I walked off, chuckling to myself as I left them stunned, and headed out of the gate.

  No bell rang this time. Too many people were moving in and out for it to be useful.

  “Those stats are not normal," Nabeeh said, rushing up to my side. "I've never seen anything—”

  Her words trailed off as we all took in the transformation happening before us.

  What had once been a simple cleared area allowing defenders to spot approaching monsters, was now being turned into a carefully engineered death trap.

  Workers swarmed across the killing fields, digging trenches in concentric circles around Sentinel Station. Others were hammering sharpened steelhusk stakes into the ground, all angled outward to impale any charging monsters. The only clear path was the one we stood on, leading from the station's gate into the wilderness.

  “By the three bells,” I murmured, watching a team of four adventurers carefully positioning Glowcaps—the explosive fungi we'd encountered in the Cathedral of Bone—in strategic patterns throughout the field.

  "They're turning it into a slaughterhouse," Roq said. “I like the spikes. They should add more. And acid pits. Maybe some sort of spinning blade contraption? I have IDEAS, Ash!"

  "I'm sure you do.”

  A worker nearby took a deep drink from a small vial—likely a potion to protect against the glowcaps' fumes—before joining the adventurers handling the volatile organisms. Their faces were tense with concentration as they chained the fungi together and made sure none of the monsters could wiggle free. We didn’t need any walking bombs running about.

  At the far edge of the clearing, a team of lumberjacks worked on a massive steelhusk tree. Their foreman raised his hand, and they all paused, taking deep breaths before shouting in unison:

  "Daaaaawnwatch!”

  Their axes bit into the final section of the trunk, and the enormous tree slowly listed to the side, then crashed down with a thunderous impact that echoed across the clearing.

  Nabeeh whistled in appreciation.

  "In Azbara, the prince would poison a village for such a piece of steelhusk. Our desert fortifications rely on stone and sand barriers, and they're useless against the larger monsters. We fight them on horseback over days instead." She shook her head. "Much more dangerous than a fortress like Dawnwatch."

  Knut grunted in approval.

  "Northern forts better with steelhusk cladding for logs. Strong against cold, strong against monsters."

  “Listen to them singing,” Eryn said, and pointed toward a group of workers digging in the trenches. They sang as they worked, a rhythmic tune carrying across the field.

  "Their song lacks bloodlust," Roq said. "My tavern drinking songs are much better. 'Oh the blood flows red when the hammer meets head!' Now THAT'S a proper tune!"

  I was about to respond when I spotted a familiar group making their way out of the wilderness. Richard, the classed warrior who’d commanded one of the other groups in the dungeon raid, led his party of five back toward Sentinel Station. They looked tired but unharmed.

  “Why’s Richard coming back at this hour?” I asked, nodding toward the group.

  "Two melee, one healer, one archer, and a fire mage," Roq observed. "Balanced, but boring. Not a soul weapon among them. I'd wager your left finger. They are truly inferior.”Richard spotted us and raised a hand in greeting, and we walked up to meet them.

  "Ash! Good to see you all,” he said as they drew near. “Heading out?”

  “Yup. Thought we’d be among the first,” I replied, clasping his forearm. "What brings you out so early?"

  Richard gestured back toward the wilderness.

  "Night scouting run. With the lack of attacks on Sentinel Station, Commander Edwin wanted to verify there aren't any larger groups of monsters waiting just out of sight at night.”

  "And?" Eryn asked, stepping forward, nodding at Lydia, Richard’s healer.

  "Nearly no roaming monsters," Lydia said. "Only the territorial ones in their usual haunts. Which is good."

  “Nothing interesting then?" I asked.

  Richard exchanged glances with his party members before swiping a strange-looking carcass onto the ground between us.

  "Just this... thing. And three like it."

  We all leaned forward to examine the creature. I'd never seen anything like it. Iridescent scales, like that of a fish, covered a serpentine body with multiple limbs jutting out at odd angles. Its head was flat and triangular with no visible eyes.

  "They attacked us out near Shimmer Springs," Richard continued. "Almost as if they were attempting an ambush. Heard them coming, though. They were way too loud. Which was even more odd."

  Eryn touched the sigil next to her eye, activating her identification ability. Her expression shifted from curiosity to surprise.

  "It's a Shimmerscale. Never heard of one before.”

  “Ugly,” Knut said. “Poor design.”

  "Touch me to it," Roq demanded suddenly. "I want to feel it."

  I considered asking why, but instead just nudged Roq against the creature's flank.

  “It is new.”

  "Fast as lightning and twice as dangerous," Richard's archer added, shaking his head. "Never seen anything move like that before. I say we’re lucky that our full party was out or someone might have gotten hurt. Badly."

  Knut barked a laugh.

  "Nothing is twice as dangerous as lightning. We fought a lightning monster and know what we're talking about."

  “What do you mean?”

  “I didn’t know what it was before we touched it. That’s never happened before. Logically that means it was made after you rescu… after I nobly escaped the hive mind’s evil captivity.”

  “Or it could just be a monster you never met?”

  “I’d never met the Titanfang or the Bramblebacks. Or the Shardfang.”

  “Yes, but I used my sigil on those.”

  “I knew their names before you did.”

  Nabeeh knelt beside the creature, studying it with intense curiosity.

  “Perhaps the rift is evolving. In Azbara, whenever we had great success, the monsters always changed."

  Richard's fire mage frowned.

  "That's news to me. Here, if there is a response at all, it's increased numbers. Forces us to adapt and survive the wave, and then it settles down to the previous pattern."

  "Then why destroy the breeding chamber?" Nabeeh asked, looking up at me.

  "It gives us time to catch up and get stronger," I explained, gesturing toward the killing fields. "So even if more monsters come at us after, we'll have an easier time slaying them."

  Nabeeh nodded slowly.

  "Makes sense in a way, but I've always seen new species appear after major dungeon raids. I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going on. I would even bet on it."

  “Why did you never mention this before?”

  “Why should I? Doesn’t matter what it’s called. We see, we slay, and that’s that.”

  "New monsters mean new dangers," Knut said gravely. "Need t be extra careful."

  Lydia nodded in agreement.

  "Do be careful, especially since you're not a full party, and you're going with one unclassed." She glanced apologetically at Eryn, who stiffened slightly.

  "We're only hunting Shardfangs today," I said. "No detours."

  "Good hunting, then," Richard said, and with a final nod, his party continued toward Sentinel Station.

  We set off down the path, leaving the bustling activity of the killing fields behind us. The forest beyond was changing too—more workers were thinning the trees, expanding the zone of visibility around the station far beyond what it had been even just a few weeks ago.

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  “Seems they're cutting as much steelhusk as they can in the break,” Eryn said. "I've never seen this many workers out here."

  We passed a particularly massive steelhusk, easily thirty feet across. A team of lumberjacks worked to crack its bark.

  "Lumberyard emptied,” Knut said. "All harvesting.”

  I shook my head, amazed at the transformation.

  "It's incredible how quickly they're changing the landscape. Humanity will not go quietly into the night. The monsters will grow to regret the day they decided to invade Noros. Mark my words."

  "Then we wouldn't have met," Roq pointed out. "Would you have preferred that?"

  "Would you have preferred if your own world hadn't been invaded?" I asked, unable to hold back at all his rambling.

  There was a pause before Roq responded, his voice subdued.

  "I don't remember my world or my life, only the glimpses the Hive Mind showed us. I am sure I’d rather they didn’t invade. I think. But I am glad I got picked up by you and I was forged into a hammer instead of being stuck as a slave to the hive mind.”

  "It's good they're working hard on protection," Nabeeh said, interrupting my silent conversation. "Sometimes in Azbara, the land riftside seems to be as dangerous as the monsters themselves."

  "What do you mean?" Eryn asked.

  Nabeeh gestured expansively.

  "Early on in Azbara, we stripped an area around a rift bare and brought all the materials back to Noros, only to find the land starting to collapse. Monsters were tunneling beneath the ground. Made it near impossible for adventurers to fight riftside. Took two years of brutal battle to establish another beachhead."

  Knut scoffed slightly.

  "No land alive. But monsters adapt. Like wolves when prey change."

  "I wonder what the hive mind is doing now," I said, more to myself than the others.

  "The hive mind doesn't care about trees, I tell you that. Just look at its home,” Roq said dismissively. "It cares about conquest and consumption. And getting me back."

  Knut turned to me, his brow furrowed.

  "Still not understand how stats so high. Even with class transformation."

  "It is weird," I admitted. "I think it might be because of all the hunting we did as scavengers."

  Nabeeh shook her head firmly.

  "No, that's not it. As I said, it's normal for scavengers in Azbara to fight alongside adventurers, and I've never seen stats like yours before."

  "Maybe it was the speed of his rise," Eryn suggested, raising her eyebrows meaningfully at Knut.

  Knut frowned for a moment, then his expression cleared as he understood she was referring to Roq. He nodded sagely.

  "Yes, that is likely why."

  "Camel crap," Nabeeh said flatly. “I’ve seen several prince’s stats, and they are force-fed enough mind gems to become classed in no time. There's something you're not telling me."

  I just shrugged, and she narrowed her eyes.

  "What's a Hammerlord anyway?" she pressed. "Never heard of that class."

  "I think it's related to my upbringing as a smith," I said and smiled. "And how I fight with, you know, a hammer."

  "TELL HER I'M A SOUL WEAPON!" Roq shouted in my mind. "Tell her I'm the source of your INCREDIBLE POWER! I want to see her face when she realizes she's in the presence of GREATNESS!"

  Nabeeh's eyes narrowed further. "There's something off about this whole situation."

  "You'll find we're not quite a normal group," Eryn said. "Will you be comfortable keeping secrets?"

  Nabeeh suddenly grew wary, her posture stiffening.

  “I find it strange you chose to have this discussion riftside, and not in our home together. If I say no, am I going to have an accident?"

  I blinked in shock.

  "What? Of course not! Who do you think we are? Benedict?”

  Knut laughed loudly.

  “Simply time to talk now. If you tell secrets, you out. If you want out, leave.”

  Nabeeh looked among us as we walked along our familiar path.

  "Do these secrets involve anything illegal? And will they put me in danger?"

  "Nothing illegal," I said. "As for danger? You’re an adventurer. We’re always in danger.”

  She nodded slowly. "I'm fine with secrets. Everyone has them, including me."

  "Good," I said, relieved at not having to kick her out of the party before she’d even have the chance to become one of us . "Now, let's talk strategy for the hunt."

  Knut grinned broadly, slapping his chest plate.

  “Most handsome draw attention. Make rock puppies angry. They bite Knut, break teeth on new armor. You slay.”

  Nabeeh laughed, some of the tension leaving.

  “Oh, I’d like to see that,” she said, clapping Knut on his back.

  "Today is about getting used to hunting as a group of four," I said. "We've done the dungeon run, but this is different." Everyone nodded in agreement. "Nabeeh, what size is your storage?"

  "Ten slots," she replied.

  Eryn's eyes lit up. "Then we have space for nearly fifty carcasses between us. Brilliant!"

  "I want bigger foes," Roq grumbled. "These Shardfangs are beneath us now."

  "If you want bigger foes, then help show how simple these easy foes are. Then we kill bigger ones. Besides, glory doesn't help us grow powerful. Carcasses and gems do."

  “Grumble.”

  I chuckled and spun him in my hands.

  * * *

  The Ironclad Ravine lay below us, stretching left to right, its walls of striated stone shot through with metallic quartz veins. The ground was littered with razor-sharp stone fragments, and the air carried a distinct mineral scent, almost like blood mixed with rust.

  We paused at the edge and looked out at the area before us.

  "I look forward to scorching things," Nabeeh said, twirling her staff, and nearly dropping it. Again. "This almost reminds me of home. If it wasn't so wet here. And there’s no sand.”Eryn pointed to fresh paw marks along the bottom. “Those look recent. A large pack it seems. Usually they don’t move around much. Weird.”

  I scrambled down with Knut and examined the tracks in the dusty ground. "Looks to be at least eight, maybe more."

  Knut stood with hands on hips and inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring.

  “Smell them. Stone and blood."

  “Monster crap,” Eryn called down from behind us.

  Nabeeh laughed, and I grinned at Knut.

  "Go ahead and get aggressive. Let's see what you can draw out."

  Knut nodded eagerly and strode down the ravine, following the prints, banging his mace against the shield Pa had lent him while he worked on a proper one.

  “Rock Puppies!" he bellowed. “Come out! Uncle Knut’s here to bash skulls!”

  "Is he always like this?" Nabeeh asked Eryn, and I looked up, exchanging a glance with my girlfriend, before bursting out laughing.

  "Always," she said, taking an arrow from her quiver.

  Nabeeh joined me in the ravine, trailing several steps behind me as I followed Knut. Eryn moved along the ledge, making sure to keep up. Howling and growls interrupted Knut’s call for battle, and eight Shardfangs appeared from under a ridge, picking up speed and full-on running to get to us. They were wolf-sized creatures with thick, nearly rock-tough hide that blended into the stone of the ravine, and heads dominated by massive jaws lined with translucent quartz teeth.

  “Puppies!” Knut shouted in joy, and then he charged them.

  Nabeeh touched my shoulder, muttering an incantation, and Roq's head lit up with flame as her spell enhanced my weapon.

  I whooped and ran after Knut, not wanting to let him steal all my experience. An arrow whistled past overhead, striking a Shardfang in the face and killing it.

  Knut met the seven remaining Shardfangs, smashing into the pack, his shield catching the first Shardfang mid-leap and sending it flying.

  The creatures smashed into him, three of them just bouncing off and whining like dogs, while the others slowed and surrounded him. They slashed their claws at him, but Knut danced in between them, blocking with his shield, and swiping with his mace. The claws and teeth that did manage to get through, simply slid off his heavy armor.

  "Come, puppies!" Knut laughed, taunting them. "Bite harder! Break teeth!"

  Nabeeh cast a Fireball at one Shardfang, knocking it sideways, but it got back up, singed but largely unhurt, and she cursed. They must have decent fire resistance, which was a terrible setup for someone who relied on fire magic.

  “Feed me,” Roq said, and somehow his spirit didn't seem in it.

  I caught up with Knut, swinging Roq in precise strikes. Each one connected with devastating force, killing Shardfangs as if they were real puppies.

  "What do you feel? Is it different than before?" I asked Roq, mid swing.

  Nabeeh cast another fire spell, and flames engulfed a Shardfang's body. It yelped and started thrashing on the ground, this time burning from the inside out.

  "It still tastes sweet," Roq replied. "But weird. Still stuck."

  Nabeeh fit in well with our normal rhythm. Knut held their attention, and then I danced around them, delivering killing blows, while Nabeeh and Eryn picked off single targets from a safe distance. The mage kept her space and stayed halfway between us and Eryn, close to the ravine wall.

  The sound of more Shardfangs making their way toward us picked up and screeches and scraping claws echoed from two directions.

  "More incoming!" Eryn shouted down from her perch.

  "Two groups! Five and six each!"

  Nabeeh turned and ran to join Eryn, climbing up the ravine wall with great ease. "I'll protect her!" she called back. "You two fight on!"

  "We need to get them all," I said to Knut, positioning myself back-to-back with him. “They need to focus on us.”

  Knut nodded grimly.

  “I am wall. Monsters break on me.”

  The two new packs of Shardfangs surged in, and one of the monsters died instantly as it triggered a fire trap Nabeeh cast from beside Eryn. It was flung into the air by the pillar of flame, its limbs going limp and steam rising from its stone-like skin.

  The two girls worked in tandem, slaying every other beast as Eryn loosed arrows and Nabeeh cycled through Immolation, Fire Trap, and Fireballs.

  Knut and I fought back-to-back, our shields holding them off while our weapons did the heavy work.

  Worried about Roq's unusual quiet in the face of carnage, I chatted him up between my strikes.

  "Do you still feel nothing?"

  "It's like... eating when you’re full!" Roq replied, frustration evident in his voice. "I can feel the power, but it has nowhere to go! Like... like when Knut drinks too much beer! It enters his mouth, he tastes it, but it just flows back out."

  "Maybe you need time to digest the power you've gained," I suggested mentally as I killed another Shardfang. "Then it will break through by itself?"

  "I DON'T HAVE A STOMACH, ASH!" Roq shouted, exasperated. "It’s an analogy!"

  I mentally shrugged and focused on the battle, striking down monster after monster as they threw themselves at us. Finally, the last of the Shardfangs fell, and the ravine floor was littered with carcasses.

  Nabeeh sat down on the ledge, panting heavily.

  "Is this how you always hunt? This is insane!"

  "Never... this many at once," Eryn replied, her bow lowered next to her. “Except once when Knut decided to experiment with fire and Glowcaps. Usually, we have to search for smaller packs of Shardfangs.”

  Knut examined his armor, which was barely scratched.

  "Taunting bring few. This many? Strange."

  "It was surprisingly efficient though,” Nabeeh admitted, wiping at her sweaty brow. "In my previous party, we would have spent thrice as long to take down half as many. Shadestealer knows it's less risky, though."

  Before we could discuss further, the sound of even more Shardfangs rushing through the ravine echoed off the walls. Seven more came sprinting over the ledge, nearly tumbling down the steep bank as they tried to get to us first.

  * * *

  A long while later, we stood amidst the wreckage of our extended battle. The ravine floor was a scene of utter carnage, with over sixty Shardfang carcasses scattered across the stone. Even with my higher-than-usual stats, I was breathing heavily, and Knut and I were stained with dust and monster ichor.

  "It's like... the entire population of the ravine just threw themselves at us," Eryn said, shaking her head in disbelief as she walked among the slain. “Not that I mind. It was good practice and all.”

  "Insane. Crazy monsters,” Knut said. “Like rabid dogs.”

  "This isn't hunting; it's... a massacre," Nabeeh said, yawning, where she sat on the ground, legs crossed, trying to meditate and get her heart rate down enough to start the mana regeneration. "Something's driving them. That can be the only reason."

  “You mean the hive mind?” I suggested. “Think this is its response to us smashing its home?”

  "If it is, then it's not as smart as we feared," Eryn said, gesturing at the piles of dead monsters. "This isn't doing anything but filling our storages, no matter how freaky the numbers are."

  Knut examined his armor, pointing to spots that were barely scratched. “Test for Pa's work. Armor hold. Good job, Pa."

  Suddenly, Roq shrieked in delight, and I jerked as his mental voice boomed in my mind. "It’s here! It’s here!"

  A surge of fear ran through me as I processed his words. It? The hive mind?

  "What's here? What's wrong?"

  "If anything can get me my breakthrough, it's THIS!" Roq exclaimed, exultant. "I can feel it!"

  "What in the dried well is that?" Nabeeh said.

  I turned to follow where she was looking at and felt the corners of my lips rise.