Connie

  Calling what she had been through painful was an understatement. Connie didn't even have words to describe what torment had just befallen her. And considering she was an expert in several different bardic skills, that was saying something.

  There just weren't a lot of words used to describe the feeling of having your entire body broken down and shredded in an attempted alien parasitic takeover. Generally, the people that kind of thing happened to didn't survive the experience. Which meant it was up to her to come up with the future verbiage to explain her experience to others.

  Because she would be damned if she let this stop her. No, if anything, this would make her stronger than ever. She had had her will tested in a way not even Gramps had. And she had proven she could handle it.

  The old man would be proud. She'd have to make sure she had a proper story to tell him the next time she saw him. Then again, considering how much that man had to have known and not told her about everything she was experiencing these days, she had a bone to pick with him, too.

  She quickly pulled up her class display and read over the descriptions of the previous classpaths she had long ago unlocked. Somehow, her brain always read these in the voice of her grandfather. Was it some trick caused by his own creation of the class? She had no idea.

  She had always wondered just what level of life-altering revelation the Path of Change would require. It turned out the answer was simply having your soul ripped apart and nearly displaced. It was a feeling she wasn't sure she would have willingly undergone, had she had the choice. But it was done, and now she had access to a subset of class abilities that would let her grow further than she had dreamed.

  One of the big questions plaguing her was if her grandfather had even known what those new skills would be. This class wall was an experiment created by him in an attempt to allow his family line to follow in his footsteps. So far, Connie had been the only one willing to go far enough to actually utilize it.

  So what did that old man know about soul bonds and soul realms anyway? Why had he fled the Spiral? There was so much information that he had that could help Dave and the mysteries this faction was stuck investigating.

  For some reason, that had started to bother her more and more the longer she was with these people. Was it simply because she was becoming friends with them? That wasn't something she had had the liberty of experiencing much during her childhood, so she couldn't be sure.

  Her body groaned as she forced herself to stand up from her bed. No matter how angry her muscles may be, she was just too bored to continue loafing around in bed. She had spent enough time doing that after the jester's attack to continue now that her soul knot was gone. It was time to do something she hadn't done in what felt like ages.

  She was off to get drunk.

  In what was quickly becoming the food district of the city, a new bar had finally been built. It was the first dedicated one, and up till now, the Dwarf had only been drinking in the Great Hall along with everyone else. But it was hard to fulfill the eating demands of an entire city in only one place. Plus, as much as everyone loved Rabyn's food, not all chefs got along with the very bossy Orc.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Her march to the Down to Earth was met with some interesting looks. She couldn't blame them. Most of the Humans still weren't used to seeing a Dwarf. And those that were certainly weren't used to seeing a Dwarf that looked like her these days. Following her experience in the soul realm, her hair had shifted color to a spectral blue shade.

  It was something she had expected to return to normal during her recovery, but so far it had persisted. Her best guess was that it had something to do with the classpath she had finally unlocked. But in truth, she had no real idea. It would make her performance more interesting. So there was that, at least.

  “Connie!” A voice called cheerily as she entered the bar. She spotted the owner of the voice sitting at a small table near the bar with a stack of papers and a large mug of some sort of ale.

  “Glunderlin,” She said as she approached the former mayor.

  “Glad to see you're up and about! I heard it was pretty touch-and-go for a while. How are you doing?” He asked, pushing a menu in front of her.

  “Yeah, it was an experience. I don't recommend it. Keep your soul in your body to yourself. So what are you drinking?” she asked, looking over the menu. It was full of Human and Reltleon drinks she was not remotely familiar with.

  “Just a batch of amber ale they finished putting together. It's pretty good,” Glunderlin answered.

  “Hey, I'll take a couple of these too,” Connie said to a passing waitress.

  “Want any food to go with it?” they asked, pulling out a notepad.

  “Uh, sure? I guess? Give me whatever the most popular dish is.” She just wasn't used to Earth cuisine enough to be ordering like this, and she had no real idea what the Reltleons liked.

  “Probably best you get her one of those bacon burgers that the humans like so much. I think some of our specialty food is going to be a little bit outside of her tastes,” Glunderlin added.

  “Thanks,” Connie said. Normally, she wasn't big on the idea of someone ordering for her. But she was willing to make an exception here. She had an inkling that Reltleon food involved a lot of rock flavors, and she just never enjoyed those types of meals. Strangely, she had met a lot of Dwarfs that did, but it hadn't sat well in her stomach. No matter how many times she was told that copper shavings really made the food sizzle, she didn't buy it.

  “So what brings you to the Down to Earth? Thought you usually ate in the great hall?” Glunderlin asked while thumbing through some of his paperwork.

  “I've been cooped up way too long. I needed a good change of scenery, and I hadn't been to most of the new places in Alexandria yet. Seemed like the perfect time to do it. Plus, I got this nice new fancy hairstyle to show off,” She said, ending with a flourish of her hair.

  “Well, I welcome the company. It gives me the chance to run an idea by you I've had recently.” The Reltleon looked oddly nervous as he spoke, piquing Connie's curiosity.

  “And how insane is this new idea on the Dave scale?” She asked with a smile.

  “There is a scale for how insane his ideas are now. Where do I find the full details?” Glunderlin replied, jokingly. “Honestly, I don't know. The system gave me a couple of quests. I've been debating what to do about them.”

  “Wait, actual System quests? As far along as you are? That's kind of rare, ain’t it?” She asked, surprised. It wasn't impossible as far as she knew, but usually, you only got a lot of quests in your youth or when you were new to the System. Two at once, at his age, she wasn't sure what to make of it.

  “I would have thought so as well, but I think my decisions to join this faction and, well, frankly, change the course of my people, pushed some things. Both quests involve getting to the central Hub, and honestly, I have no idea how to do that.” There was a look of shame in his eyes as he said that last sentence.

  “Considering neither of those paladins has returned from the highways yet, seems like a dangerous undertaking. Which, of course, means Dave is probably one hundred percent on board doing it. Have you talked to him yet?” Connie doubted he had, solely because there was always the possibility that Dave jumped at it immediately. And at the very least, Dave would have been mentioning it as a future plan.

  “No, with what he's already done for my people, I can't ask any more of him. I mean, look at this city. It's more than I would have ever expected. Reltleons from all over the Spiral are coming to find a home to build something together. We can't ask any more of him. I especially can't ask for a personal favor like that.”

  Connie let out the first bout of laughter she had felt since the soul realm. It was a deep belly rumbling laugh. “That's not how Dave thinks,” She said, barely managing to get the words out. Calming her laughter down, she continued. “That man will want to do everything to help. Especially if it sounds fun and a weird trip to your city in search of some strange quests, it's gonna really sound fun to him. I'm not saying we do it right now, of course, but once this competition over, and we've secured the Twinoge’s home world? Yeah, it's probably something we're gonna want to do.”

  “I noticed you said we. Are you also interested?” The nervousness had returned to his voice.

  “Yeah, probably, though I've got some other plans, I think, once this competition is over, it'll time to pay Gramps a visit. I've got some information to pry free of him. And who knows what the hell we're going to learn by the time that's over, but yes, I do think this is something the faction should consider. Talk to Dave and Pryte about it. After all, I'm just a Dwarf here to get drunk,” She finished as two large mugs were set down in front of her.

  “I suppose I'll consider it. The rewards for completing the quest would be another large boon for my people. And that means I have to get over whatever sort of hesitance I may have here. It's a new universe, Connie. A very new one.” Glunderlin raised his mug on that last statement.

  “Sure is, and I'll drink to that,” Connie said in total agreement. Raising her own glass, she gently clinked his and then took a giant gulp. “Huh, not bad. This place knows how to do its ale.”

  Chip

  Chip hadn't returned with Corey immediately. The Pumakey wanted to study the energies of Saud and Selody more. Something in the back of their mind was telling them it was important to understand how their soul forms differed from material forms.

  These thoughts were still a little foggy and slow to process. But more and more every day, Chip was starting to really understand the world around him. Even the words of the soul chat were nearly understood in their entirety. The problem was that the more he thought, the more memories of his youth came back to him.

  Those were not happy memories. His poor mother had desperately guarded him and his siblings from some creature that had hunted them across their world. Sadly, he was too young to fully process what everyone looked like, and all he could truly grasp were the emotions that had come with it. Those emotions were full of deep fear and sadness the day he was caught, and his family had been forced to leave him behind for their own safety.

  But Chip found it best not to dwell on those unpleasant memories. He had important things to do now. Dave was counting on him to figure out this soul realm.

  “You know, I'm glad that we made friends with all of you. You really are a cute little guy,” Saud said as she scratched the Pumakey behind his ear.

  He chirped happily back at her.

  The spatial turtles that swim the sea between the worlds of Selteria Four and Five offer a breathtaking sight for anyone looking for a nice vacation within the Spiral. For a modest fee, a traveler can charter a craft to accompany them on their migrations. The sight offered by the turtles as their shells catch the morning sun in the middle of their journey is something that could be seen nowhere else. It is a shimmer that will stay with you for the rest of your life.

  10,000,000 Things to See in the Spiral