Tutorial Time Remaining: 46 days, 7 hours, 17 minutes.

  Survivors: 1306/2000.

  The chest was locked with a large, ornate yet magically mundane lock that tasted a bit like saltwater taffy. Within the chest was an oddly damp cushion upon which rested a large, palm sized blue medallion that gave off an intense aura. I felt it try to settle on my core, but the neverending hunger constantly consumed the energy before it could truly affect me. It felt familiar, like it was trying to feed on my own energy before mine overtook it.

  I turned to bring it over to the others, but found them groaning on the ground. It took me a second to realize it was because of the aura from the medallion. I quickly identified it before tossing it into my amulet.

  Token of the Deeps. Divine. This token allows you to pay a visit to the realm of the Mistress of the Deeps, Lady of Hunger. Requirements: Level 50+ in any humanoid race.

  As soon as I removed the token, Cari and Gregory slowly got back to their feet.

  “That hurt,” Cari said as she gingerly rubbed her temples.

  “It felt like the thing in the chest wanted to consume us and give us seafood platters at the same time. What the hell is happening here?” Gregory asked, leaning heavily on his axe.

  Standing on the deck of a ship drifting deep underwater, a tall, beautiful woman stood watching enormous and terrible creatures swim past. A humanoid crab clicked nervously behind her as she watched the wildlife, her own crab clawed horns also clicking with interest.

  “What is it?” She asked the crab man, who jumped despite awaiting the question.

  “Mistress, one of your tutorial puzzles has been completed.”

  “I only told you to come to me with this if it was something of note! Which puzzle was it?”

  He winced as he spoke. “The group energy puzzle. The one with the token.”

  “Ooh! Are they fighting over who gets the Token?” she clapped her hands excitedly. “I can feel that it has been retrieved.”

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  “No, Bountiful Queen. It was solved by one creature.”

  Her amplified excited clapping sent ripples through the water, shredding one of the huge beasts that had ventured a little too close. “Really?! One creature? How?”

  The crab-man held out an orb, showing the scene play out of Dan consuming the ritual circle. “The being in question is a unique life form known as an Omnis Vorare.”

  “Unique life form? One of the initiates?” she asked, stippling her fingers together.

  “Affirmative, Mistress.”

  “Perhaps they can answer one of my long held questions.” She motioned to the shredded beast and the cloud of blood slowly spreading around it. “Prepare the Bounty of the Deeps!”

  I removed the token from my amulet again, and found that whatever the aura had been before, there was no trace of it now. They looked it over and we speculated on who the Mistress was. None of us knew, of course, so we quickly moved on toward the next beacon. The mention of hunger in the description pushed the token to stay with me, which I was naturally fine with.

  The next closest beacon was blue, indicating a powerful monster to fight.

  With their new understanding of their circulations, the journey was even faster than the one before. More vines, faster axe swings and throws, and my own considerable stats got us to the further beacon in about the same five minute window.

  While we traveled, I asked, and answered, a handful of poignant questions, “What kinds of enemies can we expect to find at the blue beacons?”

  “Big and powerful ones,” Gregory said.

  “Just big solo monsters?”

  “I’m sure there could be other forms, but that is the usual,” Cari said.

  “Well, here’s to hoping for a swarm monster we can throw at Jarrod,” I said.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to eat the token? Divine rarity should give you a huge boost in stats,” Gregory said.

  “No, I don’t think so. Eating that Rare disk hurt a lot, and going in for a Divine rarity item might just kill me. Plus, I’m interested in meeting this hunger mistress person.”

  “Do you think the Mistress is some sort of god?” Cari asked as we arrived on the roof of a building overlooking the blue beacon.

  “Either that or someone powerful enough for the distinction not to matter,” I said, identifying the three-story tall dark blue stag with literal arcing lightning antlers idly wandering between the buildings, chewing on the remains of a steelflame bull.

  Stormhorn Stag Patriarch. Level 40. Manifesting the very concept of electricity, the Shockhorn Stag Patriarch roams around the city seeking to consume all other beings in its pursuit of power. Highest stat: Vitality.

  “Level 40 is too much for us to deal with,” Gregory said with genuine fear on his face. Cari nodded in agreement.

  “Nah, it’ll be okay,” I said. “I’ll go in first and soften it up, then you both can come in and help at the end so you can gain experience.”

  “Don’t push too hard, okay? If it gets to be too much, we’ll run,” Cari said.

  I agreed and started my climb down.

  The stag was ever alert, and I knew I likely had to keep a building between myself and it to avoid being spotted. As I activated my Guerrilla Cloak skill, I felt my cloak strengthen as I slipped into the alleyways between buildings. The area around the beast would be guarded and open, which would basically guarantee that I’d be detected.

  But, I had a much better grasp of energy, and figured what better time than now to go for an upgrade?