While Asher no longer had to worry about finding and taking care of Leighann before she could be resurrected, he still had plenty of things on his plate that needed to be taken care of. Figuring out what to do about The Council of Death. Finding the location of the Head and taking them out ideally before they could start sending hits after him for refusing the position of Whikoga's new number Eight. Even just getting the rest of his skills up to level 20 and evolving them to the second tier or replacing his missing artifacts, both of which would require a copious number of shards. There were so many ways he could spend his newfound free time.

Which made it all the funnier to him when he found himself picking up three pickaxes at a supply store down on Dormaul's fifth level with Samantha and Brian in tow.

"I'm glad you were able to make it, Asher," Brian grinned, excitedly grabbing his pickaxe and hefting it over his shoulder. His was much smaller, clearly designed for a child, but that didn't seem to faze him in the slightest. He also wore one of the mining helmets they'd snagged that had a glowing gemstone inlaid in the forehead, ensuring they'd be able to see in the darkened tunnels. "This will be way more fun with you here!"

"Hey now, I feel like I should be offended," Samantha scoffed, taking her own pickaxe and flashing Asher a warm smile as she adjusted her own helmet. "Though I agree, it's nice having you with us."

"Are you kidding? Wouldn't miss it for the world," Asher smiled, tossing a few shards toward the shop owner. The pickaxes were little more than bent and poorly sharpened iron bars stuck on wooden clubs, but seeing as they weren't going to be doing much more than a single day of mining, that was probably fine. "So where to first?"

"According to the guide we asked, the fifth level is basically a free for all," Samantha shrugged. "There are literally thousands of tunnels branching off into the mountain, each of which then branches off even further in countless directions. We're welcome to go anywhere other than the tunnels marked with red chalk."

"That's probably where all the good stuff is hiding," Brian pouted.

"Or far more likely, that's where they've spotted monsters, or the tunnel is in danger of collapsing," Samantha replied, sounding exasperated. "Brian, promise me you're not going to go running off on your own down here. If you can't do that, we're heading right back up to the tavern."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, rolling his eyes. "Now come on, let's check out this tunnel over here!"

As Brian darted over to a nearby hole in the mountain, Samantha gasped, frowning at him as he vanished within the mouth of the tunnel. "Why, that little brat!"

"Come on, let's try and have some fun," Asher said, trying to keep himself from laughing at the fuming expression on her face. "Think of this like a tiny vacation after everything we've been through."

"I still don't know why he's so excited to try his hand at mining," Samantha huffed, letting him lead them over to the tunnel Brian vanished down. "Just caught me out of the blue, is all."

"Kids like digging," Asher shrugged, thinking back to his own adventures with a shovel back when he was young. He vividly recalled getting yelled at by his parents for trying to dig a hole big enough for him to hide in smack dab in the middle of their front yard. "Or, maybe he just wants an excuse to slam a heavy metal object into the wall without anyone looking at him funny. He must have a lot of frustration he wants to get out."

Samantha looked startled at the revelation, before slowly nodding. "Fair point… I guess I'll try and relax a bit. So long as we stick to the appropriate tunnels, we should be fine."

"There you go," Asher grinned, hefting his own pickaxe and slamming it into the stone wall of the tunnel just because he could. According to what they'd been told while stepping off the elevator, other than the marked tunnels, quite literally the entirety of the fifth level was free game. Certain supports needed to be purchased and set up correctly if they wanted to start mining a new tunnel, but so long as they were just digging into the wall or floor, they could attack with reckless abandon.

The sensation of ramming a pickaxe into a cave wall and ripping out a chunk of stone was so satisfying, Asher had to pause and take it in, his grip tightening around his cheap pickaxe as he took a deep breath in through his nose.

Damn, that felt good.

"Come on Samantha, you've got to try this," he said, motioning for her to hit the wall. She looked a little uncertain, but at his egging, she swung her pickaxe in a wide arc and slammed it into the wall, ripping off another chunk of stone. Blinking, she stared at the large crack spreading out from the point of impact, before looking at her own two hands.

"Wow… That is cathartic!"

The two of them laughed as they followed Brian deeper into the tunnel, pausing every so often to smash their pickaxes into the wall or floor just because they could. This close to the civilization within the fifth level, anything of value had been long since dug out of the tunnels. But at the rate Brian was blindly rushing forward, it wouldn't be long before they hit less traveled areas.

Even with his mark on Brian, Asher quickly discovered that they couldn't let him get too far ahead. Knowing Brian's exact location didn't do him much good when they had to follow the winding tunnels to get to him. The stone walls of the tunnels were too thick for him to bypass with Astral Dip, which meant they were forced to navigate the natural maze as they followed behind. Thankfully, there were frequent chalk markings every few feet, indicating the direction they'd need to follow to get back out of the main tunnel system.

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"Brian, slow down!" Samantha called out down the tunnel, finally starting to grow a bit concerned after he'd been gone for a few minutes. The hunter didn't have her bow and arrows with her down here in the tight tunnels, which no doubt made her even more nervous about running into any danger. Despite what Samantha said about monsters roving around, they'd been informed that while they did exist, wild monsters that spawned within the tunnel system of Dormaul were exceedingly rare. Apparently, there were dedicated slayer teams that headed into the tunnels every few days to sweep them and ensure they were safe for the many miners of the city.

Just as he was about to crack a joke about stumbling upon Brian mining his way through the outside of the mountain and falling off, something caught his eye.

One of the shadows of the occasional glowing gemstones hammered into the tunnel overhead moved all on its own, ever so slightly.

Asher's blood immediately went cold, and he tried to pretend like he hadn't noticed the shadow's unnatural movement. Without her enchanted bow or arrows and within the tight confines of the tunnel, Samantha was in no way ready for any sort of combat.

"You go run ahead and make sure he stays close, I want to try seeing if I can get Secret Seeker to work with a little quiet concentration," he said, hopefully keeping the nervousness off his face as he waved her forward. "Who knows, maybe I'll strike a hidden gem vein!"

"That'd be a nice surprise," she snorted. Thankfully, she was concerned enough with Brian that she didn't even look at him as she hurried on down the tunnel, continuing to shout orders at Brian to stop moving and wait for her. As soon as she'd turned the bend, Asher nodded. Turning to 'inspect' one of the walls, he hefted his pickaxe overhead, before spinning around and slamming it down into the shadow he'd seen move moments ago.

As if expecting this, the shadow slipped to the side at the last second, nimbly avoiding the head of his pickaxe as he drove it into the stone. Asher wasn't even sure how his Sever the Thread would work against someone currently in the form of a shadow, and he was a bit sad he wouldn't get to find out.

Because rather than transform themselves into some random thug or wannabe thief, out of the shadows rose a figure he was sadly growing uncomfortably familiar with.

Owl had followed him all the way to Dormaul.

The ever-shifting shadows covering Owl's entire body were even more unnerving deep within the dark tunnels of the fifth level, and Asher tightened his grip around his pickaxe as he tried to figure out what this meant. The same lack of aura he'd noticed the first time they'd met was all the confirmation he needed that this was the same shadowy figure that had nearly killed him, choosing to spare his life solely because the Head found him interesting.

"Why are you here?" he started with, trying to make his anger very clearly known. "I thought you worked out of Whikoga."

"I am the Knuckle assigned to the Finger in charge of Whikoga," Owl corrected, his voice coming from every shadow in the nearby tunnel, sending chills down Asher's neck as it sounded like dozens of Owls all speaking at the same time, all around him. "Unless you have forgotten, you are that Finger."

"I never agreed to become the Finger," Asher argued, praying that Samantha and Brian didn't decide to double back and see what was taking him so long. Owl was an incredibly slippery opponent with his ability to not only move but seemingly teleport through shadows as well. Asher was confident he could lock him down with Spatial Lock if he could get it around him, but the skill began at Asher's body before expanding outward. If there was any one person capable of reacting fast enough to dodge the skill before it could encompass them, it would be Owl.

"The Head gave you a task, and you completed it," Owl said, cocking his head unerringly to the side. "They gave you a grace period to lick your wounds, but that time has ended. You must return to Whikoga and fulfill the duty the Head requires of you."

"Just for fun, what would that even entail?" Asher asked. "You said last time we spoke we'd have certain obligations to fulfil. Have you spoken with Draken again since then?"

The last time they'd spoken, Owl had held Draken at knifepoint while floating the idea that the two of them work together to carry out whatever the Head asked of them. It seemed hiding the Guild's actions through a regular gang was a rather common tactic used by some of the other Fingers.

"The Head will send you the occasional target to take care of, often one of the nobles living within the fourth ring," Owl explained, ignoring his question completely. As he spoke, his head slowly turned to tilt in the other direction, as if actively trying to unnerve him. From anyone else, it would have looked silly. But from the man covered in twisting, rolling shadows, it definitely got the desired effect. "You will also be expected to send thirty percent of all shards collected through your assassination efforts to the Head. I will handle the delivery. Other than that, the Guild is yours to rule as you see fit."

"Won't killing the nobles draw undue attention upon the Guild?"

"Assassination is a game that the nobles play, just like any other," Owl said calmly. "With resurrection on the table, they rarely take their anger out on us, as we are viewed simply as the tools of the game. It is the players of the grand game, those that order the hits, that receive their ire."

The Head still doesn't know about Sever the Thread, Asher realized with a start. All this time, he'd thought the Head was interested in him because of his ability to kill people permanently. Yet in reality, it seemed the Head was more so curious about him for his actual capacities as a standard assassin and the skills his Spatial element had given him.

Asher didn't know how just yet, but there had to be a way he could use that to his advantage.

"There's one thing I don't get," he admitted, trying to buy himself time to think. "With resurrection on the table, as you just said, why didn't the Head resurrect Loratta? Or even your former Eight for that matter? Wouldn't that be easier than trying to replace them?"

"Those weak enough to lose their lives in the first place would only do so again when needed most," Owl replied, his tone cold. "The Head desires only strong followers, people they can count on. Blades forged in the heat of battle will never sing again quite so loudly after experiencing such devastating defeat."

"Poetic," Asher said bluntly. "I know you want me to head back to Whikoga, but I still don't have an answer for you just yet as to whether I'm willing to become a Finger."

"The choice is yours. Though perhaps you have forgotten…" Owl said, nodding toward the tunnel Samantha and Brian had gone down as a loud scream echoed back to them.

"...Others won't wait as patiently for your decision as I have."

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