“We need to ask for more help.”

“We’re already a big group. The six of us will be plenty.”

“Six? We can’t ask the apprentices to fight.”

“They’ve already proven they can fight demons.”

The arguing voices broke the otherwise peaceful morning air. Freya had risen at first light and made her way to their meeting point at the edge of town. Today was the start of their mission to the Brio Wyn region. The demon-infested area was a hard three-day ride away, so they needed to get an early start. However, it sounded like their trip might already be delayed. She slowed her steps as she heard Indrek speak.

“Yes, they’ve proven they have great potential. I don’t want to lose them. We need more demoniclasts.”

“There are few left in the city now,” the other man sighed. His deep voice continued to persuade, “We should leave now to get a head start. We can wait for reinforcements once we scout the area.”

Freya finally recognized the confident voice. Kamdale, she thought. Why is he in a rush?

“The area has already been scouted, and those scouts died,” Indrek said.

“Which is exactly why we need to investigate again; we got no information from them.”

“No information directly, but enough to know it’s dangerous. Two demoniclasts died.”

Gripping the straps of her backpack, Freya wondered if this was another dungeon break. She had suspected it when Indrek talked about a demon-infested area. Demons generated from game dungeons were much stronger than normal and could kill demoniclasts.

“Yet somehow we got this information from simple merchants traveling through the area?” Kamdale scoffed, “How could they have survived? There must be more going on.”

Oh no, that’s even worse. Can it be? Freya’s feet turned cold as she put the implications together. If the area were full of demons that could kill demoniclasts, they would not let ordinary merchants pass through alive. However, there was something else that could kill demoniclasts but not care about other NPCs.

Still out of sight of Kamdale and Indrek, she pulled up the group chat.

[Freya Evenkey: Has there been any news from Red Star Lightning? I think some demoniclasts have been killed by game players.]

~~~~

Freya wiped her sweaty palms on her pants, then ran a finger over the leather of the saddle. After a half-hour of arguing, Indrek finally agreed to continue their mission. They informed one of the remaining demoniclasts in the city of the situation. He agreed to follow them once he gathered enough members. However, this could take days, if not weeks.

[Infamous Biscuit: Not finding anything. He hasn’t posted anything recently]

[Heilong: He could be getting revenge on his own]

[Infamous Biscuit: We should travel ahead and see what’s going on]

[Heilong: No town in the region but there is a dungeon]

[Freya Evenkey: Please check the dungeon. I’m still worried about a dungeon break]

It was reassuring she had her own reinforcements she could rely on. Hopefully, if there were a dungeon break, they could take care of it on their own, or at least warn her about the danger. However, demons were the least of her worries now. If faced with another game player, what should she do?

Tightening her grip on the reins, she almost missed someone trying to get her attention.

“Hey, relax, we’ll be fine.”

Freya turned her head. Riding alongside her, Botan gave her a reassuring smile. The other apprentice rode a pinto mare. He had a loose but refined posture in the saddle.

“You did well against that slime. And now we have our own demoniclast-made swords!” Botan said, taking out his new weapon. “I’m looking forward to facing more demons.”

With a pained smile, Freya agreed. Botan seemed to mirror his mentor’s enthusiasm about their mission. She could see why Kamdale had chosen him as an apprentice. She glanced above his head at his still grey text box.

[Botan Jia]

[Lvl 10 Demoniclast Apprentice]

If Kamdale has an extra Player Card, why hasn’t he given it to Botan? Choosing her words carefully, Freya kept the conversation going.

“What have you learned so far with Kamdale?”

“He’s taught me some cool sword moves. But mostly, he’s been having me practice using my qi,” Botan said, a little dispirited. “It’s hard to keep using it.”

He looked down at his hand, his brows furrowed in concentration. Freya frowned at his obvious attempt.

“Don’t force it. Focus on feeling your qi before trying to use it.”

Botan blinked in surprise at her advice but then laughed, “That’s right, you were a shaman apprentice before this, right? I tried to become one before the trials, but no one would take me.”

“Really?” Freya said with concern.

“I heard shaman apprentices are more likely to get through the last stages of the trials, but I didn’t know it was because of this qi stuff. I’m glad I still learned it in the end.”

She also didn’t know at the start that the ability to learn qi control would be crucial to completing the trials. It surprised her that Botan was able to learn when other shamans apparently saw no potential in him.

“Halt!” Kamdale called from up ahead.

The line of horses came to a stop. Kamdale looked straight ahead, but nothing appeared amiss. Freya and Botan exchanged glances.

“What is it?” Indrek asked, passing them and coming alongside Kamdale.

“Demons. I saw black hoppers.”

“Already? This close to town?”

Everyone dismounted. Freya patted her horse’s neck. Black hoppers were the common name for demonic frogs. Compared to other demons, they weren’t that dangerous; however, they could easily scare horses. They were fast and could leap from great distances.

“Let’s take care of them quickly,” Indrek said, unsheathing his sword.

“Wait, this is a good opportunity. Let the apprentices have a go.”