Levi opened his eyes and immediately noticed the notification.

Ding. Hidden Mechanic Cultivation Unlocked.

Parched Soul of the Sage has been reset.

Parched Soul of the Sage has been paused for 120 hours.

He was going to open his status page to see what had changed, but before he could, Joe yelled down at him.

"Can you move?" Joe asked.

"Uh, yeah, I think." Levi felt fine. Somehow, even better than he usually felt. He got to his feet easily, feeling lighter than normal.

"Then let's move." Joe took off at a jog.

Levi and Paige followed.

As they jogged behind Joe, Paige eyed Levi nervously. "Are you sure you're okay?'

"Yeah. I feel great, actually."

"What happened?" Paige pressed.

"I had some kind of breakthough with my meditation, with my core. I'll explain later. When we have time."

Paige just nodded. He seemed fine, but she wasn't that reassured.

When they reached the sparring pits, only Grace and David were waiting for them.

"You got everything you need?" Joe asked.

"Yeah. I'm ready." David said, anger wild in his eyes."

"I have that and more. A couple of charms that will help people."

"Paige, where is the group now?"

"Show me the group of raiders," Paige said to the crow that was shadowing her. After less than a minute, the crow's call was relayed.

Paige's eyes went white, and after a moment, she spoke, "They're still in the same place. It doesn't look like they are even planning on leaving soon. They are still eating and drinking. Laughing. The bald man with the beard is still lounging and bragging."

"That's good," Joe said. "That gives me the impression that those left at the camp were weaker, and none of them are important. Bearded man is definitely the real leader, which means he's one of the strongest, with maybe the exception of a couple he has under his control."

"Tell me everything you can about their gear."

Paige explained every detail she could see.

By the time Paige had given Joe every detail she could, almost everyone had assembled.

"Okay, so our priority is going to be getting the girls out alive, and we need to move fast."

"I have idea," Levi said.

Joe gave him a look. "Okay, but first, what was that shit earlier?"

Levi thought about how to explain it. "I had a breakthrough with the meditation. It was hairy, but I think I got an upgrade."

"You think you got an upgrade?" Joe demanded.

"Haven't had the chance to look. Too busy."

"Well, look now," Joe said.

Levi pulled up his status page screen and shook his head. "Doesn't show anything. But trust me, something definitely happened. I'll probably have to meditate to figure it out."

"Fuck that. You say you're okay, and somehow got an upgrade... I'll take your word for it. But don't start meditating and have another seizure. Now, what's your idea?"

"Paige said their camp is a little over an hour away, but they're taking their sweet time. There's a chance they aren't even trying to make it back tonight. There's also the chance they're hanging around to see what we'll do.

But they don't have any idea we know where the girls are.

So, let's send a small group to go take out the five there, free the girls, and then come back to support your assault on the main group. While you're waiting for us to hit them from behind, just keep them distracted, harrassed, and too busy to go back to the camp. But we need to move fast. Like, now."

"It sounds like you're volunteering for that mission," Joe said.

"I am. Me and Paige can move fast. We can leave now while you finish planning out strategy with the larger group."

"That's not enough. You're going to need at least one more..."

"I'll do it..." David said. He'd been listening in to everything. "I can move faster than you think and can sneak better than Levi. I can put one of them down with an arrow before they even know they're getting attacked. Let me go."

"What about the crows? We need Paige if we're going to use them," Joe argued.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"I can handle that part," Grace said, joining the conversation.

"What? You can talk to crows now?" Joe asked, skeptically.

"Not the way Paige does, and only with the one but..." a crow fluttered down and landed on Grace's shoulder. "A witch without a familiar would be an odd thing, wouldn't it."

"Sorry miss, we're still friends and all, but Mistress Grace here offered me a good deal. An exclusive contract, if you will," the crow cawed at Paige.

Paige just shrugged.

Joe nodded. "Okay then. Then you three for the rescue mission, while the rest are on the main attack. But I'm going to need you in the fight. So we need an escort you can pass the girls on to that can get them back here, safe." Joe looked over his shoulder. "Gage and Caroline, come here."

Gage looked nervous. Caroline was resolute. She'd changed into her gear, primarily leather armor with daggers.

"Levi, Paige, and David are going to hit the main camp and get the girls back. They'll be moving fast, so I doubt you can keep up. But do either of you have any tracking skills?"

They both shook their heads.

"Shit."

Paige spoke up. "I can take care of that. I'll ask one of the crows to guide them."

"S-so what are we supposed to do?" Gage asked.

"Follow the crow. Meet them after they free the girls, and escort the girls back here to safety. Make sure you have plenty of health and stamina potions to use on Maddy's group. Think you can do that?"

Gage relaxed, "Yeah, I can do that."

"Feels like you're giving me a safe job on purpose," Caroline said with narrowed eyes.

"It's a job that needs to be done, and no offense, but I have no idea what you're capable of, so this is what I need you to do."

Caroline sighed. "I guess it may help them to see a familiar face, too."

"Okay then." Joe turned his gaze onto Paige, Levi, and David. "Paige, if something goes wrong, send a crow to relay to Grace. Now go, get those girls back. As soon as the rest of us are ready, we'll be hitting the main group."

----

Paige led the way through the woods. Their pace was fast, yet Paige's eyes seemed to keep them away from any low limbs or holes that could trip them. There was a little moonlight, but not enough that Levi could have safely kept the same pace without her lead.

They were silent, other than their footfalls, perserving their breath for the oxygen they needed to maintain their pace.

Levi was amazed at his body. He could definitely have ran faster without issue. It almost felt like Empowering Flow and Mental Boosting were activated on a very low level, but they weren't. His body just felt better. But his stats hadn't changed at all. Everything, down to the last number, was exactly the same.

Still, his body told him otherwise.

They ran for about 20 minutes before Paige came to a stop. "Have the escort meet us here, and show me the camp, again," Paige said looking up at her crow detail.

Crow calls went out in a wave, both toward the camp and back the way they'd came.

After a moment, Paige's eyes went white again, looking at the camp through the crows eyes. "Okay, looks like they're all alert and sitting close to the fire. I can get close without them noticing me. David, you just need to get close enough to loose arrows when I move. Levi... I don't know how you want to handle this, no way you can sneak close enough to hit them at the same time."

"How about this..." Levi suggested. "I just walk in and act stupid. Both of you will have a distraction to position yourselves a little closer. As soon as the first move is made, you two attack."

"That... actually sounds good," David commented. "I can shoot pretty fast. My first shot should be a kill shot, and even if my follow up shots aren't, I should be able to slow another one.

"My first blow should be lethal, that should only leave you dealing with three of them for a few seconds before me and David are able to take the pressure off of you," Paige added.

"Sounds good," Levi answered.

"Let's kill these fuckers and get Maddy back," David growled.

----

Levi had tucked his dagger beneath an arm bracer for fast access and made sure his stamina and mana were topped up before approaching the enemy camp.

He felt strangely calm as he walked into the camp. He expected his heart to be racing, but it wasn't. He was nervous, if not outright afraid, and was mentally aware of that fact, but he didn't feel afraid.

He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and called out a "Hey," to the enemies before they noticed him.

The five of them jumped to standing positions in alarm. Two of the men immediately drew their weapons, and the other three followed their example.

"Whoa, whoa," Levi said, raising his hands slightly higher. "I was just out here on a walk and saw the fire." He slowly walked closer while talking, trying to close the distance as much as possible without provoking their attack. "Who are you guys? I don't think I've ever seen you around here." Levi was about five yards away from the closest one, now. He had to trust David and Paige were in position.

"Hey, stop right-"

Levi cut the man off. Triggering Empowering Flow, Mental Boosting, and Mana Skin, Levi sprung at the man who'd spoken.

Levi's body moved fast, faster than it had before. Striking the man in the chest with the intention of crushing the man's heart, Levi found his fist had punched straight through the man's leather armor and into his chest cavity.

As Levi's fist exited, the blood flew from his Mana Skin, not even sticking to his fist or clothing. Levi hesitated a moment, both astonished and horrified, but quickly refocused.

Pulling his dagger from beneath his bracer, he flung it at another man. It entered that man's throat, blowing through it completely, and sticking deep in a tree behind him.

Levi was aware of Paige as she struck one man from behind, swiping him twice in the throat with Cat-Claws and nearly taking the man's head off in the attack. Another man fell to an arrow David put in his eye, buried so deep the fletching was all that stuck out of the socket.

Levi pivoted on the third man, about to attack, when the bandit dropped his weapon and raised his hands in surrender. From the corner of his eye, Levi saw David loose an arrow at the man, and barely managed to raise a Mana Shield to stop it. David loosed another at the man before realizing it was Levi who was stopping him.

"Why?" Was all David snarled.

"He's surrendering," Levi said.

"He deserves to die," David argued.

"And I agree with that, but if he's surrendering, we can get information."

David tensed like he was almost ready to fight Levi over the issue, but then Paige broke in, getting David's attention.

"Help me with the girls, David. We need to get them healed up enough to walk."

The girls were all laid out, tied and gagged. Most were beaten unconscious, with only Maddy awake. Her eyes were almost swollen shut, but she still glared out of them.

As Paige and David tended to them, Levi tied the bandit up to a tree. Levi didn't bother asking the man anything for the time being, and the man didn't seem inclined to offer any information, either.

Levi retrieved his dagger and looked around at the four bandits they'd taken out in less than 2 seconds. It had been easy. Too easy.

Pulling up his notifications, Levi realized why.

You have slain Thug Level 5. 900 experience gained.

You have slain Thief Level 4. 700 experienced gained.

They were weak. The level gap wasn't much as far as numbers were concerned, but the first few levels were easy to get. The next five or six levels had taken Levi a month to gain.

And both David and Paige had dealt similarly devasting blows with their attacks.

Yet Levi had seen how easily the bald, bearded man had killed the young dual wielder back in the safezone.

Even if they'd left their weakest men behind, it seemed like far too large of a level gap.

At least they had someone to question to figure things out.