He pulled the pant leg up, showing off a knee with multiple scars running across it.

"Does it still hurt?"

"Yes, but I can live with the pain."

Again, Kabi glared at me. I didn't care about if this was sensitive; Gan didn't seem to mind answering.

I knelt and touched it with a finger, then pulled out my necklace and tried to send healing energy into him. The soothing energy flowed from the crystal into his knee. The redness reduced, and the raised scar flattened a little. Unfortunately, the crystal ran out of energy before it could do more.

"It feels better. Not fully healed, but better," he whispered, his eyes wide.

"Hopefully it helps," I said, tucking the necklace back under my armor and shirt as I stood up. "We'll leave soon."

Gan nodded, still holding his pant leg in surprise and staring at his knee like he couldn't believe it.

I moved closer to Lenna and tilted my head into the hallway. She followed.

"Do you think if he injured it again, I could heal it back to how it was?" I kept my voice low to make sure no one overheard us.

"Alex, don't even suggest it to him. He would cut it off without thinking about it."

I paused, eyes wide. "Really?"

"Yes, he would." She shook her head as if she couldn't believe me sometimes. "Maybe after the next fight, see if you can heal it again, bit by bit. It's safer."

I let that sink in a little, reminding myself to be careful about asking people to do things. Especially since, even if it might be easy for me, it might not be easy for others.

"Did you sense the thing in the water?" I asked.

"Yes. It means us no harm."

My eyebrows rose.

"Just trust me."

"Okay," I whispered, deciding not to mention it to Allo before we headed out.

From there, it didn't take long for everyone to eat something before we headed out of the city. The entrance let us out without a problem, though I wondered how we'd get back in. Hopefully, Cekta would keep an eye out once he woke up.

The bright purple light contrasted with the darkness of the city and made me blink a few times while I listened to small creatures chirp in the trees.

Kabi headed toward the lake, and I walked beside him after making sure nothing was around. We didn't go all the way to the shore, though. Instead, we stuck near the long grass and the normal-sized trees, where the dark grass was much shorter.

Lenna spoke with Gan about how she walked without leaving a trail, and they practiced behind us.

I didn't say anything as I took the lead. I tried, but I couldn't find consistent shadows to cover myself. The bright sunlight highlighted everything, even with the sun heading to the horizon over the lake. Still, I focused on my stealth and not leaving bent grass behind me.

Kabi followed silently as well, moving almost like the wind. An hour went by before he grabbed my attention and we stopped under a tree, waiting for Lenna and Gan to catch up.

"The area where they rest and drink is ahead," explained Kabi once they arrived.

"I can set several traps," said Gan, looking around at the trees and grass. "I've hunted here before."

"Then I'll find somewhere to hide, and Lenna can shoot from above?" I asked, glancing at her.

She nodded. "How many creatures do we want to target?"

"We only did one per hunt in my younger days," said Gan, looking uncertain. "But if we're storing meat for the trek north, maybe three?"

"Three it is," said Kabi. "No one will hunt them when we're gone, so the herd can expand."

"No one's hunted them for a while even now," said Gan, kneeling to touch the dirt. "We hadn't gotten out this way because of the Forger traps in the forest."

Everyone split up, and I headed to a tree near the open beach. I jumped up to reach the first branch and then easily climbed up into the tree. The giant leaves created a shadowy interior, which I blended into.

A breeze rustled the leaves, sending a bright fresh smell from the lake. The drastic change from the musty city made me smile. Sitting in this tree was a much better use of time. It reminded me of the jungle, and I found myself missing Lenna's world, along with all of the dinosaurs.

I wished I'd asked what type of creature we were expecting, but I didn't move from my perch now that I'd found one. I figured I'd handle it, no matter what it was.

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Lenna climbed a different tree, while Kabi rested beneath mine in the shade. Gan moved from place to place, setting traps, until he eventually joined Kabi. The two men stayed silent as time ticked by and the sun crept closer and closer to the mountains in the far distance.

Something moved into my radar, and I focused in that direction. It was followed by a second something, then a third, before several others joined it. Whatever they were, they were big. When I spotted them, I frowned.

The creatures were hunted were something like an elephant. Giant, purple bodies with a long trunk and tusks. Though, these tusks pointed outward like they ramed things with them, rather than curving upward like the pictures of elephants I'd seen. They also had long tails that moved much like their trunks, but were thinner and carried a sharp point on the tip. They stood taller than what I pictured an elephant to stand. Still, these were danger elephants, for sure.

[Megafant, Level 70, Prey, Unknown.]

[Megafant, Level 74, Prey, Unknown.]

[Megafant, Reach, Level 75, Prey, Unknown.]

The name almost made me snicker, but I resisted thinking of all the food on one of those suckers. Yet, the entire herd's levels were higher than Lenna and I. I hoped that wouldn't be a problem.

Before I could really think about a plan, the first one hit a trap. A bright light flashed around it, making it freeze. A second one marched through the grass right over another trap, triggering it, freezing the Megafant in place. To my surprise, the other beasts in front didn't notice as they headed to the lake. A third trap was triggered, but this one only worked partially as the creature's front half froze, even though the back tail whipped in the air.

That took care of figuring out which ones to attack, and arrows flew from Lenna's tree at the third target. Kabi and Gan leaped out, both heading for the one farther back.

That left the one slightly ahead of the tree I rested in. I leaped with a grin.

The sudden movement from all of us caused the herd to surge forward and flee toward the lake, before stomping farther north up the coastline. The Megafant herd didn't seem to care about the ones left behind. That confirmed that this was a prey species, despite their size and defensive features.

The dust left in their wake made it hard to see, but I landed on my target's large back without a problem. My spear sliced down into the back of its head, sinking in deep with no issue. The creature crumbled to the ground under me as I shoved my spear in deeper.

[You have gained bonus experience from combat for surviving against a level 70 Megafant.]

It was easy. Too easy.

I frowned as I yanked my spear out, but no one else needed help. Kabi helped Lenna with her target before I had the chance. Both of the other Megafants were down in only moments.

Gan had already cut into his, pieces vanishing into what I assumed was his storage space. Lenna didn't climb down from the tree immediately, and I made sure nothing else was nearby before I started butchering the beast in front of me as well.

It took forever to reach the heart as the carcass was just so big. The sun set over the lake, and for some reason, I relaxed as the light lessened. Purples and greens reached across the sky as the sun set, along with some bright orange.

I paused, taking a break to eat the heart. It reminded me of pork chops, but at least it wasn't dry. It was also enormous.

[You have devoured a Megafant and gained bonus experience.]

[You have leveled.]

Gan joined me after a bit, leaving behind nothing but blood on the ground where his carcass had been. He quickly skinned what was left of my creature before cutting up meat much faster than I could. He left certain pieces with bone in them until last, before tossing them into his inventory.

I eventually took a step back since it felt like I was slowing him down. That had to be one heck of a skill. I allocated a few stat points as I watched, just rounding out a few stats to nice round numbers, because I was weird like that.

Once he was done with this one, he moved to help Kabi and Lenna, again taking over the job. I stood watch, keeping an eye on the sunset as the sun finally vanished behind the mountains. I used the Fountain Stone to clean up and remove the traces of blood from me, then I joined the others.

Gan used some sort of skill as the blood just dripped off everything on him to a puddle on the ground. It was kind of strange, and seemed weird for a trapper to have, but it was pretty cool.

Everyone else was much cleaner than I was.

"Let's get heading back," I said, before heading south and following the trail we'd taken to get here.

Again, nothing really moved, except for once, and I paused. Everyone froze as a haunting sound filled the forest far to our left, but it didn't head in our direction. Once it left, I waited several more minutes before continuing on.

Eventually, we made it back to the entrance to the sunken city. This time I noticed several runes sunk deep under the dirt that hadn't been there before. They felt like Cekta, so I wasn't worried.

The rock blocking the entrance vanished as soon as we came close to the runes. Cekta stood in the doorway looking worried.

"We have a visitor," he whispered, swallowing as he glanced at Kabi. "You're not going to believe this."

We all funneled inside, and Cekta closed the entrance behind us. Kabi led the way to the marketplace.

Voices drifted through the air as we all hurried forward. People stood near the broken wall, while Allo sat in the middle of the area with someone else sitting across from her. Everyone left from Needlecrest hung near the archway. I focused on the person sitting across from Allo.

[Rees, Leader, Azurafolk - Waterdweller, Level 112.]

The presence within the water now made a little more sense. Allo glanced over her shoulder at us and waved us closer.

"Come, we have much to discuss…"

Kabi approached and sat down next to Allo. He tilted his head for me to sit down next to him. Lenna hung back, along with Gan.

I took a seat near Kabi and found all the water tribe Azurafolk staring at me.

"You are the one who shakes up the slavers," said Rees. The older gentleman smiled at me, bright white teeth showing against a much darker blue than Allo or Kabi. He wore a flowing garment around his legs, but no shoes. His legs were crossed in front of him and his toes were webbed. His second set of arms were wrapped tightly to his sides and reminded me of fins more than arms.

"They deserve to be shaken up."

He started chuckling, and the water tribe near the wall relaxed.

"Can you remove collars?" he asked, cutting off his laughter and turning more serious.

"I can…" I glanced between him and Allo, who stayed silent.

"Some of our people have been taken. If you can return them, we will take in our cousins from the forest, leaving you free to continue on your mission."

"Why now?" asked Kabi, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. His eyes demanded an answer. "We've reached out to your people before, yet nothing. So, why now?"

Rees studied Kabi for a moment before giving a grimace.

"We prepare for war." His answer hung in the air like a dark cloud.

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