Zoe realized a critical flaw in her plan just as she reached the basin of the fountain. That is, the secret passage was now closed again, and she had no idea how she was supposed to open it. Cursing, she used {Kinetic Dash} to launch herself up the stairs back into the larger, tiled hallway that she had initially explored the first time.

There was a lot of chaos unfolding behind her, and she didn’t want to try to figure out how the trick to getting through the fountain in only a few seconds.

Fortunately, Millie had by this point completely stopped struggling and protesting. On the contrary, she was now clinging on for her life in silence. Zoe didn’t have to wonder why. She only wondered what the girl could see behind them from her position being carried.

Zoe ran as hard as she could. Now that she had a straight and level path ahead of her, she felt a lot more comfortable glancing back. It turned out that she couldn’t actually see much of what was going on, as the stairs blocked any view of the floor of the cavern.

Zoe continued to push herself anyway. There was no use in having a momentary advantage like this if you wasted it. Fortunately, she began to suspect that most of the new arrivals were more preoccupied with surviving the kraken and each other that she had gone mostly unnoticed. As if to confirm it, a second glance back revealed that no one else had even entered the tunnels yet. I’m not going to count on that lasting, though.

As Zoe ran, she realized another slight problem. It seemed like most of the supposed exits only connected the two adjacent corridors to each other, or looped back around—leaving her with the only option to keep going straight and just outrun everyone else. For however long this part of the complex went on, at least. There has to be a better way.

Remembering her initial failed attempt to ambush the paladin here, Zoe skidded to a stop beside one of the regularly spaced columns. Preparing to dash up to the top, she realized a new problem. This time, she had Millie. Even when it was just her, she had barely been able to reach the top and haul herself up. But now?

Well, I guess I’ll just have to manage, she thought to herself. Nothing else for it.

Gripping the girl even closer, Zoe activated the ability. {Kinetic Dash} brought her just high enough to latch onto the edge of the cap of the column with her free claws. Grunting, she twisted her body up to rest against the ledge with the aid of {Kinetic Enhancement}.

While ordinarily, Zoe was more than capable of lifting her own weight without any magic involved at all, the particular slipperiness, lack of leverage, and unnatural orientation made it a bit more of a challenge.

But in any case, all she had to do now was wait.

“What’s going on?” Millie whispered.

“Absolutely not idea.” Craning her neck as best she could, Zoe looked over their awkward position. Her left pair of arms were completely burdened with holding Millie, and the other two were pretty much tied up in keeping both of them attached to the ceiling ledge. “Hey, do you think you can climb around me and cling onto the column there?” While Zoe couldn’t point, she hoped what she was suggesting was clear enough.

Evidently understanding, Millie gracefully swung herself around, briefly letting go of any handhold entirely before latching onto the protruding edge of the column cap and pushing herself into the corner it former with the rest of the wall. Zoe breathed a sigh of relief. She had been about to leap off and catch her for a moment there.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

It wasn’t much longer before the first of the newcomers finally made their way into the corridor. Zoe couldn’t actually see them yet, but she could hear the echoes of their footsteps and sense that at least three people were there.

Oddly, they didn’t seem to be in any particular hurry. From what Zoe could make out from here—which admittedly wasn’t much—there was quite a battle still raging from just behind them. But then again, maybe they weren’t worried because everyone else was focused on killing each other while they had slipped away.

Zoe swallowed nervously. One one hand, she was pretty sure there were only three of them. On the other hand, a group of three moving slowly was probably more likely to notice her than if all of them were stampeding down the corridor after each other.

You know, now would be a good time to find out if I can suppress my presence or something like that. Zoe herself had made great use of sensing the presence of different kinds of magic around her. Given that, she shouldn’t count on being able to hide herself from other people just by remaining out of direct sight.

By the time the three—yes, three—intruders had finally stepped into view, Zoe had only accomplished slowing down the overall rate of flow of her mana a bit and dimming the etheric glow of her spirit just slightly. Given how strong it already was, she doubted the change would affect her potential visibility much.

{You have learned a fraction of a primordial ability! Learn more unique fragments to unlock a primordial ability.}

{Fragments learned: 2 / ???}

Zoe’s disappointment at not getting an actual usability mixed with the thrill and curiosity of gaining another fragment. All of it faded away as she caught sight of Lily, Andric, and Zora.

Can’t say I wasn’t already expecting it. Zoe wondered what the archmage was doing with the other two. Or was it what the other two were doing with her? Were they still with the pirates? Most likely, given that Zora was with them.

Also, wasn’t she around level ninety? Damn, one hundred on the dot. Basil wasn’t the only one who had a growth spurt.

As for Lily and Andric, the ice elemental summoner had reached level thirty-three as well, and the alchemist was pushing up by three, now at thirty-six. I know he had already broken through stage one. I wonder if Lily has broken through too now, or if she still has to do the actual ascension.

Zoe wasn’t sure what to do. Should she just jump down and reveal herself? Despite how short her actual time with Lily and Andric had been, and how much shit they had gotten her wrapped up in, she did still kind of like them. And in any case, she had resolved to get them back at some point. But as for Zora…

Zoe decided that she would fully recycle her defunct plan for the paladin and sneakily follow them. That way, she could get a better sense of just what in the world was going on, and also potentially reveal herself at a more opportune moment.

“Well, she’s definitely very close by,” Zora said. “Like, close enough to eavesdrop on me saying this.”

Zoe gulped. Shit, they’re actually looking for me specifically? Figures! Well, at least she could say it made her feel important. But in any case, no one had actually looked up yet. Ha! For real, no one EVER looks up! But still, the archmage could clearly sense that she was nearby, as the three of them went prowling about the area, looking behind columns and peering through the nearby archways.

Sadly, Zoe knew that it wouldn’t last forever. They knew she was extremely close, and one of them would figure it out soon. It would be better to reveal herself on her own terms.

But could she trust the archmage? Zoe didn’t think so. In that case, it would be better to attack first to capitalize on the classic element of surprise. If she did turn out to be completely friendly, Zoe could then just apologize. Yeah, its the most rational option. No downside, really. Might as well get the jump on her now.

Literally.

Hastily indicating for Millie to remain where she was, Zoe let go—falling straight down towards the unsuspecting archmage. You know, I really hope she hasn’t actually gone through with her immortal realm ascension yet.