“Tell me again what they said,” Mul asked. “Word for word.”

  The brawler was at last back on his feet, Jasphaer and Leta having finished mending his broken body. Mul seemed steady on his feet, even spry, which was a miracle given that Silver Fists had nearly pancaked him, and his suppressor was already hard at work making sure their mushroom tower and everyone in it didn’t catch on fire.

  To say the lengos had been unhappy about waking up to find that the War Quest had been triggered, and that a bunch of nobles had hijacked the campaign, was putting it mildly. That had been compounded by his discovery that the only things available and abundant enough to feed an army of auramancers were some kind of slimy root and… spiderlings.

  Nar grimaced as he bit into the slimy, mushy root, its overpowering taste taking hold of his tongue and beating it senseless. He bit down on a huge mouthful of spider to wash the root. Surprisingly, the grilled bugs weren’t that bad, and the Illum, who had revealed themselves to be surprising grill masters, had used some kind of seasoning that was packed with flavor. So, spiderling? Not bad… Not bad at all. And as Sarke had put it, they could either have standards, or full bellies, and no one was picking the first.

  Kur sighed, a spider leg dangling from his mouth.

  “They said get in there and get us what we need.”

  “Great, just great,” Mul said, his tone forcibly neutral as he eyed his slimy root stew.

  “Mul… Watch what you say,” Cen pleaded. “[Senses] are crazy high now, and I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

  “I’m still doing it. I’m just not happy about it,” the brawler said, heading downstairs with his sister.

  “He has a point,” Ger said. “They left all the… nitty-gritty to us.”

  “That they did,” Kur said, sighing.

  Their fungi tower was bursting at the seams, as Kur’s domain party had grown to include seven parties to effectively become Kur’s raid group.

  They had taken in Ger and Kos, who had previously been Ger’s domain party, as well Rov’s party with Vut. Vut was actually from Juf’s faction, but he had long been on the fence about it. Now, he seemed to have fully thrown his lot in with Kur.

  Kur had requested to have these four parties, as well as Leon’s and Row’s, under his command, but that would’ve effectively set him up as the leader of a sixty-four delver force. In technical terms, it ought to be called a raid platoon, and a big one at that. Kur had not known what to expect of the nobles and their sense of leadership and delegation, but found that the noble he’d spoken to, one Lord Donkura, didn’t give a Pile about any of it. He registered all of the parties that Kur requested for, clumped them together into what he called a raid group, and handed over the admin rights over it to Kur.

  In fact, the nobles were tossing the elite apprentices into the Jungle of Divide, without orders, plans, or strategies other than to get in there and get the job done.

  “It’s a very hands-off sort of leadership, eh?” Kos said.

  You can say that again, Nar thought.

  Looking over the muddy plain of the Jungle’s Clearing, he continued to watch as the two guild forces deployed. While the guild members stationed in Gloom’s Edge had been sent out overnight, to protect the summoning ritual for the Revenge, now, bright and early, their entire one thousand and two-hundred-member force was setting up a defensive perimeter around the crucial ritual, to ensure that no Atlatl war band could put an end to their campaign before it even started.

  It was a big job, and Nar hoped they were up to the task. He’d heard the party leaders, late at night, expressing concerns about the fact that these people were essentially the two guilds’ spares. The mere placeholder inside the jungle, while the guilds’ actual main forces were back out in town or sent to delve into other dungeons in the vicinity for XP and loot. And it really didn’t help their case that these people had been on watch to prevent the War Quest from being triggered in the first place!

  Nobody actually knew how it had happened, and if the two guilds knew, they weren’t volunteering the information. Maybe the nobles had extracted the full story from them, but Kur posited that it likely was simple negligence. As to whether it had been the assassins after Leon that had grown desperate and triggered the war, or Tsurmirel behaving exactly as the top sixth guild was expected to, the truth was still anybody’s guess.

  The two guild forces and the local delvers would stay behind to help supply the war effort, and to get the Illum army organized as it assembled from throughout the Gloom, to ensure it and its precious war machines, healers and casters were ready for the campaign.

  “Being hands off works just fine for us. That way, we only have ourselves to blame if we fail,” Kur said, offering the gathered leadership a bright smile.

  “True enough,” Calli said with a sigh.

  “Right, we’re going to get this done, and we’re doing it the right way,” Kur said. “Me, Juf and Dak have agreed that we aren’t just going to focus on the Monarch Trees and their Jungle Blood. We’re going to do a full sweep of the Jungle of Divide to ensure that when we assault that Gate, nothing’s going to surprise us from behind.”

  Kur roved his eyes over his parties.

  “That means we’re going into this with a search and destroy objective. Any forces we encounter, we slaughter to the last Atlatl. Any outposts, settlements, fortifications, you name it! We’ll destroy the enemy presence and set it all on fire. These enemies and buildings won’t regenerate, and we won’t allow the Atlatl to retake their lost positions. By the time Revenge rises, the Jungle of Divide will be ours!”

  “Nice and simple. I like it,” Eum said, seated over the edge of the tower.

  “Juf and Dak, with the two larger forces, are going to comb through the jungle as they advance, making sure no more shipments of sap reach the gate, and that we take any that try to make it out of the jungle. But also, they’ll make sure that no Atlatl can escape or enter the Jungle of Divide,” Kur explained. “Meanwhile, we are going in deep, and wrecking as much havoc as we can. If we can outright destroy them? We will. If we can’t, then hit-and-run and harassment until we can. We want the Atlatl confused and never knowing what we’re going to do next, and I don’t care how dirty we have to play. Remember that the Atlatl are masters of jungle warfare, and that brute force is only one of the weapons in their arsenal! We can expect ambushes, [Stealth] monsters coming in to poison our supplies and assassinate our delvers in the night, and so on. They’re going to be brutal and efficient, and we need to do the same!”

  He placed his tablet on the somewhat spongy floor, drawing all eyes to it.

  “A circle formation,” Vut said, tongue playing with a sharp canine. “Makes sense.”

  “Yes. Your and Row’s party will be taking point, because your tanks are built for heavy frontline action. Ger and my party will follow up, and then Kos and Rov’s parties. Leon’s party will hold the rear. Since they’re aethermancers, they will be a bit more spaced out from us, but their party excels at any sort of encounter and situation, so you can trust them to hold our backs no matter what.”

  Glances shifted towards Leon and Calli, and the siblings met them with grim determination. The leadership had stayed up late, detailing each of their party members, their strengths, their weaknesses, quirks, styles, and so on, and Nar, who had remained largely silent and listening in, had noticed how impressed the auramancers were with Leon’s party, and for good reason. However, they hadn’t just been impressed by Leon…

  “And where will our ‘eighth’ party be?” Ger asked, smiling in Nar’s direction.

  He sighed. “Please stop calling me that.”

  Laughter diffused the tension in the top of the tower.

  “In case of attack, we will react and shift formations as needed, or, we will hunker down into fortress mode, with the melee on the outside, then ranged, then casters, leaders and healers, and, at the very center, Cor, whose [Gathering Tide] will tremendously buff us auramancers, and, should it be needed, be unleashed as our ultimate attack in her [High Tide]’s [Tsunami] or [Raging Flood]. As you all know, Gad has a controller path, and that will make things a lot smoother for us as well,” Kur said, then he nodded towards Kos and Rov. “And of course, I haven’t forgotten Pir’s [Virulent Bomb] and [Viral Field], or Len’s [Asphyxiation Sphere], or any of our party members whose powerful skills require a bit more care and setting to use. Let’s all first get acquainted with working together, and then we can bring out the big guns.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Then Kur grinned at Nar, earning him a frown. “As for Nar, it’s worked very well for us to have him moving independently as necessary, so I think we’ll trial the same with the platoon. For now, Nar will move besides the circle, and a little bit out. If anything comes at us from your side, you can delay them to give us time to get ready, and if anything comes at us from any other side, you can circle around and hit them from the back. Oh, and I’m giving you Mul. His latest [Affinity to the Raging Flames] upgrade has gotten a bit too damaging and far reaching, and with his new [Exploding Fist] and [Fire Streams], it’s best to give him space so that he can fight without worry.”

  “Makes sense,” Nar said nodding, but his [Awareness] caught the sly smiles and expectant stares levied his way. “What?”

  “He said he’s giving you Mul,” Row said, with a snicker. “That means you’re in charge!”

  Nar’s expression fell. “What? Why?”

  “It’s time to step up,” Gad said. “And no better time than this.”

  Nar fixed her with a glare. And thinking back to their conversation by the shores of the Great Lake, no doubt this was her doing. But his stare bounced off her all-black and undaunted eyes.

  “Now, now,” Kur said. “It’s a good idea, and I agree with Gad. Plus, we do need a piece on the board that is not tied down and can move in anyway necessary. We’re starting off with Mul, and if the other party leaders agree, I will send a few more people your way. People that like Mul, need room in order to bring their talents to bear and that also have some self-preservation capabilities. Of course, I trust you to keep them safe, too.”

  Nar sighed, but what was he going to say? No?

  “So, let me get this straight… You're taking all the troublemakers and tossing them to Nar?” Eum asked. “Nice.”

  Laughter erupted at the top of the tower, and all Nar could was shake his head. Gad had been pestering him about it long enough, so what in the Pile? Why not just get it done. He doubted that he would enjoy it, but hopefully it wouldn’t be too bad either… He would draw the line and stamp his foot if Kur tried to make him read that “Influence 101: Or How to Make Friends!” book though.

  “Now that we’re all in a raid formation, we also have access to a few more neat perks,” Kur continued, once the laughter died down. “One of them is the ability to establish as many mental chats as we want, so I’ll be setting them up as needed. And I mention this because while we all know that we’re now operating under a much different set of circumstances, given the sense attributes involved, we should still do our best to be quiet. We want to eradicate the Atlatl, yes. But on our terms. So I’m instituting a no-voice policy within the Jungle of Divide, as well as other policies to be later discussed.”

  He checked the gathered leaders, but there were no arguments against nor any indication of further questions.

  “Right, the others are deploying as we speak, but we’re the ones entering the jungle first, before they block it off and march in, so, let’s get going soon,” Kur said. “But as a final, and I know it’s a repeated warning, I want everyone to remember that according to the reports, the Jungle of Divide is teeming with the Atlatl, and their war beasts. All of them will be level seventy and there will be loads of mid-uncommon up to upper-rare amongst their ranks. And these can be anywhere or be anything… An archer. A healer. A heavy frontline fighter. A giant dinosaur. Anything! This may not be a “real” raid, technically speaking, but it’s real enough to us. This is not an easy fight that we’re heading into, nor will it be an easy campaign. There will be casualties. So don’t underestimate the enemy, always expect and be prepared for the worst, and let’s make sure that we all get back to the Scimitar in one piece.”

  And with a last cheer of grim encouragement, the party leaders filtered downstairs to get their parties organized to move out.

  **********

  “There you go, dearie.”

  Nar accepted the bundle of leaves with a mute nod, and beside him, both Mul and Tuk were also staring up, and wide eyed, at the enormous praying mantis sapient creature that was handing out food as though she were everybody’s grandma.

  “Now you be careful out there,” she said, her mandibles clicking, but the sound coming from one of those translators on her neck, just like Professor Vissur’s who taught them Slaying. “And make us proud. We’re all counting on you all!”

  “I… Uh, yes, of course. Leave it to us,” Nar said, but they were soon ushered forward and rushed over to re-join the others.

  “When you think you’ve seen it all,” Mul said.

  “Baam! You find something else completely unexpected and really awesome!” Tuk said, waving back at the mantis grandma.

  She was part one of the local delver guilds, and given her calm demeanor Nar wondered just how much crap she had seen and survived in her lifetime. Maybe she had even seen a War Quest or two, and that the neat cooking and packaging station arranged about her was the product of past, similar experiences.

  I’m sure people have gotten stuck like this before, and probably a lot, Nar thought, as they exited Gloom’s Edge.

  “Not everything is awesome,” Mul said, his suppressor triggering. “Did you forget the psaelis? The confluence? The corrupted dungeon? Everything in this damned jungle?”

  “Bah! You’re focusing on the wrong stuff. Look on the brighter side,” Tuk said. “For example, the rain has stopped!”

  Small mercies and all that, Nar thought, eyeing the green tinted clouds above.

  The others were assembling to the left of the gate, out of the way from the flood of auramancers pouring from the Illum’s settlement, and their fresh jungle suits were somehow already coated in mud up to their knees.

  To the right, a bit further out in the Jungle’s Clearing, the locals were hard at work erecting makeshift palisades, trenches, and towers around the ritual of summoning. They must have been working through the night, as already the defenses were starting to take shape and offer some shelter to the illum summoners and their guard.

  Further down and closer to the Shrine of the Heart, Nar spotted what appeared to be the first gatherings of the Illum army. The downcast, weapon dragging mushroom people looked like they already had one foot in the System’s soul dispenser, but an older lady with a third eye was shouting orders with a booming voice and getting them to form into ranks and start drills. Hopefully, by the time the Jungle of Divide was theirs, there would be a real army waiting for them, ready to storm the gate.

  As for the camp of brown and cerulean tents, with the holograms of the Gathum Intertwine and the Blue Dn’Arrah Fighters hovering in the air, Nar couldn’t immediately tell what was going on there. The guilds were supposed to protect the locals and the Illum, but Nar spotted very few of them outside of their camp, or even outside their tents.

  “Bastards,” Mul said, following Nar’s stare. “All that gear and they’re unwilling to share even a little bit.”

  “I mean, it’s aethertech, no?” Tuk asked, shrugging.

  “The mattresses? The pillows? The tents?” Mul asked.

  “Yeah, fair enough…” Tuk relented with a grimace.

  “Just having a tent to shelter us from the rain and the damned bugs would’ve made all the difference,” Mul said, his suppressor hard at work. “Now, we’ll sleep like shit, and waste aura healing shit that could’ve been avoided.”

  “We’ll take what we need from the Atlatl,” Nar reminded him. “We just need to not set it on fire.”

  “Are you implying something?” Mul asked, Tuk bursting out in laughter.

  They waited for the others to filter through the supply queues, Jaz and Lim joining them in idle chatter, and Nar spotted a beefy altei waving at him from the line of apprentices in Dak’s much larger raid battalion.

  “Friend of yours?” Tuk asked.

  “You have friends?” Mul asked him.

  “That’s Tol. He’s from my squad in the Blades Hall,” Nar said, ignoring Mul as he waved back at the two-handed swordsman.

  Tol bumped his fists in the air and then gave Nar a double thumbs up, which Nar replied to with a chuckle.

  “Pile, this is totally a death flag,” Jaz muttered.

  They all turned to stare at him.

  “Sorry… Gallows humor and all that,” the archer said, sighing.

  Nar couldn’t exactly blame him for the poor joke. The fortifications, the supply queues, the lines of delvers, the massive, gold gleaming gate in the distance, and the choking, sweltering, and humid air that hung over it all with a silence that promised to shatter at any moment… This was not just delving anymore. It was war, and the specter of death was far more visible and solid above them now than perhaps ever before.

  I wonder how many will meet the Big Guy before this is all over, Nar thought. With his green lantern, the Gray One, Radiant Keeper of the Dead, would meet many of them before the Heart was back where it belonged. Or will it be His spirits doing the soul grabbing?

  Nar hadn’t paid much attention or interest to religion, for obvious reasons, but now he wondered idly how it all worked, soul collecting, tribunal, after life and all that.

  His belief was still loosely tied to the Waiting Dark and the Eternal Bliss that awaited the workers once their sin was paid in full, something he now confessed he doubted would happen any time soon, if ever… But according to what Jarl had explained to them before, according to his belief, he should be sent to the Waiting Dark. But wasn’t that the place to hold the souls of the sinful workers? He was forgiven now…

  Do I need to pick a God and all that stuff? How do you even do that? Is there a list of pros and cons, with details of each religion’s supposed after life?

  And it was supposed, because the gods kept mum about whatever happened past the tribunal that weighed one’s deeds and misdeeds in life. But when even criminals had their own set of beliefs that somehow justified all their behavior, what was even right and wrong in the eyes of the Divine?

  He pressed his eyes shut for a moment, pushing against the sudden whispering pain that laced through his thoughts, silencing them.

  “You alright?” Mul asked him.

  Nar blinked back to the now, and everything was alright once more. Wait? Hadn’t it always been alright? Had he been thinking about something just there?

  “Nar?”

  “Oh… sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “I just feel like I forgot something.”

  “Hate when that happens,” Tuk said, nodding sagely.

  Nar shrugged.

  “Meh. I’m sure it wasn’t anything important.”

  But why was his aura so agitated within him?

  He winced and rubbed at his solar plexus.

  “Right, that’s everyone!” Kur called. “Let’s go. We’ve got monsters to kill.”