It was utter chaos within the inner realm of the biodome, or at least Mikella believed it was the inner realm as the fortress contained the boss of the entire thing.

Skills, magic spells, all forms of destruction were swirling everywhere around her. It suddenly made sense as to how the Weaver has its name. It weaves chaos in its wake, all of its attacks the embodiment of nature’s wrath.

Even worse, it moved quickly. Its taloned feet suddenly became engulfed in twisters as it jumped from place to place. Seeing its massive size, it was considered an attack as each landing caused a ripple effect across the ground, earthquakes occurring all of a sudden and destroying their footing wherever it landed.

No matter where it went, or what it did–death followed. And out of pure skill or blind luck, none of the Eve Glade were any of the casualties. She did start to feel some pity for the Bastion soldiers, though.

It was starting to get to the point where the soldiers were treated as ants under a psycho kid’s wrath, destroying their colonies without caring a whiff of their efforts. Each attack they’ve done is equivalent to a fly buzzing around its skin, and were swatted down like one a moment after.

Right now, the situation was swaying more towards the boss’ favor than everyone else’s. Mikella was with the lords and her team, facing the onslaught of the monsters within the biodome. Their plan was to get the boss to do their work for them–taking care of the bastion soldiers while trying to ease the monster population.

This way, when their numbers were low and the boss is slightly weakened, they can attack without having a third party interrupting them. At the same time, they were gaining experience by the droves, and even Mikella finally leveled up after a long time of killing monsters.

> Level up! You are now Level 51. You gain 2 free points (4 FP total).

>

> You have gained +3 STR from your class.

> You have gained +3 DEX from your class.

> You have gained +3 END from your class.

It was good news for her, considering that she’s been stuck at level 50 since the tower. Her experience gain was reduced to a mere trickle despite how many Journeymen-ranked monsters she was killing. Even with the XP sharing between Zeke and the rest of her party, it was starting to hammer in just how difficult it was to level up to Journeymen.

But she kept moving forward, having no other choice but to keep trying. She knew that she had to max more skills to meet the harsh requirement for Journeyman, so she opted to use her low-level skills as best she could. She even tried to raise her Meditation throughout the battle, but only found out that thanks to her Class Skill Clashing Energies, her regeneration has shot through the roof, so using Meditation didn’t level it as much as it should have thanks to her Class Skill taking the brunt of the recovery.

Maybe she needed to push herself farther, but now just wasn’t the time. As the numbers dwindled, the more chaotic the fortress became. The Weaver didn’t even look bothered, much less weakened.

Though monsters just kept showing up around them, waiting to defend their boss at any cost.

The biodome was so valuable for one of its features–the monsters aren’t just born naturally, they were created literally on the spot, making them perfect to farm for XP. So when she saw a golem suddenly appear from the ground, practically being born from the ground itself, she decided to stop questioning how fantasy worlds worked anymore.

There was probably some sort of strange energy source giving the biodome the resources it needed to create the monsters in question, but she wasn’t Zeke. All she saw in her eyes was more XP to be had.

It wasn't just one golem either. There were several, about a dozen or so surrounding them alone. Thanks to the boss’ appearance, the monster rates increased ever higher, and they feared it’s just going to rise the longer the boss lived. It was becoming great to farm, but they only had so many resources to pull on before things got dire.

She swung her sword to the side, letting electricity course through her. The sparks fueled her body as it began to surge her cells to ripple faster, allowing her legs enough oomph to jump ahead at great speeds. She landed right next to the just born golem and slashed with all her might.

She activated her rarely used Sword Art, Lightning Strike, on it. Lightning licked across the tangible blade, becoming sharper, deadlier. The poor golem didn’t even have a chance to live a single second before the enlarged sword of lightning pierced right through its center mass. Sparks flew out of the golem, a buzzing sound of shocks writhing through the air around her.

She realized that while her Class Skills were powerful, they demanded a lot of resources. Weapon Arts, on the other hand, were not only powerful to attack, but were great on managing one’s resources. Still, the extra feature of dealing piercing damage could not be competed against, but these golems were so weak to her strikes that she didn’t even bother using Heavenly Strike.

Right when Mikella pulled her sword out of it, the golem limped over and fell, no longer alive. The notification for its death showed in her vision, and was wiped away just as much as all the others she had.

How many had she killed so far? Dozens? Hundreds? She was no longer ecstatic about seeing their kill notifications as much as wanting to drive down their rising numbers.

Still, that didn’t stop her from going apeshit on all the other golems in her way, not really going in any direction in her path. For now, as she fought and killed many golems in her path, her mind delved back to Clara and Zeke.

Even now, she felt blind and unable to feel at ease. Even with all her comrades surrounding her, she won’t feel at ease unless she had some type of news. Zeke was fine, at least that’s what she kept telling herself. But Clara is something else entirely.

Just as she was going into another fit of trying to not think of anything negative, her eyes spotted someone she recognized. It was one of the soldiers from the retinue, and even more so, it was someone she knew from her town’s side.

It was Jackie, and currently he was with Cacia the healer and Basil, the explosion guy that kept asking for fights. She didn’t know why those two were with Jackie in particular, but she couldn’t be any more glad.

As she was currently in the air after dealing with a golem, she decided to drop in to meet them. So she did. She pulled on one of the ledges of the broken stone roof of the fortress, probably one of its inner rooms, using her attunement. Her lightning pulled, using her center gravity to be pulled along and headed straight down near Jackie’s team. When she got close, she reinforced her legs with kinetic energy and landed precisely on the soles of her feet, causing the ground to quake and shatter from her landing.

That did slightly scare the soldiers a bit, so she didn’t blame them for taking up arms to fight. When they realized who she was, they lowered their weapons.

“Mikella!” Jackie shouted, instantly getting the other two to relax. She did notice how they were staring at her, nearly gaping at the sight of her. Sure, she looked worse for wear–her leather armor was practically just ripped leather pieces at this point, but she knew that what really mattered was her presence.

“Jackie!” She shouted. A genuine smile plastered on her face. “Glad to see you. Did you see Myra yet?”

“No, not yet,” Jackie shook his head. “Is she okay? I heard from Zeke that she’s gotten stronger, but I haven’t–”

“You met with Zeke?!”

Before Jackie could finish even speaking a sentence further, Mikella pounced at him and held his shoulders with her hands. That instantly froze Jackie, especially when Mikella was having a tough time controlling her strength as she pulled on him.

“Zeke should have Clara with her. Are they okay? How is Clara? Tell me!”

“I…I… uhh…”

Mikella kept shaking the poor man, and before she could realize what was happening, Cacia thankfully stepped in.

“Calm down, Mikella!” She screamed, making Mikella realize what she was doing and winced. She let go, raising her hands to apologize, but Jackie waved it off as Cacia continued. “We met up with the two of them while we were getting here. Zeke handed Clara off to us so that he could come here, and we already have people looking out for her outside of the warzone. We had to make sure there were no other strange things going on, but she’s well-protected.”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

For once, Mikella felt all of her tension drain from her body. Her face relaxed in a way that even made the other three relax somehow. Knowing that Clara is already put aside to safety was enough to bring Mikella back into her stride.

“Thank god…” Mikella wheezed, holding her hand up to her chest and looking at Jackie with a smile. “Thanks, you guys. You seriously have no idea how worried I was.”

“We know,” Basil spoke up, looking over at the distraught and shaken Jackie with pity in his eyes. Mikella winced again at that.

“Sorry, Jackie…”

“Hey, it’s fine,” Jackie shook his head. He smiled, despite the rough treatment. “Besides, it’s thanks to Zeke that we managed to get here. He gave us those awesome enhanced attribute fruits, giving us a real power boost!”

Mikella’s eyes rose up. “Seriously? Then again…”

After giving another careful look at the three, she could tell that something did indeed feel different about them compared to before. It was hard to tell, but even as Experts, their auras felt solid, denser than before. If she had to guess, they were just about equal to the Journeymen hacks, which was saying a lot about their current progress.

“Yeah, I can see it,” Mikella nodded in approval. “And Jackie… Did you max out a skill? You felt like you did.”

Jackie hung his head back in surprise as well as the other two. They looked back at him, their eyes widening as though they never knew that at all.

“Wow! How did you know?” Jackie said, almost befuddled but smiling. “I kinda forgot about that, to be totally honest. That Zyler guy really made a number on us.”

“Zyler?!”

After that, despite the current situation, the four talked about what had happened during their tower run, what happened after the tower disappeared, and what happened after they met with Zeke and got Clara with them. While Mikella understood now just how terrifying Zyler was, something didn’t add up.

When they got to a certain point in the topic, Mikella asked a question that she was dreading.

“You said that Zeke was already going to our side after you saw him, right? But I haven't seen him yet. Did you?”

“Actually…” Jackie’s brows furrowed, along with the other two as they realized it. “No, I haven’t seen him at all since we met him. I figured he was already with you all, considering how fast he was when he ran.”

Mikella thought so too. Hearing how he came in, Zeke could easily come by with his barrier-skates (which was already damn incredible to believe). So shouldn’t he have come by right about now? It’s been a while since the fighting started.

Dread started to fill her again, even though she just realized that Clara was safe. It wasn’t like Zeke to just be off on his own when Mikella herself was fighting for her life. Unless…

“Hey… where is Zyler, by the way? Shouldn’t he be here, too?”

Just when Mikella asked the question and the other soldiers were about to respond, she noticed that more of the monsters were being born, and unfortunately–they were just around them.

She growled as the others prepared for a fight, and she summoned her sword out of her storage pack. For now, she has work to do.

…..

The rampaging sounds of battle rang through the sky, leaving Clara to close her eyes and hope that it was nowhere near them. Then she felt bad, and hoped that it wasn’t near Bobo and Sissy, wherever they were.

The people around her were nice, but they were also scary too, if she was honest. Nina, the nice girl with the fat bird, was the only one she could be around without fear, talking gently to her about taking care of Brucey.

Brucey, being the lazy bat he was, slept all the while behind her back. She was surprised at how he kept clinging onto her dress, but she remembered watching on TV about how koalas do the same sleeping on trees while climbing on them.

So was Brucey a bat and a koala? He did feel more furry than what she expected a bat would feel like–but then again, she never held a bat before so she didn’t know otherwise.

While the things Nina talked about were a lot of information, she nodded her head appreciatively. She was learning a lot about runecrafting from Bobo, so she had an easier time remembering, but even still, it was a bit much. She could always rely on Bobo for helping her, but she refuted that thought a second later.

She hated having the two do everything for her. She can understand, just a tiny bit, why it was dangerous for her to be with them. But she didn’t want to always annoy them with things she can do herself. She can at least take care of a pet. She always begged her Mom to have a pet, but she said that she didn’t want to take care of one even if Clara said she would herself.

So in a way, this was a chance to prove to Bobo and Sissy that she can take care of others too. Compared to another person, taking care of a bat should be easy, right?

The other people in their group were constantly on the lookout. Sometimes, monsters showed up that would attack them, most of them looking like animals with colored fur and bright eyes. Clara expected a wall of light to show up as usual, but remembered that Bobo was not here, so fear instantly took hold in her heart.

However, she was proven wrong as the other soldiers of their group took them out, fairly easily too. They looked strong, and each time they shouted in joy and even asked for stronger monsters. The person that looked like an elf complained that he prefers not to find stronger monsters, getting Clara to nod approvingly.

It was like this for a while, and she worried as to how long they would do this. Would it take a long time? Perhaps forever at this rate? She wanted to go home with Bobo and Sissy as soon as possible, but she also knew that they were doing their job as important people for the town.

She knew that it was important, but she still wanted to be with them. She closed her eyes, hoping that time would just move on faster.

Then something exploded near her. Everyone nearly shouted but Nina made sure to grab onto Clara tightly. Her eyes opened wide to find that it was another monster–but much more different than usual.

It looked like one of those fire breathing tigers from earlier, but it was bigger, and it looked like it had scars all over its body. Its fangs looked broken, but they felt really sharp. It didn’t glow just red anymore, but with a golden coloring on the edges. Finally, it had pupils that seemed to glow bright white as it roared into the sky. It was so powerful, Clara screamed as she blocked her ears, but to no avail.

“Damn it!” One of the soldiers shouted. “It’s a Named monster!”

“A named monster?!” Nina shouted in alarm. She looked at the tiger straight on with her eyes for a moment. Clara realized that it’s the same as when Sissy used her eyes to find out its name and level, an Identify. “Croan, The Flame Spirit? Level… 93?”

She visibly shook, and Piggy flew over in front of her and chirped at the creature. The named monster, Croan apparently, roared at them as it tried to go after one of the soldiers that went after it first.

In an instant, the soldier was brushed away like a twig in its path, landing straight at a nearby crystal pillar and crashing into it, breaking it into large pieces. He bled all over, but Clara could notice that he still moved. As far as she knew, if they moved, they were alive.

But the tiger was still on them, its fangs bared.

“Defensive formation!” Another soldier shouted. “Nina! Support us!”

Nina looked hesitant for a moment, looking over to the soldier and then at Clara. She realized that she couldn’t leave her alone, otherwise she would be in danger.

But Clara looked at her directly, determination in her eyes. “I’ll be fine! Brucey’s with me!”

As though in accordance to her will, Brucey’s head popped up behind her shoulder to give a chirp back. Nina looked surprised for a moment, but then nodded.

“I’ll be back. Stay hidden and be safe!”

Nina hesitated for a moment longer before she ran over to the soldiers who were currently fighting the tiger off.

The battle continued, the tiger proving to be a powerful threat to the party. They looked battered, and blood began to run down their faces and bodies, but they persisted. The elf was targeted a lot, but he kept his magic on the others as whatever he did helped the bleeding stop and their wounds closed up.

Clara wanted to help, but realized how stupid that was. If she was there, they would be too focused on protecting her than on the tiger, and that would end up hurting them, much like how Bobo gets hurt whenever she gets in trouble. Still, even after knowing about it, she felt a tug at her heart, demanding that she do something.

But before she could even do anything like hiding, the tiger suddenly froze. Its head whipped to the other side, its eyes landing right on her.

Something dangerous flashed in those burning eyes, Clara could tell. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew that the tiger changed direction and was now aiming for her.

“Clara!” Nina shouted, her eyes widening in alarm.

“Why would it go after the kid?!” One of the soldiers shouted in disbelief.

“Forget that, get it!” The elf man shouted. “It’s gonna–”

These damn beasts think that they can approach me unharmed? Foolish.

Clara’s mind went blank, recalling the voice that spoke in her head. It was her friend, Zoan, and she sounded really angry.

Did the tiger notice the angel hiding inside of Clara’s soul? That would make some sense, but at the same time, her body shook with terror.

Clara, tell Brucey to fly, now!

Without hesitation, Clara called out. “Brucey! Fly!”

Brucey’s head popped up, and she saw that its eyes glowed a yellow tint as something flapped behind her. She looked back to see that…

She had wings.

They were spread across from each side of her back, flapping intensely as their webbed dark wings that looked as spiky as a bat flapped harder and harder. Before she could realize what was going on, her feet suddenly lost ground as her body flew to the sky.

The tiger missed her entirely as her body flew right above the sky, and headed far away from the tiger, at the opposite side of the fortress.

“Clara?!” Nina shouted, looking over at the suddenly flying girl with shock. “Clara!”

While the soldiers looked surprised and relieved that she was suddenly flying, they went back to fighting the tiger. It was only Nina that shouted and tried to go after Clara, but one of the soldiers stopped her.

Clara didn’t know what was going on, but she realized that Brucey looked panicked, almost scared. It kept flying farther away, the winds pushing against her hair and dress as she flew across the forest in a crazed flight path to lord knows where.

“Aaaah!” She screamed in fear, but also in excitement as she finally flew for the first time. Now if she could only realize where exactly Brucey was heading towards, because it didn’t look like he knew either.