Rainer’s first instinct had been to Void-walk away with everyone, but before he even got the chance a dark red light descended across all he could see. His Soul and life felt as if they were being dragged away. [Void-walking] would likely just leave a Soulless-corpse at the destination.

Without pause, he shoved everyone else into [Living Storage], only Kara having enough time to realize something was wrong in the process.

Rainer fell to his knees, focusing his attention on his Soul before just using [Void Hold] on it, trying to keep it and his Life Energy inside. The grass withered around him and the soil lost its softness. Seconds ticked by and sweat covered Rainer’s forehead as he strained against whatever tried to steal from him.

It was then that Rainer looked towards the source of it. He could see it on the moon. A giant shadow with eight limbs. Just how massive must it be to been seen from so far?

The bloody light around him started focusing, and Rainer could almost tell it was searching for him, the last struggling source of life. The pressure grew greater and greater, and Rainer’s pool of Void Will depleted far too fast. He would perish if he didn’t do something quick. Even just moving slightly made him feel like he would be leaving his Soul behind in the process.

Stuffing all his enchanted items into his rings and then [Arcane Awakening: Storage], praying the ring with the rock wouldn’t kill him, a [Void Suppression] covered his body as his Soul was suddenly relieved from the pressure, hidden from whatever sought it by the cycling Void in his body. Time ticked by and after what felt like ages the bloody light vanished. Then, a single beam shot into the planet, however many miles away from Rainer.

As the final beam of red light vanished, all around him Rainer felt World Energy overflowing along with something else. The nearly dead plant life slowly regenerated, becoming slightly more vigorous than before and still going further. He felt the same thing affecting him as it sought to ‘heal’ him.

[Vitality has been increased by 1]

Not being a plant, the outflow of energy affected Rainer quite differently. But covered in sweat and still quite a bit fearful, he was too distracted to really care about the improvement.

The creature he had seen on the moon slowly dissipated, as if nothing more than an illusion.

“Planets are more standard and safer my ass,” Rainer growled out, remembering what the High Elf had said when they asked him general questions on world travel. What the hell was that thing? And more important yet, was it a resident or a traveler?

[Aura Attunement has increased by 1]

Rainer slipped into [Meditation], determined to get more out of this. And he had little else to do other than repeat the previous scene in his mind while waiting for his body to recover from [Void Suppression].

He let everyone else out of his [Living Storage], and didn’t explain anything other than to try and benefit from whatever energy permeated the air. The action helped him forget what just occurred.

It was ten minutes later that the outpour stopped. All around them, the original vibrant grass had grown wider and taller than it could have before, and Rainer even felt that while still not magical they had a certain Aura intertwined into their existence. Something that was faint and likely had been there before, just out of his abilities to see.

At the end of it all, he had managed to gain 12 points in Aura Attunement, and 20 in Vitality. Without a second thought, he vanished with his party the moment he could make the trip back.

“So much for a vacation,” Rainer complained. He had expected a relaxing adventure and a visit to new or interesting cultures and races. Instead he got… he gritted his teeth in anger. When was the last time he felt such fear? Next time he met that thing he’d turn it to dust. Even if he knew he survived by the pure luck that the thing on the moon seemed to act more automatically than anything else. He had no doubt his current [Void Suppression] wouldn’t escape a true search for him from such a being.

Along with the recent find by the 3rd Tier Magus, Rainer knew the skill would be all but useless if it couldn't hide him from those greater. It needed to be improved.

And just what was it doing at that planet? Absorbing all life and then galvanizing the planet to release more World Energy alongside something else? Rainer didn’t know much about World Energy but he could guess the effect of doing such a thing wouldn’t be good in the long run. Not that it mattered, given the lack of sentient life. Or perhaps it hadn’t always been that way...

And didn’t the High Elf mention how ‘normal’ and safer planets tended to be versus planes? How quickly that went out of the window. In fact, even when he considered Alvra, travelers could very well land in the forbidden portions and be just as screwed. Not to mention how close that dangerous planet was… Did he just happen to land in a region with dangerous planets?

After all, that world of rebirthing grass was cosmically close. He didn’t even need to weaken space to travel to it. And this planet had its own history of Dragons, more than proven by the roaming disembodied Souls around the waters of the Dragon Isles.

“What happened, Rainer?” Kara asked, a slight shiver in her voice. She had felt the strange power pulling at her very being before Rainer had shoved her into his [Living Storage]. No matter how much that hurt her pride, the strength of it was far too much to be anything but thankful to Rainer.

He sighed before explaining what occured.

“So, Sorcerer, were you and the Devil lucky, or were we unlucky?” Gunthar asked, curious to the benefit all their Aura pools had received. Sarah, who had tried and failed at awakening before, even felt something strange, as if she might be approaching unlocking it.

“Are you suggesting we go back on purpose?”

“Do not even joke, Sorcerer,” Gunthar said, a seriousness in his voice that made Rainer wonder just what the Undead had felt when he told them to flee.

“I don’t know. Given the life of the plants, I doubt it was the first time this happened. I can only hope it stays there for a long, long time…” Only now did Rainer think to check all their bodies. After finding nothing strange with any sort of method, he breathed a sigh of relief, realizing just how dangerous his usual actions of profiting from danger were. He shouldn’t have leaned into it so heavily.

“To the Dungeon?” Rainer asked after a sigh and got nods in return. He supposed it’d be better to send his Avatar in his place until he found some safer places.

Given all his party had received two very strong passive skills and two powerful personally tailored items from the last stage, the Dungeon was looking to be far safer. Unlike him who needed something like a [Cosmic Map], their items tended to be more combat oriented.

After switching spots with his Avatar, Rainer finally gave into Tian’s request to share all the information they learned from interrogating the High Elf. Since there were plenty of scouts and spies who had seen Rainer’s fight and sudden appearance of the strange Elf, it wasn’t hard to begin gathering all the various world powers currently in the Dungeon.

Waiting for everyone else, Rainer chuckled lightly as he looked over to Gunthar. The Undead was fondly holding the currently shrunken Dragon as the little thing cooed at him, much like a small normal Dragon.

“Sorcerer.”

“Hmm?” Rainer responded, wondering if this was a good chance to ask just how Gunthar noticed that thing before he had.

“Something Sarah earlier said had gotten me thinking.”

“That sounds troublesome.”

“Indeed. but,” Gunthar said, looking down at the Dragon in his arms, her scaled body enjoying being scratched by his flesh-lacking fingers, “she made an excellent point. To not profit from the work of others in the Dungeon, isn’t it a shame? Especially when Tiamat still needs more Draconic resources to take that final step?” Gunthar said before explaining the idea.

Rainer raised an eyebrow before nodding in continued rapidity. He was distantly aware that Sarah had given the idea to Gunthar because he’d do anything for Tiamat, and therefore was more than ready to convince Rainer of the plan. It was hard to say no to such a loving ‘parent’.

“She asked for her usual 5% rate for the idea and for the negotiations she’d be handling later.”

“Of course she did,” Rainer said, and brought up the idea to the rest of the party as they discussed the details while waiting for everyone to join them.

Other than representatives from the puppet countries of the north and a few other forces, everyone of importance was present. He had even extended a request to the Taranien Empire’s parties. While he generally loathed them, having their side get hurt in the fight wouldn’t be a bad prospect.

He sincerely doubted their god wished to give up this world to an outside and ‘godless’ force.

They had set themselves up in a wide circle, avoiding putting any one party at the head of the gathering. Rainer smiled as he looked over the parties from the Southern Continent. Seeing the smattering of different Elves, Dwarves, varieties of Lamia, and other half-beast races, redoubled his desire to end the Empire they fought and protect the wonders of the south. Biological wonders, of course, he mentally corrected.

Rainer zoned out at the posturing that was occuring, thinking back to past events, before Kara pinching his side brought him back to reality. Was it his turn to speak already? He left the information gathered to be spoken by his grandfather and Tian.

“In the effort towards protecting this world, we are willing to offer protection to all Dungeon parties from our shared home.” Word had already been ‘accidently’ spread by the Wolf King that Rainer’s party had won the Dungeon. It gave them a far higher status.

“Protection?” some Elf echoed in question, knowing less about the [Archon]. Rainer was too lazy to even bother Appraising him.

“Yes,” Rainer said, vanishing and then reappearing with the Elf mid-air above the group, holding him up by the collar like a cat held a kitten. A quick and powerful [Void Hold] enhanced with [Soul Presence] stopped any gut reactions of self-defense. Something that was noticed by everyone now watching even if they couldn’t see what exactly bound his Mana pool.

The movement had been undetected and unstoppable, the 2nd Tier Elf being nowhere near strong enough to resist an overpowered Void-walk. Not after recent changes. Added on to his recent passive Soul skill gain for spell casting, it was truly too fast for most to react properly.

“Protection. Anytime, anywhere. I can come and either rescue your party, or instantly appear with my own to deal with situations beyond your measure. Rates for my service will be negotiable, your lives come first,” he added with a grin, something his party had suggested. If they wanted to be saved more than once, and in a timely manner, they would have little choice but to truly bend over backwards the first time, lest it later be decided they just weren’t worth the trouble.

“All you need is a little mark on your Soul.”

With some testing done to determine the mark was truly harmless, every party from Alvra accepted the deal and some minor training on how to send a warning. Rainer was doing this for more than just the found resources they’d extort, but to make sure Alvra remained strong. When the time came, he didn’t want to have to stand alone. Even just considering Gunthar’s need for things in the Forbidden lands, it wasn’t a place he’d give up easily.

While sending his second Avatar to visit new places, his [Cosmic Map] functioning even across Avatars, Rainer looked forward to what this Dungeon might contain. They had played it quite safe earlier, and were only now truly going out to explore.

Even after such an experience, he couldn’t wait for what either of him might find.