"Do not fear the dark. Fear what it is f you to bee."~Unknown

  Leo's eyes remained on ReachHope's headquarters, the building now standing much closer than before. From his perch, the golden fshes of lightning along the walls were now impossible to miss, their brightness almost blinding. They appeared every few seds, rushing along the surface like a speeding train.

  Pulling his gaze away, Leo blinked away the slight stinging in his eyes. Evidently, staring at fshes of unknown in wasn't the best for his vision. Who could have known?

  The color is pretty much the same as the ball of light that arrived with my task rewards... Is it Ether? That would make se be made into items that protect you from Voidlings, after all…

  Yet, one important question remained. How did this safe zone even e to exist in the first pce? Did the group create it, or was it here sihe beginning of the Outbreak?

  And then there is the part about it being temporary... Leo frowned, leaning against the trunk as his eyes jumped between the safe zone's windows. The System be helpful at times, so a temporary pce to hide isn't that much of a stretch. Still, somehow I doubt that's the case here.

  Not that he had a way to firm it without talking to the survivors inside. Identify still refused to work on the building, and during the st week, Leo never had a ce to learn more about safe zones…

  No, that was wrong. He had a ce, a few of them even. However, other matters made him fet this subject whe Loraveler. There was just too much happening back then.

  Nikra might have known too. Leo noted. Even if she has been dead for a long time, that woman knows more than she probably should.

  It ossibility that as soon as the a entity woke up, she could enlighten Leo about the safe zones and their creatio, Nikra, at best, should be a backup pn, not the primary source of information in this case.

  This piece of knowledge was just too important to leave to such a big gamble. So, if those survivors could tell him whether they created this safe zone or just cimed it as their own, then Leo had to find a way to ask them.

  Not personally, though. Don't want to show myself to them just yet. He sched his brow. For now, I maybe add it to the favor from the trio. And if that doesn't work... Well, I was told I look scary as fuck. It shouldn't be much of a problem getting this info out of anyone who strays too far from the safe zone. A st resort if nothing else works.

  Of course, all of Leo's pns depended on the survivors inside being friendly. Not to him, but defio the trio. He had no delusions that other humans would wele him with anything other than a bullet in the head if he appeared before them out of the blue. Well, that or a scream loud enough to wake the entire Wolford.

  Good thing then that I don't pn to join them. All I need is to know if Ava and Adam are inside. And then... then I will decide what's .

  There was also the possibility that madness had long since cimed the octs of the safe zone, and they attacked everything in sight. Not that Leo wao even dwell on that particur sario. Holy, he had no idea what he should do if that were the case, so it was better to leave the choice for when it was needed.

  Also, I o know if this safe zone stop me... That's too big of an unknown to be left for too long. Gono find a good moment to test it.

  Nodding, Leo averted his gaze from the building, his eyes once more straying to the odd half-domes of Vetilim. Not domes, ant hills. He quickly corrected. Identify pretty much firmed that just a few minutes ago, after all.

  y... Wonder if that just means multiple s or if there is more to it than that. Not that the former isn't w enough.

  Leo had never imagihat there was even more to s. Their existence was scary enough, and then he had already heard about those so-called 'ing Gates' that formed ier some time. Yet, now he learhat ies could also exist.

  Why othing be simple in this bloody world? Leo grumbled, his gaze zily drifting over the 'trainyard.' I hoped that at least s were fug simple, but evidently not... System, anything to add?

  This time, the mysterious entity remained silent.

  Leo's shoulders sagged. He was beginning to expeuch from the System. Not his fault, though; it was just too helpful tely…

  Still, would be o know if a y has to be created by Voidlings of the same subspecies. I mean, if that's the case, those things have to be rarer than Tainted Wastends.

  There was also the possibility that ies could only be created by Ameists, but somehow Leo doubted that. That would be too good to be true, especially in this new messed-up reality.

  Shit... I really am a ball of sunshine. Leo snorted, rising from his perch, Esseirring. Time to go back... There are definitely people inside — no reason to waste any more time.

  Yet, just as Leo prepared to drop from the tree, the huge pnts in the distance, close to one of the ant hills, stirred. Bdes of grass darted to the sides, waving like a fg and almost exposing the ground they hid with their size. Yet before that could happen, they snapped bato pce while the grass o them picked up the movement.

  As if something was rushing through the area…

  Leo followed the swaying of the rowth with narrowed eyes. While it began at the half-dome, now the bustling of pnts was nearing a street that led straight to ReachHope's headquarters. Or rather, it was a road in the past, now rown like everything else. However, pared to the trainyard area, the grass oreet should barely reach a human's waist.

  This predi quickly proved true as multiple figures burst out of the rowth and onto the road, now no longer hidden by the colossal pnts. Ameists made up most of the group, with four Minions and one quickly identified Warrior that possessed two additional ncer arms at the front and chitin as white as snow.

  Not that those weak creatures captured much of Leo's attention. He only skimmed over them before putting his full focus owo humans sprinting toward the safe zone.

  It was hard to make out their plete features from Leo's angle and distance, but the duo was undoubtedly prised of two women. By the knives, gers, held in their hands, it also wasn't too hard to figure out their css.

  Awakened Human | LVL: 7Awakened Human | LVL: 6

  Not bad, but what will you do? Those ants might not be to, but it's still two versus five…

  Reag the safe zone and hiding there seemed like an obvious answer. However, the moment the duo arrived at the walls of the building, Leo quickly learned h he was.

  The entrance doors burst open, and a group of six ran out, their ons at the ready. Without wasting a moment, half of them rushed to joiwo assassins, who separated and were now leading the Ameists in circles. The other half stayed at a safe distawo nog their arrows, while, eared to be a single mage, raised his hand, fme flickering across his fingers.

  They were baiting them here…

  As the group joined and desded upon the poor ants, it became evident that there was no other expnation. They reacted too fast, too eagerly, almost like they had dohis tens of times before.

  They probably did. With almost no other Voidlings here, they use the as an opportunity to level. Good pn, but... Leo's mind fshed to the System's warning about the y. I bet this will bite them in the ass if they abuse it too much... There is no way that such a colossal gathering of Voidlings doesn't have a way to escate things…

  Leo shook his head, once more focused otle. With the number advahe winner now became obvious, but he was still curious about how such a rge group fought.

  Squinting his eyes, Leo watched as the three warriors at the front shielded their group with almost transparent shields of Essence held in their free hands. Ohe onsught stopped momentarily, the humaaliated, attag with everything they had.

  Arrows, swords, daggers, hell, even small bursts of fire fell oated ants, their hissing filling the area. The group worked quite well together, c each other and attag in synization whehey could. Not even the single Warrior Ameist could do anything.

  And they know how to avoid the acid and work together to some degree. Leo mused as one warrior danced away from a falle, letting two glowing arrows finish the beast. The same arrow enha skill that Laura used…

  The rge group tio sughter their way through the ants, and while their teamwork and use of abilities were fasating to watch, something else caught Leo's attention halfway through the fight. Something he should have taken notice of earlier.

  They have items. And not on ones... Identify didn't work on equipment from this distance, but there was no need for it when those items were so easy to see.

  The dark leather armor the warriors wore couldn't be missed by ah eyes. It just didn't fit the old, modern world uhere were people in Wolford who possessed a armors just for the fun of it. And evehe barely visible symbols engraved into the hard material made that even harder to believe, especially when they fshed with an almost unnoticeable blue glow.

  And even if those aren't higher-grade items, that bow and sword definitely are…

  Both ons were red, the color flowing over them like freshly spilled blood. It was unnatural, unlike anything Leo had ever seen, and that was without adding their odd and fancy appearao the mix.

  Those things have to be at least Rare... But where did you get those? Crimson Mirages, or am I missing something important?

  Leo had never cared about items too much. What he received, he was happy with. To him, items were rare finds, at least for now. However, he just might have been wrong.

  Maybe the safe zone had unique loot inside? Fuck... And now I have another shit to figure out.

  Blowing out a long breath, he settled once more to watch as the group fihe st Voidlings. They all exged some pats, hugs, and quite loud words, but not loud enough for Leo to catch the gist of them. They were just too far.

  Still, they seem pretty sao me. He grunted as his feet met the earth again. The sight of the group dragging the dead Warrior Ameist into the safe zone definitely earned a raised eyebrow, but it wasn't important enough for Leo to stay here any longer.

  He had a very iing versation with the trio ahead of him. Leo just hoped they cooled down enough for them to have a civilized discussion.

  And wasn't it ironic that he was the one w about it? He was the monster here, after all. Humans sometimes didn't make sense.

  Ah, whatever. Leo huffed, the grass slowly growing smaller as he weaved through the rowth. At least Dyn should be smart enough to talk like a normal person. The other two? They don't really matter in the long run...

  Chaos65