Bryn watched as dozens of drunk former adventurers attempted to process that they and their base were suddenly on fire. The vibrant explosions of color continued to boom through the night sky above the fort as he dashed through the trees along the building’s perimeter

As he approached the path, he took the cloth pouch hanging from his belt, unveiling a small glass ball. The inside of it was glowing dimly, and Bryn took a deep breath before dashing to the entrance.

The scene before him was filled with destruction and chaos. The already battered walls were crumbling to the ground, and the various supplies scattered throughout the fort were ablaze. The gang itself was not doing much better. If one of them was not actively on fire, they were panicking and attempting to do any damage control they could. As Bryn took in the chaos around him, he shrugged and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Everyone look!” He screamed, throwing the glass ball into the air and covering his eyes. Everyone who had heard him turned their heads to the sky, and as the ball began to descend, the light inside of it grew brighter and brighter. Once it had fallen to be only about 10 feet from the ground, it exploded in a blinding flash of light. Various shouts could be heard from the bandits, and after a moment Bryn uncovered his eyes.

“Come get me, I blew up your house, aren’t you mad!” Bryn shouted, turning around and using every bit of the enhance potion he had injected to race up the path. Once the effects of the flash glass had worn off, a chorus of angry shouts could be heard, and soon after Bryn noticed the sounds of hurried footsteps behind him. As he looked back, he saw at least 10 barbarians and fighters running after him. A variety of axes and swords waved furiously as they shouted a colorful array of profanity at Bryn as they ran.

The path in front of him would have been difficult to see in the dead of night if not for the light show taking place to his back. While the effects of the enhance potion were helping, the advantages of the Adventurer’s Boon were apparent as they began to quickly close ground on him. As he took note of the approaching bandits, he contemplated using a second enhance potion, despite the risks. However, he decided against it once he saw the wooden box he had placed on the side of the path.

Digging into his bag, he pulled his final doom cube out and took flight into the air before tossing it at the wooden box. The moment it made contact, the cube exploded and the box exploded in a cloud of thick black smoke. He smiled as he saw the group of bandits struggling against the quicksand they now stood in.

Part of the research Bryn had been doing with Maeve involved a draught that could change physical matter from one state to another. After some trial and error, they discovered a recipe involving a breed of mushrooms that were native to a group of demon elf villages a few hours north of Dregmoor. The magical properties of the mushrooms along with Maeve’s knowledge of transmutation alchemy allowed for the development of the Soil Shifter Draught. While quicksand was the only effect it could achieve upon making contact with soil, its potential for the future was unlimited.

As the group that was following him now stood safely immobilized, Bryn flapped a safe distance away before landing near a group of gnarled trees. He panted heavily upon landing, his hands immediately going to his knees. “How out of shape am I?” He asked himself, his wings already beginning to feel sore.

Jordan stood at the convergence circle, awaiting the flood of enemies to come from the back entrance of the fortress. He saw Bryn in the air on the other side of the battlefield, and laughed at the shaky motions of his aerial movements. Just as saw Bryn land safely, he turned his attention back to the fortress. A group of at least 15 were gathered, and appeared to be coordinating with each other.

Stolen novel; please report.

Jordan was slightly annoyed at this development, hoping the chaos and destruction would have caused an immediate retreat from the fortress toward him. He sighed and ran toward the entrance once again, unsheathing the swords he now carried on his back. While the bow and swords limited his overall mobility, the versatility having both provided was worth it. Once he was within 10 feet of the group, a barbarian noticed him charge and yelled a warning to his companions.

It was too late for him however, as Jordan jetted forward, the fog from Environmental Symbiosis flowing around him like a mobile waterfall. His blades slashed into the barbarians chest, his lack of armor causing the damage to be even more extreme.

Without a moment of hesitation, Jordan launched forcefully to his right, running one of his blades through the throat of a fighter that had his back turned. After the second casualty, the group seemed to finally notice his presence, and began rushing toward him. Eyeing the quickly closing gap between the mob and him, Jordan turned to look back at the convergence circle. He felt the den begin to overload his body, as activating Animal Sprit simultaneously with Environmental Symbiosis was not a strain he was used to quite yet.

“Frog” Jordan whispered, leaping and clearing the distance between himself and the circle in a single bound. Upon landing, he deactivated both skills and immediately channeled almost all of his remaining den into the circle at his feet. The enhanced speed that the Adventurer’s Boon provided even non mobility focused classes such as fighters and barbarians astounded Jordan as he watched the mob chase after him.

“Bryn’s actually insane for still wanting to do this job, I gotta get that guy a fruit basket soon.” Jordan said, his charging of the convergence circle finally complete. He exhaled deeply before he closed his eyes and sat down cross legged on the dirt path, concentrating on the feeling of den in the air. The tranquility of being one with nature and magic was broken as the first bandit broke through the circle, and Jordan knew it was time.

“Gotcha” he said, releasing the power of the convergence circle. Before the first fighter could bring down his great axe, a hand shot from the dirt and grabbed his leg. He face planted into the mud, and as he looked back to see who had grabbed him, he realized it wasn’t who, but what.

A hand made of mud rose from the dirt path, and gripped the bandits leg tightly as it pulled him deeper into the soil. As each additional bandit rushed in, new hands shot from the ground, a new enemy trapped by the power of Bryn’s Convergence Circle and Jordan’s den. The 3 remaining members of the gang avoided the trap, but Jordan managed to pick off the stragglers with some good old fashioned head shots, finishing the last one with a paralysis additive in the shoulder to increase the commission slightly.

Vince stood at the path that led from the bandit hideout to the entrance of Dregmoor. According to the plan, the largest number of enemies would be coming his way. Jordan and Bryn needed to cover the more complicated escape routes, though that meant that Vince’s role was to deal with the biggest mob. And as the first wave became visible upon leaving the main entrance, he truly felt the pressure of that responsibility.

As he began to channel his den into the convergence circle below, he remembered something that Jordan had said to him during their time working together in the past 3 days.

After a long day that was difficult on both of them, Jordan threw his arm around Vince’s shoulder and said “We have to work to live and that sucks. But once you put in the work, and you look at what you achieved, working can feel kind of fun”.

Vince thought about what Jordan said, and the future that lay ahead of him as an adventurer. The charging mob of criminals gaining in number as they ran toward him was a harsh reminder of the dangers of the job. He wouldn’t be swimming in money anytime soon, and Jordan had a habit of chewing with his mouth open and that would be difficult to be around. But he didn’t have any more time to think about it, the circle was fully charged.

“Brr” Vince whispered, as a small glacier erupted from the circle. A thick wall of ice standing at least 10 feet tall enveloped the entire mob, with each bandit stuck in the ice as if they had been lost to time. None of them were able to move, and Vince exhaled deeply, both from exhaustion and relief.

He heard a sound to his left, and looked over at the area of the marsh Jordan and Bryn said they would be coming from to meet up with him.

Jordan and Bryn had taken care of the bandits they had been assigned, with each trapped criminal being injected with a deadly poison via Bryn’s Arsenal Watch. An antidote was guaranteed to each person that turned themselves into the guild, which was morally dubious but would get them a bonus commission. They had a month to make it back to Zyphtal where the antidote was waiting for them, but they had to figure out cost of travel. After meeting at the fortress, the pair of them made their way to the Dregmoor entrance to check on Vince.

As they approached the agreed upon meeting spot, Jordan paused as he noticed footprints in the mud. He stopped Bryn, who looked at him with confusion. Approaching the road slowly, Jordan used some of the little den he had left for a short animal spirit.

“Hawk” he said, his eyes sharpening as he looked ahead.

Jordan gasped as Vince lay against a rotted tree next to the road, his left arm torn from his body and flung carelessly about 10 feet away. Above him stood a hulking demon giant, a glowing purple sword floating above him and aiming at Vince’s throat.