When the big rodent beast fell, everyone hoped it was over. Fortunately, the wave of rodent beasts didn’t reach us before the boss died. Unfortunately, there were still thousands of the smaller variety that had to be dealt with before we could leave. Thankfully, they were confused and disoriented following the death of the boss, which meant they were easy targets. The biggest problem with needing to kill thousands of rodent beasts was the time required. We were still on a time limit, though I wasn’t honestly sure how much time we had left.

I woke up about halfway through the extermination and quickly joined in. It was a messy, bloody affair. When the last of the rodents died, there was a loud thud from the centre of the clearing and a beam of light shot into the sky from the centre of it, right where the passage out of the lair should have been. Thankfully, we all took it as a signal to return to camp.

Just as we hoped, the portal was there, encircled by eight large reward chests. I quickly got everyone to their chests. Everyone was anxious to get our rewards and get out.

Seth didn’t hesitate to open his chest. A long purple staff with red and blue sigils carved along the length emerged first and the snakeboy smiled brightly as he showed it to Al.

“Staff of the Thaumaturge, it improves fire and ice attunement while holding it,” Al answered, his eyes kept drifting to his own chest.

Seth grinned as he pulled out two more items, skill stones. Both stones quickly vanished before Al could tell us what they were.

“What did you get?” Sam asked from the next reward chest over.

“Flame Shield and Ice Shield, defensive spells,” Seth answered sourly.

Sam nodded then popped the lid on his chest. Like Seth, he pulled out a long staff, though his looked charred and the reddish-orange runes carved into it made it look like it was still on fire. Sam looked hopefully at Alphonse.

“Staff of the Pyromancer, it improves Fire Attunement and Fire Manipulation while holding it,” Al answered.

Sam’s grin matched his cousins as he pulled out two skill stones of his own. He looked to Al.

“Fire Mark and Trigger, and Fiery Explosion. I think those might be tied together,” Al answered.

Sam’s grin widened as both stones crumbled to dust.

Robin got a set of full plate armour, enchanted with improved durability. She did not get any skill stones to go with it. Liam received the same reward but in his size.

Leonardo got a new bow, enchanted to deal increased damage. He also got two skill stones. One called Engineering, a crafting skill, and the other called Trapsmith, also a crafting skill but more of a direct improvement to the Engineering skill. Coach Liv was particularly pleased about Leo’s rewards for some reason but he chose to keep his reasons secret for the time being.

Coach Liv got an axe. It was twice the size of his old axe. Al called it the Severing Axe, which just made the Coach smile wider.

Finally, it was Al’s turn and he opened his chest. First, he pulled free a sheathed rapier. When he pulled it free of the scabbard, the blade crackled with electricity. Even if I hadn’t smelled the lightning, I could still have easily guessed it was enchanted to deal additional lightning damage. Then he pulled out a pair of skill stones . . . except one of them was quite a bit larger and . . . it glowed.

“Don’t use that!” Coach Liv shouted in warning, running over to Al’s side.

Al looked at the coach confused. “Why not?”

“If that is what I think it is, do not use it. Not until you have spoken with Dean Weber,” Coach Liv ordered. “She can explain it better than I can, but if that is what I think it is, you need to be very careful about using it.”

“It’s called an Ancestral Orb of the Canine,” Al said.

Coach Liv winced, “It’s as I thought. You need to speak with the Dean before you use it. For now, just put it away.”

Al frowned but did as he was asked, putting the orb into the pouch at his waist. “Can I at least use the skill stone?”

Coach nodded and with some relief in his voice, he said, “That should be fine.”

Al stared at it, frowned, then cursed. Without a word of explanation, he put it into his pouch. I had a feeling he was missing a requirement or two.

At long last, it was my turn. I opened my chest and found a stew pot covered in engravings. I knew immediately this was a magical cooking implement. I hugged the large pot, nuzzled my cheek to it excitedly, then tried to fit it into the opening of my satchel. It took some manoeuvring, but I eventually got it in. I ignored the looks of my teammates, they just wouldn’t understand.

Next, I pulled out two stones. One larger, much like the one Al just put away.

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Ancestral Orb of the Badger – Do you wish to activate?

I glanced at Coach Liv but he just shook his head, confirming I would also need to see the Dean before I used it. I thought no and the message vanished. I slid the orb into my bag and instead put my focus on the skill stone.

Skill Stone – Illusory Cloak – Do you wish to learn The Unsung Hero Skill Illusory Cloak?

What kind of question was that? Of course, I wanted to learn it. I thought yes and nothing happened. Mentally I groaned as I tried again. I tried a third time and got the expected message.

Skill Stone – Illusory Cloak. Prerequisite skill, Light Manipulation and Light Attunement, missing.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. The Dean had already told me that gaining a Light Attunement would be good for me. She also told me that Light as I would use it was about illusions. I sighed and slipped the skill stone into my bag. Someday, I would be able to learn that skill, but apparently, that day was not today.

With my reward collected, it was time to leave the lair behind. I could hardly believe we made it out with only one casualty. It didn’t seem possible. I’d fought with these people everyday for a month. I knew their strengths and their weaknesses. And yet, there were moments where someone performed beyond their ability in a way that should have been impossible. I watched Al leaving just in front of me and I couldn’t help but wonder. Was it his doing? Was it mine? Was the heroic presence responsible for the improved performance?

And then there was the greater concern. Would the difficulty be raised the next time we entered the lair as a team? Would we survive the next lair challenge? I didn’t have answers for any of my questions. Instead, I stepped up to the exit. As soon as I touched the inky blackness, I received four system messages.

Achievement Earned! Rodent Bog Lair Defeated

Achievement Earned! Permanent Lair Defeated I

Achievement Earned! Heroic Lair Defeated I

Achievement Earned! Slayer

That was a lot of achievements. They were all well earned but that was still a lot. Achievements were supposed to be rare and hard to come by and yet, it felt like they were being handed out to me like party favours. I didn’t know if I should be ecstatic at getting so many or worried that the lair thought we’d need them for some danger in the future.

A moment later, I was outside in the early morning sunlight. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. We made it. I looked around at my team and they all shared a similar sense of relief. But there was also the accomplishment of it. We had done something that I believed hadn’t been done since the time of the last Hero, whoever that was. We defeated a Heroic Lair. With a thought, I pulled up my list of Achievements, eager to see what my new achievements did.

Achievements

Provisional Spire Defeated - Improved Harvesting and Butchering

Wandering Lair Defeated I - Plus 5% Perception, plus 5% Willpower, and plus 10% Constitution

The Unsung - You have journeyed far and your actions have saved many lives, though your name will never be known to them. You possess a Heroic Presence.

Rodent Bog Lair Defeated - Improved First Aid

Permanent Lair Defeated I - Plus 1% Strength, plus 1% Agility, plus 1% Dexterity, and plus 1% Charisma

Heroic Lair Defeated I - Plus 5% to All Statuses

Slayer – Improved Bleed and Sever

I knew the bonuses didn’t mean much, but 5% to all statuses seemed like a lot to me.

Nearby, I heard a gasp, “Mine God!”

I looked to the source and saw a pigman followed closely by eight other students. “Heir Livio, what has happened? Was there a rare spawn?”

Coach Liv smiled weakly at the pigman. “Something like that, Coach Schneider. I don’t think I can tell you about it. I need to see the Dean first and please don’t question my students. They have been through an ordeal. I need to get them back to the academy and probably to the healing ward. Then I’m sure the Dean will need to speak with all of them.”

“Is it safe to go in?” Coach Schneider asked, looking from the bearman to the portal.

Coach Liv glanced over at Al then back to Coach Schneider, “You should be fine, but I would recommend a faculty-only clear before you go in with students.”

Coach Schneider frowned. “That is unfortunate. I am sorry, students, but today’s excursion will be postponed. But do not worry, I promise, we will get into the Rodent Beast Bog soon enough.”

There were groans and complaints from his students, not that I could blame them. Prior to the Heroic aspects of the lair, I was also quite excited to challenge it myself.

“Enough,” Coach Schneider snapped, making his students suddenly stand at attention. “I have given you your marching orders, now march!”

Coach Liv chose to speak up then as well. “He’s right, it’s time to go. We’re all going back to the academy. While I know Mister Romano has done an admirable job, I still want each of you to get checked over by someone much more experienced. I also know that many of us have injuries that we didn’t tell Mister Romano about or didn’t realise we needed healed. Let’s get it all taken care of now.”

No one argued. We were too tired. We weren’t just physically tired but also mentally fatigued. It made the trek through the field feel even longer.

Al and I climbed into our carriage where a worried Beau checked each of us over, not that there was much he could do. Eventually, the cattleman asked, “What happened?”

Al didn’t say anything. I knew why he wanted to keep quiet about it, but I was also sure Beau already knew about him being the Hero. But I let him keep silent, instead I answered the question. “Comrade Beau, Comrade Al has a hangnail. It was very distracting for him.”

Al snorted and laughed, seemingly for the first time in days. Eventually, he said “Belov, shut up.”

I laughed while Beau looked on incredulously.

“No really, what happened?” Beau asked.

I sighed sadly. “Bad things, Comrade Beau. We lost Lulu.”

Beau cast his eyes down, “I’m very sorry for your loss. It is never easy to lose a teammate. If either of you need someone to talk to, the Academy has mind healers that can help.”

Al and I nodded somberly but didn’t respond further.

Beau seemed to be satisfied and knocked on the roof and with a slight lurch, the carriage moved.