The rush of wind blew through Jude’s hair as he and his friends rode across the countryside. Spring was just beginning, and farmers were out tending their fields, getting them ready for planting. Each farm was separated by a small copse of trees. Hills were few and far between, these lands were mostly flat.

The road they took led through a few hamlets and one village, but eventually, they had to veer off into the wilderness. They cut through the scattered trees and tall wild grass. Passed ponds big and small that were linked by a small river.

As they left the river area, the land became dryer and began to slope downwards towards the Valley Maze.

The maze stood like a wall that stretched from one end of the horizon to the other. But instead of a solid wall, it was more like Swiss cheese. Some holes were small while others were large. Some were round while others stretched from the ground all the way up, splitting the wall open.

You could not see far into any of the holes as they twisted and turned. From floor to ceiling there wasn’t a single flat wall. The reason for Valley Maze’s name was the numerous slot canyons that crisscrossed the entire region. Traveling over the canyon walls was impossible, it was like an invisible wall kept people from doing it. Even birds could not fly over. Although, it was said that a few of the beasts that called Valley maze home could. This was why one had to be careful when traveling this area.

Jude and the rest dismounted their horses, and Jude told the stable boy that road with them, “Your saddle bags should have enough food for three days. If we are not back by then, take the horses back to Longdale.”

“Yes sir!” the boy responded.

Krinn stretched his body, “About time we get into some danger again. I was going soft back there in Longdale.”

Wen looked over her brother, “Yes you did go soft. I’ll have to whip you into shape along the way.”

Jude took a moment to identify the cave like canyon entrance that he had entered before when following the bandits last time. He ignored Wen beating up her brother as he quickly narrowed down the possibilities.

“That one over there,” he said with certainty, “Stop fighting and let’s go!”

Jude trotted off as the ground continued to slope downward. They reached the cliff rock face and entrance to the Valley Maze.

Krinn and Wen continued to bicker, but Ellie looked excited. Jude could hear her mumble with her eyes sparkling, “How many crafters get to experience this?”

“Haven’t miners come here in the past?” Jude asked Ellie.

“Yes, but that is in a big group going on a secure route. There is no danger. This is completely different. Besides, it was a long time ago since they last mined this area.” Ellie replied.

Jude was beginning to worry that their experience in Grimwar Caves had changed Ellie into an adrenaline junky. But he couldn’t blame her. Even his blood was starting to boil with all the possibilities ahead.

The group entered the slot canyon, and Jude marveled at its beauty. The rock walls flowed like waves frozen in time, and each layer of earth could be distinctly seen. The light overhead could not fully penetrate down to the ground and created shadows that gave a mystical feel to the whole place.

But Jude didn’t stay distracted for long. Valley Maze was much harder to navigate than a normal maze. The natural bends and shadows form created by the rock erosion could easily hide a turn that would be obvious in any other maze. A seemingly straight path could have two or three different ways out of it that could only be seen from the right angle. Plus, the limited view of the sky made it hard to sense which direction you were pointing.

Last time Jude had used his to navigate the complex layout, and he even had bandits to follow. This time, things were much more challenging. But Jude had known this before coming here, so he had already prepared a solution.

Jude took out a scroll from his and unrolled in on the canyon wall. With a tap of his finger, the paper flattened and stuck to the wall. The sheet was densely packed with tiny runes, far more than a typical scroll made with . Then he placed his hand on the scroll and began to feed mana into the magic script.

The scroll then began to send pulses of mana through the ground. The magic spread throughout the area and reverberated back to the paper. Inside Jude’s head, he could sense the topography in a 20 meter (65ft) radius.

This scroll wasn’t tuned to find precious metals, gems or treasures. Neither was it able to find animals or people on the surface. Making a scroll like that was far beyond what Jude could currently do. Just getting the topography was quite a stretch for his current abilities. But Jude was satisfied with it. No other spell or the combination of spells could do what this scroll was doing now.

After verifying that they were on the right path, Jude released the scroll. And as he did, the ink visibly faded. He would be able to use it once more, possibly twice, but the range would be reduced.

Even knowing all the paths, Jude had to choose the direction carefully.

Night came by the time they reached the Wallowing Bloods Bandit den, but they did not go inside. The caves that the bandits had used were quite large, and Jude didn’t want to know if the corpses of the bandits were still there or not. Luckily there was no smell on the outside.

***

Cairfray watched Jude take out a small and place it in the middle of the camp. There was no wood for a fire, and as long as you supplied mana to the stone, it would stay lit for a while. She had noticed that Jude had written a script on the stone so that it put off a flickering yellow light instead of the crisp blue light the stones would typically emit.

It was yet another amazing application of magic. She was constantly amazed at all he did. She had dedicated her life to him the moment he unlocked the Wizard class. For her, it was an entirely different matter than to someone else. It was true that almost everyone wanted the Wizard class, but for her, it was a hereditary desire.

Her family line had been abundant in Wizards, and in their ancient history, they were at the peak. She inherited the passion for not only magic but the advancement of magic. Though now she was far removed from those family ties as she was the last remaining one.

Her family had become a pariah for some of the research they had done in the past and had even changed their last name. In fact, it was probably because she wasn’t a wizard that she had survived the last eradication of her family.

Before, she had no thoughts of revenge. But when Jude came along, her future took a drastic turn. She was no longer weak, and if she could regain her heritage, she could skyrocket in power. But even vengeance took a backseat for her service to Jude.

Not only had Jude given her an opportunity to be a Wizard like her ancestral family, but he represented everything they were and hoped to accomplish. Even her family had not been able to unlock the Wizard class. In her eyes, Jude had already surpassed what her family could do, and he had yet to advance to the next class.

Everyone gathered around the campfire like , unrolling mats to sleep on or taking out dry food to munch. Cairfray smiled, this was much more pleasant than being alone.

After everyone settled down and started eating, Jude asked, “What does everyone know about the Arkess Desert?”

Krinn and Wen were first to speak. They had been on many adventures and knew quite a bit about the locals and animals that inhabited the desert. But after them, no one else was able to add more.

Cairfray decided that she would share some of what she knew, “The Arkess Desert wasn’t always a desert.”

A shocked expression flashed over Jude’s face, “Really? How is that so?”

“Before the Ruthope Duchy took over this area it was the Arkess Duchy,” she explained, “The Arkess family were renowned Wizards and what is currently the Arkess Desert was once the most flourishing land in all of Riwa.

“Their land was grand because of their application of magic. The food was plentiful, magical weapons and armor were abundant, and their training areas were the envy of the kingdom. But they desired was to break the level deficiency created by the Traitor Hero and the Beast Lands. As you know, no one can get past level 30 because there is nothing above level 29 in our lands to hunt. Getting level 30 is the pinnacle of what anyone can do. But the Arkess theorized that the levels of monsters were determined by the quality of the land. And the reason why the Beast Lands never pushed farther south was that these land here were just to low level for them. With this theory in mind, the Arkess formulated yet another theory, and that was the that the origin of the power of the land came from below the surface. Getting closer to that source would grant an increase in level quality. To prove this theory, they dug deep into the ground and excavated vast caverns. No one knows if they were right or wrong, but everyone knows the results: The Arkess desert.”

“So they dug out their own aquifers? No wonder it turned into a desert.” Jude replied.

Krinn added, “If this secret passage we are going to leads to this underground place. I wonder if there are higher level monsters there?”

“I doubt it,” Wen said. “Arkess Desert is a level 20 area. If there really was a higher level area underneath the desert, wouldn’t they pop up once in a while inside the desert itself?”

“That’s true,” Krinn agreed. “I’ve never heard of any high-level mobs there. Valley Maze is more of a dangerous place than Arkess is.”

“Regardless of how dangerous or not it is, we still need to go through it. It is most likely the only way out.” Jude said.

“Why can’t we just get a boat and sail around it?” Nellie asked.

“The nearest major port this far south is Ruthope City which is in the middle of the storm. The rest are fishing villages. Besides I’ve heard that the sandstorm goes into the deep seas.” Jude answered.

“The deep seas?!” Nellie shouted in surprise.

Krinn said, “I’ve heard it's dangerous enough to sail near the shore, but the deep seas are death to even the largest merchant ships.”

“The horrors of the seas are no joke,” Ellie agreed.

“I’m looking forward to our adventure through Arkess,” Jude said turning the conversation back to the desert. “I was a little doubtful of a secret passage through aquifers, but hearing that Arkess dug them out might mean it’s actually true.”

Cairfay was filled with joy. She had finally helped Jude!

***

It was late at night. The was growing dim as the wind quietly howled through the cavern walls.

A beast, a large cat, with foot long fangs silently prowled through the maze. It had noticed the humans enter its domain while it was still light, but had waited until now to hunt them down. Waited for them all to fall asleep.

It was now close enough to see the group with its eyes. It didn’t fear being detected, even on a still night, one would not hear its paws land. The slot canyons were also incredibly dark. Only with its eyesight could it see another. Humans would be completely blind past their own campfire.

The cat stood and watched for a time. Like all cats, it was cautious by nature. But as time passed, all seemed quite in the camp.

A flick of its tail sent a group of shadows bursting past it. These were the young it had raised. The lack of bandits in the Valley Maze allowed the local beast population to skyrocket. This was three meters long not including its tail. It's young were still immature at only 2 meters long.

The fastest of the younglings didn’t notice a thickly painted line on the ground as it passed over it. The instant danger passed over this line, it and numerous words lit up. The line happened to be a circle that surrounded the entire camp and the words written in runes flared brightly causing all the to shrink back in shock.

All of the younglings had already crossed the line by the time the spell took effect. This was the Rank III : . It was useful for setting up warning systems and defenses. If one had enough time, they could even setup a barrier that prevented entering or leaving.

The line the younglings crossed was more than just the trigger. It was also the line the barrier sprang up from. The younglings attempted to flee after the bright light hit their eyes, blinding them. But they quickly slammed into the barrier created by the formation. The matriarch of the younglings rushed forward to protect her children, but she was too late. They were stuck inside.

***

Jude and the rest were well aware of the danger approaching them. The that trapped the young . By the time the trap was sprung, they were already on their feet and ready to fight.

Krinn and Wen rushed forward using sweeping attacks to taunt the targets. The rest waited a few moments for the tanks to gain sufficient attention of the tigers. Jude, however, continued to sit on the ground with a brush in his hand.

Jude was using his brush to enter command strokes into the . But after every five to ten strokes, his brush would combust under the pressure of magic that was running through it. But with a casual and practiced hand, he would immediately take another one out of his .

It didn’t take long for Ellie’s hammers to start flying and Cairfray’s spectral swords to cut through the air. Even though there were six of the young tigers, the fight didn’t last long.

The giant matriarch tiger still stood outside the barrier and hitting its claws against it. It would have normally fled in this kind of situation. But it had become much bolder since the bandits had left. It had also raised those six cubs up, and now it was more infuriated than afraid.

“You guys ready for the big one?” Jude asked.

“You bet!” Krinn cheered. He had already started using his skill through the barrier which only made the tiger that much madder.

Jude released the barrier and the mother burst through targeting Krinn. The tiger’s giant paws and sharp claws pounded against Krinn’s raised shield. He grunted in pain as he was severely pushed back. While Nellie quickly began casting her healing spell, Krinn swung his axe to counter attack and Wen stepped forward with her spear, their actions perfectly in sync.

An axe and spear quickly countered as Krinn and Wen were in perfect sync. But their weapons did little damage and merely scraped across the dense fur and strong muscles of the creature.

“Cosh!” Wen yelled, “It’s an elite creature at level 25!”

Spectral swords came in next but were shattered upon landing a full force blow. Ellie’s hammer did little as well, just bouncing off the target. Only Krinn and Wen were at level 22; the rest were at level 20. An elite monster was already harder to wound, but one multiple levels higher was even tougher.

“Krinn keep the beast locked down to one area,” Jude said. “Cairfray use a low powered to heat up the rock underneath the thing.”

“Sure thing boss!” Krinn acknowledged, and Carifray simply nodded.

quickly heated up the surrounding rock and Krinn successfully kept the tiger from moving too much. At the same time, Jude used his formation to cause the relays that made up the superheated ground to destabilize. Then Jude unleashed his on the volatile and now unstable relays.

A volcano erupted underneath the tiger. The blast would have knocked the beast skyward if it hadn’t also been grabbed by the red hot stone. Jude's control was many times greater than it was before. He now had minute control over it so that it was a lot more predictable, enabling him to unleash it in more complicated ways. He could even influence the kinds of effects it would generate.

But only by combining the magic from and keeping it in one place would this strategy work on a sensitive and agile cat.

The blast of lava didn’t kill the cat or keep it locked down for long. But it did place a burning effect on it and broke the superior defense of its fur.

The blows from Krinn and Wen now landed on the sensitive skin causing long lacerations. The spectral swords struck out and no longer broke and Ellie’s hammer impacted with a distinct thud.

The fight lasted much longer than the battle with the younglings. But in the end, Jude and his group won out with little injury.

“That fight got me level 23!” Wen said excitedly as the beast fell.

“I would be surprised if we all didn’t get a level after that fight!” Krinn said cheerfully.

Indeed, they all had gained a level.