"What? I've beaten a boss ten levels above me before," I muttered, thinking about the boss we'd fought as a group.

My father looked like he wanted to say something, but Lenna cut in.

"This isn't the same, Alex." She shook her head harshly. "It has a rank on you. It will have evolved its class. Probably the aggressive part of its name."

"Ranks… You mentioned that before in the dungeon, and our classes," I said, remembering part of the conversation, but I didn't remember going too in-depth.

"Yeah, when you go up in Rank, it's intentional. Think of it as solidifying every level you've gained until that point. Every stat, skill, title, and achievement you currently have becomes more real." She hesitated, looking around at everyone. "That's what my parents told me, though they Ranked up before I was born. You don't have kids until you're Rank Two."

"Yeah, my dad's still Rank One."

"That's how my parents knew I wasn't lying when I said you crashed here and didn't have the system before that." She turned to look at Hellion. "If you'd been born within the system, you couldn't have kids. Let alone the three you do."

"Here that everyone? No kids until you Rank Up," joked Hawk from the back. "That's great news for Benny and …" Someone must have hit him, 'cause he shut up.

"Then how are creatures born within the Sanctuary?" asked my father.

"Beasts are different," buzzed the voice on my shoulder. This time loud enough for my father's head to wipe around.

"You."

"I told you I knew Alex," said Noseen, still invisible to everyone, though I felt him there on my shoulder. Like a tiny pinpoint of weight.

Everyone in the ship's front looked at me, including Lenna.

"Noseen is a trusted friend," I explained. "He's just tiny at the moment, given that the shuttle is already packed."

Yeah, I lied, but it was better than explaining he was a giant blood-sucking monster that sometimes scared the daylights out of me.

"You set this quest up for Alex, even though it has ten levels on her." A rush of emotions crossed my father's face, but he continued. "You think she can pull it off."

"Yes, she is much less squishy than when we met, and it isn't a quick trip even in this flying shuttle."

"Wait, how far are we flying?" asked John over his shoulder.

"Around the sanctuary to the other side of the planet," said Noseen. "It took me a day, and I fly faster than this craft. Oh, that reminds me, there is a nest of fliers we will need to pass that vary between 50 and 100, levelwise."

Silence reigned in the shuttle once again.

"I don't know if my gun is big enough for that," muttered John.

I chuckled, then paused. "What gun?"

"It's mounted on the nose."

"Well, we have plenty of archers on board, and we did fine with the last flier."

"You jumped on top of it from a different flier," exclaimed Hammy. "You grounded that fucker from its back. We don't have any friendly fliers here."

"We have a shuttle…"

"You aren't jumping off the shuttle," said my father.

I wanted to jump off the shuttle.

Buzzing came from the front near John, but I couldn't actually hear what was said.

The shuttle turned ever so slightly in the air, going in a southern direction still, but more eastern based on the mountains. The afternoon sun cast the shadow of the shuttle ahead of us as we traveled.

Chatter came from the back, with Hawk taking the lead about how he'd plan a takedown of a flier that high level.

I ignored it, liking my plan.

Lenna poked my side with a finger. "You aren't going to jump out of the shuttle, right? The dungeon was a one-off."

I opened my mouth, but John interrupted us.

"Noseen says they won't attack since I'm only level 20. The gap's too big and the shuttle shows up as me, since it's related to my class."

I snapped my mouth shut, as did Lenna.

"Good," said my father, eyeing me. "Are you comfortable flying through the night in unfamiliar skies, or should we land?"

"We should land for the night, but not yet," answered Noseen. "I'll direct John to a safe area."

Noseen was being very helpful. Too helpful, based on my past interactions with him, but I bit my tongue and said nothing. After another twenty minutes of flying, I sat down on the floor, with my back against John's chair. My father sat down as well.

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"You've been busy," he whispered.

"Beat a dungeon, learned more about my profession, and I'm ready for more." I peered around at the people chatting or resting. "Do you think we'll be able to find somewhere safe to settle?"

"I hope so." He snorted. "We packed inventory crystals full of fencing, prefab housing parts, and anything else that would fit from the drop ship."

My eyes widened at the haul. We used to talk about finding the prefab housing, and the weatherproofing that came with it.

"John should be able to cross Sanctuary without all of us in the hold and cut the length of the trip down, to get the remaining equipment we left behind."

"He can't stay that level for too long," I replied, thinking of how the system rewarded growth.

"I know, just another trip north, and then one back to the colony. We need everyone to grow faster and get past these level caps."

Abby's foot rested against my father's leg. It was super casual, but something inside me said it was more. I kept my mouth shut for the moment, since I didn't want to put my dad on the spot. Or Abby.

Instead, I explained to my father what I'd discovered about dungeons, growth shocks, and other interesting things I'd seen. Not to mention, that skills evolved as you used them. All eyes in the front were on me, and I resisted looking anywhere but my dad.

He surprisingly kept his comments to himself, for the most part.

"So you really landed on the back of a flier and stabbed it with a spear?"

"I did, but to be honest the falling was amazing. I get sky diving now…" I knew he wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut about that.

"You need wings," buzzed Noseen next to my ear.

I continued on, ignoring him. "But my biggest frustration, besides not being able to fly, is that I only recently increased my Blades and Polearm skill. It's still pretty basic, as it comes."

My father looked thoughtful, but the ship started its descent, and he jumped to his feet.

I didn't want to see the ground approaching through the front window. For some reason, falling from the sky from the flier's clutches felt safer than the shuttle. Then again, I'd been in two ship crashes. Earned a Lucky Title for it and everything.

People started chatting after we touched down.

I climbed to my feet as my father spoke up.

"Alright people," he said, glancing around the shuttle. "I'm going to take a group to scout out the area. Benny and Randy, prep the sleds to set a perimeter of the crystals and get them grounding ASAP. That way we can sleep a little better under the stars."

The ramp lowered as the lights turned on in the back, and my father headed out first with Hawk, Denver, Jas, and Mary. All capped at level 25. Dengu followed after the group, sniffing the air.

I resisted leaving the front of the shuttle. My fingers itched to get a move on, though I still really wanted to get some sleep.

"Is this how it normally is?" I asked.

Abby answered me. "We figured out a system that keeps everyone safe. I'll get a fire going as soon as the signal is given. We did this while traveling through the Sanctuary, when we stopped."

Maggie headed to the end of the ramp and stood guard, while Jimmy did the same on the other side. Benny and Randy headed to the cargo crates, ready to go. Then at some signal, they headed down the ramp.

Everyone else grabbed gear and stretched.

"Alright, everyone, crystals are grounding," said my father from the bottom of the ramp. "Keep close and let someone know if you're going to wander off."

Everyone else rushed off the ship but Lenna, John, and I. The humming from the shuttle faded before shutting off. The lights in the back flickered once, then shut off.

"Alright, let's find a place for the two of you to rest," said John, as he stood up from the pilot's seat. "Though you both might be roped into taking a watch, given your levels."

We followed him off the ship to find a roaring fire and meat cooking above it. Abby stood next to it, with Doc. Sang, Benny and Randy returned with the crates on the sleds, and crystals dotted a perimeter in the fading light. Someone had set up two very large canvas tents next to the bottom of the ramp.

"I only have my weapons on me," said Lenna. "I didn't grab anything else when I rushed to the dropship."

"I can take care of that," said John, smiling at her.

Dengu chirped at Abby, who tossed him a piece of raw meat as she chatted at him.

"Honestly, I need to crash, and soon," I said, eying the setting sun.

"Well, we have your backpack in one of the inventory crystals," said John. "Sangs in charge of those."

"Alright, I'll chat with her."

She and Benny stood close, both staring at the green stone I'd given him. They glanced up at my approach.

"I heard you have my backpack, with my bedroll," I said with a smile.

"I do, but more importantly, what kind of stone is this?" asked Sang.

Benny jumped in. "How did you get it to help plants? Like, what's the range it will work for?"

"Woah." I held up a hand. "I need sleep. You can ask me during the flight tomorrow, but I'm ready to crash. Too much fighting and not enough rest."

"Are you going to sleep in that?" Sang's nose wrinkled, looking at my clothing and armor. She pulled an inventory stone out of the crate and pulled out my bag.

"I don't have much to wear…"

"I have some extra clothes in here, but that armor needs to be cleaned." She shook her head, pulling out a spare set of clothes.

I grabbed the bag, surprised at how light it was, along with the spare uniform.

"Can I bribe you to see if you can get the ichor off it?" I asked, pleading.

"Bribe me with what?" Her eyes narrowed.

I pulled the healing stone out of my back and held it up in the light.

"Healing stone, but you also need to see if someone can fix the holes in my boots."

"Deal," her words came out fast. Her eyes fixated on the stone.

Benny chuckled. "You sure know how to bribe people."

"Give me a moment and I'll get these to you." I moved under the wing of the shuttle and stripped down. Then, I used the rest of my jug of water to wash myself from head to toe. Once dressed and barefoot, I joined them again.

"If crystals can do this, I can solve the food problem," said Benny to Sang. "You need to learn how to create these. Let alone that healing crystal."

"Alex is going to be answering questions as soon as she's up tomorrow. This will help everyone… I can't even explain."

"Here you go," I held out the armor and clothes.

Sang moved to take them, but Cass stepped out of the shadows.

"I can totally get those clean if ya'll want to geek out about the crystals some more," she said.

Benny and Sang both nodded in thanks.

I smiled at Cass, then lifted my bag back to my shoulder before heading to a tent. Sleep was all I cared about.

No one else was inside, but a few bedrolls were laid out with plenty of room to spare. I picked an empty spot just inside the door, off to one side, unlike everyone else.

This still felt too good to be true.

"Noseen, why did we stop here?" I asked, wanting the truth.

There wasn't an answer, not even a buzz. For some reason, that worried me.

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