Dread gripped Kyra as she felt a menacing energy ripple through her and rush across the battlefield. Gene’s eyes shot open and psionic lightning arced from his eyes and forehead.

  “More,” he thought as the system spoke.

  Hero System Notification: You have used a Power Stunt to activate Psy Storm 8. You are now Exhausted. Further uses of abilities beyond your current selected powers will result in Incapacitation.

  “I need more power!”

  Winds rushed as he pushed his mind to the limit, distorting the world around him. Kyra stepped back in fear and the system spoke once more.

  Hero System Notification: You have used a Power Stunt to break the limit on your Psi Storm ability. Psy Storm 8 is now Psy Storm 9. You are now Incapacitated. Further uses of abilities beyond your current selected powers will result in Death.

  Gene unleashed his attack, barely aware of his surroundings and the sky cracked in two. Psionic lightning arced from Forsaken to Melias duplicate and back, overloading their brains and one by one, they dropped to the ground without wavering. An eerie silence covered the battlefield and the only sound that broke it was Gene hitting the ground hard.

  “Kyrie,” he babbled as the world around him spun and the system spoke.

  Hero System Notification: You have completed your mission: Raid the Spire near Tzardiche Keep and earned 5 power points. You have failed your secondary objective: protect adventurer 20 of 20 and have incurred a Complication: Identity - One random enemy will now know who you are.

  Kyra was already rushing to Kyrie’s side, shouting a prayer to his fallen body and expending her last usage of Aliyah’s power. She was spent, but moreso, she was filled with dread. She fell to the ground as Kyrie took a breath and looked all around her.

  “Three cheers for the goddess!” shouted one of the adventurers, souring Kyra’s stomach. This hadn’t been the work of her benevolent goddess.

  Forsaken and Melias duplicates littered the ground around her. Faces frozen in rictus grins, blood streamed from their eyes and noses. They had won but Kyra did not like the cost. She looked to Gene, fearful of what she might see but there was no cause for concern.

  Overwhelmed by the great expenditure of power, he had fainted and rested in the snow. Derek’s adventurers picked themselves up off the ground. Some of their numbers had been picked off in the fray and others injured. With no prayers left, Kyra was at a loss for what to do.

  Derek was no better. The Lancer had been on the ground, staring blankly after his redirected attack.

  “When did I get so weak?” he thought to himself. If he couldn’t stand against 25 percent of Melias’s power then what hope did they have for total victory?

  His eyes drifted lazily to the twins, children of Marcus and Shauna. He thought, If not for them and Aliyah’s boon, they surely would have died that day.

  “Everyone get clear!” shouted Winnie, drawing his attention.

  The smidgen woman began chanting and the survivors staggered away from the tower for safety. Derek found himself pulled to his feet by Eonis. The two just stared at each other in silence, no hint of emotion on either of their faces.

  Once she had a clear line of effect, Winnie unleashed her spell, crushing the spire into dust. Once again, the veil snapped backward like a pulled bowstring, the wave of energy flying back further into the Dark Lord’s territories.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  They had done it. They had won.

  Some time later, they had made their way back to the Council of the Epoch to uproarious applause. The assembled adventurers all stood in the center of the meeting room as the surrounding nobles showered them in cheers.

  Every member of Silvayn except for Gene were there and they all stood in a daze. They were the only ones who knew the truth of what had transpired. Derek’s story of triumphantly leading the siege on the Spire and single-handedly battling a duplicate of Melias with 40 percent of his power angered them to no end but when no one disputed his tale for fear of reprisal, anger surged through the members of Silvayn.

  He held a smug grin as he looked down on the adventurers in the center of the room.

  “A job well done, my heroes,” he said, grinning to the crow. “I couldn’t have done this alone but it goes to show that it can be done quite easily. And this is why we must redouble our efforts and expand my training regimen into every village outpost! If even the goddess Aliyah believes in me enough to award me a boon then we are truly on a righteous path!!”

  He turned to the crowd with a flourish and a spike of rage shot through Kyrie. Though the wound had been healed, he still felt the pain of the failed attack of the foolish Lancer. It took everything he had in him to quell his rage. When he finally calmed, he noticed Liris’s eyes on him.

  “We’re missing one, aren’t we?” she asked, cutting off Derek’s boasting. He froze and looked at her in confusion before she asked, “The Mindweaver, where is he?”

  Her tone was knowing when she mentioned his fake class and it caught them all off guard. Kyra was the first to speak.

  “Resting. He suffered a blow to the head and was incapacitated in the scuffle.”

  Liris stared at her in response but said nothing. Her silence scared them more.

  Gene had been resting at their inn in Taos but the words of the system had tumbled around in his head ever since they dragged him off the battlefield.

  One random enemy will now know who you are.

  What did it mean and what were Complications? He couldn’t believe that with everything he had just gone through that he was now being penalized for his failures. He thought to ask the system just what was being thrown his way but his fatigue weighed heavily on him. He collapsed into the bed, drained physically and mentally by the flurry of battle he had gone through since his arrival in New Venturis.

  He tried to not think about the lives lost in the siege. What could he have done differently? Was it wrong to hide his powers? Could they have planned better if they had all the facts? Questions sprang from feelings of guilt and he felt like he was vibrating from the stress. A migraine sent shards of pain through his head, making him turn away from the light streaming through his window. This new world, his new life was starting to get to him.

  He didn’t know when he fell asleep but a knock on his door jostled him awake suddenly. He rubbed his eyes and panic spiked through him before he realized he was just in a dark room and not in the void between worlds. A second knock got him to his feet.

  “I’m coming!” he shouted as he dragged himself over to the door.

  He opened it to see Kyrie standing before him and his heartbeat quickened.

  “I just wanted to check on you and make sure you were alright,” he said with bated breath. “You look alright to me.”

  They traced each other’s forms with their eyes and when their eyes met, there was hunger in their gaze. They were breathing heavily in unison, muscles twitching from impulse, and before they could control themselves, they moved to embrace. Their lips touched and a spark of electricity crackled through both of them. Kyrie wrapped his arms around Gene’s shoulders and without effort, Gene lifted Kyrie into the air. Thanks to his Might score, the Warrior felt lighter than anticipated. Kyrie wrapped his legs around Gene’s waist as he stepped into the room and closed the door. They lost themselves in the throws of passion and for the first time in weeks, they were both sweaty from something other than combat.

  They were still breathing heavily sometime later, cuddling and laughing at nothing in their love drunk haze. Gene turned to Kyrie and smiled.

  “I may need to increase my Might score before next time.”

  He joked and Kyrie burst into laughter before he joined in. They laid there for a while just enjoying each other’s company. They didn’t speak, didn’t even think. They stared into each other’s eyes and felt safe. Sleep came to them easily that night. There were no questions or regrets swimming through Gene’s mind as he held Kyrie that night.

  All was well until a snicker broke the silence. Gene and Kyrie shot up in the bed. Two pairs of glowing yellow eyes watched them, seated at the table across the room. When his eyes adjusted to the dark, Gene knew who they were. Twin elven generals, Verity and Verdant glowered and smirked respectively.

  “Greetings from the Dark Lord, Demetrios,” said Verdant with a devilish grin. “Sorry to interrupt. We have come to extend an invitation to join us at the Blighted Thorn.”