They came from the shadows.

No reverse mermen, troglodytes, slimes, or giant rats came for the trio. The attackers were human. Lukas spotted one peek out from behind a mushroom stalk and fire their hand crossbow. The sound of countless singing birds filled the cavern as the bolt came alive with lightning. It flew slow enough for the eye to see but not for the targets to flee.

The shields weren’t going to hold up against such an attack. Lukas took a step back, and El-One stepped forward, a round shield raised to catch the projectile and the powerful charge running through it. It would likely kill, if not seriously injure him, but it was the clone’s job. Fortunately for him, he didn’t have to put up with the pain.

A giant lion with outstretched feathery wings blinked into existence in front of him. Its roar sent tremors through the stone. Floor cracked. Chunks rained from the ceiling. Mushrooms swayed, their woody stalks groaning. The accompanying shockwave knocked the bolt aside. It spun out of its trajectory and landed on the floor, a fading dome of lightning tendrils dancing around it.

Is that Bass’s true form?

The lion sped into the mushroom forest, wings outstretched on either side. Each of them was at least ten feet long. They cut through stone and stalks like a hot knife through butter. Half a dozen human figures scrambled out of cover, preparing bright spells and shard abilities. Most clustered and hunkered into a defensive formation, while the remaining two focused on putting as much distance between themselves and the giant lion as possible.

Meanwhile, Penelope completed her spell. The wisps grew, spinning around her raised right arm, their dance growing increasingly elaborate. She yelled in an alien language that the journal failed to translate, and the twin azure spheres flew free. The first stopped six feet above her before popping like a giant bubble. Its contents came down as a clear dome around her, Lukas, and El-One. Temperatures immediately dropped, and their warm breaths fogged in the cold air.

The second half of the spell continued its flight up and out of the fungus’ light, shining brighter with every second as it approached the ceiling. Deafening winds spiraled around the dome, and white powder came with it. Then, the hail began, each piece the size of Lukas’s head.

“I told you,” Penelope said, seemingly unfazed by the sudden attack and unaffected by the powerful spell working around them. “I don’t need the pair of you to fight for me. Once—” She paused when an ice chunk almost as large as her exploded on the protective dome. Fragments covered the ground ,and several giant mushrooms had shattered like they were made of ceramic. “Once Bass and the spell are done, I want you to check the corpses. Look for anything that might tell us who these bastards are. I need to know who is trying to interfere with my work.”

“You don’t think these were a bunch of randoms waiting to capitalize on rich adventurers coming down the elevator?” Elvis asked.

Penelope’s eyes narrowed. She turned her attention to Lukas and spoke to him. “Bass is right. You really are the smart brother.” She sighed. “No. These weren’t random. Lightning bolts are fairly ineffective in these kinds of places and against the critters that fill them—except for fishmen and slimes, of course, but you won’t find them this deep down. Most know to dodge these attacks, and the only people who can’t are magic users in the middle of casting a spell.”

“The bolt doesn’t need to hit,” Lukas said, completing the thought. He didn’t care that Penelope considered the clone a dunce. El-One’s brawns-over-brain aura never faltered. Not letting his teeth chatter as he continued proved a struggle. “As long as the lightning touches the spellcaster, they’re stunned and knocked out of the fight, making for easy pickings.”

“Correct.” Penelope’s fingers danced around her staff’s head once again. She drew the crimson wisp from within, and temperatures within the dome instantly rose. “An ordinary mage or lesser sorcerer might fall for such tactics, but not me.”

An angry yell rang through the cavern. It sounded animalistic. Elvis fell into a defensive stance, shield raised and spear pointed outward, when a giant man with bulging muscles and gorilla-like arms charged the dome. Lukas stood on the clone’s shielded side, ready to dart out with the runic sword as soon as he struck. He focused on a magic circulation technique Esther had taught him, preparing to speak the words of power as soon as the attacker and defender made contact.

A club as large and twice as thick as Lukas’s leg came down on El-One faster than they expected of someone with so much bulk. The man’s speed halved as soon as he made contact with the dome. El-One’s spear shot at his exposed solar plexus but failed to penetrate more than half an inch past skin. The club barely seemed in motion by the time it made contact with the shield.

The giant man greyed, frost spreading from the club, up his arm and across his shoulders. Panic filled his eyes as he grunted, pulling back. The dome released him, but his arm and shoulder remained locked in position.

“No. No. No.” His desperate words slowed and lost volume as the frost covered more of him. Then, a giant chunk of ice lasted on his frozen shoulder. It, the connected arm, and a giant chunk of his torso exploded. He crumbled, limp.

“Ice magic looks scary,” Elvis commented. “Is it expensive?”

Penelope nodded. “A good magic user knows how to use environmental energies before drawing out their own. The shrooms and air is rich in magic. I’d have taken more time and been more conservative with energy otherwise.” She grinned. “It wasn’t much trouble, really.”

“Well, I’m glad to have you on our side,” El-One commented.

For now, at least.

A ranged attacker made an attempt on Penelope’s life. Lukas couldn’t tell if the incoming projectile was magic or a shard ability. It didn’t matter. The azure dome protected the trio. Then, Bass took him out.

The storm lasted a handful of minutes, leaving the mushroom forest devastated. Less than half of the giant fungi still stood. The fallen blocked old paths, and damaged gills flickered or died out, leaving several new dark patches around the cavern. Penelope only lowered the dome when Bass returned in his kitten-sized form, looking no different from an orange housecat but with wings.

“Did any getaway?” Penelope asked, stroking her staff’s crystal. The wisps within gained luminosity, and Lukas felt ambient magic gathering around it. They made up for the loss of light from the dying forest.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“I smelled eleven,” Bass answered. “I ate one whole. Three are in pieces. Ice caved in a few skulls and chests.” He paused, ears and nose twitching. “A couple might still be alive. Trapped. Bones broken. I don’t know. They’re not moving, and I need a snuggle to warm up.”

“Fine.” The sorcerer sighed. She tapped her right breast, and the familiar leaped onto it. Her arm folded under him, and she held him like a nursing baby. “Would you mind going out alone? Anyone alive shouldn’t be in a state to do you any harm.” Penelope hesitated. “I think.”

“Should we bring the survivors in for questioning?” Elvis asked, tapping the icy floor just beyond the visible boundary left by the dome.

“We don’t have the time for that. Kill them. Leave them to bleed out or freeze to death. I don’t care. Just look for any badges and notable clothing pieces. You can keep whatever else you find.” Penelope’s tone changed as her attention moved to her familiar. “Did the blizzard get too cold? Poor baby.”

“I did good, though, didn’t I?” The kitten nuzzled into his master’s chest. Even though Bass lacked human features and, as a result, expressions, he seemed to carry a lecherous expression. Lukas was sure he saw a hunger in the feline eyes, which brought the pair’s relationship into question.

Not your place to judge or question, El-Prime. Move the hell on.

“You did great, Softball. Whatever would I do without you?”

The clone went hunting for the alive and buried attackers while Lukas checked the corpses. He struggled to recognize the gorilla-like, club-wielding giant. The man had shriveled to half his size in death.

He carried nothing notable. Only scraps remained of his clothes. A good deal seemed to have ripped and fallen away when he enlarged himself. His trousers contained a handful of coins, and his belt buckle was somewhat unique. Lukas couldn’t tell if the design meant anything, so he pocketed for his employer to inspect.

The next corpse belonged to the marksman. Her abdomen and legs had been stomped to the point of pulverization. Her eyes had exploded, and lines of frozen blood ran from all visible orifices. The crossbow and bolts lay scattered around her. Lukas inspected them all. They were well-made but carried no enchantments. The projectiles were all solid meta,l and the crossbow proved hardier than normal, designed to propel the heavy projectiles over large distances.

Once again, Lukas found nothing of note. He used the stolen dagger to cut off a piece of her sleeve. The embroidered pattern didn’t match the belt buckle, but it, too, was noteworthy. It was tempting to grab her weapon, but Lukas resisted. Their delve had just started, and he couldn’t afford to be weighed down by unnecessary loads. The elevator passed several platforms and other stopping points on the way down. If they were lucky, no one else would come as deep as them, and he’d get to collect everything on the way out.

Third time lucky.

The next point of interest took Lukas further from Penelope. He found a man, barely blue and shivering. His teeth chattered so loud and hard Lukas was sure they’d shatter. All extremities had blackened, and only a frozen stump remained of his left leg.

“Help me,” the young man whispered. “Please.”

“Only if you tell me who hired you,” Lukas said, kneeling next to him. He delicately took a mostly frozen hand. The skin cracked under his touch, and bones creaked.

“I can’t,” the severely frostbitten man whimpered. He attempted to pull Lukas closer, likely desperate for the warmth, but lacked the strength and leverage.

“You’re going to be okay, kid.” The words likely sounded weird coming from a man who barely looked much older. Lukas often forgot that he was no longer an eighty-year-old in a middle-aged man’s body. “Just tell me the truth.”

“I can’t,” he repeated, teeth chattering even louder. “Really.” The man pulled his collar down with his free hand. A spiral of runic letters sat under his collarbone. “It won’t let me.”

“Penelope!” Lukas yelled over his shoulder. “You’ll want to see this.”

“Don’t let her kill me,” the man begged. Each word was a labor as he shivered. His lungs and throat also seemed to seize halfway through them. “I have a little sister. She needs me.”

It took the sorcerer a handful of minutes to work her way over to them. Her familiar remained nestled in her bosom. She studied the boy for a moment, displaying no emotion or reaction. Meanwhile, the man’s desperate begging went ignored.

“Put him out of his misery,” Penelope ordered after wiping at the tattoo and prodding it a couple of times.

“No. Please. They forced me. I swear”

“You sure you don’t want to interrogate him first?” Lukas asked.

She shook her head, pointing at the tattoo. “There is no point. It’s a worse version of our contract.” Penelope tapped a section, cracking the surrounding skin. “Not only will speaking about his master hurt him, but it will tear his soul. Whoever hired him intended to silence and kill them following the job’s completion. Now that it's left complete, I have no doubt they will hunt the survivors down and punish them for the failure.” She sighed. “The kind thing to do would be to put him out of his misery. We’re not cutting this delve short for failed assassins, and leaving him alive will only extend his misery.”

“I can do it if you don’t have the stomach for it,” Bass said, tearing his face away from Penelope’s chest for a moment.

“No.” Lukas sighed. “I knew what I was signing up for.”

Doing the deed didn’t pain Lukas or turn his stomach. He had done the same to many people before on the Greater Beings’ orders and to individuals far less deserving. He had hoped things would be different in his new life. Lukas reminded himself that he was no longer an assassin and a bounty hunter but a free man with the freedom to kill or not kill. He put down the young man for the attempted assassination and to spare him the misery, and not because Penelope had told him to do so. Lukas held his hand during the act and didn't break eye contact, ensuring he wasn't alone in his final moments. Far too many clones had died alone, miserable, and in pain. It was especially hard for them early on, and their final moments had haunted his dreams for several years.

Sorry, kid. You got involved with the wrong kind of people.

The tattoo disappeared as the light left the young man’s eyes. Its ink came alive and scattered like little ants. “Suga Seith,” Lukas whispered out of curiosity. The fleeing runes paused, spiraling on the skin around the wound. It seemed two opposing forces were pulling on them. The knife won in the end. The experiment resulted in a net loss since the output proved greater than the input. Lukas didn’t mind. He now knew that the target of the spell didn’t need to be alive. Next, he needed to figure out whether organic was among the requirements.

“That’s a new dagger,” Penelope casually commented as they walked away, heading toward El-One. The clone had found something and was waving them over. “You didn’t come by i,t honestly, did you?”

“No,” Lukas answered, hesitating for a moment.

“I bet it’s the same for your new belt buckle and the essence it contains.”

“It is. I’m just recovering my losses from the Wyrmkin raid and doing what’s necessary to survive and do my job well.”

“You don’t need to justify yourself.” Penelope laughed. “I knew what I was doing when I hired you. A competent individual with no loyalty to the law and a code is what this job needs. Bass and I had doubts regarding whether you’d try to burglarise my room. But the fact that you haven’t told me all I need to know about you. A professional, through and through.”

“Or simply a man with brains and decent survival instincts,” Lukas replied. “Only an idiot would rob someone as powerful as you.”

“Smarts and good instincts too. This professional relationship will work out well for both of us.”

“You hold up your end of the bargain with the cracked shard, and it will indeed.”