“Are you quite certain he’s alive?” Pall’Eth’s voice carried an unusual note of tension as he addressed the goblin before him, who was standing at awkward attention.

  “We just received a message from our agents stationed at the Resistance Headquarters, sir. The status of the Queen is unknown, but multiple sources identified the stranger leaving the fortress at speed.”

  “Did they give any indication as to his condition? His goals after leaving?” Pall’Eth pressed.

  “None at all, sir. Just that he’s alive and that he left.”

  Pall’Eth considered for a moment, then dismissed the communications officer. The pit of worry in his stomach only grew more tense as he considered just how wrong everything had gone. The Courier’s survival was bad enough, but that was only the beginning of his troubles. Jell’Or had gone completely dark, and the recon teams they sent out followed shortly afterward. News always tended to travel slowly from the frontier town, given the relative lack of trade to the main cities of Er’Mithren, and the Council had no idea how long their communications had been downed.

  While the investigation was still formally ongoing, Pall’Eth had his theories. The Courier circumvented the city entirely during his initial trip, something the Council felt was odd, given his involvement in Prindas. Was it possible that the Courier – the Onyx Warrior – had allied with the Resistance? It would explain why he was able to walk out of the Resistance Headquarters without anybody trying to stop him. It would explain his involvement with the shrikes inside their territory.

  “You were never here to make a delivery,” Pall’Eth mused. “You were a plant from the beginning. Somehow she brought in assistance from off-world…”

  The communications officer turned back, reopening the door before it could fully close. “Sir, did you need something?”

  Pall’Eth shook his head. “Nothing at the moment. Just be ready, I may have need of you soon.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The goblin left, and this time Pall’Eth waited to ensure the door was closed before he turned, beginning to pace about the room. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. The only piece that still eluded him was just how the queen managed to get in touch with the off-worlders. Maybe the Verdant Republic reached out to them as well? If so, they’d been played for fools. Maybe the Resistance had as well.

  The Council believed that these strange goblins from the skies were benevolent, coming to them with an offer of partnership and belonging across the stars. But what if they were hoping to get a better read on the planet? Search for weaknesses, vulnerabilities? In that case, it was natural that they reached out to the Resistance. And after the Council fell, the Verdant Republic was in a perfect position to step in, seize control, and either assimilate the Resistance or stomp them out. Diabolical.

  One thing was certain, Pall’Eth would need to make preparations in case Mayhew returned. Fortunately, he had time.

  ~~~

  [DR. MAYHEW, ARE YOU CERTAIN THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY MORE MANA TO SPARE?]

  Somehow, there was a hint of pouting in C.H.A.D.D.’s voice. Unfortunately for the drone, however, Kyle had built up quite a resistance, given the nearly incessant repetition since they got back on the trail toward Er’Mithren.

  “C.H.A.D.D., I’m already passing as much as I can right now. We can’t afford to slow down.”

  [THE SOONER I REPLENISH THE SEED’S RESERVES, THE SOONER I WILL BE ABLE TO EXPERIMENT WITH THE NEW FINDINGS FROM THE STRANGLEVINES.]

  Kyle sighed. “We don’t have time right now. Once we’re back at the Hub, we’ll get some dedicated meditation time where you can draw more.”

  [THAT IS ACCEPTABLE, DR. MAYHEW. HOW SOON WILL WE BE BACK AT THE HUB?]

  “That depends,” Kyle said. “How much longer do we have before we get to Er’Mithren?”

  [AT YOUR CURRENT PACE, APPROXIMATELY 4 HOURS. WE ARE NEARING THE BORDER OF PRINDAS NOW, WE WILL BE THERE IN LESS THAN 20 MINUTES.]

  That soon, Kyle thought. Part of him considered slowing down, finding a safe place to camp out and meditate while he waited for communication from Suierrillax. She had a great mind for politics, and he’d come to treasure her advice in these circumstances. He’d been warned that the situation would likely get out of hand, and if she was able to reach their contacts at the Verdant Republic, he’d be able to take his next steps with greater care. Unfortunately, Suierrillax would need quite a while before she’d be able to route a response to him. Communication across this distance without Collective infrastructure was slow.

  Of course, that was only part of the equation. Now that they were out of immediate danger, Kyle felt a stirring in his core. Escaping the assault from the Scourge hadn’t just been beneficial for C.H.A.D.D. If he was right, he’d gained more than a few levels from the harrowing experience. He wasn’t in a position to meditate when they’d taken their first break, but he wanted to put all of those free attribute points to work before his arrival in the capital city.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  “C.H.A.D.D., can you pull up a map of the safe areas between Prindas and Er’Mithren? I could use some time to meditate and rest.”

  A moment later, the orange map that C.H.A.D.D. projected zoomed out, with several points just off the road illuminated with brighter lights.

  [THESE ARE THE AREAS WITH THE LEAST ACTIVITY, DR. MAYHEW. THEY ARE ALSO FAR ENOUGH OFF THE ROAD THAT YOU’RE UNLIKELY TO BE DETECTED BY ANY PASSERS BY.]

  “Thank you, C.H.A.D.D.” He could see the familiar gold-colored bricks on the road as he got closer to Prindas, and veered off to a side path that the drone discovered during their trip south. Compared to the oppressive silence as they approached Jell’Or, the forest around them now seemed to be teeming with even more life than they saw on their initial journey. The buzzing of bugs and echo of birdsongs were comforting, a reminder of the distance they crossed since being attacked.

  Following the drone’s guidance, Kyle finally came upon the safe zone C.H.A.D.D. identified; a large tree stump that been nearly swallowed by the thick undergrowth. The inside of the stump had been largely rotted away, and Kyle brushed away the vines and tangles, revealing a hollow large enough for him to sit comfortably. He pulled some of the vines back overhead to obscure his position from anything above, and then settled in with his legs crossed.

  “Do you need anything before I start meditating?” Kyle asked.

  [MORE OF YOUR MANA?]

  C.H.A.D.D. seemed to understand that Kyle’s silence was a “no,” and it continued. [NOTHING, DR. MAYHEW.]

  With that, Kyle quieted his thoughts, closed his eyes, and focused on his heartbeat. A moment later, his center appeared before him, and he looked at his status screen with expectation.

  KYLE MAYHEW. ARTHRO-HUMAN CHIMERA (PARASITE), SURVIVALIST. LEVEL 76 (D)

  CORE OF THE PARASITIC DEVOURER 34%

  ADAPTIVE ANATOMY – 9/? – ENHANCED CARAPACE (FERRIC AUGMENTATION), AURIC PERCEPTION (SYNAPTIC BARBS), EXOSKELETAL STRENGTH, CEASELESS VITALITY, INSTINCTIVE INTELLIGENCE, COVERT DEXTERITY, UNBREAKABLE WILL

  VITALITY: 1072

  ENDURANCE: 1240

  STRENGTH: 397

  DEXTERITY: 786

  WILLPOWER: 1579

  INTELLIGENCE: 1579

  PERCEPTION: 1144

  FREE ATTRIBUTES: 108

  The first thing that drew Kyle’s attention was the sheer amount of level gain. 6 whole levels from running away… unbelievable. As he thought about it more, however, he changed his mind. While the Igneous Glaivebeak was likely more dangerous, he hadn’t escaped that conflict with his own power. This time, he had escaped the clutches of a C Grade coming after his life.

  While it could be argued that C.H.A.D.D. was the one who truly saved the day, the drone couldn’t have done it without access to Kyle’s skills and mana. The duo had an incredible amount of synergy, and he wasn’t going to downplay his own contribution. Ultimately, his path was all about survival through endurance, and their escape aligned with that path perfectly.

  In other circumstances, Kyle may have taken this opportunity to reflect on his path so far, think about the choices he made to get to this point. This time, however, there was another problem to deal with. I haven’t hunted any shrikes in a while, how did the Core of the Parasitic Devourer gain 6%? There was undoubtedly more energy flowing through the core than before, the crimson runes glowing brightly as they swirled around the emblazoned image of his path. The slowly spinning branches representing his attributes seemed largely unchanged, with only 2 bearing the nodules from the upgrades he received.

  The answer was simple, if puzzling. While he’d used Parasitic Resonance in his fight with D’Oillelat, the only targets he fought with sufficient number to fill his core this much were the stranglevines. Still, he’d hunted plenty of other creatures using the skill that didn’t cause the core to react. When it did, he had the sharp moments of discomfort. That hadn’t occurred during his desperate escape from the Scourge.

  Kyle was left with 2 possibilities, both troubling. The first, the better of the 2 in Kyle’s eyes, was that Parasitic Resonance had gotten a taste for the Stranglevines, and something about either the situation or nature of the energy the core absorbed limited the adverse effect to him. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

  While he had no intention of crossing the Scourge again soon, he was confident that with some appropriate preparation he’d be able to make a real run at it. From what Kyle could see, the Scourge specialized in hunting large numbers of weaker creatures over a vast area. Despite the clear danger it posed, Kyle didn’t feel that he was too far off from being able to threaten it. So long as he could avoid an ambush, he could likely kill off the pods that composed its body in sufficient numbers to cripple it.

  Of course, that’s reliant on me not getting pinned down by the vines. He let out an involuntary shudder as the enclosed space of the tree trunk suddenly felt suffocating, the darkness reminding him of the smothering vines. Taking a calming breath, Kyle turned his attention back to his free attribute points. He put half into Strength right away, with the remainder going into Dexterity. He wasn’t planning on focusing too much on his physical attributes, but between the shrike alpha nearly pinning him beneath stone and the Scourge smothering him beneath its mass, he’d received some hard reminders about his limitations. A weakness was fine, but his had become too glaring to ignore, at least for a while.

  With that business handled, he turned his thoughts back to the second possibility for his core, and the one that concerned him the most. What if the core filled up every time he used Parasitic Resonance? It was far and away his most-used offensive skill, and it had proven incredibly effective against pretty much everything Kyle had encountered. His Willpower was beyond the realm of what most D Grades would ever achieve, even before the boost offered by Ignition.

  The Core of the Parasitic Devourer hadn’t always filled when he used the skill, but could he really be confident that would always be the case? If he was thoughtless, he could miss out on significant boosts to his Adaptive Anatomy, potentially filling the core to 100% without ever hitting the threshold for another adaptation.

  Of course, that was assuming Kyle even wanted the core to get filled. While each boon was powerful, they came with costs, small slices of his humanity being left behind. He wasn’t necessarily opposed to this, but if this theory was correct, he may no longer have a choice in the matter.

  Kyle wrestled with that for a while, considering what it could mean for him and his path. No clear answers came. Finally, he exited meditation, brushing away the makeshift canopy.

  [WAS YOUR MEDITATION FRUITFUL, DR. MAYHEW?]

  “As much as I could hope for, C.H.A.D.D. Now, let’s go home.”