Tami trudged near the rear, pale and quiet, her staff dragging in the dirt with every step. Blake hovered close to her, guilt plain on his face. Alice walked beside Tami, one hand resting lightly on her arm now and then, steadying her when she stumbled. She said little, but her presence was a quiet anchor.
None of them had spoken much since the attack. The empty space in their ranks was too loud.
“We can’t stop now,” George finally said, breaking the silence. His voice was flat, brittle. “We finish the mission. We find that spring and we claim it. That’s how we make their deaths mean something.”
Nobody argued, but the weight of his words pressed down on them.
The path wound along the lake’s edge, the water on their right dark and still as glass. Every ripple seemed suspicious, every shadow beneath the surface a lurking threat. Dave scanned constantly, bow in hand, while Blake muttered curses under his breath each time a branch snapped beneath his boots.
George pushed them harder, faster. At first it was anger that drove him — a fire barely leashed, the need to do something, anything, before grief caught up. His pace left the others struggling, and when Tami tripped on a rock and nearly pitched into the shallows, Alice caught her arm and steadied her.
“Ease up,” Blake snapped at George. “We’re not all made of iron.”
George wheeled on him, fury flashing in his eyes, but stopped short when he saw Alice holding Tami close. Tami’s face was pale as chalk, lips trembling, eyes red-rimmed. She clutched her staff like a lifeline, and Alice whispered something too soft to hear but firm enough to keep her standing.
George’s anger faltered. The fire behind his words softened into something rawer, harder to name. He let out a long breath, dragging a hand down his face.
“…Sorry,” he muttered, the word stiff, but real. His gaze swept over them all — Blake tense and stubborn, Dave scanning the lake with hunted eyes, Alice steadying Tami step by step. “I just… can’t stand how empty it feels without them.”
Alice’s eyes flicked toward him, calm but sharp. “We all feel it, George. But driving us into the ground won’t bring them back.”
Tami’s grip on her staff tightened. Her voice was small, but steady. “None of us can.”
For a long moment, the group just walked. No one pressed the pace. The silence wasn’t empty now; it was shared. A heavy grief, carried together.
As the shoreline curved, the land began to rise. Uneven stone replaced soft earth, the ground sloping until a cliff loomed ahead, blocking their path.
“Was that here before?,” Alice murmured.
Halfway up the cliff face, water burst from the rock — a waterfall spilling into the lake below, sparkling as if newly born. On the ledge the water came from, half-shrouded in mist, crouched a cluster of buildings. Squat. Weather-worn. Old.
“There,” Dave said, pointing. “That’s got to be the spring.”
A narrow path cut along the cliffside, slick and treacherous. One misstep and they’d fall into the churning water below.
George cursed under his breath, but his voice no longer carried the sharp edge of anger. It was grim, practical. “Perfect ambush spot.”
“Or the only way up,” Blake said. He forced a grin that didn’t reach his eyes. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
They stood at the foot of the path for a long moment, staring up at the waterfall and the misty buildings beyond. Then George drew his blades and nodded.
“For Eric. For Marta,” he said quietly. “Let’s finish what we started.”
One by one, they began the climb. Alice moved behind Tami again, steadying her when the stone slicked with spray threatened to send her tumbling.
When George hauled himself onto the shelf, the air shimmered.
LOCAL EVENT: CLAIM THE SPRING
CLEAR OUT INFESTING CREATURES TO SECURE THE LOCATION. REWARD: CLEAN WATER SUPPLY, +50 MORALE
The words hadn’t even finished fading when the cliff face seemed to start moving. Cracks crisscrossed across the rock and from those fissures poured hundreds of glossy, wet-blue beetle like creatures. Each was the size of a fist, mandibles clacking, wings buzzing in a low-pitched drone that rattled their bones.
“Above us!” George bellowed, drawing steel.
The swarm fell like a living tide. Beetles rained down from the cliff face, wings buzzing in a bone-deep drone. Razor legs scraped stone, mandibles clacked, and pressurized jets of water hissed through the mist.
George met them first, blades flashing. His twin swords carved arcs of steel, ichor spraying across his arms and face. He cut three down, four more took their place, crawling over his boots. “Keep them off the casters!” he bellowed, stomping one into paste.
LEVEL 1 WATER CHITTERING KILLED (X4)
EXPERIENCE GAINED
CREDITS EARNED: +38
Blake spun into the fray, knives flashing in his hands. He slashed a beetle in half with Cleave, then hooked another off George’s back. “They don’t stop!” he snarled, jerking his arm as mandibles clamped down on his wrist. The System pulsed in the corner of his vision.
SKILL ACTIVATED: CLEAVE (RANK 1).
CLEAVE RANK +1
LEVEL 1 WATER CHITTERING KILLED (X6)
EXPERIENCE GAINED
CREDITS EARNED: +47
Dave loosed arrow after arrow, each one thudding into chitin. One beetle exploded in a burst of blue ichor, another spun into the lake below. He cursed as a water jet slammed his shoulder, spinning him around. His bowstring snapped with a wet twang. “Shit! My bow is done!” He drew his knife, planting his feet. “Come on then!”
Alice thrust her staff forward, words sharp as ice. An arrow of energy rippled outward, smashing a cluster into the cliff. They shattered on impact, their insides splattering like burst waterskins. “Stay close!” she shouted. “If you scatter, I can’t cover you!”
LEVEL 1 WATER CHITTERING KILLED (X7)
EXPERIENCE GAINED
CREDITS EARNED: +67
ARCANE BOLT RANK +1
Tami’s voice broke across the chaos. “We are getting overrun! I can’t keep up with the damage.”
“Hold, damn it!” George roared, cutting down more.
The cliff seemed to exhale as a second wave of chitterings poured out, wings buzzing louder, mandibles gleaming with spray.
“Inside! We’ll be torn apart out here!” George kicked open the door of the nearest stone building. “Move!”
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They piled through the splintering frame, slamming it shut behind them. Beetles hit the wood instantly, claws carving grooves, mandibles crunching. Jets of water cracked stone, spraying shards across the dim chamber.
The door buckled — and then burst. Beetles swarmed through.
George planted himself in the breach, blades a storm of steel. Every swing was precise, lethal, but his stamina bar ticked lower with each passing second. Blake pressed in beside him, knives flashing, movements frantic but effective.
LEVEL 1 WATER CHITTERING KILLED (X17)
EXPERIENCE GAINED
CREDITS EARNED: +162
SWORDS RANK +2
DEXTERITY +1
Dave crouched at the gap, one leg trembling, knife hacking down every beetle that slipped past. He was bleeding freely, he could feel his health edging lower. Tami pressed her staff against him, light flaring weakly.
SKILL ACTIVATED: MINOR MEND (RANK 7)
HEALTH +17
“I can’t… I can’t keep this up!” she cried, voice cracking.
“Then don’t!” George snarled, carving down a fresh wave. His blades dripped ichor, arms shaking.
Alice raised her staff high, light sparking along its length. “Arcane Bolt!” Another energy bolt blasted the swarm, buying precious seconds. But her mana plunged close to the bottom. She felt woozy and new if she cast another spell she would fall unconscious.
LEVEL 1 WATER CHITTERING KILLED (X9)
EXPERIENCE GAINED
CREDITS EARNED: +86
ARCANE BOLT RANK +1
WILLPOWER +1
The air shook. Dozens more beetles scuttled in, wings buzzing, water jets hammering the walls.
Tami’s staff glowed faintly — but no mana stirred. She choked back a sob, lifted her chin, and shouted with everything left in her. “Hold fast!”
The System answered.
NEW SKILL LEARNED: INSPIRING RADIANCE (RANK 0)
YOUR RADIANCE SPARKS COURAGE, A LIGHT THAT BURNS AWAY SHADOWS OF DOUBT AND DESPAIR. INCREASES ALLIES’ WILLPOWER AND MORALE WITHIN THE AURA, MAKING THEM MORE RESISTANT TO FEAR, CHARM, OR CONFUSION EFFECTS.
The glow wasn’t strong, but it steadied them. Their arms felt lighter, their blades swung surer, their legs stopped trembling.
George’s swords blurred again, hacking a path through the tide. Blake bellowed, hurling a beetle bodily into the wall before skewering another. Dave slashed, wild and stubborn, blood soaking his clothes but his knife never slowing. Alice’s staff flared one last time, blue force cracking a swarm apart.
Time lost all meaning as they fought against the relentless horde. Each of them lost track of the amount of chitterings they had fought and killed. But soon the hissed and sound of wings sputtered, then silence.
The last chittering body twitched, legs curling inward.
The System pulsed.
LOCAL EVENT COMPLETE: CLAIM THE SPRING
YOUR PARTY HAS CLAIMED THE SPRING. IT IS NOW LINKED TO THE KOLOB SANCTUM OUTPOST. RESOURCES FROM THIS LOCATION WILL FLOW TO THE OUTPOST ONCE FULLY INTEGRATED AT THE OUTPOST.
TITLE GAINED:
- SPRING’S CLAIMANT
FIRST CONQUERERS OF A CONTESTED RESOURCE. TITLES GRANT INCREASED ODDS OF DISCOVERING AND SECURING SYSTEM RESOURCE NODES.
- +2% DETECTION CHANCE OF NATURAL RESOURCES, SPRINGS, AND MAGICAL NODES
- +2% RESISTANCE TO ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS TIED TO WATER
George leaned against the shattered doorframe, chest heaving. His blades dripped black ichor, and for the first time since the lake he allowed himself to close his eyes.
“For Eric. For Marta,” he whispered.
The others sagged against the walls, battered but alive. The sound of the waterfall roared outside, no longer a threat, but a promise.
The silence after the last beetle fell was almost worse than the fight itself. The stone chamber stank of ichor and wet stone, their boots slipping in the slurry of shattered carapaces. The group leaned on walls, gasping, clothes plastered with black gore and streaks of blood.
Tami slumped to her knees, staff clattering to the floor. “We… we did it,” she whispered. Her hands shook as she tried to wipe ichor from her face.
Dave laughed — ragged, half-delirious. “Barely.” His bandaged leg bled through again, but he stayed upright, leaning against the wall.
Alice sat down hard, staff across her lap, and pressed her forehead to her knees. She didn’t sob or speak, but her shoulders trembled.
George stood in the broken doorway, blades dripping, staring out at the quiet cliffside. His jaw worked once, twice, before his voice came, low and steady. “Eric. Marta. This one’s for you.”
The words hung heavy. Not a victory cheer — a vow.
No one spoke for several minutes. Only the distant waterfall filled the silence.
Finally, George sheathed his blades with a decisive motion. “We claimed it. This place will keep everyone alive. Water means crops. Cooking. Medicine.” His gaze swept over them, lingering on their exhaustion. “We didn’t bleed for nothing.”
Blake groaned, pressing a cloth to his ribs. “Could’ve fooled me.”
George gave him a thin, tired smile. “Then we make it worth it.”
They stayed long enough for Tami to patch what wounds she could with torn strips of cloth and water from the spring. Her mana was gone, but her stubbornness was not. Alice knelt beside her, helping bind cuts in silence.
When they were steady enough to move, they left the springhouse, the event text still faintly glowing in their vision. The waterfall’s roar echoed like a victory drum as they descended the narrow cliff path.
***
The serpent’s corpse stank of wet iron and rot, its scaled bulk sprawled across the shoreline. The black ichor that had leaked from its wounds mixed with lake water, spreading in an oily sheen. Flies buzzed thick, already claiming the monster as their own.
Dave crouched first, knife in hand, and dug into a seam in the scales with grim determination. “Hide’s thick as armor. If we can get this off in sheets, we could use it for tents, maybe even patch shields.”
Blake grunted beside him, sweat dripping into his eyes as he pried at another scale the size of a dinner plate. “Feels wrong,” he muttered, then jerked the scale free with a crack. “But I’ll be damned if this doesn’t beat rabbit pelts.”
Tami lingered a few steps back, her staff still in hand. The serpent’s twisted head, fangs like ivory scythes, made her stomach clench. She forced herself forward, kneeling at a wound George’s blade had left behind. When her hand sank into the slick cavity and pulled out a pulsing gland, she flinched but didn’t drop it. “The System doesn’t give us what we need for free,” she said softly. “If this helps us survive, then… we take it.”
Alice stepped forward without hesitation after that, rolling up her sleeves. Her fingers trembled but her face set like stone. “Show me what to cut,” she said, voice steady. Together she and Tami began stripping sinew and wing membrane, working in silence broken only by the wet rip of tissue.
George didn’t join in. He stood just beyond the corpse, scanning the lake with a predator’s focus. His blades hung loose at his sides, but he hadn’t sheathed them. “Keep your eyes open,” he said. “That thing that took Eric and Marta—it’s still out there. Waiting.”
The System chimed.
QUEST UPDATED: ALL THE LOOT (1 OF 5)
LOOT SOURCE SECURED: FLYING SERPENT
LOOT GAINED:
- SNAKE MEAT X20
- SNAKE SCALES X45
- VENOM GLAND X2
- SNAKE FANGS X4
Blake whistled low, holding up a dripping fang nearly as long as his forearm. “Worth bleeding for.”
Dave laughed once, humorless, hefting the venom sac in his palm. “This right here? Deadlier than any arrow I’ve ever used. Bet it’ll fetch more than coins.”
George’s gaze flicked to the quest text still hovering faintly in the corner of his vision. “It’s more than that. It pushed All the Loot forward.”
Dave’s grin sharpened despite the blood on his leg. “Yeah. One out of five. Finally making a dent.”
Blake wiped ichor from his hands, then jabbed his knife into another joint. “So if we keep this up—shadow mastiffs, chipmunks, squirrels, and whatever the hell else the System throws at us—we’ll finish it.”
“And when we finish it,” George said, voice low but steady, “we’ll get something worth bleeding for. Something that’ll give us the edge.”
Tami looked up from binding a bundle of meat. Her eyes were tired, shadowed. “You really think it’s that simple? Just… strip enough corpses and the System rewards us?”
Alice met her gaze, soft but firm. “It already has. Every kill, every harvest—it’s all pushing us somewhere.”
George nodded once, conviction hardening in his tone. “Then we don’t waste a single chance. No matter how ugly it gets, we take everything. We can’t afford not to.”
The grim work continued until they’d filled every pack with hide, sinew, and venom sacs. After the serpent had been scavenged they turned to the shadow mastiff bodies still lying where they dropped them.
QUEST UPDATED: ALL THE LOOT (2 OF 5)
LOOT SOURCE SECURED: SHADOW MASTIFF
LOOT GAINED:
- SHADOW MASTIFF MEAT X7
- SHADOW MASTIFF FUR X3
- SHADOW MASTIFF FANGS X4
- SHADOW MASTIFF CLAWS X8
By the time they lashed the last bundle tight, the sun had sunk low, turning the lake’s surface into molten gold.
George knew it would be a long walk back but they set off toward the cabin, battered but unbroken, the weight of their packs a reminder that even grief had to be carried forward. Ahead of them lay the road home. Behind them lay the promise of unfinished quests, and the first step toward answering what reward the System had waiting.