Ethan watched in a haze as Mark and Sarah were escorted from the room.

  He knew they were in safe hands now. Highrocks might be harsh, but it was structured. It was as safe a place as there could be, all things considered. Whatever else the guilds were, they understood the value of keeping people alive. So they patrolled the streets, manned the walls, and repelled any monsters that wandered too close.

  Ethan had completed his first goal. His promise had been fulfilled.

  He should have been satisfied with that. Proud, even. It had been his first mission after returning, the one thing he’d anchored himself to while everything else felt uncertain. Get them somewhere safe. Finish what he’d started.

  For a moment, out there in the dunes, he’d thought he might fail.

  The thought still lingered, the memory of undead, of Mark bleeding out in front of him. If he hadn’t made it back in time, if the tonic hadn’t worked even a little, that failure would have sat on him forever.

  That would have broken something. If he couldn’t even save one family, then what hope did he have at helping humanity?

  So yes, by all accounts, he should have been relieved. Instead, there was a hollow pit in his stomach. A quiet, gnawing emptiness that refused to go away.

  “Are you okay, Ethan?” Alex’s voice cut through the fog.

  Ethan flinched before he could stop himself.

  Alex sat across the table, posture relaxed, one arm resting casually against the stone surface. He was watching Ethan now, studying him.

  “Please,” Alex added. “Sit.”

  Ethan turned fully toward him. He couldn’t meet Alex’s eyes. Flashbacks slammed into him without warning. The Demon King’s presence crushing down like gravity. The tearing pain as claws ripped through flesh. Hellhounds dragging Alex down—teeth and fire and screaming chaos. The image of Alex dying replayed in his mind on loop.

  He’d been good at avoiding those memories.

  There had always been something else to focus on. Surviving the desert. Protecting the family. Reaching the settlement. Each task had pushed the past aside, buried it under urgency.

  But now there was nothing left to distract him. And across the table sat his best friend. Or was it old best friend, considering Alex didn’t know him?

  All those years together, wars fought side by side, nights spent planning, laughing, arguing—gone. Erased. Alex sat here untouched by those memories, unscarred by the past—future, whatever it was.

  Was it wrong that part of him was glad? He had lost his friend, the only other person who had stuck with him. And yet he was happy. Glad that Alex didn’t remember the pain, the blood, the endless death. Glad that at least one of them had been spared that burden.

  Ethan realized he was still standing, so he forced himself to move. To sit down.

  Only then did he notice how soft the chair was.

  The realization struck him as oddly jarring. After days of sand, stone, and bone-hard ground, the faint give beneath him felt almost unreal. He should have sat down sooner.

  He waited in silence, hands resting loosely on his knees, eyes fixed on the stone table as his thoughts slowly, reluctantly settled.

  Alex cleared his throat, breaking the silence again.

  “First,” he said evenly, folding his hands together on the table, “I want to thank you for bringing them here. Not many people are willing to risk their lives for strangers anymore—especially not in the desert.”

  Ethan inclined his head slightly. “I did what I thought was necessary. I don’t need thanks.”

  Alex’s eyes flicked to him, sharp and assessing. “Fair enough. Then let’s move on to the part that matters.”

  He leaned back in his chair, posture relaxed but deliberate. “What guild do you belong to?”

  “None.”

  Alex raised an eyebrow.

  “I’m a freelancer,” Ethan continued. “I haven’t been in the trials long. A couple of months, give or take. Joining a guild hasn’t appealed to me.”

  The vice guild leader studied him in silence for several seconds.

  “Highrocks allows unaffiliated survivors,” Alex said eventually. “That hasn’t changed. But I won’t pretend the other guilds feel the same way.” His gaze hardened slightly. “Most solo fighters either die early or learn to keep their heads down. While the Broken Dawns may run Highrocks, there are others here that won’t like seeing a strong solo participant.”

  “Thanks for the warning. But I’ll manage,” Ethan said.

  Alex huffed quietly. “That much is obvious.” He paused, then added, “Don’t worry. I’m not about to pitch a recruitment speech. Though if half of what was just said is accurate, we’d certainly be interested.”

  Ethan smiled. “I’m not too interested in joining anybody.”

  “All I’m saying,” Alex continued, “is that once someone shows promise, they attract attention. And the higher powers on this level don’t like variables they can’t control.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Alex nodded once, as if that response had been expected. “Do you plan on staying in Highrocks?”

  Ethan considered the question carefully.

  He had goals. Clear ones.

  Finding his sister was the most immediate. Not by wandering the desert blindly, that would be idiotic; he would cover half of it by the time the level collapsed, but by getting access to information. Communications. Settlement records. Every major guild maintained lines between their branches, and the Broken Dawns had reach almost everywhere on this level.

  That was why he’d come here first.

  The second goal was just as important: power. He needed time. Levels. Preparation. There were things in Highrocks he had to deal with before he could move on.

  “I’ll be here for a while,” Ethan said finally. “A few months, most likely. I’d also be open to a working relationship with the Broken Dawns.”

  Alex hummed.

  “We don’t usually invest in people who refuse to join,” he said at last.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “That’s understandable,” Ethan replied calmly. “But cooperation doesn’t have to be one-sided. I can offer you things you don’t have.”

  Alex’s lips twitched. “Is that so?”

  “Yes.”

  “So,” Alex said, leaning forward again, “I take it that means you have something you want?”

  “I want access to your communications network,” Ethan said. “More specifically, I want the Broken Dawns to help locate my sister.”

  Alex’s expression tightened.

  “Do you have any idea how many people ask us for that exact thing?” he said flatly. “No—you don’t. But I can tell you it’s constant. Families. Partners. Children. We already do what we can. Names go on lists. Information gets passed when it appears.”

  He exhaled sharply. “But we don’t actively hunt down individuals.”

  “I understand,” Ethan said. “That’s why I’m offering a reason.”

  Alex’s eyes narrowed. “Go on.”

  “I know how to heal your guildmaster.”

  The room changed instantly. Before Ethan could even register movement, Alex was on him. His chair scraped violently across the stone as he surged forward. Ethan felt himself lifted clean off the ground, fingers twisting into the front of his shirt, pressure crushing his collarbone as his feet left the floor.

  Alex’s face was inches from his.

  “Be very careful with your next words,” Alex said quietly.

  Ethan raised his hands slowly in surrender. He didn’t struggle. He couldn’t. Alex had been in the trials for nearly a year now, long enough that the difference between them was vast.

  “I’m not lying,” Ethan said evenly. “And I’m not threatening you.”

  Alex didn’t release him.

  “I know the guildmaster is sick,” Ethan continued. “I know the other guilds are circling. I know they’re waiting for her to fall so they can make a move on Highrocks.”

  Alex’s jaw tightened.

  “And I know how to stop it,” Ethan finished. “Not personally. But I know what will.”

  “How,” Alex demanded, “do you know any of that?”

  “The first settlement I reached was Foolsgold,” Ethan said. “The Valkyries already know. They’re preparing.”

  Alex swore under his breath and released him.

  Ethan hit the floor hard, boots scraping stone as he caught himself and straightened, brushing the wrinkles from his new linen shirt. He had just put a clean one on as well. Now the buttons popped. He held in a sigh.

  “Fuck,” Alex muttered, pacing once before turning back. “If that’s true, then we’re already late. Do you really know how to heal her?”

  “I do.”

  Alex stopped short and stared at him. “Then come with me. And don’t think this clears you. None of this adds up.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Unless you’re working with them.”

  Ethan snorted. “Why would I walk in here and say any of this if I was?”

  “It could be a trap.”

  “I’ve barely been here five minutes,” Ethan shot back. “I just need to find my sister.”

  Alex studied him for another long moment, then turned sharply toward the door.

  “We’ll see,” he said. “Move.”

  They left the chamber and moved deeper into the mountain, past narrower halls and guarded intersections. The air grew cooler, heavier with the scent of herbs and antiseptics. Two guards stepped aside as Alex approached a reinforced door, then followed them inside.

  The room beyond was quiet.

  A double bed stood at its center. Someone lay upon it.

  A young woman sat beside the bed, dabbing at the patient’s forehead with a damp cloth. She looked up sharply as they entered.

  “Don’t try anything,” Alex said to Ethan without looking at him. “I’ll kill you before the thought finishes forming.”

  “I understand,” Ethan replied.

  “Ari,” Alex said. “Fetch the healer.”

  The woman nodded and hurried out. They waited in silence until she returned with an elderly man leaning heavily on a cane. Alex gestured for Ethan to speak.

  He stepped forward to examine the woman.

  The guards shifted immediately, hands tightening on weapons. Alex didn’t stop him but his posture changed, shoulders squaring, attention sharpening.

  Ethan ignored them and focused on the woman lying on the bed.

  He had never met her before. She had died from her illness and the Broken Dawns had been overrun, falling in status until they were only a minor guild. But from what Alex used to say, she was a prodigy. Her power was close to unrivaled on the first floor. The other branches on higher levels had her pegged to be the next matriarch of the guild, not just a branch guild leader.

  Her hair was pale blonde, loose against the pillow, strands clinging to her temple with sweat. Her features were sharp and striking even in stillness. She had high cheekbones, a strong jaw, lips slightly parted as she breathed shallowly. There was a kind of beauty to her that didn’t soften with rest. If anything, it only highlighted her further.

  Her chest rose and fell unevenly, breath hitching every few seconds as though her body kept forgetting what came next.

  Ethan felt his jaw tighten. Her death had never made sense to him. She was supposed to be powerful. An early hero of humanity. He knew the cause, but it made him doubt her legitimacy.

  Still, he rested two fingers against her wrist. He needed to make a show of this. He couldn’t just say what was wrong without even looking at her, even if he knew.

  Her skin was hot, not what you would expect from someone so close to death. Her pulse was erratic. Strong, then weak. Like something was surging through her system in waves, never quite stabilizing.

  Alex watched closely. “What do you see?”

  Ethan didn’t answer immediately. He shifted, eyes tracking along her arms, her throat, the faint lines beneath her skin. If he was honest, he didn’t see anything. He had no idea what to look for or what he was even looking at. All he knew was she felt like she had a fever and she looked comfortable.

  “How much do you know about cultivation?” Ethan asked instead.

  Alex frowned. “Enough to know it exists. I have awakened my core but haven’t progressed.”

  Ethan raised his eyebrows. That was slightly surprising. He had almost forgotten he was dealing with another prodigy. “That will make things easier,” Ethan said quietly.

  The healer sighed. “What does cultivation have to do with it? I’ve already told you she has a fever.”

  Ethan nodded. If he didn’t know, he would have thought the healer was right.

  “It’s a cultivation problem,” Ethan continued. He looked at Alex. “You should know. You introduce more mana into your body than it can naturally hold. You force it to adapt. That’s how you increase capacity. Stronger spells. More endurance. Faster recovery.”

  Alex’s expression darkened slightly. “Yes, what of it?”

  “If you have a way of feeling mana, you can tell that hers is all over the place,” Ethan said. “When you push too far—or you don’t have enough external energy to complete the cycle—”

  He gestured to the woman.

  “You end up like this.”

  The healer hesitated. “You’re saying she—what—passed out during training?”

  “No,” Ethan replied. “She tried to break through.”

  Alex’s eyes flicked back to the woman. “Are you serious? Why would she do that? From all accounts the mana is too sparse to support a tier two cultivator. She had to have known it wouldn’t work.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Ethan said. “Only that she tried and failed.”

  He stepped closer, crouching beside the bed, studying the faint discoloration along her forearms. Her veins were darker than they should have been—not black, not necrotic. Just… wrong. Like ink bleeding into water.

  “She gathered the mana,” Ethan continued. “Forced it into her system. Probably used stimulants. Potions. Anything she could get her hands on to increase the amount of mana available. Her body started to change, but she didn’t have enough energy to finish the transition.”

  The healer’s breath caught. “So her body is stuck?”

  “Yes,” Ethan said. “Her consciousness shut down to prevent collapse. She’s in limbo. Not dying. Not progressing. Her body is trying to complete a process it can’t finish.”

  Alex’s jaw clenched. “Can’t we just wake her up?”

  Ethan shook his head. “If you force her awake, the mana tears her apart. Or it burns out what she’s already built. Either way, she won’t survive it.”

  He paused, eyes flicking again to the darkened veins.

  That’s not all, he realized.

  The pattern was subtle. Too subtle to be accidental. Someone had poisoned her. He looked closer at the veins in her arm; it looked like something was swimming through it. Ethan suppressed a sigh. It would make sense. He had never understood her reasons before, but if she was fighting off a poison, it made a bit more sense.

  Ethan decided to keep that to himself. His plan would fix both problems anyway.

  Instead, he straightened and turned back to Alex.

  “She needs an external source of raw, powerful mana,” Ethan said. “Enough to let her complete the breakthrough on her own terms. To give her body something to work with instead of fighting itself.”

  “I’ve already been saving for a more expensive healing solution,” Alex said. “I only need another six or so months and I’ll get it done. Basim said she is stable, so she should be able to hold out. Isn’t that right, Basim?”

  The old man nodded. “She seems stable. But I’ll admit, I don’t know much about cultivation and what that means for her.”

  “I’m afraid that won’t work,” Ethan said. “Unless you can get your hands on around fifty thousand points in a couple of months, that is.”

  “Why?” Alex asked, crestfallen.

  “Because she will be dead within three months.”

  “Fuck. That’s not possible. No way. You came to me. You knew what was happening. So you have a solution, don’t you!” Alex asked, his voice raising as his composure finally completely deteriorated.

  Ethan smiled. “I do.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “There are only a couple materials on this level that provide enough vitality. The closest one is the heart of a Sand Colossus,” Ethan said.

  Alex looked at him like he was stupid. “We just went over this. I don’t have enough points, even if I went and hunted for two months straight.”

  “I don’t mean buy it,” Ethan replied evenly.

  Alex stared at him.

  “I know where to find one,” Ethan continued. “A real one. And I know how to kill it without destroying the heart.”

  Alex’s expression hardened into something sharp and dangerous.

  “Are you fucking mad?”

  Read here!!