Auto laughed. “It’s a gift.”
“No doubt,” Warrion agreed, finally getting to his feet. “Secrets, huh? Well, can I trust you guys to keep it between us?” There was a general murmur of agreement before Warrion went on. He chewed on his lip in contemplation when Garath prompted him again to share with the class. Warrion looked like he was desperately trying to come up with something, then took a deep breath and made a face. “Alright, but seriously, don’t tell anyone. I’ve been using Stealth to spy on the bimbo sisters. They do yoga in their underpants every morning.” Warrion’s face was bright red when he finished talking and he hurriedly sat down.
“Perv,” Athios said, shaking her head in disgust.
“Dude,” Auto said, impressed. “Talk about a real-world application for our new Abilities. Too bad cameras don’t work anymore.”
“Right?” Warrion agreed, still red-faced but glad to have a fellow pervert in the group.
Garath looked in disbelief at the Assassin for a few seconds. “Alright, Warrion. When I asked for everyone to share something personal, I was expecting some surprises, but you really got me with that one. That’s like, almost too personal. But I do appreciate you sharing. And also, stop doing that. Obawon, you’re up! Tell us something we don’t know about you.”
Obawon stood up and grinned bashfully, scratching at the back of his head as his knees came together awkwardly. “Okay, well… Auto and Jebawon already know this, but the rest of you probably don’t. I have three nipples,” Obawon said. The boyish Hallowed Knight proceeded to unequip his plate armor to show everyone. “Oh, and also, I can do a backflip.”
“Wow,” Garath said, clearly unimpressed. “That’s it? Warrion just confessed to having zero respect for other people’s privacy. Sharon sold black tar heroin. And all you’re going to share is that you have a third nipple and can do a backflip?”
Obawon smiled even wider, his cheeks red. “I wish I had better secrets too,” he said bashfully. Obawon sat back down between his brother and Maimon. It was then that an unexpected, global prompt appeared to each of them.
Global notification:
The Guild “Heroes of One Thousand Dungeons” has claimed the Dungeon: Dungeon of One Thousand Temples in Kyoto, Japan.
Nine Dungeons remain unclaimed.
***Note: remaining Dungeons have increased in difficulty by 10%.
Someone had done it. Some group of ten had conquered a Dungeon for humanity. Garath was concerned about the increased difficulty, but it firmed his resolve to get to The Tower of Vy’thishrak the next day before anyone else managed to conquer another Dungeon.
Of course, the Japanese did it first. They got everything first. Well, they always get the good anime first. There were probably other things too, but Garath couldn’t think of any.
The group was quiet, their expressions grim.
“That prompt says a lot,” Garath said to his concerned Dungeon team. “But, to me, it says one thing loud and clear. It can be done. And we are going to do it. You are all under strict orders to sleep well tonight, we’ve got a big day tomorrow.”
Chapter Twenty-Six – The Mysterious Lore Keeper
Though he’d initially planned on flying solo south toward The Tower to meet up with Alice before the rest of the group, Athios convinced Garath to bring Auto along. She brought up a good point. They didn’t know for sure that they could trust this Lore Keeper. With only the tip of the sun peeking over the mountains to the east, Garath and Auto took to the sky.
Flying in Osprey form was an absolute delight. The bird of prey was built for high speeds and aerial maneuverability. The gentle morning breeze through his feathers and the dramatically changed landscape below made Garath feel like he was in the middle of an amazing dream, the kind that he was typically woken from before he was ready to let it go.
The farther south they went, the more ridiculous the flora became. Near the Guild Hall, the forest was unbelievably green, and the trees stood thicker and taller than anything Garath had ever seen, but those things weren’t that far out of the norm for the Pacific Northwest. Washington had always been a rainforest with tall trees, dense underbrush, and more greenery than any place he’d ever experienced, but the display beneath him was otherworldly. His reverie was quickly quashed, however, when the remains of the city to the south came into view.
Seattle, as Garath remembered it, was no more. The ruined bridge that led into the Queen Anne neighborhood was barely visible beneath the foliage as they flew past. The buildings that had made the city’s skyline so recognizable were now broken and obscured, covered by vines and moss. The skyscrapers Garath had been so impressed by before the apocalypse were now dwarfed by the local plant life. Any one of the thousands of monstrous trees inhabiting Seattle would have been classified as the ninth wonder of the world only a few weeks before, but even the largest among them was only a sapling compared to The Tower.
It stood in the place that the Space Needle had been, but what he was seeing there now was more akin to a humongous tree than any tower he’d ever seen, though tower it did. Even soaring through the open air above the fairytale forest, Garath couldn’t tell exactly how tall the living structure was. The maze of twisting limbs branched out from the top in a maze of green and brown, nearly as wide as the city of Seattle had been. The trunk had to have at least a half-mile circumference, and he could only imagine how deep the roots must be to hold the ridiculous Tower upright.
*Hey Auto.* Garath pointed his beak toward the massive tree. *Your uncle have any words of wisdom for that?*
Auto was silent for several seconds. *I’m not sure if
