The empty room smelled of Gnoll, of wet Gnoll.

Obviously, the Warlord did not let anybody in, maybe not even to clean it up a bit. I knew that I had found what I was looking for.

Now I just needed to actually find what I was looking for, yet I had to be fast.

Although I had closed the room, the guards' absence would be noticeable; I had minutes, and that was if I was lucky.

The room around me was vast; weirdly, it was filled with books. I wasn't expecting the Warlord to read so much. I had barely read a few books in my life, and that was because gramps had schooled us. He did not want us to turn into savages, as he liked to say.

He used to fixate with words; Gramps was a peculiar one; I found myself smiling thinking about him, yet I shook the thought away soon after. There was a lot of Tracing I had to do.

I started hearing Gnolls outside of the room; they were likely asking about the guards or asking themselves if they had to break in since they were nowhere to be found; anyway, I didn't care.

I had found what I was looking for after just a couple of minutes of search. Also, the door was tied to Shade talismans. If it were opened without the keys, a massive Shade bomb would blow them up.

The Warlord must have been a crazy son of a Moon walker.

What I was looking for had been hiding under the desk, right below where, sitting, he would place his feet.

There was a mechanism to open it, and that too was tied to Shade talismans. He likely had the keys with him.

Which meant that I had to blow it up.

I just had to hope he had protected the Dark Crystals. If it were me, I would have. Hopefully, he had too.

I loaded the first Stone Blow arrow I used in months. I always felt like using it against weak targets was useless; it did not feel different this time. But even if making it required a good deal of effort, finding Dark Crystals required more, a lot more.

I moved the desk away, backed in the furthest corner of the room, then I aimed and released my shot.

There were two explosions in quick succession, the second more powerful than the first.

It had not been the Trick Shot that made the second explosion; I had not duplicated the arrow; it had been the Shade explosives that had been likely placed under the trap door's hatch.

Blades of ice, looking like stalagmites, extended from the explosion's site, and they had reached around the room, encasing into the library, while the produced frost peppered every inch of the room with snowflakes.

Thankfully, they hadn't gotten me. However, that explosion had been heard; it was impossible it hadn't been. I could already feel the Gnolls slam against the door.

I ran to the trap door; it was covered in thick layers of ice and stalagmites.

I attacked it with my knife while I punched it with my clock-arm.

It would take a little bit of time; however, Alistar and the others would have heard the explosion, Roana surely had, they would be starting their assault at a moment's notice.

I was still breaking the ice when the door exploded. It was as powerful as the first explosion, and I felt Gnolls scream for pain or for having just signed their end. Still, I disengaged my ice digging, readied a Crystal Blow arrow, and shot it at the foot of the door. I could feel other cries.

As the dust and particles of wood settled, I started hearing the sounds of battle from the outside. My guys had joined in on the fun.

I focused back on excavating. Suddenly, my Agility, Strength, and willingness to work increased dramatically.

That was, without a doubt, the effect of Animal Instinct II activating. Having Agility and Strength double almost literally meant doubling my speed.

I started crashing the ice with twice the effort.

However, as I discovered, it lasted for as long as my Bonus Perception allowed, then it had a cooldown period of the same number yet in minutes. It put quite the strain on the body, but for emergency situations, it was spectacular.

I finally freed the broken trap door from the ice, just as I could start feeling Loki nearby.

The casket was, although damaged, mostly still intact in front of me. The fact that the shards of ice had perforated the lock was good fortune; I wouldn't have to lose time to destroy it.

I lifted it on the floor and opened it wide.

And there they were. Enveloping the room in golden light was at least fifty Dark Crystals.

Fifty fucking Dark Crystals. It was… incredible.

I might have solved our problems for life.

But I could not stop and gawk; I had to hurry.

I unraveled the bag I had brought with me on the ground. It was a tough shoulder bag of leather.

Then I whistled. Looking for Loki.

If I had to bring this on my back as I ran, I needed something from my Netherlion; I needed his Strength, literally.

Loki reached me just as I finished pouring all the Dark Crystals inside of the bag.

The moment he arrived, I placed a hand on him, then wished to borrow his Strength.

Borrowing his Strength did not mean that he would be left without; he was left with his own, while mine increased.

I loaded the bag on my shoulder, careful not to disturb my quiver loaded with Crystal and Stone grenades.

Then I sent him back to where he came from, to help the others.

I readied my knife and left the room.

Digging my knife into the neck of an unexpecting Hunter, I shouted to my companions to end their battles quickly. We had to start our retreat.

Although not many guards had been left alive, some had surely gotten away to call for help.

We had to bail.

I saw Roana throw one of her MoonSteel blades at a desperate Gnoll guard; she had learned to control perfectly.

Her control on the blade was relative to the words she could utter with her Commands Skill, which took a lot of Shade to use, but with their speed and the power behind it, they were definitely lethal.

However, if she was too spent or had no Shade to use her Commands, she could simply use the objects with her Psychokinesis. It was a lot slower and not as deadly as with the Commands but used in the right way; they could still be lethal.

I Traced her to make sure she had not pushed herself too much.

Roana Dowson, Psyomancer Level 32 (134.177/320.000), Seer Level 32 (115.865/320.000)

Health: 85%

Stamina: 52%

Agility: 10

Constitution: 10

Strength: 10

Focus: 21

Perception: 34

Willpower: 21

Strengths: Perception, Willpower

Weaknesses: Anger, poor defensive abilities

Class Skills: Ethereal Armor (Constitution), Trance (Focus), Divulge (Perception), Commands (Willpower)

Sub-Class Skills: Foretell (Focus), True Sight (Perception), Relentless (Willpower), Dowsing (Fortune)

Race: Human

Sex: Female

Height: 168 cm

Weight: 55 kg

Age: 19

Origins: Unknown

Family: Jane Varriel, Leafy Tirrell, Loke Nightfold, Nova Nightfold

She had. I could see it from her Stamina and Health. Her Stamina was sapped based on how much Shade she used; after heavy usage, it also weighed on her Health just as it did for me.

And yet, I couldn't help but smile at the fact that such a terrifying mage considered me her family.

"Don't stress it!" I shouted at her, "Let's leave!"

In front of the wooden stairs I was descending, a bisected wooden Gnoll hound tumbled to the ground ahead of me.

I swiftly turned my head behind, waiting for an enemy attack and readying my knife throw.

There were no enemies. It was Faruq.

He was juggling fighting a couple of lightly armored warriors, but although likely lower-leveled, he was way too fast for them.

That was what happened when a Class perfectly synchronized with a Sub-Class, which was Faruq's case.

He had managed to Promote his Class into something I had never heard before. It was called: Flow Blade Runner; it focused on Agility, and yet, it had given him a Focus Skill, and what a fantastic Focus Skill it was.

It was called Haste, and it was a Flow Buff. He could cast his Skill on whatever he wanted; the hastened target would see his Agility doubled for a short amount of time.

Haste consumed one entire Crystal per use, but if Faruq used it on himself while considering his Dash Skill and the fact that he had Promoted his Sub-Class into the Speedster, he became so fast that I could almost say I had trouble following him, even with my Perception.

I had memorized his Clock-Tracing, as I had for all the others, of course.

Faruq Jameel

Class

Flow Blade Runner Lv. 31

Agi + 3, Str + 3, Foc + 3

Sub-Class

Speedster Lv. 31

Agi + 4, Con + 2, Foc + 3

Attributes

Stats

Natural

Augments

Agility

20 + 10

Boots (+5)

Constitution

19 + 4

Armor (+15)

Strength

20 + 6

Sabers (+10 x 2)

Focus

20 + 13

Perception

10

Willpower

10 + 6

Fortune

☆ ☆ + ☆

Soldier Skills

Name

Major

Minor

Passive

Metal Flow Body - Constitution

(Eligible for Promotion)

☆ Double your Constitution, Strength, and Focus for a short amount of time

Flow absorption doesn’t have drawbacks

Con + 2

Foc + 1

Slash - Strength

Double Strength while Slashing

Str + 3

Haste - Focus

☆ Cast a Flow Blessing to double Agility for a short amount of time

Beautiful Star - Fortune

You are blessed with beauty

Fortune + ☆

Runner Skills

Name

Major

Minor

Passive

Dash - Agility

(Eligible for Promotion)

☆ Dash toward your Target

Dash Stamina consumption is a little lower

Agility + 3

True Stamina - Constitution

☆ Your Stamina recovers faster in Flow

Mighty Steps - Strength

Your steps and kicks show are imbued with twice your Strength

☆☆ True Grit II - Focus

(Eligible for Promotion)

☆ Enter the True Grit state, consumes less Stamina

True Grit also doubles Perception and Willpower

Focus + 6

Willpower + 6

"How many left?" I shouted to him as I rested the sack on the stairs and readied my bow with a piercing arrow.

"This two and those Alistar's fighting," he shouted back while avoiding a charge.

My arrow found the knee of a breathless Gnoll. It gave Faruq just the breathing space to bisect the Gnoll's head.

I followed the cranium fly about then, tumbling down the stairs, ears flapping about.

Yeah, we were doing fine.

I readied a Crystal Blow arrow in search of Alistar.

And there he was.

His large hood dangling from his back; my favorite Kobold was holding off three Gnolls, likely each one higher level than him.

Yet with his frame and Constitution, but most especially his disgustingly high Form of the Grid's rank...Expert 1, which meant that he had overtaken Harlow by five entire stages, could allow himself some leeway while fighting the decerebrate warriors that had been plucked from the farms to reinforce the Warlords defenses.

Alistar Migs Guardian Level 32 (254.689/320.000), SpearFisher Level 33 (257.456/330.000

Health: 100%

Stamina: 89%

Agility: 15

Constitution: 33

Strength: 16

Focus: 7

Perception: 16

Willpower: 16

Strengths: Constitution

Weaknesses: Agility, Focus

Class Skills: Duress II (Constitution), Brandish Spear (Strength), Unwavering Resolve (Willpower), Luck of the Draw (Fortune)

Sub-Class Skills: Fisher Fortitude (Constitution), Harpooneer's Revenge (Focus), Follow the Flow (Perception), A waiting business (Willpower)

Race: Kobold

Sex: Male

Height: 199 cm

Weight: 107 kg

Age: 18

Origins: Murkstall

Family: Potts Migs, Gudri Migs

He was indeed catching up to me, son of a Moon walker. And he kept getting one centimeter taller each month.

Alright, I had had an explosive growth too, but, sooner rather than later, mine would stop.

Kobold's growth didn't. So as long as his Constitution and the duration of his life allowed him to, he would grow taller and keep on growing.

"Blow!" I shouted so that only he would understand.

Then I released the Blow arrow at the Gnoll's feet.

The Gnolls were not expecting anything of the like.

Two were thrown about; one was launched in Alistar's direction. Ending right on top of Alistar's spear.

Then he quickly reaped the lives of the two remaining Gnolls; they were still dazzled on the ground; it was a joke.

"Did you find it?" He shouted at me.

"Would I be out here if I hadn't?" I screamed back. "Move your smelly ass; we've got to leave!"

I headed toward them as they rejoined, and we hurried away. Our escape was already planned. Of course, we would not head toward the Treehouse; we had prepared everything perfectly, even a momentary hideout.

It would take them days, even with their amazing Pathfinders. Because if there was something good about the Gnolls, then it was the qualities of their Pathfinders.

"Get Roana up; she's wasted," I said to Alistar.

"I'm fine, let me- let me go... I said I'm fine!" She said weakly, but her eyes said otherwise.

Then I recalled that she did not like being touched; it was… natural after what she had gone through; however, I was not just someone.

"Alright, grab the bag," I passed Alistar the bag with Dark Crystals, "I'll get her."

"Loke, no! I said I'm-" But I didn't listen; I just raised her up and placed her on my right shoulder.

She puffed but didn't fight over it.

I knew she wouldn't say anything if I were the one picking her up.

Two hours later, we left the Gnoll's region, which I believed was called Trunklands, but it was a Wasteland's term that recalled the vast amount of trees of its forests. However, as I had managed to observe, it was by no means made only of forests; we had seen many beautiful plains and valleys. It was actually a marvelous place in which to live.

If only its inhabitants didn't give it their all to tear us to pieces every single time they saw us, and that was despite the Church of the Sun's effort to fix our relationship, then I might have thought of starting a new life in the place.

Sun only knew what I could buy once I found a way to sell the remaining Dark Crystals.

"We are disgustingly rich now, aren't we?" Alistar asked as we stopped by a height in the land to enact the plan that would stop the Gnoll Pathfinders in their tracks.

I looked out of the cliff, whistling. I was calling for our lift.

"Let's first see what's left after we've upgraded all our Skills."

"Didn't you think that if we had to put aside those to upgrade all our Skills, future and present, we might actually not cut it?" Roana asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not about to do that; the only thing I really want is a few Dark Crystals for Nova and Loki and something to enact my plan. I don't know about you, but the rest I shall find by myself, delving."

She nodded, a little sad.

"Are you still thinking about that?" Faruq asked.

"What else should I do? You've seen the Sunguards; they are everywhere right now. Even if we had to plan something in the villages nearby, they would find out," I answered, then continued, "As Aisha says, if we want to hide from the dragon, we must hide in his lair."

"Yeah, but in the history of ever, people that go hunting for dragons never return," Roana said.

"Maybe they hide so well that they don't even need to come back."

"Did you take a look at yourself?" Alistar pitched in, "You are not exactly blending in with Sundoor's standard ideal of a citizen."

"Point taken."

The lift we were waiting for soon appeared, flying up from down the cliff.

Two huge Eagle-rocks were the biggest ones Jane had ever tamed, and they were the other birds' progenitors.

Faruq and Alistar, the first one carrying the sack, the second taking Loki in his arms, climbed on top of the Eagles, one each.

Although a bit wobbly at first, the beasts revealed to be capable enough to carry them.

I Traced one of the giant Eagle-rocks a bit incredulous.

Ancient Eagle-rock, Level 65 (654.844/6.500.000)

Health: 100%

Stamina: 99%

Agility: 52

Constitution: 81

Strength: 63

Focus: 45

Perception: 162

Willpower: 45

Strengths: Beak, Perception, Rock body, Sky-drop, Talons, Weight

Weaknesses: Low speed for a winged creature of such level

Abilities: Boulder Feathers, Fulminating Stare, Rapid Ascent, Rockslide, Rest

This heavy predatory bird is among the heaviest in nature; however, while falling down from the sky, it can reach a speed high enough to rival most of its cousins.

Their Perception is always their highest Attribute.

Ancient Eagle-rocks are at the peak of their evolutionary line and cannot thus further evolve.

Crystals weight: 0.500kg x 10

Yeah, they would hold out.

Roana and I would be the ones going back with my Skills; she was by far the easiest for me to transport, mostly for her size, of course, but even so, because she was the only one who would come out unscathed of my many subsequent transfers.

"Are you ready to make the tallest jump of your life?" I asked her.

"No? May I get back on foot?"

I shrugged, "If you want to, I can leave you for the Pathfinders to sniffle."

“Ew…” She chuckled, then I signaled her to come closer.

"Do you really have to go?" She asked as she put her arms around my neck to get ready for the trip.

"You know I don't really have a choice, don't you? I mean, what kind of future could I hope to offer to my sister while she's there in the village, with the Church of the Sun fawning over her now, and the Sunguards going to eye her for a probable village-side concubine in a few years? At least, if we transfer to the City, she could become someone, someone worthy of her abilities," I paused, for effect.

"She's got four Flow Stars, Ro. She might have six by the time she gets her Ultimate Class if that’s even possible... she’s special, and I mean so special that if she plays her cards right, she could become a big name throughout all the lands."

"Yeah, but what about you?" She asked back.

"Aisha is going to take care of my status. She said that pushing someone coming from the villages into becoming a renowned name in Sundoor will not be easy but will shake things up." I was sure she would help me as she had planned.

I knew her plans, and they were not only good, but they also came from a trustworthy person like her and with how his father, who had been promoted to Three Stars General of the Inquisition, just two from the top, was pushing for extending Sundoor's benevolence through the entirety of the Wastelands, her plans were more than trustworthy, they could be considered as very firm.

Yes, we had not met that many times during the past three months, but our meetings had been very constructive after our first encounter.

However, it would take time. It was not something that could happen right away. If I wanted to get a name for myself, I needed to become strong and reliable. So I needed to push my levels and Skills up as much as I could.

Yes, planning to join Sundoor felt quite a bit like betraying my principles, but what was I to fear again? Judgment? From who? From the people who abandoned me? Why would I even care?

"What if the plans she has for you are about joining the war? I know you can't be a Sunguard given the clock-arm, but you could become a warmonger of Sundoor. Would you be okay with that?" She continued.

"If it were for a little while, I would be okay with it. If it meant securing Nova's future? Then yeah, I would be."

"You can't see it, but you are losing yourself, Loke," she said, putting her head on my shoulder, "Let's just go, please."

I was taken aback for a little.

Roana seemed really sure of her last statement. So, was I...? Was I really losing myself?

A lot of things changed in these past few months. Maybe I needed to really check on my other options.

With a friend that cared about me far more than I deserved squeezing me as if she would lose me forever if she didn't, I let myself fall down the cliff, ready to throw my knife and disappear on the horizon.