Even if they were stalking us, they would have to pick the perfect moment for the ambush. We had one big advantage. They didn't know what I was. The cloak I wore made it nearly impossible for anyone to decipher my identity.

Molly and I stopped in our tracks as we exited the gate. The previously barren Plagued Forest was now filled with newbie Hexed and Enlightened players.

I grinned. It reminded me of launch day. You know, before the politics started. For posterity’s sake, I took a quick screenshot and sent it to Darryl and my bedroom wall.

“So, what did you do to me?” Molly asked. She was translucent again, which I wasn’t sure was a good thing.

People pushed past us, which I took as a sign to get out of the way. Molly followed me as I set us on a path toward the Fields of Woe. I quickly scanned the people near us and didn’t see the two men in black.

An ear-piercing ding went off, followed by a line of text from Darryl, Wow, just like old times. Who’s the ghost?

I didn’t mean to get Molly in the shot.

A new friend.

Tell me later? Darryl sent.

Yup.

“Well?” Molly asked.

We were still using party chat, but I couldn’t shake that feeling from earlier. “Remember what I said on our way to town?”

“About this being a—”

“Our territory.” I paused to think about what I wanted to say next. “I found a way to make them listen to me.” I was being as vague as possible, but I hoped she understood.

Molly’s yellow eyes brightened. “Wow, that actually makes a lot of sense.”

“I wanted to do some tests on you along the way, but…” I made a wide gesture toward the slow-moving crowd of people around us.

She nodded and skipped in mid-air while circling me. “That's why you maxed your intelligence!”

Doing a hunting demonstration was going to take time. I had to find the right group of adventures to fight and ensure none of the newbie Hexed were in range. That meant I would have to weave in and out of the Fields of Woe to find a good victim.

As we neared our destination, the echoes of combat sang through the air. My instincts kicked in, putting me on full alert. It turned out that a couple of Enlightened were sparring.

“Are you gonna hunch over like that the rest of the way?” Molly asked.

She was on the ground walking next to me. When did she stop floating? I thought.

Apparently, ‘full alert’ didn't extend to my immediate surroundings. I fixed my posture and picked up my pace.

In the distance, I spotted a large group of adventures gathered in a single area. I gestured in its direction. “What do you thin—”

Molly wasn't there.

My heart went into overdrive as I searched for her. I caught a glimpse of her pink outfit twenty yards away as she rushed toward the group.

I broke out into a jog to catch up. “I'm not as fast as you!”

“Just doing a little recon.” She disappeared and then reappeared next to me.

Blink—the spell she just cast—could be disorienting, but the harder-to-use version would make you appear and reappear several times. Timing was everything with that spell. Being as scary as possible required precision and finesse. Blink, terror. Pause, a baby cries. Blink, fascination. Pause, a wail from behind. Blink, creeping death.

“Inethiel?” Molly asked.

We were standing still, yet my heartbeat was excruciatingly fast. My body was flooded with adrenaline.

I looked down at my gloves and ripped one off. A shambler, I was a shambler. Simple and straightforward. The thought calmed me down.

“I'm fine,” I lied. Just a little PTSD, that's all.

Interesting.

I wasn't ‘interesting,’ an insect to be studied. Fuck you, sword! Stay out of this.

Noted.

My breathing eventually slowed, and I had enough sense to put my glove back on before we continued toward the crowd.

Molly took a hold of my hand and squeezed. Her whole demeanor had changed. Her head was lowered, and her feet were dragging. I didn't have anything to say, so I kept quiet.

When we made it to the crowd, I did my best to hang back, but as soon as the newbies saw me, they stepped aside and ushered me forward.

I was hit by a barrage of compliments telling me how cool my outfit was and with pleas to know where they could get one. Their requests fell on deaf ears.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

I was close to the front yet far enough from the back to notice that the Hexed were being separated and directed one way while the Enlightened were led in another direction.

To make the situation even worse, Molly was nowhere to be seen. I was so distracted by the inquiries from the new players I didn't notice our separation. “Where are you?” I asked.

Soon enough, I was at the front of an immense clearing that was blocked by a large contingent of heavily armored Enlightened.

One of them noticed me and pointed. “Mages are that way.”

He directed me to my left, which followed the wall of iron-clad people.

“I’m being swept away in a swath of Hexed,” Molly said. Her voice was distant but hearable. If we got too far apart, all communication would be lost.

Her voice had actually surprised me. “What happened?” I asked.

“After we were separated, an elf discovered me and forced me into a large group of Hexed,” she said.

While walking, I caught a glimpse of what was beyond the armored barrier of soldiers. I saw the inside of an enormous circle of people. At the center was a large space, and trapped on the inside were hundreds of my kind. There must have been at least five thousand Enlightened in attendance.

“Hope you banked your good items,” I warned Molly.

I did eventually find an end to the legions of soldiers. The circle of people surrounding the Hexed simply changed types.

Next were leather-clad people and eventually cloth armored adventures.

A gathering of mages wearing similar cloaks as mine eventually came into view, so I joined them. I wasn’t exactly the tallest person around, and when one saw me trying to get a look, he stepped aside while tapping the arm of someone in front of them. They continued this process, letting me go forward until I was with those the same height as me. I could finally see the event.

There were more Hexed in the center than I originally thought. The number was growing as they filtered in. There were even a good amount of shamblers among them. As much as I hated the Enlightened, I had to give them credit for how organized the gathering was.

I only frequented info-bases or the Had-E-Verse whenever I needed information. Even then, I preferred the bases because the verse required interacting with others. Luckily, I didn't need to go to the verse to watch streams.

AR software would let me open up a screen anywhere I wanted. Some streamers required viewers to be in VR, which I understood. If they were watching in VR, it meant they were more invested in what was happening.

Streaming was enticing, but I doubted anyone would want to watch me role-play all day. Besides, I already had Kumori in my head and didn’t need anyone else in there.

A part of me wanted to check the streams on the event, but I was already there and didn’t need some screen blocking my vision.

A large contingent of soldiers encircled the Hexed and pushed them to the outer edge. They were completely surrounded by armored soldiers.

I clenched my fist and gritted my teeth. Are they going to kill them?

Far to my right, the walls of the crowd split as a single figure casually walked down the path. I could barely see the top of their head, so I had no idea who it was. The crowd erupting into a roar of cheers gave me a good indication of who it might be.

Are you playing with your food? Kumori asked.

They eventually made their way to the big space in the center. This person, I knew. Everyone knew them. They were the leader of our zone's Enlightened. Lilly Prichard.

This was going to be interesting. It’s complicated.

I know what you’re capable of, little shambler. The least you could do is save your people, Kumori said.

There’re thousands of them, Kumo, I thought.

Kumori’s anger and annoyance surged over me.

I ignored it.

The majority of the trapped undead were skeletons. Most of them were extremely low-level and had no armor. They were probably there by accident. Even I thought everyone was headed to the mists. How they had found three or four dozen shamblers was beyond me.

Tonight’s update did promise more experience for the Hexed. Shamblers were immensely underpowered. As a class and species, the choices we had were very one-note. The developers saw this flaw and decided to up the rate at which shamblers gained experience. We also were getting a sort of back-pay for all previous battles as well. This would allow us to diversify our builds. I was expecting to see a lot of shambler hand-to-hand combat experts in the near future. Other minor changes were coming, but they liked to keep some of them hidden.

Kung Fu Zombies, I thought and laughed.

I would have to pay more attention to Lily’s streams in the future because I didn’t want to be caught off-guard like this again.

I turned my attention back to Lily. She wore a set of form-fitted golden plate armor. Draped over her right arm was a pure white shoulder cloak. At her hip hung a longsword which was too far away to make out any details.

I'd seen her sickeningly perfect face far too many times that even at this distance, I could picture it. Based on her appearance, she had to have a maxed-out presence. The benefits of doing that would allow her to charm people like I did with Molly.

She never wore a helmet. It would cover her shiny silver hair if she did. It was kept up in a ponytail with an orange bow. I wondered if there was significance to it since it stood out from her other apparel.

Her eyebrows were a similar color but a much darker tone, so everyone could easily see her expressions.

Lily’s large blue eyes had specks of light green, giving them an almost aquamarine appearance. A movie star would give anything to have her nose and lips.

I frequented her streams when I had time. She seemed to genuinely care about the people around her, which made being angry at her much harder.

Lily patiently stood there while the crowd continued screaming and cheering. Most around me were surprisingly quiet.

She eventually put her hand up, and the crowd quieted. “Welcome, Enlightened!” Her voice echoed across the whole clearing. It was likely some sort of magic that carried her vocals.

Another powerful rally came from the masses, which stopped as quickly as it started when Lily's arm returned to the sky.

“I’d also like to welcome the Greys,” she said as she gestured at the trapped Hexed.

A chorus of boos flooded the makeshift arena.

“Now, now,” she talked over the noise. “We may be mortal enemies…” She paused, and everyone quieted. “But it just means more loot for us!”

The roar of laughter boomed across the plains. It took a while for everyone to calm down. The most excited of the bunch was to my left. They were the new Enlightened. There were at least twice as many of them as the new Hexed.

Once again, the people around me surprised me by being quiet. At least I didn’t stand out by being the only one.

A man in black leather separated from those gathered on my right and padded over to Lily. She must have known him because she didn’t object to his coming forward.

He glanced back before he made it to her, and I could make out his face. It was one of the men from the bank.

My heart went into panic mode, and I instinctively ducked.

When he eventually approached Lily, he leaned in and whispered something to her, and pointed at our section.

I think they’ve found you, little shambler.

A chill swept through me.

***