Blake entered the void, the warm Phoenix sun was replaced by endless nothingness. A moment later, a message appeared before his eyes.

Protect the flock of Stoltar to complete the scenario. If more than two of your charges die, you will fail.

He cursed.

Thank God I brought the gun.

While protection scenarios were easier for his morals to digest, they had one of the highest failure rates. Since he was on his own, this mission would be even more difficult. In his past life, Jeff and Rajesh stayed close to their charges to protect them, while Montgomery and Blake went on the offensive.

This time, Blake had to do everything himself.

Suddenly, the void was replaced with light, and he tumbled out of the portal onto a wooden floor, rifle cradled in his arms. Once he recovered from the rough transition to low gravity, he stood and surveyed his surroundings.

He walked to the edge of the wooden platform, and took an involuntary step back. He was high in a forest canopy, and estimated his position to be at least two hundred feet off the ground. Blake temporarily closed his eyes and breathed deeply to overcome the vertigo.

When he reopened his eyes, towering trees filled his vision. Even from his current height, their trunks seemed to be the diameter of houses.

That fact was evident, as the Stoltar utilized the trees for the residences. He studied the community. Doors, eight feet high and four wide, were placed regularly throughout the trunks. They were all connected by a series of wooden platforms and bridges. In the distance, avian-like beings traversed the pathways.

From his previous experience on the planet, he knew that the massive tree trunks were hollowed. The living space within utilized almost the entire interior of the tree and contained stairs to navigate between levels.

Above each doorway, signs were hung prominently, and were labeled with words he could not read. Yet, the crude drawings beside the foreign language made their purpose obvious. This small town in the sky contained taverns, tailors, general stores, and everything a thriving community needed to survive. It was a far cry from the goblin’s ramshackle villages, and proved that the Stoltar were on par with human intelligence.

And that made them dangerous.

An abrupt scream behind him distracted him from his observations. He whirled and saw a feathered creature frozen in the nearby door. At seven feet, it was much taller than his five-eleven frame. Its long beak was open, and he saw its thin tongue curling within. Bright eyes the size of tennis balls stared at him in surprise, while the feathers of its wings bristled in alarm. Its plumage was bright blue mixed with patterns of red and yellow.

Montgomery liked to call them ‘Toucan Pams’, despite the fact that their beaks were entirely black, not multicolored like the cereal box’s cartoon mascot. That, and they were clothed in linen and leather. Unlike their plumage, the colors of their wardrobes were surprisingly muted. This Stoltar had an off-white tunic that did not cover its wings nor arms, and tan pants for its stilt-like legs.

I should probably calm it down before it freaks out.

Blake cleared his throat and said, “Don’t worry, I’m here to protect you from the invading flock.”

The intelligent avian creature blinked.

A moment later, it recovered from its shock and stammered, “Good, good, good. That’s good.”

Blake frowned at the words.

The only other time he entered this scenario was to eliminate a flock. Blake did not interact with the Stoltar, and only heard their shouted commands and coordination. From the commands he overheard, they seemed highly intelligent.

Maybe this one’s a bit slow?

The avian remained still and stared at him.

“Can you take me to your leader?” Blake winced the moment the words left his mouth. Yet, the phrase was accurate. He needed to talk to someone in charge to coordinate their defense and hopefully discover the timeline of the attack.

Its head bobbed up and down repeatedly, and it replied, “Yes, yes, yes. Follow.”

The creature shuffled cautiously past him along the platform and entered the rope bridge to the next tree over. He watched as the bridge swayed from its motion, yet the timid being did not grasp the rope railings to keep itself steady.

Must be nice to have wings.

Blake followed his guide and entered the bridge, hesitantly at first. The wooden slats beneath his feet held firm, and after the first few steps, he increased his speed. Despite his renewed confidence in the integrity of the structure, he grasped the guide ropes firmly.

No reason to fall to my death.

He momentarily glanced down through the gaps in the wooden boards and confirmed he was at least two hundred feet above the ground. A wave of vertigo washed over him, and he forced his vision to return to the swaying bridge he traversed.

Blake trailed his guide across the first bridge, circled a residence on its outside platform, and then traversed multiple subsequent connections, until he paused at a tree with a large double door.

Above the door was a sign with more illegible writing. It always confused him that the AI did not translate the avian’s written language. Posted on each side were two obvious guards. They wore much sturdier armor than his escort, fashioned from treated hide with metal studs, shields, and long spears.

From the moment they saw him on the opposite platform, they tensed in alarm. Yet, despite their obvious agitation, they allowed him to approach

“What’s the meaning of this?” The guard on the left growled at his guide. “Who is this creature, and why is he here?”

“Protect us,” it squawked. “Here to see Head.”

The guard’s head swiveled to Blake. “Is that true? Did the Architect task you with protecting our flock?”

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Blake nodded, glad to converse with someone more capable of communicating. He feared that all the avians used the same stilted speech as his guide. Verbally, he confirmed the guard’s assumption. “Yes, it did.”

His words did not seem to sway the guards. They remained at the ready with spears angled forward.

Fine. I wouldn’t trust me, either.

He focused on his interface and forced the scenario instructions to become visible before him. The guard’s large eyes focused on the words. A moment later, the tension left them.

The guard on the left nodded to itself and let out a chirp. “Praise the Architect. We may stand a chance after all.”

Blake bristled at the overt worship of the AI.

Easy Blake. You’re just here to finish the scenario.

Blake held back his acerbic reply. Instead, he repeated, “Can you take me to your leader? I need to discuss strategy,”

The guard bobbed its bulbous head and agreed. “Yes, come with me.” It then turned to its fellow guard. “Stay here.”

Once its subordinate bobbed in agreement, the head guard opened the double door and entered the tree. Blake followed behind and used Analyze on his escort.

Stoltar Level 1

Chi

I really need to upgrade Analyze. Actually, why don’t I do that now?

Blake had the nano to spare. He had entered the Mander scenario twice more while his father tracked down his rifle. Those two expeditions had netted him a tidy sum of ninety-five million nano, or ninety-five mega-nano.

They required only ten million nano per skill to evolve, unlike his spells. He also needed more experience with his combat spells before he could evolve them.

As the guard led him through the tree’s entrance and into a large room, Blake quickly spent the ten million nano and upgraded Analyze to level 2. Unlike attributes or levels, skill and spell upgrades were instant.

Blake was immediately notified that he completed another directive. He dismissed the message, confirmed he gained five million nano, and reused the spell on the guard before him.

Stoltar Level 1

Chi

Physical Power - High

Physical Stamina - Average

Physical Resistance - High

Magic Power - Low

Magic Stamina - Low

Magic Resistance - Low

Blake grinned.

The level two Analyze allowed him to see a rough estimate of his target’s attributes. In his past life, Rajesh informed him that high, average, and low were relative to the enemy species’ level, not the person that used Analyze on them.

I wonder what my attributes would look like. Oh well, let’s see what my new directive is.

Upgrade a spell.

Of course, that’s the next step. Hopefully, I can evolve one my…

Blake’s introspection was cut short when the guard opened another door and announced him. “Head Jenthores, the Architect has sent our flock a protector.”

“Praise the Architect!” Jenthores shouted from his wooden throne.

“Praise the Architect!” the guard replied in what seemed a ritual response.

Blake grimaced in disgust, yet remained silent.

Once the ceremonial observance was out of the way, the leader of the flock inspected Blake carefully and then addressed him. “Impressive, you have been blessed by the Architect with all four forms of his magic.”

Blake scowled and clenched his fist once more at the mention of the AI.

“However, as impressive as that is, you are but one Human. Are you alone, or did you bring others to fight alongside you?”

“Just me, but I don’t need anyone else. I have achievements that let me fight higher level scenarios by myself.”

Jenthores squawked. “Humorous. Very well, then I will add you to our defense. With the Architect’s blessing, your help may be enough to save the flock.”

The leader’s praise of the Architect needled him, and he could not keep the derision out of his voice. “The ‘Architect’,” he emphasized. “Has nothing to do with it. ‘I’ will save you and your flock by myself.”

Both the guard and Jenthores squawked in response.

“Actually, it would be best if you gathered the entire flock and barricaded yourselves in here. That way, I can take care of the invaders without having to worry about accidental casualties.”

His statement was too much for the head of the flock, who was now visibly angry. He shouted, “You dare blaspheme that Architect?!”

“I don’t give a shit about the Architect or protecting you,” Blake sneered. “I’m just here for the wood.”

“Confine him!” the flock’s head ordered. “But be careful that he lives. We do not want to anger the Architect.”

The guard dropped his spear and approached Blake warily with his shield raised. Meanwhile, Jenthores began to weave his hands through the air. Most likely, the head intended to cast a mana-based spell to restrain him.

Yeah, good luck with that.

Blake unsheathed the dagger at his waist, used Spatial Step to teleport behind the seated leader, whirled around, and rested the blade’s edge against his throat, while his left held his rifle.

Jenthores’ spell form was immediately interrupted by a croak. The guard, alarmed by Blake’s sudden disappearance, spun around at his leader’s involuntary vocalization and froze.

“I was trying to play nice with you people,” Blake growled. “But, you just had to be fanatics. Now, here’s how things are going to go, Jenthy. You are going to order your entire flock inside, and barricade the doors. Then, I’m going to kill every single invader by myself. If you don’t comply… well, the scenario stated I’m allowed two casualties. One of them will be you.”

The leader remained in its frozen position for long moments before it finally asked, “Why must you fight alone?”

“Because only two of you are allowed to die, or I’m stuck here forever. I’m not going to take that chance. And, with this,” Blake moved his rifle forward, into the leader’s vision. “I can easily take them out.”

“What is that?” The guard asked, confused. “I can not read its description.”

“That’s because it wasn’t created with the Architect’s help. Humans made it BEFORE that bastard invaded our world. Now Jenthy, are you going to obey, or does your flock need to find itself a new leader?”

The leader seemed to deflate and was offended at the word he used to describe their deity. Finally, it replied, “Very well, my flock and I will comply. I pray you are as capable as you believe.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I am,” he assured the defeated avian. “Now, on to business. How long before the invaders arrive?”

“It is believed they will attack within the day,” Jenthores answered.

“Good, I didn’t want to be stuck here twiddling my thumbs for weeks. Now, I’m going to put away my knife so you can gather your flock. If you disobey me, there won’t be a second warning. I will just end you. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” the leader rasped.

“Good,” Blake utilized Spatial Step to appear on the opposite side of the room. He turned, so his captive was in sight, sheathed his dagger, and carefully aimed his rifle at the seated leader, safety off.

Your move.

Luckily, the head of the flock had some sense. He turned to the guard and ordered, “Rally the guards and gather the flock. It seems we will take shelter during the coming storm.”

The guard bobbed its head and replied, “Yes, Head, it will be done.” After he confirmed the order, the avians exited the door and left Blake alone with his leader. With tensions eased, he finally had time to check the notification that appeared after his last Spatial Step. Blake opened his interface and read the message.

You have gained mastery over a spell. Spatial Step is ready to evolve.

Blake grinned.

Finally!