Slowly navigating the starlight-kissed landscape, Vex felt chilled as he and the Shadowlings returned to the plateau. The pocket dimension the quartet was in had yet to change a single degree. There wasn't even a breeze in the unnatural world. However, between Vex's memories of being helpless against the elder gremlin and his body's continued weakness, it was probably a minor miracle that he was upright, let alone walking through a dense jungle in continual darkness.

  Having very little to do for a couple of weeks, Vex found himself challenging his memory, trying to remember more of his past. For the most part, his attempts had been an exercise in futility. However, at one point, he had a hazy recollection of a time he had donated blood. It was probably proof that the system was a bit of a dick. Doubly so, as Vex found himself longing for cookies every time he suffered through meals consisting of raw nuts and leaves.

  While Vex was forced to recover, the Shadowlings each took on separate tasks. Chaser had left the bogs almost immediately, leaving Vex to assume the Shadowling was checking for signs of the gremlins. At least, that was his best guess based on where the hunter had gone, according to the system map.

  Conversely, Strikesies had stayed at the camp. The fighter was almost directly in the line of sight the entire week and a half. The only exception Strikesies made was when they used the guild acquisitions trait to loot the pit. While their proximity had led to several awkward moments, as Vex struggled to care for himself, the vigilance and support left Vex grateful.

  The group's oddball was Sir Sneaks, who first had to respawn. Like when Vex first found himself in his guild domain, and when both the rogue and Strikesies had respawned, Sir Sneaks appeared west of the plateau. However, the lone Shadowling didn't immediately head back towards the bogs. Instead, it detoured to the small points of blackness on the map that Vex had yet to explore, filling in the last of the map for Vex before meeting up with Chaser and then returning to the bogs.

  The Shadowling being able to update Vex's map was a complete surprise. In checking over the rogue's character sheet, Vex found that Sir Sneaks had picked up the same skills that had allowed him to unlock the mapping feature provided by his augmented reality racial ability. Realizing that the Shadowlings could at least partially interact with Vex's ability left a world of implications to ponder.

  While Vex wasn't completely certain, he had developed a partial hypothesis. His augmented reality ability felt like a game overlay. While he couldn't remember any specific games to compare the ability to, the general premise resonated with his understanding. With the Shadowlings being his summoned minions through one of his traits, it made sense that his ability would incorporate them to some extent.

  However, as Vex had been fortunate enough to watch the map when Sir Sneak's conducted their exploration, he had some evidence that the Shadowlings also shared some of the benefits of his augmented reality ability. Otherwise, the rogue wouldn't have been so precise in navigating the C-shaped area of blackness to fill it in.

  Given the slow but steady changes Vex had seen with his augmented reality ability and his skills, he had become fairly certain that his ability could grow and change over time. However, he still wasn't certain to what extent. The augmented reality ability felt relatively tied to his skills, meaning there may be a relative cap on its eventual utility. However, he also felt that there was a strong possibility that the ability could improve and continue to provide more benefits.

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  Given the menus, reference system, and the evidence that his ability could improve or change over time, Vex believed that the world had some management system. He had witnessed a clear level of snark in Chaser's trait descriptions. While Vex couldn't rule out that his desires or personality may have partially driven it, he had to admit that something bigger was at play. However, there was no way of knowing if that was just him projecting or if some cosmic force or entity was driving his experience, as he had yet to experience any direct interactions.

  While grappling with his thoughts and emotions, Vex and the Shadowlings eventually completed the long journey to the central plateau. The eerie silence during the trip seemed to swallow their footsteps, leaving only echoes in the dark forest. The entire trip felt uneventful, with the only signs of the gremlins being marred vegetation and the occasional footprints. The most hazardous event on the trip had been the climb to the top of the plateau, which forced Vex to take several breaks before finally cresting the top.

  As they surveyed the area, Vex couldn't help but feel a pang of dismay at the clear destruction. The last of the gremlins appeared to have gone on a frenzy, tearing apart all of Vex's early shelters. The only partially standing structure was the cabin, despite being heavily marred by claw marks. The devastation made Vex's heart sink, but he refused to let it drag him down. He was still alive, which is more than he could say for the gremlins.

  Taking his first few steps onto the plateau felt surreal to Vex. The ground was littered with the remains of his hard work. Torn-up pieces of wood, claw marks, and chewed scraps of mud-laden vegetation littered the entire area. At first sight, nothing appeared to have escaped whatever frenzy was wrought.

  Exploring the plateau, Vex spotted a set of crude markings etched into the ground, their faint glow barely noticeable in the darkness. As he crouched down, tracing a finger along one of the runes, the vibrations of latent magic could be felt thrumming beneath his touch. Intuition told Vex the circle was an unbound transportation ring for the guild hall. The only thing preventing the ring from functioning was establishing the connection through the guild stone, which required the guild hall to first be added.

  Staring at the ring in perplexed terror, Vex was forced to acknowledge the gremlins had been dangerously close to forcing their way out of the guild domain. While he didn't have any accessible ritual or rune crafting skills, he felt confident that the gremlins could have bound the circle to the guild stone.

  Taking a deep breath, Vex looked down at Sir Sneaks, "Outside of building the guild hall, I hadn't tried to figure out if we would need some sort of transportation system to allow us to travel outside of the guild domain. This rune circle... was almost to the point that it allowed the gremlins to do just that."

  The Shadowling merely tilted its head, its expression unreadable.

  Vex sighed, running a hand through his tousled hair before shyly saying, "Thank you for stopping them before they could ruin the next world."

  Nodding, the Sir Sneaks slowly raised its fist out in front and then set a flat palm from the other hand on top. The gesture has become a common response to Vex's non-contextual ramblings and requests.

  As the group stood atop that high plateau, bathed in starlight and a faint glow of latent magic, Vex's mood slowly shifted from an anxiety-riddled melancholic medley to a state of contented relief. Despite nearly killing him, the Gremlins had failed to escape his guild domain and likely saved him years of work.

  Realizing the sudden windfall, Vex slowly surveyed the plateau and contemplated his plans for the future. Now that his life was no longer in imminent threat, it was time to finish the guild hall and bond with the Shadowlings. For the first time since character creation, Vex felt his immediate future was beginning to look a bit brighter.