As they flew, Toledo disappearing behind them, Martin put considerable effort into making his team explain their classes and power-sets to Luke and Curtis, so there wouldn't be any surprises. Linda showed some of what she could do by casting spells to increase everyone's attributes, adding a significant +15 to physical attributes and +10 to mental ones, while also increasing mana regeneration, speed, and more intangible things like stealthiness and force of personality. Being buffed to that extent was like having adrenaline rush through your system, and Luke sat there, panting, feeling like he wanted to jump out of the helicopter, crash into the water, and fight a shark barehanded.

  It made for a difficult time concentrating on Rolf's explanation of what he could do with barriers, and Luke couldn't follow every piece of information, but got the gist of it. Protecting things and using those same barriers to cut things off, in a sense. A barrier placed so it sheared through an object, or even person, was sharper than any blade. When the giant man described his ability to shield people, Luke caught on.

  "The barrier is that close, so it keeps people... erm... together?"

  Martin jumped in. "That's the idea. Tiny's ability should counter Relian's tendency to turn people into jigsaw puzzles made out of meat."

  "Can I try something?" Luke asked.

  Rolf nodded in approval and straightened, casting a barrier around himself.

  Reaching out with Threads of Mana, Luke prodded the barrier. It was invisible to the naked eye, with the spellweave tucked behind it, but that wouldn't be enough. After coming into contact with the mage back in the previous dungeon, the one from another system that also used barriers, Luke had developed a bit of a theory that he'd been eager to try.

  Prodding the barrier with Threads of Mana in the physical space was one thing, and the barrier served its purpose for that, but what if he shifted the threads to the metaphysical plane while using Weaver's Grasp to keep them out in the external world? While he was unable to see mana threads in the barrier, like he could inside someone's body, he was sure they'd be there. So far, everything he'd seen was made up of patterns of threads forming weaves in one way or another, which then settled into their own versions of mana channels.

  Luke narrowed his eyes and pushed. The thread slipped into and through the barrier. Rolf's eyes opened wide, and his mouth fell open. Then he let out a low growl and flexed, forcing Luke back and out with enough power that the thread dissolved.

  Both of them were panting after the brief struggle, and no one spoke for a long while. The hum of the helicopter filled the silence until Greg voiced what they were all thinking.

  "Rolf's barriers will not stop Relian."

  "Aye," Rolf said, shoulders slumping. "They won't."

  "Sorry," Luke said.

  "No," Martin said. "It's better that we know now."

  Their leader gestured to Greg without providing any words of comfort to Rolf. "Why don't you go? Tell our new friends what it is that you do?"

  "Well, most of my work is performed in Excel or a host of different accounting software."

  "I love Excel," Curtis said, keeping a straight face.

  Martin pushed the headset back a little so he could rub at his temples as he spoke. "What your class can do, Greggie."

  "Oh," Greg said, adjusting his glasses. "Of course. Ranger classes are damage dealers that often have animal companions to aid them in combat. A Ghost Ranger, like me, is no different, but rather than keep a specific animal companion, I am able to summon the ghost of anything I have killed."

  "Anything?" Luke asked. That was seriously impressive. "Even bosses?"

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  "Even bosses," Greg confirmed. "There is one caveat, however. The summoned ghosts are a fair bit weaker than their living counterpart."

  "It's still a very powerful skill set," Martin said.

  "Sounds neat," Curtis agreed. "What sort of ghosts do you have stored?"

  "Many different ones."

  Curtis nodded. "Fair enough."

  After a lull in the conversation, everyone except Luke turned to look at Curtis. It took him a moment to realize. When he did, he pointed to himself. "Me?"

  Martin gestured for Curtis to go on. "We all know much about what a Lifeweaver can do, but the reports don't say much about you except your love for big, pointy objects."

  "Well, yeah. I have a sword. A big one, usually."

  Luke glanced over to his friend and saw that Curtis was uncomfortable, his eyes darting as he searched for words. It didn't look like nerves, either. Thoughtful, Luke studied him and came to the conclusion that Curtis probably wasn't too interested in sharing everything about his class, but then he seemed to come to some decision.

  "The sword is just a construct made out of darkness, as weird as that sounds."

  "I've heard weirder," Cass said over the internal voice system.

  "Yeah, well," Curtis continued, looking at Luke. "Reaver is a mage-type class, but I didn't like that 'playstyle' or whatever you want to call it. Felt too much like my job, just sitting back and not doing much of anything. So, at level 3, I started putting points into physical attributes and kind of moved into a melee fighter hybrid with some darkness-based buffs and control-type spells."

  "Huh," Luke said.

  "You made the class your own," Rolf said.

  Martin nodded, thoughtful. "Respect."

  "Well, I pump you blood bags full of nano bots to force vitality into you. Also have some toxins and other fun stuff to play around with," Cass said.

  Laura gave a small grunt. "I stand around and get hit, except I don't die."

  "Just what you need in a tank," Luke said.

  Once everyone had explained their individual classes and capabilities, Martin moved over to tactics. With Rolf's barriers no longer trusted to keep Relian's more dangerous abilities at bay, a pivot was deemed necessary. Luke explained what he'd learned from fighting Relian the last time, what to expect if your body fell to pieces around you, how The Healer's Moment worked, and all other skills he'd seen Relian use, while explaining that the Fallen Shepherd would in all likelihood be able to use several more skills from the Lifeweaver class, since he'd been able to use pretty much everything off the bat, despite Tim being at such a low level.

  The combination of Relian's original class and the new one he'd taken by possessing Tim was dangerous, to say the least. When sharing that it was their target who was the one responsible for the Lizard King appearance in Toledo, Luke registered shock on their faces. More than a little satisfied, he noted that Alan's people didn't know every little thing.

  "Wish I'd joined the fight against the Lizard King," Greg said, his voice low.

  Curtis shook his head. "Don't think so, or you'd be a dead Lizardman at this point."

  "Maybe," Greg conceded.

  "This means we will have to expect Relian to pull monsters out of his hat," Martin said, not sounding happy about it.

  "The notes said nothing about our target wearing a hat," Greg protested.

  "For crying out loud, Greg," Linda said, her voice betraying just how often Greg misunderstood stuff.

  "Ah, you were using a metaphorical idiom," Greg said, letting out a small, forced laugh, as if trying to be in on some non-existent joke.

  Martin ignored him. "Anything else?"

  Luke cleared his throat. "One of you has a couple of benign tumours, and there are a few other things in the group that could be bad news down the line, or even in this fight. If you want, I could take a look at them."

  They all stared at him.

  Clearing his throat, Martin gestured for Luke to go on. "Please."

  Healing Greg, Linda, and Cass took a little longer than Luke had thought, because his mind kept going to Relian's location as they flew closer and closer to their destination. While he finished up, Martin assured everyone that the DIA was closing in with the FBI and the military in tow. Even with so many people, Luke couldn't help but get a bad feeling in his gut. Relian was strong, yes, but not some impossible-to-beat monster. Last time they met, Luke and his friends came out on top, though it had been a close one.

  The problem now was the unknown factor of just how much stronger Relian had become, and what new tricks he would bring to the fight. Summoning monsters was one thing, but Luke doubted that would be the full extent of it. Above all else, the thing adding the most to the bad feeling hanging over Luke was not that Relian knew they were coming, because he did know they were coming. No, it was the fact that each time Luke peeked in to get a more accurate and specific location, the Fallen Shepherd exuded confidence. Relian knew they were coming, and there wasn't a doubt in their enemy's mind that he would come out on top.

  The only other emotion he picked up from Relian was a gentle disappointment that Luke had decided to come for him even after the letter telling him to stay away.

  "Here we go," Martin said. "Game time, people!"