After recovering from the wave of relief that swept through me, I made my way over to the display related to my mind.

Mind - Tier 2 - Refinement

Unlike the vague promises from the initial diagnostic, the scan indicated exactly what had been upgraded. The first thing I noticed was that my reaction times had been improved by five percent.

I held up my hand, then looked around the room for something I could toss to test it. Cause I sure hadn’t felt like my reaction time had improved.

While that was the first thing I read, it was far from the last, and it was also the most modest change.

Pain clarity had increased by ten percent, which… just… why?

Nothing on the screens explained why, but once more, it was clearly listed as a benefit. On the plus side, I hadn’t noticed the change to pain clarity either.

The next object on the list was neural interconnectivity, which did have more information on it. Apparently it helped with pattern recognition and problem solving. Along with a lot of other things. It had been increased by thirty-eight percent, with plenty of unnecessary decimal points.

My memory retention had improved by just shy of sixty percent. And as I thought back over the previous days since I’d completed the trial, I realized… I really did have an easier time remembering them. Even Perth’s faded memories were easier to draw on than I was used to, at least when I wasn’t using Memory Palace.

And there was the really big one. A full hundred and two percent increase in neural dynamics. It didn’t explain exactly what that meant, but it did explain some of the benefits, such as an improved ability to interface with mind-constructs, as well as requiring significantly less time to process them. So, my Memory Palace wasn’t just faster, I could probably do more with it.

After a bit of fiddling with the screen, I noticed it had a faint golden symbol in the corner that reminded me of an input rune. Feeding a trickle of mana into it allowed me to rearrange things on the screen.

Instead of a percentage, I was even able to list the changes as multipliers to my base.

Reaction times : 1.05

Pain Clarity : 1.10

Pattern Recognition : 1.38

Memory Retention : 1.59

Neural Dynamics : 2.02

It was kind of nice to see my progress quantified. After adding the data to the second layer of my default diagnostic settings, I went around to every screen in the room, exploring everything else the diagnostic had to say about who I was. And noting down my thoughts about what it might mean for ascension.

There were a lot of recommendations, including a physical routine to start prepping my body to have an 'optimum start' when I began that portion of my Ascension.

Not sure, but almost seemed like the diagnostic was calling me fat.

With a soft chuckle, I made my way back up to Calbern, who was standing next to the door, gazing out into the darkness of the water under the stone dome.

He turned as I stepped forward, my footfalls standing out in the silence of the small space. "I take it you found something of interest, master Percival?"

"Could say that, yeah," I said clapping him on the shoulder. Then I told him the basics of what I'd found. How there was a chamber that would help me understand my climb upward better. And that it was probably best that I not tell him too much about it.

"Quite understandable. Evarl Aranor had many secrets he didn't share with even his closest companions, nevermind his family," Calbern said, shaking his head.

His comparison immediately had me doubting my decision. But I shook the thought off. Just because I shared a single thought with the man didn't mean we were the same.

"What do you say we get back to Tetherfall?" I asked, leading the way out of the underwater gazebo-like structure.

“Much as I would enjoy investigating further, we’ve shirked our duties long enough,” Calbern said, nodding.

“We found an ancient magical fortress that’s still functioning, as well as the former Magus Dominus. Pretty sure that counts as work,” I said, waving in a vague direction beneath our feet.

“Ah, but it didn’t feel like it, did it master Percival?” Calbern asked, his lip twitching.

I just laughed, shaking my head then renewed our waterbreathing before shaping an entrance in the dome wall. Considering that I'd likely be returning, I took the time to make the entrance presentable instead of just carving a rough arch in the wall. Might have been a bit influenced by Calbern’s comment, but now that neither of us could speak, it wasn’t like he could call me out on it.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Was tempted to go a bit further, and maybe even extend a wall upward, but Calbern was right, we'd already been gone long enough. Inertia was still up there, flying in circles while waiting for us.

So I let Calbern haul me back to the storm-runner's anchor. Deactivating the enchantment, I kept my foot on the anchor as the line drew me to the surface as Calbern swam past with ease. Yep. Definitely needed proper spells setup next time I came out.

Once we were onboard the storm-runner, it wasn't too much longer before we were flying back. The hike up had been far less treacherous than going down, partially cause I took the time to build properly shielded steps. There was no doubt we’d be back. Even as I worked, my thoughts turned to everything we'd found in the Golden Halls. Balthum, the golem sarcophagi and the ascension assistance.

Especially the last one.

Probably should've given a bit more thought to the first.

Shortly after returning to Tetherfall, I'd gotten Tamrie to gather the three former golem-attendants together in Esbee's new tavern. Which was apparently in the middle of a vote for its name, according to a nearby sign.

The current leaders, according to the sign, were Bottles & Board, Tetherfall's Last Drop and The Tavern.

"So, what's this about anyway?" Esbee asked, a dish cloth draped over one arm as she settled at the table. She'd brought us all drinks, and had been hovering on the edge of her seat ever since. "Expecting a lot of patrons tonight. Got a new dish we're gonna serve up tonight. Won some spices off this scaled lady in a game of…"

She trailed off as everyone looked over at her.

"Right. Shutting up," Esbee said, zipping her lips and then making a tossing motion over her shoulder.

With Keria and Banya both shifting their attention to me, I let out a sigh. Tamrie had suggested that it would be best for me to tell them myself, and both Calbern and Tresla had agreed.

Didn't mean I was looking forward to it.

"Okay. So, no good way to say this, we found Balthum. Kinda," I said. Both Banya and Keria's gazes intensified, and Esbee, who had been glancing towards the back of the tavern had her head snap forward.

"Was he dead?" Esbee asked, leaning forward and settling into her chair.

"Not yet," I held up a hand to forestall her protests as she started pushing out of the chair she’d barely been sitting in a moment before.

"Where… where is he? Is he coming back?" Keria asked, looking around the tavern as if Balthum would pop out at any moment.

"He's stuck at the bottom of the ocean," I said, gesturing in a vaguely easterly direction. "And he's not conscious. He's going through the same process you all did. He's trapped himself in a body just like yours." At this, I pointed at Keria.

"He's… turned himself into a golem?" Banya asked, a quiver in her voice.

"Uh. No, I mean, he's exactly like Keria. Shape, face, eyes… everything," I clarified, coughing.

"Well, that's creepy as having Jason calling you on your home line to tell you he's coming to track you down in your dreams," Esbee said, shuddering. The motion created a faint crackling noise from her stone body. I didn’t get the reference, though I was pretty sure I should’ve.

Keria in the meantime had scrunched up her face, much like Bevel did when she was thinking about something she either couldn't or didn't want to understand.

"Who?" I asked Esbee before shaking my head. "Doesn't matter. Point is, he's trapped, and he'll remain that way for a while. Until we decide to let him out or the process finishes."

"Why would we let him out?" Keria asked, smacking her hand on the table. "He's in my body! He doesn't have the right. Not after… not afer all he did to me… to us…"

We all paused as Esbee leaned over and squeezed Keria's shoulder. It was… it looked so normal, instead of being as stiff as I swore it should’ve been.

"Well, if we break him out as soon as possible, which'll take a few weeks at least, it'll be a lot easier to kill him. Seems to have lost his magic and the body will be weaker than a regular human," I said, indicating myself with an open hand. "The process prevents us from hurting him."

"We can't kill him," Banya said quietly, though since the room was otherwise empty, we all easily heard her.

"Of course we can," Keria said. "I'll do it myself. Just smash his head in." She emphasized her point by smacking into the table.

"Hey, easy now, I just got these made," Esbee said, rubbing at the scuff mark Keria left on the table with a frown. "Damnit, that's not gonna come out."

Keria turned away, but she didn't say anything in response.

Banya cleared her throat, getting us all to look at her. "I… it's just… Barber hasn't woken up. And… he, Balthum did this to us. If anyone can… can change us back, it'd be him, wouldn't it?"

"You want to go back?" Esbee asked, finally seeming invested in the conversation as she sat back down. "Why? These bodies are basically all plus sides. Can't age, don't have to sleep, no worry about popping out kids, no matter how much action we get. And food is as good as ever."

"Besides, he deserves to die. We can't let him live. Not after… not after everything," Keria said, squeezing her fist hard enough to cause cracking sounds to ring out.

"Barber looked after us," Banya said, tracing an invisible pattern on the table. "It feels wrong to leave her stuck."

"Might not need Balthum to help her," I said, tapping my chin. "Pretty sure he let the machines do most of the tough work. If we got him out, then maybe we could get her inside and have it fix her up. Seems to be part of the thing’s job."

"So we could kill him and save Barber," Keria said, smacking the table again.

"Hey!" Esbee cried out, causing Keria to wince and mumble an apology.

"That's basically it, yeah. And I figured you ladies have the most right to judge him. He won't be going free, or ever returning to Tetherfall though. I can tell you that right now."

"We don't," Keria said, almost immediately. "He hurt everyone, not just us."

"Hate to say it, but she's right," Esbee said, leaning back while staring at the crack Keria had left in the table. "Not a single Tethered that doesn't have some nightmare story involving that monster. He deserves worse than death but that's the sort of thing that gets thrown back at you in like the third movie. If he's not even wearing his face… not like it'll feel like we're getting our revenge anyway."

"It will to me," Keria said, squeezing her fists again.

"Well, guess it's best you do it then," Esbee said.

"I… do you really think it'll help Barber?" Banya asked. "The thing that did this to us, I mean?"

"From what I can tell, good chance, yeah. Don't know how long it'll take, but it should work," I replied.

"Then I say we bring him back, long enough he understands his new body, then we gut the bastard," Banya said, her face suddenly twisting into a feral grimace. "And we don't stop until his body's been reduced to dust."

No one spoke for a few seconds after that, though Esbee started nodding slowly. Then she said. "Okay. What Banya said. You make sure he understands how thoroughly he's fucked, and then off him."

"And then we fix Barber," Banya said, her gaze moving around the room.

"Yeah, then we fix Barbie," Esbee agreed, giving Banya a nod. "If that's okay with you, boss mage?"

"Wouldn't have come to you if I wasn't willing to let you ladies decide," I said, pushing to my feet. "It'll be a few weeks still, like I said. There's no rush. But I'll get things moving on this."

"Is he really wearing my face?" Keria asked right as I stood.

"Sorry, yeah," I replied, scratching the back of my neck.

"Well, that'll make it easier to hit him at least," Keria said. Before any of us could respond to that, she got to her feet and walked out the front door.

"That girl's got some serious issues," Esbee said as she stood up. Then she looked down to her table and sighed. "Very serious."