The party was quiet and downtrodden, even as they began their journey back towards the Guild. They had reported the formation of the dungeon, of course. That was a necessary procedure, and it helped them, too, to engage with something approaching normal. The dungeon meant better resources for everyone in the region, possibly better gear. It was entirely possible that the mana crystal shortage for all the nearby villages could be solved with this, depending on how the politics of dungeon ownership shook out.

They were not going into the dungeon immediately. That was a surefire way to die: there were classes specifically oriented towards scouting out dungeons, understanding their traps and their dangers. The Adventurer's Guild would rank the dungeon, and then they would delve it. It was procedure.

But Onyx had said they would find answers in the dungeon. Why? Something was clearly wrong. Between the danger in the Mana Nucleus, the abnormal formation of the dungeon, the strange messages from the system...

The imprisonment of a god.

There was a lot on their minds, simply put. Sev seemed worried and withdrawn, his mind no doubt on his own god's imprisonment and state of being.

Derivan was the first one to speak. He stopped abruptly in his tracks, and the rest of the party stopped as well, turning to look at him; the armor looked... disturbed.

"You know what I am," Derivan said softly. "You knew, even before it was revealed back there. It did not bother you?"

There was a brief silence. Misa and Sev glanced at each other; Vex held back a little more, looking nervous.

Sev was the one that answered, seeming to put aside his worry for now. "Kind of. I had a pretty strong suspicion, and Misa felt the same way when she joined. We talked about it, and we decided it didn't really matter."

Derivan glanced at Misa, who shrugged. "Look, you saved me, I saved you, that's enough reason for me to trust anyone."

"We were just waiting for you to be comfortable with telling us," Sev continued. He gave Vex an apologetic look. "It was one of the things we were going to tell you."

"I sort of guessed anyway," Vex admitted. He took a breath, and seemed to let his nervousness flow out of him. Derivan couldn't help a small smile. The lizard had been incredibly nervous when he'd first joined them, terrified of letting even the smallest detail slip about his class.

He was still shy, but he'd gained a lot of confidence, at least around his team. Vex continued, looking earnestly at Derivan. "Your armor's magic isn't right for a curse. I mean, I didn't know exactly what was going on, but I figured you had some kind of secret. I just didn't really care, and I trusted you would tell me — tell us eventually."

Vex looked down, now a little bit nervous again. Open secret or not, it felt strange to be talking about his class. "...Besides, it's not like I wasn't hiding my own secret."

"Right!" Misa burst out, looking excited — or perhaps simply relieved to have something to latch on to that wasn't so heavy. "What the heck is a [Chromaturgist]? How the fuck is it so powerful?"

Vex chuckled a bit, though he avoided looking directly at Misa, casting his gaze off into the distance instead. He was proud of his accomplishments; it just wasn't something he'd ever really had the opportunity to boast about. "It's... hard to explain. It's a class that lets me analyze, deconstruct, and reconstruct magic. The spells were powerful because I figured out how to use ambient mana in my spells, and the ambient mana in the Nucleus was really concentrated."

Misa let out a whistle. "Sounds strong. Especially once the class grows."

"Says the woman that can block anything," Vex chuckled. "I've never seen anyone fight like you do."

"That skill is limited," Misa said with a scowl. There was a small beat, and then she smiled. "...but I guess it is pretty cool."

Derivan smiled a bit, listening to his friends banter. The faint glow in his eyes strengthened briefly, then dimmed again. Something had felt strange the moment they left the Nucleus, and that feeling of wrongness was only growing. It was the reason he'd stopped.

He'd thought at first that he simply needed to ask about how they knew, partially to break the silence, and partially to assure himself that his companions truly didn't care that he was what the system deemed a monster. But now, everything seemed fine, and yet...

Derivan remembered Sev's words. I don't think it'll like that you're playing outside the role it gave you. Implying that the system was... alive? That it didn't like his presence, his ability to have his own will?

He felt a noxious seed coil around his heart, the tendrils of a system he didn't understand.

You are an infiltrator, it told him. Not in so many words, but in a distinct set of impulses and instincts he now recognized as foreign. You are discovered. You must eliminate those who know.

I will do no such thing, Derivan thought in return, and he forced his will against those alien instincts; they fought and clawed against him, but they were impulses that he could ignore.

For now.

"I cannot stay," the armor said quietly. Misa and Vex both startled, looking up at him; their protests overlapped one another, loud and indignant.

"What?! You can't just—"

"You don't have to—"

Sev, on the other hand... He didn't seem to react nearly as strongly. He watched Derivan carefully, instead, a mild furrow in his brows and a sadness in his eyes; Derivan looked at the cleric, bowing his head slightly.

"You know why I must leave," he said.

Sev took in the words — and then slowly nodded. "I can guess," the cleric answered.

"Don't give me this cryptic bullshit!" Misa half exploded, suddenly genuinely angry. "Sev, you've told me you need to keep secrets, and I trust you. But you need to explain what we just saw, because I'm not just going to accept at face value that Derivan needs to leave. He just risked his life to help us survive whatever the fuck that was."

She looked willing to fight him on it, too. Even Vex's fists were balled up, though it seemed subconscious on his part.

"I-I would understand if you wanted to leave," the lizardkin said, looking up at his friend. It seemed like even saying those words were a struggle for him. "But you don't seem like you want to."

Ah.

That hurt. It was a painful truth.

Derivan looked around. He saw Misa's eyes blaze with a righteous anger, undirected though it was. He saw Vex stand surprisingly tall, meeting his gaze with a firmness he wouldn't have managed a month ago. He saw Sev look at him and give him a slight, small nod, and he took it as a cue to explain.

"You're right that I do not want to leave," he admitted. "But what Sev said before, that I had to keep my secret... I think I would have told you sooner, if it had been only my choice. But it was not. I did not realize it until now."

He hesitated, searching for the words. "This system is... complicated. I do not know how it operates, or why it exists. But at least for monsters—" Here he winced at the word, hating the label. "—it appears to come with... instincts? Instructions. It was subtle enough for me to miss it before, and I was unhindered when you did not know what I was, for infiltrators must blend in as much as possible. But now that you do..."

"The system is trying to force him to attack," Sev said. He watched Derivan carefully, but he didn't seem afraid. The armor wondered if he was being wise or foolish, heartened as he was by the cleric's trust. "But it cannot. Because you are not what the system believes you are."

"And yet, I am." Derivan said, though he spoke with no small amount of sorrow. "I understand and appreciate your faith in me, but it seems unavoidable that I will be a risk. Even now, I feel the system pushing my role upon me."

To their credit, both Misa and Vex took a moment to absorb this information. Neither immediately rejected Derivan, nor insisted that he stay; when they finally spoke, it was with the firmness of a friend that had given the situation its due consideration.

Which, admittedly, meant that it was a long, painful silence before either of them spoke. But he was all the more certain that they spoke with sincerity.

"I'm okay with that risk," Misa said. She folded her arms, brow furrowing slightly, but with a steadily growing confidence. "I don't think it's right that you'd have to leave us because of something out of your control. Besides, with us, we can at least keep an eye on you. If you don't have support to keep you anchored, and your instincts are forced on you as you say..."

She hesitated, then shook her head. "It's easier to fight your darkest thoughts when you have friends, Derivan. If you push those around you away, you leave yourself with nothing to hold on to. Trust me. I've been there."

"You're a friend. I might be being selfish, but I just don't want you to leave," Vex said simply. Derivan blinked in surprise, but the lizardkin stared back at him with a certitude in his eyes that he'd never seen before. He'd come up and discarded a hundred different rationalizations, and ended on simple honesty. He smiled a small smile. "I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm really not."

Sev smiled a small smile. "How about it, Derivan? I believe you're better off with us than out there by yourself, too. I understand why you think you have to leave, but let's be honest."

"No one in this group gives a damn what the system thinks. Every single one of us breaks the system in some stupid way, and frankly, if we need to break it again to keep you with us? Do you think we'd even hesitate?"

Derivan paused. "I am a risk," he said again, uncertain.

"Yeah, no," Misa said. "I'm with Sev on this. Let's smash the system."

"At least a little bit," Vex said, and then when Misa looked at him, he threw his arms up. "Or a lot! A lot, if Derivan needs it."

"If you're a risk, I think we get the right to choose whether we take that risk or not," Sev said. "And honestly, I think we've all chosen. You earned your place with us long ago, Derivan."

"Saved our asses one time too many, too," Misa added.

"And mine!" Vex piped up. To be included? Derivan couldn't help chuckling, regardless, feeling a warmth blossom inside of him as he looked at his companions — his friends. He shouldn't have doubted them for a second. Tell them the system was restraining him, and of course they'd leap to the conclusion of breaking the system.

Again.

The other two nodded, firmly; Derivan didn't know what to say. Slowly, he stepped forward — only now realizing that the other three stood in a circle with a space they'd left open just for him.

"Now!" Sev clapped his hands together; the smile he smiled was a genuine one, with a hint of the mischievous spark he sometimes had. "I have a really stupid plan. Hey, Misa. Don't you think this kind of intrusiveness miiight count as... say, an attack?"

There was a pause.

"Oh by the fucking gods you cannot be serious." Misa stared, seeming delighted. "Wait, are you serious? Can I — oh, that would be stupid. Is this continuous attack, though? That might drain my health almost instantly. The skill's weird with continuous attacks."

"It might. But you've got a really good cleric." Sev smirked with just a bit of smugness, then lost it as he added. "But uh, we can try a different plan if you feel like that's too risky—"

"Are you kidding me? I'm in," Misa said with barely a second's thought. She had one stupid bullshit skill that she could use frequently, and she would use it every time she could.

"Would just blocking it be enough?" Vex asked, worried. "I mean, if she stops blocking it..."

"Probably not," Sev said, shaking his head. "But that's where you come in, 'cause I've got it on good authority that the system isn't just changing him; it's using magic. It's just using really subtle magic. You won't be able to see it directly, but you'll be able to see how Misa blocks him, and... well, I mean, I hope that's enough. That's where my plan ends. But we can always find other methods if this doesn't work."

"Okay." Vex nodded. He felt he normally would have protested, or asked questions about what kind of magic this was, but he was caught up in the current; they were going to fix a problem! "Let's do it."

Derivan felt rather bemused as the whole party set themselves up around him. Misa stood in front of him, feeling a bit silly as she held out her mace, while Vex stood just beside them both, watching intently. Sev was a little farther back, carefully keeping his healing magic focused on Misa.

"Ready?" Misa asked him. He nodded.

Misa activated [To Fall Yet Hold the Line].

Truth be told, everything after that happened too quickly for Derivan to keep track of, with half his focus split on whatever the system was doing to him.

Misa held up a sword mace focus wand, and there was a flare of light and magic. Vex shouted something, his voice full of hope. Sev's magic twisted through the air, touching on Misa, keeping her healed so that she could maintain the block even as the oppressing sensation of thoughts not his own left him, however temporarily.

Vex did something, reaching out and forward, and the air in front of him immediately shimmered with notifications.

WARNING: ###### aspect magic is not allowed— WARNING: Users are recommended to immediately cease—

"Oh fuck you!" Misa shouted distantly. Vex made a noise that was a distinct sound of agreement.

Local ##### boundary in flux. System state unable to match local state. Resetting...

Reset partially successful. No fallback state found. Data corrupted.

Adjusting...

Level 86 Infiltrating Armor —> Derivan, Level

Derivan blinked, the glow of his eyes flickering in his helmet as he stared at the box. "Oh."

He had a name.

"Did it work?" Misa grinned at him, panting. Vex was too out of breath to even speak. Even Sev was trembling slightly, in the same way his magic always seemed to take an odd, physical toll on him.

Derivan checked his status, putting aside the feelings that were threatening to overwhelm him for the moment. The sight of the screen was both a relief and concerning, all at once.

Derivan, Level

Health:

Mana:

Stats:

Skill List:

"The system does seem to have updated," Derivan said, though he said it a little doubtfully. He felt in his soul again for the grip of the system, and it seemed duller; not missing, but lesser.

Different, perhaps.

"I am no longer an Infiltrating Armor. Not according to my status. I... have a name, now, the one I chose for myself. But I also have no class, and my level, skills, and stats all report only errors."

"Huh," Sev said. "But... the problem is fixed, right?"

"There are no foreign impulses pressing down on me," Derivan said quietly. He looked at his friends, feeling a weight lift from a heart he didn't technically have. "I... it is different. Peaceful. I do not have words, except to thank you."

They all smiled at him. Vex outright gave him a hug, and though it was a little awkward, Derivan tried to hug him back. He'd learn how to do that without stabbing someone with one of his spikes, one of these days, though Vex didn't particularly seem to mind.

"We should probably keep heading back," Sev said, gesturing to the road ahead. "It's getting late."

So they did. They had a lot more to talk about, and a lot they needed to try and understand — but for now, at least, there was an unspoken agreement that they would do it later.

They needed normalcy, and time to collect their thoughts.

And then... well, it would be time for a long talk, and to figure out how they would get their answers.