Sam's party moved cautiously but steadily through the cave system. Three times that day, they were forced to backtrack; Sam's cartography ability proved invaluable as they found their way through the caves.

Their first encounter came only a short time after their third backtrack. Sam could tell from her map they had traveled nearly five kilometers into the cave system, but with all the twists and turns, they were barely two kilometers from the entrance had they traveled in a straight line. The cave became progressively wider as they trekked, nearly as wide as a two-lane highway. Sam had just noted the floor was starting to slope upward when Lupie, who had taken point with Nara on her back, froze in an alert stance.

Sam walked into Lupie's backside, getting a mouthful of tail fur. Before Sam could ask what was happening, Lupie mentally sent a message to the party, "Cannot move… something… ahead… close your… eyes." Lupie sounded like she was under great strain as she spoke.

Sam quickly squinted her eyes shut; she didn't really need them anyway, with how high her Mana Sight skill was now. Slipping out from behind Lupie, Sam sent her mana threads down the corridor, trying to detect what was currently binding Lupie. "Is anyone else paralyzed?" Sam asked when she didn't sense movement from her companions.

“No, Nul fine,” the little Void Slime’s voice rang out in the darkness from its perch as her hat.

“Shh, Nul, use mental communication,” Sam sent back in response through their comms.” She didn’t receive a response and hoped she had gotten her point across.

Checking with her mana threads, Sam noted everyone was indeed unmoving. Poking Lupie with a mana thread, Sam activated her repair skill but the feedback she received said there was nothing to heal. "So, it isn't like when I was poisoned by the Deephunter meet. I wonder why Lupie told me to close my eyes. Maybe it is an ocular attack of some sort? Man, I hate not knowing what is about to try to kill me!" She thought, continuing to creep forward slowly around the Bloodmorph.

Sam heard it before she saw it in her mana sight. A light clicking sound of claws on stone preceded a small meter-long creature resembling an emaciated, hairless dog was crouched low in the middle of the path. Its eyes were glowing yellow in Sam's sight, but compared to most of the monsters she had fought, this one looked a little…weak? Not being fooled by the creature's size and appearance, Sam identified it.

Hollow Stalker [Level 67]; Hostile; Affinity: Spirit; This monster has been summoned from the spirit plane by either a natural mana convergence or a ritual. Hollow Stalkers paralyze their prey through visual contact so they may feed on the spirits of their victims. Killing these creatures will only result in banishing them back to their plane.

“Huh, it doesn’t sound that tough,” Sam thought, then immediately regretted it when she saw more pairs of yellow eyes creeping slowly down the tunnel. “Shit, I just had to go and think it!” Sam admonished herself, then sent Nul a message, "Nul, I'm going to fight these things, but they are very high level, so maybe you should go hide while I deal with—”

"Void bolt!" Nul shouted gleefully, firing a teardrop of crackling void energy at the closest creature. Bouncing off Sam's head to stick against the cave wall, the Void Slime kept shouting 'void bolt' over and over, launching the spells at the approaching monsters.

"Dammit!" Sam snapped the instant Nul attacked. She quickly threw out a large shield construct to block off half of the tunnel, hoping to channel the now-charging Hollow Stalkers toward her and Nul. She then formed spear and shield constructs and began sending a barrage of mana bolts down the corridor at the rapidly approaching monsters.

The first monster Nul had attacked must have been caught off guard because Nul's void bolt struck it square in the face. However, Sam didn't think Nul had hit another target after the initial attack, so she shouted to the slime over the now yipping and growling monsters, "Try to aim where you think they will be when your attack gets to them! Stop aiming at where they are!"

Streaks of purple and black energy were flying everywhere. Sam did her best to keep the attacking creatures from getting past and attacking her helpless companions. Still, a couple evaded her, running up the cave walls and leaping over her shield construct. Sam could only hope her party members had strong enough spirits to survive until she could help them. As it was, she had only killed a handful of the attackers. Each one taking nearly twenty mana bolts to finish off.

When the main body of the attacking monsters reached her, Sam changed tactics. She formed three-meter-long void whips in both hands and began swinging them horizontally through the press of bodies. One of the benefits of the Hollow Stalkers being banished instead of killed was that as soon as their health dropped to zero, their physical form vanished in a cloud of grey mist. This development allowed Sam to use less void energy as her whips didn't get bogged down in their flesh after they were defeated.

Sam killed over half of the attacking monsters in her first few whip strikes, and the rest turned to flee. Sam pressed her attack thought and chased as many of them down as she could, giving herself less than a minute to pursue the retreating creatures, knowing she needed to get back to help her companions. She still felled fifteen more of the Hollow Stalkers before they spread out too thin for her to kill in numbers effectively.

Turning back, Sam sprinted to her group, then stopped short a few paces before reaching them. Nul was bouncing up and down in front of everyone, who were all shaking their heads as if still a little dazed. As Sam watched her friends recover, one of the Hollow Stalkers tried to slip from behind a giant mushroom. Nul said, "Void step," and disappeared mid-bounce, reappearing on the escaping creature's back and shouting, "Void bolt!" From point-blank range, a bolt of void magic slammed into the back of the Hollow Stalker's head, followed by a little 'pop' as the bolt imploded part of the monster's brain. It vanished into a cloud of mist an instant later. Nul vanished again, only to reappear right where it had been, continuing to bounce as if it hadn't just teleported five meters and killed a monster at least sixty levels above its own.

Catching the cute little ball of doom mid-bounce, Sam plopped it back on her head, saying, "So, you decided, instead of trying to target them, you would just teleport and hit them point blank instead."

"Yes, easy," Nul happily said as it melted onto Sam's head. Then it said, "But no good monster! No food! Nul want monster to eat!"

Sam chuckled and patted the Void Slime gently, “Don’t worry, I’m sure there will be something to eat soon.”

Looking around, Sam asked, "Where is Naris?"

Nara switched to Naris, who shook his head morosely, "Apparently, the clone body uses mana instead of vitality to stay in this reality. Which is why there is no pain associated with it. Unfortunately, as soon as the creature that decided to attack me realized I was nothing more than a copy, it could not siphon spirit energy from, it tore out my throat, and banished my clone."

"Huh," Sam said, "if magical energy keeps the clone alive, then shouldn't the clone have like…two hundred thousand health?"

Naris shook his head, “No, it is only as much as Nara’s body has. Which is to say around fifteen hundred.”

Sam nodded. It made sense the spell had that kind of restriction; otherwise, Naris would be one hell of a powerful tank. "Okay, so why are you using Nara's body now? Do you need mana to make another clone?"

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Naris switched with Nara, and she explained, "No, we are still good on mana, but I cannot recast the spell for another six days or so."

"Oh," was all Sam said. Then she checked on Lupie and Parish. "Are the two of you ladies okay?" She asked, addressing them both.

"I'm fine," Lupie said, then added, "Sorry I couldn't help you."

"But you did help me," Sam said, patting her friend's neck, "you warned me to close my eyes, remember?" Lupie perked up at Sam's statement and sighed a low murmuring that strangely resembled a purr as Sam's pat turned into an ear scratch.

Parish held a hand over her chest with a wince before speaking, “I need a few minutes—" she coughed and spit a wad of grey slime out of her mouth, then slumped to her knees, "or maybe an hour." She shook her head, "I hate spirit attacks! They always affect us healers the strongest, and I had three of the little bastards on me!" Parish coughed again and sighed, asking, "I don't suppose anyone has a spirit restoration spell or potion?"

Sam didn't think she had one but checked her inventory anyway on the off chance she had looted one without realizing it. Thinking 'restoration' with her inventory open, she smiled when over twenty light grey potions appeared in her vision. Pulling two out, she walked over and handed them to Parish. When the woman fumbled with the stopper on the first vial, Sam quickly knelt and helped her open and drink the potion.

As soon as Parish drank the first potion, the stress lines around her eyes disappeared, and she relaxed. "Thank you," she said, looking at Sam with a weak smile.

Sam returned the smile and handed Parish several more potions. Then she checked her notifications, curious as to how she had received them in the first place. She had an idea but needed to confirm.

You have banished a Hollow Stalker [Level 63]. Bonus experience earned for defeating an enemy at least 20 levels above your own. The enemy has been automatically looted.

Loot Received:

1-Gold; 6-Silver; 32-Copper; Monster core [Hollow Stalker]; Hollow Stalker hide [Level 63]; Hollow Stalker eye x 2; 2kg Hollow Stalker meat; Small Spirit Restoration Potion x 1.

“I wonder what the eyes do,” Sam thought, pulling one out of her inventory and preparing herself for the squishy orb with the optic nerves still attached like the Blade Tail's had been when she summoned it. Having prepared for the worst, Sam was surprised when a smooth yellow marble appeared in her hand, “Interesting,” Sam mumbled, identifying the little eyeball.

Hollow Stalker Eye: Consuming this eye will make the user 25% more resistant to spirit-based attacks for one hour. Spirit Sight will also be gained by the user for one hour. Effects are stackable and may be enhanced by a skilled alchemist.

Checking her inventory, Sam found she had over forty eyes from her looted kills. Sharing her identify screen with the group, she gave everyone five eyes and three of the spirit potions. After a short discussion, they decided to rest for an hour and then take all five eyes before proceeding. They planned to travel until thirty minutes before the effects of the eyes ran out. Then, depending on how close they thought they were to the exit, they would either make camp or try to get out of the cave system if the exit was near.

While they waited, Sam checked Nul's level. She had gone up a level in her class, so she figured the little slime must have gained a few himself. She was right.

Nul

Race: Void Slime; Collective [Level 3]

Class: Void Mage [Level 5]

Health: 153

Stamina: 92

Mana: 467

Attributes:

STR – 5

VIT – 10

END – 6

AGL – 6

INT – 25

WIS – 28

Free Attribute Points 0.

Abilities:

Slime [Level 2]

Void Manipulation

Void Sight [Level 3]

Class Skills:

Void Infusion [Level 1]

Void Step [Level 2]

Racial/General Skills:

Identify [Level 1]

Class Spells:

Void Bolt [Level 2]

Void Tunnel [Level 1]

Racial/General Spells:

Summon Lesser Beast [Level 1]

Resistance(s):

Cold [Max]

Pain [Max]

Poison [Max]

Mental [Level 1]

Spirit [Level 25]

Void [Max]

Seeing Nul had already distributed its free points, Sam didn't feel it was her place to argue with the Void Slime's decisions. Instead, she asked, "Nul, what does your Void Tunnel spell do?"

As soon as Sam asked, a tear in the fabric of reality the size of a large door ripped open in front of Nul. Sam could feel the violent energies of the Void fighting against reality at the edges of the portal, along with a low thrumming sound that was almost a physical force. Taking a tentative step closer to the event horizon, Sam could see a cave tunnel, similar to where they were but on the other side of the rift in reality, right before it snapped shut with a woosh. "Where did it lead?" Sam asked Nul excitedly, then started peppering him with questions, "How far away can you teleport someone? How many people can you let through? Do you have to have seen it first? What if someone had been standing there? Would your portal have cut them in half? How much mana did that take? Can you use it as an attack and cut someone in half?"

"Sleepy…" was Nul's only response. Sam felt the Void Slime settle heavier on her head and smiled. Her questions could wait.

Everyone ate the eyes Sam gifted them and continued trekking through the caves for another five kilometers. With all the twists and turns, it was impossible to tell if they were anywhere near the exit. Sam doubted they were because they weren't just going left and right but also up and down.

During that time, Nul woke up and answered a few of Sam's questions. The answers were more or less logical to Sam. Although impressive, the spell took a significant toll on the little slime at its current level, so she wasn't sure if they could use it effectively. Still, she planned to help Nul level the spell as much as possible during their travels, hoping it would become less stressful to use as it leveled. As it was now, the portal took seventy-five mana per second to keep it open at maximum range, which was around a kilometer at level one. It would cost additional mana for every person that went through. The extra amount was determined by the power and density of the individual or item traveling through the portal. Nul could not open one inside anything with physical properties other than water and gaseous elements. Opening it up in water would almost instantly bleed Nul of mana because of the massive amount of water that would flood through it.

They were attacked on three more occasions by the sneaky Hollow Stalkers, but with everyone stacked with full immunity and spirit sight, it was easy to wipe out the attacking packs.

With only thirty minutes left on their buffs, the party decided to call it a day; Parish said she needed a few hours of sleep, and Sam knew Nul was probably tired, too, with its low endurance. So, they backtracked to a previously marked area on Sam's map and made camp. They had chosen a small hollowed-out room with a puddle of glowing blue liquid in the center. The small room's floor, wall, and ceiling were layered with thick spongy moss the same color as the pool, acting as a natural cushion and sound dampener. Only two exits led from the room, and Sam was planning to place wards in the tunnels in hopes of activating a Safe Zone. If not, she and Lupie would stand guard over each exit while the others slept. Fortunately, as soon as the wards were activated, they all received a Safe Zone notification and relaxed.

The group of five settled into a pile, with Lupie in her wolf form acting as a warm mattress for the other three women while Nul settled onto Sam's chest as she lay against the Bloodmorph.

Soon, Sam could hear light snoring from Nara and Parish as she petted and scratched Lupie lovingly. Sam relaxed but kept her mana threads laced across both entrances to the room, just in case.

Sam asked Lupie, "Hey, girl, would you stay awake and keep watch? I need to do something in my soul, and I'm not sure I will know if something stumbles into my threads."

“Yes, Mistress. I will protect you.” Lupie responded.

Sam got comfortable and turned her mind inward to her soul core. She needed to get her Technogog Arcana avatar repaired as soon as possible. She had completely forgotten about it until Parish mentioned her mother was a technomancer as they were traveling. Now, it was all she could think about. Entering her mind core, Sam locked onto one of the mana channels linked to her soul core and thought, “I am going to fix that avatar up and build my own spaceship!” With that, she transferred her consciousness to her soul.

Lupie felt her mistress slump and knew she was no longer on this plane of existence. A layer of blood enveloped Sam's body, and Lupie formed it into a soft but strong cocoon to keep her friend's body safe and warm. Nul wiggled a bit when the blood formed over it, too, but settled down quickly. Lupie was content.