Watching the Iron Ferret classer grip the bars of his cell, Gi's brain furiously tried to figure out what to do. They'd been spotted which meant that this monster had to die otherwise they'd just be hunted as soon as they left... but neither Jalx nor Elizabeth were anywhere close to help. They had to kill this monster, but they weren't strong enough to kill a classer.

His brain got stuck in that impossible loop until some strange sense snapped him out of it and Gi felt his body reacting automatically.

"Move!" He yelled, grabbing Tiria by one of her backback straps and leaping away from the door just as it burst off of its hinges in a hurricane of power. The tall ferret stepped fully out of his jail cell, paws clenched in rage.

"You little shit. Do you have any idea what I've gone through since you killed our slime? I was the guard. Me! It's the easiest job because everyone knows not to fuck with the Ferrous clan."

Other than the fact that he could murder them, Gi felt a growing sense of uneasiness as the monster continued ranting.

"But not you. No. You clearly haven't learned yet if you're willing to sneak into our compound like some filthy goblin."

Gi glanced at Tiria who'd readied her shield and mace. She flexed her grip on her weapon, not wanting it to slip. Gi took a moment to glance around at the basement of the goblin compound for anything they might be able to use. Wooden table and chairs with two dead ferrets, a stack of wooden boxes, and the goblin effigies that they used for training.

Nothing.

The classer's rage peaked and he roared, flinging both of his arms forward. Like the attack that had taken the door, he felt that same sense as before. He shoved Tiria out of the way and leapt to the side himself.

Two giant blades made of wind sliced through the space where they just were and scored the rocky floor and ceiling in its path before embedding into the far wall. Both Tiria and Gi had avoided the main attack, but the sidedraft sent them both flying. He crashed into one of the goblin effigies, snapping it off of its wooden brace.

His side ached from breaking the training dummy across his body, but with his upgraded Vitality and Unique Constitution, there wasn't any critical damage. Tiria, unfortunately, didn't have the same advantages so she was taking longer to recover.

Despite her vulnerability, the Iron Ferret was focused on solely him.

With little build up, the Iron Ferret sent two quick slashes flying across the room at him. Gi had recovered enough to dodge one, but not both and it cut through his non-magical robe and bit into his side. Blood dripped from the wound, but it was manageable. Gi grit his teeth and activated [Bishop]. Three albino otters burst into existence and moved to flank.

The movement seemed to confuse the classer. He looked like he was trying to figure out which one was real, a flaw from being enemies of the Illusor clan if Gi had to guess. However, they were all real.

Nine bolts of shining light launched from their individual fingers, cascading towards the classer in a true volley. His eyes widened as he must have finally decided that every attack was dangerous. He slammed his forearms together and his whole body flashed into steel. All nine attacks ricocheted harmlessly off his defensive skill.

Gi hadn't expected his summons to end the classer, but having committed no damage allowed a little more fear to creep its way into his heart. They had to find a way out of here.

“To the stairs!” Gi yelled. He’d already activated [Concealing Light] which ended [Bishop], but it didn’t prevent his voice from carrying. Pausing in running there himself, he realized that he was about to make a horrible mistake. He’d decided to come on this mission to help Jalx’s family. That was one of only two things that were within Danna’s realm and even if it wasn't, Krayli would be hunting him afterwards unless he could get Jalx to keep blocking her.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath, but he was already sprinting back towards Hazz’s cell. The classer wasn’t willing to let them Gi do as he wanted though.

“Stop hiding!” The Iron Ferret’s steel second skin exploded outward in shards, sailing out in every direction. He tried to dodge again, but his momentum and his opponent’s power meant he still got smacked. A shard slammed into his leg, digging deep, and flipped him end over end until he landed sprawled on the ground. The impact had obliterated his concentration on [Concealing Light].

Head spinning, he raised his head to see that the majority of the shrapnel had collapsed the roof on the stairs blocking it off. Thankfully, Tiria hadn’t been underneath it and had somehow managed to avoid the shrapnel herself. In a less than ideal scenario, she’d posted herself up right in front of him, shield raised.

“You’re gonna have to stop trying to get rid of me. I knew you wouldn’t leave the kid behind.”

Gi groaned, but stood haphazardly to his feet. Just as he got there, two quicker wind blasts rocketed towards them and Tiria picked him up and leapt out of the way. For the first time, they actually weren’t hit. He glanced from Tiria to the classer and realized that she wasn’t dodging the wind blades themselves, but was watching his gestures.

That’s a weakness!, Gi thought. He attacked them again and this time, Gi noticed what Tiria already had. Each time he flung out his wind blades, he spun his arms like he was actually throwing them. It didn’t provide a huge window as he was a Stage above them, but it was big enough.

“Distract him!” Gi yelled which in hindsight wasn’t the most strategic method of relaying that information, but Tiria obeyed instantly. She dropped her [Commander] summon and an albino Fighter equipped with her mace was sprinting towards the classer.

Having accidentally revealed the nature of his plan, the classer’s eyes tracked Gi has he sprinted around to flank. Ignoring Tiria’s summon, he wound his arms and threw out two wind blades towards Gi. The blades skated just in front of him as he slid to a halt and gouged two lines into the first prison. The quick stop hurt his leg where the steel shard had been embedded before it disappeared into Aether.

Rather than strain his leg further, he just fell onto his back. As he’d ran, he had his Aether charging until it was fit to bursting and then unleashed an overcharged [Divine Bolt] right towards the classer’s legs. Three log sized bolts cut through the air and even the classer recognized the danger in them. He leapt and the bolts bit deeply into the rubble on the stairs.

“Pathetic,” the classer growled, but as he landed, the summon he’d ignored finally arrived and smashed a mace directly into his face. A jobbie summon wasn’t enough to do more than scuff his cheek, but Tiria smashing one of the goblin effigies into him immediately after did much more. The classer dropped to one knee, just barely stopping himself from falling.

He roared, flinging his arms out. The summon disappeared in a explosion of disappearing Aether while Tiria took one of the wind blades directly onto her chest. It blew apart her robe and sent her smacking into the wall. Gi didn’t have any time to worry about her though as he’d sprinted directly at the Classer himself, charging himself back to full.

The classer turned towards him just as Gi uppercutted him with the flat of his palm against his chin. His gathered Aether burst out of him in an explosion of shattered light. All of those tiny shards lanced through his jaw and up into his skull. The explosion knocked him backward, his back slamming into the ground and bouncing once before he laid still.

The classer’s jaw was a mess of gore and his eyes unfocused, but he wasn’t dead. There was no kill notification and classers were apparently a tougher breed.

“Mace!” Tiria shouted as she tossed her weapon over to him. She’d made it to her feet, but one hand pressed firmly against her gut where blood leaked through her fingers. He didn’t think she’d die, but there was a lot of blood and he wasn’t a doctor. He caught the mace with his good arm and limped over to the injured classer.

The classer was just starting to stir and Gi swung the mace down on his ruined jaw. The blow didn’t do enough. The classer’s eyes locked onto him, hatred burning on them. Gi released a regular burst of [Divine Bolt], but the classer’s skin slid to steel before the bolts could hit and they skid into the ground instead.

Now covered in armor, the classer started to get up, but his wounded jaw still slowed him down. We’re done for, Gi thought. If he exploded his steel skin again, it might kill Tiria. If he didn’t, Gi couldn’t damage him with his [Divine Bolt]. No matter what happened. There was no way to win.

An image flashed in Gi’s mind. The first true vision that he’d had in a long time. Both Danna and the dopey follower were seated at two computers right beside each other. The dopey follower had an annoyed and bored expression on his face, but Danna looked earnest and eager as she leaned forward towards the screen.

“Come on, Danna. GG, let’s go next.”

Danna laughed and spoke with a heavily exaggerated regal accent. “Queen Danna does not bend the knee. If we are to fall, we shall go down swinging. Together!”

The dopey follower sighed, but he smiled and leaned back in. “Fine. We die together!”

Gi snapped back to the reality of the classer in front of him who was clad completely in steel. The situation wasn’t any different, but his perspective had changed. It wasn’t what Danna had shown him. Not entirely, but it was something that had been poking at his brain for some time.

Strength for strength’s sake was worthless. All power beget was more power. It was important, but only in regards to something else. His Focus, Strength through Danna, was incomplete. All strength was strength from Danna, but it wasn't only that. That strength was for his clan. It was for his new family like the innocent Poe and the dependable Tiria.

That wasn't quite everything either. It was also strength because of them. If Tiria hadn’t saved him from the Pikes, he’d have never made it to the surface. If she hadn’t teamed up against this Classer with him, they’d have never injured him as much as they had. Hell, Poe had saved his ass multiple times since the Infant Stage.

Family is Strength. Danna didn’t have two distinct realms. It was only one.

Focus "Strength Through Danna" has been upgraded to the Belief, “Through Danna, Family. Through Family, Strength."

Foundational Belief Task complete!

100 Soul Orbs rewarded. Current Soul Orbs: 176

Gi swept away the prompts. He didn’t need the system telling him what he’d already realized. He was fighting for not just Jalx’s family but his own. Even if it was hopeless, he wasn’t going to bend the knee. He was going down swinging.

The classer jumped toward Gi, fist raised to smash his face in, but its fully steel body was slow. Partly from the wounds, he was sure, but its body had to drag it down as well. It gave Gi enough time to roll under the blow. The fist cracked into the stone and Gi swung the light mace down onto the classer’s shoulder.

The classer grunted from the blow, but didn’t slow at all as it threw a hook towards Gi that he wouldn’t be able to dodge. As the punch snaked towards him, Tiria hopped in the way with her buckler, arresting the punch’s momentum. Her buckler rang like a gong as steel hit steel and it sent her flying backwards with a wordless cry before she slammed into the ground.

Gi gritted his teeth at her scream, but he didn’t give up the opportunity. He slammed his mace down into his face. This time the classer stumbled backwards just like he had when Tiria had struck him and a small bead of hope blossomed in his chest. A mace wasn’t like a sword or a dagger. The impact could only be dulled so much by a layer of armor. A blunt weapon was perfect against this kind of enemy.

Once the Iron Ferret was off balance, Gi launched a flurry of Mace strikes. His capped Agility and Strength might not be a lot to a classer, but it wasn’t so far away that it could be ignored. As he struck, the classer threw out some wild punches, but didn’t manage to hit any of them as Gi focused on keeping him off balance.

By practicing [Blunt Weapons], you may learn the skill [Blunt Weapons]. You have 2 available Skill slots. Would you like to learn [Blunt Weapons]?

Without stopping, Gi accepted the new skill and the mace immediately felt easier to wield in his hand. His next blow to the classer’s side sent it doubling over. The minuscule amount of damage added by the skill seemed to be just enough to start causing the damage to stick. Or his combined blows had finally added up.

He could do it. He could end this.

Gi brought the mace up to do just that, but it appeared that the classer had the same fear. Even as he started to swing, he felt that strange sensation of danger that he’d felt before. That innate feeling made him jump, dropping the mace as he did. A moment later, the classer exploded outward. Shrapnel from his steel skin flew out at every angle. One of which was heading right toward Gi.

He couldn’t dodge in air, but he wasn’t going to let the classer hit him for free. Light shot out from his finger, not impacted by the explosion just as the shrapnel impacted his chest. Two of the bolts of light found their way into the Iron Ferret’s collar bone and the ruined part of his jaw. Both Gi and the classer ragdolled across the basement. Gi’s back slammed into the ground, making the shrapnel embedded in his chest bounce out with a spurt of blood.

His whole body hurt, but he didn’t feel the urgency to get up as a prompt appeared in his vision.

Yom, Iron Ferret defeated!

10 Soul Orbs received. Current Soul Orbs: 186.