The camping is not without incident. Mainly, the requirement of guards is a lot. We are holed up against a cul-de-sac that is present fairly close to the entrance of the 26th level, but the monsters of this floor is as nasty as the surrounding ones.

They look like short, stubby amphibian men, but issue with them is their arms. They are very long and stretch even further, delivering devastating whip-like blows from pretty far away. All others I have seen, trying to brace against their strike have been knocked off balance or had their shield knocked out of the way.

They have been dealt this thus far by our ranged-attack squad leaders, whether they specialize in magic like Yorgar or darts like Nimor. Others have used other, devastating throwing weapons, too. But unlike my previous dungeon experience, the front lines carry none. The reason is, that the shield wall and focusing on defense is of much greater importance, when a single gap can instantly cost someone their life.

I volunteer for night watch duty, stating I can easily go a few days without sleep, so I can be on all three teams, but there is much hassle about arranging the rest of the members… They really should have figured this out before we came here.

The trouble is that few are willing to take the latest watch. Apparently slain monsters reappear in the dungeons early in the morning. That’s a little funny. It makes me think of how my power also triggers early in the morning, but perhaps it is just a coincidence.

The first group serving to watch includes Yorgar and Derby. It is nice to chat a little, but I am constantly reminded to stay vigilant. A few hours pass without incident.

The next group include Arin. He doesn’t talk, but I end up talking to him while he replies with short noises and facial expressions. It is kind of surreal, like talking to an animatronic toy or something. Another few hours pass without seeing a monster.

The last group has Nimor in it. He complains about getting the most annoying part, where monsters are most likely to attack, but it is quickly forgotten. Suddenly, in our talk, I feel my power activating. It gives me an ominous premonition, so I focus and cast read.

I have been casting read throughout the night with no responses other than from my back, but now, signals are being bounced back from all over the place. Some close, others far away. Guess it is synched with my gift. Has God in this world determined exactly when a day starts?

“Why so tense all of a sudden?” Nimor asks me.

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“I picked up signals using read. One is relatively close.” In response, he dons a grim face and readies his throwing stick.

Suddenly it appears, and a moment later, a loud slam sounds from my left side and a guy further down the line has been knocked down.

“Take this!” Nimor shouts, as he starts launching his darts. The monster is at least some 50 feet away from us. We had set up the dense close to an intersection, but the monster appeared from directly across, so it could unfortunately still utilize its range.

Two more whip-like strikes on shields later, five darts have imbedded themselves into the monster and it finally collapses.

A guy lowers his shield with a “I seriously hate fight-“

“PUT THAT BACK UP” I yell, as I have identified another two, but too late. The guy who was too quickly to relax has his face crushed moments after. I feel a little panic, but apparently the other guys here are more veteran. They ignore the freshly made corpse, and form up to cover his gap.

But there is two of them and they will die too slowly, since we only have one ranged attacker. If they decide to attack twice on someone, that someone is likely dead. So I gather bestowal in all my limbs and rush forward.

“Stop!” “The hell?” I hear from behind me as I dash through with an honestly incredible level of speed. I have not gone full out with bestowal since my resurrection, and I am quickly feeling it is a mistake.

I can scarcely react to the whip-like strike, but for a few moments, my movement is even more extreme than that. I fly directly into one of the monsters, sword first, and drag it along with me for at least another 100 feet before I manage to stop myself. I turn around, and the other monster does the same, but by its flanked nature, it quickly becomes annoyed by the dart hitting its back and it turns around once again, which I seize to dash in, this time without bestowal and finish it off.

As I return, Nimor runs up to me and meets me in the middle “Yos, for God’s sake, what the hell was that and what were you thinking?” I feel bad for breaking ranks, but I feel the need to defend myself.

“I had a bad feeling and took action… And it worked out, didn’t it?”

“It did, but… If you do that in a larger formation, there will be hell to pay. Also, you didn’t answer as to what the hell that was.”

I already have super-impressive strength, but that feat was clearly inhuman. I make up some vacant bullshit.

“It was my special bestowal technique, granting me enormous strength for a split-second. It takes up a whole lot of mana though”

“I see” Nimor has a hard time retorting. He doesn’t have a gift and is human, thus can’t use magic.

As we return to the rest of the group, they are already looting the corpse, whose head they have covered with a cloth to spare themselves from the gruesome sight.

“Oy you, that was sick. Also, your equipment is looking a little shitty, so why don’t you borrow this guy’s? I don’t think he needs it anymore” one of them says and laughs. I find it very inappropriate, but he makes a utilitarian point. I seize the sword, whose blue glow and sharp edge reveals its azurite origins, alongside a shield, although dented by the happenings of this morning and yesterday, is still in much better shape than my own old one. Soon, the camp awakens, having received its first casualty while it slept.