Caesar returned to find Alta squinting closely at the stones.

“Find anything interesting?” he asked.

She took out the four stones she had gathered and rolled them between her hands, before pressing them onto the rock. It did nothing. They needed the fifth stone near the lair of the hydra, which seemed impossible to retrieve without battling it.

“Let’s try this.”

He put the two free stat points into her Willpower, bringing it up to eighteen, and applied the perk point to her ability Illusory Veil.

[Illusory Veil (C)]: An ability that allows the user to produce a localized, area visual hallucination hiding entities inside it from those outside the area. Duration of the veil depends on Willpower, with two minutes per stat point. Cooldown of an hour begins after the veil dissipates.

- The illusion may instead be concentrated on oneself for a much shorter duration: two seconds per stat point, granting quick invisibility to the user without affecting their surroundings. Attacking breaks the veil. Cooldown will then be five minutes.

Since it’d be near impossible for him to fight the Fog Hydra head-on, he wanted better stealth capabilities for Alta or something to bolster her combat potential. Perhaps she could take the stone from the island before it detected her, with a sublimation to block out smells, albeit unlikely.

[Perk Option 1 – Flicker]: Illusory Veil may be applied to oneself in shorter bursts instead of a cooldown. If used this way, charges regenerate once not in use for a minute, at a rate of one every five seconds, up to a limit of charges per point in Willpower. Each charge grants three seconds of invisibility. Another charge may be reapplied at the end of the duration or when veil breaks. The localized veil and max duration self-invisibility will only be usable once the entire veil has been restored.

The first option gave Alta vastly improved flexibility in direct combat in return for reduced duration of invisibility at a time. She’d be able to dodge attacks better, bypass more defenses with her attacks, and confuse her enemies in a flurry of movements. But would it work against the fog hydra? He doubted it. Yet this option still remained appealing due to its potential use outside of this dungeon.

[Perk Option 2 – Distortion]: Illusory Veil reduces all damage taken from outside damage sources, even when applied to oneself. Damage resistance increases with greater Willpower.

The second option granted the cloak increased defense, protecting both itself and its inhabitants from damage. He saw this option as a way to stay hidden for longer inside dangerous places, such as a Fireball bombardment. But he doubted it could defend for long against the fog hydra. No, this option seemed much too limited in usage, especially when compared to the first.

[Perk Option 3 – Burst]: When Illusory Veil breaks, increases the user’s physical stats (Strength, Agility, Vitality) by 10% for the next five seconds, increasing by two seconds per stat point in Willpower.

The third option gifted her a considerable combat capability increase after coming out from the veil. If he picked this, she’d have a better chance to flee from the hydra after picking up the stone. The problem was whether or not the stone would be buried somewhere first. Furthermore, hiding might not work if the monster smelled her.

Once a perk point was spent, a decision had to be made within five minutes or a random option would be picked. He considered the choices and settled for Flicker Veil. While Burst Veil provided great melee power and kept her original invisibility, it lacked the amazing flexibility of the first option.

Even if he couldn’t explore the hidden dungeon first, there were no problems. All he had to do was kill the hydra.

“Let’s go try and find the stone underwater first before we make our final plans.”

They traveled to the center of island on horseback so that nothing detected them. Although Rilia had said the hydra tended to stay in one place, he wanted to avoid any accidents.

As they approached, he glimpsed a huge silhouette in the depths of the fog. Caesar and Alta trotted around the island repeatedly, trying to identify the location of the heads. Massive shadows splayed out to the sides, front, and back. One towered above the rest of the shapes, wriggling from time to time, but suddenly froze.

He stared up at it. A shiver went down his spine. It can see perfectly!

His Kelpie turned and fled. Yet according to Alta, the hydra didn’t give chase or move its heads much. Instead, it looked eager for something.

“It was awake, that’s for sure. So how did the Pax Society manage to identify its level?”

“They didn’t seem like they were lying. Perhaps they didn’t know it stayed awake.”

“Perhaps.” Hydras weren’t common creatures. His father made no mention of them inside his books, so he had no idea how to fight it. “No, wait. They certainly did – Rilia was surprised it hadn’t attacked them. So it must have seen them also.”

“Does it not attack humans?”

“That’s an interesting idea. Let’s wait.” He narrowed his eyes and thought back to the Order of the Fox. Perhaps, there was a way to sneak underwater.

-----

Only a few hours passed before something happened during their patrols around the island. The sound of hooves, albeit muted, thudded against the water. His Kelpie dived underwater and followed the noises.

Can’t see through this fog…

Suddenly, the horse noticed something in the water and neighed softly. Alta dropped into the lake and picked it up, revealing a shell necklace.

“That’s one of the trinkets Rilia mentioned. But it should have sunk.”

“Somebody must have recently dropped it from ahead.” She looked towards that direction and mounted the Kelpie again. “Should we attack?”

It’d be riskier to attempt a rescue over an ambush. But she had just received a considerable boost to her combat capabilities, and more experience was available in front of him. It was worth a try, if only so that their integration into the Pax Society went better.

He nodded and put the Kelpie’s perk point into its first facet.

[Freshwater Rejuvenation (D)]: A facet that increases regeneration rate of health and Mana inside bodies of freshwater and grants 10% more Vitality which can bypass rank limits.

[Perk Option 1 – Resurgence]: Freshwater Rejuvenation grants 10% more Strength and Agility inside freshwater, which can bypass rank limits.

The first option increased the speed and power of the Kelpie inside freshwater, perfect for this next fight. It’d also help it traverse the dungeon faster along the rivers.

[Perk Option 2 – Rebirth]: Freshwater Rejuvenation grants further increased health regeneration rate inside bodies of freshwater.

[Perk Option 3 – Renewal]: Freshwater Rejuvenation grants further increased Mana regeneration rate inside bodies of freshwater.

The other two options served no purpose in the next fight, so he discarded them. Resurgence was his best choice since he preferred not to unsummon his ant queen.

Since a tamed Kelpie might appear abnormal, Alta placed a Masquerade over it to appear more like a normal yet strong warhorse. It was best to keep the disguise simple, to try and preserve durability, although its brute strength served well enough to mark it as an Uncommon.

The Kelpie broke into a gallop and charged towards the riders in front. He slipped his damaged halberd into his hand – the red light of Dominate glowing above – while Alta unsheathed her khopesh. With a rabid screech, it shot towards the nearest surprised rider and rammed the horse, spilling both prisoner and prey into the water.

His halberd-turned-spear lunged toward the fallen rider and pierced through the man’s skull. His Doppelganger flickered out of sight. The Kelpie continued running while the men slowed down their horses to retaliate.

As the two parties stared at one another, Alta slipped below the water. A few of the men nervously turned to look at the prisoner in the water, struggling to float with his hands tied and eyes blindfolded. Caesar saw their movements and narrowed his eyes.

The standoff continued before the other party grew anxious and attacked. They drove their horses forward, screaming in rage, but only five daggers appeared in their hands.

Alta emerged from the water during their charge and tore a gash into the horse. Yet instead of reacting, they continued forward, clashing with Caesar’s polearm. His spear and Kelpie ripped through the horses and men. Although a few daggers and claws struck his armor, they did nothing.

Wait, claws? He took advantage of a lapse during the conflict to run to his Doppelganger and analyzed what had happened. Apparently, these men were pathetic. He hadn’t seen them use an active ability yet, only weak passives, and their equipment was just as useless. But since their claws resembled those of his Doppelganger, he thought it a possibility that she could disguise as one of them.

Alta continued swimming behind the men and worked with Caesar to attack. She leapt onto a horse and plunged her claws into a rider’s neck, before flickering towards the next man. A few more skirmishes later, they all lay dead in the lake, turning it red. This area was a bit too close to the fog hydra’s location, so they moved quickly to rescue the prisoners.

“Stop struggling. I won’t hurt you.” Her voice soothed them, and Alta dragged four onto the Kelpie, who elongated its back so that they could sit on it. The other two remained on the two horses she had secured and placated with food. They fled the scene.

--------

Onto dry land they went, before stopping. The two horses immediately fled after their two prisoners dismounted. Alta cut their bindings with Caesar’s knife while he stood off to the side like a servant.

“It’s alright now, guys.” Her bright smile forced them to grin as well, albeit nervously.

“Thank you!” All six wanted to leave quickly, having heard the screams and wails of their captors. But she flashed the shell necklace in her hands, and thus only four of them left.

She turned back to the two remaining members and asked, “So, you’re from the Pax Society?”

The two nodded. “Is Rilia safe?”

“Yes. She and two others made it out, sending us to retrieve your trinkets.” She handed over the shell necklace. “You need to leave with them.”

“Thanks again.” As one walked away, the other hesitated a little and forced himself to ask, “Could you do us another favor? Five of us are still held captive by the cult, and I’m sure no one wants them fed to the hydra.”

“Weren’t there nine of you?” she asked.

They didn’t respond, and instead looked down at the ground.

“Oh. I’m sorry. I’ll be glad to help.”

Caesar and Alta returned to the place where they fought the battle and discovered each corpse scattered apart from one another like something had come and tossed them away. A large chunk of flesh fell next to one of the bodies.

“So, the hydra likes live corpses.” They could either capture the next group alive and feed it to the hydra, or simply kill them and leave. One was much riskier than the other, and there was no guarantee the hydra would let them have the stone if it was on the island.

“Then should we wait for the next group, or go into their stronghold?”

“Wait. I have a feeling they’ll come back soon.”

The Crown of Glory materialized above his head, and they waited for a few more hours before hiding under the Illusory Veil. Near the end of its duration, a group of eight horses galloped into view with fresh, new prisoners on their backs. Their riders appeared panicked, but two looked sterner than the rest.

“Find anyone yet?” one shouted.

“No, there’s nobody here. Whoever killed the first group must have already left.”

“Keep checking! I want—”

Suddenly, a spear materialized out of thin air and jammed itself into the speaker’s eye. He tumbled off his horse and plunged into the water. The other men screamed in terror as a black horse sank its teeth into them, and claws raked across their torsos. Caesar plunged underwater, stabbing stragglers with his dagger, and let his two summons rip the rest apart.

After the battle, his Kelpie bared its teeth at the horses, making them freeze. It brought the eight prisoners back to land, who then left quickly without much of a word. Luckily, five of them were indeed the last batch of Pax Society members they needed to retrieve.

Judging by how panicked this group of Fox Cult members had been, he believed they'd continue to escalate until the hydra was fed. This place would become very deadly, very soon.

"Let's retreat for now, and bide our time," he said.

Since there were no safe opportunities to look for the stone, he left with Alta back to the mushroom garden. It was time to leave the dungeon and prepare to wage war.