Mejid’Ah has betrayed me. Or rather, us? I am still tempted to think of myself as a god, though I am just as much a creation of his as are my siblings. Should I not also betray myself? The true resurrection of Yeneb will, of course, require my death. But alas, it is my fate to die, regardless. Though immortal I may be, this new world is not.

  Having spent the night in his old cabin on the ship, Evran did not have too far to travel to reach the showers. He felt disgusting in more ways than one, and a nice shower was exactly what his mind and body needed. The hot water cascaded down the nape of his neck, scalding away the hurt and grime of yesterday. He found an intolerably brief moment of repose during his lengthy stay beneath the tap.

  Evran emerged from his shower fully cleansed. He resolved to make this a far better day than the previous had been, one full of joy and laughter with his friends. That included Kaila. While he was angry at her for spying on him for that vile professor, what had truly devastated Evran was the idea that their entire friendship had been a lie. He probably would have spent the rest of the trip thinking just that, if not for Lerrum’s timely intervention.

  There was still a single piece of the puzzle Evran had yet to place — a question he could not keep out of his mind no matter how hard he tried. Was his father an avatar? He refused to believe it. That would have been a hell of a secret to keep from his family, but there were plenty of gaps in his understanding where such a thing could hide. Not knowing the truth disturbed Evran greatly. That he may never know it, frightened him further still. Perhaps he could find some clues when he returned to Haskelon someday? For the first time since leaving it five years ago, Evran desperately wanted to return to his family home.

  He shook his head in frustration, trying to force himself to consider more pleasant thoughts. The whole day lay ahead of him, one that was guaranteed to contain adventure. Though Indon and Kaila might be averse to the idea, he wanted to take Lerrum’s team with them to the ruins. With their help, it would take half to time to finish excavating the rubble, though they would have to split the findings between the six of them.

  After returning to his empty dwelling, Evran quickly gathered his supplies. Given the dreadful array of meals the day before, it was time for him to bust out his secret stash. He packed a small feast’s worth of cured meats and potatoes, along with rich spices and a bottle of his favorite sauce. He even smuggled a whole honeycake that the baker assured him would keep for at least a week. Today’s lunch would be the finest on the island. Evran left his hut and strode towards the dining pavilion.

  “Good morning, everyone!” Evran said upon arriving, as if nothing at all had happened the previous night.

  Indon, Narro and Arietta were oblivious to what had transpired, responding with cheerful greetings of their own. Depri rolled tired eyes at him and continued to shovel scrambled eggs into her mouth, while Lerrum simply gave him a nod and a smile.

  “Morning, Evran,” said Kaila. She stared at him with a look in her eyes as if she were begging for permission to be happy again. “Is everything alright?”

  “Almost,” he replied, offering his smile as consent. “There is something else I’d like to talk to you about. You too, Indon.”

  Pulling his team aside, Evran revealed his desire to share the looting of the ruins with Lerrum’s team. To his surprise, both had eagerly agreed. “Really? I thought you might be against it. More to share, you know.”

  “I can already smell your bribe, my friend. Besides, more hands to clear away the rubble. I accept!”

  “And I owe Lerrum and Pri for… something,” said Kaila, not wanting to explain to Indon last night’s falling out.

  “Alright, then. We’ll tell them after we’ve all left camp together, that way no one else can find out.” Evran suggested. Indon and Kaila nodded in agreement.

  After breakfast, the two teams gathered at the gate, heavy with supplies. This time, they left camp as a combined force. Once they were well into the forest, Evran unveiled his master plan to the other team.

  “I want you all to abandon your survey area and join us today.”

  They were quite shocked at the suggestion, particularly Depri. “Did you go insane last night? We can’t just skip out on our assignment, especially with its being so important to our grade.”

  “Sorry, Ev, I have to agree,” said Lerrum. “I’d love to, but I really want to graduate.”

  “I’m in,” said Narro. His teammates glared at him. “What? We spellblades are just here to fight, not do homework. With Evran’s horrible luck, I’m sure we’ll run into some fun monsters.”

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  “Sorry to disappoint you, Narro, but that’s not why we’re asking,” said Kaila, a mischievous grin appearing on her face. “Yesterday we found a huge set of ruins, but the bell stopped us from exploring them. We want you to help us excavate them!”

  “How huge?” asked Depri, somewhat interested.

  As long as they did a good job in reporting their findings, the school would likely accept exploring ruins as a valid reason to switch assignments. Of course, the academy would have preferred to do it themselves, taking any treasures they found instead of allowing their students to run off with them. As for the missing survey data, with so many other students contributing, the final report to the Adventurer’s Guild would already be more thorough than most. They could get away with a joint excavation.

  “Massive. Looked like an old fort of sorts, the kind that would keep some interesting artifacts on hand,” said Evran, playing into the greed of his fellow students.

  “Damn, Ev, I can’t say no to that,” said Lerrum. “It’s your call, Pri.”

  “Fine! But if we get in trouble, I’m saying you two dragged me into it!” she said. “To think you were willing to leave a younger girl like me all alone in the middle of the forest, surrounded by monsters! So ungentlemanly.”

  “Alright, it’s decided. Let’s go!” shouted Evran, leading the way with manic enthusiasm.

  ***

  The combined team arrived at the site of the ruined compound after less than an hour of walking, following the same trail they’d blazed on their return trip the day prior. Too full of excitement to bother resting, they eagerly set to work removing the rubble from the first few buildings. Despite the spellblades being much stronger than their mage counterparts, their physical advantage was rendered meaningless before the utility of earth magic. It allowed them to manipulate the shattered stone and broken bricks, easily launching them into a pile at the center of the courtyard. Since everyone present was capable of magic to some degree or another, the students made quick progress in clearing out the rubble.

  “Not much in this building,” said Lerrum as he exited the smallest of the five structures. He held up a pouch full of inert glowstone and a few small mana crystals. The latter was always valuable, given its ability to take in ambient mana. Most magical constructs required at least a small crystal to operate, and the ones Lerrum had found were large enough to be in high demand.

  The two spellblades had somehow intuited which building was the armory, and as a result, they had found the best artifacts so far. The section of the building nearest the outer wall still had much of its ceiling intact, meaning the floor was mostly free from rubble. The wall itself was stained brown with the rust of the many arms that had once been stored here. Any wood within the broken armory had long since rotted away. All that remained was a diamond-stone sharpening wheel, a small adamantite knife lacking its handle, and the most beautiful enchanted longsword Indon had ever laid eyes on.

  Indon unsheathed the blade from its similarly intact scabbard. Very few metals can naturally withstand the ravages of time, but with the right set of enchantments, even base iron could remain unmarred by rust or grime. He held out a gorgeously crafted sword made of skysteel.

  “That’s quite the find,” said Narro, feeling the balance of the adamantite blade in his palm.

  “It’s a significant improvement over my current weapon. I am eager to learn what enchantments it holds.”

  Outside, Depri received some help with her excavation from Lerrum. They were clearing out what appeared to be a mess hall of sorts. Aside from a few stone tables and benches, little had survived from the heavily weathered interior. Lerrum added more inert glowstone to his pouch, hoping to reconstitute it later. After collecting a handful of mana crystals of her own, Depri had almost given up hope of finding something better when she stumbled across an interior storeroom.

  The door still had a weak temperature-regulating enchantment on it, which was apparently enough to allow it to endure for so long. The same could not be said for any food that might once have been inside. It took all the young girl’s strength to get the door to budge, but in the end, she managed. Depri entered the dank storeroom, her lamplight spell following close behind.

  The contents of the room had fared much better than expected, though they still showed their age. Shattered cookware littered the floor beneath rows of broken shelves. There were old sacks of dust, which had once been food, and piles of netting under a row of rusted hooks on the wall. It was there that she saw it.

  The ability to resist decay made enchanted objects stand out in a room full of rot and ruin. A small leather pouch with a purple gem adorning its side sat on a stone plinth at the far end of the room. Depri’s eyes widened in excitement.

  “Is that what I think it is?” she asked Lerrum, who entered behind her.

  “It very well may be,” he replied.

  Depri cautiously stepped over the debris scattered about the storeroom floor, making her way towards the enchanted bag. She yanked it off the plinth and peered inside. A shrill squeal of excitement pierced Lerrum’s ears, confirming his suspicion. Depri had found a spatial storage artifact.

  “Congratulations,” he said. “You’ll be able to buy a mansion on Hyperia with your share of the wealth we’ll get from selling that.”

  Items capable of manipulating space weren’t just rare, they were impossible to create anymore. At least, not since the end of the fallen world and the sealing of the dark element that powered the artifact’s magic. The device itself would continue to work without issue, however.

  “Aw, I was hoping to keep it, but I guess there’s no way I could afford it.”

  Before their excavation began, they had all decided to have everything they discovered appraised. Everything was to be sold off, with each member of the party receiving an equal split of the profit. Though, if anyone wanted to keep something, they could simply buy out everyone else’s share of the artifact, the first right to do so going to the person who found it. That way, there would be no hard feelings for the unlucky among them.

  Having determined that nothing of value remained in the mess hall, Depri left to join the spellblades as they worked on what was probably the barracks. Lerrum, on the other hand, went to check on the progress of the primary structure within the compound, what they had dubbed ‘the cathedral’. He was also eager to see how Evran and Kaila had been getting along since the incident last night.