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Heavy pads pushed back the leveler’s head and a splash of water hit him across the face.

“Is that enough? You’d think he’d have woken up by now.”

“I did throw him around pretty hard. I’m surprised he isn't more injured. Must be his Skills.”

“Tch, levelers… Oh look, I think he’s coming around.”

Opal lowered the cup of water she was preparing to throw at the leveler and stepped back.

A bleary Adlen slowly opened his eyes, he didn't seem to understand where he was or what was happening. A low groan escaped his lips and he squeezed his lids back shut as the light of the Ranker’s quarters hit his eyes.

“It huuurts. Gods, why do I feel like someone dropped a galloping centaur on me? What- what’s happening? I’m tied? What the f-”

“You’re our captive!” said Opal cheerily, “You belong to us monsters now!”

Adlen cracked one eye and peered at the Goblin. “I… remember you, you were with that horrible thing that- that…” his eye slowly wandered over to a black furred leg and then up and then up some more, until both eyes were open and he was leaning back in his chair as Rain loomed at him, menacingly.

“Tell me about Lira, what is she? A monster? Is she like me?” he growled.

“I- I don’t know what you’re talking about! Let me out of this at once! I-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             I’m not your slave! Levelers can’t be slaves, only monsters!”

Opal scoffed. “You really think that? All that is needed is a collar…” Her eyes drifted to the leveler’s neck where Red’s collar had been placed, a tight snug fit.

Adlen’s throat bobbed and he tried to look down as he realised what was wrapped around his throat, his face paling.

“You can't do this to me! You can’t!” Adlen began struggling against his binds, already hyperventilating, but he didn't make any headway in escaping, unsurprising considering how layered in chain he was. Rain hadn’t wanted to take any chances and the leveler was practically swaddled in metal, his forearms from elbow to wrist just a bundle of chains wound around and around inches thick pinning his arms to the chair’s armrests.

“I have done this to you, you agreed to the terms and now your life is mine. Now tell me about Lira! What is she?” snarled Rain, his already worn thin patience wearing further.

“She- She’s just Lira! I don’t know! I’ve known her for years, she likes to sleep around with higher levelers, not that I’m not guilty of the same, she finagled a place with some high leveler recently. She’s nobody! Now I've told you let me go!”

Rain squinted at the leveler, unsure if he was telling the truth. 

“She… You never noticed anything strange from her? Anything… un-leveler like?”

“No! I don’t even know what you mean!”

“Well, He’s not very useful. Time to kill him?” said Opal, unsheathing her cutlass.

Rain worried the problem, Lira must be way past anything that someone in town could detect as being a monster, maybe even past what truth lenses could see if she was regularly coming and going. He supposed that she might have remained undetected forever had not Vash come along. 

“Get that Goblin away from me!” cried Adlen as Opal stepped toward him, flourishing her blade.

Rain held up a paw in front of her.

“Wait. Adlen, tell me about Brax and Myra and Eliza. Where are they?”

Adlen stared at him. “Is- is this all a setup? Wait, wait, did Brax have you do this? Oh gods that evil fuck, I knew he had it out for me!”

Rain made a cutting motion, getting frustrated, “No. I want to kill Brax, tell me what you know and maybe Opal here won't stick that sword in you.”

Adlen eyed the cutlass which waved excitedly in front of him.

“Brax and Myra left town, they dropped everything and went back to their family in the city, in Florens.”

A gasp came from behind Adlen and Rain looked up to see Lyra with her hand over her mouth. He raised a brow questioningly.

“F-Florens is my home city… they went… and that means you’re going to… oh, oh no, I feel faint...”

“Calm down sheepy, it’s just us.”

“Just you and-! I have family there, and he, he could…”

“Do you really think I’m going to harm your family?” said Rain.

“No, yes, maybe, I don't know!”

Rain stared at her for a moment more before turning back to Adlen.

“Why did they leave?”

“They never told me, they just left suddenly, something Eliza said, I think. Brax’s family is well off, strong, Lynthia is really just a summer get away for him, the wealthy families of Florens send their young out to smaller dungeons because Florens’ dungeon is so dangerous.”

“Name of his family.”

“The Fenhorns.”

Rain turned back to Lyra, it took her a moment to compose herself. 

“Y-yes, I’ve heard of them, they're known for their charity, part of a collective that try to help low levelers become stronger. They’re good people, my- well it’s not important, they are some of the kinder levelers I’ve known.”

“That… does not sound like Brax. Brax and ‘kind’ do not belong together in the same sentence.”

Lyra shrugged helplessly, “All families have their wild child.”

He turned back to Adlen. “Not enough. Tell me more.” 

“I- I don’t know more, I don't even know what you want with them!”

“I want to kill them. Tell me more.”

“Myra, that vindictive bitch, there’s something wrong with her she’s wrong in the head- I-”

“I already know that, it was you who jumped into her arms. Tell me something else.”

“Eliza lucked into a water mage type Class, a good one she’s-”

“Something else.”

“I don't know! Brax! He’s got more than one Class!”

Rain paused at that, unsure if he had heard right.

“...What did you just say?”

“Why do you think he’s the special one they pour so much into? He’s the big hope of his family, the one to break them into the higher ranks of the city, he’s never been serious while he was here in Lynthia, it was all just a silly game to him!”

Rain glanced from the tied down leveler to Lyra. “Is… Is that possible?”

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Lyra hesitated. “Sometimes, but it’s rare, really rare, you’d only come across it in the cities where there are so many people. It’s kind of a big deal as it generally a guarantee someone will become a high leveler. The Fenhorns probably have some secret way to increase their chances of managing it if I had to guess, the family dynasties know things we never get to hear about.”

“Wait…” said Adlen slowly, “how did you know I was with Myra?” 

“It’s not important. Tell me more of Brax.”

“No, I don't think I will, you’re clearly working for someone who knows me.”

“Tell me more or I will kill you.”

Adlen suddenly eased his struggling against his binds and glared up at Rain. “No. You won’t.”

Rain’s eyes widened and his head snapped to the side as gale-force wind came from the end of the room. Adlen’s spear which had been tossed aside was roaring to life and lifting up into the air. Then it began spinning, faster and faster, becoming a blurry cutting disc. Somehow the leveler didn't need to touch the thing to make it work.

Fortunately, they had a backup plan.

“Do it now Red, aim for the butthole, as hard as you can!” shouted Opal.

Red, now collarless, was crouched beneath the chair the leveler was tied to. He squeezed his eyes shut and cried out, driving his claws upward as hard as he possibly could. Opal’s rapier, which his claws were wrapped around, was angled up through the chair’s cushion and the cushion provided no resistance at all to the razor sharp needle of a sword as he slammed it home to the hilt in less than a split moment.

Sweat poured down Adlen’s face as he stared in horror down at the metal spike protruding between his legs having just missed his most important bits.

“No you stupid Kobold! You didn't aim right!”

“I- I can't see to aim, I can't work under these conditions!” cried out Red.

Just as this happened Rain lurched backwards, a blurring disc buzzing past, cutting through the air, swooping around him until it was coming back. The disc was practically luminous with light such was the amount of magic pouring through it. Rain set his feet, ready to dodge in any direction as the spear came on. It was spinning at such a high velocity that the air pressure ruffled his fur and it became difficult to hear anyone speak over the wind.

The disc zipped forward and Rain dodged, but the spear wasn't coming for him. Instead it swooped down horizontally toward the chair Adlen was bound to and sheared through the legs, sending wooden shrapnel bouncing and spinning, along with Red who let out an unfortunately high pitched scream and flung himself away, just avoiding being decapitated by the weapon as it cut through a wall and into another room, not even slowing down as plaster and wood were torn apart around it.

Adlen fell groundward, the chair breaking apart as he impacted, its arms detaching from the seat. He was still tied to the separate parts of the chair but the chair had come apart enough that he was able to struggle to his feet.

He turned, awkwardly shuffling his chained legs, eager to get away and escape this nightmare, but then a half-sheep materialised in front of him, a black knife held in her upraised hand, already swinging down toward his chest. Not even having to think about it he activated one of his Skills and his hand flashed up grabbing at the sheep girl’s wrist. He bent her arm back, a sneer twisting his sweaty face, pushing the blade toward her neck.

“It’s you isn't it, it’s all you, your slave, your plan, tell me, fucking tell me what you want!”

“I- He’s not my slave, he’s a free monster, I don’t control anything, it’s all him!”

“What are you talking about? What do you mean!?”

“No leveler told him to do this, he’s a monster acting alone!”

Adlen blinked at her, the realisation that she spoke the truth, the monster was truly acting on its own without command, finally dawning on him.

“It did this… all?”

A massive paw came down on Adlen’s chain wrapped arm and he turned frightened eyes upward to the looming wolf.

“Stop. Your. Spear.” snarled Rain.

Adlen shook his head and then panicking he tried to fire off a Skill, he jerked away before he lurched to a stop as he ran out Rain’s grip, like a marionette having its strings momentarily cut. He cried out, firing off as many Skills as he could, his body becoming a blur as he shifted and moved but to no avail, Rain’s grip was utterly immovable and he simply wrenched himself around in Rain’s paw, twisting like a rag in the wind.

Rain snarled and curled his digits. Adlen screamed as blood exploded from the chain around his arm, the soft crunch of forearm bones splintering apart coming from within.

“Stop your weapon now or die!”

“F-fuck you!”

The spear exploded up through the floor, slowing its spin as it came, Adlen reached out his free hand to grab it and swing it toward Rain. 

At that exact moment Lyra made the knife vanish from her held hand and had it appear in her free hand below as it moved toward his thigh, the knife materialised as her hand impacted and the blade sunk deep. Adlen bellowed and his arm went wide.

The spear Vrsshhhh’d by in a blurred disc of motion-

-And went straight through the ceiling, a dark line marking its passage amidst a rain of plaster and wood.

A meaty thud hit the floor and Adlen stared at his stumped wrist, then down at his limp hand on the floor below, not understanding what had just happened. He still hadn't quite processed how he’d cut off his own hand when a set of vicious teeth engulfed his neck and ripped out his throat. 

He slumped to the ground dead.

Rain paused, watching the ceiling warily, he could hear the spear still, moving through the mansion, it was coming back in their direction. As he had feared Adlen’s death had not slowed the damn thing down at all, in fact it seemed like it was getting even faster. He grabbed hold of Lyra and Opal and prepared to haul them out of the way. 

The spinning spear sheared out of the far wall, clearly out of control, its enchantment going haywire. Blades of light were flickering and splitting off it as the disc wobbled and waved, the screaming whistling hiss of the air it emitted becoming so loud that nothing else could be heard. The disc blew past them in less than a second and struck the wall on the other side of the room, cleaving the wall down the middle in a storm of wind and light. 

The wall tore apart as the spear passed through, cutting through into a sheet of metal on the other side in a cascade of sparks and the sound of shrieking twisting steel before with a roar the spear exploded, throwing chunks of shredded metal across the room. Rain turned his back protecting the girls from the flying debris, pieces of steel thudding against his fur before clattering to the ground.

As the dust settled, and the air became calm, a gleam of reflected metallic yellow could be seen through the gap in the wall the spear had created, a great pile of coins just visible. Lyra peaked from around Rain, her eyes round with apprehension.

“...is... is that gold?” 

Red was already running toward the newly revealed room, his claws up in the air, a joyful look on his face. Lyra and Opal quickly joined him, the draw of discovery capturing their attention.

Rain for his part had had enough. No more waiting, no more distractions. Just no more.

He turned and dove on Adlen’s body, quickly ripping him apart and devouring him.

It was done.

The first of his tormentors was dead, dead and gone.

Rain stumbled to his feet.

He wandered across the room, almost mindless, in a near trance.

Everything felt strange.

Then Rain became viscerally aware of it, the cold blade of trauma inserted deep in his hindbrain. He pulled it out, tossed it away, and the difference was obvious. The world seemed lighter, more colourful, more saturated and alive. He let out a long breath and his shoulders slumped in relief, the metaphorical knife dropped from his paw and he fell back on the Ranker’s bed. A bone-deep sense of peace rolled over him and soon he was asleep. He slept better than he ever had as a monster, cleansed of that most pestilent and vile disease: unrelenting memory.

 

 

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