“What the hell was that?!” Amelia shouted once her winged tiger landed. A vein could be seen in her forehead. “That spell could easily wipe out three entire Unus Towns! Wait, no, like five Unus Towns!”

“It’s too soon to joke about something like that, don’t you--?” Clara was saying, sympathetically smiling, but Amelia’s glare shut her up.

“It was a terrific demonstration of power, Master Amelia,” Fabio said. “It’s a shame that it didn’t work.”

A little twitch in Amelia’s left eye made Clara hug Fabio. “D-dear! For your own safety, hush!”

“I’m also puzzled about what happened,” Ashley said, staring at the unaffected forest. “Amelia’s spell did not blow up. It looked as if it was absorbed.”

“There may be a reason this force shield acted that way,” Fabio said, with Clara still hanging from his neck. “This entire zone may be considered a Safe Zone.”

“That’s what I thought at first, but it doesn’t make sense,” Amelia said without looking in the NPCs direction. “Why would the Developers consider this place worth protecting? You said this place was abandoned, right?” she asked Ashley, who nodded.

“That is right. Alan and I visited this place some weeks ago so he could level up, but the dungeon and its surroundings were empty. Now, considering the information the Dylak NU said to us…”

“Not only did Viola Lang give this dungeon a second chance, but she also upgraded it,” Amelia continued, exhaling deeply. “Well, there are two types of Safe Zones, and there’s only one way to find out which kind this is.” Saying nothing more, Amelia rode her tiger and made it run towards the woods. Ashley’s wolf and Clara’s unicorn followed behind.

“Clara, could you explain to me what a Safe Zone is, please?” Ashley asked.

“You don’t know? You’re level 41!”

“The User account I’m using is level 41, yes, but I do not know much about The Novus.”

“Oh, right. I forgot for a moment you’re Isabella. Sorry, New Sis! Well, to put it simply, a Safe Zone is a place or a city the Developers choose to protect. The destruction of Unus Town would’ve been prevented if it was considered ‘Safe’.”

“So it actually acts as a shield,” Ashley said.

“Yes! If it weren’t for that, rogue and anarchist Users would destroy every capital city in the Novus if they could. And trust me, some have tried.”

“And what is the difference between the two kinds of Safe Zones Amelia mentioned?”

“That’d be better explained once we get inside,” Clara said while looking at Amelia getting lost inside the darkened forest. Once the Unicorn and Wolf mount passed through the invisible dome, they disappeared without their masters’ command. “Yep. This happened,” Clara nodded while glancing at Ashley, who was waiting for an explanation. “Safe Cities allow you to freely ride your mount, but the System represses your strength and mana power so you don’t destroy the buildings or kill indiscriminately. And then there are Safe Dungeons…”

“ALAN, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!” Amelia could be heard shouting from afar. Her location was then shown once she incinerated everything in a 150 wide radius.

“And we’re in one… There may be restrictions, but you can use 100% of your power here.”

“You are as knowledgeable as Amelia,” Ashley said, nodding. “I’m glad to have your support.”

A voice echoed inside Clara’s head: “Look at you! You haven’t even been able to unlock your Unique Talent yet!”

Clara frowned for a second before grinning. “T-thanks, sweetie! But don’t say things like that while making such a straight face! You’re embarrassing me!” Clara snapped her fingers, and her drone camera materialized out of her inventory. “You know what I’m thinking? This may be an excellent opportunity to--”

“No cameras!” Amelia shouted, stomping towards them. “Alan is not around, and it may damage his public image if people know we’re rescuing him.”

“B-but of course, Co-Leader! We don’t want to screw up the opportunity Miss Cosmica has given us, right?”

For a moment, Amelia’s eyes shone as brightly as liquid lava.

I-I didn’t know this woman could be this terrifying! Clara thought, stepping back and putting away the drone. And… what did I say for her to be so mad?!

“Intruders…” a faint voice said from a distance. “I must get rid of the intruders. They have trespassed Count Dylak’s lands… I…”

“Dragonbreath.” Amelia scorched everything in a straight line in front of her, and for a second, Clara distinguished the silhouette of a large man before getting dusted.

“That must have been another NU,” Ashley said. “It was level 12.”

“Good eyes, Ash. You said the main boss is level 15, right?” Amelia asked her, before glancing at Clara. “Even you could beat it…” She snickered.

“S-sure! Leave it to me!”

“But, can you really fight? What can you do?”

This is the first time since I met her that she’s looking down on me. Clara could hear Fabio’s previous words: “I think Miss Amelia is just worried.”

I hope it’s just that…

“I used to be a pyromancer…” Clara started saying, unable to look her in the eye. “Yes, I know, very original, huh? But recently, I’ve tried learning Shadow spells.”

“A Witch, then.”

“An apprentice one…”

“That’ll do for now,” Amelia said, turning around to lead the way, and the group followed. “So let’s make things clear first. If you want to be one of us, you’ll have to do your part too. You can’t be just a ‘camerawoman’, you heard me? If you’ll accompany Alan everywhere he goes, I want you to support him. I mean it.”

“Yes, of course, bestie! Count on me.”

“We don’t need a mediocre pyromancer, so keep focusing on Shadow magic. That may actually be useful to him. Witches don’t necessarily need to be active in combat at all times, so you could record while casting a spell or two once in a while. Understood?”

The voice inside Clara’s head got louder: “Seriously! If Pyromancy is not your thing, learn something else!”

“Yes, Co-Leader…” Clara replied, looking down, which did not go unnoticed by Ashley.

“God, what is this?! The floor is super sticky!” Amelia suddenly cried, looking down at her feet.

She opened her right palm, and from every one of her fingertips, created a small orb of fire. The five red glowing dots sprouted insect-like wings and flew above every one of her Guild partners’ heads.

They look like fireflies, Clara thought, and once she had hers close, it illuminated the surrounding trees and bushes covered in white spiderwebs. “Whoah! Even the ground is covered in this shit!”

“I’m detecting a great number of nearby presences…” Ashley said, closing her eyes.

“That many?” Clara said, looking around her. “Can you tell if they’re small? Because, although I’m not scared of spiders, I don’t want them to be huge either.”

“I cannot tell their size…”

“Nope, I won’t ruin this outfit,” Amelia said aloud, and with quick fingers tapped on her User Interface. Her black-sleeved minidress got swapped for skinny jeans, a red leather jacket, heeled boots, and finger-cut gloves. “Ashley, dear, I got a little disoriented. Could you remind me in which direction the mansion is?” she asked, while Clara stared at the red gem encrusted in those gloves.

I bet those are more expensive than my camera and mount combined.

“That way,” Ashley pointed with her index finger, and Amelia warmly smiled at her.

“Thanks! I knew I could count on you.” Amelia reached out both hands, and with her fingers formed what looked like a monster’s maw. “Major Fire Crafting, Dragonbreath.” The spell that usually looked like a flamethrower was now like a beam of incandescent fire, traveling through the forest in a straight trajectory, forming a road. “Let’s go, guys!” Amelia said, beaming.

“Was that the spell you are always casting?” Ashley asked. “Why did it perform differently?”

“Because this time I cast it correctly,” Amelia winked at her. “What were you saying about spiders again?” she asked before the sound of wooden sticks getting crushed got to them. “Ashley? How many…?”

“Twenty-three,” Ashley replied as she pulled out her silver-tier bow. “All of them are level 9.”

“We can do this. We have a Max-Leveler with us,” Clara said, preparing her magic staff.

Anastasia equipped her sword and shield, Bella pulled out the fully repaired shotgun Alan gifted a week ago, and Fabio put on his iron knuckles.

“These fireflies won’t cut it anymore,” Amelia said, forming a ball of fire in her hand, and throwing it upwards. “Flarelight.”

The spell got brighter until turning into a white orb, illuminating the entire area. Clara then could see that the silhouette in front of her was an arachnid monster, which jumped over her. “H-help!”

The upper part of its body, although monstrous, looked human, and its round lower body resembled a tarantula. A dangerous, venomous scorpion-like tail tried to pierce her chest, but Fabio punched its human ribs, making it retreat.

“Are you okay, ma’am?”

“Is that damn NU again, looking for revenge! Professor Spike!”

“Spiegel,” Ashley corrected, standing near a second dead monster with an arrow on his forehead. “Curious. This one also looks like Spiegel…”

“Wait…” Clara squinted, watching Anastasia thrusting her sword into a third one’s chest. “THEY ALL ARE!”

“What?! You said one was an arachnid, two were demon maids, and the boss was a vampire,” Amelia said after scorching one. “All of these can’t be the same ‘named’ boss! They must be this Spiegel guy’s minions.”

“N-no! Look at their names!” Clara cried, pointing at the one being eliminated by Bella. “They all say ‘Professor Spiegel’!”

“Mister Alan is currently training inside my master’s manor,” one of them said in a soft, polite voice. “So I must ask you to please come back at another ti--”

Amelia shortened the distance in a second and placed her open palm on his human torso. “Make me,” she said, smiling, and the monster got incinerated inside a pillar of fire which suddenly turned black and metallic, before splitting into five pieces. “Hellhounds!” she cast, creating skinny-looking, fire-engulfed dogs. “Get rid of the rest!” she ordered, and the beasts pounced over the closest enemies. “Guys?” Amelia addressed her team. “I have the feeling that this mess will take us the whole night.”