“Are you sure about this?” Jay asked.

“As sure as I can be,” Alan said.

They looked over the valley with the four-armed jadari giant. He was sat on his chair, warily looking around. Due to Alan’s efforts and some contributions by his new friends, the jadari were almost halved as far as numbers went.

The plan was simple – they would do what Jay and his group had started, but this time Alan and Jay would contribute to the killing. Culling the numbers before trying to tackle the big boss was a must. The four-tier ones would still get their much-desired levels and opportunities to fight though. Alan didn’t mind at all, since he was hopefully going to profit from their meeting.

All he wanted was rewards and to not get lost in another dragged-out adventure. The Dungeon was fun, but he was more interested in the new Sanctuary and the fact that they had a tier two. Seeing some more of Jay’s abilities was a must.

“We’ll all die,” Amir whispered, staring at the large boss in the middle of the valley.

“No risk, no reward,” Thomas countered.

Just as Alan had refused to share details of his skill set with them, so they had as well. However, it was pretty obvious the routes they were going; everyone was moving in a much more straightforward path compared to Alan himself. Plus, they constantly discussed strategies and skills among themselves, as if he didn’t have ears.

It all struck him as pretty naïve – something that the coming of the System should’ve long extinguished. Perhaps Jay had contributed too much to the prosperity of his Sanctuary, unlike Alan. Perhaps the man was a hero, although he hadn’t made it sound like that.

Alan silently shook his head. No one was a hero. If there were any, then they were long dead. He focused back on their group.

Thomas was the defender. What class allowed him to utilize his shield like that was unknown, but Alan was certain the man had tricks up his sleeve that didn’t end at wide barriers. He was constantly boasting about his ‘firepower’ and how they should let him go off at some point. Apparently, that left him out of commission for a while, so one was agreeing.

Amir was a fire mage with incredible range – at least higher than anything Alan could achieve in his current state. He had tried to go for a magical sniper sort of build, which was definitely interesting, if a bit weird for someone with such an explosive character.

Vlad was some sort of a spear user. He had held his own against an opponent many times his level. Granted it was a mindless dungeon monster, a remnant of a once thriving civilization according to the quest, but still… he was strong. It was obvious he had traded off versatility to focus on being the best with the spear. A simple, yet dangerous path. One trick ponies typically dominated until one learned how to counter them.

It was a high-risk, high-reward type of deal.

The last one was the ice mage, Kehlani. She was a strange one, which made her the second one after Jay to observe closer. Her kit focused on the element of ice, that much was obvious, but apart from icicles and an area of effect skill that had been mentioned a few times, all of her skills seemed to need a long period of preparation.

She had called them ‘rituals’, a few times. The word greatly interested Alan. He had not explored what the path had to offer apart from the first skill he had gotten. [Infuse Flesh] still remained unused and overlooked, but the implications of such skill were not something he could take lightly.

Alan had already changed his race once by falling too far down a certain path. Not that he regretted it. However, bodily changes were something he hadn’t thought of too in-depth before. Now, each step mattered even more to his future development.

The fight began without much warning. Amir sent a small but potent fireball at the boss just like he had before. The giant roared in anger as it burst harmlessly into his fur. It didn’t even singe it.

Alan wasn’t that hopeful about their chances, considering that last time he had won only due to the [Hateful Mist Cut] from his Tome, but trying was better than not trying. Even if he failed now, he could always come back and attempt when he was stronger. Just like he was planning to do with the Buried Blood Fields.

The remaining jadari rushed up the slope leading to the high ridge where they were located. Some of the [Screamers] followed closer this time, but they still kept at the back, opting to boost their own fighters rather than interfere with casting.

“Those super ugly ones can fuck with your mana if they get close. They buff and debuff with their screams,” Alan explained as he watched the four prepare to meet the first wave.

“You’ve fought them?” Jay asked from the side. The two of them were going to join in a bit later, after seeing how the situation developed. It was almost as if they were treating the others as baits or distractions.

“Yes. I’ve killed one.”

“Without mana?” Kehlani asked. She was close to them, and her focus was on her preparation. She was forming icicles that hovered next to her. Alan counted four, and she was working on a fifth now. It seemed that charging her skill ahead of time was a must, but it was an interesting aspect of it. Almost like loading a gun, before firing it.

He hadn’t noticed that before. The icicles trembled with the charged mana inside of them, and for a moment all else lost its meaning as Alan delved deep into the vibrations and tried to understand how the woman’s skill worked. It took only a few seconds before he was back in the real world.

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He cleared his throat. “You will have mana, but its response time will be slower. I don’t know how much it will affect you guys, but after a couple of debuffs, most of my skills took between four to six seconds to activate. It’s a large delay that can cost you your life if not taken into account.”

“I can work without mana,” Jay said from the side. Alan eyed him carefully. The miasma was fresh on his mind, and he couldn’t wait to see what it did. Poison fists? Ghost kung-fu?

“Then, if they go at us, we’ll count on you. While I can work around it it’s costly for me, and limits my abilities a lot.”

“At least tell us the elements you use, apart from shadows,” Amir barked from near the very opening of the cliff. He was sending the long-range fireballs at the boss every five seconds or so. They flew in straight lines, rather than arcs, which suggested that this was not the maximum range he was capable of.

“Shadow and void.”

“That’s edgy,” the fire mage smirked.

“What can I say? I like to stand out.”

“Incoming!” Thomas yelled out.

The first wave hit them in the next moment, stopping at Thomas’s shield. It was a lone jadari that had managed to climb up first, boosted by whatever buff the [Screamers] gave. Now that Alan was closer he saw how Thomas’ feet dug into the Earth. Rather than sinking, it was almost like they became one with it, making him solid and stable.

Alan had been offered something similar to this once, but he had dismissed it. [Solid Stance] sounded bad at the time. It was a fascinating sight the guy stopped a monster that had fifty or sixty levels on him without breaking a sweat.

If I have to guess… he’s stronger than I was at that level. Would I have been able to break through his barrier? Would he trash me in a duel if we were the same? Those were worrying thoughts. Alan was far from the thought that he was the strongest or the most special on Earth. He had been told quite a few times that newly integrated worlds were pushed to give birth to special things.

I need to work on my more direct skills. Curses and rituals are all fine, but they’re difficult to use. I can’t rely on the Tome and hide away until the [Hateful Mist Cut] is recharged either. It’s a path that will lead me to defeat.

[Void Pierce] was fine and dandy, but its weakness had quickly become apparent. It had no place in a high-paced fight unless Alan managed to trap his opponent with his shadowy chains.

A minute or so later, when another jadari managed to squeeze through the narrow path and push at the barrier too, Thomas started glowing. Alan focused on the flow of energy. It was easier to see it when he was up close, although the very presence of the jadari and their ore-covered limbs seemed to be interfering.

Thomas was taking some sort of energy from the Earth itself, making himself stronger and more stable. It was fascinating.

The first icicle went flying and skewered one of the panther people, piercing through a peck and flying into the distance. It was too clean of a cut. Alan shook his head. An explosion would’ve been much better, and he was sure the icicles were easier to manipulate than shadows. All it would take was an overload of mana.

The monster hissed but kept hammering at Thomas’ barrier without a care.

The first jadari that got through was an opportunistic one that jumped over the barrier and landed behind. Vlad instantly reacted, attacking with his spear and beginning a dance. Alan focused on him this time. The man was much slower and weaker than the jadari warrior at first glance, but something was allowing him to keep up.

Was it pure technique with the spear? If so, that was impressive. Alan focused closer and found himself astonished to see that the man’s speed and strength were slowly growing, like an avalanche picking up speed. If that continued he could reach the level of the jadari warrior he was facing!

That’s a broken skill when it comes to one-on-ones.

Amir was the only one apart from Jay and Alan who had yet to take action after the initial casts of his long-range fireball. That was curious, but Alan wasn’t about to ask anything.

All he saw before him were levels, and this time, they were not all for him. He had to be careful with the [Screamers].

He nodded to Jay, who nodded back. The two moved almost at the exact same time, ignoring the duel of Vlad with the panther, and leaving the ones that had reached Thomas’s barrier alone. The two of them vaulted over and dropped like wrecking balls through the ranks climbing the slope.

Alan’s limbs and body were shrouded in mana, turning him into an apparition bleeding darkness every step of the way. He used the shadows to make the soles of his boots sharper. Tendrils of darkness shot out of him to fix his balance and help him navigate the difficult terrain as he became a whirlwind of death.

It was a strange exercise, but it was enjoyable. His sloppy execution left a lot to be desired, but fighting Jay had made him rethink his use of [Shadow Creation]. Its potential was stunted only by Alan’s own lack of creativity, and he was going to fix that.

Many new ideas were rolling in his mind after observing the strange groups. They were very different than the people in his own Sanctuary.

Alan had chosen his daggers, shaping them into guillotine-like blades. He also infused them with his will and for a brief moment during his fall tried to capture that feeling of void permeating his being so often and infuse it in them as well. It was a rough attempt, like trying to push a hand through jagged nails. His attempt almost broke apart his [Shadow Creation] and made him stumble and fall on his back before the shadows propped him up.

The warriors among the ranks of the climbing jadari were not many, thankfully, and they were not given any chances to absorb skills. It had been more difficult to fight them in the caves, where they had space to utilize their speed and work together.

Most were those without any ore on their person – the easy kills. He took care of them quickly with shadow slashes, while utilizing [Void Step] and [Synaptic Failure] to the fullest to create opportunities where there were none.

He didn’t pay attention to Jay; there would be time for that later.

It was on the third warrior that he managed to kill that his mana went into disarray. His blades weren’t affected, but any further creations he wanted to do would be. His [Void Step] became sluggish, and his [Synaptic Failure] followed suit.

Thankfully he had almost reached the bottom, which presented another problem in itself. The giant was yet to move, but his four guards were worrying.

The feeling of his confused mana pathways lasted only for a moment and was weaker than the previous time. Alan knew the debuff was stackable though, so he couldn’t relax.

Just as he thought about that another debuff took effect.

And then a fireball hit him from the back.

The shadows let it through, making Alan turn sharply in surprise and try to throw himself to the side to dodge.

It was too late. The fire burst around him and covered him for the briefest of moments. Alan expected at least some pain, but there was none.

Only gentle warmth that made his mana flow better than ever.

He looked up and saw the smirking face of Amir.

That’s a useful ability…

Alan rushed the [Screamers] and laughed. His mana was churning like never before, moving smoothly and easily through him.

And mana was his life.