Chorsay had repeatedly insisted that it should be impossible, but alas, it wasn’t.

  Vondaire broke up a single spy ring when he was bored, and now everyone simply assumed he could do it again. It should have been impossible for the spies outside to get any information about the happenings inside Althowin’s compound, but Althowin suspected they somehow knew about Owin heading to the Fortress Dungeon next.

  Before sending Owin freely to anywhere in Vekuborg, but especially to Nagyati, they wanted to make sure the way would be safe. And for whatever reason, that was now Vondaire’s responsibility.

  Blending in would be an assassin’s first step, and it was certainly a good one for a spy. Vondaire didn’t intend to change clothes and therefore walked straight into Vraxridge. He ignored the line of people that was almost always gathered outside Althowin’s main entrance and headed for a nearby building. The skyscraper was dwarfed by Althowin’s compound, but it was still tall enough and busy enough to give him a place to observe.

  A quick swipe of a key from a passing employee allowed Vondaire access into a back room. As soon as he noticed something that looked like security, he turned a corner and vanished. The hunter walked right past, obviously not using any of his tracking abilities.

  From what he could observe, it looked as though the building was almost entirely people sitting at desks. What they were doing was beyond him. He could never understand the people content with sitting whittling away until their inevitable disappointing deaths.

  “Do you need help?” someone asked.

  Vondaire smiled. “I was looking for the stairs.” He turned to a man who was just trying to pass through the doorway. Vondaire put on his best innocent face. It was something akin to acting as a lost child, or at least someone who had no nefarious goals. It was acting because Vondaire had to fight rolling his eyes at himself.

  “Two more doors on your right. That stairwell will take you the whole way.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Yeah.” The man continued into the desk area, stopped to grab a pen, and continued without another look or, Vondaire assumed, another thought. He hadn’t spent any time or effort to discover Vondaire’s goals or intentions. That man could not be bothered to care, and Vondaire found himself appreciating that for a number of reasons. Mainly, it let him continue on without any further delay.

  With the stairwell clear, he used his real speed to rush up to the tenth floor. Some people were busy working and didn’t look up from their desks as he entered. Their supervisors sat smugly. They all had that same look. Taralim always had it too. If he somehow ended up fighting while inside, he would be sure to accidentally toss a few supervisors out the windows.

  Vondaire snagged a cup of steaming coffee from someone’s desk and sipped it as he approached the window. From this vantage point, he could see the whole line outside Althowin’s. He didn’t understand those that would wait and pray for the 7 Shard Hero’s attention. They might all be idiots, but nothing stood out as suspicious.

  He didn’t want to spend the entire day looking, but he would do what was asked. After all, he had promised Chorsay he would help keep Owin safe.

  ***

  After a flurry of other things, Owin finally ended up back in a workshop with Althowin. Basolia had transformed the room back into her full studio, covering everything in thin shadows.

  All of his weapons were spread out over an extended table. Althowin had picked up each one, looked at it through her index, and put it back. On the far end were the two newest that he still had yet to learn anything about.

  “This hammer is unwieldy, but from what I’ve heard, that fits your style. A bit of a berserker.”

  Owin nodded. He stood on a stool and leaned on the table. Basolia’s shadows didn’t bother his skin or cause damage in any way.

  “What spells do you have?”

  “Bolt, Smoke Cloud, Discharge.”

  “Hm.” Althowin lifted the Thunderstrike Maul like it weighed nothing. “Your chitin armor set is good. It’s rare.” She set the hammer back on the table. Basolia’s shadows swirled around the stone head. “It’s not really defensive. How many hits does it take before it breaks?”

  “Uh.” Owin tried thinking what had happened right before the armor broke each time. “I don’t know if it’s always the same. I also don’t know. It was a lot, I think.”

  She waved toward herself with her metal hand while she was looking at the Incandescent Blade.

  Owin stared at her.

  “Take off your helmet and hand it to Miss Alegarra,” Basolia said.

  “Oh.” Owin pulled the chitin helmet off his head and held it out. Basolia’s shadows shifted like waves, taking the helmet from Owin’s hand and placing it perfectly in Althowin’s.

  Her index stayed in front of her eyes as she brought the helmet up to her face. “Did it say anything about this armor getting stronger when it regrows?”

  “I don’t think so. Is that possible?”

  She passed the helmet back to Basolia who carried it to Owin. “Crabs molt when they’re growing. The armor isn’t going to grow, and you obviously aren’t either, but I would expect something to happen with a regenerating armor. Keep an eye on it and let me know.”

  “Okay.” Owin slipped the helmet back onto his head.

  Althowin placed both hands on the table and leaned closer. Her eyes flicked between the different weapons. “This is an incredible arsenal, especially for a 1 Shard Hero. This hammer is your worst weapon, and from the stories I’ve heard, it is dangerous.”

  Owin nodded. He really wanted to swing it again. Smashing enemies would be simple now. “What are those?” Owin asked, pointing at the two weapons on the end. He knew one of them was his own sword, but he hadn’t had a chance to actually look at it since he beat the secret boss back in the Ocean.

  “This is Isotelus,” Althowin said. She picked up the spine-like segmented sword. It flexed and bent as she passed it to him. “A good find, and it adds a different damage type for you to use.”

  Owin opened his index as he took the sword. It was cold to the touch.

  Isotelus

  Divine Magical Item

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Before humans walked on Verdantallis, ancient creatures lived and warred among the cathkabel and demons. Few of these ancient beings have survived, hidden deep in the seven towers. This sword is all that remains of the once-great warrior Isotelus.

  5/5 uses remaining

  Note: Magical item may vary by user

  “It says there are five uses remaining, but it doesn’t say what the sword does.” He held it up and the sword flopped to the side. “What kind of sword does this?”

  “Focus on activating the sword.”

  He did as he was told. It was like casting a spell through a wand, but there wasn’t anything to see or select. Simply focusing on it gave him two options.

  “Ice Blade or Shuriken?”

  “Start with the first one. It’s the easier one to understand.” Althowin stayed leaning forward and watched the sword with a sly smile.

  He was glad he had let her spend some time with all of his weapons. For a moment, he had been worried she would do something to them, then he remembered everything she had already done for the Nimble Hogs. Nobody would do that much for him just to mess with his hammer or swords. If she wanted to kill him, she could do it easily.

  Ice Blade flashed in his mind after he focused on the selection. Isotelus twitched in his hand, then stood upright and stiffened. Ice formed on the sides, growing up from the crossguard, until a thin, razor-sharp blade of ice connected every segment. It was still a thinner sword than some he had used in the past, but it radiated cold, even covering his hands in some frost.

  “Ice is never a bad damage type to have. It can slow and it can more easily puncture some defenses.” Althowin stood up and took a step back. “Now, activate the other ability.”

  Owin had to focus a little harder on the sword before the options reappeared. He selected Shuriken and held the sword out as far as he could. The ice quickly melted, dripping water onto the shadow-covered floor. As soon as the last of the ice was gone, the segments split and started spinning until they were blurs in the air surrounding him. They orbited, moving slowly.

  “Send them at the wall behind me,” Althowin said.

  Owin tried to focus on the wall, but they didn’t move. He pointed his hand and flinched as the spinning segments all flew through the air as blurs and embedded themselves in the wall with loud thunks.

  “Now pull them back.”

  Owin gestured back and flinched, trying to hide behind his arms as the segments shook loose from the wall and flew back, reforming into Isotelus. As soon as they were all rejoined, the sword fell over limp.

  “Wow.”

  Althowin took the sword back, set it on the table, and grabbed the small stone knife. “Now, this one is a little different.”

  It looked so much like his first knife. The handle was made of simple wood with a frayed string wrapped around the handle. Everything looked worn. None of it was unnecessarily fancy. The blade was made of jagged dark gray stone, like someone had made it by chipping away slowly. He would have assumed it was just another goblin’s knife if not for the streaks of white through the entire thing, including the handle.

  “You added the Vile Fiend’s bones,” Owin said.

  “I did a few things.” She leaned on her elbows and held the knife just before Owin’s face. “I still have most of the skeleton. I haven’t figured out what to do with it. I’ll spend some time figuring that out so you can have some more gear after the Fortress. I could make armor, but that doesn’t help you, and a full set of Abyssal Armor is dangerous for a few reasons.” She flipped the knife around, holding the handle out to Owin.

  He took it and immediately opened his index.

  Darkblade

  Unique Divine Magical Item

  A simple flint knife infused with the bones of the Vile Fiend.

  When activated, the flint will become electrified.

  Note: Magical item does not vary by user

  “I was told you have a thing for electricity, and based on the spells you picked, I guess your friends were right. That charge gem is stabilized within the knife, and the core of the knife is one of the mana batteries you had. Between your hand and the knife, those batteries are basically gone, so if you want any magical things, you’ll need to find more.”

  Owin smiled. “This is perfect.”

  “Katalin said you used your old stone knife until you lost it protecting them. Because of the bones, it will normally do abyssal damage. If you need something else, you activate the charge gem and it will add electric damage as well. Something like a specter won’t be hurt by the abyssal, but electric will still damage it. You just need to remember to keep the gem full if you want to use the ability.”

  Owin turned the knife over, looking at every part. It was beautiful, but it also just looked like a knife. “How do I do that?”

  “The mana battery will recharge it over time. You’ll get a sense for how long it takes. I’d estimate an hour before it’s full. If you need it sooner, or to use the electricity longer, you can use your own mana or block electric attacks with it. Now, would I recommend you block attacks using a small knife? No. That’s what that shield is for. But that’s how charge gems work, so it’s a good thing for you to learn.”

  Basolia took the knife from Owin and placed it back on the table. “That method of recharging a charge gem is primarily for armor or shields.”

  “Yes, he knows,” Althowin said. “I was just giving him options.”

  Owin nodded as if he had known. “Will any of it break? I always have to be careful with my lich bone because it’ll break from luminous damage.”

  “No.” She made a face. “You think my shit will break?”

  “I didn’t know if other damage types did that,” Owin said quietly.

  “Your lich bone is at risk of breaking because it’s undead and because it’s literally the bone of a lich. Your abyssal knife just won’t do damage against something immune to abyssal, and the ice sword is still sharp even if something is resistant to ice. You’ll get a hang of the damage types. The main threats in the Fortress are the specters and vampires. The elves, hobgoblins, and goblins will die from just about anything if you hit them hard enough.”

  Althowin glanced at Basolia, then scowled. “You didn’t know there were goblins in the Fortress?”

  Owin hadn’t realized he was making a face. “I don’t know. I knew they were in other dungeons. I just haven’t seen one in a long time, I guess.”

  “Is it going to be difficult?”

  Owin shook his head. “I can do it.”

  “I know you can do it. That’s not what I asked. If you’re going to get all seven, you need to be ready to be uncomfortable. Each one gets more difficult in every possible way. The mobs get stronger, but people also expect more from you. And failure means death. There’s no second chances. When a hero escapes a failed climb, when they know they should’ve died, they stall. They become too scared to fight. Too scared to even enter a void nexus. Fear plagues everything they do because they know if they try again, that death they avoided before will find them.”

  Owin stared wide-eyed at Althowin.

  “Now.” She swiped her hand over the table. “What weapons are you taking? You can’t possibly carry all of these. If you get me enough specter parts in the Fortress, I can make you a specter bag so you can carry an extra weapon or two.”

  “I can’t bring them all?” Owin said. He was trying to push what she said before out of his head. Myrsvai had almost died, but he overcame that fear and got his first shard. Did that mean he wasn’t stalled? What about Chorsay? Owin clenched his jaw and brought his mind back to Althowin.

  “Not a chance. The Incandescent Blade is a good choice and easy to carry the way you were doing it before. Your whole knife in the belt thing is fine, but you need a better belt. I can put one together quickly that will actually hold the knife and wands. Your old belt is barely holding together. That leaves you with two knives, a sword, a shield, and two wands. If you wanted, you could carry another weapon, but it would need to be the hammer or the spine.”

  Summon the Withered Shade

  Summon the Withered Shade

  Shade appeared, looked around the room, then crossed his arms. “I want you to know I was in the middle of a game and I was winning. The others didn’t know I could see their cards, but I was still winning. They were going to pay me a lot of money.”

  “Althowin said I can’t take all the weapons. Do you think we could put that spine sword back in your box until we need it?”

  Shade raised his brow. “Me? Storage?” He grabbed Isotelus. “Send me away, your lordship.”

  Summon the Withered Shade

  Summon the Withered Shade

  Shade reappeared, walked to a wall, and started slapping his hands against it. “Where’s the door? I want to beat Chorsay in cards. He keeps beating me and it’s going to make me cry.”

  “Is that why you’re cheating?” Owin asked.

  Shade shushed loudly as Basolia opened the door. “There’s no way he knows I’m cheating. Don’t reveal my tricks.” The door slid closed as soon as Shade was gone.

  “Chorsay knows he’s cheating,” Althowin said.

  “Yeah.”

  “Carrying six weapons is ridiculous.”

  Owin smiled. “Yeah.”

  Althowin rolled her eyes. “Fine. Grab that hammer and follow me. I want to see what it can do.”

  Owin reached over and grabbed the Thunderstrike Maul. It was still surprising just how light it was. “Do I get to hit something?”

  “Yeah. Me.”