Laura had been grumbling as soon as she’d spotted the three basic items in the chest once they came out of the trunk Gate area under the ruined Plaza. But Jonas had them running away from the fight and they only stopped to fight once the guardians of the last room had retreated.

“No sense in unlocking a low-level elder chest for a bonus gear,” he had warned the team before exiting the Gate room.

And now, after a quick dash across the mountains of Othary, they were back to their usual haunts for the last tier four rush as they crossed the Gate into Markandon.

“It’s a bit weird to have to use the trunk to get here,” Ira said as the team exited into the forested zone.

“It’s a convenient shortcut. It’s too bad the tier three version is locked for us since the Gates don’t seem to be leading anywhere known. We should be using those zones if there is no one there and they’re better,” Alton said.

“Well, there is no one here as well. Except maybe for an Agni team every three weeks headed to the trunk, that is,” Jonathan replied.

“It’s moot for now. We don’t have the capacity to unlock those tier three Gates, and the Duke does not want to risk early discovery by stumbling on others. I could very well imagine having the Chinese, Zulu and the French just beyond those tier three Gates,” Jonas warned.

“Or a distant part of the American sector,” Ira mused.

“We already have a distant access to the Americans in tier two,” Alton noted.

“Well, a closer one then,” Ira quipped.

“Next year, after Agni, maybe. For now, there are more urgent things waiting for us. We have two weeks now to get Jonathan to tier four, and then rush Ira immediately because he should be close to his tier four by then, and then head to the trunk,” Jonas repeated, from his earlier briefing.

“Staying in the trunk does not tick the travel charges. Do we have enough Fast Travel for all this?” Guss asked.

“Laura, Alton and Jonathan will, certainly, but we shouldn’t stay there long anyway. The zones are small, after all. Worst case, we take a couple of days rest in Gatepost after we’re done fighting the Legend,” Jonas said.

“So, what for this fortnight?” Ira asked.

“Fight border creatures for experience, and then dip into the Tree Maze. Hopefully, the regeneration hasn’t brought back an Ancient, and we can get a heroic bonus from it. Then hope that Vuneras’s Dying Grove Ancient had been replaced by an elder bearling fight. And back to Markandon for the lair regeneration. And then, it should be nearly time to head into Rayleche for Jonathan's Profession, before Recalling.”

“So, three possible items?” Ira noted.

“If we can get to Ancient treasure chests without actual Ancients, yes. Then, of course, we’ll have an additional set of two to get once you achieve your Milestone,” Jonas confirmed.

The two bent trees marking the entrance of the Tree Maze beckoned, just like the team expected.

“We have more levels, more Milestones, so this time should go much smoother. Just remember, people, stay in the middle of the lane. Don’t go and catch the attention of animated turnips from deeper lanes.”

“Yes, boss,” Ira quipped.

The entire team gave him a dark look.

The four different animal guardians along the winding path of the so-called Tree Maze had not been too large a challenge, now that they had experienced the lair before and gotten an average of nearly ten additional levels and some Milestones. The same ape, hedgehog, weird six-limbed wolf and the final cat had been quietly waiting in their respective areas along the pathway.

The biggest difference was that the three young cats surrounding the matriarch had been two green and a reddish-furred one. The red kitten had vomited fire all over the place before going to hide behind the matriarch. Multiple pools of fire that all required careful placement to avoid being burned. Once the cat had vanished “into” its mother, she started doing fire-based claw damage which penetrated armour much more easily than the physical damage prior.

All in all, Jonas still much preferred this version to the one with the shadow cat and its Focus-debilitating attack. Though he could have stopped the sneak from running and attacking others with the Freeze Limb spell he’d finally gotten from his old gloves, now that he had aether-control as his main sphere.

While he would not be able to pick new long-range spells for the next two years, he hoped he’d get one or two close-combat ones worth keeping. At least, he would no longer have to throttle himself back when lighting campfires.

Once the fight was finished, Jonas had seen the new item appear in the chest’s descriptor, now that he was qualified for those. Well, strictly speaking, it wasn’t his bonus, it was Alton’s. But the heroic jewellery was what they sought most of all in here, even though there were other potential gear upgrades to be had.

Laura also fished a chainmail quality helmet, which went to Ira first, providing an upgrade to both the defenders before handing the real prize to Alton.

Cat’s-eye Brass Ring

Ring

Heroic equipment

Requires: Level 115

Provides: +1 Intelligent Attacks rank, DEX+18, WIS+14, STA+12, +197 mind

Alton wasted no time slipping in the ring on his left hand.

Skill unlocked: Intelligent Attacks

Intelligent Attacks

Team/Offense

Rank 1: Increase the effective INT for any skill effect by 6% of the highest team potential value for INT, except your own. Consumes 0.24 aether per INT gained this way per trigger. Can be cancelled or re-activated prior to combat.

“Well, that’s a skill you could use, Jonas,” he said before the descriptor for the skill popped in his mind.

“I’m surprised…” Jonas started before being interrupted.

“From what I’ve seen, you do get one of those for every offensive Potential, no matter what type of attack you use. Could be worse, I could have gotten Wisdom,” Alton smiled.

“Wait, there are Wisdom-based attack skills?” Guss blurted.

“Don’t think so, not really. Except for Jonas’s special attack, that is,” Alton replied, throwing an interrogative look toward the team’s wizard.

Jonas laughed.

“I assume there must be one of those skills for every Potential, yes. Too bad it is not the Dexterity one on the ring.”

Alton replied, “That would be the tier four version. I checked the Archives’ Skill Reference Guide while you three were away and it lists Dexterity, Intellect, and Strength in that order and they have learned from the Americans that the tier seven one is a Focus one. No idea about Wisdom, but it should be above eight if it exists.”

Alton shrugged.

“Well, I’d love to get your Dexterity instead of your Intellect. I don’t think I'll have any skill that uses INT for a while. So nothing to spend aether on.”

He then grinned.

“But since Dexterous Attacks is at tier four, I can get it ‘normally’ anyway.”

“If you manage it,” Jonas said.

“Don’t curse it,” he replied.

“We have nearly two years to figure it out. Don’t worry,” Jonas immediately replied.

The team filed out, cutting through the tree lines now that the Maze was empty.

“Next stop, Vuneras.”

It had taken the team nearly half a day to find their bearing back. Coming to the small lair from the Markandon Gate rather than their previous roundabout paths had confused Jonas for a while until he’d found the right brook to follow and they’d finally spotted the risen bearling veterans that marked the border of the lair area.

A quick series of fights and they were at the single guardian. Ira peeked into the clearing of the dying grove and breathed a sigh of relief.

Shambling Bearling

Level 119 elite

Health: 3392

Mind: 1130

Endurance: 2082

Aether: 1813

“We’re good. No ancient and the chest lists a 101 quality item,” Jonas confirmed.

“And this time, we kill it before he starts digging up his friends,” Ira announced.

“We’ll try,” Alton said.

“We were close last time, and we had no idea. There is no try,” he replied.

Shambling Bearling: 3164XP/6 contributors = 545XP.

“See? Finished on the first bearling. I knew we could do it.”

Laura checked the compost mound that now had a new bonus item visible on its descriptor. She barely checked the descriptor before throwing the necklace with its pierced claws to Jonas.

Bearling-Claw String Pendant

Necklace

Heroic equipment

Requires: Level 119

Provides: 4 defence rating, INT+18, FOR+16, STR+15, +184 health, +6% earth damage

“4 defence rating?” Jonas blurted.

“Considering the amount you currently have, it’s something,” Ira commented.

“No skill, though. But the earth damage bonus is good, considering my Milestones will start adding to it soon. I suppose the Elemental Spray will change to earth damage for now.”

Laura shoved the near-useless chainmail gloves she'd dug out in her bag, and the team turned northward.

“Now, we kill stuff for a while. If we head back now, we risk having the lair not regenerated yet.”

“Uh oh. Trouble,” Ira announced as they reached the entrance to the final clearing of the Tree Maze.

A Lazy Matriarch

Level 112 elder

Health: 5315

Mind: 1797

Endurance: 3249

Aether: 2835

The lazing cat elder was surrounded, not by three, but by five smaller cats this time. Jonas spotted the green, black and red varieties they’d already fought, but there was also a white one and a grey furry menace whose rippling fur oozed an almost metallic sheen.

Tree Maze

Ancient Treasure

Heroic equipment

Requires: Level 39

“Okay. Worst setup ever,” Alton said.

“Ancient-level fight and under-levelled item. I agree,” Laura said.

“We can drop this lair from our schedule for a couple of months then. Typical turn-over on a tier-three lair that’s not completed is supposed to be a bit under three months. The early guardians will regenerate normally, but the last one will stay there unless killed,” Jonas announced.

“Now what?”

“Jonathan?” he asked.

The Calculating Barrier immediately replied to the implicit question.

“Half-way to 26. Two, three days, depending.”

“Then we head back to Vuneras and straight to Rayleche. We’ll fight some of the lizardmen there to finish the level if necessary,” Jonas announced.

The rainbow light vanished, and Jonas looked at the slowly brightening sky of the morning over Gatepost.

“Headquarters?” Alton asked.

“No, I think we should head immediately to Zilbarn and start heading to Ringtara. Ira’s nearly at his last Milestone and we have barely a week until the trunk meet. If you’re okay, Jonathan?” Jonas asked.

“It will do. Still settling into Calculating Guardian, but the phantom pain is mostly gone.”

The team turned back and started toward the Great Gilded Gate. In the pre-dawn, there was no traffic to avoid, and they all plunged into the gate surface, emerging on the raised mound in front of the Badlands.

“Sounds like we will have enough Fast Travel for the raid and after,” Jonas noted. “I wasn’t totally sure, but Rayleche helped a bit.”

“I wonder why the zone isn’t popular?”

“It’s really out of the way, and the isolated island setup makes you waste time going between lairs, I guess. It’s good for the travel charges, little else.”

“Can’t you swim?” Ira asked.

“You can, but apparently, the native critters like to come out and attack people in the water. I don’t know about you, but fighting while swimming looks like it would be massively more difficult combat.”

“If we keep fighting in the same area, we still can enjoy it,” Ira replied.

“We’ll see in a year. We’ve got lairs to empty and gear to upgrade before we can think of staying in tier four. And besides, we’ll have to start planning for the tier five Professions, meaning more tier four zones to unlock first.”

“Well, okay then. Which way to Ringtara?”

Jonas examined the map printed on the Great Line zone guide.

“We can cut to the southwest rather than follow the zone line. More creatures that way. Ringtara is all about rock creatures like Warsemial. Well, rock and mud, not volcanic rock and ash. Probably still a pain to fight, even if they provide some good experience. Better stock up in Zilbarn,” Jonas explained.

“Well, let’s get going. I’m starting to feel inadequate being the last one at tier three. And the lowest level one, now that you’ve climbed above me,” Ira said.