Dren stood there dumbfounded. Not only was this person at a ridiculously high level. They only had a class. No profession?

“Hello.” A smooth male voice spoke up as the figure turned their attention to them. Dren hesitated answering as he took their full appearance in. They were tall, over two meters wearing a set of dark purple robes with green accents. The purple was so dark they almost looked black in the fading afternoon light. Robes made it hard to get a feel for someone's build. But the man before them seemed a tad bit on the slender side. His shoulders weren’t overtly broad and he didn’t carry himself like some bruiser. But, again robes did make it hard to tell. His hair was buzzed short. Almost bald but he had enough stubble to tell it was dark in color. His eyes though were the oddest thing. They looked like dark cut gems speckled with flecks of violet and green light.

While Dren hesitated the man seemed to be giving him a look over in return. His eyebrows raised and a genuine smile appeared on his lips.

“Oh, another invader.” His tone was calm and casual. As if he had commented on the weather. “Not a bad level either. But too low to get experience.” They squinted a bit more then let out a small tsk. “You haven’t even finished your first kill quest either.”

Dren’s heart thudded in his chest. What did they mean by another invader? His Identify had clearly shown this man to be a native. Or did he have the ability to change what his identification showed as well?

“Tell me. Why were you allowed to come before the other invaders? The last one didn’t know. Are there more of you?” He grinned, his teeth white against his dusky skin as the gloom of night fell over them. “I need quite a few more invader kills for my own quest. But sadly, you won’t count if you haven’t at least finished your first quest.” They seemed to look past him as if thinking. “Yes. You should go kill some more people. How many more do you need to complete your quest? I could get them for you.” Their smile turned savage and their eyes turned hard while the flecks of light seemed to flash. “But just so you know. Once you complete the first part I will kill you.” His voice took on such a harsh savage tone that Dren felt a chill run up his spine. More so, his words made Dren realize this person really was a native. But how did he know so much about Dren?

Then just as quickly he was back to that genuine gentle smile and smooth friendly tone. “No, wait. That would be a waste. You would still be too low level. Besides, unless there are more of you around. It isn’t like my quest will complete any time soon. The rewards will be better if you are further along your quest path.” They tilted their head almost like Ren did when thinking and tapped their finger against their front teeth. “There is that town nearby. I bet I could round up enough people there for you to kill.” They shook their head a moment later. “But that sounds like a lot of trouble.” They glanced at the dungeon entrance. “My dungeon timer is almost up.” They muttered to themself momentarily before moving to bite their thumbnail. The act muffled their words so much Dren couldn’t make them out.

Suddenly they straightened. “Hmm, not good. Helping you wipe out that town leads to a bad path. I think. This… Grr so tangled.” They suddenly looked up at Dren, those flecks of light seeming to dance in his eyes. “Killing you now doesn’t seem to have any impact at all. No gains now or later.” Again they started chewing on their thumbnail while muttering. Dren could see their eyes moving left and right as if they were reading something rapidly. His eyes were moving so fast it caused the tiny fragments of light to streak.

“Yes. I’ll let you go. Like a gardener waiting for his crops to ripen.” They spoke around their thumb while staring off into space then frowned. “No. I can’t do that either. If I just let you go now. You don’t come back. You… Actually, avoid me. How aggravating.” He suddenly looked right at Dren. “Why won’t you try to kill me when you are worth killing? It is such a bother to hunt people down. I much rather them come to me.” His eyes seemed to glaze over. Despite everything Dren was torn. This person knew he was an invader. How he didn’t know nor did he care. They were a danger to him. But Dren didn’t feel comfortable fighting them. There was something strange about this person. Even beyond their lack of a profession or their high level. Something about them made Dren want to run. Yet, at the same time. He felt as if the moment he did. They would pounce. Like a predator whose sight was based on movement. It was only his stillness in this moment that allowed him to stay alive. Somehow Dren just knew that was the truth of the matter.

Their gaze focused again right on Dren. “I see. Motivation then.” Their tone sent a shiver of dread down Dren’s spine. Before he could draw his daggers or start to flee. They were just in front of him. The strange man’s robes popped loudly as if a great wind had rushed past him. Or perhaps form his own movement. They had been a blur as they ran towards him. Dren activated the enchantment on his boots in order to blink forward. With a faint pop, he vanished. Only to have the strange man appear in front of him with a pop of his robes. A hand closed around Dren’s throat and simply held him there.

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With a grunt of shock, he stabbed both daggers into the man’s arm. Yet, even his armor piercing dagger barely broke skin. Earning a tiny trickle of blood that welled up around the point. “Oh. You actually broke skin?” The man sounded shocked but not terribly worried. Dren pulled back and rapidly stabbed the arm in a frenzy. His heart thudded sending blood rushing through his veins. But the grip on his neck cut the flow off. He almost felt as if his neck bones were going to be crushed in that vise-like grip. When that go no response he attempted to use Assassin’s eyes and to his shock got no responses. Yet, he felt it was different from the living tree monsters. It wasn’t that this man had no weaknesses. Just that he had none Dren could currently exploit.

“Oh, a darkness debuff. That is new. I have something like that as well. Should I show you?” The man seemed to hesitate, his eyes going unfocused. “No. You will just die and I get nothing of value.” He tsked.

Unable to break the grip and his stabs seeming to do no real damage Dren raised up his legs to wrap around the arm holding him. He tried to use his full body strength to leverage the arm. Yet it was unmoving. ‘This guy is wearing robes like a caster but his speed, strength, and toughness are insane. What is he?’

A blur at his side caused Dren to remember that Ren was with him. A moment later though his hopes were dashed as the man’s other arm shot out. Ren squirmed dangling from his other hand, held by the throat in a similar manner. His eyes focused on her for the first time. “A prime reward? Interesting. One of a kind and… irreplaceable.” His face took on a smile Dren didn’t like. Giving up on breaking the grip Dren tried his last trick. Slamming both feet into the man's face he did no damage. But poured mana into his boots. It took a massive amount of mana, to the point his head was throbbing. But with a pop of displaced air, he vanished from the man’s grip.

“Oh. That is interesting.” His head tilted as he eyed Dren who was already rushing back in despite his eyes watering with pain. “I see. An enchantment. Very interesting. I haven’t seen any other enchanters. Why is that?” Dren closed in and began stabbing the arm holding the struggling Ren. Just as before he barely broke skin. Activating the armor piercing dagger’s ability it sucked out so much stamina that he collapsed to the ground. His vision fading and all for a slightly deeper scratch.

Finally, the man let out a chuckle. “I see. They made a mistake and when adding the guide profession it replaced Enchanter for us natives.”

They looked down at Dren even as he stumbled to his feet and tried to stab them in the neck. Then glanced at the dungeon. “My timer is up.” He smiled that same genuine smile. “I need to go. But here is your motivation.” Lightning coiled down his arm from his shoulder towards Ren. Twin bolts, one a sickly green the other a dark violet. Dren kicked him between the legs and he saw the man flinch. But more out of reflexes than any damage it seemed. Yet the attack continued and Dren heard Ren scream. Her voice was shrill yet it cut off almost instantly. Dren opened his mouth and spewed fire right into the man's face. Yet, all that did was get him a backhanded slap with enough force to send him crashing into a tree. The wood broke and started to topple over him. Yet Dren tore himself free to stare at the man who had dropped Ren to pat out the few flickering bits of flame on his robe. His face was perfectly unmarred.

“Don’t do that. You might have destroyed my robe.” Dren started to rush him again but Ren made a wet gurgle on the ground. Gulping down a mouthful of mana potion he blinked to her then away with her body cradled in his arms. The moment he appeared at the edge of the clearing he prepared to dodge or teleport. But the man wasn’t even looking at him. He was moving towards the dungeon entrance. “She has three days to live. They will not be pleasant days. Spend the time watching her suffer. Then go get stronger. Be sure to kill lots and lots of natives too. Then you may come to find me so I can kill you too.” His tone was smooth and cheery as he walked into the dungeon.

Dren’s heart was still pounding in his chest. Other than a sore neck and some bruises, he was fine. But looking down at Ren the same couldn’t be said about her. Her neck was badly bruised and worse the veins in her neck bulged seeming to flicker with that same sickly green and violet light. She wheezed and seemed unable to breathe. Checking her status he found she was down a few hundred health and bore a debuff called simply Motivation. It gave no information. Manifesting a healing potion from his mask’s storage he slowly fed it to the wheezing Aranea girl. She choked and coughed but seemed to get some of it down. Yet, her health didn’t go up at all. Not one single point. It hadn’t lowered yet. But she seemed to be in terrible pain.

Dren searched everything in his inventory and skills. But there was nothing he could find to help her. He even offered her some of the cooked food. But she at best could make a wet mewling noise of pain. As he watched a single health point drained from her pool. But her entire body seized with pain. Dren turned his gaze to the dungeon entrance with murder in his heart. But it would do no good. For a moment panic almost washed over him. Then a single phrase entered his mind. So clearly it cut through all his panic and fear.

“Just come see me when you need help, Dren.”