The ornate table was covered in a variety of racks, each that held a glass flute with a different chemical. A few mechanical gadgets sat off to the side, though I knew that they had been placed there temporarily. Some of the liquids and minerals I’d personally dealt with before, but there were a few that I’d never even seen.

“Mentally unhinged,” Markov commented to me as he sipped at a glass flute, one that I hoped didn’t hold some sort of acid or other chemical.

Markov was a lean and muscular man, though I knew that he could change the overall look of his body as he wanted. He wore a business suit, unbuttoned at the top without a tie, and his short white hair had been slicked back. Red eyes peered over the top of blackened sunglasses as he looked at me.

“I’m perfectly sane,” I responded as I motioned at the datapad he’d left on the table next to him, “so, what do you think?”

"Legendary acquisition, thesis certainty?"

"Yes, I checked with her, do you think you can pull it off?"

"Incomprehensible distrust," Markov said with a shocked tone, even as he picked up the datapad and perused it once more, "Goddess Architect Human hybridization laborious. Schedule?"

"However long it takes, though I'd prefer before I die of old age," I commented with a laugh, "you really think you can fuse all three of the races?"

"Indubitably," Markov stated confidently before he began to visibly count on his fingers, "immortality degradation, omnipotence decreased, senescence granted, propagation possible, power source requirement."

I could only rub at my eyes while all of those words were thrown in my face. Even with my extensive history with the Architects I would never enjoy the silly way they spoke, some sort of game they played where they tried to always be the smartest sounding. "Well you did a great job on the power suits, the weapons, everything, so I'm sure you'll do fine on this."

"Solitude necessary. Secret laboratory security overhaul. Borrow yours?"

"That's fine, I'll talk with Lute later and see if she can't help."

As though her name summoned her her my wife appeared, framed temporarily in the doorway of the kitchen while she carried a plate of sandwiches. Lisa floated near her, slowly cartwheeling in the air while in a seated position. Behind Luticia floated another figure that was as small as Lisa, though she was a girl with dark hair and a serene yet quiet presence.

"Dore," Luticia said, though the voice wasn’t right.

"Lute, come on, Markov and I are getting hungry," I told her as I cleared off some of the junk from the table.

"Dore!" came a louder voice, a familiar one.

I snapped out of my slumber to the face of an upset kitsune. She sat on the ground across from me, Lisa nestled on her lap and asleep. “It’s about time you woke up,” she told me, but the irritation she showed gave way to a smile quick enough.

“It’s already time?”

She gave a nod of her head in response, and then without disturbing Lisa she jerked her thumb in the direction of the brothers. “They don’t seem very happy, what’d you do while I was asleep? They won’t tell me anything.”

“I was forced to ask Lisa for help,” I told her as I stood up, “I doubt they can even understand what she did.”

“Lisa? But she’s a little girl,” Kuzu said as she looked down at my daughter.

“Markov made her body so it combined Luticia, his, and my makeup. So she has a few tricks at her disposal, though I really wanted to test those at the armory in case anything went wrong.”

Kuzu gave the tiniest bit of nods in regard to that comment, her focus on the sleeping child in her arms. Being afraid of the Lisa was something beyond Kuzu's capabilities, she viewed her like a little sister due to their years of contact. Even if she had seen the aftermath of the fight I doubted it would have changed her opinion.

I walked over to check on the brothers as they stared down at the open area below us. We’d set up a temporary camp in an alcove of a cliff, while the portal nestled in a crater below us. From our spot we had an easy time viewing the guards, an amount that could prove dangerous if we tried to fight them fairly.

"How's it going?" I asked with a casual glance at the guards. A few warlocks had joined up with the veritable gnome army.

Adam glanced up, adjusting the monocle on his face, before he returned his attention to the gnomes. "Doesn't look like they're moving away from the portal. Haven't seen a goat rider in a few hours, though, not since the sun came up."

"Nocturnal," Lance chimed in from Adam's left, "ain't going to be hard at all. Use that monster girl."

“That’s my daughter,” I growled at him, tempted for a moment to punch him, “you can already tell she’s drained from what she did. Besides it might not work again.”

Lance was oblivious to my anger but Adam was quick enough to notice my clenched fists. He touched one hand to Lance's shoulder before any more comments were made. A shake of his head at Lance made it clear that he needed to be quiet.

"We appreciate your daughter’s help with that army, but I don't understand how she could even be your daughter," Adam said, "and I don’t just mean the obvious lack of Elf ears."

"It's complicated and you wouldn’t understand it, but simply put she can’t fix all of our problems.”

Adam let those words sink in for a moment, and then he shook his head. “You’re keeping far too many secrets, I think it might be best for Lance and I to leave."

Lance gave a grunt of approval from beside his brother. I studied the two of them as my arms crossed in front of my chest, my thoughts on how useful the two of them were versus how much I wanted known. It was due to my talks with Kuzu over the last year that I’d realized I needed to be a bit more secretive.

I could already theorize that if things hadn’t changed at all getting to the fiftieth floor was within the realm of possibility for Kuzu and I. However I’d already seen changes, and places that I’d never even known about like the alcove we stood in had popped up. While I rested between life and death reality had moved on, and it was a reality that could prove lethal if I wasn’t careful.

“Fine, you win,” I finally said with a shake of my head, “if you guide us to that safe zone on the next floor I’ll have a talk with you Adam. A private one.”

"That sounds agreeable, but if I don’t like what you say we’re done. Now how are we going to deal with these pests blocking our way?"

I looked down at the gnomes and warlocks and noticed how they’d clustered into small clumps. "Say Adam, mind if I borrow a few of your rifle rounds? The regular kind."

"What? Why?"

"Magic!" I said with a wide grin.

☗ ☗ ☗ ☗ ☗

Near the entrance to the alcove Kuzu, Adam, and I all stood at the ready with our various weapons of choice. While it irritated me I ended up leaving the sleeping Lisa to Lance, though not without severe warnings about what would happen to him if she ended up hurt.

“Ready?” I asked as I lifted up one fist. Electricity began to crackle up and down my arm, with most of it circulating around the metal objects in my grasp.

“Been ready,” Kuzu replied from her crouched spot near the edge, “can you get them all?”

“If I used too much magic power yes, but I don’t want to drain myself when we already have one unconscious person,” I said, “I should be able to get most so make sure you tag any I miss.”

“If you’re going to do it hurry up, my arm’s getting tired,” Adam commented from the side. He stood near the hole of the alcove with his rifle at the ready.

A fresh burst of electricity crackled up my body and was absorbed into the bullets held within my fist. With no more words spoken I cast the bullets down at the guards. As soon as they left my hands they accelerated, an image similar to lightning bolts tossed from my hand. When they collided with the gnomes or even the ground an explosion erupted.

Holes were gouged in the ground while gnomes and warlocks alike were ravaged. Cries of pain came from the gnomes that weren’t instantly killed, and the shrieks of the warlocks grated on my ears. Throughout all of the chaos that covered the crater the portal remained a constant, untouched by any of my magic and as immobile as always.

Kuzu leapt off after the bullets contacted with the gnomes, a layer of ice formed beneath her feet. She lowered her body to make it easier to stay standing and slid down the ice ramp, more of it forming as she rapidly descended. Kuzu leapt off of the ice when she neared the crater, and her two-handed sword swung out and decapitated a gnome without a problem.

Adam’s skill with his rifle was in full display as he worked his way through the warlocks. Again and again a bullet would find itself lodged in the head of a warlock before it could cast any magic. Soon enough a small pile of spent cartridges had blossomed near his feet.

It was a slaughter. The gnomes had no chance to mount a proper response, and once again our ambush against the forces of the warlocks proved absolute. From my vantage point I kept an eye out for any problems, but I ended up being able to save my magic for any potential problems in the near future.

Once the battle was finished I threw the rope over the edge, and then we began our descent. Lance carried Lisa much like how he’d done with Kuzu, and I was impressed with how careful he handled her on the way down. When we reached the bottom I was tempted to take Lisa, but given my broken ankle it’d just cause a problem for all of us.

“Good thing I had you practice that ice slope,” I commented to Kuzu when I limped over to her, “and you didn’t hit a tree this time.”

Kuzu flicked her left ear at my words, a scowl on her face. “And you just let me hit it while laughing.”

“You should be proud of how much you’ve improved,” I told her as I patted her on the head.

“If you’re done flirting we should hurry up,” Adam walked past us and approached the portal. He didn’t even wait for us before he moved on to the next floor.

“We weren’t, nevermind,” I muttered as I realized I couldn’t even respond to him. Instead I walked with the other three over to the portal, and then when we reached it I poked Lisa gently in the face. “Lisa, you need to wake up.”

She groaned in protest as her eyes barely opened, and then she let out a long sigh. “Want to sleep.”

“We’re transferring floors, if you don’t want to get left behind wake up,” I told her.

Her eyes opened further, and then she waved her hand in the direction of the portal. Lance got closer to the sphere, close enough that Lisa could reach it with her hand, and then she vanished. Lance followed after her as quick as he could, and then finally Kuzu and I both put our hands to the portal.

Floor 27

The Garden of Gnomes

We appeared in a place that was filled with flowers, a cluster of various species gathered all around. Trees could be seen on the horizon, but for the most part the entire floor was grasslands covered in flowers.

Adam had his rifle unslung yet he cradled it casually in one arm. Lisa had once more been picked up by Lance and they stood near his brother. Kuzu was next to me, but she swayed ever so slightly as though dizzy. It was a sign to me that she’d used a bit too much magic in the previous fight.

“Adam, you said there’s a safe place?” I asked.

“Yes, give me a moment to orient,” Adam said as he studied the sun that hung above us. After a while he gave a small nod and began to walk through the ocean of flowers.

Lance took up the rear as Kuzu and I followed after his brother. A silence fell upon our group as we worked to keep an eye out for any gnomes, but even with all of us on the look not a single sign of gnomes could be detected. If anything I could only guess that all of the antics on the previous floor had drawn most of the gnomes away from the twenty-seventh floor.

It wasn’t long until we reached a copse of trees that seemed to be the same as all the others, yet Adam paused in front of one. “Wait a moment,” he told us before he approached one of the trees.

He knocked on the tree, paused, and then he knocked once again a few seconds later. There was an awkward period of time where nothing happened, and then with a creak the trunk of the tree swung open. Framed in the freshly revealed doorway stood a thin woman with spiked hair, sharp features and eyes that resembled an eagle. Though I couldn’t see her back I knew that she had wings.

With one finger that ended in a sharp talon she beckoned toward us. She stepped back into the tree, enveloped by a darkness that seemed immune to all of the sunlight. Even after she was gone the door remained open, and Lance showed no hesitation as he strode over to the tree.

“Ain’t nothing to worry about,” he said with a grin, before he vanished into the dark.

“Come on,” Adam told Kuzu and I as he followed after his brother.

Kuzu’s ears flattened against her head while she glared at the tree, obviously displeased with the idea of entering an unknown place. She flicked her right hand and deployed her diamond-tipped claws, I could only surmise in case of an ambush, and then she slipped through the doorway without a sound.

I took a deep breath before I walked into the freshly opened door. In truth I didn’t like the idea of how we’d be lead to a place that I’d never seen before, but the real question I had was a bit different. How had an avian ended up on the twenty-seventh floor?

After I’d walked in the door closed behind me, a dull click sounding before the locking mechanism whirred. A dull light flickered ahead as though beckoning to me, a light similar to what a candle would give off. The quaint idea of a wax candle made me smile as I stepped along the dark pathway, one that should’ve been physically impossible since at no point did it head downward.

The room I entered was wide enough for twenty people, with multiple tables and chairs randomly scattered about. A kitchen area was visible off to the side, a small library nestled on the opposite end of the room, and one door had been left open which was easy enough to recognize as a bathroom. A final door was set into the wall to my left, one that I could only assume lead to the sleeping quarters.

In the center of the room stood the bird woman along with Adam, the two of which were in a conversation. The look on his face was one I could recognize without much difficulty, the softness of the eyes and that slight smile easy to read. I couldn’t resist the chuckle that came to me at the thought of some boyish little romance between two races.

It was that noise which drew the avian’s attention to me, and with hands on her hips she turned to face me. “Alright, so what the hell are you and why are you with Adam?” she asked in a strong tone of voice.