Kezron was starting to panic. This was not the way things were supposed to go! The adventurers lured in by the clues he had left were supposed to die to his horde of monsters, not the other way around! After they had taken out the spiders and cockroaches, he had even gathered all the other monsters together to ambush whoever was coming after him, but even that massive force had been defeated. Luckily, he had told the mothers to retreat. It would take a while to build up a force like the one that had just been defeated, but it would be possible if he could escape.

He looked around the section of sewers he and his ‘pets’ were traveling through, gauging their progress. Not long now, and they would be free of the city, escaping into the wilds where they could disappear. He could try again at another city.

As he pondered, he absentmindedly stroked the slightly fuzzy chitin of the [Lurking Shadeweaver Queen] carrying him. It was accompanied by the mothers of the rats and the octodonts, the harvestmen matriarch scuttling along the ceiling. Each mother had a small cadre of its offspring, those who had been able to retreat when it became clear that the horde he had raised would fail.

He clicked his tongue in a well-practiced pattern, and the beasts turned left following his direction. A surge of euphoria flowed through him at the power he wielded. Due to his unique class, even the most fearsome monsters would submit to his will under the right circumstances. And once his, they would follow him to their dying breaths. He didn’t think he would ever get tired of it.

A few minutes later, they emerged from the grate he had sabotaged just for this purpose, coming out next to the lake. Turning to the south, his creatures scuttled out into the wild lands and he breathed a sigh of relief. He was free.

Pain. All Jared could feel was pain. It blazed through his body like an icy inferno as his body was broken down and rebuilt from the ground up. He couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t scream, unable to sense anything other than agony. Finally, blessedly, it ended, and Jared came back to himself.

“That hurt like a mother!”

He found his companions waiting for him, having completed their Ascensions, though they weren’t exactly as he had last seen them.

Eleisa’s wings had grown slightly, and looked smokier and more ethereal than they had, as if they were only half there. Images formed amid the curling, twisting patterns of black and silver, then dispersed before they could be recognized. It was a mesmerizing effect. Bonlanu’s changes were more subtle, but still apparent. His wooden armor was now covered in carvings of woodland creatures and designs that evoked imagery of towering forests, proud and strong. The horn-like branches on his head had grown longer, and he now had a similar set on the bottom half of his face, forming a neat beard.

Eleisa cocked her head, looking at him quizzically while Bonlanu responded. “It was certainly not pleasant. But I have heard that this ascension is the most painful, so the worst is behind us.”

“Well, that’s good. I do not want to go through something like that again.”

They looked at him expectantly, and he smiled. “It was a tough choice, but I think I took the path that will best suit me and give me the most versatility going forward. What about you guys?”

Eleisa spoke first. “I chose to specialize in Nightmare Crucible, as it seems to give the greatest potential. The Ascended version, Somniant Trials no longer requires me to have nightmares. I must still create a challenge for myself, such as an enemy to fight against, but I no longer need to relive past terrors. The degree to which I challenge myself increases the speed at which I grow. It is an acceptable upgrade.”

Jared nodded. “Sounds like a definite improvement.” Next, he looked at Bonlanu. “What about you?”

“I have specialized in Bastion’s Stance, which is now Woodland Bulwark. It allows me to spend mana to shield allies from harm, taking a portion of the damage myself. Overall, I am better at protecting and harder to kill. But what of you? You did not share what Skill you have specialized in.”

Jared explained his choice and what a couple of his newly Ascended Skills did. Bonlanu stoked his branchy beard, a thoughtful look coming over his expression. “That does seem like a powerful choice, albeit not the one I would have chosen. I believe it will serve you well.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Jared agreed. Then he felt something tug on his mind. He followed the feeling, looking to the side, and found Naomi. She had apparently decided it was her turn to share her gains. Jared grinned, giving her a welcoming gesture. “Alright Mimi, show us what you got.”

Rather than display her Profile for them, Jared felt an impression in his mind, and he instinctively knew it was from her. Despite the lack of words communicated, he knew exactly she was trying to tell him.

"So you decided to specialize in your Aspect, huh? Having you in my head is a little weird, but pretty cool. I’m excited to see how your Ascended Skills work.” He felt a surge of happiness and excitement through the bond and smiled over at the Mimic in return. He then turned to the other two. “Alright, if everyone’s ready, we’ve got a terrorist to catch. And judging by that ambush, they know we’re coming.”

They almost immediately ran into a problem: they had no idea which way to go. The monsters had flooded into the room from all sides, and there were several holes large enough for the party to travel through.

Bonlanu tried doing his sense life trick, which Jared only now realized didn’t fit into the Skills Bonlanu had described, but the Groveborn couldn’t sense a meaningful difference between the various tunnels.

They chose one that the rodents had used, and Jared tracked their path through the tunnels using tufts of fur that had fallen and the scratches their claws had made on the stone floor.

After a few twists, turns, and branches, the tunnel opened up to a larger space, a small walkway above and on either side of the path, which was mostly filled with a sludge-like liquid. They were back in the sewers. He looked around for more traces to give them a possible direction, but soon gave up. It wasn’t for lack of any traces, but the opposite. There were so many signs of creatures passing through in different directions that it was impossible to discern which way to go.

“Well, shit.”

Bonlanu nodded. “An apt assessment. We are, in fact, in a well of shit.”

Jared snorted. “You got me there. What should we do now? Even with my tracking Skill, I don’t expect to be able to pick the right direction. Not to mention the fact that I can’t fight at my best down here.”

“Let us consider what we know. An unknown person has been attacking the city using creatures they release into the sewers. After two of his nests had been destroyed, he mustered most of the remaining forces to defeat the invaders. I imagine you noticed as well as I that the first two nests we fought were led by a larger, stronger variant, but when we were ambushed, those variants were missing.”

Understanding dawned in Eleisa’s eyes and she finished for Bonlanu. “The ‘terrorist’, as Jared put it, has fled, taking his or her remaining queens. I suppose they will rebuild their forces, then attempt a similar thing somewhere else.”

That made a lot of sense. If it was him, Jared would have done something similar. The culprit would have known they were fighting a losing battle, so they cut their losses and ran away, hoping to salvage what they had left.

At that moment, as if it had been listening in on their conversation, the system gave them all a prompt.

Regional GEAS Quest: Panstrum Extermination completed!

Due to the brave actions of intrepid adventurers, the infestation plaguing Panstrum has been largely eliminated, and the one responsible has been forced to flee!

Rewards will be assigned to all participants based on contribution.

“Well, that confirms it. They ran away. Where would they have gone? Probably out of the city, right? They wouldn’t want to stick around, knowing they had been caught.” He looked at Bonlanu. “What’re the restrictions on that life sense ability you’ve got? Could you tell if one of these tunnels leads out of the city? I imagine there would be plants at the end.”

“I have not attempted such a use of that ability, but I will try.” He clapped, pulse of green energy racing away from him. After a few moments, the pulse returned, and Bonlanu pointed down one of the side tunnels. “That is the way.”

He led them through the sewers, occasionally releasing another life pulse when the direction was unclear. Several minutes later they were stepping into the afternoon sunlight, finding themselves next to the lake that was near Panstrum. Jared scanned the nearby area for traces and quickly found a number of footprints in the moist earth. He recognized rat tracks, and ones that he imagined belonged to the octodonts, as they were similar to a hamster’s footprints.

He grinned. “We’ve got ‘em.” With Jared’s tracking skills, it was child’s play to follow the fleeing group of monsters, especially since they didn’t seem to be trying to cover their tracks at all. It wasn’t long before Jared caught a glimpse of movement in the distance. He made a beckoning gesture to Mimi, who jumped into his arms, morphing back into a rifle. Raising it into position, he looked through the scope, finding exactly what he thought he would see: a motley group of mismatched creatures making their way through the fields, along with a humanoid figure sitting atop one of them.

“I’ve got them in my sights. Any reason I shouldn’t just take out as many as I can?”

Bonlanu looked at him, confusion on his face. “From here? They must be at least a mile away. Perhaps we should move in closer before attacking.”

Jared glanced over at him. “If this was before I got the system, I would have agreed with you. But now? I’m confident I can hit whatever I’m aiming for, even at this distance.”

Besides, he had a new Ascension to test out.