Mistaken for a Returnee

All that time and effort spent getting to the roof and now it was time to get back down.

They could have followed their original plan and jumped from rooftop to rooftop… But none of them had the energy for such acrobatics after everything else they've been through.

Sulika had lost a significant amount of blood and was only standing because of the potions she'd taken.

Oladi was still shaking off her mana depletion induced nap.

Derrik had literally leaped the boundary of life and death- twice.

And everyone else was mentally and physically exhausted from the last battle. What they needed now was a long rest, not another life-or-death challenge.

Crack!

And breaking open an old wooden door was just so much easier.

Derrik tossed aside the rotten door and waved the dust out of his eyes. "I think- cough I think we're clear," he said while peering into the dark stairwell. There was no light. No sound. Just an enclosed space that smelled of blood, rot, and methane.

"Here, use this," Faeyra stepped forward with a glass cylinder in her hand; the container was seven inches long and roughly two inches in diameter. On one end was a twist to open cap, while the other side ended in a rounded base.

"Aye?"

"It's an alchemist's flare."

Derrik's eyes grew wide, and he held the container out as far as his arms could extend. "Are you mad!? Why would ye hand me a live grenade!?"

Faeyra waved her hands, "No, no, not an Alchemist's Fire. A Flare. The worst this can do is singe your beard if you open it too close to your face. Just break the seal to let some oxygen in, then replace the cap and you're golden."

"Really?" He asked skeptically. He'd never heard of an "Alchemist's Flare" before… But, if anyone would know of such things, it would certainly be Faeyra. "Alright. If you say so." He shrugged and began descending the stairs.

"What're you going to do when he figures out there's no such thing?" Sulika whispered.

"Well, that's just it. I'm hoping he doesn't until we get home."

"Why then?"

"So, I have time to make a real one." She smirked.

Sulika shook her head and sighed. "Is…uh… Is it safe to use like that?"

They both watched as Derrik stopped a few stairs down and twisted the cap off of the bottle- the transparent liquid inside the cylinder instantly reacted to the open air. It bubbled aggressively for several seconds before quickly shifting to a light pink color.

Once the last of the liquid had changed colors and it began to let off a dull radiance, Derrik replaced the cap and held the bubbling mixture out at arm's length. The light illuminated the stairwell just enough for him to see a little more than ten feet in front of him- which was about nine feet further than he could see previously.

"It works! Come on." He said, beckoning them into the darkness.

"Should be safe… Unless he drops it."

"... And if he drops it?"

Faeyra went silent. She slowly turned to look at Sulika and- "Then we'll be walking in the dark," She laughed. "Relax, nothing's going to happen. Resealing the tube renders the chemicals inert. Only way it could explode now is if he threw it into an open flame."

Max was the first to enter after Derrik, then Ralocan, Oladi, and Zarud followed shortly after.

"I still don't like it."

"Well, our only other options are going down the stairs in the dark or going back down the rope. Which one would you prefer?" Faeyra asked as she took the first couple of steps into the darkness.

"You're basically asking me to pick between potentially falling to my death or burning alive."

"Ok, be dramatic."

"I am not being dramatic."

"Please, you're practically wearing the crown."

"You take that back."

"No."

A short distance away, Derrik was walking with the 'flare' out in front of him. He couldn't tell if they'd forgotten how well sound traveled in enclosed spaces or if they were messing with him. Regardless, he didn't care for any of it.

The group exited the building a few minutes later and found themselves standing on an empty street. No demons, no danger, just a whole lot of blood and corpses remained.

"I don't like this," Sulika whispered. "Where are all the demons?"

"They could've fled into the dungeon," Ralocan replied- gripping his amulet in his left hand while his mace hung loosely in his right.

"For what purpose?" Oladi said while eyeing the shadows of every building they passed. "They had us surrounded and practically at death's door. They could've wiped us out if they'd kept pushing-" She was cut off by Faeyra tapping her on the shoulder. "What is it?"

Faeyra pointed down the road to the temple they were supposed to rendezvous with Aldritch. But her finger wasn't pointing at the temple, no, she was pointing at the thing sitting outside of it.

The bisected remains of a crimson behemoth: the Machine… Or what was left of it.

Oruul and the other four imps responsible for ruining Aldritch's robe were suspended in the air above the machine. Each one trapped inside their own private bubble of transparent golden mana.

The Imps could feel their skin slowly disintegrating- but they could do nothing to stop it or rid themselves of the pain. Not with the bubbles clinging to them like a second layer of skin, preventing them from moving anything but their eyes and mouths.

One of the Imps believed that was their way out; if they had no chance of escaping this hell alive, then they'd do so on their own terms.

No way would they allow the giant to control that.

The Imp sank its teeth into its tongue in a desperate bid to escape the pain- blood filled the Imps mouth to the point of spilling down its chin. The Imp smiled as it felt its life quickly leaving its body… the Imp stopped smiling a few seconds later.

It could feel its life returning twice as fast as it'd left.

The Giant had predicted it would try to escape this way.

The Imp screamed; It screamed until its throat ached and then screamed some more.

Oruul and the other imps only watched the screaming imps face, as they couldn't hear its voice.

That was the true cruelty of Heretic's Blight.

The imp could plead, plot, cajole, mock, threaten, or even scream until its throat was destroyed- but no one could hear any of it. Every pain-filled whimper, every rage-induced scream, every pitiful attempt to garner sympathy.

All of it was solely for the trapped demon's ears.

And the way it did so was relatively simple.

The spell was a melding of three other spells: An altered version of Sanctuary, an enhanced version of Regeneration, and Mana Drain.

The spell continuously drains the mana of anything trapped within the shield. The absorbed mana is then cycled around the barrier several times, each time passing through the divine mana Aldritch imparted while casting the spell.

Doing this multiple times will purify all but the darkest of mana sources, gradually turning the other source into a lesser version of divine mana called 'Holy' mana.

Once the transformation into holy mana is complete, the spell moves on to the final step in the process.

The outermost layer of the shield is actually porous. This allows the Miasma of the dungeon to penetrate that specific layer of the shield, and only that layer. With the Miasma now inside, and thus altering the purification process once again, the holy mana is tainted slightly before being reintroduced to the captive's body.

This is what allows the spell to heal demons without making them spontaneously combust.

Unfortunately, the spell doesn't work correctly unless it was completely immersed in Miasma. Without it, the holy mana will slowly poison a demon's body, while healing it of any life-threatening injuries. Effectively prolonging their death by days or even weeks, depending on the strength of the demon.

A collection of footfalls grabbed Aldritch's attention. He looked away from the piece of the Machine he was inspecting and found his guildmates standing behind him. However, he noticed one member of the team was missing.

Max.

Aldritch located the guild master a moment later. The Kandis was standing near the doors to the temple with his back to them. A faint blue light was reflecting off the stone wall of the temple.

"What's he up to?"

"He's reporting our situation to the third scouting team. Probably wants their help to secure the dungeon," Sulika replied. Synne was being held loosely under her left arm. Which she didn't seem to care for, if her face was any indication.

"Would it not be faster for us to do it?"

"Maybe, but it'll definitely be faster if all of us work on it together. So, let us help you finish… whatever it is that you're doing. So, we can all get inside the temple." She said with a pleading expression on her face.

Aldritch raised a brow at the way she was speaking. He looked over to Faeyra- who didn't hesitate to tell him the truth.

"Sulika is just tired of fielding questions from Max. She wants you to head inside so he'll leave her alone."

Sulika shot her a dirty look before turning back to Aldritch. "While that's certainly true, it doesn't alter my motives. I want to help you finish up before the demons decide to mount a counterattack."

"We were forced to be here." Zarud said, yawning into the palm of his right hand. "Sulika threatened to make me see visions of Derrik dancing in a string bikini if I didn't come."

"Aye. My punishment was to see a vision of naked Zarud chasing me through the streets." Derrik muttered and shivered at the thought - Oladi slapped her hands over Zarud's and Derrick's mouths.

"Don't listen to these two. No one threatened us." She said, her exasperation was clear from the sound of her voice.

"Oladi's right. We weren't threatened… I was bribed. A night of all you can drink wine at the Boss's expense. How could I resist?" Ralocan said.

Derrik pulled Oladi's hand away from his mouth. "Aye. In truth, I was offered two kegs of ale and a rump roast."

Zarud also pulled her hand away from his mouth. "Wait, you guys were bribed?" He asked with wide eyes.

Aldritch stared at his guildmates for several long seconds… Then he laughed. "You are all very amusing." He said and shook his head. "Alright, if you're offering to help. It would be rude of me to refuse such a generous offer."

"No, seriously. Am I the only one not getting anything for this?" Zarud asked while everyone fanned out to assist Aldritch.

Aldritch wrapped an arm around Zarud's shoulders and pulled him in close. "Of course not, friend. I'll make sure you're justly rewarded for the efforts you've made, and the prices you've paid. That goes for all of you." He said, releasing Zarud and stepping away.

"You?" Zarud asked, clearly skeptical of Aldritch's claim.

Didn't the Giant dislike him?

"Yes." Aldritch chuckled. "While I can not repay you in coin. Would you all be willing to accept something else in trade?" He asked while moving to stand in front of the machine.

"Like what?" Sulika asked.

Aldritch smiled. "I'll forge your choice of weapon, armor, or enchanted accessory."

Sulika blinked at his response… Hadn't he already said he'd planned to become the guild's smith?

Wasn't he already planning on forging equipment for them to use?

Why was he speaking as if it was a reward for - Sulika saw the excited expressions on the faces of Derrik, Zarud, and Ralocan. Even Oladi, who didn't usually use a weapon, looked somewhat excited at the prospect.

"That's right, he never told them he was going to be our smith. So, for them, this is a reward." She smirked and shook her head at Aldritch.

She thought it was a bit mean spirited of him to trick them like that. But it's their fault for saying she'd bribed and threatened them.

The Giant's face didn't change as he looked at her, but she could see the amusement in his eyes.

"Oladi." Aldritch said, turning to the druid with an expectant look in his eye. "Would you be able to conjure vines strong enough to tow this machine?"

Oladi glanced at the ground beneath her feet, then slowly looked back at Aldritch. "I don't think so. Not here, at least. There's no life beneath this road, everything's dried up."

Aldritch's face fell slightly. "I see, I hadn't considered that as a possibility… Hmm." He looked at the body of the machine, then at the turret lying a dozen feet away. After taking a few seconds to consider the weight he'd felt pushing against both, Aldritch made his decision.

He walked over to the turret and placed left hand on the barrel, then gave it a few tentative shoves to test its weight, stability, and to locate its center of gravity.

The turret was large, incredibly dense, and oddly shaped; flat on top, with a rounded backside and a square 'face'. The barrel stuck out of the center of the 'face' like a strange nose.

Aldritch knew he could move the thing, since he'd already done it once. But there was a huge difference between shoving something over and dragging it a few hundred feet.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

After five test pushes, Aldritch decided to do one final test before moving it.

He placed his hand against the spot where the barrel joined the turret. He pushed the barrel up with a grunt of effort, the thick metal creaked and cried as he forced it to face the sky… "Interesting."

His curiosity satisfied, he removed his hand and allowed it to fall back to the ground.

Sulika, Faeyra, Derrik, Oladi, Zarud, and Ralocan were all quick to cover their ears before- Crash!! the metal screamed as it collapsed to the ground, dumping bits of metal and metallic rings onto the road beneath it.

"It's lighter than I thought. As strong as steel, but lighter and slightly more flexible." Aldritch told them.

Zarud opened his mouth to yell "That was light!?" But thought better of it at the last moment. He sighed and looked down at the ground. "How much lighter?"

"I'm not sure. I believe it weighs about three times as much as the cart I threw a few days ago. But that's not very specific, is it?"

"... You threw a- No, never mind. My ego's been punished enough today. Thanks." Zarud took several large steps backwards, away from Aldritch and the metal monster, stopping only once he'd returned to Oladi's side.

Aldritch grabbed the barrel and lifted it just enough to get his shoulder beneath it. Then, while taking extra time to ensure it would slide one way or the other. He carefully lifted the entire thing onto his shoulder.

The metal moaned like a dying man as it was forced to hold its own weight on nothing but the barrel.

"Let's go." Aldritch told them, motioning towards the temple with his head.

"That's it?" Sulika asked. "You're going in just like that?"

"Yes- Oh, and I'd appreciate it if you'd grab as many of those little metal pieces as you can. I'd like to run a few tests on them as well." He said while climbing the stairs to the front doors of the temple.

He passed through the open doors quite easily. But the turret- Crash! - had a little bit of trouble sliding in.

Luckily the door frame wasn't a load bearing section of the wall or the new hole he'd created could've brought the entire building down on their heads.

Sulika exchanged glances with her guildmates before pulling out her wand. She pointed it at the loose metal across the ground and rotated her wrist, causing the wand to move in a spiral pattern. "Uval: Collection" She muttered.

Her mana traveled down the length of her arm and into the tip of the wand. Magenta colored smoke fell from the tip of the wand to the ground below. Once it touched the ground, it began to slither across the road like a large purple snake; its movements were almost perfectly aligned with the movements of the wand and followed each movement after a short delay.

Every piece of metal it crawled over was grabbed by the smoke and lifted off the ground, allowing it to be easily pushed around. Sulika guided the smoke around for about thirty seconds, gathering more and more metal as she went.

Without needing to be asked, Faeyra removed her backpack and placed it flat on the ground. She undid the clasp holding the top together and slightly lifted the rear of the bag off the ground.

Sulika nodded her thanks and guided the smoke towards the bag, ending the spell only after the 'tail' of the 'snake' was completely inside Faeyra's bag.

"Got it?" Sulika asked.

"Yep." Faeyra replied, refastening the top of her bag and slinging it onto her back- the increased weight caused her to sway to one side before she could catch her balance.

Zarud grabbed the sides of the bag before it could drag Faeyra to the ground. "Whoa, there!" He lifted the bag slightly, testing it and removing some of the weight pressing down on Faeyra's back. "You've been carrying this around the whole time?"

"Thanks." She replied, shooting him a quick smile. "And no, not the whole time. Most of the weight you're feeling is from Aldritch's robe. I had to rearrange my poison vials just to make sure it didn't flatten them."

"Oh… That makes absolutely no sense, but alright. Want me to carry it until he takes his robe back?"

"No-" She grunted and shifted the backpack until it sat comfortably once again. "No thanks. It's good exercise for me." She finished and started walking up the stairs.

Zarud took two large steps to catch up and smiled at her. "You sure? I'm pretty strong, you know? It wouldn't be a problem." He told her. To emphasize his point: he lifted his right arm and flexed the muscles in his forearm and biceps, making the veins stand out against his skin.

Faeyra's brain froze for a second after seeing him flex; a seductive smile appeared across her lips and she looked up at his eyes.

Zarud swallowed his nerves as her oddly colored eyes landed on him… Wait, why would he be nervous?

He'd been with plenty of women in his short life. Human, Elf, Dwarf, Orc, even a few halflings and Kandis had warmed his bed. So, why should he be nervous just because one attractive half-elf smiled at him?

Faeyra swayed into his side, causing her hips to brush against his, and gently placed her hand on his left forearm. "Do that again." She said, her voice low and breathy.

Zarud's body stiffened at the contact and the seductive undertone of her voice. Without thinking about it, Zarud flexed the muscles in his left arm just like he'd done for his right.

Faeyra giggled at the feeling of his muscles moving beneath her fingers. "I can see why you're so popular." She told him while trailing her fingers along a vein that ran from his wrist to the crook of his elbow.

Zarud shivered beneath her touch; his breath grew shallow and his pupils dilated as his excitement grew. He could hear the sound of his heart pounding inside his chest-

"It's just a shame you aren't my type." She patted his forearm and stepped away from him as the both entered the temple.

Zarud felt like a bucket of ice cold water had been dumped over his head.

"Huh?" That wasn't how that was supposed to go.

He smiled at her, flexed his muscles, flirted a bit. That was all he'd usually needed to do to win a woman over. Somehow, he'd followed the map exactly and still ended up at the wrong location.

How the hell did that happen?

Ralocan and Derrik arrived at Zarud's side, both men shaking their heads.

"What?" Zarud snapped.

"You tried." Ralocan replied and gave Zarud a few consolatory pats on the shoulder.

"Tried what?" Zarud asked, confused by what was happening. Were they… Pitying him!?

"Aye. You aimed your arrow and missed entirely. But don't worry, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Faeyra doesn't seem like the type to rat you out." Derrik told him.

"Rat me out for what?" Zarud shouted.

"Ha!" Sulika laughed from a few feet behind the trio. She and Oladi had seen and heard everything, from Zarud flexing to the rejection.

Oladi seemed amused by Zarud's confusion. Oh, She understood why he was confused; he'd never been rejected before. His charm and good looks had paved the way to many a young woman's bed.

Was it cruel that she found his confusion refreshing?

As for Sulika, she was simultaneously irritated and amused at his antics.

She disliked the fact that he'd just tried flirting with her closest friend, and his guildmate. He knew better. The hunter's guild had a rule about dating, or sleeping with, members of the same team for a reason.

She'd broken that rule herself once, and look how that turned out.

But that wasn't the reason she'd laughed. No, that had a much simpler explanation.

"If you think Faeyra won't tell Tessa what you just did, you've got a surprise coming your way." Sulika told them.

"But all I did was a little harmless flirting. What's so bad about that?" Zarud asked, his heart was making a racket inside his chest again. Only this time, it was for a very different reason.

"She gets hit on all the time by married or otherwise 'committed' men. As soon as she finds out they're in a relationship, she says the same thing, every time. 'It's a shame you're not my type.' Sound familiar?" She said, smirking up at him.

Zarud's green skin paled. "That doesn't mean she'd tell-"

"Oh, but it does." Sulika said, interrupting him. "If she knew their wives, Faeyra always sent a little message to let them know. It's why she gets so much repeat business from the women in our neighborhood."

Zarud's skin went ashen and he had to swallow to clear his throat. "Do you think I can convince her not to say anything?"

Sulika's smile fell away "Maybe just take this as a lesson and move on. Yeah?"

Zarud sighed and looked at the ground. "Yeah… I guess I can do that. Who knows, maybe Tessa will understand?" He muttered, more to convince himself than anyone else - Suddenly his head shot up. "Hey, what is Faeyra's type?" He asked Sulika.

"... Did you seriously just ask that question?" Sulika replied, astounded by his ability to bounce back.

"Yeah. She said I wasn't her type, not that I didn't have a chance. So, what's her type? Maybe I could-"

"Hey ~ Aldritch ~" Faeyra called as she approached Aldritch from behind.

The Giant was sitting off to the side, on the floor with the turret lying in front of him. They all watched as he reached out with his left hand, grabbed a part of the armor plating, and ripped it off with a single tug.

Faeyra reached him and threw her arms around his neck. She leaned over his shoulder and looked at the metal splayed out before him. She either didn't notice, or care, that her chest was pressed against his back.

"Someone's in a good mood." Aldritch replied. He didn't care that she was touching him, only found it slightly inconvenient to move without causing her to fall.

"I found something fun to do when I get home." Faeyra muttered while watching him inspect the armor fragment.

"Oh? Would you like to talk about it?" He asked without looking away from the armor piece in his hand.

"Not right now. Maybe I'll let you in on it later."

"Understood." He said, nodding to show he was listening.

Hearing none of their conversation but seeing the way she literally hung off of Aldritch. Zarud's eye twitched and he came to his own conclusions.

Unlike Zarud and Derrik, Sulika, Oladi, and Ralocan had heard their entire conversation; thanks to the enhanced senses of their races.

Sulika's grin turned into a full blown smile and she shook her head in exasperation: Aldritch was still treating the two of them like children. "You know, I'm really not sure what her type is. Maybe you should go ask her?"

Zarud held up a hand and shook his head. "It's okay. I think I've figured it out…" He sighed and looked away from the two of them…

His despondent expression caused Sulika to wonder if she should tell Zarud about the way She'd caught Aldritch treating them. But, after thinking about it for a moment, she dismissed the idea altogether.

Better to let him think she was interested in someone else. Zarud had his own moral code, skewed though it may be. He may be okay with cheating on his own partner, but he wouldn't pursue anyone he thought was already in a relationship.

Zarud, Derrik, Ralocan, and Oladi split off from Sulika and meandered their way over to the portal looming in the center of the main room. The four of them found places to sit atop the rubble and started talking in hushed voices.

Sulika watched them for a few seconds before making her way over to join Aldritch and Faeyra. While she wasn't looking, Faeyra had slid off Aldritch's back and was now sitting next to him, using Aldritch's robe as a makeshift cushion.

"Do you have any acid in your bag?" Aldritch asked while observing the piece of armor in his hand.

"Depends." Faeyra removed her backpack and placed it on the floor between them. By the time Sulika reached them, Faeyra had retrieved a large leather pouch from the bag and sat it in front of her.

She reached into the pouch and one by one, pulled out six small capsules of equal size before presenting them to Aldritch.

"Did you want to melt a hole in something or remove it from existence?"

Aldritch stared at the capsules in her hand: they were all opaque glass, and differed widely in color. One was white, one was purple, one was dark red, one was orange, one was yellow with black stripes, and the last one was a vibrant blue.

"Which of those might melt a hole through a nine inch thick steel plate?" He asked, looking between the different capsules for any hint of their origin.

"Ah!" Faeyra hummed to herself. She picked up the yellow capsule with black stripes and placed it in Aldritch's hand before carefully putting the other five back into the pouch.

"What is this?" Aldritch asked while raising the capsule to his eye.

"91% pure Carydia acid. It's good for eating through locks, dissolving metal bars, and making a mess out of someone's insides." Faeyra said, smiling up at Aldritch. "It's also useful in alchemy, which is what I normally use it for. I swear." She said, still smiling.

Sulika shook her head and rolled her eyes at Faeyra's back. "Saying it like that is why we had the sentinels called on us last year."

Faeyra stiffened at Sulika's voice, but recovered quickly. "It's not my fault that the old bat misunderstood me. I told her not to enter my lab."

"What happened?" Aldritch asked.

"An inspector from the crafter's league came by to investigate a complaint against me." Faeyra huffed irritatedly. "The complaint was hogwash. Some guy asked me to live with him, I said no, and he got upset. He reported me for a 'faulty' potion he'd bought a few days prior. He claimed I'd sold him a potion of minor healing under the pretext it'd grow his hair back."

"Which you didn't." Sulika chimed in.

"Of course, I didn't. Behind the counter, my reputation is pristine. The only time my silver tongue gets used is in the bedroom." She sighed. "Anyway, the inspector didn't listen to me when I asked her to wait. I'd been in the process of refining a new batch of acid, and in that state it's a bit… well… explosive."

"Did she die?"

"No, but from the way she was screaming, you'd think she was being murdered. Anyway, I was interrogated by another inspector after the incident and the charges were dropped. The first inspector was an alchemist herself, she knew better than to barge into someone's lab without asking."

"You're leaving something out." Sulika muttered, and smirked at the dirty look Faeyra shot her way.

"The second inspector asked why I was brewing five gallons of Carydia acid at once. And I told him I planned to use it all for alchemical pursuits, and I swore to that… Apparently, he didn't like the way I'd phrased my explanation and there happened to have been a series of break-ins on the other side of the city earlier that week."

"Which was just plain bad luck." Sulika laughed. "The homes had all had the locks on their windows melted, which was how the thief was gaining entry. They later caught a young wizard in the act. He'd been approaching families as some kind of ward specialist to gain entry. He even did this whole presentation before offering to demonstrate on a window."

"Where he'd sabotage the lock." Aldritch said, chuckling and shaking his head.

Sulika nodded and pointed at Aldritch. "Yep! The kid was, apparently, some kind of genius wizard. The newspaper called him a 'once in a generation talent' because he'd discovered a way to infuse crystal powder with mana and trigger a spell after multiple hours had passed."

"What happened to him?" He asked- if nothing else, the kid was certainly talented.

It took not only brains to pull off what he did, but also courage. Experimenting with mana like that was often expensive, and always dangerous. You couldn't take that kind of risk lightly.

"He works for the crafter's league now." Faeyra interjected. "The sentinels commuted his sentence. In exchange for five years working for the league, he wouldn't be imprisoned for his crime spree."

"I see… And, does he live in the prison?"

"No, he wasn't imprisoned."

"That's a shame." Aldritch shook his head in disappointment. He sighed and placed the armor piece on the ground in front of him.

"Why do you say that?" Sulika asked him. "He's using his talents for good now."

Aldritch nodded absently while he placed the capsule on top of the armor piece. He moved his left hand over the armor while focusing his mana towards the capsule.

He twisted his wrist and snapped his fingers - the pure force of his mana pushing down on the capsule caused the glass to shatter into dust.

A glob of acid fell onto the center of the armor piece and went to work: The acid bubbled as it first ate into the paint protecting the armor from rust. The crimson paint quickly lost its original color, turning from deep crimson to a muddy brown in seconds, and disappearing completely a few seconds after that.

The metal was next.

The dark colored steel held out much longer than the paint did, surviving a whole twelve seconds before the acid won out and started breaking it apart.

Aldritch watched the acid bubbling away at the armor while he contemplated what to say…

"I'm glad the kid is doing something to help the greater good. But I don't think he's learned the right lesson. He should've been punished for his crimes, no matter his reasons or his talent. But he wasn't. Instead, he was given a job and allowed to go home. Essentially showing him that, if you're a special existence, the rules don't necessarily apply to you. That's a dangerous thing to teach someone."

"Sounds like you know someone who learned a similar lesson?" Faeyra said while watching Aldritch's face.

"I did." He replied, a rueful smile on his lips.

The acid continued to eat through the armor until it reached somewhere around the halfway point. At that point, the acid had stopped eating towards the bottom and had begun spreading outwards.

It took Aldritch a few seconds to figure out why. But by picking up the armor and tilting it to the side, Aldritch was able to see why the progress had halted.

A wafer thin layer of ceramic ran through the center of the armor, stopping the acid before it could make it all the way through.

"Thirty-one seconds. Not terrible, but not exactly efficient either. Should try other avenues before committing to the acid solution." He muttered in a distracted voice.

"Who was it?" Sulika asked, after coming to the conclusion that he'd gotten distracted and forgotten to answer.

"Alright!" Max yelled, clapping his hands three times to get everyone's attention. "The 'Message' scroll finally worked, and I've been in contact with the scouting team."

Aldritch left the armor pieces where they were and stood up. "And?" He asked while making his way over to Max.

"I was getting to that." Max snapped. His attitude earned him an unimpressed look from Aldritch, and nervous glances from everyone else. "They say the towers back on Azuris are finally complete, and the governor is getting ready to start the reclamation process. They say we have about six hours to finish up and leave."

"They've finished construction of the towers already?"

"Yes. Which is why we need to get this dungeon locked up and get back to Sophia sooner rather than later. Hopefully before those up high get too excited. Trust me, you do not want to be on the island when the reclamation process starts."

"What do you think, my Lord?" Aldritch asked through the bond… And received no response. "My Lord?"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I've been distracted by this tingly feeling ever since the fight with the machine. I'd almost forgotten what it felt like to be worshipped by someone other than you." He laughed.

"Worship?" Who'd started worshiping Oakairo?

He looked around at the people gathered around him and wondered who amongst them had chosen to serve the Dragon God?

Was it Sulika? Faeyra? Maybe Derrik or Zarud?

He knew it wasn't Ralocan or Oladi. Ralocan already served one god, and everything Aldritch knew about the gods of Iolara told him they wouldn't allow their subjects to dual worship.

As for Oladi, she worshiped the natural world, as all Druids did. While it was possible for her to also worship a god at the same time, Aldritch didn't know how that'd interfere with her powers.

"I know. Isn't it exciting? Anyway, I'm fine with leaving whenever you are. There's nothing that interests me here anymore. Not since the demons tucked tail and ran back to the dungeon. Besides, if the mortal in charge of Azuris is reclaiming the island, then we'll have all the time in the world to come back and clean out this nest. Right?"

"Yes, my Lord." Aldritch chuckled and returned his attention to Sulika, who was patiently waiting for him to finish.

"My lord is fine with wrapping everything up and returning home. So, would you mind walking me through placing this 'lock' and I'll see if I can speed the process up a little."

Sulika smiled up at him. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."