I had to run to keep up with my chaperone. I could already hear the sounds of fighting coming from the tunnel entrance in the distance.

We came into view of the tunnel and just a mass of monsters billowing out. It wasn’t even the dewgon, it was everything else trying to flee from the creatures. Thankfully most seemed to be stunned by the bright light of the sun and were picked off by magic and ranged attacks before they could clear the blockade.

If it was this bad here, I couldn’t imagine how bad it was at the fortresses.

I had to give the defenders credit, they were holding their own against the masses of creatures.

I cursed the fact that I hadn’t been more diligent in figuring out my body tattoos. One use of my Aura of Rage and I could wipe these creatures out in minutes. If I used the skill now in my still weakened condition, I don’t think my body could take it.

That didn’t mean I was defenseless though.

I cast my buffs, giving the defenders within range a little boost, then I got to work.

My wings and Blink Step took me to the center of the square, where I hovered out of reach of the creatures below.

Fire and lightning danced across my staff as I Imbued it. Then I utilized my new hand to rotate the staff, casting Eye of the Storm.

Cracks of lightning speared down, frying dozens as a pillar of fire rose into the sky, sucking all the moisture out of the air. The air current was quite a bit more powerful than before. I had to assume it had something to do with the speed I could spin the staff. Creatures from outside the circle were drawn into it and tossed into the maelstrom of fire.

I kept the spell going for eighteen seconds. Even after I had to land when my wings ended. When the spell ended there was a moment of silence as everyone stared at me. The spell was flashy but it didn’t really do much damage. But for groups of enemies like this, it worked quite well. I counted over a hundred kill notifications. This wasn’t even close to leveling me up though and the silence soon ended as more creatures boiled up from the cave.

I chugged one of my backup mana potions, then stomped on the ground, toward the cave entrance. Disruption cracked and broke the ground, causing lightning and fire to shoot up between the cracks as spears of rock impaled a dozen more creatures.

Even with this, I was being forced back by the creatures. I was forced to activate the enchantment on my staff as a few creatures tried attacking me from the side.

My clumsy movement almost made me miss the first one, thankfully, my staff clipped it, causing it to collapse in agony.

The battle went on for another ten minutes and I was forced to retreat a few times to recover mana. With the break in the battle, the defenders were able to increase their attacks on the monsters attacking the barriers. This freed them up and they were able to assist me in fighting off the remainder of the enemy wave.

I sat on a crate, getting my breath back. The fight wasn’t over and we could already hear more creatures coming up the tunnel. At one point I spotted Miss Farley. She was in the thick of it, bashing creatures' heads in with a maul. Each blow would send golden sparks flying out, which would set other enemies ablaze.

I was hardly the only person wielding magic in this fight. I spotted three wizards that somehow formed a massive ball of acid that they rolled into oncoming enemies, completely dissolving them. I shuddered at the thought.

There was another that was shooting lightning bolts from his hands and screaming “Ultimate Power”. At this point, I kind of wondered if magic and insanity were interlinked a bit.

There were far more people attacking the creatures than there were at the beginning of the fight. Everyone wanted the free, almost safe experience, and who could blame them.

The only problem was this unruly mass of people was starting to get in the way of the actual defenders. I heard a scream off to the side as one man was snapped in half by what appeared to be a massive beetle. That caused a panic and the defensive force was shoved aside as frightened people fled. This only caused more monsters to get past the barricades.

Ten more people were killed before the defenders were able to restore order and contain the breach. I could only shake my head in disgust and hope these people learned from their mistakes. Getting stronger was a noble goal but doing so at the expense of common sense wouldn’t get them far. Then again, didn’t I do the same thing? At least when I did it, only I was in danger if something went wrong.

The fighting ended four hours later. The dewgon had finally shown up around the three-hour mark. They had no goal other than to pour from the tunnel and look for a new home. This made them easy enough to fight but they were still dangerous. My armor had over a dozen new scratches on it from a few scrapes I wasn’t able to get out of quick enough. My healing kept me on my feet though and I made it out alive. It was more than I can say for some of the defenders.

I was leaning against a wall and resting when Miss Farley found me.

“Thank you for your assistance with this matter. It would not have been a certain outcome had you not agreed to help.”

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“You say that as if I had a choice.”

“We always have a choice, Mr. Fuller. Some are not quite as black and white as we would like though.”

I watched her as she walked away. If it wasn’t for the fact that she used my friends to coerce me into this fight, she might have been attractive, not that I had any interest. She had a goth librarian vibe going on. All she needed was horn-rimmed glasses to finish off the look.

I let thoughts of the woman drop from my mind as I glanced at my experience bar. Even with all the fighting, my level hadn’t gone up. The monsters were just too low of a level to get me over that hump. I was around seventy percent of the way there.

I scanned my surroundings with my tattoo and noticed nobody was actively watching me. There were a few spies hidden about though.

Using this opportunity, I slipped into the crowd of people doing cleanup. My goal was to reach the fort called Edge of Darkness. I didn’t feel like relying on the ‘generosity’ of Miss Farley to see my friends home safe.

Hopefully, they could make their way there. Once we were reunited we could clear the remaining creatures blocking the dungeon. We all needed to be stronger

***

“You’re sure they followed us into the city,” Ska growled.

“Yes, there is no mistaking their faces. They know we can’t outrun them anymore, so they came to finish the job while we are trapped inside the walls.”

“Can we take them?”

“I’m not sure,” Fiona replied uncertainly.

Ska quietly growled. “What do we do then?”

“Try to remain as public as possible. If they do attack us we can get the guards on our side.”

“My instincts are screaming for me to rip them apart here and now, but I will restrain myself. What of Paul, you said he felt closer.”

“It’s hard to tell, I can sense a general direction and it feels like he is heading straight toward us.”

“That is good, then we only need to hold out until he arrives.”

“I don’t think those two men will wait that long,” Fiona sighed.

***

A milky white silhouette watched two figures talking from a roof. It couldn’t hear what the two were saying but that wasn’t the construct’s purpose.

“I located our quarry.”

“Good, let’s go shake things up, then go deal with them.”

The other man nodded as the two walked farther into town. They ducked down an alley and two cloaked men followed them. There was a brief scuffle before all went quiet again.

“You think those were the only two tails?”

“Unlikely, but it's safe to say the local powers know of our presence. Go to plan B.”

The bandaged man nodded, pulling a brick of C4 from his ring and shoving it into a crack in the building's wall. The two split up placing more explosives around the city, there was no longer any time for subtlety.

The bandaged man was placing his fifth charge when the alley was blocked off from both ends. He glanced at the four people, just as they rushed his position. There was no escaping his fate.

He pulled out the detonator from his ring and yelled, “For the glory of the Black Dragon!” then he clicked the detonator.

His fellow Black Dragon member heard and saw the explosions, cursing softly. He had placed six of his own explosives, which he now detonated as well.

There were screams, people running, and some flames. But most of the buildings were made from rock. Still, they made good shrapnel.

He pulled out his massive war hammer and swung it at anyone that got within range as he ran to get to his quarry. The tracking spell his accomplice cast would last for only so long.

***

Ska was sent sprawling to the ground by a nearby explosion. Some debris peppered him but his armor absorbed the brunt of the attack.

He got up just in time to see a man barreling toward him with a massive hammer. He managed to roll and jump out of range as the weapon smashed down, cratering the hard stone street and an area around it.

Fiona tried to stab the man in the back but he had been ready for her attack. He twisted to the side and struck at her with the butt of his weapon. She was forced to phase out to avoid the blow and the man took the opportunity to leap at Ska. Ska, not one to back down, accepted the challenge and sprang towards the man.

The man smiled evilly and Ska flew through the false image, right into the swing of the massive hammer. He was sent flying into a building as his defensive item activated. Ska was in great pain as he extricated himself from the wall. He needed to get back into the fight as Fiona was barely holding off the man.

He pulled a potion of true sight from his ring and chugged it. Martin and Paul had urged him to purchase something like it since he had refused to get the eye tattoo.

The man bellowed and a red aura appeared around him. Ska could tell he had gotten faster and stronger as Fiona was now forced to stay almost completely incorporeal. The man blurred and Ska leaped to the side, avoiding another blow of the powerful weapon.

Before the man could recover, Ska used Redirect Motion to Activate Violent Slash and Double Strike as he blurred behind the man.

He managed to land the hits, but it cost him as the man punched him away with an armored fist. All the health he had just healed had been knocked away by that one blow and the man was already coming at him again.

Ska backpedaled, avoiding the man's swings until he ran up against a building. Fiona pulled the man’s attention trying another sneak attack but her strike was blocked and the man was fast enough to retaliate before she could phase out again.

Ska didn’t waste this opportunity, he leaped off the wall, going between the man’s legs and raking both with Debilitating Strike. The man ignored his injury and Ska felt the hammer smash against his spine, crushing him to the ground just before the man fell over.

Ska was dazed and couldn’t move.

“Fucking outworlder, have a gift from Uncle Sam!”

Ska was able to turn his head in time to see the man pull something out of a storage ring that looked like clay. He pulled out another item as Fiona stabbed him through the head. The body jerked as he dropped the items, before falling over dead.

“Are you okay?”

“I will live,” Ska groaned. “I just need time to heal.”

Ska knew it would take a day at least to heal his broken spine. Thankfully the armor took most of the blow or his organs would have been destroyed by that last hit.

A dozen people came running up to them. Fiona could see through their low-level stealth and Ska still had the effect of his potion.

“Here, drink this,” one man said.

Ska hissed at him, making the man flinch back.

“We are here to keep you safe. Your friend Paul made a deal with our boss.”

Ska looked toward Fiona, who still held her sword at the ready, and watched the men. She just nodded.

Ska grabbed the healing potion, his arms still working, and downed it. He could feel the healing magic work its way to his injured spine. It would fuse the break but he would still need a few hours to recover completely.

“As soon as you can walk, please follow us.”

Seeing as they were outnumbered and they were both injured, he did as directed, keeping an eye on these cloaked men and women. They led the two of them to a walled-off house.

“Please make use of this domicile until you heal. Then we will escort you to your friend.”