Meanwhile, in Snowdrift Cave…

“Ahh, I see the problem. The rats were feeling territorial, hmm?”

The mocking tone of the voice caught Candress off guard. It echoed down the passageway: firm, cultured, and self evidently sapient. She stood perfectly still and cursed herself for allowing the corpses to pile up. The very cornerstone of their defense was the assumption that these creatures were essentially rabid animals, wandering about and only attacking when they happened across a valid target by coincidence. A corpse clogged passageway was a boon if one’s enemies were near mindless, blocking line of sight and creating obstacles to climb over, but incredibly obvious to any creature with a brain. There is something killing us here en masse, the pile announced.

Though both Terra and Master Gil reported these creatures sometimes had some manner of officers overseeing them, the symbiote had also implied such beings to be exceptionally rare this far from their central command structure. The creature overseeing this **** had elected to watch from afar for hours; it had seemed an acceptable risk to assume it would maintain the same lackadaisical seige mentality for one more.

“Delightful,” the enemy officer said, chuckling to himself. “So the rat died in a last stand; no wonder her presence faded. You all, clear the passageway and bring me her egg. Our king shall be pleased to know we may expand once more.”

Candress held the idiot pink haired girl back from yelling a response. She had no illusions that a dialogue would grant them much time. She held a finger to her mouth, and stepped through the portal to speak to her only other available ally.

“Snow. There will be a serious battle soon.” She said. “Hopefully Master Gil will be out before long, but we will need any delaying tactics we can get. Think on if there is anything at all you can do to help.”

Candress shouldered her staff, tossed a few more arrows into her quiver, and headed back out into the cave. She didn’t have much faith in Snow, but she had her orders. She’d hold the line as long as possible.

••••••••••

Snow followed Candress almost immediately, even if it was terribly frightening to do so. She liked Miss Candress, if somewhat less than she liked the rest of the girls. She wanted to help, so she checked the two filled capture spheres. Really, she’d just be allowing Blackpaw to help while she watched, since the new wolf was so very tired. That wasn’t scary at all, now was it?

The giant black and red mole creatures were tearing through the pile of corpses, their claws making a horribly whining noise as they blurred and spun like drills, spraying bits of blood and flesh in all directions.

Candress was firing arrow after arrow into them, causing them to reel back in pain. It made things much harder for the poor creatures. Snow shuddered as she heard the song of the mist for the first time. It sounded like a child, hardly out of its infancy, screaming. Then that very pain was **** into a consistent meter, rising and falling and forming unintelligible words. She thought they might be in one of those “foreign languages” Master Gil mentioned, and Snow was glad she couldn’t understand it. It was truly awful to listen to; no wonder the animals were so upset.

Snow went back to the skyblock to get more arrows from the Pillar Man. He was polite, as always, but he didn’t say anything when she asked if he could help. The Pillar Man was a very serious sort, and he only did his job of naming, buying, and selling items.

Oh! Perhaps he could help that way! Not immediately, though.

Snow ran out another bundle of arrows to Candress, handed Noa another full bowl of water, and put Blackpaw back into the sphere. He’d gotten very agitated after only a minute in the mist, but he was a good boy so he didn’t try to hurt Noa. Snow could tell that being good was very hard for Blackpaw just then, so she let him have one of the rabbits that Keilnei and Zena had brought back earlier. To help him calm down, she hummed a song about the things he liked, like running and tearing meat.

Once he was calm, she went to Master Gil’s box and checked everything there, hoping to find something useful. There was a steaming hot meat pie, which was odd since it had been there for weeks now. There was a slip of paper with the word “reincarnation” on it, and a different stamp than the one Master Gil normally carried around. There were a few more of the Doors of Light Snow had brought back, but Miss Noa already had one. The only things left were all the small baggies of healing leaves. She knew those could help people recuperate quickly, but again, Miss Noa and Miss Candress already had a few each and Snow was already brewing them a strong tea.

Oh? One of them was different. The dried leaves were in a red pouch instead of a brown one. How odd. She checked that it didn’t contain the healing flower petals, and set it aside when she saw that it did not.

She gathered up the pie, the paper, the stamp, and the red pouch. She carried out another batch of arrows to Candress; she wasn’t out yet, but that was because she and Noa were busy fighting huge four legged mushroom creatures hand to hand. Snow just left the arrows behind, and sent out Blackpaw to help fight for just a few moments and give Candress some time to shoot again. He did much better when he had something to bite, and Snow hummed a little ditty while he did. It seemed to help, but she took him back when he started to get particularly agitated.

She rushed back inside, and spoke to Mr. Pillar Man. She knew he was most interested in weapons and armor, but she hoped that he’d know what the strange items were. He didn’t tell her much, but he did name them.

Dream Pastry. Invalid.

Reincarnation Ticket. Invalid.

Seal of Joy. Invalid.

Magic Leaf. Invalid.

Most of those didn’t seem like they’d be very useful in this situation, but Miss Candress had mentioned that there wasn’t much magic in this world. If the healing leaves gave people healing, maybe the magic leaf would give people magic? It was worth a try, so Snow started steeping the magic leaves.

••••••••••

Candress’s breath hitched when she took a sip from the flask Snow provided. It hadn’t had much time to brew, but it still did its job. Her mind calmed and focused as mana flowed into her and gave her the strength she desired. For a few seconds, it was like she was back in her mana rich homeworld. The rush of vitality alone would have been worth it. She looked at the mouth of the passage, where an increasingly tired Noa held off Seru and beasts.

“Stand aside!” She called, and called flames to her hands.

The frontmost foe, a strange mushroom creature, burst into flames. It flailed its legs, striking one of its comrades as it died. Candress threw another fireball, and another, taking sips of the mana tea in between each spell. The mushroom monsters, like most fungus and plant based creatures Candress could remember, burned quite readily.

“Fire? Oh dear.” The voice of the commander said, sounding bored, “If only I had some of my own.”

At the other end of the passage, two small black heads peeked over the pile of trampled corpses, snapping ivory beaks. They floated through the air like eels, their tails ending in massive bone pincers that radiated heat. Worst of all, they shrugged off Candress’s flames. The officer, whoever he was, had fire resistant troops in reserve.

She switched to frostbolts, but she’d never been quite as good with those. It was enough to slow them down, but both of them surged forward, screening for their allies and allowing the passageway to fill again with the commonplace mole creatures. All told, the magic leaves had only earned them around a minute of ease.

Knowing the true threat these creatures posed based on Gil’s recounting, Candress sheathed her body in flexible ice; hopefully that would keep the parasites off of her even if it took the last of her mana. She took a deep breath, held her staff aloft, and joined the fray. Her first swing with her staff knocked the Gimard into the stone wall, its head ringing with a loud crack. It didn’t rise.

The second left her open to a piura’s drill-like claws, and only her frost armor kept her standing. The third was meant more to give her space while Noa killed foe after foe. It wasn’t enough.

••••••••••

Snow smoothed down Blackpaw’s fur with her hands, singing to him about how much of a good boy he was. He was riled up, both by the **** and the mist’s song. Once he was calm, and her tears closed up his wounds, they returned to the dark cave. There, she saw Miss Candress on the ground, a pool of blood forming around her. She was covered in an equal spread of burns and huge gaping wounds. The fiery chain creatures were both dead, but the moles had joined once more.

There was only one more thing Snow could think to do, a **** and irrational Hail Mary that she couldn’t have explained if she tried. She sang. She started with a few halting bars, not sure exactly what to say. She couldn’t think of what to sing to the mist, with its thoroughly awful wail of despair, she could only think to drown it out.

She could see it in the mole creatures’ eyes. They didn’t want to fight, not really. This aggression wasn’t truly in their nature; they wanted to live peacefully, finding food and water and shelter and love. A song came at last to Snow as she looked in those despairing eyes, a song of what they loved. It was half remembered from another life, a song Snow felt she should know for some reason.

“We dig dig dig dig dig dig dig in our mine

The whole day through

To dig dig dig dig dig dig dig is what we really like to do”

The song continued, improvised, and as it continued the moles stopped and listened. Blackpaw tore their throats out, which was just as well, though Snow had released him to drag Candress out through the portal. The song would only keep them at bay for a few minutes at most, and Snow knew it. She gave Noa a hug, made sure she had the bag of medicine and food, and pressed the door of light against the stone wall to create the door. She would have told her to keep her chin up, but Snow needed to sing louder and louder to drown out the mist.

As Noa slipped away, Snow desperately tried to pull Candress away from danger with the help of the other wolf. She was so very old, and every movement hurt the poor dear, but she was still almost as strong as Snow and they could only hope to save Candress by working together. Noa had placed Candress vaguely near the portal, but even dragging her a few feet was a serious task for the geriatric wolf and the slight young lady.

Meanwhile, Blackpaw went entirely mad from the mist. Once he ran out of the mole creatures, Snow had to recall him so that he didn’t kill the poor old wolf pulling Candress the last few inches to safety. There, she cried over Candress and prayed that Noa would be okay. It wasn’t safe to let either of the wolves out again, so she cried alone.

••••••••••

“You did good.” Was not the response Snow had expected from Gil. She had felt really quite useless.

“It was an impossible situation.” Gil explained. “Maybe I should have left Terra here, I don’t know. Mostly it just makes things complicated, but Noa is out and she knows broadly where she’s supposed to go, right?”

“Broadly.” Terra said through Silky. “She knows what I could teach, but I hoped for her to never be in this situation. Even if she remembers all I told her, she will still need to rest eventually.”

“Yep, but she might be able to get by for a while. She’s a strong girl.” Gil reassured Terra. “Even if she dies, I can hopefully use this to resurrect her.”

He held up the hairs and pressed them against the dungeon portal. As he did, he looked again at the page for Takeshi Sato, a middle aged father and unwilling gang member. He was also a dead man, which ironically gave Gil hope.

“How?” Terra demanded, shock in her voice, “None can return from ****. It is impossible.”

“Impossible is a fuzzy concept in my line of work,” Gil said, “Look, it’s probably best if you assume I can’t actually bring her back. I haven’t done it in this specific way before, so it might not actually work the way I think it does. We’d better get you onto Blackpaw so you can go meet up with your friend and mount a rescue operation.”

Capturing Noa, a whopping Tier 4, with The Dungeon would be difficult. It might take a few weeks. With that said, he could apparently capture dead individuals with that particular binding. Combined with Memento Vive, he could probably bring the perky young woman back from the dead if he really needed to. He’d even make a profit off of doing so, which justified the expense.

“You can’t!” Snow objected, “Blackpaw is very sick right now. He didn’t like fighting in the Mist; he will need at least a few hours of rest, I think.”

“She’s likely right.” Silky’s lips spoke, “I can filter out the mist as it enters an active host, but one that was already maddened by the mist would just make me extremely sick. It might even kill me.”

Gil pursed his lips. He wasn’t willing to give up Silky for multiple weeks. He was about to suggest that Terra might stay on with him to help with securing Noa as quickly as possible, but instead Mei spoke up.

“I’ll carry her, maybe?” She said, tentatively. “I know I’m not any good in a fight, but maybe I can still be helpful somehow, and carry her until we find Noa?”

Gil considered it, then shook his head in resignation.

“It seems like an awful idea, but yeah, take her for now.” He said, “Zena, I’ll need you to carry her to Rim Elm. Walk with me.”

They retreated over to the corner.

“Why not just let me use the magic glove?” Zena asked immediately, “It seemed powerful, why waste it on a burden like that girl?”

“It can read minds, for one thing.” Gil said, deadpan. “Silky doesn’t actually know or care about how I operate. You, on the other hand, would probably sour Terra’s perception of me the moment she sat in on your dreams one night. There’s also a small chance you’d draw energy from her until she died or something. I’m just not risking it. Anything I should know about? That pile of ammo, for instance?”

Zena explained her Pickpocket skill, which made Gil laugh.

“Seriously?” He asked, “RPG stealing? We hit the jackpot. Shame I need you in the field to get stronger, eh? Help the heroic types do their thing, but make sure you survive. I consider them expendable, but not you. Even if I can resurrect you, I’ve invested too much to be happy about doing so lightly.”

Keilnei gave her elven friend a long, lingering hug before the slight elf staggered out through the blue portal, carrying a semi-comatose Mei bridal style. None of them felt particularly victorious in the moment.

“You have about half an hour.” Gil said to Keilnei. “I’ll want you back here in ten minutes, and I’ll come get you if you aren’t back by then. Go ahead and say goodbye. I don’t like lingering farewells myself.”

He stood stoically next to the tree as his team, minus Silky, went out alongside Zena. The moment they were out, he started tapping at his tablet. He pulled out the loot box and pressed the activation button. He averted his eyes, but it wasn’t quite as bright this time. Only three glowing silver stars appeared, providing him with a substantially less impressive item.

I am a Dragon, you are now Asian: Allows a single target to join an organization that would never otherwise allow them in. Whether they are unqualified, the wrong species, or blatantly opposed to the organization’s goals, they will be accepted instantly and without question. The group must be one which allows new people to join, but the process will be expedited to an absurd degree with universal acceptance. This does not stop them from later being removed from the group, but only on grounds that would get a qualified individual removed as well, such as betrayal.

It wasn’t inherently incriminating like the last one, thankfully, but Gil didn’t really intend to open loot boxes in front of witnesses if he could avoid it. Too much of a chance for that to backfire. He briefly considered trying to resurrect Takeshi with Shiho’s card, but decided not to. Gil had no real reason to believe the man would be a meaningful asset to Rose’s operations in Brockton, especially if transformed into a highschool volleyball girl. With that in mind, he sold the fucker immediately.

T2 no name. (12- Random Perk)

Stress Defense

Gil smiled at that one. Stress Defense. Everyone loved Stress Defense. It was one of the best ways to make sure you didn’t go catatonic when shit hit the fan. It essentially blunted any negative emotional reaction beyond what the system considered “useful.” You could still be startled into action, but never terrified, shocked, stunned, or traumatized to the point where you lost the ability to function. Gil knew more than one tester that swore by it, even saving up reward credits until they could buy it permanently.

Personally, he preferred to deal with the stress of his situation the old fashioned way: perpetual slight dissociation combined with the knowledge that he’d seen just about anything The Company could throw at him before. Even being demoted to NPC wasn’t all that terrifying a concept when you keep in mind that you’ll generally never know what you lost. He decided to keep it in reserve for now.

In any event, they weren’t great prizes. Perfectly functional, of course, but nothing that would give him a massive slam dunk and nothing particularly fun. Ah well; he only had a few days until he could sell off that ponce Zeto’s Symbiote, and he imagined it would sell very nicely. Even better, he thought it was pretty likely that was the one who’d screwed the plan up that day, and fucking up his afternoon sounded damn cathartic.

He poked his head out to call for the girls that would be staying on the skyblock, then came back inside to start setting up a smokehouse to preserve the pile of game animals for later. Hopefully Keilnei would be able to fill in details, because Gil’s memory of the process was pretty spotty.

••••••••••

How hard are we going to go with the dungeon?

https://strawpoll.com/LVyK2r5dRZ0

And what, if anything, will we be spending our credits on?

https://strawpoll.com/poy9k8zKwgJ

Also. I intend to include a few cameos from my earlier Waifu Catalog story in the interdimensional marketplace. Let me know if there is anyone from that story you’d like to check up on.