The deal took Martin three weeks to hammer out. Most of that was wasted with that stupid council, mainly just the one woman. She kept trying to control everything and considering her class was called politician, it was no surprise. The fact that her level was only seven, spoke volumes of her talent.Nothing changed until they brought in someone who had the Identify skill. I didn’t recognize the man and he didn’t recognize me or Martin. But that didn’t stop him from turning pale when he read off our levels to the councilwoman. After that, the woman was less of a pain in the ass, and Martin was able to push through a meeting between the two groups.I saw well-hidden relief on most of the other councilors' faces. After having to perfect a stony exterior or face punishment as a slave, it was easy to see the telltale signs. It seems they had been hoping to come to some agreement with the Commander but were bullied by the woman not to offer anything in return. I didn’t know what she had on

I found Martin where the Marshall said he would be, but he was in a meeting. I decided to hang out with Fiona until his meeting ended.“Been a while, how’s everything going?”“Good, but having to wait around can be tiring. I don’t know how Martin can enjoy politics this much.”I chuckled, “just another challenge to conquer. Much easier than dealing a fatal blow to another person I imagine.”“I guess you’re right, at least I still have our evenings together,” she added quietly.“Is something wrong?”“No… well, not exactly, just something not physically possible.”“…”I didn’t want to think about her and Martin getting intimate.Fiona sighed, “I want to be a mother.”“… oh… OH. Can’t get pregnant because you revert to your spectral form?”She nodded sadly.“Well, it doesn’t seem like it will be that way forever. I mean, you’ve gone from being dead to having a physical form.”“I know, but it seems like all progress to expanding that ability has come to a halt recently.”“Do you think it

The night went by quickly and we left early in the morning the next day. Javier and Maria were quiet but studious as I showed them the simple controls to the barge. I let each have a turn with the controls to the horror of the merchants as we plummeted a hundred feet when Javier bumped the height lever.“Careful,” I said in admonishment. “That lever is very sensitive to height adjustments, and while the barge can’t rise very quickly, it can fall as fast as gravity allows.”The kid nodded his ashen face from his position on the floor. He had fallen when the barge came to a sudden stop. I hadn’t intervened in the error as I knew it would level out. I was also the only person braced for it to happen as everyone, including the merchants, had fallen.“Monitor the controls while I go out and see if anyone needs healing.”“Please, Mr. Paul, let me,” Javier said, getting to his feet.I nodded as the kid moved past me on slightly wobbly legs.I turned toward Maria, “try not to crash us into th

I grabbed the collar of Javier’s shirt and yanked him back just in time to save him from being split in half by a guillotine that dropped from a slot in the ceiling. He was being dumb trying to impress me again.I did have to reattach a few of his fingers though.“You’ll be fine in a few minutes,” I assured the shaking teen. “Just breathe and remember what I told you when we first arrived at the dungeon.”He nodded quickly, breathing in and out as he shook. “A-Always be aware of your s-surroundings.”I nodded as the skin around his finger healed. While the kid was a bit reckless it wasn’t always a bad trait. He just needed to moderate himself. “That includes the ceiling. And you should lead with your weapon or something disposable.”He nodded shakily.“How are you doing Maria?” I asked, focusing her attention away from Javier’s wound and toward me.“I’m ok, Mr. Paul.”I nodded, Maria was a bit more mature than Javier but I had seen her face go white at the sight of the blood pumping f

“You’re sure it was the Stygian Order that gave them info?” the Marshall asked as he walked along beside me.The remaining dwarves had fled after their King had fallen. I was hobbling along through the outer portion of Houston, healing any injured I came across, and there were many. The dwarves had been indiscriminate in their slaughter. I watched dead bodies being carried to trailers to be hauled off for burial.I felt bad that the scene didn’t affect me all that much. It wasn’t even in the top five most fucked up things I had experienced since the system came about.“Unless you told someone, only Martin, Fiona, and Ska knew what happened to that dwarven stronghold.”The Marshall stopped me with a firm hand on my arm. “That isn’t good, it sounds like they have it out for you and maybe even your friends. And what if the dwarves come back?”“They won’t,” I replied tiredly.“And how can you be sure of that?”“Because… I’m going to hunt them down.”“…Paul, the Mayor is going to have to b