This again? Seriously, what did it want? I must have really messed up last time because the instructions on how to cultivate popped up again. This time I couldn’t help but notice that a couple sentences were bolded.

[Use your awareness … Absorb the compatible essence into your body.]

My head tilted to the side as I re-read the instructions several times. Still slightly confused, I folded my legs on the branch and put my hands together. What did I miss last time? If the System was instructing me to cultivate again, there must be something around me that I was compatible with. What was it?

I closed my eyes. What did it mean by awareness? Was that like my senses? Or was it referring to magic? According to my Stats, I had magic now. But I still didn’t have any magic abilities. Well, outside of those mystery question marks. Was my magic different from other people who just suddenly got Fire or something? Was it something I needed to earn then level up, like everything else?

I took a deep breath and tried to clear the spinning thoughts from my mind. Slowly, I became aware of the noise — or lack of — around me. I felt the cool mist as it drifted around me, the cold bark under and behind me. The smell of damp earth and the thick, stale air. But what kept coming back to me was the feeling of the fog.

My eyes cracked open. For once, I didn’t notice the shape of the trees in the distance, but the pale air that swirled and shifted around them. It was everywhere, thick and heavy. The first time I ever saw fog was in the Gate Vale, but this was the first time I’d ever been in it. And I wasn’t scared. Sure, I was nervous that I couldn’t see very well, but I wasn't as discomfited as I thought I’d be.

I raised my hands and watched the pale fog drift through my fingers, cool but not wet. That’s right. The mist dampened everything — the trees, the monsters, the ground, even Letica and her group showed signs of being affected by the moist air — but not me.

An essence that I was compatible with. I repositioned my hands and closed my eyes. This time, I didn’t just listen to what was around me. I built an image of my surroundings in my mind. Then I imagined the fog, and really focused on it. I pictured drawing it into me as I breathed.

A cool sensation pressed into my chest and swirled around until it warmed and disappeared. But it didn’t really disappear, it was more like it … acclimated to my body and became a part of me. I could feel it but couldn’t pinpoint where the feeling was coming from.

Shock nearly fried my nerves and I almost slipped off the tree, but I supressed the feeling before it ruined everything that I’d worked to get. I calmed my thoughts and continued to pull the fog into my body. With each passing minute, my body felt lighter, as if I could just float away. And yet, there was a small flare of power inside. Not strength — this was different. It had nothing to do with my muscles, but everything to do with my soul. It was heady. The more I felt it, the more I wanted it.

A ding chimed in my mind and I blinked out of my focus. It took me a second to realize that the System’s timer. I was tempted to continue cultivating, but a new window popped up.

[Gained Ability: Feather Step.]

Shocked, I opened my menu and looked it up. [Feather Step: The ability to make your body light as air. MP Cost: 5 MP + 1 MP for every consecutive minute.]

“Cool,” I whispered.

Just then, something moved on my right. I glanced over. Through the thick fog, a pale gray shape crawled around a dark tree trunk.

Is that what I think it is? I slowly stood up and leaned closer. It didn’t see me, which was good because that meant it didn’t run away. But I also couldn’t see what it was properly either. The tree it was on was a good ten feet away. I couldn’t jump that far. Or, I couldn’t jump that far until a moment ago. Right? I glanced at my previously unused MP. I had enough to activate Feather Step then keep it for 25 additional minutes. I hoped that monster was a Preta-Squirrel. If I had to keep reactivating Feather Step, it was going to blow through my MP fast.

Here goes nothing. I took a breath and thought: Feather Step. My body turned buoyant, as though gravity had no effect on me. I remained standing on the tree trunk and the slight breeze in the air didn’t blow me over, but I finally knew what a balloon felt like.

I focused on the tree with the pale gray monster crawling around it’s base and I jumped. I shot through the air, the strength behind my jump launching me like a rocket to the next tree. Halfway through my leap, I could see that my gamble would pay off.

A Preta-Squirrel stopped mid-step and looked at me. It’s mouth dropped open and it gave a hair-raising shriek.

Oh no! I glanced down at the tree it was on. I expected to see an ugly Treant face on the trunk. For once, luck was on my side. It was just a normal tree. At least, I was lucky until the little monster turned and jumped to the next tree over.

I landed on the tree and jumped after it, my moves just as light and quick as the ghost-squirrel. On and on, we jumped from one to another, pushing over branches and sliding around trunks. At first, my movements were awkward, but the longer I used Feather Step and worked my way around bare, damp trees, the smoother my movements became. But no matter what, the squirrel stayed three feet ahead of me, screaming as I pursued it.

The squirrel jumped through the air. It missed the main branch that was it’s target and fell until it clung to the thick trunk. Now was my chance. I launched myself at the Preta-Squirrel, blade first. My blade was inches from the squirrel when I felt the mist move around me. Something was coming at me. Fast.

I looked up and gasped as a Treant’s limb aimed right for me. I twisted in the air and kicked off the side of the limb, vaulting myself out of harm's way. I slammed against the ground. My lungs seized as I lost my breath, but I continued to roll because the other limb was targeting me. The tree monster limb crushed an indent into the earth just as I rolled to my feet. The Preta-Squirrel was already skittering up the Treant’s face, up into the branches at the back of the Treant.

Damn. My MP was already half empty at this point. I couldn’t keep Feather Step engaged for much longer. I still had to find another Preta-Squirrel after this one. Speed was the key now.

The Treant retracted its limbs, and shifted back into a neutral position. I scooped up some rocks then sprinted across the ground and leaped. I kicked off a half-raised branch and launched myself at the Preta-Squirrel.

It screamed and jumped to the next tree. I clambered over the Treant and soared after it. The Treant swung it’s limbs after me, smashing everything that I stepped on, just a half a second after my foot left that spot. I aimed a rock and threw it just in front of the squirrel. A second later, the Treant aimed for that same location. The tiny monster skidded to a stop and scrambled the other direction.

My kindjal appeared in my hand and I swung out, aiming at the trapped monster. I stabbed the Preta-Squirrel at the same moment the Treant's limb came down and broke the branch clean off with it’s attack. I pinned the dead monster to the remaining half of the branch as I threw the rest of my rocks away, directing the Treant away from me. The Treant smashed at the ground for a minute before slowly settling back into a creepy tree.

I took a second to catch my breath. I might have been weightless for that chase, but I’d moved faster than I ever had in my life and it was exhausting. I collected the Drop Items, but them in my Items Bag then destroyed the energy crystal. Just before closing my inventory, the Essence of Nothing disappeared. Again. Seriously, what was up with that? What did it mean?

I glanced back at the Treant then slipped down to the ground. I didn’t relax until I was another ten feet away and I was sure that the Treant wasn’t going to move.

“Teresa? Is that you?”

I froze when I heard the hatefully familiar voice. I stepped back and pressed against a thick, damp tree. I controlled my breathing to be as quiet as possible then leaned around.

A second later, Leticia stepped out of the fog. Her damp hair was a mess, half flattened to her head and half scrunched in funny places with a leaf stuck in it. Her eyes were wide and a little manic as she turned this way and that, jumping at every little sound. Dirt smudged her clothes and her left sleeve was torn. It was nice to know I wasn’t the only one who had a tough time here.

She stopped and looked around. “Teresa? Judy?” she whispered.

She was so close, just five feet away.

My hands fisted so tight that my fingers hurt. This bitch had made my life hell for the last year. From the moment I stepped into the hostel, she never let up. She was even hunting me now. Since she took it all the way into Gate Vale, it was obvious she wasn’t after a simple blanket anymore.

I didn’t remember pulling my kindjal out, but suddenly I felt the cool, comfortable handle in my hand. Leticia didn’t know I watched her. It would be so easy to get the sneak attack. Just one move and I would be free of her endless torment. I could even push her another ten feet to the left and trigger a Treant to react. It would have the same consequence.

She took another step closer. My muscles tightened and I shifted my kindjal in my grip, getting ready.

A breeze kicked up and rustled the leaves overhead. Leticia jumped and looked up, exposing her throat.

I … froze.

Go, a demon whispered in my mind. Get rid of her and you’ll be one step closer to a carefree life. Just like I’d always wanted. God knew I’d been thrown to a group of Orcs for a lot less than what she’d done.

I wanted respite, wanted peace. Wanted it so badly that I was willing to sell myself to a mysterious System that had taken over my life. But I didn’t want it enough to lose my humanity. There were a lot of Hunters that were no different than monsters. Anything that was weaker than them didn’t deserve to live, whether it was human or not.

I wouldn’t be like them. I would get stronger. I would be the strongest — but I wouldn’t do it soaked in the blood of another human being.

Leticia walked right by me, completely oblivious, and disappeared in the mist.

My hand tightened on the kindjal’s handle as I closed my eyes and pulled in a breath. I held it and counted. One. Two. Three. Slowly, I let it out, releasing all the tension in my body. The kindjal disappeared and my hand slackened to my side. My eyes opened and I looked in the direction Leticia had gone.

Funny. I thought it would be harder to let go of the anger in my heart. I didn’t know how freeing it was, as if a weight I’d been carrying around for so long suddenly disappeared. Why had I spent so much time and effort carrying it around with me? What a waste of energy.

My lips curled in a mocking smile and I walked the opposite direct. It was time to find the last Preta-Squirrel.

A System window popped up. [Cultivate for 15 minutes.]

I wasn’t going to turn that down. I still didn’t know why it wanted me to do all this cultivating, but the sensation was so cool that I couldn’t wait to do it again. I picked a tree with a good sitting place and climbed up. When I was comfy, I got into position and began drawing mist in. In no time at all, the System’s alarm chimed and I opened my eyes. What would happen if I kept going even after the alarm went off? I was tempted to continue cultivating when a notification popped up.

[Gained Ability: Mist.]

I threw my hands up in the air in victory but held in a yell. Then I paused. What was the Mist ability anyway? I’d never heard of it. I could guess what it meant, but that ability wasn’t listed in the Hunters Guide.

Still, it was an ability that I got from cultivating. Just like the Feather Step. Would that mean that every time I cultivated, I’d get a new ability? Should I do it some more?

Like always, the System seemed to know what I was thinking. [At your current level, cultivating too much would be detrimental to —]

Suddenly my vision was filled with a huge, red message overlapping the first.

[GET OUT OF THE DIMENSION NOW!]

Before I could do more than gasp, the ground started quaking. I jumped from the tree and stumbled while I tried to steady myself. It wasn’t just a small rumble like when Treants smashed the ground, but a full, staggering ripple.

“What’s happening?” I yelled, but I couldn’t even hear my own voice.

A deafening roar rose into the air as if every single monster in Gate Vale howled with all their might.

Freaked out to the extreme, I ran as fast as I could. The ground split and moved so much that I kept tripping with each new vibration. Trees tilted around me, slanting in my way or crashing right to the ground. Desperate, I activate Feather Step and put my all into sprinting through the chaos. I rushed over falling trees and touched off the top of the rolling ground. It felt like forever and also in no time at all, I broke out of the Fogmire trees and the mist faded away from me. Even though I was in the open and the Gate was in view, I still didn’t cancel Feather Step. Instead, I used it to speed through the Golden Meadow.

Another message appeared in my vision and it took me back for a second. I’d gotten so used to the boxes being teal, I’d almost forgotten that they used to be blue.

[Alert! The Gate has destabilized. All Hunters return to Eden immediately. Prepare for a Gate Surge.]