The sky opened up as I sneaked across the ground, and I thanked my lucky stars. As the rain poured down, seemingly out of nowhere, I was able to cross from the woods faster than before. My footsteps were muffled by the raindrops pounding against the ground, and they bounced back into a fine mist.

The humans’ torch went out.

“Saravani’s claw!” Santa shouted in exasperation, somehow leveling up my comprehension of Yatten. “First the run-in with that foul Outrider, and now this!” He slapped the torch out of Shella’s hands, and kicked the side of the titan, though it barely seemed to do anything.

I was halfway to the titan, now. All I had to do was sneak up the hill, and get on top of him. If I could manage that, there was no way Savage Santa and his reindeer would be able to see me.

“You know what?” Santa yelled, before reaching over to Barlan. “I don’t need the torch! Give me my sword.”

Your [Nocturnal] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

Relief. I could see just a little bit better in the night, and swiftly avoided a stick I hadn’t noticed before. The rain was still beating down into the earth, but I wasn’t taking any chances with making noises.

“Sir Grenzer,” Shella said quietly. I could barely hear her over the crack of lightning atop the mountain. “It’s already dying. Do we have to kill it?” I glanced over to see her shuffling back and forth on her feet, and Barlan was looking away from the scene, probably surveying the area. Or pretending to.

“See it as a mercy, girl,” the knight replied. “Clearly this beastie is suffering. Killin’ it’s the best way out for both of us.”

“How?” Barlan suddenly asked in a hard tone.

Santa waved his hands outwards. “What do you mean, “how”? It receives a merciful death, and I get an effortless kill on one of these monsters.”

Barlan went to respond, but Santa grunted his response away, drawing forth the item inside the bag. A black blade, wickedly curved like a scimitar, emerged from within. I couldn’t see much in the night, but a wave of cold rushed over me as it was drawn.

Titansbane [Weapon Lvl --RESTRICTED--]

Your [Observant] has leveled up. It is now level 5.

Weapon level restricted? That’s… different.

Usually, the things I couldn’t see were just question marks. I’d have to dig into that later. Right now, however, I had to worry about what would happen if that weapon struck Karavos. I picked up my speed, creeping faster towards the hill. If one of them even looked towards me, there was no way I would stay hidden.

I heard the growling voice of Sir Grenzer from behind me, as I reached the bottom of the hill.

“What in the hell is that?”

A glance over my shoulder, and a crack of the lightning overhead let me see that he was looking directly at me.

Damn it.

“What is it doing?” Barlan asked, a stupid look on his stupid face. I realized I was frozen in my sneaking position, and made a hasty decision, dashing forwards up the hill.

“Kill it!” the knight yelled. “I’ll deal with the titan!”

He approached Karavos’ back, but I didn’t have time to watch, as Barlan whipped out a bow, nocking an arrow and firing it in a single fluid motion.

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Where the hell did that come from?

I leaped to the side, dodging the arrow which landed in the ground with a wet schlick.

I observed the two idiots as I sprinted up the wet hill, my talons digging into the ground so I wouldn’t slip.

Barlan, Yatten Squire [Lvl 21]

Shella, Yatten Squire [Lvl 22]

What the hell?!

They’d leveled up over twice their previous levels in only a couple of days? What kind of power leveling were these three doing?

You’re cheating! Santa, you filthy booster!

A ball of white energy crashed into the ground in front of me, and I shouted in surprise.

“Blast it!” Shella yelled. “It’s too smart!”

The other idiot continued to fire arrows at me. “There’s something familiar about this…” he muttered, loudly enough for me to hear over the rain.

“Measure fourteen!” Shella yelled, before turning to Barlan and covering him in a white aura. The next arrow fired blazed through the air, screaming furiously. I could hear the rain turn to steam as it whipped through the air towards me. I halted my sprint to watch the arrow.

At the last second, before it crashed into me, I leaped to the side.

But the glowing bolt of death actually turned and charged towards me. It crashed into my chest, burning the flesh and taking over an entire fifth of my health.

“GRAAGAH!” I screamed, glaring at the now-threatening idiots. So it wasn’t only Santa that was the problem now.

A power welled within me, building up in my stomach, and flooding me, rising through my chest and into my throat.

As though I were breathing fire, I unleashed the power. Green light flowed around me, the hole in my chest closing itself, and my health bar slowly refilling. It was heal.

Your [Heal] has leveled up. It is now level 2.

“That thing can heal itself?!” Barlan shouted.

Yes, idiot. Very intelligent observation.

“No time to worry about it! Measure three!” Shella called back.

Not today! I shouted in my mind as I turned and sprinted up the remainder of the hill, redoubling my efforts. I glanced over my shoulder to see the idiots starting to pursue me now. Guess I was out of their effective range.

Don’t chase me! You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry!

“Die, titan!” I heard the voice of the burly knight call out, and as the lightning flashed, I could see he’d scaled the back of the beast, his black blade now raised into the air. And then he brought it down, directly into Karavos’ stomach.

Another flash of lightning accompanied the awful cry of the diseased monster, and the blade protruding from his stomach glowed blue. Sir Grenzer grinned a savage grin. Anger coursed through me.

I’d gone through so much to heal this guy! I almost died to heal this guy! I got shot in the chest to heal this guy! He was not going to die!

The same power welled within me, but this time, I let it build, and build, and build. My mouth oozed green light as I let the spell grow. In a savage roar of anger, I blasted the green energy across the face of the fallen titan.

An arrow whizzed through the air, slamming into my side, but I didn’t stop breathing life onto the monster.

I could take a few hits, and then I’d need to flee. Besides, I could see from the corner of my eye that the idiots were having trouble climbing the wet hill. Shella had fallen, slipping down the grassy slope, and Barlan was firing normal arrows towards me now.

Your [Heal] has leveled up. It is now level 3.

I danced while I healed Karavos, watching the bar representing my magic points drop, like a dinosaur-ending meteor. I wasn’t sure if my effort would be worth anything against that weapon in his stomach, but I could try.

And then, I heard voices call out from the woods, on all sides.

“From the north!”

“To the south!”

“From the east!”

“To the west!”

Four called out as one for the next line.

“We are the Outriders!”

Grenzer’s grin vanished, and his eyes went wide as he turned around, stamping his foot against the dinosaur underneath him.

“ALL FOUR!?”