Her voice was commanding enough not to allow even a modicum of resistance. The remaining people stopped. The arrows reached the giant bats and tore through them. Screeches echoed throughout the expanse. The bats flew down, trying to reach the attackers, but that only made them easier targets for the Archers and Mages. Soon, all the beasts had been shot down, giving rise to a burst of clamors from the group below. Their voices got even louder. Almost everyone in James’ group looked at Elizabeth. They seemed to consider her to be the leader. James had no issue with that.

She gritted her teeth and spoke.

“We keep going. There’s nowhere else to go. It’s better to reach them openly than to have them find us when our backs are turned.”

The others nodded and resumed their walk. Soon, the stone maze opened up into what seemed to be a huge square right in the middle of it. James surveyed the surroundings with rapt attention. There were corpses of beasts strewn all over the floor. The smell of blood and guts was nauseating. Above all, it was loud. The cause was naturally the group of people in the middle of the stone square.

They were men and a few women, all seeming to be around the ages of twenty to forty years old. Their rowdiness was only overshadowed by the dangerous gleam of their weapons. Even at a glance, James identified at least five Warriors, six Archers, and four casters. The whole group seemed to total around twenty people. It was much larger than his own group of friends.

The other party’s rowdiness was disturbed when James’ group entered the square. It was as if a switch had been flipped. In nothing but a few seconds, weapons had been drawn out and pointed towards them. The other group visibly relaxed as they saw the size of James’ crowd, however. James attempted to use Analyze on one of the possible enemies, only to be met with a discouraging message.

[Analyze has failed. Target is too high level.]

Fuck.

It was one thing for them to be outnumbered and outgunned, but to top it all off, the other party had people who were higher-leveled to the point where Analyze didn’t even work. The already massively disadvantageous situation had taken a turn for the worst. A large, burly man stepped forward.

“We didn’t expect to find other people here. This place isn’t safe. Who are all of you?”

As the group turned to look at Elizabeth, she spoke to the burly man.

“We are just another gathering of people looking to survive. My name is Elizabeth.”

The man scratched his chin before nodding.

“I’m Derek. It’s nice to meet y’all.”

“Likewise.”

James furrowed his brow. The men in Derek’s party had a dangerous glint in their eyes as they looked at Elizabeth. He didn’t like this at all. Derek spoke.

“You guys seem to have been struggling on the surface. I take it you haven’t reached any settlements? We can lead you to ours.”

Elizabeth frowned slightly, just enough that only her people, who were close to her, would have been able to notice. The question of whether they should allow an unknown group to lead them somewhere that was also unknown was one with an obvious answer. Yet, they had nowhere else to go.

“…Please let me discuss this with my teammates.”

“Sure, take your time.”

The others gathered around Elizabeth. James got closer to her. She spoke in a contained voice, but loudly enough so that everyone in the group could hear her.

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“I don’t trust them one bit, but it seems to be our only option. What do you guys want to do?”

One of their friends answered her question.

“Can’t we just go back to the surface? Or try to find a settlement by ourselves? By the way he spoke, there are multiple of them around here.”

It seemed that they hadn’t yet come to the same conclusion as her and James, so Elizabeth shook her head and explained.

“The surface is not an option. By now, it’s already pitch-black and teeming with nightly hunters. There is also no cover or place to sleep. We could try to find a settlement on our own, but it’s more likely that we would get lost or simply run into something that could exterminate us before we do.”

“Didn’t they have to find a place by themselves? We can do it too!”

James spoke up.

“They might have been led by another group, and they have way more people than we do. You’re right, they may have found a place by themselves. But, are you willing to stake your life on it? Besides, the real problem is them deciding to attack us if we refuse to go with them. It’s a fight that we would definitely lose.”

The man went silent. None of the others voiced any complaints. A decision seemed to have been reached. Elizabeth nodded, turned to the other party, who had been watching them like hawks while they talked, and spoke.

“We will follow you to this settlement.”

Derek gave her a disturbing smile. He replied.

“Follow me, then. Be careful not to stray too far away.”

He turned east, faced his crew, and beckoned them. They put away their weapons and followed. James and his friends could only follow, not knowing what their destination was or the distance they would have to walk. They had been forced to rely on complete strangers, who could be plotting to kill them or worse.

James hated this feeling of powerlessness, of not being able to rely solely on himself. He wouldn’t have needed to worry if he were so powerful as to be capable of killing the entire other group. He would have been able to react to anything they pulled. Nevertheless, there was no use in thinking about such things. The reality was different.

Michael… I hope that wherever you are, you’re in a better situation.

Clenching his fists, James hoped for his friend to be safe.

***

Goddamn it.

Michael mentally sighed to himself. It was the third time he and Rose had encountered enemies on their way to her settlement, and the third time he had fought alone. She hadn’t moved a muscle, even when an additional enemy jumped in out of nowhere and damaged Michael’s Shield. As he had found out, her ability to mask her body and presence was also very effective in avoiding battles. The moment a foe appeared, she would retreat and use it, returning once the fight was over. This fact was starting to become increasingly irritating to him.

Is she trying to wear me down? Or to see what I can do?

It was likely that the answer was “both.” She didn’t lose anything by letting him fight alone and didn’t seem too concerned about his survival. She was merely looking out for herself.

At least I’m getting all the XP.

The duo stepped over the beast’s carcass as Michael was affected by his resentment. Rose spoke.

“We take a left here. We’re pretty close now.”

With a grunt, he followed her. They walked in silence through the mushrooms and spires before she spoke again.

“…Stop pouting.”

He scrunched his eyebrows in annoyance. His voice was firm.

“I’m not pouting.”

“Yeah, right.”

Just as Michael was about to reply, fully willing to argue, he saw that the maze in front of him opened up to the right. Curiosity grew within him. Rose’s voice only intensified it.

“We’ve arrived. Just gotta take a right.”

Not bothering to fire anything back at her, he moved faster. When he made the turn, he felt the air leave his lungs. His chin dropped in honest surprise and amazement. This wasn’t like anything he had ever seen.

The village was a harmonic amalgamation of stone, wood, and glowing mushrooms. He could see the little huts spread out throughout the small plateau, each the size of a large bedroom, through the entrance gate. Some were made mostly of wood, while others were larger, with stone in their structure. At the very heart of the village was a house much bigger than all the others; it seemed to have been carved out of the very ground, as it had mushrooms growing on its walls and small patches of grass on the ceiling. A main path led right to it. The giant mushrooms glowed in a veritable rainbow of colors, as did the smaller ones, adding a fantasy-like atmosphere to the village. Overall, it seemed capable of housing around one thousand people, but he didn’t know how many of those were humans from Earth. Wooden spikes created a makeshift wall that surrounded the village.

And, of course, there were the people. Over a hundred humans walked around, with swords at their waist, holding wooden bows, and straightening their robes. Michael felt as if he could see virtually every starter Class, including the ones that were a combination of the more basic archetypes. Apart from them, there were also other creatures, always close or next to one of the huts; they had very dark skin and pointed ears, and were all noticeably tall and lithe. They interacted with the humans and with one another, lending the village a vibrant atmosphere.

Michael couldn’t help but let out a comment.

“…It’s beautiful.”