Caution let go of the crimson cube and staggered backwards against the cave's rocky wall. Every inch of his body burned which made his eczema seem cute by comparison. In excessive quantities, the mana was no longer a powerful weapon, but instead a destructive detriment. Proteins in the body distorted, and PH, temperature, and glucose levels fluctuated. He felt like throwing up, and the sickly feeling reminded him of the monstrous crimson gauntlets Manny had wielded.

He wheezed, too energised to curse in frustration and stared at the continuous stream of red bubbles that popped out of the cube.

"Are you okay?" Reuben asked.

Caution gasped. "Behind you."

A swarm of slimes and monster spiders leapt over Reuben and zoomed straight for the red bubbles. Lara was quick to pursue them but she abruptly skidded to a halt.

Frozen in shock, Team Victors watched silently, eyes wide.

At one corner of the cave, the remaining monsters congregated and glowed red as they consumed the dark energy. The monster spiders tore each other apart, grabbing and biting, while the green slimes did the complete opposite and fused with each other

Eventually, only two monsters remained.

The first was known as a blob which was an evolved version of the slime. It reached a height of seven metres and was shaped like a mountain. The second was a monster spider queen. It was twice as big as the typical monster spider and its body was dotted with multiple purple eyes. It had managed to eliminate all the other spider monsters and evolved in the process.

"Close it!" Astel yelled. The terror in his voice was unmistakable. "Close the energy store!"

Caution lunged for the crimson cube in the air. Close, close, close!

The cube vibrated a little. You know how the device works, it signalled. Meet the mana threshold required.

But I did... Caution shook his head, frowning. He had practised opening and closing the crimson cube multiple times so why wasn't it closing now?

"The longer the energy store is active the more mana is required to close it!" Astel boomed as if reading Caution's mind. "Hurry up!"

Caution tossed the cube to Lilly without hesitation as the two monsters advanced. "Close it. We'll deal with them."

"Why me?" Lilly shrieked. "You're going need back up."

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"You play with mana at least one hundred times a day. If there's anyone who can close it, it's you."

Astel released two arrows and they pierced through the floating trail of red bubbles, popping them all. He quickly muttered an incantation and a bunch of flaming arrows sunk into the glob's body.

It seemed to have little to no effect, but that wasn't what left a chill down Caution's spine.

It was Lara.

Whether it was sparring or monster hunting, Lara was always the first one to react but now she froze like a mannequin. Her eyes were glued to the spider queen. Caution opened his mouth to speak just as she gripped his shoulder. Slowly, she shook her head.

Her glare said everything he needed to know. Don't move. Don't talk.

Lara tightened her grip and Caution felt mana pouring out of his body which caused an overwhelming surge of relief. She had absorbed all of the excess mana in Caution's body. Her eyes glowed a deep muddy purple and even though she had not spoken an incantation, both her blades ignited into purple flames.

The spider queen crawled too slowly, its hairy legs making the tiniest of movements. Suddenly, it slingshotted upwards using a purple thread and swung over Caution and Lara. Before they could turn around, the spider queen's eight legs grabbed Reuben and its fangs dug deep into his neck. Lilly, who stood right behind him, recoiled in shock, almost dropping the crimson cube.

Lara spun twice and hurled one of the flaming purple daggers. It zoomed through the air and cut the spider queen's thorax in half. The monster fell on its back, motionless.

"What are you doing?" Lilly screeched. "Heal him!"

Reuben's body sprawled in an awkward position. A portion of his neck was missing. Blood gushed. The light in his eyes was already gone.

Yolga stared at his sister, tears welling. "I... I don't think..."

"Get down!" Caution roared. He tackled his brother and sister to the ground as a large chunk of green slime soared above their heads. Immediately, he sprung to his feet and exploded into a mad dash. He pulled Lara's purple flaming dagger out of the queen spider's thorax and dropped the short sword.

Meanwhile, Astel ran across the cave, evading a hailstorm of slime projectiles. He released multiple crackling arrows imbued with electricity and all of them found their target, buried deep into the Blob. Caution muttered an incantation, and a burst of air catapulted him near the cave's ceiling. With his free hand, he opened up the dashboard, switched to his inventory, and selected the health given to him by one of the creators. As soon as the item materialised, he pulled the cork off and shoved the vial in his mouth, biting on the glass.

He plummeted and plummeted until...

SPLASH!

Caution crashed through a large steaming, slime projectile. The acid burned his clothes and corroded his skin.

But it didn't matter. His momentum continued and his trajectory was perfect.

Using a firm grip, he swung the purple flaming dagger downwards and destroyed the monster in one swift motion, vertically slicing the blob in half.

Congratulations! You have levelled up.

Congratulations! You have levelled up.

Congratulations! You have levelled up.

Congratulations! You have levelled up.

Caution landed on two feet, bending his knees to reduce the impact. Without making eye contact with anyone, he walked towards Reuben and stared at the dead body. Losing track of time, he stared and stared and stared until Astel kicked him in the shin.

"Come on, let's go." He paused before sighing. "You should probably get used to corpses if you're participating in the game."