The forest lay silent, only the occasional tweet of a bird and chirp of an insect breaking this constant. A deer carefully walked through this silence and into a small clearing, ears and eyes flicking every which way in search of anything that could harm it. Slowly it reached it's head down to take a bite of the grass before it's ears picked up the faint snap of a twig. Immediately it's head raised, head swiveling around in search of whatever had made the noise.

It didn't stop there though, as a noise that had become a plague to all deer kind slowly reached it's ears. Voices. Human voices. Hurrying quickly, the deer bolted as fast as it could away from the voices and back the way it came. After a few minutes of running it stopped, ears once again swiveling in search of any noises.

It's tensed muscles loosened once again as it's search came up empty. Things hadn't been going well for the deer. Not only had wolves increased their activity in the north as it was now the season they hunt it's kind, but then the centre of the forest had turned into a warzone with the arrival of those strange rifts. And now, just when the deer thought it would be safe in the west, it had found humans.

It turned to the east. Perhaps it would be safer there.

It took a step forward.

A blue blast from behind sent it flying off of it's hooves and into the air, it's vision spinning wildly. An audible crack was heard as it's body collided with a tree, breaking said tree slightly from the sheer force and speed of the deer. The deer slid down the tree and to the ground, raspy breaths escaping it's slightly ajar mouth before finally ending, the silence returning to the forest.

"So, how confident are you in your skills exactly?" Kayla asked Skyla, who looked back with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't you think it's a bit too late for you to be asking that?" She replied, gesturing to the surrounding forest.

Kayla frowned slightly, "The only reason I chose this option is that I would much rather place my faith in the strength of an adult than a child."

Skyla shrugged, "I'm a Level 112 [Mage] so that's got to count for something."

Kayla nodded as Skyla finished, continuing to follow the adventurer further into the forest. The Abyss Watcher looked back, raising a eyebrow as they reached the 15th minute of their trek inwards. Just how dangerous could a forceful mana expulsion be?

"Alright, this should be far enough." Skyla said as she looked around before turning and walking to Kayla, "You guys are gonna want to get into cover." She told them as she gently took Argent out of Kayla's arms, with only some slight resistance from the latter.

Following her words Xander, Caelan and Kayla all quickly backed away into the tree line, everyone of them tense and worried. The Abyss Watcher took one final look at Skyla who was carrying Argent to the centre of the clearing before moving to join the others.

Skyla knelt down with her back to them, a soft blue glow soon emanating from the pair. The glow soon began to expand and solidify, becoming a small dome of mana that encompassed the pair. The Abyss Watcher narrowed his eyes as he observed the grass within the dome beginning to freeze. Suddenly the dome expanded wildly, as though it was being pushed against from the inside. Skyla's cloak was billowing in an unseen wind, her body tensed up as the dome expanded. Thankfully the dome halted it's advance as it filled half of the clearing.

Skyla then stuck a hand out to her right, the dome responding by opening a hole in the desired location. After that, all hell broke loose.

A massive wave of light blue shot through the small hole, uprooting trees and freezing everything it touched over. The wave continued on into the distance, it's rampaging still persisting as it eventually went out of sight, leaving an icy trail of destruction in it's wake. The Abyss Watcher raised an impressed eyebrow at the display of power.

Looking back to Skyla, one would find her taking in slow deep breaths as a few droplets of sweat formed on her head. She hovered a hand over Argent's head, letting out a sigh of relief after a few seconds.

"She's alright." Skyla said, Kayla, upon hearing this revelation, didn't waste any time in running to kneel beside Argent, embracing the unconscious child. Skyla smiled at this show of affection before standing up and brushing off the grass and dirt that had clung to her blue robe, "Now all you need to do is be there when she wakes up. She'll be incredibly hungry so be sure to give her high nutrient foods." Skyla said, Kayla silently nodding as she continued to embrace Argent.

The Abyss Watcher tilted his head in curiosity. Kayla seemed to have been extremely worried for Argent's safety. He looked down at Caelan, who was silently observing the scene with eyes of wonder. Perhaps if Caelan was in that situation he would be worried too. The Abyss Watcher frowned. Why though? It isn't like Caelan was an important part of his mission. The young undead just happened to be under his care for now.

Blinking the Abyss Watcher looked down to the ground, his frown only growing.

...what was his mission again?

He was suddenly brought out of his thoughts as he noticed Skyla approaching him, the smile on her face not hiding the worry in her eyes. "Tell me, Abyss Watcher, do you want to join a faction?" She asked.

Tilting his head in curiosity the Abyss Watcher shrugged, the worry in Skyla's eyes switching to a mix of hope and confusion.

"Do you know what the factions are?" She asked cautiously, seemingly catching on to his head tilt.

The Abyss Watcher shook his head as he really couldn't remember. He may have heard something about it in passing but it was probably too insignificant for him to remember.

Skyla's eyes widened in shock, her eyes suddenly bursting with joy, although why they did, the Abyss Watcher didn't know. "Excuse me for a second." She quickly said before hurrying over to where Xander, huddling close to the knight and whispering hurriedly.

As they continued to whisper Xander would occasionally look back up at the Abyss Watcher with wide eyes before replying to Skyla. After a minute of this Skyla stood up straight with a smile on her face as she walked over to the Abyss Watcher. She opened her mouth to speak when suddenly the Abyss Watcher heard footsteps.

Resting his hand on his dagger he turned to where the footsteps were coming from, eyes narrowing as he peered past the trees and into the darkness.

"Oh come on!" A feminine voice rang out from the position he was staring at, confusing everyone greatly.

The confusion only grew as a group of three people suddenly popped out from thin air, a dwarf, a human, and a particularly grumpy elf. The elf had long blond hair cascading down her shoulders and blue eyes, holding a wooden staff in her hands her attire also making her look like any mage you could come across, with a long blue robe similar to Skyla's own.

The human had short brown hair and a clean shaven face which sported a cocky smile, while he was wearing a set of plate-mail armour, his helmet placed squished in between his arm and body. A massive shield about the three quarters the size of a man was strapped upon his back with a longsword at his side.

The dwarf was, as expected, short and stocky, a large and heavily braided black beard as well as leather armour. Some strange contraption could be seen over his back and looked like someone had slotted a piece of metal into wood before drilling a hole into it.

The human stepped forward first, raising his hand in greeting, "Why hello there!" He said jovially, "You must be the Abyss Watcher, no?" He continued, pointing to the tall warrior.

The human's cocky smile grew even more as the Abyss Watcher nodded, "Ah, wonderful. Anyways Sir Abyss Watcher, I think it's time we get straight to business isn't it?" He said before placing his helmet once again upon his head and equipping his shield. The Abyss Watcher tilted his head in confusion before he suddenly noticed an orange glow was illuminating the ground around him.

Looking up, the Abyss Watcher's eyes widened in shock at the massive torrent of fire barreling down towards him.