Julia stood with her hands on her hips, her sword held loosely, gazing upon a familiar scene. There was a large dome surrounding a small copse of trees. It stood out starkly against the flat, grassy plain, but the dome was undoubtedly an illusion. The elves assured her that all they could see was an unbroken, flat plain, though Ithshar seemed to squint at the dome, as if knowing something was wrong.

Within the trees was a small, stone building—barely more than a doorway. If she were to guess, it was the entrance to an underground chamber, similar to the one they found almost a week ago. She wondered if it was also a decommissioned dungeon, but she somehow doubted it. Julia certainly wasn't a dungeon scholar, but just a doorway to the underground felt…a little anticlimactic for a dungeon.

Regardless, the question was what to do with it. The Nashiin's foul odor permeated the ground and air around it, so she had no doubt there were undead present. Last time she'd just gone in blasting, and it had resulted in the dungeon and its surroundings being totally destroyed.

She'd also not learned much from the endeavor beyond confirming the Nashiin's presence and that their leader had direct access to the Ether.

This time she hoped to learn something—anything. She was without many leads at the moment, so even just a direction to direct her focus would be monumental.

"What do you think?" Nadhem asked, approaching to stand beside her.

He gazed in the same direction as she, but Julia knew that what they saw was completely different.

"I think that a different approach is in order. Last time I barged in, killed everyone, and poked things. That led to triggering a trap that obliterated the entire operation. This time we need to learn what the Nashiin are up to, so the 'kill everything' option will be a last resort.

"That said, I'm pretty sure dispelling the illusion will give our presence away. It might even have presence-sensing capabilities, so merely walking through it could give us away as well. I don't really know how I could sneak in. There are too many unknowns," Julia reasoned.

Nadhem nodded, opening his mouth to reply, but she quickly grabbed his shoulder to silence him. Undead began to exit the doorway, stamping through the brush before emerging onto the short plains grass.

Julia and Nadhem dropped prone immediately, with Ithshar, Talnîr, and Sahira following behind. They watched as an entire squadron of Nashiin began exiting the illusion and forming into ranks. There were twenty infantry armed with spears and swords, ten archers with sidearms, and about twenty Ghûls weaving through the ranks.

Their numbers were difficult to count due to their constant movement. They wove in and around the formation, likely not a formal part of it. They would likely be used as shock troops for whatever sortie this squad had planned.

Finally, a Barrowlord emerged, surrounded by a retinue of five Revenants, all armed and armored. They began a march perpendicular to the direction Julia's party had come. She didn't need much time to consider what they were doing, nor where they were going.

This was the ambush force. Not bandits—organized undead. They aimed to arrive at a point on the road slightly in advance of the caravan, probably so that they would have time to set up.

The Ghûls would likely be hidden in ambush, while the main force would bar the way. Or perhaps the skeletons would lie on the ground, blocking the road. When the caravan stopped to investigate the strange pile of bones and weapons, they would strike.

She didn't know the specific plan, but she knew there was an opportunity here.

"Alright, I think I can sneak into the illusion if I cross the boundary at the same time that squad does. It's hard to tell what the dome is capable of, but it's definitely not sophisticated enough to differentiate between individual mana signatures.

"Problem is that squad is likely moving to ambush the caravan. Davon's halted it for now, but we can't assume the Nashiin will stay put. They might decide to advance down the road once the caravan fails to arrive when they expect it," Julia explained.

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Before she could continue, Sahira held up her hand.

"Say no more. We will handle this squad while you infiltrate," she assured.

Julia glanced around and saw affirmative nods from everyone.

"Thanks, but be careful. There's a Barrowlord—" she started.

"Julia, we appreciate your concern, but you seem to forget that we fought in a war against the Nashiin. We are aware of their capabilities and danger," Ithshar said with a small smile.

Julia smiled back—that's right. They were here because they were capable—hell, they'd been capable long before she ever was. Who was she to be ordering them around, anyway?

"Can you scout the area?" she asked Lumenfall.

"Yes, and I will keep an eye on both the caravan and the elves as they engage the Nashiin—that is what you really want, yes?" she replied.

Julia thought that if a dragon were capable of it, Lumenfall would be smirking. She'd really grown an attitude. She just chuckled and nodded—Lumenfall was right, as annoying as it was.

"Right, I'll leave the planning to you all—I need to get in there before time runs out," Julia said, rising to her feet.

The elves nodded and took off in the direction of the caravan, as Julia's body—armor and all—began to fade from view. She knew, however, that simple invisibility wasn't good enough. The Nashiin could see—sense, maybe—'life energy', whatever that meant. She assumed it was some kind of mana detection unique to the Nashiin, which made it difficult to counter.

Difficult, but not impossible.

The biggest obstacle was that mana was everywhere, at all times. One could suppress their own mana signature, sure. There were even some stealth-oriented Classes that were particularly good at such techniques, but they weren't perfect. Even if one suppressed the mana they unconsciously released into the surroundings, they couldn't stop environmental mana from interacting with them.

This was the big problem. Anyone with sharp enough senses could see ambient mana interacting with someone else, even if they were completely hidden from them visually. Granted, detection experts like these shouldn't be common. Still, she could do it—and if she could, others might too.

One might be able to will the environmental mana to sort of veer around them, which would prevent it from interacting with their body, but that might be even more obvious.

It was pretty easy to tell when something swam beneath the surface due to how the water above it moved. Water diverting around obstacles, however, was extremely conspicuous. Even if someone couldn't see what specifically caused the water to divert, rapids and churning, foaming water were all extremely visible.

Julia, though, had an idea based on how her Skills had been progressing. She was constantly aware that her interactions with the World were becoming…more. Even more than speaking to it directly, it was like they were becoming intertwined, the World echoing her will and vice versa.

To that end, if she simply requested that the World's mana stop interacting with her temporarily, it would, right?

Julia's body faded from sight completely, but she also suddenly felt spiritually faded, as if her presence—something beyond the physical—had become thinner. Her Sight quickly confirmed what she'd been hoping: mana was flowing through her, rather than interacting with her or veering aside. It was as if she'd become part of the water itself, not a fish swimming through it or an obstacle diverting it.

Striding forward, she approached the dome as the last of the Nashiin squad exited, being cautious not to get too close. She just wanted her new method to work—she didn't care to test how robust it was.

Timing her entry with the exact moment a skeleton exited, she slipped into the dome, feeling its sickly mana slide over her—gross. In retrospect she might've been able to arrange her mana-fading ability such that the dome itself wouldn't interact with her in addition to ambient mana…oh well—something for future experimentation.

Julia lingered long enough to watch the column of Nashiin begin their fell march toward their desired ambush location, confirming that was exactly what they were doing—it wouldn't do for them to suddenly turn on the caravan itself. They would catch her party and the convoy completely off-guard.

Confirming that everything was in place and as expected, she moved beneath the trees and, not seeing anything else of note, entered the small, stone doorway.

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