In the first few hours of light of the morning following the Panther-bear kill, we got as far away from the cave as possible.

The corpse had already started attracting many scavengers, which in turn had me advance two more of Loki’s levels, and brought me close to leveling up my Tamer Sub-Class.

So, to get away from the smell and the creatures that would not stop coming after it, we left as soon as we could.

It would be just a few hunts until I classed-up now.

Of course, I retrieved the arrows from the bear, even if broken. Every proof of our passage had to disappear.

“What was that one about the bolt and the Zap-trout?” I asked Alistar as we strolled. He had been telling fisher jokes to pass the time since dawn.

“When a fisher with an arbalest meets a Zap-trout, it’s usually the Zap-trout that gets bolted!”

I had no idea why, but Aisha couldn’t keep in her hooting. And if that wasn’t enough, Roana was being dragged into her hysterical bouts of laughter.

“I can’t help it! She laughs exactly like mom!” Roana tried to say amid her chortling.

Well, there was this peculiar thing about Elves and their high-pitched laughter that, even if their blood were diluted, would manage to drag you in whatever it was that they were laughing about.

I could hardly resist myself, while Alistar was likely having the time of his life throwing joke after joke.

Loki couldn’t help but run around us, excited by our exhilaration.

It really didn’t seem like we were running for our lives and with a kidnapped girl in tow.

“Damn, you guys are so weird…” said Aisha, barely managing to catch her breath. “I thought you were all sad-asses, but it turns out you are actually a decent bunch of people, though murderers...”

Hearing that, Roana, Alistar, and I shared an amused look.

“Well,” Alistar said, “if it weren’t that you belonged to Sundoor, you would make for a nice girl yourself. That speech you gave, I had never heard something like that. I believe no one of us did.”

“I… have to concur with him," I added.

Roana scoffed a barely audible “Yeah.”

Aisha took in a large breath, “I’ve been trying to convince Citizens that all life is important since the day I understood that given my position, my voice could actually be heard by more than a few people,” she answered.

“How is it going for you?” Alistar.

“Not as good as I thought… not even close as I hoped, actually… to tell you the truth,” she admitted, sighing, “Last night I was there to… get as high as I possibly could.”

I couldn’t help but curl an eyebrow hearing that.

“I received the umpteenth denial to join the Inquisition that day. To the High-Inquisitors council say, "My father is enough of a weak-hearted individual to have; we don’t need another." They do not need anyone else that would soften them even more.”

“Life’s a bitch,” said Alistar. “But you don’t seem one of those with a broom up your ass, like all those Sundoorians. You could always leave and go your own way.”

“Yeah… no, I really can’t...”

“Those are just your fears speaking,” he continued.

Aisha did not answer right away, “I would just be giving up if I did, then nothing would change.”

“Nothing would change? Because you are convinced that you are the only one trying to change things, are you?”

“Why, what is it that you are doing? Murdering people doesn’t change things; it’s the opposite; it pushes people against you. If you want to change things, you should be talking to people, making your voice heard, not killing them, or joining the war…” she said.

“It’s easy for you to talk,” interjected Roana. She was madder than I thought she would be.

“You have a voice; you have a position; others do not. Some never had it, and when they try to change things up, they end up dead in an alley.”

I couldn’t help but grow increasingly curious about her story. Was she actually from Sundoor? My Trace couldn’t answer that.

“You almost speak like… as if you knew what you were talking about,” Aisha said.

“That’s because I do,” answered Roana, stopping on her tracks for a second.

But after that, our spirits quieted, and soon half of the day had passed with nothing extraordinary happening, just a couple of monster encounters, which Alistar fought by himself.

He didn’t even let my Loki join, saying that he wanted to push all the way to Promote his Class since the monsters here were good for leveling up.

So, Roana and I shared the few subsequent kills, but they were nothing of notice. Loki didn’t even manage to reach level ten by the time twilight was upon us, and in the end, I left Ro most of the experience. She needed the level-ups, and I would have the night for me.

Once again we had found a suitable place to sleep, although we had to inspect it. I could already tell that the place smelled of Shadelings.

“Let me check this place out; I can feel the smell of their breath.”

Synesthesia hadn’t given me much information. However, it was clear that the creatures in there were creatures of the night waiting to fully descend before getting out.

Judging from the smell of rotten meat that pervaded the cave, the creatures had eaten the night before. Because of the thickness of it, there might have been a few more than I could safely handle by myself, especially if their levels were as high as those of the Panther-bear I had faced the previous night.

“I’m coming with you,” Roana said. She was indeed a powerful ally in full Shade, and she could see in complete darkness, judging from what I had seen. Likely her ability to see what could not be seen.

“Alright, but I’ll be in front,” Loki would stay right behind her; he was still too weak to handle anything that could pass through me and resist Roana’s Command.

I couldn’t see anything, and instead of turning on the Flow-torch, I let Roana’s sight guide me; we didn’t even need to communicate since she could send me the information with her Divulge Skill. Although it required Flow to be used, it consumed a laughable amount of it, and one Crystal could last her days at the rate at which she was sending out messages.

It was a little disturbing to have a voice in your head suggesting what to do, and she knew it, so she used the ability as sparingly as she could.

Also, even if her Commands were not imbued with Shade, they were becoming noticeably powerful; even with my Willpower as high as hers, I couldn’t help but automatically concur with what she said at times.

It felt weird, but somehow, I was worry-free, probably because I wholly trusted her.

Once we reached what, according to her, was the tunnel's outlet, I started to notice a small amount of light; it wasn’t that my eyes were getting used to the darkness; there were actual traces of lights coming from somewhere deep inside the cavern.

This place is way bigger than it seems from the outside, Loke. Maybe we should go back; there could be hundreds of Shadelings in here.

I couldn’t help but concur, and yet… something told me that I had to go on. I felt almost like a call… a call from the Shade itself.

I gave her the sign to continue onward; she could see me but did not utter any word.

We hadn’t walked even fifty meters before the tunnel effectively opened up into a massive cavern.

There was enough light for even my eyes to see in there. The water that was not water from the inside of the Netherlion Titan’s cave was present as well; however, the light it released wasn’t even remotely as strong as back then.

Taken by the enthusiasm, I had forgotten to Trace it back then, but I would now. However, the water was not everything there was in there because on the grotto's massive ceiling, attached upside down to it, there were what looked like hundreds of bats.

They were small, likely low-leveled because of their sheer number, but what instead rested on the ground was something else, something that I had never seen but heard many times about.

Cyclopses, an entire family of them.

Dark blue with one huge slitted eye on their foreheads, four arms big as tree trunks and entirely naked, what couldn’t be else, but a family of six Cyclopses was waking up from their slumber.

They were massive. The smallest among them was twice Alistar’s size, while the biggest one could have reached eight meters.

I had no idea why they would want to use this grotto to hide themselves in; to pass from the tight tunnel we had come from, they would have to crawl on their knees.

However, I couldn’t help myself; I had to Trace them. I had to see if these massive yet, luckily not entirely sapient creatures could be taken down.

But the very moment the intention of Tracing them formed in my mind, two things co-occurred.

I felt sincere fear for my life as if Tracing them was something that was better I didn’t do; my life seemed to be at stake if I did that, and then my Trace II Passive Perk finally leveled up.

Trace II Passive Perk will be promoted. Perception bonus x 2. Choose one of the following Perks to be added to it:

Echolocation:

Feel the space around you by using only your hearing.

Far Sight:

Your sight is greatly boosted.

Sixth Sense:

Develop a proper sense for feeling incoming danger.

Sixth Sense. That was the ability that saved my skin twice when battling against the Avian Commander.

I chose that without a second thought. At the same time, I could feel my Perception increasing.

Loke, everything okay?

I turned toward her to nod, but I had to analyze the situation.

If Sixth Sense had triggered, that meant that I was about to do something that would have given me away.

Maybe the Cyclops could feel my Tracking? But how? Wasn’t it supposed to be Untraceable? Of course, there were so many possible Skills that there was for sure one that would make the untraceable traceable.

I didn’t even know if Sixth Sense triggered for sure or if it was a random occurrence, so of course, I didn’t know if trying to trace a different Cyclops would end up having the same effect.

I Traced a bat then.

There were no spikes of dread.

Bat of the depths, Level 11 (5478/11000)

Health: 100%

Stamina: 98%

Agility: 12

Constitution: 7

Strength: 5

Focus: 12

Perception: 19

Willpower: 15

Strength: Agility, Cauldron

Weaknesses; Constitution, Strength

Abilities: Bite, Haze, Venom

These Bats have a peculiar ability to release a small amount of a haze that confounds the senses. Their saliva has an anticoagulant nature, and they always move in cauldrons; their prey usually ends up dying of blood loss before anything else.

Stone Weight 0.011kg

So, the bats were not the problem; indeed, the ones causing trouble were the Cyclopses.

After that revelation, I chose to Trace the waters.

Abyss water.

Wherever these waters are present, the connection with the Abyss is stronger.

Was that all?

That was weirdly scarce information to receive given that my Skill was now practically maxed.

However, that could wait; time was running out, soon Twilight would be over, and Roana was growing impatient, we had to leave.

“So, that’s how it is,” I said once we were out of the cave.

“I guess we should reach the highest place we can and sleep under the moon,” Alistar said.

“Nights are growing colder,” I interjected. “Especially higher up,” I raised my chin toward the Wide Peaks. Standing that close to them, they were much more imposing than Murk mountains.

“What are you thinking about, Loke?” Roana asked.

I grinned.

“Why do I fear I’m not going to like this?”

“Because you are not, but think about what’s in it for us? Think about the level-ups.”

“Loke, there were hundreds of bats in there!”

“Yes,” I said, “bats that will easily blow up if I detonate my Trick Shots or even better, with Alistar's all-encompassing attacks, the real problems are going to be the Cyclopses. However…” My gaze turned to Aisha.

At that point, Alistar started laughing; he had to contain himself. While Roana’s eyes grew wide, and Aisha gawked.

“You can’t be serious! I mean, you have me bound for two whole days, and now you want to free me to get yourself help in fighting monsters that are known for their savagery!? How many did you say there were?”

“Six.”

She shook her head, “No, I’m not going to fight; you can torture me if you want!”

“Oh, I will if you don’t comply,” I said with a wild look on my face.

But I didn’t intend to torture her in the way she thought; no, I knew something that worked wonders, at least with my sister. I would use what was commonly known as... tickling.

Looking at my face, however, was enough for Aisha to change her statement.

Before we ventured back into the cave, I used the Tracer on her; there was no way I could trust her with our life without that.

Aisha Mustafa

Advanced Class

Thermomancer Lv. 35

Con + 1, Foc + 4, Will + 4 + ☆

Advanced Sub-Class

Politician Lv. 34

Foc + 3, Per + 3, Will + 3

Attributes

Stats

Natural

Augments

Agility

10

Boots (+5)

Constitution

10 + 13

Clothes (+15)

Strength

10

Focus

36 + 16

Perception

10 + 6

Willpower

30 + 13

Fortune

☆ ★ + ☆ ☆

Thermomancer Skills

Name

Major

Minor

Passive

☆☆☆ Thermal Resistance III - Constitution

(Max)

You are very resistant to Flow; you can store Flow in your body.

You are very weak to Shade

Con + 12

Heat Resistance

Fire Resistance

☆☆ Thermodynamics - Focus

(Eligible for Promotion)

☆ Summon a burst of Flow

Your Flow takes the aspect and qualities of Heat or Fire

Focus + 6

You are resistant to Flow side effects

Feel the Flow - Perception

Feel the amount and movements of Flow around you

Flow Control - Willpower

Freely shape a small amount of Flow

Willpower +3

Politician Skills

Name

Major

Minor

Passive

Bolster - Focus

☆ Increase your target’s willingness to act

Focus + 3

Interpretation - Perception

More easily read your target’s intentions

Per + 3

Speech -

Willpower

(Eligible for Promotion)

Your words are more easily accepted by your target

You can target more than one individual

Willpower + 3

Luck of the Draw

- Fortune

For + ☆

The first thing that hit me was not the level of her Focus or her Promoted Skills. It was the presence of a Flow Star and a Shade Star among the ones she was born with. She was indeed the daughter of an Elf and a Human.

After we had set a basic strategy, I chose not to remove her bindings right away. Although she had said, “I’m not going to attack you. Alistar would be able to resist my attacks anyway.”

Still, I could not trust her. No matter how her Politician abilities could push me to. As long as I had my strong Willpower with me, I couldn’t be easily pushed.

However, as much as I didn’t want to take the chance of having her act against us, at the same time, I did not want to be forced to put her down. She seemed a fairly good person for a Sundoorian.

So we ventured into the cave, and when we were directly inside the cave, in the middle of the creature’s activity, I would release her binding; she would be forced to fight with us then or be reduced to a bloody pulp by the bats.

“You know he would not really torture you, right?” Alistar whispered to her.

“Shush!” Roana whispered back, “these creatures' hearing is sensitive!”

But Alistar did not intend to comply, “He would have tickled you until you accepted, as he does with his sister; he has got a nasty technique, though. I’ve seen him use it.”

“Star… for the love of the Sun, shut up! You’ll get to scream as much as I want, but just give it a few more minutes!” I whispered back, exasperated.

Our formation saw the silent Aisha in front of the group, followed by Alistar; Roana and I followed behind them; my bow was constantly aiming at the Thermomancer’s back.

“Anyway, it’s pitch-black here. Are we there yet?” Alistar continued.

“Why do you have to make me use a Command on you?” Roana hissed.

He chuckled, and I realized that the reason why he was so easy-going was that his role would be by far the easiest. He just needed to destroy every damn bat coming our way.

With his new Major Perk, it would be a breeze.

When we were at the end of the tunnel, which was thankfully big enough for Alistar to swing his weapon freely, the plan started.

I counted with my fingers going from three to zero. Then I prepared my bow; it was not a compound bow, so I nocked three arrows; there was no need for precision here. I just needed to explode as many Trick Shot as I could upon the bats, draw them toward us and get behind Alistar as he annihilated them.

The second part would come soon after, and that was the part for which we needed Aisha to be unrestrained.

When I released the bowstring, my three arrows flew in an arc toward the ceiling of the cave, where hundreds of bats were hanging from their toes.

When they exploded, I felt at least a couple dozen whispers, but the barrage of whispers was swallowed whole by the sense of dread that made my head turn toward the Cyclopses; I pivoted my head toward the source of the feeling.

The smallest of the Cyclopses, the one I first wanted to Trace, the feeling of dread came from him.

The moment I laid my eyes on him, I noticed him looking back at me.

Track and Trace showed me something I never expected nor wanted to see.

Karfrak Ghlafhkalan, Shadowmancer Level 59 (4.512.580/5.900.000), Seer Level 39 (17.897/390.000)

Health: 100%

Stamina: 97%

Agility: 15

Constitution: 32

Strength: 25

Focus: 57

Perception: 30

Willpower: 31

Strengths: Durability, Size, Focus

Weaknesses: Agility

Class Skills: Cryonic Body (Constitution), Shadow Burst (Strength), Shadow Call (Focus), Feel the Shade (Perception), Shade Control (Willpower)

Sub-Class Skills: Knowing Hands (Strength), Concentration (Focus), Third Eye II (Perception), Violence (Willpower)

Race: Cyclops

Sex: Male

Height: 379 cm

Weight: 335 kg

Age: 31

Origins: Wide Peaks

Family: Unknown

A magician, a Cyclops magician, was among them, and he was an Ultimate Class holder.

I might have screwed us all up, again.