It was the first time I actually looked at the box.

  This one was simpler than the others we’d earned before. There was no embellishment signaling a level of rarity; it was simply made of wood with a lock that didn’t require a key. I placed it on the ground for everyone to see and opened it so we could all scan it at the same time.

  Skill Shard - Shadow Step - Rare

  You can become one with the shadows when you’re outside of combat. Your position on the map will be hidden while this skill is active, and people around you won’t be able to see you. Exiting the camouflage with a combat skill or attack will increase its damage by 20%.

  This was tailored for me, and I believed that would be the case for anyone who conquered the box. No one seemed to want it since I was the only one with the rogue class—they actually seemed eager for me to take it.

  I grabbed the shard and concentrated on it. The token turned to dust and disappeared as a rush of power coursed through me. I could feel it inside my slots, but I checked it anyway.

  Seeing the shard menu occupied, I decided to test it. There was no mention of a mana cost, so I assumed I could use it for a long time.

  With a mental command, the skill activated, and the world changed before my eyes. It was almost as if I were wearing sunglasses. The forest became greyer, and my companions’ skin tones shifted slightly.

  What wasn’t subtle was their widened eyes and shocked expressions.

  “Are you guys joking? You can see me, right?” I smiled, but their expressions didn’t waver.

  “We can’t,” Elk stepped toward me and reached out a hand. It awkwardly missed me by a good foot, so I grabbed his hand, and he froze.

  In that moment, our eyes met, and he saw me. The camouflage disappeared, and their expressions softened.

  “I can see this becoming very useful,” I said thoughtfully. It was good to be sneaky and accomplish things in a smarter way. It’d make me less vulnerable to a ranged attack and was potentially less dangerous than engaging in direct combat. This skill, combined with Elk’s illusions, could easily provoke mayhem.

  After walking around invisible for a few more minutes and experiencing what it was like to feel the world from a new perspective, I finally decided to sit down and eat something. We had close to 350 credits and were mostly using them to buy the cheapest food , saving the rest to invest in something that’d make us stronger.

  We experimented with the trading menu and discovered we could trade both credits and equipment from our inventories. It was quite simplistic: we’d choose what to show and then decide whether or not to trade.

  We ran some calculations and divided the credits as equally as possible. In case someone got lost or the worst happened, one of us would still be able to fetch necessities without dragging the party down by dying with all the coins stored in their inventory.

  The rest of the day was uneventful, but we kept getting more and more views. It was easy to ignore the messages in the corner of our vision, but they were still there, constantly blinking with new viewers. If anything, the number only kept increasing.

  I started to grow curious about how many people were actually watching us. If this was being streamed to the multiverse—not just the universe—I could only assume the show had trillions of viewers, if not more.

  The number was nearly incomprehensible to me, so I decided to let it go and focus on what we could actually control.

  We kept one eye on Max’s party the entire time, trying to keep our pace faster than theirs, but it was difficult. They were relentless in their desire to move toward the city stone. Their location almost never stopped, and we started to anxiously wait for them to rest. When they did, we rested too, always trying to start moving again before they did.

  It was the strangest cat-and-mouse situation I’d ever seen. They’d never catch us unless we stopped at the city stone, and if we did, there was a chance it’d give us enough power to match a larger group. We’d only find out when we reached it.

  The city stone symbol lay several miles away. It seemed close to the sea, making our journey toward it simple and efficient. One side of us was protected by the proximity of the beach, while we had to keep an eye on the other parts.

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  When the moon rose in the sky, we decided to move away from the forest and find a place to rest. The easiest choice would’ve been the beach, but we didn’t want to gamble with the ocean’s tide. We had no idea how the sea behaved at night or what creatures it might bring to the shore.

  Tress took her time analyzing the map and our surroundings, eventually pointing toward a general direction deeper into the forest. After a few minutes of walking, we reached a slope with a single palm tree at the top. There wasn’t much protection overhead, but the spot was high enough for us to scan the area for a better place to spend the night, and it was comfortable enough for us to sit and eat.

  After we finished eating more of the jerky, Tress stood and walked toward the edge of the slope. I followed her, stopping a few feet away as her eyes scanned the forest below.

  I could hear the waves crashing nearby, and the wind whistled in my ear as if I had a shell pressed against it. Was the wind speaking to her right now? I’d wondered that several times throughout the day, but in that moment, a shiver ran down my spine as her eyes met mine.

  Her stoic mask broke with a smile. I could see the moonlight shining in her eyes, and it was hard not to stare. She looked like a goddess out of legend, and the fact that she could actually see the future made her seem even more… fantastical.

  “Three fires, and we’ll know we’re safe,” she murmured, her gaze never wavering from mine. “I sense relief coming our way.”

  “Yeah? That’d be nice,” I said, finally managing to return her smile. “Still, it’d be even better if you were more direct.”

  “Just watch.” She turned her eyes to the horizon, away from the sea and deep into the forest ahead.

  I looked in the same direction but couldn’t see anything. A couple of minutes passed before I finally asked, “What am I missing?”

  “Nothing yet. Look, they’re lighting it.” She pointed toward the same spot she’d been staring at, and this time I saw a flicker of light about one mile away.

  It shone dimly, but it was clear—a bonfire. That didn’t tell us much, though. There were plenty of competitors in those woods, and spotting bonfires from the top of a slope wouldn’t be difficult.

  Then, a second bonfire lit up, and Tress’s grin widened.

  “Just one more,” she muttered. I’d never seen her this anxious before, her eyes practically pleading for a third fire.

  A few minutes passed, and her expression softened.

  “Maybe it’s not today. Sometimes the wind tells me about things far in the future, other times about things buried in the past.” She started to turn toward Elk and Mary, who were happily chatting beneath the palm tree’s shadow, but I grabbed her hand and pointed.

  “The third one,” I spotted a new bonfire lighting up beside the second. “What does it mean?”

  “It’s my people, Zach. Let’s go—we’d better hurry before they move.”

  Tress moved quickly through the forest, showing none of her usual caution. She strode ahead, constantly glancing over her shoulder to make sure we were following.

  The group ahead of us was marked by five yellow dots on the map—she was certain they were her tribe members.

  “Anyone could’ve built three bonfires, you know?” I tried to argue from behind, but she was relentless.

  “They were arranged the same way we do every night. Besides, the wind told me.” She quickened her steps even more, as if she didn’t want to give us the chance to argue further.

  The path to the group was still in the direction of the city stone, though not in a straight line. We’d lose some of the ground we’d gained over Max’s party, but if the people ahead were indeed her friends, they could be incredibly useful. With their numbers, we’d stand on equal footing against Max.

  With that in mind, we kept following her. Mary and Elk seemed more confused than I was, but they trusted Tress and her predictions blindly, so they maintained the pace without question.

  The group ahead never moved. If they knew we were coming, they weren’t afraid of us.

  When we were about half a mile away, I noticed the flicker of flames ahead between the tree trunks. They were camping in a large ravine, with actual tents set up near the trees.

  A small stream separated us from the camp.

  “Wait, Tress,” I hissed, trying to keep my voice low. This time, she listened and slowed her steps.

  “Trust me, we’re safe.” She smiled at me and continued forward.

  As she stepped into the stream, two figures emerged from behind the trees on the edge of the ravine.

  They were tall and wore identical white armor, just like the one Tress wore. Their bows stood raised, but as soon as their eyes met Tress’s, they lowered their weapons. Their eyes widened, and they seemed too shocked to process the situation.

  I was about to pop my invisibily skill when the elf finally spoke with a shaken tone.

  “Is that really you?” the elf on the right asked. He had a triangular face and was the first old elf I’d ever seen—his hair was as white as milk, and his face was scattered with wrinkles.

  The other one was younger and uncannily similar to the older elf, except his hair was red—they were probably father and son, though they looked more like clones of each other.

  “It’s me,” Tress said, spreading her arms wide.

  The older elf dropped to his knees, his face twitching with emotions too strong to contain. He was on the verge of tears.

  His son didn’t kneel right away. His eyes darted to me, then to Mary and Elk, uncertainty flickering in his narrowed gaze. Eventually, he knelt, though I could see the tension in his muscles.

  “Come out, everyone! The wind has sent our oracle back! Our savior is among us!” the older elf cried toward the tents, his eyes now brimming with tears.