The stairwell was just as creepy looking as the rooms. The steel and crumbling concrete structure was dirty and covered in globs of weird goo. It was grosser now that I knew the globs were the discarded white outer shell the nymphs left behind when they evolved. Without the nymph inside, the white flesh dissolved into ... this. Ew. Just ew.

I stood at the bottom of the stairs with the others, looking up into the black void above. There was no telling if the stairs reached all the way to the top, but at this point, it was the only option. I glanced at my health bars. Regen had healed me twenty-five percent, so I wasn't in immediate danger. My HP bar was over halfway full and I had enough MP to shoot two Bubbles, but I was reluctant to use that move – to reveal that secret – in front of these people.

"I don't feel any monsters," Scott said softly, indicating to the stairs. "Let's hurry fast." There was no 'ladies first' with him, he just started up the stairs.

Pepper and Star followed with me on the tail.

The stairs were sticky and slippery at the same time, it just depended on where you stepped. Even with the help of mine and Scott’s torch orb, it was impossible to tell where it was safe to step – if there was any place at all. Sometimes a swift breeze would blow from cracks in the wall to our left – the building's outside wall – but the air didn't get any fresher the higher we went. If anything, it got worse, both hotter and murkier. Still we trekked on, hiking up and up, passing hall after hall.

Finally, we reached the top and stepped through the open doorway into the dim light. Instead of feeling relieved, I only felt more alarmed. Where were all the monsters? I thought there would be hundreds of gigaroaches, but we didn't encounter a single on our way up.

I gripped my sword hard and looked down the hall. Light streamed in from broken windows from the classrooms lining the hall. Unlike the bottom level or the stairwell, it was bright enough to see without a torch orb. Junk cluttered the floor mixed together with scratched up bones, but I couldn't see any gobs of goo. We must be too high for the larvae now.

I still couldn't release the creepy twist in my stomach. My senses were on red alert. It was just ... too quiet.

I wasn't the only one who felt it. The others had their weapons out too.

"The door to the greenhouse is this way," Scott whispered. "Halfway down the hall, then to the right. Let's go." He gripped a large shield with his left hand and an over-sized axe in the other, and took the lead walking slowly down the hall. His full armor didn't make a sound.

We followed after, with me in the back. I peaked in every room as we passed, glancing around. For the first time it was obvious that other Hunters had been here. Computers and TVs were gone from their places, leaving random hanging cords. One research room was dismantled, missing all the science equipment. It was done too cleanly to be a monster.

"Next time we need to pick a place no one else has touched," Pepper grumbled quietly, staring into another cleaned out computer room. "There's barely anything left."

"At least the greenhouse was left alone," Star whispered.

"According to available info, but it could be outdated. What if someone took it and sold it on the black market behind the authorities’ back? Then this whole trip was a bust and we'd have to pay for it," Pepper insisted.

"Sh," Scott hissed. He pointed to his ear, indicating he heard something, then pointed ahead where the white walls ended and a wired banister started, opening up to the entrance foyer below.

The women immediately shifted into fighting positions then followed him down the hall.

I tensed and changed my sword to a bow. I drew the arrow halfway back and trailed after them.

Star noticed my movement and glanced over her shoulder. Her brows rose when she saw my bow, but didn't say anything.

Suddenly, the zinging sound of brittle wings flapping echoed around us. Four gigaroaches flew over the banister with quick agile moves, and four more climbed around the corner of the wall, clinging to the smooth surface with just their tridactyl hand-like claws. I saw the pictures, but I still wasn't ready for the ugly, human-sized roach head or how the monsters on the wall jumped off and ran towards us on two, sturdy legs with their four other limbs out like arms. So ... human-like. It took creepy to a whole new level. Loud screeches wailed from their buggy mouths. The flying ones quickly overtook them, aiming right at us.

"Ready!" Scott commanded, and braced for the fight. He clanged his axe on the side of his shield. Along with the sound came a pulse of magic, instantly drawing all the monsters’ attention.

Pepper whipped her el cid colada sword, indicating her readiness, and Star hummed, holding her long sword.

I drew my arrow back all the way. The movement hurt my still healing wounds, but it was bearable and didn't prevent me from aiming at the monsters getting closer.

Under the influence of aggro magic, they focused on the closest Hunter, Scott the tank. From their movements, I realized that it wasn't just Scott’s magic trick, it was their instinct to aim for the first piece of food. They didn't have any tactical formation of correspondence – if they did, they'd spread out to attack our whole group – which was good. But each monster was still at least level thirty – which was bad for me.

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This time, Shiva wasn't here to save me, nor did I trust the others to actually protect me. But if I ran away, they'd never let me back on the roc. I was going to have to play my part to the fullest, and hope I did it well enough to survive.

Just before the first flying gigaroach reached Scott, when its full attention was on him, I loosed my arrow. It shot right over Scott's shoulder, missing the edge of his big shield by inches, and tore right into one of the monster's four wings, leaving a long rip. It screamed and jerked, falling to the ground. I followed with another arrow, nailing another exposed wing to the ground. I doubted my arrows could do much against the monsters' exoskeletons, but thankfully their wings were weak enough – just like the Monster Manual said.

Pepper recovered from her shock and lunged around Scott, swinging down. The monster moved the last second, and she missed the head, taking off the two long antennas instead. The gigaroach screamed and lunged, but froze when its movements tugged on the wing nailed to the floor.

Scott smashed his axe down right on its head, cracking the exoskeleton and spilling out the soft stuff underneath. The monster died.

In the meantime, the rest of the monsters made it to us. I aimed for their wings, but only managed to hit one other monster. I backed up, putting some distance between me and the fight, but didn't dare get too far away. What I needed to do was give assistance, while making sure that I was never open enough to draw a monster's attention.

All the monsters swarmed Scott. Simultaneously, Pepper and Star split up, wordlessly working in tandem to take on the swarm. Pepper went left and Star took right, methodically hacking and slashing. It only took one more gigaroach dying for the rest to realize there was more than just Scott in the hall. Three monsters went after Pepper and another turned on Star, leaving two still attacking Scott's shield. They didn't seem to notice I was there yet.

Since Pepper was the most pressured, I concentrated on her. The closest gigaroach lunged forward. She swung her scimitar and left a long cut across its chest, but didn't do enough damage to take the monster down. It jerked and screeched, but before it could lung again, I loosed an arrow aiming at the cut Pepper left. Without the exoskeleton in the way, the arrow sank into the gigaroach's chest right next to its lower arm's joint. Not lethal, but I was restricted to where the exoskeleton was open. The monster screeched louder, its arm going limp. I must have hit something important.

I didn't have time to celebrate because another gigaroach was aiming for Pepper’s back. If I was strong enough to use a higher ranked bow, I would have gone for a headshot. But right now, I was reduced to unseen assistance only. I aimed at the only place I could pierce by myself – the wings. Before it could pounce on her back, I shot an arrow at the sliver of wing just visible from this angle. I missed, the arrow glancing off its aim without even leaving a scratch. But it was distracting enough that the monster paused and Pepper was able to dodge before its huge mandibles clamped on air, right where her shoulder used to be.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Scott bash his axe into the chest of a monster. It dropped to the ground, but there was still a sliver of life left on its HP bar. Another gigaroach jumped on Scott’s shield, slashing at him with its huge claws, and distracting him before he could land the killing blow on the first gigaroach. The first gigaroach turned over and moved to bite Scott's ankles.

I let loose a flurry of arrows in quick succession, aiming for the hole in its chest. It jerked and didn't have time to scream before it was skewered with three arrows. I didn't know where the heart was, but one of them did the trick. The gigaroach collapsed, dead.

A System screen popped up in the bottom of my vision. Ding! [No EXP was awarded because the Host didn't participate enough in the battle.]

You cheap System, I thought bitterly.

My Hunter's sense screamed in an alarm. In the corner of my periphery, I noticed the instant one of Pepper's gigaroach detected me. An arrow stuck out of its chest and its bottom arm was limp at its side. It lifted its other arms, ready to charge at me.

I immediately jumped behind Star with every ounce of speed I had. My boots skidded across the dirty floor, but I controlled the movement enough to use it to my advantage. It was no different than sock races on hardwood floors. The gigaroach's attention, and attack, was instantly drawn to the Hunter in immediate sight – Star.

She turned around after killing off both her monsters, just as the injured gigaroach lunged at her, claws flashing. She blocked the attack, grunting under the force.

I took the chance and sank another arrow into its wide open chest, in a crack just under its neck. The monster stumbled back in shock.

Star took advantage of the fumble and pushed it away then shot a glare over her shoulder. Was it because I used her as a shield, or because my arrow went right under her armpit? It's not like she got hurt.

I gave her an apologetic grin that I didn't feel inside. There was no need to ask – none of them would have saved me, so I had to rescue myself by forcing the monster to shift its attention. The claws that Star blocked would have split open my head otherwise.

She didn't argue – there was a fight going on – instead, she lunged at the gigaroach.

It was quick work from there. Any time I could, I sank an arrow into an opening, while continuing to move around, always keeping a Hunter between me and the monsters. By the time the last gigaroach dropped to the ground, each carcass had at least one arrow in it. That's when the stingy System was magnanimous enough to award me with ten EXP for my efforts. Lame.

Pepper stood up, still breathing hard. She shot me a glance, then looked at all the arrows sticking out cracks in the monster's exoskeletons. "You're ... a good shot," she muttered, somewhat unwilling.

I smiled bright like it was the best compliment in the world and started to collect my arrows. "Thanks."

Does she actually know how hard it was to hit all those tiny targets in a fast-paced fight, without hitting my teammates? If I was more malicious, I could have easily put holes in the Hunters and just played it off that my hand slipped.

But I didn't. No matter how unsafe I felt with Star and her team, I didn't have the faith that I could get out of here alive without them. There were still a couple hours before the roc came to get us, and who knew what could happen before then.

"It seems like it's quiet now," Scott said softly, turning his head like he was listening. "I don't know where all the other gigaroaches are, but we should take advantage of the time. Let's get to the greenhouse."

*****