Piper bent down and gingerly picked Selene up from the ground next to the sewer entrance. As she did, a pair of the guards hurried away, likely to inform someone of a dangerous caster in the sewers.

  But she didn’t care about that. All that mattered to her at the moment was finding a way to save Althea and Selene. She would do whatever it took to restore them to health.

  As she turned to leave, Hector raised his hand.

  “Please,” he rasped. “Take me to the healer as well.”

  Piper felt a surge of guilt. With everything going on, she’d completely forgotten about the injured aspirant. Still, she didn’t think she could carry two people at once.

  “I’ll come back for you,” she promised him. “Just hang on until then.”

  Hector slumped back, and his lizard companion padded over before nudging his side.

  “I’ll take him,” one of the guards offered. “For a copper.”

  Piper looked over at Hector. “Do you have a copper?”

  The bloodied young man shook his head in reply.

  “Of course you don’t.” Piper shifted Selene in her arms enough to reach into her money purse. She then pulled out a coin and flipped it toward the guard. The man snatched it out of the air and made it disappear.

  Now that she’d paid the guard, she needed to get Selene to the healer. She took a step forward before stopping. She had no idea where the healer was located. And even if she did, she doubted she could find her way there. Someone would have to guide her.

  “Which way is the healer?”

  “Come on,” the guard said gruffly as he hefted Hector onto his shoulders. “I’ll show you the way.”

  Basil reached down and scooped up Althea. He winced slightly as a pustule on her face popped and showered him with disgusting white fluid.

  Piper ignored everything going on and hurried after the guard. After a few blocks, she started to get antsy. The guard was moving far too slowly for her taste. Then again, he probably didn’t even have one-tenth of her Strength.

  It took nearly a quarter of an hour for them to reach the healer. She’d expected the building to look like the one in Alderwick. But if anything, it more closely resembled a hospital from her world.

  The building loomed over their heads, standing three storeys tall. The outside had a granite finish, with carvings of the wounded and sick being tended to by healers. She knew immediately that this place wasn’t going to be cheap.

  Piper hurried past the guard and hurled the door open. She stepped into what looked like a waiting room, crowded with injured people. Though she quickly realized she stuck out like a sore thumb. Everyone inside wore richly embroidered clothing.

  “I need some help,” she called out. “Is there a doctor or a healer here?”

  A woman with long grey hair and pristine white robes hurried over to her side. She took one look at Selene and frowned. “What happened to your friend?”

  Piper pressed her lips together. “I think it was a spell from a rot mage?”

  The woman nodded. “I’m afraid treatment will be quite expensive.”

  “How much?” Piper braced herself for what would probably be an extravagant price.

  “At least one gold piece, perhaps more.”

  “Are you serious?” Piper exclaimed, half the room turning to stare in her direction. Before she continued, she lowered her voice. “I don’t have that kind of money.”

  “I’m sorry, but the ingredients to cure these sorts of diseases are quite expensive. If you’d prefer, we can make her comfortable until the end for no charge.”

  “How long does she have?”

  The woman hovered her hands over Selene. “Perhaps until nightfall?”

  “I’ll be back before then with payment.” Piper turned to see another healer had approached Althea and was checking on the young woman’s condition. Meanwhile, Hector had been placed in a chair, and a young woman was busy tending to him.

  How did he manage to pay? she wondered darkly. He didn’t even have a copper piece.

  Piper hurried over to Basil. “Stay with them.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to get the money.”

  As she turned to leave, Basil stepped forward and grabbed her arm.

  “Let go of me,” she said through clenched teeth.

  “I won’t let you run off and do something stupid.”

  “Like go on a quest that’s far too difficult for my level?” she seethed. “Or is that only your thing?

  “That’s not fair,” he replied, recoiling as if struck. “Every group has to face danger.”

  Prying his fingers off her arm, she walked toward the exit. “Stay here until I get back,” she said over her shoulder. “I’ll find a way to earn the money.”

  As Piper stepped outside the hospital, she felt her confidence crumbling. How in the world was she going to come up with two gold pieces before the end of the day? It was an almost impossible task when her largest quest reward to date had been a single silver piece.

  Piper puffed out her cheeks. Maybe it was time to stop pretending that she had a poor-quality class. She reached up and pulled off her wood badge. She inspected the carving before shoving it into her bag.

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  “Wait!” a voice called out from behind her.

  Piper turned around to see Hector hurrying toward her. The blood covering his face had been wiped away, and he seemed to have recovered from his injuries. As always, his lizard padded along at his side.

  “What do you want?”

  “I… wanted to thank you,” Hector said slowly. “And say that I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help you save your friends.”

  “Go home,” she said. “I don’t need your help.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Piper ignored the man and set out toward the guild. But she slowed after a few steps. “Do you happen to know the way to the Aspirant’s Guild?”

  “Sure, I do.” He gave her a quizzical look. “You don’t?”

  “I don’t have a great sense of direction.”

  “Seriously?”

  Piper gave him a look that, as Ethel used to say, would strip bark from a tree.

  “No judgement,” he said, holding up his hands.

  With Hector in the lead, they set out for the aspirant’s guild. As she walked, she tried to formulate a plan. But before she did anything, she needed to know what Hector had seen.

  “The first time I saw you in the adventurer’s guild,” she started. “Why did you run away?”

  Hector grimaced as if he’d eaten something sour. “I was hoping you wouldn’t bring that up.”

  Piper looked at him expectantly.

  “I apologize for using Identify on you. I know that’s rude.”

  “That didn’t answer my question.”

  “I gained three levels from using Identify on you. That means you’re probably the most dangerous person I’ve ever met. Do you have a false class?”

  “Something like that. Do I have your word you won’t share anything about me with anyone else?”

  Hector chuckled. “And get myself killed? No thank you. I like living… a lot.”

  “Good,” Piper continued on at a steady pace. “I need some information from you.”

  “I’ll tell you anything you want.”

  “What happens if someone shows up with an epic class?”

  “Besides getting offers from nearly every host and wayfarer guild out there?”

  “Wait?” she furrowed her brow. “There are multiple wayfarer guilds?”

  Hector nodded. “It’s not like the aspirant guild. There are tons of guilds to choose from when you become a wayfarer. And they do everything in their power to keep you safe.”

  Another thought occurred to Piper. “How come you didn’t have to pay for your healing?”

  “I have a contract with the hospital,” he said. “I give them half of my pay, and they provide healing when I need it. It’s usually good to have one when you’re an aspirant. They call us gravebait for a reason.”

  As they were talking, they arrived at a street Piper recognized as leading to the aspirants' guild. Apparently, her sense of direction was improving slightly. Or at least she was learning to recognize landmarks.

  Piper took a deep breath. “Will you join a group with me?”

  “I don’t think you’re going to earn enough coin with quests to save your friends…”

  “Will you join my group or not?”

  “If it will start to repay my debt for saving me, then I’m on board.”

  “Good.” She pointed at his chest. “Now, swear not to reveal any of my secrets. I… have ways to track you down.” She really didn’t, but he didn’t know that. And it should give her some leverage over him.

  “You do?” Hector swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing. “I… swear I’ll keep your secrets.

  Piper dragged Hector into the shadows of a nearby alleyway. Once there, she recast [False Face]. She remoulded her features, turning her hair red and making her facial contours softer. Then she added some freckles to her face for good measure.

  “By the Undying Emperor,” Hector breathed. “Is that a spell or a magical item?”

  “No questions,” she said. “Remember?”

  He nodded vigorously.

  Before her next step, she added up all her attribute points. When she removed the extra points that Mana and Mana Regeneration provided, she had nearly 1000 attribute points in total. She wanted her new classes to represent that.

  She hurriedly made up some classes for her to use, borrowing liberally from the animes she used to watch.

  Human, Level 99

  Veilweaver (Epic), Level 60

  Silent Fist Nun (Epic), Level 31

  If her math were correct, her new classes would provide the exact number of attribute points she currently had.

  Turning to Hector, she pointed at him. “Use [Identify] on me.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked hesitantly. “I don’t want to insult you again.”

  Piper rolled her eyes. “Just do it.”

  She felt her skin prickle and watched as Hector’s eyes opened so wide it looked painful.

  His irises trembled as he gasped, “Are… those your real classes?”

  Piper nodded.

  “Why are you hiding your true power? Wait, never mind. No questions, right?”

  Piper nodded a second time. “Exactly.”

  As she turned toward the aspirant’s guild, she cast [Shifting Veil] and transformed the color of her dress into the deepest blue, like the depths of the ocean, while concealing her new padded armor and weapons.

  With Hector trailing along behind her, she strode up to Seraphina, guarding the door. The woman took one look at her and then shook her head.

  “Go home to your mother’s kitchen.”

  “I want to become an aspirant,” she said defiantly. “Now let me in.”

  “Do you know what they call aspirants?”

  “Gravebait,” she replied quickly. “Any other questions?”

  Piper felt her skin prickle, and the guard’s mouth dropped open so fast it was like she’d forgotten how to hold it open.

  Pulling herself together, the armored woman swung the door open. “By the emperor… Please go right in.”

  Piper walked into the crowded room. It was still early enough in the day that most of the aspirants hadn’t yet departed for their quests. She immediately felt all eyes fixated on her. For the second time, a wave of snickers and finger-pointing swept the room. But she ignored all of them as she walked toward Chloe, who was standing at the counter.

  “Hello!” Chloe said chipperly. “Would you like to sign up to be an aspirant?”

  Piper nodded. “I need a quest that pays at least two gold pieces.”

  Chloe frowned, her hand frozen in the act of turning a page in the giant tome resting on the counter. “I’m afraid even the most dangerous quests barely pay half of that. Why don’t we sign you up first, and then we can talk about remuneration?”

  “Fine,” Piper said, wanting to hurry this along. Every minute she waited was another one in which Selene and Althea crept closer to death.

  “First, what’s your name?”

  Piper froze. She’d completely forgotten to make up a name for her new persona. “Umm… it’s Anna,” she said, stealing the name from an animated film she’d watched way too many times as a kid.

  Chloe picked up a quill and dipped it into an inkwell. “Now, Anna, what’s your level, class, and rarity?”

  “I’m level 99 in my race. And my first class is Veilweaver, level 60.”

  “Rarity?”

  “Epic.”

  Chloe placed down her quill. “You do understand that lying to a guild registrar is a crime? One punishable by time in prison?”

  “It’s true.”

  For the third time today, Piper felt her skin prickle. Like the others, Chloe’s mouth dropped open. “I’m so sorry. We almost never get anyone with an epic class in here. What level is your class?”

  “Level 61.”

  “And your second class?”

  “Silent Fist Nun,” she replied. “Epic and level 31.”

  When Chloe had finished scratching the words into the tome, she looked up with her big blue eyes. “Are you sure you want to become an aspirant? There are far better and safer opportunities out there if you’re interested. It would be a waste for someone like you to risk your life as an aspirant.”

  “Will they give me money before sundown?”

  “Probably not…”

  “I need the money,” she replied honestly. “I’ll do anything you have to earn two gold coins before the end of the day.”

  “In that case, I have just the thing for you,” Chloe said. “This quest is open to all adventurers, wayfarers, and aspirants. Mind you, normally no aspirants ever take a quest like this one. If you’re still interested, there’s an undead cult causing problems in the city. It needs to be eliminated.”

  “How much does it pay?”

  “One gold piece.”

  “I need another quest, then,” she said stiffly. “I don’t have time to waste.”

  “I suppose I could give you another one.” Chloe lifted a piece of parchment from the table. “This one just came in a short time ago. There’s a rot mage who’s taken up residence in the sewers. This one pays 11 silver pieces.”

  “Perfect,” Piper said. “I’ll take both of them. Do I need a group?”

  Chloe gave her a pained smile. “I’m sorry, but yes. It’s imperial law, even for a gifted individual like yourself.” The young woman reached under the desk and pulled out a gold badge. Unlike her wood badge, this one had a circle around the engraved seedling in the center.

  “What does the circle mean?”

  “It means you have a second epic class.”

  Piper attached it to her dress. When she turned around, a gasp went up through the room. Based on the shocked expressions of the gathered aspirants, she had a feeling she wasn’t going to have any difficultly finding a group this time.