Marco grit his teeth as he watched the crowd of raiders disappear into the woods. With such a large group chasing them, it was just a matter of time before that slime was discovered. The portly swordsman rummaged around in his pack, tossing various items to the ground in his haste. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be caught too quickly. Marco grinned as he retrieved a strange emerald figurine. It was an incredibly lifelike sculpture of a hawk. He placed one finger on the hawk’s head and it began to glow. Marco closed his eyes and focused on inscribing a message. When he finished, the bird’s eyes lit up and it took off towards the portal.

This was a messenger magic tool that his father had given him. Marco had recorded a message inside using his mana. The hawk would fly out of the dungeon and deliver that message, wherever the recipient may be.

“I’m sure that father will able to gather some veterans and come soon.” Marco muttered.

After watching the hawk leave, Marco sighed and set about collecting his discarded items. Now that the message was sent, he had no reason to rush. If someone caught Vivian, that would be fine. If they didn’t, then he would take matters into his own hands.

Meanwhile, his fiancé was much less calm. Mavis had let go of her hand, but she kept running while dozens of raiders chased them through the forest. The mage clenched her fists as she watched Theo rebuff a raider with his cloak. Another one had already caught up, but he leapt back to dodge a punch thrown by Mavis. This attack likely couldn’t hurt him, but these raiders were extremely wary of the masked outlaw.

Vivian bit her lip. This situation couldn’t last.

Mavis could only intimidate raiders. Revealing its true nature would just make them more motivated. Theo was doing a surprisingly good job of keeping people away, but he couldn’t stop everyone. Plus, his stamina would drain quickly if this marathon continued. The main reason why they hadn’t been caught was because these raiders were competing with each other.

*Ffft*

An arrow buried itself in Theo’s side. The outlaw grunted in pain and spread his hands as he pivoted, creating a wall of wind. Vivian rushed over and cast a healing spell. The arrow was pushed out as her magic did its work. As raiders began to surround them, Vivian tried the only thing she could think of.

“That five-hundred gold was a lie! I’m not being kidnapped by anyone!”

Unfortunately, this was all she could do. Vivian’s offensive magic was terrible. A few bolts of lightning wouldn’t do anything to raiders with enchanted gear. She couldn’t use any large sweeping spells like a true combat mage, either. Putting anyone under a charm was also out of the question. Vivian racked her brain, but this was the best idea that she could come up with.

Only a few raiders faltered when they heard her words. The rest didn’t seem to care. Ultimately, whether it was Marco’s gold or the fame of defeating an outlaw, everyone felt like they had something to gain from continuing this chase.

“Fine, we’ll stop running.” Theo announced. “But that doesn’t mean we’ll hand her over without a right.”

One particularly hasty raider rushed in to attack Theo as he spoke. The outlaw parried his assailant’s sword and stepped forward. A pained cry rang out as Theo cut into the man’s arm. The other raiders hesitated and Theo kicked the injured man away.

“Now, any attacks will be met with lethal force.” He muttered coldly.

The raiders glared at him, but they didn’t back off. Some actually seemed more excited than ever. By this point, Theo, Mavis and Vivian were completely surrounded.

“We can’t get away, so there’s no need to be hasty.” Theo continued. “Everyone wants that gold, right? Instead of starting a brawl, let’s settle this properly.”

Taking their silence as tacit acceptance, Theo walked over to Mavis.

“This is the masked outlaw, the phantom of the first layer!”

Mavis shrank a little more as the crowd stared at it with a mixture of amazement, wariness and greed. It really, really wanted to crawl under a rock. Mavis glanced at Theo and he surreptitiously winked, much like he had before blinding Yale and Galt.

“If anyone thinks they’re worthy to challenge her, then step forward.”

Most of the raiders were about to move, but Theo’s next words gave them pause.

“Of course, this will be a fight to the death. You’re battling an outlaw, after all.”

The raiders stopped in their tracks. Most of them were just in this for the money. Five-hundred gold was a lot, but it wasn’t worth their lives. While they evaluated this offer, Theo quietly passed a handful of light crystals over to Vivian. After sharing a meaningful look, Vivian began to overload them with mana.

“I’ll challenge her.”

A deep voice boomed out from within the crowd. The challenger strode up to Mavis with a savage grin. Mavis looked up at the towering man and shivered. After observing hundreds of raiders in the first layer, it had noticed that many of them fell under a set of archetypes. Mages like Vivian tended to wear lighter clothing and forgo close-combat. Mid-rangers like Theo were a mixed bag. They used one-handed weapons or bows and fought wherever they were needed. This man was definitely in the third category—a vanguard. These people leveraged their naturally strong bodies to use two-handed weapons or plate armor. Sometimes both at once.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Everyone’s making a big deal over nothing.” He boasted. “I’ll show you someone who’s worth fearing.”

The man brandished his hefty battle-axe and it began to glow with a strength enhancing aura. His tanned skin stretched to its limits as he flexed his muscles. Glittering chainmail covered his entire upper body while his lower half was protected by a mix of hardened leather and metal plates. Two wild brown eyes glared at Mavis, though they weren’t quite as wild as his rust-colored mohawk. Unlike Vivian, his hair was actually dyed. Some raiders tried to play up their unique appearances or personalities to add to their fame. Judging by his overbearing attitude, this raider clearly subscribed to that strategy.

Mavis shot a murderous look at Theo, which was impressive for a being that had no face. Theo glanced at Vivian and then leaned in towards Mavis.

“We just need a little more time.” He whispered. “These guys are afraid of you, so try to act invincible.”

“…Fine.”

Mavis’s icy words were directed at Theo, but the burly man took them as a sign of approval. He chuckled as Mavis stepped forward. While the crowd’s eyes were fixed on Mavis, Theo whispered to Vivian.

“Can you open a storage portal here? Preferably one large enough for us to fit through?”

“I can, but that magic is meant for inanimate objects. You’ll die if you go inside and the backlash will hurt me as well.”

“That’s fine, just open it and throw your crystals on my signal.”

Theo turned back and grimaced as the burly man charged forward. Ideally, they would have finished without actually engaging in combat. His hope that no one would challenge Mavis because they feared death was naïve.

As the battle-axe swung down, Mavis didn’t move. Everyone watched in shock as the axe blade cut deep into the slime’s shoulder. The burly man tensed up, expecting some kind of retaliation, but Mavis simply laughed.

“Ha-ha-ha.”

The tone was much drier than Nico’s but it hit the same beats.

Mavis reached for the axe, and the burly man hastily raised it. He breathed heavily, just like the rest of the crowd, as the slime’s shoulder wound closed up instantly. Mavis was careful to not show any part of its uncolored insides.

“And it looks like you’re out of time.” Theo announced. “Vivian!”

Vivian opened a portal wide enough to fit a person. This impressive display would have caused a stir, if the crowd hadn’t been shocked into silence by Mavis. Vivian and Theo threw their overcharged light crystals into the air. The magic tools detonated on their own, blinding everyone who wasn’t expecting it. When the light faded and the raiders’ vision returned, they were staring at an empty patch of grass. Theo, Mavis and Vivian had vanished.

“Fuck!”

“They actually got away!?”

“Do we even want to chase after that thing?”

“Yea, five-hundred gold isn’t worth it.”

“Double to capture her? Ha, I’d rather fight monsters any day of the week.”

“What a waste of time.”

“Hey, I got a good story for the pubs. That’s something.”

“…True.”

The crowd muttered their opinions as they cleared out.

After several minutes, the space around that patch of grass began to distort. For a brief moment, there was a pure black half-sphere where the trio had disappeared. Then, that darkness was sucked into an obsidian ankh resting in Theo’s hand. With the illusion dispelled, anyone could see that they hadn’t moved since their ‘escape’.

“Thank the divine…” Vivian said, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Too…close…scary…”

“Nice acting, Mavis.” Theo chuckled. “I wasn’t sure what would happen for a moment.”

“Yea, that was amazing. But what is that magic tool?”

Theo lifted the palm-sized ankh for Vivian to see.

“It creates an illusion that covers the user. Touching its boundary will disrupt the magic, which is why I told you two not to move. This was the last treasure that I found during the blood moon.”

Mavis stared at the magic tool, but its hair lay flat. The slime didn’t seem to approve of it.

“Good…right…now…but…hard…to use…in…future.”

“Yea.” Theo nodded. “I wasn’t sure when it would come in handy. Anyways, we should get out of here. The sun will be setting in a few hours, so let’s try to find somewhere out of the way to camp. We don’t want to run into any other raiders right now.”

“I…agree.”

Mavis turned to Vivian, who was staring off into the forest. The crystal arch could barely be seen above the treetops.

“Vivi…you...ok?”

“I’m worried.” Vivian admitted. “But I’m ok.”

The trio left the deeper part of the forest and came across a cliffside. Theo couldn’t guess how wide the canyon was, but it would be difficult to get around. There was a trail nearby that led to a sturdy wooden bridge. However, that bridge and the area around the canyon was shrouded in a thick white mist. This strange gas crawled up from the land beneath the cliff. Peering into the void, Theo could barely make out some large indistinct shapes that were moving slightly. They were so close together that he couldn’t see anything else. It looked as if the entire world below was slowly breathing.

“That’s the third layer.” Vivian explained. “It’s a dense jungle that spans the lowest section of this valley. No one can observe the third layer from above. They just see the mist and the jungle canopy.”

“What is this mist? Is it dangerous?”

“I don’t think so. You see those ‘things’ down there? That’s the canopy above the jungle. Apparently, some of those trees produce mist.”

“…We can’t get down there from here, right?”

“Not unless you have a death wish. Everyone knows that scaling these cliffs is suicide. The only safe way into the third layer is at the end of these trails.”

“It’s still a few days away.” Theo muttered. “I was planning to stay in the second layer for a while, but we might want to hurry up and leave.”

Vivian lowered her head.

“I…I’m sorry about that. You two shouldn’t have gotten caught up in my problems.”

“It…ok.”

Mavis patted Vivian’s shoulder.

“You…friend. Don’t…understand…everything…but…we…close. Want…help you.”

“If you’re staying with us, then you’ll be going from hell to another.” Theo reminded her. “But, that’s up to you.”

Theo couldn’t help but think about how incredibly useful Vivian would be. If he was still following Ravens’ creed, then he would have stopped at nothing to convince her. Now, though, Theo wanted to let Vivian make the final call.

“I’ll…think about it tonight.” Vivian muttered. Exhaustion seeped through her words like mist leaking from the valley.

Near that cliffside was a steep rocky incline. Climbing it would lead further up the Heaven’s Spire mountains. There were plenty of monsters that only lived in these upper areas. One such species had carved out a place for themselves within this mountain biome.

Literally.

Lindworms were a mix between a giant serpent and a bipedal drake. They spat acid that turned rocks into paste and used their two powerful claws to shape their dens. Adults grew over four meters long, which meant that a lindworm’s cave was large enough to accommodate one or two humans.

After Theo, Mavis and Vivian cleanly dispatched one of these monsters, they put that theory to the test. The result was an uncomfortably cozy, but secluded, camping spot.

Theo and Mavis fell asleep almost instantly. The day’s events had worn them out.

Vivian stayed up a little longer. Ever since she’d left Marco, Vivian could feel a gnawing fear in the pit of her stomach. Paradoxically, as she lay on the stone ground and listened to Mavis’s light snoring, she also felt more relaxed than she had in years. This warm feeling eventually lulled her to sleep.