It was the following morning; the day prior, Gabriel had invited Greta to play cards with them at the inn. And she had utterly thrashed them. Which included Gabriel, a huffing and puffing Dwarf that had become red like pepperoni, and an Elf that could thankfully handle defeat much better.

Gabriel had gone to visit Gaia for the first time since… well, ever. He had done so by cutting toward Wallcity, where he was now allowed to pass, ran across a good length of the Rapids of Mana, reaching the rock that he had seen before but only in the distance. Gaia was, naturally, on top of it.

"Gaia," Gabe said as he dashed on the peek of the Rock of Old. Gaia, who was focused on some form of meditation, jumped for the scare. Crystal was obviously fused with her, so she took the shape of a werewolf for a second.

"My goodness, Gabriel… you scared me!"

Gabriel sniggered, "How are you, Gaia."

"I'm… fine, are you alright? I was not expecting you, really…"

"Oh, I guess I'll leave then."

"No! I meant, I didn't think you'd just come to see me. It was unexpected, that's it. So, tell me," she said, sitting back up and shifting her posture, "What can I do for you?"

"I need Yggdrasil's door open for me."

Gaia arched her brow, "I don't understand."

"I need to be able to get out. It's suffocating. I can feel my followers scent on me. I don't know whether you placed them or the Seer, but I don't care. I just need to go out, lose myself in the green, and get some fresh air."

"I don't think anyone has placed guards on you but, yes, of course! I'll have it cleared, but Gabriel, whoever is guarding you, if they are doing so, it for your own good. You are too important to-"

"To die or fall in enemies hands, yeah. It's a deal then. I'm gonna get myself a hunting permit. And Gaia?"

"Yes?"

"Did you do something to your hair? They look shinier than usual; they look beautiful."

Gaia brought her hands to her hairs, brushing them. "Really? I didn't, but, thank you. It must be the closeness to the Rapids," she with a radiant smile.

"Alright, they suit you anyway. See you." Saying that, Gabriel turned back where he came from.

He was back at the Wandering Hearth and scribbling on his Gemini paper. He would have to retire his permit directly at the egress toward the Verdant Fields, the primary hub, so it was the first thing he was about to do if it wasn't for the sudden appearance of Varcivald and his two pupils. It was early in the morning, so they couldn't be coming in for lunch.

"Hey Gabriel, did you find a job in the end?" Vald asked.

"Something like it. I'm going out hunting.

"You are going to hunt Mr. G!? Can we come with you?" Bart.

"It depends; what levels did you reach, if I may ask," he added, looking at Varcivald.

Varcivald frown, "Why wouldn't you?" He said, shaking his head.

"I'm Level nine, made it the other day," said Veronica, "Bart is still eight."

"Veronica, what did I say about boasting?"

"I'm sorry, master…"

"Well, it's fantastic for you, kids. But I need to hunt something a little bit bigger. At least until I reach the next Perk, but I promise. We are going hunting together next time, if your master is alright, naturally."

"It's a promise then!" Said Varcivald. "And Gabriel. Try not to go too far? Will you? The forecasts say it won't rain, but seering is never one hundred percent correct. We should know among all, right?"

"Yes, master. I'll be sure to not be late. I've seen those ygg-dogs, the real deal, I mean. They are elite, aren't they?"

"Yes… yes they are, but you mean the proper ygg-dogs? When did you see them?"

Gabriel decided that he could afford five minutes, so they sat together while Varcivald ordered food to be taken away, and he recounted to him about his experience in the upper-tree.

"I've never heard of a cursed Yggdrasilians, but from the way you say it. It sounds like you've fallen for this lady." Varcivald smiled wickedly.

"Oh, come on! Don't be a jerk. She was just so…" Gabriel's voice got lower… "lonely. Yet at the same time so full of life. It's… I'm not really good at expressing myself in these circumstances, but... just know that she felt as if she needed someone to look at her for what she really was. Maybe it's been very long since it happened. I guess, being it a spiritual bending related, not everybody is capable of seeing through the curse."

Varcivald wicked smiled turned soft, "You're a good kid, Gabriel. Now go, I don't want to make you lose any more time."

Gabriel was soon out of the inn and at the edges of the Verdant Fields.

By the immense arc cut inside the very trunk of Yggdrasil, the unpaved road made of wood opened up before him. It wasn't ideal for carriages or cars. But those were things that were simply not used on Alter. Merchants could allow Dimensional Bags, and they were far more useful than carriages.

At the signboard stood in wait, a solitary woman; she was of old age, that much was clear, but she carried herself with the might of youth. Gabriel noticed her for the slight resemblance she had to Greta. There's no way in hell it's her! He said to himself.

"Gabriel Walker?" Said the woman as he got near. He did not intend to stop by her, he just needed to pass through, but she stopped him.

"Yes. With whom do I have the pleasure to be talking?"

"That is of no concern. I'm just an old woman. Don't you see? Here," she took something from her purse; it didn't look like a Dimensional Bag from the way things came out of it.

"I believe this is yours." It was the permit. It was made of paper, with runes all over its edges, and sealed with a Binding.

"Thank you. Old woman." To that, the woman chuckled.

"Also, take this with you. It's a simple anti-scrying amulet, it doesn't allow for protection against some watchful butchers, but it does grant a good level of protection from Analyze and Scan."

The amulet she gave him was nothing but a pendant. A pendant, the likes of which could be opened and small photos could be put inside of it. As Gabriel opened it, he found a blank piece of paper.

"I guess this is the same device our little friend wears," he said.

"That is what my lovely grand-grand-grand-granddaughter has entrusted me with."

It really is not her?

"Gabriel Walker, you have her sympathies. Try not to walk all over her; she's very alone right now. I should not need to tell you what very old age entails in this world, right, young man?"

The barely veiled threat had Gabriel smile. "I wouldn't do it. Not when I found someone on whom I can finally count on. Now, if you'll excuse me, Mrs. Wagner? I'm eager to get myself some fresh air. All these intrigues make my nose cringe."

She nodded, then watched him go. Obviously, the moment he turned her head, the woman was nowhere to be seen.

The thought of having people capable of appearing and disappearing like that at my throat is… I don't even want to think about it! Why do I think about it? Liz? But the lizard at his side simply whipped her tongue at him.

"Yeah, you say that now, but we're about to have our fun. Who knew we'd become battle junkies. Did you expect it?" Liz nodded.

"Of course, you did. You are all-knowing. Sometimes I wonder if you are really part of me. Are we sure the Anchor didn't fuck up in creating you? I mean, maybe it has used some defective stamp, or has taken somebody else's Spirit." The lizard whipped her tail at him, making him trip.

"Come on, you know it could be right! Hey, stop! Stop that, you haven't got 2 points of Power anymore! Aaaaargh! It hurts!"

Gabriel and Liz dashed through the Verdant Fields. And when they encountered a young party of druids, they asked for direction to the highest level field of the lower-tree.

It was a place called the Ravenous Wilds. It was the closest place before the forest bordered the Leystone territory, and its level range went from forty to up to eighty. The more they moved away from Yggdrasil's influence, the higher the monster's level.

It was simply perfect.

The Wilds were a jungle of poisonous plants, man-eating plants, aggressive monkeys, panthers, bears, and massive birds. The signboard went as far as pointing out the creatures' main elements; given that it was still Yggdrasil's territory, the presence of Life element creatures, which were weak to Fire, was a given. However, at night the creatures showing about were mainly Dark creatures, vulnerable to Light. Gabriel and Liz did not really have any elemental advantage against Life creatures, and though Liz was now a Spirit capable of manipulating light, she would not be able to use it at night. She needed a proper amount of it to unleash any of her new Light rays.

Gabriel had understood that she had trained by herself with it, but she would get much more practice today because the Wilds did not show the Yggdrasil's forests typical dense foliage; they allowed light to come in aplenty.

Liz and Gabe shared an intense look, "Let's hunt."

The first creatures they encountered were a group of wild boars. A family, to be precise. They had both fangs and horns, coming out not only from their jaws but from their foreheads and behinds too. Mush green and grey they almost disappeared in the environment.

Ravenous Boar

Race

Scrofa

Level 41

Class

Horned Boar

Level 31

Element

Life

Life - 1

Pools

Life

Energy

Mana

350/351

154/177

9/9

Attributes

Affinity

?

Bound

Alacrity

58

Bound

Power

67

Bound

Recovery

21

Bound

Resilience

36

Bound

Stamina

?

Bound

These things are no jokes. However, only the mother and father had such high Attributes; the little ones had less than half their parents' levels and stats.

Liz, you can't just get in there; we have no knowledge of their Skills. I have half an idea on how to open the attack, but it's something we've never tried before.

Gabriel started tainting his Mana with the idea of concealment, which he had already tried during his lesson, and although he was not really good at it, it would be enough.

In a matter of seconds, a low burning veil of Mana around his body made him invisible to every not very discerning eye. He hoped those of the boars were not enhanced to bypass it. Liz took on Spirit Fade too. When Gabriel got close enough, he prepared to unleash Ray of Corruption. The only Sub-Skill he had yet to use. Gabriel didn't want to cast more than a second of it because it consumed ten Mana per second, so he got closer in order to have them all in his sight, almost at hand's reach.

When he had them all in range, Gabriel opened his mouth wide; the very next second, a violent ray of black light shot from his mouth. The air around his mouth rippled with a shockwave, and his eyes closed shut. He could feel the recoil right away, it would throw his head back, but he resisted. The beam of darkness washed over the entire family of boars, laying waste to their bodies.

The little ones were instantly and partially devoured by the attack, while the parents, though heavily affected, staggered up. Gabriel fell with his back on the ground but quickly recovered; he had used twenty-six points of Mana for the attack. It was a lot, but the power was evident. Even the adult monsters were on their feet.

Emitting high-pitched laments, they both charged at him, but it was Liz's time to reappear at that moment. She swiped their legs, with a pirouette then went for the throat of the biggest one, while Gabriel shot forward, and spear at the ready. Used his Burst Attack powered with Toughen and Burst to penetrate the boar’s skull through its eye.

It finished the next second when, while biting, she tore through the other one's throat.

You have gained:

Level + 4.1%

Class Level + 3.3%

Spirit Level + 1.2%

Dash Tier 5 + 12.1%

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

You have reached Level 34.

You have 2 unspent Body Attribute points.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

You have reached Class level 29.

You can increase your Pools by 10 points.

Gabriel and Liz shared a look and a smile. "That was easy! But after all that sound, I think we need to leave." He threw a look at their horns, "Just a few seconds."

After cutting away the horns and fangs that had not been damaged in the slightest, with a few attacks of his spear, Gabriel collected them, then they were once again on the run.

They had nested on a tree branch while Gabriel took a look at his Anchor Page.

I guess it's Stamina until it reaches the other ones' potential, he thought, placing his free points into Stamina and bringing it to a total of 25.2. He had not been slacking behind with training Built to Fly either, but he didn't exactly have empty days until then. So he was halfway through Tier 8 with it.

He was still unsure if it was wise to increase his Life Pool, so instead of spending them, he decided to retain them. It would be a while until the unspent points would start creating trouble for him; there was only a level worth of them after all. Let's see how long the Anchor takes to punish me for not spending them. He smirked.

It had been a while since he had been alone doing anything at all with his Lizard. It felt like an era, while only a couple of weeks had gone by since they had left the Dungeon. But they had been two intense weeks.

Being outside, only with her at his side, made him think back to the first few days of his stay. Yes, for the whole world, only a couple months had gone by, but for them, it had been more, almost twice that, counting the time spent in The Memory. So, staying up there, on those branches with an entirely new prospect of reality unfolding before them was… refreshing.

"We make a good couple, you and me. Don't we?" Liz licked his hand. "Oh, that's a first. Are you turning into a dog now? Though I see you more as a cat than a dog," he said, caressing her head. Liz's scales were tough, strong now. Nothing to do with her slick, almost textureless skin at the beginning. "Let's hunt for something else. I believe it's time we raised those levels. I have an idea of which of my next Skill I will evolve, and it was damn time we can say."

***

"It's been three days, and we've had no news from the Herald. Is this plan even going to work?" Asked Thredon, Phreviel's sworn companion.

"It will." Phreviel was, like everybody else, drone or chosen, in the Reevers Tree's

Inner Sanctum.

Making sure the captives entered had turned out to be… tricky. And it had required a lot of Life Magic, even the help from the Tree itself. For a human or any race different from the Yggdrasilians, fusing with a plant was the antithesis of living. It meant dying, their molecules rescinding instead of fusing together with plant life. And yet, the humans sat there. They ate with the tree's people, rested like the people, and were relieved like them. Partly because the process, they had to go through for them to reach the Sanctum had been… life-changing. Those could not be considered properly humans anymore. Maybe… something more, or something less it depended on the point of view. For him, they had become more. He could even manage to grasp some of the echoes of their lifeforce. Like he could with the tree's people, his own brethren.

There were thirty-nine of them, not counting the two escaped and the ones that had been killed before the order of capture. There were eight parties originally. And though it was different to interpret them completely, with the help of their elders and the Reverse Tree itself, they had managed to concur that important peoples lied in their midst. The very people who had given them the most trouble. The archer, the giant tank, and the thin reptile dwarf. Those were the important ones. And it was on them that their strategy was based.

"I'm sure that the Herald will come," said the Paragon, which communicated with the Spirit jailers outside of the Dungeon. "My eyes have seen the desperation of parents, important-looking parents from the edges of our home. They will force him, then he will be ours."

Phreviel nodded. "Time can only help us prepare for whatever trick they are going to use." He rose up and started speaking to his people, his voice climbing, a crescendo of emotions bottled up for too long, "So, strengthen yourself in preparation! My brothers and sisters! Hunt! Train! The Dungeon is in flower. We can Level up to our hearts' content! And we shall prepare for our release! This cage will not stop us anymore. We will be free! And together with the Tree, we shall have our revenge!"

The Yggdrasilians, hunted down from time immemorial, banished from their homelands, locked up with their creator in a barless prison, wanted only one thing more than revenge, that was freedom. And there's nothing that shakes the minds as the desire for freedom.

The Yggdrasilians would have their freedom, one way or the other.