Above us, there are students heading to class, and teachers preparing for lectures; there are mages learning magic, and chefs learning their craft; there are those who toil in small fields, and those who learn to count the beans harvested. Normal, peaceful people living normal, peaceful lives.

If we’d made different choices we’d be up there too, focusing on our studies, trying our best to become useful members of this society.

A beast, deep within the mangrove forest, roars with burning rage, the sound intensifying as it builds atop its own echoes. The expansive cavern, for a moment, drowned of all other sounds until the roar fades away.

The birds raise their voices again, as if in defiance, and the few beasts that I can see from this vantage quickly disregard the distant battle, more concerned with their own troubles. Most nervously watch the glowing lake instead, the shadows that swim within a far larger threat to those on the shore.

A flight of birds burst out of the thick vines and red leaves of the forest. Tearing through the parasitic plant life that clings to the larger mangroves that hold the forest up, raining torn plant flesh over the forest floor.

The birds turn to squawk in apparent offense at whatever beasts they’ve left behind, before flying up and around towards the tall towers that rise above the distant stone city. Gliding over the empty port, they soon disappear from sight.

I leave it to others to keep watch as I turn away, summoning a phantom parchment into the air before me as I read the nervous message from my favourite singing enchanter.

Ria- How did the mission go? Is everything alright?

Kyra- The mission succeeded, and we’re all well. There were a few issues but we’re figuring it out.

Ria- Issues?

Kyra- About that… We killed a teacher and kidnapped another. We’re moving forwards with plan C, and preparing to delve into the dungeon. We’ll make a shelter down here to keep everyone safe, until we find out how the welfare officers respond. Is there any trouble up there?

Ria- I’m glad that you’re all safe. We’ll be fine up here, but please keep us informed with what’s going on. If we have issues, I’ll call. Is everyone working with you? You were worried about how they’d react, no?

Kyra- It’s fine, we’re all getting along well enough. We’ve already put down the troublemakers, so the good news is that now we have food for those who behaved themselves.

Ria- Are you sure everything’s going well…? That sounds rather awful…

It was halfway a joke. Though that’s mostly because no one seems hungry just yet.

The naughty corner, as Nel designated it, has worked like a charm and the beasts either calmed down and joined the rest of us, or they didn’t. The end result is the diverse selection of corpses that now fill that same ‘naughty corner’. I’m honestly a little surprised that even the peaceful looking species have their fair share of representation in the corpse pile.

It’s as much their fault as it is mine.

We gave them more than a few chances to settle down, but I don’t have the time or the patience to deal with their tantrums.

With a frustrated sigh, I dig in. Many of them had weaker mana density than me, but there were a couple that still had some decent mana in them. Investing in my mana sight, I follow the ethereal glow and run my hands through the dead flesh.

My hands prickle at the rough feeling, as I draw out the mana and concentrate it into my chest where it churns violently. It’s like a tornado of razor blades cutting through my insides, but I know that no real damage is being done, so it’s not too troubling to set aside the irritation.

Picking a few of the more mana dense limbs, I walk past the surviving beasts, some huddled up alone, others whispering in groups, and head back towards the glowing lights of the dungeon. Red glances at me as I stand by her side, her red skin glowing in the golden-blue light.

“Dungeons are a strange sort.” Red says as we return our sights to the long fall and inevitable death just a step away. I throw a mana-less branch back into the dark tunnel at my back and take up a fresh one. For some reason it’s much easier to eat the mana from an intelligent plant compared to a mindless one.

“They’re overwhelmingly powerful, and unfaltering in their growth and expansion, yet they’re easy to live with.” She says, prodding at the wall, “They even go so far as to incentivise people and beasts with mana crystals, in order to keep them around.

“What they get out of the arrangement isn’t something I’d know, but wherever you find a dungeon, you’ll find countless beasts that live within. Sometimes they’re peaceful communities, open to trade. Sometimes they’re wild and territorial beyond all measure.

“Rarely do you even have to worry about the dungeon itself unless you’re taking on the mad task of killing it. Though sometimes it’s still possible to unintentionally get their attention. They are living beings, capable of thinking, feeling, and experiencing life, so just like with anyone, you can probably find some way to offend them.

“Don’t do that.” She says, “You’ve got to get out real quick if the dungeon itself wants to see you dead.”

“That’s great and all.” I say, “But how does that influence our plans?”

“I’m just warning you.” She replies, “Your attitude is enough to piss some people off. I don’t want to die as collateral because you start talking shit about our host.”

“My attitude charmed you just fine, I’m sure the dungeon will love me.” I say, throwing aside another tree limb and draining the mana from a leg instead.

“You didn’t ‘charm’ me, and if the dungeon is anything like me, we should both be worried.” She says.

“You aren’t that bad.” I say, shrugging. “So, what’s your thoughts on the next phase of our plan?”

“First of all, we should split up and leave behind most of this sorry lot. Make a scouting team that can locate good ground, and we’ll set about making a fortified base.”

“What does building our base entail, exactly?” Nel asks, cautiously joining us, “How long should it take? We’ll still need to secure food and water for the meantime.”

“It’d be so much easier if we could just live in the ruins.” I groan, “I can’t say I’m well versed in base building, what should we be looking for?”

“Look for where other beasts are living; caves, ruins, anywhere defensible will have something living there already.” Red says, “Kill them and take their home. Or if they’re intelligent you might make a deal with them or just kill their leaders and take over.”

“Crude but effective, I suppose.” I say with a sigh.

“I know a few emergency building techniques to put together some barricades if we need to close up a cave or something.” Red says, “But the most important thing is to act quickly. As the little waitress says, the people here need food, water, and shelter.”

“So, time is still against us?” I say, leaning back and enjoying a few more moments of rest.

“A day and half before you have class.” Nel says, “You can’t afford to skip.”

“Brilliant.” I say, standing and stretching. “Well, we’d best get to it. Let’s put together this scouting team, shall we?”

“I’ll be leading the scouting party, obviously.” Red says.

“You’ll be my second-in-command.” I say, “Though I’ll leave it mostly in your capable hands.”

She snorts, but smiles in amusement as she turns to me.

“You’re taking this command thing seriously?” She asks.

“I set all this into motion. These people are now my people. So, I’ll ultimately be responsible for them from here on out. That said, I will still respect your experience.”

She shakes her head.

“You do know that a commander should always be stronger than those they command, no?”

“Sure.” I say with a shrug, “But you’re a nice lady, I can trust that you’re not going to stab me in the back.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just don’t be a bitch.” She says with a laugh, much more relaxed now that she’s free of her collar.

“Anyone with a talent for killing things, get over here!” I shout over the nervous whispers. Most of them jump at my sharp words, and a few slowly gather before us.

“Leai, Seia, Nel, Adler. You’re staying here and keeping the rest of these lot out of trouble. Nel has command. That means you all have to do what she says, or we beat you up.

“Rare, Shy, is that Lui?” I look over those that are gathered here. “Good to see you have some fighting spirit. Red, who do you want to take?”

While I trust my own judgement when it comes to those I know and a task that I’m familiar with, scouting an alien forest with the help of an assortment of strangers is not something I’m experienced in.

“Alright dipshits, everyone who hasn’t yet killed a beast sit right back down. We don’t need anyone having a breakdown mid-fight.” A few people sit down but no one I was familiar with.

“Anyone without liquid mana form, sit down.” Quite a few more back away, Rare and Shy stay standing, which is a little shocking. I didn’t realize they were this strong.

“Good.” Red says looking over the few still standing. “Scout?” she asks looking at Shy, who nods nervously.

“Yes ma’am.” She replies, and Red moves along.

“Can you fly long?” She asks Rare.

“You see these wings? Yes, I can fly for days.” She spits in response, a small burst of fire escaping her mouth. She’s only the size of a dog, but she’s still a dragon.

“Bessy, you’re obviously on the team.” Red says, shaking her head in amusement before walking on to the next person in line.

Red nods appreciatively at Korgan’s shield and moves on to the rest. Lui is still with us too, but Red doesn’t say much after looking him over.

“We don’t have any spare weapons?” she asks me when done.

“No.” Our crafters are still working on any number of projects but we’ve already squeezed them for all the weapons they could manage to build before this mission started.

We couldn’t even find any real weapons from the stockpile that we stole from Orsa. She may have been smart, and ruthless in trade and in plots, but she made the mistake of thinking that she didn’t need weapons to defend herself.

“Here.” Nel shouts, throwing a pair of her knives to Red, who catches them easily. “I’ll expect you to show me your knife techniques at some point.”

“You’ve grown so much in such a short time, little waitress.” Red says looking her up and down, “Sure, why not.”

She spins the knives around, feeling out the edges. Though she hides it, it’s clear that they don’t have the power she’d want from them.

“If you can’t fight with what’s on you, sit back down.” She says.

A few more back down, leaving us with Rare, Shy, Lui, Korgan, and another strange pair of warriors.

The first is a man with a chiselled jaw and a well-defined six pack. He has not even a hint of body hair over his bronzed skin, and his bright white teeth show as he smiles. I get the feeling most girls would consider him sexy, if it weren’t for the long snake tail that extends from just below his waist in place of legs.

I suppose he’d still be considered charming to somewhat a more niche crowd.

“I prefer to work with a bow, but I can still put up a fight without.” His eager smile focuses on Red, and he makes no effort to disguise his interest.

I don’t like him.

“I’m Slan,” He says as Red passes him by.

“I don’t really give a shit.” Red replies without glancing at him, “Prove you’re not going to die in the first few minutes and I’ll consider taking the effort to remember your name.”

“I’ll ensure that you remember my name then, Red.” He tries to say her name in such a pretty way, but all Chip converts it to in my head is ‘Red’ which I find rather amusing.

Unfortunately, we didn’t crack into a max security prison, so the people here are more of a nature with thieves and wrong thinkers rather than battle hardened murderers. So besides Slan, the only other person to fit Red’s criteria is a tall man, standing above Red by two heads height. He has tusks rising from his lower jaw, a large potbelly, and skin that looks to be some nature of cracked stone.

“Arn.” He says, likely to introduce himself.

He certainly looks like he could wrestle a truck into submission.

“Okay, here’s the plan.” Red says, pointing out Lui and Shy, “You two are our far forward, far rear guard. I’ll explain, so put that hand down.” She glares at Lui until he lowers his hand. “Your job will be to avoid sight while watching for possible threats. Remember to always stay in range of the rest of us.

“When you come across a beast, message us. If it’s an easy kill, feel free to take it out. If you aren’t sure that you can kill it in one attack, then message me and Kyra. Look for an opening to give it a good surprise attack from behind when it does reach us.

“If it seems particularly dangerous, and you don’t think we can handle it, say so in the message and we’ll prepare to retreat. Got it?”

The pair nod.

Red turns to look towards me, her eyes focusing on Vii and Eshya who stand beside me.

“You’re coming too?” She asks, clearly unimpressed with the choice.

“We are.” Eshya says, not turning away.

“Fine, you two are guarding Kyra.” She says before returning her focus to the rest of our team. She places Arn, Korgan, Bessy, and herself at the front, while Rare protects us from above.

“That formation sounds great,” I say, “But we do have an extra asset that we can use.”

Vii whimpers as she hears me say it, and even Eshya hisses quietly as she takes a panicked breath of fresh air. It’s a good idea, since the fresh air will all be gone in a moment.

“Beast repellent.” I say, as Nel carefully passes over a pair of bottles of the black/brown goop. The bottles are rather small, but this is a situation where a little goes a long way.

“Just pop the cap.” Nel says, “There’s a stopper in there that will keep the contents from spilling.”

“Useful.” I say, nodding in appreciation as I swirl the sickening goop about.

“It was mean to be used for pleasantly scented infusions.” Nel says, her words a little clipped. “It should work the same for this… concoction.”

“What is it?” Red asks, looking quickly between those who reacted at the sight of it.

“You remember what we brought in with us for the prison break?” I ask, “The meat that we spread around that smelt like someone filled a rotting corpse with old eggs, and threw it into the oven?

“This is the concentrated essence of that.”

“Ah,” Red looks down into the goop with a sour expression, “I see.”

“It seems to keep beasts away from what we’ve seen so far, but I’d guess that it only works for some of them.” I say, looking down into the large lake below, “I seriously doubt it’s going to affect whatever’s swimming down there.”

“It could also alarm potential predators… but I suppose that’s not all too likely.” Red says, “It makes sense to use it. Especially since we’re made up of idiots and weaklings.”

“Doesn’t it?” I ask, smiling cheerfully at my brilliant idea.

“It’ll make hunting for food more challenging, but we can still make food out of whatever beasts ignore the smell.” She says with a long sigh.

“Well, unless you’re hiding any more secrets.” Red says, and I shake my head, “I’ll lead us out.”

“Let’s go.” I say, smiling to hide my anxiety.

We gather up, and Eshya and Vii stay at my side. We mightn’t have our liquid mana forms, but I’m still a heavy hitter and these two are close enough and experienced enough that they can pull their weight.

My choices so far have led us to this point, which makes me more than a little ashamed that I’m too weak to be the one leading this exercise. I’ve bitten off more than I can chew, and now I have to rely on Red’s good will to get us through this.

I’m never quite as strong as I need to be.

Never quite as smart as I should be.

But I’m better than I was yesterday, and I’ll make damn sure that I don’t falter in my step today.

Under Red’s orders, we tread carefully down the stone ramp towards the forest below. We’ll be holding off on using the deterrent until we reach the forest, it’s not likely to stop the beasts in the lake and there’s no point killing the morale of those we’re leaving behind by forcing them to suffer from it.

I hold my breath as we quietly race past the side of the water. There are no shadows waiting to strike, they’re all busy moving around each other with apparent caution. The world beneath that surface is something beyond our perception, and likely involves struggles and fights for supremacy between the countless beasts who consider it home.

Thankfully the water doesn’t reach high enough to cover the rock at any point, otherwise I’d have to reconsider our approach. I’m not about to dip a single toe into these waters, the ripple may not travel far, but I’m sure the beasts would notice it regardless.

“Popping the deterrent.” Red says, “Don’t shit yourselves.”

Red pops the cap off of her bottle, and sneers viciously my direction. I can practically see her throat working as she supresses the desire to vomit.

“What… is that?” Slan, the snake man, asks, “I thought that smell was a part of the nightmare, it was real?”

“Yep,” I reply. “It seems to keep some of the beasts away, so get used to it.”

“It’s not bad.” The massive Arn says, rubbing at his nose in irritation, but seeming otherwise untroubled.

Rare sneezes a small burst of fire, growling quietly as she settles down.

Lui as well seems unaffected, which worries me a little. If so many of my allies are unaffected, then I must assume that there are as many beasts that are the same.

Though, already the deterrent proves itself worth the trouble. A furred creature that was hiding in the trees above us breaks away from its hiding spot, groaning as it swings itself away from us.

Even if they can bear with the scent of it, most creatures wouldn’t bother with the hunt. Sure they could potentially kill us, but why go to the effort, and take the risk, when we’re so damn unpalatable?

“If you’re all done vomiting, we’re moving.” Red says, “Keep yourselves together until we find a corner for you to cry in. We’re here for shelter, food and a source of water that won’t get us eaten. Pay attention and stick to formation.”

Following her orders, we form into our planned formation, keeping at least a few paces from each other as we move, weaving between the trunks and climbing over some larger roots.

Broken branches, and footprints in the wet forest floor indicate the presence of countless beasts that we are yet to see. Haunting cries and hollow screams follow us as we move, but whatever creatures make these sounds are loath to show us their faces.

The bushes to the side of us are torn aside by a large claw as a hairy creature the size of a small bear roars angrily at us. From it’s attitude, it probably thinks of this as it’s own territory, Red’s vicious glare is enough to settle the issue without a fight. The creature slowly walks away, crawling back into its hole.

Occasionally we pause to peer into the holes where other beasts live, but there’s nothing here like what we’re after. We spot plenty more beasts, many of which would make for a nice meal, but even so we can find no caves or corners where we might build ourselves a shelter.

The cavern wall by our side is pitted and rough, worn through in places by the small streams of glowing water that flow upwards in complete disregard to gravity.

The mangroves we walk between are even stranger from up close than I thought they’d be. The wood is dense with liquid stage mana, but they’re smooth to the touch, if a little scarred here and there.

“Group of beasts. Dangerous.” Shy sends to us. It’s a shame that she can’t just take a photo and send that, but it’s still better than a radio set.

“Form up. Ready to engage.” Red sends out.

We separate and ready to face whatever beasts are coming for us. So far, nothing has approached us, so it’s almost guaranteed that these beasts are intentionally hunting us.

Red, Bessy, Korgan, and Arn act as our vanguard up the front, as the rest of us defend from the rear. I ready my pistol, which is still my most reliable weapon, and Nel does the same by my side. Eshya draws her sword, and I can sense the mana start stirring in her.

On silent feet the creatures approach, little grey humanoids that separate themselves from the darkness of the forest around us. They have sharpened ears like those of the elves, though they’re faces are far harsher. Thin arms lead down to bony hands, that hold small knives that look to be made from bone.

They are all bald to the last man, though one has taken to wearing beast fur as something like a toupee. They wear what clothes they can scavenge, which is mostly leathers and furs, barely processed, and some quite well worn.

Each and every one of them glares at us with the same bright red eyes.

The lead gremlin, slightly taller, and with thicker limbs than the others, screeches at us, it’s voice like nails over a chalkboard. Through his open mouth, I can see a mouthful of sharp white teeth.

“Don’t suppose we can talk this out?” I ask, seeing at least signs of intelligence in these creatures.

“We are strong! This land is ours! You are ours, now!” His awful screeches are interpreted into these phrases as he grins viciously, more than eager to fight us.

As soon as I think they’ve all arrived, more of them appear from the shadows around us. There are easily dozens of them surrounding us, perhaps even so many as fifty.

“You want to make friends?” Red asks back at me, as she lifts her borrowed knives up.

“Well, they won’t make much of a meal.” I reply, a second before they charge at us.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Skills & Stats

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 790 units

~Mana distribution:

Catagory Current Max. Skin 5% 28% Muscle 33% 33% Mind 20% 65% Cardiovascular 11% 11% Misc. 10% 10% Efficiency 79% 79%

~Favourited Skills:

-Chip Shredder

-Multi-mind

-Tag

-Mana surge movement

-Mana surge punch

-Reactive mana skin

-Infused delayed Casting

-Fire burst punch