The scouts, being well-trained, were aware of the existence of the people staring at them. Lucille, Jay, and Casey were sixty feet away from them when the goblins made their move. But first, Jay and the others were able to catch the tooltip.

Goblin Scout, Level: 8. Health: 115/115.

The enemies faded into the trees, trying to make their way to the party of three.

“Defensive positions. Casey, stay between us,” Lucille said. Stepping into position, Jay promptly drew his dagger and prepared for the goblin scouts to attack. Their tooltips were visible, even through the foliage. Everyone was on edge. Seeing anything was made complicated because of where the party stood. The trees were thick, making the location a poor place to fight.

Catching a visual on a goblin enough to activate his Analyze ability, Jay triggered it.

System Message: Analyze successful. These scout teams search for targets for Goblin Raiders. They share the particular distaste Raiders have for lightning magic. Though not as effective in combat as other goblins, their health pool makes it easier for them to survive and escape.

“They’re weak to lightning magic,” Jay said quickly. “I don’t suppose you have lightning magic, Lucille?”

“No,” she said. “But we have nothing to fear from a bunch of level eights. Get ready.”

The goblin scouts made their move, popping into view. They didn’t scream or call out a battle cry. They pushed in as a group, inching their way in circles. The monsters were looking for an opportunity to break through and attack Casey. The young woman picked up Zenya, holding her tightly. Jay wasn’t sure if she looked weak or the dire wolf puppy looked tasty. But the enemies saw something.

Lucille made her move on the five goblins, giving no quarter. She engaged three of them, wading into melee with both blades forward, covering her body to block attacks. Each stroke of her sword landed and nearly felled a goblin in one blow.

Jay confidently met the other two enemies as they struck out at him, blocking their attacks. Activating Wild Strike, his dagger charged with his most powerful attack ability. He feinted toward the goblin scout on his left but juked at the last moment to surprise the other enemy. He loved the feeling of his new fifty Speed, finally sampling it in actual combat. The perceived slowness of the goblins made it easy to create opportunities for him to take advantage of.

The goblin on the right was surprised, the special attack destroying it. Lucille, barely paying attention to her own fight since it was already well in her own favor, called excitedly to Jay.

“Told you we’d have no problem with a bunch of weaklings. Make sure they don’t get away. If there are raiders in the area, we don’t need all of them swarming on us.” As an afterthought, she added with interest, “Though that almost sounds fun.”

Lucille was so much faster than her enemies that she simply baited their attacks. A mere flick of her sword cut them down before they could complete their offensive. By the time she finished speaking, her enemies were already defeated. Jay was battling as she spoke, but the second scout was barely holding on.

Neither of them expected a dire wolf to leap from behind a tree.

Foaming at the mouth, a dire wolf leaped into the waning melee. This dire wolf was clearly not on their side, and the animal did not seem normal.

It bolted straight for Casey, dealing her a solid blow in the chest. She shifted to protect the dire wolf in her arms, seemingly unworried about herself. The tiny dire wolf growled in fear. Casey was knocked to the ground, trapped under the ferocious larger wolf. She protected Zenya with her character’s body.

Jay struck down his last goblin as the dire wolf raised its claw for a follow-up attack. Despite focusing so much of his efforts on his Speed, he didn’t think he could make it in time to stop the attack. Zenya lurched forward, escaping Casey and locking her jaws onto the other dire wolf’s back leg in outrage. All traces of fear were gone. Lucille spun away from her fallen foes, breaking for the new enemy.

None of them were able to stop the second strike.

The attack landed across Casey’s face as she held up her hands to block. She would be stuck with a horrible scar if this were real life, even if she survived. Fortunately, the game would heal such disfigurements after a brief time or respawn.

Zenya’s retaliation was not in vain. The pain in the enemy dire wolf’s leg caused it to stumble slightly. The blow did not kill Casey, but she was hanging on by a thread.

Jay watched Lucille’s momentum in absolute amazement. She was going to make it there first. As he ran, Jay activated his Analyze ability. He quickly confirmed this was a similar creature to the dire wolf encountered previously.

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Lucille arrived a moment later. She wasn’t angry, but she was precise. She eviscerated the dire wolf, rendering it unable to attack Casey again. But that wasn’t the only thing that happened.

As her attacks landed, a collection of flowers bloomed around her and Casey. The flowers were a rainbow of colors but also arrived in different species. The cluster of flowers emitted spores immediately, which caused Casey’s health to quickly soar. In a few seconds, she was healed completely.

Jay couldn’t look away from the gorgeous sight. Instantly, they were all standing in a field of flowers in the middle of an Elven forest. Lucille’s abilities were amazing.

“You are the coolest character I’ve ever met in any game ever,” Casey said, in awe, taking Lucille’s offered helping hand. Casey pulled herself to her feet. Stooping over, she consoled the poor dire wolf pup. Zenya was staring at the fallen dire wolf enemy, smoldering anger in her little eyes. Whatever Zenya saw, she didn’t like it. She growled antagonistically at the body.

“You should see me shoot tequila,” Lucille joked, looting a few pelts from the wolves.

Jay made sure to Catalog the enemies before he forgot. Both entries were added to his Bestiary, which pleased him greatly. If he couldn’t hunt down enemies all day, at least they could find him.

“I’ve never had tequila before,” Casey admitted. “Someone offered it to me at a party once. But Sarah was there. She said tequila was ick.” Matter-of-factly, she added, “Then we drank something fruity.”

“She just wanted the tequila for herself,” Jay said, unable to stop himself. Even when his little sister wasn’t there, he had to take the easy jab.

Casey smirked. Having no idea who Sarah was, Lucille didn’t fully follow the conversation. She seemed to understand something was funny, chuckling anyway.

“She also said you like tequila, and you’re gross,” Casey added. She physically jabbed Jay in the side, which didn’t hurt. The feeling tickled, but he didn’t want to give Casey the satisfaction of laughing like an idiot.

“You can’t trust her taste buds,” Jay argued. “She’s always sick. Who knows if she can even taste stuff for real.”

“Now you sound like her,” Casey said, absentmindedly petting the creature in her hand. The little pup’s anger at the other wolf went into the background as she nuzzled her head into Casey’s hand. Zenya was slowly calming down after all the excitement.

“Taught her everything I know.”

Lucile wiped off her blades and stored them at her sides. Somehow, she had managed to avoid getting any mess on her robes, which was truly impressive.

“What’s that ability called, anyway?” Jay asked as they started to move deeper into the forest. There wasn’t a lot the party could do about the pile of fallen enemies. Starting a fire in the woods wouldn’t exactly be a low-key way to avoid detection. Jay led the party in following the goblin tracks as they conversed.

“Let me look it up,” Lucille said, opening her game menus as they walked. “It’s called Flowers of the Angerine. Weird name, but the effect is super cool. It releases whatever damage I deal as area of effect healing. My class is pretty unique, as far as I know. Lotus Warden is an Elf-exclusive blend between healing and melee combat.”

One thought was on his mind: was it possible Lucille’s class originated from the same organization he recently met?

“That’s so cool,” Casey said enthusiastically. “I’ll have to try and make one once I reach level one hundred. Would you be willing to help me create the class change token once we get there?”

“I’ll see what I can do if you join the guild at level twenty,” Lucille joked.

“You can bet on it.”

As they spoke, Jay kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want to give away his surprise at hearing the name. Beyond that, Lester hadn’t recognized the name. Either he didn’t know Lucille’s abilities, or he never noticed the connection.

Jay thought it would be nice if they could talk about the organization. He didn’t know if she would have any special class quests, as he did. He also wasn’t sure if it was a coincidence, but since it was an Elf-only class, it seemed to lend credence to a true Angerine origin.

“Jay?” Lucille asked, cutting into his thoughts.

“Mhmm,” he said, humming something between an acknowledgment and a question.

“We were talking about how cool my abilities are,” Lucille said. “You hiding any super cool Monster Hunter abilities?” Her interest seemed casual enough, but Jay was also feeling deeply suspicious.

He kept his face calm, but his brain whirled into high gear. Obviously, he was hiding the existence of his Synthesization and the ability he acquired through the process. There was most likely no way for Lucille to know that. But she was a Lotus Warden with a power that referenced the Angerine. It was technically possible she was aware of his ability.

“Yeah, right,” Jay said sarcastically, deciding to keep his special Angerine ability secret. He didn’t fully trust Lester yet, which meant he wasn’t sure he could trust Lucille. And if he wasn’t going to tell Taylor Lynn, he definitely wouldn’t tell them. “If I had any cool abilities, I’d be bragging about them. So far, though, it’s all standard crossbow and dagger special attacks. Kind of disappointing, really.”

“Pity,” Casey said. “I was really hoping you could turn into a monster or something.”

“Same here,” Lucille agreed.

Jay chuckled awkwardly. There were some indicators in his menus that he would have access to a transformation ability later.

Sensing something the others could not see, Zenya squirmed out of Casey’s arms. Everyone stopped to see what the little animal was up to. The dire wolf puppy was sniffing a strange patch of moss on a tree trunk.

Jay didn’t realize what was strange about it until he got closer. Something was disturbing the air. The presence reminded him of a heat haze.

Suddenly, Zenya took off, running at one of the trees. The move was unexpected. Even with his Speed, Jay only had time to grimace and brace for the impact. His mouth fell open as she disappeared into the tree.

“What the–” Casey said.

“Uh-huh,” Lucille agreed, interrupting her before she could finish that thought.

“We have to follow her.”

After she spoke, Casey ran at the same tree. The move was absolutely fearless. Jay was fast enough to stop her but was curious if she would make it through.

She disappeared just the same as Zenya had.

Jay felt a gentle nuzzle on the side of his head and turned to look at Cuddles. He was on his preferred spot on Jay’s shoulder. Somehow, the look Cuddles threw him seemed to ask if he would let the poor young woman go alone.

Shrugging, Jay ran after Casey, hoping Lucille would follow behind.

After all, Jay couldn’t throw Casey to the wolves.