Sidekicks and Sidequests E-Book

Sir Nil

• Herausgeber: Podium Publishing
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: Mycology
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 376

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2026

Beschreibung

An apathetic introvert accidentally finds himself on the cusp of friendship, heroism, and doom in the third book of this epic fantasy-adventure series. Declan Lu was never one for teamwork or companionship. Or really, any kind of interaction that didn't involve his best friend, Matt. But that was before an artificial intelligence hacked into his brain and invited him to become Dustin the Magic Myconid. Adventuring through new and mystical places, he's teamed up with a squad of fellow adventurers on quests for mana, gold, and glory. Now, as the misfit crew's journey through the world of Indiri continues, their attempts to fulfill main quests and subplots alike keep getting waylaid. Dustin's power is constantly growing, and it's attracting monsters and minions who are determined to steal everything he's gained. Meanwhile, troubles in the real world ensue. A powerful AI god is relying on Declan to stop an impending technological disaster before it overtakes the minds of the human race. As he races to solve the crises in both his virtual and his actual home, Declan-slash-Dustin will have to tread carefully—because not everyone he meets is as trustworthy as they seem . . . Sidekicks and Sidequests is the thrilling conclusion to a riveting adventure series filled with heartwarming friendships, intricate magic, and complex world-building. The third volume of the hit LitRPG fantasy series—with more than 500,000 views on Royal Road—now available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook!

Leseprobe

Sidekicks and Sidequests

Mycology ✸ Volume 3

Sir Nil

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording, or otherwise without prior written permission from Podium Publishing.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2026 by Eric Lin

Cover design by Nate Artuz

ISBN: 978-1-0394-5444-6

Published in 2026 by Podium Publishing

www.podiumentertainment.com

Contents

1.01

1.02

1.03

1.04

1.05

1.06

Interlude: Enchiridion

2.00

2.01

2.02

2.03

2.04

2.05

2.06

2.07

2.08

2.09

2.10

2.11

2.12

2.13

2.14

2.15

2.16

Interlude: Revenant

Character Sheets

Boss Sheets

About the Author

1.01

“Yes, I know they’re undead raised from the damned planes through the use of black magic that blasphemes against half of all the gods, and that they have no concept of exhaustion, but that doesn’t mean they can’t unionize or have paid vacations!”

—High Prince Aksum, now Dread Emperor Accidental

The night wind blew across an empty plain.

Cold air pressed against my skin, wormed its way past my thin clothing and bark armor. The grass below felt soft, and though I could only see a few meters from myself, I knew the plains loomed large in the far distance. The sound of a stream softly splashed.

Farther off in the darkness, scales were scattered about. Under each scale was a voice.

“Why did you use so much chili?!” Tai gasped between long chugs of water.

Despite not being able to see him, I could clearly imagine the grin on Noam’s face. “It builds character!”

“It tastes like poison,” Utoqa remarked before gently tapping Celine on the head. “Are you still alive, White-Skinned One?”

“… water …” she said between gasps, and Utoqa passed a skin of water to her.

“You knew this would happen, didn’t you?” Tai accused.

I dipped my head slightly. “He and I share very different definitions of ‘edible.’”

Noam sighed. “It’s one of his many character flaws. Not being able to stand chili.”

There was a rustle as Tai stood up.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Noam yelled as Tai grabbed the pot we were sharing and tossed the rest of the red soup out onto the plains.

“Nooooo!” Noam cried as he fell to his knees. “It was innocent!”

The scales dimmed.

Ignoring him, Tai pointed at Utoqa. “What do you know of cooking?”

There was a creak as Utoqa’s weight lifted off the trunk he was using as a seat. His steps were silent, but a few moments later, I could hear a splash of water.

Soon, something wet and flopping was thrown towards us, landing beside the campfire.

“Fish. Eat,” the lizardfolk replied matter-of-factly as he returned, his own teeth already tearing into another fish.

“Raw?” Tai asked as if Utoqa had just killed her grandmother and was now wearing her skin as a hat.

Throwing her hands in the air, she stared hopefully at me. “What about you, Dustin?”

And I grew a mushroom in my hand.

I didn’t need to see her to know that the light of hope had just died in her eyes, snuffed out as she realized that one idiot knew how to cook but had defective taste buds, and the other two couldn’t and considered raw nutrients enough of a meal. Which, to be fair, was correct.

“… Ok,” she finally said. “I can work with this. Maybe.”

“Utoqa, I need you to catch more fish, and Dustin, you grow some more mushrooms,” Tai ordered as she began rummaging through our baggage.

The scales grew distant before they disappeared. Finally, sight returned to me.

“Keep,” I murmured, low enough so no one heard me. “A Blank Page in History, the Next Voyage of Discovery.”

A wood mask grew over my face; on it began to glow the symbol of an eye. About two hours, that was how long it took me to swap out secrets.

“What are you doing to my babies!?” Noam cried as he wrestled Tai over various pouches of spices. She kicked him off with little effort since Noam was being theatrical and she had at least five more points of strength.

“You are no longer on seasoning duty!” she yelled in indignation. “Look at Celine! She’s practically dead!”

“… mmmghfff … I’m fineee …”

Being able to see the scales was nice and all, but I was quite literally blind. Without my other secret providing spare sight, I would have to rely on the wisps for eye guides, and they had plenty of better uses.

“You just thought about getting rid of us, didn’t you?” Yellow asked.

Greenie shed a fake tear. “You get a new eye and you already want to replace us.”

“I only considered it,” I said, defending myself. “And when I can see, you two can be the little balls of destruction you deserve to be.”

Greenie, who was essentially a living violation of one convention or another, preened at the compliment. While Yellow seemed to disappear, it still wouldn’t tell me how it got levels as a sneak.

The bright yellow wisp later appeared next to Tai, watching her cook and prepare the fish.

Right now, I too remained unnoticed. My steps weren’t silent like Utoqa’s, nor did I hide my presence like Yellow by simply standing out of sight, but something stranger.

For even when Celine looked directly at me when she came back to life, she didn’t notice me at all.

Soon, I sat next to the sixth member of our group—a quiet little child whose family was dead.

“Johnny,” I said, revealing myself to him, the child with empty eyes.

He had no reaction to my presence being suddenly unveiled.

I asked my question. “Has that thing been following us the entire time?”

Behind Johnny Joymoon was an ethereal figure, almost mist-like. It was shaped not like a human but rather a tree trunk, with pale slithering roots spreading like a web, each ending in lipless mouths filled with needle-like teeth. Covering its trunk were faces—dozens and dozens of empty, featureless faces.

“It has,” Johnny replied.

If he could see it as well, and he was now a priest of the Weeping Child, whether by choice or chance, then that must mean …

“A ghost, huh?” I murmured in curiosity. No wonder none of the others, including myself, were able to see it. “Do I need to kill it?”

Ghosts couldn’t be harder to kill than a living concept.

Johnny shook his head, hugging the ragged doll he carried. “The boy asked it to protect me. To keep me safe.”

Mushrooms sprouted all around us as I smiled at the ghost.

“Then be glad I won’t have to kill you twice, Manifestation of Lies.”

True Sight was such a convenient thing. I could see that the ghost had no true will of its own, not anymore. It was a collection of shambling memories masterfully stitched back together. It shouldn’t have had consciousness or sentience, yet still, it shuddered.

Regardless, I turned back towards the campfire. “Someone ordered some mushrooms?” I yelled.

Utoqa’s head darted towards me, eyes narrowing as he tried to understand how I had gotten there.

Celine yelped as she was suddenly staring at my smiling face. Rude. I couldn’t look that bad, right?

Noam smiled, and I saw goosebumps on his bare skin as he tried to calculate how to kill me.

“How’d you get over here?” Tai asked as she cleaned out the guts of the fish, not at all bothered by my sudden appearance.

“I have my secrets,” I answered as I plucked one of the many Mushroom Meals I grew, handing it to her outstretched hand.

At the end of the night, I learned that Tai was a really good cook.

“So, what do you all plan on doing now?” Noam asked casually, the embers of the fire now dying.

Some of them had tucked in for the night, each in their own sleeping bags. I was standing quietly by the side, my glow dimmed.

“I don’t know,” Tai answered first. “I only know I need to get back home and inform everyone of my brother’s death.”

Her hand clutched her second blade, tightening. “It’s so strange. I can barely remember his face, but my chest is still so tight.”

“That means he meant something to you,” Celine answered. “And I am truly sorry.”

“Heh. It’s alright, Cel. I barely knew him, after all.”

“Doesn’t mean you, her, or I can’t feel sorry,” Noam added. “When people die, it always feels shitty, no matter if you knew them or not.”

“Does it ever get better?” Tai asked, her voice sounding weak, with none of the assured directness she had always displayed up till now.

“Yes,” Noam answered.

No one was sure if it was a lie or truth.

Celine’s eyes shifted to a silent lump a bit further from the rest of them. Smaller than all of them.

“So you’re just going to leave once we near a Wayshard?” Noam asked.

There was some ruffling as Tai shook her head. “Can’t. Part of the Path of Discipline. I can’t use them for transport. Well … I can but it would mean abandoning my path.”

“So, where’s your home?” Noam asked.

“It’s a small city near the edge of the Yong Chun Lin,” Tai answered.

Celine paused. “The Eternal Forests of Forever Spring?”

“That’s the one.”

“That is significantly longer than what she said,” Noam observed.

“Elvish always translates to a mouthful in Common,” Tai told him, to which Celine simply nodded in response.

“Is that on the way to where we’re going?” Noam asked me.

My cap slowly lit up, glowing slightly blue. Myconids don’t really sleep in the same way people did, but we’re still perfectly aware of our surroundings.

“We need to get to a major city with a church of the Hearth,” I said, glancing at the small bundle to the side of the camp, “but other than that …”

“No plans?” Noam asked, raising an eyebrow. “What happened to visiting that Manatheres place?”

I sighed. “I learned things, Noam, and I realized that learning some shit is actually riskier than I thought. I’ve more or less given up on learning magic so far.”

Especially when it wasn’t the cheat I wanted that could allow me to play without any risk or danger, for the scales would always be balanced one way or another.

“You can cast spells, though?” Celine asked, curious.

“Traveler spells are not the same. I don’t understand how each spell functions, but I can cast them in the exact way they are as they were given to me.”

“Same with me,” Noam said. “I have no fucking clue how aura works, only that it can make me go fast.”

“Seriously?” Tai asked. “I thought you were able to adapt Swift Strike into a full-body coating pretty well.”

Noam raised an eyebrow. “I was just using it on my whole body, didn’t sound special.”

“Adapting a single-move-type martial art into continuous use of any kind is, well … stupid, but making it work does take some skill.”

“There’s no need to keep feeding his ego,” I called out, pointedly looking at the sharp glint of a smile in the night.

“Ahh, you had to ruin it.”

“I already said that only an idiot would try something like that, but if Swift Strike was your only option, I guess it makes sense,” she said contemplatively.

“Can you teach me some more about aura?” Noam asked, to which I turned towards him, ready to launch into a tirade. “Chill, Dusts, I know you’re worried about knowledge and stuff, but small things can’t hurt for game balance, right?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I can just tell you that some things are dangerous to know.”

“He’s right,” Celine added. “Baba always told me that some magics are not worth their cost to learn. Most of them are called black magics and she joked they are referred to that way because all that’s usually left of their practitioners—stains of black, rotten blood.”

“But most aura spells are harmless things everyone knows, right?” Noam pressed on.

Tai pursed her lips. “Probably? I’m fine, after all. I don’t mind teaching you, Noam. You’ve helped me a great deal. It’s the least I can do for you.”

“Problem is he’s a Traveler,” I said, bitterness evident in my tone. “Karmic punishments aren’t able to kill us so they target things around us instead.”

“Dustin,” Noam said, rising slightly to stare directly into his empty sockets, “that monster would be there regardless of what you did. If anything, you helped us do a good deed along the way.”

“But the second one was attracted by me,” I pointed out.

“But no one was hurt,” Tai cut in, rising from her blankets as well. “That cultist killed no one. It hurt some of us, but we walked it off, so don’t blame yourself for avenging my brother.”

Though he held no sight skills right now, Dustin knew the elf woman was staring intensely and directly at him.

“Thank you, Tai,” I whispered.

Then I heard Noam shuffling back under his blankets. “C’mon, long night.”

“They always are.”

We settled down, returning to our blankets.

Only when he was sure that everyone else was asleep, Noam spoke again.

“Hey, Dustin?”

“Yeah?”

“Can’t you check my karma or whazzit?”

“I could.”

There was a pause.

“But you don’t want to?” Noam extrapolated.

“Remember what skills I had before?”

“Observe, Analyze, and one other I didn’t have the chance to hear.”

“I discovered something. What I learn with an information-gathering power counts separately.”

Noam’s eyes widened. “So …”

I nodded. “Every time I take a peek, I add to the weight. It won’t be noticeable, but one day I will have to pay, and I will keep paying after that if I keep using it.”

“It’s the same idea as with fighting prowess. You can hold your combat ability freely, but if that combat ability gets you new loot, like a new weapon or treasure, it’s added to what you already have, tipping the Balance.”

“So you’re being conservative for now?”

I nodded. “I need to ensure the next time, I’ll be prepared to fight it off.”

Even if it the opponent was destined to be my match, there were a myriad of ways to ensure the fight would still go in my favor.

“We’ll be prepared next time?” Noam asked.

“We’ll be prepared,” I quietly agreed.

Untamed plains bled away, leaving only the road as our group entered a forest. The stones of Bundriroc were the only things keeping the wild undergrowth from bleeding into the packed earthen trail.

At that, I realized that my descriptions for how I perceived the world had been growing more flowery, and I wasn’t quite sure why. Mental shenanigans due to my altered body, having significantly enhanced mental stats, or maybe the journey was just boring me—it was difficult to tell. I was changing faster than my understanding of myself could keep up.

After a while, we came across a large, fallen tree, blocking our path.

Tai sighed as she put down the reins, letting the bison-like creature pulling our cart slow to a stop.

“Gimme a moment,” she said, grabbing her blade and adjusting it around her belt. “I can deal with this.”

Tai closed her eyes as she prepared to draw her sword.

It was Utoqa who noticed them first.

Glancing towards me, he then nodded towards the forest, where dead leaves, branches, and other debris covered the ground.

Then I opened my True Sight and noticed how the leaves had shifted.

“Want to have dinner later today?” Noam asked casually.

“I dunno,” I answered, still outwardly nonchalant as the eye rune darted around. “Maybe we should have it earlier. Perhaps at 4?”

“Just eat dinner at the dinner bell,” Tai responded. “Ah, fuck, broke my concentration.”

“Are we to have those humans hiding on the floor?” Utoqa asked.

Noam facepalmed.

Suddenly, seven spots around the cart jumped up—seven humans throwing off their makeshift camouflage as they drew weapons.

Huh, I missed three.

“No, you idiot! I was conveying that we had people ambushing us,” Noam told Utoqa, drawing his own weapon. “Like code and stuff.”

“Did anyone actually get the code?” Celine asked, her eyes warily scanning the surroundings as she pulled Johnny close.

“I’LL KEEP THIS NICE AND SIMPLE!” a man yelled, one of his eyes covered by a bandana. “Drop all your valuables or else!”

“Yeah!” another bandit yelled.

“They look loaded.”

“Wait,” Tai interrupted, “are you … robbing us?”

The bandit leader actually looked taken aback. “Well, yeah, I felt like the whole jumping out from cover and drawing weapons on you was self-explanatory.”

“Ooooh!” Tai giggled excitedly. “This is the first time I’ve been robbed!”

“Why are you getting excited about that?” I asked as Yellow slid down my arm and sneakily landed on the ground.

“It’s part of my Path,” she explained.

“Hey, I don’t appreciate you all not dropping all your money right now!”

Noam leapt off the cart and fly-kicked the bandit leader in the face.

“Getting robbed is part of your Path?” Noam asked as he landed deftly behind the bandit leader.

“Git em!” one of the other bandits yelled.

“Yeah,” Tai answered, raising her still-sheathed sword, on guard. “Grandma said that it builds character, so it’s part of the Path.”

Noam punched the bandit leader as he tried to get back up. “Your grandma sounds like an ass. And how does this build character when a healthy dollop of chili doesn’t?”

Tai deftly sidestepped a blade as she slapped her sheathed sword onto the back of the bandit’s neck, knocking him out. “The chili you put in that soup was abnormal.”

“Utoqa, stay back,” I told him. While I had little doubt he would be able to wreck shop here, both Tai and Noam looked like they wanted a non-lethal fight.

I sleep-spored a bandit approaching the cart as both Tai and Noam continued their argument while dropping bandits left, right, and center.

“I’m just saying that life is better when you have something to spice it up,” Noam told her as he held a bandit in a chokehold.

“And I agree to an extent,” Tai said as she drop-kicked another one, “but that level of chili almost took out Celine!”

“Hi,” Celine waved.

“Hey,” Noam waved back. “Alright, that’s a good point, but that was no excuse to throw away perfectly good chili … ”

Five minutes later, we were tying up the seven unconscious bandits, while Noam and Celine were still arguing.

“… and thus ends my dissertation on why you shouldn’t throw away half-a-million Scoville of chili.”

“The fuck is a Scoville?”

Even once we had hacked up the fallen tree trunk and continued on our way, bandits in tow, they continued.

“… I tasted enough chili yesterday to cover my entire lifespan! My entire lifespan!”

“Well, you must have a very boring life planned out for yourself …”

I never noticed how much Noam could talk, since I usually let my mind wander when he ranted on whatever he wanted, only tuning in when he said something of interest to me.

Tai was matching him in both volume and quantity. When it came to spouting off vapid bullshit, both had found their equal.

“There should be an encampment further up,” I murmured to Celine, ignoring the arguing going on behind us. “It’s a Wayshard in the middle of the forest. There’s a merc guild there.”

“The name?” she asked.

“None, it’s just another admin branch,” I answered. One similar to the one Noam and I had gotten our license from. “We can dump the bandits there and collect their bounty.”

“We do need the money,” Celine murmured. “The town gave us a lot of stuff but …”

It was mostly food and travel items, not much in terms of money or valuables. They would’ve been given if we had asked, but the people needed all they could spare to rebuild the town, especially with its now-greatly reduced population.

“Is splitting it between the two of you ok?” I asked aloud, pausing both Noam and Tai in their argument.

“What are you talking about?” Tai asked, tapping her sheathed sword like a cane on the ground.

“Yeah?” Noam mirrored.

“We’re a group now. At least split it five ways.”

I paused slightly at her casual declaration. Tai turned back to Noam, now arguing about the appropriate level of adventure a person can have in their lifetime.

While I didn’t turn to Celine, she noticed the sudden scrutiny from my manavision, and she shrugged. Meanwhile, Utoqa quietly took the reins of the bison.

I suppose we were a group for now.

Further up, Noam’s pointing and exclamations informed me we were in sight of our destination. Risking a look, I opened up my True Sight, the one from the Keep.

The guild outpost was a strange thing—a large tree that had been grown into a house, the trunk hollow and its doors and windows opened, welcoming people in, despite no one being around. A wall of thorns grew from the side and around it, encircling a large blue crystal behind the tree which I knew to be another Wayshard.

Checking, I had regained my use of status screens.

Noam and I could respawn here now.

The system still considered me a level 5, not counting Keeper of Secrets, despite the fact it gave me an option to put a character level in it the next time I leveled up.

I ignored it since there was no point in restricting my Path with its alternate progression. I also received several new Feats I could purchase.

Hydra Slayer (9 SP): Once per day, you may expel a memetic poison that wipes the memories of the last few minutes equivalent to your character level of all caught in it. You heal for an amount increasing with the number of memories wiped. If you are killed, you may, once per day, resurrect yourself instantly from your corpse at full health at an elevated XP cost.

Second of Three Oracle (9 SP): You no longer fulfill the requirements to gain this Feat.

Oracle No Longer (6 SP): You gain +2 to any Mind stat of your choice. You can choose to actively disrupt all manners of future or fate reading on or related to yourself.

The Thrice-Blinded (3 SP): The System recognizes your right to a Title. Gain three +1s to any stat of your choice.

I paused.

That last one was basically free.

Better than free, in fact, since the stat increases weren’t in stat points, it wouldn’t be affected by my negative racials. I could actually raise my Agility without paying five times the normal cost.

The questionable thing was what it meant by it recognizing my right to a title.

“System Query,” I quietly muttered, “what does it mean to have a title recognized by the System?”

It answered quickly.

The Title will be displayed beside your character name and can be carried through to all your other characters.

Note: Only one Title can be allocated to each player.

Curious.

Too curious.

Was it worth my question to Dave to ascertain the nature of this?

Probably not. I dropped the idea for now, if only because taking Thrice-Blinded would delay me by another level to gain the 9 SP required for Dimensional Gate.

Dimensional Gate (9 SP): You select from the Interweaved Dimensions Spell List and learn two Tier 2 and one Tier 3 Conjuration Spells of your choice. They do not take up existing spell slots.

I needed that Feat to gain the spell that allowed me to summon wisps. Along with the Traveler Level 6 ding, it effectively gave me a massive power-up by the next level.

As our cart slowed to a halt, I gestured at Utoqa to watch our stuff and the prisoners. Plopping off the cart, I strode forward, sunlight filtering through the leaves but failing to pierce my bark skin.

Noam complained about his sore butt cheeks as he stretched his tired legs, and Tai’s blade rattled as she jumped off, asking Noam about his form as they stretched their bodies behind me.

Another difference between the myconid body and theirs was that I barely felt the sores of staying still for hours on end, to the point where I suspected I simply didn’t have any.

Striding through the entrance, I smelled the earthy tones of dirt and herbs. A single young man sat napping with his head on the desk, a stray ray of sunlight warming his body.

He seemed to be of nature, and my eye saw he walked a Path related to protection, or perhaps preservation.

I closed my eyes before I could see more and politely knocked loudly on the wooden table, rousing the young man awake.

Blind now, I heard him stir. Giving him some time to properly wake himself, I let my manavision guide me to a seat.

Yellow whispered to me that he was wiping a line of drool off his mouth and table when he noticed me.

“Ah, I didn’t see you. Sorry, welcome to the Gestrand Forest Guild base.”

I nodded towards the sound of his voice. “Hello, I’m Dustin. My party was traveling along this road, and we apprehended some bandits. Would you be able to hold them?”

“Erm, bandits? We have a big cage at the back, but we’ll need an escort to bring them to a prison proper,” he answered. “I can send a message to another branch to send for someone, unless you want to take the mission?”

I drummed my fingers against the smooth wooden table. Another problem with Wayshards, they weren’t exactly good at transporting prisoners or people against their will, since they were activated entirely by the person’s decision.

“I’ll have to talk with my party about that, but was there a reward or bounty for the bandits?”

Footsteps. The young man was walking towards me. “I’ll have to check their identities.” A shuffling of paper. “If they’re on the bounties, then you’ll get the bonus. Otherwise, it’ll just be normal rates. You have your plate?”

I flashed the bronze plate around my neck in the direction his voice was coming from. He might’ve nodded, but he was still out of range of my manavision so I had to just take in his grunt of affirmation.

Standing up myself, I showed him outside, waving at everyone who was waiting.

No major bounties against these people. The seven were minor and hadn’t killed anyone during their stint as a bandit group. After taxes, we got three gold in total.

“Before we split it,” I began, “I propose we keep a combined fund to purchase supplies for the group. If we disband before it is all spent, we can split it as normal.”

Tai shrugged. “Sure, you want to be the one keeping it?”

“I wouldn’t mind, but if anyone else wants to take the role, then they may.”

Tai tossed a few coins, which Noam caught for me. “Add that to the party fund. I’m gonna trust you on this. If you betray that trust, I’ll stab you or something.”

Celine took her share with a slight hint of embarrassment. “Sorry, but I will keep my portion.”

“It is fair,” I agreed, “since you’ve already spent a lot of your money on making potions that have kept the rest of us alive.”

Raising my voice slightly, I said, “Sharing the costs of your potions is actually one of the purposes of this, so I’m glad we could all agree to it.”

Nods all around, including from Utoqa of all people.

“Well, other than that, what are your thoughts on escorting the prisoners?” Noam asked this time, head nodding towards the cage they were locked in.

“We can certainly do it,” I said, “but we would need to immediately move on from here. The nearest city with a prison is still days of travel away.”

Noam shrugged. “We’re on the way anyway. We can hurry up for a bit.”

“My ass still feels sore from sitting in the cart all day,” Tai moaned. “Let’s at least rest for the day.”

“Just walk.”

“The entire way?”

As Noam and Tai talked, I noticed Celine crouching down beside Johnny, talking to him quietly.

After a moment, she rose back up. “I think we should stay for a while,” she said. “After everything that happened, we need time to rest and recover. Even if our physical wounds are gone …”

She left the last part unsaid, but I knew what she meant. “I agree,” I said. “Some rest would do us all good.”

Three for staying, one to continue, with Utoqa abstaining.

“Fair ’nuff,” Noam shrugged.

He waved down the guild member “Hey! We’re stopping here for now. Call someone else to escort them!”

Greenie relayed to me the nod he gave in response, far out of my manavision range.

I really needed a normal set of eyes.

True Sight gave me too much information, to the point it was dangerous for my Balance when used for an extended period of time, and Keep was too varied to be stuck on giving me nothing but a fancy pair of eyes.

Manavision was constantly active and I could sense everything in it, but it was limited heavily in range.

Greenie and Yellow were helpful … to a point, but they were better as separate agents from me.

I needed to have my sight issue fixed by the next level, though. Blindness was a significant drawback and not one I should keep for long. I may have had to spend my level-6 Traveler level-up bonus for it, which I wouldn’t have minded if it was packaged with something sufficiently powerful. I just had to also keep my Balance in mind.

It seemed that the next level would be when I got better, when my build could truly be considered finished, rather than the disparate set of random abilities I had at this point.

Until then, I just had to keep my scales weighted away from me, so that this time, there would be no monsters, no horrors to face when I gained power.

Gradually, if necessary. Slow but steadily.

That was the plan.

1.02

“One hundred and fifty-two Addendum I’d like to correct my previous mistake: friends are an excellent treasure. You never realize how much they’re worth until you part with them, especially when they are turned to gold and sold to the Kenkou.”

—Excerpt from Elliot’s Enchiridion of Encounters

I paced around the living room, my eyes constantly glancing at the time.

Sat on the couch, Matt idly bounced a rubber ball on the wall.

“How many days have passed now?”

I filled Matt in as soon as possible, but here was the damnedest thing: when Dustin ripped out the Eyes, we were disconnected. There was no way for me to figure out from this side what happened afterwards.

I no longer held Observe. Short as my time with it had been, I felt blind in my own home without it.

Leaving my mind filled with anxiety.

It was only the sound of my pacing and Noam’s—Matt’s—ball bouncing off of the wall that gave any indication of time.

Like the ticking of a clock, it was rhythmic, unchanging in its beat.

Matt would’ve told me to calm down. I knew that’s what he would say, and he knew I knew, so nothing was said. He simply left me to my own mind as on all the previous days.

It was then that the bouncing suddenly stopped.

“I’ve hit level six,” he said.

A simple statement, but oh, how loaded it was with information. Noam had experienced enough to gain a level. The fact that Matt knew this meant they had successfully reached a Wayshard, and the fact that he hadn’t bothered to speak of Dustin’s status meant that the situation had resolved relatively in our favor, which meant—

It was like two things slamming into one.

I staggered slightly as my memories came back up-to-date.

I laughed as I touched my own eye, still slightly red from all those days ago.

“Success!”

The moment I had noticed Dustin had forgotten something, we compared our memories to figure out what was missing between us, later bringing in the rest of the mercenaries in the town.

We had lost the first round, Dustin had been knocked out, and I had been forced to do something that allowed me to take over his body for a while, but I had barely made a draw, wounding the Accumulation at the cost of losing my Eye of Observe and getting shunted back into the real world.

It was the third time that we had won. Using only fragmented information and memories, Dustin had been able to win it all back.

Both Observe, Analyze, and the new Path were lost in the fight that followed, but we had gotten out of that with minimal casualties.

“That means you’ll have to fulfill your deal?”

My mind was still slightly split, so part of me was intrigued, wondering, while at the same time I reflexively answered.

“Yes.”

Upstairs in my room, there was an AI god named Discovery, and in the darkest moment, I had prayed to him. Such things did not come freely, however. Upon confirmation of the success of the mission, I was to carry out a difficult and arduous task for Discovery, all because he had allowed me to possess Dustin’s body while he was unconscious and leave behind those clues.

I had to go outside.

I laughed aloud as I returned to Indiri.

“What happened?” Tai asked, blade gleaming under the setting sunlight.

“Oh nothing,” I said. “It seems as though my other self has to play tour guide.”

She asked a few more questions out of passing curiosity, but I did not answer. I had to Keep that story a secret after all.

“How’s our lodging?” I asked, attempting to divert the conversation.

“Decent spot,” she answered. “It has clean beds and showers, which is already a plus.”

Though this Administrative Guild Branch was isolated, it did not skimp on living quarters despite the very-reasonable thought that a person could just teleport back home through the Wayshard. We only had to deal with a small fee that was already under the market cost, simply due to the fact that we were all plated mercenaries.

“I’ll check it out, then.”

The sun soon fell, letting moonlight shine through the room we had booked. Noam, Utoqa, Johnny, and I opted for a single room with double bunk beds—not that I needed one. I was far more comfortable standing up. Meanwhile, Tai and Celine slept in the room next to us.

It was a quiet night, and my mind felt the hours pass in a state of torpor, Noam shuffling in his bed and Utoqa silent as the grave.

Hours later, a slight refraction of light woke me.

I say “woke” but I hadn’t been truly asleep, not as a myconid. My mind simply ceased thinking, leaving me still aware of what happened around me but not really responsive.

Light reflected off of the bed where Johnny slept, and with both wisps sleeping as well, I cast my True Sight on Johnny.

He was crying. Gripping the cloth of his blankets tightly as tears dripped down his face, his jaws clenched as if he were trying so very hard to not make a sound.

I glanced at the ghost that protected him, seeing it on high alert, the faces on its trunk in utter anguish, its pale roots stretched till it grasped every dark corner of the space, some phasing through the walls altogether, completely covering the entire room.

I took a step forward.

Then the door creaked open.

My hand was up in an instant, but seeing who passed through made me lower it.

“Celine,” I greeted.

She quietly nodded to me, before glancing at Johnny.

“A nightmare …” she whispered.

Hesitating, she stepped forward, her footfalls causing the wood underneath her to creak.

Noam and Utoqa were sleeping too deeply to notice, but Johnny did. His tear-filled eyes fluttered open, and for a brief moment, the ghost flared up, its incorporeal roots exploding in movement as their ends opened up in mouths full of needle-sharp teeth. Like daggers, they stabbed in the direction of the figure approaching.

They stopped as soon as Johnny recognized Celine.

I lowered my hand again, not remembering when I had raised it.

“Are you scared?” Celine asked, gently raising a finger to wipe away some tears.

Johnny nodded, his breath seemingly caught in his throat.

“What can I do to make you not afraid anymore?”

Johnny was silent for a long while, and though the ghost was still, its roots were still spread far and deep around us.

“Can you hold me?”

She smiled. “I will.”

And she did. In response, the ghost began to retract its roots, shrinking back into itself.

“Can you sing me a nighttime song?” Johnny asked, his breath raspy from having cried for a long time. “I … I don’t want it to be quiet.”

And Celine began humming.

The ghost kept shrinking till it was back to normal, it and Johnny soon falling back to sleep.

I rifled through the copy of The Morning Herald left inside the Guild, which was both the name of the god and newspaper. The Morning Herald was weird as gods go, at least to my sensibilities. He ran a massive worldwide newspaper, and all you had to do to get one was create a shrine and leave a bronze coin in it every night. Said “shrine” was literally just a mailbox with his symbol—a winged foot—stamped upon it. I’ve been told a spare shoe with a wing drawn on it also works, which is what poorer people opted for as opposed to dedicated mailboxes.

Scribbling down notes at a table nearby, Celine raised a shopping list and stuffed it into Noam’s hand.

“I’ll need you to buy lots of Gerry’s root, elder fungus, mineral salt thirty-seven …” she quickly named.

“Can you make health potions, Celine?” Tai asked as she sheathed her sword.

She nodded. “Would cost a bit, though. How many do you need?”

“How much can thirty gold net me?”

“Six,” she quickly said after a calculation.

“Six?” Tai asked incredulously. “Are you sure?”

Celine nodded. “The cost of ingredients is only about four gold per potion, but I need to replace some of my equipment, along with getting more high-quality thread for Nappy.” She gently patted her cloak, which seemed to ripple in response.

“Celine,” Tai began, “you know they sell health potions for ten gold a pop, right?”

“Well, my potions aren’t that good. They’re nowhere near my Baba’s level, so it is customary, as an apprentice, to sell them close to cost.”

The swordswoman shook her head, before glancing at me. “Add those six potions to our group fund, then, but if no one uses them then pass them back to me.”

“Reasonable,” I agreed.

“If those were apprentice potions, then I look forward to seeing what you can make as a master,” Noam inserted as he focused on the shopping list before him. “Do I need to get lime testicles of the Hurane bull or just green?”

“Has to be lime-colored,” Celine quickly answered. “Green-colored ones are signs of nutrient deficiency and when put in a health potion can lead to weakly healed bones.”

“How do I tell the difference between lime and green?”

“Look it’s …” she exasperatedly began, glancing at Johnny, who was seated next to me. “It’s simple. Just feel for bumps. No bumps means green, yes bumps means you have a lime one.”

“Got it, go fondle some balls,” Noam replied with a completely straight face. “But what about the newt eyes?”

Celine sighed and rubbed her brow.

“Why don’t you obtain it yourself?” Utoqa asked.

I had long stopped reading at this point, and I saw Celine glancing at Johnny again. She answered in a quiet voice—quiet enough Johnny and I could not hear it from where we were sitting, and without Analyze, I couldn’t read her lips.

Utoqa nodded in response to what she said, apparently satisfied.

I could tell that Celine wanted to look after this kid.

Under my True Sight, I could see the pale skin under the tanned brown she disguised herself with.

Celine was a Changeling, and I could see that her eyes were special as well. As an empath, she was able to sense the emotions of others as easily as some people can feel, taste, or listen.

It was easy to draw a conclusion from there.

I did not know where “losing your entire adopted family and seeing their faces stolen by a memetic monster” landed in terms of trauma level, but it did not take an expert to realize the quiet child beside me was deeply fucked up.

All Johnny did was silently follow us, clutching that raggedy doll of his. He barely spoke. He hardly even ate.

Not even mentioning his “bodyguard.”

Celine wanted to keep an eye on him, either out of compassion or pragmatism over what that ragged doll he held might represent. I was personally more worried about the ghost.

And I honestly wished I knew enough about psychology to help Celine.

It seemed simple. Those shrinks on TV and in stories would ask a few questions and, over time, their patients would improve, but here and now, sitting right next to a trauma victim, I had no idea what to do.

More time spent with Celine seemed like the best bet. She actually seemed to have an idea of what she was doing, but other than that, I was lost.

I was a high school student and my expertise lay in combat tactics and strategy, but there was nothing I could kill or outsmart to solve trauma.

“What Wayshards are you marked for?” Noam asked Johnny.

The boy was silent for a while, thinking, before he answered, “I think … a town beside the sea? I visited it once while Yennen was selling stuff …”

“Bartin?” Noam asked, to which Johnny nodded. The tiefling turned to Celine. “Can you buy your stuff at Bartin?”

She thought about it for a moment. “I can. Johnny, do you want to go with me to Bartin?”

He was silent, before replying, “I’m not sure …”

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Noam encouraged. “They have great fried shrimp, and I know this one chef dude who … actually, he might not be in town anymore.”

“I guess … Ok …” Johnny answered as he stood up and walked towards Celine.

Noam sat down next to me. “He’s afraid of quiet spaces, isn’t he?”

I turned my head, raising an eyebrow. “You were awake?”

“I noticed Celine hurrying out of the room in the morning like a dude seeing his girlfriend’s husband coming back,” he answered with a smile, before he continued more seriously. “Not sure if going to a city will help, but it’s pretty busy there, lots of people, so it won’t feel as empty.”

“We need to get him to an orphanage protected by the Hearth Church,” I said, noting the two elder gods who protected such places.

“A normal orphanage won’t do?” Noam asked. “Don’t get me wrong, it feels wrong to just hand him off to someone else to raise but—”

“That’s not it,” I answered.

Looking at the doll Johnny clutched, along with that ghost that haunted him, I said, “Remember what is said about the Weeping Child.”

Noam frowned as he tried to recall what was written in that encyclopedia I had dumped on him.

To jog his memory, I said, “The Weeping Child is a gestalt of suffering, an artificial god created by a mad mage who thought enough people feeling one emotion would give rise to a deity.”

And Khao had chosen orphans—at the time relatively simple to acquire in large number—and constant suffering.

“That doll is—” Noam realized, “—that thing’s Divine Symbol.”

I nodded. “Same with the deck of cards or silver bell Corvian had, the item needed to channel the power of a god. The Weeping Child protects orphans, but it does so by killing anything that can harm them, violently lashing out at the world. It can destroy an entire city in the process.”

Noam then realized the true nature of our “escort” mission.

We were meant to protect the world from the child, as much as we were supposed to protect that child from the world.

“An orphanage that doesn’t have a god looking over it won’t cut it,” I told him. “And if we gave the kid to someone who might abuse him, the Weeping Child might take offense to that.”

So all that was left was the Church of the Hearth, the guardians of home and family.

“You two plan on going on a shopping trip, then?” Tai asked.

Celine nodded, Johnny tightly holding her hand. “You?”