Ellen and I had no time to lose.

According to her, the eggs could hatch any day, at any time. Taking the heat lamp away might buy me a couple of hours, but not much more than that. I had to get this next skill merged, and fast.

If anything, she was a bit ahead of me, since she'd found a team to run with and had a couple of E-Rank portals under her belt. I hadn't had that luxury. Carter had been abundantly clear that his team wasn't hunting my team. They were hunting me. That left me with only a few options. I could wait for Jeff to get a full team together, try to find a full team in need of a striker, or join up with a different guild for protection.

All of those options had downsides, but there was a high-risk option that shouldn't tip off the Roadrunners.

So, when an E-Rank portal opened only a few blocks from home, I slipped into the blue portal before either the Governing Council or another group could claim it. Only Ellen and Jessie knew where I was and what I was doing. Both called me stupid—among other things. Selfish. Idiotic. A maniac.

They weren't wrong about any of it. Going solo was incredibly stupid. Delvers filled different roles—tank, support, healer, burst and sustained damage—for a reason. And that reason was that a single person couldn't do all of those jobs. And I knew that going in. I also knew that I'd be relying on magic if I wanted to level the correct skills, and that'd put me on an even more brutal timer than a regular soloist would have.

But I didn't need to clear. In fact, I didn't care about clearing. I only cared about getting my skills to E-06 or higher so I could merge them. As soon as that happened, I was out.

The world I stepped into was a mess. The cavern dripped with stinking, rotten water; it smelled like wood slowly decaying over centuries. The only path angled upward, toward the surface, and a thin rivulet of brownish liquid ran down the tunnel's center, slicking the floor in places and leaving sticky mud behind in others. The ceiling glowed an ominous green-yellow from fungi that lined the cracks in the stone.

"A Morass portal. Great," I said to no one. I had no doubt about what I'd find at the surface; there were horror stories about the endless poison swamps that appeared in higher-ranked Morass worlds. My build had none of the tools to survive up there for long. I'd have to focus on the twisting caverns below instead.

I summoned the Stormsteel rapier, applied my movement speed Script, and summoned a handful of Ariette's Zephyrs. The slick, muddy tunnel awaited, and I started the long, steady climb upward.

The tunnel split before I'd gone a hundred feet. I chose the one that looked like it went down, looking for monsters. The stink shifted as I did, from rotten wood and water to something more…animal. I passed a corpse half-submerged in a fetid pool; everything above the waterline had been picked clean, and I couldn't tell what it had been.

Then I saw my first monster.

Virulent Leechlord: E-Rank

It was fat and black. Almost fat enough to fill the entire tunnel. Its slippery-looking hide seemed both thick and like it was about to burst. I couldn't tell how long it was, but it had to be at least ten to twelve feet. And if it got its serrated jaws on me, it'd shred my skin and muscles in a heartbeat.

But it was slow. The wolves from the Glade E-Rank portal were infinitely faster. It lumbered toward me, and I smiled grimly. "Perfect," I whispered.

Then I pushed one of the Zephyrs to the tip of my rapier and dropped into a lunge. The windburst and lightning blade made contact with the Leechlord at the same second. Thunder ripped through the cavern, echoing back and forth. I leaped backward as the monster's jaw tore into the dirt in front of me. Then I fired a pair of Zephyrs into its head.

It wasn't enough to kill it. Not even close; this thing was clearly built to take damage. But it was enough to piss it off. It reeled up over the puddle with the corpse in it as I backed up even more.

Then it vomited blood at me.

Red-brown, copper-and-bile stench slammed into the stone around and behind me. It hissed and sputtered as it melted the wall and fungi. I threw myself to the side and splashed into the water. Then I trolled, soaking myself as the Leechlord slammed into the pool where I'd been. Only my danger sense had saved me.

I recovered. Pushed myself up to my feet. Leveled my sword, and Overcharged a Zephyr. I needed to be careful with my Mana, but I also needed to win this fight.

That Zephyr found purchase. Skin ruptured from the blow, and even more stinking blood-bile liquid poured into the rocky passage. I backed up as the already-fetid water turned shit brown. Then, as the monster pushed forward across it, I launched into a series of thrusts and lunges, opening more wounds that bled like I'd stuck a pin in a water balloon.

It took the Leechlord a full minute to die, and it never once tried to heal itself. Instead, it fought until it ran out of blood and its body was nothing but a drained, dessicated husk that reeked of copper and vomit.

I wanted to check my status. To see how much I'd grown. But that'd be a waste—I knew a single E-Rank monster wouldn't be enough to level my skills. Some of them needed four levels, and none of them were in danger of overleveling.

Stamina: 209/250, Mana: 128/250

My Mana was, once again, a concern. I'd overdone it in that fight; if I was smart and moved slowly, I'd have three more. But if I went all-in again, I'd run out.

So, three fights, then a break. Then three more.

I pushed the Leechlord's corpse out of the way and kept pushing down the tunnel.

Ten minutes later, I was out of juice.

There'd been a second Leechlord; I'd only used two casts of Ariette's Zephyr, and I'd made sure to cast them in melee range and from my sword both times. Aside from those two spells, I'd relied on my rapier and my speed. It was galling to win that way when I needed to cast spells, but necessary.

The second fight had turned into a siege. And I was still in it.

Stamina: 153/250, Mana: 32/250

I stabbed one of the tiny mosquitoes, once again thanking Dad for his stupid swinging ring training as it jerked to the side and I adjusted to hit it anyway. He'd strung his wedding ring from a palo verde tree branch and pushed it, then told me to practice lunges until I could hit it eight times out of ten.

I'd made it to nine, but never been perfect. It was too ridiculously hard. Sometimes, the ring twisted mid-air, or a breeze blew it in a funny direction. But nine was good enough for Dad, and it was good enough for the mosquito. It exploded, showering hot blood into the stagnant, algae-covered pond below it.

Three more to go.

I cut the next one out of the air with a flick of the rapier; lightning rippled across its severed wing as it hit the water.

"Screw it."

Two Ariette's Zephyrs appeared, one at my sword-tip and one circling my off-hand's pointer finger. I took aim and fired both at the last two mosquitoes. The bursts of wind slammed into each of them, stunning them and destroying their wings. They fell into the water in a tangled mess of limbs and transparent wings, quickly went under, and sank to the bottom.

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I let out a breath, then calmed myself. The first order of business was taking a few more breaths and unsummoning the Stormsteel rapier. Then, as quiet fell upon the wide cavern, I got my bearings.

The bugs had pushed me onto an island; dirty brown light poured in from overhead, and swamp water dripped down around the rocky shores. A single tree grew up from the center; I put my back to the tree trunk and sat down.

If something came after me, I'd have enough Mana to fight it, but only with the rapier. So my best bet was to stay still, regenerate, and push more after I'd taken some time. I hadn't seen heads or tails of any other parties, but I had no delusions I was alone in here.

No. The GC probably had a bunch of beginning E-Rankers clearing this place out, and they'd almost certainly head straight for the boss—up the tunnel.

I had however long it took them, plus one hour. That was plenty of time.

My eyes drifted half-closed, but I forced them to stay open. Instead, I focused on my Mana core. It was ridiculously small; I couldn't even cast ten Ariette's Zephyrs without running out of Mana. Part of the problem was that I needed Mana to power the rapier and breastplate, but that wasn't the whole issue.

I spent an hour or so pondering that problem, then pushed myself to my feet. However much I'd regenerated, that'd be enough. Especially because a timer had just appeared.

Portal Collapse In: 59:49

One hour to go.

Stamina: 230/250, Mana: 178/250

Plenty of resources.

I dove back into the hunt. The tunnel twisted further down after the wide room with the pond and island; I followed it. Another pack of mosquitoes died much like the first one in a storm of thrusts, lunges, and Zephyrs. Then a slow, plodding victory against another Leechlord. I was making progress. I could feel it.

The tunnel opened into another dripping room. But something was different. This one didn't glow yellow-green. It was pitch black. And it didn't stink—not the same way the others had. Something was wrong here, and I couldn't tell what. The Stormsteel rapier cast just enough flickering light to light the floor when I held it in a middle guard, so I stepped into the darkness.

My feet sank into mud to the ankle, covering my sneakers. They squelched when I stepped, a sucking sound that sent shivers up my neck. I stepped again, moving along the cavern wall, with my sword angled toward the room's center. It wouldn't be a boss; the E-Rankers had already cleared the portal. So, whatever it was, it'd be big, but manageable.

I took another step.

And something else stepped, too.

I froze. It didn't sound big, per se. But it did sound like it had a lot of legs—and like they'd gone deeper into the mud than my step had. I waited for it to move again.

Nothing.

When I lifted my foot, the sucking sound filled the room. I stopped immediately, but whatever I was up against didn't. My eyes narrowed as I tried to peer into the darkness; whatever it was, it only moved when I did. I was being stalked.

But whatever was out there, it wasn't the only predator in this room.

So, tactically, I knew a few things.

First, the monster couldn't see me any more than I could see it. If it could, I'd have been attacked by now; E-Rank monsters rarely had the restraint to avoid combat with a delver. That meant it was either blind by nature or couldn't see in the dark. I shut off the Stormsteel rapier, throwing the room into even more darkness.

Second, it was tall, and its legs—or at least its feet—were spindly. It was pushing deeper into the muck than I was, but it didn't sound heavier than me. Its legs were a weak point. I closed my eyes. They were just a distraction—the sensory information I'd need was all sound-based.

And third, there was only one of them. I'd only heard single legs moving, not multiple.

I formed a quick plan. I took another step, and this time, when the sucking sound happened, I ignored it—and the dripping from the ceiling. Instead, I waited for the echoing step from the monster.

I wasn't disappointed.

The moment it stepped down, I launched an Overcharged Zephyr toward where I hoped its body would be. The spell hit something; a whoosh of air echoed around the room, then a brief chittering and a dozen sucking steps. I had it figured out.

I didn't step again. Instead, I kept my eyes closed and summoned my last two air darts, Overcharging them both. That'd put me below ten Mana, but I was confident in this strategy—and confident I knew where to retreat to if it went badly. I fired both of the additional Zephyrs into the darkness at the spot I'd last heard my enemy. Both impacted, one after another. Something hit the water. I had no idea if the monster was dead or not. It was still chittering, but the sucking sound was deeper and wider.

And I couldn't check. Not yet—not until I had the Mana to finish it off safely if it wasn't.

The seconds ticked by. They turned to minutes as the monster stopped moving. I kept waiting as the timer for the portal to close grew smaller and my Mana pool grew larger. Then, when I had enough for two more casts and change, I summoned the Stormsteel rapier and stepped out into the middle of the room. The mud squelched under my feet. Two steps. Three. Four. Five.

My sword's flickering, electric light illuminated the corpse of a giant water skipper. Its legs were curled under it, and two had been blown off at the shoulders; each was as long as me when I reached over my head. The body itself was relatively small, with tiny jaws. It had clearly been relying on its thin, spiked limbs to kill. Mud coated its entire body, and most of its face was submerged in it. It looked like it had taken a long time to die. But it was definitely dead.

It reminded me of spiders. I hated spiders.

I shivered, then relaxed slightly. The dungeon was over; I didn't have the resources to keep pushing, and it'd time out soon anyway. Instead, I pulled up my status; the last bit of tension for the portal was whether I'd leveled my skills up enough.

User: Kade Noelstra E-Rank Stamina: 183/250, Mana: 41/250

Skills: 1. Stormsteel Core (D-02, Unique, Merged) 2. Thunderbolt Forms (E-08, Altered, Merged) 3. Mistwalk Forms (E-04 to E-05, Altered, Merged) 4. Ariette's Grimoire (E-04 to E-08) 5. Overcharge (E-03 to E-07, Active) 6. Focus Casting (E-02 to E-07) 7. Spellblade Affinity (E-02 to E-08)

Path: Stormsteel Path Laws: First Law of Stormsteel

The rest of the tension in my shoulders disappeared. I hadn't made it.

But I was very, very close.

One more E-Rank portal, then it'd be time to merge.

Angelo Lawrence, the Light of Dawn, blah blah blah, did not, as a general rule, appear at the Governing Council's headquarters when summoned. He was, after all, one of a handful of S-Ranks, a potential threat to the entire city if offended, and the leader of the Roadrunners. Most of the time, the Governing Council came to him, not the other way around.

But while he was many things, stupid was not one of them.

The other S-Rankers—all five guild's leaders, plus the leader of the Iron Falcons out of Tucson and a half-dozen unaffiliated and GC delvers—sat at their places around an oversized, portal metal table at the top of the Governing Council's skyscraper. Angelo hadn't sat yet. He was too busy watching the desert through the full-wall window as Councilwoman Myers began the briefing—Councilman Roger Anders wasn't here. What was he up to? And why wasn't he leading this meeting? What was more important than the dozen strongest people in Arizona?

"Thank you for coming on short notice, and for putting your personal conflicts aside. Your guilds have all no doubt noticed an uptick in the number of portals over the last three to four weeks, correct?" Myers didn't wait for a response. "Starting with the D-Ranked portal break that killed several civilians at the S'edav Va'aki Archaeological Site, portal appearances have increased by close to fifty percent across all reporting districts. The Governing Council believes this to be the beginning of the portal surge."

"You're sure?" Hugo Martinez asked. The room went quiet for just a moment, in case the Falcon's Eye wanted to continue. The emperor of Tucson had a habit of bluster, and an ego to match. But, much to Angelo's surprise, the Falcon's Eye let the question hang.

"Yes."

"How bad will it be?" Hugo asked. This time, he continued. "Tucson is prepared to weather any storm up to the level of the second surge, but if we're looking at another Portal Blitz, we'll need help."

Angelo turned and sat at his preferred seat, between Terrel Young of the Portal Tyrants and Bernard the Wall, the leader of the Coyotes. He was rivals with both, and his guild had a long-standing feud with the Coyotes over who'd watch Carlsbad. Neither looked him in the eye like men, though. "The Roadrunners are capable of handling our region up to the point of a Portal Blitz as well, given that local, unaffiliated delvers assist where they can."

Terrel cleared his throat. "My understanding is that your people have been recruiting from the dregs again. Are there any unaffiliated delvers left?"

"I had some rogue elements. They've been dealt with—unlike the ones in your guild. Those continue to do what they want, when they want, with no oversight. Clean your own porch before you look at mine," Angelo said calmly.

Inside, he was ready to go nuclear. Councilwoman Myers saw it; she might have been an unawakened human, but Angelo knew she was shrewder than anyone else at the table, with the possible exception of himself. She raised a hand. "Gentlemen, we're facing a potential disaster for both Phoenix and Tucson, and potentially a loss of control over the Carlsbad portal break. Please put your dicks back in your pants for the foreseeable future."

The room was silent. So quiet that Angelo could hear every delvers' heartbeats. No one moved. Everyone stared at Councilwoman Myers.

Then Bernard burst into laughter. Another S-Ranker followed. And just like that, Councilwoman Myers had control of the meeting again.

Angelo couldn't help but respect the woman. She kept her porch cleaner than anyone else in the room, and she did it without a single skill. He hoped that'd be enough to handle the nineteenth portal surge since the Blitz.

And that they weren't getting ready too late.

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