With only a few minutes left until the mists fell, Hiral stood with his raid party. Around them, the other raid parties had likewise staked off a small portion of the field to in preparation. They’d done everything they could to get ready. Long-duration buffs covered their bodies, while Nivian had whipped up a meal with some fantastic percentage-based buffs, not just for their group, but for everybody.

“You’ll keep an eye on Olimpas?” Hiral asked his father.

“For the third time,” Elezad said with a smile at his son. “Yes.”

“Good, I don’t trust him,” Hiral said.

“Me neither,” Seena agreed, her hand intertwined in Hiral’s.

“I still think you should let me stab him,” Seeyela said. “Or at least threaten him enough he falls into a twitching mess if he even thinks about crossing us.”

“What kind of threat would that involve?” Yanily asked.

“The stabbing kind,” Seeyela said.

“How’s that any different than just stabbing him?”

“It sounds better to them,” Seeyela pointed at Elezad, then waved her hand a little to indicate the Trust. Each of the six members was with one of the parties going after a particular trial.

“No stabbing,” Elezad said. “His story is plausible, and he is good at what he does. It would be a loss to our side if we lost him for no good reason.”

“Which is the only reason he’s still walking,” Seeyela said. “Or breathing. You hear me on this, though, when we find out for sure his story is a sack of lying shit, he’s mine.”

“If that turns out to be the case, I won’t stop you,” Elezad said.

“Good,” Seeyela said, arms crossed.

“And,” Elezad looked right at Hiral. “Before you ask – again – yes, we have the Buildings in a Box you gave us to use when we know more about how the fortress will set itself up. And the WUPS are up and running, with two of Tomorrow’s Sentinels already online and ready to fight. We’ve also,” he continued as Hiral opened his mouth, “got ten of Seena’s Brass Cannons that she’s been so kind to summon and leave here for guard duty. We’re covered.”

“Yeah, Hiral,” Yanily said. “Stop asking the same things over and over.”

“It wasn’t three times,” Hiral said. “Two. Tops. And the WUPS weren’t completely set up last time…”

“It really was three.” Seena pat him on the shoulder while he spoke. “You snuck one in when you were asking about the War Table and if they showed up on it.”

Hiral narrowed his eyes at his girlfriend’s betrayal, but she only winked at him and gave him a smile. One of the smiles he couldn’t possibly stay mad at – or argue with. Especially not since she was correct, now that he thought about it.

“Enough about that,” Hiral said, quickly changing the subject. “You sure about sending Nat and Milly’s group into the D-Rank trial?”

“Absolutely,” Elezad said, though he shared a look with Sera at the mention of their daughters. “They have a strong group. Pound for pound – and Rank for Rank – I’d put them at second or third overall out of everybody here, only definitely behind your raid group. If they were B-Rank, like you, they’d definitely be number two. We need them in the trials.

“Besides,” Elezad continued, stepping in closer so the other raid groups wouldn’t overhear. “We do need some groups getting stronger – getting to C-Rank. I want your sisters’ group to be one of them. Once we have an idea what these trial rewards are like, I suspect we’re going to get them to run as many as we can fit them into.

“And you all, as well,” Elezad continued. “Even if you hit B-Rank twenty, don’t evolve. There are a dozen B-Rank trials, and you won’t be able to get to them – let alone run them – if you Rank-up.”

“We talked about the same thing already,” Seena said. “It’s a bit of a waste of experience, but if the trials have halfway decent rewards like dungeons, it’ll be worth it.”

“Plus,” Elezad said. “If there’s only the A-Rank zone for your run around in, there’s very little we could even offer contribution points for. The Cradle seems designed to build power from the ground up.”

“Which is good for us in the long run,” Hiral said. “We got ahead of the curve thanks to lost dungeons and being the only ones running them. This might give everybody a chance to catch up. Are you going to go run some of the B-Rank trials? How about the rest of the Trust?”

“Once we have a better handle on what the rewards are, we’ll see. But…” Elezad stopped whatever he was about to say as a hush fell over the large crowd.

The mists were dissipating, and everybody was turning to look.

Where Hiral expected to see more dense woods like what they’d hiked through to reach the keep, those actually only stood on one side of the field. Ahead of them – instead of trees – the land fell away, as the valley stretched out even lower beyond. More and more of the thick fog burned away, revealing an absolutely massive space, filled with terrain entirely unexpected.

To one side, that had to be a damn volcano, smoke rising out of the top of the mountain, with rivers of red running down its sides. The ‘field’ in front of it – for lack of a better word – stood radiating heat in visible waves of blurred air, with more of the lava streaking across the black. And, there at the base of the mountain, surrounded by a lake of the stuff – some kind of ominous shrine. That was definitely a trial.

But, even as striking as the volcano-area was, so too was the way it ended abruptly on multiple sides where it met other clear zones. Nestled up against the volcano’s nearest side was something Hiral had only read about in books – snow. Not just a small amount of it, either. Trees stood with white dresses draping their shapes, more of the fluffy stuff falling from… nowhere. It just filled the air, growing heavier even as the crowd watched. Whatever trial lay within the white was hidden from their view – along with whatever dangers guarded it.

Still, there was more. In another zone, islands floated in the air, one above the other, stacking almost ten levels high. Curved ramps ran along the outside of them, connecting bottom to top, though it would be impossible to climb them without crossing each of the isles. Which would be no easy matter, from looking at the hordes of reptilian monsters prowling about.

That over there, that had to be The Lonely Isle. Little more than a shack on a small island in the middle of the lake, though the large shapes passing just below the surface suggested fishing wouldn’t be the only trial involved. And, that zone wasn’t the only one that held a lake, either.

Connected to the first via a large, fast-moving river, a second – even bigger – lake sat calm, with a floating village on its surface. At first, Hiral assumed it was abandoned, with the passage of time having worn at the circular, wooden buildings all connected by small bridges. But, even as his eyes only lingered for a few seconds, he saw shapes coming out of the doors and sniffing at the air. Hiral had to be a good two miles away from them, but thanks to his high Atn, his instincts were screaming at him those were Squalians.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Not normal Squalians, though. No, there was something off about the energy he was sensing through Cycling.

Chimeras. It was the same energy the monsters they’d fought in the savanna had. Those had to be Chimeric Squalians.

He only let that sink in for an instant before moving on to look at some of the other zones – and what were possibly the trials within.

A stone castle sitting atop an imposing cliff-face, only approachable from one, narrow road, which was of course clearly guarded by heavily armored knights on horseback.

A palace seemingly made entirely of mirrors, with the sun and dozens of distorted images reflecting from it.

The hedge maze still partially shrouded in fog, only the occasional pair of ivory horns poking above to give hints at what stalked within.

Another floating ‘structure’, this one egg-shaped and porous. The entire thing hovered above a massive hole in the ground where it seemed to have risen from, the air almost black around it from the swarms circling it. Swarms of what…? It was hard to tell – being nearly a dozen miles away. Insects? That was the feeling he got.

More and more topographies resolved. Mountains, forests, rivers, lakes, fields, canyons, even cities and towns. If Hiral could imagine it, it was there in front of them all, filling every inch of the Cradle they could see.

Well, at least up to the wall of fog that still draped across like a sheer cliff at what Hiral guessed was about fifteen miles distant. The border between their faction’s land and the other. Somewhere in there, Vorinal was looking out at a similar scene. Plotting. Planning.

“Incoming!” a voice shouted from near the front of the assembled group, a pair of large wolves cresting the top.

Hiral and his parties had stayed back near the middle – since they’d chosen a random spot to set up, while others had camped around them – and they all snapped their attention to the new arrivals. The two wolves each had to be almost four-feet tall at their shoulders, their fur patchy and thin, and the skin underneath like dried paper.

Chimeras, Hiral realized immediately, and drew his RHCs. Before he fired, however, he expanded his sensory domain – it had been blocked by the fog, so he hadn’t bothered with it – to find dozens more of the wolves streaming up the hill towards their keep.

Dynamic Quest – Beast Wave

A tide of monsters swarms through the newly-lifted fog, seeking to end your conquest of the Cradle of Tomorrow before it can truly begin!

Thin the pack!

Chimeric Interlopers slain: 0/250

“Already?” Seena asked, fire swirling above her hands as she prepared her opening salvo.

“More about like about time,” Yanily said, his spear spinning from hand to hand as lightning and thunder built around him.

“Nivian’s group down the middle,” Hiral said, picking out where the bulk of the monsters would crest the lip with his domain. “Seena’s right, Ilrolik’s left. We’ll…”

Hiral cut off as a pulse of solar energy rippled along the ground from Grandmother thumping her cane.

“You’ll wait a moment,” the old matron said. “Look.”

And… Hiral did, spotting one of the nearest raid groups already engaging the pair of monsters. Their teamwork wasn’t… fluid, they were still getting in each other’s way – even in the few seconds he hesitated – but they contained the monsters. Beat them back, and were already on their way to victory.

Even as more of the beasts – Chimeric Wolves to Hiral’s View – stormed up the hill, they were quickly met by a mounting defense from the assembled raid groups. Different ranks of beasts – from E- to C-Rank got intercepted as the Trust organized the defense.

Hiral’s RHCs lined up shot after shot, but he didn’t pull the trigger.

“Uh, aren’t we going to…?” Yanily asked, pointing towards the monsters crashing against the defenders.

“I don’t see anything higher than C-Rank,” Seena said. “Anybody see any B’s?”

“Not me,” Hiral said.

“Nothing,” Nivian chimed in, and Ilrolik seconded that.

“Then, change of plans, we hang back,” Hiral said. “We’ve fought Chimeras before. We know what we’re up against. Many of them don’t… yet. This’ll be a good chance for them to learn more about their enemies and how to work together. You can already see groups tripping over each other to get at the wolves.”

“Yeah, better they figure this out now when they’ve got us to watch over them…” Seena said, trailing off as Hiral’s RHC finally spat its first bolt of searing Impact. The blast punched straight through the head of a wolf that had barreled its way past the frontliners of one of the groups. Mid-pounce at the healer, the thing dropped straight down, momentum completely arrested by the shot that bored through its forehead and down the entire length of its body to exit the other end.

Parts of the body twitched, like life and intent still lingered within the blood, but it quickly quieted. Hiral had simply done too much damage – too quickly – for any of the Chimeric properties to manifest. That small breather gave the party that’d been broken through the chance to contain the other wolf they were dealing with, while the rest of the raid group moved to assist. Already, they were lining up to support each other instead of trying to be the first to get a killing blow.

All along the frontline, the battle raged. E-, D-, and C-Rank groups – the majority of the fighters anyway – threw abilities and attacks at the monsters charging them. Sure, there were wounds on both sides, but everybody had been warned ahead of time about the Invasive Blood debuff. And, more importantly, every group had been set up with a way to counter it. Buffs to prevent – or at least limit incoming debuffs – or cleansing abilities to remove them immediately were required of the healers. And they were on top of things.

Too many Bonders had seen friends die to the ability back on the wall because they weren’t prepared. It wasn’t going to happen again. Behind those groups, Burs and his raid party moved like death on the wind, covering for any of the lower-Rank groups who found themselves overwhelmed, and Hiral’s group spread to do the same thing. After Grandmother gave them permission.

She’d immediately seen the opportunity for the others to benefit from the fight, and Hiral could practically feel them growing as the quest counter ticked up.

It started slow, with the different parties spreading their damage out too much to completely put the Chimeric Wolves down for good instead of focusing on one. This tended to put multiple monsters into that health threshold that triggered their instinct to combine. Enough merged monsters upped their rank – and their threat level.

It was mostly for these that the B-Rankers needed to step in to assist with. Even then, Hiral and the others opted to try and maim instead of outright kill, making sure the parties dealing with them weren’t completely relieved of their responsibility. It also seemed like those raid parties got more experience if they were the ones landing the killing shots.

As the opening minutes of the encounter turned from five to ten, the battle became far more controlled. About half the defenders injuries and mistakes had come in the initial chaos, but now the assembled raid parties were being smarter about things. Crowd-control abilities – like what Nat brought to the table – suddenly showed their value, delaying or outright stopping additional Chimeras while their parties focused down one at a time. This way, there wasn’t the pack mentality to merge, making them much easier to manage.

They also didn’t need to deal with the monsters completely healing or Ranking up mid-fight.

“That’s two-hundred of the two-fifty,” Seena said another few minutes later. “This is going pretty well, all things considered.”

“Taking them a long time to kill things,” Yanily said. “Are the wolves tougher than the hyenas or boars we fought?”

“Dungeon gear,” Seeyela said. “Advanced classes. We have a lot of advantages over most of these parties. Chimeras are a pain to fight – decent health, no pain or flee response – but these aren’t any stronger than the ones we dealt with.”

“Also, Yan,” Seena said. “Let’s not forget just how badly our first encounter with Chimeras went.”

“We got ambushed by a giant Enemy,” Yanily sighed. “We could’ve taken that six-headed – or was it eight-headed by then? – hyena if the squid didn’t show up.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Seeyela said.

“I will,” Yanily replied smugly, and Seeyela just groaned.

“How’re your sisters doing?” Seena asked Hiral.

“They’re little monsters,” Hiral said. “This kind of fight is almost perfect for them. Milly’s barriers are keeping the whole raid party safe – for the most part – and when they aren’t, they’re at least buying enough time for the other two healers to jump in. Nat? It’s like she was made for this.

“While the damage dealers down one monster at a time, she’s keeping the others stunned or distracted. I think she was even making one dance.”

“Because of course she would,” Seena chuckled.