Liam dashed through the stopped caravan wagons as fast as he could. The row of wagons was long enough that Liam couldn’t see the end of it by far. People looked at him from the insides of their wagons as he sprinted past, but none moved to stop or join him.

There was a faint whiff of smoke in the air, Liam ran faster.

He arrived at the front of the caravan, too shocked to take in the sight fully.

There were two caravan wagons tipped over to the side, one was halfway crushed, and the other was burning. Billowing clouds of black smoke rose out from it.

People were desperately trying to distinguish the flames from the smoldering cart.

It was all chaos. At first, Liam didn’t even realize what was going on, until Marten flew through his vision and slammed into a caravan wagon to his side. The wagon rocked, but the man got to his feet, shook his head, and ran towards the battle again.

Liam’s gaze followed the direction he was running. And then stopped dead. In between the cultivators and mercenaries, towering above them, stood the biggest monster Liam had ever seen. It made even Marten look small.

It closely resembled some of the deer they had seen along the way, although this one was bigger, much bigger. Its four legs were almost as high as Liam's, and on top of them sat a long body packed tightly with muscles and thick fur. Its powerful torso ended in not just one, but three separate heads. Each was shaped vaguely different, and equipped with a set of intimidating antlers.

The beast roared and charged forward, ignoring the ranks of cultivators and heading straight toward another wagon. The ground shocks underneath the monstrous hooves as it build towards a terrifying charge.

It was suddenly stopped dead before it even reached halfway towards the wagon though.

Marten had simply appeared behind the giant beast. Both of his arms had transformed into glinting metal as he gripped the deer’s hind legs.

It struggled to free itself, but before it could shake Marten loose, Bilby and two other mercenaries jumped in to help him.

They visibly strained to keep the beast contained, but the rest of the mercenaries weren’t sitting idle. Arrows and projectiles hailed onto the beast. Most didn’t even manage to penetrate its thick fur and simply bounced off like flies against a horse.

Thankfully the group had more in store though. Amid their mercenaries stood Katarina. Her face was calm and focused as she chanted a few words to herself. She extended her hand and a giant pillar of flame erupted forward. Its heat singed at Liam even from a distance and he felt like he was staring into the sun.

It sent the monster flying backward and crashing to the floor. It made a painful noise. Liam was about to celebrate, but the relief was short-lived.

The deer gathered itself up from the floor and flared its aura with an ear-hurting roar. Liam almost stumbled a step backwards and a few of the mercenaries did the same.

The antlers on the beast's left head started glowing. A pinprick point of energy started condensing in the middle of the antlers, glowing an ominous orange-red. Liam felt the shocking concentration of mana.

“Get cover,” Marten screamed.

Some of the cultivators scrambled out of the way, just in time before a ray of fire exploded from the beast's antlers. It exploded on the spots where just a moment ago most of their Marten had stood, engulfing the place in a huge inferno.

Shields sprung up from the wagons around and some mercenaries rushed toward them. But not all were in time. Liam heard painful screams. The smell of burning flesh wove through the air.

The attack had set another cart ablaze. The explosion had rocked the wagon over, while the side of the wagon was being swallowed by hungry flames.

A few mercenaries rushed over to help the people, but most were busy taking care of their comrades. Screams for help came from the wagon and finally broke through to Liam. He had stood there watching almost like he was in a trance.

But now he needed to help.

Without thinking he rushed over to the cart. He couldn’t assist in the battle. But he could help those people.

The air was scorching next to the wagon, and Liam had trouble breathing with the thick smoke that billowed around the cart. He looked around panicky.

Some mercenaries had quickly organized a bucket chain and were throwing water onto the wagon in hopes of quenching the flames. Meanwhile, other cultivators were working on cutting through the wood to get some people out of that fiery hell.

Liam didn’t hesitate and immediately joined the bucket chain. Maybe he couldn’t use his abilities in front of all these people, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t help.

The sound of the fight droned over from the other side of the cart. The clinging of metal. The agonized screams of men and the angry roars of the beast.

Liam did his best to ignore them. To shut them out. He had a different task to focus on. The men would know what to do. He just lifted one bucket after the other.

It seemed to take forever. An eternity in which Liam had to solely center himself on his task of carrying water. He had to shut out the little voice telling him that there was a real fight going on just a few feet away. He just lifted buckets.

In teamwork, they soon quenched the worst of the flames and extracted the people out. They were still in shock, but a handful of the doctors were ready. They jumped into either bandage the worst, or have the men carried away by some of the other workers.

Liam peered around the wagon to watch the battle. However, he was careful to stay at least partly covered by the huge vehicle after seeing what the beast was capable of.

Dozens of cuts had appeared on the deer monster. It was limping a little by now. But it still held strong.

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Marten soared towards it. His giant sword was painted in blood but still glinted dangerously in the sunlight. He brought it down with a terrifying overhead swing aimed directly at the beast's exposed neck.

For a second Liam thought that was it. There was no way the monster could withstand this attack.

But a split second before the attack connected, the antlers of that head started to glow in an ominous green. A thin shimmering disc sprang up over the monster's neck. Marten’s sword bounced off of it harmlessly.

Liam couldn’t believe what he was seeing. That beast was capable of different types of magic. Something very rare in monsters. And more than that, its spells were able to rebuff Marten, their strongest cultivator.

Were they doomed?

Liam noticed something else.

Marten seemed to be moving more sluggish than usual. He and Bilby charged toward the beast. The deer kicked with its back legs to intercept them. Bilby barely evaded the attack, but Marten was sent flying again.

What was happening? In no world should Bilby be able to react faster than Marten all of a sudden. Was Marten that hurt already? He hadn’t seemed like it.

Another ball of fire from Katarina engulfed the deer. It was followed by an onslaught of arrows from the mercenaries. It was pushed backward, screeching in pain and anger.

Marten collected himself out of the wagon he crashed into, and darted back towards the battle. The beast had freed itself from the wave of attacks and had scattered some of the mercenaries away, but Marten was there to engage it.

Almost all of his attacks seemed to bounce off ineffectively, but he didn’t give up. Despite his wounds, he was tenacious, but Liam was shocked to see Marten struggle so much.

There was a look between Katarina and Bilby. Then a nod. Whatever was going on, they really had to put their hopes on Katarina and Bilby now, and they knew it.

The beast wanted to charge its antlers again but was interrupted every time by Bilby’s shocking ability. Finally, Bibly jumped a few steps backward, narrowly avoiding a headbutt from one of the angry heads, and started glowing in a soft white light.

The deer used that brief window of opportunity and spawned a red glowing orb between its left antlers again.

Katarina took that as a cue and dashed in. But he was reprimanded with a heavy kick from one of the deer's back legs. A shimmering shield sprang up in front of her. It cracked, but she held her ground.

Liam watched intently as Katarina charged another ability, her whole left arm glowing orange, while the rest of the cultivators fought to keep the beast away. Before he could see the end of his ability though, a scream from behind caught his attention.

“Help!”

It was a weak cry. Horse from too much-inhaled smoke. Liam immediately hurried over to the smoldering remains of the caravan wagon.

All the mercenaries and helpers had already withdrawn to assist in the fight against the deer monster or help the people from other wagons. The fire had been extinguished and the people were saved. Or at least they had thought so.

Liam walked around and saw a person squeezed under a part of the broken roof. It was still smoking, and blistering hot. Liam didn’t recognize the man. His face was smeared in blood and ashes. He was barely clinging to consciousness.

Liam tried lifting the wooden roof with his hands. It was uncomfortably hot to the touch, but he ignored the stinging sensation.

Lifting out of his knees, Liam tried to pull it up as much as possible. Without weeks of training with Marten, the whole construct probably wouldn’t even have moved an inch. Now, with lots of strain, he managed to lift it somewhat.

The man struggled weakly to crawl forward, but the roof just weighed too much. He was still stuck. He tried to lift higher, but his muscles screamed in protest. Liam’s efforts probably eased his breathing a little, but it wouldn’t be enough to get the man out.

“Help,” Liam screamed and panicky looked around. But nobody heard him. Everyone with common sense had fled the battlefield. The rest were all too busy fighting the monster or tending to the wounded.

The roof grew painfully hot in his hands. He couldn’t hold it much longer anymore. There was only one way to help. Liam hoped the man was too out of it to remember.

He wasn’t even sure if it would work, but he saw no other way. He just hoped Bilby wasn’t actively looking for him right now.

Liam tapped into his inner mana and the familiar feeling encompassed him. The pain immediately got a little better, and the weight of the roof eased a little on Liam. It felt like his body had just gotten a new energy source.

He didn’t waste any time though and activated his legendary skill. Gravity Manipulation. The familiar purple lines sprang up around the roof he was focusing on. He had never tried to lift an object that heavy, or that big, but there was no other option.

He was immediately assaulted by the chaos of lines that sprang up around the roof. There were so many angles to pull from. Not having time to be deliberate, Liam simply threw all the energy he could to drag the roof upwards.

For a second nothing happened, then the roof immediately got a little lighter. Liam still struggled to push it up but finally managed to raise it a few centimeters.

The man underneath the roof seemed to notice the slightly eased pressure. He drew in a deep breath and started crawling a little forward. He was barely conscious, but his survival instinct kept his body fighting.

The man was slow and the heat of the roof started to blister Liam’s hands. He strained and redoubled the efforts of his skill, trying to give the man more space. In the brief period of using his skill, he had already gained a whole level. He pushed the notification away for later.

A big headache sprang up around Liam. Stars started dancing in front of his eyes and his back felt like someone had poured molten iron on it. He was about to collapse from the strain of the roof and the strain of keeping his skill running.

He held on by sheer force of will.

Just when his vision started to become dangerously blurry, and he had to struggle to draw in breaths, the man finally managed to crawl his way fully out of the wreck. Immediately Liam deactivated his skill and took a step back from the roof, letting it crash onto the floor.

The man had collapsed next to Liam, instantly unconscious. Liam's knees turned weak and he was about to join the man when a voice from behind him cut in.

“So you’re a cultivator huh?”

Liam turned around to find Jerem standing there, watching him with crossed arms. His face was expressionless and there was neither an accusation nor curiosity in his voice. As if he merely stated a fact.

For a split second dozens of thoughts rushed through Liam's head. How did he know? Had he been that obvious? Would Jerem tell the others? Was this the end of his charade? Would Bilby and the others be upon him soon?

But at the forefront was one thought that threatened to consume Liam.

“How long have you been standing there?” His stomach was burning like a hot ember. Adrenaline, fear, and anger kept him standing.

“Long enough,” Jerem frowned, not recognizing the angered tone in Liam's voice. “Liam, are you okay?

“Long enough?” Liam almost screamed now. “Long enough and you didn’t even think about trying to help?”

The other boy took a step back. “Uh… I just wanted to see if you’re alright.”

“You just watched me struggle to save a man and you didn’t even think to help? You would rather watch me out of your own curiosity for my powers?”

“It’s not like I could’ve helped you maniac!”

“What do you mean?”

“Look at your hands, Liam!”

He did. They were a blistering mess of red bubbles. The smell of charred flesh made him suddenly nauseous.

“Ohh,” Liam seemed to deflate a little. His head was spinning all of a sudden.

“We need to get you to a healer.” There was concern in Jerem's voice. But for Liam, it seemed to be fading away.

He looked at his hands again.

“I don’t feel so good.”

Then he dropped to the floor with a thud.