He had always known that there would be other talents that would rise to the challenge of the phase change. That the nobility would be included in that number was both regrettable and unavoidable.

Who else would be better positioned to pounce on the wealth of new opportunities, other than those that were already strong?

But did it really have to include Lord Kel Frostbloom? Kaius wanted to groan.

Deadacre really had been a backwater, hadn’t it? They were barely in a real city for a day, and they’d run across six silvers, a platinum, and learnt that they really did have competition.

The thought of that sent a little jolt of glee down his spine — a surprising thing. Kaius almost expected that he’d feel frustrated, or even threatened. But no, it was a good thing, wasn’t it? The integration was not something that a single team could face alone — it was a trial for the whole world. As it stood, Lord Kel seemed like a pretentious bastard, but surely he felt some duty to the men he led?

“Aspects and Honours, that’s really quite impressive — they must have been pursuing them for quite some time,” Ianmus said, leaning on his hand thoughtfully.

“A bit of pressure never hurt anyone — besides, it was bound to happen. I think we should expect more in the future, especially with the guild prompting people to be a bit more open with their successes.”

Behind his desk, Guilewind looked thoughtfully out the window, staring at the immense tree in the centre of the Plaza. “Indeed. You have thoroughly flown the coop now. Welcome to the wider world, where hidden powers be abound. Time will tell if our little…initiative will prompt some of the more established powers to share what they learn — hopefully out of simple boasting, if not anything else. Regardless, the Guild has dozens of young teams of note who are doing well.”

“You do?” Kaius said, leaning back in his chair.

“Oh yes. Your team is the most promising, and most successful, that we know of, but you did not think yourselves totally unique, did you? Even before the phase change, there have always been standouts,” Guilewind said.

Kaius didn’t miss the guildmaster’s slight frown.

That was…a hard question to answer. Everything he had seen suggested a plague of risk aversion that had infected the entire world. He’d known there had to be others, but they hadn’t been in Deadacre, that was for sure.

But what did he mean by before the phase change?

“How haven’t we heard of them?” Kenva asked, “If there were others who were fighting above their level, surely the second tier would be more common. Even if they kept it to themselves, and there methods didn’t spread, they would dominate the upper ranks.”

Guilewind gave them a toothy smile, sharpened fangs on display. “They do dominate the upper ranks. You do not reach the third tier or beyond by playing it safe. That said, very very few are as…extreme as your team. Most just stay within a thin bound, tightly managing added risk and the reward of bonus experience. There are always…others, though. You see them occasionally, and they flare brightly, shooting up the ranks and seizing outsized power. Honestly, in hindsight some of them must have had Honours. They never quite made the leap to share, though.”

The reveal sent him reeling. Kaius had considered it of course, how could he not? It seemed ridiculous that Honours had just vanished for so many years — but had they? Or had they just been jealously hoarded like everything else?

“Is that how Lord Kel and his team seized them so quickly? They already knew of some?” Kaius asked, his mouth dry. It could have just been another method of noble dominance — small, curated selections that old Dynasties had perfected the method to acquire over centuries and millennia.

“Possible, but unlikely,” Guilewind shrugged. “True standouts, the kind that seem to be growing like weeds now, are historic anomalies.”

“Then where are they?” Porkchop asked.

“Dead.”

“What?”

Guildmaster Guilwind cocked his brow at them incredulously. “Honours have lain largely undiscovered for so long for a reason. Fifty years ago, Godwin Braxalt, Steel, lost to the Depths. Seventy-eight years ago, Yrn’grola and her team, Silver, all members lost to the Depths. One-thirty-six years ago, the Despot of Bakkermon, Silver, died trying to hunt a lesser drake alone. Two-forty-one years ago, Henriot the Valourous and his team, Gold, all members lost to the Depths. Need I continue? No ‘anomaly’ has made it to the third tier in known history.”

They’d never made it? It was a sobering thought — but not one that would make him second guess his path. They had too much momentum to stop now, and besides, the world wouldn’t wait for them. The danger would escalate, even if the Integration never progressed again.

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If anything, the knowledge that there had always been people out there, pushing when the entire world told them it was insanity, buoyed him. Kindred spirits from another time, he respected their dedication. Besides, how many of them truly had Honours? And if they did, he doubted they had even a fraction of what he and his team had seized. Or their other advantages.

Kaius shared a glance with his team, and saw them filled with the same resolute fire that smouldered within him.

Guilewind gave them a long look and sighed.

“I see you are not convinced, but I did not really expect you would be. I have my suspicions that this release of Honours will lead to untold deaths, but for once I cannot truly refer to history. Times have changed, the system has granted us new advantages and challenges, and Legacy Skills are beginning to spread. You spearhead a new generation, and I am curious if you will manage to surpass the old and decrepit, like myself. Which brings me to my next question — what are your plans in Baanswell. Trouble seems to follow you, and I would like to stabilise things before some radical upheaval turns the entire city on its head. Again.”

“Honestly? Not much. We planned on taking a few weeks or months to utilise the Grand Library to research some history that is relevant to our wider goals, and use that time to prepare for our next delve. We’ll likely be moving on after that.” Kaius replied.

“Planning on chasing yet more Honours, I suppose,” Guilewind said, swirling his drink in his class.

That they were. Ruthless Underdog IV, Hordebreaker III, and others. The scaling for them was brutal; for the former they would need to kill creatures one-fifty levels higher. Even for them, that was insanity. They would need to suppress levelling their classes and

push their skills as high as possible for it to be feasible — he did not want to be facing depthsborn of the third tier when he was only half way to Gold.

It might be damn near the last rank of the Honours they could get. The fifth rank of Underdog would require monsters a full tier higher than them, and it would only get worse from there. Part of the problem was just bloody finding monsters that strong. Depths portals that deep were rare, and if they had to fight their way down through the Depths, it was entirely possible they might level beyond the Honours requirements.

“I only really have one more thing of note. Grandmaster Olmos wants to speak with you. Something about owed payment, though he did not deign to tell me more,” Guilewind said, his horizontal pupils narrowing to slits as he scowled. “I’ll organise a time for you to use the projection chamber now that you have arrived. It shouldn’t take too much more than a week, just let reception know where you are staying.”

Kaius grinned at the news, perfect. He’d been curious about the Natural Treasure the man had mentioned to him — the one that should upgrade the rank of their Dynastic traits. While it would have been good to have earlier, receiving it before they resumed their mad rush of levelling quelled some of his worries. He would have hated to delay their plans to wait on the ascension fruit.

It also meant he wouldn’t have to request to meet the man himself. Kaius’s mind slipped to the notebook in his ring.

The one holding the Legacy and high rarity Skills of Dawntown. Yanmi and her council had debated for weeks, but the guild spreading skills had cinched it for them. If they could disseminate them through the guild, they wouldn’t need to hide anywhere near as much as they currently were, and could start actually trading and recruiting openly. More importantly, there was an immense value to them that would benefit all — they weren’t just combat skills.

A society couldn’t thrive on fighters alone, and what Dawntown offered would be a boon from cooks, to builders and farmers, and more.

“Any suggestions for where we can find a place?” Kenva asked, shaking Kaius out of his thoughts.

Guilewind scratched his leathery skin with his short claws, his eyes eventually settling on Porkchop.

“Nothing immediate jumps to mind, and I honestly expect you might have some trouble. Places that cater to those with bonded and trained beasts exist, but I can’t think of any that have the facilities for a creature of your stature to fit anywhere except the stables — which I assume is out of the question.”

“Yeah, no, we’re not doing that,” Kaius said immediately.

“I am not a horse,” Porkchop huffed.

“I figured — in which case, I recommend looking through Bramton. The Plaza is on the very southern edge of the borough, and it largely caters to the rich and capable. It might take a little looking, but if you ask around you’ll find some place that is happy to meet your needs for enough coin. I would, however, be quick about it. That parade I mentioned is starting in a few hours, and will cut right through Bramton’s main street.”

Kaius nodded — that wasn’t a lot of time, and he and Ianmus still needed to visit the Spire and Runewright’s Collective.

“We could split up?” Kenva suggested. “If it’s close by, Porkchop and I could go looking while you and Ianmus are busy.”

“Oh gods, please — I can’t think of anything worse than listening to dozens of mages ranting unintelligibly.”

Kaius met Ianmus’s eye and shrugged, “Works for me.”

Guilewind got to his feet. “In which case, it was nice to meet the four of you. Please, feel free to ask for advice if you run into more trouble with the local nobles. I’ve grown… familiar with their antics.”

Stepping forward, Kaius shook the man’s hand before they thanked him for his time and left the office. As far as meetings went, it was pleasant. The man might not have been as personable or familiar as Rieker and Ro, but that didn’t come as any great surprise.

They’d arrived in Deadacre as green new recruits, to be guided and moulded. Here, they were already powers in their own right.

Regardless, he was looking forward to the next thing on his list. It wasn’t often he got to walk into a building full of runewrights and upend their entire understanding of the art.

Kaius smiled to himself — this was going to be fun.