Ethan stood in line outside the Mountford guild hall, arms loosely folded, eyes scanning the crowd. The queue stretched farther than he expected, a steady stream of arrivals filtering in through the gates behind him. They looked worn thin. Sunburned. Hollow-eyed. Survivors of their first real brush with the desert. They had been arriving all morning.

  He watched a young man stumble forward, lips cracked and shoulders shaking, supported by an older woman who looked like she hadn’t slept in days.

  Ethan felt a quiet surge of pride. These were people who had endured. Who had found their way through the first challenge of the trials. They deserved respect, even if they were run down and nearly defeated.

  But it also highlighted something else. More and more people were getting pulled into the trials. After some quick calculation, Ethan realized they had three months. That was how long humanity had before the final wave arrived. After that, panic would spread through every settlement on the first level. Guilds would be overwhelmed. Supplies would strain. Monsters would grow more aggressive as the level began to crumble from the edges in, pushing everyone toward the oasis.

  He wanted to help them. If he could, he would drag every last one of them to safety himself. But even at his peak, he hadn’t been strong enough to protect everyone. Level One was designed to force independence. It wasn’t meant to be solved by a single person.

  Even if he carried them to the oasis, they would still have to pass the Mirage Fields on their own.

  That was the truth of it.

  He exhaled slowly and forced his thoughts back to the present. Slaughtering monsters was simple. Clean. No politics. No manipulations. No withheld information. Just steel and blood. He preferred that kind of problem. And he could do that for these people. The least he could do was clear the way.

  “What can I do for you?”

  The receptionist’s voice pulled him back. He looked up, noticing he was first in line. Ethan stepped up to the counter, noting the large board behind her listing different requests.

  “I’m looking for someone,” he said. “My sister. Leah Carter.”

  Her eyes softened just slightly. “Wait here,” she replied, already turning toward a row of ledgers.

  Ethan stood, waiting. He idly tapped the counter. How many people were here for the exact same reason? Missing loved ones, families split apart—it all really was quite horrible.

  When she returned, there was a faint note of satisfaction in her expression, like she was glad to give good news for once.

  “Yes. Leah Carter. Registered under the Valkyries. Scout. Arrived approximately three weeks ago.”

  Relief hit him hard and fast. She was alive. Not just a rumor.

  “Is she here?” he pressed quietly.

  “Give me a minute,” the woman said while reading the file. “It looks like she’s away on a mission. You’re free to wait around. With the influx of people arriving, there may not be much space, but I could try to get you into a room.”

  Ethan let out a controlled breath. His heart thudded like a drum in his chest. His emotions were growing erratic. “When is she due back?”

  “She was due back three days ago.”

  The relief didn’t vanish, but it shifted. Three days was not a trivial delay.

  “What’s happened? Where was she sent?” he asked, his thoughts shifting. He thought back to the conversation he had overheard in the bar. Of people going missing. Fuck, was she one of them?

  “That information is guild-restricted,” the receptionist replied, posture straightening.

  “She’s my sister.”

  “I understand that. But operational details aren’t public.”

  Behind him, someone was crying. They likely had just received an answer they hadn’t wanted. He tried to ignore them.

  “You said she’s a scout,” he continued, trying not to sound desperate.

  “Yes.”

  “And she’s working under the Valkyries.”

  “That’s correct.”

  “And she was investigating something?”

  The receptionist paused and narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t say that. That would be against guild rules to give out information.” She winked.

  “Thank you,” Ethan said sincerely.

  The receptionist gave him a smile before turning to the next person. He stepped away from the counter and exited the guild hall, the harsh sunlight greeting him outside.

  Three days overdue.

  His mind moved quickly through possibilities. Monster escalation. Ambush. Guild interference. A third party. The tavern conversation replayed in his memory, each detail slotting neatly into place.

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  Leah had chosen scout. The receptionist confirmed it. The Valkyries at the tavern had complained about missing groups and a newly acquired scout on an investigation team. It lined up too well to ignore.

  If the guild wouldn’t tell him where they’d gone, he would find someone who would. And if no one talked, he would track them himself.

  He wasn’t helpless. He wasn’t blind. And he wasn’t waiting.

  He made a slow circuit through Mountford’s outer streets. He bypassed the system monolith entirely this time. The glowing slab stood in its usual place near the center square, a cluster of people gathered around it, staring at blue screens only they could see. It would’ve been faster to restock through the system, but it also meant spending his newly acquired PO, and he didn’t want that.

  Instead, he found a vendor near the southern wall—an older man with a patched awning stretched over crates of dried meat, water skins, and gear. The man barely looked up as Ethan approached.

  “Water’s gone up,” he muttered. “High demand.”

  “Not after any,” Ethan replied.

  “What’d ya want then?”

  Ethan smiled and got to haggling. He didn’t need water; he had his purifier for that. Instead, he needed dried meats and any other kind of food that would last while he was out. When he was finished, his coppers were nearly gone, and again he was broke.

  By the time he returned to The Plow and Feather, the bar was open, noise already spilling into the street.

  Inside, it was lively again. Not as packed as the night before, but far from quiet. A few tables were full. Someone in the corner was retelling a story far too loudly.

  He paused just inside the doorway for a moment, letting the noise wash over him.

  He liked it.

  The sound of people living. Laughing. Drinking. Complaining. It was messy and loud and superficial, but it was human. It reminded him what he was fighting for.

  Tilly spotted him almost instantly.

  “Well look who decided to come back,” she called, wiping her hands on her apron. “You clean enough this time, or should I get the hose?”

  Ethan smirked and made his way to the bar. “I think I pass inspection. Besides, I heard water’s getting hard to come by.”

  She leaned over dramatically, sniffing the air near him. “Hmm. Acceptable. Barely. And who said that? Just the influx of people is all. It’ll settle. That’s one of the good things about the system shop.”

  He shook his head. “Good night?”

  “Always,” she said cheerfully. “That singer nearly emptied my barrels. Man can play, though. Shame you didn’t stick around. Might’ve lightened that broody look you’ve got going.”

  “I don’t brood,” Ethan replied.

  She barked out a laugh. “Sure you don’t.”

  They traded a bit more idle chatter—nothing important. She told him about a brawl that had broken out after he’d gone upstairs, how someone had tried to sing over Maddox and been promptly thrown out. He listened, waiting for the right moment to shift the conversation.

  “Busy few days?” he asked casually, picking at the edge of the bar.

  Tilly shrugged. “Busy’s normal. Especially now that more and more freshies are showing up.”

  “I heard some people have been going missing.”

  Her eyes narrowed slightly.

  “That so?”

  “Yeah,” he said, keeping his tone light. Trying to be subtle. “Heard some chatter last night.”

  She snorted. “And why do you care about that?”

  There was no malice in it, but she’d caught him cleanly. He wasn’t good at this. But there was nothing really to hide, so he didn’t bother dancing around it.

  “My sister’s tracking it,” he said. “She’s with the Valkyries.”

  Tilly’s expression shifted. Just a flicker. A tightening around the eyes.

  She winced.

  Ethan caught it immediately. “What was that?”

  She leaned back, crossing her arms. “So that’s why you’re here on your own.”

  Ethan nodded.

  Tilly shook her head slowly. “Don’t tell me you’re planning on marching back out there alone.”

  “That depends,” Ethan said evenly. “On where ‘there’ is.”

  “It’s dangerous,” she pressed. “You’ve got that look about you—like you think you can handle it. The desert doesn’t care about that.”

  Ethan almost laughed.

  Dangerous.

  He’d walked through worse than this level had to offer. He’d watched hundreds of thousands die. Been stabbed, broken, beaten. Danger was practically his middle name. But he didn’t say that. He just tilted his head. Shit, he kind of wanted to say it now.

  “Do you know where they were going missing?”

  Tilly hesitated. She glanced around the tavern, then leaned closer.

  “Don’t do anything stupid, kid. The guild will handle it. Just stay here and wait.”

  “I can’t do that. She’s my only family.”

  “Fuck’s sake. Don’t you know it’s dangerous? Damn it. East-southeast,” she relented. “A days walk. Near the split gorge. I think there’s a town there somewhere. But I don’t know anything else.”

  Ethan’s mind clicked into place.

  “That’s Broken Dawns territory.”

  “Yeah,” she muttered. “Which is why none of it makes sense. Valkyries don’t usually poke their noses that way unless something’s wrong.”

  “You think the Dawns are doing it?”

  Tilly snorted again, though there was less humor in it this time. “They’re bastards, but they’re not stupid. Openly killing rival guild members? That’s war.”

  “Maybe they want war.”

  “Maybe,” she allowed. “But they’ve been fighting for years already. Through levels. You think either side can afford another full blowout?”

  Ethan didn’t answer.

  He remembered how long the Valkyries and Broken Dawns had clashed. It hadn’t started here. It hadn’t ended here either. By the time they reached higher levels, both guilds had been shadows of what they once were. Pride and rivalry had cost them more than monsters ever did.

  Had the Dawns been the ones to ignite the war originally? He couldn’t remember the exact spark. Just the aftermath.

  “Three days overdue,” he murmured.

  Tilly studied him. “Kid, listen to me. Don’t go charging into the desert alone because you think you’re the hero of some story.”

  Ethan gave her a small, almost amused smile. “I’m not.”

  “Then don’t act like one.”

  He avoided the topic deliberately. “The gorge,” he said instead. “Anything special about it?”

  “Deep,” she replied. “Wind cuts through there strange. Easy to get turned around. And monsters like to nest in the shadows—big, strong monsters. Monsters that will eat you alive.”

  “Anything else?”

  She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter because you’re going to wait here.”

  “Got no more coin, sorry.”

  “You think I care about coin? You rented the room for a copper.”

  “Tilly… it’s my sister.”

  She nodded and genuinely looked like she understood. He felt bad. Should he tell her he was easily the strongest person in this room? No, who would believe that.

  “At least stay for some lunch. My husband has already started cooking. One more plate won’t hurt.”

  He straightened, slinging his pack over one shoulder. “Thanks, Tilly.”

  She looked like she wanted to say more. Instead, she huffed and waved him off. “It’ll be ready in an hour or so. Your free to stay in your room till then.”

  “Alright, I won’t sneak off,” he said lightly.

  “Brat.”

  He grinned and headed for the stairs.

  In his room, the noise of the tavern dulled to a distant hum. He locked the door, set his pack on the bed, and methodically checked his supplies. Journal. Water. Food. Sword. Everything was in place.

  He didn’t have time to wait for the Valkyries to mobilize another team. If Leah had been sent toward the gorge, that was where he would go.

  He tightened the straps on his pack and sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, letting the weight of it settle.

  He would honor his word. Go down and eat some food quickly for the journey ahead, but then he would leave.