"!" I called, releasing the half powered, augmented Skill to our left.

I didn't have time to do much else but bring up my shield to block a leg-thick tongue from sticking to one of the healers in the group behind me. The next moment, I was playing tug-of-war. One of the chameleons hiding in the woods tried to lug me off balance but I stabbed my naginata into the ground. The soil started to give way, but the move gave me enough time to cast a quarter-power right at my feet to lock me in place. The creature was not expecting that.

When it wasn't able to pull me, the force of its own attack caused the branch it was using for support to snap. Not waiting for an invitation, I used the slight moment of weightlessness to reel it in. Its mouth bulged as I wrapped its tongue around and around my arm and its strange ever-shifting eyes tried to lock on to me. Its tornasol skin flickered as it tried to adapt its camouflage, but it was too late. A shard of ice from somewhere behind me impaled the creature, sending it into a twitching frenzy. When it finally crashed to the ground, I released a in anticipation. The compressed earth punched through its head, pinning it and killing it at once. I finally used my naginata's edge to free myself from the sticky tongue and refocus on the rest of the expedition.

The one armed orc was doing a similar match up with the other chameleon that had ambushed us. Unfortunately, he didn't have my earth manipulation Skills but that didn't seem to stop him as he turned into a comet of fire mid-air. He shoulder checked the chameleon right in the mouth, toppling it to the ground where it got a haymaker to the eyeball from a familiar dwarf woman. The ocular organ exploded all over her, but it was enough of a distraction that the rest of their squad joined in on the pugilistic assault. Unorthodox, as far as I knew of the newer trainees, but the occasional flares of spell chains told me that the impacts were enhanced by mana one way or another. With their fighting style it made sense that they would get slotted together in a squad.

Samuel was aglow with green-gold light, channeling it through his femur club and into the nature around us. A number of softball-sized rocks pelted the treeline and I watched as the trees themselves betrayed their charges. Caught in the suddenly mobile branches, half a dozen Life Attuned Anoles struggled for freedom. Their tails flopped to the ground one after the other, forming a writhing carpet of flesh that was quickly built up as the anoles regrew and re-dropped their barbed tails with a speed only possible thanks to some kind of Trait or Gift. A pair of dwarfs caught the tail end of the desperate attack, getting slapped to the ground for their troubles.

", !" I called, keeping my eyes locked on the squirming tails. A V-of raised earth pushed them back, separating the trainees from a dozen other easy injuries. The next thing the tree-wrapped lizards saw was either a wolf fang dagger or a point-blank shot of Freeform from Daniela's wisp.

My breath came heavy as I tried to get my bearings again in the battle field. The other chameleon was dead, both of its eyes now burst. The small horde of Death Attuned rodents that had come in from behind us were in various states of smolder and thawing as the fire and water attuned of the group laid slumped on the ground. The healers had struggled to keep the oxen from bolting, but now that the pyrotechnics were over they turned from their animal charges to the wounded.

"Report!" called Clara from atop of the Metier Crystal. A few of the people present uttered grumbles of protest as a way of marking their presence. Tec 2.0, already being called Wec by the trainees for his future post in Lake Weir, gave a more comprehensive report.

--Two and a half dozen Death Attuned rodents just due south. Primary Life Attuned reptile threat neutralized. Five members of the expedition are unharmed, remaining members have injuries ranging from light to severe. Dreg Warrior Squad Leader Igor has sustained the most life threatening injuries--

"Thanks, Wec. Healers! Rotating triage like we practiced!" The demoness slumped onto the crystal with a sigh, while the life attuned trainees scurried about like ants. The less injured fighters took up a defensive circle around the carts.

"I'll..." Sam swayed into view from around the cart. "check on Igor."

"Eye on your mana," I warned, squinting as he waved me off and headed to the squad of arcane boxers. I turned down to look at my still-locked legs and cast a diminutively powered version of . The cast was more strenuous than any other before it, even the expenditure while fighting the chameleon and providing crowd control. I wasn't sure if it was because I was making the usually-thirty-foot-radius standard cast the size of my palm instead. Nevertheless, it worked and I pulled my legs out of the sucking mud with ease.

"Handy," a voice called from less than a foot away. I jumped clear onto the cart and turned to see Daniela smirking up at me.

"Gah, since when are you so dang sneaky?" When did she get this sneaky? Neither my Perception nor my vibration sense picked up on her at all.

"Pays that I spend most of my time moving around like a dang shadow," she said, pointing over her shoulder to the treeline. "I've been playing with and to mimic the Haze Wolf. It's not the best, but I think once I unlock the defensive Imbue Skill, I will have my foot in the door of being even harder to detect. Those googly eyed lizards gave me a few ideas."

"Glad to see you are one of the unscathed," Clara said, rolling her bloodshot eyes. If it hadn't been for her , the fire Augmented version of her , the backline would have taken even more damage. Dog-sized rats and mice were not exactly pleasant combatants.

"We're going to have to keep a tighter circle. It took Devon and I way too long to make it back," Danny said, eyes dropping to the ground.

"I'm just kidding. We all pulled through," Clara said, putting her hand on Daniela's shoulder. "We should be less than a mile away."

--Approximately 4902 feet--

"Thanks Wec," Daniela said, rolling her eyes at the crystal. She checked to make sure I was actually fine instead of just ribbing me about it and went to meet up with tall and broody Devon. The elf smiled as she approached, and I couldn't help but notice the twitch at the corner of Daniela's mouth. As much as it pained me that she enjoyed the company of such an insufferable individual, I knew Devon was good people. If he didn't turn out to be for her, then he might find himself taking a mud bath he did not sign up for.

"Form up! We move out as soon as the healers give the clear!" Clara yelled, her voice cracking a bit at the end. She didn't necessarily need to do that since all the trainees had Implants, but there was something about getting yelled at in person that really put a pep in your step. "We are almost at the first stop, and then we can hopefully call it a day."

Thankfully, the rest of the trip didn't take long. Only a pair of angry asphalt Refined tortoises that ambled over to us and then a small swarm of spiders. I wasn't entirely sure if the creatures had just moved into the area --not according to the New Hopers-- or if the crystal was pulling from really far. The spiders were a long way from home. Unless there was another spider territory somewhere to the east, but that didn't warrant much more consideration with the pressing issues of the Dreg.

Nevertheless, we finally made it to the clearing around another car-reinforced defensive wall. A number of churned up fields surrounded the car wall and I could see a pair of trucks with tires that had somehow made it through the apocalypse only to be used as a makeshift gate. A number of people walked the length of the parapet that had been created atop the vehicles. When someone finally spotted the small horde of travelers, a shout for assistance went up. Clara took the lead, preparing to make introductions.

"Angel!" she yelled.

One of the men on the wall seemed to come to the realization that the people gathered were actually friendly people they knew. Angel, a bulky man in his thirties with the beard equivalent of Dylan's fire hair, dropped straight down the outside of the wall without bothering with the gate. The people behind him didn't look particularly thrilled about the development. Even from a distance I could see them produce a number of pre-Fall bows and nock arrows. They weren't drawn, but I knew you didn't necessarily need that much time to shoot a compound or longbow. The fact they had them was the most surprising bit, considering how much Wildwood struggled to prototype their own. Though I suppose we are trying to make them Infused Items instead of just standard tools--

"Clarita! Friend, you don't know how happy I am to see you. When you said you were going to bring back up I didn't quite expect this!" the man said, pulling the demoness into a rough hug. "And Mistress Liliana. Rommel and Devon, even? Why, Stonecrest is more than safe now!"

The hugger worked his way through the New Hopers until he reached me and my friends, pausing. I almost missed it, but his face hardened as he gave us a look that could have killed. A moment later, he left me wondering if I'd seen the expression at all. "New friends?"

"Yes, actually. These are the Bunker born we mentioned," she said, gesturing to each of us and introducing us. It was a bit awkward since the rest of the squads, who were busy keeping a good eye on all the surroundings instead of on the conversation, didn't get an introduction.

"Ah yes. The pot stirrers." The man's expression once again became strained, but he reached out his hand to shake with Danny and Sam. The two smiled politely and thanked the man for welcoming them to the town. When he got to me, I felt his grip tighten. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ronan."

"Just Ronan, or Ron, is fine," I said, smiling and clamping down on his hand. He was able to hold off for a few seconds before breaking the too-long handshake. Clara was giving us a weird look, but Angel swept the conversation away.

"Please, come in. It's actually been nice to have a reprieve from the fighting. Not a single peep from the scouts today!"

"Actually, that is part of why we are here," Clara said.

The woman let Angel escort us to the edge of the gate, but we didn't actually head inside. However, through the gaps of the vehicles I was able to see that there was a secondary wall built not far from the cars. It was entirely made of stone. The magically created type, not some one-off section of pre-Fall architecture that had somehow survived. While I assessed everything around us, including the distinct amount of Q1 people intermingled with Q3s up on the wall, Clara broke down the plan. When she mentioned that the thing covered in vines and strapped to the wagon with the ant at the head was a hunk of a Metier Crystal, it got more looks than poor Anthony the pack ant did at first.

"Is that for us?" Angel asked, his breath caught in his throat. Clara had shared bits of knowledge with the towns, particularly some of the reasons why Wildwood was so much safer.

"No," I said. Based on Angel's expression he did not appreciate me entering the conversation. "That is for Lake Weir. If they break then your town will follow not long after."

Angel seemed to eat within himself for several seconds before coming to some kind of internal decision. He motioned inside with his head, turning without comment.

"Rommel, Samuel. Can you two make sure that we get a resting rotation, please?" Clara said, addressing some of the silent elements that had been in our group.

"It can be done," Rommel huffed. He was already walking away, keeping his meaty arms crossed across his chest.

"I've got to check on Igor again anyhow. You sure you guys will be alright?" Sam asked, looking more at me than at Clara. I could read his tone even without his expression changing. Don't start a fight.

"We'll be fineee," I said, exaggerating while waving a hand in front of my face.

"True. Hardly the first time he's botched a first impression so hard and yet still got the people to help us," Daniela noted. Her smirk split her face as she followed after Rommel without giving me time to come up with a comeback.

"Stonecrest has a thing about power," Clara started. "They know you and your friends. I wasn't the only one to blab about how much of a difference three little bunker people made in Wildwood."

"Things have really gone downhill if you are reassuring me," I sighed.

"Not really, but I would say you should expect some... Friction with the leader of Stonecrest," Clara said, letting out a sigh of her own.

"I simply cannot wait." There was enough sarcasm dripping off that statement I was surprised Clara didn't think I started drooling.

"Come on tough guy," she said. "We'll see how much you keep your cool when you meet the female version of Devon."

"Hey!" The elf in question called from all the way on the other side of the carts.

"That ought to teach you to snoop on people when you aren't scouting, Devon," Clara said at the same volume. Somehow she'd figured out the elf hadn't been able to stay out of the juicy, possibly contentious, conversation with Angel even after he was helping organize a watch. I had to fight to keep from busting out laughing.

With the discussion outside done, the two trucks at the front of the town rolled forward and we followed Angel in. Unlike the rough exterior the rusted cars gave the town, the almost seamless stretch of stone that was their inner wall was reminiscent of the time before the Fall. Just over the fifteen foot lip of the wall I could see the outline of a large building. Angel led us down a well worn path past the three-car deep wall and to a small opening that barely fit me through it.

A guard on the other side slid a wedge of almost the same shape as the door back into place to close the gap. Interesting security measures. Considering the town didn't contend with bordering water like Wildwood, it made sense that they would be able to keep out even small critters if they locked down their entire perimeter.

After going around a choke point formed by cars piled on their sides, I got to give Stonecrest a proper look.

Instead of the slapdash job done on the surviving houses of Wildwood, everything in Stonecrest was made from... Well, stone. Several squat houses, thin windows included, flanked a main road from the entrance all the way to the large building we saw earlier. Like a giant billboard, Stonecrest Walmart, stood emblazoned to the side of the building. Somehow the giant gaudy lettering for the store itself had survived the end of the world. There was no power to the lights, but there was a fair bit of sprayed paint being used to make sure it remained visible along with the addition of the town name next to it.

As we walked towards the Walmart, I could see a population not dissimilar to Wildwood’s. All the Attunements, sans the occasional demon, walking the streets intermingled by older pre-Fall humans. While not surprising since Clara had mentioned the level deficit that both Stonecrest and Lake Weir suffered from, it was a bit jarring to see the uneven spread of levels. Unlike the seemingly minimum of Q2 for the people of Wildwood, there were Q0s amidst the population of Stonecrest. The sheer difference all but confirmed that the Entity Cluster was playing a part in their growth.

I focused on one of the gawking children as we passed. They couldn't have been older than four or five.

Everyone but the children was Attuned, but even the ones that appeared as mundane with the Implant showed some early traits of their future Attuned features. My evaluation of the people of Stonecrest didn't go unnoticed as Angel turned back to look at me.

"What are you staring at?" You couldn't call the man's tone anything but a growl, but the intensity behind his eyes as they met mine was something I recognized: care and concern.

So, instead of rising to meet the response he expected from me, I answered honestly. "I was getting an overview of the people for Stonecrest. Everyone seems healthy, if under leveled, but considering how you've been faring I'd say that is more than impressive."

Angel seemed to have the words caught in his throat, taken aback. Instead of figuring out a way of letting them out, he turned and picked up the pace. The power walk wasn't strenuous, especially when compared to the stress riddled hike to get to Stonecrest, but it didn't give me time to take in more of the town. Before long we arrived at the wide open entry to the superstore, though no automatic doors opened and the greeter was armed with a rifle and a vicious looking machete.

The guard pressed his fist to his chest and moved out of the way for Angel. I could practically feel the guard drill holes into my back as we passed rows and rows of varied supplies. Unfortunately, very little of it was food. Set up in rows were workshops not dissimilar to the pavilions that had existed on Wildwood before the Dreg Crow attacks. Now I could see them banging out panels of metal and running forges to cast who knew what.

We walked past those too, once again being ogled, before arriving at an inside training area. It didn't look anything like the one me and my friends had built next to the Bunker or the one Sarah had slapped together in Wildwood. This was a box reinforced with countless shipping palettes of both wood and metal stacked up to the ceiling.

In the center of the strange training area was a woman, tall for a dwarf, with a martial looking posture. If those old Kung Fu movies I watched were to be believed, it was a horse stance. In front of her were three preteens, two other dwarves, and a merman. Each was holding a spell chain in the air between them as beads of sweat rolled down their heads.

The woman leading the training seemed to notice the company and she quickly dismissed the group. Her black hair hung long and her eyes felt like they would cut me if I stared at them too long. They only softened when they landed on Clara, before a scowl returned to her face as they landed on Angel.

"Well?" she said by way of introduction.

"Rachael Barron, leader of Stonecrest," Clara said, seeing that neither the dwarf nor ol’ fire beard planned to introduce anyone. "This is Ronan Terrigan."

"Ah! The lauded Vanguard, is it?" Rachael teased.

"'Suppose that's me," I said, shrugging at the strange atmosphere. Definitely different than when I met with Sarah and the Council of Wildwood.

"I heard you had a proposition for me?" she said, smirking. Elf whisper spies? How did she get the information so quickly?

"Something like that. We were hoping to discuss some of the things going on with the--"

"Dreg. Yes, I've been informed. However, what I want to know is why I shouldn't just take the crystal and keep it for myself," she said easily.

"Lady, I wouldn't try that if I was you," I said, suddenly very done with the whole political dance I'd kept up with since arriving at the town.

"How dare--"

"Now Rachael--"

Both Angel and Clara were cut off by the sound of clapping stone. The entire back wall of the training area had collapsed back to reveal a much more ample training field, this one marred by more than one rock feature I recognized as belonging to my or another dwarf's magical Skill arsenal.

"I don't think you two understand the weight of the decisions I make. Until I can be sure of that, this kid's renown means nothing to me. If we want to agree to anything, he'll need to Gift Wrestle me impressed," Rachael said. She walked out of the room and into the outside with perfect confidence, even turning her back to us. Angel rushed after her and I could see a rapid fire exchange of information between them.

"This is going the worst case scenario route," Clara said, rubbing her temples right below her horns.

"Care to illuminate?" I said, my earlier frustration replaced with confusion.

"This is going to take a minute," she sighed, leading the way towards the outside training area. As much as I trusted Clara, I couldn't help but think things had gone in a completely wild direction. Most important of all... what the heck is Gift Wrestling!?