“We were busting our asses, and they were playing on easy mode the whole time?!” Mary asked as we stopped to eat.

  “You choose to complain now when day five was the easiest?” Elk protested, one eyebrow raised as he ate the fish Tress had cooked for us.

  “Easy? What’s wrong with you? Is this a demon thing? Did you forget about the freaking werewolves that almost killed us?”

  “I’m not a demon!” Elk snapped, his voice rising.

  “Hey!” I called out, my voice louder than theirs, making their shoulders drop. “Stop acting like children and be thankful we’re alive.”

  “I’m no demon. Demons don’t have horns. And I have them! They’re just small…” Elk muttered, more to himself than to us.

  Mary actually looked guilty when he spoke, so she placed a hand over his, and he let it rest there. I took that as an apology accepted and didn’t say anything.

  When I raised my eyes, Tress was staring right into mine, a smirk on her face.

  “What?” I asked, matching her smile.

  “You,” she said simply.

  “Me what?” I asked, and she shrugged.

  “Me what?!” I pressed, and she just smiled, grabbing a piece of fish.

  Tress moved to my side as I watched, Mary and Elk already engrossed in another conversation.

  It was funny and, at the same time, tiring to be around them. I wouldn’t say Mary and Elk were easy to anger, but they knew how to push each other’s buttons, making me think they’d end up fighting at any moment—only to see them talking again at the last minute.

  “You do this effortlessly, don’t you?” Tress muttered close to my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.

  “What?” I asked, trying to hide the fact that every hair on my body stood on end. She didn’t seem to notice, thankfully.

  “Leading. Managing people,” she said, now eating her fish and not looking at me.

  “Effortless? This is probably the hardest part. Killing monsters demands less effort,” I protested, and she looked up at me, a defiant eyebrow raised.

  “Suit yourself.” She shrugged and looked over my shoulder. “The beautiful woman is coming our way.”

  “What?” I glanced in the direction she had just looked and saw Mila approaching us, sword sheathed on her hip, a peaceful expression on her face. “Why’d you call her that? You know her name.”

  I looked back at Tress, but she was no longer by my side. She was already among the trees several feet away.

  “Hi there!” Mila called, sitting right where Tress had been a minute before. We had only eaten half the fish, so I turned it and offered it to her.

  “Want some?” It was a weird greeting, but she grinned at that.

  “I’m fine. We already ate.” She pointed with her eyes toward her group sitting a few strides away. They were also in separate groups. They seemed to get along just fine but still had more affinity with some than others. That made me thankful my party was tight.

  “Are you sure we’re invisible?” I had checked my minimap several times already, and we didn’t show up on it, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that at any moment, the fa?ade would fall and a necromancer would drop right on my head.

  The fact that we were so close to another group, with fires lit, didn’t make me any less worried.

  “All the werewolves we killed on the way here weren’t proof enough?” She raised both eyebrows, and I had no argument against that.

  Day five had been a walk in the park.

  I had finally gained a few upgrades, and we had an extra one thousand credits from killing so many werewolves. The creatures were ranked F2 and gave a lot of credits when defeated, and thankfully, the system differentiated my party from Mila’s.

  “Fair enough,” I said, chewing my last bite and cleaning my hands with water from the canteen. A few days ago, we were counting credits—now, buying water had become an afterthought. It was just something we did without thinking.

  “When do you want to move?” Her smile slowly faded as she got more serious.

  “You tell me. I’m the one taking advantage of your god’s boon,” I offered, but she didn’t take it.

  “My guys, from both worlds, are… impressed with you. They wanted me to hear your opinion before we keep moving.”

  I looked toward them and saw their eyes on me. Some nodded in acknowledgment, and I returned the gesture.

  I glanced in the direction Tress had walked and cursed her internally.

  “Mila, I’m thankful for your help, but I’m not your leader. There are already three people who mistakenly wait for me to decide before acting—I don’t think adding nine more to the bunch will do me or anyone else any good,” I said, letting the frustration go free. I was tired.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  She studied me for a couple of seconds, and I was about to say I didn’t mean any harm when she spoke.

  “That’s fine. I understand you. It’s not like we voted to change leadership—they just listen to me for whatever reason too. But I promised I’d hear what they had to say, and they wanted to hear what you had to say.”

  “All that because I killed one werewolf?”

  “Mostly the humans in the group. The elves know your partner is an oracle and that you two have some kind of bond. They didn’t explain it to me.”

  My partner? What’s wrong with people today?

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed.

  “Look, let’s just keep going as we are, all right? Move ahead, move together. We’re nearing day six, and things may hit the fan. So just stay together and keep moving. There’s no way to predict what they’ll throw at us, but if I had to guess, what we have going on right now is on borrowed time. I wouldn’t be surprised if they disabled any type of invisibility when we near the city stone.”

  “That would suck.” She looked down.

  “Yeah, but what do you think people like to watch? People hiding and ambushing monsters, or people fighting each other and monsters?” I argued, turning to look at her. “Look at your minimap. This city stone—and I guess all of them—are traps. They’re designed to force us closer together.”

  “Makes sense,” she said, studying her minimap.

  We were back inside the woods, but the slope was clear. The city stone sat at the top of a hill, and reaching it wouldn’t be easy.

  “So you suggest we start moving right away?”

  “Yesterday, if possible. Max started moving five minutes ago, and he’s only two hours behind us now. The other group on our right is, like, really damn close.”

  “How much time until we reach it?” Mila’s face was now etched with worry. I preferred when she smiled, but bad news had to be delivered.

  “It just went dark, so we’ve probably got six hours of walking until day six turns, and another six hours to reach the city stone. But those last six hours could stretch way longer, considering the slope only gets steeper. We might make it just in time—if nothing stops us.”

  “Right. It’s good to have you with us, Zach. Don’t get me wrong… I’ve seen my fair share of men, and I know most are decent, but I’ve had some really bad experiences. It’s good to see someone good once in a while. That goes for your party too. I’m glad you found each other.”

  She glanced toward where Tress was, making the conversation awkward again, but she didn’t seem to notice.

  “Yeah, it’s good to have you around too. I’ll alert the others that we need to go.”

  She nodded and moved away as I sighed.

  At that moment, I received a system message.

  You received an Iron Sponsor Box.

  That’s new, I thought as I watched the box materialize before my eyes.

  Inside the iron box, there was nothing but a piece of paper with a message written on it. Before I even started reading, I already knew who had written it.

  I just wish you to know that it’s fine by me.

  “What is fine by you, for god’s sake?” I muttered, looking away from the message before reading it again, suppressing the urge to nervously laugh. I returned to the reading.

  When you accepted my gift, we became as one, as the laws of my country command, but I wish you to know that you’re free to court other females from any race. I’ll keep cheering for you.

  With love, Xharx, daughter of Xharx.

  “Jesus Christ,” I muttered, but didn’t say anything else out loud. When had that become a thing?

  When I looked up, Elk was standing in front of me.

  “Can I take a look?” he asked.

  Cringing, I handed him the paper.

  He took only a minute to read it before chuckling, covering his mouth with one hand.

  I kicked him in the leg, and he stumbled back, laughing louder.

  “By the dragons, mate.” He seemed thoughtful for a moment, then snapped his fingers. “You have the sauce!”

  “Who taught you that?” I laughed, getting up and slinging an arm around him.

  “Mary, when I showed her how to light a fire without a lighter.” He grinned. “I love human expressions. They make no sense!”

  “No, they don’t.” I smiled as we walked toward the others.

  “Tress!” I shouted, hearing her approach. Thankfully, she said nothing, and I was relieved I didn’t have to cringe anymore.

  As we walked up the slope, I decided to check my messages again—especially one item.

  Deity’s Boon

  Lyrathos Ceremonial Dagger - Epic

  Passive Slaughter – +1 Strength for every minute in battle.

  Passive Merciful – +10 Constitution instantly when aiding an ally in need.

  God Passive – This blade can alternate between a sharp, clean edge or a serrated, painful one, depending on the user’s grip.

  I stared at the blade in my hand as we walked through the forest.

  The hilt was wrapped in dark leather—smooth yet firm—molded to fit my grip like it had been waiting for me. The blade itself was as black as drowned iron, a sheen of deep obsidian running along its length. It was thin but sturdy, its edge shifting as I turned it—clean and straight one moment, jagged and cruel the next.

  In the middle of the blade, a white line pulsed as I moved, like a beating heart. When the clean edge was drawn, it stayed white; when the serrated one was selected, the line turned deep black, strangely visible inside the obsidian blade.

  I got lost staring at it, but after a few moments, I finally took a look at my status, which had also upgraded.

  Ding! Congratulations! Your soul core has been upgraded.

  Calculating…

  General Rank upgraded.

  Strength upgraded.

  Constitution upgraded.

  Speed upgraded.

  New Stats:

  Subject: Zach Walker

  Race: Human (Earth)

  Class: Mage, Rogue

  Merged Class: Undergoing calculations

  General Rank: F4

  Constitution: F2

  Magic: F2

  Mana: F3

  Speed: F2

  Strength: F1

  No change in my general rank, though. I was starting to think I needed an exact number of stats to rank up, and the idea of having an E stat without being a general E ranker was beginning to make sense in my mind.

  That was a special milestone, just like reaching F5, and apparently, it was hard to get.

  I didn’t dwell on it for long, though.

  I saved my energy for climbing the slope, and with each step, I grew more and more anxious about the midnight change. The air tensed with it as well—both my companions and Mila’s were afraid of what was coming.

  We expected our invisibility to be broken at midnight, so when it happened, no one was surprised.

  When the attack came, though? No one was prepared.

  Day 6 commencing – All types of invisibility or camouflage disabled.

  Then, Elk’s voice reached me.

  “Mate?” he asked.

  When I looked toward him, the thing had already fallen upon the Arahaktar.