Looking through the guild members list, I noticed that it had Meatlover listed as in a match against a Keeper whose name I didn’t recognize. However, once I joined the chat, things started to get lively…

  My chat with them lasted for quite a while, with us mostly talking about what we’ve been up to. Sarah gave us an explanation of the new game that she was working on, where she was trying to build an entirely new system of magic exclusively for the game. It was… hard to understand, if I’m going to be honest.

  The magic that she was working to create was one that required the user to have an extremely high spatial awareness. This was because it was a more advanced version of geometric magic, with the spell diagrams forming entirely around the caster in a bubble. Personally, I didn’t see the allure to something that was needlessly difficult, but she seemed quite passionate.

  After the conversation ended, I received a private message from Sarah…

  I didn’t really mean to insult her methods, or anything like that. Given the fact that you were creating a perfect copy, I could understand how many people would consider that to be a good idea. Personally, though, I preferred the thought of the gods being able to freely remain within the world. Even among mine, although they had learned to descend more often, there was always a time limit.

  Subconsciously, I gave a small nod when I heard that. A part of me had hoped that most of the monster Keepers were kept to the first rank, but that was unrealistic. They were monsters, after all, and thrived on strength. It’d be odd for them not to grow to the level of gods, if they were aware of the method.

  Sarah and I continued to talk for a few more minutes, before she had to go to work on her new game. Shaking my head, I got up from my desk once again, moving out towards the hall. I was not at all surprised when I found Aurivy sitting on the couch in the living room, a bucket of popcorn in her hand.

  She grinned at me as I entered, waving one arm. “Wanna join me? Been a while since you came up here to just relax.”

  I gave a small nod, moving to sit next to her. She was watching yet another show that I had never seen before, though it appeared that this one was likely one from my current world as opposed to the old one. “Well, I’ll be up here for a while this time…”

  “Are you sure that this information is correct, Miss Storms?” A burly dovah spoke up within a dimly lit stone room. He was standing behind a desk, holding a hand-drawn map and studying it.

  The woman opposite him nodded with a smile, her black hair flowing gently down her back. “Of course, guildmaster. If you would like, I can send one of the Travelers there personally, so you can have easy access from now on.”

  The dovah blinked in surprise, before nodding. “Right, you were a Traveler yourself, weren’t you? Alright, that would be appreciated. And you said that the sky of the next level was on fire?”

  The black-haired human simply nodded again. “To be more precise, I believe that it should be something similar to Dawn’s tidestones. It wasn’t the entire sky that was on fire, merely large chunks of it. But it should be safe to assume that the twenty-second floor will have no such concept as night-time. Otherwise, the landscape that I saw was ideal for living.”

  “Thank you for this.” The dovah nodded with a long sigh. “I’ll pass along word to the excavation team, and we will begin digging towards this location as soon as the information has been confirmed. As promised, the bounty--”

  The woman shook her hands quickly. “Please, I don’t need anything like a bounty for this, sir. I’m just doing this to help. If you must use the money, use it to help outfit the exploration team you’re going to send. This is a new layer, which means new dangers that we aren’t prepared for. I’d rather your coin be spent to preserve their lives than to line my pockets.”

  The guildmaster paused for a moment, before his lips curved upwards into a grin that looked all too feral on his canine face. Still, the woman recognized it as a kind smile. “Alright, I got it. Though, I take it that means you don’t want to be part of the team yourself?”

  She simply sighed, shaking her head. “I’d love to be if I could, sir. But, I’ve got a rather pressing engagement. I received a mission from the church, and can’t afford to delay.”

  “Oh? A busy one, aren’t you?” The dovah laughed heartily. “Alright, I won’t keep you. Let me know whenever you’re finished with your business, and I’ll include you in the team if I can.”

  The woman bowed politely. “Thank you for that, sir. Now, if you don’t need me for anything else, I should be off. I need to prepare for my mission.”

  The dovah shook his head, allowing Julia Storms to leave his office. As she did, Julia heard a voice speaking up from her shadow. You could have accepted a little bit of the reward, at least. It would have probably helped us get the rations we’ll need.

  Ah, right, sorry about that Thelsa. Julia spoke to her shadow mentally. You know how it is. Don’t worry, we still have plenty from our last job to get what we need.

  This was the secret to the woman known as Julia Storms, and the true power of the Shadow Saint. At first, Thelsa was only able to grant her shadow life for a limited time, treating it as if it were an aeon. Now, however, her shadow had become its own being, able to trade places with Thelsa at will.

  More importantly, this shadow was a blank slate in its completed state, a being with no classes or levels. She could train in these classes, sure, but only in ones that Thelsa herself had unlocked. While Thelsa prided herself as an elementalist and a rogue, she had unlocked numerous other classes, enabling Julia to primarily act as a mage and priest.

  Of course, this did not come without its downsides. Since the two were independent entities, they did not share their stats. As Julia did not train heavily in any physical classes, she was forced to wear a ring that negated the powerful gravity of the higher floors of Fyor.

  I’ll let you take care of buying the food for our trip, so let me know when you’re done. I need to focus on cultivating the second shadow. Thelsa’s instructions spoke into Julia’s mind, making her blink in surprise.

  You’re working on the second one already? Do you even know what you want to make her?

  She could see her shadow ahead of her thanks to the passing lights, and how it offered a faint nod. She’ll be our warrior and archer. Sorry, but after this Council business, we might be forced to retire your identity. Hopefully, it won’t come to that, but I wanted to warn you.

  Julia began to grimace, before shaking her head with a sigh. It is what it is. Just make sure you only wipe out my name and class levels this time. I still can’t remember half of who I was the last time before you had me ‘retire’.

  I did say sorry about that… I’ll do my best, though. I’ve been practicing, so I think I should be getting better at targeting specific information.

  Wait, you’ve been practicing!? Julia shouted out in her mind, red flags suddenly going off. On who? I’m the only one here!

  Don’t worry, don’t worry. Thelsa’s response came back with a laugh. I just do little tests after breakfast every morning.

  Breakfast? But we never eat brea-- you cheeky woman… Okay, but at least don’t make me forget anything important.