I had visited some pretty hostile environments in my time on Vereden, but nothing compared to the interior base of Mt. Gorenzan. Even though both Kazuma and I had eventually acclimated to the oppressive pressure in here, that still didn’t make it pleasant. The air was so thick, hot, and muggy, that it fed like I was wading through warm mud. The absolute darkness down here was impenetrable, too, to the extent that I…

  Well, sometimes it didn’t even feel like we were actually…someplace. To my mind and my senses, this barely felt like a true location. There were no landmarks in here, no walls signifying the border of the mount to find. Kazuma and I had even looked, for a time. For perhaps thirty minutes, we veered away from the ever-present tinking noise of the distant pickaxe and tried to find a wall. We had hoped to find some kind of point of reference down here. There were no landmarks visible in any direction, after all.

  Just pure void, surrounding us on all sides.

  This place…it felt more like a purgatory than anything else. An in-between zone, thresholding waking and dreaming.

  A true liminal space.

  We had to give up, though, and eventually just resumed walking towards the ever-present sound of a far-off pick, our path lit only by our respective light abilities. His a handheld stick, and mine a floating orb.

  All the while, the hot, heavy breath of the mountain caressed our lonely forms.

  I think both Kazuma and I realized just how insidious the danger of this space was. Not only could we get lost down were, it was so, so easy to lose yourself. We needed some kind of distraction. And so, we spoke about anything and everything that came to mind.

  However, of his own trial, I asked nothing. Some things were too private, too raw, to dig into.

  I learned a lot about the man, in those hours of dreamlike travel with him. And he about me, as well.

  Some frivolous.

  “…and so Aika, get this,” Kazuma laughed, his voice echoing out over the darkness. “She actually eats the fish. I couldn’t believe it, honestly. Mother did not appreciate that, let me tell you. The man was half-trained at best. The damn things are supremely toxic, to the point that improperly prepared a single bite will kill you in seconds.”

  I chuckled softly. “But she was fine?”

  Kazuma waved my concern off. “Oh, more than that. By the time it came for her Awakening, my sister had developed a taste for the poison. Turns out, the System was paying attention. She got offered a sort of toxin-based animal tamer class. Venom Tender, it’s called. She’s doing fairly well these days, even has an apothecary of her own. She’s well known now for including a hint of the toxin in all of her potions, which somehow doesn’t spoil the brew. Gives them a bit of a kick. Her precious little Bubu happily provides it for her use.” He snorted wryly. “I bet she’ll be surprised when I come back as the leader of a foreign Sect.”

  Of course, I reciprocated. I wasn’t a total asshole.

  I hummed, crossed my arms, and stared up at the long hollow shaft of Gorenzan above us. “She loved lemons,” I said nostalgically, a small smile on my face. “The color, the smell, the taste. The soap in the house was lemon-scented, she used it in cooking whenever she could, and even the walls were painted lemon yellow.” I laughed aloud. “Hell, even the house itself was painted yellow. Dad didn’t care. As far as he was concerned, Mom could do no wrong. I think in both our minds, the memory of her is lemon-scented. I know my childhood sure was.”

  Some things, however…weren’t so frivolous.

  “It was grandfather’s death that broke us,” Kazuma said lowly, no longer laughing. “He was the last link we had to the court, and with him died those connections. In the eyes of the nobility, the rest of us were little better than low-born mongrels. Grandmother was a commoner, which meant their daughter was a commoner, which meant I was a commoner. Our titles were stripped from us with the impurity of our blood, and so we had to find work. We survived on the proceeds from selling the compound for a time, but eventually.” He paused for a moment, breath coming heavy before he could force the words out. “Eventually, the burden of it became too much for Mother. She…followed after Grandfather and Grandmother, leaving Father, Aika, and I alone.” He chuckled bitterly. “Hopefully in the beyond, she could be the noble she felt she deserved to be.”

  I…

  I spoke of something I hadn’t voiced. Not to Grey. Not to Sylvia. Not to Bella or Azarus or anyone.

  “I still hate him,” I hissed, a slow, hot breath escaping my lips akin to steam. “Some people say that hatred fades with time, but not for me. It’s been more than a year, and the feeling hasn’t faded a bit. If anything, it’s stronger. Sometimes I lay awake at night, unable to sleep at the burning hot loathing that fills my veins. I think back to all that he did to me, and I wish I could have repaid him a thousand-fold. The moment I pierced his heart with my first-forged dagger is an almost bitter-sweet memory now. I wanted more from that moment. It wasn’t enough.” I paused for a moment, feeling a deep, dark, familiar hatred roll over me. “I almost understand Shacklock. If Magnus had survived…”

  I trailed off, but I think Kazuma understood.

  The sound of my hatred-laden breath filled the air between us, but Kazuma wasn’t deterred. Instead, he almost looked to be gazing thoughtfully out into the darkness.

  “Slavery is a true abomination,” He finally said. “It is one of the few things that Kawamara and Herztal agree upon. Well, at least we thought they agreed upon before the arrival of the Sculpted. The institution has long been a point of contention with Velancia, and how the Herztals treated their own creations has been looked at, shall we say, unfavorably these past years. We are not perfect. But at least we don’t do that. For you, though,” Kazuma turned to face me. “I cannot say I understand what you went through, but…”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  I let one final heavy breath through my nose. “I know. I know. It’s not good for me. I think…I think it’s because I don’t have Fade around anymore.”

  “Fade?” Kazuma asked curiously.

  Ah…

  I had forgotten, for a moment, that I wasn’t speaking to someone who knew me closer.

  I smiled wryly at the other man. “A Spirit Wolf I found as a pup, only days after leaving Addersfield. He...taking care of him after everything that happened was…good for me, I think. I’m close with him in a way I don’t think I am with…anyone, really. He had to stay behind with another of his kind for some tutelage. I…miss him, though. Fade had a calming effect on me, and I’ve already decided that once all of this,” I said, sweeping wide with my covered prosthetic. “Is done with, I’m heading that way to meet up with him. Now that I’m a proper Magi, it’s high time we truly bonded as Familiars to each other. And…I think I want to introduce Aveline to him, too. He’ll probably be good for h-”

  I stopped in the middle of my sentence, leaving Kazuma staring at me with a raised eyebrow. I paid him little attention, though, because I’d just realized something.

  I had already made up my mind on what I wanted to do with Aveline. Even if only subconsciously. But the moment I said it aloud…

  “He’ll be good for her,” I whispered. “Because we’ll be together.”

  I had made a promise to Cecily, after all.

  Kazuma made an understanding noise in the back of his throat. “Ah. I see. You’ve come to a decision, then?”

  I nodded without speaking, the importance of I’d realized settling on my shoulders. This…this would change my life.

  But strangely, I wasn’t afraid of it.

  The other man reached out and clapped me on one of said shoulders. “Then I congratulate you on your new ward. Perhaps, in time, she can come to be even more.”

  I let out a shuddering breath.

  And nodded firmly. “Maybe. But for now, I think we’re done.”

  Kazuma’s entire demeanor sharpened then, and he settled one hand on the butt of his katana. “Just so,” He inclined his head. “The sound is louder, now. We must be close.”

  I returned his nod and drew my daggers. One forward, one back, as usual. We continued further, this time at full readiness. Someone was near, I could almost feel it. One of my companions had to be making that endless tinking noise here in the dark, and it was loud now. Considering the environment, I thought it had to be Azarus.

  Turns out…

  I was wrong.

  Abruptly, our lights illuminated something rising out of the darkness. The entire time Kazuma and I had been walking, the cold glow of our abilities hadn’t touched a thing. Now, though, they fell on a massive monolith of some kind of…golden stone. It was almost crystalline, but that wasn’t quite right. Still, though, whatever this was made of, it was dense and nearly opaque. Hard as stone, but not quite, the moment our lights fell upon the spire of strange material it started glowing.

  Now our entire immediate area was illuminated in a strange, golden-orange light.

  In the distance, outlined by that brilliance, was a tall figure. Much taller than a dwarf, it had a slim, well-defined physique…

  Of a deep umber chitin.

  Next to me, Kazuma breathed in sharply. “Venix!”

  I blinked at that. I…think that was the first time I’d heard Kazuma actually say that name. Used to be, he would just call him the ‘ant’, or the ‘bug’.

  To my further surprise, the other man abruptly broke out into a sprint directly toward the distant figure of Venix. I cursed and followed after him, struggling to match the pace of the Cultivator and wary of wasting an ounce of strength by activating a Skill.

  With the increased light from the now glowing spire of strange, amber like material, I was able to make out more details in the environment as I drew closer. The grow gradually transitioned into the golden material as well, and upon it, I found some curious, if not alarming items.

  Venix’s kit.

  All of it.

  First, it was his ivory robe with pink cranes in flight, followed by his hat laying carelessly discarded on top of a nearby boulder of the material. Then it was his sandals, and his pack I found nearby, spilling many of the contents across the amber floor.

  Then, finally, I found all four of his blades. I had been collecting the Antium Samurai’s accouterments as I advanced, but the sight of those katana that Venix so carefully maintained, lying so carelessly discarded, filled my heart with a curious dread. I drew in a shuddering breath and grabbed those as well.

  Kazuma had long since reached Venix by now, having left me behind. However, from what I could tell, our lost companion had not stopped in his steady assault against the rock face with a pickaxe. I don’t even know where he had gotten one of those down here. We sure as hell hadn’t brought one along on the journey.

  I could only assume the curse had manifested it for his use.

  As I reached the two of them, I cast an eye around warily. At first, I saw nothing but the pleading Kazuma and the working form of Venix.

  Who was entirely naked. His entire chitinous musculature was on display, illuminated by the glow of the golden amber. I’d never considered it before, but now I was…deeply glad that Antium didn’t appear to have outwardly displayed…sexual characteristics.

  I would have been very embarrassed for Venix if he hadn’t appeared as a tall, chitinous statue, smooth and hard instead of an exposed man.

  But then I took a closer look at the glowing spire of amber stone in front of me.

  There were Antium buried within it. Countless, countless bodies of dead Antium, frozen in their exoskeletons. Expressions of pain and horror were fixed upon their face as they stretched and contorted in agony, trapped in amber at the moment of death. The preserved corpses stretched all the way up and out of sight within the monstrously tall spire, far out of my view.

  And the base of it was being chipped away. Visibly so. There was a large, deep groove etched into the base of the spire, extending off into either direction and beyond my eyeline. It almost looked like Venix was trying…chop down a tree of some kind, slowly working his way around the circumference of the column, getting ever closer to the center.

  But that was…

  “Madness…” I murmured, as I drew alongside Kazuma. He had made the same observation I had and was already pleading with the Antium man to stop.

  “Venix, please!” Kazuma said desperately. “Think about what you’re doing! If you keep going, this entire thing is going to collapse on top of you! The base won’t support the weight! You’ll be crushed!”

  The entirely naked Antium didn’t respond to the words of the other samurai. He just kept chiseling away at the amber before him.

  I frowned, considering the situation as I bent and set down Venix’s clothes and armaments.

  This was…way beyond my own trial. On an order of magnitude, I would say. Mine had been…distressing, sure, but mostly seemed to be an attempt to entrap me. But this entire edifice, combined with the almost ensorcelled attitude of Venix…

  This was torment on another level.

  I took a chance, based on a few tight-lipped words I’d heard from Venix over the months. Some of them had even come from when Venix had joined us on a rare drink and partaken himself.

  “Drone,” I said sharply, causing Venix to freeze mid-swing. “Turn and identify yourself.”

  Slowly, the pickaxe lowered and Venix turned about-face towards Kazuma and I. Shadowed by the glow of the amber, he cut an imposing figure despite his lack of his usual weapons.

  I was disquieted by the lack of emotion in those faceted, gem-like, chitinous eyes.

  “I am Seventy-Six of Four-Thirty-Two,” Venix said, in a flat, alien voice. I wanted to shiver at the sound of it.

  I had never heard Venix sound so…insectile. I suppose he had been masking the depths of his real voice all this time.

  For some reason, that disquieted me. But I didn’t let that show on my face, nor did I let it distract me.

  “Seventy-Six of Four-Thirty-Two,” I continued. “What is your objective?”

  Venix met my eyes, then. Across the distance, I could see my own emerald reflected in those fractals.

  “Die for the Hive.”