Fred caught the arrow with his shield this time; it bounced right over it, doing no real damage whatsoever.

“We call them the bastards,” said Fred.

“Wait. Why?”

“Because they have no father nor mother. They spawn like monsters and act like ones.”

There was something sick in that argument, Gabriel knew. He couldn’t accept it, nor could Liz. He felt utter disgust coming from her, it was directed at Fred or the words he had just pronounced, but it barely lasted for a few seconds.

“So, you are saying those… plant-men are not sentient?”

“No, of course, they are, but they have no Spirit. They keep spawning over and over again,” Greta explained. She was already casting some sort of light veil over the party. It hovered over them, sticking to their bodies. Gabriel had a notification at that point.

You have been affected by Light Veil. For the next fifty-seven minutes, all the magical damage you receive is halved. Reduction scales down as enemy Tier scales up.

"Oh! I had never received a buff before," said Gabriel.

"Really?" Prisha was sincerely surprised, "Oh, one month old, I forgot."

"Wait, you make it sound like I was just born; come on!"

She chuckled. Fronkie croaked with her, then he said, "Lol."

"Fade," Sato ordered, and all the Spirits that could do it faded. That left only Bjorn out. Gabriel judged that the girl had chosen Spirit Assimilation for more chances at casting.

A few seconds later, the owl popped on the patrolling guard shooting at them, making it fall from the tree, then sinking his talons on its face and ending its suffering.

Gabriel followed the whole scene and couldn't help but ask, "Are those the only monster here?"

"Of course not. Those are the weak ones anyway. We'll find washed up Yggs-dogs. And many other creatures. But we'll mostly be focusing on those. The bastards are the ones who give the most experience."

Well… I'll leave those to you. I think I'll just hunt for other things. I can fill up the experience by my own means."

"Alright, what is going on here?" Fred asked.

"I think he's taking on pity for the Bastards," Prisha answered.

"I don't think that's the case, is it? Are you sure you're feeling fine, Gabriel?" Asker Sato, his owl, had perched on his shoulders that moment.

"I… it's not about pity. I don't want to kill anything sentient, not if I can evade it. Is it asking too much?" Gabriel was clearly not liking how both he and his newfound party were taking the argument. He was clearly on edge for the lack of sleep and because not only was this a new environment for him but because of the poor welcome, he had received from the party. They were definitely on the defensive, he could say. He could understand Sato's intentions in making him join so freely; the fact that he was still The Herald was a big thing in The Cradle; it would only be normal to expect that people would stop at nothing to get him by their side.

It was already a miracle that the word had not spread too much. Gabriel realized that it must have been some nondisclosure Binding the Reevers had placed on their military and most probably on the people in front of him; they had been entangled with him since the start.

Sato backed out right away, saying in a roundabout way that everyone was free to uphold their principles in his party, as long as they didn't endanger the party.

So they struck a deal about Gabriel's interactions with sentient creatures only while the party would find itself threatened by them, to a real life-threatening degree.

Surprisingly Greta took his defenses, "He sure is not the only one with such thoughts." She said to Fred, "I heard of many that share such an individual. I myself think that Gabriel's idea of not hurting anyone is tied to him being still new to all this. With time, he'll become looser on his principles, as we all did."

"What a glorious perspective." Gabriel chuckled at her confident tone.

"You'll see," she said.

"Okay, enough with wasting time, there are eight other parties right now, and we have it booked only until tomorrow. Let's try and amass as much as we can," Fred clanged his shield together; the sound they produced made birds escape from the nearby trees.

"Until tomorrow? So we're going to spend the night here?"

"Yes. Did you already have other plans?" Sato asked as he calibrated the tension on his longbow. The thing looked like a Mastercraft.

"Actually, no. Not until tomorrow evening, so it's okay with me." Saying so, Gabriel took out his spear and changed his mindset to that of a hunter.

Fred produced a long whistle as he saw the spear. "My, my, my… Where did you get that?" he asked.

Sato showed a similar reaction, too, "That… would scare Nastia's shitless."

"I suggest you don't show that piece of furniture around The Cradle. It's a banished piece of equipment. If Clast saw it, he… I actually I don't know how he would react," judged the blond girl in white.

"That is a Sk'rayr spear, then? Figures…" Prisha which probably had not recognized the spear right away, folded her arms and nodded to herself.

"This is my lucky charm. I found it on my adventure. And yes, you are not the first ones who said that. So, I'm trying to keep it hidden as long as I can," Gabriel stated, then his thoughts went back to something he had already thought once; finding someone that could teach him the basics of archery. The man in question was right in front of him.

Later. However, something tells me he'll accept anyway, even if I asked now.

As instructed by Fred, the party's formation, whom Sato let take the lead normally, placed Fred on the front, Greta at the center, Gabriel and Prisha on the sides, and Sato at the back.

The heavy-armed man led the party with speed and the grace of somebody very experienced. They seemed to be on a whole other level if he judged Sigmund's party. Well, Sigmund was strong, though, verily so. And probably the Giants had only that Dungeon to farm until they made it to Tier 4, so it might be the reason why they took such a cooler approach at it.

It took the party mere minutes before they got into a small clearing, and soon Sato called for their attention.

"Patrols in the trees; eighth of them. Three at eleven o'clock, two at one, four at three. Two dogs, from the front, three lizards on their sides. Barrier up."

Greta swiftly raised a three-circle shield on top of their heads, that as she beat her staff on the ground, morphed into a dome around them. The luminous runic circles encircled them.

"Alright, we usually don't do this; but I thought we'd take the chance to show you the ropes," Sato started, "The Bastards rarely attack from down the trees; only Guardians and up dare to attack from the ground, so, when on the trees it's my job to snipe them. The lizards are fast, they can reach us swiftly and get out of sight by becoming invisible, so we need to take them down fast in order to defend Greta. The dogs are big, but Fred can taunt one while directly placing himself in front of the other. You, Gabriel, will join Prisha in handling the lizards. After that, you both focus on the dogs. If there are no more ground threats, we deal with the remaining threat on the tress. Eight is not a problem for me; however, with the hole Nastia's left, we've lost a second ranged attacker, so problems might arise in these kinds of situations in the future. Anyway, let's see how you handle things. Everything clear?"

Gabriel took his time to nod. "What about Spirits?"

"The others are not for good at attacking; they join them to empower them; Raiju will help me with those on the trees, and Fuse with me when I need heavier attacks."

"Liz can help directly; she has massive Resilience and decent attack. She could fight one on one with the Lizards, as long as their level range is around that of the Dungeon," he stated.

"Good. Let's start then."

Gabriel did not expect such pinpoint accuracy from Sato, especially his swift reading of the battle. He hadn't even felt one presence, while the men were capable of assessing all the nearby threats.

Guess I can't have it all. I wonder what Perks or abilities he has.

The patrol was on their way to meet with the party; they seemed to haven't noticed them at all, so the party would surprise them in a fast-paced attack.

Liz jumped into Gabriel so that she would launch herself at the enemies without having to waste Spirit points for getting there herself.

The assault then started with Gabriel and Prisha dashing through the field toward them. The Ygg-dogs were big, almost fifteen feet at the withers, and like the lizards, they resembled proper animals but were entirely made of leaves and entwined branches. However, it was clear they would bleed proper blood when hit, just as Gabriel showed when he, after a fast cast of Analyze.

Running Ygg-Lizard

Race

Lizard

Level 24

Class

Runner

Level 23

Element

Life

Life - 3

Pools

Life

Energy

Mana

221/221

127/127

15/15

Attributes

Affinity

9

Bound

Alacrity

27

Bound

Power

19

Unbound

Recovery

30

Bound

Resilience

17

Bound

Stamina

30

Bound

At full speed, Gabriel covered one hundred and fifty yards in a little less than four seconds. As he arrived, his spear, extending into a cut, literally blast through the lizard, sending it exploding everywhere. He was not expecting this kind of effect, so it took him a moment to recover. Prisha arrived after him, surprise clear in her face, as she dug her kunais in the lizard's head; while she did that, Gabriel was already dealing with the second lizards; the overhead cut severing it in half. The lizard hadn't even been able to answer with Skills.

Having been left without a prey of her size, though the lizards were fifteen feet long, she launched herself at the Ygg-dog, drawing in the aggro for the other dog as well.

Fred had yet to reach the place when Gabriel, with a pirouette, swiped the Ygg-dog's leg, the one Liz was not focusing on, cracking his leg and bringing him to the ground. Then he launched his spear at the creature's head, impaling it in the eye, even to his surprise. He was close to his target now, but he had never been that accurate. Lucky shot, I guess.

A few seconds later, as Gabriel removed his spear from the dog's head, Liz's tail, augmented by her Burst Attack, whipped one last time at her enemy's neck, severing its head from the spine.

It was just a couple of seconds later when Gabriel heard the singing of electrified arrows and the subsequent 'thud' of a body dropping from the trees.

He, Liz, and Prisha rejoined a disoriented Fred in silence.

"That was not what I was expecting," he said. In the background, a couple of more bodies dropped from the trees.

Sato joined them soon after; he seemed to have something to say, so he had been able to follow their battle even while dealing with his own targets. "I thought you might be able to achieve something like this by stacking Skills, however… I must congratulate on your explosiveness," he said.

"Let's be real; you just put me to shame," Prisha admitted. However, she didn't look really fazed by it; instead, she showed a sincere appreciation; it looked like sincere happiness for him.

"I think we can really work with that," Fred opened up into one of the first smiles he had seen from him, "do you think you'll be able to achieve the same results while taking the magical side?"

"Mmh… I'm afraid not. My Sub-skills are really heavy on resources, and sadly, I lack any real knowledge about runes and Magic Circle. So I'd define myself a battle mage for the moment," Gabriel stated.

But as soon as he said that, he saw them chuckle in a chore. "What did I say wrong?"

"It's just the term. Battle-mage! Too much anime, I believe," said Greta.

Gabriel got a shade redder. "What's wrong with that? I thought it fit the contest pretty neatly."

"Nothing," Sato said, chuckling. "It's just what we use to call those that want too much from their builds."

"It's like calling them douche," Fred explained, "Hey, look at that battle-mage over there! If he gets any more corny, he's gonna pop!"

"What the…"

Prisha put an arm around Gabriel's shoulder, or at least she tried to; the petite girl was very small and fragile-looking, even for her age. "Don't listen to them. We all hope to achieve the dream of becoming a battle-mage; it's just… not really feasible. You may only focus on melee or magic; that's how it is. Or you just day because a specialized opponent is gonna rip your limbs out and piss in your skull when he's done."

"That's… morbidly specific. Is that from anime as well?" Gabriel answered, arching his brows.

Prisha shrugged. "It might be."

"Alright, let's get focus. Raiju is feeling for essences. We might as well extrapolate the dogs and lizards tendons."

"Why the hell would we do that?" Asked a bewildered Gabriel.

"Magical ropes, chords. They are very good for those," answered Fred.

"Okay, but we don't have to do it manually, right? Please say no."

"Why would we? Here." Fred took out a Mana Gobbler from a pouch he had tied on the back of his belt.

"We use this; it has three modes. Just set it to bones. It'll do everything but that; tendons have been placed cataloged as bones, right Greta?"

"Yes." Greta was applying something on her staff. Gabriel really wanted to know what a staff or a scepter could do with magic, and maybe he would ask later. But without a working Arcane Spirit Gem, he would not be able to use his spear as such; and even before that, he had to learn to feel both his Energy and Spirit. He hadn't been able to until now.

As he turned the Pacman looking object by shifting its gears so that the pointer signaled 'bones,' which was somewhat discolored; he recalled for his Anchore experience log.

You have gained:

Level + 1.82%

Class Level + 2.15%

Spirit Level + 1.17%

Dash Tier 2 + 18%

Wow, even divided six ways, it's still decent, especially Dash. However, such a feat might have given me a lot more before Tier 2. Maybe it does get slower as your Tier increases.

With that in mind, Gabriel proceeded, placing the Gobbler inside a Ygg-dog's mouth, unaware that something was spying on him.

***

Bastards, bastards, bastards! They are the bastards!

Phreviel's nails dug into his palms, with all the strength a level 27 Guardian Yggdrasilian could muster. He shed red blood like that of the humans. But unlike them, he never had the privilege to shed theirs.

Six years… six years to get to this point, and I still can't…

"Phrev!" Whispered his partner, "Don't you dare! It's useless. Come back here!"

Phrreviel and Thredon were scouting the humans from their tallest tree; they had both chosen Far Sight as a Perk. However, had they known the Reverse Tree would make them Guardians, they would have chosen something else. There was still time to choose one last more offensive Perk before they hit the soft Cap of level 30, but it was unlikely they would make it before the season was over.

"We can take them Don! I can see it from here if we just managed to mobilize a Captain we could-"

"No Elite will ever come out of hiding if Spring doesn't come; it's a waste of lives. Just be lucky you get to study their strategies. We'll make it to fruition during Spring, and why the hell are you caring about drones now? You don't even remember how life was before, nor do I!"

"It's just- You know what? I can't watch this anymore. I'm going back to the Tree. Sleep is better than this, much better."

Phreviel descended through the three with a series of agile movements. He had mastered those movements during his previous life. Now he was actually conscious of reproducing them and moving with the cognition of doing so. It was the most beautiful thing ever. If only it wasn't for the damn Spirit jailer, they would be free to live their life to the fullest.

Phreviel's skin had changed when the season changed; it took a washed-out maple red tint, and the same would happen during the other seasons; he would keep changing color. It was the sign of the Awoken. His bow was made from his own flesh, just as were his daggers. His body was one thing with The Reverse Tree, and only them, the Awoken, could join him and enter it. It was the sole reason why the Spirit jailer had never found the Reverse Tree nor its Inner Sanctum.

Phreviel crouched once he descended from the tree. He placed his head on the soft earth and let his mind wander through, becoming one thing with it, with the enormous being hidden in the earth.

The immense Reverse Tree was not as big as Yggdrasil; it was roughly one-fourth of its size, which meant that it was tall as a mountain and almost as wide as a small city.

As he fused with the ground, his body coiled on itself, attaching to its branches, then, as his conscience traveled through it, he became one with its nature. Peace. Infinite Peace washed over him, making him forget of everything that afflicted him, of his mission, of the Spirit jailers, of all his worries.

When he detached from the branches, he took back his shape, slowly. Then opened his eyes to the massive Inner Sanctum, the inside of the Reverse Tree.

In there, gravity reversed, and he could walk as he usually would on the Dungeon grounds. The Tree’s vibrant spiritual energy lighted the massive cave. Here and there, in spots, a gentle white light pervaded the cavity and allowed its inhabitants to see and go for their days as they wished.

There were thousands of them.

Most Yggdrasilians slept. They did not like seasons different from the Spring and Summer; for them, it meant death for the Spirit jailers' hands.

During the hot seasons, they had their strengths multiply; however, they grew weaker during the cold season. So weak that even the blessing to Guardian, Elite, or even Champion didn't really matter much while facing their aggressors, figuratively speaking.

Phreviel passed through most of them, sleeping or training their shaping abilities, Yggdrasilians, and headed to the Heart of the Tree. Where he could feel its pulsating life as close as he could, he was so grateful for having given him the light of understanding that he let himself bathe in its glory for days and nights, without ever growing tired.

When he reached the Heart, though, something felt off.

The Tree was… disturbed.

Phreviel grew scared. He had never felt it act as such.

The Heart was an immense core; its outside had the shape of a seed, an immense seed tied to the trunk walls, center of the pulsing Spirit.

Phreviel tried communicating with him, some others had already seen its state and were trying, uselessly, to heal it or make it feel better, but it was going nowhere.

When the Yggdrasilian placed his hand on the core, his mind was invaded by the Reverse Tree's desires. Phreviel was driven almost crazy with the massive load of Spirit power passing through him during their connection.

"Find him," it said.

"He's the Harbinger. The Herald for Spirits is here."

A face was forever implanted in his mind, a face he would never forget... the man jailing the lizard.