Linnea pulled me aside as my soldiers began their final preparations. “Something was up when you were looking at your sheet, right? What was it?”

I glanced at her for a moment, noting the concern on her face, before nodding in response. “Yeah, some kind of corruption energy. I got a new ability, but it messed with my stats as well, along with the eyes,” I whispered, before explaining in detail.

“That doesn’t sound good,” she whispered back, her voice wavering. “Please tell me you're not going to use that ability, not until you get checked out, at least.”

Honestly, that’s probably a good idea, I realized. As much as I was curious to try it out, I had no way of knowing if using the ability would make things worse. I could at least wait until I could ask someone who knew more than I did.

“OK,” I said as I pulled her into a hug. “I’ll avoid using it and get checked out once we're back in Elendes. The Duchess will probably know what to do if no one else does, and I’ll have to report this, anyway.”

She whispered her thanks into my chest as she squeezed back, before letting go and moving away. I shook my head and thanked her instead, it felt good to have someone care enough about me to be concerned.

We stayed looking at each other for a few seconds before I squeezed her shoulder and turned away. The soldiers had organized themselves near the entrance, with the six uninjured people carrying the three corpses between them.

I was initially concerned about their ability to bring the bodies back but was soon disabused of that notion. While dead bodies were awkward and heavy to transport, I underestimated the survivors' strength.

They were leagues stronger than when we’d first ventured into these caves, and between them, any two soldiers could easily carry a single body. With the injured being able to follow along under their own power, it made bringing the dead back viable.

Once I saw that, I gave the go-ahead to them. While it would leave Linnea and me to do all the fighting, I had already been prepared for that. None of the troops had any ammo left, and they actually needed to fight hand-to-hand against several of the beasts in the end.

This was where most of the damage had been taken, as their knives had done little to the creatures. Only determination and weight of numbers had pulled them through, and even the uninjured weren’t prepared for more combat.

That left the two of us to do the heavy lifting, and with how injured Linnea was, I asked her to bring up the rear. While she might be trying not to show it, she was moving stiffly and much slower than usual. If I had my way, I would do all the fighting until we were home safe.

I owed everyone that much after sitting out the last battle. I would do everything I could to make sure everyone left made it back safely.

The first part was simple, making back up toward the invisible wall. The area was just as quiet as before, anything that used to live here had long been devoured. While moving tired, injured, and laden down slowed us, we still made it in three hours.

As expected, the tunnel mouth was empty, with no sign of the strange illusion. It was confirmation that the wizened beast had been the caster, and I breathed a sigh of relief to find the way clear.

Once out, I pushed us for another half-hour before finally letting everyone rest. It had been a damn long day, and I figured we were far enough from danger to make camp. There was no way I would have slept down in the tentacle caves, but up here should be safe enough.

I worked out a watch rotation with the six healthy soldiers and ordered everyone else to rest the full night. Linnea tried to be stubborn but relented in the end when I insisted she was injured and needed sleep.

She seemed more used to concern than I was, yet was somehow still surprised that I cared as much as she did. I thought it was as much that realization as it was exhaustion that finally convinced her to rest.

The night passed quietly, with only a single beast incident that was swiftly dealt with. I hadn’t even gotten out of bed before the all-clear was called. Linnea and I had both given over our sidearms, in my case the old plasma pistol I still carried as a backup, and the guards had made swift work of the two bat creatures that had descended on them.

They impressed me a lot with how much their ability had grown and I was quick to congratulate them. When we first came in, I’d seen a group of six with rifles have trouble with just a couple of bats, showing a stark difference between then and now.

It was enough evidence to confirm my theory of a hidden leveling system, in my mind at least. As much as it hurt that we’d had casualties, the survivors had come out stronger than ever.

Now I just had to work on getting them that experience with no deaths in the future.

The next morning, we moved out in the same formation, with me leading and Linnea following behind. The faint hint of light grew brighter as we moved, and before long, the sound of falling water became audible even over the raging torrent beside us.

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I signaled for a halt as we grew close, before scouting ahead on my own. The water sped up even further as I approached the light, and the sound became deafening.

Creeping up, I peeked out at the majestic sight laid out before me. The underground river cascaded over the edge of a cliff as it entered the fresh air again, falling hundreds of feet to the lake below.

As I had guessed, we were looking at one of the waterfalls that fed the lake, one of the largest at that. Beyond its beauty, I was ecstatic at how close to the base we were.

A couple of hundred feet to the lake showed we were nearly at ground level, and I was pretty sure I could see smoke from the town in the distance.

We might even be back by nightfall, or at the worst, the day after. With how I’d budgeted for having to backtrack if we got stuck, that would put us almost a week early. I could certainly use the extra time for a rest, we all could.

Thankfully, the river was narrower than its maximum width here as well, and it looked like we could make our way around the cliff edge as long as we were careful. I wasn’t much of an expert, but I hazarded a guess that the river would be at its highest in spring as the mountain snow melted.

Best of all, I saw no signs of danger in the immediate vicinity, something my scanner backed up as much as it could. Even a Technokinesis boosted sweep showed no hidden dangers. I knew enough now that I couldn’t trust it completely, but that was as sure as I was going to get.

With a grin, I turned and jogged back to the group to dispense the news. They met me with a joyous cheer as I explained the situation. Many of them, like myself, had thought we were further off course and the relief was clear on everyone’s faces.

We wasted little time preparing as I ordered everyone to pull out their climbing supplies. We had brought as many as we could carry down into the deeper caves, and had used little of them due to the ease of passage we’d found.

This close to freedom, I was going to leave nothing to chance. A single slip might take someone over the falls, and no one else was dying on my watch.

With the supplies gathered, we tied most of the ropes together into a single, long length. To my surprise, one of the privates stepped forward as an amateur climbing enthusiast, and I thankfully let them lead the way.

We had enough pitons that they could secure a path along the cave wall, allowing us to run the main rope line along them. With each of us connected to it with a detachable carabiner, it would be very unlikely for any of us to fall.

Even with our preparations, it was a nerve-wracking clamber over wet rocks and narrow ledges before we were finally standing on safe ground again. We met the fresh air outside with another cheer, and I settled us down for an early lunch on the cliff so the injured could rest.

Even the bodies of our fallen comrades had made it, our uninjured members having been determined in manhandling them around the corner. That put the last of my earlier objections to rest, and I was instead thankful that we could return them to be buried.

Of course, safety couldn’t last forever, and we were attacked just as we were packing up to move again. Five wolves prowled from the bushes growling as I gestured for everyone to stay back.

An instant later, my rifle was in my hands with a flex of will and I’d fired at the lead wolf. I almost faltered in shock as my shot blew the head from his shoulders, but kept the presence of mind to move to the next target.

It felt in a single shot too, with a third falling to Linnea’s sniper rifle a second later. The last two wolves actually slid to a stop and tried to retreat, but we each killed one before they could get away.

What in the world? I wondered as I stared down at the rifle in my hands. Then it hit me, I now had fifty percent more Will than I had two days ago.

I had always known that the strength of my psi guns was tied to my Will stat, as all psionic powers were, but I’d never had such a drastic jump before. Usually, I only got two to four will a level, with a single seven when I used an elixir as well as maxing it.

Even my largest increase was a third of what I’d just received, so it was no wonder I was seeing such a significant increase. Maybe this whole power focus idea isn’t that bad, I mused with a smirk.

Turning back, the sound of clapping and cheering surprised me as the soldiers took in what we’d done. Apparently, killing five wolves in less than ten seconds was pretty impressive for two people.

Since it was good for morale, I left them to it while I moved to extract the cores. I only got two steps before a voice called for me to wait as Private Simmons and two of her fellow soldiers ran past.

“We’ll take care of that, Sir!” she shouted with a wave. “It’s the least we can do.”

I called out a thanks after them, before turning back to keep watch with a smile. Despite her somewhat up-and-down performance, Simmons had shown some real initiative since that last battle.

With one of the three corporals among the dead, we were going to need a replacement, or even two if Murther got promoted. She’d make a good candidate at least, and I made a note to forward that to the Captain.

Who hasn't even been notified that we’re out yet, I realized with a slap to my forehead. I really need to get used to working so closely with an organization. Even when it’s my own, I keep forgetting.

A quick call found me connected to a very relieved captain. He hadn’t been happy to see me go off on my own and was glad to hear from us even with the bad news.

He quickly took charge of logistics, marking out a point halfway between here and the town to meet us. Medics, soldiers and support personnel would meet us there, making our trip home that much easier.

We had several more attacks on the way down, though Linnea and I dealt with them easily. They even provided enough XP to push me over the line to level twelve, though I put off leveling for now.

There were enough people around that I was cautious of doing anything beyond quickly checking notifications, and if I was going to wait till the town, I might as well wait until I had the corruption checked out.

There was no reason to think that leveling would worsen the condition, but I was a tad worried about adding more stats. If nothing else, I wanted to put off the decision of where I put my two free points until I knew more.

Once we reached the captain’s group, the trip proceeded easily. He’d brought all the troops who’d seen experience in the tunnels with him, giving us a force that few beasts would dare to mess with.

Only a few hours later, I sighed in relief as the town came into view. We’d made it home safely.