The heat of the morning sun beat down upon them as the group walked across the plains toward the jungle. After a brief discussion, it was decided that Leo would go at the front, ready to use Mana Barrier if something attacked them, while Leandra walked behind with Ethan.

Leandra would fire her arrows while Ethan would move away once they reached the jungle. He’d sneak through the underbrush and ambush whatever attacked them.

Leo held the staff tightly, and his eyes flitted around, trying to catch any movement before the monsters jumped them. His shoulders were tense, and he was sweating.

“Easy, Leo,” Ethan whispered from behind. “We’ve got this.”

“Yeah,” Leo took deep breaths and tried to calm his racing heart. “We’ve got this.”

The jungle enveloped them as the sounds of animals thrummed Leo’s eardrums. The cacophony sounded all the louder after their night within four walls. The humidity stuck to his skin, and he slapped his neck as he heard a buzzing in his ear.

His hand came back red, with a huge mosquito smeared on his palm.

“Urgh,” Leo grimaced and wiped his hand, shivering. “Nasty fucker!”

They walked for a little while in silence before Ethan left. He’d remain close enough to keep an eye on them but not so close that he’d be caught in an attack against them. He activated his new skill and seemed to blend into the shadows of the forest underbrush.

Leandra guided Leo from behind, whispering directions, and soon enough, they encountered their first prey.

A giant boar dug into the earth a dozen meters ahead and hadn’t noticed them yet.

Leo kneeled, allowing Leandra to shoot her bow above him, and after a few seconds, an arrow was loosed. It glimmered with a trail of white starlight as it traced an arc above Leo’s head and struck the boar in the flank.

It squealed and thrashed briefly before turning on them and charging.

Leo got a good look at the beast and saw its bloodshot eyes glaring at his kneeling form. He took a steadying breath and cast Mana Barrier at the last minute.

An immense amount of mana left his body as the boar slammed into the barrier, spreading cracks. The barrier held barely, and Ethan appeared next to the momentarily stunned creature and stabbed his swords into its chest and twisted.

With a gurgling squeal, the boar toppled over and collapsed.

[Your party has slain a Giant Boar. Experience awarded.]

[Mana Barrier has reached level 3.]

“Great,” Ethan whispered. “Now, what? Should we go after another one?”

“No,” Leo shook his head. “That thing is enormous. It’ll probably go bad before we can eat it, and I’m almost out of mana. That charge took almost everything I had. The barrier levelled up, though, so it’ll probably be better next time.”

“What?” Leandra frowned. “It took that much? But you’ve made them before without running out of mana.”

“Yeah,” Leo grimaced. “It drains mana based on the damage it takes, I think. Or, perhaps the charge would have broken through, but it drained more mana to reinforce it. It’s better to drain all my mana trying to defend me than to leave my mana alone but have the enemy on top of me. I’d be dead in seconds.”

“Oh, right,” Leandra frowned. “Well, anyway. You’re right. We should bring this back.”

“Or, we could butcher it here?” Leo asks. “Rather than drag a bloody carcass through the jungle and leave a trail, we take what we need and leave the rest for the other critters here.”

“Hm,” Ethan frowned. “Might be a good idea. I’m unsure how we’d carry this thing back, anyway.”

“True,” Leandra nodded. “Fine. Ethan, can I borrow a sword? I don’t have a knife.”

“Oh, yeah,” Ethan handed her his off-hand sword. “I’ll stand guard over here. Leo, keep your eye out and do what you can if something shows. A second’s delay could be enough.”

“You got it,” Leo nodded.

It took a while for Leandra to finish butchering the boar, but they weren’t interrupted and got on their way back toward the pyramid.

Leo looked behind and saw a dark shape move through the brush near the remaining carcass.

“Let’s go faster before it tries to take what we’ve got, too,” Leo muttered, and the others nodded. They picked up their pace and got back to the pyramid before midday.

“So,” Ethan mumbled through a mouthful of seared boar. “What now?”

“What do you mean?” Leo asked.

“With the rest of the day?” Ethan clarified after swallowing. “We’ve got food for a few days at least, so what do we do now?”

“Well,” Leo wiped his mouth. “We still need a reliable water source, but according to Leandra, we should be able to find that easily enough, right?”

“Yeah,” she muttered. “There’s a few ways to find water in this place, but we need to boil it. Lots of nasties in any water we find here.”

“Yeah,” Leo nodded. “We should get on that then. Probably should have thought about it while we were out there, to be fair.”

“Shouldn’t be long, though,” Leandra sighed. “Still, it leaves us with a lot of free time.”

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“Right,” Leo rubbed his chin. “Then we train. We fight and level up. Don’t forget; we need to get stronger to survive.”

“Yeah,” Leandra shook her head and looked away.

“We should also set off some time to process,” Leo said calmly. “Paul’s death still hangs heavily over us.”

“Yeah,” Ethan sighed and rubbed his hands, grimacing. “But how do we do that?”

“We talk,” Leo responded with a half-smile. “Leandra and I didn’t know him that well, but you did, right, Ethan? Just talking about him and remembering him might help.”

“Urgh, fine,” Ethan grumbled as Leandra looked away. “Water first, though.”

“Yeah,” Leo nodded and rose. “How about it, Leandra? You up for another trip?”

“Uh, sure,” she said as she also rose. Ethan followed after, and they left.

It took several hours for them to return to the pyramid since they figured out they needed a vessel to hold the water. Then, the issue was boiling it in the wooden vessel Ethan had carved from a thick branch.

“I’m not sure how doable this is,” Leo mumbled. “I mean-. Come to think of it, we’d need a tart or something, right? To keep the vapour, or steam or whatever?”

“Yeah,” Leandra frowned. “I don’t know.”

“Fuck it!” Ethan grumbled and raised the large wooden cup. He took a deep drink before any of the others could stop him. “I say we risk it. It’s either that or dehydration, right? What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Uhm,” Leo met Leandra’s worried gaze. “Dysentery, for one. Bacteria, viruses and parasites that may have become far worse after magic appeared, you know?”

Ethan’s eyes widened, and he glanced down at the cup in his hands. He put it down and groaned.

“Fuck,” Ethan lamented. “Well, I guess that’s it then. I’m done for.”

“Hold on, man,” Leo smirked. “Not necessarily. Let’s see how it goes. I’ll hold off on drinking for a bit. I’m curious how long I can go, actually. I should be parched already, right?”

“Huh,” Leandra frowned. “That’s right. We should have been desperate by now.”

“Anyway,” Leo said, smiling. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do for now. So, Ethan, wanna tell us a little about Paul?”

“Uhh,” Ethan grimaced and scratched his neck. “Fine. I guess.”

Ethan sat still, looking into the distance for a while, before he sighed and shook his head.

“Paul was one hell of a guy, you know,” he said. “He didn’t say much, but he was a damn good friend. He always saw the best in people, which is why he chose to be a Healer, I think. He wanted to help people. He wanted to trust people and build them up.”

Ethan smiled ruefully as he continued.

“My friends growing up were dicks,” he smirked. “Bullies and assholes, the lot of them, and Paul was one of their targets. He didn’t fight back or do anything. He just took it and went on with his day. I think it pissed them off. Still, he never treated me poorly. One day, we got talking, and I learned how good a guy he was. We spent some time together, hanging out, and I cut ties with my old crew. He saw the best in me, and he made me want to be better. He made me a better man simply by being my friend.”

They sat in silence for a while, each thinking of their respective memories of Paul.

Leo didn’t have a strong impression of the man, but he felt steady. The few scrapes they’d gotten while walking through the forest on the first day, Paul had healed without fuss. He’d always smiled when Leo looked at the team.

For Leandra, the recollections were more painful. She couldn’t move past that night.

“Paul, he-” Leandra hesitated, chewing her lip. “I-. I woke up with him in front of me. He’d jumped from his branch and stepped between me and the snake. I barely had time to react before the snake had attacked. I’m sorry. I’m useless.”

“No,” Leo shook his head. “You’re not. Paul made his choice. He sacrificed himself for you. So, now you’ve got to make it count for something. Stop wallowing in despair, Leandra. If you die now, then his sacrifice would have been in vain.”

“You know,” Ethan smirked. “I kinda figured he’d go out that way, somehow. He always thought everyone else was worth far more than himself.”

Leandra excused herself and stepped away from the group. Leo saw her walk to the edge of the pyramid’s top and sit down alone.

“Is she gonna be alright?” Leo asked Ethan.

“I don’t know,” the other man responded, shaking his head. “I think we’ve done all we can, though. She needs to figure out the rest on her own.”

They both looked at Leandra’s back for a few seconds before turning to each other.

“You know,” Ethan smiled. “You were right, somehow. Talking about him, remembering how he was when he was alive, helped. It still hurts like a bitch, but it’s duller, you know? Easier to distract myself from.”

“Yeah,” Leo smiled. “I know.”

Leo rose, walked over to the crystal, and touched it.

“Still cool to the touch,” Leo mused. “Even after the sun’s been beating down on it all day. How do I figure this thing out?”

Following a hunch, Leo activated his Mana Control skill and pushed. A tendril of mana flowed into the crystal, but nothing else happened.

“It’s something,” Leo thought. “Maybe I need to keep working on it? Or, I need to be level ten before it works.”

“What’s up?” Ethan asked as he approached.

“Uhm,” Leo frowned as he sent another tendril of mana into the crystal. “I'm Trying to figure this thing out. I got a quest from my Patron.”

“Ah,” Ethan nodded. “Gotcha. What do you need to do?”

“No idea,” Leo shook his head and sighed. “The quest reads, Reach level ten and draw from the Luminous Crystal. I’m just trying to figure out if I can do that part before level ten or if I must wait.”

“Alright,” Ethan rubbed his chin. “What have you tried so far?”

“Well,” Leo shrugged. “I’ve tried to pull from it, but I have no idea how. I’ve only experienced using mana. So, I tried to push mana into it, but nothing happened.”

“Huh,” Ethan frowned. “Well, how about you use your mana to grab whatever is in there?”

Leo blinked before turning to the crystal. He placed his hand on it again and pushed some mana into it. This time, he didn’t let go but strained to remain in control of the mana as he tried to shape it, envelop some of the light mana within the crystal, and pulled it back.

“Gah!” Leo exclaimed as his arm lit up from the inside. The light burned in his veins as it travelled through his body, and Leo fell to his knees.

After a few seconds, he saw his health bar remained full, but another bar had appeared beneath his mana bar. A golden-white bar that was filled by a tiny fraction.

Ethan grabbed his shoulder and looked worried.

“Leo!” he said. “You okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” Leo sighed. “Just caught off-guard. I didn’t lose any health.”

“Oh, good,” Ethan breathed. “So, it worked?”

“Oh, yeah,” Leo grinned. “I’m going to keep going. Uhm, do you need any help with anything of yours?”

“Nah,” Ethan smiled and shook his head before walking toward the stairs. “All I need to do is walk in the shadows for a while, I think.”

“Alright,” Lei said as he turned back to the crystal. “Good luck.”

Ethan nodded and walked away while Leo drew more light mana.