"I… huh?" John replied more in confusion than in any attempt of denial. "What do you…"

The pack must have picked up on his sudden emotional shift because he heard them snarling behind him.

"Whoa now," he turned halfway to them and began soothing their aggressive mood, yet still keeping an eye on the woman.

Seeing her flinch and reach for her waist to grab a handle of her thin green blade made him expect the worst. However, she caught herself before pulling it out.

"Wait, wait!" She started waving her empty hands before her. "I am sorry, let me explain."

"Okay?" John gestured to her to continue.

"I thought… You…"

What is she…

"I can see it… the Fate, and if I look at you, I see a blazing lantern among the sea of sparks and flickering candles."

"You can see… Fate?" John asked back, incredulously.

Seeing her cautiously nod, he made up his mind.

"Alright… Yes, I am Sparrow, now tell me who you are and why did you seek me out."

"I…," she glanced at the pair in the distance, and then softly replied. "I am Reaper, and I was told to find you."

That made John put his guard right up. "Told by whom, and why?"

What the hell is going on? He wondered as he observed her body for any signs of aggressive response.

She seemed in good shape. By his guess, she was in her early thirties, above average in height for a woman of Asian descent, and judging by her recent behavior, also having ingrained combat training that must have begun long before the Apocalypse.

"By my patron, Al'drul the Savage Merchant-emperor, and I have no idea why," she said in annoyance. "It happened this morning and all I got from him were two words: Find Sparrow!"

"What is that schemer planning to do?" John mumbled under his breath but was easily overheard by Ishigawa's heightened senses.

"I could take a guess. It's because of them," she pointed at the group that passed through the middle of the plain and was now waiting at the foot of the mountain. "Their leader is an American soldier calling himself Harrison, and he is aggressively recruiting everyone who is unaffiliated and has sufficiently high Fate into their group."

"Huh, and the guy with the beard? Wasn't he also…"

"That's just a coincidence. I saw Sergeant Harrison, and that guy was not him."

"Oh, ok. But how does knowing that help me?"

She frowned and for a moment remained silent—most likely deep in thought.

"Tell me, what can you do with Fate? From your previous reaction, I'd take it you can't see the silvery glow radiating from everyone around here?"

"No, I…" John stopped as he realized something important. "Let me try something."

I am using Fate to ensure that my attacks hit their intended targets, so maybe if I try this…

He closed his eyes and focused on the presence before him. At first, there was nothing there, but as he sharpened his sixth sense, he felt it. It was like a dark orb floating in the emptiness and hiding something inside of it.

Could I… he reached out with a sliver of will and lightly tapped on its surface, feeling its rigid exterior form a miniature crack around the impact.

"Ah!" Ishigawa suddenly yelped, bringing him out of his trance. "What did you do!?"

"Huh? I just…"

What did I do? He asked himself, unsure how to answer her question.

"I felt something before me, and I tried to reach out. Wait, are you somehow hiding your Fate, because on one occasion I did something similar before, I easily spotted the man's presence in the distance and was able to… well… I mean, he attacked me first and I somehow used a combination of both my will and Fate to make sure my attack hit."

"I see," she nodded. "Perhaps that was what Al'drul had in mind. I'll tell you how to use Fate to protect and hide yourself, and you'll teach me how to use it offensively. What do you say?"

Agreeing to her proposal, John took her offered hand and shook it to seal the deal.

Luckily, the Shimmerfangs had decided to accept Ishikawa's presence and John was able to continue on his path forward.

They spread the following four hours evenly between hunting and training, making significant progress on both avenues until finally, they reached the other side of the plain.

"Why are they all sitting there?" John asked as he stared at the two groups camping before the foot of the mountain.

"The better question is, where is the third group?"

Oh, right! Where is the third group? John wondered as he observed the wide plain before him.

"I could ask Jabari what is going on," Ishikawa suggested.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll keep my distance and stay with the pack."

"Ahh," he sighed, sitting on the knee-high grass.

Their cooperation turned out to be a resounding success. Perhaps not resounding, because the pack lost one of its mates, but other than that, it was.

As they were pushing through the last quarter of the plain, the density of D-grade monsters increased, earning another two of the pack mates an evolution. Unfortunately, one of the little guys died in an ambush where they got attacked from behind by a group of armadillos covered in molten magma and led by an elite D-grade, the Smoldering Bristleback.

Back then, Ishikawa had to leave John to tackle the pair of Bladewings before them on his own and help the pack with their predicament, earning their respect as a result.

She is a very capable woman, he thought as he watched her walk at a brisk pace toward the camp.

Her combat style was centered around her main ability called Grim Harvest which she supported by a close-range teleport and an extremely potent close-range psychic shock that could immobilize even D-grade enemies for a few seconds. Vulnerable by herself, but very dangerous when there was someone else to keep the attention of their enemies on himself.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Oh right, I need to hide one of my abilities, he remembered, clipping his stiletto to his back under the mantle.

Now, we wait.

To pass the time, he observed the new evolutions.

[Moltenback Shimmerfang {D}]

That was the one who gorged on the remains of the lead armadillo, earning a bulky form and gleaming scales all over his body.

[Ironspine Shimmerfang {D}]

The other one had a lean body that was covered with grey scales and finger-long spines that could shoot out in a similar manner to the Thornweaver.

At first, it began as an arrangement of convenience, but over the day he grew more attached to the little beasts. Perhaps, not so little, but the point stood. There were no mind games, no politics, nor any typical problems he had to face when dealing with other humans.

Sure, Ishikawa was a great fighter, and by using her powerful ability—that she later admitted to being Epic—they were able to cripple most D-grade monsters in their opening attacks. The problem was the layer of distrust where both he and she tried to keep their aces hidden, only doing their best when absolutely necessary.

That was partly the reason why the Shimmerfang died and the worst part was, they were both aware of it and deep down knew they would do the same thing again.

That's what happens when you live your whole life relying only on yourself, he chuckled in derision.

Looking at them playfully nipping at each other or repeatedly annoying the Thirstfiend who was sprawled on the grass and enjoying the afternoon sun made him smile and momentarily forget about his troubles.

"John?"

Looking to the right, he saw Ishikawa coming back.

"So, what did you find out?"

"The path leading up the mountain is blocked and everyone has to wait until the third day of the trial. Jabari said he'd seen a System notification counting it down and we should have seventeen hours…"

Seventeen hours? How does that add up? John wondered.

"...you listening to me?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry I got lost in my thoughts. Did you say seventeen hours?"

"Yes, and it adds up if you consider the timer starting in the morning when we stepped through the arch."

"Right, and what were you saying after that?"

"That the third group got wiped out," Ishikawa answered with a sigh. "Apparently, they attempted to kill that colossal turtle," she pointed to the far corner on the other side," but got overwhelmed. Most of them managed to use their tattoos in time, but there were some remains left behind."

"Ouch," John winced. Taking a guess, that was a group led by the so-called Doomhammer.

"So, what are you waiting for? Let's go before the others grow tired of waiting," Ishikawa pointed at the pair of bear-like beasts not too far away.

"Right, let's go."

[Ancient Flamebear {D}]

[Majestic Plainbear {D}]

"Focus on the Flamebear first," John advised. "It has an old wound under its jaw and you can cut through it."

Nodding they got into positions and began.

The Plainbear variant was slightly smaller—if you think a car-sized bear is small—and covered in thick golden fur. Upon being hit by a lightning bolt from the sky, it roared in anger, lumbered up on its hind legs, and scanned the surrounding area for any incoming predators.

It probably has bad eyesight.

Its mate, the Flamebear remained on all fours and started sniffing, but John ignored any last-second insights and followed up with a powerful throw of his javelin. Previously he got into the habit of sending small spikes of Fate in a defensive manner to practice his new skill, but here he leaned heavily into pure offense—his specialty.

Feeling a noticeable part of his Fate take hold made the bear spot its enemies at the worst possible moment, lower itself down, and place its head in the exact place the javelin hit.

Seeing it pierce through the Plainbear's maw and come out through its neck gave John the confidence to come into close range.

The bear tried to dislodge the offending object from its mouth, but it was lodged between its teeth and the jawbone, making it tear up the wound and whine in pain instead.

Leaving it distracted, he redirected his attention to the Flamebear and pulled its attention to him.

Ohh, it's pissed.

Seeing its mate bleeding drove it to madness, and it reared back and charged forward like a freight train.

Now! He willed his Wraith to unleash a sandstorm before him and dived out of the way.

The superheated sand obstructed both its vision and its smell, making it rush through his previous position and bellow in anger.

Not giving it space for another charge, John closed the distance and stabbed with his spear into its large paw.

The Flamebear really didn't like that, stood up on its hind legs, and was preparing to crush him, but at that moment Ishikawa popped into existence directly under its neck and released a paper-thin wave of energy right into the freshly scabbed wound under its jaw.

On the sides, the tough skin absorbed a majority of the energy, but the scabbed portion lacked that protection and allowed the thin wave to cut deep into the soft tissues and sever the major arteries leading into its head.

Nice!

She followed her momentum into a neat roll and before the beast even realized what had happened, she was already sprinting away.

Leaving it to bleed out, he turned toward the Plainbear and started to whittle it down. They both agreed to keep their third abilities hidden because the risk of someone with far vision observing their tricks now was too great, but despite that, the lone bear had no chance and experienced a death of a thousand cuts.

Her Reap had eight seconds cooldown, letting her dance around its bulk and cut tendon after tendon until finally the beast collapsed and she let John deliver the finishing blow.

Seeing the fight over, the Suntouched Shimmerfang blinked on top of its corpse and began tearing it up. By now it was clear that it only let its packmates consume the elite monsters to trigger an evolution, but otherwise, all D-grade corpses were his for the taking, and as his form slowly shifted, John had the inkling that it would very soon become a pinnacle variant.

His guess turned out to be correct and three hours later they all watched as it curled itself up into a ball and a beacon of blinding light covered its entire form.

Rubbing his eyes did not help and he had to turn away from the glowing spectacle and wait until the light died down.

[Unique conditions met!

A Celestial Shimmerfang has been born and is going to fight for its rightful place as the ruler of the Sunlit plains.

New objective: Clear the peak of the Divine mountain before the freshly evolved monarch falls.

Time limit: 1:59:59]

"John? Did you also get that announcement?"

"Yes," he replied and looked at the so-called monarch.

[Celestial Shimmerfang {D★}]

"Holy shit! It's massive," Ishikawa exclaimed, staring at the bus-sized creature covered in pitch-black scales and sprinkled with hundreds of pinprick lights, remaining her of a midnight sky.

"I mean… Massive might be an overstatement, but I can't complain," John joked.

"Oh shut up," she smacked the back of his head with a snort.

Seeing the pack head toward the foot of the mountain, they followed after them and a few minutes later joined the battle-ready groups waiting there.

"Is this your doing?" Asked a tall guy that was covered in green armor. He was flanked by another two men whose appearance screamed soldiers, and next to them stood Jabari and three other people from their group.

"Well… I guess so?" John said, mostly in uncertainty. "I mean, I had no idea something like that could happen. I was staying with the pack because they proved great companions for the trial, but I had no idea there were any unique conditions."

"I see…" he drew out. "We should…"

The rest was interrupted by a loud noise of shattering glass, and everyone turned their head to the source. There, they saw the Celestial Shimmerfang tear through a translucent barrier blocking the path leading to the mountain before them.

"Guys, I think we should move," Ishikawa shouted in a dangerous tone. "Those colossal monsters are all heading our way."

Looking back, John realized that she was right. Not only was the hill-sized turtle crawling in their direction, but also a large pack led by a silver lion and a massive snake slithering out from a pond in the other corner.

"You heard the lady! Move! Move! Move!"

After everyone went through the shattered opening, the Shimmerfangs also stepped inside and turned. The four D-grade ones arrayed into a formation, blocking anything else from getting in, leaving only their unevolved mate to follow John to the peak.

The race to the top just began, and we have less than two hours to succeed.