Our blimp cruised through the dark pre-morning sky, followed by a small flock of harmless birds.

  “What do they want?” Sip hissed. He attempted to swat at one of them, getting his hand pricked in the process.

  “Those are storm gulls,” Master Jujud grunted from her lawn chair. She adjusted her seating. “They’re attracted to energy and flashing colors.”

  Sip squirmed, prying a beak from his colorful robes. “Want my robes, do they? Over my cold dead body!”

  Ghostly blue figures appeared, smacking the birds around until they left.

  “Those are stronger than they look,” Toya chuckled. “Brass?”

  “Iron, actually.” Soise exhaled, returning her chessboard to her inventory. “Master, are you sure we should bring Sip and Grind along? Their injuries are extensive.”

  Jujud eyed the two of us. “Any objections?”

  “I don’t mind,” I stated. “It’ll be nice to blow off some steam. I’ve been too cooped up in the city.”

  “It feels like asking for trouble,” Soise muttered. She placed her hands on her hips. “You remember the last time we fought infected monsters, don’t you?”

  I shrugged. “We won, didn’t we? And this time we have Jujud.”

  “Xoiae’s watching too,” Jujud smirked. She continued quickly, catching our expression. “Xoiae isn't physically here, mind you, but if there’s a serious threat Xoiae is waiting on standby, so I could call her over. Suffice to say, we’re not in any real danger whatsoever. Sit back and enjoy the ride.”

  The wind whipped across the blimp’s deck, rustling loose floorboards.

  “Hey, anything you need?” Ardenidi asked, leaning on the railing beside me.

  I stared into the distance, smiling to myself. “Can you believe this?”

  “Believe what?”

  “This.” I gestured toward the sunrise, overshadowed by thick clouds below which ran a visible curtain of rainfall, triggering a surge in wildlife below. “It’s beautiful.”

  Ardenidi looked out. “Yeah.”

  “No matter how hard I try, I can’t see a way this mission could fail,” I said, letting out a sigh. “We have a Master and the strongest person in the second area on our side. Even if the cultists attacked again, we really could just revive everyone.”

  “Careful or you’ll jinx it,” Arenidi chuckled.

  I rolled my eyes.

  We stood in comfortable silence.

  “It’s going to be okay,” I whispered. “It’s actually, really going to be okay.”

  “Of course.” She gave me a hug. “Talk to me if something comes up, okay?”

  I hugged her back. “Glad to.”

  “Alright, alright, break it up lovebirds,” Sip groaned, wobbling toward us. “I’m nauseous enough as it is.”

  “Do you need medication?” Soise chirped. She was already fishing through her inventory for the bottle.

  “Nah, I’m good.” He clenched his stomach, shifting through several shades of green as he dropped face first to the deck. “A-actually—”

  Soise propped up his head and stuffed a pill in his mouth. “Don’t talk or move for the next few minutes, okay? Let your body settle.”

  “Mkay.”

  “He can stay there,” Toya chuckled, glancing up from the game of cards between him and Catania. “I wouldn’t want him fighting anyway.”

  “Don’t speak ill of your teammates!” Soise snapped. “Sip is a surprisingly competent individual!”

  “You know you really don’t need to defend me,” Sip groaned. “Actually, please don’t.”

  “Stop talking.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  Toya chuckled. “Soise, I know Sip’s important. He makes sure we get paid and he supplies potions. But no offense, combat is not his speciality.”

  “I’ll have you know…” Sip puffed out his chest. “I’m a sixth court now.”

  Everyone stared in amazement.

  Jujud whistled. “Who authorized that?”

  Sip rolled to his side. “Nobody respects their accountants.”

  “No moving!” Soise snapped.

  Sip sharply rolled back as the blimp lurched to one side, bashing his head on the deck. “AH! Geez! Who’s controlling the ship?!”

  Master Jujud rose from her chair, tensing for a moment, before she relaxed. “That’s just the storm. It’s moving faster than I expected.”

  “Stormhaven?” I whispered.

  Ardenidi nodded. “They’re supposed to be a pain to kill. Will that be a problem?”

  Jujud raised her hand, almost casually. “No.”

  There was a sound of splintering light and a massive smoldering bird fell from the sky, roasted alive. Some of the largest clouds buckled, caving out under the force of the blast, resulting in an explosive flood of wildlife beneath the storm.

  “You’re lucky,” Master Jujud chuckled. “I’m one of few people with the abilities to damage that thing.” She blew smoke from her finger tips. “You just need unabsorbable mana.”

  The crumpled husk of the monster crashed against the desert, flattening some of the smaller creatures beneath it, along with the densest patch of greenery.

  “Hey, Grind,” Ardenid smacked me on the back. “Think you could get more abilities from that?”

  I looked over the edge. “No. That’s a small one. Probably only Brass.”

  Master Jujud laid back into her chair. “If there’s any loot left by the time we circle back, you kids can have it.”

  I turned. “Is it really safe to leave that many stats lying around?”

  “Sure,” she chuckled. “All the nearby monsters see the loot and get worked up into a frenzy, eating each other. By the time it’s all over an entire biome has only a few strong but weak and tired monsters. Easy pickings.”

  Finally, we saw the edges of forest creep across the horizon.

  “We’re here!” Soise called, using her summons to lower ropes off the sides of the blimp. “Grind, I’d like you to stay here while we scope the place out—Grind? GRIND!”

  By that point I had already flung myself over the side, unfurling my stats in a rush of adrenaline. My weight immediately skyrocketed, launching me into the earth with a thunderous crunch of rock, blowing out a crater in the soft dirt.

  Soise grabbed her head. “Why doesn’t he listen to me?!”

  Master Jujud gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Let him blow off some steam. It’ll be good for him.”

  I took a deep breath.

  {Grind : //100k Hp 1m Str}

  It was like walking in a dream.

  I took a step, skimming over the fronds of grass, landing several yards away with a crunch of dirt. Even though I felt light, my movements compressed the lush floor, displacing the ground in waves.

  I exhaled slowly, almost afraid my lungs would crumple up.

  “Alright. Who’s first?”

  A boar charged through the growth, knocking headfirst into the tree, splintering the trunk. The monster continued without the slightest hesitation.

  {Village Boar}

  [Brass]

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  [100k Hp 100k Str]

  [This unit had been afflicted with {Unknown Affliction}]

  The forest shook.

  {Village Boar : (-1m Hp) -900k Hp}

  I laughed, snatching stats from the bubbling smear. Unfortunately there was only a couple thousand health and strength, but I could manage with what I got.

  One punch had already blown a hole in the forest canopy, twisting trees around one another in heaps of splintered wood.

  “I probably ought to hold back,” I sighed. “If the forest gets too messed up, someone would probably get angry.”

  “No worries,” Master Jujud stated, appearing less than a foot away. “This whole region is going to be burned to ashes in a couple hours, after the storm passes. We can’t risk any insects or mice carrying the infection to other areas. Our job is to kill the medium-size monsters, as to prevent critters from feasting on decaying bodies of larger monsters to survive the fire.”

  Ardenidi landed on a mushroom, bouncing to our side. “Just medium-size?”

  Master Jujud nodded. “Though this is supposed to be a break, I’d like to see what kind of shape you’re in. Don’t hold back.”

  The forest filled with the tromping and crashing of a hundred monsters.

  “I think they found us,” I said, smiling. “Can I—”

  “You heard the lady,” Ardenidi said, gesturing toward the forest. “Go nuts.”

  I jumped into the air, cupping my hands.

  Slowly, gravity caught to my momentum, and I started falling.

  I slammed my palms together, snapping out a blast of wind that stripped the bark and leaves from the trees, blasting wood into thin pieces and blowing the dirt out from under the monster’s feet.

  Crapshoveler appeared in my hand, crackling with excitement.

  “Good to be back, isn’t it?” I asked.

  Crapshoveler twitched in response, presumably glad.

  The monsters spun briefly in the air, only to connect with the back of my fist, blowing apart, one after another, stats raining down.

  {Village Boar : (-1m Hp) -900k Hp}

  {Village Boar : (-1m Hp) -900k Hp}

  {Village Mouse: (-1m Hp) –999k Hp}

  A goblin snarled, biting into my arm, breaking their own teeth in the process.

  I reared up, preparing to strike.

  But something in me hesitated.

  I knew some goblins.

  But monster goblins aren’t the same as Npc goblins. The one clutching me attempted to jump away, arms outstretched toward Toya and Soise.

  “Right.”

  {Lesser Goblin: (-1m) -900k Hp}

  I kicked the monster away, turning to some sort of five-headed bear.

  “Well doesn’t this bring back memories?” I muttered to myself, ducking under a swipe, nailing the beast in one of its many jaws. Before it even began to disintegrate, I’d thrown it back to the forest floor, kicking up mountainous clouds of rock and dust.

  An arrow nicked me over the ear.

  “Grind!” Soise’s voice rang through my earpiece. “Archers!”

  “ON IT!”

  The goblin barely registered the swinging fist, blowing through a solid rock on the path to the monster’s head.

  One hit and thirty goblin archers, vaporized.

  “Slow down, would you?” Sip called, grasping his knees. “You’re making the rest of us look bad!”

  “Nah,” Catania grunted, swinging from a vine to the forest floor, landing with a clank of shifting metal. “Just you.”

  “Calm down you two,” I chuckled, stuffing the stats into my inventory. “We’ll split the loot later, so you can get big and strong.”

  Catania laughed back. “I’m not sharing.”

  Sip chuckled nervously.

  My earpiece chirped. “Grind! Something big’s approaching! Straight ahead.”

  I jumped straight into the path of a hand larger than my entire body.

  {Goblin Chieftain}

  [Silver]

  [1.1m Hp 1.2m Str]

  [This unit had been afflicted with {Unknown Affliction}]

  I grinned like a wild animal. “About time.”

  My head bashed into the ground, blasting out a curtain of soil and plant life.

  The Chieftain stood thirteen feet tall, with horns and tusks that extended even higher, blocking out the sun. He was squeezing, attempting to crush my throat before I reoriented myself.

  {Grind : Attack had been absorbed by [Jujud’s Mana Shield] }

  Master Jujud knelt beside me. “Hey kid. Need a hand?”

  The chieftain swatted at her, which she effortlessly jumped over, landing back where she started.

  “Not this time,” I hissed, grasping the monster’s thumb. “Though if you could block another couple hits for me, that’d be fantastic.” I wrenched the hand open, scrambling free on the ground. “Soise! Toya! Pin this thing down!”

  Summons appeared in a ring around the Chieftain’s head, masking my movements. The monster only took a second before realizing I’d gone missing, pounding the ground with his fists in a desperate attempt to reach me.

  My fist cracked against the base of the monster’s skull.

  {Goblin Chieftain: (-1m) 0.1m Hp}

  The Chieftain staggered, whipping toward me.

  Webs latched over the monster’s feet, throwing it down into the path of a series of punches, blowing through the monster’s face.

  By the end of it, I was breathing heavily, watching twinkling exp roll toward my feet.

  “See?” I chuckled. “Told you I got it.”

  “You needed me,” Toya stated. “And you just dodged it over and over. Anyone can do that.”

  Soise gave him a jab between the ribs. “Let Grind have this.”

  Since there was a lot more forest left to clear, the others scattered as planned, hunting the few remaining monsters. Tired as I was, I jumped on Crapshoveler and chased after them, circling in an arc to the center of the monster population, where they’d built a relatively primitive village.

  I spun, ducking under a spear, jumping from the underside of Crapshoveler to a massive goblin who found himself at the business end of my left knee, much like the goblin behind him.

  Before I’d even finished the movement, I had pulled Crapshoveler back around me, cleaving through one of the huts, instantly killing the monsters inside. Others poured out from houses around me, shaking their shadowy hands in zombish rage. Whatever the affliction did to make them stronger also removed any healthy senses of danger.

  One hit and the field was cleared.

  I swayed, struggling to stand as the adrenaline wore away.

  “I think that’s about enough for today,” I sighed. Since when did I get this tired after just a little fighting? Maybe I subconsciously expected myself to be tired, so I was?

  Or maybe I was just out of shape.

  I was probably just out of shape.

  A feminine scream echoed through the empty village with a somewhat familiar ring.

  There was another human here.

  “Stay where you are!” I shouted, pivoting onto Crapshoveler, running in the right direction.

  A goblin hissed at me, baring its fangs from inside the hut. There was a child close to it, crumpled in a ball.

  There was no time! I had to move faster!

  I landed with a crash, throwing the monster from the body. It latched onto my neck, scrambling helplessly.

  “Back away!” I shouted. The monster let out a feral shriek, seizing me by the head, not that it did anything against my defense.

  I whipped Crapshoveler in an arch, hissing as the air parted from his blade.

  My hand slipped.

  Crapshoveler shot over my shoulder, cleaving through a tree with a sharp crack, flinging splinters into the air.

  Rising sunlight cast over the monster’s face.

  Rose looked back at me, a sheen of blood over her green skin.

  No.

  No.

  My breath caught.

  No..

  She wasn’t even infected. The door to the hut had been locked shut from the inside by several beams.

  I took a step away from the body, and Rose dove toward him, clutching her brother to her chest. He was already dead.

  Junior was already dead.

  {NOTICE}

  [Party member : {Junior} has been killed]

  [{Junior} has not met the requirements for respawning. {Junior} has been erased.]

  [Warranty extension! [Return to the {Junior’s} slaver to receive 50% off on your next purchase!]

  Junior was dead.

  Rose screamed, holding her brother tighter, getting more blood on herself. She slammed her fist on the floor, sobbing until she was choking.

  I took a step back, finally registering the black blood smeared on my hands, dripping down my shovel.

  No.

  I couldn’t—

  Rose spun toward me, crawling at my ankle, trying to hurt me but only chipping her fingernails in the process.

  “Y-you evil monster!” Rose sobbed. “MONSTER!”

  Junior was dead.

  And I had killed him.

  But this was the second area.

  I could fix this.

  I could…

  Junior’s body began to disintegrate.

  // {Notice} //

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