The small team didn’t have much of a choice considering the situation, so they retreated back to the campsite. Thanks to knowing the path, they were able to reach there in just two short days at best, with minimal monster killing and annoyance thanks to his barriers.

When they returned to the campsite, Zacharia relayed the news to his team regarding the situation. Zeke still couldn’t wrap his head around the tower being merged with the fortress, and now the sudden Bastion army that decided to spawn that close to it.

He knew this wasn’t a game, but all this talk about them having some seer, which he still has no clue what kind of class or skill that was about, was some sort of unfair hack by their side.

But he knew there was more at stake here than just losing their potential rewards. For instance, they arrived near the fortress, and it was possible that the quest would give them the chance to take over the biodome, as the entire location doesn’t decide who gets to keep it, only that if they managed to clear the quest.

Even worse, it was possible that they could also invade the tower, which was something that Zeke feared might get the two punished by the angel, using Clara as some sort of hostage if they failed. The idea alone made Zeke fume, and he wanted to use his newfound power to get ready to fight.

But he held himself back. He wasn’t the only one fuming about this. Myra was already willing to head over there and knock some Bastion soldiers around if it meant keeping the fortress safe. Piker even came in and offered that they would team with the monsters in the fortress, using their numbers to take the soldiers out. A devious and ingenious plan according to Zeke.

In the end, the Journeymen were the ones who decided their next action. And to Zeke’s surprise, Zacharia planned it out like so.

He would call his unit to take on the Bastion soldiers and keep the fortress at bay, while the main team consisting of those who were just at the advance party would head to the tower and clear out its contents.

Of course, both Zeke and Mikella argued that doing so would put the biodome at risk, but Zacharia remained undaunted as he made his decision.

“There is no other choice. The tower would only make things worse as time passes,” He stated to the two. “We’ll deal with it, then take Bastion down. After that, we’ll take on the fortress after they have a run in with the creatures there. That way, we can deal with all three with minimal risks.”

Zeke had to agree that there was some solid logic in that. It was impossible to face all three obstacles at once, and it didn’t look like the Bastion soldiers knew that they were there. Even if there was, they were surely more interested in clearing the quest, and not realizing that the tower is a separate entity from the entire biodome.

In other words, they could go through some of the worst luck imaginable, while they would get away with some clean rewards thanks to their efforts and past experiences.

“Knowledge is power,” Zeke muttered, realizing that due to them holding this particular information, they could get away with the most gains and the least risk.

But that made him think of another problem, something that Mikella pointed out herself.

“Zeke, he made it sound like we can just open and close the tower whenever we want… can we do that?”

Zeke grimaced. “I don’t know. The only time we got in is because we went through the portal. I don’t remember trying to get out… then again, we were pretty busy.”

“The only time we got out is when you were out of control with your attunement,” Mikella creased her brows at him. “How is that going, by the way?”

“Thankfully, it was never brought up,” Zeke said, pointing at his collar. He felt so uncomfortable using magic at first, but he wore it for so long that he got used to it. Not to mention it helped him control his magic to the point of pinpoint precision, something that helped him greatly while experimenting with his runes.

But he put aside the recent gains he made to focus on the situation first.

For the team to go to the tower, it was better that it remained with the same party excluding Rajin and Nina. They were of great help, but with the situation devolving into this mess thanks to Bastion appearing out of nowhere, their help was needed to ensure the safety of Zacharia’s retinue.

Still, this meant that those who knew of their true secret were there, including Myra and Piker. Mikella asked her friend whether she was okay with Jackie being with the other team members. Myra shook her head.

“He’s a big boy now. And he even complained that I need to head on my way rather than babysit him.”

“Ouch,” Mikella winced.

“It’s fine,” Myra shrugged. “I agree with him. Besides, he needs to find his own way, and I know that Zacharia’s team is nothing to laugh at. He’ll be fine as long as he doesn’t act stupid. But…”

“I’ll make sure to ask Rajin, Cacia, and Nina to look out for him,” Zeke added, adding in a smirk. Mira reflected that smirk back.

“Thanks, Zeke. In the end… he’s still Jackie.”

They had a chuckle of that, but they knew that Jackie had been working hard on his own path. For now, they could only focus on the task at hand.

After making sure to prepare everything they needed, they drained the base of every single supply they could have. They also reinstated the elevator to ensure getting more supplies from the town. It took them a solid three days of preparation, which Zacharia ensured that the Bastion soldiers wouldn’t suddenly rush ahead without proper preparation. In this case, they were in full advantage since Zeke’s barriers made it possible for them to prepare so easily.

Meanwhile, Zeke prepared his own training along with Cloud at the base. His rune buffs were still raw, in a sense, so he kept working on their precision.

With further experimentation, and a lot more painful rune carvings, he was able to replicate the buff for his other stats, and he even realized something incredibly useful. His buffs don't take as much mana as he expected. Actually, he could save up on mana buffing his physical body than to actually use his Runic Spells or even his barriers. He knew that the mana expenditure would increase the more points he mirrored from his Spirit stat, but the end result was better than he expected.

Then again, he did equip his Battle Mage title skill, replacing his Savior title to give him that boost. For now, his support was already good as it is, and he needed some improvements. Runic Echoes also made dividends and decreased the amount of mana and work he needed to make more of his rune buffs. And his newly evolved Battle Runecraft skill helped plenty on that matter.

But despite all of this improvement, he knew he wouldn't be a true warrior. While he could replicate a warrior’s stats, he won’t have the skills to back it up. More importantly, trying to get used to his sudden changes was becoming a hassle. While his muscles never expanded like they did before, it was still a jarring experience to suddenly feel like breaking the entire world with his fists to then turn back into a feeble and weak mage.

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But soon Cloud came up with an idea. An idea that would help Zeke learn more about his newfound power as well as avoiding issues with Mikella regarding this newfound power.

“You want me to challenge Mikella to a duel?” Zeke said in surprise. “I got no intentions of getting my ass kicked before we go off to life or death battles here.”

“I know, but just listen,” Cloud said, understanding his plight with his hands raised. “What better way to improve your buffs than on the battlefield itself? Besides, who else would challenge you better than Mikella herself?”

Zeke tilted his head at the idea. While it made sense that Mikella knew how to fight him after all the training bouts they’ve done together, this would be the first time he would be fighting back seriously rather than just reacting.

Suddenly, he could feel a flare going up in his belly. His veins fueled at the idea of fighting Mikella on possibly equal grounds. He may still get his ass kicked… but he’ll at least get something out of it.

“Alright,” Zeke nodded. “Though how do I–”

“Dude, just ask,” Cloud shook his head ruefully. “She’ll say yes.”

“Ah. Right.”

…..

“You want to have a duel with me?”

Mikella looked at Zeke as though he lost his mind. She was just getting things ready at their home when Zeke suddenly came over in a hurry and demanded she fight him.

He looked disheveled, as though there wasn’t enough time. It was still in the early afternoon and they still had at least a day before they set off to the tower. At first, she was worried that they were taking too much time, but Nina and the other scouts were ensuring that the Bastion army hadn't set off yet. Apparently they needed more time since they didn’t have a handy barrier protecting them from the other monsters.

On the other hand, she planned on training her other skills during this time, so she did want to fight. Just, she never expected it would be with Zeke again. He’s been making some good gains, but it’s normally for his benefit. She’d needed to focus on herself to get as strong as he could.

She was starting to get a little antsy, and no matter how often she sparred against the other soldiers, it wasn’t the same as when she fought against the Hunter to get her Sword Mastery maxed out.

Though, the way he looked at her was different compared to before. There was something in those hurried eyes of his that made her pause.

“Does this have something to do with your suspicious activities you’ve been doing with Cloud?”

Zeke looked mortified, his eyes widening at that.

“Suspicious? I-I told you we were just–”

“Oh get off it,” Mikella waved in the air, rolling her eyes. “You really think you, of all people, would spend that much time at night with Cloud just looking at rocks? I never bothered to ask because you had Cloud with you, but there’s no way that’s true. I knew from the start that you were doing something else.”

Mikella wanted to pat herself on the back as she caught Zeke hook, line, and sinker. He deflated, lowering his head with a grimace on his face.

“T-That was pretty obvious, huh?”

“Hell yeah,” Mikella answered ruthlessly. “So, is it?”

“...It is,” Zeke let out a breath before responding. “It’s… something like secret training, I guess.”

“Secret training, huh?” Mikella raised a brow, crossing her arms.

Something about this made her ticked off. Why didn’t Zeke ask her for help on this secret training? Surely, Cloud is better off when it comes to magic and everything, but the fact that he kept it secret from her made her upset.

In fact, it made her almost furious at the idea. How on earth can Zeke think he can keep a secret from her? They were partners, and even more so, who else can they rely on other than themselves? The fact that he did such a thing behind her back felt wrong, almost criminal.

So she smiled, narrowing her eyes.

“Sure, why not? Let’s fight now, actually.”

Zeke looked like he shivered at her cold response, but she ignored it. It was about time to teach him that messing with her comes at a cost.

All the while, she didn’t realize that she normally wouldn’t be this upset about it. But she hurried out without questioning that thought any further.

…..

About a few minutes later, every one of the soldiers who were around the base camp, those who finished early and were just trying to relax before the day of reckoning came, approached the field normally used for duels.

It was their favorite spot to watch themselves fight one another for training, and to settle personal grudges. Not that the Zacharia unit had any grudges, just simplistic ones like arguments and the like. However, each of them watched with surprise as they saw Mikella and Zeke gather together once again for another duel.

Some, obviously, knew the outcome of this already and left for their own devices. Some of the crueler ones wanted to watch the little mage get his ass beat by his wife again, and those cheered for the underdog Zeke to not get his ass beat. None of them have any hope that Zeke would actually win, of course.

But Mikella put all of that aside as she stared at Zeke in the distance. He wore his usual mage cloth, and strangely kept his limbs fully clothed, even though he normally rolled them up by now. On the other hand, Mikella had her own under armor up rather than her leather armor she wore on top of that. Since it was usually training, there was no reason to get overly geared for such a thing, but it was still better to be safe than sorry.

She picked up her wooden training sword, and as usual Zeke didn’t opt to use any weapons.

With his barrier to act like a shield whenever he wanted, he could actually be a fortified fighter, but Mikella knew it was futile. There was no way that Zeke would actually win, and no matter what secret training he got, she’d trounced him easily.

She didn’t even think logically anymore. What’s with the situation going on with Clara, and the Bastion army trying to fuck them up once again even now, she stopped thinking about all the awful things going on around her. All she cared about, right now, is punishing Zeke for his secrecy against her.

She knew it wasn’t fair, deep down inside. But she didn’t care. She needed an outlet, and what better than Zeke for being a filthy liar?

She put herself into a stance, her sword at the ready, expecting Zeke to get into his own stance. He breathed slowly, his eyes darting around. He didn’t care about the crowd–he was perceiving the area around him. He always does that when he gets nervous, allowing him to get a better glance at his surroundings before getting into a fight.

But she didn’t leave that up to chance and dashed forward. The crowd started to ramp up in excitement when Mikella launched herself straight at Zeke, his eyes widening.

She was going to swipe her sword across his legs, stumbling him. But whenever she does, Zeke would conjure his barrier to stop her attack. So instead of putting her all into the swipe, once the barrier blocked her, she planned on pulling her sword back up and spinning it around to hit Zeke on his chest.

Zeke had been training to handle his increased Dexterity for combat, but he still had difficulty reacting well to the sudden shift in motion. It was going to be another easy counter…

Yet it never came.

Her sword flew across the air where his legs were supposed to be. Instead, they were up in the air as Zeke just bent his legs and jumped up. It happened so quickly, not even the attacker was able to realize what had just happened.

That was strange. Zeke was fast when he could be, his Dexterity raised along with Intelligence and Spirit, but he was never this fast.

Before Mikella could comprehend this sudden speed, her instincts flared as Zeke landed on one foot, then planned on hitting her with the other.

She managed to back away in time, trying to understand why her instincts were calling out for her to dodge something so basic. But once his foot hit the ground, a spiderweb like crack appeared underneath the sole of his foot. The ground cracked under the weight of his hit, surprising both Mikella and Zeke.

Along with everyone else who started to watch after just a few seconds of the fight starting. The entire scene turned quiet after Mikella backed away, staring hard at Zeke who had his eyes widened at the amount of cracks under his foot.

Was it the faulty ground? Did the mud under their feet start cracking somehow? But despite trying to stay logical in her mind, Zeke’s response caught her off guard.

“Huh, wonder if I put in too much Strength?” Zeke said off-handedly, rubbing his chin. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to put up that much power.”

Before Mikella could understand what the hell he just said, he put himself back into his fighting stance again. His fists gripped hard, and his eyes changed. They were no longer nervous–they were focused.

“Let’s keep going.”