Their small group retreated away from the falling acidic pollen from the Vine Horror. With it now dead, the forest no longer pulled at them as they walked nor did they snag on thorns. Poe landed on Gi's shoulder, clearly exhausted, while Hillin turned to face Gi.

"Did you receive the kill for the Sunflower?"

Again, Gi was confused by the golem's earnestness. Was he being deceived by the golem's kindly face or was he actually trying to help him? A glance at Krayli told him that she also seemed confused by the old golem's actions. Were they betraying each other or not? "I did," Gi said, not sure how else to respond.

Hillin still seemed anxious though. "And the Ghast Horde?"

"No..." Gi hadn't even seen what had happened to the last few ghasts unless Hillin himself had finished them saving him. From the fact that he turned to the two werewolves and asked them next, he figured that he hadn't. At that moment, Nori and one of her fated goblins stepped out of the tree line. Having heard their conversation, Nori placed her hands on her hips.

"Don't worry. I took out the last of those bastards. Already used the orb too."

Gi hadn't realized that killing the last ghast would give that monster credit for the whole horde. He'd have made a greater effort to steal it if so, but that might have cost him credit on the Vine Horror. Would Nori have known? Did she steal it on purpose? If she did, she didn't show any sign of her betrayal on her face.

Hillin, though, looked crestfallen. Perhaps he'd hoped that I wouldn't betray him if I received all the Elites as promised? Gi wasn't sure what to think as the golem had been nothing but composed, but now his feelings seemed to be plain on his face. Could it be some kind of trick then? Was he lying to me? Either way, Hillin seemed to rally and the looks in his eyes seemed resolved.

"I suppose that is how the dice have fallen then. Luck is a part of our path after all." Gi glanced over to Nori, but the goblin also looked confused by the golem's words. Maybe this all was just luck? "Let's move deeper in the forest. There's still one more Elite and the Leader somewhere in here. Gi, you should use your orb as well. We'll need all the strength we can get."

Gi nodded, choosing to keep quiet for now. With Nori taking the Ghast Horde, there were only three more elites in this forest - One Eldritch, Krayli, and Hillin himself. He still needed to down at least two of them to pass this stage. No matter if Hillin was trying to help him or not, his Focus pulled at him to finish this stage. He needed to get stronger and to do that, he had to get out of here.

After a gesture from Hillin, Krayli scouted forwards, her skills clearly the best of them for that kind of work. The werewolves seemed content simply to battle, perhaps they had given up on leaving this place a long time ago. Nori walked beside the other goblin, but the two didn't seem companionable. Where had the other goblins gone? Gi had seen one fall, but that still left two unaccounted for. Though if she'd purposefully betrayed him, was it still his responsibility? Gi's head swam thinking about all the variables and with no guidance forthcoming from Danna, he focused on his gains instead.

With a thought of using his Body Orb, a new screen came up.

Orbs:

Soul Orbs: 30

Body Orbs: 1

Each line had an image of a different type of orb beside it. The Soul Orb was rough and unpolished. If it wasn't for the slight sheen to its surface, it could easily be mistaken for a jagged rock. The Body Orb was slightly bigger and little more refined. It still had some jagged edges, but it had an actual glow to it with a chocolate sheen. Without thinking, Gi tried to grab the image of it and somehow, found it in his hand after grabbing. A look back at the screen saw that it had been removed from it. That must be how Hillin had used Orbs to power his collars.

Use Body Orb?

Yes/No

Gi mentally selected yes.

Choose a stat to increase.

Stats

Strength - F+

Agility - E+

Vitality - F+

Wisdom - E+

The group continued to walk deeper into the forest while Gi considered his choice. With the state of his arm, Strength and Vitality seemed completely out. Being in melee while only being able to use half your strength? That seemed foolhardy at best. Strength and Vitality would only be good in those scenarios. Agility would help him stay out of the exact situation he'd just been in where he was locked down by the Vine Horror. Wisdom would empower his [Arcane Blast] to do even more damage. So the question really was, is defense or offense more important?

If he had to fight Krayli, upping Agility might be the only way he could keep up with her. If he wanted to protect his ability to execute the Elite or even the Leader, Wisdom would be the better choice. Again, he opened his mind to Danna, but no visions appeared. Perhaps this was her way of forcing him to make his own power? He looked back at Krayli and Hillin again, trying to decide, when his eyes fell on Nori. If she had betrayed him with the ghasts on purpose, his chances of getting the next Elite went down considerably. She didn't have his kind of power, but her martial art wasn't anything to scoff at. From their training together, he knew that her sense of timing was far above his. No, if he wanted to secure the next Elite, he needed more power that made his timing window too big for her to compete with.

Wisdom it is then. With a mental selection, his updated stats showed through.

Stats

Strength - F+

Agility - E+

Vitality - F+

Wisdom - D

Confident in his choice, Gi started reviewing the prior battle in his mind, trying to figure out how he could have done better. Evading the acidic pollen by running around the group instead of through the stream would have ensured he wasn't cut off. That was the obvious one, but it did bring up another question for him.

"Poe, why didn't you web up the ghasts instead of going for the vine?"

The snoozy dragonfly wobbled his giant eyes towards him as he cooed. "Cooldown."

"Oh," Gi said dumbly. He really should have been keeping up with his cooldowns as well. It would really help if he knew what all traits Poe had though. He'd forgotten... again while they were prepping for the attack. They probably had some time until Krayli got something though. “Poe, what traits do you have?”

His dragonfly friend chirped and then looked quizzically as though staring at a screen. “Share?” At Poe’s words, information filtered into Gi’s view.

Poe’s Traits:

Empathy (Inherited)

Subordinate (from Boss Gi)

Flight

Strength Boost

Web

Grappling Hook

He reviewed the short list of traits and a few things stuck out to him. Strength Boost must have been how Poe had gotten him away from the forest. The Web and Flight he knew about, but the Grappling Hook was new to him. He’d thought he had some sort of Bite trait, but maybe that was just the same thing as Gi using his own claws. What types of tactics were open to the-

"Gi," Hillin said, distracting him from his thoughts. The kindly golem motioned for him to step back away from the rest of the group so Gi hung back to see what he wanted. After Hillin was sure that the other monsters were further away, he leaned in close to Gi, almost threateningly. "Don't forget your promise."

His promise? That he'd help him kill the Leader? Was he worried that he'd betray him now? Gi felt that couldn't be it, but he couldn't quite remember. For some reason, he felt like his mind was supposed to work better than it did. Sure, he was forgetful, but his current state seemed pretty bad. Poe had gotten more intelligent from slime to dragonfly. Perhaps, he also was getting affected by the stage? A squeeze on his shoulder brought him back to Hillin's determined glare.

"Make sure she survives." With that, Hillin hurried his pace back to the other monsters, leaving Gi alone with his confused thoughts. He had agreed to make sure Krayli survived. Another burst of fatherly feelings seemed to swell up from inside him. He assumed the feelings came from Danna so he could better understand Hillin's emotions. Still, his mind felt overwhelmed by all the variables. Hillin wanted to protect Krayli, Krayli wanted to protect the old golem and maybe kill Gi, Nori wanted... something, and he somehow still needed to prove Danna's trust in him by completing the stage. How was he supposed to handle all of that?

Another image came then, but this was the first one that didn't include Danna.

The dopey follower was sitting numbly on a bed that Gi hadn't seen in any visions before. The comforter had decorative flowers on it that seemed to match the wallpaper on the lower half of the wall. The door to the bedroom opened and a man whose graying hair was parted perfectly stepped in. Both his salmon collar shirt and dress pants were expertly pressed and not single article of clothing was out of place. He gently slapped some folded papers against his palm before standing in front of the dopey follower.

"Father?" The dopey follower asked as he looked up. His eyes appeared dry almost as though he'd been crying many hours before.

"I need to talk with you." The follower nodded. "Your brother had requested some change of beneficiary papers before his death, but he went to hospice before he was able to sign them." The Father laid the papers into the follower's hands and he noticed that it was the papers that the Father had just spoken of. However, these papers were signed.

"I don't understand."

"I signed them for him. After what happened at the cancer center, your brother had intended to change who received his life insurance. I intend to follow his will. I need your help to do that. All you need to do is agree that you saw him sign them and I'll handle the rest."

"But... what about Hazel?"

A dark glare from the Father sent the follower stumbling into silence. "If she had this money, she'd be dead in a week. After what she's done, I wouldn't care if she was, but if her wellbeing matters so much to you, we can create a trust for her to help protect her. This way is better for everyone."

The follower looked down at the papers in his hand and somehow, Gi knew what he was feeling. The Father's logic made sense, but why did it feel so wrong if it helped everyone? "Won't Hazel argue?"

"It doesn't matter. She has no power. She doesn't have the money to take us to court and with her mental health, no judge would side with her. All I need is for you to agree and I'll take care of all of us."

The follower crinkled the papers in his hand and his eyes started to itch as though fresh tears would come. The Father just stared at him impassively. Had he ever loved the follower? "It doesn't feel right."

"Stop crying. It doesn't matter whether it feels right or not. If you let every person with a sad history control you, you'll never be anything but a door mat for others to take advantage of. As my son, I expect you to have the backbone to take care of this family. You have to have the will and determination to protect us even if that means someone sees you as the villain. All I need you to have the strength for right now is to agree with me. That's it. Can you do it?"

The follower dropped his head into his hands, wiping away his tears. Though his throat was tight from held back sobs, he managed to mumble out a simple agreement.

"Good. Now remember, it's what your brother wanted."

Without another look back, the Father stepped out of the room and the vision ended. For some reason, Gi's heart was beating super fast and his breath came in heavy and deep. Moreso than anything else, he felt fear. What was that? He'd never experienced a vision without Danna especially not one so strong. Had this not come from her? But if not her, then who? Had the forest somehow sent him that? But no... the follower had been there. Was it actually from Danna? Was she trying to tell him to not worry about Hillin or Krayli's motivation? Then why was he afraid?

Krayli's shout through the trees kicked him out of his confused thoughts. "Incoming!"