Even getting closer to the ruins couldn’t dampen my spirits.

I did it.

I used Elemental Projection and opened up a new perception of the world around me. It almost felt like a new sixth sense. I could feel a kind of energy all around me and within myself. I even had a vague understanding that I had used some portion of the energy inside my body to project the poison from my palm. There was a weakened, less-than-full feeling about as imprecise as trying to judge my own hunger level. I figured I could probably say if I was full, not full, or very empty. Maybe a better level of precision on that front would come with time. Or maybe continuing to increase my experience levels and ranks would improve it.

Circa and Lyria were talking intensely about something a little ways behind me. I couldn’t make it out, but I had the sinking feeling it involved me. I could practically feel both women staring at my back as I hiked up the hill behind Rock, eyes on the pack of adventurers ahead of us. They all marched quietly except for the bald tomte, who seemed to be chatting with anybody who came too close to him. They were too far ahead for me to hear any of it.

As far as I could tell, I had patched things up with Rock. I was still embarrassed to think I’d sprayed poison at him, especially when he was just trying to be nice by introducing himself after stiffing me on the handshake in Riverwell. My eyes had been closed because I was focusing as hard as possible on my senses. It had worked, and thankfully, Rock had the reflexes to save himself from a face full of poison.

Most of all, I just felt excited. I couldn’t quite describe how much better it felt to know I had some way to defend myself and contribute. On Earth, I could’ve argued that strength was a luxury. For most people, getting stronger was a glorified hobby. Here, though, it felt critical.

If I was weak, I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t advance. I couldn’t explore. I’d be at the mercy of anybody with more power. Taking the first step with my class felt like a huge step toward getting stronger, and I was already hungry for more of that feeling.

I had been taking careful mental notes of everything I tried. Repeating the steps I’d used to cast Elemental Projection was relatively easy now that I knew the way. I formed a mental image of what I thought it would look like. This, I had learned, was critical. I had to see the ability before I could create it. Once the image was vivid enough, I felt the first contact of the energy within my body and the energy in the air like a prick of static electricity in my palm. The rest happened in an unpleasant rush.

The mana ejected itself from deep inside me, leaving behind an impression of rot and poison that lingered in its path. I could almost taste it at the back of my throat as a jet of liquid as thin as my finger sprayed a few inches forward and then arced down to hiss on the ground.

I wondered if that aftertaste was a fault in my technique or just an unpleasant side effect of my spell or the potion. Either way, it almost felt like the mana was alive. Using my abilities was more like coaxing a wild beast to do my bidding with my thoughts than anything else.

It was strange, but I was already full of things I wanted to try. I wanted to know more and discover how far I could push my abilities. I knew my corestone could evolve even more abilities. Eventually, the stone itself could even improve in rarity and unlock new heights of power. I wanted to jump ahead and see it all, but I knew I had to take it one step at a time.

For now, I needed to learn to crawl before I could walk.

I reached the top of the hill where Rock was waiting. A little ways past him, the guards had reached the ruins and formed a group at the entrance, waiting for the rest of us.

Rock held out a palm, and a vibrant orange bottle appeared. He pulled a rubbery substance from the top and drained the whole thing. Most of his skin was shrouded by the robe and hood he wore, but I saw cracks spread over his skin like it was turning into stone. It even took on a dark gray color. He seemed to swell beneath his robe as if suddenly packing on a few dozen pounds of muscle.

“Wow,” I said. “What was that potion?”

“Family recipe,” Rock said. His voice was now deep and craggy.

Circa and Lyria joined up with us. Lyria watched me extra closely but slid her eyes away when I caught her staring.

What had they talked about?

“Rock comes from a paved path,” Circa explained. “The class path and elixir go hand-in-hand. It’s an extremely potent combination.”

“A paved path?” I asked.

“Some powerful individuals record their journey meticulously,” Circa said. “If their corestone evolutions are particularly potent, they form schools or sometimes write down the method to follow in their footsteps. Other times, the path is handed down from family member to family member.”

“Time’s burning,” Rock growled.

Nodding, Circa clapped her hands, and a black staff that looked like twisted roots materialized between them. She gripped it and walked ahead.

“What was that thing she did?” I asked, clapping my hands like Circa just had.

“Being dramatic,” Lyria said. She pulled her shield off her back and slid her arms into the strap, following them toward the ruins. I wondered why Circa kept her weapon in her slip space, but Rock and Lyria wore theirs on their body. Maybe that fraction of Seraphel’s ability to manipulate mana blinded me to how difficult it should be to pop things in and out of my inventory.

Still, I felt distinctly less imposing than anybody in our small group or even the larger group of guards and adventurers. All I had was my Alchemist’s Kit and a newfound power to spray poison from my palm. It was something, but I couldn’t help wishing I had a giant sword like that armored woman ahead.

When we reached the top of the grassy hill spotted with rocks, the entire group was waiting and snacking on rations. Several crumbling pillars and bits of white stone wall were scattered around the hilltop. I eyed the ruins and focused on stairs leading downward at the center. “What should I expect?” I asked Circa.

“Stay close to me,” Circa said. “Divided between so many people, my magic will be diluted. But if you’re close, I’ll keep you safe.”

“Alright,” I said, staying still as she took a moment to touch her hand to me, Rock, and then Lyria. Our veins all bulged and turned a purple tint. I stretched out my shoulders. I could imagine getting addicted to this feeling. “So this place is full of corrupted mana?” I asked.

“Yes,” Circa said. “When you’re more powerful, you’ll be able to sense it.”

I nodded, but I thought I could feel it already. There was a kind of dark splotch in my perception ahead, like a chaotic space where the surrounding area was calm and predictable.

“Why do the beasts stay down there instead of coming out here to meet us?” I asked.

“They’re feeding,” Circa said. “It takes time. Their presence also draws parties like ours. If the forces within manage to kill us, they’ll have even more to feed on. When the area has been tapped dry, it will take years to regenerate. At that point, whatever is within will rise out, seeking more power or blood.”

“That’s… pleasant,” I said, swallowing hard. “Anything else I should know before we go in there?” I asked. Jarn had started leading the group down the stairs. The last of the adventurers were disappearing from view within the darkened stairwell.

“Yeah,” Lyria said. “You should get ready because you’re about to find out if you have the stomach to keep chasing this life you seem to want.” She walked ahead, following after the group.

“Stay close to me,” Circa said gently, nodding for me to follow.

I nodded, thinking how I was already changing. Before this, I wouldn’t have called myself a coward. I was an EMT. I had pulled people from burning cars, saved drowning people who could have pulled me under in their panic, and been on a number of white-knuckle ambulance rides. I knew about risking my life.

But a few days ago, I didn’t know if I would’ve followed the group down those stairs.

I took one step and then pushed the thoughts of fear from my mind.

“Quick question,” I whispered as I followed the group down the stairs. “Can I speed up my mana recovery? I feel a little tapped out.” I had the mana straws, but I still hoped to save them for emergencies. Maybe this qualified, but I figured I could save it for the last minute if things got bad.

“Clear your mind,” Circa said. “There are many techniques, each with different benefits and costs. For now, focus on peace.”

Peace. That was about as far from the feeling I felt as we descended into the depths of the ruins.

“Talking makes noise,” Rock said to me.“Noise draws the beasts.” He lifted a small finger to his stony lips and drew his quarterstaff, marching ahead behind Circa.

A moldy, wet smell rose from the stone corridor, and the air grew colder. Ahead, I could hear the shuffle of distant footsteps and rustling weapons and armor, but the adventurers were already deep enough into the darkness ahead that I couldn’t see them.

I hoped they knew what they were doing straying so far from Circa. Then again, the stairwell was too narrow to travel tightly together. This was probably the best we could do.

Rock moved a hand over his staff, bathing it in an electric blue light. The staff hummed and seemed to vibrate like the wing of an insect, moving so quickly it was a blur in his hand. The light from his staff lit the darkening corridor in dim blue.

I squinted. The darkness was oppressive, even with the light of Rock’s magic flickering around us. Its strobing effect made my eyes hurt and my chest tighten with unease. I might have preferred darkness to this.

I forced a slow breath out of my tight throat.

Peace.

I couldn’t tell if the walls were closing in or if it was only my mind playing tricks on me. Lyria glanced back and must have sensed something in my posture. She let Circa and Rock move ahead of her so she could walk beside me. There was barely room for us to descend shoulder to shoulder.

I looked behind us. I did a double take when I caught a hint of movement just beyond the glow of blue light behind us. “Did you see that?” I whispered. Everybody should’ve been ahead of us. What the hell was that?

Lyria followed my eyes, squinting into the darkness. She waited a few heartbeats, then shook her head. “I don’t see anything. We should keep moving.”

I stared into the darkness for another moment before hurrying to catch up with Circa and Rock.

We finally exited the stairs and entered a cavernous room. It was the size of a football stadium with a dirt arena and rows upon rows of stone seating rising up and into the near pitch-black around us.

A little ways ahead, I saw the main group moving slowly. One of the mages with them had sent three orbs of pure white light to orbit around the group in a slow, hypnotic pattern. Each one cut a perfect sphere of light into the shadows and caused glimmering reflections to bounce off armor and weapons within the group.

The sudden open space should have been a relief. Instead, I looked to the blackened corners of shadow, unable to shake the feeling that we were being watched.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

They were all moving slowly, weapons drawn as they crept deeper through the huge room with the stances of men and women ready for a fight.

My pulse was hammering, and my hand was sweaty against the rim of my Alchemist’s Kit. We cut through a small section of darkness and joined the larger group, squeezing into the white light from the mage’s orbs.

My new sense of connection with mana seemed to be going haywire. Back on the surface, it felt almost like a gentle breeze around me. It was like I could’ve lifted a hand and felt the mana slowly slip to either side, parting softly to pass. In here, the mana felt prickly and wrong, like it was bouncing and zigzagging. And there were pockets where it felt dark and absent or so concentrated it made my temples ache to focus on it.

The silence was thick enough to make my hair stand on end. More than thirty of us were moving as quietly as we could through the huge room. Any number of things could’ve been waiting just beyond our vision, preparing to attack.

We drifted toward the side of the arena, where I saw the stone seating was far more ruined than it had looked in the shadows. Sections were entirely collapsed or run through with holes.

Then I started noticing how many holes there were. The light played tricks as we continued our slow journey deeper into the room, making the mouths of man-sized holes seem to deepen and then snap shut once we were past.

I couldn’t seem to drag my eyes from them. “Why are there so many holes?” I asked.

My curiosity was mirrored by the rest of the group. Several others broke formation slightly to lean closer. One man even climbed over the small wall leading to the seating, trying to get a better look.

“Get back,” Jarn commanded.

The man seemed annoyed by the order but hopped back down with the group and dusted off his hands.

“Raiman,” Jarn said. “Send one of your lights in a hole.”

A man with dark skin and curly hair nodded, face serious. An orb of light detached from its orbit of our group and zipped into the hole. The sudden loss of light was disorienting as it drifted deeper.

Then I flinched back when something white and fleshy appeared, rushing through the hole toward us. Raiman and several others exclaimed in surprise. His lights suddenly winked out.

“Raiman! Light, dammit!” Jarn commanded.

Rock’s staff provided meager light. More colors of faint light bloomed as people activated spells and enchantments, bathing weapons in flame or casting electric fields around themselves.

Two blue dots within the hole were rushing closer, but an armored man jumped the wall and stood guard in front of the opening, waiting with a spear lowered and ready.

“I’m trying!” Raiman said, voice shaking. An unsteady white mote rose from his hands, flickered, and then winked out. He tried again, illuminating his sweating, panic-stricken face.

“Form a defensive!” Jarn commanded. “Wall at your backs. I want five people up there watching our rear.”

I gripped the bottle tighter, squeezing into the group. It felt like we were too close together to fight. Circa was brushing against my shoulder. Lyria was behind me and pressed up close. Rock was in front of me. Gaping darkness was to my left.

I swept my eyes over the black expanse and felt a chill when I saw blue lights slowly taking shape.

There were hundreds of them. They seemed chaotic and disorderly at first, but they were all moving, and they moved in pairs.

Eyes.

The man at the hole grunted, and there was a brief sound of struggle. I couldn’t see anything in the dark.

“Wood,” he called. “I think they’re Woods.”

Raiman finally made one of the white sparks flicker and grow into a light orb. Two more quickly followed and zipped upward to orbit us.

Several people sucked in a breath at the same moment.

We were completely surrounded by shrunken, twisted, pale things with glowing blue eyes.

“Necromancy,” Circa whispered.

[Palefiend, Level 5 (Iron)] “Palefiends are subterranean pack predators. The tomte have developed several advanced defense methods to protect their underground cities and towns from these creatures. According to legend, Palefiends were once an advanced civilization corrupted by a deadly corestone path.”

Iron? Hadn’t the man up on the wall said he thought they were Wood?

I swept my perception across the group, realizing a few bigger ones were Iron, but the vast majority were Wood. I swallowed hard. The palefiends had frozen in place, eyes glinting in the light and teeth bared. Nobody was making a move.

Behind the beasts we could see in the light, there was an ever-growing flood of blue dots.

“Is this normal?” I asked through my teeth.

“No…” Circa said.

Shit.

“We need to make for the stairs,” a man’s voice whispered.

There was murmured agreement. The crush of bodies was shifting, pushing Circa and Lyria into me as we all drifted back in the direction we’d come.

“No!” Jarn said. There was an air of command that stopped us all in our tracks. “Whatever this is, it will only get worse. Riverwell is too close. If we leave, this will spill over before the guild or the capital can send help. We make our stand here and now, or the blood of every man and woman in Riverwell will be on our hands.”

“Fuck them,” a woman with a scarred face said. Her eyes were bulging as she stared out at the slowly approaching palefiends. “I ain’t from here.”

There were more grunts as people nodded their heads and looked toward the stairs.

“Buncha’ godsdamn wooden willies!” the bald tomte with one eye and the bare chest shouted. His loud voice made me flinch after all the whispered quiet. He smashed his two hammers together, rolled his shoulders, and stepped toward the approaching horde of palefiends.

His bravado seemed to have some effect. A few others stepped forward, weapons at the ready.

“Hold the formation,” Jarn warned.

A young mage with red hair screamed suddenly. It wasn’t a scream of pain or fear. It was a wild, bloodthirsty, crazy scream. A ball of fire grew above his head, then thumped to the ground and started rolling into the darkness.

As a line of white creatures hissed and died fiery deaths, chaos erupted.

Circa shot her vein-like magic straight into me, Lyria, and Rock. My eyes snapped open as my perception of everything seemed to deepen. I was flooded with so much power I could barely breathe.

Magic flared all around us.

Lightning flashed from a woman with two large swords, arcing out and frying a large group of palefiends so violently that they dissolved into ash. The bald tomte berserker seemed to be sweating blood and carving holes in the approaching horde with his small hammers, each smashing into monsters with the force of crashing cars.

Odd strings of golden light zipped up into the air and landed on palefiends like thin strands of string. Arrows raced along each string a moment later, curving and winding wildly before eventually punching straight through their targets. Jarn was stomping, but spikes of Earth erupted in deadly pillars that crashed into the enemies, killing them in droves.

I forced my attention from the others and raised both palms. I was on one edge of the group, but Rock had moved in front of me. With his small size, I could easily aim over his head.

There’s one perk of having a tomte Shield in your group.

I expected the poison to spray only a few feet from my hands, so I waited, watching the palefiends approach slowly.

Behind us, one of the people guarding the holes in the stairs screamed and fell. I felt a temporary loss of power as Circa knelt and seemed to heal the man. A moment later, I could feel her energy pump back into me.

Just when I thought they were close enough, I used my ability. Instead of the paltry stream I’d produced on our hike here, now it was gushing rivers of poison firing out of my hands. I ignored a message about my Chain passive triggering, but saw the poison was splitting as it came out of me.

It was like a fire hose, blasting back groups of palefiends with so much force that it knocked them off their feet, even as they were sliced in half from the rotting decay.

I saw Lyria give me a look of stunned surprise, but then her eyes drifted to the huge black tendril punching into my back that came from Circa.

I didn’t even feel like my mana had reduced by much, so I followed the first attack with another.

Sensing I could keep myself clear, Rock slipped out from his spot before me and started tearing palefiends apart with his quarterstaff. He moved in a blur. Any time they reached him, a protective blue bubble surged into view, blasting them away so hard they crashed into the darkness like ragdolls. His vibrating staff sliced through body parts and bone like a knife.

Lyria’s elemental effect on her shield was overcharged, too. She had nearly dropped the shield when she covered it in ice and saw it was firing off forearm-sized chunks of ice like bullets. She drew her sword, staring with mild fascination as it was coated in ice. Each time she swung, lines of icy shards punched up from the ground.

With Circa’s magic, the three of us were clearing more enemies than the entirety of the group behind us.

I was starting to feel good about our chances when a hand rose up out of the ground and grabbed my leg. I shouted, fell to a knee, and had to cut off my magic before I accidentally fire-hosed Rock in the back.

More hands shot out of the dirt, gripping me and many others around us.

The people guarding the holes above were screaming, and I saw a body fall hard to the ground. Two more people were climbing down, quickly followed by a mass of white and glowing blue eyes.

Reflexively, I swung my fists and kicked at the grasping hands. With Circa’s magic, my blows were like thunder. Bone snapped, and flesh caved in as if it was nothing but wet paper.

I hurried over toward the group once I saw Lyria and Rock were having an equally easy time freeing themselves. I punched, pulled, and kicked hands out of the ground from as many people as I could until I saw white bodies jumping and leaping over the front lines.

We were getting overrun.

My poison was no use when they were mixed in with the group like this. I’d kill our people more than I’d kill the enemies. I resorted to my fists, punching and cleaving my way through palefiends and trying to ignore the wet splatter of their foul-smelling blood spraying me.

I lost all sense of direction and time.

All I knew was the addictive power of Circa’s magic, the dull impacts of my fists, and the occasional moment of magical release when I saw an opening to fire into the hordes safely.

I couldn’t say how long it was before it ended.

I was panting, hands dripping with blood, and I finally couldn’t find any more creatures to kill.

Bodies were everywhere.

People groaned, looked around, checked injuries, and kicked palefiends corpses out of their way to check on friends.

“Any injured?” Jarn called out.

There were a few groans from people lying on the ground, half buried in bodies of palefiends. A woman in a white robe trimmed with red rushed over to one, producing buttery light from her hands that stitched his wounds together.

Circa pulled her magic from us and joined the other healer.

This many of us and only two could heal? I wondered why there weren’t more healers.

“Any dead?” Jarn called out.

“Norin,” a woman said. “I think… I think one of them dragged him in those holes.”

“Kaleena,” another man said. “She overdrew.”

“Overdrew?” I whispered to Lyria, who was catching her breath to my side.

The ice was fading from her weapons, and her face was covered in dark, blackish-brown blood. “Some abilities are dangerous,” she said. “You can pull in too much mana for them. It burns you out from the inside. Deadly if you push it too far.”

I nodded, feeling a surge of guilt for the ones who died. Circa had been focusing her power on us. If she wasn’t so concerned with keeping me alive, could she have protected them, too? But maybe it was too much to expect even a Silver to keep track of more than thirty people in the middle of something so chaotic.

“There’s a chamber ahead,” Jarn said, voice cutting through the silence. “We’ll make camp there and recover.”

“Make camp?” I whispered to Circa, who rejoined us after helping heal the wounded. “We’re staying?”

Circa looked into the dark beyond the white, magical lights. “Those were animated with necromancy. The Forsaken is definitely here.”

A cold ball of fear condensed in the pit of my stomach. “And we’re going to fight it?” I asked. “Couldn’t we go up to the surface, recover safely, then come back?”

People were already trudging through piles of corpses in the direction Jarn indicated. Everybody looked dead tired, and I wondered what would happen if the “intelligent presence” came upon us right now.

“All those things we killed… They can be raised again with time,” Circa said.

I followed the rest of the group, walking beside Circa with Lyria and Rock behind us.

“But what would be powerful enough to raise that many minions?”

“It’s… hard to say,” Circa admitted.

“Wait. Do you think it could be stronger than an Iron?”

“I’m not certain,” she said.

“What happens if it is?”

“We will hope it’s not.”

“What do we tell the others?” I asked.

“There’s no need,” she said. “They will already suspect it. My presence here and the obvious necromancy. It has the fingerprints of a Forsaken all over it.”

“And none of them are trying to flee?” I asked.

“They all knew what they signed up for,” Circa said. “People hope for an easy infestation, but they know the risks as well.”

I looked around as the others moved bodies away and checked on the injured or fallen. I felt a surge of respect for all of them.

I took a slow breath. I couldn't pinpoint it, but there was a deep, terrible feeling creeping up my spine—the feeling of something coming toward us with deadly purpose.

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