Thutmose's warning about the increase in difficulty we would be encountering the closer we came to the ley-line was quickly born out. The monsters' and animals' levels increased the closer we got. We skirted around those we could, those that Beag or Bob noticed in time to save time.

I had argued against that strategy.

I believed we would be better off to take every advantage we came across to fight and level, but if we had, we might have spent weeks or months to even find the ley-line. Our pace had been slowed enough as Sieph became more distracted and obsessed, her cataloging of fauna and the rare bits of metal she discovered worked to update the Bestiary that System had awarded.

Her updates were shared automatically between Bob and me, even the metal she came across was cataloged. The Bestiary would be better labeled as a codex, it would become a comprehensive and detailed source of information about Ijal. If we had stopped to fight every monster, we found along the way, as well as stop each time Sieph noticed something new, we would have less time to actually find a dungeon that was linked with the ley-line we were heading towards.

I still thought it was a mistake, not taking the time to level. I didn't understand what the need to rush was, at first. What did it matter if it took us weeks to arrive? We weren't on a timetable. Grandfather had not impressed any sense of urgency when he'd discussed this venture with me.

In fact, he had stressed safety over speed, never mentioning that we may be racing the clock. I found out once Thutmose assured me that one existed, that Grandfather had not been informed, and had missed that small piece of vital information when he researched what we might expect. Thutmose was decent enough to explain that from the moment we had arrived on the planet and been integrated into the local System, the clock had started a countdown. We had less than six months to find a dungeon, clear it, and claim the dungeon core for our faction, or face further competition.

After six months, another Pantheon team would be transported and allowed the same chances to claim the world as we had. If that happened, the chaos as System adapted and learned from multiple sources might force our faction to abandon the planet. The changes to System warped beyond any acceptable changes the Sidhe could abide by.

It had become a race at that point, one that we were even able to impress as vital we win on Sieph. She had her own agenda; her marching orders from the Knocker Queen, but those orders would be for nothing if we lost this chance and were forced to abandon our claim on the planet because we had loitered.

We needed to strike a balance between leveling so that we could survive whatever we might encounter and moving fast enough that we tracked down a usable dungeon as quickly as possible. One we had a chance of defeating. With time pressing, our goals were decided.

The dynamics of the group changed once we realized that we were racing against time, the pressure to succeed within six months had unexpected consequences toward the cohesion. Small squabbles broke out, even I allowed the pressure to affect me, so much so, that I found myself being rude and impatient with Bob and Sieph.

Still, even as we tried to increase our pace, there were times when Sieph forced the group to wait. She had been outfitted with a complete botany and metallurgical equipment suite. Enough equipment to allow her to process and identify everything we encountered. Some of her equipment had detection scripts as part of their runic enhancements. The eyepiece that she insisted on wearing the most obvious.

Anything we passed that had a higher concentration of magic than the surrounding area was enough reason to stop for her. It had taken some discussion and a few messages between Grandfather and the group before we'd reached a consensus, we could all live with. We would only stop if whatever she was detecting contained an exponential increase of magic.

She had had us stopping at every blade of grass that saw even the slightest deviation from the background levels. Even with our additional concerns, we were forced to stop more often than I'd liked, but at least her discoveries had evolved from the mundane to the esoteric. Rare herbs for the most part that would have to be studied further to determine their properties.

Her equipment allowed her to study an item's composition. What it was made of and how it was structured. But an in-depth study on the properties of the item would need to be done in a real lab. Fortunately, I had the [Ring of Hidden Depths], and was able to directly forward her discoveries to Grandfather. He could use the resources on Talahm to find out exactly what the increased magic was doing within each plant and if there were any beneficial properties that could be harnessed.

We had already learned that a fernlike plant had properties that warped magnetic fields. A few of our Alchemists thought it might be used with Portal's to increase the distance they could be placed and still sync with the network that had been constructed.

"That's strange," Sieph said breaking the careful silence we had cultivated in our attempt to travel without being noticed. "I'm picking up something that doesn't make sense. It has registered as plant, animal, and mineral and is the most potent item we've come across yet."

I knew there was no point in suggesting we just ignore it. Gaining her cooperation thus far had required a direct order from a missive transmitted by Queen Wisteria. The Knocker Queen had not been happy to be forced to mediate our dispute and bluntly informed Sieph that I was in charge of our expedition.

Sieph had reluctantly acquiesced to the Queen's edict, but she made her displeasure known each time we passed by something of interest, without stopping. If I forced her to ignore this anomaly, there would be hell to pay as she found small ways to torment the rest of the party. It wasn't worth it.

"Where?" I asked giving her permission to show us what she had found.

The plant she finally guided us towards was strange, I admitted, once we had tracked the emissions she was reading to the specific location. At least the appearance was strange. A ball of mud and dirt-covered by moss of some kind surrounded a single stalk that towered at least ten feet in the air. The stalk opened into a flower that had multiple layers of petals. The design was hexagonal in form, the sides of the flower easily delineated, almost mechanically precise in design.

The scent that wafted from the plant was sweet, almost cloying with sweetness, filling the air with the perfumes of nectar and honey. [Inspect] was limited by distance and I was just within range to activate the skill when Sieph who had rushed forward impatiently triggered the flower's defenses.

What we had taken for a ball of mud and dirt was instead a colony of insects that had been lying in wait. Sieph had barely come into arm's reach before the magic that was cloaking the hive exploded outward and a veritable swarm of insects, each the size of my head, took flight.

Sieph was fast enough to shield herself, creating a metal contraption, a box made of wire mesh that protected her from the initial attack, but the insects were relentless, each bashing against the walls of protection, or stabbing with stingers to pierce the fortress, forcing her to concentrate on repairing the wire mesh to maintain her construct.

[New Quest: You have angered a [Horvee Hive]. Destroy the insects and save your party members.

Rewards: A Unique metal native to Ijal.

A Key

[Sunset Nectar]

Failure: The death of a party member.]

Sieph's impatience was at times reckless, but this time it might cost her life. The metal mesh was strong enough to keep the insects out, for now at least. But their mandibles seemed to be formed out of the very metal we would gain as a quest reward; they were using them to tear through her container almost faster than she could repair it.

"Sieph? Can your Domain extract the metal from the insects?" I asked.

We watched as she split her focus, maintaining the cage while extracting the material, disarming the insects, and giving us enough breathing room to begin to winnow down the insects and free her. But our respite was short-lived, as the plant that the Horvee had been gathered around, released a pheromone cloud that buffed the giant bugs, and restored the metal that Sieph had just stolen.

If they were angry before, they were frenzied now, and all that anger was unleashed in waves of attacks, as the insects seemed to understand the power of bombarding their victim, giving Sieph barely enough time to react, as they began firing a type of acid from their stingers.