My days of rest rolled on by.

  I had gotten into a nice groove of doing self-improvement in the early morning, keeping up with orders for clients up until a little past noon, and then going off to Meredi’s and helping out over there. Then, we’d have dinner. Whether Rave was there or not depended on the day. Meredi was thrilled to have me around. Cynthia less so, but we tolerated each other.

  Rave hadn’t stayed over since the first time, but I understood from my memories that it was already a bit of a rare event in the first pce.

  It was pretty perfect—a real dream come true, but with each passing day, I was reminded of impending doom. I still had every reason to believe that the Prologue was going to happen.

  Then one day, I just decided I needed the change of pace. I wasn’t perfectly healed, and there was still some discomfort from eating the spawn brain, but I decided to head out and make some progress on the Gloomspawn hunter path, as I called it.

  I didn’t tell anyone who mattered and left the city early. The patrolers must have been succeeding because I didn’t find a pair of Rank 1 spawn until I was four hours into my expedition.

  Invisibility made the encounter a formality.

  The Rank 1 Gloomspawn were already sluggish on the best of days, and their detection ranges were already new pyer-friendly. Add invisibility to the mix? They didn't stand a chance.

  As if I needed more advantages, the Melody's Edge turned invisible with me. That surprised me.

  The Melody's Edge was definitely longer and wider than a chair, and yet, it was affected by Invisibility. There was a quirk, though—or rather, an exception. When I slotted a mana crystal into the sword’s crystal slot and activated the magic edge, the crystal’s glow shone faintly through the invisibility, like a ghostlight hovering in the fog. It wasn't bright enough to clue in the spawn, but it would be noticeable.

  It had to be the miracle metal that the Melody's Edge was forged from. The property that allowed it to conduct mana must have been interacting with the ability. I thought about it in terms of the game, and yeah, even though Invisibility didn’t exist in the games I pyed, if the ability did exist, I would bet it would affect the pyer and equipment.

  I dispatched the first spawn with ease—just a fsh of motion through its spine and a whisper when it hit the ground. The second was twitchier, its form more jagged and its moves more frantic. Still, it never saw me. By the time it died, its insides were roasting. I harvested what I could: spinal fluid, distorted stomach humors, something I think was its liver, and of course, the brain. I triple-wrapped those. I could already feel my body reeling from the prospect of swallowing those things again.

  But all was for the moms.

  About two hours into my return trip, I saw a masked three-man patrol squad down a muddy slope. Not wanting to surprise them and get stabbed by a panicked spearhand, I stayed hidden until I got a good look.

  Even from up here, even with the respirator mask covering her mouth and chin, I recognized one of them—Valray.

  Auburn hair tied back in a sharp, no-nonsense ponytail, light, dull armor scratched but well-kept, eyes sharp enough to slice iron. Her mother’s gre, but none of Rave’s charm. Where Rave would grin like she was pying cards with a bunch of suckers, Valray looked like she was five seconds from berating them for wasting her time.

  There was no mistaking her. The devs captured her so well in her portraits.

  I didn’t know the others in the patrol, but I watched them for a minute—just to see how she moved in real life.

  Wow… It’s really you, Valray.

  Girl was all business. No wasted motion, no sck discipline. Exactly what I expected from someone Rave and Meredi raised, even if Rave would probably downpy her own influence.

  That said, I noted some concern in her, which was confirmed when the other woman on the squad asked the man if he knew where they were.

  I chuckled. They had gotten turned around in these marshes bnketed by fog and miasma.

  “Valray! You three need directions?” I hollered, alerting everything in the vicinity to my presence.

  They all jerked toward the sound. The man in the squad already had a short, junk spear half-raised, but Valray stepped ahead of him.

  “Timaeus?” she called, squinting. “Is that you?”

  “In the flesh,” I said, stepping into clearer view and starting my descent down the muddy slope. “Didn’t mean to startle you. It’s quite fortuitous, though.”

  The trio waited for me to approach, visibly rexing. Valray gave me a nod. “It’s good to see a friendly face. You’re a long way from your shop.”

  “I appreciate all you do. Wandered for hours out here and not a single spawn,” I said. “And people said it’d be dangerous out here. Jokers have no idea how effective you all are.”

  The man, a lean type with a muddy coat over his armor and a short beard, groaned. “Well, we’re lost.”

  I chuckled and ignored him, turning back to Valray. “Hey, we’ve been having dinner without you. What’s up with that? Your mom misses you.”

  Valray responded with a clenched jaw. “We’ve been busier. We got sent to check out some colpsed bridges.”

  “And then we got turned around,” the man said.

  I raised a brow. “Bridges? What?”

  “It’s for the expedition forces,” Valray replied. “Do you not know about them?”

  My mouth slightly dropped. “I have no memory of that.”

  Valray chuckled, her grin so genuine it reached her eyes, and looked at the others. “My cousin’s only love is alchemy.”

  “Must be if he’s gotten lost out here for it,” the man said.

  “I’m not lost. Lucky for you,” I said, “I’m heading back to the city. If you don’t mind my pace, I can guide you.”

  The man exhaled with relief, eyes twinkling with hope. “Blessing of the Saints, that’d be appreciated.”

  The woman beside him—a thin girl who looked too frail to be a patroller—muttered, “I told you we would be fine.”

  “You also said the mushrooms were whispering to you,” he shot back.

  “They were! This pce is haunted!”

  Valray cut them both off with a look, then turned to me. “Lead on.”

  We started uphill again at a steady pace. After a bit of quiet walking, Valray stepped closer to me.

  “What exactly were you doing out here, Timaeus?” she asked, her voice calm but curious.

  I took a moment to appreciate this—an odd and calm conversation with a young woman whose future I knew. Her route was really sweet, too…

  “Specimen collection,” I said, clearing my throat. “Mushrooms, moss, insects. Some newts if I’m lucky…” I shot her a smirk. “I didn’t get lucky.”

  “Out here?” She looked around at the swamp. “This far?”

  “Newts, Valray. They don’t like people, apparently. And distance doesn’t matter if you leave markers.” I pointed to a faint fiber of white mushroom skin tied to a twisted reed. “City’s that way. My tracks are still here, too. There’s never too much fog to obscure the tracks right in front of you.”

  She followed the thread with her eyes. “Observant. And… very natural.”

  “I was being cautious. The monsters out here are scary, but I’m more scared of being ambushed by lost, deranged bandits.”

  “Fair concern, sir,” the man said. “Bandits out here are madmen.”

  “But really, you all deserve the thanks,” I said. “My tracks aren’t being disrupted because you all do a great job keeping the biggest disruptors out of here.” I unhooked a pouch from my belt and opened it to show a few sealed vials. “Want to see my treasure?”

  The other woman leaned over, curious. “Is that… glowing?”

  “Bioluminescent moss,” I said. “Might be useful in potions. Maybe gives you glow-in-the-dark skin. You never know.”

  The man gave an appreciative grunt. “You alchemists are something else.”

  Valray chuckled. “He’s one of the alchemists who provide the stimunts for our masks.”

  “You don’t say! I like you even more.”

  “Always happy to help,” I said.

  Valray smiled with her eyes. “You seem… way more bright, Tim… Did something good happen?”

  I thought about the fact that I could save my favorite NPCs. And I thought about Rave. Valray in the flesh was a small surprise, too.

  “It’s just been a series of good things,” I replied. “It makes me excited about the future.”

  Her chuckle was hushed. “That’s good.”

  We traveled while making small talk, and finally crested a familiar ridge. Beyond the thinning fog, Bastion Reach revealed itself. Bck stone spires, high-tiered walls, and the flickering ntern-lights of the Snts that peeked out like grim stars on the horizon—unmistakable.

  The funny man groaned with relief. “Never thought I’d be so happy to see that miserable pce.”

  “You’re so dramatic,” the woman muttered.

  “Next time,” Valray said, “we try not to lose the compass.”

  From there, it was trivial. We got on the lifts, let out a collective sigh, checked in with the gatesmen at the top, and officially reentered the city.

  I exchanged farewells with Val’s teammates and Val herself, but was stopped by Val before I got too far away.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  She smiled at me, and then poked my bag with the tip of her polearm. “I’m gd you’re being so safe, Tim… But I hope you’ll be cautious even at home. And be doubly cautious about the things you bring back from the marshes.”

  What sharp intuition. I smiled and nodded.

  “Understood, Val. I won’t cause you any trouble.”

  She cracked a grin, her fine lips curling. “Yeah, my mom’s already trouble enough.” She turned and waved as she walked to her teammates. “I’ll stop by for dinner. Maybe I’ll see you there.”

  “Maybe. We’d love that.”