The corridor-turned-tunnel widened until Lukas was walking on a seemingly endless bridge through a vast cavern. Crimson crystals stood on occasional pedestals. They weren’t equidistant but close enough so most of the bridge remained lit. Whenever rare dark patches appeared, he blindly tapped the darkness with his foot first and only put his weight on it after testing for stability. It was a smooth but slow descent and got increasingly difficult with every passing minute.

A domed structure encrusted with luminous crystals eventually appeared below, giving Lukas a glimpse of the finish line. It was tempting to run but he preserved his strength, taking his time. The last thing he needed was to step poorly and go over the side, especially so close to his goal.

The fact that he had survived thus far and not succumbed to his injuries, exhaustion, or blood loss felt like a superhuman feat in itself. His body had changed after gaining Arcane Body. The journal claimed he was no longer mundane, leaving Lukas to wonder whether the shard had pushed his body beyond normal human limits.

Of course, it has. A weak, malnourished man being able to react to actual dinosaur warriors who overwhelmed this old place is a superhuman act in itself.

Lukas had no doubts that if it came to a direct confrontation he’d be dead as a doornail. Only endless experience in ambush and assassination tactics had gotten him thus far. The clones proved as invaluable as ever. Even though probably more potent, the other offered abilities would’ve done him no good.

The raptors had nothing instantly valuable for Copycat. His new body lacked decent qualities or characteristics to empower with Double Trouble. None could argue with the value of Twice Magicked but as far as he knew the ability wouldn’t have taught him any spells. Magic empowerment has no value when one knows no magic. Arcane Clone, even its basic form, had proven useful for information gathering, distractions, and even surprise attacks.

It’s perfect right out of the box.

Lukas accepted that he was biased but he didn’t get much time to think about them.

A screech sounded far behind him. His head snapped back to see several orange, gold, and crimson dots in the distance. After failing to find a relevant mechanism, he had assumed the statue to close behind him, but it hadn’t. The raptors found the corpses and the opening. Now, they were coming for him and the dagger. Lukas wanted to pick the pace but didn’t have it in him. Instead, he maintained his current speed and hoped the pursuers would either display the same caution as him and proceed slowly or make errors and go over the side.

Lukas tried using Arcane Clone again. He could feel his body naturally absorbing the ambient magic but it was a barely sufficient trickle. The attempt failed. He didn’t have enough yet. The act only left him more tired. It slowed him and the squawks and chirpers got closer. Meanwhile, Lukas’s destination, the domed structure, still felt impossibly far. He needed to slow the pursuers.

After El-One fell, Lukas had abandoned their pack of valuables, only keeping a crimson coat and black shirt. A shortsword found in the basement, and a hatchet claimed from a raptor corpse hung from his belt. The weight slowed him, but they felt necessary for survival. Now, the scavenged weapon came into use. He bashed the closest luminous crystal. It cracked, sparkled, and fizzled. The light flickered, and luminosity dropped significantly.

Glowing crimson cracks traveled down the pedestal toward the ground and Lukas didn’t stick around to see what would happen next. He couldn’t afford to get caught in an arcane overload or in a dark patch when the magic powering the crystal inevitably failed. The preserved magic had already started to leak and Lukas hoped it would slow the pursuers.

The next crystal suffered the same fate. Lukas had to dive away from it as crimson lightning burst from the damaged arcane device. Tendrils of magic danced on the narrow bridge, damaging the stone. Fragments of it fell away and cracks spiderwebbed from the damage.

Lukas grinned, getting a second, and probably final, wind. He took off as fast as his feet would carry him, bashing every crystal he passed. His weak and untrained limb protested but went ignored. Flashes almost blinded him, leaving his vision full of spots. Lightning kissed his new clothes, singeing them. Minor shockwaves almost knocked Lukas off his feet and into the darkness below. He kept pushing onward, ignoring the sounds behind him. He couldn’t tell through the growing darkness but it sounded like sections of the bridge had started to fall away.

The handful of minutes it took Lukas to reach his destination felt like hours. He struggled to keep his eyes focused and darkness encroached on the edges of his vision. He almost collapsed on the rune-covered wall. A fit of coughs took him just as a pair of arrows clattered on the stone around him. When Lukas keeled over to spit up the fluid that had been sloshing around in his stomach, a fiery projectile exploded on the wall just by where his head had been. Embers landed on his clothes but fortunately didn’t take them. The stolen clothes were better quality than Lukas expected.

He rubbed his hand on the shallow cut across his midriff. Lukas’s palm came away red. When he pressed it against the rune-covered stone, crimson crystals flared all around him before dust and stone chips rained. The dome rotated and the stone parted like a vertical mouth, creating an entrance twice as tall as him. After Lukas passed through it, he desperately scanned his surroundings for any mechanism to close it. Unfortunately, he saw nothing but patches of runes. The language was familiar but he recalled none of it.

Out of desperation, Lukas wiped his bloody hand on all the runescripts that he could reach. His right arm was too tired and sore from combat and bashing crystals. Meanwhile, his left had gone numb and refused to move higher than his chest. Crystals brightened. The ceiling rotated. The entrance didn’t close. He gave up and turned his attention to the structure’s contents.

The journal’s vibrations had pieced up to match an aggressive massage chair. Now, it intensified as he advanced. A marble pedestal carved into the form of a rising serpent-like dragon sat at its center. The wings twisted around the top, half shielding the dagger that floated within, the blade pointing at the ceiling. The weapon matched one of Lady Silverspine’s canines and blood danced on the metal like a lava lamp’s contents. Everything in the room carried a crimson hue thanks to the crystals embedded all over its walls but the weapon seemed to reject it retaining its bright silver and sapphire aura.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Lukas struggled to comprehend how his blood was enough to open such a prized vault.

This body must’ve belonged to more than that of a mere servant. Perhaps a bastard?

Next to the vault’s centerpiece sat several smaller pedestals. A hand-sized crystal fragment caught Lukas’s attention. It looked similar to the Shard of Duplication but instead of azure motes, a constantly shifting amorphous blob resided within. The substance resembled Lukas’s mental image of his soul and called to him despite the tiny cracks spiderwebbing across the surface. There were more shards but all were far too big to fit in his pockets or carry. Lukas was in no state to be weighed down and also desired easily concealable loot.

The vault also contained unrecognizable materials and glass spheres with luminous hearts similar to what had come out of the first ‘Shamin’ following her death. Lukas didn’t know what any of them were. He wove through the pedestals on his way to the dagger, pocketing the glass spheres, prioritizing the smallest of them. His coat was soon stuffed with loot ranging between the size of peas and ping pong balls. The smallest shard—the one containing the amorphous blob—received an exclusive pocket in his new coat's inner breast pocket. It seemed damaged and Lukas didn’t want it knocking against the spheres and suffering more damage.

The soulbound journal flew out of Lukas’s pocket once he was within arm’s reach of the pedestal. Its pages fluttered as the book opened to its center. The marble pedestal shook and the wings twisting above it groaned, almost moving like organic material. Whatever field held the weapon in place, resisted the journal’s attractive force and the stone wished to contain and trap it.

Lukas used Arcane Clone. It finally worked. El-One knew his duty the moment he materialized. The clone didn’t hesitate, not bothered by the possibility of the stone clamping shut on his arm. His hand shot forward, grabbed the dagger, and pulled it away from the pedestal. It ripped free of his hands and flew into the open pages. Their surface rippled as the blade shot through them, disappearing.

The soulbound object’s vibrations intensified. Pages flew free spiraling around Lukas and his clone before gathering behind them in a circle. White light extended from them filling the space in between. It was a portal similar to the one he’d wandered through during his first transmigration.

Lukas and El-One’s eyes shot between the portal, the still-open doorway, and all the remaining treasures. The raptors sounded close. Lukas didn’t know whether his attempts had slowed the creatures or killed any of them. None of that currently mattered. The mission was a success and they were currently on their way out. Even though Lukas hadn’t thought of it before summoning the clone, it knew what to do. They thought similarly, after all.

El-One shot forward, stuffing his pockets with whatever would fit in them—the clone had manifested wearing copies of Lukas’s new clothing. He stuffed everything he could into his new pockets, stuffing them to the point of explosion. The clone carried the same surface wounds as Lukas but seemed in a significantly better state. The blood and wounds were mostly for a show. As soul fragments wrapped in magic, pre-existing damage didn’t deter them.

Once done stuffing his pockets, El-One took Lukas’s right arm and draped it around his neck. “Stop dallying, El-Prime. It’s time to leave.”

The fight had left Lukas. Only stubbornness helped him hold onto consciousness. Now that he had the clone’s support, his legs finally gave up. Raptor screeches and squawks were almost at the door. A couple of projectiles made it through too. When Lukas peeked past the portal, a sea of glowing eyes stared back at him. Then, the clone dragged him through and all sound disappeared. The spatial anomaly closed, and temperatures normalized, rising to a comfortable level. The world brightened soon after, carrying a soothing blue glow.

“That wasn’t stressful at all,” Lukas said between coughs. His throat was dry.

“Stressful? That? It's not like that was our first time dealing with an army of angry bastards out for our blood.”

“True. But it’s been a while since we were this weak. We’re currently far weaker than when I first joined Silver’s service.”

That’s Lady Silverspine to you.

There was no journal. The words appeared floating in the air.

“Where are we, journal?” Lukas asked.

A subspace of my creation.Escape to a new safer location is a part of your reward.

Pages broke free of the white walls and spiraled, creating new portals. Instead of blinding white, vastly different locations on Fracture sat beyond. The first showed a landscape similar to the English countryside: rolling hills, thickets, and vast fields of crops with hamlets and villages spread out among them. Words appeared floating above it.

The Anglar Plains are safe and fertile for most of the year, making them an almost idyllic space for those looking for a peaceful life surrounded by nature. However, the winters are long and harsh and come with awful monsters and otherworldly raiders, seeking food stores, valuables, and slaves. As a part of the Empire of Gilded Sky, it is in their paladin orders’ protection but the defensive forces don’t always make it in time.

Mostly white stared at Lukas through the next opening. It took a minute of squinting for him to realize he was looking at a mountain range covered in snow. The sunlight reflecting off it was near-blinding. A sprawling city that looked like a merging of several clustered settlements sat at its base. The land around it was mostly grey with green patches. Unnatural orange glows bathed them.

The Gray started as a scattering of iron mines until explorers found magic springs, arcane crystals, and essence veins deep in the caves. Now, it is a bustling city of artisanry and arcane research in the Shwartzberg Kingdom. The monster-filled mountains attract adventurers and explorers and have resulted in a bustling self-sufficient economy. The Gray is a city of hardship but opportunity.

The final portal displayed a sprawling coastal city bathed in gold. Towers and parapets glowing with magical effects stood over it. Ships filled the horizon and circled the edge. It looked almost utopic.

The independent city-state of Iskandar is a melting pot of cultures and trade. Its port draws vessels from all over the world. Opportunity and dreams of riches tempt their passengers to stay. Iskander suffers from as many internal threats as external factions struggle for economic superiority and criminal gangs war for territory. Risk and reward are a possibility for all who call the city home.

“This is my prize?” Lukas asked. “All that effort and this is all I get? The scroll should’ve taken me somewhere safe to civilization to begin with.”

“Let me guess.” El-One sounded as infuriated as Lukas felt. “All of these cities contain or are near that silver bi—”

Watch it. Yes. All of these settlements will allow you to continue to serve Lady Silverspine. You also get to keep up to three of everything you’ve stolen.

“What?!” The clone exclaimed. “Why only three? Is our dear dragon mistress not satisfied with her dagger? She wants the rest too?

All arcane objects of power have individual magical fields. Overlap can cause interference and overload. It is almost guaranteed when passing through a portal. I’d advise you to take two essence orbs and a shard. But be assured that there is more you’ve earned for your efforts. I just thought you’d prioritize medical attention over reviewing them all now.

“Right. Where do you want to go, El-Prime?”

“I can’t think right now.” Lukas retched. His stomach was empty and air passages burned. He could feel his consciousness starting to feel away. “You know the kind of thing I like. Figure it out. Drag me through.”

“Yes, boss.”

Lukas’s body went limp and the world darkened. It was time for a much-deserved rest.