《Unexpected Fantasy Infusion》 Prologue + Chapter 1 Putrid smoke rose in patches along the blood-red sunset. It was lost. The city was gone, replaced by rubble and broken barricades. Manic cackling could be heard in the distance growing farther and quieter as the prime cause of these troubles left the area and was no longer restrained or under control. It didn¡¯t even bother to kill the warrior who had stood against it, choosing instead to leave her lying half-dead in the dirt. She clenched her hand into a fist, grasping nothing but the dirt underneath her...¡±No...¡± as the feeling of despair and dread overcame her. There had to be some way to stop this nightmare. There just had to be. ¡°bzzt...¡± - crackling sounds echoed from a forgotten earpiece on the ground nearby - ¡°bzzt...I found it! Just hold on one more second. We can fix this. If you see any prompts appear, accept them. This function will only work once, but once should be all we need.¡± [Critical System Error Detected: Attempt to restore system state to it¡¯s most-recent backup?] [Accept] [Deny] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was on a simple cloudy day that Tray stepped inside his apartment, having nothing else to do but to relax. It was an enjoyable weekend, soured only by his thoughts of the upcoming monday. Tray put his headphones on and chose for his current pasttime to involve listening to music and daydreaming. Unknown to him and to most others however, a storm was brewing. The sky darkened more than could be explained by the naturally occurring cloudy weather until it appeared to be night. Moments later when the light of day returned, a loud and visible shockwave crashed through the apartment, upheaving poor Tray from his daydreams and into the floor. Car alarms throughout the town started to blare. Movement from the nearby rooms indicated that Tray wasn¡¯t the only occupant in the complex to be startled from his thoughts. ¡°What was that? An earthquake?¡± - These words came from Nate, one of Tray¡¯s neighbors from the apartment across the hallway, as they started towards the apartment complex¡¯s entrance to go outside and see what had transpired. People lined the streets of the small town while many of them were asking each other if they knew what was going on. One particularly loud and distinctive lady repeatedly shouted ¡°What¡¯s going on? What happened?¡± The confused chatter continued for a short time, and then it turned into abrupt silence as a dialog box appeared in front of each person. [Welcome to Mana Gate Online!] [Thank you for joining our alpha test. If you find any bugs or errors, please report them on our forums at (undefined) or email us at (undefined)] [Please understand that many aspects of the game are a work in progress. Furthermore: posting videos, media, or leaking any information about the game at any time before the game¡¯s release is disallowed.] The silence faded as the confused gossip resumed. [Error: Required NPCs not Detected] [Spawning new NPCs] [Error: Required Bosses not Detected] [Spawning new Bosses] [Monster Spawning Enabled] ¡°Monster spawning?¡± Tray murmured apprehensively. Near the street¡¯s corner an unused and empty brick shop suddenly brightened itself into an old fashioned medieval inn. Other parts of the town also underwent similar transformations. Fragments of the road became cobblestone. Telephone poles turned into flags while others remained unchanged. The courthouse in the distance was replaced with a small fortification, and some cars turned into carriages at random. One car had only been halfway turned into a carriage and was now leaking gas onto the street. He wasn¡¯t sure when it had happened, but Tray noticed that the number of people on the street had nearly doubled. Among the crowd now existed many people dressed as if they had come straight out of a fantasy story: People wearing robes and holding gnarly staves, people wearing leather armor and bow quivers, people carrying baskets of wheat and multicolored fruit on their head, and multiple oxen pulling carts also populated the street. There were almost 10 seconds of silence as each person looked around in confusion at the strangers and the strangers glanced at them and also at the changes in scenery. A shout sounded out from an individual wearing plate-mail armor. ¡°What witchery is this?!¡± Within moments the medieval people brought out weapons and pointed them at the more modern day folk suspiciously. A shot rang out as a middle-aged man responded to having a spear close to his neck by drawing a gun and firing at the spear-holder. It was at this moment that chaos erupted. The middle-aged man was struck down from behind by a flash of searing green fire emanating from the hand of a robed man as the spear-bearer who was shot fell to the ground. The crowd of people began to panic and attempted to flee the immediate area as the medieval men surrounded them. Tray and Nate¡¯s apartment complex¡¯s exit was out the back of the building and not facing the main street. It was for this reason that they weren¡¯t noticed as quickly. Tray wasn¡¯t certain exactly what was going on, but he did know that it was time to leave, and so he left away from the main street. Nate did not follow him. ¡°Nate!¡± Tray spoke quietly but sternly. ¡°I think we have to go!¡± Nate was in somewhat of a daze, but broke out of his stupor and quickly followed upon hearing his name called. Many of the strangely-clothed people got out of their way as they fled down the alley, but such luck was not going to last long. Back in the main street several more people had been slain, and many more had been forcefully subdued. A man dressed in gaudy white clothing with gold and purple trimming and a rapier strapped to his side strode up to one of the individuals who was held to the ground and was threatened by the point of a sword. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°What is the meaning of this? Why have our streets been defiled into this messy patchwork of textures?¡± He addressed the man whose face was forced to the ground, but the captive could not formulate a satisfactory response. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Donnel could not believe it! He had finally been promoted to captain of the guard and instead of enjoying his newfound life in luxury he now found his existence in jepardy. On his watch these unknown people (From some barbaric or rebelious orginization perhaps?) had appeared and ruined his city. The beautiful walls were now interspersed with ugly red laid brick. The homes of many were changed in shape and appearance, or in some cases they were completely missing. The age-old pathways that were laid down as the foundation of the city for people to transverse on was now dotted with some hideous black rock and the occasional yellow or white lines. Last but not least several guards had been slain in the fight and the city¡¯s outter walls were gone, leaving the city bare and defenseless to outside threats. This may as well be the end of Donnel¡¯s career and possibly his life for such a catastrophe to happen on his watch. The Principle of this domain would strip his rank and head from him. His only hope was to find out what magic these strangers wove and hope that it could be undone. There was just one problem: They don¡¯t seem to be giving him answers. ¡°Unless you want to end up like the last guy who didn¡¯t answer, you really should answer my questions! Who are you? Where are you from? What did you DO TO MY CITY?!¡± Confused whimpering was not an answer Donnel would accept. If this was a pre-emptive attack to weaken the city¡¯s defenses, then he should not be wasting time questioning the strangely clothed saboteurs who now littered the city but should instead be preparing to defend against an assault. ¡°Call the scouts! Have them patrol the city perimeter for any incoming threats! If they see any movement whatsoever, have them send up a flare immediately. The rest of you, scour this city in squads of three and destroy these strange people who have infiltrated and broken our city.¡± ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nate and Tray had continued to move through the back alleys trying to avoid being seen until Tray had found a decently hidden location in an overgrown alcove between a tool shed and a fence. Tray had seen a man get fried by a green ball of fire. It all felt like a dream, but he kept checking his watch and nothing about it was different. If he was dreaming then his wristwatches¡¯ symbols and numbers would be scrambled or distorted the second time he looked at it. It still looked perfectly normal even the fifth time he looked at it. What was he supposed to make of all this? Had he gone mad? The two stayed hidden as they heard patrols nearby on the other side of the fence. Two men in fancy plate mail and one woman in a dress and wielding a ragged book stopped near a passerby. ¡°Hail! You there, have you seen any persons wearing foreign clothing around this part of town?¡± The book-carrying lady questioned ¡°Oh, goodness yes. There have been so many in the past hour that don¡¯t look from around here that I was wondering if a festival was starting that I was unaware of.¡± An elderly man¡¯s voice responded to the question. ¡°Can you show us where they might be?¡± ¡°Here and there. Everywhere. I¡¯ve seen them all through this town.¡± The old man gestured all over the sidewalk ¡°Anywhere specific?¡± ¡°Well I mean I haven¡¯t seen them outside the town, but I haven¡¯t been outside town today either so I don''t know, they might be there too. You should ask Tannor. Tannor would know. He knows everything. Why, just the other day he found my bucket I lost weeks ago and told me all about how buckets are crafted. Did you know that when...¡± One of the armored men interrupted the enlightening conversation: ¡°Ma''am, I¡¯ve known this person and he is old in his years and hasn¡¯t been very sharp for some time now, I suggest we search elsewhere and leave him be. Asking him further questions will only slow us down.¡± With that, the three continued their patrol further down the street and away from Troy and Nate while the elderly man continued to describe the bucket crafting process without any visible audience. It was almost a half of an hour that they remained hidden, occasionally hearing another patrol nearby. A brief moment of yelling indicated that they had found another person. ¡°What are we supposed to do?¡± This distressed but hushed question arose from Nate. Before Tray could think of anything to reply, another dialog box appeared similar to the first one from earlier. [ Tutorial Part 7: An Introduction to Monster Surges ] [ Now that you have learned the basics of combat in Mana Gate Online, it is time to introduce you to Monster Surges. ] [ Monster surges are random events where large numbers of monsters spawn. If you manage to kill the boss monster at the end of a surge, the rewards will be immense.] [ A tutorial themed monster surge has been spawned for you to try out. ] ¡°What kind of cruel joke is this...and where did the first 6 parts to the tutorial go?¡± Nate complained. ¡°Don¡¯t know. I really don¡¯t.¡± Was Tray¡¯s helpful response. In the distance to the west, a brilliant red flare flew into the sky. Newbies First Monster The brilliant red flare flourished it¡¯s color across the sky as Nate and Tray watched. In a resigned fashion Nate spoke: ¡°And what now? Another problem?¡± After a brief consideration, Tray responded. ¡°Possibly not. If that flare was sent by these people, they will likely be distracted by whatever is going over there. This could be our chance to get away from all this madness.¡± ¡°...and the monster surge thing these boxes mentioned?¡± ¡°I¡¯d say risking a tutorial-level event is less dangerous than hiding in a town full of experienced, co-ordinated, magical murderers.¡± They stood, stretched their legs for a moment, and began to travel perpendicular to the flare to escape the city. Nate grabbed a broom while Tray took a small stool from outside a now-abandoned cafe as they passed by. ¡°Expertly armed and ready to rock and roll!¡± Nate just stared at Tray, not discovering the apparent humor in the situation. Tray continued: ¡°With your razor shard wit and my powerful sense of humor, nothing can stand in our way.¡± ¡°Please...stop...¡± Was all that Nate said. Being funny just wasn¡¯t lightening his mood and Nate didn¡¯t want Tray¡¯s chatter to prevent him from hearing if anyone was nearby. They stopped near the end of another small alley, almost to the edge of the town. Cautiously peeking forward and around the corner, they came to a consensus that it was safe enough to cross this street. As they skipped across to hide near the next bulding, the echo of an explosion reached Nate¡¯s ears from the west side of town where the flare had come from. When he turned his head up to look that way, he realized that there were more flares. On all sides of the town, red flares had arisen. All except for the direction they were running in. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Walls of stone rose from the ground to block the path of multiple wooden automatons as several other people threw magic blasts of fire, ice, and lightning at them. The automatons were like puppets without strings, and just as clumsy as one too, but what they lacked in quality they made up for in quantity. Before these unknown monsters had appeared, Donnel had seen it; The dialog boxes appearing in front of each of the strange people. He was certain now of the cause of this invasion of wooden monsters. The strangers must have summoned this horde. It can¡¯t have been some simple co-incidence. Several of the wooden automatons got around the earthen wall and leapt over the knights standing in the front lines and flew into a direct collision course with Donnel himself. Donnel frowned, irrate that such simple things could get past his men who he had personally trained. They were going to do double the regular training this month to make up for that mistake. The automatons fell to the ground in fractured pieces. Donnel¡¯s rapier had been drawn, swung, and sheathed so fast that it appeared to onlookers as if the wooden creations had simply decided to fall apart of their own volition. Hesitation appeared on Donnel¡¯s face. If the strangers used such powerful magic to scramble the appearance and layout of the city, then why were the monsters that they summoned so weak? Surely with that sort of expertise, they could have done a better job with the follow-up invasion force. He had no doubt that they caused the invasion, but this inconsistency was puzzling him. Maybe it didn¡¯t matter? Maybe it was just an inexperienced group of mages who found a powerful and ancient magic tool but weren¡¯t very good mages otherwise? Flashes of green soared nearby as a wave of fire was belched onto the wooden automatons, sealing their fate. This fight, if it could be called such, was over. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°That¡¯s a lot of flares.¡± Nate remarked, bringing attention to them. ¡°You think it¡¯s good or bad there are no flares out here yet?¡± Tray pondered out loud. ¡°I think I want out of this crazy town. My car was turned into a carriage and magic slinging people are searching to kill us. ¡± ¡°So...keep going and don¡¯t think about changing direction?¡± ¡°Yes. That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying we should do.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The din of combat in the distance started to quiet down as the knights started to get the monster swarm under control. All the while Nate and Tray slowly made their way to the outskirts of the town. Progress was slow. It was almost too slow, and all because they were being extra cautious to avoid detection. The sight of the old rusty unused railway on the outskirts of the city brought jubilation to Tray. They were almost out! Then they could find somewhere that wasn¡¯t overrun with magical killers and finally relax. They were still far away from safety, but it was promising enough that any form of caution was briefly forgotten. ¡°We¡¯re out!¡± Nate wasecstatic at the sight of the forest across the brook beyond the railway. Tray simply smiled in relief as Nate continued ¡°Yessss! No crazy magic people. No spear swinging maniacs. None of that.¡± Nate stepped forward to start down to the brook and cross it to the forest at once. *Crunch* Looking behind himself, Nate saw the source of the abrupt and sudden sound. Tray had been flung to the side onto the train tracks. Standing where he once stood was a massive wooden automaton etched with purple lines all along it¡¯s limbs and unmoving wooden faces carved all over it¡¯s arms and legs. It¡¯s head was simply a featureless wooden log. ¡°TRAY!¡± Nate was closer to the brook, and so he was downhill. The automaton had the advantage of not only being twice his size but it also held the high ground. This engagement was bad in every possible aspect. What could Nate¡¯s broomstick do against that? He wanted to run. ... If Tray hadn¡¯t broke Nate out of his confused stupor and dragged him away from the main street in time back when this all started, then Nate would have met the same fate as the others who were rounded up and executed. Is running away to leave an injured Tray to a wooden monster really how Nate was going to repay him for that? No. It wasn¡¯t. The monster turned to the side and took a step towards Tray who was still on the ground, gasping and coughing for breath. A rock bounced off the right arm of the automaton. Nate was terrified, feeling little strength in his legs. The wooden beast turned to Nate who had thrown the rock. The carved face that Nate¡¯s thrown rock had hit glowed a pale blue color. Nate¡¯s eyes widened as he sloppily jumped to the side. The ground where he had stood just an instant before was now impaled with a massive icicle. His mind reeled, trying desperately to figure out how he was going to defeat a walking pile of logs that shot icicles at him. Maybe it had limited ammo? Nate threw another rock at the automaton as it slowly took another step towards him. The automaton''s size was such that it¡¯s slow speed was compensated by the long strides that it took. The rock hit the monster in it¡¯s right leg. This time, the carved face the rock hit glowed white. Again Nate scrambled to move aside. Lightning scattered out from the face and scorched many different places along the ground. One of the bolts of electricity landed on Nate¡¯s leg and he collapsed. The wooden beast was dangerously close now, and Nate¡¯s attempts to stand and run failed because of his shocked leg. The beast¡¯s log of a foot slammed into the ground next to Nate. He was within arm¡¯s reach. It raised it¡¯s arm preparing to swing down at Nate. *Clatter* Tray¡¯s stool that he had brought with him as an improvised weapon bounced harmlessly off the wooden beast¡¯s head, garnering it¡¯s attention towards Tray. The stool had not hit any of the carved faces on the beast¡¯s arms or legs. The wooden automaton stopped what it was doing and meandered towards the injured Tray, having seemingly forgotten about Nate. ¡°Once it get...Cough!..gets close to me, throw a rock and grab it¡¯s attention! Lure it into the brook!¡± Tray shouted as best as he could. Nate swallowed his fear. He thought he was about to die. Even with this respite, neither he nor Tray were in any condition to escape the automaton. How was luring it into the brook going to help? He slowly got to his feet and found another rock. Tray was certain he had broken ribs. Getting hit by a giant log monster can do that. He stumbled down the bank and into the water and struggled in pain to get back onto his feet again. The automaton was getting close. Nate had better reacquire it¡¯s attention soon or Tray wasn¡¯t going to live much longer. ¡°Throw something at it! Hurry!¡± And Nate did throw another rock at the log beast. The rock flew over it¡¯s shoulder and clattered hopelessly to the shore. The automaton ignored the rock and took another step towards Tray, and then another. It prepared to deal a finishing punch to kill Tray with, but again it didn¡¯t get a chance to swing as a second rock hit it in the arm and turned it¡¯s attention back to Nate. The carved gnarly wooden face where the rock hit started to produce a blood orange color and an ominous liquid-like projectile was spat from the wooden figure and flew towards Nate. Nate dove to the side and submerged into the knee-high water, but the projectile changed course and followed him. It broke through the surface of the water and slammed into his chest. A gasp of bubbles escaped his lips as pain wracked his body. Worry and anger. That was the only emotion Tray felt as he watched his best friend get hit by the unknown attack. Nate was underwater and suffering. The time to move the automaton into position was over. It was now or never. The plan would either work or he would lose his friend and himself to this monster. In Tray¡¯s left hand was an assortment of small rocks as extra ammo. In his right hand was the rock he was going to throw. He threw the rock at the log monster¡¯s head in an attempt to attract it¡¯s attention without triggering one of the carved face¡¯s abilities. It landed on it¡¯s shoulder, but still missed the faces. The automaton turned and started to close the distance between itself and Tray who waited as the automaton got closer to him and away from where Nate was at. It took a step towards him. Then another step. and another. It was now halfway between Nate and Tray and was in the middle of the brook. The face in it¡¯s front right foot: That¡¯s the one Nate had hit when it spewed lightning. This was a gamble. There was no guarantee that hitting the same carved face would trigger the same attack from the monster, but this gamble was all Tray had. He threw his rock from his right hand while quickly taking another one of the rocks from his left hand to prepare another throw. Two rocks plopped into the water near the carved face they were directed at. The third rock hit it¡¯s target. The halfway-submerged carved face¡¯s mouth glowed white. ¡°What happens next will shock you.¡± Tray couldn¡¯t help but murmur. Lightning started to spark from the face. The automaton shivered and fell to it¡¯s knees, the wood blackened, as it¡¯s attack malfunctioned and burnt it from the inside out. Tray felt a rush of new-found energy as he swiftly waded past the unmoving automaton towards Nate who had still not surfaced. ¡°What¡¯re you young¡¯uns doing in the brook on such a chilly day?¡± A voice sounded out from the shore. Small Respite Inside of a dusty unkempt house, an old man sat on a rocking chair. The chair creaked incessantly, proof that it had been the man¡¯s favorite and most-used chair for years. Sitting across from him in a padded chair was Tray. The elderly man, whose name was Agnar, had helped Tray drag Nate out of the river and brought him to this house where Nate now lay on a nearby sofa close a fireplace. ¡°So let¡¯s see if I¡¯m understanding you right...You say that a so-called game is the reason our cities were merged into one?¡± ¡°Yes, as far as I understand it. I don¡¯t know the details of how such a thing is possible.¡± Nate replied in confirmation. Agnar let out a deep breath. His adventuring years were over and he had gone into retirement. It seems that the adventure decided to come to his city¡¯s doorstep today. After a contemplative moment, Agnar spoke. ¡°Donnel, the captain of the city¡¯s guard seems to think of you strangers and all the others like you to be the cause of this town¡¯s change, but I think differently. If you were responsible, you would have been commanding the monsters, not throwing pebbles at it and nearly getting killed by it.¡± The fireplace had finally managed to work up a proper temperature. Following this, the antique house¡¯s frigid atmosphere was gracefully lifted away. ¡°You can find it down the hall; First door on the right.¡± ¡°Find what?¡± Tray asked, ¡°Some of my grandson¡¯s spare clothing. Your garment is too obviously foreign to us, and until everything settles down it would be wise to not make yourself into a target.¡± Seeing what he meant, Tray left the room and down a short hallway. Inside the room to his right and hidden in a closet were a small number of clothes. Mostly simple cloth shirts and pants intended to be held together with a belt. After dressing himself in one of them, he came out of the room bearing an extra pair for Nate, which he placed on the top of the couch that Nate was asleep on. ¡°Are you sure he''s going to be okay?¡± Tray couldn''t help but question. ¡°Oh, don''t you doubt me! I used to be an adventurer, and a sporting good one at that. Your friend here was hit with a heat-seeking corrosion bolt, and the common cure for corrosion based magic is simply vinegar mixed with glassworm extract and bogroot powder¡± Agnar replied while gesturing towards two jars labeled ''dapperwood fungus'' and ''Coffee''. For unknown reasons, Tray''s concerns were not lightened by very much, though he did remember that Agnar used different jars than what he was pointing at now. ¡°Besides that, your ribs are all healed up now. That should prove I know what I''m talking about. I''m going to need more duskrot leaves if anyone else gets injured though. Never saw a need to keep a large supply of the stuff when it goes sour so fast and constantly needs replaced.¡± The room became quiet for several more minutes as Tray waited, still processing all that had happened that day now that he had a chance to stop and think. Agnar let the room and after rummaging around in another room he came back holding a kettle filled with water. He hung it over the fireplace and waited. ¡°Tea?¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± Before much longer had passed, Nate finally awoke. ¡°Where is this?..¡± Tray jabbed at Nate''s question by saying ¡°Ikea. We got lost for days and couldn''t get out.¡± ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the sun began to set, Nolan finally got a chance to take his stuffy helmet off. It didn''t feel right, being ordered to hunt down helpless people who couldn''t fight back. He was told they were the magic users who messed up the city, but they sure didn''t act like it. He trudged back to his home, an old rickety thing that his grandfather refused to sell or repair. Was he lucky or unlucky that this house was among the few that did not get changed? Would have made for a fine excuse to finally be rid of the place. Upon opening the door, an unexpected sight met his eyes. His grandfather, Agnar, had guests; Two of them. One was reclining on the couch and the other was sitting in a nearby chair. Both were sipping cups of tea and wearing... ¡°Are those my clothes?¡± Nolan''s voice entered the room. ¡°Yes they are. They look better on these two than they did on you anyway.¡± Was Agnar''s response. Nolan wasn''t sure how to respond to that. It was his clothing, not Agnar''s to give away to strangers. A few awkward seconds went by before Agnar introduced them to Nolan. ¡°This man is Nolan. He''s my grandson.¡± Gesturing to Tray, Agnar continued ¡°This here is Nate...¡± Tray was pointing to Nate as Agnar spoke, and when Agnar noticed this, he moved his hand to gesture to Nate. ¡°Ehem...Of course I meant to say that this one is Nate. The other one is Tray. They came from Loamsview the other day but were accosted by those wooden monsters on the edge of town before arriving here, so I invited them to my house and handed them some of your clothing to wear until we can at least sew up their torn clothing.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Loamsview?¡± Noland asked ¡°I''ve heard of it, but I''ve never been there myself before. What''s it like out there?¡± ¡°It''s a beautiful place. I quite like it there.¡± Nate spoke, but Tray flinched. Tray hurriedly interrupted Nate by saying ¡°...but not as nice as this place was. I mean, before it got all mixed up.¡± ¡°Want to sit with us? We''ve got tea.¡± Agnar said while holding up his cup. Nolan turned Agnar down by saying ¡°I''d love to stay and chat, but today''s been a long and tiresome one. I''m sorry. Maybe some other time¡± Not long after that, Nolan continued his path from the front door straight down the long hall to his own room. Once Nolan entered his room and shut the door, Nate questioned Tray ¡°Is something wrong with me saying it''s a beautiful place?¡± ¡°It''s in the name you dolt. Loam means dirt. It''s literally named dirt''s view. I highly doubt it''s beautiful.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Agnar just chuckled at this before assuring them. ¡°He''ll just think it was sarcasm and laugh it off.¡± ¡°Didn''t you say that he was your grandson? Why are we pretending to be from Loamsview instead of just telling him the truth?¡± Tray asked. ¡°Well, Tray, that''s a bit of a story but I''ll cut it short for ya. In my younger years I was an amazin'' adventurer. Being the best of the best kinda got to my head, and so I caught the dumbest idea that to become truly strong, one needs to learn the hard way without guidance like a wimp.¡± Agnar took another sip of his tea. ¡°So when the time comes that Nolan asks me to teach him to be strong like me, I all but boot him out the door telling him to, and I quote, just go an'' hunt monsters or something. He never really forgave me for that. Later I learned that he became a city guard under the tutelage of Donnel. These days he is more loyal to Donnel than to me, and with Donnel''s current behavior in mind I chose not to tell him about where you two come from.¡± ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Down the hall in Nolan''s room, Nolan laid in his bed, emotionally depleted. He knew. He knew that Agnar''s guests were some of the strangers that appeared in the city today. When he passed by that room, he had seen a shred of some foreign fabric in the bottom of the fireplace where they had burnt their old clothing to hide the evidence of who they were. Even without seeing that, there were just too many things that didn''t add up about them. He wasn''t going to do anything about it. He already shed too much blood today on Donnel''s orders. Agnar may be old and retired, but he was still one of the top adventurers in his prime. His combat skill and strength may not have been the greatest, but his instincts were unparalleled. When Agnar trusted someone, chances were good that they were trustworthy. If Agnar trusted Tray and Nate, then Nolan would too. Agnar''s trust that those two were not a danger was enough evidence for Nolan. Something else bothered Nolan however. Agnar didn''t tell Nolan the truth about those two guests. Did Agnar not his own grandchild? Many long hours crept by before Nolan could pass out into sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The morning sun peeked above the horizon and started to shine it''s majestic brilliant light across the land. A half-asleep Nate turned to the side so the sun would stop shining it''s majestic brilliant light into his eyes. Nolan was already gone. He left the house early dressed in his armor and didn''t say anything as he went. Nate pulled the blanket over his head. He had slept in the spare guest room. Tray who was in a healthier condition last night had slept on the sofa. ¡°RISE AND SHINE YA BUTTERCUP!¡± came a sudden and ominous voice from above. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡°I''ve always wanted to do that.¡± spoke a gleeful Agnar, holding a wet bucket in his hand. ¡°I had hoped to never experience that. My hopes are shattered now.¡± spoke a somewhat less amused but slightly more drenched Nate. The two of them and Tray had been led to a small dirt field just a couple blocks down from Agnar''s home. Part of the field had been turned into sidewalk and grass, but it still functioned as a field. ¡°Do you know why I brought you here?¡± ¡°No, but that''s probably because you didn''t tell me anything besides RISE AND SHINE before dumping water on me.¡± ¡°It''s unhealthy to be so pessimistic.¡± An amused Tray jibed at him, which just earned him a cold glare from Nate. Agnar, happy as happy can be, strode to the center of the small field and beckoned the two of them over. When they came closer Agnar spoke ¡°I brought you out here because we were in my house, and I don''t want to be teaching magic to a complete newbie inside my poor fragile ol'' house.¡± Tray and Nate both brightened up upon hearing that. ¡°It would be a shame for a talent bearer to waste his talent, so that is why I''ve taken it upon myself to teach you both. As you''ve told me already, neither of you have ever encountered magic or monsters until yesterday, so you''ll need to learn to survive anyway.¡± ¡°Talent bearer?¡± Nate inquired. ¡°Yes, Talent bearer. Some monsters are stronger than others, and the people who kill those gain a talent that is thematically similar to what the monster was like. Tray, you landed the final blow against the wooden machination. You are a talent bearer. Instinctively you should be able to use it. Just think back to the rush of energy you got when you killed the beast. That rush of energy that allowed you to go help your friend out of the water after killing the monster despite being so injured earlier that you couldn''t even walk properly.¡± Tray was somewhat uncertain about this, but he tried to remember what it was like back then at that moment. ¡°What about me? What am I supposed to do?¡± Asked Nate. Agnar handed him a stick. It was at this moment than Nate realized that Agnar brought two walking sticks instead of one. ¡°Hit me with that.¡± Agnar simply stated. ¡°Excuse me?¡± was all Nate could manage to say. ¡°You''re excused. Now hit me.¡± Agnar said while making mocking gestures at Nate. Nate wasn''t the keenest on hitting old people with sticks, but this wasn''t an ordinary old man. This was the old man who dumped water on him early in the morning. It was also the old man who deftly dodged Nate''s swing and smacked him upside the jaw with a stick. Nate tried again, but the old man parried Nate''s next swing and bruised his leg with a harsh snap of the stick. The third attempt didn''t go much better as Nate''s attack was blocked and suddenly there was a handful of dirt thrown in his eyes. ¡°That''s low!¡± ¡°It''s also effective. Don''t let me do it again.¡± Was Agnar''s response to Nate''s complaints. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nolan was walking torward the courtyard where Donnel was getting reports from the guards and re-assigning them as needed. ¡°Report.¡± Donnel bluntly demanded. ¡°I and my team finished patrolling the market district. No more strangers were spotted.¡± ¡°Very well. Go patrol the southern residential district and tell the team patrolling that area to return here.¡± ¡°Understood¡± Donnel narrowed his eyes as Nolan and his two teammates left. That team found nothing again. All the other teams had been getting results and eradicating the strangers, sometimes chasing them as far as the outer woods. Nolan''s team, however, had found nothing too many times in a row to be a coincidence. It''s not like they didn''t have a skillful tracker on the team. Donnel stretched for a few seconds. He instructed Tain, his right hand man, to take his place and continue his work for him. He was tired of standing around and needed a break anyway. It was time for him to personally investigate this matter. Uninvited Visitor Tray was trying to understand what he was meant to do. He tried many different things and very quickly grew bored instead of focused. As the hours passed by, he felt it. He felt a feeling as if he was pulling a never before used muscle. Excited, he opened his eyes. A small piece of wood started to surface from below the dirt in front of him. With just a little bit more concentration, something would happen. He was sure of it! just a bit more concentr... ¡°Ouch!¡± ¡°PARRY! You should have parried my attack right there!¡± ...and so his concentration broke. Agnar took to teaching swordplay like a fish took to water, but it was certainly noisy. As the day passed by, Nate¡¯s bruises multiplied. Agnar tried holding back, but it was difficult when his opponent had never held a proper weapon before. Nate¡¯s endurance had come to an end as he sat down and was short of breath. It was starting to get late, but Tray had been so close. Whatever this talent thing is, he wanted to be able to use it before resting, and so he kept trying. After many more attempts, he finally got results again. A small patch of dirt near him about a foot in diameter started to churn as a cylindrical piece of wood emerged. It rose up faster than his last attempt at almost an inch per second. The wooden object had surfaced. It was similar to a totem pole, but only 1 foot tall. A carved face was inscribed on both sides of it. ¡°I did it...¡± Tray almost whispered. A question remained however. What did it do? Tray stood up and took a few steps back before picking up a clump of grass and dirt. He threw it at the wooden face. It responded by belching a wimpy red fire across a small patch of grass. ¡°Well done, though most people I know usually figure out how to use their talent within only a couple of hours.¡± Agnar said. Tray was so focused on this attempt that he didn¡¯t even notice Agnar and Nate standing nearby and observing. ¡°Thanks for those inspiring words of encouragement.¡± He said in a flat tone. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the size or strength of it. You¡¯ll get better soon enough." Agnar looked around, seemingly surpurised at how fast time had flown. "I¡¯d say we¡¯ve been out here long enough. Let¡¯s head back and take a break.¡± Nate agreed heavily. Tray wasn''t so eager to agree, but then again he also wasn''t the one swinging a stick all day. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nolan felt better now than he had the day before. Even his two teammates, Andre and Glen, had agreed when he told them him feelings about the situation and asked them if they could just let the strangers escape if they encountered any. There was no way these strangers were responsible, and Nolan did not want to be responsible for the death of any more innocents. Other teams had been assigned to patrol during the night while Nolan¡¯s team and many others were instructed to rest in preparation for tomorrow. Would the two strangers still be there when he returned? Or would they have fled the city by now? Nolan would find out shortly, and he gripped the doorknob to his home and opened it. ¡°I see they are still here, and still wearing my spare clothing¡± He spoke upon seeing the three occupants in the room. ¡°Their old clothing is still awaiting repairs, so you¡¯ll just have to tolerate it.¡± Agnar said. ¡°It¡¯s kind of hard to repair clothes that have been burnt into ash. I saw a shred of it in the fireplace.¡± Agnar tensed upon hearing this and moved his hand to grasp his walking stick. Nolan continued ¡°I won¡¯t tell anyone. If you trust them, that¡¯s good enough for me. Just get them out of the city before sunset tomorrow. I don¡¯t want any more problems.¡± A cold voice reverberated out from the house¡¯s entrance behind Nolan. ¡°Oh, but it¡¯s too late for that. There¡¯s already a problem.¡± Nolan turned around and found himself face to face with Donnel ¡°Hiding a pair of the foreign saboteurs in your own home? You disgrace the name of this very city, Nolan!¡± In a flash, Donnel¡¯s rapier was drawn and flying towards Nolan¡¯s neck. *clang* Inches from it¡¯s target, the blade was stopped by a walking stick. Oddly enough, the blade didn¡¯t even manage to pierce the wood. Agnar scowled as his arm was stretched to it¡¯s limit to block that attack. Nolan stumbled backwards, shocked that his own captain would try to kill him without even a shred of remorse. ¡°Old man Agnar. I¡¯ve always wanted to fight you. I finally have an excuse to do it too!¡± Donnel laughed as he drew his rapier back to prepare for another swing. Agnar stepped in front of Nolan and pulled his walking stick apart to reveal a hidden sword. Light glinted off the two weapons as they danced back and forth, each aiming to deal a lethal blow but getting parried on every attempt. The wooden floor underneath them strained to hold up under the fury of the two fighters. Donnel smirked and a blood-orange bubbly glow enveloped his sword. He swung short instead of reaching far, and it seemed as if he had missed on purpose. Agnar planted his foot down hard, cracking the floor underneath, and a blue barrier appeared over his body to protect him. When Donnel¡¯s blade was midswing, it was pointing forward through a gap between Agnar¡¯s arms and his body. A thin jet of blood-orange liquid shot out from the tip of his rapier and sailed past Agnar. It hit Nolan in the neck and he collapsed. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Agnar was visibly shaken and for a moment he almost looked back to where Nolan had fallen. Not one to give up an advantage when it presented itself, Donnel pressed his attacks forward against Agnar with renewed vigor. Agnar¡¯s steady defense and concentration had started to falter. Agar parried another fierce attack from Donnel, but didn¡¯t recover as quickly as usual this time. Donnel readied his rapier and started to lunge for the final blow. A loud *snap* sounded out from below Donnel¡¯s foot. An oddly short totem pole had broken through the floor and pushed up on Donnel¡¯s foot, unbalancing him. Agnar seized the moment and stabbed Donnel through the chest. Donnel burst into a brilliant blue flame and collapsed into ash. Instead of relief, Agnar panicked when he saw this. Several flares that had been in Donnel¡¯s pocket were ignited and flew around the room and one of them exited the building after crashing through the window. ¡°I hate phoenix talent users. They never know when to stay dead! In about three minutes his ash will reform and he will be alive again. How¡¯s Nolan?¡± Nate who was kneeling near Nolan and feeling his pulse just looked at Agnar. He couldn¡¯t form an answer. Rage spread across Agnar¡¯s face. He walked closer to Donnel¡¯s ashes and aimed his sword at it. Agnar¡¯s voice rose with each word, tears falling as he spoke. ¡°Just show yourself, coward. The very second you come back to life, I¡¯ll finish you off for real!¡± ¡°We might not have the time. I saw one of those flares fly out the window. People will know something is going on here.¡± Tray interrupted. Agnar was conflicted by this, and for a moment it looked as if he was going to stay here and wait for revenge regardless of the cost. His hand trembled as he sheathed his sword back into it''s disguise as a walking stick. ¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s go.¡± They quickly left the house as Nate grabbed Nolan¡¯s sword and sheath from the belt where it lay. He hurried to catch up to the other two. They sped across the many streets in a bee-line for the forest. The people they passed by thought little of them and their haste. Many just thought that it was probably just old man Agnar up to his no-good antics again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Donnel was furious! He had killed one of the traitors, but one more still remained and the two strangers had escaped. He dusted himself off. All the soot and ash that remained from using his phoenix talent was unbearable, not to mention the hole he now had in his uniform. It was personal now. Agnar would pay for that! Many of his men stood nearby in concern and on the verge of asking questions, but they wisely chose to remain silent instead. After standing to his feet despite the lingering echo of pain in his chest where he was stabbed, Donnel finally spoke to his audience. ¡°Nolan is dead.¡± He let that sink in for a moment before continuing. ¡°Agnar is allied with two of the foreign saboteurs and all three have fled on foot after slaying Nolan their attempt to keep things secret. I caught whiff of their plot and tried to intervene, but the result is as you can see. I was cut down.¡± Many in the audience were terribly grieved. Noland had been a great and trustworthy friend over the years. Donnel spoke in a softer tone. ¡°Honors to the fallen, please.¡± Donnel and all present turned to where Nolan lay and spoke in unison. ¡°Glory to the fallen who have died in defense of our great city, Nordsworth!¡± Two people from the crowd entered the house to retrieve the corpse. ¡°As you can see from this totem here that is sticking out of the floor, one of these two who fled with Agnar is likely the one with the magic that created the horde of wooden monsters we were assaulted by yesterday. Half of you will stay to defend the city under the command of Tain. The rest will travel with me and hunt down this menace. "Be aware that those two are not wearing the usual foreign garment that all the others wore. Their clothing is more similar to ours. For the city and for Nolan, we must succeed!¡± ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two guards walked in silence, shocked at what had transpired. They were Andre and Glen; Nolan''s teammates. Glen grit his teeth. It wasn''t long before the silence was broken. "Is that it? That''s what we get for having mercy on those strangers? One of them murdering Nolan in his own home?" Glen growled Andre didn''t reply, choosing instead to inspect his bow and make certain it was in proper condition. "I''ll turn them into mincemeat when I see them!" "If we will. We were benched until we have a proper team of three again, unless you''ve forgotten." Andre finally spoke. "There are plenty of people that could be our third teammate. I reccon'' Donnel just doesn''t think we are mentally fit for combat so soon after our friend died. I say he should just can it. I''m ready to fight now more than ever." "Many others have already begun the search. What are two people who are late to the party going to find? Leftovers? It''s almost night and we haven''t gotten any sleep in quite awhile either. How are we supposed to track them as we currently are?" "We just need to search where everyone else isn''t searching." Andre just sighed. He wanted revenge too, but there''s a fine line between bravery and recklessness. He was almost certain that Glen was going to cross that line. Still... Even if it was just a small chance, Andre also wanted to get revenge. He never did tell anyone about his third talent''s ability, and it may just be what he needed to find those murderers before anyone else could. Future Friends? They had reached the brook where the unmoving corpse of the wooden automaton still sat, just as charred as it had been last time they saw it. Nate looked at it in wonder. He was too busy drowning to see the last part of the fight and the aftermath. He didn¡¯t say anything though. They were all moving at too fast of a pace to waste precious breath speaking. Once they entered the forest, Agnar veered off to the left away from the main path and both Nate and Tray followed. The landscape they passed by in their silent hurry was almost as much of a patchwork as the city was. There was dirt of the normal color from what the town had, but there were strips of a more rusty dirt color stretching across the forest floor. Trees would sometimes be halfway turned into a completely different species of tree. Normal ugly mushrooms would be right nearby an unusual glowing variant of the same mushroom. They climbed over a rotten log that blocked their path. The shelf fungus dotting the wood was also interspersed with a more exotic variant of shelf fungus that was exhibiting a bright dotted red hue. Dangerous looking luminescent red spores floated around those ones. Nate was lagging behind. All the physical training from earlier in the day wasn¡¯t doing him any favors right now. ¡°C..Can we find a place to stop please? Just for a moment.¡± He panted out Agnar was disturbed from his thoughts having seemingly forgotten that he wasn¡¯t alone. ¡°Oh, right. There¡¯s a hidden location up ahead. Just a little further.¡± All Tray could see were leaves, trees, and wood. They traveled for almost a minute more before stopping near a hill. In the middle of the hill a crevice had been formed making this small place look like a pizza someone stole a thin slice from. Once they were hidden in the crevice with the dirt walls on both side, tray noticed that the soil on the walls was the normal brown, but the soil underneath him was the more rusty iron soil that was foreign to him. ¡°Sorry, just stay here a minute, I have to go do something¡± Agnar requested before leaving out of sight. Tray and Nate sat down in exhaustion, trying to recover their breath. Sweat dripped down as they just rested. Almost a minute had passed before Agnar returned. His eyes were puffy and red around the edges, but Tray chose not to point that out. He could guess well enough as to what Agnar was doing. Shadows started to elongate as the sun slowly dipped below the horizon. Tray couldn¡¯t help but ask ¡°If the soil here is mismatched, doesn¡¯t that mean this hidden crevice is a result of our worlds getting mixed? How would you know this hiding place was even here?¡± Agnar simply responded ¡°Once a talent evolves, you get a second magic skill related to your talent, but this second one is unique to each person. One of my talents came from killing a Whimsy boss. It was embarrassing to lock one of my three talents into a Whimsy talent, but it was so weak that I didn¡¯t even know it was a boss until I earned the talent for killing it. ¡°It lets me summon a handful of flowers. At best the flowers can irritate your eyes and nose, but only if you smash it into your face and hold it there. Likely the weakest talent a person can get. The evolved version of the whimsy talent that I got is a different story. It sort of lets me...read the wind I guess. Helps for reading the movement of a sword, detects movement in a wide range so I can avoid ambushes, and can also for finding hidden places like caves where the airflow is different.¡± ¡°Evolved talent?¡± ¡°Yes. After reaching a level of proficiency with a talent you get a second skill that is also related to the boss monster you got the talent from killing. The first is the same for each person. Everyone who kills a promethian turtle boss gets the ability to shield themselves from attacks like I can, but the second ability that evolves from it is different for every person. Some can get the ability to shield others, or to project a shield and maybe even use it as a foothold. My evolved version of it is a passive one that causes any reasonably sized non-living object I am touching to become incredibly durable and nigh unbreakable.¡± ¡°That¡¯s cool.¡± Nate finally spoke. Agnar responded. ¡°Yea, I suppose it it...Speaking of which, there¡¯s a deeper patch of silence in the air up ahead. Probably a cave. There¡¯s honestly no way the two of you can outrun the hunters that Donnel will send after us, so I think hiding would be your best option.¡± ¡°Right. Makes sense.¡± Nate nodded. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hidden underneath a large boulder and blocked by many overgrown roots was a large cave opening. It was somewhat ominous, but it was also perfectly hidden. If there was ever to be a hiding place that was better than this, Tray most certainly would not be the one to find it. Seeing Tray¡¯s hesitation, Nate took the initiative to enter first. Once Tray finally had the courage to enter, he looked back to where he entered from and only saw a dirt wall. ¡°What?!¡± Agnar appeared suddenly through the dirt wall confused. ¡°What do you mean what?¡± ¡°The wall behind us.¡± Agnar¡¯s eyes widened once he saw what Tray meant. ¡°Drat! This is a dungeon!¡± After a contemplative moment Tray punched the wall they had entered from, but it was solid dirt just as it looked. "Can''t we just dig out?" Nate asked ¡°If this is a dungeon, digging out won¡¯t work. People have tried. This is a completely different space and is separated from the entrance. We need to kill the boss to get out.¡± ¡°How dangerous, exactly, are these dungeons?¡± Tray asked. ¡°Very.¡± The only reassuring thing that Tray found was that the dim place was lit with an ambient light. The three of them cast shadows onto the floor as they walked, but Tray didn¡¯t see any light source in the ceiling. They turned down into a hallway, and the walls of the hallway was also constructed out of dirt and the odd fungus here and there. Up ahead of them was an expansive room. Agnar slowed his pace while cautiously peeking around the room. The room was a wreck. There were many beautiful pillars of what looked like tree roots entangling around columns of stone. Half of them or more had been smashed in the middle and only held off the ground due to the roots still clinging to them. Many others were missing as if something had just barreled right through them. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Nate tripped as he lost his footing. The floor was in equally bad shape as the rest of the room. Pockmarks and massive holes littered the surface. Agnar walked up to one of the smashed pillars and looked around to the other side of it. A dead fungus monster sat there, smashed into a shape that it was not naturally meant to be in. Closer inspection of the room revealed more of the same. They were hard to spot at first because they almost looked like a part of the natural environment. ¡°Someone¡¯s already in this place. Dungeons vanished when they are cleared so they must still be in here somewhere.¡± Agnar broke the silence. ¡°If we¡¯re in luck, they might not know that we are basically fugitives.¡± Tray added. ¡°Or they¡¯ll mistake us for a monster and flatten us like they did to these mushrooms.¡± Nate said ¡°Hush Nate. No more of that pessimism.¡± Responded Tray. They kept walking. They passed by more and more rooms, each one in a similar state to the others. ¡°Someone sure was destructive with how they fight.¡± Tray muttered, almost amused at how much necessary damage was dealt to the walls ceiling and floor of each of these rooms. Sometimes the hallway branched off in multiple directions, but Agnar could feel generally how much empty space was in each and elected to go down the one with the most free space. The other paths were likely nothing more than dead ends or worse. The farther along they walked, the more the fungus started to recede as roots, stones, and sometimes even brightly glowing flowers growing from the walls became prevalent. They found a set of stairs leading down to a massive room. Above the staircase were many tree roots dangling down. They hesitantly continued down the stairs. The ambient lighting got slightly dimmer as they descended. Lining the edges of the room was a massive pit that Tray could not see the bottom to. The ceiling consisted of what looked like stalactites, though close inspection would reveal them to be intertwined roots. Ivy draped down from above is sparse patches. At the center of the room stood two people and one monster. Both of the people were female. One of them wore what looked like heavy leather armor and a massive poleaxe with carvings of serpents adorning it. The other wore chainmail and held a shield in one hand with a large heavy spiked mace in the other. The monster they were facing was huge. It was as if the root system of an ancient tree had detached from the tree and decided to grow legs. It¡¯s face was covered with moss and hanging ivy. It¡¯s eyes glowed a pale teal fog. It was also wrapped up by two massive snakes that were constructed out of rocks and lined with spikes. Whatever fight had happened here had already concluded long ago and for whatever reason they had decided to simply wait around instead of killing the beast. Upon seeing the three descending the staircase, the one holding the poleaxe perked up and spoke. ¡°There he is. See? I told you we were in the right dungeon. Tray! It¡¯s about time you got here. I was getting bored of holding this monster for you.¡± This wasn''t quite the reaction any of them had expected. "Do you know them?" Nate inquired. Tray shook his head in response. "No." "Yes he does, or did. The other two must be...Nate?..and the old guy you told me about but I never remembered his name." "Agnar" the old man entered the conversation. "and who might you two be?" "Clair" The one holding the mace introduced herself "and she''s Terra." she pointed to the one holding the poleaxe. Tray couldn''t puzzle out if he had ever met them before. "How did you know my name? Or that we were going to be in this dungeon?" "Because you told us all about you adventure here. Said that you lost your two friends with you while clearing this dungeon out. Seems things are a little different this time around though." Nate put two and two together and rolled his eyes. "Should have guessed we''d encounter self-proclaimed time travelers. Next up on the bucket list of strange things to see would be purple flying elephants. I don''t believe you two one bit." Clair scoffed at him "Whether or not you believe us is of no concern. You weren''t important to the future anyway, whatever your name was." This irked Nate more than he expected, but Tray stopped him before he could say anything he would regret. "Nate is my friend. If friends aren''t important to the future that you claim to know, then I''ll have nothing to do with you." Terra stepped inbetween clair and the others. "Simmer down. Simmer down. We just came here to hopefully have 3 allies instead of 1 ally with a sad story. Wasn''t really time travel either. It was more of a...I guess you could call it a system restoration. The forceful usage of this basically fried the backups, or at least that''s what I was told would happen if we ever needed to use it and I assume it''s true so unless you know how to repair a magical computer game''s files back to what they were, it won''t happen again." "How convienient you can''t do it again to prove you really did time travel" Nate muttered. "It''s rare to encounter other people in dungeons and ever rarer that people would defeat a monster and wait for a specific person at a specific time when that person never even knew he was going to enter a dungeon until less than an hour ago. This isn''t a co-incidence." This reasoning came from Agnar, who had taken the backseat to the conversation until now. Agnar continued "Either they have a pre-cognitive talent letting them see the future, or they could be telling the truth. I suppose it doesn''t matter which one it is, but I do still have a question. You called Tray an ally. An ally to help you with what exactly? What would any of that have to do with not killing the dungeon boss?" Terra smiled and she twirled her poleaxe and turned to face the restrained monster. She pointed her weapon at it. "That there is an Ent Sage. Tray, the evolved Ent Sage talent that you unlocked was of immense use to us. The ability to see and hear through any tree in a half-mile radius nearby kept us alive through terrible situations more than once. It was almost as if the trees were cameras and you were switching between each camera''s screen to keep an eye out for danger." Terra turned back to Tray before continuing. "So I''m going to need you to kill it to gain it''s talent." Without even a moment of consideration, Tray responded with a "Nope." Terra''s smile vanished.