The [System] announced my increase to level 31. Nine more to go till I unlocked my next technique.

  I looted the Goblin Captain for an ear and a new item called a Goblin Finger . . . which looked exactly like the name implied. Another alchemical ingredient. Pity that I didn’t know any Alchemists.

  The Goblin Captain withered to dust and dispersed in the wind. A rather anticlimactic end for a monster of his power. I wasn’t sure how I’d managed to pull off a win, but I frequently survived the odds. According to my traits, at least.

  “Watch out, Damien!”

  A large Dread Tiger and its accompanying Goblin Rider barreled toward me from out of cover. I raised both arms to defend myself, but with [Silhouette] reforming in my shadow, it would only prove futile—

  The Dread Tiger slammed into an invisible pane of force which threw it and its rider onto the ground. Kajal landed between them, sporting a subtle glow on her fists.

  She jabbed the Dread Tiger: once in the face and twice in the ribs. A ripple emanated from each point of contact, dealing both physical and magical damage. The wounded Dread Tiger tried to mount a comeback, only to find itself crushed beneath an invisible wave of force.

  The Goblin Rider fared much better. He didn’t seem to possess an affinity, but he made up for it by being twice as ferocious. He wove between Kajal’s impressive display of [Martial Arts] and screamed in her face. His dagger strike landed cleanly on her cheek.

  I flared my aura to provide support . . .

  It didn’t change the outcome.

  The goblin overextended on his next strike and crashed into the telekinetic power that Kajal controlled. It launched him into the air, then tugged him back down again. She punched him repeatedly, combining her blows with [Telekinesis] to keep him juggled.

  Her combo ended with another pull, and then she shoved her open palm through his chest.

  I whistled as she wrung her hand free of blood. “What the hell was that?”

  “[Ki-empowered Strikes],” she said nonchalantly. “You should pay more attention to your surroundings, Damien. You know better than that.”

  “Do I?”

  Kajal smirked. “That was some quick thinking back there, interrupting the Goblin Sorcerers before they could finish. I didn’t expect their captain to try to kill us alongside his people.”

  “They’re animals,” I started to say and stopped. That wasn’t right, was it? The Goblin Captain had displayed the capacity for complex thought and existential dilemma, even though his methods were cruel.

  I retrieved the Chain Nails and The Mirror of Remembrance, looking for any excuse to occupy my thoughts.

  Kajal shivered at the sight. “Where did you get that?”

  “The mirror? I found it abandoned in the Labyrinth.”

  A small frown tugged at her lips. “That’s a dangerous item, Damien.”

  “I suppose.”

  “No. Listen to me. You don’t ever want to use it lightly.”

  Too late for that now. “As long as I win, I don’t care what method I use.” I recalled the extra sets of combat chains in my possession. “Here”—I tossed her a pair—“Should come in handy.”

  Kajal inspected the weapons. “Chains of the Combat Ape, huh? Sounds nifty. Though I don’t think I’m skilled with these.”

  Stating the proper name of the weapon confirmed her ability to use [Identify]. “Pretty handy, eh?” I said. “You can attach daggers to it to unlock the meld perk. It’s great for climbing vertical surfaces and trapping your enemies.”

  Kajal tried a few moves with the chains. My jaw dropped to my chest. It had taken me weeks with all my Dexterity to achieve half her level of competence. Should I have chosen the Monk class, after all?

  I looked out over the water which glowed red in the light of the setting sun. “We’re gonna have a hard time finding the others, huh? Div surfaced a few minutes earlier, but she vanished on me without notice. I wonder where she went off to.”

  “Probably summoned back to Medekeine’s side.” Kajal shelved the weapons. “Her appearance confirms the fact that he lives, at least.”

  Of course, the dwarf would survive. Terrible people rarely ever get their comeuppance in life. “What about the others . . .”

  “Logain’s alive.” Kajal said, “What about Paz? Can’t you tell?”

  “I’m not a telepath.”

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  “Not that, dummy. The Party System. Do you not use it?”

  “Party System?”

  Kajal cocked her head. “Didn’t you learn that from your tutors? How else do you keep track of those who join their fate with yours?”

  I’d never heard of such a thing. But, just in case, I focused on a spot in front of me and whispered the words.

  A [System] screen appeared.

  “What the hell?” I said. “It actually exists!”

  The Party System screen contained a single page composed of tables. My name occupied the top of the screen alongside a large section with the prompt: [Enter Party Name].

  Below that, ten rows represented the profiles of each member of my party. Only the top two had been filled; the other eight remained empty. However, I was more interested in the symbols that accompanied each name.

  A circular symbol stood out among the others, indicating condition. Despite being colored red and green respectively for Paz and Nicola, it displayed a single term: Alive.

  Kajal watched the look of relief spread across my face. “You’re kidding. You really didn’t know?”

  I answered with a nod. This would have saved me a lot of grief if I had access to it in the Labyrinth. Why was the [System] so determined to get me to play on hard mode?

  “What was your tutorial quest about?” Kajal asked.

  “I had to find a village and unlock my inventory within twenty-four hours.”

  “What for?”

  “Because of the spirit orbs . . . Hold on, do you not use those?”

  A familiar orb appeared in Kajal’s palm. It misted in the breeze, tangible and intangible at the same time. “Of course I do. I consume one a day automatically. But, the masters had a few orbs preserved from antiquity in anticipation of my arrival.”

  I didn’t know what to say. That was so unfair. It meant she didn’t face the same race to hit level 10 as I did. Not that I wished that for anyone. She also apparently didn’t receive any [System] errors. Was I truly the impostor between us? I’d earned the skill, after all . . .

  A section of the Party System screen, one tucked into the upper left corner, depicted my available spirit orbs and the countdown till the Apocalypse.

  It currently listed 78 orbs and 337 days. I still had enough spirit orbs to carry me comfortably through the next two months. The impending Apocalypse, however, remained daunting.

  “What more can you tell me about the Party System?” I asked, shifting the topic to one that wouldn’t trigger my righteous indignation.

  “What’s left to say?” Kajal said. “You can inspect the status sheet of all your teammates with it, and you can also find potential recruits. The masters say that ranking up provides more options, but I’ve met little success so far.”

  I could find potential recruits?

  A search icon near the party name proved her right. It opened a map with a bunch of markers: all of which moved about to signify roaming people. These were rankers that the [System] considered worthy enough to join the fight against the Apocalypse . . . as long as I could convince them.

  The markers in relative proximity to us seemed to represent Wood Elves. Hell, if we followed them, we could even find the Wood King’s domain!

  “That was always the plan,” Kajal said after I shared my thoughts with her. “But, without a guide, we’ll struggle to avoid the goblin patrols or convince his sentries.”

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” I said. “I guess it’s impossible to find our teammates using this system?”

  “That function doesn’t exist at our current rank. We just have to hope we run into them at some point. If the div was just here, chances are that she would lead Medekeine in our direction.”

  “Yeah . . .” Yeah right.

  Div probably hated me after I refused her request to grant her a true name. She was bound to obey Medekeine’s orders, but nothing stopped her from hiding the truth if left unasked.

  I fiddled around with the Party System some more, mostly to check on Nicola who remained at level 25. It felt strange being able to read the status sheet of someone other than me, almost like an invasion of privacy.

  For that reason, I refrained from opening Paz’s sheet. He possessed a skill that he didn’t want me to learn about: a decision I needed to respect.

  Kajal settled on a fallen log. “We just have to wait. We’ll give Medekeine a few hours to show up, and then we’ll find some shelter for the night. This ambush would have turned out a lot worse if the goblins had waited for [Nightfall].”

  “True that.” I joined her on the log.

  The smoke that wafted on the horizon eventually thinned out, but it didn’t make me feel any better if it meant that a goblin army was currently on the march.

  My ears perked up at the sound of rustling. A large creature moved nearby in the forest. Kajal and I adopted defensive positions only for Medekeine, with Div in tow, to emerge from the greenwood.

  The dwarf had abandoned [Bestial Shape] to return to his normal form. He shot us a haughty smirk, which looked fitting on his roughshod face.

  “Kajal,” he greeted, “elf. That was one hell of a battle, wasn’t it? Congratulations on making it out alive. It seems you surface dwellers have grown hardier than I remember.”

  Was that praise or insult?

  “Is this all that is left of our party?” he asked.

  “No,” Kajal said. “But, it will have to do. We’ll seek out the Wood King on our own and hope for an eventual reunion. We will, however, refrain from traveling after dark.”

  “No real dwarf fears the night.”

  “You must be mistaken then. I am no dwarf.”

  “A pity,” Medekeine said. “Strong women like you can easily achieve great deeds in Alam?.”

  I ignored their banter to watch Div inspect the broken wagon. She walked past me with her head bent, expression reserved. Nothing in her body language implied resentment, but I knew better than to assume that was the case.

  She was a monster, after all.

  Div managed to get the wagon up and rolling again, allowing us to follow the Party System toward the highest concentration of potential allies. Paz, Logain, and Dilwan were nowhere to be found, but I didn’t worry too much about it now that I had been reassured.

  Our journey was uneventful for the most part. Div and Kajal offered words only when asked, while Medekeine seemed content to mumble to himself.

  At night, we found shelter atop the deridum trees, watching the constellations blink out of existence behind the veil of [Nightfall]. As with the night before, my senses sharpened under the strange magic. [Silhouette] grew more restless, itching to prowl.

  Kajal and Medekeine slept on nearby trees, snoring in the latter’s case. Div slumbered within the dwarf’s inventory, trapped in her cage. No one would notice if I took the chance to wander, would they?

  So, wander I did.