Ray moved through the golden grass without trying to make it look like he knew that there was someone observing him. Someone most likely waiting for just the right opportunity to kill him.

He wasn’t sure why, but he could figure out a reason or two. Thinking helped make it look like he wasn’t paying attention.

Somehow, the Everstead must have received some sort of notice that the Tier 15 dungeon, Giant’s Cradle, had been infiltrated by someone not meant to go through it. Maybe they had even received a warning that it had been cleared. It only strengthened Ray’s assumption that the Everstead knew about the dungeon and had posted the Lostcallers there.

Of course, the other option was that an Everstead guard was always posted here. Ray had just come under the soldier’s radar and was now being observed.

Just to be safe, Ray went with the first assumption. That was why he had the Scouring Eyeball flying high up in the air. It was hidden with his Mimic Mana thanks to the Imitator construct and Origin Resonance. The construct wouldn’t be seen. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be sensed either.

The tension kept spiking, though. Ray had to continuously fight against the impulse to run or start attacking from range.

Not yet. This was a cat-and-mouse game, basically. If Ray acted first, there was a good chance that the soldier would dodge or defend successfully, and then things would turn more complicated. No. The first move had to be the soldier’s.

At least the eye didn’t take long to find his observer. The man was located almost four hundred feet away. Damn. That was a pretty long distance to have seen Ray in the grass, though he supposed he probably stood out against the golden tufts in his Vestments. The real question was whether the guy possessed any offensive skills he could use on Ray from that distance.

It was too far for Primordial Gauge to check his Status. The spell had only informed Ray he was being observed, not where from or why by.

Yet another reason he needed to see what the soldier did next.

The man moved. Ray had to force himself not to react. The soldier in the distance started slowly approaching Ray’s location, crouching a little to keep his profile within the grass.

He was definitely using some sort of skill now. An ability manifested a long, powerful spear that glowed black and gold in his hand. Without the keen eyesight of the Scouring Eyeball, Ray definitely wouldn’t have spotted the translucent but dangerous-looking spear.

Soon. In no time, the man would be close enough for them both to act.

Ray wasn’t fooled. He suspected the fellow wasn’t alone, so he called up another Scouring Eyeball hidden with Mimic Mana to scout out the area farther. The first one had to maintain its close watch on the soldier.

He didn’t get to focus on the second eyeball’s sight for long. The guard was rushing his position.

It took a huge force of will to not react and give away that Ray knew he was about to be assaulted. Not yet. Not yet. Not—

Now.

The man launched the spear. He was about a hundred feet from Ray. That was apparently the range his golden spear could fly. Ray held his breath, held his position too.

Then he used Spectral Step just as the spear landed upon him. The world twisted, but he kept enough of his concentration to use Primal Spiritcraft to call up the draconic maw around his hand. Ray had teleported to his first flying eyeball’s location. He couldn’t maintain that sort of elevation even after calling up Soaring Wings, but it was enough.

Enough to fire off the compressed laser breath. The draconic maw’s breath rushed in fast enough that the soldier had no time to react. Fast enough that Ray had killed his pursuer before he had even begun to fall.

[Enemy Defeated—Human]

Vanguard [Tier 2] Human: [Level 32] x1

Essence: +3,200

Knowledge: +3

True Mana Restored: +320

Essence to Level 42: 35,660/150,700

Knowledge to next Threshold: 2,199/2,500

Ray couldn’t relax, despite his victory. He focused on not splattering himself on the ground as he spread his wings wide to slow the fall.

The more important bit was the fact that his other eyeball was scouting out the land ahead. His earlier assumption was correct. That last soldier he had killed hadn’t been alone. There was at least one other person in the vicinity. Yet another soldier, who was now rapidly approaching the location where Ray had killed the first one.

Ray had basically been found out. It was time to fight for real.

He wasn’t satisfied with what the eyeballs had found so far. He lent them a bit of his intelligence, ordering them to scout out the entire area instead of just a specific direction. There might be more of them he hadn’t seen yet.

For now, Ray focused on the soldier bullishly approaching him. There was no secrecy or stealth or anything of the sort about his new adversary. He was here to kill Ray head-on.

Even his accoutrement suggested he wasn’t one to fight in any way except face-to-face. His armour was thick and heavy, a long cape flowing off his shoulders. One hand had a shield bigger than most refrigerator doors, while the other bore a mace that could split an elephant’s skull with ease. Man meant business.

Since there was no point in sneaking about, Ray strode forward with the same intention. He cast Mottling Spiritguard to draw up the chaotic spheres around him. A quick look with Primordial Gauge confirmed that his opponent possessed similar abilities as the lordling.

Ray could deal with this guy without trouble.

He made the first move. A Spiritguard orb changed to offensive stance shot at the heavily-armoured soldier with the speed of a cannonball.

It never hit him. A golden hemispherical aura surrounded the man for a second, blocking the orb. Divine Bulwark. Hmm. Ray would need to find a way to get past that.

Surprisingly, the man spoke out loud. “Are you the one who emerged from the Giant’s Cradle dungeon?”

“What do you think?” Ray asked.

“I think you are skulking about like a thief, full of belief that you carry some powerful secret or other, when in truth, you hold nothing of the sort. You are merely a paranoid rat who lashes out at anything he sees as his foe. So now, I must put you down for the good of all.”

“Really? You’re going to call me paranoid when it was your friend who attacked me with that spear of his? All I did was retaliate to save myself.”

In answer, the soldier rushed in with the spear glowing golden.

Ray’s wings took him far out of the range of the man’s charge, but not too far for Soulstrike. It helped that the soldier was continuing his direct rush. A True Mana arm leaped off of Ray’s shoulder. It slammed in with a bludgeoning point, ready to smash the man to pulp.

The shield of golden aura popped up around the soldier, even as he kept charging. Ray grinned. The aura stopped his True Mana arm completely. It was a powerful shield, clearly.

But Ray knew its limits.

Unlike with the lordling, this man’s Divine Bulwark was only Tier 5. Just one mere Tier above his Soulstrike spell. That his Thoroughness hadn’t allowed his skill to crush through the man’s defence was proof of how strong the skill was.

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But all Ray had to do was push in some more True Man with the Mana Infuser ring to take the spell to Tier 5 as well. Now, it worked.

As the man got close enough, Ray cast Soulstrike again. The next True Mana arm was larger, stronger, and faster. Ray turned it into the impaling point to stab in through the golden shielding aura and strike the man directly.

He cursed. The Soulstrike blow had stopped the man’s rush, sure. But the soldier had been fast enough to bring his shield around. That stopped the arm from actually hitting its target.

Damn it. Two layers of defence. The golden aura must have reduced the spell’s power a great deal, and that actual shield was likely pretty powerful too. Ray would need to find some other way of overwhelming the guy.

“You’re strong,” the man said, his voice shaky but still confident. “I’ll give you that.”

“Thanks,” Ray said. “You’re no slouch either for surviving this long.”

“Ha!”

With a sudden burst of strength, the man shrugged off Soulstrike entirely. The True Mana arm went flying back. Another yell, and then the soldier had pointed his spear straight at Ray, the spiralling drill of golden light just about to fire off.

Ray managed to call in the Spiritguard orbs to form a close defensive shield around him. They withstood the soldier’s attack.

Meanwhile, Ray tried attacking his opponent with the Soulstrike arm again. Arms. Plural. He had cast a second one, trying to hammer in from both sides. It wasn’t practical, though. The combination of the man’s actual shield and Divine Bulwark kept him safe from basic attacks.

Which was why Ray decided to test his latest ability on his opponent. His Scouring Eyeballs hadn’t reported anyone else in the vicinity, so Ray had time.

Seeing as his ranged attack wasn’t getting past the Spiritguard defence, the soldier made to charge in again. He rushed in, still cloaked with Divine Bulwark to ward off Ray’s spells. Ray eyes it for a second, recollecting the ability’s exact description.

Then he countered.

He had already flown back again to prevent the soldier from goring him with that spear of his. Now, he rushed in.

If his opponent was surprised, there was no indication. The charge continued. Just as Ray reached the right spot, the man fired off the drilling skill again. Ray was ready for it, though. He used Soulstrike again, ramming the arm in from the side. The golden shield stopped.

Just what Ray wanted.

He used Spectral Step next, disappearing to reappear at the end of the True Mana arm. Since he had let Soulstrike go just as he had used Spectral Step, the True Mana arm only disappeared instead of coming along with him.

The soldier was surprised for only a second, quickly turning to face Ray. But just that second was enough.

Ray pushed his hand through the golden barrier. It went in effortlessly. He had to bless the Lostcallers for showing him that neat little move. Of course, it could only be applied in very specific situations for him, since he didn’t exactly possess the Spirit Phase ability. But right here, right now, was all he needed.

As the soldier turned, he found himself facing Ray’s open palm. And a growing orb of sparking, chaotic energy.

Ray had used Core Deconstruction. The spell had summoned up a spinning orb of chaotic energy. Unlike his Spiritguard spheres, this one looked more like a Van de Graff generator—a shimmering globe with black-red lightning arcing within it.

The orb exploded. Ray had summoned it so close to its target that it touched the soldier as soon as it formed. The spell then promptly detonated, giving the soldier no time to react.

It wasn’t that powerful of an explosion. Ray only staggered back a couple of steps.

But for the soldier, it looked like the end of the world. He screamed as he fell, his spear and shield dropping from his hands. The black-red lightning was capering over his whole body. While he didn’t look electrocuted or burned, there was a graver horror etched onto his face.

The sign of someone who had just lost all access to Mana.

There was no time to waste. Ray had succeeded in his endeavour to essentially capture the man. Now to seal the deal.

He cast Soulstrike to craft up a True Mana arm with the grasping end. Next came Lifeblood Soulform with the bees. As Ray grabbed the soldier with his True Mana arm, he sent the bees straight to the soldier’s face.

“Don’t scream,” Ray warned.

The panicked expression on the soldier’s face definitely foretold a shriek of fright. The threat in Ray’s voice cut it off, though. As did the bees gathering on his cheeks and forehead.

“You’ve lost all connection with Mana, haven’t you?” Ray asked.

The man didn’t answer, looking far too horrified to even process the question.

Ray shook him in his Ture Mana’s grip a little. Hopefully, that had cleared his head a bit. “Listen close, buddy. I don’t want to waste time. As such, if you can’t give me the answers I’m looking for, I’m simply going to kill you and find someone who can. Understood?”

Just to emphasize the threat, he made the bees gather closer to the man’s face. Basically, his whole face was now obscured by the buzzing constructs of black-red energy, leaving only his mouth, nostrils, eyes, and ears alone.

“You see all these bees?” Ray continued. “I can make them crawl through every hole on your body—every hole—and then I can make them…”

He snapped his fingers. With the newly summoned Viledrake tail behind him providing Molten Mana, Ray used Origin Resonance to turn a bee into a construct of pure lava. He had only done it to a bee on the man’s armour. But the heat and the smoke and sizzling sound all dragged his gaze inexorably downward. His eyes widened.

“That’s right,” Ray said. “If you don’t want to start vaporizing from the inside, you’re going to comply with everything I have to say. Is that understood?”

Panicked eyes turned back to Ray’s face, before the soldier’s obscured head nodded hastily and with no small amount of vigour.

What followed was a nice little interrogation that explained a lot. There was always the danger that what Ray was hearing wasn’t the truth. If the soldier retained enough of a presence of mind, he could simply tell Ray convincing lies.

Thankfully, Ray had a way of corroborating everything he was hearing.

Ray: Gritty? Could you please answer? We got some really important business to discuss.

She didn’t reply. Ray cursed. He had just obtained some vital information from the captured soldier he really would have liked to confirm. Cursing silently, he decided to proceed with the interrogation.

He was mid-question about twenty minutes later when Gritty replied.

Gritty: What important business?

Ray: Finally. I’m back on Cliff One and I’ve got myself a little, uh, interviewee.

Gritty: What? You’re starting to sound like me, wingman, and that’s never good.

Ray stared at the chat window for a little while. Then he shook his head and proceeded to explain what had happened. He also confirmed that Gritty had heard what had happened to him from Kredevel.

Gritty: Yeah, your captive is right. The Floor Lrd got captured about an hour ago. I’m trying to see if I can get to her, but it’s a little difficult. A lot more red tape to wade through on Cliff One.

Ray: Fuck. You could have said something.

Gritty: I did. To Kredevel.

Ray was about to say that he had meant him but realized how childish that sounded. It wasn’t like he could make use of that information. Kredevel, however, would be a lot more affected by it.

In fact, Ray cut off the conversation with Gritty and hit up his Sylvan friend immediately.

Ray: Hey, Kredevel. Gritty told you about the Floor Lord, right?

It was always nice that Kredevel, despite being a leader among the Sylvans now, still managed to find time to promptly answer him. Not immediately, of course. But it took only like three minutes before Ray got an answer.

Kredevel: Yes, I have heard. We are attempting to make our way to Cliff One as we speak.

Ray: Wait, already?

Kredevel: Now is the perfect time. They have only just captured the Floor Lord. They are tired and terribly wounded and have used up a great deal of their resources. If we do not make our move now, it will be too late.

Ray: A move… to do what, ultimately?

Kredevel: To free the Floor Lord, of course.

Ray: Kredevel… this Floor Lord isn’t that different from Olgolair. She doesn’t care about you. All she cares about is the task she has been given from the Fleshcrafter.

Realizing he hadn’t explained his meeting with the Fleshcrafter, Ray proceeded to do so. He also highlighted the Fleshcrafter’s connections with the Sylvans. There was a lot of irrefutable proof that the Floor Lord was working for the Fleshcrafter.

Kredevel: That… that cannot be,. We are followers of the Burgeoner. That is the Paragon who blesses our entire race. We do all in his name.

Ray: But is this Burgeoner interested in taking over the Tower of Forging.

Kredevel: Not that I am aware of…

Ray: Exactly If not the Burgeoner, then some other Paragon will. That’s what it looks like. And this Fleshcrafter wants to be the frontrunner.

Gritty: By turning everyone on the Floor—well, all the Everstead on the Floor—into his unwitting followers.

Ray; Gritty, wtf. How did you even barge into this chat?

Kredevel: I agree with Gritty. But… that also means I must agree with your assessment about the Floor Lord, Ray. She may very well be focusing entirely on her goals with regards to this Fleshcrafter.

Gritty: Exactly. Ray’s right, Kredevel. We’ve got no reason to free her in the first place. Unless you want some plague-loving Paragon to take over the Tower. You said his influence is spreading alongside the plague, right, Ray?

Ray: Sorry, I’m still stuck on how you got into the chat, Gritty. It was supposed to be between me and Kredevel. I didn’t even know you could do three-way chats.

Gritty: Yeah, see, Kredevel. Ray said the Fleshcrafter fucking sucks.

Ray: That isn’t at all what I said, but you’re not wrong.

Kredevel: I… I must think on this. We must reach the Floor Lord regardless. Whether to free her or to make her answer for all that she has done and allowed to happen on the Second Floor.

Gritty: That leads to the next question—are the Everstead our enemy?

Ray turned to his captive sitting there seemingly placidly. He’d had to re-summon the bees and the True Mana arms due to their timers running out. The soldier was still trapped.

“What do you say, Holden?” Ray asked. “Is the Everstead our enemy, really? Despite having tried to kill me multiple times, are we really supposed to be fighting against each other?”

That was apparently too broad of a question, because the soldier started faltering.

“Alright, alright,” Ray said. “Let me make this easier. What does the king of Everstead want right now?”

Holden, the captive soldier, considered for a moment. The bees around his mouth bobbed around as he talked. “He wants to rid the kingdom of this plague.”

“We know that. What next? What’s he going to do to the Floor Lord, for instance? Execute her? What happens then? Is he happy to remain as a part of the Tower of Forging forever, or does he want to get his kingdom out?”

“I…”

“Remember, Hoden. I’ve got everything in place to determine whether you’re lying or telling the truth. You really don’t want to lie, right now.”

The bees bobbed as Holden’s Adam’s apple did. “The king wants restitution afterwards. The entirety of Everstead does.” A bit of passionate fervour emerged in his voice, which convinced Ray that he was hearing the truth. “This plague has destroyed our homeland, as have the actions of the other Sylvans. Someone must take responsibility.”

Ray made a gesture for him to go on. “And so…?”

“So, the kingdom of Everstead seeks to climb higher up the Tower. We are heading to Third Floor.”