When I say Anya practically exploded, I mean it. Her face went red and she launched to her feet, throwing a reinforced wooden chair weighing at least five hundred pounds over and skidding away until it crashed into the wall twenty feet behind her.

  “How dare you call yourself my brother!” Her bracers began to glow with light and [Essence Reading] let me know I really didn’t want to see first hand what they were going to do if they went off.

  [Aegis of the Berserker - Legendary

  Durability - 478/500

  Description - Forged from blackened steel, these vambraces pulse with runic power, shifting between defensive and destructive modes.

  Aegis of Resilience (Defensive): Cool blue runes activate, projecting a shimmering energy field. This shield deflects blows, blunts projectiles, and mitigates magical attacks, granting increased resistance to physical and elemental damage, though movement is slightly restricted.

  Wrath of the Berserker (Destructive): Red runes flare, channeling raw destructive energy. Strikes are amplified with concussive force, capable of shattering stone. The wearer can focus their will to unleash a concussive energy blast from the vambraces. This powerful ranged attack requires a charge-up period, leaving the wearer momentarily vulnerable. A surge of adrenaline enhances Might, but also increases vulnerability and drains Stamina.

  Note: Extended use of either mode strains the runes, requiring recharge time. Overuse of Wrath of the Berserker can negatively impact the wearer’s mind and body.]

  “Ya will not assault ma family wit’ items I crafted. Not in ma hall!” Before I had a chance to do anything, from nearly one hundred and fifty feet away, Gramps’ bellow triggered something in the bracers and sent her flying back to slam into the wall where she landed back in her chair. Satisfied, he sat back down, with Gran laying her hand over his own in a show of unwavering support.

  Part of me felt bad when I saw how the rest of the family looked at her with wide eyes, but I was mostly just terrified of Gramps.

  ‘Glyph, did you catch what Skill that was?’ I messaged him, trying to make sense of what I’d just seen. ‘I didn’t get a notification.’

  ‘It was not a Skill per se,’ he stared intently at the bracers as his own version of [Analyze] went off, something I was still bummed I couldn’t learn due to having my own Evolved Skill from the same source. ‘It appears to be a mental connection he maintains with all of the runic equipment he creates.’

  ‘All of it?’ I didn’t gape, but I did stare at the [Voxel] wide eyed.

  He bobbed slightly as Anya wordlessly began dragging her chair back toward the table. ‘They are numbered and this is number 4531. Looking at him, I can see tiny threads leading all over this room, so there is a chance it only works within Needle Spire.’

  Still, that was terrifying. I rubbed the spatial ring Dad had given me years before, the same Rare ring containing the vast majority of my Dungeon and Tower loot.

  Gramps made this, I’m sure of it. I spun it on my finger a few times before clenching a fist. I’m glad he’s still in charge, or I’d have to worry about Anya messing with it. I can’t help but wonder if I might want to replace it with a Dungeon-forged one, just in case.

  When Anya got back to her position, her formerly friendly guise was gone, revealing the deep-seated loathing she felt for me as she glared daggers straight at me.

  “Are you happy now?” She hissed and Raiju growled right back, not that my half-sister even spared my companions even a single glance. “Just like your father, inconsiderate and surrounded by shale.”

  Raiju might not have understood that insult, but I did and I wasn’t about to let it go unanswered. No one called my bonded companion useless and weak, especially not my so-called sister.

  Leaning in toward her, I whispered. “Couldn’t hack it in Verdant? That’s a shame. There you could at least have been someone worth talking about instead of just another half-baked attempt to replace Gramps.” I leaned back with a wicked grin as her jaw worked with no sound escaping. “Me?” I raised my voice just enough for those near us, and those with high [Perception], to hear. “I’m happy with who I am and if that doesn’t include being your brother? That suits me just fine. I have no desire to be seen as related to someone as stupid and vapid as you, Anya.”

  Jumping to her feet once more, Anya leveled a finger at me as her chair clattered to the ground behind her. “You bastard!” Her whole body shook with rage. “I demand trial by combat this instant!”

  I wanted to tear into her, but the thought of disappointing Dad, especially so soon after hearing he was on his way, stopped me. Instead, I did what I do best.

  I improvised.

  “Nope.” I put an arm around Raiju, rubbing circles around her shoulder blades as they shook with rage at how we were being spoken to. “I’m good.”

  Anya nearly fell over in surprise before stabbing a stubby dwarven finger into my chest, or she would have if Ylsa hadn’t grabbed hold and held it tightly four inches from my chest.

  “Back off now if you don’t want this broken.” My bodyguard’s tone didn’t leave a shred of doubt in her tone. If Anya didn’t back off she was going to lose use of that finger until a healer could see to it.

  Snatching her hand back like she was trying to save it from a wild animal, Anya glared at me. “Letting the shale defend you? How qu–”

  The resounding sound of my glove slapping Anya in the face filled the chamber. The look of incredulity on her face told me all I needed to know, she was used to winning and I was pissing her off.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Good. I thought as a plan started to form. Let’s see how desperate for a contest she is.

  “That’s enough out of you, dear sister.” I beamed at her. “Unless you’d like to challenge me to a Gauntlet run?”

  “Done!” She screamed in my face at the same time as her supporters all yelled for her to stop.

  Sitting back, I cackled inside while my face was a mask of calm. “I’ll have Uncle Thorin set it up for this evening.” I sucked a trio of trays of food into an Uncommon spatial ring along with a trio of texts I figured were for Glyph’s breakfast since he didn’t eat food. “I’ll look forward to beating you then.”

  Before leaving, I stopped by Gramps’ side of the table and bowed low to him. “Great-Grandfather, I am so sorry for–”

  “Enough a dat.” He grunted and speared a sausage before taking a bite. “Ye ken talk like ya us’ly do ta me. Was ne’er one fer formalities…”

  “Sorry about that,” I straightened up. “Like I said though, I’m sorry for starting a fight in your hall, it was wrong.” Behind me, my whole entourage, sans Glyph, bowed low to Gramps.

  He waved us off. “We all knew it’d happ’n sooner den later, s’better ta have it now den let’r stew fer a week.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I guess you’re right there.” I leaned in close, so only he’d hear me whisper. “Dad’ll be here before the vote.” I stepped back to see a huge grin on his face, but he mimed locking his lips and throwing away the key, just like he’d taught me years before.

  “I cannae wait fer yer chall’nge comin’ up.” He shimmied in an unusual display of [Agility] for a dwarf. “Always lov’d a good Gauntlet run. Should be fun ta watch.”

  I did a tight backflip and bowed. “I’ll make sure it is.” Leaving the clan hall, I smiled to myself when I heard the guffaws coming from Gramps.

  As we walked, I explained what he was laughing about. ‘The Gauntlet is the final test for all Ironwind clan members before they’re allowed out into the world as either assassins or spies.’ I did my best to paint a word picture as we walked back toward our rooms. ‘It’s a series of challenges that change, but it’s always focused on speed and stealth. Neither of which are your average [Runemaster]’s specialty, but Gramps was the exception. He established The Gauntlet when he settled down after his hundredth assassination, if you believe the stories Dad told me as a kid learning to kill people.’

  ‘Really, him?’ Volta sounded incredulous. ‘He’s powerful, but he doesn’t exactly exude killing intent like the assassins I’ve known do.’

  As per usual, Glyph stepped in to lay down the facts. ‘You would be surprised to learn that, out in the multiverse at large, the best assassins are the ones no one would ever expect. One text I read told a story of a man named Durzo who everyone thought was a useless beggar, only to have it be revealed later that he was the finest magical assassin in their history with thousands of confirmed kills.’ He did a little spin as he remembered the text. ‘Social stealth is as much a tool of the skilled assassin as bladework is.’

  ‘What he said.’ I chuckled to myself. ‘Anyway, Gramps set up The Gauntlet to make sure anyone with his name was worth a damn before leaving Needle Spire. You have to fight monsters, sneak into places, and do a few other things that change each time.’ I rubbed my hands together like a little kid. ‘I’ve wanted to run it since I got my Class, but thought it’d be years before I got my chance. This deal with Anya just so happens to have accelerated that timeline, which I consider a win.’

  ‘Lemons and lemonade.’ Ylsa nodded slightly. ‘Assuming you’re confident you can win against her?’

  Arriving at our rooms, I slipped in and ushered everyone through before closing it. I shot Ylsa a huge grin. “I’ve been running Dad’s version of The Gauntlet since I was fifteen.” I did another happy little backflip with a twist before landing catlike on the back of the large couch in the middle of the room. “I can’t wait to beat that bitch down with Dad’s training.”

  “Make her cry.” Raiju’s grin held a trace of her old wolfishness most couldn’t match. “That’ll set her straight.”

  I mean, she’s not wrong, even if I’m not sure crying is going to fix our relationship, I can’t let Anya win. I’m going to beat her and force her to tell me why she hates me and Dad with such fervor at the finish line.

  Setting the breakfast I’d swiped up on the massive table was the effort of just a few moments and we were soon settled in, chowing down on a traditional Ironwind breakfast. Unlike most dwarven clans, the Ironwinds knew the need for a varied diet so they included cheese and berries to go with the usual platters of eggs, meat, and buttered toast.

  Tucking in, I felt like I was home on Dad’s System Day, when Mom let him eat whatever he wanted and he’d always picked just this. All of those days were good memories and I was soon lost in a sea of remembered bliss until someone cleared their throat and snapped me out of it.

  Looking at the table, I found the food was mostly gone with the notable exception of my own plate, which still had some eggs and toast on it.

  Not one to be ignored, Gabby cleared her throat more insistently this time and I looked over to find her sitting staring at me.

  “Finally,” she fluffed her hair, “I thought you’d sit there in a daze until this evening if I didn’t intervene.”

  She wasn’t exactly wrong about that, I was missing home pretty badly. I hoped seeing Mom and Dad would help cut down those sessions of reminiscence moving forward.

  “What can I do for you, Gabby?” I hurriedly scooped the last of my eggs up with my toast and popped it in my mouth as I waited for her answer.

  She snorted, emphasizing her slightly larger than average nose as she did so. “We need to talk about how much of our supplies I’m going to be selling here versus how much I’m going to purchase to resell in Sunhome.” She threw up a System window between us over the table. “I’ve got a short list of things I know will sell well in Sunhome to purchase, but we’ll need to figure out what would sell best here before leaving.”

  Looking over her list, I found she had ‘miscellaneous bulky weapons’ listed for sale alongside ‘obsidian weapons’ and ‘unused Dungeon loot’. As much as I wanted to keep the obsidian weapons and most of the Dungeon loot, she was right to put it up for sale here. The dwarves were fantastic with runes, but that limited the kinds of things they could do with an object based on the size of it and their rune library. Gramps was a virtuoso with runes, even more so than most [Runemasters], but he was only one old man, he wasn’t going to spend all his time outfitting his clan with items he personally created. The obsidian weapons were a good pick for the Ironwinds specifically, given their natural stealthiness and ability to part armor like fine cloth.

  Leaning back in my chair, I pondered what we had in storage and came to an answer surprisingly quickly, in addition to figuring out something we needed to purchase in bulk if possible.

  “Talk to your contact, ask them what an ingot of pure [Spring-Iron] is worth to them.” I rubbed my hands together. “Despite how close that Dungeon is to Ironhold, it’s over the pass and I’m willing to bet they only ever go in and mine the ore when they attempt it since they don’t have access to the concierge at the front without the Party Interface.”

  She nodded. “I had that as a potential hot commodity as well but is there anything else you think we should push to sell here?”

  Flicking through the interface, I put aside anything I didn’t see me or my current Party using that I thought might go for a decent price in Ironhold, but more specifically the Needle Spire.

  [Loot for Sale if the price is right:

  33x Emberforged Axes - Uncommon

  147x Lava Javelins - Uncommon

  2x Obsidian Longblades - Rare

  3x Obsidian Scimitars - Rare

  3x Obsidian Daggers - Rare

  12x Obsidian Platemail - Rare

  Robes of Shadowy Whispers - Common

  Talisman of Void Warding - Common

  Broadsword of the Fallen - Common

  Hunter’s Bow - Common

  98x Armored Cultist Robes

  17x Ritual Dagger of Sacrifice

  96x Pure Spring-Iron Ingots]

  “This, plus what you already talked about, should do it. What do you think?” I blinked a few times when I saw her wipe a tear from her eye. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”