She hesitated a little, then shook her head, cheeks reddening. "I... Not in pain. Well, was hoping to practice a little since we’re just driving."

  "Practice?"

  She mimicked slicing her arm up and then stitching it closed again.

  "Oh," he said, taken aback. "Oh. That's a good idea, actually. I should've thought of that."

  Dot beamed. "Really?"

  "Hell yeah," he said.

  "Please do not get blood on the seats," Hiroki pleaded from the passenger's seat. "This was my father's car."

  "We’ll put something down," Luke promised, searching through his inventory.

  Once they were both sitting on large sweatshirts, Luke entered Dot's mana channels and dealt with the nerve bundle in her right shoulder, removing all sensation of pain in her right arm.

  "That is freaky," Dot breathed, her face a little pale. She looked up at him with those large eyes of hers. "You can undo it, right?"

  "Of course. Want me to do it right now?"

  She shook her head. "No. I need to do this, or I'll never improve."

  Luke watched her face crease in concentration and a drop of sweat form on her brow, but no wound appeared on her arm.

  "What's wrong?" he asked.

  That broke her concentration, and she took several long breaths before looking up. "It's hard to, you know, hurt myself. Even if there's no pain."

  Only then did he see a few faint, faded scars on her pale upper arms. "Oh."

  Unsure of what to say, he blurted the first thing that came to mind. "Do you want me to hurt you?"

  "Would you?" Dot's eyes widened, and she looked eager as she extended her arm over Hannah's lap. "Please hurt me."

  "What the hell are you doing back there?" Curtis asked. "I swear I will stop this car!"

  "Sorry," Dot squeaked. "I didn't mean it like that!"

  Once things had settled down a little, Luke readied himself. "Ready?"

  "Yes," Dot said. "Start small, please."

  Since the nerve block was still in effect, Luke used Threads of Mana with Needle of Life to open a three-inch-long gash on Dot's forearm. It wasn't deep, but blood still welled up.

  Dot stared at it at first, and Luke had to prod her. "Get healing, Lifeweaver."

  "Sorry," she said, and got started.

  Since she didn't have Weaver's Grasp, her Thread of Mana couldn't extend outside her body unless she touched someone, so all Luke saw was the tugging on her skin and muscle as she stitched the wound closed.

  "Good job," Luke said. Once she was done, there were no hints of the injury, if you ignored all the blood, not even a scar.

  Hiroki looked over his shoulder. "Please watch the seats."

  "Want to go again?" Luke asked.

  Rather than replying, Dot opened up another wound on her own and closed it right away. Afterwards, her expression didn't convey the happiness Luke expected.

  "What's wrong?" he asked.

  "No experience."

  "Huh?"

  "When you made the wound, and I healed it, I got some experience from it. When I made the wound myself, I didn't."

  "Huh," Luke said, creating a wound on his own arm before closing it. Just like she'd said, he didn't get even a single point of experience. "That means we would have to hurt each other."

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  Dot looked thoughtful. "You're right. But if we get good at it, we'll level a lot."

  "Not in the car, please," Hiroki said.

  Luke leaned forward and clapped his hand on Hiroki's shoulder. "Don't worry, Hiroki. We'll give it a go tonight."

  "After we've had your lesson," Hiroki said.

  "Looking forward to it."

  Hannah was fast asleep and was now starting to let out little whimpers as she shifted in her seat.

  "What's up with her?" Curtis asked without looking back.

  Luke watched the shadows in her hair extend and start writhing, like they did when she was getting ready to fight.

  "Dreams," Luke said. "Maybe."

  "No," Hannah whimpered.

  Dot put a calming hand on Hannah's arm and pursed her lips. "There's something with her head."

  "Don't touch anything," Luke said.

  She gave him a look. "Of course not. I wouldn't do anything without a patient's consent."

  Dot was right, though. Luke had sensed it before. The change in Hannah's brain. It wasn't as pronounced as with Mia, and the strangeness hadn't progressed since last time he checked. Still, there was no denying something being there, almost like shadows, but that preceded her coming into contact with the Deep Dweller.

  "I don't think this is something we can heal."

  "No?" she asked.

  He shook his head. "More like, it isn't a wound or an illness. It's just her."

  Hannah let out a small whine, and shadows oozed out of her arms. "No..."

  Luke grabbed Hannah's shoulder and shook. "Hannah! Wake up!"

  That startled her awake. "Wah!"

  Hannah looked around, blinking, then her gaze settled on Dot's lap. "Dot... why are you covered in blood?"

  "Were you dreaming?" Dot asked after explaining what Hannah missed during her sleep session.

  "I was. Sort of."

  "We will need to deal with the Deep Dweller," Luke said. It wasn't an offhand comment either. He'd been giving it a lot of thought and consideration.

  Hannah gave him a searching look. "How?"

  "It wants you to come to it, right? What if we made it come to us instead?"

  "To Earth?" Hannah asked. "It would kill us all. Maybe everyone everywhere."

  "Not if we killed it first."

  She let out a snort. "And how would we do that?"

  "I think I have a plan," Luke began, then explained the plan he'd been piecing together. A certain someone had expressed something akin to fear when the Deep Dweller was mentioned. With the Fallen Shepherd thrown into the mix, perhaps they had a chance of coming out on top. Creatures of shadow fear the light. What if they were to provide more light than it could stand?

  Dot removed blood from her forearm with a wet wipe as she listened to Luke's plan. "Sounds dangerous."

  Luke didn't deny it. "Any plan we try will be dangerous. This way, we have a chance of helping Hannah at the same time."

  "I'm not sure I'm able to bring the Deep Dweller over to here, though," Hannah said, a thoughtful look on her face, like she was considering it.

  "I'll help you," Luke said. "I think I know how."

  They rode in silence for quite a while until Curtis broke it. "Getting close to Fort Wayne."

  "Relian has left already."

  Hiroki turned around in his seat to give Luke a long look. "How do you know this?"

  "A skill. It's called Weaver's Echo. I can find anyone I've healed."

  "But you healed so many in that tent," Dot said.

  Luke shrugged. "I can filter them out, kind of like with Weaver's Eye."

  "Can't wait to get that skill to rank 3," Dot complained, rubbing at her temples. "There's so much info all the time now."

  "You'll get there," Luke said.

  Curtis turned off I-69, which they'd been going south on for a while. "If the guy we're chasing isn't here, then why are we going?"

  "We'll continue east until we catch him. Relian hasn't moved far. I doubt he knows how to drive."

  "We should stop for a little while in Fort Wayne," Curtis argued.

  "Wouldn't mind stretching my legs a little," Hannah said.

  Luke shook his head. "That's not what he's talking about."

  "No?"

  "What then?" Dot asked.

  "There's an open portal not far from here."

  "You want to go into a dungeon? Now?" Hannah asked Curtis.

  "Yes."

  "Don't think that's such a good idea for me," Hannah said, before holding up her phone screen to show Luke something. "You're famous."

  Luke leaned closer to get a look. It was a video of him and Dot in that tent.

  "Do you follow Lilly on there?" Luke asked.

  Hannah scrolled down to another video, one showing the gunshot victim stumbling in. "Who? This is a repost, I think. Hold on. This person?"

  "That's her."

  "A couple of hundred million views. Not bad."

  Dot drew in a sharp breath. "What?"

  Hannah grinned and showed her. "You've gone viral."

  "Great," Luke muttered. "Just great."

  "Maybe I can use that," Dot said.

  Luke looked over at her. "Huh?"

  "Just an idea," she said, tapping away. "I'll tell you later. If it works."

  "We're in Fort Wayne," Curtis said. "Now what?"

  Johanson: "Luke. Where are you?"

  "Hold on, Curtis, Johanson is messaging me."

  Curtis snorted. "I'll just drive toward the portal."

  Luke: "We just arrived in Fort Wayne. Have you found Relian?"

  Johanson: "Not yet."

  Luke: "He's not in Fort Wayne anymore. Farther east somewhere."

  Johanson: "We were afraid of that. Thank you for letting me know."

  Johanson: "For now, we have a problem in Fort Wayne. I would appreciate it if you could help us with it."

  Luke: "Problem?"

  Johanson: "We've had reports of an open portal in Fort Wayne, but there are few Integrated in the city. No orb. It is rare for portals to open up in cities with no orbs. If you find any clues as to why it opened up, please let us know."

  Luke glanced over at Curtis and sighed. "Looks like you'll get your wish. DIA wants us to help out with the dungeon."

  "I was going in either way," Curtis grunted.