I stared at it for a couple of seconds, then rushed to open the box.

  Inside, three wooden tokens lay neatly. One had a bow on it, another a shield, and the third a staff.

  Choose one Shard:

  Piercing Arrow - Rare

  Imbue your arrows with mana, causing extra damage and applying a high piercing effect. Great against heavily armored enemies.

  Water Cage - Rare

  A cage made of water that adapts to the user’s intent. It can suffocate an enemy by locking around their head or protect someone from fire attacks of minor to medium intensity. This spell uses a considerable amount of mana.

  Shield Healer - Epic

  Imbue the user with the passive ability to heal themselves or their allies with half of the damage taken by the shield’s owner. A powerful spell that remains active at all times.

  This shard can’t be assembled.

  There was a lot of new information in these messages. Apparently, some spells had a mana cost, but I couldn’t find the details anywhere.

  Were the spells with no mention of mana essentially free to use, while others consumed an amount of mana we’d need to experiment with to uncover? It would be good to test, though the skill with a mana cost was the least tempting of them all.

  The Water Cage was strong and could pair well with my lightning spells, but I didn’t see the need to add another element to our magic arsenal just yet.

  The Piercing Arrow, however, would’ve been decisive in our last fight. Being able to pierce through the kobold’s armor and take it down before everything almost went to shit would’ve been invaluable.

  Still, the last skill seemed like the perfect fit for our party. We desperately needed a healer, and I couldn’t assume we’d find someone willing to join us anytime soon. If the rest of the forest was as dangerous as this cave and its surroundings, we’d constantly be at risk of serious injury, relying solely on healing potions.

  We had several credits now, but would we use them all just to buy healing potions? That would delay our progress immensely.

  For me, the choice was obvious, but I needed to check Tress’s opinion since the Piercing Arrow would be great for her. Thankfully, the elf didn’t even hesitate.

  “The shield one will be the best,” she stated, and I was internally relieved by her answer.

  “What about the ‘this shard can’t be assembled’ part?” Mary asked, joining the conversation.

  “We’ll have to figure it out, but it’s still a pretty great skill to have, isn’t it? You’ll still have space for another epic shard,” I argued.

  Mary raised her hands defensively. “I’m not complaining. I want the shard. I’m just curious.” She smiled, easing the tension I was afraid might be building in the room. “You know, when you fought the boss on the proving ground and stood up for us—”

  “And scared the shit out of you,” I interrupted, which made her chuckle.

  “No shit, dude. If you can, don’t go berserker mode again, alright?” She raised both eyebrows. When I nodded, she continued, “Anyway, I realized I need to step up too. I’m stuck with the warrior class, so I’ll have to make it work. And I guess having more information is always a good thing.”

  She’d clearly given this some thought, and it made me smile with a strange sense of pride. I had no idea how many days we’d spent inside the proving ground, but if I had to guess, it was about a day and a half—not nearly enough time to form deep bonds, under normal circumstances.

  However, Elk, Mary, Tress, and I were forging a strong connection, one that was hard to put into words but felt like it could only be built through shared struggles and triumphs.

  “You’re doing great. Now, let’s check on Elk,” I said, patting her shoulder before heading back to the hole in the ceiling.

  Tress helped me climb up first, then lifted Mary. The tall elf went last. Her armor was damn heavy, and after some labored breaths, grunts, and nearly crapping myself, we managed to pull her up.

  We moved through the tunnels quickly, wanting to reach Elk as fast as possible. When we’d left him, his wounds had stopped pouring blood, but any wrong movement could trigger more bleeding, and he could eventually die from it.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Shaking the thought away, we kept turning toward the direction where he was resting.

  “Mary? Zach? Tress?” Elk’s voice echoed through the room, seemingly coming from different directions.

  I sighed in relief when I spotted his figure at the end of the corridor, raising his staff toward us.

  “It’s us, pal. You’re safe,” I said. Then Elk disappeared from view, vanishing like dust.

  “Here,” Elk called from a nearby corridor.

  Apparently, he’d created several illusions of himself sitting in the corridor with a staff in hand. Thankfully, he hadn’t needed to use any magic beyond that.

  The devil looked like a corpse. I rushed to him and before thinking I crouched, accessed the shop, and bought a medium health potion.

  I decided to test Mary’s skill when someone’s life wasn’t on the balance. The potion would be the better choice.

  He drank it in one gulp, not pausing to savor the flavor—only driven by the desire to stop needing our care. Just like before, the potion worked instantly. His wounds healed, his skin regained its healthy tone, and his feet moved as if trying to shake off the numbness from being stationary for hours.

  “I’ll never get used to this,” he said, closing and opening his eyes as if the sensation was overwhelming. “You made it, then? Was it hard?”

  “We only had to fight a boss and several minions, but now we have a healing skill—as long as Mary doesn’t die,” I said nonchalantly, watching his eyes widen with each word.

  “You’d better stop stepping into traps and start protecting me, you know?” Mary teased with a big smile, and the demon grinned widely.

  “I’ll try my best, all right,” he replied, his tone more British than usual, which made me chuckle.

  “What now?” he added.

  “I don’t know,” I said, moving toward the cave entrance. The sun appeared to be setting. Our journey since the system had dropped us at the edge of the forest seemed to have taken up most of the day.

  The well-lit blue sky gradually turned gray as the sun dipped behind a few lazy clouds on the horizon. It would be dark soon, and I didn’t think it was wise to stay out in the open when that happened.

  “What if we stay here? There’s no indication of more kobolds inside, and we have a clear view of the entrance. If anything really bad happens, we can retreat to the boss room or use the tight space to our advantage in a fight.”

  “What about food and water?” Elk asked, considering the suggestion.

  “We can buy both with our credits. We can also gather enough materials to build a fire and cook whatever we buy,” I added.

  “That’s wise,” Tress agreed, and suddenly neither Elk nor Mary had any further questions.

  “What? You agree with everything Tress says?” I asked, feigning consternation.

  Elk and Mary shrugged.

  “She can see the future, mate,” Elk said, making me smile.

  “I can’t argue with that,” I replied, already heading toward the entrance. “I’ll look for wood.”

  “I’ll go with you. The healing skill and all,” Mary rushed to join me with quick steps as I waited at the entrance.

  When we finished collecting branches we considered thick and dry enough to burn for a few hours—though we weren’t entirely sure—we lit a fire after buying a lighter from the shop. We sat around it, deciding what to eat.

  As the hours passed and the sun disappeared, the breeze grew colder, and sitting near the fire became more of a necessity than a luxury.

  We eventually agreed to buy some fish from the store. The price was the same for every type of meat, and since everyone actually liked fish, the decision wasn’t hard. I’d wanted steak, but Elk wasn’t keen on the idea, so we gave in.

  The fish appeared in my inventory, fully cleaned and seasoned, ready to be cooked. We watched with watering mouths as the gray exterior gradually turned golden brown. When it was done, we ate in silence, our hands greasy, and our moods slowly but surely growing lighter.

  As we drank water and leaned our backs against the wall, the exhaustion hit us like a wave. I could see everyone’s eyes fighting to stay open, their energy fading with each passing second.

  “Do you think tomorrow will be harder?” Mary asked, her eyes almost pleading for me to say it would be easier.

  I couldn’t lie—not when our lives were on the line.

  “We’ll manage it.” It was the best I could offer, and it seemed to be enough.

  “Right. We should watch the entrance, no?” Mary yawned. “I can take the first turn.”

  “No, you go sleep. I’ll take the first,” I replied.

  “I’ll do the second,” Tress chimed in, her eyes fixed on the cave’s entrance, though her sharp ears followed our conversation.

  “Elk can take the last one,” I said, glancing at the devil, but he was already out cold, sprawled on the ground and staring at the ceiling. I could only imagine how exhausting it had been for him, wounded and in pain for almost a full day.

  I walked to the cave entrance as my companions settled into positions for sleep. I stood watch for a few hours until Tress shook me gently and told me it was her turn.

  I was so drained that during my entire watch, I couldn’t form a coherent thought. My mind wandered aimlessly, flitting between possibilities, as I fought the crushing weight of fatigue in both body and mind.

  When I patted Tress on the shoulder and stepped aside, I felt more than satisfied to lie down on the rough, unforgiving ground. It might as well have been a luxury hotel—not that I’d ever been near one in my life.

  I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, so completely enveloped by it that I barely stirred when Mary shook my shoulders violently to wake me.

  “There’s something new on our map, wake up.”