With Ember standing watch over their little corner of the lagoon, Ethan laid down on his back and pulled up his notifications.

You have defeated [Water Monitor (I) - Level 61]

…

You have defeated [Water Monitor (I) - Level 59]

You have reached Level 53. 1 stat point awarded.

You have reached Level 54. 1 stat point awarded.

Shardpurse: 453 fragments collected.

Without wasting time, he assigned both points to Toughness. He was getting a sizeable amount of points at level 60, and he'd give a decent boost to the other stats then. Twenty extra points were nothing to scoff at, and the only reason he wasn't killing everything that moved to finish up the side quest was that he was sure Edwin would not make it to 60 before him. Knowing the man, he must be preparing for Ethan. Laying traps and stacking the deck in his favor, and while that might mean he'd want to rush to level 60, Ethan would bet the man thought the same as Ethan: focusing on levelling right now would expose him to fatigue and mana-exhaustion, and that could be more dangerous than a lack of levels.

Still, Ethan won't take the risk of giving his enemy too much time to prepare. Just a small break now, then he'd deal with Edwin and once he was done there, he would then take the time to grind to level 60, which should then ease up the path to challenge the lords.

I just wish I had another trait instead of spell selections at level 60. I'd love that looting trait, though at least with spell selection I might get offered something for weight. Draconic, preferably. I also pick something from the modifier list as well soon. Maybe not immediately, but soon.

Ethan took a quick glance at the main quest's timer, and he almost jumped back up to his feet.

Only 3 days and some change to kill three level 70 creatures and find the exit of the tutorial.

When he'd put like that, it felt like he was out of time. What would happen if he didn't finish the rift's challenge in time? The rift itself didn't seem to have a time limit, but would something happen outside? Would everyone just drop dead? Or is it more of a failing grade kind of thing?

Sooner or later, he was going to get some answers but for now, he pulled up his totals for fragments and Essence to see where he was at with his upgrading targets.

Shardpurse: 1367

Essence: 46

I'm close to the spellform capacity increase on the Prime Arcanum… only 14 more points. Then I should look into the Echo upgrade as well as the spellform Bonus. Some capacity and mana as well… man. I need so much more Essence and fragments.

After a couple of seconds of staring at the interface, he decided to shelve the issue. He still needed to save up fragments but if he was honest, he was looking forward to getting the next Arcanum. It should be pretty easy to level that one up fast, and that would open up a handful of slots for more spellforms. Which meant more stats.

Ethan's eyes grew heavy. He had to take a small rest. Even though [Mana Heart] had staved off most of the mana exhaustion, he could feel his mind and body approaching the limit. After all, he didn't think he'd had more than an hour of sleep here and there ever since the day he'd met Ember, and he guessed he wasn't going to get a full eight hours any time soon. But a small nap right now would see him primed and ready to deal with Edwin, after which he could get some real rest before starting on the lords.

"Ember, I'm gonna take a short nap. Wake me up if anything happens," he said, eyes closed. A second later, he felt the cat hop on his chest and roll into a ball herself, and as he drifted off to sleep, he had one last thought:

Did anybody else got into the rift?

***

David's POV

From his vantage point, hidden in the darkness of a cave overlooking the quarry-like base of the mountain, David watched the swamp monitors lounge in their swamp, uncaring of the world around them. Behind, he could hear Edwin and the shadow psycho argue.

He swallowed, and as neutral as he could make his face, he glanced behind him.

Further down, Ava was pacing, cursing up a storm at having had to run from a 'nobody'. Edwin didn't correct her and instead, he was sitting on a rock, thoughtfully staring up at David.

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No, not at me. At the exit, probably.

David looked back and continued his watch while the woman continued to vent, her voice slowly getting and more grating to his ears. She kept saying that the young man, Ethan, had gotten lucky, but David was not a delusional moron on an ego-trip to believe even a whit of what she was saying. No, that man had taken spells that could pierce through a level 60 monster without so much as a drop of blood. David had had to use Essence to break through those damn scales. As for her, the poison that was supposed to blind everyone and everything barely worked on him. He'd been blinded for what? Ten seconds? She even managed to stab him a second time and that did absolutely nothing. She might as well have thrown a pillow at his face.

No. They were outclassed. Severely out of their depths.

It's those damn form spells. I should have focused on those instead of stacking modifiers on my bullet. I thought keeping my distance would be safer. And I bet he managed at least a couple of hidden quests as well…

David had not shared the information to the others, but he did manage to find two hidden quest. He wasn't friendly with these people. This was just an alliance of convenience.

Then walk away, said the part of his brain that knew he was bullshitting himself.

His stomach churned as he stared out and as he tuned out the girl. He'd made the wrong bet by allying with Edwin.

Is it really an alliance when your voice doesn't matter?

David swallowed and grit his teeth. His knuckles turned white around his wand. He wanted to turn behind him once to see what they were doing, but he refrained from doing so or that would make his next move too obvious. He was in such deep shit. And for what? He owed nothing to Edwin, so why should he die along with him. He didn't know this Ethan and whatever history existed between him and Edwin, why was that his problem?

He stopped tapping his shoes and continued watching the space ahead. From this angle, he could see well into the swamp, and even a bit of the lagoon, so he expected to see anyone—or anything—that came their way. But that wasn't important. Because more and more, David wanted to run. He wanted to find Ethan, apologize, then stay out of this whole thing and survive. Maybe even help the kid. Sure, David didn't have a wife and child to go back to, but that didn't mean he wanted to bite it here in the middle of nowhere.

If I stay here, I'm dead. So is she, and so is he.

Edwin seemed to at least be taking this seriously. He'd already gone all over the cave entrances, setting up traps. A few got already ruined by the cave monitors, but David was sure he had plenty. His eyes traced the path Edwin had not trapped—as far as he could tell—and bit his lip.

The man seemed too confident to David's taste, but at least he wasn't talking out of his ass like Ava. But did he want to gamble and stay with them?

Nope. No, they're going to die.

David's throat felt dry. He was parched, sure, but this was something else, and now that he thought of it, he couldn't stop the images from replaying in his mind.

They would have absolutely died if that lord hadn't come and chased Ethan away. Shit, he beat them 4-on-1 while he was lower-level than Edwin. The more time they'd give that monster, the deeper in the hole they'd be.

"You okay over there?"

David stilled. He'd been tapping his foot faster and faster, without even realizing. He coughed, then he answered, only tilting his head to the side. He feared his plan would show on his face if he met the man's eyes. "Need to take a leak. I'll be right back," he added, and took a step forward.

The woman made a disgusted sound and David hated to agree. He was never one to say such things, but the end of the world changed people. For decades, he'd worn his suit and been the perfect little white-collar manager. Networking and smiling and being pleasant to people he abhorred and through all of it, he maintained the facade. But now everything was cracking.

David, as casually as he could, stepped out in the light and glanced around, as if looking for a spot to relieve himself. He hopped down a couple of rocks, then landed near the path he wanted to take.

Where would I find them? The swamp? Or the lagoon?

He didn't know. He might as well flip a coin. But not yet. David came to a stop near a boulder and mimicked the gesture of unzipping his flyer, then looked up to make sure he wasn't being watched.

There was no one.

Without wasting any time, David turned and ran, but he barely made a handful of strides when something cold stuck to his face and killed his momentum.

"No no no… fuck. Get off," he spoke between gritted teeth. The threads burned against his skin. He summoned the buckler that redirected the momentum of oncoming attacks, but there was nothing to redirect. He tried shooting at the invisible webs, but it did nothing and as much as he tried to wrench himself away from the web, as much as he tried to get a good hold with his foot to drag himself away, he couldn't.

Then he heard the steps coming his way.

David looked up to see Edwin sliding down the rocky facade, casually, as if he was in a skate park. A small smile was on his lips. A fake thing that made David thrash harder. He opened his mouth once or twice, trying to come up with an excuse, but Edwin raised a hand.

"It's fine. I understand."

That brought David's thoughts to a halt. A small bit of hope flared in his chest, and his breath came out faster, but that only made Edwin's smile grow wider and at this point, it couldn't be called a smile anymore. It showed too many teeth. The eyes were too angry, and as the words came out, David knew he was done.

"… and I hope that you too, will understand."

David opened his mouth to respond, but his muscles refused to move. Wind rustled through his hair, but it was as if he wasn't even in control of his body. The darkness at the edge of his vision creeped in closer, framing the blue eyes of the man ahead of him while David slowly forgot where he was, or what was happening and a moment later, his eyes rolled back, and he fell into slumber.

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