“Well, I wish I could be there when you tell her, but I have to get back to work,” said Cekta. “Don’t forget about that favor. Make sure you cash it in when you’re getting close to Rank Three.”

  “I have a bit until then,” I said with a chuckle.

  “With how fast you are growing?” He shook his head slowly. “Somehow, I doubt that.”

  I didn’t know what to say as he headed out with a wave.

  He didn’t know that my profession lagged behind my class by more than a lot. While the experience tokens would help, they couldn’t solve the problem of fixing my profession, but I wouldn’t replace it. It was just too valuable.

  “Rank three…” I mumbled to myself as I sent a message to Kabi via the stone.

  Nothing came back. Hopefully, he was fine.

  Recovery was next on the list.

  I crashed on the bunk bed and closed my eyes to take a quick nap, since once we entered the tower we’d keep going until we cleared it.

  Something nudged my foot, twice, waking me up.

  The bond between Strange and I hummed.

  “Finished all deliveries and slept.” Two giant eyes stared at me from the end of the bed, as he lightly bobbed on his feet. “Time to fight more?”

  I pushed for his profession level, and it appeared.

  [Strange, Bonded Compy, Scavenger Shade - level 67, Courier - level 14, Bonded.]

  He really had leveled. A lot.

  “Wow, that’s some growth with your profession!” A slight part of me felt jealous, but I squashed that feeling like a bug. He’d been working hard to level his profession. Maybe this was how everyone else felt about my class.

  Strange bobbed his head. “Citizen now.”

  “What?” This time I sat up and really focused on him. I blinked a few times to wake up the last bits of me still off in dreamland.

  “Yes, citizen, finished last item.” His head tilted up, and he flashed his teeth, as if he tried to smile.

  I tried to come up with something to say besides the obvious, but failed. “You kept your name? You could have changed it.”

  “I am Strange, no longer fit old pack, but new pack better.” He jumped down from the bunk and padded to the door, still the same size as before. “You coming?”

  “I’m coming,” I said as I swung my legs down and stretched, chuckling to myself. He really had kept the name. Kabi was going to love that.

  I hadn’t slept for too long, as the common room still had many folks crowded inside. Still, we headed to the exit. The attendant waved as we left.

  [You are entering the tower in the labyrinth. You have two options: The bottom of the tower or a variant path. Choose.]

  The variant paths we’d taken so far had worked out in our favor, like the mini boss. The rewards were worth it.

  “Let’s take the variant path.”

  [Welcome to the dungeon.]

  The air around us shimmered, and suddenly we were surrounded by pitch black walls and a musty-smelling room. Rusty chains hung from the ceiling, and scattered on the floor were the bones of creatures I couldn’t make out. Loud thumping came from far above.

  A presence flickered in one corner, then it darted at us.

  [Obsidian Hound, Howl, Level 85, Predator, Unedible.]

  Glowing eyes stared as it skidded to a stop, sending water from the floor, light flickering all over. It lifted its muzzle to the ceiling. A warning crept up my spine, and I used Sovereign’s Call.

  Its muzzle froze, still partially open, as it slowly crept in my direction, Howl forgotten. The burning eyes smoldered, going a smoky grey color.

  Strange trembled next to me for the split second I’d triggered the skill for.

  I slid the Burning Knuckles along my left hand as I raced close to the hound. I slammed my fist into it, shattering its lower jaw into shards of obsidian, which went everywhere.

  The hound whimpered, struggling to move away.

  Strange leaped out of the shadows at my feet and nipped at the creature before vanishing back.

  The Hound shook its head as if trying to clear its thoughts, but the moment was all we needed. My fist slammed into it again, cracking its chest. The hound stumbled to the ground, and I finished it with another fist to the head.

  The entire creature shattered into jagged pieces of stone.

  [Obsidian shards.]

  [You have gained experience from combat.]

  “Hey, Strange, can you gather those for me?”

  He darted out at the suggestion, and each time he touched one, it vanished. Through the bond I felt his joy at a potential delivery.

  Howl would have warned everything inside the dungeon of our presence, and we’d just bypassed that. Instead of a constant battle, we could take our time and sneak.

  I triggered my stealth to explore this dungeon, and a stone flickered along the back wall. The color of the black stone felt off.

  The small puddles of water rippled as I crept closer to study the weird spot.

  Strange followed in my shadow.

  Reaching out, I touched the rock, accidentally pushing it forward like it was on a hinge. Silently, it slid out of the way and there appeared a small metal landing, along with a large wheel and a rope stretching up into the darkness.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “This can’t be real,” I mumbled to myself, thinking of an elevator.

  What created this sort of machine within the dungeon?

  [Congratulations, you have found another variant path. This will be factored into your rewards.]

  Shaking my head, I stepped onto the metal platform, and the stone wall flapped back into place. I spun the wheel, and the platform rose into the air by only a couple of feet.

  Strange padded out of my shadow and nudged the wheel with his nose.

  I spun it again. This would take forever.

  His eyes lit up as he climbed into the wheel and started running.

  It moved. It actually moved.

  Our speed increased as he raced against himself up the elevator. I didn’t have a clue how many floors we passed before we came across our first doorway. Then past it.

  I stopped Strange and lowered us back down a few feet, then peeked through the crack.

  A single presence rested on the other side in the center of the room.

  [Obsidian Golem, Inactive, Level 89, Unknown, Unedible.]

  Crates filled the room, only leaving an opening around the large round Golem. A clear path led from the stairs on the far wall to the elevator area.

  Before I could say anything, Strange took off into the room, squeezing between the crack barely opening the door. He kept to the shadowy areas, out of sight. Then a crate vanished, followed by another.

  I didn’t dare enter the room in case the golem triggered. Still, obsidian covered its surface. Blunt force had shattered the stone Hound, but I didn’t want to have to punch something that size.

  The inactive creature didn’t move as, bit by bit, the room emptied.

  Strange silently padded his way back to me and squeezed back through the crack and onto the metal lift.

  “Packages!” he sent via the bond.

  I had nothing to say as he started running again within the metal ring, raising us into the air. He’d stolen all those crates and hadn’t woken up the creature.

  The next doorway, he slowed down and hurried to peek into the crack along with me. This time, several golems rested on the other side of the door. The stairs up were on the far side of the room like before.

  No boxes. Nothing but the seven Obsidian golems, inactive.

  We quickly headed on our way, passing two more floors with inactive golems and nothing to steal.

  Finally, it felt like we were getting close to the top, and one more doorway came into view. We couldn’t go higher.

  A creature made out of some metallic stone paced around the circumference of the tower. This golem, unlike the others, was shaped more like an azurafolk, complete with four arms instead of two.

  [Metallic Golem, Commander, Level 99, Unknown, Inedible.]

  Strange raced out of the hidden entrance as the door swung open before I could stop him, heading directly to the Golem.

  “Delivery?” he said in his chirpy voice.

  I widened my eyes as the large golem leaned closer to him.

  “You have parts from below?” it asked in a gravelly voice.

  Strange nodded, and the several crates he’d stolen appeared around him.

  “Good, good. We can fix the others now.” The golem chuckled. “Maybe they will learn not to gather so much obsidian again.”

  Strange gained several levels in his profession as I stood there with my mouth gaping. Pleasure pulsed from the bond, and I didn’t even know how to respond to the ecstatic Compy.

  “Come!” his voice echoed in my head.

  I slowly entered the room, and the Golem turned in my direction.

  “Ah, you must be the guard for the Courier.” Empty eye sockets stared at me. “Do you have time for a quest on your way back down the tower?”

  [Do you want to accept the Quest, Slimming Down the Golems?]

  “Sure, why not?” This couldn’t get any stranger, and maybe with the quest I’d feel less like a tag-a-long character.

  “Perfect.”

  The metallic golem picked up one of the crates and pulled out a hammer. It glowed softly for a moment before he held it out to me.

  [Golem Hammer, made to shatter obsidian.]

  “I need you to slim down my fellow golems on the floors below. They’ve eaten too much obsidian and cannot fit into the staircases to recharge or complete their tasks.”

  I stepped closer and took the hammer, waiting for the catch.

  [You have accepted the Quest: Slimming Down the Golems. Reward: Calculated at the end.]

  This must be the second variant path we’d found; it led to a pacifism route. I didn’t think it was possible, but it made sense for Strange.

  “How hard do I hit them?” I asked, not wanting to kill one of them accidentally.

  “Just a small tap will do, near the shoulders.” He pointed to the area above his highest set of arms. “The excess should just fall off.”

  I nodded and slowly headed to the stairs, still wondering if this was a trap. Strange followed.

  The Metallic Golem said nothing, just started stacking crates in the room's corner.

  The stairs took us to a level without the elevator. It had two golems inactive in the center. Both were kneeling on the floor, which I hadn’t realized before from my position in the elevator.

  They didn’t move as I approached.

  I carefully hit the first in the shoulder with the hammer.

  Several massive shards crumbled off the golem, falling to the floor. It became less round and more upright.

  It blinked, then somehow smiled.

  “That feels good. I need to report in for duty…” It marched to the stairs, each footstep a heavy thud.

  Strange swiped the Obsidian shards into his inventory.

  I moved on to the next, and the same freaking thing happened.

  It repeated on each of the following floors. Each golem lost some obsidian shards and headed up the stairs without doing anything to us.

  Once we cleared the third room, I relaxed and let out a sigh. It hadn’t been a trap, but part of me worried that there had to be another part to this. For now, though, it seemed the quest was real, and all we needed to do was free the golems. Or, in Strange's case, harvest obsidian from each.

  It took longer than I thought it would to go through all the floors, but then we found ourselves in front of a massive door on the first floor with one last golem in between us and the exit. This one stood more like the commander at the top. Humanoid.

  [You have completed your quest! Reward will be calculated at the end of the tower.]

  [Obsidian Golem, Commander, Level 99, Unknown, Inedible.]

  This golem was not kneeling motionless. Instead, it slowly turned to face us. Each movement of its legs sent a thud echoing through the room. A warning raced up my spine, and I tightened my fingers around the hammer. This was more of what I’d expected in the tower.

  “You have helped the Metallic Commander!” The gravelly voice echoed through the chamber, and its eye sockets turned a deep red. “I will destroy you for that!”

  Then it charged, each thick leg slamming into the hard floor, leaving indents behind.

  Strange vanished into my shadow, readying himself.

  I waited until just before it reached me with its outstretched hand, slamming the hammer into its right leg as I dodged away.

  It roared, making the ground rumble as its entire leg shattered into pieces. The Golem tilted to one side before crashing to the floor.

  “I will kill you for this! You ruined my plans!” Again, it reached out at me, but a trill came from behind it where Strange hid.

  It twisted to attack him, slamming a hand in his direction.

  That second was all I needed to silently leap into the air with my skills. Gravity took hold as I fell, bringing the hammer down on the side of the Obsidian Golem’s head. I hung there for a moment as cracks spread through the dark stone before it crumbled into pieces. I landed on the floor with a grin, tossing the hammer in my hand.

  Now that was a great blunt instrument.

  [You have gained bonus experience from surviving in combat with a level 99 Obsidian Golem.]

  [You have gained a level.]

  [You have gained a level.]

  Strange chuckled as he darted all over the room gathering up more of the obsidian.

  I tossed the hammer into my inventory as I waited for him. It didn’t take long before we both approached the door, then it slid open, revealing a rocky cavern. Two chests stood in front of a familiar wooden door.

  Strange zoomed to his chest while I slowly walked to mine, thinking of the dungeon.

  The tower had not been what I’d expected at all.

  I opened the chest, hoping it was something good, given I hadn’t been able to eat anything.

  [Boss Token.]

  [Golem Heart.]

  [2,000 credits.]

  [Title Earned: Rogue Ascendant, one who breaks from traditional paths of power, forging their own way through unexpected means. +10 free stats, +5 free stats per level.]

  The token and credits went into my inventory, while the golem heart I held in one hand. It looked like any other, but it glowed with a strange light.

  While I wanted to eat it immediately, I first allocated my free stats to Quickness. Then I bit down on the glowing heart.