Mathew walked out of a side tent where he spent the last five hours talking to the only three enchanters in Mark’s clan. They were informative, and he was able to snag three new entire rituals. There were two others he could have, but were not something he was interested in, nor could feasibly use.

Of the three, his favorite was one that he felt was most useful. The Geomancer was able to gain a ritual as a reward, which Mathew traded for in a heartbeat. It was called ‘Raise Wall’. On paper, it literally moved the ground to create a small wall. Roughly eight feet tall, four feet wide, and half a foot thick.

What they didn’t realize was they gave Mathew two things. A new element, being Earth, and the ability to start manipulating the environment. Instantly he knew he could combine this ritual with his trapping ritual and acceleration ritual for fun effects.

However, that was for the future. Currently he was going to help prepare for the upcoming hoard of monsters. All their hopes that it wouldn’t occur here faltered when the twelve hour warning came.

New walls were either built or created by spell casters. Supplies were delivered to holding zones, shifts were established, and who was going to be where was announced.

Mathew was impressed at Jon’s work. He was in charge of everything, while Mark spent his time doing administrative work. Mathew mostly stayed with Mark, since he had no idea how everything worked.

“Mathew, how do you feel about defending the southern entrance with me? I have Beth with a few others on the north side. Adam is running the medical tents. Jon is on the roaming crew, helping sides that need it most.”

“What about the other three entrances? Couldn’t I be more useful there?”

Mark shook his head. “Not really. Those sides are super narrow, and are filled with traps and long stretches of just tunnels. The south side has four connecting tunnels, and is the largest entrance to cover. Add in that we haven't finished scouting that way completely makes me want to take extra precautions. You seem able to fight well. Besides, having a spell caster to support me will be nice. Adam’s entire path is on reactive support. Healing, repairing, fixing, learning, teaching, that whole thing. He’s only this strong because I drag him into every Dungeon to keep my ass attached to my body.”

Mathew crossed his arms, “I’m not a supportive caster though. I don’t know a single buffing spell or anything.”

“No, but you can probably kill most of these things in a single spell attack right? I want to see you fight as well. Who knows, maybe you're stronger than I think.”

“Oh, you have no idea.” Mathew thought to himself, outwardly he shrugged, “Sure, but don’t expect me to go all out. Twelve hours is a fucking long time to fight. Last time I did it, I only managed because I was Apprentice rank and had Jeffery and a few others help out.”

“I don’t expect you to. However, if the Novice floor is to follow by example, these monsters will grow stronger over time. Starting off at level 10 and ending near 24.”

Mathew nodded in understanding. “Makes sense. I’m down to help. The least I can do right now. I’m here till the floor bosses show up, then I’m going off alone again.”

“You are welcome to stay with us as long as you want and need to. You don’t have to go alone.”

“I’ll think about it.” Mathew said and left it at that.

Mathew followed his brother in silence. He thought about how far he would go in the fight tonight. The primary worry was showing too much of his hand. He still didn’t trust his brothers. There was too much happening all at once, he needed to figure out if he truly believed Mark wanted him back.

It was obvious they want someone they trust with the family name, but still. Even that only went so far. How long before they see him as a threat to their goals and have him killed? Wouldn’t be the first assassination within the family. It’s been dozens of years since the last one, but it’s happened.

Aagnox was his true trump card. Everything else he can more or less get away with. He would stick with ranged fighting, only using his spear if his life was endangered, or someone else. Mathew wouldn’t sacrifice someone's life for something as simple as that.

“Here we are, South Control Point.” Mark said as he gestured to the large tunnel.

Mathew saw several walls, platforms, and choke zones were already built. Mostly out of stone, there were some other materials mixed in. Metal, wood, and what looked like bricks.

The tunnel itself was about thirty meters wide. Dozens of people were hanging around talking and setting up last minute defenses. Mathew also saw a familiar face, the Geomancer he talked to earlier.

“All the points are like this. Technically this is the main defense. Every tunnel has traps. Mines, runes, tripwire, timed explosives, you name it, it’s in there. A few bear traps on top of it all just in case as well.”

Mathew glanced at Mark, “Sounds expensive.”

“Can’t be too careful, plus most of that stuff only costs mana, or cheap materials. Most of our crafters can just reuse the scrap metal as well. We have five with a purifying skill to use on materials. So any scrap metal goes back to its prime, ready to be reforged. Magic is crazy like that.”

“What about you?” Mathew asked.

“You know enough. Just cover my blind spots when we start to fight. I will admit I am limited to melee, but I have a way around ranged fighters.” Mark gave his younger brother a wink. “You are not all that powerful against me.”

“Beth mentioned a little bit, I have a few ideas, including what I saw you fight when we first met a few days ago.”

“You will see a bit more tonight. Don’t worry too much. Most people here are Beginner rank. Everyone who was at Novice rank as of three hours ago was told to crush their tokens. Only the really important professions are still here.”

Mathew nodded, “A good idea. So, what now?”

“Now? We wait.”

“Well, looks like another night of fun!” Blood dripped onto the ground from his most recent kill. Blood Magic was the ultimate weapon. He wouldn’t trade it for anything.

“Sad that I don’t have any friends to share it with. Although I can tell someone really fun is close.” He knelt down on the ground. There were splatters of different blood from people all over the place. Not enough to kill anyone, unless they never put any points into their Vitality.

No, there was air to the area. It reminded him of his time in prison. “I wonder who killed this fellow.” He ran his hand along the ground, pulling the drops of dried blood to his hand. He licked it, and smacked his lips.

“British with a hint of Nordic blood. Something else there too, not worth my time to track down. However…” There was a small amount of blood on the ground. Barely three drops worth.

It called to him. A faint whisper of power danced within it. “Female. Young. Pure American. Oh she has a high Vitality with how dense these few speks are. And there it is again, that whisper of power.”

A rotting head appeared in his hand from his magical storage bag. “Well Benji, it seems I finally found someone worth tracking down! And you said I wouldn’t be good at making friends.” He stared at the head.

“They will love me. Hopefully they last long enough to enjoy my time with them. It would be a shame to break such a delectable toy. I’ll have to be careful. Don’t worry, they won’t end up like you.” He put the head away as he followed the scent of blood. “Not at first.”

A gong resounded through the tunnels. “Damn it, I thought I had time!” He looked over at the challenge portal. He considered going in to hide, but what if his new friends died?

A conundrum. He stood there thinking for several moments.

The sound of scratching brought him back to reality. He saw four goblins with chains in their hands stop as he looked at them. “Oh hello there, don’t mind me, I’m just brooding is all. Go on, track down someone else and kill them little ones.”

The goblins looked at each other then nodded. All four kept at him. In a flash, all four were slashed at by a seemingly invisible weapon with how fast it moved. They fell to the ground in pain. Blood poured out of them and floated in the air toward the man.

“You four should have listened to me! I get called a monster just like you do, if you think about it we are on the same side. Oh well, more tastiness for me!”

The four goblins bled out to death. A large blob of blood floated next to the man. He slurped up some of it to taste. “Bleh, goblin blood is still horrible. Almost as bad as a drunk man. Just filled with utter crap.”

He threw the blood to the side and it splattered across the rocks, staining them all red. The sound of feet echoed around him, including the thuds of golems. “Fine fine, I can spare some time to play with you all. Just don’t get upset when you lose.”