As the panther above me sagged completely, bled and battered by my Skills, I struggled to extract myself from beneath it. Just because it didn't crush me didn't mean that the rest of my body wasn't pinned by its bulk. In the end, I spent the precious last five percent of my mana channeling into my tower shield. With the Attribute boost I was able to squirm out from under the creature and survey the battle. While I was out of mana, that was hardly going to stop me from taking a blow meant for my friends.

My concerns were unnecessary. As I watched, one of the Q3 panthers got a broadside of gunfire. With the target more or less static thanks to Sam's vines, Ava put the creature down efficiently. Clara was locked in a closed eye staring contest with the Q4 panther, while strange black wisps curled around her eyes. Dylan took that opening to dart in with his sword, leaving the large panther fileted and partly frosted over as he triggered the Trait of his sword.

The last three panthers probably received the most brutal part of the fight. Blobby had one of the Q3 panthers sunk entirely in his body; the slime twisted his cores around its bulk to dodge the cat's weakening attacks as it suffocated. The other two got a face full of latina. Daniela crashed out of the treetop like a meteor. and the Desiccating Haze Trait of her fang daggers shone in the few moments she wasn't eviscerating the lower Quotient creatures.

Within three more breaths the fight was over.

Daniela panted, steam curling out of the fire gills on her neck like a bellowing engine as she regarded the blood that coated her. She didn't seem bothered, more like inconvenienced. The others were more or less the same. I called up my Status for the sake of confirming something.

Subject: Ronan Terrigan

Health: 87% (Caustic Fog / Radiation Burn)

Mana: 3%

Metier Quotient: 6 (18.75%)

Dreg Accumulation: 0%

LPS: Wildwood Bunker, FL

Communications

Party

Skills - (2) Selections Available

Traits - (0% Banked)

Attributes

I am... tapped on mana, but pretty much whole.

The two Afflictions, and , were obviously from Clara's Skill and the panther's attack. As I watched, a percent of my health ticked down and both Afflictions cleared. Other than that, however, the damage I'd taken was almost negligible. On a strange level I could feel that the damage, that missing fourteen percent, was related to the extent my skin was damaged. The light had gone through everything but my stone armor, leaving what I could only describe as a serious sunburn on a lot of my body. That was even after being exposed to it more directly than all the others.

Traits make an astounding difference. Not only that, but Quotients... How much would I have been squashed flat at Q3 or even Q4, shield or not? I couldn't shake the image of Galloway playing around with us. It took constant healing from Ophelia for me and Devon doing his 'leaf in the wind' routine to even be able to maneuver around the outnumbered Appendage; we weren't even able to force him to budge unless we committed our full power. The memory threw some cold water on the sense of strength our overwhelming victory had given me, but it still put the path forward into perspective. I need to figure out how to progress.

"Ugh!" The groan snapped me out of my reverie. I turned from the dead panthers, dismissing my Status, and watched as Samuel used his on Clara. The demoness had been propped against the wagon at some point during my daydreaming, and my friend was tending to her wounds. Ava and Dylan also looked a shade tanner, but the Death attuned woman looked the worst for wear.

"Is she alright?" I asked, walking closer.

"I'm not worried about her skin, but that stuff seems to have burned at her eyes," Sam said, brow creased in concentration. His hands held Clara's temples gingerly as golden green energy unspooled from Samuel's hands. "Clara, can you open your eyes for me?"

The demoness flinched, but eventually complied. The gray tinged sclera of her demon eyes was bloodshot and her pupil was nothing more than a pinprick as our whole group leaned forward to look at her.

"I can see a bunch of rubberneckers," the demoness said, blinking her eyes shut. "But stuff is a little blurry and it hurts to keep them open."

"I'll give you another bump and then we'll load you on the wagon. Try to keep them closed. When we get to Lake Weir I'll heal you again and hopefully that will help," Sam said, matching words to actions as he channeled more healing magic right into her face. She visibly relaxed as I watched the burns, visible even on her dark skin as sporadic blisters, scabbed and healed better than with the freshest of Alexia's medicinal balms down in the Bunker. "Who's still injured?"

Sam stood and swayed, but I gripped his arm to keep him steady. I didn't know the specific costs of his Skills, but it didn't take that information to know that using his Augmented on the Q4 and the other panthers had sapped him. He'd then selfishly followed up with healing for the others and Clara. Truly a man only out for himself…

"Let's give you a rest, huh? Let your mana come back and we'll get patched up after. I don't think anyone else is in danger," I said, gesturing to the others. There were nods all around, Danny even going so far as to pick him up and carry him onto the wagon. "I'll dissociate the panthers. Can you keep an eye out, Danny?"

"," she whispered. Her orb of flying fire rose up over us, casting shadows out of the trees but illuminating anything close. "Hurry up, Ron."

I gave her a nod and shuffled out towards the bodies. It had been a few minutes and the bodies were certainly free to loot. There always seemed to be a variable time between killing the creatures and being able to dissociate them. The Entities weren't clear on that, and Alan was still working on it, so it just became a known fact for those that ventured towards the spider dungeon and fought in the post-Fall wilderness in general.

Nudging each of the bodies without activating my miscellaneous initiated the crystallization dissociation Earth attuned triggered. As I made my way back around to the panther I'd killed, strung up on my , I thought about those few days before we found and dragged Bec to the Bunker. It was entirely possible one of these creatures had been the ones I'd warded off one of those nights. With it slowly turning into smoky quartz, the whole thing felt like it was coming full circle.

As the Pith gathered above it, and the other bodies, it coalesced into a glittering cloud of energy. Six tendrils of energy extended out from the cloud to rush towards our party. Unlike usual, the energy that entered my body left only the stomach coiling aftereffects of my mana. The sensation was so sharp and sudden that I actually dropped to a knee. Another strangled cry sounded behind me and vibrosense told me someone had dropped to the ground hard. My insides felt like they were twisting into knots, but I managed to turn around enough to see Daniela twitching on the ground.

"Danny!" Ava cried, rushing forward with Sam on her tail. Dylan actually moved up to me, trying to help me to my feet, but struggling with my Trait-enhanced body. Having slurry for blood, stone as part of your skin and probably your bones tended to up your number on the scale.

"I-I'm fine," I got out through my teeth. "These are mana side effects."

"Why are you fine?" The councilman asked, eyes widening as he looked between me and Daniela who was slowly settling down.

"Unfortunate instances of practice," I said, forcing myself to take deep breaths to clear the waves of nausea that followed the pain. It wasn't anywhere on the scale of the Death Attuned, but having your insides twist doesn't do wonders for the contents of your stomach. "Is everyone else okay?"

Dylan looked to himself, Ava, Clara and Sam. They almost looked better than before the Pith cloud had been dispersed. "Just fine. A bit jittery, but that comes with the magic stuff."

"It must have something to do with your Quotient," Sam said, still a tad unsteady but he was checking Daniela. His hand was pressed to her forehead until she smacked it away.

"You think? I'm burning up. Get me up so I can breathe properly!" Danny said, hoisting herself up. Just like me she took a deep breath, except as she did her gills flared. The exhale was a cloud of steam out of her nose and gills. Immediately, her posture straightened and her weakness vanished. Ava fussed over her nonetheless.

As Dylan helped me back to the group, I called up my Status again.

Subject: Ronan Terrigan

Health: 91% (Unafflicted)

Mana: 47%

Metier Quotient: 6 (18.75%)

Dreg Accumulation: 2%

LPS: Wildwood Bunker, FL

Communications

Party

Skills - (2) Selections Available

Traits - (0% Banked)

Attributes

My health and mana had ticked up, which wasn't surprising, but my Quotient progress was exactly the same. The Dreg Accumulation, on the other hand...

"We only got Dreg from those kills," I whispered.

"Same here," Daniela said, her eyes unfocusing as she stared at her Implant prompts.

"This is highly concerning," Ava said. "Neither of you have dissociated anything until now?"

"I have been working with the Afflicted and building," I replied.

"You've been having me run the trainees. I punched a spider once, but I didn't get any Pith for that," Danny said.

"I think we need to go see this Entity as soon as possible," Dylan said. He turned to me. "There are a dozen people on the cusp of Q6 in the town. If they breach the line while we are gone without knowing the dangers..."

"Blobby!" I called out into the woods. The large form of my slime companion slid into view. He was slower than before, but the partially digested panther within him was the likely answer for that. "Gather what dropped from the cats. We're going to pick up the pace."

I didn't wait to see if the slime followed the directions. I'd long accepted that for whatever reason the slime was intelligent enough to understand what was going on in its surroundings. The creature hadn't betrayed us and it had saved me more than once. It had earned its autonomy.

Daniela eyed me when I walked by. Some of the frustration she'd been holding towards me was there, but there was a shade of concern visible on her face too. "Can you walk?"

"I'm alright," she said. "I think I'll hold on scouting for a minute."

"Stay with the wagon. I'll use the shield to get us to Stonecrest. We'll take a break there. If anything even looks at us wrong, roast it," I said, meeting her eyes.

"With pleasure."

Clara and Sam loaded up onto the wagon, while Ava and the councilman walked to our flanks. Daniela took up the rear while Blobby slinked in the shadows. Probably. With a deep breath, I slipped into the harness and channeled mana into the shield. Four Quotient's worth of Strength flowed into my body and I took off down the road at double our previous pace.

---+---

"Hail!" One of the guards at Stonecrest called out. Their car wall was barely visible, but the man easily recognized us. He ducked out of view while we pulled up on the wagon.

"You lot are early!" Rachael the dwarf shuffled through the zig zag entrance into her town before approaching our group. I was sweating like it was going out of style, but the others looked none the worse for wear. Sam had improved quickly and dismounted the wagon, but he'd forced Clara to remain. At a light jog, we'd arrived before midday at the allied town.

"Some slight complications," Dylan explained. The councilman, regularly interrupted by a cranky Daniela, explained the information our group had encountered. Rachael looked even more sour than usual as she asked the guard that had greeted us to get Angel, her second, and a woman named Jasmine.

"Angel and I just broke Q5, but Jasmine, our chief healer, is much closer to Quotient 6. I'll have this passed along and I'll have her come with me. I was going to run solo, but if there is a chance we learn more about this Dreg and Pith situation then I want her there," Rachael said firmly. None of us had anything against it and before long Jasmine the Satyr and Angel arrived. She gave them the breakdown, making sure to tell Angel to have the hunters focus on getting to Q5 and no further until she returned with news. The usually cheery man looked grim as he returned, pulling the guard along.

"No pack animal?" Rachel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You are looking at it," I said. "The benefits of the one with the highest Strength in the group, plus a shield that gives him more."

"Good to see those muscles being used for something," Rachael huffed, walking past me as I slipped the harness back on.

"Hey!

"I think I'm going to like this new travel companion of ours," Daniela said, smirking as she sauntered over to Rachael to continue making fun of me. I let out a quiet groan as I channeled my mana to get the wagon moving. At least Clara is nicer to me and she's the one I have to carry.

"Don't mind her too much," Jasmine said as she matched pace with the wagon. "She only pokes people she respects. I think your little Gift Wrestle and everything after that really put you in perspective for her."

"Seems there are a lot of shifts of mentality going around," I said between pants. The wagon pull had started easy, but it definitely took a toll on me. Thankfully the stretch to Lake Weir was much shorter.

"Yes. Perhaps that is for the best," Jasmine said, her ears perking up as she gave me a soft smile. The harness bloomed with flowers which let out a soft lavender smell. My soreness immediately abated as some healing Skill or Gift pulsed through my body. I thanked the woman for her help, but she just returned a smile before moving to the front of the group to speak with Samuel.

Left with my own thoughts, I returned to my practice with vibrosense. Its usefulness at stemming an ambush proved just how useful the Trait and my Perception were when I wasn't overwhelmed. It had been a close thing during the fight with the Panthers, so I didn't let my effort flag. Unfortunately, just as I was entering that meditative trance with vibrosense the ripple profile of Lake Weir came into view.

It was strange to 'see' a place with vibrations. There was a level of depth my eyes couldn't pick up, but vibrosense filled in the gaps with glee. Metal studded, mana formed stone rose ten feet up in a smooth curve around the town. The walls were practically humming with the mana incorporated into them. Trailing like spokes on a wheel were the covered pathways the people in town had built to protect against the bile bombings of the crows. With that particular threat gone, I could feel the signature of living vegetation growing on those same pathways.

As a very excited guard, who was flanked by one of the Wild Guard squads assigned to help the Weirdians, opened a stone gate, the rise from the muck the town had experienced truly showed.

Coming to the surface had always been something of a fantasy for us Bunkerborn. We'd often joked about how the world would have infinite marvels to explore or ancient cities to discover. Walking back into Lake Weir proved to be the first such situation that left me speechless. And I wasn't the only one.

The Lake Weirdians had turned their misfortune into a blessing somehow; their entire town was transformed into a hanging garden of magical proportions. The vegetation I'd sensed on top of the walkways was just the beginning. Chest high planters were draped with vines and colorful flowers while rows upon rows of vegetables lined the spaces between the walkway. Thick brambles with grapes hung heavy from the walkway and strawberries as big as my fist drooped under their own weight as teams of Weirdians harvested them by the basketfuls.

Even the cleared training area where I could see people working on their Gifts and Skills looked more like a tropical jungle than an actual field.

"Seems our verdant developments have caught you off guard," Ian said, materializing in front of our collective group. I almost jumped out of my boots. The man's approach has been deathly silent; I wasn't sure if that was a factor of me being distracted or the man's skeletal feet Trait.

"What happened?" Samuel managed, walking forward and running his hands through a nearby bush that looked just shy of emerald green. "There is so much life to pull from here..."

"I believe that will be the soil finally coming to terms with the garbage those birds threw our way," Ian said, gesturing around them. "Our farmers have found much success growing stuff now that the acid has leveled out."

"Aren't you worried about what's in the soil?" Ava asked, grasping at a nearby berry.

"Our strongest healers ate them to test it. The only anomaly we were able to find was that the plants grown in the disposal ponds are actually Attuned to Death. Everything else grows magnitudes higher," Ian explained. "It's how we were able to meet Samuel's demands for these strawberries. Why did you want so many, son?"

"Let me run some tests and then I'll tell you if it pans out," the blonde replied from where he was running his hands through the soil and gently caressing one of the hanging plants. He added in a whisper, "These grapes might work even better."

Instead of trying to pull him from his concentration, I drew the group back to the original point of our visit. Ian told us that Maurice would be their representative. His son was out with a hunting group, trying to eke up his Quotient, and was meant to turn back after midday. Our group settled into one of the nearby storage rooms, resting from the tense trip over. Ava and Dylan spent some time explaining the information on Q6 we'd encountered, Sam was neck deep in a bush, Blobby was nowhere in sight and the other girls were off speaking with each other.

As I contemplated what an odd gathering of people we had arranged, I couldn't help but to chuckle. It wasn't too long ago that I only knew less than three dozen people. That number had now ballooned. Despite all the pain and struggle of the surface, I couldn't imagine anything else for myself. The determination I'd gripped while talking with Anthony firmed. The meeting with Gec worried me, but it was just another hurdle. Humanity would rally around hope, and I planned to carry that as far as my body let me.