"You've got three seconds to drop that bow, mate, or you'll cook like a fecking kebab."

Getting hit by fire spells historically didn't feel great, but it also didn't hurt Mason much. And Nassau desperately needed ranged players and mages. It was time to think like Blake a little. Maybe he could recruit them...

Mason sighed and put down his bow. "We're not here to hurt you. We're here for the tree. So just...relax. And we'll all be fine."

"You're glowing fucking red with player kills, mate. So no. I won't be relaxing. Why don't you just bugger off. Wait, no, stay where I can see you!"

Apparently this guy could see Mason's aura like a civilian. Did that mean some kind of identification power? That made him even more useful. But it was also something of a problem.

Streak came snarling out of the bush, and that didn't help much.

"What the fuck!" The fire wizard looked back and forth between Mason and the wolf with his hands outstretched. The little Asian girl was coming up behind him now carrying what looked like…a cooking wok?

"Streak. Sit." Mason commanded, and the wolf whined and licked its lips but sat on its haunches. Then Phuong and Alex stepped out behind Mason, and Mr. Fire Wizard looked like he might go cross eyed.

"Stay back! Fecking all of ya, or I swear I'll..."

"Oh just shoot me," Mason said, and the fire wizard crooked his head and looked back and forth.

"What's that you say now?"

"Your fire spell. Whatever it is. Just…hit me with it. Then maybe we can talk."

"Are you…out of your fecking mind, then?" said the wizard, his voice slightly rising in pitch.

"Probably. Just do it. I won't move. OK? Then that'll be out of the way and we can talk like gentlemen. So go on now."

"I'll fecking do it!" The guy was practically vibrating now and Mason sighed. The little Asian girl was at her ally's side whispering, but Mason’s ever enhancing senses let him hear her.

"Let's just run,” she said. “Come on let's just get Mac and go. We can't do this anyway."

Mason decided to expedite things, and pretended to reach for his bow. Mr. Firemage loosed his spell.

Everyone seemed to cry out in something like protest. Then a cluster of fiery projectiles shot out and raced straight at Mason's chest.

[Apex Predator activated: Elemental Affinity]

[Title activated: First Blood]

As promised, Mason didn't try to move. He knew his resistances would kick in, and his vitality was starting to feel fairly ridiculous…

The fiery missiles slammed into him with the force of thrown baseballs, sizzling and lighting his shirt on fire. He ripped it off and tossed it to the ground, inspecting the slightly charred marks of skin along with everyone else.

Frankly he hadn't really felt the heat much. Though his flesh did feel a little tender. He flicked off some burnt hair and cleared his throat.

"OK." He kept his tone positive and slung his bow back around his neck. "I assume that settles that. I'm Mason. This here is Phuong, Alex, and Streak." He gestured to each in turn. "We've got a settlement a few days away, and we're always looking for new recruits."

Mr. Firemage—who he was pretty sure was Irish—and the cooking utensil-wielding healer, both stared long and hard at Mason's chest. The Irishman finally sniffed and pinched his nostrils, then his aura faded and he came forward with his hand out.

"I'm Seamus. That there's Mai and Mac. Sorry about the spell and all. It's lovely to meet you. I hear it's harder to kill a man when you know his name. So. Again, that's Seamus. I've got two kids as well. And a dog. I like dogs. Good doggy." He looked at Streak and smiled awkwardly.

Mason took his hand, and grinned.

* * *

After the formal introductions, Mason and Alex took a look at the injured Mac.

"We went into the dungeon there," explained Seamus. "Little green men the game calls goblins like a fooking fantasy movie. They stabbed him, like. Which don't hurt a man like him much. But we think there's some kind of poison."

Mason sniffed the wound and definitely detected something, but actually it seemed quite shallow. Mac was a big man with a lot of fat and muscle, and the blade certainly hadn't cut anything vital. As they inspected him he blinked awake and practically tossed Alex into the tree.

"Who the fuck are you?" He tried to stand but failed, which is when Mason began to realize he'd been cut several times. Though they all looked equally shallow.

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Seamus explained the situation, and the big man soon quieted and slumped back down.

"Ock, I feel like shite." He put a hand to his pale face and dry heaved.

"Mai here can heal but she says this place somehow interferes," said Seamus. "Dunno if that makes any sense to ya."

"Give it a try, Alex," Mason gestured, and the Belarussian's eyes glazed for a moment before he touched the big man's chest. It was clear it did...something.

"Oh Christ that feels good." Mac's eyes practically rolled back, and his color looked instantly a little better. "Thank you, sir, thank you very much."

Mason frowned, and Mai looked a little annoyed and a little embarrassed. "I don't know anything, but if I had to guess I'd say it's something to do with affinity. This 'game' seems to use that for a lot of things."

She nodded, and Seamus clapped a hand on the big man's shoulder and seemed to relax. "Whatever the reason, we owe ya." Then he met Mai's eyes and looked at Mason. "You said something about...being here for the tree? Us too. Maybe we could...join forces, so to speak."

"I doubt we can all enter," Mason said. "Dungeons are usually built for four."

"Oh." Seamus slumped a little, then squinted. "Wait, no! I think it said six. Didn't it, Mai? It recommended six when we went in."

Mason got a little more hopeful at that. Though it likely meant the dungeon was rather nasty, and these people didn't seem wildly powerful. He decided to just walk up and touch the tree with his palm. The prompt came instantly.

[Would you like enter dungeon: Great Plains Tree? Note: it is recommended you bring 5-6 players.]

"So it is," Mason said, then frowned as he looked at the group. If they took all three of these people, it meant Streak couldn't enter. "Mac—you up for this? I don't want to delay."

"Not sure," said the big man, still swallowing back spit as he leaned against the tree. "I'm supposed to take punishment, but with all that poison...not sure I can do it, being honest. I might be useless."

Mason nodded, his problem maybe solved. "Alright, Seamus. Well we're going in right now. If you and Mai want to come along, you're welcome. I'd bring you all if I could, but I don't think it's an option. Is there a safe place nearby Mac can go?"

Seamus failed to hide his excitement. He turned back to his friends and they spoke quietly for a minute, while Mason tried not to listen in. But he got the gist.

"He's going to wait here," Seamus announced. "Mai and I would like to come along, if that's alright. I'm the one with the objective anyway."

"OK then." Mason looked back to Phuong and Alex. "We ready?" The men nodded, and Mason called for Streak then walked to the tree. He hoped maybe if he held the wolf he could make it work. "Alright. Everyone touch the tree." They did, and Mason checked the prompt.

[Player group detected: five players, one unbonded pet. Would you like to enter together?]

Unbonded pet? Whatever the hell that meant. But at least it seemed to work this time, and though Mason wondered idly if they could still take Mac too, he just accepted the prompt instead. His vision faded in the now familiarly unpleasant feeling of being teleported, and everything went black.

* * *

Mason instinctively summoned his Claw as the dim, cluttered first room of the dungeon appeared. Just as with the first Great Tree, the place seemed carved out of the trunk, with gnarled wooden walls and floors, with a low ceiling just above Mason's head.

One by one the other players materialized by Mason's side, Phuong coming last and instantly forming his own blade when he saw Mason's out. But there wasn't much in the room save for a door ahead, a few barrels to one side.

"Nothing but water in those," Seamus gestured, then blinked. "Wait. Oh shit. There should be a dead goblin here and a lot of blood. It's all gone. How'd they clean it all up so fast?"

Mason frowned, expecting the place had somehow 'reset' like the damn game it was. "Let's assume whatever you did before doesn't count," he said. "But it might not have changed. What's through the door?"

Mai swore and Seamus shook his head, looking a little defeated. "A big room and a bunch of goblins. Maybe six, with some kind of jackal creatures as guard dogs. Bloody hell of a fight. Such a damn waste."

Mason nodded. "Room for my bow, or should I just go in with swords?"

"Not likely." Seamus shrugged. "They were on us quick. Hence the condition of poor old Mac out there."

"Alright then. Phuong, Streak and I will charge in swinging. Seamus and Mai—you have any powers I should know about and work around?"

Seamus shrugged. "Mai's tougher than she looks. She can go in with you and start whacking things. I'll pretty much just blast whatever I can."

Interesting, Mason thought. He hadn't seen a healer who could get in and mix it up. But then he supposed he'd hardly seen anything when it came to other players.

He summoned his other Claw and took a steadying breath, clearing his mind for the intensity to come. "Streak and I'll go left," he said to Phuong, and the older man nodded. Then he gently pushed open the swinging door, taking in the room as quickly as he could.

Seamus was right. There were at least five and maybe more goblins in something like a dining hall. Two long tables ran across it, a few more doors at the end, the creatures sitting on benches playing with some kind of bones, or wandering the room.

Mason touched the door to camouflage, turned to his left and charged.

He leapt over the bench to get to open ground as he raced straight at the goblins. They were up instantly as if expecting danger, shouting and drawing long knives, bucklers and short spears. But the closest to Mason didn't move fast enough.

It looked up with wide eyes, knife in hand as Mason cut through its lower jaw and most of its neck and spine in one Predator's Strike.

He ran right past, cutting off the hand of his next target with his curved Claw before deflecting a spear strike with his Sleeves. Then Streak was on his attacker, ripping the goblin from its feet with jaws clamped firmly on its arm, thrashing it on the ground.

From the other side of the room, Mason heard Phuong's now familiar sizzling energy blast, then heard flesh and bone getting hacked apart as goblins shrieked in panic.

Apparently there was a staircase on Mason's side. More goblins came running up from the floor with curved knives in hand, and Mason activated his often neglected Shield gem, then plowed straight into them.

They bowled down the stairs in a line, totally unable to withstand Mason’s weight and speed. Then he deactivated it and followed down chopping, taking limbs and opening torsos with three, four, five unanswered blows.

He turned and dropped traps on the stairs as he ran back to the main room, only to find Streak, Phuong, and Mai smashing targets down with brutal efficiency.

A final goblin in a dark cloak leapt from behind a kind of tapestry at Phuong's back, where he stopped instantly and struck a blue shield, then stared in confusion for a moment before fiery projectiles knocked him flying into the wall, where he promptly lit on fire and lay still.

"That's what's supposed to happen!" Seamus yelled, marching into the room with fiery eyes and a grin.

"Any more?" Phuong called, after a nod of thanks to Alex.

Mason's trap exploded, and two creatures screamed and clearly fell at the bottom of the stairs.

"Nope. Think that's it," Mason grinned.

"Apparently..." Seamus's magic faded as he looked around the room. "That fight…wasn't as hard as I suggested."

"Don't get cocky," Mason said, checking the corpses for anything useful one by one, then moving towards the new doors. "It was just the first room. The last tree finished with a chimaera."

Seamus nodded with a grave expression, then Mason heard him whisper to Phuong. "Hey, uh, what the hell’s a chimaera?"