I stood there, immobile, as the day slowly started to become night.

The implications of that were… devastating.

During a Solar Eclipse, the Shade would merge with the Flow, creating instabilities and a Confluence zone which lasted all night long.

Back in Murkstall, we would set up a defensive formation while most of the people went back to their houses, locking themselves behind everything they had for Shadelings would start to appear en masse.

Not stronger than usual, but they would go crazy for the sudden influx of full-powered Shade in the atmosphere.

And right now… right now Nova was on a Flow-cart, in the middle of the Freeplains… well, she would be okay, there were almost all our friends with her, and although I wanted to do nothing but reach her, there was someone else who would be in much more trouble.

“Loke! We need to get Alistar out of the Dungeon!” Harlow shouted, leaving the house from the front door.

Yeah. If we were suffocated by the Shadelings number in a regular environment, Dungeons would turn into a vision of the Abyss.

We had to get Alistar out of there. Nova was in good hands.

I nodded gravely as Harlow, her armor mounting on her body, started heading for Logan’s fast Flow-cart.

Her father got out of the house half, his armor half-worn.

“Logan! You coming too?” I was sincerely surprised.

He shook his head, “This level of Confluence destabilized the house’s protection. I cannot leave, but Loke,” he grabbed my arm.

“Get Alistar, then take Harlow back here, alive, Loke. Whole, Loke. Was I clear?”

His eyes were… scary.

But I was focused, “I have no intention of losing somebody else. Especially not the woman I love.”

He kept looking at me intensely for a few long moments, “Then get your equip and move.”

“Yes.”

I got everything I could, including my own Dark Crystal’s reserve and the Shiny Stone. Then we sped up with Logan’s very fast Flow-cart.

***

When we reached the place, the scene we were presented with looked like something taken from The Book of the Abyss.

The creatures that lived under the frozen waters had all gotten out and were walking the metal path, attacking the few parties which my eyes could see. Technogators were abundant, but so were other creatures I had never seen, including.

Massive hare-looking creatures who were so powerful that they could jump from one path to another moved unconcernedly about the world around them.

Huge quadrupeds rushed the paths, as well as slow-walking tripods that were seemingly intent on melting the frozen waters with their massive lasers, showed a terrible firing power.

The giant birds, or whatever the Abyss they were, usually circling the peaks, were nowhere to be seen.

Harlow and I exchanged a look, then her helmet closed over her head, and she took a battle stance.

Loki, by my side, started psyching himself up.

“Our usual path has been submerged by the waters…” Harlow noticed.

“Fucking Kobold must have gone to hit the Metal Trenches,” I realized. Fuck.

We ran to the path at our immediate left; we knew it to be the path that spawned the Technorillas; at least, they were beasts that we knew how to deal with. Hopefully, there would not be too many surprises ahead, if not the crazed giant creatures walking about.

If there was only one silver lining, it was that I could unleash my full might.

From now on, I would not stop summoning Crystal Blow arrows until my hair would freeze solid.

I also borrowed Loki’s Willpower to bolster my readiness. If it indeed wired like Bonus Attributes, as I had understood, then it would give me a good boost.

Willpower (Attribute)

Willpower (Basic): Measure of the individual's willingness, drive, and control over himself and outside sources. Willpower is counted toward Health, Ethereal Power, and Ethereal Defense. The higher the Willpower, the better the individual can harness might from the Ethereal world; the higher the Willpower, the better and an individual can sustain himself and survive to the odds life throws at him. Willpower (Bonus): Skill-derived Willpower. It acts as a multiplicative factor for incrementing Basic Willpower. If not diversely specified, it does not stack with other sources of Willpower. Willpower (Class Bonus): Hybrid Willpower. It acts as Skill-derived Willpower until Class absorption, then it becomes Basic Willpower. Willpower (Augment): Equipment-derived Willpower. It works exactly as Basic Willpower. Willpower (Borrowed): Class Perk derived Willpower. It counts as Skill-derived Willpower, but it can only get as high as the Class or Sub-Class level is; if higher, only the maximum amount will be counted for.

One day I would be able to see those deeper parameters; I just had to increase my Shade Stars count, and yet… I was scared of that day for some reason.

Indeed, control over myself was what I needed the most.

I Trace the Blow arrow I would be using.

Shadow Crystal Blow Arrow

Shade Capacity: 100%

Shade Density: 138.2

Strengths: Made entirely of Shade

Weaknesses: Weak to Heat, Light, and Flow

This Shadow Crystal Blow Arrow has been produced by Loke Nightfold. Its power is directly related to his knowledge of Blow Arrows. Handle with care because the product inside is very unstable.

Considering that my bow with its Focus point would further increase the power output and the double explosion that would follow. I was looking at an arrow that would unleash a Shade Density of around 400.

That would not be enough to face the creatures we would face now, those terrible monsters that had appeared from nowhere, but it was a start.

We had to get Alistar out of there, and that was it.

“Loke, please stay behind me okay, feel free to unleash all the Abyss on those creatures but stay behind me. I can feel the buzzing as I have never felt before,” Harlow said.

And she was right; the buzzing was so intense that my body had automatically shut it off. Or I would be trembling that very moment.

“Alright, but no heroisms; Loki is here to support us.”

However, before we took our first step on the metal path, Harlow turned toward me, her helmet folding itself open, then she kissed me.

“It’s much better now,” she said after we exchanged a kiss.

“Damn… I wish I knew what you saw in me,” I said with a smile.

She winked at me, “Let’s just say that maybe you got lucky.”

It cracked a smile on my face.

“Loke, I see the world in you and the only one who has accepted me as I am, not because of who I am. So, I’m sorry, maybe I should not be saying it, but… when I heard of the City’s denial for your citizenship, I felt… happy.”

I stared intently at her, then took her hands, squeezing them tight, “I… think I was too.”

And I was not kidding.

“Now, let’s go!”

***

We had barely placed our feet on the metal path when a peak of buzzing hit me like lightning, bursting through the defenses my body had built around to lower its intensity.

A giant hare, tall approximately eighteen meters, jumped from a nearby path, arcing in the sky, and ending with a tremor of the ground beneath our feet, right in front of us.

My Tracing was instantaneous.

Technoantyle, Level 107 (8,589,544/10,700,000)

Durability: 100%

Agility: 186

Constitution: 217

Strength: 238

Focus: 115

Perception: 212

Willpower: 0

Strengths: Agility, Jump, Legs

Weaknesses: None

Abilities: Front Kick, Massive Jump

Technoantyles, are creatures capable of making incredible jumps; their regular walking speed and their overall agility overshadow all other Tech creatures.

Beware of kicks from their powerful legs. Their huge feet can unleash a devastating amount of damage.

It took the Technoantyle a few short moments from switching to her landing position to unleash a devastating frontal kick on Harlow.

The kick felt like a massive metal whip, and the resounding connection with Harlow’s armor felt like a bang. Yet it took me just as long to shoot my first arrow to the monster’s face; it almost avoided it entirely. Likely only getting hit because the kick it had just delivered destabilized its stance.

The creature jerked her head back just, uselessly trying to defend by placing her huge floppy ears as a shield. It was too late for that, yet now I knew it could do that. They would have been able to take the full brunt of my Blow arrows without as much as a problem.

Still scared but already conjuring another arrow, I didn’t know if I had to check on Harlow’s condition or keep attacking the beast.

But then I felt Harlow’s armor thrusters, the ones she had built behind her feet, kick in, stabilizing her descent, “Keep on shooting!” I heard her shout.

At the same time, Loki had seen something else, the dozens of creatures coming from the end metal path.

We had to finish this fast.

I threw my knife to the side then and later released an arrow in the sky; it would have to connect with the creature’s head, hoping it wouldn’t notice.

The next moment, just as I had predicted, the Technoantyle’s massive front kick was heading in my direction; if it would ever hit me, I would probably die on impact.

So I ported toward my knife, grabbing it while hovering in mid-air, just a few meters above the barely frozen lake.

I felt the whistling of her because of the creature’s kick even from there. It was incredible.

Then I transferred again, and I fell through the sky; I would end up right on top of the creature’s head, so I readied yet another arrow but, the creature had noticed me, its head shot up, and its eye looked right at me.

“Fucking-”

Before I could even release, the creature somersaulted backward from its standing position; a terrible kick was heading right at me.

The buzzing derived from the massive amount of metal coming in my direction jolted me to shoot; wherever the arrow would arrive was fine.

The monster’s disgusting agility was monstrous, and its Perception was no joke as well.

After I ported once again, I found myself in the middle of the air, somewhere in front of the still somersaulting giant; the shockwave of its kick slightly pushed me aside.

Still, I couldn’t give in.

I tried righting myself and barely managed to, but even in that half-upturned position, I shot an arrow just as the creature took its regular stance.

The following explosions barely made it stumble back a step. But I wouldn’t stop there; I kept shooting; I managed to shoot three arrows as I fell toward the ground.

I hadn’t even considered that I was falling down; it could have been barely ten meters. Still, Harlow caught me before I hit the ground.

I did not relent; I kept shooting, arrow after arrow.

Technoantyle, Level 97 (8,589,544/10,700,000)

Durability: 52%

Fifty-two percent after seven Shadow Crystal Bow Arrows, with their second explosion in tow, and that had been the extent of the damage I had done to the creature. Disgusting. My power was pitiful.

With its long ears destroyed, the creature broke its defensive stance, then threw itself at us.

“Not this time!” Harlow shouted.

She charged at the creature, newly built thrusters on her back, speeding her charge; she ran head-first against the creature, then with an explosion of speed, she tackled its leg, sending it tumbling down.

I took that chance to shoot at the now defenseless monster’s face.

One, two, three arrows.

The monster fell forward, spent, on the ground, and I released an arrow right inside its ear pavilion.

The following boom brought us the whispers.

You've earned 67895 Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next TechnoHunter level: 312,484/440,000

Harlow and I shared a tired look; her helmet folded open; she was wheezing.

“How are you?” I said, likewise.

“I’ve been better…”

It didn’t feel right, so I traced her.

Harlow Raive, Armorer Level 37 (135,890/370,000), Clock-technician Level 42 (115,858/420,000)

Health: 81%

Stamina: 89%

Agility: 10

Constitution: 27

Strength: 30

Focus: 24

Perception: 6

Willpower: 20

Strengths: Armored, Armor, Constitution, Strength

Weaknesses: Perception, Loke Nightfold

Class Skills: Forged Body (Constitution), Overload (Strength), Deep Knowledge II (Focus), True Resolve (Willpower)

Sub-Class Skills: Armored (Constitution), Heavy Metal (Strength), Mind for Metal II (Focus), Tech Manipulation (Willpower)

Race: Human

Sex: Female

Height: 178 cm

Weight: 63 kg

Age: 21

Origins: Unknown

Family: Logan Raive

If she had received such a small amount of damage for that kick, it meant that her armor had absorbed most of the damage.

Improved Outlander’s Full-Body, Clock-Technician Automatic Armor (I.O.F.B.C.T.A.A)

Durability: 115%

Bonus: Agility + 65, Constitution + 135, Strength + 95, Focus + 35, Perception + 25

Flow Capacity: 188%

Shade Capacity: 200%

Strengths: Automatic Armor

Weaknesses: None

I.O.F.B.C.T.A.A is the product of a collaboration of an Ultimate Class Tinker and an Advanced Class Tinker. This Full-Body Automatic Armor offers all the possible defense and gadgets that a Tinker Class needs.

From concentrated Flow and Shade beams to infallible protection offered by its LunarTungsten and SolarTitanium weaving, its battle ability is unparalleled.

This piece of bleeding-edge clock-tech has no rivals in the known world.

Yeah, it had absorbed a lot of damage; thankfully, it would slowly regenerate with Harlow’s Skills, but we couldn’t keep taking all that damage, or we wouldn’t even reach Alistar in one piece, if at all.

Yet, her improved armor had increased her Agility bonus, likely thanks to the thruster she had added; if not for those, she wouldn’t have been able to tackle it

“You are magnificent,” I couldn’t help but say to her.

She was taken aback, slightly blushing, “Let’s go… love.”

***

There were dozens, dozens of creatures coming at us. And we were just two, for Loki didn’t count for the Dungeon… it really was a nightmare.

But we did not back down.

I knew what the optimal weapon to fight against so many creatures clumped together was: Shatter Arrows.

I knew how to make them; I had seen Logan do them and even exercised with Harlow; yeah, out of their maximum Strength boost of 20 points, I could make them with a power of 7, but I roughly knew how strong they would be.

Shadow Shatter Arrow

Shade Capacity: 100%

Shade Density: 76.8

Strengths: Made entirely of Shade

Weaknesses: Weak to Heat, Light, and Flow

This Shadow Shatter Arrow has been produced by Loke Nightfold. Its power is directly related to his knowledge of Shatter Arrows.

Yeah, it would be enough to deal with a horde of small creatures.

I just wished I didn’t need to wait for one to hit its target before releasing another. But that was all I could do for now.

As always, we started by taking care of the birds; there were simply too many of them to ignore.

I needed to blow them to smithereens, so I used Blow arrows for those.

Harlow, by the side, helped me with her armors’ Flow-guns.

Peregrines started falling swiftly, but then the horde was upon us, so backtracking, I started throwing Shatter arrows, one after the other.

Their effects were barely noticeable against Technorillas and rhinos, but droids and Technodogs started to receive serious damage once it began accumulating.

Loki circled them around, swiping, legs, important connections, fragile joints, and using Fading Dash to tackle gorillas or rhinos’ incoming assaults.

When most of the droids and dogs were done with, Harlow had to get close and personal.

She swatted a Technorilla’s Hammer punch aside, with one of her own, aided by her Form of the Drum, then shot a disintegrating beam of compressed shade from her armor’s stomach, I had rarely seen her use it, but it was worth it.

The energy beam dug upward, inside of the creatures’ head.

It looked eerily like the one with which Gustav Hernàndez, supposedly her grandpa, used to almost kill me.

I was sure it was Logan’s idea, but the fact that she unknowingly used it without knowing its origins, and probably from where Logan had taken the idea, hurt a bit.

I would have liked to tell her about it, but I just couldn’t. I had promised.

When the little ones were dealt with, I switched back to use Blow arrows.

If I managed to hit their head, these relatively small creatures would stop moving.

At least, in that way, they were simulating life.

If it hadn’t been for that, I knew we would have never had such an easy time against them.

Still, we held on, beam after Blow arrow, after beam, we managed to eradicate them all.

We were almost spent, after fighting down the first assault… when in the distance another one, another horde, was already charging at us.

You've earned 625 (x27) + 1268 (x45) + 2221 (x2) + 1780 (x8) Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next TechnoHunter level: 405,161/440,000

You've earned 1125 (x16) + 2214 (x40) + 4525 (x6) + 3588 (x8) Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next Red Tamer level: 358,294/390,000

Loki has earned 1125 (x16) + 2214 (x40) + 4525 (x6) + 3588 (x8) Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next level: 290,671/390,000

“Fuck…” I said, looking at the massive amount of creatures attacking us, “look how many there are…”

I could already notice that my body heat had dropped at least by an entire degree celsius, my Stamina was keeping up, but if we didn’t hurry, we would not be able to cross the path like this.

I needed power… and a lot of it.

Harlow’s helmet folded open, “Loke… I... is this really doable?”

“Yes, we can’t back down, not now, but Harlow, I know how you feel about fighting; you can go; I can fly myself over there if things go wrong.”

“No! Loke, please… I’m coming with you, let’s… let’s just speed it up.”

Sun, I called in my mind. Are you sure you don’t intend to end whatever damn thing you have in store for me today? Because it damn feels like it!

Then, we hurried.

The more we walked, the sooner we would encounter the beasts, but at the same time, the closer we would be to the end of the path.

If I had known better, I would have pushed my levels much more during the last month...

The horde attacks were becoming more numerous and incredibly brutal.

Before they reached us, I started releasing a barrage of Blow arrows; the peregrines started once again falling, again, the next one would have to be the–

The buzzing grew so intense that it almost halted my body’s advance; then, with the tail of my eye, I could see a death ray from a tripod charging up. The tripod stood on the nearby left path, and its laser-exploding eye was shining in my direction, about to release death on me, burning everything that would be in its path into ashes.

Even Synaesthesia triggered at the sight of the flaming eye, making me smell what would have been inevitably the odor of my skin evaporating.

It was too late, the beam would hit me, and with my bowstring yet to be pulled, there was nothing I could do to evade it.