With the second form unlocked, Ethan took a bit of a break and rested while the underground forest continued boiling with activity and once more, he assigned his newest stat point to mana, bringing it up to 19 points.

Once I have the third form unlocked, I’m gonna focus back on the other wand. I can probably boost it pretty fast now that higher level monsters are on the menu. Oh. And learn [Gout of Flames] too. See if that nets me another spell token.

Ethan was nearly forty minutes into his break and had been re-tying his boots when his brows furrowed. He looked up, worried, and slowly scanned his surroundings. The tunnel was the same as it had always been. A long dug-out and smoothed passageway that stretched to his left and right, lit up by a network of glowing mushrooms not unlike the forests above or below. But other than that, it was empty. Not really quiet, as roars, screeches, and the occasional bangs were still reaching his ears from the deeper forest.

But something was off. Ethan didn’t feel like he was alone. He felt watched. And the more he thought he was being watched, the more confident he became.

Something’s here.

Ethan got up as his eyes scanned the darkness, looking for movement in the shadows. Was this something new?

With every second that went by, he grew more annoyed and, after nearly a minute, he summoned and ignited his claws, ready to drown the tunnel in fire.

“If you understand me, show yourself. Now.”

Nothing.

Ethan extended his arms in both directions. He was about to fill the tunnel with fire when something moved in the corner of his eyes.

“There will be no need for that,” said a feminine voice as a pair of thin translucent wings unfurled to reveal a woman in charcoal trousers and a bloodied white dress-shirt. She wore dark-rimmed glasses and her dyed-blond hair was tied back in a bun, accentuating her sharp features. Ethan’s eyes were drawn to the dagger set on her hip, which made him touch his own to make sure it hadn’t been stolen without him noticing.

He hadn’t been the only one who went with the greedy option.

Ethan eyed the large insectile wings. They wouldn’t have been out of place atop a giant moth or butterfly, though they were a bit translucent. Plus, something about them made his gaze slide away, which might explain why he hadn’t noticed the camouflage.

One thing was clear, though; that odd magical effect, coupled with her quasi-invisibility made this person into a worrisome opponent to have.

The woman gave an apologetic smile, and even though the expression did reach her blue eyes, it only put Ethan more on edge. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. You’re Ethan, right?”

[Human (I) - Level 31]

Ethan stared back at the woman and didn’t dismiss his claws. “I might be. Who’s asking?”

He wasn’t worried about being overtly polite toward someone who’d just been caught snooping on him, and nothing she could say would change his mind. If he hadn’t threatened to turn the tunnels into an oven, she might have said nothing. What had her plan been? Stab him in the back or something?

“My name’s Amanda Daniels and I came in person to apologize for what some of my… acquaintances have been up to. I heard there had been a scuffle between your people and mine and I wanted to come extend an apology in person and see if we could reach an arrangement,” she said, glancing around at the empty tunnel before she sighed. “I miss chairs. It’s barely been a couple of days, but somehow it feels like weeks.”

Ethan watched the woman as she shook her head for a moment before she crossed her arms and leaned against a flat portion of the wall. “It was unacceptable what Lance had been doing. I was scouting and looking for more allies, and I should have been more aware of what was going on with the little camp I organized. My initial goal had been to create a safe spot for those unable to brave the new dangers and I hadn’t expected it to quickly be turned into a misguided and frankly stupid operation to collect some extra fragments. I’ll make sure what occurred doesn’t happen again. At the end of the day, we stand a better chance of surviving all of this if we pool our strengths.”

Ethan watched quietly as Amanda pushed herself off the wall and began pacing a few feet away from him, and he couldn’t help but notice she was standing between him and the others.

Amanda stood with her arms behind her back, looked him in the eyes, wings swaying and reflecting the lights of the tunnel. “I’m organizing the high-level individuals so we can push our way down there,” she said, nodding toward the deep underground forest. “And that’s only for starters. There will be more challenges. More quests. And eventually, we might find ourselves back on Earth and when we do, I don’t want us to fall under the thumb of a better organized faction. Whether it's from our own world or another.”

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Ethan didn’t miss the intense look she was giving him, and he fully believed that this tutorial wasn’t her end goal. Now the question was, was she looking for partners or was she looking for soldiers because so far, she hadn’t said much about that, though he had a good guess from the glimmer he was seeing in her eyes.

He wasn’t interested in either, but he had to get a good read for this person.

“Who’s going to lead this team you’re building?”

Amanda gave him a confident smile. “Everyone’s voice will be heard, but someone needs to call the shots when a decision has to be taken, and I have the experience with the latter.”

There it is.

For a second, Ethan felt a large hand trying to wrap itself around him. To pull his string and make him do what it desired. He didn’t miss the subtext of her words, that this will be no partnership but a job.

After having gotten a taste of complete freedom, of being rewarded well for his own efforts, Ethan’s mind bristled at the threat of having his own will be overridden by anyone else. At having to put his own goals and desires aside to work on someone else’s vision.

The thought alone made his soul smolder. But Ethan kept his expression and flames in check, no matter how much he wanted to ignite them. Not to attack her, of course. Just as an outlet to his agitation, and to ward away anything that tried to nudge him in any way or form.

The flame had become a source of comfort, in a way. Though he did wonder, how did she intend to keep those more powerful than her in line?

If yet another Lance showed up, one powerful enough, how was she going to stop them?

Ethan nodded along, feigning interest. “And what’s your plan once these tutorials are over? If we make it through, of course.”

Like a manager who’s just been given a question they had prepared for, Amanda launched into a prepared response, though he didn’t like how her eyes were training on him.

She won’t like it when I tell her no.

“We need to first make sure we’re secure and safe, then we should get in touch with other survivors. Other groups. Find out what’s happening with our government. There are so many variables we don’t know just yet, but with a high-level team, we’ll be equipped to deal with most challenges that pop up.”

Ethan continued nodding along as he mentally recapped what Amanda wanted. A team of high-level individuals that she would lead, punch through the tutorial, then coordinate and potentially set her own little fiefdom when they’ll be back on Earth.

“I appreciate the apology and I appreciate the offer. But I prefer to work alone for now.”

Amanda raised an eyebrow at him. Ethan thought she was about to say something, but then she nodded back. “I understand. I do hope you’ll see the benefit of what I’m offering and eventually change your mind. Can we agree to stay out of each other’s hair for now, at least?”

Ethan blinked and couldn’t suppress the incredulous smile that stretched across his lips. Did she mean he shouldn’t intervene if another ‘Lance’ popped up and started abusing their powers? “What does that mean, exactly?”

Amanda smiled and waved a hand away. “Nothing as bad as you’re thinking. I’m not looking to get in your way or anything like that. I meant if we’re working on something—like assaulting the monsters down there—don’t just start throwing spells in our general direction without cause. Don’t attack my people if they don’t start trouble with yours. If they do, let me know before you cut their head off. We’re not working together, but we can at least coexist peacefully, don’t you think?”

That was a reasonable request, though he didn’t like how vague it sounded. But this wasn’t a fight he needed to pick up right now. Plus, the situation was tense enough, considering both of them still had their wands manifested.

Trust was clearly not on the table and as impulsive as he knew he could be, Ethan didn’t want to make an enemy of this person. Better to let things lay for now and go from there.

“I’ll stay out of your way as long as your people stay out of mine.”

He considered adding more stipulations, but he didn’t want to sour the mood and ratchet up the tensions. Schemers were difficult to deal with and even though he thought of adding a warning to leave his allies alone, he didn’t want to risk painting a target on them.

Still, I’m gonna need to warn them.

Amanda straightened up and nodded, giving him a polite and lukewarm smile. “Well, it was nice meeting you. Feel free to reach out and ask for me in one of our camps if you ever change your mind or if you want to pool our strengths.”

Ethan raised a brow. “Camps?”

Amanda gave him a chuckle and a wink. “A lot can be done when you’ve got the right people. We’re already setting up a camp in the second layer, to help our best level faster. And we’re still finding some isolated folk that had to face all of this by themselves. After all, there were a thousand of us thrown into this mess. Well, this group, I mean.”

After a couple more exchanges, Amanda stepped past him and went back down into the deeper cave. Ethan followed her with his eyes and couldn’t help but picture her turning invisible yet again before sneaking back into the cave.

He didn’t trust her. She might not be a problem right now, but she could become one.

Ethan considered going to tell the others about her right away, but he also didn’t want to hold their hands too much. After mulling it over a few seconds, he decided on a compromise.

Finish up the third form, then go tell them and get some real rest. After that, I’ll push deeper into the cave. See where Amanda and her people are setting up.

All of those water monitors were coming from somewhere, and it might have something to do with the main quest.