Before Vance could reach the end of the corridor, Robinia had appeared in front of him and blocked the way to the guild’s public area. She gave him a murderous look with arms akimbo, and he understood perfectly well what was wrong with her. He knew her secret; he was a threat to her position in the party—a hazard to the many gains that she was making as a leech. And anyone in her shoes would’ve wanted to deal with such a threat as soon as possible. He couldn’t guess, however, what she intended to do next. She had placed herself in a very difficult situation, and there was no easy way out of it.

“What’s wrong?” Vance said.

But Robinia didn’t say anything in response. After she made sure that the corridor was empty, she grabbed his shirt and shoved him against the wall. Her right hand continued to hold him in place, while her sweaty left reached for a rusty doorknob. Her fingers were shaky, but she managed to turn the lock. She opened the door to an unused office and pulled Vance behind her. When they were alone inside, she shoved him against another wall, and he waited to see how far she would go—how much she was willing to do to protect her secret.

“This is all because of you,” she said with a breathy voice. “The old geezer had to give us that damn test because you were level 5!”

“You must be stupid if you thought you could hide your level,” Vance said.

“I was hiding it pretty well until you came!”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Shut up, asshole!” Robinia snapped. Her hand disappeared behind her back and reappeared with a pocketknife. She opened it with a flick of the wrist. The blade glinted in the dim room, and its serrated edge cast a jagged shadow on the wall. She put it at Vance’s neck and said, “Listen, this party has no place for both of us. I worked hard to earn my spot, so your sorry ass will have to leave.” She pushed the blade harder against his neck. “You will walk out of here and ask the guild employees to revoke your registration. If you don’t, I swear you won’t make it back from our first job.”

Vance remained silent, and his unresponsiveness made Robinia uneasy.

“Don’t try anything funny,” she said. “If you think you can—”

“You don’t understand the situation you’re in, do you?” he smiled.

Before she could react, he had grabbed her wrist.

“What do you think you’re doing? You—”

His strong grip continued to tighten until she was forced to drop the pocketknife. It clattered on the floor with an awakening noise, and no sooner had it struck the ground than he kicked it away. It slid across the room before it stopped in the corner farthest from reach. And it remained there like a corporeal symbol of despair.

Still squeezing Robinia’s wrist, Vance said, “You’re at my mercy now. I can kill you right here and still call it self-defense.”

She raised her other hand to punch him, but he caught it in midair. Then he kicked her in the shins and let go of both hands. The pain she felt was so terrible that she fell to her knees. On the ground, she winced and held her legs, as if her hands had the power to relieve the pain. Before she could recover even a little, however, Vance raised his foot and kicked her head with the leather sole of his shoe. She fell on her back, and her hands immediately relocated to her red forehead. She was about to scream for help, but he put his foot on her neck and pressed down until she had enough air only to breathe.

“If you so much as move a muscle,” Vance said, looking down at her agonized face, “you know what will happen, right?”

She nodded weakly. He eased the pressure on her neck, and she gasped, “I’m sorry … I don’t want anything anymore … I’ll quit.”

“No, don’t say that,” Vance smiled. “There’s a place for both of us in the party. And I’ll even look after you, since you’re such a low-level loser. Wouldn’t you like that?” He pushed harder on her neck.

“Y-Yes,” she said with difficulty.

“And you’ll repay my kindness by listening to everything I say, won’t you?”

“Y-Yes!”

“Good girl. This way your secret will be safe.”

He removed his foot from her neck and stamped the ground next to her head. The sound made her close her eyes in fear, and she didn’t open them until Vance threw his amber ring on her chest.

“Put it on, and check your stamina,” he said.

She swallowed with difficulty and felt her neck with her hands. When her breathing returned to its previous regularity, she sighed in relief and picked up the ring with fumbling hands. It took her quite a while to sit up, but Vance waited for her with undue patience. On her knees again, she slid the ring onto her trembling finger and checked its effect on her stamina.

“It … tripled?” she said in disbelief.

“There’s more where that came from,” Vance said. “If you want to get strong quickly, you’ll stay on my good side.”

Robinia looked up at him with a strange mixture of hatred, irritation, fear, and self-surrender. Her tearful eyes—a bodily window into her soul—showed this gallimaufry of contradicting emotions, but it was her self-surrender that seemed to be the most dominant at the moment. The time that she had spent breathless on the ground had broken her will to fight, and only a few more words were needed to win her over.

“There’s no need to complicate things.” Vance bent down, grabbed her hand, and admired the ring. “You want money and experience.” He looked into her eyes. “I’ll give you both.”

“What will you make me do in return?” she said, with a voice still weak from the grueling experience. “I said I’d listen to everything you say, but you can’t be seriously asking for that.”

“If I spread rumors that you lied about your level,” Vance said, “how many parties will accept you after you’re kicked out of ours? It’s already hard enough for beginners to join a party. Do you want to turn it into a mission impossible?”

“No … I don’t,” Robinia said slowly.

“Then you’ll stay a good girl and do as you’re told,” Vance said, standing straight again. “Get up and go get your knife.”

Robinia stood up and took a few steps with wobbly legs. She walked to the corner where her pocketknife lay, picked it up with difficulty, and put it inside her rear pocket.

Vance opened the room’s door and said, “We will walk outside together, and when we meet the rest, we will tell them that the guild employees asked us to fill an optional survey. I won’t say anything about your level, and you won’t say anything about our new partnership. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Robinia said.

***

Several kilometers southeast of Cromsville, there was a wide fissure in the earth that the locals called the Crimson Drop. Rivers of lava ran through it on a regular basis, and hundreds of caves dotted its sides. The rivers were given no name, because they often dried up or changed course, but the caves had always been known as the Sweltering Caverns. Some locals said that they earned this name because of the excruciating heat, while others claimed that it referred to the passion and ardor of the ancient miners—the heroes who braved the harsh environment to collect precious gems and crystals.

Following in the footsteps of these nameless heroes, Vance and his new party arrived at one of the entrances to the Sweltering Caverns. The guild had linked them to a client—a well-known traditional jeweler—and their first job as a team was to collect Cindermite crystals from deep in the earth. These black-purple crystals weren’t beautiful enough to decorate necklaces or rings, but they were indispensable to the long-established molding process. The client indicated that the reward would depend on the weight of the retrieved crystals, so it was the plan to find as many as possible and return to Cromsville in two days.

After a rather short walk in flickering torchlight, however, the first obstacle appeared in the treacherous path to treasure.

“Stop,” Benedict whispered. “There are monsters ahead.”

“Vance,” Luke said, “it’s time you made yourself useful, pal.”

“What do you want me to do?” Vance said.

“Assasins do lots of sneaking, don’t they?” Luke smirked, handing Vance an Ezran gadget. “Scout the area ahead, and tell us what we’re up against.”

Vance looked at the gadget. It was a monstroscope, a compact monocular that could identify a monster and measure its level. Almost every adventurer party carried one of these rune-covered devices, since there were only a few other ways to assess the danger that a monster posed.

“You know how to use it, right?”

“Yes,” Vance said.

“Then get moving!” Luke pushed him. “And try not to die, pal!”

Vance regained his balance after a few clumsy steps. You really love to boss me around, don’t you? He looked daggers at Luke, who had started a friendly conversation with Robinia and was laughing and blushing. You’re happy now, but wait till I mess things up. Vance spun the monstroscope in his hand with clear dexterity. Beginners can mess up really bad, you know. Clenching the gadget after the last spin, he was about to advance deeper into the dark tunnel, but a hand grabbed his arm and forced him to stop.

“Vance, wait,” Benedict whispered. “Don’t listen to Luke. You don’t have to scout the area. It’s too dangerous for someone at your level.”

“Thanks, Benedict, but I can do it.”

“Are you sure? I think it’s better if we just advanced as a group.”

“I’m sure,” Vance said. “I want to prove myself to you.”

A heavy silence followed. Before the Blind Monk could reply, Vance had already walked away and disappeared into the darkness.

The tunnel was hot and damp. The ground radiated heat, and steam erupted from the many crevices in the rocks. These conditions were perfect for some monsters to lay their eggs, and it wouldn’t have been a surprise if a few nests, or even an entire colony, had emerged from the dark. Vance, however, didn’t seem to care much about his surroundings. A calm expression never left his face, and his dagger remained sheathed at his waist. He walked at a steady pace without hiding or sneaking, as if he had been out on a starless night for a relaxing stroll.

Less than twenty steps later, he found that the tunnel widened into an impressive cavern—twice the size of a noble’s mansion. And the monsters that Benedict had sensed were roaming this underground space. There were eight Armored Salamanders. At first, Vance could only see their silhouettes in the dark, but then their tail flames lit up and illuminated a short radius around their bodies. Each salamander was two meters in length and half a meter in height. A rocklike substance covered their backs and heads with a protective layer, and their necks had two subdermal pouches that inflated and deflated as they breathed the musty air.

Vance raised his monstroscope and looked at one of them.

Monstroscope Reading Armored Salamander Lvl. 26

He looked at another.

Monstroscope Reading Armored Salamander Lvl. 18

These two checks were enough, and he lowered the gadget. I shouldn’t expect much from them with these levels. He noticed that one of the salamanders was approaching him. Did I get too close? He reached for his dagger, but before he could wrap his fingers around its handle, he realized that the salamander was neither hissing nor spitting fire. It opened its mouth and started biting playfully at his shoes, which reflected the light of its tail flame better than the rest of his clothes. With a short laugh, he bent down and knocked a little on its armored head. It looked up as if it were asking, “Who’s there?” Then it returned to nibbling on his shoes.

“I have a treat for you, buddy,” Vance smiled, before he put the monstroscope near the salamander’s mouth. “You can swallow it up or carry it to your nest or break it into pieces. I don’t mind what you do.” After a few more playful bites, the monstroscope was on its way to the salamander’s intestines. “Good boy!” He patted its head. “Now let’s play tag.”

Vance began to run in a circle, and the salamander ran after his shoes with both devotion and dedication. Round and round they went, chasing each other in an endless loop, like two children in a summer playground. With every lap, they inched farther from the rest of the monsters and closer to the cavern’s entrance. As the salamander moved farther from its breeding nest, it grew less enthusiastic about the shiny shoes, and it slowed down from an excited canter to a gentle trot. By the time it finally gave up, however, Vance had already worked up a sweat. He dashed out of the final lap and into the tunnel that he had come from. Less than ten steps later, he found the rest of his party, who had been on their way to check on him.

“Vance, are you all right?” Benedict said.

“There are Armored Salamanders,” Vance said in panic. “Tens of them!”

“We saw the lights,” Severus said. “One of them was chasing you, right?”

“Yes,” Vance panted. “I managed to lose it, but I dropped the monstroscope.”

“You what?!” Luke grabbed him by the shirt’s collar. “You dropped it?!”

“Calm down, Luke,” Benedict said. “You can’t blame him. He was running for his life.”

“You had one simple task!” Luke shouted at Vance. “One simple task!”

“We have to get the scope back,” Severus said, with a matter-of-fact tone. “What’s the level of the salamanders?”

“The one I saw was level 18.”

“Running from a level 18 salamander … you wuss,” Luke said, before he finally released Vance’s shirt. “Let’s go get the scope back.” He drew his longsword. “I’ll butcher those lizards!”

“I’m right behind you,” Benedict said.

“I’ll act as your support,” Severus added.

The three rushed ahead, leaving Vance and Robinia behind.

The inexperienced archer stood with an expression of utter confusion on her face. Her gaze alternated between Vance and the darkness ahead, as if she was trying to determine which was worse. The answer she reached was a mystery, but it propelled her into action. She placed her torch on the ground to free her hands. Then she took an arrow out of her quiver and tried to load her bow. Before any of her clumsy movements could bear fruit, however, Vance clasped her hand and stopped her.

“You won’t join this fight.”

“What? Why?” she said.

“Because I said so.”

A moment passed in silence. Then, without protest, she returned the arrow to her quiver and picked up the torch, which was still aflame.

“What do you want us to do?” she said.

“We’ll spectate.”

“Are you serious?”

Vance nodded.

And he dragged her behind him until he arrived at the salamander’s cavern. With his dagger still sheathed, he stood near the entrance and watched the amusing three-versus-eight battle that had unfolded. He knew that the salamanders would eventually lose the fight, but he didn’t care about this final result. The battle itself was much more valuable and important, because it allowed him to estimate the strength of his party members. Every adventurer had a secret—a rare Skill, an obscure Perk, or even a double-edged Bane—that only a challenging battle could divulge. And by creating the panic of a lost monstroscope, Vance hoped that he would force all his party’s secrets out.

Let’s see now. Vance turned toward the west side of the cavern, where Luke and Benedict were fighting. Entertain me, adventurers.

As the salamanders crawled and hissed, Luke shouted a battle cry and charged with his longsword. He swung it with a burst of strength, but it struck the armor on the back of the salamanders and caused little damage.

In retaliation, one of the monsters put its tail flame in front of its mouth, filled its neck pouches with air, and breathed fire at Luke. It was too late for the swordsman to retreat or evade, but Benedict came to his rescue.

The Blind Monk swung his bardiche twice, leaving a luminous X in the air. Then he spun around and waved his weapon one last time, launching this shining X in a straight line. It traveled through the air, passed through Luke without causing him harm, and finally landed on the attacking salamander, interrupting its fire breath and knocking it back.

“That attack,” Vance said, “it doesn’t cause damage to allies.”

“Uh, yes,” Robinia said. “I think it’s a Skill related to the Church.”

Well, that’s an annoying Miracle. Vance clicked his tongue. But it’s good that I found out about it this soon. He continued to watch Luke and Benedict for a while, but then he remembered that they weren’t alone on the battlefield. Where did Severus go?

For a few minutes, the Necromancer was nowhere to be found, but then he finally appeared meters away from the main fray. He had drawn a steel dagger and seemed to be in an unenviable situation. Two salamanders were closing in on him from both sides, and he was brandishing his weapon in a desperate effort to keep them away. Before long, the one on his right breathed a raging fire. He dodged left with a nimble movement, but to his dismay, the other salamander’s tail was waiting for him where he landed. It swung like a whip and hit him in the stomach. One lash was enough to knock him to the ground.

That must’ve hurt. Vance smiled. But it couldn’t have been deadly.

A second later, Severus was on his feet again. He retreated as fast as he could, drinking a healing potion to recover from the setback. For a few moments, it seemed as though he had run out of options. But then he noticed that Luke and Benedict had killed three salamanders, and his face lit up. He raised his arms and fired three spheres of glowing blue mist. They landed on the corpses and raised the three salamanders to fight for him.

Emboldened by the successful resurrection, he stopped his cowardly fleeing, turned around with a spike of determination, and ran toward his two pursuers. The salamanders whipped their tails and landed direct hits, but Severus wasn’t knocked back this time. He got past them and continued to run until he joined Luke and Benedict again. Finding safety behind them, he laughed and hurled curses at the enemy monsters.

One tail attack knocked Severus back, but two didn’t? Vance noticed the obvious contradiction. What’s the meaning of this? Did I miss something? Vance needed more time and more observations to explain what had happened, but his party was already on its way to end the battle.

Luke held his longsword horizontally and began to spin in place. The hot air gathered around him and his blade. In a matter of seconds, he had become the eye of a miniature tornado, and he advanced toward the enemy monsters. The salamanders tried to run away, but he crashed into them with the full might of his attack and ripped them apart with consecutive slashes. Simultaneously, Benedict launched more luminous X attacks, and Severus made his undead salamanders use their fire breath. It was an utter overkill. The remaining enemy monsters were not only defeated but also obliterated from existence.

“It’s over,” Robinia sighed with dissatisfaction. “If you had just let me fire a few arrows, I would’ve gotten a ton of experience. I swear I would’ve jumped five levels or more!”

“Will you shut up for a minute?” Vance said. He was busy analyzing the battle and setting his priorities. Luke isn’t much of a threat. But Benedict is still a thorn in my side, and Severus is a mystery that I need to solve. He looked down at the severed tail of a salamander, which had landed at his feet after Luke’s tornado subsided. Luke and Benedict are inseparable, so I can’t go after either of them now. He kicked the tail, and it twitched. I need to deal with Severus first. Yes, that’s the right move … Tackle what you know least before it turns into a beast.

“I … I won’t shut up!” Robinia said, after taking a while to muster her courage. “You promised me money and experience. So far I got nothing. If you think the ring you gave me was enough, you’re dead wrong! I—”

“You’re right,” Vance said. “I wasn’t fair to you.”

“Took you too long to realize it, jerk!”

Vance stamped the ground, and she cringed almost instinctively.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Please don’t hurt me!”

“I won’t hurt you. You’ve been a good girl so far, and you deserve a reward,” Vance smiled. “I’ll give you a chance to earn as much experience as you want. Hell, I’ll even give you a break from me.”

“Now you’re talking!”

Vance laughed and continued, “But first, you have to do a little something for me—for both of us.”