A heaviness fell on the room as a slight killing intent began to seep from the guard to the prince's right. I shifted my gaze to the woman whose face was covered by a metal helmet. I wasn't too bothered by the reaction but Xerxes was a different matter. He raised his head and let out a growl that sounded like it came straight from hades. I kept my face blank as I locked eyes with the prince.

  "Everything alright?" I asked through our bond.

  "Fine, she is an irritating woman trying to intimidate us."

  "It is as you say. It is unlikely that his followers would be able to escape. Most would die though some would be able to break their tokens and return. As for how many would suffer either fate it would be up to the Heaven's to decide." The prince replied as if he hadn't noticed what was going on.

  I scratched just behind Xerxes' ears as I contemplated how to respond. Did I care what happened to those people? After all we were all technically enemies. I didn't exactly want those people to die though. I couldn't really claim that I cared one way or the other. "Alright so you've told me what you wanted. This should be the part where you tell me what you are willing to give me."

  The prince grinned like he had checkmate and clapped his hands together. A guard entered carrying a spatial bag that he then tossed to me. I caught the bag and placed it in my lap. When the prince gestured to me to check I did. What I saw made my eyes nearly pop out of my head. It was filled with treasure. The majority of the bag was spirit stones. The majority of which were first realm. "There should be enough for me to get a level or two." I said out loud.

  I turned my attention to the other treasures and there were five in total. Including one that was blue and gold cloud. I stared at it in confusion but decided not to pull out of the bag. I placed the spatial bag onto the table and took a moment to think. It was pretty clear that the prince wasn't sure he could beat his brother but he shouldn't be clear that I could. "What makes you think I can do what you ask?"

  "Mental or psyche specialist are rare. I am betting that even if you can't beat him you can force him to escape the trial. Of course it goes without saying that if you were to die in battle that it would be your own fault."

  I grinned. "So its more accurate to say that you want me to wound him enough that you and your people can deal with him?" Despite how cowardly it felt it wasn't a bad strategy. If I softened him the first prince would have to choose between fighting or retreating. "What kind of person is the first prince?"

  The smile on Scythan's face faltered for a second at that. "Why do you ask?"

  "Well if i am going to fight him I would like know him as well as possible. It might give me an advantage when fighting him."

  My gaze drifted to the woman who despite the menacing aura she gave off hadn't said anything. Based on her energy she was around level 40 in strength which meant that she could be fun to fight. It also meant that offending the pair was probably not the smartest choice right now. I couldn't guarantee that I could take both of them plus all the people in camp.

  "He is an interesting man. Proud and capable but also very direct. He prefers facing his opponents head on."

  "I see and if I were to decide that I didn't want to answer you now? Could I have a few days to think it over? Your treasures are impressive but I must admit I don't recognize most of them. It would be a bit reckless if I agreed without thinking about it clearly."

  The woman at his side took a half step forward before Prince Scythan stopped her. The smile on his face no longer reached his ears which made me worry. I braced to break out of the tent but he laughed. "Of course, it wouldn't be wise of you to just agree after the first move. I will grant you three days. After that I will be forced to assume that you will not accept my proposal."

  "Agreed, in that case my companion and I will take our leave. I assume that you will not leave this spot?" He shook his head and we exited the tent. The stench of the swamp hit us as soon as we stepped out. Part of me wanted to turn around and hide within but I didn't. The other members of the camp stared at us as we left. Once we were outside the bounds of the camp I expand my soul sense to its limit. Once I was sure no one had followed I gesture to Xerxes and we took off.

  "Do you want to work with him?" Xerxes asked after a while.

  "No, not really but his plan wasn't bad nor were the benefits. I want to see how effective the first prince is. If my gut is right we should receive a message from him soon. Especially if the third prince really had left. It would have to be obvious that Scythan had made a move."

  "You want to work with him then?"

  "Possibly, I wouldn't mind fighting both princes and their head guards but I wasn't interested in being the reason weaker people got slaughtered. Of course there was the argument that my in action would just cause deaths on both sides. No what I want is a reason to not side with Scythan. If the first prince is willing to offer me something more valuable than those treasures."

  We rushed through the swamp until I felt like we had gone far enough. I was pretty sure a while ago that no one had given chase but that first escort made me nervous. We came to a stop on top of large black and white mushroom. The mushroom was the size of a tree and unlike everything else around didn't give us death attuned energy. "So three days until we need to get back which means we could search for more treasure or try and find more tokens."

  I voiced my thoughts as I paced. The biggest question was the distribution of tokens. Chances are the people who knew they weren't strong enough to fight have either left or they are staying at outskirts. Which meant that it would both take longer to find them and fighting them would suck. They wouldn't be strong enough to make it worth my time.

  Of course there was the option to visit the first prince myself. I didn't know where he was but there couldn't be a lot of places to search. The swamp was unlikely which meant either the blood forest, my starting zone or a zone I haven't been to yet. I didn't have to think about it long before the obvious answer presented itself. I could only do what I had been doing explore, fight and find tokens.

  "Lets avoid the area with the second prince. I don't want to risk any accidents before I've made my choice. If you pick up any of their scents let me know." Xerxes nodded. "Do you like any direction more than the others?"

  Xerxes tossed his head back and unleashed a roar. The sound reverberated through the area for a few minutes before he pointed to the right. I stared at him in silent question before I shrugged. I wasn't sure if this was a guess or if he smelled something in that direction. I also didn't care. It was better than what I had. We turned and rushed in that direction.

  We had run for a short while before we started to see signs of monsters in the area. At first it was the lack of living things that drew my attention but soon overturned trees and black blood began to appear more frequently. I caught sight of the creature in my soul sense long a short while later. It was the size of a person and at first I thought it was a trial taker but when I saw its face I flinched. Its skin was black and leathery. The creature's face had two eye holes and a mouth only they were all wrong.

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  They were black voids and the mouth was two or three times bigger than it should be. Lastly the creature was permeated it with death attuned energy. The creature was some kind of undead. I gestured to Xerxes to stay close. If the last fight was any hint than we couldn't afford to actually touch the thing. I decided to watch the creature for a while and what I saw made my blood run cold. The creature not only had a Tao related to death it had an aura. An aura that drained the life out of things as it passed by them.

  Fortunately the creature was around level 30 or so based on its energy which meant we should be able to take care of it. I quickly ran through an attack plan with Xerxes before split up. When I saw Xerxes get into position I formed a halo of six blades above me. As soon as I did the creature turned and we locked eyes. The darkness in its gaze seemed to stretch on like an endless abyss. An abyss that threatened to drain my soul. No sooner did the effect happen did it stop. Intellect Fortress consumed a massive amount of my energy.

  "You son of a bitch!" I exclaimed. A grin spread across my face as I unleashed my attack. This creature was good at soul attacks. Just as my six blades shot forward Xerxes unleashed a blast of flame. Our pincer attack slammed into the ugly creature in less than a second. I began my next attack as soon as the Eye of Heaven confirmed he was still alive. The monster was slightly faster. It opened its mouth and unleashed a keening wail.

  The sound made me think of a banshee as it permeated every part of my body. Once again Intellect Fortress activated and was pushed to its limits. Just as I had processed that another chunk of mental energy was stolen. At first I thought it was the spell but I quickly realized that was wrong. It was Xerxes! I gritted my teeth and activated Psionic Rain. I wasn't sure just how strong his Psyche was but if he was forced to rely on our connection it couldn't be doing well.

  An indigo sun illuminated the murky swamp seconds before it shattered. I didn't bother to watch the rain fall before I began my next attack. Psychic Blast fired from both palms in its beam formed. Each one imbued with the Tao of Adamance. My eyes widened as the monsters mouth expanded like a serpent until it was as big as beach ball. It sucked in both beams like a black hole. My initial reaction was to end the ability but another part rebelled. The part that savored battle ignited my chest like an inferno.

  I grinned and doubled the out of energy. "Alright, lets see who can hold out longer." I couldn't tell if the monster understood me but it made no attempt at retreating. If anything its darkness grew more oppressive. The swamp around us rapidly began to die as if the beast was trying to drain everything to feed its attack. "Good, Good! More" I called out as forced even more energy into the twin beams.

  Just as I was enjoying the battle I saw a flash of movement and then a ball orange flames slammed into the creature. The energy in its body back lashed like an angry dog that had slipped its leash. The moment it did my attack consumed it. Indigo light washed over it. I ended my attack a second later. I didn't need to wait for the the kill energy to know it was dead. I glanced over at Xerxes who looked proud and sighed. I looked down at my hands as if they would explain why I felt so disappointed. I sat down and circulated the Ethereal Codex to calm down.

  When I had calmed down I sighed and got to my feet. I glanced over at Xerxes who was staring at the monster's corpse. "I take it you don't want to eat that one?"

  When he literally turned his nose up at it I couldn't help but laugh. I thought back to other undead creatures and he hadn't eaten most of those. "So does that mean you hate undead? Or is the swamp creatures?"

  "Undead meat is rotted."

  "Fair enough. Do you have any Tao strands?" I was pretty sure the flames didn't have any kind of special energy to it but I wasn't sure if that was a restriction or not.

  "No, I want one for fire."

  I shrugged and was about to ask why he didn't try to use any of mine but decided against it. Despite the childish outer shell he was pretty proud so I figured he either didn't want to or couldn't. "I vote we leave the corpse here. I don't think ugly leather would help us." I decided not to voice the real reason for my objection. The idea of carrying around undead body parts felt wrong. I still wasn't onboard with the weird flower but my body told me I needed it. "Are you ready to head out again or should we rest a little longer."

  Xerxes got to his feet and shook his large head. "I am ready."

  I laughed and we took off at a run. We encountered another two monsters. All were various types of undead but none were as powerful as the ugly leathery thing. I couldn't be sure but I started form a theory about this place. At first I thought the forest was a weird creation of the System but what if it wasn't? The Chimera in earth myths was a creature made up of multiple creatures. What if this place was created by a person? A person who stitched together five regions and from it many kinds of creatures?

  If I went with that assumption than the tokens could unlock a literal treasure trove. The idea only made more confused. Either the princes just didn't care or they hadn't realized it? Both ideas seem illogical which meant that it had to be a third option. Were they so rich that this kind of chance was useless to them? I shook my head and banished the thoughts. I could let my mind wander across what-ifs and possibility until the day I died.

  There was nothing I could do about it now anyway. Xerxes and I continued until the swamp grew dark. I wasn't sure what it was that made me stop. It was a sense of foreboding that made my stomach ache. It wasn't the shadowy figures began to appear that I dawned on me. How long had it been since these things appeared? Xerxes howled as we stood back to back.

  Logically I knew that this was a bad place to be. That surrounded by a army of shadowy creatures was no where near a good time but something inside me didn't care. I didn't have to reach for that part of me this time. It bubbled to the surface on its own. A grin spread across my face as I watched the shadows multiply. I scanned them with the Eye of Heaven and still couldn't tell what they were or even their approximate levels.

  "Don't get too far away just in case I need to activate the Inverted Dimension."

  Xerxes offered a howl in response. I laughed and shrugged my shoulders. I couldn't think of a reason to let the shadows make their first move. Energy surged into the sigil for **Psychic Blast** while I expanded my Tao field to its maximum range. Indigo light shot forward. It was time to have some fun.