Ray pushed away his level up notification. He would check them later. When he wasn’t being hounded by a Sylvan seeking to kill him.

The last of his targets had finally reached the spot where his comrade had just been killed by the death ray from Ray’s Primal Summons. The Sylvan must have spotted that laser-like blast. Fast though it had been, it certainly hadn’t been subtle.

Its effect—the burned and half-destroyed corpse of the Sylvan—was definitely not subtle.

Ray took a quick look at what Presence of the Primordial could inform him about his opponent.

[Presence of the Primordial]

Als Koralt Eighth-light [Denizen]

Race: Sylvan

Path: Path of Core Growth [Epic]

Class: Reaver [Uncommon] [Tier 3] at Level 19

Skills:

Reaving Blade [Tier 3]: Your blade leaves severe wounds with every strike, afflicting Bleed. Applied Bleed is at this skill’s Tier and wounds are unhealable using Recovery or any healing abilities below this skill’s Tier so long as the battle lasts.

Sylvan Pride [Tier 3]: Aura of astral projection that automatically refills Mana. This Aura manifests in the element of the wielder’s Path. Your extended presence will note the aura of other beings in your aura’s vicinity. At Tier 3, this spell’s range extends to 15 meters.

Total Perception [Tier 3]: Claim absolute detection of any living being within the spell’s vicinity. At Tier 3, the spell’s vicinity extends to 15 meters.

Armoured Growth [Tier 4]: Imbue yourself with Growth Mana to create a slowly-growing encasing that negates incoming damage. At Tier 4, 8% of all incoming damage is negated per minute of growth.

Bladed Growth [Tier 4]: Extended the reach of your weapon by imbuing it with Growth Mana. At Tier 4, this skill increases the reach of your weapon by 4 meters.

Stored Rejuvenation [Tier 2]: Unleash stored Growth Mana that rejuvenates your soul. At Tier 2, this spell replenishes 20% of your Recovery and Mana.

Ah, Ray had been right. This Sylvan was clearly stronger than his compatriots, both in his class and level, and for the fact that he possessed a Path unlike the others. Very similar to Kredevel, though.

“I will give you one chance to come out and face me on your own,” the Sylvan said. His voice rose in anger. “But if you choose not to, I will destroy everything in the vicinity just to reach you, coward.”

For some reason, that didn’t sound like an idle threat. Ray really did believe this Sylvan could indeed tear apart everything in the area just to get to him.

But that wasn’t the reason Ray stepped forward.

His ultimate plan revolved around one thing only. Sowing some chaos between the Sylvans, and their would-be allies, the Wild Tides. If he could make them think that a member of the Wild Tides had committed this atrocity upon them, then it would surely drive a stake through their budding alliance. That was why he had the red armband.

But the plan wouldn’t work if Ray just ran now. It wasn’t enough to simply kill the Sylvans. He couldn’t even rely on simply hoping that if he left behind the red cloth, the surviving Sylvan would think it was the Wild Tides. Anyone could drop a blood-drenched bandanna.

No, Ray had to drive the point home.

Which was why he stepped through the tall grass towards his enemy, raising his voice as he spoke. “This is what happens. This is what you get when you go against the Wild Tides.”

The look of confusion on the head Sylvan’s face was definitely encouraging. Confusion. Not disbelief. He wasn’t completely ruling out the possibility of the Wild Tides. Just what Ray needed.

Even better, the Sylvan didn’t waste time on pointless questions. “We knew it would come to this. You animals are all alike. Beasts that need to be culled. No matter the guise you wear.”

Ray emphasized the red armband, rapping it with a finger. “It’s simple, Sylvan. You’re either with the Wild Tides, or you’re against us. Since all your companions refused our generous offer, they were the ones who had to be culled to make sure they weren’t a nuisance. But now, I’m going to let you go so you can carry my message to the rest of your kind.”

The Sylvan laughed, “You will let me go?”

“Tell the rest of your alien brood that the Wild Tides won’t be so merciful next time. Although…” Ray grinned. It made some of the dried earth on his face crack. “I’m not sure how much of your precious brood is left after…”

“After what?” the Sylvan asked, straightening. There was clear concern on his face now. Excellent.

“Oh, you’ll find out. It’s why I suggest you run along before it gets too late.”

The Sylvan hesitated. His expression grew slack for a moment, and Ray knew the alien was trying to communicate with others. Probably not good.

Which was why Ray decided to set the rest of the plan he had just come up with into motion.

He attacked. Or rather, his constructs did. Every single one he was able to call forth after crushing a Mana crystal to get back a good chunk of his Mana.

Ray had decided it didn’t matter how much control he had over them. All they needed to do was attack he Sylvan and keep him busy. So, he called on Maw after Maw, roils of black-red energy giving birth to floating head after floating head. After the third one, his head started aching, but he continued summoning until he had five heads with a pair of wings on each.

He had ordered his eyeball to keep the Brighthorn with the last Sylvan busy. Ray couldn’t sense it any longer, couldn’t tell if it was still “alive” or if it had been destroyed by the monster dog.

Well, considering that the Brighthorn hadn’t returned to pester him yet, Ray was hopeful about his construct.

Whatever communication the Sylvan had tried to busy itself with had clearly failed as he was forced to focus on the onrushing monster heads. With a growl, he dodged the various blasts of chaotic fire while preparing his own attacks. Then he countered.

Ray didn’t get to see much of it in action, but he did spot the execution of the Sylvan’s Growth Mana just as Presence of the Primordial had indicated. A glowing, spiralling burst of hornlike growths had rammed out of the ground and into his constructs. One of the flying Maws had been pierced through the eye, another crushed by two sets of shimmering growths.

Yeesh. If only he’d had more time to observe. Ray was already retreating, falling back. If the heads could keep the Sylvan distracted for long enough, Ray could make a clean getaway.

“You dare run!” the Sylvan shouted. If he had made any attempts to follow, he had to have been quickly stymied by a flood of flames. At least, his voice wasn’t growing any louder. “I will make you pay for your—argh!”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Ray grinned. Those heads were falling fast, but they were doing their job well. He lowered his profile so that it was better obscured by the grass and distanced himself as fast as he could.

At some point, Ray regained control over his constructs. Just two of the Windbane Maws. No sign of the eyeball. That was fine.

Ray didn’t want to control them, especially not without a guiding eyeball that would show him what in the world was going on. He was too far away to do that himself, now, and he was getting farther every second.

Once he deemed himself far enough from the site of battle, he summoned his wings with Primal Summons and travelled even farther. It was at least half an hour later that Ray finally stopped flying and settled down. There. Even if the Sylvan tried to give chase, there was no way that alien could cover the same ground in the same amount of time.

[New Personal Achievement—Conflict Propagator!]

You have instigated a conflict between two Factions. Your deviousness knows no bounds, it would seem.

Reward

* Reputation: +25 Chaotic, +15 Cunning

[Reputation Threshold Crossed]

For reaching the 100-point threshold, your Chaos now builds Insanity even faster, at 12% per successful hit, and inflicts Tier 3 Insanity upon proc.

For reaching the 50-point threshold, your Cunning now adds additional 7% critical chance with every attack. At 7% critical chance, approximately every fifteenth attack will be a critical hit. A critical hit triples damage and always procs any associated affliction.

Oh, neat. That achievement also meant that Ray wasn’t in any danger from the Sylvan any longer since he must have gone on to exact vengeance on any Wild Tides members close by. Perfect.

It was only then Ray took some time to check where he had arrived. The tall, dead grass had given way to a small forest of petrified trees. A good place to hunker down for a while.

Presence of the Primordial didn’t indicate there was anything living nearby. So yeah, good place to rest, for the time being.

Ray did feel like resting. His eyelids were a little heavy and a proper break sounded like a fantastic idea. Maybe even a nap. He wasn’t that exhausted, not physically, yet it somehow felt appropriate after killing all those Sylvans and earning himself another level.

Maybe it was just the mental fatigue. He had been trying not to think of the implications of having invaded, attacked, and more or less murdered a group of people who had done him no harm at all. Because, in the end, the Sylvans were people. A different sort of people from him and other humans, no doubt. Antagonistic too. But people, nevertheless.

There was no hiding from the fact that what he had done could arguably be considered evil.

The other fact of the matter was that Ray wasn’t exactly going around hunting down random people just for the hell of it. He was fighting enemies.

There was at least a ninety percent chance that these Sylvans would have gone on to invade Insurge Faction’s Base. They most likely knew about Ray and had orders to kill him on sight. A different perspective was that Ray was simply taking a pre-emptive measure to safeguard himself, and by extension, Maya and the others too.

He took a deep breath before sighing it out. Whatever. He didn’t feel regret about what he had done. Plus, all the Essence had been delightful.

Fuck minor moral quandaries when there was a level to be attained.

Ray still felt like resting, but before he could do so, he had some things to check first. Namely, plugging all his free stats to Vitality. He was rather eager to see what happened when it hit Tier 2.

Then there was his new spell.

[Information Request—Spells]

Sphereguard of Chaos [Barrier] [Tier 1]

A barrier spell that summons several minor orbs around the caster to act as safeguards during combat. Each orb can fully block a singular attack at this spell’s Tier. At Tier 1, this spell summons 3 orbs that last 1 minute.

… huh. Ray read over the spell description a few times. It definitely sounded interesting.

Just to see how it worked, Ray activated the spell. Black-red energy bubbled over his body before coming off and coalescing into the indicated three orbs. They all revolved around him, little moons orbiting their father planet.

Ray could see some decent uses for this. A quick cast before any actual battle and he could rush in without needing to worry about his own safety. For a little while, at least.

Although, its Tier was low. It made him worry, honestly. Was every spell he received via levelling up going to start at Tier 1? That was a lot lower than his average, especially now that he had been levelling up his spells with all the Tier points he had received recently.

Speaking of which, Ray hadn’t received a Tier point with the last level up. That was a little disappointing, although he was certain he’d be able to find a dungeon and get one there before long.

There were also the recent Reputation points he had earned.

With his Chaos having broken past another threshold, his Insanity procs were going to be even more effective than before. Although, the last few battles hadn’t seen him need to make use of it. In fact, considering he was going for overwhelming power instead of chipping away at his opponents’ health, status afflictions were becoming less important.

Nevertheless, Ray wouldn’t discount it. Even if he was growing, even if he was getting stronger and stronger, he could very well end up facing a foe even his steadily-strengthening power faltered against. That was when Insanity could again come in clutch.

Same went for more critical hits. He wasn’t hitting enough to get more critical hits out, but that was fine. When the time came, the recent upgrade to the critical chance would come in handy.

[Dungeon Establishment Reward]

You have acquired 1 Mana fruit.

Ray stared as the glowing blue fruit appeared out of thin air before him, floating until he grabbed it. A real, live Mana fruit. So whoever Maya had put in charge of the dungeon had successfully cultivated enough for Ray himself to have earned a fruit by proxy.

He smiled. Alright, this was going to be great. If it came steadily enough, he wouldn’t even need to find any more Mana fruits on his own.

Ray settled back and relaxed for the time being. He felt like he shouldn’t be relaxing. Since he hadn’t received a Tier point with his last level up, he ought to be hunting down more sources of Essence to see if he could get another. Or at least, find a Tier point from a dungeon.

He resolved to do just that after a while. Recover, recuperate, then reconvene with the fighting and the growing.

Even if he had a Mana fruit to wash away all the weariness, his mind needed a break.

At least, resting gave him the opportunity to catch up with the others. Or try to. What Ray really would have liked to know was the fallout from his actions among the Sylvans’ ranks. That was impossible now. Kredevel, his only contact in that regard, was no longer with his old contingent.

Nevertheless, Ray left message for both Gritty and his Sylvan friend. Neither replied immediately, which was fine since they were undoubtedly busy with their own stuff.

Maya: You did what?

Ray: You heard me.

Ray had explained a bit of what he had done to stir up trouble. He didn’t go into the nitty-gritty details of it, but he had revealed that the Sylvans ought to be infighting against the Wild Tides now. For a little while, at least.

Maya: So we have a bit more breathing room.

Ray: That’s the hope, though I wouldn’t bank on it too much. Better to be prepared for the worst.

Maya: Oh, we know. We’ve all been trying to get our levels up using the dungeons so much that a lot of people are thinking of going out even further because the closer ones are all closed.

Ah, right. The same Denizens couldn’t run through the same dungeon more than once.

Ray: But they can’t because they’re afraid of going too far from the Base and leaving it vulnerable.

Maya: Well, we’re taking precautions so it’s not too bad, but that is the main concern, yeah.

Ray had no solutions for that. If they had some sort of fast travel mechanic, like magical portals or whatever, things would have been a lot more convenient. He hadn’t seen any such things, however—

Ray: Wait a minute. Remember the traversal dungeon? The first one we cleared together?

Maya was silent for a moment.

Maya: That’s brilliant!!

Ray: We can use those to speed up our travel times from one place to another.

Maya: Exactly. I know some of the Faction members have cleared up a couple more of those in the surrounding Sectors.

Ray: If you can map out where exactly they are and let me know, that would be great.

Maya: I will. This is amazing, Ray. I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of it already.

Ray grinned. That really was a good idea. He felt like patting himself on the back.

Ray: I’m sure you’ve had a lot on your mind, running the Faction and everything. But yeah, hopefully this works out.

Maya: It will, I’m sure. We got a few batches of Mana fruit from the dungeon, by the way. It’s also levelling up as we use it more, which means we’re getting enough Mana fruit to sustain just about everyone.

Ray: Yeah, I figured. I got a Mana fruit recently as a reward. That’s great to hear. One worry removed.

Despite being the dungeon’s creator, Ray had received no information about the dungeon itself. No notifications or anything like that. Just that Mana fruit earlier.

They didn’t have much else to talk about, so they left it at that for now.

Ray took a couple more hours or so to rest up. By the end of that time, he had begun to feel antsy. Raring to go and make himself even stronger.

None of the Insurge Faction members had come out this far, and Ray hadn’t received any reply from Kredevel, so he had no information to go off of. That was fine. With his supply of Mana crystals, exploring the surroundings wouldn’t be too difficult or time consuming.

He did rub his face clean—he really needed some water at some point—and put on the Shaper Raiment again, before he got going.

It was time to find more opportunities on the First Floor. Sadly, the first thing Ray found was a swamp.