Stepping out the other side of the mist, a terraced garden filled with brown, black, and red flowers, vines, or trees decorated the Vampiric Wing’s entry portion.

  Only scant starlight peering through the illusionary dungeon night sky offered any illumination. Luke reflexively applied Frost Essence to his eyes, but even without that, the vision stat ensured the low light ceased to be a hindrance.

  A vampire thrall spawned, and Luke managed to get a reading on it as three stationed parties with a mix of classes and races struck it down with practiced ease.

  [Vampire Thrall] (Elite)

  Tier: 1

  Level: 28

  HP: 2300/2300

  Servant to the vampiric rulers of this bloodied wing.

  Veyri, Fleur, and Melen had come in behind Luke. Already, Veyri applied an aura cloak around the party. She sneered, “You can speak more freely with this. The babies over there won’t hear a thing. It’ll be harder for them to notice us, not that we’d need it.” Veyri thumbed toward the three groups, each arguing with the other over an uncommon item the Vampire Thrall dropped.

  Across the vast blood-themed gardens, Luke could see various monsters being spawn-killed. Bloody wisps would group, then be slaughtered from being outnumbered. A vitality sucking fly swarm appeared only to be burned by over twenty mage spells.

  The majority of what populated the gardens was a variation of those three enemy types. The issue being to Luke that every ‘spot’ in the gardens was guarded over by a party, occasionally multiple in the more dense enemy areas.

  Under this environment, the real danger in this garden was other hunters, not the monsters being ground into dust within seconds of materializing.

  Fleur, the elf mage, pushed out a hand. Winds sliced apart a path deeper into the gardens, “Bottom of the barrel here, Defier. The weakest enemies with the strongest competition for spawns, the Monic could find suitable experience, the rest of us a suitable waste of time.”

  Melen rubbed the back of his chain mail coif, “Asking either of you to stay behind would be folly if the air coming off your persons says anything.”

  Veyri trained her gaze on Luke, “You two greenbacks are here more to learn, especially you, Melen. I’m here to observe an interesting prospect. Go where he goes.”

  The edges of Fleur’s mouth tugged, “Learn from that one? I’m a higher level than him and have years of experience on the newbie Spell Sword.”

  “Yet you’re still stuck on Apprentice in your Spell Overload technique, and ‘that one’ is deep into Expert on his Elementalization. Levels will be gained in a short period—what he has over you is not something to gain overnight. Many never manage their entire career. Stay the stupid hubris, Fleur, if you have any desire to be a staple on my team in the future.”

  Fleur gripped her staff tightly, the anger radiating out of her spooked away nearby groups. Luke heard her grind her teeth. From what he could see, the elf apparently had anger issues. Melen on the other hand took to studying Luke carefully, his orb and dagger at the ready, keeping close, but not so close he’d get in the way of Luke’s melee. Veyri trailed back like a watchman.

  Compared to before, whereas hunters revered Veyri in Orlan’s Beast Divide, it followed more of a wariness here. Luke heard a Monic man complain to the side, “She’s not here to try and steal all the rares and resource spawns is she?”

  The Reaver walked through the garden pathways, the singular part of the dungeon layer not flooded with various hunters. Groups tensed at his approach, relaxing as he passed by. His trail remained unimpeded. Every hunter in the vicinity had no desire to delay a strong competitor and keep them here. The red mist would leak out harmlessly around Luke’s ankles on the dead dirt path.

  As Luke penetrated into the gardens, the ‘team’—if you could call it that—formed into a sort of triangle, the Reaver in front, Curse Weaver to the back right, and elf Mage to the back left. Veyri leisurely followed a great distance behind, speeding up when she lost sight of Luke. Coming further into the gardens, the mounds of hunters finally started to thin out, still far too dense for it to make sense to stay there.

  Trudging along for over a dozen minutes, Luke saw the bloody gardens thin out until another entryway stopped his advance. Black and blue columns line its sides. Coils of red mists moved irregularly inside the entryway. The Reaver noted that every hunter in the back ends of the gardens kept a healthy distance away from that place.

  Meaning that’d be exactly where he’d want to go, the second section of the Vampiric Wings—the Crimson Courtyard.

  Taking out Xera, Luke placed the sword in front of him. Infusion flared to the sword, and with the ability being permanent on him, he found that another free charge remained. Knowing that Infusion got him caught last time by Musai, Luke allowed the second charge to go to waste. Spell Swords buffing their weapon made sense to him, but buffing others? Not so much.

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  Judging by Melen’s and Fleur’s unsurprised reaction, Luke was right on the money. He hurried into the entryway, a thick blood mist enveloped him, popping like a bubble once he took four steps inside.

  Thin red trees lined the courtyard, blood pools—the source of the mists—remained stagnant near every odd one. Stone busts of vampire nobles decorated the sides, where monsters weaved about. A fountain fed black vines which writhed to life after a set time, attacking anyone nearby.

  An occasional column bore the weight of the stone structures defining the courtyard. Here was an overabundance of hunters as well, although not half as bad as the gardens had been. Luke inspected the gargoyle, a mix of white and yellow spawn to life on the left side of the yard area. Its sharp claws sank into a nearby elf, too slow to react.

  [Sanguine Gargoyle] (Elite)

  Tier: 1

  Level: 35

  Health: 3700/3700

  Petrified skin makes this magic construction tenacious against physical attacks. Its swipes drain life with vigor.

  The elf’s party assisted him quickly; the four-person team fought the 'tagged' Gargoyle beast strenuously. This area appeared to be more suitable to grind in compared to before, but Luke found it lacking.

  And, most of all, too crowded. This time, creatures could breathe awhile before being slaughtered on spawn, but not for long. The ‘winners’ under this condition would be those who could tag or last hit a monster more often than the other hunter groups.

  Green and grey vampire bats with mottled wings would swoop down at times to harass hunter groups that stayed in one spot for too long or when they were in the midst of fighting. The vines growing in the courtyard sprang to life, often rooting in place the more vulnerable hunters. A quick dagger strike or spell would come, the unfortunate now freed, often at the cost of taking a swipe from a bat or gargoyle.

  Luke casually meandered down the courtyard’s central stone-lined path; bats or vines would harass him every few steps. A swing from an Infusion backed Xera often cut them in half—literally.

  Fleur commented on the display, “Hmph, you’d have to be capable of at least that to get to the end. I still don’t see what’s so special about you.”

  Fleur seemed to want to say more but stopped herself. A fiery redhead’s glare weighed upon her shoulders. Melen visibly remained cautious, these monsters would be a cinch for any of his three party members, but his Cursemancer style, one with zero burst ability, would mean they were troublesome to him.

  To his fortune, Luke cleared the way, the irritated monsters having only special hatred for the Reaver. The underlying environment limited the creatures’ plans, as many were engaged before they could block Luke’s way by other hunter parties.

  Peering upwards, the night sky held the same countenance as before, with one moon. A peppering of bats flew around.

  It all felt terribly low pressure to Luke. According to the map he bought, after this area was the Blood Forge, based on Information he gathered it would be there that the first creatures to drop Beast Crystals would spawn.

  Melen called out to Luke, “You wouldn’t mind if I practice my spells on some of these bats, would you? They stick to you like blight to a rat.”

  “Suit yourself Melen, I’ll swat them away with Xera, might end up killing a couple by accident.”

  “I couldn’t ask for more,” Melen took a closer position to Luke, when a vine reached out the Reaver, Melen blasted a black mark onto the plant, and it withered slowly. Next, a blast of grey mana bounced against it, accelerating the decay.

  The process became too slow for Luke, a light tap from him with Xera, and the vine misted away. Similar outcomes became the norm for the bats and vines along the way. None apparently able to learn from their dead brethren.

  Just as Luke thought he’d be entertained by a gargoyle that managed to evade the other hunter groups around, a vortex of wind spat out wind gales around it. Followed by twisters which pierced into its chest. Finally a harsh pressured screaming wind forced it to the ground, finished off by a slicing current. Luke peered over his shoulder, staring at Fleur, who had taken upon a proud expression.

  “That all you can do?” He asked.

  “It’s the start of what I’m capable of, human. I stopped being challenged by those Gargoyles years ago.”

  “You were fighting these years ago and you’re still stuck at level 50? I pity you.”

  That struck a nerve, one great enough the wind mage elf ceased to speak. Opposite of his words, Luke gave her credit; compared to the other mages in the area, her spells packed an oversized punch. He wondered if that was due to the ‘Spell Overload’ technique Veyri mentioned off handedly.

  Feeling the tick of time, Luke picked up the pace, and Xera yawned, “Slice me into something that feels tougher than deadwood, master. These things are too easy.”

  “Working on it, Xera.”

  Close by, Melen commented, “I was told earlier your sword artifact could talk, and turn into a wand. Seeing it in person has me taken aback.”

  “You’ll get used to it soon enough, Melen. Say, what’s the point in you two coming along anyway? So far, none of us have had to work together.”

  “Veyri called it a ‘learning experience’ for me, and a ‘wake up call’ for Fleur. That archer woman knew you’d need little help until either the Blood Forge or the Shadowed Sanctum. Until then, I’m to enjoy the ride.” Putting a hide beside his mouth—a pointless gesture—Melen said, “I’ve been meaning to ask, but where is your bird companion?”

  “Sooty? She’s training, there’s no need to take her here. The Vampiric Wing is said to be the easier out of the two wings in the Ruined Realm, and I already went through the other one. If she were around, I’d have even less to do. About to start thinking I should’ve gone ahead to the Crystal Demon Point dungeon.”

  Coming up beside Luke as he walked, Melen said, “Crystal Demon Point is a unique dungeon, only eight entries a day, and four every twelve hours due to its nature. Without applying to the hunters guild for a slot in advance, you won’t get in.”

  “I’ll have to ask for one when I get back.” Luke lazily sliced two bats swooping down to attack.

  Melen put down his hand, killing the spell forming within it, “You may be out of luck, this close to the Tide, but there’s no harm in trying.”

  A faint heat began to brush against Luke’s face. A sign the Blood Forge would be in sight soon. Sure enough, after an additional five minutes down the impossibly long courtyard, a cavern appeared, looking as if it were eating the courtyard. The abyssal depths inside a pitch black until an irregular red light pulsed.

  Around Luke stood a sparsely populated hunter gathering. Here would be the sole ‘safe area’ in the Vampiric Wing. Hunters could be seen taking breaks, one even on a picnic of sorts. A few were relaxed enough to comment on any newcomers, like his team.

  Biting into a piece of fruit, a human warrior said, “Think that pair will manage the blood forge?”

  Picking at his nails, a Tora priest replied, “The Monic? He’d be a blood bag. That’s the Ice Defier next to him, if the rumors are true about him, the Blood Forge won’t be much a challenge.”

  With zero exhaustion within him, Luke calmly entered into the cavernous space separating the Blood Forge and the Crimson Courtyard, the safe point between them was unneeded.