Camping in the Wilderness wasn’t exactly the ideal place to exercise and train one’s Skills. Even though Reivyn and the others trained their bodies to operate while being tired, there was a difference between fighting for your life until tired and fighting for your life already tired. That kind of intense exercise would have to wait until they were in a safer location.
That didn’t mean they didn’t do anything. They did some light sparring and Reivyn and Refix supervised Kefira, Teilon, and Kimberly in their weapon forms. They only did enough to build up a light sweat, and afterward, they took turns doing some short Mana Skill practice. Even with the Honor Guard providing support, they still maintained their own watch system. It was better to stay in practice than to get used to not having to do it. The Honor Guard weren’t going to stick around with them for their entire expedition.
The Party had been true to their earlier expectation of finding a place that allowed them to use the river uphill of where Kefira had sensed the Space Mana anomaly. The simple training they usually did in the evenings was cut short so everyone could have some fun and relaxation in the water.
“YAAaaaah!” Teilon yelled as he sprinted toward the bank and launched himself into the air. He came crashing down into the water with his knees tucked up and his arms around his legs. They had already tested the depth of the water, so there was no risk of hitting a shallow spot in the river.
Reivyn followed suit but without the yelling. He kept an eye on Teilon’s position, and right as his friend surfaced from the water with a splash, Reivyn grabbed him and pulled him back down with a surprised yelp. Teilon’s arms flailed and his feet kicked up out of the water.
Reivyn relented and let go of his friend to allow him to break the surface once more. They had high enough stats that rough housing a bit wouldn’t cause any harm, and he knew from their time in the underwater Dungeon that Teilon could hold his breath for a long time. He had memories of certain etiquette needing to be followed in the water from his Dreams, but those sorts of concerns weren’t an issue beyond Tier 2 for the most part.
“Gah!” Teilon spluttered. He glared at Reivyn with mock outrage. “I cannot let this stand!” He lunged toward a laughing Reivyn.
Reivyn kicked off in the opposite direction, intentionally splashing as much as he could in Teilon’s face.
“Hahaha, take that!” Reivyn taunted. Teilon came to a stop and shielded his face.
“Alright, alright!” He exclaimed. “I yield. You’re the big man in the water. Happy?”
“You know it,” Reivyn smirked.
Reivyn saw his father tip-toeing to the bank with his Divine Sense, but he didn’t react. Teilon did a good job of not giving it away, either, by not glancing at his sneaking dad. Reivyn mentally smirked as Refix abruptly launched himself in the air toward Reivyn. He calmly swiped his arms to dodge his falling father, but once Refix realized he wasn’t going to get the drop on his so, he turned his maneuver into another bomb like Teilon and sent a large splash into Reivyn’s face.
“Hah! Can’t dodge them all!” Teilon taunted.
“Uh, huh. You would know.”
Refix came up from beneath Reivyn and grabbed ahold of him. Reivyn and his dad started wrestling in the water, but neither one was being too serious about it. They were trying to get into position to dunk their opponent without resorting to full body grapples, showcasing more their Swimming Skill than Grappling. Reivyn had never specifically trained in Grappling, but with a mental switch viewing it as a weapon, he was immediately Skilled and understood exactly how to move.
He refrained from doing so, though. They were just having fun, though they each occasionally sent splashes toward each other when one would break away from a move.
Reivyn felt a tingling in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t quite place it. He wasn’t getting a ping from his Danger Sense, but there was something in the back of his mind calling to his attention. He stopped and held up a hand to Refix for a second.
“Wait, something’s off…” He looked around and tried to figure out what was bothering him. With a flash, it came to him. “I can’t sense Teilon anywhere!”
Reivyn began looking around for threats immediately, suspecting something had snuck up on them and abducted their friend while he was preoccupied with his father. He turned to Refix who was just floating there, looking at him with a strange expression on his face.
“What are you doing?” He asked. “Help me - Gah!”
Teilon lunged up from beneath the water, suddenly coming into focus in Reivyn’s Divine Sense, and wrapped his arms around Reivyn’s neck from behind. He pulled his torso back, dragging Reivyn along with him into the water.
After fully submerging Reivyn, Teilon released his grip and surfaced. Reivyn came up, spluttering, and heard Teilon and Refix both laughing.
“Hah! Gotcha!” Teilon taunted.
“Yeah, you did,” Reivyn said, wiping the water from his face. “How did you do that? You disappeared from my Divine Sense.”
“Well, I’ve had my Sneaking Skill at the Level 75 bottleneck for quite some time now,” Teilon said, treading water. “Our encounter with the bird gave me an epiphany. I realized that there was more than just sight and sound that I could hide from.
“I imagine the normal path for those upgrading their Sneaking Skill would be to mask their scent or something like that. I took a bit of a different direction with it, though. I’m not exactly sure how to explain it, but I used inspiration from my Class Skills that allow me to merge through solid matter, and I sort of merged my presence into the surroundings.
“It’s not really intuitive to explain, but that’s the best I can do.”
“Hmm, I think I actually understand,” Reivyn said, nodding his head. “That sounds like quite an advanced ability for the Skill.”
“Yeah. I have a feeling that it’s more than it seems, too. I can’t explain it, but I feel like I won’t have much of a bottleneck at 100. It’s sort of like an instinctual understanding. Wait a moment…” Teilon’s vision seemed to focus on something right in front of his face for a moment. “Oh wow! I got an Achievement for that!”
“Really? What is it?” Reivyn asked curiously.
“It says I unlocked a Transcendent Ability before reaching Level 100 in a Skill,” Teilon looked up at Reivyn and Refix in excitement. “The reward is that I have a permanent reduction in unlocking new Transcendent Abilities for that Skill! That’s kind of broken.” He smirked at Reivyn. “And hey, I finally managed to do something you haven’t been able to do!”
“Congratulations!” Reivyn said. “For real, that’s impressive. I didn’t even know that was possible.” He looked to Refix for confirmation.
“First I’ve ever heard of it,” Refix shrugged.
“It probably has something to do with negating your Divine Sense Skill. You did tell me it’s technically a Divine Skill, just not fueled with Divine Mana currently. Being able to bamboozle that Skill is probably an order of magnitude more difficult than overcoming another type of Perception or Detection Skill.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do it, either, if I didn’t have my very specific Class Skills, and I got the unlock for that Class from that time we fought the Spectres in the Undead Dungeon all those years ago.”
“Oh really? That’s what it was?” Reivyn asked.
“Yeah. You know how Class descriptions are. It didn’t come right out and say it, but it heavily implied it, and that’s basically the same thing.”
“Nice.”
The three men stopped fooling around trying to dunk each other and just relaxed in the water for a bit longer. It was a nice break from the tension of always being on the alert while in the Wilderness. The Honor Guard had split up to monitor both sides of the river, and Reivyn and the others would swap out with them for their turn in the water, too.
All in all, it was a pleasant evening and everyone felt recharged when it was over.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
—
Teilon led the way down the river the following morning. They woke up just before dawn and instructed the Honor Guard to move just a little ways ahead and to be on standby. They didn’t know what they were going to find, but if there was danger, it was prudent to already have everyone in position to flee in the same, correct direction.
Teilon, with his new Stealth Skill Level finally above 75 and the ability to phase through solid objects, was the optimal choice to be the scout. Reivyn had his Divine Sense and other Prodigy Skills, including his Clandestine Prodigy, but the combination of different sneaky Skills didn’t make his actual Sneak better than Teilons.
Teilon’s Perception Stat was lower than Reivyns by a little, but Divine Sense was still a relatively close range Skill and Teilon had higher Skill Levels for his Search and Detection Skills at a distance. He had been focusing his Skills around a Scout/Melee Damage Dealer hybrid after all. Not only were his abilities in this area slightly better than Reivyn’s, it made more sense for him to gain the practical experience.
Teilon left behind no trace of his passing and made such little noise that Reivyn could barely detect it with his Divine Sense. The foliage was pretty dense along the riverbank, and as they were investigating a phenomenon at the base of a waterfall, there was no reason to leave the concealment.
They crept along the river for several minutes until Teilon parted some leaves and held up a hand. He turned his head to look at the other Party members and subtly jerked his head to signal for the others to come up.
Refix was first in line so he could be in position to take the brunt of anything that came their way. Kimberly and Serilla followed close behind. Finally, Kefira, Ameliyn, and Reivyn, respectively, made their way to the edge of the cliff.
The sound of the waterfall was loud enough that it would most likely conceal any noise they were making, but there was no reason to take a chance. They continued to creep forward with as little noise as possible. They didn’t know if they were going to find a mysterious beast nest in a separate Space or not. From the journals, the thing could be anything from Tier 6 to Tier 7. Who knew what a Tier 7 beast could detect?
Reivyn peered over Kefira’s shoulder who was kneeling just in front of him. The sight before him was quite breathtaking. Even though the canopy blocked most of the morning light, it was still open above the small lake at the base of the cliff. There was no reflection of the sun in the water, but it was lit with beautiful clarity regardless.
The water from the river turned slightly frothy at the top of the cliff due to the presence of some large rocks, and it cascaded over the edge in a white torrent. Reivyn could picture the spray at the bottom where it landed in the lake giving off incandescent rainbow light once the sun rose high enough for the light to strike it just right.
The shore of the lake was gentle, unlike the sides of the river. It made access to the water easy for any wildlife that wanted to come for a sip of water. The height of the cliff meant they could see just over the tops of the closest trees. The forest they were traveling through wasn’t particularly large, but they couldn’t see far enough into the distance to see where it ended at their angle.
The green and brown of the trees was in contrast to the serene blue of the clear waters of the lake. Colorful birds could be seen flitting about occasionally from tree to tree, and Reivyn could even see woodland creatures like squirrels running about without a care in the world. Even in the Wilderness, the normal fauna that hadn’t turned into ferocious beasts lived normal lives.
All of that was the natural beauty of the environment, and Reivyn took it in at a glance. That wasn’t what arrested his attention, though. Just like Kefira had suspected, a portal resembling an entrance to a Dungeon floated silently over the center of the lake. The soft glow of Mana sustaining the portal radiated away from the break in Space.
The Party sat completely still as they observed the situation. If they didn’t know better, Reivyn would have absolutely assumed the portal was an undiscovered Dungeon located in a location it shouldn’t have been. With forewarning, though, they knew not to approach such an obvious derivation.
A deer wandered out from the trees to the edge of the lake, lowering its head to take a sip. Everything seemed normal and peaceful. The deer lapped at the water and seemed about to finish up and turn around to leave.
Reivyn sensed it through his Mana Skills in conjunction with his Divine Sense before he saw anything. From the way Kefira’s shoulders tensed, he guessed she knew something was up as well. They didn’t even have time to react to the forewarning before it happened.
Suddenly, a large, black tentacle zipped across from the portal toward the deer. It closed the distance in a fraction of a second. It was covered in wicked-looking barbs that seemed to ooze a dark substance that dripped down into the lake. Where it dripped, it quickly dispersed into the clear waters, but shortly after, dead fish began to float to the surface. They bobbed lifelessly in a line matching where the tentacle stretched over the water.
The deer didn’t react any differently than the Party members observing from the top of the cliff. The very tip of the tentacle opened up into a maw and enveloped the deer.
The creature obviously could have devoured the deer whole, but it deliberately didn’t do so. Wicked fangs completely covered the interior of the sudden abyss from the tentacle and crunched down on the deer. The deer started screaming in pain as it writhed in agony. From Reivyn’s perspective, he could see that the tentacle monster had deliberately avoided injuring any instantly fatal points on the deer’s body. It was almost like it enjoyed the torture it inflicted on the innocent prey.
They were too far away and too close to the waterfall to hear, but they could see the tentacle chew. The muscles on the tentacle convulsed in a way that it was obvious. It took its time as it slowly consumed the deer alive. Eventually the animal did die, but it was anything but fast.
The tentacle stopped chewing and started swaying back and forth along the coast of the lake. A bulge appeared at the base of the tentacle near the portal along the skin and quickly moved along the tendril to the end. Without being able to tell exactly how it happened, the bulge arrived where the maw had been, and now the break where the mouth had been was replaced by the ball.
It seemed to rotate, and then a line opened alongside the outer curvature. An eye blinked as it seemingly came into being. The pupil darted about left and right as the tentacle swayed from side to side.
A soft choking sound came from Reivyn’s left and he could see Kimberly attempting to repress a gag.
The tentacle suddenly jerked and whipped up vertically. Just as fast as it had traversed the radius of the lake, it was suddenly at an equal height as the Party watching from the cliff. It twisted about like a periscope and the eyeball zeroed in on the Party members.
Everyone collectively froze and held their breath. The tentacle didn’t immediately make any other moves. Reivyn didn’t know if it was because there wasn’t enough mass still within the portal for it to reach their position or if it was some other reason. He didn’t care. All he knew was that they were in a stalemate staring competition with a creature straight out of a nightmare.
Dozens of balls rushed up the tentacle from the portal. They randomly positioned themselves all along the tentacle beneath the first orb. The same rotation movement happened, and another couple of dozen eyeballs opened, staring directly at the Party members.
Reivyn could tell that the main focus of the first eye was straight at him. It wasn’t just the first, main eye, either. He could see it and feel it that 90% of the monster’s attention was focused solely on him.
His Divine Sense and Mana Skills warned him that something was brewing within the tentacle. He didn’t care what it was. He knew they had to get out of there now.
Acting completely on instinct, Reivyn dug deep within himself. He wrestled control of his Qi and once more flooded his body with the mysterious energy. He reached out with Mana tendril and wrapped all of his friends and family, binding them to him, and simultaneously launched himself into the air as powerfully as he could.
He and the rest of his Party rocketed into the sky. A bellow of rage with a visible soundwave erupted from a new maw formed on the side of the tentacle. Just like had happened when faced with the robed archer while on deployment in Vairo, Reivyn’s movements while flooded with Qi were exceptional. His perception of time slowed, and he could tell that he was moving at least as fast as the tentacle had before.
He had jumped straight up into the air, and with a brief glance of the expansive Wilderness around him, he quickly created a solid barrier at his feet with his Mana. The air solidified to as hard as stone, and he once more launched himself off of it, but this time he jumped in the direction the Honor Guard was waiting for them.
The landscape blurred below them, and he noticed that they quickly flew past where the Honor Guard were waiting. He hadn’t had time to gauge his own strength, and he ended up moving considerably farther than he had intended. Luckily the Honor Guard were paying attention, and even with the slowing of his perception of time, he could see that they noticed their passing.
Very quickly Reivyn’s horizontal momentum stalled and the Party descended toward the ground. He once again used his Mana to manipulate the Gravity around them to soften the blow of their fall. The time dilation resumed a normal speed once more.
“Urk!”
Teilon, Kimberly, and Kefira all three bent over and retched. Serilla looked pale, but Reivyn could see that she was mustering all of her willpower to resist the urge to vomit. Ameliyn looked a bit dizzy, but Refix seemed completely fine.
Reivyn sat down and panted. He checked his Status and saw that he had expended 60% of his Qi in those two actions. He knew one could suffer a backlash from using too much Mana at once, so it made sense to him that one would with Qi as well. He guessed they shared symptoms, though, because he could feel that he had a tolerance built up to it. If he had never experienced a Mana backlash before, he would probably be much worse off.
“What happened?!” Teilon asked, wiping his mouth and sitting up straight. “Wha- Wher- How?”
“I got us out of there,” Reivyn explained.
“Ugh, I hope to never experience something like that again.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Reivyn quirked an eyebrow at his friend. Teilon just tared mutely at him for several seconds.
“Wasn’t that bad?!” He finally yelled. “You moved us like three quarters of a mile in a second! I didn’t know you could move that fast. How much Mana did you have to use to reinforce your body to do that?”
“That was Qi,” Reivyn shook his head. “I only used Mana to bring you with me and make a platform to jump off.”
“Jeeze,” Teilon exclaimed, scratching the back of his head. “If I knew Qi could do something like that, I would have joined you in making some. Well, no I wouldn’t have. It was already too late for me. But, dang.”
“Anyway, the Honor Guard is catching up, so get up and get ready to move out,” Refix cut in. “The journals mentioned the thing didn’t seem to leave its lair, but that tentacle was also way bigger and scarier than I was anticipating.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Teilon muttered.
Teilon, Kimberly, and Kefira visibly mustered the strength to stand. Teilon and Kimberly helped each other, and Reivyn lent an arm for Kefira to steady herself. The Honor Guard came running through the woods, and after one look at Refix, they immediately setup their normal formation.
“Let’s go, go, go!” Refix commanded.