As the days passed, I soon stopped leaving the hole altogether. It was too dangerous outside, the whole cavern swarming with monsters. No longer just Skitterpedes, but other things that were much harder to defeat. And with no levels coming, I couldn’t risk getting injured. So I stayed in the hole, digging and eating and sleeping.

  When I finally reached Elyra, I almost cried as the relief and sheer emotion overwhelmed me.

  “Hello, Sol,” she said. Her eyes were on me, deep brown and so, so, pretty.

  “Hey,” I said, feeling like a flustered high school boy.

  She giggled. “It’s good to see you again, Sol.”

  It took a few more hours before I managed to widen the hole enough to slip down, and a few more still until I could stand in front of the angel woman without having to crouch. The light from her chains illuminated the cramped space with golden light, while her translucent wings and halo were glass or crystal, their soft white light lost in the radiance of her bindings.

  I tried to touch her, but the shield around her rebuffed me. I tried to summon my halo, but the beam of light bounced back and almost cut me in two.

  “What are you doing, spacer boy?” Vespera called from behind a wall of rubble.

  “Nothing,” I said. “I’m coming.”

  I dug for a whole week before I finally reached her. She was just like I remembered her, almost completely naked and with threads of darkness the dug into her skin keeping her bound. But now that I could get much closer, I also saw her deep red eyes and her beautiful horns. There were jewels hanging from the tips, huge pearls that matched her earrings.

  “You’re staring,” she said, pouting and looking away. “It’s rude.”

  “Sorry,” I said, shaking my head and retreating quickly.

  There was a shield around her too. The same that had kept her alive when the temple had collapsed on top of her was now preventing me from reaching her.

  “What are your plans now, spacer boy? You can’t get to us.”

  Elyra shook her head at the demon’s antics. “Don’t be so harsh on him, Vespera. He is doing his best.”

  “And it’s a moving sentiment, really!” she said. She hid the grimace, but I felt her true emotions. “But it’s for nothing. Let us free you of this burden, spacer boy. Leave and don’t turn back.”

  “No.”

  “Why? Is it because you came all the way here? We let you work yourself to the bone because you weren’t listening to us! Right, Elyra? He’s stubborn!”

  Elyra shook her head, looking at her. “Say the truth, Vespera. I could feel it when you almost released him from the Oath. Every day, you opened the System and almost did it, didn’t you?”

  “…yes,” the demon said, pouting. Then her face sharpened. “But so what?”

  “Why didn’t you do it?”

  “I…” she paused. “I…”

  She broke down crying. Looking at her, I felt a pang of pain straight in my soul.

  “Hey,” I said softly. “I’m not leaving.”

  She cried even harder. “It’s not fair.”

  “What isn’t?”

  Elyra sighed. “We cannot force you to waste your life trying to do the impossible. We have been trapped here a long time, we are not going to ever leave.”

  “That’s bullshit!” I said. I felt the rising anger within me. “And if there’s anything that’s unfair, this is. System, you fucking little bullshit bugged program, do something!”

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  I heard the two women gasp at the same time. I didn’t care. I was angry, and I felt like it was the System’s fault.

  They gasped again, surprising me. I hadn’t done anything. Not yet, at least. I was simply trying to work out my anger, to formulate some thought. It was hard to come up with anything constructive, given how stressed, tired, hungry and angry I was. But I was trying my best.

  My mind latched onto something. If Elyra could feel Vespera almost give in and sever the Oath, then perhaps the bond was stronger than they initially let on.

  Insufficient energy to upgrade the willing bond to bond between equals. A sacrifice will be needed.

  That’s when I realized that I was glowing. Ah, that’s why they had gasped, and were now staring at me. Very well, it seemed like the System wasn’t completely useless after all. What could I sacrifice, I wondered?

  “Sol!” Elyra screamed, trying to get my attention.

  Vespera too. “Sol, spacer boy, what in the heavens are you doing? Stop that. It’s not… we are not worth anything you might think to sacrifice.”

  I didn't listen. They saved me, asking for nothing in return.

  Think! Think!

  How about the halo skill? I tried, but the System did not budge.

  Alright. How about—

  “Sol, please, do not throw away your power like that. I can feel your determination, through the bond!” Vespera shouted, crying and struggling against her bindings.

  The shield around her flickered. I knew I was onto something.

  “You can feel my emotions?” I asked her.

  “An echo,” she said. “Already it feels…”

  “…Intoxicating.” Elyra finished. She too was crying. “So this is a bond between equals? I can feel you Vespera. You too, Sol, it’s…”

  “…It’s beautiful.” Vespera said. “Elyra… I had no idea how much the thought of me filled your mind. Almost as much as… him…”

  “And I how much you thought about me and Sol,” the angel said, grinning. Vespera blushed.

  The connection was already fading. It did not have enough power, not unless I gave up even more of what I had to fuel it.

  “It’s still not worth it, spacer boy. We are the only ones gaining anything from this. Why—”

  “Shut up! Don’t you get it, Vespera? This is who I want to be. System, take everything!"

  “Spacer boy…” the demon muttered. “So manly. Perhaps you are not a boy.”

  “I’m not,” I said through gritted teeth. “I am much older than I look. It was… the Green…”

  “Sure, sure, spacer boy. I like calling you that.”

  There was no explosion this time. I don’t think I would have survived the hole collapsing onto me. Instead, a blinding light enveloped us. The shields around the angel and the demon flickered and vanished, and their bindings evaporated into motes of dust. They fell to the ground, suddenly no longer held up by their prisons.

  Pain seared my body and mind.

  You have sacrificed your General Level. General Level reset to 1.

  You have sacrificed your Class. Class removed.

  You have sacrificed your stats. All stats reverted to 10.

  You have sacrificed your general Skills. All general Skills removed.

  I collapsed on the floor, feeling an immense weakness. My body was weak, frail and spent. My mind ached, and I was so, so tired.

  Then I felt the warmth of two people rushing to hold me. I smiled.

  A bond between equals has been forged. Participants: Sol Nightguard, Elyra Nightguard, Vespera Nightguard.

  “So pretty… both of you,” I muttered, looking up. It felt like I was dreaming, and their faces were shrouded in the cotton mists of hazy awareness. They were also by tears. “Don’t cry…”

  They held me. I blinked slowly, tiredly.

  “You are free now,” I said. My eyelids felt heavy. I wanted to sleep. In fact, I thought a nap would be really nice. “You don’t have to stay here… if you don’t want to…”

  “You silly spacer boy,” Vespera muttered.

  “Sol…” Elyra said.

  The demon took my hand. “We don’t want to leave.”

  Then the angel also took my hand. The same hand, and it was a messy tangle of fingers. They squeezed hard, almost scared that I was going to let them go. The bond, which had been flickering and unstable after it spent all its energy piercing the shields and freeing them, snapped back into place.

  “We are not going to leave,” said the angel. “You are stuck with us, Sol Nightguard.”

  “Silly name, by the way,” Vespera said, trying to chuckle but only managing a chocked sob. “Silly name for a silly human. You are going to have to deal with us, now.”

  I felt the ticklish warmth of happiness and fulfillment. But I was still so, so tired. I blinked, and I think I slept for a few hours, because when I opened my eyes again I found the two women huddled up against me for warmth. I tried to sleep again but before I could, the bond stirred and tensed. I was snapped awake, panic rising. I looked at the two women, and their faces were also frozen in fear. The bond strained, on the verge of breaking.

  If it broke now, then it would all be for naught. Through it, although it was weak and sputtering like a tight-beam signal running into a nebula, I felt that neither Elyra nor Vespera had almost any power left. If the bond broke, it would be for good.

  The tension in the bond rose, like a string forced to stretch like an elastic band. More and more, until…

  You have fulfilled your Oath. Elyra and Vespera Nightguard have chosen to remain at your side, deepening the bond between you.

  You have chosen to sacrifice everything for your bonded companions, overcoming a curse that had been gathering strength for fifteen millennia.

  The System has absorbed part of the curse, restoring a minuscule percentage of its long lost power.

  Rewards have been increased.

  Rewards have been increased.

  Rewards have been increased.

  Delivering rewards…