Luke dropped two yards from the air. He bent his knees and his body easily spread the resulting kinetic force from the short fall. The temperature unusual, in that it felt even. Luke soon found the answer, in the room the portal dropped him into, crystals and colored waters dominated the opposite ends of the room. One side had a blue-green theme, green crystal and blue water intermixed, a thin snow path led to an ice-covered iron door.

The other way possessed red crystals and yellow water. A dark gray cloud way was the path this time. In the middle of these two was where Luke plopped into. It was your normal brown soil mixed with stone, no crystals or water though. Colored wisps kept each side’s temperature back.

As Luke thought earlier, hunter groups dotted this part of the room. About three times as many compared to the ones who waited outside the portal. As a result from crowding, the privacy these groups enjoyed in their conversations lowered in quality. Without meaning to, Luke caught plenty of what the closest groups discussed.

“We’re picking the iron-ice door this time, right Leon?” A human woman archer asked.

“No, we couldn’t buy enough frost resistance potions, remember?” A tora man replied.

“Oh right…”

The Reaver heard plenty of these scenarios play out around them. No group seemed to have all the supplies they wanted, and many ran-through their plans a final time before trekking into their chosen side. Luke didn’t have too much of a headache over which side to choose, his resistances would moderate each side’s environmental limits.

He wanted to ask Wayfinder and Xera if they had a preference, but them talking now would paint a target on his back. A lone man in a dungeon with valuable artifacts? Easy pickings for the uninformed. Luke wasn’t too worried about them attacking him, it was more he didn’t want to have to exterminate entire rooms of people. Morals aside, the aftermath would blow up into something he couldn’t handle yet.

If one person knew, everyone in the vicinity would have to be put six feet under.

Already, a few groups eyed him, discussing who this idiot was, coming in a dungeon by himself. Their other more experienced party members with keen awareness pointed out Luke had a companion, and occasionally those classes went in dungeons alone. Companion classes usually fared fine by themselves if they fought monsters below their level.

None of these groups were careless enough to voice out if they had any malicious intent. Luke found a section of the temperate part of the room, with relatively less people, and stood there. Luke didn’t miss the minority of groups that kept their glances on him. He observed the room’s two sides, and read the map for Orlan's Beast divide. With his bearings gathered, he spoke to Sooty.

“Prefer hot or cold this time, Sooty?”

Sooty used her side of Reaver’s Link this time, a disjointed feeling of warmth came through to Luke.

“Hot side it is then. We did have enough of the cold in the tomb, didn’t we?”

The corvid slapped a wing on his back in agreement.

“What! I wanted to be an ice prin- oops, sorry” Xera started.

Luke immediately covered the crystal that Xera’s voice came through, and Sooty landed on the sword with her talons on the upper hilt, and started to open her beak. The double cover prevented the worst disaster, but created a misunderstanding.

“Did that guy’s companion just talk? How rare is it to have something like that?” A monic mage woman asked, stars in her eyes as she looked at Sooty.

“Does it matter? Even if you forcibly take the companion from the guy. It resets to level one. And now you’ve got a companion not suited to your class, that probably hates your guts.” A human warrior replied.

“Yeah, but…”

“No buts. Not worth the trouble. Leave him be. Need to be a companion class in the first place to take one.”

By now, Luke had grown to understand Xera better. Most issues she caused weren’t intentional, she just couldn’t suppress her personality very well. It was literally forged into her. It would the equivalent of asking a human to go against their biological hardwiring to breathe. Could you stop for awhile with sheer will? Sure. Eventually you have to breathe. Or die.

A group of four walked up to Luke, “Hey there, sorry to ask, but are you a transfer too?” A woman with blond hair, brown eyes and leather armor on said.

Luke scanned the four with his eyes. It was a group of four humans, two men, and two girls. He replied, “I am, what gave it away?”

“You’re like us, the air around you doesn’t ‘fit’, if that makes any sense,” she said.

“Was told something similar before the vanishing started, but I’ll take it,” Luke said.

She bit her fingers, and hunched over a little, “So which wave were you? No, I guess it doesn’t matter. Our fifth couldn’t make it today, we saw you were alone, and Lilly over there couldn’t take her eyes off your companion…”

“Casandra!” The other woman in the group said. She had black hair that went well with the deep purple cloth armor she wore. She clutched a wand in one hand and a tome in the other.

The blond woman, Casandra, shrugged and stopped herself. Her eyes inspected Luke, and stopped on his shoulder piece.

“Would you like to join? We’re only dealing with monsters up to the 15th level though.”

As Luke prepared to answer, one of the two men came up close to Luke, leaving only enough space so Luke didn’t try to push him off. The man spoke quietly, “Casandra’s trying to cover for you. We try not to leave our fellow vanishers out to dry. You’ve got many groups interested in your companion now, don’t be fooled by what that warrior said out-loud earlier.”

Luke said without skipping a beat, “Your caster seems interested in her too.”

The last man laughed at that, “Right, but Lilly is just obsessed with birds,” he held his hand out to Luke, “I’m Kyle, and that’s Darius.”

Luke glanced around him, and indeed a large minority of the room subtly fixated on Sooty. The Reaver took the outstretched hand, and returned a firm handshake, “Luke,” he looked at Lilly, “Sooty had a fan before, if you find some fruit for her, you might make friends.”

Lilly blushed at having her intentions called out, before venting, “We’ve got nothing of the sort on us. I’ll come back soon!” Lilly began to try and walk out, Casandra placed an iron grip on her friend's shoulder, “No you won’t” she said, turning to Luke she asked, “So? What do you think?”

“Are you going through the fire side?”

“As a matter of fact, we are.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Luke scrutinized each of the four. If he totally misjudged this group, and Lilly genuinely wanting to interact with Sooty was a ploy, he felt he could make sure none saw the light of day again. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Truthfully, Luke didn’t want to join the group, but if this move got those other hunters off his back, it would be worth it to accept for a short time. Xera’s slip up tied his hands if Luke didn’t want to go full murder hobo.

“In that case, I’m in. May keep going after you all reach your stopping point, if that’s fine.”

Casandra slowly nodded her head, “Suit yourself, accept the invite, please.”

A pop up window appeared in Luke’s vision.

[Casandra has invited you to join her party]

Before accepting, Luke asked another question. “What does it show you when I accept an invite to a party? It’s only been Sooty and I since I’ve come here.”

Casandra blinked a few times. Her body stood still. Eventually she opened her mouth, “Wow, a true loner then? I’m as impressed as I am curious how you managed that for at least a year.”

Feeling personally attacked with no form of physical damage involved, Luke scratched the back of his head and said nothing.

“Anyway,” Casandra started, “If you’re like a few, and want to hide something in particular, you don’t have to worry much. We’ll only see your health, level and name.”

Luke didn’t answer, and accepted the invitation.

Darius slapped him on the back, opposite of the side Sooty stood near, “You won’t regret it man! Been to the Beast Divide before?” He asked.

“No, but I did get a map, I know most people buy resistance gear or potions for which side they pick. But I lucked into a unique quest, so I’ve got a few points naturally.”

Kyle interjected, “We had a few spare fire-resist potions just in case, but that plays out perfectly. If you don’t mind me asking, you’ve got at least 5 points of fire resistance right? That’s usually the accepted minimum to go in without gear or potions for it.”

Luke nodded, “I do.”

Lilly spoke up, a little too loudly, “Great then! Let’s get going,” she snuck up near to Sooty as she said so. The bird flapped away and stood on Luke’s head. The girl seemed disheartened and pouted.

The antics of Sooty’s newest fan aside, Luke walked behind the group as they began to step onto the gray cloud path leading to an iron door with a ring of fire around it. Lilly stayed in the back with him, Casandra took up the middle and the two men were out in the front.

Red wisps parted as Luke came into this side of the room. The temperature experienced a vertical increase, as Luke felt like he was in an arid desert immediately. The fire resistance did as advertised, and the environment was bearable, if uncomfortable, for both him and Sooty.

The group stopped before the door. Everyone but Luke took out a potion bottle filled with a reddish-orange liquid. Once each of the four downed the entire bottle’s contents, everyone readied their weapons.

“Doesn’t seem like you’ve been here before Luke,” Casandra said, “When you go through the door, our party will be put into one of four areas at random. Since we're in a party, we’ll land at the same location, but be ready, monsters will attack immediately.”

“Not a problem.” Luke said, ready to fight once more.

Casandra coincidently stated, “Lilly, prepare us.”

“Got it!” The ornithophile said.

A sacred white circle pushed out from Lilly, it surrounded the group with room to spare. Luke felt invigorated, and the soreness in his muscles dissipated. Both his swords obtained a faint white radiance.

“Let’s make the most of Lilly’s AOE buff, everyone in, now,” Casandra said.

Darius palmed the door, and a red circle of flame opened beneath all members of the group. Instantly, they plunged through the recently created circle. Luke felt weightless, but his feet found volcanic soil half a second later.

A flash of red tried to ram into him, but he cleaved Xera through it without thinking. Frost danced on his blade, and hot blood split between Luke. The white radiance from Lilly forced the liquid back outside of its range.

Conditioning took over, Luke took out Whispering Edge, and used Wraith Wail, the activation spread between a group of ten monsters. They were low-end hell hounds, their eyes pure yellow, and their feet black. Tendrils of flame left as they walked.

Their charge halved with Luke’s reaction, and the one unlucky hell hound stuck in Wrath Wail’s horror effect turned into a pincushion from Darius’s spear and Kyle’s axe. Casandra assisted with a crossbow she’d taken out.

Lilly’s tome opened, and she said, “Leave Sooty alone, nasty dogs!” A holy smite ripped through two hell hounds, opening a deep wound on both.

Luke ignored that Lilly openly admitted she cared only for Sooty. In her eyes, the hell hound tried to pounce on Sooty. He was chopped liver. Luke kept back Essence Lance, and sent the instruction to Sooty through Reaver’s Link, while they remained in this party, she wasn’t to use Shadow Wing or Essence Screech.

Elnora mentioned earlier that a companion with an AOE ability was rare. And Sooty already had enough interest focused on her without revealing she knew rare abilities as well.

The Reaver figured a ‘spell sword’ using an ability to enchant their sword wouldn’t be out of place. He cycled Infusion as he cleaved through multiple hell hounds with Xera and Whispering Edge. By the time he finished his whirlwind of strikes, the other four had taken down three hell hounds while he devastated the rest. Sooty released a well-timed combination of Reaver’s Beak and Talon Strike, so she took down three of Luke’s seven by herself.

With the battle quickly cleared, Luke kept his guard up. Around them was relatively empty space, with no other parties around. He didn’t let his senses leave the other four around him.

Now would be the perfect time to attack him, if they were going to.

Nothing of the sort happened. While remaining high strung, Luke said, “What level were those? They died before I could get a read with the Interface.”

Lilly answered, “We got a little unlucky, a pack of level 11 juvenile hell-hounds. We’re on the hardest out of the four possible spots for the heat theme of the Beast Divide.”

Level 11’s. No wonder. Luke thought.

“That change the level of creature you’re going to fight up to?” Luke said.

Casandra overtook Lilly, “No, in fact, you’re a damn wrecking house. We said level 15 because we weren’t sure if you’d be dead weight or not, we can get to twenty with you around, easy. May keep it to 15 still for Lilly's sake.”

The Reaver didn’t take offense. He found he could respect someone being cautious with an unknown group member. He tried to be the same, after all. Lilly stayed mute, the priest girl had stars in her eyes again as she stared at Sooty. The corvid became mildly uncomfortable and hid on the opposite side of Luke’s neck.

Luke tried not to be rude to someone who also liked Sooty, but also wanted his corvid to be comfortable.

“Lilly, I get you like birds and all, but Sooty is starting to get shy. She likes to keep to herself around others. Best you be patient.”

The other three group members laughed when Lilly turned bright red and downcast.

Kyle and Darius took the opportunity to hang around Luke closer. “You ripped through em man, what’s your class if you don’t mind us asking?” Kyle said, before correcting himself, “Ah, where’s my manners. I’ll start, I’m a knight. No magic unfortunately, heard there’s some skill books that can help with that for my class though.”

Darius piggybacked, “I’m a spear master. I’ve got a long way to go until I live up to my class name. You’re probably what, some special variant of spell sword? I noticed you cast an ability on both your swords and your companion. Some sort of frost skill too?”

Man’s got sharp eyes. Do they not know about elementalization? Luke internally noted.

Luke spoke, “That’s right, I’m a spell sword, but my class adapted when I transferred to this place. The Interface linked Sooty and I, since the day we both came here.”

Casandra commented, “Heard about that rarely happening with a few people who vanished to this world with their pets, you’re lucky.”

“Right then,” She continued, “Now that our powerful spell sword proved himself. Let’s ramp up clearing this place out. Kyle, after you.”

Kyle leveled his shield to cover most his body, and keep his axe out to the side, “Leave it to me.”

The party dutifully followed Kyle’s lead. Luke took the opportunity to witness the area around him. Mirages of heat were abound, and red spires popped up with no pattern. The same red crystals torn through the soil and nearby twisted molten walls. He didn’t see any water. The sound of faint sizzling echoed around. He smelt sulfur mixed with another scent he couldn’t recall.

Their knight stopped. After muttering, “What are the odds…” he took cover near one of the spires. The rest of the group mirrored him, although Luke was more relaxed in his pace. Kyle smashed his shield into the volcanic soil and took stance, “Another beast group found us, an overflow group this time, snake tail chimera’s.”

Casandra readied her crossbow, her eye’s morphed slightly, her iris colored that to match the yellow you’d see on eagles. Luke made out a faint silhouette charging at them. Casandra already fired, and the bolt caused the moving figure to fall over.

Right behind came a massive beast wave. Beasts with a lions head, snake tail and an additional, set of atrophied bat wings rushed in a haphazard formation toward the group.

“Darius, ready yourself, Lilly, use light’s repel the moment they crash in. Don’t hold back on shield wall Kyle, I’ll go ahead and bolt rain to soften them up.” She turned half her face to Luke, “You don’t seem to have any AOE Luke, except for that blade ability. Is it off cooldown?”

“Yeah, best I use it on their front, so that part gets trampled over,” Luke said.

“I’ll leave it to you then, just continue being a whirlwind of slaughter. Can I ask you to keep an eye out for Lilly?”

Luke steadied Whispering Edge as he aimed for Wraith Wail, “Easily.”