The further down they went, the more terrified Nox became. Dallion could feel the crackling’s fear, yet wasn’t able to do anything about it. He was definitely not going to link his awakening room, not with so many people here, not to mention the unspecified threat that had already caused several people to disappear. Once this was over, maybe he’d ask Nil about some advice on the topic.

Reaching the third level, the party continued down. In a twisted sense of humor, it turned out that the level gates up to the seventh level were directly one above the other. That explained why all levels till there were considered safe. Most of the party were relieved upon finding that out, though not Dallion. If whatever was terrifying Nox could be felt this high up, there was no telling what it was going to be like in person.

On the sixth level Vend had the group pause, as Dallion expected. Nothing was said openly, but the party structure was somewhat adjusted. Vend and the more experienced guild members were put in front, while the packrats were left at the end. If there was such a thing as a classification by strength, this was it. Dallion’s abilities placed him first among the packrats—which were four in total—and right behind Bel. Falkner, on the other hand, was third behind Vend and a bulky silent guildie only known as Spike. Even at level ten, Falkner was far stronger than he seemed.

The first thing that everyone noticed upon arriving on the seventh level was the contrast with all the ones before. The camp was more a bunker than a camp. Buildings made of black jade rose several stories high, overlooking an eight-foot wall of crystal tiles. People with crossbows stood on the roofs of buildings, looking at the distance. None of them acknowledged the arrival of the group.

“Vend.” A slender woman with two sledgehammers on her back approached. “You’re late.” She looked at the group. “And with more people that you should be.”

“Had to take in a few from another group. Not a big deal,” he replied, looking past the woman and at the wall. “Things have changed here.”

“A group stumbled on another nest and had a swarm charge at us,” the woman replied. “And it’s not the first time. Just because the captains can handle this doesn’t mean I have to.”

She’s a forger, Dallion thought. The hammers were a good hint, although in this world, that was never a guarantee. The craft markers that appeared on the wall as the woman looked at it, though, all but confirmed it.

“Listen up,” Vend said loudly. “We’ll be heading directly to the next gate. This level hasn’t been fully cleared, so stay close. No attacking things you see, no running away from them. If there’s any danger, I’ll take care of it.”

“Where did they get the materials from?” Dallion whispered to Del.

“The surroundings, maybe?” Bel whispered back. “Crafters are a weird bunch.”

That could well be true, but it only showed how valuable they were. Back in his village, Dallion thought that the strength of a forger was the ability to create any item in the real world. Now he saw how wrong he had been. A forger had the ability to create things in the awakened realms as well, making them invaluable for exploration missions such as this one. Since it was impossible to bring so much raw material from the real world, Dallion assumed she had made do with what the cave provided. Looking around, his suspicions were confirmed. The most common materials he could see were crystal and black jade: the crystals composed the walls and columns, as for the jade… there seemed to be several shattered hive-structures of the material visible several hundred feet away. From the information Dallion had overheard, he could assume those to be the “nests.”

“Packrats.” Vend turned to Dallion. “You’ll be in the middle of the group. Spike and Falkner will protect the rear. I and the rest of the fighters will be in the front. Don’t use any weapons.” He paused for a moment. “And no music either.”

That was oddly specific, but Dallion assumed there was a reason for it.

“Kids shouldn’t be doing this,” the woman grumbled.

“They’ll be fine. Besides, they have to learn at some point.”

“I’m not worried they’ll get hurt. I’m worried that they’ll mess things up. Just because we’re on a time limit isn’t an excuse to throw everyone here.”

A sharp glance from Vend made the woman stop talking, but it was already too late. One vital piece of information had slipped through: there was a time limit. No one dared to speculate about it out loud, but the question was on everyone’s mind: did people die after a certain amount of time?

“We’re going,” Vend said, then started walking towards the wall.

It soon became clear that despite its many benefits there was one thing that the wall was lacking: a gate. Getting past it involved people jumping up and helping lift the rest through. For the most part, that wasn’t an issue—most of the guild members had athletics or acrobatics skills. There were a few that didn’t have either, though, and Dallion was among them. The fact that he wasn’t the only one, made the feeling of being pulled up slightly less humiliating.

Once on the other side, the party started walking. During the first twenty minutes, everyone was on edge, reacting to every sound. Normally, Dallion would try to lighten the mood, but with Nox tense to the extreme, he felt that he couldn’t. The crackling had remained with its back against the corner the entire time since the second level and there was no indication it would calm down anytime soon.

“Vend, is there anything other than us that can go between levels?” Dallion asked.

“Not a good time to ask questions,” the party leader replied.

The fact that he hadn’t denied it, made Dallion feel that the answer was “yes” but Vend didn’t want to say it out loud. That was something new. Immediately, an old fear came to Dallion’s mind—maybe they were facing a chainling. Back during the hunt, the Dame had said the chainling had escaped into that part of the world; could she have meant that it had escaped from an item?

“Nox,” Dallion whispered as silently as he could. “Try to calm down.”

At first there was no effect. Then, slowly, the spikes covering the cub’s silhouette slowly disappeared into the main form. Dallion could feel that the creature was just as tense as before, but wasn’t expressing it as violently.

“Where’s the threat coming from?” Dallion asked.

For once, Nox couldn’t give him an answer.

“I think I saw something,” Bel said. “To the left just by the column.”

“Ignore it,” Vend ordered. “Look straight ahead.”

Dallion knew he should do the same, but curiosity got the better of him. Putting a hand on his dartbow, Dallion looked in the direction Bel had described. It wasn’t too difficult to spot the column in question, partially because the creatures there were already visible.

A group of red goblins stood at the cave, observing the group. Even from this distance Dallion could tell they were much stronger than the ones he’d faced—or rather the ones that he had seen Janna and Kallan face. It wasn’t the size or the numbers that were particularly alarming; it was the weapons that they held. Having those indicated not only intelligence but also skills. Fighting them would be the same as fighting other awakened.

As they stood, a large insect-like creature emerged from their ranks. Completely black, it had the appearance of a giant wingless mosquito.

“Is that what’s troubling you, Nox?” Dallion whispered.

Based on the cub’s reaction, it wasn’t, although Nox still didn’t like it. That made things slightly more complicated. The insect was likely some sort of crack, though in that case, how had it teamed up with the goblins? Not only that, but there was something even worse hiding in the item.

“Get closer together,” Vend whispered to the group. “If they attack, we form a circle and stand our ground. If they don’t engage, we keep going.”

“Pick up the pace,” Spike said from behind. “But don’t run.”

Everyone went towards one another. Dallion could feel that quite a few people were eager to test their strength against the creatures, and possibly get noticed in the process. Several, the more experienced ones, wanted the exact opposite. Dallion himself was undecided. While he wanted to get to fight, Nox’s reaction worried him.

Meanwhile, more and more goblins gathered in the distance. Within minutes there were close to two dozen, with several of the mosquito creatures as well. If there was a time they would attack, it had to be now. A few seconds later they didn’t disappoint, charging at the group like an avalanche.

“Keep on walking!” Vend shouted, drawing his weapon. “Guard only!”

COMBAT INITIATED

As the wave of creatures got closer, information rectangles appeared above them.

Species: Crimson Goblin

Class: Earth

Statistics: 100% HP

Skills:

- Acid burn

Weak spot: Base of neck

Almost in sync, Vend and Spike darted towards the enemies, while everyone else from the party summoned their shields. Dallion felt the load he was carrying decrease, and it didn’t seem like only shields were vanishing.

A cat’s cradle of red lines emerged between the goblins and Vend, indicating a multitude of possible attacks. It seemed more than likely that the party leader would dispatch half of the goblins, yet would also end up being wounded in the process. That would leave the rest of the party to fend for itself.

Suddenly Vend disappeared. It was unlike any skill that Dallion had seen. He has spent quite a while in the library learning the basics of all nine known skills, and this didn’t have the markings of any. Could it be that it was one of the three missing ones?

Before Dallion could get his answer, Vend appeared again in immediate proximity to one of the goblins. Multi-colored markers appeared, creating patterns throughout the area. Dallion could recognize the red and green for attack and defense. That left white and orange.

“He’s combining four skills,” Dallion whispered, impressed by the sight.

Not only that, but each of the skills was at a level exceeding Dallion’s. That’s why he didn’t recognize what had happened. The vanishing had to be either athletics or acrobatics. As for the rest…

That’s what it means to be an elite, Dallion thought, watching as Vend’s sword seemed to dance through the air. Like a ribbon, it sliced through the enemies, ignoring all of their defenses. A single swipe had cut down ten, then twisted around and slashed four more.

Vend wasn’t the only one engaged in battle. While most of the attention remained glued on him, Spike had gone to deal with an equally large group attacking from the other side. In all the commotion of the initial attack, no one had noticed that another group of goblins had lain in wait, charging at just the right moment when the party was unprepared. Alas for them, an elite guild member proved more than enough to deal with them.

While not as flashy as Vend, Spike’s style of fighting was equally effective. Armed with a triangular sword, the man bashed through his enemies with one strike, aiming at their heads. The strength of the blow alone was enough to crack a goblin’s skull, causing the creature to poof out of existence instantly. If Vend had the approach of a scalpel, Spike had that of a hammer. In both cases the goblin threat had been quickly eliminated, however that didn’t prove to be enough. Taking advantage of the goblin’s diversion, a third group of creatures had made its way towards the main group.

Species: Soul Sucker

Class: Crippled Star

Statistics: 100% HP

Skills: Unknown

Weak spot: Unknown