“What is it, Elvis?” Penelope asked as they approached.

“I found another live one,” the clone replied, holding up a rolled parchment. All but the edges were frozen solid and black marked an edge. “He was trying to burn it.”

The parchment’s owner lay trapped under a fallen mushroom. Part of a giant mushroom crap lay across her mid-riff and her right leg pointed the wrong way. She glared defiantly at the sorcerer but, much like the previously downed attacker, went ignored.

“Well, that confirms it.” Penelope sighed after checking the scroll. It had defrosted as soon as she touched it. “I and my research are not welcome in Iskander.”

“Care to tell us what you’re working on?” El-One asked. “It’s not like we can tell anyone even if we wanted to.”

The sorcerer looked between Lukas and his clone for a moment. Then, her attention shifted to the woman on the floor. Bass seemed to read her intention and leaped from her arms. A paw swipe tore her leather jerkin and shirt below but left the skin untouched. The same spiral of runes sat under her collarbone. A badge similar to Lukas’s sat pinned to her breast. It was crimson and serpent-like.

Lukas’s eyes narrowed. He looked at the clone and nodded. A spear thrust to the throat winked out her already fading light. The tattoo disappeared within a heartbeat.

“Adventurers delved too deep, well past the undercity, and stirred something

,” Penelope said, turning her back on the corpse. “We don’t know what this something is what it can do or what it looks like. Only two things are clear. It’s ancient and powerful.”

“Is it something that’s always been here or made it home when the old city was buried?” Lukas enquired.

“No clue.” Penelope sighed. “Educated guess? It's the latter or there’d be some mention of it or its impact in historical records. All we know is that after centuries of stagnation, the creatures of the lower levels have started to evolve. Arcane signatures are changing. Delvers are dying.

“The sorcerer’s conclave is worried about this power being misused. There is also the danger of a new blight or plague born of it.” She paused, looking back at the dead body. “Draconic mutations don’t happen often. If there is an ancient dragon sleeping down there or even a corpse we would’ve seen it long ago.”

“Or someone or something awakened it,” Lukas said. “I haven’t shared this detail with many people but the Wyrmkin raid wasn’t just a random attack or supply-gathering mission.” He added and tweaked details to fit with already spoken lies. “I only got the lady’s side of the conversation before the ‘Shamin’ executed her. The cult was looking for some sort of weapon to appease their master. A dragon master. Could this be related?”

“It could.” Penelope nodded. “I wasn’t wary of this little tidbit. Although, Wyrmkin raids are rarely just for food and supplies. They’re more than capable of growing and hunting, and their needs are fewer than ours. So, I had guessed as much, and it’s also part of the reason I hired the pair of you. People experienced with the Wyrmkin and dragon cults are rare. Any and all insight can prove valuable in our investigation.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

One of SIlverspine’s interests? The fucking clones will bet my right nut on it.

“Hopefully, I’ll be in good enough form to stand up to the Wyrmkin if and when I encounter them again. The cult probably wants me dead for getting away and warning people about them.”

“There is no shame in a strategic retreat,” Bass stated. The reassurance felt strange coming from him. “You’re weak and squishy. There is no pride in death if you have nothing or no one to protect. Survival takes priority.”

“How far is your shard ability from ascension?” Penelope asked, shooing El-One, gesturing him to continue checking the corpses. He complied, grumbling.

“Not far,” Lukas answered. “The scryer said it's already at rank nine and I have three essences to choose from.”

“And if things go well for the rest of the delve, we might have the materials to fix your shard,” she added. “Do you know what essence you want to use for it?”

Lukas shook his head, taking it out of his hiding place and passing the crystal to the sorcerer. “I have no idea, to be honest. Repulsion. Change. Shadow. One of them will go toward upgrading my Soul Pillar. Another can be used to fix the shard. I have no idea what to pick.”

“I’m not sure what this contains,” Penelope said, holding the shard up to her staff’s light. “It doesn’t matter. Whatever essence we use will combine with the fragments of power that remain and change its nature.” She brought it closer to her face, fingers tracing the cracks as she watched the lava-lamp-like contents. “Fluidity. Amorphous. Flow. Freedom. They’ll probably be the contributing qualities.”

“Sounds like great concepts for a Mind Shard,” Lukas stated. “Water—”

“I wouldn’t race toward awakening the Mind Pillar yet,” she interrupted. “Especially if you want to learn magic. Unless you luck upon something that will grant metamagic, it is more detrimental than advantageous. Most people get far too focused on the shard’s magic and design their education and training around it. The fundamentals fall through the cracks and end up forgotten. Hold out for the right shard or just sit on one until you’re more adept at manipulating arcane forces.”

The sorcerer’s advice directly contradicted what Esther had said. She advised prioritizing the Mind Pillar because it significantly improved one’s magic capacity, senses, and absorption capabilities, accelerating arcane education.

Neither advice sat well with Lukas. They were well-suited for someone young, immature, and not with Arcane Clone in their arsenal. The clones shared his discipline. If Lukas told them to focus on one skill and ignore another, they did just that. Gluttony and lust occasionally interfered with their directives but they almost always got the job done. He didn’t want to rush to fill the pillar, but Lukas refused to sit on it if a shard appeared that was a good fit.

“Repulsion and shadow essences would be good for the Mind or Heart Pillar,” Penelope continued. She continued speaking as Lukas paused to study another corpse. Another minor guild’s logo sat pinned to his cloak. “Essence of Change for Body and Heart. The final decision is yours, of course. You can do whatever you want.”

“I’m playing it by ear. My Soul ability doesn’t have direct combat or everyday application, unlike Elvis’s quick recovery and physical growth. Anything that helps me overcome limitations will work just fine.”

“Maybe you’ll get lucky. Fluid-concept shard. Essence of Change. It might create metamagic.”

Lukas tried broaching the topic of Penelope’s work in Iskander again, but she skirted the topic. He didn’t push the matter and moved on. She was starting to trust him, and more would come out sooner or later. They spent another ten minutes checking all the fallen attackers before moving on.

There was only one other survivo,r and El-One put him down without hesitation. None of the fallen anything worth immediately grabbing besides a few crowns and change. Penelope graciously let the Zaun siblings keep everything. Lukas couldn’t help but wonder about her power levels and wealth to treat shards, essences, and money so casually. She was clearly doing far better for herself than Esther. It was clear the vet wasn’t telling him a lot and had suffered several setbacks in her life.