Fractured Heaven: Chapter 6 – The Way Business is Done

Chapter 6 – The Way Business is Done

When Basil wakes up, he notices that Julia is gone along with all her belongings.

“She left you in the dust with her parting gift only being the lipstick on your head,” Atlas says as stands by the door.

Basil feels his head and feels a sticky area that feels like lipstick. Julia got lipstick yesterday, but she never wore it before. She doesn’t even look like the type of girl who would wear makeup or benefit from wearing it. Basil had thought that she was keeping in case she needed it and wouldn’t wear it on the first day because she thought she looked beautiful without it.

“Why would she need it?” he asks Atlas.

“I couldn’t tell you for sure. She looked like a completely different person walking out of the door especially that necklace she was wearing. There’s no way she could afford everything she was wearing.”

Basil looks down at the floor because he knows what Atlas is thinking. Atlas’ intense stare gets Basil to look at him in the eyes.

“What?”

“Look. I was in the exact same situation you were in when I first started out. Passable equipment, a girl I was close to, and a white knight attitude. Cynthia was like Julia in that she did everything she could to get a good life, but it ended up costing her…a lot let’s say. That’s why I’ve been giving you constant advice. I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I did.”

“Why’s that? You seem to have come out pretty well.”

“I didn’t. I’ve ripped off and stepped so many newbies and other people to get ahead in life to try to catch up to her. People even died because of me because I missed her. When I caught up to her, she wasn’t the same. Before, she used to be like Julia. Now, I barely recognize her. Her personality and looks changed in her quest to live a normal life. That’s what this kingdom does to you. I’m sure you’ve noticed it already.”

“I thought that was just how things work around here.”

“I thought that too, but it didn’t need to be this way. We don’t have to make you live in these rooms, give you a meager pay, force you to buy licenses, and make you accomplish dangerous quests for us. It could’ve been simpler.”

“What should we do about it?”

“There’s…there’s nothing we can do about it. I’ve tried being an honest adventurer and a hero like I wanted to be, but I couldn’t.”

“We can’t tell the people outside the kingdom what’s really going on to get something going against it?”

“No. There are too many people outside already singing its praises. I know of people who tried to start an uprising against the kingdom. That was years ago, and I haven’t heard from them since. They were probably drowned out by the praise or silenced in some other way.”

Basil looks at the floor with an empty mind.

“Here’s the thing, Basil. You can walk away from this, go home, and forget that it ever happened. Live your life, find a different girl, and find a job as a soldier, guard, or something else somewhere else to fulfill your dream as a hero?”

“What about the good people here that are honestly trying to make it? What’s going to happen to them?”

“I know you want to help them, but there’s not much you can do not in a group and not by yourself.”

“I’m not going to give up on them and I don’t think Julia will betray me.”

Atlas throws his arms up in the air and looks around as if looking for an answer.

“Okay, okay. You’re just like how I was and I was a hard head about believing the good in people and that I could make a significant difference no matter how small it was. Fine. I heard that new people are coming in. You can come with me to help train them. What do you say?”

“I’ll do it.”

“Fine. Let’s go then.”

Atlas and Basil go out to find recruits and manage to find three people who appear combat-ready. One is well armored, one appears to be a sword dancer with her two swords, and a man with various kinds of knives. Atlas gives them the same kind of introduction that he gave Basil while Basil acts friendlier to them and gives them advice about the dungeon. The only thing Basil leaves out are the things that Atlas told him too when he was instructing him on recruiting. Still, Atlas feels like Basil is being a bit too friendly.

They then bring their new recruits into the dungeon to test their abilities although Cynthia doesn’t come along as she went out to run an errand or so she said. Inside the dungeon, they find the first demon. The demon stands in the dead center of the hallway and appears to be motionless.

“Armored boy, he’s yours,” Atlas says.

The armored man approaches the demon as stealthily as possible as his armor clangs. Despite the obvious noise, the demon doesn’t move. Instead, the demon only moves when the armored man attacks. He blocks the attack and fights defensively until seemingly giving up. Once he’s dead, the armored man turns around, only to have elongated teeth come from behind the man and stab through his armor. Basil tries to go to help the man, but Atlas stops him because it’s too late as the armored man’s body melts into the floor.

“You’re up fancy girl. Show us your skills.”

Atlas sends the girl with two swords to fight the small group of demons. She manages to beat them all while sustaining a few scratches. The group moves further into the dungeon to find a large room with a treasure room at the end filled with demons.

“This is perfect for you two. Go get them.”

The knife thrower and dual swordswoman fight the demons together a bit imperfectly but manage to survive with some minor injuries. As they enter the treasure room, a door closes behind them. Basil looks at Atlas who’s just as surprised as he is.

“This isn’t good, Basil. They’ve been in there too long.”

“What’s going on?”

“This could be one of those rare treasure traps. Demons will sometimes hide as treasure to ensnare adventurers who are greedy, unaware, or both.”

“I’ve encountered them before, but I didn’t know they could impersonate treasure rooms.”

“They can impersonate anything and anyone. You’ve seen them use human skin to impersonate themselves as people.”

A secret room opens to reveal itself as the real treasure room.

“That’s not a good sign, but at least we get the treasure all to ourselves,” Atlas says as he goes to collect the treasure.

Basil goes to check the closed door and hears muffled screaming behind the door.

“They’re in trouble!”

“Trust me, it’s better to not know what’s going on behind that door. If they’re dead or dying, they’re dead. If they aren’t, then they still have a chance. For all you know, what you’re hearing behind that door could just be another trap now let’s go.”

“…fine.”

Atlas and Basil take the treasure and after they do so, a set of teeth close the treasure room.

“Run, Basil!”

Atlas and Basil start running out of the dungeon with the treasure room itself chasing them. Once they enter the rotating room, the treasure room demon stops and opens its mouth again close by to entice the two to get more treasure, however, Atlas has already pushed the button to go back home. The two take their treasure back to the guild. As the guild’s members count the loot they got, Basil sits by himself and thinks over what he should be doing. Seeing his gloomy state, Atlas sits by Basil and brings over his payment, which is larger than usual.

He says, “Cheer up, Basil. Think of it this way. With this paycheck, you can buy that weapon that you’ve always wanted or maybe a nice suit of armor. You even get that ebony set you’ve always wanted even though I prefer the shinning one, of course. This should be enough to buy it.”

“This doesn’t make up for what happened.”

“But there’s nothing you can do about it, so you might as well take what you get and make it useful.”

“Okay, fine.”

“Thatta boy.”

Basil walks out of the guild and buys a sword at the local blacksmith. It’s an ebony sword that appears to be in top quality. Once he comes back to the guild, he goes to bed, admires his new sword, then tosses it on the ground and goes to sleep. This is just how things are going to be from now on and Basil can only do his best and nothing more. This is just things are to him now.

Fractured Heaven: Chapter 5 – A Breath of Relief

Chapter 5 – A Breath of Relief

After a good night’s sleep, Basil wakes up with Julia while staring at the door expecting Atlas to come in. This time Atlas decides to leave the two alone much to Basil’s surprise. When they go downstairs for breakfast, the two see that the party hasn’t exactly stopped as few adventurers have gone out to work while others are still enjoying themselves.

“Glad to see you’re awake so early. You need to get ready for tomorrow, Julia,” Atlas says.

“I know. Where do you think I should buy my clothes at?”

“There should be some clothing stores out there that should have something to your liking. It’ll be a little costly too.”

“I’ll cover it for her,” Basil says.

“Of course you will. You might as well be her personal bank at this point.”

“Hey.”

“I’m joking.”

“Why is everyone still partying? Shouldn’t they be working?”

“Because of your victory yesterday, the guild gained fame, which is one of the most valuable rewards we could get. Fame gives more credit to our names and allows us to get better licenses for better equipment and to walk into other parts of the kingdom like the island. You two should take a break as well especially you, Basil.”

“Okay, we’ll be going out then.”

“And Basil…”

“Yes?”

“…nothing. Just enjoy yourself!”

Atlas gives Basil a thumbs up with a smile. Basil smiles back before thanking him. The two then go out to look for a good outfit for Julia. They look through a couple stores then find a place with a few dresses that Julia tries on. Basil helps judge the dress and the end up picking out a frilly white dress with a light blue color running down the center of the dress that separates it. After the stress and long time spent on choosing dresses, Basil and Julia catch their breath on a bench near a water fountain. As they enjoy each other’s company, they hear the sounds of a man begging in the streets.

“Can someone please help me pay for my training fee? What about a job? I’ll take anything!” he says.

An advertiser in the streets sees that he is scaring away the business from the area, so he tells the man, “Just get a job anywhere around here. There are dozens upon dozens of places that are willing to hire anyone.”

“I’ve been ripped off and taken advantage of by so many. The only thing I’m good at is adventuring but I’m not well trained enough for the lower floors.”

“Then get someone in your guild to help you or find a master to help you hone your skills.”

“No one is willing to help me. They’re all in it for themselves. The masters also charge an arm and a leg for training.”

“Then go somewhere else then come back here when you’re ready.”

“I don’t have enough money to go anywhere. The nearest town is a week’s journey away from here and I don’t even have enough money for food and medicine.”

“Fine then. Guards! We have a man in need of your charity. You’ll be in service to this kingdom until you can pay off the debts you owe to it and you get the money you need. The guards will take care of you.”

“Oh, thank you so much.”

The guards escort the begging man away.

“That was strange. I wonder what kind of services he’ll be doing,” Julia says.

“Probably cleaner or guard duty. I wouldn’t worry about him too much.”

“You’re right. We should be enjoying our day together. How about lunch?”

“Okay. Let’s go to someplace in the kingdom we haven’t been to yet.”

“Sounds great. I can’t wait to see more of this place. We’ve been stuck going between our stuffy room and the dungeon that it’s almost made me forget about the rest of the kingdom.”

They travel to an area of the kingdom that sells vegetables, flowers, and vegetation. Along the way, they see people presenting their licenses with some people presenting arguments for why they should be let through. No matter what is argued, no one without a high license goes further into the kingdom. Basil and Julia sit in an outside garden restaurant and enjoy themselves. While admiring the scenery in this district of the kingdom that is decorated in vegetation, they see someone picking fruits and vegetables from the vines.

“Hey! You’re not allowed to take that!” a guard says.

“Please, sir. I’m hungry and can’t afford to buy anything for myself.”

“We’ll talk about your punishment in the jailhouse.”

In the restaurant they are in, a customer says to his friend, “There goes another one who’s desperate for a job.”

“They should have a place for people like that who make a scene just for a job.”

“They do, but it’s better to never ask about it.”

“I can imagine that the punishments those people endure is great.”

“It’s a good thing too. Stealing and interrupting business affects everyone in the kingdom. The selfish get what they deserve.”

With the mood being spoiled again, Basil and Julia quickly finish up then leave. A customer who was talking notices this and grabs Basil’s arm.

“You shouldn’t let those people spoil your time with your girlfriend. The guards get rid of them in no time even in this area of the kingdom. Enjoy the rewards of your hard work.”

“Okay.”

The customer lets go of Basil with a smile while nodding his head. Not too bothered by what the man said, Basil shrugs off what happened and assures Julia that he’s not bothered and continues touring the city. They come across various districts dedicated to selling different kinds of goods such as; armor and weapons for adventurers, food, drinks, and restaurants, clothing, furniture making, and even massage, relaxation, and training services. The two look through many of these shops and shop in some of them. In a jewelry store, Julia finds a golden necklace with gems in it. This accessory has captured her attention completely as she admires it for a few minutes.

“You have great taste, young lady,” a salesman says, “This is a one of a kind necklace made from treasures found in the deepest floors of the dungeon.”

“Really?”

“Yes. If you were to have it, then your fame and influence will increase in the kingdom by an immense amount.”

As if hearing an invisible cue, Basil comes over to look at the price of what Julia is looking at. He backs off in response almost as if the price was trying to attack him because of how high the cost is. If he buys the necklace, then he can’t afford to get the sword that he was planning to get. His eyes then look around as they try to avoid Julia’s, which he knows will make him spend his money. He keeps looking around until his eyes are ensnared by Julia’s.

“Alright…I’ll help you buy it,” Basil says with reluctance in his voice.

“Yes!” Julia says before kissing Basil.

“You’re truly a man of honor. You won’t regret getting your lady this necklace,” the salesman says.

After buying the overly expensive necklace, Julia begins to walk with Basil while holding his arm as a pseudo reward. Since the sun is setting, the two decide to have dinner but eat at a simple restaurant since Basil is almost out of money. It’s a good thing that they picked the restaurant they did because a parade goes by with fireworks in the sky tonight. The parade stops in their area and plays music that they can dance together too. This wonderful night comes to a close with a kiss.

When they get back to the guild, they find that everyone is asleep. They quietly go up to their rooms, change to their sleeping clothes, then sleep together in Basil. Even though he emptied his wallet for Julia, he feels fine. He tells himself that this is part of being a hero. Money doesn’t matter more than love and expressing it. This is just a plain fact and Basil remembers it as he falls asleep while being at peace with his decisions.

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Fractured Heaven: Chapter 4 – A Leap Forward Towards a Dream

Chapter 4 – A Leap Forward Towards a Dream

Basil wakes up from a better night’s sleep than last night with Julia holding onto him. She wakes up soon after and is red with embarrassment. In a panic, she kicks him off the bed.

“What was that for?”

“You didn’t wake me up when I was holding you.”

“I just woke up too, and you were the one that was close to me.”

“I-I didn’t do it on purpose.”

Basil smiles as Julia grips her pillow then throws it at him.

“Stop smiling like that!”

Julia takes her things and charges out of the room to change elsewhere. Basil sighs then gets ready for today as well.

Atlas enters the room and says, “Women can be like that sometimes. You just have to learn to take it.”

“I’m not going to take it if I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“That’s never worked in my experience.”

“Is there a reason you’re bothering me every morning?”

“Because…you need it! I’m trying to help you get stronger.”

“I appreciate it if you’re telling the truth.”

“Why would I lie to you?”

“You had to think about it for a second.”

“…uh.”

“Is there something I should know that you’re not telling me?”

“…no.”

“You had to think about it again. What do you want to tell me?”

“There’s a big event happening today, and our guild has been selected to participate in it. The winner gets a straight sponsored shot to the floating island.”

“Does someone need that to get there?”

“Influence is how you get places in this kingdom if you don’t know already. You can’t even walk into the other districts unless people have heard of you.”

“But they let people in so easily. How can walking through the gates into another part of the kingdom be so difficult? That’s just how the life of a professional is.”

“Alright, so Julia and I will participate and win the event today then.”

“I said the ‘winner’ not ‘winners’. Only one of you gets to go even if both of you win.”

“What? Why?”

“Because they do contests like this once a month and people are constantly trying to get into the island, so they’re trying to limit the large flow of people trying to get an easy life up there, as if they aren’t doing that already. If Julia honestly cares about you, she should be able to bring you up to her because of her position of influence.”

“Okay, I trust her.”

“You better because this challenge is nothing easy. Cynthia and I took this challenge when we were newbies and we barely managed to win. There will be others fighting to win and they may not play fair.”

“What’s the challenge?”

“Low ranking adventurers are sent into the fifth floor of the dungeon and whoever brings back the most wins. What usually happens is that only one person comes out. Two or more is a rarity. Are you sure you want to do this? You’re not going to get anything out of this.”

“Yes. If it’ll allow Julia to achieve her dream, then I’ll do it.”

“Do you want my shining armor? Because you’re such a white knight.”

“If you’ll give me your armor, I’ll take it.”

“I was just saying if you wanted my armor. I didn’t actually mean it.”

“Oh. Wait, why not? It’ll really help.”

“Because this is armor for higher ranking adventurers. They won’t let you in with it even if you have proof that you’re of a lower rank. It’s just how things are.”

“Dang.”

“Hey, if I could give you what I have, I would, but all you really need is what I told you about before, your mind. A strong mind is better than the best armor and weapons.”

“If you say so.”

“If you’re serious about doing this, then be a man and do it. Cynthia should be telling Julia about it now.”

“Then she’s definitely going to do it. Fine. I’ll take the challenge.”

“I wish you the best, man.”

Basil walks out the door with his equipment and meets up with Julia who is ready as well with a serious look on her face. They both look at each other while knowing what the other is thinking.

“Are you ready, Julia?”

“I’m ready. Are you?”

“More than ready. Let’s do this.”

Basil and Julia join the large group of new adventurers that are participating for the event. The event managers remind them of the risks and reward of the event every ten minutes while reminding them that they can still back out. Not many leave and more join the group before they enter the fifth floor of the dungeon. The group separates as everyone follows their own plan. Some rush ahead while others take things slow. Basil and Julia hang back and cautiously advance in the dungeon with the others.

The cautious group finds themselves at a crossroad with five separate paths and only one of the tunnels are opened. The rest of the ways are blocked by boulders some of which has what looks like bloodstains on them. It appears that the cautious group made the right decision in staying back, so they move into the only tunnel they can. Running and heavy breathing that grows louder by the second makes them band together and heighten their guard. A single adventurer with cuts in his armor approaches them.

He says, “Thank goodness that you’re here and the way out is opened.”

“What happened to you, and what do you mean the way out is opened? I thought you and your group went through the other tunnels,” another adventurer asks him.

“The other tunnels were blocked off when we arrived, and we thought we heard them opening once the entrance to this one closed? You guys didn’t hear it?”

“No.”

“Well, we made a big mistake anyway. The way forward is littered with traps and demons who know their way around them. I might be the only one left.”

The adventurers look at each other as fear starts to rise in them.

“We’ll help you out. We just have to be careful is all,” Basil says.

The other adventurers agree with him and a bit of their confidence is restored. They march forward until they reach a room that has a maze with mirror walls and floors.

“This isn’t the way the room looked before. This isn’t what it looked like at all,” the injured adventurer says.

As the adventurers discuss what they should do, they feel the ground start to shake. A massive number of demons start crawling out of the ground and ceiling from afar with their teeth and bone weapons out.

“We’ll just have to deal with it,” Basil says as he rushes into the maze with Julia.

The two are then quickly separated by the revolving walls and floors of the maze.

“Julia!”

The maze itself keeps forcing Basil to move forward or down as demons break through the mirrors. He rushes forward while dodging teeth and jagged bones that come from all directions. His sword is more of a defensive item as he can only use it to block attacks lest the maze forces him to move forward or further down. There are muffled sounds of what sounds like screaming in the maze that Basil moves towards in the hopes of finding help. He breaks through mirrors to try to find the source of the noises, but only finds himself even more lost. Behind one mirror he breaks is a swarm of demons that chase him through the maze until they corner him at a dead end. As a demon with spikes sticking out of his body charges Basil, the floor underneath him falls as the maze has seemingly saved him from death.

He falls into a shallow lake that he can stand in. Other adventurers fall into the lake with him from other places in the ceiling. Basil doesn’t see Julia fall with the others and assumes that he’ll eventually meet up with her. His legs then mysteriously receive bites on him, which reminds him of his time on the second floor.

“Run out of the water!” Basil says as he starts running.

Some of the adventures follow his advice while others try to fight whatever is biting them. The adventurers that stay to fight are soon brought under the water and never seen again. Not even their blood, body, or equipment floats up once they’re submerged. Basil and the others keep running while being bit at until are sucked into whirlpools that suddenly form in the lake. The whirlpool sucks them into a hole through a small tunnel and drops them onto a slide with spikes that jut out from below and the sides they all manage to dodge the spikes as the slide puts them into another area. This medium-sized area has a single tree with a light shining on it from a hole in the ceiling. Grass, weeds, and flowers are jutting out of certain places in the ground in this area as well. There are no exits in this place, nor does there seem to be a way back.

“There has to be some way out of here. Maybe there’s a secret tunnel or something?” one of the adventurers say while Basil looks at the tree.

Basil notices that the branches all have a weird feeling to them. Some branches feel fleshy while others feel oily, however, there is one that feels mechanical. Curious about it, he pulls this branch and a secret tunnel opens near the tree.

“Good job finding that secret man!” one of the adventurers says as he goes down the tunnel.

The rest follow him until they reach a dead end. They try to go back but find that the entrance is closed. The stairs then disappear as the group falls into a large area with weird tiles a single demon in the center that’s guarding the lever to unlock the treasure room. Basil finds Julia among the other adventurers trying to navigate the traps with some of the adventurers already dead.

“Julia!”

“Basil! I thought I lost you when I heard you screaming.”

“I was calling out to you.”

“Really? It just sounded like screaming.”

“Maybe it was just a trick by the demons. Let’s hurry up and finish this together.”

“You got it. I’m sick of this place.”

Basil and Julia carefully make their way to the demon in the center. A few more adventurers fall to the traps as there are more traps around the demon. Basil eventually makes it to the demon and kills it, which triggers the treasure door to open. Julia rushes with the last remaining adventurers to the treasure room while Basil slowly navigates his way to safety. The adventurers start filling their bags and pockets with all the treasure they can until one person touches a golden skull that bites their hand. An amalgamation of golden skeletons comes out of the treasure pile while attacking everyone around it.

Everyone runs for their life up a newly revealed stairway with a rotating room at the top. The amalgamation isn’t the only thing Basil and Julia have to worry about. Rocks start falling from the ceiling of the stairway while the golden skeleton throws golden chains and weapons to catch the adventurers. Some are caught, turned to gold, then made part of the amalgamation. Basil and Julia manage to be the first one to the rotating room. They wait for the last adventurer to make it with them, however, she is caught. They then quickly activate the rotating room to escape. When they arrive back at the entrance, a group of advertisers and other adventurers celebrate their return and congratulate them with Atlas and Cynthia among the crowd.

The main event holder approaches the two winners and asks them who will receive the singular reward. Julia looks at Basil as if already expecting his sacrifice for her.

“She will,” Basil says.

“Basil…”

“You are truly an honorable man, Basil. Your friend will be well treated on the floating island above. Since you have shown your selflessness without prompting, you will receive a payment that I hope satisfies you.”

Julia kisses Basil on the lips in front of everyone. People in the crowd aw at the cute sight.

“Anything is fine with me.”

Julia is given a traveling pass that will allow her to travel to the floating island. She is told that her personal ride will pick her up in two days, so she has time to buy suitable dresses for a resident of the island. Basil is already laughing inside as if he knows already that he has to pay for it, but not today as the Cultrarii guild throws a large party for them that ends with Basil and Julia the only ones awake while the others have drunken and eaten themselves to sleep since the guild is rewarded fame from the two’s victory. The two sit by Basil’s window while holding each other’s hand.

Julia says, “I can’t thank you enough for everything that you do for me. I’ll find a way to bring you to the island with me. From what I was told, it might take a while to get you through, but I promise that we’ll be reunited.”

“You always talk about thanking me but seeing you happy is a big enough reward for me. I’ll wait as long as I need to so don’t be making any deals that you might regret.”

“I won’t.”

The two look into each other’s eyes then kiss. There were other things on both of their minds, but they only wanted to enjoy their time with one another until they must be separated for an unknown length of time. This is just how things are after all in their opinion.

Fractured Heaven: Chapter 3 – Paid to Fight Hell

Chapter 3 – Paid to Fight Hell

“Time to wake-what the hell did I tell you, kid?! What are you an id-hold on…”

Atlas takes off the armor on his foot before stomping on Basil.

“What are you an idiot?! You’re supposed to sleep with the pretty girl you’re attracted to when you have the chance! I mean you aren’t supposed to do anything that you would do while you’re married, but cuddling is allowed!”

“Ow! Stop it!”

Basil gets up and fights back against Atlas.

“Do you think you can take me on or are you just playing tough in front of your girl?”

“Shut it!”

The two struggle with one another until Cynthia smacks Atlas across the head.

“Leave the boy alone,” she says as she pulls Atlas away.

“Hey, I’m still not done teaching him his lesson yet!”

Atlas and Cynthia argue with each other as Basil and Julia calm down from the rude awakening.

“Are you okay, Basil?”

“I’m fine. Just a few bruises is all. I don’t think he meant to actually hurt me.”

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Nah. Don’t worry about it.”

Julia sits up from her bed to give Basil a hug, which he returns.

“Okay. Maybe that’s good.”

After getting their things together and going downstairs, the two see soldiers in decorated armor and businessmen. Atlas comes down with Cynthia with marks on his face.

He sighs goes over to Basil and Julia to say, “I’m sorry for waking you up the way I did and for what I keep suggesting for you to do. It’s inappropriate for me as your superior.”

Cynthia winks at Basil and Julia before saying, “I think it’s time you told them why you woke them up the way you did.”

“Right. As you can see, we have some guests today and since it seems like you really need the money, I thought that you would want to take this contract.”

“What’s the contract?” Julia asks.

“I’ll have them explain that to you. Excuse me, sir. These are the newbies that I told you about.”

“Ah! I’ve heard so much about your abilities in the dungeon. You two will be perfect for the job we have for you,” the businessman says.

“Why do you think so? We’ve only been here for two days,” Basil says.

“New adventurers typically die off during the first days of being in the dungeon or are at least heavily injured. Very few can fight on and even fewer go down to the second floor and pass a controlled dungeon.”

“I didn’t know we were so blessed to survive. What do you want us to do?”

“We want you to use our new armor and weapons in the third level of the dungeon.”

“The third level? We’ve only managed to survive the second. We’re still not used to the dungeon.”

“That’s where our products come in. They’ll give you the protection that you need and since you know how to think on your feet, you can find other uses for this equipment. We’ll have one of our advertisers follow you so they can tell the public about what happened. He can take care of himself so don’t worry about him. He can also give you advice on your equipment if you need help with it. So, will you accept our contract?”

“We’ll do it. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“Great! We’ll have you fitted and ready to go.”

Basil receives a suit of shining steel armor and an ebony sword while Julia gets her suit of white light armor with a rapier and shield made of black steel.

“You two look wonderful. How do you like it?” the businessman says.

“It’s great,” Basil says while admiring his armor.

“I love it!” Julia says.

“That’s good. Now, go to third floor and conquer!”

Basil and Julia go into the dungeon with the advertiser behind them. The advertiser is a soldier in expensive-looking armor that covers every part of his body. He carries two spiked shields with a third one on his back that makes him almost look like a turtle. Since they can’t see his face, the man has an ominous presence that Basil and Julia try to ignore.

Once they’re on the third floor, the advertiser says, “We’re here. This is going to be easy for you too so don’t hesitate or overthink this.”

“We won’t,” Basil says while being relieved that the advertiser seems to be a nice man.

The dungeon has the layout of a ruined civilization that once lived in a cave with houses and shops dug out from the cave. Statues are embedded in the cave as well that almost appear to be alive. Basil and Julia stab at the statues to make sure they aren’t alive. All the statues they stab don’t react to anything until Basil and Julia stab one that explodes poison gas on them. Both cough and fall to their knees as if they’re sick but stand up and realize that they’re fine.

“The armor doesn’t just protect you against physical damage. It also lets you resist poison, paralyzation, and other debilitations that the demons use against you,” the advertiser says.

Both Basil and Julia smile and sigh in relief as they continue on. They eventually come across a squad of demons who have just taken out a group of beginner adventures. With their new equipment, they avenge their fellow adventurers with ease.

Basil is about to close the eyes of a deceased adventurer, but the advertiser stops him and says, “Let’s keep moving. The cleanup crews will take care of them.”

“If you say so.”

Basil and Julia must walk over the bodies of the adventurers to continue forward. Further into the dungeon, they find a mass of teeth, bones, skin, and limbs that spawn demons. It covers the way forward and there isn’t a way through it other than going fighting through them so that’s what they do. Their normal weapons would’ve broken throughout the fight because of the bone armor of the demons, but their new weapons cut through the bone as if it were fabric. Even though they’re tossed around and their teamwork isn’t the best, their armor doesn’t break, and they don’t feel as if they’re injured. If they were wearing what they normally wear, then they would’ve been the ones that were torn to shreds and killed in a similar way to the adventurers behind them. After cutting through the demon spawner, they find a wall of white and black fire blocking the treasure room.

The two look back at the advertiser and he says, “You two should be able to walk through it and survive. It might burn a little.”

Since their armor hasn’t failed them yet, Basil and Julia trust the advertiser and walk through the fire. Basil doesn’t feel too bad walking through it while Julia feels a slight burn as she does.

Her quiet gasps of pain in response to it makes Basil ask, “Are you okay?”

She nods her head and tries to act like it was nothing. The two then take all the treasure they can and go back through the flames with Julia feeling the burn of the flames again, but this time she doesn’t make any noise despite the pain that comes from the flames.

“I knew you two would do it. Let’s get back to your guild,” the advertiser says.

The group gets back to the guild to receive praise from the guild itself and the business the advertiser is from. While Basil and Julia are giving back their equipment, the person who helps Julia out of her armor finds burns all over her body. These burns are worse than Julia thought with her being unable to move well without the armor on her. When the guild hears of this, Basil, Cynthia, Atlas, and a few others check on her.

After a closer inspection, Cynthia says, “The white and black flames really did a number on her. She may not be able to do anything for a month.”

Julia begins to cry which makes Basil immediately ask, “Can’t you heal her?”

“I can, but it’ll take a while…unless…”

“What is it?”

“I may be a good healer, but I’m not the best in turns of stamina. I can heal this burns in one hour if someone buys me one of those stamina drinks at the shops. The only thing is that the one I need is quite expensive.”

Julia’s crying in addition to this makes Basil’s choice obvious to him.

“I’ll pay for it,” he says as he immediately takes out his payment.

“Okay. Here’s what you need to get.”

Cynthia writes down an order for the stamina drink she needs with her signature on it and gives it Basil. He rushes out of the guild and comes back with the drink in no time. Cynthia thanks Basil, drinks the stamina drink, then begins to heal Julia’s burns at an immensely faster rate. While waiting, Basil checks out how much he still has left as there is still enough time in the day to buy new equipment for himself.

Atlas sits next to him and is about to saying something, but Basil immediately interrupts him and says, “If this is about getting Julia to owe me something, you can forget about it.”

“That was the last thing I was going to say, but the first this is different. I know you want to buy new equipment.”

“I wish those people just paid me with the equipment. I would’ve been fine with that.”

“That kind of armor is way more expensive than you think. You can’t even get it in this part of town. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could only buy it on the floating island or in the innermost layer of the city.”

“Great. I’ll just forget about it then.”

“It’s okay. You still have a chance of getting an awesome set of armor like mine.”

“Do they have it in an ebony color?”

“Why would you want that? This color is better. I thought you picked shining armor because you liked it.”

“No, that’s just what they had. I picked the ebony sword over the glass steel one.”

“You pick ebony over glass steel…no. I’m not going to complain about it now. You need to know that you need a license to purchase better equipment.”

“I need a license?”

“You know how Cynthia gave you that piece of paper with her signature? That’s what you need. The better the equipment, the higher the license you need. It’s a system in place that’s supposed to be there for business purposes and to make sure newbies don’t buy the best equipment day one, but I think it’s just a rip-off.”

“How do I get a license?”

“Go to one of the weapon shops and buy one. You’ll need the signatures of Cynthia and me to get a decent one. Let me see how much money you have.”

Basil shows Atlas all of his money.

“You have enough for a good license, but you won’t have enough for a weapon or a piece of armor.”

“What? Should I just get a lesser license then?”

“No, it’s better to buy a good one now then buy the better equipment so you’re not wasting money. Besides, what you have now is good for now.”

“If you say so.”

Basil obtains Atlas’ and Cynthia’s signature and buys a license to buy better equipment. As he leaves, he looks at the various kinds of swords and armor that he wishes he had. He then sees people putting posters advertising the equipment he just used for the job and how much it costs then lets go of any hope of buying the equipment he just wore while thinking to himself that it’ll be easier for him to buy three houses. When he arrives back at the guild, he goes upstairs to his room after eating to see Julia lying in his bed again. She gets up when he enters the room and sits on the bed.

“Are you doing alright, Julia?”

“Yeah. I’m all better now. Thank you for helping me get better quicker. Where did you go?”

“I went out to buy a license for better equipment. Apparently, you need it to buy things here. Why?”

“I was just wondering. I’m so used to you being by my side that it feels like I’m missing something when you’re gone.”

“Really?” Julia gives Basil a light kiss on the cheek. “Yes.”

Basil smiles then turns his head to see Atlas peeking through a crack in the door.

“Ah!” he quietly says as he tries to silently walk away as if he wasn’t there.

“That guy…”

“He seems to really care about you.”

“He did bring me here. Maybe he feels some kind of responsibility for me?”

“I don’t know. We shouldn’t worry about him too much. You can sleep on the bed with me if you want. You have to keep your hands to yourself, of course.”

Basil thinks in his head for a second how she can say this after she kissed him before saying, “Okay. I’ll sleep sitting up. You can have the pillow and blanket.”

“Thank you again for everything.”

Julia kisses Basil’s cheek again and hugs him before laying down. Basil relaxes with a smile on his face. He tries not to mind the way Tyrannus conducts its business because it’s just the way business works here and nothing more in his mind. If things are going to be this way from now on, then he can live without any major concerns. This is what he hopes is the case.