"The planet where my ancestors came from is no longer accessible from the ley line pathway," Gorgi said, shaking his head. He did not seem really sorry; he had never even been in that place.

"I'm sorry, Gorgi. But why is that?" Gabriel asked.

They were doing one of their routine lessons. Gabriel was alternated from learning about runes to discover shades and try to implement shades of hypothetical Dark magic, to theorize about the effectiveness of magic effects versus Skill effect.

The latter had been a topic of extreme interest for Gabriel. As it seemed Skills were outrageously more powerful than magic and though less versatile, they made the impossible possible through their nature of feeding on Ambient Mana.

Gabriel had proffered the problem when he realized that the folding of space his new Alacrity Skill implemented would require staggering amounts of Mana if used directly.

Gorgi had cleared up that problem by confirming that Skills were indeed more direct than true Magic, and they accomplished things by feeding on Ambient Mana.

That was why, although being Tier 3, Arya did not show any advanced combat prowesses. In fact, Skill did not have their full effect on planets poor in Ambient Mana. He made that connection by seeing what Fang was capable of by being a Tier 3, and since Arya showed to be a similar battle style, he wondered why she had activated any Skill of the sort. Now it was clear because they simply did not work properly.

So his Flowing Disciplines would not release the same amount of water-tainted Mana, would not summon lightning. However, would they empower him the same way? Gorgi had no answer for that, so he would have to find out on his own.

"Nuclear holocaust has destroyed most of Viridian's natural life, ley lines are based on Spirit. Life and Death must find an equilibrium to produce Spirit. Death is something that Viridian has too much of. So…" He shrugged, without continuing.

"So, no ley lines. I get it."

"Even if they were sane, they would connect to The Core anyway, which would make them… impracticable to reach, at best," he finished, smiling.

"But why are you asking?"

"Well, there are six more planets other than Earth up there. I just got curious."

Curiosity is good!" He convened. "Now focus back on runes; you have really no talent at all at memorizing Gabriel. If you don't focus, you are not going anywhere."

"Why couldn't there be an Attribute for Intelligence," Gabriel sighed.

***

Following the day he visited Water Dungeon, Gabriel spent the rest of the week alternating between hunting, farming frequenting the Dungeon with the Nicholson party, following his magic lessons, and meeting with the Yamamoto-Jansen-Wagner coalition, and having pleasant encounters with Avrelyssyandra. There were only so many hours in his day, and he got barely enough to sleep. The only times he spent at the inn was at night when he slept, or if he couldn't because he thought about his mother, he went out hunting once again.

The following day would be the day in which he'd finally retrieve his armor, and after that, there would finally be the exchange of prisoners. Gabe couldn't hide the fact that he was still a little uncertain about that. However, he was delighted that Greta would come with him. Memories of his last period with the Armored Tyrant King were still haunting him. It wasn't easy to subject to something that might as well have the same results to him, imprisonment for an indefinite amount of time. If that wasn't all if he failed and was captured, he would miss the Autumn Equinox festivities with Avrelyssyandra, and that was a big no-no.

Gabe kicked that thought out; it wouldn't happen. He wouldn't allow it. Besides, if things got rough, he would escape before that. He had proven his might, and he had become much, much stronger than when he fought against the Tyrant. It wasn't much the Attributes as his Skills that had changed.

Gabe had finally mastered Built to Fly. Thus all his Basic Skills were complete. He just needed to evolve them now.

Also, Varcivald had cleared many of his gaps regarding elements, for example, mixing Dark lightning that applied corruption other than burns on their target; however, since he was still using Ambient Mana, he would be subjected to the damage as well. It was a powerful effect indeed, but it had its cost, provoking an even mightier backlash.

Hunting had been good enough with him to net him more than one thousand units of Mana in sells; he could pay his lesson with those, while Dungeon delving had been much more rewarding. Taking on Champions and selling their spoils had rewarded him with two thousand five hundred units of Mana, and he was selling all his spoils and Essences only at Greta's list of trusted sellers; they did not trick him and paid him every cent . Still, if he wanted to keep staying over the inn, he suspected that he would have to step up his game grandly.

It took two up to five hundred Mana units a day if he merely wanted to keep his room and board staying. He had one week left on his paid booking and would need to join the inn's crew if he wanted to get a room. There was no way he would do that, not that there was anything wrong with it. He enjoyed being among Commodo, Garena, the staff, the helpers, and the inn's aficionados in general, but there was much he felt he needed to do. There was no way for him to take up a job that would impact his freedom like that. Being a hunter as of that moment suited him just fine. And if he was able to delve on his own, it would be even better; however, with the current state of the economy and with LL Dungeon blocked, it would be hard even pulling strings to book a few Dungeon reservations, but doing them alone? His spies would never allow him something like that. It was too dangerous.

Gabriel was reviewing his Anchor Page; he had managed to raise his Level to 37, his Class level had increased twice, reaching 33, and the same had happened with his Spirit level, which now sported an advanced level 34. Spirit Level had started gaining more experience now that he and Liz could fight together as one. He had placed his two body points into Affinity and Stamina, rounding them both at 40, his twenty Pool points, he had placed them into Mana, reaching the mark of one hundred. Now that he had a Skill as costly as Teleport, he had to at least ensure a single cast of it. Finally, he placed his two Spirit points into Affinity; he guessed that it would increase Liz's light beam attack, even though they scaled mostly with Power, their Fusion would benefit both of them since he had discovered that she could freely use her beams of light even when they were fused together. And they were entirely free since they recharged only with solar energy.

Gabriel's new Anchor page looked like this.

Gabriel Walker

Race

Human

Level

37 (81.28%)

Class

Dark Space Battle-Mage

Class Level

33 (31.35%)

Spirit

Spirit of The Shiny-Lizard

Spirit Level

34 (76.13%)

Pools

Life

Energy

Mana

Spirit

10/10

35/75

100/100

60/60

Attributes

Body

Spirit

Final

Affinity

40 (20)

9

49

Alacrity

36 (18)

11

47

Power

17

25.5 (17)

42.5

Recovery

51 (17)

10

61

Resilience

40 (20)

55 (22)

95

Stamina

40 (20)

10

48

His Mana had reached the point that one entire day of recovery wasn't enough to regenerate fully even while spending the whole day in the relative absence of sun of The Cradle. He had, in fact, discovered that as long as the place lacked natural light, his Affinity regen would double.

On a side note, increasing by three points of Affinity, one for Gabriel's Body and two for the Spirit, had made Liz grow by three inches. She was now 5-feet-9. She was as long as he was tall, her tail taking most of it.

Gabe and Liz were now eating his breakfast, and while doing so, he managed to catch a glimpse of Olivia for the first time since Garena had talked to him about her disappearance.

Olivia wore a hood covering her entirely, but he managed to recognize the green shine in one of her eyes.

Hell, why not? He said to himself.

Gabriel ingurgitated his breakfast with gusto, and without spilling any of the precious Syrup extracts that would slowly refill his Energy, he followed her out.

He had yet to lose her, but she was already in the street. The Equinox was one of the major festivities in Yggdrasil. Thus, preparations spawned each floor-city of it, especially The Cradle.

The streets were full to the brim with merchants, kids of all races dressing themselves in dried leaves, and recreation of history Gabriel knew nothing about, being held in the biggest city squares.

To not lose her, he had to speed himself up, but to do that, he would have to disappear from sight. The best way to create a semblance of that, was simply by enveloping his body in Mana tainted with the idea of concealment and shooting in the air with the help of Built to Fly.

Gabriel easily managed to follow Olivia without her finding out about him. She was a caster anyway; even if her level was double his own, she would not be able to lose him, or at least that's what Gabriel thought. When they traveled together, Olive had yet to unlock all of her Skills, but back then, she could only dream of being as fast as Gabriel was now. However, since then, she had made explosive improvements, so he really had no clear idea of what she was capable of, especially given the companion sharing her body.

They had left The Cradle and were heading toward what looked like the direction of Large Leaf Dungeon.

Why is she going over there? It's blocked. Gabriel sighed.

Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

Then something changed as she started speeding up.

Damn! Did she notice me?

Gabriel dropped all pretenses of thievery and started dashing; Olivia was still faster than him.

***

"Intruders!" Shouted one of the four Paragon Bastards whose duty was that of overseeing the four entrances of the Dungeon.

"Intruders!"

"Intruders!" repeated the others. Passing the message to the commander board.

Phrev, resting spoon to spoon with his companion Thredon, shot up, "What's going on?"

"Intruders from the south entrance. Not Druids!"

"Not Druids?"

***

Even the prisoners started whispering. There had not been any interaction in the past two weeks, if not with the Dungeon guards to show them proof of their life.

"What's going on?" Fred asked.

"There are intruders," answered someone.

"They've broken the pact? Are they going to kill us?" Somebody else.

"No. It seems it's not a Druid, probably not someone from Yggdrasil either," said Sato.

Then he signaled something to Prisha with the method they had created.

Prisha, with her finer control on the magic, extended the message to all the others.

Ready-defense-chance-escape.

It was useless to use more complex language forms than that; they all knew what they had created it for. To share information about their jailers, about their uses, and the right moment to try and escape or… the right moment to surrender after a failed attempt, if it came to that.

Right now, however, it was time to get ready.

***

Phrev, two Champions, and a squadron made of ten Elites, twenty Guardians, and more than fifty drones headed toward the intruders. Judging from the Paragon senses, there were two humans, males, one clearly Tier 4 judging by his stance and the Paragon's own battle senses, the other… it was unclear.

The man in front walked with the confidence of someone who knows his true strength, he had his hands joined behind his back, the other followed suit, his stance was slightly slouching, taller than the man in front and if the one in front was very pale, the one behind was much darker. They stopped a few yards from them.

Phreviel couldn't help but shake when the pale man's gaze stopped on him, and he smiled. He smiled… sincerely.

What is going on here?

"Abused Yggdrasilians, I believe we have an enemy in common," he said, opening his arms wide.

Phreviel, to whom, once again had been given command for his decisiveness, talked first, "Tell why we shouldn't drop your body right here, in our blessed lands."

"That's… rather unkind of you, we bring-"

"What's your name, messenger… of Lore," Phrev asked.

"So, you've noticed? Sharp eyes. My name is Thomas, this is Matthieu, my assistant. Who am I speaking with, captain?"

"I am Phreviel, emissary of the true people of Yggdrasil."

"Phreviel, it's nice meeting you. I'd gladly keep talking with you, but I'm afraid our time here is short. We have dispatched the outside guards, but the Druids might be upon in minutes. I've come here to bring you a gift."

"We do not accept any gifts from humans; you taint everything you touch, Druids or not. Look at how you've bent Yggdrasil to your wishes." Phrev shook his head, "You are a cancer."

"I concur; humans are the worst cancer there has ever happened to Alter," said the pale man.

"You speak like you did not belong to them; there's nothing worse than a traitor to one's race. You are despicable, should be eliminated only for daring to have those thoughts, human," answered Phrev.

"Well, I could say I'm not betraying my race, but then I would have to launch in this long-winded story; it's not good for anyone here, trust me. So boring. Anyway, since we're not going anywhere," the pale man brought his hands to his small sachet; at the same time, all the Bastards raised their spears and bows at him.

Thomas smiled, "Relax, I'm simply taking out the gift we brought for you," despite their threats, Tom ended his motion, then his hand offered Phreviel a flower.

It was a lot like a lotus flower, not that Phreviel would know about them, lotuses, but he could sense what it was that the pale man was showing him.

"The Gift of Blooming… How!?" he said, as his trembling hands reached for it.

Thomas opened into a big smile; he did not retract his hands from Phreviels; he simply let him take it.

"This is a Gift for our cooperation, Phreviel. We both want the same thing is it not?"

Phreviel was speechless, just as everybody else was. Thomas continued, "I believe words are not needed in this; maybe we should just-" but the pale man never finished what he wanted to say because they all felt two enormous presences enter the Dungeon and rush at their location.

"Go now, Yggdrasilians, go!" Saying so, Thomas turned around, and Phreviel could see how an Angel and Demon manifested at his sides. The same happened to the other man, but the pale man's companions were much more majestic.

By the Reversed Tree! What are the obscenities tying these men to their summons!? As much as he was surprised about the recent events, Phreviel had to do as he was told, not only because of the importance of what he was holding in his hands but because of the presence coming at them. One of them was definitely a Tier 6, the other he couldn't say but didn't feel weaker than a Tier 4. There was somebody else too with them, probably a Tier 3, but Phreviel was too excited to guess more than that; he had to bring the Gift of Blooming to safety.

They scrambled away, while the two strangers stayed there to wait for the incoming threat.

***

Less than a minute earlier, Olivia had noticed Gabriel as she reached the Dungeon.

"What are you doing here!?" she asked, surprised, "You need to get back! However, Harper Reevers, I might need your hand."

Harper manifested from the shadows, "How did you know I was here? No one has told you, I'm sure."

Olivia tapped under her left eye; it was shining green, "My master's vision cannot be fooled."

"What are you doing here, Olivia Wonderlust?" However, something more important than that was there, and Harper didn't seem to have noticed.

"See this?" Olivia pointed at the men in standing guard, "Look." She passed her hand through one of them; it was an illusion.

"What? How?" Harper asked.

At this point, Gabriel and Liz had no idea what was going on anymore.

"This is Mirror Magic, high-level at that, my master has perceived that someone would enter this place and bring forth great chaos. I might still stop them, but I'd gladly ask for your help."

Saying so, Olivia used movements from the Kata of the Tide and summoned a wave of Water that washed over the place, canceling the images of the guards.

What appeared was a scene of death and destruction. The whole, including the tree houses that housed guards, infirmary, and places of meeting, had been razed to the ground. Eight guards lay on the dirt, their bodies unmoving. Adding to that, the people in the treehouses, the staff members, the doctor, and those responsible for communication made for twenty bodies. There were two other dead bodies on the broken ground; they wore a cassock with a light battle-armor on the top. Another man was standing in front of the access to the Dungeon. He wasn't there before, but he was now that Olivia's magic had cleansed the place from illusions.

These are the priests of Lore, aren't they?

Gabriel's mood changed from surprised to bloodthirsty. Today they would give him his mother back. He shot forward without waiting for Olivia and Harper. The two looked at each other for a moment, then both shot forth; there was no time to ask for backup.

Gabriel tackled the man down and started punching him in the face.

"WHERE IS MY MOTHER, YOU BASTARD!?"

The man did not answer; he could not, he had poisoned himself. Gabriel could hear the acid sizzling through the man's throat; he let him go.

"He's killed himself. He must have been the one keeping up the illusion. Others must already be inside," said Olivia.

"Gabriel Walker, wait!" Shouted Harper, but by the moment she said so, Gabriel was already inside, already in Spirit Fusion and in the Dungeon's ground heading straight to the center of it.

Today he would have his mother back, or he would kill anyone that paved in front of him; there was nothing that could stop him.