I woke early the next morning — way too early. For a moment, I considered running another simulation but decided against it. I was as prepared as I was going to get. What I needed now wasn’t more practice.

  I needed to be bolder… surer of myself.

  So, I turned over and went back to sleep.

  The next time I woke, it was just after dawn — no alarm needed. I ate my breakfast, gathered my things, and headed out. My plan for the morning was simple: walk the barrier next to Malik’s area.

  I wanted to meet him. If we were all going to survive this, supporting one another wasn’t just smart — it felt necessary. And he was young. He might need a little more help than the rest of us.

  I had just reached the barrier when a Level 6 Kobold appeared on my Mini Map. I hesitated for a moment, then let the doubt go.

  After making sure it hadn’t spotted me, I watched its movement for a while and ran through my simulations in my head. The goal was to avoid fighting it up close. I waited until it moved farther ahead, then followed at a careful distance. Close enough to strike effectively — not close enough for it to whirl around and skewer me.

  I cast Freeze first, then followed with three Mana Slashes. My aim had improved so much that all three landed cleanly in critical spots. The Kobold went down, though not dead yet.

  I stepped forward and ended it with a quick bash to the head. I know I wanted to stay at range, but it was already down — and the bash cost me no mana at all.

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  Looting it earned me a Rare Knowledge Shard. A surge of relief went through me. I could ask about a family member. But who? My mom, my dad, my sister… I wasn’t sure.

  I got 77 XP for killing the Level 6. That meant that I only needed two more kills to level up. I kept moving, sticking close to the barrier and watching for movement on the other side while keeping constant track of my Mini Map. I had no intention of getting ambushed again.

  I was nearly at Claire’s area when I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. A young guy was staring right at me. I waved; he waved back.

  Unlike with Claire, he already had a Comm Crystal out, and as soon as I held mine up, he used line of sight to add me as a contact.

  “Hi! You must be Danny. Jason told me all about you and Claire. I met her this morning. She is so nice…”

  He cut himself off, face flushing. “Sorry. I’m just so excited to talk to other people.”

  I waved it off. “Don’t worry about it. I am too. How are you holding up?”

  He frowned, “I worry about my little sister and my mother, but I can’t lose hope.”

  “Claire and I are using the Knowledge shards to ask for information from the system. If you have a rare Knowledge shard, you can ask about the status of a person.”

  He nods, “That is good to know but when would the Kobolds drop them?”

  “Level 6 Kobolds drop them.”

  His face turns dower. “I am only Level 5 so I will just have to be patient. In fact, I got…”

  He turned silent and I knew he was wondering if he should mention the quest.

  “Don’t worry, you can mention the quest, now. We all had a feeling that we should not mention the quest to people who does not know about them but ones they are aware, it seems the System doesn’t care if we then discuss it.”

  He nods in relieve. “I was thinking of doing the quest tomorrow before I turn level 6. I think it is important for us to do it.”

  “I think so too. I got the World Tree quest and Claire the Mana Well Construction Quest,”

  “I got the Leyline Stabilization Quest, but Jason also got a quest, but I can’t remember the name of it.”

  I found it interesting that Malik and Jordy had the same quest. That would mean that in the all the connected areas had the same objective. I also think that Mana production and distribution is the reason for the quest.

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  first Royal Road chapter of each pair. The second one won’t have pictures. If you want to see all the art together (or earlier), it’s on Patreon with the combined chapters!