First Lieutenant Allegra Delacorte leant backward against an old stone wall near the First Army base of the Invasion Force Division. She tossed a round, purple fruit up twenty feet into the air over and over, staring at one of the five open portals in the large, desolate field.

Technically, she was supposed to be on guard duty. There was one guard posted to each of the portals. The five portals stood about a hundred feet apart, to give the separate invasion teams room to gather around their respective portals.

Allegra was the only guard who’d actually shown up today. There weren’t many details in the First Army where you could get away with simply not showing up, or even just lazing against a wall like Allegra was, instead of standing at full attention while on duty.

But everyone knew this posting meant you were at the bottom of the barrel. It was given to those the top brass thought would never move up in the ranks.

Or those who’d fallen down them.

Allegra had been in the second column, and now she was thoroughly in the first. She may retain her rank of First Lieutenant, but it was in title only. She lacked any real or even figurative power.

Gods, she despised being in the First Army. And she despised showing up here every day just to watch a portal do nothing. When the new world was discovered, she’d thought maybe it would be a chance for her to get back into the game. To actually do something with her life, and her military career.

But that was not so.

Perhaps she should take a page from her follow guards’ books and not bother turning up at all for her next shift. If the base on the other side was in any danger, they would have ample warning through the use of Communication Stones. Her being here was superfluous. Redundant.

Unnecessary.

Just as she caught the fruit she’d been tossing high into the air for the two-thousand-and-third time that day—counting her throws and catches was one of the only things that kept her sane—something out of the ordinary happened.

An item was thrown through her portal. For a moment, she couldn’t tell what it was. Some sort of large, rotten fruit? No—she only thought that because she was currently holding a piece of fruit.

She blinked.

It wasn’t a fruit.

It was a severed head.

First Lieutenant Allegra Delacorte pushed off the stone wall and stepped over to the head, glancing warily at the portal. As she walked, she took a bite of her fruit, the sweet juices pouring into her mouth as her teeth sunk through the skin—she wasn’t going to be able to focus on throwing and catching it after this.

She stepped around the head, bent over, and peered at the features.

It was a man. Someone she recognised, in fact.

Commander Alden Trellot of the Second Invasion Force.

A smile formed on her lips, and she let out a chuckle. “Well I’ll be damned. Apparently good things do happen.”

Allegra had never been a fan of Alden Trellot.

She looked at the portal. A sudden impulse overwhelmed her. It was once she’d felt before. An impulse for adventure. For more.

For a way to get unstuck from her pitiful life.

What lies in wait on the other side?

She took a step backward. Perhaps she should inform her superiors of what had just happened, just in case someone—or something—were to step through the portal.

Then the portal closed. It just… disappeared.

These were solid-state portals, supposed to run off their own steam for thousands of years unless they were closed, so the deaths of the invasion force shouldn’t have been enough to close it.

Which meant that someone on the other side had done it.

Well, this day turned out to be far more interesting than I’d imagined.

First Lieutenant Allegra Delacorte had a decision to make. Her first option was to inform her superiors of what had just happened, and likely be blamed for it somehow, as this portal was her responsibility, after all.

Could they make me fall farther than I already have?

Though it had been a rhetorical question, she knew the answer to that was yes, they very much could.

She would gain nothing by reporting this. It wouldn’t give her what she wanted—her freedom.

No… but perhaps her second option would.

Allegra smiled. She walked over to one of the other portals, taking out an item she’d held onto for longer than she could remember. Something her father had given to her when she’d been a child—a ring. One that could make the wearer invisible and undetectable, even by some of the most powerful Denizens in the entire sector.

But it would only last for an hour.

That’s why she’d never used it in the past.

But now that she knew there was something interesting on the other side of these portals, in the new world—Earth—that had been discovered, she figured it was time she got out of here.

Maybe another world would hold better prospects than this one.

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First Lieutenant Allegra Delacorte of the First Army in the Invasion Force Division walked over to the portal closest to the one that had just closed. She slid the ring over her finger, looking at the crest engraved into its side that depicted two flames crossed, burning as one. Her family’s crest. At least, that’s what she thought of it as.

Standing directly in front of the portal, she activated the item’s imbued ability, becoming completely invisible.

Though the item only had an hour of use, she would have the ability to pause the skill—so if she got out of the base she was about to step into fast enough, she would still have some time left over that she could use.

Time to move fast and quiet, just like dad taught me.

~

Justin had flown far and fast. He’d never get over just how awesome flying was. The wind in his hair, the world spread out beneath him, the universe before him… it offered a level of freedom he’d never had before—a level of freedom he hadn’t even known was possible.

It was even better than driving a sports car down the freeway.

It was no doubt his favourite thing to do in the entire Greater Universe.

But he hadn’t left the base just to have fun, he kept reminding himself. There were other things to do. People to find.

Like his mother.

It had only ever been the two of them. Justin didn’t know, nor honestly care, who his father was. His mother used to tell stories about him, when Justin was young—really young. He doubted she even knew he remembered them, though he didn’t remember them, really. Not very clearly, at least. Just snippets.

Why am I thinking about this? I haven’t thought about my father in years.

He shrugged away those thoughts, gazing down at the wild, seemingly unending forest stretched out before him. That was when he spotted movement down in the trees. His first thought was that it was likely a beast—and he doubted it would be a beast that was worth his time. He couldn’t slow down for every little fight.

As he’d been flying, he’d been keeping an eye on his mini-map, watching the detail upon it grow as he pushed the shadows back. There was something satisfying about that. A sense of discovery. It made him wonder how long it would be for the entire thing to be filled out.

The same time as he spotted movement down between the trees, something else popped up onto his mini-map. A yellow dot. He looked at it and smiled, willing more information to show up.

{The Hollow Dungeon}

Hollow Dungeon? That sounded ominous. He wondered… would he be able to complete a dungeon entirely on his own? If he gained a first clear title, not to mention a solo title, it would definitely make him stronger…

That wouldn’t be fair on the others. Or on Xavier. If I am able to solo a dungeon, he’s the only reason why.

Justin marked the area on his mini-map and flew a little lower to the ground. The first invaders they’d come upon had been near a dungeon. Perhaps the movement he’d seen hadn’t merely been a beast.

If there is an invasion camp down there, they might have captives. Slaves. Just like the last camp had.

He could leave it be. Keep flying. The chances of his mother being down there were incredibly slim, let alone any of the family of his party.

But who would he be if he kept flying? What if his mother was out there, somewhere, in trouble, and someone who had the power to help her just… left her in that situation?

I’d kick that guy’s ass for being a lazy coward, especially if something happened to my mum.

Justin nodded to himself. He tucked his wings, turning his glide into a dive, and dropped down through the trees.

A moment before he hit the ground, he spread his wings, halting his momentum enough that he touched down smoothly, making barely a sound, then he dispelled Winged Flight. The spell had a short enough cooldown that he’d be able to use it again soon.

He moved swiftly and quietly through the trees. He may not be as fast or as powerful as Xavier, but he still knew what he was doing, and the last thing he wanted was to make his presence known if there were invaders on the ground as he suspected.

Justin might very well be one of the strongest Denizens on Earth after Xavier, but that didn’t mean he could just walk into a camp full of invaders and expect to survive.

No, but that’s definitely something Xavier would do. And the bastard would do it in style.

Justin smirked.

He moved through the forest with a practiced ease that was only recently acquired. One advantage of his class he’d discovered was that it made him lighter on his feet—literally. After enough time in the air, using Winged Flight, he’d gained another skill, one he was finding quite useful.

He was able to adjust how much his body weighed. Right now, he could only adjust his weight by 5 percent each way, either making himself heavier or lighter depending on which he wished.

Still, he found the skill came in handy.

He moved from tree to tree, pushing his senses outward. He’d sensed a few auras from up in the sky, but so far they’d all been nothing more than beasts.

Justin froze, suddenly feeling incredibly foolish. He hadn’t sensed an enemy yet, but he realised something rather crucial—he did not currently possess neither an ability nor an item that would allow him to mask his aura, which meant that anyone above Level 10 would be able to see him if he was close enough to their camp.

There goes my sneak-attack plan.

It would be difficult to take them all out one by one if they saw him coming.

Justin put his back to a tree and thought WWXD—what would Xavier do?

He wouldn’t just give up and get out of this place.

Unlike Xavier, Justin couldn’t hide his aura. He also couldn’t hide his level. Only Xavier possessed an item that prevented others from scanning him. None of the other members of their party had received such a thing.

If the enemy invaders discovered Denizens over Level 30 here on Earth…

Justin grinned.

They wouldn’t think they were earthlings—they would assume they were rival invaders.

Justin wrapped his fingers around the hilt of his sword.

Perhaps he would just have to walk through this camp after all.

I can make it work. Get close enough for them to sense me, then come after me.

They won’t send everyone at once—not at first. My Aura Sight will be stronger than theirs anyway, which means I’ll be able to better see where they all are, especially with the mini-map.

Justin drew his sword.

It was time to have some fun. Assuming there was anyone even down here…

~

Well this is rather interesting.

Allegra Dellacorte, former First Lieutenant in the First Army of the Invasion Force Division from the planet Nasrien, had fled the third invasion force’s base camp in the matter of a few minutes, and on her way through the trees, far enough away now that the others wouldn’t be able to sense her if she dropped her invisibility, she sensed an aura out here.

An aura more powerful than any of those back at the camp.

There shouldn’t be anyone with an aura this powerful on this planet… it should be impossible. Then again, it might explain a thing or two.

Like who was responsible for throwing Commander Alden Trellot’s head through that portal. Invasion forces from rival worlds, or even allied worlds, occasionally skirmished, or even wiped each other out.

But they rarely antagonised the home world by sending severed heads as messages.

Allegra’s adventurous side—which was responsible for making her step through that portal in the first place, basically abandoning her home world for… perhaps forever—compelled her to investigate.

She moved through the forest even more quietly than she had before. Someone with an aura as powerful as that would have far better natural senses than those back in camp, and there were less noises around for her to mask the sounds she made as she stepped. Even with the imbued ability dampening every noise she made, she knew it was still a risk going after whoever this was.

But she realised she was a big fan of taking risks, which was why she couldn’t wipe the massive smile currently plastered on her face.

Whoever this was would likely be after the invaders in the camp she’d just fled through. Considering she’d just abandoned her home world, that made those in the camp her enemy, now. Not that she had anything against them as individuals.

Still, perhaps she could make this person her ally. Because, after all…

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.