“You know, Jason, I’ve been wondering something,” Thad said as he listened to the dripping of water in the sewers.

  “Hmm?”

  “Why me?”

  “What?”

  “Why do you keep bringing me on these contracts? You’re friends with Geller. You could easily bring him on these if you’re lonely.”

  “Why would I be lonely? I have Colin, he’s great company.” Both men looked at the swarm of leeches attacking the rats, one falling into the water. Thad grimaced at the sight, noting to never go up against the affliction specialist if he could help it.

  “Colin! How am I meant to loot them down there? The ones hidden away in those nests are one thing, but this is throwing away money. I bet Humphrey wouldn’t drop the rats in the water.”

  “I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t suck the blood from the rats either…”

  “True, not really giving off the vampire vibe, is he. I’m sorry, Colin. You’re doing all the work, and here I am complaining. I know you’re doing your best, buddy. Good job. Not you, Thad, you’ve done nothing.”

  “Well, that brings me back to my question.”

  “I’m not lonely!”

  “I never asked if you were lonely, regardless of how obvious it is. I asked why me, when you’ve plenty of other people you could be roping into contracts with you.”

  “How would you know? I could be a lone wolf type that seeks his own company.”

  “Then you wouldn’t be dragging me along. Besides, I’m sure Clive would come with you if you asked.

  “He’s got better things to be doing.”

  “And I don’t?”

  “Oh, did you have big plans? Did I cut into your philanthropic endeavors?”

  “Not really, but I could’ve been training with my team.”

  “What’s better than real-life experience?”

  “Not being in the sewers seems pretty nice.”

  “Well, you could’ve backed out. Your healer told me as much. You know, he’s really protective of you…wait, are you too?”

  “I didn’t back out, because I thought there was a reason you kept asking me to join you on these little excursions. And Neil’s protective of me due to his family obligation and nothing more. Well, other than his crush on Cassandra, whom you’re dating at the moment, I might add.”

  “Oh, is that why he doesn’t seem to like me?”

  “That would be my guess. Though I don’t think he liked you calling him fat either…”

  “What’s that guy’s deal!” Neil fumed as he dodged Dustin’s fist and, in turn, had his fist blocked by the Defender.

  “Is this about Asano, or the fact that he keeps asking Thad out?”

  “The guy just feels like he’s entitled to anything he wants.”

  “Well, it’s not like we haven’t experienced that kind of thing in the past. Maybe we should move into meditation until you’ve calmed down. You’ve been pissed since you came back from the church.”

  Neil stopped and looked away. “Sorry, you’re right. The clergy’s talking about moving against that clinic in Old City, and I can’t stand the idea of it. It goes against everything the healer stands for. The plan got vetoed, but I’m not sure how much longer the others holding out will do so… Do you think Asano’s intentionally flirting with Thad?”

  “I don’t know, maybe? But Thad seems to have zero patience with him, so I don’t think you’ve anything to worry about. Besides, Thad’s not one to be wooed by food, and that appears to be the guy's move.”

  “He does make good-looking sandwiches,” Neil admitted, crossing his arms.

  “Right, I was thinking the same thing! Do you think Thad could get Asano to bring us some?” Dustin asked, looking hopeful.

  “… I’m not asking Thad to ask Asano to bring us sandwiches.”

  “Is this because he called you fat?”

  “It’s because I don’t want to ask my boy… my friend, whom I’ve not asked out yet, to ask the guy openly flirting with him in front of me to bring us sandwiches.”

  “You can’t call him your boyfriend if you're not brave enough to ask him out.”

  “And you shouldn’t tell someone you love them on the first date, but yet here you are, and here I am.”

  “Well, I mean… she kind of recently… said it back.”

  “Wait, she did?!”

  “Yes!” Dustin said, a blush creeping onto his face.

  “Oh… congrats, man! I’m happy for you,” Neil said, in disbelief.

  “See, saying what you feel always works out.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far, Dusty.”

  “One more nest to go. That’s a lot of leftover rats for the last one. Or are the others roaming around loose?” Jason asked himself, looking up into the air in front of him, his eyes focused on the screen that Thad couldn’t see.

  “How many are left?” Thad asked.

  “12 by the looks of it,” Jason said, pulling out a pocket watch. “We’re actually making pretty good time, no thanks to you.”

  “I’m sorry that you brought me on a contract that doesn’t fit my style at all… also, you have Colin doing all the work and still have the nerve to complain about his results.”

  “What, I apologized to him!”

  “Truly reprehensible way to treat a familiar Jason, isn’t that right, Colin... Should I adopt you instead?” Thad asked the familiar who started wiggling with contentment from the attention.

  “Hey, find your own familiar!”

  “You don’t know all my abilities; I could have a secret familiar.”

  “I’ve seen your abilities, Thad; subtlety’s not your thing.”

  Jason suddenly stopped walking, causing Thad to stumble into him. The affliction specialist had a look of confusion on his face.

  “What’s going on? Did some old lady kill one with a broom?” Jason muttered to himself.

  “An old lady in the sewers? That’s more terrifying than rat monsters,” Thad said before realizing what Jason was probably confused about. “Wait, are the rats dying off?”

  “Right on the money with that one. Now I’m being told there’s some hidden objective. Don’t like the sound of that,” Jason said, lowering his hand to the ground and absorbing all of the leeches back into his bloodstream except for one.

  “Ewww.”

  “What’s it now?”

  “It’s just… that can’t be sanitary.”

  “I’m immune to toxins, and Colin heals me. I think I’m fine.”

  “Still… kind of gross.”

  “You saw me reabsorb him in the swamps, but think this is worse?”

  “… Yeah, because it is. We’re in a Sewer, Jason. I’m actually shocked you haven’t pulled out the crystal wash already.”

  “You act as if I use crystal wash for everything.”

  “This is our fourth contract together, and I can safely say you do… also, there’s a massive shortage at the moment, due to a certain someone.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “I haven’t noticed a shortage.”

  “I wonder why?”

  “It’s not my fault, I know how to predict the market,” Jason said as he turned and started walking forward at a clipped pace, holding Colin up in his hand.

  It was quiet as they walked through the dark, following Colin’s lead for a while, before Jason stopped in front of a decrepit tunnel covered in fungus.

  “To be honest, Colin, Thad, I’d admit to becoming a little concerned. That’s another new nest of rats dispatched without our influence. Is that normal? Do rats drink Kool-Aid in this world?”

  Thad quietly contemplated whether he was allowed to give a hint to Asano; he knew of their fight ahead, but should Jason be the one to figure it out? Besides, he did not actually know when the Rat Gorger would show up… just that it would.

  “I don’t think it would be that easy,” Thad said finally while he listened to Jason grumble to Colin about loot.

  Suddenly, a low rumble came rolling through the tunnel.

  “What do you think, guys? The sound of a hidden objective?” Jason asked as the roar grew louder.

  “I think it’s a flood!”

  “Ahh, crap.” Jason cursed as water surged up and over the walkway.

  Thad lightly tapped the rune on the side of his boots and stepped up onto the water, which felt like stepping onto ice. He grimaced as he grabbed the slick stone of the wall to hold himself in place, before looking at Jason, who was up to his knees in the water.

  “Um… Jason. Can’t you walk on water?”

  “Oh, bloody hell,” Jason exclaimed as the water lowered, a mortified expression on his face. “Well, I see you both did just fine. Wait, Colin, did you try to eat me while I was distracted?”

  Thad couldn’t help but laugh as the sanguine horror waggled its toothy maw back and forth innocently.

  “Ahh, the little apocalypse beast’s famished,” Thad said, gaining a slight glare from the affliction specialist.

  “Oh, don’t believe his lies, I gave him so much blood pudding yesterday, not to mention all the rats,” Jason said, looking at Colin, who continued to look not sorry in the least.

  The User was infuriating.

  “I just thought he was a slightly more competent Thadwick… Oh, you can fuck right off!” Thadwick angrily huffed as he made a rude gesture at the blank screens and then scowled as he looked up at the stark white ceiling of his stark white room.

  He really needed to add some more color to the walls or something.

  Thadwick turned his head to inspect the random volumes he’d arranged on a bookshelf bought with his meager earnings. At least each book added something new to look at. It was truly the best aspect of the User’s integration ability.

  He got to keep the copies.

  …The User wasn’t necessarily being infuriating on purpose.

  Well, he was making disparaging comments about a person whom he thought was long gone, which didn’t really make it right. But it wasn’t like he was trying to insult him directly… the User wasn’t that kind of person, which sucked.

  How could he stay mad at someone who was just so… well-meaning all the time?

  Thadwick stood up from his chair and walked over to the shelf, pulling out a random volume and leafing through it. He’d re-read through most of them now, with small annotations on various pages and several dog-eared. It gave him something to do other than scroll through memory files and regret.

  It was comforting to go back to something simple.

  You didn’t have to impress an array to make it work. You didn’t have to prove your worth to a ritual. It was all principle, built into a logic puzzle. And it worked best when the concepts were worked through from possible success to destructive conclusion, then back again.

  It prevented accidents.

  Thadwick wished he’d followed that logic years ago. If he’d applied what he knew about rituals and arrays to his life, he might’ve been able to visualize the path he’d been walking down.

  Maybe things would’ve been different.

  But he’d been impatient.

  Thadwick lightly ran his hand through his hair, feeling the soul scar that marked his inability to figure himself out, his immaturity, his inferiority. He glanced back at the screens and closed the book.

  They liked the User so much better.

  He even liked him, to an extent. But it didn’t stop the pain.

  The only person who seemed concerned about who he’d originally been was Davone, and even that seemed to be far from the elf’s mind now.

  Was this better? Seeing what his life could’ve been like in third person. Playing a supporting role in a story that should’ve been his… but would never be.

  He’d worked that problem multiple times, and there was no success, only a destructive conclusion. If he were a part of the ritual that was his life, it would implode— he was a component flaw.

  There was no preventing what had happened, no reverse engineering.

  He was scared that there was no way to prevent what was still happening.

  Why had the story shifted? Were there certain storylines that needed to be fulfilled? Had Jason always been meant to fight someone at that water pump, no matter how it happened?

  The User had been told to change his fate… but was that even possible? Was the User destined to become the Builder’s vessel, no matter what Thadwick did to support him?

  Wouldn’t that be worse than his past failures?

  What would happen after?

  Thadwick held the book to his chest, anxiety filling him.

  He needed to get back to work.

  -Personal Assistant has reconnected. -

  Oh, Clippy, you’re back!

  Thad pulled his spear from the ratling that had tried to make it past him. Jason had already left the young noble behind, following a ratling scream from far ahead.

  -You think that’s the Rat Gorger? –

  I would bet dollars to doughnuts it is.

  -What are dollars and doughnuts? -

  Think money and fried pastries.

  -Do dollars taste good? –

  Oh, um… no, doughnuts do. A dollar’s more a form of paper currency… It’s like a spirit coin without magic, and also not edible.

  -Your money sounds awful. And expensive if it’s made of paper. –

  It’s weird to think paper’s more expensive than magic here. Though now that I think about it, it may actually be made from cloth.

  Thad lightly tapped the ratling with his foot, causing it to dissolve into rainbow smoke after he walked out of the range of the smell. He felt the spirit coins appear in his storage files.

  He wondered what they looked like. Hopefully not as cringe as Jason’s.

  He’d avoided looting up to this point, as both Jason and Neil shared the ability, and he didn’t want to bring attention to himself.

  It had been how Clive had found Jason after all. And he didn’t need someone as smart as the scholar on his trail.

  Thad started making his way towards where the affliction specialist had chased the last ratling.

  - Do you think we can change anything? -

  Where’s that coming from?

  -It’s been on my mind since the Cavendish District. The story keeps hitting specific beats. Like it's destined. I’m not sure what you need to do to get past the astral space without getting implanted. -

  That’s really reassuring coming from my guide.

  -I’m serious. Maybe… maybe you should leave. Tell your father to send you to the storm kingdom and be done with it. –

  I can’t just leave everyone to deal with this on their own.

  -Thadwick did. In fact, his being here made everything worse. So, we can just take him out of the equation. That way, it’s not our fault. -

  Thad stopped walking and listened to the sound of the water droplets and the skirmish in front of him.

  I want to do more than save myself, though. There are people who don’t need to die. People we could save, if I can just figure out a way to do it. If I could warn people about the astral space, or at least mitigate the damage.

  -…-

  Farrah, Frank, Rick’s teammates… those are people I might be able to save. Hell, maybe I can save Jason. I have to try. I can’t just let them die.

  - You’re going to get yourself killed. –

  I mean, it didn’t stick the first time, besides, that’s why I have you to watch my back.

  -I’ll… I’ll try my best. –

  I mean, that’s all I can ask for, right? Now, where’s Jason?

  -Don’t tell me you’re lost again. –

  I’m not lost! I’m just strategically misplaced.

  A roar permeated the tunnel as Thad slid to a stop beside Jason, a shocked expression on his face.

  “Oh god. It’s so naked.”

  “Yeah, you need to put that thing away, mate,” Jason agreed, just as appalled by the monster's nudity as Thad was.

  The monster roared at them before sinking its teeth into a ratling, draining it with a terrible slurping sound.

  “Rat Gorger,” Jason said as he and Thad watched in disgust. “The name makes sense.”

  “Unfortunately,” Thad said as the dead ratling fell into the water and floated past them.

  “Oh, that’s what it’s up to. Sacrifice ratling to get plus-one strength,” Jason mused. “This must be what it’s like to fight me.”

  Do you think Jason played Magic?

  -He has magic; he doesn’t have to play it. –

  Before Thad could think any more about it, the creature's tail shot out and snaked around Thad’s waist and yanked him off his feet. A stream of curses came from the young noble as he shocked the rat with his aura, to no discernible effect.

  “I see it on the wind.”

  Several areas of the rat lit up, with a timer clicking down from five minutes. A golden dagger appeared in Thad’s hand, and he slashed at the tail, sending further electricity through the weapon.

  This seemed to do the trick as the monster roared and released him, Thad teleporting backwards out of the range of the tail.

  The room suddenly brightened as moats of light floated from Jason’s cloak, transforming the darkness into a playground of shadows. Jason teleported around the monster, slashing at the base of the tail, only to teleport as the beast reached for him.

  “Alright, mate. Hope you’re as dumb as those goons up top were.”

  It was a dance, expertly laid out by the affliction specialist, and Thad couldn’t help but be amazed by the grace with which the other man fought.

  The Monster roared in rage and pain as it fell into the channel.

  “Your fate is to suffer,” Jason said as he appeared beside the young noble.

  Thad watched in horror as the monster sluggishly and hopelessly crawled forward, its fate inevitable.

  Was that what his fate was?

  Was Clippy right?

  Thad’s dagger shifted to a spear as the timer reached zero, and he stared at the monster moving towards a goal that would never be realized, its future only filled with misery and pain.

  He plunged his spear into the monster's core, his ability bypassing the monster's defenses.

  The Rat Gorger looked at Thad one last time and slumped to the floor, marking its passage into death as Thad’s spear disappeared into static.

  “Why did you do that? The Gorger was going to die no matter what.” Jason asked, looking at Thad, who had a dour expression on his face.

  “Exactly. I didn’t want it to suffer.”

  Jason went quiet, looking away at the screens Thad couldn’t see, and started to ramble uncomfortably.

  “Hey, an essence. Rat essence? Appropriate, but not what I would’ve picked. Why couldn’t it have been the might essence?” Jason asked more to himself than Thad.

  Quiet filled the space again until the affliction specialist looked at the young noble.

  “I know you meant well, but now I’m obligated to ask. Can I loot?”

  “Yes, of course,” Thad said, taking a step back as Jason finished applying his powers.

  “As your life was mine to reap, your death is mine to harvest.”

  The red glow of remnant life force emerged from the creature’s body, transforming it into a husk, much like the ratling it had feasted on.

  “I guess it’s, live by the sword, die by the sword, isn’t it? Actually, I hope not. I live by a pretty grim sword.”

  Thad felt a slight pang of guilt at those words as he watched, rainbow smoke filling the air.

  He needed to save Jason.

  “Oh, now we’re talking! Thad, we got Boss drops!”

  “No, you got boss drops. I barely did anything.”

  “Nah mate, it gave me two awakening stones. See one for me.” Jason held up a round, palm-sized crystal which burned with a shifting red light, wreathed in white-gold. “And one for you.”

  Thad looked at the crystal Jason placed in his hand. It was round like Jason’s own crystal but was pleasantly warm to the touch, with a soft, comforting glow.

  Item: [Awakening Stone of Mercy]

  (unranked, uncommon)

  An awakening stone that unlocks the power of mercy (consumable, awakening stone).