The party prepared to run for the city while fighting the Tarantulas and other monsters as they went. They set up their Retreat formation and ran. Gaia was on Malachite’s back with Shadow beside them. Fergus was in the middle and Griff up front leading the charge. They were running for about a minute before the Tarantulas caught up with them. When they came into view Malachite and Liv started firing their water and poison shots while Fergus fired arrows as he ran. Griff fired a Mana Shot every now and then as he focused on what was ahead of them.

Gaia was using her vines to lash out at any monsters that got close enough since her webs didn’t do anything. She was slowly stacking her bleed condition on them all, but they didn’t slow down. They continued to charge and fire webs at the party. They were able to dodge all of them but barely. Fergus was almost firing blindly behind him trying to hit the monsters, luckily his Archery ability allowed him to land most of the shots even without looking. The other reason was that there were enough monsters he almost couldn’t miss. Gaia used her Mana Influence to cover the party and tried to figure out how many monsters there were around them.

She could feel the monsters within but couldn’t tell what they were from the indication. It felt similar to a radar in that she could tell where they were but not what the creatures were without knowing what they were fighting. The feeling she got was like a small flame where she felt the monsters. Her poison wouldn’t work on them as they seemed immune to it, but her power made her allies resistant to poison as well. This also allowed her to use her vines more easily since she could now tell where the monsters were outside of sound.

Shadow was running beside Malachite and was clawing or biting the monsters as they encroached on the party. Griff was slugging the monsters when they got to him driving them off for a moment only for them to return. Liv and Malachite were still firing their magic while Malachite was ramming the monsters that got close enough. Gaia was perched on his shell whipping her barbed vines around like four different whips. Every sweep causing a monster to bleed. Fergus was firing arrows all around trying to help as they continued towards the city. He even had to use his Arrow Stab skill to kill one that got too close. He was almost to the point of pulling his short sword and slashing with it while clubbing monsters with his bow.

They ran for about half an hour while battling the monsters. They had managed to kill around ten which was already double the requests number but were still hounded by many more giant Tarantulas. They’d discovered some of the ones that were around them were high level normal rank variants too. This meant it was a massive nest and likely had a bronze rank matriarch. Thankfully, it seemed the Matriarch hadn’t chased after them.

They were approaching the city walls when Gaia heard arrows whizzing in their direction. Griff yelled for them to continue running and everyone did. The arrows landed hitting the monsters with a few hitting Gaia and Shadow since they were in the back. This let Griff and Fergus focus on the ones surrounding them and they slowed to fight the monsters with the assistance of the city’s archers.

Around another fifteen minutes of battle passed before the monsters were either dead or had retreated. Most of the monsters that died were the normal rank ones that didn’t have much intelligence and raced to attack the party while the stone ranks retreated after realizing the arrows were launching in much higher numbers. By the end, Gaia had arrows sticking from her in a few spots since she couldn’t dodge all of them as they didn’t show in her Mana Influence like the monsters or magic did. Fergus was further back and wasn’t in range for the arrows to hit him as he was firing arrows himself, and Griff was quick enough to dodge them.

Shadow had been switching between being physical or incorporeal to dodge attacks and the arrows. There was a lot of blood littering the ground around and covering Gaia due to her bleeding the monsters. Griff and Fergus went over and extracted the arrows from Gaia as she healed herself. The monsters were dead, and they started towards the city gate where a guard stopped and started yelling at them.

“What the hell did y’all think you were doing? You nearly brought a horde of monsters into the city!” He yelled.

“We were on a request to kill a small nest of stone rank Tarantulas. Then we killed one when that horde started chasing and attacking us. What did you expect us to do? Die?” Griff screamed back at the guard.

“You should have run away from the city until you lost them!” He cried back.

“So, you wanted us to run further into the forest, which is full of monsters, during the Mana Torrent?” Fergus asked.

“W-well, yeah. You would have been fine.” The guard replied hesitantly.

“We’ll, that does it. I’m gonna go in and talk to the Hunter’s League about a request's misinformation for the second time today, then explain to them that the gate guard suggested we run into the forest instead of trying to survive.” Fergus stated as he started walking into the city.

The party walked past the guard, whose mouth was agape and entered the city. They quickly made their way to the League building. Gaia once again sat outside and worked on adjusting to the noise. It was much easier now. During the retreat all the monsters' screeches and noises hurt her ears, but she adjusted to it. She was almost at the point where she felt she could go inside without a problem.

The guys went in with Liv on Fergus’ head. They went straight to the reception desk on the ground floor. There they saw Freya who they waited for, while she finished helping another party. When she finished, she came over to them and noticed the exhausted looks they had.

“What happened?” Freya asked them.

“Well, first off, the request for the Tarantula nest was not accurate. We killed one near it and were swarmed by around fifty or more as we ran back to the city. Not all were stone rank but at least ten or twenty were.” Griff explained.

“Oh no. Are you all ok? Where’s Gaia?” She asked worriedly.

“We’re fine, thankfully. Gaia’s outside trying to get used to a new ability. The second part is that we ran towards the city where we knew there were archers that could help us kill the horde that surrounded us. Then a guard stopped us and yelled at us saying we should have run further into the forest and tried to lose the monsters before coming back.” Fergus explained.

“I understand why you’re annoyed then. I’ll let the captain know. As for the request, I’m sorry, we had a trustworthy person scout it out, so my best guess is the nest was small but close to a newer larger one. You said around fifty or more, right?” She asked.

“Yeah. It seemed like there may be a bronze rank matriarch since the stone rank tarantulas retreated when they were injured and out in the open by the archers.” Griff added.

“That’s worrisome. I’ll send someone out to do a more thorough search. My best guess is the larger nest was just outside the range for them to search around. We’ll instruct everyone to do a wider survey when they check now. I’m sorry for the trouble today.” Freya said apologetically.

“We know it’s not your fault. We just wanted to let you know since it’s happened twice now.” Griff replied sadly.

“Thanks. I’m just glad you didn’t just yell at me for it. A lot of parties do that.”

“We’d never do that. We trust you, especially Gaia.” Fergus stated.

Freya smiled at that and gave them their reward for the troll request, which was now about fifty stone cores, for the Skull Shelled Tarantula request they’d need to redo the reward like the last, so they’d get it the next morning. The guys thanked her as they left for the day. They met up with Gaia as they left the League and made their way to the shops. They got their equipment repaired and split up the reward as they went back to the inn for dinner.

Titania met up with them and the two parties had a nice dinner together. They told each other about their days. Titania’s party Flora was worried when they heard about the request's abnormalities but were just happy to see their friends and family back safe. They all talked until about midnight before they went to their rooms for the night. Gaia landed in her bed with the usual pile of her bonds and fell asleep almost immediately.

The next morning the group got breakfast as usual before heading to the League as usual. When they arrived, Gaia tried going inside and was surprised to find her ears didn’t hurt. She went with the guys to the reception desk, and they received their reward for the Tarantula request. They were given a hundred stone cores. This was because of the difficulty they had and the sheer number of monsters they had killed or injured. It was also for the information they returned with. Freya was once again the receptionist they met with, and she told them they had an unconventional request. It was for them to join a bronze rank commission to the Tarantula nest. The group they were going with was Flora, Titania’s team and one other that they usually worked with called the Legion. They were a group of Hunters that all wore heavy iron armor and were mostly close-range fighters but were extremely strong for their rank like Flora was.

The group discussed it before deciding to take it since they were mainly going to be there to guide them to where they were the day before. They would also be the back line and would likely only be dealing with normal rank or a few stone rank Tarantulas while the others dealt with the more dangerous monsters. They also trusted the Flora party completely. They knew they’d protect them as best they could and would do the same if possible.

The party let Freya know they’d accepted before she sent a message to the other parties via magic. They would all meet outside the League building around noon. Gaia‘s party decided to train in a quiet spot near the League until it was time for the meeting. Griff sparred lightly with Fergus in close combat while Gaia was talking to her bonds through their link. During the breaks between spars Fergus was giving Griff some pointers on ranged combat, since he usually didn’t fight from range, but had needed to a few times recently. Shadow was running around playing with Malachite while Gaia worked on her control of her webs trying to see if she could improve hers like Liv’s without the new ability. She was also working on controlling her mana influence to try and pinpoint where things or people were.

While they were training in their own ways Gaia checked her status and noticed she’d leveled up a bit. She was level thirty which meant Malachite likely was too and Liv probably wasn’t far behind. She’d also gained a new skill. It was called Mana Shaping. It caused her to be able to manipulate her mana easier. Her Mana Influence was easier to control, and she could now spread it over a wider area and tell where things were a bit easier. She could also change whether it was a wide sphere or a straight line in front of her or have holes within it. She felt that if she had a bit more control, she might be able to do more with it but likely wouldn’t be able to for a while.

After this she called Malachite and Liv over. She noticed that Malachite was still growing with every level he got but not at the rate he had before stone rank. When he’d just ranked up, he was about her size, now he was about the size of small car. His head was a good foot higher than her head and his shell was much wider and big enough to carry at least two people side by side. Liv had grown a little and had a leg span of a foot and a half.

After noticing the size change, she checked Malachite and Liv’s status’ and found they’d also gotten a new skill. Malachite had gotten a skill called Telekinesis. It allowed him to lift things with his mana including himself. Liv was level twenty-five and had gotten a skill called Creation. It allowed her to create items and golems from her webs. Liv was weaving small spider golems that would follow her commands. The small golems were about a quarter to half Liv’s size. Malachite was floating with his new skill, he was a bit slower but when he used it on a rock, it hurtled fast enough to be embedded in a tree. Shadow was just chasing the floating Malachite.

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Seeing this Gaia asked Griff and Fergus about it and whether they got some new skills too. They explained that everyone would gain a new skill every twenty-five levels and a new ability every fifty after reaching stone rank. This added up to what she assumed since Liv had a new skill at level twenty-five while Shadow didn’t at level fifteen.

“What are y’all’s new skills?” She asked.

“Let’s not say it here. I wish one of us knew the Silence spell.” Griff stated.

“Why?”

“Well, skills and abilities can be parties' trump cards when they need to fight, and some parties aren’t exactly trustworthy. Some are like the guy from the last expedition and use the knowledge to kidnap or even kill people.” Fergus explained.

“The silence spell allows for everything within the spells range to be heard within but be completely silent outside of that. It can also make the area opaque so people can’t read lips.” Griff explained.

“Ok. I understand. Can I check your status though?” She asked in a hushed voice.

“Yeah, feel free.” They both stated.

She did so and both had gotten a new skill. Fergus had gotten a skill called Homing Arrow. It allowed him to target an enemy with his mana and the next arrow he shot would follow the mana to the target. Griff had gotten a skill called Magic Circle. It allowed him to create magic circles from his mana to replace any needed materials. It also reduced the time required to cast it. This gave him much more versatility in his attacks and plans. Magic Circles were like blueprints. They allowed someone to create a desired effect by creating a corresponding magic circle. He could create a magic circle that exploded when something stepped on it for an example.

There was a downside however, it required the person to memorize the multitude of different designs. He was well versed in them being a member of the Sorcery Guild. He studied the multitude of ways magic could be cast and had researched Magic Circles the most. It normally wasn’t something he could use due to the needed materials and time constraints.

Gaia quickly showed each of them their new skills and Griff’s eyes went wide with excitement. Fergus liked his new skill since it would allow him to hit monsters that were smart enough to hide behind cover, but Griff was ecstatic at his.

“I’m gonna need to restart my research. If I can replace materials with my mana.” He started mumbling.

“He’s going to be like this for a while now. I just hope he snaps out of it when it’s time for the request. You mind showing me your new skill?” Fergus asked.

“Sure.” She replied as she showed him the skill.

“That’s going to come in handy. Have you tried it with anything aside from your Influence thing?” He asked.

“Not yet. I was mainly trying to get a grasp on that first.” She replied.

“Well, I’ll be messing with my new skill for a bit if you want to practice some more.” He stated as he grew his Vine Bow and started firing at a small target.

Gaia took the time while he was practicing, to try her new skill with something else. She tried adjusting the mana in the webs she made but didn’t make much progress. She was able to shape the mana before creating them but when they were created it didn’t stay that way. As she practiced, she tried to wrap the webs into a thicker sturdier material using her mana shaping and was finally able to, just as she heard Titania talking to someone as they approached.

She called out to Fergus and Griff who were practicing and mumbling to themselves respectively. Fergus saw his sister approaching and nudged Griff to bring him from his rumination. It didn’t work so he smacked Griff on the back of his head which elicited a response.

“What was that for? I was thinking about something and now I lost it.” Griff said angrily.

“The other parties are almost here, and you didn’t respond when I nudged or spoke to you. You’d been like that for around an hour or more.” Fergus stated.

“Really? I thought it’d only been a few minutes.” He replied honestly.

“You were pacing back and forth mumbling to yourself about magic circles, research, and books most of the time. At least from what I could hear and guess.” Gaia stated.

“Sorry.” He replied as Titania and the other group arrived by the party.

“Hey, guys. Glad you agreed. I know you’ve been on a commission with us before, but this party is known as the Legion. They’re pretty nice people and strong too. They’re high-level stone rank but their leader here is already bronze rank. He’s Douglas.” Titania stated as she motioned towards the person beside her.

“I’m Douglas. I’m the Legion’s leader. I’m a Defender. We’re mostly close combat fighters with a healer and a Smith.” He stated in a deep fatherly voice.

“Nice to meet you I’m Fergus. A bowman. Griff is our Magic Martial artist/Mage. Gaia is the one sitting in the circle of creatures.” Fergus stated.

“Hey.” Griff stated as Fergus introduced him.

“I’m Gaia, a Tamer. Malachite is the big turtle, Liv is the large spider construct on my head, and Shadow is the wolf sitting by your leg. She wants pets by the way.” Gaia introduced.

Douglas looked down to see a black wolf about the size of a large dog sitting by his feet looking up at him like she wanted to say, pet me. He knelt down and pet the wolf whose tail started wagging hard enough that she seemed to almost wiggle. He smiled before everyone started introducing themselves again.

The Legion party had a total of five people including Douglas. The healer was Douglas’ wife Fern who appeared to be some kind of dwarf. There was a swordsman that used a great sword named Jeff, an axe wielder named Ava, and the smith was Douglas’ daughter named Stephanie. She was a new hunter like Gaia and her party. She was also a bit older than Fergus. She joined her parent's party since she wanted to see how hunters worked. The parties all welcomed each other, and Gaia didn’t have to explain anything about her sight when she missed a handshake. Apparently, Titania had told them beforehand which she was thankful for. As the parties were greeting each other she could hear Shadow getting a lot of attention, which was proven when she spoke through their bond.

“Lots of pets. Happy!” Shadow said happily.

Gaia smiled at her familiar's happiness. The more Shadow grew the more she reminded Gaia of her old dog. Her personality was the exact same. She was just happy her familiar was happy and enjoying herself. Soon the parties grouped up and started making their way out of town. Gaia was once again on Malachite’s back in her throne-like chair. She wanted to invite one of her party members up but was afraid it would poison them. She knew her Mana Influence could make them more resistant to poison but didn’t know if it would make them immune to hers.

She decided to test it and asked Griff if he was willing to test it. He happily agreed and she created some more webs to bond to the changing armor of Malachite’s and around a half hour later there was a new throne on his back beside hers. She used her Mana Influence and Griff hopped up and sat in the chair. He sat there for a few minutes, and nothing seemed to be happening. She checked his status.

Name – Griffon Magnus

Status – Normal

She breathed a sigh of relief at that screen. She could now have another person join her and honestly could probably make a third chair if it was one in front and two behind. She didn’t want to over burden Malachite though. She asked how it felt with Griff on his back too.

“It’s ok. Not very heavy. You two are light. I’ll be much bigger by level fifty, I think. Then everyone can hop on.” He stated. His speaking had improved drastically, and he now sounded like a young teenager.

Liv was making small spider golems while they travelled there were now around twenty of them, but most were just able to either bind things with webs or shoot poison. None could do both. They were all normal rank as well. Gaia guessed this meant she could only make golems one rank lower than herself which made sense. She asked Liv if that was right and if she needed anything.

“Yep. I can only make them at normal rank. If you don’t mind, could I have some webs you made?” She asked. She also sounded like a young teenage girl.

“Sure, I’ll make some. I’ll make more when we get back.” Gaia replied.

“Thanks Mom.” Liv responded.

Gaia started making some webs and using her Mana Shaping skill to try and weave it like Liv could. She had some success, but it was still quite a loose weave. While she did this Stephanie slowed down to talk to her.

“Hey Gaia. Is it just you three in your party?” Stephanie asked.

“Yeah. Currently at least. We’re taking it slow and are trying to find people who work well with us. It’s hard, though, especially since most people take one look at me and judge that we’re incompetent.”

“Really? People do that?”

“Yeah. We haven’t really asked anyone to join though. It’s more we want someone to join us after working with us at least once. Take Griff for example. We did multiple requests for him before he became a Hunter, and we were extremely happy when he decided he wanted to join our party.” Gaia explained.

“Really? I joined my parents party since I wanted to try Hunting but didn’t know anyone besides them, and they’re a bit overprotective.” Stephanie replied.

“I can understand that. They want you to be safe, or at least as safe as you can be being a Hunter. I see my party as my good friends, family even. I want to hunt and travel with them. I think it would make everything worthwhile and fun.”

“I can see how much y’all care for each other. If I become a hunter that’s what I’d want. Granted I’d probably be more Smith than Hunter.” She stated.

“What kind of smithing do you do? If you don’t mind me asking.” Gaia asked.

“All kinds. I can make or repair armor and weapons. I’m more of a ranged weapon smith though.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve made a ranged weapon, but my family doesn’t trust it. I call it a boom stick.” She replied a bit giddily.

“A boom stick?” Gaia asked.

“Yep. It’s a tube with a small ball or multiple smaller metal balls and when I press a button it causes a small explosion inside to blast out at high speeds. It can break through most non-magical armor.” She explained.

Gaia looked in her direction for a few awed moments. This woman who wasn’t a whole lot older than her had created a gun. It was a very rudimentary version of one, but she’d created a gun that used magic to shoot. Gaia was stunned. She’d expected magic after meeting Titania’s party and what she’d seen in this world but had not expected someone to create a weapon, that had been created using science in her world, using magic instead.

“So, you made a weapon that fires small metal balls by using the power of a small explosion? Did I get that right?” Gaia asked slowly.

“Yep. I did. I want to make more or at least research more to upgrade it.” Stephanie replied.

“You created a gun. You created the equivalent of a musket. We have weapons like that from my world.” Gaia stated hesitantly.

Stephanie’s eyes lit up hearing this. “You have more versions of these things? You call them guns?” She asked excitedly.

After this conversation Gaia talked with Stephanie and explained everything she could about guns, which was very little. She knew what they were, the extreme basics of how they worked, and the different kinds. This conversation lasted the entirety of the rest of their travel. They got close to where they’d killed the Tarantula the day before when Fergus called for everyone to be quiet and prepare for the fight since the monsters could ambush them at any point now.

The group went quiet and proceeded carefully. Griff got down from Malachite’s shell and went up by Fergus. Malachite shrunk down so only Gaia could fit and he could move a bit easier and quieter. Gaia and Malachite were towards the back of the group with Fern and Stephanie. Jeff and Ava were towards the middle of the formation but on the outside on each side. John and Francois were towards the back with Fern and Stephanie. Fergus was closer to the front, with Shadow beside him, but still behind Titania and Douglas. For a group that wore heavy metal armor they were extremely quiet as the group moved.

After a few minutes of slow progress Gaia put up her Mana Influence and found one of the Tarantulas in the trees above them. She immediately used her vines to slash it. It fell onto its back and Jeff killed it in one swift slash of his great sword which bisected the monster. After that Gaia could feel everyone’s gaze when Titania walked up and asked her a question.

“How did you know it was there? I couldn’t tell and it’s my job to scout.”

“I used my Mana Influence thing and felt it. It also makes my allies more resistant to poison.” Gaia said a bit sheepishly.

“Well, keep it up. It would help if you gave a warning, but I’ll have Ava stay near you. It’ll also help in the fight with the Matriarch I think.” Douglas said.

The group continued and Gaia kept her power going. After around thirty minutes they’d killed about ten hidden tarantulas that she’d cut down and Ava had dispatched with her massive axe. The group continued cautiously and within another thirty minutes they started to see thick webs spanning between the trees. Titania ran around to scout the area and returned an hour later.

“The webs span an area of around a mile. There are more monsters that scout the area around it too. I was able to sneak past them but there were at least three groups of around ten stone rank and some normal ranks with them. It appears to be a nest with a Matriarch as we thought.” Titania relayed.

“It’s starting to get towards nighttime. Do we want to back off a couple miles and camp for the night? I know we weren’t expecting to camp but I’d rather deal with it in the light of day.” Jeff asked.

“I think that’d be a good idea. We can all rest for the night and come at the nest tomorrow morning. We’ll set watches though at least one from our parties and one from Gaias. Does that sound good?” Francois asked.

“Sounds fine with us.” Gaia said after checking with Fergus and Griff.

“Alright. Let’s backtrack and set up camp then.” Titania stated.

The group trekked a mile back and set up camp for the night. Floras and Legion’s camps were towards the direction of the nest with Gaia’s party being behind them. After the camps were set up and everyone ate some soup, Stephanie came over and pestered Gaia with questions about guns. This continued until Gaia’s watch was over and the two split up to sleep.