His presence washed out in a wave, full of bloodlust and killing vibes.

Then it snapped off.

"So Alex, the First in more ways than one?" I asked, in a joking manner.

Noseen blinked, then chuckled a little. "Yes, squishy one."

"Hey, I ranked up and I am a Giant Slayer, you know." I tried to keep a light mood and figure out why it was so important to keep me alive. Not that I minded. Staying alive was top on my list of things to do, right next to continuing to grow and eating a real piece of fruit. Not a heart that tasted like fruit, but actual fruit.

"Alex, the world you are on is dangerous, in a different way than my world would be. You are under-leveled. Well, a little less now, but you don't know the terrain and you've found yourself in the middle of a war."

"I know. The plan is to go north and find a way off the planet."

"Once you're in any of the megacities, you can find a way back here or to my world. My gate is open to you."

"Lenna wouldn't go for that."

"Lenna isn't my concern."

I didn't argue with him, since I still didn't understand why he was so passionate about my life.

"You can connect to my rift. Is there anything I need to sign?" I asked.

"No, the system records your approval," he said, staring up at the sky. "Be careful and grow. Maybe not as fast as you just did, since it can break your mind."

"My mind?"

Then the dream finished, ended, and, poof, went away before I could get an answer.

Whispered words woke me sometime later. Kabi and Cekta argued a little, but I couldn't tell what they said even if I strained as much as possible.

"Morning. Well, evening." Lenna caught my eye and smiled.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, trying to get my thoughts in order, including the warning that growing too fast could destroy my mind. The warning with the levels from the system itself popped into my head.

"Better. My rank-up took more energy out of me than I thought possible. I think it had something to do with traveling to this world, or maybe the class I chose." She sat up and started rolling a cloth I hadn't noticed under her. It vanished.

"Wait, did you get an inventory crystal?" I asked before she could respond.

"I gained a very small inventory at Rank up," she said, before her eyes went wide and an object appeared in her hands.

[Fountain crystal.]

"How the…" I picked it up and stared at it.

"I didn't want you to lose it from your belt with all the carrying."

I thought about my inventory space and tried to get a feeling for it.

[You have 5 inventory slots outside of your inventory crystal.]

My eyes widened, and I tossed the fountain crystal inside. It didn't have a problem at all. Patting at my pockets revealed the knowledge crystal and the speaking crystal. Both went inside the new space as well. My necklace stayed on, but I still had the two bits from the collars. Both of those went inside as well, and stacked. My bracelet stayed on. It was very useful.

This was a game changer, if I could get access to more crystals. Currently, the only source of crystal I had here were the collars. If we ran across others, I could help them out, and me as well.

I stretched upward, trying to subtly see the others, but they stopped talking when Lenna stood up.

Lenna tapped on my hand, drawing my attention. "We need to talk."

Kabi sat near the edge of the fire with something drawn in the dirt near his feet. It was the map I'd badly drawn, but with a little more detail.

I joined him at the fire and snacked on badger meat, pulling bite-sized chunks directly from my inventory into my mouth. I didn't know how these people would react to my eating raw meat in large quantity, so I didn't rub their face in it. The corn taste at this point made me want to spit it out, but I didn't have a choice. Then I washed it down with some water.

"Can I have some?" asked Lenna.

"Of course." I held out my canteen, then pulled a jug from my inventory. "Do you have room for this?"

She shook her head no. "I don't need a large container of it."

I felt Kabi's eyes on me, taking my attention away from Lenna.

"You have a large inventory space?" he asked.

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"Yes, it's part of my profession. What about you?"

"Cekta gave me the rune last night. Slightly bigger than before, and I can access it thanks to you." He motioned to the map. "We need to head north, but we don't dare cut too close to the east because of the harvester nests. Which means sticking to our course and hunting on the way."

"You mean, close to the road but not too close, and being careful to not be hunted by the harvesters?"

He frowned, then nodded.

"Kabi isn't saying how tough this trip will be," said Cekta. "Even with our inventory spaces, I'm not a fighter. I mean, I can swing a sword, but my skills are with traps, and runes. Both slow things down, but aren't much good when the fighting starts."

They both didn't add anything else. So I did.

"And we're low level compared to you." I chuckled, as did Lenna. "Don't worry about me. We need to keep things off Lenna, but she can stick close to you. If Kabi swings a sword, I can team up with him up close with things."

"We can make the journey north. It helps that Alex is sneaky."

"We aren't," said Kabi, his cheeks going a little darker. "Our people don't hide in the shadows. We face things head on."

"And see where that's gotten us," Cekta remarked, snidely.

"Cekta!" Kabi's face went a light blue, all traces of blush gone.

"No, our people are being enslaved and the only reason Steadfast hasn't fallen is because of the immortals, and they can't even enter the battle." Cekta stepped closer to his brother with a finger pointed at his chest. "We need a different way of doing things if we want to survive, let alone save our people. Let's see what Alex can do. She saved us! Without her, we'd still be slaves."

Something crossed my mind, and I paused. "What happened to the others like you at the outpost?"

Cekta wouldn't look away from his brother, and Kabi avoided my eyes.

"People died in the blast, and it freed the beetles, from what I was told. It didn't kill the Forger right away. Kabi and others attacked, killing it."

My face paled. "You guys were the only survivors?" Several of the blue people headed my way as the forger ordered them to, and only two were left? How was that possible?

"Our people, including our father, told us to flee with you," said Kabi, bowing his head. "We finished the Forger off, and we all fled in different directions, but they still have collars."

"We assume all captured were punished with death," said Cekta at last. "But we don't know."

I didn't ask if the bomb had killed anyone directly, though since I didn't get any notifications about it I assumed it hadn't.

"I promised my father to get Cekta away, and I've done that. Now we go to Steadfast."

"I can link us together to speak in our minds," said Cekta, "It wears off after a few hours if not made with the right materials."

"I'm down," I said, "Especially if it makes traveling easier."

Lenna agreed as well. "This will help us during the fights ahead."

The rune didn't take long. Cekta drew a small rune next to our ears and one on the base of our throats with what appeared to be a stick of charcoal. He followed with one on Kabi. Then all six of them flared at once.

"Let's get moving," said Kabi, though his lips didn't move at all. It was strange, but cool, and I liked the advantage it gave us.

From there it didn't take long to put out the coals and then exit through a large tunnel, though both Cekta and Kabi needed to duck.

Cekta went first, making sure each rune we passed was strengthened and not triggered. When we got to the end of the tunnel a massive mushroom blocked the way, yet Cekta walked right through it.

Kabi, then I, followed.

A rune flashed before I touched the giant mushroom, and I found myself outside.

Sweet, fresh air with hints of pine assaulted me. The purple sky and bright stars provided enough light for me to see even without my dark vision. Massive trees, bigger than the pictures of the destroyed redwoods from the Earth, grew from the ground. With them, various mushrooms grew up the trunks.

Almost like steps in some cases.

The buzz of insects and the call of animals echoed through the area. Kabi stood next to Cekta, not looking around but watching his brother's face. He nodded and pointed in a direction.

"None of my traps triggered," said Cekta.

"I'll scout ahead," I said, pushing my senses out. Nothing registered in the nearby area and I drew on my shadow skill. The dim light made it easy to work with.

"You vanished right next to me," muttered Lenna.

"That's something," added Kabi, sounding a little impressed.

I ignored all of it and crept in the direction Cekta pointed, studying each of the plants I came across, including the massive mushrooms. Details popped up with names, but nothing mentioned if any of them were edible.

My eyes adjusted as time went by, taking in more of the colors surrounding me in the darkness. The bark on the trees swirled with deep indigo colors, and the fallen needles with a vivid blue. Only in bits and pieces did I catch glimpses through the canopy of the purple sky and stars. The stars were brighter than the ones on Lenna's world.

I kept the others on the very edge of my radar as I kept moving from shadow to shadow under the massive trees. Part of me wanted to climb one and see what was up there, but I resisted. Now wasn't the time to explore.

The whispers of the wind and the drone of insects were a constant reminder that this was real and not a dream. Something tickled on the farthest reaches of my senses, and I slowed my pace a little more, trying to see what way it traveled.

"Incoming, slowly, don't know what yet," I whispered through the connection.

The spots of the others froze, then Kabi moved ahead of Lenna and Cekta.

It took forever for the thing to come into sight, and the sound reached me first. Hints of music asking me to step closer drifted on the breeze.

I narrowed my eyes and stomped on the urge.

[Harvester, Whispering Trap, Level 81, Predator, Unknown.]

"Harvester, Level 81, I bet we could take it," I sent to the others.

It only had two eyes set above the sharp beak, but the rest of it reminded me of a spider.

"Come back, I'll put down a silencing rune to mute the potential fight," Cekta's voice said

The Harvester had six massive legs and solid armor coated it, along with a sharp beak that looked like it pierced prey. It crept a little to the left, and I carefully retreated back through the trees, only moving from deep shadow to deep shadow under the mushrooms.

The Harvester continued its stroll in our direction, not noticing us yet.

Spotting Kabi in the middle of a gap between two mushrooms, I saw he held a sword. Its thick curved blade was in his right upper hand.

"I see you," I sent as I found a place to hide on top of one mushroom but still under a different one. Lenna hid on a different mushroom, with Cekta nearby.

My heart pounded as the predator slowly kept going.

Slowly, so freaking slowly.

"It needs to get here already."

"Patience," said Kabi. "The more time Cekta has to work, the better. It will catch our scent."

I let out a sigh and waited.

"I'll hit it first."

Then it moved, faster than anticipated. Heading right for Kabi.

"Here it comes!"

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