The dawn also brought Sergeant Juth, Healer Austin, Water Mage Akina, Suda, and Guardsman Ryan. Their presence was announced when vines grew out of the branch and entangled a swath of rats. Then, they seemed to dry up and shrivel as Akina drew out all their water.

“Report,” commanded Juth as she jumped across to our branch. Austin went straight to the wounded.

I tuned them out and kept Harvesting. Some of the conversation filtered in. Joe reported his Advanced Class as did one of the others I didn’t know about. Apparently, the Sergeant was now a Battle Hoplon, whatever that was. That meant four of the fourteen guardsmen now had advanced classes. The Lieutenant will be pleased. Everybody has certainly levelled, and most will have at least one new Skill.

When Austin had assessed the wounded, there was not much that could be done about a missing arm. That had to wait for a full clinic. Austin was only a Combat Medic. I got his attention.

“Any of these interest you?” I laid out three Skill Stones.

“Tough Digestion, certainly,” he said. “I have ingested all sorts of horrible stuff in my time. Most recently, I sucked out snake poison. It will probably also help me keep down Joe’s cooking. Incisor Growth, no, but some Beastkin species will snap that up. Nightsight will be helpful, thanks.”

Always look after the Healer. “Hey, I also have one called Blood Syphon. It syphons blood from and enemy and adds to your health. That any good to you?”

“It is dangerous to syphon unknown blood and inject it into your body. Some creatures like trolls and orcs have blood that is poisonous to us. There are all sorts of blood diseases and poisons. It is certainly useful to me, as I have purification skills, and it will pair well with my Blood Injection. I will be able to cleanse somebody of blood infections.”

Note to self. Always consult a healer before getting skills that inject things into your body. I passed the skill over.

We kept fighting. There was less pressure now, and the guards could rest longer.

Then, the higher-level rats started coming. The ones with more complicated skills than claw slash. I think the trial was wearing us out and then sending the higher-level rats. It was levelling up the attack. Trials are out to kill you.

Poison Rats, Jumping Rats, Camouflaged Rats, Acid Spitting Rats, Wood Spiking Rats, Armoured Rats and Rats that try to gnaw through the massive branch you are standing on.

You wouldn’t think that would be possible but there are some large rats and a lot with a wood affinity.

Juth took Rob, Suda, and two of the guards to attack the rats who were chewing through the branch. I started rotating onto the front line.

I needed a better identify my skill as a Radient Strike was best for killing shadow rats, a burning strike was best for wood rats and water rats, and a shadow strike was my best skill for fire rats. I didn’t have a water strike skill like one of the guards. It was not always obvious what the rat was.

When I rotated off and returned to Harvesting, I realised I was being an Idiot again. I had a better Identification skill. I have Assessing Eyes. Nothing is restricting it to assessing allies. I can assess the monster rats. I started practising, and even a quick look told me the rat's major alignment.

When I rotated back onto the front line, I was much more efficient. When my ability levelled, it was even easier.

“Enhanced Jump, anyone?” I yelled. I felt I didn’t need it with my Feather Fall doing a better job, plus I had just learned Acid Strike from another stone. The Strikes might be the weakest of the attack skills, but there was value in having the right one for the job. A skill's power was certainly a function of its level, but it was also a function of the attributes you had to power and guide the skill. A Strike in the hands of a person with the attributes of level 100 would way outclass me.

“Acid Resistant Cape. Acid Fang Stilleto. Claw Gloves.” The Potions were now going straight to Austin, who had a much clearer idea of who needed what through his healer-assessing skills. I was still pocketing the cores and coins. I also had a Shadow Strike Skill stone stored for Tāwai. I wasn’t sure his claws and beak would be classed as weapons, hence whether he could use them, but we would see. They should be.

It is a shame Rob can’t learn new skills. As a summons, he can only level the ones he has.

I was keeping an eye on Tāwai. His health fluctuated a number of times. He had also levelled several times, mostly putting his attributes into Agility, which I figured helped his flying. He put a few into intelligence to boost his mana for his air abilities. He was an intelligent bird.

“Anybody want the Rats Eye Skill?” I asked.

“What’s it do?”

“It is Nightsight but also some sort of Pathfinding ability,”

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“Yes, please,” said Pok, the other squad’s scout.

“Didn’t you take Tree Runner?”

He grinned, “and Enhanced Jump.”

“We can change his name to Rat!” somebody yelled.

“Are you sure you don’t want to grow your Incisors?” I asked.

He made a rude gesture in my direction.

Then Tāwai swooped down, “Prepare to Move. Prepare to move.”

“Everybody up,” Joe ordered.

Then I saw Rob coming with two bodies strapped to him with vines. Behind him, the sergeant and Myantha were fighting a retreat against some massive Rats. These must be the bosses of the swarm. Then the branch shook.

Austin moved to treat the wounded. Hopefully, they were only wounded.

‘This way!” shouted Pok, jumping to an adjacent branch and fixing a rope for the less agile people.

Austin climbed on Rob’s back to go with the wounded. I was worried about Rob carrying three as it was only recommended for two. I guess he has levelled as well, and if he moves carefully, it should be fine.

I grabbed the Rattrap as that was very useful. My Helping Hand was kept busy storing corpses. Take everything you can! I am looking forward to Helping Hand Levelling as I should get a second hand, or maybe it is a fourth hand.

Pok was fighting on the other branch, so the rats didn’t chew through the rope. I thought these academics would be faster, although only having one hand would be a hindrance.

I jump for the other branch using Feather Fall to make the distance. I almost overshoot, but I can reduce the influence of Feather Fall and so add weight to land correctly.

I help Pok clear a space. Then the rope is reinforced by a vine and Rob comes across. Everybody gathers and Austin has one of the Guardsmen back on his feet.

One of the large rats jumps across further down, making our branch shake. Akina sweeps the other branch clear of small rats with a water surge and then comes across. I have lost count of who is with us. I think we might have picked up another small group. Actually, that makes sense from the impressions I had from Tāwai. That was probably what he and Myantha were doing.

I counted the Academics. Barnard was the one with the missing hand. He was the ancient weapon specialist, I think. Walter, the assistant, looked traumatised. Hilke was fighting her share, which made sense as she was a Trial specialist with Myantha. Esdras, the historian, avoided fighting but helped Austin with the wounded. That meant we were missing three academics: Taan, the artefact specialist; Rylark, the elf historian; and Cybil, the other assistant. I counted the guards. We were missing three guards, including Norm, the fire mage. I hope they were with the academics. Juth probably knows.

Then, the other large rats jumped to our branch, and the other branch started to collapse. Juth grabbed the remaining guard with one hand, cut the rope/vine from her end, grabbed it with her other hand, and swung. Myantha seemed to run across the air. Two guards from this side helped haul them up.

“Incoming!” yelled Joe, bracing his shield.

The first large rat was charging toward us and was wreathed in flame. It burned through Suda’s vines like they weren’t there. I could tell Joe’s Caltrops had it limping. I dropped Umbral Cold on it, which dimmed the flames, and that helped Akina’s water hose, so the flames almost were out when they hit Joe's shield.

Joe had some sort of skill supporting his shield, or he would have gone flying. As it was, he skidded backwards, and I had to Dodge to the side. However, he had bled off the momentum of the charge.

I didn’t need Assessing Eyes to know this was fire-attuned, and I ripped into it with Frostshade Rend. It didn’t do as much damage as I expected. Tāwai’s Dive Attacked its face, trying to blind it. Lacerating Claws left only what I would describe as scratches. That wasn’t good.

Arrows came in from Pok, and the other guards stepped up with their skills. The trouble was two more of these beasts were about to arrive. They probably had different affinities but would be no less difficult to take down.

Then the Sergeant was there. “Squad two with me! She yelled as she ran past.” Guards disengaged to follow, including Joe and Suda. Squad two was only missing Norm, the fire mage. I saw Hilke following the Sergeant.

Squad 1 was down two other guards, but I guess Akina was best here on the Fire Affinity Beast. There was also a guard still unconscious from Squad One so we were left with Pok, Akina and Phil. Phil stepped forward into Joe's place and bashed the monster's nose to get its attention. I could see damage on Phil's gear, so I suspect he was the other wounded body that was on Rob.

This branch was narrower than the one we just left, so there was less room to move. That didn’t worry Myantha, who seemed to dart out into the air and back with no problem. It certainly didn’t worry Tāwai. It did worry me.

I kept Umbral Cold going, and Akina used water attacks. Myantha was concentrating on the wounded leg. I chose a leg on my side to disable and alternated Frostshade Rend with Cutting Light.

Then Phil went flying, and Rob only just kept him on the branch. I saw Austin running to him and casting something, but he was our only shield user. Pok and Akina were ranged attackers, and the rat was about to charge them.

I dropped Shadowbane, grabbed a shield and activated Provoking Aura. Its attention snapped to me, and I Shield Bashed the side of its head, and a claw came at me. I staggered back. My Shield skills are not up to this. I sliced its face with Lightreaver and Frostshade Rend but only scored a partial connection.

An arrow thudded deep into the rat. The beast headbutted me, and I lost my balance and went over the edge of the branch.

Tāwai let loose with his Mocking Call, which I hadn’t heard before and was also a taunt-type skill. It was too late to save me, and I fell. I activated Feather Fall and orientated myself with Acrobatics and Cat reflexes, but I still bounced off a branch and fell again. I landed hard. With the breath knocked out of me and Minor Regeneration activating.

I knew Rob was on his way to me, but I was not sure how far I had fallen. There were rats here as well, but only small ones. I protected my face and tossed out the Rattrap that distracted them. Then I realised it would distract them more if I turned off my Provoking Aura. My tough skin was making it very hard for these small ones to bite me.

I picked myself up, grabbed the rattrap again, and tried to use Pathfinder to find the quickest way back up.