Claire had only just awakened, so the amount of strength she had would be limited. Rose focused on my condition as a faint spiral of light formed around her.

Anne’s mouth twisted as she tried to say something, but no words came out. That gave us a moment of reprieve, but it wasn’t enough. She tried to pull the bandit king back, but he had already stepped towards Claire with a vicious glint in his eye.

He stamped towards us and swept his axe down on the blockade Claire had formed. The wall lasted for a moment before it collapsed under his blow, but she managed to reform it a second time. The bandit king stumbled after his attack, but he ignored that as he moved for another strike.

Before he could launch his attack, a wave of mana slammed into my heart. I had felt the flow previously, but this was far beyond anything I had ever experienced. My body trembled as more and more power funnelled in through Rose’s hand. The wave knocked the bandit king back a step and gave Claire the time to reinforce her barrier.

Rose pulled back after a second of transfer. My pain had vanished, so I turned to thank her, but my words were pulled short by her horrified expression.

“Cory, send more. Now!”

She reached out and held her palm to my face. I wanted to ask what she meant, but it was too late. The flow of mana, which had been bursting through my viens, reversed in a moment.

And, with nowhere else to go, it blasted out.

Cory held his spot, but Claire and the others were blown away. Anne and the bandit king tumbled to the far wall whilst Claire was blown clear of the slimey barricade she had created. The pale orb bounced into the distance and was lost to sight.

And then the burst of power passed, as though it had never been.

“What the hell did you do that for?” I pushed myself up and moved towards the pair in the distance. Before I could step towards them, Rose appeared in front of me. She mimicked my movements as I dashed towards Claire.

“We planned to transfer some of the mana from these people to you, on top of using the dungeon's reserves a little. It’s not efficient, but they had enough left to pull you back into positive values.” She glanced at those around the area, who had awakened once the transfer ceased. “Clive must have started an assault on the dungeon entrance. The surge was passed through to you.”

“Your innate talent for mana must be quite high. Most people would have been fried by that much.” Cory moved beside me, his surface aglow as he tapped me on the head. “If this dungeon wasn’t so special, the flow would have burned you alive. Even so, it shocked me that you didn’t explode. Are you sure you aren’t part core yourself?”

“Wait, so the holdfast effect stops you being affected by overusing mana?” I recalled the effect that Dragon’s Luck had provided me. Whilst such a buff was helpful, it would give someone a false sense of security. I had none of the usual warnings of low mana whilst it was active, so there was every chance I could have used more skills and made my situation worse.

“Temporarily, yes, but you overused your mana to the point where it would be impossible to get it back in time. I had to fight to keep your soul from melting under the pressure.” Rose stopped her lecture as we reached the area Claire had been thrown to.

These critical strikes are a double-edged sword, and I almost just cut my head off with it…

I found Claire after a few seconds of searching. She had landed next to the wall, but she didn’t move as I stepped closer. After I had picked her up, a faint thought transmitted into my brain.

‘Oh, that hurt... I need to rest again already.’

“She’s fine.” I turned to Anne, who’s face had been clenched up as she stared at the orb in my hand. “She just needs to recover, don’t worry.”

“Good.” Anne let out a breath before she looked back at me. “What about you, didn’t you get hit first?”

“I guess so.” I turned back to Rose, who now hovered behind me. “What happened, exactly?”

“Well, you managed to land a critical strike. Multiple, I would imagine.” Rose turned to the bandit king, who watching my one-sided conversation with narrowed eyes. “Those increase your skills effects, but they also burn more mana in return. That’s why some think it as a dangerous effect and try to avoid any skills with the tag.”

“Right.” I nodded and turned back to the others. If I had overused my mana to such a degree without people around to act as batteries… I would have died. “Sorry about that, Anne. It was…”

“It’s fine.” Anne laid a hand on the shoulder of the man beside her. She took the fact I had just spoken to myself in front of her in her stride.“I imagine that you overused your mana, and this dungeon heart helped you with a mana transfer?”

“I hated it.” the bandit king growled as he glared at Cory. “Do that again without asking and I’ll turn you to powder.”

“I promise!” Cory shot out his answer before he vanished back into my inventory. He was obviously terrified by the threat, but it's not like I could blame the bandit king. If I had my mana ripped out of me without consent, I’d be annoyed too.

“Anyway, don’t do that again.” Rose leaned in close and blocked off my view of the others. Her face was less than an inch from mine as she stared into my eyes. “Your soul is still healing, but even if it wasn’t, you should have died. Next time, you won’t be so lucky.”

“Got it.” I nodded several times. Rose frowned and shook her head before she vanished into me again.

“Why don’t I trust you?” She muttered before she went silent. I smiled and turned to face Anne, who had moved next to me with a curious expression.

“So, we’re safe for now.” I looked around at the others, who had once again collected themselves. They had overheard the conversation, though some looked angrier than the others. “Sorry about that, I promise it won’t happen again.”

“It’s fine.” Leah answered before the others could speak. “You managed to kill the cultists' leader, so this was a small price to pay.”

“Wait, he did what?” The village leader stepped out of the crowd. His arm was injured, but he ignored that as he stared at me with his mouth agape.

“He won the duel. That man was strong, but our Rook was stronger.” The bandit king slapped a meaty palm on my shoulder. The fact arrows had recently been pulled out of his body didn’t seem to leave any ill effects. “I like you, Rook. Good job.”

“Right.” I moved from under his hand and turned to the others. Those who had worked for the bandits numbered close to fifty, whilst the villagers had over one hundred members in their ranks. I moved over to Leah and leaned in to whisper to her “Did we lose anyone?”

Her face dropped slightly as she glanced at the others. I had seen people fall in the first battle, but I didn’t have much time to see what had happened past that point.

“We lost twelve fighters, but the villagers managed to get out unscathed thanks to you.” She grimaced as she spoke revealed our losses. “We didn’t expect the cult to ambush us, so most of the losses where at that point. We managed to avoid major damage, but a lot of us are injured.”

“Right.” I reached into my inventory and dropped a pile of glass bottles on the floor. “Try to keep some spare, I don't have a huge amount left.”

“Wait, what?” Leah picked up one of the bottles and stared at its contents. “Are these… potions? How did you get this many?”

“Clive helped out there. I borrowed them from him.” I patted her shoulder with a smile, though this pile was large, I still had more than enough for my own emergencies. “Think of it as back payment for all your hard work. I held a few back for myself, so don’t worry about using these up if you need to.”

Leah nodded and called out to two of the former bandits to help her sort the pile. I left them to their work and moved over to Anne and the bandit king.

“So, what’re the chances that Clive will back off?” I glanced at the pair, my expression tight. We had two exits from this place, but the secret path came out not too far from the main exit. If they wanted to surround us, his forces would be more than enough. A single person spotted at the other exit would jeopardise everyone's escape.

“Basically non-existent.” Anne answered and shattered my hopes. “I’ve never seen him so angry. I know he’s been working against us for a long time, but a portion of the bandits have been pulled over to his side.”

“Yeah, I need to pay them back for that.” The bandit king rubbed his shoulder and winced. “I’m the leader, and they betrayed me just because that rat told them too. Money’s one thing, but respect is another.”

“I guess that’s true. Didn’t think you’d see it that way.”

“Wait, why not?” the huge man turned to me with a frown. “I like money, but no amount is worth the respect of those under you. If people don’t do what they’re told, they don’t respect you.”

“Or maybe they just don’t agree with your choices.” I folded my arms and stared at the bandit king. “Respect is earned, not given. Just because you're a big, strong guy doesn’t mean you deserve it.”

“And what makes you think I haven’t earned it?” My words had hit him harder than I had expected. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“I know enough. Clive is just a worse version of you.” My patience broke under his weak excuses. “This little group you created attacked an innocent town. You betrayed their trust. Do you not feel guilty at all?”

“No.” the bandit king shook his head. “I didn’t order that, and I never would have. What’s the point in killing people?”

“Good.” I nodded and turned away. that would be the closest I would get to an apology, so there was no need to extend the discussion.

“We worked hard to earn the respect of the town leaders. Clive’s plan ruined any long-term gains.” The bandit king continued to speak. “He was so focused on what he could get right now that he threw away the agreement. What a waste-”

“Strengthen. Accelerate. Enhanced Dexterity.”

“Wait, Rook. What’re you doing?” Anne stepped forward with a worried expression as I activated each of my buffs. “We can talk about-”

My kick landed squarely on the bandit kings chest. There was no critical strike, but the force was still high enough to bowl him over. He coughed a few times as he pushed himself up.

“What the hell! What’s wrong with you?!” He growled, his eyes aflame as he stared at me. I ignored his question as I stalked towards him.

“Buffed Strike.”

I propelled myself towards him and aimed a punch at his face. The bandit king reacted well as he rolled to the side and avoided my blow. As I skidded along the floor, I noticed that everyone else had turned to watch out fight with a mix of surprise and fear.

“Rook, calm down!” Anne shouted from behind. White light drifted from her fingers as she pointed at us. “He didn’t mean it like that!”

“Anne, don’t defend him.” My voice was chilly as I glared at my opponent. “You know as well as I do what happened, and he doesn’t care. All he cares about is his money, his respect, his pride. He betrayed them as much as Clive did.”

“Calm down!” Anne sprinted over and grabbed my arm. “Clive is the enemy here, not him. His logic is a bit warped, but he’s a good person underneath. Just give him a chance.”

“Anne, step back.” The bandit king rose to his feet and stepped towards me. “This boy doesn’t understand. He’s like me. We figure out things with our fists-”

“Chains of light.”

Anne pointed at the bandit king. A glowing rope appeared at his feet and twined around his legs. Before he could move another step, his entire body had been wrapped up in a core of glittering light.

“Why!” He yelled as he fell to the floor with a thump. “We just need to fight it out. Can’t you just-”

“No!” Anne grimaced as she stepped in front of me. the fact she had moved against her husband on my behalf, especially after I had just attacked him, left me speechless. the flame of anger died down a little as I watched her walk over to him.

“What’s wrong?” the bandit king looked up at her, his expression softened slightly. “Tell me what happened.”

“Claire… died.” Anne sat beside him and rested a palm on his shoulder. “She died when Clive attacked the town, along with a number of the guards. Rook was her friend. Do you understand now?”

His face went through a streak of emotions before it settled down into a grimace. Anne removed the bond she had placed on him, which allowed him to sit up. He didn’t make any moves towards me, however.

“Rook… I’m sorry.” He muttered. “I didn’t know it had gone that far. I thought he just threatened-”

I grit my teeth as I stared at the pair. His apology annoyed me more than anything else he had done. He was only saying it after he had heard about Claire, which proved he didn’t care about the others. I didn’t know how many of the guards had lost their lives, but after the first attack on the wall, the number of casualties would be significant.

I guess I'm the same. I never thought about them until now…

“Save it.” I turned and walked towards the far wall as I forced down my own nasty thoughts. “Actions are louder than words. If you want to prove how ‘sorry’ you are, then help me take Clive down. After that, we can talk again.”

Anne tried to call me back, but I ignored her as I stepped into the next room. The door closed behind me as I clenched my fists. That man’s logic infuriated me at a base level. Whilst Drake had said he was one of the people who worked to defeat the evil god, I had a wild thought he would sell us out for the right price given the chance.

I’ll figure it out later. For now, I need strength.

“Cory, activate this one.” I stared at the far wall. “We have mana to spare, right? Summon a few monsters, I want something to beat up.”

“...sure.” Cory agreed as the far wall lit up. “I’ve shifted the first spawn room to here, so it will be a wave of ants. Is that OK?”

“Yeah.” I pulled out my staff and moved towards the creatures who had appeared in front of me. “Just keep them coming, I have work to do.”