A nudging to her head roused her from her sleep. A small, but adorable face was looking at her with pleading eyes.

Ellie had been asleep ever since she’d returned the night previous. The shield Ashley had formed had held from the ants completely. Come daybreak, the enemy had retreated. Scuttling away before the sun fully rose. To where, no one knew. But what it did grant them was peace, and time. Time to rest before they tackled what happened to Leo.

“Hey, pretty,” Ashley said softly, stroking the young dragon's head.

Ellie shook Ashley’s hand from her head and started tugging on her robes, making a worried mewing noise that broke Ashley’s heart.

What was left of her drowsiness was completely washed away upon seeing her this distraught. It was as she had feared.

Something had happened to Leo.

“Let’s go see Cece. I’m sure she’ll be getting people ready to go out again by now.”

The pair got to their feet and exited the building. Outside, the shield had been taken down to conserve the mana. People were still waking, with others beginning their usual crafting practice or general socialising.

Worried faces were common among those having conversations. Ashley overheard talks of ‘Could they keep the camp safe?’ and ‘What if they come back?’ It was natural to think so.

Since the start of the tutorial, the nights had been safer than the day. She’d heard a few reports that ants discovered during the night would be aggressive when provoked, but otherwise remained idle. Now things have changed.

Every night they would have to be prepared to fight to the death. Which meant it was a constant struggle, due to the daytime also being the same. The latter was technically a choice, but if nights were to be like the one previous… it would start being less of a choice.

The pair found Cecelia speaking to Nolan, Gordon, Bjorn and Ron. They seemed to have a map of sorts on a stone table, Cecelia was pointing to somewhere on it.

“What’s going on?” Ashley asked as she approached.

Cecelia turned towards her. “Ashley. Good, come sit. We were just discussing today’s plans.”

Ashley took her seat with Ellie hopping up to her lap to look at the map. It was a strange looking map. The camp they were in was fully detailed, along with a route leading towards the broken fort to the north. The rest was blank and unrevealed. Most of it, actually.

Nolan seemed to realise her confusion and filled her in. “This map was created by my profession skill. It lets me make a map to scout and follow.” He gave her a sad smile. “It only works where I’ve actually set foot on so it’s rather limited. We were just trying to gauge roughly which direction Leo went.”

Ashley nodded her thanks. “Maybe we can ask Ellie to just show us?” she asked pointedly.

Cecelia paused for a moment. Then she spoke, “Ellie. Do you know exactly where you came from? Do you think you could lead us back there?”

All eyes were locked on the little dragon as she seemed to try and figure out what they were asking.

She hopped off the lap of Ashley and started running on the spot, dashing back and forth with flaps of her wings. Taking worried looks behind her every few moments.

“I think Ellie’s saying she didn’t know where she ran from,” Bjorn guessed.

The little dragon nodded, then sat down and pointed to her nose with her front claw. It was extremely cute.

Ashley held back a squee and spoke for the little dragon, “She’s saying she can lead us to him if she smells him! Let’s go!”

“Wait!” Cecelia commanded.

“We could be gone for a while in search. Nolan, I know you probably want to get back out there and explore, but we could do with someone holding down the fort. My group will follow Ellie to where Leo could be. If there is a fight to be had due to him being captured or hurt we may return for reinforcement.”

“Alright.” Nolan said agreeably. “Gordon won’t be happy but I’m sure it’s fine if he scouts the immediate area and has some fights. I’m still beat from last night’s defense.”

Cecelia nodded her thanks. “Good. Ron, go find Marco, see if he’s awake after last night. If he’s not then we’ll go without him. Bjorn, talk to Amy and see if she wants to help.”

“You got it.” Bjorn stood and left, Ron following after.

Cecelia addressed the remaining two. “I know you two are eager to go and find Leo, I am too. But we have to be smart about this. If whatever he discovered was strong enough to stop him… well, I don’t have to say more, do I?”

Ashley bit her lip in frustration but agreed to wait.

A red headed woman came running towards both Ashley and Ellie in a storm of worry, accompanied by someone who looked very similar but less distraught.

“I heard Leo’s missing?! What happened last night?” Lena demanded, panic stricken.

“Do you not know about the whole camp being almost completely overrun by ants?” Ashley asked incredulously.

Lena hung her head, ashamed. “No, I was caught up in my work until I passed out. I only overheard something was wrong when Amy and Bjorn came to find me. Then I came here.”

Ashley laughed, not jovial but disbelieving. “You really are obsessed. Suppose it’s a gift in this world. These boots you gave me are really comfy.”

Lena stood straight. “I want to help find him. He’s done so much for me that I can never thank him enough for. Please.”

Amy put her hand on the young woman’s shoulder. “You’re not strong enough, even if you’re… Level 29?!”

Ashley stared and identified her too, and it confirmed it.

Human - Level 29

“How did you get your class up so high? What have you been doing in that workshop of yours?” Ashley asked.

Lena shook her head. “It’s not my class that’s high, it’s my profession. I'm still only level 12 in that, but my profession evolved and I got… bonuses.” She said the last word with a faint hesitation. Almost like she wasn’t sure.

“A high profession doesn’t mean you can fight sis, crafting stuff won't help you kill what's out there. You hate fighting, remember?”

The red-head’s face became angry as she held up her wand and aimed it towards the building next to her. A water blade, similar to the one she had always used—her Essence skill—manifested in front of it. Then it grew… and kept growing.

It stopped when it was around a metre long and extremely curved, looking wicked sharp. It was easily three times bigger than her old skill. It shot out and sliced a large gouge out of the building before dispersing.

“I may not be a high level mage. But I can still fight.”

Amy sighed, while Ashley nodded in respect. “Leo would have loved to see that,” she whispered.

A small smile graced Lena’s lips before they morphed back into seriousness.

Cecelia and Ron walked over, the former addressing them.

“What’s the commotion?” She looked at the newcomers. “Amy. I hope this means you will be joining us?”

Amy nodded.

“Good. Lena, what brings you from your workshop?”

“She wants to come with,” Ashley said casually. “I say we let her.”

Cecelia frowned. “I’m afraid it’s too dangerous out there. I do not want to offend you, but you’d only be a burden if we had to focus on protecting you. The antlings in the inner city are not like those on the outskirts. They are stronger, tougher, and more intelligent. You–”

Her words cut off as Ashley interrupted. “Cece.” Ashley tilted her head towards the building behind them and the impressive slice cut from it. “She did that. Imagine what she could do to an ant.”

“I–” Cecelia began but held her tongue, sighing instead. “Fine. But you will do as I say. I do not want any deaths.”

“Thank you!” Lena said, joyful. “I won’t let you down.”

Bjorn chuckled darkly. “You won't be thanking her once you’re out there.”

~

Leo took the time while he was monitoring the shadows to rest up, but also to check out his skill upgrade.

Nerveflash (Uncommon)

Lightning saturates your nerves, letting instinct move faster than thought.

Grants enhanced reflexes and danger sense. When struck by a mortal attack, your body enters a reflex surge, forcing an automatic evasive movement.

The surge drains your stamina and briefly disrupts control.

Scales with Agility

Reflex surge cooldown: 30 Minutes

It was certainly an upgrade—according to the system at least. Leo wasn’t all that pleased by it, however.

Sure, it gave him everything Voltaic Reflex did and more, but losing control of his body to force a dodge felt a bit wrong. It was likely he’d have died in that corridor without this skill so he tried not to complain too much.

The drain on his resources was big too. A massive chunk he actively felt, more so than when he used Fuel the Fire at full blast for a long duration. He guessed that the reason he felt the weird trippy feeling after the upgrade was the backlash of the skill. Looking back on it, it wasn’t too bad a downside compared to death.

Guess it’s the cost of an upgrade forced out by saving my life instead of skillfully doing it myself.

Time passed as Leo tried to meditate. No way could he tackle this room without full resources. That took a while, so in the meantime he tried to figure out his exact path.

There were areas void of shadows and creatures, almost looking like safe zones. While they looked a bit too good to be true, Leo would at least give them a try. Worst case, he’d make a run for it and hope his speed was enough to get wherever he needed to be.

Actually… where do I go exactly? Leo considered.

As he’d been monitoring the shadows, he’d also been trying to plot out the actual room itself. The problem was, from this vantage point, he saw no exits. Only pillars and walls.

His resources filled, Leo took a few steps out, his preplanned route in his head as he navigated to the nearest spot that looked safe—just next to a pillar, completely dark.

Ironic that the safe zone from a shadow was in darkness, but he didn’t care. As long as it kept him safe.

His feet made small thumping noises as he moved in a crouch towards the pillar. The sentries seemed to turn towards the noise and start drifting towards him so he picked up the pace. They moved faster so he did the same. Forgoing the crouch, he slid into complete darkness.

The shadows stopped at the line separating darkness and light and then turned around, moving back to their patrols.

Leo let out a breath as relief flooded his body. This was doable. The shadows were slow to begin with, even with Leo in the light. It was only when they got closer did they speed up.

From there, Leo navigated his way from safe zone to safe zone, all the while being careful not to make any sort of light.

It took ages. The times between being able to move and not were becoming smaller and smaller. The shadow sentries grew more numerous as he made his way towards what he hoped would be the exit.

Pillars started morphing into arches as this seemingly endless bank continued on. If not for the system, he’d have guessed he was in a dungeon right now. Finally, the arches came to an architectural crescendo, in the form of two massive stone doors.

Leo barely made it into the safe zone, the shadow sentry nearby had touched his leg, forcing him to burn the dash from his boots to escape its clutch. From that brief touch, his senses told him not to ever get caught—Nerveflash screaming at him to move.

Gazing upon the massive, intricately carved doors, Leo had a problem; how to open them.

There was enough torchlight illuminating the doors that the sentries were able to move around freely before them without a gap.

An idea came to mind as Leo tried to figure out what to do. The torches so far had been quite out of reach and caged in what looked to be solid metal. Those covering the door were exposed and much easier to get to.

Leo’s Frost Lance came into being—parallel to his arm. He briefly aimed for one of the torches before firing it out, praying to Iskarion it would work.

The ice crashed into the meager flame and completely extinguished it. Instantly creating a small gap where darkness ruled.

Yes! Leo cheered. Only a few more to go and he would be able to approach the door. Easy.

Then, something happened. The shadows, previously pathing in different ways with seemingly singular intelligence, gathered towards the area the torch had extinguished. A moment later, the torch reignited and the shadows got back to their patrols.

Leo groaned internally. Not that easy.

Brainstorming a plan, Leo considered his Wind Essence. So far he’d used his Cloak of Wind with pretty good results. It was already an amazing skill. His other skill however—Tailwind—wasn’t so impactful.

Tailwind (Uncommon)

Your connection to the wind deepens, drawing a constant breeze around your body that moves in harmony with you. Drag and strain are carried away as the air shifts to support your motion.

The surrounding wind responds instinctively to your intent, aiding balance, direction, and control while moving or airborne. This reduces stamina expenditure during sustained movement.

Scales with Endurance

It was an interesting skill, one that was just constantly active, granting Leo ease of movement and reduced stamina expenditure. He’d never stopped and actually practiced with the skill or even tried to influence it in any meaningful way. It was like his Stoneskin or Iron Repetition in that regard. Active all the time, so usually overlooked or ignored apart from in dire circumstances.

Leo got to his feet, focusing on the wind around him. A steady stream that seemed to flow in a circle surrounding him. Closing his eyes, he could feel the wind mana and the control over it. It covered an area no more than a few metres in every direction. Subtle. Gentle. Patient.

Controlling the wind required the same. A gentle touch with a patience Leo had never exhibited. All his experiments with mana so far were just to try and amplify everything. More power, more damage. This was different.

Leo was directing the wind like a conductor of the breeze. Up, down, the wind flowed to his command. Not entirely, but enough to notice the shift.

His idea from this was to try and extinguish all the torches at once, giving the shadows nowhere to group and reignite. The issue was that his area didn’t extend far enough outwards to reach them.

He’d have to get closer

This is going to end poorly, I’m sure. Leo thought as he jumped up from the safezone, putting his feet on the pillar behind him like a launching pad with his wind cloak gently flowing over his shoulders.

He pushed off like a bullet, aiming straight for the torches in a desperate attempt to escape this shadowy prison.