Elijah’s small fist slammed into the musclebound creature, sending it skidding backward until it hit the others it had outpaced. The three-foot-tall things looked a little like what he’d imagine a leprechaun with a pituitary problem might look – all bulging muscles and disproportionate limbs, clad in green jumpsuits and wearing matching hats.

  Of course, that impression was ruined by the fact that their skin was like marble, and they lacked even a semblance of facial features. There were other comparatively smaller issues, like their hands only possessing three fingers each, but those details were mostly lost in the chaos.

  Another one of the creatures hammered its thick fist into Elijah’s side, and hard enough to send fractures up and down his ribs. He gritted his teeth and backhanded the enemy, sending the thing flipping end-over-end until it slammed into the wall. A second later, Hu Shui descended upon it with his swords.

  Sparks and chips of marble-like rock flew into the air with every impact, and a sound like a lawnmower hitting a rock echoed through the corridor. Elijah ignored it as he charged the group of marble leprechauns. His bare, amphibian-like feet slapped against the golden floor as he pushed himself to top speed. When he hit the first creature, the impact added the sound of cracking rock to the cacophony of Hu Shui’s ongoing assault.

  The thing didn’t go down, but it did stagger. That was enough to give Elijah a chance to bring the skills of his past as a boxer to the fore. For years now, he’d relied mostly on his forms for combat. When that wasn’t possible, he’d used various staves or his now-broken scythe. However, in that time, he hadn’t forgotten his first true hobby – boxing.

  In his youth, Elijah had flirted with the idea of becoming a professional boxer. He’d even been on track to participate in the Golden Gloves tournament, which could have eventually gained him national attention. However, that had fallen by the wayside with his parents’ death. Still, he’d always wondered if he had what it took. Probably not. He likely would have hit a wall of physical ability before he reached that level. But the question would always remain unanswered.

  Either way, he put those skills to the test as he waded among the short and stocky creatures. His fists flew, but he did not limit himself to a boxer’s technique. Instead, he fought more like an MMA fighter, using feet, elbows, and knees. He even bit a couple of them, which thankfully turned out better than it should have when the rigid bones of his cindrandir mouth proved more durable than their marble-like flesh.

  Meanwhile, Hu Shui remained right there beside him.

  The man’s style was surprisingly workmanlike. There was no wasted effort in his movements, and he used his twin swords with enough skill to suggest he’d been ambidextrous even before the World Tree had touched Earth. The only problem was those short blades were ill-equipped to shatter stone flesh. Axes or hammers would have been much better.

  Or in Elijah’s case, the tiny fists of his current shape.

  Still, Hu Shui held his own, dancing between the little creatures as he slowly whittled them down.

  The real surprise was Benedict, though. For all his delicate appearance and seeming disdain for physical confrontation, he fought like a cornered animal. That perception was only heightened by his harried appearance. Bruises and blood coated his face, while his clothes were torn and tattered.

  Such was the price of fighting without magic.

  The battle went on for a couple more hours until, at last, Elijah shattered the head of the final foe. And then, silence reigned through the hall, broken only by the sound of the trio’s labored breathing.

  “I hate this wing,” Benedict muttered.

  Elijah rolled his shoulders as his passive regeneration took care of the minor injuries he’d suffered. If the bones had been truly broken, it would have taken a lot longer. But a few cracks weren’t an issue, and they would heal within half an hour. Probably less. The same was true of the bruising he’d incurred, which was already starting to fade.

  The other two didn’t have that advantage, which was why they both looked like they’d been jumped by muggers in a dark alley.

  Elijah wanted to heal them, but with the restrictions of the wings, he simply couldn’t cast any spells. At first, he could push through, and even if the results were incredibly weak, they at least did something. Now, he couldn’t manage any effect at all.

  The only solace was that the wing’s denizens – the marble leprechauns – were equally incapable of using magic. They made up for it with raw strength and durability, though. Numbers, too.

  Elijah had lost count of how many they’d destroyed. Hundreds, at least. Maybe as many as a thousand over the past week or so. The Mortalum wing was both much more expansive and far more populated than any of the others that had come before. Not only did it feature multiple off-shoots, but they went on for miles in every direction. It was like being back in the maze, though without the comfort of magic to ease their way.

  “At least there’s no time limit,” he said to himself. “Or constant death.”

  Both Hu Shui and Benedict agreed with that assessment. The latter had been the most affected by the multitude of deaths they’d experienced during the time loop, and he’d been more reserved in the aftermath.

  “We should rest here,” Benedict suggested after looking around, unshouldering his pack. It was a lot emptier now than it had been when they’d started. “It feels like we’re coming to the end of this challenge soon.”

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  Hu Shui nodded. “The atmosphere is more oppressive. I expect we will need to fight a much more powerful opponent soon,” he said.

  Elijah agreed to rest, though without magic, he couldn’t access his Arcane Loop. Fortunately, the atmosphere didn’t affect the Herbalist’s Pouch, which was still visible in his current shape. More importantly, it was where he’d stored quite a few grove fruits. He passed them around. They weren’t as tasty as the pastries he’d gotten back in Ironshore, but that was unsurprising. Raw ingredients could never compete with goods processed by someone with an appropriate class.

  Benedict also shared some of his canned goods with Hu Shui, whose supplies were located in a personal storage space tied to one of his skills. Without magic, he couldn’t access it, so he was forced to depend on his companions. Neither Elijah nor Benedict minded so much.

  They were all in it together, after all.

  The group ate in silence, as much from fatigue as because they’d exhausted most avenues of conversation. Elijah didn’t dislike either of his companions, but they were both very guarded people, though they expressed it in different ways. In Hu Shui’s case, he was an open book when it came to his past. However, he tended to change the subject when more current topics came up.

  By contrast, Benedict took the opposite tactic. He was stingy with the details of his pre-World Tree life, and he rarely spoke of the few years directly afterward. But he was extremely candid about life in Benediction, as well as his plans for the future.

  For his part, Elijah tried to be as honest as possible, but there were subjects he wouldn’t discuss with anyone but close friends and family. For instance, his status as a dragon was well known to the pair, but Elijah had never really revealed how he’d found himself on the path of dragons. Neither did he speak of the Empire of Scale or share details of the Hartwood Grove.

  Because as much as he wished otherwise, he didn’t trust Benedict or Hu Shui. Not completely. With his life, certainly. With the things and people most important to him? Definitely not.

  That made conversation difficult – which had become more apparent now that they weren’t preoccupied with the constant need to push forward. The constraints of the time loop had masked many of their issues that were now laid bare.

  After the meal, the three took turns trying to sleep. Only Hu Shui managed it, though. For his part, Elijah simply lay near the wall, his eyes closed as he continued to familiarize himself with his cultivation. He knew he was a long way from attempting to take the next steps, mostly because he’d yet to fully acclimate to his current development. As he’d already established, he’d progressed too far too quickly, and he’d never had a chance to really settle into his power.

  Now, he’d reached a point where that mattered, and he couldn’t progress until he rectified the problem. It wouldn’t happen in a few days – or probably years – though, so he knew he was in for a long process.

  In any case, that occupied Elijah for a few hours until, at last, they decided to move on. The following couple of days were characterized by more of the same, though Hu Shui insisted that the atmosphere was becoming even more suppressive.

  “It feels more like an absence,” Benedict stated. “Not suppression.”

  “The end result is the same,” Elijah pointed out. He didn’t need anyone to tell him that the situation had changed, mostly because he’d finally been forced to abandon the Shape of the Master, which could no longer sustain itself. Thankfully, cancelling spells was easier than casting them, else he’d been stranded in a shape that couldn’t abide the atmosphere.

  “Accuracy is important.”

  Elijah had no argument against that assessment, and, even if he had, he wasn’t able to give it voice because he was soon forced to focus on another fight. The leprechauns grew more numerous with every mile they traversed until there was barely a gap between one fight and the next.

  For the other two, it was a boon on par with the other Primal Realms Elijah had conquered. They were great for earning levels, even when Hu Shui and Benedict weren’t really responsible for most of the kills. One thing was certain – if the situation kept going on the same track, it wouldn’t be long before both men reached the First Wall.

  Even if his progress was agonizingly slow, Elijah could feel himself advancing ever closer to level two-fifty as well.

  Finally, they reached a new chamber.

  And it was nothing like any of the others they’d visited. For one, it was much, much larger. Miles across, and in every direction. The walls – at least as far as Elijah could see – were also different in that they featured massive columns of silver, rather than the typical engraved gold. The atmosphere felt brittle, broken only by the hundreds of thin threads of blazing energy.

  But most troubling were the people.

  By their blue skin, Elijah surmised that they were djinn. However, they looked far different than the ones he’d seen in Eden. Not only were they thinner, but most of them appeared as if they were barely holding themselves together. It was like the lack of ethera had slowly degraded their bodies until they verged on dissolution.

  In addition, they had more human-like features, though their faces were still characterized by a third eye. At least they had mouths and basic curves rather than a stretch of smoothness, though.

  Each one wore a silver collar not unlike the ones used to constrain the captive asharii back in Benediction. Attached to those collars were silver leashes that connected to thin silver spires – maybe five feet tall and a few inches wide – that descended into the floor, tethering them into place. Those silver threads glowed in Elijah’s senses, full of ethera that seemed even more potent given the parched atmosphere. The prisoners could move a little, but for the most part, their mobility was vastly restricted. The situation reminded Elijah of seeing a dog leashed to a tree.

  “Don’t,” Hu Shui said, barring Elijah’s way with an arm. “We don’t know anything about this chamber.”

  “These people are captives,” Elijah stated evenly as he pushed the other man’s arm away. “I’m not going to let that slide.”

  “They might be enemies.”

  “I don’t care.”

  Benedict nodded. “Freeing them might be the point.”

  Elijah noted that the Warlock didn’t seem to care about the probably-sapient creatures. Instead, he only thought of how they could help him.

  Was Elijah so different? Maybe not. He couldn’t ignore the need to conquer the Primal Realm and the information the captives might provide. But he wanted to believe that his desire to free them came from a more compassionate place.

  In any case, when he stepped into the chamber, every nearby djinn turned in his direction. They seemed incapable of forming expressions, but even so, they were obviously relieved to see him. Elijah approached the nearest, ready to respond if it proved aggressive. It looked weak enough that he wasn’t worried whether or not he could deal with it.

  He reached for the collar.

  And it screamed, backing away until its tether pulled taut.

  “You mustn’t!” hissed another. “We will perish if you disconnect us from the Aureum.”

  Elijah blinked. “You don’t look like you’re far from dying as it is.”

  Indeed, the creature’s sorry state was even more evident than when he’d seen it from afar. And it wasn’t even the worst among them.

  “At least we will die for something important.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “We are saving the world,” it said with complete confidence.

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