I don't know what was holding the building together, but this morning we shook the last of it off and the whole damn thing collapsed. After falling asleep before we could celebrate our reunion, Vic and I awoke to a little 'morning glory' with a little help from a Spell or two. The lumber mill couldn't handle the strain of our efforts and the sound of cracking and splintering wood announced the building's final breath. The structural integrity finally gave way moments after our escape. Neither of us could take the situation seriously enough and we rolled with laughter on the ground in our birthday suits.

Following Vic's advice, I use the newly acquired Dark Wisp to scout around for possible trails as we stalk through the woods atop the Nightmares.

"You are not naming them Blue Two and Blue Three," Vic argues, waving a hand dismissively in my direction. "Aside from how unimaginative that is, you will only confuse yourself with numbers."

"But they're my summons…" I moan, sniffing the air and listening for out of place sounds.

"For someone as creative as you are on the battlefield, you are terrible at naming things. If we were to ever have a child, you are not in charge of naming."

"Ardacen Junior?"

"And for a girl?" Her eyebrow arches and annoyed, partially closed eyes glare back at me.

"Vic-- toria--? Junior?" I shrug my shoulders and grin back at her. Her reply to my answer is an eyeroll, a groan, and a flick of sparks. I think about explaining a virtual grandchild to Mom and inwardly grin.

The Dark Wisp, who Victoria begrudgingly agreed to the name Faye, came back to lead us to an old cart path where shin-high grass had grown around the edges, but not trees or bushes. I pat Faye's head and the faerie gives me toothy grin. Used to the visage and physical cues from the Stalker, seeing my summon smile back at me makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. In a couple more levels I'll be able to keep another in storage and have a total of two walking around with me on the material plane.

About an hour later, the thickness of the mana in the air became almost palpable. The flora and fauna we come across are visibly affected, warping and morphing into alien figures. Even Victoria, who's lived in this world and read its history, finds the sight of our mutated surroundings unnerving.

She stops before a tree whose bark bulges like fat blisters and the thick trunk has spiraled as if around a tall, invisible pole, "This is an oak tree, but look at it. The amount of mana has caused it to mutate to such an unimaginable degree."

I glance at another corner of the forest and find a large patch of albino bushes and flowers. The glossy white vegetation stands out from the dark greens and browns surrounding it, like an overlooked patch of a coloring book. When I switch through visions I stop at Arcane Sight, fold in half at the waist, and growl in pain. My hands instictively shoot up to my face, but only turning off the magical sensory Ability gives me any relief.

"What's the matter?" Victoria demands rather than asks. I can hear her armor shifting as she's probably scanning the forest for a threat.

"The-- the patch of white plants. They blinded me with magic energy." I shake the after images out of my eyes and make sure they're set back to normal vision, staring until I can see the forest again. "That was the brightest aura I've ever seen. Remind me to tell Richter not to do the same later. Damn…"

"Look, the edge of the forest." With a grinning shake of her head, Vic leads us past more twisted trees, grown curiously with no rhyme or reason as to why so many seemingly unnecessary mutations. IRL, some trees come to depend on forest fires to clear out excessive brush and drop nutrients into the ground. Many trees adapt their seeds to be intentionally carried away by birds and insects through convoluted acts just for the chance to be buried and forgotten. But these trees… Why would a tree need to look like a strand of DNA? Or grow fur? Or stab vines into monsters and drag them screaming into large, purple pods?

"Yeah, let's steer clear of that one," I say in horror as we click our heels into Corsina and Avronette's sides to get them to move on. When we do, and we finally clear the forest, Victoria and I behold a sight beyond anything we ever expected.

A verdant mountain range reaches towards the heavens, stretching from east to west and acting as a protecting curtain to the lush valley below. Cutting through the center of this Eden is a stream, appearing to flow straight out of the side the mountain and curving to the west. Further down, the stream feeds a lake of concentric blue circles that darken towards the middle. More water pours into from a most curious waterfall, cascading down a series of rocks until sliding down a gentle slope and into the pool.

It's not a perfect replica, which leads me to believe it is a natural formation and I wonder who in the Pantheon had the time and the foresight to weather the jutting rocks into such a shape. I mean, if one were to look at it just right like we are, they would see a moss covered draconic skull tilting down at the body of water, two stoney horns jutting from the top and jagged rocks for teeth set into sedimentary jaws. The water shoots out of the mouth-like area with enough force to appear like a dragon's breathe attack and the sound it makes as it lands is both wonderous and terrifying.

Faye flies off with orders to find a safe passage down, but to return immediately upon finding any hostile creatures. Vic's right, with no time or distance limitations, I should be utilizing my summons more often. That must be why Miss Delvina deemed my first Essence Core as useful to me as an endless quiver.

I turn to the person with all the historical and geographic schooling of Arc, "Does this place have a name?" Vic picks her jaw up from the floor and shakes her head slowly. I ball up a fist in triumph, "Nice. So, I can name it?"

Once again, she shakes her head unamused, "If you name this area without further discussion, I will kill you, wait for you to return, and shove your Life Crystal right up your ass." Without moving her head, she glances at me from the corner of her eye.

I hold a hand to my chest in mock hurt, "And what ridiculous name do you assume I have in mind for this unspoiled paradise?"

Her mouth opens, and a deep roar echoes across the valley. I stare, dumbfounded, and hold up a finger to ask her a question. She motions me to hold it in and to check the area with my Enhanced Senses. I take a big sniff of the air and I almost miss the two red dots marking my vision due to the overwhelmingly heady aromas of the local plant life. The pungent bouquet reminds me of the Sunseeker Cave and I take a moment to steady myself before I continue my reconnaissance.

Using Zoom III, I tell her about what I can observe from where we are, "There's an entrance to a cave, probably the dungeon. I can't see into it using Darkvision and I think there are patches of those stupid white plants all around the valley because I really can't bare to use Arcane Sight here either. It isn't as bright, more like everything is surrounded in overlapping prismatic auras making it difficult to see anything in detail.

"There's a trail leading to hostiles far to the west, but a grove of trees obscures my vision. The other marker, however, I can see. Near the head of the falls is the creature that produced the noise. That roar looks like it was actually a yawn."

A massive figure slinks from out of the rocks surrounding the dragon head and sprawls on top of it, batting at the spraying water while a sandy brown tail with a dark tuft like a lion's waves lazily from its behind. The rest of its body and four legs are also lion-like in appearence except several times larger than a regular lion would be. Light brown feathers on the outside and dark brown on the inside, its wings stretch back for a moment before tucking down into its sides. A deep orange mane flecked with streaks of white wreath a flawless, beautiful woman's bronze skin. Another yawning roar reveals rows behind rows of sharp teeth, like a shark's.

"That must be the Sphinx. She sure does act like a big cat," I say, activating my Scan.

>Scan[A Feat is blocking this information!

[A Feat is blocking this information!]

"That's weird. I can't get any information from the Scan. Well, aside from its name and level. Alima. Ring any bells?"

"I can't say that it does."

"Oromin Sphinx… Now why does THAT sound familiar?" I turn to Victoria in time to watch her welcome back a happy Faye. Suffering no loss in HP and returning fairly quickly, she must have found a way close by.

"It should. You traipsed through it all alone after the fight at the lake," she says with a wry smile, leaning on the shoulder of the Dark Whisp, "And where you met Miss Brandy?" With her elbow still on Faye, she places her other hand on an invisible ass bent over in front of her and frantically humps the air.

"Very funny. Did you wanna check out the valley, or keep humping your imaginary girlfriend?" I give my rainbow bar a quick glance to make sure its topped off, before returning to Vic's show. She has both hands grasping at the hips, grinding slowly while staring back at me with a tantalizing grin. She uses a hand to reach forward, wrapping it around long, invisible hair and giving it a good tug. My cheeks start to flush, probably turning my flames a bright pink, but I don't care. Vic really knows how to get me going, doesn't she?

With perfect posture, she bends at the waist as if whispering into an ear, "I saved a spot for you. Are you going to take it?"

Is she serious? Is this really happening? Are we really going to do this right now? I mean, I might be feeling an odd, virtual case of blue balls, but better that than the two of us getting caught with our pants down…

Her sapphire eyes sparkle mischievously up at me, my hands moving autonomously down my coat. Coat buttons slip out of loops and hands tug the tops of my pants to my knees. I can practically hear Victoria purring and my heart races faster as she throws all pretense and the imaginary Brandy, aside. I pull her face up to mine, kissing her deeply while she stands and runs her hands through my flames. Two swift slaps to the back of our heads snaps us out of our reverie and a terrified Faye directs our attention to an opening of short grass and a tall, brown figure. The purring, a sound I falsely attributed to Victoria, grows in intensity.

"Oh? Why have you stopped?" The silken voice interrupts the purring and the two of us are statues in our embrace. How the Sphinx snuck up on us is anyone's guess. But, given that Vic and I are still alive, killing us is probably not what she has in mind. "I haven't seen humans mating this close before. Will you continue?" A crescent moon smile of serrated teeth sends a cold spike of fear shooting up my back and a light breeze reminds me of my incomplete armor condition.

With teeth unmoving and in full view, the Sphinx asks us again if we will be moving forward with our mating ritual, the voice sounding off in my head as if spoken directly into my ear. I politely decline for the both of us as we redress ourselves, "You must be Alima. How-- how do you do?"

The Sphinx, ever smiling, tilts her head to the side, "How do I do what?"

It's going to be like that, is it? A gigantic, psychic Cheshire Cat with a shark's maw acting like a young child? I dred the moment she reveals just how mad we are for being here.

"This is Lady Victoria Grandersil and my name Ardacen Winters, Traveler." One of her eyebrows shoots up and her light brown eyes flash mana blue. The familiar deep probing feeling of a particularly strong Analyze Ability wriggles under my skin and through each fiber of my muscles. Next to me, Victoria shudders under the same treatment. Damn. Is that how she found us? I've never set any creatures off this way before, but every time someone Analyzes me I get the creepy crawlies.

A triumphant laugh rings in our heads as Alima crosses her paws in front of her and rests her chin on top of them. "You two are full of interesting information. I would love to learn more about you. Especially you, little Traveler. The last Traveler I ran into was, shall we say, less cordial? And delicious..."

Her body rears itself in a pouncing position, ears forward, wings and tail down low. Vic and I take a defensive step back, but wait as she continues to speak, "Let us play a game instead, yes? I'm sure that would be a better use of our time together."

We look at each other for a quick moment before Vic responds, eyes focusing on me, "If it is a game we play, then there must be a prize to be won?"

I recall Faye back to her core and place her into storage. Hopefully, Alima takes it as a sign that the two of us won't be aggressive and are willing to participate in her fun and games.

"Ah, yes. The prize is your lives, of course. I could have taken them earlier, but what is there to learn from that?" Her head perks up a little and she waves a paw dismissively at her own question. "What say you, Lady Grandersil of the Regalus Valkyries and Traveler Winters, Piramis Blue Mage?"

I lean closer to Vic, not taking my eyes off of Alima, "I want us to be addressed that way from now on…"

"Well…?" Alima asks, stretching and yawning. At the same time she flexes and shows off some rather impressive claws popping our from each toe. I move to confer with Victoria and notice the blend of embarrassement and frustration on her face.

We were caught, almost literally with our pants down, and have to get out of a tough situation without either of us dying against a Tier 3 Boss. What choice do we have besides excepting this request to be toyed with like mice against a cat of this caliber?

"So all we get in return is to live? You know, if he dies he'll just come back to life. Right?" Victoria may be a shrewd negotiator, but her gamble seems a little risky even for me. Instead, Alima ponders this line for a moment and asks if there would be anything else we would prefer. "The two of us and our group would like to live in this valley, peacefully. With you, if you would be so gracious to remain here with us."

"And what makes you think I would be interested in something like that?" Her purring belies her indifferent tone and I know exactly how to follow up Vic's offer.

"There are a total of four Travelers in our group, along with several people of many races and ages with knowledge spanning across several Artisan Classes. We even have a couple of Machinas. One was even a part of a traveling circus. I'm sure we would all love to teach you whatever it is you would like to learn."

Her ears perk up and her tail jerks before she could get it under control, "Different races, you say? I've always wanted to try out the many languages I've been learning…" She starts to sound like a broken translator as she rattles off phrases in some of the languages she knows. One of them I recognize as French and I do a double take at her. Could that have been from the Traveler she killed?

"Deal," she finally says in English, or Common Speech as it is called in Arc, "Now, the game shall be very simple. We will ask each other a riddle until the other cannot answer. The first one who cannot answer, loses. Simple, yes?"

Vic and I nod in agreement. Indeed it is simple, but I don't know too many riddles and the ones I do know are well known, out of game anyway, so she should be able to answer them easily enough. I sure hope Vic knows some good ones…

[Minor Quest Received: Hey Riddle Riddle

[Defeat Alima, the Oromin Sphinx, in her little game.

[Reward: 3500XP, Journeyman Ring of the Intellectual, guaranteed safety from Alima while in the valley.

[Failure: Upon failing this Quest, Alima will rend and consume your head and torso, for your brain and heart respectively.]

"Wonderful! I shall start... I surf the clouds and swim the skies, with no wings if you would believe your eyes. I hunt the hunters in my own way, but prefer to spend my day in play. I drift about just like a dream, I am not what I seem. What am I?"

"Do we get a time limit?" I ask seeing Victoria's already befuddled expression.

Alima raises an eyebrow, pops a claw, and scratches at the ground, "Just don't keep me waiting too long." Her smile, which has never faltered grows maliciously thin and wide.

The two of us put our heads together in a whispering conference. Victoria yells in a hushed tone, "What the hells is she asking? I've never heard of such a thing! Something that flies without wings?"

"Could it be a flying Spell? But it's a hunter that hunts other hunters? And likes to... play?" I muse aloud. "Is it a creature then?"

"No other hints, I'm afraid. The riddle IS the hint." Her eyes, never blinking, shift between us and settle on me.

I focus every available brain cell on this one and work them overtime. It must be something she knows about, maybe something she's seen? I haven't seen too many flying creatures in this world besides the Harpies and Styrges, but I doubt they're the answer. None of them have been playful in the slightest and they all had wings. Assuming Alima came straight here from the desert that kind of limits the amount of creatures she may have seen, right? Maybe something from the des--

I snap my fingers, shocking Victoria and causing Alima to twitch/tilt her head to the side, "I know the answer! You're a Desert Mooben. It looks like a sea creature, but it flies and it eats Sand Sharks."

Her purring is loud and echoes throughout the valley, "Clever. So you were the one who saved Shulaktet from the Desert Wyvern? Interesting…"

"It had a name?" I ask incredulously.

"She. And 'has' a name. Only seven females, three males left on Regalus. Needless to say, I was pleased to see that she did not die that day. Although, Shulaktet is the more adventurous of her kind, always ending up in some sort of trouble. The others would not have approached you at all."

"Lucky me," I say, elbowing Vic on the arm. She rolls her eyes and shoves me lightly in reply. Vic also reminds me how I never did tell the story of the Mooben and Elemental fight. In a low whisper I ask Vic, "Do you know any riddles?" Alima cranes her neck, watching us with great interest.

"I was really hoping you did," Vic says, a tinge of worry in her voice. I tell her to wish me luck, to which she replies with a slap to my butt. Our ritual causes Alima to flinch in suprise, eyeing us curiously, as she no doubt wonders why Vic would attack her own colleague so suddenly like she did.

We trade off the usual list of riddles concerning eggs and man and the wind and such, but neither of us have any further hiccups. It seems she didn't want to test the depths of my bestiary knowledge and I just couldn't come up with anything clever enough on my own. There came a point after the second or third of her riddles where Vic was sure Alima was reading our lips, but not our thoughts so she switched to ASL just in case. The hand movements confounded and attracted her curiosity, but she managed to answer my stupid riddle about lava. Of course that brought up two very important thoughts.

One, she must have seen lava and the other things not local to this area, or known enough about them to answer vague and strangely worded questions. Her knowledge seems to be based on things she has observed whether first-hand or, as she hinted at, gained from eating a brain, like some crazy concept for a super zombie. Which leads me directly into the second thought.

Well, not the zombie part, but the idea of something she would have a very minute chance of knowing. One of the things that brought this second thought was when I tried to ask a riddle about a lightbulb. The system simply made it seem like both she and Victoria couldn't hear or understand what I was saying at all. The lightbulb moment gave birth to a metaphorical one and I couldn't wait to try it out.

Alima said she knew a lot of languages, including one from out of game. If the languages were ones she knew in game and from eating the player, then maybe a language she didn't know might be a good enough gimmick.

"The answer is the letter E," I answer easily enough. Now it's my turn. I crack my knuckles and hopefully she can see the smug look on my fiery face because this is going to be good. To be fair, I sign each word at a walking pace just in case she can understand them. Also, just in case the gamble doesn't work, I still ask a stupid question that she should be able to answer.

Alima's whole body freezes, including her tail, as if she glitched. Did I break the game? No. There goes her tail again, albeit a lot slower than her usual, content wave.

"What… are you doing?" she asks, cocking her head.

"He's asking you a question." Vic grins at me, seeing the angle that I'm playing at before looking back and awaiting the Sphinx's answer.

Alima protests, but when I spell out "Arcane Bolt" and fire the purple orbs of magic into the air as far as they can go, she concedes to the fact that I am indeed using a language. It may not be one she knows, but there was never a stipulation that she had to understand the words I communicated. Though, as she said herself, she was familiar with several languages. The system has recognized ASL as legitimate since the very beginning, allowing me to cast my Spells and the Spells of Arceans who learned it from me.

"Well, played, Traveler, asking me a riddle in a language I don't understand. Yet. But before I grant you victory, can Lady Grandersil answer the question you asked? She seems to know… What do you call it?" To that, Victoria looks even more smug, hands on her hips and eyebrow arching in triumph.

"Ardacen calls it Ay-yesel," Vic says, pronouncing it phonetically. She glances down at my crotch, "And he doesn't wear any underwear. You could've answered it, since you interrupted our special moment just in time to know for yourself."