And this was true. Miraculously, when Nathan looked around, he could see that everyone they’d been separated from was still alive. Well, except for that girl who’d had her head bitten off earlier.
Yeah, she was pretty much dead.
Bree looked up at the fifty figures in the tree. Nathan followed her gaze. They were monstrous things, as if someone had slapped an anglerfish head onto a snake’s body. They writhed and gyrated, their eyes locked on their targets—Nathan and Bree.
"I don’t suppose you happen to have access to some kind of fire ability as well," Bree said. "Because I think that’s the appropriate level of reaction for something this horrifying."
"Unfortunately, I do not," Nathan replied.
And given the entity that has an interest in my life right now, I sincerely doubt I ever will.
One of the anglerfish creatures stretched its head toward Nathan, slowly and deliberately.
Nathan scanned the creature.
[Fanglurker] - Lv. 65
Deep in the misty woods, where visibility is worse than your grandpa’s cataracts, the Fanglurker waits. At first, it just looks like a patch of fog, chilling ominously like a discount horror movie effect. But then—BAM!—it descends like Zeus himself, only instead of hurling lightning, it’s hurling itself. At you. Headfirst.
If you’re lucky, you might hear a faint whoosh before your buddy’s noggin disappears into its massive, unhinged jaw. If you’re unlucky (and let’s be real, you are), the next sound you hear will be the wet crunch of your own brain-box getting VIP seating in its gullet.
Best Tactics for Survival:
- Don’t go into foggy forests. Like, at all.
- If you must, wear a helmet. Preferably one made of titanium.
- Bring bait. Ideally, someone slower than you.
- Accept your fate. It’s probably too late anyway.
"Well, golly, that’s encouraging," Nathan muttered.
One of the Fanglurkers lunged, its jaws gaping wide, revealing an inky black void at the back of its throat. But unlike before, Nathan had seen it coming from a mile away. His harpoon shot out, piercing the creature’s body. The Fanglurker collapsed to the ground with a shriek, thrashing for a few seconds before going limp.
All at once, Nathan heard snapping and clicking from all around him. Every single Fanglurker stared at him, their teeth clacking together menacingly. Two of them lunged at him simultaneously. Nathan rolled out of the way, but one managed to stretch its jaws toward his arm.
It bit down.
Unfortunately for the Fanglurker, Nathan’s arm wasn’t made of ordinary flesh. Its teeth dug into wood, leaving little more than scratches. Nathan unleashed the vines and roots hidden within his arm, forcing them into the creature’s mouth. The roots tore the Fanglurker’s jaw apart, shattering it and sending the creature flopping to the ground.
Nearby, Bree dodged another Fanglurker’s attack. She pressed her hand to the ground, and earthen pillars erupted, crushing the creature.
To the side, Nathan caught a glimpse of Chad slicing through two Fanglurkers midair. The old man snapped his fingers, and fire ripped through the trees closest to him. Derek, meanwhile, slipped on a root and banged his head against a rock.
Truly, we have the height of skill in this party, Nathan thought dryly.
"I think we might actually have a shot at winning this thing!" Chad called out.
Nathan’s expression twisted.
He just had to say it, didn’t he?
At that moment, Nathan caught a glimpse of a purple flash of light. The mist surged back, descending like a storm.
"Nathan, the wind—!" Bree’s voice was cut off as the mist swallowed her words.
Nathan felt a chill run down his spine. Instinctively, he leaped to the left, narrowly avoiding something that swooped down where his head had been. A loud clack echoed as teeth snapped together. He spun around and drove his harpoon into the head of the Fanglurker.
Pulling the harpoon free, Nathan glanced back toward where he’d seen the light. The quest had mentioned something about an Umbral Seed—a pulsating heart of darkness. Maybe, in addition to being their objective, it was also the source of the mist.
Nathan stared up at where the treeline should have been. He had no backup and was surrounded by who-knows-how-many enemies. Was this really the time to make a risky play?
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
What about the wind? Could I pull off that trick with the wind again?
He started to close his eyes—only to snap them open as he dodged forward. Another Fanglurker’s teeth crashed together behind him. He dove and kept running, not bothering to turn back and finish the creature.
It takes too long to activate the wind cultivation. I don’t have time!
He slid under a root that had sprouted in his path. Another root wrapped around his leg as he hit the ground. He yanked free, snapping the root, and kept running. A Fanglurker went for his arm, but all it got was a mouthful of harpoon. He dodged another attack aimed at his head, he was getting closer now—only a few feet away—and then—
It was gone.
"But it was just here?!" he exclaimed.
Another set of footsteps approached. Derek. He stared at Nathan, sword in hand.
"Where’s the thing?" Derek demanded.
"I don’t know, it was just here—"
"Did you take it?"
"What? No!" Nathan’s face twisted in confusion.
"Then where did it go?"
Derek’s eyes were clouded with suspicion. Nathan was starting to get real tired of this.
"Maybe someone else took it," Nathan said.
Derek was about to respond when his eyes widened. He spun around and slashed at the air, his sword slicing through the body of a Fanglurker.
Nathan’s eyes scanned the area where the Umbral Seed had been. Wait—the vines were different.
With a mental command, water formed to his left and right. He sharpened it into spikes and sent them flying into the roots. The roots exploded in a shower of pulp and splinters. For a split second, Nathan saw the Umbral Seed poking out. He reached forward, his hand closing around it just as the roots began to regrow. He yanked it free, stuffing it into his inventory without a second thought.
The mist vanished instantly, evaporating as if it had never been there.
A loud screech echoed from all around them—the sound of a hundred Fanglurkers. Nathan turned to see one right at his head. It recoiled, then slithered away into the trees, fleeing in the opposite direction.
Nathan took a deep breath, sweat dripping from his brow.
"That was way too close," he said.
As he caught his breath, something glinted in the corner of his eye. He turned and spotted a familiar object tangled in the roots—a locket.
His heart skipped a beat.
His sister’s locket.
Nathan rotated the locket in his hand, its hinges creaking softly as it swung open. Inside was a picture of him and Sarah, staring into the camera with wide, carefree smiles. It was from a simpler time, back before either of them had learned just how messy their family was—or how messy Nathan himself could be. Back when their biggest worry was who could score the highest at the arcade.
"Nathaniel?"
Nathan snapped the locket shut. "Yeah?"
The man standing before him crossed his arms, his expression unreadable.
"There's a discussion about what to do next. Figured you should probably be involved."
Nathan nodded absently, his mind still tangled in questions. What was his sister doing here? How had her locket ended up in this place? He stood up, his thoughts racing. Could she be dead? He hadn’t seen anyone around here, and yet—
She had to have been here within the past three days. That’s when they’d all been dropped here, three days ago or so.
Nathan stuffed the locket into his pocket and made his way over to the group. They were in the middle of a heated debate.
"We have to keep moving," Derek insisted, his voice sharp. "This place isn’t safe!"
Bree scoffed, her arms folded tightly across her chest. "We’ll be moving in the dark. That’s a major disadvantage if something attacks us. We need to set up camp and hunker down for the night."
"Were you not with us earlier?" Derek shot back. "Don’t you remember nearly getting your head bitten off?"
"Don’t call me 'woman,'" Bree snapped. "I’m your superior officer—"
"No, you’re not," Derek interrupted, his tone icy. "You didn’t train me. You don’t own me. We’re just cooperating—let’s make that clear."
Nathan raised an eyebrow. At some point, he’d ended up standing next to Chad.
"Interesting fireworks, huh?" Chad muttered.
"I’m surprised it took this long," Nathan replied, keeping his voice low. "Bree managed to forge a rough coalition in a couple of hours, but something thrown together that quickly is always going to be brittle. She should’ve spent more time tightening her authority before taking a risk like this."
"Look at you, the political analyst," Chad said. "Guess you’ve got experience in this kind of thing, don’t you?"
Nathan rolled his eyes. "Keep your voice down—"
"This is not up for debate!" Bree shouted, cutting through the tension. "We’re staying here!"
A few of her loyalists stepped forward, flanking her and glaring daggers at Derek and his crew. The veterans hung back, their expressions neutral, seemingly uninterested in the drama.
"What do you think?" Chad asked, nudging Nathan with his elbow.
"Me?" Nathan said. "I don’t know. I think there are good reasons on both sides."
"But?" Chad pressed, raising an eyebrow.
"But it’s clear that Bree’s authority has limits. She’s at the head of this—she’s the one who should be in charge. These kids shouldn’t be able to corner her like this." Nathan shrugged. "Personally, I think Derek’s right. Being in the forest while there’s a Tree Wrath on seems like a terrible idea. I’d much rather be back inside the urban pocket than caught out here."
Chad watched as the argument continued to heat up, his expression thoughtful. "Aren’t you going to say something?"
"No," Nathan said flatly. "I’d make her look weak in front of her people. The time to raise objections would’ve been earlier, and in private. Doing it now is just going to piss her off."
As expected, Bree ended up winning the debate. They decided to set up a fortress using her earth cultivation powers. In a matter of minutes, they had what looked like a solid bulwark against any kind of intrusion.
Due to the small size of the earthen fortress, Nathan and the veterans were grouped together in roughly the same area. Nathan gave the old man—the one who’d defended him earlier—a nod. The veteran nodded back, his expression unreadable.
Nathan was just starting to relax when he heard it: a low creaking and cracking sound, like something moving through the walls.
Then, a chorus of voices filled the air. They were familiar—the same voices he’d heard in an alleyway not long ago. But this time, there were more of them.
“Hello.”
B32 felt the rumble. Something was at his door. He froze.
"B32! Come out and face your death like a man—or, uh, a system. You know what I mean!"
B32 extended his tendrils across the dozens of traps he’d laid by the front door.
The traps activated. Dimensional Destabilizers slammed into Dave, sending him hurtling sideways.
A scream tore through hyperspace.
B32 smiled. He could kind of see why those humans were so obsessed with violence.
Suddenly, a surge of energy erupted from Dave. B32 let the “joy” drift away.
The real battle began now.