"Congratulations."

I turn at the sound of Illumisia's dry sarcasm. Clutter, Briony, and Vesa all cling to her back like traumatized possums, their bodies slowly shaking as they roll off of her. With a deep breath I dismiss all the connected spells I no longer need, then drop a purification at my feet to get rid of the extra drain from Briony's spell.

"Doesn't feel like a victory, but I guess the fact that we're all alive will have to do." I grimace as the weight of the last few minutes settles with the departure of Briony's aid. "So–anyone have any idea why my skill thought that letting Illumisia kill those two would steer us away from the quest?"

Clutter nods as he gets to his feet. "If Ashmaw fought Illumisia, he would've destroyed everything around here before he died. Even if Illumisia saved all of us, I doubt she would've done the same for a bunch of buildings."

The shark-wolf in question grunts confirmation. "He is completely right. Which is confirmation for us that this place holds a key to gaining access to that quest."

"True, true. Illumisia, can you run through here as quickly as you can to see if there's any mention of a Merywell Den or a Well Denmary? Maybe the system left some mentions to them here, and that's what we're supposed to find."

"Yes, of course." She shakes, and dozens of blood red duplicates burst free in all directions. "I should have done this immediately, but the risk of the discovery being attributed to me was too great. Now I fear we do not have the time to worry about such trivial things."

I shake my head. "My skill let me say that, so whatever you do isn't going to mess up our chances. Clutter, now that you've got your mind back, do you remember anything important? I think you said something about a well before–that could be where the map's trying to lead us."

"Actually, yes! It should be a little bit away, but if the well's the important thing, why'd the system go through the trouble of remaking the entire town?" He rubs his chin as he stares off into the distance thoughtfully. "Do you think this was all one big trick to get us to think the town was more important than it is? Heck, it could've even left some of the wreckage from the old town just to really confuse us into thinking there's a mystery to solve. Oooh, ooh–or whatever we're seeing here is going to be important in the quest, so we'll come to, like, an old set of ruins and I'll go 'wow, I kind of feel like we've been here before' and then you'll go 'that's because they're exactly like the ruins we saw before the quest started, Clutter'."

He nods to himself as we all stare at him. It takes him a good dozen seconds to notice, and the bush creeping onto his face takes another dozen to fully realize.

"Or, um, it could be something else." He says sheepishly. "Which… anyone else can chime in now with a new theory. Did… um… did I talk too much there? Aw, did I screw up the mood again?"

I chuckle and pat him on the shoulder. "You got a little too fast there at the end, but we got the general idea. Think you can make a quick and dirty map of all the places here that don't look like they were repaired by the system?"

"Yes, of course I can do that! Easily!" His tail wags as he speaks, and his embarrassment is almost instantly overwritten with bright enthusiasm. "Just give me… thirty minutes! To an hour! I'll have everything mapped out, and then we can go check on that well!"

Before I can add anything else, he turns and scampers away with his tail swishing through the air. I sigh fondly and shake my head, then turn my attention to Briony and Vesa–who've said absolutely nothing since they fell off Illumisia's back. They aren't my allies, but I don't think they're my enemies either–and now we have to sort out what happens next.

"Clutter's coming with me into the quest." I say forcefully. "If you two want to take him, you can do that once we're done, and with his permission. Hell, I'll come with you if you need someone else to explain why you're going back empty-handed. Or… wait… was all that just the dead psychic's mind manipulation?"

Vesa's eyes widen. "The psychic's dead? When did that happen?"

"With the… giant… were neither of you paying attention?"

This time, they both shake their heads. I sigh and let my shoulders slump, then walk up to them and drop into a kneel. "Ashmaw, that's the guy with all the destruction stuff, killed the psychic when I pointed some stuff out to him. So now that they're dead, you're safe. All of us are safe. But you two need to learn how to defend against psychics before something like this happens again."

Briony vigorously nods in agreement. "Maybe I can transmute my armor into something that blocks spells. Or, if it really comes down to it, I could try altering my skull itself. I've been a little… scared of trying to permanently alter anything living."

"Well, I'm living proof that it can be done." I pat the bite mark on my neck for emphasis. "Just experiment on yourself first so that the only one who dies if you screw up is you."

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"Pfft, of course. I can't monitor other people as well as I can myself."

"You'd be surprised how many people have the exact opposite view. How about you, Vesa?" I turn my attention to him with a raised eyebrow. "Anything in the mage handbook that can protect you?"

"I… I don't know. But I'll have to find something." He swallows hard and puts on a brave face. "If I want to help you and Clutter, I can't risk being a danger to you."

Wait, help me and Clutter? The hell is he talking about? I could've sworn he said something about having someone to report to, and if he's talking about right now, neither he nor Briony are in any shape to do… well, anything. He's got messed up hands and probably some broken bones thanks to me, and Briony has to be on the brink of exhaustion.

"Not that I'm unhappy to hear that, but what do you think you can help us with?"

Briony tries to sit up straight, but her body won't let her. "We can do a lot. You're a human, and you're not with HuSt or the Preservation, so you probably want friends. Er, 'allies', is probably a better word for it. We might not be the biggest organization, but we've got people working across the world. As long as I can convince a few people, it should be easy to help you out."

"And your organization's called…?"

"__________________!"

Censorship smacks me upside the head and leaves me wide-eyed with surprise. I blink a few times, then turn to Vesa.

"For no reason at all, can you repeat what she just said?"

He furrows his brow in confusion, but complies. The same censorship fills my ears, his lips blurred by the system so I can't even make the shapes out. But it's so close to the word Briony said that I have no doubt that they're saying the same thing. Which means the system thinks I shouldn't have access to that name.

That's as good a recommendation as anything. "I'll keep that in mind for when we get back, thanks. Illumisia, take them somewhere safe. Make sure Ashmaw doesn't swing back for them when we get into the quest."

"No."

I blink. "What?"

"I said no, I will not. I contacted Miss S when you sent me to collect them, and she will look over them for the time being. Wherever this quest takes you, I will be joining you." She says in a tone that brokers no argument. "And before you say anything, yes, I am aware that I cannot intervene. I have not forgotten how the system calculates whether you cleared the quest with your own power or not."

For a second, I get ready to argue. But honestly, there's nothing to argue about; with the danger of Stonestep Solutions' horizonguard in the quest, I want her as close to me as possible.

"Alright. Here." I pass her a coin, which she boops right back at me with her nose. Filled and ready. Then I nod at the others. "We still need to get them out of here."

Illumisia nods. "That we agree on. Once you have entered the quest, I will return them to Palastia. I will have Miss S send you a message when I am ready to be teleported."

"Sounds good to me. How're your duplicates working?"

"Perfectly fine. It is just that there is very little here to actually see." She sniffs the air and turns towards the woods. "Ah, there is the well. It is quite deep, and there appears to be a great reservoir at the bottom. Correction–it is a vast underground lake. Would you prefer to go there now, or wait for Clutter to finish his rounds?"

"A little bit of both. Let's see if we can find the other thing before Clutter gets back." I summon another relocation, link myself to it, and drop it. "You two make sure nothing happens to that–or else I won't have an easy way to get back here in time. Oh, and might as well do–"

Illumisia pushes her nose into my hand before the relocation coin finishes appearing. It connects to her instantly, and I stick it in my coin holster with a frown.

"Are you reading my mind now?"

"No, you are simply beginning to make the correct choices consistently enough for me to predict."

Illumisia shrinks and walks between my legs, then grows in one massive burst to the size of a building. Vesa yelps. Briony falls back and lets out a nervous laugh. I roll my eyes at the unnecessary theatrics and scratch Illumisia right at the base of her neck.

"We've got half an hour-ish. Can you run that fast?"

She snorts dismissively. "Who do you think I am? You focus on the bauble, and let me worry about the terrain."

"Yes, ma'am." I chuckle and bring out the wreath-sphere, then turn so I'm facing Marywell Den. "Head that-a-way."

Briony shakily raises a hand. "Um, is it too late to ask who you're talking to?"

Illumisia looks back at me and barks out a laugh. Before I can get a word out, the landscape blurs and the wind screams in my ears. The mountain of taut magic and muscle underneath me somehow offers a very smooth ride, almost like Illumisia's fur is insulating me from all the shaking. I look back at the town, watching as it quickly shrinks until there's barely anything to see. A soft chirp informs me that I've got a message from Clutter, and as I read it, a smile works its way across my face; it's only one word.

"Why?"

I quickly type out a reply explaining what's going on, then hit send and dismiss my Class Card as I stretch my shoulders. "Why'd you let Clutter use his skill if you can run this fast?"

"Because his skill is faster."

"No shit?"

Illumisia grunts. "As much as it pains me to admit it, for me to reach the speeds he achieves with anonymity, I would reveal myself to this entire country. For our purpose, that is equivalent to pointlessly painting a target on all of our backs."

Fair point. I guess I just never really looked at how far Clutter's skill moved us, and how long it took relative to that. It's damn hard to imagine, since it looks and feels like Illumisia's running faster than a bullet train, but the importance of the anonymity aspect can't be overstated. Anyone else like Ashmaw showing up would be disastrous. Multiple of them… well, I don't even want to think about that.

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