Xavier stood there for what felt like a very long moment as the woman’s words sunk in.

Justin has been captured by the enemy? He’s on another world?

The first emotion he felt was anger. Looking down at the woman, he wanted to take that anger out on her. Who was this woman who’d come to tell him that one of his party members was simply captured?

He shut his eyes. Took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. All was silent around him but for the breathing of the newly released captives. He could hear the woman’s heart beating, fast and hard in her chest. She, unlike the others, was holding her breath.

Xavier opened his eyes and looked around at the people behind the woman. A quick scan told him that they were all Level 1. The state they were in was reminiscent of how the citizens of his base had looked when he’d saved them.

So far, there was no reason to believe that she was lying to him, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t. The people behind her could be anyone. They could be from another planet, for all he knew. This could be some strange ploy to get spies inside of his camp.

Then again, with the ability to make truth contracts and the like, he imagined it would actually be rather difficult to send a spy into someone else’s camp. He stood there, letting the silence stretch, letting the initial anger he’d felt dissipate.

If this woman was telling the truth, the last thing he wanted was to be cruel to her. No, he’d much rather help her. She looked so afraid of what would happen next the blood had rushed from her face.

And, if what she’d said was true, the people behind her—thirty-three people, to be exact—needed his help, and the security of being inside his base.

He tilted his chin up, wishing that Howard or Siobhan were here. They were far better at talking than he was.

None of these people are a threat to me.

“Open the gates,” Xavier said, loud enough for John, up on the wall, to hear.

Allegra Dellacorte finally released the breath she’d been holding. “Thank you.” She paused. “Justin didn’t tell me your name, only that his leader was stronger than him. I imagine it is you who leads these people?” She nodded at the base.

“My name is Xavier Collins. And yes, I do lead these people.” No point hiding his identity anymore. Not after what he’d just done. He turned to the side and gestured for her to step through the opening gate, confident that if any trouble were to be in these people’s hearts, he would be able to stop it long before it began.

Xavier took the woman to the war room down in the base’s basement. She seemed a little wary, walking down to the windowless depths, alone with him. Xavier supposed he couldn’t blame her, and until he got her full measure, he wasn’t about to put her at ease and tell her she was safe.

If she’s not lying to me, then she’s safe. If she is, then she isn’t.

Allegra stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking out at the room. “I’m surprised you’ve managed to plant a Sanctuary Seed so quickly. Very impressive.”

“I’ve had more time to prepare for this than you might imagine.”

It might have only been two weeks since the integration of Earth, but he’d spent a good six months on the fifth floor, facing off with the Endless Horde, which was impressive all on its own. But he imagined he would look even more intimidating if the sector believed he’d done everything in two weeks, without the help of time moving different on that floor.

Allegra’s forehead creased at his words, though she did not follow up with a question about them.

“Please, take a seat.” Xavier sat down at the head of the table. Allegra still looked unsure, but she didn’t hesitate. She sat at his left side, with two seats between them.

“I imagine you’ll want a truth contract,” she breathed.

“Yes.”

They sorted out the specifics of the contract. They could each ask questions of the other, and while they could refuse to answer them, any questions they did answer had to be the truth. He didn’t have to answer her questions, but he thought giving her that option would show his goodwill.

If this woman had truly defected from her world, she could be a valuable asset. Someone with knowledge about the Silver River sector.

Once the contract had been agreed to by the both of them and was activated, the woman spoke. So fast that the words were practically tumbling forth from her mouth. It was then that he realised the worry that this Allegra had been feeling wasn’t for herself. She’d seen how Justin had acted, and knew that she would be safe with Xavier.

She hadn’t been lying about why she was here. She’d simply been worried about Justin.

Part of Xavier was relieved by the fact that she hadn’t been trying to lie to him. Another part, however, wasn’t relieved in the slightest.

It meant that Justin truly had been captured, taken to another world, and that he couldn’t use this woman as leverage.

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Not that he believed that would have actually worked.

The anger he’d been feeling when she’d first told him about this returned. He clenched his fists, which had been resting on the table in front of him.

“What’s going to happen to him?” Xavier asked, his rage barely contained.

Allegra’s gaze rose to meet his. The lines in her forehead deepened. Her eyes looked sad. “I wish I knew.”

~

Xavier needed to find the others. Howard and Siobhan. It wasn’t that they were necessary to have by his side to help him find Justin, but rather that he wanted them here, at the base. There was still so very much to do in the camp. None of the citizens here had had a chance to venture outside and fight beasts, as the beasts in the area had already grown far too strong for Level 1s to deal with.

Basically, all they could to while they were here was try and work on skills—something which would be a lot easier if they had the opportunity to gain levels and fight monsters. He knew they hadn’t been here long, but now that he had even more former captives here, he needed to do something for them.

But he couldn’t do that while he was off trying to save Justin.

He looked at his mini map. He knew exactly how he was going to find Howard. All he had to do was follow the arrow that was pointing toward the man, and head that way.

Justin’s stuck on another world. No arrow pointing his way.

Those words kept repeating in his mind. Justin was still only sixteen years old! Something which Xavier continually found to be more than a little crazy.

I should never have split him from the others. Should have never sent him off alone. I thought he’d be safe enough, high up in the air.

Except that wouldn’t have actually worked. Even if Justin had been with the others, they still would have gone down to that camp, and chances were one of them would have fallen for that commander’s Death Trap.

Not finding a better option, Xavier left the camp in Allegra’s hands. They signed a contract before he left. One that ensured she wasn’t capable of harming anyone in his camp. He also assured the woman that he had a Communication Stone paired with one of the citizens here, so he would know every single thing that went on here while he was away.

She amended the contract before signing it, putting in a clause that said she had to protect the base if it became under attack. Xavier wondered if she was doing that because she truly wanted to protect these people, or if she was just trying to further gain his trust. He supposed it didn’t matter much either way.

A part of Xavier knew that it sounded incredibly stupid to leave someone who would have been, up until just a few hours ago, considered to be a planetary invader, in the camp alone with his people. But he’d done the same kind of contract with Adranial and her party.

Nothing has gone wrong there. Not yet.

He left the camp like a shot going off, leaping over the battlements and zooming through the trees.

Melissa Donavan found the dungeon the perfect place to train.

She had no idea why the System would create such a thing, but she appreciated it all the same.

This was her fifth time through the dungeon. The place was filled with monsters. Beasts. Some more humanoid than she liked. Nothing like the elves she’d single-handedly cleared from the area. Scanning them, they appeared to be goblins.

Elves. Goblins. Next thing you know I’ll be coming up against dragons.

The thought made her shudder—she wasn’t quite ready for dragons—but it also made her excited.

The dungeon wasn’t actually a dungeon. When she’d first received the quest to clear it, she’d thought it would be like where Happy Potter went to do his potions classses, but it was nothing like that at all.

The dungeon was a forest, for which she’d been pleasantly surprised. She’d spent every moment in a forest since the System had integrated her, and she knew how to move through one with practised ease.

Melissa ducked out of cover and loosed one arrow after another in quick succession. Three goblins went down, arrows jutting from the backs of their neck, head, or spine. They fell to the underbrush with dull thuds.

She returned to her cover and took a breath, held it, and listened. Waiting to see if the alarm bells rang.

In the middle of this forest dungeon was a tree house, high up in the branches, where the dungeon boss resided. There were other buildings up there too. The goblins she faced felt somewhat primitive, and this was their domain. She glanced up at the canopy, narrow wooden bridges leading from one building to another.

It was strange, yet in a way rather beautiful. She couldn’t help but wonder how a creature as ugly as a goblin could have been the architects of such a place.

That’s a little discriminatory there, Melissa. I’m sure goblins can do anything humans can. And maybe a few things we can’t.

When no alarm sounded, she continued to stalk through the forest.

She was trying to go through the entire dungeon without being seen.

So far, this was the farthest she’d gotten. Every time an alarm sounded, she bolted, sprinting for the exit, left the dungeon, then started over.

She liked to think it was because she was simply trying for the perfect run, but she knew that wasn’t the case. The creatures in this dungeon were simply too powerful—she didn’t trust herself to be able to take them all out if they were aware of her presence.

Melissa smiled at the silence that had followed her killing of the goblins. She released the breath she’d been holding and darted out, placing a hand on each of the corpses, disappearing them into her Storage Ring. She didn’t have a use for their corpses, but she also didn’t have time to loot them here and now. Besides, she needed any trace of what she’d done to be invisible. Not a single soul could know that she was here.

She slipped back into the shadows and climbed up a tree. Some of the trees had ladders, disguised to look like normal branches, but she avoided these trees. They would be ones someone would be expected to climb up, and so more likely to be watched—at least, that’s the conclusion she’d come to, having been caught by the enemy on two different occasions while climbing one of those tree ladders.

When she reached the top, she pulled herself over a low wooden wall and landed outside a large building wrapped around a tree. Her landing made no sound, her boots as soft as a feather touching down. This wasn’t the dungeon boss’s lair, she was sure of that, but she was also sure it was occupied.

I need to clear the entire dungeon.

If she got to the boss while any of these damned goblins were still residing in the land of the living, she was sure they’d all turn up to do her in alongside their leader.

Melissa turned the handle, hoping it would be unlocked. No such luck. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any lockpicks on her—nor did she actually possess the ability to pick a lock.

Here goes nothing.

She stepped back, nocked an arrow, and aimed for the handle, hoping this would be quieter than simply kicking the door down.

Not a single alarm sounded as she cleared the building, taking down ten goblins. But when she stepped out she found herself under attack. A fireball streamed through the air toward her, and a hundred scowling eyes watched her from the trees.

Swearing under her breath, Melissa vaulted over the side and shot down to the ground. She landed, rolled, and came up in a sprint.

When she stepped out of the dungeon, someone was waiting for her.

Two someones.