Chapter 59: Monster

“Sun’s coming up. Shouldn’t be long, hopefully."

"Good. Can't wait to go back to sleeping at sunset in some beds."

A small tent was set up a fair distance away from the nest. It was well-made but abundant with patchwork spots suggesting its age.

A pair of people sat inside--one from the Dominion, the other, the Chosen, both clad in their respective gear, as if ready for a fight at any moment.

“I don’t understand why we’re even here when that woman is doing our job for us,” the man in mail spoke, focused on the game in front of him. He moved a square, wooden piece a tile forward, stacking an identical square on top.

The woman, wearing her hood fully over her head in case a strong gale blew a blast of rain into the tent once more, leaned back, observing the battlefield in front of her.

“Riza? She’s not a part of the Dominion. That’s why.” After a few seconds of pondering, she made her move, sliding a wooden square etched with a different symbol forward a few places.

“Sure doesn’t feel like it. She talks to Protector Asum all friendly-like as well. I’d be scrubbing toilets for a week if I did that.”

“Carvor!” The woman gasped in exaggerated shock. “Make sure they don’t hear you.” She looked out the tent towards the wagon sitting out in the middle of the field. A lone figure sat on it, watching the nest.

She leaned forward nervously. “I heard she’s as strong as a Guardian,” She whispered.

Wide-eyed, Carvor looked up from the game to her. “Seriously?” He frantically whispered back, like they were children discussing a secret.

“I overheard Sarinth talking the other day. We’ve got reinforcement arriving not for the demons but for Riza.”

Carvor sat back in shock, clearly needing to come to terms with this new information.

Giving him time to think, the woman acted on a blunder he had made earlier in the game, intercepting two red-stained stone chips and stacking two additional squares onto her tile.

“Looks like you’ve got some catching up to do,” She grinned.

*

“It’s still raining,” Riza commented, eyeing a couple of demon stragglers. The moment they stepped within range, they suddenly dropped dead, succumbing to an invisible disease.

Or [Leech], as Riza knew it was. By far, the easiest method of killing any of them had.

“And the sky’s still blue,” Meren said, stirring up a pot once more. Lefie was still sleeping, the eternal log that she was, and Daven and Sanders had gone off to eat with some patrol officers or Dominion folk–Riza was unsure.

They hadn’t abandoned the women; they had brought back some food and drink generously gifted to them by Asum and had left with explicit orders to not reveal any information about what their group was capable of.

“Is it normal for a storm to last multiple days?” Thankfully, they had received tens, tarps, and sticks to lash together some shelter from the rain. It’d last a few days.

“It’s not too strange. Happens every now and then. Wasn’t a big deal back in Litchendorf but now… Now, I’m not so sure,” Meren reminisced.

“But it shouldn’t be a problem, right? I have enough essence to kill hundreds of beast demons and Lefie has enough firepower to kill anything big that comes out. Then, there’s also you, the guys, Asum’s people and the patrol officers.”

“It sounds absurd to hear you say it like that.”

“I guess. Hard to believe it was only a couple months ago when I nearly died fighting a single beast demon,” Riza chuckled at the memory. Oh, how little she knew back then.

“A couple months? You got this strong in ‘a couple months’?” Meren asked, taking a break from cooking. Her tone was shocked, almost scandalised.

“Yeah?” Riza shrugged. “Same with Lefie. Same with you, even; your level cap is 21 now. All you need is some experience.”

“If it’s that easy, why isn’t everyone level twenty-something?”

“It’s not easy. You need to kill humanoid demons but they never leave their nests so you need to go underground which means you need specifically [Cleanse] (passive) but life magic is ‘forbidden’ for some unknown reason but it actually isn’t so the strongest anyone can get is level 15 from greater demons,” Riza rushed out in an annoyed huff, airing her complaints and frustration.

“That’s…” Meren paused, mulling over the jumble of information. “What do you mean life magic actually isn’t forbidden?” She asked, perplexed.

“The Dominion had a Healer called Sylan. He had [Heal] and [Cleanse] and used them on injured people. I was also told to continue taking life skills upon level up as well so they clearly endorse it, they just don’t advertise it.”

Meren didn’t respond. She clearly had to think about all of that.

Riza turned to look back at the nest. The crater.

They had taken turns keeping watch over night. The demons were relentless, constantly peeking out onto the surface before being summarily cut down. Riza had even managed a level up; her first above level 25.

That gave her 3 skill points to work with, if there was anything she wanted to buy. A few things sparked some thought:

[Inform] was enticing as a long-ranged [Message], but the lack of a response was a downside.

[Seeker Mastery] was arguably better. Improved the distance of [Message] from 100 metres to 500 metres as well as unlocking this apparent ‘manifold mastery’ which she wasn’t quite sure what it did.

Then, there was also [Range Compression]. [Leech]’s damage was capped at 1540 damage per second. That’s about thirty seconds to take down a humanoid demon and at least a minute for the elder greater demon.

The most exciting thing about it was that it increased the damage without increasing the essence cost. With all her boons stacked together, the 80 metres of range on [Leech] was going to waste.

Of course, [Range Compression] and [Seeker Mastery] went hand in hand. To unlock the former, she’d need a tier 1 metamagic skill but [Distinguish Life] and [Double Cast] weren’t that appealing to her currently, leaving [Manifold Mastery] as the most enticing option.

In theory, how much damage could it actually do? The benefit of being a ranged attacker is not getting hit but my parasites ensure that I’m safe even up close. Let’s say I close the distance to 10 metres, that’s an 8 times multiplier.

12,000 damage for 70 es per second. Fuck me, that’s a lot. 4 seconds to kill a humanoid demon.

Wait. I’ve been in physical contact with a humanoid demon and survived. That’s a distance in the magnitude of millimetres but let’s say 0.1 metres just for now. That’s 1,200,0-

Holy shit! That’s over a fucking million! Even 1 metre is 120,000 damage PER SECOND!

Fuck fuck fuck. How much total damage could I deal? Essence is 12,200. Divided by 70 is…

Riza reached for her book, fingers rapidly scrawling down numbers.

214,720,000 damage. That’s insane. That should be impossible. No way someone could increase their health enough to compensate. [Range Compression] is acting as an 800 times multiplier. [Well of Power] is a 3 times multiplier by default.

You’d need a shit ton of skills and boons to survive for even a single second.

This can’t be real. There must be a system or something that stops that from happening. You can’t trivialise everything like that

“Are you okay?” Riza heard Meren ask over the sound of her laboured breathing.

“Just freaking out a little over some numbers.”

“Should I be worried?” Her voice was gentle and soft.

“No, not yet.”

“Not yet?”

“It’s fine. Are you nearly finished?”

“Yep. Might be a good time to wake up Lefie.”

*

“So, what got you to join the Chosen?” Sanders asked between gulps of beer, savouring the refreshing taste he hadn’t had in so long.

The tavern was empty apart from their boisterous group, constituting of Sanders, Daven, a few patrolmen, and a few Chosen. Sanders, somehow, already knew two of them and after hanging out near the nest in their downtime, the group had got to talking.

“Ah. It was me little sister mostly. We didn’t have a demon nest but during one storm, it rained like a bastard and a few demons showed up anyway. We were lucky because the Chosen had stopped for a little while to do some recruitin’ and seeing how they handled it, seeing how safe it made little Anai feel, I just knew this was what Skaldur wanted of me.”

There were a few respectful nods and clinking of mugs over that, some people sharing his sentiment.

“Same for me, except without the Chosen part. I was a wee lad when I saw brothers and fathers that I knew defend our home and I knew instantly that that would be me. It was like, a calling, you know? Deep in your soul.”

A murmur of agreement rang out.

“What about you two?” The same guy asked, pointing his mug at Daven and Sanders. “Pretty unique position you’re in. “Why’d ya join that woman?”

“Er…”

“Power,” Sanders said seriously and succinctly.

“Power?” One of the Chosen asked cautiously.

“You should’ve seen her. Massive hole opens up and hundreds of demons pour out. We lost most of our patrolmen in an instant,” Daven clicked his fingers, “But there she was, a little woman running headlong into the fray. She killed them all with only a look and then, boom!” He slammed his hands down onto the fabric-covered table.

“A giant demon bigger than any tree I’ve ever seen climbed out of the hole. None of us would’ve stood a chance but she faced it head-on and won.”

A cast of impressed faces lay before Daven.

“Like you lot, I felt my calling then. She could defend an entire village by herself. Imagine that power. Imagine how much good the Dominion or Chosen could do with that power. Just station someone like her at every village!

“I had joined the patrolmen because I felt lost. I wanted to help my family but didn’t know how. They were carpenters and I barely knew wood from a stick! But when I saw what I could be, I knew how I could help the world,” Daven finished with a long sip from his mug, emptying the thing.

*

A flash of lightning lit up the sky and a deafening clap echoed across the fields. The wind picked up even more fiercely than before, and the rain started coming down harder still.

Non-stop for two days, and it only seemed to be getting worse.

Everlight torches lined the barren field in uneven increments, lighting up the plains. Those, combined with the weak moonlight, was all the illumination offered to Riza, sitting atop the wagon as a vantage point.

Every now and then, a trickle of demons would emerge from the crater, the white fog sliding off their bodies like a viscous goo.

She'd pick them off with ease, [Leech]'s range far enough she didn't have to move from the wagon.

It was good experience. Still roughly ten demons an hour, although, there was a sharp decline in the variety of demons. At first, it was a veritable menagerie of creatures: lupine, deer-like, and even some that looked like rabbits all emerged from the ground but now, it was rare for even one to not resemble a grotesquely large and white mole.

Riza was suspicious, and worried, at first. She kept constantly going up to the crater and sensing the demons beneath and not once did they seem depleted or diminished. It was odd.

Something good did come out of it, at least, and that was a ton off levels. Lefie had now capped out at level 25, Riza at level 29, Meren kept her promise of level 15, and Daven and Sanders rounded it off at level 11 each.

All-in-all, spectacular progress. Meren and Lefie had chosen their skills and boons and all that was left was for Riza to decide on her own and her minions.

For Riza herself, it was actually hard to decide what to spend her skill points on.

For the first time in a long time, she had an abundance of points available and with no clear goal in mind.

So, what skills stood out to her?

There was of course [Range Compression]. That’d follow the path of [Seeker Mastery], [Manifold Mastery], and then [Range Compression] but maybe she actually did want [Distinguish Life] to be better at handling a crowd of enemies? That’d be two or three skill points there.

Psyche-wise, there was [Inform] and hopefully a skill higher tier of that which allowed for the other party to send a message back. One or two points there as well.

Of course, an obvious limitation was her reliance on [Meditate]. Without it active, she’d be constantly losing essence and using any skills, such as [Leech], would just exacerbate that.

Therefore, [Essence Congruency] was an appealing skill.

[Essence Congruency] (1/10)

Use 2 active essence skills simultaneously at 20% intensity

Requirements: 10 active essence skills

Do I meet the requirements yet? It had been a while since Riza last checked.

[Leech], [Meditate], [Heal], [Essence Transformer], [Message], [Parasite], [Essential Leech]. That’s seven but it could be 8 if they count [Cleanse] even though it’s currently a passive.

Just two or three more active skills to unlock it, and then an additional skill point for [Essence Congruency] itself.

What skills would I take to unlock it? [Inform] of course, maybe a skill above that.

If I’m taking [Essence Congruency], that would let me be able to actually use [Leech] against large foes. It’d be good if there was a skill that would let me see in fog, then.

Is there a skill that does that?

Riza’s first thought was, in fact, a different skill in the primordial magic tree.

[Essence Manipulation] (1/10)

Manipulate essence to some degree of acuity

‘Manipulate Essence’. Same wording as [Manipulate Water]. The fog is a pure essence so this should work, right?

Except, there’s no cost to it. No cost. No range. No mass. The only similarity is the wording. Essence is magical so there’s the possibility English lacks the words to describe magic.

Is there another skill that can manipulate fog? Riza’s mind went back to the bunker. Fog’s a gas and the pumps worked just fine on it.

With that notion in mind, Riza quickly found a potentially relevant skill tree.

Air

0th Tier

[Mistify] (1/10)

Convert 2m³ of air into mist or mist into air

2m radius

Cost: 1 es

[Manipulate Air] (1/10)

Manipulate 2m³ of air

Cost: 1 es/sec

Okay. [Mistify] is a little weird but [Manipulate Air] sounds like it could be exactly what I’m looking for! The question is whether fog would count as air but on the off-chance it doesn’t, I could just carry a pocket of air with me into the underground and use that as a sort of air bubble.

No, that shouldn’t be necessary either. There’s still oxygen within the fog. I should be able to separate the pure essence from normal air just fine.

There is the issue of cost, however. If I wanted to use [Leech] at range I’d need to clear a line from me to the target and that would be expensive. I suppose I could get around that by staying in close quarters.

Actually, it shouldn’t even be much of a problem. 1m³ of air means I should be able to just create a long but thin corridor of essenceless air to see through.

All of that sounds good. I guess I have a plan: [Distinguish Life], [Range Compression], [Inform], [Manipulate Air], another air skill, and then [Essence Congruency].

Firstly, Riza took [Manipulate Air] to unlock the next tier of skills.

Air

0th Tier

[Mistify] (1/10)

Convert 2m³ of air into mist or mist into air

2m radius

Cost: 1 es

[Manipulate Air] (1/10) -Learned

Manipulate 2m³ of air

Cost: 1 es/sec

1st Tier

[Alter Air] (1/10)

Modify the heat energy of 1m³ of air by 1 K/sec

Cost: 1 es/K

Requirements: [Mistify] (5/10)

[Identifiable Air] (1/10)

Sense nearby air

2m radius

Cost: 1 es/sec

[Intrinsic Tank] (1/10)

Store and release up to 2m³ of air inside you

1m range

Cost: 5 es

Requirements: [Manipulate Air] (1/10)

This is pretty similar to the water skill tree. I wonder if there’s a connection?

[Alter Air] is very strange considering [Mistify] is already a skill. The latter makes the former a bit obsolete.

Now that I think about it, there’s a bit of an overlap with [Alter Water]. Air contains water vapour which when cooled turns into water. If water vapour is considered ‘air’ then [Alter Air] should work to turn air into water.

[Alter Water] should do the same then, surely?

But there’s also an ice skill tree. Is that a sign that the system recognises different states of matter as different aspects of essence? Is air, water, and ice all the same skill tree or is there an actual difference?

Note for future me: take [Alter Air] and get Lefie to take [Alter Water] so I can do some tests.

[Identifiable Air] doesn’t seem that great. I already have lungs.

[Intrinsic Tank] is slightly interesting. It’s got a range. Could I suffocate someone with this? Wouldn’t work on demons sadly so not much use.

This could be useful if I find myself somewhere without air again. Assuming it scales like I suspect it does, that’s 140m^3 of air I can store. Wow. Quite a lot. Could I release that all at once to give it some force?

Could I punch someone with wind? Even fly?

Okay, the air skills are seriously interesting. I’ll put that on the backburner for now.

[Inform] is next.

Psyche

0th Tier

[Message] (10/10)+ -Learned

Telepathically send a [Message] to someone of up to 200 words. They can send a [Message] back.

100m range

Cost: 23 es

[Detect Truth] (1/10)

Enhance your ability to detect truths

Cost: 1 es/sec

1st Tier

[Inform] (1/10) -Learned

Telepathically send a one-way [Message] to someone of up to 100 words

1km range

Cost: 50 es

Requirements: [Message] (10/10)

[Imprint Image] (1/10)

Telepathically exchange a mental image to someone

10m range

Cost: 50 es

2nd Tier

[Sending] (1/10)

Telepathically send a [Message] to someone. They can send a [Message] back.

20m range

Cost: 100 es

Requirements: [Inform] (10/10)

[Expansive Mind] (1/10)

Psyche skill range is increased by 2% for each skill level in each psyche skill

[Sending] looks to be the next improvement to the [Message] family. Range is a bit low but it probably scales better than [Message] and with [Expansive Mind], that’s less of a problem.

If you only had [Message], [Inform], and [Expansive Mind], what would the bonus be?

600% entirely for free. [Seeker Mastery] would improve that to 3000%. The upgraded version to 4200% increase.

[Inform] at level 10 is probably a 20km range. With all those buffs, it’d be 860km. Holy shit. I could definitely reach someone in Litchendorf with that. I could probably even reach all the way back to the caldera I started in.

The skill doesn’t say anything about who I can target. If it’s like [Message], I’d need to be familiar with them but if not, could I target the Regent?

That brings me up to 9 active skills now. Let’s see if it counts [Cleanse] as well.

Riza navigated back to [Essence Congruency] and attempted to buy it but was unfortunately met with the same results as when she has no skill points.

Damn. Good information to know, though; active skills converted into passives no longer count as active.

A shame I can’t take [Expansive Mind]. Either [Sending] or [Intrinsic Tank]. I wonder if I would be able to continually cycle air in and out continually?

Fuck it. I’ve got so many ideas I want to try.

Slightly shaking in anticipation, Riza went ahead and purchased [Intrinsic Tank].

Show me what else you got, baby.

Air

0th Tier

[Mistify] (1/10)

Convert 2m³ of air into mist or mist into air

2m radius

Cost: 1 es

[Manipulate Air] (1/10) -Learned

Manipulate 2m³ of air

Cost: 1 es/sec

1st Tier

[Alter Air] (1/10)

Modify the heat energy of 1m³ of air by 1 K/sec

Cost: 1 es/K

Requirements: [Mistify] (5/10)

[Identifiable Air] (1/10)

Sense nearby air

2m radius

Cost: 1 es/sec

[Intrinsic Tank] (1/10)

Store and release up to 2m³ of air inside you

1m range

Cost: 5 es

Requirements: [Manipulate Air] (1/10)

2nd Tier

[Internal Flow] (1/10)

Instead of breathing, consume 1m³ of stored air every minute

Cost: 1 es/sec

Requirements: [Intrinsic Tank] (1/10)

[Lighter than Air] (1/10)

Expend stored air to reduce your weight by 20%

Cost: 10 es/sec

Requirements: [Intrinsic Tank] (5/10)

[Obscuring Haze] (1/10)

Cloak yourself in a haze of air, obscuring your form

Cost: 5 es/sec

Requirements: [Alter Air] (10/10)

What the fuck? [Lighter than Air]? There’s definitely flight at higher tiers, I’m betting my kidney on that. What is this implying; that I’m filling myself with helium?

Fuck that; you can probably fly with just [Intrinsic Tank] and [Lighter than Air] already if you can get around the essence cost. Probably 200% reduction at 100 es/sec, whatever that means.

I’d definitely need to experiment with that.

Lastly, [Obscuring Haze]. I suppose it works as a defensive skill, making you harder to hit. Maybe it works like a mirage? Don’t think it’s particularly useful for me, though.

Okay. Now that’s done with, I can go ahead and buy the rest of my skills.

In quick succession, Riza gobbled up her remaining skill points, purchasing [Distinguish Life], [Range Compression], and [Essence Congruency].

Now, for the long, tedious grind ahead.

*

It was still only just early morning but, already, Riza wanted to get her training in. Daven and Sanders were on demon duty this time, with Lefie as backup in case they couldn’t handle it. Riza hadn’t quite decided on what skills she wanted them to take, yet.

As for her, however, she was bursting with possibilities. Unfortunately, not all of them could she test; the Dominion were always watching so that limited her to skills they would know. Namely, life skills.

The first thing she tried was [Distinguish Life]. She calmed herself, envisaged the flowing pool of essence inside and of a single, bush, and then simply extended that visage to another bush and then another bush.

[Leech] was at its lowest level–just 1 damage a second–but the moment Riza tightened the leash, the trickle turned into a stream, the bushes instantly draining of life.

[Distinguish Life] [Level Up]

Yes! First try. Seems I’m getting good at this essence thing.

Riza pulled out her journal flipping through the pages until she got to the one she wanted.

Let’s see… tier 1 so that’s 28,500 essence. At my current rate of regeneration, that’d take around two hours. Later.

Tests for later: seeing which skill works with [Distinguish Life]. It says ‘continuous, single-target’ so [Heal] may work. [Essential Leech] doesn’t have a cost per second but it does have a casting time so maybe that’d come under [Double Cast]?

I should see how it affects [Manipulate Air]. Lefie can already affect two disparate globules of water with [Manipulate Water] so I’m not sure what the effect will be.

Anyway, now for [Range Compression].

Riza had to find some more bushes to test this upon, which led her a fair distance away from the nest and the others but still within Lefie’s and her range of [Message].

This skill was a slight disappointment when Riza unlocked it. Previously, all the information she knew about it came through Lefie by proxy and their quick, messy tests in the bunker. Apparently, Lefie was not all that good with the scientific method because the skill was completely different from what Riza thought it was.

[Range Compression] (1/10)

Compress a skill to increase intensity by 20% for ever metre reduced

There was a linear increase for every metre reduced rather than being inversely multiplicative; going from a 2 metre range to 1 didn’t double the damage but merely added on 20% to it.

Well, that’s what Riza suspected. It was currently only level 1 however.

Nonetheless, the first level was always the easiest. Firstly, Riza set her variable.

Cost of 10 per second. Adjusted range down to 30 metres. Compression multiplier of 2 for total damage 440 per second.

Bush after bush quickly wilted at superspeed, leaves turning brown and dropping off, the stems shrinking and twigs too fragile to remain standing.

5 seconds was all it took to receive the notification.

[Range Compression] [Level Up]

Nice. 100 essence played into that somehow. Total cost was 50, total damage was 2,200 so I don’t think it was either of those.

The compression multiplier was 2 so if I had to guess, the skill experience is the multiplier times the cost of the skill?

Riza promptly found the right page in her book.

Next level is 800 skill experience. Adjust the variables a little and we get a multiplier of 2 at only 55 range this time. Hypothesis: forty seconds until level up.

Riza found another patch of grass and bushes even further away from where she started, closer in on the road they first took to come here, and prepared for her test.

And, sure enough, the notification came right when she expected.

[Range Compression] [Level Up]

Feeling satisfied, it was finally time to use [Essence Congruency], arguably the most important skill she had recently purchased.

This skill had interesting implications with its ‘20% intensity’ description. Does it increase by 20% each level? Riza was excited to find out.

[Leech] was quite destructive so she held off on using it for now. Instead, she practised with [Meditate] and [Heal], sinking into the calm expanse of her mind as she focused on the green-tinted, whirlpool of essence inside of her.

As much as she required somewhat of an understanding of essence and skills, it was still the system that governed their use. Riza could do the exact same steps for [Heal] but without the intention of using it or already having another skill activated and it just wouldn’t work.

It was like there was a variable that controlled for multi-skill usage that was clicked to no but, now, it was yes.

She had used [Leech] or [Heal] or any other skill on top of [Meditate] before, usually because she forgot she was using it, so, just simply following through those actions once more, it worked. She didn’t have to adjust how she activated her skills, they just simple worked together now.

Neat. Time to get some presets in place.

And so, she experimented with different skills, different costings, to see what she could do.

[Heal] had gotten a huge boost from her [Way of Life] boon.

[Heal+] -Learned

Restore 380 health, 4 stamina, 4 essence to a living entity

Cost: 10 es/sec

Her excess essence was 3.8 per second. Heal at a cost of 5 per second had an effective cost of 3 while healing 190 health every second.

Then, there was [Leech], benefitting from [Range Compression] as well.

[Leech] (10/10)+ -Learned

Drain 274 points of health from a living entity

1m range

Cost: 3es/sec

And, just to test it, Riza experimented with a combination of [Essence Transformer] and [Heal] and the results were honestly surprising.

[Essence Transformer] (10/10)+ -Learned

Convert health into essence

Conversion rate: 140hp/sec

Efficiency: 10%

[Heal+] -Learned

Restore 140 health, 1 stamina, 1 essence to a living entity

Cost: 3 es/sec

The lack of decimals did make things difficult but Riza worked out [Heal] had a net cost of 2.21 which meant, the two skills used together was 11.79 essence per second. Very high but falling short of [Meditate].

It had been a while since she last looked but Riza had an inkling of an idea and had to check it out.

[Essence Transformer] has reached level 10.

You can choose to spend a skill point to upgrade the skill or turn the skill into a passive.

[Essence Transformer]+

Convert health into essence

Conversion rate: 20hp/sec

Efficiency: 50%

[Essence Transformer] (passive)

50% of natural health regeneration is converted into essence regeneration

Yes! Higher efficiency. That means the 14 es per sec increases to 70 es per sec. Holy shit. [Heal] remains at a 2.21 cut. Fuck me, why didn’t I think about this! Stupid me; I’m fucking capped!

Riza frowned towards the direction of the demon nest.

You’d better be keeping a colossal demon down there.

*

Progress was slow going with her training. All her summons severely limited her regenerative capacity but still, Riza trained for a good couple of hours until a crow suddenly swooped down before her, startling her somewhat.

Alas, it was friendly, hopping onto her shoulder.

“Hello crow. What instruction did I give you,” She mused aloud, mentally shuffling through filing cabinets of old memos until she found it: alert me to any new people or demons.

“Shit. Which is it? People or demons?” She asked worriedly.

The crow took off, flying up and then down the road Riza was beside and, sure enough, off in the distance was a triad of horses kicking up dust and dirt behind them. They were a fair distance off but even so, Riza could make out the shining of and the slim silhouettes of weapons donning their persons.

Almost immediately, Riza began to run back to the nest, sending a [Message] to Lefie as she did.

“Gather everyone around you. Three members of the Chosen are arriving soon and we need to be prepared.”

“Prepared? Are we going to fight them?” Lefie telepathically sent back. Riza didn’t respond, not wanting to spend the essence and, besides, she was making good work of the ground beneath her feet.

She felt like a professional athlete, energy coursing through her body as she sprinted across the uneven, earthen ground.

She arrived back quickly, Lefie having obeyed her command and gathered everyone beside their wagon.

“What’s going on? Why do we need to prepare?” Lefie asked worriedly once Riza stopped to take a breath.

“I’m interested too. I was gettin’ some good experience out there,” Sanders commented gruffly.

“Three Chosen are arriving on horseback. They’ll probably be strong. I think Asum called for backup,” She explained.

“So, what, we’re going to run away?” Meren asked, somehow managing to avoid a judgemental tone.

“Yes, no, I don’t know. But I’m worried. And I’m suspicious of Asum. They’re backup and there’s only three of them? They have to be strong, especially considering what I told him about humanoid demons. Each of them are probably at least level 15 and likely higher.

“And,” Riza hurried out somewhat manically, her voice shaky, “He was acting really strange. Back in the first village, where I was taken, they kept me in a house then took me to court and ordered me to work for them and take what skills they told me to take but now? I can do what I want and I don’t even have to stay. It doesn’t make sense!”

“Riza,” Lefie said gently, laying a hand on her arm. “Calm down. Use [Meditate]. Think this through.”

In all her haste, Riza hadn’t noticed she forgot to enable [Meditate] again from her training, quickly doing that and taking large, deep breaths to centre herself.

Lefie was a comforting presence by her side.

“Sorry. You’re right. I was in a downward spiral of anxiety.” Lefie gave her a quick, but firm, hug.

“Anyway, I’m sure there’s a good explanation for why the Chosen reinforcements are here that doesn’t concern you,” Meren said softly, again, avoiding a judgemental tone. “Like being told the humanoid demons are a threat.” She pointed towards the nest, and then at the small encampment made by Asum.

“Even though we’ve been dealing with all the demons, Protector Asum always makes sure he’s got people there anyway. I think he’s treating this whole situation the same way he would even if you weren’t here. The Dominion and the Chosen aren’t evil, Riza,” She said, ending somewhat firmly.

Riza’s face was a model of anxiety as she turned towards Sanders and Daven, wanting their thoughts.

“What she said,” Daven gestured at Meren. “You said it yourself; you could leave at any time. What if you did and there’s still humanoid demons underground? Protector Asum needs the backup.”

Sanders nodded in agreement.

That… makes sense. That’s probably the case, right?

So, what do we do? Carry on like normal?

“Why don’t you take a rest? You’ve been busy since sun up,” Meren offered, pointing towards the wagon which still had two bedrolls in it.

Riza worriedly looked between her party, then to the nest, then to the Dominion encampment, before heaving a big sigh and wearily nodding her head.

*

Three horses pulled up to a small gathering of tents on this barren land, the demon crater plainly visible.

Adewyn swung herself over the side, gracefully dismounting from her horse. Protector Asum was already ready to meet her.

“Guardian Adewyn. Pleased to have you hear,” He greeted respectfully. She nodded.

“I was already en route when I got a message about some humanoid demons, did I get that right?”

“I’m afraid so. Riza, over there,” and he pointed towards the stationed wagon, “Is able to actually enter these nests. She did so towards one on the other side of the village and reported finding three of the aforementioned demons who promptly blocked up the nest.”

“Blocked up the nest?”

“That’s what she said. They’re apparently very powerful demons, capable of using essence like Skaldians are.”

“Very disconcerting. Has Riza gone back down into the nest?”

“No, not yet. Her group has been killing the demons that emerge from the nest all day and all night but that’s about all. This storm has been going on for a few days now.”

Adewyn took in that information. A constant supply of demons and recently killed and elder. Riza would almost certainly have levelled up a few times since. Very bad news indeed.

“And the rest of her entourage? What are they capable of?” Adewyn turned to look at the group as Protector Asum pointed.

“The tall woman is called Meren. She seems to only wield a spear. I’ve asked some of my men and they’d put her in the level 10 to 15 range, with a few spear skills but she’s likely levelled up only recently so they shouldn’t be too effective yet.”

“They’ve got a fuckin’ Protector with ‘em,” Adewyn heard her warrior companion mutter under his breath.”

“And the others?”

“The two men are Sanders and Daven. They’ve been gaining levels as well but they don’t seem any stronger than level 1’s. They’ve got plenty of experience with their weapons but haven’t shown any skills yet.”

“Perhaps they use essence?”

“Maybe. We’ve seen a little bit of life magic emanate from them but that was always when Riza was beside them. The same can’t be said for Lefie, or even Meren.”

“The spearwoman?”

“Apparently so. Life magic, it seems, though we don’t know which. Most likely option if [Heal].”

“She’s spreading forbidden magic,” Adewyn observed without any contempt seeping into her tone.

“Just her people. Riza has had minimal contact with anyone else, excluding myself, of course.”

“And the little one, Lefie? I recognise her. She was in Kratten with Riza.”

“Not surprised. She’s a lightning neophyte, best I can tell. Matches the description of the one in Litchendorf.”

“She’s likely level 25 by now.”

“That high? Our estimates were in the level 15 range. She hasn’t used any skills other than [Lightning Bolt] with a bit of metamagic: [Dual Cast] and [Maximise Mastery], at least. We suspect perhaps [Seeker Mastery] and [Range Compression] but are unsure.”

“She began as a water neophyte. [Way of Water] was her first boon so if she’s transitioned to a lightning neophyte, she’s not as strong as her level may suggest.”

“Well. That’s good to know. Lastly, there’s Riza. Who seems eager to be going somewhere,” Protector Asum said as the small woman hopped out of her wagon and began a mad dash towards the village.

“Any idea where she’s going?”

“No. She hasn’t been back in the village since the day she arrived.”

“Strange. Has she used any skills other than life ones?” Adewyn turned back to Protector Asum.

“Unfortunately not. As far as we can ascertain, [Leech] and [Heal] are the only skills she’s used. She’s a complete mystery.”

“Excellent information, Protector Asum. We-”

Before Adewyn could finish her sentence, a tremendous tremor ripped through the ground beneath them, scaring the horses, rattling loose items, and threatening to tear down the tents.

“Fuck! What’s happening?” She heard someone shout as she struggled to maintain her balance.

The shaking grew more and more intense and then it clicked in her head.

“There’s another demon nest!” She bellowed, grabbing her two companions and dragging them away from the epicentre of the quake.

The ground was soggy, the rain turning it into slick mud, as they struggled to power through it until, a quaking stronger than anything she had ever experienced, threw them to the ground.

She failed to find a handhold in the mud as the floor just dropped beneath her, sloping diagonally as the turned and tumbled and slid downwards.

Wads of dirt and grass and even stones joined her, slapping her in the face as she bounced down an ever-increasing slide until, finally, after what felt like minutes of falling, she slid to a stop, the ground evening out beneath her.

With alacrity, she hurried to her feet, wiping the dirt out of her ears as she took in the sight surrounding her.

A crater. She was in the bottom of a crater so large it encompassed all of the village. Destroyed buildings, cobble roads, piles of bodies struck through with broken wooden and splattered on the ground haphazardly.

They all drifted towards the centre, the rubble and debris piling up like makeshift walls. Everywhere she looked, she could see bodies, people injured and crying for help, trapped under buildings or people or even animals.

A few people survived the fall. Those near the perimeter of the hole, it seemed, mostly came out injured but alive. Those near the nest, outside the village itself.

And only one person was running about, looking completely uninjured as she dashed back to the broken remains of her wagon, picking up her friends from the ground as their injuries melted away.

Checking her own health, Adewyn was lightly scratched but mostly alright, her large health pool and decent armour protecting her.

Just as she managed to get a sense of the situation, the ground shook once more. She turned towards the centre of the crater, where an entrance to a nest was likely hidden.

Another shake, and then another, like a gargantuan monster was walking. Adewyn gulped with dread.

And out of the depths, from behind the destruction, rose a humongous hand, crashing down on the debris like it was paper. Another hand followed, and then another, and even more, totally a staggering six arms, pulling up a central, massive white body like a spider.

Four gaping jaws protruded from its torso as six, small legs dangled below it.

Many storeys tall, it was almost the largest thing she had ever seen. Forget villages, this could destroy a city.

“What the fuck is that thing?” She heard a shout from beside her as the warrior scrambled to his feet, patting himself down as he searched for his weapon.

“An elder greater demon.”