I lay staring at the starlit sky. Aerendyl lay beside me, defeated and unmoving. For some reason, her death affected me more than any of the Redeemers'. Maybe it was because I'd taken such a beating, leaving me on death's door... I don’t know. There was just something about her that felt inherently sad, compared to the Redeemers' desperation.

  Blue letters flashed before my eyes, scribbling out the results of our battle.

  [You have defeated Huntress of the Moon LV55]

  Ironwrought Summoner reaches LV14

  Ironwrought Summoner reaches LV15

  Ironwrought Summoner reaches LV16

  Free stat points +12

  Skill up!

  Weapon Mastery: Spear +1

  Skill up!

  Weapon Mastery: Shortsword +2

  Skill up!

  Flow State: +2

  Skill up!

  Weapon Mastery: Shield +3

  Sub skill gained!

  Bolster LV0

  Dungeon cleared: Direwolf Lair

  You are the first to clear the dungeon and slay the Unique Boss.

  Reward: Settlement Crystal

  Leave Dungeon? Y/N

  A magical whirlpool of what I assumed was mana formed in the air above my face. Colors of all kinds surged inside and crystallized into a fist-sized ball. The whirlpool calmed and dropped the crystal onto my chest. I recoiled as it smacked into my ribs, and I scowled. Dammit.

  Everything hurt. I considered leaving right away, but Iron landed beside me and glared. He didn't seem to think that was a very good idea. He was probably right. I was in no condition to walk all the way back to camp like this. Running into anything would likely spell my defeat, or worse: capture by the Redeemers.

  No thank you.

  I chose to stay in the Dungeon and picked up the crystal ball.

  [Settlement Crystal]

  Rare

  A crystal unique to the tutorial on EV9. Allows any of the already existing or newly integrated factions to establish a Settlement. More functions unlocked upon installation.

  “Huh,” I mumbled. This was the first time I’d seen an actual description, but as I read on my scowl deepened. Newly integrated factions? EV9? There was a lot to unpack. Most importantly: the separation the description made between newly integrated and already existing factions. If I wasn't misreading things, that meant there were more factions than just Humans and Redeemers. And with the implicit meaning behind Human, that meant there were, or would be, other races.

  What. The. Fuck.

  I laid back down on the trampled flowerbed and rubbed my eyes. Aerendyl had looked like an elf, so it probably shouldn't have been such a surprise. But she was a Dungeon Boss, not some random person walking around in the forest and sharing my world.

  Sighing, I pocketed the crystal, making the side of my pants bulge uncomfortably. Whatever all that meant, it meant nothing to the me inside the Dungeon.

  What mattered more was what the hell I was supposed to do with the Crystal. I doubted the settlement could be made mobile, meaning I would need to stay near it if I wanted to reap the rewards, which, according to Colt and Holt, were quite substantial. Still, hunkering down wasn’t something I’d planned on doing. I rubbed my chin. I could always give it to Aubrey and her crew, but parting with a rare and potentially life-altering item just like that can’t be a good idea.

  Iron hopped onto my chest; his talons scratched my bruised skin. I winced and waved for him to get off. Instead, he bit into the front of my cape and pulled, flapping his wings for power.

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  I groaned, "Yeah, yeah. I'm getting up. Calm down already," and pushed myself up on my elbows. I looked down at my body and utterly ruined clothes. My heart sank. I’d just gotten them too. The T-shirt was ripped in multiple places and the cape hadn’t fared much better. Half of it with soaked in blood, some of it Aerendyl’s, but most of it mine. Something had to be done about the bite-wound on my shoulder before I passed out.

  Forcing myself to my feet, I made a conscious effort not to look at Aerendyl. Iron kept chirping. I might have been starting to lose it, but I felt like he wanted me to follow, so I did. He led me to the other side of the silver pillar, where I came face to face with a wooden chest. It had metallic edges and a big ol' lock that clicked open as I laid my hand on the lid.

  I raised my eyebrows and eased the chest open. As the crack widened, light flashed out from the gaps. I pushed hard on the lid, making it flop open. The light faded, allowing me to look inside.

  The bottom of the chest was padded by a piece of glossy black fabric. On top of it lay a folded parchment note and a pair of blue crystal earrings. I reached inside and felt the fabric. Silk? Then picked up the earrings and the note.

  I unfolded the parchment with a loud crackle, half afraid it would crumble to dust in my hands. A long string of foreign letters was scribbled inside. I don't know what I had expected. Sighing, I pocketed it and turned to the earrings. Light refracted from them, breaking inside the clear crystal body. They were shaped like raindrops and absolutely beautiful. They would have looked stunning on Aerendyl.

  [Azure Tears]

  Rare

  Enchantment: Lunar Vitality

  I raised my eyebrows at the appraisal results. “Is the system telling me to wear these?" I asked aloud, raising an eyebrow and glancing at Iron.

  He nodded.

  I'd never been one to wear earrings—it wasn't quite my style. But if that was the only way to receive the benefits of the enchantment, whatever they were, then I was willing to give it a try. First though, I needed to do something about this bleeding.

  Gritting my teeth, I pulled out the fabric.

  [Fae Silk]

  Common

  Common my ass. Something like this likely cost a fortune. It was the highest quality piece of cloth I'd ever held. I almost felt bad about what I had to do.

  Grabbing it with both hands, I tugged in opposite directions. The black silk tore with the sound of paper ripping, earning me a fancy rag, long enough to tie around my shoulder.

  It was just one of many wounds, but it was the one doing most of the bleeding. I bandaged myself, hard, with a clenched jaw then figured that since I was already bleeding, how much worse would two piercings be? Looking for a nice place to sit, I walked back to the other side of the pillar.

  A sliver of silver shone onto the flowers again as the moon started rising. The moon-cycles here were short, a few minutes at best, not at all like how things worked outside. I guess that was just the System working its magic to make sure Aerendyl wasn't completely overpowered at night.

  Settling down cross-legged near the silver pillar, I punched the needles through my earlobes, wincing at the stabbing pain. A pain reduction skill would be nice, I thought and fingered the new earrings where they hung just below my earlobe. The feeling would take some getting used to. I crawled back and leaned my back against the pillar amidst a barrage of groans and moans.

  The cold stone felt nice against my back, it helped to keep me awake. I called up my status window and invested my free stat points, sinking half into Agility and splitting the rest evenly between Strength and Vitality. That increasingly familiar shock of growing stronger surged through my body, making me grin.

  With this much, I shouldn't bleed out any time soon.

  A few minutes later, the blood had started to crust around my wounds. Waking up with a startle, I jerked my head back as it fell after I almost dozed off. It jolted me awake as the encroaching moonlight climbed up my figure until it illuminated my face. It felt nice and warm, kind of like basking in the summer sun. A soft smile spread on my lips, interrupted by another jolt of strength.

  I blinked and mumbled, "What the..." Then clenched and unclenched my hands into fists. I was stronger than before.

  Empowered by moonlight then? With that, the enchantment of the earrings was pretty much clear. Plus one more addition. My wounds itched, and I couldn't withstand the urge, so I clawed off a scab that had formed on my stomach. Under it, the thin scratch left from Aerendyl's claws writhed and closed up. The process was slow, dreadfully so, but it was visible to the eye if one had the patience necessary to watch paint dry.

  I sighed in relief and eased my back onto the ground. Enhanced healing was the last piece of encouragement I needed to be able to sleep. I closed my eyes as Iron nestled himself close to me.

  Sleep came quick.

  * * *

  I woke up with a satisfied yawn then scrunched my nose in disgust. "What the hell is that smell?"

  By sniffing myself, I confirmed my fears. It was me. I was that smell.

  Groaning, I pushed myself up to my elbows and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. My stomach rumbled and cramped like I hadn't eaten in days. Gnawing on my fingernails, I admonished myself. If only I hadn't been so greedy.

  I should have rationed the dried meats better. If eating till I was full came with the price of walking home hungry or eating rotting wolf, then it wasn't worth it. I made a mental note of the lesson and stood up.

  Everything still hurt. Though all of the small wounds had closed overnight, and the large one was halfway there, I felt that it wouldn't take much for them to reopen. The enchantment was definitely handy, but far from all-powerful. I made a mental note of that lesson, too.

  At least I felt strong enough to make the journey back to camp, though I was somewhat daunted by the need to move as soon as I got there. My safest bet at this point was probably to head back to Aubrey and the others to heal up.

  But there was still one thing I needed to do.

  I walked over to Aerendyl's body. She'd been a worthy opponent, the hardest fight I'd ever had. I didn't know her reason for being here. She might have just been created by the System for the sole purpose of being a punching bag, but for some reason, I still felt like she deserved the proper respect of a burial.

  Dragging her to the silver pillar, I knelt and dug through the earth with my bare hands. With my stats and the moonlight shining down on me, it didn't take too long to dig a pit deep enough to bury her.

  I eased her inside and filled the pit back up with slow, deliberate motions, then picked a bouquet of flowers and placed it on top of the shallow grave. I'd never been good at this kind of thing, so I didn't know if I should say anything. After some deliberation, I decided silence was the best course to take. After all, what comfort would a few words from her killer bring?

  Killer and grave-robber.

  Sighing, I retrieved my broken shield and motioned for Iron to hop onto my shoulder, then let the System transport me out of the Dungeon. The familiar feeling of moving without moving was momentary, then I found myself standing right by the entrance of the Dungeon, looking in.

  Turning around, I took a deep breath of the fresh forest air. Iron flew off into the sky. I watched him climb and shielded my eyes from the sun, whose golden light crested the treetops. It looked to be about midday, meaning I still had two days till the blood moon. If I wanted to make any preparations other than leveling, now was the time.

  Walking back to my camp proved uneventful, but as it finally came into view, my heart caught in my throat. I bent down low and snuck up to it. Someone had been there.

  Name: Jackson Weller

  Level: 16

  Class: Ironwrought summoner

  Title: Inheritor of the Warforged

  Stats:

  Strength: 17 (+3)

  Agility: 45 (+6)

  Vitality: 20 (+3)

  Endurance: 17

  Intelligence: 4

  Wisdom: 7

  Free stat points: 0

  Stamina: 170/170

  Mana: 40/40 (Regen 70/h)

  Skills:

  Spells:

  Profession: N/A

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