The night sky was warm enough for me not to worry too much about freezing, but maybe because I had lost weight, I felt colder than usual.

Was it a prediction of death, or was I too drastic?

I had gotten too close to death in these past months; I was sick of it.

Until I hunted for the plagued Murkstall, everything was going fine, but since I encountered the Sunguard, it had become a downfall too close for comfort experiences.

I would have to step up my game.

I Traced myself to take a look at my shape.

Loke Nightfold, TechnoHunter Level 40 (271,855/400,000), Red Tamer Level 34 (128,589/340,000)

Health: 100%

Stamina: 195%

Agility: 15

Constitution: 15

Strength: 16

Focus: 18

Perception: 24

Willpower: 34

Strengths: Mind, Aim, Willpower

Weaknesses: Clock-arm

Class Skills: Trick Shot III (Agility), Technomantic Body (Constitution), Hunting Tactics (Focus), Trace III (Perception)

Sub-Class Skills: Frenzy (Strength), Return to Nature (Focus), Animal Instincts II (Perception), Together we are One (Willpower)

Race: Human

Sex: Male

Height: 177 cm

Weight: 63 kg

Age: 17

Origins: Unknown, Murkstall

Family: Eleanor Nightfold, Faris Nightfold, Nova Nightfold

I recalled momma Jane's lessons about the chain of importance in a fight, and it went Skills > Equipment > Form > Attributes.

I was one to count on Skills and Equipment definitely. My Form came into play only in hand-to-hand combat, which, thankfully, I could evade most of the time; this left me with Attributes.

Attributes were tied to levels, though.

But that wasn't all there was to it. Trace had shown me that there were deeper, more complex parameters to consider, like Ethereal Power, for example, which Tracing showed as being partly dependent on Focus.

I did not know what it was exactly since Trace refused to show me anything more; however, I could easily guess that it had to do with the amount of raw power I could use of Shade and Flow.

If I could see those deeper parameters, I would be able to perfect my fighting style better, but for now, it was just a guess.

I had to find a way to increase my Fortune. And there really was only one known way to do it that I knew of.

Well, they were speculations, mere whispers in the wind, but the way to increase the stars was through delving into Dungeons.

I would have to ask Logan about that.

In the meanwhile, I had finally reached the Titan Sand-Wyrm.

The ripple in the sand it made when it moved showed me of its location, but there was following the creature. The Sand-Wyrm was alone in his quest; it seemed to have a purpose.

I had no idea what Kaleeki's Skills entailed, but if she was able to govern a tamed creature all the way through the desert, then she deserved respect.

Momma Jane did not let her creatures fight and had been raising her levels simply by caring for them; it was just as praising, but I was not comparing them… alright, maybe just a little bit.

Still, I was definitely the less gifted among these two Tamers, but I would have to suffice.

It was roughly one hour before Dawn when a distant Sand-Crawler appeared in my vision.

I cursed. It had indeed waited where it had been staying a few days ago.

Standing between two huge rocks to protect itself from Sand-Wyrm's attack, the metal giant did not know that those rocks would not suffice against the Titan Wyrm.

I had to warn them. But could I make it?

Would I be shot on sight?

I almost couldn't believe what I was saying… pushing myself so much to defend a regiment of Sundoorians.

One thing was aiming to join the City, to live off its reaches; another was fighting to protect those guards.

It was really out of this world.

If me of six months ago had seen me now, he would have probably put me out of my misery.

I chuckled to myself, thinking about what staying in contact with that Politician had done to me.

Still, I would have to try to warn them.

I sped things up, taking shorter breaks between transfers and Shadow arrow shots.

In a minute, I managed to leave the Titan behind; it was by no means slow, yet its Agility was not as incredible as its other stats.

I sped through the sky, shooting arrow after arrow. I would shortly arrive at the Sand-Crawler, probably with a minute of advantage over the Titan. It would be enough to buy them enough time to–

Sixth Sense figuratively tore me away from my calculations.

One of the cannons had lined up with me.

"What the-”

There was no wait, no warning, no cease and desist, just a cannon ready to shoot.

No, it was a cannon firing.

The Flow Blast literally ripped the Shade away from my immediate vicinity and the site of the blast, illuminating the night and blinding my Night Vision. The Skill amplified my Perception of the Flow in the air to the utter limit.

I dropped it right away, but I could see it.

My Synesthesia followed the explosion by playing with my other senses.

The huge blast of Flow lightly shook the Sand-Crawler, perforating the Shade in the atmosphere around it like a finger digging into a baked potato, a spear parting the waters to catch a fish.

If I saw the image with my ears, I felt the burning air with my sense of smell, as if it was my own skin lighting on fire instead of the air around the cannon.

Then it was my skin cooking alive, but for just a moment, to show me the very heat being released from that cannon.

Yet, it did not hit me.

I was moving in the air too fast for it to catch me. But it passed exceedingly close to me. So close that I could feel the smell of burning hair.

Except, the danger did not stop there.

I started falling through the sky, disoriented and blinded.

The light, burning shapely holes in my vision, as short yet fortunately, long moments for me passed by.

If I fell on the sands from that height, I would die, but even if I wouldn't, I would not be able to move anymore.

And there I was, thinking about how dangerous my life had turned. I had been literally a few meters from being turned into dust.

Still, I forced my Synesthesia to work wonders and show me the distance passing from my body and the sands below.

I threw a conjure dagger somewhere, and I literally transferred instinctively.

I rolled a dozen times as I settled somewhere.

By the time I was about to get up to signal them to cease fire, once again, Sixth Sense shook me awake.

I reacted by instinct.

I conjured a dagger and threw it to my right.

The very moment I transferred, the detonation sent a large cloud of sand in the air.

A few meters from me, the soil had turned into white-hot glass.

What was going on?

Why were they shooting?

No… had they recognized me as the Night Hunter?

How?

It couldn’t be that.

They were trying to be cautious; it was the only explanation.

I steeled myself. I could reach them.

I raised my bow and started shooting in the distance, transferring in a zigzag fashion.

They kept shooting with two of their cannons this time. Stupid fucks, if they spent all their shots, they would have no defense against the Sand-Crawler.

Still, I reached the rocks, away from the range of the cannons. I tumbled on them, breathing heavily.

All the access points were closed, but I could see them from the front Sand-Crawler’s windshield, and they would be able to see me. I just had to attract their attention.

I rolled to the edge of the tall rocks and manifested a Shatter arrow. It would do nothing to the Sand-Crawler’s defenses, but its explosion would draw their attention.

I aimed at the glass.

There they were; a couple of them were trying to move around.

I could even see Captain Zayn looking around.

My arrow reached the windshield; its connection with it exploded the arrow into fragments, which then exploded in turn.

I knew right away that they had seen me. I had managed to attract their attention.

When one of them finally turned toward me, I placed my bow around my neck and started waving my arms, hoping they would hear me.

One of them pointed with a menacing look, and I felt my Sixth Sense trigger.

The Sand-Crawler had powerful Flow-submachine-guns built here and there, and they were much more mobile than the cannons.

But then Zayn put a hand on top of the officer's shoulder and likely stopped him.

He waved me back, pointing to the side of the Sand-Crawler's control room.

Sons of a Moon walker, took them a while.

To the side of the Sand-Crawler's head, a human-sized hatch opened up.

Zayn and somebody else looked out of the hatch.

"Mister, Luke! How did you get here? Where is Cyrus's daughter!?"

Luke, right.

"She's safe; there's no time for that!" I shouted, "Listen! A Titan Sand-Wyrm is coming your way, it's less than a minute from here, and it's going to destroy this unit; you cannot defend against it!"

Zayn was about to reply when he realized the reality of what I had said.

It was true. The Sand-Crawler was defenseless against the Titan.

"Is this true?" Asked the officer, looking straight at me.

"I've had to avoid your cannon blasts to come and tell you this… why in the Abyss would I lie to you now!?"

It took him but a second to accept my words after that statement.

"Commence evasion; Earthquakes evasion tactic!" Shouted the Captain.

Then I heard the voices of its officials come from the inside.

"Evacuate the unnecessary personnel on the rocks, charge the Flow-cannons, contact base for non-heavy assistance!"

"Come inside, boy!" Shouted the Captain.

"I'll be out here! I'm much more useful outside, and Captain… there are other things you have to know."

"Speak, fast!" He said in a hurry.

"The Titan has been tamed... and it is a damn undead," I added gravely.

The threat of the undead was tied to the corruption and the plague they would spread on the land and the violence and disregard for their bodies with which they could attack. They were practically unbridled creatures. More dangerous than the crazed Berserkers of which war stories spoke of.

"For Sun's sake, Luke…"

"It's Loke, actually…"

"Fuck. This is a nightmare."

Then my Sixth Sense picked something up, and I turned to the side. "Get ready! It's coming!"

I shouted as I shot up.

The Captain closed the hatch behind his back, and I took my defense stand, sitting atop the edges of the massive rock. Still, if the Titan rose out from the sands, it would be taller than the rocks and much bigger than the Sand-Crawler as a whole.

"Sun, if you're really watching over me, for whatever fucked up reason you've got, then make this be worth my while," I conjured a Crystal Blow arrow and nocked the first of a long series of arrows.

I could already imagine myself melting into a puddle because of one of the Titan's acid attacks.

I was thinking just that when Sixth Sense flared up, I saw the sand part and a massive acid spit leaving from the sands and aim at the Sand-Crawlers front side.

It would have meant death, and for a lot of those officers.

As much as the thought provoked funny feelings in me, I couldn't allow it right now.

So I released the arrow at the acid coming this way, then promptly rolled back, wishing for the rock's covers.

I rolled back as far as I could, even as I heard the massive explosion resulting from the acid lighting on fire.

The heatwave washed over me, even up to where I stood.

The heated air was hard to breathe; it threatened to burn my lungs and throat. The void it created was filled just as quickly by new air; I would have to remember not to breathe next time I did something like that.

The Flow-cannons started shooting soon after.

A few moments too late.

When the first deafening blasts reached the sand, the Wyrm had already disappeared.

But they, the Sunguards, had been smart.

Unlike me, somebody had been fast enough to Trace the Wyrm and was now tracking it.

The cannons stopped blasting, sparing shots for another apparition.

Calm soon took over the desert.

I could see creatures in the distance. Shadelings were coming this way, surely called by the sound of the explosions.

At the same time, people coming out from the Sand-Crawler started climbing the rocks.

An officer, likely a relatively high-ranked Inquisitor, followed something with his eyes.

He had climbed one of the huge heights at my left and held a voice bridge close to his mouth.

I realized that he was a Tracer like me.

His gaze was sharp, and I managed to see some transforming power taking hold of his eyes. He could have been even a Pathfinder.

Those were dangerous people.

However, the man was not the only one now standing on the rocks.

There were others, dozens of men and women: mages, and rangers, light warriors, and heavy warriors. The Tinker had likely remained inside, garrisoning the Sand-Crawler and the cannons.

"You saved our asses, boy."

A man I hadn't felt arrive stood to my right.

He could have been fifty or older from the way he looked.

A regular.

"What's your name?"

"Loke. My name is Loke. And, really, I just did what was right," I lied.

The man chuckled, "If you say so. Still, a Shade-cursed like you should take as many compliments as he gets, not reject them."

The man was dressed in the Inquisition's ordinary uniform, likely a lower official, probably a mage.

"Shoot left!" Said the man with the voice bridge, but he was not holding it near his mouth; he was likely giving the order to those near him.

I felt a wave of Shade rise up from the man near me then, and I followed his movements with interested eyes.

He manipulated Shade in a way I had never felt before, pointing his arms at another man, standing lower on the rock layers.

The man was enveloped in Shade, then he pointed his own hands at a patch of sand and screamed.

Dark lightning left his fingers with a bang and reached the ground in an instant.

The explosion was considerable, but although it looked extremely violent, it could not be compared to the cannon blasts.

"What was that?" I asked, taking my chances.

"That one? Oh, that was just a bolt of lightning, but my curse powered it up. If it hit the Wyrm, it would have sped up its decay. That is indeed an undead Titan, I can tell, I'm an Animancer," he answered with a smile.

I had no idea what an Animancer was, but I could not focus on it right now.

"But you interest me, boy. Who are you?"

"Me? I'm a nobody. Besides, it should be pretty clear from my… complexion, no?"

The man laughed, but now that he showed this weird interest, I took this chance to study him better.

He was a pot-bellied, salt and pepper man, deep dark eyes, and an entirely shaved beard portrayed his face. However, his smile was that of a knowing man.

"You should not undervalue yourself. I could feel your Shade manipulation even from inside the tin can. That was a lot of Shade you were generating, especially for your level. Tell me, what Skill is it? I'm curious. It almost feels like I've already witnessed it, but it's just a distant memory."

He grew closer as he asked, but another shot was called, and he had to act.

Once more, he buffed, blessed, or whatever term he used, the lightning mage. And this time, the mage shot two flashes of lightning, one from each hand.

They both failed.

"So? Is it an Elven Skill? Have you got ties with Elves, boy?"

I chuckled darkly.

"You ask for my name, but then you call me boy," I said, shaking my head. "My Skills are my own. Yet the Skill you are interested in…" There was no need to build up the mystery, it could be dangerous, "...someone said it belonged to my father. Personally, I've never met him, so I can't be certain. But now tell me, what's your name, old man?"

"Terence. Terence McLamar, High-Inquisitor and Master Scribe, at your service, Loke."

I gulped down.

A High-Inquisitor… the uniform had fooled me. This man was likely the highest in command on the Sand-Crawler; he was likely second in rank only to the Captain, and that was so only because he was aboard his Sand-Crawler.

And Master Scribe… the title of Master instead of Metal, Wood, Leather in qualifying the Scribe Sub-Class meant that this man dealt in each and every form of scribing, even if not as proficiently as other, more specialized, Scribes.

"Well, nice to meet you then, Master McLamar."

"Oh, it seems you know at least that much about your manners. Tell me, Loke, what do you wish for your life? I hear you've been accompanying the young Mustafa. You must be aiming really high."

This man was dangerous, and it was the last thing I needed right now. How would I have to answer him? But, most importantly, what was he looking for?

"It's pretty clear that I'm hoping to become a Citizen; who wouldn't?" I shrugged, hoping it was enough.

"Yeah, yeah. But is that all there is to it? You seem capable, smart, confident. Is that all there is to you? Becoming a citizen of Sundoor?"

What was he implying?

"What else would there be to wish for? Maybe if you knew where I came from, what kind of life I led until now, you would understand."

"Sure, sure, you must have come from one of the small villages near Murk mountains, that much is clear, but I hoped you had a higher… purpose. It seems I was wrong. Maybe I've just read too many books… played too much with my fantasies. Don't worry, boy. I won't bother you anymore."

After saying those words, he didn't even look at me anymore.

I could not believe what had just happened. What was that man looking for? What did he wish I said? These damn citizens were really weird.

However, my little musing was interrupted because suddenly, the world started shaking.

"Sandquake!" Shouted someone as if it wasn't clear enough.

Almost instantaneously, the Sand-Crawler answered by shooting metal stakes into the rocks at its sides. It had anchored itself.

Yet the world shook and kept on shaking.

All the men on the rocks did or tried to hug the rock, those that could, placed themselves belly to the ground, to find as much stability as they could.

I placed my back to the ground since I was already sitting on its edges, but at the same time, I gripped the rocks tight with my three-fingered clock-arm.

Not everyone was that fortunate, though.

As much Strength or Agility would help, stability was not a parameter sanctioned by the system. People could lose their footing and fall down a mountain. They could fly to save themselves, but if one lost his footing, then the person would fall; it was how the world worked.

More Sunguards and members than the Inquisition fell from the rocks than I thought possible. And five managed to end right into the sands in front of us.

I didn't know who managed to save themselves, but when a huge mouth gobbled down both sands and men, I took my chance to Track the beast. I did not feel sorry for those men.

Until a few days prior, I would have killed them on sight if I only could. It would have been hypocritical for me to worry about them now.

Still, as the mouth appeared and the monster stopped shaking the world, I conjured an arrow. I was not the only one attacking then, but I was surely one of the fastest.

The arrow took it right in the mouth, its explosion doing anything barely to it. But I saw something as the explosion lit up its mouth.

A person was hiding in there. And I probably knew who that person was.

She might as well become the faction that would save the day.