Most drill sergeants were scoundrels. In one form or another, they usually said something along the lines of I’m not here to teach you how to fight—I'm here to teach you how to note poke your eye with the sharp end of your sword!

Kara always thought it was an overdone joke, something most humans used in order to gain an aura of hardness about them. They desired themselves to seem cold, apathetic, and mature. At one-point, Kara had realized this was a trait shared by all intelligent species, which ironically made them that much less intelligent.

After jogging with her sword unsheathed, however, Kara realized the grim reality-- it was very possible, as even she found her blade coming close to her face. Without a sheath, a misstep might cause the forgotten blade to cause an embarrassing situation.

And she was certain someone had poked one of their eyes out in front of a decent crowd. Naturally, everyone from one edge of the world to the other, if not the Abyss, heard all about it. One mystery solved, at the very least.

As for the chaos erupting and rumbling of the earth, it was only to be expected. The ground barely stopped shaking for a single moment as the Ents rose up one after another. Party after party became involved in their own altercations with monsters or other parties, further adding to the noise.

The storm was closing in quickly. Dark clouds slithered on the ground like a giant wave, crackling and spewing lightning in vicious roars. It was just less than a few minutes away and it did not seem intent on slowing. The enclosing circle and growing tensions pilled up on the inexperienced.

Those that had previously avoided encroaching on the Ents liars were now had little space to maneuver, lest they come into shooting distance of the next party.

The real catalyst, however, were the ones that unknowingly stumbled upon the giant menses, which then made them run away, and straight into another Ent Lair. In their escape, the Ents chased them in the vicinity of other parties, and because it was unlikely for all members of a party to be able to conceal their Life Force, more fights ensured. Or they run away, thereby causing even more chaos.

Thus, it left the entire field to be covered with Ents.

It was lovely to watch them scuttle about. For situations like this, and many others, Kara was glad to work alone.

Well, alone and a half-living monster slumbering within the body she would soon be permanently borrowing, but who was counting?

She jogged on, ignoring most of the fighting brewing around her. Miraculously enough, none of this had woken Nilbog. Or maybe he was awake, and he was just watching without making noise—anything was possible at this point. She knew next to nothing about the mechanics behind her Siren skills. She would prod around in there once she was in relative safety. Exploring his “essence” was the first thing she was going to do.

She returned her attention to the battlefield, counting an upward of a hundred, though she suspected most would fall in this period.

A part of her--a tiny, winey part of her, searched for Caldain’s party. She wondered how they fared in the turmoil. If she was them, she would beat it out of there towards the center ignoring all the petty squabbles. Too much chaos and the chances of getting stuck in the middle of a battlefield was unfavorable in the best of times. Having a third party crash your fight was never a fun time.

Every half-wit familiar knew where the true rewards laid--the eye of the storm. It would likely be a large boss with enough firepower to keep a hundred people busy. Though she couldn’t see anything suspicious, she had a good guess about where it was hiding.

A few instances barred her path, the first being party who thought a solo was easy prey, and the other an Ent. The first was lost by speeding up, the second was by slowing down.

A particularly smart group noticed Kara’s smooth sailing through the battlefield. Seeing her leave gave them the bright idea of following along.

Unfortunately for them, Kara did not want to have a group of murdering thieves at her heels. She jogged towards an Ent territory, walking once she reached within their sensing range. She glanced behind her, and was surprised to see them deftly avoid the Ents territory.

At least one of them could see the concealed Ents, then. Her best guess was the woman glaring at her; she would be trouble. All Wolves weren’t created equal, and that one seemed especially nasty. Three others were Wolves and only one was a Cub.

Kara placed her features in the back of her mind as a target of caution: she wore her black hair short and messy, as if she cut it with a sword, and had a face full of unsavory scars that were caused by a sword. It was enough to match the men she was with, as if it proved her worth.

If one thing, it proved a deadly lack of care for her face. Her type wasn’t particularly rare among humans. The greatest shame for Lordans was to have their skin marked by an unworthy opponent.

Glancing behind her, Kara noticed them gaining ground on her. It would be difficult to shake them off, and sprinting too quickly would alert the Ents around her.

Why did they seem intent on following her? That Life Force user, having seen Kara able to conceal adeptly, should have realized she was no easy prey.

How much did humans count for? One point? Three? Kara wasn’t sure. There was always a hidden reward mechanism, though it generally increased with the level and Danger Rank. It was no secret that defeating stronger opponents yielded more points, but there was still a risk involved. They would have better luck elsewhere

There wasn’t enough time or resources to spend on them; let them follow her. Worst case scenario she blasts herself out of there. Her priority was getting this body out of here, not to farm points, or enjoy herself. She needed to conduct many more experiments before she took on such large risks.

Dodging a few more Ent camps, Kara made her way forward. Her Life Fore and Mana sense was limited in this body, but her Notes were not. With her three Notes and using Life Siren's Web, she could sense within up to 80 meters around her. Not that she needed to, of course. She can just see. There were seven parties ahead of her, two behind, and four on the side.

Two of the four nearest to her already seemed to be skirmishing. Those were the biggest fools. They see rivals before them, and then they forget the big prize waiting at the end of-

As she got closer, she was able to recognize one of them. Of course, it would be Caldain. For all his talk of caution, he always ends up in the thickest of things.

The battle was even for the most part. Caldain, with Horn, Lia, and Yan held the front line well against what seemed to be a group of three Warriors and two Rangers. Three were Wolves and two were Cubs.

Caldain’s own Ranger and the Rogue, Aron, worked in unison, though they achieved little on the sidelines. Aron ran at an angle, and though he could dodge the arrows with ease, he made little distance forward. His Ranger kept the other side on their toes. Running head-on against two arrows with little to no cover was a death sentence. The best that both sides could do was keep each other busy.

If I was the rogue, I would run behind the enemy frontline, and have their Rangers risk hitting their own men.

The enemy party had 4 Wolves while Caldain’s party had only Yan and him. They were losing with a man advantage.

Still, what could Kara do, right now? Striking from behind was a no brainer, but with that group at her heels, she might only bring more trouble than it’s worth; that’s assuming Caldain’s crew won’t cut her down then, thinking she was the enemy.

Should she even do anything? The risk was too huge. In the last fight she picked, the variables were laid out. Her opponents were few and she had a back-up plan.

But here? A thousand things could go wrong. This precious, precious body could…

No, Kara thought glancing behind her. Those people were vultures. They would strike whoever was vulnerable, her or Caldain’s, and she couldn’t let that happen. Though a stingy bastard, she still considered him a comrade. Abandoning him here would be a betrayal of his trust—he would do no different. No matter the circumstances, Kara would never stoop that low.

She fell back on using the Ents--that would surely break the fighting. She glanced around her, heightening her perceptions of Life Force. Even though the trees were identical, all wispy and withered, her eyes saw nothing below the ground.

She frowned. She was unable to use her Notes to scout below ground, but what happened was clear. There were Ents there, below most trunks. The issue was, they were all dead.

Whatever’s destroying this land, we’re getting closer to it. Even the Ents are perishing.

Was the boss an Ent monster, or was it an undead? That monster type was the only one able to show these signs.

Kara started running forward, sword ready in hand. The moment she broke into a sprint, so did those behind her.

There was no way she could deal with them by herself, and neither can Caldain’s—together, though, there was a chance. She could probably handle three Wolves at most, though she’ll have to deplete all the resources she was saving for the final boss. She was down to 100 on Life Force and 89 on Mana, and back to 3 out of 5 for Equilibrium points.

For that to happen, though, she needed to end their fight before the other party arrives. If she could get the first strike into their backs, she might be able to deal a fatal blow by using an Amplification.

She was able to escape the eyes of her foes, expect Caldain’s own crew gave her away. They stared for a few moments, surprise on their face. It was all that was needed for them to pay attention to their surroundings.

The men she was supposed to ambush began to turn around, and in a fit of pure instincts, Kara released the sword as her arms pumped backward. Now unarmed, the sword flew behind her with her Life Force, so that when they towards her, they only saw a kid running towards them.

And a party of bloodthirsty Warriors following at the heel. Hopefully, that would take his attention away from her unknown Danger Rank.

When they heard hear nearing, one of the men momentarily broke off from the melee to deal with Kara. The other men, noticing they were about to be flanked by a different party, began to fall back towards the side.

Fortunately, Caldain did not make it easy. He maneuvered to keep them in between him and the upcoming party. He was quick enough to also push aggressively, taking advantage of the numbers advantage. With his technique and hulk of a Horn, the other party quickly began to be pushed back.

The man who turned around needed to finish Kara quickly. He was going to immediately attack.

“Please help!” she yelled, glancing behind her quickly. She enchanted her legs with 1st Rank Life Force, spending a couple of dozen points to increase their durability. She couldn't spend too much, however, or the aura would have shown to the naked eye.

“Get behind me!” he said, and then brought his sword up.

She nodded, and unsurprisingly, when she neared, he lunged at her.

Kara did something she had not done for over half a century: she leaped forward, allowing her enchanted legs to slide her in between his legs. She reached towards the sword before she passed him, using 20 Mana to cast 1st Rank Kinetic Push on her sword. Kara then bounced up, and stepped to the side, reaching behind her.

Fourth Movement: Amplification.

You have dealt 78 Pierce damage to Warrior’s Shield !

You have dealt 46 Pierce damage to Warrior’s HP!

You have dealt Devastating Bleed Damage!

Through the usage of her Notes Kara was able to aim the sword even without looking. It struck him so hard that his lower body went forward while his upper went back.

The man topped backward, and with a smooth gesture, Kara yanked the blade out and struck it into the side of his ally. The man turned back with shock, in disbelief over the 48 Shield damage she dealt. Because of his Life Shield, and Kara’s low Strength, she couldn’t fully penetrate. A few HP was all she could manage.

Lia, however, could do much more. She lunged forward, stabbing him through the neck. With his Shield already weakened, the blade easily went through.

His friend turned towards her with a diagonal strike. She did not have time to block. Instead, ducked underneath, letting the blade cut the tip of her hair.

She landed right in front of the thrust of Yan.

Kara stepped back and bent forward, avoiding being impaled through her stomach but taking a hefty 6 damage as the Enchanted sword cut her ribs.

The pain was a back thought in Kara’s head, the surprise quickly turning into an opportunity. Her left hand went down, guiding the thrust forward. It was weak, but with a pump of Life Force and a momentary increase of her strength, she was able to make him step forward with her, correcting the trajectory of the blade to strike the opponent in the chest.

She let go, hoping the momentum and one more step from him would drive the blade through, as her hands shot forward, holding the wrists of the opposing man as he attempted to swing towards them. She could not completely stop him, as the difference in Strength was far too large, but it was enough to slow him down for Caldain's soldier to--

Her Notes found him stuck in his spot, body shaking as he held his sword weakly.

Son of a--

She tapped into her Mana to blast him away, but her opponent was too quick. His hand released themselves from Kara’s grasp and caught them. He pulled her towards him, his face livid and uncaring she was unarmed, and thrust his blade forward.

She used a Deviation, but she could only move it a few inches to the side before the sword went through her abdomen with little resistance, stopping only until the hilt dug into her skin.

You have taken 28 Damage Pierce Damage!

You have taken Moderate Bleed Damage!

You will take 8 Bleed damage per second for 1 minute!

Kara gasped, the agony overloading all the senses she had reclaimed. Blood spurted out of her mouth onto his shirt. Still he did not let go; it was his last act, and in the back of her mind, Kara understood.

If she was going down, she might as well take someone with her—It was the same for him. His death was assured with the fall of his teammates. The last of his party already started running, leaving him trapped in the circle.

His muscles pulsed, the last of his Life Force pumping into his arms.

Before he could cut the rest of Kara’s body in half, Caldain’s sword rammed him from the side.

Too late, Kara numbly thought as she fell to her knees, clutching the blade with her hands. Taking it out would turn the Moderate bleed damage into Devastating. She poured Life Force into the wound, solidifying it around the sword. The damage per second went down from 7 to 3 at the cost of 46 Life Force. Already her HP was down to 97 from the initial strike, leaving the rest to go with the bleeding. Blood spurted out of her mouth as she rolled to the side.

The earth shook as its coldness burned into her cheeks. Chaos fell above her, deaf to her ears.

If Caldain could…Kara desperately thought, bending her head to search for him, but it was too late. The party that has been chasing against Kara now fought against Caldain, leaving no time for him to help a stranger.

There was no way out. She was adept with self-healing wounds, but without 3rd Rank Life Force Source she could not use them. No one in this area should be capable of healing such a wound at this level either. Life Siren's Song had 5 minutes before it would be up again.

She looked up, finding the boy responsible for her death still frozen in his boots, his arms shaking.

I should not have relied on him. I shouldn’t have tried saving them. I should have used Mana to attack rather than save it. I should have...

All the plans and hopes she had placed on this body vanished in one strike. That’s what happens when a level 20 gets stabbed. No damage reductions, no shield, no healing.

A sense of dread began to close around Kara. Back to that filthy body. Back nothingness.

A part of her wanted to stay, to feel herself die again. Who knew when she could find another Dancer again? How long it would be before she felt anything?

No, I won't let it go. Kara gathered herself. She had no time for remorse. There was still a chance. She withdrew her Notes towards her. Finishing Nilbog’s Initiation was the final option she had. It was all she had left.

If she can't fix this body, then maybe, just maybe, the Shapeshifter can.

To complete your Dancer’s Initiation, you must fully explore their Essence.

Would you like to begin the dive?

No! A voice inside her yelled.

He was awake. The moment Kara attempted to go she was met with resistance, but nowhere near enough to the degree she'd thought.

Turns out, she wanted to live as much as she wanted him to.