”

  She nodded, but her eyes remained on the Whisperer. “Mama…”

  The professor came out of nowhere and scooped her up. “Everyone needs to return to their lessons…”

  The children dispersed from the room, leaving me and the instrument behind.

  “You have a budding musician on your hands,” I said, looking away.

  The little tot had passed out in his arms, all for wanting to remember her mother.

  “You could be a teacher of music if you wanted,” added the Professor.

  I shook my head. Teaching was what my grandfather had done, but that wasn’t my path. I just didn’t know what my new path was.

  ###

  The heart dissolved in my mouth, almost like frozen cotton candy. It made me flinch as it suddenly grew warm.

  Strange squeaked out concern, but I held up a hand as warmth rushed through my entire body.

  [You have gained major insight into Fortified Adaptation - II. Fortified Adaptation - II: Your body is a marvel of adaptive resilience. Minor Water and rest are all that you require. Consumption fuels rejuvenation. Minor poisons and venoms are neutralized. When threatened, your flesh hardens, forming natural armor against incoming attacks. The armor takes on properties of resistance to the type of threat encountered. You have increased speed and agility while in water.]

  I reread the description a few times, wondering about the upgrade. My armor now took on additional properties to combat what threatened me. How the heck would that work?

  I didn’t have a clue, but I wasn’t going to wait around and experiment. Instead, I headed to the door.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Let’s turn in that delivery and see if we can find the others.”

  Strange squeaked in glee and darted after me.

  I cracked the door open and headed inside the safe area.

  The attendant waved at us. “Lenna and Dengu are here and waiting for you.”

  I waved, and we continued on.

  Strange took off to the marketplace. Surprisingly, I felt Lenna in that direction as well.

  By the time I caught up to Strange, he stood next to Dengu, chatting faster than I could follow.

  Lenna chuckled at the little guy before her gaze landed on me.

  [Lenna de La Dengu, Pathfinder, Arcane Arrow, Level 81, Friend.]

  [Dengu, Bonded Raptor, Sharp Talons, Level 80, Friend.]

  Holy smokes. They’d gained levels, with Lenna almost catching up to me.

  “You guys went to work,” I said, coming closer.

  It took a moment for Lenna to smile. “I think that was a compliment?”

  “Yes, something from back home. You’re almost caught up to me.” I didn’t know how I felt about that. Again, I felt like I was losing my advantage.

  “Lots of fighting, Alpha,” said Dengu, staring down at Strange. “He is growing fast.”

  “That’s because of his connection to Alex,” explained Lenna. “Just like your growth is connected to me.”

  Strange darted off to one of the other merchants.

  “That makes sense, because he’s been gaining levels super quickly,” I said, thinking of what this would do to his profession as well.

  “I thought you would have broken 90 by now,” Lenna whispered. Her eyebrows drew together.

  “We found a variant path for the tower. Instead of fighting things, we helped out.” I pulled the hammer out of my inventory and held it up. “Got this as a reward, plus some nice increases to my body ability.”

  Her eyes widened. “That’s worth forgoing levels.”

  I tucked the hammer back into my inventory, glad at the reaction.

  “We also have 2 tokens, one from a mini-boss and one from the main, plus the one Strange has.”

  Lenna shook her head slowly back and forth. “And to think I worried about your level.”

  “We shouldn’t need to clear the last area boss, just get to the floor boss at this point.” Ideas rolled around in my head. “Also, Kabi’s parents are in the dungeon. We should find out what he is up to.”

  “Time is passing, whether we want it to or not,” she added with a thoughtful expression on her face.

  Strange rejoined us, giddy. He’d gained several more levels in his profession.

  “Back to the academy, then?” I asked before receiving nods all around.

  This time, when we exited the safe room we appeared in the courtyard outside of the academy.

  My communication crystal flared in my pocket, and I pulled it out.

  “What do you mean, my parents are in the dungeon?” asked the recording of Kabi.

  I ignored the question with a chuckle. At this point, I’d go find him and explain in person.

  It felt like no time had passed when we entered the academy. Children still ran around, elders and professors spoke in various clearings while the sky remained the same color.

  Kabi found us as we walked down the main hallway.

  “Alex!” He studied me before flickering to everyone else in rapid succession. “What do you mean you saw my parents?”

  “Your brother as well.” I quickly explained that they were heading to the floor boss and that we would meet them once we finished this floor.

  “We should get moving then, and clear the last area,” he finally said, not looking at Lenna.

  “We could head directly to the boss,” I added. “We have enough tokens.”

  Though, I kind of wanted to fight a few more things and gain some levels.

  “Maybe a wandering path,” said Lenna with a soft smile. “We get into some fights as a team and make sure we are ready to tackle something that’s level 100.”

  Kabi ran a hand over his face. “It feels like a waste not trying to level up on the floor since we’re here. This is an opportunity to make progress toward the next rank.”

  “I’m not saying skip the area entirely, just that we don’t need to linger if we don’t want to.” Yet, I didn’t have any force behind my words. Levels sounded good, after all.

  Dengu nodded with me, along with Strange, who stood right next to the much larger dinosaur.

  “As long as we aren’t rushing,” mumbled Kabi.

  With that, we headed back to the courtyard to travel to the south. That should take us to the area that capped out at level 90, though, based on what’d happened to me, that wasn’t an exact thing.

  Professor Verti waited for us near the opening. His eyes lingered on me, and then Kabi.

  “You have enough tokens to fight the floor boss before heading to the skies.”

  “Skies?” I asked.

  He pointed up.

  In the far distance, not directly overhead, an enormous dark cloud blocked out part of the sky. The more I studied it, the more I realized it wasn’t a cloud, but a floating island. Massive vines trailed off one side of it and anchored it to the ground.

  The vines themselves had to be taller than the biggest building on earth as they connected the two land masses.

  “The skies can help someone reach level 150 if they are determined, while the clouds go farther up for those hoping to reach level 200.”

  I snapped my mouth shut at that.

  This dungeon could get you up to Rank Three. That wasn’t even possible on Lenna's world. Kabi's hesitation about rushing the dungeon made more sense. At the same time, a war raged between the Forgers and the Azurafolk, and I had abilities that could help. The isolation and relative safety of this place was a temptation to forget the important things, the lives that depended on the outcome of that war.

  More levels were important, though. It was clearly a set of trade-offs, and I really didn’t know the right answer.

  “Rank Three can survive in the Scary One’s world,” said Dengu in the silence.

  “You mean the Sisters?” I asked.

  Dengu nodded.

  “The Sisters?” asked Kabi.

  The Professor’s eyes drilled into the side of my head until I glanced at him.

  “Sister worlds, one Rank 5, the other completely wild and beyond Rank 5,” said the Professor, nice and slow like he didn’t believe us. “A civilized one rules them both, with strict rules about who may enter. Many have tried to take them, but the stars themselves intervened to save those worlds.”

  I nodded, since that lined up with what I knew about the Sisters, and Noseen.

  Before he could speak again, Lenna stepped between us to break his line of sight.

  “We should get moving. We don’t want Kabi’s parents to have to wait long for us.” She glanced at Kabi, then me.

  “Yep, let’s get moving.” Without waiting for an answer, I headed through the archway, not wanting to discuss my relationship with Noseen.

  [You are entering the mountains, may you find your path and reach the tallest peaks.]

  The path slowly led to the base of a mountain range in the distance. One of the peaks looked like someone had cut the top off, and the massive vines that connected to the land mass even farther away touched there.

  “That plateau is where the boss is to clear the floor,” said Lenna, stepping up next to me.

  “I thought we’d sworn to stay away from mountains,” I said with a chuckle, thinking back to the last dungeon.

  Lenna laughed as well.

  “Scary One?” Strange asked Dengu.

  “Very Scary Beast One who likes Alex,” explained Dengu.

  I couldn’t help but join in. “Noseen’s a good friend.”

  “He let me travel through the Sisters to come here.” Dengu shivered. “I wore a collar so as not to die.”

  “You are amazing, my friend,” I said with a smile. Noseen had warned me about going to the Sisters, and the fact that he’d helped Dengu made me smile. Yet, part of me wondered about the price.

  “Of course, Alpha.”

  Kabi stared at Dengu and me with a broken look before he shook his head.

  “Let’s get moving,” he finally said, taking the lead.

  I let him get several feet ahead before looking at Strange. “Do you want to…”

  The little compy shot off after Kabi before reaching his shadow and vanishing from sight.

  “Strange is becoming more like you every day,” whispered Lenna.

  “Don’t say that like it’s a bad thing…” I muttered as various presences registered on my radar.

  “We have company…”

  A roar broke through the silence, and several creatures took to the skies.