Nobody knew who that Scalekin was or where he had come from. At least, not anyone from Ring Four. Even the Scarthrall who had been attacked said he had no idea. It was true that he had taken the current month’s payment early, which meant he owed work. But while his Ring Three boss was harsh, the vampire had never felt he’d have sent goons after him.

Which didn’t make financial sense either. Unless the Scarthrall stole a ton of money, which even the attacking Scalekin hadn’t suggested, then it didn’t make sense. Why would anyone pay a gangster to harass a single worker like that?

I got the details of the Scarthrall’s workplace to investigate, and I would. But I was pretty sure it was going to be a dead end.

At least I was meeting the person who might have real information about the strange incident soon. Ugnash and Khagnio were free to meet at the Adventurer’s Guild in a couple of days. Perfect.

The day before said meeting, I focused on training up my Aspects and Attributes. Weighing myself down with Gravity while still trying to fly was helping train a bunch of stuff.

My mobility with Agility was going up thanks to weighing myself down but still forcing myself to move faster and faster. Training up Concentration to create the blasts of Flare to propel me in any given direction was also in effect, as was my continued efforts in getting a new Flare Affix that would store heat energy so that Concentration could act even faster.

Then, of course, there was constantly using Sacrifice to boost all my casts. I was doing my best to train up as much as I could.

There weren’t too many cult duties to attend to. Vandre and a couple of other Scarthralls decided to join the Sun Cult, extra-enthused after seeing how I had handled the Scalekin. I was happy to lead the initiation ceremony for them. It reminded me of the moment when Escinca had inducted me into the cult. I felt nostalgically sad for the old man.

The more curious development, though, was the fact that I got some new Rituals. I had been right that I needed to refer to the other cults to gain the information I was seeking.

“I know we aren’t helping directly,” the Sea Cult leader said. “So I thought I’d bring in something that can help.”

He was handing me an old scroll. Apparently, it had information about a new Ritual—the Ritual of Sanctification. It was a Ritual that provided buffs that were extra effective against creatures like vampires, undead, and the sort. Unholy, as they were stereotypically considered.

“That’s kind of you to offer, Cultist… uh…” It was slightly embarrassing that I still didn’t know the name of the Sea Cult’s leader.

He tutted. “You may call me Favoile, Cultist Ross.”

I didn’t miss the sassy way he added my name at the end there, just to rub it in.

“Thanks, Favoile. Do you have documents about Rituals just lying around in your temple?”

“We have a small store of them, yes. Although, it’s not as many as you might think. Why? Are you interested in availing yourself of them?”

I could recognize the gleam of a merchant finding someone who was in desperate need of his wares pretty easily in Favoile’s eyes.

“I’m interested in learning more Rituals, yes,” I said. “Although, what I’m really interested in is learning Liturgize as an Aspect.”

Favoile’s face screwed up a bit. “Oh, yes, that won’t be easy at all.”

I wasn’t sure if he was saying that because he wanted to take advantage of me or if it was actually true. Now I was starting to wonder if this would have been a great place to apply that lie detection Sacrifice reward. Not that I had any means of acquiring something like that on purpose. “Why is that?”

“Liturgize is essentially the process of establishing Rituals, yes? But a Ritual is a process in and of itself, and it’s a process that needs to be accepted and practiced willingly by a great number of people, which is the hardest side of Liturgize. Not only establishing a new process, but also finding people who will do it over and over of their own volition.”

Hmm, I wasn’t sure if that was actually going to be that difficult. My position as cult leader would help a lot. I would need to think about it for a bit.

“Thanks for the information,” I said. “For now, do you mind if I took a look through the Rituals you’ve got?”

“I won’t mind at all.” Favoile smiled. “That is, if you’re willing to pay.”

I grumbled, but I conceded information wasn’t going to be free all the time. “I’m sure we can come up with a suitable exchange.”

We discussed a bit more after that. I thought I would need to pay the Sea Cult with money in return for the info, but no. Turned out Favoile had other ideas.

He wanted information about the Earth Cult.

“You can much more easily head to places like Ring Two than I can,” he said conspiratorially, his voice hushed but urgent. “I want you to seek out what they’re

seeking out over there and report back. The Earth Cult can’t be trusted, and we need to be aware of their every move.”

I wasn’t too keen on spying for the benefit of others, but Favoile was rather adamant about it. Spy on the Earth Cult or the deal was off. My PA years had also taught me that deals without exact specifics were often terrible arrangements, but again, my choices were limited. I really did want those Rituals.

Besides, if Favoile and the Sea Cult proved tricky, I could always double-cross them and tell the Earth Cult all about their friendly neighbourhood stalker.

Also, I was curious as to what the Earth Cult was up to

For now, I agreed and we parted ways. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on new Rituals. Speaking of which, early the next day, I got another rank in Ritual after performing the day’s Ritual of Purification.

[ Rank Up!

Your Ritual Aspect has risen by one Rank.

Ritual: Iron VI ]

I smiled at the notification. Soon enough, with the new Rituals in hand, I’d be pushing it harder.

The Adventurer’s Guild was as rowdy as ever. People of all sorts drinking, gambling, fighting, yelling, and basically trying their hardest to repulse anyone with a modicum of sense from even thinking of approaching them. Unfortunately, it was within that den of disasters that I would find my companions.

I was getting some looks as I waded through the press of people and their nearly solid stench. The glances weren’t as threateningly fierce as they had been the last time I was here, but that was probably because I had dealt a massive blow to the source of those looks. Literally.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Honestly, I was a little surprised none of Ugnash, Khagnio, or Cerea were much at all like the belligerents all around the guildhall. Which was exactly what I told Ugnash when I found him.

“I, uh…” He was uncharacteristically stuttering, which made me raise my eyebrow.

Khagnio arrived with a loud, hissing laugh. “That’s the wrong thing to ask Ugnash. He was the worst of the whole lot before he finally got his act together.” He thumped his scaled chest. “Unlike yours truly.”

My eyebrows rose even further. “You were like that too, Ugnash?”

Khagnio laughed some more. “Spare poor Ugnash, he’s going to die at this rate.”

“You make it sound like I was committing heinous crimes,” Ugnash muttered.

We all turned to watch a small commotion unfold. There was a brief fisticuff between an Ogre and a Rakshasa, before the Rakshasa smashed a glass bottle against the Ogre’s head, which promptly made the larger man fall to the ground unconscious, blood pooling around his skull.

“For what it’s worth,” Ugnash said. “I never killed anyone inside the guildhall.”

That implied he had killed outside the guildhall, but technically, so had I.

We talked about business afterwards. They were planning the next dungeon delve, which would be the one commissioned by Master Kostis.

“We’re only setting off after Cerea arrives,” Ugnash said. “Which should be within the next week or two. Then we’ll finalize the details, take care of all the preparations, and head out.”

“Any idea where exactly Master Kostis wants us to go?” I asked.

“The second strongest dungeon under Zairgon. Eversight Dungeon. We’ll need to make sure we’re ready.”

Khagnio grinned with all his serpentine teeth. “Oh, I’ll be ready. Ready to finally hit Gold.”

I was a little surprised at that. “You’re close to hitting Gold already?”

“Getting there.” He eyed me with his thin pupils. “You’re not the only one making progress, mageling.” He slapped his clawed hands on Ugnash’s broad chest. “Our bad boy here hit Gold last week!”

“Oh wow, really?” I turned to him with a congratulatory smile. “Great work! Are we going to celebrate with another free meal? Courtesy of you, of course.”

Ugnash snorted. “Maybe when you all come out alive from Eversight Dungeon.”

“Speaking of coming out alive,” I said. “You guys know anything about whatever this secret is supposed to be in this dungeon?”

Khagnio shook his head. “All I got are baseless rumours.”

“Same,” Ugnash said. “For all the delvers that Eversight Dungeon has seen, no one has been able to find whatever secret there’s supposed to be. It’s very well hidden.”

He went on to say we should discuss specifics about the dungeon itself later, once Cerea was present. Fair enough. It gave me room to talk about what I really wanted.

I explained the situation with the Scarthralls on Ring Four. “I was wondering if I could help some of them become adventurers. The ones with Unique Paths like mine, and anyone else who wants to, since even their Racial Paths should be more than capable enough to handle dungeons.”

Ugnash nodded thoughtfully. “That’s reasonable. And I know one person who’d be enthralled.”

Khagnio grinned. “Inducting the vampires that terrorized Zairgon a few weeks ago into the Adventurer’s Guild? I can already see the Guildmaster salivating.”

“They’re not the ones who caused trouble,” I muttered.

“Sure, sure. Don’t ruin my joke, mageling.”

“The real question is if you can keep things in line,” Ugnash said. “You understand that they won’t be seen favourably by anyone. The reception you’ve received from the guild will pale in comparison to the kind of reaction they’ll get.”

“Oh, I’m aware. We’re dealing with that right now in Ring Four.” I frowned. With how difficult the adventurers tended to be just towards me, I had a bad feeling about how they’d act against the Scarthralls. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to let them daunt us out of registering as adventurers.”

“Of course not,” Khagnio said. “This belligerent lot can go crawl into the Pits.”

“I still think they’re going to be an obstacle…” Ugnash was rubbing his horn ponderingly.

“So, what do you suggest?” I asked.

“Most of this lot are crooks. They’re not going to listen to reason. Only way to stop them is by being a worse crook than them. But even then… let me think about it.”

I nodded. The next step was seeing just how many of the Scarthralls were actually open to being adventurers. I would try to convince them, mostly because their inherent potency definitely complemented what was expected of adventurers. That said, there was a mentality factor too, and I wouldn’t blame anyone if they decided against joining the guild.

It made me wonder if I could have some of them sign up to be mages too.

I was just glad that, despite the bumpy road ahead in getting the Scarthralls registered as adventurers, I could count on Ugnash and Khagnio to back me up. They were the best.

“Couple more things, Khagnio,” I said. I told him all about the attack two days ago, the one where a Scalekin had used the pretence of going after one of the workers from Ring Four to either attack me or otherwise cause some sort of chaos. “Not insinuating you know every single Scalekin out there, but this was very… rogue-ish, which made me think of you.”

I figured he’d have some sort of biting retort at being called rogue-ish, but his face was pretty serious. Enough that Ugnash leaned in to pay more attention too.

“That was a Claw,” Khagnio said. He counted off his fingers. “Shredded cloak, Scalekin, poisoned dagger. Fits the bill perfectly.”

“What’s one doing in Ring Four?

” Ugnash asked, apparently consternated as well.

“Beats me. But I don’t like it. It’s fishy. Not good at all.”

“Hold up,” I said. “Who are these Claws?”

“The Roaring Claws,” Khagnio explained. “They’re one of the biggest gangs in the undercity. Controls over a third of the territory there.”

“They also hate Khagnio a lot,” Ugnash said. “A lot.”

I raised my eyebrows. “I better get a crash course in Khagnio lore one of these days.”

Khagnio bared his fangs. “The hate is mutual.”

“Okay, but I’m not Khagnio,” I said. “I’m not even a Scalekin, for crying out loud. So why come after me?”

Unless they had some other reason for doing that, which I wasn’t sure I wanted to entertain. At least coming after me was simpler. I could deal with being the sole target.

“I don’t know, mageling,” Khagnio said. His eyes had thinned to sharp, suspicious slits. “But what was the other issue you needed my excellent expertise on?”

I would have snorted, but the implication in his words made my spine threaten to shiver. Taking a deep breath, I explained the situation with Hamsik and his half-brother and how we wanted to get Zoltan out of the undercity. “I figured you of all people would know how to help with that too.”

Khagnio whistled. “Not everyday you hear about a noble brat going to Ring Zero in person. This one must either be desperate or stupid.”

“Or both.”

The Scalekin rogue grinned. “Or both. Do you know more details? Where was this noble brat spotted and with whom? What did they look like? Which direction were they headed? The more we know, the better we can target our next steps. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but…”

But Zoltan being in the undercity and an undercity gangster attacking me seemed like too much of a coincidence.

Although, Khagnio calling Zoltan a brat was really getting to me. I remembered hearing how Zoltan was supposed to be old enough to be Glonek’s dad in the latter’s memories through Soul Sight.

“You’re taking this seriously, aren’t you?” I said.

“I’m just trying to make finding this noble easier for myself,” Khagnio said. “And if you happen to not die in the process, then…” He affected a nonchalant shrug. “Don’t go getting a big head.”

I grinned. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Hamsik had spared only a few details about his brother’s whereabouts, which I proceeded to recount. I knew the location in the undercity, or at least, I knew it by name. It wasn’t like I had been there. Other than that, there wasn’t much to go off of, besides the direction Zoltan had been headed.

“He was spotted by himself,” I said after mentioning where he had been seen. “So can’t help you with the whom part.”

Khagnio wasn’t disappointed. “That’s fine. East End is Claw territory. Funny coincidence that.”

I sighed. At least the pieces seemed to be falling into place pretty smoothly.

Khagnio bared his fangs. “I won’t lie though, mageling, I’m not particularly inclined to help a noble brat. Not without sufficient reason to do so.”

“What have you got against nobles?” I asked. Even as I did so, I found it wasn’t hard to imagine reasons why Khagnio wouldn’t like anyone from the Great Houses. The ones I had seen so far hadn’t exactly endeared themselves to me.

“It’s not about that,” Khagnio said. “If it had been just you, I might have considered helping out of the kindness of my heart.”

“You don’t have a heart, Khagnio,” Ugnash said.

“Shut it, you brute. Anyway mageling, how about this? You help me get my scaly fingers on a certain treasure, and I’ll get you something you can use your Soul Sight on to maybe get to the bottom of this little mystery that’s popped up. Always an even exchange, isn’t it?”

That it was. No one would want to work for free. Especially because I got the sense Khagnio could deliver.

“What do you want in return?” I asked.

He grinned. “Oh nothing much. But tell me this—how do you feel about getting a first-hand tour of the undercity and all the depraved debauchery it has on offer?”

Ugnash nodded along, a light growing in his eyes. “That’s a good plan, because I’m starting to get an idea on how we’re going to get your new friends registered as adventurers. The road’s going to be rocky, but—” He slowly grinned. “We’ll bruise the bastards if we need to.”